The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Ohio State COOKS The Ducks, Texas Barely Escapes ASU, Can PSU Win It All? Saquon Sitting Out

Episode Date: January 2, 2025

Colin’s joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” to break down the College Football Playoff and the top storylines from the NFL!  They start with the Oregon Ducks being absolutely cooked by Ohio State in the Rose Bowl and why Ohio State looks to be in a class of their own compared to the rest of the field (3:30).  They discuss the controversial non-call for targeting in the Arizona State/Texas game that likely changes the outcome and why they both hate the targeting rule (14:30). They laud the Arizona State coaching staff for taking a much more talented Texas team down to the wire, and attempt to dissect why Steve Sarkisian’s teams look “loose” (25:00). They debate whether Penn State can win the national championship (34:00) and what to make of Ashton Jeanty and Drew Aller as NFL prospects (37:00).  They pivot to the NFL and start with why it doesn’t bother them that Saquon Barkley is sitting out the final game of the season with the single season rushing record in reach (47:00). Colin labels Brock Purdy an “if” quarterback where he can only succeed “if” things go well around him and discuss what the 49ers should do with him going forward (53:15). Finally, they weigh in on Colts GM Chris Ballard potentially being in danger of losing his job and why the Colts should cut ties with quarterback Anthony Richardson just two years after being drafted #4 overall (1:09:00).  (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #Volume #Herd  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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it. Let's start with college football. So, listen, Ohio State's leading 34-0 at half, and John and I decided it's a good time to do the podcast. So, listen, a 13-member committee selected, you know, the teams to get in. And this is what bureaucrats and, you know, people who are political create is that nobody thought SMU and Boise State. They didn't look the part in the regular season. You know, they play in weaker conferences. But the thing that really outraged me was Oregon's first game against the winner of Ohio

State, Tennessee, which is a much tougher pass. than Penn State gets against SMU and Boise State. So the failing of the committee, and committees are created to innately fail. I mean, it's 13 different people with 13 different opinions. We know juries in this country have let the wrong people walk in my life. I just look at Oregon's season, and they were the best team on the field.

And it's very hard to ask somebody to beat somebody for a second time. I picked Ohio State to win it. I didn't think it would look like this. But that's not not the inclusion of Boisey State or SMU. This is what bothered me. Yeah, I mean, I clearly Oregon got a raw deal, but let's face it, the way Ohio State has played the first game and the way they look in the second game, I don't think anyone would sniff them right now.

They would beat everyone in the country easily. But I hear you. I mean, I think part of it is there's so much CYA of not getting sued. We had to include a non-power 4 program. And Boise showed out decently, I thought. Yeah. Right. And so did A Shue, who plays in a Power 5 conference, but we all look at Big 12, like, are they any good?

Right. I think you could argue also, Oregon, these teams, you're all tied in with the bowls, with this money, so many people with their hands in the cookie jar. How does Oregon not get a home game? How do these teams, Texas, I mean, it's a pretty big advantage to play in these neutral-site games. What's the point of playing all season? Yeah, I mean, Oregon did not get a home game. That to me is just, you've got to be kidding me. I mean, Notre Dame lost to a directional school and got one.

It's like not even a good directional school. Let's talk about Ohio State. And listen, when you go to a movie, if you went to a movie that took a while to build up, but the ending was great, I always thought that was usual suspects. It's a good movie. You go home feeling great. If a movie starts fast and dies out, you never feel satisfied. College football now has a bigger, more dynamic ending to the scene. season, but it does, and we knew this was coming, John. It's not that the regular season doesn't

matter, but Ohio State not only lost a horrible game, they lost it late, and they looked like garbage against Michigan, and they still got in. Now, I don't have a problem with them getting in. I don't mind the regular season meaningless, because I'm still going to watch the games. I watch the NFL. I know that you can start off one and four and make the playoffs. I still watch the games. I think we put, I think the narrative that it's going to kill college football. College football ratings this year were good. It's just what it means is if you're a good team with lots of blowouts, you can even lose a really ugly game late and you get in.

And my take is, yeah, the Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Raiders late in the season last year and won the Super Bowl. You shouldn't be punished severely if you're excellent. just because you lose in November and not in September. So that part of it has never bothered me that the regular season will mean less. I'm still watching the games. I think there's a magnifying glass. I was just thinking to listen to you talk.

I don't think there's a game that actually means more, a non-playoff game in college football or the NFL than Ohio State versus Michigan. I think it's clearly separated as the game that means the most. Sabin recently went off. He can't comprehend because even in his mind, he was able to make every game the same, even though they had Auburn is one of the biggest rivalries in college football.

Tennessee's a big rivalry. But it never felt any different than when they played Ole Miss than when they played LSU. He was Belichickie in that way. Every opponent meant a lot. At Ohio State, it just doesn't, I mean, even Ryan Day said,

like this can never happen again. That was three days before they lost. You know, so the emphasis that has been put on that game, and I think Harbaugh helped take it to another level, and then Ryan Day starting to lose. And I just think that game feels like five games in one and then the way they lost. And in fairness, you watch Michigan 24 hours ago against Alabama. Now I understand Alabama had some opt-outs.

They look pretty good. They're coming to play. They have a defensive coordinator that makes $2.5 million that was just coached at Baltimore a couple years ago and was viewed as one of the best defensive minds in football. So it's like that's a real, real defense. And I just think you look at that game. It was hard not to overreact. Yeah.

But it might have just been as simple as the coaching staff, specifically Ryan, the players they got a little tight because the way they've looked now, it's like a looseness. We have been talking about their roster and the talent on their team. Like, to me, the difference of them in Texas, Texas, man for man is loaded as well.

They're quarterback. I'm sorry, I just don't trust on a playing play and play. Yeah. Will Howard's playing pretty well right now. Yeah. If Will Howard, we have seen in the first playoff game and the second playoff game is going to look like this,

they're just not going to lose. Right. And they have a wide receiver, an 18-year-old kid. It looks like he weighs 230 pounds that is unstoppable. It's because not like Oregon's not trying to cover them. They just can't. You're a former NFL scout.

Because Travis Hunter wants to go both ways. If you told me today, Caleb Downs and Jeremiah Smith of the Buckeyes were in this draft, I would take them one and two in any order. Because Travis Hunter, I do not like this high profile, want to play both sides of the ball. Eventually, you're going to have to pick a side. I think Caleb Downs is a better corner than Travis Hunter. I think he's one of the best college players I've seen in the backfield. I'm not kidding when I say this.

I was told by an NFL general manager that Caleb Downs will be the number one pick next year. He said, I don't care who improves. He goes, outside of a star quarterback, and we may have one if Drew Aller at Penn State flourishes. He may come out this year, next year, whatever. But Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs, and they're not eligible for the draft, those guys are not college players. They're pros playing on Saturday. So my takeaway is Ohio State

has two players, one on both sides. They're just not college players. I felt this about Jamar Chase at LSU. It's like, okay, that's not a college player. It's a pro playing on Saturday. If he was a basketball player, he'd be in the NBA. I think the problem with Travis Hunter, and I saw Dion say this within the last month,

do not draft him if you don't embrace him playing both ways. because that's the game plan. And to me, Dion not only speaks as his coach, it feels like he speaks as his parent, feels like he speaks as his agent. Like, that's his representation for Travis Hunter. And I do think that's going to be complicated because he is truly dead set on that.

