Best of 2 Pros and a Cup of Joe

Today on 2 Pros and a Cup of Joe, the NFL hands down the suspension on Azeez Al-Shaair but is the criticism too harsh? Jerry Jones is selling hope in Mike McCarthy because he doesn’t have anything better to sell. Plus, the weekly visit from The Old P, Petros Papadakis.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
It is the best of two pros and a couple
Joe with Lamar Aarings and Rady Guinn and Jonas Knox
on Fox Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
We'd like the new Odd Couple.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
Stop it? What do you mean? What do you mean? Rob?

Speaker 4 (00:22):
Listen man? Rob loves him some Rob you know one?
Now you know you're on Rob's friend list when you
just get random clips of Rob and it could be
stuff from his day's back East.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
It could be stuff from his days at ESPN.

Speaker 4 (00:41):
It could be stuff from the Odd Couple with kelvin Washington.
It could it could there could be stuff from TV
like whatever he'd like. If you get something from Rob
about Rob, consider yourself lucky because that means you're on
the friend list.

Speaker 5 (00:55):
Or if you get something from from me because I
like making things about me as well, like yesterday's text
message that I sent out. Did you like that somebody
somebody could get burdo? Oh, you gotta go look at it. Yeah,
you gotta go look at it.

Speaker 4 (01:14):
By the way, those the comments about Bertohood a little
bit too close to home?

Speaker 2 (01:19):
Yeah, you know, you know what I go. It's all
done and good good nature, but nonetheless, uh, what wasn't done?
In good nature is the somebody.

Speaker 4 (01:34):
And by the way, you're not lying. No, I'll see
a few of those. On Christ receives a picture of
a dude.

Speaker 5 (01:41):
That looks just like Burdo and the caption is when
you're recently divorced. T O shows up to Thanksgiving dinner
and his shirt is button He only has one button
above the belt. That is his button.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Oh yeah, move, and he's.

Speaker 5 (01:59):
Got a would look like a rosary, you know, around
his neck, some beads and then the gold one with
the cross up top and that patented uh you know
that caterpillar across the front the upper lip.

Speaker 4 (02:17):
Oh yeah, listen the in laws, I mean every single
get together, it's that that with a pair of cowboy boots,
like a cowboy.

Speaker 6 (02:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (02:27):
If you go further down, oh yeah, yeah, it doesn't
even do they have the spurs?

Speaker 2 (02:32):
Did they have the spurs on the ball? No, they
don't go down.

Speaker 4 (02:34):
I mean that's after two am. And then you know,
from there on out, you just kind of, you know,
you realize what it.

Speaker 5 (02:40):
Once in a while, we'll see a dude walking his
jackasses around his burrows, his blows and and riding riding
horses like where I'm at like on the street, hitting
towards the trail.

Speaker 4 (02:55):
Welcome to southern California, where you just there's all sorts
of weird stuff here.

Speaker 6 (02:59):
Man.

Speaker 5 (03:00):
You know, I could take it a little deeper, but
I ain't going so I'm stright on. You know, I'm
just tip it right there.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (03:07):
Well, well let's get a little bit deeper into this
conversation here. Because Aziz al Shahir, the Texans linebasher who
lit up Trevor Lawrence on the the play that caused
the fight and the ejection over the weekend, he was
suspended by the NFL three games, and so there was

(03:30):
a statement that was released by the NFL. It was
VP of Football Ops John Runyon who released the statement,
and amongst the things that he said in the statement,
he said, quote after the illegal hit, you proceeded to
engage in a brawl, which you escalated when you pulled
an opponent down to the ground by his face mask.

(03:52):
After the referee announced that you were disqualified for the
hit and you are on sportsmanlike act, you removed your
helmet and re engage with your while walking down across
the field, which started another physical confrontation near the end zone.
He went on to say, your lack of sportsmanship and
respect for the game of football and all of those
who play, coach and enjoy watching it is troubling. It

(04:14):
does not reflect the core values of the NFL. Your
continued disregard for NFL playing rules puts the health and
safety of both you and your opponents in jeopardy and
will not be tolerated.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
End quote. Now pretty strong statement.

Speaker 5 (04:27):
You never want your employer. Yeah, that's just not a
statement you would want to have released.

Speaker 4 (04:37):
Nick Casario, the GM for the Texans. He was not
pleased with that comment and decided we decided to stick
up for his guy yesterday.

Speaker 7 (04:46):
Look, it is what it is. I think the big
thing from our standpoint and all teams want this's just
some level of consistency. And we've talked at the league
quite frankly, but we don't have a good explanation. Deniko
talked to him yesterday, So I mean, it is what
it is. I'm sure is he will go through whatever
process he's going to go through, and then we'll deal
with it accordingly. But I think what we take umbragees
is just the picture that's been painted about disease. His intentions,

(05:10):
who he is as a person, I means, quite frankly,
it's bull and it's unfair to the individual. It's unfair
of the organization. I mean, we love everything about as
he's all share, what he means to this team, what
he brings to this to this team, and that for
the league to make some of the commentary that he
made about lack of sportsmanship, lack of coachability, lack of
paying attention to the rules, quite frankly, it's embarrassing. So

(05:32):
I think the big thing from our and they're talking
about a player who's never been suspended, never been ejected,
So now we're saying that he's going to be suspended
for three games.

Speaker 4 (05:43):
Look, I can understand why they're going to stick up
for their guy, but that's a pretty brutal hit man
and to see I actually, and I was thinking about
this yesterday, do you believe if Trevor Lawrence hadn't posted
up with the clear sign of being concussed like we've
seen two have when he do you think if he

(06:05):
would have just kind of gotten up and kind of
thrown his hands up and been like, what the hell
was that? And No, there's no way it's a three
game suspension. I think, no, No, I think it's the same.
You think so, yeah, I think I think the optics
of Trevor Lawrence on the ground, you know, throwing his hands.

Speaker 5 (06:22):
Up, that just made it worse, and it made it worse,
and that's what the fans are consuming. So while I
believe the results would have been the same, there still
would have been a fight. He still would have got ejected,
he still would have got a three game suspension. He's
still going to get fine, what he's going to get fine.
John Runyon still would have seen what he was going

(06:43):
to say about you know, uh Asish. It's just that
Trevor would have got up. I really think that this
is it's it's so interesting. You gotta you gotta take
this at what the face value of it represents, which
is this is the direction that the league it's taking

(07:04):
the game.

Speaker 2 (07:05):
You don't want to have? How much did Trevor Lawrence make,
oh god, two hundred something million dollars year? Names on
the stadium for christ say, you don't want and this
is it comes down to.

Speaker 5 (07:18):
There's the dilemma I'm faced with when I look at
these types of situations play out, because that was you know,
in my playing day that was par for the course,
Like you could see a hit like that happen every
other play.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
Again, it was funny.

Speaker 5 (07:36):
I had a group group group chat going with with
some other guys that played defense in the league.

Speaker 2 (07:43):
We we have group chat.

