November 28, 2023 • 39 mins
Rodney and Jonas Knox discuss the short leash that coaches and players have in todays NFL. Vinny Bonsignore talks about Tom Bradys comments on the NFL and updates us on candidates for the Raiders' head coaching job. What does the future hold for the USC football job after Lincoln Riley confirmed he will be staying?
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
And we continue on AM five seventyLA Sports. My man Jonas Knox is
in for Fred Rogan today a coupleof housekeeping things. Listen, we're gonna
give away a pair of tickets forthe Kings versus Capitals this hour. It's
tomorrow night at the Crypt section oneoh six, So stay tuned for that
(00:21):
giveaway of tickets. Vinnie Bosier isgoing to join us here in about fifteen
to twenty minutes, and before hedoes, Jonas, I want to I
want to talk about just a stateof the NFL with you, just kind
of want to get your takes onsome of these things, and also,
you know, you take on someof the Brady comments that were made that
(00:42):
he made about the NFL and whereit is now, but just in in
in general about the NFL. Wesaw Frank Wright get fired yesterday after you
know, the Panthers had a onein ten start and it just looks they
they look so far away, andhe had to say, poor anybody playing
(01:03):
in the NFL, but poor BryceYoung. He's up against a tall order
and trying to make that happen.You know, it almost looks like Bryce
Young could use some guys like Idon't know Christian McCaffrey or DJ Moore.
Yeah, And I'm almost look like, yeah, like, maybe don't include
your best wide receiver in Dj Moorein a trade to bring in a young
quarterback that you're gonna draft like that. But Frank writes the fall guy like
(01:26):
he's gonna get twenty million dollars togo away. And he's the first,
you know, coach since the nineteenseventy merger to be fired in back to
back seasons, And I'm like,all right, like if that's if that's
what you think stability looks like,if you're David Tepper, the owner in
Carolina to Orre, you just firecoaches left and right, like I don't.
I mean, he's been there sincetwenty eighteen. The next coach will
(01:49):
be the fifth coach they've had.It's like it's kind of wild in a
league, in a sport that continuitymeans everything, and people know this yet
the owners and mostly it's the owners, and sometimes you know because now general
managers are falling into almost the headcoaching situations where they're getting fired too.
(02:12):
But they got such a quick triggerfinger that continuity doesn't matter to them.
And now they're going to bring ina new coach, and if Bryce Young
doesn't improve in one year, thatguy's gonna be on the hot seat.
I mean, there used to bea time where you know, coaches usually
got four years to try to getit right at least go in the right
direction. Quarterbacks, I can rememberthat that that you were evaluated not necessarily
(02:35):
on one year, one year,two, but it was that third year
four quarterback that they needed to seeprogress. So you felt that as a
quarterback coming in, Yeah, I'mgonna get three years to kind of prove
myself. I'm gonna get three yearsto make sure that they know that they
got the right guy. Now it'syou got ten games, you got maybe
eight games, and we're gonna runyou out of town, like you remember.
(02:55):
So there was the because it's funnybecause people are talking about c J.
Stroud, who's gonna be offensive rookiethe year. He's been fantastic for
Houston, and everyone's doing the manOhman to Carolina screw this up because they
took Bryce Young over CJ. Stroud, And I'm looking at it going first
of all, c J. Stroud'sin a much better situation than Bryce Young,
is in Caroline is really far awayfrom being a good football team.
(03:20):
This is a tear down rebuild witha brand new coach and brand new assistants
and all that. And I'm watchingthis and I'm like, I've been down.
I've heard this story somewhere before wherea team drafted a quarterback at one
and then the early indication was theyblew it because the guy who was drafted
to ended up being better to starttheir career. Oh that's right. It
(03:42):
was Jared Goff, Carson Wentz.And last I checked, Jared Goff still
playing, and yes he struggled thepast couple of games, but the Detroit
Lions looked like they're gonna win theNFC North, they're gonna be a playoff
team. And Carson Wentz just signedas a backup to Matt Stafford. So
I'm just saying, like, itdepends on what's there this idea that you're
just going to draft a quarterback andhey, he'll fix everything, like you
(04:05):
know that, Just like, look, Caleb Williams did everything he could to
try and help USC, and yethere we are talking about a seven and
five football team, like you needsome help, and and this this idea
that boy, he's the number oneoverall pick and he won a Heisman,
but he needs help, and yeah, I just I don't understand how that
(04:26):
just falls on the coach and wejust go, well, we need to
see better results from him. Okay, hop ab out here's some better results.
Tell the GM not to trade awayDj Moore, who, by the
way, is up to one thousandyards receiving with the Bears, who's starting
quarterback, missed four or five gamesand he was playing with Tyson Bagent,
who is a D two undrafted playerout of Shepherd University in West Virginia,
(04:53):
and he still is at a thousandyards. You don't think he could help
Bryce Young's development. That's the partthat doesn't make any sense to me.
Bears are gonna have Carolina's number onepick. Uh oh, yeah, they're
sitting pretty like they're gonna like whenwhen you when your draft projections are looking
like you know, there's a there'sa way where the Bears could end up
with Caleb Williams and Marvin Harrison Juniorin the draft next year, which,
(05:16):
by the way, for anybody whohasn't seen Marvin Harrison Junior, he is
und believable he's a stud, he'sbig, can run. I mean,
he's he is the guy coming outof college. But you're right about that.
I don't care who you bring in. You can bring in Caleb Williams,
and if they don't have the rightsituation or they don't have it solidified
(05:39):
up front in terms of the offensiveline, he's gonna struggle. He's going
to struggle. You switch Bryce Youngand c J. Stroud, put c
J. Stroud in Carolina and putBryce Young in in Houston. Not saying
that Bryce Young would do the samething to c J. Stroud, but
he certainly would be playing better thanhe's playing in Carolina. Agree, and
(06:00):
c J. Stroud would struggle inCarolina. And it nearly one hundred percent
matters where you end up in whatteam you go to. And it's not
a quick fix. So this noes. You know, we're gonna fire Frank
Reich and who else you gonna bringit, You're gonna bring in another I
mean, you talk about fitting thecategory for a young rookie, number one
pick quarterback who won a Heisman Trophy, and you pair him with a quarterback
(06:26):
coach who's been in the played inthe league for fifteen years and has coached
big time players throughout his coaching career, And yeah, you're gonna give him
ten games, eleven games to workit out with your number one pick,
Heisman Trophy winning quarterback. And itjust makes sense. And it feels like
we're back to this and look,you played for Washington and Dan Snyder to
(06:46):
show this story. But it justit feels like we're at the here we
go again. Another impulsive owner whohas no patience, who thinks that because
he had success running a hedge fund, hedge fund company, or whatever it
was he was doing previously, thathe's gonna know what a winning football team
looks like and what it takes toIt's like, dude, you got to
(07:08):
give this some time, Like thisidea to your point where it used to
be a quarterback. We get twothree years and it was like, okay,
then we'll see what we've got.Ye I mean, there's like there's
people that are like are sitting therewatching this breakdown and go, man,
you know, if Carolina had thefirst round pick again, maybe they'd go
back and take a quarterback again.So just like that, like we were
(07:30):
right last year, but through elevengames, when if you look at the
roster. They've got problems, they'vegot issues. We're just gonna trust that
whatever this owner says, because he'sgot enough money to buy the team,
that that's the direction we need togo in. I don't I just don't
understand. It would be like aconstruction worker, somebody doing construction who's listening
to the show right now, maybethey're on their lunch break or whatever.
(07:51):
Somebody says to you, hey man, you are the best. You've got
all the talent in the world.We're gonna need you to build that house
right over there, and the bestpart is we're not going to give you
any tools to do it. Havefun, buddy, ye, good luck.
It's like, what do we do? Like, like, where's the
logic in that? I just Idon't understand the impatience in the NFL these
days. It's kind of it's it'sjust crazy to see how this stuff is.
(08:13):
Yes, it's you know, it'sthe world we live in, right,
immediate gratification and if you don't getit, I'm going to make a
change. And I've got so muchmoney. I can do what I want
to with my pocketbook, and Ican do I can I can change coaches,
I can change quarterbacks. I cando whatever I want to do,
But you're always going to stay whereyou're where you're at right now, Frank,
I'm going to get better. IfFrank Reich's getting twenty million dollars just
(08:35):
to go take off, see you, buddy, it's like all right.
