The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Who has the most pressure this weekend, McCarthy's coming back, Pats introduce Mayo
Episode Date: January 18, 2024John dives into the pressure that Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy are facing heading into their game against the Packers, how important is it for Kyle to win this year, and how many more years do the 49...ers have left as a top team in the NFL. John also reacts to the news that the Cowboys are bringing Mike McCarthy back as the team's head coach, is that the right decision, and is Jerod Mayo set up to fail following Belichick as that Pats head coach. Later, John answers your questions during this episode's mailbag segment. 6:01 - Pressures on Purdy and Shanny 29:27 - McCarthy is coming back in Dallas 43:28 - Pats introduce Mayo 48:37 - AP looks set to be the Raiders new HC 58:39 - Mailbag 58:57 - Top 5 GM's 1:04:18 - McCarthy makes Dak better 1:07:45 - Hypothetical Bears trade 1:10:00 - Purdy gets no respect 1:16:15 - Tomlin should stay with the Steelers 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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What is going on, everybody?
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That's the show, and that'd be me.
It's Wednesday afternoon, so you're probably listening to this or watching this on a Thursday.
We will dive into some thoughts on the pressure going into this weekend.
And I think one coach and quarterback have dramatically more than everyone else.
We will dive into that, and their names might start with Kyle and a Brock.
So we'll also discuss the bills and the Ravens, like how close is it relative to the pressure.
and then some coaching stuff.
Obviously, Gerard Mayo introduced as Bill Belichick's replacement today officially
in a press conference with Bob Kraft.
Antonio Pierce, it looks like all signs or he's going to be the next head coach.
And the Tomlin situation of having one year left on the contract,
what's going on? Are they going to extend them?
Because no one plays or no one coaches.
They're not players on the last year of the contract.
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It's out there.
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Okay, when it comes to this upcoming weekend and honestly moving forward,
I don't think it's even close who has the most pressure.
That's the betting favorites and Brock Purdy and Kyle Shanningham.
Now, I think there are two other teams that have a lot of pressure on them,
but I think it's much greater when it comes to the 49ers.
The Ravens, for example, which are the betting favorite to win the AFC.
But think about this.
their head coach has a Super Bowl.
So, like, he's already won his ring.
If he never wins one again, it'd clearly be disappointing.
But it's not the end of the world, right?
And Lamar Jackson, who you'd say, this is one of his best opportunities.
This is probably the best team he's played on.
They obviously have home field.
But he's 27 years old, just turned it, in the prime of his career and under contract,
and we all acknowledge he's a superstar.
Like, he should play at this level at least for the next several years.
I actually think in the AFC, the Bills have more pressure than the Ravens,
simply because their coach, it felt like was on the hot seat like a month and a half ago,
has rattled off a bunch of wins.
I think needs to beat the Chiefs this year.
He's the favorite.
He's hosting the game, Mahomes' first road playoff game.
And clearly the Chiefs aren't as good, right?
You would say the Chiefs on a yearly basis have pressure,
but I think the way this year has played out,
even though it'll be a quote-unquote letdown.
It's still successful.
Like, this is their floor.
of their crappy season, not bad.
Has some Belichick Brady vibes there.
So to me, I go 49ers, then I have a gap,
then I would put the bills,
and I even put a little gap on the Ravens.
Now, that doesn't mean when you lose,
you know, if the bills were to lose
or the Ravens were to lose this weekend,
it wouldn't be a devastating upset.
But when you look at the totality in the future,
like John Harbaugh, champion, not going anywhere,
and Lamar Jackson under contract,
Josh Allen also dominant player under contract not going anywhere
and Sean McDermott's proven to be a pretty good coach.
Now he's got to take the next step in the playoffs
and beating the Chiefs would go a long, long way.
So they won the division, they won a couple of playoff games.
He'd be an underdog the following week on the road.
I think that would be a relatively successful season.
But listen, anytime you get an opportunity with a star quarterback
and the peak of his powers, you know, the problem is they have a lot of injuries
and it feels like they lose a guy every single game,
but I think those two teams are clearly head and shoulders
when it comes to pressure above everyone else in the AFC.
And like I said, I think the 49ers have an astronomical amount of pressure on them
to definitely win the NFC,
and then when they get to the Super Bowl, like if not now, then when?
Now, starting with the quarterback, we've discussed him for a long time.
I think Brock Purdy is a good player.
He threw 31 touchdowns this year, 11 picks.
He was almost 70%.
part of a huge part of his story is his success is based on wait he's that good based on the last
pick a lot of people don't want to give him any credit which is understandable no one thought it
could play right so if you're in the NFL you're going to be rooting for him to lose because if he
succeeds it's like well why didn't we just draft this guy in like the fourth round or the fifth
round as our backup quarterback right so no one ever wants to be proven wrong right if you're
work in an industry you don't want to stake your claim like i'd say
said we shouldn't draft this guy.
I said this guy couldn't play.
And then he goes on to play, it makes you look bad.
And let's face it, fans or people like me that talk about this stuff,
like it feels better being right than it is being wrong.
Now, one thing I've learned from Colin, it doesn't matter either way, just be entertaining.
I'm not making shit up.
I believe it when I say it, but I'm going to be wrong sometimes.
And I'm going to be right sometimes.
I didn't even have an opinion on Brock Purdy when he got drafted.
I thought, oh, see what he can do.
Then he made the team, then he became a starter,
and then I've watched him play for two years.
I think he's pretty good.
Now physically, he doesn't bring to the table the guy he's playing this weekend.
Jordan Love has better physical tools.
He has a superior arm.
He's bigger.
Brock's pretty good athlete, but he definitely can't make some of those throws that Love made last week.
Lasers 30 yards on a rope off his back foot.
I've said forever, his comp is going to be a more athletic Drew Breeze if he has an incredible career.
But think about Drew Brees, who had a lot of letdowns over the years in the playoffs.
Part of getting that pressure off you is winning a Super Bowl when you were young.
The Russell Wilson that won a Super Bowl in whatever that was year two wasn't that good of a player.
Now, statistically, Brock is far superior at the same point in time of his career, but the star that Russell became came years later.
But the moment you win a Super Bowl, and this is the thing with John Hart,
or Mike McCarthy and we'll get in comparing to Kyle Shanahan.
It kind of, I don't want to create a Teflon-Dawn situation,
but it's, listen, we can poke holes all we want.
We call Mike McCarthy a failure.
Do you know what he can always bust out?
The 2010-11 season, I won a Super Bowl.
I know I've only won however many playoff games since, I think it's eight or nine,
but I am a Super Bowl champion coach.
And no one can argue that.
John Harbaugh hasn't a sifted a Super Bowl either since then.
What can he say?
I am a Super Bowl champion.
And it's no different with quarterbacks.
Some guys, when they win in the peak of their powers, you're like, damn, it's easy.
Brady, Manning, whoever.
But some guys, when they win young, it kind of gives them a little bulletproof as the years go on.
Because part of when we evaluate a player, if he hasn't won a championship, can he ever win?
Is this guy good enough to win a championship?
To a Tongue by Loa, if the Miami Dolphins do a good enough job building their team,
they have the coaches on the staff that you can win a Super Bowl with them.
That's all a hypothetical.
It's a guess.
You know for a fact, you could win a Super Bowl with Russell Wilson.
It happened.
Or Aaron Rogers, or Drew Brees.
It's Eli Manning, Joe Flacco.
And the negativity on Brock Purdy is not going to stop
if he doesn't play well, if he were to play poorly and they lose.
Right?
Even if he's just average, if he becomes a Super Bowl champion,
He's like, listen, my second year, I was a pro bowler, and we won the Super Bowl.
Yeah, I was on a really good team.
So was Russell Wilson.
It will be hard to argue with it.
But I promise you this.
People in the media, fans, and definitely people in the NFL are going to be actively rooting for him to fail.
Because they're going to want to look good.
It's why you notice it's with Jalen Hertz.
Listen, I'm guilty of this.
I thought Jalen Hertz was like a fringe running back coming out of college.
I'm like, this guy can't throw.
And then you watch them last year.
Like, God, I was dead wrong.
Look at this guy sling.
pill around. Then you watch him in the Super Bowl
look better than Patrick Mahomes.
Like, this guy's a stud. And then
you watch this year, you're like, I told you. See?
He's just that guy that he was at Oklahoma.
You watch him play down the stretch? What the hell was that?
So your kind of opinion based on
what you think, what you want to happen.
We're all human beings.
Like, I get that. I'm rooting
for Brock Purdy because I like watching him play.
I've been watching the 49ers my entire life.
He's clearly really good. A major, major upgrade
from a guy that they made the Super Bowl with
and won a lot of playoff games with in Jimmy Garoppolo.
This guy's dramatically better as a passer.
Now, I'm not naive enough.
Like, I tend, and I said this the other day,
I like bigger arm quarterbacks.
That is, like, if you gave me the choice,
they both won a Super Bowl,
they both have a ton of records
and were all-time great players,
but if you give me Drew Breeze or Aaron Rogers,
like, of course I'm taking Aaron Rogers.
Right? I can live with some of the freelance stuff.
I can live with some of the personality stuff.
But I like my quarterback to have a fucking howitzer, right?
That's why Josh Allen's one of my favorite players of all time.
I like watching that play.
So if you told me they both have great careers,
like I lean toward guys with Jordan Love skill set over Brock Purdy.
But the coach in San Francisco doesn't.
He wants you to be accurate and a quick decision maker.
And in this offense and on this team,
and given an organization that's pretty good at,
building around you.
Like, Brock Purdy's been really good.
It's not debatable.
Now, if he had won the MVP,
is it like some all-time great MVP season?
Of course not.
But I said it all along.
This wasn't a great MVP year to begin with.
There's no quarterback throwing 40, 45 touchdowns.
