Marcus Freeman: There's Sacrifices You Make When You're Independent

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Learn more at americanexpress.com slash Amex Business. Okay let's begin. This is the Rich Eisen Show. You can't win. Play off clinching scenarios everybody.

Very simple. Kansas City Chiefs. What was the word that Adrian once told Rocky? Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Just wins Sunday night, they clinched the AFC West.

You can't win. Adrian had no confidence in Rocky but that's his story. Today's guests. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. Apple TV lead MLS analyst Taylor Twelman. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel. And now it's Rich Eisen.

That's right. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. Live on the Roku Sports Channel. This Rich Eisen Show terrestrial radio affiliate Sirius XM Odyssey and more. We've got two college football playoff. We assume one of them.

It's definitely that. Coaches on this program. Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame. Currently seated sixth in the college football playoff standings. He will be joining us. Currently slated to play the 11th seed. Who are they currently slated to play?

Chris Brockman, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the college football playoffs. There we go. Alabama.

That's right. Three loss Alabama. Roll Tide. Roll Tide. They've got them and Josh Heupel of Tennessee. We'll find out do they have orange and white checkerboard gas masks in case they win in Columbus, Ohio. Wow.

You definitely should find that. Hey, listen. You never know what's gonna happen if you win there.

Stay ready so you don't get to get ready. I'm just saying. Wow. Some of those kids want their gold pants.

That's the way we're starting today's program. What does that mean? Those who beat Michigan at The Ohio State University get something called gold pants. Oh.

And if they are gold pantsless, they might get a little upset if you try to plant the flag in the middle of their field. Interesting. Just giving you a heads up.

Thank you. Those two guys are going to be on this program. Taylor Twelman, the lead analyst for MLS season pass on Apple TV is coming in here in advance of the MLS Cup final between the LA Galaxy and the New York Red Bulls. And he's bringing the MLS Cup with him. Whoa.

Nice. Which will be yet another trophy championship trophy to visit the Rich Eisen Show studio. We've had the Stanley Cup, the Lombardi Trophy has been here. We've had the championship trophy, the Larry O'Brien, the Larry OB for the NBA has been here. We once upon a time had the commissioner's trophy for Major League Baseball on a Rich Eisen Show set when we were in Kansas City years ago. We've never really had it here. We're having the MLS Cup here.

Nice. And our director, John Monaco, will take a photograph with it, even though it could jinx the New York Red Bulls. Remember, John refused to take a photograph with the Stanley Cup because it could jinx the Rangers. He didn't take the photograph and the Rangers lost. What's that tell you? Chris didn't take a picture with the Larry O'Brien trophy and the Celtics won.

Thank you. Or your team would have won it anyway. And you could have a photograph with it and you don't because of some silly superstition.

No, he doesn't have me. We don't know that. Life's too short. I didn't take it and we won.

So one plus one equals two boys. I took a picture and neither of my two teams won. So maybe there is something. Stop taking pictures with trophies or you take pictures with trophies you have and you can cherish the moment forever. Rich, you've taken a picture with the Lombardi Trophy how many times? It has nothing to do with anything. That's so rude.

It has nothing to do with anything. Just how many times? Just guess. Christopher. Just guess. At least 17. Christopher. Just guess.

This has nothing to do. Just guess. This also has nothing to do with my mother either, but the Jets have been cursed since I came out of the womb, Chris.

Just guess. Oh, you've taken pictures with Joe Namath, too. I know. Stop taking pictures.

Or I cherish those photographs. He's like, but don't. What a stupid way to start today's program. I mean, you guys are idiots. No, no, no.

I'll miss one too. No, let's go down this road. And another thing. And another thing. Now we're not officially saying hello to all of you. No, I need, this is my, this is my one time I get who these people are. Hey, TJ Jefferson here. Here's another thing. Why not? Let's start the program this way, too. We're going to have a great day today. You know what?

I was thinking this during the Michigan, Ohio state game on Saturday, which by the way, in case you missed it, Michigan won. Anyway, by the way, that's the first time you've mentioned you've that particular part of the story. I mentioned it on occasion. I sprinkled it throughout, but I was talking to my buddy, Jimmy, who was sitting next to me. Okay. I don't even know Jimmy, but you'd like to know him. But anyway, long story short is I'm sitting next to him. Third quarter, third quarter, middle third quarter.

When, when, um, things are going a little at up and down, you know, like Michigan's throwing interceptions on the goal line, but Ohio state then returns the favor by running it on third and 10 at any rate, I'm assuming Jimmy went to Michigan. Oh yes. Okay. Except about to say, Oh yes.

