The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Massive Mailbag

Episode Date: July 4, 2025

John answers all of your questions from signing second round draft picks to fully guaranteed contracts, owners not wanting to interview for new head coaches, why certain coaches outrank GM's, and much more in this episode's massive mailbag segment.  Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

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

you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy. Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. Help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the ice. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the moment and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

The volume. What is going on, everybody? How are we doing? John Middlecalf, three and our podcast. Not ideal lighting. Less than ideal microphone situation here. I forgot something extremely important. my traveling operation is held together by a thing called a Zoom recorder that plugs in my microphone to my computer

and I left it on my desk and there's just no way one they've come out with different models since it wouldn't be here for a couple days and it just it wasn't going to happen so I had to ad lib and get this USB mic so the audio quality is not great but I had to record a couple of mailback here for business purposes so I apologize for forcing you to sit through this quality because I pride myself on good audio quality, especially someone who listens to podcasts. Like if you have bad audio quality, I'm out. So I screwed up.

There's no way around it. And we'll just have to battle through. And I'll be back here end of next week, potentially, because I don't know if I can do podcasts, even from Lake Tahoe with this microphone. It's just too terrible. It's an embarrassment. And it's an embarrassment that I cost.

So it's like I'm a football coach at my press conference saying put this on my shoulders, put this on my back. But before we dive into any mailbag at John Middlecoff is the Instagram. You guys know the drill fire in those DMs. I got to tell you about my friends, my partners and the official ticketing app of this podcast, game time. Best ticketing app in America. It doesn't get any easier. So if you want to go to a game, if you want to go to a show, if you want to go to a comedy, show, a concert, you name it. They got you covered.

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Okay, let's type into the mailbag. Could you imagine Darren Lawler's career if he played with Drew Brees, Mahomes or Joe Burrell, instead of Carr and Daniel Jones? I think more elite players should stop taking these massive contracts. from bad teams that overpay because they suck and go to a place that will elevate them to new heights. I think that's easier said than done. When someone offers you millions of dollars, let's just say, you know, your team is offering you and you've never made any money, 30, 40, 50 million dollars guaranteed.

And you're playing at a high level and that total contract is 80, 90 million dollars. And you're looking at yourself, well, I'm probably going to make 80, 90 million dollars. It's easy to go, well, I'll play this out another two years because, I got to play out usually my, the year in which they, last year of my contract, and then they're usually going to franchise tag me if I'm a good player. So it doesn't, it's easier said than done. I know where you're coming from, but I think that's easier in theory than it is done in reality, and that's why it's never done in reality.

I'm surprised the 49ers brought back Kyle Hughescheck. When they cut him, I thought it was justified. He's a 34-year-old, expensive, but what was the thinking behind it? Is it more based on intangibles? Yeah, I think it's hard to find that position, right? They don't really exist in the NFL, that there aren't fullbacks. There aren't guys coming out of college that play that position. He knows the offense.

He's a versatile player. He also, at this point in time, given that they've done a bunch of pay cuts, is a cheap player. And he took a discount because he was offered more, I think, to go to Pizzables. Pittsburgh, he values the 49ers. He likes playing O McCaffrey. He likes Kyle Shanahan. He likes Purdy. Like, that's, kiddles his guy.

So there's a comfort level in cohesion just together. You know, I don't know, I don't have this total off the top of my head, but I think it's just a couple million dollars now. He's going to go down as the highest paid, uh, pullback in the history of the league. I know you're a big Sopranos fan. Which moments episode is the funniest to you? When I first got into the show, I anticipated it being super. serious crime drama, which at times it is, but most part, it's like a comedy. A classic moment for me is when John gets escorted away, crying at his daughter's wedding, and the conversation all the guys have afterwards. I do think the all-time episode is when they're in the woods freezing their ass off, chasing that Russian spy who has like got confirmed like 25 kills and they can't find them. They can't kill them. And it's just they did they have no self-service. To me, that's got to be one of the more iconic moments in the show.

I would say the best scene in the show is the intervention with Chrissy, when they're all sitting around in his apartment. And it's just I've watched that scene on YouTube probably 50 times in my life. It's hard to beat. I mean, some of the comments by Polly. I mean, it's pretty funny. regard to the mailback question about UFC, I had some additional thoughts. Not only is there a barrier to entry with pay-per-view, but the main car doesn't come on until 11 or 12 at night on the East Coast.

