CFB Insider Bruce Feldman Talks Deion Sanders, Nick Saban & More with Rich Eisen | Full Interview

FOX Sports/The Athletic’s College Football Insider Bruce Feldman joins Rich Eisen in-studio to discuss the possibility of more conference realignment even after the most recent expansion by the Big Ten and Big 12, the expectations for Deion Sanders in his second season at Colorado, the wide-ranging ripple effect of Nick Saban’s retirement on the CFB landscape where 420 jobs were impacted, the possibility of a super conference that breaks away from the NCAA, and more.

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speaking of missing I I I missed our our our next guest and I’m not just saying that because he’s sitting here uh but from Fox Sports and the athletic with a great article out today good to see you Bruce Felman how are you sir good to see you you’re fresh back from Las Vegas Nevada I am yeah it was like a uh balmy 119 degrees there the Big 12 is having their media day in Las Vegas Nevada what’s going on in our college football World hey they’re they’re kind of the last couple years it either been in in uh AT&T Stadium the star you know Jerry Jones properties right well that makes sense Texas right the state of Texas think about this now you got Arizona Utah Colorado um you know so you add add four schools from you know obviously asu2 so you add them from the Pack 12 or what was the Pack 12 and let’s move a little closer to the West Coast so they did it in Vegas well you’re an East Coast guy right growing up I am but I don’t mind the 40-minute flight I know that but the reason why I’m I’m at I’m saying that um is I kind of feel like we’re beginning a new world where folks like you and I who grew up on the East Coast talking about how you’re a met Jet fan because they played in sha Stadium together right or you’re a Yankee giant fan because they played in Yankee Stadium together and and you’re dating yourself when you say that sort of thing that the comments of man the Big 12 is in Nevada and the Big 10 is in Los Angeles we’re going to wind up up dating herself saying I remember when this is it like we are we are living in the watershed moment of Collegiate Athletics RIT large and football right now right and I think there’s the majority of fans do not remember the old Southwestern conference they do not remember swack the swack well that was the southwestern yeah there’s the swack was um you know one of the HBCU conferences that one which was the one that obviously had the all the Texas schools and was like Infamous for you know like the SMU cheating and all of that yes you know that was a long time ago but even the big eight was a long time ago then it became the Big 12 and you know I sometimes catch myself and I’ll say the pack 10 when I mean the Pack 12 because it it changed um you know speaking in the Northeast like you and I remember when Penn State wasn’t in the Big 10 they were independent like Notre Dame like well well yeah and they were independent like Miami was and before the Big East you know big you know have like great special feeling for Big East basketball right you know cuz I we’re of that year of the 80s of Louie and and beheim and John Thompson but you know then the Big East was football but then that went away and people adjust I think this will be a little harder for a lot of folks who are you know at the end of so you’re talking about the media days so it was it was Big 12 was there and then the Mountain West was there and then there was at the end of it there was there was like a cocktail party for the two remaining schools of what was the Pack 12 that’s Oregon State and Washington State what do you mean there was a cocktail party for there was an event the mascots were there the players some of the players were there I mean look Washington State as much turnover as they’ve had to deal with for all sorts of reasons you know they beat Wisconsin the last two years you know and and um you know Oregon state had some really good teams under Jonathan Smith in recent years but they got left behind and now they’re playing some hybrid uh schedule of you know their old teams and and the teams that they’re probably lumped in with but that’s you know they’re the they’re the saddest part of this I feel like because did you go to this I did I popped in there before I left was there a cash bar there was not a cash the food was good everything was was set up they treated it well um you know meron Hanks who I’m sure you know well you know Merton was a long time you know the guy behind football in the conference and I he’s still connected to it and so you see a lot of familiar faces and I think the product will those two schools you know they still have good coaches they still have some good players but it’s just you know I don’t think they’re going to completely fall off the radar because you have to keep in mind you have Stanford and Cal along with SMU who are now in the ACC which the Stanford and Cal piece feels like the most random of this but who knows how stable the ACC is and so could there be another swing of conference realignment I suspect there will be I’m I I don’t know why I’m so fascinated by the fact that you would liked to been