Jeff Passan on the Yankees' edge, the Dodgers' dominance, and one manager's plan to stop Ohtani

An NBA veteran's first year GMing Notre Dame basketball with Pat Garrity

Pat Garrity played 10-plus years in the NBA, then spent four seasons in Detroit's front office learning how to build a winning team. Now he's back at Notre Dame, the school where he was Big East Player of the Year, running the general manager role for both the men's and women's basketball programs.  Woj and Pat break down what it really takes to compete in the NIL and transfer portal era, why re-recruiting your own players never stops, and whether the current financial model of college basketball is actually sustainable. In this episode, we discuss: The NBA vs. College Gap: Why four years in Detroit's front office only partly prepares you for a world with no guaranteed roster from one season to the next. Re-Recruiting Your Own Guys: Why the retention battle starts the day a player steps on campus, not in March, and what Notre Dame is doing to stay ahead of it. The Notre Dame Sell: How the value of a degree holds up against a bigger check — and exactly when it stops being enough. The Sustainability Question: Why Pat believes the current cost structure of college basketball can't hold, and what the NBA's own labor history tells us about where this is headed. Men's vs. Women's: The key differences Pat sees operating both programs under one roof, and where the two worlds are starting to converge. Follow The Program with Woj: New episodes every Wednesday. Subscribe on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. A big thank you to our presenting sponsor, Novig, America’s sports exchange, where you can make picks on the NBA, NFL, and more at the best odds. Go to https://novig.com and use code WOJ to get 50 dollars worth of Novig coins when you spend your first five dollars. Must be 21+. No purchase necessary to play. Void where prohibited. See terms of use for eligibility. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Texas football GM Brandon Harris on managing Arch Manning's contract--and everyone else's

Texas football GM Brandon Harris joins Woj to pull back the curtain on what it actually costs to build and keep a championship-level roster in the SEC. In this episode, we cover: * Why the minimum investment to compete for a national championship in the SEC is $30 million and climbing * How Harris structures negotiations to keep Coach Sark insulated from player money conversations * The three tiers of players on every roster and why the middle tier is always the hardest deal to close * Why he'd rather negotiate with an agent than a parent every time and what he tells families who ask * What a visit to the Baltimore Ravens front office taught him about building a program the right way * How roster inflation has grown 20 to 25 percent year over year with no ceiling in sight Subscribe for more episodes of The Program with Woj, new every Wednesday. 1:33 — Brandon Harris on Becoming Texas Football’s GM 2:45 — How the Transfer Portal Changed Roster Building 4:10 — Why College Football Is Moving Toward a 5-Year Model 5:12 — The Biggest Problem With Roster Retention 6:16 — The Academic Challenge of Modern Transfers 8:33 — How Texas Builds a Championship Roster 10:27 — Why Retaining Players Matters More Than Recruiting 11:24 — The NIL Problem With High School Recruits 12:48 — How Texas Finds NFL Talent Others Missed 13:47 — What Brandon Harris Learned From NFL Front Offices 15:08 — Why the Ravens Are the Model Organization 16:09 — What a National Championship Roster Costs Now 17:47 — How Much Time Texas Spends Raising Money 19:56 — How Texas Evaluates NIL Market Value 21:32 — Why Some GMs Are Better Negotiators Than Others 22:50 — Why Restraint Matters in Recruiting 24:27 — Why Sark Doesn’t Handle NIL Negotiations 26:22 — The Three Tiers of Players on a College Roster 27:56 — Why Agents Are Easier Than Parents 29:01 — When Relationships Become Business Decisions A big thank you to our presenting sponsor, Novig, America’s sports exchange, where you can make picks on the NBA, NFL, and more at the best odds. Go to https://novig.com [https://novig.com] and use code WOJ to get 50 dollars worth of Novig coins when you spend your first five dollars. Must be 21+. No purchase necessary to play. Void where prohibited. See terms of use for eligibility. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Jeff Passan on the Yankees' edge, the Dodgers' dominance, and one manager's plan to stop Ohtani

