The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast Prime Cuts -  Greg McElroy on Saban, Realignment  + Bears Camp Report with Dave Wannstedt, Middlekauff on Rodgers Rebrand

Episode Date: August 12, 2023

It’s Prime Cuts. The best of The Colin Cowherd Podcast. First Colin’s top takes of the week, including why this NFL preseason is exponentially more interesting than last year and why no one should be outraged over the latest high profile exodus of Oregon and Washington to the B1G. Then, Always College Football podcast host and Alabama national title winning QB Greg McElroy joins Colin to discuss Nick Saban and Bama pivoting from defensive to offensive identity, and how conference realignment will impact the SEC product. Next, former Bears and Dolphins HC Dave Wannstedt on takeaways from a visit to Bears training camp, what steps the Dolphins should take to limit Tua Tagovailoa’s concussion exposure, Vic Fangio’s impact on the Miami defense, if Sean Payton stepped over the line by publicly ripping Nathaniel Hackett. Finally,  3 and Out podcast Host John Middlekauff on how Hard Knocks is helping Aaron Rodgers rebrand himself with the Jets, if Dak Prescott will be too much of a liability to win a Super Bowl, if the Jags are a legit AFC contender already, and why the Commanders still feel as dysfunctional as ever.  Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Herd #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This is Prime Cuts, Best of the Colin Coward Podcast, loaded week, former Alabama quarterback and host of Always College football. Greg McElroy and I, chop it up. Nick Saban, Georgia, Big Ten realignment, we talk everything. Former Baron Dolphin coach, Dave Wanstatt, been to Bears, some thoughts on Tua as well. And John Middlakov and I go deep at a bunch of good NFL topics. But first, my top takes.

I was thinking about last year's preseason exhibition season. And all the years I've been doing talk radio, it was the slowest preseason of all time because Sean McVeigh, several years ago, as I've noted multiple times, stopped playing starters. And all these young coaches followed suit. So the only story we had last year in the preseason was Kenny Pickett, who, you know, was a good college quarterback, not stupendous.

He wasn't a hot Caleb Williams, Andrew Luck, Trevor Lawrence, prospect, not even a Kyler Murray to Sean Watson, Baker-Macefield prospect. He's a solid guy who had a lot of college starts. And I remember thinking after about two weeks of Kenny Pickett discussion, thank God he plays for the Steelers. What if he had played for the Jaguars? There was just no story. this year's preseason feels entirely different.

First of all, there's three first-round quarterbacks all could succeed, but I do think one of them's fascinating Anthony Richardson for the Colts, not only because at 6-5-255, he is Big Ben Cam Newton-like, Josh Allen-like, where he will just be such a force, a productive force running the football with that new offensive coach, Shane Steik, and a brilliant guy who had Herbert and Jalen Hertz. So I think the Colts are going to be a fascinating watch. I don't think they're going to be a great team,

but between Jonathan Taylor, the running, back in Anthony Richardson, I think they're going to catch people off guard. I think they're going to look like Cam's rookie year, although he's not as polished as Cam, Big Ben, a little Josh Allen, and a little Lamar Jackson. It's going to be all of that mixed into one. So I think that's fascinating. I think Bryce Young is interesting because Frank Reich is one of those coaches that didn't get a ton of credit because he had reclamation projects.

He had to clean up Andrew Luck, clean up Philip Rivers, clean up Carson Wentz, all three, Three for three. Frank Reich did an amazing job. Now he gets a rookie Bryce Young, who I think was head and shoulders above the other quarterbacks coming into this draft. I'm fascinated by that. Also, in this preseason, Sean Payton has said, I'm going to play Russell Wilson. Really interesting. My guess is Russell reverts to about 75 to 80 percent of what he was at his prime,

but I don't think he's as good. I think quarterbacks that move get hit more, quarterbacks that get hit more, age much quicker. I mean, Big Ben got old fast. Cam got old fast. I was talking to Michael Vick on FS1 yesterday. And it was about year five or six that Michael Vick, the fastest player in the league,

couldn't outrun Carolina's outside linebacker Thomas Davis. And that's when Michael realized, okay, everything's changed. So I think this preseason's got a lot of stories. Not to mention, I think week one, Buffalo and the Jets and Aaron Rogers. Listen, man, you look at that jet schedule. And that's a tough matchup with Buffalo. Very good front seven, very good pass rush. Jet start 0-1-1, fair or not, there's going to be heat on Aaron Rogers

because their early schedule for six games is a gauntlet. So I feel differently about this August. I'm excited for it. Last year, I felt like I was just trying to fill space. But Anthony Richardson, a Bryce Young, a Russell Wilson, all really interesting to me. And the other one I'd throw out there that I, I, I find myself kind of rooting for is Mac Jones the Patriots. I contend that Mac Jones is as good as Kenny Pickett, not as athletic, doesn't run as well.

I think he throws a better football. And I thought the organization completely got in Mac Jones way last year. I think Mac Jones is going to revert to a good B quarterback, sort of a Kirk Cousins with maybe a little better arm. I think Mac Jones maybe not quite as accurate, but. a little better arm. And if Mac Jones becomes Kirk Cousins, then Bill Balochex's back on track and can make the playoffs

and win playoff games, maybe the division. So this preseason, pro football, fired up. I want to give you a story, though. So as many of you know, last football season,

I had Sean Payton joining me four out of five Mondays. He was spectacular. And Sean and I got along great, on the air, off the air, dinners, discussions. I think he trusted me. I certainly learned a lot from him.

