Stories Inside the Man Cave

Epic Showdown: Texas vs. Clemson and the Paths of Dabo Swinney and Steve Sarkisian

Shawn Clynch, Mike Murphy, Michael Hardge, & Maurice Harris Season 1 Episode 437

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Ever wondered how the paths of two extraordinary college football coaches, Dabo Swinney and Steve Sarkisian, have converged at a playoff game for the ages? Join us as we dissect this historic matchup where Texas hosts Clemson at DKR Stadium for the first time. Stevie Lee and I unravel the layers of excitement surrounding this game, from the local Westlake Chaparral ties to Dabo Swinney's fascinating history with Texas. Cade Klubnik's return to his hometown provides a personal twist, injecting a mix of professional challenge and personal milestone into this thrilling showdown.

Peek behind the curtain at the strategic ingredients Texas must stir up to tackle Clemson's dynamic dual-threat quarterback, Cade Klubnik. We discuss the critical importance of a strong start, maintaining momentum, and keeping errors at bay in a game that demands precision and resilience. Delve into the homecoming complexities for Klubnick, highlighting the split allegiances among local fans and his Texas A&M family roots. The conversation also spans the evolving college football landscape, touching on the transformative effects of the new 12-team playoff format and the controversial transfer portal.

As the season stretches into the holidays, we reflect on the toll it takes on players, sharing stories of resilience like DeMarvian Overshown's journey through injury. The spirit of community support shines through, showcasing solidarity and passion for the sport across various levels. In the spirit of the season, we emphasize the importance of checking in on those who seem happiest, drawing inspiration from the joyful presence of Stevie Lee and his family. We wrap up with heartfelt wishes for a festive season filled with love, laughter, and connection with your loved ones.

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Speaker 3:

Hi, I'm Stevie Lee, former defensive tackle for the University of Texas, and I'm Clyde Hargrove. I'm a roofer. I also saw action in 52 games and I fixed a lot of roofs. I also won a Rose Bowl and never lost to A&M and I fixed a lot of roofs. Right, stevie Alright? Alright, I'm sorry, I zoned out a little bit.

Speaker 2:

So are you going to say the thing about Hargrove Roofing?

Speaker 3:

Hargrove Roofing Know who's on your roof. Is this even going to work as a commercial?

Speaker 5:

This is a complete football team, every sense of the word, so they're good enough to win the whole thing.

Speaker 6:

All right, you heard it straight from the two-time national champion. Head coach Dabo Sweeney Gave Texas the ultimate compliment he's quite fond of Steve Sarkeesian. Stevie, this is the week, and this is the first time, we've ever had an episode of the Pass Rush, with Stevie Lee talking about a college football playoff game on a home field of a university. Your thoughts?

Speaker 3:

That is crazy that we're here now, man. I'm so happy it's game week. I'm ready to talk about it.

Speaker 6:

And we have lots to talk about. We're going to break it down. We're going to talk about all the local tie-ins, namely the Westlake Chaparral tie-in. There's a lot of connections between Clemson and Texas. It goes beyond the two head coaches. Stevie Lee, let's ride.

Speaker 7:

You know Dabo, for a long, long time has been winning a lot of games at Clemson. I think this is their seventh college football playoff appearance. He's won two national titles and this team really embodies what his teams have embodied over the years. They're really disciplined very few penalties.

Speaker 6:

So we heard from Dabo to start off the top of the show. We heard from Steve Sarkeesian, both complimentary. Honestly, I know Dabo's the more achieved head coaching career. But when you think about these two I mean Dabo played at Alabama, was a walk-on, we know the story and what he's built at Clemson. I mean, if you go back and look back at Dabo Sweeney's story, he was a position coach and when Clemson made a coaching change mid-season I believe it was 0-9, 0-8-0-9, they took a gamble that the Clemson faithful weren't too sure about. This guy, who was a walk-on at Alabama, earned a scholarship and just went all in on Dabo, earned a scholarship and just went all in on Dabo and he's been there a while now, seven times now that he has led a team to the college football playoffs. This is number two for Steve Sarkeesian. I mean Stevie on the outside. Looking in from that perspective, what are your thoughts?

Speaker 3:

Even though he's gone to the college football playoffs seven times. No one has ever played a home away game in a college football playoffs. So this is different. We don't know what's going to happen. We don't know if Clemson is going to come in and not even care that it's a home game, because they're fighting for their lives, right, they're fighting for one more week of play. So and then Texas? We don't know how Texas is going to be, because Texas is trying to fight for one more week of play as well. So it's kind of up in the air what's going to happen this weekend. I'm really excited about it, man. I can't wait. It's going to be a beautiful day in Austin, texas. We're not in the cold weathers like the other games are going to be, you know. So it's a great time for college football, right now?

