The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Dave Wannstedt on Fields Pressure, Tua/Dolphins Vibes, Pickett Leap

Episode Date: June 20, 2023

First Colin explains why golf fans don’t care about the end of the PGA tour following the LIV merger, and what Bradley Beal to the Suns means for KD. Then former Bears and Dolphins Head Coach Dave Wannstedt joins Colin to discuss the pressure on Bears QB Justin Fields to win now, if he has enough help to get it done, their pick to win an Aaron Rodgers-less NFC North, if the Dolphins should be the AFC East favorites, if Steelers QB Kenny Pickett can make a huge leap in his second year, and how the B1G will be impacted by USC’s first year in the conference.  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. The volume. Hi, everybody, and welcome in to the Tuesday morning podcast. Dave Wanstatt, dolphins, bears, Steelers, a lot of good stuff to talk about, camps around the corner.

So watching the U.S. open this weekend, you know, watching a live golfer like Brooks Kepka not have a great weekend, not terrible but not great, seeing Rory McElroy, who push back on the emergence of the live tour finishing second. I was thinking about it driving home from work today. And I read a letter, a very heartfelt letter by former great Tom Watson that he sent to Jay Monaghan and the PGA asking a lot of questions. Mostly, do we have to go in business with the Saudis and how are they going to change our sport?

So one of the things that's been very obvious to me about the PGA and live merger, is how few American sports fans are truly loyal to the PGA. I'll get to that in a second. But getting back to Tom Watson's question, to give you some sense of the money the Saudis and oil produce, they produce 9.9 million barrels of oil a day. And despite that, they have over 220 years in oil. reserves. If they continue with the same production, they have 220 plus years left of oil,

trillions and trillions of dollars in their bank accounts, money not spent yet. So it is a conveyor belt of trillions of dollars for the next 200 plus years. Yes, everybody's doing business, including our government with the Saudis. This is not the last sport they will attach to. English Premier League, our PGA tour. They've been essential for the British golf tour for over a decade. There's a reason that most fans aren't loyal to the PGA, because there's nothing to be loyal to, right?

The Masters is run by the Masters, and the U.S. Open this weekend is run by the USGA. The British Open is run by the RU.S.O.S. Open is run by the RELA. Royal and ancient club. And the PGA championship is run by the PGA, which is not the same as the PGA of America. What are you loyal to? It's a series of charities. Think about it this way. If you're a Big Ten football fan.

But the Big Ten sold off its parts. And there was four different corporations that ran the Big Ten. First, there was the Big Game Corporation. They would run just Michigan and Ohio State football. football. Then there was a second company that ran Penn State, Wisconsin, and Iowa. There was a third company that just ran Northwestern, the private school based in Chicago. That's all they ran, Northwestern football business, and then a fourth corporation that ran the rest of the Big Ten. You would care less if you were a Buckeye fan about other schools. They were represented by other

businesses that had other rules and guidelines. And so there's nothing to be loyal to for most PGA fans. They're loyal to Brooks Kepka or Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson or in my case Rory McElroy, Dustin Johnson. That's who I'm loyal to. Just like if the Big Ten splintered off into four and five different subsidiaries, you'd be more loyal just to your team and not care about the conference. Now, as it is now, when Big Ten teams play in bowl games, Big Ten fans root for Big Ten teams to win because it looks good for the entire unified conference. What if the NFL sold off the AFC championship to one group and the NFC championship to another group? I'm not talking broadcast partners. They were owned separately and run separately. The wild card division was run in both

conferences by a separate company and then the regular season itself was run mostly by the NFL. you would be less loyal to the NFL. As it is now, if somebody, the Saudis tried to buy the NFL, we'd all be concerned. Will the networks change? Will the times change? Will they still play on Sunday? What are you taking away? What are you adding?

Because there's a unified business that benefits all of us. So I don't see a lot of people heckling Brooks Kepka because they're loyal to Brooks Kepka. Golf has done a very poor job. over the years of having a unified business that means something. It's simply a charity that benefited the PGA, not even its members. Phil Mickelson for years complained about the treatment. So don't be surprised if you sell off parts of your business or you don't create. This is why McDonald's will sue you, even if you're in a small town and create a small restaurant with muck in front of it. They don't want to dilute in any way, shape, or for their brand.

