← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Colin Cowherd Podcast Prime Cuts -,Seahawks Roster Is SCARY, 49ers QB Controversy, Lane Kiffin To NFL? What’s Wrong With The Bills
00:55:03
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- [00:00]
Sophie Cunningham
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:04]
John Middelkoff
This podcast is sponsored by PayPal. Okay, let's talk holiday shopping. When you want to make the most of your Money, head to PayPal's app before you check out. They give you the flexibility to pay in four no fees, no interest. And this is big. Bigger than the 12 foot snowman on your lawn right now. You can get 5% cash back when you pay later with PayPal. So whether it's the must have merch or for that signed jersey you've been eyeing, PayPal helps you make the most of your money this holiday. Save this offer in the PayPal app.
- [00:37]
Colin
Expires 1231 see paypal.com promoterms subject to approval.
- [00:43]
John Middelkoff
Learn more at paypal.com payin4paypal inc.nmls910457 if.
- [00:50]
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- [01:15]
Sponsor Announcer
Warning.
- [01:15]
Guest Analyst
This product contains nicotine.
- [01:17]
John Middelkoff
Nicotine is an addictive chemical.
- [01:19]
Sophie Cunningham
This is Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, or osa, in adults with obesity? They may be happening to you without you knowing. If anyone has ever said you snore loudly, or if you spend your days fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability and concentration issues, it may be due to osa. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation. Learn more at. Don't sleep on osa.com this information is provided by Lilly, a medicine company.
- [01:58]
John Middelkoff
Get almost anything you need delivered with UberEats. What do you mean by almost? Where you can't get a well groomed lawn delivered, but you can get chicken parm delivered? A Little Escape? No Delicious bowl of grapes? Yeah an afternoon stroll? Sorry, no. A burrito bowl? Happily, yes. How about the clear skies? Can't deliver that, but French fries? Yeah. Get almost almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol in select markets. Product availability may vary by region. C app for details this podcast is.
- [02:30]
Sponsor Announcer
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- [03:21]
John Middelkoff
The volume all right, I'm a football fan for a long time, since the 70s. I don't watch football without something to eat and drink. Trust me, it's. It's a whole different ball game when you're eating. Right now. I got two things today from Uber Eats right now. When you buy one large extra Most bestest pepperoni pizza from Little Caesars like this one, you get another one free. By the way, one of these has already been eaten by me and my wife 15 minutes ago. Yes, that's right. An extra extra Most bestest pizza thrown in there. Extra cheese, extra pepperoni, all for the price of just one. And since Uber Eats is the official on demand food delivery partner of the NFL, you know all the game day deals keep coming all season long. Wings and tacos and subs and pizzas, chips and dips. Whatever, whatever it is, Uber Eats delivers right to your door. So when your team puts up the extra point, reward yourself with an extra pizza order. Little Caesars on Uber Eats today we did terms apply. See the app for details. Pizza Pizza Extra Extra. Something's going on here. All right, we're ready for an hour plus. John Middelkoff, former NFL scout, has his own podcast. Three and Out. It is Sunday. There's a lot to talk about. Listen, let's. Let's start with a non competitive game. Rams 42, Niners 20. It's just amazing. The Rams are the least penalized team in the league. No penalties. This is one of those things. When I used to cover the Patriots when I was on the east coast, they went years and I was always like, nobody fumbles for New England. And I used to tell friends, I'm like, is it a stick em thing? People would feel it on the ball. No, they're well coached. The Rams. For the second year of the least penalized team, you go into a heated rivalry game. No penalties, no Turnovers. My. My take is, obviously the Niners are all banged up, but it, It's. It is so efficient. You can see the coaching with the Rams. That's what I feel like.
- [05:27]
Colin
Yeah. I mean, the 49ers, their defense is a mash unit, but when you play a match unit and you're a good team, you score in every drive. And that's essentially what the Rams did. And Stafford is a dominant player right now. I mean, he's a legitimate. He's probably had some years. I have to really dive in. But this feels like his highest level of play consistently week in, week out, especially when you factor in his age. Remember, McVeigh all off season said, listen, we value. Like, because of our money situation, we are underpaying Matt Stafford, and we know it. They approached this offseason with him much different than they did years ago with the golf situation. They were just transparent about it. They're like, we know we technically have to underpay him. We know he's better than what we're. He's making $40 million a year. I mean, Trevor Lawrence makes more than him. Right to it makes more than him. Purdy makes more than him. So he is. Puka is an incredible talent and Devonte and him have that. He has like a Rogers level rapport with him. Immediately.
- [06:25]
John Middelkoff
Immediately. He had no training camp. I mean, give me a break.
- [06:28]
Colin
Yeah, yeah, I forgot about that because the back didn't work, so. That's right.
- [06:33]
John Middelkoff
They are.
- [06:34]
Colin
It feels like we're on a collision course right now. We're recording this obviously before the Monday night game, so we'll see the Eagles and the packers, but I would say the Rams in Seattle look like they're playing at a really high level. The 49ers offense actually is playing at a really high level. It's just defense. They're rolling out, me and you, and they got no chance to stop a good team.
- [06:51]
John Middelkoff
I was going to say if you looked at the box score and didn't look at the score and watch the game. Niners move the ball. I'll say this about Mac Jones. You know, Mac Jones is a big, sturdy kid. I think he throws a really nice ball. He's not super athletic, but, like, I get, when I watch him, like, I get why he was a great high school, college and a Pro Bowler. Like, Mac throws a real ball. He makes good decisions, tight spiral. You know, he moved out and threw a touchdown pass. You know, scrambling to a tight end. It's like I would have no problem as a bridge Quarterback for a couple years going with Mac Jones. If I was an NFL GM or a coach, he, he's one of the better bridge guys in a lot to me in a, in a while.
- [07:38]
Colin
Yeah, I'd even argue he's probably better than that. You know, like clearly you watch Sam Darnold. His physical traits are that of a guy that was drafted really high in any draft, quarterback inflation or back in the 90s. Mack doesn't have those physical attributes but he's an NFL starting quarterback. But he's on a two year contract. Colin, did you see the clip with Brady when they asked him on the pregame show about, you know, Mac Jones? And he said, well, once upon a time, you know, you can't not go to Mac Jones the way he's playing. And I found myself in a situation a long time ago and I look at me now, I'm probably not here if I wasn't and I just went. I actually don't think it's that controversial to say Purdy's toe doesn't work. He can't even dress for games. So Mac Jones is the quarterback for the entire season. Like I don't expect Purdy to play and if he does, he'll immediately just re injure his toe. That's what happened last. That's the injury he has. He's got a unique injury. It's not one of those things that just heals. He's never going to be 100%. So if he's compromised, Mac Jones is keep playing. To me, Mac Jones plays the rest of the season. And you know, the crazy thing is, Colin, we're not that far away from the bears. And the 49ers play in about four or five weeks and that could potentially be for the seven seed. Now the Niners, they play the cards. The Titans, the Browns. Remember we talked about the beginning of the season. The Patriots and the Niners. There's the Bear. Schedule gets a little more difficult. Packers a couple times, the Steelers, even the Vikings I think next week in Minnesota. So the Niners, but they all, they play each other. So if the Bears can just kind of hold serve, we could have a pseudo, you know, December playoff game for that seven seed. Niners, Bears, which would be pretty fun. And B, I'm also the Mac Jones thing. Let's say you could trade him this offseason. I think he's too valuable to the 49. He makes no money. He's on a two year, $7 million contract and Purdy is, let's face it, he Ripped up his arm. Granted that was the last game of the season, but if that happens in October, he misses a season this year. I mean, what's he going to end up playing? 2 or 3 games? Mac Jones value to the 49ers I'd argue is more valuable. Unless you're getting like a first round pick, which you're probably not. I'm not giving them away. I'm just holding them for the next, this year, next year until Purdy proves that he can stay on the field.