Speaker 6:

No, it really is. And before we move forward, I am Sean Clinch, the host of Stories Inside the man Cave, stevie Lee, the co-host of this particular series, the Pass Rush with Stevie Lee. You'll see him on other episodes as well, and we would not be able to do this without the support from our family and friends with the Hargrove family that is out of Shreveport, louisiana, and they are in the Austin Texas area and other parts of Texas and they do a great job and they make it very personal from a positive perspective, and Stevie Lee is that smiling face for Hargrove Roofing and he represents them well, needless to say, Hargrove Roofing nose on your roof.

Speaker 6:

That's right. That's right. Hey, be sure to follow us on each of our social media platforms. And yeah, we're about to dive deep, and I think there doesn't need to be a drum roll. We just need a hype video so we can go ahead and get this discussion underway and we'll dive deep into it, because it is the college football playoff week. Let's go, stevie. That's good pregame music, by the way.

Speaker 1:

Good.

Speaker 6:

It's got to be. Would that music work for you back in the day before you hit the tunnel.

Speaker 3:

Oh yeah, no question, it works for me right now. I'm ready to go.

Speaker 6:

So Clemson's old hat in this game. And to Stevie's point, I mean we really have no idea Home field advantage will be a factor, but Clemson's experienced one. But they're not the same type of Clemson teams from, let's just say, maybe two or three years ago. But this one element of this, stevie, this is the first time that Dabo Swinney will be at DKR for an actual Texas game and it's funny he told the story about his first time when he was hired. He came to visit your former head coach.

Speaker 5:

And I spent two or three days with Coach Mack Brown and that was very impactful for me. But I've only been in one game, uh, at that stadium and that was to see Cade Klubnick play in a playoff game and and, ironically, visited with coach Sark. We stood down in the end zone there, but, uh, so what an opportunity I mean what a magical, uh, historic place to go play a football game. I've never played Texas, I've never been to, you know, obviously, played in that stadium or anything, so I'm super excited about it.

Speaker 6:

See, and then he was recruiting, and we're going to obviously talk about Cade, just a good human being, each of the guys tied. We're going to talk about these good human beings, good players. When you think of Dabo, what's the first thing that comes to mind from you looking from as a fan and a guy who you know went through the recruiting game? I mean, he has a lot of skins on the wall, so to speak.

Speaker 3:

Golly man. Why would you ask me that question? I particularly, man. There is a lot of shoot Sean. Yeah, I'm not fond of the guy at all. That's fine. I really am not.

Speaker 3:

It was an interview before we started talking NIL and things like that. That was an interview that he did and he said that we're going to run into a problem when kids start to feel entitled. And that word did not sit well with me because here he is sitting up here making $4 million a year off the backs of these kids and you want to call the kids entitled to ask for name, image and likeness, and so I did not like that. And then he doubled down on it in another interview on ESPN. You know I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt and then he tripled down on it again, like that was his running talking points the kids are getting entitled and we should not be paying the kids.

Speaker 3:

Well, I played the sport and I am so happy that some of these kids I mean just the numbers is not going to work. Every kid in college football is not going to play on the next level to make money. I did not play on the next level to make money, but if I would have left school with $100,000 in my pocket or $50,000 in my pocket or even $30,000 in my pocket, it would have catapult and helped me start my career, start my family and things like that. And so, after he has made millions off college football, let these kids make in the tens of thousands of dollars, you know. So the way he had talked about it, it was really, man, I'm going to be honest with you just disgusting to me.

Speaker 3:

And so I'm not a fan of Dabo and I hope we will pass this weekend. He's still a. He's still a coach. You have to respect what he's done over there, and I do. I do respect what he's done over there. And so at Clemson and turning a program around like that, and I'm glad that they pay him, but also we got to pay the kids that's actually on the field. So I'm sorry if I went negative, but that's just how I feel.

Speaker 6:

I mean that's good, because we want real, we want to hear real. Everything's not always sunshine and roses and everyone has an opinion, and you should, and I respect that, steve. Yeah, man, that's good, because a lot of people see everything from a surface level and I've gone off and sometimes my opinions are way off. It doesn't mean I'm right, I'm human, we're all entitled to an opinion. It doesn't mean we always have to speak it, but that's an opinion that side that people need to hear. Stevie, I like him, but I thought that he was behind in accepting the NIL game. There's a lot of coaches that don't like it At the time and that may be part of the reason that they kind of slipped a little bit. But you know it's a locomotive and we're going to get into that NIL and the transfer portal here shortly, but real quick.

Speaker 6:

When you look at here's the brackets, this is round one. These are all of the. We talked about it last week. Three of the four hosts on the first round games are cold weather cities. I think it may be 70 degrees. Perfect. Here in Austin, texas, the winner will go to Atlanta, the Peach Bowl to face Arizona State. We went into it last week. It doesn't matter really what we think, but I think our opinions are the same. Just because you win a conference champion or you're one of the four highest ranked conference champions does not mean you should get a first round buy. I think the top four in the country in the rankings should receive a first round buy. So that's what it looks like, just to give you a refresher on what the bracket will look like. It's very confusing. But, stevie, what you know about Clemson, what's your elementary and I already said it once that term surface level what's your game plan for Texas versus Clemson if you had to?

