The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 12/04/2019

Episode Date: December 4, 2019

Colin explains why the Cowboys are a lot closer to the Browns structurally than people want to admit. He thinks Oklahoma's lack of playoff success and the poor play in the Big 12 should play a factor in voting Utah ahead of them. He thinks the Patriot's offensive problems are the fault of Bill Belichick and explains why. Plus, FOX's Joel Klatt comes in studio to tell Colin why he's wrong about almost everything. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

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

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. you just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to her. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to the Best of Heard Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday. From 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com Or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by search watching herd.

This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Oh, packed today on a Wednesday. Stick around. You'll have fun. This, live in Los Angeles, rainy wet Los Angeles, is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. I've got Joel Clat yelling at me today. Peter Schrager, Albert Breer, the very funny Will Blackman, who's a riot on Twitter.

I'm Marcellus Wiley stopping by today. We've got a million things going on. It's my favorite show of the week, and Joy Taylor is joining me. Joy, it was wet, rainy, awful. There were wrecks everywhere on the road today, except for you. Except for me. I love that anytime there's weather in L.A. It's news.

It leads my show. Like, it literally does. The rest of the country is two foot of snow, and we're like, it's raining. I went to news talk radio this morning. I didn't even do sports. I'm like, okay, show me the road closure. Well, and you lived in Seattle, the Northeast. The rain here is fierce.

I mean, how quickly you forget. So let me start today's show with this. Troy Aikman is a great broadcaster. I've known Troy for a long time. And Troy Aikman's the best cowboy quarterback ever in that saying something. Roger Staubach's an all-time great. But when Troy talks in Dallas, it lands and people talk about it because Troy is a straight shooter. and Troy was talking about Jason Garrett.

And right now in Dallas, it's the blame game. Let's blame Jason Garrett and let's blame Dak Prescott and it's old crazy Jerry. And Troy Aikman was talking about it yesterday. For 10 years, focused on Tuesday we can possibly have. And that's been his messaging throughout, and the owner's talking about getting on a run and winning the Super Bowl. And you've got a head coach who comes down and says,

we're going to evaluate the kicker. And then the front office says right after that, that those things have an impact. And it slowly trickles down. So I think there's a lot of factors that have played into this. Coaching obviously hasn't been great at times in certain situations. Players haven't played great, but the front office hasn't been great in allowing the head coach to do his job either. And Troy really touches on something.

Dallas has a structural deficiency. The owner's the GM. The owner won't give full control to the coach. And the owner speaks publicly on Sundays after games and Mondays in the morning. Dallas has structural deficiencies, not talent deficiencies. It's the NFL, I get it. We blame the coach and we blame the quarterback. I'm going to say something now, and your first reaction is going to be you're crazy.

But hear me out on this. Name the two teams in this league right now that are super talented. We know they're talented, but they're massively underachieving. The Dallas Cowboys and the Cleveland Browns. There is no disputing that. Those are the two chargers maybe. They still have an outside shot to do something. But it's really, it really is, it's the Cowboys and the Browns.

One's massively underachieving. Oh, wait, my bad, they both are. But we don't view them the same, although they have the same issue. We're blaming the coach in Cleveland and the coach in Dallas, and the quarterback in Cleveland and the quarterback in Dallas. It's a structural deficiency. But they've done studies in America for years, and it's sad, but it's true. that taller or more attractive people make more money.

Just the way the game works. They walk into a room. Ooh, ah. Dallas is tall and good looking, and they have some money, and they've had previous success. And so that sort of glosses over all their issues. Cleveland, the Browns are short. They don't have a lot of money.

They're kind of disheveled. They've never had previous success or had real money, and so we call them losers. You do realize they're mostly the same franchise, one's just tall, good looking, and has a little bit of cash. We always want to blame the coach and the quarterback. But it was this year, Tony Romo said something. It may have been on CBS and it may have been on a radio show,

but I read it somewhere in the last six months. And he said, you know, there's never been a bad owner to win a Super Bowl. There have been average quarterbacks. There have been average coaches. You and I can name them, right? Google them. Has there been a bad owner? We forget about the owner.

He's wearing sunglasses. He's up in a box. Sometimes the network will show him. Robert Kraft, they show a lot. And Jerry Jones, they show a lot. But mostly they don't show owners. They really don't. I don't think I've ever seen the Rams owner, the Chargers owner.

