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The Rich Eisen Show. He was wild, man. Earlier on the show. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. Coming up.
Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. The Ringer NFL draft analyst Todd McShay. Actor Gary Cole. And now, it's Rich Eisen. What a great hour.
One we just had. Greg Sankey, the SEC commissioner, talking about college football and the state of it, and the college football playoffs that are starting on Friday night between two SEC teams, Oklahoma and Alabama. 844-204-Rich is the number to dial. We ask Eagle fans to call in and tell us how they feel about Jalen Hurts and they have obliged. We'll get to your calls later this hour.
Please stay on hold. Todd McShea is about to join us to talk about the future. In the National Football League draft. Maybe we'll talk a little bit of college football with him, but he's his usual Wednesday spot. My Hall of Fame friend from the NFL Network and also QB Confidential is great.
Must subscribe to the YouTube channel, ladies and gentlemen. Kurt Warner back here. How are you doing, Kurt? I'm doing well. How are you doing, buddy?
Hanging in there.
So, the news breaking on Wednesday morning that Tua Tunga Vailoa will be benched. Mike McDaniel, after the loss to the Steelers, said all options are on the table at quarterback, and the option now is Quinn Ewers, I guess, for at least this week. for the Miami Dolphins, and I'll give you the floor on what you've seen from Tua this year and why you think we're we're at where we're at right now in South Florida. Yeah, I mean, these things always are interesting that obviously they had won five of six before Monday night, so they had got back to playing decent football. They didn't play well early in the year.
Tua wasn't playing well early in the year.
So at that point, you kind of go, okay, if you make a move now, it's a little more understandable. Then you go on a run. And then after one loss, you bench the guy. And that's like, okay, how does that make sense? But I think, you know, what we're seeing is that they got knocked out of the playoff picture.
And so they get knocked out of the playoff picture. And now you're starting to ask questions about the future. What is the future? Is Tua the future of this franchise? Is he the future for at least next year with the big cap hit?
Or um Do we at this point explore some of the other guys we have on the roster and specifically the young rookie and quenuers to see if maybe he can be that guy? You know, maybe it makes it easier, but we at least need a sample size to see what we have in this room to decide: is it Tua? Is it a guy in this room? Is it neither? Do we have to address that moving into the offseason, whether that's in the draft?
For free agency, if they've got that ability, with obviously the capture that Tour would take if they decide to cut. ties there.
So uh I think that's why this happens now, not necessarily that two uh hadn't played good football the last month and a half. But it's at the point now where we have to start making some some decisions for the future.
So wh why do you think to uh needs to be benched in the eyes of Mike McDaniel, other than what you just said. Hey, we need to see who else we've got. He would never do that, obviously, look to see who else we've got if Tua's play in his mind was significant enough. To keep moving forward with him. As you know, McDaniel might not have his job either.
And you've said here, because I listened to you, Kurt, as well as Game of Day Morning, which means I have no choice but to listen to you. For four hours. That McDaniel and his system is great for it. And obviously, the system that McDaniel would bring. Tua, or let's put it this way: the Dolphins want to stick with Tua, this would be the coach to have.
So I'll give you the floor on that one. Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing is, you know, we've seen Tua play at an extremely high level in this offense, but this year. He didn't. And a lot of factors. What you see oftentimes when you watch this Miami offense is that it's kind of feast or famine.
Like there have been games this year where you go, oh, there it is. There's the offense they're trying to run, and it looks almost picture perfect. And Tua is the perfect fit. for this offense. But I've been outspoken a lot about how this offense is really tough.
For a quarterback. And why Tua fits it is because they ask you to fit it into your number one receiver a lot. It's not like we've got this tremendous system that's built where if this guy's covered, then this guy's open, and then this guy's open. Like it is, we're going to run the football, we're going to play action, and we're going to find small windows for you, hit those windows. And Tua has been great at hitting those windows more times than not, but it also forces him.
