Clint Stoerner, Former Arkansas Quarterback

Throughout the 60s and 70s, cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia, including its enigmatic ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm interested in making money.

I'm not interested in hurting people. Fifteen years into Kirksey's life sentence, the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore, but that would soon change. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South, a documentary podcast from C-13 Originals, a Cadence 13 studio. Season 2, The Dixie Mafia.

Available now on the Odyssey app, or wherever you get your podcasts. So my biggest fear is there's going to be snakes in the toilet. We're all afraid of that one strange thing. I'm Larry Mullins, the host of a new short 10-minute podcast called Your Weirdest Fears. We unpack where these fears come from. A rat climbed into my toilet.

And learn how to manage them. Listen and subscribe to Your Weirdest Fears on the Odyssey app, or wherever you get your podcasts. Clint, how you been? Man, I'm doing good, Zach. How you doing, brother?

I'm doing fantastic. So this game tonight, Pac-12 Championship, Utah USC, who you leaning with? I'm leading USC, man. Look, I think they're the better football team, obviously. They've got one of, I'd say, three or four absolute game changers at quarterback. I mean, guys that can put the team on their back and literally get them down to home stretch and win a ball game.

Caleb Williams. I'm going to ride him in the Trojans, and I'm going to tell you, I think it's going to be a hell of a football game because Utah really exceeded my expectations the first time they played USC. And they were able to score points a lot quicker than I thought, a lot more willingly than I thought, and it was a hell of a game one.

I expect a big one this week, but I'm riding USC, Zach. Yeah, I thought USC in the first game where it was playing out was going to blow him out early on. And then Cam Rising played maybe the best game that he's ever played, and he's been a good quarterback, clearly, for Utah. Just everything, even with the slow start for Utah, went right in that game, and then they were aggressive, they went for two. That's got to be so tough to replicate that again against a USC team that's starting to feel like they're back.

Yeah, look, you took the words right out of my mouth. I mean, when you look at the way that Utah won that ball game, their quarterback, Cam Rising, I think he can go out and play well again. Can he lead the team in rushing, right? Can he convert three of three fourth downs? Can he convert seven of 13 third downs? Can they convert a two-point conversion at the end of the ball game to absolutely win it? Will his tight end, Dalton Kincaid, who went for 234 yards in the first ball game, can they do that all again and beat Caleb Williams and USC?

I don't believe they can do it, man. So again, I'm riding the Trojans. How much should this game tonight matter? Because if USC loses, there's going to be a big debate.

They have two losses. Ohio State gets in as a one-loss, non-Big Ten champion, but Ohio State's not even in the Big Ten championship game. Would you be okay if USC loses tonight that the committee then rewards Ohio State for not playing this weekend? It's the only time that I would be okay with Ohio State getting in the college football playoffs. I don't believe that Ohio State has earned their way in, but because the Stars have aligned perfectly for a team that doesn't win a conference championship or even play for a conference championship, or a team that doesn't have an impressive schedule, strength of schedule throughout the season, the Stars have aligned for one of those teams to potentially get in.

Here's where I'm at. I've been overly critical of Ohio State. I'm not a guy that watches Ohio State and says, boy, the eye test is too good to pass up. Man, the history of the Buckeyes, they're always there. On paper, they're better.

I'm not that guy. Here's where I'm at. I don't believe that USC can lose to the same football team twice in one season and then deserve a chance in the college football playoffs to play for the national championship. It's the lesser of two evils at this point in time, and I'm going to be honest with you, it pains me to say it, but I believe Ohio State deserves to be in if USC loses twice to Utah at this point in time.

Clint Sterner here with us. Let's take it a step further. Let's say USC wins tonight, they'll be in, but what happens if TCU loses tomorrow to Kansas State and they split their season series? Would that be enough for the committee to put Ohio State in over TCU?

I think it will be. I think it will be because I don't have any faith in the committee. If I'm being completely honest, I think the money, the brand, the history, the love affair that America has with CJ Stroud for some reason, I think that's all going to outweigh the fact that TCU ran the table, got to a conference championship, and lost to a top 10 ranked Kansas State football team. I don't believe that it should.

