The College Football Episode: Kiffin, Sark, GameDay & the Salary Cap Debate

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Lane Kiffin said what? Steve Sarkese and basket weaving? Nick Sabin wants a salary cap. And what's up with all those helmet stickers, anyways? All that and more on this episode of the Red Zone Blitz.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

Here we go. Here we go. The home for all things NFL in college football.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

What's poppin', KK? What's going on?

SPEAKER_00 0:37

We're here to talk about uh Link Iffen on what vanity fair?

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Okay, don't we gotta build up to it and build up to it? How are things with you? How are things? I'm doing all right, man. Oh no, that's great to hear. Great to hear. Um, lots of love being given out to our recent episodes. If you guys haven't heard those, go check them out on um wherever you stream your platform streaming platform for your podcasts. Uh, you can search us up Red Zone Blitz, uh, or you can visit our website, Redzone Blitzpodcast.com. We're on YouTube as well, Red Zone Blitz. Go subscribe, follow us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Red Zone Blitz Pod. I'm here uh for this very special episode talking about all things college football with the director of content and engagement, KK. What's happening now? Content and engagement is the name of the game, and Lane Kiffin is very good at it. He is very, very good at uh at getting people upset, reacting to him. Uh, as you know, um actually I'll go, I'll do a little background on Mr. Kiffin. Actually, well, why don't we do a little background? So Lane Kiffen uh was born May 9th, 1975, son of Monte Monte, Monte, is that right? Monte Kiffen, yeah, uh legendary NFL defensive coordinator, Tampa 2 defense, cowboys, buccaneers, football royalty, um spent six years as an assistant under Pete Carroll at USC uh from 2001 to 2006, including two years as OC. Uh those Trojans went 65 wins, 12 losses, won two national championships. At 31 years old, Al Day may have heard of him, Al Davis hired him as the Oakland Raiders at the time, head coach in 2007. He was the youngest head coach in modern NFL history. Uh, Davis fired him after 20 months in 2008 with a bizarre press conference reading a letter on national television. Tennessee hired him days later. Uh, he went 7-6, and then he bolted for USC without telling the team. Players found out in a team meeting. Uh, Big O was calling recruits on the on Tennessee's phones during the meeting, telling them not to sign. Uh, that's the type of chaos that was happening. Now, USC from 2010 to 2013. He was 10 and 2 in 2011, then uh falls off. He was blown out 62 to 41 by Arizona State. Fired at 3 a.m. on LAX. Uh called off the team bus into an airport side room, bus in his briefcase leave without him. He catches a ride home from a security guard. Now, Nick Sabin threw him a little lifeline, uh, made him the Alabama offensive coordinator from 2014 to 2016. High-powered offense. Uh, but Kivin took the FAU um head job midseason, started missing meetings late to media day. So Sabin kicks him out a week before the national championship game. He was replaced by Steve Sarkeesian. We'll talk about him a little bit later. Um, now he was in FAU from 2017 to 2019. He rebuilt his reputation, uh, 26 wins, 13 losses, two conference USA titles. Then Ole Miss hires him in December of 2019. Now he's been in Ole Miss uh from 2020 to 2025, 55 wins, 19 losses, four 10 win seasons, first 11-win season in school history, transformed the program. Now he left this last year, mid-cont college football playoff run for LSU.$91 million contract, seven years. Ole Miss fans try to run his car off the road, leaving Oxford, Mississippi. Now, my boy Lane Kiffin, he did an he did in our interview with Vanity Fair of all of all news articles. Now, before we get into the article itself, just based off of his timeline so far, what is the most Lane Kiffin moment to you? Is it that airport firing, leaving Tennessee after a year, bolting to USC, getting kicked out of Alabama before the title game, having Al Davis read out the letter wildly on national television? What do you think was really the moment before we go into what Mr. Kiffin had to say?

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Probably the Alabama moment with legendary Nick Saban getting kicked out during like the playoffs. I just think being as disrespectful, and I think that goes in all watches. But that also started a trend for him.

SPEAKER_01 5:35

Yes. Well, that that did, but I also think if you're if someone like Nick Saban throws you a lifeline when you had nothing, meaning like USC kicked you off, literally the team bus, and he went out of his way and threw you a lifeline for you to come and be a coach and be a coach at a program like Alabama, for you to disrespect the person, regardless of if it's someone that gives you an opportunity coaching football at a job at McDonald's, um anywhere, like gives you an opportunity, could be a podcast, gives you an opportunity. And I think for you to disrespect that opportunity and that person, especially a dude like Nick Saban, I think there's like, and there's a reason why so many media members and so many people in the SEC, Paul Finnamom included, don't like Lane Kiffin. Because he's burnt every bridge that like and he's still doing the same thing, and he's still doing the same thing. He still is, and I think a lot of it is he you can be arrogant and be like, Well, I told you not to do this. I told you not to give me the I told you not to give me the opportunity. I this is what I do, like, but there needs to be accountability. I don't think he I don't think he's had that conversation or had that accountability with Nick Saban. And I I I really hope for his sake that he treats the state of Louisiana, which is footing the bill for him to coach at LSU and the LSU fans and the players with a little bit more respect than he did in this past tenure. Now, do you think do you think he's the problem or do you think it's the system? Like, do you think the system's so volatile, like that like they would they would have gotten rid of him? Like in some cases they did get rid of him, and some places he bolted and left and jumped ship. Do you think that that's on the system, or do you think that's a lane kiffin personality problem?

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Seems to be his personality problem. Like, why wouldn't you wait till the season ends to move on? Yeah. And try to win a national championship rather than bolting just before the playoffs.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

And I think we'll get first time. We'll get into it. I think we'll get into it because he talked about some of the stuff in the um in the article itself. So we'll we'll dive into it. We'll dive into the article here. So Vanity Fair, like I said, not ESPN, not the athletic, not SEC country. Vanity Fair. Uh, did an interview on him. Um and this is what the right, the writer actually, after spending four years, the writer Chris Smith, after spending four years, or four not four years, four hours with Kiff and said, is he endearing endearingly sincere or so full of shit that it's an art form? So that kind of tells you, um, tells you what you need to need to know. Um now, do you think that a college football coach on the cover of Vanity Fair is it a sports story or is it a celebrity story? And is he trying to make himself bigger than the sport of college football?