There's no quarterback having some historic year.
So we were picking between,
it basically became him and Lamar Jackson.
And then it played himself out on that night
against the Ravens on Christmas.
And listen, I know a lot of people in 49er land
Well, like, well, those balls weren't tipped.
It doesn't look as bad.
Well, yeah, two of them were freaky plays.
Two of them were not.
One, he hit Kyle Hamilton in the numbers in the red zone.
And another one that was tipped, he scrambled and threw across his body.
And this is what I get at when I talk bigger arm quarterbacks.
When you're going to make the out-of-scheme plays, which Purdy does a pretty good job of doing,
sometimes it is going to bite you because you don't have a huge arm.
So if you're a little off, if you're playing a great defense like the Ravens, it can cost you.
and it cost him on that play.
But listen, I'm a Brock Purdy fan, supported his play this season,
but he's under the microscope on all of these games, right?
Obviously, he's a huge, I mean, he's part of the team,
but they're enormous favorites.
And a big reason is because of the offense.
And now you're playing Green Bay,
who statistically throughout the season has been embarrassing on defense,
has been a team that every Packer fan,
up until last week when they've gone completely quiet
and even just because it's a positive moment
so you're not going to scream about firing Joe Barry
wants their defensive coordinator removed from his position
when this season ends that is going to pick back up
they want him fired so this is a game
a ton of people are going to be watching you're talking 30 35 million people
you play well you keep shutting people up
but the moment you have some hiccups
fair or not people are going to be on you
So I think of the two guys, he's under the most pressure.
And I think because, let's face it, that they've proven they'll replace guys.
Right.
They actively look to replace Jimmy Garoppolo a year after he led him to the Super Bowl.
They actively replaced Trey Lance two years after trading three first round picks
and drafting the guy at number three overall.
Like this notion that Brock Purdy is just on scholarship just because the 49ers like them that much,
look at their history.
I say this all the time about any human being, any business, and specifically football.
judge you on your actions, not your words.
Right? So if shit gets weird, things get weird and things get weird fast.
The Eagles love Nick Siriani until the last month happened.
Then it doesn't feel like they do.
Like things change fast in industries that are result oriented.
It's what I said forever about Brandon Staley.
It's like, well, I think our process, our process, no one cares about your process unless
you're Nick Sabin or Bill Belichick in 2018.
We don't care about your process when we watch your results and they suck.
The reason we want to know about Sabin's process is because he freaking wins every year.
I want to hear about Jeff Bezos or Steve Jobs process.
Why?
They created some of the biggest companies we've ever seen.
No one cares about the process of a company that is not doing well.
So, Purdy, it's about getting it done.
And the playoffs get magnified exponentially as they should.
It is more important.
It's when you become a legend.
You don't even get paid that much.
Right?
If you're making 20, 30, 40 million dollars as a player,
you start making the same amount as the 53rd guy on the roster.
This is not about money.
This is about your legend, your status in the game.
You get paid for the regular season.
Right?
The post season's about, are you going to make money from the time you're 40 till you die?
Because when you become a legend in the NFL, you make money forever.
Just like in all sports, right?
It's like this guy was a champion.
This guy was a great player in the biggest moments.
and he's going to be under the microscope, just like his head coach.
Now, a couple years ago, Kyle Shanahan's record was under 500
because his first couple years in San Francisco did not go well,
and then the year after they made the Super Bowl, they also suck.
I think at this point in time, after making the playoffs the last two years,
and then again this year being the number one overall seed,
it's not arguable that Kyle Shanahan's a really good coach, right?
He's won six playoff games.
For example, he has less.
Both these guys, I think, are 60 and 61 years old.
He is halfway to John Harbaugh and Mike McCarthy, who have 11 wins, right?
And obviously John probably going to win, you'd think, some more games this year.
But like Kyle Shanahan might catch Mike McCarthy by the time he's like 48 years old in terms of playoff wins.
So he's proven to be a really good regular season coach.
They've won the division three times in five years.
They've been the number one seed multiple times.
He's had success in the playoffs.
He's won home games.
He's won away games.
And we all acknowledge he's a really, really good offensive coach.
But you get to a point in time, and this gets back to the players.
Like Mike McCarthy always had in his back pocket, I'm a champion.
Same thing with John Harbaugh.
I mean, those guys have had success in the regular season,
but over the last decade have not really been crushing it in the postseason.
think about Andy Reed forever
and when I got hired by Andy
it was his last three years in Philadelphia
he had got kind of the
the label of being
like the Phil Mickelson before he won
the Masters of golf
being the guy that just couldn't get over the hump
for whatever reason even though we all acknowledge
like Andy Reid's one of the best coaches
in all of football
but until you win a championship
we go ah Jim Harbaugh's battled that
forever and he finally got the monkey
off his back a couple weeks
to go winning the national championship.
Now, he hasn't won a Super Bowl,
but no one can ever say,
I don't know if Jim Harbaugh can win a championship.
Both Harbaugh brothers have proven.
They've taken different routes.
One guy took a lot longer to get there,
but they can win a championship.
And that's a big deal, right?
Because what separates coaches,
let's face it, is championships.
It's why we hold such high regard for winners.
I've seen it firsthand with Bruce Bochy,
Steve Kerr. Obviously, some of the historic guys in my lifetime, Joe Tori, Phil Jackson, Bill Belichick, Bill Parcells,
like, once you prove like you're a champion, we look at you and talk about you differently.
It's why I think Belichick is such a valued commodity on the open market.
And Kyle Shanahan's literally is contemporary, his former mentee,
and the guy that we talk about synonymously with him so often is Sean McVe.
I thought Sean McVey had a pretty bad night the other night,
had no timeouts at the end of the game,
because they're blowing them throughout the second half.
He did that multiple times this year,
despite having an awesome season.
But it's like, what a year from McVeigh!
And no one even holds them to the standard of Kyle anymore,
rightfully so because he won the championship a couple years ago.
He literally beat Kyle on the way there.
So once you win that championship,
it adds a layer of protection that, you know,
stays with you for a long, long time.
It really does.
And I think this year for Kyle, like, it's fucking now or never.
Your team is absolutely loaded.
You have one of the great left tackles of all time who, a lot like Jason Kelsey,
you don't know how much longer he's going to play.
There's a chance like he couldn't retire.
This might be his second to last year ever.
And let's face it, unlike Kelsey, who you're going to downgrade whoever you replace
them with, it is much easier to replace a center.
and I know that I talked yesterday about Kelsey retiring, basically just saying he's going to retire.
I mean, I said he was going to retire because of the report. Kelsey pushed back on that.
Though if you watch the clip, he's crying at the end. I think it's pretty obvious. Jason Kelsey's done.
I would much rather as a coach or a general manager have to replace my center than replace my tackle.
Because it's much harder to find a tackle. How do you find one? If you do not suck and are not drafting high, you don't have access to the high-end guys.
most of the high-end tackles in football over the history of time have been high draft picks.
Right, like Jordan Malata, the tackle for the Eagles, the Australian rugby player, is an all-time outlier.
They typically are Lane Johnson, top five pick, Trent Williams, top five pick, Tyron Smith, top pick.
These guys typically get drafted high.
There aren't many super talented six-six guys that weigh 330 pounds that can move like a tight end that just slip through the cracks.
That's not the way it works.
So the time is now.
You have all these guys under contract.
They're all in the prime of your career.
The cohesion, the character of the team, everyone likes each other.
We've watched you play really well.
But the only question mark you have with this squad,
and this speaks to Kyle's resume, is like,
what happens when it's not perfect?
Because nobody, and I mean nobody, can kick your ass like the Niners.
They are the best at just like week in, week out,
good or bad teams blowing you out, working you.
They did it all season long.
But a couple times when the game was tight and they were down, they did not win them.
Cleveland, Minnesota, and obviously the Ravens, which really got away from.
And Kyle's, that statistic of him not being able to win down a touchdown in the fourth quarter
is not some made-up stat.
I think it's almost 40 games.
He has not won any of them.
and a lot of people have talked about, and listen, it's true, his passing game is pretty unique.
It's directly correlated and tied to the running game.
They go hand in hand.
He does not, I mean, he has plays, or the quarterback can be in the shotgun, you can spread him out.
But that is not how he wants to coach.
And that is not how they practice or game plan throughout the week.
So when they find themselves down 10 points with seven minutes to go, they can't just go Mahomes or Josh
Allen because of the play caller.
It's not because of their players in the sense of their skill guys.
Now, offensive linemen-wise, they're not great at right tackle.
And if you have a good edge rusher, which I'm not sure the Packers do, but the
lions do.
And if they get into a situation in a tie game where they got a pass, like Aidan Hutchison
has a huge advantage over Colton McKivitts.
Right?
I mean, the Niners have one really good offensive linemen, who's an all-time star,
and a lot of other guys that you could easily really.
replace and no one would notice. That is the weakness of the team. They're good at basically every
other position. If they're healthy at D-line, they'll stop the run fine. But their center through right
tackle is average at best for league standards. Now, I've said this forever about teams that
complain about their second corner. Most teams don't have four sweet DBs. The problem for the
Eagles is like, their two starting DBs right now are not good. So if you have one good starting
corner and you can rotate the other guys, like you can figure it out, especially if you
got good defensive linemen, some good linebackers, like you can manipulate it.
Most teams are not perfect in 2024, and they never will be again because of the salary cap.
But this team, relative to the league, a lot like the Ravens, is about as close to perfect
as you can get.
It's really good, it has impact players at basically every level, offense and defense.
Now, one downfall for Kyle, which he's had in these other playoff games, which he's benefited
from was having Robbie Gold, who was a very, very reliable kicker.
It didn't feel like you watched him.
He was a really good player, but he made it when he had to constantly.
And he hit game-winning field goals several times for the 49ers,
including in playoff games against the Green Bay Packers.
