Glenn Mason said a long time ago at the University of Minnesota, you need a Pair and a Spare.

Thank you PJ.

It is time for another edition of the Pair and a Spare podcast.

I'm justin Guard from KFA N.

We've got Ryan Burns from Gopher Illustrated and from football across Minnesota.

This might be his flu game, Chip Scottgins the Minnesota Star Tribune.

We are presented as always by our great partners at Jack's Cafe, making reservations at Jaxcafe dot com, and who knows.

If you go to Jacks you.

Might see Glenn Mason, Greg Eslinger, Mike cheryls, Adam Weber, and Steve Davis, all kinds of goal for a lums.

Adam Weber tweeted out a picture.

I don't know if you guys saw it, Big Greg Eslinger celebration dinner with our guy Mace there and I would recognize that to core anywhere Jack's Cafe, the location, where else would it be?

That is awesome?

That is awesome and congress to Greg.

I know he had a pretty good contingent down in Vegas two for the ceremony.

I saw some pictures from there.

Bubba Brinkhaus was there and Mike Cheryl's I think we're there, but yep, just pe PGI Yeah, PJ was there.

Just a great, uh competitor, like one of the toughest competitors I've ever covered.

I mean, he just played so hard but also just a really really good guy and great ambassador for the program.

And happy for him to he's getting his dude, because three time All America atland Remington.

He deserved to be in the Hall of Fame.

Yeah.

Always remarkable to me how offensive lineman can shed weight the way that they do, because he looks like to go do a strong man competition.

It's so frustrating.

Yeah, well, so frustrating.

You remember back, Yeah, if you remember me, he wasn't obviously this small, but he was not a big offensive line and his his specialty was getting out and pulling and running and you would see him twenty yards downfield trying to chop guys out so Maroni or Barber can get you know, a big game.

He just I mean, that guy played so hard and what a line when you had him and Cederstrom and Bubba Brinkhause and Melander and and those guys, and then he had maps.

They blocking that was there's a reason.

I mean, those backs were great, but those offensive lines were really really special.

Yeah, that was good, good stuff.

Daniel House wrote a good piece on Gophers guru dot com.

He was down there and yeah, wrote a really good piece.

So I would recommend our guy reading House.

And he looked good in his suit.

Because everybody's got a dress up.

Looks like it's a party I would not want to go to because you have to take it up a notch, even from like a suit, which of course the head coach has no problem with.

PJ looks good.

Bob Stein, my guy was there too.

He's a college football Hall of Famer.

So it was cool.

It seems like it seems like a fun time.

I could do the vegas.

I don't know if I could do the outfits.

Uh, unfortunately two thousands of vikings Lore was there and Jim Kleinshaus.

He's a hall of famer too.

Yeah, you're right, good call North to Cota stand up?

Did you?

Oh?

Yeah?

Yeah.

I covered Jimmy's career as the beat writer.

Great guy, always funny.

Yeah, I mean, and uh from St.

John's Yeah, Blake Elk So we had three kind of Minnesota ties to the College of Football Hall of Fame this year.

We're a football hoped.

We always happened.

Burnsy tries to tell us every year there's not a bunch of players that come out and you better get to two that are worth something.

And I say, I think there's more players.

That's why you're going football across Minnesota exactly.

You recognize that there's more players and more stories than Burnsy does.

So, yeah, you really do.

I'm always news.

There was one more thing I wanted to say about that Hall of Fame.

Blake Elliott client Saucer.

Oh, I went ice fishing with Jim Clinsaucer and Brainerd one day for a KFA and event awesome.

Yeah, it was, by the way, the only time I've ever been ice fishing.

We did the show.

We did the show from a fish house, I assume.

I assume on Gull Lake.

I think we were staying at Grandview.

It was somehow Pa and Do Bay back when I was producing for them.

Really we would do yeah, we would do that.

We used to do cool stuff all the time.

I don't know what happened to the cool stuff.

We used to do cool stuff all the time.

And one of those was some type of ice fishing trip.

I think I assume some listeners were there.

Maybe we were promoting something, but I just remember, yeah, going out and Jim Kleinsauser was part of it, and so we just sat there and ice fished and.

You got Jimmy and his element.

I'm sure he loved that.

Yeah, that was the cool thing, is like, and you know, you know Tom West the ship and Bernsy might too, but like he knows all the the guys that'd be interested in the outdoors, right, So sure that was a pretty easy call if I remember correctly.

And even if klein Sauser didn't like ice fishing, he looks like he would like ice fishing.

It looks like he doesn't even need like a motorized auger.

He could just grab like a pick and an axe and just chop it away and get the hole in the ice on himself.

Augur, Right, Burnsy, I got it.

Yeah, you're an elite outdoors mind, what time do you join Saturday morning with my two favorite gentlemen.

Captain Billy Hildebrand and Bob Saint Pierre.

I'm right after tackle Terry too.

I'm right after tackle Terry.

Tuma all right, there's so much to talk about.

There is so much to talk about.

Speaking to Mace Glenn Mason was actually in our studio at Kfan about twenty minutes after the bombshell Michigan news last Wednesday that Sharon Moore, a man who once cried on the field at Penn State after the Wolverines beat the Nitney Lions, like Jim Harbaugh, was recovering from some terminal illness in a hospital other than just sitting in the Sheraton in State College because he had been suspended for cheating, has been let go.

He has been dismissed.

If you're a college football fan, this is not news to you.

We're catching it a little late because we'd already recorded for last week.

But I think everybody knows the particulars.

I think everybody knows the situation.

He was fired for a cause, inappropriate relationship with the staffer.

A lot of information about that.

He's currently in jail because he had an epic meltdown, and you can read all about that too.

What do we think, what's the reaction?

Let's start there.

Burnsey on the latest and I say the latest at Michigan it is.

I mean, you think every time we come on here, there's not something that college football can do that makes you think of real housewives of Salt Lake City.

