Colin Cowherd Podcast -   Bills Concerns, Payton’s Russ Rebuild, Early Predictions, LIV/PGA Merger Aftermath w/ John Middlekauff

You know, it's interesting when you live in Los Angeles, the perception of the state of California and the reality of the state of California. I drive by the LA country Club about once a week. There's the Riviera country Club, the Brentwood country Club, the bel Air Country Club, the LA Country Club. For a city of this size, considering the cost of real estate, there's beautiful, beautiful golf courses everywhere in Los Angeles. San Francisco's a beautiful city as well.

I never thought it was a great golf course city. Maybe I'm wrong, But going back to Los Angeles, you know, and I understand that in cable the way to make money is pick aside, very tribal, go left, MSNBC, go write Fox News. That's why CNN has really struggled that you can't be middle ground. You got to go crazy town one direction. You have to go tribal one direction. But I find what I find interesting about the criticisms of Los Angeles. I have kids that live in Redondo Beach,

Santa Monica, Silver Lake. I have friends everywhere and Sino East, Los Angeles, Torrance, Palos Verde, Long Beach, couple of people Long Beach on my staff. What Los Angeles and California. The perception outside of Los Angeles in California is like nothing I've ever seen in my life. I've never had a single person in eight years that I know that has been robbed, carjacked, a victim of a crime of note.

But when I watch the constant haranguing by cable news about this city and listen, I know I probably live in a nice neighborhood and Colin, you're out of touch. But lots of people in Los Angeles live in nice neighborhoods. There's a lot of neighborhoods. It's the only city I've ever lived in that has three forecasts on the weather, beach, city, and desert. It's a vast county. I think Los Angeles County could be wrong. Here as nine ten million people.

And then you know, people will talk about, well, there's a lot of people migrating out of Los Angeles and California. To that, I say, yes, it is the tech epicenter of the world. It's increasingly very expensive. If you don't live out west, you do not know how expensive San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, even smaller towns Bend, Oregon, Boise, Idaho. Scottsdale's not a small town. It's expensive out west. And if you live

out east, you know. For years there was big money because of Wall Street in New York, but four hours surrounding New York, small towns, tiny towns in Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut were although also highly affluent. I remember one of the first things I noticed when I moved back east for ten years, how much money there was in these random small towns in the Northeast. It was all driven by Wall Street and hedge funds. You'd go into a tiny rural town and they have these boutiques with four

hundred dollars women's blocks, Like, who's buying this style. I'm from Washington State. You go rural and it's overalls, it's farmland. So enjoy the US Open at the beautiful La Country Club. Despite what you hear is a it's a fascinating city with thirty one music venues, eight pro teams, tolerant, wonderful people, a thriving economy. You know, our traffic can be a pain in the ass, but so is Atlantas, so is DC's, so is San Francisco. In Dallas and Philadelphia. I just

I love the US Open. I can't wait to watch. It's you know, four or five miles from my house. But maybe I'm being too prickly and defensive for living in Los Angeles. But I also, as many of you know, love Chicago. In Chicago, go in the South Side. You know, unfortunately, there are some violence, and there has been for a long long time. Chicago and Los Angeles are my two favorite cities in the country. I just love the diversity of architecture in Chicago. I love the river, the bridges,

the people, the food, the cultures. So enjoy watching the US Open at the La Country Club. I am not a member. They would not have me as a member. It's a very est LA Country Club is known for having business people, no celebrities, no semi celebrities, judges. It's very old school. But I can't wait to watch it. All right, I'm gonna bring in my buddy John Middlecoff Three and Out podcast, former NFL scout on the Volume Sports Network also hosts Go Low, our golf podcast US

