The Kevin Sheehan Show - Rethinking Tua to the Redskins

Episode Date: April 10, 2020

Kevin discussed the risk of the Redskins passing on Tua Tagovailoa after comments made by Trent Dilfer who's been training Tua for the last few months. Kevin talked about the poll that indicated 72% of Americans will not attend a sports event live without a coronavirus vaccine. Jeff Ermann/Inside MD Sports was a guest discussing Maryland's recent misses on grad transfers. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. All right. Happy Friday to everybody. Happy Good Friday and a happy Easter in advance to all of you who celebrate Easter. A happy Passover to those of you celebrating that. It's just me today. Maybe a guest a little bit later on. This is not going to be a long show today. Aaron's continuing to stay at home. This is my choice, actually. this studio that we do the podcast in is pretty small. I mean, it's about 120 square feet in total. And even though we were always roughly six feet away, I think just for right now, it's best that he and I stay apart. And I'm in this studio by myself, and he's home by himself. And he's still working, though. He's putting this podcast together after we record it. And that's what we're going to do for the time being. By the way, before we get started today, if you listen to the radio show on the team, 980. First piece of news is that it is moving up an hour on Monday, starting Monday,

so it will be a 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. show instead of 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. In fact, the whole lineup's moving up an hour. I'm going to start earlier, 6 to 9 a.m. And then Galdi's not going anywhere. He's going to still be with Doc from 9 to noon. And then Brian Mitchell, Scott, from 12 to 3, and then Zabin Scott from 3 to 6. So if you are a listener of the radio show and of the radio station, the Team 980, starting Monday, I will be starting first thing at 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., which probably will result in this podcast getting out a little bit earlier on most days as well. That's been, by the way, and I understand that, that that's been a bit of a complaint since I went back to radio that the podcast doesn't get out now until later on in the afternoon. and I understand that and I appreciate the fact that you even notice,

but it will be able to, but that's because of the radio show. I was getting done at 10 a.m. And we weren't getting started until typically 10.30-ish. And, you know, by the time it was done, it was 12, by the time it was edited and put together and out, sometimes it was later than, you know, 12, 31 o'clock. But anyway, the radio show starting Monday 6 to 9 a.m. And also, unfortunately, as part of that radio show, Greg Huff, who has been my longtime radio producer,

not just on the radio show in its recent form with me doing it solo, but he was the producer of the Cooley and Kevin show as well. And Greg is part of, you know, unfortunately cutbacks, which is happening all over the country right now, as we know, in a lot of businesses. and Greg is a pro. He's a friend. I'm going to miss him terribly on that radio show. He's always been a big part of the show, even in the past format with Cooley as my partner. And hopefully, you know, things turn around and the world gets back to normal at some point, and Greg can rejoin the show. I am hopeful about that. But I think, you know, everybody in radio right now is concerned about. about its future. It's tough. It's not just our station or our group of stations. It's every radio

station across the country. People aren't in their cars. Most people listen to radio in their cars, and people aren't going to work right now, and they're not in their cars, and they're not in a normal routine. And a lot of the advertisers that have spent big money on radio, and even on podcasts, their products can't be consumed right now, can't be purchased right now. And so that's making it difficult for that industry, just like many industries, obviously, and many businesses have been impacted with this. But anyway, I just wanted to say Greg has always been not only a great producer and a pro, I mean a first rate pro when it's come to, I don't think Greg ever, you know, had a day off. I don't think Greg was ever late. I don't think Greg ever didn't do or get things

that we asked him to get, and Greg consistently came up with great ideas for the show over the years, and I'm going to miss them a lot. But hopefully at some point, we will reunite. But anyway, 6 to 9 a.m., no Greg. CJ, the program director of the station, and one of my closest friends for many, many years, he's going to produce the show, at least for the short term, and we'll see if that plays out for the longer term. But anyway, I wanted to say something about Greg on the podcast, because many of you listen to both, and you know how much Greg's been a big part of the show. All right, I wanted to start today with the Les Carpenter story in the Washington Post, which I guess was in the paper yesterday, and I didn't get to it with Tommy yesterday, but I want to get to it today. It was a story written about

Tuatunga Viloa's recent rehab and work preparation in getting ready for the NFL. And the story opens with Les Carpenter writing, not long before Alabama quarterback Tuatunga Viloa declared for the NFL draft, his father, Galu, I think that's how you pronounce it, called Super Bowl winning quarterback Trent Dilfer with a request. Would Dilfer train his son to get him ready? At first, Dilfer refused, and Dilfer has spent the past year trying to build Lipscomb Academy, a tiny Christian high school in Nashville, into a national football power, and he didn't want to add another project.

He told to his father, Galu, that he had already been coached well by Vinnie Passes, his private coach back home in Hawaii, as well as Alabama's coaches. Dilfer suggested the names of several personal quarterback trainers, all of whom, would beg for the chance to work with Tua. But the father told Dilfer that everything had changed the moment that Tua was driven into the ground last November 16th in a game against Mississippi State, where he dislocated his hip, ending his junior season. Once presumed the draft's top pick, Tungaviloa had been flown to Houston for emergency surgery

and faced an arduous recovery. The father said that Dilfer has known Tua since he was a team. teenager, I guess Trent Dilfer was involved in the Elite 11 competition. He's coached that in the past, and he coached Tua when Tua was a teenager. And the father said he needed someone he could trust to train his son. Someone who Dilfer would later say would not kiss Tua's butt. And Galu, the father, that's his name Galu, told Dilfer, we will come to you. We will come to Nashville. And so Finally, Dilfer agreed, but he said with one condition that Tua's training would be veiled in secrecy. He could not tell anyone where he was.