And based on what he's doing in college, I understand that mindset. I don't believe it can work because of the wear and tear. Same. You know. Same. But like you say, those other two guys,

like just have defined roles. It's very defined. Because my thing with Travis Hunter is if you're my best corner and my best wide receiver, if you get injured, I lose two players. You know, where those other guys is you also get rest. So, yeah, I hear you. The Jeremiah Smith thing, I don't remember seeing a wide receiver this dominant this early

where his body type was that physically developed. Yeah, it reminds me. His legs look so big. When I was a sportscaster in Las Vegas, I covered Larry Johnson, the basketball player at UNLV. And that was before weightlifting was a part of sports in general. I mean, it was out there, but it wasn't like basketball players. players weren't spending a lot of time in the gym. Larry Johnson was so physically dominant that at the college level, you got 26 points just

on putbacks, just on second opportunities. He weighed 45 pounds more than other forwards and was stronger than all of them. So I just look, and here's the thing about Will Howard. I mean, to me, he's a big strong kid who's mobile, so he's a draftable player. I saw him play at Kansas State. I thought, that's a big strong kid. Now you give him star players. I don't know if he's an NFL starter, but I think right now, Ohio State has the best combination of coaching and talent.

Whether they have better talent than Georgia or Texas, you know, who knows. But last year, Michigan only had like three, five star guys. Alabama had like 18. Georgia has 15 over the last couple years. So talent's hard to do you get the most out of your talent. But I don't think we're overreacting to say that the last two games, Ohio State's hitting harder. They're more explosive. They don't look.

These games, they're intimidating Oregon. They intimidated Tennessee. They looked like Tyson at 21 years old. Like other big men feared him in the ring. Ohio State looks, I think Oregon like surrendered about eight minutes in. It was like it was over. Well, the irony was when the other game ended and you came right to the game and it was 7-0. And you're like, whoa, we're just a minute into the game.

And then Fowler was like, yeah, it was a two-play 70-yard drive. You're like, oh, that's going to be a problem. But we had just seen the same thing with Texas and then they slowed down immediately. Ohio State, their foot never came off the pedal. I do wonder if after, because they tried to get into a heavyweight fight with Michigan instead of just slinging the rock around where Michigan wouldn't slow him down. And they lost in a bit them. And I think everyone called out their manhood and their toughness. Like you think you're a tough program.

We've seen you against this Harbaugh level operation. And I would say Michigan still has that soul in them the way they play. And you're not as tough as them. And they go, we are a tough team. We've paid a premium for all these guys. I mean, you see the physicality and the speed in which they have. And it's almost like they got to reset and take it personally because they've come out with a violence that you just haven't seen in college football. I mean, I think only one up.

Perfect word is violent. They look violent defensively. We'll see it. Hopefully this Georgia Notre Dame game actually gets played. But I think there's only one other team that can truly match their violence, and that's Georgia. And we saw them do that. I think the first time they played Texas in Austin, you're like, Jesus.

That's what Ohio State has come out on defense. Because we know offensively, if they just are playing a B minus B plus, you know, somewhere in the B. They don't even need an A game. They're going to be hard to beat because they can score points. If their defense is going to look like this, I mean, good luck. Because Georgia doesn't have that explosion. Obviously, Notre Dame doesn't have that explosion. Texas, you just can't trust their offense.

Just goes through terrible spurts. Penn State, I think, is probably the one team, would be comfortable because they've seen them. They know their personnel wouldn't be intimidated by them. But they still got a, you know, we've got a long way to go before we get that matchup. Let's talk about Texas 39, Arizona State 31 and double overtime. So let's not, let's just start with the targeting. infraction that wasn't called. And that gave Texas, it was a, that gave Texas an opportunity. Because in my opinion, if they call targeting, which it looked like to me, then Arizona State,

do you believe they go on to win the game? Well, I think it would have changed. Yeah. I mean, it would have dramatically changed the situation. All right. So targeting, I looked it up. It's forcible contact with an opponent that goes beyond a legal tackle. The rule is intended to reduce concussions, and you can't lead with the crown of your helmet. Well, that's three for three targeting. I almost felt like watching the game that referees didn't want to decide it. That the crown of the helmet, because if it's forcible contact with an opponent that goes beyond a legal tackle, well, a legal tackle, you can't lead with a helmet. It was helmet on helmet.

Yeah. I felt like officials thought, you know what? it wasn't necessarily the crown of the helmet. It was more helmet on helmet. And there are helmet on helmet hits a lot in college football and pro football that aren't called. But I thought the officials, I think in the first quarter, that's more of a targeting. I think in the third quarter, it's targeting. I thought in that moment, refs were like, it's almost like NBA refs in a playoff game, game seven.

They're going to give you more contact. They do not want the NBA finals decided at the free throw line. Yeah, to me in college football, they're going to be. call that every time. Yes. I thought there was a play earlier in the game or the second half where Arizona State picks yours and the other player last second, the other defender turns his body but still takes out the wide receiver. Massive collision. I think 95% of the time they call that. And I was going to throw up if they had called that because that would have dramatically changed the game as well. And I was surprised honestly they didn't. But I think the moment they didn't call that. And you could say,

well, he turned last thing. He still took him out. His head flew back. They call that. I watch college football for three straight months. That's called every single week. Which I hate, I hate targeting because I hate the rule in general. College football is way more punitive than the NFL because they kick these kids out for a game. And then they missed the half of the next game.

Most of these guys aren't Ed Reed. They're not going to the NFL. So they only get to start a couple years in college. I think we have moved past this point of five, 10 years ago. The CTE, the lawsuits, it has been coached out of the game. No one is trying to injure anybody. And I think all this stuff, the game has played so quickly. We saw it a couple weeks ago when Trevor Lawrence slid and the dude from the Houston Texans, El Shire, took them out.

No one's trying to hurt anybody. These things, it's so easy to judge everything from your couch. This has been coached out of the game, actively coached out of the game, from the lowest levels up through the NFL. I think we need to get rid of it, honestly, in general. I hate even having these debates. It should just be like, forever it wasn't. called and then they overreacted because of the CTE lawsuits. And now the level of hard hits to me are so few and far between.

And even when they happen, it's more just because you have two athletes running at rapid speed. And that play when yours was picked and that kid ran into him like, what was he supposed to do? Float away. And even on the Texas kid, the ball's tipped. Like, he's not trying to hurt him. He's just trying to tackle him. He's trying to make a play. I just think we need to get rid of that rule in general.

I freaking hate it. Yeah. So I mean, you and I both. believe it is targeting. We both hate the rule. I wouldn't have called it, but I would never call it, and I hate the punitive nature. In the NFL, they experiment with calls in the preseason. They'll be overly punitive on a call in the preseason in early September. Have you ever noticed that in the NFL if it's a certain call? And they're creating it. They'll go really, they'll make a point, a point of emphasis in the preseason in early September. And then they'll scale back. In college,

you know, before this year, you kick a great. player out of a big game. You lose the game. You're done. You can't play for a nattie. So you and I both agree is, I thought it was targeting. Think of the standards, too, you're holding 19 and 20-year-old guys, too. It's like these guys, no one's trying to hurt anybody in 2024. I believe that to my core. So I think we need to get rid of it personally, but I doubt that's going to happen. Well, it's the most wonderful time of the year for getting in all the basketball, football hockey action at Draft King Sportsbook. It's the season of giving, so we're being gifted college football and basketball, pro football, basketball, pro hockey, too, almost 24-7.

