3 & Out - What happened in Buffalo, John Harbaugh introduced in New York, Jeff Hafley goes to Miami - The Herd with Colin Cowherd

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on everybody? John Middlecock three
Now Podcast? How are we doing? My friends, my people
out there in the real world. Hopefully you're sleeping well

(00:23):
and catching some z's that I am not. But today
we will power through and talk some ball because some
stories breaking out of Buffalo about the details of the
power struggle who was clearly won by the front office.
I found time to watch John Harbaugh's press conference, made
some notes there. Jeff Hafley, who was just hired by

(00:45):
the Miami Dolphins, did something that's pretty interesting that deserves
a lot of credit for Bob Kraft had some comments.
And we will do a mail bag as well at
John Middlecoff at John Middlecoff as the Instagram. Fire in
those dms and get your questions on the show. Me
and Colin have done multiple podcasts this week. Did one

(01:06):
last night, did one Sunday night. I've done podcasts Saturday, Sunday, Monday,
doing one Tuesday. All the videos are up on Netflix,
so go check them out. And yeah, hopefully everyone's doing well.
And let's I guess before make sure you obviously all
of our videos are up on Netflix. Go check that out, Apple,

(01:26):
Spotify if you listen on Collin's feed. Make sure you
subscribe so you never miss a podcast, and we'll be
talking some National Football League and that's what we'll do today.
So let's dive right in. Let's dive into Buffalo, and
it's been pretty well documented. Forty eight hours after the firing,
there was a power struggle, which happens a lot. It

(01:49):
happens in Fortune five hundred companies, it happens in people's homes,
and it obviously happens in professional sports, especially football, and
anytime you have a versus coach, the questions being asked
are simple, are the players good enough? Or is the
coaching and scheme good enough? And in Buffalo, it's been

(02:09):
widely reported that there was a meeting within the last
month with the GM, the owner and the coach, and
the coach claimed they did not have enough talent to
win the Super Bowl. And clearly the GM, who got
the owner to agree with him, did not agree, were
not on the same page. And after that meeting, over

(02:30):
the next several weeks, I think it's fair to assume
that some you know, jockeying for position took place by
the general manager. And listen, if you look at Brandon
Bean's resume. He started as a PR guy, so he
kind of knows how to manage up, which is a

(02:51):
very important skill. You got to know how to manage
up if you're a coach, you're constantly dealing with an owner.
And listen, I am pro Sean McDermott. I think he's
a really good coach, and I also understand why you're allowed,
and it's not that crazy to fire him after the
run they had of not getting over the hump. I've

(03:11):
said pretty consistently though, that giving the general manager not
just keeping him, but promoting him and giving him a
raise seems pretty crazy from the outside, especially when he's
only personally drafted two other Pro bowlers not named Josh
Josh Allen, Like, that's kind of a problem, and I
think he'd be the first to say, well, I probably

(03:31):
have on defense, my coach ain't developing these guys, he's
not taking them to the next level. And that's clearly
where the arguments are starting. And it's always easier for
all of us, including people in these buildings, to make
suggestions than actual decisions. And when you're an owner, Steve
Bushatti just did it, and that wasn't some backstabbing going on.

(03:53):
Eric Acosta and John Harbaugh were best friends. That was
an owner going rogue. Eric Acosta did not want to
fire John Harbaugh. Steve Bushatti did it and everyone knows it.
And he said, put it on me. It was my decision.
And you're like, okay, Mike Tomlin looks at him. I'm out,
that's Mike Tomlin's decision. The owner like, it's not Brandon
Bean's call whether you fire Sean McDermott. It's on the owner,

(04:16):
and he pulled the trigger. And now to me moving forward,
there are two major question marks because this has happened before.
Brandon Bean is not the first general manager to be
chosen over a coach. I once saw it when I
got out of the NFL and started working in radio
in the Bay Area. Jed York chose Trent Balke over
Jim Harball. It did not go well. They went with

(04:38):
Jim tom Sulla, then Chip Kelly. Then Trent Balke got fired,
and obviously everything changed when they brought in Kyle and
John Lynch. But sometimes it works. Jeffrey Lurie once did
it with Howie Roseman kicked him to the other side
of the building. Then realized it was a moronic decision,
went back to Howie. They've been to three Super Bowls
and won two cents. The U Seattle Seahawks ownership now

(05:02):
it used to be Paul Allen, who's obviously passed away
and his daughters now run. It pretty clear they who
they chose last. A couple of years ago, they chose
John Schneider over Pete Carroll and that was one percent
the right decision. Here is my question, is Brandon Bean
dynamic enough to be John Snyder and Howie Roseman, Because

(05:22):
so far he's proven to not be. So when you
do make that decision, it better be with a dynamic
general manager. And to me, Brandon Bean just simply is
not that guy, at least what he has demonstrated so
far in his career. So when you make that decision,
you better be making the decision with an elite personnel
man and in this modern day kind of age of football,

(05:44):
just a dynamic human. There are a lot of videos
going viral of a bitching and moaning with you know,
radio guys. PFF put out one of their former employees
that he used to always call in if the grades
were too low. It's like are you worried about the
wrong things? Because from my standpoint, it sure looks like it.
And I also think here's the other big question, and

(06:04):
this is why when I saw Trent Balke get fired
and he's been fired twice in these situations, is no
one would take the job because no one wanted to
work for him. It's pretty clear that the owner views
this guy as the most important guy in the building.
So if I'm a coach with options, and obviously every
coach alive would want to coach a player like Josh Allen,

(06:29):
but do I want to work hand in hand and
essentially for Brandon Bean Because to me, that's the question
all these coaches are asking right now now. Last year,
Shod Khan when he kept Trent Balkey and then was asked,
is he safe no matter what if the coach that
you want does not want to work with him, And
remember on a Zoom meeting, He's like, yeah, we would

(06:50):
be open to making changes, and Trent Balkey just kind
of freezes. If everything's on the table, then whatever, it
doesn't really matter. Like the giants who will get into
box at the job with Joe Shane, theirs doesn't look
like a problem. Now granted he doesn't have to answer
to him, but still song his praises today. And that's
what I'm gonna be fascinated to see moving forward, that

(07:11):
if they are willing and if they have the capability
to land exactly who they want with Brandon Bean there
right now, who let's face it, two things can be true,
and this is I feel like I'm beating a dead horse,
firing a guy after nine years with an all time
great player not being able to get over the hump.
It's not the first time and it definitely won't be
the last time a coach in that situation has been

(07:33):
let go. That is not even that weird, right, But
I think the question mark is that when you have
a guy that's not some like Hall of Fame GM,
how does he get to maintain the power and extend
and essentially gain more. That was the head scratching part
to this entire thing, and that's why I think most
people in the outside go snake in the grass. And

(07:56):
you could also argue that part of these industries, especially
something like pro sports, when there are two people at
the top of the food chain, there's always gonna be backstabbing.
There's always gonna be jockeying for a position, and if
you win the power struggle, people are gonna call you
a snake, and you have to be okay with that.
There's no perfect way to handle these situations. It does
feel like this situation, though, was a little shady from

(08:20):
one guy who didn't really deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Watched Harbo's press conference today and I jotted down some notes.
Sometimes Coward had this saying way back in the day,
holding a grudge is like chainsmoking hate. And I try
to think like that because the old me, in my

(08:41):
younger years held grudges. And once you hear that, it
really As you get older and you get a little
more experienced, there's a lot of truth to that, like
why are you holding a grudge over something that doesn't
even matter? And you don't even talk to the person.
Just let it go, move on with your life. And
sometimes when coaches get fired, there can be, rightfully so,

(09:02):
a bitterness, a big chip on your shoulder of anger,
not of excitement and desire for your next task. Belichick's
a good example of that, the bitterness, and he's a
bitter individual curmudgeon. You could feel it. It was palpable
when you watched him that year out of football. His

