2024 IMPACT INTERVIEW: ESPN'S GREG MCELROY

[Music] welcome back to nitty game Wick this week's impact interview guest knows how to guide a team to a championship he led Alabama to a national championship season undefeated in 2009 but perhaps more impressively was the 5A Texas high school player of the year in 2005 and got at Carol High School to an undefeated and 5A state championship ESPN analyst Greg mroy thanks so much for joining us on the show that's good to be with you guys I appreciate you citing the high school resume because statistically speaking that was a very impressive uh run there in high school as opposed to college where I took a little bit of a backseat to our Run game so I appreciate the high school acknowledgement for sure no doubt about it and you had to back you know you had to abide your time too with Chase Daniel in front of you that's quite an impressive list of QBs there well look last year we spoke to one of your uh broadcast Partners Molly McGrath about her sprinting we had the video of her sprinting at the end of a game across the field to get a postgame interview and we're told that you made your own postgame Sprint back in early 2010 to get a photo op so tell us about that story if you would uh yeah I mean well it's ironic that you guys would bring up Molly's postgame Sprint at the end of the Backyard Brawl in which pit a rival for the nitty Lions whether you want to acknowledge it or not was on the losing end so that in and of itself in a roundabout way I see you guys taking some shots at the instate rival uh I did actually after the game in 2010 there was only one coach that I ever uh uh went and tried to get a a picture with and this was in 2010 I'm sitting there on the field and Bobby Bowen Joe pno and Nick Sav are sitting there at the 50 yard line it's like an immortalized picture uh I'm warming up in the background and they're just sitting there on the 50 yard line walking and talking about each other's teams and all this other stuff so super cool moment for me in my career and then after the game it was an immediate run to try to get try to shake Joe turn's hand I he's a legendary figure in the sport we had played Bobby B in 2007 and I didn't do that and it was just this massive regret like man I just played against one of the best coaches in the history of the sport like I need to go show my respect you know what I mean so that was important for me and um and still have still have the picture uh somewhere I'm not sure exactly where my mom probably has it to be honest with you but no that was definitely a priority for me after we got done playing Brother Scott ended up tailgating with you guys after game on that one he came back that maoy guy's a great guy but uh let's talk let's talk about the playoff you know obviously the biggest story this year is the 12 team playoff and this setup really puts a premium uh places a real high value on conference championships uh you know as you look at this should teams be getting more aggressive in their non-conference schedule given the fact that ultimately winning your conference Championship that doesn't impact you in terms of your conference Championship but it will get you ready for that that run I think it does I mean I think last year was a good example Grant a different format 14 playoff versus the versus the 12 team format and we're going to get a good indicator this year you look at a team like Missouri you know Fringe team right now if the playoffs started Tomorrow based on their preseason expectations they'd be right there on the bubble I think they're 11 in the AP poll thereabouts you look at their non-conference and with all due respect to Boston College uh you know with all due respect to the teams that they're playing in the non-conference it doesn't move the needle the way a Texas at Michigan moves the needle or last year a Texas at Bama moved the needle I mean look last year Bama lost that non-conference game in which they challenged themselves and it didn't even have a huge impact on their overall evaluation and I don't think it should Greg uh Penn State has never made the 14 playoff how much does the expansion of the playoff help a help a program like the Lions the expansion of the of the playoffs massive for him but I think the the dissolving divisions is more massive in the Big 10 um because I I look at it and I look at a team like ruter this year ruter never had a chance I mean on Rutter's best season ever they're going to finish fourth in their own Division and that to me is it's unfair because it's purely Geographic now let's not not get it wrong uh one of the most corny things in the history of college football was Legends and leaders you in the Big 10 10 12 13 14 years ago it was ridiculous um but you should not be penalized because of where you live geographically um we saw the same discrepancy in the Big 10 West versus the Big 10 East we saw the same same in the big the SEC West versus the secc East the West Was Gauntlet the East was manageable relatively speaking we saw it at times in the pack 12 pack 12 North verus the Pack 12 South Pack 12 South was a gauntlet the north wasn't so bad so the Big 12 North vers South Missouri would win the Big 12 North almost all the time but the big 12 South you had OU and Texas and Texas Tech LED Mike Leech program so um I I just look at at the divisions I think that's huge but for Penn State if I'm pen state I'm not satisfied with getting to the playoff like to me making the playoff is cool I expect to be there I think for Penn State yes it's beneficial to get in the playoff hunt but it's only going to further the narrative about James Franklin in the event in which they don't have success when they get to the playoff so he's gonna have if they get there awesome that's where you expect to be but what do you do when you get there and that's I think going to be what's fascinating about how we evaluate these coaches because we're going to see guys get fired we really are because they made the playoff but they couldn't advance past the first round we're going to see the Dallas Cowboy approach Mike McCarthy approach like Jason Garrett can't coach gets up to the playoff every year but can't coach got to get rid of him we're gonna see that kind of find its way into college football as well I think I'm glad you mentioned kind of that narrative because as you look specifically at the Big 10 Greg you everybody's talking Ohio State and Oregon so give us some of the other programs that could crash the Big 10 title party and not so subtle reminder uh this is a Penn State football show well I I actually not not even really to do it to help your audience uh I really believe Penn State's right there um