I couldn't see watching the game with him. That's correct. But I'm talking to him and I'm saying, you know, this is part and parcel of the conversation I have with the guys all the time on the show. Would you rather in a game where you're emotionally invested beyond your usual emotional investment, would you rather your team just get blown out? Yes. And you're not at all in any way, shape or form left to have the ultimate gut punch, let down at the end. Absolutely.

And I'm like here, I'm living this moment right now. Cause I'm thinking we've got a chance. Went into the game thinking the chance was a dumb and dumber chance.

Had no idea that dumb and dumber were the people running the offense for the Ohio state Buckeyes. Anyway. Wow. And here I am living this moment and I'm like, would I rather Michigan have just gotten the boat race, old school, Urban Meyer, one game under Ryan Day that made him think he was going to hang a hundred on us, even though he hasn't hung a hundred on Michigan in four straight losses combined since would I rather just get axed right here or am I like the shining where I'm making the trip from Florida and going up this mountain in the snow cat just to finally get inside the over look hotel spoiler and get an accent chest. Would I rather and guess what? I've turned to Jimmy and Jimmy is like, of course we want this. We want, we want to be in it. You want to be in it. You want to have a game.

You want to have a showing. You want to show, but that's not the argument. The argument is, do you want to be in it and then lose?

No, that sucks. Oh, because then you second guess everything the rest of your life. But, but the reason why I'm telling you this story as well is we're in the middle of the third quarter here and we both agreed, even if we lose this game, which middle of the third quarter, we were thinking at some point Ohio state was going to start throwing it to its receivers, you know, and, and march up and down the field and end this thing. We right then and there said, no, even if we take an ax in the chest at the end where we will take this, we will take this.

We will take the fact that we're showing up and showing out in a rivalry game and making it tough. I think that question is easier to answer. Now there is one. No, when you're in the moment though, like you were, it's easy for us to say what we would do when there's no game happening right now. But like you said, when you're in the moment and you're feeling it, that's the best way to answer it. So I figured I'd bring it up here that I I'm putting my money where my figurative mouth is, or my figurative money where my literal mouth is. And boy, is this mouth working?

Oh, that's great. How many more days of this? No, 361, I think. So tonight, speaking of big time football games involving big time teams and one of them from the state of Michigan in Detroit, Michigan, this evening on Thursday night football is in fact the game of the week. And certainly in the NFC to date game of the year, this is it for so many reasons, certainly because we're not seeing the lions take on the Eagles. And I know there may be, you know, in the regular season, and I know there may be some Vikings fans saying, well, what about when the Vikings went into Green Bay and beat them back in week number four?

What about that one? Well, it was just a month into this season. What about say when Detroit went into Minnesota and won that game with Minnesota suffering its first loss of the season in a game in which they were winning, but Detroit won it in the end. That was week seven. This is week 14, folks. And this is where rubber's meeting the road because the Detroit Lions have won 10 in a row and have, as the Niners have gotten completely banged up and are now in the position of needing to win out just to win their division and get back into the tournament to defend its NFC championship from last year. And certainly with the NFC North being the best division in football, and certainly with the Cowboys entering this week at five and seven, and the Eagles not having any competition within its division, and certainly the NFC North not putting forth a candidate to crash a party with any significance based on the way they're currently playing. The NFC North is where it's at in terms of heavyweights swinging at each other for the right to win the division. And if the Packers want to win this division, if the Packers have any designs of hosting a playoff game in Lambeau Field this year, tonight's the night to do it.

Tonight's the night to do it. If they lose that ship's sails, it's gone. They'll have to go on the road to start their playoff campaign and try and win three in a row to get to the Super Bowl. That's a fact coming off of tonight. They will have been swept by Detroit. Detroit will be 12 and 1.

They will be 9 and 4. And they will be essentially getting set to go on the road to face either the winner of the NFC North or the NFC West. A winnable game in the wildcard, certainly if it's a team that won and done the Cowboys last year from the seven seed, from the depths of the seven seed.

Is that less impressive now? So, sure they can do it. But tonight for them to put their calling card on the table and say, we can win this division. We are 100% one of the overlooked, but not after tonight. And they went into Detroit last Thanksgiving and started that road to the playoffs last year. Can they do it tonight against a team that has not lost since they were one and one in a spot that will be in full froth this evening?

That's a good way to describe it. That will have all day to drink the Motor City oil and get ready for tonight's game. And be there with a full compliment of rest for both teams they played on Thanksgiving.