SPEAKER_00 8:44

I think it's just a sports story. Trying to get his name out there more and more and more.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

I think he's also I what well, what I got out of it was I think it was a great PR move by his team. I think they're trying to save his reputation. Oh, this is not Lane Kiffin the sorority girl hunter. This is Lane Kiffin, the hot yoga guy who likes to do yoga and all this other stuff. Now, I think diving right into it, speaking of hot yoga, um, the Vanity Fair piece revealed that key uh Kiffen started drinking beer early in his career, then switched to vodka. He credited alcohol with contributing to his divorce um from his wife Layla Reeves in 2016, the year he was at Alabama. Uh, now most recently he got sober in January 2021, his second year at Ole Miss. Five years sober as of 2026. He publicly posted on X, I made a decision that would change my life and many others around me. You can do it. It won't be easy at all, but I promise you it will be worth it. Um, he claims that he got obsessed with hot yoga, dropped 45 pounds. He journals, he shares an A quote with ESPN. Ego was replaced with self-respect, resentment, and hatred were replaced, were being replaced with tolerance and understanding. His nickname as a kid was Helicopter, uh, because he would walk into a room, stir everything up. Um, and he told that to the writer unprompted. Uh, in his own words, he says, I'm great at work, but then I wasn't fully present when I go home because I told myself I gotta have a couple of drinks. Not drinking is just a part of my journey to where I am now. As fulfilled as I've been in coaching, and as important as all of that is having peace and rhythm in my life. Um now he went from getting pushed out of Alabama for missing meetings drunk to being a vanity fair cover story on sobriety and hot yoga. Um I'm gonna ask you why and why or not, you think whatever way you answer. But do you think this is a redemption arc, or do you think this is a PR thing from his team, basically trying to repair his image?

SPEAKER_00 10:44

I think just a PR thing. You look at his record, he's got a winning record. Anyone's gonna hire him. All his all the teams he's played on have had winning records.

SPEAKER_01 10:55

No, but do you think him is a PR thing? But do you think him coming out and saying, like, I'm sober now, I was drunk before, I was uh I was an alcoholic, I've gone through sobriety, I'm into hot yoga. Do you think that do you think teams care about a coach that's sober or has battled those demons versus no you don't think they care in the year 2026 about whether or not you teams still care about wins and losses?

SPEAKER_00 11:23

There you go. There you go. And he's got a winning record. Okay, that's why he's an LSU now.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

Did you okay? Here's my take. Do you think he got better because he got sober, or did Ole Miss just give him their job at the right time? Because he got because the timeline of his divorce at Alabama, he wasn't that great at FAU. But like when you look at when he says he got sober 2021, like the trajectory is lining up that he's a better coach sober than he was drunk, which I yeah, believe it. I can believe that. I can believe that you're probably a little more dialed in if you're off the sauce all the time. Now, going into why he really left Ole Miss, so Ole Miss Athletic Director Keith Carter uh confirmed in November 20 November 22nd, 2025, um that you know their olmis at this time is 11-1, that he is gonna be leaving LSU. Um, or he's gonna be leaving. They didn't confirm LSU until seven days later, where LSU finalized a seven-year,$91 million offer, the richest contract in college football history at the time. Now, November 30th, Kiffen beats Mississippi State in the egg bowl, then leaves to become LSU's head coach while his team is preparing for the playoff. Kiffen says that he wanted to stay and coach the playoff run. Ole Miss athletic director said no. Kiffin's own players publicly disputed that framing, saying he wasn't being forced out. His full quote from Vanity Fair was No coach I talked to at any point ever said stay there. They said you got one life. It's my story, and I chose for this to be the next chapter. He referred to Ole Miss as the last place and the previous place in this interview. He never used the name Ole Miss. He compared the situation to coaching NIL reality. Once you make those exceptions, expectations, they forget the stadium was half empty when we got there. He's saying Ole Miss fans should be grateful, not angry. Uh, reason one, he cited was money. He called LSU's resources adult money. Ole Miss spent 10 to 13 million dollars on its roster in 2024. My God, LSU's budget is quite much larger than that. Reason number two, he said recruiting ceiling. He said that the Ole Miss recruiting obstacle with black families due to Mississippi's historical image. We'll talk a little bit more about this in the next section of this article. And reason three, he spoke about history. LSU has four national titles, 12 SEC titles. Ole Miss's last title was 1960. He compared it to Saban leaving Miami for Alabama. LSU has long been Ole Miss's daddy for most of its history. Now he built um he built Ole Miss in something like 55-19, first 11-win season in school history, and then he left in the middle of their first ever playoff run. His players publicly said that he wasn't actually forced out. Do you buy that or not? And why?

SPEAKER_00 14:33

I do buy that. And why you have a coach with all those wins? What it was, six seasons. Yep. Was it four, ten win seasons? Yep. And the first 11 win season in school history. You're in the playoffs, a chance to win the national championship. Why would you leave? Like, I don't think the players kicked him out. I think it was more admin kicked him out. Well, I think they were probably pissed. They're pissed. Like, why would you sign? Why wouldn't you just sign right after the national championship is over?

SPEAKER_01 15:03

I or what if we'll miss my my thought process is is LSU probably ranked up the pressure there. I think that came from LSU, where LSU was like, hey, listen, there's a recruiting deadline we got to meet. We got to get in the transfer. That's what it is. We gotta, we gotta, we gotta get guys on this team. We gotta get guys going into it and being like, hey, Lane Kiffin's gonna be the coach at LSU. Do I want to go play for whoever else they were gonna hire, or do I want to go play for Lane Kiffen? And I think that selling point alone is the reason why he left early. Now, my thought on that is you can't have your you can't have it both ways.

SPEAKER_00 15:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

If you're gonna get 91 million dollars from LSU and seven-year contract and be that guy and go down to Bat Rouge and you know have a great time, you cannot then be like, Well, it sucks that they wouldn't let me coach or whatever. That's like saying you're like actively cheating on your partner and then get wondering why they got mad.

SPEAKER_00 16:03

Well, you said it, it's recruiting. Yeah, and I I don't I don't I think if Ole Miss wins the national championship, their recruiting is like like at the highest peak. Well, everyone wants to do it.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

If Ole Miss won a national championship and Lane Kiffin wasn't coaching them and left, I think it would damage Lane Kiffin's brand, basically being like, hey, they can win without you. How good is this guy? Like, he's not that good. And granted, Lane Kiffin thought they had a national championship winning team at Ole Miss if he was the coach, but I think him leaving midway through was a forced hand by LSU. I think LSU twisted their arm saying, You better uh you better get over here in Baton Rouge. Now, like I think I I want to ask about this one comment he had where he said all the coaches he talked to said you got one life leave. But I look at Nick Saban and he stayed at Alabama for 17 years. Does that statement of like you got one life leave hold true?

SPEAKER_00 17:10

No, because if you're winning, why do you want to leave, right? Well, but I mean like his record at Ole Miss, he wins a national championship. Well, I mean, technically he left for the money.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

He left for the money and he also left for the like the the sparkle. Sparkle, yeah, the sparkle of LSU. I think that's what like I don't think I think it's one if okay, you got one life leave.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

Was it big school, little school?

