The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Nick Wright on Top 50 NBA List, Rodgers Trips, Belichick OC Arrogance

Episode Date: August 10, 2022

Colin explains how Kevin Durant’s career would be better if he never met social media, if the Jets have any chance to avoid disaster after a season ending injury to LT Mekhi Bechton, and why he’d avoid letting Hard Knocks in the door at all costs. (3:00) Then, First Things First co-host - and host of the What's Wright? podcast - Nick Wright joins Colin to discuss why he ranked LeBron #1 over MJ and Kareem in his Top 50 NBA Player of All-Time list (14:00), what’s behind Aaron Rodgers offseason Ayahuasca trips (26:00), why Belichick is making the head scratching move naming Matt Patricia OC (40:00), if Andy Reid can surpass Belichick as the G.O.A.T football coach (44:00), and how Nick lost a $10,000 bet to his son (50:00). Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates and check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action! #Herd See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Yep, that's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHard 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. On The Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors.

Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild. I mean, it was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Volume. The Colin Coward podcast presented by Fandul Sportsbook, no better place to make every moment more than with Fandul. Basketball, football, they have awesome new and existing user promotions.

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The Colin Coward podcast presented by the Fandul's Sportsbook. All right, welcome in Wednesday morning podcast, my buddy Nick Wright. Last time we had Nick Ride on, we rolled for over an hour. We made it a two-parter. It was like the movie Gettysburg except good and watchable. Some thoughts about the KD story. Listen, I know it's football season. Kevin Durant, about a month and a half ago, I won out.

Then he went dark, didn't hear from him. So Shams Sharania reported the story. Durant met with the owner, Joe Assai, and said, fire Steve Nash and the GM, Sean Marks, or I'm out. So, you know, Kevin Durant's interesting. So over, I got kids, right, teenage kids. And one of the things I have noticed and had to sort of monitor, and it's a reality if you're a parent with teenagers, is social media. It's got a real effect on young people. because young people generally aren't married.

They're a little self-absorbed. Young people don't have kids or a professional career. So a lot of time, seven, eight hours or more on the phone. And I try to dissuade my kids from doing that. I have said some of the weirdest behavior in professional sports has been from single guys. No kids. No wife. A lot of time by themselves.

Get off work. Go to the phone. Aaron Rogers, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, right? A lot more time to be into you. And I think Kevin Durant, actually, we know he engages a lot on social media and is pretty sensitive guy. Nothing wrong with that. That I think Kevin Durant's one of the first victims of social media as a professional

athlete. And by victim, I mean, if Twitter didn't exist, Instagram didn't exist, the constant harping on Kevin Durant about joining a championship team in the Bay Area, he wouldn't have left. I do think he would have left Russell Westbrook because Westbrook takes the air out of the ball and Durant increasingly was frustrated that he would control the possession until the very last few seconds, give Durant a pass in the corner and he'd have an awkward shot. And there was a stat I saw a few years ago that Durant was shooting with less time on the clock than anybody else in the league when he was a member of the OKC Thunder.

So I think that would have transpired that move. But I think Golden State, the minute he joined a championship team, this avalanche, this tsunami of social media backlash that he couldn't beat him so he joined him, I think it affected him. He was very prickly, more so than usual. And I think it wore him down. And that he didn't really truly enjoy being the two-time finals MVP. He enjoyed it very, very briefly. And everybody around him with the Warriors because of social media. walked on eggshells. Bob Myers once joked at a championship parade about KD. It got ooze and

Oz from the crowd. It's been well documented that Steve Kerr had confided with players on the team. It was just a big pain in the ass. You were constantly worrying about offending Kevin Durant. And so I think to some degree, his move to Brooklyn, which has been an absolute mess, two first round exits last year, this year. It's a mess. I think he's a victim of social media. And, you know, from time to time, I don't do it much, but once or twice a year, you know, I'll go speak to college campus and or young broadcasters or even if it's private. You know, I always tell them, don't let Twitter produce your show. 22% of Americans are on Twitter. 78% of people are not.

It's simply not a reality. And I think Kevin Durant, it's easy to be fooled, tricked, persuaded, bothered, bothered. Your anxiety level can go up. It's happened to me before. I just put the phone down. People are being ridiculous. I have so many filters on my phone now. I don't block anybody.

I just don't see the criticisms because I don't want to deal with trolls. And I think Kevin Durant, who's been pretty famously prickly on that and sensitive to that, was a victim of that. I don't think of any of that stuff. If it doesn't exist, he's still a warrior. Because I'll say it again, I thought leaving stuff for Kyrie was absolutely an egregiously bad decision. And I don't think Durant's a dumb guy. He knows basketball. He knows he can play.

He was persuaded by social media. The other day on this podcast, the Colin Coward podcast, we went back and we talked about on average over the last five years, there are 10 bad teams in the NFL. And by bad, I mean four games under 500 or more. That is the average over the last half decade. Ten bad teams in the NFL. and about 12 really good teams, good teams being double-digit wins. So there is more good to very good than there is bad in the NFL.

