00:00Listen, I know Lox.
00:05I have broken bread with Lox.
00:07I've been to Lox's home.
00:09I like Mike Loxley.
00:11Who doesn't?
00:12But the results are the results, and these are results businesses,
00:15and it's the right call.
00:18To lose at home to Rutgers when you have a 14-point lead on homecoming
00:22after you've lost some unexplicable games
00:25and gotten drilled in other spots.
00:27I took my daughters to the UCLA game.
00:30They were down 35-3, and I asked my girls if they'd leave,
00:35and they said no, they were having fun.
00:36But, yeah, this had to happen, Doc.
00:40Yeah, I'm a turp dad, and I like it's tough,
00:44and Mike has been credible enough to be hired by some of the best coaches
00:48on the planet.
00:50He's been on big-time staffs.
00:51If you would, Nick, see, the thing about it that gets me is that
00:56if you would Saban and you've been part of his army,
00:59that's the most credible thing you could ever have on a resume.
01:02Now, can you transfer that over and get the similar results?
01:05Obviously not.
01:06What fixes the problem there?
01:08This is a problem that's been going on for 25 years,
01:11and the only guy I've seen to be able to break is Ralph.
01:15Only guy I've been able to win despite restrictions,
01:18despite whatever, whatever, whatever, has been Ralph.
01:22I do think it's worth pointing out there was a period of success
01:25for Lox at Maryland.
01:27In 21, 22, 23, they won three straight bowl games,
01:31and I'm a turp alone.
01:32I remember that, yeah.
01:33When was the last one they poured something on him that was horrible?
01:36It was the Mayo Bowl.
01:37The Mayo Bowl.
01:38The Mayo Bowl.
01:39But Lox is smart.
01:40He put the big hat on.
01:41He did put the hat on, yeah.
01:43And I'm a turp alum.
01:44I was honored to be asked to be a part of the University of Maryland
01:48Athletics Hall of Fame ceremony the other night.
01:50I love that college.
01:51I love College Park.
01:53I was comfortable with Lox going 8-5 and winning a bowl game.
01:58Win the Mayo Bowl.
01:59I'm comfortable with, I have really high aspirations for what I want
02:03that basketball team to be, and they have not accomplished that
02:06whatsoever of late.
02:08My goals for the football team are much different,
02:10and my reality for the football team competing in the Big Ten is much
02:14different.
02:15But you can't go 4-8, 4-8, and start 2-5.
02:19And the way it has looked, I love Malik Washington.
02:23I've got to meet and speak with a young man a number of times.
02:26He's a talent.
02:26He has a Sunday arm.
02:30He has the ability to play on Sundays.
02:34I don't know that he's developing.
02:37I don't know that he's getting better.
02:39Lox can recruit his ass off.
02:41I mean, they just signed their highest-ranked recruit ever,
02:44the freshman D-end out of Baltimore.
02:47You're not winning games.
02:49And I know there was some trepidation, hey, if we lose Lox,
02:54we might lose all these guys that Lox is able to get in there.
02:57And that will suck if it happens.
02:59Malik Washington goes to Tennessee or Bama or LSU or Michigan,
03:04wherever he might end up, and get a big bag of money.
03:06I'm happy for him as a young man.
03:07I hate to see him go.
03:08But you're not winning games.
03:10You've got to win football games.
03:13Keep it simple.
03:15And it's been a problem that's gone on for a while,
03:18getting butts in the seats, getting the program.
03:20What's the program?
03:20What is the lack?
03:21You're in a hot bid of recruits.
03:24And he's done well, maybe better than most.
03:27But if it doesn't translate to wins, then ask yourself.
03:32See, and what Signetti did at JMU.
03:35What happened?
03:36What Signetti did at JMU really hurt Lox.
03:38It snuffs all of them.
03:39Yeah.
03:40It's pressure.
03:41What's going on at Tech?
03:42It doesn't matter where you're from or what you've done.
03:46If a guy comes after you who's had less resources and produces better results,
03:52it's all about production.
03:54Don't make it personal.
03:56And Lox will always be employed.
03:59He's a skillful individual.
04:01Absolutely.
04:02Yeah.
04:02And he's a good football coach.
04:03If Kalen DeBoer doesn't call Mike to come on back down to Bama and help us recruit the DMV
04:10and add to those offensive game plans, if DeBoer doesn't call, what's my man in Miami that
04:19just wins games?
04:21Oh, yeah.
04:22He will call.
04:23Yeah.
