Colin’s joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” to break down Ohio State beating Notre Dame in the National Championship!
They discuss the huge disparity in NIL money for the Big Ten compared to the SEC and why college football isn’t a fair fight due to the quality of talent and depth for teams that can pay to play and predict Texas will run away with the conference going forward (3:00).
They pivot to the NFL and react to the Bears hiring Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and what it means for the future of #1 overall pick Caleb Williams (28:00)
Finally, Colin predicts that Notre Dame will eventually end up in the Big Ten and talks about why parity in football is overrated (45:00).
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
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(00:33):
in these national championship games roll and after a great
opening drive by Notre Dame, they could never duplicate it.
And Ohio State NIL should stand for not in our league.
You can just you know, listen. The number that matters
now is sixty six thousand. That's how many kids go
to Ohio State. What does that matter? Because Big ten
(00:55):
graduates don't stay. Lots of them don't stand the midway.
Not enough jobs. They go to the coast. They go
make money and they pour it back into the school.
And so these gigantic Big ten schools, they're not holding
bake sales like Alabama and car washes like Auburn to
afford the NIL. I mean, they're fan bases. They've got
(01:18):
a lot of Ohio State grads. I know two of
them that are big funders of the NIL collective, and
you watch that offense, Sean, that offense is I mean,
and their offensive lines dinged up. They just got pros everywhere.
I mean, it's just it just I mean, Notre Dame
is well coached, good defensively, cannot compete.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Well, think about this, we get back to back years
now Michigan, Ohio State dominate and win the National Championship.
Just full of NFL guys. When you look this year,
Penn State is in the final four, Texas is now
an SEC team, but come on, I mean, they've been
there for ten minutes last year, Washington's in the final four.
(02:00):
We know Oregon's not going away. I think when you
look at the SEC, Alabama got there last year and
Saban's like two days later. I'm out. So I think
the lessen All these rulings are constantly coming out as
a fluid situation. But one thing we know, nuts is
ever going to go back to the way it was
more money, more funding, more cutting checks for these players,
(02:22):
and not just Ohio State. I would say the big
ten in general Michigan. When I lived in Philadelphia and
worked for the Eagles, you know, usually local radio in
a pro city. They talked to a lot of Penn State.
Why a lot of graduates live in that area. A
lot of people went there and a lot of people
watched the game. So I'm with you. I think the
Big Ten have a huge advantage moving forward. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
I mean, I have a place in Naples, Flori. It's
a beautiful beach community, very very high end Sarasota Naples area.
My wife introduced me to it. It's all Big Ten
fans and it I mean, I believe me. It is Badger, Buckeye, Wolverine,
Spartan flags all over town. And let me just tell you,
there is a lot of money in the Big Ten.
(03:04):
Those graduates make a lot of money. Because I've been
in Naples for about a decade now and I'm always
amazed by it. I mean, let's say Rodeo drive downtown
and that is absolutely you know, SEC fans go to
what they I think they call it the Riviera, the
Redneck Rivier or something.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I've never been there.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
But then you go down to Sarasota in Naples and
that's a different level of money, and that is Big
Ten money. And I'll say this, A lot of people
are pushing back I'm saying this is a one off. No,
it's not. You and I talked about this Penn State.
Look at the size of these schools, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan,
(03:45):
Washington's a huge school. They're not and those graduates they
leave a lot of times their area and they're loyal
and the SEC schools like when Alabama is think about this.
Nick Saban is one of the smartest coaches ever. Look
how great of a coach he was. NFL teams would
(04:07):
fly down and look at how Alabama ran their program,
including Belichick. Look how good of a broadcaster he is.
Saban Is. He's literally made game day feel huge. And
everybody on that's talented. Reheese, Pat Herbstreet, Howard. I mean,
those guys are all talented. Nick is just makes it
feel huge, car dealerships, the way he has leveraged his career.
(04:33):
Just how smart this guy is. The first year the
NIL opened up, Nick Saban saw it and he got
very nervous. I was told about Texas. He told his guys,
we can't compete with Texas. That is oil money, it's
tech money. Alabama cannot compete with Texas.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
He knew it.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
He sounded the alarms the first year and if Saban,
who's the smartest coach arguably in college football, he's certainly
on a short list, saw it coming and he got
the hell out. Nick could coach today if he wanted to.
God the guy come. I look at him on TV.
He's just so magnetic and dynamic. Nick's a sharp dude.
(05:16):
He knows the truth is that Georgia's got some money.
Tennessee's got some money. I think the tide. Remember Washington's
in Seattle. They don't have a huge collective, but Jedfish
can recruit. Last year was a rebuilding year. They're going
to be closer to Oregon than Iowa going forward. USC's
can listen to this. USC's collective now is over twenty million.
(05:40):
They've already spent thirty million over the next For the
next eighteen months, they have to figure out how to
pay all these bills. I think the SEC knows it.
I think the smart people in that conference can see
it before it's happened. But this year and last year,
watched the games. There is a gay Notre Dame beat
Georgia and con troll Georgia the field to night totally.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
I think, listen, you and I and I turned into
an SEC fan during the Saving era. Why was the
best players, it was the best games. They still have
the best talent. The reality now is when Kirby back
in the day, Bobby Bowden, Dabo Sweeney, all the Southern
coaches knocked on your door, you were gonna go to
one of those schools. Now they just call your agent
(06:24):
and say, hey, they're offering you five hundred grand, will
offer you eight fifty and some side cash. Do you
wanted to pay taxes on? It's not a fair fight.
And that's what this has turned into. It is strictly
paid to play. It's why I laugh, like forever. A
great recruiter Obviously to become a great recruiter, you had
to have a personality, but you also had to be
at a program that offered you a lot. Right, they
(06:44):
might even could pay you a little under the table.
Now there's we don't even you know, beat around the
bush on that. It's like, no, a great recruiter is
someone that can offer me eight hundred thousand dollars. I mean,
the guy was the quarterback that was going to play
for Brian Kelly Underwood. He was going to LSU and
then He ended up at Michigan not because he loves
Sharon Moore and Tom Brady and Dave Portnoy, because they
(07:07):
paid him like twelve to fifteen million dollars. Even Brian
Kelly's like, yeah, we can't pay him that much. We
don't have the money. Look at Nebraska last year.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Now Michigan States boosters. One of them is the guy
that owns the Cavs. The other ones the guy that
owns the Suns.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
So it's like this, it is going to be they
got the talent, but these big ten urban started years ago,
right when he went from Florida to Ohio. Station. We
got to get in the South and recruit the players.
Well now everyone knows that, but they can just cut
the check. So I'm gonna be I think Texas, like
you mentioned Saban, I didn't know that he said that,
but I mean he's got ears, eyes and a brain.
(07:45):
I mean it's not hard to figure out. I think
A and M as well. I think the two Texas
schools that are in the SEC have a massive advantage
financially because that's the world we're in. Can you pay
the players or not the most? That's where they're gonna.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Go look at this. I was talking to UH during
the course of this season. I was talking to a
general manager and he said, let me tell you he's
going to be number one next year. Take quarterbacks out.
He goes, Caleb Downs is going to be number one
next year. He goes that kid would start for every
single NFL team as a sophomore in college. He goes,
(08:19):
there's not an NFL team he wouldn't start for. And
then and then I texted him. That was mid season.
I texted him before this game, and he said, if
because it's a very weak draft, he said, if Jeremiah Smith,
the receiver for Ohio State, and Caleb Downs were available,
He's like, these quarterbacks are not good enough. He goes,
Cam would probably go over those players because Tennessee needs
(08:41):
a quarterback. He said, would they go two and three?
He's like, these kids are I mean, we watched Jeremiah
Smith and and Caleb Down. They don't even look like
college players. It reminds me when when Jamar Chase was
at LSU, Like as sophomore year, You're like, okay, this
is a pro receiver. Who would who would start? He
would make he would start for every team in the
(09:02):
NFL the year before he went and left LSU.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
You could argue, I mean, what's really going to separate?
Are the top five or six programs because of the money,
And obviously Ohio State and Oregon are in clearly the
top tier. Texas and I would throw Texas A and
m in there. I mean, they got a little taste
of being back this year, of being good and being
right there. They have unlimited money. That's the sport. Now
(09:26):
what happened to Michigan this year? They finally won a
national championship. Then they started getting embarrassed and they said,
what do you need? What do we need? We or
don't want to do this ever again. So that's what
And listen, I started at Fresno State, that program wouldn't
have existed. I don't know how they maintain it. The
Logan Mankins, the Ryan Matthews, Washington State, how are they
going to function moving forward? The moment you get a guy, yeah,
(09:49):
that guy might be a third rounder. Oh he's a sophomore.
Every school worth their salts in his DM saying hey,
how much you want? And they leave, They just automatically leave.
What we saw last year with Austin Genty I don't
I think we'll ever see again. Even the head coach
this year said it. He's like, he turned down seven
figures to stay here, and all we could offer almost
three hundred thousand dollars. I mean, that's that's the world.
(10:09):
One day, I was at the gym, probably a couple
months ago, and I look up and his first take
is just on one of the big TVs and it's
a kid, and I'm like, what's going on. I think
Shannon and steven A were talking to him, and it's
the number one basketball recruit. When I got home, I
googled him. He's going to BYU next year. It's like,
it's not hard to figure out the Mormons cut that
(10:31):
kid a massive check and that listen. I have no
problem with that. I mean, that's in a weird way,
that's what I would say. The sport has always been
basketball and football, you know, financing these I got no
problem with it. But that that is one hundred percent
the world we're living in now, and it's really separating
at the top. I mean, think about your guy lane
Ole miss. This year they break the bank and then
(10:52):
they don't even make the playoffs. Are they less likely
to keep breaking the bank when you don't have results.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Yeah, And I also think this is coaches will get poached.
