← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Colin Cowherd Podcast Prime Cuts - March Madness, 49ers Hit the “Reset” Button, Chargers Win The AFC West?
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- [00:00]
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- [00:16]
Colin Cowherd
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- [01:34]
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- [02:43]
Colin Cowherd
All right, it's time for our weekly hour with John Middelkoff, who will eventually take some time off. He got married last weekend. Okay, let's do some NFL. You know, I had said this last year I thought the Niners were going to start regressing. I thought they should have started the rebuild Last year they did it this year they let Debo and Hufonga and Greenlaw, Chavarius Ward go. They have 12 draft picks but it's a weak draft. So let's say you hit on six year draft picks. I thought last year was the first year in the last several. I just didn't think their defense was intimidating. I thought when Bosa was off the field it was weak. I thought you could kind of manipulate it. I said this. I think Darnold and the Seahawks have a chance to be really interesting. Where are you on the Niners right now? A lot of draft picks. I mean they didn't want to let Hufanga and Greenlaw go. Those are excellent, instinctive players. I mean now you're getting to a point now where you're really crossing your fingers with Christian McCaffrey and Trent Williams big time.
- [03:45]
John Middelkoff
I think every move in a vacuum is easy to justify. It's not. I mean Greenlaw was coming off a torn Achilles, came back for a half, he looked like Fred Warner Jr. And then couldn't play the rest of the season. Hu Funga, acl, multiple injuries to it. Like all the in all the moves in a vacuum. Oh, let him go. You're not going to pay that much for banks. Trade this backup running back who's going to make $5 million. On the totality though, you go that's losing a lot of guys like who are going to be your backups. I think they would have somewhat started it last year. It's much more difficult though when you have a team coming off being up late in the super bowl against the current dynasty. So you go, we are right there. All these guys are championship level players. I think their big mistake and where they got really rattled for a long period of time. The Niners like 15, 20 years ago, they could extend the Patrick Willis's, the Frank Gore's, the Vernon Davis's relatively cheap and they were great at it because Parag Marathe, their Money guy is elite. He's like Howie Roseman, but he's not a gm. He just like runs the York's money and he runs their international soccer team. Well, as the Caps exploded players, I don't want to say it's the NBA, but they do have a lot more juice. When Jamar Chase says, I'm not playing for anything less than 38, $40 million, like he's not really bullshit. Like he's not taking a discount. The top guys have some juice. But now the middle tier guys, like, they would have laughed at Brandon IU 10 years ago and they would have won, but they were kind of in no man's land. And their coach, you know, who has a lot of juice, didn't want to get rid of their best receiver and he took advantage of them. And that really rattled them because they immediately regretted it. If they could do that all over again, they would have traded him before the draft. Instead, now they're trying to trade him. He's got a ACL and an, like he's untradeable for anything of value. And they're kind of in a weird spot. But the elephant in the room is the quarterback. And listen, Mike Silver has known the Shanahan family for 30 plus years and he's been reporting like they are telling everyone, take a deep breath, we're cutting some costs and we got to kind of recalibrate because I think they saw what the Rams did these last couple years.
- [05:42]
Colin Cowherd
Yes.
- [05:43]
John Middelkoff
Now the difference is, and look at, look at what the Bills did last year. I mean the Bills got rid of like half their big names. Well, Josh Allen's one of the greatest talents I've ever seen. And Matt Stafford, while older was right there with would be considered Josh Allen 10 years ago he just played for a shitty franchise. Like that's not Brock Purdy. And we all know that. Look at the nfc, Colin, the two best quarterbacks you'd say, you know, I would say win wise, statistically would be Jalen and Jared Goff are on loaded rosters. Offensively, like we would say, you put either one of those guys on like the Jags or a bad team, it's going to be problems. Purdy's the same thing. When he's on a good team, he's proven he can be a really good player. But like if you're cutting costs and depending on some randos, it's just, it's a pretty scary. I do think they are going to lowball Brock Purdy and they're going to make this More difficult because they before it was just like, hey, Trent, what do you want? Which I don't have a problem with doing that to Trent. Yeah, but the two receivers, it's like you're not Jamar Chase and your team doesn't play like that. It doesn't make any sense. But I get the Cowboys, they throw it to CD Lamb every other play. You know, Brandon Iuk had a career year 75, but at the end of the day, they do have a big time coach at a bad year, but he's proven to be really good and still a culture. They get Robert Sala back. I wouldn't count them out yet, but it's going to be a lot of new names, Colin. And they're going to be very dependent on these. They have the 11th pick. Like you need a Micah Parsons. You need a, you know, look at the Eagles and the Cowboy. When the Cowboys got Micah or the Eagles got Devonte Smith, you're going to have to nail this.
