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If it's got to be clean, it's got to be Tide Free and Gentle. It is! The JR Sport Brief Show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Much love and many thanks to people tuned in and locked in all over North America. This is when the show gets started.
Every single weekday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. You can always lock in on the free Odyssey app. Your local Infinity Sports Network affiliate. Sirius XM Channel 158. And a smart speaker if you got it.
Just ask your smart speaker to play the Infinity Sports Network. You made it. It's Wednesday. It's time for me to help you get over the hump.
And we got a lot to discuss, a lot to talk about. Team USA, they beat up on Serbia. Good. Go America.
Beat up everybody. We'll talk about that in a second. Last night as I got off air, the score stood for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
The American League beat the National League. Again. What else is new? SEC Media Day. Days. Week.
It continues on. And today the star? Alabama.
Kalen DeBoer. The man who went from the Pacific Northwest of Washington to the heat of the South. You know what? We got a couple of people that we need to talk to.
How about this? Kennington Smith is going to join us. Knows all things Alabama football. Matter of fact, he'll be here to join us in about 20 minutes.
Got some other things to discuss. Nick Saban on the other side of the... Well, not the other side of the glass, but on the other side of the microphone now. No longer coaching.
Now a media member. He has some words about his former school, Alabama. His players have some interesting responses. Speaking of Nick Saban, he has a good friend of his, Bill Belichick. It's been reported that Bill Belichick is still itching to coach. Obviously it ain't going to happen this season.
But Bill Belichick is looking to be back in the saddle next year. This is Wednesday. Every single Wednesday I bring you a new top six list. Today will be no different with NFL training camps opening up. With rookies reporting earlier than veterans to get their feet wet, of course. I'm giving you a top six list of NFL rookies that you need to watch out for. That you need to pay attention to in the year 2024.
That top six list is going to come two hours from now. A big shout out to our super producer and host holding it down in New York, Ryan Hickey. If you want to holler at me, it's simple. The phone number is 855-212-4227.
That's 855-212-4227. You can find me online. I am everywhere.
I am at JR Sportbrave. Hickey, how you doing today? You good? Good Wednesday? Yeah, very good Wednesday so far. It's been good. It's been hot. But what else is new here in the summertime?
No complaints on my end. Yeah, hot in the summer. Today, you know, typically, Hickey, the heat does not bother me. I don't care. It could be 115 degrees outside.
Yeah, I don't care. The weather does not bother me. Today, on the way to the studio, Hickey, I thought I was going to pass out, man.
Damn. It was just after a thunderstorm, and I walked to the studio today. I walked.
Man, it felt like 100 humidity, 100 degrees. I thought I was going to pass out. I was really getting ready to cross the street to the studio, and I said, Man, I should text Hickey right now and let him know that I may pass out. And here I am. I'm alive.
I made it. It's not like a long walk, right? A short, what is it, 10 minutes? It's a very short walk.
Wow, that must have been. If you were ready to pass after a 10-minute walk, that heat must... Either you are out of shape more than I thought, or that heat is intense. I'm going to go with the ladder. I'm in great...
I'm in terrible shape? No, I said the ladder. The heat is intense. Oh, it is. It is. I'm in excellent shape.
I wouldn't call you out like that. Not just start the show. I hope so. I hope I'm in good shape. Well, I made it. I made it. Anyway, speaking of people in good shape, let's get this out the way. Earlier this afternoon, I forgot that they were on.
I'm happy that I'm... Well, I'm not happy. It was a blowout, so I don't really give a damn. But Team USA beat up on Serbia. That means Jokic was playing against the United States of America. The United States of America beat Serbia 105-79 in Abu Dhabi.
This was an ass-whooping. Steph Curry had 11, or excuse me, he had 18 points in 11 minutes. He finished with 24.
Team USA is now 3-0. Bam Adebayo had 17. Anthony Edwards had 16.
What's the giant man with the eyebrow? Anthony Davis came off the bench and had six blocks. And Joel Embiid still looks like he's running in quicksand.
Nikolai Jokic had 16 points in 11 rebounds. Steve Kerr, looking at all of his stars. LeBron, Steph, even that slow-ass Embiid. Steve Kerr says, we got stars!
