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John Middelkoff
This is an iHeart podcast.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Guaranteed Human.
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Lavar Arrington
This is Lavar Harrington from Up on Game. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. It's a great time to apply for an Apple Card. You'll love earning unlimited daily cash on every purchase. That includes 3% daily cash when you buy the latest iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch at Apple through this special referral offer. When you get a new Apple card, you can earn bonus daily cash. To qualify, you must apply at Apple co getdailycash Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs bank usa Salt Lake City. Branch offer may not be available elsewhere. Terms and limitations apply.
John Middelkoff
Hello, Malcolm GL here.
T Mobile Representative
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Matt 'Money' Smith
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Lavar Arrington
Oh.
Jennifer
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Matt 'Money' Smith
Right? And the best part.
Chelsea Handler
Except Discover.
Jennifer
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Chelsea Handler
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Matt 'Money' Smith
Huh? Discover's accepted where I like to shop.
Chelsea Handler
Come on, baby, get with the times.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Right?
Jennifer
So we shouldn't get the parachute pants.
Chelsea Handler
These are making a comeback, I think.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Discover is accepted at 99% of places
Lavar Arrington
that take credit cards nationwide.
Podcast Announcer
Based on the February 2025 Nielsen report.
Matt 'Money' Smith
The volume.
John Middelkoff
What is going on, everybody? John Middelkoff three and out podcast. How are we doing? Probably better than me, because this morning I woke up and I was gonna check into my flight for Thursday morning and there was nothing. I haven't told anyone this this morning. It's kind of embarrassing. And I looked, I'm like, that's kind of weird. So I hit up customer service and they're like, your flight was Wednesday morning. So I clearly scheduled the wrong day. Luckily, I guess I got travel credit and I booked tomorrow. So that was a nightmare start to the day. Woke up a little foggy after a late night. But we are here still at the Combine. Your boy has a ticket to get back to Arizona, where we'll just keep podcasting. But today we will have John Schneider. I don't know if you've heard of him. He just won a Super bowl on the show. Matt Money Smith, who is the Chargers play by play guy and hosts a big radio show, Petros and Money, in Los Angeles. I met him through Daniel Jeremiah. Last year when they were playing the Cardinals, they came to Arizona. We played some golf and hung out. I love the guy. I mean, I followed him from afar, but meeting him, he's just a great guy. He knows la. The Chargers, the Dodgers, they do a bunch of radio shows from Chavez Ravine. I think that's what it's still called. But he'll join us. So we got a couple interviews and that will be the show today. I also talked to Greg Cosell. We'll probably put that on Friday's podcast, and then we'll just get back to the home base and start getting back to life as normal as. The combine will officially start. I was about to say on the grass, but I guess they play on turf here in Indy. You guys know the drill. Subscribe to the podcast, Apple, Spotify, and if you're looking for the video, you can check it out on a little thing called Netflix. But other than that, let's dive into John Schneider. Okay. Last time I saw this man, he was on Zoom and it was the spring. Now I'm sitting with him and he's super bowl champ. And as in person at Indy, super bowl champion John Schneider.
Podcast Announcer
How you doing?
John Schneider
Awesome. Good to see you. Yeah, that was. That was a fun conversation, man. That was. That was a good day.
John Middelkoff
We've gone pretty good since then.
John Schneider
Yeah.
John Middelkoff
How's the last couple weeks been?
John Schneider
It's been nuts. It's really, you know, like the. The finality of. It's really kind of overwhelming. You know, you're like, wait, that just happened? You know, we just. We followed a plan. The guys bought into it. They fought into the coaching staff, and that. That literally just happened, you know, and so there's like, when your season ends, you know, you're always. It's always like whether you make the playoffs or not, you're always like, nah. Like, you're just kind of. It's kind of a. It's kind of a bummer feeling like no more football because it ends. Yeah. You're just. Yeah. And, you know, it's different for guys. Like, Like. Like you and I, where, like, you're constantly planning and you're in. You're in draft mode, you're in free agency mode. But, yeah, just, you know, like all of a sudden now we're here, we're like, okay, know, trying to get a lay of the land for the spring, see what free agency is going to look like, and we're just moving into that right away. But you do forget how late it is, you know, but our staff's done a great job. We had really good free agency meetings during the season. And then I just got to get caught up, draft wise.
John Middelkoff
You know, I've talked to Howie and Veach about this, and you've dealt with this before. Do you feel behind right now or are you able to keep up?
John Schneider
Not with. Not with free agency, with. With the draft A little bit. Because we were. We were, you know, the day after the parade, we were hungover, actually. Not too. Not too bad, you know, Coors or Bud Lights.
Lavar Arrington
Sorry.
John Schneider
Bud Lights. Yeah. Yeah, I can't say that.
John Middelkoff
Proud partners. Yeah. Yeah.
John Schneider
So. But no, we were in, you know, we were in the offensive. We were in draft meetings, but I was in and out, you know, because we were interviewing offensive coordinators. Oh.
John Middelkoff
Yeah.
John Schneider
And so we had that going on and then obviously we had the. The ownership statement. So there was. There was just a lot. There's just a lot going on right away. So I was in and out of those meetings a lot. So it's. But it's. It's really just. John, it's like the. It's like that personal time, you know, like your study time. You know, you've done it.
John Middelkoff
Does it feel easy to handle all this? Coordinator leaving a sale, Super Bowl. You've been in the league a long time.
John Schneider
Yeah.
John Middelkoff
It's as easy for you to handle than it would have been 15 years ago. Less stress, at least. Oh, yeah. You feel the same amount of pain?
John Schneider
No, definitely. You know, you're over time. Your experiences, you know, you bank them. You know, Mike would say you stack them, right? Like stack all your experiences. And. And I journal a lot, too, so that kind of helps me.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Like.
Lavar Arrington
All right.
John Middelkoff
Like, how long you been doing that?
John Schneider
Oh, shoot. 2008.
John Middelkoff
Always heard that word.
John Schneider
Something like that works or helps. Yeah, it just helps me kind of like. All right, it's like a therapeutic. Yeah.
John Middelkoff
So the Sam Darnold thing. Did you watch a hockey game a couple days ago?
John Schneider
No, it was on. It was on six in the morning. Yeah. I woke up, it was over. Yeah.
John Middelkoff
Well, that hockey game was like just a true, pure, like sports story. You know, These guys, they beat Canada.
John Schneider
Yeah.
John Middelkoff
I feel like Sam Darnold, we just don't get these as much anymore. Just like a pure, genuine. The guy's career resurrects it. Super bowl champion. Like, it's just. You're around him every day as a player and sign him, but like as a human being. I was telling someone the. I had never ever heard anyone say a negative thing about Sam Darnold his entire career through the.
John Schneider
And that's not easy to do, especially in our industry. Right. But.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah.
John Schneider
Yeah. And then, and then what was it like? Just watching and then it ends up being true?
John Middelkoff
Yeah.
John Schneider
You know, like I, you know, people were asking me, you know, throughout, like the, the playoffs and super bowl week and all that, like, well, when did you know that you guys are going to be a really good football team? And I, and I honestly, it was in training camp watching Sam interact with the offensive staff and his teammates. And like, it was, it was, it was seamless and it was, he was everything that everybody had talked about. Just hard working, low ego, tough, competitive. Like Tony, like, you know, strong self efficacy, but not like, not in your face, you know, like, it was awesome to witness, don't you think?
John Middelkoff
Going through some. I was telling someone the other day, like, by the time like Andy Reid got Alex Smith, kind of unfazed by everything, had just seen a lot of crap in his career and you just kind of develop some like thick skin where some guys you get, you've had some of these type players, you draft them and they were just superstars immediately. So if it starts going the other way, they're not ready to handle it. Where when you just kind of get in the mud from day one as a player, especially when you're drafted high, you realize like, this shit's hard. And if you're a high character guy and you make it out, it honestly becomes a little easier to handle everything, doesn't it?