Mackay Beckton, promising left tackle for the Jets, is reportedly now, done for the year. Awful news, had an injury. The Jets are in a weird spot where I think they made a big mistake on their head coach. But I really like their GM. I like several players on their roster. And I think Zach Wilson is really talented. But if Sala backfires for the Jets and I think he's over his skis, remember, 75% of coordinators who get head coaching jobs in the NFL don't work.

And even the ones that work Kyle Shanahan, it's hard to win. It's really hard in this league to win. Bill O'Brien is unemployed in the NFL. He won a division multiple times with backup quarterbacks. The Jets will be an interesting team because I think they have the right GM. I think their roster is significantly better than two years ago with this GM. I think Zach Wilson has some talent. I really do.

He's got a whip of an arm. A little Johnny Mansell personality-wise, a little bit of hero ball. But I think the Jets are going to be a six to a seven-win team. And so when I heard this news on Mackay Beckton, it's obviously very bad news, really tough for young quarterbacks with, you know, backup left tackles. Maybe they go after Dwayne Brown, who the Seahawks moved off of. But the Jets will be an interesting team to watch. Unlike the Giants who don't have the quarterback, who don't have the roster, and have been bad for most of the last nine years,

there have been moments with the Jets in the last decade that you kind of like them, that you kind of interested in them. So I think the Jets, there's some wins early in their schedule, first eight games. But I do think they whiffed on the coach. I think the Giants got the right coach, but have a much bigger hole to dig out of because they have the wrong quarterback. I think the Jets got a lot right and maybe even Zach Wilson, but I think they got the coach wrong. I don't think Sala was ready in that division with Sean McDermott, Bill Belichick. He was ready to go head to head with those guys. Not with that roster.

So Hard Knocks, this year it's the Detroit Lions is the choice. debuted last night on HBO. I'm not a fan of Hard Knocks because I think it's really unfair. If you look at the history of Hard Knocks and the teams involved in Hard Knocks, they're historically really bad. And I think what's interesting is the Colts for the first time last year, the NFL started taping midseason. Remember the Colts were the team used.

You remember that last year, right? And I said, I don't like in the middle of a competitive season, in a competitive division, Titans Colts. Suddenly I've got 34 camera guys and producers all over my team. Ask yourself this, what team in the NFL melted down in the last two weeks? The Colts. Something can be good television. Hard knocks often is.

but I think it's an competitive disadvantage. I don't think you can put cameras around people and not change their behavior. Why do I think that? You ever gone to a game, a basketball game, an NBA game or a baseball game, and they put up like the kissing cam and they take shots of people in the crowd and reasonable, well-adjusted people become complete morons. Cameras affect people. you do silly shit you do weird stuff you're not yourself and i mean i think about this all the time i've been

on camera you know for three hours a day forever you know most of my adult life local tv simulcasts you could not put eight cameras in my house with my family and nobody be affected you can't be real when you're being taped. And I think teams get a little inauthentic. I think the league, by and large, does a pretty good job to make it non-evasive. But I keep seeing these teams. The Cleveland Browns had it. Hugh Jackson, that team melted down.

The Colts had it last year. They melted down. I mean, the Colts personality, by and large, the last 10 years has been boring. They were crazy town at the end of last. year. The owner went nuts. Carson Wentz went nuts. The coach suddenly couldn't coach. What happened to the Colts? I don't think it's a coincidence. I can like the content, the quality of the content with Hard Knocks, but think it's a competitive disadvantage. I always have. I thought Rex Ryan and those Jets teams play to the camera. Those were really good

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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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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.

All right, time to bring in my buddy Nick Wright. We don't like to bother him. He's a busy guy, but about every six weeks, bring him on. And I throw just a variety of topics his way. So first, before we get into anything, Nick had his top 50 players of the last 50 years in the NBA. And I got to give him credit. I knew LeBron would be one. And I knew Jordan wouldn't be.

But I grew up with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In fact, when I was a kid in my driveway, that was who I mimicked. bizarrely, not a guard. I did the hook shot. And for people of Nick's generation, it's easy to forget how dominant Kareem wants. He literally has the greatest, most unstoppable shot ever. He was all NBA defense like 15 times. So Nick, when you were doing this list, you knew Kareem would be up there.

Was there ever a revelation? I'll tell you one of the revelations I had with him. So years ago, I watched an HBO. I think on Lou Al Cinder. And they showed video of his first year at UCLA. It was about a 12-second clip. It's unbelievable. Okay.

UCLA were, they were national champs. He played for the freshman team, and they beat him by 40 in a scrimmage. Yep. They were the best team in basketball on the freshman team beat them. So here's the thing on the cream thing, because something very interesting has been being sent my way, which was one of my very first appearances on your show. back in 2016, I did my top 20 ever at that point. And I had Kareem behind Michael, behind LeBron, I think also behind magic. And people have said to me, oh, okay, so Kareem, I don't know if I had them behind magic or not.

In 2011, I did. I did it for a radio show. People were like, oh, Kareem, you know, scored a lot of points, did a lot in the last five years, huh, Nick? And the answer was, no, I just hadn't done the research on it. I just was not because here is the problem. there's a lot of levels to why Kareem doesn't get the I am not arguing Kareem's the greatest player ever. I am arguing

the greatest player ever discussion should be three names. It has been for some people it has been one name forever Jordan. For some people they've opened it up just enough to say LeBron could be in it. I'm arguing Kareem is in the discussion. So here's one of the things I didn't

I think one of the things that has hurt his, you know, reputation amongst people my age or younger. They are old enough to remember him as a lesser version of himself. It's not like Wilter Russell, who we never saw. I did see Kareem, but he was wearing goggles and he was scoring 17 points a game on Magic's team. So it's like when you think of Kareem, you're not thinking of Lou Al Sender, the Milwaukee Bucks, how dominant he was.

