3 & Out - Tua gets put on Short-Term IR, Justin Fields is the guy, Kauff on Campus

John reacts to the news that Tua has been placed on the short-term IR and what that means for his future this season and if we'll see him on the field again. John also dives into how Justin Fields has solidified himself as the Steelers starter after starting the season 2-0, did the Bears make a mistake by not drafting an OL in the first round, should Brian Flores be getting more credit for his defense, and the latest installment of "Kauff on Campus."

Finally, John answers your questions during this episode's mailbag segment.

6:49 - Tua gets put on short-term IR

16:05 - Is Fields the long-term starter

19:28 - Did the Bears make a big mistake

27:15 - Should Flores get more respect

30:53 - Kauff on Campus

43:42 - Mailbag

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (01:58):
What is going on? Everybody? How are we doing? I'm
John this three and Now podcast. Hopefully everyone's having a
good day. We recorded an interview today with Jay Gruden
that will be out on Thursday. Today, I wanted to
discuss Tua, who I put on ir Fields, who Tomin

(02:19):
says is gonna be the starting quarterback, the rookie quarterbacks,
Flores who's dominating in Minnesota, But will that lead to
a head coaching job. And then like we will do
every Wednesday, cough on campus as well as a mail
bag at John Middlecoff Instagram. Fire in those dms we
put out on the YouTube channel. Today played eighteen holes.

(02:42):
That's up there on the YouTube channel. I'm shooting another
video break eighty if you're listening this on Wednesday today,
and then we're gonna start working on playing with some athletes,
coaches or people in general. We'll see what happens. So
we're gonna get that off and running now, so you
can go check that out on the YouTube channel. Subscribe

(03:02):
to the channel obviously if you listen on Collins Feed
three and out, subscribe to the separate feed. Appreciate everyone
that has. We've got a football game Thursday night, Jets Pats,
so we'll talk a little bit about that Thursday, and
as well as the Jay Gruden talking quarterbacks and offenses
and just the Grudens their beauties. So other than that,

(03:24):
a lot going on, not really, so let's just keep
on swinging. But I was thinking about because on just
college football in general, you know, on Instagram, I often
get these incredible reels from you know, these stadiums in
college and One of the coolest ones is when they
play Dixie Land Delight at Alabama and the student section,

(03:46):
which now feels like the entire stadium, adds their little
song in between the lines, and it's just awesome, especially
at night with all the phones out. And if you
want to go to one of these big time college games,
we'll get into conference play, so the matchups are going
to be incredible. Obviously, the NFL feel for all my
Eagles fans that were at the Link, and I've made

(04:09):
that walk out of that stadium after some bad ls.
It's tough, but going to games is really fun and
there's nothing like leaving a stadium watching your team get
a win, especially at home with all your people. It's
a great communal experience. Concerts, comedy shows, my friends, my partners.
The official ticketing app of this podcast, game Time. They
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Download the game Time app today. Last minute tickets lowest
price is guaranteed. Okay, it's official. Tua is out for

(04:54):
a minimum four games. He got put on short term IR,
which is something that has been developed over the last
six seven years, changed a lot historically back in the day. Hell,
even when I was in the league. You want an IR,
you were gone. This is a I love this edition
of the ability to put guys on short term IR,
just in general, and I think the two of things

(05:16):
fascinating because we all universally agree watching him lay on
the ground as a human being is very, very difficult,
and the fencing with his arms that has now happened
several times, it is a gut check moment. You feel
for the human being. You feel like it's really really

(05:38):
hard to watch. And my initial take when it happened
was I wasn't going to grandstand. And it's the most
predictable thing ever when that happened that everybody universally said
to retire. And I don't think they're really making it up,
but it was very predictable. And it's pretty clear that
in the history of the NFL, most guys are twenty

(06:01):
six years old, don't quit easy and all reports. Now,
I don't know if we'll see him talk, because when
you're on IR you are not obligated to talk like
you are as a starting quarterback. The head coach will
and other players will, but we'll see, if you know.
Tua gets behind a mic over the next couple of
weeks and says how he truly feels, but all reports

(06:22):
as he does not plan him to retire, which is
the least shocking thing to me though, like if he retired,
I wouldn't blame the guy if you ask me, like
what should you do? And I look today, he's made
seventy three million dollars. That counts his rookie contract, which
was all guaranteed as the number five pick, and then
the signing bonus that he made from this new deal,

(06:44):
which is paid over a period of time. But he's
already received over forty million dollars. So as of today,
he's made seventy three million dollars. And I think the
media does a really poor job of this when they
talk generational wealth, like where I come from many three
million dollars, especially when you factor in Florida and no
state income tax. That is generational wealth. And tuaus with

(07:07):
a top agency, he's with high level financial guys. I'm
sure they have him well invested. That is setting up
family members, your wife, your kids for life. So he's
made generational wealth. But give or take, if he were
to retire, the guarantees on the contract could become problematic

(07:32):
for him to receive. And historically teams you know, have
battled that when it comes to retirements, guys have had
to pay money back and not receive money coming. And
for the money that he has still owed just on
the guaranteed. My math could be off a little bit,
but it's like one hundred and twenty one hundred and
twenty five million dollars. So it's very very easy for

(07:55):
everyone to say quit, don't do this, and I don't
blame people for saying that, but I don't know if
that's realistic. And the moment that happened, I didn't think
the next day he's like, I'm done, even though you
know you saw Antonio Pierce, which I thought was very
genuine former player at a really high level, said if
I was talking to him, I would recommend stop playing.

(08:18):
But I also think perspective in the way you look
at life, like I'm thirty nine years old, I look
at life I'm a completely different human than I was
at twenty six years old. Sometimes I think back when
I see memories come up on social media to high
school or college, Like, I don't even know if I
would be able to relate to the person I was
at that age, let alone twenty six. Honestly, thirty years old. Hell,

(08:41):
I'm dramatically different I feel than when I was thirty
five years old. And I'm not talking morals. I'm not
talking you know, your core values as a human being.
I'm just talking about the way you look at life.
As you age, you should change. So it's very easy
for older people to have an opinion that they have

(09:02):
on this situation. It's twenty six years old. The other
thing is like seventy three million dollars, Like I said,
game changing money. Think about successful people. You know, if
you've ever been around these type people that started the
company and maybe sold one. I've known a couple of people,
family friends growing up that sold it for like twenty
thirty million dollars. It's like they hit the fucking jackpot.

