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So this is our Easter edition. We are taping this at around noon on Easter so John can be with his family. I spent this morning with my daughter and which is a great Easter present for Dad. You know, it's interesting my wife and I. She deals with some designing real estate stuff, so we're apart about half the year, and it really works in our relationship because I'm annoying
and she needs breaks for me. But one of my favorite presents, John, thinking of Easter, One of my favorite presents is finding a documentary I like, and this morning I stumbled upon one on Apple TV about Steve Martin. Now, I think generationally he's not in your wheelhouse, so I go.
Little before my time my dad.
So yeah, yeah, So about six comedians in my life that I think kind of shaped how I looked at comedy. Carson, Albert Brooks, Gary Shandling, Steve Martin, probably Letterman. I mean a lot of brilliant guys out there, Jerry Seinfeld later, Ricky Gervais, I think is laugh out louse, funny, Chris Rock. But I want to say this for people out there, I'm I'm Documentaries are my kind of favorite thing to do.
Like I work out every day, obviously, time with my wife, my kids, you know, career for you, it could be hitting golf balls. Everybody's got this thing that just genuinely every day makes them happy. So my gift today on Easter was finding a Steve Martin Apple TV two part documentary, A lot of Martin short in the second one a lot about his career. I knew a lot I didn't.
If I said to you on Easter, somebody could give you a surprise present, something that makes you happy every single time for two hours.
What is it? I would say it would be food We're having a lot of people over and I have the prime rib. I just put on the smoker. I've never done this before, Colin. I feel tangible pressure on my shoulders. We have friends, you know, their families, they live in different states. They're all coming over here. If I mess up this meet, no one's gonna remember the mac and cheese or the bread. But if the prime rib is not done right, they'll never forget that. And
you know, it's another thing I found out. Prime rib isn't cheap. So I the older you get, you realize, you know, I used to have my mom or they'd all cook. I didn't have to do anything. I just got to sit there, watch the lead eight hang out. In the older you know, you take on those responsibilities. This might be my last time. We'll see, but I just put it on the smoker here, Colin, So we will in about three hours see how that bad boy tasts. But serious in all seriousness, you know, I'm pretty I'm
pretty simple. I'm a lot like you. I think pretty simple. I don't do much. I work. I try to work out every day, you know, I go off a couple times a week. I mean, that's kind of the extent of my life. I'm with my girlfriend a lot. You know, my friend group is kind of get smaller as you get older. I really just don't do that much. I mean, obviously I watch a lot of sports, but other than that, my life is really I don't need much to be happy, you know, and people ask me all the time for advice.
I make more money now than I ever have. But early on in my twenties, when I worked in football, and even when I first got into radio, it was never I never even thought about money and being around football coaches when I got When I went to work for Pat Hill, he was one of the first million dollar non Power five coaches, and obviously Andy's was that well into the millions by the time I met him.
You never felt like their passion for their sport and their love and they That's why when you do what you like, it's easier to work more, and I think your life becomes a little more simple. You don't need all these other, you know, auxiliary things on the outside that you're constantly chasing for happiness. Your your work kind of brings you happiness.
Yeah, I tell my kids all the time. Gratitude is a great gift. Some people have it, some don't. I my mom was a nurse, very very early. I don't remember my mom being a nurse. It was, and you know, she probably stopped when I was about six. But she used to always say, I've seen people in chronic pain if you have your health, and that my mom was, ohay, is way ahead of her time. With food. I never ate a piece of white bread my childhood, Like my mom was very much into yeah. But that's I think
a lot of the was she saw. She saw bad diets, the repercussions of not eating right. So my mom, Amza, was grateful for her health and she passed that along. And I tell my kids this all the time. You got good genetics. We don't have the big C in our family. You know, we don't have a lot of cancer in our family. We don't have a lot of depression in our family. Like so here on Easter, I'm grateful for a lot of things, and one of them is a great documentary our friendship, friendships. I have prune
my tree. Like you, over the course of time, you have a handful of twenty people in your life that really matter. You're certainly one of them. You've been a wonderful part of the volume, and I love watching you grow. One other thing before we get into football, I was watching this with Yukon. They're a fascinating program. They're gonna win this championship. If so, they'll be tied for the
third most, more than Kansas. You know, Michigan football's had two Natties since like nineteen fifty, and it's a huge brand. Yukon is the greatest program in the history of college sports men, women baseball, football, basketball, women's basketball. Nobody ever talks about they're gonna have I have six different titles
if they win this one. And I'm watching them the other night and I'm like, I don't know exactly why this is because, by the way, the biggest college basketball program in the Northeast now, which is where all the main media is. But think about the biggest basketball programs ever, UCLA, Kentucky, Kansas. Think about the biggest football programs, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, USC, Texas, Oklahoma. There is something weird about Yukon that the state doesn't
have any players. They're gonna win a six national championship and they're never a national story. And is it because they've had downturns. It's been three different coaches instead of just one great iconic coach. Although I think Jim Calhoun is the Bill Snyder of college sports, like, you know, just never got the credit he deserved. But it is so weird to me watching Yukon kick everybody's ass. I think I talk about him twice a year. I'm to
blame as much as anybody. And by the way, they're right down the road for ESPN, they're still never discussed.
