2024 College Football Fiesta

Keynote speaker. Consultant. Lawyer. Salesman. Teacher. Workshop leader. Author. There truly is nothing Joey Coleman cannot do. His books, Never Lose a Customer Again and Never Lose an Employee Again, keep climbing the charts and continue to change the world alongside their author, Joey Coleman.

In this episode of TechTalk Podcast, Brad Cost, Dr. Jay Greenstein, DC, and Joey Coleman sit down to discuss:

One full hour and thirty minutes of football, friends, and all the things inbetween!

SHOW NOTES:

Football is all about the MONEY!

01:53 – Joey. “The reality to me is that in 2024, we finally acknowledged that college football, especially at the Division I level, is all about the Benjamins. I'm not saying that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it is the practical reality. We have conference realignment, conference consolidation that is all about dollars and TV deals. We've got players who are all about NIL money deciding where they go. We've got coaches who are all about who can pay me more to be a coach somewhere else. The concept of long-term loyalty and long-term allegiance to a brand or organization is really dwindling. The only people left that have that allegiance really are the fans, which is a really interesting juxtaposition between the reality of the monetization of college sports. College sports has really become semi-professional, at least at the football level, if not borderline pro-sports, because some of these players are making more money playing for their college team than they're going to make as a rookie in the NFL. I think that practical reality has hit us in a way that is unprecedented this football season.”

03:17 - Jay. “It's always been about the money anyway, but it's just now the game has completely changed. The landscape is so different, and the players are getting paid for everything about them, their NIL - I really wonder where this is going to go because I don't think these changes are going to stop here. I don't know what's coming next.”

03:40 – Joey. “It's evolving and changing at a rate that I don't even think the coaches, players, fans, administrators, and leagues have any clue about. Good luck, NCAA. The NCAA is fighting to be relevant. They've been questionably irrelevant for years, but they should have done a better job getting ahead of this than they did. As we say on the farm, the horse is out of the barn, good luck catching it because it is running wild.”

The changes of football – good or bad?

04:28 – Joey. “Well, you ask me if they're good or bad, I say the answer is yes. Right? They're good and bad. Here's the challenge: from a coaching perspective, you're being asked to decide not only whether a player is going to be able to compete, but how much of your dollars to spend on which position and which player. College level coaches are becoming general managers as well as coaches. That's a lot to put on any one person's shoulders or head. In addition, you've got different schools that are going to be able to bring different dollars to bear. This is potentially a horrible thing because it's pushing more of the money into football, which is great for us football fans, but horrible for all the other sports. Basketball has its NIL but jump to the sports after basketball. Go down the line - a lot of these programs that were getting some of the money are going to get even less of it now because the dollars that are coming into the athletic departments are being tagged to specific players, specific programs. We're going to see the importance of Title IX and Olympic sports more than ever before because the money is all racing to football and basketball.”

Dollars diminishing competition.

05:50 – Joey. “Well, I look at it this way, which may hint at more of my politics in general. I love humans, but I know that unless humans are regulated, they don't make good choices. If left to their own devices, all the money's just going to chase wherever the biggest fan base and money is - the practical reality is that's in football. Basketball secondarily, but when you go to any sport other than those, it's the loyal fans that have kept it together. Now, are they going to be able to bring the same dollars? Probably not at most schools and that's where there's an opportunity for the schools, the conferences and the NCAA to enforce a portion of the money going to the big sports to be spent on some of the other sports. Otherwise, we're going to become even more football and basketball obsessed than we already are. There are going to be outliers, but it's not going to happen the same way. We already have trouble where new entries have a hard time catching up to perennial powerhouses. When you throw dollars on top of it, it gets a lot harder. My fear is that the dollars are going to diminish the playing field of competition even more, which is the reason why most of us love sport. On any given Saturday, any team is at risk of losing. We saw this in the first game of the season with Florida State. Losing on a field goal as time expires."

American football gone global!

08:38 – Joey. “Let's be candid, the reason that's happening is because there is a desire at the NFL level to move to global teams and one of the target markets is Dublin. A great way to test it is with college teams to see what the fans are. At least when Notre Dame goes to Dublin, they sell out the stadium. I didn't see the ticket sales for the Florida State Georgia Tech game, but the practical reality is it was on TV and there seemed to be a lot of people and hype around it. It makes American football more of a global sport. It's such a challenge with the time zone differential and the impact it has on the players. I understand the hesitation.”

Powerhouses of the 2024 season.

