The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - 49ers Outlook After Shanahan Accident? Shedeur Sanders, Cowboys Win The Division? Expectations For Indiana

Episode Date: August 2, 2026

Colin is joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” to talk all things football. They start with 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan being in a serious car accident and the controversy surrounding why he wasn’t checked for a DUI (4:30), and then discuss the outlook for the 49ers 2026 season (11:00).  They move to Shedeur Sanders heading into his second season and Colin argues that Deion is getting in the way of Shedeur’s success, but they both believe Shedeur will see significant playing time this year (15:00). They head to the NFC East and preview the Cowboys and John believes Caleb Downs could transform the defense and picks them to win the division, and they react to Jerry Jones saying he’d be willing to make a splash trade midseason (25:00).   They pivot to Bill Belichick’s “friends and family” staff at North Carolina and Colin argues he’s not even trying to hire the best of the best (36:45). Finally, they debate the expectations for Indiana football after the departure of #1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza and whether head coach Curt Cignetti can keep the success rolling (49:00).  All lines provided by @hardrockbet (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #Volume See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Niners, somebody will get hurt. Before I get into that, so I watched several movies, some good, some not even worth mentioning. Have you seen Odyssey yet? With a six-month-old, I don't have three and a half hours, Colin. I'm lucky. I just got an hour at the gym before I got to pack up and get out of here. That could be a century city the next couple weeks, though. You know, I got some, you know, afternoons to myself.

Okay. So I can fire in there. You seen Disclosure Day by Spielberg? I did not, but I saw obsession last time I was down there with you at the Century City Mall, which I heard your review with Ethan. I, I didn't get that deep into it. I just kind of enjoyed it. And I think the story, how the guy made it for under a million dollars in this day and age, pretty incredible, isn't it? I mean, the guy's going to be, he's going to have a lot of money behind him moving forward.

That's for sure. Yeah. I got to tell you something. There was a documentary by Dan Fara that I thought was the best documentary I've ever seen, and Spielberg watched that documentary and then made Disclosure Day. And I love Spielberg. My wife really, really liked it. It took too long for me to get going.

I just kind of felt like, let's, let's, okay, some of this I'm not buying it. The lead up took forever. Aliens took forever to get to. But, you know, whatever. So I'm not a movie reviewer, but I just, you know, obsession missed a little. bit for me and so did Spielberg, and that's rare. Okay, I want to throw this at you with the 49ers. So I was off and I just let people have at it. Kyle was okay. That was good news. I'll let everybody else chase the story. But I remember when I moved to California having a discussion with an attorney.

And he always said, California privacy laws are the best in the country and the broadest. and that if there's like not a firearm in that car wreck, a discharged firearm, if there's not alcohol, DUI, it's hard to get information. A lot of stuff gets buried for weeks and weeks or years because California privacy laws are like next level. And, you know, California's always been pretty tough on corporations, pretty good to the individual. Did you feel, and I also think Kyle Shanahan probably was embarrassed and felt, you know, like he, mostly it was his blame. He didn't, you know, he didn't leave the scene. There was no alcohol involved. It was just, you know, he's on his phone. Something happened. Did you feel like there was a massive cover up? Part of it's the privacy laws of

California. Where did you land on it? Well, my wife's, two of her best friends were married to a cop and a firefighter that are both in the Bay Area, in prominent areas. And we were with one guy this summer. And he said, it's impossible to get a DUI in the city of San Francisco. They're just not going to give you one. The paperwork's too hard. They just don't give DUIs. I said, just because you're a firefighter? He's like, no, they just, it could be you.

But the moment you cross, go to Napa, go down to Burlingame, like where Edelman's from, go to the East Bay, you're not getting away with anything. And so to me, when I saw the cover up, this is not John Gotti, New York. This is not Big Dom and Philly. The Bay Area 1, the police, okay, maybe they're born and raised in the general area. But when he goes to the hospital in Stan, where do you think all those people, they're from all over the place? Right. The notion that they have some, they're indebted to the 49ers.

And this is, listen, my, I have a family member that was in business with Eddie to Bartolo back in the 80s. A little different ballgame back then. But in 2026, Colin, to think that it could be possible that he could be possible that he could be. on drugs or drinking. I mean, I've heard pretty definitively 100% that was not the issue. Right. Now, I understand when people go 20 miles an hour, he's into Tesla. Isn't that supposed to not allow you to go in the other lane?

Like, I get it. I haven't had those thoughts. But then as it comes out, Kyle Shanahan, you know, Wicker Sham writes that big, deep article on Sean Payton. He was in, you know, basically with him in the bunker for three weeks or whatever during the playoffs. Yeah. You couldn't throw Kyle Shanahan. He'd jump off the Golden Gate Bridge before he allowed someone to do that.

He's not, you know, some of these older, especially coaches like Sean Peyton or Andy, they've known a lot of people for a long time. And they just have normal human relationships with, I think, a lot of people in the media. That's not really Kyle Shanahan's deal. Nope. You know, people like Chris Sims. Well, yet, they played college football together at Texas. It's like, how did Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson know each other? They've known each other since they were at Arkansas in whatever year.

So to think that in the Bay Area with Kyle Shanahan that he could have got a DUI and they could have covered it up. Now I do understand like the scene, but the scene would just be there when he's in shambles, right? And his head split open. And he basically just waits for his wife to show up. I guess he wouldn't leave for 20 minutes until his wife showed up. Palo Alto's pretty far away. Palo Alto's north of Santa Clara where they play. And he lives even south of that.

So it's, I just have a hard. Stanford is not covering things up like they're doing the SEC when it comes to football players getting trouble. That's not the way. You know, I'm from an hour and a half north of that, but I don't quite under people don't understand kind of the world, especially Palo Alto, I would say as well. Well, and also it's not a Niners beat reporters job every morning to wake up and call local police departments. Like between the privacy laws, I mean, Shanahan's probably embarrassing.

