3 & Out - Will the Bears trade for a head coach, TNF Preview, Tom Brady on QB hits - The Herd with Colin Cowherd

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on, my people? How are
we doing on this beautiful? Beautiful It's Wednesday afternoon. I'm

(00:23):
recording this, and we got conversations happening out there on
the internet about the Bears diving into the world of
trading for a coach, names like Kyle Shanahan, John Harbaugh.
So I was like, you know, this is so crazy
and egregious that I might as well talk about it.

(00:44):
Because Florio wrote about it, I saw Coward, I saw
a bunch of people given opining and given their takes
on it. So I'll dive in. The Detroit Lions hosts
the Green Bay Packers fantastic Thursday night game. Can Dan
can amble and the Lions overcome their defensive injuries. We'll
discuss that and then just fly a little bit around

(01:07):
some just football stories. It's college stories as well, but
just things that I saw today that kind of interest me.
We'll do a little mailbag at John middlecoff as the
Instagram fire in those dms, get your question answered here
on the show. I think I mentioned it when we
recorded the mailbag earlier, but thanks for everyone that listens
on Spotify that included me. You know, tweeted at me

(01:31):
Instagram to me, I thank you guys very much for listening.
We also have a YouTube page where I just I
played eighteen holes and we split two videos. We're gonna
do nine to nine. On the where the waste management
course is. There's a second course across the street. It's
called Champs TPC Champs. I played that, tried to break eighty,
actually played pretty well. It's basically cut by the Draftking

(01:54):
sports Book, Like there's an actual Draftking sports book. If
you're ever out here, I recommend going. It's fun. It's
got a restaurant and it's like a sports book and
a casino, but it's just sitting there on the street.
And so we played a little golf. It's up on
the YouTube page. Subscribe to that page for sure. Also,
if you listen on Collins Feed, make sure you subscribe

(02:15):
to the three and Out podcast. Before we dive into anything,
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(03:22):
last minute tickets, lowest price is guaranteed. Okay, let's start
with the Bears and the trade possibilities. Now, I don't
want to beat on a dead horse, because I do
think it kind of gets boring and repetitive after a while.
But I do think we need to lay something out
when it comes to the Bear's job opening. When you

(03:43):
look at the franchise, like if you look around the
landscape of the league, all these jobs that are going
to open. Typically red flags can be ownership because if
you're a GM or you're a head coach, that is
an individual that not only you have to deal with
potentially on a daily basis, you do have to answer
to him because he pays for everything the players, your salary,

(04:08):
your coaching staff, anything you want, you have to go
through him. So there is no bigger red flag in
an organization. In one that is ownership. And obviously that's
not the case in every organization. But as we see
this offseason, if the Raiders come open, the Cowboys come open,
the Jets are open, you see these situations the Bears currently,

(04:32):
ownership is a massive and usually the first question mark
then a red flag is your salary cap situation. Do
you have players on the roster that are under big
contracts that I'm not gonna want that are gonna limit
our ability to be flexible? Right? But that is something
I can control because I can. Can we trade that player,

(04:54):
if we cut that player? How much dead cap do
we have to eat? Those are discussions that any coach
worth their salt is having, and listen, those red flags
do exist. When Sean Payton took the Denver bronco job,
Russell Wilson was a massive red flag for him, and
a year later, even though he has bo Nicks and
he's headed to the playoffs, like that dead cap space

(05:16):
did have limitations on what they could do, but it's
not the end all be all. It's like if Stefanski
is fired, which anyone with a working brain would agree
that'd be kind of crazy. Deshaun Watson's contract is the
greatest liability in the history of the NFL. But I
do think, and again, I just hate even talking about

(05:37):
this guy, but it's impossible not to because I had
multiple people in the league text me like, yeah, man,
that Warren press conference was cringe because it was because
the coach got fired after a very embarrassing moment of
They let the guy speak to the media on Friday
morning after one of the most embarrassing losses in franchise history,

(06:00):
and he basically just discussed the upcoming game against the
Niners like he was going to be the boss. And
then he got fired an hour later. And it's been
well reported that they were meeting well before that media
availability even happened, So like what's going on in the
meeting are their dissenting voices that want to keep iber
Flus alive? Like, how could that have been a complicated

(06:22):
should have been a five minute deal, close the door,
anyone around. If not, let's talk boom, decision made. But
I could argue that Kevin Warren is the biggest red
flag of any of these job openings, because at least
if I take the Jets job, even if Woody doesn't
go back across the pond to work for, you know,
the Trump administration and stays like I know what I'm

(06:44):
getting into. It's his team. He cuts the checks, like
I have to deal with them. No different with the
con family, No different with any of you, Jerry Jones,
you name it. But like, I got this guy who
is going to dictate what I have to do. When
we want to do a contra extension to a player
like DJ Moore, I have to read him the details.
That's why it's fucking laughable that Florio floated guys like

(07:08):
John Harbaugh in Kyle Shanahan, let me read you a
text from a very high ranking person in the NFL
when it came to Kyle and the rumors. Kyle sure,
as fuck ain't working for Kevin Warren or Ryan Poles.
When the forty nine Ers wanted to hire Kyle Shanahan

(07:28):
in twenty seventeen, one of their big dilemmas were trying
to find him a essentially glorified scout that was going
to become a general manager and they were going to
try to do this arranged marriage. So they had a
bunch of guys that they interviewed talked to him. Kyle's
not that big on the scouting community. It would be very,

(07:50):
very difficult. Like him and Adam Peters butted heads over
the years. He is not an easy individual to deal with.
But the one thing with the forty nine Ers really
there are two people that he has to answer to
and deal with consistently. That would be the owner and
his general manager, who is a Hall of Fame player

(08:10):
and just a pretty natural leader, can get along with
people and can figure out problems and is not shoving
players down Kyle's throat. Because at the end of the day,
in the contract, Kyle is in full control of the organization.
There's one human being or I guess a family, that
can stop Kyle from doing something, and that is the

(08:32):
yours Jed and his parents. He answers to nobody football wise,
business wise, not saying that they don't have discussions. That
maybe he gets talked out of something, but if he
wants to do something, and he's not going to change
his mind unless the ownership tells him no, they do it.
He has never once, and I promise you at this

(08:54):
point in time now with the resume, he has ever
will get into a situation where he is answering to
a human being like Kevin Warren, who does not own
the team and knows nothing about football. He would fucking
retire quit football, which he's not going to because he
has no hobbies or life. I mean, football is kind
of his thing before he got involved with that. And

(09:16):
when you trade a coach, which Kyle just signed a
contract extension in twenty twenty three and is under contract
in twenty twenty five, twenty twenty six, in twenty twenty seven.
So while the season is kind of a disaster for
the forty nine ers relative to them relative to a
lot of teams in the NFL, I mean, hell, they
got more wins than the Bears, even though I kind

(09:37):
of like the Bears this weekend, but that's beside the point.
The reality is this, to trade a coach, you need
them to sign off on it. This is not a
player situation. You can't like, if the forty nine ers
this offseason want to trade Debo, they don't need to
get Deebo's thumbs up. They just need to get someone
that will take his contract and then he'll be traded,

(09:58):
which happens a lot in sports, right. It's what makes
Kirk Cousins kind of unique. He has a no trade clause. Now,
if they're gonna bench him and go with Penix this offseason,
it doesn't make any sense for him just to stay.
But like, if there are a couple options, they can't
just trade him to whoever. He has to give them

(10:18):
the thumbs up. It's why the Raiders a couple of
years ago cut Derek Carr. He had a no trade clause.
He had a lot of leverage. It's no different here
with the coach. Let's just say in a world and
I don't know this to be true, and if anything,
I've heard that it's not. Kyle Shanahan is not looking
to leave. But if he was and he wanted to
quote unquote get traded, he would pick his destination. So yeah,

(10:42):
I completely understand. If I was the Bears, I would
call the forty nine ers two. But know this, if
you wanted to even have a chance, under the slim
percentage chance that Kyle would want to coach your team,
Kevin Warren would have to be fired, period, point blank,
end of story. And Ryan Poles would immediately be neutered.
Slash probably get fired as well because Kylin won his