And I love it. I like those three guys in the starting lineup. We've been looking at other guys around them. And we obviously have a lot of great options.
But I do like those three guys. Yeah, well, I think he'd like everybody on the team. This man can literally... And by the way, Kevin Durant is still not playing basketball. He's not out there. He's still messing around with that strained calf.
That will probably be strained for the rest of his career. Steph Curry, dropping 24 points, 18 points in 11 minutes. I mean, this is typical Steph Curry.
Wake up, shoot the three, and bombs away. He says, yeah, it's so easy. It's so much fun to play with all these other future Hall of Famers. It's a lot of fun. Like all the guys on our team, everybody's here for a reason. We're trying to win, trying to bring our best selves to what we're doing. The fact that we're such high IQ guys. We try to just make the right play and utilize each other's strengths. Hickey, why do they make this so damn complicated?
Why do they make this sound or try to make this sound complicated? They got more talent than everybody else. I mean, unless they just have a bad game against Canada or France, they're just going to smash everybody, man. You're right, which is why I think the biggest talking point so far, at least, is the starting five. Who's going to play? Who's going to get subbed out?
Because you're right. Maybe there's a challenge in one or two games, but there's really no doubt of who's going to win the gold medal. But now it's, well, who's going to be the starting five? Is NBA going to be healthy enough? Like you said, Kevin Durant going to play. Injuries and starting lineups are, I think, bigger questions and factors than, is this team going to live up to the hype that they should, which is getting gold? Yeah, and you talk about Joel Embiid.
We know that this man is walking wounded even in the summertime. Joel Embiid today finished with eight points. He was two of eight. He grabbed eight rebounds, thank you. Had three assists, that's good.
Had a steal, two turnovers, that's not good. And he just still looks slow. I mean, Joel Embiid typically looks slow. But when you're out there on ten-minute quarters, and then you can also, you know, basically goal ten and grab the ball off the hoop. You know, Joel Embiid ain't fleet of foot. Nobody's going to confuse him with Giannis or Anthony Davis. He ain't moving around the court like that. And so Joel Embiid had to answer questions about how his knee was feeling.
Take a listen to what he said. My knee's doing great. I'm still getting back into it slowly. I mean, I can't tell, you know, the start. But as the game goes along, I'm starting to find my groove.
So I just got to keep building up. But I'm sure by the time we get to Paris, it will be a different story. By the time we get to Paris, they're making a stop in London, okay?
They can basically take the damn train to Paris after they get to London. They're going to play against Sudan. Hickey, give me a quick score right fast.
USA versus Sudan, what's that going to look like? Come on, come on. One, you said ten and a quarter.
I will say 141 to 53. Damn. Here's another challenge.
You ready for this? Let's hear it. Name one player on the Sudanese team. Name one.
Go ahead, name one. I couldn't even try to give you a first name. I don't know. I have no idea. Sudan from Basque. No, Luol Dang, he was from Sudan. Yeah, he was. Is he shooting up?
Luol Dang got to be, what, like 45 years old right now? I mean, wow. He's probably the GM of the team or something at this point. Sudanese basketball team. Let's see. Let's find some of you. There's got to be a familiar name. Okay, South Sudan men's national basketball team. Okay. Okay, help me out.
They're called the Bright Stars. Oh. God bless them. Yeah, they're playing in the Olympics.
Good for them. Okay, Luol Dang became president in 2020. Okay, I see. Nice call. I know a couple things.
Let's see. Okay, don't know this man. Never heard of him.
Nope. Peter Jock. Oh, this guy's name.
I hope it's Coke Bar. I hope that's how you pronounce his name. Oh, I know this. I know Wang and Gabriel. He used to play for the Lakers. Remember him? Yes, okay. Is he still in the league?
I don't know. He was though, so okay. Was in the league, count it. There's one. It says enough. There's another guy, Karlick Jones.
It says he was or is on the Bulls. Okay. Hmm.
Maybe, maybe not. And there you have it. There's the, there's a team. There's a team.
