The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast Prime Cuts -Marcus Thompson on Warriors Transition, Chandler Parsons on Kyrie/ Boston Beef, Mel Tucker on Saban, Harbaugh

Episode Date: April 23, 2022

This is Prime Cuts! The best of The Colin Cowherd Podcast. First, Colin’s top takes of the week, including why the NBA Playoff ratings have been higher than normal and why Steve Ballmer would probably like a refund on Kawhi and Paul George. Then, The Athletic NBA Writer Marcus Thompson discusses how much blame Steve Nash deserves in the Nets Game 1 loss to the Celtics, and who’s the odd man out in the Warriors big picture plans with the emergence of Jordan Poole. Next, 9-year NBA veteran Chandler Parsons looks at if Kyrie went over the line by flipping off Boston fans, what he learned playing for Billy Donovan, and what his non-baller friends don’t appreciate about NBA players. Finally, Michigan State Head Coach Mel discusses what Nick Saban does better than any other coach, if there is any reason to friendly with rival Jim Harbaugh, and what he immediately sold him on Kenneth Walker III. Make sure you follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates and check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action! #Herd  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games.

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Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of Tontons and Wampas on the ice planet, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The volume. Colin Coward Podcasts presented by Fandual Sportsbook. No better place to bet the action than on Fandual Sportsbook during the football season. There's a lot of reasons.

It's America's number one sports book, incredibly easy to use, super safe, totally secure, super fast payouts in as quick as two hours. You're not going to get that anywhere. Also, same game parlay bets, live betting. It's the best. Hey, if you're new, just download the Fandul Sportsbook app. I did it in 15 seconds. Get started now. Sign up. Please use the promo code Colin so they know we sent you. Please use the promo code Colin. C-O-L-I-N. Fandul Sportsbook app, sign up. This is Prime Cuts, the best of the Colin Coward podcast. Marcus Thompson shared his amazing insight and how much blamed Steve Nash

deserves for the next game one loss and the difficulty of the Warriors moving on from Clay Thompson to Jordan Poole. Former NBA forward Chandler Parsons was great, reacting to Kyrie flipping off Boston fans and discuss what separates KD from the rest of the NBA elite. And Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker.

Smart. Transfer Portal, NIL. How do you balance college football in 2022. The ratings for the first round were an 11-year ratings high. Oh, my. Oh, my, arch conservatives, alt-right conservatives. What are they to do? The narrative has been punctured.

I would argue the NBA actually succeed sometimes despite itself. I want to give you an example. In hockey, you get a lot of upsets for the playoffs because eight seeds can beat a one seed, right? Because it's all about the hot goalie. In college basketball, the number one seeds only win 63% of the time. Did you know that since they expanded to 68 teams? In the NFL, number one Tennessee Titans, number one Packers couldn't win a single game this year. But in the NBA, in league history,

The top four seeds, the one and the two in the east and the west, win 89% of the time. And yet ratings continue to be strong. There's no upsets. There's virtually no upsets. The opposite of every other sport. Think about that. College football's ratings have been down in recent years because it's two dominated by the SEC. NBA's ratings up 11%. We know Milwaukee and Phoenix probably get there.

In fact, the lowest seeded NBA team to ever win the finals, this is kind of funny, was the 94, 95 Houston Rockets. They were a six seed. They had Drexler and Olajuwon, not exactly a Cinderella story, and they were champs the year before. So despite the fact the NBA, and I've been banging on this for years, they need to make first round series three games at most five. Their ratings are up, incredibly dynamic. And unlike every other professional and college league in America, there are no upsets. The favorites overwhelmingly dominate 89% of the time, number one, And two seeds win. That tells me the NBA would be even more successful with just a couple of playoff tweaks, tweaks, not massive changes.

I want to talk about a team that didn't make the playoffs that I had high hopes for. So when Steve Ballmer bought the L.A. Clippers, he's a basketball addict. Seattle guy that was kind of legendary around the Pacific Northwest for just dropping in when he was one of the three, richest people in the world, just dropping in on high school basketball tournaments for the weekend. So he buys the clippers and, you know, they're the number two. They're the Mets to the Yankees, a disproportionate second to the number one brand. So he buys it and he gets a break. The Lakers are sort of a mess.

