Colin Cowherd Podcast - College Football Reaction: Playoff Bracket Should Be Re-seeded, Bill Belichick Interested in UNC? Alabama Left Out

Summary

Podcast Summary: Colin Cowherd Podcast - College Football Reaction: Playoff Bracket Should Be Re-seeded, Bill Belichick Interested in UNC? Alabama Left Out

Release Date: December 9, 2024
Podcast: The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts and The Volume
Description: The Herd with Colin Cowherd offers a thought-provoking, opinionated, and topic-driven exploration of the top sports stories of the day. In this episode, the focus is on the intricacies of the College Football Playoff system, team evaluations, and the evolving landscape of college football coaching and player dynamics.

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1. Introduction to College Football Playoff Structure

The episode kicks off with a deep dive into the recently announced 12-team College Football Playoff bracket. John Middlekoff, a former NFL scout and host of the "Three and Out" podcast, and Savannah Guthrie engage in a robust discussion about the merits and shortcomings of the current playoff format.

Notable Quote:
John Middlekoff ([04:32]): "The 12 team playoff has come out. I think Bama is better than SMU. But Bama doesn't have an argument."

2. Re-Seeding the Playoff Bracket

A primary topic of debate is whether the playoff bracket should be re-seeded to ensure that the highest-performing teams face each other more fairly. Middlekoff argues for re-seeding by round, similar to the NFL, to better reflect team strengths and season performances.

Notable Quote:
John Middlekoff ([07:30]): "To me, them copying the basketball bracket where you're forced to play team instead of the NFL bracket where you reseed by the round. To me, you got to change football. Wise receipt by the round."

3. Team Evaluations and Selections

The conversation moves to evaluating specific teams and their qualifications for the playoffs. Alabama's exclusion despite a strong season is scrutinized, with Middlekoff suggesting that Alabama's inconsistency prevents them from being national champions this season.

Notable Quote:
John Middlekoff ([05:23]): "I also think, listen, Bama's not consistent enough to be a national champion. SMU is not going to be a national champion. SMU may be a better story. It's better for the sport. Big picture."

4. Conference Popularity and Its Impact

Middlekoff emphasizes the dominance of the SEC in college football's popularity, noting that despite logistical challenges, SEC teams traditionally perform well in the playoffs due to their strong fan base and high ratings.

Notable Quote:
John Middlekoff ([05:40]): "College football, I mean based on the numbers, has never been more popular. Like more people consistently have never watched more and the SEC ratings have been insane."

5. Challenges with the Current Playoff Structure

The hosts discuss the disparities between conferences, highlighting how SEC teams like Ole Miss, despite recent losses, still carry significant weight in playoff considerations compared to teams from less prominent conferences like the ACC.

Notable Quote:
John Middlekoff ([08:12]): "You got to figure it out. But you cannot keep this. How can Boise and ASU potentially get easier opponents than Oregon?"

6. Coaching Speculations: Bill Belichick and UNC

Shifting focus, the episode touches on rumors about NFL legend Bill Belichick potentially showing interest in coaching at the University of North Carolina (UNC). The hosts speculate on Belichick's motivations, suggesting it might be a strategic move to position his son for future opportunities.

Notable Quote:
John Middlekoff ([18:40]): "I think, is that a little bit. Where, you know, at first I thought Belichick was just interviewing with North Carolina to just, you know, it's like the guy who's trying to impress the girl and brings a girl, another girl to the party to get people to notice them."

7. Transfer Portal and NIL Effects

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the impact of the transfer portal and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) agreements on team stability and player development. The hosts express concerns that increased player mobility may hinder long-term team cohesion and individual player growth.

Notable Quote:
Savannah Guthrie ([25:00]): "High school football turnout has decreased. A lot of these great athletes are looking at these baseball contracts and going, you guys get 10 year baseball contracts."

8. Player Development and Future NFL Talent

The conversation delves into how the current college football environment affects the development of players destined for the NFL. Middlekoff highlights that constant transfers and lack of consistency can prevent players from reaching their full potential.

Notable Quote:
John Middlekoff ([24:12]): "You don't develop as you used to just being in a program for three or four years, consistent practice, consistent training."