Royal Ivy is one of the head coaches, so there you have it. Another familiar name. Yeah. So the USA is going to smash them, destroy them. And good for, good for Sudan for even being here.
That's quite an accomplishment. Congratulations, Team USA. They get to warm up against Sudan. And then, you know, next week, they'd be on to the real show. United States of America 3-0 so far in all of this friendly competition.
Nice trip in Abu Dhabi on their way to London before they hit Paris. And speaking of domination, last night as we got off the air, the American League led the National League in the Major League Baseball All-Star game. It was 5-3. And the score stayed that way for the rest of the game. I mean, we were here in the studio when Jaron Duran hit that two-run home run, ultimately breaking that 3-3 tie.
And he ends up being the MVP of the game. And the dominating factor here, the domination, the American League has now won 10 out of 11 All-Star games. Now, I would have thought things would have evened out now that the fact that the DH is universal, universal, excuse me. Is this just like a gigantic fluke? Why is the American League beating the holy hell out of the National League every single year?
I don't know. I mean, the most exciting thing for the National League was Shohei Ohtani hitting that three-run home run. And then Paul Skeans being their starting pitcher. And he had success. I mean, outside of walking Juan Soto, this man sat down Quan and then, you know, Gunnar Henderson went down. Soto walked and Judge went to third.
And that was all she wrote. Paul Skeans, the most exciting current player in baseball. My apologies to people in Detroit.
Sorry. Paul Skeans. I guess he does have a pulse. He says that he blacked out on the mound last night. Probably the first pitch, just like, you know, being out there. I don't I don't think I blacked out when I was out there, but I was pretty close. It was cool to be on that mound.
You know, just but but just being able to share this with my family and and have them out here and just being able to experience it. I don't I don't know that there's one moment because, I mean, it was two days, you know, packed with moments. I think he might have still been blacked out when he said all of that, man. We got to we got to talk to somebody from from Pittsburgh. Maybe you think we could talk to somebody today or tomorrow? I think we can.
Yes. I want to see if this man has a pulse or if he sounds like that all the time. I guess he was excited about one thing. He could have left early. This man pitched the first inning. He could have went home. He decided to stick around and soak in his first All-Star appearance. Listen to this. Just being able to talk with the guys was the biggest thing.
Being able to pick their brains. You know, I was in the dugout for for a good portion of it. And then I went under an eight and that kind of thing. And I was eating with a couple, you know, other All-Star pitchers. So the only time I'm going to have this opportunity, you know, is today with this team.
So I just wanted to, you know, kind of get as much as I could from from them. Oh, my God. He makes he makes sounding. He makes eating dinner with other All-Stars sound boring. It's after the game, went downstairs, had a meal with some of the other All-Star pitchers. It's like, what do you sit down to have a bologna sandwich? Like white bread and bologna with nothing on it. No, no cheese, no nothing, no lettuce, nothing. Just bologna and bread.
That sounds like a Paul Skeans type of meal. Anyway, the man who won MVP, one of 37 first time All-Stars. Jaron Durant. I wonder if he sounded excited after winning MVP. Let's see.
All-Star game, first home run All-Star game MVP. Like it is a first, you know, and I'm just I'm just very thankful. I mean, it's it's hard to put into words. You know, I feel like it won't hit me until I don't know. It's all I try and go to sleep tonight. But who knows if I'll be able to sleep tonight? OK, a little bit more.
Somebody has to be enthusiastic. Somebody. Hickey, did the show Hiltani say anything interesting last night? No, right.
I actually did see that he spoke through the train. What? What? Come on, man. He's still doing that crap. He is.
We have a few here. Do you want to hear him talk about his home run via his translator, via his translator, the one that doesn't steal from him? That is right. Right.
The the honest one. Yeah, let's let's hear how excited Shohei was through his interpreter. Sure. In general, I haven't really hit well during the All-Star game, so I'm just relieved that I, you know, put a good ball in play. OK. Hickey, this is this is this is why people change the channel. Man, that was just a banner segment right there. Hey, Major League Baseball just had its All-Star game. Its brand new star pitcher sounds as enthusiastic as a slice of bologna. Duran sounded excited.