Speaker 3:

My game plan is to. Sometimes we at the University of Texas we'll to. My game plan is to sometimes we at the University of Texas we'll come out a little flat, especially if we start out on offense. We need to have a really good, sustainable drive on offense. If we get the ball first, if the defense get the ball first or get out on the field first and Clemson's offense is out there, we need to three it out to get the ball first or get out on the field first and Clemson's offense is out there, we need to three it out to get the ball to our offense. So we need to start out the game.

Speaker 3:

Sometimes we start out the game with some of these lulls and we have to work our way, massage our way into the game. We need to come out on fire for the first half at the start of the game and then we need to come out on fire out of the locker room after the second half or going out at halftime. We need to clean up coming out of the locker room period. That's my key of the game, because all the other phases of the game we're right there and we're on fire. You know what I'm saying. We need to start on fire and finish on fire throughout the whole game. A perfect, clean game, yeah.

Speaker 6:

Yeah, Well, for me, you know it's Stevie's game plan, I don't have one for me. But who we're going to talk about right now? Cade Klubnick. I mean, the guy has to be accounted for. He has great receivers, the guy can. He's a dual threat.

Speaker 6:

He keeps plays alive and Cade Klubnick is obviously a hometown guy. Played at Westlake on those part of the reason they won back-to-back-to-back state championships and as guy played at Westlake on those part of the reason they won back to back to back state championships and as we speak, westlake is still alive for another one currently. But Cade Klubnick you mentioned Dabo his first trip to here, other than meeting with the first game that he saw, was to watch Cade Klubnick. For Cade, texas has to use that linebacker speed that they have with Anthony Hill to neutralize Cade, because he will beat teams with his feet. I think Texas can score 24 plus points on this team. I do. Texas will score at least 24 points, but can Clemson score 25 plus?

Speaker 6:

to win the game. That's the key here, because they're going to have a downfield passing attack I don't think that Texas has seen this year, because that's to me what's going to be the difference. Can these DBs hold up? And the Texas defensive tackles are a little thin right now because of the portal but and other, I think, some minor injuries. But you know that's going to. I think Sark had mentioned today and or, yeah, in the press conference on earlier, said it's not going to affect the depth on the D-line for game, it's going to affect the depth for practice and, as you know, practices the games should be easy. The practice is usually the toughest. Yeah, but isn't that right?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, absolutely. So my take on what's the quarterback's name? Cade Klubnick, cade, I almost said Case, cade. So my game plan for him is putting people in his face. I don't know if they've seen a fast enough defense as fast as we are. Right, he can scramble, and, yeah, he may scramble a little bit and try to get out of the pocket to throw the ball, but once you start scrambling against us, you don't have time to throw. You're going to have to continue to scramble or you're going to get hit in the mouth. You know what I mean, right, we're fast and we're going to. You might can get away from us, but you won't get away from us. Enough time to step back, set your feet and then try to throw it. You know what I mean, right? So I think we're too fast for that.

Speaker 3:

I don't think On the sideline. Our defense is the fastest in the country.

Speaker 6:

Yep, arguably the best defense in the country and one of the best in UT football history. I don't think in the ACC there's any team that has any defense remotely like UT's. I just don't.

Speaker 5:

I don't see it. I agree with you.

Speaker 6:

I don't see it. So to Cade Klubnick, if you're on social media, they celebrated the fact that he's coming home when the CFP announcement happened and then, cade, being the competitor that he is, this is going to be a big time Reunion for him for many reasons. But this is Klubnick. Basically he's trying to downplay it now To focus on the task at hand instead of the homecoming.

Speaker 9:

I've kind of drifted away and really just kind of focused on the preparation that comes with it since then. But I think once I get there it'll definitely be a little wild flying to that airport and making that drive and stuff, and yeah, it'll be cool.

Speaker 6:

And he comes from a family of Aggie, so he's obviously the first to go to Clemson and he is a Dabo was a big part of his recruiting recruitment, so to speak.

Speaker 5:

Yeah.

Speaker 6:

Your thoughts on him and what he said. You know, flying back home for the first time to play a game.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, he was trying to clean it up, that's all. Yeah, that's all. He was just trying to clean it up, but that's good for him to be able to play a college football game in his hometown. You know, I wish I could have done that A big-time game.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, If I would have played a home game in college. That means we had a terrible year and had to go to the Independence Bowl. Oh yeah, so good for him for having a. I mean, I'm sure half of Westlake will be rooting for Texas and half of Westlake will be rooting for him.