And so here's this golden opportunity for him to take over the city of L.A. Kauai Leonard can't stay healthy and has no leadership ability. He's nonverbal. Paul George can't stay healthy. Paul George, in the second playing game, is not available. He got COVID. Now, timeout. Paul George, what are you doing?

How do you get COVID? I'm not a believer that it can happen to anybody. I do believe if you're smart, if you wore a mask, especially for a pro athlete, you can have food delivered. You don't have to go out. I got to believe Steve Balmer is absolutely beside himself. He's got the right coach. He's got a really nice roster. But I wonder if he regrets Paul George and Kauai Leonard.

Now, he's going to have to probably run it back, you know, what's out there on the market. But, I mean, between Kauai's inability to stay healthy and his nonverbal personality and Paul George, I mean, if you're Paul George, You've been hurt all year, you come back. You've been erratic historically in the playoffs. I would lock myself in a room for a month to ensure I was there for my team. Just really, truly irresponsible. Don't tell me it's just random. No, it's not.

It's not. Now, some people have jobs. You know, they work in hospitals. Some people have jobs there. They put themselves at risk of attains. it. Paul George has got $100 million in the bank. He can have everything delivered. He doesn't have to go out in public. Highly discouraging. Marcus Thompson, Bay Area columnist for the athletic, author of three great books, one called KD, and then there's golden about Steph Curry,

recent book Dynasty, the 10 Goat Teams that changed the NBA forever. Always a great listen and a great column. So I want to start with Brooklyn, Boston. God. There was a Kyrie possession at the end of that game that was atrocious. There was a KD possession at the end of that game that was atrocious. So when you go around the league, when you go around the league, what's the book on Steve Nash? Because it looked like it was just guys, there was just no design to either play. What's the book on Nash? The book on Nash is he has two of the greatest offensive weapons of all time.

And it's like, yeah, clear out. out. It was it was kind of obvious. There isn't much of a book though, right? Like, that was, I mean, it's not a bad book, right? If you got KD. and Karee, right? I'd probably do the same thing, but I'm not the head coach of Brooklyn Nets, right? So I do think the way, especially on that last possession, right, where they were playing Karee so soft and then on a last possession, you know, Mark is smart as in them. And then a Hofer comes to help and they kick it to KD and everybody's up in you. Like, that was kind of a. sign was like, you probably should run something. Maybe you should have a set or two or or or or an offensive philosophy. You could tell he doesn't have that. So I would say the book is there isn't much of a book yet and that's kind of been covered up by the fact that you have KD. KD makes you not need books as much as most coaches. You don't need that much of a book. But to win a championship, you probably need a book, Colin? Well, it's interesting. And we'll pivot to this, the Warriors in a second because Jordan Poole, we've talked about it on this podcast a bunch, creates an interesting,

like a really good dilemma. I'll get to that in a second. But when KD. left the Warriors, did Kerr implement more structure to your point that KD sort of let you free willet on offense more? I think the problem was there was so much structure on the Warriors. I don't think KD like that very much. like Katie's mindset, which makes a lot of sense

if you're as great as him, is why do I need 15 passes to get me to a spot to take a shot where I could just take that shot, like just let me do me. But, you know, Kerr implements a philosophy. Like, everybody needs to be moving and passing because over time, that just wears down a defense. So I think the structure has always been the same.

It even caused a little bit of issue, right? And Katie wasn't shy about it. It's like, yeah, why are we doing all this? what's all it's moving for, right? And even now, you get to a point where teams know the Warriors are going to do a lot of passing, a lot of moving. So they kind of prepare for that. And the Warriors bet as always just give it to time.

It's like Novocaine. It works every time. But there is some kind of conflict with that where it's like, yo, just isolate a guy. Like, well, I make it harder than what it has to be. But that's the Warriors book. That's his philosophy, right? He lives and dies with it. And you get it even when you don't like it.

You still get it. It makes sense. Even when it's like, okay. This is too much. Stop passing so much. I thought the Warriors were the most oppressive team over the weekend. And there's a little bit of a dilemma, although it's not a crisis now, is that Jordan Poole is emerging as like an all-star level player. And we've talked about this.

