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That SEC Football Podcast

LSU Playoff or Bust? Which SEC Coaches Under Biggest Microscope? Jesse Simonton Interview

That SEC Football Podcast

Michael Bratton/SEC Mike

Football, News, Leisure, Sports News, Sports, Games

4.81.8K Ratings

🗓️ 29 January 2026

⏱️ 44 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jesse Simonton of the Surrender Cobra substack joins That SEC Podcast to talk all things SEC Football! Lane Kiffin already built Playoff roster? (0:45), NIL being governed? (8:30), South Carolina poised to rebound? (12:20), coaches facing pressure (18:00), Steve Sarkisian (19:00), Kalen DeBoer (22:20), Josh Heupel (25:00), expectations need to be reset? (31:30), Kirby Smart on the right path? (33:15), Best 1st-Year coach? (37:30) Link to Jesse's Substack (it's FREE!): https://jesseresimonton.substack.com/ Advertising inquiries: thatsecpodcast@gmail.com Interested in helping us grow the channel? Become an Official Cousin by signing up for a membership to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8aQL-yFS2ZoSkUBeMfYesA/join We have t-shirts for sale! Check out our merchandise store featuring shirts, hoodies, stickers, coffee mugs, pillows, phone cases and more: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/thatsecpodcast?ref_id=19055 All show music comes via Nashville band Crimson Calamity; check out their work by clicking the link below: https://open.spotify.com/artist/29HGeJEcYHBJlyt4xIcLBw?si=GJoEOr0YSoeqWkrjhCc0Ug

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

All right. Hey, one of our favorites back on the show, been too long.

0:13.0

Jesse Simonton, you know him, of course, from the Surrender Cobra Substack.

0:19.0

Jesse, how you been, man?

0:20.5

Doing well, trying to stay warm.

0:22.5

It's dipping into the sub-freezing temps this morning in Florida, too.

0:27.0

So trying to get it up north of 40 if we can.

0:30.6

Well, I'll tell you where it is warming up pretty quickly, Jesse, and you wrote about it,

0:35.9

so you know all about it.

0:36.8

But that'd be old Baton Rouge with Lane, I call him quitting.

0:41.1

Lane Kiffin dominating the transfer portal once again.

0:45.3

Man, does this immediately make LSU with Lane Kiffin a contender you think next season in the

0:51.0

SEC and, of course, the college football playoff?

0:54.3

Well, they better be right.

0:55.5

I mean, that's why he left the team that he said he didn't think could win a championship.

1:00.5

They won two more playoff games and he has on his resume.

1:04.5

And now he's going to a school that besides Brian Kelly, every other coach, you know,

1:10.0

their last three coaches have won

1:11.4

not only an SEC championship with Lane has never done, but they've won a national

1:15.9

championship. And that's the expectations. You know, it's funny, Mike, because you can't frame

1:21.1

it the same, but the guy that Lane Kiven is replacing Brian Kelly,, he is doing what Brian Kelly did.

1:29.0

Brian Kelly left Notre Dame because he decided that he could not win a national championship at Notre Dame.

1:35.8

Marcus Freeman in the very next year was like, bet and got Notre Dame to the national championship.

...

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