The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Dave Wannstedt on Bears Expectations, Tua Dilemma, Payton vs. Hackett

Episode Date: August 7, 2023

First, (3:00) Colin pushes back against Pac-12 pearl clutchers outraged over the latest high profile exodus of Oregon and Washington to the B1G. Then, former Bears and Dolphins HC Dave Wannstedt joins Colin to discuss his takeaways from a visit to Bears training camp, what steps the Dolphins should take to limit Tua Tagovailoa’s concussion exposure, Vic Fangio’s impact on the Miami defense, if Sean Payton stepped over the line by publicly ripping Nathaniel Hackett, the best way to approach Week 1 as a HC, what set Hall of Fame inductee Zach Thomas apart, Kenny Pickett’s ceiling with the Steelers, how B1G fans are reacting to the addition of Pac-12 powerhouses. Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Herd #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The volume. Hi, everybody, and welcome in to either a Sunday night or a Monday morning podcast. Dave Wanstatt was at Bears practice Wednesday, and I can't wait to talk about it. I want to give you a story, though. So as many of you know, last football season, I had Sean Payton joining me four out of five Mondays. He was spectacular.

And Sean and I got along great, on the air, off the air, dinners, discussions. I think he trusted me. I certainly learned a lot from him. And as the football season approached the Super Bowl near the end, he had asked me, I think I can share this now, hey, what's my market value? What should I be looking at here? He was really interested in Fox. He liked Fox.

He liked broadcasting and he really enjoyed it. He liked living on the beach in Los Angeles. He just loved it. He was all over town. He was really genuinely happy. And he was really committed to it. He really cared about it. He made calls.

He was terrific and may still be someday. But he was really committed and very focused. And then one day, he wasn't because the Denver Broncos offered him four and a half to five times more than Fox did. A man is as loyal as his options, as comedian Chris Rock once said. For those belly aching about USC, UCLA, Washington, Oregon leaving the PAC 12, this is a conference that has continued to drop the ball, hired the wrong people to run the conference, been slow to see stuff about.

about the future of college sports that appears obvious, sometimes stubborn, nose in the air, a little too precious for their own good. And so the Big Ten is a bigger, broader conference. It's a better conference. Smack dab in the middle of the country with that mid-Western work ethos, even though they produce significantly larger revenue than the PAC 12, they don't have their arrogance. and maybe it's because the Stanford, Cal, UCLA, excellence, academically, historically, whatever it is. But the Big Ten is big boy stadiums, sold out stadiums, better TV contracts, more committed financially, more committed fan bases, more committed boosters.

That's where you have to go. What in the world has Cal ever done for the Pac-12's football? conference. Why would you be loyal to that? Why would you be loyal to an Oregon State Arizona game in Corvallis? What does it mean? This is a better conference, a better opportunity, and sometimes it's survival of the fittest and survival of the brightest and survival of the future. We're seeing the globalization of economies. College football, this is like globalization. And when I hear the belly aching, my takeaway is, what are we losing here? Some regional rivalries. Washington's already said they want to play Washington State.

All right. Okay. Oregon will probably continue to play Oregon State. All right. We're not losing a lot here. And I can tell you firsthand that USC has been looking and discussing moving away from the conference for the last four years. And then they finally did it. So, you know, when I hear anybody in any industry clamoring for loyalty, my takeaway is always, have you ever been offered something that's spectacular? A role, a job, a salary, a relocation, an opportunity. It's easy to bang that loyalty drum when nobody's clamoring for your talent or your team or your business. life is about opportunities.

The four best football programs in the PAC 12, arguably, three for sure, Washington, Oregon, USC, and then Utah's better than UCLA, but sometimes market size matters. They're all going to greener pastures, greener in terms of revenue, in terms of stadium capacity, a commitment. And I hear this too.

