The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Middlekauff - 3 and Out: Pats can bounce back from one "bad" year; Pro Bowl thoughts; 2018 regular season takeaways; Chip Kelly's UCLA recruiting train wreck

Episode Date: December 21, 2018

Subscribe here to the 3 and Out with John Middlekauff Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/3-and-out-with-john-middlekauff/id1352730623?mt=2. Middlekauff explains why New England can bounce back from one "bad" year, looks at the Pro Bowl selections, Chip Kelly's UCLA recruiting struggles, and gives his biggest takeaways from the 2018 regular season. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. What is going on, my people? John Middellcock, three-and-out podcast. Kind of a somber night. I flipped on the television at 520. It's a routine I've had for the last, I don't know, 14, 15 weeks. And I realized that Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were not gracing me with their presence. So I would have no, and I speak for all of us, we have no more Thursday night football.

And I know that it's been fun in the media and Twitter world and social media to crush Thursday night football. But damn, man, I miss it. And tonight sucked just in, I'm still recording this late. Not quite as late as I typically would, but man, not cool, not cool at all. I attempted to watch the Rockets, Miami Heat. It just did not do it for me. Now, I guess if we're going to go out on top, last week was a damn good game to go out on top for. But, you know, as someone that puts together a podcast, the great part about doing, you know, one on Tuesday and Friday,

is the game always gave me a couple topics. And for the most part, especially Thursday night games, we've had excellent matchups the majority of the season. So there's been like, I mean, legitimate national topics and just things that were interesting to me. And now we don't have that. So it makes me sad. But we still got a lot of other stuff to talk about today that I'm fired up on.

I'm going to try to get to a big middle cop mailbag, answer a bunch of you guys questions. May do the majority of the podcast toward, definitely toward the end. At John Middlecoff, slide up into my Instagrams, my Instagram DMs, and I will answer any question on the podcast. But I want to start with this.

A couple things. The big news of Thursday was Josh Gordon. And my overall take on Josh Gordon, and I'm not trying to offend anyone here. I'm not trying to sound controversial. But this is just a life philosophy I have. I know a couple people that have battled addictions. And I'm sure most of us either have someone in our family or, you know, secondhand.

We know people. So like, again, I clearly it's, it's a major problem in this country. But in terms of doing business with people, I don't have much compassion in the sense that I would never do business with an addict. not knowingly do business with an addict. And, you know, people are like, I wonder what Belichick's thinking today. He is emotionally unfazed. He knew exactly what he was getting into bed with with Josh Gordon.

He knew he might have him for a game. He might have him for two games. He might have him for two months. He might have him the rest of the season. But he knew he was going to lose him eventually. And he did not care. Because at the end of the day, I got news for you. And listen, I'm probably preaching the choir here.

He's a stone cold killer. and he does not care. He knew the moment that he traded a fifth round pick for him, what he was acquiring. Now, I think it was a little shocking, and it's just the nature of the NFL, is you never know quite when these things are going to happen. To me, the bigger issue with the Patriots is seeing everyone freak out.

Oh, my God, the demise of the Patriots. And it's clear they do not have the same level of team, definitely in the Super Bowl teams of several years ago, and even the 12, 13, and 14, some of those teams once they really got wrong. I think they've been to eight straight AFC championships. It feels like they've been to every Super Bowl the last five years. But this is not a great year for the Patriots. You know, it's nine and five, you know, to their standards,

got to living in the Bay Area, I'm jealous of their standards. It feels like they have two wins. But is it really that crazy? Like, Warren Buffett has a bad year. Like Michael Jackson made a bad album. You know? Like, they can't be perfect every year. Is it that nuts for them just to finish 11 and 5 one year and losing the first round of the playoffs?

Like, is it that crazy? Honestly. Like, every product Apple's ever produced feels like lately they're sweet. But they've had some duds, you know? I just, I think the overreaction of like, it's the demise of Belichick. No, I doubt it because I have. a couple facts on hand. He's the smartest guy in the league. He has consistently won the most, and the one thing he consistently will be able to lean on even moving forward is his division

stinks. So he can have some doubt. He's going to be in the playoffs every year. I'll tell you the last guy in a million years I'd want to play on a Sunday of a playoff week, or, you know, playoffs also play on Saturday. It'd be Bill Belichick and even a 41-year-old Tom Brady. It's not like, oh yeah, You get a down Patriots team. Yeah, that is still not the team I want to play. I'll take my chances with Mike Tomlin. I'll take my chances with Bill O'Brien. I'll take my chances with Anthony Lynn and Philip Rivers.

I don't care if I get a home game. I'm not sleeping well against the hoodie and Tom Brady. I don't give a shit if they're throwing to me and you. Now, again, Josh Gordon, I think it speaks more to the desperation of this team. They gave a fifth round pick for a guy that, who knows if he was going to make it through, like I said, two weeks, let alone he made it as far as he did. And he showed some flashes like, damn, this could be pretty special. But we knew it was a finite deal.