10:24 – Joey. “Well, we can look at the rankings. I know Jay and I think that two of the teams that are ranked in the top 10 are the only ones worth talking about. Ohio State at #2 and Notre Dame at #7. The big discussion, at least for me, in the top 10 is what's going to happen with Alabama? Alabama has been a perennial powerhouse. They've got a new coach. Nick Saban is gone. Changed management and new leadership is difficult to manage in any organization, whether it's a chiropractic office or a collegiate football team. It is a gigantic question mark. It's also difficult to expect teams to continue to perform year after year. Do we think Michigan's going to win again? I don't. Again, new coaching staff. I'm waiting to see exactly just how much more happens with the NCAA with Michigan. Pays to play by the rules and not find yourself in a situation where you've got NCAA violations. There's a lot of teams that have been chomping at the bit in that top 10. Texas. Oregon is always up there but just not getting it done. I think this is the year where all bets are off and any number of things could happen.”

11:42 – Jay. “I don't understand Texas at all. They've underperformed year after year, coach after coach. I don't understand Texas at four. I do agree with you, Joey. Alabama for me, besides my beloved Buckeyes, is the story for me. I really want to see how Kalen DeBoer actually leads that team and what kind of record they have. I have to believe there was a very thoughtful, extensive process around who's going to like fill Nick Saban’s shoes. Who would want that job? That's the hardest job ever.”

12:17 – Joey. “It's an incredibly difficult job, but here's the thing that I did not know before all of the drama of Nick Saban leaving - they have the same agent. I'm not being a conspiracy theorist, but I have a feeling that, other than his wife, the next person that knew Nick Saban was thinking about retiring was his agent. I have to imagine, even though I'm not saying that agents weren't keeping confidentiality, it would not surprise me if there was some thought about that positioning and shifting long before the topic became public.”

13:06 - Brad. “Well, SEC is going to change this year. There's no question. I think OU is not going to do near as well. I think Texas will stumble big time this year. I can't even imagine SEC wanting Texas because they have this huge broadcasting network behind them. You can't hardly get a game unless it's going through the Texas football network. That's wrong, hard, and part of the reason for some of these changes. They wanted better start times on football broadcasting. They wanted more games on TV. When you've got Texas negotiating for with all those spots, it's just hard for me to believe that SEC wanted that in there.”

14:02 - Joey. “With respect to the Texas fans, once you get outside the borders of Texas, you're hard pressed to find a poppin' off bar on a Saturday in any major metropolitan area that's having the Texas Game Watch party. You just don't see it.”

15:07 - Jay. “Looking at the schedule, they play Georgia at home on October 19th. That's going to be the test. It'll be super interesting to see who the big boys of the SEC are. Texas or Georgia? I don't know, but if I was a betting man, I'd bet on Georgia.”

15:31 – Joey. “Yeah, I agree with you, Jay. We're also going to see the naysayer’s perennial conversation, asking when Notre Dame is going to join a conference. I'm increasingly wondering what value any of these conferences bring. When you actually look at it, there's no geographic relevance anymore. There used to be, but that is completely gone when you have the Big 10 with USC and UCLA. How did that happen? Dollars.

Allocating NIL money across all sports.

25:25 - Joey. “Well, I think every player should have the opportunity to get NIL money, regardless of what team they're playing on. The dollars are going to go where the TV is, and, for the most part, TV sits with football and basketball. The kicker is March Madness is a huge thing with ratings, TV and attention… once a year. College football is every weekend. It's just a completely different game. We see this translate to the professional leagues as well - the amount of money going through NFL compared to NBA is not even comparable. The irony of all ironies is American football is an American sport. Basketball, baseball, soccer, all of these other sports are international. For some reason, Grid Iron American football is where the attention, money, and tv contracts are.”

The game that is most nerve-wracking vs. the game that is the most exciting.

27:34 - Joey. “For me, same game. #7 Notre Dame against #20 Texas. New coach at A&M Mike Elko, who was previously was the coach at Duke. He had his quarterback, who is now the quarterback at Notre Dame - thanks transfer and NIL. We've got a situation where the head coach is now going against the guy who used to be his quarterback. I am cautiously optimistic that this is going to work out well for the Irish, but we're going down to play against A&M in their home stadium. That's going to be an adventure. There's a lot of people there. It's going to be loud. We got a new quarterback untested in the Notre Dame system. We have a new offensive coordinator that came from LSU, who put up a lot of points last year and got a Heisman Trophy out of their quarterback. This is going to set the tone for the season. If Notre Dame wins this game, based on their schedule, they should run the table fairly easily up until the Florida State game. Now Florida State's going to be a question mark because of what just happened with Georgia Tech. They can finish out the season in the Coliseum against USC on Thanksgiving weekend. Notre Dame could have a chance to run the table and, even if they have a loss or two with the new 12 playoff system, they're in. That's going to irritate a lot of people, but I come back to my opening statement: it's about the dollars.”

31:55 - Brad. “For Oklahoma State, we got so many new teams, I'm not sure this year. I’m not even sure who to watch out for. Maybe Arkansas? That first game or two, I'm sitting up there thinking we're going to have a horrible year, but then we're six games in and winning.