And now we have a big ten a blue blood head coach being charged with home invasion, stalking and breaking and entering, and it, I mean, honesty, goodness, it is an incredibly sad situation for him the way that it again, with all the particulars that have gone around it.

He gets arrested, gets put in a psych hold like this is not great for him, and I feel for him to an extent, but he's also the one that put himself in this position where yet another head coach gets involved with someone he shouldn't be as a man who's married with three kids, and sounds like this whole thing had been brewing for quite some time now.

I'm not exactly sure how Ward Manual is still the athletic director the University of Michigan right now, considering I think there was a lot of smoke about this for a very long time.

But it is fascinating to see the way that these men because he's not the first or that, and he won't be the last to have a relationship outside of his marriage, but to have the meltdown that he did.

It is.

I don't know that I've ever seen something quite like this.

Chip.

No, I don't feel bad for him.

I feel bad for his wife and kids absolutely.

And you know, it sounds like Michigan is hired to outside organization group whatever to investigate the entire department.

So Ormanuel might not be the ad when they get to the end of this and conclude that, hey, there's been just too much negative, bad publicity has happened on his watch there.

So what's the rush on hiring the third party to make sure that not?

What's the rush the last time?

Why wait or why why hurry into this?

Are you saying there's been some things at Michigan that maybe the athletic department has a little bit too much power, is not run very well.

I don't understand.

That's it, man?

What a witch hunt?

What a witch hunt that things might not be going okay?

There?

Just very scare you.

You're just not a Michigan man.

You don't understand.

Yeah, like that was it nine?

Not enough?

They had to have ten?

Is that a certain number of incidences where.

They were I said, I mean, just you know, Biff Pogi is the interim head coach and my tweet the day that had happened when it was he's going to be the interim it's like, well, they have experience with him being in charge because Sharon Moore was suspended like eight times in the last two years.

So this is just status quo.

The players shouldn't be all that effected.

They understand Biff and his you know, as the lead voice of the program, but it's just madness there.

From Yeah, I saw Biff did his first press thing yesterday and I think the word he used was his.

The players still portrayed, and I, you know, I tend to think there people were probably aware of what was going on that relationship.

Those things don't tend to be kept quiet, and uh, you know, as they do in any work environment, people talk, but it's just a mess and it's uh, you know, you feel I do feel bad for the players because now all of a sudden, their world's getting you know, who's going to be the coach And there's probably players that came there because they wanted to play for them, right Obviously I don't know if it's specifically for him, but you think you're going to play for a certain coach and then he has an absolute professional and personal meltdown.

So I'm curious to see where they land in terms of because if you're a coach, I don't think you could bet on that a D be in there sure, so that that has to factor into It's still Michigan, it's still you know, a blue blood, top whatever job.

But it's it's a mess, and so yeah, I don't have a lot of sympathy for him the coach.

Zero.

I would also say, just football wise, here guards you before we kick it back to here, it seems like a pretty good year to have Michigan on the schedule next year if you're Minnesota.

Same thing kind of goes for Penn State with Matt Campbell now rebuilding.

Speaking of Matt Campbell, I do want to interject this.

I wonder if part of the reason why Matt Campbell dragged his feet to an extent with the Penn State job is maybe he knew that he wasn't going to get Michigan.

Because I will be explicitly clear when I say this, this Sharon Moore thing had been a rumor going around college football circles for the majority of the fall, and if it had reached my ears.

I would surely hope Ward Manual was getting replacements lined up, as a good athletic director would.

So I'm wondering if Campbell was told no, which is why he took Penn State, which is now why maybe again, I don't know how you can hire somebody if your Ward Manual, because why are you still there?

Because you knew about this and I think tried to bury it to an extent.

So I am going to be fascinated who this hire is because we've seen Calen Debor come out and say I'm going to be the head coach at Alabama here, and I know that a lot of Michigan people wanted him.

So we'll see if Jedfish or Kenny Dillingham are going to be the next in line there.

But I will note the Gophers do have Michigan on the schedule, and I am fascinated to see because if they do fire Ward Manual here, the portal opens here in about two three weeks, and that's the only portal window.

You have to make a hire here prior to the portal opening if you're gonna have any semblance of a twenty twenty six roster, If you're Michigan.

Even if you are Michigan, but they got to get somebody in there, So I'm gonna be fascinated to see what that timeline looks like and who is actually making the hire.

This might be a dumb question, but you wouldn't do an interim for a year, would you?

I mean, I mean it's not a perfect world.

Yeah, I mean in perfect world you wouldn't be.

But because of the timing and because of just the uncertainly, would you write it out a year and then figure out where you're at?

Or is that just to no?

I think that's a very viable option, especially if this this investigation into ward manual in the d Michigan Athletic Department isn't wrapped up for another week or two and then they end up firing the ad.

Well, then who the heck's going to make this higher?

Would that?

Would that kill you?

In the portal though?

Would you get kids to come if you knew it was just an interim for one year?

I mean it depends upon if this cycle of portal guys or like the basketball portal where they're all just one year mercenaries.

Anyway, we haven't seen that historically where Michigan's got more money than they know what to do with, which is why when they got hit with that what was it a thirty million dollars fine for the whole Connor Stallion's thing.

That's just a drop in the bucket for the University of Michigan.

It is, well, let's there's a it's not the same, it's not precedent, but I mean theoretically, I mean the Tracy Clay's taken over for Jerry Kill turned out to be an interim and there was an athletic director change in there, right because Kill retires, Clays takes over a couple of weeks later.

He gets a three year contract and it basically was a one year contract because you're not you're either getting fired at the end of it or you're getting extended at the end of it.

And that's what I said at the time.

And it gave a little bit of stability to that season.

And then Mark Coyle comes in I think the summer that next summer, because Beth Getz was the one that gave Tracy the three year deal, and we know, so you had the season of keeping it together and then the next ad decides what he wants to do, because I mean, if Pogi's been a head coach, so it's not the dumbest thing in the world if they don't get one of the first five candidates that they want.

But the difference between Minnesota and Michigan is it's Michigan like people will leave their job for Michigan.

