Radio host on 680 the Fan in Atlanta, John Michaels, shares his biggest takeaways from the Miami Hurricanes improving to 5-0 with their victory over the Seminoles Saturday.
00:00John Michaels is on the Toyota of Hollywood Hotline.
00:04He hosts mornings on 680 The Fan in Atlanta.
00:08He is the biggest Miami Hurricanes fan you will ever meet.
00:13When I saw him at Hard Rock Stadium for the Gators game,
00:17I mean, that guy was getting mad love from Canes fans all over the joint.
00:22So he is with us now.
00:24John, can you make the case, in your humble opinion,
00:27that the University of Miami is the number one college football team in the nation right now?
00:34If I had a vote, you absolutely would have them as the number one team in the nation.
00:39I've actually tried texting people from the AP to get a vote
00:43so we could get people that actually watch college football to have votes
00:47in the Associated Press poll.
00:49But just judging off everything that they've talked about in the past,
00:52Miami has three ranked wins as of right now.
00:55Notre Dame, South Florida, somehow Florida State's still ranked.
00:58But that's three ranked wins.
01:00We have the best offensive line in the country.
01:02I don't think that's a conversation.
01:04We have the best defensive player in the country in Reuben Bain Jr.
01:08I'm not sure there's an argument there.
01:10You could argue we have the best quarterback in the country in Carson Beck.
01:13And I know good and damn well we got the best freshman in the country in Malachi Choney.
01:18Add all that up, Miami's the best team in the country.
01:21Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama, bring it.
01:24Ain't nobody scared of nobody this year.
01:26Man, it felt good on Saturday night.
01:29Did you go to the game?
01:30I forget.
01:32No.
01:32You know, so this is where I made a mistake trying to be cheap before the year.
01:36Before the year when Florida State was coming off 2-10,
01:39the tickets were about $100 apiece.
01:42My theory was, all right, Florida State's going to lose to Bama.
01:45They'll probably lose another game.
01:47Those tickets may even drop.
01:49And trying to bring my entire family, six of us going down there,
01:52you know, I didn't, it was going to be a fairly expensive trip.
01:55Well, of course they beat Bama.
01:56Those tickets go from $100 to about $500 apiece.
02:00And I said, I refuse to pay $500 apiece to sit in row 80 of an erector set with brick around it.
02:06No thanks.
02:07I stayed at home.
02:08We had a nice big house party.
02:10I drank a lot of liquor.
02:12We decided to do fireball shots for every time we scored.
02:15Well, then it started turning into fireball shots for every first down.
02:18And that got sideways in a hurry.
02:21And Dawson, he was in his bag.
02:24I know he could call and what he did for Cam Ford.
02:28But, like, are y'all going to lose him after this year?
02:31Because he's very impressive with his play caller.
02:35Crowder, I thought he was going to leave last year because he had the number one offense in the country.
02:38And I know some jobs had reached out to him.
02:41And I wonder if maybe Shannon was looking and just going, all right, I'm going to take the right job and not just any job.
02:47Because that dude calls a game.
02:50Florida State put an extra defender in the box and said, look, we're not going to let Miami manhandle us like Virginia did last week.
02:57We're going to stop the run.
02:58Well, fine.
02:58You load up to stop the run.
03:00He called the flea flicker on the most perfect time.
03:03You get the interception.
03:04It's 7-3.
03:05I think there's a lot of coaches that say, OK, if we're on the other side of the 50-yard line, we're taking a shot.
03:11FSU is trying to load the run.
03:13The tendency had been when Miami has two backs in the game, and I think they had both Marty and Fletch in, we're going to run the ball.
03:19So you fake the run with Fletch.
03:21He turns around and flicks it back.
03:22And Malachi Tony running down the field wide open.
03:25I thought he called a perfect game until we got a little bit conservative in the fourth quarter.
03:30But you understand that.
03:31And I'm going to address that before we even get to it, because I saw Miami fans complaining.
03:36Mario got too conservative.
03:38Do you guys not remember what happened last year against Syracuse when it was 21-0 and everybody got in their feelings because Miami didn't run the ball enough?
03:45You run the ball to win.
03:47You finish out the game to win.
03:49All you Miami fans complaining about what the final score was, we whooped Florida State's ass from the word go.
