Carlos Ledo of the MIA All-Day Podcast joins The Athletic’s Manny Navarro to discuss Manny’s ACC preseason rankings, answer mailbag questions and share takeaways from Legends Camp and OT7.
hey welcome back to a new installment of the wide ride podcast I’m Manny Navaro miy hurricanes beat rider for the athletic joined by Carlos Leo of the Mia all day pod Tuesday June 11th right around 1:30 PM Carlos it’s been a minute since you and I have uh have done a podcast and I just asked you actually I just told you I said there’s a lot to get to and you said what the hell’s happened yeah I’m like come on man what’s it’s summertime uh the school’s over kids are out of school you know summer Camp’s on you know Sunshine is normally out today is a really rainy ugly day but it’s been fantastic weather out so you know sun’s out buns out my man the canes are like not uh not at the Forefront of my mind right now yeah well I mean listen really not a lot has not happened in terms of the roster or the field or anything like that because basically since the spring spring transfer portal window uh came to a close uh they’ve been focused on recruiting right and they’ve only got seven commitments in in the class right now they’re doing a lot of official visits things like of that nature so um I’ve put a less emphasis myself on recruiting just because I feel like the transfer portal and players you know being gone after one or two years is such a big deal uh now that that you have so much roster turnover constantly I mean uh I’ve spent basically the last month Carlos as as you know because I shared the document with you breaking down ACC rosters and I and I went through and I looked at ACC player retention and the percentages just for you know the 2020 recruiting class 2021 2022 23 basically the the classes the recruiting classes that would make up the roster and the average player retention in the ACC this is League wide Carlos for a fouryear that four-year window that I just read 2020 through 2023 you know what it is 70% 51% wow 51.5% of the high school recruits uh in the ACC are still with the schools they signed with from 2020 to uh 2023 that’s a shocking number yes if you do it from 22 and 23 meaning just uh the two previous classes it’s 72% and if you do 21 to 23 it’s 61.3% but there are some teams that are really on the bottom of the barrel Carlos in terms of retaining players Louisville for instance they’ve kept 33% of their recruits for the last four years that’s it just 33% I think that’s a factor of a new head coach coming in starting to clean house and and change turn the roster over meanwhile on the other side of the coin you have Boston College who’s kept 70% of their recruits are still on their roster from 2020 to 2023 Clemson is next with a lot of good that’s done Boston College yeah well the point is we can get caught up in summer recruiting uh in June six months before they sign or we can give you the facts and talk to you about how much college football has changed instead of just talking about some High schoool kid from Georgia or Alabama that’s going to commit to Miami and will he commit all the way through and stay and actually sign the document come December I honestly don’t want to waste my time doing that for you guys because I feel like it’s just it’s just not as important as it used to be uh roster turnover is just ridiculous I went to Legends Camp uh this past Sunday Carlos down in Coral Gables did they ask you to suit up no they did not but one of the things that I talked about with with a couple of the people on Miami staff was that you know how much even the camps have changed right like these kids are coming in now Carlos and the only ones that are going to Legends Camp anymore are like ninth and 10th graders the 11th graders the 12th they don’t bother there’s really no reason for them to go anymore because they’ve already got offers by the time they’re starting their junior year and and so the best kids uh if they go to a camp it’s because they really like that coach uh and they have a great relationship or they’re taking an official visit that weekend so the evaluation process is be is is becoming earlier and earlier all the changes in the NCAA rules makes it really really hard you’re looking at basically 14 15 and 16 year olds in determining should we offer them a scholarship right now even before they start their junior year uh and it and it’s crazy so uh I think that leads to a lot of problems down the road Mis evaluations players decommitting all that stuff that Miami’s dealt with in the past but that was something that a few of the staffers were were complaining to me about they said listen it’s it’s just the the NCAA Calendar’s kind of gotten ridiculous the number of transfers everything that goes on with that um is kind of crazy well the other the other thing I’m sure they talked to you about and they were compain complaining about is uh you’re you’re fandom of Florida State so I’m surprised they allowed you at Legends Camp did you walk in with the Florida state hat or or I I left the Florida state hat in the car uh I brought it I brought it I brought it with me to Raz Mario If he if he if if I happened to run into him I was gonna go back to the car and bring it out but he was not there when I was there I don’t think that was gonna go well I think uh Mario being the MMA guy he is he sees all these fights coming up he’s probably training himself getting hyped up for these summer fights and right not have gone well well I talked to the to the OG the original uh Chris the ball brother who who was great at beating people’s uh butts up Lou crystal ball I spent a lot of time hanging out with Lou on Sunday and uh some great stories about Mario back in the day the physicality just you know what it was like to grow up uh in that crystal ball family so you’re right I I would have been fearing for my life had had pissed Mario off wearing an FSU high I would have never done something that disrespectful Carlos yeah with as you say that with a smirk okay well listen the canes did pick up a commitment I’m not going to ignore that before we get to our our main subjects here Timothy Merritt three star defensive back out of Birmingham Alabama he’s actually a high star he’s ranked number 451 in the in the 247 Sports composite usually the top 425 are blue chippers so he’s just outside of that range the best thing about this kid Carlos and I know the thing coaches are excited about he’s 62 180 he’s long lanky can play safety can play cornerback I think they’re going to let him play play cornerback when he walks in but uh I think ultimately he’s he’s probably projected more as a safety down the road either way you want defensive backs that are big and long yeah yeah big and long and strong and I think uh for those of you that that are interested in Clips uh getting a little quick breakdown you know our friend Jeremy Marcus pelts did a pretty good breakdown he shared it with us so if you guys want to find him on Twitter it’s uh JMP 1063 he did a good little breakdown on on the recruit yeah um I’ll say this I I think Miami for the most part is doing a good job they’re bringing in a lot of Big Time kids like they’re supposed to but I’ve said this on the big old show every time I’ve made an appearance uh the last couple weeks I’m less worried about commitments right now as much as uh you know Miami season and how well they do this is year three for Mario and like to me the recruits at this point what are they going to do they’re going to look at the results hey the whole team is basically yours now brother like you’ve had you’ve had time to build this the excuses of hey these weren’t my players is out the window so I think a lot of the guys that Miami’s in the fight for are going to watch how the season goes and and if they play well then I think Miami is going to have a good really good recruiting class potentially another top 10 recruiting class I think if they don’t play well then you’re probably on the outside looking in just outside of that look M I think not only that but kids are going to start jumping ship too right right yeah you’re G some of the younger guys on the roster if they’re not playing if they’re not getting the opportunity but look it’s the way it is in college football now it’s just the way it is like I like I started this episode talking about a lot of players now don’t wait around uh in fact fact that when I did my research in the ACC a good amount of the guys um that have jumped in the transfer portal were 2023 recruits Carlos guys that uh you know had just signed in fact I’m looking at it right now from the from the 2023 class um 61 guys in the ACC from from from the 2023 class have already left the school they signed with 61 out of out of 341 uh players that signed in the ACC and I’m and I included Stanford and SMU and uh Cal into that mix as well but it’s just it’s the way things are now guys are not waiting around and and if uh your team struggles or they’re not happy about playing time or they’re not happy with nil they’re going to leave and so it’s just part of the roster turnover that goes on nowadays yeah absolutely and I think more importantly for Mario like you said you know we said this last show these are his ingredients now if the meal tastes like [ __ ] it’s his fault there’s no there’s no more blaming anybody else you’re the chef you’re you’re the guy that’s the groceries you brought them in you’ve created this roster you established the culture you selected the offensive and defensive systems and this is what we’re going with um and I think even more importantly is based like based on your research um on paper this might be the most talented team in the ACC or at least one of the top two so if they aren’t in the ACC title game or at least competing for the championship if they aren’t a 10- win team or a nine- win team at least and showing some sort of movement forward in terms of their progress on the field then at that point it’s okay what else do you need man you’ve got everything you asked for you’ve got a quarterback who’s potentially a first round pick you’ve rebuilt the offensive line yes the defensive backs are a little shaky but defensively this is probably going to be uh you know on both sides of the ball I think an overall a roster that’s more complete than you’ve had here at Miami in a long time you know if nothing happens here if there’s no big break