(09:24):
hatred toward Robert crafton some of it will justify it.
I'm not anti Belichick. He's, in my opinion, the best
coach over that dynasty I've ever seen. I mean, people
try to act like it was Brady. Obviously Brady had
a huge part in it, but if you watch the
Patriot dynasty, Belichick was a fucking genius. But the way
he handled the bitterness and the anger post the firing

(09:46):
was like Bill, you get him a vombro. He made
like two hundred and fifty million dollars. He won six
Super Bowls, like it ends all most things do in life.
And when I saw John Harby, I didn't know exactly
what type juice he would bring to the press conference
beside you know, saying the right things. But you saw
a guy that held no ill will towards the Ravens.
You saw a guy who felt very fortunate to have

(10:08):
had that opportunity. I saw a guy and I think
Jim has turned into this too, that like is coaching
much more with happiness than anger. I mean, Jim really,
I think had this problem in his younger years. There
was like this edge and this kind of wall around him.
If you watch him now, he is a dramatically different
human than he was ten fifteen years ago. It ain't

(10:30):
even close in a better way. Jim today is a
way better coach than he was with the forty nine ers,
where in all fairness, while they made the wrong decision
going with Trent Bulky over Jim Harbaugh, he was extremely
difficult to deal with back then. That part is undeniable.
And I watched John Harbaugh and I go and he's
always listen. The harball is a little crazy, And I

(10:52):
always get really emotional because having been around Jim when
he was coaching the forty nine ers, not personally but
just going to practices, going of games. Jack Harbaugh was
always there, and John Harbaugh today spoke Jack was there
as well. The way they talk about their father honestly
makes you a little sappy as someone that lost his

(11:12):
dad years ago and someone that just had a son
who ironically they named him Jack. But I just think
the love they have for their dad, it's like they
can't even. The excitement they have when they talk about
their father is really really special, and it's something very
admirable that anyone should aspire as a father to get

(11:34):
that type love from their sons because they idolize their father,
idolize their dad. And when you watch John Harbaugh, to me,
you're not getting like this guy that had been somewhere forever,
that's in his mid sixties, that's angry. You look at
John one, He's in fantastic shape. He looks young. If
you had no clue who the Harballs were and you

(11:56):
just looked at John Harball, you'd be like, hey, he's
fifty six years old. He's not in his mid sixties.
He looks fantastic. His energy is fantastic. You know one
thing with Pete Carroll that i'd heard, Obviously he's older
than John Harbaugh. Was definitely a little out to lunch
with the Raiders, but like his aide started showing, wasn't
quite as sharp, which is understandable. You get into your
mid seventies, you're not quite as quick as you were

(12:18):
at fifty eight, at sixty three, and you see John
Harbaugh like you're getting this five year, hundred million dollar contract.
You're gonna get good five years out of the guy.
And if I was a Giants fan, the guy who
deserves the most credit on this and texting a couple
of people that were there today, Chris Mara led this thing.
I think I've been saying the uh I call him

(12:39):
the Mars, it's actually the Maras Chris Marra, who with
John being sick, Chris is always kind of held who's
John's brother a personnel role and I think there were
talks once upon a time, and I've mentioned this before
about him becoming the GM, and they realize they don't
want to be like the cowboys. With the GM, they
can't fire. But he's very involved in the personnel department

(12:59):
that you watched him today. He was the driving force
of getting in his car last week and driving down
to John's house, and he talked about it today as
Tom Coughlin set the whole thing up, was like he
was the drum beat behind this. And the one thing
when you watch John is you just assume, like Joe

(13:20):
Shane is a dead man walking. I don't think John's
coming in with that mindset. I really don't. I've been
saying that he's probably screwed, and listen, there's no guarantee
that he's safe. I think he's on his last year
of his contract. So he's gonna have a year to
prove to John not only knows what he's doing, he's
dynamic with trades, he's good in the draft, he's good
with a free agency, he's good at evaluating his own team.

(13:41):
He's got a lot of pressure on him. But I
think it's pretty clear if you take John at face value,
that he's definitely open to working with this guy and
excited to so if I'm Joe, obviously the ownership gave
me a second lease on life, which they easily could
have fired me. But John's gonna give me a chance,
and now it's incumbent on me to prove my because,
let's face it, that hard knocks part of the reason

(14:03):
I think a lot of us don't take Joe Shane
that seriously. It might be fair or not, but the
Giants allowed that to come out of the video. It
was pretty embarrassing. It really was. I mean, him looking
at John and saying, oh, he's gonna go to the Bear,
He's not going to go to the Eagles, and John
going I don't think I can sleep at night if
the Eagles signed him, And then the Eagles signed him
and he ran for two thousand yards, and they won

(14:23):
the Super Bowl. I mean, it was not an ideal situation,
Like it's it's hard to shake that, But I do
think if anyone could kind of resurrect his career take
the stink off him, it's John. And a good personnel
guy is only as strong as his coach. So I
do think that Joe is going to get a fair
shake from his new coach, who, as Chris said, is
the most important cog in the wheel. And they love

(14:45):
pushing back on this notion of like who cares who
has personnel control? It kind of matters because if we're
not on the same page about a player in free
agency or the draft, if I have it in my contract,
then I get the final say, Then I get the
final say. Of course, it's collaborative. We're meeting constantly. I've
been in these meetings. I've seen it happen. I saw
it for years. Howie and Andy meet every day. It

(15:07):
happens with Andy and Veech or Schneider and McDonald or whoever.
The coach and the GM meet every day year round,
let alone the free agency the draft. They even spend
more time together. But who has the final set when
you're walking up there who grabs the card from the board.
Now it's much more digital who takes the mouse and
picks the player, So that to me does matter. Everyone

(15:29):
loves saying it doesn't matter, it does who has the juice,
who is at the top of the ORC chart, because
historically with the Giants, the GM always was look at Buffalo.
Clearly who's the top the GM. So to me, the
Giants made a change and rightfully so. And the guy
that deserves credit for that is Chris because if you

(15:50):
watch the press conference tonight, and you watch Chris's press conference,
who did kind of a side meet up with the
media like he was a lead dog in this. And
my question, the only question I have with the Shane
Harbaugh thing working out, is this Chris la Bara like
Joe Shane, I keep saying more I think in Mara,
does he because it doesn't really feel like all his

(16:11):
chips are in the middle of the table on this
guy like he's a big John is John likes him?
But just Chris, And that to me is something that
if you're Joe, you got to manage that relationship. And
some of them and who knows, maybe Northeast guy little
rougher around the Edges, maybe he won't ever let you in,
but that if I'm Joe Shane, even if John starts

(16:32):
to come around on me, if Chris wants you out
and Chris is taking a bigger role with John being sick,
is definitely something to keep an eye on. But when
you look at the NFC East, you got Sirianni who's
been to a couple of Super Bowls, but can't coach
offense and has nothing to do with the offense, and
obviously has nothing to do with the defense, and doesn't
even have the juice to tell his defensive coordinator when

(16:53):
it's okay and not okay to say things because Vickers
do whatever he wants, so in a weird way, I
know he's had a lot of success, but as we
just saw in that game against the forty nine ers,
like he can get out coached in the blink of
an eye. Brian Schottenheimer, we have absolutely no clue, I
mean literally no clue. And depending on how this offseason goes,
if they don't dramatically fix the defense, they got no

(17:14):
shot zero. And Washington's got a lot of question marks,
I mean a ton. They were the oldest team in
the league last year, they don't have a second round pick.
What offense are they gonna build around Jayden? Can Jayden
stay on the field? They just got more question marks
than do Is dan Quinn that dynamic? So I think

(17:34):
if you're a Giants fan, don't expect Super Bowl this year.
But I think the Patriots is you never know. In
one offseason division a little down. They won the division
out the Bills, and the Bills have Josh Allen, So
I would say, if I'm a Giants fan, my expectation,
I think it's safe to say, standing here on January twentieth,
winning the division has to be on the table. It

