Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast

Richard Johnson and Alex Kirshner
  • 4.8 (951)
  • Football
  • Updated Weekly

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

  1. 1d ago

    2026's Year 2 Coach Vibe Check: Who's Already Heading for Trouble?

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.com Is your head coach going to succeed? Most of the time, you’ll know by Year 2. Welcome to the latest installment of SZD’s checkup on head coaches about to start their second season on the job. The class of 2025 was famously light on Power 4 hires but offers more G6 hope than you might think. In this episode, we’ll tier out this crop of second-year coaches as follows: * 0:16: Why Year 2 remains such a revealing checkpoint for college football coaches, even after the portal changed the roster-building calendar. * 8:03: The guys who are trending up, like Zach Kittley at FAU, Mark Carney at Kent State, Matt Drinkall at Central Michigan, Willie Simmons at FIU, Jerry Mack at Kennesaw State, Dan Mullen at UNLV, Jason Eck at New Mexico, and Matt Entz at Fresno State. * 24:28: The guys who have us in wait-and-see mode, including the hard AAC jobs, Phil Longo at Sam Houston, Mike Uremovich at Ball State, Eddie George at Bowling Green, Dowell Loggains at App State, Tony Gibson at Marshall, Barry Odom at Purdue, and Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia. * 39:22: The guys who are already trending the wrong way and need a turnaround, like Scott Frost at UCF and, well … * 46:01: Bill Belichick’s lousy first year at North Carolina and how much hope there is that things could improve Producer: Anthony Vito Everyone can hear a free preview of this episode. To get the whole thing, become a paid subscriber today. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.

    18 min
  2. The Realignment That Wasn't: The Big 12 in 2016

    6d ago

    The Realignment That Wasn't: The Big 12 in 2016

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.com Host emeritus Steven Godfrey joins Richard and Alex for a look back at the Big 12’s extremely public flirtation with expansion a full decade ago. It was a strange spring and summer in 2016, as the Big 12 basically put on realignment tryouts for a long list of schools including several (BYU, UCF, Houston, and Cincinnati) who did get into the conference — but not until years later, when others dominoes had fallen. Let’s revisit the summer of realignment that wasn’t, and then let’s think about how it changed the next decade of college football. In this episode: * 0:00: Why the realignment fashion show became so public * 8:10: The now-quaint factors that drove realignment decisions back then * 12:28: The candidate pool, including Houston and Cincinnati’s very different campaigns, BYU’s many complications, UCF before the Scott Frost/Josh Heupel run, and SMU before it became an ACC playoff team * 32:02: Why the process came down to BYU, Cincinnati, and Houston. (Also, why the Big 12 was genuinely scared of Houston) * 43:48: Counterfactuals: whether earlier expansion would have changed Texas and Oklahoma’s exit, the Pac-12’s collapse, or the expanded playoff’s politics around non-power teams * 56:08: The afterlife of the public audition, from Memphis and Sacramento State to the next round of conference-movement anxiety. Everyone can hear a free preview of this episode To get the whole thing, become a paid subscriber today. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first. Producer: Anthony Vito

    20 min

  3. May 26

    Should Black Athletes Boycott SEC Schools?

    Richard is joined by Joel Anderson, host of The Ringer Tailgate and The Press Box podcasts, for a conversation about the NAACP’s Out of Bounds campaign and the bigger question underneath it: What is fair to ask of Black college athletes and recruits at a moment when lawmakers and the courts are attacking Black voting power? They start with HBCUs and PWIs, move through the campaign’s specifics asks, and cover lots of topics from there: political education, NIL incentives, the transfer portal, the limits and power of boycotts, and why college football keeps becoming the platform for this kind of discussion. In this episode: * 0:00: The roles of HBCUs and PWIs in Black college life, and how generational experiences shape Richard’s and Joel’s views. * 12:01: The NAACP’s campaign and its asks of recruits, current athletes, fans, donors, and consumers. * 16:16: What is fair to expect of college athlete activism now * 26:55: Whether the idea of a “boycott” has lost force * 37:53: The role of the NAACP in 2026 Producer: Anthony Vito More on the story covered in this episode: * NAACP press statement: Black athletes and fans should withhold support from public schools in states attacking Black voting rights * NAACP: Out of Bounds * CBS Sports on the NAACP campaign If you like this episode, you’ll love a paid subscription. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first. 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

    46 min
  4. Hot Seats and Hot Grills: CFB Holiday Mailbag

    May 21

    Hot Seats and Hot Grills: CFB Holiday Mailbag

    Alex, Richard, and host emeritus Steven Godfrey turn a Memorial Day subscriber mailbag into a holiday-travel episode, starting with an either/or question about Steve Sarkisian and Lincoln Riley. From there, they get into G.J. Kinne’s future, Arkansas cutting and then quiickly reinstating a sport, what a 24-team Playoff might do to scheduling, how to talk about Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney, Dan Lanning, and Eli Drinkwitz in 2026, and then the important holiday matters: message boards, soccer pain, cookout tips and tricks, Alex’s recent discovery of beans, and Spotify deep diving. In this episode: * 2:08: Who is under more pressure in 2026: Lincoln Riley or Steve Sarkisian? Plus: Will Muschamp’s role at Texas and USC’s politics around Notre Dame * 13:46: Where G.J. Kinne could go next, and which coaches might make sense for future Texas G5 openings. * 19:51: Arkansas reinstates tennis, then the conversation turns to Hunter Yurachek and athletic department accountability. * 26:44: Would a 24-team Playoff make schools schedule better non-conference games, or just change the incentive to chase automatic bids? * 33:57: Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney, Dan Lanning, and Eli Drinkwitz as case studies in how we talk about portal usage, title ceilings, and carousel smoke. * 44:52: Memorial Day light fare: Eastside LA food, message board culture, Tottenham and Valencia, cookout rules, beans, and all-time Spotify listening history. Producer: Anthony Vito If you like this episode, you’ll love a paid subscription. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first. Thank you to our partners * Shop at Homefield * Learn more about Nokian Tyres Subscribe to our YouTube channels Yes, we now have two! * Original short docs and fun CFB explainer vids * Our new channel just for video episodes 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

    1h 1m

  5. May 19

    Should UCLA Have Your Attention?

