August 2, 2024 • 37 mins
On today's Dan Patrick Show, former Penn State standout Rich Ohrnberger joined the show to discuss the extreme lengths he went to in the NFL to avoid fines for being late to practice. Senior writer for the Athletic Kevin Fishbain stopped by to break down the expectations around No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams, and the voice of the SEC, Paul Finebaum joins the show to explain the seeding for the new 12-team college football playoff.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox
Sports Radio radio affiliates around the country numbering over four
hundred and ten, including our latest San Diego Sports seven
sixty and one of the radio hosts their former NFL
offensive linemen Rich Hornberger, joining us on the program because
we got some headlines here, or at least potential headlines.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
The Chargers Justin Herbert diagnosed with a planter fanciitis injury
and he's in a walking boot. They're hopeful he'll be
ready for week one. Rich, Thanks for joining us. What's
the level of concern? What should be the level of
concern for Charger fans?
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Pretty high? Pretty high. I heard you and the Danats
talking about this earlier, and one of your guys suffered
from planner fasciitis. I dealt with this in my playing
career as well at one point, and it's excruciating. It's
one of those things where it could nag you for
a long time. And with a quarterback like Justin Herbert,
(01:01):
who doesn't stand like a statue in the pocket, who
is going to get outside the pocket and create who
I'm sure Greg Roman and Jim Harbaugh are going to
incorporate some level of planned QB run in this offensive
scheme this year, they're going to have to rely on
his lower body two to help this offensive one, especially
when you look at some of the paltry running stats
(01:21):
they had last year. That's something they want to build
upon this year in twenty twenty four. So this should
be a huge concern for Chargers fans. Now, there's a
gradient of severity with any injury. We don't know exactly
how severe this is, but they are using an abundance
of caution here, putting him in a walking boot to
make sure to immobilize the ankle in the foot as
(01:44):
best they can. And this is one of those injuries
where you can't just like train your way through it.
You gotta wait for the inflammation to come down and
then slowly get yourself back incorporated into playing full speed.
And like I said, at any point, if you aggravate
this again, it can put you right back to the
starting line. So this is a big concern. Right now.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
How's Jim Harbaugh doing so far?
Speaker 3 (02:11):
I'll tell you right now. Weird works and Jim Harbaugh
he's a weird guy, and I dig it. I think
that Jim Harbaugh is doing a great job instituting his
culture really fast. Also, if you really look around this team,
in a lot of ways, they've kept some of the
leaders on offense and defense, but he's cleared the decks.
I mean, this team is vastly different overall than it
(02:33):
was last year from a personnel standpoint. So he is
trying to build this thing from the ground up. And
I do mean from the ground up. I mean five
wins is unacceptable for a team that has a quarterback
with as much potential as Justin Herbert. And like I said,
like that quirky vibe that he puts out. I think,
you know gen z As they're making their way to
(02:55):
the NFL and the generation behind them, they're into quirky
and they're into people trying to meet them where they are.
And I think Jim Harbaugh does a great job. He's
worked with young athletes his whole life. Obviously in the
college ranks. He had that stint with the forty nine Ers,
which was brief but successful. So I think this is
one of the best hires that the Chargers have had
(03:17):
in two decades. I'm really excited to see what it
looks like this season.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
What's the level of hope maybe hope isn't the best word.
What's the level of success that Charger fans should expect.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Better than last year?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Well, that could be six wins.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Look, yeah, Rome wasn't built to today. Dan, You know,
it takes time. Football is a brick by bricks sport.
And when you lose names like Austin Eckler and Keenan
Allen and Mike Williams and even Gerald Everett, who all were,
you know, huge security blankets in some ways, but the
(03:58):
go to guys for Justin and Herbert over the course
of his time as the Chargers quarterback. And you're restarting,
essentially with some of the guys left over from last year,
some of the guys who didn't perform as well, like
Quinton Johnson who had a slow start he caught on
at the end of the season, or Joshua Palmer who
was out for a good stretch with injury, but then
got in there and he contributed. I think he finished
(04:20):
with just over five hundred yards. They bring in Lad McConkey,
who is a great route runner. He can sort of
play inside and outside. But you know, you're dealing with
all new and so we don't know what to expect
And in the backfield too, Gus Edwards comes in, you
hope that he can continue some of that success generating touchdowns.
He had thirteen last year with Baltimore. He was a
(04:42):
four plus yards per carry guy. So look, there are
things around this offense that makes sense. And like I said,
they kept some of the familiar faces on the defense too,
like Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa, who Mack had the
best season of his career with seventeen sacks last but
him and Bosa haven't played a full season together yet
(05:04):
as Chargers because there's injuries, situations and Derwin James. You know,
he's a stud, you know, making a ton of tackles,
but his pass coverage is if he look there, every
position group you go to, there's good and there's bad.
And so Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman on the offensive
side especially, have their work cut out for them. We'll
(05:26):
see what happens. But I would expect them to be
better than last year. But I wouldn't put our expectations like, hey,
wild card or playoff birth. I think there's a lot
of work to be done here.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
How important is it to be on part or better
than the Rams being in the same building, it's very important.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Yeah, it's super important. Dan, You've seen it. Both the
Rams and the Chargers have struggled with their home crowds.
Many times you see takeovers when strong visiting fan bases
who many of which live in LA or many of
which would love to spotlight or circle a vacation game
in the middle of the colder months elsewhere in the
(06:06):
United States, and they'll they'll pick that destination in LA
and they'll go support their team. And so when the
Steelers play in LA, you see a lot of terrible towels,
you know what I mean when shoot, when the Vikings
play in LA, I mean the skull chance rained down.
So it's pretty impressive what's happened in that building. But yeah,
(06:28):
when you're playing, you know, alongside a team that has
been so recently successful as the Los Angeles Rams, and
even they're struggling to re establish their fan base from
you know, two and a half decades ago, it's yeoman's
work for the Chargers.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Talking to Rich Ornberger, co host of Big Rich TD
and Fletch on San Diego Sports seven sixty. Also, you
played with the Patriots, do you have a favorite Belichick
or Brady story that you're allowed to tell you it is.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Yeah, yeah, well plenty of them.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Well we're in trouble now, so yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
That's right. Yeah, they're both retired or I guess Bill's
on a vacation. Yeah, but Tom's retired. One of my
favorite memories, and I just recently told this story for
the first time publicly. It wasn't a good memory at
the time, but it turned into a great story. Was Bill.
(07:26):
He puts the fear of God into you. When you're
a rookie, you know, any mistake you feel like could
be the mistake that gets you shoved right out the door.
And I was a fourth round draft pick in two
thousand and nine and I woke up one morning not
to the sound of my alarm, but to the sound
of like birds chirping and the warm New England sun
on my face. And I'm like, oh my god, I'm late.
(07:49):
I'm late. I can't believe it. And so there's a
squad meeting happening in ten minutes and I'm fifteen minutes away.
So I throw on a pair of sweats, I sprint
down to my garage. I hop in the car, and
I am just flying through this neighborhood trying to get
to work. Well, so anyways, I'm rounding a bend and
I'm looking at the car and at the clock on
(08:12):
the dashboard, and I'm not a math guy, Dan, but
I'm doing I'm doing some quick mental I'm not getting
there in time. So I see a church van at
the red light in front of me, and I go,
I'm going to hit this van. I need an excuse
to be late to work today. So I like, at
maybe ten miles per hour, I'm creeping into it. But
(08:34):
I bump bumpers with this church van in front of me,
and he pulls you know, he's making a right hand turn,
so he pulls over to the right. I pull over
behind him, and I'm like, you know, completely sweaty and
just hyper, and I'm just like, oh my gosh. You know,
I called up the team assistant, Bears. I was like, hey,
(08:56):
you know, Bear's Nigerian. I don't know if you ever
heard of him, but he worked with Bill for all
those years. And I say, hey, bear, Ja, I'm not
going to make it in on time. I got into
an accident and blah blah blah, this and that, and
he goes, hey, take your time, we get it. You know,
just when you get in here, check in with me.
I'm like, okay, okay. I hang up the phone with him.
Out from the front seat of the car of the
church van I hit was this white bearded man who
(09:20):
worked for a church. He looked like father time. This
guy was one hundred years old. And he's slowly making
his way to my driver's side door, and I rolled
down the window. I'm like, no, no, no, stay where you are, sir.
I'll come out. As I'm saying, a torrential downpour on
this poor old man who I just intentionally rear ended
to have an excuse not to be late to the building.
(09:42):
So I hop out of the car. We exchange information.