He could not post photos on Instagram or tweet about his workouts. The rebuilding of Tua, as Dillifur called it, would be old school with none of the self-promotion that swirls around young athletes today. So they started to work together a few months back. The March 9th date where he had an appointment with his orthopedics that had done the surgery on his hip was a big date because they would clear him to actually start running and start doing things physically that would lead to a personal pro day, which by the way hasn't happened because of the virus. But they were working in preparation for that. He was cleared on March 9th. He's been working with him. over the last month. Part of the works included bringing in former NFL head coach Ken Wisenhunt to work with him as well. And Dilfer told Les Carpenter in this piece, and Carpenter has it pretty much at the end or close to the end of the piece. He told him this, quote, if he would never have gotten

hurt, there would have been no discussion about who the best player in the draft is. He throws the football better than anyone throws the football. He throws better than Aaron Rogers and Dan Marino. Whoever gets him wins the draft because you are getting a Hall of Fame player, closed quote. Now, Dilfer is not the only one that's had a positive assessment of Tua. A few weeks back, Todd McShay said that if Tua had been healthy, he would have ranked him higher than Burrow. And many people have said over the course of the last couple of months, that if Tua hadn't gotten hurt, Tua would have been the number one prospect in this draft. And we know this because a year ago, I mean, it was all about tanking for Tua.

Now, that was before Burrow had the season that he had. You know, an all-time college football season, 5,600 yards in a college football season, 60 touchdowns to just six interceptions. Plus, he had the five rushing touchdowns. He counted for 65 touchdowns in a championship season. at LSU. Let me just say this up front. I like Burrow more as a prospect than I do Tua. I love them both. I love Tua. I would stay away from Tua, as I've mentioned, because I wouldn't roll the dice on Tua with his injury history with a guy like Chase Young on the board. Now, if somebody

as great as Chase Young, as, you know, in terms of being a prospect, weren't available in this particular draft, that I would seriously consider Tua. But the injury is a huge risk. The injury history is a huge risk, you know, for the Redskins at number two. Even if you think that Healthy, Tua is a much better prospect and has a much better upside than Dwayne Haskins, that injury risk makes it very problematic and then throw in Chase Young as an option. And I think the Redskins, if they pass on Tua, which by the way will be, you know, could ultimately be one of those passes that we look back on and say, wow, they had a chance to get the next Dan Marino or the next Aaron Rogers, and they took Chase Young. But I think it will be down the road justifiable

because Chase Young is being evaluated as the best pass rushing prospect in many, many years. And Tua's got this injury history. So, you know, down the road, we'll hindsight it, you know, Steve Spurrier style 50-50. And if Tua turns into a superstar and Chase Young turns into just a good player, we'll say the Redskins blew it. Many will say the Redskins blew it, but we have to think about the way we think about it. We're thinking about it now. The way I'm thinking about it is, A, I like Burrow more than Tua. B, two, his injury risk is too high. And C, you've got a prospect in Chase Young at the second most important position on a football field that is generational in talent and in upside. With that said, let's go back to what Trent Dilfer said.

Now, I've always been a Trent Dilfer fan. Those of you that have been listening to the radio show for years that Tommy and I did together, we had Trent Dilfer on the show all the time, you know, especially during the RG3, you know, brief era. Because Dilfer seemed to understand the Shanahan's and what the Shanahan's were doing more than most of the analysts out there. You know, this was back when I was doing the show with Tommy. Cooley was still playing football. Cooley understood it. A lot of those NFL analysts during that era did not know what they were.

they were watching. I mean, there were so many people referring to, you know, sort of this zone reed scheme out of the pistol formation as the wishbone. I, you know, I heard a lot of so-called NFL experts that made themselves look and sound really silly when they were talking about what the Redskins were doing in 2012. And I always explained it this way, and I think this was what made sense to me. They were not college football fans. Some of these guys were true NFL guys. They didn't really watch or follow college football. And so they didn't realize what college football had become, you know, with the spread and with a ton of dual threat quarterbacks that were running lots of zone read and then turning it into a lot of RPO. And they just didn't know what it was,

even though they should have known because the Panthers had started to do some of this stuff with Cam Newton the year before, you know, specifically in red zone situations. But anyway, Trent Dilfer always understood it. Like he was, he, I'll never forget his line with us, with Tommy and I on the show. He said, Mike and Kyle Shanahan have created the best first and second down offense he's ever seen. Now, the Redskins were sometimes in trouble on third and long when RG3 turned into a straight dropback passer. When they got into those situations, it was really difficult for them. But they didn't get into those situations that much.

You know, they didn't get into those situations because they were such a high-efficiency, high-level, first and second-down offense. You know, with Griffin posed as a run threat, even when he didn't run it, which was most of the time, the defense had to account for him as a potential runner, and it opened it up for Alfred Morris. It opened it up for the play action game. I remember asking RG3 when he came on the show, and he came on the show, a few times. But I remember before the 2013 season when already many of us knew that all was not

well in the in the RG3 Mike Shanahan, Kyle Shanahan relationship. You know, this is as he's working his way back off of the knee injury that he sustained in the Seattle playoff game. And he and I, RG3 and I sat down at Redskin Park and I recorded an interview with him that we aired the next day on the radio show. And he, it wasn't Tommy and I together. It was just me. It was the way he wanted to do it actually. And the way, for whatever reason, the Redskins wanted it done.

I'm sure they were afraid that Tommy was going to rip into him or something. Anyway, I asked a bunch of questions, and I remember asking one question specifically. I asked him if he thought, and I knew at that point that he was not a big fan of being sort of a running quarterback. And in that off-season, it had come out with his father saying, you know, that, you know, making these veiled sort of threats against the Shanahan's about his son continuing to be a running quarterback as much as he was a throwing quarterback. And I suggested to him and said, is it true that the zone read look actually creates a more protective pocket for use? to throw from, which by the way was 100% true. You know, Mike had explained that to me, you know, during that season or after that season, he said, the truth of the matter is the pocket with off that zone read fake, when we're

throwing that dig route to Pierre or to Deshaun, he's much more protective of him than a straight dropback pocket is because you've got defensive linemen and linebackers hesitating thinking that he might tuck it and run. So the play action off of the zone read look became very effective for him, and he never got touched. If you go back to that 2012 season, that dig route that he threw over and over and over again

to Pierre off of the zone read play action, he was never touched. It was the safest pocket that he threw from. So when I asked him that question, I'll never forget his answer, because his eyes sort of lit up because he was in this mode of trying to prove to Mike and to Kyle that he could be a drop-back passer and that they didn't have to incorporate the zone read anymore, you know, and they shouldn't be. And when I asked him that question, he said, it can be. He was honest, you know, and he said, yeah, it can be. That's true.