One of thirty seven first time All-Stars in the biggest star, the biggest baseball player on earth. He's just like, talk to my interpreter. I'm not talking to you in English. Forget about it.
Good luck. Baseball can't wait for the rest of the season. It's the J.R. Sportbree show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. I could tell you something I'm very excited for. The start of the college football season. I only got to wait until next month. It's not that long. And so we got media day.
The SEC has been rolling out media. Damn it. Forget a day all week long. And today it was Alabama's time to shine.
There's no more saving. It's all about the bar. We're going to have a chat with Kennington Smith on the other side of the break.
Covers all things Alabama for the athletic. Congratulations. We're just getting warmed up. Oh, I got the enthusiasm. Don't worry about that.
It's the J.R. Sportbree show on the Infinity Sports Network. Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie. And one thing I've learned is that you buy a house, but you make it a home. Because with every fix, update and renovation, it becomes a little more your own. So you need all your jobs done well. For nearly 30 years, Angie has helped millions of homeowners hire skilled pros for the projects that matter. From plumbing to electrical, roof repair to deck upgrades.
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Shopify.com slash Odyssey podcast. Have you ever covered a carpet stain with a rug? Ignored a leaky faucet? Pretended your half-painted living room is supposed to look that way? Well, you're not alone. We've all got unfinished home projects, whether it's a door that sticks or a disorganized closet or an AC unit that only works half the time.
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Download Thumbtack and start a project today. You're listening to the J.R. Sportbrief. It's the J.R. Sportbrief Show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network coast to coast. Yeah, USA basketball played a game today.
Yeah, Major League Baseball had an All-Star game last night. But if you want to talk about somebody feeling the pressure, it's Kalen DeBoer, the newest head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. The SEC is rolling out all of its talent, its coaches this week out in Dallas, Texas.
Kalen DeBoer is front and center along with some of his players. To talk about the Alabama Crimson Tide, what we could have gathered from his chat with the media today as well as his players, we're being joined by Kennington Smith from The Athletic. Kennington, how are you, man? I'm good. How are you? I'm excellent. How are you? I'm good. How are you? I'm excellent.
Thank you for taking the time to hop on. As Kalen DeBoer has moved from Washington, is now down in Tuscaloosa, speaks to the media today, what are your first impressions on who he is and what makes him different than Coach Saban? Yeah, I think the big thing with Kalen DeBoer is his personality and Saban's personality, I guess on the surface and how they kind of demonstrate themselves on the field are a lot different. You know, Saban's kind of known for his outbursts and being very animated, DeBoer is much more reserved, but I think the similarities is the desire to win. And that, more than anything, I think is what resonates with fans most when they get to learn about Kalen DeBoer's story in relation to replacing Nick Saban. This is somebody that's been coaching college football for 10 years and has 12 losses. So regardless of if fans knew about him before coming to Alabama or not, they have to respect that he is a winner. And I think that he kind of carries himself with this just unbothered confidence. I think you hear a lot of people say, well, who would want to follow somebody like Nick Saban?
Who wants to be the guy to replace that guy? And Kalen DeBoer has zero hesitation about doing that. So from that lens, he earned instant respect from the team. And I think how he's kind of conducted himself since he's been to Alabama's head coach has inspired a lot of interest and faith within the fan base. So ultimately, what happens on the field is going to decide his fate. But to this point, it's been a pretty smooth transition. Kennington Smith is here with us, the JR Sport Reshow, coast to coast.
You want to talk about a transition? We don't have any questions about the starting quarterback for Alabama this year. Jalen Monroe took that job last year, ran them into the playoffs, is coming back. What is the next step for him in his progression if Alabama wants to continue on with 10-plus wins? Yeah, I think for Jalen Monroe, it's all about playing with more confidence. I think last year was a tough situation.
I mean, it's a pretty contested quarterback battle. He gets benched after a tough loss and then comes back and leads Alabama to the SEC championship. I think for him this year, it's about being a confident player, being more experienced, and then also, how is he going to operate in this Kalen DeBoer offense?
