time.
He said coaches do play favorites and definitely allow certain players to get away with stuff they don't allow others to. In his case, he rode the pine for 3 years. Transferred down to play immediately and had 2 years of playing and was all-american / all-conference, 1 or both years and ended up getting drafted.
Had he stayed at the big-name school, bit his tongue and not transferred, he never would have played... much less made it to the NFL.