I give him every single dollar in my pocket. I
think I had, you know, like it was like a
handful of cash. I think I gave him my social
Security number. I'm like, whatever you need, sir, you call me,
we'll sort it out. I'm late for work. If you
don't mind, I'm just gonna I'm going to get out here.
Is that cool? And he was like, it's okay, young fella.
(10:03):
Just take your time wherever you're going. And God bless you,
and I'm like, I am going to help. So I
drive to the building and my offensive line coach meets
me in the hallway and he dressed me down like
I've never been spoken to before in my life. I mean,
(10:24):
it was a mother effort this and I can't believe
you if you worked out IBM and instead of being
this spoiled football player, you'd be thrown out on your
head with a fern and a laptop. Usob this and that.
Dante Scarneki a scary dude when he was angry. So
he goes, now, now get an offensive line meeting room,
and you wait for me. So I go in there.
(10:44):
The whole team arrives, we're going through a normal day
of meetings. He doesn't really address it other than to
say that I let down the whole team, the whole group.
And he was right, you know, accountability is important thing.
Later in the day, I'm walking past Bill in one
of these long courtor it's in the Patriots hallways, and
I mean, you can't avoid him, there's no doors to
(11:05):
duck into. I couldn't pretend I was reading something. I mean,
we're coming at each other and he's making direct eye
contact with me and Dan that is I mean, you
can feel that in your loins. I mean it's scary stuff.
So he stops in the hallway and he goes, hey,
I'm like hey. He goes, ye, all right. I'm like yeah, yeah, yeah,
(11:27):
I'm good. We're about to go out to practice. He goes, okay, good,
he goes, you relate today. I go, yeah, I'm so sorry.
I had a car accident. He's like, yeah, I know,
I saw it. And I was like, you saw it,
and he goes and he just shakes his head and
I say, okay, well, I apologize. It will never happen again,
you know this and that, And he doesn't say a word.
(11:50):
He just goes okay, and he just walks past me,
and somehow I got out of it continue my career
with them. But that was one one of those first
first moments where I was like, oh, oh, this is
different from anything I've done before. Like there's no getting
away with anything. You have to be accountable every day.
(12:10):
And so it's a fun story to tell. But I
thought I thought I was going to be back in
Nassau County on Long Island cutting Deli meets again. I
thought my career was over.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
But you know, I digress where you are going to hell?
Speaker 3 (12:23):
I am going to Hell. I'm for sure.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I mean that was inexcusable, Dan, Yeah, absolutely, Thank you
for welcoming us to San Diego, San Diego Sports seven
sixty and we'll stay in touch. Thank you, Rich.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
That sounds great, Dan, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
That's Rich Hornberger. He's a co host of Big Rich
TD and Fletch in the afternoon, San Diego Sports seven sixty.
Former NFL Penn State Guard. Fox Sports Radio has the
best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of
our shows at Foxsports Radio dot com and within the
iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
Hey, I'm Doug Gottlieb. The podcast is called All Ball.
We usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's
more about the stories about what made these people love
their sport and all the interesting interactions along the way.
We talked to coaches, we talked to players, We tell
you stories. You download it, you listen to it.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
I think you like it.
Speaker 4 (13:23):
Listen to All Ball with Doug Gottlieb on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
That was a great story about Bill Belichick the Patriots.
Rich Hornberger, who played for the Patriots now works in
San Diego. You're gonna be late.
Speaker 6 (13:42):
And as he's.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Telling me the story because he's a rookie and I'm thinking, okay,
he said, there's a church van in front of him,
and I'm thinking, all you gotta do is bump it.
And then you got an accident quotation marks, and now
you have an excuse as to why you're going to
be late. But to think about doing that and then
seeing Belichick in the hall, and you could tell that
(14:05):
Bill probably wasn't buying that excuse, but he was going
to accept it and to be able to live to
tell about it. Pretty good story, all right. Eight seven
to seven three DP show email address DP at Danpatrick
dot com, Twitter handle at DP show. Amani Toomor, former
wide receiver. He was on the Craig Carton show. Fox
(14:26):
Sports One had this to say about Caleb Williams, the
rookie quarterback with the Bears, earning respect in the locker room.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
He's Russell Wilson two point zero.
Speaker 6 (14:37):
Uhh. This is not going to go over well. If
you came to the locker room.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
I've been here, I've been in this locker room for
eight years, like you said, and you know someone he's
going to come in who.
Speaker 5 (14:47):
Hasn't played one snap right talking.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
You know, we're wearing the fingernail polish.
Speaker 7 (14:52):
You know.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Now he's going to come in here and tell me
who've been here, who've been.
Speaker 5 (14:56):
Through the struggle, that I need to clean up.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
No, how about rookie, how about you clean up after me?
How about that?
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Don't give me this crap.
Speaker 6 (15:03):
I don't like it at all.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
I feel like rookies should earn their respect.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Sure, just because you got drafted number one doesn't mean
nothing to me because I don't even know if you're good.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
That's a Monie tumor. And Kevin Fishbing, senior writer for
The Athletic. He covers the Chicago Bears. Why is Caleb
Williams so polarizing?
Speaker 5 (15:22):
Well, Dan, For one thing, if Caleb Williams becomes Russell
Wilson two point zero Bears fans would be thrilled. They'd
have statues of him lining Lake Michigan. That'd be a
pretty good thing to happen. You know, Caleb, as you know,
I mean, you saw you followed it. There were so
many stories and reports about his career at USC that
(15:43):
were polarizing. I don't think he's polarizing in Chicago. He
certainly doesn't seem polarizing at all in the locker room.
You know, when that story was told, it was safety
Kevin Bayer, who's been in the league for a long time,
and he was telling it as a compliment. He was
saying how he was impressed by it. And look, there's
going to be things that a rookie is going to
do that Caleb's going to do that A lot of
(16:04):
rookies don't do, but there are a whole lot of
rookies like Kayleb Williams, Dan, and I think as long
as he plays well, he's going to earn a lot
of respect in that building and outside of the building
as well.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
What is a reasonable expectation level, let's say in Chicago
and letting outside of Chicago, what do you think are
they similar in the expectations for the Bears.
Speaker 5 (16:25):
Well, it's interesting for this year, Dan, because I think CJ.
Stroud said, I don't want to say it was unreasonable,
but that was historic what he did last year. So
now people see them think, well, I CJ. Stroud can
do with the Texans. Why can't Caleb Williams do that
with Keenan Allen and Dj Moore and this group with
the Bears. But we still have to understand he's a rookie. Like,
there's gonna be defenses he's never seen before. There's gonna
(16:47):
be edge rushers coming at him, he's never seen that
speed before. I think in Chicago, I think in that building,
they're very excited, but they know this is not like,
you know, they're not going making Super Bowl run this year.
Nobody's expecting that. I think you go doing nine games,
ten games this year. If Caleb is protecting the football,
making big plays with his arm and his legs, and
(17:08):
you see the glimpses of this guy's going to be
a star, you can start having a lot of fun
with twenty twenty five expectations. I think that's kind of
the way that they are looking at it because they
know it's you, Andrew Luck, RG three, Russell Wilson, steg
just Stroud. That's the end to the list of you know,
rookie quarterbacks who took their team to the playoffs in
the last decade, or maybe a couple others here and there,
(17:30):
but those are the big ones. So it's hard. It's
going to be hard for capble Lens, but I do
think that they certainly see where he's going.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
I would caution, whether you're a Bear or not a
Bear fan, that don't look for a number of wins.
Look for a feel. Is your team threatening second half
of the season. Are you a tough out for teams?
Are you are you winning games on the road? Are
you winning close games? Those are the things that are
really important. I would think instead of saying, hey, we
(17:57):
got nine wins, didn't make the playoffs, but we got
blown out a few times, or we didn't look like
we were a great team or good team at the
end of the year, I think that number gets that
the number can be deceiving with wins.
Speaker 5 (18:12):
And again, I mean this is another Bears thing. Dan
and Paulie could talk about this for years. Right, Look,
this team won twelve games in twenty eighteen with miss Trubisky.
You know they've won a lot of games with other,
you know, average middling quarterbacks. They have done that for decades.
So you're right, it's not for this town, for this city,
for this franchise. It's about seeing that the quarterback has
(18:34):
that potential and then you can kind of build off that.
And you know, you look too at mister Bisky and
Justin Fields and Jay Cutler, the guys who haven't worked here,
who had so much promise. It's a lot of those
close games were they able to come out and win
those games in the final minutes, and those guys just
didn't do it enough. And I think Caleb Williams he
certainly has showed them that he's got the ability to
(18:56):
do it. And that's one of those things, right if
they go nine and eight and just missed the playoffs,
but he leads three comeback wins, and you see all
the great numbers, and you see all the talent, and
you see it's all there. You can feel really good
about where this is going.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Kevin Fishbain, senior writer for The Athletic covering the Bears.