And as the football season approached the Super Bowl near the end, he had asked me, I think I can share this now, hey, what's my market value? What should I be looking at here? He was really interested in Fox. He liked Fox. He liked broadcasting. And he really enjoyed it.

He liked living on the beach in Los Angeles. He just loved it. He was all over town. He was really genuinely happy. And he was really committed to it. He really cared about it. He made calls. He was terrific and may still be someday. But he was really committed and very focused. And then one day, he wasn't because the Denver Broncos offered him four and a half to five times more than Fox did. A man is as loyal as his options. as comedian Chris Rock once said. For those belly aching about USC, UCLA, Washington, Oregon, leaving the PAC 12, this is a conference that has continued to drop the ball, hired the wrong people to run the conference, been slow to see stuff about the future of college sports that appears obvious, sometimes stubborn, nose in the air,

a little too precious for their own good. And so the Big Ten is a bigger, broader conference. It's a better conference. Smack dab in the middle of the country with that mid-Western work ethos, even though they produce significantly larger revenue than the PAC 12, they don't have their arrogance. And maybe it's because the Stanford, Cal, UCLA excellence, academically, historically, whatever it is.

But the Big Ten, 10 is big boy stadiums, sold out stadiums, better TV contracts, more committed financially, more committed fan bases, more committed boosters. That's where you have to go. What in the world has Cal ever done for the Pac-12's football conference? Why would you be loyal to that? Why would you be loyal to an Oregon State Arizona game in Corvallis? What does it mean?

this is a better conference, a better opportunity, and sometimes it's survival of the fittest and survival of the brightest and survival of the future. We're seeing the globalization of economies. College football, this is like globalization. And when I hear the belly aching, my takeaway is, what are we losing here? Some regional rivalries.

Washington's already said they want to play Washington. and State. All right. Okay. Oregon will probably continue to play Oregon State. All right. We're not losing a lot here. And I can tell you firsthand that USC has been looking and discussing moving away from the conference for the last four years. And then they finally did it. So, you know, when I hear anybody in any industry clamoring for loyalty, my takeaway is always, have you ever been offering? something that's spectacular, a role, a job, a salary, a relocation, an opportunity. It's easy to bang that loyalty drum when nobody's clamoring for your talent or your team or your business. Life is about opportunities. The four best football programs in the PAC 12, arguably, three for sure, Washington, Oregon, USC, and then Utah is better than UCLA, but

sometimes market size matters, they're all going to greener pastures, greener in terms of revenue, in terms of stadium capacity, a commitment. And I hear this too, well, what about the other sports? What about them? They lose money. College football drives the bus. So you're going to take care of football first. If you're in a family and you paid all the bills, shouldn't you have the greatest say? You know, when you look at the NCAA March Madness tournament, CBS foots the bill. They pay for the wedding. If I paid for the wedding, don't I get a say in the seating chart? So if CBS says, we're not going to pick what teams get in, but we'd like a say in the second and third round matchups, potentially, why shouldn't they?

They're paying for the wedding. They just want to say in the seating chart. So I grew up with Pack 12 football, but it has been eroding for years. It's out of touch. It's too precious, too snooty. And the Big Ten's a better product now and going forward. It's not even arguable. Well, Greg McElroy was at the very early stages of the Alabama dynasty.

And the early stages of the dynasty, quarterback's got no. effing credit. It was all defense. Now it's not about linebackers and safeties and corners. Now, Saban the brilliant man that he is has really pivoted and transition to more of an offensively dynamic dynasty. And Greg, I want to bring you in on this. The world changed.

And a lot of people, Greg, don't change with the world. And I got to give Sabin a lot of credit about the time. When Lane Kiffin got there, he started really, really upping his game with offensive players. When he started, your years, it was McLean the linebacker, it was corners, it was, right? And guys like you were like, well, Greg just hands the ball off. And I always feel like, Greg actually played in the league. Greg was really good. But when you look at it now, there are some remnants of it.

But when did you notice that it really pivoted to more of a USC-feeling dynasty or a, you know, a Mack Brown dynasty where the offense is a 60-40 advantage? I mean, I think it's well observed. It had to have been 14 when Lane Griffin came in. And it's easy to look at it through the lens of the USC because that's her lane that came from. So they really started to acknowledge there was a time and a shift in college football at that time. where Ole Miss was starting to roll a little bit, maybe he had to kind of start scoring some points. Auburn had just been to the national championship in 2013

on the heels of a high-opt-tain, high-tempo offense that really created a lot of conflict for the defense. I think Coach Savan started to realize, I mean, it's going to be really hard to win games 21-13 moving forward. So we're going to have to get real comfortable winning games 42-41, which he's had to do a couple times. Now, I actually think, Colin, where it's starting to go back, though, because teams can now simulate with their scout teams the tempo. They can simulate the quarterback play.

They can simulate the run-pass options. But what they can't simulate is incredible offensive line play, a fullback that's coming at you 100 miles an hour and blowing up the middle linebacker. So I actually think the pendulum is starting to shift back the other way. And we've kind of seen that with Nick Sabin's hire of Tommy Reese at the point. Because at Notre Dame, we knew what he was all about. It was three yards in the cloud of dust right downhill until you liked it. So I wonder if you're sensing something similar in college football as well. Well, I say you can't really look at Georgia and say we could duplicate that.