(11:04):
own gym. Just the way it works, you know. And
this is where I think this Bear situation of going
into the off season trying to hire people and claim
they have the most coveted job. That's impossible when you
have a president, a non football guy running your press conference.
After you fired Matty Eberflus. What happened yesterday or two

(11:27):
days ago when the Texans had their players suspended and
it was a really big story, Aziz al Shire suspended
for three games, who got in front of everybody and
went on one of the truly great rants. You can
agree or disagree with everything Caserio said, but the face
of the organization, because when something is going to happen

(11:49):
with the Texans, two people control that. When it comes
to football. Nick Cassario Demico Ryans. Now, ownership can say
yes or no, but they answered to the guy that
signs their check and they don't answer to anybody else.
That is the way healthy football organizations operate. So I'm sorry,
I don't take any of this shit seriously because of

(12:10):
that guy, because of the guy that if it wasn't
for Justin Fields, and if it wasn't for Jim Harbaugh,
football in the Big Ten would have been canceled. And
because the presidents out West in the Pac twelve are
gigantic pussies as well, they would have copied them and
not played football as well. So it would have been
the Big Twelve playing the SEC and the ACC and
national Championship, which I guess essentially happened because it was

(12:31):
Alabama was Alabama Clemson. I forget the game in twenty twenty,
obviously Alabama won. That was the Mac Jones manipulated year
that somehow got him drafted in the top fifteen, which
is one of the worst draft picks of all time
John Harbaugh. And the thing with Kyle Shanahan is like
he's the forty nine ers best asset. If you just said,
everybody in the organization, including coaches and GMS are available

(12:55):
for trade. Well, you could argue their best player went healthy.
Is a thirty six year old left tackle. His value
because of his age and now he's banged up has limitations.
Nick Bosa incredible player. Well, he makes thirty plus million
dollars and a year into his contract both hips are injured.

(13:18):
Not saying that like he can't go on to have
a great career, but like makes a ton of money injured,
can't play right now. Deebo Samuel value in the tank.
Kittle is a thirty plus year old with a lot
of wear and tear. Could they get a first round
pick for brock Purty Like brock Perty's value to Kyle
Shanahan and the Niners is probably worth five x than

(13:40):
it is to any other team in the league, and
he needs to be paid as well. Brandon Au knee
cutting half Fred Warner has a broken bone in his foot.
I think it's not even close. Kyle Shanahan is their
most valuable asset by a pretty wide margin, so the
forty nine er would have to be high on some

(14:02):
serious drugs to even take it. Seriously, do not hang
up the phone call immediately. Now. The Ravens are at
a position where it's like, is it just time for
a change, And we could argue, is like time for
a change? Do we force that narrative too often? Because
I thought that last year with the Steelers, it's just time.

(14:23):
Tomlin's a really good coach, You're a great organization. But
has this run as course? And they've proven no. Now,
we'll see how the playoffs go. But you could probably
make the same argument with John Harbaugh really good. No
one's arguing these guys aren't really good coaches now. I
said the same thing about Mike Tomlin. If the Steelers
and him had got a divorce last year, there'd be
ten teams lined up begging him to take the job.

(14:44):
There would be teams with head coaches fire their coach,
try to hire them. I think the same thing with
John Harbaugh. But I do understand, like is it just time? Now?
The question is who do you get to replace him?
Because that's the thing with the forty nine Ers. One,
he's our most valuable asset. Two could we find the
version of Kyle Shanahan two point zero doesn't exist? The

(15:04):
thing with John Harbaugh's like, well you just had that
guy on your staff. Boy, genius who is gonna lead
Seattle more than likely to the playoffs in a division
championship this year. Who's fucking excellent? And if he coached
offense instead of defense, I think we talk about him
like Kevin O'Connell, Sean McVay, Lafleur, and Kyle Shanahan. But
he coaches defense, so he gets lost in the shuffle.

(15:27):
Let's face it, Dimiko, who's gonna win ten eleven games? Again?
He does not get discussed like the offensive guys because
we discriminate. We've spent way, you know, on the pie chart,
way more time on quarterbacks and offense than we do
defensive guys. But there's no disputing Tomiko's is a big
time coach. Mike McDonald I would bet on him. I
would bet on both those two guys to be consistent

(15:50):
winners for the next decade. But he's gone. He left,
and your defense fell off a cliff. So it's like, yeah,
even if you were entertain like, yeah, maybe it's his time.
Maybe it's just get some new blood in here. Not
because we think John sucks, it's just time. I'm just
doing in a hypothetical world, Well, who's your replacement? Like

(16:10):
Vrabel well, it's basically just getting the same thing, and
you're getting an outsider who knows a little risky, at
least with Mike McDonald. If you had made that move,
you would have known, like, this guy fits our culture,
a little younger, a little more vibrant, maybe some different ideas.
So I don't know. And if you're John Harbaugh, where

(16:31):
for the last twenty years, and really the last twenty
five years, you have answered to three people. For nine
years in Philadelphia it was to Andy Reid. Then in
Baltimore it was to Ozzie Newsom and Eric Tacosta. And
obviously he answered more to Ozzie than I think him
and Eric are more equals, and they answer to the ownership.

(16:53):
You think he's getting in bed with that what we
just witnessed at that press conference, Like you don't leave,
Goldman said for the little mom and pop financial spot
doesn't make any sense. He works for the best organization.
So even if he got win, like hey, maybe it's time,
I can't imagine he would put himself in that situation

(17:16):
where football takes a back seat to a non football guy.
Because that's the way the org chart works. We talk
about it over and over the best teams are not
set up like that. It's why we discussed. And I
had a buddy today, a high ranking scouting buddy with
a team, who reached out to me about some of

(17:38):
my takes about Marcus Freeman turning down in a world
where he's offered the job he's not interested in the
Bears job, And he said, I don't know. I think
you have to use examples of Chip Kelly, who left
UCLA to go be an offensive coordinator, Gus smels On,
who left UCF to go be the offensive coordinator of Florida. Stay.

(18:01):
And the college jobs are way more toxic now and
just a way bigger pain in the ass. And if
you get an opportunity to go coach in the big
leagues where guys are under contract, they can't just walk
into your office week four year one of a three
or four year contract and say, hey, this number is
a little low. I'm gonna need more, I'm gonna transfer.

(18:23):
That's not how it works. So the world is completely different,
and there's some subjectivity to making the playoffs, as we're
seeing right now with Alabama over some of these other
teams we're in the NFL. Everything's very black and White.
You're under contract. You're not under contract. We have enough
wins to make the playoffs, or we don't. We win
the division, we get a home game, or we get
a wildcard spot. It's not there's not much gray area

(18:46):
when it comes to Sundays. My pushback would be Chip
has been mailing in college football for a long time
and was just tired of doing anything and was already
super rich and just went to do less to go
work for his buddy Ryan Day and Gus probably gonna
get fired relatively soon, gets a job that pays a

(19:07):
couple of million dollars, and both those two guys are
already really rich. So and older, you know, fifty eight
sixty years old. Well, Marcus Freeman, you're thirty eight years old.
You can take a deep breath. It's not going anywhere,
and Notre Dame. You're gonna be able to win. Do
You have some different obstacles in twenty twenty five, But

(19:29):
you're one obstacle that you deal with right now. Like
you are the boss, You're the top of the org chart.
To anything football you need, you go right to essentially
the owner of the program, the boosters, and the president,
like the Marcus Freeman's more powerful than the athletic director
at Notre Dame. That wouldn't be the case if you
take the bear's job. Uh So, listen, I've said over

(19:51):
and over the bear's job from a football standpoint, in
terms of the brand the players on your team very intriguing.
In terms of the setup in the organization, a fucking disaster,
it really is. It is not a healthy organization to
go work for the way it's currently set up. And

(20:13):
I say that, like I've seen a lot of people
being critical of Ryan Poles, I will say this, I
have much more faith in a guy that trained under
veach in Andy and the Chiefs organization to do football
stuff than a guy that has to write shotgun and
has to you know, get things checked off yay or
nay on every decision he wants to make. From not

(20:36):
even the owner like that, You're not gonna be able
to function that way. So I'd argue the bear's job
separate from the roster is terrible because ultimately to get
things done, to make moves, which is the large part
of the year. Like if your season ends January one
and you become the head coach on January twentieth, well,

(20:59):
basically January twentieth up until training camp is a huge
part of the NFL. Who are we signing in free agency,
who are we cutting, who are we willing to trade?
What players are we going to draft? And who's in
charge of doing that? Because if I take the job,
I'm just picking an arbitrary date January twentieth, twenty twenty five.