But I wonder if this is true though, keV, if
you're a Bears fan, are you comparing yourself to the Packers?
Because the Packers got their quarterback, they got you know,
they got the future. The Bears got to get their
future as well.
Speaker 5 (19:27):
I mean, they're always comparing themselves to the Packers, and
that has not gone well. For thirty years to make
that comparison.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (19:34):
Look, that's that's the problem. I mean it is everybody
wants results right away, and what Jordan Love did last
year was sensational, and so Packers fans like, we're good,
we're set, We've got our guy, and Bears fans like, well,
hopefully at the end of this year we can say
the same thing. And look, Jordan Love might continue to
be a great quarterback in Cab Williams. It might take
him a year before he's on that aschelon. He might
(19:55):
be there at the end of this season. That's what's
also going to make this season top for the Bears
is they're right now, as exciting as their offense looks,
you can't really say they're anywhere better than third in
their own division. When you look at the Packers and
you look at Detroit, it's going to be it's gonna
be a tough season for them, and with everything they've got,
and again that's why you know, it's just building towards
(20:16):
next year in the year after where they're still going
to have cap space, they're still gonna have they still
have another pick from Carolina for next year, and they
can kind of get onto that level.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
I was surprised that they kept Eberflus. How well your
reaction to them not doing anything at the head coaching position.
Speaker 5 (20:38):
Yeah, you know, it's when when you were around the
team a lot and you see the way that you
saw the way Ryan Poles and Matty Rufus work together connected.
You can see the bond there between GM and head coach.
You can see the bond between the new team president
Kevin Warren. Certainly Chairman George McCaskey is sick and tired
of having to continue to change things. But you had
(20:59):
Jim Harbaugh, Bill Belichick's there, Pete Carroll, like all these
different things. It seemed like a perfect opportunity for them.
But there was so much respect in that building for
Matty Aberflus did last year.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Do you think Harball would have taken that job if offered.
Speaker 5 (21:13):
You know, I mean, I don't know how he would
be able to say no to Chicago and that franchise.
Obviously he's got the strong connection to it having played there,
and the ability to have Caleb Williams that I don't
know how that would have worked. I don't know how
that would have worked with Kevin Warren right, you know,
the two of them going back to their big ten days.
I don't know how that would have worked with the
(21:34):
with the McCaskey family. That would have been a very
very interesting thing. And again, Dan, you know this, every
single year that Jim Harbaugh Bears thing was a conversation.
I just it was hard to see if that it
would have ever worked. But I'm curious, Dan, what the
national perception of Matt Eberfluss is going to be come
next Wednesday morning, after the first episode of Hard Knocks,
(21:54):
you know, because I mean, how many people outside Chicago
really know anything about this guy? And aside from you know,
there was some really shaky times at the beginning of
last season and he didn't look great. Things changed, The
defense got better, the team got better. He got a
lot more comfortable and a lot more confident. The players
really respect him, and I'm very interested to see what
(22:16):
the Eberflut persona looks like on HBON Tuesday. He's a
different guy. He just loves football, he just loves talking ball.
He's not he's not you know, he He's got a
little hard bought to him, but he's not these Sean
mcvay's Kyle Shanahan type. So it's he's just a little different.
I think fans might kind of thinking, I kind of
(22:36):
like this guy. Well we'll see, But that is that
in the moment, I wasn't surprised Eberfoos was staying because
this franchise just hates being in this coaching cycle. But
this franchise has been in this quarterback cycle for so long,
and when you.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Drive to go hand in hand, it feels like though keV.
Speaker 5 (22:54):
They do, and I mean, you look, you go back.
You know, you fire Levey right after you trade for
Jay Cutler, right and then you you know, you look
at Matt Naggie, he's here, he and he inherits Mitch Trubisky.
Right then he drafts Justin Fields and he's fired along
with Ryan Pace. So then the next regime inherits Justin Fields.
So if you like, they obviously want this to work
(23:16):
for myriad reasons, but just to be able to keep
GM head coach quarterback aligned as long as they can
is so important.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Before I let you go, how surprised would you be
of Justin Fields as the starting quarterback for the Steelers?
Speaker 5 (23:31):
I mean I would if he's had surprise Dan we
All know he's got talents. We all know he's got
physical abilities. I think, you know, there it seems like
more of a health thing with Russell Wilson. I mean, look,
I saw Russell Wilson in person last year when the
Broncos came back from let's like multiple touchdowns down at
Soldier Field, and he looked like the Russell Olds. And
you know, I think there are things that Justin Field's
(23:52):
can do at Justin's best that are Russell Wilson esque.
But there are certain things we talk about the fourth quarter,
you know, that was what Fields could not do as
his time as a Bear was win those games when
it mattered most late in the games. And that's what
Russell Wilson's on his entire career. So I think of
Russell Wilson's healthy, it should be Russell Wilson. But I
think a lot of Bears everyone's very interested to see
(24:12):
what Field's career amounts to because we all know the
physical abilities are there, but there was a lot else
that just wasn't coming together.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Great to talk to you, Thank you, Kevin, Thanks for
joining us. Thanks Dan Kevin Fishbein, Senior writer for The
Athletic covering the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan
Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio WAPP.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Paul Finebaum of the Paul Finebaum Show, he's the voice
of the SEC. What do you think over under new
kickoff rule nine and a half touchdowns this year? I'm
gonna say under hmm, okay. Now, can you see college
football changing to this in anytime soon where they adopt
(24:59):
the na fell's new kickoff rule?
Speaker 7 (25:02):
I don't know why not, Dan, considering everything else in
college football represents and resembles the NFL right now. So
if it makes them a few more dollars, I'd say
they go for it.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
But they don't change their rules that often though.
Speaker 7 (25:16):
They're they're a tough group because they have a bunch
of former coaches on these committees. But I think they'll
sit back and you know, talk about it, consult the lawyers,
maybe try to settle a case, and ultimately react to
They're not They're not a quick acting group.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Yeah, But I don't know. We don't hear about players
safety in college We hear about player safety in the NFL.
Speaker 6 (25:39):
Why is that?
Speaker 7 (25:41):
Because you haven't seen as much activity from from a
legal standpoint like we went through years ago with the concussions,
And I mean I hear it occasionally. I hear it
emphasize how much we care, and quite frankly, Dan, then
I don't hear anything else about it.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Yeah, I wondered about that. I thought that there was
a ground swell years ago for some kind of litigation,
But it feels like everything there's a ground swell some
kind of litigation. Then it kind of dissipates. When it
comes to college football the regular season now, in particular
with the Big Ten in the SEC, the importance of
(26:20):
the Big Ten schedule during the regular season is going
to be what.
Speaker 7 (26:25):
It's critical if you don't have Ohio State on your schedule,
if you don't have a road game, let's say at Oregon,
you're going to befit and you were so used to
the traditional swan at the end of the season about
Penn State losing in successful weeks to Michigan and Ohio State,
and that doesn't happen right now. It's a convoluted schedule,
(26:48):
primarily because you now have four West Coast schools and
everybody tried to come up with a fair and equimitble plan,
but it doesn't work out that way.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
And I'm also wondering about this where Notre Dame can't
be ranked, can't be seated higher than fifth. Correct, even
if they're the number one team in the country. If
the playoffs start, they're fifth.
Speaker 7 (27:10):
Correct, that is correct, And that's just Notre Dame making
sure they have a spot, but not having to do
the dirty work.
Speaker 6 (27:18):
I mean, you have to love Notre Dame.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
They have to play their way out of the playoffs. Paul,
I don't know how they can.
Speaker 6 (27:25):
This year, Francause.
Speaker 7 (27:27):
I mean they have a I mean, you know they
I mean last year they went, I believe to Ohow State.
Speaker 6 (27:32):
I mean that's a dangerous game.
Speaker 7 (27:33):
They replaced that this year there and they always play them,
but they're at USC hardly the same impact.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
And then you're looking at so SEC and Big ten.
Are they guaranteed any spot there? Like the winner of
the Big ten and the winner of the SEC. What's
the lowest that they can be seated?
Speaker 7 (27:55):
Yeah, I mean they won't be very low. I mean
they'll be grandfather in SO. Yeah, you said, you said guaranteed.
I have this funny feeling that if the number goes
below three, the CFP will kind of go poof, like
at the beginning of Mission Impossible, because we all know
not the State retreaded information here that the SEC and
(28:19):
the Big Ten now have this alliance where they essentially
run the sport. It's it's been reported that the Big
Ten tried to guarantee in the new agreement that they
would either the SEC or the Big Ten would be
number one, regardless of record.