Open in Los Angeles. Everybody here's fire up. Everybody I know is going except me because I'm doing a podcast. All right, John, I want to start with something. In the last twenty four hours. I do kind of a pre camp standings, and we're through the draft, coaching, free agency OTAs. And my only woe was I put Miami in first in Buffalo and second. And I had two reasons for it. I think Vic Fangio is the most underrated coach assistant in the league. I think he's a

great defensive coordinator. Between he and Jalen Ramsey, I think their defense is going to be a handful. Secondly, I like the momentum of Mike McDaniel and Tua. I think they get better and better and better. I watched them out coach Sean McDermott two of the three games last year clearly and arguably three of the three games. And also the Stefan Diggs story. Something's amiss. Five years in, they can't solve the offensive line. They've added more defensive

linemen at all over gotten extension. I'm not anti defensive coach Pete Carroll, Tomlin Belichick obviously very capable. Where what do you make of the Stefan Diggs A lot of the Instagram stuff, it just for that stuff to go public. What did you make of it?

excellent for the Bills. I heard you, I think yesterday or two days ago, kind of on the Sean McDermott experience, and I was thinking about it over the last twenty four hours, I think a lot of times, and the works for offensive coaches too, And now Shawn's technically the defensive coordinator. You are your success is very predicated on the other side of the all who you hire, So just look at some of the offensive coaches right when

did Andy Reid? Obviously Mahomes was a big element of this got rid of I think Bob Sutton was the defensive coordinator. Spagnola last five years, three super bowls in their defense has been dramatically.

Brian Dball turns out he's a star. Maybe Ken Dorsey, I mean, we're gonna there's gonna be a lot of pressure on him because they got a little loosey goosey last year with Josh Allen, who just is kind of a loosey goosey player. His talent is just so elite right now. The thing with the team building, and I know you talked about the offensive line with the Bills. Their GM has a lot of juice Brandon Bean, you know, and they have invested heavily in the defensive line, which

no one really like. That's a smart thing to do, but it's like, have they hit on the right guys. I like von Miller fifty five million dollars for a guy thirty three years old. It's a it was a lot of money, Yes it was. It was a lot of money, and he was having a really good season last year. But what happened he got hurt. You know, older guys. You saw JJ Watt a couple of years ago. Again, elite guy, champion. It's hard to overpay those guys. John.

think their success. You know, Sean mcdermy has proven to be a good defensive coordinator when he was with the Carolina Panthers and Ron Rivera, like, he knows what he's doing to coach the defense. So let's just say their defense a little bit better. What if their offense, like what if Ken Dorsey? I mean, for every cow Shanahan and Sean McVay, there are a lot offensive coordinators that turn out to not be that good. So that would be my biggest concern if I was a Bills fan.

The thing with the Dolphins, though Colin doesn't the quarterback concern you. I mean, you're cushing away from like missing the season.

I just don't like the way Buffalo's trending. And the other thing is with Aaron Rodgers and the Jets. I know Aaron's going to be fine, and I think he's using He's smart, he knows the narrative on in Green Bay was his buddies were the old guys Bachtiari and Cobb. He didn't work with young guys. So in New York he's made a point to put his arms around the

young guy. I love these young players. He's smart, he sees It's like I've said before, when you get divorced and remarried, you're like, what was I really bad?

Miami's my woe pick. I think Carolina has a chance to win their division, mostly because it's a bad division. Is there a woe pick for you at this point? A division that I would go, Man, I didn't see that coming.

stay healthy and they're in that division. No one's intimidated, especially Baltimore and Pittsburgh by the Cincinnati Bengals, right, even though the Bengals have been beating them, but they will view of healthy that they should win the division. So I'd say the Steelers are a team that I might lean to pick. I'm definitely gonna pick to make the playoffs, but to potentially win the North Well and the other thing.

since Fresno State. I think for the first time in his career he was really kind of told like essentially, you suck get out here. Yeah, you know, like you're not good enough to play here. They've left, he left the building the last couple of weeks. That's a team that what's crazy is that the end of the Sean Payton era in New Orleans, they had a really good defense and they still have a lot of physical pieces. They've made a physical team. Yeah, then Drew's career kind

of ends, and obviously they go into this court. They don't have a quarterback. Derek does not have to be Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes. If he can just play like the tenth eleventh best quarterback in you know, the NFL, they could, especially Winni factor in their division their strength to schedule, Like why couldn't they win ten eleven games.

have some fun this weekend again. Download the game Time app twenty dollars off your first purchase. The redeem code is coln Last minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed at game Time. I think it's interesting you you touched on Sean Payton. I want to dive a little bit into Denver here, so I thought it probably more the best guest I've ever had on my show, Reeaca Caring as Sean Payton.