at that cocktail part you damn straight I would have Washington State Oregon State the mascots getting to get the ma what were the were the mascots doing the Trey pass for the food like the mascots I think had the sunglasses on it was a kind of cool look for them and and it was in just a um an establishment in Las Vegas it was like you know how in the um in the Bellagio there is the spago well on the other side feel like I’m name dropping big here on the other side was a uh was big sweets and it was a nice setup you know it was like I give them credit for leveraging the people who were there and I thought it was good I think they’re going to do the best they can you know what what are they going to do just um they’re going to try to keep playing I mean they’re going to get money from somehow how this is all cycled out but I would use this example so last year again Washington State they start out pretty hot and really good quarterback they had at the time who’s now you know transferred more money to go to Miami but last year they get off to a fast start then they go on you know have a byee and in the bye from talking to coaches who’d been there they just said it was almost like the players kind of everything hit them of of all the transition that they were going through that they were no longer going to be there was no longer a Pack 12 it was like while the games were being played and while they were in the middle of it but that like bye there was a hicup and from that point on it just it just felt like their season unspooled so what you you you mentioned moments ago that you think there’s more expansion coming like what I think there’s more turnover because do the ACC just does not feel stable at all you know you had all this saber rattling between Florida State Clemson you know you have other Commodities but whether it’s North Carolina um Virginia Miami I mean we’ll see how it plays out but I just it just feels like it’s a it’s a weird situation right now does that mean the SEC is going to want any of those teams I mean the big 10’s going to want any of those teams I suspect the Big 12 would love a couple of those teams CU they’re bigger Brands than anything they have right now which teams Florida State right I don’t know you know I don’t know how Florida state would love the move to the Big 12 but you know I think they would love the other two power conferences you know if if it’s Florida State if it’s Clemson if it’s Miami if it’s North Carolina I mean those are all those are all bigger Brands now some of those schools haven’t had the success that let’s say Utah has over the last decade in football you know I mean Miami’s run you know it’s we know all the legendary football players who came through in five national titles but in 20 years to this point they’ve had you know one really good season Oklahoma State’s had a bunch more than that a bunch of these other schools in the in the in now in the Big 12 have and so we’ll see I mean this could be a big year I think for Miami but we’ll see we’ve heard that before yeah I want to get into some of that stuff with you uh in in a bit Bruce Felman here on the Rich Eisen show and again you mentioned Florida State might not like the big 12 but in terms of what you and I do for a living could you imagine Deion Sanders coaching Colorado into Florida State it’s a conference game I mean man you know who what would that be there would be a lot of people in the Big 12 who would love that big time I mean for sure yeah I mean I’ll say this so there’s two days the first day and then the second day of the the Big 12 and the star power showed up the second day because we know who who came in right and um prime time yeah there’s something we’ll see they got to go from four wins to at least probably eight I feel like for it to feel like okay this is backing up what we’re expecting um or some of us are expecting but what was the General sense of of Dion’s conversation we saw a sound bite that he mentioned how his wins are are um measured differently and um and I I I’m I’m sure that that landed in certain parts of the Big 12 landscape potentially is like you know okay you won four games last year I just know how Dion is is um where he’s coming from I I I don’t disagree with him that his wins are actually me because everything is different right like I work for for Fox Sports and the first month of the Season we got insane ratings numbers and so did ESPN when when they this show anytime we talked about him I’m not kid and and also when we wrote about him or anything kind of connected to him not always but sometimes you know the the response was very strong and people are like well why they’re sick of the coverage well somebody’s not because they’re tuning in to watch right and and look in the first few games almost nobody ex outside of probably you know a handful of people in Boulder expected them to beat TCU at TCU last year they did now after that you know they beat Nebraska they beat Colorado State and then it you know it got sideways from them but look they didn’t have they weren’t really good in the trenches they were really bad in the trenches to be honest and that came back to bite them they had they had a bunch of close games