Let's be honest, most people don't have the energy to stay up to 1 or 2 a.m. watching. Also, you're right. It's very niche. I'm in the military, and the UFC is very popular with us because of the violence. I would say a majority of Americans just don't have the stomach for it. I'm with you. I do think there are, there was a moment in the last fight where the dude caoed him, he hit the ground. I might have knocked himself out on the ground as well, and then the guy hammered him to his face. I mean, it was like, Jesus.

It's a very, very violent, whatever, 12 minutes, I guess three, five minutes, 15 minutes, 10 minutes, however long the fight lasts. I do think, though, the human, humans are drawn to fights going back to like, when we're kids in junior high and high school. There's a fight. Everyone surrounds it. It's just a natural instincts of human beings. But you could argue with how civilized culture has got, especially in America, how soft certain regions have gotten. You know, they're not around fighting ever.

So like you said, it's going to turn certain people off. It's going to be too much for other people. They're just going to be people like me who I love violence. I mean, I miss it in the NFL. I miss fighting in the NBA. I'm drawn to violence. I'm drawn to sports and I don't watch. So it's hard to get people's attention.

It just is. Even people like me that should be in the demo. 40-year-old guy who watches sports and likes violence. And they can't get me to buy the pay-per-views. And I like Dana White. Julio Jones retired after the off-season and a great career had me thinking. There are only three wide receivers I'd have on my team over Julio, Rice, Moss, and Calvin Johnson.

I have Julio as the fourth best wide receiver of all time. What do you think? Where would you put Julio? Probably a little rich for me. You know, I think many people would say Terrell Owens. Terrell Owens is a more dominant player than Julio Jones. I would say, I mean, there are a lot of guys over the course of the last 25 years. You know, Marvin Harrison was pretty elite, pretty unstoppable.

I would say that Tyrake Hill, pretty elite, pretty unstoppable. I would say that Tyrake Hill, pretty elite. pretty unstoppable. I would say that trying else to think. That's a good question. I don't know. But to me, he's probably top 10 talent of all time.

But just in terms of production, I mean, you know, when you look, he had some weird years where he didn't score touchdowns. I mean, Antonio Brown had a six-year stretch where he was better than Julio Jones. I mean, Antonio Brown had one of the greatest six-year stretches in the history of the league.

But, yeah, I'd say he's one of the great talents. He's one of the great stories of elite blue chip prospect, right? He was the number one overall recruit. He then becomes a top six or seven draft pick. And then he goes on to become a Hall of Fame level career. I do think sometimes when these player podcasts, you know, I saw a clip the other day. Does he do a podcast with Roddy White? I mean, both those guys are bitching and moan about a lot of stuff.

It's like, Julio, you were a great player, then you got old, and they got rid of you. Like, welcome to the league. How many of your teammates did they get rid of? They got rid of Matt Ryan. They got rid of basically every single guy you played with beside you and Matt Ryan before you both were discarded. They're always so offended when like, yeah, we had a new coach come in and I called Arthur Blank and he's like, the coach is going to get to decide. He's like, bullshit, Arthur. No, Arthur Blank hired these guys.

He's not a football guy. He's going to let them decide. And he's paid you a premium for your services. These players get so offended. Like, well, you know why? Because they're treated so well. They're paid premium amounts of money. They get everything handed to them.

And then the moment they're not great anymore is like kind of, you see it with LeBron James right now. For the first time in LeBron James career, it's like, yeah, we don't, we're not really worried about what you think. Like, we're not going through you. You don't have any leverage anymore. We're on, we have a new beautiful girl on the team now. And her name is Luca. And he's very offended by it. You could tell.

We're going to weigh our option. We're going to, LeBron, shut up. Take your 50 million, play for the Lakers. Welcome to the NBA. this happens to literally every player. And I think the great players really struggle with that transition of like, wait, you're not just kissing my ass, jerking me off and tickling my taint? No, we're not anymore.