To have to try to hit those windows more than, and I don't know, I want to say more than Tua would like, but when I watch, more than I would like. Like, my gosh, that is a really tough throw, and he'll make it over and over again, but you're going to miss that throw a number of times. And so, when you're asked to play in that tough of a system over and over again, there is going to be obviously some great moments when you can anticipate and throw with accuracy like Tua can. But there's also going to be some of those famine moments where, man, you are off by a little bit and it's and it's four picks, um, you know, or it's incompletions because the timing was just a tick off. And so it's a challenge to play in this offense.
I'm really interested to watch Quinn Ewers. And if they try to do the same things, did they build more of this offense around Tua's strengths? Or is this their offense? And they're going to try to fit somebody else into it. I would be fascinated these next three weeks to watch Quinn Ewers if they're going to ask him to play the same way that they asked Tua to play.
But, you know, Tua has taken a dip this year. The offense has taken a dip this year. And I think that's why we've gotten to this point where we're asking the question about the future. But make no mistake, this is not an easy offense for any quarterback to just get plugged into. And if you don't have certain skill sets, accuracy and anticipation, this can be a really tough offense to run.
So like I said, I'm fascinated to see the next three weeks and see how Quinn Euers, which. is a guy that I saw in college that I didn't necessarily Think was that kind of a guy, you know, anticipation, you know, throwing ahead of schedule, you know, hitting the tight windows. I didn't feel like he was that kind of guy in college.
So I'll be interested to see how this plays out this next few weeks. Kurt Warner here on the Rich Eisen Show. And bring up to speed what I said at the top of the show, Kurt. I'm not a capologist. I don't play one on TV.
There are a lot of different variables that go into this. But if Tua is in fact cut, Next league year or post-league year starting. Depending on all the designations and whatever, it would be a larger cap hit than the one that the Broncos took for Russell Wilson. That said, it's not too far apart. And all you got to look at is Denver did what they did with Russ.
And all they've done is draft a quarterback and win 22 games to date over. Not even two full seasons. And they're the one seed right now heading into the final three weeks.
So there are ways through taking a massive dead cap hit, but you got to, I guess, have somebody like Bo Nix. What are you seeing out of this kid right now? Kurt, as the Broncos are moving towards the one seed. Yeah, you have to have somebody like Bo Nicks, but you know, they also had a really good team. Outside of the quarterback, I think that's another question with Miami, they've been so quarterback-driven.
in their approach. They haven't been a great defense. They haven't been a great run team. And so that makes you wonder, okay, can you do and simulate what Denver did in a short period of time?
Okay, so that's the end of that conversation. Bonitz, yeah, I thought he played one of his best games this past weekend. And when you watch Bo, I mean, he's always a playmaker. Like, he's always going to create. Positive plays for you and make plays in the course of the game.
I've been, you know, again, I want to say critical, not critical, but the one thing that I've watched with Bo, you know, over these first couple years is that I often think he's impatient in the pocket. He kind of hits the top of his drop and wants to take off and doesn't want to settle in and take some of those shots that are coming for him down the field. He'd rather get on the move and create that way. But I felt like in this game against Green Bay. He did a better job of hanging in there and pushing the ball down the field.
And he made. Big throw after big throw, you know, a couple touchdown throws, the huge throw on fourth and two, where he probably had some easier looks and shorter throws there. And he said, forget it, I'm taking the go route to my guy Courland down the sideline and drop a dime down the sideline. And so. If you get that version, obviously they've been really good winning 11 straight.
They've obviously been really good with whatever version of Bo Nix because he's a good player. But if you can get the version that is more willing and risk-adverse to push the ball down the field a little bit more and create some of those big plays along with everything else they have. This becomes a really scary team, in my opinion, because he is a playmaker and he's going to make a lot of plays for you in the course of the game. If he makes some on schedule and big plays for this team, along with that defense, they're going to be really tough. Kurt Warner here on The Rich Eisen Show.
I'm going to ask you a question I haven't asked you for about five years. What'd you see on film from Phillip Rivers? Card. Yeah, yeah, it has been a while. I tell you what, yeah, I know we were all going into this thing, you know, holding our breath a little bit in Seattle against a really good defense, five years off.
Oh my gosh, what are we getting here? Like, we just hope this goes somewhat well. For Philip. And, you know, and it was mostly managing the game, you know, getting into run plays and keeping them on schedule. But Philip made some key throws in the game, including the touchdown throw, the late kind of back shoulder throw that set them up.