Their kicker, who was, it was a huge controversy in 49er land,
and I think league-wide, whenever you draft a kicker really high.
And they drafted the guy in the third round.
My ultimate take was, listen, once you get past like pick 100, I'm not going to freak out who you take.
But if you take a kicker or punter on the second day of the draft, because you can, we see all sorts of teams take every position on the second day of the draft and those guys stink.
Those guys get cut within a couple years.
Those guys get traded.
There is no guarantee.
Literally, there's no guarantee at pick one, let alone in the third round.
But if you are going to take a kicker in the third round, because historically speaking, most kickers are like,
six-rounders to undrafted free agents.
So you historically don't have to invest the resources.
I'd say no different than a guard or a center.
If you're going to take him high, he better be an impact player.
Listen, I fundamentally agree with most people
that taking a running back in the first round is not great business.
But if he looks like Jemir Gibbs, I'm cool with it.
Especially if Jemir Gibbs also brings me Sam Leporta.
Like, I ain't going to argue.
The pressure's on.
to me it's on Purdy to like people would be out lined up to crush him if he has a bad game and it costs the 49ers.
But I also think Kyle Shanahan, who is on much more stable footing, I mean, he's under a long-term contract.
Obviously the 49ers want him to go nowhere and he's going to be the coach for the 49ers for a long period of time.
But like this is about as good an opportunity as you can get, right?
even the three best quarterbacks in the AFC,
you're going to face one of them, Mahomes, Allen, or Lamar.
And Lamar clearly has the best team.
But the bill is pretty flawed.
They have a ton of injuries on defense.
And obviously this is the worst chiefs team.
It's all relative, but to the Patrick Mahomes era.
And listen, you're going to be, you are a double-digit favorite against the Packers.
You've owned Matt LaFleur in the playoffs.
You've knocked them out twice.
You kicked his ass in the AFC championship game, and you upset them at home.
And you're a double-digit favorite for a reason.
You should win this game.
And then even the following week, if we assume the Lions beat the Bucks,
I don't know if you saw, but a reporter, it sounded probably like a news lady,
asked Todd Bowles what he's doing to get ready for the frigid temperatures in Detroit.
And Todd's pretty understated guy.
He wasn't really even a dick about it, but he's like,
you know they play in a dome, right?
It was pretty embarrassing for the lady.
They didn't really show her, but yeah, not a great.
If you're going to go to an NFL press conference and ask a question about the weather,
probably should know if the team plays in a dome or an outdoor setting.
But, yeah, man, I think the 49ers, this is super bowl robust.
And anything less will be absolutely devastating for the head coach and the quarterback.
but definitely the quarterback for his status on the team.
And I think with the coach is like,
is this guy ever going to win one?
Is this guy ever going to win one?
And I think sometimes we start doing that too soon on guys.
I think it's fair.
Especially when you look at the landscape of the NFL,
who he's got to beat.
I mean, a lot of guys that we view him as equal to
have won Super Bowls.
Okay, like most people,
had wrapped up the day,
take the dog for a walk.
My phone starts blowing up.
Bing, Bing, Bing, Bing, look, McCarthy's coming back.
McCarthy's returning.
Go to the old Instagram.
Schefter, first thing I see, McCarthy will return in 2024.
First and foremost, I think this is the wrong decision.
Like a lot of coaches, we've seen it with Pete Carroll,
we see the weirdness going on with Mike Tomlin.
Mike McCarthy is a good coach.
It can't be argued.
He has won 12 games, three straight years.
and they've won the division and hosted a playoff game in two of those.
The problem is, at this point in time, not only in his career,
but the Cowboys operation, it's only about the playoffs.
You are strictly judged on what you do in January.
Against Shanahan, against McVeigh, now the emerging Packers.
So for the last three years, I've seen you against two coaches.
Kyle Shanahan twice, and now LaFleer with Love beat you.
So to me, if I'm Jerry, I understand it shouldn't be an easy decision, despite them just getting
their asking.
I get how it's easy to justify.
One, there's a human element of this.
And Jerry, in a weird way, for this, like, gun-slinging businessman, has proven to be pretty loyal,
right?
Was very loyal to Jason Garrett, because he liked him a lot, and clearly likes Mike a lot personally.
And in fairness to, like, why does he like him personally?
he's helped them be pretty successful, right?
They've won a lot of regular season games.
I just don't know in 2024 at Jerry's age,
and I understand not wanting to make a big change,
learn a new coach's lingo,
go get Belichick and have to deal with it.
You know what you have in McCarthy,
but isn't that part of the problem?
Because in the biggest moments,
it just hasn't gone well.
Two years ago,
like their best playoff game in the last three years
was last year on the road against the 49ers,
where they gave Brock Purdy,
Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers, everything they could handle.
Two years ago at home,
the score will tell you the game was close,
I thought they got worked.
If it wasn't for a Jimmy Garoppolo,
pick six, I think it was a pick six,
definitely a bad pick that led to a touchdown.
They were getting worked.
And then this year, one of the all-time embarrassments.
So ultimately with a coach,
I think you asked, like we do with a quarterback,
and we'll get to DAC in a second,
can I win a Super Bowl with this guy?
Now, he's won a Super Bowl before.
Young Aaron Rogers, they got hot despite a bunch of injuries and won it.
And then later on, as the years went, they had better teams.
They had better teams.
And they blew it consistently in the playoffs.
The one game that sticks out to me all these years later is a game against Seattle
that the Packers had no business losing, and they lost.
So when you go to sleep at night, if you're a Packer fan, if you're Jerry or Stephen or anyone in the operation, not on the coaching staff, you go, are we ever going to win the big games?
Because yeah, he can win some big regular season games.
He can win us 12, 13 games and have us competing for the number one seat.
But it's no longer about that.
It's about an organization that hasn't been, despite going to the playoffs, a ton of times.
You know, people get so worked up, like, why does everyone talk to Cowboys?
which I understand like why is everyone talking to Warriors right now?
They legitimately suck, right?
But their brand, they're important in the league.
Same thing with the Yankees when they have a down season.
Well, they're the biggest brand.
The Cowboys, like they've backed up, quote-unquote, their popularity with winning.
They have been good.
But isn't the whole point, like, can I win a Super Bowl with this guy?
And despite a guy with the ring, I think the question is, or is answered, no.
No!
I mean, they've been bounced twice in the last three years in the first round.
And last year, let's face it,
they played a Bucks team who was in freaking shambles.
Tom Brady was already 1, 2, 3 Cancun,
and they kicked their ass.
And Dak played, you could argue,
the best game of his career.
And I think part of this,
and I pushed back when Coward,
thought that Jerry would refuse
to move off Dak or even entertain it,
and he would extend him.
And I think it shows you.
He was right.
They're going to extend him.
Part of keeping McCarthy is
keeping the status quo.
Dak Prescott and his $50, whatever, $9 million cap hit
because he's done the last year of his contract,
is going to get a contract extension.
And you could argue, because if I wanted to defend Mike McCarthy,
if I was his kid, if I was his agent,
if I was just his buddy, I'd go,
do you think Mike was throwing those passes?
Look at what Mike has done for Dak.
He's played really well.
He's played really well over stretches of the last three years,
and especially this season.
But that meltdown isn't that.
that more on the human and the individual?
We got that way with James Harden,
where we start all acknowledging, like,
it ain't the coach of the team's fault.
He just implodes.
And now we have evidence for Dak,
like, he just constantly throws the ball to the other team in the playoffs.
Five picks last three games.
And those two picks, I mean, this was the worst,
even worse than two years ago in 21.
I mean, hit a guy in stride for the pick six
through another awful pick to Jair Alexander
that wasn't even close to Cooks.
And let's face it,
there were a couple more balls
that easily could have been intercepted.
That first half was,
got awful.
And if it happens in October and November,
no big deal.
But this is the NFL playoffs.
This is the NCAA tournament.
You're won and done.
You don't survive.
You ain't advancing.
This ain't seven games.
You're not playing a five-game series.
So to me, this shows
Dak Prescott's going to continue to be their quarterback.
Now, I understand internally,
like, how do we upgrade?
But I've said this over and over and over again.
If that's your mindset in life, in business, you are going to get lapped.
Just because you stay in the slow lane and don't get in the fast lane,
doesn't mean that you're not going to get into a car crash.
So not acknowledging like, we've got to take a bigger swing.
We need a change to make that next step.
We're going to stay with the status quote is not working.
Not even arguable.
It is not working.
Kudos to Seattle that like easily could have justified.
Pete Carroll's still a solid coach.
We're still very competitive.
Made the playoffs last year.
One nine games again this year.
A bad bounce here, a bad interception here.
We could have been an 11-win team.
I'd already even probably closer to a 7-win team,
but it's easier to justify internally in a building
we're closer than we think they are.
And obviously the Cowboys have some good impact young players.
You know, Parsons, who kind of disappeared,
is a really good player.
C.D. Lamb is a stud.
Ferguson looks good.
We like some of their young offensive linemen.
but how could you watch that game, even if they often say, right,
when something emotional happens, take a day, take a couple days,
take a step back, take a deep breath,
and come to the conclusion like, yeah, we're really close.
You're not even remotely close.
And I think it starts with their infatuation,
which I thought would eventually just, like, listen,
maybe he's not good enough and force you to pivot,
but clearly that's not the case.
Dak Prescott not only is going to be their quarterback next year with Mike McCarthy,
to me they're going to give him a contract extension.
And let's face it, when you've been making $40 million,
and you just are one of the better quarterbacks in the conference
and throw 35 plus touchdowns, you're not taking a pay cut.
So how much money is this contract extension going to be?
Now, when you give a guy an extension, you can manipulate the books.
So his cap hit next year could be dramatically.
It could be like $7 million, $10 million.
