Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on everybody? How are we doing?
Hopefully everyone's having a great day. Hopefully everyone's doing well,
(00:22):
Probably not as well as Aaron. Glenn had just got
a five year contract to be the next head football
coach of the j E T Jets Jets Jets, So
the Jets have a new coach. The Raiders have a
new GM. John spy Tech Jason Lights right hand guy
in Tampa, former Philadelphia Eagle in turn to personnel man
(00:44):
got to start there. We didn't quite overlap, but I've
met him over the years, big John spy Tech fan.
So congrats to the Raiders that they got a GM
need a coach spy Tech, so we'll dive into that.
And Kevin O'Connell extension, Josh McDaniel's back to New England Cowboys,
(01:04):
Brian Schottenneimer. A lot going on. It's crazy. We got
the AFC and NFC championship games this Sunday, and the
coaching cycle always just is and the GM cycle now
is just a really big deal. Ben Johnson was interviewed
or introduced today. We will discuss it all and I
right when I was recording the mail bag, which we
(01:25):
will do as well at John Middlecoff Instagram fire into
these dms. Trent Balky, the Jags GM was fired. So
clearly shod Con not pleased with coaches telling him, yeah,
I don't want your job, and I think it's pretty
clear that it was because Trent Balgey was his GM.
So the politician finally goes down. So we will do
(01:48):
that along mail bag as well. And we took yesterday off.
I just I was at a juice and sometimes to
do this you could muster up some creative juices, but
I had nothing. I'm like, I just I don't want
to do an awful podcast. So I just I took
a breather for twenty four hours. But there was way
too much happening today to not dive in and give
(02:09):
some takes. So make sure you subscribe to three and
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(03:18):
the Jets are a disaster. I mean, I mean, there's
just no way around that. What has become of them
the last couple of years, with the Zach Wilson situation,
the Aaron Rodgers situation, everyone getting fired this year, it
was a pretty big embarrassment. There's no way around it.
Today it felt like the first time in a long time,
(03:39):
just some normality, just a moment where you'd be like, Okay,
that feels normal, that feels like a good thing. And
if you're a New York Jets fan, there hasn't been
much of that for a long period of time. Honestly,
the last couple of years couldn't have sucked anymore. From
the moment he ran out with the American flag and
(04:01):
five played plays later ripped his achilles to this year
with everyone getting fired and the team just being a joke.
I feel for you, guys. Listen, if you're a fan,
an NFL fan, and your team sucks, it is a
long season. But when your team is an embarrassment and
the things you're doing are being reported on to levels
(04:22):
in which the Jets were getting reported on, it has
to be a really, really awful feeling as a fan.
And when you hire Aaron Glenn, who is a guy
that you drafted once upon a time, who played for
your franchise from nineteen ninety four to two thousand and one,
so he played for Bill Parcells. Bill Belichick was there
as an assistant coach. He played a year for Pete
(04:43):
Carroll like he worked for Sean Payton. He obviously worked
for Dan Campbell these last four years in Detroit. It
just feels like we made the right move. We just
made a move that wasn't just easy. It was we
get a guy who just potentially knows what he's doing,
because we have gone a long time in New York
(05:03):
where it feels like that's been the case. You could
say early on when they hired Robert sala everyone was
very excited. But then the moment they got Zach Wilson,
it just kind of derailed everyone's plans. And I think
in this situation, you just get to start from scratch
with one of your own. And one thing that was
clear in the Robert sala Era felt like he was
a little over his head talking to the press, but
(05:27):
clearly he's a good defensive mind and a solid leader
in guys like him. They played really really hard for him,
But in terms of talking and especially once Aaron Rodgers
got there, he was always having to basically come back
from previous comments, and it was just like a dog
chasing his tail, running in circles, and it was like,
this is not a sustainable thing to do. And I
(05:49):
think the element in New York of being able to
handle what people in the nineties would have called the
press what I just call modern day society of social media,
of the intensity of it. All of the Internet is
an element that a former player who was a really
good player is going to be much more accustomed and
(06:10):
equipped to handling. So I think from that element, you
just get a guy who's been used to the bright
lights why he's been a player for a long time.
Then you get a guy who's proved as Stripes as
a dB coach under Sean Payton, where their defense was
really damn good when Dennis Allen took over and Aaron
Glenn was on the staff, and then he went to
(06:32):
Detroit and this year. The masterpiece he had in that
week eighteen against Kevin O'Connell playing with me, you and
eight other guys or nine other guys I can't do
math was Aaron Glenn's a high level cat. And you
saw in his interview during the week of the Washington
game when he's getting peppered about questions and he said, listen,
(06:52):
I'm not a defensive coach. I will speak to the
offense just as much as the defense. I'm a football coach,
and I think that's what the Jets are getting now.
You never know in this world. It's no different than
draft picks. It's a risk. You're dealing with human beings.
How you're gonna handle going from being a coordinator to
being a head coach. But Aaron Glenn's a really, really
(07:14):
impressive guy, and I think this was one the Jets
are lucky that he wanted to take the job, because,
let's face it, it's a pretty toxic place now. Bright
lights big market talent on the roster, especially on defense.
So from Aaron Glenn's standpoint, when you're defensive coach, you
never know when your opportunities are gonna come. I mean
(07:37):
he's at a front row seat of Ben Johnson turning
people down for multiple years. For him, I mean it
took year four of them being the number one seed
and him doing this with a bunch of practice squad
guys with him even to get some interviews. So I
congrats to Aaron Glenn, Congrats to the Jets, and most importantly,
congrats to Jets fans. It just feels like, Okay. Like
(07:58):
I said earlier this year, I thought they were gonna
go with Rex Ryan, and I think a big reason
I thought that was I didn't think anyone was gonna
take the job, and I thought Rex desperately wanted it.
You know, Rex can handle being a head coach one
and you know Rex can handle the bright lights in
the market. I don't know if Aaron Glenn can handle
becoming a head coach. You never know that, but you
(08:19):
know he can handle the bright lights, and you know
the market won't be too big, and you know he
can handle players. And I think in this world of
twenty twenty five, having guys that understand players and being
able to deal with them, that does not mean kiss
their ass, That does not mean give them a reach
around every day. That does not mean treat them like
this as the NBA, because that's not That's not the
way this business works. But there is a balance of
(08:42):
being the old school guy from the sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties,
the way the game was always coached, and the shift
just the way younger people operate. And he clearly gets it.
So Big Move will have to wait and see. As
of recording this, I don't know who the GM is,
but this was a big, big hire. Now we have
we know everybody in the AFC East, right, you obviously
(09:04):
got Sean McDermott and the Bills. You got Mike Vrabel
and the Patriots, you got Mike McDaniel and the Miami Dolphins,
and now you have Aaron Glenn. So some pretty accomplished guys,
guys with impressive resumes, and now we'll just have to
see how Aaron Glenn handles the situation where you know,
part of being a head coach is you know, as
(09:24):
an assistant, you manage up a little bit, but you
just deal with the head coach. But you're not dealing
that much with the owner. I mean, even the GM.
The GM goes through the head coach to get to
you of anything like quote unquote controversial, like if he
has disagreements, but you're doing a lot of managing down
as the head coach, you deal so much with the owner.
(09:46):
And probably there the Jets have to be on the
short list of places where you deal with the owner
the most. And it's well reported his children are involved,
and I don't blame those kids. If I were Woody
Johnson's kids, I'd be involved as well. But that's part
of the gig. And you know, it's just a highly
picked a part gig and It's intense, and it's why
(10:09):
I thought Robert Sala was really over his head. You know.
