meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast

Pac-12 and Indy Vibe Checks + The State of Special Teams Development

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast

Richard Johnson and Alex Kirshner

News, Sports, Sports News, Football

4.9916 Ratings

🗓️ 1 May 2025

⏱️ 73 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Part 1 of this week’s episode is the continuation of SZD’s “Offseason Vibe Checks” series, checking in on the Pac-12 and the FBS independents. You may be thinking, “Nice, but that’s probably going to be a really short episode, because there are just two Pac-12 teams and three independents at the moment.” Fear not! Part 2 is an interview with author Victoria Zeller, who joins Alex to discuss her new book One of the Boys and the deep research she did into the state of modern special teams development. #CollegeKickers are getting better despite lacking training at most high schools. How? Well, there’s a story there.

* In the Pac-12, Washington State had the kind of offseason that Oregon State had last year, and now the Cougars have to pick up the pieces

* Among the FBS independents: UConn’s doing well, UMass is at least trying something sensible as it prepares to move to the MAC this summer, and Notre Dame has lots of backfilling and an intriguing QB battle on the agenda

* Victoria Zeller talks about “One of the Boys,” the privatization of special teams development, and much more.

The book comes out May 13 and is available for preorder here: https://victoria.monster/#bookdrive

Liked this show? Get bonus episodes at www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

Producer: Anthony Vito

Get cool stuff from SZD’s partners

Use SZD20 at www.homefieldapparel.com and get 20% off your first order.

Follow Nokian Tyres on Instagram @NokianTyresNA, and learn more about Nokian’s commitment to sustainability at nokiantyres.com/sustainability



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

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

We're coming, and we ain't backing down.

0:01.8

We don't need a bunch of cats in here.

0:03.4

Looking in the mirror.

0:04.5

Everybody just do your job.

0:06.7

You understand that?

0:07.7

Hey, will you shut up?

0:08.6

I'm bitterly disappointed with the officiating today.

0:11.1

Guys being dudes.

0:12.3

And they run through our like a shit through a ten horn, man.

0:14.8

Ah, fuck it.

0:16.3

Thank you, Lee.

0:17.6

Thank you, Richard Johnson.

0:18.9

I'm Alex Kirshner. The two of us are with you today,

0:22.1

our dear listeners, to continue our off-season vibe check series with two conference groups,

0:27.6

or one conference and one not a conference, which together don't have that many teams,

0:33.3

but are still on FBS and still demand to be talked about. That's right. The PAC 12 and the Independence.

0:39.3

I love independent season.

0:40.5

Richard, we're an independent podcast.

0:42.3

We support independent college football programs.

0:44.9

Yeah, it's a manageable number of teams between the PAC 2 and the independent triad that we still have in college football.

0:52.9

It's important.

0:56.0

It's a nice palette cleanser after, you know, an 18 team big 10 episode, for instance. Yeah, it is kind of nice to be able to do

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Richard Johnson and Alex Kirshner, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Richard Johnson and Alex Kirshner and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.