So this is awesome. I love this game every year on Thursday night. There is not a short week situation.

They have both been off for the requisite regular amount of time. And for the Lions, this is a way for them to eliminate one of their stout division opponents. One of their ways to keep putting their calling card on the table to say, we are the inevitable team in the NFC. We are the best teams in the NFL. We are Super Bowl bound. There's lots of games between now and then, but tonight is a night for them to put a calling card on the table and say it.

And also quiet any of the naysayers who have seen them throw five interceptions in Houston, but still overcome it. To see them struggle in the second half against Chicago to close out that game and still win it. For them to, yes, boat race some competitors, but they're also AFC South. Bottom of the division dwellers. For them to take those naysayers who may not have them atop their power rankings list anymore and tell them bad choice.

Bad choice. And it's another way also writ large, as they've got Buffalo coming in next week. Another way for them to also stay a step forward of the team that a lot of people, including yours truly, put atop their power rankings in the Eagles. If they don't want to go to Philadelphia and they want Philadelphia to come to them, tonight is a night for them to put a calling card on the table and say, you're still getting on a plane, Saquon, as far as we're concerned.

That's what's at stake tonight. On Prime Video. And you could see that right here on the Roku portal. Through your Roku portal. Fun stuff.

Yeah, really fun stuff. One of the matchups I'm looking at, so I was looking up right now, some team stats. Green Bay is fifth in total rushing yards. Detroit is fourth. Detroit is fifth in rush defense.

What's gonna give? Dude, Detroit's defense, I believe, Schefter Instagrammed this out today. Detroit's placed 13 players on its defense on injured reserve this year.

13. Including Aiden Hutchinson, as we all know, who was in line to start the season for a defensive player of the year candidacy. 13 defensive players placed on injured reserve this year on defense. Yeah, and they're in the bottom third in passing yards allowed, so this could be a Jordan Love game. What receiver is going to have the game tonight for Green Bay? It's kind of been a roulette, whether it's Watson one game, Reed one game, is it a Wicks game?

Who knows? But that's another thing to watch. It's gonna be fun. It's gonna be a lot of fun. And again, that's on Prime Video tonight. And you could see that right here on Roku. Let's take a break.

Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame football will be joining us next on the Rich Eisen Show. for you. Give it a try after this episode at progressive.com. Progressive casualty insurance company or affiliates not available in all states or situations.

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That's OReillyAuto.com E-I-S-E-N O-O-O-Reilly Auto Parts. Okay everybody, I'm Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame football about to join us. The radio audience is going to join us in a little less than two minutes time and that's when we'll bring him in. Mike Del Tufo, you are all ready. Yes.

You're all ready. You have your hat to show everybody that you were a Notre Dame fan and that you have been a note you went to Notre Dame and you remember walking around the campus. I saw Montana play in 76. When you were when you were in school there? No that would be when my sister was in law school there. Oh is that how so that's how you became Notre Dame for my father rest in peace would live and die Notre Dame.

Yeah. On every Saturday. Every single Saturday.