We're just, we're over you. And sometimes I see these player podcasts. It's like, geez, these guys lived in a different world than the rest of the NFL, because most NFL players are kind of like on their toes about stuff. Like at any moment, anything could go on. I have a question about Justin Herbert. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like success during his rookie season may have raised the bar for incoming quarterbacks. Ever since his historic debut, it feels like teams expect their rookie quarterbacks to start right away in week one.

When you look at a trend of rookie quarterback since Herbert, the expectations to start week one seem noticeably higher than they used to be when quarterbacks sat their first year to learn the new system. Listen, man, expectations. people have been drafting quarterbacks now for six to seven years hoping to find the next Patrick Mahomes. When I draft a player really high at quarterback, especially in the top, I don't know, 10 picks, my expectations are high. Whether you're compared to Justin Herbert, whether you're compared to Patrick Mahomes, whether you're compared to Brett Farr of Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. You're expecting, you're trying to hit a star quarterback. And fair or not, like the expectations are never like, yeah, it would be cool if he's Dak Prescott. Even though if you drafted a guy and he turned in at Dak Prescott or Kurt Cousins,

you know, pick five, would it be ideal? No. But like, would you keep your job for a long time and have just a successful team? Potentially, yes. And I think the expectations for high draft picks are always really high when it comes to quarterbacks, especially with people starting right away. And the other expectation, like you said, is like people don't want people to sit. The Aaron Rogers, the Jordan Love, that is not the norm. Even Patrick Mahom sitting for a year is, definitely not ever going to be the norm with rookie contracts, with how much these guys have played now in 7-on-7 and in college. People want to see these guys play. Should the NFL add overtime kickoff decision to the opening coin toss? For example, if you win the coin toss, you get to choose three options. Kick, receive for the game, kick, receive for overtime, three field direction. This way everyone knows ahead of time who gets the first ball first in overtime. So no team doesn't feel screwed after the coin toss. Also, teams could play more aggressively at the end of games if they knew they had to kick off in overtime. I don't hate this, but I don't think

at the start of the game you're even thinking about overtime. Really, the decision to defer or not is based on the start of the second half, which there's still 30 minutes of football left. So I think that would be an element coaches wouldn't want to mess with. I think they would rather just kind of stay focused on the present and at worst the start of the second half. I don't hate the idea. I think you're actually kind of thinking outside the box here, but I think if you went to the owner's meetings and threw that kind of idea out there, it would get kicked back pretty fast. The Texans and Brown seem to be fully guaranteeing way more money than everyone else. There are only two teams to guarantee their second round picks and then Watson fully guaranteed

with the Browns and Stingley got 89 of $90 million guaranteed with the Texans. Do you think they're doing this on purpose to screw with everyone else's negotiations? If one, if no one else's second round picks, that'd be a huge blow. All the Cardinal media keeps bringing. I didn't see that they guaranteed their second round picks fully guaranteed contract. I didn't see that. I do wonder, you know, you could argue Derek Stingley, giving him $89 million of $90 million guaranteed, because if I was a Star Corner, I'd be like, why am I getting way, why is Justin Jefferson and Nick Bosa getting $125 million guaranteed, and I'm only getting $80 or 90?

why wouldn't I get the same amount guaranteed as those guys? I play a premium position. I'm covering the highest paid guy in the league. The reason you give these pass rushers so much money is because they go, well, I'm going up against Lane Johnson, Trent Williams, Tristan, Worst. These guys are making $30 million a year. If I'm beating them, why am I not getting $30 million a year?

So if I'm Derek Stingley and I'm covering the guy making $30 million a year, why wouldn't I make $30 million a year? Right? Why am I making $20? So I think it's a way to kind of actually give him a little less. But you're right, they have, and it gives a shorter term contract, right? Like what do they give them? Four years, $90 million?

What do they give Dinell Hunter two years ago? I think two years, $50 million and guaranteed $49 of it. So you actually keep yourself more flexible instead of giving like these six or seven-year deals. Maybe. You'd have to ask Casario. That's a good question. Because I don't view the Texans and the Browns is the same. I mean, they gave Deshaun Watson $230 million to make sure that he joined the team.

I don't know why they did it, honestly. That's a great question. Why isn't the Giants GM fired? Especially after the hard docs, he would be on the hot seat. But now, since Barkley won a championship with the Eagles, I'm surprised John didn't fire him already. Is it hard to find a proper GM? Even the NFL fan knows that it's a bad idea, and I doubt he would get another GM job. By the way, love the pod.