Speaker 6 (28:33):
Fortunately that did not.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Go your favorite pinata, Lincoln Riley. Well, yes, why like
why Lincoln Riley? It just seems that that draws your ire.
Speaker 7 (28:51):
Oh, Dan, you have to remember college football takes a
hiatus for a number of months and then we parachute
back in in July, and I'm suddenly a peering with
steven A and Greenee and the Dan Patrick Show. So
I've got to come up with new material. I work
through it, and then when I go on tour in
the fall, I used whatever works the best. I answered this.
(29:13):
I frankly did say a lot of things about Lincoln
Riley recently, and.
Speaker 6 (29:17):
I meant them.
Speaker 7 (29:18):
I don't think he's a great elite coach, and I
know that the pushback is well look at what he
did at Oklahoma. I know what he did there. He
inherited a masterpiece from Bob Stoops.
Speaker 6 (29:28):
And yes, he was.
Speaker 7 (29:29):
Able to maneuver and finesse Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray
into Heisman trophies. And he nearly got one for Jalen Hurtz,
and he did get one for Caleb Williams. But it's
really what he hasn't done that I think is so noteworthy,
and he hasn't won a championship and it really hasn't
even come close because Lincoln Riley has just forgotten one
(29:51):
of those tenets of defense at the special teams offense
and can we all say in Unison defense He's never
been on speaking terms with the word defense in his career.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
But okay, he has to know that this is a problem.
All right, you would think, but you think Dion could
come into USC and make more sense than Lincoln. Right,
that's not going to happen. That's not going to happen.
Speaker 6 (30:18):
I heard what you said about that.
Speaker 7 (30:19):
I got a chance to listen to you, and everything
you said, Dan make perfect sense, except that I wasn't
like saying I've done six months of research on presenting
my case as a Solicitor General to the Supreme Court.
Speaker 6 (30:34):
I mean, I just threw it out on first take
and the next thing.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
You know, you can't just throw it out, Paul, you
know better than that.
Speaker 6 (30:41):
Well, I was trying to get a new deal with ESPN.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
I figured out, well, congratulations, you accomplished that. I don't
know if Dion can coach. I don't know if he
can recruit.
Speaker 6 (30:51):
I don't Dan, You're you're about to get attacked by
the Dion police.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Look, I would say it to him. He won four
games last year. The over under this year is five
and a half. I said, if you didn't get Dion
last year, you're not going to get him this year.
I might have to amend that. So I'm thinking Dion
is going to be better this year. And if he isn't,
he loses Travis Hunter, he loses his son. I mean,
(31:19):
come on, you're you're.
Speaker 6 (31:21):
Right, Okay, I agree with you, except Deon's not really
a coach. He's a producer, ceo.
Speaker 7 (31:27):
He you know, he's like they bring they bring Spielberg
into the movie. He fixes it up. He gets a
lot of special effect. That's what he does. And my
argument a couple of weeks ago was that you bring
him into LA the town is on fire, just like
it was for about a minute under Lincoln Raleigh. He
had everything going for him and then suddenly he didn't.
And my argument about LA is it's a town of winners.
(31:50):
They don't like the losers out there, and suddenly Lincoln
Raley looks like a loser. And I think it's going
to continue that way. So, no, Dion is not Bill
Belichick and Nick Saban wrapped into one.
Speaker 6 (32:03):
Uh. But but he is a dynamic figure.
Speaker 7 (32:06):
He gets ratings, he brings excitement, and that brings players.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Coach with more pressure. Are we going to look at
Tron Moore or we're gonna look at Kaylin de Boer
at Alabama?
Speaker 7 (32:20):
I think it's Kaylen de Boor because Cherion Moore was it.
You know, he had a hand in that national championship
last year, you know, taking over a couple of games
for Jim Parva, and by do I do? I miss
Jim Barball already? But uh, the Boor if he doesn't
go to the playoffs, Uh, this season is a failure.
Speaker 6 (32:38):
And I'm not being harsh. That's just the standard at Alabama.
And the worst thing for.
Speaker 7 (32:42):
Him is that the fans, they may have seen Nick
Saban leave, but their attitude remains the same. Uh and
and they'll give him a pass this year. You don't
have to win the title, but you better get somewhere
close to it. And Sabans, you know, did sabanspoiled them?
Speaker 6 (32:57):
Of course he did.
Speaker 7 (32:58):
He did even with Didd sab In teams. He was
able to knock off Georgia last year and stop that run.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
What do you think happens with this investigation, the report
about the report about a potential report about Michigan and
the cheating scandal.
Speaker 7 (33:14):
I would be shocked if Michigan loses postseason. That's just
not the way the NCAA operates any longer. And considering
that they started investigating Tennessee a few months ago and
the next thing you know, it was in court and
they were getting swatted down, and all of a sudden,
it's seemingly gone away. I don't think they have the
fortitude to go after someone like Michigan. I think they
(33:36):
hate Michigan with a passion, but I don't think they'll.
Speaker 6 (33:39):
Be able to do that.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Who's the ut in the SEC? Tennessee has been Grandfather
I know this is big to Texas, this is important,
but you know I have to ask the question. You're
the voice of the SEC.
Speaker 6 (33:53):
Yeah, I had an expert the other day. He actually
investigated it.
Speaker 7 (33:56):
And without Tennessee and David Crockett, there would be no
tech right now.
Speaker 6 (34:01):
So even though.
Speaker 7 (34:02):
I'm prejudice having been a graduate of the University of Tennessee,
it's it's no contendery. It's it's ut Knoxville. That's where
the action is.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
How's your relationship with Lane Kiffin?
Speaker 6 (34:14):
It depends he's a very moody guy in because you haven't.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Noticed, Okay, but how serious was he when you guys
were live and it felt like there was a little
tension between you two.
Speaker 7 (34:25):
Dan, I hate to burst a great feud, but that
happened on a Monday at five forty five, and suddenly
on Thursday you got reported in the media that it
had been the moment of media days. We we tax,
We're friends. He just can't seem to get over something
that that eleven years ago on college game day. He
(34:47):
claims I got him fired, and I think there's a
lot of truth to it, by the way, but he
just he will He's like that you know that that
high school girlfriend or boyfriend that still carry that torch,
and he's going to show up at the wedding no
matter how many times you get married, to try to
destroy you.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
Do you really think that Pat Hayden was watching College
Game Day and all of a sudden came to the realization,
as you said that that Lane Kiffen was the Miley
Cyrus of college coaches, and he went, oh, my god,
we've made a mistake.
Speaker 7 (35:22):
No, here's the story. I mean, this is given to
me by Lane Kiffin. I mean, he is my source
for this story. And he tells me that while I'm
on there by the way, my first first tryout at
at college football, they put me on Game Did because
SEC network had not started, and I'm just rambling about
Kiffen what a bad coach he is. And in Arizona
that that morning, the Pat was watching the show having
(35:44):
breakfast with the president of USC who you know, we
all know presidents know nothing about sports, And all of
a sudden, this president sees what somebody looks like an
authoritative figure addressing Zain a suit and he said, Miley,
Miley syers a college football and if he doesn't win,
to night, he ought to be fired.
Speaker 6 (36:02):
And this is what Lane told me.
Speaker 7 (36:04):
He said, the President looked at at Pat Hayden and said,
if we lose tonight, fire his ass. That's Lane Kiffin's story,
and now he's attacking me.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Doesn't Lane Kiffin aspire to be the Miley Cyrus of
college coaches?
Speaker 6 (36:19):
Well, you have to remember when I said that Miley's
career was dead.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
Oh okay, and.
Speaker 7 (36:24):
That was part of his argument about me not knowing anything.
He said, Now Miley Cyrus owns. Oh, you just want
to ground me just you know, has the number one hits.
I mean, you can't win argue with Lane Kiffin because
he argues with you as as a.
Speaker 6 (36:36):
Seventeen year old.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
What was it like, though, to look at Nick Saban
as a co worker instead of the coach at Alabama?
Speaker 7 (36:44):
Yeah, you've done this with big time former coaches. It
was the most intimidating. We did a live thirty minute
show on ESPN two and it was by far the
most an hour show. I should say, the most intimidating
sixty minutes I've ever spent because every time you, Laura
Rutlich would say, well, Paul, what do you think about Alabama,
and I'm looking at there's there's the guy who left
that program. I finally adjusted after my first just non secretur,
(37:06):
I said, great question, Laura, let's hear coach answer that.
So he just answered everyone and I questions.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Always good to talk to you. Congrats on the new
contract there.
