Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comSubscriber episode: Steven Godfrey joins Alex and Richard to do a two-year checkup on Alabama under Kalen DeBoer. When Nick Saban retired in January 2024, Godfrey thought the Crimson Tide were due for a major reality check, while Alex thought one of Saban’s gifts to Bama was a durable and higher floor. Two seasons into the DeBoer era, Godfrey’s view looks like it’s carrying the day. But does Alabama see it that way, given a new contract extension for DeBoer? In this episode:0:00: Why Alex and Godfrey disagreed two years ago 5:14: What DeBoer’s extension says about Greg Byrne’s bet and Alabama’s appetite for patience after an uneven first two years.10:28: Alabama’s roster-building question: Is high school recruiting just going really well, or are they poor, or is it a bit of both? 20:38: Godfrey on the psychology of SEC donors spending money on football players, and why it’s better for Ole Miss than Alabama 52:23: The archival add-on: Alex’s special episode from 2021 on what “gameday home” condo purchases do to SEC towns Producer: Anthony Vito

The ACC Offseason Vibe Check is here. Alex and Richard check in with all 17 ACC football schools and throw in Notre Dame as well. In this episode …* 1:31: Miami made a big playoff run and then simply reloaded * 4:14: Duke won football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball conference titles in the same year, and yet still has bad vibes because of some devastating portal losses * 7:47: Georgia Tech’s fourth defensive coordinator under Brent Key, the Buster Faulkner exodus to Florida, and whether Alberto Mendoza can be the next Haynes King* 10:16: SMU’s offensive coordinator change leaves Kevin Jennings is looking around the empty house wondering who’s going to help him* 13:29: Stanford brings on Tavita Pritchard as Andrew Luck’s handpicked guy, and Yale transfer Nico Brown is the portal add to watch* 17:01: Virginia might really be building something now? * 19:25: Cal has a legitimately improved talent picture under Tosh Lupoi * 22:56: NC State went 8-5, but doesn’t feel like an 8-5 program * 24:45: Louisville is setting itself up for another preseason hype cycle * 28:17: Wake Forest had a great first year under Jake Dickert and may find itself strained to keep the momentum going * 29:09: Boston College’s year-two flameout to 2-10 under Bill O’Brien leaves questions about what happens now * 32:54: Syracuse continues to cook in recruiting, but will need a QB * 34:32: North Carolina looks better, at least on the field* 36:52: Clemson may – may! – be getting close to the end * 41:52: Pitt kept its QB and OC, but the money situation is a big problem * 45:40: Notre Dame brings back most of the band and takes a shot at an Ohio State wide receiver * 51:30: Florida State’s early-season schedule could end the Mike Norvell era by mid-October* 58:41: Virginia Tech is the most fascinating team in the sport to Alex, but we’ll mainly talk about the Hokies on a larger show next week This episode is free, but to get lots more, become a paid subscriber todayFor $10 a month (or a free month with the whole year), you get:* Roughly twice as many episodes (usually two bonus a week in season and once a week out of season, but sometimes more)* Our entire back catalog of hundreds of bonus episodes, with many of them focused on evergreen topics from college football history* Subscriber Q&A opportunities* The knowledge that you’re helping us make an audience-driven podcast about college football and keeping this thing alive and well This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

Our offseason wellness check on all 16 teams in the Big 12. Richard and Alex discuss a league with a few teams trending upward and a lot more teams just trying to figure things out. Producer: Anthony Vito This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comQuick note! This is a subscriber episode of Split Zone Duo. You can subscribe here. Subscribers, be on the lookout on Sunday night or early Monday for the links to enter our annual bracket competition, with SZD sponsor prizes for the winners. It’ll be fun! OK, here’s this hoops-centric episode. College basketball has many of the same challenges as football, and some that are even tougher. Rodger Sherman joins Alex and Richard for a state of the union on CBB and a compare-contrast of how the dynamics we’ve observed in football are showing up in hoops. In this episode, you’ll find: * 7:46: The story of Miami (Ohio), a mid-major basketball team whose undefeated regular season has resulted in an awfully CFB-like discourse about whether they should miss the NCAA tournament * 17:08: The widening gap between the high-major conferences and everyone else, quantified in real time by Rodger * 27:33: Why continuity problems appear to be worse in CBB * 41:32: Is that thing actually happening where the House settlement results in basketball-only schools having an advantage? * 45:06: We probably shouldn’t actually worry that much about a small number of recent pros returning to the college game * 1:00:27: Rodger prepares us for March Madness Produced by Anthony Vito. This is a subscriber episode For $10 a month (or getting a free month with the whole year), you get: * Roughly twice as many episodes (usually two bonus a week in season and once a week out of season, but sometimes more) * Our entire back catalog of hundreds of bonus episodes, with many of them focused on evergreen topics from college football history * Subscriber Q&A opportunities * The knowledge that you’re helping us make an audience-driven podcast about college football and keeping this podcast alive and well