I'm actually shocked it lasted as long as it did. But, you know, Belichick knew what he was doing. And again, not, Greg Maddox wasn't throwing, you know, nine-inning shutout every game. Every, I mean, not as often with him, but maybe. once every two months, he got chilled. You know, Belichick had a bad year. I don't know, he just had six straight great years. You know, a failure for Belichick,

it feels like the last five years was losing in the Super Bowl. Like last year, devastating year. He lost in the Super Bowl where I'm pretty sure he had the lead with like five minutes to go, you know? So again, I think this overreaction, it's kind of crazy and it speaks really more to the, greatness, the true greatness of the Patriots, of Belichick,

and of this dynasty as we're like, oh my God, they are done. They're going to finish 11 and 5. They finish with the bills and the jets. They're a 14 point favorite this week. You know, and I always thought with Jim Harbaugh when people are like, Jim Harbaugh, his final year in San Francisco,

failure. And it's always, you know, in my mind, spoken to the high standards in which follows Jim Harbaugh. Like, Jim Harbaugh is not allowed to have a down year. People act like his last year in San Francisco was, you know, Hugh Jackson level one win team.

He was eight and eight. And they were seven and four. Like, they stumbled down the stretch. They were eight and eight. But again, like with Jim Harbaugh, whose standards and what follows him aren't anywhere as close to Belichick, people are just floored when shit doesn't go perfectly. And you don't win at a high level.

With Belichick, it's like, if you don't win the Super Bowl, ah, red flag. I mean, again, in my backyard, I have the four-win 49ers and the three-win Raiders. Do you know what, either one of those owners? Mark Davis thought he was paying $100 million to get Gruden to get him to 9-and-5, to get him to a playoff berk. Jed York would sell, I mean, his soul to make the playoffs, not with Jim Harbaugh. And so many, I mean, half the league would die for the Patriots' worst year. And this is by far just the eye test.

Statistically, actually, they're not terrible. But you can watch them. You're like, they're not the same, mainly because Gronk is a shell of himself. Brady's been somewhat. I wouldn't say human because I still think he's been pretty good. But I really do think that it speaks to, like, when you get to Belichick's level, you have to be, I mean, just elite every year. Like losing in the AFC championship, as they did, what was it now?

Like almost three seasons ago to the Denver Broncos is beyond devastating. A lot of teams, the majority of the NFL, all these teams are worth several billion dollars. I mean, they wouldn't say it maybe, but they would celebrate. break making it to the championship game. We've all seen the jiffs a million times because we watch it live. Belichick refuses to even touch the AFC championship trophy. It means nothing to him. I mean, it's like, it's a routine.

So everyone's selling them down the river. They'll be fine. Yeah, they might lose in the first round of the playoffs. Big whoop. I mean, they've only kicked the living crap out of the NFL for the last six, seven years. They're having a down year. People also act like, Belichick brought this upon himself. Like, he just had some things that didn't go his way.

He had two first round picks this year. He drafted a starting left tackle who ruptures his Achilles in training camp. So think how good their offensive line would have been if he was their starting left tackle and Trump Brown just would have stayed a right tackle. And then he drafted, which is, you know, not typical Belichick, a running back in the first round. So you'd go, damn, Belichick. driving and running back in the first round. This guy's got to be pretty good.

And I agreed with him. I mean, anyone that watched Georgia last year went. God, that number one, Sony Michelle, baller, he hasn't been very good. He struggled to stay healthy. He has been nowhere near what you'd expect out of a first round pick. His teammate, I mean, they would die to have Nick Chubb.

And again, I think Sony big picture will be okay, but his rookie year has not been good. Just that simple. When you draft a guy in the first round, you expect him to be dynamic. If Sony, Michelle, let's just use a hypothetical, had been the equivalent of like what Alvin Kamara or Kareem Hunt was last year, Patriots would probably be a two-win teamer, or I mean a two-lossed

team right now. We might go, God, they got an 11-100-yard rusher. They look awesome. The pressure's not on Brady. So a couple things just, you know, eventually sometimes you just draft a couple you, you have two first-round picks. One guy gets hurt and one guy turns out to not to be that good. Sometimes shit just goes against you, and that's what happened this year to the Patriots. He had a down year. Michael Jackson made a bad album. It happens. Okay, before we get into some of my thoughts on the Pro Bowl,

are you one of those people that thinks it's okay to drive stoned? What's the worst thing that can happen? You can end up driving below the speed limit? It's no big deal, right? Wrong. The truth is your reaction time slows way down when you're high. You not only put yourself in danger, but everyone around you. Talk about a buzzkill.

Stop kidding yourself. It's not okay to drive high. If you've been using marijuana or vapes or whatever in any form, do not get behind the wheel. If you feel different, you drive different, drive high, get a DUI, brought to you by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Okay, let's talk about the Pro Bowl. And I'm not going to spend much time because the story's, I guess, a little old now. When did it come out? Like Tuesday, I think, or Wednesday.

day. My main thought is this. Listen, the initial voting on the Pro Bowl, like the initial roster to me matters. It still has and carries weight. I also think it has repercussions when you screw it up. I think it's 30% fans, 30% players, and 30% like coaches and GMs. I might have screwed that up. But it's something, that's the breakdown. Actually, that wouldn't even add up to 100, but somehow the breakdown, it's like a combination of the three that vote. And there were a couple pretty glaring mistakes. To me, the biggest one, and I know Coward talked about it, and it wasn't just about Russell Wilson should have been in.