- [07:09]
Colin Cowherd
Well, and also there are certain positions in football, running back, I think wide receiver, some say cornerback, where you can come in and make an impact pretty quickly. It's very instinctive. But where the Niners are drafting offensive line, maybe another tight end, you know, a play calling linebacker a crucial safety in their defense. Those are hard positions to go college and pro. I mean, if you look at very few tight ends come into this league, Brock Bowers is a total outlier.
- [07:49]
John Middelkoff
Big time.
- [07:49]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, very good. Tight ends have struggled because the blocking assignments now are so difficult compared to college. So the Niners are asking players from College in the 12 draft picks to come into positions, replace excellent, instinctive, smart veteran players. Forget just making tackles. I mean, Greenlaw is, I mean he is. He and Warner are anchors and communicators and I think those kind of positions are a place I have no problem. You know, it'd be one thing if they were replacing, you know, one corner, one running back. You get to the offensive line and Kyle Shanahan system, you're lost until Thanksgiving. That's a tough rebuild.
- [08:30]
John Middelkoff
Oh, for sure. Same with wide receivers. I mean, same with. Listen, even if they draft a defensive lineman with the 11th pick, Khalil Mack, who's one of the better players of his generation, I think at four and a half sacks his rookie year. Yeah, Jared Verse last year, who came on toward the end, wasn't a dominant, dominant force all season long.
- [08:47]
Colin Cowherd
I covered Warren Sapp in Tampa. It wasn't until the end of his first year that he made an impact. Year two, he was fantastic. But this league, there are guys that can make impacts. But I don't see the Niners.
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John Middelkoff
Their schedule sucks. Their schedule's bad.
- [09:04]
Ian O'Connor
They.
- [09:04]
John Middelkoff
They have a last place schedule and they get to draft really high in every round. I think one of the divisions they play is the AFC South. I mean, I would say even before this mass exodus, I still think 10 wins is very, very, you know, look at what the Rams have done these last couple of years. I think sometimes when you are, as they say in most world industries, onboarding players, I think McVeigh uses that too. It takes a little time and then you kind of catch fire. I mean, I think they, what were they, 1 and 4 last year and 2 and 3 and 6 the year before. Now you don't want to make a living. It's. You do that 10 times, a lot of times you're going to end up with seven or eight wins. But you start a little slow and then you peak. One thing is very, very key for the 49ers, I'd say two guys, Trent Williams got to be on the field. And if Christian McCaffrey is just healthy, which, who knows? I mean, he had multiple Achilles, he tore his knee, but he is a major, major wild card in the NFL going back to the Panther days, when he's on the field, he's one of the best players in the league. When he's off, especially with Kyle, he kind of derails their operation.
- [10:10]
Colin Cowherd
So I thought the team, you can tell who has the power in most organizations, McVay runs the Rams. I think Shanahan, until recently, had power on the draft. Andy Reid doesn't want it necessarily. Belichick did, Sean Payton does. In Denver, you can tell the moves when coaches are making. Chicago clearly signaled that Ben Johnson's running the show. For him to replace the entire interior line was telling Ryan, poles, you guys, your picks stink.
- [10:43]
John Middelkoff
Yeah.
- [10:43]
Colin Cowherd
And I, and I thought, frankly, for the Chicago Bears, who I've been saying this for so many years, they're like, they're just a defensive culture for a guy to come in and spend money on guards and centers. I thought it was a real moment in the history of the Chicago Bears. I was like, wow, this feel. I mean, how many years have the Steelers been ham and egging it on their offensive line? Tomlin runs the show. I, for the first time that I can remember, I really like the direction where the Bears are going.