Jalen hurts these next couple years is nothing.
So it actually helps you in the short term,
but you are stuck and connected with that player.
So McCarthy entering next year on the hot seat.
Like he's coming in to the season,
honestly no different than Iberfluse.
Like if you started slow three and three,
like is it time for a change?
This is a mistake.
And I think any time that you question
when a guy is entering a season that,
you know, if it doesn't go well, like really, really well, something that hasn't gone well
for the Cowboys in 25 years, that guy is going to get fired. I would say 98% of the time is the wrong
decision. Happened with John Harbaugh, the year they drafted Lamar Jackson, and they bench
Flacco and they went to Lamar to change John Harbaugh's career. So unless they're drafting a
quarterback and Dak were to get hurt and that guy gets inserted and he changes the trajectory of
McCarthy's career, I think it's easy to see the way this is going to end, the same way it's
ended the last three years, which 85% of the NFL would die. 12 wins, home playoff games,
we're cool with that. The Cowboys are no longer cool with that because if they don't win
some playoff games, it's a complete failure. This year, complete and utter failure.
For the expectations, for, I mean, there are seven and a half point favorite against a guy
who's making his first year as a starter in the NFL,
playing the youngest team in the NFL,
playing a bunch of guys that were first and second year players
on the Green Bay Packers against a team.
Here's the other thing.
You're an offensive coach.
You have a quarterback that's 30 years old,
that's eight, nine years into his career,
who's playing well.
You're playing a defense that statistically is an abomination,
is awful by basically every metric,
especially passing the ball.
and for you to struggle to be down 27 to 7,
be like, listen, your defense having a shitty day.
I think some Cowboys, you know,
our defense is not all that is hyped up to be Dan Quinn
a little overrated, which we could argue that another day.
But offensively, okay, we're going to need to do a shootout today.
We might need to win this game 45 to 40.
Well, buckle up, guys, and they couldn't even sniff that.
So Mike McCarthy and that team showing up to that game,
I think sometimes, and I'll get back to the brand stuff with the Lakers, with the Yankees,
you know, it gets over-talked about.
I don't think this is, I don't think you can overstate and continue to talk about
what we witnessed enough.
And that's no slight on the Packers because they've been an incredible story.
But to whatever that final score was, 45 to 32 or whatever, give me a break.
We'll get to Fugazi Friday because that's a fake final score.
That game felt if you watched it like that 70 to 20 Miami Denver Bronco game.
That's what we all witnessed.
Because in that first half, it felt like 40 to nothing.
That felt like a complete and utter blowout.
And then he throws the pick six.
It was just on like Donkey Kong.
So listen, I understand older guys don't want to change.
No different with Jerry and Jason Garrett.
He wanted that to work so bad.
He does not want to go on a coaching search.
even if it's pretty clear that, you know, there are some clear candidates that the search wouldn't be that wide.
I mean, it would be between two and three guys.
Maybe they had some conversations with Bill.
Maybe they sniffed around.
Maybe they realized it wouldn't work.
Now, obviously, Belichick to the Cowboys, which I wanted to see.
I'm sure a lot of people wanted to see.
It just would be a fascinating NFL situation.
It would be a fascinating case study in Belichick and Jerry.
And could he get him over the hump?
Could he just get him to the NFC?
championship game is not on the table. And I think the clock now, now they had an extra day between
games because they played on Monday night, is on the Eagles. When does the Schefter report come out?
The Eagles are sticking with Siriani or they're pivoting off Siriani. If I remember correctly,
it took a couple days for Doug Peterson. What do you think is happening with McCarthy and Jerry
and Stephen? They met for the last couple days. What do you think is happening with Siriani,
Jeffrey Lurie, and Howie? They're all meeting. So how are those conversations? Because
remember the conversation around Doug came out,
they just realized this was not a sustainable, you know,
environment for everybody.
They weren't on the same page.
Siriani, because Doug had won a Super Bowl, he knows, fire me,
I will get another job.
And he inevitably, a year later, got the Jags job that had the number one pick
with.
I mean, Trevor was already on the team.
But Seriani, if he got fired, unlike Doug,
he ain't getting a job in a year, not a head coaching job.
Is he even getting an offensive coordinator job?
That was the weird spot for Mike, right?
If McCarthy had gotten fired,
it's not like he's a village idiot.
He'd be like, you see my resume?
See what I did with the Cowboys?
I know I lost some playoff games,
but how many, like the Raiders,
you wouldn't want me to be your head coach?
The Atlanta Falcons,
you wouldn't want me to be your head coach?
No, I think the initial reaction would be
McCarthy unhirable, relative to who?
Right, relative to like Belichick,
okay, right?
Relative, you could say some other guys around the league,
you'd rather have McVeigh or Kyle or whatever,
but like the Atlanta Falcons,
if they don't get Belichick,
wouldn't want Mike McCarthy?
You could argue he'd get a job potentially really fast.
I mean, he would have gotten rehired.
So I think that's a huge domino.
I mean, it's a big story.
It's crazy how big the story is because I think we all, at least a large percentage.
I mean, there were some people that are like, they're not going to fire him.
I just assumed.
And I clearly assumed wrong.
It's why they say, you know, don't assume.
You make an ass out of you and me.
So McCarthy returns.
Jerry Jones, Dack Prescott and McCarthy, buckle up because this isn't going away.
unless they start slow or lose next year and then clearly he's done.
Speaking of Super Bowl champs,
the Patriots fired a guy that won them six and took them to three others.
And like with Nick Saban, I mean, one retired, one was fired.
It's impossible to replace those guys.
Kalin Dubor could be a home run higher for Alabama
and you'd put the over-under championships he's going to win in the next 10 years at like
one and a half, right?
Drodmeo could be awesome for the Patriots.
and that could just mean finding a real quarterback
and making the playoffs like four of the next five years
and winning a couple of playoffs games.
Might never win a championship.
History would say probably won't.
I do think replacing,
what Alabama ended up doing
is actually an easier transition.
You get a guy who you know is good,
but is not directly correlated to the legend?
Because anytime you're directly correlated to the legend,
it's like you're an extension of him,
and then when it doesn't go even close to just going well, it feels worse.
And I think Kaelan Dubour kind of gets a fresh start, kind of can be himself.
Obviously, it has no ties to Nick Saban.
So he doesn't even know what went on in that building besides like talking to Nick or talking to the players.
But his coaching philosophical beliefs were not driven and created by the guy he's replacing.
and I've seen a lot
and followed Gerard Mayo's career as a player
and watched a bunch of YouTube videos on him
just talking when he was out of football
after being a player,
the way other players talk about him.
There is no disputing
that Gerard Mayo is a super high level,
high character,
smart fucking dude.
He's clearly in the cloth of
the former players
who were good players,
Vrable, D'Amico,
that went on to be coaches.
Smart guys.
really good football players, team captains early on in their career, just kind of like you would
invest in that guy. You're like, what does that guy want to do? You know, when he's done playing,
he wants to run a finance company. You know, when this guy's done playing, he wants to go make
movies. When this guy's done playing, he wants to start a restaurant chain. You'd be like,
can I invest in him? Like, that's Gerard Mayo. That's D'Amico Ryan's. That's Mike Frable.
They just choose. They love football so much they want to coach. I do think replacing Belichick,
And let's face it, this replacement was set in stone last year.
When he signed the contract, it's been reported on,
but it's clear why he was hired 24, 48 hours after it became official with Bill.
This was a done deal.
They knew Belichick was on the hot seat coming into the season.
If they were going to fire him or force him out at the end of the year,
this was always going to be the guy.
There wasn't going to be no coaching search.
I do think it's pretty risky, though.
I really do.
I understand from the craft standpoint, you've lost coaches before that you felt good about.
Hell, that happened with Belichick.
but hiring a guy who's only worked under this guy when it's been proven time and time again.
This is the only guy he's ever played for, that Belichick does not do a great job of teaching his assistant coaches.
He just does not.
It's why when they go, they don't like struggle.
They historically fail.
I mean, Josh McDaniels is the first coach in NFL history to be fired twice before the end of year two.
Matt Patricia was a laughing stock.
Joe Judge couldn't have been any worse.
Brian Flores, who actually is a really good coach, clearly, good defensive coach,
like doesn't understand, like, you kind of got to be nice to the quarterback.
Like, you kind of got to figure out that relationship.
So even Bill O'Brien at the end, they couldn't run him out fast enough,
and he actually was pretty solid.
But Bill, it was not like a lifetime Belichick guy.
Bill had worked other places.
I just think this is pretty risky, and it puts a,
I don't blame Gerard Mayo for taking the job.
I don't blame Gerard Mayo for signing up to be the coach and waiting.
But it's going to be very, very difficult because the outside noise will get very, very loud
if you just miss the playoffs a couple times.
Like, this ain't going to work.
And then you will be forced to kind of go outside.
If he succeeds, I actually think it's more difficult.
I really do.
Like, if you tell me, Kaelin Dubour makes the playoffs the next five years, which he should,
and just win some playoff games,
wins a national championship is awesome,
be like, yeah, I could see that.
If you told me Sark took over that job,
I'd be like, I could see this thing getting weird fast.
Because you're almost held to a higher standard.
Because you're one of us.
We know you.
We expect you to be,
I saw this clip that went viral on Instagram
of, it might have been like 2011 or 10 or 12,
had a bunch of Patriot guys.
And they were asking, like,
if they wanted to get something done with Coach Belichick,
they're like, this is Tom Brady.
He's like, you just go to Gerard Belichick, who it seems like Gerard Belichick's very tight with Steve Belichick.
It feels like he's one of the Belichicks.
So I'm fascinated to watch this.
I just, if I was a betting man, now listen, I bet on Jordan Love Sucking.
He looks like he's going to be a longtime answer at the position.
So you never know.
