Latest / 3 and Out with John Middlekauff / Micah Parsons BLAMES Jayden Daniels for OT Tie, Marvin Harrison Jr. gets fresh start with Texans + NFL Pre-Week 6 Mailbag

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Micah Parsons BLAMES Jayden Daniels for OT Tie, Marvin Harrison Jr. gets fresh start with Texans + NFL Pre-Week 6 Mailbag · 3 and Out with John Middlekauff

0:01
Speaker 1: The Volume. What is going on, everybody? How are we doing?
0:19
Speaker 1: John Middlecoff, The Readout Podcast. Hopefully everyone is doing well.
0:22
Speaker 1: We got a lot going on. Marvin Harrison got traded.
0:25
Speaker 1: I've skipped over that topic a couple days in a row.
0:27
Speaker 1: I do want to talk about that. Micah Parsons goes
0:31
Speaker 1: scorched earth on Jaden Daniels, defending his guy Dan Quinn.
0:35
Speaker 1: Watched the first episode of the Saban documentary. It's fantastic.
0:39
Speaker 1: We'll do some Middlecoff mailbag. At John Middlecoff, at John
0:42
Speaker 1: Middlecoff is the Instagram. Fire in those DMs. Get your
0:44
Speaker 1: questions answered here on the show. We have... If you
0:48
Speaker 1: listen on Colin's feed, make sure you subscribe to Three
0:50
Speaker 1: and Out. We're up on Netflix. We got stuff on YouTube.
0:53
Speaker 1: And let's just dive right into the trade market. Marvin Harrison,
0:58
Speaker 1: over the weekend, was traded to the Houston Texans. Schefter
1:03
Speaker 1: threw it out there. There's been a trade, but there
1:05
Speaker 1: was no destination. A little bizarre. It was pretty clear
1:08
Speaker 1: after the fact that the Houston Texans had agreed to
1:11
Speaker 1: a trade, but it was contingent on them winning, right?
1:15
Speaker 1: They weren't going to trade their second round pick if
1:17
Speaker 1: they had lost to the Titans. Luckily for them, they
1:20
Speaker 1: were playing the Titans and they won with ease. But
1:24
Speaker 1: this is a pretty quick fall from grace. You know,
1:28
Speaker 1: it's not very often that you see top five picks
1:31
Speaker 1: traded this quickly. You know, the last would have been
1:34
Speaker 1: Trey Lance, which I think is a little less crazy
1:37
Speaker 1: when you factor in quarterback play is so difficult. And
1:40
Speaker 1: he came from a very small school. This guy came
1:44
Speaker 1: from Ohio State where he dominated next to other wide
1:49
Speaker 1: receivers who are currently in the NFL dominating. So the expectation,
1:54
Speaker 1: obviously also having the name, you expected it to translate.
1:59
Speaker 1: And the Cardinals drafted him fourth overall in 2024. And
2:03
Speaker 1: by early October 26, he's traded, which is never a
2:10
Speaker 1: good look if it's the same GM. It's one thing
2:13
Speaker 1: if a new administration, a new executive comes in and goes,
2:16
Speaker 1: this guy's not our guy. But the GM was the
2:18
Speaker 1: one that picked him. And clearly the coaching staff, which
2:21
Speaker 1: happens all the time, it's why the moment coaches are
2:27
Speaker 1: fired and new staffs come in, good general managers sniff
2:31
Speaker 1: around their roster. Might not be scheme fits, might not
2:34
Speaker 1: be personality fits, and they get rid of quote unquote,
2:38
Speaker 1: distressed assets. And that's what Marvin Harrison was. His NFL
2:42
Speaker 1: career has been extremely underwhelming. So your value around the NFL,
2:48
Speaker 1: if it was one time viewed as X, is now Y.
2:51
Speaker 1: You know, GMs and front offices love to talk about, well,
2:55
Speaker 1: we had really high grades on the guy coming out.
2:58
Speaker 1: We had really good reports and information and felt really
3:03
Speaker 1: good about the guy and he was high on our
3:05
Speaker 1: draft board coming out. That was two and a half
3:09
Speaker 1: years ago. Information has changed. We're all in the business
3:13
Speaker 1: like everything's fluid. Things are rapidly evolving at all times
3:19
Speaker 1: in all of our jobs, let alone a job where
3:22
Speaker 1: every single game is part of your resume and two
3:26
Speaker 1: or three years in, you might be a completely different
3:30
Speaker 1: um you know player than one expected two or three
3:35
Speaker 1: years ago you just saw with J.J. McCarthy was a
3:37
Speaker 1: you know top 15 pick and boom two and a
3:40
Speaker 1: half years later no one looks at him the same
3:42
Speaker 1: how could you so when I saw the Houston Texans
3:45
Speaker 1: give up a second round pick I went I think
3:50
Speaker 1: that's pretty insane You just benefited in the Laramie Tunzel
3:56
Speaker 1: trade from a high second round pick because Washington had
4:00
Speaker 1: a disastrous season. Second round picks are extremely valuable, especially
4:05
Speaker 1: in a draft that is viewed as much deeper than
4:07
Speaker 1: last year. Because a lot of times, all these GMs
4:11
Speaker 1: plan on hitting on those picks. If you pick the
4:15
Speaker 1: right guy, you get like a first round player on
4:18
Speaker 1: a second round contract. So you give up a second
4:21
Speaker 1: round pick for Marvin Harrison, if you look at it
4:25
Speaker 1: like through a lens of the stock market, let's say
4:28
Speaker 1: his ceiling, which he clearly is not at, right? If
4:32
Speaker 1: he was a stock, he'd be down 70, 80%. Could
4:36
Speaker 1: be $ 20 one day. Well, are you getting a big
4:39
Speaker 1: discount if you buy that stock for 16 bucks? Not really.
4:43
Speaker 1: Where you really make hay is when you get a
4:45
Speaker 1: $ 20 stock and you're able to purchase it for $ 2. 50.
4:49
Speaker 1: And I think they paid a lot for this guy.
4:52
Speaker 1: So the expectation, look at J.J. McCarthy. They got nothing
4:56
Speaker 1: for him. Honestly, when the Cowboys traded for Trey Lance
5:00
Speaker 1: and they gave a fourth-round pick, you went, God, Jerry,
5:02
Speaker 1: that's pretty bold. So you give up a second-round pick.
5:05
Speaker 1: I went, man, based on what? Based on what he
5:10
Speaker 1: did in college? I had a high-ranking front office official
5:16
Speaker 1: tell me recently, that he was at Marvin Harrison's pro day.
5:21
Speaker 1: And he said it was pretty ugly. He thought it
5:25
Speaker 1: was awful. And the thing that jumped out to him
5:28
Speaker 1: and the reason he said that is because of his hands.
5:33
Speaker 1: He's like, when I watched him catch the ball, it
5:36
Speaker 1: was very unnatural. And when you think about his comps,
5:41
Speaker 1: Like he was supposed to be a route runner, you know,
5:45
Speaker 1: I would say somewhat like a Devontae Adams type player. Well,
5:49
Speaker 1: what does Devontae Adams do extremely well? Catch the ball.
5:53
Speaker 1: I mean, he would say he has very, very natural hands,
5:57
Speaker 1: which is somewhat ironic because that is what his father
6:00
Speaker 1: was known for, being a natural catcher of the football.
6:04
Speaker 1: Not everyone is, right? When you think of one of
6:06
Speaker 1: the greatest wide receivers of all time, Terrell Owens, he
6:09
Speaker 1: didn't have the most natural hands. It didn't matter. He's
6:12
Speaker 1: bigger and faster than everybody else. You know, when he's
6:15
Speaker 1: playing well, you would say DK. I don't know, has
6:18
Speaker 1: the most natural ball skills. But it doesn't mean you
6:21
Speaker 1: can't make a great catch. But like when I think
6:25
Speaker 1: of great ball skills, like Parker Washington has fantastic ball skills.
6:31
Speaker 1: Watch Mike Evans on Sunday or JSN. Those guys have
6:34
Speaker 1: great ball skills. When you watch Marvin, I mean, the
6:37
Speaker 1: videos went pretty viral during almost at spring training. training
6:42
Speaker 1: camp was he was dropping everything now part of that
6:45
Speaker 1: could be mental for sure but like I also think
6:48
Speaker 1: it's somewhat of a reflection of the player now the
6:53
Speaker 1: coaching staff had clearly turned on him they couldn't stand
6:55
Speaker 1: him and you ask yourself why do you think they
6:57
Speaker 1: couldn't stand him just because hands are a little questionable
7:01
Speaker 1: or because of the effort and that is my other
7:04
Speaker 1: big question mark when it comes to Marvin Harrison is
7:08
Speaker 1: you know a lot of coaches will tell you like
7:12
Speaker 1: Give me crazy, and part of my job is to
7:15
Speaker 1: help rein them in. Almost take their foot off the
7:18
Speaker 1: gas pedal. Because you can't teach fire, drive, desire, emotion.