I live in Los Angeles, barely know what they look like. But we always want to talk about the quarterback and the head coach. But Dallas has structural deficiencies just like Cleveland. But Dallas is a bigger brand and Dallas makes more money. There's a lot of similarities here. Baker, Mayfield, and Dak Prescott. We know they're good enough to be franchise quarterbacks, but man, there's things that bother us about both.

Freddie Kitchens and Jason Garrett. Jason is way better. I agreed too, but we don't like their in-game judgment at all. Both struggle to find an offensive identity, even though they're offensive guys. One guy quarterbacked at Alabama, Jason's like an Ivy League guy. So, you know, it's funny about this. Dallas is the big, tall, attractive, has money and a little bit of previous success.

They have the same problems as Cleveland. And that's why I always talk about it. The NBA is a star-driven league. You don't have to have great structure to win a championship in the NBA, although it would help. But in the NFL, it starts at the top. And if you've got deficiencies like Troy Aikman said, nothing else works like it should. All right. So the college football playoff rankings came out last night.

It's fairly clear in college football this year. there are three great teams and then a seat filler. The three great teams are Ohio State, Clemson and LSU. Last night they put Georgia four, but they'll lose to LSU, and that means Utah will make it in over Oklahoma. And I'm okay with that because I've seen Oklahoma three times in this playoff and they never won. In fact, the Big 12s never won a single game in this playoff.

The only major conference that can say that. Let me say it again. Oklahoma's 0 and 3 in the Big 12 has never ever. won a game in this playoff. Pack 12 has. ACC's won titles. SECs won a lot. Big 12, Big Zero Burger.

And you can call it a bias, but I would call it an assumption. I would vote in Utah over Oklahoma if they both win their conference championship. Go ahead. Call it an agenda. Call it a bias. I will call it an

assumption. I'm always going to give Clemson and an SEC team, the benefit of the doubt. Parents do this with their kids all the time. Two kids are going out. They give one of them the money. It's not a bias. The parents don't dislike their son, but he's a little less responsible with money, and they've seen it year after year after year after year. So when the daughter and the son go out to the movies, they give the money to the daughter.

That's not an agenda, nor is it a bias. It is an assumption based on history. and college football demands that I assume. Oh, yes, they do. They have a preseason ranking, and nobody's played a game. So I'm going to assume Clemson's going to be great, even though they lost three NFL offensive, defensive linemen, but they do have the quarterback, they do have a great coach, they have a great defensive coordinator, they have some skill people.

So I put Clemson number one, and many people put Ohio State number one, and people put Oklahoma number one, and people with Alabama number one, all based, exclusively on assumption. That's not bias. It is looking at history.

And I watch the Big 12 every weekend. The games are 56 to 49 and 49 to 39. And their shootouts, it's mostly Oklahoma and eye rolling with the Big 12. They don't play defense. And when Texas is weak and now they are and TCU is good, not special, it's a very weak conference with one really good team. But I've seen that team three times in the playoff. And I'm going to assume, based on how.

they played then and how they play now and the conference they're in that's never changed, they wouldn't be able to stop a nosebleed. Forget Ohio State, LSU or Clemson. Meanwhile, Utah probably doesn't recruit on a level of Oklahoma, but they've got four NFL players on their defensive side. I have followed Utah football forever. Well coached, tough as nails, asked Nick Saban, lost to him years ago in a sugar bowl. They'll line up and smack you right in the mouth there, Wisconsin, with a little more NFL

talent on the defensive side. So I'd put Utah in. That's not to say that Utah is going to beat Ohio State or LSU or Clemson. They won't, but they'll punch them right in the mouth. It'll be a fist fight in the alley. You all think it's bias. It's not biased. In the NFL, I have a playoff system.

You earn your way in and then 12 teams fight for a title. In college football, we vote. And we vote based on assumptions. So if you're giving me Utah and Oakland, and they both win their conference championships games and both have an ugly loss and they have one common opponent, UCLA. I'm certainly not going to look at the common opponent and say, well, he beat him by this and he beat him by that. Utah's got, I think, 11 wins. I think like nine have been blowouts.

They got an ugly loss and one close game. Mostly looks like Oklahoma. But I've seen Oklahoma in this game three times, in this playoff. And I've seen the Big 12 because I've got eyes and the television set at home. and the games are shootouts and nobody can tackle and it's flagged football with helmets. And I'm okay, not assuming or actually assuming that won't be able to stop. Three of the best college offenses I've ever seen. Ohio State's best offense ever, LSU's best offense ever,

and the best college quarterback I've seen Trevor Lawrence in 20 years. Yes, I'm going to assume the Big 12 can't stop anyone. And that's why college football is fun and we argue. And there's not much to argue about in the NFL because New England won the Super Bowl over the Rams and we all watched it. The big argument in the entire NFL playoffs was, Saints got a bad call. Think about that. A month of NFL playoffs, one argument. Didn't like that call in the Superdome.