Jeff Passan catches up with Woj to break down what actually separates good MLB organizations from great ones, and talk about his new show Sources Tell Jeff Passan. In this episode, we discuss: - The Yankees' secret edge in pitching development - Why the Dodgers are nearly impossible to beat - How Moneyball changed sports forever - The power shift from managers to front offices - One manager's hidden plan to stop Ohtani And plenty more. Subscribe for more episodes of The Program with Woj, new every Wednesday. 1:16 — Why Jeff Passan Started a Podcast 2:37 — Inside the World Series Strategy Room 4:26 — The Goal: Making Smarter Baseball Fans 5:29 — The Most Surprising World Series Revelation 6:24 — Did the Blue Jays Intentionally Tire Out Ohtani? 7:14 — The “Game Behind the Game” in Baseball 8:20 — Why Competitors Rarely Open Up This Quickly 9:53 — Aaron Boone, Joe West, and Baseball Ejections 11:48 — How MLB Teams Actually Build Winners 13:03 — Why College Sports Are Becoming Impossible to Manage 14:03 — How Small Market MLB Teams Stay Competitive 15:41 — Did Moneyball Change Sports Forever? 17:22 — How Analytics Completely Changed Baseball 18:34 — Why Modern Players Must Understand Data 20:25 — Have Front Offices Taken Over Baseball? 21:38 — How Analytics Flipped MLB Power Structures 23:42 — The Yankees’ Hidden Competitive Advantage 24:26 — How the Yankees Mastered Catcher Framing 25:06 — Why Yankees Pitchers Keep Developing So Well 26:31 — The Yankees’ Development System Explained A big thank you to our presenting sponsor, Novig, America’s sports exchange, where you can make picks on the NBA, NFL, and more at the best odds. Go to https://novig.com and use code WOJ to get 50 dollars worth of Novig coins when you spend your first five dollars. Must be 21+. No purchase necessary to play. Void where prohibited. See terms of use for eligibility. Visit surfshark.com/woj to get four EXTRA months of Surfshark VPN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Kaleb Canales on reuniting with Dame and building Weber State into a winner

New Weber State head coach Kaleb Canales joins Woj to discuss what it means to reunite with Damian Lillard, the player he helped draft in Portland, now as his general manager. In this episode, we cover: • What Damian Lillard’s role as general manager looks like day to day • Building a roster with an NBA style approach • The pro college hybrid system Canales is installing • Lessons from coaching Damian Lillard, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Dirk Nowitzki • Why roster construction today is more art than science • What it takes to build a winning program in modern college basketball Follow us for more conversations with the people shaping the future of team building. New episodes of The Program drop every Wednesday. 1:30 — Reuniting with Dame at Weber State 3:45 — Dame as GM and program presence 5:35 — Coaching journey (“took the stairs”) 8:05 — Roster building is art, not science 9:25 — Player development philosophy 12:40 — FIBA physicality 14:05 — Portal vs young players balance 16:20 — Program building and roster process 18:20 — Mentors and influences 20:20 — Pro/college hybrid system 22:10 — Adam Schefter story A big thank you to our presenting sponsor, Novig, America’s sports exchange, where you can make picks on the NBA, NFL, and more at the best odds. Go to https://novig.com [https://novig.com] and use code WOJ to get 50 dollars worth of Novig coins when you spend your first five dollars. Must be 21+. No purchase necessary to play. Void where prohibited. See terms of use for eligibility. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Why this coach loves NIL and the transfer portal

New Boston College basketball head coach Luke Murray catches up with Woj to break down why he embraces the chaos of modern college basketball, and how roster building now looks more like managing a salary cap than recruiting a team. From rebuilding an entire roster overnight to navigating NIL, the portal, and shifting player markets, Murray gives his take on what it actually takes to build a winning program in today’s game. In this episode, we discuss: * Why some coaches hate NIL… and why Murray loves it * Building a roster in the transfer portal era * The “salary cap” mindset in college sports * How analytics and international scouting factor in * Why Boston College could be a sleeping giant Subscribe for more episodes of The Program with Woj, new every Wednesday. 2:04 Initial priorities and meeting with the players 3:59 Transitioning from pre-NIL coaching to the current landscape 5:11 Enthusiasm for roster building and salary cap constraints 6:53 Navigating revenue share and athletic department resources 8:47 Prioritizing character and fit in the transfer portal 11:07 Using data and analytics to verify scouting 13:24 Structural differences between the ACC and the Big East 15:20 The selling points of Boston College as a brand 17:04 Recruiting battles with elite academic institutions 18:37 Balancing high school recruiting with the transfer portal 20:11 Strategies for player retention and building trust A big thank you to our presenting sponsor, Novig, America's sports exchange, where you can make picks on the NBA, NFL, and more at the best odds! Go to  https://novig.com and use code WOJ to get 50 dollars worth of Novig coins when you spend your first five dollars. Must be 21+. No purchase necessary to play. Void where prohibited. See terms of use for eligibility. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]