(09:26):
They made their kids partners, everyone got rich. So we're
talking ten twenty million dollars. That's in California, So You're
talking in the state of Florida with how much money
he's made, like it's a lot, but there's still a
lot coming. And I'm not saying the only reason he
would come back is simply for the money, but that

(09:47):
has to factor in, Like, this is America, and the
reason these guys play football is because it's a business
and there's a lot of money to be made, and
it complicates the situation. Now my TA. Last week when
it happened, I thought, like, the Dolphins can do whatever
they want, Tua can do whatever they want, but there's
no way on God's green Earth that come Thursday or Wednesday,

(10:10):
they can just beck oh, he's cleared from protocol. The
league was gonna get involved, and I'm not saying that
they did. Maybe it was just an easy one. The
neurologist said like, hey, we just need a couple of
weeks before we can even assess this. But this was
an easy move for everyone involved. Put him on injury reserve,
take a deep breath. But what happens after four weeks?

(10:33):
What happens if the neurologist I saw a video go
viral of Steve Young talking to Dan Patrick, and he said,
you know, it's hard for me to relate to some
people with concussions because mine it wasn't like a week later,
I couldn't remember my wife's name, or what street I
lived on, or what plays we called. I would get
a concussion, and really by the by lunchtime the next day,

(10:54):
I felt completely fine and it didn't impact my memory.
So he's like, I can't relate when some of these
people and even some of these former players come up
to me and ask these questions like that didn't happen
to me. So and he's like, the reality with these neurologists,
and this is the way with most doctors in situations
where there's not like a concrete answer, it's like, well,

(11:15):
I would recommend I think this is the best course
of action. But it's not like, hey, my dad had
pancreatic cancer. If you don't attempt to get some treatment
on this immediately, you're going to die. It's black and white.
It ain't going away. As Steve Young said, the brain

(11:36):
is like really the last frontier of medicine that there
are still a ton of questions on and I would
just expect to not simply for the money, but that
has to play a big factor, he's twenty six years
old to not retire or not want to retire. And
I think this is where the league and the Dolphins,
they're all going to be put in precarious situations because

(11:58):
the contract. It feels dirty talking about Mike Florio wrote
about it, and he's like, simply because the contract's so big,
this is gonna have to be a discussion because if
he is cleared then and he wants to play, like
he's do that cash. So if they're not allowing him
to play, how that works, like they gotta pay him.

(12:22):
And if they just say, Okay, he wants to play,
he's technically cleared, and throw him out and this happens again,
it's gonna be an awful look because we all see
it coming. It feels inevitable for it to happen again because,
let's face it, that hit, I don't want to say
it was like innocuous, like barely happened, but it was

(12:42):
how often do you see that level tackle against running
backs and wide receivers throughout a Sunday every other play.
It wasn't some huge ray Lewis Dick, butkiss decletion Jalen
Hirts was taking bigger collisions last night. And I don't
pretend to be some medical expert here, but it's pretty

(13:02):
clear the first concussion you have, the more susceptible you
are to the next one and the next one, and
it grows and grows. Now, I think there's a numbness
with us the football that this is gonna sound. I
don't know, insensitive, I don't. I don't know if the
casual fan cares that much, like they don't want to
see anyone playing there like that, But like, it's not

(13:25):
gonna affect the way we watch football. It's not going
to affect the way we discuss football. The Chiefs Bengal
game Sunday afternoon. Now, they the way that they count
the amount of people that watch has changed over time
because they count bars and restaurants now to twenty eight
million people watching. So it's gonna be fascinating to watch

(13:48):
this play out. And I would expect the league to
be very, very active. But owners didn't get rich randomly.
You know, this is gonna be a situation like, well,
if I'm gonna pay them one hundred and twenty more
million dollars and he's clear to play, I would imagine
the Dolphins like let him play. They did it before,
why wouldn't they do it again? Justin Fields at two

(14:09):
and oh and he's played pretty well. I think he's
looked better than he did in Chicago. He made a
couple of really good throws last week that were called back.
One throw to Pickens might be one of the best
throws he's ever made. It as a pro was called
back on a holding play. It was great, rolled right,
hit him in stride. Pickens did a sweet little dance.
Then he looked realized there's a flag. I think he's

(14:31):
got a little wiggle room now. Like coming into this season,
I thought no one was on a scholarship. Russell was
not gonna get a long leash. Fields would not have
a long leash if he came in after like he
can mix a match. They're paying both guys a total
of like two and a half million dollars, paying him nothing.
Maybe they're actually paying Fields a little more because they
traded for the contract. But relative to other quarterbacks, their

(14:52):
quarterback room with these two guys is nothing because Denver's
paying the freight on Russell Wilson. Once you start two
and oh, though, and you have been managed the game
pretty well, he's getting more than one bad game before
they're going to Russell Wilson. Now, is he getting three?
Probably not. But they get the Chargers this week at home.

(15:15):
That's gonna be a pretty good matchup that's got fifteen
thirteen written all over it. Let's just say they win
that game and he plays exactly like he has the
first couple weeks, defense dominates, They get some field goals,
maybe they score one touchdown. He just plays under control,
doesn't throw for more than one hundred and fifty yards,
but doesn't turn the ball over, makes a couple plays
with his legs. You start three and zero, like I think,

(15:39):
his leash only grows again. You build momentum with the
guys you're playing with. You bring an athletic ability that
at this point in time, Russell just does not. You
have no problem throwing the ball down the field. The
knock on Justin Well, he doesn't really work the middle
of the field. Well neither does Russell Wilson. So I

(16:00):
would say justin fields unless the wheels just fall off
over like a three weeks span, is going to be
the Steelers quarterback for the foreseeable future. And they get
Chargers at home, this week, which is just gonna be
an old school slugged out game. Then they go to Indy,
Then they play the Cowboys on Sunday Night. Now, games

(16:22):
on primetime television just have more eyeballs on them because
there's no distractions. Right, you play Thursday night, Sunday night,
or Monday night, you're not competing against the rest of
the slate. So that game, especially against the Cowboys, going
to be under a microscope. But let's just say they
go one to one over these next two games, there'll
be three to one going into that game. I do

(16:42):
think there's a probably a coin flip chance that if
they beat the Chargers at home at Indy, is not
a good matchup for Anthony Richardson against that defense. Do
not like that one at all? What is there four
and oh going into that game? Even if he plays
like shit and they lose, OK, four to one, you
have a three game cushion on even being five hundred

(17:04):
we're talking about. The Steelers is a couple of wins
away from being like a borderline lock playoff team. So Fields,
I don't want to say he's made the most of
his opportunity because he hasn't done that. Much, but he's
done everything he's needed to do, and the more confidence
he gets with the head man, Russell Wilson's going to
be a forty million dollar on the Denver Broncos accounting sheet.

