The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Steelers QB: Russell Wilson or Fields, Aaron Rodgers-Jets, Bo Nix, Daniel Jones

Episode Date: August 19, 2024

Colin Cowherd is joined by '3 & Out' host John Middlekauff to discuss the latest in the NFL. They start off discussing who should start at QB for the Pittsburgh Steelers: Russell Wilson or Justin Fields and if this could be Mike Tomlin's last season as Steelers Head Coach. Caleb Williams continues to shine in the preseason but will he be the best QB from the 2024 NFL Draft Class? Do the Giants regret keeping Daniel Jones and could Aaron Rodgers be the weakness of the Jets? Bo Nix is shining in Denver with Broncos HC Sean Payton. Will Andy Reid pass Bill Belichick as the GOAT Head Coach. Lastly they talk about how well of a job Lane Kiffin has been doing at Ole Miss. Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #Volume #Herd #3AndOutSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw unfilts of coverage. conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The volume. All right, we are almost ready for the one hour Sunday hit from this point forward. We're going to miss one maybe next week. But we're getting them ramped up here in August with John Mitz. Idle cough. Before we do that, download the game time app. You know the drill takes two minutes

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Game time. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest prices, guaranteed. John Middilkoff joining me. as he will do probably 20 of the next 24 weeks. I'm going to take a couple of Sundays and be off here. Next Sunday I'm off. Following Sunday, I'm going to England with my wife.

She's never been there. Got to take her on that last August trip because then I got six and a half months of no time off. So sometimes, John, the league has changed so much. And we've seen defensive coaches Belichick, Pete Carroll, really look outdated. The Pittsburgh Steelers, now, we have to have this conversation about Mike Tomlin pretty early this year. Russell Wilson had five series, one first down. They can't get the snap right with Justin Fields. This offensive line still a mess.

Doesn't get a great push. Now, we can keep blaming Russell Wilson, but if you go back to last year, let's be fair, once Hackett left and Peyton took over, Russell wasn't the primary issue last year. Limited yes, the defense was egregiously bad. As I look at Pittsburgh right now, and they have too many good players to be pathetic offensively. And, I mean, Russell Wilson's been in this league a long time. He can't pick up first downs. First downs.

When does the Mike Tomlin, I mean, everybody likes it. It's like Pete Carroll. Pete Carroll's got Super Bowls too. Mike's got him. But when I watch that team, I'm like, they just feel like, tone deaf offensively. Yeah, to me, I thought it was a time for a divorce last year. You know, Andy Reed and the Philadelphia Eagles got a divorce.

How'd that work out for both? Super Bowl for the Eagles, Andy's won three. Everyone benefited. It doesn't feel like anyone's ever on the hot seat in Pittsburgh. I'm out. I'm out this year. I think this is the year that it finally kind of comes to roost and they don't go over 500. The offensive line was getting smoked.

Smoked. Russell's a shell of what he used. to be, you know, a guy that's lost his confidence. Fields kind of is what he is. I mean, it's just, it's carbon copy of what we saw last year. They, they, the moment Big Ben started falling off a cliff, and listen, they got, Lucky's the wrong word, because they drafted him and he became a star. And physically at the end, it was ugly.

And he was not the same guy, obviously, threw out his arm. They drafted Kenny Pickett in the first round. That's, that's embarrassing. Like, to me, this isn't embarrassing what they're doing. they got Russell for a million dollars and traded nothing for Justin Fields. It's kind of desperate. It's cheap. The Kenny Picket in the first round.

I don't know if you had a chance. I don't blame you if you did not watch any of that Eagles Patriot preseason game Thursday night. I watched the little. He's not very good. Yeah. And even if he is a quote unquote NFL player, he's a type guy you draft historically in like the fourth, fifth round. Yeah. Same building.

You always talk about this, Pittsburgh. They feel some loyalty there. It kind of gets weird. He wasn't even remotely close to it. a first round talent in the history of the league. Obviously, we've got a little quarterback inflation, but they've had a quarterback issue for the last four or five years. And this year, I think it's going to be worse than last year,

even though these guys are more talented because how polarizing are these two individuals? I mean, Russell's one of the biggest stars the last 15 years. He's become a lightning rod. And Fields has this like cult-like following. And listen, I'm the one saying you should throw him in because at least he can run around. And he did that yesterday. but you can't depend. I mean, how many games last year did they win?

Because, like, T.J. Watt got a sack fumble touchdown or, you know, the weird shit happens. They plan a ton of close games. I think this is the year that it just doesn't work. Now, for them, that's not three or four wins. But seven, eight wins in Pittsburgh feels like a disaster, does it not? Yeah, well, Tomlin signed an extension. I'm just saying that if Andy Reid, Bill Belichick, and Pete Carroll can be let go, that, and I don't think Pittsburgh will.

But we've got to be honest about this. I've been on this for like four years. If you go to the best offensive lines in football and the worst, the bottom is overwhelmingly defensive coaches. Now, the Giants is a drafting issue. So Dayball gets a pass there. But there is something about offensive coaches and the ability to remake, reboot, and develop offensive lines.

When's the last bad Packer offensive line? They've had offensive coaches. I mean, New England right now, atrocious offensive lines. See, I think one of the reasons Pete Carol got axed is they just felt the talent was better than the production. But I watch Pittsburgh right now, and there are things, I've always said Tomlin reminds me a little of Pete Carroll. He's a pro he's got trophy.

He'd get a job and, you know, if Pete was 15 years younger, he'd get another job. Tom. He would get hired last cycle. Yeah. Also, Tomlin is the greatest lock to be a great broadcaster. I think Fox would not hire him to 15 minutes. Fox would hire him in 15 minutes. He'd get a lot of money in the open market as a coach.

Someone would pay him $15 million. The Eagles, if they had a note. You know, he would get, he'd be interviewing for the top jobs. But I do think the culture in Pittsburgh to me feels outdated. All their monies on the defensive side. They can't develop an offensive line. They're, they still draft and develop a wide receiver, pass rusher, defensive line, linebacker at a very elite level.

Free agency. They're not biggest spenders, but they'll go out and make a deal. I kind of just feel like. Like when I watched Pittsburgh, I'm like, this just feels broken. It's not, it's not New England. They don't know quarterbacks. They don't know quarterbacks. Well, New England is not only broken, they have a talent scarcity.