I think college football and college basketball parallel each other so much in terms of it's all about your coach when you get the right guy. Obviously, Jim Calhoun when I was a kid, was, you know, a legendary figure in the sport. It does feel like Dan Hurley's thrown into his hat in the ring, like is he the
new Kirby Smart of college basketball. I'm always fascinated just because I you know, when I got out of the NFL and I was close to the forty nine ers, the brother dynamic, and obviously you watch Jim and John. I mean, Jim was this I don't want to say super star, but he played in the NFL for fifteen years. He was way more famous than John who starts as like a quality control guy, and then they both kind of end up at the same level. He saw Peyton
and Eli. Peyton infinitely more famous, way more MVPs. But for a while Eli had the two Super Bowls, Peyton only had the one. You look at Bobby Hurley, I mean, one of the prominent figures, wouldn't you say the last thirty years in college sports in general, basketball or football. Yes, I don't know his brother. Clearly he was not some star player, but you know, Bobby's hanging on here for
dear life at Arizona State. His coaching career. Now, you could argue this isn't a great job, but it's not going great, and this guy's becoming I mean, he's got a long way to coach catch like John Wooden or coach k But you start rattling off a couple early, you build that momentum. I mean, he is, He's a rock star. I mean it was. They used to coach together for a split second. I mean they're both kind
of crazy. Does feel like Dan's calm down a little bit, but they feel like I mean, maybe Florida in his heyday and football or USC or Bama or a couple of those Florida basketball like they're on a different level. I mean, he just it's crazy.
No. It reminded me watching them beat Illinois, and I mean the second half, like Illinois didn't.
Score, they went on like a thirty two to nothing run.
Yeah, and I thought to myself, this reminds me of Alabama with Saban year three to about year thirteen, and you're like, oh, they're like humiliating other really good programs. I mean there was a run there for Alabama when they would have nine NFL first or second rounders on defense where I mean they they would just humiliate like like high level SEC and Big ten teams. And I kind of feel that with Yukon, there's a grit, there's a they always have NBA dudes. They're almost like a
Syracuse when you watch them. You see the NBA length and talent, but there's a fight. There's there's a fight with Yukon. So you know, just just watching them discombobulate teams is something to behold.
So you know what, you know, what's fun. One thing I noticed yesterday watching Alabama, who is going to the first I mean they went to their first Elite eight, let alone final four in program history is immediately I always google the coaching salary, and he's making almost seven million dollars, you know, at at Alabama to coach basketball, and you know I follow the sport at golf closely.
Their golf team travels private. I mean, the power of that, even Clemson and I know they were an eleven seed, so it was a little bit of a cinder, but I don't think they're basketball. The power of this football money infused into the basketball conferences. This is where you know, yukon everything when it broke away for football only it was because the economics, right, It's why the Big Ten
has no excuse to not be consistently. They feel like they haven't been as good as basketball these last couple of years. The money that's about to come in for them, I mean we're looking, we're two or three years away from every basketball coach in those two conferences well over five million in the top dogs not making maybe football coach money, but they're probably making you know, seven eighth, and then obviously an Izzo or something might make ten
to eleven. But the money because of football. You know, they say a rising tide lifts all boats. That's clearly what it's done for the SEC and basketball.
Well, And I also think John, you know a lot of people I grew up with Pac twelve football, and there was a lot of anger when the Pack twelve dissolved. But I had been saying this for eight or nine years to people, and and my my buddies out west would push back. I'm like, guys, we have pro sports, we have beaches, we have moderate summer temperatures, we have mountains. It just doesn't matter as much here in the South. You know, in the summer, you're inside watching Braves baseball.
It's too damn hot to go outside in the fall.
In the winter, I mean, you.
Go down to a convention, you go to a hotel. In the South, it's all SEC hats. They were the last region to get pro sports. The Big Twelve's two spread out small towns, not a lot of media centers. Big eat small. I've seen it my entire life. The SEC and the Big ten are going to control all the sports. We always sort of had this charade. We always sort of played this game to include everybody. But the reality is the Big the Big ten now is got the LA market, the Seattle Market. Phil Knight, Michigan,
Ohio State. It's going to separate from everybody except the SEC, and I do think it will get bigger than the SEC. Your point about basketball is fascinating because I watched Zach Eadie take apart Gone Zaga for the second time, and you know, I thought to myself, God, Purdue has been back to the Gene Katie days. They've been great forever. They just never can quite get there. But as I
watched Zach Edy, I want to pivot to this. I thought, years ago there was this sense, you know, as a Warrior guy, small ball, and you look back on it and it's a lot of nonsense. It was the Warriors and about twenty teams trying to be the Warriors. None could do it. Small ball was really Stephen Clay surpassing Gail Goodrich and West as the best shooting back court of all time. Everybody went, well, the games, it's getting
faster and you don't need size. And after about an eight year run of small ball, when only the Warriors truly mastered it, Houston tried, a lot of people tried. Now the league's pivoting back to size. The big guys are dominating, and I'm watching Zach Edy and I'm thinking, isn't he worth thirteen to fourteen minutes a night? So I know people tell me it doesn't work. I'm not asking him to defend the wing. I watched them and
I'm like, christ Conzaga can compete with everybody. They got shelled twice by him.
I think the problem in basketball, and I think football follows this too, is when there's an outlier situation. You know, Draymond who's gonna be one of the great all time small ball centers. He has arms the length of a seventh footer. It's a unique attribute he has, and he can do all this other stuff right, and he doesn't need to score. So he's a defender who can run the point. I mean, he's Russell Wilson. All these small quarterbacks, No,
I've never really seen anything else like Russell Wilson. So if you keep drafting little guys, you're gonna have some problems. And what happened We've kind of pivoted away from that a little bit, right, So I'm one Listen, I'm a Michael Jordan baby. It always bothers me when people, you know, the younger generation or even some older people that try to shit on the nineties. Obviously, Michael was the premier player.
The majority of the great players were bigs. And if you think that David Robinson or Patrick Ewing in his prime, or Shaquille O'Neal wouldn't annihilate ninety nine percent of these guys, you're creat beside Mbat and Jokic that they'd have no shot. Even Anthony Davis, he is much slender now. He's a great athlete. He could hang, but even he's somewhat of
an outlier athletically. So I'm with you. I think sometimes if you've ever been to an NBA game, and I when I was in radio, I used to go pregame a lot or an NFL game for pregame warmups, you want more big people than the little people. This isn't that complicated of a strategy.