And I said, well, explain it. And he said, we get the defense to sort of, you know, think more. And, you know, I've got really good receivers that are able to get open. And it gives the offensive line a better chance to protect. And, you know, he went into it a little bit. And I remember after the interview was over, and I said it was really interesting to watch you play football last year because you never got touched on any of those zones. zone read play action throws. And he just looked at me and he smiled and he said, not many of them.

Not many of them. But anyway, back during that time, a lot of people didn't understand what they were looking at. And, you know, again, the Shanahan's were brilliant in the way they employed it. You know, RG3 would only rush and only would keep the ball during a game on a zone read, you know, keeper maybe three or four times. Sometimes there were six. seven, eight carries. But sometimes if you go back and look at those box scores, some of those carries are scrambles, too. You know, they're not all zone read keepers. You know, one of the plays that they got out of that playbook quickly, which made sense, was they got out the true quarterback sweep. You know, for old school, you know, grade school football people, the old 18 sweep, the one

back through the eight hole, or the 19 or 17 sweep, which would have been the other side. You know, They ran that a couple of times, and that was not the best idea. He got punished on those. He was much better off the zone read fake, where half the defense went with Morris, and he was able to turn it up field and hopefully get down before getting hit. He was not very good, as we recall, at sliding and avoiding contact. He was not Russell Wilson as a runner. Great straight line speed, not great visual sort of spatial feel.

He just didn't have that. He was much more of a straight-line track guy than he was Russell Wilson, who, you know, I guarantee you Russell Wilson's a hell of a basketball player. He was obviously a very good baseball player. But anyway, working back to Dilford. Dilfer always understood what the Shanahan's were doing. He was a true analyst, and because he was coaching, he really understood what they were doing. He was coaching younger, you know, high school level players, and he knew exactly what they were doing. And he recognized. the brilliance of it and recognized how perfect it was for Griffin in particular. Now, as it relates to Tua, a lot of people said to me after, you know, reading, after I read this this morning, well, what did you expect Dilford to say? He's been working with this kid. He knows this kid. He's friends with the family. Well, he could have said, you know, if Tua didn't get hurt, he would have been the best player in this draft and would have been the clear cut number one on this draft and whoever gets him is getting an absolute beast of a player. I think he took it to another level when he said he throws the football better than anyone

throws the football. He throws it better than Aaron Rogers and better than Dan Marino. And whoever gets him wins the draft because you're getting a Hall of Fame player. Close quote. Now somebody pointed out to me, and I didn't see this until after the radio show, that he worked with Dwayne Haskins last year and said that Haskins has a lot of Tom Brady in him. So maybe he is sort of predisposed to hyperbole and promotion of the players that he's working with. I still think, though, if you take that and you put it with what you saw as a football fan when Tua was healthy in playing quarterback, it's not debatable that Tua is a great prospect. Like it's not debatable.

No one's going to, you know, anybody that watched two over the last few years when he was healthy and out there, you're all going to say the same thing. The dude can sling it. I mean, he can spin it as well as anybody we've seen in college football in a long time. He throws deep, incredibly well with great touch, and a great arm. He throws medium with great accuracy, and he gets it out quickly. short stuff. Like he is really a guy that can really throw the football. Nobody will debate that. He's also a playmaker too. I actually personally think Burrow is a better playmaker, a better

extend the play kind of quarterback than even Tua is. The big problem with Tua, and I've mentioned this as sort of, you know, what I think about every time I think about Tua is I think about CBS 330 and Tracy Wolfson on the sideline being asked by Brad Nessler and Getsler. Gary Danielson for an update on why Tua's hobbling. You know, it wasn't just the hip. It was the knee. It was both ankles. He just was always hurt.

It's too much of a risk. With that said, this is one of those situations where when you read this and then you start thinking about Tua and when you saw him healthy, it is a big risk to pass on Tua. It's a big risk. Now again, the fact that he's got this injury here. history and the fact that Chase Young is an option at number two more likely than not, makes that risk sort of worth taking on passing on him. And it justifies it down the road if Tua ends up hitting it big and Chase Young doesn't. If Tua ends up being a Hall of Fame

quarterback and Chase ends up being just a really good player. If Tua ends up doing what Aaron Rogers has done, which is elevate mediocre teams to playoff contention, into the postseason year and in year out. So, you know, but again, we have to remember how we feel now. And the way we feel now is this guy's a risk because of the injury history. And the good news is there's another generational talent sitting there at number two at a very important position on the football field, which is the pass rusher. So anyway, interesting about the Trent Dilfer stuff.

Also, Ian Rappaport tweeted out yesterday that Ron Rivera really likes Tua. And he says that, I'm going to find it here in a second. Here it is. Rappaport said, tweeted out yesterday, or said in a report, excuse me, that there's actually a chance the Redskins could select Tua with the second overall pick and that Ron Rivera is a huge fan of Tua, that he's very high on Tua. I think they're going to take Chase Young two weeks from last night. I think ultimately, again, I keep coming back to this,

and that is the owner wants Chase Young. He wants Haskins to be given the opportunity. And I don't think that Ron Rivera would be sitting in, you know, the position he's in right now is the Redskins head coach. He might be the Giants head coach right now if he had told Dan Snyder that he wasn't a Haskins fan. and I don't think he needed to tell Snyder that to get a job this offseason. If he didn't think that way about Dwayne Haskins, he could have said,

I'm not a big fan, and if that's a problem, that's fine, and he could have taken the job with the Giants. He may have been offered that job. You know, he didn't need to do what Jay Gruden needed to do in 2014, which is convince Dan that he could make RG3 work. I don't think Rivera needed to do that. I think Rivera told him the truth, and that was he likes Haskins too. And Haskins is going to get every opportunity to prove that he can be the franchise quarterback,

which means he's going to be the starter in 2020, which means they're not going to draft a quarterback at number two. That's the way I see it. And I'd be fine if they took Chase Young. I'd prefer that. Again, I've said this before. If Joe Burroughs there at number two, I would take Joe Burrow. I would. I would take Joe Burrow because I think Joe Burrow has a much bigger.