John Schneider
Yeah. You know, this is not like about myself, but it's an analogy. Like the way I started out in the industry was like Rob Wolf, Ted Thompson were my, you know, my bosses, they love to go scouting. So they would leave like Tuesday morning. So I'm in. I'm like 21 years old in the office with Mike Holmgren and Andy Reid and John Gurdon, Dick Giron and Ray Rhodes and like, like this whole.
John Middelkoff
That's Crazy, like.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah.
John Schneider
And so all of a sudden, I was just, like, thrown into it. And then when. Then when I went to Kansas City, the pro director there, it was just. It was just much easier. To your point, like, when you're thrown into something like that. It was very. It was overwhelming at the time, but then you just kind of, like, keep working, and all of a sudden you're like, wait, that was. That was. That was rough. But it's really helped me in the future.
John Middelkoff
So is job easy now?
John Schneider
No, no, good one.
John Middelkoff
I know you've had a long day, so I'll get you out of here. You. You just. You just hired or, you know, the Mike did you.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Part of it.
John Middelkoff
The new offensive coordinator from the 49ers. You lose Kubiak. How important was it to hire someone offense for Sam? Like, what goes into that?
John Schneider
Yeah, Brian had coached Sam in San Francisco, and then it was really just like, with. For Mike, it was like keeping. Keeping like, the collective together, the whole group, as many of the coaches as we possibly could. So, you know, losing Clint, I mean, that's. That's hard that. That late in the year, you know, so same system. You know, similar. Very similar system. Background with the quarterback and then just the different skill sets with the other guys that. That are on our staff. That was. That was. That was. Was most important for Mike.
John Middelkoff
How many coaches on your watch. I know, you know, Pete played a big role. Have become head coaches. It feels like a pretty high number. Bunch of the defensive guys.
John Schneider
Bunch of defensive guys.
John Middelkoff
First offensive guy.
John Schneider
This is the first offensive guy goes well. Gus dq.
John Middelkoff
Sol. Indirectly.
John Schneider
Salah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Robert. Yeah, yeah. Dave Canales.
John Middelkoff
Schottenheimer was your offensive coordinator for a minute.
John Schneider
Yeah. Dave Canales, you guys. Yeah, there's been. Yeah, it's pretty. It's been a good group of guys.
John Middelkoff
So this week for you changed a lot over the course of your career or still. I know the. The rhythm and the timing of this day's like, much. This is the NFL now, John.
John Schneider
This is bigger than it used to be. Yeah, it's like, wow. Like, I mean, we've been cruising around here, so we had league meetings this morning, and then I'll have more league meetings tomorrow. But, yeah, me and the medical. Getting all that stuff's gonna be super important. But like I said, our staff's like. Our staff's kicking butt. We got a great group of guys.
John Middelkoff
Yeah.
John Schneider
So I don't know if you know any of our guys.
John Middelkoff
No, I used to know more of the guys, probably like five Six years ago.
John Schneider
Okay.
John Middelkoff
The interviews with the prospective future Seahawks or future NFL players or meeting with the agents for free agent guys in the league. What is more your priority this week here?
John Schneider
Agents, I get caught up on the draft stuff, you know, like being able to study the interviews, whether it's the canned interview they do here or in the room, you know, over at the Dome, the zoom ones that the coaches do. That's probably increased a lot since he scouted. Interviews is my code. Covid. Yeah. Yeah, he's here for a couple days. But the COVID really, like, that was like, eye opening.
John Middelkoff
Like, whoa.
John Schneider
You can really. I mean, you're on zoom with somebody for an hour at different moments, right? At, like, different All Star game or in his family room or at his dorm room. You know what I mean? You could really.
John Middelkoff
Why did a podcast interview with you from your office for 45 minutes? I mean, that wasn't impossible.
John Schneider
Yeah, no.
John Middelkoff
5, six years ago.
John Schneider
Yeah. So I think we've. We've really. We've really. Me personally, I've learned a lot from it, and our guys do a great job. I learned a lot from those interviews. And our guys do a great job of, like, asking the pertinent questions, not like, yeah, you know, it's your favorite color. Yeah.
John Middelkoff
Well, I just. As a football fan, it was really enjoyable to watch you guys come together and play, and that was. You know, there's something just like something about a team that no one really saw coming. Even though you'd won 10 games here before.
John Schneider
Yeah.
John Middelkoff
You know, it's not like you were
John Schneider
like a. Yeah, we were under the radar.
John Middelkoff
Yeah. I thought. I thought it was crazy.
John Schneider
I put some cash down.
John Middelkoff
I did five to one picture to win the division. I did because it was like the Rams last year had won 10. It wasn't that big of a difference.
John Schneider
Yeah.
John Middelkoff
And then watching you guys get hot and. I mean, that super bowl, that was pretty cool.
John Schneider
Yeah, that was. That was a blast, man.
John Middelkoff
That was pretty cool. So congratulations.
John Schneider
I appreciate you, John.
John Middelkoff
Enjoy the week.
John Schneider
Thanks for having me, man.
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John Middelkoff
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John Middelkoff
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Lavar Arrington
This is Lavar Arrington from Up on Game. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. It's a great time to apply for an Apple Card. You'll love earning unlimited daily cash on every purchase that includes 3% daily cash when you buy the latest iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch at Apple through this special referral offer we when you get a new Apple card, you can earn bonus daily cash. To qualify, you must apply at Apple Co get daily cash Apple card issued by Goldman Sachs bank usa Salt Lake City. Branch offer may not be available elsewhere. Terms and limitations apply.
Podcast Host
I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi, Dan.
Dan Morgan
Hey, how's it going today?
Podcast Host
It's going good, man. Tell us who you are and what you do.
Dan Morgan
I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan and Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm.
Podcast Host
That's pretty awesome. I think I saw a billboard of yours recently that said 20 billion one 20 billion is an insane number.
Dan Morgan
Yeah, 20 billion recovered. It's actually, I think somewhere north, probably closer to 22, 23 after this year. And each year we get bigger and badder and our army grows. So the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on.
John Schneider
Awesome.
Podcast Host
So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident?
Dan Morgan
Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's £529 from your cell phone. We are always open. Our call center is always waiting to take your call. 247 365.
John Schneider
Wow.
Podcast Host
Dan Morgan from Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show.
Dan Morgan
Thanks for having me. Visit forthepeople.com for an office near you.
John Middelkoff
Okay, let's. Let's dive into Matt Money Smith. Okay. Very excited. We actually played golf, I think last year. Matt Money Smith, biggest radio show, Southern Cal, I mean the Dodgers, pretty good, Pretty good team to be in business with.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah.
John Middelkoff
AM570 in Los Angeles with one of my favorites, Petros, which we'll dive into. He had a pretty legendary rant and we played Gol. We played a par three, me, you and Daniel. Jeremiah, who you are the play by play guy for the San Diego or, sorry, Los Angeles Chargers.
John Schneider
10th year.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Isn't that wild?
John Middelkoff
And you came over from the Lakers.
Matt 'Money' Smith
I worked for the Lakers for five years and then I did national NFL and NCAA football calls. And then when the chargers moved to LA in 17, they hired me.
John Middelkoff
I'm always fascinated by guys like you who do the play by play guy, who's a play by play guy for a massive team, but also has a radio show where it's a completely different world. Is it ever hard to kind of flip back and forth, forth?
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah, a little bit. We do a stupid show. You know, you're familiar with it, so it can get you into a little bit.
John Middelkoff
It's like Howard Stern of sports kind
Matt 'Money' Smith
of a little bit. Yeah. I mean, I think that's we. So like we were syndicated for three years and we hated it because it was just. When you're syndicated, it's like, hey, here's story one, here's story two, here's. And that's just not us. And so we might be the only show in the history of sports radio that was like, hey, we're not doing this anymore. And they're like, wait, what do you mean? You're not, you're not. No, we want to be an LA show and just talk about Los Angeles and our experience. You know, we love the city. I moved there, you know, for college. I went to Pepperdine when I was 17. So I've been there for 35 years now, 34 years now. So it's Petro from LA. Original, born and raised in on the hill, San Pedro, Palos Veris. Obviously a San Pedro High School or Peninsula High, usc. Been just there the whole time. And I just, you know, I met my wife there, she's a local, she's from Huntington Beach. So it's just a special place. And we like having a local show.
