The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Are the Eagles the New Chiefs? And Herbert Defenders, Stand Up! Plus, Todd McShay on Improved Indiana, Scary Miami, and More.

Episode Date: September 22, 2025

Russillo opens with some NFL Week 3 thoughts, including how the Rams lost to the Eagles, whether the Eagles are the new Chiefs, why Herbert defenders have been so stubborn, and why Caleb Williams is working his way back to being the best QB from the 2024 draft class. Plus, Todd McShay stops by to talk college football, including Indiana being even better this year than last, how scary Miami is, and why John Mateer is his favorite college QB. Finally, they close it out with listener-submitted life advice, including advice for a six-year-old. (0:00) Welcome to the show! (3:18) Eagles come back and stun Rams (9:24) Justin Herbert and the Chargers look great (13:17) Packers' worst loss? (16:32) Is Caleb Williams coming around? (22:25) Is Indiana even better than last year? (30:04) Miami is scary (39:00) Utah-Texas Tech (48:10) Oklahoma and John Mateer (56:33) Life Advice Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Todd McShay Producers: Kyle Crichton, Jonathan Frias, and Steve Ceruti  _ _ _ _ 15% off $15+ on NFL Gamedays with CODE: GAMEDAY at https://littlecaesars.onelink.me/vc9i/n15m71zn The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

on today's episode of the podcast we're going to dig into this sport called football all right so here's the deal eagles i had my doubts i started thinking all sorts of crazy segment ideas some of them had a lot to do with jalen hurts and there were stats to back it up and then the second half happened so the eagles find a way to win a game that almost know their team in the NFL could win. Is it our best win? We'll do best win, worse loss. I'll cover that. I'll cover Caleb's big day against Dallas. A little bit on Green Bay's loss to Cleveland. I have to talk about that Herbert throw. And don't forget college folks, we love

college ball. We love Saturdays. So Todd McShay love Saturdays too. I'm starting with the Indiana Hoosiers. I've had this team's back. It's great that everybody is finally listening. This is a powerhouse out there in Bloomington. We'll do that in the other games. Texas Tech love.

Life advice. What do you do with a six-year-old that has a choice to make? This is the Ryan Rosillo podcast, presented by Fanduel, and the NFL is officially back. So if you're going to be in it, be in it with Fandul. They've got the goods, futures, live betting, SGPs, that same game parlayes. Your way bets, all of it. The app's clean. It's fast. And yeah, when you win, you get paid instantly, which is nice, because Sunday patience doesn't exist. So get your bets in, build something bold, and make every game feel bigger. Download the Fandul app or head to fandul.com slash Ryan, R-Y, and it gets

started. The ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit RG-Help.com to learn more about the resources and help lines available and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 and older and present in select states are 18 plus in present in D.C., Kentucky or Wyoming, gambling problem. Call 100 gambler. Visit RG-Help.com. Visit 8889-7777 or visit ccpg.org forward slash chat in Connecticut paid endorsement. Week three, full transparency, a little out of it today. I had some stuff going on at home. I don't want to get too into it and share too much. But as a lot of you know, I had to watch the Giants in prime time last night. So it was rough over here. Only two more

primetime Giants games, though. We've got a Thursday night or a Monday nighter, although there is a chance the NFL could flex them out again with the rules on flexing out games, the Sunday games. So only the Sunday games available to do that kind of thing. I kept turning it off. Yeah. You know, after all the college ball staying up late for cal USC and then the full slate sunday a lot of fun stuff on sunday i was like i don't know if i have it in me right now to watch this but then i kept thinking like what if something cool happens um you know maybe there's a kansas city segment in here where it's like geez they're not really that good you figure they were going to get that one although the first half you're like are you serious this is the best you're going to do and then on the

giant side like i like those guys in the front seven what a waste neighbors you're usually does something cool. Andrew Thomas is back. And then, of course, Russell Wilson. Red Zone Russ. It's not great. He's 3 of 16 now in the Red Zone. They try to run it sometimes with them. It doesn't really work. So it feels like that Dallas game was a year ago already. So anyway, let's talk about the good stuff. The Eagles, down 26-7 after a sack fumble to start the second half. Jared Verse, just a beast, young, also a beast. So many guys in this Rams defense in the front that I like. So L.A. after the sack fumble by verse, who's just a monster all day, one play later, 10-yard touchdown. And I'm looking at the halftime numbers. I'm thinking

about Hertz. I'm thinking wild things about Hertz. I may even share a couple for you now. But total yards at the half was 212 to 34. Passing yards for the Rams, 97, negative one. total passing yard for the Eagles offense. And then Philly after the opening drive TD, four straight three and outs, then the turnover. And third downs, it just felt like they had no chance whatsoever. Now, granted, I remember when I used to boo third and forever screen passes or draws when my favorite team was backed up to like their own eight or 10 yard line, like, you know, throw it to the sticks. What are we doing? Can't give these positions away. I used to boo those decisions too. I don't, I don't do that anymore. It's been a long time. But the

Philly fans are booing this offense. It just looks terrible. I mean, the 25 version of Saquan doesn't look anything like the 24 version of Saquan. He was hit behind the line of scrimmage and four of his five handoffs in the first half. No, no Lane Johnson, but I mean, come on, when you're talking about the best offensive line in the NFL, which is kind of how we talk about the Eagles in this roster in general, you're like, all right, well, he's awesome. And it sucks that he's out, but figure it out, the other guys. Again, wild segment ideas that I was workshopping. Would the Eagles be better with Baker Mayfield? Would they be better with Gino Smith? You'd probably say the way they're designed Baker, although he'd give it everything.

I don't know how he would survive the tush push. And I think Gino being outside for an entire season playing in the Northeast, maybe not exactly the best fits. But yeah, I was letting these thoughts creeped in my head. And then Hertz ended up doing something that I think fairly we've criticized being like, well, you're in this perfect situation. Remember the QB tears came out with Sando? It's like, you guys think nine is too low. You're mad about nine for this guy. And so, yeah, as I watched that first half, I'm like, they have these two stud receivers. They have this old line. They've got Sequin and they can't move the ball at all. Like, what is wrong with this team? And again, this is a team that we have massive, massive expectations for him coming off winning

a Super Bowl. So when it looks bad, it's not just, hey, they had a bad week. Maybe that's Green Bay's excuse, but with Philadelphia, you're like, how can it look this bad? And then guess what? It didn't. The thing that I think Hertz detractors would say that he could not carry a team by just throwing the ball in the air, well, he did exactly that.

Because on the last four drives, he went 16 and 23 for 260 yards, three touchdowns, including hitting Devante Smith on the fourth and goal from the four-yard line to cap a 17-play 91-yard drive when you absolutely needed it. And maybe that's a bit. I don't like to compare anything really to Ben Simmons because I think he is his own entity. But the only time I ever saw him hit a jump shot on the baseline where I was like, hey, that kind of looked good is because the shot clock was going down and he had no chance to think about anything other than just getting the shot off.

And so I do think there's a lot of quarterbacks when you have no chance. other than just trying to hit dudes all over the field. It's like, hey, you're getting your asses kicked. You have to throw the ball all over the place. I'm not comparing Jalen Hertz to Ben Simmons. I don't want to compare anyone to Ben Simmons, but you get the point is that there are some quarterbacks, and it's like, this is the only thing you can do now.

