The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Trouble in Buffalo, Cards aren't that bad, Jimbo is a smart man

Episode Date: November 15, 2023

John reacts to the news that the Bills fired their OC, what could be the next shoe to fall in Buffalo, how the Arizona Cardinals may not have many wins, but the team that they have may not be as bad as their record shows, and the importance of being a good negotiator when it comes to head coaches and their contracts. Lastly, John answers your questions in this episode's mailbag segment. Bills make changes - 6:10 The Pittsburgh Steelers - 16:04 The Arizona Cardinals - 21:18 Negotiating Deals - 24:15 Mailbag - 35:50 Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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168 hours after issuance. Terms at sportsbook. Dot draftkings.com slash football terms. What is going on, my people? How are we doing? This is a little thing we call a podcast. We had some breaking news today. The bills fired their offensive coordinator.

Some thoughts on the Steelers. And are they going to be able to maintain what they're doing right now? As well as we're trying to add a little Tuesday therapy. We pick a bad team and try to shed some bright lights on a positive spin on, you know, what tends to be a down year. And then Jimbo Fisher paid a lot of money to leave, to not coach. You know, a lot of us really like work. I know I do. I'm lucky to enjoy what I do, but I don't care how much you love what you do.

If you were already really rich and someone pays you $75 million that you negotiated for, So it's not like you deserved it or didn't deserve it. You get what you deserve by negotiations. But to just leave, I mean, it's got to be a pretty powerful feeling. Talk about a golden parachute for a guy who did nothing for A&M, really. But just some overall thoughts on why that continues to happen, these big buyouts in college sports. And of course, the Middilkoff mailbag,

at John Middlecoff. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram. Fire in those DMs. We got a new YouTube page. Just type in John Middlecoff, subscribe to the volume. Three and Out YouTube page. All of our content's going to be up there. So just nonstop.

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Fast scoring ticketing app in America. Let's start with the Buffalo Bills. And the old adage is, can't fire players, especially guys that are making a lot of money, right? I don't know if you saw the latest headline with the New York Yankees, but the general manager's taking big-time shots at the highest-paid players. on the team, John Carlos Stanton, can't fire Stanton. I can't just cut them. You own that money. It's guaranteed. And I'm not trying to compare John Carlos Stanton to Josh Allen, but when a highly paid guy struggles and you're a team, and let's use the Yankees and the bills as an example,

when you become one of the powers in your sport, the expectations are super high. Right? Right now the Raiders rattle off a couple wins and everyone is doing cartwheels. people are so happy that there is a two-game winning streak. Anything less than 12 or 13 wins when you're the Buffalo Bills is a disaster. Anything less than the NL East, or excuse me, the ALE East, if you're the New York Yankees, is viewed as a failure. So when you miss the playoffs altogether, heads roll. Now, that's a separate conversation when it comes to the Yankees.

No one ever gets fired for some reason there. With the Buffalo Bills, Sean McDermott has proven, people won't last when expectations are not met, which is kind of crazy because what are the actual expectations of the Buffalo Bills? I know every team loves to say, Super Bowl or bust. No, you're not Super Bowl or bust. That ain't the case.

That is actually, there's one team in the NFL that can be truly disappointed if they don't win the Super Bowl. That's the Kansas Chiefs. They've been three of the last five. They've won a couple. They're the only current group right now that can go, when the season starts, anything less than a Super Bowl, is a disappointment.

The Eagles are the 49ers, if they get to the Super Bowl and were to lose, well, it would hurt. It would really suck. And Eagle fans, you know last year, that sucked. Niners fans a couple years ago in 2019,

not fun. Still a very, very successful year. Right? And the bills are just looking a FC championship game where they haven't been to many over the last 25 years would be a successful season.

I'm sorry. But how it looks matters. And even last year, You win a bunch of games, you're hosting playoff games, but to get your ass kicked by the Bengals, like just didn't fly, even though the Bengals are better than you. Like, Joe Burroughs a better player than Josh Allen, right?

That's not even really arguable at this point. And I'm a huge Josh Allen fan. I am. He is the type player that I want. A little less turnovers, but big, fast, strong, huge arm. Guy I know I can go to war with, guy who's proven to play well in big games.

But the way he's currently playing in 2023 is a disaster. I mean, he's on pace for 18, 19 interceptions. Even if you threw 50 touchdowns, if you throw 18 or 19 interceptions, unless you have the best defense in the NFL, you're going to have major issues. So clearly right now with their defense

having a lot of injury issues, his turnovers are fucking killing them. And let's face it, obviously you wouldn't cut Josh Allen after a bad year even if you could. That's not good players have rough stretches, but it's a major problem. And in football, it goes, you're either coaching or allowing it to happen. So when Josh Allen had most of his success is under Brian Dayball, who's long gone?

And this is the argument, if you want to go to Cowards thing about not hiring defensive head coaches. They have nothing to do with the quarterback. Most of defensive head coaches couldn't tell you the majority of offensive plays. That sounds crazy. But that is just a fact. I'm not making that up. This is from being around the NFL. This is from talking to people that work for different teams.