Yeah, George Young, the late great GM of the New York Giants, said, went in doubt draft big even in guard playing the NBA, Luka, you can't really defend six. Yeah, I mean, Lebron is a three six eight and a half two fifty. He's a big three. I just I watched Zach Edie and I'm like, I've seen gun Zaga go toe to toe with everybody in college basketball for the last fifteen years. Don't have to win titles, Villanova, Carolina, Duke, Kansas. I've seen them blowout teams. Zach Edie eats them alive.
They have no answer for him. And it's like, now I understand, Like there are certain quarterbacks. Tommy Fraser was not gonna be an NFL quarterback. They just didn't.
Charlie Ward. I mean, there were some unique I get it.
But ge'z seven to four with a really nice touch. You can't tell me there's not a space for him somewhere in this freaking league.
Well, if it was ninety six, he'd be the second pick in the drafts probably. I'llmember when I first got to the NFL and some of those Coughlin Giants teams, you'd go out and warm ups and you'd watch their defensive line and you'd be like, who are these human beings? And obviously because of that defensive line, they won a couple Super Bowls. So when you can be the Warriors had Steph Klay and Kevin Durant, like you said, using them as like oh small ball all time, outlier situation. Right,
We're never seeing that again. The history of the league is mostly big wings or a dominant center, and I think everything's cyclical. And back to the quarterback thing. Look at the first quarterbacks that are gonna go. Caleb relative to some of these guys recently, a Kyler Murray or Bryce Young looks like a Giants, right, and then Drake May Jayden Daniels is big, Pennix is big. Even Boonick's you around him is thicker. He's not. I wouldn't consider
him small. He's probably in that like Jimmy Garoppolo size range. But I just I would lean to stay away from smaller players whenever possible. High in a draft. I understand taking you know, mid round. The NFL has draft is longer, but you know, the brock Purty situation again, outlier, that's not going to be the norm. You're not gonna find starting quarterbacks in the fifth, sixth, seventh round.
Yeah.
Sean Payton told me he had sort of a rule. He said, you know, and he comes from the school of Bill Parcells. Let's just not draft undersize players at any position in the top fifteen, like Tua.
Let's just not do that.
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Morgan and Morgan has a proven track record of fighting for you to get a full and fair compensation if there's an unexpected accident in your life. This is a paid advertisement. We talk a lot about these quarterbacks and I have said before that I think Caleb Williams is the most talented and like an Andrew Louck, he will succeed at some level even if he got their own coach gm O line roster. And I do think Ryan
Poles has had He's redeemed himself. He's had a very good six to nine months, so I think he may have the right former offensive lineman looks like the O line. There's some hits there with his draft capital the last three years, but let's go. Let's reverse the telescope. If I said to you, we know of these top five or six, two are not going to work. We know it right now. And I've said I think Caleb's good enough to overcome everybody else will be as good as
where they land. I think JJ McCarthy in New England is a bust. I think JJ McCarthy in Minnesota with that talent and coach that division which is light on defense, heavy unscoring works. If I said to you, guess give me two that if you had to put the odds on, it won't work. See now, I think Boone Knicks is going to fall and ended up falling to like a McVeigh or a Peyton. You know, I kind of think bone Nicks is not talented enough to overcome, whereas I
think Jaden Daniels isn't either. But it's going to go top three or four, and that's problematic. So I would get Jaden Daniels to me, is like, oh no, I think he can succeed, But the top three quarterbacks are going to defensive coaches working with new OC's three for three. So give me the guy that you worry about.
Yeah, to me, he'd have to be first given. You know, I don't want to. It's unfair to compare him to a guy who's won two MVPs. But his game is parallel some of Lamar. Right now, he throws it pretty. He probably throws it better outside the hashes down the field, but I do think that type player. Early on in his career, Lamar went to the Ravens, who literally pivoted
mid season, changed their whole offense around. It's not just one of the highest level, you know, sports teams, like one of the higher level business is probably in America the way they've operated for twenty plus years. So he got I know, it sucks falling to thirty two, but he got pretty lucky Jane Daniels, that's probably not gonna happen, right, He's going to go in the top five, and more
than likely you're not getting a competent operation. So if he goes to the New England Patriots, that's pretty scary. I mean, their offensive talent is a disaster. I listen, I'm not trying to judge you on the coaches picture, but jiroon Males wearing like a T shirt, he looked disheveled. I know he's a high level, impressive guy, but I
don't know. Man. I'm saying that tongue in cheek, but in all seriousness, the drop off that's about to come from Bill Belichick to what's going on the crash refused to name a general manager. Elliott Wolf's kind of doing it. I think it's gonna be a rough go for that. And then the JJ McCarthy. My comfort end is Alex Smith. Alex Smith has success when he had Jim Harbaugh Andy Reid, one guy's basically a chubbier version of Bill Walsh, and Jim Harbaugh is one of the more successful college NFL
coaches we've ever seen. When he had Mike Nolan and Mike singletary, it was a disaster. They were chanting for David Carr. So that that's very fickle, right, Certain physical talents like Josh Allen probably would have succeeded no matter what. Right, he's just physically too gifted. Even Herbert, even as down years ago, I still see a lot there. Two was a good example, kind of like Jared Goff, much less physical attributes. When it's not going well, you're like, what
the hell is this? Good coaching, good offensive weaponry, good connection. Go Yeah.
Two and Goff are very much about protection and coach. Herbert has gone to the playoffs and has yet to get even a remotely competent coach.
And I would take Jared Goff all day over to it just on the simple fact he's bigger. I think he just throws the better ball. And on the flip side, you know, I don't know if you saw all those numbers from Pennix, but you and I have talked about this before, a lot of comparisons to to A and then you see him run like a four or five five, and he jumps thirty seven inches and I think Kobe jumped thirty six. So I'm not comparing him as an athlete to Kobe Bryant, but he's a really good athlete. Yeah.