It's just in no world. Like, I didn't have a problem with Tom Brady making it, because as I talked about the Patriots earlier, they are 9 and 5. They're probably going to end up 11 in 5. and who knows if Houston loses to Philly, they end up, you know, the two seed, like, yeah, he's a pro bowler. I mean, he's their best player by a mile. He's still really good, even though he's not quite maybe as crisp as he has been before.

I got no issue with Tom Brady making it. But I know he's throwing 25 touchdowns and two picks or whatever, and he went through that streak of not throwing a pick. But in no world, besides maybe that first game and just sporadier, erratic throws throughout the season did I ever think that Aaron Rogers had a Pro Bowl season. But, like, the implications of when you do give someone that, you know, a ward, you let them go to the game, it goes on their Wikipedia page. And when we start nitpicking all these guys when it comes to the Hall of Fame, because a lot of guys

that go to a lot of Pro Bowls get talked about, you know, when Aaron, and Aaron Rogers is a no-brainer. So that's, he doesn't necessarily make my argument on this one, but on guys like Darius Leonard that missed it, the star rookie middle linebacker for the Colts. If his career ends and he only has four Pro Bowls and he got screwed out of a couple more, that could be a big difference of being a four time all pro, a six time pro bowler. Like that's how they discuss it in the Hall of Fame when they're voting at the process during the Super Bowl. Like, it is a big deal. And I also think that not every position, no one really ever argues over offensive linemen because there's no stats.

The new position that's sexy to argue about is de-tackles. Because forever defensive ends were kind of easy. You just knew who the best pass rushers are. Like, everyone knew this year, Khalil Mack, right? Elite pass rusher. A JJ Watt, elite pass rusher. Like, clowny.

I mean, it was just no-brainer. but D-Tackles this year had a bunch of sacks. So there were a bunch of guys when the voting went down, right? I mean, it comes out with still a couple weeks, I guess week 15, or when the results come out, that you go, DeForest Buckner, and I got this a lot in my backyard, DeForest Buckner, who's been awesome this year, been a really good player, did not make the Pro Bowl.

And it's like if you say, yeah, I think that the guys made it above him should have gone in, he shouldn't have made it. And everyone's like, he has 12 sacks. Like, here's the thing. And you see it all the time with Hall of Fame voting, especially in football.

You saw the arguments with baseball, the Hall of Fame that recently came out, Harold Baines getting. Because I say that you're not a Hall of Famer, doesn't mean you're not a good player. Because I say, you know what, DeForest Buckner? I would have taken Aaron Donald, Akeem Hicks,

and Fletcher Cox over you. Aaron Donald, no-brainer. Fletcher Cox best player by a wide margin on the Eagles who are currently 7 and 7 are the defending champs and he's probably a Hall of Fame defensive tackle. Hakeem Hicks, a 3-4 defensive tackle does not parallel a 4-3 defensive tackle. When you are a 4-3 defensive tackle, especially in the scheme that DeForest Buckner's in, you get to kind of roam free.

You get to just run through one gap and just cause habit. Do you know what Akeem Hicks has to do? he has to just take on blocks over and over and over. So Roquan Smith eats and Khalil Mack eats. But do you know what Akeem Hicks is? An absolute stone cold badass. And you know what I think, and I've tried to tell Niner fans all week, what Akeem Hicks was this season that you can't quantify,

that we argued forever around these parts what Justin Smith was. You can't put his value in the sack column. Because every year he'd get three, four, five sacks. But if you watch Justin Smith play, every year he'd be like, The Cowboy, that is one badass MFer. You do not want to play the Cowboy in a big game. And it was true. Number 94 for the 49ers was a certified badass.

Every coach in the league, every player in the league would tell you. Do you know what every coach and every player in the league that has come across Chicago would tell you this year? I'd want no part of 96. You know why? Because he's an elite player. His stat sheet cannot quantify what. he brings the table. What he brings the table is a guy that's like 6-5-66, 320 pounds of immovable objects.

And as people in Chicago will tell you, when he's pissed off, he's unblockable. And who's coaching him? Vic Fangio. Who coached Justin Smith? Vic Fangio. So you can't quantify what he's bringing the table. But overall, for the most part, I thought this year when you look at both rosters, you see a group of players. most of the elite players in this league are playing at an elite level. And that's usually when you get an elite pro bowl team. And beside a couple snubs, and there's always going to be Chris Jones for the Kansas Chiefs, obviously is double-digit sacks, kind of like Buckner in their third year.

