The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Gruden's a BUST; Chargers Job is Gold; Rodgers Respects LaFleur; Real Deal Louis Riddick; Taysom's Chiefs Test; Week 15 3 for the $; Mailbag

Episode Date: December 18, 2020

In this episode, John looks at the Chargers taking down the Raiders on TNF, explains why Jon Gruden's return to coaching has been a bust after 3 years, why his experience working with Louis Riddick in Philly made him a believer, and why Nick Saban is actually somehow underrated. He also gives out his Week 15 3 for the $ ATS picks, and answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag. Follow John on Twitter and SUBSCRIBE now to get all the latest content!! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show

on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J.

And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Did you know Amazon provides ways of working that fit your lifestyle? They know you value your time outside of work, juggling family, school, friends, or other activities. That's why they offer a variety of shifts that work for you. There are full-time, part-time, and even temporary opportunities that can work with your schedule with great starting pay and sign-on bonuses. If you want a career that fits and adapts to your lifestyle, head to Amazon.com slash apply.

Amazon is a proud equal opportunity employer. What is going on, everybody, John Middlecop, three and out podcast. It's about 9.30. Getting to this a little late. Watched a little Thursday night football. Did not go well for the Raiders. Justin Herbert shines Marriota not bad

We will dive into that Gruden 100 million dollars For 7 and 7 I thought $100 million Bies you a little bit more But guess not We're gonna

Aaron Rogers killing it Taysam Hill has a pretty big week My guy Louis Riddick Interviewing all over the NFL for jobs Three for the money I got three picks Feel pretty good about Nick Sabin and Alabama

Alabama crushing it again. At John Middlecoff is the Insta. Middlecoff mail bag. It's where I answer your questions. Get up in those DMs. You'll get your questions answered. Also, for those of you that listen on the herd feed, greatly appreciate it.

Subscribe to the three and out podcast on Spotify, on Apple, on iTunes. Subscribe to the podcast if you like the show. Appreciate everyone listening and supporting. It helps. I see you. We love you. Let's dive into Thursday night. Start with the Raiders.

Mark Davis. had a franchise that even in the NFL where every franchise makes money and they were while they were a considered a smaller market because they were in Oakland

they were in the Bay Area so when their games played on TV for the last several decades they played in front of 8 million people they were in one of the largest markets in America and they could not make any money their stadium situation was a disaster for whatever reason around here

they couldn't do you know they couldn't do business with other the top we had so much cash around here Silicon Valley cash everywhere Ask Jed York He's turning a franchise You know in a 10 year span It's like one of the highest valued franchises

In the entire league Mark Davis could not do it So he gets this move to Vegas And he's going to Las Vegas He's going to make a lot more money He needs someone to sell And for whatever reason He thinks John Gruden is the greatest

things since slice bread. So he offers him $100 million in John Gruden to Greece. And John Gruden had ridden one of the greatest hype trains we've ever seen. I'd say like the last five years he was on Monday Night Football. Every single year he was turned down three or four teams. USC, Tennessee, the Eagles, the Colts, every team was the Giants, the Cowboys, every team wanted him. The USC again. And he was always saying no and he was always getting raised. He was making 10 plus million to call Monday night football. I have sources in the beer business. Corona was paying him a shitload of money.

He was making huge cash. And the buzz on this guy was like, he's like Bill Parcells, but he's an offensive guy. He's his quarterback guru. And my friends in the NFL is like, maybe a young quarterback he's ever been a guru for. He helped Rich Gannon to make a career. That was about it.

He was a guy that didn't get along with many people that got traded from the Raiders that went to Tampa. And after that, first year, which was his last playoff victory when he won the Super Bowl, he hasn't had a playoff victory since. It was really, really ugly in Tampa. Players hated John Gruden.

But he rehabbed his image. He became this television star. He was Chuckie. He was doing the draft and he was screaming for Johnny Mansell. Why aren't they drafting my player? And then he comes back. And he inherits a team that just a year ago after he had taken over

had made the playoffs. They had, beside Aaron Darnold, or Aaron Donald, arguably the best defensive player in the league in Kille-Mack. He trades him. Amari Cooper, really good wide receiver, he trades him. He resets the entire roster. Three years later, he's still not in the playoffs. I'm sorry, $100 million has to buy you more. There is no way around it.

John Gruden is one of the biggest waste of money in the history of the league. we do it a lot with players like an Albert Hainsworth with Washington you know like a Namdi Assamwa when I was in Philly there is some historic

free agent bus we should look at John Gruden that way he got a hundred million dollars guaranteed Google in the history of the NFL how many players have got a hundred million dollar contracts until like three or four years ago it was zero

he's one of the biggest contracts and guaranteed money in the history of the league. He's three years in and he doesn't sniff the playoffs. He can't beat the Chargers on Thursday night at home. He's running plays at the end of first half like they don't know, they've never practiced a clock situation. He's running plays in overtime at like the four-yard line, goal line offense, throwing to the fullback at the three-yard line.

When he has a quarterback that's run around like a gazelle all game long and made plays. He's not a good coach. He's just not very good. At best he's average. But in no world. And I gave Mark Davis credit when he signed the guy. He took a huge swing, he rolled the dice,

he needed a rock star to take him into Vegas. And the reality, he does have a rock star. He has a guy that's really, really famous. You know the problem for Mark? Famous doesn't win your football games. He has a guy who's way more famous than he is a good coach. He has a guy who struggles to win football games, when it matters.

Back-to-back years, last year, six and four, crumbled down the stretch. This year, six and three, crumbled down the stretch. I'll give them credit. They spent $7.5 million on Marcus Marietta. Basically, I just got a root canal the other day.

What do they do when I'm checking in? What's your insurance? You pay for insurance, and when I get my teeth, they cover 50% of a $1,200 bill. Thanks, insurance. Good job, but that's why I buy insurance, right? Because if I didn't, I'd pay $1,200 for my root canal.

And then when I get a crown next week, I'd pay $800 for that. But you pay insurance, you get half off, right? Or whatever it is. Still don't quite understand how insurance works. I'm always paying money. They're never paying that much money, but it's a good deal. That's basically what a backup quarterback is. And that's basically what John Gruden did.

And it worked. And he put him in position to win the game, and John Gruden went old school like it was 1987 and ran a goal line offense at the five-yard line and tried to throw it to the fullback. I mean, this isn't 1993, John. It's 2000. You took a decade off.