What Washington did last year and what Alabama did last year were vastly different. His responsibilities in this offense are going to be different. He's going to have to process things fast. He's going to have to get the ball out faster and then obviously be able to continue to throw the ball down the field. There's going to be a larger running responsibility, I believe, compared to what he was doing last year. There's going to be more on his shoulders, but he's a year older. He's a year more confident.
I expect really big things out of him. I think one of the big storylines of SEC media days is just how much respect he's garnered from other teams in the conference. It seems like every other quarterback in every team is kind of talking about him in some way as being this really dynamic player.
So I think he got a chance to show a little bit of what he could do last year, but I anticipate this is going to be a really big breakout year for him. Well, Kennington, we saw Jalen Milro out at media day. We saw him embracing his former coach in Nick Saban. Amongst all of the names and individuals that we've seen over the past several days, whether it be a Kirby Smart or Kalen DeBoer being introduced, is Nick Saban still kind of the star of this week? He's garnering a lot of attention, even for his picks that pretty much omitted Alabama out of the championship game of the SEC.
Yeah, that's something that I wrote earlier today. This is his, I believe, 17th or 18th straight SEC media day, and just like his first one, he is still the star of the show, even if he's sitting in a different seat. So just his presence has been a talking point. You saw it, like you said, Kirby Smart, Lane Kiffin, Steve Sarkeesian today, talking about his impact on their lives personally and on the game. And then when you get a chance to see Nick Saban in a setting where he gets a chance to show a little bit more personality, he gets to be a little bit more relaxed because he's not coaching, he gets a chance to show his football analysis, it just draws fans in and it kind of shows a different side to him. So he is still a star of the show, and his prediction of not putting Alabama SEC championships got him a lot of laughs today. We got a chance to ask the players about it, and one of them, Tyler Booker, offensive lineman, said, well, you know, Nick Saban always told us not to be concerned about somebody in their mama's basement making predictions, so I'm not going to be concerned about somebody who plays golf all day trying to make predictions about our season. So the players are having some fun with it as well, and Nick Saban is a star no matter what role he's in, and I think he's going to continue to be that and being a looming presence in college football this season and in the years to come.
Kennington Smith is joining us courtesy of The Athletic. When you talk about someone like Tyler Booker making some of the jokes, Nick Saban for years has talked about the media and bigging up the program as being rat poison. Do the players seem looser under DeBoer? Yeah, I mean, I think there is a bit of a looser energy, and I just think DeBoer is just a bit more of a modern progressive coach. Obviously he's younger, and he has kind of empowered not only the players but his assistants to be a little bit more out there with the media. He's made assistant coaches available for media availability during spring practice, which never happened under Saban. You're getting a chance to see players show a little bit more of their personality.
DeBoer is playing music at practice. Players get to wear number zero now, which never happened under Nick Saban. So he's done well, I think, making the players more comfortable, but I think in that same vein the players have stressed the fact that the intensity and the expectations have not changed at all.
So I think there might be a misconception that looser and more fun means less discipline, and that's not necessarily been the case from what the players have been telling us. So, again, we'll see what happens on the field, but it does seem like it's a little bit more of a looser Alabama team, and we'll see how that kind of bears itself out this season. Well, Kennington, when you think about Alabama, some of their stars, especially their backs. Terrion Arnold is now a member of the Lions.
Kool-Aid McKinstry is in the NFC South with the Saints. What does this incoming freshman class look like, and are these recruits going to be able to shoulder the load? What's the expectations? Yeah, I don't think the expectation has changed, and I think whenever an Alabama freshman comes in, regardless of who's the coach or what the team has done, there's going to be an expectation for those players to be able to come in and contribute. And one thing about this class that's really interesting is because of how many players left after Nick Saban retired via the transfer portal, a lot of these two freshmen that probably would have been on the third team or the fourth team are now on the first team and the second team in spring practice because of the attrition. So those guys are developing faster because they're playing higher quality competition in practice.