And I think Frank Reich was quotedas saying that, you know, his
days of being a coach aren't over, but his NFL journey has probably reached
his end because he's probably like,look, I'm tired of this crap,
Like I'm tired of getting blamed forbeing the reason why we couldn't win more
games in Indianapolis. When Andrew Luckretired on the sideline in a preseason game,
(08:58):
I kind of thought that was goingto be the quarterback I was working
with, and instead it was arevolving door and the organization making trade after
trade to try and fix the problemand those guys underperforming. And then he
goes to Carolina and it's like he'sfinding out. Oh, so this is
what Matt Ruhle was talking about whenMatt Rule was here and said I was
(09:18):
given a seven year contract to leaveBaylor because I was told we're going to
have time, and Matt Rule wason record saying this going into year two.
Listen, I was told this isseven year commitment. So that's what
I was told from the owner.And he didn't even get through year two
and he got fired. Frank Craigdidn't even get through year one and got
clipped it. None of it makesany sense to me. As long as
(09:39):
he's yeah, as long as he'sowners, it's going to be it's going
to be similar situations because you don'tObviously he's got he's got the the history
from from his own mind that he'sbeen successful doing what he's doing things the
way he's done them right, Sowhy should this be different the NFL?
(10:00):
Why should this be different. I'mgonna do it my way, and I've
been successful in other areas of business. This is no different and I'm gonna
do it this way. Well,you find yourself in five wins, six
win seasons for the next five sixyears until you change that philosophy. I
just absolutely, one hundred percent don'tget it. And you're right about where
you go because if you look upand look back at Carson Wentz, if
(10:22):
he doesn't get hurt. He's theMVP of the league that year. Yep,
they still probably go to the SuperBowl, and you know, who
knows if they win it or not, but they have home field all the
way through. And we're talking abouta different situation. Maybe there's a statue
of him in Philadelphia as opposed asopposed to his backup course, right,
having a statue in Philadelphia. Yeah, it's just these like being an out
(10:46):
look. Being an owner in theNFL would be awesome if you had a
real understanding as to what the NFLis. But instead now it's just if
you got enough money, you canbuy a team and then just start,
you know, making the decisions impulsivemoves that cast people their jobs and just
pay people twenty million dollars to goaway. It's a it's a wonderful world
and you can get it. Wonderfulworld. Everybody should have that kind of
deal or other Jimbo Fisher, whichis however, somebody say Jimbo Fisher's contract
(11:11):
should go down in the Hall ofFame. On just get the way seventy
million dollars and it's all good,man, it's all good. I'm going
fishing. You may not see mefor a couple of years. If I'm
jumping you think get been Bobby Bonior a happy hour somewhere, just going
hey, man, look what wedid, Look what we fulled off.
(11:35):
Yeah, I want one of thosedeals. Man, Come on, come
on, stepping up, coming upon the other side, Bennie Bons and
years here, he's gonna talk somemore NFL. We'll get into it.
Man. Jonas knocks in for FredRogan and five seventy LA Sports. Oh,
keep it coming, Ronnie. That'sthat Christmas groove. I love what
I'm talking about, Rodney Pete.Jonas knocks on a beautiful Tuesday. Hey,
(12:07):
Before before Vinnie gets on, Idid want to touch on and get
your thoughts on on what Tom Bradywas was saying about mediocre football in the
NFL right now. I know alot of people went at him, especially
the current guys, went at himabout what are you talking about? Well,
let's bring him on and he canjudge this conversation too. Let's bring
(12:28):
on our man, Vinnie Boceing,your our NFL insider, Vinnie, how
are you I'm doing good? Weare good, We are good. I
just before he came on, Iwas just asking Jonas what he thought about
Tom Brady's comments about mediocre NFL footballRight now, go ahead, Jonan,
I'll let you do that one.Well, I just look, I mean,
(12:48):
he's not. I think the bigpart part of the conversation that maybe
didn't get as much attention because peoplelooked at that and ran with the well
he's calling it mediocre football was heand Aaron Rodgers have both talked about how
much softer the game is that it'scaused players to, you know, work
on a skill set that back inthe day it was like, well,
(13:09):
that wouldn't be applicable here because ifyou go to make that throw over the
middle, somebody is going to getannihilated. And it's like, from a
health standpoint, it's good for thegame. But in the football a lot
of us grew up with we lookat some of these calls and go,
that was a roughing the passer.Yeah, Like back in the day,
that was celebrated and glorified, AndI think that was part of where Tom
(13:31):
Brady was coming from. And fromthat standpoint, he's not wrong. But
as far as questioning, you know, the mediocrity, you can't deny that
the athletes that are in today's NFLat every position are better than the athletes
that we've seen in a lot oferas throughout time to where there are kickers,
Like even just look at the kickerposition. It used to be if
a kicker made a fifty five yardfield goal, it was like, man,
(13:54):
oh man. Now it's like,yeah, that'll work, Like why
not you got it sixty Amondola forArizona or for Houston. It hasn't kicked
a fifty plus yard field goal sincehigh school. We'll trot him out there
at fifty nine and he hit itoff the crossbar. But it's just it's
just a different game. And youknow, Tom Brady was letting Lett him
have it a little bit. Yeah, it is a little bit of a
(14:16):
different game, you know. Andyou know, in some ways I do
agree with them, but you know, you have to put into it into
context. There's rules that were putin place to protect players, and you
know, I know I know this, and I know Rodney's probably you know,
experienced the same thing. But youknow, when you talk to some
of these older players, you canyou can see the effect that football has
(14:39):
had on them, and they're they'retoo young to be having that kind of
effect, you know, for thateffect to be taking place at that stage
of their life. So there waspractical reasons, you know, humane reasons
why you know, certain rules wereput into place. Now I will say
this, I do think that refereesneed to either be trained better or there
needs to be some sort of anarbitrary you know, I in the sky
(15:03):
maybe to to look at some ofthese some of these calls that are being
made. You know, some ofthem are extremely valid, some of them
are extremely questionable, And I thinkyou if you could mitigate some of those
questionable calls, where you're going,that's not a pass, that's not a
roughing the passer. You know,the player actually tried to roll out of
the way or not put all hisweight on him, or or hit him
(15:24):
in a way that you know waswas within their rules. But it's hard
when you're a referee to call thesethings in real time when there's been when
there's such a precedent or such anemphasis being put on player safety. You
know, so I get the callsfrom the referees perspective when when guys are
flying around there one hundred miles anhour, But I do think there needs
(15:46):
to be some sort of oversight intime, in real time, not one
that says two days later, ohwow, the referees kind of blew that.
No, somebody that uh is isin real time during that game.
Because some of these calls effects outcomesof games literally. So I understand where
he's coming from. That from youknow, that standpoint, I disagree on
(16:07):
the mediocrity of football. I thinkeach era has its version of football and
style of play, and there's there'syou know, tactical differences, there's schematic
differences, there's all you know,differences in in eras, and I just
think that this is the version offootball now, and I don't sense any
mediocrity. There's a lot of greatplayers, a lot of you know,
high end quarterbacks, you know,within that top ten, there's there's great
(16:30):
wide receivers. I think we're inan age right now where wide receivers are
about as good as it gets.So great defensive line play, defensive end
play. So I disagree with himon the mediocrity level. Yeah, No,
I hear you, and I I'mwith you, guys. I agree
with him on you know, someof the calls that are being made and
looked they did, they did someI think really good things to protect the
(16:52):
players, and I think over time, and we're seeing it now where guys
are aware of how they talk thequarterback. We're seeing it with Aaron Donald,
how he just kind of gently laysthe quarterback down with the sack.
Now it doesn't fall on top ofhim. Some guys have struggled with that
part of the game. The bestpart about Aaron Donald is that he doesn't
have to take it out in thequarterback. He's in a fish fight with
(17:15):
an offensive lineman every game. Everygame, there's three of them on the
same play. So yeah, hehas to deal with that. But you
got to be adjusting to the waythe game is being called. And and
he's right about you know, ifyou're a quarterback and there's a tight window
over the middle, you you're notnecessarily throwing that ball because Ronnie Lott's in
the back field and the defensive backfieldgoing to knock your receiver out. So
(17:38):
you you you're very aware of thator you're it makes you be more accurate
with the football as a quarterback asopposed to I'm just gonna throw it.
He can go up high and catchit because he's he can't get hit while
he's exposed, so there's no dangerthere, whereas before you better put it
on his body, and and andso you you had the responsibility as a
(18:00):
quarterback to protect your receivers. Soin that respect, I get what he's
saying. But I also get whathe's saying, and I think he's really
talking to the to the quarterbacks outthere, is that we're in such a
seven on seven kind of NFL nowwhere it's it's pass happy. The running
game text takes a backseat to thepassing game. And you're right, Vinnie,
I think the receivers nowadays are asgood as it's ever been and and
(18:23):
and not even close to what it'sever been. So I agree with you
on that, but there are badhabits. I think you see a lot
of quarterbacks making and doing right nowbecause it's in the shotgun all the time.
