Overview of Colin Cowherd Podcast with Josh Pate
Colin Cowherd and college football analyst Josh Pate dive into the biggest storylines in the sport right now: Lane Kiffin’s rise at Ole Miss, USC vs. Oregon, Arch Manning’s early-season evaluation, Ohio State’s shaky No. 1 status, and a broader debate about how college football scheduling, roster management, and coach evaluations should work in the NIL/transfer portal era.
The conversation blends power-ranking analysis with bigger-picture commentary on how the sport has changed — and which coaches and programs are best positioned to thrive in it.
Biggest Themes and Takeaways
Lane Kiffin’s value is bigger than wins and losses
- Pate and Cowherd agree that Lane Kiffin has become one of the most compelling and effective coaches in college football.
- They compare him to coaches and players whose greatness wasn’t always defined by national titles:
- Bill Parcells as a fixer of broken programs
- Dan Marino / Charles Barkley as elite talents who didn’t always get championships
- Mark Richt as a coach often judged unfairly because he shared an era with Saban and Meyer
- Pate’s view:
- Kiffin has done something historic at Ole Miss
- He may deserve more credit now because he no longer has the built-in excuse of a “disadvantaged” job
- If he doesn’t eventually reach a title game or better at a more resourced job, it may slightly ding his legacy
College football scheduling should be more like the NFL
- One of the strongest arguments in the interview was that teams shouldn’t control their own scheduling as much as they do.
- Pate believes:
- Scheduling should not be left to individual schools
- Major rematches and conference games should be front-loaded earlier in the season
- The sport is too financially driven for schools to hide behind conservative non-conference scheduling
- Cowherd’s point that Ole Miss vs. Lane Kiffin’s storyline should have been a Labor Day centerpiece gets a lot of support.
- Pate also notes that many schools say they need playoff expansion or more certainty before scheduling aggressively, but that has become a convenient excuse.
USC vs. Oregon is really a test of physicality and identity
- Joel Klatt’s point about college teams building toughness in practice — since they don’t have preseason games or joint practices like the NFL — is central here.
- Pate agrees that:
- USC’s offense is built around finesse and deception
- Oregon is the team that should, in theory, be more physically ready because of its returning personnel
- He’s still not sold on Lincoln Riley as a “culture builder,” but he doesn’t buy the idea that Riley cannot win big games — only that he hasn’t yet.
- He also notes that Dan Lanning gets more benefit of the doubt because Oregon has shown more regular-season proof of concept.
Arch Manning is still an unfinished evaluation
- Cowherd is still waiting for a “plant your flag” moment.
- Pate agrees:
- Arch hasn’t played well enough to be crowned yet
- The UTSA game was not impressive on film
- The Tennessee road game will be a major measuring stick
- He stresses that Arch’s resume is still based on:
- tools
- potential
- the name on the jersey
- Against elite defenses and hostile environments, Arch needs to prove he can win before the offense falls apart.
Notre Dame, quarterback development, and the importance of carrying a team
- Pate highlights Darian Mensah as one of the best quarterbacks he’s watched in college football.
- He also discusses how some quarterbacks — like CJ Carr — may be protected too well by elite teams, leaving their true ceiling harder to judge until postseason pressure arrives.
- His broader point: quarterbacks who are forced to carry their teams are often the best developmental bets.
Ohio State is No. 1, but it’s a soft No. 1
- Pate’s power rankings:
- Ohio State
- Georgia
- Texas
- Notre Dame
- Ole Miss
- Miami
- LSU
- Indiana
- Alabama
- Oregon
- He repeatedly says Ohio State is a soft No. 1, meaning:
- the Buckeyes are top-ranked, but not by a massive margin
- their schedule and short-yardage/run-game questions leave room for doubt
- He likes to rank based on neutral-field strength and current ability, not just reputation.
Oklahoma and Lincoln Riley / Brent Venables remain a cautionary tale
- The interview revisits the irony of the Oklahoma–USC coaching swap:
- Lincoln Riley remains elite offensively, but USC still has big questions about culture and defense
- Brent Venables is strong defensively and on recruiting, but Oklahoma’s offense remains unsettled
- Pate says this is a classic example of how coaching “brain drain” works:
- When someone leaves, what they leave behind can reveal how valuable they really were
- He sees Oklahoma as “lost a little bit” because the offense hasn’t translated from practice to games.
Deion Sanders and roster accountability in the NIL era
- Cowherd and Pate discuss Deion Sanders cutting players and whether that’s appropriate in the NIL/transfer-portal era.
- Pate’s take:
- This was inevitable once players started being paid like professionals
- You can’t keep treating athletes like children when they are effectively employees
- If a player isn’t contributing or is bad in the locker room, cutting them is now part of the reality
- He credits Deion for:
- taking a stand
- not just complaining
- acting on his beliefs
Notable Insights
On Kiffin’s reputation
- Kiffin works especially well in the South because his swagger, trolling, and edge fit the culture.
- Pate doesn’t think that same style travels as well in the Midwest or NFL circles.
On Lincoln Riley
- Pate doesn’t think people should confuse “has not” with “cannot.”
- Riley has not won the biggest games yet, but that does not mean he is incapable of doing so.
On college football development
- Without preseason games or joint practices, teams have to develop physicality in practice.
- That makes early-season evaluation especially tricky, particularly for offense-heavy teams.
Josh Pate’s Power Rankings Snapshot
Top 10 as discussed
- Ohio State
- Georgia
- Texas
- Notre Dame
- Ole Miss
- Miami
- LSU
- Indiana
- Alabama
- Oregon
How to read them
- Pate emphasizes that these are current neutral-field rankings
- He is still waiting for more evidence on several teams, especially:
- Ohio State
- Notre Dame
- Oregon
- Indiana
- Miami
Bottom Line
This episode is a wide-ranging but sharp college football conversation about evaluation versus reputation. Cowherd and Pate consistently return to the same idea: in today’s era, you have to judge teams and coaches by what they actually produce, not by brand name, recruiting hype, or narrative.
The biggest debates centered on:
- whether Lane Kiffin is finally getting proper credit
- whether USC or Oregon is better built for the physical reality of Big Ten football
- whether Arch Manning is truly becoming “the guy”
- and whether Ohio State really deserves the No. 1 spot, even if only provisionally.