You know, A prime example is John It's harder to
fire a college basketball coach because he can go to
his boosters, his donors and his ad and go, I've
made the tournament twelve straight years. Okay, you can't get
rid of Sark. If Sark makes the playoff any will
(11:19):
ten of the next eleven years. You're not going to
get rid of him if he can win a game
or two here and there. And my point being is
so these coaches now are going to make enormous money,
like better than NFL money for a lot of these guys.
Can the SEC schools pay for that? I mean, let's
just say tomorrow, let's say one of the coaches in
the Big Ten doesn't work. Ryan Day's fine, Ryan Franklin's gone.
(11:44):
I mean, most of the guys are fine. But let's say,
for instance, a school goes and offers Laane Kiffen a job,
and in the Big Ten, they say, here's twelve million dollars.
Can an SEC school fund their collective and pay the
football head coach, not the staff, twenty million dollars? This
(12:04):
is gonna funnel down to the coaches. Is now a
lot of these guys are saving.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Giving up the money calling Brian Kelly gave a million
dollars to help fund the collective? Did you see that story?
A couple like a month ago? He gave a million
dollars of his own salary to the collective? Why because
elis do you think you have to do that? Ohio State?
But no, it's hard for him to say, I'm making
nine and a half million dollars in the collective. Were
a little short, and then you start getting heat. When
(12:30):
Underwood goes to Michigan, It's like, well, I got to
give in a little bit. That's that to me was
a pretty big red flag for LSU. He had to
give a million dollars of a salary.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
If so, if you telling me that, I didn't hear
that story, So Saban saying, get me out of here.
Brian Kelly giving up a million Listen for years and
years the sec and it was just it was just
everybody knew it. They were paying kids through the churches.
But I'm talking paying a kid one hundred thousand bucks
fifty That is doesn't even I mean, it just doesn't
(13:00):
even compete, and I think I'll just say it now,
the SEC may never get worse than the second best conference.
But if the Big Ten truly cares going forward, they
will control college football going forward. And you know, for
the record, Michigan won last year, Ohio State won this year.
(13:24):
You see Penn State outside of Carter and that tight
end returns everybody Penn State and they're going to be
back Drew Aller. Penn State next year loses a great
tight end and a great then these are first round players.
But Michigan next year, Washington, Ohio State, and Oregon is
still really good. Like the Big Ten, this was a
(13:46):
little bit of a down year. Let's be honest. Michigan
in a rebuild, Washington to rebuild, Caleb william leaves USC
in a rebuild. All those teams should be better next year.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Well the other thing is, and you mentioned Michigan State
with their big boss. I mean, I'm sure you agree.
I think Jonathan Smith's a stud and this is the
worst team he's gonna have coaching there, so they will
be better. I mean he's a high level coach. Nebraska
funneling and a bunch of money. I think the problem
for the SEC is for about fifteen years in the
saving era, and when other teams would kind of match them,
(14:18):
like LSU want to give a year. Obviously, Georgia at
the end, Clemson was basically, as my buddy Phil Savage
used to tell me, they were an SEC in their heyday,
an SEC school playing an ACC schedule. But they had
SEC players, well, their backups. Right when you start training
camp and you don't know who, like at the time,
a freshman or sophomore who's gonna kind of separate. You
(14:39):
just let him battle it out, and then the one
guy that wins the job ends up being the first
round pick. Well, his backup is still a fourth rounder.
And if that guy gets injured, you know, in the
seventh game of the season, your backup still a fourth rounder. Well,
now that guy goes I'm out, and all these other
programs are lined up to take them, and he's like, well,
(15:00):
I might as well make the same amount of money
and go start then be a backup. That was their
biggest advantage I always thought is they're too deep. Was
the last like right at the beginning of the nil,
right before the nil, when Kirby was basically turned Georgia
into Alabama. He went too deep with like my first
rounder is my starter and my backup is a second rounder.
(15:20):
Good luck touching me, and you didn't. Well, we saw
this year they were a shell of themselves and it's
going to be difficult to just maintain that dominance because
they do have the talent in the region. But these
other schools just we got technology. Now, can just send
you the offer contract on docu sign. I was like,
here's the money, buddy, you want to come And what
do you think Their parents and agents are clearly saying,
(15:43):
Ohio State's been doing it since Urban got there, but
then Hardboss started getting involved. We know Oregon's going to
keep funneling out of the SEC in the South. Really,
Mario started that Penn State like the one thing you say,
all those guys going back to Penn State. One thing
James Franklin is is a great recruiter. Ye if you
give him money, his energy and his effort. I do
think Texas is going to run the SEC moving forward.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
So I mean, yeah, SEC fans can say what they want.
They say Bama is in big trouble. LSU is in
big trouble. Big trouble Georgia because they're close to Atlanta.
There's some big boosters there. But remember Atlanta's got the Braves,
the Falcons. I mean, They've got you know that, They've
(16:26):
got a lot of things happening in Atlanta. It's a
very splintered market. Yeah, I think we're.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Talking when we say trouble right the day of going
twelve and zero and winning that is, you still might
win eight nine games, but you're never gonna be what
probably we've seen in the past.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Oh yeah, I don't even think. I mean, that's not
even a take. That's not a hot take. I mean
the sec the days of running it are over, back
to back years and again I'll say it again. Ohio
State next year, Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs, the two
best players in the college football ACTU are both back.
And you know I'm and now you're going to how
(17:02):
you think the recruiting's going to go transfer portal is
going to go off this win? I mean the players listen, man,
those star players, they watch what Ohio State is tonight.
It's a factory up there. Their role in it looks
like Ryan Day and Chip Kelly. I mean, I thought
the game plan tonight for Ohio State looked like a
pro game plan. I mean the way if you watch
the game plan tonight for Ohio State, those first two drives,
(17:24):
it was so chip Kelly, let's build up Will Howard's confidence,
easy completions, get the ball to the playmaker. It was
just I mean, I watched enough Chip Kelly games and
I'm like, oh, this is a clinic. This is Chip
Kelly who doesn't probably doesn't think Will Howard's an elite player,
but within the system, he can get those twelve yard
(17:46):
and in completions. He's accurate. Notre Dame never made Will
Howard uncomfortable. I mean, and this is a beat up
bowl line. I mean he was. Will Howard was sitting
back there at one point, I don't know what he was,
six for six, seven for seven on third down. Just
couldn't make him uncomfortable.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
I would say this, if you've watched Chip Kelly since Oregon,
if he's busting explosive runs, you got no shot. And
the moment they start hitting big runs, you're in trouble,
especially with the firepower they have to throw the ball,
because then you what are you gonna do? Stack the
box and let them exploit you and say what you
want about Will Howard. I questioned it coming into this
playoff run Colin. In the first half he was fourteen
(18:23):
to fifteen for two touchdowns, and he's just you remove
the Texas game, which was a difficult just endeavor for
him given how good Texas is on defense. He was
dominant in the three matches against Tennessee, which has NFL
personnel on defense. Obviously, Oregon is loaded with NFL players,
and tonight just National Championship Notre Dame to come out.
(18:44):
He's played. Really, he's made himself some money. I'm not
saying he's gonna get drafted in the second day, but
I think he's got to get a drafted in the
somewhere between the fourth and the sixth round.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
First, I think the kid at Syracuse Kyle McCord, and
Will Howard are gonna get drafted late third, fourth, early
fifth round. But both big, strong, sturdy kids would throw
a nice ball with velocity.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
I think I think McCord, if he has a good
you know this post season before the draft process, could
go on the second day of the draft, where I
think Will Howard just because he throws more of a
pure ball.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Just I looked at him on YouTube today.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yeah, and you know how these quarterback coaches are, these
offensive coordinators are they when you're just sitting out there.
I think there's just an element to Will Howard and
I would say the same about Riley Leonard. They're just
kind of good football players. I don't know how good
they would look just in a just shorts, T shirts,
throwing routes on air in front of the head coach.
I mean, they're not exactly throwing it like Josh Allen
out there, and they they're good runners, but they're not running.
(19:49):
You know what Riley Leonard does and it's fun to watch.
Is that Does that translate to the NFL just running
over guys? That's that's hard, and that's that's but he listen,
he grew on me over this run. He's clearly the
high level guy. And I think both of them are
going to be loved by once the coaches get into
the draft process because they're clearly like just high level kids.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
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Speaker 1 (21:39):
Okay, so let's talk about this. Let's pivot to this.
The Chicago Bears hired Ben Johnson. The story had leaked.
There was a lot of rumors that Ben Johnson, the
coordinator for the Lions offensive coordinator, was going to go
to the Raiders. That was probably Ben Johnson's people leaking it,
so it looked like he was going to the Raiders
because they couldn't quite get everything they wanted. He won't
(22:01):
be able to choose. I imagine his own general manager
when the story came out. I said this today on
TV when the story came out of the Raiders and
Ben Johnson, I'm like, Bro, that's the worst opening. I
don't like it at all. I will say this. About
a week ago, Caleb Williams said, I didn't think it
(22:22):
was subtle. I'd like an offensive coach. Remember he said,
I'd like a leader of men vague doesn't mean anything.
And then I'd like an offensive coach I could grow with.
That would be nice. And I think that was kind
of like, guys, I'm not going to demand anything. I'm
not going to be publicly difficult. Get me an offensive coach,
and that tells you. And this was what Brady said
about Belichick and the documentary. And I've heard enough of
(22:45):
Brady behind the scenes on Belichick saying, listen, Bill just
didn't even know our terminology. It's not a criticism of Bill.
