Larry Krueger, 95.7 The Game Host

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A peanut butter M&M's production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners-up get nothing, one retired cop returns. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter, but you're on a roll.

The Ring of Comfort, coming soon to a Super Bowl new you. Larry, thank you for taking time to hop on, man. Appreciate it. Hey, man.

Anytime. Now, listen, I gotta get right to this. What's the vibe right now in the Bay with these 49ers? Who are people upset at Shanahan? Like, what's the overall consensus?

Yeah, I mean, it's toxic, as you can imagine. You have people saying Shanahan should deliver his head on a platter. There's people that are blaming Brock Purdy. There's people that are blaming Steve Wilkes.

There's people that feel like Steve Wilkes was scapegoated. There's just a myriad of frustrated 49er fans. They've been to, like, 13 NFC Championship games in recent past. They don't have a single Super Bowl to show for it. So, you know, there's a lot of spoiled 49er fans out here who saw the Niners go 5-0 and loved it and now are not enjoying the 0-3 that has come since the 5-0 start in the Super Bowl. Surprise, surprise, right? Not at all, right. So, listen, Larry, what is your evaluation?

You know, I want to pin things on Purdy. It is just very embarrassing, regardless of how much truth is in it, you know, when you got your players saying, I didn't know the rule, I didn't know this. So, what do you think is the largest issue that led to the loss this past Sunday?

Well, I mean, I hate to say it because I really think Kyle Shanahan is a top-tier NFL head coach, but how many Super Bowls can we possibly watch where this guy goes away from a running game that's working? I mean, in this game, I thought the 49ers going 0-3 and out three times in a row in that third quarter and not running the ball at all was probably the biggest complaint. Now, obviously, you know, taking the ball first in overtime, seeing the way the rules were structured was a gaffe. I mean, that was a huge mistake as well. But the bigger thing to me is you've got the MVP, you know, you've got an MVP-type running back in Christian McCaffrey, and they just stopped handing it to him.

So, to me, that's the biggest issue. Larry Krueger is here with us, holding it down on the Bay Area on 95-7 the game. As you mentioned, a lot of people look at Steve Wilks as the guy who was scapegoated because of the defense and how they performed heading into the postseason to start the postseason. What do you think they should do with the defensive coordinator at the defensive coordinator position, and do you think he got a raw deal?

Well, I don't know if he got a raw deal because, I mean, here's the bottom line. He ran the defense top to bottom, front to back, right? And there were times where he called for blitzes and then played off coverage.

So, I mean, you know, that's squarely on him. And it happened in the Cincinnati game. It happened in the Minnesota game.

It happened a couple times in the Super Bowl. So, your coverage and whatever you're doing up front has to be in lockstep. And the fact is, he's running both and wasn't in lockstep. I mean, who do you blame? I mean, he has to take the blame. The other issue here, I mean, not an issue, but, I mean, if you look at Steve Wilks' football card, the guy's been coaching every year since 1995. We're talking about a 30-year stretch. In that 30-year stretch, he's had about 27 different jobs. So, this is a guy who, and I really enjoyed being around him this year.

He's a straight shooter. I think he'll get another job. But, I mean, this is a guy who has moved around a ton in his career.

And I don't know that that's a great indication of positive things. If I'm hiring somebody and they've been working for 30 years and they've got 27 different jobs, that, to me, is kind of like, what? None of these jobs that you ever want to stay, or they want you to stay for five years, six years, it's a lot of moving.

It's a lot of different jobs in a short amount of time. Well, Larry, what do you think they should do with this now vacant position? I mean, what they should do is call Bill Belichick and give him a blank check and say, hey, hoodie, come out to San Francisco and help Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch get over the top. I mean, Belichick's coached every year in the NFL going back to 75. Are you telling me he's going to yuck it up on television with a bunch of people that don't know a third of what he knows?

I don't see that. So, I mean, they ought to beg Belichick to be their defensive coordinator. And if it wasn't him, you know, maybe somebody like Brabel, you know, who could bring, maybe, I mean, they need to replace Dre Greenlaw as well. And a lot of speculation here is people would love to see Ziz Al-Shair brought back in the mix. Brabel just coached him in Tennessee.

You know, we'll see. But those are the two names that make the most sense. I mean, some people are saying Staley, the former head coach of the Chargers.

But I mean, he, you know, obviously he had a nightmare this year with L.A. So, I mean, that's, I know it sounds crazy because why would Bill Belichick ever ever be a sidekick to Kyle Shanahan? But they do have a relationship. Both guys, I mean, there is no cap. You could pay the guy basically anything you want to pay him.

And I think that's a better gig than being on television, to be honest. I mean, if he's going to hang out. I mean, he's not got a head coach. He didn't get any of the eight openings. There's no guarantee he's going to get one next year.

He's 71. I can't picture him yucking it up on the tube. So, to me, he's not going to coach in college. So, to me, the only thing that he could do would be kind of what Spagnuolo has done. You know, take a defensive coordinator's job and dominate. I can't picture him doing it, but I think if he was going to do it, he would do it for Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch. And Larry Kruger is here with us, the chair of our sport re-show on CBS Sports Radio. And we got to see if any of these dudes have egos small enough to kind of do such a thing.