Speaker 6:

Yeah, 100% in the Klubnick family. Great people, yeah. I think it's funny when you see legacies in this case of like Aggies. They're going to have to. Obviously they're going to be dressed up for Clemson, but you know Westlake folks are going to. I don't know. It'll be fun and this is what's really good about it. So for Klubnick, he was obviously the quarterback for Westlake.

Speaker 6:

I remember going to this game at Arlington. Todd Dodge played against his son who succeeded him at Southlake Carroll. They met in what they called the Dodge Bowl. It was beautiful. What wasn't beautiful about it? It was the COVID season, in which the state championships had to be played in January of 2021. This was in Arlington at Cowboys Stadium. I went. It was amazing. Westlake tore up Mike Quinn. Mike Quinn was a former Stephen F Austin quarterback who played for the Texans. Quinn Ewers and this is Michael Taft, who's one of the best DBs in the country, a former walk-on for Texas and a Westlake chaparral. This was one of the highlights from that game, in which Taft picked off Mike Quinn. Excuse me, Quinn Ewers, Ewers.

Speaker 3:

Out field and that's picked off by.

Speaker 6:

Taft, he's done it again. Is that a one-hander? It's his second interception tonight and that is a one-hander. Wow Look at this. Quinn Ewers. I apologize, I'm having flashbacks to 1997. I have no idea why.

Speaker 3:

That's funny, man. That was a great athletic catch on Taff. That was awesome.

Speaker 6:

Unreal, unreal, under-recruited unreal, under recruited and I still he's a. He's is a prime example of things are meant to be. Your path is in front of you and he risked. He gambled on himself and took a risk and it paid off for him.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely.

Speaker 6:

Preferred walk on. Took it Yep Over scholarship offers. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

And we're happy he did it because he he plans very well for us man.

Speaker 6:

Yeah, and Ethan Burke was on that team and there were other members of that Westlake team who were playing for Texas. And there's other Texas kids on this Clemson team who either were offered by Texas or weren't, and they get to come home. That's the beauty of this matchup and you can find Texans on every roster. And then the other one, andrew Makuba, playing his first few years at Clemson and then from LBJ High School here and coming back. He's been a huge addition for the Longhorns. Your thoughts on Makuba and just how all this I know it's coincidence, but your thoughts on this, I mean there's so many elements to this.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I think we're going to start seeing a lot more of this, but because the portal is open and wide open, right, and coaches cannot really control where the kids go after they leave your university, these are really good storylines for this game the first home game, home playoff game, and then you got all these storylines on top of it. I think this is really cool. Like I said, it's really cool for college football right now and Makuba. Hopefully he can give us some pointers on what they do over there.

Speaker 6:

You know they've already had those meetings.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, they had those meetings already.

Speaker 6:

Watching film. So let's dive into this. I'm not a big prediction guy, but I'll start it. Stevie, I'll say texas 33 to 20, 33 to 20 yeah okay, okay.

Speaker 3:

I'm not a big prediction predictions guy either, but I do see us winning. Let's just say that yeah, okay, that's a.

Speaker 6:

That's where we need to nip it in the bud and move on. Uh, and we all know this is new, honestly new territory. Because it's a new, it's a 12 team format. But it's also new because you start the games on the march to the national championship much earlier. I mean this time of year usually when the first bowl games start. You know, like you know, there's already been one and there's another one coming up soon, but you have all the postseason awards, the Heisman We've had that.

Speaker 6:

There was no doubt who the Heisman trophy winner should be, in my opinion, I know Ashton Junte from Boise State was a guy I was pulling for. Travis Hunter got it, but you got to admit big Kelvin Banks winning the Lombardi and the Outland, the interior lineman award and two prestigious honors. And then Jaday Barron, I think to me because I spent time in Oklahoma City where the Thorpe Award originates and is home. That's kind of Heisman 2.0. Obviously the best defensive back in the country. Was there ever any doubt in your mind that he was the best defensive back in the country?

Speaker 3:

from what you know, no, I seen him and I love watching him play, but I didn't think that the writers saw what we were seeing Right, and so I didn't. I didn't. I actually I know he was on the watch list and things like that. Listen to things like that. But it was surprising to me when I saw the video on Instagram that Texas football put out, with Michael Huff giving him the letter. Oh, that was awesome. That was a great video by them, man, it was really good by the video team over there and the marketing team over there, but it was really heartfelt. It was touching that one Thorpe award award winner gave him the letter. That's on staff over there, michael Huff. And then they called FaceTime Ross. So we got three Thorpe winners at the university of Texas and they were all in the room, basically all in the room together. Aaron Ross was on FaceTime, but that was a really cool video, a really cool moment for Barron and there was a really cool moment for the University of Texas.

Speaker 6:

I thought it was, and Derek Ochoa, who we'll have on this podcast soon. He's the one that leads that digital team and they do a badass five-star all-American job. I'm not just saying that because they work at UT. As long as I've known Derek, since he's been there, since I was in the media Back in my media days that guy you talk about hustles he's a good instructor. He sees the storytelling through the lens, what they produce.