(17:27):
Backup saw a stat today that none of the rookie
quarterbacks have thrown a touchdown. We've only played two games,
but clearly it hasn't gone well. Bo Nicks has been abysmal,
Caleb Williams has really struggled for the hype, and Jade
Daniels kind of right now is just a runner, which

(17:50):
he's good at, but he's got to learn the slider.
He's gonna get killed. But the hype on these guys
for what we've seen, let's let's face it has been
a little underwhelming. But all these teams were in tough
spots right Washington, their roster sucked. They had the number
two overall pick, Like, it's not like you get three

(18:11):
first rounders. It is what it is. You take quarterbacks,
not like you get to pick other players. Same thing
with the Broncos. They had a limited amount of draft
capital because of the moves that they have made over
the years, and they picked bow Knicks and their team's
not that good. But the Bears were in a unique situation.
They had two top ten picks. Obviously, you take Caleb

(18:33):
every day the week and twice on Sundays, like that's
the right pick. But they had the ninth pick, and
it was pretty fascinating the discourse between who they were
gonna take. Should they take a defensive lineman, should they
take one of the wide receivers. It doesn't feel like
there was that much talk about an offensive lineman. And
I go back and I think about Jim Harbaugh, who

(18:56):
last year. Leading up to the end of the season,
it was pretty clear Jim Harball wanted to come back
to the NFL. Right was inevitable, Jim Harbaugh was going
to be an NFL coach, and it was like, should
the Bear just, I don't know, fire Ebra flues and
hired Jim Harball. Now, clearly that came and went. Jim
Harbaugh's now with the Chargers. But then there was a

(19:18):
lot of talk leading up to the draft, would Jim
Harbaugh take Malik Neighbors or Marvin Harrison? And then he
drafts Joe Walt and says in the press conference on
Thursday night, we were never going to take anyone else
but Joe Walt, and we view the offensive lineman at
the as the tip of the spear. We view them
as offensive weapons. And through the two weeks, what's going on?

(19:40):
Pretty sure? JK. Dobbins is leading the NFL in rushing
and they are pounding people. Why that's what Jim harbaughd does?
Why makes it easy on the quarterback? I love Romadoon
Day was a stud in college. I think he's going
to be a stud in the NFL. Everyone that interviewed
him and scouted him, high character, guy, leader, He's a badass.

(20:01):
I'd want him on my team every day of the
week and twice on Sundays. But after watching that game
against the Houston Texans where Caleb Williams was absolutely getting destroyed,
and let's face it, there are some question marks with
the Bears. If Jim Harbaugh had in some other world
then the head coach of the Bears in this draft

(20:22):
and they take Caleb Williams number one, who do you
think they take it nine? I know who they don't
take and that's roma. Dudes say, Now, what offensive lineman
he liked the most after J. C. Latham and Joe Walt,
I don't know, I don't know have his draft board,
but he would have taken an offensive lineman. And I
stopped Baldinger today tweet out as he does these videos

(20:46):
of guys that are having a lot of success, like
the All twenty two tape and fu Waga, the first
round pick by the Saints from Morgan State, was a
super high end prospect. He was a guy I would
say pretty universally viewed as a top fifteen pick. He's
their starting left tackle, but he can play guard. He
can probably play all five positions. He's I don't know

(21:10):
if he's ever gonna be Trent Williams, like super All star.
I mean, this is the talk before the draft, but
he was viewed as like this guy's not gonna suck,
and he's been awesome through two weeks, and I wonder
if the Bears could get a do over, they just
would have taken him because could have played him at
left tackle, you could have played him at left guard.

(21:32):
You just probably should have taken an offensive lineman. And
they feel good about Rome, I'm sure, but I think
football is shown as something when you get an opportunity
to take a high end offensive lineman, like it was
a luxury because of the trade to have the two
picks in the top ten. And I think, looking back,
it's just a mistake. And I think Harbaugh's onto something.

(21:54):
You can never have enough good offensive lineman. Look at
the two look at the game on Monday night. Those
two teams have really good offensive lines. Why they've invested
a lot of capital in that position because it matters.
I watch way too much forty nine ers and focusing
on their offensive line. And Kyle's philosophy is we will

(22:18):
take skilled guys over offensive linemen. And I don't know,
man like I hear it when we're talking a center,
But when you get a guy that can play right
or left tackle, I would take that guy every day
of the week over a wide receiver because I can
find a wide receiver later. It is hard to find
tackles outside of the top couple rounds, and even when

(22:40):
you do, you see Andy Reid like there's a lot
of growing pains. They're starting a left tackle who they
drafted the end of the second round and it's gonna
be a long season for him. Now, over the course
of his career, maybe he develops into a Pro Bowl
level player, but he's gonna get his lunch taken a
lot this season, but investing the offensive line, they will

(23:00):
not regret it in two or three years. If that
guy's a high end player, it's the right pick before
we dive into college football. Brian Flores, who is just
I think when you factor in that Dimiko's a head coach,

(23:25):
uh Fangio might be losing his fastball. I'm trying to
think of other high end Sola. Definitely it's not even
a DC as the head coach, but that Brian Floor
is the best defensive coordinator in the league. And if
what he's doing on defense was on offense, we would
be discussing him like Quint kobiek or Andy Reider, Kyle Shanahan,

(23:47):
like you get a lot more Brownie points on offense
than you do on defense. But Brian Floor is elite.
And after the Niner game, Perty went up to him
and was like, your scheme's crazy, man, I had no
clue where anything was coming from. And Flora's kind of
this old school hard ass barely even acknowledged him, just
walked right off. And even Kyle was mentioning it today

(24:08):
in his conference call. Maybe it was Monday, how awesome
that scheme is because of all the different exotic stuff
he can run. Gets back to the Belichick days. They
don't have a scheme. They can do everything. It's like
he just plays out. No, they can play Man two.
They'll blitz all the time. Well, if that's not working,
they won't blitz like Vic Fangil. What's the knock on him?
Never blitzes. He just won't blitz. It's like, I'm not

(24:29):
a huge believer. Like, and it's really difficult to do
what Bill does because most people can't learn all this stuff,
Like it's a lot to handle. It's like, what's your scheme? Hey,
we don't really have one. We just do whatever we
have to do against that specific offense. I do wonder
because Brian Flora is from a football standpoint, you're not