or movement forward then you’re going to look at Mario and say are you the guy you what else can you do yeah you’re a great recruiter but if you’re not producing on the field that doesn’t mean anything yeah and I think iname decisions is going to be huge for Mario right it’s like do you take timeouts when you’re supposed to do you uh you make the right decisions running out the clock late in games those are all things that I think he’s going to ultimately be judged by this coming season do you beat the teams that you’re supposed to beat and do you do you play the toughest teams on your schedule the smart way without making dumb mistakes I think all of that is going to weigh heavily on Mario this year and and ultimately shape I think his tenure at Miami look he’s got a 10-year contract I’m not saying there’re anywh near close to firing him if they if they go eight and four next year Carlos that’s not going to happen but I I certainly think you’re right I think what happens in in general in college football is you once you lose the fan base and the support and maybe some of those nil dollars and you and you lose people believing in you then that bleeds into everything else recruiting transfers players just just sort of being affected by it all so you need to keep the positive momentum going I think they will Carlos I’ve got faith in this team uh I did the state rankings for the athletic last week we’ll get to that in a few minutes uh I think they’re a top two team in the state I’m not ready to put them past uh the Florida state seminal Carlos because I this is my reason it has nothing to do with uh this has nothing to do with my fandom as some of you like to believe uh this has to do with Mike norell being a better Coach right now and getting more out of his teams uh in year four uh than than Mario has in his first two years and and that’s just facts I’m not saying Mario can’t graduate to the next level and do exactly what norell did which is go 10 and three in his second season and then really be a playoff team in year four uh I’m not saying Mario can’t do that I’m just saying to this point uh if you were to ask me who’s doing the better job coaching Carlos could you honestly make uh the point that uh norell is worse than crystal ball right now no and I think if you had to choose which of the two would produce a game plan to keep them in a game or overcome in a opponent who is more talented than they are or maybe a better opponent on paper you would probably choose Norvell and that’s my concern with Mario my concern Mario going into the season the hurricanes in general is if they are in a Le on in the lead in a game if they’re front running I could see this team winning pretty much every game their front running in because they’ll just shut it down they’ll run the football they’ll protect the ball they’ll Hammer people down they’ll kill clock and they’ll win they can win games that way right um that’s Mario Style to get ahead get a lead in the game and then put you inside of a phone booth and beat the [ __ ] out you until the clock runs out and that works we saw that against Clemson however if it’s a situation where this team has to come behind from behind in the second half that concerns if there’s a team that’s a lesser opponent that comes up with a good game plan comes comes up with a few turnovers and a couple quick scores you’re down 14 heading into the fourth quarter you’re down 10 heading into the fourth quarter do you believe this team has what it takes to come back and is it going to be allowed to have the sort of system offensively to come back in that kind of a situation which we haven’t seen yet that to me a main concern I mean with the talent on this roster they absolutely can but a lot of it is is not just Talent it’s it’s you know game plan it’s how you come into a game it’s how these guys are basically directed uh into executing what they’re supposed to do on the field so we’ll see what happens yeah I uh I spent some time in Tampa on Friday went up to the ot7 uh national championships my buddy at the South my buddies at the South Florida Express who I I gotten to know pretty well uh everybody’s who who follows recruiting say oh my God those are the Ohio State guys they send out Jeremiah Smith to Ohio State and all the no none of their star receivers go to Miami yes I understand that that’s it it’s been mostly an oh an Ohio State bleed from the south Florida Express but I kudos to those guys they won the national championship for the second time in three years um I I Bret gets and all those guys do a great job with building their rosters every single year a couple of their guys are actually he right now Carlos on official visits uh Jamie French and Vernell brown two guys that are top 50 recruits Jam’s a festar Bernell is a fourstar they’re instate guys French goes to Jacksonville Mandarin Brown goes to Orlando Jones um look if you’re going to win the battle eventually and get these Elite recruits to stay here you got to win big I think that’s what matters to a lot of these guys I will say I spoke to Jamie French I wrote about him uh in in my story uh for today for the athletic uh kind of a post ot7 story looking at his recruiting he told me he loves Kevin beard Carlos he really does and I think the one thing I got to give Mario credit for being around people at ot7 is I think he has a really really good staff in terms of elite recruiters I think Kevin beard is one of the best in college football if you if you read o you know the uh the 24 SS and the on threes everybody is sort of singing his Praises uh lately I think another guy who’s extremely underrated or maybe not talked about enough is on the defensive side and that’s Derrick Nicholson the linebacker coach I hear nothing but glowing reviews about Derrick Nicholson so I think Mario you know as as he’s kind of worked himself into year three here I think he’s hired some really good assistants that are better at recruiting than maybe the first staff that he brought in and so I think that’s going to help Miami maybe survive a bad loss or survive um you know some struggles or whatever I think that that those guys will help them win some key recruiting battles down the road yeah absolutely and I think that’s where it starts then once you got the talent on the roster it’s about developing an execute so let’s see if they could do that and I think there’s still know as good a job as Kevin beard has done um I think there’s still room for improvement there at the receiver room uh I think for me Luke Nicholls the first real big time quarterback that I’ve seen them recruit I like him a lot um you know I love you know a lot of people like uh J not Jud Nelson what’s his name Jud uh yes the receiver the quarterback that they signed last cycle yes Jud Anderson is it Jud Anderson there we go I mean not a big fan of his um so hopefully we see that the momentum continu to build as they continue to produce on the field if they produce on the field I think more and more guys uh will end up considering Miami and listening to those pitches a little bit more I think you know right now yes they’re Landing a lot of Big Time recruits but I think it could be even better once they start winning on the field because a lot of people are still hesitant you know they’re still looking at places like Ohio State Georgia and Alabama because they know they’re going to win and produce NFL first round picks uh we have yet to see that here with Miami we’ll see what happens yeah I will say Luke Nichols done a good job recruiting for Miami because the guys that I talked to the play receiver all mentioned him and say that he’s been reaching out to them so he’s committed he’s one of the seven commits and he’s doing his job helping Miami even though schools are still after him I think Florida State and South Carolina are still sort of recruiting him behind the scenes to try to get him to flip I think he’s pretty much uh committed to Miami and I think he’s doing a good job recruiting for them one little storyline and we’re going to get to mailbag questions we’re going to get to my ACC uh preseason rankings which is which is basically the Crux of today’s show but one little thing that I came away with from from going to Miami’s Legend Camp over the weekend this whole Simeon uh Barrow story uh the defensive lineman that they got out of Michigan State I kind of was digging around asking some questions about it uh Carlos uh I know it was kind of a big deal to some Miami fans because this is a guy who’s a 30 game starter a run stuffer that that that came in from Michigan State uh desperately needed desperately needed right especially after Jared Harrison hunt left for SMU um they’re working through the Kinks right now Carlos I think basically what happened was and this was sort of an odd wrinkle to it all uh I I think his paperwork was still in the transfer portal even though he had already signed and started taking classes at Miami for whatever reason he still showed up in the computer and he was getting SEC schools were reaching out to him trying to see if they could get him to uh basically reneg and and and transferred to their programs instead the kid decided to walk away from practice uh or the workouts that they were doing in the offseason looked like he was he went home to Georgia looked like he was going to take off from what I understand and then realized hey I can’t I’ve already started classes I already started receiving financial aid uh and I think Miami is working with him I from what I understand he’s put a good foot forward is the way it was described to me he’s been back working out with his teammates back on campus doing what he’s supposed to do um but it it’s one of those things that happens I’m going to tell you Carlos this happens quite a bit and people just never hear about it because players are unhappy either with playing time they got into a fight with a coach uh they want more nil money it’s like it’s just the way it is it’s it’s the new world of college football but it’s been happening for years even before nil uh where these sort of of little side shows with players and coaches and staffs happen so uh I’ll just say this I think Simeon Barrow is going to be a big part of Miami’s defense this year I expect him to be a starter I expect him to be um a guy who contributes and plays a whole lot of snaps is he going to be dominant I don’t know they I he