(21:22):
All those moves over the next couple off seasons, multiple
free agencies, multiple drafts are going to change my life,
either for the best or for the worst. I'm either
going to be a one contract head coach and get
fired in three or four years, or I'm going to
build up a really good team and be a Dan Campbell,
Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan and get contract extensions and look

(21:44):
like a high end coach. But for as much as
we talk about in the season, and that's true, how
good of a coach you are, scheming, your coaching staff,
all that matters, But you need good players and you
need players that fit what you want to do. So
like is everyone on the same page is an arranged marriage.

(22:05):
And I just think this stuff gets weird, and it
gets weird fast. At least if you lose, Like look
at the Jacks, they're two and ten or whatever. Right,
It's like that's on Doug Peterson and Trent Balky. Those
guys get full autonomy to do whatever the hell they want.
Doug sticks with coaches that people question. Trent drafts guys
that people question. But it's like there's no it's like,

(22:27):
well the shod made him draft this guy in the
second or wouldn't give him the go ahead to sign it. Now,
it's just like they got their chances. Same thing with
you know, up until this season with Joe Douglas and
Robert Sala what He's like, you guys do it. Then
this year he medled took over and it's been even worse.
But this notion that either one of these guys are

(22:49):
gonna accept a trade there, I have a hard time
seeing it. I really do. Even if John Harbaugh were
to become available, I don't think he would okay going there.
I mean his brother desp Kevin Warren Well, who think
John Harbor's like best friend is? You think he talks
to you all the time, the Harbaugh family. But I
just this is gonna be a conversation that's not gonna

(23:09):
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Speaker 1 (25:00):
About stick with the Division the Detroit Lions playing the
Green Bay Packers. This game is massive, It really is,
and I the more and more I think about it,
the more and more I feel bad for Lions fans.
You've waited so long. If you're my age, thirty five
of your forty years have just been so bad. Everyone

(25:22):
makes fun of you. Your team always loses your one
moment on Thanksgiving usually doesn't go your way, and someone
else is eating turducking on the fifty yard line, usually
in Detroit. Finally, your your team looks like we're the
best team in the NFL and we're gonna win the
super Bowl. And you say that out loud a couple
of weeks ago, and everyone kind of agreed. You're like, yeah,

(25:45):
I think you guys should win the super Bowl. I
think this is your year, this is your time. And
now as you go into this Green Bay Packer game,
your entire defensive line is injured. Someone I saw a
post their injury port of just in terms of guys
on injured reserve, guys that are at it's insane. The

(26:06):
guys they've lost on defense in their front seven that
are probably not gonna play tomorrow is pretty outrageous. I mean, hell,
when we watch your games, you could argue the best
player on your team him or Pine Sewel is up
in a box with his sister and girlfriend with his
leg up because his leg got snapped. And I don't know.

(26:29):
I just if Detroit was fully healthy, I would bet
on them to win every single week. But it does
feel like They've got to the point now of like
how much can you overcome? They had to sign Jamal
Adams this week. That tells you everything you need to know.
And I would imagine, I mean, hell, they might play
Jamal Adams at like as a pass rusher. You know

(26:51):
the couple things Jamal Adams does well. I don't know
if he still does, but like throughout his career, tackle
in space and blitz, slash, rush the passer, anything going backwards,
no go, no dice, going forwards around the line of scrimmage.
Impactful player. You could argue sign him any second, third

(27:12):
and long, bring him in off the edge, put him
at like this hybrid linebacker and let him rush. But
that is not something a team eleven to one wants
to even have to have the discussion, let alone do
And they had to do it. They don't have a choice.
They don't have any bodies. And now you get Green
Bay who you know, it's hard to tell. They had

(27:33):
a couple guys on injury report, like Josh Jacobs on Tuesday,
but sometimes this short week late in the season, I
expect all their guys to play. I think Dobbs, did
you get a concussion? He could be a little up
in the air, but clearly would just Tucker and Read
and Watson like they can easily function on offense. If
he's not able to go. This is a tough spot
for Detroit and if Dan Campbell can maintain keep and

(27:58):
win this division because Minnesota's on his ass as well,
and be the number one overall seed with this many injuries.
And I understand they were really good last year. They
were the two seed, they were in the NFC Championship game,
so it's not a shock that they're good again. I
do believe he should get Coach of the Year. He
would one percent get my vote if he not only

(28:20):
wins tomorrow, but keeps on winning with the roster he's
rolling out now. Their offense is really good. But when
you start playing Jamal Adams in December when you're eleven wins,
that that shows you how depleted you are. And this
is a big spot for the floor. Last week, he
I guess two weeks ago against the forty nine ers,

(28:43):
he just he pillaged them. I mean he embarrassed them,
and we saw them on Thursday. They looked excellent again
against Miami. Their offense is just loaded and they're peaking
at the right time. Their defense looks a lot better.
I like Green Bay, man, I really do. And it's
not because I'm some Lions hater. I've believed in Dan

(29:06):
Campbell for years. But you get to the line of
diminishing returns and it feels like they're there on defense
against an offense like this in Green Bay. So I'm
excited to watch this. And if you look at the
last five games, obviously Detroit and Green Bay played each
other this week, then the Lions played the Bills at Chicago.
And here's the thing about the Bears. They lose a

(29:27):
lot of these games. They have been in them all,
including the game they just played against Detroit, which they
came storming back because they were rolling out me on defense.
Then they got to go to San Francisco, and then
they finished with Minnesota. And if you look at the Packers,
they play at Seattle next week. Now they get the
extra couple days of you know, of rest, playing on Thursday,

(29:48):
and Seattle's on the road this week in Arizona. Then
they play the Saints, then they go to Minnesota, and
then they get the Bears at Lambeau and Minnesota this week.
Kind of a game against Atlanta and Cousins who can't
play Chicago at Seattle, Green Bay Detroit. So basically all
these teams essentially play the same schedule, except you could

(30:15):
the Bills, New Orleans and Atlanta you could take out.
So I'm fascinated to watch this. And one kicker here
is you know, the Packers and Minnesota play at Seattle
down the stretch. That is a game that Detroit won
earlier this season, so that's that could be a little
bit of a swing game. And then Detroit plays the Niners,

(30:37):
who Green Bay and Minnesota both beat this. It's gonna
be fascinating to watch this playout. Like I said, Dan Campbell,
if when the season ends they have the number one seed,
I think when you factor in the injuries that he's
had now going on several weeks, so he will have
finished the season six to seven weeks with a ton

(30:58):
of guys not playing, especially defensive lineman. He might not
have his starting defensive line, not like defensive line. Men
like his starting defensive line all might miss the game,
multiple starting linebackers out. I had to sign Jamal Adams
after Thanksgiving to start a game against the Packers, which

(31:18):
essentially in a roundabout way is kind of for the division.
We're going to play a large role in the pie
chart down the stretch to win the division and get
the number one seat. He's my number. He'd be my
coach of the year. Some NFL news notes it's always
funny when a trade happens, and I'm guilty of this too.
I'm not pointing fingers here because you point a fingers,

(31:39):
you got three point back at you and one point upstairs.
But when something happens a personnel transaction, we all got opinions.
Oh my god, they fleece that team. Oh my god,
what kind of idiotic trade was? That? Happens all the time,
fun part about sports. I didn't necessarily have an opinion

(32:01):
when this move was made because I haven't really watched
this player. My only thought on this guy is that,
like Mike Tomlin didn't like him. So when Deontay Johnson
got traded from the Panthers to the Ravens and it
was a pick swap, and everyone was like, they basically
traded fifteen to eighteen spots for Deontay Johnson, the Ravens

(32:22):
absolutely fleece the Panthers. My takeaway was, one does anyone
like this guy, like the Steelers toward the end couldn't
get rid of him fast enough. The Panthers a year
in or like take them will give him to you,
and then several weeks into his raven career he has

(32:46):
been suspended. So I think everyone who came out to
take of the Ravens flees the Panthers, and when he
signs with someone else for a larger contract, they will
get a compensatory pick that is better than even what
they just traded. I don't know, because it sure seems
like this guy is a major red flag because during

(33:07):
the Eagles game, Harbaugh tried to put him in the
game and he refused, and now three or four days
later he is not going to play this week. So
I think sometimes we gotta be careful. It's easy if
you're like, you know, the Eagles just traded for TJ. Watt.
I mean, there are some no brainers, like holy shit,
right the reaction to Deontay Johnson, like the Ravens just landed.

