Off the Deck

🏌️ 🏈 SEC Football Teams as Pro Golfers | The Ultimate Matchup Debate

• BestBall • Season 3 • Episode 14

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College football season is almost here, so we're bringing together two of our favorite worlds: SEC football and professional golf. We match SEC teams with a professional golfer, defend our picks, and spark plenty of debate along the way. Whether you're a golf fan, a college football fanatic, or both, this is one conversation you won't want to miss.

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SPEAKER_03

Driver off the deck for Corey Connor. Here's driver off the deck. Victor Hoblin. So the driver off the deck. I knew you would try this, right?

SPEAKER_00

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02

Just able to hit it off the deck and get that thing down and flight and running.

SPEAKER_00

You have to put your foot on the gas. You pull out the driver off the deck and you put it on the green all the way up the hill. Don't stop, don't stop.

unknown

Yes, so it's back again.

SPEAKER_01

Welcome back to another episode of Off the Deck. My name is Josh Decker. I am the host of this wonderful show. Off the deck is brought to you by Idaca Golf. Actually, these two guys that are on the show with me today know Steve Peering and the team at Itica well. Make sure you use promo code OTD25 when you make a purchase at Ideca.gov. That's Id aka.gov. Uh the Capri Polo is killer, their hoodie is killer. And my goodness, that golf glove, uh, I put it to the absolute test uh at Sweet and Scove this week and was sweating profusely, and never once did the club slip out of my hand. So highly suggest checking them out. Again, that's id aka.gov and use promo code OTD25. Uh today's gonna be a little bit of a different episode. Uh we are just two weeks away, a little over two weeks away, from the start of college football season. And I reside in the heart of the SEC in Birmingham, Alabama. So I thought it would be fun to have some friends on the show uh and go through some of the SEC football teams. And if they were to be a golfer on the PGA tour, we are gonna decide who that golfer would be. Um, so I've got Garrett Powell and Will Davidson joining me on this show. Garrett, Will, how are we doing, guys? Good, man.

SPEAKER_02

Thanks for having me on. Man, I'm great. Always good to be on. Glad to uh to talk through some of these. Uh it's been fun thinking through who the who we're all gonna pick here.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's it's been fun to like I've I've wanted to text y'all like multiple times, then I've been like, no, don't do it. Just save it for the show. Let's chat about it. So I apologize in advance to any listeners. If we offend you by the choice of uh the golfer that we assign to your team, please email complaints at offthedpodcast.com and we will make sure to read those and respond to all of those in a timely fashion. Um, so let's jump right in. Uh again, we're not doing all the entire SEC because that would be a three-hour long podcast. Uh, but we're gonna kind of go through some of the the higher performing teams in the conference as well as teams that we are near and dear to our own hearts. So, first we're gonna start with Will Davidson and go to the Georgia Bulldogs over in Athens, Georgia.

SPEAKER_02

So when thinking through this, um now going first, this is gonna be even even a little bit more different. Um, when thinking through this, I thought of Georgia football as a whole, not just this season or the upcoming season. I've thought of them as a whole. So who I decided to go with? I've actually got two that I could not ultimately decide on. But I think both in their respective careers and respective way that they play golf and on and off the golf course, uh will fit right in with this Georgia, Georgia football program. So without further ado, um my first one is actually somebody who's not playing very much anymore, uh, if any, and that is going to be Mr. Angel Cabrera. And the reason I chose Cabrera, whoa, yes, so I have facts to to to back this up. So Ongel Cabrera, uh, as we all know, major winner, uh, but he is a two-time major winner and has not won a major in uh outside. Oh, sorry, has not won or he's won his two majors, but Georgia has not won a national championship in the last 46 years prior to the two that they've just recently won. So we're only going to count those two as their national championships. So he's got two majors, Georgia's got two national championships. However, he also is very well known for going to prison. This seems to be a theme of the Georgia Bulldogs. Uh, as we all know, they have got some uh some lawful issues that have been plaguing them over the last four or five years now. Uh, so I thought that was a very nice uh comparison. I also threw in Jose Maria Olethabul on this, also a two-time major champion from the great state of Georgia, winning the Masters twice. But Mr. Olathabel was also pulled over. I've got my notes right here. He was also pulled over and arrested for doing 97 in a 65 mile per hour zone. So he's been to prison. He's also reckless driving aligns. I went with the reckless driving. Yeah, I went with the reckless. That is that is a theme of Georgia. They are a great team. They they do win national championships. Both these guys have two majors each. They have two national championships in the last 46 years. So that is my comparison, and that is my uh my pick for the Georgia Bulldogs. I love that.

SPEAKER_03

I love that. That's pretty good, man. I I'm signed with Onhale on that one. Like that, that was brilliant, though. The connection you just made with that. That's super well done.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, we we could we could probably just end the podcast now and be like, okay, we're it's not getting any better than that. But I I think it might. There's some other ones out there. Um those are those that's really good. Uh yeah, I like Georgia as on Juca Brera. Yeah, and then the reckless driving. I did not know that about Jose Maria. I had no clue that he had spent time.

SPEAKER_02

You got pulled over and doing 97 and a 65 and got a reckless driving for it. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03

Never done that before.