7:25
Speaker 1: A lot of it means you care. If you care,
7:29
Speaker 1: I'm willing to work with you. But guys that don't care,
7:32
Speaker 1: and every single day I have to give a kick
7:34
Speaker 1: in the ass and try to create... a dog, right,
7:40
Speaker 1: might not work. Because when you look at the NFL,
7:42
Speaker 1: and I was thinking about it this morning, you know,
7:44
Speaker 1: if you remove the top elite, like Justin Jefferson's a
7:48
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame player. I'm not saying he's going to
7:50
Speaker 1: go one day, but clearly if he had a good quarterback,
7:53
Speaker 1: he's clearly a Hall of Fame level talent. Jamar Chase,
7:56
Speaker 1: CeeDee Lamb, these guys are elite. Let's go to the
7:59
Speaker 1: guys that weren't drafted super high, but you watch them,
8:02
Speaker 1: you go, guy's a badass. Did you watch Puka Nakula
8:05
Speaker 1: on Monday Night Football? Do you think you can teach
8:08
Speaker 1: how hard and physical that guy plays? Most people might
8:13
Speaker 1: not have known this name two years ago, but everyone now,
8:15
Speaker 1: if you play fantasy or you gamble a little bit,
8:18
Speaker 1: it's impossible to avoid Parker Washington. And do you know
8:21
Speaker 1: what jumps out when you watch him play? This guy
8:23
Speaker 1: fucking plays his ass off. Mike Evans, who has accumulated
8:28
Speaker 1: a ton of money, who's already won a Super Bowl,
8:31
Speaker 1: doesn't really have that much to prove. Do you think
8:32
Speaker 1: you could teach what that guy brought to the table
8:36
Speaker 1: physically and emotionally during that game? How bad he wanted it,
8:41
Speaker 1: playing through a broken rib? And the answer is you can't.
8:44
Speaker 1: We talk toughness a lot, like line of scrimmage, linebackers,
8:48
Speaker 1: running backs lowering their shoulder. We don't often do it
8:51
Speaker 1: with wide receivers. And the one thing you see consistently
8:55
Speaker 1: to all the top guys in the NFL is like
8:58
Speaker 1: a lot of dogs. And I think that's a major
9:02
Speaker 1: question with Marvin Harrison. And I had a wide receiver
9:05
Speaker 1: coach tell me years ago when he was coming out,
9:06
Speaker 1: it's like the thing that made him nervous is he
9:12
Speaker 1: goes to Arizona and he lines up. And all of
9:15
Speaker 1: a sudden across from him is a guy making $ 17
9:17
Speaker 1: million who's been to a couple Pro Bowls, who's got
9:20
Speaker 1: two kids, who drives a Range Rover and lives in
9:23
Speaker 1: a mansion. And that guy wants another contract. And he's
9:28
Speaker 1: coming for your ass every single play. And then the
9:31
Speaker 1: next week you're getting another version of that. And the
9:33
Speaker 1: next week it's like, does he want it? Because when
9:36
Speaker 1: you watch all these other guys play, whether they're high
9:39
Speaker 1: picks or not high picks, who are thriving in the NFL.
9:42
Speaker 1: You watch Nico Collins play. I don't think anyone questions like,
9:46
Speaker 1: this guy, this guy, does he even care that much?
9:50
Speaker 1: And that is a major question mark. In perception sometimes,
9:54
Speaker 1: whether it's truly like, yeah, does he like playing football?
9:58
Speaker 1: I'm sure a little bit like, does the... mean everything
10:01
Speaker 1: to you? Because when I watch the best players in
10:03
Speaker 1: that position, it's an underrated attribute. It's like, goddamn, this
10:06
Speaker 1: guy's playing hard. And that's a huge knock on the
10:10
Speaker 1: guy right now. So it's like, wait, you don't have
10:12
Speaker 1: the greatest hands. You don't play that hard. And what
10:18
Speaker 1: are you hanging your hat on? Now, I think the
10:22
Speaker 1: counter to that is, John, this guy for three years
10:27
Speaker 1: went to Ohio State, which is in a different universe
10:32
Speaker 1: in terms of an operation, an organization, the expectations, the
10:38
Speaker 1: overall standard in the building compared to his pro team.
10:43
Speaker 1: Can you imagine? When I look back in college, college
10:48
Speaker 1: was a joke. I mean an absolute joke. So once
10:54
Speaker 1: I left and I went to the real world, and
10:56
Speaker 1: for me the real world was working in football, it
10:59
Speaker 1: was infinitely more difficult. It was way harder. And nothing
11:06
Speaker 1: could really have prepared, like college didn't prepare me for that,
11:09
Speaker 1: really like my upbringing did to keep my head down,
11:11
Speaker 1: keep grinding. College did not. But if you go to
11:16
Speaker 1: a place that is extremely hard, it's probably like this
11:19
Speaker 1: for doctors, maybe architects, where school is really difficult, and
11:23
Speaker 1: then you get to the actual, your job, and you're like,
11:26
Speaker 1: this is actually easier. It was harder what I was
11:30
Speaker 1: doing in college. And if you're Marvin Harrison, and you
11:33
Speaker 1: played at Ohio State, where basically every game you were
11:35
Speaker 1: supposed to win, every year you're supposed to win the
11:37
Speaker 1: national championship, and then you go to Arizona, which... I'm
11:42
Speaker 1: not trying to beat a dead horse here, but it
11:45
Speaker 1: is a clown organization. Starting with the owner, who is
11:49
Speaker 1: a complete loser. I mean, there is, in the running,
11:55
Speaker 1: in all of American sports, the Cardinals are 100% in
11:59
Speaker 1: the running for being the biggest joke. Because at least
12:03
Speaker 1: the Browns and some of the Jets, they have unlimited money.
12:06
Speaker 1: Their owners are flush with cash. Their fans care. I mean,
12:12
Speaker 1: the Arizona fans. So I just think when you look
12:17
Speaker 1: at Bidwell, the coaching turnover, their GM, it feels like
12:22
Speaker 1: has no clue what's going on. I know he's got
12:24
Speaker 1: a Patriot background. I mean, I watch this guy operate.
12:27
Speaker 1: It's like, Jesus. And I would understand for a guy 22, 23,
12:33
Speaker 1: 24 years old, There's going to be a constant theme here.
12:37
Speaker 1: Most human beings are followers, and there's nothing wrong with that,
12:41
Speaker 1: especially young people. So they need to be led. Well,
12:45
Speaker 1: if you go to Ohio State, if you go to Alabama,
12:47
Speaker 1: if you go to Georgia, like it's pretty easy to
12:51
Speaker 1: just fall in line and then success, breed success, and
12:55
Speaker 1: it's why it pumps out so many high-level players. But
12:58
Speaker 1: then some of these guys come to these organizations where
13:01
Speaker 1: you're like, these are a bunch of losers. And it's
13:05
Speaker 1: easy to get swallowed up in that. And then there's
13:07
Speaker 1: a coaching change and you start thinking people don't like you. Like,
13:11
Speaker 1: I would understand that. And I would imagine, clearly, that
13:15
Speaker 1: is the Texans' mindset when looking at this trade. You're
13:19
Speaker 1: getting a guy who comes from great lineage, who's had
13:22
Speaker 1: success at an elite program, and he went to a
13:26
Speaker 1: clown operation. Now we get him around D'Amico and Nick Casario,
13:32
Speaker 1: and we get him going in the right direction. I
13:35
Speaker 1: just wonder, and I think a lot of people around
13:37
Speaker 1: the league wonder, like, is he even good enough if
13:39
Speaker 1: you get him going in the right direction? Which sounds crazy.
13:43
Speaker 1: He's just drafted in the fourth round. Or the fourth
13:45
Speaker 1: overall pick. It doesn't matter. That was three years ago.
13:49
Speaker 1: I mean, times change. I mean, fast. So, I think,
13:55
Speaker 1: I mean, no one knew who Parker Washington was three
13:58
Speaker 1: years ago. Or Puka Nakua four years ago. Like, things
14:00
Speaker 1: change really, really quick. If you could do it over... Like,
14:04
Speaker 1: would Marvin Harrison be the fourth overall pick? Of course not.