It pisses me off to even admit this, that I feel this way. I'm going to tell you, TCU should get in no matter what happens in the Big 12 championship, but I believe if USC wins and there's one spot available for a one loss TCU team or a one loss Ohio State team, I believe that the college football playoff committee finds a way to get that Buckeye in the college football playoff and TCU gets screwed once again. Talking to Clint Sterner right now, you mentioned CJ Stroud. He has all the weapons and that was a big debate before the start of the year. Were you a Stroud guy or were you a Bryce Young guy? I know Alabama's not going to make the playoff, but with the way that Bryce Young has played this year, I know he's smaller than Stroud, but he doesn't have as much as Stroud has thrown in the football. I've been so impressed with Bryce Young. CJ Stroud, I just think he's good. I don't know if he's great, Clint.

The question is what translates. There's a couple of things. CJ Stroud is the only quarterback in the Heisman conversation or let's say in the top NFL draft prospect conversation that I literally believe you pull CJ Stroud out and you put whoever's in line next at Ohio State and I don't think they miss a beat. I think he throws for bookoos of yards. I think he throws for a ton of touchdowns. I think Ryan Day and his staff get him a ton of throw in the ocean and they play in the Big Ten.

The schedule, relatively speaking, is always going to leave a lot to be desired. I think CJ Stroud is very replaceable. I think when you had CJ Stroud been coming out back in my day or 10, 12 years ago where it was about being 6'3 and about being able to throw the route tree versus any coverage sideline to sideline from the pocket, I think CJ Stroud would have a better chance to transition from college to the NFL. The truth of the matter is when you watch CJ Stroud play, it pales in comparison to Caleb Williams. It pales in comparison to Bryce Young. If we're being completely honest, it pales in comparison to some of the other guys we're watching on the West Coast in Michael Penix Jr. Look, the young kid, Drake May out of North Carolina, when you watch him play the things that he can do with his legs and with his arm, whether we're talking about scoring points or we're talking about putting the team on your back and carry him to victory, those guys do it as well or better right now than CJ Stroud. I don't understand the CJ Stroud is by far and away number one prospect.

I just don't buy that. Good? Absolutely. In the conversation? Yes, sir. But by far and away the number one draftable quarterback this season?

You can miss me with that. Clint sterner here with us on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Get it back to Caleb Williams and USC eventually when he'll declare down the road for the NFL draft. We, you know, we got to be in college for another year. What do you think his prospect will look like for the draft? Cause he's been, he was great last year and he's been even better this year. I think he's a generational talent. I think, you know, I think that the movement from Oklahoma, the quarterback controversy at Oklahoma, if you want to call it that, um, you know, when, when, when Spencer Rattler was there and Caleb Williams was there was kind of a slow start. Now you transition from Oklahoma to USC and, and now, and I'm talking about a slow start relative to this guy getting the Trevor Lawrence type treatment where he's a generational talent, right? If he'd have went in somewhere, say he started at OU and was a starter last year.

And he was balling again this year and he's got one more year before he come out. We'd be talking about generational talent. It wouldn't be starting now. We'd have started it before the season ever started. But because of the controversy, the split in time last year and the move this year, nobody knew what to expect. But when I watch Caleb Williams play, I believe he's a generational talent.

I believe that we talk way, well, not way too much because it's a beautiful thing. We talk a lot about the evolution of the quarterback, of quarterback play in the NFL. And we talk about a lot about, boy, these, these quarterbacks in the NFL, they just look different. They play the game different. You know what?

That's a beautiful conversation. But if we really get down to the nuts and bolts of it, there's Pat Mahomes, there's Josh Allen, there's a freak named Lamar Jackson, and a couple of other guys that are fringe play, fringe this caliber quarterback that can play with all the different arm slots, that can play with their feet all over the place, that can, that can extend plays and throw the ball back across the field. There's a handful of guys even at the NFL level that can do that. Right now, Bryce Young does it and does it in a major way. And Caleb Williams, who can come out next year, is better at it than Bryce Young. And they don't have to think about it.

It is just, it's instincts. And there's a handful of guys in the NFL that can do it right now. When I look at Bryce Young and Caleb Williams, both of those guys can do the Pat Mahomes, Josh Allen types of things effortlessly, instinctually, and naturally. And, and that's, that's saying a lot, Zach, you can coach these, these really talented kids to do some different things off platform and drop the arm slot and all that kind of job.

But the ones that do it by instinct, that's the ones that, that are just generational talents. And I think Caleb Williams is one of those guys. Clint Stoner here with us on the Zach Gelb show who wins tomorrow between TCU and Kansas state. I think TCU is too much for him.

I really do. I like what Will Howard's doing at quarterback. I love Deuce Vaughn at the running back position.