I mean that's so I know, you don't see it as much on film because he wasn't asked to play that way they had, you know, I think they thought they had the best offensive line in the country. Then they met Michigan, but they had an excellent offensive line, right, So he wasn't getting touched. I think he was only sacked like what eleven times, It's like average in less than one a game. But he clearly can move right.
So you could get a guy in some of these Shanahan offenses or Sean Payton to get him on the move a little bit. He has it in him. I clearly his film as a pocket passer is pretty special. Questions with injuries, that's scary. But I heard a podcast probably within the last six months of Dubor talking about when he first got to Deiana and they recruited him. Was he was recruited as more of a dual threat guy, and then he had the injuries and they just got
away from it. But he physically I was pretty That was an eye opening experience to see those I would have guessed he's like a four to eight guy and not a great athlete, but he's not like Tua. Remember he heard his hip his last year in college, so he couldn't work out. He ain't running a four or five. He ain't sniffing no it listen to was a pocket quarterback, which I thought Penix was too. But you see these athletic numbers, kind of like the CJ strout. Now he
did it more on film in that Georgia game. But one thing we know about CJ pocket quarterback, but has athletic attributes to kind of move around when shit hits the fan, which in the NFL it inevitably does.
Yeah, I think JJ McCarthy only works if he goes to like, let's say a Minnesota. I think that that's a furnished apartment for a young quarterback, everything set up. They don't have to pay rent for a year. Donald's paying rent for a year. He'll take the hits and the bruises. Then you step in about the giant Hennick, Oh, I don't I don't like anybody to the Giants. I don't like anybody right now to the Giants. So I would say Pennix to my Miami to be the next
two Pennix to Seattle works. I think they're kind of ready to roll his offensive coordinator. I think McCarthy and Minnesota works.
I take ms Rams is a sleeper for him.
Well, the Rams a sleeper for a lot of people. So they're one of those teams that has been very successful without first round picks. This is their first first round or in a long time, and they're at nineteen. I could see the Rams sliding down if bow Knicks is there and you start I've been in a war room before you have, and you slide down and you're like, well, the next four teams don't need quarterbacks. If it's you know, at nineteen, you're getting into like Dallas May, but they
need some pieces. I could see the Rams going and saying we're gonna take Bonnicks and he's gonna sit for two years. I could totally see that happening. So I think Bonnicks to me again, like a Penix, like a JJ mcarthy, it's going to be the spot. But bone Knicks may be the luckiest of all because the truth is if he goes, and I think he probably will, I think Denver is the last chance for him, then there's going to be a long stretch of people that
aren't going to move up. Like if you start looking at the teams that need quarterbacks, it's not a surprise. They're mostly in the top twelve and thirteen. That's why they're bad teams. Yeah, so I think bone Knicks. I think the Rams would roll the dice on bon Nicks because the stets in Bennett didn't work. Stafford feels like he's heard at least once or twice a year that one's interesting. So I want to talk about a move
that you're well aware of. I was reading Ian O'Connor gave me, you know, several chapters of his book on Aaron Rodgers. I'll just tell everybody Ian is a relentless reporter. You get background the first chapter on Aaron's family, which is it's got a history World War two. It's just fascinating, fascinating, and it's master's class storytelling. So I've read about four or five chapters. I'm giving him a little blurb for this first book. I could not put it down. I
flew through it. So the first year it was kind of like, let's get friends of Aaron. Nathaniel Hackett, Alan Lazard, Randall Cobb. This offseason for the Jets, it's been like, let's just get some older players and let's go all in Tyron Smith. So they get Hassan Reddick, who I think is a very good big play pass rusher. He tends to make his best plays in the biggest moment. Eagle's got to get. You know, they're paying Jalen Hurts.
They got to move off some salary. So I think Hassan Reddick has something in the tach maybe a little bit of a von Miller here where there'll be moments you'll be like, oh yeah, and then you'll be like he's old and he's not in his prime. But I do think it's interesting. The Hassan Reddick to me felt like, oh shit, this Aaron Rodgers thing. It not only has to work, it has to work by like October fifteenth or otherwise. I think you start losing the owner the GM.
I think you start losing people with Aaron right. Like so much of the off field stuff. The book will come out with Ian O'Connor, and there's some parts that you look at it and you're like, boy, Aaron's a lot of work. So your take on the Reddick move and kind of where the Jets are with this right?
Now? Did I read on the internet that Ian said he worked for a long time and Aaron finally agreed to sit down with him, so he got him for a couple hours. Yeah.
Yeah, And Ian now he's done the book on Belichick, His Mike Skryzewsky book is God. It's good.
Belch is good. I listened to it, but it's good.
Yeah, And so in the and I've only read like five chapters, but I mean the first chapter, the storytelling is insane. I don't even know how the hell you O'Connor gets it. But where are the Jets with your right?
I think let's let's use Lebron and the Lakers for example. If the NBA salary cap was a little easier maneuver like the NFL this offseason, they would sign play Thompson demartin road. They would sign every old guy who has ever had any success in the NBA. They would do it immediately. And I think that's what that used to happen in the NBA a lot, right when I was a kid, These older teams kind of get together at
the end of their prime. Happens a little bit in the NFL, but you kind of fall off a cliff so fa bad and guys can't kind of team up together because usually one guy gets his money here, one guy gets his money here. It does feel like they're great, I mean, one they're clearly desperate. That's not even debatable. My take last week on that story that came out about SLA and Woody was like, unless you were standing there, no one knows what the hell was going on. But
sometimes in life, perception becomes reality. And if that would have been like John Lynch was yelling at Jed York, he'd be like, no way right, Or Sean McVay was arguing with Roger like I don't believe that. But when it is the Jets, you're like, I could see that, right, Because Woody Johnson's reputation is pretty well established, kind of a crazy guy to work for, not and the organizations, you know, win lost record kind of speaks for itself.