14:07
Speaker 1: Would he go in the second round, based off what
14:10
Speaker 1: we know? I think that's up for debate. And the
14:13
Speaker 1: one thing the Texans and D'Amico said this, is all
14:16
Speaker 1: I've heard about his work ethic. He worked so hard.
14:20
Speaker 1: Which I respect. I think a lot of people in
14:22
Speaker 1: the NFL work hard. But some guys are just better
14:25
Speaker 1: than others. I think a lot of people in society
14:27
Speaker 1: work really hard. Yet some people aren't that successful despite
14:31
Speaker 1: working hard. Because working hard guarantees you kind of nothing.
14:35
Speaker 1: There are a lot of educated people not doing shit.
14:38
Speaker 1: So you could have things that should matter that don't
14:42
Speaker 1: actually equate to positive results. I think my question is,
14:50
Speaker 1: does this guy bring it on game day? Is he
14:53
Speaker 1: good enough on game day? like working hard, okay, he's
14:55
Speaker 1: in good shape, maybe he needs to lose weight because
14:57
Speaker 1: he got a little big and tried to add muscle, whatever.
15:01
Speaker 1: But I don't think the question mark with Marvin Harrison
15:03
Speaker 1: was like, you know, he's just showing up late to meetings, leaving,
15:07
Speaker 1: it was just, he doesn't try that hard in the games.
15:10
Speaker 1: And we're going to find out really, really quickly, was
15:13
Speaker 1: it simply because he quit on this team and he
15:18
Speaker 1: couldn't respect them and he knew the coaching staff didn't
15:20
Speaker 1: like him? Probably, clearly some truth to that. But was
15:24
Speaker 1: that the reason for the poor players? He's just an
15:26
Speaker 1: average player. Because this notion, the perception, we talked about
15:34
Speaker 1: this yesterday with Brock Purdy. Brock Purdy has had to
15:37
Speaker 1: battle for years that he's not that good because of
15:42
Speaker 1: his draft slot. If you move his draft slot up to, well,
15:46
Speaker 1: Purdy was drafted sixth overall in the draft. We would
15:48
Speaker 1: have talked about him differently the entire time. If Marvin
15:52
Speaker 1: Harrison was a third round pick, instead of the number
15:55
Speaker 1: fourth overall pick, even with his name, what would he
16:00
Speaker 1: have just gone for? Probably like a sixth. So it's
16:04
Speaker 1: just fascinating how this works. We'll see if it pays off.
16:08
Speaker 1: I mean, the Texans have a massive game this week.
16:10
Speaker 1: They're going to London. They're playing the Jags. Like, okay, great,
16:14
Speaker 1: you beat the Titans, who are right there with the
16:17
Speaker 1: Cardinals as a laughingstock in the NFL. Probably currently, like today,
16:23
Speaker 1: probably even a bigger laughingstock than the Cardinals. They fired
16:28
Speaker 1: a bunch of people in their executives. I mean, some
16:32
Speaker 1: people think that Salah and all those guys could be
16:35
Speaker 1: one and done. The Cam Ward situation is a nightmare.
16:37
Speaker 1: It's just a debacle. Like, it's not. Everyone beats them. Obviously,
16:42
Speaker 1: the Texans are way better than them. The Texans on
16:46
Speaker 1: paper should be pretty solid. But, like, the Jags is
16:48
Speaker 1: a different animal. And you lose, so it's like, now
16:52
Speaker 1: you're 1-5? You don't have your second-round pick, and you
16:54
Speaker 1: got this guy? It's not like he makes decent money. Like,
16:59
Speaker 1: next year he's making $ 5. 5 million. So this isn't some
17:04
Speaker 1: mid-round pick who makes the veteran minimum. This is a
17:07
Speaker 1: guy who, because of his draft slot, makes a decent
17:10
Speaker 1: chunk of change. Fascinating how this plays out. I would
17:15
Speaker 1: not have given that high a pick, but... C.J. Stroud
17:20
Speaker 1: and D'Amico Ryans and Casario are clearly on board. If
17:26
Speaker 1: he does take off, it'll be a poor reflection of
17:30
Speaker 1: the Arizona Cardinals. If he doesn't, it was an absolute
17:35
Speaker 1: fleecing by Monty Austin Ford, who knows Nick Casario well
17:39
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17:48
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Speaker 1: clearing organization. I've been thinking a lot about it. I
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Speaker 1: get so many texts and I've talked so much about
19:35
Speaker 1: the ending of that Commanders game. I was reading today
19:40
Speaker 1: Micah Parsons. The one thing I appreciate about Micah, and
19:46
Speaker 1: I think this rubs some people in the NFL the
19:47
Speaker 1: wrong way, but I've said this forever like when people
19:51
Speaker 1: get mad at me inside the NFL like people that
19:55
Speaker 1: I've said things about that you know take it personally
19:58
Speaker 1: or whatever it's like well we all have a bunch
20:01
Speaker 1: of opinions on a million things when it comes to
20:03
Speaker 1: football everything I've ever said in regards to the NFL
20:07
Speaker 1: is all on the record Yet, I was asked this
20:11
Speaker 1: question yesterday in the mailbag. Where do these anonymous sources
20:14
Speaker 1: come from? The GMs. They all have takes. They all
20:17
Speaker 1: have thoughts. Spent many years around these guys. Still talk
20:19
Speaker 1: to a lot of them. They're shitting on everybody. Anonymously.
20:23
Speaker 1: There's nothing anonymous about here. And most players are no different.
20:28
Speaker 1: They're like me or you. They got takes. They got thoughts.
20:31
Speaker 1: Shitting on different players, coaches, executives. Now, is it an
20:36
Speaker 1: ideal situation to do when you're injured and not able
20:40
Speaker 1: to contribute? Probably not, but Michael will just say whatever.
20:43
Speaker 1: He'll just say what's on his mind. And today, he
20:48
Speaker 1: said that Jaden Daniels probably costs my man Dan Quinn
20:51
Speaker 1: his job. He said that out loud. To be honest
20:56
Speaker 1: with you, and like, I'm a big Jaden Daniels fan,
20:58
Speaker 1: but the reality is he probably costs a lot of
21:01
Speaker 1: people their jobs this past weekend. Respectfully, we get coached
21:05
Speaker 1: in all these different situations. I'm a defensive player and
21:09
Speaker 1: the shit's programmed to me. I even know what to
21:12
Speaker 1: do in those situations. There's no way I'm taking a
21:15
Speaker 1: sack with 14 seconds left and no timeouts. And mind you,
21:19
Speaker 1: it'd be different if Jaden was a rookie. This is
21:21
Speaker 1: your third year. This is your third year. You've been
21:24
Speaker 1: to the NFC Championship game. You've been in big moments.
21:27
Speaker 1: And to me, like even after the sack, you're just
21:29
Speaker 1: casually getting up. This is your job, bro. This is
21:33
Speaker 1: your job to be prepared and understand the game and
21:36
Speaker 1: understand the situation. It's your job profile. You're telling me, oh,
21:40
Speaker 1: we're going to want to pay this guy $ 60 million
21:42
Speaker 1: one day? Cannot happen. I'm a big JD5 fan, but
21:46
Speaker 1: it's inexcusable. Jeez, crushing them. The lack of preparation, lack
21:52
Speaker 1: of mentality, and lack of urgency, it just can't happen.
21:57
Speaker 1: There's just no, I said this yesterday, I saw Josina Anderson,
22:03
Speaker 1: the chick that used to work for ESPN, Someone forwarded
22:05
Speaker 1: it to me. She, like, took all these people that
22:07
Speaker 1: said that Dan Quinn, it was a fireable offense. She's like, oh,
22:11
Speaker 1: you guys. You know, she took, like, screenshots and, like,
22:14
Speaker 1: did one of those Instagram where you talk over, you know,
22:17
Speaker 1: me and Colin on Sunday. I think Stephen A. Smith.
22:20
Speaker 1: I would imagine every show. She's like, you're coming after
22:23
Speaker 1: a guy's livelihood. I'm like, Justina, his livelihood. The guy's
22:28
Speaker 1: making fucking $ 8 million a year. His kids' kids won't
22:32
Speaker 1: have mortgages. Like, there's no livelihood. We're just saying he
22:35
Speaker 1: shouldn't be the coach of the commanders. To me, when
22:37
Speaker 1: I think livelihood, he can fucking pay for everything. And
22:41
Speaker 1: he's been a multimillionaire for many years. And I'm not saying, like,
22:45
Speaker 1: that's not a shot at rich guys. Like, I'm pro-rich guy.