So from that lens, they're probably a little bit ahead of what past freshman classes have been. You mentioned the secondary. A couple of names that I want to throw out there for the fans to get to know is Zabian Brown and Red Morgan. These are two guys who enrolled early in January and almost exclusively ran with the first team secondary at cornerback and at slot cornerback. So those are two guys of names that you need to know, and Alabama winning the transfer portal after spring practice and added a few veteran defensive backs as well. So there's a good mix of veteran experience and high school talent, which is pretty much par for the course for Alabama, but they just haven't played at Alabama before. So there's going to be some question marks, obviously, in the secondary, but there is the talent there.
We just kind of have to see it all come together. Kennington Smith is here with us, covers all things Alabama football for the athletic. You know, one of the reasons that Saban left, and you talk about all the new prospects that have come in, the guys that hit the portal and bounced, he was sick and tired of talking about money and finances and recruits and their expectations changed from football and education to finances and money. Now that there's NIL, now that the college football playoff has expanded, isn't it a natural progression that Alabama, the expectations may still be high, but having things evened out a little bit, you get a Texas-Oklahoma in, playoff is bigger.
What do you think? Yeah, I mean, I definitely think that the path to a national championship is much harder than it was maybe five, ten years ago, but the expectations have not changed at all. And I can reference this. I did a fan survey. So I put out a Google form where I literally asked the fan base, what do you expect out of Alabama this year? What do you expect moving forward?
And we had several hundred responses, so we got to pull a good amount of the fan base. Seventy percent of the fan base expects Alabama to be in the SEC championship game this year. Seventy percent of the fan base expects Alabama to not only make the playoffs, but at least win one game.
So you're either going to the semifinals or the quarterfinals. And almost 80 percent of the fan base expects Kalen DeBoer to win a national championship within four years of being the coach. So, yes, it is harder, and NIL has played a part in maybe evening the playing field, but within Alabama's fan base, the expectation is that Alabama is going to adapt and adjust to these changes and continue to be the same program. Is that fair?
Is that reasonable? I think you could debate it either way, but that is what makes Alabama really interesting. I could argue that Alabama football right now is more interesting than it ever has been, because whether you love them or whether you hate them, you want to know what's going to happen next.
You're going to be tapped in. So expectations are sky high, but that's not something that anybody within the program is shying away from from things that I've observed. Kennington Smith, so you would say that they look at this as a two to four year honeymoon period before they get in his backside and say, hey, man, what the hell are you doing? Yeah, I mean, I think you have to acknowledge that there is going to be some adjustment going from the greatest college football coach of all time to another coach. And Kalen DeBoer is elite in his own right. I think that we have to acknowledge that Washington went farther than Alabama last year. Washington beat Texas last year, unlike Alabama did. Washington had the same number of players drafted as Alabama did last year.
And Washington doesn't recruit nearly at the same level that Alabama does. So obviously, Kalen DeBoer knows how to coach. He knows how to develop. He knows how to win at a really high clip. Now he's taking that winning formula and bringing it to Alabama, which has the infrastructure to contend at a high level.
So from that lens, the expectations should be high. But I think the fan base is going to give him a little bit of time to kind of adjust, get his recruits in, do his thing. So they're going to expect Alabama to make the playoffs every year that he's the coach in my mind. And I think after four years, if he hasn't won a national championship, I think that fans will be within their right to be questioning, you know, kind of if he is the right guy to continue the dynasty. But we'll see what happens in these next few years.
Kennington, last question for you. Outside of Alabama, was there anything else that caught your attention over these past few days? Yeah, I think just the idea of the expanded playoffs and the fact that there are programs now that have more hope to contend for a national championship or be in that conversation than ever before. A team like an Ole Miss, a Missouri, a Tennessee, you get these type of programs and they come to SEC Media Days and they say, our goal is to play for a championship.
It's like, well, that's everybody's goal. Is that always realistic? For a team like Missouri, Ole Miss, they probably were never making a four-team playoff. But in an expanded 12-team playoff, they have a chance to make it. And then once you get into the 12-team field, anything can happen. So I think we're going to see the SEC really flex its muscle in terms of how good the conference really is. I honestly think there's at least six, seven teams in the SEC that could make the playoff in any year. And even more than that if other programs like Ford and Auburn are operating at an optimal level. So what stuck out to me is just the parity in the conference, how many teams really believe that they have a chance to contend for the playoff.