It was insane. Like Mo Green would be sitting in his place you turn the volume up so you wouldn't hear the conversation. You didn't want to hear my dad. If Notre Dame was down my father stay away stay away. Really? But if they won dad can I have a new car no problem let's go like literally he would be like we'd go to the buy a new car. Well you know it's kind of funny as you know being a Michigan man I have taught my children there are two teams we we root for Michigan and whoever's playing Ohio State and so this week though this week though as you know Michigan and Notre Dame we we're kind of oil and water as well this week though against USC I was uh I was feeling because USC that we we can find a common enemy you know the enemy of my enemy is my friend that sort of thing right you appreciate that sort of conversation don't you good to be in it's good to be in the college I know and they you know it's good to be in there they got they get getting ready for the college football playoffs but again you are your perfect avatar for so many Notre Dame fans didn't go there but have a rich family history it's my from New Jersey New York and my sister and this is when we went there double dome right in double dome right and growing up when we grew up there there was really Penn State some people were rooting for there not so much Rutgers but Notre Dame is kind of like that I have no college team in football I only have a Seton Hall in basketball there you go but you have college though you got that degree yeah but I have you show off every day go in deep all right very good there you go Mike way to way to represent sir back on the rich eyes and show radio network I'm sitting at the rich eyes and show desk furnished by grange with supplies and solutions for every industry Granger has the right product for you call click ranger.com or just stop by kind enough to stop by after his win here in Los Angeles or his team's win here in Los Angeles against USC and getting set to find out who they are playing in the college football playoffs the head coach of Notre Dame football Marcus Freeman good to see you coach how are you sir doing great rich man glad to be on the show I'm glad to have you here um so I'm seeing what's on your shirt right there what do we got that play like a champion today okay yeah play like a champion today fantastic so you're so I mean you are now fully completely acclimated to the Notre Dame scene right now and I'm just wondering how how you are as a coach right now than the the first minute you you got that phone call to say guess what you're the coach of Notre Dame football Marcus yeah there's no play no playbook to being the head coach of this place or probably in anywhere in the country there's things that you have to learn through experience and you know I think I've learned many lessons and valuable lessons through these first three seasons and I know I'll continue to learn more the things you know now are way ahead of the things you knew when you first got the job but you know I think that's in any profession man a constant improvement the constant learning that you get from those valuable lessons well what is what is the valuable lesson and the thing that you are you believe in improved at I think most importantly it's it's the lessons you learn probably in the lowest times right is winning gives you a great feeling but the losses teach you so many more valuable lessons and and we all know if you lose too much you're gonna have a job but you know the understanding that time heals everything I've always said that here you know that's something I learned early in my career time heals everything but what you got to do is you have to fix your problems with urgency and you know I think I've learned that over three years but even in this year from week one to week two you you go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows and it was a great lesson for me and everybody in this program that you have to respect your opponent you have to prepare the right way and make sure mentally and physically if you don't prepare the right way you can lose to anybody as we've learned the hard way but I think the lessons that we learned after week two are ones that we have to continue to keep with this and and most importantly how to handle success so how did you come out of the northern Illinois game better do you think coach yeah there's schematic things that you have to improve and I think what happened probably more than anything is week one some of the issues that we had were were masked behind a big win over Texas A&M and and kind of got exploited week two versus northern Illinois and so we had to fix some schematic things but more than anything I said there's a greater lesson to learn here and and that's the right way to handle success and the right way to prepare and you could prepare physically for an opponent but you have to prepare the right way mentally and understand that you can lose to anyone and that's something I tell our team and myself all the time is don't ever think that you can't lose to anyone and that's the approach that we have to have each week and you know continuously get better as we've done all season how has Riley Leonard helped in this regard do you think this year yeah I think number one he's a unbelievable talent I think he's a really really good football player a great leader a great person but I think what Riley has learned from week one to week two is is you know there's nobody else that emulates the head coach of Notre Dame football than the starting quarterback of Notre Dame football and he was at the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in two weeks but I think he learned to block all that out right is the praise the criticism really doesn't matter to you going out there and doing your job and you can't fear having making a mistake and I think that's where I've seen his biggest growth and yes the intentional meetings with Mike Dembrock offensive coordinator make sure we're always on the same page but there's a confidence you got to have as a quarterback that can be unshakable and I've seen him grow in that area more than anything is that you know what what's the worst thing that happened you could throw an interception you know I've heard him say all the time I got here to starting quarterback at Notre Dame embrace it enjoy it and let it fly Marcus Freeman here on the Rich Eisen show head coach of Notre Dame football I know I'm about to traverse into the world of uncontrollables with a head coach of a football team that's my wind-up for this question I know you can't control it but you are a team that could make a case for a bye week