upside with no recent injury history. I think he's got a bigger upside than Dwayne, and I like Dwayne, but I think Burroughs going to be a better quarterback and has a chance to be an elite quarterback in the NFL, and he doesn't have the risk of the injury stuff. So if Burrow did, you know, make him all of a sudden fall under the Redskins lap at number two, I would take him. I would not. I would not take Tua at number two. One other thing, because this actually just came out, okay? And it's about Tua. It's from Michael Lombardi on Twitter. And Lombardi, by the way, is hit and miss, man, on a lot of this stuff. Former NFL GM has had a podcast for a while. Here's what he apparently just said on his podcast. He said, the question to be asked is not

as Tua healthy rather than can Tua stay healthy. Being cleared to play and being able to play are two different circumstances. I agree with that. I think once you've got sort of this injury history and this vulnerability to injury in many different spots, by the way, not just the hip, but the knees and the ankles, you've got to be really concerned about it. And he said that, oh, here's something that's interesting. Former Cleveland Brown's general manager, Michael Lombardi said Wednesday, the Tunga Viloa failed his physical with two teams and had previously unknown wrist injuries

revealed. What they saw, it's not the hip, it's his ankle. It's his wrist, Lombardi said on his podcast. He broke his wrist the first day of spring ball one year, and then they fixed it, and he came back and he re-broke it again. He's brittle. He is brittle. You can't deny it. Closed quote. That from Michael Lombardi. Yeah, this is the risk, is that, okay, the hip's fine. Okay, today's healthy, but he keeps getting injured. Tracy Wolfson continues to be busy during Alabama games on CBS because he's always hobbling around. What's he hobbling around for this time? It's his ankle. What's he hobbling around next week? It's his other ankle. What's going on with his arm? It's not his arm. It's his wrist. So you've had that with Tua. It's got to be a concern.

Got to be a concern. One other thing to get to, and then we're going to bring a guest on. Jeff Irman will be on with us to talk a little Maryland basketball and about the transfers that they didn't get the last few days. I don't know how many people saw this poll, but Seton Hall's School of Business, the Stillman School of Business, put out a poll yesterday that indicated that 72% of Americans said they would not attend live sporting events until a vaccine is developed. Now, Among the sports fans that they polled still a significant majority, a healthy majority, 61% of sports fans or people who identified themselves as sports fans said they would not attend a live sporting event until a vaccine is available. Of the 28% that said they would go to a sporting event, nearly half of those said that they would go to a sporting event,

but without a vaccine, but only if social distancing measures were in place. So really what you're talking about is a poll of about 762 Americans, I think is the number that was polled, that sort of overwhelmingly says people aren't going to go back to live sporting events without a vaccine. Now, personally, and Tommy and I talked about this yesterday, to me the vaccine isn't anywhere near. as important as the treatment. Tell me you've got meds that you can prescribe to me that will keep me from getting seriously ill if I get coronavirus,

and it's a totally different ballgame. You know, the vaccine, we've already been told by Dr. Fauci that the vaccine is 12 to 18 months away, and some say that that's optimistic. What appears to be a possibility much sooner is, you know, a therapeutic medical treatment. You know, whether it's not, maybe it's this hydroxychloroquine with the antibiotic or maybe it's one of these other drugs, but they think that that's three, four,

five months away. So you tell me that we've got meds to basically keep you from getting seriously ill, you know, like Theraflu or whatever these, you know, flu medications are, then I think it's a game changer for everybody will take the fear and the anxiety way down. Until you get that, I totally get this poll. To me, they should have asked more about the treatment or combined it, you know, and to say, you know, will you attend a sporting event if there's no treatment and or vaccine for COVID-19? I get the anxiety, man.

I get it. You know, these large gathering events are going to be impacted if there's no treatment. You know, now, if you're immune, if you, you know, get that test that will be developed, that will test the antibodies of whether or not you've had it and now you're immune to it. Obviously, that's completely different. If you've got some immunity to it, you're going to go to a sporting event if you want to go to a sporting event. But without a treatment, I think all of these, first of all, without a treatment. First of all, without a treatment, I don't know that you're even going to have the opportunity to attend a sporting event live.

Sports may come back as this thing, you know, waivers a little bit and wanes and diminishes in the summer months and maybe we get sports back. But without a vaccine and without a treatment, it may be without fans, you know, which is what we were, you know, we were planning on seeing that. or the plan was for us to watch these games during March Madness without crowds, watch NBA games without crowds, hockey games without crowds. I don't know. I mean, I believe this polling. Now, if there's a vaccine, if there's a treatment, then these numbers are much different, obviously. But without it, I don't even know if you have the opportunity to,

and if you have the opportunity to, I think that we will see large gathering sports arenas and stadiums not very full. And by the way, they may, if they do open up stadiums for live attendees, for games, they may have, you know, requirements with respect to social distancing. Like maybe a 70,000 seat stadium. Now we're only going to take 35,000 in. And everybody's going to have a seat in between them that's empty. But anyway, I thought that polling was pretty interesting, and it reflects that right now,

and I know we're in the moment, and people will change. their minds when this thing starts to hopefully die out a little bit or be significantly reduced based on weather, based on the mitigation and the social distancing that we're going through right now. And people may have a completely different attitude when we get to September for football games, but those football games are optional in terms of attending them. You know, it's not work. You know, you have to get onto that subway. You have to get into your car.

You have to get on to an airplane potentially for work, but you don't have to go to a game. And those games are on television, in glorious high definition. You don't have to go to those games. I think attendance is going to be significantly impacted if there's no treatment or vaccine. Again, I recognize that I have that reaction right now while we're in the midst of this. You know, we're at the height of the anxiety over this. and maybe I'll feel differently at the end of the summer. But I can just tell you personally,

and I'm getting up and coming into work every day. I don't see myself going to a 75,000-seat stadium and sitting super close in a packed section of fans when I can stay at home and watch that game on TV. Not without treatment or a vaccine. And remember, a part of this is not just about ourselves. It's about what we're bringing back to our family. All right. I want to get to a guest here. Let's bring in Jeff Erman.

Jeff, of course, covers all of Maryland sports, especially Maryland basketball and Maryland football. Follow him on Twitter at Jeff underscore Erman, Maryland 247 Sports.com. First of all, we haven't talked in a while. How are you doing? I hope you're healthy and well and, you know, making it through this crazy time we're living in? Yeah, Kevin, just like everybody else, man, just trying to stay active and stay sane. I mean, good news is, you know, Maryland's given us plenty to write about with recruiting and everything else. Bad news is it hasn't exactly been the most positive news to deliver so far. Yeah, we'll get to that in a moment.