I did him Mondays fifteen times last year. Sewan and I would talk five minutes before he went on, twenty minutes, twenty five when he was on five. After I learned so much, went to dinner a couple of times. I learned so much from Sean Payton. I could tell after about four or five meetings with him, there's no way he was going to stay out of the league. He just he's so curious. He's such a good storyteller. He's so he's just he's like intellectually twitchy, like he needs

to work right. He can only golf so much. You've met guys like this.

It wasn't lost on me that he goes out and gets Mike mcglinchy right tackle, Ben Powers at guard. They already have. They have Garrett Bowles coming back, who's their best onlignement, and they do have an interior guard they like on the roster. And so I think we're going to see a significant upgrade on their O line. And Sean told me a couple of times off the air and on with Russell Wilson. He said he's got to go back to leaning into what he does, and that

is basketball on grass. He's got to move, that's what he is. What do you in vision? Because I think they're going to take a big leap, What are you in vision with them?

I've seen him, but he's he has a starts every game for you at a very very critical condition. I'm with you. I mean, what made Russell Wilson so special? And I've seen him live several times in his heyday, he was just a magician. He kind of had this Steve Young flair. Obviously, the deep ball, and he looked like a shell of himself. And you know, I think most of us, if you're going to be bullish on

his comeback, he'd be like, well, Nate Hackett dysfunction. And then if you were going to be bearish on the situation, we'd be like, well, he's a lot of miles on those tires right running around. You can't play like that forever. He's probably him and Aaron Rodgers are probably the two most fascinating situations this year for just high level Hall of Fame level guys in new scenarios. Obviously Russell's been there a year, but now gets Sean Payton no longer

he's in charge. I think some of the stuff was overblown, Like Peyton Manning had a office at the facility right in Indian Denver. No one cares about that stuff when you're winning. It just gets weird when you're not. Now, Peyton like Tom are just better dealing with guys one on one. Like, I don't know if that's something you change. I mean some of the question marks with Russell just being a little different. You know, that's that's not something

you usually flip a switch at it. Thirty two thirty three years old. Like, I'm pretty confident Sean Paige. You talk to people in the NFL that he's viewed as one of the best offensive minds and just schemers of his generation. So offensively like the scheme, He's going to figure it out. It's just can Russell. Is he still

the athlete? And if his athleticism is let's say it was once a hundred percent, is now seventy percent not eighty eight percent, that's a big problem for a smaller player who's not ever going to play like a Brady or Manning in the pocket.

to be Lamar. I'm not going to be Kyler Murray I'm not those guys. I want to establish my guy myself as a pocket guy, because it was almost as if he was stubborn, not moving. If you watch their games, when he moved, he moved the chains. He's not a great pocket passer. Jalen Hurts isn't yet a great pocket passer. Lamar's better than people think. He's not Burrow, and I thought it was almost one of those where Sean Payton said this to me, he goes, I got to convince Russell,

let's go back to basketball on grass. I think Russell can move. I think Russell made a decision he did not want to be branded is run around guy because Kyler had come in and was a little quicker, Lamar was faster, Josh Allen was leaping over people, and Russell was thinking, I don't want to be the seventh best running quarterback in this league. That was my interpretation because when I watched, I'd think, Russell, every time you run in these games, twice a game, you pick up a

first down run. He's still very elusive. So sometimes, you know, people have told me this before in my career. Sportscasters like lean into what you are. You know, if you're a storyteller, be a storyteller. If you're funny, be funny. If you're a great journalist, lean into it. I think Russell needs to lean back into Russell. So I want to go from there to a team you know very well, the forty nine ers. I think it's impossible to yank a player that went eight to zero is the starting quarterback.