It was just and Joe Douglas, his personality is not
really that and it was just a tough spot for him.
Aaron Glenn's like, bring it fucking on. So I'm excited
to watch this. The other hire today was the Raiders
hired John Spytech, who actually when I got hired by
the Eagles had just left the year previously, so a
(10:32):
lot of people I work with know him really well.
I wouldn't say that I know him that well. I
definitely know him. He knows who I am, but I
don't pretend to have a relationship with him. Everyone I
know and that I'm close with in the NFL that
works with him or that had worked with him really
likes him. Obviously. Jason light who is one of the
better gms in the NFL. He's been his right hand
(10:54):
man for a long time. And they clearly draft and
build a team at a pretty high level in Tampa Bay.
So I think the Raiders. You know, John Spytech was
a freshman. He played at Michigan, was a freshman, might
have been there two years, definitely was there one year
with Tom Brady, so they not only know each other
from their Michigan days, he was obviously with Tampa Bay
(11:17):
when Tom played, So the Tom influence is really kind
of showing itself here. He wanted Ben Johnson, Ben Johnson
to turn him down. He brings in a Michigan guy.
But this is a Michigan guy, you know, like myself,
started at the lowest person on the totem pole with
the Eagles and Andy Reid two thousand and five, worked
his way up, got in with Jason Light, went around
(11:37):
with him, and obviously has spent time in Denver, spent
time in Cleveland with the late Tom Heckert, and obviously
has been in Tampa for a long time. So this
is a guy with a lot of experience. He's seen
a lot of different places. He's been in Tampa and
Philly where they've had a lot of success, where they've
won at a really high cliff, and he's been in
(11:58):
places that were kind of a disagn Yes, So I
like guys that have a lot of experience. I would
say the same thing for Aaron Glenn. Aaron Glenn's been
a player, He's played for a million coaches, He's been
an assistant coach on teams that are really good, the Lions,
the Saints. He also was there when they showed up
in Detroit and they were a joke. So I like
guys that you know. That's the thing with Josh McDaniel
(12:21):
was like, he only excels one place. All he knows
is like the Belichick tree answering to Robbercraft. You get
him out of that environment. It is a tire fire.
Aaron Glenn, John spy Tech, they've seen it all. That
means you have a lot of different experience. You know
a lot of different people you can relate experiences to. Well.
Ten years ago when I was in place X, I
(12:43):
remember when this guy had an issue with his girlfriend
very similar to this. I think we dealt with it
like this. We should do it again, or we tried
to do this in this situation at backfired. We got
to take a different tactic. I think Aaron Glenn and
John spy Tech can bring that to the table because
of all the different things they've seen and listen a lot.
Like Aaron Glenn, this is a very difficult job. This
(13:06):
is not an easy place to work. The Jets and
the Raiders are where people go one to get paid
a lot of money and to quickly get fired. So, uh,
you know, part of life is taking risks, taking calculated risks.
Not sure John spy Tech would have taken this job
if Tom Brady didn't exist. He clearly has to feel
a lot more comfortable having Tom Brady around. But I
(13:27):
said the same thing about Ben Johnson when John spy
Tech moves his family to Vegas and lives in a
sweet pad and goes to that incredible practice facility, it's
a booming area. But Vegas, Scottsdale, these fucking areas are
on the come. But you still go into the office
and Mark Davis is there every day like that, that's
still a reality. And I would say the same thing
about the team here in Arizona, like when Jonathan Gannon
(13:50):
and the staff go in every Michael Bidwell is the
guy there, Like those are the guys you answer to.
That is who you have to overcome. And the raid
now flush with cash, stadium suite, no quarterback. So Tom
Brady is a huge part of your life and you
swear by him, And I don't blame anyone if Tom
Brady sells you on something. You listening to him and
(14:13):
you following him. That would be a smart move. I
would do the same thing. But Tom is not in
that office every day and during the fall when you're
working and grinding for the season, Tom's calling games. So
until he quits that, and I saw he told Caward
today has no plans to quit that his role in
technology and listen, I can run a podcast with people
(14:35):
living in DC and Jersey and all over the place.
It doesn't matter the world's changed. There's something to be
said when you go into an if you have a
true office job like being a GM and being a
head coach is like the people that are there are
the people that are there, and Mark Davis is there.
So that is something that under Mark Davis's watched the
(14:55):
resume speaks for itself. I'm fascinated to watch who John
Spytech High in this situation because obviously that will be
big and how big of a leash Mark Davis gives
this man, right? Does he give him just five six
years to just kind of run what he's learned from
all these other guys. Does he give it him opportunity
(15:15):
if he can't hire a great coach right now, because
it's not a great job to hire a second coach.
You know, look a look at Houston. They realized when
Nick Cassario took over that job and Bill O'Brien left,
was one of the worst jobs we've ever seen. No
one would touch that job with a ten foot poll.
So we had to hire guys that no one would
have ever hired, like David Kelly. Nice guy has no
(15:39):
business being a coordinator, let alone a head coach. You know,
Lovey Smith, who had been good a decade ago. You know,
it's just shouldn't be your head coach. And then he
gets to Miko and then they're a real team. But
he let him get two coaches that he had to
hire because no one would take the job. And it'll
be interesting to see what happens here with a race
(16:00):
if they fall in a situation like that for a year.
Mark Davis is paying a ton of people, a ton
of people. I mean, listen, you know, the Crafts have
become pretty controversial since Belichick has left, but even when
Belichick was there, they used to hire people who were
being paid by other people a lot. They love doing that.
Josh McDaniels is still owed several years by the Raiders
(16:24):
and Josh McDaniels, I'm pretty sure signed a six year,
ten million dollars a year contract sixty million dollars, so
the Patriots can offer him like the league minimum given
his experience, and the Raiders are paying the majority of
his money so they don't have to pay him like three,
four or five million dollars. And when you see Josh
McDaniels going back with Vrabel, and I read this article
(16:47):
that Diana Russini wrote on The Athletic, you know, the
spy tech thing makes sense. Spy tech knows Brady. Brady
has a huge influence. Mark Davis needs his help. This
one receiving report ordered that Vrabel and Josh Mitanis don't
have like some close relationship when he was a player,
Josh was like a young assistant and a coordinator for
(17:10):
a year before he bounced to Denver. But it's not
like they were boys. They've never worked together. This does
feel a little bit like the crafts who love Josh
McDaniels and knowing that he's cheap. So I'm a pro
Vrabel guy, And listen, Josh has been excellent as a coordinator,
clearly as a head coach. I mean he's one of
(17:31):
the worst head coaches we've ever seen in the history
of the sport. I think he's the only guy to
be fired by multiple teams and not make either past
the middle of year two. So, like what his resume
is as a head coach is unprecedented. But Mike Vrabel,
I don't know you would think and I understand going
(17:52):
back to the well with Mike Vrabel, though Mike Vrabele
never coached for Bill, he just played there. And when
you look at Mike Rabel, the people that worked for him,
like he had guys like Arthur Smith and Matt Lafleur
or his assistant coaches on offense. So I just wonder, like,
how much are the Crafts still very, very involved. There
is an element with the Crafts and Jerry Jones that,
(18:13):
like they might not tell you on a daily basis
everything to do, but they are extremely involved, and I
mean extremely involved. There are some teams when you show
up to the office, you just might not see the
owner all week. I remember when I worked for the Eagles.