I think you're thinking of kind of, you know, balding, gawky, looky guy with goggles. And that's not who he was. And so the argument for Kareem is very simple. Take it out of basketball. Let's go to football and let's pretend Tom Brady didn't exist. Okay. And it's like we're trying to figure out who the best quarterback ever is. It's between three guys.

And I'm going to make the case for Player A. Player A has, of the whole group, the most MVP's, he has thrown the most touchdowns. He has been to the most Super Bowls and he's tied for the most Super Bowl wins. would anyone argue, well, he's not in the discussion. Of course not. Cream's got the most points, most MVP's the same rings as Jordan, the same finals appearances as LeBron. He's got to be in the discussion.

Right. And so once you agree that it's a three-person discussion, someone's got to come in third. And that's where the Jordan folks are going to get mad at me. But when we're talking about the greatest ever, every little bit matters. Jordan played far, far, far. shorter than the other guys. You can argue to reach a higher peak if you want,

but when he played really seven years less than Kareem or LeBron did, that has to matter. Because they played at hot. LeBron is still playing at a high level. Kareem, we have been told, Colin, that Michael Jordan averaging 20 points a game for a shitty wizard's team at age 40 is a badge of honor. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar averaged 22 points a game in the NBA finals at age 40. And so then we go to when they first walked into the league, Kareem was the best player. LeBron was finishing top three in MVP by year two,

and he was straight out of high school. And then it's also like, oh, okay, so like, let's just, what's the profile coming into the league? I don't know, like, you know, LeBron was the greatest prospect ever. Kareem was a franchise changer that took a 27 win team to 56 wins. Jordan took a 27 win team to 38 wins. They both had won 27 games before you got there. And Jordan was a really good college player who went third in the draft.

Like, that's interesting. Was Kareem ever going to go third in the draft? I don't think so. Was LeBron ever going to go third in the draft? I don't think so. So I just, listen, they're all unbelievable. I think Kareem has been. And one last point.

I think the media, listen, the media barely covers outspoken black guys now fair me. How about we go 50 years ago and he's a converted Muslim? How do we think the average sports writer covered Kareem Abdul-Jabbar when he's battling John Havlicek? Probably not great. I always thought it was this simple. I'll ask you a question. The biggest knock on Jordan is this.

How many playoff series did he win without Scotty Pippen? Zero. Okay. Kareem and LeBron won multiple championships with other players. Jordan could not win without Pippin. And Michael, by the way, because of his... Go ahead, sorry. Because of Michael's style, which you often saw, you saw it in Washington.

You saw it in his first five years in Chicago. He did not play well with other scores. He played well with Pippen who acknowledged he would be in the passenger seat. LeBron won without Kyrie. He won without AD. He won without titles without D. Wade. Kareem won in Milwaukee. Kareem won in Los Angeles.

Multiple times. Like, there is value that Brady, we know Tom is wonderful. The idea that he can win a title with Bruce Arients with a different collection and a different culture absolutely establishes him as a notch above. Elway, Manning, it matters. Right, you mentioned Pippin. I always go to Phil Jackson. Jordan, of course, would have been a champion

without Phil Jackson. I believe that. But it is an element of Kareem won titles with three different head coaches. LeBron has won titles with three different head coaches and been to the finals with one, two, three, four, five different head coaches. Michael had filled the whole line.

And again, if Michael had played longer than and played at that level, then I, then maybe he's the guy. And he obviously is the guy for a lot of people. But the other thing is that people are like, why didn't Kareem win more in the 70s? And that's a fair knock. But what's also true is where I don't think people, because again, I'm an NBA nerd. And it wasn't until I did this project that I really drilled down on it. There are some weird things going on. All of a sudden, the NBA nerd.

is like, hey, it's a best of three in round one. It's like a best of three. There was one year, Kareem's team had the second best record in their entire conference, but they didn't get a buy because they didn't win their division. And now they're a best of three against Moses Malone. And it's like, well, that sucks. You lost game one.

You lost game three. Your season's over. It's like, we won 54 games. I average 34 points a game in these three games. I'm out the season's over. I can't defend my title. So some weird stuff happened. And I just think, I think that my general, if people take anything away from this project,

and you know how long I've been working on it because I was working on it with you a couple of years ago. I would like it to be at least when people talk about the greatest player ever, I don't care if they land on LeBron. I think it is LeBron. I think my kids will look at it unequivocally as LeBron. However, I want them to open the possibility that it's green, that it should. should not be considered just a Michael versus LeBron thing that Kareem should be included in. Yeah, I mean, Kareem was prickly and aloof, aesthetically not pleasing, especially the last 10 years

of his career. He was kind of a hook shot and that was it. You know, he ran the floor early in his career very well. He did it at UCLA. He did it in the first seven, eight years of his career. And I do think, I do think optics matter and relationships matter. And, I mean, I've said this. we pivot to Aaron Rogers, the media loves Aaron Rogers because the media likes to be cool.