that they lost which was a big difference from the year before when they got blown out of almost every game in a big way um but again it’s it’s wins and losses and I think you know talking to it’s interesting because like one of the coaches I know in the conference who I talked to Thursday morning or Wednesday morning and he was like you know ‘s been good in our meetings but everybody’s but I think they also most of them at least acknowledges if not all that this is good for their business you know they they would much rather have people talking about them than you know what was going on across town in Vegas with you know if you’re in the Mountain West where it’s just you know maybe there’s some good football there but it’s just not getting people’s attention right you know whereas love him or hate him you probably have an opinion on Dion Sanders well Dion was again I love what you’re hearing like people like he’s great you he’s he’s he’s he’s great in the meetings that was the same way when he first showed up at fil Network it’s just like well Dion is all going to be about himself maybe people were saying that in our in our own world then he showed up and he’s like he’s the greatest teammate you can possibly have he totally understands about business he totally understands what makes something work he totally understands what he brings to that equation and how he can leverage that for his own business I mean honestly that doesn’t surprise me the question is is you said it’s got to go from four to eight what do you think in terms of wins I think they can do that I mean because I think they’ve they’ve look it’s hard it would be hard not to get better considering how bad they were on the offensive line last year to be there but from everything I’ve heard from the people I talked to in there I think they will they have upgraded those areas in part um now the schedule to me even though you know you would think okay the the Pack 12 as it had you know a national title Contender team and a bunch really good quarterbacks in it their schedule is actually feels hard harder this year than it was last year if you look there’s like a hand even there they’re opener they play an FCS school but North Dakota State joking about that too like yeah good luck yeah thanks Rick you did Rick George you did me no favors cuz you cuz they they win that game it’s like yeah you beat an FCS School you lose it and it’s like oh my God you that’s who you lost to well it kind of sounds like Michigan versus Appalachian State you can’t win you can’t lose you can’t win for Los losing yeah and then look they play Nebraska I think next the next week I think Nebraska is going to be much improved year or two under Matt Rule and then all of a sudden you face a pretty steady diet of good teams but that’s what you want I mean I think if they can protect shador better um than they much better than they did last year they have really good skill guys um you know I talked to shador for a little while a couple days ago and he was very high on the upgrades they had in the offensive line room and what they brought in and I suspect they will win a bunch of games late because they do have Playmakers and they I do think he’s a terrific quarterback so as long as he’s healthy and as long as he’s not under just total duress all the time I think they’ll get to eight wins I don’t know if they’ll I don’t know if they can do more than that I mean who knows with you know confidence is a crazy thing right once you get on a roll you know who knows where it goes I mean I don’t think there’s any team like we talked about this on on the audible our podcast a couple days ago I think there’s 11 teams in the Big 12 that can win legitimately win that conference that’s how wide open it is because there’s no Ohio State in there there’s no Georgia no Texas no Texas you know there’s nothing close to it right you know in terms of like a roster that’s that stocked I mean there’s really good teams but I don’t know if there’s anything close to a great team yeah and what about uh Prime’s statement that he thinks Colorado could have the first and second over overall picks of next year’s NFL draft did you hear that one um I don’t know if I that one I might have missed I mean look you know Travis Hunter is a really gifted two-way player um you know I’m sure I imagine it’ll be as a cornerback and then you have obviously shador who it’s he’s also all over the map even when you talk to coaches who coached against them last year some really like him some are like H you know but they also felt like they think he’s a NFL quarterback but they they’re not seeing maybe top 10 pick but he was also running for his life last year right you know like it’d be hard to find a quarterback who somebody’ say oh yeah that guy is a top 10 draft pick who had as bad an offensive line as he did last year so this will be an interesting season for him I think from through the NFL lens but I mean he’s obviously really smart uh he is he is hangs tough in the pocket he’s accurate throws a good deep ball there’s a lot stuff to like about it well and and you know who hopes Dion is right about or even remotely close to getting the first two overall picks in the draft being