Pittsburgh's got players. I'll argue that all day long. They've got players. I mean, they got one of the best players in the league. Minka Fitzpatrick's a stud. They got a quarterback problem, and they don't know how to identify it. Mason Rudolph, can he picket? I mean, they were playing games with Duck Hodges three or four years ago.

Yeah. I mean, he's dating a country star selling real estate now. these two guys, this has got debacle written all over it. And listen, to me, Tomlin, sometimes you just need a fresh start. He's also being let down by like, you know, the front office is drafting these players too. And they just had a front office turnover. Kevin Colbert, who was a scout scout, I would say he's pretty good at his job. And they kind of pivoted to kind of this modern day, the cap guy.

You know, I don't know, I'm just, it's not going to work. Now, one thing they got going for him, Burroughs' health is a major concern. He struggles to practice four straight days. I think he has to take the fourth day. The Cleveland Browns, while their roster is excellent, and Kevin Stafansky is a good offensive coach, their quarterback situation could be a debacle as well. Deshawn Watson has not been good. And the Ravens just, are they going to be as good as they were last year? You lose Mike McDonald, do you lose some players in free agency?

But they're still good. But you just factor in the other two teams. They have pretty big question marks at quarterback, one being health and one being Deshaun Watson might be the most overpaid player in the history league. So, you know, Jim Nagy runs the Senior Bowl and I follow him, and he had said multiple times that this is going to be a really great draft. This draft was just completed in April, especially in the first five rounds, gets a little wonky mid-six. That could be a cultural issue. Fewer moms want their sons playing football. We could get-

Kyle, guys go back. Absolutely. So it's, I mean, listen, we used to have seven rounds in the NBA draft. I mean, when I was growing up, that's what you had. Now you got two and you're sort of out of players by the 13th pick. There could be a time we have only six, you know, we just have six rounds in the NFL draft within 10 years. I do think there are fewer kids playing it.

If you look at the numbers across the country, there are exceptions. There's your Texas's and your Alabama's. But, you know, a lot of these states, sometimes the more liberal areas, their moms aren't letting their kids play, just the reality of it. So one of my takeaways, you know, I'm watching Caleb and Roma Dunzee for Chicago. Now, they drafted a punter. They feel kind of like they got a lot of their problems solved in free agency and last year's draft. So they're just adding some pieces.

They needed another receiver, a little bit of an edge rusher and a quarterback. But I've got to tell you, and it is, this was a good draft. This weekend, I'm watching guys. Kansas City players, and I'm like, these guys are good. These guys aren't even mediocre starters. They're like some guys that are walking into this league and going to be productive. When you were scouting for the Eagles, and it was a different time. In fact, two drafts ago was considered a very weak draft.

I was told that by Tom Tolusco with the Chargers. He's like, this is not a great draft. You better get your guys in your first three and a half rounds. Middle of the fourth, it gets a little thin. I think we're going to, I really do. In the NBA, we know this, John. You go from great draft to terrible draft. This year was a weak draft.

Previous draft was a good draft. Do you think there'll be a time because of fewer high school football players that we will start having good draft, bad draft, good draft? This one felt exceptional. Two years ago felt weak. I think the sport has just transitioned so much more to perimeter-oriented game that I think the receivers are going to keep flowing in spades. And I think it's such a sexy position against.

it's paid so much. Some of the guys that previously might have played defensive back corner all want to play wide receiver. I mean, hell, we see it with Travis Hunter. He is top five corner, but he loves playing wide receiver because it's a little more fun. God only put so many guys that can play offensive and defensive line on this planet. Yeah. There are only so many body types like that.

So it feels like that's been pretty consistent with the body types. I mean, every year, the difference has been the way you play. And the way that you develop, I mean, When you were growing up, every team was running the wing tea. Hell, when I was a kid, it was kind of transitioning, but the best team in the country, Nebraska in the mid-90s, they ran a veer option offense. And then it as Mike Leach was like, what's this guy doing?

Now, the majority of the league play, or in college, play a version of that. And I think these NFL coaches have been saying forever, we can only get what they're giving us, right? This is not a minor league system in the sense. We have nothing to do with it. So as the offense has changed, it really works its way, up. So it's harder to find.

One thing you have seen, though, is there have been a lot of really good defensive tackle pass rushers where when I was in the league in 2010, 11, 12, 13, it was hard to find those guys and there's a lot more, but it's harder to find now good guards and Sanders coming out of college. So I don't think big picture, at least for the foreseeable future, but I've said forever, like, football is not going to stay on top forever. It has a wide margin in terms of its lead right now. It feels pretty unflappable.

I would say at least a decade moving forward. But baseball was huge when I was a kid. MJ with the NBA in the 90s. Like things ebb and flow. And to me, you never know. Obviously, the concussion lawsuit, they kind of phased off. I do think what you said, this draft was pretty good. Yeah.

I mean, speaking at guards, like the 49ers found a guy from Kansas who's going to be their starting right guard, Poonie. So you look at the Rams, they find these, you know, it's like, there are guys. You just have to, to me, it's the, A lot of guys in a draft have the physical characteristics, size, speed, whatever. It's about your mentality. And I truly believe that's what separates guys.

There are certain, like, quarterback. I think like Trey Lance or Justin Fields, I do think they're trying. That's a position where it's so fucking hard that if you don't have like the specific, it can just weed you out. It doesn't, not lack effort. All the other positions, if you have the physical characteristics, like you're going to be a pretty good guard or defensive tackle. If you try hard, work hard, take care of your body. right quarterback's kind of the one individual

a little more skill based specific skill where the others you can make up for with effort and studying and just playing hard especially the line of scrimmage so I think when you find the right guys of those positions which doesn't really feel like it's slowing down it's just you have to the pressure on the staff I would say to coach them up pretty immediate like Caleb

you know listen everyone and I'm not going to poo poo this because he is a really fun player to watch watch. His comp has been Mahomes. And watching him yesterday morning, I'm like, no, his comp's actually prime Seattle, Russell Wilson. Right now, the scramble ability, that's where he's making his sweetest place. And there are going to be a lot of negative nancy's like he can't play from within the pocket. Well, right now, that's not his strength. But if I'm the McCaskies, or I'm the GM, it's like, well, I'm paying the quarterback coach, 850K, I'm paying the OC,

two and a half million. We just need to work on that. But at 21 years old, what he's bringing to the table is a lot. Yeah. But for him to be a true, true star, he's going to, because they're going to be in big games this year. Yeah. And the difference of winning eight, nine games and 11 games are a couple third nines that Fields has no chance to make.