College football is all about arguing, all about urgency, assumptions, history, and arguing. And I'm okay with that. And I'm okay with Utah getting in. over Oklahoma. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app.

Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where sports slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete, the man. themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs,

the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife-Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. and we don't know when we've done enough.

Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free. iHeartRadio app search learn the hard way and listen now what's up guys this is clivert taylor

the fourth and on my podcast the clivert show i'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff like being an internet famous referee we're in the middle of a game this linebacker this linebacker walks up to me he goes hey ref my mom wants you to wave at her what time out quarterback on office blue 42 hey rep my mama want you to wave at her what Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clipper Show on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know there's a lot to break down. Portia accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man. They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. I like the bougie style of Housewives show. I think it looks like to be interesting.

On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real House Wise franchise, the drama, the alliances, and the T everybody's talking about. As an executive producer in reality television, I'm not just watching it. I understand the game. As somebody who creates shows, I'll even say this. At the end of the day, when people are at home, they want entertainment. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Yesterday, Ron Rivera was fired.

I hold him in high regard. I think he is an excellent coach. He played in the NFL. He's got kind of a Jack Del Rio, Anthony Lynn, Alpha Male presence. He's a big intimidating guy, knows his stuff. I'm a huge, I don't know Ron. I know people who know him. I really like him as a head coach.

I think he deals with a lot of crap behind the scene sometimes with Cam Newton that people don't see. He doesn't let out. Cam jumped to his defense yesterday. I think Ron's excellent. And I think in life, excellent people get fired all the time. Really good people and all sorts of industries get fired. I think Ron's great. And he talked about it yesterday.

He's a very proud guy. This has been a crazy division. Even with Drew Breeze, it's like every year there feels like there's a surprise team. He got to a Super Bowl one year. It came out of nowhere. Here's Ron yesterday. I'm proud that I took over a 2-14 team and won back to back to back. See the emphasis?

Won? Three in a row. Okay? Whether you define it by wins or losses or you define it by winning the division. To me, that's three years in a row of consecutive winning. So I want to make sure we're straight on that. I get tired of hearing, oh, they couldn't win 300 years in a row, two years in a row. No, we won three years in a row.

Let's get that straight. And we were the first team in the NFC South to do it. So I'm pretty doggone proud of that. Should be. Didn't have a Hall of Fame quarterback. It's hard to win your division three years in a row when you got good quarterbacks, not special quarterbacks. He's excellent.

There's going to be five jobs that I'm pretty sure are going to be open. And I would argue he's the leading candidate in most of them. So what is Ron Rivera going to avoid? Because he's a successful guy. His agent's going to get a bunch of calls. his agent's a lucky guy today and so is Ron. So Ron's going to get his pick. But when you're really talented and you get let go,

in any relationship, personal or business, what do you not do? You avoid the pratfalls of your previous job. If you date somebody, they've got a big temper, explosive temper and you break up. You're not going to date somebody again with that kind of temper. In fact, the pendulum will swing. You'll probably go to somebody who's laconic with no temper at all.

You'll overcompensate. That happens all the time. So of the five jobs, let's put them out there. Washington has an opening already. Atlanta's going to have an opening. Dallas could have an opening. The Cleveland Browns, probably, they'll have an opening. And the New York Giants will have an opening.

Those five. So let me eliminate Atlanta for the only reason is, I doubt they would hire a third straight defensive coach. If I was Atlanta, I'd hire Ron Rivera. But they had Mike Smith, they have Dan Quinn, my guess in 2019, 2020, the way the world works, you're going to go offensive. I get it. I don't agree with it, but I get it. Let's eliminate Cleveland.