I just didn't feel like there was some massive cover-up. I think one of the things I've learned over the course of my life, and a lot of times in media is a lot of stuff takes a while to come out. I had an agent years ago, Nick Conno has said, organizations make a decision six months before they fire you. Everybody in the building knows. Everything gets delayed. Accidents, corporate decisions. and I just, you know, I don't know, I just, I thought there was a lot of suspicion. I think that can be healthy by media members. I'm not dogging media members. But I just know that when I first moved to L.A.

and I had this random conversation. I think it was at dinner with a, you know, with an attorney talking about the California privacy laws. They're just different level. And a lot of stuff doesn't get out that you would be shocked. I want to touch on. Isn't this really quick back on? this. This was not in season and it didn't come out two weeks later. This is in the middle of vacation. No one is at the facility. He gets her, what's Kyle Shanahan going to put out a statement?

Now, I get the Niners, I guess could have, but they're reporting for camp in a week. It's obviously going to come out when he can't address the team. The other thing, he has a major concussion. He can't even think straight. You think the first thing he's thinking of like, man, I got to text Mayoko and Tim Kawakami and make sure they know my head was just split open. So I just, and then he has them all in the room a couple days later and is in tears because emotionally concussions really mess with you. It's not like he's been in a great state over the course of the month. So I don't know. If there is something, it'll eventually get uncovered in this day and age. But I just think that it's borderline impossible with the setup down there.

So, you know, it's interesting with the 49ers is that Kyle is so respected that it sort of bulldozes any mistakes or missteps in his life. I've said multiple times on this podcast, my biggest problem of the Niners is Seattle and the Rams draft better. So the Rams and the Seahawks are just deeper rosters. And so when the Niners get their predictable injuries every year, they get real thin, real fast. They're old, expensive, thin, and kind of brittle. Now, Ricky Pearsall, you know, John, I didn't love the pick. I think they overdraft receivers. I think they've coddled them too often. Pierceall's not going to play. Debo back for a year.

Just give me your sense on what the season's going to look like. The Rams have added Miles Garrett. If Trent Williams gets hurt, watch out Brock Purdy. Kind of what do you for? You're very close to the Niners. What do you forecast? Well, I would say there's probably Kyle Shanahan is the most important guy in the organization. So if Kyle, who's literally in the concussion protocol right now,

now. There were question marks of him during regular season games, his ability to cognitively put together game plans, call games. They have mics and cameras in every meeting room. He watches everything. He is. Nick Siriani's not telling Vic Fangio a damn thing. Andy Reid leaves Steve Spagnoli alone, right? That is not the case with Kyle Shanhan. You know, you read that Wickersham article with Sean Payton on his defense. That's Kyle. I mean, This is everything that happens there. So to me, more than any, they went to Philly last year and won a playoff game without George Kittle, without Fred Warren, without Nick Bosa. If they got Kyle Shanahan, they're going to be okay.

Now, in the offseason, you know, John Snyder and Howie Roseman and Les Sneed get a lot of Jews. I mean, Les Sneak clearly convinced Sean McVeigh to draft his buddy's quarterback, or, you know, right? And Ty Simpson was the driver on that. That's not the case with John. A huge part of John's job is to manage. I do think there's a chance of Kyle's to change person a little bit after this incident. But Kyle, you know, I think actually his parallel might be a little Sean Peyton and his dad. They are tough.

I mean, they are, and that's probably his role more than just putting together draft boards because at the end of the day, Kyle's going to run the draft board. If I, the Ricky Pearsall thinks specifically, this is why the drafts so hard. He didn't miss a game in college. Not one. He never missed a game in college. Now, was he going to be JSN or Justin Jefferson? No.

But when he did play, he looked like he could be a serviceable, pretty good starting wide receiver. And I think they've done two things now over the course of the last five, six years. They've overreacted. In 2021 with Trey Lance, they had a devastating year with Jimmy Garoppel. He wasn't very good. And they kind of had this moment late in the season against Josh Allen. And they're like, we need one of those. It's like, well, those don't grow in trees.

And then they tried to draft Trey Lance did it blow up in their face all these picks. They got punked in the Super Bowl. and they couldn't get anyone open man to man. So they're like, Ricky Pearsall is the best runner in the draft. It's like, well, if you just draft Bradent Fisk or Lasseter or Ladd-McConkie,

you know, but they try to force something. Yeah. And they're very, very fortunate that, you know, Kyle, to me,

is the equivalent of like an NBA star. He's that important. Like, if you got Yokic, your floor's still pretty high. You might not win the Super Bowl or NBA or LeBron in his prime or Curry. That's what Kyle is.

It's pretty rare. It doesn't really exist in the NFL, right? And that truly is Kyle. So I think if they just had a notch below him, it could have unraveled multiple times. But to me, my only question with the Niners, I mean, on paper, they're probably not as good as the Rams, clearly, or Seattle. But to me, they're still, you look at the rest of the NFC, like they can make the playoffs. But it's him. He's got to be, the way it's been reported, a lot of people talk to him now, like, it was a pretty traumatic.

You know, he got hit by this Mercedes, hit his face and the overhead mirror, you know, came right into his eye, almost took out his eye. It was really bad. So to me, it comes down to him and obviously they're guys healthy, which you never know. Hey, I want to talk about Shadur Sanders. So when players drop in the draft, there's usually either they're just, you know, they've got behavioral issues. I mean, Aaron Hernandez was wildly talented. There were some questions about him at Florida. Or you get into a situation like Chador Sanders where dad, you know, the media tour during the Super Bowl were not playing for bad teams.

And I don't think there's, I don't think any reasonable person could deny what I'm about to say. Dion Sanders hurt his son Chadur in the draft process. I was told that by people. that I've been talking to for 20 years in the NFL. Like, that position, that behavior, kind of arrogantly dismissing certain organizations, you know, the ones who are bad that wanted to draft you. So the other day, I saw Dion on the practice field. And I thought, God, Dion, you have no self-awareness.