This is for talking to offensive coaches that work for defensive head coaches. They don't know the playbook, which isn't that big a deal if you have a really good offensive coordinator and a really good quarterback, i.e. Sean McDermott when he had Brian Dayball and Josh Allen. Right now, Lamar Jackson and Todd Munkin, John Harbaugh feels pretty good about it. felt pretty good about it a lot of times with Greg Roman and Lamar Jackson. It happens.

But beside given motivation and confidence or stern warnings, that's not okay to throw that pass, the head coach doesn't bring much to the table when it comes to the quarterback. Whether you're Sean McDermott, whether you're Brandon Staley, hell, whether you're Mike Tomlin. It's all, you know, kind of big picture stuff. There isn't individual coaching going on when it comes to certain plays. Now there might be, like I said, don't make that pass, don't throw it into double coverage.

But to think that these guys could rattle off every route, every audible on that route, everything at the line of scrimmage that the quarterback is supposed to know, think about is just, you'd be wrong to think that they're at that level. They're just not. So when you get in these situations, when the high paid quarterback starts sucking, and that's what Josh Allen currently is doing in these Monday night games, he looks like a complete scrub. He looks like a bigger, faster, stronger version of like Mac Jones.

There's only one person to go. The head coach is never going to fire himself. He likes making his $12, $13, $14 million. And he wants to keep his job. So he's not going to fire himself. Well, who's he going to fire? The offensive coordinator. Now, I'm not acting like Ken Dorsey is the second coming of Sean McVeigh or Kyle Shanahan.

But to think that after last night, it's all Ken Dorsey's fault, to me seems a little crazy. Right now, are there elements of Brian Dayball kind of a hard ass, not allowing Josh to get away with some of this stuff? Sometimes when your game falters to me in football, especially at quarterback, it's because you get away from the fundamentals.

And if you go just YouTube, Tom Brady, or Peyton Manning at practice, how seriously they take fundamentals, I'm talking footwork, I'm talking three, five, seven-step drop. I'm talking playfakes. Remember in Hard Knocks when Aaron Rogers and Zach Wilson in the room with Hackett were trying to guess, is this a run or is this a pass?

And Aaron Rogers take playfakes very, very seriously. Fundamentals of the position all bleed in to the other stuff, scrambling around, making big throws. And when you watch Josh Allen and Farr became this one Homegren Lab, it just kind of becomes willy-nilly. And like I said with Sean McDermott, who I've known for a decade, 8 plus, I like Sean McDermott. And when I hear people say he's pretty rigid, yeah, he's very a disciplined, old school guy. So, besides, like, get your shit together, I just don't know what else he can say to Josh Allen, beside, like, get on the coordinator.

And clearly the coordinator just wasn't getting the job done. It's the way it works. It's the best part about pro sports. It's very black and white. It's a result-oriented business. When you start sucking on a certain side of the ball, heads roll. When you start losing, you end up losing your job. Like if Sean McDermott to me, if they win seven, eight games,

I don't care how much money he's owed. I'm pretty sure he's owed a lot of money. He will not be the head coach of the Buffalo Bills moving forward. This is the way the league works. Fair or not. Which I could argue it's a little unfair, given how much success they've had over the last three years. But that's just the nature of the beast.

And clearly they'd want to get an offensive head coach because their entire franchise hinges on this individual playing well. Right? it was like, if you're going to fire McDermott, it's like when Holmgren left, and I'm not comparing McDermott to Holmgren. Homegren was better. But like, you hire someone,

it's all about making Josh Allen right. It's all about getting him under control and not having him throw the ball to the other team. It's really just that simple. I mean, honestly, it's not that complicated of a sport. Now, there's a ton of pressure on Joe Brady. Last time I checked, he got a ton of credit for Joe Burrell. Turned out there were co-offensive coordinators on that LSU team.

And then when he went to the panes, which in fairness was Baker Mayfield Sam Darnold, PJ Walker, a lot of random quarterbacks and Matt Rule has proven

exactly to be the next Nick Sabin even at Nebraska let alone you know in the pros he was terrible but he did fire him after a by week told him pack your shit and get out of here and there was a ton of hype on that guy so I don't feel great about Joe Brady

just being able to save the day but I think one thing that goes sometimes untalked about in these situations is how big of a hand the owner has, right? The owner is spending a shitload of money on a lot of players. They invested a ton of cash in Von Miller. Like, they would like to have that one back. Now, I love Von Miller.

He made me a ton of money when I bet on the Denver Broncos in that Super Bowl against Carolina. He was, and I've seen him play several times in his prime, is one of the great players. Any sport, from Barry Bonds to Ken Griffey to Steph Curry to LeBron, I've ever, in the peak of his powers, dude was an unstoppable pass-rushing force. Third and eight, third and ten,

must pass down in his prime. He was creating havoc. I don't care if you got Trent Williams, it was going to be a long night. Anthony Munoz, he is elite, but he's old now. He's coming off an ACL, and you gave him 55 plus million dollars.