Well, what about the other sports? What about them? They lose money. college football drives the bus. So you're going to take care of football first. If you're in a family and you paid all the bills, shouldn't you have the greatest say? You know, when you look at the NCAA March Madness tournament,

CBS foots the bill. They pay for the wedding. If I paid for the wedding, don't I get a say in the seating chart? So if CBS says, we're not going to pick what teams get in. but we'd like a say in the second and third round matchups potentially, why shouldn't they? They're paying for the wedding. They just want to say in the seating chart. So I grew up with Pack 12 football, but it has been eroding for years.

It's out of touch. It's too precious, too snooty. And the Big Ten's a better product now and going forward. It's not even arguable. He's the former Dolphins head coach, Chicago Bears head coach, Cowboy defensive coordinator, part of the Super Bowl 27 win, long-time pit coach. One of Natty is a Miami, D.C., Rose Bowl, D-line coach for USC, analyzing football for NBC sports in Chicago, the Big Ten Network, 670, the score in Chicago, and on the 33rd team, which has been a really

quickly growing website full of former NFL front office guys and coaches that I really like. it's Dave Wanstatt. So last time we talked, you said Chicago's a 7-8-win team. You were at practice Wednesday. They've now added a rush end from the Ravens who was on the market. You were at practice Wednesday. Do you still feel like it's a 7-8-win team? I do.

But I'm going to say this, Colin, when you were reading that introduction, sounds to me like a guy couldn't hold a job very long anywhere. But no, the bears, yeah, I was up there. I'll tell you what, they have been fantastic to me. I spent a lot of time with George McCasky when I just happened to bump into them when I got there. And I was up with Matt Eber Fluse's office. We were talking defense and coverages on the board. And then stood with Ryan Poles most of the practice.

So I got a real good feel for not just what they did that day, kind of the big picture and the vision. And a couple of things jumped at me, you know, because everybody's talking about, and this would go for any NFL team, any college team, I think. Everyone's talking about, well, they got started and the defense, the offense isn't where they're supposed to be. The defense is ahead of them.

Well, I've never been on a team at any level where when you start training camp, where your defense better be ahead of your office. offense. If the offense is out there and they're tearing them apart and they're making plays from the get-go and the defense is trying to catch up, it doesn't work that way, in my opinion. So I kind of like where the bears are at right now because defensively, they've had some great additions. And another year, Matt Iber Fluse's system, everything that goes along with it. So I like where they're at right now from an offense, defense, special teams. The second thing I looked at was, you know, a lot of players, they run four or five in shorts, OTAs.

And then you put the pads on and guess what? They become four, eight players. They can't carry the pads. That's not the case with the bears. This is a fast, young football team. And I was impressed on their, not just their energy level, but how quick they were across the field. And the last thing was that I walked down and were saying, wow, you know what?

Ryan Pools, he has a plan. And this guy's got a good job. If you look at their free agents that they've signed and you look at the draft picks that they've drafted, you know, this guy has got a plan and he has stayed with it. And you mentioned he just, you know, they just added Yanik, probably the not just maybe the best edge rush are available now. but he's 29 years old. Right. And that's kind of been a foundation platform for the Bears. Every free agent, they didn't talk to anybody that was older than 28 years old.

So they're a young football team moving forward with a lot of team speed right now. And they get some great competition going. They really do. You know, it is interesting. The Chase Claypool acquisition got heat. But because Mooney's a smaller athlete, Claypool is a, it almost like a tight end. I understood it from body, from the body perspective.

He, you just didn't have anybody on your roster like him. So Cole Commet, Robert Tonion, Chase Claypool. Those are big bodies downfield. Mooney, who I think is a terrific player's tiny. I do worry about Claypool. Last year he kind of disappeared. Are they worried about him? Because they gave up a second round pick for him.

Yeah, they are, but they aren't. I'll tell you why, Colin. He's in his fourth year. He's in a contract here. And, you know, that motivates players. Pressure, peer pressure or money? That's what motivates these professional players. Let's get, you know, that's real.