When they brought in Andrew Wiggins, he was seen as a trade piece, but the culture is so strong, he's now a valuable player. And Jordan Poole has developed into an 18-point-a-game. Next year, it could be 2021. Clay Thompson's not quite there. He's very expensive. And they've always been a team that plays small ball for a big chunk. Wiseman's not really working. Kvon Looney, you know, there are going to be times facing Aiton.

Could be Janus. It could be Embed that they need some size. The whole Jordan pool, Clay Thompson dynamic where pools often better when he doesn't have to share shots with Clay. how does that when you watch every practice every game how does it feel there it's definitely something that's coming to a head right because and like you said it is a great problem jordan pooh is forcing hands here right there's no there's no question like take out history take out all the history take out what you know about what players can do and just analyze in 22 since january 1st You can make a strong case that Jordan Who's their best player. And that's tough to do to know that and then be like, yeah, you're coming off the bitch.

Right. Like that's a tough way. And he won't, he won't like stop playing well. Like he won't not, he won't give him a reason to not do it. So it's coming to a head. And I do think Wiggins will end up being, well, obviously, come on Loonie's going to be the odd man out. They'll play Steph, Clay, Draymont, you know, and. Jordan Poo and they'll go Wiggins.

The problem with that is, is Yokic. So now you're saying, yo, Dreyvon, that's 40 minutes or 35 minutes against Yokic. So at some point, you do have to get like an actual big man in there. You got to get a minutes eater. Like in baseball, you need that innings eater. They need a minutes eater. That's why he starts loony.

Marcus, I said this the other week. I said, Wiseman's a weird fit, can't stay healthy. and they feel because of Draymond and Steph's age, they're in a championship window here for the next two to three years. And I said, is it crazy if you called the Lakers and said, we'll take Anthony Davis, we'll give you Wiseman a pick and Clay Thompson? Now, the pushback is Steph would never allow it. But if you went to Steph and said, Steph, we got to have a big here.

Wiseman's not ready to finish this product. He's not. The Lakers, meanwhile, they need. shooters big time. So they'll take a clay, they'll go draft one, they'll take Wiseman as a project. I just threw it out there and people said, that's crazy. And I'm like, would Steph go to management and say you can't trade clay? I mean, you're asking Steph to like cut off his darn because he needs a new pair of shoes.

Like, that's part of who he is. I don't think they would do it because you literally lose a huge shooting dynamic, right, in order to get some size. And they banked, they banked the entire time. It's like, man, you can make do with somebody who's big. Like, let's go get somebody who's big. If you got name a guy, Robin Lopez on this roster, right? You got something, right?

You got a big. And you have what nobody else has. You have stuff with clay. I don't know that they would give that up to get a little bit more size. And also, you know what the tough sell is going to be? How you go get rid of Wives because he can't stay healthy and get another big man, who can't say him. I don't know if you win that.

Now, if you were to say LeBron, you guys had, you got Wiseman with the number two pick, right? Yep. Number was number one, Ant. Anthony. Yep. And then, so, I mean, you weren't going to draft.

Alamello was three. Yeah. No, that was kind of a three or four player draft. Why not? I mean, if you look at what Jordan Poole has done, and he's obviously not the passer, La Mello is, but it's the same concept of,

Well, you don't want to draft Lamello because you've got a third guard. Well, now you've got a third guard, right? And now he has to be on the court and you're not taking step in playoff. So it's kind of the same scenario, except George Poole is a lot cheaper than Lamello right now. And that's a whole different story. Who can, like, will he accept the role? But in hindsight, Lamello makes sense because you got three guards now anyway. No, the issue with, I think to your point, they're going to move Wiggins and get some size.

You can't give up Jordan Poole. And then there's Jonathan Cuminga, 6, 7, you know, could be a really plus defender. You like Cummega. Well, I just think he's so twitchy. I think he just, I just don't know if I trust him in these big spots. You tell me, if you, Yokic look gassed. I find Yokic fascinating. So he just looked gassed.

Denver's a team that, again, like the Clippers, they just can't stay healthy. It feels like the last two years. They're constantly beat up. Do you think they're a threat at all to the Warriors? No, I don't. I mean, who are you banking on? Who's number two? Like, what's their counter?