And I think that's ultimately going to elevate the entire profile of the conference. Hey, Kennington, I appreciate the time. Where can people follow you in all your excellent work? Yeah, on Twitter, slash X, at skinnykenny, underscore, that's S-K-I-N-N-Y, K-E-N-N-Y, underscore.
And then I'm on theathletic.com or The Athletic, wherever you get your mobile apps, searching my name or anything related to Alabama athletics. Hey, great chatting with you, man. We're going to have you back on soon, okay, Kennington? Yeah, most definitely.
Like, Deion Center's not hard to find. So whenever you want to shop it up, I'll be here. I appreciate that, Kennington. It's the J.R. Sportbree show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network.
Kennington is not hard to find. We're going to take a break. When we come back, I'm going to tell you about somebody else who is not hard to find because he wants his job back or a job back. I'm going to explain on the other side of the break. Temp check. What kind of summer are we having this year? A family road trip summer, a beach bum summer, or a wake me when the sun sets summer? With Instacart, choose your own adventure and skip the shopping side quests. Where available, you can get ice cream delivered to your hotel, sunscreen to the pool, or cold brew to your bed.
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Auto Trader. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. Thank you so much, Kennington Smith, for joining us, courtesy of the Athletic. In the last break, talking all things Alabama, all things SEC. You know, we'll have more time to talk about Calum DeBoer on the other side of the break. You know, we'll actually hear some of his words. When you think about Alabama, as Kennington said, like Nick Saban is still the star of the show.
Sitting around doing Media Day. He's the king. Everybody has to walk by and kiss the ring. And he has a very good friend who's also very familiar with rings. Nick Saban not finding success in the NFL. But his buddy, his buddy Bill Belichick did. Bill Belichick finding his way to success in the NFL with six Super Bowl rings as a head coach. Two Super Bowl rings as a defensive coordinator for the championship New York Giants. That's eight count of eight Super Bowl rings for Bill Belichick. And Bill Belichick, he's just like his old buddy Nick Saban right now.
He don't got a job. Nick Saban is sitting around on the SEC network. We'll see Nick Saban on ESPN. We'll see him on college game day. Damn it, if ESPN has space for Nick Saban, you will see Nick Saban. Meanwhile, Bill Belichick, you're going to see Bill Belichick everywhere as well.
You'll see him on the CW. Yeah, I don't know what that is, but it's inside the NFL. He'd be sitting around with Chad Ochocinco, Ryan Clark, and I believe Julian Edelman.
If he's not on the show, my bad, Julian. Just talking football. You'll see Bill Belichick on the Manning cast on ESPN. You'll see Bill Belichick hanging out with Pat McAfee. And Bill Belichick, if you haven't heard over the past several months, when you actually put him in front of a microphone, put a camera on him, he's pretty good. Because he doesn't need to be Coach Belichick.
Which sounded like he'd just rather be hit by a car than talk to the media. Now, Bill Belichick just turned 72 years old. Bill Belichick is not here doing media for the long haul. It's been reported that Bill Belichick has his eyes set on doing something else.
Let's take a listen to what Tom Pelissaro said to Rich Eisen. He's fully invested in, he wants to coach again. He wants to pursue the all-time wins record. Those are things that really matter a lot to Bill Belichick.
Where is that going to be? It's got to be a spot where he's got a quarterback or he can get one. He's got cap space to go get additional players. And where he's got the type of organizational setup that he thinks he can succeed in. So you've got to be thinking about the stable organizations, maybe some of the blue blood organizations, and the owners who are going to let Bill Belichick be Bill Belichick.
What a shock, right? Bill Belichick wants to coach. The same Bill Belichick who had an interview, multiple interviews, right here in Atlanta, Georgia with the Falcons. The same Bill Belichick that, let's be real, there was no mutual parting of the ways between him and the New England Patriots. He basically got fired.
He ran his course. And if you think about what Tom Pelissaro is saying, let's also think about this. What are some teams that Bill Belichick could reasonably coach next year?
Let's go through the list. Obviously the one that jumps out, which is pretty hilarious, the Dallas Cowboys. The Dallas Cowboys, man, they do have an option of having a quarterback.