And so they got Claypool right where, they're going to get the best effort that he can possibly give. And we're going to find out what that is. You mentioned Mooney, that was another bright spot. They were talking about Mooney a month ago here in Chicago, maybe being ready for the opener. Hey, I saw him. and I was up for in full paths.

He got knocked down and got right up off the ground and got back in the huddle. So he's back and then DJ Moore. And Komet, we know Cole Komet, but you know who might be the sleeper, their free agent signings? Robert Tunyon from Green Bay. This guy is a player.

They flex him out. And from an athletic standpoint, he's not going to be an every-don, all-round player like Komet, the physicalness. But you flex him out in a slot like they used to do with Gronk and Tony Gonzalez and get him one-on-one with the linebacker, he's going to win that battle.

That was a good sign for the Bears. Yeah, it was. He's also good in the red zone, smart player. He's a guy that gets open in tight spots. So no, I think they're offensive. I think Justin Fields has to post eight or nine wins, has to show improvement. My guess is he does.

You know, you coached the Dolphins for years and you know them very well. And it's a, they're sort of of in the league for me because of Tua's concussions. I just don't know what to make of them. But I did think of this. So they went and got Mike White a backup.

And I thought to myself, generally speaking, even in blowouts, Peyton Manning, Tom, Brady, Mahomes stay in the game. I could see Mike McDaniel saying, listen, we're up plus 10 points, eight minutes left. We're getting two out of there. What would you do? because it's not in any other injury. Dave, if he has a concussion, there's going to be so much public

and medical pressure and media pressure, you can't play him for a month. He gets hurt September 14th. You can't play him until October 20th. How would you manage the Tua concussion situation? Well, I think, you know, you're right. And it's almost to the point where, you know, he went and did the, what did he do,

the karate or jiu-jitsu or everything? and then he put on weight. I like the idea that he put on a little bit of weight, okay, because he's a good enough athlete. He can carry it. That should give him strength. But I'll tell you the number one thing that I would tell him, we are not going to try to extend plays.

I think that's when he, you know, it's going to have to be a situation where I drop back. I see my first read. If I don't like it, maybe get rid of the football. That's what I would be spending time with on tour. You cannot hold the football because everybody talks about, oh, well, they're teaching them how to do it. to fall when you get hit.

You know what they say? The guy that hits quarterbacks and causes turnovers, it's the guy a quarterback doesn't see. You know, so I don't buy this stuff at all. Here they come. Now I'm going to cradle right. I'm going to put my head. That doesn't happen that way.

That's unrealistic. So he's because the guy's hitting him. He never sees him coming. So I would just say, let's prevent holding the ball. I think that's the best answer. And don't over talk about it. it'll become a mental thing with the kid. Well, the good news is Shanahan and Mike McDaniel run the same offense.

And both those coaches like the ball out of your hands quickly. I mean, Garoppolo had some limitations. Dave, he got that thing, he got rid of that thing fast and accurately. And so, you know, Miami's got the Vic Fangio. I was told by somebody in the league that they thought Fangio was the best defensive mind in football today after Belichick. in kind of layman's terms, what makes Fangio tick? Like, what are guys like you?

What do you hear about Fangio? He didn't have, you know, he didn't get a head coaching break until he was like late 60s. So he's probably not a big personality guy. But people that I talk to in the league just go on and on about his schemes. Yeah, I've known Vic for 30 years. In fact, when he was up at the Bears as a defensive coordinator, with Ron, I was up and we spent time together and just reminiscing and so forth. And so I studied him close.