- [09:47]
John Middelkoff
Oh, and, and the Niners will get calls on Matt Jones and they'll say.
- [09:50]
Colin
And Kyle, Kyle's been open about it, he wanted to take them. And then I think as the process went on he kind of went to the guy with in quotes more upside. But there's no way Kyle doesn't like him now. You know, right today he's just slink he didn't have incompletions. I mean hitting guys on the head. And Besides Kittle and McCaffrey there's a lot of DeMarcus Robinsons and Kendrick Bourne. He's not throwing to Jerry Rice and John Taylor out there. Colin.
- [10:14]
John Middelkoff
No, no. I mean I'm impressed with Mac Jones. And the other thing we saw in the late window when rosters get depleted, which they do November on elite quarterbacks, golf, Stafford, look at the late window. Darnold blowout wins when you have a B quarterback. And Mac, I'm telling you, Max, if Max a backup, he's the best backup in the league. And to me he's a, he's a bridge or a franchise guy and, and he struggled to compete today. So what you saw in the late window, this is something I've been on now for years, John. The bottom of the NFL by November looks like the bottom of the NBA. It's unwatchable because the league is so quarterback dependent when, if you don't have a star quarterback because everybody's, I mean the Rams are lucky. They don't get penalties, they don't get hurt. I mean nobody's hurt by and large. Everybody's banged up right now. Everybody's dinged up. The packers are dinged up, the Niners are dinged up. You know, it's just the way the league is. It really helps to have a horse quarterback. And you saw it today. So you know, Rams in a blowout win 42, 26 as we went on the air and that game wasn't quite done. I want to, I want to talk about the Bears for a second. So Chicago beats New York 24, 20. And so it was Caleb Williams and Jackson Dart. And Jackson Dart outplayed him for the first three quarters. But there is something, I've said this about Caleb Williams multiple times, John. He doesn't get hurt and he doesn't throw interceptions. Jackson Dart gets hurt a lot and he'll throw picks. Now Jackson, I thought he plays with a ton of confidence. He throws a nice ball. Jackson played really, really well. He had a couple of touchdown runs. One was a 24 yard run, was a big time. Both those quarterbacks can really way above average movement, way above average. Now again, Caleb had a great fourth quarter. But when I watch the game and you have to watch the whole game, there's becoming an issue with Jackson Dart. He's blue tent in it. He's getting banged up a lot. This is my Brock Purdy thing. If you're a little smaller or you play with a lot of confidence. Baker Mayfield used to do that. First couple years he played with more confidence than he should have. Somebody would pick him off, he'd square him up. It's like, bro, you're a quarterback, you're not, you're not a free safety. Would it worry you, the Jackson Dart concussion today, the constant blue tent visits and the injuries.
- [12:42]
Colin
I think it worries me with all these young quarterbacks. They all have a style. You know, I would say Caleb Williams style is the same thing. He's just built more like a, like a tank. They all scramble around and run around. I mean, Jaden Daniels nowhere to be found. Where'd he get hurt running? You know, I mean, this, this is the new age. We watch football every Saturday for four plus months and it's fantastic, but they're all moving around. So back in the day, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, one all those guys are huge. The quarterbacks now are smaller. I mean, they're definitely smaller, but they move around. To me, the Jackson Dart, they. The play that he got injured on, the one that he fumbled, it was like a quarterback power which had worked earlier in the game. So when you're calling those plays and the guy's name's not Cam Newton, you know, this is the NFL. You know, he got rocked by like three guys and I mean, there were a lot of plays. The strength of Caleb was on full display today. How many sacks did he break out of? I actually think there's an element that I, it's like I'm not, I'm going to sound critical, but he almost throws too hard. There were so many balls that were dropped by those guys throughout the game, it's probably, you know, you're there, right. How cold is it in Chicago? You probably can't feel your hands. Balls are pro. I bet some of those guys are going to wake up in the morning with sore hands and. But on the balls where Jackson dart was completing him, it was more roll out lobs. It's hard to complete the Brett Favre fars. Players used to talk about this in Green Bay.
- [14:05]
John Middelkoff
Like, it is hard to pull.
- [14:06]
Colin
Yeah. So did Elway's in December and November. And I just thought like, it's not that Rome is a bad player, but you catch that. I would say Caleb Williams has right now as strong of an arm as anyone. In the end, he let a couple rip today where you're just like, that's Josh Allen, if not stronger. It was Jesus.
- [14:24]
John Middelkoff
How about he. He rolled right.
- [14:26]
Colin
I was impressed. I've been hard on him. I thought I was impressed today with how he played in that in the weather too.
- [14:32]
John Middelkoff
He rolled right. He threw a ball to DJ Moore in the end zone. Who. He caught it, but he was out of bounds. John, it was 40 yards. I swear to God. It was a line drive to left field. It was about as high as the shortstop. It was a freaking rope in a windy, cold environment. And DJ Moore, to his credit, caught it, but it was out of bounds. His. The word I always use with Caleb and I'd never used it with any quarterback before, is just horsepower. He is a V8. I mean, it is. He is. And here's the other thing. The knock on him, Caleb is, you know, he holds the ball too long. But I was thinking about this today. He doesn't throw picks. So in his mind is, yeah, I'm going to hold it longer than other guys because my escapability outside of Lamar Jackson is probably second best in the league. So first of all, I'm stronger than Lamar Jackson. So if I do get hit, I mean, he rolls. You can't. If you're.
- [15:21]
Colin
He breaks tackles like a younger Russell Wilson.
- [15:24]
John Middelkoff
Yeah. Or. Or Big Ben where a defensive player gets on his shoulder and he just brushes him off. So I think a lot of him holding the ball is, I just trust that I'm going to escape. And you know, I watched it a couple of times today when he had that big run down the sideline. I'm like, if he was a running back, you wouldn't want to size him up. If you were a safety, I mean, he's a big dude.
- [15:47]
Colin
I remember we did this maybe like week two and the one Thing that jumped out to me, you know. Cause last year their games were just so, I mean they had what like a 10 game losing streak? I mean they didn't matter. You watch him this year, he is way more athletic than I think people thought coming out. Also, you know, when you're judging him against Arizona and Arizona State and Colorado, right in college you see him against these NFL guys, he's running faster than them now. You know, I'm not saying he's Lamar Jackson the open field, but he is way faster than I expected. I thought he kind of won them the game. Down the stretch today he made play after huge play for obviously it flipped when dart gets hurt and Russell Wilson, it was just, man, it's hard to come in in a game where it's freezing cold. But God, he looks terrible.