They want McDonald's to give you a sense of standards, a sense of warmth, a sense of trust, and they'll sue anybody that tries to add muck in front of a business. That's why they do it. You know, I was thinking about the Bradley Beale move to Phoenix, and of the many reasons I like it, let me start and finish with this one. Over the course of time, I've had a radio business, TV business. I've done local. I've done syndicated.

I've been very lucky I've worked with really good people. One of the things I've just tried to avoid, and it's my personality, I don't enjoy erratic people or people you can't depend on. I've surrounded myself because I'm kind of a boring habit-forming guy. There's not a lot of ups and downs to my life. I come in same time, same prep, same breakfast, same show, go home. I'm a creature of habit and I like to surround myself with people who are creatures of habits. I want to know what to expect every day when I go to work. I think it's easier for all of us.

And so I've tried to avoid erratic hours, erratic people, erratic bosses. To me, it's really helped my business. It takes away the anxiety of the job. The rare times I've had erratic people or businesses supporting me, it's affected, I think, my product. And so one of the mistakes I thought Kevin Durant made by losing Steph Curry, leaving and going to Kyrie Irving, he went from dependability to erratic. And then they added James Harden in Brooklyn and Ben Simmons. And he really surrounded himself with arguably the three most erratic players in the league. And I think that weighs on Kevin Durant.

and he never understood how much that eats away at you day after day answering questions for other players, not being able to depend on Kyrie Irving showing up because of the vaccine. It was the weight of the world on Kevin Durant's shoulders. Now look who he plays with. Devin Booker and Bradley Beale are the most boring, predictable stars in the league. not huge shoe brands, not big IG influencers. They play when they're healthy. They play at a high level.

You know exactly what you're getting every night. Just think of that for Kevin Durant. He played with the three most erratic personalities in the league, harden Kyrie Irving Ben Simmons, to arguably the two most predictable and boring stars. in the league. The weight of the world is taken off his shoulders. How many of you are in a relationship and you're with an erratic person? It's toxic. It affects your sleep. It affects your diet. It affects your mood. I mean, ask yourself, is there any place in your life where you're dealing with an erratic

person and how it weighs on you and just saps your energy? I think this is such a win for Kevin Durant. basketball just from an anxiety level and a comfort level, Phoenix is just perfect. No big egos, no crazy town. As much as I like Chris Paul, there was some drama. He missed a lot of starts. Just enough anxiety to disrupt a player, even a great one. With Booker, Bradley Beale, I mean, They're the morning coffee, man. You know what it's going to taste like. You know it's warm. You know you need it.

That's a good way to live. In a sport with lots of media, lots of egos, a lot of opinion, a lot of drama, a lot of expectations. Beale and Booker are perfect personalities for Kevin Durant. Do you have some home projects you need to get done, whether you own the house or you rent it in your apartment? your condo or your townhome. Angie's list is now the Angie app for all your projects at home. Whether you're moving, installing something, or cleaning something, they have a network of pros that you can rely on.

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June is Championship Month in Sports. playoffs, NBA finals. Now you can watch all this stuff on television, certainly, but there's nothing like live and there's nothing like being there in person. For last minute, amazing deals on the best tickets to comedy shows, concerts, and your favorite sport. Check out Game Time. Download the GameTime app right now. The redeem code is me, Colin, C-O-L-I-N, $20, $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Go out and have some fun this weekend. Again, download the Game Time app, $20 off your first purchase. The redeem code is C-O-L-I-N. Last minute, tickets, lowest prices, guaranteed at game time. All right, let's bring on the coach, Dave Wanstatt, former Bears head coach, Dolphins head coach, coordinator for the Super Bowl champion Cowboys, Coach at Pitt, Miami Hurricanes, D.C. All right, so you just got back from a trip to Italy for a couple of weeks, which I went with Ann last year to Florence and Rome and Sienna and had the time of my life. Where'd you go?

