Not long ago, a college kicker lining up for a 50+ yard field goal attempt sent terror and doubt into the hearts of that team's fans, and an NFL kicker lining up from 60+ yards was a rare sight. Rodger Sherman, author of the Read Rodge newsletter, joins Ryan Nanni to discuss how those trends have changed over the years at both levels, why kicking is unique in its historical assessment, and how we feel about the end of #collegekickers pessimism. (Also: here's Jourdan Rodrigue's story about the changes in the NFL's K-ball rules!) Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
Steven Godfrey takes questions from Phantom Island paid subscribers and discusses Tony Elliott snatching his job from the jaws of defeat, what Memphis does if Ryan Silverfield leaves, whether athletic directors hesitate to fire coaches they hired to avoid looking bad, how the MAC could change its television options, and a lot more. This is a preview of the full episode, which is available to paid subscribers – go to phantomisland.show to sign up today. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
Basketball games on aircraft carriers! Baseball at a (very muddy race track)! Multiple iterations of outdoor hockey! Steven Godfrey and Ryan Nanni review some of the history of sports being played outside their usual settings and look for patterns that explain what makes these unorthodox setups so appealing to the organizers. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
Arkansas got stomped by Notre Dame, fired Sam Pittman, and noted that yes, interim coach Bobby Petrino wants the full time gig. Steven Godfrey and Ryan Nanni discuss what this search will look like for the Hogs, as well as examining how Todd Grantham managed to get fire a week after Mike Gundy's dismissal, what two G5 programs with struggling legends might do next, and some thoughts about the Belichick debacle at UNC. This is a preview of the full episode, which is available to paid subscribers – go to phantomisland.show to sign up today. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
ESPN's Bill Connelly joins Steven Godfrey to talk about why Mizzou doesn't get the SEC benefit of the doubt, the blooming FCS to FBS coach pipeline, an early ranking of the Big 12, what to make of Bill's numbers about Indiana, and plenty more. Be sure to order Bill's new book! This is a preview of the full episode, which is available to paid subscribers – go to phantomisland.show to sign up today. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
Steven Godfrey has a well-documented love of Thursday night college football classics, but the sport and its broadcasters don't seem as invested in these games as they once were. Ryan Nanni brings some numbers to the conversation to show how the Thursday night game has changed and both hosts consider whether the NFL's really to blame. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
Steven Godfrey takes questions from Phantom Island paid subscribers to explain why being first to market may not help Virginia Tech or UCLA, how to shoot your shot as a school looking to hire a new coach, which game he'd pick to go back in time and attend in person, and how the last year or so of his podcast life has unfolded. This is a preview of the full episode, which is available to paid subscribers – go to phantomisland.show to sign up today. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
Jen Ramos Eisen joins Ryan Nanni to discuss the A's first year in Sacramento, from the logistical challenges that come with playing in a minor league park to how locals feel about having a temporary major league team in town, and take the temperature of the planned move to Las Vegas. Does the city want them there? Will the stadium even get built? And what's The Fontainebleau? Steven Godfrey and Ryan start the episode with some memories of the messy move that brought the Oilers from Houston to Memphis to Nashville. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
Three games into the 2025 season, UCLA and Virginia Tech have moved on from their head coaches. Steven Godfrey and Ryan Nanni sit down to discuss why these moves happened so quickly, what advantage being first in the market gives you, and what the process to find the next coach may look like at each school. This is a preview of the full episode, which is available to paid subscribers – go to phantomisland.show to sign up today. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
Parker Fleming joins Ryan Nanni to discuss the 247 Team Talent Composite (the recruiting site's formula for determining the overall amount of talent on a college football roster in a given year), the NFL's franchise tag valuation system, and how to combine the two to get a sharper picture of which college football teams might be best at acquiring players at the most important positions. (Or at least at the one the NFL values most.) This is a preview of the full episode, which is available to paid subscribers – go to phantomisland.show to sign up today. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and the rest of the Ivy League schools have tons of football history and deep donor pockets to draw from. So why does the world of player compensation not necessarily present an opportunity for these football teams to reclaim their ancient thrones? Rodger Sherman, author of Read Rodge, joins Ryan Nanni to talk about the customs and choices that keep the Ivy League from fully embracing the new form of college athletics and speculate on where and how those standards might waver. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
