The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - RIP Rodgers/Packers Era, Unlikeable Zach Wilson, Russ Shot, Harbaugh Punks Ryan Day

Episode Date: November 28, 2022

John explains why the Aaron Rodgers era with the Packers is officially over, what the Eagles need to improve to win the Super Bowl, why Zach Wilson won't ever start again for the Jets, why Russell Wilson’s Broncos teammates aren’t buying his act, and why Harbaugh and Michigan are suddenly punking Ryan Day and the Buckeyes. Subscribe NOW and follow Middlekauff and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content. It's always FanDuel for the best wagering action! #volume #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Happy Thanksgiving. Now it's time basically for Hanukkah and Christmas. So right around the corner, holidays, when we, you know, those of us with no food discipline get fat. So it's exciting times. But Aaron Rogers, season probably over, potentially. Jordan Love Time, Eagles, some Zach Wilson thoughts. Russell Wilson, that's a disaster.

Michigan, Ohio State. How about Jim Harbaugh? How about Jim Harbaugh? Wisconsin. Matt Ruhl. I didn't do a mailbag on Sunday. I was going to add some to this podcast, but I think I'll just have a big, big mailbag for Tuesday's show. So the plan will just be heavy, heavy mailbag for Tuesday's show and we'll kind of rock and roll from there. So if you listen on Collins feed, make sure you subscribe to Three and Out feed. Mailbag is really simple.

At John Middlecop is the Instagram. fire in those DMs. Appreciate everyone that has. I know we got a lot over Thanksgiving holiday, but, you know, I was having a good time. So I can't just sit on your phone all the time when you're with your family,

even though, you know, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have my phone in my hand most of the time. But let's just talk football. And we just, I really think the story of the night was the end of the Green Bay Packers. Now, it's kind of been over. And during Thanksgiving,

I was actually, my brother is a member at this golf course and we were up having some cocktails and one of the doctors in the area that works at UC Davis and Stanford was having a few pops and he was telling me about some of his doctor friends and he might know the Green Bay doctor and he was telling me how bad Aaron Rogers thumb was and I was like damn and he was hammered at home like he's really been struggling to grip a ball for a couple weeks but then the story broke I was hoping to have a little inside information on the podcast but then it's come out over the last couple days how bad it's been and sometimes when these reports come out

I usually push back and sometimes it's an excuse like Russell Wilson's banged up is he banged up or is he just terrible like he was pretty bad last year too like maybe he's just playing terrible but Aaron Rogers look back on that Thursday night game against the Titans when he's missing layup throws relative to his standard

one of the most accurate quarterbacks we've ever seen the back-to-back MVP it's like okay this adds up the problem is is they just paid him a hundred $150 million. And clearly tonight, he had, you know, what seemed like a major injury, left the game when the game was by no means over and never came back.

And I'm recording this right after the game, so who knows? Maybe he'll be fine. Maybe he won't. This has been a disaster. You give a guy back-to-back MVP, a team that had won 39 games in three years. While they hadn't won the Super Bowl, hell, they hadn't even been in the Super Bowl, they've been a playoff disappointment. they have been a consistent power in the NFL, right?

Since LaFleur got there, definitely these last two years were there in Rogers. They're four and eight. Like, that's fucking an embarrassment. Now Rogers is down, and it's just one of those seasons where it's like, what the hell is going to go, what's going to happen from here? And then the night, we get a taste of Jordan Love. And, like, I'm not going to overreact over a small sample size, but here's what I will say.

He clearly has a live arm. and based on the night was relatively pretty accurate. Now, the touchdown to Watson, he hit him on a crossing route and the dude did most of the work. That guy can fly. Gutikins might be a sweet pick. They clearly have some good players. Now, defensively, they can't stop anybody. And offensively now, they have a major quarterback problem.