9. Evaluating Team Strengths and Weaknesses

The hosts analyze various teams' offensive and defensive capabilities, discussing key players and their influence on potential playoff success. Teams like Tennessee are highlighted as sleeper picks due to their strong defensive lines.

Notable Quote:
John Middlekoff ([10:14]): "But they have a lot of talent on their team. Like to me, if the quarterback has a B plus, a minus game, they could play with most anyone in this, in this tournament."

10. Concluding Insights and Future Implications

In their concluding remarks, Middlekoff and Guthrie reflect on the evolving landscape of college football, considering how changes in playoff structures, coaching strategies, and player dynamics will shape future seasons. They emphasize the need for continual adaptation to maintain the sport's integrity and competitiveness.

Notable Quote:
John Middlekoff ([19:55]): "It reflects when you watch these teams because listen, the games are still fun, but you can feel that these teams aren't as good the high end teams as they've been."

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Key Takeaways:

• Playoff Structure: There is a strong case for re-seeding the College Football Playoff bracket to ensure a fairer competition based on team performance.

• Team Evaluations: Alabama's exclusion despite a strong season raises questions about consistency and playoff selection criteria.

• Conference Influence: The SEC's dominance in popularity and ratings significantly influences playoff selections, sometimes overshadowing deserving teams from other conferences.

• Transfer Portal & NIL: Increased player mobility and NIL deals are reshaping team dynamics, potentially impacting player development and team cohesion.

• Coaching Dynamics: Speculations about NFL coaches like Bill Belichick moving into college football highlight the shifting coaching landscape.

• Future of College Football: Adaptations in playoff structures and addressing the challenges posed by the transfer portal and NIL agreements are crucial for the sport's future.

This episode provides a comprehensive analysis of the current state of college football, offering listeners valuable insights into the complexities of playoff selections, team dynamics, and the broader implications of recent changes in the sport.

Transcript

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[John Middlekoff]

Thursday Night Football is on and it's only on Prime Video.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Good move.

[John Middlekoff]

Touchdown. This week, west coast rivals collide as the Los Angeles Rams visit the San Francisco 49ers.

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Heck of a throw.

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Coverage begins with TNF tonight. Not a Prime member. Sign up for a 30 day free trial to stream the game.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's The Rams and 49ers Thursday only.

[John Middlekoff]

On Prime Video restrictions apply. See Amazon.com amazonprime for details.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Hi everyone, it's Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Cotney from the Today Show. Nobody does the holidays like today. From festive performances and great gift ideas to tips for the perfect holiday feast, join us every morning on NBC and make TODAY your home for the holidays.

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[John Middlekoff]

I don't disagree, but if I was part of the sec, here's what I would say. College football, I mean based on the numbers, has never been more popular. Like more people consistently have never watched more and the SEC ratings have been insane. So we are carrying the popularity of this sport as a conference and have carried the sport really for a long time now and we only get three teams in. That's where you can just see them, even if it is justified as it is in this situation. All these teams. Ole Miss lost to Kentucky. If any of these sec teams is 10 and 2, they are easily in over SMU. We all agree, but like we want guarantees. And this is where I think college football is going to go if, like, if I'm the Big Ten who, like the SEC is carrying college football with the ratings. The ACC is simply not like I want to know, because getting into the playoffs is very financially viable for the conference. Right, Right. That's the same thing with the NCAA tournament. And now we only get. We only get one difference. Like the difference of us in the SEC is in the ACC is one team. That seems crazy.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah.

[John Middlekoff]

Like I watch an unhealthy amount of college football. The gap between the two is Grand Canyon wide. So even if you could justify records and everything, that's a big picture problem for me. If I'm Greg Sankey.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah, I get it.