They live in a different world. I mean, look at
Bill's offensive drafting, look at Tomlin's offensive lines and run game.
They just don't know. We talked about this yesterday. Demko
Ryans not calling a time out for Houston like defensive coach.
(23:08):
It's a different language. And I I and I just
I think I think Ben Johnson will get the best
out of Caleb Williams. That may not be Jaden Daniels,
he may never throw like Michael Pennix, but I think
he'll get the best out of Caleb. And at this point,
if you can get him right and all of a sudden,
(23:29):
in three four years, you're working on a second contract
by Chicago Bear quarterback standards. John, that's a win.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Today is a day to celebrate if you're a Bears fan.
You got the guy that every one of these teams
with an opening would have hired. Maybe not counting the Cowboys,
not quite sure what's going on down there, but all
the other teams. The Raiders wanted him. He wouldn't interview
with the Jets. They'd hire him yesterday, obviously, the Jags
wanted him. That This is a I was thinking about
it today. You know, Sean McVeigh when he got hired
(23:59):
Andvian O'Connell weren't as famous definitely Sean as they've become.
And same with Kevin O'Connell. I would say, it's kind
of Josh McDaniels Kyle Shanahan. You know when when Mark
Davis hired Josh McDaniels, that was a pretty big deal.
Definitely when Ballor tried and when the Niners Yl hired
Kyle Shanahan. This young guy dominating on offense. Felt like,
this guy's a star, and a lot of people were
(24:20):
interested in them. That's what they got today, and they
got they Essentially Tom Brady wanted someone and he chose
the Bears. Now I told you last night, even if
Tom Brady wants you and is a great salesman, and
you like Tom Brady, and I don't blame you, I'd
want to work with Tom Brady too. If I was
Ben Johnson. He doesn't live in Vegas, and you know
the partner that bought in from the VC firm, he's
in New York. You're still going into the building every day,
(24:43):
even if you get to hire your own GM and
Mark Davis is there every day, like that's a fact.
So unless Tom was gonna sell his compound in Florida
and South Florida and come to Vegas like it's great, Tom,
you can text them all the time, It's not the
same as you know, when John Elway ran the Broncos,
he was there, So I I always thought that was
a little weird. Now I understood Ben Johnson talking to
(25:03):
Ben Johnson's thirty eight years old. Tom Brady talking Tom
Brady's like talking to football Jesus. So I would imagine
he took him seriously. But you know, he just when
you coach in a division, think out, well he knows
the personnel on this team, and think how comfortably is
too it? You know, he's been hesitant to take one
of these jobs. Look at last year, I mean that
Washington job was a pretty damn good opportunity and a
(25:24):
lot of people thought about it. Obviously they exceeded expectations,
but it's like, you got a young GM that knows
what he's doing, you got the second overall pick, you
got a new owner, and he's like, no, and don't
I think he was unsure. Well, now he takes the
Bears job, which I think we all agree is a
little weird still with Kevin Warren and Ryan Poles. But
he knows the Lions like the back of his hand,
regardless whoever they hires a defensive coordinator. When Glenn leaves
(25:47):
the Vikings and the Packers, he's been playing against for years,
so he knows the players, he knows the coaches, and
obviously he knows this team well. So I think there's
a comfort level of just staying in the division for
a young guy that's been hesitant. You know, some guys
are just I want the job. I want the job.
That Sean McVay, Kyle Shanning, they were just right. Josh
McDaniels way back in the day. This guy really took
(26:07):
his time, which is I would say rare in a
profession that's full of like alpha ambition. There's just no
holding it back, which I respect. But this is there's
gonna be a lot of This is a unique for
you know, there would have been no pressure with the Raiders,
right the first year or so. There's pressure here. You
can't win five or six games and everyone's you don't
(26:28):
have to win twelve, but you got to be in
the wild card mix next year with this roster, don't you.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Yeah, I think so. Let me push back on this.
Here's what worries me about Ben Johnson. Number one. It's
a big lift. It's a dysfunctional organization. Culture changers never
whif they may not win Super Bowls. But the Pete Carroll's,
the Mike Rabeles, the Jim Harbaughs, like Dan Campbell, they
come in, they change the culture. You can eventually find
(26:54):
good coordinators.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Coordinators, however, often miss badly. And there is a little
think about coordinators who were highly recommended. Brady recommended Josh McDaniels,
Peyton Manning heavily promoted Adam Gasee and they didn't work.
(27:16):
Both were a little quirky. I mean Josh McDaniels was
offered the colt's job, accepted, and then did a U
turn and left it very quirky Ben Johnson mid flight,
I don't want the job. Adam Gaze, Peyton Manning adored him,
loved him, promoted him. Disaster weird press conference. Odd guy.
(27:37):
Ben Johnson is a little quirky. He's got a little
Adam Gaze and a little Josh McDaniel. I know Josh,
I like Josh. But when McVeigh got the job and
you watched his first press conference, like, guys thought he
was cool, women thought he was hot, Like it was.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Like, whoa what are we watching this guy? McVeigh as
a personality, not.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
No, no, no, And that's my things. A little quirky
to him, a little odd to him. His personality. He's
a little reticent, he's a little withdrawn. So I'm not
saying he can't work, but I'm saying, if you told
me he was going to be McVeigh or closer to
Adam Gaze or Josh McDaniel, based on what I've seen
(28:19):
of his personality, it's it's the latter two.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Yeah. To me, he's not McVeigh personality. You know Kyle
can be a little weird.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Yeah he can't.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
The difference though with Kyle is when the forty nine
ers hired him seventeen, he had been a coordinator for
going on close to ten years at multiple spots. He'd
been in Cleveland, he'd been in Atlanta, he'd been with
his dad, he'd been at Houston. So he had seen
it all For a guy that was thirty seven, thirty
eight years old, he was.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
And his dad was a legendary coach.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Yeah, he'd been around football's whole life, but even just
his own experience as a coordinator, four different teams, seen
it all and got to go to a place that
was a disaster. No expectations with John Lynch, who had
been a GM. But anyone who's ever met John Lynch,
he ain't gonna fail at anything. He's like a Steve Kerr,
Like put him in a position it will succeed, and
they got to ease into it. This is not that situation.
(29:10):
I actually think he's I've been watching his press conference
this year. I think he's kind of gained more confidence
than himself. I think if you watched him in his
first couple of years, he was kind of just kind
of whispered. He was just not confident. I think he's
definitely gained some confidence. But think about the two people
running this organization now, a first time head coach who
just for a couple of years was almost scared of
(29:31):
taking that role, and a GM who's under forty and
has felled at times to be a little over his head.
Former offensive lineman, but he drashed like he's a wide receiver.
It's a little bizarre in an organization that's not pretty dysfunctional.
Say what you want about Dan Campbell, we're gonna learn
a lot about him moving forward without the coordinators. Dan
Campbell ain't scared of shit, Parcels Peyton. They want that
(29:51):
guy right next to him, so he's Taylor made like
Dan Campbell would walk right into the Bears and they
would be better. This is everyone's gonna be looking at you,
aring with the quarterback who's got some issues right now.
And that's the elephant in the room too, because there's
like the pressure of saving Caleb right. The added you know,
gasoline on this fire is the Jaden Daniels phenomenon, right,
(30:13):
So it's like that plays a part in it. It's like, well,
the guy that we passed on is at Washington becoming
one of the greatest players we've ever seen. And if
Drake May starts to looking credible, these are the things
that get it. It's a it's a very hard Now.
I just read before we hopped on he got thirteen
million dollars a year, so financially he's in a different stratosphere.
He was already a multimillionaire, but now he gets a
(30:34):
five year, thirteen million dollar contract. Dennis Allen, that's a
good first hire a mature good defensive coordinators, Ben ahead coach,
perfectly suited to be a number two. Like that's a
high level higher Yes, and their defense is going to
be good. But it's I say this all the time,
like as an offensive coordinator, when someone gets a dui
on defense, Ben Johnsons ever had to deal with that Detroit, Dan,
(30:56):
did you know when the special teamer gets in a
fight on the sideline, that's not Ben's problem? How would
Jamison Williams gets in trouble? Dan and the GM deal
with that. You just figure out who's next on the roster.
All that stuff is now on your desk when you're
used to just drawing the place it's a yeah, there's
a lot on your plate being a head coach with
stuff that has nothing to do with the game.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Well, and that's why one of the advantages McVeigh had
not only is he a sharp guy, but Goff was
low maintenance, Like GoF was just I mean, like one
of the things that was really tough for Matt Lafleur
first job. Aaron's not low maintenance. It makes it harder.
So you know, it's when you start looking at this
(31:39):
a guy like a Vrabel. You know, older coaches Harbaugh,
they can deal sort of with with, you know, the
veteran quarterback with an ego. But if you start looking around,
I was just thinking about this, Drake May quiet kid,
Jaden Daniels, quiet kid, Justin Herbert, quiet kid. You start
looking around, He's got Josh Allen, total team guy.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
I think I bow Nicks and Panic's pretty low key guys.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Yeah, I mean, Lamar Jackson is like, and you know something,
Mahomes family maybe a little quirky. Mahomes is like a dude.
You could go have beers with Mahomes tonight. One of
the things you start looking at that. One of the
criticisms of Caleb Wood. He's emotional, like he's got his stuff.
I don't know if that is true. I like him,
but you start looking at it, you have poor owners, disconnected.
(32:33):
Kevin Warren's political Ryan Pol's young Caleb is not Jaden
Daniels the personality he is a He was the first
nil star in Our Lives, the first five million dollar leader,
anil star. And Chicago's got a very loud, fairly relentless media,
which all the teams in Chicago stink. So they're just
(32:53):
angry and tough. I think the Chicago job is hard.