Appreciate it. I don't know. I mean, your guess is good as mine. I think it's pretty clear that Giants' ownership has hesitated when it came to making a major, major change. They want no part of it. So I would guess that that's a major reason, that they just don't want to, they don't want to, they don't want to fire anybody. Because he doesn't want to go in a situation where he has to interview new people. sucks. That is the last thing these owners want to do. They're printing

money. Life's good. They're all in yachts. They all in seven houses all around the world. They've never had more money. And win or lose, they're still making the money. The last thing they want to do is spend all January interviewing a bunch of potential GMs.

And then typically, you've got to listen to that guy to see what coach does he want to hire. That does suck. Now, you could argue, well, yeah, it sucks, but would you rather win? Of course. I think you'd just rather win with the guys you have, especially if you like them. But I don't think he has like naked pictures of any of these guys. Pro golfers drive for show, but they put for dough. The easiest shot for you to make some dough betting on this week's tournament at

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New customers only. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance for additional terms and responsible gambling resources. See dkng.com slash audio. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, news, huge news? We created our own podcast called,

Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're first people to do podcasts. Pretty. Yeah, a pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special.

So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this.

We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey Jonas. and then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and Headwere writer Street or Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between

songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-heart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet

lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife-12 in the TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis.

And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down at three to Rabakina. But I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me.

And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. How do you golf in Arizona in the heat?

Do you golf in the middle of the day or go early and try to beat the heat? Listen, I don't understand like, it's hot. It's 110 degrees. You drink fucking water and Gatorade. Like, how could anyone, like, I've lived in the heat my whole life. I grew up. I'm actually down the street in a hotel because my brother and his kids are living in my mom's house because they're remodeled in their house. So we stayed at a hotel down the street.

I mean, it was, we landed yesterday. It was 102 degrees in Davis, California, and it was humid. It sure felt humid to me. Like, it's hot. So summers are hot, you play golf, not going to kill you. How can anyone function in zero degrees, all you guys in the Midwest or the Northeast to live in the snow? You couldn't pay me to do that. So everyone's always like, how do you live in the heat?

I don't know, you drink some water, you put on a hat? It's not that complicated. Okay, when you look at recent history, none of the offensive play calling head coaches hired in the past five years have won more than one playoff game. Yet CEO coaches like Siriani, Dan Campbell, Damiko Ryan, Dan Quinn have won multiple playoff games. It seems like there are more distractions now than ever to manage as a head coach. Long schedules, more weekday games, more primetime games, more international games. Social media and podcast gives players an outlet.

Analytics have contributed to the unconventional in-game decision-making. A lot of this is new over the last five-ish years. Do you think expectations are too high for Ben Johnson, the Bears this year, given that he's a first-year head coach? Yeah, man, I think it's really, really hard to be a head coach, especially when your bread and butter is like calling the game. And that's why Ben Johnson, that's why Sean McVeigh, that's why Kyle Shanahan.

And when you're young, you have a million things going on. Sometimes you get to go to a crappy team, right? You just get to go to a team that has no expectations. People just think it's going to suck, right? Like, I'm going to win three or four games. It's like, whatever. You win six or seven, everyone's happy. Then there's a guy like Ben Johnson, who is just anointed the next great play caller.

It's like next Mike Shanahan, next Mike Holmgren, next Andy Reid. Listen, he was incredible in Detroit. Well, he goes to a team whose expectation, I would say this year, anything less than 9, 10 wins in me. He went 7.8. It's going to get weird. And that's not a normal landing spot for a first-time head coach. So, Godspeed.

I'm with you. I think there's a lot going on. Like, Siriani is a good example. Young guy, a ton of help. Ton of help. When he first got there, his two coordinators, Jonathan Gannon and Shane Seichen, two head coaches. Now, how good they are as head coach. I don't know, but, like, legit head coaching candidates. And really good, like, Jonathan Gannon is a good leader.