Like, it's not going to affect him now. Because I really do think Shadur was significantly under-drafted. At worst, he was late second to me. maybe very top of the third. But I watched like 10 of his college games. He holds the ball too long. He did that in college. He does it in the pros.

And that may be the deal breaker. But he's accurate. He moves okay. He's a risk taker. I don't think he's a great franchise guy. And he may never get out of holding the ball. I mean, Caleb Williams first year. You know, it's a problem.

But when I saw Deon on the field, I don't think Peyton Manning's going to be on the field or Eli, when Arch gets drafted next year. I just thought, God, Dion, go coach Colorado. Like, I don't know why you've worked for an NFL team. I just thought, get out of this kid's way. Like, like, LeBron James likes to play with brawny, but he's not getting in the way of him.

Like he's separated, the JJ's going to play him Reddick when he wants to play him. When you saw Dion, how did it land for you? Well, I actually read the article yesterday. I think Jason Lloyd, who covers the Cleveland area. Yes, I read it too. Yeah. And, you know, last year they wouldn't bend the knee. They wouldn't.

And this year, I think Munkin's in a weird spot, a little older. No one was going to give him a head coaching job. Also, for an old, he's pretty secure. Like, Top Munkin is a good offensive coordinator. Like, Top Munkin knows what he's doing. What's Deion going to tell him about offense when Tom Munkin's been coached in the league for a long time? But when you see the picture, the first thing I thought was, that'd be like Signetti calling up Kubiak. Be like, I'm showing up to camp.

I'll give you two days. I'll tell you everything you need to know about Fernando Mendoza. Exactly. It's like, well, we've already done that work. We've already talked to you. We already scouted the guy. And Dion's one of the greatest players I've ever seen. Same.

No one would dispute that. And it's admirable how much he loves his family, clearly, his boys. I do think there's got to be a line, though. This is the big leagues. Dion knows as well as anybody. Look at the players he played with. I mean, can you imagine Jimmy Johnson or George Seaford allowing opening the doors, you know, in their facility in a similar, this is a fifth round pick.

Like you said, his talent will have a swim in the second round. Like, Chador easily, most drafts could have gone in the second or third round. But he was a fifth round pick. The third round just got to be looking around like, can my dad come out and here and hang out and go to the meetings? You know, I get he's Dion. He's football royalty. But a year in, and now they're giving him a chance to start, Dion, just let it just show up. Yes.

It just kind of lay in the back. Just enjoy it. And I'm telling you, I have watched. I think Shadoors, I said it last year, there's something there. His teammates like playing with him. I think the receivers like him because he'll throw the ball down the field. He will not dink and dunk. He'll let it go.

And I always thought the knock that he wasn't athletic. He got his mom's DNA. It's like, I watched every Colorado game of note. He moved fine. He moves. I mean, Jared Goss is a statue. Stafford doesn't move. He moves fine.

This idea that he's unathletic. But I watched that stuff. I'm like, Dion, you screwed up the draft thing. Because I do think he's a lot. I think he's a little bit immature, but I think he's a good kid. I don't think he's a bad. He's just immature. But here's the other thing.

If you remember when the story came out about Shador, one of the problems was, Dion had convinced him or maybe he had convinced himself. They would not talk to any teams with quarterbacks. So the Eagles and the Ravens are like, we're interested. They're like, we ain't talking to you. It's like, crazy. I mean, it's like, Steve Young sat behind Joe Montana for a while. You'll be, you know, Aaron Rogers, Brett Farby.

It can work out. The Ravens were one of the teams that was very, very interested. I've read that. And, well, who was their offensive coordinator? The dude is now his head coach. So, you know, Todd, if you ever just watch his press conference, see some of the clips, like he's pretty, he's got a little fan joe to him. Older guy at this point in time, made a bunch of money, kind of got his shot.

Now he's getting his shot, like this is going to be it. He kind of, he tells it like it is. And he's been saying, like, both these guys are going to get their shot. Shador's playing one way, whether he wins the job, week one, which, anytime you're paying a guy, what, $45, $50 million, like, and you've already paid, Deshaun's, if he's healthy, going to start week one. But this team is not good. You know, they actually got some young pieces, but I'd put the over under six,

seven games in range for Shador to be in, maybe before that. I mean, Deshaun hasn't even proven that he can say healthy. So Deshaun, in any moment, could go down. and yeah, I mean, I think Chador is going to get his ample opportunity this year to play a bunch of games. And last year was a tough spot, the way he was thrown in, you know, the Dylan Gabriel, who seems like a nice kid. I mean, I don't know many people that had draftable grades on that guy. So, I mean, and it was clear. Now he's behind Chador with a guy that just independently came in from the outside was like,

Chador's better. So I think it's going to work out, but I'm with Yon. Dion just, Dian likes Dian. You know, there's a reason Jerry Rice, you know, used to like, they used to go at it. Before he got to the Niners or when he got to the Niners, like, Dion, can you just be serious here for a second? Today's show brought to you by Hard Rock Bet Sportsbook. Some sports fans call this a slow time of the year. But on Hard Rock Bet, we call it baseball season.

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Hi, I'm Bob Pipman, chairman and CEO of IHard Media. I also led the team that created MTV, and my co-founders and I are celebrating MTV's 45th anniversary this month. On my podcast, Math and Magic, stories from the Frontiers of Marketing, you'll hear the untold origin story from the people who built MTV from the ground up. I want my MTV! Those are powerful words, my, something for me that felt like mine and want. What a powerful word. Listen to Math and Magic stories from the Frontiers of Marketing on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 3 podcast.

This is a story about a horrendous situation that destroyed two families. It started more than seven years ago when Cindy and Kenny were two 40-somethings who had just gotten engaged. Days later, they walked into a scorched earth war they never saw. saw coming. Turn around and place your hands by your back. The cops given to my house and threw me in jail. And to Cindy's surprise, her fiance, Kenny, was charged with abusing one of her children. I never once doubted Kenny, and I always doubted the accusation.