I think they should be happy they have Ben Johnson,
but I said he would have been my second choice.
McCarthy has dealt with Jerry Aaron Rodgers, a meddling owner,
no owner big brands. McCarthy was my choice, but I
know he's not sexy, and I know Ben is, but
(33:15):
McCarthy would not have failed. I could see Ben Johnson
after about two years, going the hell did I get
myself into?
Speaker 2 (33:23):
To me? I understand, if you're in the Bears, you
have to take this swing because you're just hoping that
this is some version of Lafleura. O'Connell McVeigh, Kyle if
he's closer to Mike McDaniel. You're in trouble given your division,
Like you gotta hope he's one of those four.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
There was another. Another quirky guy was Mike McDaniels. The
media loved him. He was quirky. Quirky doesn't necessarily work
in this league.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
I would say the one at least the way he coaches.
He is a physical, like a run game oriented guy.
The question is is that Dan forcing him to do
that because of the personnel that he supplies them with,
Because a lot of times, like I don't think Dan's
calling double passes to Jamison Williams down ten, I don't
know if he's inclined to do that. I have no
(34:08):
problem with taking the swing. I always say this about
a draft pick high, like take the guy with the traits,
because if it does work out, you get Josh Allen,
rather than thinking you can get a high floor guy
like Mac Jones and Kenny Pickett. They are just as
likely to bust, so you might as well swing for
the fences. But like if you tell me, Pete Carroll
gets the Raider job and Mike McCarthy gets the Jets job,
(34:29):
Like we have a pretty good idea. Those guys just
know what they're doing, and like you do have Caleb Williams.
So you could have made the argument of just hire
Mike McCarthy. He can get the train on the tracks
and maybe within a year wins.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
That was my argument. Mike would get the train on
the tracks. Guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
This could be, you know, an eber Fluce version all
over again. Could because I don't.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
I don't think it will, but but I will say this,
I do think there's a Gays Josh mcdan. You know,
there's a feel that he's a little different personality wise.
He's not corporate, He's kind of his own dude.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
I think the thing that makes me nervous is the
alignment in the organization. You know, he's like he polls
his polls, fighting for his job. You got Kevin Warren
doing who knows what the stadium situations a big elephant
in the room with the organization, like they haven't really
made progress. They pulled out of the suburbs. You know
that area better than me. I just read these articles,
(35:28):
but that's kind of up in the air. You got
Kevin Warren, who really likes to be involved in football,
but when it goes bad, like he's not sitting there
at the at the dais next to the coach. You
just got a lot. You got an owner who did
you see the reports today that he was very uncomfortable
cutting these checks. It's like, guys, the going rate for
(35:48):
these coaches is now ten to thirteen million dollars. You
get four hundred and fifty million dollars from the league
based on the media right steal this is this is
not a fickle business. You're in these guaranteed contracts of
billions of dollars. If you are worried over the difference
of well, I'm used to paying guys seven or eight
million dollars to now we have to pay a guy
twelve or thirteen. That's hard to operate that way as
(36:09):
an organization, it really is. And this team, the mccaskeys,
their kids are running. It feel a little like they
got no clue what they're doing. And the problem is
they entrust you know, before it was Ted Phillips, now
it's Kevin Warren. These people that play such a huge
role because these guys aren't that comfortable in business besides
just saying no. Like the one thing you get with
(36:31):
Robert Kraft or you get with Jeffrey Lorie. They're very
comfortable in a negotiation over billions of dollars or hundreds
of millions of dollars.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
I mean, Craft negotiates the TV deal for the NFL.
He's like he's the go to owner.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
So some of these owners. And this is what I've
always respected about Mark Davis. He doesn't have anywhere near
the money the Bears have. He was cutting one hundred
million dollars. He was taking big swings on coaches because
he knew if I get this right, we'll win. He
just always gets it wrong. And this is like it
feels like this is what the media pressured them to do,
so they did it, and you can't no one's really
(37:03):
gonna say anything negative, like we can nitpick them. But
everyone wanted this guy. But in a couple of years,
I just worry, you know, Caleb holding onto the ball.
Sean Payton's a big believer. That's not a coachable attribute
out of a player. You can improve we've seen now
you can improve accuracy, but the holding onto the ball
is a major concern. And you saw it with Sam
(37:24):
Darnold like he's always had it. And then it kind
of creep back up in the biggest moment. It's almost
like a it's like a golf swing. You just muscle
memory in a in a pressure pack spot. It's just
something to keep an eye on. How did he coach
Share Goff? Snap, get rid of the ball, Snap, get rid.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
Of the ball.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
They were not holding the ball along. That's not the way.
That's not the offense he coached. So that's an interesting dynamic.
The offense Caleb brand with Lincoln is a lot different
than the offense I watched Ben Johnson coach with Jared Goff.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
No question, all right, we give you about thirty five minutes.
John Middlecoff. Congrats to the Ohio State Buckeyes nil. Not
in our league. I think the Big Ten going forward
will be the programs and the conference of note. I
think Texas and Georgia and LSU and Alabama will always
be viable. But I think John and I have kind
(38:14):
of believe this that these massive Big Ten universities and
these boosters donors and these these these alumni bases in
the Big Ten are affluent. They're all over the globe
and they love their Big Ten sports.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Sold would you include Notre Dame in that in that
Big ten league.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
I think Notre Dame is going to end up in
the Big ten. I think that, I really do. I
think eventually, I think academically they match the Big Ten.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
Yeah, well, I think eventually they go to like AFC, NFC, Right,
the SEC, ACC kind of merge Notre Dame maybe a
Stanford kind of merge in the Big ten and you
get two major conferences and you play each other for
the playoffs, super Bowl. I mean, isn't that where we're headed.
Speaker 1 (38:59):
Well, that's what the network you wanted, That's what That's
what ESPN and Fox had in mind was, let let's
make this more like the NFL. We pay the players,
two major conferences. You can let a couple of schools
in from the ACC and the Big twelve or a
Mountain West. It was gonna be qualifiers negotiations. They're going
to extend this to fourteen teams. My guess they're gonna
(39:20):
they're gonna tweak it here very quickly. So fourteen teams
will allow two accs and a couple of Big twelves
or a Mountain West. You're gonna get people. You're gonna
have to run the table or be very very exceptional.
I could see a Utah you know, it's a very
proud program, Utah going like you know ten and one
and getting in and Clemson, but that this is the
future of college football. And you can complain all you want,
(39:44):
you know, let me let me end it with this.
So nobody wants in America and the last thing Trump
followers want is socialism. But the NFL is pretty close
to it. You know. There there's a salary cap. You know,
if you're good, you draft later. They try to keep
it even. And yet we've had back to back dynasties
(40:06):
Chiefs and Patriots. The Dodgers have pulled away SEC and
the Big ten, they'll pull away an individual sports tennis,
you know, F one, you have dominance. We are so
terrified of. I mean the NBA. I told Adam Sober
this when I had him on you guys worry too
(40:27):
much about dynasties. And my takeaway in the nineteen seventies,
you didn't have a dynasty, and it was the league
was in trouble. The minute the eighties arrived in the
nineties and you had dynasties, the ratings exploded. Is that
there's about five percent of the world that's really great
at what they do, either it's quarterbacks or college basketball coaches,
and we're so terrified, Like everybody thought that expanding college
(40:51):
football to more teams was more fair. No, it's really
heightened what we already knew. There's about five brands annually
with a chance, and we're just shifting from southern brands
to northern brands. But in the end, this is really,
if anything else it's been, it's really highlighted a truth
(41:12):
because now we're seeing you know, these teams like SMU
or a Boise State forced in the first round to
play them and eventually on the road. So the gap
now a lot of times you'd argue yourself into I
think I think Hawaii. Remember that Hawaii team could play with.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
Georgia, and then they meet it, and then they meet.
Speaker 1 (41:31):
It and you're like, crap, well now we're going to
get four of those a year. And so everybody is looking,
you know, we're not a country. We don't even like
the word socialism. NFL does the best job at it.
Dynasties and greatness. There's just very few people, it could
be Wall Street or Main Street that are great and
(41:51):
you're seeing the chiefs, you know. I mean Buffalo and
the Chiefs are going to be dominating the AFC until
those two quarterbacks are out of their prime. And Ohio State,
and I can tell you right now there's five college
football programs. They're going to win a majority of the
programs titles over the next ten years.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
I'll never forget that Hawaii left tackle. I don't think
he touched the Georgia pass rusher all night long. The
guy was around him quarter I think it was cold.
Brennan rip. You thought it was going to get murdered
About a quarter in. You're like, he's going to get hurt.
That was that? That looked like JV vers varsity.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
Yeah, and so I like where we're at. But I'm
never trying to talk myself into parody. It doesn't exist
in any business I've ever been at. Hell podcasting started,
and it was within three years of podcasting separation legalized
gambling FANDUL DraftKings very quickly separated. It's just you know, AI,
(42:48):
there's going to be four companies that control with the
rest of our lives. So once you don't have, Once
you don't try to talk yourself into the impossible ultimate parody,
you'll be much happier and college football, it's still the
big dogs. I don't think any now, nobody will go
undefeated anymore. You're not gonna get sixteen to zero, forget it.
(43:09):
But Ohio State is gonna win several matties over the
last decade, over the next decade.
Speaker 2 (43:15):
Yeah, it pains me to say, but they're definitely not
gonna go away. I was thinking about today. This is
the fourth time in five years that the Bills Josh
Allen and Patrick Mahomes are meeting either in the second
or the championship game. And the Eagles, who have been
to the playoffs four straight years with Jalen, they're hosting
their second NFC championship game in three years. So it's like, yeah,
the usual suspects here and the Washington came out of nowhere.