I don't know what they're counter. You got, you want to beat the warriors. The Warriors have a counter. They have answers, right? What are the reasons they start Kavanaugh-Luni? Because if things don't go well, you can come with a better alignment, right? You have that ace in the whole. That's why they were fine bringing stuff off the bitch.

It's like, you know what? If you can't beat us with Steph off the court, you're done. But if you do beat us, we can bring it stuff. They like this stuff. They like holding the last lineup to the end. So you know they have the counters. And that's a byproduct of when you went three championships to go to five straight finals. Like you kind of understand that you've got to be able to answer some pause, right?

And I just don't think Denver doesn't have an answer. I just don't know what else they do. What else do you do? Yon is just going to be tired? Is he going to get shaped by game three? Like, he's in shape for Yolkin. but in this level, it's saying it. I don't know how fast that diet might have to work.

The Warriors behind their raucous home crowd took a 2-0 series lead over the Nuggets. No team feeds off their fans like Golden State. Why, the Warriors have a younger energetic fan base sitting courtside, fueled by that big tech money. Most organizations, those front row seats are 50-year-old. But in San Francisco, they're loud, young, passionate, and love their squad. Denver might have the MVP, but the Warriors

have the star power and the loudest support group pushing them in the league over the top. The uncertainty in the world is leading to market volatility. My good friends at Legacy Precious Metals are here to walk you through why gold is the way forward through these unsteady time. Legacy Precious Metals can advise you how to roll your existing retirement count into a gold IRA. Call Legacy Precious Metals at 866-674. heard or download your free investors guide at legacy pminvestment.com. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the I'm not so great. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clivert Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need.

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Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. All right, Chandler Parsons, nine-year NBA vet, I brought him on FS1 the herd about a month or two ago. He was great. And so we said, you know, let's go to the podcast space because then you can just swear and stuff. And it's way, way better. You can be really authentic. by the way, you're retired. Don't you live in Malibu, you told me?

I do. Yeah, I'm out here full time, pretty much. So what did you do today, your life? Today, I played a quick 18 at 8 a.m. this morning at Sherwood, which is the club that I belong to. Yeah. Came back, came back to the house, took a little walk on the beach with the dogs. And, you know what? The big German, actually, Dirk is coming over tomorrow night.

So I got a whole little pickleball. little chef night tomorrow night with Dirk and his wife coming over. Okay. So you have to give me insight. I'm not bothered that Kyrie flip fans off. I mean, I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't give. I get people that give me some crap.

But he just, I don't give them fuel. I smile. Is, and there is racist stuff. I've heard bad stuff about Utah, Boston, where it really crosses the line. But in your years of getting it, was there ever a moment, Chandler, where it's just like, oh, I've just not in the mood. I'm not having an off night. I mean, yeah, and it is, it's funny you say Utah and Boston, those are two like of the legendary shit talking inappropriate fans where they just they take it a little bit too far.

The Portland's Oklahoma City the same way like those guys. But you know what? I love it. I think the banter between the fans and the players is really fun. Obviously, every player has the line. And then if you're struggling in this situation, Kyrie obviously played there. It didn't work out. But in that, you know, it's, I understand where he's coming from.

Like, would, that stuff is for social media almost to talk like that. Like, you would never talk to, you would never tell Marcus Marty sucks like at a bar, right? Because he'll beat you up. Like, he'll beat you up. So it's, it's the fact that they think they can buy a ticket and they just have a free for all to say whatever they want to players isn't exactly fair. But at the same time, you know, Kyrie, you got to rise up. You got to, you got to not react to that because big picture, there was no solution. you lost 50 grand and it's only going to get worse next game.

Yeah. I think he's the best finisher under 6-4 I've ever seen in my life. And I've been watching the NBA since 72. I remember watching, sadly, Jerry West, Gail Goodrich and an old Wilk Chamberlain. That was my first game. And Wilk had the headband. He wasn't very fast. He didn't jump as much.

And the first great point guard I saw was Tiny Archibald. People won't remember him, but he played for the Celtics. I think he was number seven. Calvin Murphy wasn't long after that. I've never seen a player like Kyrie. Like, I don't know if it's quickness. I mean, he's obviously got a really pure shot. If I'd never seen Kyrie play, you're a scout.