- [16:32]
John Middelkoff
So Caleb's fourth game winning drive in six weeks. And my whole life I have watched the Bears lose games like they're winning. And this by the way, it's different. Denver's winning but the quarterback plays awful. The quarterback play with Chicago's wildly dynamic and what's interesting, Caleb's gotten better late in games. He may not be as good on the script that he was in the first four weeks. Like now he's doing stuff on his own and I mean right now, this season in the fourth day, he had 77 yards passing, a passing touchdown, 109 passer rating, 52 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown. Okay, and again that's not the script. That's the opposite of the script. Those were crucial drives to win the game with a ton of pressure. Yeah, I think we, I, I think he's a hit. I listen, winning games is like today I watched the Colts. Oh God, drove me crazy. They won the game. This is, that's why with analytics sometimes I'm like I'm going to get points. Sometimes not the touchdown I need to win the game. So we all keep our mortgage, right?
- [17:43]
Colin
Well, well to me the Bears game, if that had been a probably, it's probably a rarity in Chicago, but let's say it's a 75 degree November, early November game, you know, perfect weather, let's even say like 60. I'd be like, well, the Giants are terrible when it's freezing cold. That, that makes the game very difficult. I don't care who you're playing. I, I'm sure you saw some of that Wisconsin, you know, Washington game, Iowa, Oregon game. It is hard to play in those environments. No one can feel their hands. Hard to breathe. I, I have Way more respect. Like I, I, I don't judge scores. You know, you're not going to hit many explosive plays in the passing game. What is all what you know, if you go back and I saw it firsthand because they played the Niners when LaFleur got there and they resurrected Rogers career. They were playing these home games in Green Bay. It's freezing cold. So your, your vaunted pass attack does not work as well. And you know University of Washington has one of the best wide receivers in the league, one of the best quarterbacks in the country. They couldn't operate. They have a great offense. It doesn't function or you know, Oregon has NFL players everywhere. They, they couldn't function. So it's like I, I just go hey if you got to win to 10. I actually think for and it's an awesome. Listen if you're a Bears fan you apologize to nobody about winning games. After the last the Giants this thing I defended probably three or four weeks ago. I'm like listen, he went all in on this quarterback. He was right. Right. I mean there is if you just pull GMs right now, I think 32 of them would take Jackson Dart over Cam Ward today. Now their careers aren't ready. But today Brian Dabel was right about the quarterback he liked. Problem is his team. I mean that's, I think I read today a stat that that's his fourth game in which he had a second half lead of 10 plus points. And obviously he's had now multiple double digit leads in the fourth quarter in which they implode. I mean today he kicked the field goal. They had 12 men on the field. But Russell's in the game, not dart. He declines the penalty and takes the points instead of just getting the first. Because in listen I thought like hey you don't want to risk fumbling. You're up 20 to 10. How are the Bears going to score? But then it, it bit him in the ass and there were reports, you know, local radio they people have connections to ownership. That said the ownership was close after the Denver Bronco game. And this feels, you know, you're up 20 to 10, you're cruising. Maybe they give him a little break because darts in the tent but man that's, it's hard to, it's hard to kind of fend off the arrows. Colin, when you keep having these devastating losses.
- [20:14]
John Middelkoff
Yeah, it's nothing's these New York football teams. It's just, it's, it's just, it's a, it's a football swamp like think people just go to drown in these places.
- [20:26]
Colin
I think Justin Fields didn't have a hundred yards today total and they won. Didn't total running and passing.
- [20:32]
John Middelkoff
That's so bad. All right, today's show is brought to you by our new presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet. They're a great partner on Hard Rock Bet. There's always something to bet on. If you haven't tried your first bet on Hard Rock Bet yet, there's still time for you to get 150 bucks in bonus bets. If you win, just place a $5 bet. That's it. Five bucks. If it hits you, not only get your winnings, but you get $150 in extra bonus bets. The NBA is back, which means it's time to shoot your shot on Hard Rock bet. You're home for all the hoops action all season long. If you need a little help with your first bet, check out the streaks heating up inside the Hard Rock Bet stats hub. You can find live odds to bet on all of these streaks right in the Hard Rock Bet app. Download the Hard Rock Bet app today and make your first deposit payable in bonus bets. Not a cash offer offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in Florida. Offered by Seminole hard Rock Digital LLC in all their states. Must be 21 plus and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee or Virginia to play. Terms and conditions apply. Concern about gambling in Florida, call 1-888- admit it in Indiana. If you or somebody you know has a problem, wants help, call 1-800-9 with it gambling problem, call 1-800- gambler Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. This week's crunch time performer brought to you by McDonald's new buffalo ranch Sauce is Jonathan Taylor. Wow, was he great. Went to Berlin, carried the Colts on his back. 244 rushing yards, three touchdowns and the Colts wild come from behind. Overtime went over the Falcons. Taylor's performance was satisfying, just like the first bite of the Bacon Creamy Buffalo McCrispy. This podcast is sponsored by PayPal. Okay, let's talk holiday shopping. When you want to make the most of your Money, head to PayPal's app before you check out. They give you the flexibility to pay in four no fees, no interest. And this is big. Bigger than the 12 foot snowmen on your lawn right now. You can get 5% cash back when you pay later with PayPal. So whether it's the must have merch or for that signed jersey you've been eyeing, PayPal helps you make the most of your money this holiday. Save this offer in the PayPal app expires 1231.
- [22:49]
Colin
See paypal.com promoterms subject to approval.
- [22:53]
John Middelkoff
Learn more at paypal.com payin4paypal inc.nmls910457 this.
- [22:59]
Sophie Cunningham
Is Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, or osa, in adults with obesity? They may be happening to you without you knowing. If anyone has ever said you snore loudly, or if you spend your days fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability and concentration issues, it may be due to osa. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation. Learn more at don'tsleep on OSA.com this information is provided by Lilly, a medicine company.
- [23:38]
John Middelkoff
Get almost anything you need delivered with UberEats. What do you mean by almost? Well, you can't get a well groomed lawn delivered, but you can get chicken parm delivered. A day at the lake? That's a no. A Philly cheesesteak? Very much a yes. An afternoon stroll? Sorry, no. A burrito bowl? Happily, yes. All right, delivery is on its way. I use it regularly. How about the Clear skies? Can't deliver that. But French fries? Yeah. A little escape? No. Delicious bowl of grapes? Yeah. How about a freshly cut lawn? Can't help you there, but barbecued prawns? Order it now. Get almost almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol in select markets. Product availability may vary by region. Seattle for details When Cool Creamy Ranch meets tangy bold Buffalo, the whole is greater than the sum of its sauce. Say howdy partner to New Buffalo Ranch sauce only at McDonald's for a limited time at participating McDonald's today's episode brought to you by a scent that's made a legendary comeback. Degree Original Cool Rush the OG is back and better than ever. Cool Rush isn't just a scent. It's a movement. A fan favorite kind of fragrance guys remember, ask for by name and rave about online. It's bold. It's fresh all day. Sweat protection, cool, crisp vibe that made it legendary. So whether you're heading to the gym, the office, or just trying to stay fresh all day long, Cool Rush has your back. It's the go to for millions and for good reason. So if you haven't tried it yet or you've been waiting for a sign, this is it. Head to your local Walmart target grab degree. Cool Rush the fan favorite scent from the world's number one, antiperspirant brand. Miami 30, Buffalo 13. It was 60 nothing. Dolphins at half. An interesting number is Josh Allen had 3.53 seconds to throw. That's his highest since 2018. Nobody's open. So they didn't make a big move at the trade deadline. And I think everybody thought they should probably add a piece because Kansas City's defense, but they had 90 yards at half. They didn't have a, they didn't pick up a first down on third in the first half. And this is a Miami team we thought quit three weeks ago. We always talk about quarterbacks. You get until the second year, Thanksgiving, second year. I think we've just got to be brutally honest with Sean McDermott here. It's, it's not just Kansas City. There's just too many games where you're just like, I mean, Buffalo should never look like that ever. They should never look like that.