Didn't you study the habits and the trends? But in the biggest spots, at the end of the day, one thing I've learned about John Gruden watching him very closely these last couple of years, he kind of coach is scared. He kind of coach is conservative. He is a conservative coach. He's not some gun-sling and offensive guy.

He's not Sean Peyton or Andy Reed. That is not his style. He wants to put three-tides. ends on the field in a fullback and throw to the wide banana out of the fucking, you know, the wheel route to a running back. And he lost to the Chargers. Absolutely pitiful. On the other end of the spectrum, the Chargers, I just can't say enough what a great job

that is going to be. They have a quarterback who can do everything you're looking for a quarterback to do, already is a rookie when he's clearly not being coached by high-level guys. He is calm, cool, and collected. He clearly is really smart. He went up to the line at a point in time in that game and made an audible that led to a first down. It was really impressive.

He's athletic. His arm is massive. He's pretty damn accurate. We could work a little bit on the touch, but he's young. To me, watching that game the night and really watches his entire rookie season, I think to myself, how did Marcus Arroyo, the offensive coordinator at Oregon, become a head coach?

I would be embarrassed if I was Arroyo and the offensive coordinator and I was watching Justin Herbert do that. You have this guy? It'd be like if Coach Kay didn't let Zion dunk, then all of a sudden you were watching Pelicans games and they were throwing him Alley Ups and he was dunking. Like, Coach Kay, why didn't you let him dunk? Like, how did you guys not let Marcus, or Justin Herbert let it rip at Oregon?

How was Justin Herbert not the number two pick in the draft? He's 6-5, he's 225, 230. He's got his arm like Josh Allen. He's a high character guy. He's a 4.0 student. He was a Rose Bowl MVP. That's pretty nuts when you think about it. That's an indictment on the offensive staff,

and specifically the offensive coordinator, who's a quarterback guy, and now became the head coach at UNLV. You know what program I'd short if it was a stock? UNLV. Because if you can't win with Justin Herbert, you sure as hell aren't going to win at you and LV. I know he won, but I mean, they weren't productive on offense.

And any Oregon fan knows that they underachieved on offense with that talent. But that guy's going to be special. And it was a cool night just watching Marcus Mariotta kind of resurrect. I wouldn't say his career, but just get a chance to play and play well. See two guys from Oregon just kind of going at it. I saw Justin Herbert say after the game. He grew up in Eugene and was in like junior high in high school when Marcus was playing, that it was a hero growing up.

And then obviously a couple of years later he gets drafted the next year, Justin's a freshman. But the Chargers have something. You just got to hope Dean Spanos doesn't screw it up and they hire the right coach. And if I'm a coach, you know, if I'm Arthur,

not Arthur Blank, Arthur Smith, the offensive coordinator for Tennessee, if I'm Dayball with Buffalo Bills, if I'm BN of me, if I'm any of these offensive coordinators, If I'm Matt Campbell and I'm thinking about going to the NFL, obviously I said Urban should take it, but I can't, Urban's health, who knows, maybe he's not even interested. If I'm any of these guys, the number one job I want is the Chargers.

And the number one reason I want it is because the quarterback. Because in the NFL, if you're going to win, you need a quarterback. Breaking news, sources say. And I just can't see how you can be watching this kid play all year long. and go, if you're a guy that wants to become head coach, I want that guy to be my quarterback, that guy. I'd argue. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care where you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clipper Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, the Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me,

or you're just chasing down a dream, This is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jek. And I'm Alex English. We pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan, Ryan, Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now.

That guy, when I'm already seen him do it in the NFL, week in and week out, is much more of a sure thing than one of the most hyped college quarterbacks of my lifetime in Trevor Lawrence. So I like Justin Herbert a lot at Oregon. I love him now. I mean, I can't love them anymore.

And I can't wait to see who the Chargers end up hiring because Anthony Lynn's got to go. And unleashes and really hopefully puts a team around this guy and gives him a chance to, you know, compete year in and year out. A story of the rose is a story of love. Go to FtD.com and save 15% through February 14th with Code Crush 15. And celebrate your love story with iconic roses, florals,

and gifts from FTT. What grows in the forest? Trees? Sure. Know what else grows in the forest? Our imagination, our sense of wonder, and our family bonds grow too, because when we disconnect from this and connect with this,

we reconnect with each other. The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest near you and start exploring at Discovertheforest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad council. So. Adoption of teens from foster care is a topic not enough people know about and we're here to change that.

I'm April Dinwiddie host of the new podcast, Navigating Adoption, presented by Adopt U.S. Kids. Each episode brings you compelling real-life adoption stories told by the families that live them with commentary from experts. Visit AdoptuS.kids.org slash podcast or subscribe to navigating adoption presented by Adopt U.S. kids. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, and the ad council. One of the big, I guess the biggest sports story this week, non-football, well, it might have been Charlie Woods and Tiger Woods playing in a golf tournament together, but it was Janice, Anto de Coupo, signed for $250 million with the Milwaukee Bucks.

And, you know, the NBA media loves telling you, like, he just got generational wealth. It's like, hey, guys, he'd already made $105 million. where I come from $105 million is generational wealth, he just got much more generational wealthy. He already had generational wealth. That gets thrown around a lot in NBA terms, just how much, whenever these guys signed their enormous contracts. Like, guys, their second contract after their rookies is enormous.

So, Janus is really rich now, and he's staying with the small market bucks. But for the last couple years, it's part of the reason I think the NBA has Diminished in popularity is it's insufferable how often the conversation is Where is the guy going to play next? We don't celebrate like we do in football when the guy's on a team He's going to stay on that team and how good that team's going to be It's really become the NBA culture over the last decade Guys just jumping around

And the reality is they just do jump around So it has to be covered like that And I remember Coward had this epic rant On at least for us in the Bay Area when it looked like a year ago that the Warriors might have a chance to land Janus. And he basically opened up with the rant saying, winners like winners.