You know, Coach Climb, he is an extension of Snyder, if we're being completely honest. They're just a football team that doesn't beat themselves. They've got a quarterback that when he's prepared as the starter, not when, not when Martinez got hurt or Martinez started against Texas, but when Will Howard has started and prepped as the starter, he's been lights out.

Deuce Vaughn is one of my favorite running backs in America right now to watch. With all of that said, I just think that TCU is too explosive and has too much to play for at this point in time. If TCU wins that ball game, I think it's a tight, tight ball game down the stretch, Zach, and I think the Horned Frogs come out. Maybe it's because I really, really want to see four different Power Five conferences represented in the college football playoff, but I'm going to ride the Horned Frogs in that ball game. I'll tell you, I know Georgia is great this year, but some people thought they were going to take a step back just naturally because of how much talent they lost. If the four teams, Clint Sterner, are Georgia, Michigan, TCU, and USC, it's the first time I ever remember a college football playoff in the history of it where all four clearly exceeded expectations because even going into the year, Georgia was ranked third in the country in that eight people. Look, I'm with you, Zach.

I'm with you from jump. I thought it was way too early to crown Kirby Smart. I don't mean this disrespectfully, by the way, but to crown Kirby Smart as a guy that can all of a sudden just reload. By the way, reloading for Kirby Smart last year to this year defensively was five first-round draft picks and I believe two third-round draft picks. I think there was eight top three-round draft picks off of that defense last year. So I was telling everybody, pump the brakes a little bit with the Kirby Smart can reload to that level, right?

And so I agree with you, man. I don't know about everybody else, but my expectations for Georgia were to take not just a little step back, but really a big step because on the other side of the ball, you look at it, you go, can Stetson Bennett really be Good Morning America Stets? You know what I mean? Could he be that guy that we watched throw for 300 and be half lit on Good Morning America? Or is he the guy that we watched play 10 ball games and average 11 attempts in the regular season last year?

Who is he? So to me, there was a lot more questions around Georgia than I think we really asked initially. So I agree with you that they've overachieved at being a convincing number one in college football right now. Is it Georgia or the field in your opinion to win it all, especially with the Michigan news that Blake Coram is going to be done for the year? Man, I think it's Georgia as I run down the list. I don't think PCU has the Jimmy's and Joe's. I don't believe USC has the defense to slow down Georgia. And when you look at Michigan, I think they got the dudes down.

I think they can match up. But the one thing that I don't know about JJ McCarthy, which I love JJ McCarthy now. The look, the swag, the energy, the confidence. It's authentic, man.

It's real. And it's the it factor. I know that coach speak, but it is the it factor, man. And I believe he's got it.

I think he's going to be really special. But in that in that Michigan, Ohio State game, they had two drives that they that were sustained drives in a 15 play drive at a 10 point drive. One touchdown, one ended in a field goal, which was their very first drive. Other than that, it was all big plays.

That's hard to replicate, man. I love JJ McCarthy, but I don't know where he's at in development. Is he a guy that can go in there and have five or six scoring drives of 10 or 15 plays?

I don't know, Zach. That's that is a tall task for a young quarterback. I like him. I love Michigan. But in order to win it all, especially if they bump up against Georgia to win it all, man.

He's going to have to sustain drives and process and deliver at a whole different level than what we watched against Ohio State. I'm not ready to bet on that. I'm all right, Georgia. You can have the field. I'll ride Georgia.

You tell me what kind of dinner you want to buy me. I don't know if I'd make that bet. If Coram was still playing, I would make that bet and have a little bit of fun with it. But now with Coram out, I'm thinking you're right on Georgia on that one. Before we let Clint Sturner run, I want to get your thoughts on Watson in just a second coming back to Houston. But the coaching carousel, what's been some of your biggest thoughts on some of these coaches hired? Look, the Big Ten West getting significantly, significantly better with their hires.

I mean, that had to happen, man. When you look at the landscape of all of college football, Zach, the one thing to me that sticks out like a sore thumb year in year out is that the Big Ten is tilted to Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan in a major way. All of them being in one division is unfair for their schools.

And really, it's unfair for everybody else because somebody gets a pass out of the other side of the division. Wisconsin coming back, Nebraska coming back or at least appearing to with their respective hires, I think is absolutely big time. Look, you freeze, I think is, I mean, we're just living in a world, man, where it's a world, especially college football, if you're a great play caller, if you're an offensive minded coach that has shown greatness and greatness, the ability to go win versus Saban in Alabama, do more with less consistently the short stint he had at Ole Miss.