On season three of burden of guilt, you'll hear a story about the length someone will go to in order to get what they want. This case has got to be one of the most despicable. Listen to season three of burden of guilt on the... the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together and I Heart Women's Sports. Because let's be real. Women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about

these days. So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo rower to go from California to Hawaii. My first thought is, like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire timeline. And the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. Naomi Osaka, showing out, she beat Sabalinka.

Shout out to you, Naomi. You get the palm, Naomi. You get the palm for that. Because we're not just interested in what happened. We're interested in why everyone's talking about it. because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. You know, it's really, I've always thought I'm pretty good on quarterback evaluation.

I stuck with Darnold. You know, I didn't like a lot of the draft picks in recent years. I'm a big Mendoza believer, but there was a lot of guys that everybody fell into during the COVID times. You know, I miss on some like everybody else. But I always think I have a pretty good beat on it. Jackson Darts a little better than I thought, but I do think Lane Kiffin to his first NFL coach, the guy now at Tennessee, Brian Daibol. Like, I think that's a pretty good coaching for a four-year stretch. But I was thinking about this when I was flying back today. Nick Sariani had the worst press conference I've ever seen in my life, worst opening press conference. And it works. You can say it's good ownership. It's Jalen Hertz. He's got a lot of maturity around him, Howie Roseman, but I never thought it would work. I had somebody who I trust implicitly in the NFL

say he's not ready yet. He needs two to three more years. It's worked. Brian Schottenheimer, I'm looking at it thinking he wasn't even interviewing for top OC jobs. He wasn't sniffing head jobs. Last year, it worked. And so, you know, I look at those two. guys, same division. Liam Cohen, I thought, would work. Like, I had heard, everybody kept saying Liam Cohen, who went from Tampa to the Jags, everybody's like, no, he's played the position in college. He's really sharp. So that didn't surprise me. We all knew Shanahan was going to be great, you know, from Atlanta to the Niners. Kevin O'Connell was called the Tall McVeigh. But I watch Siriani, and then I watch Schottenheimer. And I look at Dallas. This is a lot of

year and I'm like, I like their personnel. I can go 12 deep on players I like. You can everybody lament to the mica trade. Shit, their roster's better today a year later. How do you explain Schottenheimer? I'm picking the Cowboys to win the division. Now, obviously, the Eagles offense is like it was a couple years ago. That would be a problem for my pick, but there are a lot of question marks, new coordinator. I think the Cowboys, when we went to the Super Bowl and had the, the,

Super Bowl party. I went the day before, and I went to this 49er thing. And it was like Montana, uh, uh, Roger Craig, Harris Barton and Ronnie Lott. And I remember leaving, I don't remember those guys really playing. I was born in the mid-80s. But when I left, I've always heard stories. I kind of grew up more on Steve Young was like, you know, Ronnie Lott was kind of the alpha. And you know, Joe is not exactly Brady or Manning. Like that's not the way he comes off. Now he was very cool under pressure. Well, the 49ers turned into a dynasty when they drafted Ronnie Lott in 1981. And when you hear those guys, Roger Craig's about to go in the Hall fame, Joe, Harris Barton, the way they talk about Ronnie Lott, you're like, damn, that guy, it's almost

he was underappreciated in the history of sports for how important he was to that organization. Well, there's an argument. He and Ed Reed are the best safeties in the history of the sport. Yeah, and you'd say him, those two and Dion are the three greatest DBs, maybe a couple other guys you could find the 70s. Caleb Downs, I don't know if he's quite, I'm not going to say he's going to be quite Ronnie Lott, but he goes to Sabin immediately starts as an 18-year-old. And he goes to Ohio State, and for two years,

they clearly, last year, he fits right in on a defense full of seniors, right? Boom, doesn't even skip a beat. It's like their kind of heartbeat. Last year, they get all these young guys, and by the end, they're raising their floor. And every time I hear Patricia, who's only been around genius football players, Brady, McCordy, all the guys for 20,

years. It's like, this guy's brilliant. And clearly he's an elite blue chip player, but he plays a position that isn't past rusher, isn't left tackle, isn't wide receiver. What if he changes their defense immediately? I remember on draft night, I'm a sicko. I watch a lot of those first round press conferences like that night because I can't sleep. And Jerry, you can make fun of a lot of things he says, but he will give you some pretty good insight. He's like, we couldn't even get lined up last year. No one could talk. This guy just immediately, we know week one, we can get lined up. So their defensive line's going to be better. Their offense is good. Brian Schottenheimer is, life's funny. I mean, at one point in time, he was talked about 15 years ago, like Kyle Shanahan. Absolutely. Comes from a coaching background. His dad was like the tragic version of Mike Shanahan, could never get over the hump.

But no one that ever knew Marty Schottenheimer or played against Marty Schottenheimer didn't hold him to the highest regard. So this guy comes from football, like this guy's lived football, his whole life. and kind of unlike Kyle and guys like McVeigh that just they got their chance and they never look back, this guy got close and then it kind of got derailed. He's clearly a really good offensive coordinator. And defensively, they're banking on this young guy they hired from Philadelphia. But what if Caleb Downs changes all that? And they got a little lucky because if he played Colin, if the equivalent of that player

was like five other positions, he would have gone like third or fourth, max, right? If he was the defense-ven version of what he was as safety, he would have been the number two pick after Random windows. He would have gone above Bailey. But he played safety. He was like, ah, he's a little smaller. He's not fast. It's like, I don't know, remember, Ed Reed didn't go,

and Troy Paul Amol. He went like 20s. All of a sudden, you look a couple years later, you're like, what the hell is going on? Because they can impact like Ronnie Lott. They are, they're the voice of the defense. And then now in a passing league, you know, the middle linebacker,

if you can cover a Kiklia Fred is really important. But that guy is essentially kind of that version two now with all these teams running four and five guys on route. So I like the Cowboys a lot this year. They've always played the Eagles well over the course the last three or four years. Well, it's just defensively, they were the worst past defense, I think, statistically, like in the history of the league last year. Yeah. Well, and I also think, I mean, DAC, it's Jason Garrett. It's Mike McCarthy.