32:20 – Jay. “I think your big test is going to be Utah. Cameron Rising’s coming back from that injury, and their coaching is just phenomenal. They're a solid team, so if I was an Oklahoma State fan, that would be the concern game.”

32:37 – Brad. “That's a home game and so is Arkansas. If we can get past the first couple of games and get that chemistry rolling, we might have a good year.

32:55 - Jay. “Yeah. Well, you have one of the best running backs in the country.”

32:59 - Joey. “And you've all got QR codes on the helmets. Tell them about that, Brad. This is one of the most fascinating examples of NIL this season.”

33:13 - Brad. “NIL at Oklahoma State - they've had their booth and sign come up at the stadium, but we have some big donors here and my guess is those big donors are not throwing the money at NIL. Now, each one of the players have a QR code on their helmet, so if they're walking by, you can snap and make an instant donation. If they have a great play, they're going to put that QR code for that player up on the big screen. That's a new way to try to raise money for NIL - it's pretty amazing.”

39:08 - Jay. “The first one I'm nervous about is Oregon. We're going to Eugene. They've got a Heisman Trophy candidate in that quarterback at Oregon. I looked at his stats today and his quarterback rating averages like 167 or something ridiculous. It's also his sixth year playing, so it's basically like he’s a second year NFL quarterback. The game I’m most excited about is Michigan. I think we can run the table the rest of year if we play up to our potential and actually kick Michigan's butt this year. We've got a really solid, stacked team with Chip Kelly coming in as OC, Jim Knowles as DC and Ryan Day leading the troops - I think this could be their year.”

Wager time.

42:25 - Jay.“Okay, wager time. Brad, you're the mediator. We have to pick one stat, and I think we should do scoring defense because that’s ultimately the test of a defense. The winner wins the bet, and then we decide what the winner gets. Notre Dame against Ohio State.”

42:48 - Joey. “Who's going to have the better scoring defense*? Perfect, done, deal. Let's do it. We'll figure out the prize. We'll share what the prize is actually going to be on a future edition of Tech Talk”
- *Average points allowed

Darkhorses to watch out for.

51:05 - Jay. “I think it's Penn State. Drew Allar has a great arm. He's a great quarterback and he's maturing. Although they've choked pretty much every year, I'm nervous about Ohio State going there. Penn State's a team to watch.”

51:23 - Joey. “I definitely think Penn State is one to watch. I can't really call them a dark horse, but you mentioned Utah earlier. Utah has a chance to do a lot of things at a very high level that we haven't seen them do before. Part of that is my bias because, for a bit there, we were trying to recruit the offensive coordinator at Utah to come to Notre Dame. They put up some great numbers and they are going to do well in the Big 12 this year. Let me explain my reasoning - these players aren't familiar with a playoff schedule and, as a result, injuries and who is still standing on the field at the end of the year is going to be a big factor that a lot of these teams are going to miss. Notre Dame had a guy who was supposed to be starting offensive lineman was the top recruit coming out of high school, but he tore a pectoral muscle and he's out for the season that we haven't even started. Those types of things are going to happen, and you're going to see more of that in the SEC and Big Ten."

Investing in the football players as humans.

57:57 - Brad. “Oklahoma State has a nonprofit organization called the Eddie Sutton Foundation. Eddie Sutton was a legendary basketball coach, and, in its new iteration, this foundation has become a pediatric oncology program where 99.9% of the money goes back to the program. A kid with cancer gets paired up with one of the players and they develop these amazing relationships.”

59:11 - Jay. “For me, it's about rituals that build culture. Wearing of the black stripe until you've earned to take it off. It's the “blocko” for the true leaders of the team. I feel like Ohio State has done a really, really good job of building a culture of competition and caring. They’ve built this team, this band of brothers that love each other that are willing to go to war for each other. That probably happens with many of the universities, but I'm just connected to it because it's my team.”

59:49 - Joey. “I’m a huge fan of culture, tradition and ritual and Notre Dame's got a bunch of them. It is my personal belief that our universities have the same responsibility to prepare students for life after college. They also have the same responsibility to prepare athletes for life after college. Let's be candid, as much as we all love college football, the great majority of the players we cheer for on Saturday will not be playing on Sunday. If they do play on Sunday at the professional league, I think the average tenure in the NFL now is less than four years. What are we doing to make sure players are ready for life post-football? The Associate Director of Sports Nutrition and Team Dietician at Notre Dame, Alexa Appelman, has been doing off season cooking classes for the Notre Dame players. She's teaching them how to make healthy meals. I love the idea that these football players are graduating knowing how to make multiple healthy meals. When you see interviews with them and they’re asked what they made for dinner this weekend, these guys are throwing up impressive culinary dishes that they're learning how to do from the team nutritionist and dietician.”

Top 4 contenders of the 2024 season.

01:09:15 - Brad. “I believe Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame will be there, and I would be nuts to not say Alabama, even though they have a lot of changes going on.”