SPEAKER_01 17:33

If there was another school that was there that was the same level at Ole Miss, or it was there was another school that was there that was not as sparkly as LSU, would you have said the same thing? No, he wouldn't have, he wouldn't have left to Florida to coach the Gators, he wouldn't have done that. He wouldn't have he wouldn't have gone to um, I'm trying to think of middling school, he wouldn't have gone to like an Oregon, he wouldn't have gone to, I don't think he would have gone to uh like the Horn Frogs, he's not going to the Hornfrogs. You got one life, leave Dallas fantastic. He's not going to Texas Tech. He's not going, he's going to a place where he knows that if he wins, he is the guy forever. He gets etched in history. Now, I'm getting there, folks. Listening, I know you guys want our take on this. Uh, the comment that broke the internet. So, this is what went viral. Uh, in the interview, Kiffin explained that one of the recruiting challenges he faced at Ole Miss, black fam, black families and recruits expressing hesitation about Mississippi due to the state's history. The quote: Top recruits would tell him, hey coach, we really like you, but my grandparents aren't letting me move to Oxford, Mississippi. Kiffen says that doesn't come up when you say Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He then quoted parents visiting LSU. The campus diversity feels so great. It feels like there's no segregation, and we want that for our kid because that's the real world. He framed these as factual recruiting observations, not shots at Ole Miss. He goes on to say that's a narrative that Ole Miss coaches have been fighting forever. It wasn't calculated by bringing it up. The Ole Miss historical context that makes this complicated and true. The nickname Rebels, the Ole Miss moniker has ties to slavery era terminology, colonel reb mascot, Confederate imagery was retired in 2003, Confederate flags banned from flag stakes in 1997, not that long ago. I mean, these are real facts that have been following recruiting for decades when it comes to Ole Miss. However, I don't think Louisiana is a clean slate, you know. Baton Rouge has its own racial history, LSU has institutional contradictions. Kiffin didn't say any of that. Yeah, he positioned LSU as the enlightened alternative. Um, like there was nothing wrong going on there. He did issue an apology. Uh, he said, I really apologize if anybody at Ole Miss or in Old Mississippi was offended by that. The word if became its own story. So that's not really an apology. He's not saying what I said was wrong or what I said is incorrect or I feel bad for what I said. He's like, if you got a problem with it, I'm sorry. That's not really an apology. Um, Tim Brando on Outkick called it narcissism. He said the apology was pathetic. Uh, he evoked JFK MLK and the Jim Crow South says we don't need to be reminded of it, we live through it. Um, Tiger Rag had a take on this. Lane Kiffin's Vanity Fair problem wasn't that he lied, it's that old miss heard him tell the truth. Um now, does it his school's historical identity, like the Confederate flag imagery, racial history, regional reputation, legitimately affect recruiting in 2026?

SPEAKER_00 20:44

It shouldn't, but I think it still does a little bit. At the same time, why is he coming out now and saying that when he's been there for like five, six years seasons? I think it's a little bit of but but there's more schools involved historically, like that.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

It reminds me a little bit of when people break up and then suddenly you get to hear how horrible their ex was.

SPEAKER_00 21:08

Yeah, that's how it is, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:10

Like it reminds it. That's what it reminds me of. It reminds me of like when people are in a relationship, oh no, everything's great, everything's fine, everything's great, everything's fine. The moment they're not in that relationship, oh fuck her, fuck him, or like you know, he was a he was a bitch, or he she was like this, or and it's like, but where was that then? And I get it, I get it, I get it. He's probably saying that now, just for the recruitment purposes, and I think he's saying it, A, because he couldn't say it when he was the head coach. Like, players would he would have no chance at recruiting a black player if he said this as the head coach of the school, and B, I think he's saying this, so he's trying to take away the recruits.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

I think he's trying to make it hard for them to recruit, and I think that's uh that's a good bold strategy. I mean, would you do would you do it any differently?

SPEAKER_00 22:01

I mean, it's probably not just Ole Miss, right? The way he's saying it. Would you it's probably going to a lot of schools that still have that historical feeling in it.

SPEAKER_01 22:10

Now, would you do anything differently? How would you treat it if you were him? I wouldn't do anything differently. I don't know if like be there better people than I am, but I think it's a war out there. You're trying to get the best recruits.

SPEAKER_00 22:22

You're trying to get the best recruits.

SPEAKER_01 22:23

Well, like you said, it doesn't matter about your if you were an alcoholic or if you were this or that, the other. You you gotta win.

SPEAKER_00 22:29

You gotta win.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

All that matters is winning.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

Winning brings the money in.

SPEAKER_01 22:32

You gotta win, you gotta send players to the NFL, and you gotta bring in those booster dollars. You're not getting paid 90 million dollars to be the good guy. Yeah, right? They're not paying them to be morally correct. You ask any LSU fan, they don't care about how, if, whatever. Bring in the guy, and that's the reality we live in. And people can be like, oh, well, you know, like morally, he did, you know, this, that, and the other. I agree. I think he should not have said that about old a poor old miss kicking them while they're down. I'm not wrong, but at the same time, he's also um, you know, he he's also not wrong. He's telling the truth, and he's just choosing a very calculated way to tell that truth. Now, speaking of coaches telling the truth, Steve Sarkeesian piled on. So, Steve Sarkeesian, um, the day after this story broke out, uh, USA Today interview with Texas head coach Steve Sarkeesian drops conducted by Matt Hayes back in March. So it was not a recent interview, they conducted it in March, but they just dropped it right now. Um, now, Sarkeesian wasn't specifically talking about Ole Miss. He was talking more about the general lawlessness of modern college football, tampering, the transfer portal, no enforcement, no consequences. Um, I'll tell you the quote. At Texas, we only take 50% of a player's academic credit hours. You may be a semester from graduating, but you're going all the way back to 50% if you play here and want a degree. But at Ole Miss, they can take you. All you have to do is take a basket weaving course and you can get an old miss degree. I mean, I think his broader point probably got lost in the headlines a little bit. It seems to be more like it's like we've forgotten about academics, yet less than 5% of these guys will play in the NFL. Majority of them are not going to go into the NFL. Um, he also went out to talk about the complete lack of accountability. There's a reason in the NFL when you got caught, when you get caught tampering, you get drilled, you lose draft picks. Right now in college football, there's no fear. Which um I agree. I think um, I think I I agree with that. I think there needs to be some sort of lawlessness. The laws put in place, so there's not so much lawlessness. Uh, old Miss Athletic Director Keith Carter did not respond directly, but he posted to X. Uh, he said, kind of amazing how uncomfortable our success is making some people. Clean response. Um, okay, shout out Mr. Carter. Um, now my thing is, and why this gets a little bit messy for me, and the reason why I think people are probably gonna read into this a little bit more is Steve Sharkeesian and Lane Kiffin go way back. Like they were assistants under Pete Carroll in US at USC in the early 2000s, and you know, Cirkeesian was the head coach at Washington. Um, USC hired him in 2014 to replace Kiffin. Um, when we talked about it, Lane Kiffen got fired or late by Nick Sabin. He chose Sarkesian to replace him. So they've been close. They've been close throughout their throughout their time. Steve Tarkesian has also been public about his battles with alcohol. He's also um been sober. Um, and he's talked about his sobriety openly. Now, where this gets a little bit crazy is goes back to talking about recruiting Arch Manning. And it goes back to um talking about what how teams are going to what extents to um to recruit him. So Pablo Torrey's show uh surfaced a passage from ESPN Seth Wickerham's book, American Kings, a biography of the quarterback, a deep dive into Arch Manning's recruitment. Arch Manning was the number one recruit in the 2023 class. Every program was after him. Um, obviously, football royalty, nephew of Peyton and Eli. Uh, it came down to a handful of schools. Alabama, Texas, Ole Miss. They're all major contenders. Uh, Nick Saban wanted himself Arch badly. Um, now Pete Golding, who is the current head coach of Ole Miss, uh, was Alabama's defensive coordinator at the time, tasked with landing Manning. He got on a Zoom call with Arch, his brother Cooper, and his uh sorry, his dad Cooper, and his high school coach Nelson Stewart. And on that call, Golding said, I love Slark, he's my best friend. Then he paused. Then he went there. He said, I hope he can stay sober. Um now Manning's high school coach called Golding directly after and said, Pete, that's fucked up. And Golding acknowledged it. Um, but he's just said Nick Saban's on him and said, Do whatever it takes to land Manning. It didn't work. Arch chose Texas, of course. Um he's gonna be right up there going into this season as one of the top quarterbacks in the uh college football to watch. Um what's your thoughts on that? Like I don't we talk about doing whatever it takes.