It's now Brian Schontenheimer. All offensive coaches, different ideology and language. But I think DAC is so high functioning. I think he's just one of the smarter guys in the league. That DAC now is the kind of guy that like coaching's become less and less relevant. If you give him ample protection, DAC is wildly productive. IQ, EQ, leadership, toughness. So, Dak's the kind of guy that, let's say Schontenheimer's a B coach.

I think that can elevate a coach. And we always think of coaches elevating players. Well, players can elevate coaches. I don't think there's any question with that. And I think I just look at Dallas's talent. And I'm like, you know, I missed on Siriani. I think I probably missed on Schottenheimer. I mean, we all knew that Sean Payton was going to work in Denver or Harbaal was going to make the Chargers better.

Some of the Vrable in New England. Some of this stuff's easy. Ben Johnson was going to be better than the Eberfuss mess. But Schottenheimer, it's like I look up and I'm like, yeah, it's a swing and a miss. I think something's working. they were pretty consistent last year. And for a young offensive line and a bad secondary, I kind of knew what I got. Well, I know you were jogging around the coastline,

but did you see Jerry his comments saying that if the right deal comes along, we will throw draft picks on the table. So if they are competitive, the Raiders, they've done a really good job and they're trending in the right direction. But given the division, given the schedule, they could go 7 and 10 or 6 and 11 and be dramatically better. But if you're way out of the playoff run come early mid-October, you're like, we're not making.

Do you entertain like, hey, hey, Jerry, would you give us a one? You're never getting that offer you once had. But what if Max looks fantastic? He looks like he's going to be a 15-sack guy. You wouldn't take Jerry's first and second round pick. Well, also, John. To me, they will be sniffing around that. Jerry already said, we didn't turn them down.

They turned us down. We wanted them. Listen, remember when Rudy Gobert got traded for like nine draft picks? Yeah, that would never happen. Because that was kind of pre-NIL. The draft was horrible. Everybody was one and done. Well, now post-NIL, you're like, you don't give up nine draft because guys come out

now and they're 23 and it's their third year in college. So the NBA draft is just better now. Well, the NFL draft, I could argue, is a little weaker now because the back end, fifth, sixth, seventh round guy. they're staying in college. So, I mean, I watched this year's draft, and after the, Bob, about the mid-fifth round, I'm like, I watched a lot of college football.

There's a lot of these guys are not NFL players. So my take is giving draft picks up was always pretty precious. Last couple years, NIL. After like the fifth round, John, mid-fifth, teams just move off picks much more freely. Well, and even this. Think about the first round. now some of these guys, if you're going to be,

Dante Moore would have been a top five pick. Well, why do you go back to school? Because he's got Oregon. How much do you think he's making? I mean, a decent amount. So you have the first round. Last year they said that was one of the worst first rounds they've ever seen. That could continue because you're like,

you know, I might go 20th or I could just stay at this college with my beautiful girlfriend and all my friends. I don't have to go to class anymore and make $6 million. dollars. Everything's free. I'm living like a king. These games, it's not like no one's, we've got 20 million people watch some of these college football games. So the atmosphere is incredible that if you're drafting in the 20s, Denver traded, right? The Rams traded. The bills at the right opportunity should be all over because you're not guaranteed. You're going to keep having these waves of guys. If you don't know for sure, you're like top 12, top 15, I'm a fringe first rounder.

that means you're very valuable in the open market in college, and you could easily stay. So I've had a general manager tell me last year after the draft. It was a worth fifth plus rounds he's ever, you know, fifth, six, seventh he's ever seen. He started getting undrafted free agents. He's like, it's hard for me to be critical after like pick 100 on anyone you drafted. Like it's, that's to each his own everybody. Like it's just, this is a weird one. You know, his, when I, 15 years ago, you'd be like, God, we had like a seven,

second round grade and the guy would be like the fifth round. Maybe character or maybe a little small, but I think these drafts now with people going back and it's only, unless they change the rules of NIL, I don't think that's slowing down, do you? I don't. I don't. So I had Bill Belichick on before I went on vacation. I was with you. Oh, that's right. You were with it. And Bill was in just a good mood. Right. And, you know, I've been critical of Bill. I basically, basically, like everybody else, always thought he was at least 50% of Brady's success, although I thought Brady was great, but I thought Bill was brilliant. And then at the end in New England, they couldn't draft right.

I was pretty critical of Bill. So I didn't know how he would be. I told my staff, I may ask 20 questions and get 42 words back. He was just telling story after story. And it's interesting. So the Mike Lombardi situation, he hired him as his GM. And one of the criticisms I've had of Belichick at Carolina, it's a friends and family staff. I don't think he hired the best of the best.

It's a lot of allies, friends, connections. I don't feel like it's an elite staff. What's interesting is Lombardi worked at Fox when I first got there. He was one of the first NFL analysts we had that would come in studio because he lived in L.A. Santa Monica, I think. I loved him as a guest. I mean, for 12, 15 minutes, he had big opinions. He had a good sense of personnel.

You know, just some guys are just really good on TV. I always said Mike Tomlin at the podium is just freaking magic. Like 12-word answers. sound like they're from Plato. They're like these perfectly sculptured, sculptured soundbites. Lombardi's a great soundbite, and he's got kind of that Charlie Weiss, New Jersey, tough, gruff, bottom line feel. But it's interesting because I look at this situation in Carolina, and it's obviously got some HR entanglements here. And it's funny with Bill. Bill is every coach has every broadcaster.