And if there's even if there's a little bit of uncertainty, and you know, any Jimmy Sexton or any Jimmy Sexton disciples is going to go, so we don't know who the ada is maybe quite yet, or there's some uncertainty.

Yeah, nine year contract sounds fair, yea, because.

They the good coaches have the leverage, right, especially the ones that have the good job already and are are stable and the ones that they're in.

So it's gonna be an interesting couple of weeks, But you're right, Burnsy, there has to be some resolution by that by that portal day, you would think, you would think.

It just depends upon how quickly I think they get this internal investigation wrapped up, which well, that'll take could be two weeks, could be a month, I don't know.

Yeah, those those things don't take weeks.

They'll take months.

I mean, I mean, they could just google Michigan athletics from the last five years, could take minutes.

Reach seven stories.

AI could probably put together a pretty nice synopsis about how everybody from the president on down has been embarrassing throughout these scan the old president because that president left, the one that said, you know, bet Michigan or whatever.

After Harvard got's spend it.

It's just been and again that's who they want to be.

That's fine.

The rest of us don't have to like it, or celebrate it or cheer it.

I just don't.

I don't have any sympathy for any of them over there.

Once they once they allowed the Harbaugh thing to just go and fight it like they did, you know.

And by the way, he you know, didn't have much of a comment on this situation, Harbaugh, which is shocking to nobody that I'm trying to process it.

I'm speaking of the things that are going to go a long time.

We'll never hear Jim Harbaugh say anything about this situation, even though this is his guy, his team, his staff.

We'll never hear it.

My favorite, my favorite potential hire for Michigan is Harbaugh's defensive coordinator now Jesse Minter, who is about to be cleared from his one year show cause penalty for the last time he was at Michigan for cheating Like that to me is the perfect hire like just like and people are writing this like he's a great coach, he knows the program.

It's a little tricky because he's got a show cause penalty from literally the last time he was at Michigan.

Like, if that doesn't tell you about just college sports and big business and Michigan, it just cracks me up that, Yeah, bring him back, Go Blue, Go Blue, I can coach again.

Is he a Michigan man, Guardsy, I.

Guess he's a Michigan man.

I guess he's a Michigan man.

So, in all seriousness, you mentioned the candidates that we're hearing a lot of names, and Kaylin de bor is saying, you know, he's got a playoff game he's trying to get ready for.

Kenny Dillion.

Hamm has been asked about it, Jedfish, I don't think we've heard much from have we.

They just played a few days.

He's got asked about it before the LA Bowl where they just kicked the snot out of Boise and he gave a non answer or excuse me not a denial is the whole thing with all these coaches, which, by the way, that's another team, Washington that's also on the Gopher schedule.

So if Jetfish is the guy for Michigan, that's another program.

Seems like a pretty good year.

Then to go out to Seattle and see see what that team looks like.

Yeah, it's ah I saw.

I think the top two names that I've seen at least the most steam about our Fish they are Dialingham.

Now I know that there's been a rumored extension being worked on between Dillingham and Arizona State.

I think Fish would go up.

I think he would walk all the way, just like I think Minnesota's own head coach would row his way to ann Arbor if he needed to.

Yep.

Now, I don't think it gets to PJ on that list.

But again, I think if you're asking me right now, I think Jetfish is probably going to be the guy.

Which who could forget that two thousand and nine season Chipper.

Well, yes, and I was gonna say I saw a For what it's worth, one of those is a Bovada.

Here the odds of the coaches and fish was had the highest odds by quite a bit on that list.

Yeah, over the weekend he moved to the heavy favorite.

I think when the debor statements came out, and who knows what those guys know, but it's it's food for thought for sure.

Yeah.

Yeah, but yeah, I mean speaking of Google, Google, how many places that guy's coach that after?

No doubt?

I mean it was basically one a year after he left here from being the offense coore.

Was he just off one year here?

Where was it too?

I don't anybody for two?

That's right.

He followed Dunbar with Mike Dunbar than him, I believe.

And yeah, I mean poor Adam Weber.

You mentioned Adam five offensive coordinators in five years or something.

But he clearly because he went to work for him.

You went to work for him.

Yeah, yeah, so I yeah, I don't know what what would be a good hire, bad high for them?

At this point.

It's Michigan, You're right, I mean, it's it's not like this is just another job.

It's Michigan.

Even all the termol everything is going on, uncertainty with you know, the A D and everything.

It's Michigan, and there's always you know, that's that's an attraction in itself.

So, but I would imagine you're right with the timeline of the portal.

If I'm the coach taking a job, I want to be I want to be in that office before it, when that portal opens, and not you know afterwards.

Well, the other part of this too is it's not even Michigan necessarily, it's the whole Penn State thing that got so many guys that maybe Michigan would be looking at extensions, guys like Clark Lee out at Vanderbilt or the Missouri head coach, like so many of these guys were be like, yeah, that'd be a pretty good hire for them.

They just had their terms reset, they just signed extensions.

And that's not to say Michigan doesn't have the money to go get them or make it very enticing for them to leave at that same point.

But because this is so late in the game, I think that's why you're seeing the candidate pool being talked about the way that it is.

Is.

I mean, Penn State had their pick of whoever they wanted, and they were able to get a lot of different head coaches, how life changing, life changing money for their family, their families, family, their families, families, families, families, families.

But that's the whole thing with the time this and that's where I'm going to be fascinated to see is because of the ad, because of the internal investigation.

Because where you are in bull season now and signing days already coming gone, We've seen some Michigan guys already elect to get out of their their national letter of intent.

Sir, what happens with Bryce Underwood at Michigan Again, that they paid a lot of money for Bryce Underwood, that the five star quarterback who started for them as a true freshman, had some ups, had some downs, but obviously very very gifted.

I don't know what.

Again, this thing is just going to continue to spin for Michigan.

But the longer it goes on, the more I'm getting a little bit suspicious that they're going to have the ability to have, say, a blue blood caliber team because there's only one portal window.