Everyone's entire job, like this whole group and era is all on the line. And at one point in time, well before Aaron, when they made that trade with Jamal Adams, it looked like they had a bright, bright future. And things change fast when you miss on the quarterback. They really do, and they had to double down on the situation because they missed on Zach Wilson made the Erran trade. No one knew he would get hurt, but new Slash thirty nine year old guys sometimes get hurt in sports, right, Yeah,
I hurt my back the other day working out. It wouldn't have happened at thirty years old, but at thirty nine, it still doesn't feel quite right. So it's it's not weird at all. And I don't know. I mean, Mike Williams seems like a great guy, awesome player when he but he's always hurt, you know. The Reddick thing. The Eagles aren't just in the business of getting rid of
talented guys like that's that one's a little weird. I get their contractual situation there, but they just took the Jets pass rusher who's way younger, and then they traded him Reddick. Right, Who would you say is a better run organization when it comes to picking players and trading for guys, say the Eagles. So that that one, that's kind of a weird transaction, even though the Jets had nothing to do with Huff going over there he was
just a free agent. I just think most times listen, I was with the Eagles of the Dream Team and some of these Ronnie Brown's and Jason Babbins old guys, you just age fast. In the NFL. It's you're not a kicker or punter. You're you're asked to explode, change direction and the moment that starts slipping, injuries happen, the pressure that comes with New York. I I, unless Aaron is playing at a top five level of quarterback, I don't see this team having any chance in Hill. Yeah,
because there's too much noise around it. That's that's part of it in the NFL. That's really hard. Look at the Ravens like, there's not this year, once they got the Lamar situation, figured out that there's just no noise, they just played football. Even allions, they just played football, no noise. Even the Packers this year. It was bump because win loss records, but it was just like, oh, they're just normal football team playing away. Yeah.
I was telling somebody the other day. I was having a conversation with a athletic director in the country, and this person called me a coach was leaving under their watch a major coach, and the advice I said is, and there's a little anxiety with that, you have to hire a new coach. And one of the things I said is, whenever there's a divorce, you just have to realize that, you know, your wife could end up marrying George Clooney. You have to if you're going to get
a divorce, think long and hard about it. It's going to disrupt kids. It's going to disrupt your business. Like if you get a divorce from a top employee, as you own a company or you know your wife, you and your wife split, you have to be comfortable with that person succeeding. And I told the athletic director that coach could go, you know, undefeated next year. When Farv left, he had about two good years left. And then Farv's personality, a little bit of a gunslinger on and off the field,
got him in a little trouble. And then Aaron by that time had established it. And when Aaron left, Green Bay was sitting there thinking, yeah, for two years, we're gonna have to eat it. Peyton Manning leaves, the Cols goes to Denver. You got to kind of eat it for two years and be comfortable with it. But Andrew Luck pretty quickly everybody went, oh, yeah, I get it.
Aaron pretty quickly with Farv, I get it. What's interesting, I thought, Jordan Love by Thanksgiving of the first year, it was like, and I really believe this is he better than Aaron right now? He way more athletic.
Even him in the NFL that would obviously you factor an age, but he was been Airon didn't play well the year before for the Packers, and I and I sat.
There and I thought, this, that doesn't help Aaron. Like it did help Aaron when when Farv kind of dovetailed, It's like, we made the right move right and it does help when when Peyton Manning got hurt in Denver, You're like, yeah, Luck was the right move. Shit, Jordan loves better right now. And I don't think that's a hot take.
No. I don't have the Minnesota Vikings eight roster off the top of my head, but I remember being pretty good the one far of that year they had. They had they were great. Adrian Peterson I think was young on that team. They had multiple wifers, should have gone to the Super Bowl. Yeah, the defense was good that roster. I bet if we went player for player compared to this Jets not even remotely the same. Obviously far have
had that one last throwback year. I had a d M the other day that I was like, I hadn't really thought about that. He's like everyone's mocking either a wide receiver or the tight end to the Jets, right, get a little more offensive firepower, especially someone young, and they're like, Aaron doesn't like young players at that position. He's got that hit. Tom Brady was a saying they
don't mess, They do not throw him the ball. So you draft Rock Bauers or you draft Roman doone say, well, if he doesn't, if they're not on the exact That's why he likes Randall, cobp right, that's why he always pounded the table for James Jones. The wide receivers he likes. He really likes DeVante. He trusts them implicitly, young players. It's a lot going on. So that's that's something to keep an eye on who they end up drafting high because if it is a skill guy and maybe you say, well,
they just signed Mike Williams, they don't need it as much. Well, I don't know if Mike Williams the most dependable individual going at that position. So I just think the Robert solid thing. He's a really good guy, he's easy to root for. But sometimes you just go to a non organization like maybe it's just not it's in borderline impossible there to win Right now with the way what he is and the Johnson family, I'm not absolving like Roberts some dynamic code so far. And it all gets back
to the Zach. I mean this, this Aaron story dates back to the Rogers or the Zach Wilson bick because if they had hit on that, now you could argue that after Trevor Lawrence, they all, you know, are on different teams, right, I think wood he came out and said at the owners meetings, this is a great, you know, tell sign of organization where it's like, what is this guy saying if we can't trade him, because no one's trading for his eight million dollars as a backup quarterback,
he will be on the team. It's like, will boy, why wouldn't would he just go, hey, this is their job. I stay out of it. That's what most owners do. It's why most owners don't talk that often, right, They just it just makes it more complicated. They don't really have a choice. Of the owners meetings. They kind of throw the local guys a bone, but for the most part they never say anything because the moment they say something, that's the headline. So yeah, I'm just I'm just betting
against the Jets. I really am.
You know, I was thinking about this. John Lynch is very liked. I covered him as a player, He's a great guy's a broadcaster and as a GM. But it is interesting now brock Perties obviously that goes on the tombstone. You know, he got him his seventh. But I was thinking about this the other day, is that San Francis the Niners are fascinating, missed on Trey Lance, missed on Gray the SMU receiver, They've missed on two third round running backs. Is that Kyle tends to.