SPEAKER_01

All right, Garrett. Behold, the eyes of Texas are upon you. The Texas Longhorns, who would their golfer be?

SPEAKER_03

Okay. I've got two. Uh I'll say the reasons why first, and then I'll say the players second. Reason number one, um, they basically live off their past accomplishments. Reason number two, people knew and know they were or are great before they look at them or see them in person. So, like University of Texas, you assume if you go there, you're like, oh man, it's gonna be a this big spectacle. Well, these players, before you see them in person, you know you're gonna see great things come from them. Uh, number three, one has an aura about him currently. The other had an aura about him. Here's my hint Oakley's. Tiger Woods and David Duvall. Okay. Tied between both of those. I couldn't decide which one. David, obviously not really a current player, but it's he fits the mold. Like, you think that world number one rank? I mean, that's UT in a bottle, I feel like.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Looks looks the part, it has everything about him, but I don't did Duvall, do I guess Duvall won an open, didn't he?

SPEAKER_03

And then world number one, like defeating Tiger, like owning Tiger. Yeah. I consider that like a past accomplishment. I mean, I would if I did that. So sure. Why not?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I like it. I like that. We're going way back in time further than I was expecting us to, which I absolutely adore from you guys. There was some thought put into this. I'm I'm excited.

SPEAKER_03

Dude, you're talking to two golf psychos here. Like, you gotta know, like, I thought about this like from the moment you told me about it. We swapped from my courses of players to like every waking moment of the day. Sweet and scope yesterday, happy late birthday again. Uh thought about the course, thought about the swing, thought about this more, probably.

SPEAKER_01

Uh so David Duvall is the University of Texas. Um, so I kind of had to fall on the sword a little bit as I was kind of sorting out who was getting what teams. Um, and I ended up with the University of Alabama, um, which if you know me well, you know that I despise their football program. Um, and uh, but somebody had to give them a golfer. Uh and then it became a little more fun because I was like, man, if Nick Saban was still the head coach, this is really easy. It's Tiger Woods because he's terrifying. You know that if you're going up against him, it's probably even over before you've teeded it off just because the middle game and everything that Saban brought to that sideline in Tuscaloosa. And so then it became like, okay, well, he's gone, and it's Calen DeBore now that is leading that football team. So what does that look like? And I was like, okay, if I'm a Bama fan, the past couple years have been a bit of a roller coaster. And we know that the history is there and that we think we have the best players and that there's all these high levels of expectation. Um we we get favoritism to get in the playoff, which is I think is equivalent to a sponsorship exemption. Um, and so again, still expect uh to contend at the highest level, but lately kind of haven't. Um, so I'm going Jordan Speeth because it is just all over the place. You're not sure what's gonna happen. You might get shut out by Indiana immediately after blowing the doors off of Oklahoma. Um, so yeah, Mr. Speath is who I think is the University of Alabama.

SPEAKER_04

That's a good pick. That's a good pick.

SPEAKER_03

I had him align with a different university. Okay. That's why I didn't that that's why I couldn't pick Tiger for Texas, because that's all about it. Nick Sabanera, which is what most people associate Alabama football with. I mean, that's 100% Tiger. Yeah. 100% you're spot on with that, dude. Yep, yep, I agree.

SPEAKER_01

All right, now we're going to College Station, Texas, home of the Aggies, the Texas AM.

SPEAKER_02

This one was a harder one for me. This one I had to really think about. Um, but I think I nailed it. And obviously, I'm I'm being confident with myself on my picks here, but uh so Texas AM, I decided to go with Tony Final. And Tony Final, the reason I went with that is he's always hyped up before the season. He's always hyped up before an event. He's a lot of people. I've lost so much money on him. I everybody picks up he's gonna have a great week. Tony's got a chance to win this week. Tony's, you know, Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony. And the expectations are always there, but they always seem to fall just short. He's been in a contention many, many times, but never really gotten it done on Sunday. You really don't see it, you know, see him coming through. Um, so that for that reason is is one of the reasons why I chose Tony Fino. I also chose him because Kyle Field's got a ton of fans. Obviously, it's a great stadium, a huge following. Um, Tony Fino has a ton of kids and has a following. They always follow him at every event. And so I figured, you know what? They got a ton of fans that are diehard fans, they're always there. Um, in support, great fan base. Tony's always got his family on the road. Great angle, dude. I love that. He's he is uh he's just fallen a little bit short. So that for me is Texas AM.

SPEAKER_03

I never would saw that, dude. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's a great angle. And you're right, like he's he's there's always all this hype around him, and and he's never won anything really to justify it. But like I think I've bet on him to win the masters at least five times, and like he's never even sniffed it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

He's just one of those guys that he's you know, you always think you always you still put him in those top echelons of players, yeah. But he's never he never really gets that win, very rarely.

SPEAKER_01

Right. I love that one. That's a good pick. All right, this one's gonna be fun because Mr. Garrett Powell, I know you are a Mississippi State Bulldog, and so I intentionally assigned you the Ole Miss Rebels because I know that would have some heat behind it. So Red Dogs for Mississippi, um, where Lane no longer resides. Uh, and Pete Golding is the man in charge now in Oxford. Who you got for Ole Miss?