And it's true. In sports, winners like being around other winners. But I think another part in sports, and I think this works in normal society, non-sports, in any office setting, whatever you do, if you are not the owner of the company, and hell, if it's a family business,

you might technically own the company, still might answer your dad, right? Or, you know, if you, depending on your company, what the product is, you kind of answer them. We all, in some former fashion, answer to somebody. But specifically, when you're not the owner and you are, even if you're a CEO, you might answer to a board of directors. But if you're a middle manager, you typically, or a sales guy,

you answer to somebody. And it's human nature, because I've thought this, every single place I worked, whether it was, working with the Eagles with Andy Reed and Harry Roseman that are Super Bowl champs and obviously really high-level guys. They both know more about the NFL than I do. There were times when I was in Philly that I was like, I think we should do this instead of that.

It's human nature to think like that. I thought the same when I worked at Fresno State. I thought the same when I worked in the radio business for a while. The difference at the end of the day is when I worked at Fresno State and when I worked for the Eagles, I had the utmost respect for the people. people I was answering to. And you're not always going to agree with decisions. That's why leadership is so difficult.

But when you respect the person above you, it makes it much easier to operate. When I got into the radio business over time, I had, the last couple years I was there, I had no respect for my boss. And I've heard a million stories from a million different people that we've all been there, right? You're answering to someone. It's one thing to have between. hold something specifically and you're like, this is stupid. And then you do it. And then it turns out

to be stupid. You're like, I know. But if you respect the person, something happens the next week, they tell you to do it and it works. You're like, whatever. It's just part of working. It's part of life. It's another thing, literally everything you're told, you go, this guy is a buffoon. And I'm not claiming to be some genius. Just a stay school guy, right? Aaron Rogers, for example, is really intelligent. If you followed his career and you've listened to him talk, he is a bright guy. Obviously, went to Cal, the number one public institution

in America, I think the world. But he got there through football, but you know what's weird about Aaron Rogers? Even though he's a football player at Cal, you go, yeah, it felt like intellectually he could hang at that university. I couldn't. I wouldn't have sniffed getting in. And my grandpa taught there for like 40 years.

And most people I know, I mean, he could never have got to Cal. Actually, the only people I know that went to Cal were athletes. Played rugby, new a golfer, knew a baseball player, they were athletes at the university. Did not know any normal students.

They were just like, yeah, I just went there to be a student because those people were not my friends, they were too smart. Aaron Rogers, like he intellectually could have just performed at the university if he could not throw a football.

And as the years have gone by, and just really the last couple years, but specifically this year, with Mike McCarthy getting his chance. Do you know what I think the biggest issue Aaron Rogers had with Mike McCarthy? Is one, Aaron's one of the great all-time players, but two, he's like kind of an academic, intellectual elite.

Mike McCarthy's a meathead. So you want to know why their relationship deteriorated over time? Because it's hard for a guy who intellectually is far superior to the meathead that he's answering to. That is not going to work. The respect level, is going to diminish over time. And then when you factor in the profession they're in,

where winning and losing is a big deal, once you start losing, it's going to amplify and really speed up the process of the hatred. When you look at Matt LaFleur, here's a fact. The Kyle Shanahan, I guess it's not Kyle, it's Mike Shanahan's offense, works.

And when it's run correctly, it kicks ass. And this is when guys like, Matt Shob, Jared Gough, Jimmy Garoppolo are playing quarterback. Matt Ryan, who's better than all those guys, won an MVP in this offense. Aaron Rogers of the group I just listed is easily, on his worst days, better than all those guys. Obviously, and I heard actually Colin say it this week,

you forget about it just because look at John Elway. Now, he was much older, but he won two Super Bowl. in this offense. This offense, if you're a great quarterback, it's stealing. You will eviscerate the competition. It will not be fair because, one, it just schemes easy throws. Why? Because the defense thinks the run is coming. And when the run works and you can get the play action and the bootlegs and the easy passes, you're going to get double-digit easy completions a game, let alone the completions you're going to get just because you have Aaron Rogers. So it's pretty clear when I look down into stats and I see a guy who's throwing 70% going into

week, I guess it's week 15, 39 touchdowns, four interceptions, and this is where I give Aaron Rogers credit. He accepted this offense. And the only way I think he accepted this offense is because unlike his former meathead coach, he now has a coach who intellectually, and I don't know if he's smarter than Aaron or not this morning, Aaron. I just know Matt LaFleur, just like all the guys that came from the Shanahan group, Kyle LaFleur's brother who's on Kyle's staff, Sean McVeigh, all intellectually pretty high-level guys, that if they were going to spend time with an Aaron Rogers, with a Matt

Ryan, with a Peyton Manning, with a Philip Rivers, they're intellectually going to be able to hang. It ain't meathead football. Why do you think Andy Reid has gotten along with quarterbacks for 20 plus years. Why do you think Sean Payton, Andrew Breeze, see-I-d-d-die? Why did Josh McDaniels and Belichick work with Tom Brady? If winners like winners, smart guys like other smart guys. Now, sometimes if you're a smart guy, you like having, you know, some of your friends that might not be not as smart, but you're probably not going to go all in in your business with that guy. You typically go in with the guy who gives you the best chance to succeed in business.

Just like when you're a player, you want to go all in with the best possible coach. There's a reason the best, when I think NFL and I think the best coaches, I think Walsh and Belichick, both guys known as cerebral geniuses. When I think of the best coaches right now, specifically on offense, I think Andy Reed, Sean Payton, both known as schematic geniuses. And then when I think about the young guys, Kyle Shanahan, Sean McFay, and I'll even throw the floor in, they all run the same offense. and they all get along with their quarterback.

Because they're all pretty high-level smart guys. It's not a dumb guy league. It's not a meathead league. Do you know how Patrick Mahomes ended up on the Chiefs? I'm sure you've read about the story. It's because they told Patrick Mahomes agent right around the senior bowl, we want the guy. You have to work with us,

and you have to give us the ability to stay quiet, stay stealth, and we'll work with you, but you have to keep us in the loop. Who else is going to get them so we can trade it? up. You think that's a meathead type move, or is that, yeah, we're running circles, we're like acts in billions. We're going to run circles around the

competition because we got a guy targeted and we're going to get them. And we're going to work the back channels. It's the way capitalism works. You better be outthinking your competition. And I think Aaron Rogers looked at Mike McCarthy and go, this guy can't outthink the competition. And maybe

we just said, well, you know, it's like most marriages, they just end kind of rocky and the divorce. It was probably a lot uglier at the end than the actual relationship was. You know what, turns out I've watched Mike McCarthy this year for the Cowboys not a good head coach. And it looks like Aaron Rogers was dead on. Meathead football.