(33:33):
I don't know, Jerry Rice in his prime felt a
little crazy, and I think Mike Tomlin, who took a
shot a couple of weeks ago when they asked if
you're getting ready for him, and he basically wouldn't even
acknowledge the player. I think tells you everything you need
to know. I watched his interview Andrew Luck did with
Dan Patrick. Andrew Luck has been named the general manager

(33:55):
of football at Stanford and for any it's on YouTube.
It was really good. It was like the day after
he was named. And it really kind of stuck out
to me, is you know the way Andrew's career ended
with him just retiring because his body was so beat
up and he was tired of rehabbing and his team,
you know, he was getting killed and he didn't believe
in the leadership there and he every time Dan brought

(34:17):
that up, he kept pushing back against that. But here's
the one thing I respect about any guy. And you
see that. You saw this with John Elway who returned
to the to the Broncos. Andrew Luck obviously he's very smart.
I think it's fair to say would have minimum minimum
in the bank sixty seventy million dollars. And when I

(34:41):
say in the bank, not just sitting there in cash,
in things that are growing so that that number could
be one hundred million dollars. He does not need the money.
John Elway, when he returned to be the Broncos GM
had made so much money on car dealerships and steakhouses
he was worth a ton. You don't get that high

(35:02):
from football or just anytime that you're an athlete or
a coach in business, because after a while, like money
coming into your account, whether it's one hundred grand, whether
it's ten million, whatever, you kind of just become numb
to it. Your life doesn't change. And it's like I
say it all the time. I can bet a hundredth

(35:25):
of a direct deposit I'll get from this business we're
a part of, and I will get more juices flowing
from the bet having a thousand dollars bet than I
would on anything we can make doing business on this show,
which I love doing, But you don't get the same
juices flowing. Sometimes I miss. I don't miss working in

(35:47):
football because I think I was meant to do what
I'm doing now and I have more ownership over everything
literally and figuratively, and I just I enjoy everything about it.
But the elements of that I miss, and that just
get your heart racing that few things in life can
bring to the table and when I watched Andrew Luck

(36:08):
talk about taking that job, he even he said, like,
you know, I started coaching high school football the last
couple of years. He moved back around Stanford. His wife
is a gymnast from Stanford, and he's like, I hadn't
been nervous in a long time as I was before
some of these games. And it's like I appreciate the
guys that realize after a while, like there's no amount

(36:29):
of money that can give me the high of what
I missed doing. Now, you could argue Andrew didn't need
to walk away from the sport. He could have kept playing.
That's a separate conversation from this, But I do think
Stanford made the right decision. They are in a difficult spot.
It's hard to get guys into school for the teams

(36:51):
that they play. They cannot get certain players into the
school because they will never ever come down off the
academic requirements. And in college football, believe that like when
Stanford's up, Notre Dame probably going to be down and
Northwestern's going to be down. If Northwestern and Notre Dame
are up, that's going to mean Stanford's down because there
are only so many guys who can play football and

(37:12):
meet the academic requirements. But here's the one thing Andrew
Luck can do is he can get people on the
horn that have money. They will call him back. If
I'm worth one hundred million dollars and I'm a booster
at Stanford and the athletic director calls me, I'll call
him back when I feel like it. If I look
down at my phone and Andrew Luck's calling me like

(37:32):
he's getting a call back in twenty four hours. And
that's an element that I think could really really help
the program. Tom Brady discussed sliding in the NFL and
we talked about this. The Nick Cassario three and a
half minute rant about Al Shires is fantastic. Loved it,

(37:53):
and I do think he got at the heart of
something that a lot of people in football feel the
balance is out of whack. And Dan Campbell or you know,
Saint Brown, has a podcast I think with his brother
and just went viral that Dan Campbell brought up in
the team meeting the week they were playing the Bears

(38:14):
that when Caleb Williams goes out of bounds, he often
cuts it back, and when he cuts it back, we're
gonna fucking blast him, and I saw a bunch of
people responding again social media take it with a complete
grain assault. Was like, that's so dirty, dirty. That is
the most football thing I've ever heard. If he's faking
going out of bounds and he cuts it back for

(38:35):
more yards, we are going to hit him and hit
him as hard as we can, just like we would
do do any player in football. Just because he's the quarterback.
Should we just heyk turn back left, take another five yards, man,
then that I'll tackle you. What are we talking about?
Trevor Lawrence slid late. That's not debatable now. We can

(38:55):
debate if al Shier took his forearm tried to hit
him in the neck or the head. Maybe I don't
know what his intent was. He didn't. He hit him
in the shoulder and then the ground caused the concussion.
But that's a discussion for a separate thing. These quarterbacks
have crossed the line of being too protected now and
they're taking advantage of it. We see it with Patrick

(39:17):
Mahomes who does fake slides and fake out of bounds
and keeps going. We saw it with Caleb Williams on Thursday,
kept trying to do it, cut back in for more yards.
We saw it with Trevor Lawrence, who could have easily
slid four or five yards before and went late and
now got chaot. I don't know. I don't think Brady's

(39:38):
terribly off base because right now, only one person faces repercussions.
That's the defender. There is zero, zero risk when it
comes to playing quarterback. The only risk is your body.
But who even cares. All your money is guaranteed, like
my risk as a player on defense is also my body,

(39:58):
and my contract isn't guarante. So this guy literally has
no risk, no financial risk, no risk of ever getting
in trouble with the league, no risk of getting suspended
without pay. Hell, he could even play like shit and
he gets to keep playing in our position. If I
play bad as a linebacker, I get benched. So it's

(40:19):
jumped the shark. And I do think they need to
rein it in a little bit. Do I expect them to.
I do not, because they're in the business right now
of making as much money as humanly possible, and they
view by a mile the most important person is the quarterback,
which I agree. If we're talking Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes,
Josh Allen and guys like that half the league. I
don't think they matter at all. I really don't. So

(40:41):
I don't know how we balance. Like they don't get
to just do whatever they want and the other guy
has to worry about getting flagged constantly. We're out of
balance here. I don't have all the solutions, partly because
I don't think they're going to change. But I know
it's not fair, and I don't even know who would
debate that at this point in time. And last, but

(41:01):
not least, if I would have told you a couple
of years ago, when the USC Trojans gave Lincoln Riley
over one hundred million dollars, they bought his house. I
remember my buddy Drew Hill, who works for Oklahoma right now.
I remember when the rumors are flying, I'm like, you
think he's gonna leave the US. He's like, now, he
just built a mansion. Man, who's there are not that

(41:23):
many people in Norman, Oklahoma that can afford the mansion.
USC told them what's your what's your houseworth? It's like
three hundred three point five million, we'll pay five hundred
over asking. They made him an offer so good that
no human could have turned it down, and most successful
people tell you you got to be very careful about

(41:45):
making decisions strictly for money. I do think there comes
a point where if the number gets so big, you
almost owe it to UH, to your wife, to your parents,
to whoever, your your immediate family, your friends, anyone that's
for you to say yes. I don't want to move
out of my house. If you knocked on my door
right now and offered me double what it's worth, I

(42:06):
would probably say no. But if you knocked on my
door and offered me ten million cash right now, I
would have to I'd be obligated to say yes. And
I think Lincoln Riley did not want to leave Oklahoma
for USC, but they made him a number so big
he could not say no. And now he's at a
place that he doesn't really want to be and he
doesn't fit and UCF, you see F. It was well

(42:33):
reported on The Athletic by Bruce Feldman that they reached
out to USC and said, hey, would you be interested
in doing some sort of Obviously, you know, if you're Lincoln,
you're not going to go to UCF. They owe you
ninety eighty million dollars. You're just gonna ride this out
till they fire you or whatever. But that's where we're at.