It's from January second, and then when midnight strikes for Cinderella on January the eighteenth, is closed for new entrance for everybody, for everybody.

So it's how do you figure out how to get that roster where it needs to be now again, they've got a good roster.

They won eight nine where they win nine games this year.

Yeah, and they're pretty young too, it seems like from what I've heard.

But it's trying to figure out how many of those guys are we going to be able to retain with the new staff.

Who is the new staff bringing in.

There's a lot of things and dominoes that have to fall, And the longer that you just continue to kick this can down the road, even for a blue blood like Michigan, the more complicated it gets.

All Right, So who's it going to be?

Who's the prediction.

I'm saying Fish, I'll say dilling Him.

Really, I think there's some some leverage trying to be again, if I'm dealing him, I'm trying to get out of Arizona State to go to Michigan.

If i'm him, Yeah, to have that amount of resources.

Yep.

Again.

If I'm you, Guardsian and you just asked us, we took one, took Fish when took Dillingham.

If I'm you, I'm taking the field.

And I don't even know who the field would be at this point, But I just don't even know what to quite expect for the way that this thing has unfolded to begin with, where the amount of twists and turns, just even with the shron Moore thing, do we Here's what I'll ask you in return before you give your answer.

Is Ward Manual going to be the one making the higher.

Yeah?

I think so.

I think so, Chipper, I think you will because I think that investigation those things do not they take so long.

I think you you know, look, he survived a lot of other things.

Yeah, but I do think if if the investigation comes like hey they have a climate of out of control and they need different leadership, you're not getting that in the next two weeks.

I don't think these investigations take a long time.

Yeah, that's what's gonna pickards.

Well, here's the thing.

If they wanted it to be fished, that could be done right now.

So I know they're trying to just get themselves stable and settled.

And I think on three had a report of like six coaches that they'd apparently talked to or were interested in.

I know two four seven has had the same thing.

So I I would bet they want Dillingham before Fish.

That would be my guess.

That would be my guess and they're trying to figure out what's going on there if they can convince young Kenny to go up to Michigan.

Because even though the weather's nice in Arizona State, I mean it's he even saw it a little bit this year.

It's hard to do it over and over at these places that are not used to doing it.

You know, they were giving away tickets for their opener this year, right, and it was his idea, and he said, this is what you have to do when you're building a program.

This is what we do.

Like they're not giving away tickets at Michigan very often.

They were in the Brady hook Are I think, or late in the rich Rod where you know, you could go to your local grocery store in ann Arbor and pick up a couple of tickets if you bought a bag of chips.

But they're not they're not doing that very often.

So I would think Dillingham is probably their first choice.

I would think Fish is going to be right there.

And then it does get weird.

Then it does get weird.

And you mentioned Pj's name.

If I'm PJ, I'm absolutely pursuing this job.

I'm calling and going hey like like like Bill Garon when they called for Quinn Hughes, right, the assistant says, hey, we should call about Quinn Hughes, like, apparently he's available, let's see, And even the first phone call, the GM for Vancouver said, well, I don't like your chances, but yeah, give us an offer.

Well, guess what, I'm going to the wild game tonight and Quinn Hughes is wearing number forty three for the home team.

Like because I mean, it would, it'd make it.

And honestly, Pj's the type of coach they should want there, the guy who's gonna come in and, you know, tighten things up and run a clean program and do all of that.

So I'm not saying it's likely those same odds Burnsy you said or Chip you said as him as like.

The twelfth favorite.

But I'm just I wonder how many no's have to be had before Gopher Finn should be nervous about it, because that's a I mean, it makes a lot of sense for me.

Sorry, That's where I wonder if how many times how many knows what they hear before they say, you know what, let's just let Biff coaching for this year and we'll figure this out next.

Sure too, that's what yeah, I mean, that's where I think.

That's where my mind goes, the same place Chips is is if Fish in Dillingham say no at that point, just Keith Biff, try to keep your roster and then you'll have an entire offseason to figure it out with an athletic director who actually can have the power to make the higher.

Then you could see, I mean this, you could say this is May's not gold this or that I'm holding on YouTube.

You know this if you look at it in the right light.

I don't think you can do blue because it's too hard to autograph.

But May's this could be May's.

I don't know, not exactly.

Sure, all right, let's pause quickly and then we'll talk about some Gopher stuff on the other side.

Speaking of dominoes falling, some big ones fell for Go for Football, including one big one that we'll talk about.

But first let's talk about our great partners at Jack's Cafe.

You can see it on the YouTube channel if you're watching Jaxcafe dot com is where you want to make your reservations.

One more Breakfast with Santa at nine am on Sunday.

They've got reservations pretty much all morning.

Make your reservations for that.

It's an amazing time.

If you have kids, they will absolutely love it.

The food is good, there's face painting, there's balloons they've usually got like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer or something playing on a projection screen.

And of course the big guy Santa's there taking pictures with everybody.

So Jackscafe dot com if you want a great family outing, but Burnsey.

If you don't have kids or don't want to hang out with your kids, there's also great opportunities at Jack's Cafe again.

I was just there a couple of weeks ago, took a couple of lovely friends with me, had an outstanding little kind of double date night.

I know Chipper was just out there with his lovely wife, and it is an outstanding on beyond whatever type of drink, whatever type of food you're looking for, from steaks to burgers to I know that somebody would I was with got the prime ribs, she said, the best prime ribs she's ever had.

I could eat that right now at eight forty six in the morning.

But it is the season where everybody might be getting coming into a little bit of a Christmas bonus.

Or you're looking at your significant other thinking it's been too long.

Well, I can assure you Jack's Cafe, and we can think we talk about it every week, but proove us wrong.

Go there, take your significant other, or go to breakfast with Santa on Sunday.

Take the kids, have an outstanding time, and do something that Chip loves to do, which is make memories.

Unmute yourself, Chip, you're coughing all over the place.

Sorry, Yeah, I had had myself used because I was confident.

Welcome to twenty twenty.