I don't think, yeah, so what is what.

Right in training camp, they have some joint practices the preseason games. My take is, though, I just the forty nine ers thought that they could have their cake and eat it too and develop this player, and they realized he needed so much work and he got hurt that they were just a ready made machine. It's why they always kind of went back to Jimmy Garoppolo. And then when they just they didn't luck into Barrock party because they he made the team last year at a training camp.

Like they what he did in training camp, Kyle kind of fell in love with They really liked him. Now they didn't think he was in it end up being a starting quarterback, but through injuries, his play through whatever, the end of the season and then those couple of playoff games before. I guess the Dallas game was hard. I mean their defense was playing really well. The Eagle game didn't even happen. That he was a more explosive

player than Jimmy Garoppolo. And we know the weapons they have, right and I think now that they have Christian McCaffrey, they just go, we don't need because I'm not asking you to play like Patrick Mahomes. We run the ball a lot, we throw a lot of quick screens, we throw a lot of wheel routes. We are not bombs away like the Buffalo Bills or the Bengals that's not

the way we play. So we just need a guy to be very, very accurate basically in like the ten yard window, passed the line of scrimmage right, and perty was awesome at that. Of course he was. He's been a four year starter at Iowa State. He's a multiple All Big twelve guy. He had a lot of experience, very confident, and it's just an accurate player. I mean,

that's his strength and that's not Trey's strength. And you know, the Bills several years ago were like, screw it, we're gonna figure it out with Josh Allen and learn through it. And they weren't even close to being a super Bowl contender at the time he started when he got there. That's the opposite with the forty nine er. You could argue it would have been an easier landing spot if he just went to a shitty team and just got to screw up on the fly and figure it out.

That was I think the forty nine ers thought the opposite, and then once they got it, they're like, yeah, we can't. And the players last year were kind of grumbling because they're thinking, we can't win ten games if this guy's not accurate. Right, we can't figure it out on the fly. We're twenty five to twenty eight year old guys in our prime right to roll. And yeah, I mean if he doesn't win the backup job. They do have the

three quarterback rule. You know, they change it. Technically they keep them, but to me, it's not out of the realm possibility. They just maybe trade them at the end of training camp if Sam Donold like beats him out right, because what you can't have a guy nine million dollars being your third you know.

And if Jimmy is injured, I mean that they'd bet Brian Hoyer would We wouldn't just trade a fourth to just see what you got to take your chances because there's some pressure on just being relevant if you're the Raiders. So I think there would be a couple teams if he shows signs of life. If he doesn't, h Yeah, his value is very very small because he makes he's a third overall pick. He makes some cash.

I'm not playing for that curmudgeon. Right, You've been on this forever and listen I think Bill's an awesome I mean, he's an all time great coach any sport, any era, at anytime. But the offensive game last year was an embarrassment to go with Patricia Right and Joe Judge. I mean that situation that's beyond like arrogance or whatever. That's just crazy. I mean it was universally like this is insane. Again, not a Mac Jones guy. I do understand if I'm

Mac Jones, like what he's been at Alabama. He knows what normal looks like, and that ain't normal.

of a year. I like business. I always have. Not necessarily a business person, but I enjoy reading about the structure of it, the architecture of businesses, and the ascension of a business, especially since I created the volume and almost too a business. The successful companies that fail, people don't get dumb. They just get arrogant, and they start believing John in the culture more than talent. You know, Mike Krzyzewski got very precious on the one and done.

Remember for years, Duke would not hang your jersey unless you graduated. And then, you know, Mike finally said that all these one and done guys, they're all beating me. So Mike was like, okay, I'm pivoting. Saban pivoted when he got laying Kiffen on the staff. That program first seven years was built on linebackers, safe these corners. Then they went all in on five star wide receivers and quarterbacks and left tackles. Is that when I look at Bill Belichick, he didn't get dumb. But when you fall

in love with your culture. I remember when I started the volume I talked to I emailed a couple of different people, successful business guys, and almost three people, a woman and two men, and very successful people, and they all said the exact same thing. Separately. I said, give me one piece of sage advice, and they all said, be willing to pivot, don't fall in love with your ideas of your culture. Whatever works, double down, what doesn't get off it immediately? And when I watched The Patriot.