There's the footwork is off on alot of guys, and you're seeing,
(18:44):
you know, quarterbacks mispasses and notas efficient in terms of accuracy as
they as they should be because itis a pass happy league, and you
don't drop back as more and youdon't get your feet set and plays are
not designed to be on time asmuch as they want as it used to
be. Look, it's copycat league. And so when you see Patrick Mahomes
running around there and running around inthe backfield and making it, you know,
(19:07):
spectacular plays, it's like, okay, we're gonna design all that.
Well, everybody's not Patrick Mahomes andyou can't get everybody can't get away with
that. And I think that thatis the frustration is that you're seeing that.
I see that with Caleb Williams incollege. You know it is it's
frustrating that there is not real designplays that happen on time. For most
(19:29):
of those games. It is shotgunsnap that Caleb run around and trying to
make a play for us. Youknow it was it was okay, there's
a five step drop one hitch,get it out, seven step drop two
hitch, get it out. Andyou see very little of that. Especially
I would imagine, you know,not to step into to your cleats too
(19:49):
much. You'll you'll tell this ifI'm right or wrong about it. Would
imagine you were learning a lot ofthat in college too, And that's just
not the case right now. Andyou know, I the coaches in the
NFL, I talk to them allthe time about the transition that college players
need. Heck, not even thetransition, but being able to project as
(20:11):
a scouting department, as a generalmanager, as a coach on who can
translate and who can't because it's adifferent game in college football. You know,
I was talking to Michael Mayer,the Raiders tight end. He's like,
man, I'm telling you in college, he goes not to knock anything,
but our players were one word playshere in the NFL, it's a
whole sentence for crying out loud.So to learn that as a tight end
(20:32):
and every other position on the fieldto do that, but also the technique
and the fundamentals and the quarterbacks notplaying under center in college football, so
there's also a you know, andyou can't. You don't have time to
always figure it out, so youhave to make do. I think it
was Josh McDaniels told me one time, Hey, wherever we are as an
offense, whether it's a first base, that could be a third base the
(20:53):
starter season, that's where we gotto start and go play and go compete.
There's no time to get in trainingcamp from you know to third base
and start the season on third base. Yeah, sometimes, especially with young
players, have to start in thebatter's box or first base. So and
now I'm talking across the board interms of fundamentals, the style of play
(21:15):
and all that. So it allcontributes to it. And a lot of
these younger quarterbacks are just coming intothe NFL from almost a different planet.
And that goes for offensive linemen,wide receivers and on and on and on.
So the NFL sometimes has to makedo with what they have, what
the college football is supplying them with, and try to win as quickly as
(21:36):
possible and develop those young players asquickly as possible. And there is a
cause and effect to that, Vinnie. As far as you mentioned Josh McDaniels,
his former team, the Raiders,who I know you cover and are
are you know constantly you know,keep an eye on any reports, rumors,
things you're hearing. There was aname that popped up that you tweeted
out a short time ago about apotential head coaching replacement if they decide to
(22:00):
go in another direction from Antonio Pierce. What are you hearing? Yeah?
And David Shaw, the former Stanfordcoach, and you know, just for
some clarity, no matter what happensto the Raiders this year, even if
they go on to win the SuperBowl. By league rule, you have
to open up both the head coachingjob and the general manager job up to
(22:21):
an extensive search. And you know, you know they've tried what the NFL
has done, and I have bloggedthem for this, frankly, is is
open it up to the extent whereyou can't do. You know, in
the past, I think some teamscould have been accused of doing token interviews,
let's put it that way, oryou know, just to try to
lip service certain things. Well,now, regardless of what the situation is,
(22:44):
you have to go out of yourbuilding and interview external candidates. You
know, at least two of peopleof color or or a woman candidates as
well. So so by rule theyhave to they have to go through an
extent of search, you know,for the head coach and general managers job.
And I've talked to Mark Davis andhe's open, you know, to
(23:04):
wherever that search might lead him.And it might lead right back to Antonio
Peers and Champ Kelly, but itmight also lead him someplace else. And
I do know that you know someof David Shaw, who is taken this
year off. He's working I thinkwith the NFL network now. I think
he's eager to get back into coaching, and I think he's got his eye
on the on the NFL. Ithink that that's sort of where you know
(23:26):
his next journey is going to be. And that's where I actually started.
UH. Robbie, I don't know, did you if you played for him
or or cross paths with him,but he was he started in the NFL.
Yeah, I was there with himwhen he was with he came with
John Gruden when he went to UH, went to the Raiders, and I
was there for a couple of yearswith David Shaw and go way back with
him, even back to Philadelphia dayswith him. So he's a he's a
(23:48):
great coach and and we'll do hewill do well in the NFL, I
believe. But on on that sameline, what are you hearing about Antonio
Peers. Obviously he's loved in thelocker room to play love him. But
if the and and the Raiders,I gotta say they play with more it
feels like more heart, more intensity. Since he's taken over, does he
(24:11):
have a chance or shot to keepthat job? I know they got at
some games. But does he havea real shot? Uh no, I
hear you, And yes I dothink he does. And and you're right
on this team is definitely, uhyou know, just wired better to go
out there on a game to gamebasis and compete. You know that that
game against the Kansas City Chiefs,they're up fourteen to nothing. Uh.
(24:33):
You know what what I ultimately wrotewas look with a with a rookie quarterback
and a and a and an interimcoach that's you know, learning his job
on the fly, a brand newoffensive coordinator. The fact of the matter
is, and this isn't a knock, This isn't a criticism, This isn't
a putdown or anything or a slight. The Raiders just aren't aren't, you
know, capable right now of competingat the highest level against a team like
(24:55):
the Kansas City Chiefs. They aren't. They played a pretty good game and
they were they played hard. Andthat's to your point, Rodney, in
terms of, uh, you know, how mentally wired? Uh Antonio has
this team and that's you know this, that's half the battle. Now You've
got to add the talent and ifyou could get both of those working in
in unison talent plus intensity and buyin. Now you're headed to special places.
(25:17):
They're not there yet from a talentperspective, but if you're looking at
all, right, is this coachcapable of leading a group of men?
I think right now after just fourgames he's he's shown that to be the
case without question. VINDI what wouldit take for Brandon Staley to keep his
job at the end of the year. Man, You know, it's it's
(25:38):
hard. It's hard to see thatpath opening back up for him. They'd
have to turn it around. Andthen I think that they would have to
not just make the playoffs, whichis becoming a daunting task right now as
it is. You know, you'vegot the Denver Broncos that are all of
a sudden really hot. It's there'sa lot of cluster in the AFC,
so they got to leap frog abunch of teams just to get there.
(25:59):
And then if they do get there, if that miracle happens, and he's
probably got to win a playoff game. So you know, obviously mathematically they're
still alive, and uh, untilthey until that map doesn't add up,
you still have a chance and youshould still continue to push forward. But
it's it's hard sitting here today,uh to imagine a scenario where where all
of those dominoes fall for the Chargersand and and Brendan Staley in a way
(26:23):
that preserves his job. And Ijust think that it's probably time for the
for the Chargers to look for adifferent a different leader on the on the
sidelines. Bennie, do you seea scenario much like the Raiders, where
they they make a change and giveit to Killen Mood as a kind of
a trial run to see if hecan handle the head coaching job for the
(26:45):
last few weeks of the season andthen make their decision. Yeah, And
you know, in that kind ofa situation, they would be in the
same same situation they would eventually haveto open up the job for for an
extensive interview. But I do seethat there's some merit to that because it
gives Callen a chance to kind of, you know, show you know,
(27:07):
whether or not he's ready or not, or how he's going to handle certain
situations. And I know this fromAntonio's perspective. It's it's a big difference
going from somebody who's making suggestions tosomebody who's literally making decisions. And when
I say, not just play callingor game planning, but like the decisions
that sometimes can be the difference ina football game or not, or winning
and losing. You know, whento call a time out, when to
(27:29):
challenge a play, those types ofbig picture decisions. It's easy to make
suggestions, it's much harder to bethe guy that's making those decisions. And
I think that it would make sensefor the Chargers to kind of get a
handle on that aspect of it.You know, him getting up in front
of a full team and talking andmotivating, you know, him managing a
(27:52):
game, managing the last two minutesof a game or halftime, whatever the
case might be. I think thatwould be all valuable experience for him,
but also valuable data for the Chargersto be able to kind of get a
leg up on what they actually dohave in Kellen Moore, Yeah, it's
stuff Finny as always, man,Thanks for joining us, brother, appreciate
it all right, you guys,have a good one. Take care all
(28:15):
right, Jonas. Let's do it. Man. One pair of tickets for
the Kings versus the Capitals tomorrow nightat the Crip Section one oh six we
call a number, give me anumber. Let's go call her three,
call a number. Three. Thereyou go. Yeah, bring them all
out, Ronnie, bring them allout. I love it. I love
it. Hey, congratulations to Tim. It's San Dimas, you're the winner.