(42:55):
That's where we're at. Can you imagine reading like you
wouldn't even report it? You know, UCF it asked about
Dan Lanning Fresno State, They called Georgia and just hey,
Kirby man, you need to change the scenery. We got you, homie.
You'd be like, what that'd be so dumb? You'd When
I read that headline, I'm like, of course they did that.

(43:18):
Ad wouldn't have been doing his job if he didn't.
And honestly, Lincoln Riley would make a lot more sense
at UCF than he does at USC But financially, once
you sell your soul for the money they got you
by the balls and you're kind of stuck. Now it

(43:38):
could be worse. You're stuck living on a fifteen million
dollar pad on the water that is essentially us he
pays for with your wife. That I just I've always
believed this and I always will believe this. There are outliers,
but for the most part, regionality in college football matters
where are you from? Cause that creates the ethos of

(43:59):
who you are as a human being. I have elements
of my soul, the way I operate, that were developed
on the West Coast. Now my personality is a little unique.
I can go to the northeastern thrive, i can go
to the South and thrive, but I'm most at home
in California, Vegas and in Arizona. The Western seaboard is

(44:20):
where I thrive, where I feel the most comfortable. I've
lived other places. You look at Kirby smart, southern guy,
thrives in the SEC. You look at the coaches that
have had success on the West Coast in college, Pete Carroll.
Where's Pete Carroll from California? He went to school at Pacific,
Jeff Tedford, La Fresno State, Chris Peterson, UC Davis, Boise State, Washington.

(44:45):
It's just where was Lincoln, Texas, Oklahoma. Kind of that
region made a lot of sense. Even Marcus Freeman now
in the Midwest, Ohio State, Notre Dame, like he understands
the regionality of the people. They're ethos, what they stand for,
how they operate. Lincoln is a small town Texas guy
trying to operate in this big city, bright lights. It's

(45:09):
a tough thing to overcome, and it never let me
rephrase that it made sense to me from USC standpoint.
Of course you're going to try to hire Lincoln Riley
three years ago, but from Lincoln Riley standpoint, where you
had the pick of the litter, I mean you're turned
down NFL jobs. I don't know, man. And when you

(45:30):
make decisions strictly on money, which I will never blame
any human being for doing, when the money is so big,
I don't think you should do it. If the money.
You know, if you make a hundred grand right now
and you love your job and you think there is
areas for you to grow, or you're learning enough that
maybe in five years you can go out on your own,

(45:51):
but you'll have the skills because of what you're learning.
Just because someone offers you two hundred grand, especially depending
on the state, after taxes and stuff, it's not actually
that much of a net pay increase. It's not going
to change your life forever that if you have reservations,
it's not crazy to say no. But if you're making
a hundred grand and someone offers you a million dollars, like, well, shit,

(46:13):
if I just ride this out for two years, even
if I hate it, it's like, how am I going
to make that much money and then I can do
whatever I want. I can quit in two years. Right.
That's the thing with Lincoln Riley. He can't really quit.
It's kind of stuck and there's just no way around it.
It's been a disaster. Okay, Middlecoff mailbag time at John Middlecock?

(46:38):
At John Middlecock? Is the Instagram fire in those dms?
At John Middlecop firing the dms? Sorry Mark, diehard Lions fan.
I had a question about officiating and how atrocious it's been.
The Lions Bears game on Thanksgiving had a ton of
bad calls. How can the NFL take away some of
the judgment calls to prevent them from a manipulating games?

(47:02):
I hate it when close games end on touchy pass
interference calls. As a Lions fan, I have PTSD from
bad officiating. I think one thing that they tried, what
was like a year ago, maybe it was three years
two three years ago, was you could throw a challenge
flag pass interference and it was a disaster. I mean,

(47:26):
it got canceled after a year. And I also think
that they've been very hesitant because Belichick's always been adamant,
why can't we challenge any call? Why can you challenge,
you know, a targeting call, or you can challenge a catch,
you know, in or out of bounds, but I can't

(47:46):
challenge a hold, Like how do we arbitrarily pick what
is challengeable and what is not? And I've always thought
there was some merit to that, But I also think
the league and if I was in charge on that side,
there is an EBB and a flow to a game
that you don't want people constantly going to the monitor.
It's one thing that's killed basketball. If you watch a

(48:06):
basketball game the last couple of minutes, College are pro
just take too long, and there has to be a
flow because football there's a very distinct play happens, huddle
up play happens, and when you get too much to
lay it can really throw off the U. I would
say the rhythm of a game, and flags do that

(48:27):
in general. I've said forever. Officiate officiating and referees in
general are a little bit like government officials. The more
incompetent you are, it feels like the more you get
elevated and you never get fired like that. That's what's
always bothered me. You know, in pro sports, especially basketball

(48:48):
and football, where so many things are very, very subjective.
It's like, yeah, you blow that foul call and it
costs me a playoff series and we get bounced and
I get fired or or I get traded, or in
the NF, like I get cost a couple games because
of bad officiating, I get fired and my player gets cut.
Nothing happens with these guys, and I don't have an answer,

(49:10):
nothing ever changes. So I've just kind of gotten tired
of talking about it because I don't think. I don't
really see an outcome. Like certain things, It's like I
realized yesterday. Every time I fold clothes like T shirts
or workout clothes or shorts, when I grab them back
a day, a week, whenever later, they're always wrinkled. I

(49:34):
do not know how to fold. Close. I am guaranteed
wash dry, Put in my bucket, take to my bed,
fold up, put in the drawers. When I regrab to war,
that piece of clothing will be wrinkled. When I watch
football or why I watch sports in general, like I
am prepared for bad goals. It is what it is.

(49:56):
It never changes no matter what I do. Roll it up,
fold it right, watch a YouTube clip. It's gonna be wrinkled.
No matter what happens when I'm sitting on the couch,
whether I'm betting on the game, whether I'm just enjoying
the game, bad calls. It sucks, but it just is
what it is. I have a question about the college

(50:17):
football playoffs and the bowl games in which they're involved.
In your opinion, which bowl game should host the national championship. Personally,
I think the championship should be held at the Rose
Bowl every year, the grand daddy of them all. It
has always felt like the biggest bowl game. What's your take?

(50:40):
It's funny, you know, part of these questions, you guys
ask things that I've never thought of, because I really
don't care. As long as the Rose Bowl has a
playoff game, it doesn't. You could put the national championship
in Arizona, in Jerry's Palace in New Orleans, in Atlanta,

(51:01):
I don't. It doesn't matter to me. I don't know
why the Rose Ball is cool. It's actually better as
a independent event, like a playoff game than it is
for UCLA playing way, you know, miles upon miles outside
of campus. But it doesn't like if it's in Arizona,

(51:22):
which I think it's It was a championship game. They
definitely had either one of the two games here last year.
I don't care. I guess, just to be completely honest,
I just don't care. I have a Fugazi Friday. Why
are these college football players trying to plan a flag
into the turf? I get the symbolism, and I'm not

(51:43):
against it. I will say it's a little corny when
they attempt to plant the flag, But on the other side,
it's also kind of corny that they want to fight
about it when they just had sixty minutes to fight anyways,
the pole can't stick into turf. Yeah, I don't know.
I just think everyone's excited. You know, you got that pole,
you got the turf you want to celebrate on opposing

(52:10):
you know, your rivals field. But you're right. No flagpole
has ever stuck into the turf. Ever has happened, and
ever will happen. I think, as someone said the pitchfork,
it might have been my guy Jackson yesterday talking college football,
because it literally has like kind of spikes kind of
stuck in, which would make a little sense. I mean,

(52:31):
the flag pole. Even Baker Mayfield when he kind of
started this years ago, he just kept hitting it I get.
I enjoy like this is college football that there is
no disputing the level of play is better in the NFL,
just in terms of the best players at the sport