Okay, Ron Rivera had a high-profile celebrity quarterback that was inconsistent. That's Cam Newton. That's Baker Mayfield. I think Ron would like to go to a place with a quarterback that doesn't have a million commercials and the quarterback's not a star and the quarterback's not a celebrity and the quarterback's accuracy is excellent. Let's eliminate Cleveland. Let's eliminate Washington because during Ron Rivera's time,

he dealt with an ownership change, and I think Washington's got a lot of messes from quarterback to GM to ownership. I don't think it's a great job. I think he's better than the Washington job. So now it comes down to Dallas and the New York Giants. And I think most media people I listened to yesterday said Dallas is the fit.

let me suggest that the New York Giants are a perfect fit. And let me give you the reasons. Number one, the Giants have gone back-to-back offensive coaches. Macadou and Pat Shermer, two whiffs. They'll go to defense. The Giants' offense is pretty darn good in spots. They need defense. The Giants also are going to finish with a second worst record in the NFL after Cincinnati.

They're going to have a chance to get Chase Young defense. Who would use Chase Young really well? Ron Rivera, a defensive guy. They have a quarterback that I think Ron Rivera would be attracted to. He doesn't talk. He almost looks like the past quarterback who didn't talk. Daniel Jones. No celebrity, no commercial, no star power, no cam, no distraction, totally focused on a rookie contract for two more years.

Dak, you've got to pay him now in Dallas. Daniel, I have to pay him for years in New York. Dave Gettelman, the general manager of New York. Oh, wait. Ron Rivera won back-to-back-to-back divisions with Dave Gettlement. So Gettlement, who's on the brink of getting whacked, can save his job and go, I've won divisions with that guy. That's my guy.

And the owner's like, all right. So Washington's got a crazy owner. The Giants owner, the Mara family, quietest guy in the league. Cleveland's got an outspoken, commercial-infused quarterback. Giants have one that nobody in New York can recognize. In New York, they can't recognize him. You got the Gettlement, you got the Daniel Jones, you got the laconic quiet owner.

This is a Giants coach. They've had back-to-back offensive guys, McAdoo Schumer, with both of them. This is the guy. The New York Giants and Ron Rivera, I think he'd get Chase Young with a number one or two pick. Along with Dexter Lawrence last year, He'd make that defense sing.

He's made Carolina's defense sing for a decade. That's your guide. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. One of the reasons I go to PFF.com and I think you should, should do. That's the analytic site. Chris Collinsworth, broadcaster, former player is a part owner of. And it's great.

I wish I was a part owner of it. It's amazing. Chris, if you have availability, I'm interested. So it's called pff.com. They grade every player. and they just graded the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL and they have Tom Brady 10. And what they're basically saying is, and I'll read the quote here,

Brady's not the problem in New England, but for the first time and a long time, he may not be able to overcome it. Thank you. This is what we've been saying. This is what my eyes tell me. Tom Brady's not the problem, but at 42, he's no longer capable of taking a B minus

offensive line, C minus wide receivers, D plus tight ends, and B running backs. He's not now at 42 able to overcome that and take them to a different area. There's only three guys in the NFL to me that can. Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, and Deshawn Watson. Don't get me, Lamar Jackson. We don't know how he would be if Baltimore had a terrible offensive line and no running game and bad receivers. He doesn't.

We know Russell Wilson. We know Mahomes. We know Deshawn Watson. We've seen those guys overcome issues. Bad running game, no running game, offensive line, especially Russell Wilson and Deshawn. We've seen that. I mean, Russell let the NFL in touchdown passes one year

with the lowest rated offensive line. Do not include Aaron Rogers with that. Aaron Rogers has a career road losing record. He can't overcome a two-and-a-half-hour flight to a road game. So this is the point. It's not a Brady issue. Those are two different issues. Tom Brady issue would be like in Chicago.

They got a Mitch Trubisky issue. That's, that's, you got to get a new quarterback. This is not the issue. It's not you need a new quarterback. It's that we don't have a young quarterback and athletically dynamic quarterback talented enough and young enough and spry enough and dynamic enough to overcome our issues. So ask yourself, what are the issues? Well, I'm going to drop a bomb on you.

The issue is Belichick, 19 years. he can't draft skill people. In 19 years, and remember NFL teams keep six receivers, three tight ends, and four running backs. Every year. He has drafted one skill person in 19 years, running back tight end receiver who's made a Pro Bowl. Gronk, that's it.

Edelman's never made one. Gronk is the only skill player. In 19 years, Belichick has drafted, that's a pro boulder. Gronk, that's it. 19 years, go look at Houston's wide receivers. Every dynasty has a whole. Every great superstar. Elon Musk is smart but crazy has a hole.

Mayor Bloomberg in New York running for president. Best candidate of my life. He's got a whole. He's got no personality. He's got no personality. It's a telegenic personality race as much as a political race to be president. Trump lacks a lot of things, but he's got a personality. So Belichick, this was fine when Brady was 24 and 28 and 32 and 33.