That's right.

Everyone used to do that during COVID.

You're muted.

You got Yeah, that's why I knew exactly what was going on.

Yeah, my wife got the prime rib, but we went a couple of weeks ago.

Guards.

You nailed it like you could have that for breath.

It was so good.

Oh my gosh.

I was just looking at the Adam Weber photo.

Weber's rocking the stash now.

But how about the match the matchbooks on the table, I'm sure it was like something Hall of Fame for uh for for a slinger there that Bill does a good job.

Like when I was coming he texted me.

You know, he said, are you guys celebrating anything specially.

I'm like, no, we're just coming because he's gonna make us matchbook covers for our special occasion.

What is just classy touch that they do.

That's the old school, that's personal and it's just first class.

So take your take your significant other, your wife, your girlfriend, your boyfriend, your if you have a holiday party group outing for Christmas, that's the spot to go to right there.

Make your reservations at jackscafe dot com, j a xcafe dot com.

Drake Lindsay is back on the Go Goper podcast with the voice of the Gophers, Mike Grim.

How about Grim or getting a little scoopage burns.

I'm sure you love that.

I'm sure, I said the next thing.

I know you can still get players right now.

But he is Mike Grim.

That's what makes him so amazing.

He's the voice of the Golphers and Drinks said, go ahead.

Three things.

Mike Grim is good for getting scoops like that, learning how to as he's sitting behind me before the Wisconsin game watching YouTube videos of how to spatchcock a turkey, and then going out and implementing it and sending me a photo and then talking to me about obscure eighties hair metal bands that he goes and sees at these little places.

He is an eclectic man.

Your wife and crime there.

Yeah, he's a unique individuals a unique individual.

I'm just going to say that.

But that's good news for Gopher fans and not surprising at least to me.

Now, as we said all season long, is twenty twenty five.

Nothing should ever surprise you in college sports.

But I mean, I could throw to a clip right now of the rant I went on in like mid October where it was just that he's leaving and I could be able to pay him.

He's playing too good, Someone's gonna give him the bag.

I just thought that was nonsense at the time.

People may have gleaned that from my comments at the time.

And he even said like I haven't even really thought about going anywhere else.

I think that was the quote with grim, like never really thought about it.

This is where I want to be.

I like it here.

I feel like I'm being prepared for the next level well here, and I want to take place to places if they've never been so world the boat Skotu mat Go Gophers burns.

Yeah, yeah, this has actually been done.

This got done.

I think he signed before National signing Day from the way I understand it, which again I don't know that.

I've never seen one of these legally binding documents.

Looks like between the House settlement and Dicky Town athletes.

But uh, the way I understand it, it's Drake is very much locked in.

There's a reason why Drake signed before a national signing day.

Drake is going to be one of the highest paid guys on the team.

I still think he'll probably be making below.

Now, this is just me speculating, so I don't want to see some clickbait article about it somewhere, but I'm gonna speculate he's still probably bottom of the half, bottom half big ten starting quarterback money.

But that being said, I think he's going to be top three highest paid on the team, as he should be, because I mean, yeah, if not the highest paid.

Yeah, I was saying number one, fine, who else?

Number One's fine?

But it's like I think people underestimate and I know that again, it's the number one thing I gain.

We'll make these things public if you can't even get hit them public in the sec you're not gonna get them public at the University of Minnesota for what.

I can't even find out what we can't even find out if there's an ankle injury for somebody, Like, how are we gonna find out?

Or we can't we could find out, they're not gonna tell us, right, So do you think they're gonna tell us what the W nine's or what W two's are looking like with ten forty's whatever they are, or.

Yeah, we tried to, but like I've tried to Foia at Freedom.

Yeah, and there is some thing in Minnesota state law where they don't have to report it.

So like it's my point being, it's really good that Drake Lindsay is going to be coming back because I know of the and you mentioned one of them that listens to this podcast, Adam Weber was a really good quarterback here.

Tanner Morrigan another listener to this podcast, very good quarterback.

I think Drake's got a ceiling above both of them.

Now, it's.

Can Minnesota field an offensive line, they can find a run game, Can they go find a portal receiver or two that can actually come down with something called a contested catch, which I continue to see other teams have on Saturdays, but Drake lindsay coming back, Chip, it's very important for this team.

I'd argue it's the most important building block of this twenty twenty six team.

And they were able to get him all locked up.

Yeah, and maybe this is me being naive or not having you know, uh antenna up enough, But I never even thought it was a question that he was coming back, Like is this day and age now where you just I know, used to assume.

And that's because I, you know, I tell your friends, Yeah when they beat Wisconsin, you know, I wrote Drake as a column.

I bet ninety percent of the replies when I tweeted it out were because I said they're in good hands.

They're like not if they you know, until someone comes and gives them, you know, more money than he leaves and this and that he's gone.

It's like it never even.

Going to Michigan for the last nine years.

Yeah.

I didn't even put that in, like that qualifier in my column that if he comes back, because I just I know how much he values this staff, both PJ and Greg Harbo.

I think he's bought into the culture that I didn't think could he get more money elsewhere, Sure, but I didn't.

We know his background, we know his families, you know, is their financial thing.

I didn't think money was going to be a thing where he's going to haggle over well I could get one hundred more thousand here or what you know.

I didn't think that was going to play into it.

I think PJ and that staff should should go into the portal and sell him, Hey, do you want to come play with the quarterback who can really sling it?

Like?

We need receivers, like, go get him some receivers, upgrade dead offensive line.

I'm curious what you know with family Leven.

What does that say?

Is that mean Darius is back and got a lot of money?

Are those two things tied?

Burnsey?

But I think Drake Lindsay's the absolute selling point for me if I'm a head coach to when I go to recruiting, when I go to the portal.

And Drake is actively helping in the portal, which is part of why he signed as early.

Because he wants good players to throw the ball to.

He wants an offensive line that can protect him or even like the feme thingma edge boy is going to hit the portal I've heard a couple of things there.