You can't decide to not do these things because of the way you're designed and because of the defense. And more often than not, Philly's just going to line up with most teams and be like, we don't really have to do a ton of these stuff. See the Kansas City game from just a week ago. average depth of target charts doesn't matter time to throw stuff doesn't matter uh it mattered when he needed a matter and with his arm he did just that so then you have the defensive line part

of this for philadelphia because it's not just hurts there's a fourth and one stop where gregg olson's like look the rams try to go for on fourth and one at philadelphia's 46 in the second half no chance gregg olson great on the call great every single weeks like it's just a bad bad match And then we saw that bad matchup play out again and a blocked field goal. And then the Rams changed their blocking personnel and Jordan Davis happened. And they blocked the game winning attempt after Philadelphia

had failed in two-point conversion after the Smith touchdown. So looking to close it out where the Rams are like, I guess we're still going to get out of here with a win, manageable field goal. Jordan Davis lines up with Carter over, I guess the replacement on the Rams offensive line blocks it and then runs it back. And then we had this field goal block fest happening to

close the one o'clock window for the NFL games yesterday. So the Rams are kind of left there thinking, like, how do we end up losing this game? We can for the Eagles, at least on a Monday, because now it's turning into the things that are wrong with them don't matter because they're going to pull some of these games out. And a lot of that stuff happened with Kansas City last year. Like, oh, well, why does this keep happening? Well, they're just built different. And again, when you have the quarterback, it feels like you have this advantage in those spots. I don't know if the Eagles necessarily have that right now. I mean, there's some stuff that just, seems weird. We've already covered the Hertz part of it.

Saquan, a career low, 3.5 yards, or 3.3 yards per carry, 3.9 yards per reception. It was 8.4 last year for Saquant. A.J. Brown and Devante Smith are 41st and 46th in targets among past catchers in the NFL, but on a Monday where they pull out another game and their defensive line that they've invested so much draft capital in shows up in a big way and the Eagles remain undefeated. Sunday should also be known as the Herbert Throw Day. The Chargers somehow down 2013 to the Broncos at home. A Denver team, well, how are they in this game?

Probably because Nick Benito, also Sartan, and then basically a fourth and two bust for 52 yards to court Sutton. Then the J.K. Dobbins Revenge Series. Denver was 2 of 13 on third downs. They're now 27th in the NFL and third down conversions. So at no point, despite Bo Nix is a really nice rookie year, he just never going to, you know, I don't know what he ultimately becomes, but this version does not scare me whatsoever.

And then you're looking at Herbert, who's getting a ton of pressure thrown at him. I believe it's the highest pressure rate he's ever faced in his start in his NFL career. But with all of this going on, you're like, how the hell are the Chargers losing this game? Again, it was that Dobbin series and the one big bust that they had. So with 237 left, down seven, second and six at the Broncos 20, this is the Herbert throw. This is one of the best throws you'll see from a quarterback, considering everything that's happening around him, the stake of the game at that time. You know, there's going to be stuff that maybe means more later on in the season. but to take you through what happens here.

Tofanga beats his matchup in the pass rush. So he's all over the place, just flying around all day long. S.C. guy who played for San Francisco for a bunch of years. So he wins his pass rush matchup on the left side. So Herbert's right. So now Herbert's going to kind of avoid that. And then in the middle of all this stuff is big old Zach Allen, who gets an arm on him.

And Herbert's able to get away from that. and has to shift over to his left. And he's trying to figure out how to get this throw off because there's no way he's going to be set up. There's no on-platform thing here for Herbert whatsoever with this chaos around him. And then Benito, who's turning into one of the best defensive players in the entire league, gets like a contest on a three-point shot

on the shooting arm of Herbert, which would be his throwing arm, where he has to kind of get around this contest and get sideways. His whole body is like contorted. and he throws a 20-yard touchdown to Keenan Allen to tie this game on. And that's why we exist. This is why the Herbert defenders exist because of this kind of throw. Now, Trent Green during the broadcast, saying this is the best quarterback in the NFL. That's aggressive, but that throw is why we meet every week.

That throw is why we defend him. We're not hipsters. we are people that appreciate beauty because that is one of the all-timers. And then when they needed it again, they get the ball back, game-winning field goal, they go 43 yards,

Herbert's 4-4 on that series, ball game. Best win is still probably Philadelphia. Worst loss, it could also be Los Angeles considering what was going on in that game. Atlanta losing 30 to nothing at Carolina seems like not a great time.

It could have been the Bucks maybe to a Jets team that they felt like they were better than most days, or excuse me, at least on this day, Will McDonald, who we love on this podcast, another guy who blocks the field goal and then returns at a touchdown. So all this stuff was happening the same time, including the block game-winning field goal attempt by Green Bay.

But, you know, we can't say that about Tampa because, one, they won, and this is what they do. They've now won their three games with 59 seconds left. on the game clock, six seconds left in the game clock, and then as time expires this past week. So Green Bay, Cleveland, they're up three zip with 3-20, three left in the third quarter, and then they score a touchdown and go of 10-0. And as I'm watching this game, and this is one of the main focus, because kind of like,

what's going on in this game? What's going on in this game? Again, we all have our priorities. You're not going to sit there and watch every single snap with as much detail as the stuff that you're focused on. And, you know, as I'm watching it, I'm like, this game will get sort of. out like this isn't really going to happen is it um third down greenbay could go up another score here it's third and three at the 25 with 318 left and love throws a pick where it's so bad

i was going through some of the presser stuff so i wasn't able to find it but wicks has to sit down on that it had to there's that's the only explanation for how bad considering game situation And, you know, it's one thing if it's like fourth down and you're down and you're like, hey, I just going to kind of throw it because you see that happen. We saw that happen in the Dallas and Chicago game as well. But on this throw, it's low. There's defenders everywhere. Wix is still running the route.

So I don't know if that was all on love, even though after scoring only 10 points and losing to Cleveland. But there's a lot of stuff that happened in this game. And it's worth noting here that Cleveland now, understaffirms, Sonsky, since he took over in 2020, is 13 and 5 at home against teams of the winning record, which is right there with Buffalo at 10 and 3 and Kansas City at 12 and 4. So those three teams, best records at home against other teams of the winning record, and it's Cleveland of all places. Anyway, so I don't know that that's the worst loss for Green Bay.

It is obviously very surprising when it's a battle the entire time. You can't just go into pass rush mode like they've been able to the first two weeks. Cleveland didn't do anything offensively necessarily so it's not like you're getting on Green Bay's defense whatsoever but even having said all that Atlanta losing 30 another Carolina is the worst loss

let's talk about numbers Mason Graham speaking of Cleveland and some trades here he had a 43% pass rush win rate which is an insane number defensive tackles usually average

about a 9% pass rush win rate He was at 43%. So when you had the draft day trade grades when Cleveland moved out of the pick for Travis Hunter, Jacksonville getting A's across the board, Cleveland getting boring C's. Well, they're probably very happy with Mason Graham as it looks like Hunter's already transitioning to defensive back if you look at the snap count stuff. But yeah, I mean, some of this Travis Hunter stuff feels a little bit early. But yeah, if you're trading up for somebody that's this dynamic and can change the culture of an entire society, you'd probably like to see a few more catches in there somewhere.

So a little too early on that, at least though, with Graham, just having a spectacular day. Another number, Yaya Diabi. I guess it's not just Houston and their offensive line, although that wasn't a great game for them either. 11 pressures yesterday on 30 pass rushes, 11 the most since week 8 of 24. And let's talk Caleb Williams to close this one out. Four touchdowns yesterday, all thrown 10 plus yards past the line of scrimmage, including the flea flicker to Luther, which traveled 62.3 air yards, the longest completion on the season so far.