Tom is 42 now. This is not a Tom issue. PFF says it. It's a weapons issue. He can't overcome a bunch of B minus C plus stuff. New England simply doesn't drafts. skill people very well. They get B, B minus running backs, C, C minus wide receivers, one great tight end.

Aaron Hernandez, good for a while, now has left us. But, you know, I went this morning, and I'm not saying Belichick's not a genius, but every genius either has a dark side or it's like when you drive a car and there's a blind spot in the car. I just, I test drove a car about a month ago. And they have this thing where the car has a very nice car has a blind spot and a little red diamond shows up on your windshield when a car enters your blind spot. And this was a very nice car and it was not cheap. And all the manufacturing to build that car that was very expensive, right? I don't generally buy expensive cars, but it was very nice.

And they couldn't eliminate the blind spot. All the windows couldn't eliminate the blind spot. Because everybody has one. Every car has one. Every person has one. Every dynasty has one. Belichick doesn't draft skill people well. He's awful at wide receiver.

He hit one home run at tight end. And his running backs, guys, PFF, very smart. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games,

from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action, with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me,

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

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

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

This is Clifford Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42.

Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know there's a lot to break down. Gorsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man.

They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. I like the bougie style of Housewives show. I think it looks like it's going to be interesting. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real Housewives franchise,

the drama, the alliances, and the team everybody's talking about. As an executive producer in reality television, I'm not just watching it. I understand the game. As somebody who creates shows, I'll even say this. At the end of the day, when people are at home, they want entertainment.

To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Okay, so years ago, I'd take phone calls, and then I stopped taking phone calls, because I listened to my show and break it down, and I thought, I'm not going to argue about facts anymore. If I give you a fact, I'm not going to argue about. It's just bad radio. It's bad TV. And we can argue about a lot of stuff. Joel Clatt and I argue about a lot of stuff all the time, but I'm not going to argue about facts. So there's going to be about five or six NFL openings. One of them is going to be in Carolina. The richest owner in the NFL is Carolina's owner. He's a real smart guy.

You know, worth a bunch of billion dollars. Pretty smart guy. You know who the leading candidate for the job is? Jim Harbaugh. Oh, he can't coach. Yeah, Fox bet odds out today, rumor, starting Harbaugh is the leading candidate. But I thought he's such a terrible coach. He's why I stopped taking phone calls.

If you don't get Jim Harbaugh as a good coach, you're dumb. I can't help you. San Diego, three years, win, win, win. Stanford, 1 and 11 takes them over. They win the Pack 12 a few years later. 44 and 19 at San Francisco, 49ers. Best winning percentage in the modern era. He goes to Michigan, six and a half wins.

I was at his first game. They win 10 games first year, immediate turnaround. By the way, leaves the Niners, train wreck overnight. If you were a talk show host, a football coach, if you were a lawyer and had worked at four law firms or a surgeon that had worked at four hospitals and you were successful four straight times,

you're good. We're not arguing about it. 16 years coaching, 14 winning seasons. The only place he didn't win was the first two years at Stanford because they were one in 11. He went in as a 41 point underdog against Pete Carroll at the Coliseum and kicked his arse. At the time, it was the greatest upset win in the history of college football.

If you don't get it, I can't help you. That's why I stopped taking phone calls to a radio show. He can't coach. Really? If you were a school teacher, a principal, a landscaper, an attorney, a coach, a talk-saw host, and you go to four places and you win in all of them. You get ratings in all of them. You win cases in all of them.

You solve mysteries in all of them. you eradicate disease in all of them. You're a good medical researcher. If you're a salesman, four different jobs, you're great in all of them. But Colony makes $7 million a year. Who gives a rip? He came out of the NFL. Michigan had to overpay at the time because he had a bunch of leverage.

You don't get paid for just wins. You get paid in life because of, I mean, Joey and I know, the timing, leverage to multiple people fight over you. I mean, if you could be the most talented gal in the world, but if nobody's fighting over you, a company's like, I remember when I used to work at the other place, and Fox Sports One started a sports network. This is like, you know, seven, eight years ago, right?

And everybody at the other place was like, I hope those guys do nothing. And I remember saying, you guys are idiots. You want Fox Sports One to be great. Otherwise, the other place doesn't have to pay us. Coke needs a Pepsi or Coke doesn't need to pay any of their employees. It's the threat of Pepsi. that gets Coke guys paid.