John Middelkoff
You know the thing, you know, I grew up loving radio. I remember the first time being in like junior high and Jim Rome and this is late 90s, nothing like that existed. Yeah, and I got worked in football a little for a little bit. But I. Radio is something. I think it was easy transition because I was a listener my whole life. My dad, you know, up in Northern California. Knbr.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah, Sports Leader.
John Middelkoff
I never got in his truck. You know, he was a farmer driver without that being on anyone. All the people he worked with, that was just, it was a staple. But radio in Northern California, not quite the same. You guys are still having a lot of success. How's that possible? Especially in a market like the west coast can be a little like, you know, people just get distracted. It's just easier to get distracted. The, the car, right. We connect to our phones. How have you guys kind of maintained success? Because clearly you have.
Matt 'Money' Smith
I appreciate it. Yeah, it's. I think you, you, you described it perfectly. You develop relationships. I'm old now, man. You can see it on my face. It's leathered and you look good. So I, I now meet people who are in their 30s that tell me they were, you know, in middle school when their dad picked them up at school and they would listen to petros and money on their way home and it was a connection that they had with their dad. And like I've now met people that have 10 year old sons that Were the sons that now listen. Oh yeah. This is something my son and I have together. So I think that's how you survive. It is. This is our 20th year. We're the longest running show that's still intact. John and Ken, which is on kfi. It's a conservative talk. Ken is retired, so there's just John now. But that's it. It's so far and away the longest running sports show in LA that stayed in the afternoon drive slot. And I think that's. It is you just, you know, I think it's like you with your audience, right. You're. You engage with your people that are commenting that are in and they feel like you're with them. Like, like, oh yeah, they're in the car with me. You know, they're. And because LA is a car culture, I think that helps a lot. Even with the phone, you can still. And the other thing not to make. This is probably pretty boring for everybody. But like we got into podcasting early. We told iHeart before there was an iHeartradio, hey, we need to. Where can we post this? How can we get this on Apple Music? How can we get this on itunes to be able to podcast? Because we're gonna lose audience if you. We don't. So we've been podcasting for a long time.
John Middelkoff
I've been in business with iHeart, you know, with Colin and everything. And they are, you know, for probably traditional 20 years ago, more radio based have transitioned pretty well to the digital. Like pretty. You know, some of these quote unquote legacy companies struggle making the pivot. They've pivoted pretty well, which I'm sure helps being involved with them.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah, I mean, perfect. So I, I came up in music originally. I was in music the first, you know, while also doing a little bit of sports. Not to bore people, but I work for kroc. Arguably I was music director at kroc. I was on the morning show at kroq. It's arguably the biggest station in America at the time. And they did not have the vision.
John Middelkoff
Is that rock?
Matt 'Money' Smith
That was. So it was kroq, so it's alt rock. So basically breaking bands like Depeche Mode, the Cure, Nirvana, Sublime, you know, that sort of stuff. Biscuit, Red Hot Chili Peppers, all of that stuff was. Was kroc and they didn't have that vision. And now when you look at. If you want to stream KROC live, you stream it from the iHeartRadio app.
John Middelkoff
Yeah.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Even though they're competitive companies, even though they're Odyssey and it's iheart here. It's still. Which is why you and Colin are in a great spot and so many people can access your content. I heart's just like, whatever, man. Come on over here. We'll run your stream and we'll make money off it and we'll throw some commercials in there and we'll be good.
John Middelkoff
When I first got into radio after football in like 2013, 14, I was on the smaller station in the Bay Area 957 going up against KNBR. And at the time, the Giants had won two World Series. And then in 14 they won another one. And I remember we'd get the ratings books and we were doing pretty well. But when that team started taking they were doing like 20 shares in a market that's. I mean San Francisco is not quite
Matt 'Money' Smith
la, but it's one of the biggest
John Middelkoff
markets in America in KMBR's reach. You guys have the Dodgers, who are now. You know, I was a little young for like the Magic Johnson. Pat Riley who just took the country by storm. Does feel, you know, and baseball's not quite the same of what it was, but that team feels like they've broken through and almost feels like an NFL team. You couldn't find a casual sports fan that wouldn't have an opinion right now on the Los Angeles. Which is great for business.
Matt 'Money' Smith
It is.
John Middelkoff
And you're in the business. This is what you go to games. I do talking to you on the golf course about how dialed in these guys are from a character standpoint. Like they're a. They're an impressive operation that has a lot of money.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah. The. One of the. We go to games because we broadcast from the games. We'll do our radio show because, you know, we go into Dodger baseball. So Pre games at 6, we're on 3 to 7. We get that last hour preempted. So we'll just do the show from the stadium. Wireless mics on the field. We know all the players.
John Middelkoff
That's pretty cool.
Matt 'Money' Smith
It's really cool. It's not pretty cool. It's really cool because they're good guys. And sort of one of the more viral social media conversations we had, we were talking to Andrew Friedman and we brought up, I think the way we phrased the question was, you know, people saying that you just spend all this money. Feel like it short changes, you know, scouting the work, the players put it. And he just lit up. He's like. It was like. And it wasn't something that I pre planned or anything. He was Just almost like a. Oh, thank you for asking me that. He said, and he did not hold back, man. I think it was during a Padre series, so you got a little bit of a salty vibe already going there. And he said, look right behind me right now. What do you see? He's like, there's Freddy Freeman digging out, you know, with Dino Ebel just working on digs. He's like, where did you see Mookie Betts out here? Mookie Betts was out here two hours ago fielding grounders at shortstops. That Mookie Betts in Freddie. That's every one of our players. Look on that sideline. Look over there on that baseline. What do you see? Nobody's there. He's like, these guys bust their ass. He goes, you. You run the. They're only winning because they're getting paid, and they're paying all this money. He said, it's insulting to these guys because of how professional they are and how hard they work. And that's what they've done an incredible job of, is they put together a team and they didn't pay anyone until Mookie. They're like, mookie's one of those guys, man, who's just so hyper focused on being the greatest ever. And Freddy's the same way, and Shohei's the same way, and Yamamoto with his javelins and all of that. They're like, yeah, we'll give you guys hundreds of millions of dollars, but we won't give it to everyone.
John Middelkoff
If you took Jim Harbaugh to a pregame, and you said you get to pick one guy to try to make a football player, would he pick Mookie, or could he pick Ohtani?
Matt 'Money' Smith
He'd pick Ohtani.
John Middelkoff
He would.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Ohtani's huge. Like, you don't realize it till he walks out, you know? And, you know, a lot of times we're just kind of leaning on the railing of the dugout, and here's where the guys are walking out right next to you. So you're level with them, right? And for the most, like, you know, that's what's cool about baseball, is Mookie's slightly larger than me, and I'm not a big guy, obviously, you know? Whereas, like, I remember David Eckstein for the Angels, smaller than me, and yet here's an ALCS mvp, right?
John Middelkoff
Dustin Pedroia, who I grew up close to in Woodland, California, was like, five, eight, right? Won the mvp, right?
Matt 'Money' Smith
Won an mvp. You can do that. And then all of a sudden, you see Aaron Judge or like Shohei Ohtani emerge from the dugout. You're like, oh my God, like, look how broad he is. Look at how thick his trunk is. Like, then you see that and it's like, okay, yeah, that's, that's a football player.
John Middelkoff
I remember it was like Sunday night baseball his first year for the Angels and he hit like a ball off the wall. And I remember him rounding for. Because you didn't know, you just do this guy, this like all time talent from Japan. But we've had that before and guys. And he rounded first and it was like, holy shit, look at him run.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Right?
John Middelkoff
You know, because we've had some big boppers from Japan, but this, the athletic ability, like, I mean what would his 40 time be? Probably four or five.
