

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast
Richard Johnson and Alex Kirshner
An independent college football podcast that covers the whole sport, led by Richard Johnson and Alex Kirshner. Free episodes each week (twice per week in season), plus frequent subscriber episodes. Featuring co-host emeritus Steven Godfrey and friends. www.splitzoneduo.com
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 6, 2024 • 21min
The 2024 Texas college football extravaganza
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comShehan Jeyarajah is national reporter for CBS Sports, host of the College Football Survivor Show, and knower of the Texas college football scene. He chats with Alex about every FBS program in the state and a big handful of FCS teams, too. The conversation covers everything from, yes, how many games Arch Manning might start this year to how a newly esteablished program at UTRGV might do once it starts playing competitive games. Plus: How will Mike Elko be different from Jimbo Fisher? What should we make of Texas Tech’s five-star freshman receiver? How has SMU’s move to the AAC changed the DFW recruiting scene? Can UTSA remain a big deal in the AAC without Frank Harris at QB? Is Prairie View A&M in line for a run in the SWAC? If it’s a Texas college football topic, there’s a good chance we get into it here. Production: Anthony Vito.

Jun 4, 2024 • 1h 10min
9 CFB Players to Tell Your Friends About for 2024
Richard Johnson, Alex Kirshner, and Steven Godfrey start to look ahead to the 2024 college football season. The episode opens with some consideration of New York Knicks fans (it just happened) and then moves (15:45) into a discussion of nine players we’re paying close attention to for 2024. Some are just really good, and some are pivotal to programs on the ropes. This episodes takes a trip through Arkansas, Arkansas State, Kentucky, Tennessee, Minnesota, Colorado, Clemson, Kansas State, and Boston College. Production: Anthony Vito.Bonus episodes: www.splitzoneduo.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

May 31, 2024 • 43min
Scheme School: How good is Shedeur Sanders, actually?
Welcome to a new episode of Scheme School. Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice returns to the show to have a completely on-field-focused (we promise) conversation about Colorado's already-polarizing QB1. What does he struggle with? And what does he excel at? What was the Buffs’ offense last year, what will it be this year, and what should it be to maximize Sanders as a player? Read Nate's in depth breakdown of Sanders here. (Now Richard can just point at this episode as Shedeur’s draft stock goes up and down.) Production: Anthony Vito. Like this show? Here’s more Scheme School * The evolution of Chip Kelly, schemer * How defense evolved in CFB in 2023* All these different safety positions: What happened? This episode is for paying subscribers of Split Zone Duo, but everyone can hear a free preview. Not a subscriber yet? Now’s a great time to become one, as we begin our ramp-up into the college football season, which quickly gives way to the coach carousel and then back to the big postseason games. By subscribing, you get frequent bonus episodes, the ability to ask questions that might appear on the show, and a place in a growing college football community. We’d love to have you. The cost is $10 a month, and you can get a month free with an annual subscription. You can listen to bonus episodes in the same feed where you listen to free episodes, whether that’s on the Substack app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, YouTube Music, or any other platform. It’s easy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

May 28, 2024 • 16min
The Impending Arrival of College Football 3.0 (3.1?)
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comCollege football is about to get a lot different. Alex and Richard talk through how changes to player compensation come 2025 will reshape the sport. We think it’s ultimately a winner for both players and fans, but there are big questions left to answer: What will become of collectives? Which type of program will get the most benefit from the House v. NCAA settlement? Which type will be hurt? Will this settlement be the line of demarcation between an eventual superleague and everyone else? And is this an ideal economic system? Production: Anthony Vito.

May 24, 2024 • 1h 24min
Single Wing: New Conference Expectations for Everyone from Texas to Army
Godfrey's insisting that everyone pick a Sun Belt team to ride and/or die with in '24. Plus, did the NFL kill USC's L.A. vibes? And let's set an expectation for every single FBS team changing conferences this season. The Big 12 is a Las Vegas buffet, and it's 3 a.m., baby. Production by Anthony Vito. Throughout May, The Single Wing is free for everyone thanks to Magic Mind. If you’d like to hear The Single Wing all year and ask the questions that help Godfrey build the show, become a paying subscriber to SZD today. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

May 23, 2024 • 1h 9min
Single Wing: Week 1's High (Big) Noon Showdown and the G5 Playoff Proposal Debunked
For more episodes like The Single Wing, subscribe at splitzoneduo.com. Godfrey's circling back on TV scheduling tactics for Week 1, explaining San Jose State’s triple-free offense, answering a desperately sad question about Group of 5 feeder programs, waxing emotional about EA NCAA, and teaching you why stupid ass-ideas like the G5 playoff get floated. Production by Anthony Vito. Throughout May, The Single Wing is free for everyone thanks to Magic Mind. If you’d like to hear The Single Wing all year and ask the questions that help Godfrey build the show, become a paying subscriber to SZD today. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

May 21, 2024 • 1h 6min
College Football's Unwinnable But Righteous TV War With the NFL
College football (including its TV partners) usually gets out of the NFL’s way. But when the 12-team Playoff arrives this December, the two levels of the sport will be head-to-head in a way they almost never are, especially since college’s powers that be made a tactical retreat from Thursday night. Is it surprising that the Playoff and ESPN would counterprogram the NFL? Was it avoidable? Should we, as fans of the sport, care? And why is CFB finally so comfortable existing on its own, even on the same day as the NFL? Production: Anthony Vito. Bonus episodes: https://www.splitzoneduo.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

May 17, 2024 • 1h 11min
Single Wing: Clemson's bottom line, UCF's shopping aisle, and a battle with impostor syndrome
In this solo show, Steven Godfrey's trying to figure out why Clemson's O-line can't match its D-line, why BYU was (is?) dirty, if Army/Navy has a Rose Bowl mentality, and how NFL markets affect local college teams. Production: Anthony Vito.Magic Mind: https://magicmind.com/splitzone20 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

May 15, 2024 • 41min
How golf is college football
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comAs a postscript to last week’s newsletter about college football coaches’ golf handicaps, Alex and Richard discuss several football-adjacent golf topics. Has golf supplanted college football as the sport that’s most being harmed by its executive leadership? Is Hugh Freeze really that good? (Trent Dilfer definitely is.) Why is this the preferred offseason hobby of two-thirds of Split Zone Duo? And what, exactly, will happen at this week’s PGA Championship?Handicaps: https://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/college-football-coaches-golf Production: Anthony Vito.

May 14, 2024 • 11min
The politics behind Ohio State's ridiculous commencement speech
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comOhio State played host to one of the most bizarre commencement speeches of all time this month, when alumnus Chris Pan pitched graduates on Bitcoin and attempted to lead the Buckeye crowd in multiple singalongs. D.J. Byrnes writes The Rooster, a newsetter covering Ohio and its politics. Last week, Byrnes’ publication broke the news that Ohio State’s president, Ted “Slapshot” Carter, broke with recommendations from an advisory committee to select Pan. What was happening there, and what does it reveal about the leadership structure bewteen one of the most powerful institutions not just in higher education, but college sports and the entire Midwest? D.J. joins Alex to talk about it. Read Byrnes' story: https://www.rooster.info/p/ohio-states-drug-fueled-bitcoin-shame