This guy does. He just has to, you know, one thing the Seattle and Pete used to push back on is like, let Russ cook. It's like, no, he can't really. Now, I think this guy is better. Well, that's unfair. Russell was really good. has a chance to be better.

But for him to be a super, superstar, like, clearly he can do this outrageous stuff. We knew that. So I'm not shocked. I'm sure you're not when he makes the play to Rome. I understand the excitement. But for them to be like Super Bowl contender in the next three or four years, got to dominate from within the pocket.

But he's 21 years old. It's a second preseason game. Like, LeBron wasn't perfect, you know, two months into his career. Like, welcome to sports. Yeah. One of the things I like about football is that, we don't romanticize it.

The game changes, the rules change, the kickoff changes. And I absolutely love that about football. If you listen to sports talk radio in America, if there's baseball talk, somebody brings up mantle. You know,

somebody brings up, you know, somebody that pitched Kofax. It's just a sport that's rich in history and lore. We all collected baseball cards. And football's not like that. Is that in football,

you move off stuff really quickly. And I think in quarterback, we've always had these rules three years full. And we go, what about Eli Manning? And what about Peyton Man? You know, Peyton in year four had a ton of interception. But there is something about the current seven-on-seven, the high school college coaching is better offensively. That guys come into this league, quarterbacks.

I'm going to give them, I've said this. I'll give you Thanksgiving of year two. But I kind of know, seriously, by week two, C.J. Stroud, Kyler Marie, a Matt Ryan. Like, I'm watching and going, well, that works. Teams not good. That works. Like, everybody in that New York Giants building knows Daniel Jones can't play. Like, I'm watching the other night. Those turnovers are the exact same turnovers four years ago.

And this is what I think fans don't understand. Dable didn't want it. The GM tried to move up. They are completely, completely trapped by their owner, John Mara's want to make Daniel Jones work. But I'm watching him with two picks, bad throws from his end zone, and I'm thinking, I don't need to see anything else. I want the kid to succeed, but it's like Sam Donald. I love Sam.

But he will throw an atrocious pick in every game he's ever played. And I mean, the optics of it are one of those jaw-droppingly. The F was that, Sam. Yeah. You know, I've talked about this. Brady through 200 plus interceptions. Very few are memorably awful in his entire career. Sam gives you one every Sunday.

minimum. The giant situation, are they in the running, do you think, for the number one pick? Because Beck's getting picked. The Georgia quarterback's getting picked number one. I would think there would be a worse team than them, because I do think their defense could be pretty solid. And we've seen day ball just field competitive teams. I mean, even last year with DeVito, they had some moments. Like, are they more likely to finish fifth than one? To be one overall. I think the Patriots have that written all over them. Yes. I mean, written all over. I think the Raiders are up there. I mean, anytime you named Gardner Minchew, you're starting quarterback, I have some concerns. I think the Giants got a couple. One, is it crazy? And I understand it was only year one for these guys.

But if they truly didn't want Daniel Jones or to pay him the contract for Joe Shane and Brian Dayball to be like, you either fire us or you let us do this. Or is that just like, I understand these jobs are hard to get. but they had just made the playoffs. If he does fire him, he can't. So they had to be on board a little bit. You know, and even if you watch that hard knocks, he keeps going, I want to see what we got. I want to see what we got.

We know what you have. You have an Alex Smith who wants to play like he's Patrick Mahomes. Yeah. You know, and that's the thing with Donald, the pick he throws down the sideline, you know, Daniel Jones does. Stingley's going to become the best corner in the league. I know everyone loves Soss Gardner because of his name

and he's a good player. Stingley's more talented and to me would be the guy that every GM in the league picks if you got to choose between the two of them. That's no shot at sauce. The Stingley guy's got a chance to be very, very special. You have to miss that deep. But he doesn't have a huge arm. And this is where the team building thing, who do they draft? Will they draft like this explosive Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson player who doesn't even fit with him with the number seven overall pick?

So you're just, the team building's out of whack, the quarterback's sitions out of whack. And this is what the Giants have been since they fired Tom Coughlin. And he stormed off that podium. You know, when John Moore, remember how awkward it was when he gave his goodbye? And it was, and listen, it was the right thing to do. But they have been a disaster since. They've run through the Joe judges, the Pat Shermer's, David Gettleman. Like, it's, they're not going to be any good this year.

And I thought, you know, maybe they'll be better in Washington. You watch Daniel Jones. I mean, they can lose to anyone at any. any moment by any margin because he just can't implode. And Sequin ain't there to save the day anymore. Throw another shrimp on the Barbie. Get in on UFC 305 live from the land down under. This is going to be fun at Drafking Sportsbook, the official sports betting partner of the UFC.

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See eligibility terms and responsible gaming resources at DKNG.com slash MMA. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days I'd put on 10 pounds, I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 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, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to the Clivert Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or where wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. 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 hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of too. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know.

I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American. history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we don't realize that we, We are in possession of the thing, and we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough.

Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, our heart radio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. You know, I was thinking about this.

I had a discussion with a buddy last night, and I said, just forget all the opinions on Aaron Rogers. He's taking four snaps in like 500 days. And I started naming quarterbacks

to my friend. And I said, and I want you to consider everything. Work ethic, focus, health, mobility, everything. Is Aaron Rogers, because I'm going to give you a take here, is Aaron Rogers as good as Mahomes, Alan, and Lamar? He's not. No.

I don't think he'll be as good this year as Burrow or Herbert with Harbaugh. I don't think he moves as well or as as as CJ Stroud. Stafford, and I'll make this argument all day, if Aaron has a clunker this year and Stafford gets to a Super Bowl, you're going to start looking at those two careers differently. Stafford was a hell of a lot better in high school college and the first four years in the pros, and he's going to be better late if he crushes the next two years.

