Andy Staples

Indiana is the favorite to win the national championship among the remaining four teams

I think you'd have to call Indiana the favorite. I mean, they, they've been the most consistent all year long. They've played the best in the biggest games all year long. And that goes back to, to when they went to Eugene and beat Oregon.

Oregon's Kenyon Sadiq is a unique weapon with no equal in college football

Kenyon Sadiq, their tight end. There's nobody like Kenyon Sadiq in the whole country. He's, you know, 240 pounds, but runs like a, a really fast corner.

The winner of Oregon vs. Indiana will be the favorite to win the national championship

Whoever wins this game is gonna be favored in the national championship. I think it's, yeah, it's fair to point out that while Indiana looks super impressive... Oregon appears to be a much more formidable opponent.

If a college coach doesn't show significant improvement by Year 2, the hire was a failure

If your guy's not getting it done by year two, you blew the hire. That's, that's it. In this era, you blew the hire, if your guy's not good by year two.

Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline would be a home run hire for a Big 10 head coaching job

What about Brian Hartline, the offensive coordinator at Ohio State? Best receivers coach in the world. I will say that like the, I'm not being hyperbolic. He's, he's better than anybody else in college and probably better than anybody in the NFL. He's one of the best recruiters ever. Heartline because of who he can recruit to your program probably commands a little bit higher first step.

LSU is the premier coaching job opening in college football

I had LSU number one and I had Florida number two. And the reason I had LSU number one, three of the last four coaches have won national titles... every kid who lives in the state grows up in the state, wants a, wants to grow up and be a Tiger. LSU has an advantage that only Ohio State really has anywhere else.

Arkansas is a top-4 coaching job because of corporate NIL funding

My number four is, is gonna piss off some people... Arkansas. I looked at the John Calipari hire in basketball. Tyson Foods obviously putting a lot of the money toward that. They have massive corporate support there. Walmart's all over their field and all over their stadium. If they get their corporate money excited, you can be funded very well at Arkansas.

Willie Fritz at Houston is the blueprint for the next 'Curt Cignetti' hire

If you're looking for the Curt Cignetti profile—guy in his sixties who's coached at all these different levels and won—it's actually Willie Fritz at Houston. He is 65 and has won at Sam Houston State and Georgia Southern and Tulane. That he's the model for that.

Schools should offer Nick Saban $30 million a year to return to coaching

For Saban, I would offer 30 million. When he was at Alabama, I tried to calculate what he's actually worth... and 30 million was still a bargain. Offer Nick Saban 30 million and see if he'll leave college game day. I don't think he will.

Arvell Reese and Caleb Downs are the two best defensive players in the country

Ohio State is the one that feels different from the others. I think I can confidently say Ohio State has the best two defensive players in the country in Arvell Reese and Caleb Downs.

Iowa is a playoff contender if they run the table and beat Oregon and USC

I'll give you a one that I think is really interesting and they're not even ranked yet... Iowa. Iowa's gotta run the table. But they're if they can [beat Oregon and USC], they're in. Given the way Iowa's played... they get Oregon at home. If you can beat both those two teams, you can win out and you will make the playoff at 10-2.

Memphis will be the Group of Five representative in the 12-team playoff

I have Memphis as the team coming outta the group of five. I still think it's gonna be the American champ, whether that's Memphis, Tulane, USF or Navy. But Memphis looks good.

The Tennessee vs Oklahoma game is a playoff elimination game where the winner is alive and the loser is dead

I'd say the game that intrigues me most is a pure playoff elimination game in Knoxville. Tennessee, Oklahoma, absolute winner is alive, loser is dead. And the Oklahoma fans very down on Brent Venables. They'll love him if he wins. The Tennessee fans love Josh Heupel. They'll be down on him if he loses.

Billy Napier's firing at Florida is inevitable and could happen soon

It feels inevitable that that he'll get fired. But the problem guys is it felt inevitable last year... I don't see a way out of this for Billy because they're gonna lose. You would think most of these games against the good teams.

Diego Pavia makes any team better and you can never pick against him

I'll never pick against Diego Pavia again, I've decided, 'cause I picked South Carolina last week. The guy's just a fricking dog. Period. Like, is there any team that wouldn't be made better by Diego Pavia being their quarterback right now?

Arch Manning stinks right now and is a fundamentally different quarterback than we expected

I don't know what the hell this is. It looks like he's throwing from a different arm slot... I thought maybe he could be average at worst. I don't know what the hell this is... it does feel like it's mental. It feels like the yips almost.