And when you give that amount of money to older players, it limits what else you could do, especially when you're paying your quarterback a ton of money. Ultimately, this is all about fixing the quarterback. And that's what Sean McDerm is trying to do here, but he doesn't really have any answers. There's nothing else he can really do, but do this. And I think you have to wonder out loud over these next,

however many games they have left, whether they're five and five, seven games left, is his job in the line. Because I think you'd be naive to think that it's not. The Pittsburgh Steelers. I got some DMs about Tomlin and just the job he's doing. It's pretty crazy. They're six and three. Their starting quarterbacks have thrown a combined seven touchdowns,

Tribisky and Pickett. And if you watch their games, they go three and out. I've talked about it with Stucky more than any team in the league. Almost like 48%, 47% of the time, they go three and out. So almost 50% chance when the Pittsburgh Steelers get the football, they're going to be three plays and punt the football. That's crazy.

But they're six and three. And you're six and three. you got eight games left, you go four and four down the stretch. You're a 10-win team, probably a wild card. And so I just looked at all the other six-win teams, what production they're getting out of their quarterback. Like the Minnesota Vikings, who are six and four. Even if you just take Kirk Cousins, who's obviously missed the last couple of games,

he had thrown 18 touchdowns. Dobbs added three, they got 21 touchdowns from their quarterback. The Dallas Cowboys, Dak Prescott, six and three, 17 touchdowns. The 49ers, 6 and 3, 30, 15 touchdowns. Seattle, 11 touchdowns from Gino Smith, and obviously they have a good run game. Like the Browns, to me, are a good example with the Steelers who have eight touchdowns with PJ Walker and Deshawn Watson,

and their team, a lot like the Steelers, it's pretty crazy they're out where they're at. But their defense is even on a higher level than Pittsburgh. Like, to me, Pittsburgh secondary is questionable. It's the pass rush is just all-time elite. now they're missing linebackers. But the Miami Dolphins, who were six and three, two has thrown 19 touchdowns.

19 touchdowns. So when I look at this team, it's Mike Tomlin's a badass. If you're going to want to have some beers and hang out with one coach in the NFL, he would be near the top, right? Guys like him and Brable that you just want to be a fucking dude with

and just kick it with. And honestly, a guy to coach your team because he can just figure out a way. Not an easy watch, but he can figure out a way to win your games and you're never going to suck. I just don't know if this is sustainable. To me, the Browns somewhat are sustainable because Watson, as he showed in the second half, assuming he's healthy, can just be somewhat solid, right?

He's not probably as bad as he's been. He's never going to be as good as he once was, but he's definitely better than Kenny Pickett. So if he can just get them to a position where he plays, we've said this over and over, just like solid, they're going to be an 11-12-1 team. their defense is elite. Steel's defense isn't quite that. So is Kenny Pickett in their offense, and I saw that they named Warren the starting running back?

Which is the right move? I've watched Najee Harris since he was in high school. I have, I loved him. I mean, obviously he was one of the biggest recruits in the country, followed his career very closely in Alabama. He's just pretty average. If you could have that as a do-over, they would have a do-over.

Hell, they picked the wrong running back, back-to-back picks. It was Najee Harris, Travis ETN. in 2023, it's not even debatable who you'd rather have out of those two players. Naji Harris is a between the tackle running back and he's just not that good between the tackles. He like, Sninky doesn't run that hard for a big physical back.

You can be like, well, their offensive line sucks. I don't know, I just watch him, I don't think he's a very good player. And clearly the Steelers agreed because they benched them. And they named Warren much smaller, but much more explosive player willing to hit the hole, the starting guy. And he's going to get the bulk of the carries. Well-deserved.

It's the way the NFL works. It's meritocracy. You either get it done or you don't. If you don't get it done, you'll get replaced. Because every year, whether you're a coach or whether you're a player, hell, whether you're a scout, you will get turned through. That's just the way the league works. Scouting's a little different.

It's more like who you're friends with, but as a player for sure, if you are not producing for your job, I don't care where you're picked. You will not hold on to that job for too long. I think the Steelers are one of the most fascinating case studies over this next month and a half. you know, the other thing they got going for them is, like, if you're the Pittsburgh Steelers this week,

the Ravens play the Bengals on Thursday night football, you're rooting for the Ravens, just to say bye-bye to the Bengals, get them gone. Because if they're gone, you knock them out, you start rooting against the Chargers, you get some of these teams that you'd kind of be competing against, like you're going to get a playoff spot.

And this is the hard part. It's like Mike Tomlin, again, 10 and 7 with average quarterback play. But then you lose in the first round? it just kind of feels like the same all, same all. But I do think it's pretty impressive what they're doing given. It's not crazy the Cowboys when they beat the shit out of everybody and they're scoring 40, 50 points. Or when the Niners beat you by 30 points.

Like they're good. Like the Steelers, you watch them, I think the Packers stink. I don't think they're good at all. I think Jordan Love is average as the day as long. And that was a game. I mean, Jordan Love's driving them down. if the DB doesn't make a play, tip into the safety, Packers win that game.

But that's how all their games look. Whether they're playing the Browns, the Ravens, or whether they're playing, you know, a team drafting in the top 10. And speaking of a team's drafting in the top 10, I wanted to do a little Tuesday therapy. I'm trying to bring this in. We're trying to shed a positive light on this podcast, bring smiles to people's faces.