So Aaron Rogers, who now feels like he's in the driver's seat to win the MVP, and listen, I was hard on the floor last year, but clearly he got him to embrace this offense. I give Aaron Rogers credit for just fully embracing this offense because when you embrace it, you're as good as him, you're going to win the MVP. Maddie Ice did it.

And again, Mattie Ice has half the talent of Aaron Rogers, and that might even be strong. 39 and 4. I mean, he's got one really good wide receiver, and then a bunch of random options, but they can run the ball. So, listen, smart guys like smart guys, and this is a great example.

Speaking of smart guys, when I got hired in Philadelphia, I interviewed with three people. And listen, when I got hired, I had to pay for my own way out there because you basically start at the bottom of the totem pole. That first year I made like 25 grand I did not have health insurance

It's called like the player personnel assistant I mean it's a glorified internship Where you work 20 hours a day for nine months a year In New England they call them 20s and 20s 20 year olds making 20 grand I was probably 24 but you know Same result working a lot Not getting that much

But when I flew back there to interview I interviewed really with three people I remember sitting down one. Lewis Riddick, Brett Veach, and Howie Roseman. And obviously, Howie was a general manager, and he was the ultimate guy that said yes or no. And Andy played a role because Pat Hill, who had known Coach Reed since, like, Andy was in college,

so that helped. I mean, as Howie said, anytime the head coach comes down to my office and gives a good word or recommends a guy to interview for this position, you got a shot. So I was lucky enough. I've said it all along.

My success, a lot of its own to Pat Hill. And his connections in the NFL gave me an opportunity to go from college to the pros. But from the first moment I interviewed with Lou to then working in the office for several years before coming to the West Coast. This week I saw Schefter and I was texting with Lou a little bit a couple days ago.

He's interviewing for all these jobs, right? Houston, the Lions, the Falcons, Last report I read, I haven't asked him this. This Jacksonville's interested. They haven't said anything up. More than likely he's going to interview for all these jobs. And honestly, my gut feeling, he's going to get one of these jobs. He's going to get one of these jobs.

And I was thinking like, you know, a lot of times when a coach gets a job, right, Eric B. Enemy, Brian Dayball, Matt Campbell. We've seen their teams play. Like, we've seen the Bills play offense. So I go, you know what? I know Brian Daibble is a good coach. If Eric B. Enamee's the guy calling plays, and honestly, I think he is, and he might be, Andy might be, I don't even know. But everyone I know in Kansas City, they sing his praises, he's going to become a head coach.

You know, I'm trying to think, Arthur Smith with the Titans, like, we see these guys run their offenses, so we get it. Robert Salo runs the defense. We see what they do. With GMs, if you're not the general manager and your assistant GM, unless you've worked with that guy, no one has any fucking clue. You don't know Adam Peters with the Niners who he's evaluated, George Patton with the Minnesota Vikings, you know nothing about them besides the things you read from media people that this guy's on the list and he's interviewing.

Well, like most people, Lewis Riddick, you actually know way more about a guy like Lewis when he goes to the media because his evaluations are public and you get to see him talk about football. And you go, God, Lewis is really smart. Well, the number one thing I will say about Lewis Riddick is he smart as hell. he is really, really intelligent.

And maybe it's always been like this. There's no direct path to any job. I tell people this all the time when they want to get into sports media. Like, I don't know, man. I went to Cal Poly to be an ag, you know, I was an ag business major. Did this like hybrid major where I took all these normal business classes, but I was under the ag umbrella. It was the only way I'd get into school.

And then I started writing from my school paper. And then I started working in football. Then I got a radio. Like, my path, I didn't know what I was going to do. It just kind of led me, and I'm still kind of going on it. Just like I got to the NFL, there were guys that played in the league that were scouting. There were guys that parents had coached in the league that were scouting. There were guys like Brett Veets that had just played at a smaller school that ended up getting a job and scout.

Howie went to, you know, he got a law degree. Like there's a million different paths to get a place, right? There is no one direct path. because we've seen over and over, and here's the reality. A guy like Lewis is going to get a job, and people will go, oh, he just took TV, and then that's how he got the job. Well, I've seen a lot of guys,

just 20-year scouts, get the jobs and fail. So just because you came up the way of like, started as an intern, then been a pro scout, then been a college scout, then been a college director, we've seen that guy get jobs and crumble. Mike McCagden, Lifetime Scout, one of the worst general managers we've ever seen.

I mean, God awful. Couldn't be any worse. Seriously. I mean, it does not get any worse than Mike McCagnan. When we saw he's just an old school scout. And we've seen guys come out the different way. Here's what I, and I was thinking about this today. Lewis played college football where he played at Pitt, so Division I.

He was an academic All-American. He then played in the NFL for like six or seven years. He then got into scouting with the Redskins and worked in pro-scouting with the Redskins and the Eagles. And then I think the last year or two when I was with the Eagles, he was doing colleges, too. he was going to Texas, he was going to Clemson, he was going to big schools. Then, on TV for the last eight years, think about this for the last couple years. He's been doing college games. So when you do college games as an analyst, you talk to the coaches from both schools,

you talk to the players, you evaluate the film. And obviously Lewis has now done the draft for several years. So he's evaluated the draft for television, and Daniel Jeremiah does this too, just kind of like he would as a scout. He's building up his boards, he's doing background information. And then this year on Monday Night Football, and here's what I know, about Lewis, he's a football junkie. The guy can talk and watch football, honestly, like 20 hours a day. I remember being around him and going, like, if this guy's going to be a general manager,

I don't think I can do it because I don't like football as much as him. Like, he would leave the office at like eight or nine, and then he'd go home and watch more tape on guys to like 11 or 12. And this was doing advanced scouting reports. His advanced scouting reports were just stupid. I mean, it was incredible. His greatest strength will be as a general manager. And here's what I know. If John Lynch and Mike Mayock can be general managers was zero NFL experience besides playing,

Lewis can with a decade of actually scouting in the NFL, being in the box as an advanced scout. Lewis's advanced scouts were fucking incredible. I mean, my advanced scout, and I did it for a couple games, it's really, really hard. I mean, to know what you're looking at. And Lewis can look at stuff from, Lewis really, really relates well to coaches, assistant coaches.