Everybody's got a hole. And I think Bill's hole is he has such confidence in his intelligence that he tends to think, I just want to hire somebody I know. I don't want to teach him how to do things. If they know how I do business, my kids, Lombardi, I'm good with it. And I think Bill has so much confidence with his football knowledge, scouting, he's just an intellect. He's a football intellect that I think it actually hurts him in the hiring process where he's like, I'm not going to do a deep dive. He knows me. He won't get in the way.

I don't have to teach him football. I don't have to teach him my personality. He won't get offended when I chew his butt. I just, I look at his Carolina staff and his late New England staff, and I'm like, it kind of feels like he's just not pursuing the best of the best. Yeah, you know, when he got hired, maybe I was like, yeah, maybe it will work now looking back. It's never had a chance. I mean, how is he going to compete against the Mario Cristobiles and the Kirby Smarts? My thought was less about like bringing in his son, Steve, who was with Jed at Washington or Mike, who hadn't had a college experience in 40 years. In the NFL, if Bill wanted to do something, he really had a meeting with Washington.

person. And it was Robert. And maybe as time went on, Jonathan snuck in there as well. He was notorious for, like, not telling Casario or Piole or Josh McDaniels. Sometimes those guys were like, oh, we had no freaking clue. And I always heard, like, they had strict rules in the building. Like, he did not have a woman assistant. Like, a lot of coaches, they're, their personal assistant. They usually have, like, a young up-and-coming coach who does that version. But they have, like, a woman answering the phone. Andy always did. Bill wouldn't even allow it in the football. because he's like, we're not players, coaches around. I don't want any problems.

You can't avoid that in college. You share weight rooms with other coaches, with other female women. You have, it's probably much more like a corporate Fortune 500. You have a more regions, a president of AD. AD has a million people. You're dealing with, like, what's an, who, if I had an HR complaint when I worked for Howie Roseman, where would I even go? Not that I ever did, but.

You just keep her head down. It's tough. That's kind of, that's the NFL. Not that college isn't, but there are a lot of other people. You can walk into athletic department. I just think these guys operate like they always have operated and they realize like North Carolina to me, when I think about it's like a Stanford, like a Northwestern,

like a Vanderbilt. Academically, it means a lot, the prestige of the university. You know, it's always been a basketball school, right? And you think Dean Smith, even Hubert Davis has got run out. Wasn't Hubert Davis known as like super high character, great human, treated everyone really well. That is not Bill. You know, that is, Bill a little rough. Like, Charlie Weiss. Yeah. Josh McDaniels, his whole crew, Brian Flores. That's the crew he surrounds himself with. Look at Andy's guys. They're just happier. You know, it's a, you, you gravitate

toward people you can kind of relate to. And there's a reason Bill and Lombardi have been friends for whatever 30 plus years. So I, listen, they, they, I'll give North Carolina credit. Nothing's leaked about the details in this. But clearly there's something, and it might come out, something that if this happened with the Denver Broncos or Seattle Seahawks, no one, it's like, what? But in college, it's just a little different. And these guys went in there kind of pumping their chest 3013. Yep.

It was like, Bill, you're just coming from New England. You just want four games. So, I mean, and you haven't been exactly capital allocator. You got lucky for a long time. People would take financial breaks to come play for you. it wasn't like they were wheeling and dealing like Sam Presti or whatever. Not that he didn't make great personnel moves. But a lot of times financially in terms of allocating his resources in the cap was a lot of like,

yeah, I'll stay with you to win and take it like, okay, you're signing guys below market rates. Like every team in the league would have done that. But most players would tell the GM or coach, F you, I'm not signing that contract, but they had the Brady who set the tone. It's kind of a unique financial model that wasn't really replicable. I would say anywhere else in the history of sports because they did it forever. They did it forever getting guys to take less,

taking reclamation projects. Not every team has it happened every once in a while, but they did it for basically almost two decades. And then he goes, you're allocating funds toward high school kids. Like, Bill, once the last time you watch high school football, you don't know all these high school coaches too. How many high school coaches does Ryan Day, Kirby Smart, Lane Kiffin, and Dan Lanning know on a first name basis around the country?

Hundreds. Yeah. I mean, hundreds on a first name basis. Yeah, and I do think one of the difficult parts is that Charlie Weiss was schematically excellent, so was Bill. But you get kids for 17 hours a week. You know, this is not the NFL where you can just guys just live in the facility. You have NCAA guidelines on how much you can do. So it's, I always think if you're a football academic, college isn't for you. The guys that I thought would have done well in college are Rex Ryan and John Gruden. Kind of handsome or big personality. They walk into a room and Rex Ryan's like funny, confident.

Rex Ryan, Tennessee had an opening years ago. I had dinner with Rex and a bunch of people. I'm like, bro, you could crush in college. John Gruden to me, his name was up for Tennessee for years. And I'm like, John Gruden would crush in college. Guys that are like, I mean, there's just certain guys, Shanahan's kind of academic. Belichick's an academic. Those guys just don't have, your, your, your brilliance is minimized based on time limitations. And I, and I, so I, and that doesn't mean like,

there's a certain reality with Nick Saban, Nick's the rare coach that was good with schemes and, and had a personality. But that's, that's usually a guy's one of the other. Like, their big personality, light on schemes, or they're all scheme guy, but they're gruff, Jersey vibe, they don't work. So, you know, I don't think Bill's brilliance. Mario Cristobal is not the coach Bill is. But boy, Christobal walks into a room. That bro's got a present.

Like, I'd want to play for Mario Cristobal. Totally. I think, I mean, I got no clue what Bill's roster looks like in terms of the actual players. But another huge year, a bunch of turnover. Now you got, look, they just added, what's his name? The new Virginia Tech coach from Penn State. Like, when I think college football,

I think James Franklin, Mario Cristobal. Dabo's had some weird years, but like Dabo is a college coach through and through. Like this could get hard fast. The Wake Forest, they hired Dickert from Washington State. He went eight, I think eight and four, nine and three. Like he's a college coach. So Belchick can look up. I know everyone bangs on the ACC and it clearly is nowhere what it used to be.