I was probably leading the charge, because I said at the time, I used to live probably 20 minutes from where I'm sitting right now in closer to day. downtown and like old town Scottsdale and Paradise Valley where all the super rich people live

and they're just you know 10 to 20 to 25 million dollars there and Jonathan Gannon had bought in a home there for 10 million dollars and I said God this guy was a coordinator for two years you got it was just more of a reflection of the NFL money dude you know go right in

first year head coach had only been a coordinated for a couple years buying a 10 million dollar home probably didn't even think twice about it decent pad but for 10 million I'd like a little more that's why I like Norse Scott's Tale, but regardless, everyone was making fun of the guy. Pugh, pew, pew, pew, pew. The way he led the team in that meeting that went viral, their team actually has been pretty impressive, right?

Starting with Josh Dobbs to what we just witnessed with Kyler Murray. Everyone thought they were going to be competing to have the number one pick and Caleb Williams and his dad was going to deny going there. We refused to play for the Cardinals, a little Eli Manning style. Turns out the Cardinals actually are kind of feisty. And now that they got Kyler Murray, back, I think you wave goodbye to drafting the top couple picks. I think this team, when you look up, is going to be like 6 and 11 and have probably upset some

people down the stretch because one thing all my guys in Philly said, when everyone was making fun of them, they all liked them. They all liked them. And one thing I got pretty universally was that Gannon might be a better head coach than he was a coordinator because he's not, no one would get him confused with, um, with like Belichick or Fangio as some X's knower, but he actually is a good leader of men, which was kind of funny because the Pew Pew Pew comment

and the other comment about fire in your belly did not look that way, but that's all I heard. And here's what you've got to say. When you watch their team play, they're pretty impressive. And the way he's handled this Kyler Murray situation, also kind of impressive. And I'm telling you, if Kyler is just healthy, as he was against the Atlanta Falcons,

he's a mother to play against, man. He really is. I don't care if he's throwing to Larry Fitzgerald, or I don't care if he's throwing to DeAndre Hopkins. He can make place. He's done it his entire career. His issue is when he gets banged up, he becomes half as good.

Like, he becomes a shell of himself because of his size, you know, how much his game is based on movement and the explosive speed. But the guy that I saw was, damn, what they did to the Falcons? If I'm an Arizona Cardinal fan, you're by no means a joke. And that was a team that, you know, the way we talk about the Giants, the way we talk about

the Patriots, we all put in pen, not in pencil, that the Arizona Cardinals were going to be right there. Okay, last but not least, I find it funny when the media makes fun of all these college, athletic departments, and universities that have these enormous buyouts for their coaches. And let's use this as an example. to this right now and you negotiate deals for your company, whatever that may be, whether it's hiring employees, whether that be acquisitions, whether it be vendors you work with. I don't know. Whatever it is. The more and more you do that, your life becomes from professionally very just based on dollars and cents. You become numb to money. I would say most of the best

people in business as a negotiator are kind of unemotional when it comes to dollars and cents. I honestly, I think one downfall of a lot of people is they become a little too emotionally tied to money and I'm not acting like I at point some time in my life were never like that. Just as I've gotten older, I've realized how little money does to me and I've never made more,

but it just the influence it has on my happiness. I've just become kind of numb to it and it's made me better. I just negotiated these deals with the volume and it's just I don't care that much in terms of getting up and down over it. And most of the best agents I've talked to, people in business, I'm not saying you can't be emotionally invested in what you're negotiating,

but you're just, you understand that every dollar, I'm not saying you blow money, but you just become, you understand that what to fight for and what not to fight for. I guess that's what I'm attempting to say. And I think people in business negotiators get very good at that. And when I look at these academic, institutions, like in the NFL, when you negotiate, let's say, with the Philadelphia Eagles or the San Francisco 49ers, I use those to as an example because I know them the best.

They have two guys that negotiate on behalf of them, like the true decision makers beside the owner, in Parag Marate for the 49ers and Howie Roseman for the Philadelphia Eagles. These guys have been negotiating deals now at the scale of hundreds of millions of dollars for decades. So they are numb to it. And then their knowledge of what to fight for and what not to fight for is just going to be greater than the majority of agents beside a couple. So they're always going to have an advantage, right? And when I see these college institutions get in bed with Jimbo Fisher or whoever, it could be Nick Sabin or Kirby Smart, the advantage that Jimmy Sexton, who represents the majority of

these individuals has, because he negotiates for a living and he's done it for decades against The ultimate decision maker at these schools is not the athletic director, who I would say is never going to be on the level for the most part as one of these high-level agents, but he has a fighting chance, but it's going to be the president. And while these presidents run hundreds of millions of dollars in terms under their umbrella for the university, most of them come from academia. So when you deal with grants or whatever for your institution, you're just trying to raise money to then go

let your professors do whatever they're going to do which is important I guess every individual instance is probably a little different based on importance but it's a lot different you're not paying any of these professors $10 million a year that's never going to be the case

the dude in the science department might be making at most 3,400 gray so when you pay these coaches this much money it's because you're dealing with people that operate in these worlds So when you see that Jimbo Fisher is owed $75 million, it's simply because, and I've been told this because I know some of these agents that represent these coaches,

these academic institutions have no chance. They're always going to lose in the negotiation. And they consistently do. Because in no other world, would you put yourself in a position to owe a guy like this who has not produced the ROI for you this much money? but time and time and time again Jimmy Sexton bends these presidents over