(28:37):
Pair of tickets. Tomorrow the LAKings take on the Washington Capitals with
a face off at seven point thirty. Listen to all LA Kings games and
HD on the iHeartRadio app keyword LaKings Go, Kings Go. All right,
so my man ben Bow just gonnajoin us. He's gonna talk a
(29:00):
little bit about u c l Afootball and the status of Chip Kelly next
hour and we'll get in we'll getinto that. But right now, let's
let's talk about the other team acrosstown. USC. Are you familiar with
them, Rodney little something about alittle bit, little bit Jonas and uh,
you know the line from Godfather tothey're in Cuba and he just found
(29:22):
out that Fredo was the one youbroke my heart, You broke my heart.
Yeah, they broke a lot ofhearts this year meeting USC. And
uh, just not not the endingthat we we wanted. But unfortunately,
and I was saying this to alot of people as the season was going
on, it was to be expected, at least on the way we played.
(29:47):
I was gonna ask you that becauseas as an alum, and you
know, you're not one of theseblind alums who just assumes like, oh,
we got its national championships every yearand this and that and it's but
you you're always very very honest aboutyour critique of USC and you know,
like Petros is very honest too,and somewhat so that you know he's no
(30:07):
longer allowed to do the PA workfor the basketball team. But yeah,
so like, but what what wasyour real expectation of them before the season
started? I was very skeptical.And I know everybody looked at it,
Hey, this is our national titlerun, this is it, and a
(30:29):
lot of excitement, But the waywe lost to Tulane in the bowl game
and the way we kind of finishedthat season, you didn't see real progress
being made on the defensive side ofthe ball. And you would hope that
that would have changed. And givenyou know, Alex Grant, that's what
(30:52):
we were told he was getting thesecond year. There was going to get
some new guys in the portal,was going to help and then the season
started this year and it was muchof the same. From a defensive standpoint.
Offense was still rolling, but thedefense could not stop anybody. And
I'm not talking about stopping you know, Notre Dame or stopping you know,
(31:15):
a Utah team or an Oregon team. I'm talking about, you know,
stopping Arizona State. You know.So it became evident that that we were
going to struggle on that side ofthe ball early in the season to a
lot of us who are are whocan look in the mirror and say we're
not very good, and we weren't. And then you know, there there
came a time where even though Calebhad a really good if you put his
(31:41):
stats up against last year, he'sright there, the same numbers that won
in my Heisman Trophy. But itwas totally different. And I mentioned in
the last segment about offense and quarterbackplay and getting the ball out on time,
and you saw very little of thatfrom the offense, especially as the
season went on. It was Calebscrambling around for his life and making a
(32:05):
big play to keep USC in it. And you can't that's not sustainable.
It's not sustainable at all. Whenyou've got. Sometimes you got to grind
out an eight to nine eleven playdrive and score a touchdown, and it
can't just be big play after bigplay, and that's what USC you know,
turned to rely on and it justagain was not sustainable. So until
(32:29):
we can get the right folks inhere that can handle, meaning upfront offense
and defensive line, it's going tobe a struggle. Because you can find
skill guys. You can find thoseguys all over the country, Guys that
can run four threes and guys thatcan catch. Like you know, we
talked about it, wide receivers are. It's so much competition at the wide
(32:52):
receiver position that you can find alot of guys out there at the high
school level, but finding big guysthat can play, that's a tough journey.
That's where it takes the real recruitingto go into some of the places
in the South, some of theplaces in the Midwest to find those type
of guys. Some of the placesthat are right here in California that you
(33:12):
can find some of those guys.Because moving to the Big ten, you're
gonna have to play defense, youhave to be able to run the ball,
and you're gonna have to play physical, and there's a question whether how
physical we can play right now.Well, look at Michigan Ohio State twenty
two years in a row. Theteam in that game who won the rushing
battle has won the game. Likethat, I'll to tell you, Like,
(33:34):
if you just didn't know anything aboutthat matchup, whoever was playing,
just pencil in. This team's gotmore rushing yards in the other team.
Oh, they're gonna win. Andthat's a twenty two year sample size that
we've got of that. And Ijust I guess the part that's most alarming
about USC, if we're just takinga step back, I would argue they
probably should have lost the Arizona game. If Jedfish knew the overtime rule,
(34:00):
they may have lost that game.So if you consider they probably should have
lost that game, we're talking abouta six and six football team, Yeah,
who's barely Bowl eligible. Like we'relike, what we're really talking about.
It's not just that there're seven andfive. We're talking a team who
a couple of plays here or there, or a couple of points here or
there are barely Bowl eligible and there'sfalling short of expectations. And then there's
(34:27):
that to where Okay, this isa this is a big issue. And
to your point, man, itisn't even just like the Ohio States and
the Michigans. You gotta worry aboutWisconsin runs the ball. We can make
fun of Iowa's offense all we want. That defense gets after it and it
is going to be a slugfest everysingle game. Like it just there's there's
(34:50):
problems there and I know, youknow, and we'll get to it.
Lincoln Riley had some you know,tried to calm the waters and say,
oh, don't worry about it.I'm not going anywhere. But I just
wonder if based on what we've seenfrom his time at Oklahoma, where look,
a lot of these teams look verysimilar to Oklahoma's teams. Yeah,
kick a coach a quarterback, nodoubt about it, But it was that
smash mouth running the football on theinterior work that they were always lacking.
(35:15):
I just wonder if at this pointthis just kind of is who Lincoln Riley
is and USC is going to bein for a rough one. Is to
enter into the Big Ten next year, Yeah, and I think that is
the the fear of a lot oflums and the faithful is how are we
going to match up against those,not, like you said, not just
(35:36):
the Ohio States, Michigans, butWisconsin, Iowa, Penn State. Going
into Happy Valley on that white out, you know how you're gonna over They're
running the ball and you can't stopthem. That's gonna be a problem,
and and so and on top ofthat, it just doesn't feel as the
season went on, it doesn't feellike a quick fix. You know,
(36:01):
it doesn't feel like, Okay,transfer portal, We're just going to get
you know, nine dudes that justcome in and is going to recavoc from
other places. Doesn't work like that. It's almost like you came into this
year and it was like, allright, we know that we are lacking
at that aspect. We know thatwe on the interior. That's a problem
(36:22):
for us, but at least wegot Caleb Williams. Yeah, well this
time it's like, well he's gone, so I'm just looking at it going,
well, you've got the same issuesthat you had last year that you
were worried about, except you don'thave one of the great quarterback talents we've
seen in college football in the lasttwenty thirty years. Yeahs. And that's
(36:46):
the scary part. Yeah, that'sthe scary part for USC is how long
that fix and can you get itturned around? And I think he's going
to have to be a total surrendermaybe of the defensive side of the ball
from Lincoln Rally. And it's almostlike the defense is going to be a
defensive head coach that comes in herethat just runs the defense, yeah,
(37:08):
and does it his way, notnecessarily complimentary to the offense, because if
they don't change that, it's it'sgoing to be a lot more ugly games
that we saw in the latter partof the season where you know, USC
goes into the game. Imagine you'rethe You're Caleb Williams, and you go
into every single game going, Igotta find a way to score forty points
(37:30):
for us today or we don't winwho we don't win. And it's not
just against Oregon or Washington, it'swe got to score forty against cal.
We got to score forty against Arizonain order for US to win. And
(37:51):
even going back to those great PeteCarroll teams right with Matt Lionard and Reggie
Bush and Lindell White, Carson Palmerand you just that stretch was unbelievable on
the ice offensive side of the ball. It was the defense though, that
wreaked havoc. Oh. Yeah,it was the defense that put fear and
got turnovers and and and shut downa powerful Oklahoma team in the National title
(38:16):
game with Adrian Peterson didn't let himhave anything. It was the defense that
really was the catalyst of all thoseteams. Yes, the liners and bushes
got all the tension, but itwas really the defense and that's where us
he has to get back to.Yeah, it's gonna be interesting to see
how they perform, how did UCLAperforms in the Big Ten. But I
(38:37):
think they both those teams could bein for rude awakening next fall. Yep
eh. Speaking of UCLA, BenBolt is gonna join us at the top
of the hour and talk a littlebit about UCLA football and basketball. He
covers UCLA football and basketball for theLa Times, so stay with us.