I've coached against him. And the one thing that he is, he is not, you know, he's not a big blitz guy. Okay. So he's, he's a guy that's going to put the defense. He's a little bit of the Belichick mentality. What do you do in best? We're going to take that away. And they do not make mistakes.

when you play against the Vic Fangio defense, you're not going to see guys running wide open down the field. And you're not going to see open gaps at the line of scrimmage. I mean, these guys are going to play hard, and they're going to play sound, and they're going to make you out execute them. And I think in today's NFL world, where everybody's, all these offensive guys are geniuses,

they get bored, Colin. You've heard me say this for years. Don't get bored. Most offensive coordinators get bored. Okay, they got bored. And we talk about the head coach down at McDaniels. He got hired because he was the run coordinator at San Francisco, and they're playing the Buffalo Bills,

and they got a third team quarterback in there. Last year, the kid from Kansas State, I'm trying to think of his name. Skyler Thompson. Skyler Thompson, and they throw the ball twice as much as they run it. If they run the ball in the fourth quarter, they win that game. I mean, it made no sense to me. So how do you help Tula and how can you help that defense? You know, and I know it's tempting when you got Tariq Hill and you got, you got,

Palin Waddle. You got a lot of skill talent there. The attempt is to throw it, throw it, throw it, but I tell you what, they have to be balanced. If they're going to be a serious contender, the Miami Dolphins have to be balanced, in my opinion, and that's going to help that defense, and that's going to really, really helped tour. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football,

or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at, Clifford and a TikTok podcast network on TikTok. What did you make is somebody with 30 plus years in football of Sean Payton publicly ripping Nathaniel Hackett? Did it catch you off guard? Yes. It totally caught me off guard.

And I'll tell you what, when I was at USC, we had Bill Walsh came in once. We had a pack. It was, I guess it was pack eight or pack 10. I think it was pack eight back then. Before Arizona schools, it was. I'm dating myself, but he came, we used to have an assistant coach's golf tournament. We always had it at Stanford because they had a nice golf course up there on campus. And we would all go up there and we would bring it.

And Bill Walsh came in and talked to us. And he said, let me tell you young coach or something. And we were just in our 30s. He says, all you guys are probably going to get fired. He says, it happens to all of us. He says, and when you get fired, a couple of rules in coaching. get out of the city as quick as you can. Don't sit there because everything that the fans and media are going to talk about is everything is going to be better.

All of a sudden, this team is going to be tougher and this team is going to be smarter. Think about it. He says, it's going to happen. You don't want to be reading and hear that stuff. Well, with that being said, that was what disappointed me to most is here's Sean another coach. and just respect. And everybody talks about code. I don't know what the code and all that.

I would just say is one man to another in the same profession, Sean, you know what goes into winning a game and winning having a successful season. Your GM is involved, right? Your quarterback, Russell, I can go right across the board. There's a lot of people involved that the head coach does not necessarily have control over the circumstances, and it really was disappointing to me because Sean knows better. And he came up like all of us did in this profession. And you just don't see that happening.

And just because of respect for another guy. And it just disappointed me. Listen, even the great coaches in this sport get out coached. I mean, go back to you and Jimmy. Did you ever have a game when you and Jimmy, and this, you were the top defensive. coordinator in the league. Jimmy was considered the bright young coach. Did you guys ever have a Sunday and you turned to Jimmy and he turned to you and you said, shit, we just got out coach. I mean,

I've talked to coaches about this. Like sometimes you come in, Dave, and your game plan doesn't work. Did you ever, did you and Jimmy, even when you were building the Cowboys, ever have a bad Sunday? We had a lot of them that first year. We won one game. I'll tell you a story. We were 0 in 5 or 6, and we were playing the Kansas City Chiefs. And Joe Montana was with the Chiefs at the time. And I'm watching the tape, and I felt good. I said, well, we felt good. We went out there.

I talked Jimmy, and I says, hey, I feel so good about this. We're going to play great defense and shut these guys down. And back then, if you gave them the ball, if you deferred, you lost it. So they got it twice. So, you know, the rules were different than now. If you defer now, then you automatically get it in the second half. No, no, no, no. If you get it, you want it.