For the field goal, a couple of other anticipatory throws in the game.
So I thought it was a great start. I don't know if you could have asked for much more than what we got. You know, the physical part of it, you hope as he practices a little bit more, that comes along, you know, a little more velocity or snap on the football, those kinds of things. But extremely impressed with how this thing played out, how we kept him in the game, how we made some critical throws when he needed to, and thought Shane Steichen and the team managed it really, really well. To give themselves a real chance to win that game and knock off Seattle.
Unfortunately, it didn't pay off that way, but more than impressed. Coming back off of five years, and we talked about it on the show, I don't even know what I could have expected in that kind of scenario. And so after watching it, I'm like, Man, that's about as good as I could have expected for a situation like that. Kurt Warner here on the Rich Eisen Show, looking at the standings right now. I want to focus on the six and seven seeds in each conference, just to give you the.
Uh the uh mind's eye of it. You got the Bills at six, the Texans at seven. In the AFC. In the NFC, you've got the Niners at six, the Packers at seven. I don't recall entering the final three weeks of a season seeing a six and seven of both conferences.
You could say, absolutely, they could win it. And there's the Chargers at five, with Justin Herbert taking as many sacks as he has in the last two games and 11 sacks in the last two games of that broken left hand as he's ever taken in his entire career, Kurt, over a two-game span.
So, you put your marker on which one to maybe pop through and go on a run, Kurt. What do you got? Which one to pop through and go on a run? Um man, yeah, it makes that number one seed, um, you know, so important, right? You don't want to play one of those, you know, in round one.
You want to sit at home and hope they beat each other up. Heck yeah. Um Man, that's a great question. I think any of those teams obviously could knock you off. For sure.
Man, I want to say the Texans, uh, just because of how good their defense is, and I feel like their offense and CJ has been better since he came off of this key kind of concussion protocol and had those few weeks off, that their offense has been better. Um, I Yeah. It's hard for me to go against Josh Allen. just because we know what he's capable of uh and the fact that With a ball in his hands and the ball in the quarterback's hands, 60 snaps, he can beat anybody and he can put on the cape as we always talk about. And so I think the best team in that scenario for me would be the Texans.
But I won't go against number 17 right there and Josh Allen and say, man, Nobody would want to play him in the first round with a higher seed going, really? We got a higher seed for this. Yeah, I don't think you want that scenario either. Yeah, and last week I asked you about Trevor Lawrence, about what you've seen out of him. And then he accounts for, what was it, six touchdowns?
Five, six, yeah, six touchdowns. I'll revisit now because that's the game. When he was doing it at Clemson, that's what everybody thought. Let's go, Drett. Let's go get the first overall pick.
That's why I was sitting on game day morning saying, let's go ahead and get Trevor Lawrence for the Jets, right?
So what are you seeing? Are you seeing this guy finally hitting it? To that's true. Yeah, I mean, he's playing really well. You know, we talked to him.
Over in London. And you remember him talking, you know, that was kind of earlier in the season where he said, okay, I'm still kind of getting my. My feet under me in terms of this offense. And even some of it is in the run game because we've got a lot of run checks. And so, you know, I'm just trying to get up to speed.
You know, I'm getting there, but I'm not there yet. It sure feels like he's found that groove now. The last three or four weeks, I think he's played some of his best football. You know, you always ask me who the best quarterback performance was every week. He was going to be my number one on the list this past week.
And it's one of those scenarios where even when he's a little bit wrong, it's right right now. And so he had a touchdown pass to Brian Thomas where I felt like he got off the backside a little bit too early, and the backside defender fell off on the play. But he zipped it in there and made a perfect throw that it went just off the fingers of the defender and right into Brian Thomas's hands for a touchdown.
So, like, even when he was a little bit off with his read and kind of sped it up too much, he's playing so well and so perfect that he gets away with some of those plays as well. I mean, it just, yeah, so many things are going right. And we've all seen this, right? We've seen the moments that say, okay, when this all goes right. This kid has everything you could possibly want to be a top-level elite quarterback in the league.