22:48
Speaker 1: This is the wrong podcast if you think I'm coming
22:50
Speaker 1: after him for that. My point is, just his job,
22:54
Speaker 1: I just view him as a complete meathead now. And
22:57
Speaker 1: I think he's always had vibes of that. But he's
23:00
Speaker 1: a nice guy. People like him. But that is something
23:03
Speaker 1: you can never look at him as the same. And
23:06
Speaker 1: I do think the quarterback in that situation, who clearly
23:10
Speaker 1: didn't know what was going on, and in fairness, no
23:12
Speaker 1: one in the huddle knew what's going on. I just
23:15
Speaker 1: can't look at that operation the same. I can't take
23:17
Speaker 1: these people seriously. I can't take them seriously. The head coach,
23:22
Speaker 1: the quarterback. I said this yesterday when Jaden was smiling.
23:27
Speaker 1: It's like... I just don't even, I'm at a loss,
23:33
Speaker 1: you know? Now, and I already didn't really take him
23:35
Speaker 1: seriously on the Lane Kiffin, the jersey thing. It's like,
23:40
Speaker 1: that one was a huge red flag for me. And
23:42
Speaker 1: then you find out talking to people in the NFL
23:44
Speaker 1: that have scouted and know the situation, the mom. It's
23:47
Speaker 1: like I'm just out on the whole deal. But I
23:49
Speaker 1: do respect talent. I come from Andy Reid. I'm pro
23:53
Speaker 1: big arms, fast players, blue chippers. It's why I was
23:57
Speaker 1: slow to wrap my arms around Purdy. It's why I'm
24:00
Speaker 1: slow to wrap my arms around the Dax. I like
24:04
Speaker 1: the Josh Allens. I like the Mahomes. I like the
24:07
Speaker 1: guys with the elite talent. But if you don't know
24:11
Speaker 1: what's going on, who gives a shit? And I would
24:15
Speaker 1: say Dan Quinn standing there looking at the sky and
24:18
Speaker 1: Jaden just in the huddle. It's something you don't overcome.
24:24
Speaker 1: It really is. We saw the two situations, Sirianni and
24:29
Speaker 1: Jaden Daniels and Dan Quinn. The Sirianni situation is... Or,
24:35
Speaker 1: I mean, the Washington situation is 50x worse than Knicks.
24:39
Speaker 1: And Knicks was bad. Especially because, like, at the end
24:42
Speaker 1: of the game, the Parker Washington punt, like, they were
24:44
Speaker 1: running circles around you. But we see a lot of
24:46
Speaker 1: chess-first checkers in the NFL. We don't see just completely
24:51
Speaker 1: out to lunch, staring at the sky, lost at sea,
24:55
Speaker 1: which the commanders were. And I just don't know how
25:01
Speaker 1: you're playing the 49ers this week, probably going to get
25:03
Speaker 1: your teeth kicked in. I just don't think he'd overcome it. And,
25:08
Speaker 1: you know, the one guy in the league that has
25:09
Speaker 1: no problem just saying what he thinks, because everyone in
25:12
Speaker 1: the league thinks this. The one thing I would say
25:13
Speaker 1: about Micah, everyone in the league, it's like last year
25:17
Speaker 1: when it happened to Anthony Richardson and he tapped himself
25:21
Speaker 1: out of the game. You notice that was one time.
25:25
Speaker 1: where every player was very comfortable going on the record,
25:29
Speaker 1: like how that is completely unacceptable. His players on his
25:33
Speaker 1: own team, players on other teams. It was like gloves off.
25:38
Speaker 1: Most of these situations, though, guys will be kind of hesitant.
25:41
Speaker 1: You're not going to see a bunch of guys around
25:43
Speaker 1: the league, definitely no coaches touching it. If anything, coaches
25:46
Speaker 1: will just say we use it as a teaching moment.
25:48
Speaker 1: But no one will say that that's the stupidest shit
25:50
Speaker 1: I've ever seen in my entire life. Everyone's thinking that.
25:55
Speaker 1: And Micah just said literally what everybody's thinking. You don't
26:00
Speaker 1: overcome it. Everyone's getting fired. Jaden won't. Jaden will get
26:04
Speaker 1: another opportunity. But I do think he's looked at it
26:07
Speaker 1: a little differently now. That situation. Because ultimately the huddle
26:11
Speaker 1: is his. And I get it. Everyone's tired. Long game. Wet. Dreary. But,
26:19
Speaker 1: you know, the other thing Dan Quinn is, someone, a buddy, Mark,
26:22
Speaker 1: texted me today. He's like, you know, what's funny about
26:26
Speaker 1: Kyle Shanahan is the only assistant coach ever to bear
26:31
Speaker 1: the blame of a terrible loss and no one... I
26:34
Speaker 1: have never once heard Dan Quinn's name associated with 28-3.
26:39
Speaker 1: It is all Kyle Shanahan. What's the old... What's the
26:45
Speaker 1: old line? They don't boo nobodies. No one takes Dan
26:49
Speaker 1: Quinn seriously. Have they for a long time? And I
26:52
Speaker 1: feel like I've heard great things about the human being.
26:56
Speaker 1: People love him. And I think Micah's coming after Jaden
26:58
Speaker 1: because Micah loves him. And as a defensive coordinator, he's
27:02
Speaker 1: proven to be pretty solid. When he gets fired, he'll
27:05
Speaker 1: probably become a defensive coordinator and that defense will get good.
27:11
Speaker 1: But as a head coach, the expectation, like that's just...
27:15
Speaker 1: You know, unacceptable. Like, what's unacceptable? Like, unacceptable is like
27:21
Speaker 1: when I snap back at my wife because Jack's yelling
27:24
Speaker 1: at him. I can't think. It's like, I can't do that.
27:27
Speaker 1: I got to hold myself. No, that's, there's unacceptable. That's
27:33
Speaker 1: stupid things. Fumbling, you know, like James Cook. That's unacceptable.
27:37
Speaker 1: But it happens. Unacceptable things happen a lot. And then
27:40
Speaker 1: there's that. Which is just... Unacceptable is in a different
27:44
Speaker 1: room than what we just witnessed there. That's just... You're fired.
27:48
Speaker 1: What did Trump say on The Apprentice? You're fired. I mean, that's...
27:52
Speaker 1: But there's no livelihood. Dan Quinn's living in homes with
27:56
Speaker 1: no mortgages. I mean... Dan Quinn's got multiple homes. Dan
28:01
Speaker 1: Quinn has printed cash for a long time now. I mean...
28:06
Speaker 1: Millions in the bank on top of the cash flow
28:08
Speaker 1: that he's got guaranteed for this job. It... No head
28:12
Speaker 1: coach's livelihood is ever on the line. Livelihood is making
28:16
Speaker 1: 80 grand, having a couple kids, getting laid off, and
28:20
Speaker 1: having no money to pay for your life. Can't pay
28:23
Speaker 1: the rent. Can't buy groceries. That's livelihood. What Dan Quinn
28:28
Speaker 1: is is just a guy making a lot of money
28:31
Speaker 1: who's not good at his job. That's just a fact.
28:35
Speaker 1: And he's also owed money once he's fired to go away.
28:37
Speaker 1: Really quick on the Saban documentary. I watched the first episode.
28:40
Speaker 1: It was really, really good. The first episode is about
28:44
Speaker 1: how he brings in the psychologist from Michigan State when
28:47
Speaker 1: he was at Michigan State and they were struggling and
28:49
Speaker 1: he was kind of teetering. Maybe he would get fired.
28:52
Speaker 1: And the guy is responsible for the process. He's like
28:55
Speaker 1: your classic college professor, intellectual psychiatrist, what you'd think he
29:01
Speaker 1: would look like. He looks exactly like. Players called the
29:05
Speaker 1: dude the wizard dude and helped change Nick Saban forever.