- [11:16]
John Middelkoff
Well, I think sometimes when you get like the whiz kid, the great offensive coordinator, they just want to score points and they're thinking quarterback and wide receiver. Ben Johnson's pretty lucky that his welcome to stardom in the NFL started with the trenches. I mean, let's face it, the Lions really separated themselves with a dominant offensive line. So they go and trade for a guy. It's crazy. You and I talk about these young quarterbacks. By that second year Thanksgiving, it's like you're on the clock, like your career is in trouble. It's like that now with free agency. The Rams signed Joe Jackson last year. Three years, $51 million less than a year later, it's like traded. I mean, these teams now, the money and the cash bonuses seal. It's that not in a million years, I would say up till what, seven, eight years ago would have ever happened. Because no owner, it's like, he's a good player. And there's like, yeah, not a great fit. See you later. So they get a guy that they know, the Falcon center is good. And you, you see Andy Reid's quotes on Tunis, like, he's one of the toughest guys I've ever. We, we, we don't want to trade this guy. We just. There's money involved and we, we can't afford to keep him. Yeah, one of the play player.
- [12:18]
Colin Cowherd
He had the best year of his career, arguably because he went to left tackle and was excellent.
- [12:21]
John Middelkoff
To me, he's like his generation's Logan Mankins. I mean, just a plug and play guy who could play multiple positions as a stud. The other thing is when you have a smaller quarterback, you know, non Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, the Flacco, that generation, all those guys were huge. You know, Carson Palmer, Caleb. This generation is a little smaller. Well, Sean Payton dealt with one in that generation and they always invested in centers and guards. They had high because the pressure up the middle, it rattles him. He can't see where Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, historically, they had some pretty random guys. On some seasons when they had good teams playing center and guard, they get away with it. Smaller quarterbacks cannot. It hurts. Purdy. Sometimes when they get in past situations and the garden center gets smoked, he's. He's swimming. He can handle the outside pressure because he can move around. Same with Caleb. He can move, but up the middle, you are screwed. So they, they, they could have. I know they've invested draft picks and some tackles, but we'll see how good those guys turn out to be. But they went all in on the guard and center position because I think with a smaller quarterback, it's really, really important to just Neutralize. Think how many teams also have good interior pass rush now so that I. Yeah it was hard to. I mean that was a no brainer move by the Bears and Ryan Paul's pretty lucky that this the way this all he kept his job and he's still here and he gets to be a part of this.
- [13:37]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I mean a couple years ago he whiffed on Vilas Jones and I was like oh dude, you could have called me and and then the last.
- [13:45]
John Middelkoff
Year with Rome, I mean Rome was a pretty looking back. He should have taken an offensive lineman. Yeah.
- [13:49]
Colin Cowherd
But Vilas Jones, Ms. Chase Claypool, Ms. Roma Dunze, not as good as we thought, you know. So again I think you and I agree. I think the Bears are heading the right direction. You just pointed out something and I've been on this for a few years that I think there's an a duality to all the owners being billionaires and some being 10, 15, 20 billionaires is that number one. The downside is they are more willing to just fire people quickly. They're more impulsive than they've ever been when they were all worth 600 million. You're not just writing a 17 to 25 million dollars check to blow out a staff, you're just not doing it now. These guys will just blow out a $70 million staff. So who does that hurt? It hurts a young quarterback who has to have another staff. So I mean Caleb Williams, even though he upgrades staffs, it's a brand new system. So that's the downside. The upside though is when you make a mistake with personnel like Rams and Jonah Jackson, where it just didn't feel great, you can just move off it. And so you know this, you know, you can never move off NBA contracts or baseball contracts. They're so guaranteed in the NFL now if you make a mistake, guys just write checks and go all right big time. I mean for the Bears to get Drew Dallman and Joe Tuney, Jesus, you have your, you may not be Philadelphia or Detroit, but that's a top three interior O line in the league.
- [15:23]
John Middelkoff
Well, let's even use, I mean the craziest example currently is his cousin's example. Now I know Arthur Blank is probably, I don't know where he ranks, but he's not near the bottom when it comes to wealth. They're like, well, you're not going to shove us around. We're going to pay you 10 million for next year. He obviously is not going to be the team next year and we'll eat it until we figure this out, but you are going to capitulate and you're going to give us a trade eventually, before the season starts. That never would happen. I thought it was like, no, no human alive is going to give him $10 million guaranteed for next year. Cousin's going to win this. They will cut him. I thought he'd be cut, you know, Wednesday, Thursday, it's like, no, they just picked it up and he's still there. And we'll just have a staring contest. It's that. That never would have happened without the influx of cash. I thought this. When some of these deals are, I mean, Aaron Banks, the Niners left guard, got, I mean, so much money. Milton Williams, who is obviously a really talented player, he never played more than 50% of the snaps for the Eagles, got $26 million a year.