wasn’t described to me as somebody who is a a Warren Sap Vince Wilfork dominant big man but certainly a big body that they need and somebody that will be a part of this team yeah absolutely and I think at this point because of the the lack of depth there at defensive tackle and size particularly I think anything you can get is a big help um just the only concern is now how do you trust this guy right do you fully trust him as a coaching staff do his teammates trust this guy now uh because he up and left as soon as he started getting some additional offers from elsewhere and the only reason he’s there is because he couldn’t leave so we’ll see yeah he’s got no choice but to produce because if he doesn’t then if he doesn’t want to leave if he wants to leave again he’s going to have to put up numbers or else he’s going to get zero all right we’re going to get to the uh pod uh mailbag questions in a minute you guys sent in a lot of stuff that good topics that we’ll talk about for sure but I wanted to go with my ACC uh preseason rankings I know it’s June 11th I know uh We’ve yet to see what happened with injuries and and camp and all that kind of stuff but right now on paper based on the post spring spring transfer portal my analysis my deep I I want to say about 50 pages worth of analysis on the conference Carlos I mean I broke everything down I counted the number of blue chippers on the roster I counted the number of career combined starts transfers player retention um I mean there’s all kinds of data and stuff here in in in my charts that I can show you uh if you’re interested in in diving that deep but I broke down literally every single roster in the league um looked at the recruiting classes looked at what was added up and so I came up with these sort of preseason rankings and I just wanted to go through them here with the listening audience thank God thank thank God you do stuff like this because there will be no way in hell I would put this kind of effort into anything all right so I’m going to start from the bottom I’m going to count backwards um from 17 to one uh as we as we get to uh preview the the my basically my thought process of how I would rank the teams in the ACC you can agree or disagree you can tell me Manny you’re crazy I think that’s too low or I think that’s too high I want your input as we go through this okay but the first sort of six to seven I’m just going to Breeze through especially the ones that I don’t think are going to have winning records here which is basically five teams that I kind of put on sub 500 watch okay 17 Wake Forest coming off a four- win season uh they had lost a lot to the trans portal yes they brought in Hank uh bachmeyer the former uh Louisiana Tech quarterback a guy who has a whole bunch of starts Carlos they’re over under for wins is four and a half I’m taking four wins for Virginia Tech as good as their coaching staff is and as good as job as they do um it’s just hard to win there man and especially in today’s nil era they didn’t pull in a bunch of guys think they got five transfers brought in the guys are from Louisiana Tech Indiana State Georgetown Southern Illinois and Kent State yes they’ve played elsewhere but they’ve played at a lower level it’s just hard to win when you do that yeah didn’t bachmeier also play at Boise State he did as well yes and he’s an experienced quarterback but to me he’s a good quarterback to me he’s not even top 10 in the league I did my top 10 quarterback ranking I don’t even have him in the top 10 so I I just think it’s another sort of struggling season for Dave claw and he lost uh you know some receivers that were really good guys that were were contributors for him um you know offensive line doesn’t bring back a lot and Miami plays uh Wake Forest this year so that’s you know I I think they’re certainly I don’t know if they’re number 17 I ranked them 17 right now but I I I think they’re definitely bottom five in the league all right uh number 16 Pittsburgh um really rough year for Pittsburgh last year uh two years removed from winning the ACC Championship uh Pat Nardi lost some guys to the transfer PTO Carlos that uh were pretty good players on his defense uh the defense has sort of been Pittsburgh’s calling card I looked at these numbers up when they won the ACC Championship two years ago Carlos they averaged 41 and a half points do you know how many points they averaged last season with a with a different quarterback and a new coordinator 24 21 21 points a game you you you go back 20 points all of a sudden you go from ACC Championship to bottom of the barrel and I don’t know that they’re going to take a huge leap they did bring in Eli Holstein who’s one of the uh who’s one of the top quarterbacks in the 2023 recruiting class he signed with Alabama transferred uh over to pit he’s still competing for the starting job with with Nate Yarnell um pit is just not a good team right now they’ve got some guys at receiver that are productive um but overall just not a very very good team uh in fact I think Kerwin Bell’s son is the new offensive coordinator over there remember Kerwin Bell who played for the Gator uh 31y old guy comes over from Western Carolina um smart kid uh but it’s hard to win in the ACC without overwhelming talent and like I said they lost guys to the portal they lost three starters on their defense Deon Hayes Samuel okola and uh their linebacker Solomon the shields who all left to uh hayen okola went to Colorado and the shields went to Texas A&M he was their third leading last season so just you know Bengali Kamar another linebacker went to South Carolina they they lost a bunch of dudes that that that were decent contributor so to me bad year last year I think they’ll get better on offense which should make their overall record better but I’m just I still think they’re a bottom five team in the league okay all right Virginia uh this is you think about the the Cavaliers they’ve you know they came in here and they gave Miami a hell of a game last year do you remember how how nervous were you watching that Virginia game last year come on man this just at this point every time they get into ACC playing I’m nervous watching every game Tony Elliott actually had a pretty good season in the portal um you know basically uh bringing in some guys that are contributors they didn’t lose a whole lot in terms of like actual contributors guys that were a part of their team last year but still uh there’s a talent Gap man like it’s just they’re not very talented team they went three and N last year I don’t like their quarterback room I just think that uh it’s it’s going to be a struggle for Virginia to win they could maybe win four or five games but they’re not going to do much more than that I still don’t think they’re a bow Team even with some of the pickups they brought Chris Tyree from Notre Dame over he was the leading receiver for the Irish um they picked up uh a couple guys on defense uh that were starters elsewhere including Dorian Jones who was a starter for Cincinnati last year but again um it’s not overwhelming Improvement and I still don’t think their quarterback room is any better so I’ve got Virginia uh 15th number 14 the Duke Blue Devils and Manny Diaz oh disrespectful to your boy Manny Diaz bro yeah I’m I’m hurting Manny they’re over under for wins by the way is five and a half I’m picking them to go four and eight uh here’s the reason why Carlos Duke uh was basically liquidated of talent okay they they lost they were a pretty good team last year um and and I think won seven seven or eight games last year with that staff uh but they lost their quarterback Riley Leonard went to Notre Dame they lost their leading Rush Jordan Waters uh he went to NC State uh they lost a whole bunch of starting offensive lineman they lost anas pebles who was a third Team all ACCC defensive lineman he went over to Virginia Tech they lost their top Edge rusher uh to Notre Dame RJ Obin they lost their third leading Tacker at at at linebacker Dorian mousy to Auburn and they lost their top cornerback Brandon Johnson who would have been their top returning uh DB look they went out they got Malik Murphy from Texas who was a talented quarterback but he didn’t even play that well in the spring um so I think Manny Diaz is going to do okay they they went out they got the left tackle from UCLA the starting left tackle from UCLA Bruno Fina um and they brought in some a lot of guys from like the FCS ivy league level who are smart guys right those guys can can definitely they’ll be a smart team but it’s hard to win Carlos when when you lose as much as duke did through the portal and so I just think it’s going to be a struggle for them and really what I’m saying Carlos it’s no excuse for Miami to lose to Manny Diaz and Duke at home when they meet oh God uh if you could create a worst case scenario if you would if you would create Mario’s FIU that would be it losing to Duke at home with Manny Diaz as the head coach a year after this team suffered major losses in the transfer portal in terms of their talent level that’s that would be rough now look I will say this about Duke they have some decent receivers like Jordan Moore is back he was a second Team all ACC guy talented quarterback yeah I mean yes they have a kid that can make plays but you look at that offensive line right and you see I’m I’m going to read this to you pen transfer Lafayette transfer Holy Cross transfer Cornell transfer Northwestern transfer and Stanford transfer like those those are the guys that they’ve got on the offensive line uh they basically had to redo the whole unit but you know what you just told me there’s a bunch of Smart Guys on that offensive line that’s basically it yes and and and their defensive line like I said they lost some good play players on that defense um it just it’s it I don’t expect a lot from duke this year um all right 13th I have Stanford three and a half wins uh in the overunderish like they’ve just been struggling now for several years um I I I think they they’re the kind of program that could recruit decent players they’re going to sign some good high school players but like Clem they don’t sign a lot of guys out of the portal in fact their transfer portal class uh as I look at it right now I think it’s um Five Guys that they or four guys that they picked up in the transfer portal so they’re relying a lot on high school kids to come in and