Texas A&M might have the best portal receiver haul in the country

[Texas] A&M hit on Mario Craver and Cyrus Allen, the two guys at receiver they got outta the portal. That might be the best receiver hall outta the portal so far this year. We may find out that A&M's offense is just really, really good.

Miami is a complete team and a great value at 16-to-1 to win the National Championship

I would put them [Miami] above LSU in Texas. 'Cause it's easier for them to make the playoffs... they fixed the defense. The defense stunk last year... they're a much more complete team.

Utah is the favorite to win the Big 12 if they beat Texas Tech this weekend

If... Utah wins [this weekend], Utah is your favorite in the Big 12. I can't wait to see this because... Utah probably has the best offensive line in the Big 12.

Alabama will not drop off in talent significantly following Nick Saban's retirement

I'm much higher on Alabama than I think most people are. I don't think they drop off that much. I remember going up there in the spring and just looking at the amount of aliens walking around on the field. It hasn't changed... They're still top three in talent in the whole country.

Tennessee has its deepest defensive line in over 20 years

Deepest defensive line they've had since I was a baby beat writer covering Tennessee. And they had John Henderson and Albert Haynesworth and Will Overstreet. It's been a long time since Tennessee's been that stacked on the D line.

Cam Ward's season at Miami will be 'feast or famine' given his history of high-risk play

Miami has the roster and the schedule for [a playoff run]. Cam Ward... I will tell you from watching Cam Ward through the years, it's a little feast or famine there. So we're gonna find out how he deals with [the environment].

Indiana is a lock to make a bowl game and cash the over on their 5.5 win total

Indiana's gonna be good, aren't they? They basically took half a JMU'S team from last year... I'm all in on Indiana making a bowl game and cashing that over ticket.

Ohio State has zero excuses and must win the National Title this year

They really is no excuse. Not only should they win the Big 10, they should win the national title. There's no excuse. It is national title or bust. You're not really gonna miss Marv [Marvin Harrison Jr.] because they have Jeremiah Smith.

Nebraska will likely start the 2024 season 6-1 or 7-0

I'm looking at their schedule... six and one or seven and oh going to the Ohio State game is not out of the realm of possibility for Nebraska. I want it so bad because they'll have that little number next to their name.

Kansas State is my pick to win the Big 12 championship and earn a playoff bye

My number four seed is my Big 12 champ. I am going with Kansas State though... I've been driving the Avery Johnson bandwagon, I'm gonna keep driving it.

The USC defense 'cannot be worse' than it was last year under Alex Grinch

They cannot be worse on defense... If their defense doesn't get significantly better, they might struggle... D'Anton Lynn went and got some guys that fit what he wants... USC's gonna have the right size guys in those positions now.

NIL is the primary reason Nick Saban decided to retire.

I think that the NIL stuff would be number one outta that bunch. [The NIL part] was something that bothered him... Texas is coming into the SEC Oklahoma's coming into the SEC, they gotta deal with LSU. Tennessee's very well funded. Like you can't make more rich people in Alabama... You're not gonna have as many people as they care deeply about Texas and Texas A&M football 'cause they just have more people.

The Alabama job is still a top three job but harder than Georgia and Ohio State

I still think [Georgia's] the best job. I think it's easier to recruit to Georgia... Ohio State's probably a better job because the way you dominate that state... Alabama is a little bit harder than those jobs. And Nick Saban made it look easy.

Mike Norvell is my guess for the next Alabama head coach

I'm going to say Mike Norvell. That is going to be my guess. He's been recruiting in this area... Florida State has to recruit against Alabama, Auburn...

The next Alabama head coach will be expected to win a National Title within three years.

Your job at Alabama is to win the national title every year... The Alabama fan base will not be patient. But I think the administration given like if, if the the person is making reasonable progress toward national titles... the administration's probably gonna be fine with that. But the fan base will be raising holy hell if they're not winning national titles in three years.

Alabama will win the SEC West now that they have committed to Jalen Milroe

Alabama, we buried Alabama. Unfortunately for us, we didn't look at the schedule because they are gonna win the SEC west... now that they've decided on Jalen Milroe as their quarterback and they're actually building an offense around him running plays that work for him.

Texas is a legitimate National Title contender because of their improved line play

Texas... I think they're very good now. I think they're legitimate college football playoff legit. The difference with Texas this year versus Texas really since 2009 is there are legitimate NFL players on both sides of the line of scrimmage... they've developed them and these dudes can play.