You sometimes see Jeffy Learry, sometimes you wouldn't. Sometimes you
see him walking down to Andy's office. Sometimes you just
(18:33):
wouldn't even notice him for weeks beside the game. When
you take the Jets job, you are going to see
Woody Johnson a lot. When you take the Raiders job,
you were gonna see Mark Davis a lot. Vrabel and
the Crafts and obviously they have a good relationship and
so does Josh with them. Those guys are around constantly
right when you It's just a huge part of what
(18:57):
you're signing up for. And like I understand, it does
feel can Josh McDaniels coach any other place? Like, are
there any other teams where he can be an assistant
coach and have success? It feels a little weird constantly
going back to the well, you know, it really does,
Like I think about it, like I understand, Like like
(19:19):
Kurt Warner, Kurt Warner the other day said that he
thought that outdoor games in the elements, all games should
be able to be played in controlled environments. I was like,
of course, Kurt Warner would say that he's a dome quarterback,
And I don't mean that as a slight like he's
a Hall of Famer and had just some incredible moments,
but think about his success Saint Louis in a dome
(19:41):
Arizona in a dome I saw when he went to
New York. It was pretty ugly. Not really mister outdoor, right.
It'd be like if you ask me, like, what do
you like better radio or podcasts, I'll probably gonna say podcasts.
So we all got an agenda and we all got
a bias. So I get if you're Josh McDaniels, you
feel very comfortable there. You would say the best years
of your life have been with the New England Patriots.
(20:03):
But isn't part of being a coach being able to
go place to place and do some different things. So
when I see that Josh McDaniels goes back there, I go.
My first question is like, this is who Rabel wanted.
This is one hundred percent who he wanted. Maybe it is,
but I just wonder if the crafts are involved, Like
clearly Tom Brady wanted John Spytek, the Jets wanted Aaron Glenn,
(20:25):
right or definitely when the process started one of the coordinators,
Ben Johnson, wouldn't even talk to them. Aaron Glenn, being
a defensive guy, had to be a little open minded.
He wanted to become a head coach. Good hire this
one like the Rabel thing. Totally get it. Josh McDaniels,
that's his coordinator. It's just I don't know. Something's just
weird about that with me. Something that's not weird. We
(20:48):
knew this when it came out, is uh. When the
story leaked, not even a leaked reported from Jay Glazer
that teams were going to trade for Kevin O'Connell, I went,
that's a giant red flag. Like I understand the conversation
around Mike Tomlin. It feels like it's peaked five years ago.
(21:08):
The same thing happens over and over. Of course, anyone
worth their salt that needs a coach is going to
call the Steelers and be like, hey, Tomlin available, could
we trade for him? Like, that's not a crazy story,
even if, like me, I just threw it out there
when the story actually came to fruition, like you could
just see it coming. When it's like teams are interested
(21:28):
in trading for Kevin O'Connell, Well think about this. If
you're the Jets, you think Minnesota is gonna trade Kevin O'Connell,
Probably not. So who would want that out? Well, Kevin
O'Connell's camp. Why, Because like I'm tired of making six
seven million dollars. I'm ready to be paid like a
guy winning twelve to fourteen games, which that going rate
is fourteen to fifteen million dollars. I want a race,
(21:52):
And I thought, listen, I'm pro Kevin O'Connell. He seems
like a good coach, even though he gets a little
pass happy. You know, sometimes these coaches, they could be
really hypocritical because the team, the team, the team stay banded.
His brothers lock arms. We're in this together through the
good and the bad. And it's like, you're no different
than players. You're tired of making seven million dollars, you
(22:12):
want fifteen. Look at Ben Johnson, like coaches are much
closer to mercenaries like the players than anyone ever discusses.
Ben Johnson as an assistant coach does not have the
same stock in the franchise as Dan Campbell. He has
no ambition of coaching anywhere else. He's the head coach
(22:33):
as the players under contract, Saint Brown, golf Tona Sewel,
Jamier Gibbs, Aiden Hutchinson, Brian Branch Like, those guys are
in it with the Lions. That's their team, that's where
they're gonna get second contracts like they are Lions. Ben
Johnson is like a hired gun essentially, because all these
teams are coming at him and eventually he's gonna leave.
(22:54):
It's why three days after the loss he's happier in
a pick and shit. You see how small Aiy is
running around the Bears organization. Imagine being Dan Campbell and
Brad Holmes, who probably have slept a total of ten
hours in the last three games. Jared Goff, with the
little concussion he's got, has probably been in shambles. I
saw Saint Brown in his podcast. You could tell he
was pissed. Ben Johnson looks like you just hit the
(23:16):
fucking lottery. It's just, you know, sometimes these coaches can
be really hypocritical when they preach, like the Bosham Bleckler,
the team, the team, the team, well, as long as
they're paying me a premium, because if they're not, then
I'm gonna leak stories that are gonna make it uncomfortable
for them, which is fine his business, right, But at
least us in non like sports stuff, we could just
(23:39):
be cutthroat, like this is what it's gonna cost if
you want to do business. If not, see you later,
nice meeting, a nice newing Businesswell, it's just very black
and white. We're in those type jobs. You gotta be
very political. And he says, come in the press like,
this is where I want to be. Well, this is
where you want to be as long as I'll pay you,
you know, So just just embrace it. You're no different
than Justin Jefferson or a guy that like, hey, I'm
not practicing toil, like it's essentially your version of doing that,
(24:03):
you know, Ben Johnson like, and I listen, I never
said or thought that he mailed it in. They had
a bye week. During the bye week, they don't even
know who they're playing. They can basically play any team,
you know, from four to seven. So it's not like
he's game planning against every team. His game plan really
starts on Monday. But I just think it's funny when
(24:24):
these assistants. It's one thing if if Ben Johnson had
been hired by the Raiders or by the Jags like that,
there's no different conference. You play the Lions once every
four years. He went to the Bears. He went to
the fucking Bears. So I just think it's that always
makes me laugh. It's not like I'm against it. I
don't blame him for taking the job, but imagine being
(24:45):
like one of the dudes on the team where he's
always preaching his coach speak. It's like, Bro, was that
all just coach speak? It's like, yeah, it kind of is.
That's kind of the business. We're all in NFL playoffs.
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Speaker 1 (26:35):
I think it's pretty clear that when Black Monday happened
and that week in Mike McCarthy didn't get quote unquote fired,
Jerry Jones thought he could take advantage of the situation.
Jerry Jones thought he had him by the bass, thought
he had had him bent over the desk. And then
Mike looked around at some of these jobs and thought, well,
I'll go get the bear's job I'll go get the
(26:57):
Jets job. I'll get hired as a head coach. So
I my educated guess on this situation is Jerry thought
he'd get him back for like, I'll give you like
a two year extension, Like he said, oh guard, hey,
I'll give you two years eighteen million dollars come back.
And he thought Mike would just say yes because he
thought he wouldn't have any options. Then Mike looks around
and goes, I'm gonna keep kick kissing this old man's ass.
(27:18):
He's gonna take advantage of me. Why don't I just
go get another job that gives me four or five
years guaranteed. And so Mike kind of called Jerry's bluff.
He said no, and I think Jerry was shocked. I
think Jerry assumed because if Jerry didn't, why wouldn't Jerry
have just fired him on Monday? It made no sense.
(27:39):
The Cowboys had known for weeks their season was over.
They had known since last year Mike McCarthy's contract was up.
Jerry thought he could take advantage of the situation. Jerry
thought he could win the deal, and then Mike said,
kick rocks. Now it looks like Mike potentially's gonna get
shut out of this. Maybe he takes the saint's job.