(24:51):
gonna schematics on the field debate how elite of an
assistant coach he is. Like when the dust settles at
the end of the year offense defense, he'll be a
top three or four coordinator. And there's a chance if
Minnesota's just good this year, you could argue, we'll see
how if Clint Kubiak can keep this up, Like he's
the best coordinator offense or defense non head coach in

(25:11):
the NFL. I do think it's gonna be hard to
shake that to a thing because like, yeah, okay, you're
a great defensive coordinator. You get the defense rolling that
happened in Miami. Their defense was good. If I was
a GM or I was an owner, it's like, can
this guy deal with quarterbacks? And I don't think he's
gonna be able to answer that question. And that's gonna

(25:31):
be something that's gonna be really hard to overcome because listen,
it's too awarth the contract they gave him. I never
believe that from the start, but once he's on your team,
your success is tied to that position, and as the
head coach, you have to change that mentality from this
hard ass defensive guy to like, I need this guy

(25:52):
to succeed in my job. This guy's gonna be the
highest paid guy in the organization. We just used a
fifth overall pick on this player. I gotta be able
to communicate with him. I gotta be able to have
a close relationship with him. Doesn't mean I can't coach
him hard, doesn't mean I have to go to dinner
with him three times a week. But like our relationship,

(26:12):
our success is incumbent on this player. Like the reason
the Vikings are winning. Obviously their defense is good with Flores,
it's because fucking Sam Darnold. If you just gave him
Will Levis, they'd be going too. So like the quarterback,
And why does Kevin O'Connell get so much credit and
held to such highest team? He can deal with quarterbacks.

(26:33):
So Flores is a badass defensive coordinator. He's elite. But
when we talk about being a head coach, because his
name's gonna come up as this season goes, if they
keep having success, it's hard for me to shake that
situation when you can't deal with by far the most
important player on the team. Okay cough. On campus, which

(26:56):
I can't imagine being on as a student because I
don't know how much more you'd have to pay me
to attend a class. I can't imagine doing homework taking tests.
So props to everyone that's in school right now that
is doing homework and takeing tests, because that's hard. Number
one cop on campus. We got a sweet game this week,

(27:19):
like an incredible game on paper. Oklahoma Tennessee. Now Oklahoma,
they're in the top fifteen but they got a lot
of injuries. They have not been that great this season,
but they're playing in Norman, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Looks like
could they be a sleeper national champion team. They just

(27:40):
played Kent State beat them like seven hundred to nothing.
But to me, the cool part about this game, Bob
Stoops put out a tweet at the beginning of the
week that said, I will not be doing any interviews.
Why would you do that? Well, Venables, the coach at Oklahoma,
was his assistant for thirteen years. Josh Hipel was the

(28:02):
quarterback for the Oklahoma team that won Bob Stoops the
national championship and then became a coach and later became
his offensive coordinator who Bob Stoops ended up firing, and
he kind of fired Venables too. Slash pushed him out
when he made his brother after Mike Stoops was fired
from Arizona where Nick Foles was playing and came back

(28:22):
to Oklahoma. So they have this weird connected tissue here
of all these coaches and Josh Hipel, who you get
some different reviews from scouting buddies that have gone through
his programs over the year. Big chip on his shoulder,
Guy now he was a lowly recruited guy who really

(28:44):
only Mike Leech believed in, who went on to become
a national championship college quarterback and become a really really
good college coach, has a potential to become one of
maybe a top five coach if Tennessee this year is
like in the Final four. But we finally are getting

(29:05):
these Oklahoma and Texas SEC games and it's gonna be
really fun. And this game the hype between Venables and
Josh Heipel for years in practice as the OC and
the DC in the two thousands and early twenty tens
went against each other every day in practice. I can't

(29:29):
imagine how much time these two humans have spent together
in staff meetings, in staff recruiting trips, just around each
other on the field workouts. Like these guys know each
other really, really well. And it's all connected with Bob,
who is like the spokesman for the university. So very

(29:51):
very excited for this game on Saturday. Well, arch Manning
ever give back his starting spot. Quinn Ewers just randomly
gets injured. It was a non contact injury against I
think they were playing UTSA. I was not even playing
on watching the game, and then I see on the
internet Arch Banning's in the game, so I immediately turn
on the game. Now, let me say this, the game

(30:14):
against Michigan, whether you were in on Quinn viewers or not,
you could not watch that game and not say they
can win a national championship with this player. And he's
clearly a high end NFL prospect. So he's really good.
Like I watched him last year, I wasn't sold as
some top ten pick, as some guy that just was

(30:36):
some lock. You could win the Natty with the guy
that he had become this year. I'm not saying he
didn't have moments, but that game at Michigan, I was
like I'm in from a consumer standpoint, from a fan
basis standpoint, from a national standpoint, it's a tough spot
for Quinn Eewers because no one wants to see him
play when that's his backup. If his backup was Arch

(30:59):
middlef it would not be the same. Hey, it's the
number one overall recruit. He's getting paid a bunch of nil.
It'd be like, when Quinn is ready, go back to him,
but what do you do? They don't know how long
he's gonna miss. But let's just say he misses the
next two games they play, I think Louisiana in row
and then Mississippi State, which they'll probably blow both those

(31:21):
two teams out. What if he's ready to go heading
into the Oklahoma game, because they go back to back
Oklahoma and then Georgia, and even if Texas is a
lot better than Oklahoma, that's I mean, that's why you
play at Texas to play in that game. How do
you bench that player? And Arch is gonna say all

(31:44):
the right things, he would gladly go back, But I
think this is a tough spot for Sark. And at
this point, if Arch is rolling and Quinn's like, yeah,
he could go this week, I wonder what happens. I
really do, because this is not a position where it's
not like Quinn was going to come back to school
after this year. He's gone, so I do think that

(32:06):
makes the decision easier. And I think if Arch is
running around throwing a bunch of touchdowns and they just
look exactly like they've done with Quinn, I'd be a
little stunned if they went back to him. And the
shitty part for Quinn, who looked like he was about
to have a massive season become like the probably win
the Heisman Trophy. I don't think anyone wants to see

(32:27):
him again Florida State. Did we jinx Florida State? I
think that is the question we had on my guy
Derrick Ray, who is the GM. They had just gone
thirteen to one. They have not won a game, They
have not won a game, and they have looked terrible.
And the problem for them is they play Cal this week,

(32:50):
callous three and zero. Their superstar running back, who's a
top fifty pick if he's healthy, has been banged up,
barely played, but their quarterback has been off. As of today,
Cal is better than Florida State if you go zero
to four. Even if Cal is better than you, like
they've already lost to worse teams than Cal. But if

(33:12):
you lose this team from Berkeley with a lot of
weird shit going on, and they roll into Tallahassee and
beat you and kind of beat your ass, which is
very possible, like shove you around by ten plus points,
things are gonna get weird, and they're gonna get weird fast.
There Now, Mike Norvell has buyouts like sixty five million dollars.