So Jim Harbaugh got a lot of money because he was 4419 and one in the NFL. And there's like 30 job openings. And you have to overpay when people are on the market and they're talented. But Fox bet odds. Look at that. Harbaugh.

Over Josh McDaniels, over Urban Meyer, actually. All right. Maybe he can coach a little. And by the way, one of the only people in America that has ever, you know, Clatt and I don't agree on anything, Voice of College football. Clat and I don't agree on anything. The one thing we agree on is Jim Harbaugh can coach.

4419 and one in the NFL. He's the leading guy for Carolina. Let's bring in the voice of college football. Joel Klatte, who will be doing the Big Ten championship game live, Lucas Oil Stadium. Wisconsin will keep it close for a while, but Ohio State will win. I won't ask you about that. All right, how are you?

I'm good. How are you doing? You look like today it didn't shave, which is rare because you're so, such a golden boy. Oh, is that it? Today you look a little rougher. You know what I got? You know last week you were like. Like, you know, what are you eating?

I was like almonds. I love almonds. Yeah. I had a couple of different people in Michigan Stadium hand me almonds. It was a thank you. I appreciate it. It was great. Maybe somebody in Indy can hand you a razor.

Look at you today. You're handsome. Okay, let's go with this. So let me give you, here's the big four. Here's what college football play, you know, gave us. Yeah, yeah. Bottom line is if Utah wins, they're number five. If Utah wins, they're in, I have no problem.

But here's... Oh, I don't know about that. Well, George is going to lose to LSU. So let's assume that. But you're just assuming that. But you're just a... Assuming Utah wins in the argument over Oklahoma. Well, they've been above them all year.

Yeah, but Oklahoma has a much tougher opponent this week than Utah. That is not a clear-cut deal. I don't know if... Why? Why would you just think like Utah goes automatically? So here's going to be my big argument. And Oklahoma already hates me. This will go deep.

There's a difference between bias and assumption. Okay. Bias is I would never vote Clemson number one because I went to South Carolina and I hate those guys. Okay. Assumption is, I think I'm going to put Clemson in because every time they're in this, they play big. They're great in big games. That's assumption.

The Big 12s never won a single game in this playoff. In this playoff. Oklahoma's 0 and 3. I have eyes on a TV set. They're playing flag football. Utah's got NFL bodies all over that defense. I don't think any, I don't think Oklahoma or Utah are going to beat Ohio State. Well, the problem is, is that we still have to pay attention to resume at some point.

And the fact of the matter is is that Utah has played one ranked team and they lost. Okay. You know, we've never had a team enter the playoff without at least two wins against ranked opponents. Utah doesn't have one yet. They might get one against Oregon, but they're only a 10-win team. Meanwhile, OU is going to have three wins against ranked opponents if they win on Saturday. Two of those will be against an 11-win Baylor team, one of them on the road. You know, so listen, I just, and I disagree.

How do I not look at Oklahoma and the Big 12s passed in these big games and they can't stop a noseble? lead. This whole sports base on who stopped them? Hold on. You're making this off of the an indictment over the on the Big 12. If you actually look statistically into bowl games, what Big 12 teams generally do in bowl games is that they're

gaining about their average, giving up about their average, and then they drastically outperform based on the averages that their opponents generally have in their regular season. So I think that's a completely wrong assumption to just throw Oklahoma. Oklahoma is going to have the much better resume.

And who are you to say, listen, I would love to see Oklahoma and Utah play. I think Utah has been, when I just watch them a better team, Oklahoma is going to have a much better and stronger resume. If Utah gets in, it will be an unprecedented week resume to get in. You know what? Precedents need to be broken. You just like it because you've got a home there. You've always loved Utah.

You've been a Whittingham guy, Joy. You know what I'm talking, right? He's always, first of all. You didn't say that yesterday. I have a home name. and very nice people. Here's the point. Your second or third?

Okay. Whatever. So here's the thing. So you said, Klat, you said, I've watched and I think Utah's better. By the way, so have I. Precedents are made to be broken. But here's the thing about Oklahoma. Oklahoma always has a better resume.

Every year that the better scoring team and the flashier team and the Heisman team and the quarterback team and the Lincoln Rotted team and the Bob Stubis team, every year their resume looks great because they beat a bunch of flag football teams outside of TCU that plays real defense or at least tries to. The bottom line is the Big 12, I'm going, college football asked me to do a preseason ranking based totally on assumption. Nobody's played. The NFL doesn't ask me to do that.