May have not drafted well recently at all.
And it's like Kyle makes a lot of stuff work. And I was thinking about you on this if I was now less Sneed last year hit on multiple defensive players, you know, multiple guys. Then he hits on Pooka and then the offensive lineman at TCU. We knew was going to be good. But I was thinking about this in the NFL. So Ryan Poles played offense, but he's got a defensive coach, So you can argue Ryan knows offensive
personnel better. You know he should draft offensive lineman. He was one, And I thought to myself, Lynch has had so many misses and Shanahan makes virtually everything work offensively. That do you have every situations in the NFL where a GM like I think to myself, I'm a GM, what is my coach's specialty. I'm going to hit on a much higher percentage of my draft picks like McVeigh and running backs. McVeigh in receiver he makes two two at well work now he was a bust. McVeigh has
saved a lot of Less needs misses. Now Less hasn't had a ton of them, but he's had a couple of them. When you don't have first round picks and a second round is a miss Logan Bruss Wisconsin guard to tow at well, you're not getting players to the third round. Do you think in the NFL that there are gms that literally to elevate their stature or protect their job that they are drafting. I'm sure Bets based on the coach.
I think the good teams don't think like that. I mean John was rich well before he signed up to be the Niner GM, and now he's probably a top two or three high paid GM. He's got multiple contract extensions. I don't think he's worried about that crap at all. I think sometimes when you come up maybe less early on in his career, I mean, this was his life, right A scout or a guy like that, they know this is their one shot. I mean, if John had
failed at it, he'd go right back to broadcasting. And like I said, he was already a multimillionaire as a player. I think sometimes I always defended this because I saw it with Trent balky Is when they had a couple of years of building the great Niner team before Harbaugh got there, and he mccluwan was kind of the GM, but he was his right hand guy. It is a lot easier to draft when you suck, because you don't just draft if I had the fourth pick. Look at
the Rams last year. I know they didn't have their first round pick right because Detroit had it, but they had a high pick in every round after that. And when you win, like they have this year, or the Niners or the Ravens. You're picking at the end of the round. So the pressure on that pick, your pool of picking people is just smaller. Right, It'd be like any company trying to hire a group of twenty people. Well, you can't get the pool of the top twenty people.
What if I removed fourteen of those people and the people that other companies in your industry thought were the best, so you only have the pool of six. It just makes it more difficult. And the Niners, because of the Trey Lance trade, obviously didn't have high picks, and then they weren't picking to the second and third round. I mean a lot of their picks have come with these like diversity hires. They've gotten these comp picks and they've they've whiffed on a lot. And sometimes I think the
kin Law example is good. Their first ever draft pick, they took Solomon Thomas, didn't work, didn't care. But he's still in the NFL. Right, He's just a solid player. He probably should have been like a second or third round pick, but he was drafted. But a lot of it was super high character, super hard worker, and why he is still gonna be like he's gonna have a ten year career. But it was there wasn't a high ceiling.
Guy Kin lost the opposite a lot of questions, but holy shit, you see him, You see the flashes, and then they whiffed on both and you start kind of Nick Bosa, you my mom, my neighbor. Anyone can pick that. The other picks are difficult. So and your previous missus impact and your roster. Right, it was a lot harder to make the Rams three or four years ago. It
was difficult. It's why they could justify We'll get rid of a first round pick, get Jalen Ramsey, get who von Miller, Like we don't have room on the roster. Well this year they had a ton of room. They needed those picks right now, the forty nine ers, these last it's been difficult. It hasn't helped. And I think you saw the depth in the Super Bowl. Chiefs just had more depth. Well the Chiefs, well, the Niners gave
away first round picks. The Chiefs actually inherited some because they got rid of Tyreek Hill, so they just had and they hit on more picks. So that depth. It could just be a player here or two Obviously it helps having Patrick Mahomes, but I think that you obviously. The other thing is Kyle's the ball us. You know. I think a lot of these organizations the head coach once he's if he wants to like, I want this guy now they have a good relationship, just like a
lot of teams with powerful head coaches. But the gms will tell you off the record, I don't always get to do what I want to do. So you just got to capitulate to your coaching staff. And it's not even just the head coach, it's the assistance the assistants have. Takes Colin and be like if everyone had a podcast in the coaching staff, well, their podcast gets listened to
by the head coach, not the personnel people. So he's like, oh, oh, my guy wants this, and you just kind of trust him a little bit more than maybe your area scout or your college director that they have. That's an underrated part about the NFL is the assistant coach's impact on a draft because they streamline right to the headman. If they like a guy through the head coach, you want that. You want your assistant coach to like them and believe in them. Especially when you have a high level of
trust in that assistant. So that's that's where things can get a little walky right around this time, really these next three weeks or where a lot of the boards getting set, assistant coaches are flying in with takes out of left field. You know, all of a sudden, we had a guy in the fifth round and he thinks we should take him in the top fifty. I mean because he knows his dad, or he loved him as a player, or he's tight, he's a college teammate of
the guy's position coach at Alabama or USC. This is when things start getting really weird, and most teams their meetings start this week, So buckle up, personnel people like you.
I love the draft forever, but you are a professional scout. I always feel there's like about two players per draft that can't miss. So take out quarterbacks. Take quarterbacks out because they are very dependent on where they land. But a guy can rush the passer or he can't. A guy can catch or he can't. This draft does feel like to me, it's got about five guys. I don't see Marvin Harrison Junior missing. I think he's just I don't think brock Bowers is missing Joe Alt those guys
jump out to me. Is the kid at Oregon State, the right tackle who, like you can't find bad tape on him. It does feel like this draft, But like the there are players in this draft. I think sometimes receivers can be very dependent on the environment and the quarterback. Quarterbacks are very dependent on several people, including the play caller. But if I said to you two guys in the draft as a former scout, because I always thought Patrick willis the ole miss linebacker. I was told by a
GM thirty two teams he'd worked for. I was told Aiden Hutchison out of Michigan, Like that's going to work. I'm trying to think of somebody else, Calvin Johnson, Gerald, Julio Jones. I mean, right, they're gonna work. Is give me the two guys here. Let's say they go to a lousy situation. You cannot see failing.