Shane Seichen's an excellent, like, offensive innovator. He's got Howie Roseman, the best GM. Like, that's, Ben Johnson's got Ryan Poles, which seems like a good. nice guy, no clue if he knows what's going on. He's got he's the offensive play caller. I guess Dennis Allen's his defense coordinator. That will help. I hear you. I've been

beating this drum for a long time. I was wondering why some NFL organizations the head coach outranks the GM. But in others, it doesn't. How does the hierarchy work? Doesn't the head coach make more than GMs? I can

there can't be many teams where the GM makes more of the head coach. Maybe Philly, but Siriani just got to raise. So, I mean, listen, how he probably should make 15 or 20 million, but let's say he's making 10. That'd be one of the highest paid GMs. If Sireani's making 10, he's lower half of the NFL and head coach salaries. So, or definitely, you know, he wouldn't be in the top 12 or 14. A guy just won a Super Bowl.

So I think it just gets to money. It's also in the context. contract. So like when Kyle Shanahan was hired, he gets final say on everything. Now, that doesn't mean like in a draft room he might let John Lynch do it, but it is in his contract. If he wants something, he gets it. And that's how it works with a lot of these. Like when Ben Johnson got hired, Ben Johnson had a leverage. So if Ben Johnson wanted in his contract, he'd get basically whatever he wanted in his contract. Mike Frable hired in New England. Well, who do you think had all the juice.

Liam Cohen. Remember, they were desperately trying to hire him. So sometimes coaches, even if they don't have experience like Vrable or Pete Carroll or whatever, that a guy like Liam Cohen has leverage because you're desperate to hire him. So he has a leverage of like, I need this in my contract. I get the final say. That's where I think that happens a lot.

It's not like a, there's not a set hierarchy like there are in a lot of your guys' jobs. that, let's just say, at a corporate structure, like if you went to Chase Bank or you went to Oracle, or you went to, you know, some of these major companies, like if you were at a retailer, like Safeway and you were or a alcohol company, a distributor, there's very clear org chart. The org chart sometimes in football, it's like, well, who had all the juice? Like, if I'm desperately trying to hire, let's say, Adam Peters to be my GM, well, if he's hired before the coach and I had a bunch of leverage if I'm Adam Peters, I get it in my contract that I get to run the draft and I get to run free agency.

And maybe I get to pick the final 53. Now it doesn't mean that I don't let my coach do a lot of that, but it's in my contract that I do. And it's just based on which one of those guys when you hired them either had the leverage slash use the leverage to make sure that was written in stone. Now, ideally, like John Schneider was hired by Pete Carroll. By the middle of their run, like Pete Carroll relied on him a lot. Brett Veach was hired by Andy Reid.

Andy trusts Brett and lets him operate. So, you know, Sean McVeigh makes more money than less need. McVeigh lets less need pick the players. Now, here's the other thing. Even if you are an equal with the coach, you don't want to pick a player. Let's say I'm scouting. And I love this badass linebacker. name John Middletoff. I'm like this guy John Middlecough. What? Is this Patrick Willis 2.0?

And my coach hates him. He's like, I don't like him. I don't think he fits my scheme. Maybe he meets him at the combine and it's like turned him off. I don't like this cat. Well, even if you love the player, are you going to force that on your coach knowing he hates him? That's not a fun way to work. So I think a lot of that stuff works itself out. So I think overall there's not a set org chart. The only org chart in football that stays the same is whenever the GM and head coach is hired, the coaching staff and the scouting staff are both under those guys. My bad if you already answered this question,

but who would you say is the greatest college prospect ever? And if there was an all-time draft, would that same prospect go first overall like a quarterback? I think many would argue that Elway was the best prospect of all time. I mean, he's 6-3, 6-4. He could run. He had a huge arm, and he was a Stanford intellect guy whose dad was a coach. I think you'd be hard-pressed to call John Elway the greatest quarterback prospect of all time. And if the greatest quarterback prospect of all time, that means you're the greatest prospect of all time.