They have this guy that makes $50 million a year who's got a messed up thumb and now a messed up oblique, who threatens to retire every year. And I'm sure, and some Packer fans are going to go, I don't want to keep going through this. This is really exhausting. Now, I'm no capologist, but when you look, you just go type in Aaron Rogers contract and you go to SpotTrack.

Like, dead money comes along with enormous guaranteed cash. So the dead money on his, does not make him a tradable player. This is not the NBA, where at any moment you could trade Janice or Steph Curry or any of these players on these enormous contracts if you can find someone willing to make the money work. It's very, very difficult in the NFL because of what it does to your salary cap.

But it had to cross your mind, given how shitty everything's going, to go, is this a time to transition? And assuming that he might still want to play, because let's face it, there has kind of been some buzz like, is it kind of over for Aaron in Green Bay? Which is weird to say because they just gave him $150 million. But you watch this season, the Packers are in this weird place where they've just had all the success and now it feels like they're in limbo, even though they just extended their quarterback. But you got to eventually figure out, like, are you going to pick up this fifth year option on Jordan Love? Because part of drafting him late in the first round is having that ability. It's why when you come into late end of the first round, you draft one of those players

and a lot of teams either trade out when they don't like a guy or they trade up in there to get that fifth year option, that opportunity. And now the Packers are going to get an opportunity to kind of try this guy out. Because I think definitely the move is, you're 4 and 8, you've got five games left, start Jordan Love in every single one of them. I think that's pretty clearly the no-brainer move. Start Jordan Love from here on out. But, like, I understand sunk costs and you've already paid the money.

It's not the ideal position to be in when you're paying a guy $50 million a year. The highest per year value we've ever seen in NFL history. And he's deserved it. He was, you know, one of the best players we've ever. seen these last couple years and even before that time, he had been one of the best players we'd ever seen. And clearly one of the best players, if not the best player in franchise history. But now they're in a weird spot and you've got to see what Jordan Love can happens. But what if he looks good? Like what if he keeps making plays? What if you compete in games? Because I think

now the best position is to get Jordan Love, have him look good and probably keep losing games. Get better draft position and then give yourself a lot of options. And, you know, I don't pretend to know if Aaron Rogers is going to retire. Demand. to trade, go just do ayahuasca for the summer and then come back. Because if you're the Packers, you know, it's probably getting, I'd say it's probably getting a little tiring, but it's not because they just paid

the guy. So, I don't know, man. Would they have been better off looking back and it's easy to say hindsight? It's always easy to play Monday morning quarterback, trade him to the Broncos, and just go Jordan Love. Like, obviously if they got a redo, they would have done that. Right? But that's, they made their bed.

They had the opportunity to extend them. They did it. Now they're four and eight. sees him from hell, at least on a bright spot, you're going to get the chance to kind of, you know, work out this quarterback, which let's face it, pretty big unknown. And in a small sample size, very small, look somewhat promising. I actually, really promising. Big guy can move. I knew that.

I mean, I guess I watched him a little bit at Utah State and watched some of his Packer action, but was relatively accurate tonight from what he'd been. And then on the flip side, the Eagles, I already knew they were good. So I know how potent they are on offense. They got dudes everywhere. And Jalen, when he's rocking and rolling, is fucking awesome. I mean, he's like a slower Lamar, right? When Lamar was kicking ass and taking names a couple years ago.

He is as natural and instinctive of a runner as you're ever going to see at the quarterback position. And clearly, he throws the ball a lot better than he did when he came in the league. Their offensive line and the physicality they have up front is awesome. I mean, the Packers aren't exactly the 85 bears on defense, but they were shoving them around with ease. And their weapons outside, I mean, AJ Brown and Devante Smith are studs and Goddard will eventually come back. I have no question marks on the offense, except when they're in a tie game, playoffs. And, you know, all of our butts get a little tight. How does Jalen react?