Okay. So the state of Georgia. You better recruit. You better be able to get some dudes in on defense. Georgia was always the sleeping giant in college football. I mean, for years and years, you would talk to NFL scouts. And they're like, why doesn't Georgia win more? You know, we always know that the state of Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, California, have a lot of players, Ohio.

Georgia now has as many D1 players as California, and you have a third of the population or a quarter of the population. So I don't think Georgia is something you can duplicate. They do remind me a little of Alabama early where it's a defensive culture with very capable quarterbacks who are going to get drafted. you, A.J. McCarron, maybe not superstars, maybe not like a Caleb Williams or a Vince Young. But it's a defensive-leaning culture. I just think they recruit at a different level. And George has always been a sleeping giant. But, you know, I've said this for years, even though I work at Fox and we have the Big Ten. And I said this for years when I worked at ESPN. People, SEC dominates recruiting, draft day, and Saturday. Get over it. it's the best conference.

Here's though what's really fascinating. By including Texas and Oklahoma, and I think specifically Texas, that's another game on the schedule that's going to be, it's becoming an arms race, Texas money, Texas coaching. I know the SEC fans thumps their chest,

but do you really want to face LSU, Georgia, Florida, Texas in one season? Is there anybody in the South that's going, this isn't potentially and you're going to add Clemson Florida State here in the next 18 months as well could you become just too rich you're the AFC, you're too powerful

there's too many stars I think that there are programs Mississippi State a good example when the schedules came out for the 24 season Mississippi State didn't have Alabama on the schedule they didn't have many of their SEC West foes and they were doing parades through the middle of Starkville.

But hang on, that's your closest team as far as proximity is concerned, even closer as far as just straight mileage from Starkville and Tuscaloosa than it is to Oxford, Mississippi, where Ole Miss resides. And they said, no, no, no, we don't want to play them. So I think for some,

they are a little bit, not only to say intimidated, but they kind of acknowledge where they are at in the pecking order. But I also think, too, if players are going to flock to it, and the money's going to be there. But we look at the big,

I mean, the Big Ten is comparable. I mean, I think Wisconsin's an unbelievable program with tremendous history and success. We know what Michigan is. We know what Ohio State is. I've seen Michigan State at their best, even though they didn't have their best that day,

but they were 11-win team 10, 12 years ago, playoff team back in 15. SC is, I think, you referenced Georgia as a sleeping giant. SC to me has been the sleeping giant for two decades because there was a time when I was 15 years old when I never thought I'd see him lose a game. I think UCLA is dangerous because Chip Kelly now in the NIL era with his NFL pedigree understands how to work that system. Washington is just getting started under killing the more.

So I don't think there's one right now that is significantly more difficult than the other. I think the SEC's bottom is better than the Big Ten's bottom. But at the top, you have very capable programs with tremendous resources that they're disposed. As a Pact 12 diehard and loyalist, I had told friends five years ago that, it wasn't going to survive. And my takeaway was once the NFL came back to Los Angeles with two teams, is that, you know, Pete Carroll was in a time, no NFL in L.A. All the resources, all the resources, all the time, sellouts. And also, people were spending their money on USC. People were totally supportive of USC. Games were sellouts. Also, you didn't have a Pac-10 tournament you could lose. You didn't have to play a semi-final game.

If you were great and you beat your Oregon states, Arizona states and Washington, you ended up playing for the national championship if somebody thought you were good enough. So it's a different time. And so I'm not, not that I'm not bothered. I'm bummed out about the PAC 12. Sure. It's a SEC Big Ten money is just greater. How is that viewed in the South?

How do you look at it? You guys always think we're soft out here anyway, but how is it viewed that the four best teams are basically going to join the enemy in the Big Ten? Well, I don't know if I want any of my southern friends to know that I'm actually originally from Los Angeles. So I don't want to be perceived as soft. I don't think you are necessarily. I do think that there is a bit of a perception that when it's good against good and best against best, the likelihood of the SEC winning that game is higher than that of what we see sometimes from the Big Ten. I mean, Ohio State did beat Alabama in 14, has beaten the SEC.

teams came within a field goal away of probably being the national champion last year. But those have been more few and far between, even dating back to the 2006, 2007, when the Big Ten just had a difficult time matching up on annual basis against the best that the SEC had to offer. That's why the SEC won every championship from 08 all the way up until 2013, when Florida State found it brought it home. So I think that will be kind of an interesting evaluation. It's going to be a tug-of-war.

I mean, we don't like them, they don't like us type of mentality for Big Ten fans. and for SEC fans. Some will pound their chest about the money earned. Some will pound their chest about the ratings. Everyone's seemingly trying to find an edge. But at the same time, I still feel like the edge is that both leagues are beyond elite. It's just whether or not now the Big Ten, which doesn't have as much talent density as the SEC, if they'll be able to go south and attract kids up to the north to play at some of those places

with a few less division one level high caliber prospects that they would normally. have at their disposal in the FCC. Like South Carolina goes down the street, they can get 15 guys that can play a high-level D1 ball. Iowa might have to go 250 miles in every direction, and they might not find that many. So I think it's just a little bit more difficult when it comes to the recruiting pipeline.