in fairness to these presidents this is not their world they're never going to know I don't care how many times they fuck up because this is all kind of monopoly money to them anyway this is not coming out of their pocket like even in the NFL Mark Davis just paid someone to go away

the logic behind hiring Josh McDaniels wasn't that crazy probably one of the best coordinators on the market at the time he had to give him a six-year deal and pay him a lot of money because Robert Kraft, one of the richer owners in the NFL, was paying him a ton of money to be the offensive coordinator. So yeah, I got to pay him $10 million a year. If the place he's working at to be the number two is paying him six or seven,

remember he was making astronomical amount of money. I'm defending Mark Davis here. But in college, you get a president who can get desperate, who gets boosters in his ear, and at the end of the day, when you have to send these guys on their way, this money is just coming from other boosters. What I find crazy is the addiction you'd have to have to your institution to, let's just assume, I don't exactly know how this is going to go,

but 10 guys, let's say less, five guys, are really involved in getting together to get this $75 million over a period of time to get Jimbo Fisher out of there. Right? And I just, I can't imagine being that individual. I really can't. at least in the NFL, like you own the team. Ultimately, it's all your decisions.

So even if you are the biggest booster, it's never going to be all your decisions. It just never will. Even if you do have a lot of sway. But this notion that everyone's like, I can't believe, you can't believe, this is happening over and over and over again. These presidents get taken advantage of

because it's not their world. They have no shot. They do not. And they are never going to. They're just not. As long as academia runs the universities, this is going to continue to happen. Now, if you put a CEO or someone like that in charge of the entire university, and you're like, well, middle cop, they run these billion dollar endowments, it's different.

It's complete, you're just getting, you know, loads of money from rich people donating. In this situation, you're negotiating a specific contract with a specific individual. They don't do that anywhere else on campus. Hell, they don't even do that anywhere else in the athletic department besides some basketball teams. Hiring a soccer coach or a baseball coach is easy. Even if the guy makes a lot of money, it might be like three years, you know, $2 million if my baseball coach, you know,

makes $700,000. You're out of football coach. Football coach makes that every month. So these are complicated and the agents continue to win. It's time for this week's player or coach. thought might give almost, almost anything to redo his game brought to you by Uber Eats. While Ken Dorsey was shown the door today and he was fired because Josh Allen stinks right now, the special teams coach right now has to be hiding under his desk. As Sean McDermott said,

having 12 men on the field in that situation is inexcusable. As I said after the game, that's an embarrassment. It's inexcusable. I don't even think, I think understates. how ugly that is. What a disaster that situation is. You can't tell me, obviously the special teams coach, but I was thinking about today, there's a player, and publicly it hasn't got out yet,

that clearly fucked up, that was not supposed to be on the field. Whether he did not realize he was off the unit, whether he was on the unit in previous weeks and just had a brain fart. So the special teams coach, I'm sure, got undressed by McDermott. But that,

player who also screwed up those two guys today seeing Ken Dorsey clear out his locker room have to be hiding, have to be tiptoeing around the office. Now while the players get a day off, it's probably just the coach. Tomorrow that player is going to be terrified coming in the bad team meeting because it's ugly. And that's this week's almost anything player and coach of the week, the Buffalo Bills special teams.

And you can order almost almost anything with Uber Eats, the official on-demand partner of the NFL. in 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 what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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 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 podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and a 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 Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a 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 y'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 for 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. This is a little thing we call the mailbag, the Middlecough mailbag, and the way you get in the mailbag is you go to my Instagram, which is my name. At John Middlecough, you fire in those DMs and get your questions answered on the show. We will start with Riley. If Sean McDermott got fired in Buffalo, does Buffalo take a look at hiring Brian Dayball given how it's going in New York? it's funny every tuesday i go on gotlebe's radio show on fox sports and we talk football and he asked me that if sean mcdermott is relieved of his duties what do you think happens do you think they could

go try to get brian dable and i said if this was college the former offensive coordinator who goes somewhere else that they loved can save their quarterback 100% brian dayball would be the next coach of the Buffalo Bills. They would pay him an ungodly amount of money, and he would leave. That's the way college sports work, which is kind of fun, but also pisses the media off a lot. I really kind of entertained by it all. But I will say about this, in the National Football League, that does not happen. Sean Payton quit, said, I'm done, I'm burned out, I need a breather.

It seems like, okay, we got to hire Dennis Allen, I guess. That sucks. and it does, and it did, and it has. And then he's like, actually, I feel refreshed. I want to coach again. Teams are sniffing around. The team offers me 90 million. The Saints are like, well, we would still rather have you as our coach.

We're not just going to let you coach for them. We're going to trade you. And it's going to cost a first round pick. And this guy, they already have a coach, was never going to coach for the Saints again, and they got a first round pick. so if you're the giants even after this disastrous

of a season you could not risk losing day ball who obviously has been pretty ugly but just a year ago gave your fans hope resurrected the franchise for a short period of time

let's face it had been really really ugly and trade him to the bills even if they trade him I think you would say no so I don't think that's an option now the problem if you all the bills. You have to hire an offensive coach. If McDermott is

let go after the season. 100%. It's not even an option. You have to hire but what offensive coach? Jim Harbaugh, which might not be crazy. I think Jim Harbaugh and Josh Allen would have a lot in common. I think they would definitely sniff around that. I think hiring a coordinator

is awfully risky. Even guys that are having success, the Kellyn Moors, the Ben Johnson in Detroit, I don't know if you can risk that, given how high your expectations are. So I think they're in kind of a tough spot. I think they would 100% want Ryan Dayball,

not an option. I think Jim Harbaugh would be the most realistic guy that you feel comfortable with, who, you know, former quarterback, even though he's wired a little bit more like a linebacker. But complicated situation for sure. Ryan. Question for the pod.