Speaker 6 (37:16):
Thank you, Thank you Dan. My poats were great to
be with.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
You, guys.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
Keep starting it on. Paul Finebaum, host of The Paul
Finebaum Show, the Voice of the SEC
You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox
Sports Radio radio affiliates around the country numbering over four
hundred and ten, including our latest San Diego Sports seven
sixty and one of the radio hosts their former NFL
offensive linemen Rich Hornberger, joining us on the program because
we got some headlines here, or at least potential headlines.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
The Chargers Justin Herbert diagnosed with a planter fanciitis injury
and he's in a walking boot. They're hopeful he'll be
ready for week one. Rich, Thanks for joining us. What's
the level of concern? What should be the level of
concern for Charger fans?
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Pretty high? Pretty high. I heard you and the Danats
talking about this earlier, and one of your guys suffered
from planner fasciitis. I dealt with this in my playing
career as well at one point, and it's excruciating. It's
one of those things where it could nag you for
a long time. And with a quarterback like Justin Herbert,
(01:01):
who doesn't stand like a statue in the pocket, who
is going to get outside the pocket and create who
I'm sure Greg Roman and Jim Harbaugh are going to
incorporate some level of planned QB run in this offensive
scheme this year, they're going to have to rely on
his lower body two to help this offensive one, especially
when you look at some of the paltry running stats
(01:21):
they had last year. That's something they want to build
upon this year in twenty twenty four. So this should
be a huge concern for Chargers fans. Now, there's a
gradient of severity with any injury. We don't know exactly
how severe this is, but they are using an abundance
of caution here, putting him in a walking boot to
make sure to immobilize the ankle in the foot as
(01:44):
best they can. And this is one of those injuries
where you can't just like train your way through it.
You gotta wait for the inflammation to come down and
then slowly get yourself back incorporated into playing full speed.
And like I said, at any point, if you aggravate
this again, it can put you right back to the
starting line. So this is a big concern. Right now.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
How's Jim Harbaugh doing so far?
Speaker 3 (02:11):
I'll tell you right now. Weird works and Jim Harbaugh
he's a weird guy, and I dig it. I think
that Jim Harbaugh is doing a great job instituting his
culture really fast. Also, if you really look around this team,
in a lot of ways, they've kept some of the
leaders on offense and defense, but he's cleared the decks.
I mean, this team is vastly different overall than it
(02:33):
was last year from a personnel standpoint. So he is
trying to build this thing from the ground up. And
I do mean from the ground up. I mean five
wins is unacceptable for a team that has a quarterback
with as much potential as Justin Herbert. And like I said,
like that quirky vibe that he puts out. I think,
you know gen z As they're making their way to
(02:55):
the NFL and the generation behind them, they're into quirky
and they're into people trying to meet them where they are.
And I think Jim Harbaugh does a great job. He's
worked with young athletes his whole life. Obviously in the
college ranks. He had that stint with the forty nine Ers,
which was brief but successful. So I think this is
one of the best hires that the Chargers have had
(03:17):
in two decades. I'm really excited to see what it
looks like this season.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
What's the level of hope maybe hope isn't the best word.
What's the level of success that Charger fans should expect.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Better than last year?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Well, that could be six wins.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Look, yeah, Rome wasn't built to today. Dan, You know,
it takes time. Football is a brick by bricks sport.
And when you lose names like Austin Eckler and Keenan
Allen and Mike Williams and even Gerald Everett, who all were,
you know, huge security blankets in some ways, but the
(03:58):
go to guys for Justin and Herbert over the course
of his time as the Chargers quarterback. And you're restarting,
essentially with some of the guys left over from last year,
some of the guys who didn't perform as well, like
Quinton Johnson who had a slow start he caught on
at the end of the season, or Joshua Palmer who
was out for a good stretch with injury, but then
got in there and he contributed. I think he finished
(04:20):
with just over five hundred yards. They bring in Lad McConkey,
who is a great route runner. He can sort of
play inside and outside. But you know, you're dealing with
all new and so we don't know what to expect
And in the backfield too, Gus Edwards comes in, you
hope that he can continue some of that success generating touchdowns.
He had thirteen last year with Baltimore. He was a
(04:42):
four plus yards per carry guy. So look, there are
things around this offense that makes sense. And like I said,
they kept some of the familiar faces on the defense too,
like Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa, who Mack had the
best season of his career with seventeen sacks last but
him and Bosa haven't played a full season together yet
(05:04):
as Chargers because there's injuries, situations and Derwin James. You know,
he's a stud, you know, making a ton of tackles,
but his pass coverage is if he look there, every
position group you go to, there's good and there's bad.
And so Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman on the offensive
side especially, have their work cut out for them. We'll
(05:26):
see what happens. But I would expect them to be
better than last year. But I wouldn't put our expectations like, hey,
wild card or playoff birth. I think there's a lot
of work to be done here.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
How important is it to be on part or better
than the Rams being in the same building, it's very important.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Yeah, it's super important. Dan, You've seen it. Both the
Rams and the Chargers have struggled with their home crowds.
Many times you see takeovers when strong visiting fan bases
who many of which live in LA or many of
which would love to spotlight or circle a vacation game
in the middle of the colder months elsewhere in the
(06:06):
United States, and they'll they'll pick that destination in LA
and they'll go support their team. And so when the
Steelers play in LA, you see a lot of terrible towels,
you know what I mean when shoot, when the Vikings
play in LA, I mean the skull chance rained down.
So it's pretty impressive what's happened in that building. But yeah,
(06:28):
when you're playing, you know, alongside a team that has
been so recently successful as the Los Angeles Rams, and
even they're struggling to re establish their fan base from
you know, two and a half decades ago, it's yeoman's
work for the Chargers.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Talking to Rich Ornberger, co host of Big Rich TD
and Fletch on San Diego Sports seven sixty. Also, you
played with the Patriots, do you have a favorite Belichick
or Brady story that you're allowed to tell you it is.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Yeah, yeah, well plenty of them.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Well we're in trouble now, so yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
That's right. Yeah, they're both retired or I guess Bill's
on a vacation. Yeah, but Tom's retired. One of my
favorite memories, and I just recently told this story for
the first time publicly. It wasn't a good memory at
the time, but it turned into a great story. Was Bill.
(07:26):
He puts the fear of God into you. When you're
a rookie, you know, any mistake you feel like could
be the mistake that gets you shoved right out the door.
And I was a fourth round draft pick in two
thousand and nine and I woke up one morning not
to the sound of my alarm, but to the sound
of like birds chirping and the warm New England sun
on my face. And I'm like, oh my god, I'm late.
(07:49):
I'm late. I can't believe it. And so there's a
squad meeting happening in ten minutes and I'm fifteen minutes away.
So I throw on a pair of sweats, I sprint
down to my garage. I hop in the car, and
I am just flying through this neighborhood trying to get
to work. Well, so anyways, I'm rounding a bend and
I'm looking at the car and at the clock on
(08:12):
the dashboard, and I'm not a math guy, Dan, but
I'm doing I'm doing some quick mental I'm not getting
there in time. So I see a church van at
the red light in front of me, and I go,
I'm going to hit this van. I need an excuse
to be late to work today. So I like, at
maybe ten miles per hour, I'm creeping into it. But
(08:34):
I bump bumpers with this church van in front of me,
and he pulls you know, he's making a right hand turn,
so he pulls over to the right. I pull over
behind him, and I'm like, you know, completely sweaty and
just hyper, and I'm just like, oh my gosh. You know,
I called up the team assistant, Bears. I was like, hey,
(08:56):
you know, Bear's Nigerian. I don't know if you ever
heard of him, but he worked with Bill for all
those years. And I say, hey, bear, Ja, I'm not
going to make it in on time. I got into
an accident and blah blah blah, this and that, and
he goes, hey, take your time, we get it. You know,
just when you get in here, check in with me.
I'm like, okay, okay. I hang up the phone with him.
Out from the front seat of the car of the
church van I hit was this white bearded man who
(09:20):
worked for a church. He looked like father time. This
guy was one hundred years old. And he's slowly making
his way to my driver's side door, and I rolled
down the window. I'm like, no, no, no, stay where you are, sir.
I'll come out. As I'm saying, a torrential downpour on
this poor old man who I just intentionally rear ended
to have an excuse not to be late to the building.
(09:42):
So I hop out of the car. We exchange information.
I give him every single dollar in my pocket. I
think I had, you know, like it was like a
handful of cash. I think I gave him my social
Security number. I'm like, whatever you need, sir, you call me,
we'll sort it out. I'm late for work. If you
don't mind, I'm just gonna I'm going to get out here.
Is that cool? And he was like, it's okay, young fella.