But if the identities are clearly established in the Big Ten, I think they can play with anybody. I love Saban. I think sometimes he can be, if Nick wants to talk about something, he's going to go to the podium, and he's going to find something that can get him into what he really wants to talk about.

He does this all the time. About three times a year, it's like, I'm going to talk about transfer portal. I don't care what your question is. I'm going to bring it up. And there have been two different occasions where he's complained about the NIL. And he said, you know, it's not even. It's not fair. And my takeaway has always been, that's a message.

And my gut feeling was he's a little concerned about Texas, that the fact that Texas money is like USC can't compete with it, Phil Knight and Oregon can't compete with it. the Longhorns have two to three billionaire donors. And that when Nick talks about the NIL, my takeaway is he's doing some battles with Sark. And some of these, they're wrestling people away. I mean, they're getting great recruits. That's my take. What is yours when he complains about the NIL?

Because Alabama's collective, I'm sure, is just fine. Why is he doing that? I think it's as much calling to rally the troops of his own fan base. Everyone made a big deal about the argument between Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban back in the summer of 22. It was never about Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban. It was never about Alabama against Texas A&M. What he was doing and what he thought was a controlled environment amongst friends and family unknowing that there was televisions there and all this other stuff.

He was basically saying, hey, look, these guys, look at the recruiting class they were just able to bring home. you guys better step it up. That was a call to action for his own fan base. I think more so than it was being frustrated with the current system. Look, I mean, are there as many billionaire donors in the state of Alabama as there are in the state of Texas? No, but I would be willing to probably go probably on the record and saying I'd be willing to bet that people worth $500 or $600 million are putting up a higher percentage of

their net worth to make sure that Alabama succeeds than maybe in Texas or in California or other places. it just means a lot in this particular state. So I will be interested to see how that all unfolds and how the arms race really ends up working out. I'm really actually more interested, though, not as much as NIL, but what would you do if you were one of those teams right now that is perceived to not have that war chest of NIL at your disposal? If you're behind as far as your approach right now and your television contract, I don't want to say Florida State and clumsy because I think they have enough. resources to be able to support them on the recruiting trail. Just look at how they've fared in recent years.

But what message would you send if you were one of those teams that was lacking behind and not a part of the big two or hopefully en route to the big two? Well, Greg, my belief is that college football is going to become a little bit like college basketball, that the playoff is going to be a big chunk of the sport. It will go to 12. Then I think it will go to 16 or 24. Now, people are concerned that it will ruin the college football. football regular season, and here's why it won't.

Because Greg, March Madness did not kill college basketball's regular season. We watched Leitner. We watched the running rebels. We watched Georgetown. We had March Madness. What has killed college basketball is one and done culture. The quality is not good. The playoffs not going to hurt college football because you watch LSU play Georgia.

There's 34 NFL players on the field. Because of the cultural reality of college football, you have to be. have to play three years. Most guys play four. You have grown men playing. People think by adding to the playoff, it'll hurt college football's regular season. And I said this two days ago on my show. Texas is playing Bama. You're not watching? Really? George is playing LSU or Oklahoma. You're not watching. Really? USC's at Michigan. You're watching and you're watching, even though they made me to get in the playoff. You're watching because Caleb Williams is going to be against their first round. quarterback pick. It's Harbaugh and Lincoln Riley.

Play end of year playoffs, don't kill the sport. Lack of quality has killed college basketball. Hell, Victor Wembe Nyma, he didn't even play college basketball. Scoot Henderson, Jalen Green. So as long as you're forced to go to college, I'm going to watch Georgia, Bama, LSU, Texas, Oklahoma, USC, Michigan, Ohio State. So, but I do think, Greg, to your initial question, the bottom part, of that. Ten, eleven, twelve. That's going to be the area where an Oregon state can win that mountain west if that happens, and they can get in. You're going to get four from the SEC, four from

the big ten, one or two from the big twelve. But instead of getting like Cincinnati and we argue about it, you'll get two of those. You'll get two of those. And so I think what will happen is we're going to do 12 for about four years. It's going to make everybody a fortune and everybody's and go, all right, let's go to 16, and it won't hurt the sport. You're going to watch Auburn, Alabama, even if you played a second time. Greg, you and I have watched March Mandus since we were kids. If Duke and Carolina play in the Elite 8 for the fourth time, we're watching. You're right.

There's no deny that. But I am curious, your thoughts, are we getting to a point in the NIL era in the college football world where they're looking at, at the top 25, the coach's poll came out the other day. And people are saying, all right, how many teams can win it? And people aren't getting past five right now as far as teams that can actually win the championship. Now, can Caleb Williams elevate his team to a level that is just unrecognizable or maybe pull off two upsets and root to a championship? Sure. But the Vince Young taking over the game against USC back in 2005 doesn't feel like it's as capable nowadays. Do you still think that Cinderella or a run like a Cinderella is possible in

college football? Yeah, I do because I think the SECs always had more elite athletes, but the game used to be tighter and smaller and that Nick Saban could suffocate you. I watched Ohio State play Georgia. And just because of those receivers for Ohio State and C.J. Stroud, they moved that ball. I thought they were their team that day. Right. Caleb Williams, Quinn Ewers, C.J. Stroud. The game is, you know, if you go back, Greg, and go back to Nebraska when they were winning titles, they had one receiver wide. Right. I mean, everybody was jammed up on the size of my screen. The game is so fast and so wide and so many young players now want to be quarterbacks or wide receivers that nobody, including Nick Sabin or Georgia, is going to cover Marvin Harrison. You can't do it. And so I think the USC's, and the Texases and the Notre Dame's may need to have a Caleb Williams or a Vince Young. They have to make up something, right?