We won't really know it until we see it. Maybe we'll see it in a cowboy game coming up, but they're going to be the number one seat. I feel pretty confident about that. But to win the Super Bowl and to get to the Super Bowl, To win the NFC, there is a question mark with this team. Because there are some teams in the conference that like to run the ball and that will run the ball. The 49ers, now they lost a running back today,

will run the ball all day long. And they got about eight guys that can do it. Debo, McCaffrey, Elijah Mitchell, if his knees don't fall off, they will do that all game in Philly. And depending on where the Miami Vikings, not Miami Vikings, the Minnesota Vikings, like, they got a really good running back. He goes by the name Delvin Cook. The backup ain't bad either.

So they have firepower to run the football. And the one thing in some of these playoff games, you can really slow a game down if you stick with the run. I know Kyle Shanahan is. We haven't seen Kevin O'Connell in that situation, but they definitely have the horses to do it. And if you can't stop the run, and clearly the Eagles got some issues,

now they're big guy, right? Jordan Davis will hopefully be healthy when they make their, you know, kind of their playoff run. But they're going to need them back. And they're going to need to figure out, because part to me of your run defense isn't just your defensive tackles. Clearly something's up with the linebacker play. No, I haven't broke down the tape.

But like the 49ers ain't exactly rolling out, hello de Nata, and, you know, the biggest defensive tackles you've ever seen. But their linebackers make all these tackles. And I'm watching the Eagles, you can just gut them just, it's so easy. I mean, A.J. Dillon is a very physical running back. Look fantastic tonight. I mean, it was just crushing dudes.

So that to me is the question with the Eagles. You don't have to be the best run defense of all time, but you've got to be a little bit better than what they've been to feel good if you're an Eagles fan about like, this is our year. Because I think you have a very good chance to have it be your year, right? But that run defense and just that front physicality would make me a little bit nervous because that's what wins in the playoffs.

Physical at the point of attack. It's why the 49ers won two road playoff games last year. It's why, you know, if Minnesota, like, you're ultimately not going to just be able to depend on Kirk Cousins 24-365, right? But if you can run the football, which they can, the Minnesota Vikings, you know, can be a potent team. That being said, I like the Eagles the most in the NFC by far. They've earned that distinction, and their roster is really, really talented. I would say the story of the week was Zach Wilson, right? he got benched, which was kind of a no-brainer after his performance against the Patriots.

And then earlier in the week, like Wednesday, they named Mike White the quarterback. And then today, Mike White was fantastic. And to me, I saw Robert Salas said earlier in the week, this isn't the end of Zach Wilson's career. He just needed a reset. And I would, I understand where Robert Salas coming from. And I will, let me say this first. Let me preface what I'm about to say by this. I'm not saying Zach Wilson's career is over as a player in the NFL,

but I think it's over with the New York Jets. Not because the guy doesn't have physical talent, or not because a young player needs some time to develop, and maybe he's just way behind the eight ball, but his teammates clearly do not like him. His teammates couldn't wait to get somebody in there. Their backup quarterback was not some has been all pro, some older player that had won Pro Bowl.

I'll be honest. I follow the NFL, college football, the sport for a living. I don't know much about this guy at all. Yet they reacted to Mike White like he was Tom fucking Brady. If you watch after the game, I forget the sideline reporter, comes up to interview. I think it's Christina Pink. Just to interview Mike Wyatt about how much fun, he had about 17 teammates, corral him from behind and just start jumping up and down.

And then the quotes after the game, from offensive and defensive players. Soss Gardner, who's clearly one of the best defensive players in the league, said it was refreshing on the first drive of the game when the defensive players could look at each other and go, God, it's kind of crazy that we have some time. Because usually they're used to this guy going three and out and them having to run right on the field.

The first drive of the game, Soss Gardner was looking at teammates and go, God, this isn't normal. Elijah Moore, who I'm going to give somewhat of an apology for. When you work with someone who you don't like and you don't respect and you don't think as good, it's hard to be in the right mental frame of mind. And I've been in that situation before in my radio career. I've worked with people that I didn't like and I didn't respect.