(17:56):
has to be on the table. So we'll see how
their schedule breaks out. But I'd be pretty fired up
watching John Harbaugh, especially after the coaching stretch that you
guys just had. There is just a Tom Coughlin and
a Bill Parcells like Field of the guy. He was
born to sit at the head of the table. Pat
Shermer's not ahead of the table guy Brian day Ball,

(18:19):
who knows right, And it would not shock me at
all if day Ball's back with Buffalo, assuming him and
Josh have a good relationship. If they don't, then he
has no shot to get that job. But as of
right now, you cannot confidently say Brian Daball is a
head coach. Pat Shermer definitely not McAdoo, definitely not Joe Judge,
no chance. So like you have to have in the

(18:40):
NFL or the highest level of college guys that belong
at the head of the table, Kurt Signetti belongs at
the top, right, Kirby smart that they're born leaders in
the Harball family. Raised by Jack He created two guys
that were just born to lead the troops. Are they perfect? No?
Do they call plays? No? Are they very dependent on

(19:01):
their coaching staff and their coordinators they hire? Of course
they are. But John's proven to be pretty fucking good.
So I would bet on it being successful pretty quickly now,
depending on how far they can go. That's gonna be
dependent on Jackson dart ceiling, which I think is a
major question mark, staying healthy. What type offense are gonna

(19:23):
build around them? How my league neighbors comes back Scataboo
like that injury. Does that have any ill effects or
is he completely fine? They have some good pieces on
their defensive line, obviously, have a big draft coming up,
need to kind of flip some things around and add
some impact players. But I would be extremely bullish on
the short term success of the New York Giants. I

(19:43):
think there are a lot of similarities with his brother.
Showed up with the Chargers and they were immediately good.
Now have they made runs in the playoffs and they
have not. They've been bounced two years in a row
in the first round. But if I told Giants fans
right now, the next two years, you make the playoffs,
your bounce in the first round, they would one million
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(21:58):
I've told this story before, Guy Hayberman, who came on
the show last year. We used to go to a
lot of Niner practice during the twenty tens and even
through the twenty twenties. I haven't been in the last
three or four years, but for about a decade straight,
went all training camps every once in a while during OTAs,
And I'll never forget when Chip Kelly got hired, went

(22:19):
to a couple of practices and there was this dB
coach who just kind of looked goofy and nerdy. And
then Chip got fired and most of the coaches got fired,
and that dB coach was still around. I'm like, this
guy just I don't know. You can't judge a book
by its cover. And I remember asking around and everyone
was like, he's really impressive. He's a good young coach.
And a couple of years later he's the defensive coordinator

(22:41):
Ohio State, and then he becomes a head coach at
Boston College, and a couple of years ago it was
a big, big story and a big big deal when
Matt Lafleur fired his good friend as the defensive coordinator,
Joe Berry, and hired a head coach from college who
had never been a defensive coordinator in the NFL. But
I think Jeff Halfley deserves a lot of credit because

(23:02):
sometimes professionally you have to be selfish. You have to
think about yourself first. And when he left Boston College,
which is probably one of, if not the worst jobs
in power for in college football last year with Bill O'Brien,
who say what you want about him, has proven to

(23:22):
take the Texans of the playoffs every year, like he's a
real coach. Went to Intent in the ACC by far
the worst conference in the country too, Intent and went
one in seven in the ACC. Like that's pretty bad.
It's a dogshit job. But he went, I'm a head coach.
It's not like he was making Signetti money. So he's
making a couple of million bucks. But he leaves being

(23:43):
the head guy to be the defensive coordinator because his
path toward another job at BC's, let's face, his stepping
stone job. Would he ever get the Florida job, Would
he ever get the Ohio State job, had no chance there.
He had a better chance as a defensive coordinator with
the Packers, who, lets face it, during the Rogers era
have always been pretty bad on defense. Right one's last

(24:05):
time they had a good defensive coordinator. It been a while.
So he goes there, he resurrects the defense and immediately
becomes one of the top candidates on the market. But
he deserves credit for making that decision, which can't be
easy because when he leaves Boston College, he's screwing over
a lot of people that he hired who I'm sure
if we went back and looked, a lot of guys
got fired when Billy Oh came in a lot of

(24:26):
turnover there. A lot of people move their families to
follow him that did not get to come with him
to Green Bay. So this gets back to the decisions
and suggestions. It is really hard. I don't care when
it comes. I'm seeing it with my child and making
decisions with doctors and just basic things, let alone big,

(24:50):
huge professional decisions. When you're the boss that impact ten
twenty to fifty people, sometimes you gotta be selfish, and
Halfley was and he's benefited from that and now he's
the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. Think about that.
A couple of years ago, he was the head coach
of a team that had no chance to have any
success in the ACC. Two years later, he's the head

(25:10):
coach of an NFL team. Like, that's how fast it happened,
And that decision looking back is beyond genius. And I
think you see sometimes one big change in college football.
Before you could coach at the MAC or the Mountain West,
and that job was a great stepping stone, right, Chris Peterson,

(25:32):
Boise State, Washington. What's his name, Brady Hoaks, San Diego State, Michigan.
I'm not saying it always worked, but I'm Nick Saban
Kent State, worked his way to Michigan State, Cleveland, right,
moved his way up off the little jobs. Those jobs
suck now because of the transfer portal, and if your
team is not equipped to pay guys and have the

(25:54):
financial resources, you don't have a snowball shot in hill.
So I think Halfley really that he was an early
adopter of kind of seeing the landscape of the sport
and he directly benefited that quick Now, obviously he had
to prove his worth and it was clearly one of
the better defensive coordinators. If you watch Halfley's press conference,
he's really really impressive. It's why when Lafleur got extended

(26:18):
a couple days ago, and I think, I don't know
if Gudakin's but when I'm recording this has officially been
extended or not, but he's going to be So those
guys aren't going anywhere. The Packers really, if they were
gonna move off Lafloor, had one logical choice, and that
was either they were gonna fire Lafloor to hire Halflee,
or they were gonna keep Lafloor. They were not gonna

(26:38):
go on a coaching search and interview Mike McDaniel or
Sala or just all these random Matt Naggey those guys.
That's not how the Packers are gonna operate because Gudakins
wasn't going anywhere. So they were either gonna elevate Halfley
or they were gonna keep Lafloor. I truly believe that.
I don't have sources on this, but it's pretty clear, right.
I think most Packer fans would agree those were there too,

(26:59):
opt and I don't blame them for deciding what they decided,
and now I think there's a lot of pressure on
them hiring a defensive coordinator. You're gonna have Parsons back,
There's gonna be a lot to work with. You're gonna
have defensive coordinators very interested. I've had people in the
NFL kind of tip me off. They they said they
would be stunned if former Wisconsin defensive coordinator Jim Leonard

(27:20):
was not their defensive coordinator in whenever the Denver Broncos
are done. I think he's their dB coach right now
for Sean Payton. So keep an eye on Jim Leonard
being the next defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers. Again,
there are a couple other guys that are interviewing, but
that would be my expectation, and I think that would
be a really good hire because I do think there's
gonna be pressure on the floor they have. They went

(27:41):
all in on Micah Parsons rightfully so, but when you
make those moves like it's got to work out now,
their situation is clearly much better than the Colts who
went all in on Sauce Gardner, Like who would you
rather have Sauce Gardener or Micah Parsons? Would you rather
be the Packers or the Colts. So they got bounced
in the first round, though they probably could have won

(28:03):
that game, right. I think if you're a Packer fan,
I would be. And it's tough. This season was a
high high and then an awful lo low. It turned
on the blink of an eye, the moment that Parsons
toward that ACL. I do think big picture, over the
next couple of years, the Packers are going to be
a real factor, and I think they have a very

(28:24):
good chance of being right back in the mix. Obviously
they can't have as many injuries as they just had
to be competing for like the number one seed. I
will bet on the Packers, assuming this offseason goes relatively well,
to be really good coming into twenty twenty six. And last,
but not least, Robert Kraft. I think he was on
with one of the local stations I think is WEEI,

(28:47):
and they have a clearly have the biggest Patriot game
in many years this weekend. He's fired up and they
were talking to him about just NFL stuff, and he
had mentioned that eighteen games are He didn't say, you know,
we're still no. Eighteen games are happening. We're gonna have
two preseason games. We've been talking about that forever. That's inevitable.