(43:37):
Truly remarkable. They might be here a lot if this
guy is really this good, like they're going nowhere.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
Don middlcoff his podcast three and Out. Good talking to you, buddy,
See you Colin The volume
The volume college football reactions presented by jab Jaylab has
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Box all right, instant reaction. Well, favorites, big favorites generally
(00:33):
in these national championship games roll and after a great
opening drive by Notre Dame, they could never duplicate it.
And Ohio State NIL should stand for not in our league.
You can just you know, listen. The number that matters
now is sixty six thousand. That's how many kids go
to Ohio State. What does that matter? Because Big ten
(00:55):
graduates don't stay. Lots of them don't stand the midway.
Not enough jobs. They go to the coast. They go
make money and they pour it back into the school.
And so these gigantic Big ten schools, they're not holding
bake sales like Alabama and car washes like Auburn to
afford the NIL. I mean, they're fan bases. They've got
(01:18):
a lot of Ohio State grads. I know two of
them that are big funders of the NIL collective, and
you watch that offense, Sean, that offense is I mean,
and their offensive lines dinged up. They just got pros everywhere.
I mean, it's just it just I mean, Notre Dame
is well coached, good defensively, cannot compete.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Well, think about this, we get back to back years
now Michigan, Ohio State dominate and win the National Championship.
Just full of NFL guys. When you look this year,
Penn State is in the final four, Texas is now
an SEC team, but come on, I mean, they've been
there for ten minutes last year, Washington's in the final four.
(02:00):
We know Oregon's not going away. I think when you
look at the SEC, Alabama got there last year and
Saban's like two days later. I'm out. So I think
the lessen All these rulings are constantly coming out as
a fluid situation. But one thing we know, nuts is
ever going to go back to the way it was
more money, more funding, more cutting checks for these players,
(02:22):
and not just Ohio State. I would say the big
ten in general Michigan. When I lived in Philadelphia and
worked for the Eagles, you know, usually local radio in
a pro city. They talked to a lot of Penn State.
Why a lot of graduates live in that area. A
lot of people went there and a lot of people
watched the game. So I'm with you. I think the
Big Ten have a huge advantage moving forward. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
I mean, I have a place in Naples, Flori. It's
a beautiful beach community, very very high end Sarasota Naples area.
My wife introduced me to it. It's all Big Ten
fans and it I mean, I believe me. It is Badger, Buckeye, Wolverine,
Spartan flags all over town. And let me just tell you,
there is a lot of money in the Big Ten.
(03:04):
Those graduates make a lot of money. Because I've been
in Naples for about a decade now and I'm always
amazed by it. I mean, let's say Rodeo drive downtown
and that is absolutely you know, SEC fans go to
what they I think they call it the Riviera, the
Redneck Rivier or something.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I've never been there.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
But then you go down to Sarasota in Naples and
that's a different level of money, and that is Big
Ten money. And I'll say this, A lot of people
are pushing back I'm saying this is a one off. No,
it's not. You and I talked about this Penn State.
Look at the size of these schools, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan,
(03:45):
Washington's a huge school. They're not and those graduates they
leave a lot of times their area and they're loyal
and the SEC schools like when Alabama is think about this.
Nick Saban is one of the smartest coaches ever. Look
how great of a coach he was. NFL teams would
(04:07):
fly down and look at how Alabama ran their program,
including Belichick. Look how good of a broadcaster he is.
Saban Is. He's literally made game day feel huge. And
everybody on that's talented. Reheese, Pat Herbstreet, Howard. I mean,
those guys are all talented. Nick is just makes it
feel huge, car dealerships, the way he has leveraged his career.
(04:33):
Just how smart this guy is. The first year the
NIL opened up, Nick Saban saw it and he got
very nervous. I was told about Texas. He told his guys,
we can't compete with Texas. That is oil money, it's
tech money. Alabama cannot compete with Texas.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
He knew it.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
He sounded the alarms the first year and if Saban,
who's the smartest coach arguably in college football, he's certainly
on a short list, saw it coming and he got
the hell out. Nick could coach today if he wanted to.
God the guy come. I look at him on TV.
He's just so magnetic and dynamic. Nick's a sharp dude.
(05:16):
He knows the truth is that Georgia's got some money.
Tennessee's got some money. I think the tide. Remember Washington's
in Seattle. They don't have a huge collective, but Jedfish
can recruit. Last year was a rebuilding year. They're going
to be closer to Oregon than Iowa going forward. USC's
can listen to this. USC's collective now is over twenty million.
(05:40):
They've already spent thirty million over the next For the
next eighteen months, they have to figure out how to
pay all these bills. I think the SEC knows it.
I think the smart people in that conference can see
it before it's happened. But this year and last year,
watched the games. There is a gay Notre Dame beat
Georgia and con troll Georgia the field to night totally.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
I think, listen, you and I and I turned into
an SEC fan during the Saving era. Why was the
best players, it was the best games. They still have
the best talent. The reality now is when Kirby back
in the day, Bobby Bowden, Dabo Sweeney, all the Southern
coaches knocked on your door, you were gonna go to
one of those schools. Now they just call your agent
(06:24):
and say, hey, they're offering you five hundred grand, will
offer you eight fifty and some side cash. Do you
wanted to pay taxes on? It's not a fair fight.
And that's what this has turned into. It is strictly
paid to play. It's why I laugh, like forever. A
great recruiter Obviously to become a great recruiter, you had
to have a personality, but you also had to be
at a program that offered you a lot. Right, they
(06:44):
might even could pay you a little under the table.
Now there's we don't even you know, beat around the
bush on that. It's like, no, a great recruiter is
someone that can offer me eight hundred thousand dollars. I mean,
the guy was the quarterback that was going to play
for Brian Kelly Underwood. He was going to LSU and
then He ended up at Michigan not because he loves
Sharon Moore and Tom Brady and Dave Portnoy, because they
(07:07):
paid him like twelve to fifteen million dollars. Even Brian
Kelly's like, yeah, we can't pay him that much. We
don't have the money. Look at Nebraska last year.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Now Michigan States boosters. One of them is the guy
that owns the Cavs. The other ones the guy that
owns the Suns.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
So it's like this, it is going to be they
got the talent, but these big ten urban started years ago,
right when he went from Florida to Ohio. Station. We
got to get in the South and recruit the players.
Well now everyone knows that, but they can just cut
the check. So I'm gonna be I think Texas, like
you mentioned Saban, I didn't know that he said that,
but I mean he's got ears, eyes and a brain.
(07:45):
I mean it's not hard to figure out. I think
A and M as well. I think the two Texas
schools that are in the SEC have a massive advantage
financially because that's the world we're in. Can you pay
the players or not the most? That's where they're gonna.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Go look at this. I was talking to UH during
the course of this season. I was talking to a
general manager and he said, let me tell you he's
going to be number one next year. Take quarterbacks out.
He goes, Caleb Downs is going to be number one
next year. He goes that kid would start for every
single NFL team as a sophomore in college. He goes,
(08:19):
there's not an NFL team he wouldn't start for. And
then and then I texted him. That was mid season.
I texted him before this game, and he said, if
because it's a very weak draft, he said, if Jeremiah Smith,
the receiver for Ohio State, and Caleb Downs were available,
He's like, these quarterbacks are not good enough. He goes,
Cam would probably go over those players because Tennessee needs
(08:41):
a quarterback. He said, would they go two and three?
He's like, these kids are I mean, we watched Jeremiah
Smith and and Caleb Down. They don't even look like
college players. It reminds me when when Jamar Chase was
at LSU, Like as sophomore year, You're like, okay, this
is a pro receiver. Who would who would start? He
would make he would start for every team in the
(09:02):
NFL the year before he went and left LSU.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
You could argue, I mean, what's really going to separate?
Are the top five or six programs because of the money,
And obviously Ohio State and Oregon are in clearly the
top tier. Texas and I would throw Texas A and
m in there. I mean, they got a little taste
of being back this year, of being good and being
right there. They have unlimited money. That's the sport. Now
(09:26):
what happened to Michigan this year? They finally won a
national championship. Then they started getting embarrassed and they said,
what do you need? What do we need? We or
don't want to do this ever again. So that's what
And listen, I started at Fresno State, that program wouldn't
have existed. I don't know how they maintain it. The
Logan Mankins, the Ryan Matthews, Washington State, how are they
going to function moving forward? The moment you get a guy, yeah,
(09:49):
that guy might be a third rounder. Oh he's a sophomore.
Every school worth their salts in his DM saying hey,
how much you want? And they leave, They just automatically leave.
What we saw last year with Austin Genty I don't
I think we'll ever see again. Even the head coach
this year said it. He's like, he turned down seven
figures to stay here, and all we could offer almost
three hundred thousand dollars. I mean, that's that's the world.
(10:09):
One day, I was at the gym, probably a couple
months ago, and I look up and his first take
is just on one of the big TVs and it's
a kid, and I'm like, what's going on. I think
Shannon and steven A were talking to him, and it's
the number one basketball recruit. When I got home, I
googled him. He's going to BYU next year. It's like,
it's not hard to figure out the Mormons cut that
(10:31):
kid a massive check and that listen. I have no
problem with that. I mean, that's in a weird way,
that's what I would say. The sport has always been
basketball and football, you know, financing these I got no
problem with it. But that that is one hundred percent
the world we're living in now, and it's really separating
at the top. I mean, think about your guy lane
Ole miss. This year they break the bank and then
(10:52):
they don't even make the playoffs. Are they less likely
to keep breaking the bank when you don't have results.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Yeah, And I also think this is coaches will get poached.