We actually stayed in Tuscany. A good friend of mine owns a house over there. So he goes two or three times a year. So we went over to the house. and every day we went down to the Italian Riviera one day. We went to Florence one day. We went to Pisa one day. Then Jan and I went up to Rome and spent two or three days by ourselves at the end of the trip. It was fantastic. I mean, these people basically live there. So it was so easy.

And they're obviously big Italian guys. They're my golfing buddies from Naples, Florida. It was fantastic. It really was. It is interesting. I just got back from Iceland with my son. Everywhere you go in Europe, I don't know if I could live there, but man, they live right, don't they? The pace and the food and the naps. It's just I feel the pressure come off my shoulders, the stress. You know what got me? We're in a car and we had a driver and we're driving the streets of Rome. And you know how narrow the

streets off? Yeah. We had a nice size car. And I see some little bit of graffiti on the walls. Now, I live in Chicago, okay? And I said that a, and we're going through these streets and people are cut tours or cutting in front of them. And there's, and I said, you haven't beeped your horn one time. I said, in Chicago, you know, the cabby's up here and the drivers lay on their horn 24-7, scream at people. I said, he said, well, you know, no, but they'll get out of way we're in no hurry so it's exactly what you said i mean we drove through the heart of rome people over the place cars crossing and i didn't hear a horn beep i'll hear sirens all night long in my condo downtown chicago you've been there not a horn i'm talking about sirens police sirens

no it's it's just a different life uh we took a vespa tour in italy where we got in the back of these Vespas for two hours and whizzed through the streets. I'm not sure if Anne liked it. That's the most fun I've ever had in my life. I was laughing the whole damn time. We were stomping off to get coffee, go to the Coliseum, take pictures. Highly, highly recommend it. So, big year for Chicago.

I think Justin Fields, after two years, we know he's talented. He can move. He's got a whip for an arm, but a lot of mistakes, some not his. But there'll be a sense, Dave, that. after this year, you either go to jettison, move off him or lean into him. You've been to practice. What is your takeaway on what you've seen? Well, I think the first thing you said, a big year for Chicago, I think the people in

Chicago, and I don't know if they'll get it, but it's what I'm preaching, I think this needs to be a reasonable improvement year for Justin Fields. You know, I mean, he doesn't need to go out and be Aaron Rogers, okay, when he was in Green Bay. I mean, he needs to improve 100%, but I think it needs to be reasonable. But when I look at Chicago, they have two number one picks next year. Everybody that they signed free agency, plus the draft picks, there's not a player on their roster that they signed that was older than 26. And I spent about an hour with Ryan Poole's general manager up for about a week ago, two weeks ago. And, you know, they have purposely built a young,

football team. And it's not talked about, but I think that, yes, Justin Fields needs to perform. I think it's the Philadelphia Eagles blueprint. You know, I mean, let's let's all, if we're all honest with ourselves, me included, before last season, I wasn't sure if Jaylon Hertz could be the guy. And the eagle, I don't think the Eagles thought that either, Colin. And they're sitting there with two number one picks and they're saying to themselves, I promise you, if he's not the guy, we're going up to the first pick and get a quarterback. The Bears, I don't think it'll happen. No one's talking about it, but they have the draft picks to do something if it doesn't work out.

Yeah, listen, I will say by getting Robert Tonian, they now have two tied ends, Cole Commit, by getting, I'm not a huge Chase Claypool fan, but I do love DJ more. I think Mooney is more than capable. I went and looked at the PFF grades for their offensive line. It's not as bad as, say, the New York Giants or the Tennessee Titans last year. It's kind of middle of the pack. I think they found a left tackle last year in the draft. So my takeaway is I don't need Justin Fields to be a playoff quarterback,

but I don't think if he struggles, we can blame the personnel, Dave. I think the Bears have given him good enough pieces to work with and win 10 games. Is that fair? That's fair. And you know what? When I was up there, DJ Moore made three catches that bare receivers haven't made in three years. And the guy that was smiling the most and wasn't the head coach who wasn't the general manager, it was Justin Fields. You know, so they have really connected from the standpoint of a confidence between quarterback and receiver.