SPEAKER_03

Uh, I basically listed everyone that I hate and chose the best. No, I'm kidding. Um, so I am picking Bryson DeChambeau for reasons being he is very polarizing. Uh, the aesthetics, the big skull crusher, the YouTube content, the uh penalty of the open championship this year, the U.S. Open. I mean, he's polarizing in both directions almost. Like he drives the needle, and that's what Old Miss Flashy, all their kids drive big trucks that mommy and daddy paid for, you know. So um fans love him or hate him. It's either you're pro-Bryson or you hate his guts. There's no in-between. And then lastly, social media does not win championships. So flashy uniforms, um, Lane Kiffin, Star Now, yeah, Land Shark, like all this crazy, it doesn't win you championships. So, Bryson, I know you're watching. Sorry, you're all miss.

SPEAKER_01

So I I went back and forth with Bryson on a later one of mine um for a lot of the reasons you just said. And and it might just be because I feel that way about that university. We'll have to see.

SPEAKER_03

But that's what like we we talked yesterday, Decker. Like the interesting dynamic and why this is such a good conversation to have is that you're immediately drawn to like, oh, Texas, Scotty Scheffler. But it's like then you're like, okay, no, I can't pick a guy who went there. Well, I hate the University of Bull Miss. Well, I can't just pick a tour player I hate, or at least tell people I hate this guy. So you gotta kind of have a little bit more fun with it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. And and and use some perspective as much as we don't like to on stuff like this, but like, yeah, really think through, okay, if they were a tour player who would yeah, mimic personality, uh, all the attributes. Yeah. Um, okay, so back to me now, and I am assigned the Oklahoma Sooners. Um, they they seem to be uh not necessarily uh lost. I feel like they're kind of lost in the shuffle of the new SEC. Uh they made the playoff this past year, obviously, uh got smoked by Alabama in Norman. Um they have tons of talent, they've got talent all over the place. Uh, they show flashes, but they're also kind of wildly inconsistent. Um, and all the ingredients are there. So for me, and I hate to do this to a guy that went to Oklahoma State, but I was thinking Victor Hovland for Oklahoma, just because you're like, God, you've got every single ingredient you need to be successful and ought to go win the whole thing, but just don't. Like the like I don't know that he's in recent memory been in contention of any of the majors that I can recall. I know he played well at the Ryder Cup, which every European does, but but there's yeah, you I mean, he just looks like he should have a couple majors by now and he hadn't. And I feel like that's kind of the state of the of the Oklahoma program right now. I think that is a phenomenal pick.

SPEAKER_02

With I I was when we were we got assigned each one, I was like, Oklahoma's gonna be hard. Because I was sitting here thinking, I don't know who would be like he's a he's still kind of a newcomer. Victor's still, I still kind of consider him a newcomer out on tour, but even though he's been out there a handful of years now, but it just seems like he was real hot to start and then just kind of has ho-hummed himself along. Um, you know, obviously played well recently and played against Scotty, but that's a great pick. That's a that's a hard one to pick, and I think he did really well with that one. Thanks.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it that one took more thought. Different angle, completely agree. How many swing coaches has Hoblin had in the last three years? How many quarterbacks have Oklahoma had in the last 10 years?

SPEAKER_02

Good point. Good point. Seems to be a good one. Completely agree.

SPEAKER_03

Yep, completely agree, man. That's probably the toughest one of the list of schools that you gave us to pick. Because it's like, where do we go from here? And picking an Oklahoma state guy, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I felt bad. I was like, man, I know, and I'm sure he's listening just like Bryson is, probably sitting at Karsten Creek, and is like, why'd these guys assign me to to Boomer? State Creek.

unknown

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Uh all right, Will. This one should be fun. Uh the Auburn Tigers, uh, I have a new head coach, Mr. Alex Golesch, came from University of South Florida. Vibes seem to be very high on the Plains. Uh, for the first time in a long time, I am excited about Auburn football. I'm actually looking at my helmet across the room. Uh, and so I I know you are passionate about the Tigers, so I assigned them to you because I wanted to see how much clarity um and and how honest you would be with yourself when you were assigning uh a golfer to Auburn Tigers.

SPEAKER_02

You know, this one actually I think was my hardest pick. Of all the schools you gave me, this was my hardest one because obviously I wear my heart on my sleeve. Um, diehard Auburn guy. As Auburn fans, we always we always most of us are pretty optimistic. But there is a lot of us that are very pessimistic, as you know, Josh. Uh we are very quick to turn. We turn on our program, not necessarily our program, but we turn on our coaches quite often. Um we've only we've only paid what uh just under a hundred million to get coaches out in the last 10 years. So I went in a direction that is somewhat on those lines. I didn't go with the positive side, I kind of went with the negative side, the pessimistic side. So I chose Jason Day for Auburn. And the reason I chose Jason is he has always had high expectations. I think he is one of those that ever since he came out was going to be an absolute, you know, world beater of a player when major after major after major had a you know, everyone said he's going to be one of the greatest ever to come out of Australia. Um I still highly regard him as a great player. I mean, you see Jason Day, you see Jason Day in a grouping of any event, you're like, that's a good grouping, that's a big grouping because he's he's in that upper echelon, which I see Auburn still as an upper echelon SEC school. I think they're you know, they're definitely in the top six um in the SEC, in my opinion. But here's the thing Jason does. Jason's been through a lot of caddies. He's actually been, I did some serious research research on this, and he's been through more caddies than anyone on the PGA tour. Really? He tends to switch caddies very, very, very often. So I went with Jason Day simply because if things aren't going well, he likes to make a change. And that seems to happen pretty often, and we sure as heck do that at Auburn. If things aren't going well, we like to make a change. We want, you know, if if quarterback's not playing well, we want the backup quarterback. If the head coach, if team's not playing well, we need a new head coach. And we pay very handsomely for it. So I I had Jason Day as my pick. Um, I also went back and forth a bit on Jordan Speath for a lot of similar reasons you had him at Alabama.