I would say I would expect him to probably as we sit here today, land in the SEC.

That's this is one of these things where some of the time it is going to be sometimes about role, sometimes about money.

I think for this specific instance, I think it's a combination of both.

It's never just one thing or another.

But I do think he can probably make more money in the SEC, probably have a much maybe a bigger role, Which to your question, Chip, I do expect Darius Taylor to to be back.

We'll get him.

We'll see if we get him tomorrow with the media, which, by the way, this is the media gets the local media here gets Fleck and the coordinators and apparently some players tomorrow, which that's about the first time I can remember in nine years of Fleck being here that we got a pre Bowl not at the bull site availability following National Signing Day, which is interesting.

Well, are you going to complain about it now?

I mean, you've got the access you wanted, Burns, you get some plenty.

I'm just stating for the record, I found it interesting, which is me trying to say, I wonder, I wonder what they have to share that it was I guess so pressing that they allowed us.

I wonder if it's just to allow some of these guys to say, hey, like I'm coming back if that makes me so, I'm sure Drake's gonna talk tomorrow, but it is interesting.

So yeah, the Femi one, I mean, I thought that kid had a lot of talent skills.

That's a loss, I mean, losing hymns.

But if your biggest loss on offense is Feme boy, I think he did pretty good at retaining what you need to retain.

Sure can be true.

Yeah, I mean that's a tough one because you recruit him, your red shirt him, you invest in him.

And but also, like you said, Burnsy, if you got Darius Taylor here and theoretically aj Turner and I mean, shoot, we saw Grant Washington have some juice, Like you know they're going to have a role for him at some point too.

Like I don't ever worry about the Gophers finding running backs.

I know we've gone down to Jordan Nuban before, but I don't ever worry about the Gophers finding functional running backs because we've even talked about that with Darius, right, Like how much how much money can you throw at Darius given he's been injured a lot.

I know last year he wasn't.

This year he was.

Two years ago he was.

I mean, we've seen it in the NFL a little bit, the deemphasizing of running backs financially, that's come back a little bit.

Sakuon Barkley's helping everybody get paid.

But it's I don't.

Yeah, it's a bummer because I thought he had I think he's a good back, you know, I think he was only going to get better.

But you can't, like we always say, you can't always keep everybody at a school like Minnesota.

No, And they to me, I mean, if Darius is coming back, that's a great starting point because that offense is definitely different when he's in there.

Sure just got I mean with him, it's just health.

But the wide receiver position, and I know that's going to cost some money into portal and you're not gonna out spend schools there, but they need to upgrade there.

It is funny to me that your column after Wisconsin, the comments were what the comments were.

It just proves my point about observers.

The observers in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, the observers the observers, the observers, the observers, it's I'm that's gonna be my last when whenever I die, that's gonna be my last words.

Well, because I promise you that's not happening elsewhere with a good quarterback.

It's just not where the public is saying, well, we're gonna lose them.

Yeah, it's it's almost it's almost become a reflex.

Yes, it's like it's the first thing.

It's like, oh, you know, it's lazy.

He's gone.

It's like, well, based on what like what what's the other other than this is the world that we live in with portal and money, Like there's been no indication like none, And yes, somebody could come in and write him a big check, but I again, I didn't.

He just Drake seems all in on this coaching stuff in this program.

And his teammates.

Yeah's another year Greg Harbow lover than Drake lindsay.

Yeah, those two are right there.

Yes, if they have another year where receivers can't make a contested catch and he's getting sacks fifty times, and yeah, things might change.

You might go, you know what, I'm gonna try something else, But what and that was heard.

Of my column too.

Yeah, guards, that's part of my column too.

Is like PJ, you've got to go surround him with better infrastructure.

You had you solve the biggest question in football.

You got the quarterback.

Now build out around him and give him better talent so you can maximize his skill.

All right, we got about fifteen minutes left because mister is a heart out today again, so we want to respect that.

Dylan Rayola speaking at quarterbacks going into the portal.

This was you know, we saw this towards the end of the season, right, some smoke about this.

His uncle got fired.

He was the offensive line coach.

Brother de committed right from Michigan, so I think you called him Timu Patrick Mahomes Burnsy earlier in the season.

He will be looking for a new spot.

And it's interesting, like this was a big deal for Nebraska to get him, right, like flipped from Georgia.

It was a big coup for Matt Ruhle, who you guys know how I feel about him.

This was kind of like the one solid, solid thing, especially because they melted down towards the end of the season, even before he got injured.

It'll be interesting to see what they do now they have the resources to go try to find somebody, as we would say.

But well, shoot, rule just came out and said here in the last few weeks.

Yeah, money's not an issue for us now right, Oh, can you imagine how much money you must have to come out and say that as a head coach?

Well, and also not an issue now, I mean, come on, were we on what are the streets like K Street, L Street, M Street, N Street?

Right?

Aren't they the letters in Lincoln?

Are you sitting out on Lincoln with a sign that says need help?

I mean, come on, give me a break.

Money's not an issue now.

Okay, well, we just did someone win the powerball down there that we're not accustomed with at Nebraska.

Money's not an issue now.

Goodness, gracious, go ahead.

But I almost wonder and if that Minnesota game is the one that got Nebraska's staff and fans to realize he just ain't it where he's holding on the ball way too long, taking all these sacks, making again he does a couple of things where he flips the ball over Joey Gurlock for a thing, or switches to his left hand because again he thinks he's Timu Patrick Mahomes.

But he also is a huge part of when Nebraska imploded in the second half.

Was he held on the ball to bleeping long took nine sacks.

Yeah, I was not impressed with them at all.

I thought, yeah, he might give you the spectacular play, but the fact that he would hold onto the ball and hold onto the ball and take all those sacks end up at a blue blood, I mean, does he wind up in a well?

I will say regards to these comment, it has already been reported Texas Tech is not interested, no matter what Riola would have to do to go to the home.

But it's so I've seen Oregon might be interested if Dante like I just I just know from watching that game there were two second year quarterbacks that took the field.