Have you ever considered doing a top 10 similar to the herd hierarchy? Curious to see who you would put in your, week to week. Not too much on the Vikings, I think the Vikings would be actually probably not in the top ten because the AFC would have so many ten.

Let's just go off the top of my head right now. Niners, Eagles, Chiefs, in whatever order you want. Ravens, Browns, I'm not writing off the Bengals yet. Bengals, who am I forgetting?

Dolphins, lions. Listen, here's the thing with the power rankings and listen obviously the herd hierarchy i gotta get better at doing some of those things that's why i do the middle cuff mail bag try to be consistent with uh trying to do this tuesday therapy just trying to add some landmarkers to the show we're doing a lot of content sometimes with lists and maybe this is i got to get over myself on this i'm not huge on uh but they obviously work so who's the dummy not colin obviously uh yeah maybe uh maybe uh maybe a top six power ranking like the I want a cool name for it like the magnificent seven I don't

know I mean you you tell me the final four give me some sort of name for it any guess to how the jags go about paying Trevor Lawrence hasn't put up great numbers but wins does he get a burrow hurts Lamar type deal well they're one and done or even win a barely win a playoff game what's always the rush to pay the guys right Joe Burrow totally understand resurrects your takes you to a fucking Super Bowl, has you toe to toe the next year with Patrick Mahomes. Patrick Mahomes, MVP Super Bowl championship, just

kicking ass, taking names. Hell, Josh Allen, your franchise was dead. Trevor's good. He's good. I'm not paying him after this year. We're riding it out another year. I think sometimes we're addicted to paying people, and sometimes it's the right call. Sometimes, like this off-season,

you've got to pay Micah Parsons. You had to pay Nick Bosa. You got to pay Joe Burrow. this opposite you're going to have to pay Jamar Chase like welcome to the big leagues Trevor like who cares about three years ago everyone called you the greatest prospect of all time

I'm going to need more than 30 touchdowns from you and right now I think I just checked he's got nine so I hear you there for mailbag now it looks like coach of the year is a two-man race between Dan Campbell and Damiko Ryans what do you think it will take for them to separate

from each other and ultimately win the coach of the year race. I think if Dan Campbell is the number two seed or better, I think he has to get it. It's the Detroit Lions. It was Jared Goff. Nobody wanted him. What D'Amico's doing is unreal. But if they go 10 and 7, which is an awesome job, if Dan Campbell wins 13 or 14 games and is the two seed behind either the Eagles or the 49ers or somehow gets the one seed, it's the Detroit freaking Lions. It's the Detroit freaking Lions. Jared Goff, nobody wanted that guy. Nobody would have taken that a couple years ago when they did.

Nobody. The Detroit Lions. Ultimately, we can make fun of the Houston Texans, especially the last couple years. They were winning a lot. They were going to the playoffs a lot with Bill O'Brien. They were not some joke franchise. I think Dan Campbell's going to get it.

I really do. I feel like it's... I feel like it's going to be hard for him not to win it. There actually might not be a bigger lock right now than Dan Campbell being the coach of the year in the national football. leak. Do McDermen, Staley, both get let go or just Staley? I think Staley will not be the coach of the Chargers. I would say McDermott's in some trouble. I would say McDermott's in a lot of trouble right now.

And I think his actions are showing it. Anytime you fire the amount of coaches that he has and he fires his defensive coordinator after the season, he fires his offensive coordinator in the middle of the season, I think he's feeling the heat. And I think he's feeling the heat from the guys that signed the checks. And let's face it, when you're as rich as that ownership is, You don't get to live forever. You're paying this quarterback all this money. You're probably pretty impatient. You're probably really impatient.

Even the amount of credibility Sean McDermott has brought to your franchise, him and Brandon Bean. I can't imagine those offices are really tense right now. I can't imagine that's a fun place. I really can't. First time mailback question. What are your thoughts on this take Nick Wright

had on Collins' podcast a few months ago? It's essentially giving each team an international game so you would have eight home, eight road, and one international. He also alluded to giving each team another bi-week this way. Thoughts. Well, just because you play internationally now does not guarantee you a buy-week. So I get it in theory, and I actually don't hate the international games. I don't know if there would be enough for every team. I guess every team could play a Thursday night game.

Every team could play an international game. I don't think the partners, given, aka the owner slash coaches, would want that. It's one thing to kind of be in the rotation. It's another thing to be the Jags and like playing over there a lot. It's another thing if you're Seattle or Arizona or the Rams or the Niners. I don't want to fucking fly to England or Germany. So it's a pretty big pain in the ass geographically depending on where you are.