But even if he takes a saint's job, I think
(27:59):
what he would say is, yeah, it's a worse job
than the Cowboys, but they just gave me, you know,
four years, forty million dollars. Jerry's offering me a two
year contract when I know that he'll gladly fire me
after the next season, So I said, screw you. So
maybe Mike will be proven right when this is all
said and done. But I think Jerry kind of screwed
up here, and I think he misplayed his hand. And
now when I read headlines that he's interviewing Brian Schodenheimer,
(28:24):
in what world does it make sense to fire let
Mike McCarthy walk and hire his number two? I can't
even fathom that a guy that's never been a head coach.
And this completely shows you that Jerry, one of the
great deal makers in the history of the league. Mina
lost his fastball and ages catching up to him, And
(28:47):
I don't care. It happens to us all at different
points in time in our life. This is his version,
but I think he's kind of going through it. I
think he's kind of turned in dal Davis here of
two thousand and six, two thousand and seven, two thousand
and eight, and he's kind of lost control of even
elements that he used to have control over. And listen,
(29:07):
Jerry's always going to be in control until he dies.
He's gonna be the GM. Obviously he's the owner, but
it's like everything runs through him, and as long as
he still has his marbles upstairs, he can pull that off.
But I think he used to be a little slider
and have a Now he's always been probably more loyal
than some of these owners in the league to his people.
He definitely was to Jason Garrett, and I think he
(29:29):
thought of trying to be somewhat to Mike McCarthy. But
I think this situation, he's just upstream without a paddle,
and he's just kind of floating, and I don't think
he knows what to do. I think when this situation
broke down with Mike McCarthy, he did not have a
game plan, because I think his game plan all along
a long was to take advantage of Mike McCarthy, who knows,
(29:50):
maybe get him for like two years, fifteen million dollars
basically just extend the current contract that he was on.
And he just thought Mike, because he's coaching the Cowboys
and it's one of the biggest jobs and all the
sports would be like, yeah, I'll just I'll keep doing it.
Family likes living here, no state income tax, if we're healthy,
we should have a competitive team. I'll stay and Mike's
(30:11):
Mike essentially said no. Now, Jerry's never gonna let it
out that Jerry acts like he's the one that said no.
But I mean, just start putting the pieces of the
puzzle together. I think it's pretty easy to add this
thing up and go. Jerry was playing poker, and I'm
not a big poker guy, more of a blackjack guy.
But you know, he got aggressive. Let's use the blackjack analogy,
(30:31):
and he hit. You know, when the guy was showing
a four and you had a thirteen. You're like, I'm
gonna get aggressive here because he's had some He's had
some four or five card twenties and twenty one, so
I'm gonna hit on this even though the numbers shouldn't.
And I get a and I get a king and
I bust like that, That's what it feels like. A
little bit here. He got aggressive and it busted right
(30:54):
in his face. No pun intended, obviously. Well maybe I
mean will tell of Jerry's pictures back in the day
with some young ladies. But man, I just think the Cowboys,
if you're a fan, huge win right now, Eagles feel
pretty stable. Their version of it is always a little chaotic. Obviously,
(31:14):
Washington like we know what we're doing, Like those two
teams got to be looking at the Cowboys. Like I
pray you hire Brian Schottenneimer, I really do. And listen,
everyone acts like Brian Schottenneimer is the village idiot because
Russell Wilson situation. Every coach that ever worked for Russell
Wilson got fired, every single one hacket all the way
(31:36):
through the Seattle guys. So and reports came out that
Arthur Smith and him couldn't stand each other. So let's
not act like Russell Wilson's Peyton Manning here. But I
remember Brian Schottenneimer took a lot of crap for his
situation with Russell Wilson that actually aged better. But to
make him your head coach, that seems that seems like insanity.
(31:58):
Like listen, I can think that Josh McDaniel, those things
a little weird and at craft creation. But like I'm
not arguing like it's a bad hire, Like, it's not
a crazy hire. Like, Yeah, he's worked with you know,
just in recent memory, he turned he made mac Jones functional.
So you take Drake May who has more talent in
his right leg than mac Jones has his entire body. Like,
(32:18):
I get it. Aaron Glenn spytech, those make sense. Kevin
O'Connell extension makes sense, right, Uh, it'll be fast. I
don't know what Detroit's gonna do. You know, Detroit's in
a weird spot. You lose your offensive coordinator, you lose
your defensive coordinator. Ideally, you just want to keep doing
the same things. Do they have another guy that he
feels comfortable elevating, because remember when he fired Anthony Lynn
(32:41):
that first year, he made himself the offensive coordinator, I
think toward the end of the season, and then the
next year he just made Ben Johnson the coordinator who
was on his staff. So is there a guy on
his staff that can be the offensive coordinator? Is there
a guy on the staff that can be his defensive coordinator?
They lost their D line coach today. Obviously they lost
Aaron Glenn. I don't know, but these are tough spots.
(33:02):
Sometimes you just have a guy. Best case scenario, you
have a guy, you fire Anthony Lynn, you elevate Ben Johnson.
It works out sawd with the forty nine ers, Robert
slid got a job. They elevated Demiko Ryans. Well, then
Demiko Ryans gets a job. Ben Johnson gets a job.
Sometimes you're looking around, You're like, I don't feel comfortable
making any of these guys the offensive coordinator. But I
(33:23):
don't want to bring a guy outside who doesn't quite
know what we do. So you get in this weird
spot now. Luckily for Dan Campbell, he's had a pretty
good idea. Both these guys are going to become head coaches.
I would say before the season even started, especially on offense,
like Ben Johnson, I would say last offseason it was
pretty clear this is going to be his last offseason
with the Lions. So a lot going on in the
(33:44):
football world. Man, This is it's crazy. You know, once
the games stop, I mean there's two games left, but
usually during a season when you have however many games
on a given week, twelve to fourteen got Thursday night game.
There's just a lot of football stuff happened, Like what
is dan Quinn, Sirianni and Andy and McDermott really saying
(34:05):
on Wednesday. This stuff kind of fills that void during
the playoffs on like Tuesday and Wednesday of just like
and then and then by Thursday and Friday, you're kind
of in like, Okay, what's the injury status of the
chiefs of the Bills of the Eagles. How was Jalen saying?
How Sirianni like Andy? You know, Andy and McDermott are
exactly like saying crazy things. So, yeah, it's an exciting
(34:28):
week and glad it happened in the middle of the
day Trent Balkey was fired. It's been a rough stretch
in society for career politicians, and I think Balky finally
got got because for a guy that you know, I
think when you meet him and you know the way
(34:48):
he came up, he was like this old school grinder
tape scout. There is no disputing his greatest quality working
in the NFL has been his ability to get in
with own Jed York loved him when he got fired
from the forty nine ers before he got hired with
the Jacks, he worked for the League office, so he
was in with Rodging Company, and then when he got
(35:11):
hired with Shad Khan. He has been in control with
several coaches, and it looked like he was getting another.
So to think this guy who again, I have nothing
against him over not that I'm friends with him or anything,
but in my interactions over the years, he's been fine
to me. But he has a skill, and it is
an elite skill. I know, I'm not a great politician.
(35:34):
It's really hard for me. It's hard for me to
fake things. And I think when most of us say
the word politician, we think a complete phony, a complete fraud.
They'll just say whatever they have to say. And in
any industry you work in, especially those of you in
bigger companies where you have a lot of different levels
of management, we've all been around him, right, that play
(35:56):
the game, that know what they're doing. And then there's
one thing to have that and be talented. It's actually
a really good skill to have when you're also good
at your job. But I think you we can question
whether Trent Balkey knows what he's doing. And he's had
hits and he's had a lot of misses, but one
thing he's great at. When shit hits the fan, it's
(36:16):
like he can't avoid it, and everyone else gets taken out.