(52:51):
in the world. Now, grant, it's not a worldwide sport,
but you know what I mean, play in the NFL.
But there is something someone sent me. A buddy of mine, Scottie,
sent me this clip of Michigan coming out to the
Sakario like soundtrack music to the movie with there's a
couple of them's. It's really good. And when Michigan walks

(53:15):
out to the like to the field on last Saturday
at Ohio State and it just kind of opens and
you see red everywhere, You're like, this is badass, man.
This is the college football Atmospheres are second to none,
even for as great as the NFL is, And the

(53:37):
NFL has great atmospherees too, like Cleveland, Denver, obviously, Lambeau,
I mean, Philly. I mean there are great places to
play Seattle when they're good, but there's nothing like that.
There's nothing like that. The Trevor Lawrence hit is something
I agree with you on. It was a bang, bang
play and at full speed. I don't think we were

(53:58):
asking players to make control acts to avoid hitting the quarterback.
That said, as a rule change, what do you think
about this? Behind the line of scrimmage, the quarterback receives
all the normal protections, but once he advances past the
line of scrimmage, he is just another runner with no
rules or protections, no unique rules or protections. This will

(54:21):
incentivize quarterbacks to avoid the collision themselves and allow defenders
to actually play and not be confused. Thanks for considering
my question. Consider your question considered. I think these guys
are so inbolden because they know I can't be touched.
We talked about this on the podcast. In what world

(54:44):
would it cross your mind as a quarterback to get
to the sideline like Caleb did and cut it back.
You couldn't have paid any quarterback Farve to l Way
to think of just whoever Roethlisberger in his prime to
do that. Wait, I'm gonna fucking take a hit. But

(55:06):
now these guys think, oh, they'll probably pull up and
I'll get some extra yards and then I'll slide. That's insane.
I'm not blaming Caleb because he's just playing by the rules.
Like I don't blame anyone who uh, I root for
accountants to take advantage of the code. Right, the code
is created and you're following it and you get every
loophole humanly possible. Right, and if you're within the letter

(55:28):
of the law, like he's not breaking, like he's there's
no rule in which he is. Uh, you know he's
breaking by cutting it back in, but he is taking
advantage knowing these guys are pulling up where in the
history of football you never would have not just kept
sprinting to get away because that guy wouldn't stop, and
that guy would clean your clock. And we have to

(55:49):
kind of rein it in. I'm with you, pocket quarterbacks.
Protect these guys want to see it even behind the
line of scrim is like you start running around. Trevor
Lawrence is six foot six, two hundred and twenty ounce.
Trevor Lawrence does not run a six forty. He runs
like you know four six five at that size, Like
that is big, that's like that's like a tight end.

(56:10):
Tight end is a little bigger in terms of weight,
maybe two hundred and thirty five, two hundred and forty pounds,
but that's moving any slide in the last second, like
you said, Alshire's coming full speed. Also, if you I'm
not against diving head first in a situation like that
because no one's gonna touch you. They'll just they'll just
tap you. But when you kind of slide because you're
standing up and you wait till the last second, like

(56:32):
it brings everything into play. The most agreeous by a mile, though,
is the is any fake slide or fake go out
of bounce keep going? That's you. You deserve to get
destroyed on that. Caleb's got lucky he didn't get his
legs snapped. A question for the bag. If you are
the Lions this upcoming off season, okay, we're already, we're

(56:55):
already into March, what do you do about James and Williams.
Brad Holmes is, it's been a spectacular drafter for the Lions,
but I feel his play has not been worthy of
a first round pick plus trade up to get them.
Plus they traded up to get them. The Lions knew
they were putting on his rookie season due to the
knee injury, but afterwards between the suspensions online sports gambling

(57:18):
twenty three pedes violation this season, and I think he
just I actually think he got off on the gun thing, right,
there were two guns in the car, he claimed, like
he didn't have the concealed carry. I don't even know
the rules in Michigan. Obviously not an ideal situation in
the middle of the night. And I'm not like, I'm

(57:39):
not anti guns here, but in all these players have
every right, just like I have a right. You have
a right to have fucking be packing heat. And depending
on the state you live in, like I could walk
in a safeway right now and this open This is
an open carry state. So it's like, I'm not your
media member pushing against that. I do not care. I
grew up in a home with way more guns than people.
But I do think you have to be smart about

(58:03):
what you're doing, and if you're Jameis and Williams, like,
we got to make some better decisions. I think any
time you take a player like him that I would say,
it's pretty unique. Like he's going to be a speed
stretch the field. He's not gonna be some total package, right,
and the way you guys build your offense, you just

(58:25):
need him to stretch the field and his speed is elite.
The moment I thought on Thanksgiving the Thanksgiving moment way
worse than anything happened with his brother getting pulled over
by a mile It's like, because one, I don't even
know if they're breaking the law. Two, like the thing
on Thanksgiving throwing the fucking ball into the guy's face

(58:47):
and then coming to the sideline and looking at Antoine
RANDALLLL and telling him that I it sure looked like
he was trying to convince him that I was throwing
it to the ref and Andron Randall was not having
any of it, and he was begging and pleading, and
Antoine randelll is losing. It was incredible. It was the

(59:07):
coolest coach player moment of Thanksgiving by a wide march.
It was awesome. But it's like, bro, what are you doing?
And then Dan Campbell said after the game that he
apologize to the team. It feels like he's doing a
lot of apologizing, Like I'm not a huge Like, listen,
you screw up once. It's one thing if you're a child,
but like once we get to business and you work
with people, like, listen, we make a mistake, you don't

(59:29):
need to apologet it all the time. We're's on to
the next fucking get it done. No one gives a fuck,
Like don't need your handheld. Same thing with the NFL,
Like if you're constantly apologizing, like we got problems. If
you apologize more than you make plays, Like if that's
the ratio, your status for the team is going to
be up in the air. Now, he definitely has value,

(59:52):
Like the Kancy Chiefs would they trade for him? Cause
I think they would. You know, that's the type guy
Ady Reid. He's twenty three years old. This is his
third season. He's having a career year now. Granted, like
you said, he you know, his rookie year didn't even count.

(01:00:15):
He had one catch, barely played toward the end of
the season. Last year, in twelve games, he had twenty
four catches and two touchdowns. It's crazy, and he had
a rushing touchdown. This year he's got thirty catches, four touchdowns.
Does give him this? You know? In his thirty catches,

(01:00:37):
he's averaged in twenty yards catch, Like he is a
really explosive player, Like could you get the would you
just trade him? It sucks, but like you gotta go
a little spilled milk, like it's over nothing you're gonna do.
Do you trade him to the Chiefs for like a
third round pick, cause I would the Chiefs trade a
second round pick. Now, if that pick is like sixty,

(01:00:57):
I might, I'd sure think about it. It'd be risky.
But he makes more sense with the Chiefs than he
does one his style of play. It was like when
Tyreek Hill first got there with the Chiefs. With Alex
you know who your quarterback is as a speed demon
does impact your ability one thing to it? Does? He

(01:01:19):
throws a pretty good de ball, right, So Tyreek makes
sense with him, even though he doesn't have the arm
strength of Patrick Mahomes. Now he doesn't have a great
deep ball when it gets cold and windy, but if
it's not cold and wendy, he throws a good deep ball.
To me. He's got traded to the Chiefs. Written all
over you get Jamison Williams Worthy. Maybe you resigned DeAndre
Hopkins or she Rice comes back. All of a sudden,

(01:01:40):
your offense looks a little more explosive and you can
just listen. You tried, you got aggressive move on Jamison
Williams too, Like you said, you trade it up. He
was the twelfth pick in the draft. You know, looking back,
he was at Ohio State, and he wasn't as good

(01:02:02):
as who'd they have Jackson Smith. You know, Harrison would
have been really young. They had one other wide receiver too,
I can't think of at the top of my head, oh,
Garrett Wilson. So it's like, well, he wasn't as good
as those two guys, and those guys are good, right,
So I was like, those guys are makes sense why