You know, let's just go back to, you know, what was incredible anticipation. for what would have been, you know, the Big Ten tournament first and then the NCAA tournament. And, you know, I was just talking today on my radio show with CJ about being at that Michigan Maryland game. And it was three days, that Sunday, three days before Rudy Gobert tested positive and everything shut down. And it was a crazy time. Like that game, and I said to him, I said, you know, it's interesting about that Michigan Maryland game. I know it was an early start. but I think already I started to see people who were concerned about going to a large gathering event. I mean, people were already being sort of, it was at the very beginning of sort of learning what mitigation and social distancing meant.

And that game, you know, it was a sellout, I know, but it was not filled that day, not like the Michigan State game. But anyway, how do you think they would have done? Like, you know, I just wish that we could have seen Cowan and Sticks and everybody. and that team with the way they had played all year long, what do you think they would have done, seriously? Yeah, it's such a cruel ending for Maryland because this is, you know, Turgent's ninth team, and to me clearly his best suited team to make a run.

So that goes against the obvious question. Well, he's had kind of that feeling over him of the one sweet 16, so with that, you know, that their team been good enough to kind of break through. But, you know, to me it felt like a, that wins at least four games in the postseason. I thought, you know, obviously it's a tournament so fluky. You never know who they would have played. If somebody has an off day, there's just so many various factors that go into it

that we'll never know. But to me it seems like a sweet 16 kind of team and the team that had a chance to maybe go further if everything came together, some of those role players, you know, if Aaron Wiggins got hot or, you know, something like that. So I thought they were points to have maybe their best postseason under turgeon. So if that's the case, which we'll never know, obviously, it's really a killer for him because, you know, that was his opportunity to kind of, again, break through,

win back some of these fans who are complaining and also maybe help himself out a little bit recruiting-wise and with an extension and things like that. So really just, you know, it killed. It hurt everybody who was going to go to the tournament, but I think maybe even a little more painful for Maryland than a lot of others. Yeah, I mean, it's so true. because I think you and I both agree that this was his best team, you know, in terms of a collective, you know, team and the way they played and how they fit together. And by the way, you know, the way they got along and, you know, especially when the, you know, they got the twins out of there in December.

And, you know, matchups are everything. We know that in the tournament. And, you know, they could have won the whole thing or they could have had a terrible matchup in the second round in Greensboro and gotten bounced. I mean, it's just the way the tournament goes, but I think that this was his best chance to make a deep run. They had, you know, they had what every tournament team wants, right? They had a veteran point guard who was not only, you know, a score and distributor, but a hell of a defender and a big-time clutch performer. And they had a big guy that was blowing up in front of our very eyes, you know, in sticks.

And, you know, in a lot of really good complimentary pieces. It just sucks that we didn't get a chance to see it. Yeah, and with talent, not only was he a senior guy who can do everything, but also a guy who was on a mission, and maybe that you can overstate that. It sounds like a cliche, but it's true. You know, desperation does matter in sports, especially college sports, you know, mindset and situations are often as important as talent, and that kid just so desperately wanted to win something of substance this year,

which he did, you know, he got the Big Ten title, so you feel good for him for that because he had such a great career and otherwise, you know, it was lacking in a milestone kind of accomplishments. But, you know, they really, you know, there was obviously a team that went to the Sweet 16 a few years ago, four years ago, whatever that was. But, you know, that was, the team, I think, was always a little bit better on paper than it was in reality. And they beat, you know, a couple of mid or low major teams against the Sweet 16 and then, you know, played one half against Kansas before getting run out of there.

So I feel like this, again, this probably would have been the best shot, but it's really a shame that we'll never know. Well, we'll never know. We'll never know on what it would have been. But I think we both agree that we missed out on maybe Turgeon's best tournament run. You know, there's been this talk over the last couple of months. And, you know, you talk to Maryland basketball fans, and I do as well. and we both are always rooting for them.

And I'm, you know, as an alum, I've always, you know, lived and died this stuff. And I like Mark a lot. But I know the conversation that's been out there. And not being a part of the NCAA tournament this year, you know, he walks away as a Big Ten co-champion with one of the better regular seasons, you know, we've seen here in recent years. What happens with sort of the conversation that, you know, just a few months ago, people were talking about with respect to a contract extension. Is that in play with Damon Evans after this season?

I think it would have been a near lock had they made a deep run into the tournament. But where do you think that is right now? Well, you know, I assumed once they made that run and won the Big Ten or tied for the Big Ten that he would get at least a token extension just for recruiting purposes, you know, coaches when they have three years left. In basketball, it's usually when you're pretty much expected to get that extension, at least for appearances. So that still might happen, but I'm a little surprised it hasn't happened already.

Just, again, for help with recruiting on the clip side, you know, most of these players they've been missing on have been grad transfers. So I don't know how much longevity, you know, presenting longevity really would have mattered with those guys anyways, but I did think if it was going to comic, too, it would come early. It still could. I think it's so hard to predict now because, you know, this coronavirus situation just has changed the entire landscape. No coaches are moving around. The market is pretty much closed down.

You're not really seeing guys get fired or get extensions or anything. Schools are bracing for what's going to be, you know, an economic beating for these schools. Right. The lack of money for the NCAA tournament, that's a huge hit, especially for the mid-majors, but even for the high majors, they lost a lot. of money on that, too. So that makes it really hard to predict what's going to happen. You know, he still could get an extension.

I know Damon Evans isn't necessarily, you know, his top supporter. So that goes in, plays into things, too. But, you know, the whole situation right now makes it really hard to predict. I wouldn't be surprised if he still gets one. I don't think there's any way. It'll be one of those kind of iron-clad deals where Kevin Anderson games and where where you're getting several years fully guaranteed. Like nothing like that's going to happen.