The media thinks they're smarter than the average public. Studies show the media drinks more than the average public. And the media loves to be in on analytics. Regardless, Sam Hinky was a disaster. The media lectured us for five years on Philadelphia being so analytically superior. And I think I've said this about Aaron Rogers. It's as if the media doesn't cover the playoff games where he completely melts down in huge fourth quarter situations the last two years. I don't know. Are you pals with Big Cat?

I don't know if you are. I don't know any of those guys. No, I think they're super talented. I think you'd like them. I'm sure you liked watching Big Cat just grill him over the playoffs saying he's building a dynasty of Rogers losses. No, it was, I thought it was very, very funny. And I think Aaron was a great sport. and those guys on that show are very talented guys.

It is interesting, though, is that if you really look at what social media is, it's a race to tell everybody you're smarter than them. Aaron Rogers has got into this weird space where whether it's vaccines or a psychedelic drug, instead of like licensed professionals, Aaron is giving you this sense that, you know, I feel like I'm kind of above this. and smart people seek their own opinions. They don't follow others. I tend to follow licensed professionals.

And I think when you combine the anti-vax stance and the fibbing on it and you combine it with the psychedelic drug usage, that tea, it does to me, this is what happens when you get older, richer, and single. You become incredibly self-indulgent. You really believe you have all the answers. And I think some of the strangest behavior in sports, Kevin Durant, Kyrie, Aaron Rogers, rich, older, single, don't sacrifice for kids, not married, go home on your device. You start believing wealth makes people think they're impenetrable. And I think Aaron's gotten strange. So here's my question about that, because I think the single components are really interesting one that I hadn't thought of. but what it reminded me of is Hollywood.

And by that I mean, listen, you live in L.A. And I don't listen, I'm not casting aspersions for anyone's beliefs. But I've never met in my day-to-day life as Scientologists. Maybe in L.A. you've come across a few. I don't know. I've never met someone. It's like, hey, what's your belief? They're like, I'm a Scientologist.

But it would appear that, I don't know, 10% of the upper, upper crust of Hollywood is. And that to me is, I mean, a similar, it's not the same as what we're talking about with Aaron, but it's on the same tree of like, you know, I'm, I, I have evolved past what is contemporary thinking and I'm on an elevated plane. Yes. And I, so the point I'm making is I think some of this is how people respond to overwhelming fame. So I think, like sometimes guys.

or people, you know, lean into drugs. With athletes, that's tougher because your body's so important, right? So then what do you do with this overwhelming thing? And I think in Hollywood, we see a lot of, like, none of the stuff Aaron's doing would be considered that odd at all if you were a movie star. Right? Do you agree? It would be considered really, in fact, of the movie stars, like, you know, Will Smith and Tom Cruise at different times with the biggest movie stars in the world.

All of this would be very tame from what, you know what I mean? I've read their different belief structures are, right? So I do wonder if Aaron almost crossed over through the jeopardy and through the different circles he ran in from amazing football player to super famous guy who's great at football. And in that world, like it's, it, I'm trying to find the right analogy, but there are, it's just in different circles, different things become acceptable. So, you know, I, I spend a lot of time in the poker community, right? And in that world, what guys are willing to gamble high stakes of money on in any other world, people would look at it if they'd be like, oh my God, you have a crippling gambling. problem, need to go, you know what I mean?

Need to go see someone. But within that world, it's totally normalized. And it's just like that is just how people act, right? So if you're running in a circle of, oh, it's totally normal for you to not see a traditional doctor and totally normal for you to try to have these awakenings, your barrier for entry becomes so much shorter, so much lower. Meanwhile, if I, if you called me and you were like, Nick, next time the herd's off, I'm flying to Peru doing ayahuasca, I'd be like, Kyle, are you okay? Like, really?

This is what you're doing? But if you called me and I was like, dude, did it two months ago. It's fucking awesome. Like, then all of a sudden it gives you, you feel much more comfortable. So if you're around people that have done this, you know what I mean? That's there. So that's what I think. That's the Aaron thing.

I haven't thought enough about the lack of a spouse and how much that. And maybe that is. Maybe the spouse that isn't as famous, you know what I mean, brings you down to a degree. You know what I mean? Makes you, I can't think of the word, but normalizes you to a degree. And so maybe that's an element of it. But I think it's very clear that Aaron is a different type of cat than we're used to with any pro athlete that I can remember of his stature. Yeah. No, I think what women do is they hold you accountable. I said this the other day on the air, you know, half serious. Kevin Durant married goes to his wife. I'm going to leave Steph Curry, Steve Kerr, Bob Myers, the best culture in the league, best team for Kyrie Irving and that mess in Brooklyn. A wife would say, hell you are, go by yourself. Go have lunch with Draymond figured out. That's what my wife would do. If I, if, if, if, if Kyrie Irving was married, And he said, I'm not going to get the Vax. His wife would say, get to a damn pharmacy. This is a team.