You mentioned Robert Tundgan. I think he might be this. You talk about a steel and free agency. they had they sure if claypool comes on fantastic if he doesn't when i saw robert tunion they've flexed him out like they used to do with tony gonzalez back in a day and he can beat safeties one-on-one i mean he is that type of athletic tight end or you bring him in tight so he that's a heck of a signing for the bears it truly is so i think they feel real good about their passing game and you know and they're going to be committed to run at a ball the whole key and i was up for

and luke getsy you know the offensive coordinator he worked for me at pit i got a great report with them and and he said you know we got to take the next step we're going to take the next step we got to be balanced we got to be balanced and so it's it's exciting but i do agree they do have the weapons i've said this before my favorite city in the country is chicago uh years and years ago my wife who who spent a lot of her 20s in Chicago, talked me into buying a little condo in Streeterville, which is just a great place, Italian restaurant,

Cuban restaurants, great breakfast places, park. You are now moving into, are you a summer, Chicagoite, or a fall? What's the best?

I think it's such a remarkable city for people that have never been there. I mean, the winters are tough, but I've been spring, summer and fall. Even in the summer, I hear about the humidity, but Dave, I get, I get the, I get the, I get the lake breeze. I never think it's that bad. No, it's pretty tight. Today it was supposed to be, they said it was 80, but down here, I'm right, like you said, you're a little bit

closer to the lake of me, but not by much. And it's, this is the time to be here. It truly is. I mean, you got, the streets are packed right now. I mean, it's a big tourist. I mean, from all over the world. I mean, you're different languages, your people walking up and down Michigan Avenue. I mean, this is the time to be here right now. And, you know, everybody's very optimistic that, you know,

it's been tough. It's been tough with us up here in Chicago, but we've got a new mayor and everybody's optimistic that somehow, some way, we'll get this thing turned back. And we've got the race coming up next week. We've got the NASCAR race for a week coming into

Chicago. They're going to race through the streets of downtown on the lake shore boulevard they're going to go flying oh yeah uh i don't have all the details of it but uh it's coming it's going to be next week uh july second and third big race here that's all they've been talking about what's the typical chicago bear fan reasonable not licked up if you said would they be disappointed with nine and eight and justin field showing improvement Yes, yes. They probably would, but I think it's seven, eight win team. I think there are a seven, eight win team with Justin Field showing improvement. I'm concerned about the bear's defense. I'm not concerned about the wrong. I mean, their defense coach, the leading guy at soccer forum was Bristker, the strong safety last year. I never heard that. The guy that's got the most sacks on your team is a strong safety. That's scary. No, they added, they're going to have, they got three free agents on the defensive line. They drafted two defensive linemen.

The Stevenson kid, I'll tell you what, the guy they drafted in the third round out of Miami, okay, Tyreech Stevenson. This kid, when I was at practice, he's going to be a starter at corner. And this is big. I was talking to head coach Matt Eberfrews, and they run a scheme that's kind of like what we did at Dallas and kind of what like what Tony Dungey did at Tampa. It's a combination of two with the point being that they have to get pressure with their four guys. They're always going to be one of the least blitzing defenses in the NFL.

So the guy that's really important is that nickel back. He's the most important guy in their defense, and that's Kyler Gordon. Last year, Kyler Gordon, Bear fans know this. He played corner. Then they put him at nickel. He was, but now, guess what? He's full-time. You're the nickel back.

Don't worry about anything else. We got Jalen Johnson on one side, and we got Tyreech Stevenson, who had, the day I was there, the guy had an interceptor for a touchdown, knocked on three balls. This guy from Miami, he's going to be a big time play. That was a great pick for them, and it's going to fit into their defense perfectly, but it's going to come down. Can they get any pressure? You know, I don't see it.

It's going to be tough. It's going to be tough. Well, the good news, Aaron Rogers is out of division. Delvin Cook will be out of division. Detroit moved off DeAndre Swift. I still think they're Detroit. I think we're overvaluing them a little. They didn't make the playoffs.