I think that is absolutely big time. But you know what, Clint? I can't trust the guy.

I think he's a phenomenal coach on the field, but it's does he have the mental toughness to do everything else right? Fair, Zach. Absolutely fair. But here's the deal, Zach. Is any way you go, you're going to take a gamble. Is Deion Sanders ready for power five? I don't know.

The gamble is the inexperience. Is you freeze going to keep his phone on a straight and narrow and not be texted and escorted? I don't know. Is he going to be, I guess he can pay recruits now. Hell, we're not worried about that part of it. I just think if you're willing to put it on the table and you want to literally take your program to the next stage, I don't know how you pass up on guys for blemishes in their past. I mean, everybody else in America is forgiving them, Zach.

But you know what? They wanted Lane Kiffin. They wanted Lane Kiffin. They should have got Lane Kiffin.

If that's the guy that they wanted, they should have got him. That's fine, Zach. But you know what? Lane Kiffin got fired hell before he left town with Saban. He's got a checkered past as well.

Now, it's not as checkered. It's not as secret as what my man you freeze been up to, but there are things in his past that you and I could sit here and go, that's a gamble. Is he going to stick around or is he going to bounce when he doesn't like something? There's a gamble with the majority of these guys, man. And so, I mean, look at Matt Ruhl. Hell, Matt Ruhl just got ran up out of the NFL. I mean, he's a laughing stock of the NFL, man. And they gave him a boatload of money to go be a coach. I mean, to come back to college. I mean, there's a gamble with all of these guys. I just think that you and I would probably draw the line somewhere before hiring you, Freeze.

But Auburn clearly has no problem throwing the checkbook at him. Last thing I'll ask you, just what's the vibe in Houston this week? I know it's so weird because the team stinks and the fan base is just completely tired with the Texans being horrible, but Watson comes back. The whole thing's awkward, right? Yeah, Zach, I don't want to duck and dodge the question, man, but this is the truth of it.

Bro, that is such a layered question here. I mean, look, I'm a football fan first. I don't like the man and what he did off the field.

He was living in some kind of slimy way. But I'm a huge fan of the quarterback and I love watching him play football. I think you got fans that are going to wear their Houston Texans number four jerseys and they don't care about what he did off the field. I think you got people that are absolutely disgusted with what he did off the field and aren't even going to attend. And then I think you got people that could care less about what he did off the field and they're mad because he quit. There's just so many layers to that, Zach.

I can't wait to go to experience it and see what appears to be the biggest group. Do they love him? Do they hate him? Are they protesting?

Are they not? Man, I don't know what to expect. Make sure you listen to him on Sports Radio 610 in Houston. Also, the field's at 12.

He's the former Arkansas QB in Clint Sterner. You know, I thought your boys were going to be really good this year and I was going to be doing a bunch of pig suey chants, but they were up and down this year. Hang on, Zach. They got bowl eligible, baby. Disappointing year.

No question about it, but guess what news I just got. KJ Jefferson's coming back for another year, baby. Zach Gale, he's not going to the transfer portal. He's not going to the NFL. He's going to be in Fayetteville.

Hey, keep your pig sueys fresh now. We're going to be doing them next year a whole bunch. Maybe we'll do one then for the bowl game.

We still have that in play as well. Clint Sterner, you're the best. We appreciate it. You got it, brother.

Take care. Throughout the 60s and 70s, cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia, including its enigmatic ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm in a rush to making money.

I'm not in a rush to hurting people. Fifteen years into Kirksey's life sentence, the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore, but that would soon change. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South, a documentary podcast from C13 Originals, a Cadence 13 studio. Season two, The Dixie Mafia, available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Throughout the 60s and 70s, cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia, including its enigmatic ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm in a rush to making money.

I'm not in a rush to hurting people. Fifteen years into Kirksey's life sentence, the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore, but that would soon change. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South, a documentary podcast from C13 Originals, a Cadence 13 studio. Season two, The Dixie Mafia, available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Throughout the 60s and 70s, cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia, including its enigmatic ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm in a rush to making money.

I'm not in a rush to hurting people. Fifteen years into Kirksey's life sentence, the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore, but that would soon change. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South, a documentary podcast from C13 Originals, a Cadence 13 studio. Season two, The Dixie Mafia, available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.