He always had great relationships, whether Sean McDermott, Matt Nagy, Juan Castillo, all of our assistants, love Bobby April, you name it. He was close with all these guys because he could talk their language. But he could also sit there with me, who's much more of a player guy, and just talk players, whether it be pro or college. Why? Because he's a junkie. Why did Mike Mayock and why does he have a chance to be a good general manager?

Now, I don't know if he's pulling the strings. In Oakland, clearly he's not, John Grun's the boss. because Mayox is junkie. Lewis is a junkie too. And Lewis, I really think, I don't know what team he's going to get a shot with, but he's going to get a shot. And he's going to have a good chance to succeed as anyone. He is as well prepared at 51 years old as you possibly can be.

He's seen it on the pro side. He's seen it on the college side. He's been a broadcaster, which actually I think has probably helped him see the overview of everything. Now, as a general manager, I don't know what job he's going to get. I don't know who's going to offer him the job. I don't know what the situation would be. If he is going to hire the coach,

his success and failure will be as much on whoever his quarterback is, whoever is coaches. Because you know what makes John Snyder, Brett Veach, Kevin Colbert, you know. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman, at all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying.

Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music.

The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't. don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little bit? Kim, well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but yeah, yeah, literally. But just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS. table right now.

Thank you finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite

therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health. field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of

the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid?

Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Good general managers, they have good coaches.

If you don't have a good coach, I don't care how good of a general manager you are, you have no shot. So whatever job he gets, like who his coach is, will be very important. But I'm telling you, I've been around a lot of guys, and he's equally as talented as anybody. And he's as driven, if I'd say, the most driven biggest grinder I've ever been around easily as Andy Reed. I mean, Lewis has got the same, you know, drive. I've seen it in Howie. I've seen it in Veach. These guys are just driven at the highest level.

It's why, honestly, when I worked in the NFL, I was like, God, these guys just like football more than me. And if you listen to me, I mean, I like football. I really do. I'm like, I think I like football a lot. That's why I tell everyone, and when I see all these people in Twitter that think they can work in the NFL,

I don't think you realize how much these guys like it. How much it really defines them in their bones. I mean deep down. You know, and I'm sure many of you guys listening, know people that either are in the restaurant business, I know farmers like this, I know people in the alcohol business. It's just, it's everything to them.

it's what they know, it's who they are. And I know some people's like, we need balance in our life. Yeah, some people aren't wired that way. And to be honest, me, the most successful people definitely aren't. There is no right or wrong way to live. But there pretty consistently is a right way to be good at something. And that's to be all in. And that's to think about it 24-7.

And that's to be consumed with it. I'm telling you, Lewis, and I've known him now for a decade, the guy likes football and knows football as well as any human, I've ever been around. And whenever he gets a shot, you know, I just think it's, he's going to be good. A story of the rose is a story of love.

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Because when we disconnect from this and connect with this, we reconnect with each other. The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest near you and start exploring. at Discovertheforest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council. Okay, one of the, I guess, the most polarizing situation

is Jalen Hurd and Carson Wentz, which, you know, Carson is just on the bench, which I've said is a good thing. Just leave Carson Wentz on the bench, give him some time to decompress. Hope Jalen Hurd looks good, but probably not too good. You know, I think you'd want him to win this week,

but I don't think you want him to throw, four or five touchdowns because then there's only a couple games left. You go to the offseason. You have this quarterback competition, but all the fans are going to be wording for Jalen and then it's just going to get weird. One situation that is all, but the reality is, is Carson Wens, you can read about, Carson Wince is not going anywhere. You're not going to trade Carson Wins this offseason when his values at an all-time low and when you still owe him a bunch of money, at least on the books. So then Carson Wins could go to Frank Reich or go to Pittsburgh, or go to San Francisco and it'll look good with those coaches?

A guy that you paid all this money and invested all these draft picks in? No fucking chance. You're riding it out. I know the way the Eagles think and how they're not giving up on an asset at an all-time low at quarterback, who they invested in. It just makes no sense. It does. But one quarterback situation, to me, that's a little more interesting,

is just Sean Payton said this week that James Winston, when Drew Brees retires, it's fair to say will be this offseason. And you heard it here first. Mike Torrico and Drew Breeze are going to be calling Sunday night football games in the next couple of years. Al Michaels in his late 70s. I don't know if he's going to retire or is going to force in retirement. And Chris Collinsworth is just not that famous besides just calling games and he's good.

But we see the way these TV executives work. Drew Breeze, you know, in his 40 year, 41 years old, fresh out of the league, they're going to want his star power on TV. Drew Breeze, Mike Toriko. I'd say by 2023 at the latest in that booth. but I think Drew Breeze it will not be back next season Sean Peyton said that James

will have a chance to compete for the job here's a problem with that James Winston is a free agent James Winston is not signed to a multi-year contract I think here's the problem is Sean Payton's already seeing like listen I think he likes Taysam Hill a lot but he realizes like are we sure well this is a type game where I think you find out a little bit more

because his first four games have kind of gone like this he's played Atlanta twice he played Denver when they did not have a quarterback and he played last week which everyone's crushing him I actually didn't think he looked that bad but he lost the game against Jalen he wasn't necessarily playing Jalen

but they just lost to a game that they were heavy favorites in that they should not have lost that game but at the end of the day he hasn't really gone up against someone I mean mad at Ryan so old now and I don't think we view him as a top 10 guy just someone you go can we beat this guy in a big game

because at the end of the day, Sean Payton, who's one of the highest paid coaches in the league, I think has one of the, you know, a team that has one of the best rosters in the league are really built to win the last couple years and the next couple years. Like they're built with their high-end players under contract to win and win now.

That he's going to go the rest of this season or every game that Tason plays and think to himself, can I win a Super Bowl with this player? Or can I compete to win a Super Bowl with this player? And right now I think the answer would be definitely unknown, you'd probably lean no. But you get the Chiefs this weekend,

and you're playing, you know, Rogers is the MVP, I think the best player in the league, probably Mahomes or Roger, however we want to rank. I mean, it changes every week. Just one of the best players we've ever seen in Patrick Mahomes. Now, when you're a quarterback, you don't play the other quarterback because you're never on the field at the same time. But as a coach, when you're standing on the sideline,

you see your quarterback, and then when you're Sean Payton, he comes off the field and you stand there and you still watch your defense, play against that quarterback. So you kind of get to gauge it, and you can think, well, I know what my guy does in practice. I know what he's now doing in the game. Does he give me a chance to do this? Because here's the dilemma, and we'll see Drew Brees, when he's going to come back, does he come back? Who knows?