And I think it's pretty clear, and by the time
you're listening there might be actual stories out about this
is for whatever reason, the cons I think, in a
perfect world just want to hire a GM, hire a coach,
run the team, and just make us competitive. We don't
want we just want to go to some games, make
(36:37):
a bunch of money, Like we're not gonna tell you
what plays to run, what players to pick, just do
it please. And I think he was praying. Balkey was
like that and he could find another coach. And it's
pretty clear that Shad Khan, like all these guys are
saying no to him these and who's saying no to
him is not Ben Johnson, It's not Bill Belichick, right,
(36:58):
This is like coordinate that don't have other options. And
eventually you pick up the horn that used to be
a call to phone for those of us old enough
to remember that were plugged in to a wall at
your house where you have these things called house phones.
Those don't really exist anymore. So you pick up your
cell phone, or you either call or you text the
coaching agents and you go, what's the deal? Can you
(37:22):
help me out? Help me, help you because those agents
want to be in with the owners. And there's no
doubt in my mind. He said, Listen, my client likes
the opportunity you provide and would be interested in being
your head coach. But he would rather jump off the
Golden gate bridge than have to work with Trombalk. He's
not gonna do it. Even these people that don't know him.
All they're gonna know is this guy's a politician, and
(37:43):
the moment things go wrong, he will stick a knife
in your back and then slit your throat. So it's
like I'm not hitching my wagon, you know, Liam Cohen.
Reports are that he just re signed with Tampa Bay
for about four and a half five million dollars a year.
And I've said it forever. The NFL is Wall Street
on grass. There is not a better business to be
in right now to be coaching than the National Football
(38:05):
League and real college football. Mean, Chip Kelly's making two
and a half million dollars. How many people and how
many industries of people listening to this? Do you know
that the guy that is not the head honcho who's
not at the top of the ORG chart. He doesn't
own anything. He has little to no responsibility in terms
of big decision making. He's not a decision maker. Now,
being a coordinator is a big deal, but there is
(38:27):
no decision making in terms of roster, in terms of
when guys get in trouble with terms of punishment. You
don't have to deal with the owner a lot of
the times in terms of like on a daily basis
or a weekly basis, and you're making three four five
million dollars, it's an incredible gig to have. You know, listen,
I understand being a head coach much more famous. You
get to make the decisions, you make more money. But
(38:49):
if you're telling me that the number twos, and there
are multiple number twos, like the DC and the OC
are getting paid between two and five million dollars and
don't have responsibility when shit hits the fan, think they're
not getting sued or anything. Uh, they have no, they
don't have to pay people. It's an incredible It's one
of the greatest gigs in the history of America. Currently.
(39:10):
To be an offensive or defensive coordinator in the NFL,
especially if you're good at it, pays a premium. But
Liam Cohen returns like I would imagine he goes, well,
why wouldn't Liam Cohen want this job? Now? I think
you could also make the argument like, if you're Liam Cohen,
you know you're already in Florida. What's he gonna pay
a couple million dollars extra stay with Baker? I can
get a better job than that. But you know Balkey
(39:33):
he mentioned it during the final press conference too, when asked,
if you have a coach that does not want to
work with Trent, would you would you at least acknowledge
that you might have to do something here with Trent
Balke and would you fire him? And I forget his
exact the way he phrased it, but he basically said, yeah.
(39:57):
It was a very awkward moment because Trent, who he's
always in great shape, you know, he looks good in
a polo or suit or whatever. He's sitting there right
next to Shad who's you know, at at his at
his home office, probably some mansion in Palm Beach, and uh,
it was like, what's gonna say? And then he ends
up getting fired? So wouldn't shock me at all. If
(40:17):
Trent Balky's a GM for another team someday, I mean,
don't don't ever put it past a great politics. A
great elite politician is never dead, promise you. It's just
if you've been along alive long enough. Those fucking people
are leeches and this guy is great at it. Okay,
(40:48):
let's do a little thing we like to call the
middle Coff mail bag at John Middlecoff is the Instagram
fire into those d ms, get your questions answered here
on the show, I was wondering why NFL head coaches
are not paid more in relation to players. Aside from
the quarterback, it's most important role on the team. Yet
(41:10):
even elite head coaches don't make much more money than
mid level players, and since their pay isn't affected by
the salary cap, it just strikes me as ot I
tend to agree. You could argue that coaches and the
top gms are severely underpaid based on the industry they're in.
Right they are. I think you could argue some position
(41:32):
coaches are somewhat overpaid. Right If I have a good
dB coach and he's making eight to fifty, could I
get the same thing for four hundred grand. But again,
that's what we're talking, hundreds of thousands of dollars. If
I'm let's use Kevin O'Connell as an example, and I've
been critical of them, but if they fired Kevin O'Connell yesterday,
in what world could they replace Kevin O'Connell with another
(41:55):
Kevin O'Connell. It'd be higher than I'd say fifty sixty
seventy percent chance whoever they hired would not work. Right,
So he just gets a raise. Let's just pick a number,
fourteen million dollars he was making seven. Let's say doubled
his his income. I think schefter thought it'd be somewhere
between twelve to fourteen. So even if he's making twelve, well,
(42:16):
justin Jefferson's making thirty his quarterback technically because Darnold and
JJ McCarthy. But let's say his highest paid players making thirty,
you're telling me Kevin O'Connell's not work twenty. Look at
Kayleb Williams, all, this guy's gonna change the league. They
draft him. He's terrible. I mean he's he has just
not a very good rookie year relative to the hype.
(42:37):
So you know, Andy Reid. What's Andy Reid worth to
the Chiefs. Let's say, let's just pick a number. They're
paying him eighteen million dollars right now. Well, if Mahomes
worth fifty, which obviously it's heart, it's impossible to replace
Mahomes And like you said, no one has a problem
with the quarterback making more than the coach. Is there
(43:00):
If Clark Hunt had to pick this offseason, Travis Kelcey
or Andy Reid, what's he picking Andy Reid? There's not
a player. Chris Jones would be tough, but like I
could find another Chris Jones, I can't find another Andy Reid.
Andy Reid should be making probably forty million dollars. What's
Sean mcvayworth. I mean, seriously, what is Sean mcvayworth through
(43:22):
the Rams? Now? It's listen. I remember when I lived
in Philadelphia. They were having this big U they were
really building up the baseball team and Cole Hamil's was
about to be a free agent. It's like, if he
hits free agency, he might make one hundred and seventy
one hundred and eighty million dollars and they put I
(43:43):
think I think the contract he signed when I first moved.
There was like one hundred and twenty five million dollars,
and I remember someone on the radio going, can you
imagine saying like, I'm gonna ride this out to get
one hundred and seventy five million dollars? And then someone
puts one hundred and twenty million dollars in front of you.
What are you gonna do? Not sign it? It's my
(44:04):
argument with perty. It's like, hey, Brock, here's three years,
one hundred and twenty million dollars, one hundred guaranteed. This
is our contract. You don't have to sign it, but
you can also just we'll just play next year for
one million dollars. What's he gonna do? Why doesn't that
happen more in sports? Happens to us in business all
the time. Don't get it. Honestly, I don't understand why
(44:25):
it doesn't happen. I get with the Josh Allens, the
Joe Burrows, the Patrick Mahomes, even the Justin Jefferson's and
the CD Lambs, but I don't think it happens with
the second and third tier players enough. It happens with
coaches and they usually like, hey, hey, Sean, here's a
five year contract. Fifteen million dollars a year. Reality is
Sean mcvay's worth double that? But what's he gonna do?