in this college football playoff tournament however the circumstances of Notre Dame being in an independent prevents you from doing that do you think your team is good enough top four right now to get a bye week if things were different coach could we be ranked in top four absolutely do we deserve a bye week I think there's some sacrifices that you you make when you're an independent football program and that's something we knew when this college football playoff format was created and we understand it so we got to have the right approach to this thing and saying okay week 13 is our bye week we're currently on our bye week right and and we got to make sure we recover um you know really reload mentally and physically and get ready uh to to prepare for an opponent starting Sunday but um you know there's sacrifices that you got to make and this is one of those things but we knew going into the season if we were fortunate enough to make the playoffs um we have to utilize week 13 as our bye week now obviously a home game is is great um and your environment is second to to none in college football and obviously whoever's going to come in if it's Alabama or it could even be an in-state friend in Indiana that would be coming in which would kind of be off the charts if that is actually a matchup but um that said clearly a bye week would be the most preferred do you advocate um internally for moving this program into a spot where this wouldn't be an issue that you're not independent anymore do you have these conversations do you advocate no i think i think our independence is is one of our distinctions and one of the things that makes this place unique is that you know we sell to our players we sell to recruits that we play everywhere in the country we play almost every conference in the country we start out with the sec finish with the big 10 and usc um played two games in new york this year and obviously finished in la and so that's what makes us unique um and uh you know we we were fortunate where we're not held back from making the playoffs um we got a great uh deal in terms of our tv deal with mvc and so it's something that we understand has some negatives to it in terms of not making the playoffs and uh playing for a conference championship but more than more than anything it's something that we sell as a positive and then marcus freeman here from notre dame here on the rich eisen show and just i'd love to ask you about you know the way you go about your business and your schedule in this respect how soon after beating usc did you turn to the the signing period that's that you're in the middle of right now i mean how quickly did you have to reverse and your focus coach well i think this is a unique recruiting period where it's different than previous years where right after the game of week 12 you can get on the road for about a week and a half and go see all your commits and you know do in-home visits we knew this year was different right after week 12 it's dead and so um we had to make sure throughout the year and specifically as we got closer to week 12 that all of our signees were ready to go and so it's been set up we've got a great recruiting department that's done a great job of making sure that all the questions logistical things were were handled but um more than anything it was a chance to just get out there all the commits on zoom and tell them how excited we are but recruiting is something that goes on 365 you know and and we just had to make sure that hey everything was solid um leading up to sign today do do you as a head coach of notre dame with independence and obviously who who you're you're you are in your school what it represents do you get kids demanding money of you i think that's the yeah college football landscape um when you are recruiting some of the best players in the country and you know you have some of the best players in the country on your team um they're gonna get nil money and uh that that's no different here at notre dame than anywhere else in the country so these are i mean how much of your job is lead negotiator coach yeah i kind of try to separate um that side of things from really what my job is with the the players and what my role is in their lives and uh we have people that have those conversations obviously i'm involved but um i don't really have a lot of those direct conversations it's almost you can have a parallel to the nfl is that you know you have a department you have an athletic um administration that handles a lot of those logistical financial contract stuff um yes i'm involved but um i want to make sure my conversations with the players um really don't involve that unless they have to right if it comes to a point where i need to get involved with a conversation with a player and their families um i do speaking of parallel to the nfl i mean your name gets mentioned every now and then here and there to get a get a call from an nfl team to see if you'd be interested in that do you do you hear this part of the conversation coach yeah yeah it's been brought up in a couple of my press conferences um you know i think more than anything it's a reflection of with team success comes individual success right i tell our players that all the time like we have to be obsessed with team success and with that that will come some individual recognition and i think that's a reflection of what my situation right is that we're having success as a football program so your name's going to be brought up for for different opportunities um it's not something i've really spent any time thinking about you know obviously my focus right now is to get this team prepared for the playoffs but again it's a it's a it's an honor um but more than anything it's a reminder to me that it's because of team success that we're having opportunities like this now you know again this is my first rodeo having a conversation with somebody like yourself who who is very successful like yourself and has a lot of people who would like that success to come and be their coach and in this conversation asking you if you're interested then makes it seem like you're not interested about where you currently are and the success that you're having but the the the issue is that i keep hearing and that i do talk about is that with the nil and the portal and the lack of rules that would be uh i guess equitable to everybody and that everybody knows they have to follow college football is still figuring that out the nfl has that figured out and how it's much kind of easier to just go to the nfl despite its a cauldron of problems than what you have to deal with you know let's beat usc let's now go and deal with