They're going to be fine. They're going to make a bunch. Now, it could cost them if they're only four-time pro bowlers, and we start arguing for the Hall of Fame for these guys. But that's a bigger picture. It does have repercussions when you screw this up, but you can't. allow everyone on the team. You don't have an unlimited amount of roster spots. I would say a glass half full side of me would say, just look at, you know, the NFL's loaded with talent at

every position. You know, I say the same thing about the NBA. Like if you're a point guard right now in the West, it's hard to make the All-Star team. DeAren Fox for the Sacramento Kings is having an unreal season. Here's a problem. He's not beating out Steph Curry. He's not beating out James Harden, you know, he's not beating out a lot of these guys. The West has a lot of good point guards. Like Hall of Fame, all-time great point guards. It sucks, but just the nature of the beast. You know, DeForest Buckner, you'll be a pro-bowler probably next year. Maybe, but if you can't beat out Fletcher Cox, that is no indictment that you're not a good player. And I thought overall, for the most part, the pro-ball got it right. I think it's just been a incredible

NFL season, just from a drama standpoint. I think it's been a pretty controversy-free NFL season. I mean, the Kareem Hunt thing had, you know, let's call it what it is. You know, in this day and age, it felt like about 48 hours of staying power. That's a long time. Like 24 hours is your typical story in this day and age. But it hasn't been so negative. You know, the last couple years with Trump and Kaepernick, like this season,

for the most part has just felt about football, has felt about, is this coach doing a good job? Is this player doing a good job? What's up with Aaron Rogers? Football stuff. And I think I speak for everyone, thank God. You know, I was tired of the other crap. It becomes, you know, it can just beat you down. You know, I don't mind, like, don't get me wrong. I like, I've thoroughly enjoyed the John Gruden experience. It's been fascinating. Like, I don't mind. I don't rumors in different things, what's going on, and let's call it what it is. For the most part, most of the rumors you read as fans are things, you know, most of it's true. And coaches and teams love to tell you like, don't believe what you read.

Like a lot of stuff gets out for a reason. You know, the stuff that gets out, we usually know what's going on. And that's a great part about 2018 is as a fan and as someone that watch, I mean, it's just the same deal with anything. I mean, we've never had more information. I mean, our president tweets like 50 times a day. Like, we know everything that's going on. Even some of the times when it's not true, you can kind of figure out what's true and what's not true.

And definitely with the NFL, and it's been a very enjoyable season. The Thursday night, the Sunday night, the Monday night games for the most part this year have just been fantastic. In this weekend, with a Saturday night game, Chargers Raven, and then the Sunday night game, Chiefs at Seattle.

First time I think Seattle has been an underdog at home ever since like Russell Wilson's rookie year. I mean, ever since they kind of got that thing rolling, they are never an underdog at home. So that's a pretty big deal. And if I was picking in Vegas, to me it feels more like a coin flip game. I know it's easy to think that the Seahawks aren't playing that well because they laid a dud at Levi Stadium.

Well, a couple things. Kyle Shanahan approaches his game. these games like the Super Bowl. Nick Mullins, for whatever reason, plays well against Seattle. And Seattle had won four straight games. And they don't even have to win this Kansas City game. They have Arizona Week 17. They're going to be a playoff team.

So I was texting with someone in their media in the Northwest that was saying, Curtis Crabtree was saying that he thinks that it's like, statistically it's like above a 95% chance. Like they're not losing out. They do not have to win this game. Though I do think they might win. That game to me is more interesting than Ravens Chargers, though obviously in the sequence with that game on Saturday night,

it'll be a lot more juice for the Chiefs if San Diego, I call them San Diego. I know everyone's like, I can't believe Stephen A called him the San Diego Chargers. Like the one thing I did not give Stephen A grief about on Twitter or even in my mind, they are always going to be the San Diego Chargers to me. They don't deserve to be called the Los Angeles. Chargers. So I called the San Diego Chargers.

I think Baltimore is a weird team, and I know some players on their defense was saying, like, it's harder to game playing for Lamar than Patrick Mahomes. I'm calling BS on that. But I forget who it was, said, well, it's because he can throw it, and I don't think he can throw it that well,

but you can't dispute he can really run it. The one thing about the Ravens is their defense is excellent. I think right now is the number one scoring defense in the NFL. The charges are clearly humming. Melvin Gordon's supposed to come back. You know, the latest on Keenan Allen. They've proven they can get by, even if Keenan Allen play, if he plays in this game and he's not 100%, which he won't be. Mike Williams is balling. They'll be fine. They can make

you. Antonio Gates just functions. I think the Chargers win that game. And then I think it's crazy. I have, I'm rooting for the Chiefs. I would love to see both these two teams going to week 17 with both juice on the game. But I don't know. I just know having watched Seattle so closely over this run, how hard it is to go up there and win. And Colin's been pretty hard on Mahomes this week because I've watched basically every snap he's had this season. I mean, he's had a couple down moments, but for the most part, I think he's been brilliant. I mean, their defense is atrocious, absolutely terrible. they might have the worst defensive backs in the NFL.