contribute uh they got a defensive lineman out of Yale and they got a linebacker out of Northern Iowa those were their big pickups nobody else the other two guys have never started in college uh and and meanwhile they lose uh a starting Edge Rush rer they lose um you know a tight end and Ben yek uh to to Georgia a guy who has 29 starts he transfers to Georgia they lost one of their top safeties uh to Utah um this is hard to win like that they were three and N last year they’ve got some decent young players Cedric Irving by the way is is going to be their their star running back Cedric Irving of uh Mami You Know Cedric Irving Jr I should say not Cedric Irving the father who I just saw at the ot7 um but again this is a young team a lot of guys that uh have have yet to really play football it’s a second year of a turnaround so I think Stanford I would I would put them a notch above Duke because I think there’s more Talent on their team than than Duke Virginia Pittsburgh and Wake Forest um and I like Troy Taylor but I just I don’t think they’re ready to be over 500 okay no all right you ready for the top 12 in the ACC let’s see number 12 North Carolina o big dip for m brown yes their over under for wins is seven and a half which is better than some of the teams I listed ahead of them but let’s look at the numbers Carlos m brown has had two NFL draft picks playing quarterback for him the last five years in Sam Howell and Drake may he went seven- six eight- four six- seven nine and5 and eight and5 and now he’s got Max Johnson a guy who played at LSU and Texas A&M as his quarterback a badly depleted offensive line blocking for him now look Omarian Hampton is back at running back he was the leading rusher in the ACC uh but it’s hard to Envision North Carolina averaging 35 points a game like they have for the last three years with as much of of sort of the turnover and the and the drop in in in Elite quarterback play to me uh which means they have to be better on defense they have not been very good on defense with m brown as coach um they gave up 36.6 points per game to seven FBS teams they faced last year who had winning records if you’re giving up nearly 40 points a game to to teams with a pulse uh you’re probably a 500 team at best and that’s with really good quarterback play so to me that’s why I’ve got North Carolina 12 any any complaints or thoughts about that nope I agree uh just the the only good thing that MC Brown has done or consistently done there in North Carolina is beat the Hurricanes yeah he has and and thankfully Miami doesn’t have him on the schedule this year yep thank God fingers crossed that doesn’t uh bite Us in the ass later all right number 11 I listed Boston College uh they have four and a half wins uh for the over under I have them going six and six this season Bill O’Brien is their new coach Carlos um he was hired to be the offensive coordinator at Ohio State uh but basically decided to come home to Boston where he’s from to take over for Jeff Hayley Jeff Hayley of course went to become the Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator um O’Brien’s been around a long time he went through the Nick Sabin uh coaching Rehab Clinic at Alabama not too long ago which means he’s not out of touch uh with uh the way way college football needs to be coach BC did well in the portal this offseason actually had them as one of the winners in the transfer portal uh Thomas castanos I thought was a pretty good quarterback yeah uh but to me there’s a ceiling for programs like BC it’s uh put in place by this company called lack of nil and I think that’s that’s ultimately what’s going to hold BC back any thoughts on Bill O’Brien and Boston College uh I mean initially people thought O’Brien was a really good offensive coordinator But as time has gone on he’s been less and less Innovative and I think he showed that at Alabama he had a lot of talent didn’t score as many points as he thought he should have scored went back to the NFL came back to college football now so I think you know he’s well respected he’s a hell of a coach um did a really good job at Penn State while he was there but we’ll see I don’t know how much of a difference he’s going to make there I think they’ll be slightly improved but I don’t think they’ll be you know light years ahead of where they were before no I think they’ll be six and six seven and five at best I got they’ll be Boston College yeah yeah Syracuse is a hot team everybody’s excited because Fran Brown who was the defensive back coach of Georgia like he’s the new Young exciting coach he’s 42 he’s from New Jersey like Dino babers was yes uh a lot of preseason hype over uh Syracuse they’ve got the over under for wins at seven and a half I got them going seven and five yes they did well in the transfer portal they picked up Kyle McCord who was a starting quarterback at Ohio State uh which means they should be better than they were a year ago when they only averaged 23 and a half points per game uh aand gazden uh the tight end is healthy he will be back uh they got Marlo wax who’s one of the top linebackers in the ACC Carlos but it’s still Syracuse and while Miami ends the season November 30th uh at the uh Wireless Dome as they call it up there um it’ll always be the carrier do to me yes uh that’s what they call it now I still think this is a longer rebuild for Syracuse than you know just Flip Flip the button you bring in a couple guys from Texas A&M on the defensive line and a couple receivers from Georgia and all of a sudden you’re great like that’s just not going to happen happened to me um K mord was good but he’s not the best quarterback I’ve ever seen at Ohio State not by a long long shot in fact that’s why he’s not there anymore so uh I think Syracuse will be better uh but not a whole lot better than they were a year ago yeah I agree 75 seems like the ceiling for them to me n number nine on my preseason list California Carlos look at that got the Golden Bears up pretty high huh got the Golden Bears up pretty high five and a half wins over under I’ve got them going seven and five this season Justin Willcox has been around a long time he’s got a losing record in his seven years as head coach at Cal 36 and 43 but he took the Bears to a bowl game last year for the first time since 2019 has the fifth most experienced roster in the league in terms of college starts okay so they’ve got a lot of experience back jayen KN is one of the best running backs in the league ran for a Pack 12 leading 1300 15 yards and 12 touchdowns last season uh they upgraded their QB room uh yes they lost their top receiver to Washington through the portal but they brought in four guys Utah Notre Dame Ohio State New Mexico States uh Jonathan Brady a guy who was productive last year for New Mexico state um the issue for C ultimately is pass defense they they don’t they get shredded because they don’t have a very good pass rush they were 11th in the Pack 12 with only 1.85 sacks per game last year um and I think Miami is kind of in a good spot to beat them because they’ve got cam Ward and a bunch of really good receivers and I think that’s kind of their cryptonite and I I think you’re going to be facing probably bigger stronger offensive lineman in the EC than you did in the Pack 12 so I don’t think it’s going to bode very well for Cal’s pass rush uh coming into the ACC I think they’ll probably be around six and six yeah I got them seven and five uh their most proven pickups by the way uh are guys from UC Davis and Princeton through the portal on the defensive side so that’s why I still don’t believe in them number eight Carlos SMU Mustangs pretty low for SMU seven and a half wins uh for this team seven and five is what I’ve got him finishing former Miami offensive coordinator Rett Lashley led the Mustang so their first 11- win season Carlos since 1982 last year in the American Athletic the Eric Dickerson days yes they won the AAC uh they finished 22nd in the AP poll look they’ve got the sixth most experienced team on paper coming back from last season uh and the fifth most talented team if you start counting up blue chippers which I did they’ve got 22 blue chippers the same number as Louisville but Carlos they are going into a power four conference and it’s a different jump up when you go from group of five to power four look at UCF last year in the Big 12 they competed they were good but they took their lumps because physically they couldn’t take the pounding week in and week out Preston stone is a very good quarterback uh re uh smu’s receivers are pretty good but when you start going down the roster the best players at SMU for the most part are basically Miami castoffs so I’m not ready to buy SMU yet what do you say I think they played in a league that’s a lot tougher than people realize the AC the AAC is a tough League they’ve got a really like their top end teams are a lot better than people think I think they’ve got a lot of Talent on that roster they added more in the off season yes the best guys are Miami castoffs but those Miami castoffs tend to produce elsewhere uh Jaylen knighton’s still a dangerous weapon for them so they’ve got an explosive offense and a really good quarterback that’s coming back in another year in the system so to me when you’ve got a veteran quarterback that’s produced already you’ve got a team coming off 11 wins do I think they’ll be an 11- win team again no but I think this team can easily be eight and four well every team that I ranked ahead of SMU Carlos I think has a better quarterback than SMU does um and we’ll start with number seven that would be Georgia Tech uh who has been a thorn in Miami side uh quite often we not forget about last year uh Georgia T over under for wins is only five and a half um I got them going seven and5 and 5-3 in the ACC Hayes King is a top five quarterback in in the league in my mind Carlos um he’s got a lot of weapons around him on offense four starting offensive lineman back from a team that finished fourth in the ACC last year with 31.1 points per game finished third in the conference in yards per play so they’re explosive um the problem for Georgia Tech and I wrote about this in my mailback for the athletic that’s coming out tomorrow you can’t be 131st against the run and expect to be a top 25 team which is why I’ve got them seventh uh because I like what they’ve got on offense Brent Kia is a former offensive lineman