SPEAKER_01

We're complete roller coaster.

SPEAKER_02

Very meditations. That's why I have you know, you you expect him to be a again, same upper echelon player, will always be, but just does hasn't gotten it done over the last you know, six, seven years. Just has been on a struggle, been on a struggle bus. Auburn's been on that struggle bus, as we know very, very well. So I I kind of have Jason Day and a little bit of Jordan Speeds on that one.

SPEAKER_01

Well, and Day has the one major uh whistling straights, right? And like in recent memory, Auburn has one national title. Yep. Um, and and occasionally, I guess 2013, we played in it, but then lost to Florida State. Um, so Jason Day's been close other times, but couldn't get across the finish line or goal line. Um but yeah, that's that's a great pick.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, being a caddy and you pick a caddy killer, that sounds a little personal, man.

SPEAKER_04

Are you okay?

SPEAKER_03

I love Jason.

SPEAKER_02

Jason's great, but you know, I you know, I I thought about going the only thing that doesn't fit with Jason and Auburn is is his outfits. Uh Auburn's very traditional, and we don't change those very often, but he's obviously way out there, and you know, so that's the only reason.

SPEAKER_01

I had a thought popped into my head of like if we did this differently, of like picking like the top golfers and then assigning schools to them, and I was like, I immediately thought Oregon. I was like, oh, Oregon would be great for Jason Day because he just wears whatever. Oh, yeah. Yep. Tommy. All right, another first year head coach, John Summerall, down in Gainesville, Florida. Garrett, you have the Florida Gators.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, I do. Florida Gators. My notes on it. Same base is pure chaos against the grain. Every day can be an adventure. Which is why I also picked John Daly. Because the man is liable to shoot 62 or 92 or 40 and withdraw after nine holes. You never know. Florida Gators could have a great year, eight wins, they could have three wins. You have no idea what's coming. It's a mixed bag.

SPEAKER_01

That's that's really good. Yeah. And yeah, Daly's all over the place. The Gators lately all are over the place. Uh, I don't do they have a quarterback. Like no idea.

SPEAKER_03

But it's like it's like too. It's you you think of John Daly and his past prime, you think of Florida, you think of Chris Lee, Tin Teba, that era. And you're like, man, it's a top program. But like Will's point with Albert's like, what have you done for me lately? What have they done?

unknown

Right.

SPEAKER_03

Nothing. I mean, it's a whole bunch of hype. And I mean, with all respect to John Daly, he's also listening. Um, he hasn't really done much. So it's more so a career living off the past reputation.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Yeah. I I think it's a great pick. I I I think that's a really good pick. I I went through John Daly on a couple options as well.

SPEAKER_01

So which it was that was one of the fun things about this exercise is there were names for all of us that immediately popped up. Like there were people you were like, well, I know they fit somewhere. Like just because of how obnoxious or boisterous their personality is. Like there were names that I'm sure immediately for us, and some of them have already been mentioned, and I think some will still be mentioned. Um, but yeah, that was a fun kind of just like light bulb went off, and you saw those, and daily was one of those for me.

SPEAKER_03

And there's so many different reasons too, like phenale with the uh kids in the crowd. Like I would have never thought of that. I would have picked Tony for like a completely different reason. Tony is a Jordan brand guy, so like maybe he's Oklahoma because Oklahoma is also Jordan brand, right? So that's what's fun about this, man.

SPEAKER_02

See, I didn't even think I didn't even think that route. That didn't even cross my mind. That's that's funny though.

SPEAKER_01

It's so when I was looking on the list of teams, and uh again, we're not doing all of them, but I I when I saw Kentucky, I immediately thought finale for no reason other than I know he likes to hoop. And like that's that doesn't his career and Kentucky football are not even remotely aligned, but it it was or yeah, it's funny just to think about those things and whether they are or not relatable. Um I'm next with our friends up at Rocky Top. Uh, and I apologize in advance to any friends of the program who may be listening uh boy to this one. Um, you know, uh Tennessee, I feel like the brand has outperformed the resume for quite some time. Um, since Peyton and T. Martin and Phil Fulmer. Um I did try and find think of any golfer that may have like turned in someone, and I thought about Daniel Berger when he was protecting the field by making sure guys dropped in the right places and all that kind of thing. And I know Tennessee turned in Alabama, but that just didn't feel right. That wasn't quite enough there for that to make sense. Um, but I think the volunteers are incredibly popular. Um they love orange, and so does Ricky Fowler. Yep. So and again, I I think the the brand has outperformed the resume there. Like there's uh all kinds of brand equity without the wins.