You start going down quarterback and say, who's better? Aaron isn't quite as committed. He has a below-average offensive coordinator and Nat Hackett. That's been established. The offensive lines in flux, fingers crossed, but it's not elite. He has a defensive coach. Aaron has become over the course of the last half dozen years, he'll lead the NFL in like throwaways. Like if he doesn't like the play call, Aaron's not taking the arrows.

He'll throw it out of bounds. He did that, as you know, with McCarthy the last two years. You know, with Lefleur, he may add live out of the play. He wasn't disgusted with it. He was with McCarthy. He will be with Nat Hackett. And so I was just saying, the side of the side. somebody. I said, in the NFC, I viewed him differently. I said, I look in the AFC right now.

I don't think he's a top, I don't think he's a top six quarterback in the AFC. And my take is, is it possible that the weakness of the Jets, if Garrett Wilson and Brees Hall stay upright, they're both elite. They're both really special. We may look in week 12 and think, Aaron's not as good as Jordan Love or now Trevor Lawrence or Josh or Lamar or Burrell or and we say he's like the 11th best quarterback in the league and the defense is great Wilson and Breece Hall are crushing Tyron Smith gives you 12 starts the rookie from Penn State's better than we think and we look up hot take and go shit Aaron's closer to Dak than Mahomes well 100% I mean he's 40 years old one thing I've noticed on NFL network and it's hard because he doesn't play any of these

season games. I think he's moving slow. So do I. So do why. Every clip I see, it's like he looks like the 45-year-old guy, if you just went to the gym, you see kind of jogging around shooting hoops. That's what he looks like. And that's a little concerning because that's never how he's played. Now, if he just morphs his game into playing like Peyton, or Brady, he has the arm to function like that. Then it gets the question mark, well, he's never had to play like that. If his offensive line, they get a couple injuries, all of a sudden he's kind of moving for his life, but he can't run around. What's the problem with Russell Wilson now?

Not quite as fast. Still thinks he can't. Well, he can't. It's much easier for Caleb. Why? He's way younger and he's still fast. So you watch these guys kind of scramble around. Some guys can't, some guys can.

I just think he's such a polarizing individual. It's going to get weird fast. You got Monday night against the Niners. What if you go in there, you get your teeth kicked in? All of a sudden, it's like, oh, here we go again. I don't like, I mean, listen, Robert Saul is a nice guy. He's been completely over his head. Yep.

you know, of just being able to handle a star. He always says something. Aaron's like, what the hell is, what's he talking about? That's just, that's stuff that like Mike McCarthy doesn't, you know, just knows how to handle. Yeah, I mean, I just think that if his mobility is gone and not gone where he can't move at all, like Tom Brady at 45, but he used to be, you know, a seven and a half, eight out of ten. And now it's more like five-ish.

And he's less hesitant to do it once he realizes I'm not as quick, that changes the player dramatically. Yes. And you're looking at, like you said, the influx of new young quarterbacks. You know, let's use Brock Purdy as an example. One thing he can do is scramble around. He moves well. And that is the modern day football. You have to be able to move because we talked about the talent coming in the league.

Well, there hasn't been a lot of Trent Williams coming in the league. And Larry Allen's over the last five, ten years. But there has been a lot of defensive lines. So you're at a disadvantage most games where they got more good defensive linemen than you do offensive linemen. that's why these quarterbacks being able to scramble around can save you. Well, if that's gone for him with the lack of offensive ingenuity that's in that building from a coaching standpoint, you could argue they could be screwed relative to the expectation that he's back and going to save the day. Also, I remember as a kid I got into a motorcycle accident ripped up.

I still have a scar from it. What kind of bike were you ride? Huh? Oh, it was like a Honda Honda 150 or something. But it was pretty ugly. And I can remember it took me two years before somebody finally said, dude, you got to get on that. A neighborhood dad said, you got to get on that bike kid.

You just got to get, you got to crash again. And that always sticks in my head that if you get hurt doing something, you got to get back in there. Brady acknowledges the first year back from his injury. He didn't want to get, he didn't want anybody near his knees. He got prickly. He would bark at officials. Are we not acknowledging? Aaron is going to be affected by that.

Like Aaron probably deep down feels like he disappointed the city taking four snaps, though it wasn't his fault. So you've got an aging player, a player that is going to be hypersensitive to that, an offensive coordinator you can't trust. I just, I think we look at the Jets and think Aaron will save us and my take is, no, actually, I trust their defense. I think Garrett Wilson is really good. Brees Hall, I think the old line will kind of figure it out. I'm just saying, I think we're going to look up at Thanksgiving and like, Aaron sometimes is a weakness. I haven't had a chance to read the book or listen to the audio book yet. Obviously, there's a lot coming out about that family moment at the Tahoe Golf Tournament where he saw his dad. And obviously, there's two

sides to every story. Who knows? Maybe if the parents are whack jobs and it's not as much on Aaron, which it kind of feels like that might be is not as crazy as an Aaron. And obviously, side. But regardless, isn't it a pretty consistent theme over the last however many years, the quarterback and the family relationship? You look at Peyton and Tom, obviously, their families are very, very close. Caleb's tight with his, you know, Russell and his family. You just go around the league, Patrick Mahomes and his family. Lamar's mom's agent. Yeah. I mean, it's, that's strain. Like, I saw some craziness when I was a kid with some, you know, extended family. That's hard on any human. I don't care who it is.

It wears on you. Even if you're right or they're right, it doesn't even matter after a while. It's just that lack of, you only have so many people in your life that when you grow up and that relationship with your brothers and sisters and your parents, you remove that. I can't even imagine.

I can't relate to that because I, the relationship I had with my dad's past now, but my dad, my mom, my brother, that seems like hard to overcome in certain moments of just, to gain some levity in life, just to gain like, hey, I need to talk to somebody. Not even about something serious.

That's an underrated part. And I think a lot of people sarcastically mock and stuff, I'm talking about as a human being. You know, and I wonder if that situation, I mean, he sees his dad at that tournament and goes up to him. I mean, that's, what a fucking awkward thing they got going on. Yeah. Okay, so, I want, the Aaron thing was a mild take. Because I do think most people realize these young quarterbacks are sensational. They move better than Aaron, better health.