I know which one I'd rather have, and I know which one I watch all the time.

I know which one was not a five star.

And I'm not saying that Riola is not gifted.

He clearly is gifted.

But a reset is needed elsewhere where.

He wasn't the only five star quarterback to hit the portal where DJ lagway from floor.

He apparently wanted to stay in the New Florida staff said no, we don't want to build around you, which that's a stance to take, which okay, but yeah, Nebraska's gonna be Well, that's the thing with so many of these programs, guys, it's not just Nebraska that's going to be looking for a new quarterback.

And that's the beautiful part about Minnesota and the Drake Lindsay decision here is sure I was going to be looking to replace Gronowski.

Wisconsin is going to be looking to replace xyz quarterback, all four of them.

I would tell you leading passer Sean West, their punter when they beat a ranked team at home.

But you're gonna have a lot of teams on the schedule or even Indiana next year who's going to be replacing Fernando Mendoza, like the Heisman Trophy winner.

It is not a place for Minnesota to want to get into a bidding war is for portal quarterbacks.

But so many of their teams or the teams that they're going to be facing next year, are going to be having to end a lot of their allocation two three four million dollars trying to find poral quarterbacks, which it's going to be an interesting I will say I am fascinated to see and we get to talk about on this podcast, which I'm excited to do.

But you know, the Riola era comes to did it ever even really get off the ground.

Let me ask you, was it the week before they came to Minneapolis where they get ranked talking about college football playoff?

Your favorite ESPN Lincoln writers are picking Nebraska to come into dinky town, Guardsy and win fifty five to nothing.

Yeah, not to be confused with ESPN Madison saying thirty eight to seven.

I did get a couple of messages Guardsy from people saying, what was Guardsy's rant about ESPN Madison.

You guys never got to it on the last episode.

Yeah, and I don't have it in me today.

I don't have it any today.

Maybe it could be one of the defeated Father It could be one of the offseason ones.

Yeah, it's just I mean, just you can go back and find the tweets, you know, the predictions from from both I mean, we read the Nebraska ones when the dude was saying, we're sniffing the Nebraska sniffing playoff.

They're not going to mess this up.

It's like, I don't need to go Jim Mora.

But I'm like, I just can't imagine Chipskoggin's writing that you know in his prediction column or anybody you know.

I just can't.

And certainly thirty eight to seven on the road with that Wisconsin team, I mean, bro, bro, as my son would say, bruh, come on, bruh.

All right, in our final couple of minutes, this is great for all of you listeners.

We're allowed to tell you who we voted for for the Heisman.

We were not allowed last week.

We were not allowed.

We are not allowed.

It's so secret.

It is so secret, and they've got accounting firms on our ass.

I'm getting text messages for forty eight straight hours every time I look down.

It's like, you need to vote, You need to vote, you need to vote.

I got it.

Relax.

Now we can finally tell you Fernando Mendoza wins it and Diego pot is your runner up.

Go ahead, Burnsey if you want, you don't have to.

I'm not going to vote.

Shame you.

You don't have to if you don't want to.

But the Indiana kid wins the Heisman.

Yeah.

As the baseball guy among this community here, I hate that especially Hall of Fame ballots don't have to be public.

I think it's the dumbest thing I've ever seen.

Why Why Yeah, because you'll see ballots where it's like one guy and that has no business being voted for.

It's just the only guy, and it's like, okay, well, anonymous sent this.

And if you're going to have the power in the I think it's the BBWA chip.

You can correct me if I'm wrong.

It is writers in America, like you should again here Nord there I went.

I think this is going to be popular, because I think it was the popular vote was.

I went Mendoza one, I went diug, I went to the bandy quarterback, second, dig you got me all screwed up, Diego Pavia, Yeah, Diego Pavia.

And then I went Jeremih.

I love third, And I think if my fourth would have been the Texas Tech linebacker, the Jacob Brian.

But I think Mendoza had enough big moments and made enough big throws in big games and big spots where they needed him to.

Plus, I think if you take him off that team, they're still a very talented team, but they're not going undefeated and not the number one team in America.

You take him off that team.

I don't even know if they're a college football playoff team.

I think they're a top twenty five team.

But he is, I mean, he is a special, special player.

I think the Vanderbilt quarterback.

I think he was responsible for so much of their success.

And then Jeremiah Love might be the best player in college football.

And look, his team took their ball and they went home.

But yeah, that's kind of that's where I think.

Where were you guys at guards?

Let's start with you.

Oh I'm going okay, Yeah, I went.

I went Pavia And then, as you guys know, my third place is always a little is a little bit more of a wild card.

Last year, last year it was the Penn State tight end, and so I went with I went with the Texas Tech linebacker.

I went with Jacob Rodriguez.

Yeah, I mean, for my my rationale there, because what did he finish here?

I want to I want to pull up the stands.

He finished fifth.

So Love was third, Julian Saying was second, and Rodriguez was fifth.

And you look at their big games, he was dominant, like double like, and they didn't have a ton of big games.

So that's fair, Like it was b by U, and it was a couple other like ranked teams Arizona State.

He had double digit tackles and all of them.

Like it was just he was clearly to me impactful enough that I thought, I thought a defensive guy should get a little bit of love, no pun intended.

And that's why I went with him for third.

I actually went Julian was saying second, and he ended up getting fourth.

I went with Julian saying second.

Why are you looking at me like that?

All right?

I'd be curious what the thought process is.

I just liked what I saw him more.

I would like watching him play Pavia.

I don't know if it was I don't know if I gave him Chris winky bias and that he's forty two years old, chrisk.

It was for my second place vote.

I was always going to Rodriguez third because of my wild card thing.

So for my second place vote, it was between those two and just and and and you know, it wasn't like I just threw saying in there.

I just I thought he was really good.

I thought he was really good.

As the season went along, I thought he probably could have had bigger numbers if they, you know, certainly like in the Texas game when they didn't let him do anything.

Seeing him in person, you know, probably swayed me a little bit too.