We just haven't seen him put it all together. The last three or four weeks, It's been put together. And so now the question becomes: okay, can he sustain that? Is that what we see the rest of the year? Is that what we see the rest of his career?
But right now, Coach Cohen is doing a great job of dialing it up, and Trevor Lawrence is locked in and throwing the football really, really well. And some great games coming up this week. I mean, the aforementioned Chargers trying to get to 11 wins, stay in the mix. in the AFC West taking on Dallas, Tampa, and Carolina the first of Two times over the last three weeks. They're tied atop their division.
Pittsburgh, two wins in a row, taking on Detroit. Rogers. Final visit, one would think potentially to Detroit in a game that both have to have. Of course, there's the one that we also mentioned with the Packers and the Bears. Jaguars.
Taking on the Broncos. Trevor Lawrence, red hot. Nobody's hotter than Bo Nicks. And it all starts with Rams Seahawks on Thursday night.
So let's finish with that one. Rams Seahawks comes down to what do you think? Yeah, I mean, I think the big question or the big thing we're going to say is it's going to come down to Sam Darnold against the pressure of the Rams. Last two times they've played, whether that was in Minnesota, last year, in the playoffs. I think he was sacked nine times in that game, but just didn't look like the same darnove we had seen the rest of the season when the pressure was on him and he was getting hit and he was rushed.
To make decisions. Earlier this year, we saw the same thing: four interceptions in the game at LA was the same thing. Pressure and bodies around him on every snap where he was forced to have to drop back and throw the football a little bit more. He hasn't performed well in those situations.
So, that to me is going to be the question of this game: A, if they get into that kind of a game, Can Sam quiet the critics in that regard? Or B, can they play a different style of game? Like all year they've wanted to play with more tight ends and run in the football and play action and undercenter and all of that stuff. They haven't been quite as good this last month offensively. And so, can they play that brand of football to slow down the front and not get into that drop back game where Sam has struggled against the Rams the last couple of times out?
So, those are the big questions that I have going in specifically from that kind of matchup. Thank you, Kurt. Greatly appreciate it, man. And are you, I meant I totally forgot the Monday nighter, which I should do. Always mention here on Disney Plus and ESPN and ESPN Radio.
Are you calling that one on radio? Are you doing that one? I am not calling next Monday. I got it off earlier in the year, and now I'm kind of wishing that I was on that one. I'd love to see Phillip.
I bet the 49ers are playing well. Brock Bertie had a great game. this past week.
So a really good matchup with obviously High stakes at that one, too. But well, you and I will have our hands full for Texans at Chargers on NFL Network this Saturday of week 17. I can't believe we're coming down to it here. Kurt, thanks for the time. Greatly appreciated.
Everybody, check out QB Confidential, which is how Kurt breaks down everything from his all 22. It's his must-subscribe to YouTube channel. We'll see you soon, brother. All right. See you soon, everybody.
Kurt Warner, everybody, right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Before we throw it a break, ESPN Radio is presented by Progressive Insurance. Keep your career moving forward. Visit careers.progressive.
Alright, we go from the here and now to what may be coming up. Todd McShea looks over the steering wheel. We'll talk a little college football playoffs with him, and of course. The National Football League draft, how it's shaping up. That's next.
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The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Drew Aller took several steps back from his performance at Penn State. And so we're left with a class now. Where Fernando Mendoza looks like potentially the number one overall pick coming off of the Heisman, phenomenal season, has all the traits.
Now we enter the college football playoff. And we've got two quarterbacks that If they make a run and things end well with some uncertainty with coaching staff situations, in Dante Moore at Oregon, with his offensive coordinator taking the head coaching job at Kentucky, even Will Stein. And with whatever seemingly is going on with Caleb DeBoer and with Alabama. Do they make a long run, Oregon and Alabama? Ty Simpson is the Alabama quarterback who could be a first-round pick.
But is only a one-year starter, entering into his 14th start. And Moore had five starts in 2023 at UCLA before taking a sabbatical year. And having a breakout year under Will Stein at Oregon this year.