You know, A prime example is John It's harder to
fire a college basketball coach because he can go to
his boosters, his donors and his ad and go, I've
made the tournament twelve straight years. Okay, you can't get
rid of Sark. If Sark makes the playoff any will
(11:19):
ten of the next eleven years. You're not going to
get rid of him if he can win a game
or two here and there. And my point being is
so these coaches now are going to make enormous money,
like better than NFL money for a lot of these guys.
Can the SEC schools pay for that? I mean, let's
just say tomorrow, let's say one of the coaches in
the Big Ten doesn't work. Ryan Day's fine, Ryan Franklin's gone.
(11:44):
I mean, most of the guys are fine. But let's say,
for instance, a school goes and offers Laane Kiffen a job,
and in the Big Ten, they say, here's twelve million dollars.
Can an SEC school fund their collective and pay the
football head coach, not the staff, twenty million dollars? This
(12:04):
is gonna funnel down to the coaches. Is now a
lot of these guys are saving.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Giving up the money calling Brian Kelly gave a million
dollars to help fund the collective? Did you see that story?
A couple like a month ago? He gave a million
dollars of his own salary to the collective? Why because
elis do you think you have to do that? Ohio State?
But no, it's hard for him to say, I'm making
nine and a half million dollars in the collective. Were
a little short, and then you start getting heat. When
(12:30):
Underwood goes to Michigan, It's like, well, I got to
give in a little bit. That's that to me was
a pretty big red flag for LSU. He had to
give a million dollars of a salary.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
If so, if you telling me that, I didn't hear
that story, So Saban saying, get me out of here.
Brian Kelly giving up a million Listen for years and
years the sec and it was just it was just
everybody knew it. They were paying kids through the churches.
But I'm talking paying a kid one hundred thousand bucks
fifty That is doesn't even I mean, it just doesn't
(13:00):
even compete, and I think I'll just say it now,
the SEC may never get worse than the second best conference.
But if the Big Ten truly cares going forward, they
will control college football going forward. And you know, for
the record, Michigan won last year, Ohio State won this year.
(13:24):
You see Penn State outside of Carter and that tight
end returns everybody Penn State and they're going to be
back Drew Aller. Penn State next year loses a great
tight end and a great then these are first round players.
But Michigan next year, Washington, Ohio State, and Oregon is
still really good. Like the Big Ten, this was a
(13:46):
little bit of a down year. Let's be honest. Michigan
in a rebuild, Washington to rebuild, Caleb william leaves USC
in a rebuild. All those teams should be better next year.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Well the other thing is, and you mentioned Michigan State
with their big boss. I mean, I'm sure you agree.
I think Jonathan Smith's a stud and this is the
worst team he's gonna have coaching there, so they will
be better. I mean he's a high level coach. Nebraska
funneling and a bunch of money. I think the problem
for the SEC is for about fifteen years in the
saving era, and when other teams would kind of match them,
(14:18):
like LSU want to give a year. Obviously, Georgia at
the end, Clemson was basically, as my buddy Phil Savage
used to tell me, they were an SEC in their heyday,
an SEC school playing an ACC schedule. But they had
SEC players, well, their backups. Right when you start training
camp and you don't know who, like at the time,
a freshman or sophomore who's gonna kind of separate. You
(14:39):
just let him battle it out, and then the one
guy that wins the job ends up being the first
round pick. Well, his backup is still a fourth rounder.
And if that guy gets injured, you know, in the
seventh game of the season, your backup still a fourth rounder. Well,
now that guy goes I'm out, and all these other
programs are lined up to take them, and he's like, well,
(15:00):
I might as well make the same amount of money
and go start then be a backup. That was their
biggest advantage I always thought is they're too deep. Was
the last like right at the beginning of the nil,
right before the nil, when Kirby was basically turned Georgia
into Alabama. He went too deep with like my first
rounder is my starter and my backup is a second rounder.
(15:20):
Good luck touching me, and you didn't. Well, we saw
this year they were a shell of themselves and it's
going to be difficult to just maintain that dominance because
they do have the talent in the region. But these
other schools just we got technology. Now, can just send
you the offer contract on docu sign. I was like,
here's the money, buddy, you want to come And what
do you think Their parents and agents are clearly saying,
(15:43):
Ohio State's been doing it since Urban got there, but
then Hardboss started getting involved. We know Oregon's going to
keep funneling out of the SEC in the South. Really,
Mario started that Penn State like the one thing you say,
all those guys going back to Penn State. One thing
James Franklin is is a great recruiter. Ye if you
give him money, his energy and his effort. I do
think Texas is going to run the SEC moving forward.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
So I mean, yeah, SEC fans can say what they want.
They say Bama is in big trouble. LSU is in
big trouble. Big trouble Georgia because they're close to Atlanta.
There's some big boosters there. But remember Atlanta's got the Braves,
the Falcons. I mean, They've got you know that, They've
(16:26):
got a lot of things happening in Atlanta. It's a
very splintered market. Yeah, I think we're.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Talking when we say trouble right the day of going
twelve and zero and winning that is, you still might
win eight nine games, but you're never gonna be what
probably we've seen in the past.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Oh yeah, I don't even think. I mean, that's not
even a take. That's not a hot take. I mean
the sec the days of running it are over, back
to back years and again I'll say it again. Ohio
State next year, Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs, the two
best players in the college football ACTU are both back.
And you know I'm and now you're going to how
(17:02):
you think the recruiting's going to go transfer portal is
going to go off this win? I mean the players listen, man,
those star players, they watch what Ohio State is tonight.
It's a factory up there. Their role in it looks
like Ryan Day and Chip Kelly. I mean, I thought
the game plan tonight for Ohio State looked like a
pro game plan. I mean the way if you watch
the game plan tonight for Ohio State, those first two drives,
(17:24):
it was so chip Kelly, let's build up Will Howard's confidence,
easy completions, get the ball to the playmaker. It was
just I mean, I watched enough Chip Kelly games and
I'm like, oh, this is a clinic. This is Chip
Kelly who doesn't probably doesn't think Will Howard's an elite player,
but within the system, he can get those twelve yard
(17:46):
and in completions. He's accurate. Notre Dame never made Will
Howard uncomfortable. I mean, and this is a beat up
bowl line. I mean he was. Will Howard was sitting
back there at one point, I don't know what he was,
six for six, seven for seven on third down. Just
couldn't make him uncomfortable.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
I would say this, if you've watched Chip Kelly since Oregon,
if he's busting explosive runs, you got no shot. And
the moment they start hitting big runs, you're in trouble,
especially with the firepower they have to throw the ball,
because then you what are you gonna do? Stack the
box and let them exploit you and say what you
want about Will Howard. I questioned it coming into this
playoff run Colin. In the first half he was fourteen
(18:23):
to fifteen for two touchdowns, and he's just you remove
the Texas game, which was a difficult just endeavor for
him given how good Texas is on defense. He was
dominant in the three matches against Tennessee, which has NFL
personnel on defense. Obviously, Oregon is loaded with NFL players,
and tonight just National Championship Notre Dame to come out.
(18:44):
He's played. Really, he's made himself some money. I'm not
saying he's gonna get drafted in the second day, but
I think he's got to get a drafted in the
somewhere between the fourth and the sixth round.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
First, I think the kid at Syracuse Kyle McCord, and
Will Howard are gonna get drafted late third, fourth, early
fifth round. But both big, strong, sturdy kids would throw
a nice ball with velocity.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
I think I think McCord, if he has a good
you know this post season before the draft process, could
go on the second day of the draft, where I
think Will Howard just because he throws more of a
pure ball.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Just I looked at him on YouTube today.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yeah, and you know how these quarterback coaches are, these
offensive coordinators are they when you're just sitting out there.
I think there's just an element to Will Howard and
I would say the same about Riley Leonard. They're just
kind of good football players. I don't know how good
they would look just in a just shorts, T shirts,
throwing routes on air in front of the head coach.
I mean, they're not exactly throwing it like Josh Allen
out there, and they they're good runners, but they're not running.
(19:49):
You know what Riley Leonard does and it's fun to watch.
Is that Does that translate to the NFL just running
over guys? That's that's hard, and that's that's but he listen,
he grew on me over this run. He's clearly the
high level guy. And I think both of them are
going to be loved by once the coaches get into
the draft process because they're clearly like just high level kids.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
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Speaker 1 (21:39):
Okay, so let's talk about this. Let's pivot to this.
The Chicago Bears hired Ben Johnson. The story had leaked.
There was a lot of rumors that Ben Johnson, the
coordinator for the Lions offensive coordinator, was going to go
to the Raiders. That was probably Ben Johnson's people leaking it,
so it looked like he was going to the Raiders
because they couldn't quite get everything they wanted. He won't
(22:01):
be able to choose. I imagine his own general manager
when the story came out. I said this today on
TV when the story came out of the Raiders and
Ben Johnson, I'm like, Bro, that's the worst opening. I
don't like it at all. I will say this. About
a week ago, Caleb Williams said, I didn't think it
(22:22):
was subtle. I'd like an offensive coach. Remember he said,
I'd like a leader of men vague doesn't mean anything.
And then I'd like an offensive coach I could grow with.
That would be nice. And I think that was kind
of like, guys, I'm not going to demand anything. I'm
not going to be publicly difficult. Get me an offensive coach,
and that tells you. And this was what Brady said
about Belichick and the documentary. And I've heard enough of
(22:45):
Brady behind the scenes on Belichick saying, listen, Bill just
didn't even know our terminology. It's not a criticism of Bill.
They live in a different world. I mean, look at
Bill's offensive drafting, look at Tomlin's offensive lines and run game.
They just don't know. We talked about this yesterday. Demko
Ryans not calling a time out for Houston like defensive coach.