If you give it up, it's over. We actually went in there and deferred the kickoffs against Marty Schontmer and the Kansas City Chiefs and Joe Montana. This is how crazy we were. But here comes the story. So they take the opening kickoff and get on to score. We don't, you know, we get slaughtered. and they were running a three, four defense.

And I'm sitting there the next day, and I am sick. And I'm watching their film on defense on the other side of the ball, just to sit. And I remember calling Jimmy, and I said, Jimmy, you know, this stuff we did at Miami and Oklahoma State. I don't know if this stuff's going to work. I mean, you know, and I says, you know, maybe we should think about it because the Giants had were in the Super Bowl and they were like a 3-14 with Belichick. And I says, you know, God, I mean, this, I'm, I'm, I'm, and he says, Dave, I know, here's what he said.

We know our defense better than anybody in the league. And we led college football with this defense. And you've done it. You know it better than anybody. I'm going to go get players that fit into our defense and just keep coaching them. And we're going to be fine. And so, yeah, it happened. And sure enough, you know, we get some players.

and when we win the Super Bowl, we were number one in every category, and they called our defense the college four, three. But you know what? And that made me think of another point. You know, we were one in nine. And back then, most of the head coaches in the NFL, I mean, you know, you can go through them. I mean, it was the Marv Leavis in the world.

I mentioned Marty Schottenheimer's. Oh, I can pull out the picture. You know, it was Bill Parcells. I mean, it was the old Joe Gibbs. This was the guys. Okay, my point is we were terrible, terrible. And I don't ever remember anybody coming out and saying, these guys stink.

You know what I mean? They don't have any idea what they're doing. It was the worst coaching job in America. So, you know, I mean, we won one game, won one game and wanted to buy a field goal because we beat Washington and they were on their third team quarterback. So that's the only reason we won. So I don't know.

That whole thing, hopefully it's over and everybody learns something from it. We move on. So only 25% of the teams in the NFL that start 0-1 make the playoffs. If you start 0-2, it's only 12% of the teams that make the playoffs. So game one matters in the NFL a lot. Green Bay, Chicago is a big game. Dallas, New York Giants. Would you rather go in?

to game one. A little bit of an underdog where you maybe don't have the team. Or would you rather go in as a favorite, but you've got a target on you because you're probably a favorite. You have better players because every year in week one, bad teams don't know they're bad. It's a total danger spot. Jacksonville's going to go into Indianapolis coach. They've never seen Anthony Richardson play.

Shane Steichen's a brilliant offensive coordinator. everybody's going to be telling you Jacksonville's going to roll in the I wouldn't pay me to be Jacksonville. By the way, Philadelphia goes to play Belichick. Philadelphia's lost linebackers, new coordinators.

Nobody's, Philadelphia is going to get praise for three weeks. Take me to some of your game ones where I just think it's a because bad teams don't know they're bad yet. I got a good one. My first game at the Dolphins, okay? My first game, I mean, they, everybody's excited.

We got a damn Marino is gone. Okay, picture the fans. Now everybody's, everybody's nervous now because it's been Dan for 100 years. And I take over, I bring in a new staff on offense, a new staff on defense, and Jay Fiedler is our new starting quarterback. And we are going to open up with Mike Holmgren and the Seattle C. Hawks in Miami. And Mike Holmgren, you know, and everybody's pulling out, you know, when Mike was at Green Bay and I was at Chicago and they had won Super Bowls. So this is all the buzz. Oh, this is, we're 0 and one and we're on our way. So I'm watching this Green Bay tape and we're

all studying. And we're on it. Okay. End of the day. This is a great finish. We intercept their quarterback about five times. We beat them 23-0. We shut them out. I'm walking over to shake. And Mike and I are buddies. And Mike shakes hands and says, you know what? Those plays didn't look the same without Brett Farber in there, did they? So, I mean, Mike's the best. You know, I mean, Hall of Famer. But no, I, yeah, we've had someone. And then two or three years later, we got upset by a new franchise team Houston, well, we missed two or three field goals, but we still didn't play good

and we were big time favorites. So I'd rather be the underdog. I really would. And I don't know. I like, you know who I like? I kind of like Houston going to Atlanta and going one and know. I just think that