So, two inexperienced but really talented quarterbacks that could be first-round picks this year. And would be probably a year from now if they had great years. But everyone's looking and saying, you know what? Maybe I buck the trend and go into the NFL as an inexperienced quarterback. versus being part of that group next year that could have Arch And Lenora Sellers, and could have Julian Seyen, and could have a DJ Lagway off of a transfer portal, and all these other, you know, Sam Levitt, Jaden Maeva.
I mean, there's just so many quarterbacks for next year. It's shaping up 2027 to be one of the best quarterback classes ever. And so do we want to put our hat in that ring? or leave school with inexperience and Test our luck in the NFL because we know we're going to get that $35 to $39 million guaranteed over a five-year span and speed up that second contract.
Well, we already know what the New York Jets think about it, Todd McShea, because they told the Dallas Cowboys, give us the. Our second one for Quentin Williams in 2027.
So clearly, they are looking at the quarterback class and potentially not even thinking about 2026. Who the heck knows Todd McShea of the McShea show podcast, as well as the ringer? I don't mean to cut you off, but we also saw you. No, I got you. I'm all worked up.
I get it. But we saw, like, Les Sneed isn't an idiot. He made a smart move to move out of the first round last year. because he had an aging quarterback who's played better than most people expected this year and doesn't look like he's anywhere close to the end necessarily in Matthew Stafford. And so they made it an organizational decision to let's trade out and get a first round pick next year.
Because there is Nussmeier, and maybe Arch is ready, and there is Klubnik and Aller and all these other guys, and Lenora Sellers. And now it's being pushed back a year.
So now we're looking at a top 10 right now, with Cleveland at four and two first-round picks, Jets at five with two first-round picks, and the Rams with their trade from Atlanta, who traded up to get their pass rusher last year, their linebacker. And those three organizations are in the top 10 needing a quarterback, right? Yeah. And so you wonder one team is going to get Mendoza. Dante Moore and Ty Simpson are, I would say, right now, it's more likely they're not in the 2026 draft than they are in the 2026 draft.
And so, could we see teams trying to move out to try to get involved and get extra ammunition next year in 2027 when a lot of organizations in the league thought this was going to be a great year too?
Well, I mean, speaking on behalf of what I covet, what I see, you know, if the Jets. Snag Caleb Downs fifth overall. That's not a shabby consolation prize for being at the top of a non-quarterback draft. But Todd McShea again of the Ringer here on the Rich Eisen Show. Let's talk about Fernando Huysmendoza.
And his abilities, and how it translates to the next level, and whether you think he would be a worthy, listen, Raiders fans are. are eager to see if their quarterback problem can be solved. At the top of next year's draft. What do you think, Todd? I feel like I was first one in on Mendoza potentially being a first-round prospect last July, and last one in on.
Yeah, he should be the first overall pick for a team that's moving up to get the top quarterback in the class. The reason I say that is I loved his Cal tape and I didn't expect to. I didn't know a whole lot about him, right? I knew he was transferring to Indiana. Made the decision: you know what, let's dive in.
It's July. What else do we have to do? And when I was done with the tape, I saw the turnovers. I saw the turnover-worthy plays. I saw the inexperience in his game.
I saw some of the panic when pressure came. Excuse me, but But I was hopeful In this new system, With Kirk Signetti and their offensive staff, that he would fit in well because it was, you know, basically Curtis Rourke a year ago, late-round draft pick. Excelled in it and didn't have mobility to start with and had the injury as well. But I just started to imagine we got the 6'5, 220-pounder with mobility. with a better arm.
With kind of some traits in terms of throwing off platform and extending and creating, if they can teach him. to play within the system. And and and do the little things right and to Kind of dial back some of those turnover-worthy plays and mistakes that he was making at Cal. This guy could be a really high pick and he could be a really good NFL player. Early in the season, I saw a little bit more robotic than expected, but there were moments and there was a lot of road moments, clutch situations.
Talking about Oregon, didn't play great for a large portion of that game, but in the end, when they needed him, he was there. Iowa, same thing. Then the Penn State, leading him back late in that game without their number one receiver, Elijah Surratt, who's going to be probably a day two draft pick. And so you start stacking those things, but in the back of my mind, I want to see him against Ohio State. We're talking about this Ohio State defense like historically.