And speaking of egos small enough, I know out in the Bay Area, this has been a hot topic. Klay Thompson, his future, his ego, his fragility. And last night, he gets benched for the first time. Comes off the bench for the first time since 2012, and he drops 35 points. What's the deal?

Is it all in between his ears? Obviously, part of it is physical, but what's the deal with Klay Thompson? You know, he's just having a hard time accepting where he is in his basketball existence.

There's a saying, some people can't handle the different chapters of their life. He was like the easiest teammate of all time when he came up because he just wanted to run and defend and run and shoot and run and run and run. And now, though, he's been this huge dark cloud around this team because he can't handle the fact that he's not the same player that he was. Steve Kerr waited way, way, way too long to put this guy on the bench. This guy should have been on the bench the week of Christmas.

I mean, months ago, this guy should have been riding the bench. He's played horribly, but now he's somewhat liberated it with the second unit because he knows he's got the full license to just hoist and shoot the ball. And that's really what he wants to do. So, I think he's going to embrace this. I think he'll be, you know, he mentioned after the game, hey, look, Manu Chinoble made the Hall of Fame coming off the bench.

And I think he looks at it as such a downgrade, or has, but now if they can kind of convince him that, hey, look, you know, you might be able to contribute and really play a little bit more freely if you played with that second unit, you get up a lot of shots. If he buys in, I think it's the greatest thing that ever happened to his career. He's a free agent at the end of the year. They've already offered him two years and $48 million. You know, and I know, JR, he ain't worth that. I mean, he's not worth that, and yet he doesn't want to take it. He views it as a slap in the face. So, that almost is like, man, that sounds like the Warriors and Claire at an impasse.

There's a lot of talk. Shams went on a couple different broadcasts today and said that both Florida teams, both LA teams, maybe a couple teams in New York may want him. You know, I think Joe Lacob, all things being equal, would rather him stay. Steph Curry would rather him stay, but he's got to get real with what he's worth. I mean, I think two years and $40 million is where I would top out, and I don't think he's worth that, to be completely honest.

Well, the way his play has been throughout the course of the season, I don't think he has too much of a leg to stand on unless he's really going to light the world on fire for the rest of the season. Exactly. Larry Krueger is here with us.

As we start to wrap up, Larry, I do want to ask you this. If you look at the Golden State Warriors, this is a small team. It's mismatched in regards to you've got a lot of championship experience. You have young guys who are trying to figure out who and what they are.

They weren't able to add anybody. What's the expectation from the region of this team? They seem like they'll be good enough to go to the playoffs, but is there an expectation that they'll run towards a magical championship?

I mean, there's references to it, but how realistic is it? I think they're going to make the play in, and they're going to be a team that nobody wants any part of in the first round because of the experience factor. That would be my guess. They just got Draymond back. I don't know what Draymond was doing early in the year. Did he not want to play?

He literally swung on Nurkic. He knew that was going to cost him weeks, and he still did it. But he's come back.

He's in the right frame of mind. They're playing great since he got back. He's a key cog. They're going to get Chris Paul back.

They got GP2 back. Gary Payton II is a key defensive player for them. I really think they're going to finish strong, and they're going to probably win the play-in deal, and they're probably getting Minnesota in the first round. They'll probably duck out, but my guess is that they'll stretch Minnesota a little bit. Most certainly. Championship experience.

I just don't know if they got a whole lot more left in the tank, just up and down the roster. Hey Larry, I appreciate you for taking time and sharing with us your perspective. Where can people follow, listen, and keep up with you? Yeah, appreciate that. I'm a host at 95.7 The Game Radio in San Francisco, and you can follow me on YouTube.

I have a YouTube show called The Krug Show, which has about 40,000 subs right now. We do a lot of 49ers, a lot of Giants, a lot of Warriors, a lot of Bay Area sports on there. Most definitely. Well thank you Larry, appreciate you for taking the time, and let's see what happens with these Warriors. Your level of optimism next season for the Niners is what?

More layoffs, elimination? Yeah, the Niners are one of the premier teams in the NFC. I mean, Detroit's going to be better, Green Bay's going to be better, the Rams, if they get a defense, could be pretty good, and the Eagles are always there.

Commanders will be better. 49ers will be in that mix in the NFC for sure among the contenders. Yeah, no doubt about it. Let's see if they can get over the hump.

They've been there a whole lot. Larry, thank you so much. You enjoy the weekend, okay?

Thanks Shear, have a good one. Okay, picture this, it's Friday afternoon when a thought hits you. Chris Chapman's hit podcast was cancelled. As you know, my old show, The Chris Chapman Confrontation, was the victim of a little thing called cancel culture.

But he's learned, he's grown, and he's ready to win back his audience. I'm back, better than ever, with The Chris Chapman Do-Over. Starring Ike Barenholtz. I have a new lady co-host on the pod. Lisa Gilroy. My mic is on! And Neil Casey is the professor. Greetings my humans. The new hit improv comedy, The Chris Chapman Do-Over. An Odyssey and paper kite production. Listen on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.