- [26:22]
Colin
I understand in college when you have two top 10 teams play each other and then the following week you're playing a two win team and you're tied at halftime. Like these 19 year old guys. This is a team that's now for the last five years been one of the top, what, two or three teams in the entire league and they've got older players here.
- [26:39]
John Middelkoff
I mean, they've got a lot of 27, 28, 29 year olds.
- [26:42]
Colin
The coach has been there, I think since 2017. Josh has now been the starter for a long time. It's, it's not just on Sean. It's also, you know, the, the quarterback, you know, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, they take a lot of that responsibility as well. So, so today was embarrassing. I mean it, it truly was. It was, it should have been 14 nothing. I think the kicker missed an extra point. It was 14 nothing or 13 nothing before you even blinked. Two had a couple. He threw a beautiful touchdown pass to Jalen Waddle.
- [27:08]
John Middelkoff
Yes.
- [27:09]
Colin
And it was like, okay, 14 nothing or 13 nothing. Bill starts slow. I've seen them happen. And then ended up winning 35 to 20 or something. And they never got out of the malaise. And it started raining. It was probably humid and they just looked lifeless. Josh threw one of the worst interceptions I've ever seen him throw. I don't know if he's on the wrong page with the widers. He just threw it right to the, to the wide receiver or to the cornerback. They had an awful fumble early in the game when they were driving. They just looked lost. And that's the type game when your main rival now who's back is winning and now has a lead, kind of a commanding lead, because they already beat you and their schedule so easy. So they're not going away. And you just look big picture. This is going to be the worst team of the variable era for the next couple years. When you factor in how young it is.
- [27:56]
John Middelkoff
Right.
- [27:57]
Colin
You just listed a couple of guys that just started playing. Their left tackle, it's his rookie year, their quarterback, it's a second year. This is the first year the coaching staff's together, so, like, their arrows pointing up. And I think it kind of reflects that the Bills can really get up for the Chiefs. And for whatever reason, I remember hearing, like, Houston Rockets, maybe because Kenny Smith say, you know, the sad part is right when we got good, Jordan retired. They could never stop Akeem, and we always played the Bulls well. And if we ever saw them, we would have stopped that streak because they would have had no shot because they had no center. We were a team that. We played them really well. And some in basketball, it happens a lot. Right. Your matchup football kind of happens sometimes. But if you're good enough, whatever. For whatever reason, the Bills match up because their pass rush is good. They treat that game in the regular season like the Super Bowl. They just look like the best team in the league when they play the Chiefs.
- [28:43]
John Middelkoff
Yep.
- [28:44]
Colin
Before and after then, they. They look much more pedestrian. Today, though, was.
- [28:50]
Sponsor Announcer
I don't know.
- [28:50]
Colin
I mean, I. I felt like it was one of the more embarrassing performances of The Allen, Sean McDermott little era.
- [28:57]
John Middelkoff
Oh, I think it may be the most. I thought maybe they lost a few years ago at home on the opener to the Steelers, and they were a favorite. And I was like, what in the hell is that? I thought that game against the Saints this year, it was competitive. I was like, oh, what would bother me today is that Miami in the first half average six and a half yards of play. So in my take, is it would be one thing if the offense sputtered. You're a defensive coach, John. I've been on this forever. What do you do with your side of the ball? That wasn't just Josh Allen. Like, that defense had no energy. That defense, I mean, they just. They generated this incredible pass rush against Kansas City. And really, I mean, two is one of the easiest guys to rush in the league. And he had time to throw. They ran the ball.
- [29:49]
Colin
Do you think New England. Are you taking New England as we sit here today? Do you think New England's more likely to win the division?
- [29:54]
John Middelkoff
New England's got The better coach. I think New England and now with Williams and Trayvon Henderson, it's like, oh, I, I feel like New England now is on the up. Like they're an ascending team. I don't think Buffalo is. I mean we forget before that Kansas City game, I mean we'd seen them, Buffalo go to Atlanta and get worked. I mean they've had. That Saints game they won at home was troubling. Like they've had a lot of. Somebody told me this in the league at the beginning of the year. They said Buffalo doesn't have nearly the roster people give it credit for. They're like James Cook, Josh Allen Oliver, the defensive lineman who's hurt, who's hurt. They're like, you know, Dawkins, the left tackle. I was talking to an exec in the league and he's like, you know, he goes, the better rosters are the Rams and the Eagles and the Lions and the packers and Kansas City, like Ravens. He's like, buffalo's roster is not that good. Josh, left tackle, quarterback, running back, interior D lineman. That's why they went and got Bosa. I mean they've drafted a lot of draft capital on their defense. That's why they went and got Bosa who played well against, you know, Kansas City, Seattle 44, Arizona 22. It was 35, nothing. So, you know, it's just impossible to keep that up. And Darnold had a couple of just like funny, like bizarre turnovers. That ball bounces off a tight ends helmet. You know, I'm going to throw this to you. I got Pete Carroll and John Snyder, you know, this battled, they battled and there was a little tug of war on Pete's kid and John Snyder and I'm not going to go into too many details, but Pete and John, John almost left for Detroit, remember that? Years ago because he wanted his final say. Well, since Pete's been out of the building, John Snyder's two drafts have been a plus. A plus. He is, he is now. And I think John, Jason Light, Howie Roseman, Howie's a deal maker. I'm not sure there's many guys better than John Snyder at just personnel, college personnel, drafting it. There's not a lot of guys better. Again, I think Jason Light in Tampa is really good. That Seattle roster, I wrote this down. Young, fast, physical. You can turn the sound down, John. Against Washington and against Arizona, it looks like a college mismatch. They are so fast, they are so physical. Darnold's in total control of the offense, play action, run game, deep Game. I don't see the hole. I really don't see the hole with this team. They drafted that safety. That kid's a banger. The South Carolina safety. I don't see the weakness with the team.
- [32:48]
Colin
I think the point of difference they have. They obviously play the Rams this upcoming week which is an incredible game is their DBs are good and the Rams aren't. I think that's the difference because the offenses are both elite. Pass rushes are awesome. Coaching staff's high end. If you and me were the NFL like in college how they have the college football committee and you rank them 1 through 12. I. I would rank Seattle after this week number one. They would be my number one team. And you just. If you just watch them without the sound on obviously today. But over. Over the last couple weeks the. The. The team speed in which they had. I think the. The lob team with Pete was probably the most physical team I've ever seen live. I do think the fastest team I've ever seen live is the Peyton Manning Denver Broncos. Their defense every single guy could run fast. A defensive line. It was DeMarcus Ware, Von Miller, Wolf, Malik Jackson, Trevathan. They had a keep Taliba, their speed and physicality was just. I've never seen anything and I've saw him live a bunch of times. This team has some similarities to those two teams. Younger kind of taking the league by storm. Every guy. I mean like you said Emin worry he's like six. He is their potential Kyle Hamilton. But they already had some good DBs, right. They drafted the kid Witherspoon from Illinois. They already had Woolen. Obviously their linebacker play is fast. Once they got Ernest Jones their. Their head coach. I mean we talk so much and rightfully so about these offensive coaches. He's got a chance to be pretty special. His demeanor. He has a very modern demeanor. You know, like when you watch Vrabel. Vrabel is not the throwback of like what I grew up on. Guys screaming he doesn't. He's not as.