he wants to run the football he wants to be explosive he’s got it he’s got his uh leading rusher back from a year ago um but they need to upgrade the talent on the defensive line they picked up romelo height which is a familiar name to hurricanes fans he’s a guy who was committed to them snubbed them ended up at USC last year he transfers into Georgia Tech where he will be uh one of their top Edge rushers but you got to be better against the run and when I broke down uh Georgia Tech roster this was kind of stunning to me there’s only through three blue chippers on uh their in their front seven overall uh a kid one of them is Kevin Harris an Alabama transfer the other one is height and then a linebacker a senior linebacker tanelius Tatum um recruiting big men in the Southeast on defense should not be this hard for a program like Georgia Tech and to me people who always get excited about Geor this is what I tell you recruit better on the defensive line get some of those guys that are going to Georgia and Alabama at least one or two of them every cycle to come sign with you easier said than done especially when you’re dealing with academic standards like they are at Georgia Tech so that’s the reason why you don’t get as many of those guys uh the other thing is to me I think because they’re so bad on defense especially against the run I don’t see them being said better than 75 to me Haynes King and Preston Stone to me it’s a tossup as to who the better quarterback is haes King’s a little bit more athletic I think Preston Stone’s a better thrower better passer um so I don’t necessarily think that Hanes King’s better than Preston Stone I’d say they’re they’re even all right well I definitely think this guy is better the guy I have on on my number six team and that would be Virginia Tech who they’re over under is seven and a half wins they’re uh project I’m projecting them to go eight and four finish 5 and3 in the ACC Brent pry their coach is entering his third season he’s got a top five quarterback in my mind and Kiren Jones uh and the most experienced pass catchers in the league they got the between receiver and tight end 137 combined starts Carlos uh yes not as productive as Xavier Restrepo and uh Sam Brown and and and everybody that Miami has in their in their room in terms of 3800 yard receivers but um still from an experience standpoint guys that produce guys that share the ball and they’ve got a a really good tight end room in my mind a better tight end room than Miami so uh I wouldn’t rank uh Virginia Tech in the preseason top 25 like my colleague at the athletic did Stuart Mandel had them number 25 uh they went seven and six last year and only two of those wins came against FBS teams who finished with winning records uh but I also wouldn’t be afraid to take the over under which is seven and a half wins as I said because uh their schedule’s not extremely difficult they got ruter coming to Lane Stadium they’ve got Miami a trip to Miami six days later uh they got uh Georgia Tech at home they’ve got uh Syracuse on the road November 2nd and then Clemson at home November 9th uh which to me it’s not a uh a gauntlet of a schedule at all right I mean they’ve got Vander build on the road to open the season Marshall I think this is going to be a better uh Virginia Tech Squad I expect them to be competitive in the league and and if they can pull an upset at Miami uh on the road September 27th on six days rest for both teams maybe they’re a contender for the uh conference Championship I don’t know man kyen Jones had was a 58% passer last year very athletic didn’t throw a lot of interceptions good touchdown interception ratio 68.6 Q qbr he’s okay I don’t think he’s better and the last two guys we were talking about all right we’ll agree to disagree he’s an athletic guy that’s the one thing and I don’t know if he’ll make it through the whole season that’s the other thing number five on my list NC States wolf pack they’re over under for wins eight and a half I’ve got them going eight and four this year Dave Doran to me Carlos has proven himself to be a pretty darn good coach they’ve won eight or nine games each of the past four seasons and although they lost some really good players including the defensive player of the year and pton Wilson at linebacker they picked up a lot of offense through the the transfer portal including uh running back Jordan Waters from duke who I told you about uh they signed Grayson Mcall who was at Coastal Carolina he started 40 games for them at Coastal Carolina was productive I think was his conference’s player of the year they got some yeah they’ve got some receivers um they signed Zeke Carell who was the starting center at Notre Dame they’ve got a pretty good offensive line so I expect them to be a lot better on offense and I still think they’re talented at linebacker and in the secondary uh and so I think they’re still going to win eight games and beat in the for the ACC Championship do you got a problem with NC State no I think they’re always well coached especially on the defensive side of the ball they’re always going to play real good defense they’re always going to be one of the best defensive teams in the ACC you know the question becomes can Grayson McCall make that transition from the lower league to the ACC and be effective he’s a smaller dude can he last an entire season he got injured last year uh at Cal Carolina can he last the entire season in throughout ACC play playing against these bigger opponents we’ll see yeah they’ve got Tennessee uh at a neutral sight game they’ve got a play at Clemson um they’ve got uh Cal on the road they’ve got to play at Georgia Tech um but it’s not a gauntlet of a schedule uh overall so I think the potential is there for them to rise up especially if they improve a lot on offense and be a real Contender uh I I’ve kind of got them as the Dark Horse pick to win the League this year that you know if you had to pick one surprise that would be the team that I think is actually capable of winning the League this year um all right number four Carlos I’ve got Louisville uh Louisville uh eight and a half win over under I’ve got them finishing eight and4 Jeff Braum impressed the hell out of me last year uh Carlos winning 10 games in his first year he made it to the ACC Championship game they’ve got the most experienced team in the league on paper 77 combined college starts on this roster uh but it kind of feels like Louisville kind of caught lightning in a bottle last year because they had that you know some of the holdovers from the previous year from the previous staff that were pretty good players especially on defense um this year um they went out they signed 27 more transfers and I don’t think they necessarily replenished their running back room they had some really good players in in the running back room jaar Jordan Isaac uh gendo and then they they got one guy yeah they got Penny Boone well yes they got Don chenny Jr but Penny Boon was the big pickup for them they got him in the winner well guess what penny Boon who was the Mac offensive player of the year decided nah I’m going to go to UCF and so he left Louisville in the off SE season for UCF to go join another 1400 yard back uh in Gus malan’s offense so I think that hurts them a little on offense I’m also not convinced that Tyler sha um the Texas Tech transfer who played for Mario is as good as Jack plumber um so I think what they lost in the back field is going to hurt them a little bit um but they do have the most experienced defensive line room even more career starts than Miami does they’ve got Aston gelotti who was an all ACC defensive lineman a guy who could potentially be the ACC defensive player of the year the Year this year so Louisville is going to be a tough game uh when Miami comes to visit but I think on paper right now I’d pick Miami to win I’d agree uh but you know the thing is Jeff ROM like you said is a really good coach and he’s gonna come up with an offensive game plan week in and week out that’s going to cause problems for defenses and it’s going to keep them in games and when you have a defense that’s experienced as they are that’s also going to help whenever you got a strong defensive line and can put pressure on the quarterback and stop the run that’s going to keep you in game so I think that’s a combination for them to be successful this year I think they’ll still still be a very dangerous team I think you’re going to see the evolution of Braum system in year two and that makes him a little bit more dangerous now to me can the quarterback keep up with the system is he the right guy um you know the garden snake is gone now no longer uh out there tossing the rock like his daddy we’ll see what happens but I do think the addition Don Cheney Jr Don Cheney Jr showed the ability to be a big time back if he’s healthy I think he could help them a lot all right number three on my list Carlos the Clemson Tigers o the Clemson Tigers eight and a half win over under I got them going nine and3 6-2 in the ACC look on paper davo Sweeney still has the most talented team in the league in terms of recruiting rankings right in terms of blue chippers he’s got 51 including one at quarterback and former five-star Cade kumnick uh but they’re also Carlos to me a couple injuries away from being a 500 program because his team team is the least I just told you Louisville had 717 combined starts um in terms of their roster guys that have played in college I’m going to give you the number for Clemson because it’s the fewest 254 combined starts that’s what happens when you don’t use the transfer portal uh Carlos you’re literally 400 starts behind uh the best team in the ACC in terms of that that level of experience so look can you survive can you win that way last year Clemson didn’t they didn’t do it last year they went eight and eight and four if I’m not M mistaken I think they won nine games with the bowl game um but they lost at Miami they lost at Florida State um and they looked very very beatable for all of the young talent that they had and then by the way while you’re not adding guys to the transfer portal you’re still losing them Andrew makubu uh makuba who was one of the top safeties in the league went to Texas um you know they lost one of their top receivers Bo Collins to not Aim so he’s not keeping everybody Carlos and and to me Clemson is without question a controversial