And I didn't function properly. And I didn't like the way I felt. I probably, if I could look back and the way I talked to other people, I was probably just a bad, I wasn't myself. And everything I've always heard about this guy, the second round pick out of Ole Miss,

high level guy. And earlier, if you've been listening to this podcast for a while, I talked a lot of shit when he demanded a trade. Because in a vacuum demanding a trade when you haven't earned anything, I'd be like, what are you doing? And I thought it was really stupid. Like, you don't have the juice to demand a trade.

And after today, I realized, maybe he didn't view himself like I'm Randy Moss or I'm Jerry Rice or I'm Terrell Owens I just can't fucking stand playing with this guy he is so terrible he refuses to throw me the ball

and he sucks so bad that I got to get out of here maybe it was as simple as that because all these guys' body language Elijah Moore said that he grabbed the football yesterday and kissed it and told the football I love you and I've missed you

Like, I'm sorry. The quotes coming out of the Jets, Robert Solic can say he needs a reset. He clearly does. He was the third quarterback today. He didn't dress. It is, I would say, borderline unprecedented in modern football for a guy to get drafted that high.

The team obviously be really good and by the second season be getting benched. And think about Tua, who somewhat went through this, though Tua was injured, right? definitely the first year, but the second year, a lot of players on the team liked Tua. And clearly you see it this year, the guys like Tua. Hell, I saw the 49ers this year when Trey Lance snapped his ankle.

The reaction after the game when Jimmy came in and they beat the C-Ox was jubilation. But they never acted like Trey Lance wasn't a good guy, and they didn't like being around him, and they didn't like playing them. It's pretty clear that the Jets players, and this is why I say his career's done with the Jets. Because the players that I'm talking about are not, you know, 11th year Dorel Revis, who might not even be on the team in a year, you know, a 12th year guy, uh, whoever, Thomas Jones or some random defensive lineman,

Soss Gardner's a fucking rookie. Elijah Moore's in his second year. Garrett Wilson's a rookie. Their core guys are all first and second year players. And they don't like this guy. And I'm sure you saw Bougar McFarland. going on the thing about a rich kid. Listen, I've been in college football in the NFL.

You get rich kids, you get poor guys, you get midter class guys. It has nothing to do where you come from. Or like whether you grew up on a country club or in the gutter. Do guys like you or not? Like, I was at Fresno State. Derek Carr's brother, you know,

was the number one pick in the draft. He grew up with some money. Ryan Matthews are starting running back. Grew up homeless. You know what about? both guys, teammates all loved both of them. It's one thing, the other thing with players, like, you can't overgeneralize players. Every player is his own guy. So whether you're rich, your poor, middle class, obviously once you get to the NFL, everyone has money. But my point

is like, we've all met people in our lives, neighbors, family friends, our own friends, like, you're either a douchebag, a good guy, or a bad guy. It's kind of that simple, right? And clearly, Zach Wilson's got some douchey qualities to him because the guy's on the team from all over. Big schools, small schools, don't like the guy. And I don't see how you can like flip the switch at 23 years old. Now you can improve as a football player

and clearly he has a long way to improve. But Mike White, I would say obviously he's a better player than Zach Wilson. But clearly what he had going for him, guys just kind of liked him. Football season is underway. So now is the perfect time to download Fan Duel. America's number one sportsbook. Because right now, new customers get a no-swet first bet up to $1,000. That's free bets back if your first bet doesn't win.