(44:45):
Not sign a seventy five million dollar contract? What was
Saban worth Alabama? They were paying them ten It's like, God,
Saban makes so much money. Saban was worth probably fifty
million dollars to them. Longtime Rams fan from Delaware was
at the Sunday game versus the Eagles. Hell of a
game once in a lifetime. It was awesome to watch
(45:06):
on television. Question number one offseason for the Rams. Do
you think the Rams will move on from Stafford or
will he retire? I think McVeigh is really smart and
he can see the league shifting into more mobile quarterback
time isn't on our side. Many people don't have him
even listed as a five to eight quarterback in the league.
I think McVeigh was pissed about the fumble in the
(45:27):
game and the final sack he took. The final sack.
I mean, if your center is gonna get I mean
just destroys the wrong word. I mean, Jaylee just went right.
What's he gonna do? You know? I don't know. I'd
love to see McVeigh with a more mobile quarterback question
two not really a question. I hear all the hype
around Jaden and being the best rookie quarterback ever. Has
(45:48):
everyone forgot about Kurt Warner's rookie year forty one touchdowns?
Was Kurt Warner a rookie? You know? He Kurt Warner.
Let's just I just want to get this right here.
I know what you mean. But Kurt Warner, when he
was born in nineteen seventy one, so his first season
(46:13):
starting for the Rams was nineteen ninety nine, he would
have been like twenty eight years old. I mean, he
technically came out of Northern Iowa in nineteen ninety three,
so he was an undrafted free agent in nineteen ninety four,
so he played for the Packers. Then he obviously played
the Iowa Barnstormers. Like I that's that's not apples and apples.
(46:36):
I know what you're saying, But you can't be a
twenty seven year old rookie just because it's your first
time starting in that situation. But I hear you. With
all these coaching interviews happening, I'm seeing parts and articles
that say so and so is also a candidate and
is compliant with the Rooney rule. How pathetic do you
(46:56):
think the minority feels going into these interviews? No, they
are potentially just being interviewed solely because this rule states
that they have to interview a minority. Can we just
go back to interviewing hiring candidates that are just qualified?
Why bring race into it? Curious to hear your thoughts. Well,
I think part of it is for a long time,
(47:19):
the NFL disproportionately black, right, and the coaching staffs were
the same thing. And then the coaches, the head coaches
which pay way more, this goes back to decades, were
heavily white guys. This is my argument, Like everyone's making
so much money now, like no one in my experience
(47:40):
in football, I've never heard race come up. Like only
working in the media are people obsessed with it? When
you work in football. I had never heard it come
up when it came to coaching, when it came to players,
when it came to interacting. And I spent five years
every single day around players and coaches. Now to get
the shot at a head coach, obviously it helps to
(48:00):
become an offensive coordinator. That's why they've pushed, you know,
to give guys opportunities with you know, in those type roles,
especially quarterback coaches. But like the Jets hired Aaron Glenn
because Aaron Glenn was a good candidate, period, point blank,
end of story. Aaron Glenn could have been fucking purple.
He was a no brainer hire for them. You know.
(48:22):
It's it's always my issue with like the Pats want
to hire Mike Vrabel. It's like, why do I have to?
Why do I can't remember who they brought in Byron Leftwich?
And now sometimes you're bringing them in for a head
coaching interview. Who turns down a head coaching interview? Plus
you get to know the owner, maybe he pushes you
to the staff and you become the offensive coordinator, which
obviously didn't have Byron Leftwich. But I hear you. I
(48:44):
mean some of these interviews are complete champ. Are just
an absolute complete champ. Now, back in the day, I
think you would say Mike Tomlin on its surface was
a sham. Then he becomes a head coach and eighteen
years later he's probably made a hundred million dollars, So
I mean, he just ever know. But I'm with you.
I remember the Raiders got in trouble for hiring John
(49:04):
Gruden to me, the rule be, if you've won a
Super Bowl, I don't have to follow any fucking rules.
I can hire whoever I want to hire, right, And
I just think these are the rules. I think the
NFL has been very hesitant, you know, changing that. Now
you just look at the way society's heavily changing all
the fortune five hundred companies just getting rid of all
(49:25):
the requirements. I don't think the NFL is gonna pivot here,
but you know, I think we saw the Eric b
Enemy thing become like a media talking point for years.
And I've never met the guy, but all my guys
in Kansas City really liked him. But you know, I
think there's for whatever reason, people were just hesitant to
(49:46):
hire him, not because he was black, like I'll promise
you that. Then he gets a job in Washington and
it does not go well. It's like, okay, it's the
Commander's team. Wasn't that good. Then he goes to UCLA
and he gets fired by the show Foster fired. Now
I know his agent puts out this was bullshit. He
was fired. I was told that reliably, and any big brothers,
(50:09):
you know he's a big brother. No, he was the
offensive coordinator, wouldn't listen and Deshaun Foster fired him? So
and listen that conversation is all we already died. But
like I just I have a hard time with the
When I know who I want to hire, I have
to interview other people. If you have certain requirements, you
(50:30):
could argue if you've been a head coach before, like
do I need to do the Rooney rule? If I
want to hire Pete Carroll? You mean a guy that's
been a coach at three different teams, won multiple national championships,
have been to multiple Super Bowls? With a Super Bowl championship,
Why couldn't I just hire Pete Carroll? Why do I
have to wait? But those are the rules. So I
(50:51):
I just don't think it's going to change, no matter
how much society is heavily shifting. Uh. And I again,
I can't speak for owners. I've never owned NFL team.
I've never met anyone who gives a shit about like,
I just want to hire the best coach. And whether
that's a white guy, whether that's a black guy, are
you good cause I've seen you know. You can find
(51:13):
bad ones in every version. You can find great ones everywhere.
And that's the thing with coaching, Like you can go
to Division two, you can go to Division one, you
go to the NFL, Like they're good and bad coaches.
Just there are better coaches in Division two than some
in the NFL. And I'm talking about assistance and stuff.
But the other thing is, like so much now is
about who's your agent. Like is Marcus Freeman a good coach,
(51:34):
like because he's black or white. No, he's just a
good coach. Like he's just good. Played in college play
a little in the NFL. He's just natural with people.
You'll see it, right, Marcus Freeman just lost to Ryan Day.
I know this. If I had to hire one of
those two guys for the next five years to run
my program, I wouldn't even hesitate. I would hire Marcus Freeman.
(51:56):
Wouldn't even cross my mind. If I was an NFL team,
Marcus Freeman, I'd hire Tomorrow over Ryan Day. You're like
middle God, if you're just Ohio State hater. He won
the national championship. He's got a fucking twenty million dollar payroll,
and get anyone into school. Give me Marcus Freeman all
day long. God, I want a Notre dame to win
that game. A quick question for the mail bag coming
(52:17):
from a lifelong Cowboy fan, what the fuck are we doing?
I don't know. Hell of a question, man, reaching out
for the mailbag. For your restaurant recommendations in the Scottsdale area.
My boyfriend and I are traveling there for the waste management.
There's our first trip together as a couple. WHOA, So
(52:38):
I'm super stoked, big move. Yeah. We are from the
West Loop in Chicago and often venture out to nice dinners. Also,
this being my first time to Scottsdale Phoenix area. Curious
any fun date night options you and Maria enjoy doing.