[John Middlekoff]

We need some assurances. And this is where like the NFL, you know, what do tiebreakers go? Conference record. It's impossible to do tiebreakers and everything in college football because the SEC goes my 8 and 4. What is that worth in the. In the ACC? Am I 10 and 2 in the ACC like my Big 12? Arizona State's an incredible story. What would their record be if I put them playing lsu, Bama, Ole Miss, Arkansas, you know, so it's. It's not apples to apples. And that's the hard part. I think we all agree on that. Even if we go, yeah, SMU deserves it, but it's like it's a little out of whack now. It's first year. I'm not going to complain that much. I don't feel that bad. And I think the committee wanted Alabama because I do think Alabama. The needle moves a little more when you got Alabama playing because whose SMU is playing? Penn State. Like Alabama. Penn State's just a better television product, isn't it?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah. So here's the one that really cracked me up. So the regular season, the committee said the regular season matters. We're not going to give Bama three losses, two of which are Mulligans. Vandy in Oklahoma, but yet in Oregon has the most impressive regular season and arguably the most impressive championship game performance. George is up there as well. They get the winner of the Tennessee Ohio State game, which is a team capable of winning the national championship. Then they could face Texas, then Georgia. How did Penn State get an easier route? They lost at home to Ohio State and got hammered by Oregon. I think they have. Now they play another game. I think they have a much easier route than Oregon. I thought Oregon kind of got hosed.

[John Middlekoff]

Yeah. To me, them copying the basketball bracket where you're forced to play team instead of the NFL bracket where you recede by the round. To me, you got to change football. Wise receipt by the round.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yes. Yes.

[John Middlekoff]

Because Oregon has the only undefeated team. Clearly. If you just watch the best in the second best conference and they get stuck with Ohio State, Tennessee, that seems pretty outrageous.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I thought so.

[John Middlekoff]

Because if they could pick the opponents, I think there's a decent chance that Ohio State would be the last opponent they would want to play. Maybe Notre Dame second. And Tennessee would be high up there too. Like the sm use the Clemsons. You got to recede now. This is where I'm not going to freak out.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Year one, same.

[John Middlekoff]

You got to figure it out. But you cannot keep this. How can Boise and ASU potentially get easier opponents than Oregon?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Well, I mean, Penn State.

[John Middlekoff]

No, I think they would say Oregon's going to play the Rose bowl. Like that's where their game's going to be, I think in the, like their home game. So that, you know, it's kind of regionality. But playing Ohio State, potentially, that's. That's pretty difficult.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah. And Ohio State will fill half that stadium. I mean, Penn State gets SMU and Boise State, I mean, potentially, it's like, Jesus, the biggest game of the year at home. They lost to Ohio State and I mean, they got pushed around. I mean, they could not stop Oregon. I just thought Penn State, and I understand punishing. If you flip Penn State and Ohio State in the playoff, I'd be. I think it's more fair. Now Ohio State again, the Michigan loss was not only bad, not only at home, but it made you question the entire program. Like when Penn State lost to Ohio State, you didn't question the program. You're like, well, Ohio State's better that. That, that Michigan. I mean, listen, if you want to ask yourself who should. Who's getting punished, it's Ohio State. You. I think Tennessee is the sleeper national championship pick in this thing.

[John Middlekoff]

I was. I thought Herb street had a good point during the show when they released the bracket of, you know, Ohio State maybe would rather go on the road because a couple early three and outs, maybe you're down seven, nothing, ten nothing. That place will turn on you fast because that group's edgy. That group's already pissed off. Yeah, like in a weird Way, at 10 and 2. Hosting a playoff game is a major disappointment.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah.

[John Middlekoff]

You know, watching that game last night, I thought it was so insane that Clemson is now in the playoffs and Miami's just long gone. Even though all season Miami was like a top five or six team. And then Penn State. My takeaway with Penn State, Oregon's tough and that's their skill group is better top to bottom. I think Penn State has their front seven full NFL guy.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yes.

[John Middlekoff]

Best tight end in the country. They have a 1, 2 running back, combination quarterback. A little all over the map, but he is extremely talented. And you saw a couple passes where you whoa, that's a top 10 pick. And then you saw a couple other passes. You're like, that's a six rounder.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Right.

[John Middlekoff]

But you never really know what you're going to get with them. But they have a lot of talent on their team. Like to me, if, if the quarterback has a B plus, a minus game, they could play with most anyone in this, in this tournament. I'm with you on Tennessee. Their defensive line is really good.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yes.