The Pete Carroll Seahawks gave their fans and the football world a seemingly endless supply of spectacle. More than a decade since their Super Bowl triumph over the Broncos and subsequent Super Bowl agony on the goal line against the Patriots, how do Seattle fans feel about the past, present, and future of their team? We talked to Mina Kimes, Jacson Bevens, and Natalie Weiner about the highs, lows, and in-betweens of rooting for the Seahawks. This is a preview of the full episode, which is available to paid subscribers – go to phantomisland.show to sign up today. Presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
The 2020 (and, in some cases, 2021) postseasons of several American sports were changed drastically by Covid, from playoffs contained to bubbles to drastically shortened seasons and changes to postseason formats. But the way fans and media members think about and discuss the champions of these unusual seasons varies somewhat widely, which is why Ryan Nanni and Steven Godfrey sit down on this episode to figure out why some Covid title-winners are met with disdain while others are not. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
Steven Godfrey answers questions from paid subscribers to Phantom Island about issues ranging from how coaches feel about Friday night college football, status checks on Lane Kiffin, Mario Cristobal, and Brian Kelly, personnel changes at Pearl Jam, Family Dog Update, and plenty more. This is a preview of the full episode, which is available to paid subscribers – go to phantomisland.show to sign up today. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
Steven Godfrey and Ryan Nanni review the Phantom Island preseason survey of college football fans to see which coaches have strong support and which don't, discuss the growing gap between schools that value playoff wins and those that still value conference titles, look at which programs teams are most excited of beating or fearful of losing to, and plenty more. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
It's easy to make a hot seat list based on which coaches in college football have underperformed relative to expectations, but The Eyes List is where Steven Godfrey cuts through the speculation to tell you (and co-host Ryan Nanni) where various schools, coaches, and boosters really stand entering 2025. Which SEC coach is on the thinnest ice? Would candidates be more tempted by Stanford or Cal? Is the Big Ten going to see any change at all? And how could shakeups in the power conferences impact the G5? This is a preview of the full episode, which is available to paid subscribers – go to phantomisland.show to sign up today. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
The short answer: no, Ryan Nanni does not, despite goading from cohost Steven Godfrey, believe the 2001 Gators were derailed by Osama Bin Laden. But this episode is a look back at how the sports world reacted after the 9/11 attacks, the strange chain of events that led to Florida - and then Tennessee - blowing a chance to play for a national championship, the team Steve Spurrier said he wanted to stop scheduling, and the now-abandoned customs of Heisman voters. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
Ryan Nanni brings on Shehan Jeyarajah of CBS Sports to discuss the story he wrote earlier this summer about Texas Tech's brazen plan to spend heavily on the last open market transfer class. Where should improvement be most obvious for the Red Raiders? How will a somewhat weak schedule help or hurt their ambitions? And what's the plan to turn this into lasting momentum instead of one outlier year? This is a preview of the full episode, which is available to paid subscribers – go to phantomisland.show to sign up today. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
This episode of Phantom Island is a little different. Rather than look at a question about the sports world, Steven Godfrey brings a subject that's much more personal to co-host Ryan Nanni. See, Steven's selected a La Liga team to pull for, and he's worried that his experiences as a Braves and Falcons fan are pulling him towards absurdity. What kind of absurdity? The kind with kidnapping and incredible managerial turnover and financial ruin. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.
Enjoy this special bonus episode for paid Phantom Island subscribers, in which Steven Godfrey interviews Parker Fleming fresh off the conclusion of the 2025 Personnel and Recruiting Symposium. This is a preview of the full episode, which is available to paid subscribers – go to phantomisland.show to sign up today. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.