29:10
Speaker 1: And his record pre this guy and post this guy,
29:13
Speaker 1: it's like, it's dramatic, right? He won all his national
29:17
Speaker 1: championships after the guy and he brought him with him
29:20
Speaker 1: everywhere he went. But I was thinking like Nick's greatest
29:25
Speaker 1: characteristic is one, his upbringing and his dad didn't give
29:31
Speaker 1: him any praise, never gave him any credit when he
29:33
Speaker 1: had success. All of our childhoods shape us for the
29:39
Speaker 1: rest of our lives. A couple key things, the way
29:42
Speaker 1: we're raised, impact us until the day we die. That's
29:46
Speaker 1: a fact. Nick, I think, his rough around the edges
29:51
Speaker 1: element of never being happy, calling a staff meeting seven
29:58
Speaker 1: 30 in the morning, the day after his first national championship,
30:01
Speaker 1: it goes back to that. But I think, and so
30:04
Speaker 1: with that comes like a toughness, you know, he's a
30:06
Speaker 1: blue collar background. His dad owned a gas station in
30:09
Speaker 1: West Virginia. It's not like this guy grew up with
30:12
Speaker 1: a lot, right? Like most people in the history of society,
30:16
Speaker 1: most people grow up somewhere between lower and middle class. Right. And,
30:20
Speaker 1: and now I think everything's been warped because of social
30:22
Speaker 1: media and, most people were kind of the same. I
30:28
Speaker 1: think about it like I knew the two rich people
30:30
Speaker 1: in my town as a kid. One of them had
30:32
Speaker 1: a big screen TV. I remember that being a really
30:34
Speaker 1: big deal. Only big screen TV I knew was one
30:40
Speaker 1: guy who was like the size of a suburban. I mean,
30:42
Speaker 1: they were huge. Now, I was at Costco the other day,
30:46
Speaker 1: and I quick did a detour because TVs are right
30:51
Speaker 1: when you walk in. In my living room was an 85,
30:54
Speaker 1: and we actually have way more room because I originally
30:57
Speaker 1: bought a 75. I was like, God, it looks kind
30:59
Speaker 1: of small because the wall is actually pretty big. Then
31:02
Speaker 1: I went 85, and then I'm in Costco, and I
31:04
Speaker 1: see a 100-inch TV. It was like $ 1, 100. I'm like, God,
31:10
Speaker 1: what a deal. I mean, you can buy a 50-inch
31:13
Speaker 1: TV in there for like $ 100. I don't know how
31:16
Speaker 1: I got down that rabbit hole, but my point of
31:18
Speaker 1: this Saban thing is, is what makes most coaches successful
31:23
Speaker 1: is a curiosity. And I think about, like, having been
31:27
Speaker 1: around Andy Reid, like, he's very curious. You know, Signetti
31:30
Speaker 1: just said the game-winning play, essentially, on the fourth down
31:34
Speaker 1: where they ran the play-action play that hit March for
31:38
Speaker 1: the walk-in wide-open touchdown in the fourth quarter that he
31:42
Speaker 1: stole last year from Kansas' head coach or Kansas' offensive coordinator.
31:47
Speaker 1: And he's like, yeah, I've had it in my back
31:48
Speaker 1: pocket for a while. And if you watch the ESPN
31:51
Speaker 1: did this, Reece Davis did this thing with Cignetti in
31:53
Speaker 1: the offseason. He's very curious. And I think where you
31:58
Speaker 1: find yourself getting in trouble as coaches, as humans, in
32:02
Speaker 1: whatever we do, is when you get very stubborn. And
32:04
Speaker 1: I think stubborn is a natural reaction for a lot
32:08
Speaker 1: of men. Especially once you have a little success. But,
32:12
Speaker 1: you know, Nick reached out to this psychiatrist once. or psychologist,
32:18
Speaker 1: when he wasn't having success. That's when most of us
32:21
Speaker 1: will be a little desperate. But either way, this guy
32:23
Speaker 1: that he reached out to and helped change Nick's career,
32:27
Speaker 1: even said after the first meetings, like, I'll probably never
32:29
Speaker 1: talk to that guy again. And then like a week later,
32:31
Speaker 1: he called him. And then everything changed. They upset Ohio State,
32:35
Speaker 1: who was, you know, Saban said like a four touchdown favorite,
32:39
Speaker 1: and they never looked back. But I was thinking about
32:41
Speaker 1: like Lane Kiffin. Because everyone associates, like, Lane is Nick's guy.
32:46
Speaker 1: Lane worked for Nick for like three years. And at
32:49
Speaker 1: the end of it, he got fired. The week of
32:51
Speaker 1: the national championship game. Saban fired Lane Kiffin. And when
32:56
Speaker 1: I watched Lane over the course of the last couple years,
32:59
Speaker 1: it actually is nothing like Nick Saban. In terms of
33:03
Speaker 1: all the social media stuff, all the hoopla, because... The
33:09
Speaker 1: results on his process actually are not that great. He's
33:13
Speaker 1: won a lot of games against teams that turns out
33:16
Speaker 1: aren't that good. Because every time he plays a good team, historically,
33:18
Speaker 1: it would show you he loses a lot. And there's
33:21
Speaker 1: the great clip of the Kentucky guys, all the kids.
33:25
Speaker 1: There's nothing like college football. Can you imagine the NFL
33:28
Speaker 1: fans rushing the field and sprinting at the other coach
33:31
Speaker 1: and flipping off Belichick? I guess technically that could happen
33:35
Speaker 1: now because he's in college. But the fans flip it
33:37
Speaker 1: off Lane. It was brilliant. There were some people online like,
33:41
Speaker 1: this is so what? It's like, guys, of all the
33:44
Speaker 1: coaches to defend, Lane's trolled everyone on this planet. If
33:50
Speaker 1: you give it, you got to take it. And truly
33:55
Speaker 1: the guy, like Kirby Smart worked for him for over
33:58
Speaker 1: a decade. The Kirby Smart rant that just went viral,
34:02
Speaker 1: which he clearly wasn't happy with because someone leaked it. Clearly,
34:06
Speaker 1: he didn't know it was being taped. It's kind of
34:08
Speaker 1: a sacred place, which is always funny to me in
34:10
Speaker 1: the locker room. You can go from saying the Lord's
34:13
Speaker 1: Prayer to get up and you just start dropping some
34:16
Speaker 1: war chants. But in Kirby's speech, the main theme that
34:22
Speaker 1: I took away was the scoreboard, the fucking scoreboard. I
34:29
Speaker 1: don't care what it says. Do not look at the score.
34:33
Speaker 1: I do not care. And when you watch the Saban documentary,
34:37
Speaker 1: his whole thing is like, it's not really about the scoreboard.
34:40
Speaker 1: And I, even the Michigan state quarterback is probably, I mean,
34:44
Speaker 1: he's probably in his mid to late forties now. It's like,
34:47
Speaker 1: you know, it's kind of cheesy and you think it's
34:49
Speaker 1: like pretty basic, but like when you really just focus
34:52
Speaker 1: on play to play, you know, and every play in
34:55
Speaker 1: a football game, high school, college, or the pros is
34:58
Speaker 1: like four to six seconds, you know, Even Saban did
35:02
Speaker 1: the math. He's like, you're playing a little over six
35:04
Speaker 1: minutes of actual football. The majority of the game is
35:07
Speaker 1: just standing there in the huddle, lining up. It's not
35:11
Speaker 1: actually playing. And I think we often overcomplicate a lot
35:15
Speaker 1: of things. And when you hear Kirby talk, I was
35:20
Speaker 1: thinking about this. Nick Saban was a very dependable person.
35:26
Speaker 1: I've known a lot of people that worked for him,
35:28
Speaker 1: and they would say like, You knew what you were
35:31
Speaker 1: going to get every day. Phil Savage, who was former
35:34
Speaker 1: GM with the Browns, who I worked with with the Eagles,
35:38
Speaker 1: who now works for the Rams, he worked for Saban
35:42
Speaker 1: in the early 90s with the Browns, and then he
35:46
Speaker 1: did Alabama radio for many years. After he left the
35:51
Speaker 1: Eagles in like 13, he ran the senior bowl and
35:53
Speaker 1: did Alabama radio. And he's worked with Belichick and Saban.
35:58
Speaker 1: And I'll never forget this. He said that their defining
36:01
Speaker 1: attribute is their competitive stamina, how they can just go
36:06
Speaker 1: and go and go. But they never get too high
36:09
Speaker 1: and they never get too low, which helps them just
36:12
Speaker 1: maintain this race. Because for Nick, it's like January to
36:17
Speaker 1: December is kind of the same every year. You got
36:19
Speaker 1: spring practice, you got recruiting, you got off-season workouts, you
36:22
Speaker 1: got training camp, you got week one through week 12,
36:25
Speaker 1: through the SEC championship game, through the playoffs, and just
36:28
Speaker 1: same thing over and over. Most human beings, myself included,
36:31
Speaker 1: just like sometimes we just peter out. Sometimes emotionally we
36:35
Speaker 1: get on a roller coaster. And Nick is able to
36:38
Speaker 1: maintain this like every day is its new day. But
36:42
Speaker 1: in a weird way, like Saban... You know, I think
36:46
Speaker 1: we viewed him through the television screaming sometimes, like he's
36:49
Speaker 1: this raging asshole. And clearly, he could be. But he also, like,
36:53
Speaker 1: you watch this thing, his EQ's really high. And he's
36:56
Speaker 1: pretty good with people. And there were some famous videos
36:59
Speaker 1: over the years of him going into, you know, some
37:01
Speaker 1: different homes and dancing. It's like Nick Nolte in Blue
37:04
Speaker 1: Chips when he goes to the Baptist Church. You're like,
37:07
Speaker 1: certain guys have different pitches in their bag. Like, you
37:10
Speaker 1: watch Lane. To me, there's a lot of fluff behind
37:14
Speaker 1: it and clearly not as much substance. Yet when you
37:16
Speaker 1: watch Kirby, it's actually all substance and not much fluff.