Many have offensive coaches. If I had a take, and I know, you know, I've used this example before, John, and you as a scout probably know this better than anybody. I have talked about before Seahawk Camp was in Cheney, Washington, where I went to college. And I've talked about before seeing Eugene Robinson from Colgate his first practice, the Seahawks and literally knowing, I mean, I had people around me and I could name them. I went to college with him saying, holy shit, he is lighting up Steve Largett. Who is that Colgate? Who at that time, I don't even know if I'd ever seen an Ivy League game on TV.

You know, this is back in like 1982. It doesn't take long to see certain things, right? here's here's a take bo knicks is got a better arm than i think people think i think he's more cut and athletic than people think i noticed this when i saw him live on the field against utah that game everything went oregon's way and i know it's preseason john but i've watched bo knicks and i'm like oh shit caleb defensive coach drake may defensive coach jaden defensive coach coach. J.J. McCarthy hurt. Penix may not play. Hot take. Bo Nix is the best quarterback this year out of the crop. I think Caleb will be better because of what he's dealing with, but I think

Bo Nix is going to shut a lot of people up really fast. I mean, it's already inevitable. He's a starter for week one. He's got a coach, I would say who a well-established, very rich guy who's who already won a Super Bowl, who kind of has this, like, back against the wall chip on his shoulder right now. Yeah. Because that year last year was probably not fun. And is anything good,

I would say nothing has a chance to age better faster than booting Russell out for $80 million in selecting this guy. And let's face it, leading up to the draft before he inevitably picked him, everyone was going, oh, Sean Payton wants to bow next, that's terror, that's awful.

You can't draft this guy that high. This is crazy. This is stupid. And it's like, no, I mean, this guy has a pretty good idea. He was one of the rare guys that was all in on Mahomes. He liked Drew Breeze once upon a time when not everyone was lining at the door.

So I would say that you have an offensive coach is just a huge advantage and a guy that can develop quarterbacks and a guy who can call the place. To me, my biggest thing is not offensive and defensive coaches. It's do you call the place? Do you dictate 50% of the game? And obviously as an offensive coach, not only are you calling the place, you're controlling the quarterback then essentially and the pace of the game. You know, defense is much more physicality. There's stuff out of your control. Even great defense gets beat sometime. But as an offensive play caller, you can completely control the game. And beside that couple of your stretch, which was bad when they, I think Rob Ryan was their defensive coordinator in New Orleans

and they were going seven to nine, even though their offense was set in records, when they've had good defenses they dominated. You know, they were consistent 10 to 12 win team in the NFL. That's what Sean Payton's record is when the defense is solid. So their defense is solid, which it was the second half of last year. And clearly, I think removing Russell Wilson, and this is why I'm out on the Steelers, that that thing that you take in is more than just that missed their down throw.

It's all this other stuff, which in fairness, I don't know how much Russell brings it. It's just there now. It's just part of the deal. And you remove that, you get this young hungry guy, you get this chip on the shoulder coach. The Raiders,

naming Gardner Minchew that they're not going to be any good. The Chargers is going to have some injury problems and their depth is going to be very questionable. Is it crazy to think Denver could finish second in this division? No. He clearly likes this team. They like their rookie class. They got some good wide receivers watching them play.

I mean, I don't think it's inconceivable. They go 9 and 8. Bo Nicks played with Troy Franklin. Troy averaged 105 yards per game, 14 touchdowns. Shit, they played together in college. Like, think about this. He's 24. Drake May's 21.

Offensive coach. I think between Mims, Cortland Sutton, and Troy Franklin, they have a good tied in, two capable backs. I'm like, that's at least average to slightly above average. I mean, look at Dallas Cowboys. They're completely dependent on CD Lambs staying healthy or they're screwed. So to me, I look at Denver and I'm like, every single year, it was Houston last year, there's a pop team. And I'm watching Bo Nix, and I've had a couple of texts with Sean Payton. It's not lost on me that a former NFL quarterback.

that I was talking to in the building at Fox several months ago, said, just remember, Drake, Caleb, and Jaden have defensive coaches. He goes, I don't care how talented they are. And this guy came into the league years ago and had a defensive coach. He said, it matters. Like, you're nervous. You don't, you do. You know, he said a defensive coach.

I mean, Mark Sanchez told me years and years ago. It's like, you know, the reality is an offensive coach. you talk at night. You text, you know, you're texting. Defensive coaches think differently. Their buddies are defensive coaches. Their favorite players are Belichick's favorite player is Lawrence Taylor. It's not Tom Brady.

So I think, I just think Denver's better. PFF has their personnel near the bottom of the league. And I'm like, ah, I don't think. Well, why'd Peyton Manning love Adam Gays? Because he could text him at 1 o'clock in the morning and he'd text them right back. They'd be talking football. These offensive guys, I saw it with Andy Reid, sleep like three hours a night. he's just in the whiteboard.

Just doing these guys, it's like a creative, the mentality is it's night and day different. Now, some of the defensive guys are just such natural leaders, the aggressiveness, it's kind of, it's a different personality. But, yeah, I mean, I think the offensive play caller is the number one guy you'd ever want, running, especially in this modern day football. But who are the options for pop teams?

Right. It'd have to be a team, a non-AFC West team, right? Not the Chiefs. So it would be the Raiders, the Chargers, or the Broncos. I think most people are out on the Raiders when you watch their quarterback situation. Listen, I'm a Jim Harbaugh diehard, but they just got a ton of injuries. They got a guy that have always injured. That makes me nervous.

Their quarterback just got out of the boot. The Jets who we talked about, I would say, are walking a very, very tight line. It could shatter in front of our eyes immediately. The Steelers, I got coming back to Earth, they were already a playoff team. Same with the Cleveland Browns, because their quarterback situation just scares the crap out of me. I think it's wide open for a team like the Broncos to kind of sneak up on people, for sure. So it's 2024, and let's talk about something really, really important. If you're ever injured, check out Morgan and Morgan to America's largest.

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and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. So as we go into this season, I thought about this. If the Chiefs 3P, Belichick didn't do it.

And we talk a lot about the Chiefs. We talk about Mahomes and Brady. Right. Brady's going to be more productive, but Mahomes is more talented and increasing in production. But I want to talk about Andy Reed and Belichick. Andy Reed wins a third straight Super Bowl.