They can't cover anyone. Their defensive coordinator, Bob Sutton, I know he was good. I know Andy likes him, but God damn, I mean, he feels just out of it a little bit. I would imagine no inside information on this. He retires or Andy's not really a fire guy, but I'd be shocked if he's back next year. It feels like they'll go get some new blood or just someone new. But that's a hard place to win. I mean, Mahomes, he's experienced some incredibly loud games this year, right, at home.

Just, I mean, that place rocks. But they don't scream when you're on the field. He is never, ever going to have heard anything quite like would he hear Sunday night. That place is going to be loud. People, it's the holiday weekend, technically, because Christmas Eve's on Monday and then Christmas is on Tuesday. So if you were a, you know, a Seattle Seahawk fan, you're going to the game, you don't care about, like, getting wasted. I mean, you don't have to work the next day more long. You might get the next two days off.

Well, clearly, because you're getting Christmas off. You're probably just taking Monday off too. You're getting lit. That place is going to be bananas. Like the atmosphere for the Charger game is going to suck on Saturday. It's like 30,000 person stadium. They don't have really any fans. The atmosphere Sunday night in Seattle is going to be the complete opposite.

Everyone will just be plastered. I was talking to someone in the NFL, they think, and I kind of agree, that they pipe noise. I mean, it's going to be so loud you're not even able to think. I think it's going to be very, very difficult. If Patrick Mahomes wins that game, I don't care if he wins at 3 to nothing,

which we know they won't win at 3 to nothing. Their defense isn't good enough. I'd give them the MVP in the locker room if you go up to Seattle and win that game. That would be an incredible achievement. But I can't wait, and I think the NFL should be extremely happy right now, because the league is humming.

A lot of the controversy and the stuff that fluff's out. And we just, week after week, just big time game after big time game with the best players. I can't wait for Saturday night and then I surely can't wait for Sunday. Okay, let's jump to the college football recruiting, actually. And let me state this. I've been on record from day one. I thought Chip Kelly and UCLA was a bad fit. first off, I don't think Chip Kelly is

any longer elite, obviously at the pro level, but even at the college level. I thought it was crazy that the two heavy hitters for the UCLA program, Casey Wasserman, who's kind of their billionaire donor, and Troy Aikman, their most famous football alum, I mean, did everything, moved mountains to try to line him up

and get Chip Kelly to run their program. I thought, God, I thought, it was crazy. And listen, is Chip a smart guy? I've always argued super smart guys are not stubborn. They're open-minded. And the one thing with Chip is he's never really changed through the failures of from Philly to the 49ers to what he did this year with UCLA.

But I said, here's the thing about UCLA. Unlike at Oregon that already had a program that was running at a high level and was easily recruiting a lot of high-level players when he took over. It's easier to get into school at Oregon, one, and two, they cheat. I'm like, guess what? Chip got in trouble at UCLA. They gave Willie Liles a brown bag full of cash to land them players, and he threw his recruiting guy under the bus for it. Chip has no problem with cheating, and don't get me wrong. Neither do I. I'd cheat, too, if I was a college coach. I got no issue with it. It's a lot more difficult. at UCLA. At UCLA, you got to do a couple of things. One is you got to hustle a little bit as a

recruiter, you know, because you're not even the sexiest team in your own town, and it's just difficult to sell people on your program because historically you're not that great of a football program. But I will give Jim Moore credit on this, and if you know me, I'm not a big Jim Moore guy. He did really work at recruiting. There was a famous story, Kenny Clark, who's now on the Green Day Packers, his dad. I don't know if he's still in prison, but when he was coming out of high school, like his senior year, or while he was in high school, his dad was in prison. So they sent Jim Mora and I think the coordinator went, and they didn't have to do this,

but they really wanted him to come to school. They went to prison to meet with the dad just to get his blessing. They wanted him to come to the program. And say one thing for Jim Mora, he couldn't coach. He could really recruit. Like, they had some top 15 recruiting classes. Well, someone forwarded me this in the last 24 hours. ESPN broke down every PAC 12 school.

Under UCLA, it said class unranked. You read that right. Here, I'm going to read verbatim what the little blurb says. UCLA is currently unranked after the first day of early signing period. ESPN's class rankings go down to number 50, and UCLA is outside the top 50. In the talent-rich state of California, it is remarkable for the Bruins to have an unranked class this late in the process. Chip Kelly and his staff wanted to take a slow, methodical approach to recruiting, but with the

early signing period, that strategy might not work. Listen, Chip Kelly despise recruiting at Oregon, but he had a couple things going for him. Again, easy to get into school, the school somewhat recruited itself, and they were really rolling. At UCLA, you have to hustle. And I get, and as people text me that are pro- Chip Kelly, well, he's looking for, you more blue collar high level guys. He's not really that end of the five-star guys.

He kind of wants to do what Chris Peterson did back in the day at Boise and is doing a little at Washington, which I get. The difference I would say is Chris Peterson works at recruiting. Chip Kelly, again, hates it. And the other thing in his division, one, he's never beaten out USC on recruits. They just are not going to do that. And that school down at Tempe, Arizona, Herm Edwards, Google how he's doing in recruiting.