- [34:27]
John Middelkoff
Maybe he's a player's coach.
- [34:29]
Colin
Yeah. When the doors are shot. I think he's on him in the meetings. But on the sideline he's very common collected. I would say Mike McDonald. It almost feels like is he on a couple Zannies or something like it show. But he. There's no he because he knows like he is. He is very calm and his team reflects that. And I would say this their personnel move of trading Geno and signing Sam is got a chance to be an all timer. I mean that's got a chance to be. Because they didn't give Sam. I mean he's going to end up probably. I mean he's not going anywhere for a while. They gave him $100 million over three years. I mean it's relative to the other contracts. We've seen Colin around.
- [35:05]
John Middelkoff
Well, it's 35 million guaranteed. So the salary, the cap hit is just nothing.
- [35:11]
Colin
JSN looks like Jerry Rice. I knew the guy was good, but this year he is. It's like Puka, by the way, right when. But this guy was. We knew more about JSN than Puka because he was Ohio State and first round pick. But you knew after a couple of weeks Puka was a rookie. Like is this real? And then it just never stopped, you know. Jsn like is he really this good in every single week? It's like he's unstoppable.
- [35:32]
John Middelkoff
Well, in J. JSN was like a five star recruit. First round, I think it was a.
- [35:38]
Colin
First round receiver, 20 I think.
- [35:40]
John Middelkoff
Yeah. The only question was, is he a one? Everybody knew he was really good. Now you're like, yeah, he's just in contested catches, speed. Then they go get Rashid Shahid from New Orleans and you know he now has the offensive coordinator that he had in New Orleans and now he's in Seattle.
- [35:57]
Colin
Yeah.
- [35:57]
John Middelkoff
Again, this is a big play offense. What I like about Seattle, they can grind you down if they have a lead. They can run the football if they have a lead. They're a big play offense. They can play from behind. You know, I'm just, I'm writing this down throughout the course of the game. Jsn first receiver to a thousand. It's not that weird with Seattle where they average six and a half to seven yards of play. Like it happens regularly. And there is something to be said of trusting your eyes. I think this is now even more than Mike McDonald. I think it's John Snyder's organization. And I've texted Snyder a couple times. He travels. I mean he's at every weekend. He is a. You gotta go to these games. Like they always say to sell a company you have to take a thousand meetings. John Snyder's on a plane every weekend. He, he doesn't scout off the TV or film. He wants to go to the games. And I mean they're just in it. When I watch them play, I'm like, when you're a big play offense and your quarterback has mobility so you can go down the field, the quarterback, you can move the pocket. I don't know. You can grind people with a lead. You know, it's like Detroit, if golf had mobility, and that's the whole. Like, golf doesn't. But Detroit's a big play offense and can grind you down. Just think of Detroit's offense, and then if Jared Goff could move, you'd be like, shit, what do you do? But we've seen Detroit do that for three years. I think Seattle, like, if you don't pay attention like we do, obviously, people that do this for a living, shit, man, they're. They're embarrassing teams. These. How often do you get a 35 nothing lead in the first half of a pro football game?
- [37:43]
Colin
And Arizona had been playing well. Even their record's not that great. They have been in every single game they played this year.
- [37:49]
John Middelkoff
They controlled a week ago.
- [37:51]
Guest Analyst
They.
- [37:51]
Colin
They easily could be, you know, coming into this game, they could have been 6 and 3. I would say the thing with John Schneider, when you think about. We talk about offensive coaches, you're like, if JJ can't play for Kevin o', Connell, that's a JJ issue, not a Kevin issue, right? If you can't play for Kyle Shanahan, that's a U issue. And that skill is why those guys are going to be paid at the top of the market for until they retire from the NFL. John Schneider, he was the guy that pounded the table for Pete against Pete Carroll, for Russell Wilson, and ultimately got him to relent and draft him. Obviously, that changed the course of their franchise when they pivoted off Russell. And remember, John wanted to do it earlier, try to trade him to the Cleveland Browns so he could draft Josh Allen. That's who he was going to take. Then he trades for Gino, or he gets Gino as the backup. And they were cool with, like, I think we can handle this for a little bit. And he was right. Gino was actually. And they got Drew Lock. Remember, they won a Monday Night Football game against the Eagles with Drew Lockdown, who is the worst of this whole group. And then he pivots to Sam Darnold. Like I would say as a quarterback evaluator, John Schneider is as good as it gets from a GM perspective. And if that's going to be the guy that you're going to invest most of your money into as a franchise, his skill, let alone his ability to build the team. It's. I mean, this is now like, how many different iterations of the team. The Lob team, remember, then they transitioned in the late 2010s they were still good. You. They weren't. They weren't going to Super Bowls, but they were never. They didn't have four win seasons. They were winning nine to 11 games. And now, I mean, what do they look like to you? A 14 win team? I mean, who's I. If Devonte Adams, who kind of hurt his back at the end of the game. We'll have to monitor that throughout the week. I like, see, I think that's going to be a tough way tougher. I do too.
- [39:30]
John Middelkoff
Sharpest young voice in college football, Josh Pate. I love having him on. I gotta tell you, through the years, when I talk to most of my sources aren't players or coaches. They've always been executives. Because I probably absurdly have always fashioned myself is if I didn't do this, I'd want to be a gm, not a coach, not a player. I like all the architecture of building stuff. And when you talk to them about players, I remember when Josh Allen came out of Wyoming and I would talk to GMs and they're like, okay, did you see the throw against. You know, it wasn't against Oregon or Iowa. There's a throw and it was. It's remarkable how often it's a play, a moment, a drive, and a scout goes, okay, the Penn State game for Sam Darnold at the Rose bowl, that's the one. Everybody went, whoa, whoa, this is, this is different. Fernando Mendoza. So first of all, he was going to go to Yale. He settled on Cal. So the kids, obviously, and Indiana's a good school. So we know he's got brain power. We know he's six' five. We know all that stuff. That last drive on the road, Penn State couldn't run. Face the defense made three throws. The one in the back of the end zone, like, I'm like, okay, that's a Sunday player. That's not, that's not normal. That's Herbert at Oregon, you know, carrying average people around him. Not average, but because I think, I think Indiana's got good players. They don't have Ohio State guys maybe, but I watched that drive and I'm like, oh, he has to come out. That's the number one player in college football. I don't care about Ohio State's linebackers and corners. That's the impression it had on me. It was just sitting on the couch going, oh my God, this looks like Sunday. What was your takeaway on it?