Speaker 6:

A lot of people across the country are doing that. All right, stevie From the CFP and the Longhorns in Clemson we've got to talk about this. I'm all for the portal. You're for the portal. Almost all coaches will admit they're for the portal. You're for the portal. Almost all coaches will admit they're for the portal. However, I don't know the answer. I don't. I would never give any kid any advice on what he or she should do, but in this case, for college football athletes, football players currently, when I produce this podcast, fbs football bowl subdivision, that's division one, and then FCS is lowered division one. Like Stephen F Austin, over 3,712 entries in the portal combined. That's insanity, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yes, it is but I do believe in kids and needing to move on, I do, I do, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3:

So I don't know what we do about that, um, but you know, and the kids need to understand what the magnitude is when they do enter the portal, because they can enter the portal and some of them not get picked up, you know. So we gotta we. But in the same breath, if it's not working out for a kid at one university, it might work out at a different university.

Speaker 6:

Yeah, I get it.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 6:

But here's my. There's arguments for the front end, the middle and the back end. So high school athletes, because of the portal, are at a disadvantage because you're taking up roster spots. Now we're going to expand the rosters to 105, but in theory you think, okay, you're, you're going to have more opportunities for these portal entries.

Speaker 6:

But I don't know if every program in America, particularly lower FBS and FCS, all of them, can afford or have the resources to fill any FBS only for 105 scholarships. Then you've got to look at OK, some of these guys are going to have to go down to FCS to find new homes. Or Division 2, which is only 37 scholarships. Division III it's grant and aid, FCS is 63, and not all those 63 are full. I just learned that and I thought all these years I thought FCS all had 63 full rides. There's only like 35 full rides. It's up to the coaches. You get a lot of two-for-one scholarship divided up and then you've got guys who are going up from Division II, fcs and then you've got junior college kids NAIA, naia, potentially, because you find those diamonds in the rough. As you and I both know, kids mature at a different age.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 6:

And they reach their potential. Jeff Traylor, our buddy he's a Stories Inside the man Cave VIP alumni. I thought this summed it up from a coach's point of view. Someone was asked about that because the portal just opened this past Monday.

Speaker 8:

This is not the kids' fault. This is the adults' fault. We're the ones that have messed this up. We got a football calendar going for playoffs, for bowls, that doesn't match up with an academic calendar. Classes end in December, they start again in January. Kids are the ones being caught in the middle ball, this stuff. So you have two things working against each other. You have an academic calendar, you've got football since we all finished. Everybody gets mad at kids and the kids are in a bad spot, and the problem is when a coach tries to explain it, it sounds like we're complaining. We're just describing what's really going on right now.

Speaker 6:

So I don't so you see a lot of kids who are not playing in the bowl games Because they have to hit the portal in order to enroll in wherever they're going, but for, like Texas, for the CFP. For example, justice Finkley and two I think, two other guys on the defensive line, I believe, are going to stay with Texas throughout the CFP run. I don't know how they work that out logistically to wherever they land. However, how you play for one university into January, deep into January, there's kids who are having to leave bounce We've seen it and they're put in a hard position because the dates, because what trailer mentioned the academic calendar. I mean I don't know how to resolve this. What would you do? I mean it's, there's got to be a better way.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so uh, I was talking to a staff member over there and we talked about this a little bit at the University of Texas. There is a five day grace window after the. So if you make it all the way to the championship game, the spring semester has already started. While you're playing the championship game, the spring semester has already started. While you're playing the championship game. The championship game is not until January 21st or something like that, right around that third week. Yeah, school has already started. For the next semester. They have given the championship teams that are in the championship games grace so the kids can stay there and play in the championship and then they have five days after the championship game. I believe this is not verbatim or anything like that, so don't take my full word for it, you know. But they'll have a chance to enter the portal after the championship game and be able to get onto another campus, catch up on their schoolwork Right and get with another team then.

Speaker 6:

It's hard to understand, yeah, but it's honestly. You can't blame the kids because, like you said, they're trying to find where they belong and opportunities. You mentioned the Independence Bowl Bowl games affected. We just mentioned that Marshall. This involves your hometown, the Independence Bowl Marshall, which was hometown the Independence Bowl Marshall, which had a really good season. They had to opt out of the bowl game because of their portal losses, so they needed a team to face Army and they needed a team to face Army in the Independence Bowl and right down the road I think it's highway, it's I-20, right.

Speaker 3:

I-20.

Speaker 6:

I-20 from Ruston. They're five and seven.

Speaker 3:

So they're in the ballgame.

Speaker 6:

They accepted the vacancy to play Army Louisiana Tech.

Speaker 3:

So wait, did I read correctly that Marshall, their head coach, is leaving?

Speaker 6:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

And so half the team, or most of the team, went into the portal.

Speaker 6:

That's right.

Speaker 3:

Wow, so the next coach coming into Marshall has to fill the whole team.