Speaker 5 (07:45):
And we were chiming in, I'll leave the names out
because it's not not worth being a name dropper. But
it was like guys were like, we're really kind of
laughing about it because it's it's it was so commonplace
to to like try to take dudes out like that
was part of the game. Take take dudes out. So

(08:08):
we're talking about it, and and if you really think
about it, what would be the percentage if you were
to go through all the names that rest in the
Hall of Fame on the defensive side of the ball,
what do you think the percentage would be of players
that would have never been able to make it into
the league because of their style of play?

Speaker 2 (08:29):
Oh god, I mean.

Speaker 5 (08:31):
And let's take it a step further, because, like, again,
when it's one thing to keep it on the field
and how it happens on the field, but then you
start to kind of look at okay, when you hear
a criticism like what runying statement represented, and at times
Runying was a dirty player. I played against John Runyon

(08:52):
for many years.

Speaker 4 (08:52):
I don't even think it's just defensive players. Remember all
the highlights of Walter Payton and Earl Campbell lowering their helmet.

Speaker 5 (08:58):
Well, that's a that's a whole nother conversation what offensive
players are. Because I still don't understand how an offensive
player is able to stiff arm a person in his
face mask and push him by his face mask. But
if you were to do the same exact thing, like
he can grab and shove you down, and if you

(09:20):
do it back, if you touch his face, if you
touch his face mask, grab on his face mask the
same way he's grabbing on yours, it's a flag. They're like,
there's a lot of things that offensive guys get get
away with. But my point, my point is, is then
you start to kind of attack the young man's character.
Now I don't know him. I don't know him to

(09:41):
defend his character. But what I will say is is
probably John Runyon doesn't know him either, And I will
say my dilemma here is I know you're trying to
clean up the league, and I know that there's the
idea of make making sure that player safety is a

(10:03):
priority because of all of the concerns that arose from
the movie concussion and CTE and all these players that have,
you know, these issues with their brains and guys taking
their own lives. I understand all of that. I think
the dilemma I find myself in is are you really

(10:24):
are you really going this hard on it based upon
the safety aspect of it, or are you going hard
on it based upon the investment part of it? Like
for instance, for instance, if a running back was running
and he got hit like that, right, is that man

(10:46):
getting the three mats?

Speaker 2 (10:47):
Is he getting a three game suspension? First off?

Speaker 5 (10:50):
Maybe he's And let's take away the sliding element of it. Right,
a running back is running, a defensive player comes in
and hits him violently and makes contact with him. We've
seen it happen a few times this year. They get
a personal foul. It's a fifteen yard penalty, automatic first down.

(11:13):
This is your first infraction. I mean, I don't know
that we've even seen a guy get actually kicked out
for a malicious hit on any other position on the field.
I mean, is there do we know of any that
have taken place this year.

Speaker 4 (11:31):
Uh, not that I can think of, which is why
I think Running was pretty specific about the stuff that
happened afterwards being part of the punishment.

Speaker 2 (11:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (11:40):
Well again, if you want to throw the melees that
took place after Like, didn't we just see a game
where every single play for about an entire two or
three series between the Ravens and the Steelers, they were fighting.
They were fighting literally after every play. No, I don't

(12:02):
think anybody even got kicked out. I don't even think
anybody got kicked out.

Speaker 2 (12:07):
Yeah, probably not.

Speaker 5 (12:08):
So when I look at how they handled this and
the way they approached it, I feel like, as somebody
who played a physical style in the physical brand of
football when I played, I look at it and I say,
it's more about protecting the investment of the quarterback's position

(12:29):
than it is about the total health and safety of
the game, because it's it's actually it's it's to me,
it's impossible to sit there and create a fine line
black and white in terms of how things are being
regulated in terms of the safety of a full contact
sport of football, because all intentsive purposes, the defenders are

(12:53):
in a position where it has to be a physical
and considerably brutal, brutal sport on your body and who
it is you're playing against. You know, the shelf life
on a running back is three and a half seasons,
three and a half years. You know why it's three
and a half years because of the brutality that takes

(13:14):
place in the toll in the tear wearing, tear on
their body, offensive lineman, defensive lineman, the brutality that takes
place every single play. So and I get, look, you
put in rules, you take away head slap, you take
away clothes lines, you take away chop blocks, you take.

Speaker 2 (13:32):
Away high lows.

Speaker 5 (13:35):
I mean, but the amount of attention that has been
paid to the quarterback position in particular, I think it's
and I hate to say it because it wasn't ugly hit, like,
I don't want to diminish and take away from what
the hit represented, but I think you still have to
follow the money on this situation.

Speaker 2 (13:55):
Jonas. I really think.

Speaker 5 (13:57):
That if it's anyone else on that field, it's not
it's not blown out of proportion to this level.

Speaker 2 (14:06):
It's it's really not.

Speaker 5 (14:07):
I think some way, somehow we have placed a halo
or this protective covering over quarterbacks, and now there's this
whole deal of quarterbacks are just more important than any
other person that's on that field. And the way it's handled,
the way it's legislated, the way that it is monitored,

(14:29):
it's all. It's all based around the protection and the
benefits of what what the quarterback represents to the game.

Speaker 4 (14:38):
It's it's like the and I and I always argue
this the gambling stuff when it comes to the NFL.

Speaker 2 (14:44):
If you like, when a.

Speaker 4 (14:45):
Player gets accused or caught gambling or they're betting on
games or whatever, they're betting on college football games.

Speaker 2 (14:51):
In the case of the Lions, who had some guys
and and.

Speaker 4 (14:54):
The NFL goes out and it's Calvin Ridley and he
gets suspended for an entire season. The punishment does don't
fit the crime, but the optics of it do. And
I think that when the NFL hands down some of
these punishments like this one, I think this is a hey,
we we understand, but do you understand why we have to.

Speaker 5 (15:19):
Make this move. Do not hit the quarterback? I mean,
do not hit the quarterback. That's what this is to me.
Is as ugly as that hit looks is again, and
I may come across as sounding insensitive, but I just
understand the game and how the game has been played,
and how many players have played this game at the

(15:41):
level they played it at. That is not the most
egregious hit you're going to see take place in football games.
It's just not it's who it happened to. It's who
got hit. It's how that who got hit, And that,
to me is what the outrage is is about. And

(16:03):
that's why there's been this whole age old, you know,
kind of debate on even even turning it into because
I don't think it's a race thing at all. But
when you think about when, when you know they've made
comparisons where Cam Newton is able to be hit late
or Lamar Jackson or Robert Griffin, you see the theme
that I'm going with here. They're able to be hit late,

(16:26):
but there's no flags or there's nothing that takes place
when they get hit when they're running because they're virtually
or in essence, they're viewed as a running back. So
apparently the refs aren't able to manage their running the
same way they would manage the other quarterbacks that are
are running when they run. So to me, when I

(16:48):
look at what's taking place right here, right now, this
is this is a line in the sand, a further
a further confirmation that you are not to touch, you're
not to hit the quarterback.

Speaker 4 (17:04):
But isn't this about like in those cases like if
Trevor Lawrence is trying to run and dive for a
first down and gets lit up and knocked out, completely
different discussion. It's the fact that he was going into
a slide and and look, I also think, and this
is why I can't stand targeting. I can't stand some

(17:24):
of the penalties that are called because you're asking a
player in real time, in full speed.