I mean, you're a former scout, you have people in the building. That's why I think DeAndre Hopkins is sort of an acknowledgment in Juju Smith Schuster. Hey, I got to get this right, Like I fed up last year. That's what d Hot feels like to me. Well, I think there's some tangible pressure. I mean there's always been rumors in NFL circles.

championship games. It's a different story when you're struggling to make the seventh wild card, right, and when you do, you lose by seventy five points to the Bills, or you don't make the playoffs, and you look around and

you start making moves like that. I was also thinking about I wonder, you know, the older you get, especially some of these coaches or even business people in their seventies, it's probably harder if you kind of lean negative, and Bill can be a little negative cur muchis think about some of the successful guys right now, Andy Reid mid sixties, kind of happy, right, Pete Carroll a little more positive.

There's something to just be positive every day. It's a little harder because now we're several years removed from Tom Brady. A lot of the guys that were around Tom, Edelman, mccordy, they're gone. So these guys don't know what twenty sixteen was like. That doesn't mean anything to a lot of the guys on the Patriots, right. And then you got this coach who just is a hard ass every day

driving you through one thing. With Nick Saban, they're just there's a churn in college and he hasn't had the lows. I mean his low is like eleven wins, losing in the SEC championship game, right or something. You know, Bill, last couple of years for their standards, there's a it's like a Grand Canyon wide gap. And I don't think he just not that he's not an optim mystic. Obviously he knows what he's doing, but he's tough man to

be around on a daily basis. The negativity people handled it because they also don't pay as much in terms of coaches assistant coaches historically. You know, they try to be cheap with the players historically. And it's like it's one thing when you're winning, just like in any industry, if you're going to be part of a lot of success and you're eventually going to benefit on the back end, you're like, I can handle this, right, I can handle this crime. But when it's not working, like what am

I doing this for? You start looking at yourself in the mirror and a lot of people turn on you.

Are there players? When you look at the US Open, give me a couple of guys who are built to win an.

way grass your club received. At the highest level. I mean me, you the average guy, even if they're shooting in the seventies, can't tell. But at the pro level. It's why California guys typically have success on the California Swing, Pebble Beach, Tory Pines. This today. Ricky Fowler, Xander Schoffley born and raised in southern California. Last before we hopped on, Phil Mickelson was like fourteen holes. He was three under par. California guy still lives out here, so you're very comfortable

with the grass. Now, this isn't your typical where if you're off the fairway, you're dead. They've never played this course before. You see Zillo, the toy, the Spelling mansion is on whole fourteen. It's it's for sale right now for one hundred and fifty five million dollars, So the monthly payment is close to a million dollars. The monthly taxes are like one hundred and twenty grand. But this this is somewhat of a unique venue because they've never been here and they might never come back. But I

think typically it's it's guys that are smart. There is a kind of like a belichicker in it. You've got to have strategy. Tiger was the greatest strategist ever. Phil could be a little loosey goosey. It's why he's never won a US Open and blown it a couple times. I think Koepka, you know, it's weird. He looks like a football player something, but he's actually a pretty boring golfer. Hits a lot of fairways, hits a lot of greens, doesn't screw up. It's why he wins these big tournament's.