because even if you're I'm trying to think you know it's funny is some of the great tackles in the history of the league

like Jonathan Ogden let's use him as an example Jonathan Ogden I think he was like the 12th pick in the draft it was a fourth pick I'd say Jonathan Ogden would be pretty high nine time

first or second team all pro. I mean, guys like that. But Trent Williams, Jonathan Ogden, you know, Lane Johnson's going to be a first bout Hallfamer. A lot of these tackles, they were the fourth overall pick. So it's hard for me to call some of these tackles the greatest prospect of all time

if they're the fourth overall pick. I'd imagine Reggie White a little before my time. But he's probably going to be one of the great prospects of all time. Lawrence Taylor would probably be up there. But Reggie White was technically yeah, he was in the supplemental draft. I forget the exact details on that one. But he was the fourth overall pick. Lawrence Taylor was the second overall pick. So, you know, I'd say L. Way'd be

hard to beat. I'd say the two best quarterback prospects in my life would be L. Way Payton. And then a lot of these other guy, you know, Lawrence Taylor, you know, Reggie White played in the USFL. I'll tell you, he was a fucking sweet prospect. Vaughn Miller was pretty sweet. He went too overall. You briefly mentioned it when you were on with Colin a few weeks ago that you spent some time in San Sebastian when you were younger, wondering what your thoughts were on the place, if so. I went back a few years ago for my 30th and was blown away by the first.

food. Watch your thoughts on international fixtures, even possibly future teams in Europe. As a European fan, I can say for certain that I wouldn't like any team based outside the America even in London. If you're a European fan, in my opinion, you don't want to support watch one of the established 32 American teams. You want to watch the other base in Europe. It's a good question. When I went to San Sebastian, I was, that's almost 20 years ago now. What's funny is we went to the beach. I was there for like a month. Went to the beach like every single day. It was incredible. The water was warm.

The food. I just remember there being a lot of tapas. I remember eating tapas every day. I was drinking a lot. We'd go for runs along the beach. We went to class, I think like twice a week, which was stupid. I don't remember anything that was said. We actually went out drinking one night with the teacher who didn't speak great English, but he was cool guy.

I just remember screwing around there. I didn't surf, but it was, it's technically. that beach, you know, has decent surf. I just remember swimming and going to the beach. And I was just, I've never been more tan in my life. It's absolutely beautiful there. Remember being hot and humid, but it was, it's been a long time. And that was a time, too, you know, we didn't have a cell phone with a camera.

So I don't even have that many pictures. I have a couple that are on like a buddy, probably someone else that I went with Facebook page back in the day. It's like a completely different time in life. I remember having a Nokia flip phone with me so I could like call my parents. But it was fun. Not going to lie. Question for the pod.

I'm a diehard App State football fan and truly believe on any given Sunday we could beat anyone in the country. That being said, I realize we are tremendously outclassed and talent with the portal and turn G5 schools into breeding grounds for Power 5. What does the future of G5 football look like? to you. And is there a G5 school from their own league? Is there any world where the G5 schools form their own league? It kind of hit me when we were talking about Simmons the other day, because someone asked a question about Jason Kelsey comparing Josh Simmons to the best, you know, a prospect with his physical capabilities like a Jason Peters or Trent Williams. And then I didn't realize this because, again, I'm not living and dying in this world anymore. I just

assumed if you're just starting left tackle for Ohio State that you went to Ohio State out of high school and you were just some blue chip guy, right? Like you're C.J. Stroud or you're Jeremiah Smith or you're even Caleb Downs, right? Alabama, Ohio State blue chipper. Simmons was at San Diego State. I mean, a couple years ago, San Diego State was pretty good. You know, UNLV had a moment last year. Obviously, you guys had had some moments. Those days are done. When you get a Josh Simmons now, when you get at San Diego State, a legitimate NFL prospect. I got my start at Fresno State. We had Ryan Matthews when I got there. Ryan Matthews was a top 15 pick at running back. The Chargers drafted Ryan Matthews to literally

replace Ladani and Tomlinson, who's one of the greatest players ever. Ryan Matthews, at point in time in his childhood, grew up in a car. His mom and him lived out of a car. It was an incredible story. And Ryan has gone on now to everyone that's ever met Ryan loved him. He's gone on to coach, I think, high school football at Bakersfield. Ryan Matthews was so loyal to Coach Hill because he did not academically qualify when he was being recruited by the big boys. And then the last second to get into Fresno State, he academically qualifies. And Pete Carroll, and this is like 07, in the peak of the USC dynasty, offers Ryan Matthews a scholarship. and Ryan says no and goes to Fresno State.