I mean, get it for our kids. What are you doing? But again, rich, single, on your phone, on your device, very self-indulgent. And it's not really a criticism. It's a reality. Bill Simmons talked about this. You get rich and you get older. I could point to two people in the media I know who have now reached like late 50s, early 60s,

never married, no kids, no pets. They're odd. they've taken weird turns over the last 10 years. I think you know at least one I'm talking about. I know one of them. I know one of them. I'd argue that guy was odd forever. But regardless, he's gotten hotter. That's for, yeah.

No, that's a really, you know, I think that's a smart point, which is, and I think the other thing is, and now I'm just really wild speculation here. But the other thing is that comes with not just marriage and with marriage and kids. is you have so much less time that you just don't have as much opportunity to fall down rabbit holes and to get into bullshit. Even if you want to. Like, I don't know what you did this Sunday. I'll tell you what I did.

Drove three hours to upstate New York to drop my girls off at camp and then drove three hours back. Now, on the way back, did I stop by a casino? I did. because you still find some time to get into some shit. However, that's still, that's eight hours of my day, just gone. If I don't have them, do I spend those eight hours? I'm like it, do I wake up in the morning?

I'm like, yeah, let me see what's going on on Twitter. And all of a sudden is it four hours of YouTube videos later where all of a sudden I have very interesting opinions I didn't hold previously? Maybe you just are so much. And when you're, when, you know, for KD, you know, he's made it very clear. And I give him credit for the transparency on it. He wants to, you know, poop. And he clearly works incredibly hard at his craft.

But there's only so much basketball you can play in a day. That's right. He's not a wait room guy. So what's the rest of his day? Playing video games, hanging out, smoking some weed, screwing around on the internet. And it, that all of a sudden, even if you're playing basketball six hours a day, playing basketball six hours a day, sleep in eight, you got another 10 to just, you know what mean to just whatever. And it is just, it's a very different world when you're busy all the

time with things that aren't your own stuff. This week's gold medal performance goes to the hottest team in college football. USC may not be one of the highest ranked teams in the preseason coaches poll, but they had the best off season grabbing offensive wizard Lincoln Riley as head coach and Caleb Williams. That's a coup. for the Trojans. USC doesn't right now have the NIL cloud of Texas or Miami, but they're in L.A., and that counts for a lot. Bottom line for the Trojans, when you have your head coach and quarterback in place in 2022, the rebuild is going to be really quick.

This week's gold medal performance sponsored by Legacy Precious Metals. The stock market's been plummeting. Many economists predicting it's just the beginning, which could mean tremendous losses in your portfolio. Historically, there's been one answer to this, gold. 2008 crash when the market dipped, gold went up. Yep, Legacy Precious Metals is the company I trust when investing in gold in precious metals. They can advise you on whether gold is right for you. Call Legacy Precious Metals today at 866674-HERD. Or perhaps download their comprehensive gold guide. It's great. At legacy pm investments.com, legacy pm investments.com.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's a 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 podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying.

Yep. me, Clifford 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Also, kids keep you real. Let's now segue to the Patriots. And I think Greg Popovich has fallen into this and Belichick has. When you're really successful, success warps even the smartest people. I mean, to listen to Nick Sabin complain about the NIL because it'll hurt parody in the sport is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life. He's lost his. mind on that, right? Because you start to think empirically, your opinion is just right. Because you're beating people. You're smarter than people. You continue to dominate people. I am better than people. And that's why it's important to have people in your life that push back. I think Popovich and Belichick have now bought into their system more than they have the reality of their sport, which is in the

NFL, we used to think it was a 50-50 proposition, star quarterback coach Brady Belichick. It now appears to be about a 70-30 proposition. Like, we know Andy Reid is brilliant. But you're going to lose in the first round, and then you get Mahomes and you're dominant. Right. Yeah. So,

so Belichick now is using a special teams coach, a defensive coordinator, and a cornerbacks coach to coach's offense. And I think like Popovich, success has given him a belief. And success does this to a lot of people I've met, is that he's so powerful, so wealthy.

His legacy is set that nobody will go, Bill, you've lost your mind. In an era with a second year quarterback, in an offensive pivoting league, he's using a defensive coordinator to call plays. It's insane to me. So of course it's insane. So here's my question. Is it that my question on this is because I think there was a turning point in the Patriot season last year. I think it's very clear.

It was that stupid Buffalo Windstorm game. They won it. They won it. It was Belichick to me doing something very odd that seemed to be against anything I had seen him doing this career. He was always about winning this week. We're on to Cincinnati, not worried about anything else. And it felt like that game he wanted to win. What he really wanted to do was win a certain way as a giant middle finger to everyone who thought he lost his fastball.

I'm going to show you that in 2021, I can win a football game without throwing a pass. And they threw three and one of them seemed like Mack Jones audibled into. And the reason I say it was the pivot point is Mac was a different player after that. They went one and four the rest of the way. Mack had one decent game was against the Jaguars. Every other game they lost by doubled by multiple scores by an average of 15 points. And it seemed like that messed with his conference. But it seemed like Belichick was trying to, after it was.

Brady had won a Super Bowl and all this stuff. Remind everyone, I'm the smartest guy out there. Does it feel at all to you like he's doing something similar right here? Like, oh, you think I needed Josh McDaniels? Well, how about I don't replace him? And how about what would I bring in are two guys who used to work for me? Then they left. They failed.