He's killing it. Why? He's putting an effort. One, because the thing he hangs his hat on is his personality, which is the last thing Chip hangs his hat on. Personality is a dud. Everyone thinks Chip Kelly that knows him is a weird dude. Now, he can fake it when the camera's on, but he can't fake it when the camera's off. And guess where are the cameras off? All year long with recruiting.

It's why he's getting crushed. It's why he's getting destroyed. You know who's a good recruiter? Lincoln Riley, Nick Sabin, Dabo Sweeney, Urban Meyer. You know who makes a big effort at it? Jim Harbaugh. You have to work at recruiting even when you're at the top schools.

Even when you're cheating your ass off. Kirby's smart. Chip Kelly ain't working at it, and he's getting crushed. He's getting destroyed. Now, college is a little bit about both. Like Alabama would not be Alabama without Nick Saban. So the scheme does matter. So if Chip's an elite coach, he'll win some games.

But I don't think he's an elite coach anymore. And one thing I know now, he's not getting the top. players. So what's going to be his point of difference in the conference? Because I know this about Herm Edwards. He's not some elite exes nose coach, but he's landing dudes. So at the end of the day, if you just got dudes, you can get seven, eight wins. Like Chip Kelly struggled to win three games this year. So if he's not adding to the talent pool of the program, because when he inherited the program, even the program was down, Jim Mora had been recruiting well. I think the country in UCLA, like, don't quite realize how big of a train wreck potential, and you heard it here first.

I take the higher now, and the more I read into it, the more I see, which I envisioned happening, even though it's technically worse, I didn't realize my theory on Gruden and Chip from the beginning was both those two guys with failure got generationally wealthy. Like Coach Reed or Mike Tomlin, they've made. You made, you know, 50, 60, 80 million dollars, whatever the last, you know, eight, nine years. Both of them had to win to get that money. Both of them had to continue to win to get. Pete Carroll's made a ton of money.

You know, all Pete Carroll's done for the last like 20 years, win. You know, and they've had to keep their knife sharp. John Gruden went to the TV booth and just had people basically blowing them every year trying to get them to come coach and come take their job for an astronomical amount of money. Jeffrey Lurie told Chip Kelly to pack a shit and get out of the building. Two weeks later, Jed York hired him. Eight months later, Jed York said, get out of here. Less than a year later, Casey Wasserman and Troy Aikman were on their knees begging him to come.

Chip Kelly lives in this false little world of thinking he's really good, even though all he's done lately is fail. Like literally for the last like four years, failure, failure, failure. When you fail, like if you fail and no one helps you out after failure, like you can't get a job right away, you don't have a choice but to be introspective. Like you have to change. Why would Chip Kelly ever think he has to change? People just kept offering him $30, $40 million. And now he's not clearly, he's just not working that hard.

Like that's, I mean, we have the facts. He doesn't recruit the top guy. He can't land him. He cannot land him. And I'd say this, and I've said it from the beginning, UCLA brought this upon themselves. Okay, let's dive into the Middle Coff mailbag. At John Middlecoff is my Instagram handle.

You DM me, and I will read your question on the show. So let's read my first one. Hey, John, ask your question a few weeks ago, never heard it on the show. My bad. But I have another question, and I'm dying to hear a professional, that's me. Answer it, so can you please answer? That I will. My question is this.

Brady has taken numerous pay cuts for years as a patriot, so is Grunkowski, as did Amandola and surely many others. With the fact that the Pats aren't paying Brady over top superstar money, where the hell is all the top-notch talent he should be surrounded by? I feel like despite not being paid exceptional money, Tom is surrounded by lackluster talent, and it makes me question where the hell the Pats' money is going. Can you please, please provide some insight, appreciate you answering?

Pretty good question. I would say this. They've just always kind of been cheap. I mean, they've never had a high-priced team. And the tone has always been set by Tom, somewhat doing them a favor. And anyone in the league will tell you, they kind of have other players buy the balls because they simply say, well, Tom's making this. This is what you make.

And I also think it did give them some wiggle room. They signed Gilmore two years ago. do a lot of money. You know, was he worth it? That can be argued. For the most part, I will say this. One, usually in free agency, there aren't that many sweet players to buy. So in fairness to Belichick, there just aren't that many good players to buy.

The one thing I wish he would do more, and he did this, I guess, the year when they got Brandon Cooks, I don't see why over the last several years he hasn't traded more draft picks for players when he has the cap room. And I wonder if he kind of gets a little aggressive this offseason and does that. I would imagine he does. But as I defended and said earlier on the podcast, this was a perfect storm. He drafted his starting left tackle when he drafted his starting running back. And one tore his Achilles and the other just got banged up.

The Josh Gordon move showed he was a little desperate and Gromk got old overnight. You know, Gronk was good last year, and right now he's a shell of himself. Feels like it's over. So that happens in football. That's why Belichick would probably tell you, and he did tell us, he tried to trade Gronk last year, tried to get rid of him. And that's when Gronk says, I'll retire. I'm not playing for the Lions.