All right. Let's talk about what has happened here recently, which is they've missed out on some transfers, some big-time grad transfers that would have stepped in, played right away, and perhaps, you know, made Maryland a really, really good basketball team next year. You know, personally, and I know a lot of Maryland fans think that they're going to stink next year without Cowan and sticks and without getting some of these transfers,

which we'll get to in a moment. I actually think they've got a decent team coming back. You know, it's not a terrible basketball team. It's still a team that, to me, you know, could finish in the top five, top six of the Big Ten and be a tournament team next year with what they have coming back. I'll let you answer to that in a moment. But tell everybody what they've missed out on here over the last, you know, three, four days. Yes, so the three big guys they were going for were Bryce Aiken, the point guard from

Harvard, who put up 30 against them in November. He committed to Seaton Hall yesterday. Turns out, though, from what I'm told, privately, he actually committed to Seed Hall a couple weeks ago and just wanted to kind of let the suspense build up and let the hype build up. So that one, I don't think they ever had as much of a chance. The big miss to me was Carleek Jones, the point guard from Radford. A lot of people think he's the best grad transfer on the market.

It's a really good player, really good point guard. and I think that they almost had him wrapped up last minute, you know, the hometown allure of Louisville won out. That was a tough one because I think that he's the best guy available, and they almost had him done. And then Jordan Bruner is going to announce today. He's six-night kids referring from Yale would be a really good piece for them, really versatile, not Jill, but nobody is. He's deciding between Maryland, Baylor, and Alabama. And honestly, I'll be surprised if it's Maryland. I think he probably goes to Alabama.

And then kind of secondary target that missed on was Alex O'Connell, the shooter from Duke. They seem to be very much in the mix with him until he announced for Creighton yesterday. So those have been the main guys. They did add one transfer, Jerry at Hamilton from Boston College. But, you know, unless the NSA passes this legislation allowing transfers to be eligible. go immediately, you know, non-grad transfers, he'll have to sit next year. So they still need at least two more players. Yeah, I mean, this kid, Bruner going to Alabama, you know, it's one thing for, you know,

Jones to go back closer to home. And in some ways, Aiken, you know, going to Seton Hall, wasn't, you know, a shocker. But picking Alabama over Maryland, come on. I mean, that. Well, Nato's a hot commodity, though. He's got a lot of momentum going there. They're recruiting really. well, you know, surprisingly well for Alabama. But yeah, I mean, it is, it is surprising,

especially, you know, also from an Ivy League kid, you would think, I have no idea of Alabama's rated academically. I seriously doubt it close to Maryland, but maybe, you know, maybe I'm uneducated on that. But yeah, that's a tough one, especially because, you know, there's some guards out there, but finding Big Ten quality Big Ben right now is, you know, near impossible. So that's killer for that reason. Who else is out there? Who else could they? Because right now, I mean, they have spots with, you know, sticks and leaving and Lindo transferring and obviously the twins transferring. There are spots to be filled. Who else are they in the running for? Well, a guard there recruiting David to Julius, the kid who's leaving Michigan, who had a great game against Maryland. He can really shoot it.

Yeah, he's a player. He just was stuck behind Xavier Simpson there. You know, they have some inroads with him. DeAndre Haynes, obviously, was an assistant in Michigan, worked with him for a year, so there's a relationship there. Same thing with Jerry's Hamilton with him. You know, you need the NCAA to pass that rule. Otherwise, he's sitting out next year and doesn't help you,

which is a huge factor, given what they need. And Amari Hardy, another point guard from UNLV, averaged about 14 points a game. he's a grad transfer, so he'll be eligible immediately. He's another guy that Haynes has a relationship with, and then in the front court, you know, they need a point guard, but they need, need a big man. I mean, when you look at the construction of the roster right now,

the front court is really lacking. So with the guys they've missed on, you know, that they're going after a couple high school guys now, a kid named Quincy Ballard, seven-footer from Syracuse, and is just kind of blown up at the last minute. he's actually set to decide tomorrow. Between whom? He's got Maryland, Syracuse, Florida State, NC State, and Cincinnati.

We'll see. It sounds like it might be tough to be Syracuse, given that he is a Syracuse kid, but I think Maryland met with him or zoomed with him. It's all about zooming now, obviously, yesterday. So I feel like they might have a chance there. I don't know. I'm going to do a little more digging today on him. and then Adama Sanago, he's more of a far more of a highly rated prospect.

He's a top 50 big man in 2021 class. He is very likely reclassified to 2020, so he'll be a freshman next year, most likely. Maryland's one of several schools. I actually have an article posted on him on the site today, but one of several schools really working hard on him. He would be probably the best you could do maybe at this point, even though he'd be a tip. you know, technically a high school junior jumping into the mix. He's still a very big, skilled top 50 kind of kid, and they desperately need some size,

given what, you know, you look at the roster. Did Julius from Michigan would be in the same thing that Hamilton from BC would be, right? Yeah. It would be a guy that could only play next year if they flip the rule and allow the one-time transfer without, you know, sitting out a year. Exactly, and that's a killer. How do you decide if you're Turgeon not knowing?

That's why the NCA, I feel like he needs to just go ahead and make a rule. There's enough uncertainty and chaos out there. Go ahead and make your decision so people know what they're working with, both the players and the coaches, you know, to have a guy like Turgent have to think, like, we really need to guard, but do we take him and roll the dice and wait another month to find out if he's playing for us next year to me is ridiculous. Obviously, there's much more important things going on out there.

But, yeah, he's like Hamilton. So if you take him, you're kind of just taking him. taking a chance. So, you know, we go from a chance to potentially contend for a final four in our own minds anyway, at least. But I think most people would have considered Maryland to be among, you know, 10 to 12 to 15 teams that had a legit chance to get to the final four, if not win the whole thing, to a team that comes back next year without getting any of the big name transfers as of now. I mean, maybe Bruner picks Maryland.

I've been hearing Alabama as well. What do we got? I mean, it's Iala, it's Morsell, it's Dante Scott, it's Wiggins, and I mean, it could be troll Mariel in the starting lineup, right? Yeah, it's pretty scary when you think about it. I mean, that's a solid four-man nucleus, but you don't have a proven star among them. Wiggins is really the only guy you can see becoming the star potentially. He could blow up.

Like, it's very possible Wiggins could blow up into, you know, a first-round guy that averages 18 a game and is shooting 43% from behind the arc, something like that. I could see that happening. Yeah, that could definitely happen. The problem is it could happen. There's no proven, you know, this year you entered the season with, all of those guys plus Anthony Cowan and Jalen Smith, two proven guys,

one of whom was about to become a star. So next year you take those two away and you just have the other guys. I'm a big Darryl-Morsal guy. I've always liked what he brought. He's gotten so much better year after year, but he's not going to become a star. He's a good core guy, but you still need – and then you need depth. It's not just the stars.