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I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas.

And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite.

Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement. homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. They're locked. Rockerum stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

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Two takeaways. First, Kenny Dillingham, who was an offensive coordinator briefly at three schools, is a sensational coach. They had 510 yards. had 28 to 17 first down advantage, 97 to 60 play advantage, 28 to 17 first down edge, and I don't believe they have a five-star athlete. One, the level of coaching, and you know what I like, they don't. I mean, Cam Scadabot is one division one offer. Now, he's going to end up getting drafted, as you've talked about, this is the best running back draft in a long time. Jesus. I mean, good God, the Penn State has that Singleton kid.

He didn't get talked about instead of Ashton Genty. If Singleton goes to the right team with a better offensive line, he could end up being the better running back in the NFL. So there's just running backs everywhere. But, I mean, I like Sam Levitt a lot. He's a very young quarterback. He will be a pro. Six two and a half, two ten, dual threat, mobile. You know, again, you can see him and think, oh, that's what a pro is going to look like in two years.

I think he's like 20 years old and two years. And so the quarterback's good. But to have that kind of dominance, 37 to 22 minute time of advantage, when Texas has, I bet you at least 16, 14 to 16, 5 star guys and 40, four star guys, to me, I thought if I was Sark coming out of that game, I'd be a little embarrassed. I thought it was a coaching mismatch. Yeah, I thought he even kind of mentioned that, like that was, we got to play a lot better. He was in his post-game interview on the field, it looked like he was pretty shell-shocked.

I mean, at one point in time, it was fourth in 13. I mean, it's basically fourth in Texas. The game's over. And then they score that touchdown. On that deep ball. Yeah. Jeez, Louise. You know, one thing, you know, the Boise State team that we saw play Penn State is not as good as Chris Peterson's Boise's teams.

That's right. But they just have an all-time great player. Yep. This ASU team, the more and more I watched them today reminded me a lot of. those Chris Peterson teams because probably has more guys that you realize that it probably end up going like six, seventh round. And they just had a grittiness and a toughness to him. The quarterback was really fantastic. I mean, he had to pull plays out of his you know what just to give them an opportunity. Yeah. And that running back, I mean, I thought, listen, the hype on

them, this kind of easy for everyone to latch on to this white guy running guys over. He might have had the flu or something today because he was clearly sucking some win and thrown up. he single-handedly gives them an edge. And obviously the double pass, but he was freaking fantastic. And breaking tackles against those guys. 30 carries 143 yards. I watched him and I thought, he's the guy that played for Tampa years ago. Al-Stat, Mike All-Stat.

Yeah, it's like he is a, there's a Mike All-Stock component. I think he's got a little better speed. Maybe he doesn't. But he's a kid. I think he's out of like Sacramento or something. He had like one scholarship offer. That is a pro. But I think Dillingham, you know, he grew up a Chandler, Arizona.

He always wanted to be Arizona State's coach. This is his dream job. This is not a stepping stone. Like this is the job he always wanted. And it's cool because I think Arizona State always been one of those programs. We think so a little bit of a sleeping giant. Like, why aren't they better? And I think they found they're Chris Peters.

And I think they found a brilliant coach. But the Texas thing, and I wrote this down, and listen, Sark Saban loved him. Washington had a good AD that loved him. USC hired him. Texas is AD. Krista Conte is maybe the smartest AD in the country. Smart people hire Sark. Okay, John, like three schools with big football brands have hired him.

NFL teams liked him. Saban loved him. We know he's a good coach. But one of the things, and we know he can scheme plays. I mean, they have, I thought today, they had a couple of different crisis situations where they had good scheme plays. But I will say his teams feel loose. So it's easy from a couch from somebody to say he's overrated. But if Sabin thinks you're a good coach and he won an assistant of the year in college under Sabin,

and he's had three different programs hire him. And again, he may end up in the national, you know, I mean, this guy is in the right spot, right? He's in the playoff. How do you define him? My knock on him is that his teams always look loose, like they're just not buttoned up, which is interesting because he coached under Sabin, who's the opposite. That's my take. And I don't know.

I don't know what his comp is. but I just feel like too many times on the passing game, it's a jump ball. Like he doesn't have defined reads. Too often it's just like, let's just get better players and throw a ball at the sideline. Is that Uers or Sarp? Yeah, to me, I've been as critical on Sark as anyone over the years. I've bet an astronomical amount of money when my guy DeBore played him last year. And I thought that was, it should have been easier.

But I'm going to defend him here. I think you can look at UR's box score. It doesn't look that bad. He's 20 to 30, 322. to me he's a liability. And I just, I mean, for the talent that they have, because the one knock you've had on Sark, if you've just watched him coach over the years,

like kind of a soft operation, a little like Lincoln Riley. Well, he pivoted pretty well, use that checkbook. Their defense is not soft. I mean, look today. I mean, the way they got back into the game was a freak double pass

where the guy's covered and he comes back, scadaboo under throws him. You know, the kicker missed a couple kicks. I mean, it hadn't he been named? all season long. Yeah. So it's a little freakish the way they came back. I mean,

that game was one for the ages with the stuff. I think you look at Quinn Newers, who again, if you just look at the box score, it doesn't look that terrible. This is a national championship roster without a national championship quarterback. I actually think Sark has grown a lot.

I think he tries to call plays around this player sometimes. I think he gets in the situations where he doesn't trust them. You know, that's the thing with Dillingham. Like, they have full trust in that court. It doesn't have a choice. I think sometimes just like, hey, we can just run some bubble screens. Our athletes are better than your athletes, right?

And sometimes, for whatever reason, how this team, 53 yards rushing, 53 yards rushing against ASU, like, you would think with the amount of talent they have on their offensive line and the talent they have it running back, if you would have said, what do they rush for coming into this ASU game? I would have said, easily 140 yards. And they just had, it wasn't working. They just abandoned it. And ASU is selling out, like, make Quinn Ewers beat us, which ironically kind of

did in the overtime because you didn't cover anyone in the end zone. But for most part, the reason they got back into it, the interception. How many times this year have Texas been in a position where they can really put the nail on the coffin and Quinn Ewerch turns the ball over? Or they're down in a game against George. They're coming back and he turns the ball over. There is just an element of, I mean, if he was an NFL player, he would be highly, highly criticized.

And I would imagine the Texas Reddit community and the football community, he's a pretty polarizing guy. And everyone's like, we're going to Archvading next year. No, if fans are buts about it. If I was a Texas fan, I'd be like, why is he just playing right now? Because if he's as good as everyone says it's going to be and he's a manning, I mean, the only team that I've seen that could even remotely play with us would be Ohio State. We can't beat Ohio State with this player.

That's what I would be thinking. And there's a loyalty. And listen, I think this is where coaches sometimes are different than personnel people, definitely different with fans. They're very loyal to a guy. Clearly him and Quinn have a longstanding relationship now. He's rode with them this long. They've had a lot of success, right?