But I just think this is going to be very, very difficult.
I would, I assumed Mark Davis was going to be very interested in Harbaugh.
I don't know how interested he would be in them.
I thought he would have a lot of interest,
but all signs point,
if he does come to the NFL,
that he's going to go to the Chargers,
which it might just be as simple as
they got a quarterback,
he doesn't even have to worry about it,
he'll figure out everything else.
It does feel like they're going to end up hiring Champ Kelly
to be the general manager
and Antonio Pierce to be the head coach.
A lot like Gerard Mayo,
this feels very emotional.
You like these guys.
You know, Max Crosby went on,
he's got a podcast and said basically,
like if they don't hire Antonio Pierce,
everything's on the table,
aka I'm the man in the trade.
I'd want out of here.
And the player pressure,
it honestly feels very NBA-ish.
All the players who are good,
like Max Crosby is an elite player.
Devonte Adams is an elite player.
They clearly are staking their claim in this guy.
And I don't blame Mark Davis for being influenced by that.
But you're going to hire a guy
who has not only never been a head coach in college
or the pros,
has only been,
he wasn't even a coordinator for you.
So you're going on this guy
in a division
that has three coaches
that are probably worth
$500 million.
When you really think about it,
like what's Andy Reed
and Jim Harbaugh really worth
on the open market?
A buck 50 each?
If Sean Payton's worth 90,
what's Andy Reed worth?
200.
You know, Jim Harbaugh,
the Michigan's ready
to give him $140 million.
What are the charge going to have to pay?
Sean Payton,
who hadn't even,
like won that many playoff games in recent memory,
got $90 million with ease,
and they had to give up a first round pick to get them.
Now, unlike the Chargers and unlike the Chiefs,
we've got to answer question marks
with the Broncos at quarterback,
but the Raiders have no quarterback.
They're not even remotely close.
I mean, Aiden O'Connell looks like
I was bullish after the preseason,
but, you know, probably a fringe backup quarterback.
So they got to get a quarterback.
They also got to get a coordinator.
He's an offensive league.
I know your defense looks solid down the stretch
and you beat the shit out of a gutless
Brandon Staley team, but
I like Antonio Pierce,
half since he was a player.
It's just, it's going to be very, very hard.
And I think you get in this honeymoon phase,
everyone's happy.
I think that's the thing with the crafts, right?
Bill was a dick.
He's just not the nicest guy on a daily basis.
He doesn't kiss your rings.
Obviously, he's got rings too,
but I don't even mean, I just mean like,
your money, your status on a daily basis.
Rich guys like to have their ego stroke.
And Gerard Mayo, just like Antonio Pierce, are going to play that game,
like a lot of coaches do.
But Sean Payton doesn't on a daily basis.
Andy's just a nice guy, but he's not going out of his way every single day
to make sure everyone just feels good.
And I think sometimes when you just want to feel good as an owner,
and the crafts definitely do.
Mark's in this weird spot.
You know who Mark Davis would ideally want to hire John Grudenback?
I just don't think that's, he's currently suing the NFL in Las Vegas,
which I actually think he's going to win and win a ton of money.
But these two coaching hires are going to be really, really fascinating.
High-level guys, right, Antonio Pierce, Gerard Mayo, these are winning people.
These are guys as players, as team captains like you want around.
But coaching on a weekly basis, especially on a side of the ball,
that you're just not going to know that much about.
And both teams are in desperate need for a quarterback.
easier for the Patriots because they draft third overall.
The Raiders ended up winning eight games.
It's going to be a little more difficult,
but it's going to be fascinating to watch.
And last minute, at least, Mike Tomlin.
Stormed out of the room the other day,
which I understand.
Like, what, it's not, doesn't want to answer the question.
He's going into the last year of his contract.
No coach in college year of the pro just coaches on the last year of his contract.
They're not a player.
That's not how it works.
Because they're an authority figure.
So if you're coaching on the last year of contract,
you're essentially saying, like, this guy's on the hot seat.
So the Steelers now have one choice.
They're either extending Mike Tomlin or to me, you've got to go your separate ways.
You guys know where I stand on this.
I think Mike Tomlin should want to go somewhere else.
If I'm Mike Tomlin, I'd want to be with Adam Peters in Washington.
I'd be like, we just get to reset the franchise.
The bar is low.
I'm not even respected by the fans.
And I understand what the fans are coming for.
Or, you know, critical of them.
Like, what are we doing?
Like, where are we going?
I saw Kenny Pickett didn't speak to the media.
on Locker Clearout Day.
It's like Kenny.
I don't think you get to act like
your Rothesberger, Drew Breeze,
or fucking Phillip Rivers here, buddy.
You didn't play in that playoff game
if you were healthy
because the other guy was just playing well.
You're not good enough to start acting up.
And Colin's been talking about this,
the relationship between the organization and the university,
they play at the same stadium.
It's kind of weird.
But the moment you start acting
like Kenny Pickett or Mack Jones
and you have that level of attention,
talent. If Josh Allen, let's say the bills
loses the Chiefs, and they're embarrassed,
and Josh storms out and doesn't talk to the media.
But yeah, like, Josh gets to do that.
Or Mahomes. Like, Mahomes got to be an idiot the one game
after the penalty, and he went up to Josh,
and he was hooting and hollering. And even he apologized
the next day. But, like, I give him a little grace.
I give him a little buffer. Can he picket? You don't get a buffer.
Just because you were the 20th pick, one of the least talented
guy that's ever been picked in the first round in NFL history.
and this is a Tomlin problem.
And I was asked about this the other day in the mailbag,
about Najee, talking about the discipline issues.
I think it's difficult.
Like, Tomlin does not just get to run the personnel department.
And George Pickens, like, for them to be competitive, they need him.
He happens to be kind of a problem sometimes.
But like, Mike can't cut him, can't make him a healthy scratch,
that they need him to compete to win.
He is their most talented offensive player.
Like, if I'm Tomlin, maybe I'm one out.
Maybe I just want to go to a place where I can start over.
I've been saying this forever.
And if I'm the Steelers, I think it's an easy transition too.
You know who you could hire?
I don't know.
The guy you once upon a time drafting the third round.
A younger version of Mike Tomlin, Mike Vrable.
I think it's a perfect time for a breakup.
Just because you get a divorce doesn't mean you hate the other person.
Sometimes it does.
Jonathan Kraft, Bill Belichick, clearly well-reported, do not like each other.
Jonathan Kraft probably thinks he's an ungrateful a-hole
and Belichick thinks he's just a spoiled rich kid.
So he's going to hate that guy until there's dying days.
Jonathan Craft's never going to like him.
This is one like, listen, we have a lot of respect for each other.
We've accomplished a lot.
We've been successful here.
We've never even been average.
It's been impressive.
Maybe it's time to go our separate ways.
I'm not going to come off that point.
Now, if you tell me in the next week, they extend them, could see that.
That's the history of the franchise.
What I think that would be the wrong move?
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stopping the muscle growth.
Listen to Superhuman
on the I-Hard Radio app,
Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
A win is a win.
A win is a win.
I don't care which I'm saying.
Yep, that's me, Clipper Taylor the 4th.
You might have seen the skits, the reactions,
my journey from basketball to college football,
or my career in sports media.
Well, somewhere along the way,
this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.
And now I'm bringing all of that excitement
to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.
This is a place for raw,
unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,
creators, and voices that not only
deserve to be heard but celebrated.
One week I'll take you behind the scenes
of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment
and the next we'll talk about life,
mental health, purpose, and even music.
The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast,
it's a space for honest conversations,
stories that don't always get told,
and for people who are chasing something bigger.
So if you've ever supported me
or you're just chasing down a dream,
this is right where you need to be.
Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app,
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And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok.
Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?
Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.
I know what you're thinking.
What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim?
Well, you can find out on the Look Back at It podcast.
I'm Sam J.
And I'm Alex English.
Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.
including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill
waxing all about crack in the 80s.
To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack.
I'm down to talk about crack on day, but 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, so...
Thank you for finishing that sentence.
Yes, I don't think there's a more important year for black people.
Really?
Yeah.
For me, it's one of the most important years.
from black people in American history.
Listen to look back at it on the IHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Okay, let's dive into a little thing we call the mailbag.
You guys know the drill.
Fire into my direct messages.
At John Middlecough.
At John Middlecough, 2Fs, DMs, wide open, Instagram,
and get your question answered here
on the little thing we call the podcast.
Here's a question for the bag.
Do you agree that Jason Light is a top 5 GM?
Bucks Homer here
But from trades building a Super Bowl team with Brady
Great cap management
Underratedly young team
Nine starters on the past two drafts
I think he goes underappreciated as a buck
But I get it happens when you're a small market shit division
Jason lights good
100%
I mean to have obviously landing Brady
And being aggressive on Brady
When a lot of teams regret not making that move
You get a lot of credit for that
And then when you just look at some of the guys he's drafted, right?
You know, from Worf's to Winfield to White the middle linebacker, you know, Vita Vaya.
I mean, they have a really, really talented team.
And the Baker Mayfield situation to now win a playoff game, yeah, I mean, it's hard.
We say top five a lot.
He's clearly a really good GM.
And any time you go, we got a really good GM.
Like, that's all you want.
Like, whether he's a second, whether he's a six.
You know, it changes whether you win or lose on a given week.
But 100% total agreement, Jason Light, you know, Patriot, Eagle Background.
He's really good.
Love your podcast with Colin.
This is a college football question.
Florida State will be the most underrated team next year,
and Mike Norville doesn't get enough credit that he deserves, in my opinion.
I tend to agree, and a lot has to do with the, you know, the situation got overshy
shadowed with the quarterback injury, them being left out of the playoffs.
But he did an incredible job this season.
Like that team was really, really good.
And it's sad when Jordan Travis got hurt, you know, could they have competed in the playoffs?
