What do college football coaches actually think behind closed doors? In this episode of The Audible, Bruce Feldman and Ralph Russo break down Bruce's anonymous coach survey. The guys dive straight into the takes, revealing which hyped contenders coaches are calling the biggest frauds before flipping to their ultimate national title favorites.
Moving beyond the survey, the crew examines the mounting pressure on coaching hot seats across the country. They debate whether Lincoln Riley faces a Brian Kelly-style crisis at USC and evaluate the market appeal of major coaching retreads like Brian Kelly and Jimbo Fisher looking to get back on the sidelines.
Finally, the guys close out the show with a packed listener mailbag. They tackle predictions for the Border War, share their all-time favorite college football books, and run a fascinating thought experiment on what this season would look like under the old four-team playoff format.
Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
1:23 - Coaches Confidential Survey
1:55 - CFB coaches pick the biggest frauds
12:30 - CFB coaches pick the ’26 nat’l champs
15:39 - CFB coaches pick the biggest sleeper
18:38 - Coaching Carousel
18:56 - Jimbo Fisher & Brian Kelly
30:27 - Dave Clawson
32:20 - Coaches to watch on the Hot Spot
46:29 - Mailbag Time!
59:10- Mailbag Winner
Follow the Crew on X:
🔹 Stewart Mandel: @slmandel
🔹 Bruce Feldman: @BruceFeldmanCFB
🔹 Ralph Russo: @ralphDrussoATH
🔹The Audible: @audible.show
#TheAudible #CollegeFootball #CFB #CoachesPoll #LincolnRiley #USC #CFP
","author_name":"The Athletic"}