I think they win a couple more games. But it's a winnable division coach. Minnesota is not going to go 11 and 0 in one score games. That's not happening again. So I don't think, I mean, I just think this is the year for Chicago. I think they could be a 10-win team. they've got to cut down on mistakes. And let's be honest, Justin moves.

He's got to stay healthy. I worry about that a little bit. Yeah, I like them. I love them in the opener. You know, they open up with the Packlers, Jordan Love right here at Chicago. Wow, that's going to be an excite. I mean, there's going to be a lot of pressure on them.

I like the Bears there, but I kind of disagree with one thing. I'm picking Detroit. I like Detroit to win this division. I'll tell you what. They, you know, obviously they drafted Gibbs, the running back from Alabama to transfer from Georgia Tech. But they got David Walker. And David Walker is an angry David, I'm sorry, David Montgomery, who was with the Bears. And this kid's a heck of a football player. So they got

the rookie Gibbs, the number one pick, and they got David Montgomery, the running back. They got the receivers back, you know, they got Marvin Jones. They got St. Brian coming back. They drafted this Laporte kid. And I know it was Iowa, but he's not just the number one tight end. He had the most receptions of any tight end in the Big Ten conference. And this kid is a player now. And no one, I can't get anybody excited. But my guy for defensive player of the year in the Big Ten conference for the last three years was Jack Campbell. And they drafted him in the first round. A big linebacker, no one saying Jack Campbell, this guy gets interested. He's 6'5. Look at his, anybody's out there questioning me. Look at the guy's combine.

times. The guy makes interceptions. He makes sacks. He makes 100 plus tackles every year. He graduated like six years ago. I mean, this guy, I'm telling you, I'm excited. And then who does Detroit get? They get the branch, the safety from Alabama, who I thought was it going to be a second round pick or some people at him higher. They get him in a third round. This guy's going to commit to play for them. He's a heck of a player. taught the statement about him. I think Detroit did really well in the draft. I'm on their bandwagon. I really have.

Well, I'll say this. The Vikings and the Bears and the Packers have struggled to generate a pass rush. And Detroit's offensive line is really, it may be the best Lions O line they've ever had. So Jared Goff is going to throw from a clean pocket. And I think that's the one thing they have. You know, sometimes, Dave, as you know, it's matchups in your conference. There's no pass rushes. And so Detroit doesn't have much of one either.

So their line in Detroit is top four, maybe top three in the league. So it tells you they're going to generate a run game. And you know, when Jared Goff has time to throw, he's great. That's been the issue. He's like Matt Ryan in his prime. When Matt had time to throw, he'd eat you alive. So when golf was on the run in L.A., he struggled. When Whitworth was in his prime and younger, he got him to a Super Bowl.

Absolutely. question. And the guy they got, they get this quarterback from Tennessee, Herndon Hooker. I talked to some of these quarterback guys that are on this 33rd team. There's some, they liked him, I'm not going to say who, there's some guys that liked him as well as any quarterback in the draft. They think this guy is special. So add him to the draft picks that Detroit got. They're going to be pretty salty, I think. You know, every time, every year I make picks and my woe pick of this year in the NFL, the surprise pick is I'm taking Miami to win the division.

First, I think Vic Fangio right now is maybe the best defensive coordinator in the sport. They solved by bringing Jalen Ramsey over, they solved a corner issue. I don't love their offensive line. But if you look at Mike McDaniel's system, it's Kyle Shanahan's system, it has always been better day for quarterbacks in the second year of it. it's pretty complex. I look at what Miami put together. I watched them play the bills three times last year.

They beat them once. They could have beaten them a second time with Tua. And Skyler Thompson played him close. And my takeaway was, I don't feel right now that Buffalo has had a good last five or six months. Stefan Diggs is complaining. They lost one of their safeties. I have questions about McDermott, his rigidious. Leslie Fraser just said, get me out of here because McDermott wouldn't let him call plays.