College football asked me to look into history, look into assumption, look into recruiting, look at NFL bodies. I just totally disagree with your premise about the Big 12. If you're, listen, if OU was out there getting pummeled in the playoff, then I would, I would say, yeah, like there's clearly a problem. Their defense is. Yeah, their defense has been not even close to up to par. but their defense is drastically better this year. Do you know they're the number one total defense in the conference?

I don't want to hear it. They are. Listen, you don't want to hear it. Those are the facts, though. That's the problem. And to suggest that they didn't have a chance against Georgia two years ago, that game was an overtime. That was an unbelievable game.

Last year, they basically spot Alabama 21 points, and then from there played an unbelievable game. Yeah, after they spotted them 21 points. Well, I've talked with Lincoln Riley about that. I thought it was a mistake that they deferred. I mean, you're just riding them off. I think that is a completely flawed position right now. You can't write Oklahoma off because Alabama beat them last year.

No, I'm writing off a conference that's never won a game in this. I'm assuming they can't stop anybody because I have eyes on a TV set and nobody can stop anybody in that conference. So you want to give Utah credit because Marcus Marieto was a generational player and throttle a very flawed, undefeated Florida State team. Yes, you are. That's what you're doing, though. No, that's what you're saying, the Big 12 is never won in this type of scenario.

Well, Oregon's the only Pac-12 team to have won in this. I'm not arguing against the Pac-12. All I'm saying is that they had a. generationally talented Heisman winning player, and they beat Florida State, who was drastically flawed that year. But Washington stopped a lot of Alabama. You win when they played in the playoff a couple years ago. Listen, this is a false premise.

I will not allow you to sit here and say this to America. Washington's performance against Alabama in the playoff was not nearly, not nearly the performance that Oklahoma gave against Georgia two years ago, not even close. I just think it's, listen, this is, by the way, an argument against eight because we're arguing against flawed resumes. You know the best argument for Utah is an argument against Oklahoma? The best argument for Oklahoma is an argument against Utah. There's nothing about these two teams that I say like, yeah, they deserve an opportunity to go play with those three big boys that have really earned it. We see the world differently.

Anyway, one of us sees it right. Hey, the view from that chalet in Utah is the different view. view than I have. I'm just going to tell you that. Joy, a different view than you? I don't know. One of everything, one car, one wife, one house. All right. Go ahead. So I'm not sure if this is even a national topic. You can yell in my ear if it's not. The Dallas Cowboys have become USC football.

Oh. The brand is shiny and fantastic and it's got history, but the quality of the actual football is not great. USC is going to retain Clay Hilton, who's a wonderful guy, thought he should have been the coach. I think the program's at a total ceiling. Recruing's in the tank. Yeah. And I look at the USC situation and I look at the Notre Dame situation. Notre Dame had a series of coaches that didn't work, went and got Brian Kelly. Now they're a player. U.S.Cs have a bunch of coaches that haven't worked. I think they don't need to go get a big time coach. What do you make of Clay Hilton being retained? I think that if you look at it in and of itself, if you put blinders on and you try to look at

just that decision in a vacuum, it doesn't make much sense. If you try to take a 30,000 foot view of the chaos that has surrounded not only the university, but the money that they've had to spend as a university outside of the athletic department, it's well over $400 million that that university has had to spend on lawsuits and settlements outside of the athletic department. So I don't know if there's an appetite from the president down to go spend money to fire this coach and do that when he's eight and four and in the college football playoff rankings. And in particular, when he's a guy that everybody likes the players respect and he's willing

to make changes. They're going to have to make drastic changes. Who are they going to get? I'm not sure. Let's be honest. I like Clay. I advocated for Clay being hired, but I do think coaches hit ceilings. And I think there's four major programs in America, USC, Oklahoma, Bama, Ohio State that are different. Yeah. And when they have the right coach, they dominate their conference. Yeah. We've seen it. with all of them. What about this? New stadium, nobody's in it

after they get blown out by Bama in the opener. I've told you that the two reasons why I think ADs should make decisions are butts in the seats, revenue, and recruiting. And both of those are at low points right now for USC. What would you do? You're the AD there. I would tell him he's got to go hire

Morgan Scali, Scaly, the defensive coordinator for Utah. I don't know. Because he's obviously done it. Scaly is a terrific defensive coordinator. He's been under Wittingham for a long time. If you're not going to change Helton, you've got to get guys that can recruit so your staff has to change, and then you've got to get a better defensive coordinator. Because right now, they're not tough enough on the line of scrimmage.