(29:07):
I don't love that because clearly more guys now get
injured than ever because of the way they practice or
aka not practice. And I think we watch so many
teams that don't have any players left that are hard
to watch, and even you know, when you really look
at the television schedule throughout the year, there are a

(29:27):
lot of awful games on Sunday morning. The NFL really
gets carried by its primetime games. Sunday night, Monday night,
Thursday night games have been had much better matchups in
the afternoon window with Fox and CBS that typically get
a Sunday night level game. But there are a lot
of terrible games. And as the season goes, and some

(29:48):
of these teams lose a bunch of games because they
lose a bunch of players, it can be a long season.
So I think we're right at the tipping point of like,
who's to say, if they go to eighteen, why wouldn't
they entertain twenty? When they just say, why do we
have any preseason though, Let's just play twenty regular season games.
So it's definitely something to keep an eye on. But
the other thing that he mentioned was we're going to

(30:10):
have an international series. Every team in the league is
going to play an international game. And I've been saying
for a long time because if you just look at
the way Thursday Night played out once upon a time,
Like when I got in the league in twenty ten.
I I don't quote me on this, I think there
were like two or three or four Thursday Night games.

(30:30):
They started dabbling. The NFL network got a couple Mike
Mayock used to be I think Eisen and Mayock used
to call him. I remember maybe my second year we
played Seattle, like Thursday night games. They were just dipping
their toe into it. And then it grew and grew
and grew, and now it has it's Monday Night football.
It's just on Thursday Night like they have its own package.
Well over the last couple of years they've been growing

(30:52):
and growing and growing. It was like, do you know
what they're gonna do. They're gonna have either fifteen or
sixteen or whatever, a full package like Monday or Thursday
and have a six thirty am Pacific Standard time football game,
you know, starting in September all the way through December,
and Craft mentioned that every team in the league is
going to be forced to play an international game. And

(31:12):
my first reaction to that is, clearly Thursday, you're at
a disadvantage if you're the road team, especially as the
season goes. If you're playing a Thursday night game week three,
it's not as bad as playing one week sixteen when
you're Seattle and you got to play the Texans. I
mean it's long travel, short week. The disadvantage though, you

(31:34):
have from a time zone standpoint of these international games.
Think of all the teams on the Eastern Seaboard, their
flight to the UK London is five hours. It's basically
across country flight. Well, if I'm coming from Seattle, or
I'm coming from San Francisco, or I'm coming from Los
Angeles or I'm coming from Vegas, it's double the amount

(31:55):
of time we're in the air. So the International Series
big picture should really benefit. If you suck, it doesn't matter.
But all the competitive teams on the Eastern Seaboard, the Bills,
the Patriots, the Eagles, if the Giants get good, you
know Tampa. Now the Jacksonville's pretty solid, I mean not
more than pretty solid. They want thirteen games. They're good, like,

(32:18):
that's a big advantage for them because of the limited
flight relative to your counterparts. And it's gonna be fascinating
how they match up these international games, Like should West
Coast teams or at least you should only be able
to play a team one time zone away? Or like
if I'm Seattle, do I get forced to play New

(32:39):
England over there? Because if that's the case, like I'm
at a huge disadvantage. But the one thing the league
is shown and Roger Goodella is shown, they don't give
a shit. They do not care about competitive advantages. I
start Kurt Warner day on Twitter saying that it is
insane how the playoff matchups go in terms of time,

(33:01):
Like teams to play on Sunday have to play on
the next Saturday. Teams with a buy get to play
Sunday night. It's like, what are we doing? And my
answer is, Kurt, like, it's all about the television networks,
the time rest that the league has proven they don't
care about practices. When the player said we don't want
double days anymore, teams are like, cool, less money for you,

(33:24):
We'll give you the double days, and that was a negotiation.
All they care about is money, which, in fairness, if
you're in the league office, and this is Belichick's problem
forever with the league office, He's like, they don't have
anyone that's ever ran a football team. This general managers
a football team, that's been a coach on a football team,
because that ain't what they're thinking about. They're just thinking
about the profit margin. How much cash can we make?

(33:49):
That is their goal, and in fairness, that is what
they've been tasked to do, and they're really good at it,
and they keep growing it. And this package maybe on Netflix.
All of a sudden, you see they've sold an international
package for you pick the number, five billion dollars a year.
It's basically games that would have been at ten am
Pacific or one pm Pacific that were already being played

(34:12):
that they just take and they put in the morning.
So they just created billions of dollars out of nothing
because that stuff was already happening. So get ready, which
I'm not a huge fan of. Like selfishly, as someone
that watches a lot of football, you know, I kind
of like to ease into my morning. I like to

(34:34):
get a little workout on a Sunday morning before I
don't leave the couch for what is it, twelve and
a half hours. But and this is always the question mark,
is there a line of diminishing returns when it comes
to football? The NFL has proven that they will push
and push and push and go up against that line
and one day that damn will break and we'll go.

(34:54):
That was the tipping point, but I clearly they don't
feel they're close to that yet. Okay, let's dive into
the mailbag at John middlecoff Instagram. Fire in those dms,

(35:17):
get your questions answered on the show. From a scout's perspective,
is Mendoza's past attempts a red flag? Going back to
twenty ten? The only first round quarterbacks that weren't asked
to throw at least twenty five times a game where Tebow,
Trey Lance. I almost said, Mike McCarthy, JJ McCarthy and

(35:39):
Christian Ponder if you make it thirty Adam ej Manuel
Blake Bortles, Newton Mariota, Anthony Rigson, Jake Locker, that's a
that's a pretty good question. Let's why don't we do this?
Let's pull up Fernando Mendoza one thing that is really

(35:59):
big with scouting quarterbacks I think that we've seen over
the last couple of years is experience. Like a lot
of these guys now come from spread offenses, so it's
fair to say that their pass attempts are a little
inflated in the sense that they've thrown way more passes

(36:19):
than the old days because you're in a pass heavy offense.
But if I just go to Fernando Mendoza's playoff run
Ohio State twenty three attempts, Alabama sixteen attempts, Oregon seventeen attempts,
and or excuse me, Oregon twenty attempts and last night
twenty seven attempts, so he threw over twenty five times

(36:41):
one game. Even games like Perdue where they won fifty
six to three, he threw seventeen attempts. He has a
lot of games where he's twenty twenty two to twenty one,
twenty three. They were a run heavy offense and obviously
a great defense with good special teams. I think in
a perfect world, you want to build the team if

(37:02):
you're the Raiders or I'm not depending on Fernando Mendoza
to play like Josh Allen because he doesn't have that
skill set. I can't ask Fernando Mendoza to do Caleb
Williams things. He can't do that. He's not Lamar Jackson,
He's not Patrick Mahomes. He is much closer to and
I've been saying this Jared Gofford Dak Prescott, which there's
nothing wrong with those two guys. When the Cowboys have

(37:22):
been well built, they won twelve or thirteen games, and
they hosted playoff games. Jared Gos's teams have hosted playoff games.
So Fernando Mendoza is in the world of a guy
who is not going to carry you. I do believe
he can be a good player, because if you're Jared
Gofford Dak Prescott, like those guys have been to Pro Bowls.