Also, you know, Jonas,we're gonna need some spirituality. Yeah,
(39:00):
absolutely, gotta have that. Onthe other side, A five seventy Elites
And we continue on AM five seventyLA Sports. My man Jonas Knox is
in for Fred Rogan today a coupleof housekeeping things. Listen, we're gonna
give away a pair of tickets forthe Kings versus Capitals this hour. It's
tomorrow night at the Crypt section oneoh six, So stay tuned for that
(00:21):
giveaway of tickets. Vinnie Bosier isgoing to join us here in about fifteen
to twenty minutes, and before hedoes, Jonas, I want to I
want to talk about just a stateof the NFL with you, just kind
of want to get your takes onsome of these things, and also,
you know, you take on someof the Brady comments that were made that
(00:42):
he made about the NFL and whereit is now, but just in in
in general about the NFL. Wesaw Frank Wright get fired yesterday after you
know, the Panthers had a onein ten start and it just looks they
they look so far away, andhe had to say, poor anybody playing
(01:03):
in the NFL, but poor BryceYoung. He's up against a tall order
and trying to make that happen.You know, it almost looks like Bryce
Young could use some guys like Idon't know Christian McCaffrey or DJ Moore.
Yeah, And I'm almost look like, yeah, like, maybe don't include
your best wide receiver in Dj Moorein a trade to bring in a young
quarterback that you're gonna draft like that. But Frank writes the fall guy like
(01:26):
he's gonna get twenty million dollars togo away. And he's the first,
you know, coach since the nineteenseventy merger to be fired in back to
back seasons, And I'm like,all right, like if that's if that's
what you think stability looks like,if you're David Tepper, the owner in
Carolina to Orre, you just firecoaches left and right, like I don't.
I mean, he's been there sincetwenty eighteen. The next coach will
(01:49):
be the fifth coach they've had.It's like it's kind of wild in a
league, in a sport that continuitymeans everything, and people know this yet
the owners and mostly it's the owners, and sometimes you know because now general
managers are falling into almost the headcoaching situations where they're getting fired too.
(02:12):
But they got such a quick triggerfinger that continuity doesn't matter to them.
And now they're going to bring ina new coach, and if Bryce Young
doesn't improve in one year, thatguy's gonna be on the hot seat.
I mean, there used to bea time where you know, coaches usually
got four years to try to getit right at least go in the right
direction. Quarterbacks, I can rememberthat that that you were evaluated not necessarily
(02:35):
on one year, one year,two, but it was that third year
four quarterback that they needed to seeprogress. So you felt that as a
quarterback coming in, Yeah, I'mgonna get three years to kind of prove
myself. I'm gonna get three yearsto make sure that they know that they
got the right guy. Now it'syou got ten games, you got maybe
eight games, and we're gonna runyou out of town, like you remember.
(02:55):
So there was the because it's funnybecause people are talking about c J.
Stroud, who's gonna be offensive rookiethe year. He's been fantastic for
Houston, and everyone's doing the manOhman to Carolina screw this up because they
took Bryce Young over CJ. Stroud, And I'm looking at it going first
of all, c J. Stroud'sin a much better situation than Bryce Young,
is in Caroline is really far awayfrom being a good football team.
(03:20):
This is a tear down rebuild witha brand new coach and brand new assistants
and all that. And I'm watchingthis and I'm like, I've been down.
I've heard this story somewhere before wherea team drafted a quarterback at one
and then the early indication was theyblew it because the guy who was drafted
to ended up being better to starttheir career. Oh that's right. It
(03:42):
was Jared Goff, Carson Wentz.And last I checked, Jared Goff still
playing, and yes he struggled thepast couple of games, but the Detroit
Lions looked like they're gonna win theNFC North, they're gonna be a playoff
team. And Carson Wentz just signedas a backup to Matt Stafford. So
I'm just saying, like, itdepends on what's there this idea that you're
just going to draft a quarterback andhey, he'll fix everything, like you
(04:05):
know that, Just like, look, Caleb Williams did everything he could to
try and help USC, and yethere we are talking about a seven and
five football team, like you needsome help, and and this this idea
that boy, he's the number oneoverall pick and he won a Heisman,
but he needs help, and yeah, I just I don't understand how that
(04:26):
just falls on the coach and wejust go, well, we need to
see better results from him. Okay, hop ab out here's some better results.
Tell the GM not to trade awayDj Moore, who, by the
way, is up to one thousandyards receiving with the Bears, who's starting
quarterback, missed four or five gamesand he was playing with Tyson Bagent,
who is a D two undrafted playerout of Shepherd University in West Virginia,
(04:53):
and he still is at a thousandyards. You don't think he could help
Bryce Young's development. That's the partthat doesn't make any sense to me.
Bears are gonna have Carolina's number onepick. Uh oh, yeah, they're
sitting pretty like they're gonna like whenwhen you when your draft projections are looking
like you know, there's a there'sa way where the Bears could end up
with Caleb Williams and Marvin Harrison Juniorin the draft next year, which,
(05:16):
by the way, for anybody whohasn't seen Marvin Harrison Junior, he is
und believable he's a stud, he'sbig, can run. I mean,
he's he is the guy coming outof college. But you're right about that.
I don't care who you bring in. You can bring in Caleb Williams,
and if they don't have the rightsituation or they don't have it solidified
(05:39):
up front in terms of the offensiveline, he's gonna struggle. He's going
to struggle. You switch Bryce Youngand c J. Stroud, put c
J. Stroud in Carolina and putBryce Young in in Houston. Not saying
that Bryce Young would do the samething to c J. Stroud, but
he certainly would be playing better thanhe's playing in Carolina. Agree, and
(06:00):
c J. Stroud would struggle inCarolina. And it nearly one hundred percent
matters where you end up in whatteam you go to. And it's not
a quick fix. So this noes. You know, we're gonna fire Frank
Reich and who else you gonna bringit, You're gonna bring in another I
mean, you talk about fitting thecategory for a young rookie, number one
pick quarterback who won a Heisman Trophy, and you pair him with a quarterback
(06:26):
coach who's been in the played inthe league for fifteen years and has coached
big time players throughout his coaching career, And yeah, you're gonna give him
ten games, eleven games to workit out with your number one pick,
Heisman Trophy winning quarterback. And itjust makes sense. And it feels like
we're back to this and look,you played for Washington and Dan Snyder to
(06:46):
show this story. But it justit feels like we're at the here we
go again. Another impulsive owner whohas no patience, who thinks that because
he had success running a hedge fund, hedge fund company, or whatever it
was he was doing previously, thathe's gonna know what a winning football team
looks like and what it takes toIt's like, dude, you got to
(07:08):
give this some time, Like thisidea to your point where it used to
be a quarterback. We get twothree years and it was like, okay,
then we'll see what we've got.Ye I mean, there's like there's
people that are like are sitting therewatching this breakdown and go, man,
you know, if Carolina had thefirst round pick again, maybe they'd go
back and take a quarterback again.So just like that, like we were
(07:30):
right last year, but through elevengames, when if you look at the
roster. They've got problems, they'vegot issues. We're just gonna trust that
whatever this owner says, because he'sgot enough money to buy the team,
that that's the direction we need togo in. I don't I just don't
understand. It would be like aconstruction worker, somebody doing construction who's listening
to the show right now, maybethey're on their lunch break or whatever.
(07:51):
Somebody says to you, hey man, you are the best. You've got
all the talent in the world.We're gonna need you to build that house
right over there, and the bestpart is we're not going to give you
any tools to do it. Havefun, buddy, ye, good luck.
It's like, what do we do? Like, like, where's the
logic in that? I just Idon't understand the impatience in the NFL these
days. It's kind of it's it'sjust crazy to see how this stuff is.
(08:13):
Yes, it's you know, it'sthe world we live in, right,
immediate gratification and if you don't getit, I'm going to make a
change. And I've got so muchmoney. I can do what I want
to with my pocketbook, and Ican do I can I can change coaches,
I can change quarterbacks. I cando whatever I want to do,
But you're always going to stay whereyou're where you're at right now, Frank,
I'm going to get better. IfFrank Reich's getting twenty million dollars just
(08:35):
to go take off, see you, buddy, it's like all right.
And I think Frank Reich was quotedas saying that, you know, his
days of being a coach aren't over, but his NFL journey has probably reached
his end because he's probably like,look, I'm tired of this crap,
Like I'm tired of getting blamed forbeing the reason why we couldn't win more
games in Indianapolis. When Andrew Luckretired on the sideline in a preseason game,
(08:58):
I kind of thought that was goingto be the quarterback I was working
with, and instead it was arevolving door and the organization making trade after
trade to try and fix the problemand those guys underperforming. And then he
goes to Carolina and it's like he'sfinding out. Oh, so this is
what Matt Ruhle was talking about whenMatt Rule was here and said I was
(09:18):
given a seven year contract to leaveBaylor because I was told we're going to
have time, and Matt Rule wason record saying this going into year two.