(33:34):
He doesn't deserve, even with a terrible season to get fired.
College football is crazy, man, it really is. It's what
have you done for me lately? And he rightfully so
is going to take a lot of shift for DJ,
because DJ, he doesn't even look like a Division one starter,
not even remotely close. He's he's one of the worst

(33:57):
players I've watched this season at quarterback college football. He's
like unplayable. You can't you can't function with the guy,
so you lose the cow. Things are clearly already weird.
It starts getting really weird really fast. This is just
an awesome game, even if Michigan is down and they
just started Orgy the quarterback who can't really throw but

(34:18):
he can run, and USC we don't know quite how
good they are, but USC Michigan. This is why. And
my fifth one is the conference re alignment. They kind
of tie into each other. I miss the Pac twelve.
It sucks. Texting with my cousin who played at Fresno State,

(34:39):
we were texting a lot about like, how anti climatic
is it that Fresno State finally gets invited to the
Pac twelve where they've been dying to get in for
thirty years? And it feels like a shittier deal than
just staying in the Mountain West. Because you can call
I could call this podcast Apple Incorporated or Nike. I'm
not Nike. You can call it the PAC twelve. But

(35:02):
the moment USC and UCLA left it died, it's over.
You don't have a valuable property. No one cares about
Corvallis and Pullman, Washington in terms of like the networks
aren't lining up to give you more money. Your value
is your value, and it's not very high. The value
of the PAC twelve was in USC, was in UCLA,
was in Oregon, was in Washington. They don't exist. Salt

(35:25):
Lake City's in the Big twelve, Colorado's in the Big twelve.
The Arizona schools are never coming back. You're done. It's over,
and it's it's sad. It makes me sad still, but
it happened, and I got to embrace it. So you
get USC Michigan. I'm not like some SEC guy because
I grew up on the West coast, but like Texas

(35:45):
Georgia being a conference game is pretty cool, Oklahoma Tennessee
being a conference game is pretty cool. And USC Michigan,
even if it's not the Harbaugh led national champions. It's
not the same. That's sweet, and it doesn't feel normal.
It doesn't like Oregon playing Ohio State and saying that's

(36:07):
a conference game is weird. It just is. UCLA playing
Rutgers as a conference game is weird. But you just
got to embrace it. There's one school watching Arizona Kansas
State last week, it was like, you know what Arizona does,
feels like a Big twelve school. They really do. They

(36:28):
are probably the lone school that has made this transition.
You're like, that completely fits. You can say Colorado because
they used to be in the conference, but like they've
been in the Back twelve for a while now. I've
gotten used to seeing Colorado play Oregon, Washington State, cal
like those games. Like I kind of got used to it.

(36:49):
I forget when I was a kid in Colorado is
playing the text A and M's and Nebraska's right, So
like my mind, like to me, Arizona they feel right
at home in the Big twelve. USC Michigan feels a
little weird as a conference game. Oklahoma, Georgia or Texas
Florida as a conference game, like that's a little weird.

(37:11):
It just is. But we're now in the conference play
and we're gonna get a lot of these. You know,
it's just gonna be part of our weekly Saturdays where
it's like Nebraska's playing Washington for a conference game, Like, Yeah,
that's that's what happens. That's where we're at. So let's

(37:32):
enjoy it. Day mailbag at John Middlecoff Instagram. Fire into
those dms. Just my name, DM's wide open. We'll start
with Cole thought for the bag. I was listening to

(37:54):
your recap of the Falcons and the Eagles, and I
think even more damning part about Sirianni going for it
on fourth down when it was zero zero that he
was not consistent. If that is your philosophy, how do
you not then also go for it again the next
time when it's fourth and three on the Atlanta six.

(38:17):
This situation in particular felt like the Eagles had going
for it written all over them. He kicked it. If
going for it is your philosophy, go for it after
the Saque drop to end the game right there, or
leave Kirk backed up to his goal line. Sure, it's
a three point game if you don't convert. But the
Falcons only needing a field goal wouldn't have been as

(38:38):
aggressive as they were down six. He kicked again, kick
all three times or go for it all three times,
and at the least it shows consistent philosophy and strategy.
There's no rhyme or reason. Well, I think there are
a couple of things there. Why he goes for it
when they're down nine to seven because the game's playing out,

(39:00):
so you realize this is not going to be some
thirty to twenty seven shootout. This is going to be
a low scoring, defensive game. So the three points, as
we talked about right after the game, are vital. You
don't know that when the game is zero zero. But
to me, the unknown is why you take the points,

(39:22):
because you have no clue how the game is going
to play out. In regardless, three points do matter take
an early lead, but I think it's much easier when
the game is established himself for him to pivot from
the situation where they are inclined to go for it always,
but go, hey, fifteen points might win this game. So

(39:45):
if I take three here, that's a big deal. And
he was right, it was a big deal. I think,
looking back at the situation, at the end of the game.
Then if you run the ball on third and three
instead of throwing it to saque Had, I think the
previous play just ran for three yards. So if you

(40:07):
run for let's say you don't even get the first down,
but you run for two yards, well you do two things. One,
you keep the clock going, but you also put yourself
in the most advantageous possible of any NFL team because
you have the tush push. So they would have just
gone for it there with the tushbush, it's like a
ninety percent hit rate, get a first down the game ends.