Colorado players including shador well I’m sorry every single Draft broadcast oh yeah every last one of them I’ll raise my hand at NFL Network everybody to ESPN ABC anybody that has anything to do with the NFL draft first round in Green Bay Wisconsin if Dion rolls in there with two guys at the top of the draft and it could go Colorado Colorado to start the draft you know who else would hope that through the roof through the roof you know what else would hope that probably everybody who’s in the bosses in the in offices at Fox everybody who’s in offices at the Big 12 CU if they end up anywhere near the top five overall picks those both of them that means Colorado had a terrific Year and that means the ratings aren’t just an October thing they’re are three or potentially 4 and a/ half month thing which is why Dion says that his wins are viewed differently it’s the truth it’s a fact and the and the and the numbers supported you and a couple of colleagues pardon my uh for not knowing off the top of my head Max olssen and Sam Khan okay we yeah know you why did you decide to start following the ripple effect of the big huge Stone in the pond of of Nick Sabin deciding to retire yeah so so max Olson and I have done a couple of these kinds of stories where it’s just like let’s wait and see just how much how far out the the ripple effect or the domino effect of this is and Max to his credit started charting and charting and it was you know over 420 people all over like 420 people what with Mick sa retiring and what happened that their jobs changed hands because of it many of them had no idea that they like one of and and to Sam’s credit he found this one coach who’s at Cisco College in Texas Junior College that he had no idea that he got the job he got indirectly because Nick Sabin retired Nick Sabin retiring set off you know the obvious domino effect that people can see is okay kayin dbor left washingon replacement that Jed fish left Arizona to replace Kalin deor but because Alabama has such a massive staff you know one of the people I talk to is Amy Bragg she’s their head nutritionist she won five national titles with Nick Sabin there only two people in this program were there longer than her on Nick sav’s run so you know it’s people like that who if they don’t get retained and kayin debor brought his nutritionist you know and then it’s like what what happens to all these people when they go from there and the other part of it that was like added layers to this because you’ll you’ll get some you get some turnover but you won’t get 400 um you had two specific you know uh coaches who are now at Alabama as assistants who gave up head coaching jobs in FBS football one at South Alabama one at Buffalo to go work at Alabama so that creates another you know like other rounds of jobs yeah and and the article um again pardon me for not knowing the name of the South Alabama coach W and you told the story of how where he was when he found out getting ready to grill steaks and then he’s like I just hope it doesn’t affect my program meaning Sabin retiring yeah affecting his program how like that they’ poach someone from his staff or something yeah or something or somewhere somewhere along the way he ends up losing you know some players cuz somebody ends up getting recruited someplace else and instead and instead his old buddy uh kayin dor they were coordinators together at like Indiana one of their best seasons ever um the two of them one was offense one was Kan was the defensive coordinator kayin calls him and was like I want to pick your brain about because Kan you know kin’s not from the Deep South he’s from the Midwest and but Kane is he grew up with his dad was really good defensive coordinator in football college football and he was like I want to pick your brain about the you know this job and then he was like by the way would you be interested in come joining the staff as a defensive coordinator and you know this is a real thing like so when I talked to Kane he’s only been a head coach for three years he’s the he’s he’s the only coach who’s ever had winning seasons at the University of South Alabama and he had a 10- win season a couple years ago he’s a really good young coach but he was like it’s a lot harder and he’s not the only one who’s told me this it’s it’s a lot harder to be a group of five head coach now than it was just a couple of years ago because of nil and because of the portal and what that’s done is a lot of their really good players get poached and I just found that uh fascinating he’s at a barbecue grillin Stakes he sees on his phone an alert that Nick Savin retired he’s like oh I hope it doesn’t affect my my situation he doesn’t even like it’s it’s his one of his assistance goes hey Nick savin’s retired he doesn’t even see it he he doesn’t even see it and he’s the first thought is like I I I hope it doesn’t adversely affect my situation and he’s the one that gets poached yeah unbelievable and then you found like a high school coach like it rippled down all the way to high school somebody got a gig because so many pieces moved that yeah there’s a there’s a town in North Florida Fernandina Beach and their high school a lot of it got overturned their coaching