We also had a hang time of 5.1 seconds on that pitchback by Swift. By the way, Bears fans, Swift is an interesting player, huh? I think I'll just leave it at that. So there's a couple different Caleb discussions. He looked great yesterday. He looked great. But also looks like Dallas, after allowing 450 yards of Russell Wilson through the year just a week ago, it seems like Dallas has kind of a culture defensively

where it's like, hey, if you just get kind of bored covering somebody, don't even worry about it. Like, we get it. Three plus hours commercials. It takes forever. You miss a few. I mean, guys are wide open all day long. But look, at least Caleb's hitting wide open guys as opposed to the opening week.

you know, accuracy issues that you saw against Minnesota. So I'll admit, because of the Wilson 450 against this Dallas team, there were shades of like Cam Newton Week 2 with New England when he threw for 397 yards against Seattle. And it's like, Bill did it again. Belichick playing a different, he's just in a different league. And then you realize like Seattle had one of the worst secondaries historically. I don't know where they finished out the rest of the season, but the first half of that season, there was a stretcher. It's like, do you realize how bad the secondary is? It's pretty Seattle. And guess what? Cam Newton was not the savior and it didn't work out. Maybe some Kevin Cobb stuff in there, although that was concussions. That's my guy. Everybody knows that. Matt Flynn, week 17 of the 2011 season, technically a 2012 game at the beginning of the year when he went for a million yards against Detroit. Detroit wasn't a great defense that year either. But none of that really matters. None of that really matters.

really mad because it look it's fair to bring up i thought it yesterday too was like how excited do i want to get about this do i want to if we're going to rank stuff here potentially rank the 24 draft class all over again it's like how many times we're still going to do this maybe a million times because if you run through it at least today daniel's hurt strike may good's good decent amount of bad in there too pennix that was rough yesterday rough bo nix already at his ceiling. J.J. McCarthy heard again. Could the guy that was thought to be

potentially behind all of these other quarterbacks still be in contention to ultimately end up being the best pick as he was picking out of all of them? Again, that's just a segment that's under construction. That's not, I shouldn't even have done that.

I'm not unveiling it. I'm just telling you I'm thinking about it a lot. The Ryan Rosillo podcast is brought to you by Fandle. Vandal is changing the way you live bet football, and it starts with Next Drive SGBs. Now, you can bet what's happening on the next drive. Well, it ended a touchdown, a punt, a field goal, then see the player stats you need. Stack in player props and build your bet exactly how you want it. And every NFL game day comes with a profit boost you can use on your next drive SGP.

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with online orders only copyright 2025 LCE incorporated let's do it let's get into some college ball it wasn't the most loaded slate but I think some really good stuff as far as your storyline Todd McShay joining us down the McShay show bringer podcast has been great now in a second season here with the company I want to start with Indiana I mean we could start with Miami jumping up to number two in the AP which they fully deserve we'll get to Miami second but but anyone this listen to this pod understands my history and it has nothing to do with with the Hoosiers in particular.

It's last year, you know, and getting into the playoff. Everybody's heard this before, so I'll just stop. But I didn't know what to expect with that Illinois game. You know, Illinois, like a lot of teams throughout the country, you win a nice bowl game like they did against South Carolina. They come back with Altmeyer, who started the season, I thought, even better. At least they played another Power 4 in a non-conference game at Duke.

So I always try to give a program a little bit of credit for that, even if that was like a shaky start. And Duke looks even worse than, you know, with the hype that they had going in from the summer, worse than people would expect. So in this game, you're like, you know, you should have known probably the Vegas is like, why isn't this two and a half, three and a half? It's six and a half. Yeah. I must really like Indiana. And that was like the first sign.

But I just thought it was like a ton of points. And then Indiana comes out and beats the shit out of them. So I know the first thing that happens, which I kind of can't stand is like, well, Illinois wasn't really that good. Who knows? maybe Illinois fought, but like to finally beat a team that's ranked and the perception of like in a big spot, let's see how they respond with new personnel, new quarterback. That was, I think about as impressive as anything. It was different, wasn't it? It was different. Like Cooper and Surrott and the defensive lineman and then Mendoza's big spots where it's like, this guy's totally calm. So yes, like I feel different

about Indiana finally beating, even if Illinois is a fraud, it was such a humiliating destruction of another opponent that we think is going to be okay in the Big Ten, you know, that has a lot of good teams here, kind of at the top and in the middle. Your take from that game and what you thought going in versus what we think now. I feel like I was one of the people leading the charge last year. Like, Indiana is really good. It's one of the best coach football teams in the entire country. But there's a ceiling and the ceiling's lower than people

want to think. And this is not a college football playoff caliber program right now. When you looked at like the SEC. You're talking last year. Last year, like Ole Miss and South Carolina. Like I'm like, get them on the same field to see what happens.

This year it's totally different. Okay. That offensive line is better. The defensive front is better. And they lost with CJ West to the NFL, but they're better. They're deeper. They sacked Illinois seven times in that game.

It felt like they were in the backfield the whole game. And offensively, they've got a quarterback, and Mendoza hasn't done much of the running thing, and he's going to need to as the schedule gets tougher. But just the mere fact that unlike Curtis Rourke last year, Curtis Work would do that RPO stuff and it's like, yeah, go ahead and tuck it and run, see how far you get.

Mendoza can actually run and we'll see that as the season progresses. But he is so damn efficient with this RPO thing, man. And I do question and I want to see his development over the course of the year. Like if that first look isn't open,

I think he starts to get a little panicky. I think his feet don't always come with his eyes and all that. But there's a reason why signetti wouldn't let him go to the manning passing academy the summer there's a reason why he had to be around and like drilling him day in and day out even when signetti couldn't be with him like working on our system what we do and we're seeing that efficiency and you talked about the receivers i thought the receiver group for indiana was one of the most underrated groups in all

of college football last year and i think this year it's kind of the same you know we said those guys were there last year too so it's it's not like right and we see the texas and the and the the georgia's improvement at wide receiver we see especially um you know ohio state Alabama we see those programs right and i'm not saying they don't have NFL caliber guys although sarat is going to be like probably a third round pick somewhere in that range but those receivers play that system so well and they're they're fearless over the middle they're nasty like they're physical they're looking to hit you towards the sideline, you know, that was always the thing that I love. And they're like 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, yes.

And then the running-back position, you get Kailon Black, averaged almost nine yards per carry in this last game. Black and in Roman Hemby, two dudes. And then Kobe Martin winds up with 107 rushing yards. So they're like rotating guys and staying fresh. I don't know, man. Like, I look at that schedule for Indiana. And I just watched a lot of tape on Oregon's office.

offense and, you know, and Dante Moore, and I watched a lot of tape on Penn State's offense and Drew Aller. I think they can, they can pull out a win against one of those two teams. Like, I think they're that good. I think they're that efficient. And even if they don't, and they're a two-loss team and they're, I just, I think they're one of the 12 best teams. I was glad to see the AP put them at, what, nine this week?

Nine or ten? Was it 11? Okay, whatever it was. but I think people hopefully are realizing that this is different than a year ago. Yeah, and I think it's, I just get tired of like every time a ranked team loses. And like, did we think Illinois was really the ninth best team in the country? Probably not. But it does this thing go like this game that fans want to play that how late in the season can you go with dismissing everything a team has done?

and I was that way about them last year because it's like, hey, look, in the one game that it mattered, I thought they got their asses handed to them and I thought they ran clock to try to make the score. Yeah, the Ohio State game, they ran clock to make it look better at the end, kind of understanding like, you know,

if this score looks maybe a little bit better, we're 11 and 1, then we're kind of into the playoff. And I'm like, that's the opposite of everything that, you know, Cignetti says about his program. And look, he just, he let Illinois have it too after the game, too. He's just like, yeah, we took their soul. And it's like, wait, what did you watch the Duke tape?

He's like, Duke was getting to these guys. Like, so we knew we were going to get those guys. And I think that's the crazy thing because when West is gone, you're like, all right, they're just going to cycle through a bunch of dudes again. And Tucker's a beast, that sophomore that's been there. I forget his name now. Kamar is a player. I mean, they've got dudes.

Yeah. So I have way more hope. I don't know what I'm going to do. You know, am I going to have the balls to pick them against Penn State? I might. We'll see. Let's see where they are. Because that's, that one's late. They play Oregon as their next, and then later in the season's Penn State, right? Or am I wrong? No, you're right. But like, it's the tricky one here is, is there's some sort of let down with the home crowd jumping up in the AP, the carryover from next year and like playing Iowa, where that game just feels like it's going to be a grind at their place emotionally, like the emotional week to week dips that you have. with college teams or is it like hey you're you're talking yourself into something here again where like did you see the illinois game like right do you really expect i was going to keep pace with what indiana can do there so you're right they have oregon um it's right after the iowa game

and then pen state is is late november right or mid november yeah okay um let's talk miami number two team in the country this team was undone by its defense last year so cam ward kind carrying him, the tackling or the lack of tackling against Georgia Tech, the disaster against Syracuse at the end. And, you know, we can talk about Carson Beck being a little bit cleaner, although momentum-wise, that was a tough interception to throw after Floor had finally scored. But this defense is disgusting. What is it? The Broils Award for the Assistant of the Year? Like, I don't know if it's Will Stein. I don't know, but Corey Heatherman, what he has done.