They can say whatever they want. Until Drew Brees actually comes back, I'm going to assume he might not come back. I don't know. How many ribs you have, 12, 8, 6, whatever? Maybe 6 abs, 8 ribs, 10 ribs? I don't know. I'd have to Google that. I just know that he broke a ton of them or fractured a ton of them.

And he's old. So you told me right now that the football gods came back and said, John, I can see the future. I'm going to give you this nugget, but you're not allowed to tell anyone you can't say it on the podcast. Drew Breeze will not play another snap this year. I'd go, yeah, I'd believe that. 40-year-old guy with a bunch of shattered ribs, punctured whatever. I mean, he was in Chambles, right?

We saw the reports. He hasn't been practicing. Maybe he's not safe out there. Yeah, I can believe that. So you're going to get to know this year if you have to go in. to the playoffs with Taysam Hill if he's good enough because you're going to play in literally playoff games with the guy. But I do think this is the game, the Chiefs, who the game, I watched on like Tuesday or Wednesday the Chiefs Dolphins game. The score was a little closer in the game. I mean,

the Chiefs were up 30 to 10. They were beating the shit out of them. I felt, I just saw the red zone. I looked at some kind of see the final score. I'm like, ah, the dolphins were hanging in time. No, they were killing them. I mean, Hardiman took a punt to the house. He had another play that went big that they caused a fumble on. I watched that game and thought the Chiefs were in a completely different world than the Dolphins. The score, did they lose focus toward the end? I don't know. I mean, all I know is the Chiefs were up 30 to 10.

They're the best team in the league. And the Saints, you know, when their quarterback situation is just on, is arguably a top three or four team two. You could say the last four weeks, you know, it's been a little hit or miss with Taysam. But this is a game where you just go, like, Are you going to let James leave? I don't really know how Sean Payton feels about James,

but at least he has a quarterback on his roster that if he started and he coached around, Sean Payton thinks he's probably, I'm sure, a better coach than Bruce Ariens. His offense is just a lot different. It's actually built to succeed with James. It has a wide receiver that only runs slant routes, who's the best slant, short, intermediate guy,

him and Keenan Allen in the league in Michael Thomas. You have a running back who's a dominant force catching the football. I mean, James' two weapons are both within like 15 yards of them. So I think this is the type game where Sean Peyton and Mickey Loomis are going to be thinking to themselves, like, we got something here. I mean, they already think they got something here, but like you got to do it in the games. It's one thing to do it in practice. Clearly the guy does in practice.

It's one thing to play some of the trick plays. He clearly pulls that off. Another thing to win three or four games against the Broncos without a quarterback, two Atlanta games and Jalen Hurd. Now you're playing the Chiefs. Now you're playing a team. When the Saints season started this year, their goal was pretty simple. Like legitimately goal of probably less than 10 teams win the Super Bowl.

Sean Payton got in front of his team and says, we have one goal. I mean, obviously they have a couple, right? Win the division, win the NFC, win the Super Bowl. But the main goal is to win the Super Bowl. And everyone in that room thought, fuck yeah, we're going to win the Super Bowl, right? And hell, I thought they were a Super Bowl level team. And you play the Chiefs with Taysom Hill. kind of can gauge, like, do we get a chance?

Is this for real? Or is this kind of been smoking the mirrors for the last month? With college football, the conference championships going down this weekend. Technically, I think, Pact 12, USC Oregon play Friday night, but all the main ones play on Saturday. I almost feel Alabama's underrated at this point as a program. Nick Sabin, you know, they have these early signing day, But when I worked in college football, there was just one signing day.

It was like the first weekend in February. It was like the first Tuesday in February or something. Now they got multiple. Alabama's had the number one class. They just had the number one class in the country on early signing day. What Nick Sabin is doing, like what Clemson is doing is really impressive. Dabo has built a behemoth. But he has a couple things going for him.

One, his conference sucks. Miami Florida State are shells of themselves. Florida State is a joke. The second best program in his own conference, Notre Dame, this is a one-off year. Notre Dame's an independent, so I'm not, Notre Dame doesn't count, is probably North Carolina with a 69-year-old back brown.

That's his main competition. Now, in fairness, Dabo destroys these people. So I'm not trying to diminish his accomplishment, and he dominates once he gets to the college football playoffs. So he's deserving. But his conference sucks beside him. That's just a fact. Here's another thing he has going for.

His defensive coordinator is, I think, the highest paid position coach or assistant coach in the college football. He's probably, when he factor in the NFL, he's probably still top five. He makes like $2.5 million. Venables. And he's awesome.

I mean, he's a badass. But he's been there the entire time with Davo, making huge cash. Tony Elliott. the offensive coordinator for Dabo Sweeney. Also, makes huge cash and has been in Clemson pretty sure from the jump when Dabo took over. Pulled up his wiki, he's been on the staff since 2011.

And he's been the offensive coordinator basically since D.Shawn Watson became the quarterback. So as two coordinators, OCDC, been there the entire time? Well, when I look at Alabama, I go, well, has his coordinator been there the whole time? No. he's had about 10 offensive coordinators and 10 defensive coordinators not literally but basically right McElwain Nussmeyer Lane Sark Loxley

Sark again defensive coordinator Kirby Pruitt like he's gone through some guys he just keeps on rolling and unlike the ACC where Clemson is his conference especially his side of the conference is

legit. He has to play LSU every year. Even when LSU is crappy, like this year, for example, they are light years better than Miami or Florida State. And obviously when they're good, they're really good. The last time Florida State was any good, they had a guy named Jimbo Fisher. Well, that guy's now at Texas A&M making $60,70 million. And they're coming. The other thing is Nick always has to play, and he plays Florida this weekend. He's played Georgia the last several years, in the SEC championship game, where Clemson, up until this year, when Notre Dame kind of, you know, join the conference to get through Corona, they play crappy teams in the conference championship game.