- [16:21]
Colin Cowherd
I was watching a clip of Jim Harbaugh, and I had just had this discussion with Steve Keim about a week ago, two weeks ago, and I said, if I was ever a gm, because he always jokes, he said, you're not a talk show host. You want to be a gm. And I'm like, you know, I. I like my job, but I would love to be a GM, you know, if I would have put 30 years into that instead of what I'm doing, who knows? You know, you don't know. But I told him, I said I would overdraft the offensive line. And Harbaugh said this. And this is what Steve and I said. Jim put it more smartly. He said there's only one unit in a football field that doesn't rely on any other unit, yet every other unit relies on it. And he said, it's offensive line. It makes your quarterback better, your running backs better, your tight end doesn't have to block as vigorously. Your wide receivers have more time to get downfield. It keeps your defense off the field if you have a great offensive line. And it was one of those things where when you go back to drafting Joe Alt over a wide receiver, the Bears went wide receiver and then this year had to spend a fortune on their offensive line instead of they. The Bears probably should have gone O line instead of going with Roma Dunze. But it is interesting that the more the NFL, you know, changes and becomes an offensive league, we pay so much attention to quarterbacks. But I and I made this pick the other day. I think the Chiefs are going to struggle, and I don't think they're going to win their division. I don't think in this draft class there's a Starting left tackle good enough in their division to block Max Crosby or Khalil Mack or The kid number 15, Oklahoma bonito. But you know, and it's, it's really interesting, I think. I mean right now the three or four teams I like in the league all have great old lines. All of them, Philadelphia, Detroit. I thought the Rams finally got their act together. Offensive line, I think Buffalo's last year was better than people thought. I thought Denver's was better than people thought. I think Kansas City, I think we've just baked it in, John. They're not going 10 and 1 in close games next year.
- [18:44]
John Middelkoff
Yeah, I would agree there, but their offensive line was putrid this year on the, on the edges. And they were able to, I mean they were basically a 161 team. They threw the last game of the season. So when it comes to coaching, when it comes to quarterback play and most importantly, their defense is going to be good. So like part of the reason they were winning all these games, because they could win 19 to 17, they weren't allowing many points. That, that is not going to change. Now. The Chargers and the Broncos, you and I have been saying this. Anyone with common sense has been saying this. The worst their teams were going to be was last season. They're both going to be better. So if either Hufanga or Greenlaw play, that defense is going to be improved. And Denver's defense was awesome. When I saw DK Metcalf ask for a trade, a lot of people that covered the NFL were like the Chargers. It's like, guys, do you think that Jim Harbaugh is going to trade a top whatever 50 pick and pay a third contract to this kind of out there wide receiver though, very talented, kind of the poor man's modern day Terrell Owens type. It's different, but I mean I think physically they have some To DK Metcalf. Are you guys nuts? And what does he do? He goes signs Makai Becton and he's, he's got a huge, I see yesterday he's got a huge smile on his face like, have you guys not followed Jim Harbaugh's career since Stanford? This, they might draft a wide receiver this year in the third round.
- [19:59]
Ian O'Connor
Right?
- [19:59]
John Middelkoff
I would expect tight end, D lineman, running back. Like, it's Najee Harris. When I was living in the Bay Area, Najee was his senior year, was one of the biggest recruits in the country. I think he was number one recruit.
- [20:11]
Colin Cowherd
He was number one and it was.
- [20:13]
John Middelkoff
Committed to go to Alabama. But Jim was recruiting him very hard. And I saw a clip that Jim at an Antioch. I think he went to the homecoming game. He announced their king and queen and so like that's who he's. Listen, I'm not the biggest Najee star running back, first round guy, but he is a solid runs downhill physical guy. Like that's how Jim wants to play. Jim wants to play a lot like this version of the Chiefs and clearly Denver. I think Sean would like to be a little more explosive down the field. But like that, that division is going to be really physical. And same thing with the. I mean we know how Pete Carroll, why did he butt heads with Russell Wilson? Russell wanted to throw it 50 times a game. Pete wanted to throw it about 20 and play D and run the ball. So I think this defense is going to or this division is going to look a lot like each other now. You know, if Rasheed Rice is healthy, Xavier Worthy came on. I do think the Chiefs offense could get more explosive. And I would also guess that they draft a running back. Yeah, I think all these teams in this division could draft running backs.