situation all because somebody went to you know it was like the South Alabama head coach who became major Apple White who got promoted up into the job you know he hired Paul patrino who you know like there was like all these layers fell into place and then all of a sudden that opened up jobs and the like the guys who end up having this are like wait I got like I got this job because of Nick San retiring and because like some of us have told those guys oh yeah you’re part of this and it just kind of blows their mind about how widespread spread this is so F fast forward a couple weeks ago or rewind a couple weeks ago I’m in Seattle working on a on this story and I sit down with Steve bellich and I said uh what would you have thought if I had told you like a month before you know in in December that you’d be a college coach he was like I’d rolled my eyes you know like kind of in the and he just but because Jed fish got the job at Washington Jed was looking at hiring he saw youram Mater you know how it how well it had worked when Jim Harbaugh hired Mike McDonald Donald who had been an NFL assistant he saw Danton Lynn NFL assistant goes these guys become coordinators he’s like I want to I think that’s the way it could be the way to go and then he here St belich because as Jed fish told me he was like wow the crazy week is what he thought when Sabin retires was the day after P Carroll’s out at Seattle and Jed having worked in New England kind of had a hunch that bill bellich was going to be out the next day Jed had no idea that the Washington job would be open he thought they were going to promote Ryan grub who had been the offens coordinator and Ryan grub ends up becoming the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator for Mike McDonald Donald and now it’s this is like not for the story but like both the two guys who are probably most similar in coaching and Jed Jed’s path is so different from everybody else is Mike McDonald neither guy like both guys were really smart neither guy played college football they worked their way up and you know found paths through harbaughs and you know and Jed had a bunch of other stops but now they’re in the same city same city it’s unbelievable Bruce Feldman here everybody should check out that article and you know just to bring this kind of Full Circle here starting by saying I feel like we are at the watershed moment of of a totally different New World in college football and over um in the spring you know Greg sanki who I think is going to wind up running the whole damn thing personally he kind of already does I know he kind of already does but I think at some point they’re going to do this okay and they meaning somebody is going to get together and and and and look at him you say you got to be the commissioner a commissioner correct of a new entity that is 60 something schools strong okay and split it up into a couple conferences and all of these schools have the same issues and sensibilities the issues and sensibilities surrounding nil transfer portal scheduling all of that stuff because and and and the latest sort of bellweather for this was sanki at the SEC media days telling a story of how he got to call Tony petiti the Big 10 commissioner to say let’s start our own working group together and it it was I guess he’s telling the story in January prior to the National Championship in Arizona that they were going to or or but prior to prior to something that was going down and prior to the National Championship in Texas obviously but long story short he said he was at a a working group conversation on nil and they got a report and they threw it open for questions to the group and he backed I’m paraphrasing here he backed up to let’s see what other people are going to ask questions about and nobody asked the damn question and he’s just like really nothing like that’s what’s happening here and he just said I gotta basically I’m paraphrasing I got to call somebody and he called petiti because who’s as close to the SEC with the same issues on and same issues on nil and everything else and sensibilities it’s the big 10 we’re so close we’re getting there we’re inching our way towards there and tell me I’m wrong I don’t know I don’t know that you are I think there’s a lot of entanglements right now with TV contracts that I think those things need to be sorted out so so is it who’s the one that’s going to say we need somebody CU it’s not going to be school presidents is it is it um ESPN right where ESPN is just going to basically say ESPN is not going to do anything that’s not primarily suited to ESPN’s interest well which which would be it’s running pretty well right now for ESPN because they have you know they gave a little of the playoff uh but they didn’t want Fox to have any of it right full disclosure obviously I work at Fox but like you know they don’t have the big 10 they do you know they’re all in on now the SEC um you know we’re going to see how the how the playoff works for the next couple years like right now um you know the Big 12 like the big 12 could have a N9 and3 champ or I guess it would be 10 and three you know um and they could be slotted they would be a slotted ahead of you know the second best SEC school and