Y-Option: College Football with Yogi Roth

Football can change your life.

I’ve shared this story a few times but it’s worth repeating. Years ago, I was in Northern California visiting San Jose State and Stanford. I was expected to fly home after practice on a Wednesday but was convinced by both Brent Brennan and Mike Bloomgren to stay in NorCal for one more night. 

I obliged and had a blast.

The next day I walked onto a Delta flight and met the love of my life, my now-wife Amy.

I often think about that and am reminded how falling in love with football at age 14, walking on to Pitt in college, moving to Los Angeles to coach at USC and persuading the Pac-12 Network to hire me in 2012 literally led me to my heartmate, Amy, who has changed my life.

In a unique way, the same can be said of Khalil Tate.

He was a special athlete in Los Angeles growing up. He had a powerful work ethic, a supportive family and a bright future. From the outside, it seemed like everything came natural to him. I vividly recall him at the Elite 11 QB camp, as he would take a snap at quarterback, then move to wideout, then transition to safety. It was effortless.

When he arrived in Tucson, things stopped coming that easy to him. He had to work, and work he did, as Khalil Tate poured into his craft. The reward did not come quickly, but when it did, it came like a tidal wave.

It was a perfect night in October of 2017 and football also changed his life.

The setting was sparkling Boulder, Colorado and he went off, running for 327 yards, an FBS record for a quarterback and I had a front row seat. Current Los Angeles Rams broadcaster and close friend J.B. Long and I called that game and to this day, it is one of the most memorable games either of us have ever broadcasted.

Few players have games like that, but even less have follow-up performances. For the next month Khalil was the face of college football. He broke records, won games and cleaned up awards. Yes, football changed his life.

The next few years were promising in Tucson but did not meet that pinnacle of the fall of 2017, but it did shape him in a powerful way.

In our conversation brought to you by our founding partner 76, he joined the Y-Option podcast and examined how the game he loved changed his life, what life could have been like for him in the NIL world and opened up like never before about the tweet he famously deleted.

In my life, I’m so grateful to meet young men like Khalil Tate when they are 17 years old, be around their meteoric rise in college football and also continue a relationship beyond the game. While Khalil Tate’s football career may not yet be done, our conversation is a reminder that what is often under the helmet is even more unique than what we get to witness on the field.

I hope you take a listen, learn from Mr. October and discover something new about one of the greats in Arizona football history.

This episode is executive produced by Jim Thornby with cinematography & editing by Blue Ox Films.

This podcast is a Best Coast Media production.

“Patiently impatient.”

That’s my new favorite phrase when it comes to being a backup QB, or really anything where you may not be in the position you desire.

This past summer I sat down with former college and NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky. Myself and Elite 11 head coach Jake Heaps had a conversation with the former UConn star around the QB position which centered around the concept of Chasing What Matters. 

I’ve spent years seeking the red thread that connects elite leaders to elite organizations to elite performers. I’ve netted out that the best in class truly Chase What Matters with clarity around what matters most, they can state that clarity with a grounded confidence and then attack that notion with a unique discipline. In fact, it’s been my keynote speech over the past year and I've seen it resonate with companies and teams across the country.

When Orlovsky, a current ESPN NFL and college football analyst, stated that phrase “patiently impatient” after being asked how he navigated adversity in his sporting life, it hit me with as much power as a free blitzer in the A gap, unloading on a QB.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been on my Training Camp Tour, visiting campuses from Eugene to Penn State and various stops in between. As I watched 5-star recruit Julian Sayin at Ohio State I kept thinking about the phrase “patiently impatient,” as he will be tested while likely being on the bench to start his career. While watching Ethan Garbers at UCLA and Miller Moss at USC this past week, I kept thinking “thankfully they were patiently impatient” as their time has come to lead two storied programs and it would have been easy for them to have hit the transfer portal to find a starting spot. 

After speaking with both of them and sitting down with Miller earlier this summer at the Elite 11 Finals, it was evident that each QB was proud that they had evolved while they sat rather than complained and got worse while they were backups. And now, with experience and resilience as part of their respective tool belts, both Garbers and Moss will lead their dream schools into a new league in a matter of weeks.