(23:08):
It's a different language. And I I and I just
I think I think Ben Johnson will get the best
out of Caleb Williams. That may not be Jaden Daniels,
he may never throw like Michael Pennix, but I think
he'll get the best out of Caleb. And at this point,
if you can get him right and all of a sudden,
(23:29):
in three four years, you're working on a second contract
by Chicago Bear quarterback standards. John, that's a win.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Today is a day to celebrate if you're a Bears fan.
You got the guy that every one of these teams
with an opening would have hired. Maybe not counting the Cowboys,
not quite sure what's going on down there, but all
the other teams. The Raiders wanted him. He wouldn't interview
with the Jets. They'd hire him yesterday, obviously, the Jags
wanted him. That This is a I was thinking about
it today. You know, Sean McVeigh when he got hired
(23:59):
Andvian O'Connell weren't as famous definitely Sean as they've become.
And same with Kevin O'Connell. I would say, it's kind
of Josh McDaniels Kyle Shanahan. You know when when Mark
Davis hired Josh McDaniels, that was a pretty big deal.
Definitely when Ballor tried and when the Niners Yl hired
Kyle Shanahan. This young guy dominating on offense. Felt like,
this guy's a star, and a lot of people were
(24:20):
interested in them. That's what they got today, and they
got they Essentially Tom Brady wanted someone and he chose
the Bears. Now I told you last night, even if
Tom Brady wants you and is a great salesman, and
you like Tom Brady, and I don't blame you, I'd
want to work with Tom Brady too. If I was
Ben Johnson. He doesn't live in Vegas, and you know
the partner that bought in from the VC firm, he's
in New York. You're still going into the building every day,
(24:43):
even if you get to hire your own GM and
Mark Davis is there every day, like that's a fact.
So unless Tom was gonna sell his compound in Florida
and South Florida and come to Vegas like it's great, Tom,
you can text them all the time, It's not the
same as you know, when John Elway ran the Broncos,
he was there, So I I always thought that was
a little weird. Now I understood Ben Johnson talking to
(25:03):
Ben Johnson's thirty eight years old. Tom Brady talking Tom
Brady's like talking to football Jesus. So I would imagine
he took him seriously. But you know, he just when
you coach in a division, think out, well he knows
the personnel on this team, and think how comfortably is
too it? You know, he's been hesitant to take one
of these jobs. Look at last year, I mean that
Washington job was a pretty damn good opportunity and a
(25:24):
lot of people thought about it. Obviously they exceeded expectations,
but it's like, you got a young GM that knows
what he's doing, you got the second overall pick, you
got a new owner, and he's like, no, and don't
I think he was unsure. Well, now he takes the
Bears job, which I think we all agree is a
little weird still with Kevin Warren and Ryan Poles. But
he knows the Lions like the back of his hand,
regardless whoever they hires a defensive coordinator. When Glenn leaves
(25:47):
the Vikings and the Packers, he's been playing against for years,
so he knows the players, he knows the coaches, and
obviously he knows this team well. So I think there's
a comfort level of just staying in the division for
a young guy that's been hesitant. You know, some guys
are just I want the job. I want the job.
That Sean McVay, Kyle Shanning, they were just right. Josh
McDaniels way back in the day. This guy really took
(26:07):
his time, which is I would say rare in a
profession that's full of like alpha ambition. There's just no
holding it back, which I respect. But this is there's
gonna be a lot of This is a unique for
you know, there would have been no pressure with the Raiders,
right the first year or so. There's pressure here. You
can't win five or six games and everyone's you don't
(26:28):
have to win twelve, but you got to be in
the wild card mix next year with this roster, don't you.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Yeah, I think so. Let me push back on this.
Here's what worries me about Ben Johnson. Number one. It's
a big lift. It's a dysfunctional organization. Culture changers never
whif they may not win Super Bowls. But the Pete Carroll's,
the Mike Rabeles, the Jim Harbaughs, like Dan Campbell, they
come in, they change the culture. You can eventually find
(26:54):
good coordinators.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Coordinators, however, often miss badly. And there is a little
think about coordinators who were highly recommended. Brady recommended Josh McDaniels,
Peyton Manning heavily promoted Adam Gasee and they didn't work.
(27:16):
Both were a little quirky. I mean Josh McDaniels was
offered the colt's job, accepted, and then did a U
turn and left it very quirky Ben Johnson mid flight,
I don't want the job. Adam Gaze, Peyton Manning adored him,
loved him, promoted him. Disaster weird press conference. Odd guy.
(27:37):
Ben Johnson is a little quirky. He's got a little
Adam Gaze and a little Josh McDaniel. I know Josh,
I like Josh. But when McVeigh got the job and
you watched his first press conference, like, guys thought he
was cool, women thought he was hot, Like it was.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Like, whoa what are we watching this guy? McVeigh as
a personality, not.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
No, no, no, And that's my things. A little quirky
to him, a little odd to him. His personality. He's
a little reticent, he's a little withdrawn. So I'm not
saying he can't work, but I'm saying, if you told
me he was going to be McVeigh or closer to
Adam Gaze or Josh McDaniel, based on what I've seen
(28:19):
of his personality, it's it's the latter two.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Yeah. To me, he's not McVeigh personality. You know Kyle
can be a little weird.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Yeah he can't.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
The difference though with Kyle is when the forty nine
ers hired him seventeen, he had been a coordinator for
going on close to ten years at multiple spots. He'd
been in Cleveland, he'd been in Atlanta, he'd been with
his dad, he'd been at Houston. So he had seen
it all For a guy that was thirty seven, thirty
eight years old, he was.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
And his dad was a legendary coach.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Yeah, he'd been around football's whole life, but even just
his own experience as a coordinator, four different teams, seen
it all and got to go to a place that
was a disaster. No expectations with John Lynch, who had
been a GM. But anyone who's ever met John Lynch,
he ain't gonna fail at anything. He's like a Steve Kerr,
Like put him in a position it will succeed, and
they got to ease into it. This is not that situation.
(29:10):
I actually think he's I've been watching his press conference
this year. I think he's kind of gained more confidence
than himself. I think if you watched him in his
first couple of years, he was kind of just kind
of whispered. He was just not confident. I think he's
definitely gained some confidence. But think about the two people
running this organization now, a first time head coach who
just for a couple of years was almost scared of
(29:31):
taking that role, and a GM who's under forty and
has felled at times to be a little over his head.
Former offensive lineman, but he drashed like he's a wide receiver.
It's a little bizarre in an organization that's not pretty dysfunctional.
Say what you want about Dan Campbell, we're gonna learn
a lot about him moving forward without the coordinators. Dan
Campbell ain't scared of shit, Parcels Peyton. They want that
(29:51):
guy right next to him, so he's Taylor made like
Dan Campbell would walk right into the Bears and they
would be better. This is everyone's gonna be looking at you,
aring with the quarterback who's got some issues right now.
And that's the elephant in the room too, because there's
like the pressure of saving Caleb right. The added you know,
gasoline on this fire is the Jaden Daniels phenomenon, right,
(30:13):
So it's like that plays a part in it. It's like, well,
the guy that we passed on is at Washington becoming
one of the greatest players we've ever seen. And if
Drake May starts to looking credible, these are the things
that get it. It's a it's a very hard Now.
I just read before we hopped on he got thirteen
million dollars a year, so financially he's in a different stratosphere.
He was already a multimillionaire, but now he gets a
(30:34):
five year, thirteen million dollar contract. Dennis Allen, that's a
good first hire a mature good defensive coordinators, Ben ahead coach,
perfectly suited to be a number two. Like that's a
high level higher Yes, and their defense is going to
be good. But it's I say this all the time,
like as an offensive coordinator, when someone gets a dui
on defense, Ben Johnsons ever had to deal with that Detroit, Dan,
(30:56):
did you know when the special teamer gets in a
fight on the sideline, that's not Ben's problem? How would
Jamison Williams gets in trouble? Dan and the GM deal
with that. You just figure out who's next on the roster.
All that stuff is now on your desk when you're
used to just drawing the place it's a yeah, there's
a lot on your plate being a head coach with
stuff that has nothing to do with the game.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Well, and that's why one of the advantages McVeigh had
not only is he a sharp guy, but Goff was
low maintenance, Like GoF was just I mean, like one
of the things that was really tough for Matt Lafleur
first job. Aaron's not low maintenance. It makes it harder.
So you know, it's when you start looking at this
(31:39):
a guy like a Vrabel. You know, older coaches Harbaugh,
they can deal sort of with with, you know, the
veteran quarterback with an ego. But if you start looking around,
I was just thinking about this, Drake May quiet kid,
Jaden Daniels, quiet kid, Justin Herbert, quiet kid. You start
looking around, He's got Josh Allen, total team guy.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
I think I bow Nicks and Panic's pretty low key guys.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Yeah, I mean, Lamar Jackson is like, and you know something,
Mahomes family maybe a little quirky. Mahomes is like a dude.
You could go have beers with Mahomes tonight. One of
the things you start looking at that. One of the
criticisms of Caleb Wood. He's emotional, like he's got his stuff.
I don't know if that is true. I like him,
but you start looking at it, you have poor owners, disconnected.
(32:33):
Kevin Warren's political Ryan Pol's young Caleb is not Jaden
Daniels the personality he is a He was the first
nil star in Our Lives, the first five million dollar leader,
anil star. And Chicago's got a very loud, fairly relentless media,
which all the teams in Chicago stink. So they're just
(32:53):
angry and tough. I think the Chicago job is hard.
I think they should be happy they have Ben Johnson,
but I said he would have been my second choice.