Speaker 5 (17:30):
To like they have to really digest a whole lot
like at a like.

Speaker 2 (17:37):
And I think that's what the point you're making is
a good point. Well, it's like it's like in baseball.

Speaker 4 (17:41):
Imagine if all of a sudden, the strike zone was
moving to where all it's it's it's going around in
a circle and you got to throw a strike. If
you're the picture, you're like, well, hold on a second, like,
where like where do I throw to to get a
strike call? And you're asking defenders like where can I
hit in real time with everything moving, Where can I
go to get a strike call that's not going to
get flagged for a penalty. I think it's the fact

(18:03):
that he was sliding, and I'm telling you, I think
it's the way that he looked after the hit that
really scared people.

Speaker 2 (18:11):
It did scare people, it did. I don't think it
scared him into the punishment.

Speaker 5 (18:16):
I think it The reality of it is is that
you do not want your highest paid superstar, Marquis Marquee.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
Talent on the field on the sideline.

Speaker 5 (18:34):
Like to me, I feel like that's what this ultimately
comes down to, because guys get knocked out. I would
be curious to know how many concussions have taken place
on Sundays or Saturdays this year. How many times do
we see it turn into The only time we see
it turn into really a big story is when it's

(18:56):
a quarterback.

Speaker 4 (18:57):
I look, why do you think I argue about Ja
Kwan Brisker like it's a great example. I mean, he
still has yet to play and he's on IR and
that happened in October and they put him back in
the game, and that was a play that was a
brutal hit.

Speaker 2 (19:11):
Yes, and that was a.

Speaker 4 (19:12):
Play where the receiver, the tight end, Tommy Tremble, lowered
his helmet and hit Jakwan Brisker, and Tommy Tremble got
fined after the game good and and and yet for
some reason Kwan Brisker was allowed to stay in the
game and not evaluate it.

Speaker 5 (19:30):
And but that's a great it's a great example of
what I'm saying. So the bottom line here is John Runyon,
that's mock outrage and and you should choose your words
more carefully because you don't you don't know, I'm I'm
I'm pretty pretty certain you don't know AZA's well enough
to call his character in the question to that degree.

(19:53):
We've all had our moments where we get caught up
in in in a game. If you're a competitor and
if something doesn't grow go completely right and you get
into a scuffle or whatever, it may be that you
may have handled things in a way that you may regret.
The man came out and apologize for what took place.
I just think that the approach of it, you know,

(20:14):
I don't know. I you're protecting quarterbacks, that's fine, tell
them not to run, tell them not to run. The
blow I keep saying it blow the play did when
you get close to the quarterback, make it touch, give
them a flag, whatever it is. But you don't have
to keep dancing around the fact that you're protecting. This
is all about protection of the quarterback. That's really what

(20:37):
this comes down to. Like we could talk about the
brawl and that is what it is, but the idea
of it, it really comes down to the fact that
you're protecting quarterbacks. And that's to me, that's all is
not justifying a hit at all, not justifying the hit,
and the rules are the rules about about the rules,
But this is all about protecting the quarterback.

Speaker 2 (20:57):
That's my dilemma here.

Speaker 5 (20:58):
Is it safety or is it you're protecting a certain
skill group because everybody's subject to the same type of
brutality on that football field.

Speaker 1 (21:08):
Be sure to catch live editions of Two Pros and
a Cup of Joe with Brady Quinn, LeVar Errington, and
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on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 4 (21:22):
So it seemed like it was a foregone conclusion. People
have basically ridden the obituary of Mike McCarthy the head
coach of the Dallas Cowboys, that was going to be
a rap on his time in Dallas. He was offered
no contract after this year, and so it was, Hey,
we're just going to play this thing out. There was
even some people kind of kicking around the idea of
all those bad home losses, are they potentially going to

(21:45):
move on from Mike McCarthy in season, And Jerry Jones
kind of started throwing this out there, you know, a
couple of weeks ago, about the potential of it's not
the craziest idea in the world, and Mike McCarthy will
get an extension. Afterwards, I was like, wait, what, like
this is a bit of a plot twist. Jerry Jones
on his weekly radio hit one of two on the

(22:09):
Fan in Dallas was talking with Sean and RJ and
had this to say about.

Speaker 6 (22:14):
Mike quality of character, quality of football character. He steady
is a rock, has never.

Speaker 2 (22:24):
Wavered from.

Speaker 6 (22:28):
His matra of we didn't play well, so we don't.
I'm not gonna say don't deserve to win, but the
reason why we didn't win is we didn't play well.
He's a genuine he's a no bs with these players
and I've never thought for one second that the team

(22:48):
had quit recognizing what an outstanding coach he is.

Speaker 4 (22:52):
So this was in reference to the fact that the Cowboys,
all of a sudden, one two in a row, they
won to in a row in the division. And so
there's you know, a little bit more offism when it
comes to Mike McCarthy, Dak Prescott, his quarterback. I was
talking with Jorry Epstein also and had nothing but praise
for his head coach.

Speaker 8 (23:08):
I believe in him wholeheartedly. I think he definitely deserves
a chance another another contract, and I had a chance
to coach this team amongst and and kind of I
guess you can say.

Speaker 3 (23:23):
More influence on his terms.

Speaker 8 (23:25):
Uh maybe maybe a good way to say it, but
but I wholeheartedly believe in him. The guys who won
a Super Bowl, and the Jay's attested to that, there's
not many guys or coaches who have done that, and
to have one that can do it from experience, and
I know how valuable he's been for me.

Speaker 4 (23:41):
So a lot of optimism, a lot of kind words
for Mike McCarthy, the Super Bowl champion, who all of
a sudden has now become very popular amongst the owner
and the starting quarterback there in Dallas.

Speaker 5 (23:55):
You know what's interesting is you look at his regular
season record as the head coach the Dallas Cowboys, it's
one hundred and seventy two wins, one hundred and nine
losses and two ties. That has him at a sixty
one percent win average. He's eleven and eleven, so he's

(24:16):
at five hundred in the postseason. So if you're looking
at it purely from has he been successful as a
leader of your team void of winning a Super Bowl,
you would say largely in part he's had a successful
run and tenure as a head coach there.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
He's also lost his starting quarterback twice for the season
in his time in Dallas.

Speaker 5 (24:42):
So I think I think you got to put it
in the proper perspective. If you're looking at Mike McCarthy,
as is this the coach that is going to win
a Super Bowl as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
If that's if that's what you're basing this off of,

(25:03):
as you know, this is the criteria of you maintaining
your job, then he's going to lose his job. I
would say their best opportunity to have made a real
run for the Super Bowl was before this year, before
this roster that they have.

Speaker 2 (25:24):
So that's let's get that out of the way.

Speaker 5 (25:27):
But with that being said, what coach are you bringing
in that's going to be able to conquer that code?
Bill Parcells wasn't able to do it, Sewn, Jason and
Jason Garrett wasn't able to do it. A couple other
names you could throw out there, Wade Phillips. Nobody's been

(25:50):
able to do it. So what are we basing What
is the realistic basis of what we're judging as success
as a head coach for the Dallas Cowboys and whatever
that real answer is should dictate if Mike McCarthy has
the job or not, whether he gets the extension or not.