(10:03):
Just take your time wherever you're going. And God bless you,
and I'm like, I am going to help. So I
drive to the building and my offensive line coach meets
me in the hallway and he dressed me down like
I've never been spoken to before in my life. I mean,
(10:24):
it was a mother effort this and I can't believe
you if you worked out IBM and instead of being
this spoiled football player, you'd be thrown out on your
head with a fern and a laptop. Usob this and that.
Dante Scarneki a scary dude when he was angry. So
he goes, now, now get an offensive line meeting room,
and you wait for me. So I go in there.
(10:44):
The whole team arrives, we're going through a normal day
of meetings. He doesn't really address it other than to
say that I let down the whole team, the whole group.
And he was right, you know, accountability is important thing.
Later in the day, I'm walking past Bill in one
of these long courtor it's in the Patriots hallways, and
I mean, you can't avoid him, there's no doors to
(11:05):
duck into. I couldn't pretend I was reading something. I mean,
we're coming at each other and he's making direct eye
contact with me and Dan that is I mean, you
can feel that in your loins. I mean it's scary stuff.
So he stops in the hallway and he goes, hey,
I'm like hey. He goes, ye, all right. I'm like yeah, yeah, yeah,
(11:27):
I'm good. We're about to go out to practice. He goes, okay, good,
he goes, you relate today. I go, yeah, I'm so sorry.
I had a car accident. He's like, yeah, I know,
I saw it. And I was like, you saw it,
and he goes and he just shakes his head and
I say, okay, well, I apologize. It will never happen again,
you know this and that, And he doesn't say a word.
(11:50):
He just goes okay, and he just walks past me,
and somehow I got out of it continue my career
with them. But that was one one of those first
first moments where I was like, oh, oh, this is
different from anything I've done before. Like there's no getting
away with anything. You have to be accountable every day.
(12:10):
And so it's a fun story to tell. But I
thought I thought I was going to be back in
Nassau County on Long Island cutting Deli meets again. I
thought my career was over.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
But you know, I digress where you are going to hell?
Speaker 3 (12:23):
I am going to Hell. I'm for sure.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I mean that was inexcusable, Dan, Yeah, absolutely, Thank you
for welcoming us to San Diego, San Diego Sports seven
sixty and we'll stay in touch. Thank you, Rich.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
That sounds great, Dan, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
That's Rich Hornberger. He's a co host of Big Rich
TD and Fletch in the afternoon, San Diego Sports seven sixty.
Former NFL Penn State Guard. Fox Sports Radio has the
best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of
our shows at Foxsports Radio dot com and within the
iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
Hey, I'm Doug Gottlieb. The podcast is called All Ball.
We usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's
more about the stories about what made these people love
their sport and all the interesting interactions along the way.
We talked to coaches, we talked to players, We tell
you stories. You download it, you listen to it.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
I think you like it.
Speaker 4 (13:23):
Listen to All Ball with Doug Gottlieb on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
That was a great story about Bill Belichick the Patriots.
Rich Hornberger, who played for the Patriots now works in
San Diego. You're gonna be late.
Speaker 6 (13:42):
And as he's.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Telling me the story because he's a rookie and I'm thinking, okay,
he said, there's a church van in front of him,
and I'm thinking, all you gotta do is bump it.
And then you got an accident quotation marks, and now
you have an excuse as to why you're going to
be late. But to think about doing that and then
seeing Belichick in the hall, and you could tell that
(14:05):
Bill probably wasn't buying that excuse, but he was going
to accept it and to be able to live to
tell about it. Pretty good story, all right. Eight seven
to seven three DP show email address DP at Danpatrick
dot com, Twitter handle at DP show. Amani Toomor, former
wide receiver. He was on the Craig Carton show. Fox
(14:26):
Sports One had this to say about Caleb Williams, the
rookie quarterback with the Bears, earning respect in the locker room.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
He's Russell Wilson two point zero.
Speaker 6 (14:37):
Uhh. This is not going to go over well. If
you came to the locker room.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
I've been here, I've been in this locker room for
eight years, like you said, and you know someone he's
going to come in who.
Speaker 5 (14:47):
Hasn't played one snap right talking.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
You know, we're wearing the fingernail polish.
Speaker 7 (14:52):
You know.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Now he's going to come in here and tell me
who've been here, who've been.
Speaker 5 (14:56):
Through the struggle, that I need to clean up.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
No, how about rookie, how about you clean up after me?
How about that?
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Don't give me this crap.
Speaker 6 (15:03):
I don't like it at all.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
I feel like rookies should earn their respect.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Sure, just because you got drafted number one doesn't mean
nothing to me because I don't even know if you're good.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
That's a Monie tumor. And Kevin Fishbing, senior writer for
The Athletic. He covers the Chicago Bears. Why is Caleb
Williams so polarizing?
Speaker 5 (15:22):
Well, Dan, For one thing, if Caleb Williams becomes Russell
Wilson two point zero Bears fans would be thrilled. They'd
have statues of him lining Lake Michigan. That'd be a
pretty good thing to happen. You know, Caleb, as you know,
I mean, you saw you followed it. There were so
many stories and reports about his career at USC that
(15:43):
were polarizing. I don't think he's polarizing in Chicago. He
certainly doesn't seem polarizing at all in the locker room.
You know, when that story was told, it was safety
Kevin Bayer, who's been in the league for a long time,
and he was telling it as a compliment. He was
saying how he was impressed by it. And look, there's
going to be things that a rookie is going to
do that Caleb's going to do that A lot of
(16:04):
rookies don't do, but there are a whole lot of
rookies like Kayleb Williams, Dan, and I think as long
as he plays well, he's going to earn a lot
of respect in that building and outside of the building
as well.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
What is a reasonable expectation level, let's say in Chicago
and letting outside of Chicago, what do you think are
they similar in the expectations for the Bears.
Speaker 5 (16:25):
Well, it's interesting for this year, Dan, because I think CJ.
Stroud said, I don't want to say it was unreasonable,
but that was historic what he did last year. So
now people see them think, well, I CJ. Stroud can
do with the Texans. Why can't Caleb Williams do that
with Keenan Allen and Dj Moore and this group with
the Bears. But we still have to understand he's a rookie. Like,
there's gonna be defenses he's never seen before. There's gonna
(16:47):
be edge rushers coming at him, he's never seen that
speed before. I think in Chicago, I think in that building,
they're very excited, but they know this is not like,
you know, they're not going making Super Bowl run this year.
Nobody's expecting that. I think you go doing nine games,
ten games this year. If Caleb is protecting the football,
making big plays with his arm and his legs, and
(17:08):
you see the glimpses of this guy's going to be
a star, you can start having a lot of fun
with twenty twenty five expectations. I think that's kind of
the way that they are looking at it because they
know it's you, Andrew Luck, RG three, Russell Wilson, steg
just Stroud. That's the end to the list of you know,
rookie quarterbacks who took their team to the playoffs in
the last decade, or maybe a couple others here and there,
(17:30):
but those are the big ones. So it's hard. It's
going to be hard for capble Lens, but I do
think that they certainly see where he's going.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
I would caution, whether you're a Bear or not a
Bear fan, that don't look for a number of wins.
Look for a feel. Is your team threatening second half
of the season. Are you a tough out for teams?
Are you are you winning games on the road? Are
you winning close games? Those are the things that are
really important. I would think instead of saying, hey, we
(17:57):
got nine wins, didn't make the playoffs, but we got
blown out a few times, or we didn't look like
we were a great team or good team at the
end of the year, I think that number gets that
the number can be deceiving with wins.
Speaker 5 (18:12):
And again, I mean this is another Bears thing. Dan
and Paulie could talk about this for years. Right, Look,
this team won twelve games in twenty eighteen with miss Trubisky.
You know they've won a lot of games with other,
you know, average middling quarterbacks. They have done that for decades.
So you're right, it's not for this town, for this city,
for this franchise. It's about seeing that the quarterback has
(18:34):
that potential and then you can kind of build off that.
And you know, you look too at mister Bisky and
Justin Fields and Jay Cutler, the guys who haven't worked here,
who had so much promise. It's a lot of those
close games were they able to come out and win
those games in the final minutes, and those guys just
didn't do it enough. And I think Caleb Williams he
certainly has showed them that he's got the ability to
(18:56):
do it. And that's one of those things, right if
they go nine and eight and just missed the playoffs,
but he leads three comeback wins, and you see all
the great numbers, and you see all the talent, and
you see it's all there. You can feel really good
about where this is going.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Kevin Fishbain, senior writer for The Athletic covering the Bears.
But I wonder if this is true though, keV, if
you're a Bears fan, are you comparing yourself to the Packers?
Because the Packers got their quarterback, they got you know,
they got the future. The Bears got to get their
future as well.