Belichick never did it. Andy Reid two teams to a Super Bowl. Belichick didn't do it. Andy Reed had to face for the first 15 to 20 years of his coaching career, a league that allowed Belichick's favorite rules to exist. Yet Andy still flourished. Five NFC championship. The minute the league pitiful,

pivoted to offense and Brady left, Belichick is, it's Jurassic. He is completely toned out. And my take is we've always felt there's Belichick and Shula. Andy wins a third straight. Andy's Super Bowl, Philadelphia, Kansas City. Andy's won with terrible quarterbacks. Andy's one with everybody. Andy's assistants are better.

Andy's the one coach that gave Belichick real problems. Go look at their record. I think that Andy Reid Belichick gap gets really thin, really thin. And if we're going to be fair, the league pivoted to offense seven years ago, about seven, eight, you're like, I mean, everything now. It's go look at Belichick's last seven drafts, last four seasons. I, again, I'm not confusing it. I think Belichick is a better coach than Shula, and Shula has more wins. It's not all just on record.

Andy Reid is good with everybody at quarterback. I think the gap closes. I think it gets really close if he knocks down three straight Super Bowl. Well, I'd say it's been closing dramatically fast over the last two years as he's knocked these last two off, right? I'm torn on this because I'm an Andy Reid guy, but I am a Belichick defender of Like, we know what we watched. We watched him out coach everyone for 18 years.

Yeah. And then clues Andy beat him in a Super Bowl. Now, he had Brady, he had McNabb. That's the gap there is pretty wide. And he did beat him Mahomes' first year on the road in that AFC championship game that went to overtime that was one of the better games the Patriots ever played in. But you could argue, to me, if Andy wins one more, the ability to coach every type quarterback. Absolutely.

And like you said, and win pretty big. I mean, he was consistently going to the playoffs. with Alex Smith, no problem, right? Winning with Donovan McNabb, who had some serious flaws. Belichick could not only coach or have success with one guy, that guy was wired like a defensive guy. You could just dog cuss them, you could scream at them. That's not really the way most quarterbacks handle,

and you put anyone else in that place, it gets a little weird, really fast, where I think Andy's personality is much more tailored to quarterbacks, which have always been the name of the game, right? So Bill just got pretty lucky. He just got this rare bird that was wired more like Mike Vrable or Teddy Bruske. He could just take it. Most quarterbacks were not taking that type of abuse.

So every article that was ever written about any back of the quarterback that sat next to Tom said, this is the craziest thing I've ever seen the way that he takes this. It's like it terrified everyone else because if Mahomes, again, it doesn't mean you can't coach a guy hard or push a guy. But they treated everyone as equals when they're not equals. Joe Montana, John Elway. Peyton Manning. They weren't equals in the room. And the room knows it. But Belichick's thing, to me, could have only worked with Tom. It's why they were the perfect marriage, one of the great sports marriages of all time. Andy can date anybody. If you gave Andy any of the top, let's just say

15 quarterbacks in the NFL, I'm not saying the chiefs win the Super Bowl. You gave him like Josh Allen, they'd win the Super Bowl or Joe Burrow. Lamar would be fun. I think he could just take like Dak, you random guys, and they would have 11. and 12 wins. Now, they may lose in a playoff game because that guy's not good enough, but he would be a lock for the playoffs. And I don't think you could say that about Bill as the years went on rotating. Just

give him Dak Prescott. He's a lock to win. I don't feel that way. So that's Andy's Trump card of this modern day football. It ain't even close, right? His ability to do offense and quarterback. Bill couldn't. That's why I think a lot of people were off bill. Now, it'll be very fascinating to watch how this

off season or this season goes with Bill playing this new role. I would say Bill is very dependent on one individual over the last 15 years. That was Josh McDaniels when he had Josh and Josh's available. So if you're getting a package deal and once you hire Bill and Josh, well, no one's ever hiring Josh to be a head coach ever again, right, in the NFL, maybe in college. So maybe Bill has that going for him. But yeah, I mean, this, I don't even think it's remotely close. I think Mahomes a good example of like the guy that we see now

is so much different than the guy we saw early on the way they've coached him, the way he's changed. And just if you can't coach the quarterbacks, I mean, he put, now Andy put Juan Castillo as a defensive coordinator when I was there, everyone makes mistakes. Yeah. But to put Matt Patricia as your offensive coordinator with a second year coach is one of the most insane things ever.

And for as great as Belichick's resume is, That's like an all-time stain. Yeah. To me, that's a bigger stain than like deflategate or any of that other crap. You know, I mean, there are these moments. I mean, every great actor, Brando had six bombs. De Niro. They all do.

Right. But there are moves over the last three to four years with Belichack that I can't unsee. And the Matt Patricia thing and the five, six straight. I mean, there are drafts where they don't have a single good player. it stains how I look at Bill. And how the beginning and any great movie starts great and finishes strong. Bill's ending is a catastrophe. Think about this too.

I do think it's a little weird that this, you know, Bill was like this ultimate dictator. And don't get it wrong. Like you're in the building with Andy. Like he's the boss. But he interacts clearly a little different. Because look at his resume of like, Doug Peterson was right-hand guy. won a Super Bowl. Matt and Aggie, they claim was a disaster. Took the Bears of the playoffs.

Ron Rivera took the Panthers to the Super Bowl, Andy guy. John Harbaugh turned out to be pretty good. Why do Andy's guys just function pretty well? And Bill's guys, football coaching's hard. And every guy's going to lose, have a bad season, maybe you're going to get fired eventually. His guys get running out of the building in record speed. Yeah. I mean, Joe Judge immediately, like, oh, the same working.

Josh McDaniels couldn't even make it through the, second year. After like 10 years to step back, Patricia, whatever the hell happened in Detroit, I mean, in all time. Couldn't get along with Stafford. Oh my God. Yeah. So, and these are his core guys. Like when you think Bill of the last 15 years, Brian Flores couldn't get along with a soul on offense. Hate his interactions with the

quarterback because that's what they saw. Think about that. That's what those guys saw. Ask yourself this. All defensive guys, scream at the quarterback. You're like, this ain't going to work. That ain't Tom Brady. Success or failure? All of Andy Reed's guys are guys you'd love to have a beer with. They're good dudes. Well liked.