It's a lot easier to fly internationally when you're a New York team or Buffalo than if you're Seattle or Denver. So you don't hate it like I mean it's you got to expand you grow or you die But I I don't think it's essential I don't think it's essential but that's not the way you can think when you're growing your business It doesn't necessarily have to be essential is just a healthy positive Movement for the league because you could argue like you just do the math You're not technically I guess every team now it rotates a FC NFC you get that extra home game but for a long period of time

no one had an extra home game you just had right you just had the eight home games and eight away games so now that extra home game every other year is kind of gravy but I do think the impact

of flying for some teams is greater than other teams that far away I wouldn't pound the table for it I guess if they did it I wouldn't be up in arms and act like it was some

travesty but that's not something I would fight for I'm not I wouldn't even be opposed to mandatory two by weeks just the way they're doing it now. But they, here's the thing. The games is how you pay for everything. This is not, this is not the NBA.

They're not looking to not have guys play. They're not looking to have games be irrelevant. Because when they play, a game is never irrelevant. You can put the Bears and Panthers and 9 million people watched. I think it was 10, actually. I guess that's a long way of saying kind of indifferent. I know it's never going to happen with Kyle Leving Purdy. and Bo going high in the draft,

but do you think Bo Nix is the perfect quarterback for Shannon, the Shanahan offense? Well, isn't Brock Purdy currently the perfect quarterback? There is no... Think about this. Brock Purdy, I saw someone tweet out, has the same stats as Jaylen as a passer right now. Brock Purdy is 15-tops.

Brock Purdy's on pace for almost 30 touchdown passes. In like the height of Jimmy, he was struggling to get like 23, 24. So you're getting 6, 7 more touchdown passes with second-year Brock Purdy. If Brock Purdy gives you 30 touchdown passes And you win 12, 13 games And he makes under a million dollars a year

It's one of the greatest deals in the history of sports Doesn't get any better than that So they're just not even entertaining Going with someone else Never miss a show in you and Colin Sunday conversations Shouldn't we just change the MVP to most valuable passer? I understand quarterback is the most valuable player but maybe we stop pretending it's an open competition.

Totally agree. This would be a great year to make that argument. Ultimately, my bold take of the week on C.J. Stroud, it's not going to, he's not going to be the MVP. But he has a better chance to win an MVP than Miles Garrett. But in a vacuum, C.J. Stroud, Miles Garrett is a better player. And honestly, for, I mean, they're both very, very important.

You remove CJ from that team. They were in Shambles, so that's a bad argument. But Miles Garrett, to me, I would vote. for as the MVP of the league before C.J. Stroud or even Lamar Jackson right now, Patrick Mahomes, but he's just not going to win it. The award is going to go to, this is why we should rename it, to the quarterback, who gets the hottest, and his team has the best or second best record in his conference. So it's going to end up going to Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Brock Purdy, Jalen Hertz, just the way it's going to work. It's kind of sad because you watch Miles Garrett,

you go, how many guys are playing better than this? How many guys right now are playing better than this? And the answer to me, you could argue he's the best player in the NFL this year. Remember Aaron Donald a couple years ago when it was just like, what are we watching here? Is this real life? Is this actually happening?

J.J. Watt was like that a couple years, and they could never win it. The one year I thought J.J. Watt should have won it. And if he can't win it, if Aaron Donald can't win it, no one's winning it. Tyree Kill, they got, It's just, what are we doing?

I'm with you. Let's just rename the word. Most valuable quarterback. Who is A&M going to hire? I was thinking about this the other day. A&M is a place when you're a coach at another school that's kind of miserable and you just want to go make a lot of money. Because Google the history books.

You're not going to win big there. You got really no shot in the SEC. You are never going to be better than Alabama, than LSU, than Georgia, and Florida. And obviously, Florida's down. Bama's up, they'll rotate a little bit over the time, but you're not going to be those schools. And now Oklahoma and Texas are coming into your conference. Oklahoma historically is way better than you. And now that Texas just has some stability with their program, they're better than you.

So they can get and pound the table about the money, which clearly they'll pay for. I just don't see how they're ever going to be a powerhouse. They'll have some moments. They have a bunch of talent. but to me they're not a program that keeps me up at night. They're really not. And I think sometimes programs get overrated because they have a lot of money. And I think Texas A&M is a great example of that. Because like, oh, God, look how much they're paying everybody in NAL.

Look how high all these recruits are. Look how awesome all their NFL prospects are. And then you look and they struggle to win a games. How are you going to get a good coach to go there? I saw Dan Lannning said I'm not leaving here In what world

Dan Langing would have to be on crack cocaine To leave Oregon Who's going into the Big Ten Who's absolutely loaded He's literally winning And he has to answer to one human One Phil Knight

That's the ultimate decision maker Of the program You go to A&M Even if they can match your salary It's way harder to win You got to answer to a million people It sucks So to me, Dan Lanning's saying, yeah, I'm not leaving, basically saying, like, I'm not going to Texas A&M.

Of course you're not going to text A&M. Oregon is an infinitely better job than text A&M. It was five years ago. It was 10 years ago. It was 15 years ago. It is right now. I listened to all your podcast last month. This is the last person podcast.