I'm the GM. Describe him to me. I mean, the guy is just, he's poetry emotion. The guy can shoot. He's slippery. He's smooth with the ball. What makes him to his layup package, like you said, it's unbelievable. He can go right.

He can go left. He can reverse. He has the spin off the glass. He's got a float game to him. He's got a step back. He'll post you up. There's nothing really he can't do with the ball. I think he's, you know, I think he's an unbelievable player and finisher and ISO player.

And that series also, everyone's really talking about Minnesota, Memphis. I think that series is the series to watch. That feels like it feels like it should be like the finals. Like it is, it's physical. They're getting chippy with the whole shit with Kyrie and the fans. And it's destined for. a seven-game series, and that's the series that I think is the one to, you know, it's going to be awesome.

Mark, Mark Few at Gonzaga was on that USA basketball team, and he, I asked him once about Kevin Durant, and he said, okay, he goes, just think of how great the talent is on USA basketball. And then offensively, Durant is significantly better than every other player offensively. Yeah, he's the guy on the team with all the guys. Yeah. Yeah, it's nuts. It's pretty crazy.

Yeah, Mark said, he said, you really couldn't defend him, is that if he wanted a shot. You know, Chandler, I always said that in the NBA, we all think everybody can get their shot. But there's probably 20 guys in the league that can really truly get their shot. It's not as many as you think. No, no, there's, I mean, there's the elite shot creators, but it's funny because, like, my boys back home, they'll make fun of a player, right? They'll be like, oh, Brian Scalabrini, he's trash. Or like, oh, I would have been.

And I'm like, do you know what this man would do to you if you try to guard him? Like, you know how bad? You know how good you have to be to be the worst player on an NBA team? So it's funny, like when like my normal friends, like they'll, they'll swatch an NBA game. And it looks like they're horrible because guys like Cephalosha or Tony Allen or Patrick Beverly are guarding you. But like they think they like to compare it to their, you know, LA Fitness rec league game. A couple years ago, I was watching Colorado football. They had made a change at head coach.

And I didn't know who Mel Tucker was. But I was sitting watching it with a buddy on a Saturday night, knocking down a beer or two. And I said, man, that dude's got a presence. Like, look at that guy. That guy was like you can play. Well, he did play at Wisconsin. But I started noticing Colorado football that they were getting much more physical. And that's not really Colorado football's brand pre-Meltuck.

So when he, after multiple pursuits by multiple schools, Michigan State was able to pull him away. And I sat on the air at the time, I said, oh, yeah, this is going to work fast. This isn't going to take a long time. And then COVID hit. So Mel Tucker did what's virtually impossible. Two and five first year, 11 and 2 last year, really still dealing with a pandemic. So you coached under Sabin in 2015. And there are so many parts of being a coach.

There is the development, the recruiting, the administrative, the operational, the practice coach, the in-game strategy. If I said to you, take something you took from Sabin that you literally believe he is the gold standard of blank. What would it be? He is a gold standard for, that's a tough question, because he's excellent across. the board. That's the one thing that one of the things I love so much about him is that he's a to Z. But his attention to detail is extraordinary. I mean, it's, it's, it's extremely important because, you know, there's a saying how you do some things is how you do everything. Everything that he does is detailed into the letter.

He's crossing every T. He's dotting every I. And that's his personal standard. And that's also the standard of his entire organization and everyone in it. It would be very easy in the SEC to have a random rogue booster pay a player. Yet at Alabama, they'd be on reproach. We don't hear about that. And that's a rabid part of the country.

You've been there where, you know, car dealer, he just, he just wants to be part of the whole operation. And, you know, it just takes a $100 bill in a hand. Now, these days, you won't get in trouble for it currently. But what did he tell kids to, listen, these kids, it's not like they have, sometimes it's a Friday night and they want a piece of pizza, they got a girlfriend, they don't have the money. How did he preach to kids about, don't ruin this puppy, don't bring the program down?