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Must wager in designated offer market. Max bet $5. Restrictions apply. See full terms at sportsbook.fandul.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 next step or text next step to 5334. 2, Arizona, 1-888-7-9-77, or visit ccpg.org slash chat, Connecticut, 800 gambler, or visit at Fandul.com slash RG, Colorado, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia,

18777-7-7-7-1-1-7-1-1-7 for confidential help, Michigan. 18778-8-N-Y, or text, Hope N.Y, 467, New York, Tennessee, Redline, 1-800-88-97-89, Tennessee, 1-800-5-2-4700. Wyoming, visit www.1-800 gambler.net, West Virginia. Speaking about a guy that people don't like, I'm sure you saw the viral video today of the defensive lineman coming off the field and losing it on Russell Wilson.

Now the difference of Russell and Zach Wilson, right, is Russell has a decade's worth of resume. Pro Bowls, you know, all pros, competing for MVPs, taking teams of the playoffs, winning big games,

playing at the highest level of the NFL. So he has equity when he came into the locker room. Even if like, you know, it's like, hey, man, I knew some of the dudes on Seattle. They said this guy's kind of a whack job. But it's like, hey, he's Russell Wilson, we need to improve in the quarterback. We'll deal with it.

Then you're around him and it's like, well, we don't really see it, but he's got a long resume. So you give him the benefit of the doubt, even if you think he's a weirdo. Then before the season starts, he gets this enormous fucking contract. Right? He's making $240 million, $45 million a year, 160 or 70 guaranteed. So he's immediately making way more than everyone else on the team. So it's like, you didn't have any equity here, but you had earned it in the the league, we get it, whatever, they trade it a lot for you, we understand. But then the season

plays out. And the equity that you didn't have with us, like, you got to earn. We've all worked for people that, like, even if they have a long resume, you still have to earn the other human beings respect, right, in a professional setting. And by the end of this, I guess not the end of the season, but they're 12 games in, right? They're officially now 4 and 8. I wonder if some of these guys look at him and go, he's a weirdo. He's the high. He's the high. He's the highest paid guy on our team, and he sucks. Like, that's a bad combination. And especially the defensive guys go, every single week we're bringing it.

Statistically, you could argue, Niners, whatever. There are top two or three defense in the NFL. I saw a stat that if the Denver Broncos had just scored, this was last week, 18 points in every game, they would have been coming into this week, like 9 and 1. Maybe it would have been 10. Whatever, 9 and 2. It would have been fantastic. It's he stinks.

He's awful. Now, we can say Nate Hackett has no business being a head coach in the NFL. That's fair. I wouldn't argue. But you cannot argue that when you watch Russell Wilson, and I just watch bits and pieces of that game, he's awful. He's not any good.

And at least the Packers, like, they paid him all this money. Aaron had earned it. Aaron had carried that franchise. And then even the last two years, back-to-back MVP's. Russell earned this contract just because the Bronkers didn't get Aaron Rogers. And then they trade for this guy and then they give him all this money. And he's the reason with the head coach, they suck. And I'd argue the head coach and him go hand in hand.

Because eventually, if I just call a basic pass play and the dude's open on a seven-yard out route or five-yard in route or whatever, the guy just sitting in a zone and Russell Wilson's looking at him and he throws the ball and he airmails him or hits him in the feet, is that on Nathaniel Hackett? Now we can nitpick the timeouts and some of the specific play calls run or pass. But there is just a basic element of when I drop back and a guy's open and Russell's looking at him and the ball goes five feet behind him or goes seven feet to the right of him. Like that's a Russell Wilson problem. And I don't think Sean Payton.

I don't think Bill Walsh. I don't think Vince Lombardi could fix that. Russell Wilson shot. But for the first time, he's not good enough for everyone to just like take his weirdness. I hate weird wacko people. I can't imagine being good at my job like all the players are on Denver. defense who make dramatically less than Russell Wilson and keep having to pretend to kiss this guy's ass. I think you saw for the first time today, they're snapping, they're cracking. And I support

it because Russell Wilson looks god-awful. And I had a little bit of a theory today. I don't really know, like, there are a lot of teams in the NFL right now whose record is pretty bad, right? There are a lot of four, five-win teams, teams that are well under 500. We can put the Packers in that as well. but you're watching a lot of these games and I think a big difference between like college and the NFL is like a lot of college games when I'm at Michigan or I'm at Alabama

or I'm at USC there is a huge talent gap but I was watching the 49ers game today going and now the Saints got a lot of players back from injury going the Saints have a lot of good players and I understand why a lot of you fans DM me at the start of the season going Middle Coff, you're too low on the Saints are roster's too loaded