2001 Miami, and like some of the USC with like Maaluga and Cushing and all those guys, and Alabama, and some of their great defenses, and Georgia, more recently. We're talking about Ohio State as one of this defense as like one of those. How does he perform against them? And it wasn't all beautiful. But the throws he made on time, NFL, mobility extending.
How about the toughness, man? He took a shot to start the game, man. I thought he was going to be blue-tinted and or if not. Than just mentally wrapped for the rest of the day. And he was awesome.
I love him. He was awesome. And then, and then to make that throw on, you know, late in the game down the right rail. Unreal. I'm like, yeah, I'm in.
I'm good. Yeah. I saw that. And I love that he's quirky. I love, you know, you just said, you said Kurt Warner on.
He's like kind of a mix between Kurt Warner and Kirk Cousins. And he's different. And that's good because you know what? He knows who he is. And he's completely, unapologetically himself.
And I think that that's an important thing that we overlook a lot of times with these quarterbacks. Do they know themselves? Are they mature enough to handle what's about to come to them as a starting quarterback in the NFL? Heck yeah. Fluent in Spanish.
He's perfect for our multicultural world. I think it's. He's already ours, huh? No, dude, I'm telling you, I think he is. Um He is really good.
You know, second overall pick to the Raiders. Because, again, you know, I don't know how the top five is going to play out.
So, walk me through who else would be sitting there. Because I mean, we had our buddy Daniel Jeremiah on a few weeks ago. He's like, I can't tell you who's first overall in this draft. Could you? I I I I hate to say this as we get ready to embark on the 2026 draft process.
Yes, sir. It's not a great top 10 in terms of what we're used to, right? With the elite offensive tackles and pass rushers, there's a lot of good ones. And there's a lot of really great players. Like you mentioned Caleb Downs.
Phenomenal football player, as smart as he is gifted. And some of the things he does on the field are remarkable, right? But he's a safety. And we saw Kyle Hamilton didn't run a great 40 time, and he falls to what was it, 12 overall or somewhere in that range, falls out of the top 10 to the Ravens.
So. Where does he go? R. Vel Rees on that same defense. Absolutely, like he's different than everyone I've watched in this class so far from a tool standpoint.
He's long, tall. Powerful, athletic, can run. And the thing that I'm kind of holding on to with him is he can be an edge rusher, not just an off-the-ball linebacker. But Do NFL teams view him as someone who's a legitimate? Is this like a Micah Parsons thing?
Or is this he's an off the ball linebacker that we can utilize in some sur situations as an edge rusher.
So those are two of the maybe the two best football players in the entire class, but it's an off the ball linebacker and a safety. And so you look at the rest of this class, and it's, you know, oh, and the third, maybe the third best player in this class? Jeremiah Love in Notre Dame. And he's a running back. Yep.
He just said he's coming out. Yeah. Exactly.
So. It's a different class in that the the positions of value are not the best players this year.
So I'm looking at that number one overall pick, and I think I have it right: is that the Giants right now, if the draft were held right now, would have it. I would love to have that first pick because if it's only Mendoza, or even if it's Mendoza and let's say more, but not Simpson. Teams are going to be clamoring to go up and get that pick ahead of the Raiders. And now you're setting yourself up. Like, I love Jackson Dart.
I was the biggest backer of Jackson Dart coming into the draft last year. And I like a lot of the things I saw, but if you're worried the durability, is he going to hold up five times now with the head stuff? Uh You say, all right, well, let's take this pick and move back. Let's give Jackson another year. Let's get an additional pick next year in case we're in a situation where we say, you know what, we need to press reset on quarterback.
So whoever has that first pick. Knowing it's not just quarterbacks next year, it's wide receivers and several other positions. It's got a chance to be one of the best drafts we've ever covered, Rich. And so. I think a team that's picking at one that doesn't have a quarterback need winds up winning this draft.
Todd McShea, a few minutes left with him here on the Rich Hudson Show. You want to take a shot at the Collins Road Paul playoffs? You want to what do you think? What you're seeing. I'm I'm intrigued by a few things, right?