(01:02:22):
he couldn't beat out, Like it's like you ain't playing here.
It's like, yeah, we got this guy named Jackson Smith,
we got Marvin Harrison who's a seventeen year old, and
we got Garrett Wilson. You're not gonna play my man,
which in theory teased to justify. It's like, well, he
couldn't play there, And now looking back, it's like, well
it's kind of a problem. You drafted this guy twelve
coming off a knee injury. It's like, well, yeah, he
couldn't play there because those guys are really good players

(01:02:45):
who are also drafted in a similar range. Jackson Smith
goes what like pick twenty, Garrett goes pick ten, this
guy goes twelve. It's like, yeah, those guys are on
a different level than him. Stay with Marvin. Why do
you think the Broncos refuse to put Certain on Judy
last night? It seems like a no brainer to match
arguably the number one corner in the league to the

(01:03:08):
opposing teams number one wide receiver. Could it possibly be
because Certain and Judy are ex teammates and good friends
where it's an overall skill thing. I didn't watch any
of the postgame press conference, or maybe Sean I'm recording
this on Wednesday, has talked about it. I guess this

(01:03:28):
week they're on a buy house, so I don't even
know if he's talking on Wednesday, it's like a normal
game week. I don't think them being friends obviously, you
know they played together at Alabama has anything to do
with it. I think it's a scheme specific thing. They
have a game plan. But it did feel like after
three or four of the big plays, like what are

(01:03:49):
we doing? Guys? Listen? It's one thing your defense, little gas,
you're not gonna have as good of a game as
you normally have. It's another thing where literally this guy's
wide open constantly. What's Elijah Moore gonna kill you? It's
like it's kind of one of those things like Hey,
Steph Curry's not hitting the shot, someone else has to
hit it. Like eventually, It's like, let's cover Jerry Judy.
Najoku only gets ten to fifteen yards around the line

(01:04:11):
of scrimmage, right, He's not running go routes, and Elijah
Moore is like a possession receiver. I got Judy going
deep on me, and if Jamis hadn't missed him on
the one, Jerry Judy could have had like three hundred
and fifty yards, Jamis could have easily had six hundred
yards offense. So I don't know, you'd have to. My
guess not has anything to do with the personal you know,

(01:04:36):
friends all about scheme and the game plan. I'm also
a lifelong Ohio State hater. Here's my take. Ohio State
football is the Kentucky Basketball of the sport. They're more
a collection of individual talents than a collection of a
football team. Their focus is clearly on recruiting and showcasing
the most blue chip prospects that they can and having

(01:04:59):
those prospects go and succeed in the NFL. The fans
clearly care about on the field results, but it seems
like the coaching staffs care more about having shiny toys
so they can show a track record of future success
to make it easier to recruit the next batch. It
seems like the exact same problem Cali Perry had at

(01:05:21):
Kentucky when he continuously lost to teams that had focused
on developing an actual team. You could argue that that
wasn't the case with irb Meyer, like he built teams.
Obviously he built teams that had higher level recruits, but
they were excellent, like that team that beat Alabama with

(01:05:44):
shotgun Cardello Jones. They were elite on defense right from
Joey Bosa to Darren Lee to their dbs, like they
were a unit on defense. I think Ryan Day can
build an offense. They made the wrong decision, probably a
quarterback that like, Yeah, it was easy to point the

(01:06:04):
finger at Kyle McCord, but I think Kyle McCord as
we sit here today is just a better player than
Will Howard. And if it was twenty fourteen, you would
have had no choice, Like Kyle McCord still would have
been on the team. And even if Will Howard could
have transferred, like is he beating him out? And even
then the transfer rules, he would have had to sit
out a year, So without the transfer portal, I think
Kyle McCord is still the quarterback and they're better off

(01:06:25):
now they don't have some of these other players that
they got, like Caleb Downs and stuff, So it's it
goes both ways. I think it's more of a reflection
of Ryan Day. I think what you're talking about specifically
is Ryan Day and Calipari. I think Ryan Day recruits
like Calipari does in football or in basketball. Of I
want the wide receivers and I want the offense because defensively,

(01:06:51):
I never really hated him till Ryan Day took over.
Like I'm not a big Urban Meyer guy, but I
respect his teams and under Trussel like they would have
like every unit would have NFL guys. Now you're watching
their team like, yeah, Caleb Down is their best defender,
but he just came from Alabama, wasn't their guy? So

(01:07:11):
the best players on their team are their wide receivers,
which most of my life Ohio State dominant offensive and
defensive lines, unreal linebackers, great running backs. Now the running
backs are good now, but like, how did Where's like
Joey Bosa and Nick Bosa and Chase Young, where are
those players. The dude that the Browns just drafted this

(01:07:34):
year in the second round, I forget his name. He
got in trouble in training camp. So I think it's
a Ryan Day thing, like Kirby doesn't do that. I
think it's he doesn't know how to I would say,
recruit defense. How would he He's never been I mean,
he got handed the job. How does Kirby know how

(01:07:56):
to recruit defense? I don't know. He coached under Nick's
for most of his life and he's a defensive guy.
I'd argue this, quarterbacks are. Quarterbacks are. But I bet
most people listening to this if I picked five listeners

(01:08:18):
and I said we're going to become we're going to
run the recruiting for let's just pick USC this year,
me and five guys, I think it'd be pretty hard
to screw up the skill guys. We would be. If
you are swimming in the deep end of the pool
and I got access, and I got nil to the
best wide receivers and running backs, we ain't gonna miss.

(01:08:42):
We're going to get NFL prospects at seventeen years old.
Defensive players are a little harder because they're wiring their mindset. Obviously,
they have to fit certain requirements of high weight speed. Right,
You're not going to play power five football at defensive
end and be five ten. But I'm just saying, like,

(01:09:03):
what makes Nick and Joey and some of these guys
so good aren't just right just their size, It's also
a mindset and a toughness, Like does Ryan Dave and
know what that looks like? I don't think so, Chip
Kelly does not. I think it's a more reflection. It's
Kentucky basketball. It was John Calipari basketball, so he's John

(01:09:25):
cal Party. But John has a long resume of like, listen,
we can nitpick John in the tournament. John's pretty good
at his job. Is Ryan? I don't know? Also cal
Party has won a national championship. Been a long time
listening to the pod, but have never sent in a
question but the mail bag. But here it is given

(01:09:46):
how Bryce Young is rebounded since becoming a starter. Do
you think the Panther should give him another year to
develop see what he brings to completely start over a
quarterback in the draft. So he sent me a He
sent me some stats. Basically, Bryce Young has led the

(01:10:09):
Panthers to back to back wins for the first time
since twenty one. Baker Mayfield said, I'm proud of him.
This guy has the potential to do anything he wants
to do. Bryce Young has a eighty four point six
passer rating, third in the NFL. The last five weeks,
he has almost nine hundred yards, five touchdowns, and one interception.

(01:10:33):
Bryce Young is one the Panthers quarterback next year. Completely
resurrected his career. I still have reservations with a guy
that size and in a weird way because they were
so shitty. You kind of get to fly like there's
not much pressure on your team. But if you just

(01:10:53):
watch him in a vacuum, he's played much better. He's
played like a real player. I talked to Hi Buddy,
a scouting buddy the other day, and it was like,
I'm not gonna make like bold statements on Bryce Young,
but he's a real NFL player right now. That could
not be said when he got bench for Andy Goldon.
He hadn't been a real NFL play. He'd been playing
in games, but he was like, if he wasn't the

(01:11:13):
number one overall pick and had been a late round
pick or he would have been benched, he would have
been cut. This guy's a real player and one thousand
if he keeps maintaining I would say this level of play,
they won't even entertain drafting a quarterback high, which should
be very, very positively taken if you look at where

(01:11:38):
they were six games ago. I appreciate everyone that listens
on Spotify that has linked me on you know, on
the things. I guess I'm an Apple podcast guy, but
I know on Spotify that you know, every maybe the
calendar year for them ends December first, in you guys
link that has three and out with you know, from

(01:12:00):
everyone to Cowards, Joe Rogan to you name it, every
big podcast. So I appreciate everyone that has sent me
those on Instagram. I'm a big Ravens fan, and despite
being eight and five, I still feel really good about
our chances. Tucker has in my opinion, lost us four
games this year, and the defense has been playing better

(01:12:24):
of late since they moved Hamilton back to deep safety.
I really feel the Ravens should be eleven or two
or twelve and one, but penalties and uncharacteristically bad special
teams have cost us dearly. Do you think that since
the Ravens won't go into the postseason as the best
team in football. Then it might take some pressure off Lamar.

