The Gump Report: Angst and Opportunity in Alabama
Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast
Richard Johnson and Alex Kirshner
4.9 • 916 Ratings
🗓️ 6 February 2025
⏱️ 15 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
2024 was a weird (read: bad) year for a lot of college football teams in the state Alabama. Justin Ferguson, publisher of the Auburn Observer and all-purpose ball-knower in the state, joins Alex and Richard to discuss:
* How everyone’s feeling after the two Iron Bowl teams went a combined 7-9 in the SEC, tied for their worst joint record of the century
* Why this will be an offseason of hope for Auburn, and why Hugh Freeze will have to deliver a lot early in the 2025 season
* Alabama’s pivot away from in-state recruiting and Alex’s theory that the revenue-sharing era should be good to the Tide
* UAB still has Trent Dilfer, and the Blazers coach is attempting the most blatant '“portal to save his job” maneuver that we’ve ever seen
* South Alabama is at least a little interesting, if not quite “good”
* Troy, however, is none of the above at the moment
* Scott Cochran’s new Division II job makes waves
* Jacksonville State nailed its FBS transition, won Conference USA, and has a new coach who can recruit
Thanks to Ferg, whose work is at www.auburnobserver.com
Hosts: Richard Johnson, Alex Kirshner
Guest: Justin Ferguson
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We're coming, and we ain't backing down. |
| 0:02.1 | We don't need a bunch of cats in here. |
| 0:03.6 | Looking in the mirror. |
| 0:04.8 | Everybody just do your job. |
| 0:07.0 | You understand that? |
| 0:07.9 | Hey, will you shut up? |
| 0:08.9 | I'm bitterly disappointed with the officiating today. |
| 0:11.4 | Guys being dudes. |
| 0:12.6 | And they run through our like a shit through a ten horn, man. |
| 0:16.5 | Thank you, Lee. |
| 0:18.1 | Welcome back to the program. |
| 0:20.0 | A crowd favorite. The defending champ. If a year goes |
| 0:23.2 | by when he's not on the program, it's been a bad year. He's Justin Ferguson. He is the publisher |
| 0:29.1 | of the Auburn Observer.com, longtime friend of the show. And while he covers Auburn, I'd say |
| 0:37.2 | he's an all-purpose ball |
| 0:38.3 | knower in the state of Alabama with connections, knowledge extending to all corners of that state. |
| 0:44.2 | I wanted to have him on for two reasons. Number one, he's a fun guy. We like having him here. |
| 0:49.3 | Number two, it's college basketball season. It's college basketball season at Auburn's the |
| 0:52.9 | number one team in the country. |
| 0:59.1 | So, say, we were talking about Alabama's football, but this is a basketball state now. |
| 0:59.5 | Yeah, noted. |
| 1:00.6 | Just look at the AP poll. |
... |
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