Stetson Bennett's good. Caleb Williams is different. Trevor Lawrence beats Bama. Those schools to beat the SEC King have to be better at quarterback and probably transcendent. You know, Trevor Lawrence, that's a different. Caleb's a different kind of number one pick. I mean, Baker was a number one pick, Caleb. That's not close.

And I do think the field is so spread now. And the offensive coaching is so good that if you have that superstar quarterback and you're 85% of Georgia's roster, Obama's roster, you can win. I watched Tennessee last year drop a, was it like a 50 burger on Alabama. They couldn't stop them with Hen and Hooker. They've scored 52. Look at you. I mean, thanks for rubbing it in and bringing it up. I appreciate the reference.

I am curious your thoughts on this because I don't think anyone in the world does a better job with analogies and being able to recreate it in. the idea and the visual. If I'm listening to you, you can sum up something up, and I'm like, how did he come up with that? And I tried to do my best Colin Coward impression and said, if you put too much on the quarterback's shoulders, it's like the quarterback is the bicep and all you do are curls. Meanwhile, your triceps are atrophy,

your pecks are atrophy, your legs are atrophy. If you put too much on that position, it's going to actually result in the rest of your team not being as good. Now, it's totally opposite from what you just described, but I think there's a real analogy to be made at, say, Alabama, maybe even USC to a certain extent last year, at Ohio State at times, especially on defense, back in the end of the Urban Meyer era, early era of what Ryan Day is doing.

He's the former Dolphins head coach, Chicago Bears head coach, Cowboy defensive coordinator, part of the Super Bowl 27 win, long-time pit coach. What a Natty is a Miami, D.C. Rose Bowl, D-line coach for USC, analyzing football for NBC sports in Chicago, the Big Ten Network, 670, the score in Chicago, and on the 33rd team, which has been a really quickly growing website full of former NFL front office guys and coaches that I really like. it's Dave Wonstat. So, last time we talked, you said Chicago's a 7-8-win team. You were at practice Wednesday.

They've now added a rush end from the Ravens, who was on the market. You were at practice Wednesday. Do you still feel like it's a 7-8-win team? I do. But I'm going to say, Colin, when you were reading that introduction, sounds to me like a guy couldn't hold a job very long anywhere. No, the bears, yeah, I was up there. I'll tell you what, they have been fantastic to me.

I spent a lot of time with George McCasky when I just happened to bump into them when I got there. And I was up with Matt Eber Fluse's office. We were talking defense and coverages on the board. And then stood with Ryan Poole's most of the practice. So I got a real good feel for not just what they did that day, kind of the big picture and the vision. And a couple of things jumped at me, you know, because everybody's talking about,

and this would go for any NFL team, any college team, I think. Everyone's talking about, well, they got started and the defense, the offense isn't where they're supposed to be. The defense is ahead of them. Well, I've never been on a team at any level where when you start training camp, where your defense better be ahead of your office. offense. If the offense is out there and they're tearing them apart and they're making plays from the get-go and the defense is trying to catch up, it doesn't work that way, in my opinion.

So I kind of like where the bears are at right now because defensively, they've had some great additions. And another year, Matt Iberfluse's system, everything that goes along with it. So I like where they're at right now from an offense, defense, special teams. The second thing I looked at was, you know, a lot of players, they run four or five in shorts, OTAs. And then you put the pads on and guess what? They become four, eight players. They can't carry the pads. That's not the case with the bears.

This is a fast, young football team. And I was impressed on their, and not just their energy level, but how quick they were across the field. And the last thing was that I walked down and saying, wow, you know what? Ryan pulls, he has a plan. And this guy's got a good job. If you look at their free agents that they've signed and you look at the draft picks that they've drafted, you know, this guy has got a plan and he has stayed with it. And you mentioned he just, you know, they just added Yanik,

probably not just maybe the best edge rush are available now, but he's 29 years old. And that's kind of been a foundation platform for the Bears. Every free agent, they didn't talk to anybody that was older than 28 years old. So they're a young football team moving forward with a lot of team speed right now. And they get some great competition going. They really do. You know, it is interesting.

The Chase Claypool acquisition got heat. But because Mooney's a smaller athlete, Claypool is a, it almost like a tight end. I understood it from body, from the body perspective. He just didn't have anybody on your roster like him. So Cole Commett, Robert Tonion, Chase Claypool, those are big bodies downfield. Mooney, who I think is a terrific player is tiny. I do worry about Claypool.

Last year he kind of disappeared. Are they worried about him because they gave up a second round pick for him? Yeah, they are, but they aren't. I'll tell you why, Colin. He's in his fourth year. he's in a contract here. And, you know, that's, that motivates players. Pressure, peer pressure or money?

That's what motivates these professional players. Let's get, you know, that's real. And so they got Claypool right where, they're going to get the best effort that he can possibly give. And we're going to find out what that is. You mentioned Mooney, that was another bright spot. They were talking about Mooney a month ago here in Chicago, maybe being ready for the opener.