(01:12:48):
I think I think it adds pressure because you assume
you know your defense. Your defense still is nowhere near
what it was. Part of the reason there were so
much pressure on Lamar last year is like you have
the best defense, you're the MVP, and you have the
best defensive football. Like, if I tell you over the

(01:13:09):
last forty years, I get the quarterback who's the MVP
of the league and his defense is the best defense
in football, and you're the number one seed, will you
pick them to win the Super Bowl? You would take
them every time. If I told you the playoffs are starting,
regardless if you got to go through Joe Montana, Elway,
Brady farre Rod, you name it. I don't give a

(01:13:31):
shit to the Mahomes. If I get the MVP of
the league and the best defense in the league, I
will take my chances every day of the week. Like
you have a kicker that's not reliable right now. So
these football games even look last year against the Chiefs,
they scored seventeen points. So if you had played better,
maybe you win the game twenty to seventeen. But typically

(01:13:52):
how do you get twenty points, score a couple of
touchdowns and get two field goals? Can you rely on
this guy to kick field goals right now? And I
saw Belichick say that, and he's right. It's not like
Tucker's balls. Are you going thirty yards and diving into
the ground or hitting the center in the back of
the ass. It is flying in the air. But Belichick,

(01:14:15):
being the football savant that he is, he's like, you know,
the thing about Justin Tucker is he didn't hit a
hooker a fade. He hit straight balls. It went dead straight.
And if you watch him now, he's hooking him left
and he's cutting it and slicing it right, so clearly.
And I know nothing about kicking, but that was honestly

(01:14:36):
one of the most insightful things I've heard about Justin
Tucker because it's easy for us he's missing kicks, but
for Belichick, who's obviously played this guy and the Ravens
in a ton of big games the last decade plus,
I would if I had to guess several playoff games,
five six regular season games, I mean, he's and Belichick

(01:14:58):
is like a you know, it gets horny for kickers,
Like if Belichick right now beside John Harbaugh could give,
by far of anyone in the NFL, any coach, any position,
the best scatting report on Justin Tucker, and him saying
that was like, damn, that's good point because some guys
naturally play a little cut, naturally play a little draw.
Justin Tucker straight ball. Now it's going all so clearly

(01:15:20):
he's in his own head. I don't know if you
fix that in December, because not like he just got
in his own head after one week. It's it's been
an accumulation. These playoff games all come down to a
point or two because, like you say, you have good chance,
Oh yeah, I mean, you got a good team, so
you can win a playoff game. But if you are
the sixth seed, you are going to have to win

(01:15:41):
three road games just to get to the super Bowl.
And I do think it's fair to say, even if
your team kicks as in one game. So let's say
you win one game by fifteen points, like pretty easily,
the other two games are probably gonna be a one
score game. You hell, one of those games, you're gonna
be down probably in the second half. You are going
to rely on your kicker so you could argue the

(01:16:04):
kicker is a bigger issue than your defense. If your defense,
like you said, just listen how many points you give
up to the Eagles, not like they scored fifty points,
So your defense definitely look better in that game. Your
defense was not the problem. Honestly, you guys are holding
Saquon pretty well until he busted a couple of second
half runs. Okay, last question question for the bag. Being

(01:16:27):
a Patriot fan, I'm super excited about what we've seen
so far from may That being said, I'm concerned about
what I've seen from the rest of the team. Don't
blame you. The defense was supposed to be elite, but
now it's looking like the defense of the past, where
a product of Belichick. The roster is brutal. Is there
any chance that they can get the roster turned around

(01:16:48):
next year? Are we so far behind player wise that
we won't be in the conversation for multiple years. Well,
it's a good question because, and this is the thing
where Belichick and Mayo kind of went back and forth.
Right and the Belichick supporters say, well, they extended a

(01:17:08):
lot of the dudes on defense that were our guys,
and rightfully so why wouldn't they The defense has been
pretty good, so you would want bar More, you would
want Dugger. Obviously, Christian Gonzalez a young player, but you
want him. You want that core group of guys on
your squad. The defense is not necessarily gonna change, but

(01:17:29):
we've seen those players be solid before. Offensively, you guys
are futrid. I mean, offensively you're really bad. The offensive
line is awful. I would say this offseason two things
should happen. Pay because you're gonna have cap space, buy
some skill guys, buy some players, and listen. Sometimes you

(01:17:51):
got to overpay. But the Jags remember a couple of
years ago, overpaid for Christian Kirk. Is like, yeah, do
I want to pay Kirk eighteen million dollars a year?
Would I rather pay him twelve? Of course? But it
was clear, like right away, cooks pretty good player. So
if you can do a couple moves like that with
a wide receiver tight end. You tried it a couple
of years ago with John Who and Hunter Henry. Buy
a tight end, buy a couple of wide receivers, and

(01:18:13):
then just draft offensive lineman. I would draft offensive line
with like every pick because part of what made Brady
and Dante's Garnekia and Belichick and Josh like their offensive
line always felt solid, even when they had guys that

(01:18:35):
they were overachieving with. And listen, I remember, like as
a friends of State guy Ryan Wendell, who was starting
for you guys in the early twenty tens, you know,
in your Super Bowl team, like this is crazy. It's
like Ryan Whendell starts for the Patriots. But they could
take these tough, smart guys and make them into solid starters.

(01:18:56):
And obviously over the years from Logan Mankins also prison
State guy Matt White, like, you guys have had really
good players as well, but you could mix and match
some high end talents with some like overachieving guys and
then Brady and Josh and Dante. It was just a
well run operation. It never felt like for the most part. Obviously,
you had the one year I think Dante retired and

(01:19:19):
I forget the guy's name, but Belichick hired this guy
and he lasted one year he got fired. I think
it was the year you guys lost to Denver in
the AFC Championship Game, which, in fairness like that was
a tough matchup for you guys, von Miller, DeMarcus ware Wolf,
and Malik Jackson. Like shit, I mean there, you could
have an offensive line full of five Trent Williams and

(01:19:40):
that defensive line is gonna be a problem. But like
Dante coming back helped you out, I do think you
got to invest there. I would spend my money even
if I quote unquote got overpay skill guys. Hell, look
at Sakwon Josh Jacobs. Running Backs become available on the
open market, running backs, full backs, tight ends, wide receivers,
and draft offensive lineman. I think the first your first pick.

(01:20:04):
I haven't I don't have like an updated big board
and haven't really been asking guys in the league in
terms of offensive lineman. But typically every year there's a
couple offensive tackles that are worthy of a top Last
year was a really good year. Off the top of
my head, I don't know. I'd have to ask around,
but I think you gotta be Ideally, you take an

(01:20:26):
offensive tackle high, like you get your Lane Johnson, your
Trent Williams, your Pinae Seul like that's and then the
second round draft your Landon Dickerson or Logan Mankins, get
a garter center or Quentin Nelson or whoever you know.
So I get a tackle and a guard I would take.
I would take those two positions in the first two rounds.

(01:20:46):
That would be my goal coming into the draft. Can
I get a starting tackle and a starting guard. And
in the third round it's like I might take another
guarter tackle or vice versa. Take take back to back
tackles and then a garter center. I would be very
aggressive with offensive linemen, so that that's probably to me
the key. But like the roster is pretty shitty. I mean,

(01:21:07):
part of the reason Belichick took a lot of shit
not because it was a bad coach, awful GM and
didn't leave him A lot of talent on offense was putrid.
Mac Jones sucks, but the offense he was playing with
wasn't that good either. So appreciate everyone for listening. Share
with your friends, share with your enemies. We will talk
tomorrow after the Thursday night game Lions and Packers. Can't

(01:21:28):
wait for that, bad boy, have a good day talk
sooom see you the volume

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