SPEAKER_00 27:57

That's what it is with these guys, right?

SPEAKER_01 27:59

But I think he I think you played yourself. I think you let I think that's just I I don't I don't think like Golden can be a great football mind. That just tells me he doesn't know how to play the game.

SPEAKER_00 28:14

The recruiting game.

SPEAKER_01 28:15

Yeah, like that does that like everybody else is playing chess, that man's playing checkers. Like he doesn't like that is not listen, you can do whatever it takes to win, but you're lace, you're basically putting like what if Arch Manning was, you know, he had himself some problems off the field. You are basically telling him that you're okay airing his business out behind his back. That's what you're telling him. You're okay selling off his dirty laundry to somebody else for a gain for yourself. Whereas when Steve Turkeesian probably heard that, he's like, truthful. It's not like he it's not like something that was hidden under wraps that Arch Manning didn't know that he was, you know, he has gone through his issues with sobriety. But what you do is you just lead him right to the lap of Texas by doing that. And I I don't blame Arch for going to Texas. Now knowing all that context, does that change how you think Steve Sarkeesian's comments were delivered?

SPEAKER_00 29:22

Uh no, because I I think like what's your thoughts on CNN Kiffen? They know what they're doing when they're doing this stuff to recruit.

SPEAKER_01 29:30

What when it comes to like when it comes to that, do you think that there is more like what's your take on recruiting as a whole? Like, do you think that there's more power for the players now where like people are going to that extent? Should that be should recruiting be like some people are arguing that you shouldn't even be able to recruit out of state? Some people that's how it used to be. Well, before a guy from a south would never go to Michigan, right? But but the doors I've opened up where you can recruit anybody now, and I think with the NIL, it it helps it helps the schools that are in like that got the money that got the money that are in Michigan or in other places, and they're able to recruit these girls. Because, like, before, if you were a kid from the south, you'd go to you'd go to the south, and then you also have coaches or like recruiting people that kind of like have a like kind of like care or like kind of like empathetic.

SPEAKER_00 30:28

Like, I'm bringing you, I'm gonna take care of you. Then you got guys like Kiffen and Sirkeen that are like pulling out all the stuff just to win. The best we want you just to win, the best recruits.

SPEAKER_01 30:39

Um, and if you haven't listened to our interview with Mickey Joseph, go listen to it. He talks about what recruiting looks like at a at a ju at um an HBCU level. The best, the best recruits are the guys that are not taking the five stars or not going to find the five stars. They're the guys in like small communities, finding that three star, finding that two-star, maybe even that one star recruit, and turning him into something. And you're seeing it more and more with guys, for example, Kurt Signetti, all these guys following him to uh to to Indiana. You're seeing it now with the Penn State coach, all these guys from Iowa State following him to Penn State. Iowa State didn't have a locked up roster, right? They had a good team, they didn't have Penn State level resources, but they're following them because they're they're the guys you're talking about that are empathetic, they're recruiting them honestly. They're being very upfront with hey, I'm not gonna be able to pay you as much as in Alabama, LSU, or Texas, but here's what I can do for you. Here's here's how you fit in my scheme, right? Now, let's do a little, let's do a little exercise. Okay, you are um you are okay. Where which where do you want to grow up in this fantasy line? You can grow up anywhere in the states. Let's put you in a state. Anywhere in the states? Yeah, let's put you in a state. We're gonna send you back to we're gonna send you back to high school. Okay. Come on, it can't be that hard. Just pick a state. A state, yeah, California. Okay, you're growing up uh LA, I'm assuming, Southern California. Yeah, okay. You're Southern California. All right. Uh, this is modern day, by the way. Modern day Southern California. Woo! Um go LeBron. Um you are a what is it, running back? Sure. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. KK the running back. Okay. KK the running back. Um, give me um your I let's call you a four-star. Give me your top three schools.

SPEAKER_00 32:49

I would say USC. Yeah. Ohio State Texas.

SPEAKER_01 32:57

Okay, USC, Ohio State, Texas. Great. Now um the recruit, like the recruit is coming. I'm the recruit. What's the question you're asking as a kid? Like, what's your first question that you're asking these schools? Trying to get an idea of them.

SPEAKER_00 33:22

Am I gonna be a starter as a freshman?

SPEAKER_01 33:26

Okay, let's just let's say okay. Am I gonna play? Yeah, okay. Am I gonna playing time? That that should be are you say okay, playing time, that's good. That's number one. Okay, number two, what's another question? How much money am I getting? Okay, see it took it took you until until the second question to get to money, but like well, I mean, if you want if you want to get to the NFL and you're going to college, but you see how that's changed though. You see, before the NIL, you never would have asked about money, you would have asked about oh, what's the cafeteria like? Oh, what's uh what what's this thing like, or like how's how's the but the one thing you forgot beforehand is the girls?

SPEAKER_00 34:05

What school did you go to? Oh, like what high school? Like, were you in like a private school where all the scouts come to watch you, or were you the thing is though were you there? Like you didn't go to school, you just played football at the school.

SPEAKER_01 34:20

You're just say it, say it. Were you in the hood?

SPEAKER_00 34:23

Just were you in the hood, yeah? Okay, so because when you're in the hood and you're coming out, you don't care about the school, you just care about the money.

SPEAKER_01 34:30

Well, the thing is is recruitment starts at such a young age, is that kid in the hood is so rare now because those private schools just go in and they scoop them up, they scoop them up, they just say, you know what, you're playing for free. Come come on down.

SPEAKER_00 34:42

That's what it is now.

SPEAKER_01 34:43

So you're not even getting the kid in the hood you would have got 10-15 years ago. Before you would get the true that what do you think is happening in basketball right now? Where are the Allen Iversons? Where are the hood guys that are coming out? Nobody's nobody's from the hood anymore.

SPEAKER_00 34:57

Yeah, they're all at those they're all at these prestigious schools.