I’ll net out that anyone who desires to compete on a premier stage, or simply wants to find success in life, must embrace that phrase and as Dan Orlovsky shared with us and the Elite 11 quarterbacks this summer. Once you do embrace that concept life will present opportunities that you will be ready for, as you will have been preparing for that exact moment. 

Presented by our founding partner 76, I hope you enjoy our conversation and if you are an athlete, coach, executive, lover of the QB position or parent of a high achiever, this conversation will impact you in a powerful way.

The episode was edited and executive produced by Jim Thornby.

This podcast is a Best Coast Media production.

There is something special about coming home. For the recently hired Arizona State Athletics Director, Graham Rossini, home has always been the ASU community. 

Last training camp I found myself at Camp Tontozona, or as Sun Devil fans called it Camp T. On the sideline was a tall, sharply dressed man in an ASU polo. I’d always known of Graham, but had yet to spend real time with him. Before practice began we spent 20 minutes together and just talked about life, the Pac-12, West Coast football and more. His acumen was easy to notice, much like that of Kenny Dillingham. His passion for ASU stood out like any Dillingham press conference and his calm demeanor had me thinking, ‘this should be the next ASU AD.’

As I drove back toward Phoenix that evening two things resonated above all else: Graham Rossini has an elite competitive temperament and has extremely high levels of emotional intelligence. 

To get into the world of college athletics you must know how to compete, and Graham lives with a competitive spirit every day that began as a 4-year-old playing little league baseball in Alabama.

But to lead, I believe you MUST have an elite level of emotional intelligence. Most experts would say that EQ is loosely defined as having the “capacity to deal with the thoughts of yourself and others with empathy.” Graham Rossini does that in spades. Part of that is his family's background in the military, part of that is his father's loyalty to his longtime employer, part of that is life experience in professional sports and part of that is how he views the world.

We sat down during Big-12 Media Days in Las Vegas and dove into all of that as he shared his upbringing as a child, his vision for ASU athletics and his relationship with Kenny Dillingham.

Enjoy our conversation, presented by Y-Option’s Founding Partner, 76.

This episode was executive produced and edited by Jim Thornby

This podcast is a Best Coast Media production

Y-Option: College Football with Yogi Roth is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

“The only thing that is guaranteed in college is that your career will NOT go exactly as you imagined.”

A year ago, the legendary coach, Chris Petersen shared that line with the best high school quarterbacks in the nation at the Elite 11 Finals in Los Angeles and I watched it land like a Simone Biles gold medal routine.

As I criss-cross the nation and watch QBs like Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, Penn State’s Drew Allar and today, Will Howard at Ohio State compete in training camp, I keep thinking about that line and as each QB drops back to pass I can’t help but recognize that each of these signal callers have met their fair share of adversity.

Like Coach Petersen said: it’s not IF, but WHEN adversity hits.

We are in a different era in college football, as 46 projected starters in Power 4 football are transfers. Each of those quarterbacks comes with a story of adversity, and how they had to meet it and compete to work through it. 

If I'm honest, I think the majority of transfers are leaving their college of choice too soon and robbing themselves of staring those hard times in the eye. If I were to offer advice, I’d urge QBs to make a contract with themselves and to commit to at least 2 years at their initial school, pending a coaching change, and regardless of their place on the depth chart, to compete and lean into the joy of the work. Then take stock of what they learned about themselves on the other side of adversity.

One quarterback who transferred and met that adversity is Jake Heaps, who has seen it in numerous unexpected styles of his quarterback life. He shared his lessons learned in our latest conversation, presented by our founding partner 76.

Y-Option: College Football with Yogi Roth is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

In my football life, I’ve learned that it’s rare to be able to see life through the lens of a quarterback. It’s even rarer to see it through the lens of a 5-Star QB, Elite 11 MVP, freshman starter, two-time transfer, NFL QB, media personality, NFL QB trainer and entrepreneur. But for those that can, there are lessons to be learned. And for those that can’t, today’s conversation is for you.