Because I know in college, I could have used a Hyundai so many times. times. Yeah, well, I mean, he preaches, you know, being responsible for your own self-determination, you know, and doing things the right way and, you know, controlling what you can control and making good decisions, you know, and so it's all about the choices and decisions that you make, they create outcomes, and ultimately, you know, that determines whether you're you're going to be successful now, just not only on the field, but off the field and not just here while you're in school, but, you know, beyond school and out in the real world. And so,

you know, there's no short cuts to success. There's no magic pill. And, you know, the good thing now, and it's been, it's been like this for a number of years is that, as you know, when we're at school, we didn't, you know, if you're on full allow, you didn't have money, you didn't have pizza money. So there's cost of attendance now and, you know, the Austin deal is 5980 or whatever. That's, you know, that's here or on the horizon with some schools in the very near future. And so, you know, there's a, you know, room board to wish your fees, book, cost of attendance, you know, sometimes, you know, maybe eligible for a Pell Grant or things like that. and then the Austin money and then now with the name, you know, name, image, and likeness and things like that,

you know, kids do, you know, do have their opportunity to have some some extra money in their pocket, which I think, you know, ultimately, in theory, it should, you know, really take the focus away somewhat from that part of it and where they can just keep the night thing to the night thing, focus on school and getting up and being the best football player you can be. Do you worry, Mel, because of the transfer portal, you've got to re-recruit some of your own kids.

I've heard this from a couple college basketball coaches that they just, they don't want to be salesman 24-7. They like coaching. They like developing. Are you worried with all these current changes that you'll literally just be recruiting 80% of your life? Now, you know it's part of it, but are you worried about the balance between hey man, I got into this thing to coach, not to sell all day. Well, coaching is a lifestyle. There's no doubt about it. It's not a job. It's interwoven and everything that you do, family and otherwise.

And Jim Trussell taught me a long time ago. I was at Ohio State within his first four years. And he told me you have to recruit your own players every day. That was then. That was like 2001. You're always selling your program. You're always looking to get more and more buy-in. Every opportunity you have to interact with your player, with one of the players is an opportunity to sell your program and sell division, you know, sell the culture, cement the culture, hamlet the culture, and influence the players in a positive way and get them to buy-in to something that's bigger than themselves and the buy-in to the team, knowing that.

if they help the team get what they want, then ultimately they'll get what they want individually. And so, you know, I've always been about recruiting players that are currently on the team. I just think you have to do that. And so now there's no difference. Just, you know, if you want a specific answer, you have to ask a specific question.

Like right now, I'm towards the end of these end of spring. meetings with the players. We just finished spring ball this past Saturday. And so I've got guys in here from every 15 minutes from 8 to 5. And you ask them, are you happy here? You know, just straight up. Are you happy here? And how are things going? Is this a place where you see where you're going to be able to be successful on the field and off the field? Are there any issues? Anything I need to know about? Anything I can do that anything I can do to help. And if there are issues, you know, let's talk about them. And that's legitimate, those legitimate questions asked.

I mean, and, because I mean, ultimately, we're responsible for, for these young men and their well-being. And we promised them that we're going to help them be successful on and off the field. And if they're not happy, you know, here, then, you know, is something that we can fix? is there's some adjustments to be to be made and know what is the cause and we got guys you know they're 18 17 years old and 22 years old here and so they're all at different stages of development I talked to a young man earlier today and I said hey there was this you know after the season there was all these rumors about you going to the portal and I talked to you about it

and and and and then I said you know what let's revisit that like what the heck was going going on. You know, you were a freshman, you had a good year and I know you were injured, but, you know, ultimately he was a little homesick, you know. He was a little homesick and he got injured and he was, he thought to be detached from the team a little bit and a little bit. And, you know, but he worked through it and he's got his teammates, you know, helping through it and coaches and he worked with and now he's in good, now he's in good shape. You know, he's fine. But, you know, if I think, uh, There would be quite a few of us that have said when we're in college that we have some, you might have some doubts about, you know, if we should be there or not, or maybe some maybe thought about maybe going home or going somewhere else. It's just as easily, it's readily available to them now where back in the day, that wasn't really an option. Harbaugh and you is interesting. Big presence, played the game.

Can you be friends with the coach at Michigan? You can't be too close to friends, right? You can't golf with the coach at Michigan. I think it's tough. I think it's tough. Yeah. I'm not saying it's not possible because, you know, I just think it depends on your kind of your background

because, you know, they're, you know, I was told that Woody Hayes and Bochimpach were good friends. They were? That's what I was told. I think they might have had history together and Miami, Ohio, credit all coaches and things like that. But, you know, it's sometimes you don't know what's going on behind the scenes, you know, with coaches in terms of their relationships.