a bunch of kids that might ask for money and then they might leave or there's a portal and there's this there's that how how do you feel about the differences there coach i think you you've hit the nail on the head there's some evolving things going on with college athletics that um some higher ups are still trying to figure out and um really get some rules and regulations around it um but i'm not looking for easy right i think the nfl does have a great plan in place in terms of how their players are compensated the different rules that they have in place but um the thing i love about being a college football coach is the relationship you have with young people and uh i'm not saying nfl you don't have that type of relationship but um this is uh what i love to do more than anything more than the money more than all the things that go along with college athletics i love the relationship and the um life building skills that you can really help young people with that are 18 to 22 years old and so that's what what attracts me to this profession this job this place is is more than anything the impact you can make on young people marcus freeman a couple minutes left with the notre dame head football coach here and uh of the kids that are coming your way or at least committed to coming your way the one i want to ask you about about how you landed him six for 390 pound receiver out of atlanta how did you land jerome bettas jr marcus how did you pull this one off marcus i tell you what that was the the hardest recruiting pitch we had to to give to get a guy to commit um is that right i remember sitting in a room um probably a year ago or two years ago uh with jerome bettas jr and his father um uh bryce young and his father bryant young who was an nfl pro hall of famer and james flanagan and his father jim flanagan who played the nfl and i remember saying if we can't convince you three that this is the right place for you and your future then we got a long way to go in terms of recruiting because your fathers are living examples of what we're trying to sell in terms of having success uh to the utmost degree in in your athletic careers but also setting yourself up for life after football because of the education because of network here at notre dame um office and so to get all three of those guys um signed two of them were signed yesterday bryce uh it was in our program this past season um to me was was so important because we got to make sure that the guys that understand this place because their fathers or somebody else may have went here um we got to make sure we get those guys in notre dame i don't know i think maybe you're being too humble to be straight up with you coach because um you know i remember michael irvin telling me about um he he's once upon a time told his kids there are three things you can't change you can't change who your family is you can't change your religion and you cannot change that you are going to the university of miami that's what he said to me years ago and i'm just wondering if betis jerome jb is cut from the same cloth i kind of feel that he is to be honest with you you know listen we can look at it from an outsider's perspective and son is coming to notre dame um i don't know what those private conversations were at home but all that matters to me is that his son is coming here fantastic so uh all right uh before i let you go what is your general sense i know you want you'll play whoever you're you're gonna play i understand that and that you'll you'll find that um out this weekend but what is your sense of how this will work out college football playoff as to who's coming to south bend what what what what's what are the chess pieces you're looking at right here yeah i think you're gonna really pay attention to all uh of the conference championship games because they're all gonna have an impact and you know if there's upsets they're all every seeding is going to change right and who you play or where you're at but if there are no upsets um it's going to be interesting to see the teams that lose where they're going to be ranked because um i think the the college football playoff committee has been adamant about not penalizing teams for being in a conference championship game but what does that mean for us as a team right now i think we're currently the sixth seed as the last came out right i think we're ranked fifth um but sixth seed you know and and do we become the the fifth seed uh depending on what happens after uh these championship rounds or does something happen where we i hope that doesn't happen that we go down and so um i'm looking at this bracket you have up now it has us playing alabama and uh again we'll see oh i thought for a second i thought hey it's gonna either be the the big 12 champion or um you know maybe alabama but now they're you can't figure it out you can't figure out what the college football playoff committee is really gonna um decide and so it's gonna be a fun weekend a fun saturday of watching college football and watching other coaches distress a little bit um i'm gonna enjoy it and then uh sunday we'll find out who our opponent is where you're watching you're watching home are you at home surrounded by family or you're in the office where you're watching practice saturday okay um i don't know what time i'll get out of the office you know if i can go home and maybe watch a game with my kids i will but i know a lot of our players have talked about getting together here at our football facility and watching some of the games together so if that's the case then i'm pretty sure i'll be around those guys and it's entirely possible as i mentioned it could be an all indiana um first round too right if the hoosiers come visit south bend that would be off the charts i know coach right no or you don't think that would be good um that would be listen great for college football but you know this weather we got to use this weather as a home field advantage you know and so maybe a team that's from coming from uh 50 60 70 degree weather coming to snow then that's truly going to be a home field advantage okay i like it i like where you're going i like it very much terrific coach i re and and if you're you know uh if it the other uh way happens and indiana comes in there you could just google them you know that you can just google them to check out who they are you know right i like how you got that in there coach i always appreciate our chats thanks for the time really appreciate the 20 minutes thank you all right rich thank you man it's been a blast same to you good luck to you that's notre dame head football coach and say hi to jerome bettas as well one