Dennis Allen just has to be solid Turns out Dennis Allen just stinks. You know, it's just not any good. And you look at the Cardinals. Like, I watch a lot of Cardinal football. I live in Arizona now. So whatever my TV is on for the NFL ticket, my second TV is just on the local broadcast of what else is on.

And it's usually the Cardinal game, right? So I've watched, and the Cardinals playing a lot of games that I pay attention to anyway. They're playing the NFC West teams. And this year they're playing the AFC West teams again. So I was locked into them against the Chargers. And I've watched basically every snap. that they've had.

They have good players everywhere. They're four and eight as well. The Lions, like if you watch that team on Thursday morning, you'd have to, your takeaway would go, whoever you're a fan of, the Bengals, Seattle, the Cowboys, you would love to have a lot of guys that play for the Detroit Lions on your team.

Coaching sucks. And you know what? Coaching matters. Because last year the Saints did not have a quarterback, but they had basically the same roster with actually some of the less, of the rookies that they drafted because they had multiple first-round picks. They had Sean Payton.

And they found a way with four different guys playing quarterbacks. Ian Book started a game at quarterback for them. Shout out to Northern California, Sacramento's own Ian Book. And they went 9 and 8. And this year it feels like they're headed to do probably a six-win season. Maybe. I mean, honestly, they could win five games. Even the Raiders, which I wouldn't put John,

I guess I still have some hope for Josh McDaniels. or I at least can acknowledge that Josh McDaniels could potentially turn out to be a decent coach. I would say the resume would be pretty questionable, and we've talked a lot about it, and hell, I thought a couple weeks ago he could be won and done. They celebrated beating Seattle today on a walk-off touchdown, back-to-back, OT walk-off touchdowns,

like they just won the Super Bowl. You know, I go back and forth, I kind of teeter-totter in this. Is that a losing mentality, or it's like, it's football, you only get 17 of these, you celebrate them. So it's like, you beat Denver on the road,

you beat them twice, those are two of your four wins, and you beat Seattle, like, I get it, you celebrate wins. It's part of the deal. It's like in baseball, you know, when they celebrate winning the division, then they celebrate winning the wild card,

they celebrate every single round. In football, you know, you just celebrate the conference championship and then you celebrate the Super Bowl. But neither here or no there. But the Raiders last year were in the playoffs, and this year they've added Devante Adams. So it's like coaching matters, man.

It just does. Because you're watching all these teams in the NFL. They have losing records and you go, God, they got a lot of talent on their team. They have a lot of players that I would like. Some of these teams are like pretty good at several positions. Impact players. High-end pro-bowl level guys.

It was like they're going to go five and twelve. How does that happen? Coaching. And speaking of coaching, 17 million people watching, including myself, and it was fantastic. Michigan against Ohio State. And, you know, in football, and I think it parallels life. Now, in life, like, toughness is mainly mental. Like, being mentally tough is very important because you go through ups, you go through downs.

Depending on what you do for a living, you get fired, you go bankrupt, your industry goes under, 2008 happens, you know, whatever. You go through rough times. You realize you lose people in your life, you lose parents, you're forced to grow up, you get a divorce, whatever. People get sick. like you got to be mentally tough. It's the only way to make it in this crazy world. In football, it's like a combination of both. You got to have the mental tough,

but there's just a physical element of life. Like in life for 99% of us, there's not really a, we're not getting in fights. Like in our businesses, we don't have to move anyone physically. It's all mental. Football incorporates both. And there's a huge element in football

of physical toughness. And physical toughness to me is developed in practice. It's developed by, by the leader of your team and the message and the mentality that he brings on a daily basis. And I think it was a year ago when Jim Harbaugh said that Ryan Day was born on third base. And a lot of people like talked a bunch of shit because at the time Ryan Day was having more success. But when you really take a step back and you look, guys like Ryan Day don't get the Ohio State job without ever having another job.

