From Radio Row, Day 1: Andy Staples, Trey Wallace, Jake Crain & more

Monday morning's edition of TexAgs Radio emanated live from the Omni Dallas Hotel in Dallas, Texas, the site of 2024 SEC Media Days. Today's special guests included Andy Staples, Trey Wallace, Chris Low, Jake Crain and T-Bob Hebert.

Key notes from Andy Staples interview

• I'm most excited to see Lane Kiffin. Eli Drinkwitz always comes in saying, “He doesn’t want to make any news”, but then he just can't help himself. Lane has made so much hay by not filtering himself. That's his brand now, and it works for him. I asked him if the change in the transfer portal changed his strategy. Now, anybody can just transfer again, so I'm curious to see how he adjusts his recruiting strategy.
   
• I do think Ole Miss should make the playoffs. They would have made it last year if it was a 12-team College Football Playoff, and they are more talented this year, particularly along the line of scrimmage. Walter Nolen, who you all know very well, Princely Umanmielen, who was Florida’s best edge rusher, and Trey Amos from Alabama are just some of the additions.
   
• This is as good in the trenches as we will have seen Ole Miss be in a long time. Then their skill talent is crazy good. I know they lost Quinshon Judkins, but the way that offense works, I think Ulysses Bentley IV will be fine. If Juice Wells is healthy, he can be one of the best receivers in the SEC and the country. Defensive coordinators are not going to know what to do.
   
• Sam Pittman and Billy Napier are under the most pressure, easily. Pittman has to turn things around, or he will be done in short order. Billy Napier, if he’s under .500 again, I don't think he makes it. Look at their schedule. The preseason win totals of their opponents show that they have nine opponents that have a preseason win total over seven.
   
• Florida has to be a lot better, or it will not show in their record. They have a better offensive line. Graham Mertz was good last year. Eugene Wilson III is their dynamic receiver, and Montrell Johnson is their main running back. They should be able to move the ball a little bit.
   
• Their question is defense. Can that defense be better? I just mentioned that Florida’s best pass rusher left for Ole Miss. I can’t necessarily say that they will be much better or even better than last year’s roster.
   
• I've never understood why A&M couldn't get it together in the first place. They have everything you want. They have the passionate fans, the resources and the location. A&M should have fallen ass-backward into national championships at least two or three times over the past 60 years. It just hasn't happened. Maybe, it's a curse. 
   
• Yes, the right person can do it. Everything is there. A&M, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Auburn, Alabama, and Tennessee are all places where if you put the right person there, you can win huge. It really just depends on who you get. 
   
• Was Jimbo Fisher the same coach that he was at Florida State? Probably not. We talk about Nick Saban’s best quality being adaptability, and Jimbo wouldn't change. Most of the guys who have worked with Nick Saban don't even realize that that's the best part about him.
   
• If you're just banging your head against the same brick wall over and over, you have to do something different. If Florida is doing the same thing this year, they'll have to bite the same bullet, but I think A&M is in a better place now. Mike Elko seems like he understands the place and the job. Let’s be real, he did an incredible job at Duke.
   
• When you go back to the 2022 class, the defensive line carried that class. It felt like they went for the highest-rated guy instead of what they needed. So, then they wouldn’t have these situations where people would get hurt, and then you have nobody behind them. So I think it’s less stars. The funny thing is, Nic Scourton was probably the best defensive lineman from that class.

Key notes from Trey Wallace interview

• Living the dream down here in Texas. Kicking off the season.
   
• I don't think it’s hit yet that Texas and Oklahoma are in the SEC. It will hit when the season starts. Steve Sarkisian and Brent Venables speaking, the questions will be different for them than in the Big 12. There will be Arch Manning questions when it should be about Quinn Ewers. With Oklahoma, it's how much respect they get in the first year.
   
• Texas is ready to play for the national championship. Oklahoma is not. You walk into this versus the Big 12? It's a whole different animal.
   
• Is Texas’ offense going to work against some for these SEC defenses? They know what they are getting into. Go watch the Alabama game. Texas spread everything out. They beat Alabama in the secondary. They will have a hard time doing that every week.
   