[John Middlekoff]

And what's Ohio State's problem right now? Well, if their offensive. They just had a guy, terrible Achilles. They miss an offense. That could be a rough. I'm telling you, that place could start.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Boom.

[John Middlekoff]

Listen, it's like 10 nothing in the second quarter.

[Savannah Guthrie]

The weather forecast for this weekend in Columbus is 40 degrees and wet. It's not playing to a finesse down the field team. So will Howard, who's been hot and cold in big games. It's 40 degrees, the pressure's on. You'll be favored. And Tennessee D line and Ohio State O line. If you're forced to run the ball against Tennessee, that's got a 1713 feel to it. That's not going to be a high scoring game in my opinion.

[John Middlekoff]

One thing that's going to be, you know, for the most part in college you get a couple. And you hammered this home when they went, when the west coast teams got in the Big Ten. There aren't as many cold weather games as you think in the NFL. There are. Why they play all through December through January. College football usually ends home games the last week of November and then they go to warm weather bowls.

[Savannah Guthrie]

That's right.

[John Middlekoff]

So that's where this changed because they don't. They're playing in two weeks. Right. And it's Friday night, Saturday night at South Bend and at Ohio State, which makes sense. I mean two of the biggest brands was going to get huge ratings. Plus the NFL play Saturday. So it gets A little lost in the shuffle, you know, like Texas, the Texas game and the Penn State game are going up against like Raven Steelers. So, you know, but those two night games are going to be by themselves. It could be really cold.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yep.

[John Middlekoff]

I mean it's so it's going to have one thing with playoff football, even with the best teams, it's usually not 35 to 30 scores. Right. It's usually lower scoring. You can't, you can't feel your hands. I mean, you could have a game in two weeks at Ohio State with it. Couldn't it be 27 degrees or Notre Dame? It could be freezing cold.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Okay, let's talk Clemson at Texas. I really like Texas in that spot, but I'm watching that game against Georgia. Georgia gets their quarterback knocked out and suddenly forced to run in the second half. They found their run game. There was a. When they went to overtime and the Texas series, they do, they throw the ball out of the end zone, then they do a fade pattern and then they throw it out in the flat against, you know, Georgia's linebackers and corners or NFL guy. I mean Georgia's got an a first round safety, a first round corner, a first round defensive. And it's like that's. You're not going to beat in the flat. You're not going to be Georgia. For the last eight years, I thought for an offensive coach Sark, I hated the overtime Texas play calling. I thought it was awful.

[John Middlekoff]

Listen, I've been one of his biggest critics. I will defend him. I don't think he trusts his quarterback at all. And I don't blame him because I don't think he's very good. And early on in that game when actually he wasn't playing that bad and Georgia was a little shell shocked, instead of being up 17 to 3, it's 6 to 3. And then as the game went on, I thought yours became much more to who he's kind of become this season as very, very average.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yes.

[John Middlekoff]

And he's just not an explosive player. He's not a good playmaker.

[Savannah Guthrie]

That's a great line. He's a former scout. You're nailing it. When I watch him, he's not an explosive player.

[John Middlekoff]

No, he's just, he's not a playmaker. Like you watched one thing, Bryce Young, his comeback story. He's starting to make plays.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yes.

[John Middlekoff]

Right. Most decent quarterbacks can make throw a slant route or an out route from the pocket. But half the plays you're going to have to scramble. You're going to have to Move. You're going to have to throw in the run. You might have to break a tackle. And you watch Quinn yours, he cannot do any of that. So as the game goes on, what does George do? They start getting pressure on him. He starts getting sacked. He's not a very dynamic guy. Carson, Beck, like one thing, when the other guy, Gunner Stockton, what an incredible name by the way, comes in, he is so mobile that he can just keep plays alive. They don't have that. Texas does have that with Arch Manning. Now, I don't know if Sark believes he's as good of a passer right now as Quinn Ewers. Clearly, by not playing him, you've already paid Quinn the nil. But I think they have no shot to win the national championship with him at quarterback. You remove him. If every team just has the same quarterback, like whatever, every. If you put all 12 teams equal quarterback, Texas has as good of a chance to win the national championship as anybody. You watch Oregon last night. That little quarterback looked like Tua did at Alabama. Yeah, I mean, some of the throws he was making, it's like this guy is playing quarterback in college better than all these guys.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah, yeah, I think.