Go to Bills, Charlie Weiss. Joe Judge. He just ran on Twitter about getting fired from serious X-N. I was like, Charlie, what's going on here? Almost all of Bill's guys. Eric Mangini's an exception. Almost all of them. There are a lot of work.

Like, if they were in the building, you'd avoid them. They're harsh, they're intense, they're arrogant. Bill is attracted to that quality, that sort of pseudo-confidence, arrogance. Andy's guys, Matt Nagy used to call me, hey, thanks for saying nice stuff. You know, my kids listened to this morning going to work. Like Doug Peterson's a great guy. They're all nice guys. And Andy is looking for people that Andy barks.

So I think he looks for people psychologically that can comfort players when he barks. Bill barks and doubles down on the barking. And that's why that's why the minute Brady leaves, three agents don't want to go there. Brandon Ayuk's like not remotely interested in that culture that Bill created. Yeah, to me, it was his culture was all dependent on Tom once Tom established himself. And go back to Walsh. like they could have pivoted way earlier to young and been fine.

Like it wasn't dependent on one individual. I just think that's an all-time outlier situation, what we saw. Because the way the quarterback could take it, none of these other quarterbacks take it. It's why every single guy to a man, the backup quarterbacks that all rotate around the league were like, this is the craziest thing I've ever seen. And it's not like, obviously there are a small percentage of teams that just are really buttoned up, do it the right way, the Ravens, the Chiefs, the Patriots, like the gap of how they get ready, isn't it? But the way that they treated the quarterback in front of the entire team didn't happen anywhere else.

Because that's not normal, and you're never going to see that. And I understand why the Patriot guys defend it. Like if I was Edelman, I would defend it too because they won a lot. But it wasn't sustainable. Once you remove the Kekog, it'd crumble down. And I'm telling you, it's going to get really ugly there. It's going to get really ugly there. That team rolling out Jacobi, I mean, Drake's a major project.

people are going to be mad at craft because everything he did to Bill. Even obviously didn't end well with Bill on the field, but you respect a guy that brought you so much. It's, I think it's going to be really bad. And you talked to, like, I text around people in the league,

they're like, buckle up, fellas. It's going to be ugly. And it's not like they're playing in a division. I mean, the bill's got a lot of moving parts. Obviously,

they are the king of the division. The dolphins aren't great. The jets could implode. if you told me they didn't win a divisional game, I'd believe you. All right. So Chris Peterson's gone. Nick Saban's gone. Jim Harbaugh's gone.

Dabo Sweeney is struggling with the transfer portal and NIL. Ryan Day is struggling, defining what Ohio State is. Take Kirby Smart out. He's considered the best coach in college football. I think Kalin DeBore's really close. And you'll see the rest of it. the country, we'll see that what Husky fans know. It's really interesting.

This is why you can't give up on people. I could make an argument. The third best coach in college football is Lane Kiffin. And this sport bailed on him. Ole Miss has no business being as good as they are. I mean, let's be honest. The state produces, I mean, how many players,

they can't get many. And Georgia gets the best in Georgia. Bama gets the best in Bama. Florida, it's rated. by everybody. He is, that state's only got three and a half like million people. It's Oregon. It's got more players than Oregon.

But generally speaking, most of these teams in the top 10 come from highly populated states, fertile recruiting grounds, is that people bailed, the Raiders bailed on him, you know, college football bailed on him. And you start looking around and I'm like, and by the way, Sark's somewhere in the top 10, he may not have the trophy yet, but recruiting, cultural. building, quarterback development. Stark knows what he's doing. He's won a lot of games. Washington was 0 and 12 when he took it over.

They were seven wins second year, and he handed Chris Peterson some dudes, some NFL bodies. But I was thinking about that today. Take Kirby out and Kalin DeBoer, we know it. You know, Urban's gone, Harbaugh's gone, Sabin's gone, Chris Peterson's gone, all these guys. Dabo is struggling with NIL on the transfer portal. He's struggling with it.

Well, he won't do it. He won't do it. He won't do it. He refuses. And Ryan Day hired Chip Kelly, which I think is brilliant because the hole in his game, which he acknowledges is the run game. Ryan admits that. So you can't put him as a top five coach now because he's beating Purdue. It's, you know, Lane Kiffin can coach his ass off. That's my take. You know, one of the best stats I remember hearing last year was Ole Miss has never had back-to-back double-digit seasons, win seasons of the history of the program. Lane did it. 22 and 23. And last year when he beat LSU, you're watching him going, the talent gap on

these two rosters can't be as close as what it looks like on the field. Obviously, he scares people, but to me he's got one of the blue bloods, whether it's Florida, if they make a change, whoever. There were rumors that I had heard Oregon when Dan Landing got it. He was really interested. People just wouldn't touch him. You get to a point, though, I think, especially in college sports in the NFL, you win enough.

Who cares? Like, what are we even talking about? and if he, a lot of people think they're going to be a top 10 team. He crushed the transfer portal. Oh, yeah. Good quarterback. Oh, yeah. I do think there's a lot of pressure, though.

It's one of those where even if he wins eight or nine games and misses the playoffs, it's still a remarkable accomplishment. You win 10, 11, and then nine. You're at Ole Miss, not Ohio State. Right. Like, I'm with you on Kail and Newport. He's a star. Yeah.

Don't be shocked when they're back in the final four with Alabama right away. I think they will be. Right. But you should win at Alabama. Even some guys leave, you're still inheriting every single guy in that roster is someone that Nick had recruited, right? You should win at Ohio State. You obviously should win at USC.

Even Sark, it is to me much more impressive. They have an unlimited checkbook to sign whoever they want whenever they want. Now, Sark had a good year last year, though, kind of a little soft in the playoff game against Washington. It's way easier to win at Texas than it is at Ole Miss. Like, Lane went to, what, F-A-I or F-U-I or whatever that school was in Florida? that no one could even get right if I pulled random people that follow sports. And then to Ole Miss, who usually runs through coaches every three or four years.