Jake left Skyline High School in Seattle, WA as an 18-year-old with huge dreams. In 2009, Jake was the Elite 11 MVP and crowned the top quarterback in high school football. He arrived at BYU as a heralded recruit and backed up the hype, starting as a true freshman and even beating the school’s freshman record for TDs held by Ty Detmer. But after that first year, his path began to meet adversity and Jake began to learn about himself in the most unexpected and powerful way.

He would transfer to Kansas under Charlie Weis, and eventually Miami under Al Golden before starting his professional playing career with the New York Jets, signing as an undrafted free agent. 

We met in 2009 during the Elite 11 Finals and over the past decade have worked together with that organization, coaching the next generation of QBs. Jake is a product of his experiences and has chosen to pour into quarterbacks across the globe. We discussed what matters most to be an elite QB, advice to parents of recruits and that to be a special player only one thing can cut through, regardless of craft. 

The work, or as Jake says, “You can’t cheat the grind.”

Hope you enjoy our conversation and be sure to give Y-Option a follow on Twitter and Instagram for today’s report from Columbus, as we get to see one of the most talented teams in recent college football history as part of our Big Ten Network Training Camp Tour.

Much love,

Yogi

This episode is produced by Jim Thornby and edited by Jessica Altman.

This podcast is a Best Coast Media production.

Y-Option: College Football with Yogi Roth is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

From 2011 to 2016 I would often find myself in Corvallis, Oregon. I’d fall in love with the fall foliage, the beautiful dimes from Sean Mannion, the crisp routes by Brandin Cooks and the production meetings with Mike Riley. But above all of that, what I enjoyed the most were Friday afternoons.

Post meetings and post practice I would find myself alongside one of the most positive, optimistic and talented coaches in the nation and for an hour we would run the campus while talking about life, coaching philosophy and his family.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, that man was Brent Brennan.

Back in the day it was clear that he had a vision for what he felt coaching was and while the X’s and O’s were a major part of that – Brent’s voice always took a different tone when he spoke about culture, team building and leadership. Not a surprise when you learn about his late father, Steve, who played WR at San Jose State. Not a shocker when you learn how the great Dick Tomey poured into him. And definitely not a surprise when you meet his wife, Courtney, who is a total rock star and went pseudo viral with her recruiting of Noah Fifita.

When he was named the head coach at San Jose State in 2017, I would visit with him once or twice per year and have him on my podcast, and each time his passion for culture only grew. After winning the Mountain West Championship, he wasn’t looking for the next best job, he was competing to be the absolute best version of himself as the leader of young men. He spent his off-season learning from the likes of Phil Jackson, among many others. 

Since Brent Brennan has arrived at Arizona he has continued to place dramatic emphasis on culture, team building and grounded principles that have led his past teams to success. He’s on the razor's edge of high performance when it comes to bringing people together to truly tap into who they are, and what sports can do for them.

And in an era when most conversations are, at times, are filled with NIL, transfer portal and media rights dialogue – Brent Brennan is leading his new program into discussions around commitment, connection and ‘ohana.

Presented by our founding partner 76, I hope you enjoy our conversion from Big-12 Media Days and learn a little bit more about what makes Brent Brennan the man that he is.

And I’d bet he would recommend that you listen on a run. I would.

This episode is produced by Jim Thornby and edited by Jessica Altman.

This podcast is a Best Coast Media production.

Jerrod Johnson and I met in 2009. I was working for Fox College Sports and broadcasting Big-12 games each week. He was the starting quarterback at Texas A&M. To make you smirk, that season the Big-12 had two divisions, the North and South. The respective champion of each division was Nebraska and Texas. Missouri and Colorado were in the league and that conference only had 12 teams, how about that!?

And if you forgot, future SEC team Texas won the 2009 Big-12 title 13-12 over future B1G squad Nebraska ahead of Colt McCoy leading the Longhorns to the BCS Championship Game.

I was in my first true year as an analyst calling games and I always talked to each team's signal caller before the contest. Jerrod, or JJ, was thoughtful, competitive and focused. It was crystal clear that he had a love for the game that was different from most players.

Post playing career, JJ explored many arenas: from broadcasting, high school coaching, fashion and more. Yet like most who love what the game of football can do for others, he found himself coming back to the thing that impacted him so much –teaching.