- [41:18]
Guest Analyst
I thought it was. There are very few moments like this, but I was watching it in an airport first off seeing a big sporting moment, Seeing a big football moment in an airport is always unique because it's really a unique setting and you're not there often if you cover the game. So that was number one, was just the takeaway of how surreal it is that, wow, the entire world's fixated on Indiana football in this moment. I thought it was one of those moments where you. You see someone come of age, like, you know, someone's got potential, and then all of a sudden it just happens, right? And sometimes it's just a moment. Like, sometimes guys just hit. Hit a lucky shot or make a lucky throw, but it's rare. You don't get lucky three times like that on the same drive. It's something that's in you. It's potential you have. And it's not that he hasn't shown flashes. If you're paying attention to college football, right, you knew about him. If you're paying attention to the mock drafts, you know about him, but you've been waiting for that. Okay, so, like, I thought you were talking about scouting there. I've always sort of disagreed with the approach of boiling down a player in your mind to, like, highlight culture. Like, I think of one or two throws. I've always wanted to shave the best and the worst off and take what's in the middle, and that's the player, and that's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of plays. But with Mendoza, he's lesser known to the general public. You just. I guarantee you there's a whole army of college football fans out there that know the name Fernando Mendoza. They know he's the quarterback in Indiana. They probably hadn't even watched him a whole lot. That was when they saw him. And that matters. That matters for your Heisman crowd, but that also matters for that locker room. It's one thing to go in there, win 38 to 10. Like a and M just went and took care of Missouri and Marcel Reed didn't have to do on that Saturday what Fernando Mendoza did. And I just could not help but in the moments afterwards, go back to Oregon. Last year, Oregon just goes wire to wire, undefeated. Yeah, they had one, like, close games early before they got their act together. And they go undefeated and they're totally clean. And they go in the playoff first round by. And then they get Ohio State and they just get drug. And that was the first time they really tasted their blood. And Indiana looked like they were on a trajectory to maybe do that. And instead they didn't have to suffer the consequences of loss. But they dealt with something. They dealt with having to crawl over broken glass to get a win. And, and I mean, I'm never going to be in a major college football locker room as a player, but I cannot imagine what that flight home was like. I can't imagine what it's like to look in the mirror, man. As him just look in the mirror. Everyone's been talking you up. But sometimes there can be a little imposter syndrome. There can be a little self doubt. There can be none of that with him anymore. It was amazing to watch.
- [43:55]
John Middelkoff
Yeah. Great second half. Penn State marched up and down the field with their backup quarterback over and over and over and you were like, oh my. We got, we got. I almost tweeted, who's your daddy? I was so close to the play on words. I was like, we're gonna, we're gonna get an upset. And then he took that ball and I was just like, wow, that's impressive. You know the this weekend, Oklahoma Bama. I like Bama. Iowa. USC take the points. I think it's 27, 26. Either way, Iowa's a tough matchup on USC. Texas. Georgia. I'll take Georgia. This podcast is sponsored by PayPal. Okay, let's talk holiday shopping. When you want to make the most of your Money, head to PayPal's app before you check out. They give you the flexibility to pay in four no fees, no interest. And this is big. Bigger than the 12 foot snowman on your lawn right now. You can get 5% cash back when you pay later with PayPal. So whether it's the must have merch or for that signed jersey you've been eyeing, PayPal helps you make the most of your money this holiday. Save this offer in the PayPal app expires 1231.
- [45:06]
Colin
See paypal.com promoterms subject to approval.
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John Middelkoff
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- [45:54]
John Middelkoff
Company get almost anything you need delivered with UberEats. What do you mean by almost? Well, you can't get a well groomed lawn delivered, but you can get chicken parm delivered a day at the lake. That's a no. A Philly cheesesteak? Very much a yes. An afternoon stroll? Sorry, no. A burrito bowl? Happily, yes. All right, delivery is on its way. I use it regularly. How about the clear skies? Can't deliver that. But french fries? Yeah. A little escape? No. Delicious bowl of grapes? Yeah. How about a freshly cut lawn? Can't help you there. But barbecued prawns? Order it now. Get almost almost anything delivered with Uber eats. Order now. Alcohol in select markets. Product availability may vary by region. Seattle for details when cool creamy ranch meets tangy bold buffalo, the hole is greater than the sweet. Some of its sauce. Say howdy partner to new buffalo ranch sauce only at McDonald's for a limited time at participating McDonald's today's episode brought to you by a scent that's made a legendary comeback. Degree Original Cool Rush. The OG Is back in better than ever. Cool Rush isn't just a scent. It's a movement, a fan favorite kind of fragrance guys remember, ask for by name and rave about online. It's bold. It's fresh all day, sweat protection, cool crisp vibe that made it legendary. So whether you're heading to the gym, the office, or just trying to stay fresh all day long, Cool Rush has your back. It's the go to for millions and for good reason. So if you haven't tried it yet or you've been waiting for a sign, this is it. Head to your local Walmart target grab degree Cool Rush, the fan favorite scent from the world's number one antiperspirant brand. I want to talk about Kalyn de Boer. That's what I want to talk about. So I said when? When Saban left and Kaylin DeBoer took over, I said, that's the greatest handoff in the history of college football. Generally you give it to somebody on the staff because that's what the players want. It doesn't work or you bring in somebody and the culture doesn't work. He's just a winning guy. Kaylin DeBoer, Sioux Falls, Fresno State, Washington. He was 25 and three people assumed, well, it's Bama. He didn't have to rebuild anything. I say no, no, time out. That's a whole different ballgame. This is Bama nil. That's a whole different ball game. Secondly, he is different than Nick and there's Going to be things. He likes coordinators. He does, doesn't. I'm like, he was almost punished because everybody thought Nick handed him a Rolls Royce. And I'm like, no, he handed him a used Rolls Royce. It wasn't as dominant as it was two years earlier. Georgia now had as good or better players and the nil world had changed. Texas now could just buy players. So if you watch Bama and you watch Kaylin DeBoer with quarterbacks, I, I think Ohio State's the best team I've seen. I think Bama's too. I think Bama is the second best team in the country. I don't think Indiana quite has the personnel A&M's beaten a lot of teams that fire their coaches. So I'm not quite sure I buy that yet. They haven't played like Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Georgia, Bama. What do you make of Kalyn DeBoer? The doubters, the critics and where they are.
- [49:14]
Guest Analyst
I mean, a lot of the doubt and the criticism was just folks wanting Alabama to fall off. It's been a long time since you could really take reasonable shots at Alabama. And I grew up in the south, so, like, I know the vibe about Alabama around the south. So there's some of it where people are kind of witchcasting. They're. They're hoping that they're right about doubting Kayn DeBoer. And then there was another crowd that just flat out, you know, thought that he took, like you said, a seamless baton handoff and it should be full stride and any kind of fall off, any kind of looking at the clock and, oh, we're off pace a little bit that indicates that he's an imposter. And then you get to backfill with all these precooked theories people have in the south about how, well, if you're not from here, you can't recruit here and how's he going to recruit at Alabama? And he doesn't know this place. He doesn't know the culture. So, you know, the same stuff they said about Brian Kelly ended up being valid. Not because he wasn't from the south. It's because he didn't work to the degree you need to work at lsu. So the thing about Kalin is the style he won with at Washington is what you need to pay the most attention to the 2023 Washington season. What they have like seven one possession wins or something like that. So they were winning a bunch of close games. But there's so much. There's some randomized nature to that. But when you get a big sample size of one possession games and you're that good in one possession games, there's more than just luck to that. That skill Bama had been used to win in 42 to 10 and so he's come down here and even in the games where they're winning it's, it's a lot of what he did at Washington. It's one possession games and it aggravates people so much cause they want to run for 250 yards and they can't run the ball this year and yet they're still scaling their offense despite not being able to run the ball which I think is the biggest feather in the cap of Ty Simpson. Mendoza is doing it with a ground game. Julian's doing it with a ground game. Bama can't run and Ty Simpson still does it. That's all I would say about him if I were promoting him for the Heisman. But DeBoer year one in that building this week. Colin, a year ago they were in the thick of the playoff race. They're going to go to Oklahoma. They get their doors blown off.