SPEAKER_03

As soon as you said the brand out outperforms, I'm like, you're looking at Bryson or Ricky, it's gotta be one of those two, has to be. And that those were the two that I was down to. It was like, yeah, Ricky's spot on. The orange is a game changer. I mean, uh, that really makes the decision for you at that point, right?

SPEAKER_02

See, I I I could have when I thought Tennessee, for whatever reason, I thought Hunter Mahan. And I don't expand on that. Yeah. But I he that that was my re immediate thought when I saw Tennessee. I was like, Hunter Mayhan, for whatever reason, fits in this, in this. I don't know if it's because he uh he also wore a lot of orange. He was a little bit out there with the way he dressed. They have some some alternate jerseys that are, you know, they're pretty fire, but yeah, um, you know, it's always they always kind of have that, you know, well, we'll be a top 10 team for sure. You know, we'll we'll beat Alabama, but yet they hadn't beat Alabama many times in the last you know, 15 years. Right. Um, and he hasn't really done anything in the last 15 years. Obviously, he's pretty much retired now, but you know, his his back end of his career was just kind of slowly declining. I kind of feel like that's a bit a bit of Tennessee. Yeah, I hate saying this was huge too. He was another guy like Ricky.

SPEAKER_03

I hate saying this. I'm a huge Hunter fan, love the low left exit. Tennessee chokes on the big stage, Hunter Mahan, Ryder Cup, Duff Chip. I hate saying it, but that's how that's how they align too.

SPEAKER_01

That's that there you go. There you go. Uh yeah, that was a fun one to think through. And like like you said, Garrett, I had Bryson as the other one there because of flashiness, but but the Bryson went in recent U.S. Opens kind of curtailed that for me. Um because I was like, there's too much success there for him to align with Tennessee. Um, all right, Ethan Winchester, if you are listening to this, we apologize in advance for whatever Will Davidson is about to throw your way. Uh I know we are all good friends of Mr. Winchester. Um, but the Arkansas Razorbacks, they too have a new head coach this year. Um, and he's talking a pretty big game. Uh he didn't quite say Google me like Kurt Signetti did up in Indiana, but he pretty much did in a recent uh press conference. He was just like, yeah, we're gonna be good because I'm good. Um so and and well, you and I actually visited Fayetteville for uh a basketball game a couple years ago, and that was quite the experience. Um, had never been to Fayetteville until that trip, had a blast. We lost in overtime, but it was a lot of fun. So, who do you have as the golfer that would be uh representing the Arkansas Razorbacks?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so I went through a little bit of research on this one because I wanted to come up with something that obviously they've been at the the the low end of the SEC for a minute now. And they've gone through some coaches, they've gone through some some tough times. Um, my brother-in-law is a big Arkansas Razorback, so I know he's watching as well. So Will, apologies for this. Um, but I also have kind of two people here uh for very similar reasons. Um one of them is kind of a shoe-in, simply because he is a an Arkansas alum, and that is John Daly. Um, and the reason I chose John Daly is actually I'll I'll hold on the reason because I think the second person is gonna give you the reason. Uh, but my second person I chose, I went off the off the radar here. I chose Anthony Kim. And I chose Anthony Kim. When I think of Arkansas, I think of Bobby Petrino, I think of the the the legal issues they've had with that the next grace of the negative. I think of all the bad things that I you know, and I kind of threw in uh muscle men on this because I I really can't stand him. Um and so, like, not to say I can't stand Anthony Kim, but both John Daly and Anthony Kim have both had run-ins, legal battles. Um, Anthony Kim, uh they seem to always be surrounded by some sort of turmoil, some sort of you know, shady kind of stuff going on. Uh Anthony Kim, all the way back to the insurance policy. Yep, I'm gonna take my five million and and never play golf again because he hurt whatever it was he hurt his back. Um, he's obviously had some battles with with drinking and drugs, um, as it sounds like Bob Petrino may have had some battles of his own. Um, but I I put those two in there because they've had some really low lows in their life. Both of those guys, John Daly and Anthony Kim, had some really low lows. I when I think of John Daly, I think of the that video of him throwing the wedge in the in the lake uh after shanking two into the water and just turns around and throws the iron into the lake. Yeah, that was a low for him. I know he's had some lows. Um, you know, he's fought some stuff over the years. I just kind of picked the both of those guys because I know they've had some lows. They've had some great highs. Think of the Darren McFadden years. I think those are that was a great team. But I don't see those, either one of those guys ever winning a championship. They're not gonna win an SEC championship anytime soon. Neither one of these guys are gonna win a big time event. Obviously, we had Anthony Kim win won one of the live events, but I just don't see I don't see these guys ever really coming back in the same way that I see the Arkansas Razorbacks. They're not coming back anytime soon.

SPEAKER_01

God, just just just put them in a grave.