Listen, I was told this isseven year commitment. So that's what
I was told from the owner.And he didn't even get through year two
and he got fired. Frank Craigdidn't even get through year one and got
clipped it. None of it makesany sense to me. As long as
(09:39):
he's yeah, as long as he'sowners, it's going to be it's going
to be similar situations because you don'tObviously he's got he's got the the history
from from his own mind that he'sbeen successful doing what he's doing things the
way he's done them right, Sowhy should this be different the NFL?
(10:00):
Why should this be different. I'mgonna do it my way, and I've
been successful in other areas of business. This is no different and I'm gonna
do it this way. Well,you find yourself in five wins, six
win seasons for the next five sixyears until you change that philosophy. I
just absolutely, one hundred percent don'tget it. And you're right about where
you go because if you look upand look back at Carson Wentz, if
(10:22):
he doesn't get hurt. He's theMVP of the league that year. Yep,
they still probably go to the SuperBowl, and you know, who
knows if they win it or not, but they have home field all the
way through. And we're talking abouta different situation. Maybe there's a statue
of him in Philadelphia as opposed asopposed to his backup course, right,
having a statue in Philadelphia. Yeah, it's just these like being an out
(10:46):
look. Being an owner in theNFL would be awesome if you had a
real understanding as to what the NFLis. But instead now it's just if
you got enough money, you canbuy a team and then just start,
you know, making the decisions impulsivemoves that cast people their jobs and just
pay people twenty million dollars to goaway. It's a it's a wonderful world
and you can get it. Wonderfulworld. Everybody should have that kind of
deal or other Jimbo Fisher, whichis however, somebody say Jimbo Fisher's contract
(11:11):
should go down in the Hall ofFame. On just get the way seventy
million dollars and it's all good,man, it's all good. I'm going
fishing. You may not see mefor a couple of years. If I'm
jumping you think get been Bobby Bonior a happy hour somewhere, just going
hey, man, look what wedid, Look what we fulled off.
(11:35):
Yeah, I want one of thosedeals. Man, Come on, come
on, stepping up, coming upon the other side, Bennie Bons and
years here, he's gonna talk somemore NFL. We'll get into it.
Man. Jonas knocks in for FredRogan and five seventy LA Sports. Oh,
keep it coming, Ronnie. That'sthat Christmas groove. I love what
I'm talking about, Rodney Pete.Jonas knocks on a beautiful Tuesday. Hey,
(12:07):
Before before Vinnie gets on, Idid want to touch on and get
your thoughts on on what Tom Bradywas was saying about mediocre football in the
NFL right now. I know alot of people went at him, especially
the current guys, went at himabout what are you talking about? Well,
let's bring him on and he canjudge this conversation too. Let's bring
(12:28):
on our man, Vinnie Boceing,your our NFL insider, Vinnie, how
are you I'm doing good? Weare good, We are good. I
just before he came on, Iwas just asking Jonas what he thought about
Tom Brady's comments about mediocre NFL footballRight now, go ahead, Jonan,
I'll let you do that one.Well, I just look, I mean,
(12:48):
he's not. I think the bigpart part of the conversation that maybe
didn't get as much attention because peoplelooked at that and ran with the well
he's calling it mediocre football was heand Aaron Rodgers have both talked about how
much softer the game is that it'scaused players to, you know, work
on a skill set that back inthe day it was like, well,
(13:09):
that wouldn't be applicable here because ifyou go to make that throw over the
middle, somebody is going to getannihilated. And it's like, from a
health standpoint, it's good for thegame. But in the football a lot
of us grew up with we lookat some of these calls and go,
that was a roughing the passer.Yeah, Like back in the day,
that was celebrated and glorified, AndI think that was part of where Tom
(13:31):
Brady was coming from. And fromthat standpoint, he's not wrong. But
as far as questioning, you know, the mediocrity, you can't deny that
the athletes that are in today's NFLat every position are better than the athletes
that we've seen in a lot oferas throughout time to where there are kickers,
Like even just look at the kickerposition. It used to be if
a kicker made a fifty five yardfield goal, it was like, man,
(13:54):
oh man. Now it's like,yeah, that'll work, Like why
not you got it sixty Amondola forArizona or for Houston. It hasn't kicked
a fifty plus yard field goal sincehigh school. We'll trot him out there
at fifty nine and he hit itoff the crossbar. But it's just it's
just a different game. And youknow, Tom Brady was letting Lett him
have it a little bit. Yeah, it is a little bit of a
(14:16):
different game, you know. Andyou know, in some ways I do
agree with them, but you know, you have to put into it into
context. There's rules that were putin place to protect players, and you
know, I know I know this, and I know Rodney's probably you know,
experienced the same thing. But youknow, when you talk to some
of these older players, you canyou can see the effect that football has
(14:39):
had on them, and they're they'retoo young to be having that kind of
effect, you know, for thateffect to be taking place at that stage
of their life. So there waspractical reasons, you know, humane reasons
why you know, certain rules wereput into place. Now I will say
this, I do think that refereesneed to either be trained better or there
needs to be some sort of anarbitrary you know, I in the sky
(15:03):
maybe to to look at some ofthese some of these calls that are being
made. You know, some ofthem are extremely valid, some of them
are extremely questionable, And I thinkyou if you could mitigate some of those
questionable calls, where you're going,that's not a pass, that's not a
roughing the passer. You know,the player actually tried to roll out of
the way or not put all hisweight on him, or or hit him
(15:24):
in a way that you know waswas within their rules. But it's hard
when you're a referee to call thesethings in real time when there's been when
there's such a precedent or such anemphasis being put on player safety. You
know, so I get the callsfrom the referees perspective when when guys are
flying around there one hundred miles anhour, But I do think there needs
(15:46):
to be some sort of oversight intime, in real time, not one
that says two days later, ohwow, the referees kind of blew that.
No, somebody that uh is isin real time during that game.
Because some of these calls effects outcomesof games literally. So I understand where
he's coming from. That from youknow, that standpoint, I disagree on
(16:07):
the mediocrity of football. I thinkeach era has its version of football and
style of play, and there's there'syou know, tactical differences, there's schematic
differences, there's all you know,differences in in eras, and I just
think that this is the version offootball now, and I don't sense any
mediocrity. There's a lot of greatplayers, a lot of you know,
high end quarterbacks, you know,within that top ten, there's there's great
(16:30):
wide receivers. I think we're inan age right now where wide receivers are
about as good as it gets.So great defensive line play, defensive end
play. So I disagree with himon the mediocrity level. Yeah, No,
I hear you, and I I'mwith you, guys. I agree
with him on you know, someof the calls that are being made and
looked they did, they did someI think really good things to protect the
(16:52):
players, and I think over time, and we're seeing it now where guys
are aware of how they talk thequarterback. We're seeing it with Aaron Donald,
how he just kind of gently laysthe quarterback down with the sack.
Now it doesn't fall on top ofhim. Some guys have struggled with that
part of the game. The bestpart about Aaron Donald is that he doesn't
have to take it out in thequarterback. He's in a fish fight with
(17:15):
an offensive lineman every game. Everygame, there's three of them on the
same play. So yeah, hehas to deal with that. But you
got to be adjusting to the waythe game is being called. And and
he's right about you know, ifyou're a quarterback and there's a tight window
over the middle, you you're notnecessarily throwing that ball because Ronnie Lott's in
the back field and the defensive backfieldgoing to knock your receiver out. So
(17:38):
you you you're very aware of thator you're it makes you be more accurate
with the football as a quarterback asopposed to I'm just gonna throw it.
He can go up high and catchit because he's he can't get hit while
he's exposed, so there's no dangerthere, whereas before you better put it
on his body, and and andso you you had the responsibility as a
(18:00):
quarterback to protect your receivers. Soin that respect, I get what he's
saying. But I also get whathe's saying, and I think he's really
talking to the to the quarterbacks outthere, is that we're in such a
seven on seven kind of NFL nowwhere it's it's pass happy. The running
game text takes a backseat to thepassing game. And you're right, Vinnie,
I think the receivers nowadays are asgood as it's ever been and and
(18:23):
and not even close to what it'sever been. So I agree with you
on that, but there are badhabits. I think you see a lot
of quarterbacks making and doing right nowbecause it's in the shotgun all the time.