I've been tuning into Colin religiously. I would say that
(53:00):
weekend stuff. In terms of getting these reservations for my money,
Dominic's is the best steakhouse in North Scottsdale, and that's
where waste management is. And I don't know if you're
staying up you know on this end of Scottsdale. It's
on the basically the opposite end of Old Town Scottsdale,
which is closer to Tempe. Uh. But I would get
(53:21):
on those reservations immediately. You know. There are mastros, There's
one in North Scottsdale. There's a Mastros Ocean Club which
is close to TPC. I mean, these are awesome, nice
elite steakhouses. Date night. There is a really cool bar
behind the waste management at a hotel called The Princess.
(53:42):
It's kind of outside. It's just it's just an excellent spot.
And there is a restaurant in the Princess, which is
a hotel that backs up to TPC Scottsdale, which is
called La Hacienda. It's a Mexican restaurant, but it's kind
of like an upscale Mexican restaurant. It's legit. So I
would say Dominic's, Mastros Ocean Club, La Hacienda, Preston Steakhouse.
(54:08):
It's not too far away from me. It's not bad,
not bad. If you're in old town. The Mission is
just an awesome spot. It's kind of like it's Mexican
food but great. Margarito's just just cool. Jam I went.
I mean one of my favorite restaurants in that place
kind of got famous when the dude Biz from Barstool
(54:28):
got in a fight with those Irish gypsies and he
fought like ten of them. Houston's I used to live
right next to it. I went there all the time.
That place is bomb norcou guy. I'm nineteen and started
listening in twenty twenty three when I needed my dad
to respect my football knowledge. I feel like Jaden Daniels
is the truth. And according to Google, he's six foot four,
(54:49):
two hundred and ten pounds. I think if he doesn't
fill out his frame more, these defenses are gonna figure
him out as more film rolls in, and he's gonna
start talking making some big hits. Right now, when you're young,
in certain frames, like it's hard to put on weight,
like it is going to be a difficult proposition for
(55:10):
Jaden to ever be built like he's Cam Newton, you know,
like your frame's kind of your frame. Lamar Jackson is
never going to be some jacked up thick guy right
when you look at you know, Mahomes or Josh Allen
or just a little thicker. Now they're also I guess
they're similar age to Lamar, but like your body type
is kind of your body type, Like DeVante Smith is
(55:31):
never going to weigh two hundred ten pounds, He's always
going to be in one to seventy five, right, So
Jaden can get a little thicker, more muscle, but his
frame is frame like it kind of is what it
is to me. Where he's got to get smart and
Lamar is elite at this is if you're not going
to be a slider, you got to do the PLoP
and Lamar just does these like little plops when he
(55:52):
gets near your kind of chaos. Jaden's got a little.
When I was in Philly, Michael Vick was righted Now.
It was awesome to watch because he was tough and
he was just he was fearless. But when you're getting
hurt a lot, it become fearless, becomes reckless. And Jaden
has to be very very careful diving and jumping. But like,
(56:15):
I don't think he's ever gonna be body type is
kind of his body type because he's not This is
not a twenty year old guy. I mean, this guy's
been in college for like six years. And I think
they feed you pretty well at LSU. Why isn't McCarthy
getting more interviews. All he does is to win. And
if the Saints hired him, they would have the best
coach in the division. And if the Jaguars hired him,
(56:37):
it would almost guarantee to save Trevor Lawrence. How say you?
It's funny, you know, perception could be a real thing,
and for whatever reason for a guy that has won
a lot of games and is a Super Bowl champ
and he was not. I mean, how old is Mike
McCarthy sixty, So it's not like he's Pete Carroll seventy
(57:01):
three years old. His career record won seventy four and
one twelve. He's won eleven playoff games. His winning percentage
is over six hundred in this century, has three twelve
win seasons, just turned twenty twenty five. But he's kind
of I don't think he's viewed like his record fair
(57:21):
or not. I mean, honestly, yeah, I thought he had
a pretty good run Dallas. He clearly had an awesome
run in Green Bay. But people go, oh, it's Aaron Rodgers,
says Al Rodgers. What do they say about Dallas? No
one wins there? He won twelve games three years in row.
When's the last time that. When's the last time the
Cowboys did that the nineties? I don't think they have
(57:44):
anything near that this century. I mean, up until twenty
twenty one, they had that back to back winning season.
Since nineteen ninety five, nineteen ninety six. Think about that.
(58:04):
So when they were good in the mid nineties ninety
one through ninety six, eleven, thirteen, twelve, twelve, ten, starting
in nineteen ninety seven, till Mike McCarthy showed up, they
did not have back to back double digit winning seasons.
He had three straight. So I'm sorry, Like you could
(58:29):
argue Mike's better than the Cowboys because the Cowboys had
a million coaches during that time, Parcels, Garrett, you name it,
Wade Phillips. None of them could win back to back
double digit games. It's not that difficult. Huge fan, I'm
an Alabama fan, and while the season was disappointing, I
have a more optimistic outlook going forward than a lot
(58:51):
of Bama fans do. I think we have a great
coach and great recruiting infrastructure, and they are still one
of the most attractive destinations for high schoo in transfers.
I do worry, however, about the NIL situation. We have
a harder time getting funding for a collective and not
only do a lot of Northern and West Coast schools,
but even SEC competitors like Texas, Georgia and a and
(59:12):
m Well, I think will always be one of the
better schools in the country. Do you think the NIL
issues could prevent Bama as well as some other lower
funding SEC schools, from being able to re enter the
national championship contender. Let me just say this where I
think you're wrong. You said a comment like I think
we are still one of the most attractive destinations for
(59:35):
high school kids. That doesn't exist anymore. That there's no like,
you know, forever, if you wanted, you know, there were destinations, right.
If you wanted to work in country music, you moved
to Nashville. If you wanted to work in Hollywood, you
moved to La And those were just attractive places, right.
Help you know, think about in the last four years
the places that have boomed, right, Vegas, Scottsdale, Austin, Texas, Dallas, Texas, Nashville,
(01:00:03):
Palm Beach, Jupiter, Miami Areas, Charlotte. Right, they were just
they were a destination for human beings. Destinations now in
college football have nothing to do with like you know
who used to play here or you know how many
games we've won. There's one question that gets asked. I
would say, not one hundred percent the time, but I
(01:00:26):
think the number is well over ninety to ninety five percent. Well,
what's how much you paint me? So it's like, if
Alabama's offering a guy four hundred thousand dollars and a
shittier school, let's just pick Alabama. Let's just pick two
schools Alabama against. Let's say Utah. Let's say Utah has
(01:00:47):
more money than Alabama. I'm not saying that's they do.
I don't know. I don't have the books. But let's
just say Utah is offering the kid six hundred thousand
dollars in Alabama's offering the kid four hundred thousand dollars. Forever,
it'd be like you just you go play at Alabama.
I think Utah against that kid nine out of ten times. Now,
(01:01:10):
let's use Michigan State and the example you use and
Colin's been hitting on this, and Colin uses like these
guys go to the coasts and they work in finance
and whatever. I think it's just a simple numbers game
that Michigan, obviously, Ohio State, Oregon, these schools have more
money than the SEC schools not named Texas and Texas
and m maybe Georgia. We're really about to find out.
(01:01:33):
But we just saw Ohio State have the highest paid
roster in the country. The only team that was closed
was Texas, not Alabama, LSU or Georgia. We saw LSU,
and I would put LSU in there with Alabama. Brian
Kelly had to give a million dollars to the collective
because when Underwood needed to pick a school, Michigan gave
him all that money because they have an eighty year
(01:01:55):
old guy named Larry Ellison who cut the check. Like
that guy just doesn't exist at Alabama or il issue.