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

And from an athletic standpoint, he's not going to be an every Don all-round player like Komet, the physicalness. But you flex him out in a slot like they used to do with. Gronk and Tony Gonzalez and get him one-on-one with the linebacker, he's going to win that battle. That was a good sign for the Bears. Yeah, it was. He's also good in the red zone, smart player. He's a guy that gets open in tight spots. So, no, I think they're offensive.

I think Justin Fields has to post eight or nine wins, has to show improvement. My guess is he does. You know, you coached the dolphins for years and you know them very well. And they're sort of in the league for me because of Tua's concussions. I just don't know what to make of them. But I did think of this. So they went and got Mike White a backup. And I thought to myself, generally speaking, even in blowouts,

Payton Manning, Tom, Brady, Mahomes stay in the game. I could see Mike McDaniel saying, listen, we're up plus 10 points, eight minutes left. We're getting two out of there. What would you do? Because it's not in any other injury. Dave, if he has a concussion, there's going to be so much public and medical pressure and media pressure, you can't play him for a month. He gets hurt September 14th. You can't play him until October 20th. How would you manage the two of concussion situation?

Well, I think, you know, you're right. And it's almost to the point where, you know, they went and did the, what did he do? the karate or jihitsu or everything and then he put on weight. I like the idea that he put on a little bit of weight, okay, because he's a good enough athlete. He can carry it. That should give him strength. But I'll tell you the number one thing that I would tell him,

we are not going to try to extend plays. I think that's when he, you know, it's going to have to be a situation where I drop back. I see my first read. If I don't like it, maybe get rid of the football. That's what I would be spending time with on Tua.

You cannot hold the football. Because everybody talks about, oh, well, they're teaching them how to fall when you get hit. You know what they say? The guy that hits quarterbacks and causes turnovers, it's the guy a quarterback doesn't see. You know, so I don't buy this stuff at all. Here they come. Now I'm going to cradle right. I'm going to put my head.

That doesn't happen that way. That's unrealistic. So he's because the guy's hitting him. He never sees him coming. So I would just say, let's prevent holding the ball. I think that's the best answer. And don't over talk about it. It'll become a mental thing with the kid.

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

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

you know, he's not a big blitz guy. Okay. So he's, he's a guy that's going to put the defense. He's a little bit of the Belichick mentality. What do you do in best? We're going to take that away. And they do not make mistakes. When you play against a. Vic Fangio defense, you're not going to see guys running wide open down the field. And you're not going to see open gaps at the line of scrimmage. I mean, these guys are going to play hard and they're going to play sound. And they're going to make you out execute them. And I think in today's NFL world where everybody's, all these offensive guys are geniuses,

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

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

You know, and I know it's tempting when you got Tariq Hill and you got, you got, Cahlin Waddle, you got a lot of skill talent there. The attempt is to throw it, throw it, throw it. But I tell you what, they have to be balanced. If they're going to be a serious contender, the Miami Dolphins have to be balanced, in my opinion. And that's going to help that defense. and that's going to really help Tula. What did you make is somebody with 30 plus years in football

of Sean Payton publicly ripping Nathaniel Hackett? Did it catch you off guard? Yes. It totally caught me off guard. And I'll tell you what, when I was at USC, we had Bill Walsh came in once too. We had a pack. It was, I guess it was pack eight or pack 10.

I think it was pack eight back then. Before Arizona schools, it was. I'm dating myself, but he came, we used to have an assistant coach's golf tournament. We always had it at Stanford because they had a nice golf course up there on campus. And we would all go up there and we would bring it. And Bill Walsh came in and talked to us. And he said, let me tell you young coach or something. And we were just in our 30s just telling, he says, all you guys are probably going to get fired. He says, it happens to all of us. He says, and when you get fired, a couple rules in coaching. Get out of the city as

quick as you can. Don't sit there. Because everything that the fans and media are going to talk about is everything's going to be better. All of a sudden, this team is going to be tougher, and this team is going to be smarter. Think about it. He says, it's going to happen.

You don't want to be reading and hear that stuff. Well, with that being said, that was what disappointed me to most is here's showing another coach in just respect. And everybody talks about coach. I don't know what the code and all that.

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

happening and just because of respect for another guy and it just disappointed me. I thought HBO, Aaron's using it as a rebrand. I'm a good guy. I get along with others. I'm not selfish. I'm not arrogant. And I think Tom Brady had a bit of a rebrand when he went to Tampa. Like, hey, I have a personality. I'm fun. It's helped his business. and endorsements. I thought Aaron came across as, hey, man, I got to do this thing. I'm going to rebrand it.

And I think you can watch HBO and Aaron are trying to convince you, hey, I'm a different guy and I'm not the bad guy. The media portrays me as. I don't think it's wrong. I think it's pretty smart. But that's how it felt to me. It's a rebrand. Aaron's all in and HBO's helping him.

And I'm not criticizing HBO. I think they think that's an interesting, captivating part of the Jet story. Well, it totally is. I've been out on hard knocks. Every other show eventually gets canceled or stops and that keeps going. But if you're just going to give me Aaron Rogers Hackett and Sala for four episodes, I'm in. Because I don't care about the random undrafted free agent that's eventually going to get cut. But I can watch Aaron Rogers and Hackett figure out this offense.