of my favorites is if you speak to him anytime soon thanks for the the time that's marcus freeman here on the rich isin show everybody delightful chat i think we spoke with him within 48 hours of him getting the gig too now here we are on the verge of being hey if penn state loses how do you not give a one lost team the opportunity to be the five seed right let's not put that out there ricky bobby nice right i can't disagree but yeah i you know we'll take a break and we'll discuss this at length because i want to revisit the the way it's all laying out for college football playoffs and if there weren't the constraint for lack of a better phrase of the top four spots the bi-weeks must go to a conference champion would notre dame get one like let's have that conversation is which teams would get it if you remove that filter from the process the mls cup and taylor twelman however making its way to the studio as many of you clearly know i love going to watch football live there's nothing like it whether it's college football or professional football there's nothing quite like the excitement of being in the stadium and game time tickets and game 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yes I was beaten this year yes um so my business manager's supposed to have the hat for us he did not oh we're throwing jimbo we're throwing under the bus right now he did not bring that under the bus by the bus just right now see he didn't even show his face he's I was willing to wear this hat he had it made up well he told me that the hat that he made up had the final score no he had the hat on there whatever it was a hat I don't know what that the hat is supposed to read the following I am going to listen to this okay hear this yes hell to the victors valiant hell to the conquering heroes hell hell to michigan the leaders and best wow that is for you wow I honestly did not want me to do that I honestly can't have thought of anything else that you would do that would make me think that you would not have to follow through on your end of the wager which is where and I should have gone to michigan hat on the vaunted field of notre dame with touchdown jesus behind you but do I let him out of that end of the bet now he's that was pretty epic actually and he nailed all the words oh he grew up in the state of michigan he should know them he should know them I mean that was like 40 years ago I had to look him up to make sure I was saying it correctly for you also also I'm getting visions of like Jerome practicing before he came out here yeah it sounded rehearsed that was great that took a lot out of me great job Jerome you know that that was awesome that was all right all right ah yes youtube.com slash rich isin show for all of my bragging back here on the rich isin show eight four four two oh four rich is the number to dial those who are on uh our roku sports channel feed stream can see let me describe to the radio audience sitting on the desk in advance of taylor 12 wins arrival is the 2024 mls cup the latest championship trophy to be sitting on the desk here at the rich isin show that is beautiful isn't it a little larger than I thought yes why did I think it was going to be like like world cup size well the world cup is one of those trophies that is kind of underwhelming when you see it in person the fact in terms of size right here by the way is it now what you're holding we've had a couple of guests here thinking that it is the real world cup trophy is it is it just because I've held the world cup because I've worked them yeah wait a minute you hold a second you have held yes the world cup trophy yeah we've had it at fox pico okay I've actually seen that a couple times too when I did mls right but so that is definitely the size that's the real size yeah okay but not the real trophy that is beautiful this is the size of like the larry o'brien it's big yeah uh let's see a little smaller in in height of the larry will be a little wider it's definitely wider than larry will be I mean they got the wings here this is where you can grab onto it that's cool I like you to hoist it right okay so when I take a picture with it later I'll be able to you know compare all the sizes oh is that what you're gonna be able to do sure why not okay yeah and your team won't win well I don't what does that mean well if you take a picture with it oh is that I'm gonna break this cycle it truly is the dumbest thing except that it's full superstition is such a waste of time I think that not touching it is superstition is such a waste of time rich stevie wonder would disagree with you no okay listen man I understand when you're the coach and I want to touch it no it's not that not touch it okay it's you you you don't want to give off the impression that the journey is over when it's say with all due respect the lamar hunt trophy for the afc championship and you're bill belicheck and you're about the super bowl trophies do you remember the time he received it I believe from jim nance after beating somebody for the 10th straight time in the afc championship game and he just handed it off like it was just like like a tray pass you know no I don't want any of those hors d'oeuvres do you want some okay but it was he just remember you remember that he just handed it off yeah well football players don't want to touch it but listen listen it's it's the impression of the journey's not over okay that's what it is and in the case of the super bowl yeah every year they used to do this I don't know if they still do it anymore they have the they have the the dual press conference of both head coaches the friday before the super bowl do it together and they have them take a picture in in front of the Lombardi trophy or they're standing behind it both on either side of the trophy that they're going for and neither of them want to look at it because that to them brings on the idea that they are 100 percent assuming they're going to win some might be superstitious about it but fans saying I don't want to take a picture with the trophy because it will jinx my team is the silliest thing I've ever heard of I get it yeah but that's what fans are is that what it is fans are fanatic I mean what do you mean I understand that but I'm I it's like listen you wear why why why would you wear the trophy because you wear the same shirt to the game why would you sit in the same spot because I used to do that because I think it helps I used to do that fun I used to do that as a kid I used to watch the Yankees I still do stuff like that in the same spot on my on my on my bed watching on the black and white television I'm dating myself I'm sure that's what I used to