program because of the way davo Sweeney is operating what are your thoughts on the Tigers and the fact that I’ve got them number three I don’t disagree and I think they still have a lot of issues like you talked about especially with the youth but I think one of the reasons I think philosophically anyway that davo doesn’t like to use the transfer portal is he doesn’t want to bring guys in that have bad habits already he prefers to bring guys in mold them to to his system create the culture from within and have them grow within the the Clemson culture and the Clemson system and handpick these guys in terms of who he wants so to me that’s a reason why he doesn’t do it um and it it’s does it’s it’s easier to mold these guys than it’s to like disassociate older guys from bad habits and he knows what he’s getting from a culture standpoint because he handpicked these young guys the difference to me is when we talk about you know talented teams and you know not taking coaching into consideration the big thing that’s held Clemson back the lastek years as their offensive system their offensive System since they lost Tony Elliott and their other offensive coordinators has been a subpar it has not been to the level that it was in the past and you’re seeing that as they continue to struggle and move forward if they they they teams that are very talented can be held back by systems and coaching and that’s the example here is Clemson so let’s see if they open it up a little bit more offensively can Kake kumnick be a more uh a more effective quarterback can they give him more to work with can they put him in a situation where he feels more comfortable operating the offense that’s going to be the key determining factor for them and you know will Shipley gone what are they going to do in the Run game well Phil Phil moff is a really good running back I I’m not worried about their running game I I’m to me I’m worried about their depths Carlos it’s hard to throw freshman and seconde guys into the fire if they’re not physically ready for that and I think most of the people who been out and watched Clemson some of the other guys I’ve talked to Bud Elliot uh from on three and and Andrew Ivans and they’re all telling me like Clemson’s offensive line like people are worried about it like how how they’re going to play this year uh and and if you look at how Miami beat them last year how did they do it physically like we talked about it’s that that grown ass man Factor right when you have grown ass men on your team that makes that Talent Gap that deficiency and talent it shrinks it and maybe sometimes overcomes it yeah all right Carlos we’re two number we’re down to the final two and I think you know which way I’m leaning with number two and which way I’m leaning with number one uh number two the Miami Hurricanes your Miami Hurricanes correct uh uh not surprising right I’m the hater I’m the guy who doesn’t believe in them fully I’m not going to predict for them to finish number one in the regular season uh because I can’t trust them Carlos as much as I want to trust uh the talent and the ability of Miami um I I’ll give you an analogy let me give you an analogy to me over the last 20 years the Miami Hurricanes have been like Jenny from Forest Gump right like Forest the minute he gives his heart up to Jenny you think it’s going to happen they’re finally going to get together Jenny pulls some [ __ ] she runs off with a black panther she runs off to Woodstock she runs off elsewhere then when she gets a debilitating disease that she’s about to die from then she comes back and says hey Forest I’m dying can you take care of me and by the way here’s your son right yeah so hopefully we don’t get to the stage where Mario shows up pregnant and dying before we start winning look I’ve got Miami going 10-2 6-2 in the ACC Carlos I got him losing at Louisville and on on the road at Georgia Tech I know that I know that probably gets you upset but uh I think uh for whatever reason uh they have trouble with quarterbacks that are mobile and I think if I were to have to pick an upset for Miami to screw things up but still get into the ACC Championship game I would pick Haynes King to be the Assassin even though he did not look very good last year against Miami uh I think Georgia Tech has the kind of team well he looked good for one series problematic he did he he looked good when it mattered um so anyway I that’s who I’ve got Miami uh we’ve broken down the roster plenty for you guys uh cam Ward is going to make him a lot better I believe in that I think the offense is going to be really really good uh but again can this team show up when they need to can they win games they’re supposed to I’m not ready to totally believe that’s going to happen yet meanwhile the team that I do have in first Florida State proved it last year they went 13-0 before their team decided to take the orange blll off and they lost 63 to3 to Georgia but Florida state is still a very good program Mike norell and his staff have been there now going into year five and I told you Carlos staff continuity means a lot to me uh it’s how Clemson won right you look at dabos Sweeney uh and what he built there um he had the same staff for a long time and that’s why Clemson became one of the best teams in the league now the wrinkle here is Mike norell actually uses the transfer portal and he uses it effectively and while people can sit here and say Mario has out recruited Mike norell because he has his signing classes have been ranked higher than Florida States I think you can say well Mike norell has also done a good job developing players that he inherited like Jordan Travis like other guys on that FSU roster and then taking recruits that through the transfer report that weren’t necessarily great at the previous places and still turn them into very usable winnable pieces and that right now Carlos is why I have Florida State number one in the preseason preview um DJ uang is not as good a quarterback is Cam Ward cam Ward is going to be better than him this year but DJ ungal is still a top five quarterback in the ACC because of what he does with his legs and the fact that he is huge and really hard to bring down and yes Florida state has and he proved to be a better passer at Oregon State than they showed at cson he did um and and he’s not a good as passer as Ward is and he struggled this spring throwing the football and state has questions at wide receiver but they’ve got the most experienced offensive line in the league coming back in terms of combined starts they’ve got guys in their front seven that they picked up through the transfer portal that are good including Marvin Jones Jr from Georgia Florida state has proven they have a track record of finding Edge rushers from other schools and turning them into studs uh I can’t go against Florida State right now until proven otherwise and the only games I have them losing right now Carlos are at Miami and at Notre Dame what a what a what a copout what a hedge saying they’re going to be better than Miami and then having them lose to Miami that is the ultimate chef’s kiss to you my friend what what a what a move to appease the fan base well it’s not even appeasing the fan base it’s really how I feel looking at the roster they’ve got Clemson looking at their schedule rather they’ve got Clemson at home they’ve got Georgia Tech in Ireland uh they’ve got Boston College at home they’ve got Cal at home they’ve their only Road games really are at SMU in Miami I mean and Notre Dame and I think you know the Irish at home that’s kind of a tough game they’ve got Florida at home Charleston Southern At Home North Carolina at home uh Duke on the road Duke I told you was not good um so I I just don’t see many losses for this team which is why I think it’ll be them and Miami in the ACC Championship game yeah I think we’re GNA see just how good Florida state is um they’re going to be tested a little bit I think against Memphis Memphis is always good they’ve always got an good offense and I think they’re going to be tested against SMU once they get pass that SMU Clemson stretch then we’ll see how good they are all right that was our ACC preview Carlos we’ve we’ve already been talking for an hour so we’re gonna try to get through the mailbag as fast as we can we don’t want to spend too much more time uh talking and plus you got other things to do bro you got to work and you got to do all that kind of stuff yeah whatever you’re all right as long as you’re good we’ll keep going I’m good I’m good all right this first comment is uh from Brett Peterson uh BP 9121 Manny in the Pod twice now you have said Miami has a better roster than FSU but in the recent athletic ACC rankings or state rankings you put FSU as the best team what gives Carlos was right do you understand my thinking now with FSU in Miami well all I heard was Carlos was right other than that I didn’t hear a single word you said uh listen I get it again the ultimate copout you say they aren’t as good in terms of Talent on the roster but Mike noral is a better Coach develops them better picks up better guys in the transfer portal and ultimately that’s what will overcome Miami even though they will lose to Miami during the regular season yeah I I I think the issue for me with with Mario is the taking care of business aspect Florida State’s proven they can take care of business right like they went on the road at pit last year and didn’t play well they were injured but they won the game those are the kind of games Miami has lost in the past and like you just have to be able to overcome that and I think Miami will for the most part in year three but I trust Mike norell staff to be more consistent than I do Miami staff am I wrong no but but it’s just interesting you have them losing to Miami that’s all I’m saying I I I think Miami will rise to the occasion to beat them this year in the regular season now we’ll see what happens in the rematch in the ACC Championship game but you know we’ll see we’ll see uh here’s the question is it a failure if the canes don’t win the ACC or make the playoffs this season this is from our buddy Andrew Vore 17 is it a failure if Miami doesn’t win the ACC or make the playoffs I mean I think it’s a failure if they don’t get to the ACC title game to me okay based on the roster based on the quarterback based on how they’ve gone all in here in the spring transfer portal to