37:21
Speaker 1: It's not like Kirby's 65 years old. He's 50. He's
37:24
Speaker 1: essentially the same age as Lane. Yet they act completely different.
37:30
Speaker 1: And their results are completely different. And if you were
37:33
Speaker 1: thinking about it, if you were in a rut somewhere,
37:37
Speaker 1: you were in a hole, you were down bad, hell,
37:40
Speaker 1: you were In a physical altercation, you were in a
37:44
Speaker 1: financial situation that was dire. And you had two people
37:48
Speaker 1: to call. And I gave you two numbers. And one
37:51
Speaker 1: was Kirby Smart and one was Lane Kiffin. What do
37:56
Speaker 1: you think the ratio of people would be that would
37:58
Speaker 1: depend on Kirby Smart that would depend on Lane Kiffin?
38:02
Speaker 1: These are all people you don't know either of them personally.
38:05
Speaker 1: Just based on everything you've seen. as a football fan
38:10
Speaker 1: or people that have watched these guys from the outside?
38:13
Speaker 1: Would it be 100% to zero? And this is not
38:18
Speaker 1: the bag on lane, but it just shows you media perception,
38:22
Speaker 1: hype machine. He's great at it. I mean, he contributes
38:26
Speaker 1: to this. But at the end of the day, we
38:29
Speaker 1: care about Saban's process because he won all the games.
38:33
Speaker 1: Going back to Michigan State when he upset number one
38:35
Speaker 1: Ohio State when no one gave him a chance. They
38:38
Speaker 1: have a clip in there of Herbstreet on TV with
38:41
Speaker 1: Lee Corso that gave Michigan State a 0% chance. And
38:46
Speaker 1: it's not like he was being hyperbolic. Everyone probably believed him.
38:50
Speaker 1: And Lane used Nick Saban to rehab his image. Kirby
38:58
Speaker 1: used Nick Saban to become a great coach. That's about it.
39:06
Speaker 1: That tells you everything you need to know. Okay, let's
39:21
Speaker 1: do a couple mailbag questions and get out of here.
39:24
Speaker 1: Quick Dad Diaries, Jack's crawling. You know, over the last
39:28
Speaker 1: couple weeks, the crawling has kind of started. Kind of
39:30
Speaker 1: starts like a slither, like a snake. Then he's able
39:34
Speaker 1: to kind of get together his arms and his knees.
39:39
Speaker 1: I would say the last couple days, you look around,
39:41
Speaker 1: the kid's in the other room. I mean, he is
39:43
Speaker 1: just chasing the dog. We're having to plug outlets everywhere. Um, it's, it's,
39:51
Speaker 1: it's impressive. You know, today he got stuck under a chair.
39:55
Speaker 1: He had gotten stuck under the same chair a couple
39:57
Speaker 1: of days ago because he'll try to sit up and
39:59
Speaker 1: he couldn't sit up and he let out these cries
40:03
Speaker 1: for help because he thought he was stuck, right? All
40:07
Speaker 1: he had to do was move himself under the chair,
40:09
Speaker 1: but I came and grabbed him. This was like three
40:10
Speaker 1: or four days ago. It's kind of, it was a
40:12
Speaker 1: unique scream. It was like a, it was truly like
40:15
Speaker 1: a help scream. Today he started doing it again. I'm like, Jack,
40:19
Speaker 1: I'm not going to help you. We're teaching some life
40:21
Speaker 1: lessons here. And he kind of kept bumping his head,
40:24
Speaker 1: and he almost started to cry, do the Yelp, and
40:26
Speaker 1: then he just worked his way out. So I tell you, man,
40:31
Speaker 1: those crawls. It's crazy. We've got a guy coming to
40:38
Speaker 1: build the fence around the pool. All of a sudden
40:40
Speaker 1: you crawl, you start walking, you sprint in that pool,
40:42
Speaker 1: no one's paying attention. Kid can't swim. Hell, he doesn't
40:47
Speaker 1: even like... He likes the bath. He doesn't like the
40:49
Speaker 1: pool water. Maybe he does now. He's a little older.
40:51
Speaker 1: Tried to put his feet in Tahoe over the summer.
40:54
Speaker 1: That did not... He freaked. We'll get to some mailbag questions.
40:58
Speaker 1: Heard your Lincoln-Riley take a couple weeks ago. My take.
41:02
Speaker 1: Sark is basically Lincoln with a better roster. He's not
41:05
Speaker 1: a disciplinarian, and his team show it. Texas has been
41:08
Speaker 1: inconsistent his whole tenure. They commit dumb, undisciplined penalties you
41:13
Speaker 1: don't see from other elite programs, and they're always playing
41:16
Speaker 1: with their food. Can Sark win a national championship, or
41:20
Speaker 1: am I wrong? I do not think he can, no.
41:26
Speaker 1: I think football coaches get to a point where you
41:31
Speaker 1: can't fake the culture that is created. And this gets
41:34
Speaker 1: back to Kirby. Kirby's culture is created through him, and
41:39
Speaker 1: because he's a tough guy, they become tough. Lane and
41:43
Speaker 1: Sark are good examples of brilliant guys, no offense, but
41:48
Speaker 1: they're not tough at all. But because of the NIL era,
41:52
Speaker 1: they can be transactional and purchase the toughness. It doesn't
41:56
Speaker 1: work like that. You take on the personality of your
41:59
Speaker 1: head coach. That's why I would just bet against those
42:01
Speaker 1: two guys. Not that they can't win games, not that
42:04
Speaker 1: they can't go to the playoffs, but I think both
42:08
Speaker 1: have some similarities. Lane's a little bit more reality television
42:12
Speaker 1: star than Sark. By all accounts, Sark, everyone likes him.
42:16
Speaker 1: Nice guy. But holy shit, his teams. I mean, you
42:22
Speaker 1: are what you put on tape. And they, like you said,
42:24
Speaker 1: have been. And this year, it's like, you have all
42:27
Speaker 1: this money. But everything's a transaction. Like, they purchased Cam
42:32
Speaker 1: Coleman from Auburn. Is Cam Coleman really that good? Like,
42:38
Speaker 1: I know he's talented. But I was listening to a
42:42
Speaker 1: college podcast the other day and they were like, you know,
42:45
Speaker 1: I think we have to acknowledge like for the hype
42:47
Speaker 1: and definitely for the money. It's like, that ain't Jeremiah Smith.
42:53
Speaker 1: And I'm not saying he was going to be Jeremiah Smith,
42:54
Speaker 1: but it's like the year, you know, Julio Jones, the
42:58
Speaker 1: year he came out. Do you know who else did?
42:59
Speaker 1: AJ Green. Like that ain't a situation here. If Jeremiah
43:03
Speaker 1: Smith's the next Julio Jones, that guy ain't AJ Green.
43:07
Speaker 1: I'll tell you that much. And listen, there's nothing wrong
43:09
Speaker 1: with it. He's a good NFL prospect, probably have a
43:12
Speaker 1: good NFL career, but they're just purchasing. It's like, that's
43:16
Speaker 1: not the way, this is football. You got to build
43:18
Speaker 1: a team. Why does Mike McDaniel get shielded from blame
43:24
Speaker 1: with the Chargers? They won 11 games last year, same
43:27
Speaker 1: personnel and offense, only difference is no Greg Roman. I
43:30
Speaker 1: think Greg Roman's better than he gets credit for. I've
43:32
Speaker 1: always said that. Everyone gets fired at all these places.
43:36
Speaker 1: I think he's pretty solid. But Mike McDaniel is not
43:39
Speaker 1: being shielded. Every day I see a headline or see
43:42
Speaker 1: a meme. He's getting asked questions about it. I don't
43:47
Speaker 1: think he's being shielded at all. I think most people
43:50
Speaker 1: expect every single week for him to get fired. Now
43:53
Speaker 1: Joe Alt is seeing a specialist. They're in shambles. This
44:01
Speaker 1: is going to get worse before it gets better. This
44:03
Speaker 1: is going to be a long year for the Chargers.