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Colin Cowherd
Yes.
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John Middelkoff
And if two of the four of them become stars, whichever ones those guys go to, like the next Jameer Gibbs or whoever, Nick Chubb, you know, you name it, those second round running backs hit for one of these teams could be the difference. If all of a sudden you tell me Denver has a version of Nick Chubb or you know, Alvin Kamara on their squad, I'd be like, well, why couldn't they win 12 or 13 games? Same thing with the, with the Chargers. And maybe this is the year the Chiefs win. Two years ago when they won the Super Bowl, I think they won 11 games. So the difference between 11 and 15 is like a couple missed field goals and a couple fumbles go your way.
- [21:46]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, the. Yeah, it's, it's. I thought, I thought Devonte Adams was obviously a great move for the Rams, but I thought Najee Harris, there were a couple of moves I loved offensively. I think Debo Samuel to Cliff Kingsbury and Jaden is a sensational move for them at this point. He'll get tons of looks and by the way, it will give Cliff another 12 offensive plays because Debo is such a unique player. And then I also thought, I thought, I thought Najee Harris, I'm like, remember a couple years ago when Kevin Donson wasn't going to start for the Steelers? McVay grabs him and he literally is the highest rated guard in the league. Najee Harris, with that Pittsburgh O line, everybody's like, Almost a semi bust. Watch him with Harbaugh. Watch him be really effective with Harbaugh. I think of this all the time is I remember GM telling this years ago. He said, I used to love drafting Georgia guys when Mark Rick was there. Great recruiter, didn't squeeze all the juice out of the player like you got. You know, these guys had a lot of upside. Nick Saban squeezes every ounce of talent out of guys. And one of the things I look at John, when these offensive coaches like McVay will go and find wide receivers, he looked at Devontae and he thought Jetstaff last year was like third tier. He's like, Devonte is going to make 80 catches for us. So I thought, yeah, I mean, so I do think when you see these offensive coaches, they find some of these defensive cultures and they find players and go get me that one.
- [23:29]
John Middelkoff
I think you look at the Eagles last year, Makai Becton, this year they trade for that former first round pick from the Texans. Because now listen, you're not going to hit on them all. But the power of having good coordinators and now so many of the offensive ones are also the head coach. But you see it a lot when the star offensive line coach or the star defensive line coach, it's like buying a cheap stock and the guy a year later turns into a $12 million player you can't afford. But you bought low like you profited from it. And I think the best teams always have that ability. I also think the Washington commanders with Debo and with Tunzel, Tunsled not as much because he would get paid no matter what. You got Debo, he's in a contract years like Debo. If you ever want to make a even a. That's right, two year, $40 million contract again, you got to slim down and give us all you got. And I think sometimes getting those guys motivated is a really big deal for these. You know, it used to be a guy going in their third contract, probably be like 34 years old. These guys are a little younger now. You know, they're 29, 30 years old. Sometimes on their third, you know, DK Metcalf.
- [24:30]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [24:31]
John Middelkoff
They're not as old as, you know, in previous generations. So sometimes these teams now with their cap space, these free agent classes after like the first 10 names, most of them like the average fans, like, who's that guy? You can take advantage of it with traits, overpriced guys on other teams. And Adam Peters really did that with Tunzel and Debo Samuel, ton of cap space. But I'm not going to buy all these players and pay premiums on guys that aren't quite worth it like the Packers. Listen, I understand Aaron Banks has been a starter for the 49ers, but to give him that much money to be your left guard felt a little desperate to me as guard works. Just we have seen some questionable guard contracts in recent memory and I understand offensive lineman more of a plug and play. It's a lot of money to pay a guy. You might be able to find just a plug and play starter in like a third round and the packers historically have always been able to do it.
- [25:19]
Colin Cowherd
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Talkspace Representative
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- [28:53]
Colin Cowherd
I am a lifelong Republican with all.
- [28:56]
Jeremy Hobson
Kinds of different people.
- [28:57]
Talkspace Representative
You know, I'm a mother, I'm a grandmother.
- [29:00]
Jeremy Hobson
That's why we started the Middle with Jeremy Hobson. It's about bringing voices not from the extremes, but from the vast middle, into the national conversation.