Speaker 6:

It's unreal. It's unreal. I'm trying to get the exact number of kids, because it was a mass, mass exodus. If you will, I'm trying to get the exact number. I read about it twice and it's, it's unreal, it's. I've never seen it. The Thundering Earth.

Speaker 3:

29 scholarship players left the program since December 8th oh my goodness, team meeting and say who's all going, and most of them raise their hand raise their head and Charles Huff is.

Speaker 6:

He's leaving Marshall to Southern Mississippi, who's a fellow conference member.

Speaker 1:

Sunbelt.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, that's tough man, but golly, it's the wild, wild west out there, still man, and we're still trying to reign this in and try to make it fair for everybody involved. I think one of the things that might need to happen is we have to drop down on as many. We can't play as many regular season games. We have to make the regular season a little bit shorter.

Speaker 6:

That or start a week earlier in August.

Speaker 1:

Hmm.

Speaker 6:

And start the playoffs immediately after the conference championship.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, Not this, this one week off, and or well, can you do that though?

Speaker 6:

But then you have like army Navy. It traditionally plays at weekend in December. It's hard man. There's no solution. You can't have everything right. There's no solution. You can't have everything right. There's no way.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, well, sean, one of the things and you and I can figure this out we can do it and just submit our findings, right, right, pushing the season up one week and we had two bye weeks this year, right, yep, actually three, because after the SEC championship game we had another bye week. Right, so get rid of so many bye weeks, so have one bye week. And you said, go straight into the playoffs after the conference championship week. We can do that and we are 11-2, right, mm-hmm? And then say we go all the way to the championship game. What's that? Is that four games? Yeah, so 17. That's 17 games on college kids. That's a lot of games, man. That's too many games actually for a college kid.

Speaker 6:

Well, high school goes 16 if you win a state championship.

Speaker 3:

Okay, 16? Yeah. So when I was in high school, it was only 15 games.

Speaker 6:

See, but it's the same general area.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, but it's also high school, Well pros go.

Speaker 3:

They play 17 regular season games exactly, and they didn't want to, but the owners wanted to, just so we can go do the money thing right. We don't have that problem and in the um and if in fact, if you ask the players in the NFL, they don't want to play that many games and they came to a compromise by dropping down the preseason games, so they don't play as many preseason games now, but they play another regular season game. So I think we do need to drop down some games, even though I love being a fan and I love watching college football. But putting 17 games on these college students, that's pretty tough and they get more chances to be breaking records too, and there's some records that's up to be broken in these playoffs games.

Speaker 6:

They will because you have more opportunities, because when Steve Sarkeesian played at BYU, there was a season there where I think they were part of. I want to say the WAC was massive. They just were taking in teams. They were one of the first conferences, I think, which had a conference championship game. I think they played 14 games and won the Cotton Bowl, I think with Sarge at quarterback. All right, steve, the Cowboys now 6-8.

Speaker 6:

They had a nice win but the game before was awful to our guy DeMarvin Oversham. He literally just overcame an ACL and then, I believe, on his left leg this time he shredded every ligament on his right knee. He is from Arp Texas in East Texas Good football program and it's one of those salt of the earth communities where they love and take care of their own. They had a DeMarvian overshown appreciation day by zoom and well, this is going to pull some trigger motions right here, the little kids they just kind of lift up to marvian after because this, this is an injury he may never overcome I've seen the jersey and I knew you, my god, already did you cancel your dentist appointment?

Speaker 4:

we might as well be best friends now. Man, I appreciate you taking me over over the health of your team. You're my favorite player, oh man. Well, I appreciate that. You know, I definitely. I try my best when I go out there and when I went down I kind of knew that was probably my last time seeing the field. But I knew I left it all out there and the next time I get back out there you know I'll be doing the same things that I was doing before I left the field, so hopefully I'm still your favorite player right here, but I'll be back.

Speaker 1:

You are absolutely immersed in prayers. You got this. You will be the best to ever walk the field for the Dallas Cowboys. You already are in our minds and I can speak for everybody else Go D-Mo. You got it, baby.

Speaker 6:

Man.

Speaker 4:

That's East.

Speaker 6:

Texas at its finest man it's. I mean remember Blaine Irby, who played tight end for Texas, for Mac Badass, tight end Against Rice, I think in 20, I don't remember what year, it was 2010 same injury, tore every ligament and he Rehabbed his ass off and that's.

Speaker 6:

That requires a lot Up here and you Go through pain To overcome that and then go back out there and do it. I mean, have you heard Anybody, or played with anybody that experienced anything Like that? No, no, I Didn't the one that out there and do it. I mean, have you heard?