McCarthy has dealt with Jerry Aaron Rodgers, a meddling owner,
no owner big brands. McCarthy was my choice, but I
know he's not sexy, and I know Ben is, but
(33:15):
McCarthy would not have failed. I could see Ben Johnson
after about two years, going the hell did I get
myself into?
Speaker 2 (33:23):
To me? I understand, if you're in the Bears, you
have to take this swing because you're just hoping that
this is some version of Lafleura. O'Connell McVeigh, Kyle if
he's closer to Mike McDaniel. You're in trouble given your division,
Like you gotta hope he's one of those four.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
There was another. Another quirky guy was Mike McDaniels. The
media loved him. He was quirky. Quirky doesn't necessarily work
in this league.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
I would say the one at least the way he coaches.
He is a physical, like a run game oriented guy.
The question is is that Dan forcing him to do
that because of the personnel that he supplies them with,
Because a lot of times, like I don't think Dan's
calling double passes to Jamison Williams down ten, I don't
know if he's inclined to do that. I have no
(34:08):
problem with taking the swing. I always say this about
a draft pick high, like take the guy with the traits,
because if it does work out, you get Josh Allen,
rather than thinking you can get a high floor guy
like Mac Jones and Kenny Pickett. They are just as
likely to bust, so you might as well swing for
the fences. But like if you tell me, Pete Carroll
gets the Raider job and Mike McCarthy gets the Jets job,
(34:29):
Like we have a pretty good idea. Those guys just
know what they're doing, and like you do have Caleb Williams.
So you could have made the argument of just hire
Mike McCarthy. He can get the train on the tracks
and maybe within a year wins.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
That was my argument. Mike would get the train on
the tracks. Guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
This could be, you know, an eber Fluce version all
over again. Could because I don't.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
I don't think it will, but but I will say this,
I do think there's a Gays Josh mcdan. You know,
there's a feel that he's a little different personality wise.
He's not corporate, He's kind of his own dude.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
I think the thing that makes me nervous is the
alignment in the organization. You know, he's like he polls
his polls, fighting for his job. You got Kevin Warren
doing who knows what the stadium situations a big elephant
in the room with the organization, like they haven't really
made progress. They pulled out of the suburbs. You know
that area better than me. I just read these articles,
(35:28):
but that's kind of up in the air. You got
Kevin Warren, who really likes to be involved in football,
but when it goes bad, like he's not sitting there
at the at the dais next to the coach. You
just got a lot. You got an owner who did
you see the reports today that he was very uncomfortable
cutting these checks. It's like, guys, the going rate for
(35:48):
these coaches is now ten to thirteen million dollars. You
get four hundred and fifty million dollars from the league
based on the media right steal this is this is
not a fickle business. You're in these guaranteed contracts of
billions of dollars. If you are worried over the difference
of well, I'm used to paying guys seven or eight
million dollars to now we have to pay a guy
twelve or thirteen. That's hard to operate that way as
(36:09):
an organization, it really is. And this team, the mccaskeys,
their kids are running. It feel a little like they
got no clue what they're doing. And the problem is
they entrust you know, before it was Ted Phillips, now
it's Kevin Warren. These people that play such a huge
role because these guys aren't that comfortable in business besides
just saying no. Like the one thing you get with
(36:31):
Robert Kraft or you get with Jeffrey Lorie. They're very
comfortable in a negotiation over billions of dollars or hundreds
of millions of dollars.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
I mean, Craft negotiates the TV deal for the NFL.
He's like he's the go to owner.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
So some of these owners. And this is what I've
always respected about Mark Davis. He doesn't have anywhere near
the money the Bears have. He was cutting one hundred
million dollars. He was taking big swings on coaches because
he knew if I get this right, we'll win. He
just always gets it wrong. And this is like it
feels like this is what the media pressured them to do,
so they did it, and you can't no one's really
(37:03):
gonna say anything negative, like we can nitpick them. But
everyone wanted this guy. But in a couple of years,
I just worry, you know, Caleb holding onto the ball.
Sean Payton's a big believer. That's not a coachable attribute
out of a player. You can improve we've seen now
you can improve accuracy, but the holding onto the ball
is a major concern. And you saw it with Sam
(37:24):
Darnold like he's always had it. And then it kind
of creep back up in the biggest moment. It's almost
like a it's like a golf swing. You just muscle
memory in a in a pressure pack spot. It's just
something to keep an eye on. How did he coach
Share Goff? Snap, get rid of the ball, Snap, get rid.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
Of the ball.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
They were not holding the ball along. That's not the way.
That's not the offense he coached. So that's an interesting dynamic.
The offense Caleb brand with Lincoln is a lot different
than the offense I watched Ben Johnson coach with Jared Goff.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
No question, all right, we give you about thirty five minutes.
John Middlecoff. Congrats to the Ohio State Buckeyes nil. Not
in our league. I think the Big Ten going forward
will be the programs and the conference of note. I
think Texas and Georgia and LSU and Alabama will always
be viable. But I think John and I have kind
(38:14):
of believe this that these massive Big Ten universities and
these boosters donors and these these these alumni bases in
the Big Ten are affluent. They're all over the globe
and they love their Big Ten sports.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Sold would you include Notre Dame in that in that
Big ten league.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
I think Notre Dame is going to end up in
the Big ten. I think that, I really do. I
think eventually, I think academically they match the Big Ten.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
Yeah, well, I think eventually they go to like AFC, NFC, Right,
the SEC, ACC kind of merge Notre Dame maybe a
Stanford kind of merge in the Big ten and you
get two major conferences and you play each other for
the playoffs, super Bowl. I mean, isn't that where we're headed.
Speaker 1 (38:59):
Well, that's what the network you wanted, That's what That's
what ESPN and Fox had in mind was, let let's
make this more like the NFL. We pay the players,
two major conferences. You can let a couple of schools
in from the ACC and the Big twelve or a
Mountain West. It was gonna be qualifiers negotiations. They're going
to extend this to fourteen teams. My guess they're gonna
(39:20):
they're gonna tweak it here very quickly. So fourteen teams
will allow two accs and a couple of Big twelves
or a Mountain West. You're gonna get people. You're gonna
have to run the table or be very very exceptional.
I could see a Utah you know, it's a very
proud program, Utah going like you know ten and one
and getting in and Clemson, but that this is the
future of college football. And you can complain all you want,
(39:44):
you know, let me let me end it with this.
So nobody wants in America and the last thing Trump
followers want is socialism. But the NFL is pretty close
to it. You know. There there's a salary cap. You know,
if you're good, you draft later. They try to keep
it even. And yet we've had back to back dynasties
(40:06):
Chiefs and Patriots. The Dodgers have pulled away SEC and
the Big ten, they'll pull away an individual sports tennis,
you know, F one, you have dominance. We are so
terrified of. I mean the NBA. I told Adam Sober
this when I had him on you guys worry too
(40:27):
much about dynasties. And my takeaway in the nineteen seventies,
you didn't have a dynasty, and it was the league
was in trouble. The minute the eighties arrived in the
nineties and you had dynasties, the ratings exploded. Is that
there's about five percent of the world that's really great
at what they do, either it's quarterbacks or college basketball coaches,
and we're so terrified, Like everybody thought that expanding college
(40:51):
football to more teams was more fair. No, it's really
heightened what we already knew. There's about five brands annually
with a chance, and we're just shifting from southern brands
to northern brands. But in the end, this is really,
if anything else it's been, it's really highlighted a truth
(41:12):
because now we're seeing you know, these teams like SMU
or a Boise State forced in the first round to
play them and eventually on the road. So the gap
now a lot of times you'd argue yourself into I
think I think Hawaii. Remember that Hawaii team could play with.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
Georgia, and then they meet it, and then they meet.
Speaker 1 (41:31):
It and you're like, crap, well now we're going to
get four of those a year. And so everybody is looking,
you know, we're not a country. We don't even like
the word socialism. NFL does the best job at it.
Dynasties and greatness. There's just very few people, it could
be Wall Street or Main Street that are great and
(41:51):
you're seeing the chiefs, you know. I mean Buffalo and
the Chiefs are going to be dominating the AFC until
those two quarterbacks are out of their prime. And Ohio State,
and I can tell you right now there's five college
football programs. They're going to win a majority of the
programs titles over the next ten years.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
I'll never forget that Hawaii left tackle. I don't think
he touched the Georgia pass rusher all night long. The
guy was around him quarter I think it was cold.
Brennan rip. You thought it was going to get murdered
About a quarter in. You're like, he's going to get hurt.
That was that? That looked like JV vers varsity.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
Yeah, and so I like where we're at. But I'm
never trying to talk myself into parody. It doesn't exist
in any business I've ever been at. Hell podcasting started,
and it was within three years of podcasting separation legalized
gambling FANDUL DraftKings very quickly separated. It's just you know, AI,
(42:48):
there's going to be four companies that control with the
rest of our lives. So once you don't have, Once
you don't try to talk yourself into the impossible ultimate parody,
you'll be much happier and college football, it's still the
big dogs. I don't think any now, nobody will go
undefeated anymore. You're not gonna get sixteen to zero, forget it.
(43:09):
But Ohio State is gonna win several matties over the
last decade, over the next decade.
Speaker 2 (43:15):
Yeah, it pains me to say, but they're definitely not
gonna go away. I was thinking about today. This is
the fourth time in five years that the Bills Josh
Allen and Patrick Mahomes are meeting either in the second
or the championship game. And the Eagles, who have been
to the playoffs four straight years with Jalen, they're hosting
their second NFC championship game in three years. So it's like, yeah,
the usual suspects here and the Washington came out of nowhere.
(43:37):
Truly remarkable. They might be here a lot if this
guy is really this good, like they're going nowhere.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
Don middlcoff his podcast three and Out. Good talking to you, buddy,
See you Colin The volume
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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