Last year they were in the playoffs. this year they're now in the final four. But man, I think you have this great. I mean, they're defense. How many of those guys look like NFL players? I mean, they have freshmen that look like they're going to be top 10 picks. And what are they going to be against Ohio State? Would you guess it?

Six point underdog? Oh, yeah. I would, that's a great question. I would take Ohio State minus six. To me, I wouldn't take Texas until we got into like seven and a half. Yeah. You know, it's just funny. So I thought it was a great game.

Texas's offense has been their problem. Their defense, for the most part, this year has been fantastic. And to me, it's not Sark. It's the quarterback because the quarterback is just not that good, relative to what they, their standard and the way they're playing. I mean, if they had some of these quarterbacks that we've seen in college football over the years, the guys Bama's had, the Joe Burroughs, the Trevor Lawrence's, I mean, I think this, we'd be looking at Texas and Ohio State like equals.

But when you have a quarterback who's just not, I mean, that picky through was just terrible. And even who's Jesse Palmer's like, you can't put that much air under the ball. And ASU's DBs are not, you know, Dion Sanders and Ned Reed back there. You just make it too easy. And he does it all the time. His interceptions are really, really bad, go ahead. Yeah. Penn State 31, Boise State 14.

Boise State, for the record, had the ball in the red zone. I counted four times. It could have been five and didn't get any points. So Penn State gave them multiple opportunities to make that game much closer. Boise State had a touchdown that was called back because of a holding penalty. So it was 31 to 14, but it didn't look like a blowout. I mean, there was multiple opportunities for voices. It was a good game.

So it's really interesting. So first of all, Carter is a top five player. He got banged up. Great player. Nick Singleton, who was like a Gatorade player, the year in high school. school. He's going to be a stud pro running back. Drew Aller is fascinating. Big guy, big arm. There are stories out there that NFL scouts think he may still go pro. And many say he would go number one simply on arm strength and size. Can I look at Penn State and I have great respect

for the program, but they remind me a little bit of a poor man's Ohio state. They're just never quite, they don't have quite as many NFL guys. They're just not quite as good. People criticize James Franklin, but the guy won't at Vandy. So he's fine. He's a great recruiter. Can Penn State win the Natty? I think they'd need Carter to be healthy. Because early in that game, he had one pass rush. You're like, holy, that looks like Micah Parsons in number 11. And then when you go with the other guys, I told you, I think last week, I think they could win the whole thing. But he's, I mean, you lose a top five player. I don't care how good you're recruiting is. It's pretty damn good. That'd be a big blow. But how good does Warren look? The running backs look fantastic. The quarterback's playing great.

Is to you just trust James Franklin. I think the one thing we saw with ASU and Boise, there's a grittiness and a toughness that just even Ohio State, Ohio State's showing it now, but they go for a long period of time without it because they don't need it. Yeah. Boise State for 25 years is built on that. And I think Kenny Dillingham has brought that to Arizona State. And that's why they can go toe to toe with a team where they don't have one guy that would start for the other team. I mean, that's truly, if you remove Gentie, which, I mean, Gentie would technically start for Penn State, but they would rotate the other guys in. Yeah, Singleton's a great running back.

Yeah. So I actually learn more about Gentie in that game than I do with some of his 250-yard games against New Mexico, running over Penn State. It was an impressive, just gritty effort by the guy running for every yard was contested, running his ass off. He's a big time player. Yeah, he doesn't fumble, but he did twice in this game. That was freaky. Yeah, he only averaged three and a half yards of carry. I think part of Genti's strength.

I mean, I don't put him in the class of Zeke or Sequin, Adrian Peterson, or McCaffrey is an NFL first round running back. I don't. He'll go first round because it's a weak draft. He's five, eight. I mean, that's kind of a, you know, it's not ideal. Yeah, I think his strength is that he is so small and so powerful, he is hard. you know, like we're running backs, you don't want a six two running back. I think he's hard to get that pad level low enough to get him a shot.

And so what you end up doing when you tackle him, it's almost always arm tackles because he's 5'8. So when he lowers, so when he runs and lowers his head, it's like tackling a 5, 5.5 and a half guy. He always has the center of gravity and he always has sort of leverage on you, hips down. And so it's like Penn State guys held him to three and a half yards to carry, but he broke so many arm tackles. And so it's like I look at him as a first round running back in a week draft. I don't look at him as an Annabelle superstar. I don't think he has the juice of Sequin. I don't think he has the strength or speed of Adrian Peterson.

I don't think he's as talented as McCaffrey, who's also small. I think part of the package with him is you just can't get under him. And his size is, and I think in the NFL, he'll have success. But I don't know, as I watch him, my take is he'll need the right fit in the NFL to be a star, but he is a starter. Yeah, well, to me, he's going to get drafted really high. I think he's going to be a good player in the NFL. I would struggle, you know, if let's say somewhere between 15 and 25, I think a lot of people think that's the range he's going to get picked.

Well, if I'm drafting 20th and then my next pick is 50th, why wouldn't I, if I could take a corner or an offensive lineman at 20th, I can get one of the these other good running backs at 50th. So it's kind of supply demand. It's always why a lot of people, why did Jim Harbaugh take the tackle at five and then take Ladd-McConkie in the second round? Because there's a ton of wide receivers in every draft. So I'm going to get a guy that starts in the second round.

We see it every year with wide receivers. Like, you know, would you take a wide receiver in the top 10? Well, if I'm drafting after you, I hope you do so I can take another position. I can take a wide receiver later. So, I mean, every game I watch, Henderson for Ohio State, he's an NFL player. All these teams have NFL players at running back. So why would I take a running back in the first round if I think I get 95% or 90% of that guy, maybe in the third round?

What if I get Scataboo? Scataboo is going to run like a 475. What if I can get that guy in the third round? You don't think Jim Harbaugh's going to like Scataboo? Does that guy have Charger written all over him? Yeah. Well, I mean, it's, I think I told you this recently. Woody Marks for USC is their best back since Reggie Bush.

he may be a fifth round back. Now, maybe Gentie's better than him. He's not that much better than him. Like, it is a loaded, I mean, this Singleton kid at Penn State was the national Gatorade player of the year, was the Big Ten freshman of the year. Singleton is again, I don't know as measurables, but he's like six feet, 227. It looks small to me. With a burst, it's like if anybody dropped in the first round, I could see Gentie dropping,

not because he's not good, but because of the depth of the position. You know, the one thing, yeah, I'm with you. I just think it's, if he measures in at 5-8, you know, remember Darren Sprouls, who was as dominant of a college player in the last 25 years as there was. Now, times have changed a lot with size, but he was same thing, 5-7, 5-8. He went in the fourth round. Now, that modern-day player would go much higher. It is difficult to pull the trigger on a guy in the teens or the low 20s that is 5-8.

eight, no matter how dominant he is. And again, I think the teams are going to hesitate. They're going to really like, I haven't texted a scout that doesn't love the player, but that height thing is just something with GMs and coaches that is just, that's where Drew Aller, right now today, you know, I know Drew Aller is committed to go back to school, right? Which is worth millions of dollars, I'm sure. I would say a month ago, he was not viewed as a lock first round pick. I don't see how he would not go in the first round today.