And I just, like, when I saw this, I didn't know a ton about Heatherman, okay? I didn't, I wasn't, like, studying Europe football. I wasn't studying, like, UMass, wherever he was. I didn't, like, have a real good beat on Maine's defense or Old Dominion. And I knew that he was kind of rising up the ranks at Minnesota. But then I, like, really looked at his backdrop, like a Western mass guy, like, life are kind of grinding it out. but it's discipline.

It's freeing guys up to play fast, but to play violent, but also to play within the constructs. And I was like, oh, man, even before the season started, I was like, I think there could be something to this fit. And just see how fast he's letting them play.

But more important, like the tape don't lie, right? That's the phrase ever, it doesn't lie, man. Like, if you want to know the buy-in of a defense, pause the the coach's copy tape

when the whistles blow and look in that screen whether it's tight screen or widescreen and tell me how many defenders are there I'm talking six, seven, eight every fucking time Miami makes a tackle they rally to the football as well as any defense in the country

and this is a defense that just didn't have that buy in a year ago one man has come in with, yes, better level of talent, but, like, is it that much better? And has made them play fast and play hard. And when they arrive, the violence that they hit with. And Ruben Bain, I'm not saying he's going to be a top 10 pick,

but he's playing like a top 10 draft picks so far this year. And he's playing with power and he's playing with motor. And I watch like Tori, linebacker, Messador, along the defensive line with two and a half sacks leading the team. I think Messador and Bain combined for 20 plus QB pressures in the game against Florida.

Like, it's just insane. And Blay, like, they've just got dudes who are playing at a high level. And so, like, I look around the country and like LSU's different because their defense is better. Now, can the offense,

which is kind of the surprising, Can the offense catch up? Michigan's defense is different. People didn't realize coming in the year except NFL scouts. When I looked at preseason, like the national and blesto list and looked at all the defensive fronts

across the country, Michigan had more guys in their defensive front seven with high grades, like first, second, third round than any other defense in the country. And so like when you look at programs that are built to last this season, I'm looking at LSU, I'm looking at Miami,

I'm looking at Michigan, even with a young quarterback, will continue to get better. Ohio State. Like, those are the programs, Georgia, even though they're not elite, and they showed a lot of flaws against Tennessee. Like, they're going to keep getting better. So that, that to me is telling.

And Miami, I knew they'd be better. I didn't think they'd think they'd be at that level. And Carson Beck, his plate has exceeded expectations, even though it was not his best game this past week. This team's scary. then they get the week off and they're going to be at Florida State and Florida State Miami's going to feel like it's supposed to feel. Yeah, like I'm in the basement at Todd Klein's house, Portnoy's basement,

like watching the Florida State Miami and like everything in the world's on the lot. 3.30, Keith Jackson. Like it's going to feel like that, right? Like when our childhood. And I know there's been a couple times in like the last decade where like the buildup and the hype and all that, but we're all in a. back of our heads are like it's not it's not there yet this is going to feel we know Miami is it's going to be telling for Florida State that game felt like a shift from it's

the Beck storyline you know it's taking care of Notre Dame which you know Notre Dame getting right this week there's even a Notre Dame defensive conversation and I know look Oh, big time. Yeah. But, you know, that's not to say, well, Miami put up numbers against this Notre Dame defense. And now we realize, I'm not actually doing that. I think South Florida beating Florida helped Miami probably focus and lock in on that a little bit. And then this Florida team comes in and, you know, the injury issues are more on the defensive lines.

So you're like, are they going to get just rolled here? And they hang in this game. And for it to be one 13-7. by Florida's defense. Florida's defense deserves so much better than it's... But it's the violence. It's those short, third, and force where you're going, even if Lagway completes this,

he may lose a receiver for the rest of the year. Yes. And there were plays you could see it. It's like Lagway makes a completion. You're like, he caught it. And now is this guy going to be out for four weeks once everybody from Miami is flying to the football? So oddly, like, the game that momentum-wise, you're like, is this going to be some rivalry game and throw the records out and the injuries aren't going to matter?

There was this window of this game being like, how, this is a game? Because forget what the score was. It was complete domination. It didn't look like Florida was ever going to consistently move the football in this thing. And yet they get the ball down six. Yeah. And you're going, this is going to be like a weird SEC conversation here with Miami. But then after Florida State, it's Louisville, Stanford, it's SMU, who's, you know, I still think decent cues.

pretty good offense, but now they have the quarterback thing. So, I mean, the rest of the way, if Miami gets this, I mean, it'd be impossible to think that they're not going to be in the playoffs. We always talk about the quarterbacks in college football, and understandably so. And we always talk about the high, we get enamored by the high power offenses. But if you go back and look at like the history of like national champions and like the best programs, even like the quote unquote dynasties or like the teams of that era, whether it's going back like the Alabama's the Georgia's the Ohio States like Ohio State last year that that was

defense man like yeah they had the they had Chip Kelly and they had the two head of monster but it's like it's not really historically about the team with the best quarterback that's like the Heisman and that's a lot of flash it's the best like the USC run the Alabama run the Georgia run and most importantly for this conversation the Miami run when you think back to those defenses and the Warren Saps and the and the Sean Taylor's and the like it was about defense for Florida State Miami. Miami never had great, great quarterbacks, you know, Cozar, but it was the defense that was violent and then they had a few big time playmakers at receiver and they had great running backs. But that's when I, watching this, the last couple

weeks of Miami's defense. That's, and I don't do the U is back shit. Like, it's, I'm just not here for that. I'm just not. Like, I can't stand that. We've done it a few times. I think there was a Jacori Harris. Yeah, like, walking through ESPN with like the stats of info guys and like people, producers walk around. Do you's back? Is they back? Let's have a conversation. We have a segment about is do you back? Like, stop. Makes me cringe. A lot of teams have been announced that they're back that that were, in fact, not back. But whatever this defense is, I do love the point there, though. It shifted from the back keeping this thing moving.

We knew week one, the receiver drop off of production is totally not an issue. I don't even think about it anymore. You're like, hey, they lost their six, seven, you know, guys in total past production, you know, as far as the receiving side of things. Yeah. This defense is so scary. It's like a scary defense. And it's a moist Miami night. You know, and you're just like, oh, anyway, the game I was probably looking most forward to was Utah at home against Texas Tech.

So there's a couple different things to do here. Baron Morton, who's been pretty good, and this is a turnover fest. It was an ugly game early. I don't know if it's because it's a 10 a.m. local time start for it. But you've got turnovers all over the place. Tech felt like the better team. This is another team that feels like defensively they can rely on that side of the football. They haven't given up more than 14 points in any of their four games.

James. They only give up 10 to Utah. But Morton gets knocked out. He get dinged up early. Then you saw his head hit on the concussion. And Will Hammond comes in, who's actually a big time recruit. I mean, he's not the overall guy. But I think what was he? He was 14th in that lagway, Riola class. He's a four-star kid, a bunch of different offers. He comes in. Led the state of Texas in passing his senior year. All of it. Yeah. I do feel like there's like a thousand kids, though, that I've heard at some point had led the state of Texas in passing. Yeah, but oftentimes they're Colt McCoy and their Matthew Stafford and their Baker Mayfield and their Kyler Murray and their Johnny, Johnny football. Like, yeah, I hear, I know what you're saying.

And I questioned Texas high school football for a while. Like, is it overrated? I'm not even doing that. I'm just wondering, is it broken every single year, this record, this all-time yardage Texas record? I don't even know if it was the record. I just think he led the state of Texas his senior year. but let's not digress. I know more about Westlake than I've ever known about a place I've never been to.