03:57Remember where we've been for 20-plus years and appreciate what this team is and stop crying about the final score and that we let Florida State get 200 yards in the fourth quarter.
04:08Nobody cared.
04:10We won.
04:11And that's all that matters.
04:12That state is ours.
04:13The next thing that's ours will be the ACC championship, and the next thing after that that's going to be ours is national title number six.
04:22Okay, John.
04:22But, you know, I'm putting a list together, what you're willing to sell off as we collect money for the Keep Malachi Tony NIL Fund.
04:29Just let me know what I should put you down for.
04:31Your house, your car, your kids' college savings.
04:35You know, just keep me in the loop, okay?
04:38Well, we can start with they can have this house.
04:40Let me finish the house for another year, maybe two.
04:44They can have the house after that because maybe then I'll be moving to South Florida.
04:47My car, they could take tomorrow.
04:48Hell, I was on Campbellton Road here in Atlanta yesterday for a basketball tournament.
04:52I was hoping my car would disappear.
04:54Take it.
04:55You could have it.
04:56You know what?
04:57You can't even have Kane for a weekend.
04:59You want to buy Kane for a weekend?
05:01We could sell him.
05:02No, I wouldn't do that because I love my boy to death.
05:04But, yeah, just about anything to keep Malachi around.
05:06So, realistically, John, I know it's a long ways away and, you know, he's 18.
05:11Is he still 17?
05:12He's 18.
05:13No, he's 18.
05:13He just turned 18.
05:14Yeah.
05:15What's he going to go for next year in the NIL market?
05:18Because I can't think of a more impactful player in their first five games in Hurricane's history in a long time.
05:28In a very, very long time.
05:30You don't get freshmen.
05:32Like, typically freshmen come in at Miami and have to sit for a while.
05:36He's everything that Jeremiah Smith was last year at Ohio State.
05:39Now, Jeremiah's bigger and maybe fat.
05:41I don't know if he's faster.
05:43But Malachi has been that guy.
05:45Think back five weeks ago before the season started, the questions we always asked about what was going to be the biggest concern for Miami.
05:52And receiver was always right there at the top.
05:55We knew nothing about these guys.
05:57The top four pass catchers from a year ago are gone.
05:59Nobody, and this is no disrespect that Jacoby George or Xavier Restrepo are in, nobody's worried about those dudes right now because Malachi Tony is a star.
06:09CJ Daniels should have been a Miami Hurricane five years ago with the swag that he has.
06:14The fact that he ran up in the camera and did the mock tomahawk chop is one of the funniest things I've ever seen a Miami player do.
06:22And we've had some funny guys.
06:23But, Solana, to your point with Malachi, he's going to get paid, and he deserves every dime of it if he's not already getting paid.
06:31I know we need, you know, I'm not sure if John Ruiz still has money laying around.
06:35He needs to pony up with wife Wally.
06:37I'm not so certain.
06:37I'm just handing this guy to the cash right now.
06:39You may have more money in that car than he has left from what I've read in the Miami Herald.
06:45But you mentioned, John, like you said, next up ACC title.
06:51So, I don't think they have another ranked team on the schedule.
06:54Correct me if I'm wrong.
06:55But is there a particular game upcoming that makes you more nervous than the others?
07:02Friday night against Louisville, a week from Friday, Louisville can score.
07:06You know, one thing about Jeff Brom is he can coach offense.
07:09And, Hawk, I guess if there's something that has me concerned at all, it's how do you deal with it now when it's not an in-state rival, when it's not Notre Dame, it's just a regular week.
07:21You're going against an inferior opponent.
07:24Can you keep these same unbelievable habits that you've had over five weeks of football and keep it going?
07:30If you think about it, every game outside of Bethune, which Bethune, again, I think you and I could have ran for 100 yards against Bethune.
07:36Every other game had some type of motivation behind it.
07:40It's Notre Dame, no questions asked.
07:42South Florida had just beaten Florida and were running their mouth a little bit.
07:45Okay, now you've motivated Miami.
07:47Then it's Florida, and then it's Florida State.
07:50So, you've had a bunch of games of motivation.
07:53Now you're going to be more talented than anybody else you play.
07:57Can you hold that up?
07:59You know, Virginia Tech used to be one on the road you'd get worried about.
08:02Virginia Tech's not very talented.