(37:43):
Those guys have made a ton of money. Are they
gonna be Hall of Famers? No? Is Fernando Mendoza probably
gonna be Hall of Famer? No, he's not. Do I
think he can be a really, really good starter in
the NFL. Yes, He's a much better thrower than t
BO Lancer Christian Ponder. JJ McCarthy has a fundamental issue
with the way he threw the ball, that's why they

(38:05):
have tried to change his mechanics. Right. If his mechanics
were good, I think jj'd be a pretty interesting player.
He's like a golfer. They had to completely change his swing,
like you don't have to change Fernando Mendoza's swing. His
throwing motion is fine. So I think there are some
comparisons there to JJ, except JJ was a complete rebuild

(38:25):
and that's not the case with Fernando Mendoza. I also
think Fernando Mendoza has proven to be a better passer
than JJ McCarthy. I would not compare him to Bortles.
Mariota was not an accurate player. If you watch Mariota
in college, I didn't think he was that accurate. He
had guys wide open. Their team was so stacked. To me,
Mendoza is a much better prospect than Mariota coming out

(38:50):
Anthey Ridgson had twelve career starts. Jake Locker just was
not very accurate. So I would not compare Fernando Mendoza
to those players. I do think there are some similarities
with JJ McCarthy in terms of the offense and the
teams he played on, But I do think he's a
better thrower the ball than JJ because you don't have
to change his throwing motion, which to me has kind

(39:11):
of derailed JJ McCarthy. A question for the mailbag. As
a football fan who's never witnessed her favorite team win
a championship, what's the silver lining on why we love
this game that rips her heart out so often? Example,
I'm a Niner fan born in Ay seven and a
Miami Hurricanes fan. I was eight years old the last
time the nine Ers one and a freshman win the
U won doesn't really count, but the amount of heartbreak

(39:33):
over the years from both teams is like, Man, when's
it going to be our time? It's like continuing to
date a woman who consistently cheats on you. I think
it's a little different than that, because if she's cheating
on you, she clearly doesn't like or respect you. Your
team's not cheating on you. They're trying to win. They're
trying to do the right thing. Part of being a

(39:53):
sports fan is going to end in it. Not always
heart break, but not well, it's just not going to
end in a championship. The overwhelming majority of teams won't
win championships for a long period of time. Hell, you

(40:14):
go through bad stretches where your team's not even in
the playoffs or not even in the mix. This is
an entertainment medium that were kind of emotionally drawn to
because we've loved it since we were young. It's probably
one of the rare things in life that you love
really young and then you love throughout your life. Think

(40:35):
how many things and how many kind of different stages
you go through from eight to fourteen to twenty of
things you're into and then things you're not into, you know,
from video games to I don't even know dirt by it.
You just name it right, and then you just kind
of age out of I like football as much now

(40:56):
as I did when I was twelve years old watching
it on the couch, watching like younger Terrell Owens or
Brettfarv and I would imagine a lot of people agree
with that. So I think it's just something we signed
up for to entertain us that kind of fills some
part of our life. It's hard to explain, but we
don't watch sports thinking we're gonna try. I mean, in

(41:20):
a weird way. It's probably one of the rare things
that we can convince ourselves something's gonna happen that more
than likely, and the overwhelming evidence has proven out over
time won't actually happen, and that makes its fun. There's
there's something powerful in hope. There's something powerful in dreaming,

(41:41):
because even if your team wins a championship, like for Indiana,
it was clearly pretty special, but like it's like you
get joy and then you just gotta move on. And
the same thing with losing. I think it's more about
the entertainment values of the games and getting to know
your team, the players, the guys you root for, that
they're just a positive elements for the negativity that kind

(42:04):
of the influx into your soul and your body after
the top. Like if you're a Bills fan, I think
most Bills fans would agree the last seven or eight
years of the Josh era of having these teams constantly
being one of the best teams in the league and
in the mix has been pretty satisfying, has been pretty awesome.
Knowing that when you turn on a Bills game seventeen

(42:26):
games a year that more than likely twelve or thirteen
of them you're gonna win is a pretty fun experience.
And the anticipation going to the big games kind of
makes it worth it. So where I think really sucks
is when your team is just always consistently bad, Like
that would not be fun, that would be hard. Congra

(42:46):
congratulations on the child. As a Chiefs fan, I was
frustrated with Naggy and the offense for the past couple
of years. Bne Me will help the offense greatly, and
bene Me could also develop Jeremiah Love if drafted by
the Chiefs into one of the best running back the league.
What do you make of the higher Well, I haven't
talked to Naggi about this, but he clearly didn't sign

(43:07):
his contract last year thinking one they would win big
and he would get a big raise, or he would
just become a head coach. It neither happened. I started
texting around yesterday like, is Naggy have a job? Because
they have a new OC and Bienemy, So Naggi's not
the OC anymore? Is there a spot for Naggy on
the staff? Kind of a weird deal, and I think

(43:31):
most people anticipated him getting the Tennessee Titans job. Well,
if that didn't happen, my bald brother Robert Salah got it.
So I think Matt Naggy's situation's pretty in flux. One
thing Biene me brings the table and the chief people
always told me about it, like he's a hard ass.
He's kind of old school, And I do wonder if
Andy thought that they lacked a little just urgency in

(43:53):
the building with a guy like that, and I think
bringing him back just to kind of get on guys.
They're gonna have a lot lot of new young players
next year with the high draft picks. I'd be a
little stunned if they drafted Jeremiah Love ninth. I really would,
because to me, you have the opportunity to get an
impact lineman. And one thing that's proven true, like if

(44:14):
you could get an impact lineman or an impact running back,
you always go the impact lineman. So whether that's an
offensive lineman or a defensive lineman. But if I was
a betting man right now, assuming they stay, I think
where they draft ninth, I think they take a lineman there,
assuming there's a guy worthy of the pick. But if
all things are equal, there's either a tackle and obviously

(44:37):
he'd probably play right you got Simmons. Both guys can
play both spots. If there's a tackle or a pass
rusher that is an equal grade to Jeremiah Love. You
have to take one of the linemen. You get a
running back later. Look at Manujai, I mean he's a
seventh round pick part of Look at Isaiah Pacheco, seventh
round pick, like I can find running back later in

(44:58):
the draft. Congrats on becoming a dad. God's speed, trust me.
I need it right now. Not because it's just not sleeping,
not because anything bad happened, but not sleeping's kind of tough,
even though you kind of like get this inner David Goggins.
We're just up at two am bouncing your kid around
the bedroom like this would never have happened pre child.

(45:21):
I just would have been asleep for the last five hours.
But you kind of just turn into this this different
human being we all have in us that when we're
pressed in certain situations, don't have much sleep. Unlike like
a Vegas trip or a guy's golf trip that's like
a drinking bender where you don't sleep. There's not really
alcohol involved in this situation. I'm just terrifle. I haven't

(45:44):
even had a cocktail since I had a kid. I
haven't a drink. I had a beer. I haven't anything shit.
I might need one Belichick to the Bills. I would
have said a couple of years ago. Yeah, I think
after the last eighteen plus months, there's no way that
could happened. You couldn't hire Bill Belichick with the Jordaan situation,

(46:05):
with how ugly North Carolina was last year. I don't
ever remember a guy who is such a legendary force
in his profession falling off a cliff faster. He was
just widely regarded, like, this guy's one of the greatest
coaches in the history of coaching any sport. You picked
the sports bill to now, I think he's unhiable because

(46:28):
let's play this exercise. If North Carolina needed to coach
today and Bill Belichick was available, would they hire him?
I think it's pretty clear the answer would be now.
I hope you're having a great day. I was thinking
about some of the greatest turnarounds in college football history.
Schnellenberger Miami, Snyder, Kansas State, Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech, and

(46:52):
Signetti Indiana. Given that the Hoosiers won the national championship
last night, do you consider Kurt Signetti did the best
turnaround in college football history? Those ones that you just listed.
Miami Virginia Tech aren't really apples to apples because you
had to recruit and then you had to develop, You
had to have guys. You got him out of high school,