I don't know what pick. He would be a first rounder, right? No question. No question. So now we start going well, we know quarterback inflation. They go higher. People are going to nitpick these other two quarterbacks. I mean, he's bigger, he's stronger. And now he's playing really well under the brightest lights. He wins another game.

He's playing with all these other guys. Abdul Carter, if he's healthy, he's going in the top five or six picks. How much is Warren helped his draft stock the second half of this year? I mean, that guy's going to be, it's not a great draft. You're telling me he can't go in the top 10 or 12 picks? Yeah. I mean, if you count Aller, Singleton, Carter, and Warren, those are four star players. So the idea, can they win a national championship?

I don't know. I feel like they're a little bit of a poor man's Ohio State. But again, I mean, how many games in a row can Ohio State play perfect football? There is something to be said. I mean, Ohio State now looks like the world's best team. It is hard to play at this level for that long. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers. And guess what?

We have some big news. What's the news, no. Huge news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with the name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember.

I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas.

And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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. Last night, a blown call changed the game. Morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, We break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive?

The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs.

and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now,

and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. I want to do three NFL topics. Number one, Sequin Barclay, they're not going to play them in the final game. So I've said this before, John, I'm not an awards guy.

I'm not, I just don't care. I mean, I just do not. I don't know how many Pro Bowls and all pros Tom Brady have. He, I know his Super Bowls. So I don't care. I don't think most athletes care. If my athletes care too much about Pro Bowls, unless they have bonuses, I'm worried about him. I would not play Sequin. I didn't like them feeding him the ball 31 times. The only position left in football, college or pro, that you can hit anybody anywhere, anytime is a running back coming through the line. If you hit, and nobody's going to throw a, targeting foul if a running back squeezes through and you go helmet to helmet from the side. So to me, it's the last position in football that's a little bit of a pinata. And you have to consider that when they play. I remember years ago, Leonard Fernette and McCaffrey bowed out of bowl games. And I said, quarterback, bother me. Star receiver, I'd wonder if he's soft.

Running back in the Liberty Bowl, bow out. I got your back. so I don't have a problem at all with Sequin and the Eagles decision, do you? No, well, if I'm the Eagles, my quarterback's already got concussion, and I don't even know if he's officially cleared a week and a half out. The two guys that I can't afford to get injured are my left tackle and my right tackle. Lane Johnson surely is not going to play in this game. And the left tackle, the Australian guy, Milata, I doubt he's going to play either.

So right up the bat, my star quarterback and the running element with him and Seaquin is a huge addition to our success. and my two-star offensive linemen are out, and I'm going to play my running back in a game that up until, how long have we been playing this last game for an extra three years? Didn't even exist. So we already won. We stole them from the Giants for not much money, and no one will ever forget when we probably got everyone in the Giants fired

and he ran for 2,000 yards. You know, football's not really a record sport. What's the most record for yards? No one could tell me the exact yardage. No one cares. but if you run for 2,000 yards, like that's a historic moment. They already got the record, even if it doesn't actually count. It happened.

Stolen from the Giants, he ran from two. It was one of the great wins of all time. Howie, the Eagles, Siriani, Sequin, this was a home run. Can you imagine if you were going for this record, which is not apples to apples because they did not play the same amount of games, we can argue should we care or not, it is kind of a big deal if you didn't. It was a gentey Barry Sanders thing. It was like, well, he played way more games.

than Barry Sanders. But if Sequin Barclay broke his ankle in a game that literally means nothing, even if other guys were playing, how would the only thing that matters, the only thing that mattered from the start of the season for the Eagles was January. We all knew that they were going to get there. And then actually they got way hotter than we thought. And it's like, God, they're incredible. But if he got injured in this moment, or let's say Lane Johnson got injured in the game

trying to get him the record. I this is there's too much on the line this team has been building this thing for three or four years to get this good they won colin like they the giants lost they won baseball is the record sport basketball is the aesthetic sport there's a beauty and an art to it football's about winning always has been always will be it's about winning and you protect your best players as they keep lengthening the season now there's 17 games within two years my guess is we have 18 games the one position I'm going to try and protect. And, you know, is running back.

And it's interesting, a couple years ago, people were saying running backs have no future. You know, the winner in an 18 game schedule, John, is running backs. I think every team will carry another running back. You won't carry another, you won't carry another Mike linebacker. I think every team now will say, probably need another running back on the roster. And I do think with 18 games, roster expansion will happen. And I'm going to want an extra, I mean, let's be honest. I'm going to want an extra running back, probably an extra offensive lineman, and maybe an extra

linebacker because of the hits they incur. But running backs are doing quite fine. The league is obviously pivoted to more of a running league with many of the best teams. So I know everybody was freaking out about that, but running backs are back. Did you see a story floating around there on the internet? I don't know how much validity there is to this, but I know that, listen, it's pro sports, a lot of money in the line. I've heard crazier is that the Jets would entertain going all in

and making Howie Roseman, basically the czar of football. And I don't know if this is even possible, offering him equity and obviously making him paid. Because even if GMs make a lot, they make $6,7 million. We have some of these coaches make a double, triple that. Yeah. And how he's got a lot of juice. But listen, you pay me $20 million a year. You know, GMs don't usually get leveraged like coaches that often to really put the

hammer down and get paid. So listen, this could be a little bit of a leverage play by Howie, who's, you know, him and Tanabomber closer. Just if I was the Jets, I'd take a hail Mary on a guy like Howie to, you know, he's from Brooklyn. That's where he grew up. I was like, yeah, I think if you're Woody Johnson, that you could do way worse than that. Yeah, I mean, I, over the course of my life, I'm 60 years old now, over the course of my life, one thing has been universally true. There's very little great. And when you get great, you never, let it go, you build around great, and Howie Roseman feels like he's in a class by himself. And that includes other GMs I like. He's the most aggressive. He's a lead in his job for sure.

And I just think there aren't many people like that. So, you know, I mean, great endures, great separates. And I don't care if it's, if you're, you know, a firm in New York on Wall Street. If you have a great stockbroker, you can get me three good ones. They don't equal one great one. So to me, Howie Roseman, if he broke the bank, would deserve it. Okay, let's go to more topics, Brock Purdy. So you're obviously an NFL scout, and whenever, you know, I tend to let you lead on that stuff because it's what you do and know much more about it. I've never been a huge Purdy fan. I have kind of a base belief that if the great quarterbacks are not if quarterbacks.

Joe Burrell's great. battle line, shitty defense, coach can't figure the clock out, he wins, and he produces. You're not always going to win if you don't have good people around you, but you'll be wildly productive. Burrell is a great example of that. Even Herbert finally has a good coach, but he was breaking rookie records as a rookie with a bad coach in the 32nd ranked offensive line. Purdy to me has always been an if quarterback, if the protection's good, if he's got a lead. He's now, I think we have to acknowledge, he is not a good fourth quarter quarterback. He's not a good quarterback trailing. Now, that's not six games or eight. It's a pretty big sample now. And I do think the separator in this league, beyond some traits, size, movement, hand, size, arm, but beyond some of that is, how do you play from behind? Some guys have it, some don't. I could not pay pretty early. I could not pay him a number at five. But he's going to have leverage because Traylands, didn't work. If the Vikings franchise Darnold, what do you do? Aaron Rogers, Kirk Cousins.