Wanted to replace Purdy, despite him winning and putting up good numbers. Is he going to be the next cousins type player? Where every year people want to replace him and upgrade, but we look up in 10 years and he's won a shit ton of games and put up crazy stats. I'm not sure, but just something I was thinking about. Well, I think Cousins became very polarizing because he put up a lot of good stats and he was making a lot of money. When you don't make a lot of money, you can be polarizing, but people can only shit on you so much, right? You can't be the same critical of Dak Prescott as you can, Brock Purdy. One guy makes $40, the other guy, $40 million.

One guy makes $790,000 and has practice squad roommates in the Bay Area. Now, the moment Purdy makes $40 million a year, $45 million a year, you get judged differently. Fair or not. I'm not saying if Purdy shits the bed in a second round game that he wouldn't get crushed. He would. But how do you hold him to the same high standard?

He was a seventh round pick who makes nothing. What he's doing right now is remarkable because of that. Once Cousin started getting franchised and started getting these big contracts, it's like, we're paying you to win playoff games and dominate. and he would let a lot of people down in the regular season. And then he finally kind of figured it out these last couple years. Like, God, Cousin looks pretty good.

So I think there are some similarities. As players, they're a little different. I'd say Cousins has a slightly better arm. Purdy's a much better athlete. Cousins can't move. I'm talking before the Achilles. Cousins was stuck in the pocket. This guy, sneaky athlete, really, really explosive in short areas.

Like makes guys miss, keeps plays alive with the... His legs. Pretty's an impressive dude, man, as an athlete. I did not realize the 49ers were getting that when they drafted him. My only experience of dyeing hair was my frosted tips back in my teen years. So maybe I'm not there the one to have a strong take on this, but I feel like you're being a little harsh on Robert Sala. This feels like a situation when they're losing, we find everything to nitpick. If they were winning, would we say something like, man, this organization.

organization has things buttoned up, even down to the details of appearance. My point simply was, and I'm not being sarcastic at all. In what world in the NFL, when you're making $10 million a year and your team's not going that well, you're a good-looking guy, are you worried about some gray hairs on your beard? I think it's kind of a weird look. Look around the NFL. Pete Carroll wears shoes everyone makes fun of them for, the new balance, whatever

they're called. How Shanahan's had gray on his beard for years. Sean McVeigh can get away kind of with the boy band hair, perfectly manicured. Wins a lot. I want a Super Bowl. You think Andy Reid's worried about the fucking way he looks or Belichick? So I think when you get a little worried about the way you look, you're not, who are you recruiting? Who are you doing this for?

Your girlfriend in the stands? I do think let's just have the conversation. Like, why is he coloring his beard? If his wife says he looks better, totally understand. Happy wife. she comes first. But he clearly has a lot of gray hairs. He's got seven kids.

He's coached in Zach Wilson. Why is that even crossed his mind? Now listen, I was insecure before I shaved my head. So maybe he's insecure about having some gray hairs. But he's already bald. Who gives a shit? To me, the only thing he should be thinking about

is like football. Why is he worried about the way he looks? Besides, I'm not saying like, don't work out or whatever. But that is a level of like, are we trying out for the Kardashians? Are we trying to beat the Patriots here? I'm not saying it's the end-all-be-all. I'm not saying I'd fire the guy for it.

But if I own the team, I might think a little differently of the guy. I'm paying you to win games. Not fucking manicure every gray hair out of your appearance. I think that's fair. When it comes to the Patriots, is it possible between Belichick's extension and their two-and-seven record

that Bill and Kraft are giving each other a golden parachute? Bill gets one last payday, and the Pats get a top-five pick. Well, Bill's definitely going to get a golden parachute, but Kraft he is not trying to lose these games Bill Belichick is trying

every hour that he's not in that one girl's house that he'd made the walk of shame at he's trying to win Bill Belichick is not tanking at all I'll promise you that and I think you even know that when you're asking that's the thing about the NFL everyone that loses a lot

they're trying to win you know in baseball like the A's like do they just tanked the last couple years traded everybody, just waved the white flag. Happened in baseball a lot. It happens in basketball. Adam Silver's league is littered with tanking. In the NFL, maybe the last game.

Remember how much shit Doug Peterson got for bringing in Sudfeld in that game? People freaked. It's why we make fun like Iberfluse and Frank Reich. They're trying to win. They're not even just trying to win. They're spending 15, 18 hours a day at the office doing everything humanly possible to win a game.

And they can't. They can't win. I can't even imagine the hours. Belichick, Bill O'Brien, Joe Judge, those guys are spending at the office to have six points on the board in Frankfurt, Germany. That's why I couldn't have worked in football long. It's one thing when you're winning, put in the time,

like Super Bowl champions become legends. I could never put in the time when the team sucked. I'd be like, what are we doing this for? We could spend 70 hours a day at the office. Mack Jones sucks. Our offensive line ain't blocking a soul. We can't cover anybody. So you can diagram every fucking play you want.

Godspeed when the ball's kicked off. Because we are screwed. But these guys are sickos. And Belichick probably thinks that maybe he could win an extra couple games with Bailey Zappy. That's why I would imagine Bailey Zappy is going to be the quarterback of the New England Patriots. Other than that, Adios. 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&L'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 eye Heart 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-Hart Radio. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clivert 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 Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of 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 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. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.