Matt 'Money' Smith
It's, it'd be ridiculous. That size and then just kind of thinking about, you know, the arms, like the idea of dropping Shohei into a quarterback clinic for, you know, two years or something. Like he's built like Herbert, you know, he's that big. He's, you know, you think about Justin Herbert, who's probably, you know, between he and I think maybe even more so just from a muscular standpoint than Josh Allen. I think you'd probably point to Herbert as, hey, what's the best stature, best body QB in the NFL? And it's probably Justin and like that's who he reminds me of.
John Middelkoff
Well, let's talk about the Chargers.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah.
John Middelkoff
How long you been doing their games?
Matt 'Money' Smith
10 years. This is my 10th year.
John Middelkoff
So you did it before they moved to Los Angeles?
Matt 'Money' Smith
I did it the year they moved. It's crazy to think they've been in LA. This will be their 10th year in Los Angeles. Isn't that insane?
John Middelkoff
10 years?
Matt 'Money' Smith
2017. Yeah, 2017.
John Middelkoff
So you were doing the games at the. It was the Home Depot Center.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Home Depot Center.
John Middelkoff
What was that?
Matt 'Money' Smith
Like, coolest thing ever. Like it sucked with the fans because it was such a small, pretty premium priced experience. So you're spending pretty much 300 bucks on every.
John Middelkoff
How many people were in there?
Matt 'Money' Smith
24, 000. That's pretty cool. It was incredible. Like we're calling the games. It's like a high school stadium.
John Middelkoff
Yeah.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Calling games at the top of the first section. And that's it. That's the top. And then on the opposite side you actually have an upper deck. That was it. I told so many people, friends of mine that are scattered around the country, I was like, do yourself a favor, fly to la, go to one of these games. It'll never happen. Again, like it'll never happen again. You can hear like from our broadcast booth you could hear Rivers yelling at the refs. You could hear the opposite sideline at times screaming at each other. Like it was so intimate. It was really, really cool, but it was terrible for the team.
John Middelkoff
How really quick, how cool was the Philip Rivers moment this year?
Matt 'Money' Smith
The best.
John Middelkoff
That moment on Monday Night Football. I know they lost, but he was slinging it around. It's just, I said this about Sam Darnold, the hockey team. We just don't get that many genuine moments anymore in sports. It's, listen, the media. I'm part of it, you're part of it. Some of it's just like we talk too much about stuff that was just like pure and cool. This 45 year old guy probably weighed 280 pounds. Just come back, knew the offense because he'd been calling it his passion and pride, him getting hit. It's just like, what a badass. How cool would have been to bet on his high school team. They showed the video of all those kids watching.
Matt 'Money' Smith
What a moment, right?
John Middelkoff
You know, for, for his own family. Some of his kids that were younger don't remember.
Matt 'Money' Smith
He's the best guy. He's the best guy. I know that he's got a bit of a polarizing personality, especially if you're a Raider or a Bronco fan. I think since he's retired, they recognize that there's only one Philip Rivers man. You just, you don't make him like that. The guy that cared so much, that was willing to get emotional about how much he cared, how you talk to his teammates. Like, it'll be interesting if he, I think he seriously considered that bill's job and I think they seriously considered him. I don't think that was a joke. I think he and Josh Allen really hit it off and that was something that they were very serious about. And just because he's that kind of guy, he. And so I think when he takes his job, it's going to be fun to see how many of his former teammates he, he puts on his staff because of just the respect they had. Like, you know, we have Nick Hardwick as our assistant OL coach, his former center. Like, I have no doubt he'll be like, where do you want me? I'm there.
John Middelkoff
Were you there? Was Kenny Wiggins on the team? Remember that offensive lineman? He's a Fresno State guy.
Matt 'Money' Smith
He trying to think if he was.
John Middelkoff
He might have been like 15, 16, 17 maybe.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah, I think he was right before us.
John Middelkoff
Might have been San Diego. But he, When I was a GA at Fresno State, he was our tackle. And I remember texting with him and he, he's like, I. I can't tell you how much I love Philip Rivers. And it was just, I've said forever what John Madden had. And even Gruden, like, you can't fake that. Like, people kind of try. It's like they're just unique personalities. I think Rivers, I'm glad, like, if you're going to be head coach, that's
Matt 'Money' Smith
cool because you're part of our lives.
John Middelkoff
I think he could be a John Madden. John Gruden put him up. He would be a rock star.
Matt 'Money' Smith
The money, I believe the money that Amazon threw at him was ridiculous.
John Middelkoff
Oh, they tried to get him.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah, that it was ridiculous. And like the, the accommodations that they were going to make for him, ridiculous. And just to speak to the kind of guy he is, he's like, gosh darn it, I'd be shortchanging my guys. You know, I appreciate you getting me back for high school Friday, but I don't want to shortchange my guys being gone on Wednesday afternoon to Thursday night. And they're like, we'll charter you a plane back right after the game Thursday, you'll be home, you know, middle of the night on Thursday. You'll be good. Yeah, shortchange them. Kids can't do it. That's the kind of guy he is, man, for like $25 million a year.
John Middelkoff
What's clear though, then is coming back and coaching the high school. He's gotten the juice to coach because you take a head coaching so that maybe he's not going to do the John Madden thing and he's more likely to do the Andy Reid thing.
Matt 'Money' Smith
I think so. I think so.
John Middelkoff
Say the next five years he's a head coach in the NFL.
Matt 'Money' Smith
I wouldn't be surprised if he's a head NFL. Yeah, I could see it. I wouldn't be surprised if he's the head coach, you know, at NC State.
John Middelkoff
His son just committed. I saw on the ticker.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah, I mean, I could see that. If you're NC State, you want to have relevance. It's. It's a state with money, you know, you need people to scratch out checks. You're going to write a check to Philip Rivers.
John Middelkoff
How sick would that be? Philip Rivers the coach and his son the quarterback.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Incredible.
John Middelkoff
They're like, we'll put Belichick on all these. No Philip Rivers.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah. What was Kenny Dillingham's famous line? Can somebody stroke Me a check for 20 minutes. Philip Rivers will get someone to stroke a $20 million check.
John Middelkoff
You know, people made fun of Kenny Dillingham. Someone gave him a check. They got. He got money. He said on an interview the other
Matt 'Money' Smith
day, I love Kenny.
John Middelkoff
That people like a guy that wasn't even associated with Arizona State, but a rich guy in Scottsdale gave him a bunch of money and they're building the
Matt 'Money' Smith
thing for that man.
John Middelkoff
I told my wife it worked.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah, it's just such a great line. You mean to tell me there's not someone to stroke a $20 million?
T Mobile Representative
I don't know.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Maybe you're traveling in circles that I'm not. It does seem like it'd be kind of hard. But Kenny's awesome.
John Middelkoff
Okay. You talked about Herbert. You've seen all these games. I've always supported. He's an easy guy to root for. The playoffs games. I mean, this year he has a broken hand. The offensive line's hard, but he's played three playoff games and hasn't gone well. I always say people forget Peyton Manning. Like, when I was young in, like, high school and college, everyone said he was better than Tom Brady.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah.
John Middelkoff
But then the playoffs would start and Peyton Manning would be atrocious. A lot of people. I watched the Elway Doc he had. I mean, in the super bowl against the 49ers. Now, granted, they're like the greatest team of all time. He threw for, like, 100 yards. Yeah, it was like nine of four, 40. So it's like, guys have bad games. He's young. I take it you and DJ and all these guys around him think that. And Jim Harbaugh, most importantly. Like, they ain't selling stock.
Matt 'Money' Smith
No, no, he's.
John Middelkoff
But why has it happened?
Matt 'Money' Smith
Well, I think this year, I think, was different than last year. Last year, I don't think he had a chance. There's just. There was no chance. Will Anderson and Daniel Hunter and all those guys were in his lap every time he took a snap. Like, there was just. Even the test tackles, Slater and Alt were out there, and even they were getting gas.