As somebody who has done this for a living, as somebody who was a fan of Purdy and has peeled back a little bit, if you ran the Niners, what do you do? Do you draft Riley Leonard in the third round and just, I mean, what do you do? Yeah, to me, I just played out another year. And I think as concerning as the two interceptions were, and they were bad interceptions in a game that an interception lost the game. One interception was going to lose the game. Jared Goff couldn't afford to do it. Purdy couldn't afford to do it.

And he threw two, and even Kyle admitted after the game. We lost the game with the two turnovers. That was the type game we were in. His elbow nerve issue, like I don't think that he has a nerve issue with his hand just randomly with the UCL thing a couple years ago. Now, luckily he didn't tear his UCL,

but he's already had Tommy John, and then he has, I would say a relatively, I don't want to say innocuous might be a little light, but he was not throttle. They kind of, he tackled him as he was rolling. It wasn't just, he didn't just get Molly Wap sitting there in the pocket. And he couldn't grip it and he said his arm was on fire. Right. So you're telling me your arms on fire, you can't grip it.

When you've already had an elbow issue, that would gravely concern me, Colin. So the play had already really disturbed me. The second half performance this year had not. not been good, specifically these last three games. They were six and seven in that Rams game. They win it. Boom, they're playing Miami. They're playing this game.

They have a chance to make the playoffs. And he throws five interceptions or four interceptions, two picks that lose the Miami game and the Rams game, and then the two interceptions in this last game. So the game's kind of unraveled on his watch. The other thing is over the middle of the field sometimes when the pocket's a little muddied. I don't think he can see that well. And sometimes I think balls balloon on him.

and he gets lucky sometimes kittles tall and can make some miraculous catches. But some of his picks happen when Debo, a little shorter guy, not able to, you know, overcorrect in the air and balls fly. And his picks feel like he did throw the one to Jawan outside. A lot of him in the middle of the field. It goes back to last year. And I do think that's an eye issue. Can't see.

If you can't see, you let it go. And you're like, oh, shit. But he doesn't know that when there are guys in front of him. And this notion, everyone, everyone's, And he's having a great game. Well, the Ram, or excuse me, the Lions defense was a practice squad unit beside two or three players. That's right. And he was eviscerating him, which is, he's a good player.

I hope so. Everyone's been eviscerating them. But then the picks happen in the fourth quarter. It's like, that can't, that just can't. I've told you before, he's got to hang his hat on decision making because the skill set is not going to be outrageously special. Here, I'm going to throw this at you. And this is one of my favorite topics in all sports, is cultural change.

changes. So you and I both admit that guys like Drew Bledso or a more recent advance example, a Carson Palmer, they didn't have seven-on-seven camps. They didn't have 10,000 throws by the time they were 12 years old. These kids are better now and faster at quarterback. There's a cultural shift happening with quarterbacks. If you go back to the 2018 draft class, now that's the one I think with Darnold, Baker, Lamar. Josh, Lamar. Okay, so four guys who are steps. So, and that's not the only draft class that that's happened in.

We also had the Herbert Tua, Borough draft class. I think Jalen Hertz was second round in that draft class. I may be wrong, but I think he was. We now have, you and I growing up, they always talked about that one great draft class. Oh, Murdo. Reno and Elway. Since 2018 now, we have multiple quarterback draft classes where four guys hit four. Okay. Like, it's now a regular occurrence. This is a weak draft class. Last years, we may have the best draft class ever last year. Jayden's unbelievable. Bonix is good.

Pennix looks good in brief duty. Caleb's a sensational talent. Drake May will be good when he gets players, and J.J. McCarthy looked unbelievable in the preseason. We may have a five for five. So you go back to the Donald Baker-Lamar Josh class. You go to the Herbert Tua, Jalen Hertz, Burrow class. You go to this last class. This is a week class. But now we have three draft classes. You're getting four high-end starters or more. And my take is next year, if you really do your homework, I think Riley Leonard's going to be the late mid-round guy that pops this year. Maybe I'm wrong, but somebody I think will pop third, fourth round. I think it's Notre Dame's quarterback. Next year's supposed to be a much better quarterback, especially if Drew Aller comes out next year,

is what about this? You just roll the dice and say, we're not signing Donald to a huge deal. Aaron doesn't interest us. Cousins isn't playing well. We're not signing Purney. And you just roll the dice and say, we think it's going to be another four quarterback draft class. I know that you don't like to do that. But Pete, you know as Scouts, you're two years ahead of where I'm at. I think culturally, we're just getting these four quarterback classes on a regular basis. Why not roll the dice? Yeah, I mean, my thing specifically with Purdy is the NFL I grew up on, it was like, okay, we're not paying you right now, play it out. And that kind of has dropped by the wayside these last four or five years. The teams kind of get pushed around by the agents.

Why can't you go, we got one more year of a contract, we're going to play it out. You're making millions off the field. You benefit from being the starting quarterback of the 49ers. If you're a great player and you're a $50 million player, I just thought their schedule came out. They're playing a last play schedule. The 49ers should dominate. The other thing was what made Kyle Shanhan so special. One with Jimmy Garopplo, one with Brock Purdy.

Shouldn't you be able to find some other guy to win with? Right? I mean, it's like, if you're not going to get a Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen, you should just be able to win with any kind of quarterback. and a pretty decent clip, your team's pretty good. So I'm with you. I would personally just roll it out another year, but it feels like these teams, and you talk to some of these contract negotiators now,

they say it has turned into a little bit more, you know, the players, because the money's so big now that they're so hesitant to like, fuck you, I'm not going to show up. Right. Which we've always seen some holdouts.

They are a lot more prevalent now, because even a random player is getting $60, 70 million dollars guaranteed. And, you know, these quarterbacks, minimum we're getting $150 million guaranteed. But I would play hardball, especially if he's injured. It's the conversations made already. It's like, yeah, we can't sign an injured player or there's question marks about the injury.

So I've said forever the 49ers drive a hard bargain. I'd be stunned if this thing is easy. And I think everything's on the table right now. I think Kyle, you know, I think they were so desperate for the Trey Lance thing and it blew up in their face. And I think that's kind of a one-off that 2020 draft with the COVID. that we're not going to see anything like that again. And I think he feels comfortable with this, but I think he's not an idiot.

You saw his face when Purdy threw one of those picks and he puts the thing over because he knows Monday Night Football, he doesn't want to go viral of him just going nuts. Who knows what he was saying? But he did that specifically to cover his mouth because he was like, we can't. How can you throw that ball? He was hanging his hat on it up here.

Like he was going to be like a Drew Brees with a little more mobility. Drew Breeze's separating factor was decision-making, right? Some of these other guys can get away with some dumb throws because they also make 10 incredible throws. Purdy has to not turn the ball over. And four turnovers in the last three games with their season on the line. In winnable games, it'd be one thing if you're down 20 or up 20.