(47:12):
and then a couple of years later they became stars
the way that Signetti did it, which is incredible and
it's one of the most genuine cool stories in a
long time. Indiana, the worst college football program in the
history of the sport, just fucking won the national championship
and beat Ohio State, beat Alabama, beat Oregon, beat Miami

(47:34):
in four straight games to host that thing above their
head like that, what a run. Alabama, who just had
an eighteen year dynasty. Oregon, who's been I know, they
haven't won a national championship, have been a pretty consistent,
I don't know, top five team the last twenty years,
definitely top ten team last twenty years. In Ohio State,
who you'd probably say over the course of the Internet era,

(47:56):
has been the most consistent program in the country. That's
who they beat on their run. I think how crazy
that is. It's really remarkable. But he can just poach
guys from other teams, so it's obviously Mario Christobaul did
the same, or how all these teams are so it's

(48:18):
it was harder back in the day. If you took
over Indiana. If Signetti did this ten years ago, this
would not have been possible. Even if he was the
same exact coach with the same exact staff, they couldn't
have been this good because he couldn't have just landed
the players. And I'm even talking about like the guy
gets from the MAC, the guy he gets from you

(48:38):
picked school. His starting center came from Notre Dame. He
was the backup. They couldn't transfer and play immediately. And
obviously the NIL has impacted the the whole thing. But
I think two things can be true. It's really hard
to compare Signetti to the previous pre nil. It's just

(49:00):
a completely different world because when you transferred in Division one,
you had to sit out a year unless you were
grad transfer, meaning you already had your graduate degree, like
Carson Beck. Carson Beck could have transferred anywhere he wanted
for decades, right, that was always the rule. But I
don't did Fernando Mendoza I did? He haven't. He might
have had a degree a cow so he might have
been eligible as well. But if he didn't, don't quote me,

(49:23):
I might be I thought he did. But if he
didn't have his degree, he wouldn't have been able to
transfer and play right away. Which again they are not alone.
Everyone's doing this, but it's more realistic. It's more realistic
now than it ever was before. If he had done
this in like nineteen ninety six, it would have truly
been the greatest thing in the history of sports. It

(49:45):
would have been like Rudy walking on and then getting
drafted fourth five years later. Right, it'd be like that guy, Yeah,
he just became the best player in color He just
turned into JJ Watt. You'd be like, what, Rudy, Rudy Rudiger. Yeah,
he's number four pick in the draft. Like that's not No,
that would have been Indiana. What do coaches, players in

(50:19):
front office generally think about the officiating in the NFL?
McDermott's speaking out a little bit like he did seems
like an outlier, and people probably don't speak out as
much because they will get fined. But do players, coaches,
in front office people think referees are as bad as
the media's wants us to believe, or fans think that
it is what do they say behind the scenes. It

(50:40):
seems like referees are generally right and like playing, they
do it right most of the time, and feels like
players who drop a pass, miss an easy kick, or
throw a bad pick. Sometimes referees make a bad mistake. Honestly,
I don't get as consumed with the referees as a
lot of people. It's just part of the game. I
rarely like text with an assistant coach or assistant GM,

(51:05):
and they talk that much about the officials. I really
believe that it's a pretty big waste of energy to
worry that much. Now, when it impacts you, you get
mad and you get furious, But like, what are you
gonna do like that? There's not much you can do.
It's somewhat out of your control. It's I think the

(51:27):
same about like politics and taxes. Like I'm just I
try not to complain. I really do. I used to
complain a lot, and then I just moved to Arizona.
I'm like, complaining does nothing. Either do something about it
or shut the fuck up. And I think I think
coaches they spend less time talking about it publicly because

(51:47):
it has no It doesn't change the thing. Now do
they talk to the league office in the off season
at these meetings, do they make it, of course, but
screaming about Sean McDermott. Part of why he was doing that.
He knew it was kind of I was on the line,
and he knew that he was in major trouble. He's
kind of desperate. But I think the reason you don't
see that as much is because nothing good is gonna

(52:10):
come out of it. Just because I can plain doesn't
mean my tax rate changes, you know, just because I
complain doesn't mean I'm gonna oeless on my property taxes.
But like you can make a big deal about it,
and a lot of people get on the internet, everyone's
complaining about everything. It's like you don't control any of this.
And I think a coach will tell you, I don't
really control what referee is gonna call or not. If

(52:34):
they made the wrong call and I can challenge it,
I will, But if I can't, I'm gonna get mad.
But then we gotta move on. Like life goes on,
next play happens, there's still game to be played, So
I think more people focus on like what's next. Then
clearly there have been situations like the PI what was
that the Rams Saints game years ago, which you have

(52:57):
the right to be in sensed and go berserk. A
lot of these like they're kind of judgment calls. Some
people might think it's PI, some people might think it's not.
Some people think it's holding. Some people might think it's not.
We spend too much time talking about it. I also
think most officials aren't that good, and I'd be the
first to admit it's a difficult job to have, but
we try to keep the human element in even though

(53:19):
it's pretty clear with the replay, But the replay has
actually made things more complicated. Just I don't know. I
think it's just something we talk a lot about. Nothing
ever changes. Congratulations on becoming a father. I have three
boys on my own. Enjoy the journey. Question for the

(53:41):
mailback huge Bronco fan. I know Stitty hasn't thrown a
pass in the NFL Sin's twenty twenty three, so I
don't have high expectations for the AFC Championship game. I'm
curious to know your thoughts going forward with the bow Nicks.
Do you think they'll be a legit contender going forward?
Do you think the bo Nicks will develop and looks
better as the time goes. In Peyton's system, I think

(54:02):
the sad part if you're a Broncos fan is if
bo Nix is there, you go, we easily could win
the Super Bowl. Doesn't mean we're going to We also
easily could lose the game to the Patriots of bo Nicks.
But like this, this is our super Bowl to be won.
All four teams obviously believe that. But it's the shitty
part about that broken ankle is I've seen a lot

(54:24):
of people and Sean Payton's trying to talk this into
existence when you haven't thrown a regular season pass. I
didn't even know that was the date. I knew it
was obviously not this year. I guess clearly last year
Boenicks played all the games. Is to be thrown in.
It's one thing to be thrown in Week four. Maybe
you get a crappier opponent and you're starting quarterbacks out
a month, and you get a couple of weeks to

(54:44):
kind of ease your way in. This winner go home
in the AFC Championship game against a team that's won
a ton of games. The pressure and then the crowd
kind of turns on you. If it's not going well.
It's a really tough spot. Wouldn't wish it upon anybody
issues It's not even fair, and you know, if it
goes shitty, I think people will kind of be like, Oh,

(55:05):
this guy sucks. And he might not even be that
bad in terms of like be a solid backup in
the regular season, but being thrust in this moment it
is really really difficult for a guy that's never even
really been a full time starter. I mean, he started
some games, but I don't think anyone ever looked at
Jared Stidham as a starting quarterback. Congratulations on the new baby.

(55:27):
Happy to hear your birth went well. Maria sounds like
a badass and the kind of woman men go to
war for. True. As a father of four myself, the
craziest thing about becoming a dad is how movies and
books is how movies and books that you've watched and
read a million times somehow hit different. For example, I
can't read Doctor Seuss to my kids without tearing up.

(55:48):
I now find myself taking the dad's side in the
movie Beethoven. It is I think one thing I saw
when my father passed things with about people with their
fathers really emotionally hit you different than for most of
your life. He doesn't even you're like, oh, it's Ken

(56:08):
Griffy and his dad with lebron and Bronni and when
you're missing your dad, even if you think like Bronnie
has no business in the NBA, there was part of
me thinking like, that's pretty cool, man, that's pretty cool.
And for those of you that still have your father
that sometimes that stuff doesn't even cross your mind, and
then you factor in once you have a son and

(56:29):
you get put on the other side. I'm with you.
I mean, I can just see. I got teary eyed
watching John Harbaugh talk about his dad Jack today. Just
the power of that and the admiration I had for
how much his sons love their father, and how I
would want to be in the shoes one day, especially

(56:51):
if we have another kid and have another son, have
two boys that look up to me like that as
a mentor, as someone that guided them through life. I mean,
that's it's really all we're trying to do. Right My
football related question is this as a Jets fan, is
there any hope? I'm already getting hyped up for the draft,
but is it all pointless? How would you fix the franchise.