There's a little bit of coaching tension. I, if two is upright, I saw he put on about 15 pounds. You tell me your thoughts. I think Mike McDaniel in year two of that offense, I've watched Shanahan in Atlanta. I watched them in San Francisco. It's that second year, Dave. I think Miami's going to be a handful. Yeah, I agree with you.

I mean, we'll start with, you know, Adam'sie. but the best addition they had is Vic Fangio. You know, now in Vic's defense, and I know pretty good, Vick's defense is not a blitzing defense. I mean, you know, when they were there with Brian Flores, it was pressure, pressure, pressure, this is not that. So having the extra corner, you know, having Ramsey teamed up with Howard, I mean, that's a great, great combination.

But they're going to have to generate rush up front. To me, Bradley Chubb is the guy. This guy's got to show up. You know, last year they made the big trade for them. They got them there. And I think Vic will be the guy that will be able to push the right buttons to get a big year out of him. But they've got to generate, we're going to have to generate pass rush with the guys up front. That's one point.

The other thing that I think has to happen is, you know, Mike McDaniels, you mentioned the Buffalo games calling. It really bothered me. They had Skyler Thompson, who you did 13 quarterback in there, and they threw the ball twice as many times as they ran it. And I'm watching that game. And I remember when I got the Bears job, you know, and I was out, and the late Chuck Knoll had just stepped down from the Steelers. And we were playing golf. And he said, Dave, never forget why you're a head coach now.

Never forget why you're a head coach. I said, what do you mean? He says, well, you got hired because of your defensive expertise. So I'm watching that Dolphin Buffalo game. And I'm thinking of myself, Mike McDaniels was the run coordinator, run coordinator. at San Francisco and they aren't running the ball. If they run the football, I'm convinced they were. So the only question I have is, you know, they're going to have to be balanced.

And when you got Tua and you got the firepower, you know, Tyrake and all the waddle and everybody, it's real tempting to want to get them the ball, big plays, big plays. But I tell you what, this is, Mike McDon't, if he wants to win big, he's going to have to be balanced and he's going to have to continue running to football. He's going to show me that he'll do that. I'm not convinced he wants to do it. Well, it's interesting. Kyle Shanahan has Debo and George Kiddell and Brandon Ayuk and Christian McCaffrey,

and he commits to the run despite having those options. I mean, when I think of the Niners, I think of a physical run game. I don't even think of passing. No, 100%. And, you know, the other thing, too, with the Tua, you mentioned Tua, and I'm not going to blitz him. I'm not going to take a chance of trying to cover Tyra Kill one-on-one, but I'll tell you what's going to happen. Two in his mind, if you went through the concussion stuff that he went through or anybody did, that's going to be on your mind, and they're going to

be saying, get the ball out quick, right? Don't take any chances. They don't run up. He's not running quarterback read stuff. So put that aside. That's not going to happen. But get the ball out quick. He's going to see man press coverage. I would play him man, and I would lock up those receivers and knowing that the ball is going to come out quick. And so he's going to, and, you know, he makes good decisions, makes good decisions. We're going to find out how accurate he is. He's going to have to be real accurate this year because I don't think he's going to get very many wide open, easy throws. Well, the other thing with Tua is because his injuries are a concussion base, that you can't bring him back with another concussion for four to six weeks. So,

So to your point, I think McDaniel realizes that. They'll run it more. And it'll be a lot of, a lot of what Brady ran. Just get the ball out. Garoppolo, by the way. 1001, 1002, let it rip. Yep. And I also think McDaniels knows his weakness is his offensive front in a division with Buffalo's pass rush,

the Jets pass rush, and Belichick's defensive front. So I do think there's a way Miami will play. run it, quick passing, protect Tua. Because he goes down. You know, they brought Mike White in for the Jets for a reason. Yeah, so in their minds, they probably got a good backup, but it's not Tua. So it'll be interesting to see if McDaniels can do that. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged.

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A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'll say it. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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.