John Middelkoff
Will Anderson's a problem.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Exactly. He was a huge. So for me, like, that one was different this year. I think that so much scar tissue had built up over the year where there's just unblocked rushers, there's quick pressures that by the time that playoff game came around, it was just so, like, basically the success of the offense was him operating up structure. That was it. You know, it wasn't really anything else. You know, him against the Eagles. Was he running around? Yeah, he's like, I'm just going to pull it and run. It wasn't a play call. He's just pulling it and running it because nothing else is working because he can't get blocks. He has no time in the pocket. He's wearing it. He's getting hit God knows how many times. So I think it just caught up to him in New England. And I don't think. And I like Greg Roman a lot. I know this is what people do right when they're about to say something, but. But Greg's a great guy. I just thought the game plan was very curious. It's like, you know, you can gash these guys on the edges with a run game, and yet they never ran it. Like they just. They got that turnover. First and goal from the 10. And what is it? It's three runs by Justin Herbert. It's like, what? Run to the edges. You know, you've got this. Trevor Penning is your six zero lineman. Tucker Fisk, as your tight end, go beat him up. And they just never did it. And so I think that game got into his head and he missed some throws and he wasn't good.
John Middelkoff
I mean, he had a bad game.
Matt 'Money' Smith
No, but they weren't, you know, defensively they were sensational. Offensively they weren't good. And I think that's what makes this year so interesting.
John Middelkoff
What's weird about Roman is like, historically back to his 49er days with. With Harbaugh, then with Harbaugh's brother in Baltimore is a run game guy.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah.
John Middelkoff
And then this year, you know, before the injuries really took old, he was. They were passing all the time.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah.
John Middelkoff
Do you think he was trying to prove like, I'm a pass guy or is it just like trying to ride what.
Matt 'Money' Smith
What I think, unfortunately it happens happens. And I think that's what, you know, I credit Harbaugh and the way that he's coached his teams is he's always been so good about it. He's like, I don't care. I'm going to run with a tight end who's got his hand on the ground. I'm going to run with a fullback. I'm going to run power God's play. And guess what? You're not even going to pass in the second half. JJ McCarthy, we're going to beat Penn State by running the ball. And I don't care if that doesn't lead to celebration and SportsCenter highlights. That's not what I'm here For. So I think it's just very hard for OCS, especially in the era of Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay and Mike McDaniel, all of this eye candy. It's very hard for them to just be a power team. You know, I think, I think I
John Middelkoff
saw a clip, maybe Mike's McDaniels first or second day. You. You were sitting down with them. What, what's your thought of just the Mike experience so far?
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah, he's a really cool guy, man. He's a very thoughtful, interesting guy. You ask him a question and it's not dismissive, it's very thoughtful about, you know, and I think that just kind of speaks to how into football he is. I think he and Jim are a lot more similar than people think. You know, they're just different about it. Jim.
John Middelkoff
They look different.
Matt 'Money' Smith
They look different. Yeah. You know, I think Jim loves. I think Coach Harbaugh loves the physicality of football. The idea of, you know, ultimately, what is football? Football is preventing forward progress. It's what it is. You know, this guy's trying to go here, you're trying to make sure he doesn't. And I think Jim loves that, you know that. Whereas I think Mike McDaniel is. He gave a great answer. I think it was in that interview. I don't remember if it was at the presser or if it was with us, but he had the. I'd never heard someone say it before and maybe you have, but it was so it crystallized it. He said the defense is trying to guess the answer to your question. As an offensive coordinator, I'm delivering a question and they're trying to answer it and I've got to devise the hardest question for them to answer. And it's just such a great way to think about pre snap motion, different formations, you know, using players like Darren Waller was talking about putting a slot receiver in the backfield. Because now the question is more complex. It's not the same. And so I think when you have someone that's thought about football and thinks about football that way, like, I need to make this as hard on them as possible. And Harbaugh's the same way. I need to make this as hard as them on as possible.
John Middelkoff
I think people, when they look at Mike, you know, he's this nerdy Ivy League guy, his football career really took off and he's even said this is. He's with Kyle and that whole crew and he realizes these guys, like, I gotta find a niche with these guys. So he got With Chris Forester, who's Kyle's O line coach and learned the run game and blocking, that's kind of his bread and butter. Like, if you talk to use check or kittle, they swear by the guy. So when you say he's a lot like Jim Harbaugh. When Jim Harbaugh said we took Joe alt because he's the tip of the spear, people are like, he's a weapon.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah.
John Middelkoff
Like, well, no weapons are Malik neighbors, and Harbaugh's like, no weapons are my tackles, my guards and my centers. I think Mike thinks more like that than people. I think the Miami thing is like throwing people off the scent a little bit.
Matt 'Money' Smith
I'm with you, man. I ultimately. And to that, Matt, you know, to that. Think about Sean McVay. Sean McVay's a run guy. Like, it's outside zone, man. That is. That is the foundation of the Rams offense. It's Todd Gurley. It's this last year. It's Kyron Williams, man. It's. And you. You look at the way he's now drafted, offensive lineman, he. He's kind of even gone from those smaller, more athletic guys like Mike McDaniel had in Miami to he's got freaking beef on that line now. And they're starting to run a little bit more power. So I do think that. And I mean, my gosh, look at Kyle in San Francisco. Right?
John Middelkoff
Kyle would run at every play. Kyle's like a skinnier, younger version of Jim.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Right. You know, like, that's what people, I think, forget because the eye candy is pretty cool and the explosives are pretty cool. But when you boil it down, they're run guys.
John Middelkoff
Is that a charger's deficiency right now? Some skill guys.
Matt 'Money' Smith
I mean, biased. Not selfishly, but as with my bias, no, I really like the room. I think Ladd's a legitimate number one receiver. He could end up with Jalen Waddle, like 1700 yard, eight touchdown season. It wouldn't surprise me.
John Middelkoff
You think he's that good?
Matt 'Money' Smith
He is. He's so good. He's so good in the open field. He always whips out of catches. Yeah, he like. He'll whip out of catches and get you an extra 10 yards every single time. And he's become so proficient at finding soft spots in zones now, you know, before it was a lot of just man beater. He'll just be, you got no chance, man. He's going to shake you. And that's when he whips out and he's getting those extra 10 yards. Now he's last year, we saw him start to settle into zones and kind of feel it out a little bit more. So I think he could have a sensational year and. And second year. Guy doesn't have a lot of stats. Nobody would know him unless you follow the Chargers. Trey Harris, he's going to be special.
John Middelkoff
Miscut.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah, he's going to be special, man. He blocks his tail off, man. He will block like a mother effer. And the players love him. He's crazy smart. Like, stupid smart when you talk to him. Former quarterback was Malik Neighbors. Quarterback in high school and probably decent high school team. Right. Quit to play basketball because. Because he thought he was getting recruited to play ball. Malik Neighbors came to him and said, we can win the state championship, but I need you. Can you come back? And essentially sold him on the idea of, I need you too, man. Like, I'm going to get recruited. I don't play basketball. And so that's like selfless sort of behavior, too. And I think that speaks to why here's a guy who was an axe at Ole Miss, and now he's just being asked to block his ass off every time he's on the field. He's got like 15 targets through eight games, and yet he's crushing dudes in the run game. I think it speaks to the type of player he is. So I say all of that to get to. I think he's gonna have a big year because I think McDaniel's gonna love him.
John Middelkoff
One thing, by the time before Harbaugh and Ortiz got there, it felt like the synergy with, you know, Tom and Staley just was a little off. And then now I was just getting a breakfast sandwich this morning behind Joe Ortiz, and it feels like Joe Ortiz and Jim Harbaugh, you know, the successful teams, you know, Veech, Andy.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah, right.
John Middelkoff
I mean, Kyle, John Lynch, McVeigh. Less. You got to have some synergy with those two guys.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah.