Speaker 3:

anybody or played with anybody that experienced anything like that? No, no, I didn't. The one that got me and he got back on the field was Fozzie Whitaker. Oh, that's right, yeah.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, playing with the Panthers, Carolina Panthers, and you know he had surgery on one of his knees. I can't remember, but he was down on both knees and he and I said, well, what happened to the other knee? He was like, well, that was my donor knee to the harvest a ligament from his donor knee to put into his hurt knee. And I was like, I never heard that. So he was, he had to rehab both knees and he got back. So, um man, prayers to uh over sean man, that's, that's tough, it really is. But but the for the community to come out and uh and all support him like that, that that's really cool, that's neat no, it is, and it's.

Speaker 6:

Arp is one of those man, that's I. I remember when my second of four stops in the in the media. I spent a lot of time in east texas. It's one of those communities, man. They love their football, but they love their people even more that's.

Speaker 3:

That's really cool. It's like what they call it, life behind the pine curtain that's exactly what it is.

Speaker 6:

Some of the best people I've ever met in my life are from behind the pine curtain and they know how to play football over there. And you know what? State Championship Week in Arlington. And for the Austin Texas area only three remain out of 32 who started the playoff, the big tournament. Only three are in arlington. We'll play that again next week to honor the state champions. If we have any, I'm pretty sure good chance Westlake will have. I think they all have a great chance. Shiner's not really technically in Austin, but it's from my days at KVU. We covered them. They're really far an hour and a half away.

Speaker 6:

But, man, you talk about a state power. They're there every year. It seems like.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, that's good stuff. Good luck to everybody man in the Central Texas area.

Speaker 6:

That's fun, that's a lot of fun it is Austin's catching up, but there's potentially Dallas-Fort Worth area could have nine state champions after Saturday. Nine DFW programs are playing for state championships. Wow, god hey, a certain stiff arm by our guy T-Sweat. We got to take a look at that, plus TikTok in the man cave from everyone's favorite uncle that's coming up on the other side of this break as we pay homage to our guys at Hargrove Roofing.

Speaker 2:

Here at Hargrove Roofing we try to think outside the box, to kind of get the creative juices flowing. So I brought in my friend Stevie Lee, former defensive tackle for the Texas Longhorns. He's gonna help the team strategize, really motivate them. Light a fire.

Speaker 3:

This guy's gonna block down. This guy's gonna block down. You put your butt into the guard and that way my Mike Linebacker gets free to do what.

Speaker 2:

Not only are they going to learn a thing or two, but they're going to also leave with a great attitude and a bunch of smiles on their faces.

Speaker 1:

I'm sorry. What does this have to do with roofing exactly? Get out Right now.

Speaker 3:

I said get out.

Speaker 2:

For me, that's what it's all about. It's just having fun making our employees have a great time. Hargrove Roofing.

Speaker 6:

Know who's on your roof. Happy holidays to you from myself and everyone with ties to Stories Inside the man Cave podcast. I am Sean Clinch, the host of Stories Inside the man Cave. We love our community and giving, especially during Christmas and the holidays. But there is one organization I truly love year-round, in particular this time of year in the Austin area. It's Partnerships for Children, in particular, pfc's Holiday Wishes program. It's a program which benefits and serves kiddos in CPS Care in Central Texas.

Speaker 6:

Holiday Wishes affords up to 7,500 kids the magic and joy of opening gifts over the next couple of weeks. So how can you get involved or help? 1,200 kids are in need of a sponsor. If you don't want to sponsor a kiddo, donations are welcome to fulfill the holiday wishes for the kids who are not sponsored. Here's where I challenge you when you have a moment, visit this website below me PartnershipsForChildrenorg and click the links for holiday wishes once you arrive to their homepage. It's rewarding and, the best part, you'll make a kid smile on Christmas morning and that's simply priceless. Partnerships for children and stories inside the man Cave Podcast an ideal partnership during this special month.

Speaker 3:

That was fun. You know what I noticed on that man. You know it's real easy to still farm little running backs, it's real easy to still farm the receivers, it's easy to still farm the quarterback. But if you still farmed offensive lineman like that, bro, you are powerful. Oh my God. A stiff arm was textbook on an offensive lineman and he went down hard too.

Speaker 6:

He did that was fun he is absolutely taking over Nashville Rookie season. Devondre Sweat's one of the good guys, just a good human being Absolutely hilarious, I mean. I think sometimes we forget some of the great people we've been able to cross paths with and came through that Texas football program and he's. I have a feeling he's going to have a long career and everywhere he goes people are going to love him. Yep, it's hey TikTok in the man cave. First off, no hate on anyone who has balled domes. It's beautiful, it's beautiful. But our guy, unk the big Unc, and his nephew Unc has a. This is hilarious. The theme of it was his nephew trying to tell him not all women love bald heads, but Unc seems to differ Every girl don't want a man with a bald head, Unc.

Speaker 3:

I'm telling you that now.

Speaker 8:

So crazy than a mother lost your motherfucking mind.