Well, maybe he would have still done that. But after a year or two, the NIL, he would have been offered too much money and he wouldn't have been able to stay at Fresno State. And financially, people would have had to look at him and said, bro, you've got to take $800,000 to go play at SC or play at Oregon, knowing Texas, wherever. And I think that's where you just don't, even if the guy is loyal, it's really, really hard to turn that.

And no one would even blame you. the NFL has always had an edge over other sports in part because the regular season games carry far more weight than any other league. Is the NFL diluting its product by adding an 18th game? There's a reason NBA ratings are average. Their product is watered down. Would love to hear your thoughts. Yeah, I mean, listen, the NFL product at this point in times a little watered down based on they play on Thursday night football. They've added the extra game.

They force games in constantly on short weeks. It is not the same as it was 20 years ago. And the league has never been more popular. Now, part of that is still, even if I force a game in on Thursday, there still is a lack of inventory. And the greatest thing the NFL has going for it is the setup of the sport is built for short attention spans. It's literally built for modern day people

because there's only one game a week for your team. And in basketball, especially baseball, there are just a ton of games. But there always have been a ton of games. But 20, 30, 40 years ago, our attention spans were shorter. We were allowed to be bored. Think about this. When was the last time? I remember thinking all the time when I was a kid, like, I'm bored.

I was just with swimming with my nephews. Do you know what they're probably never, ever going to say in their entire life? I'm bored. which is you could argue sad because I think some of the most creative people, some of the best ideas have come when you just get to spend time with your thoughts and think and create. Maria was telling me something yesterday that's shown on Instagram about, you know, scrolling.

I don't even know if this is true, but has some impact on part of your brain that helps with problem solving. And I wonder if that's true because I was actually taking the trash out the other day and there was like a rip in the trash bag, and we were both looking at each other in the, in the kitchen, and there's just like coffee spilling all over, and I just froze. It's like, what do I do?

She's like, I don't know, run outside. And I was like, does my problem solving part of my brain not work anymore because I've scrolled too much? I hope not, but I can't discount that possibility. But overall, listen, I think the 18th game, I'm not for it. I wasn't for the 17th game, but it's coming. It's inevitable.

So I don't know what else to tell you. I was rewatching the Sopranos, and there was a scene where Sylvia steps in as the acting boss while Tony is in the hospital. He tells his wife he's better as a number two, and I really believe that's a real thing. Some people thrive in that role and putting them out can be risky. With coaching moves the last couple of years, we've seen a lot of former head coaches go back to coordinator roles. I think this could possibly raise the quality of football. This season alone, we've got Sala, Dennis Allen, Iber Fluse, all these guys, Josh McDaniels, Chip Kelly. Curious to hear your take.

Yeah, you could argue, though, I mean, what if Ben Johnson is, you know, fails at his position, taking over as a head coach, leaving as a coordinator. I think there's always Evan Flos in this business in terms of people being a head coach, people being a coordinator. It kind of goes in circles, but you could argue definitely from a defensive coordinator standpoint, Sala being a defensive coordinator is a plus. Iber Fluse being a defensive coordinator, in theory, is a plus. Dennis Allen for sure. Robert Sala, Dennis Allen, are big additions to the league, defensively.

I mean, it's a shitty coach league. So there's a small percentage of guys that know what they're doing. I think, in fairness, it's hard to coach defense. The rules are not on your side. It is basically officiated against you. So you have to be so freaking good. there's always been a huge advantage with, you know, great defensive coaches because it's like a great combination of motivation of like the academic motive, the academic schematic coaching, developing a scheme, teaching your players that with like a level of craziness and violence. That offense is just, it's basically just out thinking you, playing chess.

There is a level of like being kind of a crazy asshole on defense, which is. always resonated with the consumer with fans, watching defensive coordinators, like watching Kirby Smart or Nick Savin kind of address the team. That's what made Belichick kind of unique, is he was like this academic, but he was a defensive guy. But he wasn't like a huge, you know,

Belichick wasn't given Rah-Raw speeches, right? Like Tomlin or a Harbaugh can. So I think a Rah-Rah speech is a big part of a defensive coordinator for most of them, not named Belichick. But I like where you're coming from there. You. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers.

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