Now, would the Lions, would that have been a first-round pick? What if Belichick would have had three first-round picks? You know, Gronk used his leverage, and rightfully so. But Belichick wanted to move on, and he kind of got stuck, and Gronk, you know, is one of the, what, top five famous players in the league, non-quarterback, has Robert Crafts ear, and he is Gronk, he's still a good player, but he's nowhere near what he once was, and it's kind of killing them. They're an offense that kind of went as Gronk went. Obviously, they go as Brady goes, but when Gronk was humming, they were unstoppable, because that

would mean, usually Gronk was humming, Edelman was solid, Edelman's not the same with his ACL injury. They don't really have an outside receiver. I mean, two years ago, when they had Brandon Cooks and he was playing well, Gronk was healthy, Edelman was healthy. I mean, they were good. I guess Edelman got hurt in training camp, actually. So in theory, that bad offense should have been good, right? Dionne Lewis, James White, Edelman, Hogan, Gronk, Brandon Cooks. Like on paper, that wasn't an elite offense. That was an incredibly set up team. Jimmy Garoppel was their backup. So it's low-hanging fruit right now to pick on Belichick. This happens.

They're just having an off year. I think they'll be fine. I love Sony Michelle coming out of college. I think he's going to be a good player. He just had a rough rookie year. Hey John, big fan of the podcast. The Cowboys have two all pros out and a third playing with a knee brace on his elbow. Tyron Smith's elbow is massive.

You know what's crazy really quick on Tyrone Smith? he was, he's your classic like Julio Jones of left tackles. Five star recruit goes to college for three years, top 10 pick, borderline Hall of Famer. Now he's battled some injuries or he 100% would have been a Hall of Famer. But it's just Tyron Smith was like a blue chipper at like 12 years old, you know? I mean a legit, I think he was a five star recruit at like a sophomore in high school. So just absolute monster.

Okay. Is there merit to accepting the four-seat and sitting everyone the last few games? Just like swallowing the 9-7 record or whatever it is to have their own line as healthy as possible? It's a good question. The only problem is right now is the Eagles are kind of feisty. Now, I think they both play at 1 o'clock. I think 1,000 percent. I think if Washington loses this weekend, the Dallas Cowboys will clince the division.

I think you play everyone this week, try to get to 9 and 6, and then if you have the 4 seed and it's set, you won million percent, just rest everyone. You rest everyone and you get ready for the playoff game. Because we've seen if the Cowboys are rested, if they come into a game focused and ready to roll. I've been saying this for weeks. I didn't really overreact that much to the Colts game. like the Cowboys had won a bunch of games straight. They'd just come off to crazy emotional games, right?

Really three emotional games. The Thursday night game on Thursday Day game on Thanksgiving when Amari went nuts and they kind of got it rolling. Then seven days later, they beat the Saints when they were heavy underdogs. Then, you know, 10 days later, they beat their division rivals and kind of unofficially win the division that night. Like those were just three incredible stretch of games for the Dallas Cowboys. Jason Garrett kind of got Humming again. And, you know, I still think they're high-end, like most people. I mean, Dax got his flaws.

But when he's just managing the game, when Zeke's humming, when their defense and the pass rush is flying, and Amari's making plays, the team is damn good. Hey, John, big fan. Me too. Do you think Joe Mixing can develop into a top five running back next season? I haven't on a fantasy team for like two seasons, and he's been awesome. I do think that top five. running back.

You know, Zeke's in the peak of his powers. Christian McCaffrey's a baller. Todd Gurley's still going. Levion will be back. I'm probably leaving out someone. You know, Alvin Kamara is still a badass. I guess Kareem Hunt's out of the league right now.

Yeah, I mean, I definitely think he has the talent. Loved him in Oklahoma. He actually, this year, when they were, what the bang will start, like five and one or six and two, or whenever they started pretty well, that they were, he was a stud. And I had a buddy text me, probably like week five or week six. He's like, bro, buddy in the league.

Like, you got a peek at Joe Mixing. He is a baller. And I just remember typing his name into Twitter, and they had his highlights from that game. It was like week three. And it was just like, oh, my God, this guy is legit. His problem's going to be is who's his quarterback? You know, if it's Andy Dalton again,

are they going to roll it back? Is there any threat of passing? I would say, and this might sound a little crazy, why don't the Bengals just hit reset, you know, trade A.J. Green. Could they get a first round pick for him? I got the answer for you. Yes, they could. Hell, I might trade a first round pick for him if I was a general manager.

You know, their defense is they have a new coach. You know, he definitely has the talent because he can run inside. He can run outside. He's really fast and can catch the football. He does possess the ability to be a top five running back. Problem is probably going to have a new coach, probably new quarterback, so does that mean a new scheme? It's just not an ideal situation.

Hey John, huge Ravens fan. Do you think John Harbaugh needs to make the playoffs to keep his job? Did I already answer this question last week? I think I kind of did, but this San Diego game on, you know, I guess the Saturday night game against the Chargers, kind of fighting for John Harbaugh's career. You know, he wins that game. They make it to the playoffs.