44:07
Speaker 1: Question for the pod. Am I the only one who
44:08
Speaker 1: thinks JSN is wildly overrated? He is good, but it
44:11
Speaker 1: seems like he's constantly schemed open and put in good situations.
44:15
Speaker 1: I think you're the only one, yes. Yeah, you're the
44:19
Speaker 1: only one. He's good. He's fucking really good. He's legit.
44:30
Speaker 1: I'd say every general manager in the league would take
44:32
Speaker 1: him without blinking an eye. He's a baller. Do you
44:36
Speaker 1: think the Rams' consistent special teams woes hurt Sean McVay's
44:41
Speaker 1: legacy as a coach? He's constantly listed as a top
44:44
Speaker 1: head coach in the NFL, and obviously he's a brilliant
44:46
Speaker 1: offensive mind leader, but is he truly elite if one
44:49
Speaker 1: of the three areas of his team are among the
44:51
Speaker 1: worst in the league? Where I think it hurts his
44:54
Speaker 1: legacy is like, he might have three Super Bowls. Like,
44:59
Speaker 1: he would have won last year. He wouldn't be two
45:03
Speaker 1: and three right now and finding himself in a hole
45:05
Speaker 1: trying to catch the 49ers. Like, he cuts the fat
45:11
Speaker 1: guy this morning, which it's like, I can't take the
45:18
Speaker 1: kicker seriously when he looks like that. Like, you can't
45:21
Speaker 1: have a kicker That your coach is in... Just way
45:27
Speaker 1: better shape than... I can't have anyone in my roster
45:30
Speaker 1: that my head coach is in way better shape than.
45:33
Speaker 1: And I'm not talking like bellies on offensive linemen. I'm
45:35
Speaker 1: talking about that. So you cut the kicker... I... I
45:44
Speaker 1: don't know. That's the easiest thing for these guys to do.
45:48
Speaker 1: Kyle did it last year with Moody. Kyle has always
45:50
Speaker 1: been like this. They have made more of an emphasis
45:53
Speaker 1: with it. But like, I think what really drives those
45:57
Speaker 1: type guys nuts is like, they know nothing about kicking
45:59
Speaker 1: or punting. So if they just get a good kicker,
46:02
Speaker 1: they're good, right? Because they don't have to worry about it.
46:04
Speaker 1: But once a guy starts missing kicks and the unit
46:08
Speaker 1: kind of falls apart, they don't really have any answers.
46:12
Speaker 1: Because the Like Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan could coach
46:15
Speaker 1: defensive players. No problem. They could go, like, for a year,
46:21
Speaker 1: one of them could just be the linebacker coach or
46:22
Speaker 1: the DB coach, and they would be fine. But if
46:26
Speaker 1: you put them in a special team room, they wouldn't
46:28
Speaker 1: know shit, especially when it came to dealing with the
46:31
Speaker 1: kicker and the punter. So all they can do is
46:34
Speaker 1: kind of like, Sark, we need toughness. Let's go buy it.
46:37
Speaker 1: That's not really how it works. Like Mario Cristobal. Is
46:43
Speaker 1: Sark a better schemer than Mario Cristobal? 100%. Does he
46:47
Speaker 1: know more about creating an offense than Mario? Yes. Whose
46:52
Speaker 1: teams are tougher? Because you can't fake that. Just like
46:55
Speaker 1: the special teams thing is, and this goes for everybody.
46:59
Speaker 1: You just, when you get a good kicker, you kind
47:01
Speaker 1: of get lucky because you don't have to do anything. Like,
47:04
Speaker 1: is John Harbaugh great with kickers? Or did he just
47:07
Speaker 1: have Justin Tucker forever? It's like, well, he's a special
47:10
Speaker 1: teams guy. It's like, I don't know. In Philly, they
47:13
Speaker 1: had David Akers. It's like, if you get a good kicker,
47:16
Speaker 1: it just kind of works. During your scouting career, did
47:21
Speaker 1: you ever work with people that you knew were completely
47:24
Speaker 1: incompetent and weren't going to make it? How did you
47:28
Speaker 1: handle it? I was pretty lucky. I went to a
47:34
Speaker 1: team that had Howie as the GM... that Veach was
47:41
Speaker 1: one of our main scouts. Mike Bradway, who now works
47:44
Speaker 1: with Veach as his number two, whose dad had worked
47:48
Speaker 1: in the NFL for a long time, who's a stud.
47:51
Speaker 1: We had Louis Riddick, who I work closely with, that
47:55
Speaker 1: you've seen on TV for 15 years. Super high-level guy.
48:00
Speaker 1: Daniel Jeremiah, who's also on TV, who I dropped off
48:04
Speaker 1: at the airport the day he told me, I'm going
48:06
Speaker 1: to TV. you want to come back West, you better
48:09
Speaker 1: go pound the table for that job, which I did.
48:13
Speaker 1: And Phil Savage, who ran the Senior Bowl, who's been
48:16
Speaker 1: a GM, to Alan Walking, who still works for Howie,
48:20
Speaker 1: to Brad Obie, who works for the Carolina Panthers, Sean Gustis,
48:25
Speaker 1: who works, I think, for the Vikings, Alec Hallaby. I mean,
48:29
Speaker 1: we just had pretty high-level guys. Now, it doesn't mean
48:32
Speaker 1: you're going to agree on all the players, but in
48:36
Speaker 1: terms of, like, talent in a scouting room and work
48:40
Speaker 1: ethic and stuff. I would say the least talented scout
48:44
Speaker 1: was Gregson became a GM. I mean, by far that
48:49
Speaker 1: I've ever been around, but can't say that to him.
48:53
Speaker 1: Cause he's six, five. And he's like, it's like, I
48:56
Speaker 1: didn't think he really knew what he was doing. And
48:58
Speaker 1: then it kind of proved that way pretty quickly, but
49:03
Speaker 1: just incompetence. I would say I experienced that when I
49:08
Speaker 1: was at Fresno State with the AD who just never
49:11
Speaker 1: shut up about Title IX. It's like, this guy's going
49:15
Speaker 1: to get shit-canned one day. And then when I was
49:17
Speaker 1: in radio. I think it's pretty hard. I'm sure there
49:21
Speaker 1: are these situations and I've heard stories, but like it's,
49:26
Speaker 1: you just spend so much time. Um, I guess you
49:30
Speaker 1: see it with coaches a lot. I honestly saw with
49:32
Speaker 1: coaches more like, wait, this guy is going to coach
49:35
Speaker 1: the linebackers. But I also like, I was very, very lucky.
49:42
Speaker 1: I mean, my first staff had Doug Peterson as the
49:47
Speaker 1: quality control guy, Matt Nagy as the assistant, Deuce Staley
49:52
Speaker 1: as the coaching intern, Sean McDermott as the defensive coordinator.
49:57
Speaker 1: I mean, we had a lot of guys that were,
50:00
Speaker 1: I mean, Deuce Staley is one of the best running
50:02
Speaker 1: back coaches in the league. He makes a lot of money,
50:05
Speaker 1: and the Browns won't let him out of his contract.
50:07
Speaker 1: Deuce didn't tell me that. I'm just assuming because he's
50:09
Speaker 1: been there for a while now. But, like, I got very,
50:13
Speaker 1: very fortunate that I didn't get hired by some clown team.
50:16
Speaker 1: Because I would take in anyone's job that I just
50:18
Speaker 1: went to a place with a lot of high-level people.
50:22
Speaker 1: Four people that went on to have success. I mean, Grixen,
50:25
Speaker 1: after my first year, was hired as GM. I've always
50:27
Speaker 1: said Ryan Day and Sean McVay are the same. First
50:30
Speaker 1: time head coaches who are elite offensive minds and both
50:33
Speaker 1: despise special teams. Cost them in big spots. I just
50:37
Speaker 1: think it's an offensive thing. I think it's hard for
50:40
Speaker 1: offensive people to wrap their head around kickers and punters.
50:47
Speaker 1: I think it's very, very difficult for them to do.
50:50
Speaker 1: You know, I really, I think it's, I think you
50:54
Speaker 1: see this a lot in society. You know, like, In
50:58
Speaker 1: different situations, it's hard for people to understand just the
51:02
Speaker 1: common guy. And they don't– you see it a lot
51:05
Speaker 1: with the media. You know, these highly educated people that
51:09
Speaker 1: kind of look down their nose at a lot of
51:11
Speaker 1: segments of society. And they just can't relate to them
51:16
Speaker 1: at all. And they just– they never will be able to.
