From Radio Row, Day 4: Josh Pate, Ryan Fowler, T-Bob Hebert and more

Closing things out for the week from Radio Row at the College Football Hall of Fame at SEC Media Days 2022 with a LOADED guest list on TexAgs Radio that includes Josh Pate, T-Bob Hebert and more.

Key notes from Josh Pate interview

• Kyle Field is one of those places you find a date to go out there. When you grew up in Columbus, Georgia, you don’t know a whole lot about A&M. You know the history and watch the SWC documentaries and you know A&M is in the Southeastern Conference. A lot of folks from Georgia have never been to Kyle Field. You can tell the ones who have because they sound like me. The ones that haven’t say, “That place sounds a little overrated.” No one ever comes back from an A&M game and says, “you know, it just didn’t deliver what I thought it was going to.” I was there for the Auburn game last year, and that was the perfect weather, temperature and lower humidity, a blue sky and a win. It was a great afternoon.
   
• You guys were talking to Fisher after the spring game, and it was a windy day. When you talk to coaches, one of the things they will say about Fisher is, “I don't know how flexible he is.” He’s so set in his way that there isn’t that much pre-snap motion to be had. But, he believes that once he gets the right quarterback in there, if they execute, they’ll be fine in the passing game. Maybe that’s right or wrong. I’m not his offensive coordinator. 
   
• How many people question Georgia right now? Georgia offensively last year in some ways what A&M was. The Georgia statistics look better, but the identity was the same. Leaning on the guys on the other side of the ball and do enough offensively, but they won a championship and did what SEC teams do when they get to the college football playoff. Everyone loves to say it’s about winning championships, which it is. The reality is, that the way the ball bounces doesn’t change whether what you're doing is right or not. There are tier one teams, but then there’s a group of about five or six tier two, A&M’s in there, Notre Dame the last few years, Oklahoma’s in there. Those are teams that are on the brink and their roster and talent level will have them there every year, which is all you can ask for. If you’re in tier two and you’re bordering on tier one, you're going to lean on that wall enough to where it falls down, and you get in there.
   
• You need to have an A-minus to B-plus quarterback play to get there. To win a championship, it’s going to take more than a B-plus. For A&M, you don't have to win the division to get into the playoff. Even if they drop the Alabama game, if you've got a guy that's pulling the trigger at quarterback and you utilize your talented roster, they could be in a situation where they’re 10-2, 11-1 at the end of the year. Those young guys, by the time November rolls around, they've had an entire freshman year and some of them will have started all year. If you let A&M hang around, they'll be a really dangerous team.
   
• I believe Greg Sankey in what he says about not expanding the conference, but there could be two truths. It may be that their preference is to do that. It could be that their hand may be forced. Notre Dame could change all that. He is being honest saying they want to stay at 16. 
   
• I don't like the shifting because you're trying to build the biggest mansion you can. If the rest of the talent around the mansion deteriorates, your property value decreases, even though your mansion looks brighter and shinier. That’s an analogy for what's happening in college football. 
   
• Jim Phillips at ACC media days yesterday said, “Do we want college football to be a bunch of gated communities?” College football is not run like the NBA, NFL or MLB. There hasn’t been a free-market principle adopted. There are people who want a free market in college athletics. They have no clue what they are asking for. Once you get that, it's impossible to go back. 
   
• Tennessee absolutely has the potential to be last year’s Arkansas. I’m talking to some of the Tennessee people, and they love coach Josh Heupel. They said it's not a guarantee that he's a national champion there or even resurrect the program, but they are pulling for him. The natural way he carries himself is like Pittman. The nation has no clue who Heupel is yet. They have to play Georgia and Alabama every year.

Key notes from Ryan Fowler interview

• Look at the nice computers you guys have. Y’all have tons of money in College Station. We’re broke in Tuscaloosa, following Alabama all over the country. I’d like to thank Jimbo Fisher. He's provided a lot of content for us. It was not a dead summer this year. 
   
• I thought that Jimbo would have waited an hour or talked to Sankey before his press conference about Saban. He would have calmed down. Jimbo is one of those guys where you don’t have to ask what he’s thinking. He’s already told you. You don’t have to dig too much. I’m excited to see what he has to say today. Is there a different tone? You have two guys who were buddies, and they were tight. That’s what probably hurt them the most. I've heard Saban say Fisher was his favorite offensive coordinator.
   
• I've covered Saban for 15 years. He always respects the opponent, and for that four to five minutes, he let his guard down. What brought that out? I’ve covered Saban since he got off the plane. I’ve never seen him talk negatively about a team. I’ve heard the Alabama NIL fund was not where it needed to be.

Key notes from Zac Blackerby interview 

• Everything happened in February when Harsin was down there for the Senior Bowl, and I thought he was going to lose his job. He did not, and it seems like the program internally really rallies around him. There are external questions about the future of the Auburn Tigers. The recruiting class isn’t looking great in response to stuff that's happening, but internally this team really believes in him.
   
• At last year’s media days, Bryan Harsin inherited a program and guys were showing up late to practice and not wanting it or competing. It seems like those guys are gone because they had every opportunity to leave. The folks that stayed are the ones that will contribute this year. Everyone looks at the almost 20 guys that transferred out. I don’t think that's the story. It's more about the guys who stayed. The transfers probably weren't starting this year anyway. The program after this season, that's an interesting and scary conversation from an Auburn perspective. As far as 2022 and Harsin trying to hold on to his job, I think he’s okay.
   
• I think seven wins, and Harsin keeps his job. A 7-5 record and maybe you beat a team you're not supposed to. 7-5, and if they look the part, it will be enough.
   
• Zach Calzada’s chances of starting at Auburn are pretty close to 100%. It seems like he's won over the team and the vast majority of the fan base. He’s put in the most work of the quarterbacks. His quarterback coach is posting a lot of videos of him throwing and working out which fanbases love in June and July. It’s a 3-man race with Robby Ashford, a transfer from Oregon, and T.J. Finley, former LSU quarterback. I just don't see Finley starting at Auburn. It’s Zach’s job to lose.
   
• Outside of Alabama, I didn't think Zach was that good last year. He doesn't have that talented of a roster around him anymore. There are concerns there. I think he got better over the course of the season, but I don't think he's an elite SEC quarterback. Auburn doesn't need that. I think with what this defense will do in 2022 if the offense can score 24 points a game, that will keep them in every game except for Georgia and Alabama. 
   
• The Penn State game is huge this season. They should have won it last year. I think they will beat them this year. Bo Nix dropped the ball on that last pass in that game last year. If they win that, it changes the trajectory of the season a little bit. 
   
• Going into the 2021 A&M game, if Auburn beats A&M, they were a top-10 team. They were close. It was all defense. A&M-Auburn is a big game this season. I don't think Ole Miss is in a better spot than Auburn is. I don’t think they will win, but A&M is a winnable game. You can make a case that’s Brian Harsin’s most important game.