While many things have changed since 2009, what has remained is that everything Jerrod Johnson touches, finds success. Currently, the Houston Texans quarterbacks coach is guiding C.J. Stroud, the reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. His impact on C.J. is boundless and endless but it began years ago, on the field at the Elite 11 Finals.

JJ spoke to me during the 2024 Elite 11 Finals, and we shared parts of our conversation with the top 20 high school QBs in the nation. From “What Matters Most” at the position, advice for parents and powerful insight into his quarterback room with the Texans that features Stroud, Stanford’s Davis Mills, and Case Keenum.

Podcast produced by Jim Thornby and edited by Jessica Altman.

This podcast is a Best Coast Media Production.

Mark Harlan is impacting college sports at an elite level. As the athletics director at Utah, he has also served in the Football Oversight Committee and has been in the room during CFP deliberations. To say he ‘gets it’ is a true understatement.

Often times, college sports are seen as a business and I get it, it is HUGE business.

But more often than not, the ones who are leading athletic departments and serving the sports and athletes we love began on that career path because they too, loved ball.

Mark Harlan is exactly that. Growing up in Southern California, he fell in love with college football at the Coliseum and his path to Utah has been one full of mentorship, perspective, and necessary leadership.

We sat down during Big-12 Media Days and discussed his origin story, the state of the game, the decision to name Morgan Scalley the head coach in waiting & some advice for Y-Option as we get rolling. 

I think all fans of sport will enjoy our conversation, presented by our founding partner 76.

Todays podcast was executive produced by Jim Thornby and edited by Jessica Altman.

This podcast is a Best Coast Media production.

In my time working on the USC staff, one thing became clear – when a quarterback signs his letter of intent at USC he becomes a household name. When he starts, he becomes a Heisman Candidate. Calling games for the past 17 seasons has only proven that theory I learned while on Pete Carroll’s staff. 

And for Miller Moss, that’s also true. While many factors go into winning the Heisman, I believe that the future for Miller Moss is extremely bright as he has a brilliant mind, can quickly and efficiently process information, is consistently accurate and is an elite competitor. Those traits will allow him to thrive as the USC QB this fall as the Trojans enter the B1G. 

In today’s conversation, presented by our founding partner, 76, we sat down at the Elite 11 Finals in Los Angeles and dove into his story - what backing up Heisman winner Caleb Williams taught him, navigating life in LA as the USC QB, his relationship with Lincoln Riley and why his Dad told him to listen to Kobe Bryant.

Today’s podcast was executive produced by Jim Thornby and edited by Tanner Pierce. A special thank you to Elite 11 for the cinematography.

This podcast is a Best Coast Media production.

Meet Dillon Gabriel. A one-time Army commit who would thrive at Central Florida before balling out at Oklahoma and is now in his final collegiate season as the starting quarterback for the Oregon Ducks. We sat down at the Elite 11 finals this summer and discussed his It Factor, why he chose Oregon for his final season, what Marcus Mariota winning the Heisman meant to him and what it’s like playing for Dan Lanning.

Hope you enjoy and for more, be sure to follow @YOptionCFB as we will be covering ALL things college football through the lens of the West Coast all season long at www.y-option.com. 

This episode was produced by Jim Thornby, filmed by Blue Ox Films and edited by Tanner Pierce.

This podcast is a Best Coast Media production.

In today's Y-Option podcast, you'll hear from head coaches Jake Dickert and Trent Bray, as they share how their respective teams have 'met the moment' all off-season in anticipation of their new schedule in the Pac-12. 

Jaden Robinson, Jermaine Terry II, Kyle Williams and Kyle Thornton also joined me on stage and while all four are stars for the Beavs and Cougs on the field, their stories will inspire you in meaningful ways off it. Each were impacted at an early age by adversity and each celebrated the woman in their lives who continues to inspire each of them to this day. If you love football and have any desire to learn about the humans under those helmets, this episode is right up your alley. If you're pessimistic about the future of the game, this episode will offer you some hope. 

Enjoy After Hours with the Beavs and Cougs from Las Vegas.

Y-Option is a Best Coast Media Production