51:21
Speaker 1: You know? And I think there's a lot of truth
51:25
Speaker 1: to that with these offensive coaches and special teams. The
51:29
Speaker 1: Bills roster will never make sense to me. Where does
51:32
Speaker 1: all the money go? Not the first team to pay
51:34
Speaker 1: top dollar at quarterback and running back feel like they
51:37
Speaker 1: should have better players on defense. I actually pulled it up.
51:42
Speaker 1: So they're paying, I just pulled up the cash they're
51:44
Speaker 1: paying in 26. $ 55 million, Josh Allen. Not bad if
51:49
Speaker 1: you can get it. DJ Moore, 24.5. So they got
51:54
Speaker 1: two guys combining to make $ 70 million. $ 70 million. I mean,
51:58
Speaker 1: what's that, 20-quarter of the salary cap? Then they got
52:03
Speaker 1: a bunch of guys, Greg Rousseau, Deion Dawkins, Conor McGovern, Benford,
52:10
Speaker 1: Ed Oliver, Spencer Brown, Bradley Chubb. I mean, they have one, two, three, four, five, six,
52:17
Speaker 1: seven guys making $ 15, $ 16, and $ 19 million. And Benford
52:24
Speaker 1: and Rousseau are the only defensive players. And Oliver, but
52:27
Speaker 1: obviously he didn't play last night. So they have a lot.
52:30
Speaker 1: I guess Bradley Chubb. They're spending a lot on the D-line.
52:34
Speaker 1: You know, Doc, Rousseau, Oliver, Chubb. They do invest a
52:41
Speaker 1: lot on the offense. Khalil Shakir makes 12. Josh Palmer
52:47
Speaker 1: makes 10. Cook makes 10, which sounds like a steal
52:51
Speaker 1: even if you can't catch. Dawson Knox makes 7.5. They
52:55
Speaker 1: spend a lot of money, you know. They just, I
52:58
Speaker 1: don't know what to tell you. That $ 55 million, pretty
53:01
Speaker 1: big hit. Watching Monday Night Football, couple ice cold pops
53:05
Speaker 1: going down the hatch, and I had a thought. The
53:08
Speaker 1: Rams defense comes up with a massive fumble. Offense is humming,
53:12
Speaker 1: and in what world would you ever play for a
53:15
Speaker 1: 48-yard field goal? Haven't been stopped in hours. I will
53:18
Speaker 1: never understand. What was fourth down? Now, I think we
53:23
Speaker 1: could nitpick them on their third down call. Did they
53:25
Speaker 1: run the ball? But it's not like they kicked it like,
53:29
Speaker 1: fuck it, let's just end the game here on second down.
53:32
Speaker 1: It was fourth and five. So could you go for
53:37
Speaker 1: it on fourth and five if you get stopped against
53:41
Speaker 1: Josh Allen? Because we saw what happened when the field
53:44
Speaker 1: goal got blocked. Same thing would happen if Stafford trips
53:47
Speaker 1: or Puka Nakua trips or he has a bad pass.
53:52
Speaker 1: You've got to kick the field goal on fourth and five. Now,
53:54
Speaker 1: if we wanted to nitpick some of their play calls, yeah,
53:57
Speaker 1: you could definitely do that. But I can't. You're supposed
54:02
Speaker 1: to go for it on fourth and five? I don't
54:06
Speaker 1: think you can. Okay, we'll end on this. I keep
54:08
Speaker 1: hearing these mailbags about the Eagles' best candidate for the
54:11
Speaker 1: new head coach if Nick Sirianni gets the boot. Brad
54:16
Speaker 1: Idzik from Carolina. He's the OC Colin plays with Canales
54:22
Speaker 1: when Canales gave it up. If Bryce looks as good
54:25
Speaker 1: as he is right now all season and the offense
54:29
Speaker 1: keeps putting up numbers, why not? Seems like a good
54:33
Speaker 1: sleeper candidate. Well, you know what's funny is, do you
54:38
Speaker 1: know who plays each other this week? Is the Philadelphia Eagles,
54:42
Speaker 1: I just want to double check this because I'm almost 99.9% certain, 10-18.
54:48
Speaker 1: So on Sunday, they will host Idzik, Canales, Bryce Young,
54:55
Speaker 1: and the Carolina Panthers. I personally like the Carolina Panthers
54:59
Speaker 1: in that game. I saw Coker's supposed to come back
55:03
Speaker 1: with my guy Joe Burrow on a bye week. I
55:06
Speaker 1: will place Bryce Young in the starting slot on my
55:08
Speaker 1: fantasy team. Hopefully he throws for three touchdowns. But, yeah, that's...
55:14
Speaker 1: There are going to be guys like that. You know,
55:16
Speaker 1: Declan Doyle, Idzik, some of these younger guys. Listen, it's
55:21
Speaker 1: going to sound crazy, but Davis Webb is still going
55:24
Speaker 1: to get some interviews. Because being a head coach is
55:27
Speaker 1: different than just a play caller. And I think people
55:30
Speaker 1: will just blame Bo Nix. But I hear you. They're just...
55:39
Speaker 1: What I like more about Idzik than some of these
55:41
Speaker 1: other guys, who was... Was it Jackson? Someone brought this
55:46
Speaker 1: up to me, the guy for the Jacksonville Jaguars, like
55:52
Speaker 1: his idzik, Declan Doyle, like his number two. What would
55:57
Speaker 1: make me nervous about interviewing a guy like that, same
55:59
Speaker 1: with Davis Webb last year, it's like, well, he's not
56:01
Speaker 1: even calling the plays. Look at Kubiak's a good example.
56:05
Speaker 1: Like mentored under all these guys and then got a
56:07
Speaker 1: chance for a couple years, two different places to call plays.
56:09
Speaker 1: And it's like, well, I know Kubiak can call plays.
56:13
Speaker 1: Because I think someone reached out recently like, what about
56:15
Speaker 1: Clay Kubiak? I'm like, well, he's in the position of some,
56:20
Speaker 1: like Declan Doyle a year ago for Ben Johnson. I
56:24
Speaker 1: do want to see that guy call plays. Because it
56:27
Speaker 1: might not go well. Just because you're, you know, Coward
56:32
Speaker 1: says it's like your proximity to greatness doesn't equal greatness.
56:35
Speaker 1: Just because I work for Jeff Bezos or Steve Jobs
56:38
Speaker 1: or Elon Musk does not mean that I will be
56:41
Speaker 1: good when I'm put in the main seat. Just because
56:43
Speaker 1: I work for Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVay does not
56:46
Speaker 1: mean I'm going to be head coach. We saw it
56:47
Speaker 1: for 20 years with Belichick. All those guys got shots,
56:51
Speaker 1: and they all couldn't have gone worse. So it's a
56:56
Speaker 1: hard thing to do. I don't have a great answer there,
56:58
Speaker 1: but there are going to be some names that no
57:00
Speaker 1: one is discussing. We've still got a long way to go.
57:04
Speaker 1: I do think some college names will... We'll definitely be
57:09
Speaker 1: in the mix a little bit. We haven't had a
57:11
Speaker 1: college coach in recent memory. I don't know exactly who
57:13
Speaker 1: that would be, but there are going to be some options,
57:17
Speaker 1: I think. Just with all the turmoil and the transfer portal,
57:24
Speaker 1: you get way more time off in the offseason. That's
57:27
Speaker 1: the thing about college coaching. You make a shitload, but
57:30
Speaker 1: they work way more than NFL coaches. Like, NFL coach,
57:34
Speaker 1: once your season's over, take a couple weeks off, get
57:36
Speaker 1: the entire summer off, You get a bunch of time
57:39
Speaker 1: during draft off. You know, if your GM's a prominent guy,
57:43
Speaker 1: it's a way chiller time. But as a college coach,
57:49
Speaker 1: you are the boss. So, of everything, basically. Which is nice.
57:56
Speaker 1: In the pros, you're definitely not. A lot of places,
57:59
Speaker 1: the GM has a lot of juice. Even if you're
58:01
Speaker 1: above the GM, that guy still has juice because he's
58:03
Speaker 1: in with the owner and obviously answering the owner. So there's,
58:07
Speaker 1: There's no perfect scenario, right? I don't care. Football, podcasting, restaurants.
58:16
Speaker 1: Everything has its positives and negatives. It is what it is. Adios.
58:21
Speaker 1: Have a great day. Talk to you later.