[John Middlekoff]

And that, that's a huge advantage. Obviously Oregon has really good skill guys, better than Georgia. You watch Bowers, I mean, he's making. They miss Bowers and McConkey, but still Dylan Gabriel right now is playing the best at quarterback for all these teams. Even though Georgia, Texas, you know, like they have a bunch of talent, but their quarterback plays shitty.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah. And it's, it's really interesting when I watch Georgia, they have an incredible defensive lineman, Mikhail Williams, they have a great safety. When I watched Georgia, I mean, they're running backs last night, they're bringing in second, third, fourth. They are running that second half. It was violent. They are running over guys. You know, with Texas, I know they have a bunch of good players and Kelvin Banks, who got hurt, is a really, really good tackle. But it's funny, when I watched Michigan win the Natty last year, they had Will Johnson at corner, Mason Graham, Blake Corum, J.J. mcCarthy. They had about six players that even in a game against Ohio State, you're like, wow, those are great players. Georgia's national championship teams. It can be Pickens, Brock, Bowers, Lad, McConkey. It can be one of, you know, Jalen Carter.

[John Middlekoff]

Jalen Carter, yeah.

[Savannah Guthrie]

In Bama, Ohio State has four or five guys like that many at receiver. Caleb Downs for Ohio State, the kid they got from Bama, he'll be the Number one pick next year. He's an insane generational talent. When I watch Texas, this is weird, John. They got a bunch of good players, but I watched that offense and I'm like, they have good backs, they have good receivers. I don't see a lot of wow. And I know it's a really good roster. But if you look at national championship teams, Michigan last year, Georgia teams, you know, when Clemson was winning, you'd have like a Mike Williams, you'd have a Trevor Lawrence, you'd have a linebacker that you're like, oh, okay, that's different. Even in a game against Bama, that player's different atm the running back for Clemson. You know, I look at Texas and I know this sounds crazy because their recruiting's been great, but I just don't see enough wow. I see very good everywhere. But they couldn't score against Texas A and M. They can't move the ball against George in the first half. That's with Sark and an NFL quarterback and the best left tackle in the sport.

[John Middlekoff]

Yeah, they should be able to run the ball better. Number 26. I mean, he should average like 100 yards a game. I mean, that's one element. I mean, I think sometimes the depth, this gets back to. These top teams are not 10 deep. Like, they don't go, you know, back to back. Their backup offensive line are not future pros. And that's where I think when you look at these former teams, Clemson in their heyday in the late teens beating Alabama, they were going too deep with pros, getting drafted.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yes.

[John Middlekoff]

Saban's team forever the last of Kirby. Like this version of Kirby's teams, relative to the back don't even have anything in common.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Right.

[John Middlekoff]

I think Michigan's team last year would easily win the national championship again.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Easily. Even Washington last year that lost in the Natty. I mean, you were looking at Roma, Dun, Michael Penck, their receiving core up and down the rece. They had a. They had a right tackle and an interior offensive lineman. You were like. You could just tell. This is like eight really good players.

[John Middlekoff]

Team was real. And I think, is that a little bit. Why? You know, at first I thought Belichick was just interviewing with North Carolina to just, you know, it's like the guy who's trying to impress the girl and brings a girl, another girl to the party to get people to notice them. You just want to show NFL teams like, hey, I'm talking to people. And then you start reading like, what if he realizes it actually might be a little easier in college. Because the, the parody is there.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah.

[John Middlekoff]

And it's not like I'm not at a huge disadvantage most of the time. And you watch in college football, like, like you said, Tennessee is a good value. You could say Notre Dame. If the quarterback just said all these teams, would it shock you? Like, in theory, Oregon is the best team, but then you look at the bracket, how hard it's going to be. Plus, like, I don't take Boise and ASU seriously. I expect both them to get knocked out. But I would say of all the SEC and the Big Ten, like Indiana, they'll be one and done. But I think, you know, Georgia could win any game, could lose any game. Texas could easily be like, I could see them look like shit.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah.