I don't know. I just got a good feel about that one. So Zach Thomas, it was a Hall of Fame. weekend. And you were around for Zach Thomas. Yeah. Well, yeah. Yeah, you were around. So he was a fifth round pick. I think, something like that. Kind of a short guy is one of the few great linebackers under six feet tall. Dave, how many practices did you know? How long did it take for you? A guy that had Hall of

Famers. I mean, you and Jimmy are known as excellent personnel guys. You found Aaron Donald, Shady McCoy. I mean, all these pit panthers that ended up being great pros that were three star guys. How long was it with Zach Thomas before you identified this is different? Well, you know, everything that, and I think it was talked about this week, Jimmy may have mentioned that, you know, when they drafted them and the reason that they drafted them was because they knew that he would make a lot of plays. You know, it wasn't as high height. It wasn't his speed. and so it didn't take long.

I mean, all he had to do was put the film on, and the guy, I don't know how he did it. He was a three-dine linebacker. I mean, he would cover, you know, slot guys on the slot in running backs and tight ends. But he was such a student of the game. There were several nights, several nights, that the coaches would be up there meeting.

It'd be 9, 30, 10 o'clock. The players under the building would be dark, and all of a sudden there'd be a knock at the night, the coach's door, and it'd be Zach. He'd say, coach, you got a minute. I'd say, yeah, he says, you know, boy, I'm watching that tape of the jets. And when they get in that formation, that's going to, that could really box us something about our scheme on defense. And we would talk about it. I mean, so the guy was probably the best student of the game. And when you watch them play, his big thing was everybody talked about how quick he got on the move and whether it was

runner pass. The guy, we all say, hey, linebackers make mistakes. The great ones don't make two, Zach very seldom made one mistake. He had that offensive line and formations and motions. He had it all memorized. He was a true quarterback on the field. Yeah, Jimmy's talked about he had one of the highest IQs of any player he's ever had. You know, it's interesting when you take a look at all the great players you've had, it is remarkable how many were overlooked. How many were three-star players? you had to see something with Aaron Donald, Zach Thomas.

You have to see something. You know who I didn't have to see much? And I had Dorel Revis at Pitt. Well, he was a big recruit. Yeah, but he scored four different ways in his high school championship game at Aliquippa. And I mean, think of it. He intercepted a pass. He caught a pass.

He ran a pump back. He scored four. different ways in the championship game. I mean, so he's the other extreme, right? And you recruited him and knew instantly he was just fantastic. Well, I actually didn't recruit him, but I coached him

until he graduated, until he went to the pros, yeah. Yeah, exactly. You know a lot about the Pittsburgh Steelers. You coached collegiately there. You know Mike Tomlin well. They are old school. They pay a lot of money for their defense, not nearly as much on offense.

And you told me one time that they've always been a bit reluctant to draft pit kids because if they had to cut them, you know, they just didn't want that stigma in the city. Well, they draft Kenny Pickett. I thought by the end of the year, I thought he's got, he's a little bit of a gamer. You know, it's like he's athletic, not a hyperathletic, but athletic enough to get out of trouble. I think he's got good solid arm strength, not Big Ben. But he can sling it. What do they think in the building?

Because I don't think he's a game manager. I do think he's a little bit of a cowboy. He's willing to sling it. You can tell he's comfortable off script. What do you think they, what Mike Tomlin and that coaching staff thinks of Kenny Pickett heading in the year two? Well, I can tell you. In fact, I talked to a guy this morning.

