Two Deep | The Longest-Running Hokies Podcast · Pete B. & Sam Jessee | Sons of Saturday

National Championship Special - Part 2: College Football's New Era with CJ Caroll and Jackson Lee Mitchell

January 22, 2026·1 hr 2 min·5 clips

CJ Carroll blacked out during his career-best touchdown and woke up to a foot injury that never healed.

Coffee and contemplation, then football. The opening has the loose Two Deep feel: guest intros, old roommate energy, and mild disbelief that CJ Carroll had not already been on the podcast. CJ joins from his phone, which suits the excerpt. The conversation keeps moving even when the setup feels a little messy and familiar. The football heart of it is ACC expansion. Navy gets the strongest case because CJ argues that its steadiness across coaches looks impressive without transfer portal help. Army gets similar respect. This is not just service academy nostalgia. It is respect for programs that keep winning while staying outside the NIL scramble. Group of Five risk matters too. When a player pops, bigger schools can still call, and the transcript points to past losses to TCU and Ole Miss. Memphis and Tulane get support as well. The bigger frustration is that the ACC had cleaner regional options before reaching west for Stanford and Cal. Cal gets a soft exception. CJ admits the Cal addition has been fun, even while the broader Stanford and Cal move still feels pointed the wrong way. Jackson pushes the larger point. Conferences should stay regional because travel lands on actual college athletes, even in a NIL era shaped by money. NIL makes the moral question messier. Players can earn more now, but Jackson still argues colleges owe them a chance to succeed after football. That makes travel more than a map complaint. It becomes part of the fan argument over what college sports should protect while everything around it changes. The close slides back into community rhythm: CJ Carroll and Jackson trading love, Blacksburg plans, VMI-preview talk, and the familiar problem of fitting football around real life.

As heard by us

A conversational ACC realignment chat that lands on regional scheduling and the sport's purpose for players.

CJ Carroll and Jackson join the Sons of Saturday crew for a conversational look at college football's shifting map, with realignment, travel, NIL, and the purpose of conferences all getting attention.

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Want a fan-level argument for why college football should stay regional?

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