There's no depth behind those guys whatsoever. I mean, you have those four that you mentioned. I think Dante Scott will be a really good player. But, you know, what's your starting center right now? it is Chol Beryl, and the only other guy up there is Josh Tamias, who's basically, you know, little-use reserve kind of coach's favorite positive energy guy, you know, who knows all the the plays and does the right thing, but it's just not athletic enough to make a big impact. Ricky Lindo left, so that's another front court guy gone.

So, you know, you still got good guard, but the front court, unless Chol Meryl becomes a thing, like, overnight, which he does have the potential, but it's a thing. total crapshoot with him still at this point. The front court is, you know, back to those levels of 10 years ago, and it was, you know, you had Baron Weiss and James Padgett, you know, not to take away from those guys, but, you know, you're really hurting for James Padgett would easily be your best big man on this roster as it's currently constructed. Yeah.

You know, I think actually the thing that impresses, me about Mariel, you know, if he actually was healthy, you know, and the whole thing is he actually has decent hands, decent feet, can move, is coordinated. And, you know, there's a reason that he had five stars at one point next to his name. You can see that. And certainly at a bare minimum, I could see him being a defensive shot-blocking, you know, factor at the college level. And I think Eric I-A-all, I think he's a wild card. right next year. He's so capable and we've seen when he plays well how in control he is, how he's able to get his shot, how he's able to get to the rim and get to the free throw line.

And without Cowan, maybe Iyala takes a big step up. With the group that we just described, and we didn't mention Hakeem Hart or Sorrell Smith, you know, potentially as bench players, you know, we're panicking here. I can hear it in your voice in a bit in my own. But the truth of the matter is, you know, that group, without even counting, you know, the transfers that may or may not be available or freshmen that may make an impact or not make an impact, that group should be good enough for a top six, seven type of finish in the Big Ten, which would make you a tournament team, right? It's solid, and the two things are, one, you're relying on all those guys to improve, basically. IAlla, you know, it's all mental with him.

He becomes consistent. Wiggins, does his jump shot come back? Morsell, you pretty much know what you have. I think, Scott, you have a pretty good idea what you have. The problem is, again, there's just no depth whatsoever. You know, you look at the rest of the roster, who's a big, proven himself as a Big Ten, not a Big Ten star, just Big Ten caliber player.

Really, nobody. And that's brutal. You know, even in the Big Ten this year, depth was an issue when you had these guys plus. plus Cowan and Jamman Smith, depth was still an issue. So, you know, that's a big concern. They've got to get two guys, at least two guys who are capable of helping them now. You know, recruiting has, they've struggled a little bit, recruiting the past year or two.

It's hard to explain exactly why it's been a little bit of a strange downturn. But, yeah, I mean, I agree with you. I like the pieces. I think if all those guys are their best sell, then, you know, it could be a solid team. but without depth or really any big men, you're in trouble. I mean, obviously, they'll get a big man, but without any big men who can play. So that's why the next 30 days or so is going to be crucial, you know, deciding what happens next season.

Yeah, I think, you know, we've talked about this before what we think Maryland basketball is, and I think you and I've been pretty much on the same page. To me, it's like every five years, you're in the tournament, a minimum of, four of those five, you know, and you're competing for, you know, you're in two to three sweet six, two sweet 16s minimum. And once out of every five years, you've got a legitimate team that's got a chance to make a final four and contend for a national championship. I mean, that is to me what Maryland basketball should be. That's sort of the second tier, you know, after the Blue Bloods, you know, and that's what it should be. And next year would be sort of that

off year where you may make the tournament, you may not, but it's probably not a deep into the tournament kind of team, which means if he doesn't get a couple of these guys to really help out, what does 2021 look like? Where are they on the 2021 recruiting front? Well, you know, they're involved with several, obviously a lot of 2021 kids, two local guys. To keep an eye on our Julian Reese up in Baltimore, his sister Angel Reese is a phenom who committed to Brenda Freeze. I think they have a really good chance with him. He's right around the 100 range nationally.

I think he probably would have, his stock would have gone up this summer. Now that's not going to happen, obviously, with no AAU basketball. And then Benny Williams, kid from Bullitts, top 50 player, I believe, in our rankings, 6-8-ish small for it. It pretty much seems to be between them and Syracuse right now. they've got a solid chance there. Otherwise, though, it's not like one of those years where you can point to two or three guys

that they're, like, haul in on. The problem is that usually happens during the summer and spring when they get out and watch kids on the AAU circus tell how they're watching this guy. Like, they've been at all his games. They really want him. That's not going to happen this year, so it's going to be a little harder to get a read and probably a lot harder for them to get a read on who they want. But I think right now they're just so focused on trying to patch things up for next year

that 2021, you know, while they're obviously working on it, they need to get some 2020 kids first. Yeah, they do. Last thing before I let you run, I saw that you had tweeted out that Marilyn had two of the greatest 101 tournament games of all time. One of them was the Drew Nicholas shot that beat UNC Wilmington, and the other one, unfortunately, was maybe the most painful loss of the Gary Williams area. which was the Cory Lucius buzzer-beater in the second round back in 2010, which was Graves Vasquez and Landon Milborn and Eric Hayes' final game, which I think they had a chance to make a run for the final four.

That's why, you know, when people will say about Gary's last few years and not making a sweet 16, I always remind them, they won an ACC regular season title in 2010, and they really did have a final four capable team, you know, that year, especially with the way the draw emptied. The game that should have been in this top 1001 that isn't, is their game against Yukon in the Elite 8 in 2002. It's one of the highest-level college games I've ever watched.

That's the one that I thought might be in there. I was a little surprised. But, you know, they obviously were going. Matt Norlander, who wrote the article, did a really good job on it. It was obviously looking a lot at... Trauma. Puzzer-beaters and last second finishes.

The Maryland ends up winning that game by eight, so maybe it doesn't look as good as it was, but clearly that was the best test they got in that whole championship season run, which is pretty impressive when you look back at it, that none of their wins in that championship run came by less than eight points. The national championship game there, I still maintain even while it was great for Maryland, and they won against Indiana. That was one of the most boring national championship games. Terrible. Poorly played. Yeah, exactly.