- [29:08]
Colin Cowherd
Anna, I'm calling from Las Vegas.
- [29:10]
Jeremy Hobson
Each week we bring together an all star panel. Mark Cuban, so great to have you on the Middle.
- [29:15]
John Middelkoff
Thanks for having me. Jeremy.
- [29:16]
Jeremy Hobson
Neil Degrasse Tyson, welcome to the Middle.
- [29:18]
Colin Cowherd
Thanks for having me.
- [29:19]
Jeremy Hobson
And here from ordinary Americans from all over the country on the most important issues.
- [29:24]
Ian O'Connor
Hi, my name is Venkat.
- [29:25]
Colin Cowherd
I'm calling you from Atlanta, Georgia.
- [29:27]
Jeremy Hobson
And when you subscribe to the Middle, you also get an episode each week called One Thing Trump did that focuses on just one item from the avalanche of news.
- [29:36]
John Middelkoff
We should be examining what our government.
- [29:37]
Wendy's Representative
Spends its money on and are these.
- [29:39]
John Middelkoff
Jobs necessary and what are we doing here? But that doesn't seem to be what we're doing in this situation.
- [29:44]
Jeremy Hobson
Listen to the Middle with Jeremy Hobson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [29:50]
DraftKings Representative
DKNG Co Audio.
- [29:58]
Colin Cowherd
Well, he's one of my favorite people in the media. He has New York Times best selling books on Aaron Rodgers, coach K, Derek J, and Bill Belichick. Pretty impressive resume. He's got a new one coming out with Dan Hurley, which is fascinating because Hurley and UConn have had a spirited and disappointing season. And the book is coming out in September called Never Stop Life Leadership and what It Takes to Be Great, co written with Dan Hurley. I want to get to that in a second. I want to start with Rick Pitino and St. John's so for the uninitiated, St. John's is in Queens, one of the five boroughs. Used to be in Brooklyn actually a long time ago. Catholic University between the airports is how I remember being it described to me one time. And it was in the Big east, which is the greatest basketball conference, the most personality filled basketball conference at its best in the history between players and coaches. And so Louis Carneseca ages leaves. It's not the same university many people tried. Then one of the great coaches of all time, Rick Bottino, a New Yorker, gets the job. So let's start with that. I couldn't tell you the last time Duke and St. John's both had a chance to win the title in the same tournament. So it's a fascinating tournament. But when Rick took the job, I mean I said this the other day, you know, his, his moral compass has sometimes flipped around. But in terms of basketball iq, EQ and program is he is parels plus Urban Meyer. You know, he is just one of these guys that can do a Jim Harbaugh. What is the secret sauce? You know, Rick, what is his secret sauce? What, what's different between Rick and so many other coaches that go to these programs? Iona St. John's and just make it work quickly.
- [31:45]
Ian O'Connor
Great question. And I, I think first of all, I think the two best coaches in the history of the sport are John Wooden and Mike Krzyevsky. So if you look at their bodies of work, I think they're the top two. But I also believe Rick Pitino is just as good as they were. I think that he's as good as any college basketball coach ever. And it's just the ferocity with which he gets his kids to play defense. And it really works at St. John's and of course, it worked at Louisville, it worked at Kentucky and a Providence. But he's such a New Yorker, and that is such a New York style of play on the playgrounds that it really translates. And this has been a very likable team. The city has fallen in love with St. John's now, when I started my career, St. John's would take the back page of the tabloids away from the Knicks. And so it's been a long time since that was possible. Now, of course, the tabloids aren't what they used to be in New York or newspapers anywhere, of course, but St. John's is now a team that the city has embraced. And Pitino, that style of play, he did it even with the mix. Pressing defense, attention to detail, just playing with that ferocity. And, yeah, I don't know if I've ever seen a coach get his kids consistently to play any harder than Rick Pitino's teams everywhere he's been, including in the NBA outside of the Celtics. But, yeah, he's an amazing. When it comes to X's and O's and motivation and recruiting, he's an amazing coach, there's no question about it.
- [33:16]
Colin Cowherd
So it is very unique. I have them making the Final Four. They don't shoot threes particularly well, but either does half, 90% of the field. I mean, UC San Diego's rare, BYU is rare. St. John's can't shoot threes. Houston's not great at it. Michigan State can't. I mean, I watched Michigan. Michigan State play a couple of weeks ago, and Michigan State ends up scoring in the 80s. I don't know how, but they get there. So I don't really use that as a deficit. I think St. John's can muscle and defend and coach its way to the Final Four. But going back to my initial point, you know Duke basketball because of the book on Coach K, which I strongly recommend, if you've never read it, it is. I think it's. In my opinion, I think it's your best book.