That's not the case for the SEC, yet he still consistently wins that game. What Nick is doing is insane. He is kicking everyone's ass in the best conference, consistently getting the best players, but a lot, Texas recruits well every year. You know, USC recruited well every year for the last decade. He develops these players into stars, into dominant, dominant players. And as a buddy in college football, or I guess he does, his scout told me, that goes through both programs, He said the biggest difference is between Clemson and Bama

is Clemson is a family and Bama is a factory. Well, here's the reality. Families eventually break up, right? I mean, Tony Elliott might become an NFL head coach this year. He might become a college head coach. Brett Venables might just stay there forever, kind of like Bud Foster or Virginia Tech. But it does feel like Tony Elliott,

this is the offseason he's going to go, especially Trevor Lawrence leaving. Like that family is going to break up a little bit As long as Dabo's there, they should be pretty good But the offense has been a pretty big point of differentiation You know, for Dabo and with Tony Elliott and his quarterbacks Nick's already shown his family in terms of the coaches staff Can break up all you want doesn't matter

Players can go to the NFL doesn't matter But the factory keeps on churning them out Because you know that CEO of that factory ain't changing And as long as Nick is there And this year not one of the first one of the first, to opt-out. They lost the best quarterback, you know, in program in probably 20, 30 years. They were placing with Mac Jones. That guy immediately looks like a, you know, top 50 pick. They lose Jalen Waddle, who arguably was the best player on their team, broken leg.

Devonte Smith is just separated from the pack. He might win the Heisman. So I think they're almost an 18-point favorite going into this SEC championship game against Florida. I just, I can't say enough how much respect I have for Alabama, how consistently great they are, how consistently, you know, they pivot off coaches, and it does not phase them. It really speaks to savings greatness. Okay, let's go a little three for the money. And, uh, cooled off a little bit. I was, uh, one of three last week.

I'm 2619 on the season. The Jacksonville Jaguars, who I've been riding, and I've been riding home. got killed. What was the other? Oh, Minnesota. That was just Dan Bailey. I'm going to need better out of you, buddy. Well, let's make some kicks.

Even Mike Zimmer was like, come on, come on, man. We need to hit some kicks. So let's dive into three for the money. I'm going to keep riding the Jaguars, but I'm not going to, they're getting like over two touchdowns. I'm not messing with the point spread. Ravens Jags over 47 and a half. I mean, I think the Ravens could easily score 45 points in this game.

To me, the Jags got to be, you know, give me at least 15. I think the over 47 hits in this game. Eagles and the Arizona Cardinals. I said it from the jump. I didn't believe in the Arizona Cardinals. Not because of their quarterback. The quarterback's really good, but he's banged up. And he hasn't been the same really for the last, you know,

ever since the dude fell on his shoulder in the Seattle game. I do not trust the coaching staff. Now, I'm not some big Jalen Hurtz fan. I've said it many times. I thought he was a running back, not a quarterback. But watching him play last weekend, I was like, okay, he can throw it, he can run it, his arm strength looks good. I'm just going to take the Eagles plus six in this game. I'm going to take the Eagles plus six in this game at home.

Their team was energized, they got some momentum. Doug Peterson, coaching for his job or not, I don't know what the situation is there. but they just look like they had more life. So I'm going to go Eagles plus six. And then Washington. The latest is Alex Smith playing this week? Because if he's not, any game that Dwayne Haskins starts,

any game that here will be my gambling philosophy. If Dwayne Haskins is out-practiced, so Alex Smith has missed practiced the last couple weeks. As of recording this, I'm going to assume Alex Smith does not play, meaning Dwayne Haskins will play. And Alex, last week, once he pulled his calf, was pretty useless in the game.

And he wasn't that good against the Niners to begin with. And he really hasn't been that great in general. Four touchdowns, six picks this year. But even on a reconstructed leg, even a guy that once was a really good athlete who can't move, on Alex's worst day, he's way better than Dwayne Haskins. I think Dwayne Haskins is a terrible football player. I don't think he knows what's going on.

I don't think he's very talented. I don't think he's very accurate. I just, whenever I watch Dwayne Haskins, on an NFL field, I think he's terrible. So Seattle, who's got to try to get their mojo back, Washington is good and really good at one thing. They can stop the run. Their front seven, they got some premium elite dudes.

Some first-rounders, obviously Chase Young, they will hit you in the mouth. But you know what Seattle doesn't want to do? They don't want to run the ball. They want to throw the football. I like Seattle minus five in this game. I just think Washington's going to run into a buzz sauce. Seattle kind of got their mojo back last week again. the New York football jets.

And I'm going Seattle minus five. So I'm going Ravens, Jags, I'm going to go the over 47 and a half. I'm going to go Eagles plus six against Arizona, and I'm going to go Seattle minus five. Let's do a couple of Middlecoff mailbag things really quick. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram. You guys know the drill. Slide up in those DMs, and you get your question answered here on the podcast.

You talk a lot about Lamar Jackson being a below-average passer and you can't win with him in the playoffs. as a casual fan, that seems obvious and is hard to disagree with. However, on Monday night football, they put up a stat that said his career in the red zone, he has thrown 40 touchdown passes and no picks. As a casual fan, that seems crazy and very critical. How important is that stat, turnovers, and efficiency in the red zone?

Because he seems to dominate in the red zone. Well, I'd say it's very important. I mean, I think Brian Greasy said one of the great lines I've ever heard. he said quarterbacks get paid for two things to win on third down and to win in the red zone. So Lamar Jackson is winning in the red zone. Now, I'd have to do a deep dive. The best thing the Ravens do is they are a great running team.

So I would guess that they are scoring a lot on play action, which is great play calling and Lamar Jackson executing the play call. And maybe I'm wrong, because I'm not backing this up with any data. but their offense actually is pretty well set up to win on some misdirection, some bootlegs, just to get some easy throws because the run game is so vaunted. Now, again, Lamar Jackson is not a bad passer

in the sense that he throws a tight spiral, he can throw the ball far, he's just not very accurate. And typically in the playoffs, they haven't been able to get to the red zone. They haven't been able to move the ball. His problem is in big games, you're not going to, like, obviously they can score in the red zone.

Okay, let's just, that stat is the stat, they can score in the red zone. He can score in the red zone. His problem in the big games, but specifically the playoffs, the two years, and what I think will be a problem again in this playoffs, they get in third and long. In playoff games, you're typically, it's not 47 to 42, right? You're talking about a game that might be 27 to 23, right? 23 to 20.

Like, that's the score. So you might only get in the red zone a couple times. You have to get in the field goal range. You have to move the ball past midfield. Well, what happens on 3rd and 9? At your own 40. That's where he struggled. When I know you're going to try to throw to Mark Andrews over the middle of the field.