(26:13):
If you're asking me, should he get the extension, why not?
He's taking what you believe, Jerry and Son. He's taking
what you guys believe as these are the right moves
to make personnel wise and for the health of our
team and our franchise. This is what we're going to do.

(26:34):
These are the players we're paying, These are the players
that are going to be here now, coach them and
win now as long as you're okay with understanding that
that man is winning basically in spite of whether he's
getting the proper players or not, which I think we
would all agree that's not You don't have the you

(26:57):
don't have an adequate roster to win a super Bowl.
So the man is over five hundred, he's over sixty percent,
and his winning. As the head coach of your team,
wouldn't you say that's that's good enough?

Speaker 2 (27:13):
Keep us winning?

Speaker 5 (27:15):
Well, at some point, we'll get to a point where
we say, you know what, maybe it's time to move on,
because it's just time to move on. Maybe it's like
it's almost like something running its course, Like we've won
enough with you to keep you around this long, but
we need to get somebody else that reinvigorates our fan
base on believing that we're going to win a super

(27:36):
Bowl moving forward. So now we got to move on
from you. I don't think that that's this offseason. While
it may happen, I still don't think that that's necessarily
this off season because I don't think look at it
this way. I think you put the next head coach
in a bad spot as well, because you're not improving

(27:57):
this team over one off season, and so you're going
to get results that are similar to the ones you're
getting right now with Mike McCarthy as the head coach,
may be worse.

Speaker 4 (28:07):
Like if I were to just present to you with
no names involved, and I just told you like this.
So there's a team who went to the playoffs last
year and coming into this year, they lost their defensive coordinator,
their offensive line got worse, they lost their starting running back,
and they basically did nothing to improve the roster.

Speaker 2 (28:31):
What were you expecting? And this is an all in season?

Speaker 3 (28:35):
Like what did like?

Speaker 2 (28:36):
What was what were you expecting was going to happen?

Speaker 4 (28:40):
And I say this to somebody who was very high
on the Cowboys coming into this season, because I thought
to my I overthought it because I looked at it
and said, they must know something that we don't know,
because nobody could figure out what the term all in meant.
When it felt like you were more all out that
that it was. You know, the old line got worse,

(29:00):
the starting the running back was gone. Defensively, there was
some losses, and on top of that, you lose your
starting quarterback and your best defensive player miss time because
he heard his.

Speaker 2 (29:12):
A lot of time. So you're looking at it going, so,
what was the idea here?

Speaker 3 (29:17):
Like what?

Speaker 4 (29:18):
And I just I hope Mike McCarthy gets another opportunity.
I'm skeptical, like I find it, you know, hard to
believe that we are down at this at this end
of the road and they're just going to go in
a different direction. But I hope that he gets a chance.
And I think when you hear Dak Prescott, when you
hear Mike McCarthy talking about well, players haven't quit, and
Dak Prescott's saying in so many words, I hope he

(29:40):
gets an opportunity to do it on his terms. I
think people there like, dude, Jerry, you put him in
a crap spot.

Speaker 5 (29:47):
He's not going to get to do it on his terms.
That's the point. So now again the question becomes like
think about it. I brought up Bill Parcels. You know
what his record was with Dallas thirty four and thirty
so just over five hundred and wins totals right, and
no longevity, didn't stay very long and had no playoff wins,

(30:11):
had zero playoff wins. You're talking about the tuna. One
of the best coaches to do it in the history
of the game. I just think that you have to
be realistic in what your expectations are. And I almost
feel as though if you look at Jerry Jones's model,
it just makes sense to think you have a coach

(30:34):
that can handle being criticized the way that he is
by the media, by the fan base. You have a
coach that still is able to win games. And this
has been a poor season for them, but as you mentioned,
they're doing a little better now. There seems to be
some improvements. But this man has posted an over sixty

(30:58):
percent winning percentage your head coach. So Jerry Jones is like, look,
I got everything I need in this coach to get
us to a certain point. Whatever that point is, I
don't know, but he'll it'll carry us two more years,
three more years, four more years. I mean, it's the

(31:20):
same thing he did with Jason Garrett. A lot of
people thought Jason Garrett was out of there long before
he was out of there, and a lot of that,
to me, I believe is Jason Garrett gave you enough
enough of a glimmer of hope that there could be
a chance that they could make a Super Bowl run.
Mike McCarthy has historically not as of late this season,

(31:44):
but historically has given you hope, a glimmer of hope
that this team can win a Super Bowl, can compete
for a super Bowl. In fact, coming into this season,
people were saying that the Dallas Cowboys could be competitive
to go to the super Bowl. They said it was
a lock that they went to the NFC East, a lock

(32:07):
that they went to NFC East, and that they would
be one of the teams contending to go to the
Super Bowl.

Speaker 2 (32:12):
As long as.

Speaker 5 (32:13):
Jerry Jones can keep people like you believing that this
is what it is for as long as he can
before it.

Speaker 2 (32:21):
Totally runs out, like right when it gets its like
now do it?

Speaker 5 (32:25):
As long as he can get that far with Mike
Mike McCarthy, I would assume it would make sense to
keep Mike McCarthy because you do not have a roster
that can win a Super Bowl.

Speaker 4 (32:37):
So if I were to throw out some names to you,
and these are the big names that are out there,
you know, obviously Ben Johnson, the offensive coordinator for the Lions,
is going to be one of.

Speaker 2 (32:46):
The popular candidates.

Speaker 4 (32:47):
But you know, if Jerry Jones is looking and who knows,
maybe he thinks the Bears are a better job. Maybe
he thinks one of these other jobs is a better
job because he's going to be the hot commodity. But
if you're Jerry Jones, and let's say Dion Sanders doesn't
come to Dallas because Shadoor is not going there and
he'd rather stay at Colorado or go elsewhere to coach
with the Sun. So let's say Dion's out. Let's say

(33:08):
Belichick's out because he doesn't want an owner that's going
to meddle in everything, because he started to get that
towards the end of New England that didn't go well.
And let's say Vrabels out because somebody gives him a
better deal elsewhere. Who knows, maybe Ohio State knocks on
his door and says, hey, Mike, what do you think
Ryan Day didn't hold up his end of the bargain
and the rivalry of the game. If you're Jerry Jones

(33:30):
and you're looking around at the other candidates that are
out there, nobody is more qualified than Mike McCarthy. They literally,
and you would argue he's more qualified than Rabel, He's
more qualified than Dion Sanders. Outside of Belichick, who else
is more qualified than him.

Speaker 5 (33:47):
So just gave you Bill Parcells. That is Bill Belichick.
Bill Parcells is Bill Belichick.

Speaker 4 (33:54):
So like the idea that you're just gonna wow, we'll
just move on and we'll get some No, the reality
is this, when his quarterback is healthy and when he's
got a at least somewhat of a roster where they
plan an ingredients to have success.