(40:30):
So I think Sirianni's all over the map. It's like
he wants to stick with the analytics, but he's also
got the gut feels. And then you find yourself in
no man's land, cause it's not really if you ask me,
like what his philosophy is, I don't know. He feels
like a politician just changes his fucking tune all the time.
Newer listener love the addition to my leak weekly rotation

(40:53):
of pods. Central Valley Native wondering how can Fresno State
football become a powerhouse and shake off its Mountain West
stereotypes top tier coaching hire crazy boosters and then il
the support here is crazy and wand your opinion, there
is no shot. A school like Fresno State can't put

(41:15):
any more resources given its situation, right them, Boise State,
Appalachian State was that way for a long time. They
can't compete. I know a lot, I know the head coach,
I know a lot of people in the program and
around the program. They're paying Their top paid player makes
one hundred and twenty grand. They just have no shot

(41:36):
to compete. You're not gonna be able to keep players there.
Why would you want to play in the Mountain West
if you become a star and then people from the
Big Ten or the SEC call it happened two years
ago where their best player went to Oregon in the
transfer portal and no one even blamed him because like
his brother was there. But still it kind of is

(41:59):
what it is now. I think big picture as college
football even shrinks in the sense of if we just
go to two conferences. The Big Ten in the SEC
just morphed into the AFC NFC. What happens to the
Fresno States In Washington States and Boise States of the world.
You can be called yourself the Pac Twelve, the Mountain West.

(42:21):
It's gonna feel like the minor leagues compared to those games. Now.
If they still play those teams in the non conference,
that's a big deal. I love Fresno State. Fresno State
football is a huge reason why I'm sitting here right now,
but I don't think there's anything they can do. I
live out in Kansas and I love to play golf

(42:43):
and watch football. Brent, you sound like my type. Guy.
I'm a big Chiefs fan and agreed with your instant
reaction after the Ravens. I feel like this could be
the best team we've had. One week later, I'm a
bit worried because it does feel like we got out
played and our O line got worked, specifically the left tackle.

(43:03):
Are the Bengal just a bad matchup for the Chiefs
or why wouldn't every team we play do the same
things the Bengals just did well. They're definitely a bad matchup.
No team plays you better in the regular and the
postseason is them? Right? Like, you don't look at the
Ravens as equals. How could you even the Bills can

(43:24):
beat you in the regular season. You're now very like
you are not. Not that you wouldn't be worried in
a playoff game, but you'd be confident you're winning. This
is the one game that just feels like they're mirror
images of each other when they play. Now, what's weird
is how can the Bengals look that good against the
Chiefs and that shitty against the Patriots. But that's neither

(43:44):
here nor there. When you start a rookie, and Andy
wouldn't have started him if he wasn't their best option.
And they invested a second round picking him, they believe
in him. And starting a rookie is not about week two,
it's about the next ten years, right, you think the
guy is going to be a ten year starter for you.
I saw he had a comment today that sometimes you

(44:06):
have to take a step backwards before you take a
step forwards. Unless you're Randy Moss. There is a small, small,
small percentage of rookies, even guys that are Hall of famers,
Pro Bowlers, that aren't gonna have some bumps in the
road and playing left tackle or just playing you can
pleae a right tackle too. As a rookie has to

(44:29):
be I would say, right up there with playing quarterback,
as a rookie because most weeks you are going to
get Aiden Hutchinson, Max Crosby, TJ. Watt, Nick Bosa. Like
there are no left and right sides. These defensive linemen
move wherever you are. They will hunch you down. Aaron Donald,

(44:50):
if your weak player was a tackle like, they would
put him over there. He was a deep. He was
like a three technique. We saw Chris Jones doing that
week one. He's like, shit, I'll play over the right tackle.
I'll play over the center, play wherever he wants, wherever
the mark is. And when you are a rookie, you
are the person circled by the defensive coordinator and their

(45:13):
best players. Think about what happened Monday night. Mitchell, the
first round pick from Toledo, who I would bet on
becoming a really really good player, who toy kirk Cousins
attack on that final drive. He went left three straight times,
I guess two straight times for big plays against him.

(45:35):
One time he bit on the flat route and the
other time they just attacked him with Mooney on an
out route and he kind of juped him out. Even
though Darius Slay is probably not as physically gifted at
this point in time as the rookie. But you just
put the rookie in uncompromising situations, so he's gonna have

(45:58):
rough moments. There is no circumventing that you can't get
away from it. Like this week you play the Falcons, Well,
I know Judon was over the right tackle, but why
wouldn't you line Judon sometimes over the rookie when you
play the Raiders. Where do you think Crosby's gonna line up?
When you play the forty nine ers, like you think

(46:19):
they were gonna put in Nick Bosa, You're just gonna Harbaugh.
He's just gonna be relentless with Mac and Bosa over
the guy. There's nothing you can do, dude, there's no
way to get You can give him help, but like
he just kind of got to work through it. And
this is your greatest benefit as the Chiefs fan. Is

(46:40):
your quarterbacks a fucking magician one. He can get the
ball out of his hands when he needs to, and
he can just make things happen. But he's gonna take
some sacks because of this player. A lot was made
of Kyle Pitts and his potential in the fantasy football
community and among Atlanta Falcons fans. Everyone's always blaming the

(47:01):
coaches the schemes for underutilizing the player. Well, now the
quote unquote bad man Arthur Smith is gone and there's
a new coaching crew in town, and pitt still doesn't
put up numbers anywhere near to what he's projected coming
out of college. I heard multiple high level football analysts

(47:22):
say he was literally a can't miss prospect. So what
do you think it is? Is he just a bust
or is he underutilized? I'd be lying if I said
I've like studied him on all twenty two. I would
have to text some people in the league who have,
like really really studied them. There have been a lot

(47:42):
of players like Kyle Pitts at a lot of different
positions that were viewed as can't miss players and aren't
as good in the NFL. Like he is not alone.
And I think if this season plays out and he's
healthy and he doesn't produce that much, it's time to
look at him like he was overrated. He clearly was

(48:04):
really really overrated. I think it can be difficult when
your tight end is a one dimensional player, right and
he is strictly he the wide receiver, that's all he
is now. You could argue Travis Kelcey is like that
as well. He's also matched up with one of the

(48:27):
greatest play callers in the history of the sport and
one of the greatest quarterbacks we've ever seen, and they've
built their offense around him. Where you go, the Falcons
are not building their offense around this player. What do
the Falcons want to do right now? With b John Robinson?
They want to run the ball? Well, Kyle Pitt's gonna block?
Probably not. That's not going to be a strength of his.