John Middelkoff
And it does feel like a pretty good relationship because Jim, he's mellowed out a lot. You know, he's a different guy now than he was 15 years ago, probably 10 years ago. He's actually kind of come into his own. I feel like, just very comfortable. And the chip on his shoulder is still there, but he doesn't show it as much. It feels like they got a pretty good thing going, those two, which is important. And the only way you can have sustained success, even if you're as good of a coach as Jimmy, we saw at the end with Trent Balki, you around These guys. What's like your takeaway for the couple years being around that? Those two.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah, I think the.
John Middelkoff
Especially Joe Ortiz.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah. I think the key with GMs is and I thought Tom was really good at this too, you know, with Mult with different types of coaches. You know, when I was there, Anthony Lynn was the first coach and then it was Brandon Staley and they both were very different. And I thought Tom Telesco worked very close with them to not just, oh, I'm going to pick the best guy and he's going to be a pro Bowler and it's going to look good for me. I need to draft the right guy for my team. And I think Joe and Jim have a very special relationship like that of yeah, I'm going to draft the guy that, you know, I think is going to a be the best player over the next four years or five years. That's what you're drafted him for, not just this year. And be someone that has a chance to thrive that that is going to fit in with this group that has the right character, makeup, style of play. Physical. It's a physical team. You know, you got to be able to kick some ass to be a charger. Like when you look up Tuli Khalil Mack, these guys are physical, you know, Tier Tart is mean as hell, you know. And same thing with Joe for his baby face. He's nasty.
John Schneider
Alt.
Matt 'Money' Smith
He is a. Yeah. Alt is ain't nasty. And Rashawn Slater is nasty. As smart as he is, these are nasty dudes, man. And so I think Joe has done a really good job of drafting and I think lad McConkey low key is that chip on the shoulder. Okay. I'm a little white guy with curly hair and I got my little southern accent. You think I'm a cute guy? No, man, he wants to kick you.
John Middelkoff
Remember guys, I played at Georgia, the best team in the country for multiple years.
Matt 'Money' Smith
I was best receiver.
John Middelkoff
Right. With Brock Bowers. Like we were the two guys.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah.
John Middelkoff
Remember when we left in the T park, like that was me.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah. You know, so I think he does a great job of drafting guys like that.
Lavar Arrington
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Podcast Host
I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi, Dan.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Hey.
Dan Morgan
How's it going today?
Podcast Host
It's going good, man. Tell us who you are and what you do.
Dan Morgan
I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan and Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm.
Podcast Host
That's pretty awesome. I think I saw a billboard of yours recently that said 20 billion. 120 billion is an insane number.
Dan Morgan
Yeah, 20 billion recovered. It's actually, I think somewhere north. Probably closer to 22, 23 after this year. And each year we get bigger and badder and our army grows. So the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on.
John Schneider
Awesome.
Podcast Host
So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident?
Dan Morgan
Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's £529 from your cell phone. We are always open. Our call center is always waiting to take your call. 247 365.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Wow.
Podcast Host
Dan Morgan from Morgan and Morgan, America's large injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show.
Dan Morgan
Thanks for having me. Visit fourthepeople.com for an office near you.
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John Middelkoff
Imagine. What's. Khalil Mack's a free agent, right? I would imagine they like Khalil Mack a lot.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yes, they love him older, but he. Tone Setter. Tone Setter had a great conversation with Corner Tarheeb still, who was going in at. Just finished his rookie year, and he had mentioned that he was coming in the facility to work out, and Khalil was there, and he's like, yeah, it was cool. You know, I started talking to Khalil, and he was sort of helping me out, getting me on a. On a path path. And then I came in. He's like, it was like a Tuesday. I came in on Thursday, and K was like, where were you yesterday? He's like, oh, you know, I'm doing Tuesday, Thursday, Friday right now. He's like, okay. He's like. And I got the hint real quick. He's like. And yeah, ever since then, I've been coming in seven days a week, and I meet Khalil and we work out together. And you want to know how you can be 34 going on 35 and you're still one of the top 10.
John Middelkoff
He's got, like, 85 biceps, right?
Matt 'Money' Smith
Exactly. And that's. That's kind of going back to our Dodger conversation. Khalil puts in the work, man, and he's now like, I think Tule's 23 going into his fourth year. 24 May. I think he's gonna be 24. Like, talk about having a guy to guide you. And, like, Tule was probably the most underrated D lineman in the league last year. Guy had 13 and a half sacks, man, like, in countless pressures, he was top 10 in pressures, can play inside, inside, kick outside. That NASCAR package with Tooley on the inside and Mack and Oway on the outside at a 55% pressure rate. Like, that's all Khalil Mack. That's him setting the tone.
John Middelkoff
So you'd expect them to be pretty
Matt 'Money' Smith
aggressive trying to bring it back. I think that's. What's the number. Can we make it work? We got to resign away. We probably got to do an extension for Tule so he doesn't get to free agency next year. Let's. Can we make that work? And I think Khalil, he loves Southern California, man. I see his kids running around the field all the time. You know, there are certain guys that don't like it and want to go back to Kansas and climb in their truck and go hunting and stuff like that, because that's what they're into or go back to Florida because that's what they're into. I get the sense Khalil really likes something.
John Middelkoff
I feel like Khalil could be a movie star. You know, like Howie Long when he did Broken Arrow. He's such a good looking guy. He's enormous.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yep.
John Middelkoff
Got the Schwarzenegger Howie Long thing going.
Matt 'Money' Smith
It's a great call.
John Middelkoff
I mean I feel like Khalil Mac movies have changed. The action movies don't happen as much. But if, if this was the heyday of like 95, I feel like Khalil
Matt 'Money' Smith
Mack would like have a machine relaunch commando or something.
John Middelkoff
I'll be kicking everyone's ass.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah, absolutely.
John Middelkoff
I'll get you out of here on this. You know, I think the Chargers are going to be a sexy obviously free agency in the draft. Yeah, I think there's going to be a lot of momentum going into the season. You know, the Super Bowls in Sofi Harbaugh, third year, kind of really established his group. Yeah, I think they're going to be a team that a lot of people. The division's hard. I mean the Raiders are surely going to be a little better, you think? And Denver, Kansas City, so kind of an outlier six win team. They're tough. What's the key to like figuring it out and getting over the hub?
Matt 'Money' Smith
Well, I think it's offense, you know, which is why the McDaniel hire is so exciting. You know, you look at the Patriots game, they allowed 16 points. You know, it's like you got to
John Middelkoff
win a playoff game when you allow 16 points.
Matt 'Money' Smith
You think about like that Denver game in Week 18, they had all backups, right. Playing defense and they didn't allow a touchdown. And it's a team that was fighting for the number one seed and they did not allow a touchdown. So like I feel great about the defense even though Jesse's gone. And I think the world of Jesse, I think he's going to be exceptional in Baltimore.
John Middelkoff
I ran into him the other day. He is not big. No, you would if you didn't know who he was. You would never think that's a new head coach of the Baltimore Raiders.
Matt 'Money' Smith
And he looks very young. He's got a very young face. He's so smart. He's going to his pressers. I used to not a big press conference guy. You know, it's a lot of platitudes and non answer answers. Jesse was always great man, very thoughtful, articulate, answered with, yeah, we did that wrong. We should have done this I could do this better. So he's going to be great. So you're going to lose a lot.
John Middelkoff
Who's our defensive coordinator?