That's not usually the way it works. to get Ohio State, to get LSU, to get Florida. Usually you have to be a head coach somewhere else. It's not always an elite program, but it's a job where you've proved you can be a head coach. Lincoln Riley got USC because what he did at Oklahoma. And when you watch Ryan Day against Harbaugh these last two years, you saw a clinic on one team was tough, mentally and definitely physically,

and the other team was soft. And in my life, and I was thinking about it this weekend, I'm 38 years old. So through the 90s, through the 2000s, and through these last like 12 years, Ohio State has consistently been one of the most physically tough teams in the NFL. Jim Tressel, or I mean in college football, Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer. You can't fake that. They were good on defense and they ran the football and there was a physical element to their players,

their mentality, and the way they went about their business. Ryan Day is not actually an Urban Meyer guy, even though he coached. for him. Ryan Day is a Chip Kelly guy. That was the person he played for in college at New Hampshire, and that was the guy that really got his career rolling in the NFL, and then he transitioned from the NFL to Urban Meyer. Ryan Day's mentor is Chip Kelly. And when you think about Chip Kelly's downfall is he's soft. His pace of play in which he wants to operate usually gets punked and neutralized by physical teams. It's why his best teams in his career, at Oregon always got stopped by Stanford.

Jim Harbaugh and when David Shaw had a really good team. And they lost in the biggest games to Auburn, the SEC. It was not a good matchup for them. And it's taken Harbaugh a little while to get the physical mentality in Michigan. But what you've seen these last two years is Ryan Day, the talent on his team, quarterback and wide receiver. Like, I love quarterbacks and wide receivers. And you need those players in college and in the NFL to win.

But when that is the Ethan, those of your team, when that is the core of your team, you're somewhat screwed. The chiefs somewhat get away with it. Why? They have the greatest quarterback potentially we've ever seen. Besides like Tom Brady and like Peyton Manning and I don't know, he might be better in Peyton Manning when it's all sudden done. Joe Montana.

Like, this guy's that good. CJ Stroud, tad bit overrated. I'm sorry, I've been saying it for a while. Not that good. And what happened? Started getting punched in the mouth. And what did he do? Kind of wilted.

Because it's not that easy. And when you punch soft teams in the mouth and you start shoving them around, typically they wilt. Now, two physical teams play, someone has to wilt. Someone usually has to say uncle or wave the white flag. But that was a mismatch in physicality, and mentality. And you saw it. And ultimately, Ohio State, they don't mess around with that. Now, I can't imagine there are a lot of guys that are cool with Ryan Day these last two years.

You're not allowed to lose that game. Ohio State hadn't lost that game since 2000. same year Jim Harbaugh was playing in the NFL CJ Stroud hadn't even been born they hadn't lost at home to Michigan so I'm not saying he should get fired but like I don't think he's good enough for Ohio State because this is now his program

his culture his players and Harbaugh's basically backhanded him two years in a row and he's going to the playoffs and Ryan Day is headed to the Rose Bowl which still cool to me but doesn't really mean anything Matt Rule became the Nebraska head coach.

I've said this forever about the NBA. When you're like a top 15, 20 player, you have zero liability. Nothing matters. You can get injured at any moment and people will still give you the max. Clay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis.

It does not matter. There is not a better person to be in America than a star NBA player. Zero liability. You have zero. Like anything that happens to the team, dude could jump off the stadium, kill himself, not your problem. Your leg can shatter.