And now he's kicking everyone's ass. He's beating LSU. Yeah, I mean, I just think that it's easy to hire. I think part of what's worked against Lane, it's easy for USC to give $100 million to Lincoln. Like everyone's on board. It's easy when LSU gives 90 plus to Brian Kelly. Like we see, I think it is controversial on some of these ADs and whatever. to hire Lane. At this point in time, you're crazy if you do not. They're hiring these

Billy Napiers and all these other guys. Lanes running circles around them all. So, I mean, what he's doing at Ole Miss? Now, here's the thing. He's getting paid $9, 10 million there, and they clearly got a pretty good, but does he need to leave? Well, yeah, I mean, I think some of its lifestyle. He likes the South. He's told me that. He likes the South. He loves fishing. He's an intense guy. He likes it's, you get some space. People are nice. You know, Lane's a little cocky, unique personality, but I also think he's got a great heart.

And I think he's really, I think he's really a good coach. I think sometimes when dad's a coach or dad's a broadcaster or dad's a bank president, the son gets placed into a position he's not quite ready for. And if it wasn't for Monty

Kiffin, Lane probably doesn't get the Raider job. We don't know. He's just another young assistant. McVeigh, his, you know, like, grandpa, or somebody was a general manager, that's different. It wasn't high profile. But I think one of the vagaries of having a famous successful dad, and if you go into the same industry,

is you tend to get inserted into places that eventually you are ahead of people and you will be successful. But Lane was like kid coach, like 32 years old. And I can remember when he went to USC, he just wasn't. And I was rooting for him, but he was a little loose with his private personal life. he just didn't quite know how to be a head coach at USC. It wasn't the play calling. But I think there is an advantage when dad or grandpa or somebody ran the bank and you get into finance.

There's an advantage. But I look around college football now and in a big game, I'm going to tell you this, I would not want to face Lane Kiffin. I think he's clever. By the way, playing with house money at Ole Miss, he's like, he has the talent of most of the top six. but none of the pressure that an Ohio state does if they met in the playoff. I think one thing that is dramatically different about him is at USC, he almost had like this angry, edgy, anti-media being fun. And he's the complete opposite now.

He's just much more looser, especially in front of a camera. He feels much more natural. Maybe he just embraced it. Listen, Jimmy Sexton and Nick Saban changed his life. He says it as much, right, when he goes to Nick. and I wonder if he saw Nick, like, you can be this hard driving kind of a-hole coach on the field and kind of handle when the lights are on with the media

because you're in that business. As an NFL coach, your roster is your roster. You're not recruiting anyone out there. In college football, it's a little different. It's why Nick, when the camera's on, kind of turns into a different guy. Yeah. He has all these different kind of, like, characters he can play.

Yeah. Where I think Lane struggle with it. Now you watch him. I saw this clip on the Internet the other day about he was on with the SEC Network guys and they were asking about his dad and he's like, you just got this emotional side of Lane. You have to remember, Lane was a quarterback at Fresno State in the late 90s who, when Pat Hill recruited Billy Volick and David Carr, they said,

Land, you're never going to play here. Immediately just transitioned into being a coach with Jeff Tedford, who was the offensive coordinator. This guy transitioned at like 20 years old to being a coach. And like you said, to me it is an advantage if you do, like, you're mentally, or I would say mature enough to handle it, like Kyle Shanahan. This guy went right into it. And to me, Kyle's much more serious in the sense of, you're not screwing around as much.

Lane has some, you know, interests, I would say, outside the football building. I wonder if he just has corralled it all and got the right people around him. But his personality in front of the quote unquote media or when he's doing things with a camera on, to me is dramatically different than the guy that we saw USC, which I thought was part of his undoing. He wasn't that likable. Isn't that a huge part of life? Like, if you're kind of likable, people root for you. Like the Sam Pittman guy at Arkansas, I think he's not very good, but everyone loves the guy.

Yeah. He's like everybody's really friendly stepdad, be hard to fire. You know, it's like the Freakonomics talked about that. I think it was Freakonomics was the book. They talked about that the doctors that get sued aren't the bad doctors. The doctors that get sued are often the most educated and the most successful doctors. They don't have good bedside manner. It's impossible to sue even the incompetent doctor you love.

Right? It's hard to fire somebody you really have great affection for. It's easy to sue the asshole surgeon that's screwed up during the surgery, right? So I think as you become more likable, and let's be honest about this. My dad used to say this. Your employment will be based in rooms that you're not in. People will raise their hand. A boss will say, you know, raise your hand.

Colin stays or goes. There's nine. You need five. Get rid of middle cough. The room goes silent. Me and Logan have those meetings almost every other week. I know. There's a lot to be said with Lane. Is that when you're a little snarky and you go in a three-game losing streak or it's just

much easier to get rid of guys that are a pain. Well, I'll give you a guy because in the NFL, that only goes so far if you're winning six, seven games, no matter how much they like you, they run you out of town. Arthur Smith, I remember when they fired, or Arthur Smith was fired by Arthur Blank. and Arthur Blanks, I love the guy. I didn't want to do it, but he just wasn't good enough. I'm watching, I was flipping around channels and watching Big Ten Network they had on Matt Rule. I'm like, I see why this guy is a good college coach. He's just kind of got a personality. Yeah. Can own the room when the camera's on. And you're like, I get it. And I've heard he's not easy to play for.

Yes. It can be really difficult. Yeah. And they're the classic team of like they bring in this young hot shot quarterback. And the expectations are high. And it's usually hard to live. up to those, all of a sudden you win seven, eight games, people were maybe like, can we sneak into the playoffs? Week two is Nebraska hosting Colorado. I don't know if you saw the clip. I think it was

yesterday or two days ago. Even Dion was like, hey, CBS, whoever hears from CBS, I'm sorry, we're all good now. I would imagine someone at Colorado like, we can't be doing all this. Like, we've got to be a little careful. Pick your battles. You're not the player. And that's where I think

Dion kind of carries himself. Like, you're the coach, but you got all these other guys, and beside your couple sons and Travis Hunter, some of these guys aren't going to be able to back up all your words. Right. We don't have Alabama, we've got to be careful. That game,

because last year, remember, Nebraska's quarterback looked like me. I mean, it was a joke. It was awful. It's going to be a little more interesting this time around. That's one of those,

there's a lot of like, you know, USC, LSU and all these. That's a game that I have this season circled. I want to, I'll be, will not be moving off the couch for that one. John Middlokoff, former NFL Scout 3 and out.

As always, buddy, great stuff. See you, Colin. Of all you. Thanks so much for listening. If you've enjoyed the podcast, take a moment, rate, and review. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

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