I think they could have.
Now, he had moments this season where he didn't play as well,
but obviously the moment his ankle was shattered that their season was done.
Right.
And it was proven when they didn't get in.
But I do think that he's really good.
and that's why when rumors that they were interested in him as the head coach at Alabama,
I didn't think that was crazy at all.
I didn't.
And from a cultural fit, you know, I think he played at Memphis, he'd worked at Memphis,
he'd coached at Memphis, obviously, if you work in your coach,
and he's now coached at Florida State.
Like, he's pretty comfortable in that region of the country,
which Kalin Dubor just simply is not.
So if you would have told me they would have hired him as the next coach at Alabama,
I would have plotted it.
So I think you got yourself a really, really good.
good coach. From your scouting days, can you tell us a little bit about the interview process
for GM scouts? What's the process like? Super curious because I know this audience wants to hear
more about your experience. Well, obviously, I've never interviewed to be a GM, so I can't speak
to that. I plan this offseason once things slow down, definitely around the draft and after
the draft, is when GMs lighten up a lot and to do some interviews with them, you know, especially
Adam Peters, like I would love to hear about his interview process. For me as a scout
and seeing the way we interviewed people in the scouting department, you usually, like, for
example, when I got hired in Philly, I flew back there, I had to pay for my own flight
because it was like the lowest guy in the totem pole. Typically, they pay for you to fly out.
But this graduate assistant from Fresno State, no love, pay for it to go out. I'd ask my
parents for money. I didn't have $500 or whatever cost me to fly from
Fresno to Philadelphia.
I think I watched four or five players.
I wrote them up.
And then I kind of went on a rotation meeting with people.
I met with Brett Feach.
I met with Lewis Riddick.
And I met with the younger scouts,
Mike Bradway, Brad Obie,
these guys still work in the NFL,
and then Howie.
And they just kind of feel yourself out as a person.
You talk about football with them.
you know, in my position
when I interviewed,
they just kind of want to see more about
like, is this guy willing to do stuff?
Is this guy have football knowledge?
Is this guy ambitious?
Is this guy a good cultural fit?
It's not as much about like,
what are your football philosophies?
Rank these 10 free agents?
How much, they don't care.
Right?
Who would you have taken in the draft?
Which as you elevate, right,
scouting directors or stuff like that,
it changes.
Well, a lot of guys, you know,
get elevated in the,
building don't have to do that.
Like you've just proven your worth and you get an opportunity.
And that happened to me when I got elevated the next year as a pro scout.
And then the following year, Daniel Jeremiah, who was the West Coast Scout, who's
obviously now on television, me and him were pretty close because we're West Coast guys.
I used to pick him up from the airport.
And I dropped him off and he's like, bro, I'm leaving to the NFL network.
And I was like, God, I want to go back to California so bad.
Like, I want your job.
So I like put together a packet.
I essentially started begging for the job.
And I had to do a campaign.
And maybe because I was cheap, I don't know, but I got it.
And I haven't left the West Coast since.
But I can't speak to a GM interview.
Obviously that's a fascinating question.
I think a lot of that is team building, experiences, failures, philosophy on coaches,
philosophy on organizations, the building, the training staff, the equipment staff,
You know, it's a lot of big picture stuff.
In my position, you don't even know existed.
I'm a cowboy hater.
I think when they lose, America wins.
However, I actually do not think McCarthy should be fired.
Since McCarthy took over the play calling, DAC improved.
He made DAC better.
I think if your quarterback is a serial choker, you can't win.
Mike did his job, and I don't think he should be punished for DAC's
ineptitude. What do you think? Well, there is no arguing that DAC was really, really good throughout
the season. And the reason they were the two-seed, a huge reason, is because of the offense. And since
McCarthy has been there, even when he didn't call plays, their offense has been really good. But that game,
like part of being the head coach, whether you're a CEO head coach, like a Harbaugh or a Tomlin,
whether you're a coordinator coach, like D'Amico or Shanahan or McVeigh, you still have to
prepare the entire team and have their mindset right going into a game and clearly the packer
showed up to cause freaking havoc. I mean the Packers showed up that game like it was their
Super Bowl and the Cowboys showed up to that game like it was you know they were three and one
and it was October 1st so to me the reflection I'm with you Dak throwing it to the other
team is not necessarily McCarthy's fault like of course McCarthy doesn't want him to
throw that ball. I don't think McCarthy is a bad X's and O's coach. He's proven a lot these last
three years. He's a pretty capable, credible coach. But once you get a team like the Cowboys
or like some of his Packer teams, you're going to be judged on the playoffs. Once you get to a certain
spot in the NBA, like James Hardin could score 75 points a game. Not a soul cares anymore. What do you
do in the first round of the playoffs? You shit the better and you play well. And to me, McCarthy's team
came out, I think laid one of the biggest eggs I've ever seen. We've seen teams lose, right?
TCU in the National Championship. What was the final score? Like 70 to 7? They got, they were in a
different universe, Georgia. It's like, I don't think, I don't think Bill Walsh would have scored many
more points. But that Packer Cowboy game makes you question, like, can we win in the playoffs
with Mike McCarthy? Is it possible? Because I had that thought. I'm with you. This gets back to Tomlin.
This gets back to Pete Carroll.
This gets to Mike McCarthy.
Just because you go, like, question it, you go,
this guy brings a lot to the table.
Brings a lot to the table.
But can I win a championship with this guy as my head coach?
Right now, Von the Cowboys.
It doesn't feel like you can't.
Same with Pete Carroll.
Like, I think we need to go into it.
It doesn't mean Pete Carroll's not really good.
It doesn't mean Pete Carroll can't get us to the playoffs.
McCarthy's won 12 games in a row.
McCarthy's proven.
You give him good players.
He's going to win.
what's that? 36 straight
36 games.
How many teams in the NFL would sign up for 36 wins over the last three seasons?
Two division championships.
He hasn't failed, but he has failed in the playoffs.
And he is fair or not when Dak throws the other team like he is the play caller.
Tough situation.
I hear you.
I don't disagree that it's not just like black and white.
And if Dax's your quarterback, maybe you're destined to always struggle in the playoffs.
like you said.
Got an NFL scenario for you.
The Bears trade fields for a second round.
Then they trade the ninth pick,
their second and their third to New England,
for the third pick,
and take Marvin Harrison, Jr.
and the Pat's draft next,
worthy and corly, with those picks.
One more, sorry.
Harbaugh was to Washington.
He gets to live next door to his brother,
only plays in Super Bowl and really can't draft Marvin Harrison Jr. at two, and he can take
JJ in the second round. I would never trade that much capital for Marvin Harrison Jr.
I don't view Marvin Harrison Jr. as like some all-time great wide receiver prospect.
I think he's really good, and he's going to go in the top 10.
Remember when Atlanta, once upon a time, risked it all for Julio Jones? I wouldn't do that for
Marvin Harrison. That does not mean I don't think he's good.
I'd argue, I don't know if the gap between him and the next couple guys is that wide.
And I think there are going to be some scouts that have Keon Coleman or, you know,
whoever, one of the LSU guys as the second best wide receiver.
Or, you know, right neck and neck with Marvin Harrison, Jr.
So I would not do that if I was the Bears.
What I would do is that I was the Bears, I would take, obviously, trade Justin Fields,
take Caleb number one or whoever I mean listen I don't think Caleb I'm not just treating Caleb
I do but I know that teams like there are going to be some teams like it's a conversation right
there was no conversation with Trevor Lawrence he was going to be the number one overall pick I don't
think that's the case here if you're the bears like you're doing deep dives on the top three or four
guys Caleb's probably your number one guy but you are doing like are we sure like there was no
are we sure with Trevor Lawrence there was no
Are we sure with Andrew Luck?
There isn't, are we sure, with Caleb Williams?
But I do think he'll end up going number one overall.
To me, at 9, you got other quarterbacks getting drafted.
Let's just say three other guys get picked, right?
Jaden Daniels, Drake May, and let's say one other guy.
Well, you're getting one of the best players in the draft at 9.
I think you 100% stay.
Why does Brock Purdy get so little respect?
I mean, we talked about this on the podcast earlier.
It's simply because of his draft status
and people don't want to be wrong.
It's just that simple.
Right, people are nitpicking Trevor Lawrence
because they feel duped.
They're like, well, I bought it into the hype.
I said he was the number one overall pick,
just like every single person.
And I watch him, like, I don't even think he's that good.
But everyone was in agreement.
Like, oh, Trevor Lawrence is really good.
How can this happen?
But Brock Purdy, most people didn't even talk about him.
And then he gets drafted, like,
this is not the way the N of it.
works, guy just shows up, pick 262 and it's just good, and competes to win the MVP in year
two, no way.
That's people in the NFL, that's people that talk about football for a living, that's fans.
So I think it's just a natural skepticism.
Where Trevor Lawrence is an example, people are talking shit about Trevor Lawrence because
they feel duped.
They're like, I bought into the hype.
I believed.
That's why people push back on Herbert.
It's like, well, I see him play.
I think he's good, but like, why doesn't he win more?
With Brock Pretty, he's like, no, I can't.
262.
Be this good?
No chance.
Should the Rams start to look for Stafford's successor?
He's getting older and takes so many crazy hits during the season.
If they don't start looking, why not Justin Fields?
I think Fields with McVeigh would be very interesting.
Trade for Fields, allow him to sit for a year, maybe,
allow him to sit maybe for a year.
He's still got insane talent.
here's the problem for the ramps because I think they should be in the mix.
If they like one of these quarterbacks, I haven't looked exactly what pick.
Let's just pick.
I'm just going to pick a number.
I could be off by a couple.
Let's say they're picking 22.
We'll trade up from 22 to like 15 and if you really like a quarterback and he's there, take
him sit him for a year of Patrick Mahomes style.