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comHost emeritus Steven Godfrey is back to join Richard for a whip-around of the most interesting coordinator moves (and non-moves) from the 2026 coaching carousel. There’s a lot to cover here, including but not limited to:* 1:04: Miami’s key retentions* 3:13: Palace intrigue at Auburn* 4:45: Clemson pushes the Chad Morris button* 8:50: Texas says hi again to Will Muschamp* 11:31: Kansas does the same with Andy Kotelnicki* 12:45: Tennessee’s possibly great but definitely kind of awkward Jim Knowles hire, after he flopped at Penn State* 16:45: Chip Kelly’s post-Eagles career remains bizarre* 19:49: Bobby Petrino and Bill Belichick* 23:05: Ole Miss’ new world* 27:48: Gary Patterson and USC* 29:02: Deion’s shrinking runway in Boulder* 30:22: TCU’s identity shift* 31:22: Mike Norvell, play-caller* 31:45: Michigan’s Utah era* 32:31: Ohio State’s NFL OC hire* 33:00: Oregon replacing not one but two coordinators* 34:50: Buster Faulkner (with the GT offense?) heads to GainesvilleProducer: Anthony Vito

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comIn this subscriber episode, Godfrey, Richard, and Alex revisit 28 head coach transitions before the 2012 college football season. This was one of the most consequential coach carousels of the 21st century, with lots of very good, lots of very bad, plenty in the middle, and also the John L. Smith situation:THE GOOD* 9:29: Urban Meyer to Ohio State* 16:05: Mike Leach to Washington State* 22:39: Bill O’Brien to Penn State* 31:34: Justin Fuente to Memphis* 34:28: Matt Campbell to Toledo* 35:31: Jim McElwain to Colorado State* 36:55: Gus Malzahn to Arkansas State* 39:28: Terry Bowden to AkronTHE WHATEVER* 41:36: Jim Mora Jr. to UCLA* 46:54: Todd Graham to Arizona State* 50:28: Paul Chryst to Pitt* 51:10: Larry Fedora to North Carolina* 53:42: Kyle Flood to Rutgers* 55:45: Bob Davie to New Mexico* 56:46: Tim DeRuyter to Fresno StateTHE UGLY* 58:05: Tim Beckman to Illinois* 59:00: Tony Levine to Houston* 1:00:59: Curtis Johnson to Tulane* 1:01:59: Norm Chow to Hawaii* 1:05:54: Charley Molnar to UMass* 1:06:21: Garrick McGee to UAB* 1:13:08: Carl Pelini to FAU* 1:17:05: Ellis Johnson to Southern Miss* 1:19:25: Charlie Weis to Kansas* 1:28:00: John L. Smith to ArkansasTHE DEBATABLE* 1:20:48: Kevin Sumlin to Texas A&M* 1:21:36: Hugh Freeze to Ole Miss* 1:25:02: Rich Rodriguez to ArizonaProduced by Anthony Vito.Paid subscribers can here this episode and also our other “Anatomy of a Coaching Carousel” shows: * 2001* 2010Everyone else can hear free previews of these episodes. Thanks so much to our paid subscribers for making this show possible.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comThis is a subscriber episode of Split Zone Duo, but everyone can listen to a free preview. Become a subscriber today by clicking on this link. In the second leg of our big offseason-opening mailbag, Richard and Alex take a big list of subscriber questions. (But first, yet another MAC head coach leaves his job and restarts the coach carousel in the process.) Among the questions answered in this episode: 7:54: Which new Sun Belt head coach is the best bet to succeed this year?* 11:05: How excited should we be about Buster Faulkner as Florida’s new offensive coordinator?* 16:41: Who’s having the hardest time coping with Curt Cignetti’s success at Indiana? (Alex says it’s Purdue fans; Richard disagrees.) * 21:50: How durable is the House settlement-generated age of parity? * 23:17: What will it take for college football players to finally be declared university employees?* 28:17: Will college football adopt transfer fees like European soccer?* 30:09: Are schools stuck in mutually assured destruction when it comes to recruiting rule enforcement?* 32:04: What happened with the major running back transfers that fizzled out this year?* 33:14: Can mid-tier power conference programs like Pitt still have breakthrough seasons in this era?* 36:05: Why can’t Nebraska take the next step in NIL and rev share spending?* 39:08: How can resource-deprived programs like West Virginia compete at the highest level right now?* 43:22: Will the single transfer portal window eventually move from winter to post-spring ball?* 46:50: Will more five-star recruits pick smaller schools over Blue Bloods, and are we entering the era of the strategic redshirt?* 50:31: Does the expanded playoff put even more emphasis on having veteran starters on your roster?* 52:15: Is the Pac-12 media deal ever actually going to happen, and what’s going on with the Mountain West lawsuit?* 53:19: Does the new Pac-12 have the horses to keep up with the American, and will the playoff committee treat it as a premier G6 league?* 54:00: Can the Pac-12 and Mountain West coexist, or is one conference going to have to absorb the other?* 59:19: What happens to conference championships if they get rid of conference championship games?* 1:04:07: Is the Big Ten pushing for a 24-team playoff because Fox wants to renegotiate media rights?* 1:07:57: Would you rather have the Lou Groza Award winner or the Ray Guy Award winner on your team?* 1:09:11: What will it take for spring football to succeed, and do people even want it?Then, in the FUN ROUND: * 1:10:46: Why are the swear words bleeped in the SZD podcast intro?* 1:12:24: Who’s been the main character of SZD throughout its existence?* 1:14:15: For Richard: What’s more likely, Dabo embracing the transfer portal or Spurs winning the Champions League?* 1:15:51: Alex, have you ever done a trail run, and do you have any advice for someone training for a trail half and a 50K?* 1:17:45: Alex, what’s on your race calendar these days? \Produced by Anthony Vito.