Speaker 5 (34:13):
Yes, when he just doesn't win the big game, they
just don't win in the playoffs at a rapid clipt
they just don't make Super Bowl appearances.

Speaker 2 (34:22):
So that's what it is.

Speaker 4 (34:23):
And if you hear Jerry Jones say it, and you
hear Dak Prescott say it, and and all the players
have come out and said listen, like there's no like
like we love Mike McCarthy. Nobody's quit on him, like
nobody's nobody's saying. And I also look at it, and
I think he's got the perfect demeanor for the job,
because it's now when comments come out and Jerry Jones

(34:45):
is talking about the offense in which quarterback is going
to play, when Dak went down and all this stuff,
Mike McCarthy's demeanor this entire season, I've loved because Mike
McCarthy just looks at it and says, dah whatever, did like, Look,
I'm the coach, I know more about football than you.
He's gonna these comments. This is Dallas. I'm used to it.

Speaker 2 (35:02):
Whatever.

Speaker 4 (35:03):
I'm just gonna go out and coach these guys. We're
going to try and separate ourselves from the drama, and
we're just going to go out and try and compete.
And then you look at their schedule down the stretch
and you go, it's not impossible that they could finish
with a winning record. They're five and seven right now,
they've won two in a row in the division. They've
got Cincinnati coming up, They're at Carolina, They've got Tampa Bay,

(35:25):
and then they've got Philly and Washington. If all of
a sudden, Mike McCarthy's got this team at what nine
and eight to close out the year, if they go
on a little bit of a run and get you know,
decent quarterback play, if you were to tell me with
what he got coming into the season, Dak Prescott going
down with injury and all the other losses they've suffered
from a health standpoint, they've got no running game whatsoever.

(35:47):
They're on a backup quarterback, and Mike McCarthy sometimes somehow
gets this team to finish above five hundred.

Speaker 3 (35:54):
I don't.

Speaker 4 (35:55):
I mean, I gotta be honest, man, that's a hell
of a job, like a hell of a job to
defensive coordinator. The Mike Zimmer experience has been a little
bit off. It's just because Jerry Jones threw out the
idea of well, we need to have this happen this year,
like this is what we're demanding. We've got to win
in the postseason, We've got to win in the playoffs.

(36:16):
Yet he rolled out a less than roster from a
year ago and expected better results and didn't factor in well,
there could be some injuries. I just I look at
it and I go I hope he gets an opportunity.
I hope he sticks around and gets an extension. I
just don't know if Jerry Jones is already too far
down the road mentally with his thought process of a
head coach for next year that he thinks, yeah, I'm

(36:37):
just gonna make the switch, so.

Speaker 2 (36:39):
Hopefully for Mike. How many sticks, how many teams?

Speaker 5 (36:41):
Is this all right? Let's let's do this. Saint Louis
wins it in two thousand. Let's go to two thousands.
Saint Louis. The Rams win it in two thousand, all right,
as the Saint Louis Rams. I don't know if we
should count them as Do we count that as the
same team even as the Los Angeles Rams?

Speaker 2 (36:57):
Do we do that? Yes?

Speaker 7 (36:58):
No?

Speaker 4 (36:58):
And now they're Saint Louis? Is that If you do that,
then the Browns have won a Super Bowl when the
Ravens did.

Speaker 5 (37:04):
I don't know, because the Rams are still the Rams.
The Browns aren't the Ravens. The Ravens are the Ravens.

Speaker 4 (37:11):
So I mean they do honor the Saint Louis Rams
players at Rams games in LA. I mean, when when
the La Rams won a Super Bowl, one of the
like the mayors of LA or somebody like that, like
the politician came out into Saint Louis Rams Jersey.

Speaker 2 (37:26):
So there wasn't that. Let's split.

Speaker 5 (37:28):
Let's split it here and let's just say, okay, we'll
we'll make them two different two different franchises. Okay, in
two thousand, the Rams won, that's one team. Baltimore won
it the next year. New England won it the year
after that. That's three teams. Then you have Tampa Bay,
New England with keep it out New England. Then Pittsburgh's
a new one. Indianapolis wins one, all right. Then you

(37:51):
have the Giants they get they add onto the list
seven teams, all right. Then you have New Orleans that's
a new team. Then Green Bay jumps on the list,
new team. Then Seattle jumps on the list. Denver that
makes eleven, Philly that's twelve. Kansas City. That's thirteen. Thirteen

(38:12):
teams since two thousand. Since two thousand, we're in we're
in twenty what twenty twenty four, and thirteen teams have
won the Super Bowl. Thirteen teams. There's thirty two teams
in the NFL. Some of these teams ain't winning super Bowls.

(38:37):
Think about it, thirteen teams and the reason why it's
only thirteen is because they're repeating. These teams that are
winning the Super Bowls. They find ways, even if there's
a break in time, they find ways back to the
super Bowl. They're repeating thirteen and twenty four years. To me,

(38:58):
when you look at the lead there are there there
there has to be an understanding of it's probably not
likely that we're going to win a Super Bowl, but
I want to feel as though our team is good
enough to compete for it. And then now the rest

(39:22):
of the marketing and the advertising and how you brand
your organization and your franchise becomes the most important piece
of what you're doing for your business. You have to
sell hope, you have to sell excitement. If you can't
do that, then you're just a team, a franchise that is,

(39:46):
they're serviceable to the fan bases that they have, but
they're not going to be you know, it's not going.

Speaker 2 (39:52):
To be at the level of what a Dallas is.

Speaker 5 (39:56):
The one thing I'll give Jerry Jones credit for is
he has consistently built the value of this Dallas Cowboys franchise.
And they have not been one of those thirteen teams
that has has won a Super Bowl since two thousand
but yet and still within that amount of time, they've

(40:17):
become the most valuable franchise in the NFL. Jerry Jones
is selling his fan base, he's selling the football world hope.
So the more I think about it today, do I
look at Jerry Jones and say, when he said this
isn't all in year, did he mean that? Probably not

(40:41):
he probably looked at his roster and said, hey, we're
not going to win the super Bowl with this group.
I'm AA sell it and i'm a believe in it,
but we're not. But we need to get as much
out of this team as we possibly can. And that
might just be Mike McCarthy, who is that guy and
can continue to do that for a little bit longer

(41:02):
until it's time to find that next guy. You bring
in that now we can present them as this is
the new guy that's selling hope. That's what I think
that the whole idea of all of this is, So
does it make sense to bring Mike McCarthy back and
give him an extension? Yes, because I don't think you're
going to bring in somebody at this moment with this

(41:22):
roster the way that it is. You're wasting a higher.
If you hire a coach now, you're wasting a higher because.

Speaker 2 (41:29):
You do not have a.

Speaker 5 (41:32):
Team roster in place where you could sell that hope
of yeah, new coach, now we're going to the super Bowl.

Speaker 2 (41:41):
It doesn't I don't.

Speaker 5 (41:42):
As much as I love Michael Parsons, Dak Prescott is
your your franchise guy. As much as much as you
look at it from an individual's perspective. You can't come
to the conclusion that a coach is going to take
this team to the super Bowl.