you know and get a you know get a first round buy you know one of the four seeds or or you know it’s it’s going to be interesting to see how much Fallout there is depending on how the Playoff starts to shake out and I think because that’s that’s the big ticket item that everybody who’s is in the sport looks at if you’re the S if you’re Tony petiti at the Big 10 or certainly if you’re if you’re Greg sanki because they’re the ones who have the most influence I mean like we had uh R Yar is one of the smartest people I feel like who’s com into college sports commissioner came from you know i’ been in the NBA just a really sharp guy and I feel like I don’t know if I would necessarily categorize it as he saved the Big 12 but he’s been a godsend for the Big 12 so that’s what I’m saying is that there’s schools in the Big 12 schools in the big 10 schools in the SEC schools in the ACC which you say is already beginning to be shaky you’ve got Notre Dame as well yeah find some other schools that might uh be able to be poached I think throw it in their 64 and then there’s other teams that may not make the 64 that can be relegated in or out just like just like the Premier League what I’m getting at is it needs to be something where where Greg sanki especially and Tony batiti but especially Greg sanki needs to have have the the motivation to go this system is not good enough for what we for our interest the current system the current system well it isn’t it’s going to at some point it it it won’t be because there’s too much Wild Wild West when it comes to portal when it comes to nil and plus it’s it’s also maybe not good for the kids I think it’s the the transfer portal is good for the kids but when is good for certainly good for the kids unless the kid is being told come here and you’re going to make X and there’s no like real way to back that play up and then the kids left with no nil money that he was promised promised and no roster spot that he was promised and then all of a sudden he’s just sitting what the hell just happened because some other kid comes in from a portal like there has to be some sort ofation for these kids right now it’s the Wild Wild West I mean you work specifically in in a in a fully flown business that you know with the the NFL I forgot you know there’s one owner I heard who was like you know roots for the Dallas Cowboys because he knows that’s good for their business you know like of his team you know I don’t know if that’s his second favorite team or or whatnot I don’t know if that’s a joke like he’s joking or being half serious sure but I think that’s the that’s where things are headed I don’t know how fast they get there because there’s so many balls up in the air whether it’s lawsuits you know there’s some stuff that’s going to get sorted out the paying of players too yeah I mean but schools you know like we had this conversation I was going to say with your mark where it was about you know whether it becomes like the All State 12 as opposed to the Big 12 you know like with with naming rights you’re also talking about private Equity I don’t know the private Equity thing he said seemed to indicate we we’ll be moving faster if it’s going to happen then then it’s a timeline well certainly if if schools are going to have to pay players okay where’s the money coming from private Equity probably I I I’ve heard some people telling me that there are definitely some schools that would say we are just we are not equipped for this we’re not equipped for this so you private Equity you run our school program and pay us a licensing fee to use our team our school name you know like we’re we’re we’re out we’re out of running Athletics personally you run it you fund it you pay us a fee for using our our school name and marks and logos I do feel and they they that’s the way this is going I do feel like there are there are now and again I say this with with your mark in mind I feel like there are smarter business people running the conf es than there were a generation ago oh I’d agree with that so but I think they’re also way more open to being outside the box I mean in his case he comes completely from outside of college sports Tony petiti is a guy who is a TV guy you know the core he gave me one of my first post ESPN jumps there you have at CBS he put a he put a Blazer on me a CBS Sports blazer for the US Open so I’m yeah that actually happened really yeah I got that call about a month after I left ESPN I was in Italy on a on a honeymoon with my with my wife that’s who I’m on honeymoon with I’m so stupid for me to say that but yeah I got that call from him I’ve I’ve known him for a long time and I respect the hell out of him despite what happened with my coach last year I do it’s actually in my closet in the green room I still have it before I let you go uh Bruce velman I’m going to throw this one out this will be some fun Sports Talk Radio fun we just mentioned nil world uh I think we’re in year three of that now was July 1st was it 2021 we were on the air when that actually happened when the first States in our football Ling Union it’s 2024 so was 21 21 so it’s three years now we’re in our fourth year of nil world uh transfer portal all of this stuff uh