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Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. So you're from Pittsburgh, coached the Panthers for years. You've got a lot of friends there still. I went and the other day I went and sort of

burrow down on the Steelers. There's a couple of things that are interesting. Number one is they win over the last three years when T.J. Watt plays. They win 75% of their games. And although he was banged up last year, in his history, he doesn't get hurt. And one of the reasons I leaned Steelers over Baltimore for the wildcard spot is if you take their eight best players, and I include Najee Harris, their tight end, Kenny Pickett, Mika Fitzpatrick, I go, Cam Hayward, I go down the line.

None of them have an injury history. And virtually all of the Ravens best players except Tideon Mark Andrews do have a playoff history. And I don't know if Tomlin is more measured at practice, but the Ravens have been banged up for four years in a row. And the Steelers are rarely hurt. And I went back and I looked at Pittsburgh's last six games last year. I didn't from beginning to end watch all of them, Dave,

because the AFC has so many more compelling teams. At the end of last year, Kenny Pickett was pretty good. The defense was great. Kenny Pickett was pretty good. What are you hearing? Well, I know this for a fact. Last year at this time going into training camp,

he was getting the third team work reps. I mean, it was Mitch Trubisky, it was Mason Rudolph, and it was Kenny Pickett. So his practice time was a third. And, you know, I don't think, I think they went into that thing. Mike Tomlin said that Mitch Chubisky is a starter, which he did. And so I look at that and say, you know, that's a lot of time for a rookie not to be getting the reps that he needs.

And then the guy that's probably going to be his top receipt. And then what's his name got hurt? Deontay Johnson was hurt, okay? Pickens, George Pickens, a second round pick out of Tennessee, he's a star. This guy, it took him, they tell me, it took him two or three, you know, a couple weeks into the season before he started getting a feel for the thing. I mean, they were hoping at Claypool. They were hoping to Chase Claypool was the guy. You got to remember, Judge, Chase Claypool went from their number one receiver to two to three.

And so all of a sudden, now all of a sudden, you're seeing Pickens getting more. reps and Deonté Johnson, they're getting him booed. And then they found out how good friar move. You mentioned him, the tight end from Penn State. Yeah. This kid is a player. He's got phenomenal. It wasn't until about that halfway through the season where Pickett's getting enough reps, Pickens is picking up the offense. And now they're realizing, hey, we got a tight end too. So I think I like Pittsburgh. I mean, they're offensive. They're stars. The guys we're talking about are all like 25 years or younger, right? So, I mean, the arrow is definitely up for that offense.

Yeah. I mean, it's, did you like Kenny Pickett out of college? I've always said he feels very B plus at everything. He's got a good enough arm, good enough size, good enough mobility. I don't see a lot of special, but I don't see a lot of, Dave, I don't see any holes. I don't see anything that he can move left. He throws right. He's mobile.

He can take a hit. My takeaway is, you know, there's a little bit of a C.J. Stroud where I'm like, he looks good enough at everything, maybe great at nothing. What did you hear from your pit people about Kenny coming out? I was back there at Pitt when they were practicing and sitting in there and talking to Pat Narduzzi, the head coach and the offensive coach. And all of the intangible things that you mentioned and then put a layer of toughness. This guy is a street, tough kid, and this kid is a competitor. And I think that, you know, you talked about he's got good enough arm strength.

He understands the game. He gets the big picture on and on and on. But now you put in that toughness and those intangible things, they're real. They are real. And, you know, they share the facility back here. And the Steelers share facilities. So they're in the same building where they're eating and they're on the practice field. One's leaving the other ones.