SPEAKER_02

Man, yeah. But but my last thing there was two was John Daly is very outspoken. Anthony Kim, I think, had some very strong comments uh to some to some uh some reporters, same way that I think their new head coach kind of made those comments as well.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. I like those. And I like how you kind of tied. I never imagined a world where John Daly and Anthony Kim kind of get tied in together and then you did a good job.

SPEAKER_02

I was just saying, I had to do some serious thinking on this one.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that was well woven together. Went to went for their lows.

SPEAKER_02

Took the low hanging through with the two of them.

SPEAKER_01

Now, Garrett, it is your turn to be honest with yourself and reflect uh as we go to Starkville for the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Who would that be?

SPEAKER_03

Feel the proud, baby. Fear the proud. All right, so we talked about this yesterday, Decker. And when I said I spent the whole day thinking about this, I thought about Mississippi State specifically. Because I told you I was gonna pick Boo Weekly, but the reality is that's too easy. He's a hunter, he's overweight, pretty similar to the Mississippi State fan base. So I had to think outside the box for this. Real tree. Okay. So this player sweats a lot, just like every fan in Jeff Levy at every home game until you reach November. This player is blue-collar, just like most Mississippi State fans I know. Some would argue, all of them. This player wins ugly, just like Mississippi State does in every sport, if they don't lose. Oh, and by the way, this player has a short batswing, just like we have short optimism on how good our team is gonna be this year. I mean, like we three every year, we're like, okay, how's next year looking? Lastly, he doesn't care if he he looks cool or people like him or not. This player's name is Lucas Glover. Mississippi State.

SPEAKER_04

Well done.

SPEAKER_03

I try I I tried to find a guy like you again, like Boo Weekly is a good pick. You look at Boo, you're like, that's clearly like Starkville, Mississippi, right there. But yeah, I wanted to find a guy who you look at and you wouldn't think country college school. Like you gotta kind of blend it a little bit. I think Lucas fits that.

SPEAKER_02

I I don't mean this in a bad way, but you could have just brought in, you know, he goes to work without his shoes on. That seems to kind of fit the hold there.

SPEAKER_03

See, see, yeah, I tried, I tried, I guess, the heat and the uh the uh vodka pulls we had yesterday, Decker couldn't really make that connection. I was like, how did I do like no shoes? And I was couldn't do it. So I figured sweaty was the way to go. People associated with it.

SPEAKER_01

As sweet as you said that, I was like, I know exactly your I think I knew who it was too.

SPEAKER_03

That was good. Uh sorry, sorry, Lane Soul. Uh tough look.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. That's all right. We're sponsored by Itica, so we're good.

SPEAKER_03

That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_01

Shout out again to Steve Peering at Itica. That's OD OTD25 for 25% off your order there. Um, so this is technically the last of the prepared. Um, because I got another one I'm just was gonna throw out uh in honor of our producer, Robbie, uh, because I think we uh heard his feelings when I said South Carolina wasn't one of these teams. Um, so the last one that I have is LSU. Um I feel like uh Tiger Stadium is a place I've been to a couple times. I've seen Auburn get absolutely obliterated both times I was there, but I there's just something about that atmosphere. Um, and this has nothing to do with that pick. That's just me talking about a great college football atmosphere. Um, but I feel like being disliked is part of the pride that Tiger fans have, or or Tiger fans have. Um, we should get Smiley Kaufman's take on this, on this pick. Um, but uh they love the villain role uh and chaos follows them everywhere. Um they aren't cordial with opposing fans, um, and they're a little scummy. Uh, I think we could we could say that these days, given uh the the hires they have made recently for all sports, not just limited to football, but um, especially with Lane Kiffin. Uh you guys probably know where this is headed. But uh LSU is Patrick Reed. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I figured you were going in in one of two directions. That was that was one. Uh yeah, the other one I was gonna say was gonna be a Terrell Hatton for that. Oh, that would have been lost my mind. Always wild, doesn't really care what he says, you know, will swear without thinking twice. Um they like to throw things at buses, right? Just like Carol likes to throw clubs. Uh that's kind of where I went with that one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

But yeah, I I think Carol would be great when there. Yeah. Um, but so there also like I'm convinced they're cheating, and I'm convinced Patrick Reed cheats whenever he tees it up. Um and I just, yeah, like I said, the the being disliked is part of his identity, and I feel like that is like quintessential to being an LSU tiger. Um, but yeah, Terrell Hatton, I I will never forget him pulling the imaginary shotgun. Uh I think was that was that in Mexico, maybe, and just pretending to just shoot. Like so, yeah. Maybe maybe it's it's one A and one B of Terrell Hatton and and Patrick Reed for LSU.

SPEAKER_02

I was gonna say this, what you could add about Patrick to to LSU is arguably the greatest place to go watch a football game and one of the best atmospheres and crowds out there. I would also say this. You got Patrick's arguably got the best short game anywhere in the world. Yeah. And and and I think that he also demands a bit of respect from the crowd, which you kind of have to at LSU.

SPEAKER_03

Right. Underrated, dude. He's got such a good, underrated short game. No one talks about it. It's incredible.

SPEAKER_02

He's the best short game. I always, when anybody ever asks me who's got the best short game in the world, I always say Patrick.