I think many would argue that Arkansas, because of Tyson Foods,
technically has more money. If you gave Deboor twenty million
(01:02:15):
dollars to play with, I think Alabama would win a
national championship or compete to win one. But if let's
just say, and again, no one really knows these numbers,
but let's just say he's got ten and the top
six to seven programs are between fifteen to twenty, you're
at a major disadvantage. And just because Saban rattled off championships,
(01:02:35):
no one gives a shit that all those sweet that
oh Mika Fitzpatrick, Quinn Williams, Julio Jones. Okay, awesome, how
much you paying me? Which I like, there's just a
very capitalistic I don't know nature to the business. Now
(01:02:57):
it's capitalistic a word, the just cut through business nature
of college sports, which in basketball has always been like that,
Like why do you think Duke and Kentucky were getting
those several players? Nothing comes for free, nothing good comes
for free, beside love. I think you guys are in trouble.
(01:03:21):
I think any school without a ton of money is
in trouble. So you could argue that it just becomes
the top five or six nil teams are going to
consistently be in the Final four at least final eight,
and you kinda you know, Alabama did enough to get
lucky before they got the best players. Georgia, Georgia and
Alabama for like, you know, the last decade got the
(01:03:43):
best players. LSU had the one year, but it was
basically them Clemson in a couple of years. That would
never happen today. There's no way Saban is elite. Saban
wouldn't have been able to land all those guys because
he wouldn't have the money. I loved Alabama undersaving I
became a pretty die hard sec guy. I watched most
(01:04:04):
of their games right, not just Alabama, but all the
big SEC games. I thought it was the best product.
If it shifts like I won't watch as much. I
don't think the conference is gonna be awesome because the
you know the vibe that the games are elite. They
care so much and they'll do whatever they can to
raise the money. But how do you go up against
the money of Ohio State, the money of Oregon. If
(01:04:26):
USC can ever get their head out of their ass, USC,
they just got more money than you. I'll tell you.
I'll tell you the sleeper. It's fucking Notre Dame. Do
you know how much money that school has? Do you
know how many boosters with unlimited cash are gonna want
to be a huge part of the program now that
they can directly. And Marcus Freeman is much more likable
(01:04:47):
than Brian Kelly and proves that he can win. Watch
out for Notre Dame. Huge Bucks fan. I just wanted
to get your thoughts and maybe an outside view of
the future of Baker and Tampa. I feel like that
we are consistently portrait Trade is a five win team
in all the preseason, and when we do make the
playoffs for the fifth straight year. That's when the national
media love to come out. It's one of your thoughts. Well,
(01:05:10):
it's partly your division. It's pretty awful. It's really bad.
I mean, it's just not a fun division to watch.
I mean, the Saints are putrid, the Falcons are kind
of an embarrassment. Uh, and the Carolina Panthers up until
the last second half of the year had been one
of the rough couple of year stretches I can ever remember.
(01:05:33):
So your division flies a little under the radar. You know,
your your head coach is not you know, it's funny
with Todd like that guy was a badass safety in
the pros and if you ever most people probably listening
have it met Todd. But obviously safeties are if you
meet a safety from like the eighties or the nineties.
(01:05:54):
I worked with one in Lewis Riddick, who you see
on ESPN. I was around Todd Bowles with the Eagle.
I spent a lot of time around the Niners and
seeing John Lynch. Safeties back in the day are fucking massive.
Todd Bowles is a big ass dude. If you played
safety back in the day, safeties were bigger like if
you just see Todd Bowles or Lewis Ridick standing next
(01:06:17):
to a linebacker nowadays, a lot of times they're bigger.
John Lynch is bigger than some forty nine linebackers or
every body. Maybe not now he's like fifty five years old,
but I'm just saying, like height, you know, these safeties
are six two sixty three. They just they look different
and they weren't they hit hard like you you got
killed back in the day. Yeah, Todd's personality sometimes I'm
(01:06:38):
jealous as someone that can get a little emotional, you
know when just just in life it's like, calm down
a little bit. Todd's very mellow, and I think sometimes
when you're mellow, you know, Dan Campbell hit the scene
like people follow the Lions pretty closely because he was
such a just magnetic figure. You're like, what Dan Campbell's say,
(01:07:00):
You just Todd's not really liked that. And even Baker,
who was once like that, I would say, is really
mellowed down. So really, the faces of your program in
the NFL typically or your coach and your quarterback, and
I obviously I would say Todd Bowle is one of
the more understated coaches head coaches in the NFL by
a wide margin. And I think Baker's become really really quiet,
(01:07:24):
which is a good thing if you're Jason Light and
Todd Bowles. What should the Saints do in order to
get back into contention asap? Is that something feasible in
twenty five? Should we accept the idea clean house? Yeah?
I think it's I think nuclear option. Blow that bitch up.
I think you have so many financial issues. I mean,
(01:07:45):
no team robs Peter to pay Paul like the Saints.
I mean, every single year, up against it, up against it,
up against it. And this Derek Carr thing, like he's
going to be your quarterback next year. Known Derek a
long time, but he just he's lost his mojo. Man,
he just hasn't played well for a while. And the
other thing with Derek because he kind of gets injured
(01:08:06):
a lot now, But it doesn't make any fin You
just roll him back. But the problem is if Derekshire quarterback. Now,
I don't know if you know it's feasible that he's
gonna play seventeen games anymore, but he's going to. I
just think that it's gonna be hard to get a
top couple pick with it if he plays most of
the games. Now, if he gets injured and you gotta
(01:08:27):
play Spencer Rattler or hater. I like Jake two Fristen
State guy. But just quarterback situations not great, team's not great,
just issues. What else to say? We'll end on this
Charger fan stoked we got Jimmy Harbaugh. Year one was
above my expectations, even though we had a rough ending.
(01:08:49):
Going forward, what do you think are the realistic chances
we ever win a Super Bowl? I think if Jim
Harbaugh's your coach, you have a good chance to win
a Super Bowl in the next several years. One thousand percent.
Khalil Mack I saw today said he wants to come back,
would not shock me at all. They re sign Khalil
Mack to a one year deal. I would imagine Jim
(01:09:10):
Harbaugh likes Khalil Mack, same with Jesse Minter. Now, maybe
Khalil Mack wants to leave. I don't see why I would,
obviously depending on money. I think there are a couple
keys to the draft for the Chargers, which is something
they just need to get for Herbert moving forward. A
weapon that can either be a tight end or a
(01:09:30):
wide receiver. I think they would be more inclined. If
you tell me they draft one of those two in
the first round, I think they'd be more inclined to
draft a tight end. Though, you know, harbaught and Balkey
took a wide receiver. I think his second year in
the first round turned out to be a bust. Aj
Jenkins from Illinois, But they did. But I could see
them taking a tight end or a wide receiver high
(01:09:52):
and a running back on the second day. And this
this draft is littered with running backs, so if they
can hit on those. When Harbaugh got hired with the
forty nine ers, one underrated thing they did is they
hit on some free agents. They signed Carlos Rogers who
was playing with the Redskins, and he became a Pro
Bowl corner for them. They signed I'm trying to think
(01:10:14):
Dante Whitner. They just signed some players that just became
impact players for them. So I think this offseason could
be about just signing a couple low budget guys that
could become impact players and then nail some draft picks.
Harbaugh has a long history of doing that. I think offensively,
the offensive line, you feel good about the quarterback you
(01:10:34):
feel good about Lad mccaukey, you feel good about now?
Can you get a Tyler Warren? I think Michigan's tight
ends pretty good, obviously, Jim's gonna know him. Or a
wide receiver to go with mccaukey and then draft a
running back that to me is the best, the best
plan moving forward. Appreciate you, guys, Talk to you soon.
(01:10:56):
The volume