He could be getting his teeth kicked in by some of these schools. I think they open, do they open like week zero in, in, Ireland or I think they have an international game. It happened last year. Remember, they drive that first, that first they get the kickoff and they go and they score the touchdown. Like, oh, Bill Belichick's going to be out. And then they lost like 49 to 7.

So people are paying attention. And I'd be stunned if this isn't Bill's last year in North Carolina, wouldn't you? I think he's got one year left. Yeah. Hunger strikes and you're exhausted. What to do? Well, with Factor, it's never a problem. Factor is fully prepared meals.

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And use that code, Colin 50, to get half off and free daily greens per box. With new subscription only while supplies last until 927, 2026. Behind every night spent making the kids lunches, there's a lot of suspense. Will they finally eat the veggies? Will the pastos survive the first bite? Will the lunchbox come home empty?

half full, or come home at all. And will you finish episode 8 before you're done slicing the cucumbers? Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Craved Netflix and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on Internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. Hi, I'm Bob Pipman, chairman and CEO of IHard Media. I also led the team that created MTV, and my co-founders and I are celebrating MTV's 45th anniversary this month.

On my podcast, Math and Magic, stories from the Frontiers of Marketing, you'll hear the untold origin story from the people who built MTV from the ground up. I want my MTV! Those are powerful words, my, something for me that felt like mine and want. What a powerful word. Listen to Math and Magic, stories from the Frontiers of Marketing on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or whatever you get your podcast. I'm Nancy Glass, host of The Burden of Guilt Season 3. podcast. This is a story about a horrendous situation that destroyed two families. It started more than seven years ago when Cindy and Kenny were two 40-somethings who had just gotten engaged. Days later,

they walked into a scorched earth war they never saw coming. Turn around and place your hands behind your back. The cops given to my house and threw me in jail. And to Cindy's surprise, her fiance, Kenny, was charged with abusing one of her children. I never once doubted Kenny, and I always doubted the accusation. On season three of burden of guilt, you'll hear a story about the length someone will go to in order to get what they want. This case has got to be one of the most despicable. Listen to season three of burden of guilt on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist.

Chambers. Hey, what's up y'all? It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together and I Heart Women's Sports. Because let's be real. Women's Sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days. So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo rower to go from California to Hawaii. My first thought is, like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire timeline. in the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week.

Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. Naomi Osaka showing out. She beat Sabalinka. Shout out to you, Naomi. You get the palm, Naomi. You get the palm for that. Because we're not just interested in what happened.

We're interested in why everyone's talking about it. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports. On the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. I want to close it on this. So I never knew, because Indiana basketball has been down for a long time. I never knew there were this many Indiana graduates until they won a national championship in football.

And now I see Indiana hats. If I go down in Naples where my wife and I occasionally go, I see Indiana shirts everywhere. And a guy came up to me the other day. And they're always nice. A lot of the guys went to the business school there, which is like top seven right in the country. Bloomington is supposed to be one of the great college towns. So I'm happy for him and Mark Cuban went there. But I think this is a legitimate debate.

And I don't know the answer. So when Kurt Signetti first gets there, he does a great job to clean him up. But they went to the playoff. They played Notre Dame. That was brutal. I mean, they're punting late in the game at like midfield. You're like, this is bad, uncreative offense. Then they get Mendoza.

And suddenly every article is Kurt Signetti is the smartest man in the person. the history of football. However, my take is, men, they could have lost four games. I watched every big Indiana game. That Penn State game, Penn State's backup quarterback was up and down the field on the Hoosiers. Mendoza won the game. He won the Oregon game. He won the Miami game. And so now we go into another year without Mendoza. And I do think, and again, Sigmetti is gruff. He's very quotable. and I think he's a really good coach. And it is bizarre.

I mean, they just don't have holding penalties. None. They just don't have motion penalties. Some of that as Mendoza was, he not only played at Cal, he got into Yale. I mean, those are just, it was a very clean, very efficient area diet offense. And so it's like, when people ask me, do you buy Signetti? I'm like, I know he's a good coach, but we've almost, his first year that lost the Notre Dame disappeared in the ether and we're not giving Mendoza enough credit, who I think was an all-time college quarterback.

So your take on Signette is he as brilliant as some of the analytics say, or do we just not understand how good Mendoza was late in games last year? I think Signetti's been fantastic. I think one thing we've lost, you know, sometimes I get nostalgic about the 90s in sports. coaches, baseball manager, big personalities. You see some of these clips from the Lou Panellas, the Hal McRae's. I mean, Mike Dicka. Oh, yeah.

You would just, Don Nelson. Everyone's so rich. Now, we didn't talk about Baker Mayfield, but the one thing, whether, wherever you stand, whatever Baker deserves, I respect, he'll just say what he actually thinks. Like, none of these quarterbacks, they speak like coaches now. You just listen to Stafford giving an interview. It's like just, he's staying within the lanes, you know. And I think college sports, basketball, all the guard that I grew up on is basically done and retired.

You know, Coach Kay and Izzo is probably the last one holding on. But the Beheims, the Calhouns, those guys would talk. I mean, he goes and takes that shot essentially at the SEC. I find it refreshing. You know, everything's become like, how many more billions can we make? How many more teams can we bring and consolidate? Like, I get the PAC 12, we're never going back, and the ACC will probably disappear here soon.

I appreciate a guy that will just ruffle some feathers. And when he's winning, you can't really say anything. I pull out their schedule. Their first three games are North Texas, Howard, and Western Kentucky. So I would imagine they're going to start fast. Then they get Northwestern, who I can't imagine is going to be that good. At Rutgers, at Nebraska's struggles to win more than six games. So going into Ohio State,

they're probably going to be 6-0. Michigan, who's going to be better. I don't know if their quarterback can play, by all accounts. So they get USC at home. I mean, Colin, they're probably looking if they just kind of do what they did two years ago with Curtis Rourke, who's currently on the Niners, who's probably a fringe NFL guy, maybe more U.S. Hoover probably won't live up to be in Mendoza, but it'll be better than Rourke. We know Stignetti's an offensive guy. His defensive coordinator is really good.

