Media days season is here, which means the podcast that runs college football's back half of July is back in business. Big Cat teased it the night before it dropped, and the anticipation was real for a reason: this wasn't some watered-down Zoom hit, it was three sitting Power 4 head coaches in the building for real conversations.
Big Cat flagged the episode the night before as Big Ten Media Week officially kicked off.
The lineup was Wisconsin's Luke Fickell, USC's Lincoln Riley, and Rutgers' Greg Schiano — three coaches heading into 2026 with wildly different levels of heat under them. Fickell is reportedly on some hot seat lists after going 10-17 in Big Ten play since arriving in Madison and struggling against ranked teams, even with a roster overhaul that brought in 33 transfers this offseason. Riley, meanwhile, is publicly bullish, telling reporters at Big Ten Media Days that USC is 'more equipped than at any point in the previous few years' to chase a playoff spot behind Jayden Maiava and a retooled defense under Gary Patterson.
The full episode rundown, with all three coaches and the Mount Rushmore bit that's become a PMT staple.
Big Cat came away from his one-on-one with Fickell sounding like a guy who just watched a coach admit the quiet part out loud. No sugarcoating, no coach-speak deflection — Fickell knows this year matters, and Big Cat said as much, praising the energy of a coach who sounds like he's running toward the fight instead of away from it.
Big Cat's takeaway from talking with Fickell about the stakes of this Wisconsin season.
The Fickell portion also produced the kind of tangent PMT built its brand on: a wrestling breakdown, of all things, with Fickell — a two-time national champion wrestler at Ohio State before he ever coached a down of football — walking the guys through the mechanics of a 5-on-2. It's a reminder that before he was fielding hot-seat questions about the Big Ten's easiest 2026 schedule, Fickell was one of the most decorated mat guys of his generation, and that background still shows up in how he talks about competing.
Fickell breaking down wrestling technique mid-interview, a nod to his roots as a national champion grappler.
Reaction to the episode landed the way it usually does when PMT runs the coach circuit right: fans pointed out that Barstool's access and format beat the recycled questions coaches usually get lobbed at them on the media day dais. With Schiano bringing his usual old-school intensity to the Rutgers conversation and Riley making his case for USC as a real playoff threat, the episode functioned as a genuine season preview instead of a promotional formality — and it's only going to get busier as Big 12 media days roll in behind it.