- [51:16]
John Middelkoff
Blown off.
- [51:17]
Guest Analyst
And that was really when the ant bed got kicked. That's really when all the rumors started spilling out. That's when all the, you know, the truth started getting dealt because they didn't feel like they had anything left to play for. So you start hearing some grumbling and you start really finding out how oil and water that building had been. Some of the old guards, some of the new guard. And he walked in and I want to remind everyone he walked in at the weirdest possible time maybe in the recent history of college athletics because he takes the job. Saban retires and it was weird like early January kind of thing. So he takes the job and the portal opens for 30 days. But they can't take, they can only lose for 30 days.
- [52:00]
John Middelkoff
That's right.
- [52:00]
Guest Analyst
And then you, you patch it up as best you can't. Julian Sayan was there by the way.
- [52:04]
John Middelkoff
He leaves.
- [52:05]
Guest Analyst
Caleb Downs was there. He leaves. Well then you go through spring ball. And I remember talking to him about this after it happened and he didn't make any excuses. I was almost trying to make excuses for him. But it was, it was a situation where you had to run your spring practice knowing that after spring ball when you really want to get down guys throats and you want to try and install as much culture as you can, they could just leave. There's a post spring portal window and they could bail on You. These aren't your players. You didn't recruit them. How are you going to have a roster going into the season? So they had to kid glove their way through spring ball a little bit. And even then, like, you get to the fall and you're. You're kind of. You're trying to build the plane in the air.
- [52:46]
John Middelkoff
Yeah.
- [52:46]
Guest Analyst
And it used to be a nice plane. And so no one's going to accept any kind of turbulence up there. And that Oklahoma game is where it really came undone a little bit. And that's where you really started hearing it. So it's so crazy to fast forward a year from now. It just so happens to be they're in the thick of it again. Oklahoma's coming in again. I'm interested that you said you like Bama because a lot of people like Oklahoma this week. I love Bama this week. I'm interested in why it is you like Bama because. I got one reason.
- [53:13]
John Middelkoff
Well, I. I guess my take is, I think. I think the offensive coaching at Bama. I tend to believe that offensive coaches are tinkerers. So I think deboer and his coordinator, you know, like when they went to Georgia, you're like, oh, that's a. That's a perfect game plan. I think defensive coaches, Venables tend to have this is what we are, and we're just going to be more forceful. I tend to think with defensive teams, you often get what you get and you get it by like week four. I think offensive coaches. Ryan Day is a great example. Last year, God, you watched the Michigan game. Then a week later you watch Tennessee, and then a week later you watch Oregon, you're like, oh, shit, they didn't peak until the second week of the playoff. They're tinkerers. Chip Kelly was always that. He was always tinkering. So I tend to think Alabama is just getting better. They're just. Every week I feel like they're two possessions better. Whereas I feel kind of like I know what Oklahoma is. I've seen the best of Oklahoma. That's very good. But I think 010 being the best one being. I think Alabama is about a seven. I think they're going to get to about an eight and a half. Now Ohio State's at a nine and they may just stay there, but it's why I think Bama is the second best team in the country. I think they've got a tinker as a coach. I watch them at Washington just manipulate, tinker, improve. Anyway, that's my take is that I Think four weeks ago I may have felt differently. I think the offensive coach over the defensive culture.
- [54:51]
Guest Analyst
I like Bama, so I'm with you. They are beating people on Saturday a lot, staff wise like they are. They got one of the best staffs in the country, offensively especially. So here's, here's what's interesting about that. If you watch the LSU game last week, they're coming out of a buy. Theoretically you should just be shot out of a cannon. We're ready to peak in November. They won 20 to nine. I think it was. If you watch the game, you saw how much meat was left on the bone offensively, you saw how much like just off the fingertips type thing, explosive passes they missed on. And I think that is part one of the separation. Saturday you just, you focus on precision and accuracy all week after a game like that. And then number two, Oklahoma's real hallmark is they can shut you down running the ball. I'd almost feel more uncomfortable for Alabama if part of their offense was built on the ground game. They already don't do anything on the ground. Lesser teams have shut them down running the ball. So what Oklahoma's built to take away, you can't take away from Bama because they already don't do it and yet they still scale their passing game anyway. And the two other offenses that they've seen that can do through the air what Bama can are Ole Miss and Tennessee. And I think one of them threw for 319 and the other one threw for 380 or something like that against them. So it's going to be a real high profile game. It'll be a good fight. I think Alabama is going to end up winning the thing by double digits in the end.
- [56:11]
John Middelkoff
So Lane Kiffin, I've known Lane for a long time and I think Lane's smart. I think he's again gotten better and better. I made this argument is that you can bounce around Ole Miss, lsu, you can bounce around. They're all. I mean these days if Ole miss can pay 10, LSU pays 11. There's less pressure at Ole Miss. I'd stay at Ole Miss. Oxford's beautiful that I said. I think actually he could be an NFL coach and like Harbaugh, he'd walk into the sport for the first three years. He knows all these players way better than your GM does. Also like a Miami tua, because of the contractual situation is going to be your quarterback for a year. But you probably got to draft your next quarterback and most of these guys are second round quarterbacks. Well, he knows Nussmeier and he knows Simpson. He knows all these guys, South Carolina kid. He knows all of them. So by the second round, nobody's going to know those quarterbacks better than Lane Kiffin. He either recruited him, played him, played against him. Do you think Lane Kiffin. Do you think he's considering the NFL?
- [57:23]
Guest Analyst
Yeah, I think he is. I think several of them are. I think there's some names considering the NFL that would totally and completely put jaws on the ground if the names ever got public. I think these guys are always considering the NFL. Now, you'd never get the truth out of most of them, but yeah, I mean, look, you. You know the kind of mentality it takes to succeed at the highest level of college football, especially if you specialize on a side of the ball, goes hand in hand with the kind of mentality that thinks, I could win in the NFL. I could win on Sundays. I want to test myself against the best. I want to see how my offense does. And especially with Lane, like, you've. You've got the Oakland Raiders chapter in his past. You don't think he wants to make good on that? Yeah, I. I'm a believer. I'm a believer. Saban never did it. I'm a believer. He wanted to make good on the Miami Dolphins part. Didn't like all of the. All of the other extracurricular that comes along with the NFL relative to college. But, yeah, I think he. He would consider it. I think they actively consider it all the time. What I don't know, and I think this is really what the decision comes down to, is what do you personally value the most beyond football? Like, some guys hate recruiting. They're looking at the first exit door to get to the NFL. Others, they think it's their wheelhouse. They think that's one of their strongest suits. They actually love being around young people. I will never forget when I was coming out of college down in Columbus and I heard you talking about Parcells one day and you described him as a meatball with arms. That is what stuck with me. That is what NFL coaches look like relative to college coaches, because you're around adults all day instead of younger adults. So past that. Yeah, I think he is considering it.
- [59:04]
John Middelkoff
You know, let me throw this at you. I had a really smart guy tell me this, a current college coach.