SPEAKER_01

So a few names that nobody mentioned that surprised me. Uh nobody said anything about Justin Thomas or Rory McElroy. Uh Garrett, you mentioned Scotty. Like I when I was thinking about Justin, I was like, okay, who's like really polished, but occasionally will slip up a little bit, will have some success. He's got two PGAs. And then I was thinking about Rory. And Rory, because Rory can be kind of depending on how he's playing, and I feel like which side of the bed he gets up on, you you can get a different Rory. Um, were there any guys that you thought of for different schools or other ones that we went past, or for even schools that you weren't assigned to that you're like, oh, that person belongs here?

SPEAKER_03

So immediately when you said Scotty, I thought Oregon. Um, which sounds weird because Scotty doesn't dress flashy or anything. But it let me um sorry, 2026 Scotty is Oregon because Oregon's gonna be in the college football playoff every year. They're gonna finish inside the top 10 every year. They're not gonna win. So 2026 Scotty would be Oregon. That's immediately what I thought. And then um, shout out to you, Robbie. South Carolina would be Joel Damon in my mind. Where's so good? You got you got a really, really good team. You got people that don't really hate South Carolina, almost rooting for South Carolina to do something good. They want to see a little North sellers to do good. But you look at Joel Damon's game, and there's not one part of his game that really impresses you to where you think he's ever gonna win a major. No offense to Joel. South Carolina, it's a great game. You know that they have some elite players, but as a whole, you never really look at their game and be like, oh, they're gonna win a national championship.

SPEAKER_01

Right. That's that's really well done. Yeah. That you nailed that, Garrett. That's perfect. Will it and also nobody mentioned Phil? Phil didn't get mentioned at all.

SPEAKER_02

He didn't really honestly didn't really didn't really come up on any of mine. Um, the only other one that I thought about, and and the only reason, and it's it's not a great comparison, um, but was Tommy Fleetwood, and I put him with Notre Dame. And here's why I did that is that's really good. Tommy Fleetwood. I would say Notre Dame is probably one of the most recognizable schools, football programs. They have more bandwagon fans that from all over the country, all over the world, than really any any other school. Um, and I feel like and they're and they're well loved by a lot of people, even though they have zero affiliation with Notre Dame. I think Tommy Fleet was the same way. He's very well liked, he's very well loved. And again, you go look at their football program versus kind of his finishes on the PGA tour. A lot of runner-ups, a lot of very close calls. Um he just, you know, hasn't been able to really get it done. He's got the one tour championship um at at East Lake, but you know, everybody's kind of like waiting, like, oh yeah, he'll be, he'll be, he's gonna be winning. You know, he'll win one this year, he'll win one this year, he'll win one this year. Notre Dame fans always have we're gonna win it this year, this year, this year.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, he's the guy that I'm losing money on now. It it used to be Fiennow, now it's Fleetwood.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. That one, that one go back to our earlier, our earlier uh podcast, Josh, and uh I was I was bummed to see you know he didn't get that one done at the Burkale. At Burkdale. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I got one more for y'all. Um Vandy is blades brown because Vandy's program as a whole with new funding, new stadium. It's tough too because you look at Bandy and you automatically want to thank Diego Pavia, but he's gone. Unfortunately. So they they have, yeah. So they have a five-star quarterback now. Like I think it was the number one overall quarterback flop to Vandy. So you look at the program overall and you're looking like this, and Blades Brown hasn't won anything yet, but career you know is gonna skyrocket at some point. And so I would say, at least relative to like the 90s Vandy that we all know that was terrible, other than Jay Cutler. Um, I think Blades Brown would be a perfect Vandy. What do you all think about that?

SPEAKER_01

Well, and I so I didn't what just kind of went off in my head was like, wait, if Indiana can get resources together and win a national championship, why couldn't Vandy? And that's mildly terrifying. They that would be that would be absolutely terrifying.

SPEAKER_02

I don't know, I don't know which one you think of as more of a football school as prior to last year, Indiana or Vandy. I mean, neither one of them really. Yeah, I I don't. That's a good point. Really good point. Jeez. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

In IL, dude. In I.

SPEAKER_02

I I'm surprised uh the a couple players I'm surprised didn't get mentioned. I'm surprised Jackson Coivan didn't get brought up. Um, just because he's such a hot new name, and I figured one of you guys would go with a new coach or something like that. Um, granted, we only had four teams each. Um, but Jackson was one I thought that might get mentioned. Um, but yeah, I don't know who he would be. That was a hard one.

SPEAKER_03

Uh I was gonna say Decker. Where do you think Coyvin would be? What school?

SPEAKER_01

So you gotta think of a school nationally, uh somewhere that's up and coming and like on the fast track. I mean, Indiana? Like that's kind of what I when you said Indiana, I was like, that's that's probably the best place I could think of for uh Jackson Corbin just showed up and is already winning.

SPEAKER_02

Like I have arrived. Forced to be reckoned with. Yeah, you gotta respect them immediately.

SPEAKER_03

You can't pick anybody else. That's the only solution for Coyden is uh Indiana. That's like the only school you could pick. And try and think of another one. And there's not one.