[John Middlekoff]

Who knows? I mean, I think it's all on the table. Which makes this tournament pretty intriguing. Maybe the transfer portal in the nil spreading out makes the 12 team bracket even that much more intriguing because back in the day, you put a Pete Carroll, usc, a Nick Saban, their heyday, they would kick the shit out all these teams.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah.

[John Middlekoff]

Wouldn't even be fun.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah. No, I think that's, that's the benefit of the transfer portal is that nobody has depth. Even the top teams. Just. You lose a left tackle at Ohio State, then you move a guard to left tackle, then your interior lineman gets hurt, you get weak, you get, you have a unit that is a liability very quickly in college football.

[John Middlekoff]

Now, do you think I haven't heard your take on the Belichick, North Carolina? Do you think that's more just trying to prove or do you think there's some real substance behind that?

[Savannah Guthrie]

I think he wants to get his son the job. His son's at Washington. I think he wants to get his son a head coaching job. And I think Bill is so big on the east coast, people out west don't care, but people out east do. I don't think he would have to have an incredibly young collegiate staff, which I'm not sure he has the patience for. I just don't know if he has the patience. You know, Bill was always the grinder. It was always sacrifice for the team. Shit, kids aren't sacrificing now. They'll bounce in a second. Now do I think schematically? I mean, Charlie Weiss was schematically excellent. He just couldn't recruit. He just didn't want to get out there. Bill's not gonna, you know, Bill will do some private jet stuff, but Bill, Bill's not going to be on the road. He views Himself, as he should, as a different level. Andy Reid again is a funnier guy, a more social guy. I don't think he'd want to be on the road recruiting.

[John Middlekoff]

Did you see Albert Brewer's report about how many homes Deion Sanders has been in the last 18 months? Zero. Because in this day and age, they used to have rules. Like when I worked at Fresno State, only like six or seven of your guys were eligible to go recruit and go into someone's home. Now there are no rules. Anyone you, you could hire a recruiting staff. You know, former players that just go recruit you. You don't have to go into homes anymore. And it makes sense. Like when I, when I saw they technically had like a early recruiting signing day a couple days ago. Right. And some of these kids were saying, like, you know, this guy just recruited me. No, you got paid the most money. It's, the game has completely changed. And maybe Bill, who views it much more from a strategic business mindset of like, hey, if you give me 10 plus million in nil funds, I feel I have a pretty good idea. I can bring a couple of my guys from the NFL to figure out how to allocate this pie. I'll pick the players. And maybe he views it much more because it is, it has much more of an NFL feel. Now. The difference is like when I sign you to a three year deal, you're under contract.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Right.

[John Middlekoff]

You know, in college, these guys, as someone texts me around college, he's like, if you've noticed some of these random teams and I didn't. Did a kid just won't play the last couple weeks, you know, on a team that's like going to be 6 and 6, they'll just be sick. Yeah, well, they're transferring.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah.

[John Middlekoff]

And they'll just go to the coach on Wednesday or Thursday of like week 11 when they're, the team's not going anywhere and like coach, I just don't feel great. I'm out. And that's happening all over the place before, I mean, that guy would just keep playing. I said this before about like Kyle McCord transferring. In the history of the sport, Kyle McCord just would have been Ohio State's quarterback again. And what if he just would have taken the next step and all of a sudden Ohio State was 12, 0 in the number one seed, but instead they kick him out. Everyone's so quick to move. We're in the NFL. Sometimes you just have to keep a guy because you drafted him high and he get, he improves.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah.

[John Middlekoff]

And now in College, you know, coaches and players are just so quick to like point the finger at the other guy and bounce or basically cut him. And it reflects when you watch these teams because listen, the games are still fun, but you can feel that these teams aren't as good the high end teams as they've been.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Oh, no, no, no.

[John Middlekoff]

I mean, I don't even think like, is this the best Oregon team of the last 15 years?