They opened up the stadium. This is up at St. Ventures in the La Trobe, where they go for training camp. They had over 14,000 people last night for a practice, and they had a shut at down. 14,000 in that stadium, okay? So there is an excitement for this team that they haven't had in years, in my opinion. And I think it all starts with Kenny Pickett. We got to go back to last year. You and I've talked about this.

A year ago, he was 13. I mean, it was Mitch Chubisky with the starters. Rudolph was number two and then and then Pickett was number three. So he really would, and you know how many reps you get, not many.

And he's had the whole off season and him and Pickens was there. The young receiver from Tennessee and Friarmouth was there. The young tight end from Penn State. So he's kind of got his guys around him now. And I'll tell you what,

I expect the guy, he's just such a winner. and such a competitor that the guy, maybe his arm strength isn't Ben Rossesberger, but I think the guy's probably more athletic, you know,

and he's played in more big games at this point than Ben did. You know, coming out of college, Ben, you know, did not play at the level that Kenny Pickett did for four years, you know, against Division I schools and beat some really good opponents. So I think all that stuff is part of him,

and he's very confident. And I'll tell you, that's a lot of, excitement. Like I said, I talked to a guy this morning and they're expecting championship. This is not, Pickett's good enough to get to the playoffs as wrong as we play good defense or running the ball. No, they see Kenny Pickett as a Super Bowl type quarterback for them. Wow. Yeah. Well, you know, when I watched him late in the game, I always think one of the things I always watch is I think the

difference with quarterbacks in this league is can you play trailing? Can you play from behind? Because the other team knows you're throwing. And, you know, I always said this about Baker Mayfield. Baker was a different quarterback leading and trailing. When he was trailing, you could see all his limitations. He rushed up. He couldn't handle the pressure. He's smaller.

I watched Kenny Pickett in the end of this year trailing a couple times. I thought he looked really good. I thought he looked completely poised. You know, let's be honest. Playing for the Steelers, I would be nervous. That's not the Jaguars. You know, that that's a big responsibility. in that town.

And I thought the last couple of games of the year, there were a couple of moments. I thought he's not intimidated by this at all. He looks the part. And I think, Dave, I think all those college starts, you know, Brock Purdy. He started for four years at Iowa State. That's a lot of big games.

You know, Parcells used to say, if he didn't have, wasn't it like 25 starts, he wouldn't take you. Right, right. Yeah, no, there's no question. And pick it, I remember we, I was doing the college stuff for Fox. and they had the last game of the season against Miami.

I was up at Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan versus Ohio State. And I was following a Pitt game on my phone. And they said, Kenny Pickett, a freshman is coming in and playing. And he played good. So, I mean, I bring that up just to make the point that this guy's got a lot of extent. Then he got the extra year because of COVID. And he took it.

He had his degree. He could have gone to the NFL. And he chose to stay one more year at Pitt, just to try to better. himself and it worked in his favor. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement

to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve, to be heard but celebrated.

One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Finally, I'm loyal to my family, my friends, and my wife, but I don't believe in sports loyalty. And the Big Ten is a revenue monster, bigger stadiums, always full, great coaching, great publicity. I understand Washington, Oregon, USC, UCLA. Listen, I told a friend this weekend, he's a Pac-12 guy, said, all you need to do, is watch USC play Wisconsin and Camp Randall and watch Michigan go to Motley and play the Huskies on a Saturday.

You won't care about loyalty. You're like, this looks like a big conference. I love it. Now, you're in Big Ten country. Out West, people are freaking out. In the Midwest, what are they saying about, including four Western teams to their conference? There's a little bit of who's going to have to play,

you know, 11 and 12 a play. at night and travel. But you know what? I think there's more conversation about the other sports other than football. And I'm doing Big Ten shows. As you know, you mentioned, I do one a week. So I talk to those people and Tony Petiti, you know, Kevin Warren, who was the commissioner, left in is now the president of the Bears. Everybody knows that. Well, they just hired Tony Petiti. Tony Petiti was the guy that was behind the MLB Network when they started. He was the the guy that was involved when March Madness started with CBS or whoever it was, NBC. So he's got a great background.