do I am but you're you're a grown ass man now Mike I am very when I am I wrong I am very if I ask people to call in were they most like what would it be nine out of ten would tell me I'm wrong I don't know I think it could be a 50 50 pretty split 844204rich number to dial like what's the craziest thing superstitious tutorial look what everything he does he comes in here he makes a guy get out of a chair or takes off his shirt how's that helped I'm just saying like right now right now if I knew it would help the Yankees signing Juan Soto what would you do instead of what would you do for Klondike bar what would you do for the Yankees to re-sign Juan Soto what does that mean what would I do you were just I thought that was a question I mean if you told me if you told me it it would help to you know wipe my face the same way or sit in a chair in a certain way would you cut off your pinky toe of course not of course I wouldn't do that to sign Soto that guarantees three world championships in 15 years no I wouldn't do that and there are fans that would get the knife there are Yankee fans that would cut off their pants oh absolutely so wait a minute yes hold on a second you don't wear flip-flops are you telling me you're telling me hold on a second if somehow some way in the negotiation Scott Boris is sitting there with Hal Steinbrenner right now right now it's happening it could be right now it's happening it could be and and the money's right the years right years are right everything's right everything's right and Scott Boris turns to Hal Steinbrenner and says there's one last thing I'm gonna need that toe Victor from River Avenue in the Bronx has gotta deliver me his pinky toe yep and guess what Victor and Vic immediately do it I don't know about that guaranteed you know how crazy New Yorkers are people from the MLS are sitting in the back right now saying I cannot believe they're having this conversation next to our beautiful chalice there's some galaxy or Red Bull fan out there they would do it for a title and they would not take a picture with it because they think it would jinx them it would mean more because it's football so they cutting off a toe would mean much more I don't denigrate I don't denigrate all I'm saying is I would not give up would you give up your pinky toe for the Red Sox to sign Juan Soto well we've won a lot this century how dare this man roll his eyes when I take every opportunity to troll on V Ohio State which he knows is filled with arrogant entitled delusional people that deserve it that deserve what I'm doing by the way I'm not looking at him I'm looking over the MLS directly over TJ because it's so big assistance how dare this man roll his eyes at me when I have now flipped a script on him and his response is well we've won a lot I mean well those are just the facts of the case okay so the facts of the case is that Michigan shouldn't have been 4-0 in the last four games because they lost five in a row and they shouldn't have won this one great job and that the fact that they did shows off grit gumption and excitement and I will take any shot I can at them and you roll your eyes and ever how many days of this are left how many days are left I mean you know this guy I don't I don't do it cut off your pinky toe if it meant three championships yeah I'd think about it yeah see I like you thinking Brock really you'd walk around with nine toes for the rest of your life what do I need it for I can get you can get a little you can get a peg toe put on a peg you know what I mean it's like Brockman's peg toe is a new you know fantasy team name one of those 3d printers write it down Brockman's peg toe get a toe Brockman's Soto peg toe let me tell you what I would do it's a new fantasy name what would you do for the Mets yeah to win three championships and get Soto you'd give up your pinky toe I would give up a big toe that's life-changing that's life-changing that's affecting the way you walk yeah the big toe you know what I'm saying so I already got a nice little glide what would a Bills fan do or what would a Detroit fan the whole foot 844204 number to Donald ankle why do we have to this is to figure ourselves let them play let them play trust in the process that got them to the point where they can hoist the MLS cup why must one disfigure themselves why is that the ultimate sign of your fandom or love for the team are wanting good things to happen to the team that you love why because that's absurd that's a sign that shows how much of a sign it's a sign of you're disfiguring yourself if you ain't willing to cut off an appendage then you don't really rock with the squad yeah what the hell is your malfunction take it take all nine of them you're caught up on land man I mean some things you don't really need Tommy Norris wouldn't hesitate you know what I'm saying I'm not caught up on it spoiler alert oh well Ronnie like it's not going on at home Chris Ronnie Ronnie and Tommy hours of 9 11 night okay lots of proof yeah kids Ronnie Lott didn't care about the pinky yeah Ronnie Lott didn't care what's the matter with people one of them 844204 rich I want to hear from you to win that cup on your desk take the pinky I'll just say this I'll say this as you know in my position I say it all the time it's good to ask the question you already can sense the answer to or you already know the answer to right you're trying to elicit that answer yeah I think asking people to call in and ask what body part they'd be willing to cut off is a bad idea my people said he would cut off his manhood for a Super Bowl you can't get much worse than that he would bob it himself yeah remember that he sent that to the boys yeah like four years ago he said that to win a Super Bowl yes that's a commitment right there all right you wouldn't even cut off a toe a very crucial a very crucial thing's gonna happen in 30 seconds Taylor Twelman is going to come out and the MLS people will either come out and with this bewildered distasteful look they might just take it or that be tune in to see if they're going to take their cup back we're sorry isn't 12-minute mass he knows all about this he would do it for Soto too my world with Jeff Jarrett takes wrestling fans behind the scenes along with King of the Mountain Conrad Thompson I wanted to ask you about what you know if anything on the new WWE ID program where they're apparently going to be working with some independent wrestlers my encouragement to any independent wrestler out there build your value and then understand your value and then you create your own leverage there's no substitute for hard work and getting over my world with Jeff Jarrett wherever you listen