SPEAKER_01

Well, and and what's tough is like all these programs have history and have have relevancy prior to this year or the previous seasons, whatnot. Indiana had none. So, like, and Jackson is who we thought he was gonna be, which has been fun to watch. But like, yeah, there Jackson wasn't there, and now he's here and he's winning. And that's Indiana. Uh, yeah, I think you're right, G. Like, you can't go anywhere else with him. It's no one else. It's no one else, man. Who's Michigan?

SPEAKER_02

Michigan.

SPEAKER_01

Who's a player surrounded by controversy? Phil. Yeah, Phil. Michigan is bad. Phil's good ones. He's found a home for Phil Mickelson.

SPEAKER_03

Phil's a pretty good one there. He had to find a home somewhere, man. Michigan, oh boy, it's uh it's burning down there right now. Gosh. Yeah, I was gonna say Texas Tech would have been a fill for me.

SPEAKER_02

Oh yeah. Oh yeah, because all the gambling's all the gambling now. Yeah, yeah. But the only other person I was trying to think of a place for was Chris Goddard up. I can't find one for him. Oh man. I mean, won what, three times this past year. Did he win three times? Three? Or he's won three times now. Okay.

SPEAKER_04

Right?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_04

I don't know. That's a that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_03

See, I think about it from like golf swing. Which which uh football school represents like a low draw. I don't know. I don't I don't even know who who I would pick for him. Um gosh, man.

SPEAKER_02

I I the only one that I kind of thought of and I and this is a stretch here, but would have been maybe a Miami. I feel like he's got I feel like he's got a bit of a wild side to him. Just just going off sheer, you know, he's a big, stocky, thick dude, probably likes to have a drink or two. Uh I feel like Miami's a bit bit wild. Pro and and he was kind of like, yeah, he was good coming out, but you know, people were kind of like, oh, he won, he won Myrtle, like, yeah, you know, he'll be good, but I don't know if you didn't really see him win in three, you know, three times. And now I'm like, Miami's like, I didn't think Miami's gonna be that good. Miami was a real deal last year. And are they back?

SPEAKER_01

Producer Robbie, producer Robbie dropped one, uh dropped a text to me on God or up, man. I think it's pretty good. He is the Navy midshipman.

SPEAKER_02

Midshipman. Because stable, just kind of just there, not gonna be the boat's not gonna be rocks, not to use a horrible pun, but I think I think when I heard when you just said Navy, I thought Ryan Gerard just steady, finishes top ten every week.

SPEAKER_03

All right, hear me out. Goddard up, North Dakota State University. Okay, tell us more. I can see that because they they owned D2, D2, pretty sure the D2, they owned D2 for a while. Goddard up had some wins in his past that weren't PGA tour level yet. Um now, I believe they just went, they just changed conferences now. Um Goddard up hopped on the tour, has a little bit of success. Plus, I'm trying to think outside the box here, fellas. It's easy to take a biggest hole. We've got to show love for the little little guys too. So I like that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01

I got one more I want to out just kind of off the cuff and I throw it to you guys, uh, just because I think it would be a fascinating response from both of you, and then we'll we'll wrap this up. But who would the Colorado Buffaloes be? Under Deion Sanders? We've retired a jersey number for someone who went 500 in their career.

SPEAKER_04

Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_01

I'm racking through my brain right now. There may not be a good one, but uh it just that was one that just immediately popped in my head. I'm like, man, there's a lot going on there without a lot of success. Yeah. Um like who carries around a big entourage and and doesn't necessarily justify the existence of their attitude.

SPEAKER_03

Uh Taylor Gooch.

SPEAKER_04

Oh yes, pretty good. Taylor Gooch.

SPEAKER_03

Taylor Gooch. That's pretty good. About like, oh, there needs to be an asterisk because the best players in the world aren't here. It's like, dude, I get it. I I get how good you are at golf, but just like, I mean, if you were the CEO of a company making a statement like that to the company, you would be laughed at. Like, you can't just like have some self-awareness, bro. That's Colorado, zero self-awareness.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. That's that's a good pick. That might be the best pick of all the ones we did, even prepared.

SPEAKER_02

That's a good pick. I I wasn't going in that direction, so yeah, that's I was on the flashy route. Like, who's flashy out on tour and stuck up? And yeah, I'm a psycho dude.

SPEAKER_03

I'm gonna think about this days after this podcast is over with, too. I'm just a psycho.

SPEAKER_02

I'm gonna come up with like, you know, who's John Rahm? Who's you know?

SPEAKER_01

Well, that's the beauty of this. We can do it again. We we can come up with other other ones that we want to do because it's really fun to think about the parallels and different personalities and the relatability between the guys on tour or on the guys on Club 54 and and how they can kind of mimic the the football teams. And yeah, this was this was a lot of fun. Um, I appreciate you guys taking time to come on and chat. Uh yeah, this this will be a really fun one to go back and listen to, and I'm sure the comments will uh will not disappoint once we start posting the preview reel.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I might have some Arkansas fans a little bit frustrated with me. I think you might.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. What do you know is it's true? Well oh, yeah. Well, yeah, that's that's what you can say to him, right? Be like, defend it. Tell me I'm wrong.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, exactly. It's true.

SPEAKER_01

Well, for Garrett Powell and Will Davidson, I am Josh Decker, and this has been another episode of Off the Deck.

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Josh Decker

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