So there you go. And then what Drew Breeze, I think, was maybe one too. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah, Westlake. Another Westlake kid. All right. So is that where happens from?

Probably. I don't know. Are there seven Westlakes in Texas? Because I feel like a lot of times. There's an East Lake. I think there's a silver lake. There's a bunch of lakes. Hold on.

let's if it ends up like no he's a hutto yeah i don't know i don't even know puto hutto could i advance this conversation for a second take it wherever you want because i also think there's a very important utah part of this too so go ahead i just want to say this i wouldn't want to be joie mcguire right now and having to make this decision as a head coach because and it's maybe and i don't get the sense it is a decision so i feel like i'm maybe like stirring up controversy like that offense with with baron morton who by the way i just want people to understand NFL scouts are like he may be a day three pick there's like there's a lot of like so he's talented um he's a fifth year guy he's done you know he's he's well traveled

he's grinded it out he's a team guy he's a leader he was injured during camp and came back and like but what happened when he was injured during camp was this will hammond cat He's taking first team reps. And Will Hammond got to start a game last year and finish a game and played pretty well. And Will Hammond has gotten better and better. And the players on the team have recognized, oh, this guy's talented. We believe in him if he's got to come in and play. Then he comes in and plays.

And it's like, yeah, here we go. I thought in that moment, you know, they had the, he comes in. It was like a, here, let's run a quarterback draw. Let's get him, let's get him into the game, 30 yards, bang. I thought when Utah scored that touchdown, it was like I started watching the clock because I had already bought in to Texas Tech before this. And I'm like, of course, of course,

they're going to have an injury and this backup quarterback's going to come in and they're going to play not to lose and all that. They actually put it on, they put their foot down on the accelerator more, man, which tells you how much they believe in him. And I saw that offense open up. You got to remember, this is a defensive struggle.

And Morton was not playing great. and Morton under through two receivers and through two interceptions. And then you got this Hammond kid who comes in, and it's different. Yeah, the first pick was tip, but it was also tip because it was underthrown. Yeah. So it was like a go route, and I don't even know if you can say, hey, that's back shoulder because the corner has it completely sealed off. So it's tipped, but not like off the receiver's hands.

It's on the back of the defensive back. So at that point with Morton, I'm like, well, he actually deserves a little bit of blame for that. The second pick's just, you know, the receiver sealed off in the end zone. He didn't need that in that spot. But I mean, it was just, look, it was everybody was turning the ball over like crazy and we'll get to Tampa on Utah side of this. But you're totally right. It felt like there was a little bit more juice to an offense, which Morton apparently was in the locker room celebrating after the fact. No, I know. And so he's probably going to be ready, but like, but, but like Belichick had a tough decision to make. Belichick had a tough decision to make

with with Bledsoe and Brady, right? And I'm not. trying to like, I feel like I'm creating controversy. But it's not about the two picks. I don't think it's about the two picks in this game. It's about what this offense looked like with Hammond versus and I wouldn't care all that much if the if the baseline and the foundation of this conversation

wasn't, holy shit, Texas Tech is really one of the 10 best teams in college football right now. That defensive line is serious. That defense as a whole got after Utah's ass at 10 a.m. Local time kickoff. That offense comes out and they've got

weapons. They've got this Jacoby Williams, who's the number two running back, who's a receiver as well. They've got this Cameron Dickie kid. They've got a two-headed monster at that running back spot. They've got Terrence Carter, who like, I've got to get to know a little bit more. I got to know what this guy's about because he looks like he's got the, it could stretch the scene, 17 catches at the tight end spot. Coy Eakin, Caleb Douglas, who's averaging over 20 yards per catch. They've got dudes. And I know that Mattador, the Red Matador Club, put in a lot of money for this year. And this is, like, this window is tight.

And now I've got a young quarterback who might be better and open things up more than my fifth year guy that, like, I believe in and is our programs found, like, he's our, is a program guy. That's a tough, that's a tough thing to navigate as a head coach. There's a couple other games I want to get to before we have to let you go. So I'll just say, Dan Pier, that was from where. where it started. Yes.

That wasn't the UCLA game, man. He was terrible in that game. And there's a lot of like... And he's got two first round offensive tackles. Yeah, and for the two tackles, and I understand you could say like, hey, against that D-Line, but if you're talking about these tackles

and that was the matchup we're all anticipating, they didn't run the ball consistently, three yards per carry the whole time. And Dampere just has some throws. You're like, dude, what are you... Is it boredom? Like, let me see if... this works maybe, you know, some real, like, is it boredom?

Yeah, because Ryola, who we've talked about, and, you know, that's a game that goes back and forth, and the Ryola throw on the touchdown where he's leading the receiver left to right that turns into the end zone, and he flips it just off of his hip, they're like, okay, well, this is, that's the throw that everybody falls in love with this guy, but he also has some throws you're like, are you too cold? Old bad habits die hard, don't Yeah. So lost in this. I don't want this to get lost in this. I just hope you lock in. I know he's only a sophomore. Number 90 defensive end, John Henry Daley for Utah. Just put him on the awareness. Did you notice? Because I was afraid. I almost texted you'd be like, hey, even though tech is putting it on Utah right now, I don't want your draft evaluation part of your thing. To get skewed. Just make sure you're still paying attention. No, that's why you're my college scouting director. There's no stone unturned with you. So you've, you've said, Indiana is a top 10 team. You said tech is a top 10 team.

Who are you putting them over then if you were voted? Do you think both those teams are better than A&M? Do you think both those teams are better than Florida State, Oklahoma? No. Mensh gives me shit about this all the time. I have like 14 teams in my top 12 or 15 every week. Like by talent selection Sunday? A little bit.

But go ahead. You got the AP pulled up? Yeah. All right. Go go through it. Pott State 1, Miami 2, Penn State 3, LSU 4, Georgia 5, 6 through 10, Oregon, Oklahoma, Florida State, A&M, Texas, Indiana is 11, Texas Tech is 12. I put Texas Tech and Indiana after this week ahead of Texas right now.

So I'd have them, what, 10 to 11? Yeah. And then and then it would go Texas. I wouldn't put Tech over A&M? I might. We'll find out, but I might. last game's the quarterback because I I know exactly what you're saying

because there was a little bit more juice to it but like Morton has put up some really nice numbers and looks like they have the defense to go with it here for tech so anything that you think is big picture that you took from Oklahoma's win

in the Jackson Arnold redemption I don't really understand Sooner's fans booing that guy yeah there isn't a quarterback in the country who who with five starting their five best wide receivers out and that horrific offensive line a year ago that could have had success so you you can bleep off if you're booing him and and that was an emotional game for him and i thought he played his ass off he wasn't perfect but he you could tell how much that game meant to him by by what he put it poured into it um my takeaway is Oklahoma may not be one of the five, six best teams in the country, but they're certainly when it's all said and none, they're going to be one of the 15.

And I kind of hope they're one of the 12 standing at the end because that defense is legit. They got a kicker, which I know who wants to talk about a kicker, but that U-TEP transfer can kick. And that was a massive hole last year. I'm talking to Jim Nagy, who's now their general manager, that was a big get for them.

And so you've kind of shored up your special teams to a certain degree, the defense is actually legit. When our Mason Thomas came back in that game, the second half with fresh legs, it was almost like, yeah, fine, suspend me for the first half. I'm going to be even like more fresh and violent and dominant in the second half. You're doing me a favor.

And that last drive when they, like the thing with defenses is like, when you have an offense that's capable and a quarterback like that, you're going to be in a lot of situations where you need closers. And that, like, look at the three pressures. on that last drive. That's when I was like, this Oklahoma defense is real. And Mateer didn't have his best game.

But I promise you, if you were to give me a draft of every college football quarterback in the country right now, I'm taking Mateer for this season over every one of them, and especially fourth quarter tight game. And I'm doing it recognizing

he's capable of screwing it up with aggressive mistakes. but if I need a drive, like, watch how composed he was and how in control he was. That 30-yard touch, catch along the sideline for the first down, they had to replay and they overturned it. There was a catch. What a ball. And then just carrying.