Well. I don't see how it's possible for a kid from Napa, California to go to the best program in the country at Georgia and brock Bauers, I would say pretty immediately as a freshman in the definitely the most athletic conference in the country, was one of their best players, and by year two or three, he's arguably the best player in the country pound for pound, as.
Good as any most productive tight end I've ever seen in college.
So you get this guy that goes It would have been easy for a West Coast guy go to Oregon, go to USC even in Oklahoma or Texas.
Not go.
He went all the way to where the pressure was brightest and dominated. I don't see, and I know there's comparison, doesn't really block well. The game's changed a lot. We have a lot more of these hybrid tight ends, a lot more of the Travis Kelce style. He's very like any receiver dependent on a quarterback to throwing the ball, obviously, but how's he not going to be a good NFL pro?
I saw some of his measurables. They put right next to laporta very similar size, a little harder to I think sometimes those big ten tight ends, because you're like, well, who's the you know, defenders he playing against. There's no debate. Think about the guys he went and practiced against Colin. If I was a scout, I wouldn't even need to watch game table be like, can I just get your Georgia practice tape from a.
Year ago, your entire draft when the you know, eleven guys on defense? What uh so I think they had eighteen guys on defense go over a two year span. I can't imagine Kirby's like, yeah, we couldn't cover him there either, So I don't see how it's possible.
I was texting about sometimes height at tackle, like there's six six, like a Trent Williams, Jason Peters. I think, uh, Lane Johnson sixt' five, like six ' eight, six ' nine, can get a little tall because von Miller or Nick Bosted these guys where they are to the ground, it's just hard to touch them. But from what I've heard about Joe All, it's just his athleticism. I just don't
see how he's not gonna be good now. The one thing with him, because I was texting, I was like, should the Chargers if they get stuck, just take them. They're like, well, you already at the left tackle. Just get a touchdown guy for Herbert. You can get a right tackle maybe in the second round. You've already got that position. You don't need to force it. If you do get stuck there. Just take whoever you think the
best skilled guy is. And there are some talented guys, and most people believe the three wide receivers, and you and I talked about I saw James Jones, which I understand a lot of the players are like, God, it's bullshit. Marvin Harrison isn't doing anything when all the other guys worked out, all the quarterbacks, all the wide receivers. I heard neighbors at the LSU pro day, which I don't know if you saw some pictures I think was a
zoo of NFL people. Yeah, it was like, Okay, Marvin wats this because he you know, he thinks he's gonna go number one. I defend Marvin in the sense he's everything he's doing is because his dad's telling him. And when your dad's in the Hall of Fame, if he tells you jump, you say how high? So it's like, I don't believe it's his own choice. I'm not saying he's not agreeing to it, But what's he supposed to do? Tell his dad? He doesn't know what he's talking about,
But that that neighbors Connie ran a foe. He's a fantastic tape. I mean dominated the SEC ran a four to three five and jump forty two inches. I mean pretty rare athletes. So you know, it's hard. I don't know what to gauge on Harbaugh. I think I said you and I talked about this last week about the wide receivers, and someone hit me up, like the Ravens have taken wide receivers over the years. Yeah, in the twenties when they're good, when they've drafted high to Loodinada.
It's Ronnie Stanley now that I don't know if that guy's really here, right. There's not a great pass rusher in this the Bama guy, I don't think he's viewed as a top ten player. Like we talked about, they don't need a left hackle. You could, I guess, take the Oregon State guy. There probably be a little rich, but I don't know. You know, if Harbaugh didn't take
Marvin Harrison. He's seen him back to back years, right and seeing him on crossfilm for three years at Michigan, that'd be a little interesting, neighbors is from what you know. He's had some incidents over the years, but his talent, I think they feel he's pretty buttoned up right now. Rome honestly feels kind of like a Harbaugh guy. But I don't know. I think the Chargers are fascinating, But yeah,
I would go Brock Bowers. I don't see how he's not if you got, if you gave him, if you just put him on the Chargers, which I don't think you know that, he would immediately make like nine ten you know, ish million dollars in a tight end. The franchise tags twelve. So ideally taking a tight end that high, you're already paying him premium money. But I think he'd be a premium player immediately. I think he would dominate.
If you told me brought Bauers on the Chargers next year, I'd be like, he catches eighty eight.
Balls when you nine touchdowns. I mean, here's the other thing. Letting Gerald Everett go to the Bears. They don't have I mean, they're they're they're well below average in the NFL at tight end and so and Herbert, I mean, can you imagine him having a six to six target, you know, because he was so he's been so effective with Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. I mean, so he's one of those guys that will throw guys open. A lot of young quarterbacks, don't he throw? He throws young
guys open. All right, so you know we kind of get ready.
You know, I was.
It's interesting I as I get older, you know, I used to hate to take time off. I just didn't like to do it. Maybe it was some insecurity. But as I've gotten older, I like to travel with my kids. I like to travel with my wife. And so I was talking to my son today about going. We went to Iceland last year. It had an absolute ball. He doesn't like heat. He likes cold. So we're gonna go to Ireland here to a couple of years, maybe this year,
and in the summer. You know, I'm kind of fighting to get my staff time off, and I'm I'm gonna get some time off. I love to go to the Northeast in the summer, which is Nantucket. I've been to the Hamptons twice, but it's not my favorite. I have a place in Rhode Island. So if I said to you John, because you live in Arizona and it's hot, I said, okay, you can take your beautiful girlfriend. You get ten days. It's paid. And everybody now we're moving
into spring. You know, golf vacations. I'm gonna go. I'm not gonna play golf in Ireland. I'm gonna go to the castles and Dublin, that kind of stuff. You and your girlfriend ten days, all expenses paid. Where is your summer vacation.