Right?
Because I'm with you.
Matt Stafford, who is clearly unreal when he's healthy, takes more shots than anyone
else in the league. I mean, there's a chance he couldn't get out of bed on Monday morning.
Ribs broken, hand hurts, heads concussed. He took a beating in that game. And he is a 35-year-old
that has taken a beating like guys in the 70s. So I think they're going to be in the mix to
draft a quarterback. Hell, maybe in the second round. Maybe they take J.J. McCarthy and sit him
for a year. But the problem with Justin Fields is, okay, I got to trade my second or third
round pick, which if I'm the Rams, I've proven that I can draft players that immediately start
for me with those picks. And then his contract is a problem. Like, he's going into the fourth year of
his contract. So then it's the fifth year option. And yeah, that's what makes fields pretty
complicated. First time using the Graham, hopefully this is the right spot for a mailbag question.
So hypothetically, if the Eagles and Colts front offices are talking in trade,
Anthony Richardson for Jalen Hertz, straight up, were to be discussed who says no.
Seems to me the Colts are ready to win now, and uniting Jalen with his old OC would be enticing.
Meanwhile, the Eagles get a bit concerned with the way Hertz finished the season and with Richardson's upside on a rookie deal.
Would they consider blowing it up and starting over? Thanks.
I think, one, financially, it would have huge cap implications for the Eagles.
So I don't think it's possible to trade Jalen Hertz.
Let me just, from a realistic standpoint.
Now, an unrealistic hypothetical, I think the Eagles say no.
Because the Eagles two years ago saw a guy that played at its super high level,
that almost won an MVP.
Anthony Richardson, for as talented as he is,
hasn't proved that he could play a month.
without going to the blue tent and missing this season.
So, yeah, he's got a lot of talent,
but we have no clue if he can just play in the NFL.
Five straight years, 17 straight games.
Say what you want about Jalen, he gets banged up.
Like, he's pretty durable, right?
He can play injured.
Anthony Richardson gets hurt, he's out the game.
All of a sudden, a couple injuries, out for the season.
So I think the Colts would do,
I think they both, Colts would do it for sure.
You'd have to, right?
Because Shane Stuyken proved that he could win big with that guy.
If you put Jalen Hertz and Shane Stuyken together,
I mean, the Colts probably win that playoff game week 18,
and they win the division.
The Eagles have to say no.
Now, financially, it would be intriguing if they could get rid of the money.
But I think Anthony Richardson,
and listen, I like big talents.
Like, I'm intrigued by that.
but you couldn't risk your franchise on a guy that's proven that he's...
How many games do you play this here?
Four?
I heard you're talking about Baker's possible salary for next year before the playoff game.
Is it safe to say he earned himself $5 to $10 million annually
with his performance against the Eagles?
Well, a lot of Baker and I saw one other guy, Jordan Love, right?
Lower paid starters who won playoff games hit huge incentives.
I think Baker's already made over $3.5 million in incentives.
He was already making $4 million.
so he's close to like $7, $8 million.
Jordan Love, who signed a two-year $11 million,
I think it made over $7 million in incentive,
so he's over $10.
So if you just, let's just say,
Baker ends up making $8.5 million,
you could argue he at minimum doubled that salary next year.
I've been saying over, like,
I can't pay him $30 or $40 million.
And I'm not trying to, like, be some hater.
Like, I'm just not paying him that.
Could I pay him three years, $20 million a year?
I definitely could talk about.
about it and think about it. Ideally, would I like to pay him like 15 to 18? Yeah. Could he get
that more somewhere else? Maybe he could. The other thing is, I don't know what his market is.
If you get a market, drives it up. Maybe he's making $25 million a year next year. So, 100% he made
money, though. Finishing up this Steelers-Bills game, and I think Tomlin should stay.
They need a quarterback and a real offensive coordinator. I think they're buttoned up and have a
solid culture, total agreement there.
They play hard and always seem prepared.
Well, let's just assume that he can get a good offensive coordinator, which is hard.
I mean, he hasn't had one.
It feels like in a minute.
How do they get the quarterback?
How do they, honestly, how do they get the quarterback?
They're drafting in the 20s.
They just picked Kenny Pickett a couple years ago, who's now mad that he didn't get to start
the playoff game, clearly.
Like, what do you do?
Trubisky's money carries over this year.
They extended them, don't forget.
I just don't see how they upgraded the quarterback.
Maybe they could trade up and do it over again.
But so you get two guys on rookie contracts,
and then all of a sudden you have a quarterback competition
with Pickett and Michael Pennix or J.J. McCarthy or whoever the quarterback is you draft.
It's kind of complicated.
Tomlin's the least complicated.
Listen, I understand if he comes back.
I don't think it's like crazy.
I don't think he's some scrub.
I think he's a good coach.
I understand why Mike Tomlin wants to be the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It's the Pittsburgh freaking Steelers.
But I think, how's he getting an offensive coordinator?
Who knows he's like, well, you're getting an extension?
If you're not getting an extension, you're just playing out this one year?
What if we suck?
What if I get fired?
Do they fire an offensive coordinator?
Who the hell is playing quarterback?
I think that's a massive.
Do they get Kurt Cousins?
Do they trade for Justin Fields?
I mean, there are some options out there for sure.
Do you think if Mike Tomlin is fired,
Mike Vrable and Arthur Smith would take over as the head coach and offensive coordinator.
I think if Mike Tomlin is traded, fired, is the coach of the commanders or the Falcons or something,
I think 100% Mike Vrable would be the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
When you close your eyes and you think Mike Vrable, you think of a guy that the Rooney family would like.
They drafted him in the third round.
I mean, he feels like a stealer, even though when you think about Mike Vrable, the player,
you think a Patriot, but he has a lot of similarities, like, would be a perfect, easy transition
in that organization.
The other thing, and this is what I like about having a defensive coach that is tied to
an offensive coordinator.
Well, if that offensive coordinator is successful, does that guy immediately get a job?
Look at Domeco.
Brought Bobby Sloick with him.
Bobby Sloick's been really good.
Well, Bobby Sloak, is he going to get a job?
Because if Bobby Sloak gets a job, well, who's Domingo's next offensive coordinator?
if I hire a Belichick and he's bringing Josh
or I hire a Vrable and he's bringing Arthur Smith
who's hiring either one of those guys to be a head coach
if we have success on offense the next couple years
Josh no chance
and Arthur Smith
I think it's going to take at least three years
there's a stink of Atlanta
and I mean a stinky smell
that was really smelly
that was really stinky
like we witnessed it
well I turned off a lot of games
because I couldn't watch them they were unwatchable
so to me Arthur Smith
good number two.
Josh just cannot be a head coach.
Can't do it.
They run them out of town.
Cowboys fan.
A lot of people slide into my,
someone slid into my DMs the other day
and I was interacting with him on Instagram.
And he's like,
you can't compare the Cowboys to the Yankees or the Lakers?
I'm not comparing, like,
recent winnings, right?
I understand the Lakers won an in-season championship.
I understand the Yankees have been to the playoffs,
even though they didn't make the playoffs this year.
The Cowboys are the biggest brand in a
American sports.
They are.
The Lakers had like 600,000 people
watched him on Martin Luther King Day.
The Cowboys had 40 million people
watching the playoff game.
So part of it is like the brand of the Cowboys,
which is choking right now,
is a letdown, is still the biggest brand.
You put the Cowboys on TV,
the most amount of people
will watch sports in this country,
any event, any team.
I got news for you.
You put Yankees, Red Sox, Sunday night baseball.
Not that many people are watching.
You put Lakers, you know, clippers on, struggling to get 2 million people to watch.
You put the Cowboys against another good team.
You're talking 35 million people.
Now, it usually ends in a letdown, but that's all season.
They're the biggest team.
And the other thing is, it'd be one thing if people talked a lot about the Cowboys,
and they had constantly been like a five-win team.
They were a 12-win team.
They were the number two seed.
They were hosting a playoff game.
Sorry to go on that rant.
Does Dak have any trade value?
he doesn't deserve that top five quarterback money
and any picks we could use to get for him
might help us package to try to jump up for one of the quarterbacks in the draft.
He 100% has trade value.
He definitely does.
Like you don't think the Atlanta Falcons would be interested in Dak Prescott?
You don't think the Minnesota Vikings?
He would be an upgrade in a lot of places.
Now, what type money does he want?
He's been, he's under contract for
how many years he's been under contract now?
He's been making $40 million.
year. 40 million dollars a year.
So he's not, and he's just played some of the best seasons of his career.
He thinks he's going to be like, okay, this time around, I'll take 27.
No, he's going to want like $48 million a year.
Second part, if we trade Lance, is it worth it to give Tray Lance a full season?
No.
Trey Lance was the starting quarterback of the Cowboys.
They don't make the playoffs this year.
Trey Lance can't play.
Cannot play.
He doesn't do anything well.
He's not accurate.
He can't run.
He's not very good.
The 49ers didn't just randomly trade him.
He's just not a very good player.
I'm a Panthers fan, unfortunately.
You just want to know your thoughts on Bryce Young
and how he played this year,
especially the second half of the season.
Do you think he can be a franchise guy
with the right pieces around him?
I loved him in the draft.
I can't unsee him in just a Carolina Panthers uniform.
He's the smallest player in NFL history,
non-kicker.
So I just did.
Do I believe it's going to work out?
I do not.
Because I don't think a guy that weighs 175 pounds at quarterback can last in the NFL.
And I also think organizationally they're kind of screwed, which some of the stuff's out
of his control.
Who's going to want to be the coach there?
His owner is nuts.
The talent on the roster is not great.
They don't have their first pick.
Think about this.
You know one thing we haven't talked about?
what if the Panthers somehow had their first pick?
What do you think we'd be saying?