Maryland fans always shout me down. They had East Maryland won. It was the greatest game. That was just an ugly game. In Minnesota, I had no business being there for being honest. But yeah, Yukon with Karan Butler. That was a classic. I thought that would make the list. Yeah, the championship game was an ugly game. Although Maryland's defense over the final 10 minutes was unbelievable.

I remember I watched that game again maybe a year ago. I know it's been on recently. I haven't watched it recently. and one of the things that was really impressive is how Maryland completely shut Indiana out over the final eight, nine minutes. I mean, Blake's defense and Dixon's defense, it was so good. Last, actually, two more. First of all, where's Matt Harms going to, why is he transferring from Purdue, and where will he end up? I don't know why.

That was surprising. I mean, he would have obviously, he's already played a million minutes. You would think he's cemented there. the program guy, so that was surprising everybody, everybody in the country is after him. So start to say where he'll go. I mean, he listed like 30 schools, and that was just on the first day. Maryland did reach out. I confirmed that they've talked to him, but they'll just be one of several dozen going after him.

So it's hard to say why he left or where he'll end up. But, yeah, that was, and then also if you're Maryland, you already have Joel, Mariel. So while harms would be a nice piece, and you'd probably take him without thinking twice, on the other hand. There's not many teams that carry two, seven foot, three guys in the way the basketball has played these days. So,

I just have to see what happens with them. All right, last one. So I did this on radio the other day, and that is, you know, we've been seeing all of these old games, you know, being replayed with no live sporting events. Personally, I'm not into watching a lot of these old games. The games that I've, most of them I've seen on

YouTube anyway, if I was really interested in it. But I asked the following question, question, which is if you could go back and experience, you know, one game from the past, you know, all new again. Like you don't know the result, you know it now, but you get to go back and experience it again. What sporting event or game would you choose? Wow, that's really good. It would have to be one of those Redskins Super Bowls when I was a kid.

Unfortunately, I have to say, when I was a kid. kids next to that. Because you wouldn't be both that you know better than anybody. There hasn't been that much to get excited about. I would say the biggest games, and they ended up winning, so maybe they're not one. Your question is probably going to get more of a what if they had one answer. But I would say those Super Bowls against the Broncos and the bills, you know, those were the biggest games I can recall throughout, you know, my entire youth.

Otherwise, you know, probably Maryland 2002 National Championship games. You know, those are the three biggest games that I can recall. What if? Otherwise, I don't know. That's a really good question. Well, it's a tough one. You know, for Maryland basketball fans that listen to the podcast, and I always hear from a lot of them after you're on the show,

for me, even though the 2002 championship was phenomenal, in many ways, the game that got them in. to their first final four, the win over Stanford in Anaheim, was the most emotional. Because longtime Maryland basketball fans like me had waited our entire lives to go to the final four. And I'll never forget sort of, I think Dixon was holding the ball as the clock, you know, wound down. And it was a very, very emotional moment to know that finally, you know, after all these years with teams that we really thought were final four, you know, caliber teams, you know, they were finally going to the final four. That was

really emotional. I love that game. And really the ACC title win in 2000, you know, when they beat Duke in the in the ACC tournament championship game, the Gilchrist tournament, that was really an incredible

win. In some ways, you know, longtime Maryland basketball fans cite that game as the ACC tournament, you know, championship over Duke and overtime, as in some ways equal to the national championship, which I find is crazy, but I also remember how emotional and excited I was when they won that game. People get surprisingly fired up about conference tournaments, especially the

8th C just because of the tradition and the Maryland being in Alaska, you know, little brother syndrome that they had. That Stanford won is a good call. That's really underrated. That was a breakthrough because he felt like they were just never going to go to the final war. and they were finally, you know, you could say that was the high-level breakthrough when they did that to get to the final four, you know, years after they had that first breakthrough against Georgetown with Duane Simpson's buzzer-beater. That was the first breakthrough to kind of show that they were about to be back, and then 10 years or so later you get the one against Stanford.

Yeah, that went over Georgetown at U.S. Air Arena was phenomenal. I'll never forget that day because, you know, Georgetown had really avoided Maryland for so long, and they got it together and it was, you know, and avoided them after that too. And avoided them after that as well because, you know, and I talked to Big John many times about that game over the years and, you know, he would say to me, you know, it wasn't even sold out. And I'd say it was also the Friday morning after Thanksgiving and Maryland was coming off probation. There was like 17,000 in the arena out of an arena that sat 19,000 and about 14,000 of them were Maryland fans.

You know, so it was a home game for Maryland, even though it was technically Georgetown's home floor. That was phenomenal. You know, Shane Batti, senior night in Durham was incredible. You know, part of that 2001-4 game, you know, head-to-head thing. And the game, you know, in Cole's final year, the year they won the National Championship against Duke when Blake had the steal on Jay Williams before halftime.

That was incredible. I mean, some of those crowds too. What's just getting into an article. I'm turning this conversation into an article that can do hang up at 10 wings. There we go. Well, it's just, it's one of the, we're trying to figure out what to talk about these days because there aren't games to talk about, so we're coming up with a lot of stuff. Stay healthy, stay well, great to catch up.

Thanks. Thank you, brother. Good to catch up with Jeff Herman. Jeff's a great guy, does a great job covering Maryland sports, and follow him on Twitter at Jeff. underscore ermine one last thing before you run it's a redskins item tony pauline who is a you know a draft expert for the pro football network um he and his podcast yesterday said about ron rivaura and trent williams quote ron rivera wanted him back and it's my understanding meaning tony pauline's

understanding is that trent williams basically just blew him off And Ron Rivera really right now has no use for Trent Williams. Just does not want that kind of person in the locker room, closed quote. Of course, you know, the agent for Trent Williams, Vincent Taylor, has sort of told the story in opposite. You know, he gave us 15 minutes. He met with us long after he should have met with us and sort of made it clear that Trent was going to have to earn his spot. and, you know, that he was sort of lukewarm towards Trent. Here's a report from Tony Pauline saying Ron Rivera wanted him back,

but he was turned off by Trent Williams. Bottom line is, I don't think anything's going to happen until two weeks from last night, maybe the day before, but the NFL draft is when this thing more likely than not is going to get resolved either before it, during it, or shortly after it is my guess. All right, that's it. stay healthy and well this weekend, and we're back on Monday.