(57:12):
Everyone says the owner needs to sell, but that's not happening.
I don't know. I'm not saying you're hopeless because football
and you can turn it around with a couple of players.
But I think if you go back to the last time,
you guys were good for those couple of years, you
had a lot of good players, but clearly Rex was
pretty good coach. You had Rex calling the defense, Your
defensive personnel was awesome, Schottenheimer was a good offensive coordinator

(57:35):
back then, you led the league in rushing. Is your
coaching staff good enough? Like that would be my to
not have an interception when your head coach is a
dB guy and Wilkes, who ended up getting fired was
also at his core a dB coach as well. It's like,
do they have any clue what they're doing? Clearly offensively
they're in major trouble when you don't have a quarterback,

(57:57):
But if you're coaching staff, because I think when the
year started we'd all agree they have good individual players,
but the coaching staff feels like it might suck. And
I want to like Aaron Glenn. I thought what he
did in Detroit was awesome, but just because if you
were a good coordinator does not guarantee you'll be a
good head coach. And he was a good coordinator. And
then he gets to the Jets, He's like, I'm not
calling the places. It's like, well, Aaron, that's why we
hired you. You fucking beat Minnesota with seven practice squatters,

(58:23):
three plumbers, and a deli master as you're starting defense,
and now you're just like, I'm just gonna roam the sidelines.
How does that make any sense? And I feel like
Aaron Glenn had this big chip on his shoulder of like,
I'm not just a play caller. I'm the head coach.
I'm the boss because Bill Parcells is his mentor, which
I respect. I remember Robert Solid did the same thing.

(58:45):
He got hired with the Jets. He's like, I'm not
calling the defense, Robert, That's why they hired you. You
notice all these offensive guys they get hired, they still
call the plays. That's what Mike McDonald gets hired. He
calls the plays. I want my star coordinator to be
it comes a head coach to do both call the plays,
lead the group. Morning John. I listened to every episode

(59:08):
and love the pod question for the back. On today's pod,
you said you see Miami dominating the ACC and saying
the conference sucks. As a Virginia alumni, I think it's
freezing cold. Take and you're part of the problem the
ACC of schools like Virginia, Virginia Tech, cal SMU with
a ton of NIO money and endowments, and the ACC

(59:29):
went nine to five in Bowl play full disclosure, bulls
mean nothing to me in this world with opt outs,
transferportal that they don't mean anything to me. I might
have been a little over aggressive. I agree your conference
isn't as bad as I hyped it up to be.
But when we rank the conferences, your conference is the worst.

(59:49):
Your conference is one hundred percent the worst. That's not debatable.
You almost did not get a team in a twelve
team playoff. Say that out loud you Okay, Virginia, you
lost to a team that won eight and five. I
guess they were eight and four going in the game.
But cal use COL as an example. If you're using

(01:00:14):
col bring them to the table, then we can't have
this discussion. Miami has no business and not dominate this conference.
Virginia Tech should be better. They've also been a joke recently,
and even if they do get better, James Franklin has
proven then he can beat no good teams, so Miami
should dominate them. I'll give you SMU, But what what

(01:00:37):
did SMU do this year? Guys? Didn't they They go
eight and four? Am I am? I screwing that up? SMU?
Where's SMU Southern Methodist? They went nine and four? So
they won their bowl game. So let's see. Virginia won
eleven and three, SMU won eleven and four. The Pittsburgh
Panthers went nine and five, nine and four, nine. You

(01:01:00):
have a lot of teams that won bowl games that
went eight and for I just don't think your conference
is that good. Clemson's falling off a cliff, Florida State sucks.
You're the fourth best conference. You just are, and that
you need Miami desperately to be really good. Listen to

(01:01:22):
your most recent pod, and the Dad Diaries really hit home.
I love that you said I'm part of the problem too.
I'm not against the ACC. I root like I hope
all these conferences are sweet. I'm not like I would
to cal Pauly and then Fresno State. I'm not Hey's
middle Copps is a big ten guy or an SC
I don't care. I'm honestly I swear unbiased with this

(01:01:44):
all if the ACC was gonna be the first to
say it. Do you think anyone's like, Hey, we're playing Virginia,
watch out, we get ready for the Pittsburgh Panthers. What
fuck are we talking about? Can you use Klager? The endowments? Okay,
you got the money? Is you think Col's gonna spend
it on football? The Saint brown bags given to Shawn

(01:02:07):
and Marshawn a little cash in a brown bag? Are
they willing to pay millions of dollars not just for
the quarterback, for the entire starting lineup? Maybe time will tell.
If they are, then they can be good. But based
on what on the football side, there's some scuttle butt

(01:02:37):
on the Raiders Internet that Jesse Mintter may be the
favorite for the job. Totally not conferred by anybody reputable.
Should I have concerns about a rookie quarterback with the
defensive head coach? Would love to hear your take. I
think the key for the Raiders is to just get
someone who's good. If that happens to be a defensive coordinator, fine,
But is jesse mentor the next Mike McDonald or is

(01:02:58):
he the next you know, pick failed coordinator. So to me,
if you hire the defensive coordinator Mike Rabels, once a
defensive coordinator for Houston and then became the head coach
for Tennessee, worked out pretty well. Aaron Glenn's a good
example of like, clearly it feels like he's over his head.
So to me, it all comes down to, I don't know.

(01:03:18):
I'm not interviewing these guys. Even when you interview someone
you don't know. I mean, there's a reason all these
guys that are getting hired have been previous head coaches
because you go, well, Vrabel, I know what I'm getting Salah,
he has experienced. I think he'll be better the second
time around. Stefanski Coach of the Year. I think you
feel way better at John Harball. When you hired these

(01:03:39):
first time coordinators, there was just a great unknown. If
that's a defensive guy, how will he handle offensive players,
how will he handle everyone looking at him? How will
he hire a staff? So I don't know. I think
it's there's always risk involved. But it took risk to
hire Sean McVay. How'd that work out. It took risk
in trying to think. Once upon a time, the Philadelphia

(01:04:02):
Eagles hired a run game tight end coach from the
Green Bay Packers, Andy Reid. How'd that turnout? The Baltimore
Ravens hired John Harbaugh, especially seams coordinator. Mike Tomlin was
a first year defensive coordinator from Minnesota. They weren't even
that good on defense. He was thirty four years old.
So sometimes you gotta take risks. But for every Mike
Tomlin and John Harbaugh, there are a lot of Joe Judges.

(01:04:26):
So I don't know. I think you just you just
got to hire the right guy, whoever that is. That's
on spy Tech, that's on Brady. These guys have been
around football their entire lives. Both of them are Michigan guys.
They've been around champions. Brady's the greatest champion we've ever seen.
He's seen it all. I don't know, they just got

(01:04:47):
to get it right. I think they'd be the first
to tell you it's probably why they going through this
long process. I'm an Indiana native, lived here in my
whole life. You mentioned a Colin last night that Indiana
people have always been football people, and that's one hundred
percent true. But some history, football was always second to
basketball until about twenty years ago, and then there's been

(01:05:09):
a slow, steady move toward football take over locally and
it's completely happened. High school football has overtaken high school basketball.
This is for sure now a football state. One thing
you did not mention that was a huge part of
this was Peyton Manning and the Colts. That was a
huge catalyst in increased football interest here. I totally understand.