[Savannah Guthrie]

I don't think so.

[John Middlekoff]

I don't think so.

[Savannah Guthrie]

No. I mean, the other thing is players in college are leaving now and it's not that they're not productive. USC just lost a kid, Sam Green. He was playing a ton. He was, I think he was a red shirt freshman or a freshman. He was playing a ton. Somebody offered him more money. Bottom line, somebody played USC and went, you know, could be a Penn State. The kid's from that part of the country. So kids aren't even disgruntled. They're leaving. You're getting cherry picked. Penn State could go, hey, we're losing like all of our, we're losing four really good guys up front. That Sam Green kid, we lost out to usc, let's just go buy him. So a guy doesn't even have to be disgruntled. It's. Can you imagine in the NFL if you didn't have contracts and you're like, let's just make a bid on, you know, a great left tackle.

[John Middlekoff]

You know, one thing I was talking to a buddy that said that the top end of this draft is not very good.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's not.

[John Middlekoff]

And I said, isn't that a back to back couple years now where it's just, it doesn't feel loaded with guys. Are we concerned? Like, do we have any theories? And I started thinking, I wonder if guys now bouncing left and right, you don't develop as you used to just being in a program for three or four years, consistent practice, consistent training. Well, now guys are just mercenaries on the move.

[Savannah Guthrie]

The other thing is more guys are playing baseball. Moms don't want their kids to play football. Now. It doesn't matter in the south or Texas or maybe Pennsylvania, but there is lower high school football turnout and a lot of these great athletes are looking at these baseball contracts and going, you guys get 10 year baseball contracts. So I think it's the mom. You know, moms are like, hey, I, I don't want my son playing football and I'm not picking on moms. That's, that's just been discussed, right? Like that's been.

[John Middlekoff]

But Is the O line, D line doing that? You know, are six foot six, 300 pound guys playing baseball? Well, I still think they just don't exist.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I still, I still think there's a lot of good football players. And again, for sure, I think high school football turnout has decreased. And by the way, the NFL smartly, 10 years ago I talked about this on my show, targeted moms in their ads. About 10 years ago the NFL was around that CTE stuff. Those, remember when that was getting the big payouts for cte, the NFL pivoted and said, hey, we have to make sure that both parents are into football. And by the way, it has worked. It is remarkable the number of women who love football. It's half the league's fans. It's like 50, 50 last time I looked. So this has been a point, a real distinction. The NFL has tried to own the household, you know, not just dad. And dad loves. Nope, that's not what it is anymore. They want everybody and I think that's part of it. And the other thing is, to your point, I think players aren't as developed. I think, listen, it's like anything else. If you're bouncing around for money and not management, you're never going to be quite as good. I don't care if it's an AI or tech or football. If you had four bosses in six years, I mean one of the like look at you at our company. You just keep developing, getting bigger, bigger, bigger. Part of it is the salespeople know, John, it takes a year or two for the salespeople to get aligned. And we know you and then we can build your YouTube page. Everything takes growth. You know, my first couple years at iheartradio weren't as good as the last four. Everything, it's a hierarchy you have to build. It's a staff you have to build. So to your point, when some of these players are bouncing around, a lot of times they get the money and they get a worse coach, they get a worse position coach.

[John Middlekoff]

It's Brady's point that he hammers nonstop, like going through some challenges in college is a healthy thing. Like you learn a lot about yourself and improve. Because in the NFL it's really hard.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah.

[John Middlekoff]

So it's easy to get in the tank. Look at Bryce Young, who I would have bet against falling off a cliff. He was mentally prepared for the challenges. Why he had spent three years next to Nick, you know, and who knows, you know, back, you know, in this modern day Tua. You know, Jalen, I know Jalen transferred at the end to Oklahoma, but he was there for a couple years essentially as the backup going back and forth. That had to benefit all those guys.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yep, no question about it. All right, John Middlekoff, former NFL scout three and out podcast on a stacked weekend. Good stuff. Thanks, buddy.

[John Middlekoff]

Talk to you soon. Colin.

[Savannah Guthrie]

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[Savannah Guthrie]

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[John Middlekoff]

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