- [59:10]
Colin
And.
- [59:11]
John Middelkoff
He was talking about Ole Miss and the limitations. He said offensive recruits will follow the coach.
- [59:18]
Sponsor Announcer
Right?
- [59:19]
John Middelkoff
They'll follow Sark, Lane, Caitlin, offensive players, they want to know who the coach is, what the system is great defensive players, they want to go to Georgia, Texas, lsu. Not about scheme. I want to get taken care of. I want a little nil check. I got to play in the trenches. That's the limitation of Ole Miss. When I asked somebody about Ole Miss, they said Lane's always going to get offensive guys. Offensive guys follow the coach, defensive guys don't. He's never going to have Georgia's defensive personnel, he's never going to have Bama, he's never going to have Ohio State's defensive guys. Go to the big schools. You see all sorts of great offenses in the history of college football. You can go to Hawaii, you go to byu, you can go Indiana and see a lot of the top 10 college defense of all time. There's a lot of Georgia, Bama, lsu, Michigan. And so this coach said Lane knows he's limited when he faces the big dogs in the sec, he'll have to outscore him. He's not stopping them. And so that's just something I, that's something to think about. I thought it was very, very wise.
- [60:29]
Guest Analyst
I think it's been taken into consideration when you do your pros and cons, there's not going to be a clean list under the cons for any of these jobs.
- [60:37]
John Middelkoff
Right? Right.
- [60:38]
Guest Analyst
So it Ole Miss, that's what you have to ask. But then what if you're Lane Kiffin? You have to ask, all right, but what state do I reside in? I reside in Mississippi. The one thing that you're going to say about Mississippi is it pumps out NFL front, future NFL front defensive talent every year. Now, historically they've gone to other schools, but that's why it's been case by case a nightmare to play Mississippi State or Ole Miss in certain given years because they're just freak shows out of Scuba and Philadelphia and Columbus and you've never heard of those places. Yazoo City, Mississippi. But they got future first round NFL draft picks coming out of there. I would think to myself, man, if I can keep enough of those guys home, I can, I'm going to get the offensive guys. But like you're right, that, that, that is the case if I'm representing him. And selfishly, I want him at LSU or I want him at Florida, I want him at Florida. Because I'm saying, dude, they've got the track record of, of offense like you want Spurier even when Urban was there. The difference is you can get the defensive talent down there as well. That's what I'd sell him on.
- [61:37]
John Middelkoff
Yes, Sark, told me this when he was at Washington. He said we, I can get first round receivers and tight ends and quarterb at Washington. It's defensive tackles. You can't get them in the Northwest. We just don't have, we may have one every other year who's a, who's an elite defensive tackle. And so, you know, that's why, you know, I just think it's a reality of, even in Southern California, as great as that state is right now, usc, if you look at their interior D line recruiting, there's Texas, there's no, there's an Oklahoma kid, there's a Texas kid, there's a Minnesota kid. Not a lot of LA kids on that defensive front. Now Lemon, the receiver lanes from Arizona, you know, Mayava, they got in Vegas a running back walk ons from Calabasas. USC's offensive talent. You know, it's a lot of LA kids and west coast kids. But no, I think Lane's a great example of the willingness to evolve as a human being. I think Lane today is just a much better human being. Not that I know him that well, but there were a lot of people out on Lane and he went small school one and, and I think Nick Saban deserves a lot of credit. You know, Saban took a beat up Lane and a beat up Sark. That, that tells you a lot about Nick Saban. Those guys were not, they had lost a lot of glare in college sports, I think.
- [63:04]
Guest Analyst
I mean that 25, 2015 team he had alone, just doing a deep dive on that staff alone, pretty unbelievable at Alabama that Saban had. But I mean I remember when Lane was at Alabama, I remember when, when Sark had gotten to Alabama and you're hearing the stories behind the scenes and you're thinking to yourself, I mean like one of the greatest magician tricks that I thought about Nick Saban when I first came to sort of see behind the curtain is everyone watched them and they're this machine and they're winning. And so you think, oh, they're free of all the crap, crap that everyone else has to deal with. And then you find out there's tons of infighting there. All of these coaches are alphas, all of these coaches are type A's and he's just, it's like herding cats and he somehow did it. But, but to do what he did for Lane, slash with Lane, to do the same thing for slash with Sark, that's pretty unbelievable. But the other part of that is at some point it doesn't matter how much someone else is trying to help you if you don't want to help yourself. So yeah, ton of credit to Nick Saban.
- [64:05]
John Middelkoff
Absolutely.
- [64:05]
Guest Analyst
It's not like Kiffin's having to rediscover himself at Publix like he is. He is coaching major college football. But at some point you got to look in the mirror and realize I'm a full grown adult. Like it's up to me. And thankfully he did that.
- [64:22]
John Middelkoff
The volume this podcast is sponsored by PayPal. Okay, let's talk holiday shopping. When you want to make the most of your Money, head to PayPal's app before you check out. They give you the flexibility to pay in four no fees, no interest. And this is big. Bigger than the 12 foot snowman on your lawn right now. You can get 5% cash back when you pay later with PayPal. So whether it's the must have merch or for that signed jersey you've been eyeing, PayPal helps you make the most of your money this holiday. Save this offer in the PayPal app expires 1231.
- [65:00]
Colin
See paypal.com promoterms subject to approval.
- [65:04]
John Middelkoff
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- [65:10]
Sophie Cunningham
This is Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, or osa, in adults with obesity? They may be happening to you without you knowing. If anyone has ever said you snored loudly, or if you spend your days fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability and concentration issues, it may be due to osa. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation. Learn more at don'tsleep on OSA.com this information is provided by Lilly, a medicine company.
- [65:49]
Sponsor Announcer
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- [66:40]
John Middelkoff
When you own your own business, you own every decision.
- [66:42]
Guest Analyst
Catch the red eye or take the 6am Make a new hire or promote internally.
- [66:47]
John Middelkoff
Celebrate a win with the toast at.
- [66:48]
Guest Analyst
The gate or unwind at the lounge. Big props to this team.
- [66:53]
John Middelkoff
Some decisions are a win win, like earning eight times points on Chase Travel.
- [66:57]
Guest Analyst
Introducing Chase Sapphire Reserve for business.
- [66:59]
John Middelkoff
With $2,500 in annual value, it's the business card that gives back all you put in. Visit chase.com ReserveBusiness to learn more. Cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank. Any member of DIC subject to credit approval terms apply.
- [67:10]
Colin
ABC Wednesday, it's the CMA awards live. That's what I'm talking about.
- [67:15]
Guest Analyst
With performances by Lainey Wilson, Kelsey Ballerini.
- [67:18]
John Middelkoff
Zach Topp, Riley Green, Ella Langley, Kenny.
- [67:21]
Guest Analyst
Chesney, Megan Maroney, Brandi Carlisle and the hottest collabs, Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton.
- [67:26]
John Middelkoff
Jabuzzi and Steven Wilson Jr Big X the Plug featuring Lip co.
- [67:30]
Guest Analyst
It's country music music's biggest night hosted.
- [67:33]
John Middelkoff
By your girl, Lainey Wilson.
- [67:35]
Colin
The CMA Awards live Wednesday, 8, 7.
- [67:37]
Guest Analyst
Central on ABC and next day on Hulu.
- [67:40]
Sophie Cunningham
This is an I Heart podcast.