There's the footwork is off on alot of guys, and you're seeing,
(18:44):
you know, quarterbacks mispasses and notas efficient in terms of accuracy as
they as they should be because itis a pass happy league, and you
don't drop back as more and youdon't get your feet set and plays are
not designed to be on time asmuch as they want as it used to
be. Look, it's copycat league. And so when you see Patrick Mahomes
running around there and running around inthe backfield and making it, you know,
(19:07):
spectacular plays, it's like, okay, we're gonna design all that.
Well, everybody's not Patrick Mahomes andyou can't get everybody can't get away with
that. And I think that thatis the frustration is that you're seeing that.
I see that with Caleb Williams incollege. You know it is it's
frustrating that there is not real designplays that happen on time. For most
(19:29):
of those games. It is shotgunsnap that Caleb run around and trying to
make a play for us. Youknow it was it was okay, there's
a five step drop one hitch,get it out, seven step drop two
hitch, get it out. Andyou see very little of that. Especially
I would imagine, you know,not to step into to your cleats too
(19:49):
much. You'll you'll tell this ifI'm right or wrong about it. Would
imagine you were learning a lot ofthat in college too, And that's just
not the case right now. Andyou know, I the coaches in the
NFL, I talk to them allthe time about the transition that college players
need. Heck, not even thetransition, but being able to project as
(20:11):
a scouting department, as a generalmanager, as a coach on who can
translate and who can't because it's adifferent game in college football. You know,
I was talking to Michael Mayer,the Raiders tight end. He's like,
man, I'm telling you in college, he goes not to knock anything,
but our players were one word playshere in the NFL, it's a
whole sentence for crying out loud.So to learn that as a tight end
(20:32):
and every other position on the fieldto do that, but also the technique
and the fundamentals and the quarterbacks notplaying under center in college football, so
there's also a you know, andyou can't. You don't have time to
always figure it out, so youhave to make do. I think it
was Josh McDaniels told me one time, Hey, wherever we are as an
offense, whether it's a first base, that could be a third base the
(20:53):
starter season, that's where we gotto start and go play and go compete.
There's no time to get in trainingcamp from you know to third base
and start the season on third base. Yeah, sometimes, especially with young
players, have to start in thebatter's box or first base. So and
now I'm talking across the board interms of fundamentals, the style of play
(21:15):
and all that. So it allcontributes to it. And a lot of
these younger quarterbacks are just coming intothe NFL from almost a different planet.
And that goes for offensive linemen,wide receivers and on and on and on.
So the NFL sometimes has to makedo with what they have, what
the college football is supplying them with, and try to win as quickly as
(21:36):
possible and develop those young players asquickly as possible. And there is a
cause and effect to that, Vinnie. As far as you mentioned Josh McDaniels,
his former team, the Raiders,who I know you cover and are
are you know constantly you know,keep an eye on any reports, rumors,
things you're hearing. There was aname that popped up that you tweeted
out a short time ago about apotential head coaching replacement if they decide to
(22:00):
go in another direction from Antonio Pierce. What are you hearing? Yeah?
And David Shaw, the former Stanfordcoach, and you know, just for
some clarity, no matter what happensto the Raiders this year, even if
they go on to win the SuperBowl. By league rule, you have
to open up both the head coachingjob and the general manager job up to
(22:21):
an extensive search. And you know, you know they've tried what the NFL
has done, and I have bloggedthem for this, frankly, is is
open it up to the extent whereyou can't do. You know, in
the past, I think some teamscould have been accused of doing token interviews,
let's put it that way, oryou know, just to try to
lip service certain things. Well,now, regardless of what the situation is,
(22:44):
you have to go out of yourbuilding and interview external candidates. You
know, at least two of peopleof color or or a woman candidates as
well. So so by rule theyhave to they have to go through an
extent of search, you know,for the head coach and general managers job.
And I've talked to Mark Davis andhe's open, you know, to
(23:04):
wherever that search might lead him.And it might lead right back to Antonio
Peers and Champ Kelly, but itmight also lead him someplace else. And
I do know that you know someof David Shaw, who is taken this
year off. He's working I thinkwith the NFL network now. I think
he's eager to get back into coaching, and I think he's got his eye
on the on the NFL. Ithink that that's sort of where you know
(23:26):
his next journey is going to be. And that's where I actually started.
UH. Robbie, I don't know, did you if you played for him
or or cross paths with him,but he was he started in the NFL.
Yeah, I was there with himwhen he was with he came with
John Gruden when he went to UH, went to the Raiders, and I
was there for a couple of yearswith David Shaw and go way back with
him, even back to Philadelphia dayswith him. So he's a he's a
(23:48):
great coach and and we'll do hewill do well in the NFL, I
believe. But on on that sameline, what are you hearing about Antonio
Peers. Obviously he's loved in thelocker room to play love him. But
if the and and the Raiders,I gotta say they play with more it
feels like more heart, more intensity. Since he's taken over, does he
(24:11):
have a chance or shot to keepthat job? I know they got at
some games. But does he havea real shot? Uh no, I
hear you, And yes I dothink he does. And and you're right
on this team is definitely, uhyou know, just wired better to go
out there on a game to gamebasis and compete. You know that that
game against the Kansas City Chiefs,they're up fourteen to nothing. Uh.
(24:33):
You know what what I ultimately wrotewas look with a with a rookie quarterback
and a and a and an interimcoach that's you know, learning his job
on the fly, a brand newoffensive coordinator. The fact of the matter
is, and this isn't a knock, This isn't a criticism, This isn't
a putdown or anything or a slight. The Raiders just aren't aren't, you
know, capable right now of competingat the highest level against a team like
(24:55):
the Kansas City Chiefs. They aren't. They played a pretty good game and
they were they played hard. Andthat's to your point, Rodney, in
terms of, uh, you know, how mentally wired? Uh Antonio has
this team and that's you know this, that's half the battle. Now You've
got to add the talent and ifyou could get both of those working in
in unison talent plus intensity and buyin. Now you're headed to special places.
(25:17):
They're not there yet from a talentperspective, but if you're looking at
all, right, is this coachcapable of leading a group of men?
I think right now after just fourgames he's he's shown that to be the
case without question. VINDI what wouldit take for Brandon Staley to keep his
job at the end of the year. Man, You know, it's it's
(25:38):
hard. It's hard to see thatpath opening back up for him. They'd
have to turn it around. Andthen I think that they would have to
not just make the playoffs, whichis becoming a daunting task right now as
it is. You know, you'vegot the Denver Broncos that are all of
a sudden really hot. It's there'sa lot of cluster in the AFC,
so they got to leap frog abunch of teams just to get there.
(25:59):
And then if they do get there, if that miracle happens, and he's
probably got to win a playoff game. So you know, obviously mathematically they're
still alive, and uh, untilthey until that map doesn't add up,
you still have a chance and youshould still continue to push forward. But
it's it's hard sitting here today,uh to imagine a scenario where where all
of those dominoes fall for the Chargersand and and Brendan Staley in a way
(26:23):
that preserves his job. And Ijust think that it's probably time for the
for the Chargers to look for adifferent a different leader on the on the
sidelines. Bennie, do you seea scenario much like the Raiders, where
they they make a change and giveit to Killen Mood as a kind of
a trial run to see if hecan handle the head coaching job for the
(26:45):
last few weeks of the season andthen make their decision. Yeah, And
you know, in that kind ofa situation, they would be in the
same same situation they would eventually haveto open up the job for for an
extensive interview. But I do seethat there's some merit to that because it
gives Callen a chance to kind of, you know, show you know,
(27:07):
whether or not he's ready or not, or how he's going to handle certain
situations. And I know this fromAntonio's perspective. It's it's a big difference
going from somebody who's making suggestions tosomebody who's literally making decisions. And when
I say, not just play callingor game planning, but like the decisions
that sometimes can be the difference ina football game or not, or winning
and losing. You know, whento call a time out, when to
(27:29):
challenge a play, those types ofbig picture decisions. It's easy to make
suggestions, it's much harder to bethe guy that's making those decisions. And
I think that it would make sensefor the Chargers to kind of get a
handle on that aspect of it.You know, him getting up in front
of a full team and talking andmotivating, you know, him managing a
(27:52):
game, managing the last two minutesof a game or halftime, whatever the
case might be. I think thatwould be all valuable experience for him,
but also valuable data for the Chargersto be able to kind of get a
leg up on what they actually dohave in Kellen Moore, Yeah, it's
stuff Finny as always, man,Thanks for joining us, brother, appreciate
it all right, you guys,have a good one. Take care all
(28:15):
right, Jonas. Let's do it. Man. One pair of tickets for
the Kings versus the Capitals tomorrow nightat the Crip Section one oh six we
call a number, give me anumber. Let's go call her three,
call a number. Three. Thereyou go. Yeah, bring them all
out, Ronnie, bring them allout. I love it. I love
it. Hey, congratulations to Tim. It's San Dimas, you're the winner.