• It’s going to be something different. If you are a Texas fan, imagine playing in Tuscaloosa or against that type of opponent every weekend. Can they capitalize on things? We’ll see.
   
• It's going to magnify this rivalry. It’s the SEC. A&M has been here. Four years ago, all of a sudden, this news broke at SEC Media Days. Now, look where college football is. When we get to that game, man... We have Alabama and Auburn, LSU and Florida, Tennessee vs. Alabama, blah, blah blah. Texas A&M vs. Texas is a top-two rivalry in the conference now.
   
• Being in Omaha on that final day, when Texas fired David Pierce on Monday, they did that on purpose. They wanted to mess with Texas A&M. If you light a firework to start up that rivalry in the SEC, it started that night in Omaha. What Jim Schlossnagle did in that press conference... I think Schlossnagle was a bald-faced liar. He is a good guy. He handled the situation horribly. 
   
• Mike Elko prioritizes defensive linemen just as much as a wide receiver. I think College Station appreciates that. The coaching staff spends a lot of time wondering who they should bring in. They have spread it out. That’s a big thing for the culture. Jimbo Fisher wanted his offensive guys. With Elko, you are getting that flavor from both sides. I think that will pay off in the long run.
   
• Texas A&M is a marquee institution. In general, I feel like A&M is a 10-win football team. This year, it could be eight or nine. The quarterback play will help compared to other schools in the SEC. We know what they have out wide, at quarterback and on the defensive side of the ball. I do think this is a club that can cause headaches for other teams. 
   
• Got to beat Florida. On the road, it’s hard to do. Teams can do it. The biggest one is Riley Leonard and Notre Dame. You cannot overlook the Florida’s and Arkansas’. If you beat Notre Dame in what will be an electric-type atmosphere, you are setting yourself up for the entire football season and not just that, but what Elko wants to do at Texas A&M. 
   
• Notre Dame is walking into a hornet’s nest in College Station. That game is going to be a lot of fun. We will find out a lot about Texas A&M in those first three to four weeks.
   
• I don't think Notre Dame is a playoff team. I want to see Riley Leonard in that first month. I saw him in Duke, but let’s see you in front of 110,000 fans. They could be, but I need them to prove it to me first. 

Key notes from Chris Low interview

• Mike Elko has run the gauntlet of college coaches. He's been in both academic and football-based schools. I think he understands what recruiting is in this era, and he's had to recruit different types of people and players. Mike has coached in a lot of different places, but having coaching experience at A&M and being familiar with the program really helps.
   
• A&M kept most of the guys they really wanted to keep. You see the sheer number of people leaving after a coaching change, and a couple of them are key players. Besides that, you keep a lot of the guys you want to.
   
• Elko has completely integrated himself back in with Texas high school coaches, and that was a big criticism of Jimbo. Mike Elko took those criticisms and made sure to know these guys at clinics or conventions or whatever it may be. Mike is always going to try and get good football players, but now, he's going to start in Texas.
   
• Conner Weigman has played under different coaches and different coordinators, so I think people are waiting to see how he'll do under Collin Klein. There were a lot of big time programs that wanted to bring Klein in as their offensive coordinator. Look at some of the guys he has developed. They weren't five-star guys coming in, and he's done a good job in that aspect.
   
• I remember watching Conner practice a few years ago. He was making throws at that point, and Jimbo felt like he was the most talented guy they had. The big thing is for everyone to be all in and to believe in your quarterback. Mike Elko certainly believes in him. They believe that Conner can go win games for A&M.
   
• If you're the athletic director and look at what Jimbo Fisher did in his last couple of years, he recruited well, but those classes never transitioned well onto the field. They made the decision because they felt like they would not get to where they wanted to get quickly enough. Now, it’s Mike's turn.
   
• Going back to last year, A&M lost a ton of games in the fourth quarter. They were right there, but they just couldn't finish the games. When you look at Auburn last year, they weren't a good team, but it took a miracle for Alabama to beat them. The margin in this league is a centimeter between a nine-win football team and a 10-win football team.
   
