ESPN's Bill Connelly On Looming 2025 Chaos, Uncertain Quarterbacks & College Football’s Future
The Solid Verbal College Football
iHeartPodcasts
4.8 • 3.3K Ratings
🗓️ 19 August 2025
⏱️ 63 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s that time again—the season is on the doorstep, and we brought in ESPN’s Bill Connelly to help us make sense of the chaos ahead. From his new SP+ rankings with a dozen teams clumped near the top to the Arch Manning hype train and a logjam of unproven quarterbacks, we dive headfirst into why 2025 might be the most unpredictable season in years.
We cover the teams with the widest range of outcomes (hello, Tennessee), the portal-fueled rebuilds at Purdue and West Virginia, and which traditional powers might quietly be underrated. Bill also opens up about his new book Forward Progress, why realignment and money distribution could shape the sport’s future, and what “canaries in the coal mine” fans should keep an eye on.
Plus, why offensive lines could make or break this year’s contenders, whether Texas Tech is ready to crash the playoff party, and what keeps college football so beautifully chaotic despite all the off-field drama.
Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
7:01 - Interview with Bill Connelly
55:12 - Outtro & Show Updates
Support the show and get perks like ad-free episodes, early releases, bonus content, Discord access and much more: https://www.verballers.com
_____
A fan of our college football podcast? Leave us a rating and review, and don't forget to subscribe or follow so you don't miss any of our podcast episodes:
Apple Podcasts: https://play.solidverbal.com/apple-podcasts
Spotify: https://play.solidverbal.com/spotify
Amazon Music: https://play.solidverbal.com/amazon-music
Overcast: https://play.solidverbal.com/overcast
Pocket Casts: https://play.solidverbal.com/pocketcasts
Podcast Addict: https://play.solidverbal.com/podcast-addict
CastBox: https://play.solidverbal.com/castbox
Our college football show is also available on YouTube. Subscribe to the channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@solidverbal
Learn more about the show on our website: https://www.solidverbal.com/about
Want to get in touch? Give us a holler on Twitter: @solidverbal, @tyhildenbrandt, @danrubenstein, on Instagram, or on Facebook. You can also find our college football podcast out on TikTok and Threads. Stay up to date with our free weekly college football newsletter: https://quickslants.solidverbal.com/subscribe.
College football has been our passion since we started The Solid Verbal College Football Podcast back in 2008. We don't just love college football, we live it!
Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is an IHeart podcast. |
| 0:04.4 | Creativity is personal. |
| 0:06.2 | Your tools should be too. |
| 0:07.7 | Lenovo offers a wide range of devices to match your creative workflow with powerful GPUs, |
| 0:13.0 | color accurate displays and AI tools that help spark, shape and share your vision. |
| 0:17.6 | From morning hustle to midnight render, Lenovo delivers power that never sleeps because neither do you. One device, all your vision. From morning hustle to midnight render, Lenovo delivers power that never sleeps, |
| 0:22.4 | because neither do you. One device, all your worlds. Shop now at Lenovo.com slash back to school. |
| 0:29.4 | Lenovo, Lenovo. Bold ideas brought to life wherever inspiration strikes. |
| 0:36.9 | Welcome to the solid verbal. |
| 0:38.7 | The solid verbal. |
| 0:39.7 | Come after me. |
| 0:41.4 | I'm a man. |
| 0:42.4 | I'm 40. |
| 0:43.2 | I've heard so many players say, |
| 0:44.5 | well, I want to be happy. |
| 0:45.6 | You want to be happy for a day? |
| 0:47.3 | Eat a steak. |
| 0:48.2 | It's that woo-woo. |
| 0:49.8 | And now, down, and tie. |
| 0:53.2 | Dan Rubinstewey, come on the airwaves today, |
| 0:56.2 | chortling over |
| 0:57.6 | some audio editing |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.