He's like, I got this nine-yard touchdown run. Like, he's different, man. He's wired different. I think he's special. I'm fighting myself against getting overly excited and putting him in the first round. but I'm not betting against this cat I just he's got something that's different and special about him that that you don't see very often so I think Oklahoma is that that Red River game like right now Oklahoma is the better football team Texas probably has a little bit more

talent in depth but you give me mature versus what we've seen from Arch and I know Arch had a great game this past week and he's excited and he's pushing coaches and he's stepping on And I'm glad he's getting it all out emotionally. I think he kind of needed a game like that. I understand people making fun of Texas and the social media part. First of all, 12-year-old kids run these accounts. Okay,

so once everybody just accepts that, that's what's going to happen. That is arch being shit on nationally and locally and just feeling good about himself for a few hours. And you know who need to see that? Even though I would agree, like, you guys are going to flex on like this team.

Sam Houston State. Yes. Right. Right. I'm like, I totally get where. that criticism comes from, but I think everybody has to kind of understand, hey, can you imagine being that guy for a few weeks going from Heisman favorite? And of course, ESPN used the mock draft that they could find him being the potential number one pick overall in 26 when they did a Texas

broadcast where I think consensus has been that he's not the number one pick. Well, he's not in the 2026 draft. I've been trying to tell people since May. He's not in the 2026 draft. Like I'm down in Yeah. Anyway. Yeah. I think he needed to get that out emotionally. And I think, I think finally people in his circle got to him. It was like, hey, you're not Eli. You're not Peyton. And I'm not talking about talent. Like, you're a different cat. Your dad's, your dad's the best kind of lunatic. He's like a stand-up comedian. He's hysterical. You've got, like, go be you, man. Go be a prick if you want to be a prick. Go let it out. And I think he, I think his teammates needed to like it's all good so i'm excited to see what comes up but my goodness we haven't had a red river

like legitimately like this in a while like legitimately can you give me sorry before we let you go can you give me a minute on sc because they get up 20 against michigan state i don't think michigan state's a terrible football team at all like i think they're sleeping giant in all of this who sc yes i think their defense is better i don't think USC's defense is is the caliber we're talking about with Miami, excuse me, Ohio State, Georgia, even like Oklahoma. They're not Texas Tech.

They're not that level. But they're turning the ball over and they're getting pressure. And that it's better than it was a year ago. But you go back and study Lincoln Riley. And everyone thinks of, you know, Baker Mayfield and Kyler and Caleb and like just flinging around the yard and all that.

The reason why people were getting on their private jets, head coaches across the across the country and from NFL teams to go see Lincoln in Norman was the unique and physical schematic approach that they had to their run game

that set up all the passing stuff and I'm watching Mayava and I'm watching him and it's all the play action stuff and I'm looking at that at Mayava Jaden Mayava, and it's 12.7 yards per attempt where everyone else in the country is like 7, 8, 9.

And it's the nine touchdowns, no interceptions, because they're like controlled. He's back to, Lincoln is, what made him special and what made Oklahoma special for a while there. And I'm watching the tandem. And what is it, Wayman Johnson, Wayman Johnson, Jordan, sorry, Eli Sanders, 693 yards, seven yards per carry. this team and I'm excited for this week we'll see you know it is what is it no it's uh it's it's it's it's illinois this week right for us at illinois at illinois see how illinois games i mean they've got but it gets harder yeah and then washington's another one man damon williams leading the nation in qbr they got ohio state this week like those are two

of them those are the two underrated teams in the big ten but because of where they play and who they've played, nobody's talking about. But USC as a team, I think, I think he's going to surprise a lot of people down the stretch. How about that? A little love for, yeah, you got me. You press the right buttons.

That's why you are who you are. Yeah, you know what? Did almost no SEC this week. By the way, I don't want to talk externals with you because we're just not what we do. But I don't care what's going on in your life, professionally and personally. I'd have to have like a bulldozer or like an excavator come and remove me from your house

in day three of the NFL draft. I'm going to leave at that. Yeah, there's a there's a shoot here tonight that's not even anything with with me. It's not. Yeah. Yeah. But it's. But I'm just saying.

So everyone's got all these questions and what's this and that. I will be there. I don't care. I may be downstairs this year. No, you're not. Then we'll walk downstairs. All right. You're the best, buddy. Talk to you soon.

Todd McShay, the McShay Show. Make sure you check out their Saturday night recap. It is a must watch for college football fans. Thanks, Todd. You want details? Bye. I drive a Ferrari, 355 Cabriolet. What's up?

I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every tour you can possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So, now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. Life Advice. Our email address, LifeAdvice, RR at gmail.com. We've got Surudy and Kyle.

What's good, guys? Yo. What's happening? All right. It's St. John's for Kyle until further notice. Yeah, I just been sort of, no, it's been happening now. I'm just kind of go to St. John's hat on Monday, maybe the Patriots had on Wednesday, and I'll feel good enough to put the jersey on on Sunday again. Well, at least that's the loss.

You know, go through the motions thing. That was a tough one. A lot of fumbles for your eyes. A lot of fumbles, yeah. Yeah, I kind of wish I was in the house for that one, but I wasn't. What's that mean? I was just out and about, you know, people who don't like watching Patriots win, so they were, you know, they were loving it. I wasn't. I had. I had, like, one, one Patriots guy with me and, you know, we're like, should we just pick a corner to stand in? Because I don't, I don't like all the energy that's floating around this bar right now every time there's a fumble. Oh, there's another one. So it was like, you know, it was, it got rough towards the end.

That's funny. I, because I, yeah, like, I would, I probably got caught up in the Pat's hate in the, in the peak of the dynasty. But I don't really care about them anymore. In fact, people love punching down. I kind of like them. I think they like punching down more now than they ever did. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. there a lot of scars people don't forget yeah yeah i know yeah okay uh let's talk about kids should i steer my six year old away from hoops um our guy just shared his name i don't think it matters 46 years old 59 160 pickup comp deli great vibes can help you win but never the most talented guy in the court have you ever almost died playing basketball i was gonna say that's a that's a lofty comparison for a guy who nearly gave his life for a championship.

I have a six-year-old son who loves playing a wide variety of sports. He's been in a basketball league for the past year. We live in an affluent neighborhood where youth sports are already insane at his age. He's a decent player, but more Delhi than LeBron. But he loves and says basketball is his favorite sport. I love watching him with his teammates. Here's a dilemma. He's just naturally very talented, hitting balls with a stick. Whether it's baseball at the park or the driving range, he turns heads with how well he hits for his age. I'd love for him to play multiple organized sports, but we simply don't have the time. Both my wife and I work and our daughter is in theater outside of school.

Sounds like the way this kid's hitting stuff and likes basketball. It sounds like she was in theater, dude. Shit's busy. It feels crazy that I even have to think about this right now, but at some point, do I need to push him towards the sports where he's clearly more gifted? is as a selfish not selfish but like a selfish move would be not doing baseball because just like that's like that's like the most craziest travel sport I would say right unless you're unless your kids like to the point in basketball where he's going to be jumping AAU teams every year and just

trying to create super teams within the state or whatever I just I just heard nightmares from you know baseball every year the kid gets older you know so if we're talking about who's got time I don't know if you have time to lean into baseball the way that the way that it's currently happening in this country. How old's the kid that you say? I forget. Six.

Oh, man. So I was going to ask like if you, you know, where's the end game here? Like if he's 12 and you actually see a path to like a scholarship or something, okay. That's the nice thing about baseball is that you got to fill those scholarships out, right?

Golf. But six, I mean, it's six like, I don't know, I think you just got to like a kid. He's a planner. He's a planner. He's a planner. He's a plan. the most. So I mean, you probably just got to sit up and say, hey, you know, like we don't,

calendar's filling up. We got a lot of things committed to. Like, do you want, which one do you like better? I would leave it up to him. I don't think you push a six-year-old into a direction to pick a sport that early. I mean, he might be good now at six, but like maybe he's like a little older than everybody else. Like, I was one of the younger kids. Like, I was born in November, so I was four when I started kindergarten. And there were dudes in the grade behind me that were older than me. It's like, are you better than me? Are you just a year older than me in the grade below me? That would always piss me off. So, um, I would say just let, yeah, I like it.

