Empty the Call Sheet (Dec. 1)

From the plane home back to the West Coast*, Yogi's weekly Sunday newsletter

Thankful. Impressed. Frustrated. Surprised. Grateful.

On the final regular season Saturday of the college football season, I felt it all. I bet you did too.

I woke up early this morning and watched the sun rise in picture perfect Southern California. The quiet calm of a few birds, our local hummingbird and the kids still sleeping allowed me to reflect on the season.

My first thought went to those little humans asleep, and my wife. They have been absolute rock stars all season and at the Rose Bowl on Saturday, I would often peek from our perch in the booth down to their seats and smile, remembering how lucky I am to have their support.

For 3+ hours myself, Guy Haberman, Rhett Lewis, Denny Blount and our Big Ten Network crew were able to broadcast our final game of the 2024 season. It was a group that barely knew one another prior to the season. Only Guy and I had ever worked together on air, and the production group had known one another for years but never met us. A season within a production crew often mirrors a season within a team. There are things you count on, things that are new, and navigating the unpredictable is often the most enjoyable. This year's team poured into the preparation, competed to celebrate the game while coaching the viewer and never forgot that each of us are living out a childhood dream.

On Saturday, I looked at one of our lead camera operators, Donna, and was in awe of how detailed she is on a cart, driving up and down the sideline with a smile on each weekend. I’d think about Christian, our rising star, who would compete to create unique graphics that told a story each weekend. I’d smirk when thinking about Pat, our director, who would send group text messages with more emojis than I ever knew existed. I am at a loss for words to describe Denny, our producer, who welcomed his second child four days before our season opener and still flew across the country to Oregon to produce a broadcast that had the college football world buzzing in late August.

I could go on and on.

Bottom line, this group left it on the grass. Guy and Rhett became two men I now call family. And Saturday, in the most picturesque setting in the history of college football, we got to call another tight game, or as we like to say, we only call tight games aka #BangersOnly.

Speaking of leaving it on the grass, how about Arizona State and Oregon!? Both teams finished their regular seasons in respective fashions with dominant wins in rivalry games before heading off for their conference championship games. Coaching trees are always fun for me, but to watch one grow in real time is a blast. I met Dan Lanning when he was a young GA at ASU, I’d imagine I came across Kenny Dillingham then too but don’t recall. Now these two former colleagues with the Ducks are each a win away from officially clinching their spot in the College Football Playoff. I’ve seen the Ducks a few times and their game against Penn State will be phenomenal. While most of us, myself included, expected a rematch with Ohio State, I do enjoy a new matchup in a title game. In fact, the Ducks and Nittany Lions have not met since the Rose Bowl following the 1994 season.

Same deal for the Sun Devils. They face an Iowa State team that plays a defense ASU has yet to see this season and have a QB in Rocco Becht, who reminds me of Sam Leavitt. Tough, cerebral, adored by teammates and a mastery of the system. Iowa State does not have Heisman candidate Cam Skattebo and that’s going to be the difference.

Already looking forward to writing about two former Pac-12 teams in the CFP in Year One in two different leagues. Guess the West Coast can play some football… I’m off to Eugene Monday morning to spend time with the Ducks. Tune in to Big Ten Network for that coverage and sit down with another Heisman candidate, Dillon Gabriel.

Speaking of playing. I’m so frustrated with the state of the portal and NIL. In my opinion the calendar, coaching carousel and portal impacted games in ways no one is talking about. Whether it was elite players not playing or playing poorly, I’m 100% convinced that agents, parents and other coaches being in their ear about transferring impacted how they played. How can it not?!

Let’s be real, tampering is happening everywhere and gearing up for the Early Signing Period beginning on Wednesday and the transfer portal officially opening the following week, every staff has been positioning for who their next QB is going to be. And the market is not extremely impressive this year, so the fight for a few key signal callers has been ongoing for weeks. I looked at a few games on Saturday and couldn’t help but think that players are struggling navigating what should be called annual free agency.

And I don't blame them.

Could you imagine being a successful starting QB right now? Your DM’s are flooded, your agents are fielding offers, your parents think they know best but likely don’t know enough about how to navigate this process and it’s just a mess. I think it spilled over to the field this past weekend. How couldn’t it? It’s one of the main reasons we wrote the book 5-Star QB–to offer some guidance from a tribe of mentors to QBs and parents. Check it out.

After getting home last night, I convinced my wife Amy to stay up and watch the Ohio State vs Michigan game. It was a fun game to watch: physical, tough, won at the line of scrimmage and a few plays allowed Michigan to generate a massive upset in the Horseshoe. But it wasn’t a great game. I often think about my time under Pete Carroll at USC. In his first year, he made the USC vs. Notre Dame game a bigger deal than any other game and the Trojans didn’t play well on the road. In fact, they played tight. From that day on, he never made any game bigger than any game. In fact, it was never about the opponent. Many coaches say that, but it's hard to make it reality. Our phrase back then was “It’s All About Us.” And over the course of the next season, it became a pillar in the program. Guys didn’t make it about the opponent, whether it was UCLA or Notre Dame. I know that The Game is bigger than most things in Ann Arbor and Columbus, let alone the college football world. But I felt that both teams looked tight all game, not playing up to the edge of greatness but over the edge at times. Maybe losing that game will allow Ohio State to just cut it loose in the playoff and make it only about themselves. I hope so as I’m a big Ryan Day fan and think he’s one of the most talented coaches in the game. And Michigan, congrats on the win, no one saw that coming.

(Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

As for the postgame fighting, I’m not surprised by the ugly scenes that took place all over the country but I am surprised that it continued to happen in the later games. Everyone saw the mess postgame in Columbus and I expected that it would heighten potential issues everywhere else. It’s clearly a horrible look for the sport.

Finally, I am so grateful for all of you. Jim Thornby and I had an idea last year around this time and it became a reality. But it doesn't exist without this community. Thank you. And we need you again, we are pouring resources into the postseason and will be at conference title games, the Heisman and the College Football Playoff. We want to grow this community so to our trusted members, we nudge you to share our content with a friend and invite them into a space that is dedicated to celebrating the game of college football through the lens of the West Coast.

Ok, I’m off to shovel the sidewalk…I mean off to put my feet in the Pacific. After all, it’s December 1st.

Much love and many thanks,

Yogi