collectives blah blah blah so on and so forth name me the five schools that are best equipped to succeed in this new world right now right now for the next few years give me the five schools that are best equipped in this world with collectives and nil and transfer portal and so two of administrations all together what do you got so two of the ones are Oregon was the one that jumped into my head they they’re going full blast you got full Phil Knight and they have a professionalized operation um I think Dan lannings really does a really good job with it I think Ohio state has has gotten to that point I don’t know if they I don’t think they were you mean you had kind of two sorry two dealing collectives or Waring collectives or you know inside that I don’t think that was an Optimum situation but they seem to be seem to be equipped equipped and functioning well um you know Old Miss like the Walker Jones is their guy who runs the show he is a former um he’s former player who had worked with Jimmy sexon at CIAA and then worked at Under Armour he knows what he’s doing he knows the landscape and they’ve been really really um strong coming out this off season right I don’t know if I would put them you know on the nil side yes on some of the other things that go with it you know like I don’t think they have the advantages that Texas has I don’t think they have the ADV is one of the schools then yeah I mean I think because it’s not just the nil thing it’s all the other things you can leverage right you know like Georgia I don’t know how you can’t put Georgia in except it’s not like Georgia I don’t know I would say this so Georgia the biggest commodity in the in the free agent Market this offseason college football is Caleb DS was Terri freshman defensive back at Alabama most people assumed he was going to go to Georgia I think even Georgia thought he would he ended up at Ohio State so I don’t know if I’m going to put that much weight into okay Ohio State’s there maybe not Georgia but I mean Georgia right now is like the king of college football even if they didn’t win the national title last year all right so I’m writing this down so are we including Georgia in this so you got Georgia you mentioned Oregon Ohio State Ohio State oh miss you mentioned I mentioning Miss cuz the nil operation I think they have is is running strong think Miss is one of the top five best equipped football programs to negotiate the next five years over Texas no no I I’m factoring I’m probably putting too much stock in just the nil component so you’re putting Texas in this I would put Texas in there given where they are right now and how about that we haven’t mentioned I would put Alabama you would yeah okay look I mean he’s recruiting really well kayin deor he is now we’ll see how how you know the season goes and everything like that you know if you go 8 and four I don’t think they will I don’t think they’ll struggle like that but if if they do then it you know but to me those are the ones between the combination of nil and the combination of where they are at from a resource standpoint where they’re at from a leadership standpoint and stability and I think stability does matter that’s why I put those five okay so over the next five is three SEC teams cuz we’re including Texas now are and two big 10 teams cuz were including Oregon you you you would say I need to get ready over the next 5 years for Oregon to supplant Michigan in the in the annual battle with Ohio state is that what you’re telling me I I don’t know I mean I don’t know if there’s a huge difference but you I think right now they have a more aggressive nil operation I’ll say that so we need our Phil Knight it’s what you’re saying yeah maybe that needs to be you shf listen sh and I together probably don’t have maybe 10 pairs of Nikes together you know what I mean I I I shouldn’t assume what sher’s Shoe Closet looks like Stephen Ross I mean yeah Jeffrey Ross I use your connections whoever Tom Brady so yeah because again uh you know this is the way of the world this is it obviously i’ there’s 12 teams that can make a college football playoffs as of right now but these are the five teams based on the current new way of doing things and the how the next 5 years will look the five schools currently best equipped to be successful as consistently as we’re used to seeing them Georgia Oregon Ohio State Texas and Alabama that’s I would say all right sir thank you for joining thank you for having good to see you and uh I’ll say this again uh you and I were texting each other excited to have you on Wednesdays during the fall yeah me too I again and I get to a lot of people tell me they see it so that’s really cool isn’t that great thank you very much see you rich I appreciate hearing that that’s Bruce Felman here of Fox Sports and the athletic check out this fascinating Kevin Bacon like piece trying to follow along the ripple effect of Nick sabin’s retirement best dad ever Bruce Felman his daughter’s been watching this entire conversation sports fan over there there you go big Sports Riley felin’s been sitting here saying when are we leaving daddy now Riley Now Catch the rich eyes and show every single day on the Roku Channel 1200 to 3 Eastern for free