Like that, that to me is intriguing. He's not a rebrand really since he showed up, right? I mean, the whole thing of being there in the offseason, taking all the young guys out to Madison, Square Garden, going to the concerts with, again, the young guys, which was the issue last year. Hey, Aaron, we got a lot of young guys. I'm not coming in the off season. Then he pulls the Brady, which he deserves credit for because I don't care who you are. 35 million dollars, a lot of money, gives it back to help the team. And he even said, it's not even just for this year. It's about the big picture. I'm in. I believe what they say. And they've clearly done a good job of

this process of him believe in, trusting them. You and I talked about it a couple weeks ago. I think it's easier, too, when the super rich owner tells you like, hey, man, I'll cut this check for this guy. We'll do this guy. I'll tell Joe, we have no problem trading a first round pick next year if we need to go get our Trent Williams. We'll do whatever it takes for you, right? A little NBA style. And that's how I think he's being treated, a lot like Tom was treated. So it's easy to be happy when everyone's kind of kissing your ass. So like, let's face it, they're kissing his ass, as they should be. They're desperate. Yeah. So, you know, a lot of times the Dallas Cowboys are brought up. And I'm, and I'm guilty of this. And I don't think I'm

guilty. I just think this is my business plan is when I was a local radio host, you would talk about local teams. When I got the syndicated job, it became very obvious to me that you couldn't just talk any team you wanted to, that you had to talk the biggest brands, and that would accumulate the largest audience. So very early, I was into Brady and LeBron, Notre Dame football, Duke basketball, Yankees baseball. I've moved off baseball a lot since the 20 years ago that I started doing it, a syndicated radio. But the Dallas Cowboys, the Packers, the Packers, the Steelers, the Steelers, have a lot of reach. But I actually think this version of Dallas, this season is kind of fascinating.

DAC, and there's a clear correlation, the more you ask of him, the more mistakes he makes. I mean, there's a line of DAC markation. 35 or more throws, he's way under 500. 33 or fewer, he's a really good quarterback. And so his most efficient year as a pro was year one. Zeke, number two in rushing yards, best o' line in football. Dak was on the cheap. The next year, year two, John, if you remember,

Zeke suspended six games. In those six games, Dak had five touchdowns and seven picks. The minute you asked him to do more, he provided more mistakes. So here we go into this year. He's been a pro bowler twice in both those years. Zeke led the NFL in rushing attempts and yards. Zeke's gone, O-line rebuild, working in a new receiver, lost in elite offensive coordinator,

and DAC now is having a camp full of interceptions. I love this defense. What are we going to get from DAC this year? Because there is a correlation. The more you need, the more mistakes you get. It's not arguable at this point. I think I'm not just saying this because you're here. I make a point to listen to you have Albert Brewer on every week.

I think he's he can articulate. He's to me one of the best hybrid of just knowing guys in the league, articulating what's going on and just and being able to report just his interactions with people. And he said something to you about what McCarthy said to him about they're asking DAC to ad lib and be a little bit more of a playmaker. And when I heard that, my jaw dropped. like Mike, this is not Aaron Rogers here, buddy. The reason he was a fourth round pick because his physical attribute, he's a good athlete,

he does not have a great arm. The clip of there was a pick, I don't know, he's throwing a bunch, but yesterday or the day before, like a post route where digs undercut it. Rogers, you can miss that ball deep. You can't miss it short. That's where the ball always gets picked off.

And to me, that is much closer from an arm standpoint to Alex Smith, to Kirk Cousins play within the context of the offense, I can have Rogers, Allen, or Mahomes at living because they're throwing 100 miles an hour. So, well, who did McCarthy have the most success with his career? Aaron Rogers. So maybe in his mind, he's thinking that.

If that is honestly their mindset, I think they're bad shit crazy. And that is going to be a disaster of just trying to have him be a quote-unquote playmaker. The reason Cousins is having so much success over the last four or five years statistically as teams that their defense is going to be a quote-on-quote playmaker. and his teams that their defense is good, consistently go to play. He just plays within the offense. And when Dak does that,

he's pretty good too. But when he starts ad-libbing, I do. I mean, that pass, his arm is actually for a guy that's big, right, just because if you've ever met Alex Smith, he's 6-4, right, just because your 6-4 does not mean you throw 100 miles an hour,

right? Pedro Martinez was shorty through 97. So Tim Linskin was small. Some small guys throw harder. Baker actually has a pretty good arm for a small guy. Oh, Aaron Rogers is 6.1.5, 218. It's got a freaking hose. So it just, it doesn't translate. So I, maybe it's because they're not as confident.

Pollard's a little more of a hybrid back, not a true like pound it between the tackles and it Smith style. But last time I checked when they were winning a bunch, Troy Aikman wasn't a big ad liber, right? You just kind of just played the position like it's supposed to be played. Is there a team? Carolina for me, they played the Packers yesterday and gave Aaron some trouble. I have you know there's always a team in this league that doubles their win total so last year my big one was Minnesota now they didn't double their win total but I said most improved team in the league so yeah so I got that one right I there's something about Carolina I love Reich he makes your quarterback more efficient I think Bryce Young is one of those lower ceiling but ready to play today I think their front seven's good I think their own line due to the draft last couple of years is now more than competent. You know, and the division's a little vulnerable.

Carolina's my, as Aaron Rogers found out in the inner squad scrimmage, they got dudes. They got real dudes. Do you have a team like that for you that you just, people look at it and say five or six and you're like, I watched Carolina a couple games last year without Reich. They're spicy. They can play.