They were defense and special teams, and I'm going to win with them. And I don't think it's going to work. I think this is about like proving a point to the world that the part of that I don't get is he doesn't need to prove it. No one argues about who the greatest coach ever is. With respect to Bill Barselles and Vince Lombardi and Walsh, everyone just says Belichick. So I don't know what the chip on the shoulder where it comes from, but it seems like he's at this point coming off his nose by his face. Let me, I always think, I like to be able to see around corners, you know, be like six months ahead of a story.

Like, this is going to happen. It's fun for me, right? And so there's never been a great movie with a bad ending. There isn't any. It doesn't exist. There is no great novel with a lousy final chapter. So I've said this. If Andy Reid can sustain his health and coaches for seven to eight more years,

and Belichick never gets over the turbulence. The leak clearly pivots the offense and Andy Reid wins two to three Super Bowls with Mahomes. The argument for best football coach ever is going to feel a lot like LeBron and Michael. Is that Andy Reid got to Super Bowls multiple quarterbacks. He won in the AFC. He won in the NFC. He won with different owners. Belichick fired.

Didn't work. Got Brady? Brady left didn't work. Is that as the league moves to offense, if Andy coaches for eight years, he's going to have eight really good years. Just three Super Bowls. That'll give him four. We are going to look at that greatest coach ever argument.

Andy is the single coach who's always given Belichick. We'll go to head-to-head meetings. You know he's already got his number. What happens if he goes four and oh the next eight years against him? Three and O. Do you think I'm nuts on that? Well, I think that it's hard to square with the fact that I'm pretty sure you're going to pick the Chiefs to miss the playoffs this year.

I'm not certain if you've done that yet, but I would, I mean, so I'm not certain, but I don't think you're nuts. Here's what I think. I think Belichick is obviously miles ahead in the race. I think Bill needs to make the race unwinnable for any other current coach, one more good playoff run. I don't think he needs to win a Super Bowl. I think, though, if he were to make the AFC championship game in the next four years,

I think that is that's enough to make it to where he is two laps ahead of the field. Impenetrable. And he does. Inpenetrable. Because I don't think Mac Jones is that good. I think Mac Jones is fine. I think he is, I think his ceiling is Ryan Tannahill. I think it's like, hey, can you be that guy?

And I think everyone knew that. And, you know, my buddy Kevin Wilde's on the show gets so mad. He's like, why do you pick all these second year quarterbacks to take a leap and not Mac Jones? And it's because the same reason he went 15th in the draft because everyone knew he was the most pro ready, but also thought he had the smallest room for improvement. And I don't like anything to the Patriot done, but set that aside. If he can get to a conference championship game in this conference with Josh Allen and

Mahomes and Herbert and Burrow and LaLauer and all that, that would be like the ultimate mic drop moment. But the flip side of that is Belchick coaches four more years and doesn't make the playoffs. Then it's one of those where I don't believe in legacies going backwards, but it certainly hurts because of what Brady's done. And because they like to if he keeps going and it seems like the game is past him by, that's not going to be great. Again, I'd love to speak it into existence for Andy. And you know, I'm not a count the rings guy. So I don't think Andy, oh, Andy's got to win six rings to be the greatest coach ever.

But your point on Andy going to four straight NFC championship games with Donovan McNabb and then going hosting four straight with Patrick Mahomes, it's pretty damn impressive. And one other thing, as great as Mahomes is, and you obviously know what great I think he is, it's not like Mahomes profile coming out of college was Peyton Manning. It's not like people are like, oh, suck for luck. Oh, the chiefs won the luck. He was the third quarterback taking his own, just second and third quarterback taking his own draft.

You know what I mean? He's the 10th pick. And so it's not like when he got there. People like, oh, Dynasty now locked in. Nobody thought that. And then except for the people who were practicing with him, we were comparing him to Brett Farb after a month.

And so, yeah, that is interesting. I like the take. I do wonder you said it and you said it kindly. I wonder how much longer Andy's going to coach. You said if his health holds up, like, you know, he's had to some tough personal tragedies, obviously. But if he, I would imagine he's having more fun now than he's ever had in his career. And unlike Belichick, he hasn't dealt with this coaching staff turnover.

That's the big thing that he helps the chiefs this year. Josh Allen lost Brian Daibor. You know what I mean? The Patriots, who I don't think are a contender, though, they lost people. we've talked about the Broncos are going to be this great team. It's a new head coach. We'll see if he's any good. A lot of the Ravens lost their defensive coordinator.

No one will hire poor Eric B. enemy. So the chiefs just keep their coordinators every year, which that continuity is super helpful. Hold on. I saw this. You bet your son, $10,000. Well, that's a little misleading. Hold on. That he could get to full.

500,000 Twitter followers before backwards, that he could get to 5,000 before I got to 500,000. What's that like as a dad that, was that the worst bet of your life? You lost $10,000? The moment. So here's, let me set it up. So he was at like 3,500 and I was at 495,000. And I was like, do you think you're going to get to 5,000 before I get to 500,000? And he's like, oh, yeah. And I was just doing the math in my head. I'm like, it's taking you, you need to add, you're at 3,600. You need to add 1,600.