(48:49):
So he's a slot receiver, you know. I don't know.
I don't have a great answer for you. I do
just wonder if it's more difficult to utilize this player
in the flow of your offense than fantasy football experts thought,
because he's such a one trick pony. But you also

(49:11):
have good wide receivers, you have a running game and
an offensive line that you want to feature. I don't know.
I mean, it's clearly the hype does not equal what
we've witnessed. But I don't have a great answer for you.
But like I said, he's not alone. It happens to

(49:32):
a lot of players. You know. This came up last
night because those two running backs. This is a question,
do you think that the running backs are becoming more
impactful than in previous years. I think we've talked about
this on previous episodes. Is you know the running backs

(49:54):
they got to they became controversial when the teams wouldn't
pay him, wouldn't give them contract extensions. Right, it didn't.
It wasn't a media created narrative. It was the team
did something, and the players and all of us that
watch and talk about football react to it. But the teams,

(50:15):
the gms, the owners, the coaches, they did it. They
started paying guards and centers way more money than running backs.
And like, would I take Saquon Barkley at twelve or
you know, Saquon Barkley at twelve million dollars or some
of these free agent guards that were making nineteen million

(50:35):
dollars during this free agency, I would take Saquon Barkley
every day of the week because I would feel pretty
confident that I could draft and develop a guard. Now
you could say the same thing at running back. But
if I had to pay a guard nineteen million dollars,
who's not a Pro bowler? Or pay a Pro Bowl
running back. I'm paying the running back. So why has

(50:56):
it shifted? Well, running backs became a deal, they became
they went on sale, and some of these other positions
did not go on sale. D tackles. Christian Wilkins just
got eighty five million dollars guaranteed. Saquon Barklay got twenty seven.
So I think the economics of it all shifted. This

(51:19):
gets back to the Giants conversation of like, you don't
pay running backs, Well, they're not very expensive, they don't
cost very much money. They're not like it's just cheap saque.
His hands are clearly he's not Shady McCoy, he's not
Christian McCaffrey. His hands are a question mark. They're not great,

(51:40):
they're not bad, but they're just kind of as the
kids would say, mid. But he is a fantastic player.
And if I can get that player for twenty seven
million dollars, it's a no brain. It's the easiest contract
how he signed in the last like five years. I
also think when you look around the NFL, there are

(52:01):
just a lot of good running backs. You know, the
Colts Packer game was Josh Jacobs, Jonathan Taylor. Last night
Saquon b John Robinson. You just go to all these games.
It's like a bunch of Thursday night game Breese Hall
and demandre Stevenson. Like these are all just like really
really good players. So it's just supplying demand. A lot

(52:26):
of just good running backs are in the NFL, Like
guys that are legitimate starters that can run inside, they
can run outside, most of them catch, most of them
are three down players. So if I can get that
guy for ten million dollars a year, it feels like
a pretty good signing. Then overpaying some of these guards
and centers. Now, if you have a guy that's like

(52:49):
a seven time Pro Bowler, Creed Humphrey or Jason kelcey, okay,
if I'm paying Larry Allen, okay, But it's like paying
some of these guys that are not going to go
to the Pro Bowl eighteen nineteen million dollars, I'd argue
we've jumped the shark there. Eagles fan, everyone talks about

(53:10):
how great and talented Jalen Carter is. I'm not seeing
at all. Am I missing something? Well? Physically gifted, his
skill set is elite. He's six ' five, three hundred pounds,
quick as a cat. But as Belichick would say, like, well,

(53:32):
can he play and his flash plays in college and
in the NFL are still elite, But when you watch
over the course of a game, you don't feel his presence. Right,
the best defensive tackles in the NFL. You don't watch
the Chiefs and not feel Chris Jones. You didn't watch
Aaron Donald and not feel him JJ Watt when he

(53:55):
was humminged like you feel that player, and you watch
the Eagles and you don't feel either of the dudes.
I saw one of the former Eagles joiner. I wanted
to say Wally Joyner, but I'm blanking on his first name.
I think he's in the booth with Merril Reeese called
Jordan Davis a bust. You know, like you invested two

(54:17):
top fifteen picks in these two players, Like Jordan Davis
is irrelevant. Now him different like Jalen. When you draft
Jalen in the top ten, you're expecting him to be
a double jujitsack guy every single year. Well, I read
a story today he didn't start the game. Why because
he was late for something during the week. But what

(54:39):
was the question on Jalen? How? End of football is
Jalen Carter because you go back to Georgia, it was
like just a lot of question marks on the guy.
No one argued the talent, but sometimes when you're focused
as other places, you don't live up to the talent.
Jordan Davis just might not be good enough. Like there
aren't character concerns with him. He's just really heavy and
gets really tired and then becomes a relevant in the game.

(55:02):
Because I think Jimmy Johnson said it, but maybe it
was it was either like Newt Rockney or Vince Lombardi,
some famous coach said fatigue makes cowards of us all
And basically he was just giving a pump up speech
to Miami like ten years ago. This is way after
he was done coaching. But just why being in shape

(55:25):
is such a big deal, because it doesn't matter if
you're Mike Tyson, if you're Ray Lewis, if you're fucking
you know, Barry Sanders. If you are tired, like fatigue
makes cowards of us all, you are not the same player.
You can't like, you can't function when you're out of
shape in the NFL, in football in general, like anyone

(55:45):
that played high school football. If you're sucking win, Like
you start getting shoved around really quick, but you don't
have anything. And so to me, Jordan Davis, you're getting
little to nothing out of him and Jalen Like, they're
just still question marks with the guy. Obviously the player.
He had a flash play last night, but they're not.

(56:06):
They didn't draft him in the top ten for flash plays,
and you just have to wonder, like, is he ever
going to live up to the talent? He is talented,
He is really talented. Not playing like it, but it's there.
But there have been a lot of players like him
throughout the history of the league, guys that oozed ability

(56:26):
and because of focus, because of maturity, because of whatever
off the field, the intangible stuff never lived up to it.
And sometimes like you just get with the right people.
There's also a competitive element to this, Like I would say,
let's use Warren Sap as an example. I think people
had some question marks with him as a younger player.

(56:47):
Pretty clear is a competitive sob right, dude was a badass.
So even if you are a little iffy about just
your study habits and you're working, how bad do you
want it? Lawrence Taylor Belichick's been telling these stories for
thirty years, sleeping coming and hungover, drugged out when that

(57:08):
game started. Was the craziest dude on the field. His
competitiveness was elite. How elite is your competitiveness? And that's
part of scouting. So sometimes average talents become high end
players because they have elite competitiveness. Will Anderson was a

(57:29):
guy coming out of college. I think some people question,
like how talented was he? Was he an elite talent?
Was he a top five talent? You don't want, no
one questioned, Not a soul at the program, not a scout,
not a coach, competitive makeup, So who are you betting
on Will Anderson that doesn't have the physical gifts? I

(57:52):
know they don't play the same position, but just let's
use this example. Whose competitive character, whose competitive makeup, whose
football care is off the fucking charts, or the guy
with Hall of Fame talent oozing out of every pore
in his body. It's like, yeah, sometimes I care, Sometimes
I don't. Sometimes it's like, yeah, I just I'll get

(58:14):
off this snap and hold this block and just go
to the next snap. I think history would show us
who you bet on. And I think when you bet
on those guys, sometimes you hit and they become Hall
of famers, and sometimes they're the worst player to have
on your team because you hold out hope for so long.