Matt 'Money' Smith
Chris o'. Leary. So Chris was. So it was interesting because we thought they would go in house just to try to keep the continuity, keep as many of the coaches in house as they could, which they did. Chris was the safeties Coach in year one of Harbaugh, so came from Notre Dame lat. 2024 or 2024 was his only year coaching in the NFL. Coach safeties. So he's the one that was tasked with getting Derwin. Right. Like, hey, this is how I think we're going to play you. We're gonna. We're gonna predominantly feature you as a slot corner, as a big nickel. We're gonna play in some dime linebackers. So he basically was tasked with. Let's make sure Derwin, what was his line? It was clean. Clarity is velocity. That was Chris o' Leary's line. Clarity is velocity. And I need Derwin to play with velocity. So I need to get this to be easy and clear so he can be the best version of himself which is in the conversation is the best player like Kyle Hamilton in Baltimore. So he did that. They traded for Elijah Molden. I think middle of training came and it was on o' Leary to get him ready for the season. And Moulden had a huge year play in free safety for them. And so I think those two things combined with. He goes to Western Michigan to be their D.C. he was not on the team last year. He takes the Bronx from. I think they were 115th defense in the nation. And remember, this is the Mac. Yeah. You're not spending a bunch of money to get a bunch of great players in. It's pretty much level.
John Middelkoff
So me and Hughes on defense. Yeah.
Matt 'Money' Smith
So it's like you might as well. You're at Ohio or you're at Tulum Toledo or you're at Western or Central Michigan. It's all equal, you know, for the most part, top 10, top 10 defense. And all he did. And it was funny when you looked at his game plans and his teaching sheets, they were all Chargers. They just put a little Western Michigan logo on there. So basically he's just a disciple of Jesse Minner and a great again, very smart guy. So as long as it's a really long answer. As long as that holds up, they're gonna be good. They're gonna be good, man. I think the offense gonna be good.
John Middelkoff
I think the Harbaugh brothers and Jim's talked about this forever. Their ability to hire coaches, that's it, especially defensive coaches is pretty good. I mean no one, 10 years ago, Mike McDonald, I mean the guy was a quality control guy at Georgia and they've turned him into, I mean one
Matt 'Money' Smith
of the best coaches in the league.
John Middelkoff
Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVay of defense.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Right.
John Middelkoff
So in Harbaugh you got to trust because it typically works. And your first. The thing with Jim, your floor is so high it's like you're disappointed. Back to back playoffs, no problem.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Right. You know, so you're going to get in and if you can get into the tournament, when you've got Herbert, I know he has not played well, anything can happen. And you know I can make excuses forever about those playoff games and just sort of the issues that were plaguing them. Even the Jacksonville game, man, they just, they. I mean it's. I can do it. How are you running a freaking reverse to Michael Bandy when you're shutting the Jacksonville Jaguars out and all you need is a yard and a half to pick up a first down and go to the half? Up 28 nothing and it's over. And instead Joe Lombardi's running a freaking reverse with a practice squad guy who bobbles the snap and turns it over. Jacksonville scores. And it felt completely different going into the the half because of that. It's like what? What are we doing?
John Middelkoff
So I got one more question actually. SC football, your co host Petros people, you know he's don't might not remember played at usc.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Captain of the worst football team in USC history and he says that I don't. That's his line. Yes, I was the captain, although I believe it has since been surpassed in one of those Clay Hill.
John Middelkoff
You remember the in like 06 or 05 Fresno State play played USC. Well, Petro's called that game. My cousin was a long snapper on that team. I remember it was on TNT back then. But USC in the heyday of Pete, is it fair to say Dodger, Laker level buzz in that city?
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah. We had no football team, we had no NFL team.
John Middelkoff
Would it have mattered though? As good as they were, I think they still would have been equal.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah, USC football is a big deal. USC football is a big deal. What the hell happened in California? I think bad leadership is ultimately what it came down to. Pete, I think it started with Pete and a lot of this is me just regurgitating sort of what Petros views are. But Pete I think became jealous of Norm Chow and You know, he was getting a lot of the credit. You know, Norm is this great play caller and he's got Matt Leinert and Reggie Bush and look what he's doing with Lendale White and Mike Williams and. And he just kind of basically kicked him out, you know, and made Lane and Sark. And these young guys kind of came in, did the same thing with Dwayne Walker on defense, who was really good at coordinating the defense. And then when he left, it just got away from a man. Like, instead of recognizing that, hey, you've got all the recruits, you've got an incredible base, they were like, let's just keep the Pete thing going, you know? And so you help hire Lane and then you hire Sark. Like they hired Allegedly reportedly. I want to make sure I say that hired a search firm. When they hired Sarc, they were going to pay a million dollars. It's so stupid what these schools do, that these search firms.
John Middelkoff
What's the ad's job?
Matt 'Money' Smith
Right? That's. What are you getting paid a million dollars for? So they hire a search firm. Search firm comes back and says, Chris Peterson, no brainer, perfect guy. They're like, okay, Steve Sarkeesian. Washington's like, take him. We'll hire Chris Peterson. And look at how that worked out.
John Middelkoff
They went to the playoffs immediately.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah, immediately. Like, had USC just listened to the search firm and hired coach Pete. I think Coach Pete might still be coaching there.
John Middelkoff
Yeah.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Like, it would have gone so well.
John Middelkoff
I've said forever in college football, like culture and personality and where you're from, matter. Look at all the great west coast coaches. Pete, California guy.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah.
John Middelkoff
Jeff Tedford, California guy. Chris Peterson, UC Davis, west coast guy. Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, Dabo Sweeney, they're from the South. They have the draw. The Northeast guys. Now there are some guys. Urban Meyer could have coached anywhere. Nick Saban probably could have too. But most guys are not that.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah.
John Middelkoff
And Lincoln is a small town Texas guy who took over Oklahoma, who it
Matt 'Money' Smith
was already built by. It was already built by Stoop.
John Middelkoff
It was a little like now Chip with Bilotti, took it to another level. But they were already a top 20 team. It was a good job to take over and take the next level. Lincoln did the same. They were already a top 20, top 15 team. He just made him a top five team. USC was a disaster.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah.
John Middelkoff
And Lincoln, they thought they could buy their way out of problem. They gave him 120 million. They buy his mansion in Oklahoma. It's been a fucking disaster. There's no way around it. And then he, last year he wants out of the LSU game and Brian Kelly's like, no, we're playing this game. Brian Kelly said it's like this guy, everyone's making fun of him and he's like, no, we're playing this year. Obviously he's pushing for the Notre Dame thing. I feel like USC's just lost his way. And it kind of starts with I met him a couple times, he's a nice guy. I just think it's an awful fit. I mean I think it's a terrible fit. And I just. He has this great recruiting class. Okay. All these 18 year old guys. You ever hear Rick Pitino talk high school kids in basketball and football are done.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah.
John Middelkoff
Because you don't need them for like three years.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Right.
John Middelkoff
So it's like, okay, you have the top recruiting class and part of it is California law. They could pay these kids in, in high school.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah.
John Middelkoff
Some of these states can't. So they can give them a bonus while they're still in high school. So would the kid actually go to SC or is he just going because you gave him $700,000?
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah, it's like I think I'm short
John Middelkoff
in SC football this year. I don't see them as a playoff team.
Matt 'Money' Smith
No, I'm with you. I, I, I. It's top down. It's beyond leadership, it's beyond the, the head coach. I think it goes all and it's beyond Gen Cohen. I think it's all the way to the president of the university, how it's just gotten sideways. The idea that you could let a small town Texas head coach that's done nothing for your program dictate the end of the most storied college football rivalry outside of Michigan, Ohio State, like you're going to really let that go because if Lincoln Riley thinks he can make the playoff, which he has not done yet, if you get rid of USC, Notre Dame, McKay, Rockne, like that, that's what we're talking about. You know, for me, a guy that's
John Middelkoff
liner defining play in college was not any of the national championships. It was the Notre Dame game with the Reds.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Exactly. Like right? And like so for me my era, it was Rivers versus Rodney Pete, man, like that was the game. Like that's the greatest college. I remember that being to me as a kid like the coolest college football game I ever watched. Because it was storied Notre Dame, storied usc, the history of those two programs, California versus Chicago. And it's just, Is it done?
John Middelkoff
Officially I can't.