Speaker 4 (41:56):
It'd be great as if Jerry Jones decided at the
end of the year, we want to bring you back.
Here's what we're rolling off for you. And macarthy was like, yeah,
I'm good, letter man, I'm bad enough. We're all good. Here,
I got my ring. You can go figure yours out
in the next and another thirty years.

Speaker 2 (42:11):
I'm good. You know, I got mine figured out.

Speaker 1 (42:13):
Be sure to catch live editions of Two Pros and
a Cup of Joe with Brady Quinn, LeVar Errington and
Jonas Knox weekdays at six am Eastern, three am Pacific
right now.

Speaker 4 (42:25):
Speaking of tradition and Wednesday traditions. He is the co
host of the Petros and Money Show, which you can
hear on the Blowtorch AM five seventy LA Sports. He
is a Fox College Football analyst. He is Petros Papadakas
and you can find him on X at the Old
p Petros. Good morning, howre we feeling?

Speaker 3 (42:44):
Good morning? Hello?

Speaker 2 (42:46):
Good morning sir, freeling.

Speaker 3 (42:48):
A little under the weather? You are? Yeah?

Speaker 9 (42:52):
You know, the season just got done for me. I
just traveled into the snow and came back. So it's
usually likely that I'll get sick. Do I sound sick.

Speaker 3 (43:01):
I'm a little sick.

Speaker 2 (43:02):
No, normal, Yeah, I don't think you sound bad.

Speaker 3 (43:05):
Well, anyway, I'm here.

Speaker 4 (43:06):
Yeah, And that I was traveling into the snow and
having to go through.

Speaker 9 (43:11):
All that, leaving the bosom of my family on Thanksgiving
evening and getting on a red eye, uh not the
most pleasant thing. But you know, I got the impression
that most of the people we work with at Fox
are Michigan people like University of Michigan and Arbor. You know,
you got Tom Brady, Devn Gardner, a bunch of producer

(43:34):
types running around, and Charles Woodson. I mean they really
like Michigan. And uh so people always say like, oh
my god, you got to go to East Lansing. What
a terrible thing. Oh god, you know, like like they're
sending it like San Francisco people when they're sending you
to Oakland.

Speaker 3 (43:52):
You know what I mean, why are you going over there?

Speaker 9 (43:54):
You know there used to be actually a sign in
the San Francisco airport that they've made him take down
that said eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (44:04):
You may have to go to Oakland. Oh wow, which
is funny.

Speaker 9 (44:07):
Right, And the crazy thing is is like Oakland Airport's
way more convenient than SFO. But that's neither here nor there.
Everybody was like, oh my god, you got to go
to East Lansing. It's a dismal, gray, dead place of nothingness.
And I didn't find that at all. I thought it
was a very charming, beautiful campus. It snowed almost the

(44:29):
entire time that I was there, for two and a
half days, and the game was snowy, which is always
interesting to call a game like that because it changes
the dynamics of the game so much when it's snowing
or even if it's raining heavily whatever. That's one of
the interesting things about football and F one racing is
that we play in the rain. So it was overall positive,

(44:52):
but yeah, it was very cold and now I'm probably sick.

Speaker 2 (44:55):
And Michigan State got buried alive.

Speaker 9 (44:57):
Yeah, both teams, well, Rutgers isn't a differ moment and
they're rebuild and it is kind of interesting that Greg
Sheiano is literally the only breathing person on Earth with
a heartbeat that knows how to win at Rutgers, Like literally, there's.

Speaker 3 (45:12):
No one else.

Speaker 2 (45:13):
Yeah, why is that?

Speaker 3 (45:14):
I don't know. I mean, he just got a vibe
for it.

Speaker 9 (45:17):
You know, he's there's these New Jersey type of coaches,
and he's one of them. The guy at Syracuse, Fran
Brown is really like he's like Principal Joe Clark from
I mean.

Speaker 3 (45:28):
He really is crack, don't you Yeah, I mean you know, Joe.

Speaker 9 (45:33):
I want you all to look at this slovenly and
slapy more as an example of how not to draft
the good old days.

Speaker 2 (45:43):
Where you can fat shave a student. You remember those days.

Speaker 9 (45:46):
Congratulations, you've just rewritten a school songs. I love Principal
Joe Clok. He's one of my favorites of all time.
And I love all my white students. Stand up, all

(46:07):
my white students. These are my white children. But but
that guy Fran Brown. I did one of their games
earlier in the year and I was absolutely dumbfounded with
how impressed by him I was. And he was, I mean,
he was Principal Joe. He was telling us like there

(46:29):
was a young man.

Speaker 3 (46:30):
On the team who thought it was important. After we
won to put on.

Speaker 9 (46:34):
His chain and walk around, and I pulled him aside
and I said, why do you need your chain in
this moment?

Speaker 3 (46:40):
Are you so insecure that you need to have your
chain out?

Speaker 2 (46:46):
That's crazy, Well, because everybody has their tains.

Speaker 3 (46:49):
Well yeah, not at the QUS, I guess, but I.

Speaker 2 (46:55):
He said that Dona.

Speaker 3 (46:56):
Yeah he is.

Speaker 9 (46:59):
He said, if there's a guy in New Jersey that
he's gonna get him, if it's.

Speaker 3 (47:04):
A recruit from the state of New Jersey.

Speaker 9 (47:06):
He's gonna get him. And Franz got an amazing story.
I mean, his mom was like fourteen when she had him,
single mom, a lot of problems, and he came up
as a real g and I just was so impressed.
And to see them beat Miami was pretty cool. But yes,
he reminds me very much of Principal Joe Clark and

(47:30):
Principal Joe Clark in real life, his daughters. I think
both of his daughters were elite Olympic sprinters, like real horses.

Speaker 3 (47:40):
You know.

Speaker 9 (47:41):
The Principal Joe, Well, he used to call me Crazy
Joe and now they called me Batman. Batman anyway, so
maybe sheiano's like Principal Joe and like fran Brown.

Speaker 3 (47:52):
Yeah, there's those.

Speaker 9 (47:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (47:53):
And you know what was also interesting.

Speaker 9 (47:55):
He recruits a lot of Canadian guys and you're like,
what's with the Canadians, And he's like, well, I started
with Canadians at Penn State, you know.

Speaker 3 (48:05):
But what they'll do is they'll see them.

Speaker 9 (48:06):
They Canadian high school football is not good enough ninety
nine percent of the time for a guy to go
straight into college.

Speaker 4 (48:14):
I mean, those guys are drinking ten percent beers when
they're like nine years old.

Speaker 3 (48:18):
Wow, it's not good.

Speaker 2 (48:19):
You're you're thinking about the hockey players.

Speaker 3 (48:22):
Yeah, that's juniors.

Speaker 2 (48:24):
These Canadians are coming via Africa.

Speaker 3 (48:27):
Yeah maybe, oh yeah, oh.

Speaker 9 (48:28):
Yeah, yeah, a lot of them. They said, I got
to where we were getting to. They send them to
Florida to like academies for a year and then they
come up and I said, when did you start that practice?
He said when I was at Penn State. So yeah.
But he's a great coach, and congratulations to him. And
I love Jonathan Smith and Michigan State and I know

(48:49):
him well from the Oregon State years and I wish
them locking their rebuild.