SPEAKER_01 35:00

You're they're all at these prestigious academies, these prestigious like yeah, prep schools, everyone's everyone's suddenly got money now. Like it's and it's you're slowly seeing that where it's like before you would see guys that were coming out, um, like they were coming out of high school and they were like dirt poor, like they had no money at all. And then this was the gateway for them. One of my favorite movies of all times is Hoop Dreams. It's like a documentary. Have you seen it?

SPEAKER_00 35:26

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:27

It's like it's like a documentary style where like this scout from a college goes down and he tries to find these kids in like the hut of New York playing basketball. And that's how it used to be. It used to be they would just drive around neighborhoods and being like, Oh, there's a game played, like, let's go get it. Now, with recruiting, is it's easier than ever to get your stuff online. So you're not, you're not even like you don't even need to be in the same state to scout a guy. You can just watch him from your living room, watch all his film, be like, Yep, like that. Okay, let's go, let's go down there and let's go find him. And Mickey Joseph talked about that as well in our interview, was like how they would travel all over, and that's how they found Justin Jefferson. Like, they would travel all over and then landed on Justin Jefferson being their guy. So, listen, the recruitment game to rap put a bow on everything here. The recruitment game is insane, like it's it's an insane thing. College football itself is a is a soap opera.

SPEAKER_00 36:20

Well, you just brought up kind of a good point where Mickey Joseph and the team he's on, they got to scramble around trying to find those recruits.

SPEAKER_01 36:28

And if you haven't listened to that interview, go listen to it because he talks about that. He talks about like a bigger school, they don't go around looking for all these guys, they're watching film, or they just travel to the private schools, or or the but the resources are so wide there, yeah. They have a guy in each state, like a state, like an LSU will have a guy that will go around like each state, they'll have a guy on the road. Who doesn't want to be a recruit for LSU? Who the problem is is this is a desirable job for for fucking nerds who love football. Yeah, so you're always gonna get somebody committed to do it. There's always gonna be somebody being like, hey, don't even you don't even have to pay me that much money, I'll go do it for 40k, for 50k, for 60k a year, for 30k a year, I'll go.

SPEAKER_00 37:14

That's a different that's now the difference of the colleges is you have those LSUs, Texas, Iowa State, where they have everyone in each state recruiting, but then you got like other schools, maybe like Ole Miss, what are the schools like maybe even Washington? Well, you can even look you know those secondary schools that don't have that luxury that gotta go travel a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 37:39

Well, you look at like Toledo or you look at Tulsa, or you look at like some of these schools TCU, like they're not gonna be able to be able to go and do a mass recruit. Like, you're also the way those schools work in terms of recruiting. I'd love to get a recruit on, by the way. If like if you're a recruit listening to this, please hit our line redzone blitzpodcast at gmail.com. But the big the biggest thing that I've learned from reading about all of this is they rely on players whose families don't want them to leave home.

SPEAKER_00 38:06

That's where they can make like maybe get their splash player, and then you got now you got NIL where they go to those schools like TCU.

SPEAKER_01 38:14

Well, TCU's got got the big box, right?

SPEAKER_00 38:16

So it's like now, but you got those smaller schools in those divisions. Well, you look where your star player all of a sudden leaves after a year or two, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:24

Nil, and they go, but unless they're getting paid. Well, you saw that with Washington and their quarterback, he was gonna go, he was ready to join Lane Kiffin at LSU, right?

SPEAKER_00 38:32

That's why I appreciate those recruits, even the five-star recruits that just stay in their home state.

SPEAKER_01 38:38

Yeah, I think that's I'm not leaving to go to this big school because I want to play here, and I think that's the biggest thing is that I think we'll do more looking into that when we go into like our draft preview for next year, when it's like March. So we'll start looking at players, like which all who are the guys that like you know, a they didn't leave, and b, they stayed in their state. Like, how much probability is that? But I well, before I wrap up, another thing that I forgot to mention is the use of AI with art like artificial intelligence. Now, you're gonna be able to recruit way differently than you were probably in the past. So, how often, like, how many resources are these big schools using where they're using AI to recruit? And they're like, they've got all these tools, whereas, like a like a smaller school, Eastern Michigan, is gonna have to go and run the eye test, right? Or you're scrambling with guys that have had character issues in other places, and they've could they need they need a second chance, or they can keep their grades up at like a certain school, so they now got demo. It's like last chance, you, but the mid-tier version, not the not the uh Coach JB, not the Coach JB version. Now, keeping it on college, obviously, this is the college episode, College Game Day. Uh, we've got three weeks. Well, we got two weeks announced. I'm gonna go and make a guess on on week three myself, but for uh some context and background, college game day launched in 1987. Um, Tim Brando was the original host with analyst Bino Cook and Lee Corso from ESPN's Bristol Studios. The show didn't go on the road until 1993. It has since become the gold standard of college football pregame content. 2026 is the 40th season of Game Day. Um the current cast, Reese Davis, Kirk Herbstreet, now the longest tenured member, uh, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee, alongside Nick Saban. Lee Corso retired last year after week one of the 2025 season. His final headgear pick was Ohio State over Texas at the horseshoe in Columbus, and Ohio State won that game 14 to 7. Corso went out on his terms, picking correctly on the biggest stage. He was 90 years old. Now, 2026 carries a massive milestone. The show's 500th on the road episode happening in Baton Rouge on September 1st. Um man, this is gonna be a great season. Uh, you got week one, Baton Rouge, L Baton Rouge, losing Louisiana, LSU versus Clemson. Uh, the Lane Kiffen era begins. So we talked a lot about Lane Kiffen. Um now, his debut national television game day there for the 500th road episode. Um is this the most anticipated week one, you think, for a college football head coach? Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:28

Oh, the the the way he left, the way he left, the way he's talking.

SPEAKER_01 41:34

Um now, when talk about Clemson, uh Dabo, their head coach, said I stunk last year. Um, do you think this game actually has on-field stakes or is it entirely a storyline game? And can Clemson be trusted as a top 10 opponent?

SPEAKER_00 41:51

I'd probably say a little bit a little bit of both. Yeah, like Lynn Kiffin. Obviously, they'll all eyes on him. Like, what happens if Clemson just beats them?

SPEAKER_01 42:01

And I think there is a good chance there's listen, LSU is starting off with a rocky schedule, like they have a hard schedule, like their first few weeks, and Clemson will be better this year than they were last year. The moment of attrition, you know, like they had a really bad year last year, but they will be better, I think, this year when it comes to when it comes to their schedule. And I think they I gotta do a little bit more reading before I make my pick. We'll be doing picks this year. Uh, we'll be making our picks on uh on the podcast. But man, like it would be chaos, wouldn't it? If Lane Kiffin lost game one, it wouldn't it would it would be a little bit of chaos. Um, if you had a bit if you had a pick now, who'd you pick? Who'd you give the love to?

SPEAKER_00 42:45

I love going with the underdogs. I'm team Clemson. Nice, nice.