a lot of it has to do with finding explosive weapons offensive maybe Harrison Wallace is that guy right like we we've all heard the buzz about maybe the receiver group being a little better uh early in Camp offense getting dominated but sounds like the last couple weeks things have started to level out which is encouraging um so I look I think a lot of it's going to have to do with Andy cotal Nikki system I love Andy C Nikki I loved him when I did his game when he was at Buffalo and they played against Charlotte in the Bahamas bowl that was the first time I met Andy col Nicki I was like this guy's great really good smart thoughtful offensive plans so I think all of that's really beneficial um but I also look to at the schedules and the schedules are going to be so big when evaluating these teams in these Conference Championship settings and I look at their schedule I think it's manageable you host Ohio State you have to go Toc it's just not as much of a gauntlet as it feels like it was in the past so in the event in which you beat Ohio State that's a game and a half in the conference Championship Standings then let's just say you lose one maybe don't expect uh but you still have that game and a half advantage against Ohio State in the head-to-head because you host them at home um let's say State loses to Penn State and to Oregon they go to on the road to both uh then they're probably going to be on the outside looking in with two losses in conference so I think Penn State the way things set up assuming things can grow offensively I feel pretty good H about what they have coming into at the season well let's talk a little about the SEC because obviously you have experience here this year it's really interesting Alabama goes to Wisconsin Texas goes to Michigan LSU takes on USC Georgia plays Clemson A&M plays Notre Dame um you know these there's just a number of amazing weekends in the SEC and we can go on and on but if a bunch of those teams end up with three losses uh does that open the door for more ACC teams or do you reward the strength the schedule uh you know how do you see that playing out well I think it very much depends um my I think the accs three really solid teams Florida State Clemson and I'd add Miami that mix the Big 12 I'd be shocked if they got two teams in just I'd be absolutely shock I think there's going to be Carnage across the board in that League uh you look at the difference between the best team and the eighth best team might be a touchdown on paper you know it really is that tight so I'm expecting a lot of of teams with three losses there in the Big 12 um the SEC I think you have a halves and a half knots group um and I look at a team like Missouri like I think if Missouri goes 10 and two and loses at Bama and at A&M where's their best win and and I don't think they're going to be able to measure up against the likes of a three- loss LSU in that scenario because LSU could have two wins against Big 10 teams plus let's just say they beat Bama at home they beat Oklahoma at home two teams that are in the top 25 they I mean I think LSU's the team that a lot of people are sleeping on right now based on their personnel and and just where they probably have made progress this year so I think the SEC is probably five or six deep with playoff contenders and I think at least three SEC teams will get in I think four is probable I think five is possible I look at the big 10 I think at least three will get in I think four is possible I think five is highly unlikely uh Big 12 I think one is I think two is Poss but highly unlikely I think two in the ACC is possible but not probable so I I think that's the way I see it I think you're going to have a bunch of at large in the Big 10 in the SEC because the quality of the strength of schedule and and the places you have to play and the pr and the promotion that those programs will get um but also just the the talent acquisition in those two leagues is unlike that of other places so um I think the SEC is in a really good spot and I think that they're probably GNA have five or six teams at the end that are gonna have a compelling case to make on their behalf about maybe being in in the college football playoff Greg you become an established guy at ESPN what is the most important part of your preparation week to week and uh how different is that from looking at game plans as a college quarterback um well the toughest thing is as a college quarterback I had to know one side of the ball you know like I had to know the opponent's defense and that was pretty much it now you have to know both teams offensively and defensively and then you know the occasional special team storyline that you need to be aware of as well um so I think looking at it from that perspective is very different um one thing that I've had a tough time dealing with is and I think this is the player in me and Coach you can probably align with this as well all week long I refer to guys by their number in my head so for instance when I'm watching Bama I look at their quarterback number four it's quarterback number four until game day when they get assigned a name that's Jaylen milro you know I mean so I that's been a little bit of a challenge it's like oh man hey 27's really good at safety what do you guys think they're like 27 oh yeah makuba yep he's good yep so like I I that's that's kind of my that's been a bit of a challenge for me I think that's a coach's challenge too because I'll be sitting there in coaches meetings they're like yeah man we love our ends I mean I heard it the other day Brian Kelly uh was talking about using 12 and 13 personnel and he didn't refer to any of his tight ends by name he referred to them all by number so if I wasn't able to use context clues I'm like man who's number 84 you know who's number 14 like who are who's number 88 who are these guys you know so you're able to use the context clues but yeah assigning names to the guys that have traditionally always had numbers when evaluating their personnel is something that's been a little bit of an adjustment well Greg we really appreciate the time in the National perspective we're not really sure you could run as fast as Molly in her shoes but look we appreciate the story about catching up with Joe Pa and and as I said really appreciate the time before the season begins I appreciate you guys for having me look forward to seeing yall and and hoping for a great year from the any lines that'd be great for the sport and uh and I think all of us that follow the sport nationally are are rooting for a nice year out of them as well it just make for a really compelling November if in fact they're sitting there one or two losses in the column