They're going to be good again. And I was just, before we went on, I was eating like a late breakfast. And I was reading this athletic article about the top high school quarterback. And he's going to Houston next year. And the other guy was supposed to go to Georgia, but ended up, he's a Nashville kid staying at Vanderbilt. You've been hammering this home forever. I think we have to look at it a little differently of like, well, if you're just one of the best players, you're going to Alabama, Georgia. Those days are over.

Why is the top guy going to Houston? You probably got a huge amount of money from a booster with a lot of money. who's in the oil world. You know, it's why it's the huge advantage that, and you wouldn't even put Houston on the tier of Texas and Texas A&M, but I was just played golf a couple days ago with a big TCU fan. The money that TCU, he's like, yeah, SMU down the road has even more. I mean, these Texas schools, you think SMU are going to lose a player to Alabama

if they want to cut a check? No. And Indiana's got a top eight business school. So Indiana's got money. It's not just Mark Cuban. And they've got two big donor families that write eight figure checks. So Indiana's humming. Yeah, could he talk like this if he was at, you know, Ole Miss or a school that's not a tradition, you know, a school that's not going to have financial means in this modern day NIL.

But he knows he's got the backing. So, and he's been doing this a while. Now, the one thing you've got to give him is leaving Sabin, his experience running the show. he's pretty cocky and confident because he's, this isn't some guy that just showed up and is, you know, two years into being a head coach. In his mind, all those years behind him matter. He's pretty good evaluator because he's taking that pawns kid. He got from transfers from JMU goes, I think, in the third round. Yep. That was one of the best corners I saw last year play college football. I know he's 5'9, but Signetti knows what football players look like now to main, like, if they played that Ohio State game last year 10 times, Ohio State. probably wins eight. Well, Ohio State's got better personnel, no question. And they're probably, I know they don't win it every year.

Would you call them currently the number one program in America? I think Ohio State coach, momentum, NIL, recruiting players. Yeah, I think Ohio State's number one. I probably would give them the nod to. But I'll tell you, Miami, if they do it again, Miami is way up there now. Can catch them fast. But Signetti is going to have to play Ohio State every year. And Kyle Whittingham's been winning with a lot of, you know, mid-tier recruits.

So you would imagine if he's got some fire, kind of pissed off the way he left Utah. I could see Michigan being way better immediately. We know they're going to be tough and physical. Honestly, doesn't, Whittingham's team always kind of look a lot like Cignetti. I would say this. Physical, coach well, not screw up, smart kids. Washington, Oregon, and USC all be better than last. year. And in Washington's case, much better. So, like, this is, you know, the days of the SEC,

I mean, I said it last year, top of the SEC is not the Big Ten. And I'm not sure this year, the middle of the SEC is going to be the Big Ten, because I'm telling you, Washington has got some dudes, they return their quarterback, Oregon returns their quarterback, USC returns their quarterbacks. And those quarterbacks were all good last year. And, I'm telling you, Washington, all those schools, especially USC and Oregon, have NIL money to burn. So by the way, I think one thing college football needs to get, when we talk about the NFL, it's just like, is Tampa going to be any good this year? Regardless whether Tampa plays the NFC West or the NFC East, what's college football the season starts? It becomes pure football.

But I feel like everything surrounding it is like NIL schedule. Yeah. They have to find a way to get some sort of just. unity. Like, you know, and I feel so much of the conversation feels a little reality TV. You know, you got the commissioners going back and forth, which I understand where they're all coming from. But it just, it feels like it's becoming a little exhausting.

Once the season starts, it no longer does. But the off season for that, like, the off season for the NFL is fun, right? For college, it's like, oh, Ole Miss is now suing these LSU players. Like, what are we doing? You know, it's like, how do we, I understand there's a lot of moving parts. You've got a lot of people involved. But it just feels like they got a long way to go before they figured this out. It's all inevitable, you know, North versus the South in some form of fashion, Big Ten SEC.

But like in the NFL, it's just like, are the Saints going to be any good? We just can talk about football. In college, there's so much other stuff. It's very administrative. It's exhausting. Yeah. It really is. All right.

We'll see you tomorrow on FS1. Next two weeks, John Middlkoff, former NFL scout, is going to be joining me on the show. See you soon. Good to be back. Hello.

Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. The Dream of the 90s is alive in podcast form. We're launching Podlandia, A.O. rewatch, our brand new podcast where we revisit every episode of Portlandia together, breaking down sketches,

going deep on our iconic characters, and pulling back the curtain on how it all got made. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life. Guestrars, collaborators, and friends, including director Jonathan Chrysall, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more. Kyle is going for it here. You fully improvised, not just words, but a song about it. Well, I thought you're all going to write a song. I remember you thinking that.

Listen to Podlandia. A.O. Rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up y'all? It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the host of Everyone Watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from Together and I Heart Women's Sports.

We're breaking down the biggest headlines. Naomi Osaka, showing out. Shout out to you, Naomi. The viral moments. I've been obsessed with Kashan Rock's boxing journey. She looks good. Her combos are swift. The stories everyone's talking about across women's sports.

Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcast. wherever you get your podcast. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. Every week, the news gets worse. The world gets crazier, and Yamanika is here to tell whoever's responsible, you're the problem.

Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was? If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men. Do better or do less, so I don't have to do so much. I'm Yamanika, and I'm out. Listen to You're the Problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. I am Bob Pipman, chairman and CEO of IHard Media. I also led the team that created MTV,

and my co-founders and I are celebrating MTV's 45th anniversary this month. On my podcast, Math and Magic, stories from the Frontiers of Marketing, you'll hear the untold origin story from the people who built MTV from the ground up. I want my MTV! Those are powerful words, my. Something for me that felt like mine and want. What a powerful word. Listen to math and magic stories from the frontiers of marketing on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.