Miami is 'back' as a 10-win caliber team this year

Miami... Mario Cristobal was singing the praises [of his O-line]. And then you saw 'em against A&M and they protected Tyler Van Dyke very well... I'm thinking maybe Miami's pretty good. I don't think they're that team [from last year] anymore.

Caleb Williams is the most 'can't-miss' QB prospect since Andrew Luck

Caleb Williams is the most can't miss since Trevor Lawrence or Andrew Luck... Because the man makes magic. Mahomes-esque. Very, very similar. Different arm angles that sort of thing.

Penn State is a legitimate national title contender in 2023

Penn State is loaded with freaky talent this year. Like they could really be a Big 10 title contender. And if you're a Big 10 title contender, it means you could actually be a national title contender.

Texas will fail to win 10 games and miss out on a Big 12 title

Texas is gonna be favored to win the Big 12... But I've seen too many times. I need to see them win these games before I can believe. And so like, the total is nine and a half. I picked the under and everybody went nuts.

Kentucky is a dark horse to surprise the SEC in 2023

Kentucky seems to have fixed a lot of the things that caused problems last year... They've got Devin Leary now... They could be quite a bit better. That's one that if you're Tennessee, if you're Florida, if you're South Carolina, you're worried about them right being considerably better than they were last year.

Michigan is the best-positioned team to win the national championship in 2023

Michigan, this is the best chance Michigan has to win a national championship. It feels like this is the culmination of everything Harbaugh's built.

Michigan could have 20 players drafted off their 2023 roster

Jim Harbaugh told my friend Bruce Feldman, he thinks 20 guys are gonna get drafted off this roster... Jim Naggie from the Senior Bowl said he thinks there's seven offensive linemen who are draft eligible... who he thinks will be in NFL camps next year. Dudes that aren't even gonna start. And that is a lot of talent.

Jim Harbaugh will coach every game this season despite the NCAA investigation

He'll coach all the games this year because basically... they wouldn't even have the hearing probably till after the season. You wouldn't find out the results of that till months after that. So Jim Harbaugh, you know, he may be the NFL by that point.

College Football Playoff prediction: Georgia, Michigan, Oregon, and Alabama

I'm gonna go Georgia, Michigan. I'm gonna go Oregon. I'm gonna say Oregon wins the Pac-12. First Pac-12 playoff participant since 2016. And then Alabama.

Notre Dame will cover -20.5 against Navy in Ireland

I kind of like Notre Dame to cover against Navy. And I realize it's 20 and a half. But I, I'm, I'm excited to see Sam Hartman in that Notre Dame offense.

Tennessee is the best they have been since their 1998 national title team

This is the best Tennessee team since the [1998 team] led to a national title. Yep, for sure.

Alabama's dynasty isn't dead, but NIL and depth issues have made them beatable

I don't think it's dead... but what I do think has happened, I blame Kirby Smart for a lot of it. Kirby Smart's been at Georgia now since 2016 and every year he's been there, he's sheared off a few guys that would've signed with Alabama... If you sign 20 of those guys a year instead of 25... your depth suffers.

Brian Harsin will not be the coach at Auburn in 2023

Clearly he will not be the coach at Auburn in 2023. The, the problem for Harsin... his first year at Auburn, they looked at his recruiting and they're like, Did you go after anybody that Nick Saban and Kirby Smart wanted? ... And the answer was no.

Matt Rhule will do TV for a year and then get another big college job

My guess is he does TV and then waits this cycle out and, and sees what's available next cycle... he'll be beloved on tv. Unlike most head coaches at that level, he can have a normal human conversation.

The maximum chaos scenario for the College Football Playoff is four SEC teams (Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Ole Miss) making the field

I'm just saying, people are asking: could Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Ole Miss be the playoff? [If] Tennessee and Georgia play an absolute classic... Alabama goes to Atlanta to face undefeated Georgia, beats them close... someone knocks off TCU, Clemson loses... It's all coming together for the SEC.

Lance Leipold is the favorite for the Nebraska head coaching job

I think Lance Leipold would be your favorite. He's the Kansas coach and did a great job... he has, Kansas was a bigger dumpster fire when he got there than Nebraska is now. And that's saying something. He understands the lay of the land very well.

The Big 12 should offer Oregon and Washington a 'dream job' buyout clause to lure them away from the Pac-12

What I think the Big 12 should do is go to Oregon, Washington, be like... here's what we're going to do. You're going to come with us and we're going to put a clause in your deal that just says you want out fine. You're out. If the Big 10 is, you know... dream job buyout, or dream job clause. Do that and you get them, and then you'll get Utah and Colorado and you'll get whoever else you want from that league.