Speaker 5 (19:27):
I mean, they're always comparing themselves to the Packers, and
that has not gone well. For thirty years to make
that comparison.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (19:34):
Look, that's that's the problem. I mean it is everybody
wants results right away, and what Jordan Love did last
year was sensational, and so Packers fans like, we're good,
we're set, We've got our guy, and Bears fans like, well,
hopefully at the end of this year we can say
the same thing. And look, Jordan Love might continue to
be a great quarterback in Cab Williams. It might take
him a year before he's on that aschelon. He might
(19:55):
be there at the end of this season. That's what's
also going to make this season top for the Bears
is they're right now, as exciting as their offense looks,
you can't really say they're anywhere better than third in
their own division. When you look at the Packers and
you look at Detroit, it's going to be it's gonna
be a tough season for them, and with everything they've got,
and again that's why you know, it's just building towards
(20:16):
next year in the year after where they're still going
to have cap space, they're still gonna have they still
have another pick from Carolina for next year, and they
can kind of get onto that level.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
I was surprised that they kept Eberflus. How well your
reaction to them not doing anything at the head coaching position.
Speaker 5 (20:38):
Yeah, you know, it's when when you were around the
team a lot and you see the way that you
saw the way Ryan Poles and Matty Rufus work together connected.
You can see the bond there between GM and head coach.
You can see the bond between the new team president
Kevin Warren. Certainly Chairman George McCaskey is sick and tired
of having to continue to change things. But you had
(20:59):
Jim Harbaugh, Bill Belichick's there, Pete Carroll, like all these
different things. It seemed like a perfect opportunity for them.
But there was so much respect in that building for
Matty Aberflus did last year.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Do you think Harball would have taken that job if offered.
Speaker 5 (21:13):
You know, I mean, I don't know how he would
be able to say no to Chicago and that franchise.
Obviously he's got the strong connection to it having played there,
and the ability to have Caleb Williams that I don't
know how that would have worked. I don't know how
that would have worked with Kevin Warren right, you know,
the two of them going back to their big ten days.
I don't know how that would have worked with the
(21:34):
with the McCaskey family. That would have been a very
very interesting thing. And again, Dan, you know this, every
single year that Jim Harbaugh Bears thing was a conversation.
I just it was hard to see if that it
would have ever worked. But I'm curious, Dan, what the
national perception of Matt Eberfluss is going to be come
next Wednesday morning, after the first episode of Hard Knocks,
(21:54):
you know, because I mean, how many people outside Chicago
really know anything about this guy? And aside from you know,
there was some really shaky times at the beginning of
last season and he didn't look great. Things changed, The
defense got better, the team got better. He got a
lot more comfortable and a lot more confident. The players
really respect him, and I'm very interested to see what
(22:16):
the Eberflut persona looks like on HBON Tuesday. He's a
different guy. He just loves football, he just loves talking ball.
He's not he's not you know, he He's got a
little hard bought to him, but he's not these Sean
mcvay's Kyle Shanahan type. So it's he's just a little different.
I think fans might kind of thinking, I kind of
(22:36):
like this guy. Well we'll see, But that is that
in the moment, I wasn't surprised Eberfoos was staying because
this franchise just hates being in this coaching cycle. But
this franchise has been in this quarterback cycle for so long,
and when you.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Drive to go hand in hand, it feels like though keV.
Speaker 5 (22:54):
They do, and I mean, you look, you go back.
You know, you fire Levey right after you trade for
Jay Cutler, right and then you you know, you look
at Matt Naggie, he's here, he and he inherits Mitch Trubisky.
Right then he drafts Justin Fields and he's fired along
with Ryan Pace. So then the next regime inherits Justin Fields.
So if you like, they obviously want this to work
(23:16):
for myriad reasons, but just to be able to keep
GM head coach quarterback aligned as long as they can
is so important.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Before I let you go, how surprised would you be
of Justin Fields as the starting quarterback for the Steelers?
Speaker 5 (23:31):
I mean I would if he's had surprise Dan we
All know he's got talents. We all know he's got
physical abilities. I think, you know, there it seems like
more of a health thing with Russell Wilson. I mean, look,
I saw Russell Wilson in person last year when the
Broncos came back from let's like multiple touchdowns down at
Soldier Field, and he looked like the Russell Olds. And
you know, I think there are things that Justin Field's
(23:52):
can do at Justin's best that are Russell Wilson esque.
But there are certain things we talk about the fourth quarter,
you know, that was what Fields could not do as
his time as a Bear was win those games when
it mattered most late in the games. And that's what
Russell Wilson's on his entire career. So I think of
Russell Wilson's healthy, it should be Russell Wilson. But I
think a lot of Bears everyone's very interested to see
(24:12):
what Field's career amounts to because we all know the
physical abilities are there, but there was a lot else
that just wasn't coming together.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Great to talk to you, Thank you, Kevin, Thanks for
joining us. Thanks Dan Kevin Fishbein, Senior writer for The
Athletic covering the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan
Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio WAPP.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Paul Finebaum of the Paul Finebaum Show, he's the voice
of the SEC. What do you think over under new
kickoff rule nine and a half touchdowns this year? I'm
gonna say under hmm, okay. Now, can you see college
football changing to this in anytime soon where they adopt
(24:59):
the na fell's new kickoff rule?
Speaker 7 (25:02):
I don't know why not, Dan, considering everything else in
college football represents and resembles the NFL right now. So
if it makes them a few more dollars, I'd say
they go for it.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
But they don't change their rules that often though.
Speaker 7 (25:16):
They're they're a tough group because they have a bunch
of former coaches on these committees. But I think they'll
sit back and you know, talk about it, consult the lawyers,
maybe try to settle a case, and ultimately react to
They're not They're not a quick acting group.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Yeah, But I don't know. We don't hear about players
safety in college We hear about player safety in the NFL.
Speaker 6 (25:39):
Why is that?
Speaker 7 (25:41):
Because you haven't seen as much activity from from a
legal standpoint like we went through years ago with the concussions,
And I mean I hear it occasionally. I hear it
emphasize how much we care, and quite frankly, Dan, then
I don't hear anything else about it.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Yeah, I wondered about that. I thought that there was
a ground swell years ago for some kind of litigation,
But it feels like everything there's a ground swell some
kind of litigation. Then it kind of dissipates. When it
comes to college football the regular season now, in particular
with the Big Ten in the SEC, the importance of
(26:20):
the Big Ten schedule during the regular season is going
to be what.
Speaker 7 (26:25):
It's critical if you don't have Ohio State on your schedule,
if you don't have a road game, let's say at Oregon,
you're going to befit and you were so used to
the traditional swan at the end of the season about
Penn State losing in successful weeks to Michigan and Ohio State,
and that doesn't happen right now. It's a convoluted schedule,
(26:48):
primarily because you now have four West Coast schools and
everybody tried to come up with a fair and equimitble plan,
but it doesn't work out that way.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
And I'm also wondering about this where Notre Dame can't
be ranked, can't be seated higher than fifth. Correct, even
if they're the number one team in the country. If
the playoffs start, they're fifth.
Speaker 7 (27:10):
Correct, that is correct, And that's just Notre Dame making
sure they have a spot, but not having to do
the dirty work.
Speaker 6 (27:18):
I mean, you have to love Notre Dame.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
They have to play their way out of the playoffs. Paul,
I don't know how they can.
Speaker 6 (27:25):
This year, Francause.
Speaker 7 (27:27):
I mean they have a I mean, you know they
I mean last year they went, I believe to Ohow State.
Speaker 6 (27:32):
I mean that's a dangerous game.
Speaker 7 (27:33):
They replaced that this year there and they always play them,
but they're at USC hardly the same impact.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
And then you're looking at so SEC and Big ten.
Are they guaranteed any spot there? Like the winner of
the Big ten and the winner of the SEC. What's
the lowest that they can be seated?
Speaker 7 (27:55):
Yeah, I mean they won't be very low. I mean
they'll be grandfather in SO. Yeah, you said, you said guaranteed.
I have this funny feeling that if the number goes
below three, the CFP will kind of go poof, like
at the beginning of Mission Impossible, because we all know
not the State retreaded information here that the SEC and
(28:19):
the Big Ten now have this alliance where they essentially
run the sport. It's it's been reported that the Big
Ten tried to guarantee in the new agreement that they
would either the SEC or the Big Ten would be
number one, regardless of record.
Speaker 6 (28:33):
Fortunately that did not.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Go your favorite pinata, Lincoln Riley. Well, yes, why like
why Lincoln Riley? It just seems that that draws your ire.