fill the holes that they believe they had on the roster holes that we said they had and they’ve addressed um to me at that point it’s put up a shut up they should at least be in the ACC title because based on the breakdown you gave they are either the most talented or the second most talented team in the entire league and there’s no reason they shouldn’t be there now not making the playoff I mean that could happen that that I understand um that wouldn’t be a disappointment to me I don’t think it’ll be a bad season if they don’t make the playoff but I think not making the ACC title game to me would be a disappoint I I think the belief is that the top two teams in the ACC will make the playoff I disagree I think we’ve seen I agree with you yeah I I I I think we’ve seen enough now have we not that the ACC doesn’t get respect like was that not the ultimate sign and it’s funny because I have this argument with with uh Kelvin our buddy Kelvin um all the time and he’s like well you know there’s no way the AC AC and then and then Florida State got screwed last year and I told him like dude this was coming like I I don’t understand why you didn’t believe me like this was coming um the SEC and Big 10 bias is very real and even expanding to a 12 team playoff if Miami let me ask you let me ask you this question this way Carlos if Miami has two losses do you think they get into the playoff if they win if if they lose the ACC Championship but have two losses do they get in I don’t think so they have to win the league right yeah absolutely I don’t think they get in without winning the league I think they had two losses and won the league yes but if they lose two games and don’t win the league and finish second in the ACC I think they don’t get in I think you’re going to have at least four teams from the SEC and four teams from the Big 10 I think you’re going to have eight teams from those those two leagues combined probably you have the group of five team which takes up another spot and then it becomes the Big 12 and the ACC for those other three yeah that’s just the way it is that’s basic like let’s just do the math and I’m not saying the Big 10 and SEC are more deserving I’m just saying that’s the way it is like look at the rankings it’s just the way it is all right um this question is from Vic vassel coach Vic four on Twitter I I’ll give you another thing if Miami loses to Florida to start the season even if they finish with only two losses I think that’s going to look bad on them also because they lost to an SEC team right all these games between the ACC and SEC and the ACC and Big 10 wherever they’re played all of them are huge and if I’m the ACC and I win those games or I have a winning record like that has to be in every press release the whole season yeah like it has to be like over discusted people used to make fun of me Carlos when I would say this but when the SE when when we used to hear SEC chance you remember that you’d hear him on the broadcast the fan bases from like this is the ploy of what the SEC and Big 10 were all about they wanted to make the world believe that they were Superior and even if they’re not and last year the SEC was not superior to the ACC it’s still a core belief that’s ingrained in everybody’s mind and so it leads to their conference getting preferential treatment over the ACC it’s a fact it’s it’s all about perception versus reality and and when the reality starts to over to become so widely different than the perception then you need to be able to promote yourself and change that perception right even if it’s not maybe all the way true either you got to be able to promote yourself and push it out there all right Vic vassel ask this question coach Vic four will the defense get 45 sacks this year Carlos will Miami’s defense get 45 sacks for reference Miami had 35 sacks last season and if you’re counting at home there were only six teams that eclipsed the 45 uh sack Mark last year James Madison UTSA Florida State SMU Troy and Penn State um I mean I think it’ll get close I think we’re that’s about three and a half sacks a game there’s a shot I’d say I’d say it’s 50-50 uh in 2022 there were only three teams that had 45 sacks and in 2021 there were four teams I’m going to say no and I’m going to say no because most teams are going to know that Miami’s strength is their pass rush uh and I think teams are going to game plan to get the ball out of the hands of their quarterback quickly I think we’re going to see a lot of wide receiver screens we’re going to see a lot of Slants we’re going to see a lot of quick releasing of the football and I think the most important thing over Soxs Carlos is pressures how often can the pressure affect the play lead to turnovers lead to drops lead to incompletion that’s what matters more to me than the physical actual takeown of a quarterback yeah uh but I also think Miami faces a few teams that really are suspect on the offensive line this year and they’re going to be able to Feast upon a couple teams to really improve and boost those numbers up right um You also play a few teams that have quarterbacks that like to scramble and move and oftentimes that leads to sacks because the offensive line can’t protect the quarterbacks running around there like a chicken with his head cut off and it leads to an eventual sack who is the breakout player on offense and defense this year this is also from coach Vic uh Vic Vass who is the who are you picking as your breakout and when I say breakout it means somebody who was not a starter or a big-time contributor for this team last year on offense all right so cam W’s goingon to be the obvious choice we’re gonna eliminate cam wart right he’s the quarterback we know he’s gonna have a good season we should uh Damen Martinez was you know an all Pack 12 running back I don’t think we can select him because that wouldn’t be surprising we had a good season um let’s go with Isaiah Horton okay shot to yeah I think he has a shot to step in there and take that role on as a starting wide receiver and make plays and and put up numbers yeah I I think that’s a good choice the other one I was going to go with is Elijah Lofton because I was so impressed with him the true freshman out of uh uh Las Vegas um just a super Talent man and I I think they’re going to find ways to utilize him whether he’s a running back a tight end he’s going to get five to 10 touches I think once he’s kind of ingratiated into the offense probably not a tight end no I I think it’ll be HB what whatever role it is but he will get five to 10 touches a game and I think he’s going to score some touchdowns and I think he’s going to kind of be the secret weapon in this offense fingers crossed because there’s an allergy to the tight end on in this offense on the defensive side of the ball Carlos who are you going with for breakout star breakout star um you know what I think it’s kind of cliche to say Daryl Porter Jr but I think he’s gonna be the best corner on the team and I think he he played well last year and I think he’s got another level that he can go to I think he could be you know second Team all ACC First Team all ACC Corner um I’m gonna go with deari brown um that other thought but yeah yeah I I’m gonna go with deari brown and look I I heard a lot of positive things about Dion Hill the Marshall transfer uh when I went to um Miami’s uh Legends Camp over the weekend and people were like wow he’s a lot better than I thought he was type of deal was with the way they were talking about him um I’m not saying dowy Hill is is he’s already a guy who was a starter last year at Marshall um but I think deari Brown because of his size um he is battling a groin injury that unfortunately is just been affecting him and I think it’s going to limit him but I think when he’s in there he’s going to make a lot of big plays and I think he’s going to sort of save himself for Saturdays most weeks and he’s going to be super effective for Miami I think he is pivotal um to this team winning the conference and having a chance to win the conference and so um all three of those guys yeah I think he’s going to be sort of a breakout guy for him all right some random over unders uh to give thoughts on this is from our buddy Thomas AKA Winston wolf on Twitter Wolf by the way have you seen the trailer to this movie wolves that’s coming out with George Clooney and Brad Pit I have not yet oh man it’s like from you remember the wolf from Pulp Fiction yes these two guys play a wolf that come in and resolve those szer problems and they have no idea about one another they each think they’re the only dude that does this job and then they have to come together to resolve some sort of issue fantastic watch the trailer I I have to see it um and I saw Bad Boys two this past weekend by the way I mean bad boys three my bad Jesus or four was it good four I loved it I love the Bad Boys S Series I love the franchise I think this one to me is my favorite Bad Boys was Bad Boys 2 this is right up there with Bad Boys 2 to me okay just behind it okay um all right these are the random over runds you ready go ahead isaah D Horton 750 receiving yards I think he’ll be slightly under I agree I think he’s under Mark Fletcher 750 rushing yards I’d say underd to the injury yes and Damen Martinez Ruben uh Bane 12 sacks oh that’s a lot I’m gonna say under yeah I’m gonna I’m gonna go with 12 on the number I think he hits it um I’m so I’m going to pick the over uh seven players last year who had 12 sacks or more at the FBS level only one of them only one at the power uh five level last year so and then if you go back to 2022 only two guys had 12 or more sacks so it’s hard but I think Ruben Bane’s gonna have enough around him um to to hit the mark all right JoJo Trader The Freshman receiver 40 catches under for sure under zaquin Patterson The Freshman safety 50 tackles under for sure under as well I don’t think he’s going to be on the field that much um all right here’s a good one from Kan fin uh are we doing a watch party anywhere for an away game this year sponsored by Mia all day sports wear and tax Solutions I would gladly sponsor one if everyone paid me $25 that’s the way you do it Carlos right there Hey listen if you guys want to get together for a road game we could all hang out at the Garrison and we could do a like a live feed of the show in Miami Lakes sure we can do that that’s uh that’ll be entertaining all