You need to add 50% more to what you have. Right. I need to add 1% more to what I have. This is a dumb bet by you, buddy. He's like, no, I was like, I'll give you 10 to 1. I was like, you pick the amount. And I thought he was going to pick like 100 bucks, 200 bucks. But he's got this new good gig with Fox.

he's finally making actual money, he's saving money. So he's like, I'll bet a thousand dollars. It's like, you're going to bet a thousand dollars. And the moment he said it was such confidence, I was like, I think I screwed up here. And then my own podcast worked against me because they put out that clip and there's, and all of a sudden my followers were going down. The people were unfollowing me to follow him to make sure. I mean, he got there in 16 hours.

I mean, this is two weeks ago. I'm still at $495,000. Like, I'm still trying to get back to where I was. It was a, listen, it was a poor wager. However, I'm going to say this in case he's listening. However, there was an element of, I'm not saying I was free rolling him. However, here in the next few months, he's going to move to Los Angeles. It's his plan.

and while he does have a good job and he has been saving money, my guess is for him to successfully move to Los Angeles, I'm probably going to have to help a little bit. So I figured that 10,000 was going his way. It's one time or another. Might as well free roll him in this bet. If he wins, he feels great. If he loses, it's a lesson, don't gamble.

I do as your father says, not as he does. In other news, what do you want to rent out your pool house? No, I'm just kidding. Well, what's funny about Los Angeles is my daughter lives in West Hollywood and it's egregiously expensive. It's a really good apartment town, though. That's what I'll say about it. It's a tremendous apartment town all over town. And they're competitive.

You have to be semi-competitive because, you know, these people, they need tenants. But the thing about Los Angeles is that the economy is dynamic. So we're usually the last into a recession and the first out. But between the tax rate and how long you're in your car with gas prices, my daughter's like, dad, I'm not really a spender. I'm just in my car a lot. Like there's a lot of cities, Chicago's one. You can live downtown and work downtown. There's a lot of it.

New York live downtown, work downtown. Philadelphia. It's not really Los Angeles. So what your son's going to find out is gas. You know how in most cities you're like transportation and rent is 70% of your monthly. Throw in gas. You'll be eating Chick-fil-A for dinner four nights a day. Oh, yeah.

No, right. That's the thing. However, here's the other thing. And this is my like what I would say to not that I'm, I try not to get parenting advice, but I'm in a unique position. I'm very young to have raised kids as old as I've raised. And everyone, there is, no matter what your own financial situation is, I think the single best thing to do for your kids is post college, let them go through the,

while you're there as a true safety net, if things really go sideways. But you know how someone figures out, how do I get my power turned back on? Having that shit turned off and realizing, I got to figure this out in the next eight hours. I got to get power. How do I register a car? You know how you figure the only way you actually learn how to do that? Once you get about your third ticket for not having your car registered and you say, I have to get a registered or they're going to tow it away.

And so for my kid, he wasn't living with me. during the pandemic. And he was out in Can't City where, you know, we're from living on his own, working on his own, figuring everything out. And in those 15 months that he was there, it was,

it was like he aged in a positive way eight years. You know what I mean? It was like when it because he was on his own every day, just figured like, I've got to figure things out. And then once you do that, I feel like you as a person have a different confidence about yourself where you're like, you know what?

I can't. You have said eat chick flick. You know, if it comes to it, I can eat ramen every night and I'll be okay. I can find a place I can sleep on a couch for a month while I figure it out and I'll be okay. You've got to go through that in order to know you can go through that. And once you do that, you're to me a lot more fearless. You're like, oh, I'll go try this.

I'll go do that. it is. I think it's a great. So the point there is, even if you have millions of millions of dollars, I think, I think you should, and you plan to give it to your kids one day. I think you shouldn't right when they get out of school or I think they should go through a period of figuring that shit out a little bit on their own and they will feel better about it. Yeah, I mean, the one thing my ex and I strongly agree on is travel. We want our kids to have to go through airports by themselves. we sent our daughter to Cape Town South Africa by herself. I remember that.

That was a couple years ago, right? Yep. Yeah. And learn to travel. And it's been great. Put our kids on planes by the time they're 15, 16, figure it out. And, you know, I don't know if I'm a good parent. But the one thing I learned in my life, first job out of college, I went to Vegas by myself and made a lot of mistakes.

but I'm going to tell you something. It toughened my skin. And by the time I got to ESPN in my late 30s, I saw a lot of these Connecticut kids who had never been west of Denver. And they had always traveled with their parents and they grew up in Philadelphia and they worked at ESPN. It was the only job they'd ever had. And I could feel it. I was much more resilient to bad management, bad decisions, bad days, bad segments. that I think all I know about parenting is put your kids while you're alive in really challenging

situations and they grow a little bit of a force field. They are empowered. That's about all I know about because I've seen it now with all of my kids. With it, they're empowered and it, listen, I, I'm speaking from like, you know, an obviously place of privilege. It obviously is good to know if things do really go sideways, you are there to help them and you will pick them up.