- [33:56]
Ian O'Connor
Thank you.
- [33:57]
Colin Cowherd
And I've read all of them. I loved it. Duke is the most talented team. Coach K leaves, and usually it Almost always works this way. You give it to a popular assistant coach and he just doesn't have the gravitas or the weight to hold this massive brand afloat. But Duke this year feels like to me, the odds on favorite. Like if they won, it's the only team you wouldn't even ask how you'd go. Okay, Cooper flag. Are you surprised by Coach K leaves and yet Duke remains vibrant?
- [34:40]
Ian O'Connor
No, I'm not surprised, Colin. I think Duke does recruit itself to some degree, but John Shire's recruiting has been unbelievable since Coach K left. And you start with that, of course. That's the lifeblood of college basketball in all college sports. And he's been terrific at that. And he's just a really good coach, too, in terms of X's and O's. But if you look at that team right now, it's. It's almost a perfect college basketball team. They've got the big man who's 72 with an incredible wingspan. He's a top 10, top 15 NBA pick. You've got a forward who's a top 15 on one side. On the other side, you've got one of the best freshmen we've ever seen in college basketball. Who's the number one pick, assuming he's healthy and it looks like he's going to play. And in the backcourt, you've got two guys who are six five at guard now. Yeah, maybe the one question mark you have against a team that has smaller, quicker guards, maybe that's a little bit of an issue. But size, skill, the coaching, the pedigree, everything is in place for Duke to win the national championship. I actually don't think they will, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if they do because they probably do have the best team. I actually think Houston is going to win the national title.
- [35:52]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [35:53]
Ian O'Connor
And it's a bit of a strange reason. I just think Kelvin Sampson has been such a good coach for so long, it seems to me that he's going to get one before he retires. And you look really. I know that's kind of a funny reason, but if you look at the way they defend, they have guards, and I just think at some point he's going to pick one off. John Shire is very worthy coach of winning a national title. If you recall from my book, Coach K wanted him to be the coach. The university actually wanted Tommy Amaker to be the next head coach, but Coach K sort of got his way on that one. And frankly, you cannot argue with the results. John Shire has been tremendous yeah, for.
- [36:32]
Colin Cowherd
For the uninitiated, again, for the people that don't follow Duke closely or college basketball. What was. Boy, that must have been tough. Remember reading about it in your book. You have Amaker and Shire and you know, and here comes Coach K. Eventually, you know, he's going to make a ch. Choice. What is Shire's strength? What is his foundational piece that made him the choice? And why. Why you think Coach K eventually leaned to him?
- [37:01]
Ian O'Connor
Because he was in his system. It had been a long time since Amaker had been an assistant at Duke. Of course, he was a very important player in the development of that championship program under Coach K and has done a good job in the Ivy League. But Shire was there. Shire was a great player. He was going to play in the NBA. Serious eye injury early in what would have been, I think, a pretty good NBA career. But his. The way he relates to kids. I've had just a couple of conversations with him, but been around enough people who are in his world consistently, and he's just a very relatable guy. And so I think the fact that he was a really, really good player there and the fact that he is. He's got the right personality to connect with people. He obviously has the X and O background from Coach K. And you put it all together and again, it is a campus that does recruit itself to some degree and a program that does recruit itself to some degree. It's a pretty powerful combination.