Still haven't forgotten to this day. A little guy. But he's, no, it's just like annoying. It's like cool. You guys want us to close out. You stayed back on purpose so you could be better than be at sports. Sick, dude. Stry mustache dickhead.

So, no, six years old seems insane. Let him do what he wants to do. Whatever he's having the most fun doing, let him do. How could he be, how good could he be at six where like this is a real? And listen, I'm not saying like, obviously no parent ever thinks their kid is ugly or not good or annoying or whatever. And I'm not saying that's what's happening here, but how good could he be at six where, you know, is he, is he just making contact with the tea really well? Like what, I'm just wondering like, what kind of evidence does he have that like we need to really be like hammering down on this now. They're calling him a young Tony Gwynn in the six-year-old circles. Right. That's what I mean. Like, you know, just, like, you just understand the concept and you can hit that thing off the T. I mean, I'm sure as a parent, you're like, overjoyed. You're like, look at all these, all these guys don't even, can't even make contact. Like, I would just wonder how good it actually is for six. Somebody comes up to him. He's like, what's his batting average of two strikes? And the dad's like, we may never know.

I've got some evidence, like, again, pushing any six-year-old into any, like, they may not even know. Yeah, I don't, you know, he's not going to hate this for two more years, like. Yeah, right. So if he loves basketball, I'd say, like, let him play basketball. I do think, like, at certain ages, parents, especially, like, with the first kid, they can kind of lose their minds about, like, the scholarship path. Yeah. I'm not saying everyone collectively should stop. thinking that but it wouldn't be the worst idea that you've ever had like well let's push them

towards this because scholarship stuff the fact that you're checking in at 5-9-160 like we could sit there and say basketball's probably not in the jeans yeah like what's the wife clocking in at you know we get some numbers there um you know basketball's a sport that limits a lot of people that has you know that's why whenever i walk by like a steve nash i I think, do you know how insane it is that this guy is who he is and did what he did? Anyway, that's just the Steve Nash aside. But, yeah, I mean, we can do that. But if he's having that much more fun, it sounds like you maybe need to install a little bit of a home batting cage slash driving range.

So you're not traveling anywhere, right? Is there any way to do some netting? That's great advice. Some piping. Just set it up. little soft toss in the backyard and then a little T-box for him. And maybe because you're not driving anywhere and it's always there, his passion shifts a little bit later on.

And then you keep him in the one sport because you're totally right. Like it is, it was tough on all sorts of generations having to pick up the kids and everything and everybody as a new parent starts going like to that. Was this what it was like? I remember a friend specifically once he had a couple kids in youth sports. He was just like, I feel so guilty about. how I treated my parents knowing that they were driving me and my brothers around like this all the

time. A lot of times it was town league though, I think. I mean, you're just kind of, you're just kind of back in the day. In the back of the day, were you guys leaving the county all the time? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Baseball, I look back now and I'm like, I have two younger sisters and I'm like, I'm sorry. Like, you were, you were going to like, yeah, multiple counties over different states just to like watch a mid kid play baseball. Like, this is insane. Like, I can't, like, I feel bad. kids. I wasted so much time of everybody. And I didn't even like baseball that much. It was weird. I just played it. I played fall ball, all that stuff. And then it was funny because once I got the high school, I was like, I was already playing football. And I was like, I don't really want to play baseball. I want to play golf. I want to have my semester be much easier. So I just ended up playing on the golf team for four years. And the baseball stuff didn't even matter. I'm like, damn, I really wasted a lot of people's time. I feel like the Northeast weeds out a lot of baseball passion for high school kids. Like you just love it. You're playing it. Constantly, and then next thing you know, you're like, how cold is it? And that first, like, an aluminum bat sting down your hands in a wet March game, and then no one's there.

It's basketball, everybody shows up. Like, football is once a week. It's cool. Like, there's a coolness being on the football team in high school. But I feel like baseball, there's guys that loved it and were good at it. And they're like, no thanks. It feels like baseball. There's always that, like, one kid in your town that's really good.

And it's like, oh, man, like he's got, he can go. He got drafted in, like, the 60th round by the, by the, by. by the, you know, the guardians or whatever, and then everybody else is just bad. Like, there's always the one kid in town. We had that kid. Although Southington actually has a good baseball history. Shout out to Carl Pavano.

Shout to Rob Diggle. But, yeah, no, I think about that all the time with the baseball thing. So, my, I mean, my daughter's three, or she's about to be three. And she started dance class for the first time. 27 ace. Yeah, kind of. She's got another month left. She's got another month left.

But she, you know, our goal was basically like dance class, don't cry. You know, if she doesn't cry. cry. She just like participates. Like, that's a huge win. And she did. And she's only three years younger than this kid. So like, I just feel like at six, you really, you really can't make any rash judgments about what somebody's actually good at. Unless you're like Tiger Woods and you're going on like the tonight show. Clearly there's like a phenop thing there. Yeah, I don't think we're there. Sometimes not only these Baker Mayfield of the Eagles segments that I workshop in my head, I'll think like, what policy could you run on as president where everybody

would go? Because I mean, right now it's a joke. Like it doesn't. matter what one side does the other side will go like is that how you're going to do it you're like yeah i don't know this seems like pretty pretty high approval thing like i always wondered if you could just run on like one issue and just lower the price of airport water okay that was like the rent is too damn high guy yeah yeah it's like yeah actually right is that guy swept the nation yeah that guy swept the nation i'm not great with maps like if you try to get me in a debate and we're like, where's this? I'm not going to know where any of it is.

Tax stuff, like whatever, don't care. Like, let's just get the waters down. And so then I was thinking, could you come up with somebody like, hey, education may take a hit. We're going to raise taxes a bit. I'm not really going to pay a ton of attention to immigration. But what I need to do is I want to start subsidizing youth sports commuting. Like would somebody say like, well, actually.

What do you mean? I think it would just be grifters that would be mad at you, you know? Like this, and this is every sport. Baseball, basketball, soccer's a mess now. Like, soccer's all paid for play. It's bullshit. And I feel like the only people that know that or that don't know that or like the the grifters who are basically running these things.

Oh, they know it. I think they know. I'm not even talking about cause. Like, is there any way to be like, hey, you have public transit only for kids in sports? Oh, nice. Just a bunch of vans driving around those big like sprinter vans, just big enough for a, a youth baseball team. I feel like the optics of the vans.

You'd have to do... We'll dress them up a little bit. Like, how's this work? Like, other strangers come in a van and picks up everyone's kids. Right colors. I mean, you know, obviously not dark windows. We'll get those tints off the windows. I think that's a wizard that they painted over.

Okay. Who should we cut from our wedding? 510. 170. No, gym stats. Can do 100 pushups in 5 to 10 minutes. It's pretty good. Anybody tried to do that recently?

No, I know. Kyle, will you try this week? No. Is that, I feel like 105 to 10 minutes. So 10 minutes, 100 push-ups, 10 a minute? Math. I wonder how long it would take good, Matt. I wonder how long it would take me.

I really do. Because, I mean, I'm certainly not going to do. I wouldn't just bang it out. It's impossible. But, like, I wonder how long it would take for someone to be like, that one counted. That one counted. We're at 100. I really do wonder.

If I get to take as many breaks as I'm not like I'll go watch TV or something, but if I was like, I'm just going to lay here on the ground for a few minutes and I'll get back to it. I do wonder what it would take. Van Pelt used to do them in commercial breaks. That seems like a great way to like keep the energy up,

honestly. Fucked his shoulder up pretty bad and then couldn't get an MRI for like ever. That's great seat. Just come back. Sit in a little bit to the left this time. Basketball comp. Year 3, Darko Milichich, if you know, you know.