04:23Oh, Lox would be.
04:24Mario Cristobal.
04:25Mario Cristobal.
04:26You know who will call?
04:27Ryan Day will call.
04:28Lox will be gainfully employed.
04:29He'll be employed.
04:30This hurts and stinks for Mike because I like him.
04:36He's 39 and 54 at Maryland.
04:38And in the last three seasons, that's what?
04:414, 8, 10, and 16, 10 and 21.
04:44And the inability to knock off ranked teams.
04:48And I know if B was here, he would say Maryland has to spend to compete.
04:53They are this year.
04:55They are spending middle of the pack in the Big Ten.
04:58Man, they're spending more than Purdue, Michigan State.
05:02Like, there are other teams that are able to win games that Maryland is competing with
05:07them financially.
05:08And I'll say this.
05:09They're never going to spend, like, Nebraska, Ohio State.
05:12It doesn't matter what you recruit.
05:15You can't even fill up your own stadium.
05:17That's a marketing issue.
05:19You can go get high school kids and bust them in.
05:22I would be busting in prisons.
05:26It's unacceptable.
05:27That's risky, Doc.
05:28I'm putting butts in the seats.
05:30I'm not going to have a stadium that's not reflective of my future and my program.
05:36You're recruiting against Penn State, Michigan, and Ohio State?
05:40Come on, man.
05:42The look is horrible.
05:44That's a marketing issue.
05:46It has nothing to do with other than getting creative people.
05:49You got buses.
05:50You got high schools all over the area.
05:53They're the laziest group on the planet and lack of creativity.
05:58I was in Dallas for the Virginia Tech game.
06:02I would have gone to that, but I was out of town.
06:05I had to work.
06:05So, I got to work.
06:07The atmosphere at kickoff for Hokies Terps was bona fide.
06:13It was real.
06:14It was awesome there.
06:16Now, Virginia Tech gets out to a lead.
06:18Maryland makes some inexplicable decision-making on going for two.
06:22But you had big-time college football atmosphere.
06:26You got to have it.
06:27I was there the following week when UCLA came to town.
06:29You're Bruins.
06:31Did you go?
06:32No.
06:34It was empty.
06:35It was completely empty.
06:37And I spoke with someone that I know that matters over there, and they're like,
06:41we can't have this.
06:42We cannot have this after last week.
06:45And that was a month ago.
06:46That was three weeks ago.
06:47They got drilled by UCLA.
06:50Maybe at that time, we didn't know how good the Bruins were.
06:52The Bruins have since proven to be a good football team.
06:56All that said, you're right.
07:00To spend the money, you've got to make the money.
07:03You've got to create the atmosphere.
07:06I wish Locke's the absolute best.
07:08He was good for the program in a lot of ways.
07:12But it comes down to winning games.
07:14And for me, I turned the page.
07:19Jim Smith, the athletic director over there, has to turn the page.
07:23Coach, go get me the Wake Forest, Coach.
07:27Jake Dickert.
07:29Okay, what are they going to do?
07:30I wonder what they're saying to Jake, if they get a chance to talk to him.
07:34What are you going to do for him that you didn't do for Locke's?
07:38I think they would argue, we're doing enough.
07:41You just got to win games.
07:42Okay, good.
07:42Then go for it.
07:44I don't know that that's accurate.
07:45Get the job done.
07:46Wake right now is 6-1, 4-1 in the conference.
07:48Does the ACC still have a title game?
07:51Because they would play Miami in it.
07:53They had it last year.
07:55And you can tell me, understandably, how hard it is to win in College Park.
08:01And I recognize that.
08:02I recognize you're competing against Ohio State and Penn State and Michigan and Nebraska.
08:07I think it's harder to create the atmosphere you're talking about.
08:10I think you can win by creating that atmosphere.
08:14I'm telling you, to be as good as they are in hoops, and to have the atmosphere that is priceless,
08:21their atmosphere on that court, it's priceless.
08:25And then you can't, it's just no excuse for that.
08:28Doc, you called ACC games for a long time.
08:30Yeah.
08:30I'm guessing you spent a few Saturdays in Winston-Salem.
08:33Yeah.
08:33There's no atmosphere there.
08:34No.
08:35There's nothing.
08:35I grew up going to Wake games.
08:37When I was a little kid and lived in North Carolina, Wake was about an hour away.
08:40We go to Wake football and basketball, because it was the closest.
08:42My mom and my aunt's all rooted for Carolina in the good Wake seats, and it drove the Wake
08:47people crazy.