The thing that surprises me, Colin, I don't know about you, how fast this happened. I know. You know what I mean? No one can usually make a decision about anything for five years. And this went, boom. And then when you look at it and talking to people to Big Ten, they're interested in, yes, in football. Let's be real, in basketball. But the total program, what did they bring?

and I was looking it up yesterday. You know, when you look at the top academic schools, obviously in the PAC 12, you know, you got Stanford and Cal. I mean, they're off the chart. They're like Ivy League schools. But then you got UCLA, USC, and Washington. I mean, Washington is a great academic school. You know, and then Oregon, there's 10 teams that won 70% of their basketball

and football games combined. Okay, over the last, I think it was five or ten years. Oregon's one of those teams. And then you get Oregon to come in and you're bringing Phil Knight in and you're bringing the Nike brand to the Big Ten. That is huge. And, you know, I don't know how it's all going to shake out, you know, how they're going to divide this thing up.

But it will make it exciting. I'll tell you what they have to do, though, Colin. I think everybody better start playing the same amount of Division I games. And this is, this is, you cannot have one conference playing nine and one playing eight and the other one plays 10. I mean, that's just not right. I mean, unfortunately for the smaller schools, this thing is going to one or two major conferences, just like the NFL is. They're going to, they should divide it. They want to make it easy.

Just divide your country. Just go west, right? Just like the NFL. You know, you know, take it west, take it central, take it north, take it east. How are you want to cut it up into four? And I think that's what we're going to down the road. I really, really do. Yeah, I think it's going to be more like college basketball

where a 12-team playoff eventually becomes a 16-team playoff in the next five years. There's going to be so much money in it. And all those Oregon states or the NC states that feel left behind, they'll be able to get into the tournament in those final four slots. In the end, Dave, the way I sort of look at all this stuff is the SEC is going to add Clemson and Florida State in 10 minutes. If you can sit on your hands if you're the Big Ten, but Washington and USC and Oregon are elite top 15 programs,

and SEC's not slowing down. So I... UCLA's won more championships in the entire Big Ten conference together. Total sport. No, if you look at all the Olympic sports and everything with UCLA, they have, I was, I read, I don't think I'm wrong, that they have more championships in all sports than the whole conference. So, I mean, and they're great academic school.

So that's a real plus for the Big Ten conference. No question. Yeah. It's just I can't wait for some of the games. I think it's going to be fantastic. And frankly, the SEC by adding Texas, Oklahoma increases their Texas recruiting. This is going to increase Big Ten recruiting out West. Purdue, Iowa.

They don't bring out, they don't get Western kids. now you're going to take trips out there. You're going to take that coaching staff out there on a Wednesday, Thursday, visit a high school practice or two. Watch all these schools in the Big Ten start adding California, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada kids. You know what? That's a great point because I talk to the coaches at Indiana a lot and Purdue.

And, you know, it's tough for them, excuse me, to go east into Ohio and try to get players, you know, with Ohio State and Penn State there. so this will truly give them a chance to work the other direction and get some talent, because some of these states just don't have enough players in it. That's right. And so there's no question that, and as I said in the very beginning, the only vibe that I get here in the Midwest, in Chicago, is the other sports.

But there's a tradeoff. So if you're a coach in a minor sport, but all of a sudden your budget's going to get increased, you know, okay, we got to travel. It's part of the deal. You're going to get nicer uniforms and you're going to get more food and you're going to get better facility. So that's the tradeoff at the end of the day. Dave Wonstat, Big Ten Network, former Bear Dolphin coach, Natty,

all a defensive coordinator, Super Bowl, coached at Pitt. Great talking to you as always coach. Okay, Colin. Talk to everybody. Be safe. Bye-bye. The volume. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not. not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHart podcast.

Guaranteed human.