Like, these are a tie game. You're playing the best. And the one thing I do respect why I think the NFL is just crushing, Lions had nothing to play for. Whether they won or lost that game, Minnesota game meant the same thing. The 49ers are dead and gone. Season's over. And you had all these star players playing that game like it means everything to them. And it was just like, I just enjoy the level of spirit and energy that the star players in this league give us on a weekly basis. I mean, the Lions have one of the biggest games in the franchise's history coming up in six games. They have to fly

five hours home in the middle of the night. They're at a huge disadvantage. And their guys laid it on the line like that was a playoff game. I mean, that's, if anyone wonders why the NFL is king, you turn on Monday night football, everyone knows game means nothing. Definitely for the 49ers. And it's like, these team teams are throwing the kitchen, sink in each other.

Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas, we invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts around there.

but this one's extra special So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas guys? I honestly don't remember I think it was on a call about what we should call it And we were thinking I'm originally calling it One of the early names of our band Before Jonas Brothers

This is how you guys remember it going down Yes I have a very different memory of this We were talking about a thing A bit for the podcast People could call in and say hey Jonas And then I wrote down on my little notepad Hey Jonas and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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 acapella 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. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying,

and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions,

the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicalife 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets,

meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one. one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history.

You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast,

I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down in three to Rovachina, but I'm delighted. Yeah, she's an outsider to win the French for me. She likes Clay. Listen, Lennarabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface.

Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Finally, Chris Ballard probably in some trouble as the GM of the Colts. So, you know, it's interesting because I think he hired the right coach in Shane Steichen. I don't think they had a choice on quarterback. I mean, listen, when Jim Ursay impulsively told them to get rid of Carson Wentz after he had 27 touchdowns and seven picks because he had a bad game against the Jags down in Florida, which the Colts have played poorly there for years, it put Chris Ballard and the entire organization behind the eight ball.

I think the Colts are one of those teams that we think are well run because Ballard does a really good job, but they're not because basically Ursa is one of the more impulsive owners. He's likable, but his personal life is well documented. And when I look at that franchise, I think that Carson Wentz, they had to go and get Phillip Rivers and they've been basically bailing water. They've had the worst quarterback luck. Andrew Luck retires right before season. You're effed. Carson Wentz, owner tells you get rid of him. But he's a big, strong mobile guy who had a good season. Get rid of him. Philip Rivers was the least athletic quarterback in the league. But again, they won with him. And Anthony Richardson, he was available. They didn't want to give away the farm for a quarterback.

We had questions coming in, and he can't complete a high enough level of passes. And it's one thing to be talented and get off to a slow start. Caleb Williams. We know he's talented. We know he's struggled. Anthony Richardson, he was a total question mark, not a great college quarterback, and now he's struggling here. I think you have to cut ties with him. I don't think it's a Chris Ballard issue. I think if this team had C.J. Stroud even, the eighth best quarterback in the league. I think they're a playoff team.

But I think it wears on a team when you have to constantly overcome a quarterback. And I think in that Giants game, you saw it. You constantly look. literally as a coaching staff. I mean, you talked about this with Sark and Kuenuers. I watched the Colts, and they coach around Anthony Richardson. And I think that when you do that, you can win games, but you will eventually have stinkers. You're just constantly coaching around the most important position. I have a relationship with Ballard.

I like him. I like the roster. Do you think he survives? I mean, I think everything's on the table after this week when McAfee puts out the tweet and then their coach admits to, yeah, guys are showing up late. But hey, guys show up late. It's like, no, they actually don't. You think guys are showing up late to Andy Reid's meetings or Kyle Shanahan or

Sean McVeigh's meetings? And if they do, there aren't heavy repercussions. So they clearly have kind of a loosey-goosey ship. And to me, that's less, that's on the coach when it comes to meetings and stuff. And you just wonder, this transition from being a coordinator, which he was a hot-shot coordinator. And being the lead guy, everything's on the table. When the quarterback taps out of the game and that becomes the biggest controversy,

in the NFL, you have to answer for that three times a week instead of the coordinator just once. Like, that's your problem. How do you handle it? Do you bench them? It's all your decision. When a guy gets in trouble, when a guy says something stupid on a podcast, it's on the defensive side of the ball.

And I do just wonder if Shane Stuyck is a little bit over his head as a head coach. Because when a story comes out that he had, hey, you guys are showing up late. You're like, God, you better shoot that down. And then, yeah, we've had guys show up late. But, hey, people show up late all over the place. No, I don't think so. Like, because I think that snowballs into other things. Then are you not practicing well or guys screwing around?

And I think this all gets back to the Anthony Richardson tapout thing, people questioning like he gets injured a lot, but are they serious injuries? And no one really knows what's going on. And they feel like they've taken on back to what you say, Jim Mersey's personality. Well, unreliable and who knows what the hell's going to happen. Listen, Norv Turner. Everybody loves Norv Turner. Jimmy Johnson swears by him.

Troy Aikman swears by him. could never do it as a head coach. And he was a brilliant, brilliant coordinator. There are guys, you know, you see it in politics. Some guys are vice presidents. Some guys are presidents. You see it all the time. A guy will be a great sales manager at a company, but you wouldn't want to run in the company. You know, he's a little loose, a little late night, but he's a great sales guy. And it's quite possible that Shane Steichen is one of these sort of modern coaches that is softer on players. He's pro players. I mean, Brandon Staley was a very good defensive coordinator. I mean, he, the Rams defense was excellent. He was a disaster. And it just got

worse and worse and worse and the details. And it got looser and looser. And I think, you know, it's quite possible that Stuyken, like I've said this about Ben Johnson. I think Ben Johnson is a great coordinator. Now, it is easier when you have like eight Pro Bowl players on your offense. And I don't, when I see him talk and when I listen to him, I don't see, I've said this about Mike McDaniel. I don't see a culture changer and a leader of men. What I see is a really smart guy. And by the way, Mike McDaniels is a very modern progressive pro player coach. What's our knock on Miami? They're soft. Shane Steichen, modern progressive guy. What's our knock on him? Pro player. He's soft. So I think that there is this hard-ass component to football coaches, this Harbaugh, Vrable, this sort of intense Tomlin Belichick that still stands true. Like, yeah, I said this the other day. Very rarely do these culture changer changes flail. They don't all have great seasons. But very rarely do you hire a culture changer and it's a disaster. You know, these coordinators, John, these brilliant offensive coordinators, about,

One out of two, flame out fast. They just don't work. So I think there's a possibility that Stuyken maybe is a little bit Mike McDaniel, who the media loves because he was kind of dorky and a little nerdy and very smart, looked like a sports rider, like they kind of related to him. But in the end, is Miami to me is maybe the least trustable team in the league if it's over 40, over under 40 degrees. Well, and think last year they had Vic Fangio, who's one of the best defensive coordinators of my life.

and it didn't work. The players were bitching him own and he wants out. It's like, Mike, you get this guy working for you. You never let him leave. You fire the players for you, fire this guy. He worked everywhere. We'll take him immediately. Yeah.

And so to me, I heard your Pete Carroll rant. I think Pete Carroll has no shot because of his age. Fair or not, I just don't think anyone's going to hire him. I mean, I think I was a big part of Belichick, too. You look at these guys, 72, 73 years old, and you just go, well, in five years, I'll be 78. I think it's really working against them, even though. Pete is the youngest 73-year-old

the history of human beings. But if Pete Carroll took over the Bears next year, I think they are guaranteed to make the playoffs in one of the next three years. If Ben Johnson takes over the Bears, I think there's a 50-50 chance it's an all-time flame out. Yeah.