08:04Pitt looked pretty good this weekend with a new quarterback, but it's still Pitt.
08:08The only thing that concerns you there is the last week of the year, and it's probably going to be cold weather.
08:13But Miami, Louisville's the one, I guess, if there's any semblance of concern, it's then.
08:18But I think the electric juice will be out at Hard Rock Stadium, and it seems just too powerful for a team like Louisville.
08:24And now, what do they have to do for people just to say to hell with it?
08:30Like, Mark, they were questioning Mario.
08:32Mario had some questionable calls early.
08:33Hawk was talking about it earlier.
08:34In that fourth quarter, you run the ball in the game.
08:37Nobody's talking about the yardage that the Florida State Seminoles had in the fourth quarter a month from now.
08:41Nobody gives a damn.
08:43But could this run make people not question Mario at least for a couple years?
08:47Oh, 100%.
08:50Now, you've got to finish it.
08:51You've got to make the playoffs and make a run.
08:53Now, you get into the playoffs, all bets are off.
08:56I saw Oregon last year go undefeated and get mollywhopped in the opening round of the playoffs.
09:01You never know what's going to happen on a Saturday.
09:03But if Mario gets us to the playoffs and we finally win our first ACC, people have to stop questioning the dude.
09:10Like, you know I was very tough on him that first year and even the second year with the non-kneeldown against Georgia Tech.
09:18Last year, you know what?
09:19You lost because your defensive coordinator wasn't very good and maybe you just didn't have the right talent on the defensive side of the ball.
09:26He's made great hires along the way.
09:30Shannon Dawson comes in after – what was the guy's name?
09:33Gattis.
09:34Josh Gattis was a disaster.
09:36Lance Gittrede was a disaster.
09:37Now he finds this maniac in Corey Heatherman, who I absolutely love as a defensive coordinator, and the defense turns around in year one.
09:45Mario's done everything great coaches do.
09:47He's found guys to go make his program better.
09:50He's a tireless recruiter, and the only thing you can ever question is what happens on Saturdays.
09:56You took care of Notre Dame.
09:58Late game, you knew how to get the job done.
10:00You ran through Florida, and you ran through Florida State.
10:03Now it's just a matter of taking that next step, winning the ACC, and if you look at the four teams at the top of the ACC, Miami's the prohibited favorite.
10:12It's Miami.
10:13It's Georgia Tech, and I love Brent Key.
10:14I think he's doing a really good job there.
10:16It's Duke, and it's Virginia.
10:19Come on, man.
10:20If not now, then when?
10:22I hope it's now, man.
10:24I hope it is now.
10:26I love – what's his head of him in the D.C.?
10:28Oh, my God.
10:28Just watching him, right?
10:30Like, he just looks like a maniac.
10:33I love him.
10:34They were up by 25.
10:36They scored the first touchdown of the fourth, and then he just started blitzing the hell out of them again.
10:41I was so excited.
10:42Take him the Dolphins defensive coordinator.
10:44Talk about a team getting violent.
10:45No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
10:47Keep him at the BU.
10:49Let's not get him out of there.
10:50I need that dude for – this is only his second year calling plays as a D.C.
10:55Last year at Minnesota's was first year ever calling plays, and now he's at Miami.
11:00All I know is we need NIL for Malachi Tony.
11:03We need a raise for Corey Heatherman, like today.
11:06Tear up whatever contract you gave him and give that dude a raise because he's earned it.
11:12He is fun to watch, man.
11:13How about that Dolphins collapse yesterday, John?
11:15We're out of time, but that was something, huh?
11:18Yeah, it was great.
11:18We do picks here, and the only damn pick I missed this week is I had the Dolphins minus one and a half.
11:23I was feeling great.
11:24I'm like, dude, this is easy, 17-0.
11:26How is he still employed?
11:28That's all I want to know.
11:29How is that guy still employed today?
11:31Mike McDaniel, go be an O.C. somewhere or go give motivational speeches to kids.
11:37I don't know what he needs to do.
11:38Oh, I mean, not motivational speeches.
11:40Anything but that.
11:41A reverse motivational speech.
11:46Go deliver eulogies.
11:50Right.
11:51John Michaels, 680 The Fan in Atlanta.
11:55Follow him on Twitter at JohnMichaelsU.
11:58You hear him sometimes on ESPN Radio nationally as well.
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