Wow. Who should we cut from our wedding list? Background, the fiancé and I are getting married in May of 26. Both grew up and went to college in the East Coast, but live in Portland, Oregon, having the wedding here, met in Portland one and a half years ago on Hinge. These guys are just fast-tracking it good for them. Many mutual college friends, but don't remember ever crossing paths in college despite graduating in the same year.

Oh, wow, that's kind of wild. I think you should have the wedding east. by the way, just saying you got everyone that you're inviting is going to be from there, but whatever. It's your wedding, I guess. It could be selfish. Yeah, I think they can. The issue is we're facing a classic one. We have more people than we want to invite

to the wedding that the venue will allow. The venue holds a maximum 120 guests after our initial list of guests. We wanted to invite. We had 140 potential attendees. We still have not sent out any save the dates or wedding invitations, but have asked our friends and families for their mailing addresses. About 90% of our families still live in the East Coast, about 60% of our close friends do too.

And furthermore, we pooled all the potential invitees into three confidence levels of how likely it is they will come low, medium, or high. Wow. I love their organizational skills. Yeah. Yeah. But after that initial pooling, we have 120 high medium invitees and 20 low confidence invitees. It seems pretty straightforward, right? Invite everyone, surely 20 will say they cannot attend.

The problem is that this is not a guarantee. And the last thing we want to do is retract invitations from anyone. Additional context, most of the low confidence guests are older. extended family members. We don't think we'll want to travel across the country, but still, that's not a guarantee. You never know. Sometimes old people are like, the last ride. Yeah. This is the last crusade. Going wild. What's the worst that could happen? Yeah. Yeah. I haven't been a wedding since 78, right? You know, that's not a guarantee. One last twist, we realize we do have friends that we left off the initial list, including local ones that would

surely attend our wedding realistically. We could extend the initial 140 guest list closer to 160. So, what's the move invite all 140 and pray people say no only invite 120 and wait for anyone to decline then invite what is essentially the B team of guests that just seems shitty invite all 140 guests but include a caveat to the older family members on the east coast we could potentially send them all a note that we will be out east a few months after the wedding for a smaller reception for those that could make or that could not make the cross-country trip option for something else selfishly we all want to send out invites to those who can't make it so they might send a gift or cash instead.

Any advice is appreciated? Thanks. And also, if you guys have any crazy fun or unique ideas from weddings you've attended, we're also very open. I think you hear that. I'll let you guys take this one. You hear that. You hear that 10% won't come. That did not happen for us.

So you can't, you just can't, you can't bank on that. I mean, what I would do is like, you said a lot of your families. Was it 1% that didn't come? Yeah, it was you. But I think, like, I think what you have to do is since it's both families, start working your parents. You know, a lot of times parents want to be involved somehow, you know, or they might be the money people for this wedding.

I don't know. But, like, I think, see, if anybody's dad or mom is interested in actually, like, quietly back-channeling and seeing who definitely is not going to go, like, great-a-milly, talk to her kid and be like, do you know for sure she's not going to go? Like, we want to actually get these numbers because you can't do the return. traction thing you shouldn't do the you know if they can't go we'll let you know you know all that stuff um i think because you're not doing it back east like you you want these people who you're inviting to be able to come if they can so i'd say just try to go through the family try to have

one person on each side of the family who's going to make it like like you know it'd be really helpful for me at my wedding if you could just sort of figure out without explicitly saying to anyone you know you're going to make the trip or whatever maybe they could even talk them out of going without actually doing it, make it their own idea, and step that. Like, yeah, it's a really tough time of year. Rainy over there in May. Just set a check, yeah.

Yeah. And they'll be back, like, like your whole, they'll be back in a couple months and we want to actually, what if we could make this a really nice party? And then that person who's getting, you know, disinvited can help with the party. But yeah, I'd say try to get some family members on the case so you can get those numbers to where they make sense to you.

That is a good idea. We, most of my family's weddings now have become like mini-family. family reunions, too. So, like, people do like to go for the most part. That will make it fit in their schedule. Yeah. And then there's always, like, a meet-up day after.

It's like, man, this is, we're really making, like, the full weekend of this. But I think the other thing, too, is I don't think it's that big of a deal. Like, you probably have to invite family first, right? If I don't know the family first, see who doesn't come. But I don't think the B-tier listening is actually as offensive as some people think it is. Like, I've been on the B-tier end of some invites, and I have no problem. That's how life goes. You just kind of understand it.

Like, if you get upset about that. I feel like that's that's more on you than it is on the wedding people. But they're already planning a wedding. They pitch it to you as you're the, like, hey, good news. No, but you just kind of know. We got space for you now. No, you just kind of know based on the date. Like, I'm going to be honest.

Like, do you think we were A tier for Wargarn's wedding? I certainly wasn't. I don't think I was either. And I wasn't even remotely offended by it. I couldn't go. I wouldn't go. But I couldn't go. It was way that weekend.

I don't care. I was happy. I was invited to the wedding. Couldn't go. Send a check. Awesome. Wasn't offended. And, like, I think we would be B-tier

work on guest list at this point, right? I might have been C, honestly, yeah. Yeah, like, we should have been. I mean, think about it. We didn't even really say goodbye to him. So, yeah, on top of everything else. He did have a crossword at his wedding. If you want something wild and crazy,

they handed out a crossword for just, like, facts about them or something. Or like, it was Melissa and Mike-themed crossword. So there you go, if you're looking for a funky thing to do. How bad did you do on it? Oh, it wasn't a crossword. It was a word search, actually, I think. Oh, that's all right. Still.

Yeah, not as fun. I don't remember. Especially when you thought it was a crossword. It must be a real true. Yeah, I love a crossword, honestly. Fuck off. Like, where are the clues, man? A bunch of letters.

What's going on here? Anyway. Yeah, I always think it's like tough when it's a work thing. And then there's kind of like this work dynamic. It's like I just started working with these guys. like I just got engaged like during it now whatever um I kind of like the the east coast teaser you know hey we are going to come out and kind of do this but thinking old people won't want to travel versus old people that are motivated to do something that has a purpose yeah I think

I think that number's going to be a little bit higher than you would think and you know serudi the Italian part of him I like that that's coming through there it's like look family first La Familia. So, you know, you met some new guy at some brew pub in Portland. Eight months on the scene. He's a fucking A-tier guy. Like, you know. It sucks, though, because that guy's probably more fun, you know.

But you're just like, hey, this is kind of how it works. You got to invite, but you got to invite. Yeah, I mean, our wedding became like partially a wedding for our parents, too. Like, my parents were inviting, like, their friends. It was just like, man, this is, this is. But again, you know, if they're foot in most of the bill, it's like, what do you get to do. I'm not going to push back on that. But we had, I think we had a worth of 200 people there. We had a good amount of ESPN people there, though, other than you.

Serena and I know the deal for what happened there. It is funny though, Ryan. You're right. Like people, they're thinking like, oh my God, like the great ants. They're like, they're going to be so happy to like bow out of this and we'll see them in a couple months. Where in their head, they're like, they think they're going to rock your world by showing up and like leaving the state for the first time in eight years or something that is actually pretty cool it's like the most it is cool but it's the most opposite you're thinking that this is going to be like a huge relief for them to say no and they're like i'm about to rock their world when i show up in seattle or portland remember then start banging out some cold water creek just decked out head to toe double

knits um yeah i don't think the b tier thing you may not have to like it doesn't have to say b tier on the invite you know just stagger it out a little bit and usually the good thing about older people is they rsvp really quickly yeah so the early you send it out the better idea you'll have yeah i would look at it as almost like a medieval battle two weight the vanguard right like get that first out there early see where you're Syria at numbers wise. And then whatever. Then the cavalry.

Yeah. You're going to hit some of our men. Yeah. Well, I don't know what to tell you. That's weddings, you know. Cross to do a business. We have ancestors that lay claim to this territory. Yeah, they do too, though.

No, doesn't matter. All right. That'll do it for the show today. Thanks to Surrity. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Jonathan Frius. Ryan Russell Podcast on the Spotify app and our YouTube page. And thanks for listening.

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