By the way, everybody, did you hear that? Old clasters like, if you want to get the defense better, hire Utah's coach. He's great. You didn't say Oklahoma's coach. You said Utah's coach. Well, I mean, Alex Grinch has actually created a turnaround of epic proportions with the Oklahoma defense. Actually, go look at the statistics, and you'll see that Grinch has done a I hate to be a Grinch on your argument. But you said Utah's guide fix everything at USA. Well, he's West Coast. Grinch is not a West Coast guy.

Technically, even though he coached to Washington State, you can go hire Alex Grinch. You're going to have to pay him $2 million. Okay, how about this? What are you wrong on now? Go ahead. No, no. You and I are right.

Oh. Harbaugh. 4419 NFL. Do you see who's up for the Carolina job? If you're Jim Harbaugh today, all the nonsense you take from the critics, all the hate you get from guys at this network and other networks. I'm Jim Harbaugh today. You know what I do? When you 10 games, go to the

Citrus Bowl without me. Boom. Thanks for flying United. I'm going to the NFL. This is deeper than that. If this was another program that he didn't have deep ties to, I think that would be the case. He grew up there, his dad coached with Bo Schembeckler. Criticism every day. Yeah, that's fine, but he knows what the truth is. And I've talked to him about it. You know, Jim has done an unbelievable job. In 2014, folks, and this is not, the criticism he gets is deserved when it comes to Ohio State only. Outside of that, you have to understand what he's done. He's taken a team that in 2014 was five and seven. They missed a bowl game for the third time in their history. History meaning as soon as the Big Ten expanded to allow teams to go to other bowls other than the Rose Bowl.

It was only the third time. Yeah. And where out. So he took over a five and seven team. Ohio State won the national championship this year. 2014, folks. So that's what he walked into. What I bristle at is this fact of like people like, well, he's got to beat Ohio State. It's like the margin right now is so big between those two programs from what he took over and inherited to where he's trying to get.

And this is not the year to evaluate Jim Harbaugh based on what he does against Ohio State. Ohio State is the best team I've ever covered in the booth. I have never covered a better team. than this Ohio State team in the booth. This is the wrong year to evaluate Jim Harbaugh based on what he does against that particular Buckeye team. I don't even say Ohio State's my criticism.

My only criticism of him is marginally he couldn't beat Michigan State enough. Now he is. Well, now he is. But early, come on, you're better. And the only real criticism I've tagged him on is, dude, you're Jim Harbaugh. Get the quarterback thing figured out.

They've been kind of a sloppy mess at quarterback. He's got to be, hey, I like the guy. But he's, Shea Patterson's nice, didn't lose much at home until last week. But he hasn't been good enough at quarterback. He should get a five-star guy every year. He's Jim Harbaugh. He's an NFL quarterback.

He's a great recruiter. It's Michigan. I think he needs a quarterback. She has played really well down the stretch. Here's the one criticism I would give Michigan is that they play too undisciplined when they get into those matchups against Ohio State. You can't fumble.

You can't jump offside. I mean, that's a time against better players. Sometimes you are pressured. You jump offside when you're playing against better players? That's a fallacy. Okay. These were all jokes about the Utah House. I ski in my backyard.

only. All right, Joel Clap. Exactly. Ski in, ski out. Must be nice. Geez. Take that, America. I have a ski resort in my backyard. All right. Lucas O'L. Stadium, Indianapolis, Big Ten championship game. I think Ohio State, I think it's really close because they beat them earlier. It's hard to beat a team badly twice. It is. Wisconsin's got a great defensive mind and the best running back I've seen since Ezekiel Elliott. I think it's close for three quarters. Then they win. I know it's only been a couple of runs, but I'm tired and cold. Let's go back to my living room.

Hey, he's on live again Friday from Indianapolis. You know, Whitlock's from there? He is? Oh, good Lord. He's one of these guys. I was like, Brady Hoek did fine at Michigan. Okay, 5 and 7, pound sand. Yeah, I'm out.

That's why I stopped bringing Whitlock on the show, that nonsense. The Hoke nonsense. This is nonsense. I was done with it. I'm done with him. All right, Joe Clack, great seeing you. You too. Last night, a blown call changed the game.

This morning, the inner. internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slicalife-12 in the TikTok podcast network. on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel,

help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th.

And on my podcast, The Clivert Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out.

Quarterback on office, Blue, 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs.

We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was funny. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come until he's like, you know I love you. dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.