Speaker 7 (28:51):
Oh, Dan, you have to remember college football takes a
hiatus for a number of months and then we parachute
back in in July, and I'm suddenly a peering with
steven A and Greenee and the Dan Patrick Show. So
I've got to come up with new material. I work
through it, and then when I go on tour in
the fall, I used whatever works the best. I answered this.
(29:13):
I frankly did say a lot of things about Lincoln
Riley recently, and.
Speaker 6 (29:17):
I meant them.
Speaker 7 (29:18):
I don't think he's a great elite coach, and I
know that the pushback is well look at what he
did at Oklahoma. I know what he did there. He
inherited a masterpiece from Bob Stoops.
Speaker 6 (29:28):
And yes, he was.
Speaker 7 (29:29):
Able to maneuver and finesse Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray
into Heisman trophies. And he nearly got one for Jalen Hurtz,
and he did get one for Caleb Williams. But it's
really what he hasn't done that I think is so noteworthy,
and he hasn't won a championship and it really hasn't
even come close because Lincoln Riley has just forgotten one
(29:51):
of those tenets of defense at the special teams offense
and can we all say in Unison defense He's never
been on speaking terms with the word defense in his career.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
But okay, he has to know that this is a problem.
All right, you would think, but you think Dion could
come into USC and make more sense than Lincoln. Right,
that's not going to happen. That's not going to happen.
Speaker 6 (30:18):
I heard what you said about that.
Speaker 7 (30:19):
I got a chance to listen to you, and everything
you said, Dan make perfect sense, except that I wasn't
like saying I've done six months of research on presenting
my case as a Solicitor General to the Supreme Court.
Speaker 6 (30:34):
I mean, I just threw it out on first take
and the next thing.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
You know, you can't just throw it out, Paul, you
know better than that.
Speaker 6 (30:41):
Well, I was trying to get a new deal with ESPN.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
I figured out, well, congratulations, you accomplished that. I don't
know if Dion can coach. I don't know if he
can recruit.
Speaker 6 (30:51):
I don't Dan, You're you're about to get attacked by
the Dion police.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Look, I would say it to him. He won four
games last year. The over under this year is five
and a half. I said, if you didn't get Dion
last year, you're not going to get him this year.
I might have to amend that. So I'm thinking Dion
is going to be better this year. And if he isn't,
he loses Travis Hunter, he loses his son. I mean,
(31:19):
come on, you're you're.
Speaker 6 (31:21):
Right, Okay, I agree with you, except Deon's not really
a coach. He's a producer, ceo.
Speaker 7 (31:27):
He you know, he's like they bring they bring Spielberg
into the movie. He fixes it up. He gets a
lot of special effect. That's what he does. And my
argument a couple of weeks ago was that you bring
him into LA the town is on fire, just like
it was for about a minute under Lincoln Raleigh. He
had everything going for him and then suddenly he didn't.
And my argument about LA is it's a town of winners.
(31:50):
They don't like the losers out there, and suddenly Lincoln
Raley looks like a loser. And I think it's going
to continue that way. So, no, Dion is not Bill
Belichick and Nick Saban wrapped into one.
Speaker 6 (32:03):
Uh. But but he is a dynamic figure.
Speaker 7 (32:06):
He gets ratings, he brings excitement, and that brings players.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Coach with more pressure. Are we going to look at
Tron Moore or we're gonna look at Kaylin de Boer
at Alabama?
Speaker 7 (32:20):
I think it's Kaylen de Boor because Cherion Moore was it.
You know, he had a hand in that national championship
last year, you know, taking over a couple of games
for Jim Parva, and by do I do? I miss
Jim Barball already? But uh, the Boor if he doesn't
go to the playoffs, Uh, this season is a failure.
Speaker 6 (32:38):
And I'm not being harsh. That's just the standard at Alabama.
And the worst thing for.
Speaker 7 (32:42):
Him is that the fans, they may have seen Nick
Saban leave, but their attitude remains the same. Uh and
and they'll give him a pass this year. You don't
have to win the title, but you better get somewhere
close to it. And Sabans, you know, did sabanspoiled them?
Speaker 6 (32:57):
Of course he did.
Speaker 7 (32:58):
He did even with Didd sab In teams. He was
able to knock off Georgia last year and stop that run.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
What do you think happens with this investigation, the report
about the report about a potential report about Michigan and
the cheating scandal.
Speaker 7 (33:14):
I would be shocked if Michigan loses postseason. That's just
not the way the NCAA operates any longer. And considering
that they started investigating Tennessee a few months ago and
the next thing you know, it was in court and
they were getting swatted down, and all of a sudden,
it's seemingly gone away. I don't think they have the
fortitude to go after someone like Michigan. I think they
(33:36):
hate Michigan with a passion, but I don't think they'll.
Speaker 6 (33:39):
Be able to do that.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Who's the ut in the SEC? Tennessee has been Grandfather
I know this is big to Texas, this is important,
but you know I have to ask the question. You're
the voice of the SEC.
Speaker 6 (33:53):
Yeah, I had an expert the other day. He actually
investigated it.
Speaker 7 (33:56):
And without Tennessee and David Crockett, there would be no
tech right now.
Speaker 6 (34:01):
So even though.
Speaker 7 (34:02):
I'm prejudice having been a graduate of the University of Tennessee,
it's it's no contendery. It's it's ut Knoxville. That's where
the action is.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
How's your relationship with Lane Kiffin?
Speaker 6 (34:14):
It depends he's a very moody guy in because you haven't.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Noticed, Okay, but how serious was he when you guys
were live and it felt like there was a little
tension between you two.
Speaker 7 (34:25):
Dan, I hate to burst a great feud, but that
happened on a Monday at five forty five, and suddenly
on Thursday you got reported in the media that it
had been the moment of media days. We we tax,
We're friends. He just can't seem to get over something
that that eleven years ago on college game day. He
(34:47):
claims I got him fired, and I think there's a
lot of truth to it, by the way, but he
just he will He's like that you know that that
high school girlfriend or boyfriend that still carry that torch,
and he's going to show up at the wedding no
matter how many times you get married, to try to
destroy you.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
Do you really think that Pat Hayden was watching College
Game Day and all of a sudden came to the realization,
as you said that that Lane Kiffen was the Miley
Cyrus of college coaches, and he went, oh, my god,
we've made a mistake.
Speaker 7 (35:22):
No, here's the story. I mean, this is given to
me by Lane Kiffin. I mean, he is my source
for this story. And he tells me that while I'm
on there by the way, my first first tryout at
at college football, they put me on Game Did because
SEC network had not started, and I'm just rambling about
Kiffen what a bad coach he is. And in Arizona
that that morning, the Pat was watching the show having
(35:44):
breakfast with the president of USC who you know, we
all know presidents know nothing about sports, And all of
a sudden, this president sees what somebody looks like an
authoritative figure addressing Zain a suit and he said, Miley,
Miley syers a college football and if he doesn't win,
to night, he ought to be fired.
Speaker 6 (36:02):
And this is what Lane told me.
Speaker 7 (36:04):
He said, the President looked at at Pat Hayden and said,
if we lose tonight, fire his ass. That's Lane Kiffin's story,
and now he's attacking me.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Doesn't Lane Kiffin aspire to be the Miley Cyrus of
college coaches?
Speaker 6 (36:19):
Well, you have to remember when I said that Miley's
career was dead.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
Oh okay, and.
Speaker 7 (36:24):
That was part of his argument about me not knowing anything.
He said, Now Miley Cyrus owns. Oh, you just want
to ground me just you know, has the number one hits.
I mean, you can't win argue with Lane Kiffin because
he argues with you as as a.
Speaker 6 (36:36):
Seventeen year old.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
What was it like, though, to look at Nick Saban
as a co worker instead of the coach at Alabama?
Speaker 7 (36:44):
Yeah, you've done this with big time former coaches. It
was the most intimidating. We did a live thirty minute
show on ESPN two and it was by far the
most an hour show. I should say, the most intimidating
sixty minutes I've ever spent because every time you, Laura
Rutlich would say, well, Paul, what do you think about Alabama,
and I'm looking at there's there's the guy who left
that program. I finally adjusted after my first just non secretur,
(37:06):
I said, great question, Laura, let's hear coach answer that.
So he just answered everyone and I questions.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Always good to talk to you. Congrats on the new
contract there.
Speaker 6 (37:16):
Thank you, Thank you Dan. My poats were great to
be with.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
You, guys.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
Keep starting it on. Paul Finebaum, host of The Paul
Finebaum Show, the Voice of the SEC
Hosts And Creators
Todd "Fritzy" Fritz
Dan Patrick
Patrick "Seton" O'Connor
Paul Pabst
Marvin Prince
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