(01:05:32):
Can you think of any comp in any place in
any sport, because I can't. Patriots didn't flip red Sox, Celtics,
Warriors didn't supplant the Niners. Yeah, I mean it's pretty unique.
A good point on Peyton Manning changed the game, made
the Colts a very relevant, big time franchise, and as
football has really expanded, having one of the greatest players

(01:05:54):
of all time and then even going right to Luck,
so basically from the late nineties through the mid twenty
tens you were viewed as having one of the best quarters.
I mean, Peyton was right there with Tom and Andrew
Luck was a star immediately, so that that matters. I
think what Steph I mean, Steph Curry resurrected the Warriors
and made them into this powerhouse brand. But the Warriors

(01:06:19):
I was the Bay Area. Honestly, the baseball is just
as big when they're good. But if the war if
Steph Curry disappeared tomorrow, the Warriors do not sustain. They
become a relevant Like they're not a big brand in
the sense of you couldn't just put random players on
there and the fans would care. The Warriors really are

(01:06:41):
Steph Curry. That's his power. It's like, look at the
Chicago Bulls. Turns out it was Michael Jordan, And to me,
that's what Steph Curry was to them. Where your example
is like people love the Colts and because you guys
have good sports fans in the Midwest. So these last
however many years with Ballard has been pretty polarizing. You
never really had Indiana football to root for it because
they'd never been good. But if they had been, I

(01:07:03):
do think it's pretty clear they would have been treated
like one of the powerhouse in terms of support. Big
ten programs Iowa, Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State are probably
just way too historic, but the support would not have
been an issue for Indiana. Even if they had just
had a run of ten years where they averaged like

(01:07:24):
eight to nine wins, it would have been a really
really big deal. They had just been the complete opposite.
They couldn't have been any worse. I have a question
for the bag, why is Josh Allen getting so much
praise this postseason despite being a major reason for the
loss to the Broncos. He had three he has a
top three running back and a great offensive line, yet
he seems to get a pass. In contrast, Mahomes was

(01:07:46):
heavily criticized after losing the Super Bowl last year, even
though he lacked a solid old line and a run
game when he already has three rings. I thought Josh
Allen got pretty heavily criticized. I thought people crushed him.
He didn't play well. I do think people felt for him.
Just the emotional outburst after the game I think was relatable.

(01:08:09):
I think all fans and people that love the sport
want to see is like, do you care as much
as we do? And when you watch, like I the
Bill's reaction of guys in tears, you went listen. He
just kind of felt bat sympathy for him. He did
not play well relative to his standard. The Knox miss

(01:08:30):
was crippling, and that was probably the game the end
of the first half. Fumble was probably one of the
worst plays of his career in a big moment, it
definitely was the worst play of his career, I would
say so. I think people just felt for the guy
that I don't think this was the case last year
when Mark Andrews dropped the ball for Lamar. People want

(01:08:50):
to see Lamar, Jackson and Josh Allen match Mahomes or
try to. Did Mahomes get crushed his offensive line sucking
at worked? I don't think who's getting crushed. Also, when
these guys get crushed, what does that even mean? It's like, listen,
Lamar hasn't played that well in the playoffs, We're fucking
gonna replace him. Like, what are we even talking about?

(01:09:11):
You have bad games? Steph Curry's had bad games. Lebron
James have bad games. Mahomes had bad game. It happens,
It sucks, shake it off, and you move forward. Now,
when you're not good enough, people go CJ. Stratt, are
you good enough? Are you sure you want to bring
this guy back? What are other options? Because I think
that's the extension of the conversation with a guy like CJ.

(01:09:32):
Shradd Could we do any better next year? Could we
trade him? Could we be open to different opportunities. You'd
be not doing your job if you're not having that conversation.
Lamar has a shitty playoff game or Josh Allen has
a shitty playoff game, that's not the conversation to be at.
So I think it's just and I don't know what
people say on some of these shows. I don't watch them,

(01:09:54):
especially now that dad and feeding out of a bottle,
not me, but feeding him in the bottle. Might have
to hit the bottle if I keep not getting sleep,
big fan, fellow ball brother and father or two. Not
to jump ahead a week, but do you anticipate the
electrical substation to be a topic conversation leading in the

(01:10:15):
Super Bowl? Very rare circumstances where other teams practice, other
teams facility with the Super Bowl being in Santa Clara.
I said this to someone the other day. It is
one million percent going to be a conversation d'ur in
the super Bowl, and to me where it could just
go to another level. I don't know the setup if
it's the AFC or NFC team practicing in the Niners

(01:10:36):
practice field. What if that team refuses to take the field,
What if the players aren't comfortable? This story would go
from like it's already zero to twenty to like zero
to sixty. It would five x because it's out there
people are talking about it. But now the Niners are gone.

(01:10:56):
If the Super Bowl team, whoever is task with practicing
on the field, and maybe they both do. I remember
last year or I mean ten years ago when they
had it one practice San Jose and the other practice
Santa Clara. So whoever practices at the Niners facility. If
their players go I'm not comfortable doing this, and we're
gonna also practice San Jose or something, this story would explode.

(01:11:22):
How would you rank these coaching vacancies and you and
who do you predict getting hired? Well, Buffalo and Baltimore
are just when do you ever get MVP quarterbacks in
their late twenties? Job availables doesn't happen very rarely, if ever,
so I think those jobs are just unprecedented, almost pretty rare.

(01:11:44):
I'm sure we could do a breakdown in the history
of the league, how many MVP candidates or former MVP
quarterbacks still in their twenties had a job opening, maybe
farv in the late nineties. When Holmgren went to Seattle,
I think Elway was already over thirty when Mike Shanahan
got there. Maybe he was thirty, but that would be similar.

(01:12:05):
I mean, it's just doesn't happen very often. When Bill
waltsh handed the job to George Seaffert, when what's his
name Barry Switzer got the job from the Cowboys, like
it's those jobs are pretty pretty unique. So I think
those two jobs are in a different stratosphere, even when
you factor in the bills and bean and the power structure,

(01:12:28):
but they're just pretty elite. I think the Cardinals is
an untouchable job. I think it's horrendous. I wouldn't touch
that job. With a ten football, no quarterback division, with McVeigh,
Kyle and McDonald an owner that is historically cheap, I

(01:12:49):
couldn't touch it. Couldn't touch it. The Browns got just
too much going on, no quarterback, crazy owner. To me,
those jobs are bad. He sucks because Cleveland, like that
job should matter, but there's just too much going on there. Tennessee,
I don't think Tennessee is a good job either way.
Too big of a risk with a quarterback not sure

(01:13:10):
he can play in an ownership that you just can't trust.
Who else is open right now? For the bill? The
steel I don't think if the Steelers is that good.
No quarterback, aging veterans that are expensive. Front office that
has not been good lately, which is crazy to say
because historically the Steelers would be like, oh, that's one
of the best jobs in America. I don't know one

(01:13:34):
on this. What is Malachai Toni? This guy is insane,
he's stud The scary part if you're the ACC is
he's eighteen years old. So now the success is not
just an upward trajectory. We saw it was his name,

(01:13:56):
Ryan Williams, the wide receiver at Bama who looked like
the equal to Jeremiah Smith, and this year he was terrible.
So you're just not guaranteed to keep improving. But you
watch Malchi Tony, you go, uh, this guy was born
to play football, pretty elite, just all everything player. I
mean he can return, he can play in the slot,
he can play outside, he can make his miss, he

(01:14:16):
can break tackles. Imagine him in a year and await
program a year eating, you know, with the just training
his body to gain a little more muscle mass, maybe
a little more explosion, really work on his craft hone
the routes, which he's already an excellent route runner, could
be a pretty special player. He's kind of got some
like Zay Flowers vibes, but maybe even better he's not

(01:14:39):
I don't know if he's quite like his twitchy and
powerful as Tyreek, but he's kind of in that world.
He's got a chance to be a pretty special player.
When on that one Audio's people the volume

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