Matt 'Money' Smith
They've tabled it for two years. They could revisit it, but it's just so dumb that it happened. It's so incredibly stupid that they let it happen. I don't understand it. And I know, like, the. The. The USC supporters, and there's plenty of them that will. They're just bootlickers. They'll say whatever they can to support the school and the team. Well, Notre Dame doesn't play by the rules, and they need to join a conference, and they don't know what it's like. And it's like, I don't give a damn, man. It's usc, Notre Dame, I don't care. Like, all that stuff you can figure out in the playoff and put pressure on them, and they can't make the playoff unless they carry this sort of. Whatever. It's just. I'm just talking about this one game every year, and the idea that it came to an end is asinine. Completely asinine.
John Middelkoff
You think Link is the coach in two years?
Matt 'Money' Smith
No, no chance. I think he wants out. I think he was.
John Middelkoff
If McGuire. If Texas Tech had not gone well, do you think he's a Texas Tech coach?
Matt 'Money' Smith
I think he takes any of those jobs. If anyone from the SEC or the Big 12 come to get him, he will, gladly.
John Middelkoff
Problem is, they're not.
Matt 'Money' Smith
No, I think if any of the NFL teams, like, there were some rumors that Tennessee was sniffing around, you know, Sark and sniffing around Lincoln a little bit, I think had they come gone. See you later. I don't think it's. You're right. It's. Not only is it not a fit for sc, I don't think he believes that.
John Middelkoff
No, that's what I mean, it's his side, too. Who. What would they do when. On that. If SC had an opening, like, what would you even guess, like, where. Because it's hard to even. Like, I don't even know where they'd start.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Like, to me, when it was all coming up, when it all came up, I was like, first person I'd call would probably be Pat Fitzgerald. Get a guy that builds culture.
John Middelkoff
Get the train back on the tracks.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Yeah, get. Let's get. What was sc? It was halfback. You, man. It's like, let's get this thing back on the tracks. Let's get the trenches right. Let's. You've got. Like you said, high school players don't matter as much anymore, but they do for depth, you know, and not that they don't.
John Middelkoff
They don't help Me win immediately.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Right, Exactly. They're not going to help you win immediately. But I think if, if you get like someone, like what Pete built with the offensive and defensive lines, when you think about those teams and how good those O line and D lines were, man, and when you get sort of like what I think Pat's going to be able to do in the Big ten again, it's just tough football.
John Middelkoff
Chris Peterson does stuff at Fox. He's in L. A all the time.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Oh, I'd hire him in a second. I just don't think he wants to do it.
John Middelkoff
He's done.
Matt 'Money' Smith
If I. If Coach Pete said, hey, I want to do it, done, let's go. No, I think he's one of the most underrated coaches of the last 20 years.
John Middelkoff
Years.
Matt 'Money' Smith
30 years.
John Middelkoff
Genius money. I appreciate it and enjoy the combine. I will enjoy life.
Matt 'Money' Smith
And I do want to make one correction. When we were together in Phoenix, you played golf. I held clubs and swung them at a little ball. That was the difference.
John Middelkoff
Why I had. I had a kid about a month and a half ago and I probably look more like you now.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Swinging. That's not good.
John Middelkoff
So next time you guys come to Arizona, we'll all be equals.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Awesome.
John Middelkoff
Talk to you soon, man.
Matt 'Money' Smith
Appreciate it, brother.
John Middelkoff
Thanks, bro.
Matt 'Money' Smith
The volume.
John Middelkoff
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Matt 'Money' Smith
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John Middelkoff
Check the math. @t mobile.com switch and now T Mobile is in US cellular stores.
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Matt 'Money' Smith
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Chelsea Handler
This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. After the big Game, like most people, I kept thinking about the commercials. And there was one that stayed with me. It was from the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate. And it wasn't loud or flashy. It showed a Jewish kid being targeted at school and another student who chose not to ignore it. As someone who was Jewish, that moment felt very real to me. Not dramatic, just familiar. And what struck me was how clearly it showed that hate doesn't always announce itself, but the impact is still huge. If you saw the Blue Square spot during the big game, it's worth thinking about. And if you want to show support, sharing the blue square is one small way to do that.
Jennifer
If you're an H VAC technician and a call comes in grainger knows that you need a partner that helps you find the right product fast and hassle free. And you know that when the first problem of the day is a clanking blower motor, there's no need to break a sweat. With Grainger's easy to use website and product details, you're confident you'll soon have everything humming right along. Call 1-800-GRAINGER clickgrainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. Think Verizon is expensive? Think again. Anyone can bring their AT and T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal. So bring us your bill. Walking, running, Pogo sticking, Teleport. If you can ride on the back of a rollerblading yak or flyin on the wings of a majestic falcon. Any way you can bring your AT and T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal on the best Network based on RouteMetric's best overall mobile network performance US 2nd half 2025 already preserved must provide a very recent postpaid consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply.
Matt 'Money' Smith
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
Episode: 3 & Out - LIVE from The NFL Combine: Seahawks GM John Schneider, Chargers' Matt "Money" Smith
Date: February 26, 2026
Host: John Middelkoff
Guests: John Schneider (Seattle Seahawks GM), Matt "Money" Smith (Chargers play-by-play/LA sports radio)
This episode of "The Herd" offers an engaging look behind the scenes of the NFL Combine, featuring in-depth interviews with newly crowned Super Bowl champion John Schneider (Seattle Seahawks GM) and Matt "Money" Smith, the long-tenured voice of the LA Chargers and co-host of Petros and Money on AM570 LA Sports. The focus is on team-building after a Super Bowl win, adjustments post-victory, quarterback journeys, Chargers' growth under Jim Harbaugh, the evolution of sports radio, and the state of USC football.
[04:26–13:15]
Immediate Aftermath:
Adapting to Rapid Change:
Sam Darnold’s Journey:
Handling Chaos in the League:
Coaching Staff Continuity:
Draft & Free Agency Priorities:
Underdog Success:
[17:55–44:37, 47:15–62:28]
Local Roots:
Podcasting Pioneers:
Notable anecdote: Dodgers exec Andrew Friedman refuting the "bought-not-built" narrative, pointing to player work ethic over payroll.
Ohtani as the Ultimate Athlete
Philip Rivers’ Legacy:
Justin Herbert, Playoff Struggles, and O-line Issues:
Harbaugh/McDaniels Philosophy: The Run Game’s Resurgence
Skill Positions & Prospects:
Harbaugh/Ortiz Synergy:
Building a Physical Team:
[47:15–50:16]
Khalil Mack's Impact:
A Hollywood Comp:
Outlook:
[54:19–62:02]
LA’s USC Football Buzz:
Leadership Missteps:
The Lincoln Riley Fit:
End of USC–Notre Dame Rivalry:
What's Next for USC?:
John Schneider on Super Bowl Aftermath:
“You bank [your experiences]... I journal a lot, too, so that kind of helps me.” [05:41–06:51]
On Sam Darnold:
"He was everything everybody talked about. Hard working, low ego... awesome to witness." [07:49]
Matt Smith on LA Radio Longevity:
"I meet people in their 30s who rode in the car with parents listening to us... now they do the same with their kids." [20:45]
Chargers’ Offensive Woes:
"So much scar tissue had built up... that playoff game, it was just so..." [34:14]
On Greg Roman:
"I just thought the game plan was very curious." [35:51]
Mike McDaniel’s Football Philosophy:
"He said...the defense is trying to guess the answer to your question... you’ve got to devise the hardest question for them to answer." [37:24]
On an Underappreciated Skill Player:
"Trey Harris... blocks his tail off... crazy smart... he's going to be special." [41:06]
USC Football Decline:
"I'm shorting SC football this year... I don't see them as a playoff team." [58:20]
USC–Notre Dame Rivalry:
"It's asinine. Completely asinine." [60:22]
This episode provides inside access to championship team management with John Schneider, showcases the psyche and roots of LA sports media with Matt Money Smith, and dives deeply into Chargers and Los Angeles sports culture. It’s rich in storytelling and football philosophy, with notable quotes and honest assessments of the state of NFL and college programs. The episode is a must-listen for football fans eager for front-office perspective, coaching dynamics, and the nuances of sports culture in LA.