Speaker 5 (48:53):
Hey, Petro's what what's your impressions of where we are
in the season now like we're we're down to the
conference championships. It looks as though the pitcher is getting
clear as to what the playoff is going to be.
Are you are you more into this or are you
less into it than what you were in previous years?

Speaker 3 (49:14):
Well, I mean we still have this.

Speaker 9 (49:17):
It's ironic to me that we have a lot more
teams and it makes games interesting down the stretch to
some that wouldn't. I mean, I'm interested no matter what, Right,
I'm totally invested in whatever game we're doing. Like Mike
Leech used to say, you know, if we're breakfast, then
we are the sausage. We're totally invested, you know, like

(49:39):
the chicken or the eggs or something else. We're totally invested.
But for most people, like Washington State versus New Mexico
in November might not be that interesting. But this year
we did that game and it actually had playoff implications,
which is crazy, right, you know, UNLV San Jose State

(50:00):
had playoff implications, or at least we would sell it
like that. So that part of it just from a
game standpoint, and what you have to sell is different.
I think it gets a lot more people involved and
people what people said about oh my god, now these
games will be all watered down and no one will care.

(50:21):
I think that's proven itself false. People care. People want
to watch college football, people want to watch the craziness.
People want to watch Georgia Georgia Tech and all that.
But I do think we're in a terrible spot because
we've changed it to all these teams. We still don't

(50:42):
have uniformity, and we still have a committee telling us
what they quote unquote think is for the best, which
is total bs and totally subjective and a total brand masturbation.

Speaker 3 (50:58):
And we don't need that anymore.

Speaker 9 (51:00):
We have a bigger sample size, we have wins and
losses that are supposed to matter, and I think it's disappointing,
But I guess you need a committee if you don't
have uniformity. Right, we don't have everybody playing the same
amount of conference games. We still have the Cupcake Week
in November in the SECND in the ACC has some

(51:22):
of that, So I mean, those things aren't cool. And
Alabama's not better than Miami. They don't have a better resume.
I'm sorry, and I thought that Joey McGuire the Texas
Tech coach made a great point the other day where
he said, a team from the Pac twelve is planned

(51:43):
for the Big twelve title Arizona State, a team from
the Pac twelve is undefeated and at top of.

Speaker 2 (51:52):
The top of the Big ten, which is crazy.

Speaker 9 (51:54):
A team for the AAC SMU is the best team
in the ACE, and a team from the Big twelve
in Texas is the best team in the SEC.

Speaker 3 (52:06):
So can we stop.

Speaker 9 (52:07):
With the Oh my god, it just means more in
the superiority of SEC football. I think one thing that
the transfer portal is done, and the NIL especially is
these teams like Georgia and even Alabama all the way
through Penn State, Ohio State, they're not as deep as

(52:28):
they used to be, right, they don't just have because
those third string guys are going somewhere else and getting paid.
Those second string guys are so going somewhere else and
getting paid. So it's a little bit more. It's a
little bit more even as the season goes on, because
as they have whatever you call it, casualties the year

(52:52):
goes on, then teams don't look as superhuman as they
used to in November. So I think we're an interesting spot.
But I think, you know, just like normal, we're steeped
in hypocrisy. And as long as the TV companies are
controlling the whole committee thing and they're all going to
stay in their five star hotel and touch each other

(53:13):
whatever the hell they do for two days, I don't
think we're gonna we need just uniformity in a real playoff.
You know, no one complained. You got to quit, you Yeah,
nobody complains about the NFL playoff, right, like, oh my god,
the ANFC was so much better than the A you know,
the AFC. It's like, no, you know, no one does that.
So let's let's do this correctly.

Speaker 4 (53:37):
Petricks Papaegg is joining us here on Fox Sports Radio.
Get him on X at the old p National Signing Day.
The early signing period starts today. What is the best
memory you have from your signing day coming out of
high school?

Speaker 9 (53:51):
No one cared, I mean, you know what I mean,
Like the local newspaper came and took a picture of
the signing, but that was you know, oh it wasn't
this hat dance and all that stuff, and that used
to be a bigger deal. But now there's two signing
days and two transfer portals, so the only people that
really are gone insane or the coaches, and the actual

(54:13):
event of it is sort of a watered down thing,
and signing day never really gets my attention, except if
you have like a situation at USC where it's like, oh,
they lost one of these verbal commits and say, oh okay,
oh they lost two. It's like, oh, no big deal.
Oh they lost four, Okay, they lost five, No big deal,

(54:34):
don't care.

Speaker 3 (54:35):
Ten? All right, now you're starting to get my attention.
You know, USC in the.

Speaker 9 (54:40):
Last couple of weeks has lost like ten blue chip
verbal commits because no one really knows what the future
looks like or why it would be exciting at USC.

Speaker 2 (54:52):
Do you think they're going to move on from Lincoln Riley, Well.

Speaker 9 (54:54):
They can, They're not. They unless the Bears is how
hire them away or something like that. It's a seventy
million dollar buyout. They're going to be underneath that for
she doesn't have enough the ad does not have enough
firepower to fire him.

Speaker 4 (55:08):
And by the way, Miller Moss deciding he was going
to go elsewhere and say I'm looking for a championship
caliber team, It's like, okay, well, apparently apparently that's not
the case.

Speaker 2 (55:18):
To a USC.

Speaker 9 (55:19):
Yeah, Miller Moss, I mean I feel bad for him
because I don't know if he actually lost that job
and then they put Jade and Mayava in and the
one thing he does really well is run around and
extend plays, and they don't have him doing that, and
they don't call any runs for him and a plus
one run or anything to equalize the defense and take

(55:41):
advantage of what that guy does well. But the Miller
Moss thing, it's like, Okay, when you lost at Maryland,
who won one big ten game this year, and I
did think Locksley was going to pop poor coach Franklin's
head clean off his shoulders. On when when Locksley grabbed
the back of Franklin's neck in Maryland Penn State.

Speaker 2 (56:02):
You know they know each other.

Speaker 3 (56:04):
I know, I know. I mean I know Locksley too.

Speaker 2 (56:07):
It Yeah, yeah, I.

Speaker 3 (56:08):
Thought he was gonna pop his head off his shoulders.

Speaker 5 (56:11):
But when USC he lost to When USC lost to
Maryland and they lost at Minnesota, it's like and.

Speaker 9 (56:20):
Then Miller Moss was like, yeah, everybody keep that same energy.
It's like, well, okay, you lost to Maryland and at Minnesota.
I'll keep that energy, and then he lost his job
and now he's talking about and his mom's all up
on Twitter fighting with people, and now he's talking about
he wants to have.

Speaker 3 (56:36):
A championship caliber team.

Speaker 9 (56:38):
I mean, with the transfer portal, you can think you're
on a championship caliber team, and then a couple of
weeks later, you look around and it's Florida State, you know,
and you lost every game.

Speaker 3 (56:48):
Damn near.