They definitely have a lot of talent. The team I told you, I think we talked about this over the summer, was Washington. I'm going to throw that take into the garbage. I'm not going there. And I was kind of low on the Giants. I thought they would come back. But the one thing, if Darren Waller is healthy and high at the receiver from Tennessee that is running like Hussein Bolt, no one can cover them, they might actually. And now Sequin is in a good place.

Maybe they get back to 1011. To me, the team, talking with some people in Jacksonville, I don't know how great the defense is going to be. but the division stinks. Could they be a top two or three offense in the league? I mean, Doug Peterson is just tailor-made for modern-day NFL. His personality, his understanding, like, obviously he's the play caller. He succeeded there. Him dealing with Trevor.

Trevor last year, what, 25 touchdowns? Could this year be one of those, like, 38 touchdowns? You get Calvin Ridley, who I'm told is just they're blown away by him. We saw Christian Kirk was a really good signing for him. ETSs, like the modern-day hybrid back. Now, you never want to discount Tennessee, and I have. But I do, you know, you got to take Vrabel very seriously. I think in a coaching draft, he'd be a top-fight pick.

I mean, he's the real deal. But the talent's just not quite there. Could be a little bit of a comeback year. So I think the Jags, I don't like them as a Super Bowl contender just because their defense is going to be good enough. But last year, I don't want to call it hollow because that was a big year, especially based on the urban year. But I think this year could feel more real than last year was. And you can kind of see, like, they're a piece or two away on defense, maybe get there, Nick Bosa or their Brian Burns or something. then watch out.

Well, yeah, I thought they played the Chiefs twice last year. And I literally watching both games, I had the same feeling. It's like the NBA playoffs, Denver two years ago. Sacramento this year in the NBA. They're just not ready to win big close games yet. I think the Kings will be next year with Deerrin Fox. And I watched Jacksonville. I thought, oh, they're a year away.

They need to lose to Kansas City twice. They don't know how to win. They don't know how to put those 12 play drives together the way Mahomes and Reed and Kelsey, they're good. They don't know how to manipulate games. So Jacksonville, I think, has to get to that point. And that's a real thing. Like the really good teams, New England manipulated games where they were outplayed.

I think Kansas City does that. Big time. Yeah. And I'm like, Jacksonville just has talent. They just don't know how to, they don't know how to win games. They don't play perfect football. Well, they might win or lose the game, but the three guys in the AFC, Mahomes, Allen, and Burrow never walk on the field against the other guy.

and definitely the rest of the league, thinking that they're not the best player on the field and they're going to win the fucking game. And I wonder if Trevor, you know, for the first time in the league, had a taste of that last year, had the big,

you know, it couldn't have gone any worse, right? He basically, if he was a golfer, hit like seven shots out of bounds on the first hole in the first half against the Chargers. And then to me, the mental fortitude,

I mean, that, that, he easily could have gone in the tank. And no one would have blamed him. Like, you know, first playoff taste, bad game, threw a bunch of picks.

He did not flinch, came back, made a bunch of plays. So I would expect just a massive year from him. And to me, Doug has a personality a lot like Andy, very even keel, not a big screamer, offensive guy, former quarterback, you know, just kind of, he's just an NFL guy. He just gets pros. And I think he's going to be really good for them.

He has been. One thing you touched on this week, and I want to bring it back for people that didn't hear it, is your take on Ron Rivera and Eric Bienami. where Ron not only stepped in it, he created it with the comments about Bionomi. Take our audience here back to that because I thought it was a poignant point about in the NFL, there's enough landmines. Don't throw your own grenades. Well, to me there's a reason, and I don't blame coaches for lying, right?

It's not, it doesn't behoove them to give out information that just creates chaos. Most people on the team are well under 30, live on their phone. You got to be very careful. It's why so many coaches don't really say anything. And when they do, it all leans positive. For him to come out and acknowledge, it'd be one thing right, if there was something simmering. There was a powerful story from a wicker sham from the athletic. It would be like, what's going on?

He gets asked about it. Any kind of steps on it. You would understand it. Maybe you got cornered a little bit in a press conference. That was not the case at all. I don't know about you. I hadn't heard anything. Unless you knew a player or someone on the staff,

no one would have been talking about it. So for him just to acknowledge that was borderline unprecedented. I mean, you never see that in the NFL unless, you know, is he already trying to point the finger at him? He sees it not going well. Ron, it's not like Ron is some modern day progressive, easy-going NFL coach. This guy's an old school screamer, yeller, defensive guy. So he wouldn't have a problem with you coaching hard.

Does he think it's not going well? Does he see our quarterback situation? is a disaster. I've seen some headlines multiple times. Part of the reason I started getting off them before this story even kind of came out because of Ron was because he kept mentioning Jacoby Brissette. He kept, don't sleep on Jacobi Bressette. I know. And I went, what? We've seen Jacoby. Just keep me as your backup. What are we talking about? So maybe there's some budding of heads when it comes to personnel. You got new ownership. Let's face it. If Ron were to go, seven and ten or like his, he will not only get fired. He's never going to get a head coaching job again.

in. Like, this is his career's over. So it did feel a little bit like he's pointing the finger. Not just a bizarre story, just one you never see. You never see. Coaching hard, what does that even mean? You go to a practice in high school people are getting screamed at. It's not even that weird. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. This is an I-Heart podcast.