Or I know you're going to try to throw a deep out route. That's been Lamar's problem. A fan of the show. Watch a Monday night football game. Greasy talking up the 49ers like the Crimson Tide playing Troy, mispronouncing Bill's players' names. Lewis is always good. but it's always disrespect and Alan

threaded the Niners and was so comfortable even I couldn't believe it, thoughts. Kind of an old question. You know, I'm not great at names either. Now, I'm an entertainer on a podcast, not broadcasting the game. It is difficult, but I've actually, I like Greasy. And obviously I know Lewis and I like Lewis.

I think Greasy's been pretty good. The bills are good. I mean, I don't really know what else to say there. The bills are really good. was wondering if there is any spying as in playbook play leaking amongst coaches. Say a disgruntled offensive coordinator text someone in the staff of their next opponent with details of exploitable hole or even assistant coaches spying for other teams.

Just wondering. That's a really good question. I'd have to ask coaches that. I'd never heard of that. I do think there are teams, work with other teams when you're in the playoff mix to help other teams out. That happens for sure. But in terms of like, yeah, I mean,

I would imagine anything conceivable you could think of, it's probably happened. With a position coach who hates that given team, leak some stuff to an opponent, if the team's out of it, I'd be shocked if a guy's leaking if it's like a playoff game or a game, you know, like this weekend or next weekend

that has playoff implications. Now, you're talking about a big money industry, you're talking about a big ego industry. So if a guy knows he's going to get fired, let's say I'm the offensive line coach on a team that's a wildcard team. And I know my head coach is going to fire me at the end of the year.

Maybe I try to screw him. Now here's the thing. If that ever got out, and I've never heard of that, but if that ever got out, you would be blackballed from the league. Like you would not be hired again. So the more I think about it,

you get blackballed from football. Who's ever hiring you again? if you get caught that way. Now, I don't know how you get caught. I'm sure stuff has happened. You know, think about this. Think of all the players. Let's say, me and you, we go to Oklahoma together.

I was thinking this watching the Ravens and the Browns. Well, Mark Andrews and Baker Mayfield are very, very close friends. If you follow both of them on Instagram, before they got to the league, they spent a lot of time with each other. I think Mark Andrews obviously at Baker's wedding. I think it's fair to say they're very, very tight. You know, they played college football together for years. Like, any time that you develop a relationship with someone in your early 20s,

when you don't have any money, your relationship's actually stronger the more successful you become. Because you can talk about stuff that, you know, you don't talk about with your friends that you meet as you get older and you get more successful. And think how often in football, in Baker and Mark Andrews, I mean, we could do a million of those examples. What did it happen with players and players? Like if I hated my place, couldn't I leak? I think how often that's probably happened.

Call my buddy and the other team. Tell him, hey, bro, we're probably going to do this, this, and this. Wouldn't shock me. You know me. If I had heard that, I would definitely say I have, but I've never heard of a situation like that. But you got me thinking now. Love the Pod, lifelong Steelers fan,

and former Cornell football player. So we got a smart athlete. Do you think the Steelers' inability to run the football has a lot to do with our overreational? reliance on the quick passing game. Ben is averaging a release time of 2.2 seconds, which in my view has made us pretty one-dimensional. In years past, we've effectively made immediate throws, excuse me, intermediate throws, to set up the run game, then followed it up with play action shots. Thanks and keep up the great work. Who did I hear saying this the other day? I think it was

Bougar McFarland, who, you know, I used to talk some shit about when he was on the Monday night broadcast. He made a really good point. I think I saw it on social media. He said when you get very pass happy, and he was a defensive lineman, so he knows toughness and the line of scrimmage. When you get very pass happy as an offensive line and as a unit and as an offense, I do think it can take away from the toughness of your offensive lineman because every day they're practicing pass pro. And like you said, the quick passing game, well eventually I have to mall you. And part of mauling you, I have to get used to that and rep it out.

That's why anyone that, you know, when I was at Fresno State, we used to run nine on seven, did when I was with the Eagles too. It's basically the offensive line versus the front seven, a quarterback, a fullback, and a running back, and a tight end.

And it is a physical fucking drill. It's basically the team version of Oklahoma, or I guess the group version of Oklahoma. The team version of Oklahoma would be goal one. but the group version of your offensive line, you're tied in, your fullback, and you're running back against four defensive linemen

and three linebackers. I guess if you were in a three, four, three defensive linemen and four linebackers. However, your front seven, first, you know, nine guys, but one of them is the quarterback. So it's really eight, right? Five offensive linemen, the tight end, the full back.

So five, six, seven, eight. I mean, it's, I'd call it. It's called nine on seven, you could easily call it eight on seven. The quarterback just pans the ball off. It is a grown-ass man drill. I mean, Pat Hill lived for it. I remember being at Eagles practice,

I feel like, God, this is pretty intense. You know, it just, and it doesn't happen as much anymore. The league's not as physical. And you're going to get Seek-won Barkley-Hurt and nine-on-seven. It's a risky drill. But when I think the Steelers, I don't think nine-on-seven. I think throwing the football. So you just kind of become

To me you take on the personality of your offense, right? There's a reason when Sabin first took over and they were much more old school pro style, like they were run the ball defensive team. Tough. Now they're much more spread. They've become like wide receiver you. You know, when I think Seattle, like at the end of the day,

when they had Marchion at L.O.B, they were tough. Now I think they're more like a big 12 team, right? You just become the identity of the plays you run. and the plays the Steelers run on offense are just kind of soft. You know, like when I close my eyes and think Pittsburgh Steelers football, I think Mean Joe Green, I think James Harrison, I think, you know, what's the white guy's name with the long hair that went into the Hall of Fame? I think Greg Lloyd.

You know, I think bad at Kevin Green. I think badasses. When I think this Steelers team, I think, you know, Ben throwing a bunch of wide receivers. Their defense is really good. but I think soft. And I don't mean that as a shot. Like I'd say the chiefs, you know, are a little softer too. Soft can work.

But if you're going to be soft, you better be elite. And right now their offense just isn't elite. Appreciate everyone listening. Have a great weekend. And, yeah, talk to everyone soon. Peace. Are you ready for the big day? Not your big day?

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Give with meaning. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. Help an Acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey,

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On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite office. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

84 was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.