SPEAKER_01 42:48

I'll pick, I'll I'll pick LSU. I'll pick LSU for Lane. He's a dog, he's a dog. Uh, week two confirmed. Here we go. Austin, Texas. Texas versus Ohio State. Um, rematch from last year. Um, two straight weeks of game day being at an SEC Big 12 school, um Baton Rouge and then Austin. Um Big Ten fans are complaining. Uh, do you think um ESPN is a little biased to the SEC because it is such a big conference?

SPEAKER_00 43:25

No, I mean you gotta put on your show where the stakes are high.

SPEAKER_01 43:29

But my thing is like who else would they have picked? Yeah, like you look at the week two schedule, there's nobody else they would have picked, and this is much must watch television. It's gonna be this is gonna be beautiful times. Um, Arch Manning, you think he gets revenge for Texas against Ohio State? Uh big boys in Ohio State.

SPEAKER_00 43:46

I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 43:47

I wasn't really impressed with him last year, so no, I hope he does because it's draft year, but I I really hope he's a lot more so I really hope he cooks it up here. Uh Steve Sarkeesian, I hope.

SPEAKER_00 43:58

It's a big game for him, then.

SPEAKER_01 44:00

Cam Coleman, baby. Cam Coleman, Arch Manning. Let's get that connection going.

SPEAKER_00 44:03

It's going to be. Imagine if Lane Kiffin loses and then Sarkeesian loses week two.

SPEAKER_01 44:08

Oh my God. It's just Ole Miss. Well, that takes me to week three. Ole Miss versus LSU, the Kiffin return. So my oh my, Lane Kiffin is coming back into Ole Miss. Um, so there's Scott Rabalas from New Orleans.com says, I'm serious when I say that I hope LSU and Ole Miss officials have a very good security plan in place for LSU's arrival and departure from Vot Hemingway Stadium and for Kiffen and the LSU team on field. Um it is going to be crazy. That I'm trying to go. I'm trying to, I'm trying, I'm trying to figure out how we can get the red zone. It's in Oxford, Mississippi. I really wish it was an LSU, but uh it's in Oxford, Mississippi. No shade. Hey, no shade for uh for for Oxford, but a couple brown. I think we should be okay.

SPEAKER_00 45:03

Well, yeah. Red Zone, the love machine always gets especially when I'm going for Ole Miss, though.

SPEAKER_01 45:08

Oh yeah, that'd be good. Oh my god. Oh my so I'm planning. I'm planning, Ole Miss fans. I'm planning on something. Um, the red zone blitz all the way from Canada. We're planning on maybe coming down, maybe coming down for Ole Miss versus LSU, Lane Kiffin's return. Um, hopefully the tickets are not crazy, and we can sneak in there and you can show we can show some.

SPEAKER_00 45:30

Oh, though they're gonna be crazy for that game.

SPEAKER_01 45:31

Regardless, we might just have to stand outside and tailgate all game long. Uh, but we're super excited. Um, regardless for college football to be back, I think it's gonna be a it's gonna be a crazy time. Now, do you think he wins?

SPEAKER_00 45:48

Kiven? That's that has to be a must-win for him.

SPEAKER_01 45:52

Do you think he does it? Do you want to do I'll see schedule?

SPEAKER_00 45:57

I don't think so, man. I think old miss is gonna be ready. Oh my days. Oh my wonder who's their week two appointment?

SPEAKER_01 46:02

Louisiana Tech. They should beat Louisiana Tech.

SPEAKER_00 46:05

But then I was like, if they're playing another solid team, they can be down 0-3.

SPEAKER_01 46:09

Dude, they got Clemson, Louisiana Tech, Ole Miss, Texas AM. Oh wow, that's four like three out of four are pretty fucking good.

SPEAKER_00 46:19

So it's it's does Lane Kiffin last that long? Oh dear.

SPEAKER_01 46:23

Oh god, oh no, please, please, please, please.

SPEAKER_00 46:26

Another another firing overnight or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 46:29

No, no, no, please. Um, do you think he's the most important figure in college football, Mr. Kiffin?

SPEAKER_00 46:37

Right now, right now he is.

SPEAKER_01 46:39

I think he is what happened, yeah. I know Nick Saban was for a long time because of his brilliance of obviously of winning. Lane Kiffin's up there, he's got the spotlight on him. Now it's up to him whether what he wants to do with that spotlight. Like he he is very well he's a target, and so is LSU. He's very well put himself, he's put himself right dead center. So it'll be interesting to see what happens. Now I uh I love Nick Saban. I've been recently religiously listening to the Paul Finnbaum show. Um I'm trying to get more educated on all things college football, along with the SEC, of course. Um Nick Saban went, you know, on the show. Uh, this was after Trump's uh President Trump's White House College Sports Reform Committee. Um, or sorry, he's co-chair of that committee, but this is after the most recent comments from President Trump um with his interview. Um, he did speak about the fact that, you know, there needs to be a salary cap. He goes, I like the fact that some programs have been able to improve because of the circumstance, but I also think there should be some equilibrium. One team shouldn't have a 40 million roster, and another team have a$5 million roster, and they're out there playing each other. Every league, NFL, basketball, hockey, they all have a salary cap or something that creates parity in the league. So everybody has an equal opportunity to win. Now, before I get in there, um what are your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_00 48:03

Do you agree, disagree? I agree 100% with Nick Saban with the salary cap. I mean, how else are you gonna have competition in the in college football? If you have like the bigger schools recruiting, spending all the money on these guys, wouldn't it help the bigger schools? Compete.

SPEAKER_01 48:22

But wouldn't it help the bigger schools? Because I feel like if you're if you have a set price, right, and like every school's on the on the same thing, and you get to pick between LSU or Texas or Alabama, and then like you get to pick between a smaller school, wouldn't everybody want to go to the bigger school? So wouldn't recruiting be a little bit easier? Whereas now what's happening is if you're a guy and LSU's there giving you five million and you're like, okay, that's great, I love that. But Texas Tech comes out of nowhere and gives you 10. Now Texas Tech has that guy. Whereas normally, if it's like you're comparing the two programs one against the other, Texas Tech never would have stood a chance.

SPEAKER_00 49:05

Yeah, I can see that happening too.

SPEAKER_01 49:08

I just think it's I think there needs to be a cap, but I think it almost it needs it's going that way and it'll go to that way. There's gonna be one major league, like it's gonna be one well.

SPEAKER_00 49:18

I I think down the road NCA and football are gonna split.

SPEAKER_01 49:24

I think so. I agree with you. I think you're gonna see the SEC split from the uh from the NCAA.

SPEAKER_00 49:29

It's becoming more about football than college and football.