Because last year it was like, well, Caleb 100% would have been the first pick in the draft.
Well, don't you think they would want Caleb this year?
And would they just trade Bryce Young?
Because I think that would be a huge conversation right now.
We don't even need to waste our time because it doesn't exist.
What will we rolled it back?
And somehow they were able to make that trade and for whatever reason not give up this year's first round pick.
wouldn't the conversation be like, well, I just trade Bryce Young to like the Atlanta Falcons and draft Caleb Williams?
Because I think that would be a major conversation.
And I do think that's what a lot of people would be saying.
Do you think Harbaugh to the Chargers is really the best fit for him?
They have rather meddlesome ownership.
And the reason he left the Niners in the first place was because he didn't get along with Balke and Jed York.
Also, Jim has proven he can turn things around no matter the situation,
so I don't think he needs a good roster like Belichick does.
I think it's the best situation because that's where he wants to go.
All indications is he's very interested in that job.
He played there.
He's lived in Southern California before as a coach when he coached the University of San Diego.
He coached a lot of years in California in general, San Diego, Stanford and 49ers.
he's comfortable with that, he went to high school in Palo Alto.
You know, I think he's comfortable in that region of the country.
When you look at the places he's coached, he's coached Michigan and California.
I hear you.
I do think it would be, I do think it would be uncomfortable fast for a lot of people in that organization.
Because Jim's an uncomfortable individual.
He just, he's weird dude.
So I think it would be a lot for the Spanos family to handle.
But I will give them credit if they hire this.
It'd be them acknowledging we don't have a job.
choice. We need him more than he needs us because they do. They need Jim Harbaugh. Jim Harbaugh
does not need the Chargers. Jim Harbaugh could stay at Michigan and become just like a legend.
He went a couple national championships and Ryan Day's career at Ohio State. Make a ton of money.
Just continue to build on a incredible legacy. But if you're getting them, you're getting a driven guy because clearly he'd want to win a Super Bowl and clearly he believes in your quarterback.
So if they pull this off, I'll give the Spanos family a lot of credit.
A little late, right?
Should have done this years ago, hire a real coach.
But they finally did it.
You know, it's better to finally write a wrong.
And they acknowledge that they had a coaching issue.
Now, can they deal with them on a daily basis?
It's not easy.
Can you talk a little bit of how you get these head coaching offers going out
and the strategy of dealing with the egos and timelines and negotiations that is this public in nature?
For example, the Falcons have announced on social media that they have interviewed both Harbaugh and Belichick.
Both coaches are going to have multiple offers, and undoubtedly Arthur Blank has a favorite.
How do you even offer one and expect the other one to pick up your call if he feels like he's the second choice?
If Blank shoots at Belichick and misses, is he doomed to have to have a call?
to pick up a lower profile guy.
I just think it's part of the business.
I think in 2024, why are the Falcons putting out that they interviewed Belichick?
And as most people reacted to that tweet was like, no, he interviewed you.
But it's to like show the fans, like, we're taking this shit seriously.
Right?
We want Bill Belichick.
It's public.
You know, these coaches, Belichick is used to publicly negotiating with players.
Belichick is used to dealing with a very public situation
In a weird way
It's kind of just the way business has done
And every industry has some quirks
That if you're not used to would make you uncomfortable
Belichick's 70 years old, 72 or whatever
He's been in the NFL since 1975
I think at this point in time he's pretty numb to everything
Like it kind of is what it is
And Arthur Blank, like he also kind of is what it is
So you've got to be willing to,
you're going to offer guys in free agency,
you're going to offer trades in the draft,
you're going to offer trades in free agency,
you're going to offer coaches,
whether head coach or assistant coaches,
that you're going to get denied.
But you've got to shoot your shot.
Sometimes you're going to miss.
And sometimes it's more public than other times.
But it just kind of comes with the territory.
It's kind of the business you're in.
There's no way I think he could interview
Harbaugh or you also want to control the narrative.
So if you're going to interview Belichick or Harbaugh, it's going to get out.
Because on their camp, they're going to want it out for leverage.
So I think these teams look at it, let's control the narrative, let's just tweet and Instagram
a picture of them out and make us feel good about, you know, that we were the ones on
the forefront of that.
But it's just the industry, right?
It happens all the time.
Alabama was very careful about it,
but was Kalin Dubor their first choice?
Or did they try to hire Sarkisian
because that's who Nick Sabin wanted
and he told him once upon a time
you were going to be the coach in waiting?
And Sark told him no.
Alabama doesn't want it out
that they told him no.
And Sark, out of respect for Sabin,
right? And Jimmy Sexton's his agent
who resurrected his career after the alcohol issues
doesn't want it out that he's mistreating that program.
So some stuff is more sensitive than others,
but I think in the NFL, it's just pretty cut and dry.
Like, Belichick turned down the Falcons.
No one, like, what were the Falcons supposed to do?
Not offering the job?
Then you just pivot.
You offer someone else the job.
I think coaches are used to, you know, getting turned down,
getting, having other guys take their spot,
interviewing and not getting a job,
or interviewing and taking someone else's spot.
So I guess it's a long-winded way of saying,
I don't think it matters much.
I really don't.
I think for most of us human beings,
it would be a lot to handle.
When I first,
when I got my job in the NFL,
my first job in the NFL was either 20 or 25 grand.
It was so little pay that it was in the hundreds every two weeks.
And I didn't have health insurance or whatever.
When I showed up,
there were three other people there.
Now, one guy was interviewing for a bigger role,
but there were other two guys interviewing for the role.
When I got dropped off,
and I went to the,
the cafeteria to eat breakfast, there were three other people eating breakfast.
It's like, fuck.
It was, I had never experienced anything like that.
It kind of got my blood flowing.
Like, this is pretty cutthroat business, man.
So it's just a reality of the situation.
I've always been curious as to why it seems like people involved in the NFL never seem
to know the rules.
Clock mismanagement, challenging plays that can't, defenders covering a non-eligible
whiteout, not being aware of the situation and taking a sack when one cannot be given.
Why is this as this all they do and work on?
Well, this is from Robin.
I think the clock management thing is so much easier for us to judge on the sidelines.
Like, listen, did McVeigh and Stafford screw that thing up the other night?
Yeah, they did.
But you can't hear yourself think it's so loud in that building.
You're exhausted.
Stafford doesn't keep the, you know, the huddle going quick enough,
all of a sudden you look up and it's too late.
To me, the clock management, like not calling timeouts
and when to call timeouts,
it's moving pretty fast when you're on the field.
It's easy when we're sitting on, you know, our couch
in a pair of Nike shorts, eating popcorn,
and drinking a Gatorade with our feet up going,
God, this guy's an idiot.
I also think players that screw up
covering the wrong guy, blowing an assignment,
whatever, there's a lot going on.
So to be able to calm your mind when you're fatigued,
what's the famous line, like fatigue make coward of us all?
Fatigue also just makes your mind kind of implode.
Think about just in general,
if for two straight nights, you sleep three or four hours,
and if you're a guy like me that needs six, seven hours,
and you sleep not very much, you're tossing and turning, whatever.
By that third day, you're trying to work.
Your brain is not fine.
firing on all pistons.
Well, it's no different as an athlete
when you're exhausted.
You might not think straight.
Even though you know the rules,
you've gone over them a million times in practice.
I mean, it's easy to,
I would imagine if we pull the Marines, right?
Boot camp and training,
you can train with the best of the best.
Once the game comes,
even if you know what you're supposed to do
in the line of fire,
you might freeze, you might forget.
I think that happens a lot in football.
It's also a very violent game.
So throughout the sport, you're not only fatigued, you're feeling pain.
It's hard to keep your mind straight.
It's why typically the championship level players are not only the best players.
They're the most mentally strong.
They practice the best.
They are able to retain information.
Same with coaches.
What Belichick did once upon a time when that Marshawn Lynch run
and Seattle was freaking out and he,
He did not call time out.
And then they threw the interception to Malcolm Butler.
And they show Seattle side line and it's just chaotic.
I mean, people are all over the place.
And Belichick's just standing over there.
It's like his heart is beating like minor years right now sitting on our desk chair.
He's pretty rare.
Like that situation is pretty rare.
Or Joe Montana in two minutes left to go in the Super Bowl gets in the huddle and points
at like Harris Barton look at John Candy sitting right.
there and laughs. Like not everyone's Joe cool in the biggest moments. Most of us, myself included,
can feel overwhelmed, can freak out, right? It's something I've really worked on as I've gotten
older. I'm sure many people listening to this. Really focus, you know, as you work up in a company
or run your own company or start your own business or, you know, have more responsibility
with children or whatever, trying to control your emotions, no matter how much you practice it,
you know, you get a phone call, something going wrong,
it's easy to, like, lose control, right?
So I think it's understandable, despite, like,
this is what separates people at the highest level.
Michael Jordan unfazed, Tom Brady unfaced,
Tiger Woods unfazed.
It doesn't mean they don't feel it.
It means they were able to perform the best
in the most pressure-packed moments.
A lot of guys can't.
In any business, most guys crumble, right?
It's what separates the haves and the have-nots.
what separates the top 1% from the top 5%.
Like there's a gap.
Like the gap of talent between Tom Brady and like Philip Rivers or Eli Manning is, is it that big?
Whereas there's stuff that's hard to quantify as coaches and players.
And I think there's a human element of just breaking down mentally, which I think, you know,
crosses over into all of our lives and whatever we do.
The volume.
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Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends.
Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.
This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel,
help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.
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We do some retirement homes.
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Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app,
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Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged.
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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
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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.
Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast.
Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan,
so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun,
thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.
Join us as we tackle science and culture topics
from a galaxy far, far away,
such as the biology of tontons and wampas on the ice planet hot,
or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith Rule of Two.
Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the iHeart Radio app,
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