Well, she's on me right now, Colin, because I think I can relate to your younger self. I could just we got this thing rolling, We got momentum. You know, I'm not a big take things off. I don't like being away now obviously, even in the month of July for football it slows down. But I could find a way to do podcasts. She likes to travel a lot, and you know that's one area we but it had it's come working now. I can also take this with me, so I don't really have it. This isn't nineteen ninety seven.
I don't have an excuse if I want to. We looked yesterday pretty closely at Costa Rica.
Oh it's nice.
It looks pretty beautiful. She wants to go somewhere to the beach her mom. A couple of years ago, her dad had passed and fine, she bought a condo in Tahoe, so we can go up there. But she, you know, we've both been going to Tahoe most of our life, which is awesome in the summer, but something that we haven't done. We looked a little at the Bahamas. I've never been to either. Hell, I've never even been to Cabbo.
But she kind of on me about Costa Rica. So we looked pretty closely yesterday, and that feels like where we might end up sometime in July.
Yeah, I don't. My dad later in his life went to Russia and he went to Egypt, and so my dad, you know, it's a different way to travel back then. But it is weird when you look back at your parents and how they you become a hopefully a you know, a better version of your parents, or you know, a more aware version of your parents. I mean, there's we're all a little self consumed now just because of social media.
But it's my dad traveled a lot, and I always enjoyed traveling on my turns, but I've I've I've gotten a travel bug here. Maybe it's because my wife is such a great travel partner. She's funny, she loves food. Her son's a chef, so he gives us all the places to eat. But I got to tell you, my son chose Iceland. A year ago. I said, choose anywhere in the world we're going to go in May. He chose Iceland. I had so much damn fun. And by the way, I was cold the entire vacation. Volcanos waterfalls.
He and I like, we talk about it, like every third time we talked, We're like, God, I miss Iceland. So I think I'm gonna go to Iceland for a day or two, that into Ireland and that'll be it.
My dad and his dad was a big fly fisherman, loved to fly fish, yeah, And when I was a kid, his dad used to take him for about ten to fifteen days to New Zealand and they did my entire life up until my grandpa got really old and wasn't able to do it. And they My grandpa had taught at cal and he was an academic, but he was a big I don't even know how he would fit in nowadays, big hunter and fishermen, big outdoorsmen. And he befriended like one of the main guides there. So these
guys would always take care of them. And when I was twelve years old. You know, this was a different my dad would It's like the family went just those two wins and I got to go in sixth grade fly to New Zealand by my and I still have a pictures. I mean it was and I told him, I said, bungee jumping was invented there, the first place bungee jumping ever happened. So I was like, Dad, I'll do it. Let's drive there. So he rented a car. We had to drive three hours. I forget the city
we were. Maybe it was in Auckland. And when I got there, you had to be thirteen. You had to sign a waiver. And you know, this is in the nineties. There's not like IDs or anything. And I was like, I'm gonna do it. And then we kind of walk and we get to the spot where I'm going to do I'm like, I'm twelve years old. I'm twelve years old. I can't do it, and I ran away. It was but the it's one of the most it's got to be one of the most beautiful places in the world.
I mean Jurassic Park, you know film there. It's just it's if you like the outdoors, there's not much to do that I remember. I mean it's pretty mellow. Yeah. I wouldn't say island vibes because it can be a little colder, but it's just it's a mellow just absolutely go at least in my experience, it's why he liked going there. So it's a long trap. I mean, you're coming from California. It's I think it's like seventeen.
Hours years ago. I was I had an Australian bug, and I remember asking Lachlan Murdoch, Rupert's son who now runs Fox About. I think he invited me either to a fight or to a party at his house, and I said, you know, I've always wanted to go there. He goes, you live in Manhattan Beach. It's the same thing. He goes, It's the same weather.
He goes.
You know, it's a bigger city. He goes, there's a million places to go. He goes, I love Australia, it's amazing. But he goes, Manhattan Beach is like sixty five seventy percent of it. And I was like, all right, that's a guy that's traveled everywhere in the world. I will tell you, have you done Italy yet.
I did it? When I was in my early twenties. But yeah, I did Chingatare, I did Rome. It's a powerful place. Rome was one. Rome was really powerful.
Yeah yeah, Florence, Rome, Yeah, sicily powerful is a great one.
I would go. I would go back there again, and I will in a heartbeat. I thought that was. I did Spain. I'm not Spain wasn't much for hos partying and it was cool for that. I wouldn't need to go back. I would. I could move to Italy. It feels like I mean, it's well, it's awesome.
I told my wife. I said I would have And I can be a little impulsive on stuff like this, but I said, I would have no problem in retirement going and living in Italy, for I'd want to be out of there by like June fifteenth. They don't have air conditioning as well.
Swampy. It's swampy.
And I said, but if you told me mid February to mid June whenever I retire, and I'm not retiring late, I'm you know, I'm not working until I'm seventy five, I said, I'd have no problem. Florence is a walking city. I lost seven pounds in Florence and all I did was eat pasta and pizza.
Well you're you're always on your feet, that's the thing. And you go to Europe and you go, god, I'm eating a lot and you feel lighter. That's their motive. I mean we never or go anywhere without hopping in a car. Also, they're started walking at all costs.
Their food doesn't have the preservatives we are, So that's true, much cleaner, all right. John Middlecoff, former NFL scout, Go lows Is Golf Podcast three and out the Football podcast, Happy Easter. Hope you had a great one and we'll talk next week.
Buddy, Happy Easter calling, talk to you soon.
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