SPEAKER_01 49:35

Yeah, I think I think you're gonna see either a split. So you're gonna see either uh SEC splits from the NCAA, makes their own conference, makes their own league, and or and or the NCAA needs to get a hold of this thing. Yeah, they need to start, they need to fit, like they just can't just be like, oh well, whatever. Because it's gaining popularity, it's gaining popularity at a huge, huge rate. But KK, if they're why do you think football NFL is so popular right now? Fantasy football. Yeah, fantasy football is the number one reason. If they get a power conference or a power league and it's all the top schools, and they can get that down to 30. What do you think is gonna happen? Fantasy college football. And there is already some of that, but it's gonna blow up because it's gonna be just like the NFL. It's gonna follow that exact same model, and it's gonna who knows? Maybe this be maybe it becomes a feeder league. It maybe there's that's the way it's going right now. Maybe there's a world where a guy's on a practice squad and he gets to he gets to have the option of staying on the practice squad or going down and playing for another school, like a Texas Tech, or a small, let's just say like Tulsa or I don't know, Texas State. Like those schools can then grab these NFL guys, they're getting reps in games. Like, I'm just bring I'm just brainstorming. Like, don't shoot me here.

SPEAKER_00 51:07

I don't I don't see that happening because of the draft. Because like, how do you still work the NFL draft?

SPEAKER_01 51:12

Well, I think you're drafted, like you're a drafted player, and then you can go down and play again. You go down and play again, yeah. But like you'd have to have it so like they if you're like you went into the draft, you declared, but you're not like 25, right? Like you declared and you were 22, you could go down and play two more years on the practice squad, get paid, and then you're also getting reps, and then it allows you to do that. So it's like you have an NFL team that's associated with a like minor league college kind of thing. I don't know, it might it might not make sense, but I do think that there will be I don't think the NFL will go that route Roger Goodell, it's not gonna not gonna do that. That's gonna be ridiculous. But regardless, the NCAA has to come in here and fix it if they want to keep this thing going. Because yeah, you're right.

SPEAKER_00 51:58

Like coaches are starting to reach that point where they're like that's what I think they should look into a salary cap.

SPEAKER_01 52:04

That would be interesting. I think if they do the breakthrough of like what you're saying, like if it's like if it's they've separated and it's one conference, or it's like 15-20 schools and they're like big dogs, that could work with a salary cap, right? Then it's like, okay, you're really picking between LSU Alabama. But at what point then do you are start thinking, oh, the colleges need to do a draft too?

SPEAKER_00 52:30

The only other option to me would be have how it is now where you have different divisions in college, yeah, but the major one up top is gonna have to do a split because you can't have like LSU going out there and beating say Tulsa, maybe or Hawaii, like iron 62 to zero and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 52:52

That doesn't do anything for the sport. I think that just like that's not good for anybody, that's not good for anybody.

SPEAKER_00 52:57

Like, I and I think you want competition.

SPEAKER_01 53:00

Some old heads are gonna be like, but the schools got paid money from LSU, LSU pays them a bunch of money and they come down and I'm like, but how does that help them? Like getting paid all that money, great, okay, but no one's watching the game because everybody knows they're gonna get killed.

SPEAKER_00 53:15

And if you're playing on the other team, how is that helping you? Yeah, like how is that showing how you play? So you can go into the NIL and get transferred.

SPEAKER_01 53:24

Yeah, like it's just not a fair comparison. Like, if you were a quarterback and you got to like you played, like you're at Louisiana Tech, and then you played LSU or you played Alabama and you got absolutely fucking killed and threw six picks, those six picks stay on your stat line forever. But it's like we gotta we gotta stop with these big blowout games that are like it's not fun for anybody. Yeah, great. Like if you're a fan of the team, cool, your team beat another team 60 nothing. But would you rather play somebody with a little higher competition than beat up on the poor kid who's probably like struggling to like go to algebra class? He's getting hit so hard, his brain's all mushed. Come on, guys, come on now. Hot takes from KK and G on college football. We're about to fix this thing ourselves. Um, last little thing, and I and and this came in as a question, actually. Somebody wrote to us and they said, Why do why do some college football helmets have stickers on them? So I decided to do a little little thing. So uh where do these come from? So they actually have World War II roots. Uh, the whole concept traces back to fighter pilots. After kills or successful missions, pilots would mark their planes with painted symbols, stars, silhouettes, tallies. It was a visible record of valor. Football coaches, many of who had military backgrounds, carried that instinct into sport. Most people credit Ohio State trainer Ernie Biggs and coach Woody Hayes in 1968. Um, but that's not really the true story. Bo Schembler actually beat Woody to it by three years. When Bo was the head coach at Miami University of Ohio in 1965, he was already awarding stickers. Um, so there is like this has been going on for a long, long time. Now, the Woody's version of the story was Ohio State trainer Ernie Biggs pitched the idea to Hayes in 1968. Hayes was famously stingy with stingy with praise. Woody wasn't really a huge on heaping praise on guys, said equipment staffer Larry Romanoff. I don't know how long it took Ernie and the guys to convince Woody to do that, but once Hayes was in, he was all in. He made the sticker ceremony a major production. Players called up in front of the team, shoulder slapped from Hayes. He also threatened to take them back if you were badly. Um, the early Buckeye leaf, the original stickers were enormous. Defensive back Jim Nean from the Woody Hayes era said three stickers would fill the whole side of your helmet. That's how big they were. They were tennis ball size, they've shrunk dramatically since. The leaf itself was designed in 1950 by comic strip artist Milton Calf. Um, now not all teams do it. Only around 13 FBS programs currently act run active helmet stickers systems. Some coaches have tried it and stopped it. Georgia, for example. Um, some programs, Alabama, Notre Dame, Oregon, have never adopted at all. The NFL does not allow this due to their strict uniform guidelines. Um, a 2011 study actually found that when male participants were offered a visible, tangible trophy for an accomplishment, they adjusted their behavior, sacrificing individual interests for the team success more often. So there was science behind it. Um now I'll go through kind of the schools that do it, and then I'll get you to pick your favorite one, KK. I think we would be re reminiscent if we did not talk about the buckeye leaf, it would be a problem. Um, a quarter size green and white leaf from the buckeye tree, Ohio State tree, designed in 1950, like I said. How you earn it. So if you win a game, everyone gets one. Everybody. Win a big 10 game, you get two. Beat Michigan, three. No stickers after a loss. Individual stickers are for position group performances, five, three, and outs for the defense, 10, 12-yard plus plays for the offense, film grade rewards, touchdown throws, interceptions, fumble recoveries are at coach's discretion. Um, the capacity is 47 stickers per side. Ohio State orders roughly around 7,500 stickers per season. They've handed out about an average of 444 stickers per game in recent seasons. It resets every year, so you got a clean helmet on day one. Um, and Ryan Day called would call up the team, yell Buckeye leaves. Every player called individually. You stand, you shake the coach's hand, no smiling. It's a business transaction. Move on with your day. Um, now the next one, the arrival, Michigan, the Wolverines. Um, so Michigan sticker tradition traces back to Bo Schembeckler, who actually started it at Miami, Ohio. Um, Harbaugh did a reinvent uh reinvention of this. So Lloyd Carr killed the program in 1995. Jim Harbaugh brought it back in 2015, and then in 2021, he completely rebuilt the philosophy. Um, Michigan helmets now tell a player's entire career story, not just one season. You keep the stickers on for your entire time you're there. Um, they have a most they have the most varied system in college football. Area code. Every player gets their home area code on their helmet. A Canadian player would have a Canadian area code, a player from Compton will get the 3-1-0. Ted, there every day. Shows up to every spring and fall practice. Ronnie Bell said his Ted sticker earned after returning from a season-ending injury was his most meaningful reward. EUTM, Athusiasm Unknown to Mankind, Harbaugh's highest individual honor, named after his own book. Blake Coram and Chris Jenkins were among the first recipients. Rampage, earned by being a part of an eight-game win streak, named after the Halo video game medal for defeating 20 opponents without dying. Win stickers with the all-time program total embedded. So Michigan hit a thousand wins and the sticker had an M in Roman numerals, M equaling a thousand. Every win adds to the count. Bowl game stickers, Big Ten championship stickers, equality and title stickers, all permanent career marks. Harbaugh gives the helmet back. When players leave the program, Harbaugh personally gives them their helmet. Put that up on a mantle or shelf, or it says something good about you. It just brings back what was the best time of your life. A lot of us would say it was. That was very, very nice. Florida State, KK. They've got the Tomahawk. Uh, gold tomahawk on the gold FSU helmet. Clean, sharp, instant, instantly recognizable. He's awarded for both on-field accomplishments and academic achievements. Uh, FSU is one of the only programs that explicitly rewards classroom performance with the same sticker as a big play. It can be revoked, it can be taken away. Mistakes on and off the field count. Um FSU's gold helmet gives players significant real estate. Unlike Ohio State's strict pyramid placement of the stickers, seminole players can put the tomahawk wherever they choose, front, side, back, um, wherever they want. Uh, Clemson. Clemson, you get a nice little paw print. Uh, it started with skulls and crossbones, they've moved on to the paw print now. Um, it's strictly confidential. They do not tell you how you get one. So I do not know. Um, Georgia, the bone, that they've stopped doing this now, but they used to get um, you know, they it wasn't as formal like players like Christian Robinson said, if the coach thinks you got one, deserved one, you got one. It wasn't like Ohio State's breakdown or or like Michigan's breakdown. Stanford had an axe, they don't have that anymore. But uh players received an axe sticker specifically for winning the annual big game against Cal. Additional stickers were awarded throughout the season for field merit, but the big game sticker carried its own weight, and then you got some wild cards. Duke does a grim reaper, only defensive players can earn it. Tennessee has a 63 sticker, means six seconds, three great efforts. Players earn it when a play takes six seconds and includes three maximum efforts. That's very specific. Very fucking specific. Tennessee. Northwestern only gives out stickers during winning seasons. Um Purdue, the Boilermaker, it's a train. Uh BYU's gold and blue. Okay. If you had to pick one, okay. Best look okay. Best looking. Which one was which one would you be?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:58