(58:37):
The Eagles just lost a lot like Fletcher Cox and
Jason Kelce, a lot of competitive character right there, a
lot of focus, a lot of like fucking around ain't
tolerated in practice because what two groups spend the most
time together, the O and D line, Right when you
break from individual they usually go together, right, So it's like,

(59:02):
that's a big loss. And I just think you're seeing
guys underperform. And I think sometimes and I'm guilty of this,
we blame coaches, right and I put a lot on
coaches in the NFL. But at the end of the day,
certain humans, like if you can push every button, if

(59:23):
they're unwilling to do certain things and have the competitive makeup,
you could argue it doesn't really matter. I know this.
The Patriots and now the Chiefs are doing this. Won
a lot of games and a lot of Super Bowls
with a lot of guys playing on both sides of

(59:44):
the ball that not many people would have said will
be starters on the best team in the league when
they were in college or around the draft time. But
their character, their football intelligence, their intangible makeup is a
separating factor. And the one thing I learned working in

(01:00:08):
the NFL and now doing this for a long time
is that stuff is still underrated. We don't talk about
it enough. And I'm just as guilty as anybody. I
listen to the show every day, huge, huge Bears fan.
Why are the Bears not interested in a guy like
Clint Kubiak. The Vikings have the tall Sean McVay, the

(01:00:30):
Packers have Laflor. Why would the Bears not be interested
in a young offensive coach? Well, they kept Eberflus, so
if you're talking about as a head coach, they decided
to roll back with Eberflus. He got his makeover, his hair,
his beard, And I don't think the Bears are gonna

(01:00:53):
make the playoffs, so they're gonna They're gonna be in
the coaching right They're gonna be looking for a coach.
I think the question mark is going to be will
they go with one of these offensive hot shots? And
I would imagine because of the Caleb Williams influence, they
will so, Ben Johnson, Clint Kobiak, any other star guy

(01:01:19):
working for O'Connell, McVeigh, Kyle in that world, I would
be if you tell me right now, Bears missed the playoffs,
iber Flus gets fired, Who do they hire? I think
one they do that. Now you could argue, why not
just hire the best coach possible? Why not just hire
Mike Vrabel? You don't think Mike Vrabel would work with

(01:01:42):
Caleb Williams because I saw Mike Vrabel when he had
a healthy Ryan Tannehill. They were good, like Mike Frable works.
That's who I think that's a safe hire because for
every Kyle and McVeigh, there are a lot of guys
that fail. Now you could argue, is is Caleb fail

(01:02:02):
proof based on two weeks? Clearly? Like it's football, it's hard.
There's no guarantee he's going to be some star. So
my guess is there would be so much pressure on
the organization, on Ryan Poles to hire an offensive guy
for Caleb, that that is what they would do. That

(01:02:24):
they would do that, But look at the team in
their division, Like Dan Campbell's working pretty well, mattla Floor
is kind of unique. He's pretty freaking good. Clearly, whoever
they hire, and if you hire Clint Kubiak. The run
game should be a huge part of what they do.

(01:02:46):
It should become Caleb Williams's best friend. It translates to
bad weather when Chicago, November, December, bad weather, Green Bay outdoors. Right.
I mean, it's just it makes too much sense. So
to me, Clint Kubiak, I don't know that much about him,
Like I don't know him personally, but what he's doing

(01:03:08):
and his resume with that offense speaks for itself. Now,
there's more to being a head coach than just being
a great offensive play color. How you are as a leader,
how you can handle the room, how you are as
an evaluator, how you can manage everything going on as
a head coach. It's difficult, so you don't really get

(01:03:31):
to answer those questions. So you're put in that situation.
And let's face it, the majority of guys, it's like, well,
fifty percent of first round picks fail. I don't think
it's any different with coaches. Most coaches are fired within
three or four years. Most coaches don't just become Tomlin,
Andy and Harbaugh. Yeah, twenty years later, they're still kicking ass.
Not usually the way it works. So it's a very

(01:03:53):
risky situation. And I would say this in terms of
you have so much more information, like when Ryan Poles
drafted Caleb Williams and Roma Dunsay. The amount of scouting
information due diligence they have done on those two humans

(01:04:13):
was countless weeks, not hours. I'm talking weeks. When you
hire a coach, you do like couple zoom interviews, you
call some references, and you like, watch what their team did.
It's kind of a crazy process. Now it's much easier
to evaluate when Andy Reid gets fired. You want to
hire Andy Reid as a sixteen year resume in Philadelphia?

(01:04:36):
Right if Tomlin ever were to get fired in Pittsburgh,
which looks like we're gonna win the division, But you
know what I mean, like Pete Carroll, like these guys
that have coached Bill Belichick, like you know they can
do it. When you get these coordinators, it's like, yeah,
I like your offense, but how are you in front
of the entire team? What do you like when our

(01:04:59):
star running back gets How do you handle when your
star linebacker's mom gets cancer and has three weeks to
live and he's really rattled? Like I mean, you just
can't prepare for any of that, And the only way
that you know they can do that is if they've
done it before. Because if you've been a head coach
in the NFL, you basically dealt with everything from Dewey's

(01:05:22):
to death, to injuries to you name it. There's probably
not many situations if you've been a head coach for
more than five years that haven't come across your desk
with a player with a coach. I mean, coaches get
in trouble, right, I mean, all sorts of shit happens,
family issues, with yourself. It's it's got to be one

(01:05:45):
of the most difficult situations to hire for when you're
hiring someone who hasn't been a head coach before, because
the amount of unknown given how much you're gonna pay him.
I mean, you're gonna give that guy eight to ten
million dollars a starting salary, and you're success then is
immediately tied to that guy. It's impossible to be a
good GM with a bad coach. It's literally impossible. It

(01:06:07):
does not exist. There has never been a Hall of
Fame or a high end GM that hasn't had an
above average coach. Just like any coach would tell you,
there's never been a great coach that hasn't had great players.
They all go hand in hand. Ozzie and DaCosta look
a lot better with John Arbun. Bret Veach would be
the first tell you, I look a lot better with

(01:06:28):
Andy Coach and the guys. It matters a lot the
volume