And I said last week, I don't think that would 100% guarantee him to come back, but I do think he'd be in pretty good shape. He made the playoffs in a year where the owner kind of gave him the ultimatum. He'd broken this new quarterback. He'd probably roll it back at least one more year and to see what he could do with a full year

with Lamar Jackson, a starting quarterback because the one thing you would say and i'm not the biggest lamar jackson fan anyone knows that listening to this is you go well if they kind of added it some wrinkles to this offense their defense is unreal why couldn't they win that division next year you know ben's who knows what ben's going to do he could retire at any moment but if they make the playoffs the more i thought about i think you know harbaugh john harbaugh that is would come back why does everybody doubt the bears. They get a big win after win after win, like three division wins, then they win the division. Everybody is saying they still have their doubts and how they're not a real team. I understand

they had some bad losses. They did. The Miami loss is bad to Oswald. But losses are the week one loss, a loss in the hot Miami, and the loss without Khalil Mack and Trubisky. I can see them making an impact in the playoffs, but you see them winning any playoff games. Well, let's assume the Saints get the one seed and if the Saints beat the Steelers, they get the one seed. Let's give the Rams the benefit of the doubt and say the Rams win these last two games,

they do play Arizona and then San Francisco. They get the two seed. Let's say the Bears get the three seed. Then you got Dallas the fourth seed. Let's give Seattle the five seed and let's give Minnesota the six seed. Minnesota is a difficult six seed. And I do think they would have the capability of BD,

the Bears, but just say this out loud. Could Kirk Cousins go on the road and win a game against Chicago against that defense? My reaction is no. But that team, if they played well, they ran the ball and the Minnesota Vikings defense played well, they could win that game. I think, you know, depending on the matchups, if Brady's in the first round, I would imagine that would be the Saturday night game. But Minnesota, Chicago, if that is a first round playoff game. That is an incredible first round playoff game. I think the Bears would be favored if I had to guess, you know, maybe three and a half points. It's not like going to be six or seven points. And it might be a little more, maybe four points max. But, you know, they

play each other the last week of the season. More than likely, the Bears, you know, what we, it's hard for me to say right now. They might not have anything on the line that game. But you, you could sign me up for that game. I would give the Bears about a 75, 80% chance of beating Minnesota in week one. Or I mean, in, you know, division round of the playoffs. The wildcard round of the playoffs, excuse me. Question for the pod. Who is on your list for the next great NFL coaching hires?

Vance Joseph seemingly out at Denver wondered who are your top candidates would be to replace them? That's a good question. Here's what you have to know about Denver. John Elway is in charge. He answers to nobody except John Elway. He is going to want another Vance Joseph type coach, I would guess. Because who are the coaches? Would Mike McCarthy take that job?

Even though I think Mike McCarthy would be a good coach for John Elway. John Elway needs, like, it's pretty clear. John Elway's not great at hiring coaches. He chose Vance Joseph over Kyle Shanee. a hand say that out loud his his coaching hire last year i mean yeah vans joseph he had to sleep on week 17 to keep him thought about firing him like john the moment you do that it's clear it's not going to work think about that you had to think year one if this guy was the coach no shit he was going to get fired year two i mean you knew it then so i i i don't know i you know it's not a great

crop for coaches, like would Matt Campbell, the guy at Iowa State, take the job? Would a college coach that had a good job leave to go work for John Elway? Probably not. You know, who are the great coordinators? He does have a history. Jim Bob Cooter worked at Denver when Peyton was there. Now it hasn't gone well in Detroit. I'm just throwing out a name that, you know, that John could kind of boss around. You know, that's what, Vance Joseph is just a puppet. He does whatever John Elway wants. So I don't know. You know, I'm a guy that usually has answers. I have no clue who John Elway would hire

because he interviewed Vance Joseph and he interviewed Kyle Shanahan and he chose Vance Joseph. Say that out loud. Like, there's just, the reason he hired Gary Kubiak, that was his boy. You know, that was an easy hire. He knew him.

Like, Vance Joseph was somewhat of a challenging hire. He kind of went with this young, sexy name and it backfired. Like, do you know what? It turns out John Elway might not know what he's looking for. I got news for it. Most, a lot of people don't. Hiring coaches are hard. Just because John Elway was a great player,

I actually think he's a solid general manager. I mean, his rookie class this year has been exceptional. I don't know if he's got a great feel for a coach. Like, is he cool with a coach coming in there and just blasting some of his players? Or does, you know, because now the entire roster is his. Does he want you to tell him what he wants to hear? So I don't know. I honestly, I have no clue who John Elway is going to be higher.

would hire. But I do think it would, it's easily, the moment he fires, Vance Joseph, it's going to be one of the more fascinating hires of the

off season. Not quite sure on the Christmas schedule yet. Probably do a podcast on Monday and then another one on Friday. May record it Sunday night after the games

and then I'll do another one on later in the week. So we'll keep them coming and appreciate everyone listening and I'll see you next. week. I guess I'll talk to you before Christmas, but enjoy the games and have good weekend. 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,

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