No one had better exposure to Kenny Pickett for his whole career than Mike Tomlin. And the Steelers and Kevin Colbert at that time in the whole Steelers. So they know what they're getting. And I know they are exciting. You know, it's interesting for years. I was told that the Steelers didn't love drafting Pitt kids because they didn't feel they felt that they would be too loyal to them and they were a little concerned that they had such access, invisibility, that they would tend to overdraft pit players. So they were always very reluctant. That's what I was told,

that if you go look at their history, they were, they had taken some pit players, but they were concerned that they would tend to overrate them. Well, it wasn't as much that. And I was told this by by Coach Noel, he said they were always reluctant, because we were talking about when Tony Dorson, came out. There was rumors he was going to go, but there was always rumors, not Tony, in this situation, but if they drafted a pit kid and it didn't work out, they didn't want to have to cut them in their home time. You know, Mr. Rooney, Art Rooney, who, you know, runs a team right now and owns it. He was behind me a year at Pitt. He's a pit grad. So those ties with Pitt and the Steelers is a lot deeper than just having a professional team in the same city. I mean,

There are some deep roots between the Roonies and the University of Pittsburgh. Yeah. Well, the Roonies are wonderful people. They've got charities everywhere. So you do the Big Ten as well. And listen, Texas, Oklahoma joining the SEC, I think that's a handful. As we go to a 12-team playoff, though, I think the SEC will probably get four teams in. I feel the same way about the Big Ten.

you're not going to keep USC Michigan, Ohio State out of a 12-team tournament if they're all winning 10-11 games. You're going to get them in. We know this about the college basketball tournament. These networks have a little say. They want their big brands in, right? Not Boise State. What is your takeaway, though? Lincoln Riley has put together a hell of a recruiting class this year.

They've really got it rolling. I haven't seen this out here since this past weekend since Pete Carroll. Is there, in your opinion, a different style play, though, that a UCLA and USC will face in the Big Ten? Is it different there? Absolutely. Absolutely. When you look at the top defenses, and I think a lot has to do. They talk about the weather, but I think there's some validity to that.

I mean, it's going to start snowing here in November. You know, I mean, you're going to play in snow the month of December. here. So, you know, UCLA and USC are going to have to deal with that on a yearly basis. And, you know, not that they can't, you know, not that they can't or they won't, but it is a factor. And I think the biggest thing, and I'm doing Big Ten again, I just, you know, I'm going to do it for a couple more years now coming up. So I was just down there. I did some draft. They did draft shows this year, which they haven't done in a while. And so talking to those people, The biggest hurdle that they're struggling with right now is timing of the games in scheduling.

And you have to remember, everybody just wants to talk football. But when you talk Big Ten conference, adding UCLA and USC, you're talking about all sports, men's and women's. And that's the biggest hurdle. I know the Big Ten is talking about, because they talk to me about having like two game days. shows in the studio. It was always one in the morning and then they were done at, you know, 7, 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock at night.

Now these games, West Coast, here, they're going to have to be on the air probably until 12, 1 o'clock in the morning. And they haven't finalized it yet. You know, the Big Ten's got a brand new commissioner, Tony Petito, Tony Petiti, I'm sorry, took over.

And I got to know Tony, because he was one of the guys that got me. I'm part of the 33 team, which is an NFL website that does a lot of NFL stuff. And Tony was one of the guys that put it together with Bill Parcells. So Tony, that's his biggest, one of his biggest challenges right now. It's this whole scheduling thing. How's it going to work out? I wonder if you can't put a small satellite Big Ten office out west.

So they'll be up at 830 to 930 out west. You put a couple of guys out west, guys on Saturday night. I mean, let's be honest. So many of the games, it's good for recruiting. I mean, listen, if I was Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue, I would recruit the hell out of California. I mean, it just opened up a gateway out here. Did it not? Wouldn't you?

If you were coaching a Michigan state tomorrow, wouldn't you want to get six to eight players from California annually? Would you send a recruit? Would you actually have one of your assistants live out here? What would you do? not live out there, but I would definitely recruit it. I mean, now, you know, I don't know if you're, if the lower tier schools are going to be able to do much. I wouldn't, I wouldn't waste time or money on that end, but definitely the schools you mentioned, the Penn States and the Ohio states and Michigan, you know, Wisconsin. I mean, if they, if they want to do that,

I think they could go out there. And with every game being on TV and the Big Ten network, it's not an issue of a young player nowadays with his parents and his relatives. and his high school coaches and his friends not having an opportunity to see him play. That's not the case. All right, coach, good talking to you again. Great seeing you. Call me when you come in time. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite.

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