08:48Wake is kind of an afterthought down there.
08:53And I'm sorry to my Wake friends.
08:54That's just the reality.
08:55That's a Carolina state that is now kind of a Duke state, which is incredible.
08:59And then, oh, NC State's the biggest college in the state.
09:05Charlotte, Wilmington.
09:06Like, Wake is not really on the radar.
09:09And this dude is winning at Wake Forest.
09:11So, you can't tell.
09:13Good coaches have won at Vanderbilt.
09:16Cignetti won at James.
09:20You've got to get a program builder that gives you results.
09:24Everything else is an excuse.
09:27Because that's the best coach on your staff you would presume is the head coach.
09:31If he doesn't coach a position, then he should be training those that do.
09:37You've got to – where does the buck stop?
09:39You're going to blame the coordinators?
09:40You hired them.
09:41Are you at practice?
09:43What's the role you take?
09:45There's no way you can convince me that if you're talented and you don't get results,
09:51that it's not on you.
09:54Jake Dickert's last three years, two at Wake Forest.
09:57He's 15-5 at Wake.
10:00At Wake.
10:01In 2024, he was at Washington State.
10:04Is that Pullman, Washington?
10:05Cougars.
10:06I don't know a lot about Pullman, Washington.
10:08Left hand up.
10:10Doesn't strike me as a hotbed.
10:12He went 8-4.
10:13I don't know what – maybe the Pac-12 had died by then.
10:16Maybe he's only playing Idaho.
10:18You're winning.
10:22Get a coach that wins games.
10:24Bring them to College Park.
10:26See if you can create the atmosphere to your point.
10:30I don't want them to lose the talent they've amassed, right?
10:33There are talented players.
10:35Nothing you can do about that.
10:35There are players that are going to play on Sundays in that program,
10:38but you're not winning.
10:41NIL now swallowed that up, but you got a chance to go out and replace them.
10:46Would you stay?
10:47As a player?
10:48Yeah.
10:50Probably.
10:51I don't know enough about what I don't know in the Transfer Portal NIL era.
10:56Does it really matter or not, or is it just money?
10:58I've also heard some of these guys sign two-year contracts.
11:03I've heard some important players over there have signed two-year contracts.
11:06Okay.
11:07Well, then they're good.
11:07And I don't know how that works if you let a guy go because you're bringing a new guy in
11:11that maybe wants his own guys, or you want guys that are bought into the new guy.
11:15And if they're not, but they're under contract.
11:17Like, I don't know.
11:19I know in the pros when a new coach comes in, like what John Harbaugh is doing in New York.
11:24He's going to chase some veterans off on purpose to establish his program.
11:30You just saw Najee Harris, who was the perfect sacrificial lamb to make a statement because
11:34he's a big name that they didn't sign until August, and they released in October, and
11:37it sends a message.
11:39I don't know how that works in college sports.
11:42I don't know.
11:43It's a new world.
11:44But I know in the NIL era, you've got to find your guys.
11:50You've got to work the portal to find the guys that will fit for you and then go win games.
11:54I hope you're right.
11:55I hope it's just not more who you're paying.
11:58Guys are going toward the highest bidder.
12:01Because that's what it sounds like to me in certain areas, that where can I get the biggest bag?
12:07But those guys probably aren't who Maryland's going after.
12:11You go after the three and four stars that you know can come win and play for you.
12:16Everybody's getting paid.
12:17You're still paying them.
12:19But it's about foundations, right?
12:22I agree.
12:23I don't know what's going to happen here.
12:28Weirdly, I've heard from a lot of Maryland people.
12:30They're like, oh, well, let's go get Franklin.
12:32He wanted to be here before.
12:33One, I don't know that he's leaving Blacksburg.
12:35I understand the difference between an ACC job and a Big Ten job.
12:38I understand the money that's available to Big Ten programs compared to ACC programs.
12:43I'm still not sure that would happen.
12:45He just got to Blacksburg.
12:47And Blacksburg, despite their inability to win games that matter, does have the atmosphere.
12:54You could argue all they have is the atmosphere over the last decade.
12:59But they do have it.
13:02Like, to me, Dickert would be pretty incredible.
13:06You wonder if Manny Diaz, who's at Duke, would be looking to leave Duke.
13:13Duke's got a lot of money.
13:14Wake's got a lot of money.
13:16Yeah, they're not hurting.
13:17Mm-hmm.
13:18Yeah.