I'd have to go with you the best looking one, would probably be the grim reaper one. Oh, come on, KK. Come on. The Grim Reaper one. Come on, KK. It's Ohio State. The best looking one.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:08

Ohio State. What things covered in helmets? Look at Ezekiel Elliott's head when they they won the national championship. Covered in it. It looked beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:18

You're saying the best looking one would be a bunch of Grim Reapers on your helmet.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:22

I mean, I guess you're not wrong. That does it is scary, but how often are they making great defensive plays in Duke?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:28

I searched Duke Grim Reaper and a bunch of that's why you just said the best looking one. Okay, not who deserves it the most. Okay, wait, what? What does that mean? What do you mean who deserves it?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:40

No, like which one's the second, which one's the hottest? Which one's the sexiest one?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:44

Like what I would want on my helmet? Yeah, like a bunch of Grim Reapers.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:49

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:50

But I I like I like what uh the Florida State does, the Tomahawk. Yep, I like that one. I like it because academics and athletics. Okay, it's different than normal. The the big big school guy, the total package would be what Harbaugh does. Harbaugh Harbaugh put some thought into that thing, man. Like giving your helmet back there with the stickers, you know, that's something expensive.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:14

That's a f that's a future commissioner of a league, right? There, he he did that helmet program, like a guy does his fantasy football league, like G does his fantasy football league, like to all the time and effort that he went into it. I do think Michigan is uh um let me have a look again at the Michigan helmet before I make my decision. Let me have a look at the stickers. Okay, yeah, yeah, okay. That does that does look nice. Blake Horns was very full. Um, for me, it's gotta be very easy. It's gotta be very easy. Um, Ohio State, uh, very hot helmet. Um, a lot of success. Ohio State, very hot program as well. A lot of wide receivers, very silky.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:56

When you're saying that, I was gonna ask, like, how many helmets did he go through in like one season? Oh, Zeke, Zeke's my full helmets. Like any player, the amount of wins they're getting, it's like oh they're yeah, they're every like 10 games. Your helmet's your helmet's just full. I need a new one.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:12

Yeah, they're they're a crazy, crazy team out there in Ohio State. Um KK, if you had to give me a college team, which college team would you give me after knowing me? And it can't be Texas, Ohio State. Oh, does that scream? Do I scream Ohio State Why? Well, you love the helmet, you love Zeke. I do love Zeke Allian. I do, I do love Zeke. He is he is are you playing the switch teams again? Oh no, I mean, it would be nice to you know, it would be nice to do the bracket again. I think that would be fun, that would be enjoyable. Um, no, no. I've I've no be vo till we die. Bevo till we die.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:53

Are you are you really a Longhorns fan now? Since you'll be like, uh, go do another bracket.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:59

I I just secretly look at the ratings of my last bracket episode. I get very happy, and I look at the ratings of your bracket episode, and they seem to do very, very well. Um, maybe we can do uh Matthew, maybe Matt do one. He's not here to talk about LSU. Yeah, well, maybe his mind is changing. Maybe he wants to go cheer for Ole Miss. Maybe he's going reverse.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:19

Maybe he will when they're like one and two. Oh my days. Oh my days. Maybe oh and three, you never know. Oh dear god. Oh dear god, Louisiana Tech.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:27

Oh my stop, stop. The people at LSU are sad. Please stop. Uh, listen, great episode. That was KK, the director of content engagement. KK Working People follow you on Instagram.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:39

KK Red Zone Blitz on Instagram.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:41

There it is. KK Red Zone Blitz on Instagram. Follow on us on Instagram, X TikTok. What are you doing? Red Zone Blitz Pod. Give us a follow. Email us redzone blitz podcast at gmail.com. We're there. Answer any inquiries, sponsorships, get in our line. Also Fantasy Jocks. Big shout out to them. Go get your fantasy football equipment, draft boards, all that lovely stuff. Fantasyjocks.com. We'll be back with another episode. I know the NFL schedule dropped, folks. We're going to get to it. We're going to do an episode. We're going to go through all that whole thing. Until next time, this is the only football podcast in Canada holding it down. And I'd like to announce finally the number one football podcast in Canada holding it down for all things college, NFL, and fantasy football. Until next time, I'm G. And I'm KK. And we're up. God bless you.