- [38:01]
Colin Cowherd
So I said this the other day on the show. Obviously, I was in the Northeast for ten and a half years, but one of the things I observed when I was in the city a lot or near it in Connecticut, is that there's a lot of Yankee and Met fans and a lot of Giant and Jet fans, but everybody in New York likes the Knicks. It's just every single friend I had in New York, and many of them, more than the Yankees or Giants, were Knick fans first. And again, I'm old enough to remember the Walt Frazier, Bill Bradley, Earl Monroe. Like I go back to the 70s when nobody won, you know, the Lakers won a title. The warriors did, the Washington Bullets did the Sonics, the Blazers, the Knicks, and then there were the Pat Riley iterations. But I always said, God, if Dolan could get out of the way. This city loves its team so much. And I think when the sphere got built for two years, Dolan removed himself from the facility. I mean, literally, physically, he was in Vegas so often. And it allowed the Knicks to really grow this really strong basketball group. And I Think they've made very patient, very sharp moves. I don't think Cat is the future, but I think he was the right move at the right time. But there was a moment between Tibbs and Josh Hart the other day and Mikhail Bridges. It was public that he had gone to Tibbs. Hey, we need to play the starters less. You know, young players don't get a lot of work and minutes under Tibbs. As great as the the brief journey has been with Tom, it does feel like, does it not, Ian? To get to the next level, you need two moves. Carl Anthony Towns probably gets replaced with a better defensive big or just like a kd, a greater player. And Tibbs may not be the answer. Or is that me 3,000 miles away?
- [39:59]
Ian O'Connor
Guessing no, I think it's possible that's the case. I do think Tibbs is good enough to win a championship as a head coach. They lose in the second round again this year there. I don't think he'll get replaced because I think he'll lose to a better team. I think the Celtics are better and surprisingly enough, I did not think the Cavs would be better, but they are. They just are. So if they lose in the second round to say, the Celtics defy the guy off that, you're losing to a better team. The Celtics have better players. The Knicks have improved their roster, certainly. And I didn't think Jalen Brunson, I wasn't sure if he'd be this or could be the second best player on a championship team when they acquired him. Now I do think he could be one of the top two, if not the best player on a championship team. He's an incredible player and I think a lot of people in New York were surprised by that. I think where the Knicks are right now is it's kind of funny because jets fans have been complaining and complaining about Woody Johnson, the owner for a long time. If Woody Johnson hires, and we'll find out if he did the right general manager in Bougie and the right head coach in Aaron Glenn, he's going to go away. And jets fans will never talk about him. They are. Knicks fans are not talking about Jim Dalan and they haven't now for a number of years because he hired the right general manager and that was a gamble. Leon Rose had never done this job. He was a very good agent. He had never been a general manager and early on I wasn't so sure. But turns out he knows what he's doing. And Tibbs, of course, everybody knew he knew what he was doing. He's proven that he could be a very valuable piece of a coaching staff that won a championship in Boston under Doc Rivers, and so is he. It's almost like I Buck Showalter did all the dirty work in the on the Yankees in the mid-90s and then he got replaced by Joe Tory and Joe Torrey then won a four World Series. No, I'm not saying that the next coach is going to win four titles in the next five years after that happens, but I think that he's going to get one more year after another second round exit. Maybe the Knicks will surprise us and win that second round matchup with, say, the Celtics. I don't think that will happen, but I do think you're right. In terms of the roster, it looks like they're still, believe it or not, after all the moves they've made and what, five number one picks for Bridges? And then they made the Cat deal and the Brunson deal was an incredible one. It still looks like they need to make one more move and maybe Cat is a part of that package. But yeah, right now it's just they're in a tough way because of the Celtics being in their way and now the Cavs have hurdled them and they sure look like they're for real.
- [42:36]
Colin Cowherd
The Volume.
- [42:40]
Nikki Glaser
This is Nikki Glaser from the Nikki Glaser podcast. Have you guys seen this new commercial from Stand up to All Hate? It's basically Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady going back and forth with reasons that they hate each other. But then when you really listen to them, the reasons for the hate are just so stupid.
- [42:55]
Talkspace Representative
I don't know.
- [42:55]
Nikki Glaser
This. This commercial really got me. It's a strong reminder that hate in our country continues to be out of control. So join us at iHeart in standing up to it. If you see hate, speak up. Call it out. Your voice is a powerful tool in this fight. You can learn more by following ot'supwithhate.
- [43:11]
Talkspace Representative
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- [44:13]
Jeremy Hobson
Country and our media couldn't be more polarizing. That's why we started the Middle with Jeremy Hobson. It's about bringing voices, not from the extremes, but from the vast middle, into the national conversation. Each week we hear from ordinary Americans from all over the country. And when you subscribe to the Middle, you also get an episode each week called One Thing Trump did that focuses on just one item from the avalanche of news. Listen to the Middle with Jeremy Hobson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [44:41]
John Middelkoff
What's up everyone? Julie Swerbinks here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson. We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go. The name Energy Line with Nate and jsb. Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right? Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us. Julia's pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe. Listen to Energy Line with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.