Rory one of the knocks on him for being one of the most talented guys ever, a little phillish, not always the greatest decisions. You know, the talents there, and I think US Opens historically, We'll see how this thing plays out. It usually kills you when you make a bad one hole, can ruin your tournament right this, you know, you're down there right now. It looked a little overcast today, so the sun's not baking, which maybe actually can lead

to softer courses. Usually when that sun, you know, bakes, hardens out the fairways, hardens out the green. But these guys, these superintendents, these people that run these courses now, especially in a place like that, that they will not like these low scores. They're gonna want to They're gonna wanna humble these guys, you know, eighty five bears style the next couple days. So it'll be very fascinating Friday Saturday if they if they try to hit them in the teeth with them curveballs.

gonna run it, Phil's gonna bolt. But for the players that didn't defect going forward, what do you think is reasonable compensation to show up because you have to take care of some of these guys, especially now that the PGA scolded golfers that departed and defected and now took the money.

was not sustainable the way it was going. Right. It's a little like the NBA. You know, ten to fifteen players. We talk a lot about like the top ten players, it's really the top three or four to carry the league. Right in golf, it's always been the top three or four guys in any era that carry the sport, and then you create stars by the next seven to twenty guys when they battle those guys, and if you ever

beat them, you become a star. Like Jokic, how did he become a star sorta knocking off the top guys and now we view him as an equal. But without his ability to beat those top guys, we wouldn't quite know how to gauge it. So the splintering of golf, which is much more niche than our team sports in America, it was never going to work. And they're going up against an entity with unlimited money. So I have a

buddy that works in Wall Street that text me. He's like, you know that the Saudi's have like sixteen trillion in untapped oil. I mean there are wealth is unlimited and golf. I think they overextended themselves to try to compete against because there they were going to their sponsors, who are some of the biggest companies in America, asking them to double down, and the guy's like, well, you're not producing double the why would I give you double the amount?

I'm already giving you, which is a lot of money. It wasn't adding up, so the merger and as you see Jay Monahan, I don't know if you saw the headline last twenty four hours, but he took a leave of absence probably I mean stress you know, this is something I think that was There are so many variables on this, but ultimately I don't know, like what are you just going to put everyone on salary which might be which might happen now that they're no longer in a I think it's called a five oh one CE

for tax benefits, which they're not going to do anymore. And they haven't been able to just put Tiger Phil Rory, you know, pay him like I don't know, Steph for Lebron or Aaron Judges, pay him thirty thirty five million dollars a year and then whatever else you win. And

that's the Saudi's had the ability to do. But I also think some of those guys, like the thing with golf, to have a legit tournament, you have to have access to the courses, and the Sadis were never going to have access to any good course because of the country clubs were all in a weird way integrated with the money guys, and they didn't want, they don't need the Sadis.

And then the public courses, the PGA Tour, the Pebble Beaches you go around the country are in business with the PGA Tour, So everyone was kind of incentivized in a weird way. I think the great mistake, though, was you know that, and you hammered this, and anyone with a brain that the disingenuous moral high horse win. Ultimately you kind of know where it's going to end up.

major business in the Middle East. So I can be two things. I can be crestfallen and deeply disturbed about what happened on nine to eleven. It is the most jarring thing I've seen in my life that's happened on our soil. It's still I've been to the site twice, I mean really incredibly touching. And I can also understand with globalization, they're the richest countries. I get it that.

So I mean the first owner of ESPN was Getty Oil. Okay, so I've worked with a company essentially founded and moneyed, you know, buy oil money. So I all I know is this, there's like four golfers in this country, Phil Brooks, Rory and then Dustin Johnson. If they're competing Sunday, I'm in. And And now I'd theorize if Tiger was in his prime, you maybe don't have to e merge.

tour legal battle. Obviously, the PGA Tour can't they couldn't probably hit three four hundred million dollars to fight, So it was an economic game. Now you could, you could be a conspiracy theorist, and ultimately they just started Live to try to bleed it out to eventually lead to this. And I think a lot of people theorize that that's kind of the case because Live that was basically just a pawn. It's crazy. It sounds like, wait, they were

just giving hundreds of millions of dollars. Yeah, to them, it's just a line on them. That's one hundred dollars to me here, thousand dollars to you. Right, It's just their money, is not It's hard to put into context the amount of money they can throw around and not even think twice. And I think the PGA tour was finding that out very very quickly. Now you could you could you know, push back on j Monahan. This was

kind of lingering for a while. But if someone comes with that type bankroll, there's honestly not much you can do.