Speaker 4:

Every girl wants something to look like a boner all day, 24 hours. Are you fucking kidding me? They look shit. My head look just like the tip of a boner man. You fucking kid why. You think they call me dickhead sometimes. You know the brawls. We call hey dickhead. You may be going around hey dickhead and I'll be going.

Speaker 8:

My poison will be looking at me. I'll go. Yeah, that's me.

Speaker 4:

My shit, look like a boner.

Speaker 1:

All the time all I do is stand like this sometime I just have my hat down so they can get horny. I'm telling you there you go.

Speaker 3:

There you go, Clinch. Touch it.

Speaker 6:

Yeah, but Ankh does not like his head touched. Yeah, he doesn't. He doesn't at all.

Speaker 3:

Hey man.

Speaker 6:

Tell me something good From good-looking bald domes to two beautiful people by the name of Stevie and Clinch. Tell me something good, my brother and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you, by the way.

Speaker 3:

Merry Christmas to you too, man. That was going to be my something good. Man, we were out shopping today. I wish it was a little cooler outside, A little warm. It's a little warm here in Austin, texas. But we're out shopping, finishing up some Christmas shopping while the kids are in school. This is the last week they're in school. And then but I also wanted to say, man, this is historic we have a home playoff game in Austin Texas, man, the first one ever. So that's something good too, man, it's going to be great weather on Saturday. I'm looking forward to it to seeing it.

Speaker 3:

Man, it's just really good energy in Austin right now. Man, and listen, everybody out there. Man, let's just love on each other. It's going to be crowded out there. We're going to bump into each other. Simple, excuse me, excuse me, I'm sorry, excuse me. Hold the door open for someone, and if someone holds the door open for you, just say thank you, you're welcome. Merry Christmas, have a great one. You know what I mean. So let's just be happy and nice to each other. Man, something good is it's the holiday and we get to be around family and things like that. So enjoy your life, enjoy your family, enjoy yourself really too. Self-love is the best love. Enjoy yourself and then you can pour out into other people. Something good is just be good this holiday season.

Speaker 6:

I love you for that man. You always have a good word to pass along.

Speaker 3:

You're a positive guy.

Speaker 6:

Yeah, because you are a positive guy. I think little Eric Moore has rubbed off on're a positive guy. You are a positive guy. I think little Eric Moore has rubbed off on you a little bit. You passed Summit Worship Center. We need to have him on again. He's a VIP alumni. That is one funny human being by the way yes.

Speaker 6:

Two things Playing off. Stevie, listen, regardless of what faith you are or whatnot, this is a great time for everybody. But happy holidays, happy Kwanzaa, happy Hanukkah, merry Christmas, be happy. That's why we say happy. But remember there are people struggling right now and there are certain people. There's a lot of pressure on people this time of year. It's overwhelming for some.

Speaker 6:

Uh, I was the reason why I'm bringing this up, because we all everybody handles it differently. Um, people have asked me, just because it was been a little over a year from, I lost my mother and then, of course, our friend Jason and his wife and you know two big chunks out of our foundation. You know what? Yeah, it hits me. Ask me if I'm all right. I'm good. You know I'm good because I live through that faith. But remember those who are struggling trying to put presents under the tree. Partnerships for Children is a great organization. Rbi Austin is helping those types of families. You know, we know people and the people who are smiling or having the most fun usually are dealing with something heavy. Not always, but man hug them, love on them and validate their feelings, but be there for them.

Speaker 6:

Always ask man. Give them a gift of love and a hug and be there, man. That's all I can say, because it's taken many years for me to realize just because someone looks happy, especially this time of year, means they bear a lot of weight.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 6:

Of darkness.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I'm right there with you, man. It's like the tears of a clown.

Speaker 8:

You make everybody else happy.

Speaker 3:

You make everybody else happy, but you're the worst beat up inside.

Speaker 6:

So you know, check on your happy friends for sure, always, and if you need to be uplifted, you can reach out to me. But definitely get some of that stevie lee and his family. They'll infuse some positivity in you. I promise you that, especially during the holidays, a lot of laughter right there.

Speaker 6:

So for the great city of shreveport, louisiana, which is the birthplace of the stevie lee and the home of the hardgrove family, of hardgrove roofinging, and to my hometown of, well, my college town in Nacogdoches, texas, which isn't far from Shreveport, louisiana, and which my college alma mater, stephen F, austin, and to my hometown, the beautiful Austin, texas, which is God's country, don't forget it. And to all my family and friends, to all of our viewers and listeners, thank you and happy holidays. Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, happy Kwanzaa, just be happy and smile and share and follow all of our content. Tell your moms, tell your cousins about stories inside the man cave and follow Stevie Lee, follow me if you'd like. He's funny, he's better. And from the OG man Cave boys, that being Harbaugh Hards, big Mike and the coach Mo, what do we tell them, stevie Lee?

Speaker 3:

We out.

Speaker 2:

You see the drip and I'm fitted up. I'm in my car, in a Gideon.

Speaker 3:

I said get out.