Speaker 9 (56:49):
So it's hard to say what a championship caliber team
is these days. But Miller Moss, he got mistreated, but
he also left some stuff to be just hired out
there with what he said and how he's acting.

Speaker 5 (57:02):
Uh, Petros Juju Lewis obviously he announced his de commitment
from USC and decided to go to Colorado. I mean,
it's one thing to lose a guy at the quarterback
that is the quarterback, and then tried to.

Speaker 3 (57:18):
Play that out like we don't want that guy anyway.

Speaker 9 (57:21):
We got this guy, and it's like and that's not
that's fine with me, but what about the other nine guys.

Speaker 5 (57:27):
That couldn't be less true? I mean that that is
not juju Is is the real deal. And I just
wonder and knowing that he is a local kid too.
On top of that, like, how how does that impact?
Like you got to believe that that Lincoln's uh, you know,
his time is winding down, right, Well.

Speaker 9 (57:51):
I mean, the one thing you have to do well,
the one thing that makes the USC job desirable is
that you don't need to go too far outside of
the city to get your absolute best players. Right, So
you're supposed to be able to build a fence around
LA and get whoever you want. In fact, it's kind

(58:12):
of funny. Years ago, there was a UCLA coach named
Carl Durell that we remember, and he was competing against
Pete Carroll in town poorly, but he did pull a
couple of inner city recruits at UCLA that Pete did
not get.

Speaker 3 (58:31):
Pete Carroll got so pissed.

Speaker 9 (58:32):
Off about that that he created like a bootleg sixty
minutes Pete Carroll Gang outreach, like a feature where he
was running around Nickerson Gardens in a black leather jacket
with cops like talking to kids like.

Speaker 3 (58:48):
Hey, yeah, man, it's me Pete. Yeah.

Speaker 9 (58:51):
I mean, that's that's how invested Pete was to not
lose one kid in the city of Los Angeles. Tola
and Carl Derell.

Speaker 2 (59:01):
That awareness Resistance Education DARE dare.

Speaker 9 (59:06):
To be drug free in the San Joaquin Valley. But
Pete like that's juxtaposed that against Lincoln Riley, who I
believe was exposed just by the young media beat writers
this year for not having been at a modern day
practice at all, like since the spring and not having

(59:28):
been down to Bosco. And I mean that's like if
you live in Anaheim and you're not going to Disneyland
with your kids, well, they're growing up, Like you got
to go there.

Speaker 3 (59:37):
If you're USC, you got to.

Speaker 9 (59:39):
You can't take it for granted, and you've got to
take those kids and you have to cultivate those kids.
USC has won over generations of football and competed for
championships like they want.

Speaker 3 (59:51):
To because they're blue blood.

Speaker 9 (59:54):
They've done that when they have because they've recruited and
developed local defensive and offensive line. Whether you want to
say from Brad Buddy's area era, Anthony Munos, the Khalills,
you know all the way through right, that's who they are. Yeah,

(01:00:14):
he's from Myriada Valley area. I mean, that's that's who
they are. That's who they've been, you know, back to
before my dad played. Where are those offensive linemen on
the West coast going to be developed?

Speaker 3 (01:00:26):
Now? They're not going to USC the court.

Speaker 9 (01:00:30):
The coach, even if he could get them, doesn't know
how to develop him, doesn't want to, doesn't even want
to run the ball. They're going to Oregon. They were
at Washington a little bit, but they're going to Oregon.
And what is Oregon doing winning?

Speaker 3 (01:00:42):
Right? They're undefeated and they're the best team in the country.

Speaker 2 (01:00:45):
You think they win this weekend?

Speaker 3 (01:00:47):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:00:48):
I think they can not do You think they do?

Speaker 3 (01:00:50):
Oh? I don't know.

Speaker 9 (01:00:52):
You know, I always expect Landing to screw it up
down to stretch, but that's not been the cases. Yeah,
they've been great, but this is the stretch it is.
They got over that Washington hump. I mean, I'm pretty
impressed with them. And even if they don't, I mean,
look what they Look what they've accomplished.

Speaker 3 (01:01:09):
I mean, they're the only team to go undefeated throughout
the whole year.

Speaker 9 (01:01:12):
So the point is Oregon is doing what USC shouldn't
be doing, and they're doing it.

Speaker 3 (01:01:18):
In Eugene.

Speaker 9 (01:01:20):
There's nobody There's two guys that I know of from
that area and that and that have played pro football.
You know, one is Justin Wilcox, who's the coach at
CAL who was a corner there when I played. And
the other one is freaking Justin Herbert, who's actually from
the city of Eugene. I mean, that's not a hotbed

(01:01:41):
of talent. Why is everybody there playing well? Because they're
proving themselves to be able to recruit and develop people.

Speaker 3 (01:01:48):
Up front and have success.

Speaker 9 (01:01:50):
And that probably really started with christoball in the way
it is right now.

Speaker 4 (01:01:56):
I wanted to ask you this because I saw this
from Scott Wolf, who does a great job kind of
keeping track of the dysfunction at USC his function, and
he kind of presents it in a way like, hey,
here's some more information. Do with it what you will.
But he set this out and this was before the
USC UCLA game, and I wanted to get your thoughts
on it because he said Lincoln Riley no showed the

(01:02:19):
USC UCLA rally for a third straight year.

Speaker 9 (01:02:23):
Yeah, he doesn't, but he doesn't do anything, so like
and if he did, what what would inspire?

Speaker 3 (01:02:27):
What would he say that would be inspired?

Speaker 4 (01:02:29):
But isn't that sort of at least show that, Like, Hey,
I want to be a part of this whole thing.
Like when you're talking about the recruiting locally and all that,
isn't that part of it, Like do something to show
that you've embraced the what what comes.

Speaker 3 (01:02:45):
He's intimidated by it.

Speaker 9 (01:02:46):
Maybe he feels awkward about it, maybe he feels above it.
I don't know, but you know, I see Marcus Freeman
out there cheering with the Notre Dame guys really cheer
after the game.

Speaker 2 (01:02:58):
And Sean Foster was there, wasn't he the most possible Hey, you.

Speaker 9 (01:03:02):
Know, a halftime in the Fresno game, Deshaun Foster finally
got mad and started saying, these people are on scholarship
and the Sean Foster finally finally blew a stack. He's like,
you're a scholarship player at UCLA, you gotta be ready
to play football.

Speaker 3 (01:03:20):
What is this crap?

Speaker 9 (01:03:21):
They came over the top of the second half. Yeah,
it just seems like he's kind of above or atxe
above whatever they've got going on. And you don't see
him coaching the team much either. He's just always standing
in the side and looking at his little play sheet
or whispering in the quarterbacks here. So yeah, I don't
know where the line at the end of the tunnel

(01:03:42):
is for usc I really.

Speaker 4 (01:03:43):
Don't get him on X at the old p He
is Popadgas, the co host of the Petros and Money Show,
which you can hear on the Blowtorch and five seventy
LA Sports Fox college football analyst and our buddy here
every Wednesday.

Speaker 2 (01:03:56):
Pee. We appreciate it. We'll do it again next week.

Speaker 3 (01:03:58):
Right, cool Runnings. There is