It's just about how much they want to pay them. I don't know about organizational structure when you think about Jared Jones. Although Jerry Jones, maybe he'd be kissing the ass of Belichick to come. I mean, there was a point in time where he did have Bill Parcells out there in Dallas.
That didn't work out. Another team, and this really is the only other team I could really, really think of. If Bill Belichick were to just end up on a squad next year, it'd have to be the Eagles. The Eagles would have to disappoint. The Philadelphia Eagles would have to hit the skids.
And I know you had Saquon Barkley, and I know you're bringing all the cornerbacks, you draft them. If the Eagles have a disappointing season, and you have to think about the defense not living up to Steph. And Fangio doesn't work, and Nick Sirianni just runs out of funny press conference material. You want to tell me that Bill Belichick wouldn't go to Philadelphia?
I think he would. Hickey, to be honest, I don't know where the hell else Bill Belichick could go next year. And it's impossible to predict, but you think about coaches that might be on the hot seat. You think Nick Sirianni, Mike McCarthy is almost certainly going to get fired. Where the hell else would Belichick go?
I couldn't think any place. Two wild cards for you. Number one, what if the Jaguars missed the playoffs again? You paid Trevor Lawrence, so you're not moving Trevor Lawrence. I mean, if you can't break through or can't get to where you want to go, would you hire a guy who's done it eight different times in a coordinator slash head coach role?
And here's another one. Because you heard Tom Palacios say, right, cap space, quarterback, ready to win now. Would he go back into the division, the bills to Buffalo? He doesn't hate them like the Jets, at least from all that we've seen. He has the best quarterback he's had since Tom Brady and Josh Allen.
Do you go now to what has been a perennially in terms of coming up short, losing franchise? Right. Right. I was going to say they like on a treadmill, the Buffalo. Right. If they lose in, let's say, the second round of the playoffs or the first round of the playoffs again and they say, you know, McDermott's taking us as far as he can. I don't I don't think see, but I don't think the bills are attractive.
Real interesting. OK. You know, we've heard plenty of people not necessarily be fans of Belichick. And if let's let's think like NFL players.
It's tough, though, right? If Bill Belichick. The Eagles are stacked, right? Like I fully expect the NFC championship game. I'd be surprised and given injuries, of course, if it was not the Eagles in the forty niners.
Like sign me up for it right now today. The Eagles have been at the precipice. The Eagles have gone to the Super Bowl.
The 49ers have gone to the Super Bowl. If I'm just some veteran sitting around going, man, I need to win a Super Bowl. Would you not feel more comfortable going to Philadelphia as opposed to Buffalo?
Oh, if I have the choice, I'm with you 100 percent. I would go to the Eagles. I'm just more you know, like you said, I'm not sure how many spots will be open and whether Philly if they're interested or not. But like if Buffalo is interested, let's say, I think if you're Bill, I mean, they check a lot of the boxes you in theory would want, like otherwise, like in terms of like needing a really good quarterback to win. I mean, how many like there's not many teams of great quarterbacks that at least right now we believe will be firing their coach. Sure.
So the amount of you know, the number of attractive openings seemingly will be minuscule on the surface. And then maybe in regards to the Jaguars, maybe the Khan family can get this one right after bringing in Urban Meyer. Could you imagine, you know, like you you hire that idiot? Well, Urban Meyer was hanging out with someone that was not his wife after a loss. Bill Belichick, at least his 23 year old girlfriend, is at least above board as as above board as it can be. But in regards to football, I guess the Khan family can go out there and get that one right.
That's I like that hickey. Jaguars makes sense. If Belichick with the Bills, we would really find out how vindictive he is. That'd be fun to watch. Taking on the Patriots a couple of times a year. It's the J.R. sport we show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network.
Eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. We're going to take a break when we come back. You know, let's hear from Kalen DeBoer from earlier today at SEC Media Day.
And then Nick Saban, he doesn't even think his old squad is going to make the championship game. We'll get into that baseball and some basketball as well. The J.R. sport we show don't move. Look around. What do you see? Cars? Lots of them.
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