(28:37):
Pair of tickets. Tomorrow the LAKings take on the Washington Capitals with
a face off at seven point thirty. Listen to all LA Kings games and
HD on the iHeartRadio app keyword LaKings Go, Kings Go. All right,
so my man ben Bow just gonnajoin us. He's gonna talk a
(29:00):
little bit about u c l Afootball and the status of Chip Kelly next
hour and we'll get in we'll getinto that. But right now, let's
let's talk about the other team acrosstown. USC. Are you familiar with
them, Rodney little something about alittle bit, little bit Jonas and uh,
you know the line from Godfather tothey're in Cuba and he just found
(29:22):
out that Fredo was the one youbroke my heart, You broke my heart.
Yeah, they broke a lot ofhearts this year meeting USC. And
uh, just not not the endingthat we we wanted. But unfortunately,
and I was saying this to alot of people as the season was going
on, it was to be expected, at least on the way we played.
(29:47):
I was gonna ask you that becauseas as an alum, and you
know, you're not one of theseblind alums who just assumes like, oh,
we got its national championships every yearand this and that and it's but
you you're always very very honest aboutyour critique of USC and you know,
like Petros is very honest too,and somewhat so that you know he's no
(30:07):
longer allowed to do the PA workfor the basketball team. But yeah,
so like, but what what wasyour real expectation of them before the season
started? I was very skeptical.And I know everybody looked at it,
Hey, this is our national titlerun, this is it, and a
(30:29):
lot of excitement, But the waywe lost to Tulane in the bowl game
and the way we kind of finishedthat season, you didn't see real progress
being made on the defensive side ofthe ball. And you would hope that
that would have changed. And givenyou know, Alex Grant, that's what
(30:52):
we were told he was getting thesecond year. There was going to get
some new guys in the portal,was going to help and then the season
started this year and it was muchof the same. From a defensive standpoint.
Offense was still rolling, but thedefense could not stop anybody. And
I'm not talking about stopping you know, Notre Dame or stopping you know,
(31:15):
a Utah team or an Oregon team. I'm talking about, you know,
stopping Arizona State. You know.So it became evident that that we were
going to struggle on that side ofthe ball early in the season to a
lot of us who are are whocan look in the mirror and say we're
not very good, and we weren't. And then you know, there there
came a time where even though Calebhad a really good if you put his
(31:41):
stats up against last year, he'sright there, the same numbers that won
in my Heisman Trophy. But itwas totally different. And I mentioned in
the last segment about offense and quarterbackplay and getting the ball out on time,
and you saw very little of thatfrom the offense, especially as the
season went on. It was Calebscrambling around for his life and making a
(32:05):
big play to keep USC in it. And you can't that's not sustainable.
It's not sustainable at all. Whenyou've got. Sometimes you got to grind
out an eight to nine eleven playdrive and score a touchdown, and it
can't just be big play after bigplay, and that's what USC you know,
turned to rely on and it justagain was not sustainable. So until
(32:29):
we can get the right folks inhere that can handle, meaning upfront offense
and defensive line, it's going tobe a struggle. Because you can find
skill guys. You can find thoseguys all over the country, Guys that
can run four threes and guys thatcan catch. Like you know, we
talked about it, wide receivers are. It's so much competition at the wide
(32:52):
receiver position that you can find alot of guys out there at the high
school level, but finding big guysthat can play, that's a tough journey.
That's where it takes the real recruitingto go into some of the places
in the South, some of theplaces in the Midwest to find those type
of guys. Some of the placesthat are right here in California that you
(33:12):
can find some of those guys.Because moving to the Big ten, you're
gonna have to play defense, youhave to be able to run the ball,
and you're gonna have to play physical, and there's a question whether how
physical we can play right now.Well, look at Michigan Ohio State twenty
two years in a row. Theteam in that game who won the rushing
battle has won the game. Likethat, I'll to tell you, Like,
(33:34):
if you just didn't know anything aboutthat matchup, whoever was playing,
just pencil in. This team's gotmore rushing yards in the other team.
Oh, they're gonna win. Andthat's a twenty two year sample size that
we've got of that. And Ijust I guess the part that's most alarming
about USC, if we're just takinga step back, I would argue they
probably should have lost the Arizona game. If Jedfish knew the overtime rule,
(34:00):
they may have lost that game.So if you consider they probably should have
lost that game, we're talking abouta six and six football team, Yeah,
who's barely Bowl eligible. Like we'relike, what we're really talking about.
It's not just that there're seven andfive. We're talking a team who
a couple of plays here or there, or a couple of points here or
there are barely Bowl eligible and there'sfalling short of expectations. And then there's
(34:27):
that to where Okay, this isa this is a big issue. And
to your point, man, itisn't even just like the Ohio States and
the Michigans. You gotta worry aboutWisconsin runs the ball. We can make
fun of Iowa's offense all we want. That defense gets after it and it
is going to be a slugfest everysingle game. Like it just there's there's
(34:50):
problems there and I know, youknow, and we'll get to it.
Lincoln Riley had some you know,tried to calm the waters and say,
oh, don't worry about it.I'm not going anywhere. But I just
wonder if based on what we've seenfrom his time at Oklahoma, where look,
a lot of these teams look verysimilar to Oklahoma's teams. Yeah,
kick a coach a quarterback, nodoubt about it, But it was that
smash mouth running the football on theinterior work that they were always lacking.
(35:15):
I just wonder if at this pointthis just kind of is who Lincoln Riley
is and USC is going to bein for a rough one. Is to
enter into the Big Ten next year, Yeah, and I think that is
the the fear of a lot oflums and the faithful is how are we
going to match up against those,not, like you said, not just
(35:36):
the Ohio States, Michigans, butWisconsin, Iowa, Penn State. Going
into Happy Valley on that white out, you know how you're gonna over They're
running the ball and you can't stopthem. That's gonna be a problem,
and and so and on top ofthat, it just doesn't feel as the
season went on, it doesn't feellike a quick fix. You know,
(36:01):
it doesn't feel like, Okay,transfer portal, We're just going to get
you know, nine dudes that justcome in and is going to recavoc from
other places. Doesn't work like that. It's almost like you came into this
year and it was like, allright, we know that we are lacking
at that aspect. We know thatwe on the interior. That's a problem
(36:22):
for us, but at least wegot Caleb Williams. Yeah, well this
time it's like, well he's gone, so I'm just looking at it going,
well, you've got the same issuesthat you had last year that you
were worried about, except you don'thave one of the great quarterback talents we've
seen in college football in the lasttwenty thirty years. Yeahs. And that's
(36:46):
the scary part. Yeah, that'sthe scary part for USC is how long
that fix and can you get itturned around? And I think he's going
to have to be a total surrendermaybe of the defensive side of the ball
from Lincoln Rally. And it's almostlike the defense is going to be a
defensive head coach that comes in herethat just runs the defense, yeah,
(37:08):
and does it his way, notnecessarily complimentary to the offense, because if
they don't change that, it's it'sgoing to be a lot more ugly games
that we saw in the latter partof the season where you know, USC
goes into the game. Imagine you'rethe You're Caleb Williams, and you go
into every single game going, Igotta find a way to score forty points
(37:30):
for us today or we don't winwho we don't win. And it's not
just against Oregon or Washington, it'swe got to score forty against cal.
We got to score forty against Arizonain order for US to win. And
(37:51):
even going back to those great PeteCarroll teams right with Matt Lionard and Reggie
Bush and Lindell White, Carson Palmerand you just that stretch was unbelievable on
the ice offensive side of the ball. It was the defense though, that
wreaked havoc. Oh. Yeah,it was the defense that put fear and
got turnovers and and and shut downa powerful Oklahoma team in the National title
(38:16):
game with Adrian Peterson didn't let himhave anything. It was the defense that
really was the catalyst of all thoseteams. Yes, the liners and bushes
got all the tension, but itwas really the defense and that's where us
he has to get back to.Yeah, it's gonna be interesting to see
how they perform, how did UCLAperforms in the Big Ten. But I
(38:37):
think they both those teams could bein for rude awakening next fall. Yep
eh. Speaking of UCLA, BenBolt is gonna join us at the top
of the hour and talk a littlebit about UCLA football and basketball. He
covers UCLA football and basketball for theLa Times, so stay with us.
Also, you know, Jonas,we're gonna need some spirituality. Yeah,
(39:00):
absolutely, gotta have that. Onthe other side, A five seventy Elites
Roggin And Rodney News
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!