Because you just don't overcome it. And like you said, you watch his personality, you watch the way he carries himself. The toughness of the team is built through Dan Campbell and the drafting. And he's done a good job with schemes and the place. he's a brilliant play collar. We have seen Pat Schumer,

remember him on the Minnesota Vikings the year with Case Keenham? It's like, this guy's a brilliant play caller. And then he becomes a head coach for the second time. It's the same thing in disaster. Not everyone is meant for that role. And most guys are not. Just like in life, like the older you get and kind of, I try to look at myself, like, what do I want to do?

Where do I want to go? What are my strengths and weaknesses? And the best part about the NFL, if you're a number two, your whole life, it pays you $5 million a year to be the offensive coordinator. And listen, someone's going to pay him 10, 15, million dollars. I get it, and it sure feels like it. But two years ago, rumors that I had heard was he was scared. He thought he was overwhelmed, so he didn't even really entertain it. Last year was pretty

embarrassing. I mean, the Washington football team, clearly not your old Dan Snyder operation, pretty high-level group, was flying in a private jet to come talk to him. And he called them on the flight to say, hey, I'm out. Pretty low-level thing. Like, that feels like something that no one like Pete Carroll, Mike Vrabble are doing that even if they're going to go in a different direction the way he handled it. And I just think you hire these coordinators. Everyone thinks you're getting the next Kyle or McVeigh. McVe is a good example. Like he's really built more like Tomlin and Kyle really is built like more like the Wiz Kid. But Kyle is kind of like this old school hard ass like keeps everyone on their toes. I mean, he's miced and he's got video cameras in

every room. Like everyone's kind of on edge in that building because he look at him. He's high stress. He's just, he's an intense, he's kind of a dick, which is a compliment sometimes for football coaches. And he's built up the equity now. People know he knows what he's doing so he can ride guys in the building. I think it's hard for a young coordinator who's never had any success outside of being a coordinator if things don't go right early. And the other thing is the, you know, the elephant in the room with the bears is like this Caleb Williams situation is like, there's so much pressure on making him good. Let's just say there's a chance. I mean, history would say that five out of the five guys in the draft are not going to become like 10-year

starters, right? Some of them are going to miss. Well, you wouldn't bet against Jaden at this point. And with Sean Peyton, as long as he's the head coach, you're not going to bet against Bo Nix. Maybe I'm one of the only high guys on Michael Penix. Like the way Michael Pennix plays translates to the NFL. Caleb, the holding onto the ball, some coaches will tell you, your boy, Sean Payton will

tell you too. That's something that you can't always coach out. Yeah. And it is, you know, for all the things that we want, the offensive line is not Caleb's fault. but the holding on to the ball for way too, that was something Russell always battled. But Russell was,

I don't know, their defense was a lot better. He had Pete Carroll, their infrastructure was better, so they could kind of coach around it. But they always butted heads over that. It's like Russell, let it go.

But he became a star playing that way. Not many guys can play like that and consistently. Deshawn Watson for a brief moment played like that. And then it unraveled. Because most coaches go play within the offense. And they just don't want it. And Caleb, I think, struggles with that a little bit. It's why I push back sometimes this year on the Caleb, like, well, some of these throws.

Well, yeah, he's down 30 to seven. So he just made a couple throws. Who cares? That's, I wonder if that job as much as the administration, the Kevin Warren thing, if the Caleb, yeah, he's like this ball of clay. But is he really a ball of clay or some of those, the way that he plays, is going to be always the way he plays. And that holding onto the ball, you know, accuracy, I think is something we've seen. Like, you can't improve a little bit, especially in this. modern day NFL guys are a little more open.

There's no John Lynch's and Atwater's killing people. So you can be a little more inaccurate and still complete balls. I do think the feel in the pocket of holding that ball, some guys just do it for whatever. And some guys just have the knack to get rid of it. I mean, that's one reason Kyle loves Purdy. You know, now it's going to the other team sometimes, but he will get rid of the football. You watch Caleb, you're like, throw the ball. And Russell used to take a lot of sacks.

Remember, the offensive line used to get crushed. and you'd hear people in the NFL. It's like, yeah, the offensive line, half those sacks were on him. That's why Peyton would always tell you. It's like it wasn't always on the offensive line, but they always got shit on for it. Yeah, Peyton, that's one of the reasons, the primary reasons. It was a personality clash and Russell Wilson's inability to let go the ball in Denver. Okay, obviously, Notre Dame George has been pushed back a day because of that unspeakable tragedy in New Orleans between a madman, because of a madman driving a car full speed.

I just saw the video. I watched it once, and that was a. enough, somebody driving full speed into a crowd, 15 dead at this time, again, just incredibly unspeakable college football fans down in, you know, what has always been sort of an outdoor city in the winter. You go outdoors, you're in the streets, Bourbon Street. So just a grotesque tragedy. And so that game has been moved. I like Notre Dame, but I'm not sure how strong I feel about that. I don't, after watching Ohio State Disasternity, Manil, Oregon and Tennessee. I think the only strong opinion I have is Ohio State is the best

balance of talent and coaching right now. And I also think I'm, I am happy for Ohio State because I think everybody thought Ryan Day was a good coach. But, you know, good coaches have bad Saturdays and Sundays. I mean, they do. It's okay. Like people have, I've had bad shows. You know, you as a scout, you probably missed on a player. Politicians have bad speeches. Ryan Day had a bad day coaching against Michigan, and he has had two great days coaching against Tennessee and an Oregon, and I'm happy for him. I think it's pretty cool.

Yeah, I mean, if he wins the national championship, people will forget about the four losses of Michigan pretty quickly. Well, and let's hope this game. I mean, obviously, like you said, you wake up to that news. You have to wonder if the administrations from Notre Dame and Georgia are a little uneasy. You know, some of the bombs and stuff about even how can anyone guarantee the safety of everybody. I was honestly like, would they move this game? It becomes so difficult logistically. Just hope it gets played and everyone could stay safe because I know if I was going

to the game, I'd be a little, I'd be hesitant at this point. I mean, I've, I've only been to Bourbon Street one time when I was in college. It is not very wide. You know, this isn't the Vegas strip where there's just a lot of room. This is a pretty tight quarter where you would be a sitting duck. And I'm with you. I watched that video. It's one of those. You just turn off your phone. and you just can't even fathom what you witnessed. Yeah. There's going to be obviously your news organizations are going to have more, so I'm not going to speculate.

I saw a picture of the guy. He was an Army vet, born in Texas. That's what we know. But, um, think about you got, you got New Year's Eve with this game the next night, the amount of alumni from places like Notre Dame and Georgia, the amount of people that would be there naturally,

it's got to be one of the most popular nights on Bourbon Street. It's just, Just beyond awful. It is. John Middlkoff, former NFL scout, a special Wednesday podcast over an hour. What a pleasure,

what a treat. Congrats to Texas, Ohio State and Penn State. And let's get ready for Notre Dame and Georgia tomorrow. Good talking to you, bud. See you, Colin. The volume. Hey, guys, it's us.

The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast. called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know. Tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests. from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day

and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. a Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets,

a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind,

and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear.

Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host Keer Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to.

Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your, a podcast. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.