But with this, the rivalry, the way it is, and us not really, us really not having, like coming from the same tree, or we've been on a staff together, you know, things like that. Not, you know, I think it's kind of hard because, you know, there's no reason to be friends. Right. There's no reason to do that. There's no, what redeeming value would there be to sort of afford some type of friendship, you know, right here in the state, you know. So it's kind of just not there.

It's not, you know, there's some guy like, you know, like Langkiff and I work. with and Mario Cussball I work with him and you know Dan Lannning I work with Dan and Billy Maycare I work with Billy you know Beams Beamer you know work with Beams also you know Sam Pittman good you know great friends with Sam he's doing a great job Arkansas so you know obviously like if we were you know in the same conference or whatever we would be some type of friendship there you know because you know we know we know we know each other we work together right It's been a pleasure.

Good luck to you. Kenneth Walker, by the way, took me about three carries to tell Kenneth Walker who's going to play in the league. When you spotted him, did you know instantly he was going to be that profoundly productive at Michigan State? Well, when you see it, when you saw his film, the weight, you're like, then this guy can play. His guy's a back. Like, you can see it. But then when he got here, when he got here, the strength coaches were saying, hey, man, this guy's coming in a weight room.

and he's like, he's that guy, like, in the weight room. Like, he's coming in, like, working. He's strong. He's explosive. He's, like, off the charts, like, in our weight room. Like, he's, like, top of the elite in our weight room. So then we go on the film. We start doing drills in the conditioning program,

and you see, and now you see them up in person. And you see him in person, you're like, okay, that he is what we thought we were. Then you put, then he put the ball in his hand and no one can tackle the guy. He said, okay, he's got one. Like, he's that guy. You got to remember, like, that whole class

of guys we brought in with him, the high school guys and the transfers, all those guys, you know, we recruit those guys off like this off of Zoom. We didn't, we couldn't see those guys until they got here. the first time that we like saw those guys we're like we're checking them in the house and shaking her hands saying hey nice to meet you finally in person a whole class of guy

we got like 30-something guys in what on Zoom calls on FaceTime he's a home run he's a home run yeah tell me about it after the first game in the Northwestern game the locker room I think we gave me the game ball and he tells me we say hey coach hey thanks for taking a chance on me

I'm like thank you for taking a chance on us, man, you're the best back in the country. I'm saying, this guy's the best running back in the country, like, period, point blank. You know, it was like, it was no, it's like a no brainer. It's like automatic. I mean, like, we did, people, people didn't know because it was, everything was closed,

like our practicing and all that. The media wasn't at practice and things like that, you know, because of COVID and some of those things. It was just kind of, we would just come out of COVID. It was, like, no one really knew except us. Like, we knew. And so, Because people were asking, like, how's the running back position, how?

They said, well, yeah, we got some guys looking pretty good. We're going to be, we go to North Western game. And the first place, like 75 yards out of the grill. And everybody's a style line. Like, we'll see that every day, man, like every single day. Can't talk with a guy. I know. He led the country in yards after contact.

Yeah. Hips. Everything. You can see. That's a guy. You can see the. weight room on the field. That's weight room. You know,

all the NFL guys are calling me and asking me, you know, as it's getting out to nitty gritty, is there anything that we don't know about this guy like there's got to be something wrong with this guy like what is it? Does he have some baggage? How is he with, you know, with his teammates? How is he with the

academic? He's clean. I mean, he's that guy. It's him. It's right there. Like there's no, there's nothing else. It's all right there. I mean, it's rare that you get a guy like that. It's, he's just a clean guy.

On the field, off the field. He's humble. And he's a fierce competitor. He's a baller. He's a straight baller. Mel, it's been absolutely great, man. It's been great for me. Thanks, thanks for having me.

You're one of my favorites, man. I mean, like, you're, you're, I'm pinching myself right now. Oh, no. No, man. But you're the first, in fact, we had a list of college coaches. And I said, get me, Mel Tucker. We need to promote this guy. I really appreciate it.

I appreciate you. Thank you so much. All right, Mel. Good luck to you. Yeah, thank you so much. Go Green. The volume. Make sure to check out the Dremon Green show.

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