Paul George does not matter. Do you know who also fits in this category? College coaches that go to the NFL. If you have a good resume in college, there is no reason for you if you want to scratch the itch to take the NFL job like Matt Ruhl did. Because you will immediately have the pick of the litter. Wisconsin was calling him, Arizona State was calling him, Nebraska was on him. I just read he got

eight years, $72 million. I've been fired twice. First time in the NFL, my contract was over. I didn't have any money coming to me. I had to figure out what to do with my life. The second time when old Mark Davis and Mark Badain

with the Raiders, they came after me and they won. I had months left on my contract. And I remember being like, well, you guys got to pay me out right? And I like, yeah, pay for the next three or four months or whatever. I basically got paid, I got fired, September 1st and got paid the rest of the year. I remember thinking like, this is pretty cool.

Not that I still did stuff and I was able to work some non-compete stuff. But I remember I've never in my entire life got money for just not working. Now, I've made money in the stock market or whatever, but I've had to invest it. Like I just got fired and they had to pay me up. Matt Rule, when the Carolina Panthers fired Matt Rule, they owed him $40 million. I have so much respect for these coaches that immediately, jump back into coaching and I saw this thing on the internet the other day where he's like, I just miss it. I miss having a whistle. I miss being around the guys.

Like, say what you want about Matt Rule. Is he going to fix Nebraska? I don't know. It's clearly going to be pretty hard. Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, even fickle at Wisconsin. It's tough. But I do respect, like, most of us would at least take a year like, you know, I'm just going to do some fun shit. I got 40 million coming to me, even if I take a job, you know, 30 million left. At least I'm going to have a year. I'm going to take the half, you know, the rest of the fall off that I got fired and this entire next year to just take a deep breath. Not only did he not do that, he jumped back into a program that is a shambles.

It's going to be very, very difficult. And the standard and the expectations are going to be really high. So I don't know Matt Rule. I know people that know them that we used to scout and go through Baylor and Temple and they really liked them. I do respect any guy that could easily chill $40 million. I think most people listening to this.

I fancy myself a pretty ambitious person. I know we got a pretty ambitious listener group. I think most of us might just take a deep breath for a second and just maybe head to Italy, I don't know, New Zealand, Australia. Shit, just check some shit out. He did not. He jumped right back in and he got $72 million. but he already had 40 comments, so he actually only added $32 million, which he easily would have done next year when he had the pick of the litter again.

And last but not least, Wisconsin hired Luke Fickle, who, you know, I think is a really, really good coach. And anytime you can hire someone in college or the pros that you feel good about doing more with less, that's impressive. Like, say what you want about the Giants, they might not win many games moving forward. What we saw at a Brian Dayball this year, it's like he can do more. with less. I saw Jim Harbaught, Stanford, when he got with Alex Smith, some of the quarterbacks he's had at Michigan. Like, that's impressive. Andy Reid started rattling off divisions and playoff appearances with Alex Smith. Like, that's impressive. Anyone, you know, can win with Brett Farver, Peyton Manning in their prime, right? I'll be honest. Most people can win at Ohio State. I'd argue

anyone worth their salt can win at Ohio State. Can you win at Oregon State? Can you win at Cincinnati? Can you get a team to the BCS from Cincinnati? So Wisconsin, Wisconsin. So Wisconsin, Luke Fickle, who is actually Mike Vrable, I think's best friend, who I actually think it had to cross some people at Ohio State's mind. Do we make Mike Vrable a Lincoln Riley level offer? Do we just offer them $150 million? Now, I think coaching in the NFL is a way better job than coaching in college. You don't have to deal with recruiting. You get way more time off in the offseason. It's just you answer to one person, not an AD, a border regents, a president, boosters, but it had to cross some people's mind at Ohio State.

Do we just offer Mike Vrable something so goddamn big that it'll even be hard for him to say no to? And I actually keep an eye on that. It's just, you know, a little something I thought of the other day. The volume. 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, S&LN.

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