• From the eye test and from watching how that offensive line moved, A&M just did not play well up front. I know they were hurt at times, the depth wasn't what it needed, and for whatever reason, the coaches did not get as much out of that group as they should have.
   
• It's the SEC daily grind. I spent time with Steve Sarkisian and Brent Venables talking about this. If you're going to build a team in this league to win a championship, you have to have depth, and you have to be like how Alabama was and how Georgia is.
   
• You find out in late October and November when the grind starts to catch up with you. Can you hold up in the SEC? That's the biggest difference between the SEC, the ACC or Big 12. We’ll see from both Oklahoma and Texas.
   
• Kalen DeBoer is a special dude. It takes a special dude to come and fill Nick Saban’s shoes. He's recruiting at a high level and is at the top of the country. I also think he has a quarterback that can blossom this season.
   
• I don't know what Venables did to the SEC schedule makers, but Texas’ schedule is far easier than Oklahoma’s. Now, we have to admit that schedules in July are different from schedules in November. Texas has Michigan, but their in-conference schedule is way easier than Oklahoma’s. 

Key notes from Jake Crain interview

• When Mike Elko got the job, the first thing that came to my mind was, you talk about getting the most out of each individual player. I think he is one of the best rising coaches. There’s no tit-for-tat with other coaches. There are no primadonna problems because all these recruits are here. You know what they're doing? They're talking about blocking and tackling. They're talking about how they become good fundamental football players.
   
• When I think about A&M, I don't think about primadonna, flash, and sizzle. I think about somebody who's going to take you behind a bar. I think about the 12th Man, the Wrecking Crew and the Junction Boys. Their identity is they're going to line up and run it through your teeth and stop you on defense. To me, that's what the 12th Man is, and Mike Elko is a perfect fit for who they want to be. They're in a better position now than they have been in five years.
   
• When you look at even pre-Jimbo Fisher, they could only win games in certain ways. When Jimbo comes in, at some parts, you stop evolving. When you stop evolving, you start dissolving. It felt like he never evolved, and when you look at the roster, I think they just turned the tape on and said, “Hey, how many stars do we need to beat Alabama?”
   
• I'm big on Conner Weigman. Losing Evan Stewart hurts, but I think A&M has good enough players where if they are disciplined like Mike Elko is preaching, I think their ceiling is 9-3. You want to really get off on a good foot? You beat big-bad Texas at Kyle Field.
   
• They call it trimming the fat. I think the thing with Evan Stewart, the consistency and availability on the field was never there. I think you put some blame on A&M and some blame on Evan. I do think A&M has some weapons around Conner that he is going to make better. It goes back to getting every inch out of every player.
   
• I never thought I would be questioning whether LSU would be good enough on defense. It's like they switched places with Ole Miss over the last two years. It's all about balance. It is an unfair ask to ask LSU’s offense to be as good as it was last year. They don't need to. They just need their defense to be better. The balanced team is the better team.
   
• What Conner Weigman does isn't sexy. Do you know what Conner Weigman does? He makes the right decisions. It wins games. It may not be the most fun thing to watch, but the quarterback’s job is to manage the game. I think that is a part of the recipe for A&M’s success.
   
• Every time we have talked about a conference being in trouble, it has always come to fruition. I think we are heading our way to a Power 5 breakaway in a two-conference super league. I would say that within the next three years, the ACC will be done. To be honest, how long is Vanderbilt going to be in the SEC? I don't think enough people are talking about it. What do they bring to the table? 
   
• As a fan, I want all the best teams to play each other. One thing I worry about is expanding the playoffs past 12 teams. As a fan and as a lover of a sport, it would be filled with great games. The coaches' view, the commissioner’s view, and the fans' view are all so different.
   
• If we're going to go past 12 teams in the playoffs, let's make the guidelines matter. The strength of the schedule has to matter. Who you beat, when you beat them, and where you beat them matters. I just hope that whatever guidelines they have are uniform.