up. But I just, I, I look, so I had a similar, you know, after college, I went to Kansas City, which is where I'm from, but I didn't, you know, my mom didn't live there anymore. And I, my dad, I have a great relationship, but it was never even on the board that I was going to go live with him. I just, it's like, I'm going to find a terrible apartment with a friend from high school. And we're going to live together while, you know what I mean? While I try to figure out this radio thing. And that experience, I still draw on. I still, to the, this day drawn it. And I think back to some of my closest friends that I went to high school with that graduated when I did that after college really just kind of floated for like four or five

years, like went to one version of graduate school. And they, that's a big thing amongst people my age was getting graduate degrees that I don't think they wanted. But they knew as long as they were in school, their parents bankrolled everything. And so they, it was a big thing of like, I have so many friends that started out in law school and then briefly went to medical school. I'm like, you're 27. You've been in college school, your whole life. And you have the same degrees I have because you just keep leaving, which is just the under. Like, so I think there's, there's an element of just going out to figure stuff out. And I think people can figure out as hell have a lot more than they think they can't when they go do it. Yeah. My daughter says she wants to get a

master's. And I said to her a master's in what? And then she kind of smiled. And I thought, yeah, you just want two more years of that visa card. Exactly. Listen, I'm not trying to, I wasn't trying to, I didn't know that was the case you the door. I'm going to try to downtalk your daughter at all. And by the way, it's not a bad gig. The Colin Coward Visa card is a great visa card. Pretty high limit i don't blame or live in l a go to u s c or go to usc yeah i mean do it yeah i get it but uh the that is uh i think that is a thing of i could start life or i could continue this whole like i'm old enough to where no one can tell me what to do but i'm young enough to where no one judges me for spending other people's money let's ride that train as long as i can it's not a bad gig it's not a bad gig if you can

get it that's right what are you what are you going to get your masters in philosophy yeah my she told me what she was thinking about her mat getting her masters in and it was environmental psychology and i'm like so you'll talk to trees that's got to not be what it is you have to be misrepresenting what environmental psychology is it can't be the psychology of the environment i think you're simplifying it wrong i was i was simplifying it to win the argument but i said i pan for you to talk to shrubs so you got to find a different one that's unbelievable dad i've thought long and hard about this need to get a master's what's it going to be art history i just i really think that's i really think that's what the career is going to be really what are you going to do well after

school i really think the only way to really take advantage of the degree is to tour europe i mean to see the artistry in real time. You keep that going, dude, 27. I like it. I like that idea. Nick Wright, as always, buddy, money. You're the best. By the way, speaking of travel, I have to tell you real quick before I go.

Friday, I go to Italy. So it didn't, like, in Europe. Florence is the great walking city. I thought Sienna was the prettiest city. The coast, we didn't get to. Rome is a big city, wildly frenetic, hot and crowded, but I loved it. And the people are wonderful. They live longer than us, despite the fact they smoke, do not work out.

Yeah. But what's interesting about drinking, Italian women do not like their men to drink. Very interesting. At all? Well, no. A glass of wine with dinner. I was told this by two different friends in Italy. It is looked down upon.

The Americans go to Italy to drink. Italians don't drink as much as you think. They're very proud of their wine. They're not partiers. They live a great life. They walk more than us. They enjoy life more. They sleep more.

They smoke more. They exercise less. But they live longer. But I think there's this fable, this belief, this mythology. oh, Italians are all drunk, stumbling down. Never saw one example in eight days in Italy did not see a single Italian drunk. They have a glass of wine, but they love to be together. I saw now they drink espressoes way later into the evening that Americans do.

Like we cut it off at four, right? It's like we can't have an espresso. It's 10 o'clock at night. It's a smoke. It's an espresso. But I think there is a mythology about the, um, the, the, the, the, the, the, amount of partying and drinking. It's just, I do not see it in eight days. Well, I can't wait. I'm Italian. I'm a half Italian. I've been once when I was a teen visiting my sister,

who was studying abroad. I was there for two days, so that doesn't even count. You know what? So I've basically never been there. And this will, you'll love this. I am taking to Rome and then elsewhere, but Rome's where we're landing. My wife, my wife's best friend, who is the, lady i told you about that's a huge fan of yours yeah uh my mom and my wife's grandparents who are 92 and 89 who we are the people we took to barcelona with us two years ago so all six of us are doing italy on friday for 10 days and i can't wait oh it'll be i can't we're going to have so much fun oh it's going to be i already calling this for your people are people are watching on YouTube. This is my, this is everything I have planned. I'm such a nerd. I wrote it all

down. Everywhere I want to eat, everything I want to see all my, all the things I have planned at all. I got it all ready to go. I can't wait. It's going to be so fucking great, bro. It's going to be great. I'm going to call you from there. I might call you know what? I might call into the herd if you do call-ins half in the bag. You're saying I'm not supposed to drink while I'm in Italy. I'm going to be drinking in Italy, buddy. You tell you that much. Thank you. The Americans do. The Italians, good seeing you. Thank you for having me all. see you, buddy. All right.

The volume. Make sure to check out the Dremon Green Show. I brought Dramon Green into the volume because one of the more entertaining voices in sports, unique perspective, understands behind the rope, also chops up with guests like Gary Payton, Zach Levine, Tracy McGrady. Make sure download the Dramon Green Show wherever you get your podcast, only on the volume podcast network. 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win. A win is a win. A win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Cliford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Cliford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifference. and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. On The Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I mean, it was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.