right uh this is from coach white this one’s a fun one one coach white uh a guy who I message with privately every now and then can you give your projected ratings for some of um’s top football players on college football 20 25 the video game I think cam Ward is probably gonna be the highest rated guy uh at like maybe say a 90 I think probably second would be Ruben Bane M uh like 88 maybe mhm um I think Damen Martinez will be like an 85 and uh yeah I think mesidor will be like an 85 well what about rreo rreo I think would be a maybe 87 86 87 yeah yeah they’ll have guys I think I I’ll put it to this way I think Miami will have 10 to 12 guys uh in the 80 plus range probably one guy in the 90 plus range whether it’s Ruben Bane or Cam Ward and the rest will all be beneath that yep I agree all right this was an interesting question from Asher Wildman will Miami replace Alonzo heith and his position seemed like his role was a good one he was active in it as well any updates there during the offseason Asher I don’t know I haven’t had a chance to talk to Mario I went Sunday to the Legends Camp he wasn’t there he was still dealing with recruits I left at 12 I had some other things to do so I was only there for a couple hours talking to people on the staff and um different people the attendance former players Etc um so I don’t have the answer for you but ACC media days is next month and I will be in Charlotte uh all four days I’m going to be actually uh there for for the whole thing to write about all the different teams in the ACC um so uh I will hopefully have an answer for you next month but I think the answer is no I think ultimately that position for Alonzo heith was simply for him yeah I think because was not only because he was a former Kane and such a respected guy from the community um but also because of his experience in player evaluation and talent evaluation in the NFL it’s hard to find that mix to then play somebody else in that sort of role to be a former hurricane to be an ambassador of the culture of the past of what it was like to be a hurricane what it is what it means to be a hurricane and have that Player Development side I think if you’re going to fill that role to me I would say maybe shift it a little bit and use it to your advantage and maybe hire a retired head coach or a guy that’s no longer coaching anymore that maybe you could plug in there and offer you uh different ideas in terms of how to game plan how to handle in-game situations and also identify talent and recruit you know Ed oron’s floating around the program uh hide your kids hide your wife but uh he might be a good guy to step in there and have as a as an ear lending an ear to the program oh Carlos all right this one is from Marcus Williams money Kane on Twitter any players you think will have a Javon Nanton about that reference Javon Nanton out of nowhere type breakout season and lead the team in a statistical category I think the odds if you were going to pick one statistical category that somebody could surprise and lead the team in I think the easiest one would be like interceptions yeah right like you could potentially have some defensive back who maybe doesn’t start or play a ton um that somehow gets on the field and gets four picks to lead the team interceptions like that’s the kind of thing I I could see happening yeah so if if I were to guess and throw a name here I’m going to come up with somebody that that you probably I’m going to say Dean Hill I’m going to say the Marshall transfer not a guy that I’m sure most people have on their bingo card leading Miami in any category or maybe maybe me Powell well me pal is a good player he came he came over he was productive at Washington three ints last year so he’s kind of a a proven commodity I I think diani Hill is kind of like who’s that guy oh yeah where do we get it from I think he fits that bill a little better you know maybe a Jadis Richards somehow you know he he gets in the mix and leads a team and picks I don’t know that would be a surprise to me yeah yeah I I agree with that all right uh there’s one more question that I’m not sure I even want to answer but I saw it when I took a a look at Twitter and this is from Jaquan KY Dapper Quan he says can you go into detail about the Nevan Shapiro situation back in the day your thoughts on him and why we do or don’t want him back in the fold Carlos do you wna you want to handle that one okay well a number one uh you don’t want a convicted felon associated with your program that’s first and foremost I don’t think that Ben benefits your program in any way I don’t think that’s something you would sell very well to parents that you’re trying to that you’re sitting in their living room recruiting their kids hey by the way one of our biggest boosters happens to be a convicted felon who ran a Ponzi scheme and defrauded people with hundreds of millions of dollars but hey he’s a great guy you know he’s he’s gonna help your kid get some money don’t worry about it um second I think the university blames him for a lot of the problems it saw soon after that whole Scandal blew up uh and they are not happy with the way that happened and the way it made them look as University because it made them look first of all incompetent because Donna shal is there taking checks from a guy who’s a known Ponzi schemer so now you’ve got your president the president of the University actively in interacting with a guy who’s defrauding people of hundreds of millions of dollars and who’s under an investigation by the SEC and she has no clue so it makes the university look stupid and clueless so don’t think that’s going to happen all right this this was a I I I want to ask you your h a take you this is from Paul lyen P Arthur 2 on Twitter how many times will you mention FSU the line sits at 18 and a half did I hit 18 and a half I think you went over I think you went over just during the the whole uh top two conversation I think you you went over I think the better question would have been how many times did you mention M Mike norbel yes yeah maybe maybe that’s the case I think your real thing is not you’re an FSU fan I think you’re I think you’re a Norvell fan I think you got a little sweet tooth for the game it’s it’s hysterical how this works with you guys but hey I I’ll let you guys enjoy it I’ll let you guys enjoy it Carlos thanks for coming on doing the podcast with me again I know it’s been a while I know most of you we had some people clamoring for more wide right and I you were right there’s really not a lot to talk about the offseason we kind of jumbled in a whole good long hour plus show um to to discuss a whole lot of topics I think we’ll come back with more stuff we’ll start breaking down maybe uh the ACC and the Hurricanes a little more and the weeks ahead as we get closer and closer to the season but I hope this was a good overdraft for you you got my top 17 in the ACC every single team that was long conversation car I went through very detailed listen the second you said we’re going to go through 17 teams I was like holy [ __ ] okay let’s see uh let’s see if we can get through this let’s see if we can hopefully I didn’t bore you too much but we talked about hopefully everybody has a little bit of knowledge about what happened with those teams in the league now uh and and we can we can talk about more fun stuff down the road but thank you for for those of you guys to prove to us who you actually listen to the show make sure you comment on YouTube make sure you comment on Twitter and give us some ideas for things you want to hear maybe some non- hurricanes related stuff do you want us to talk about you know bad boys for Bad Boys ride or die if Manny goes to see the movie now we have a whole discussion about the movie on the show or other topics that we could discuss in pop culture there outside of the Hurricanes because as you know Manny doesn’t like talking about the Hurricanes he just would prefer to talk about Mike norell that’s right he my favorite coach see you guys next week talk to you soon peace
10 Comments
So it says 1 view yet 10 likes, Youtube is pendejo
any ACC team outside of conf. champ needs to solely have one loss
Sorry Manny, FSU will feel the huge loss of QB Travis. Their QB threw for 115 yards and no TD in their spring game. FSU transfer portal additions this year don’t have snaps big difference from last year. If they win the conference I will shake Norvell’s hand and your hand Manny😂
Well if the canes are not in your mind then I have no reason to listen to your opinions.
Georgia Tech!? I guarantee a victory by at least 10 points. The struggle against Mobile QBs isn't going to plague us nearly as much this year. Bobby Pruitt as the spy. It's a wrap. I do think FSU has a very good chance of losing to Georgia tech first game
Excellent Show Manny.. Yes Miami hurricanes Over the last 20 Years, has been inconsistent on the Football Field. Hopefully They can change that this year…
Canes should be 4-6 in the ACC
#3 in the All Cupcake Conference approximately equals #50 nationally.
Manny, you are comparing Mario's year 1&2 to Norvell's 3&4 which is unfair. Norvell was 8-13 in his first 2 years at FSU. The FSU fanbase wanted Norvell fired. The invent of the transfer portal saved Norvell's job. Mario is 12-13 in his first 2 seasons at Miami. The fair comparison will be Mario's 2024 and 2025 seasons to Norvell's 2022 and 2023 seasons.
You talked about roster turnover. Canesport did a podcast of the roster turnover. There are only 3 players on the Miami roster from the 2020 recruiting class in Jalen Rivers, Xavier Restrepo., and Michael Redding. This is the class that should be the foundation of your veteran starter in their 4th season. I think there are 4-5 players remaining from the 2023 class. In total, there are 7-8 players remaining from the 2020-2021 recruiting classes. This is confirmation on just how bad the roster was that Manny Diaz left behind.
Mario should be judged from 2024 and beyond.
I think you are judging Mario incorrectly. Mario is not and has never been an OC or DC. So, when you say head coach X is better at X's and O's it's an invalid comparison.
Norvell is an OC. He's not playing a chess match against Mario. He's playing against Guidry. That's what the fans and media lose sight of.
Mario just needs to stay out of the way of his coordinators and focus on time outs, 4th downs, and end of game strategy.