That's why there's nine hundred voters.

So that was why.

And again it's not like it was a route.

I just that's where I went, because I did go Mendoza one, and I thought that was Honestly, I thought it was easy.

I thought.

And first of all, is it twenty twenty five where your top two Heisman winners are finalists are Indiana and Vanderbilt?

Like is that twenty twenty five or what?

Like they're needed more evident?

Do we need any more evidence that college football has changed?

That your Heisman winners from Indiana and second place is from Vanderbilt, Like everyone should.

Feel like they have a chance.

I know, if that if that's the way it is to me, it was I mean to me, I think he wanted in the last drive against Penn State, that was just an in when when everything's against him, that he's either getting sacked or he's thrown an absolute dot, you know, to get him down there.

Obviously, he got some great help from the receiver in the end zone.

But that, to me, catapulted him and then he continued to play well and again championship game, he's got to make a couple of big time throws for them to do something that they've never done or haven't done since nineteen sixty seven or whatever that was.

I thought it was an easy one.

Fernando Mendoza.

Yeah, I went Mendoza.

He became the leading candidate or won leading Canada at Penn State.

But I think it was slam dunk.

After Ohio State, you're facing the defense that has three maybe four first rounders on it, and they gotta have you drives that he came up with the throws.

I mean he was to come back after that big hit on the first actual you know, first play, you look like, oh my gosh, he's gone for the game.

To me, yeah, you're thirteen to know in Indiana, most touchdown passes in FBS.

I mean to me, he was an easy one.

I went, uh, Pavilla or Pavia second all purpose yards.

I mean I think he's first or second all total yards.

I mean, you're into it, bandy.

I mean your only losses are to Alabama in Texas.

Uh, just what you know what he's meant to that program to Vandy as someone who's grown up in Tennessee and knew what Bandy has been historically to see, sure they're going into and putting forty five on my beloved balls.

So he was my number two, and then I kind of uh for my third pick, I debated Love or Rodriguez from from Texas Tech.

I went Love.

I just think he's a really special player, Like a lot of people.

I was frustrated he only got ten carries in the first in the opener against Miami.

I was confused by that.

But I think he wound up with the most or second most touchdowns in college football twenty one twenty two, So I think he's just dynamic player.

So yeah, I went Mendoza, Pavia love.

Well, Burnsy wants to take my vote away, Chips, so you might have to find somebody else.

Eight people voted for saying for first, I get it first.

I know how about that?

I did not do that.

Yeah, I don't think there's always a clear cut answer for stuff like this.

Yeah, I just think, like was saying, I mean, he's got two first round receivers and Smith and Tate, which to me kind of just kind of the whole offense kind of cannibalized itself with how much of it is him, how much of it is when he took away Smith or Tate, like what the offense looked like without him?

And I thought about it.

Yeah, and I was there the same time you were where he looked like the next reincarnation of X y Z.

First round Ohio State quarterback against the Gopher defense on the road, which who doesn't look like that?

Apparently against Minnesota's defense on the road.

But I get it, I mean I.

Get it.

Handled it well.

I thought not winning the Heisman, I thought he handled it in the first manner.

Get up on your soapbox here in the final couple of minutes.

Well, no, I don't mean, I don't need to add anything.

I mean, the Heisman Trophy does have a character clause in it, you know it does.

I don't know if it should or not, but it does.

They do, they do.

He I thought he handled it.

I for one, am very stunned that the the guy who Pete on the New Mexico logo while he was in New Mexico state quarterback didn't handle not winning the Heisman very well.

I'm just I'm stunned.

I'm stunned that that that that happened.

Conversely, did you not love I'm sure coach.

Kills straighten him out, you know, in your in year nine, I'm sure coach killis straighten him out.

You know, he's only had him for six years.

I'm sure he'll straighten him out.

At some point.

There'll be a phone call after he gets done with Dunkers this morning, and.

Go ahead.

Didn't you love Mendoz's uh speech though at the end where he's you know, people that are overlooked, a two star you know whatever that was?

That was cool.

I love that, and you know, those speeches are great.

I loved uh Travis Hunters last year.

I mean that was you know, it's I don't know awards are what they are, but this one, you know, for guys that love college football, this will still mean something to me to be able to vote in it, and it's still I still look at it as a prestigious award and I love being able to be able to vote in it.

I agree with you, it's fun.

It's very fun.

All right.

So we are we gonna Burnssey.

You're going to Phoenix early next week.

I'm going to Phoenix early next week.

That changed, did I not tell you?

No?

When are you living?

I'm leaving the night of the twenty third.

I'm leaving the morning of the twenty second.

What in the world look taking a family.

We're taking a family, aren't we.

It's of course not just my family, my entire family, my parents, my sisters and their families.

Things happen.

Things came together quickly, so a little pre Christmas or we're gonna do.

We're gonna do Christmas down there.

So I will be there the twenty second at some bougie airbnb that is like a kid's paradise, So yeah, I will.

That was not the plan, as you know, Burnsy, that was not the plan.

And then things came together rather quickly about a week and a half ago, and so I will be spending the week down there after a women's basketball game in Des Moines next week are on Sunday, and so we should do a parent of spare right from from Phoenix, Like can we can bring our stuff?

I can fire one up on the twenty third or something like that.

What do you think I leave the night of the twenty third, So unless you want to find a way to get together to the morning.

We've got media on the twenty fourth where you and I are live in person.

Yeah, I am going to be there for that, so that's that's part of that too.

So anyway, nobody cares about that, But we'll figure out when we can do an episode, because we should do one more Bowl episode.

We'll have reaction to what.

You know.

I'm sure some more players are going to win out and they're coming back that whole thing.

So let's get it done next week, shall we, Fellas sounds good all right?

For Ryan Burns.

For Chips Coggins, I'm guardsy thanks to our partners at Jack's Cafe.

Make your reservations at Jaxcafe dot com.

Don't forget about the final breakfast with Santa this Saturday, and we will talk to you next week.