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.com SUBSCRIBER EPISODE: Alex and Richard start with the surprise of UCLA becoming one of the offseason’s best recruiting stories, then Alex brings on Ira Gorawara fromThe Athletic for a campus-level look at Bob Chesney’s first few months in Westwood. This subscriber episode is about whether UCLA’s current burst of money, attention, and salesmanship is the first sign that a program long trapped between Los Angeles indifference and its own underinvestment might finally be changing its shape. In this episode: * 0:00: Richard and Alex set up UCLA’s recruiting surge, the money behind it, and why Los Angeles is a hard place to matter unless you are winning or selling. * 10:49: Ira Gorawara joins to explain why Bob Chesney’s arrival has given the program a different feel than it had under recent coaches * 17:02: Chesney’s contrast with Chip Kelly and DeShaun Foster * 22:45: Whether UCLA’s donor alignment and roster spending are real enough to change the program’s ceiling. * 29:17: How durable the Bruins’ recruiting bump might be, and what counts as success over the long term * 34:29: The Rose Bowl vs. SoFi Stadium Producer: Anthony Vito Everyone can hear a free preview of this episode. To get the whole thing, become a paid subscriber today. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.

    20 min

  6. May 14

    Lane Kiffin's Insincerity and 24-Team Playoff Game Theory

    Alex and Richard use Richard’s trip to ACC meetings as a window into the big college sports fight of the hour: how many teams will be in the College Football Playoff going forward. Then they sort through the Big Ten/SEC split over 24 teams, Ole Miss’ strange week as a national punching bag in the middle of May, and Nebraska’s first run-in with the new NIL enforcement system, which might be less the end of creative player payments than the start of better paperwork. In this episode: * 3:22: What Richard learned at ACC meetings, including the coming ACC tiebreaker puzzle * 7:24: Why 16 vs. 24 teams is the next Playoff fight, and how conference title games, ESPN, and FOX fit into it * 17:47: Why the Big Ten and SEC are on opposite sides of the 24-team debate * 37:25: Ole Miss catches strays from Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian * 47:22: Nebraska’s rejected NIL deals, the College Sports Commission’s first big test, and the future of athletic department creativity Producer: Anthony Vito If you like this episode, you’ll love a paid subscription at www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first. 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

    1h 3m

  7. May 12

    Revisiting "Is Bama Doomed?" Two Years Post-Nick Saban

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.com Subscriber episode: Steven Godfrey joins Alex and Richard to do a two-year checkup on Alabama under Kalen DeBoer. When Nick Saban retired in January 2024, Godfrey thought the Crimson Tide were due for a major reality check, while Alex thought one of Saban’s gifts to Bama was a durable and higher floor. Two seasons into the DeBoer era, Godfrey’s view looks like it’s carrying the day. But does Alabama see it that way, given a new contract extension for DeBoer? In this episode: 0:00: Why Alex and Godfrey disagreed two years ago 5:14: What DeBoer’s extension says about Greg Byrne’s bet and Alabama’s appetite for patience after an uneven first two years. 10:28: Alabama’s roster-building question: Is high school recruiting just going really well, or are they poor, or is it a bit of both? 20:38: Godfrey on the psychology of SEC donors spending money on football players, and why it’s better for Ole Miss than Alabama 52:23: The archival add-on: Alex’s special episode from 2021 on what “gameday home” condo purchases do to SEC towns Producer: Anthony Vito

    21 min
  8. Does the Big 12 Even Want This Sack of Cash?

    May 7

    Does the Big 12 Even Want This Sack of Cash?

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.com Extra Points publisher Matt Brown joins Alex and Richard for this subscriber edition of the Sports Business Hour, starting with the Big 12’s RedBird Capital deal and why a lot of schools that need money might still say no to expensive outside cash. From there, the group gets into what “revenue generation” can mean for a conference office, how Utah’s private-equity idea differs from a loan, why winning alone is a shaky athletic department business plan, and what Duke’s new Amazon arrangement does and does not reveal about the future of conference s media rights. The episode closes with Brendan Sorsby’s unsettled gambling case, where NCAA enforcement, Texas Tech, the NFL, and some (actually) serious lawyers could all wind up in the same big story. In this subscriber episode: * 0:16: RedBird, private capital, and why many Big 12 schools may pass on the league’s new borrowing option. * 5:00: Why the conference office, specifically, is taking the money * 15:02: The latest in “winning is not a business model,” with case studies from Indiana and South Carolina * 23:02: ACC meetings primer: Uneven schedules, tiebreakers, revenue-sharing stakes, and a looming (but still quiet) realignment problem * 30:35: Duke’s Amazon games, ESPN’s role, Big Ten objections, and why this is not a template for big football brands peeling off TV rights. * 49:36: New developments in the Brendan Sorsby case Thanks to Matt. Read and subscribe to Extra Points! Producer: Anthony Vito

    15 min
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4.8
out of 5
951 Ratings

About

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

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