I I I can't st uh I went to the University of Richmond. I should love the underdog. I can't stand the fact that we have two group of five programs in there. But that aside, I think If you look back at last year, it was experienced quarterback. with a running game.
Great defense. That's what, you know, you talk about Notre Dame, Ohio State got all the way there, and Ohio State wins it. I look at, and I know. First of all, Miami is one of those teams that I would be very wary of because I think, if I was an opponent. They've got some of those, two of those three qualities: the defense and the most experienced quarterback in the entire playoff.
He's got 2,881 snaps. Carson Beck does.
So. While I love Texas AM and what they've done this year, I think Miami's a live dog in that game, and I could see them giving Ohio State a lot of trouble as well in that second-round game. But I think Georgia is a team to really watch out for. I think Georgia, the way they finished the season, inexperience at quarterback compared to some of these other guys. But Gunner Stockton has played at a level that I don't think any of us expected him to play this year.
And I think with that defense getting better and better, so I kind of like Georgia to win the whole thing. Indiana should win it based off of what we've seen, but it's tough to go win the Big Ten championship and then to make a run in the college football playoff. Yeah, give me Georgia to win the whole thing, and give me Miami to make a little bit of a longer run than people might think.
Okay. And you got two cents on who my alma mater should target if I. If you tell me who I would be most happy with. Of the possibles right now. I know all the big names, right?
And it starts with DeBoer and what's going on there in Tuscaloos. What up? Let me just throw this out randomly. Sure. Why wouldn't you have Brian Greasy involved in some of this in some way, shape, or form?
Mm-hmm. Oh yeah. I'm all ears. Keep going. Keep going.
Is it? He might be the smartest football person I've ever been around.
Okay. And I've been around a lot very fortunate to be around a lot of the the you know the the The the elites of the elite, okay? Yeah. And His passion runs really deep, obviously. Brought the first national championship to Michigan in over 50-something years or whatever it was.
Um, And I just think he is the character and is the type of person. I'm not saying necessarily maybe as head coach. But I'm saying you might want to get Brian Greasy involved in this process. Whether it's administration, athletic director, offensive coordinator, I think this program needs someone like Brian who's it runs deep in his veins, the highest character human being you could ever come up with, along with one of the smartest football people that are out there and could be a possibility. I'm just throwing that name out there.
I'll be honest with you, I'm on a handful of text chains during Michigan games or not with a whole bunch of Michigan friends of mine. On one of them, we were going back and forth. Why isn't Brian Greasy even reached out to talk to Underwood? Give him two cents. Bring him on the staff.
Give him whatever he needs to be the quarterback coach, or the, for the lack of a better phrase. I promise you, and I know you care about Michigan. My grandfather, Marshall Brown, worked with Beauchamp Beckler and was an area recruiter in the Sandusky area in Ohio. I grew up like, you know, bleeding maize and blue. It was just kind of ingrained in me.
Honestly, it's why I have such a passion for football. It's where it started. Mm-hmm. I know what it's like to be the Michigan man and the importance. And there are certain people who just embody everything you're looking for.
I think Brian is someone, and I'm not speaking for Brian at all. I'm just saying that's someone, if I was in a situation where it's kind of like circle the wagons. Let's get the people in that really believe and have the passion, and it's deep inside them. That's a guy that I would get involved in this process some way.
Okay. But any other names of, I guess. Conventional head coaches you want to throw out there? That I should be I'd be happy with? Do you think?
I'm just curious on the whole DeBoer thing, you know, because something's going on in Alabama, and you can see it in the product of the field, and I don't know. If it's just a long SEC season or It doesn't feel like Brian Kelly at LSU. When I'm talking to people there that are very much in the know and around the program, it feels like an underswell of something's happening.
So I'm curious if that's from both sides or if it's just frustration because Alabama's gotten spoiled. All right. You know, I've heard. You know, Dillingham, I've heard Jed Fish. I've heard all of the same names.
It seems like they've kind of targeted who they're going after. Um I would just be very I think you're at a junction as a as a as a program right now. where where it needs to be someone that can come in and And get A foundation rebuilt or established what the foundation has been. Prior to what's going on and gone on in recent years, I think there needs to be as much emphasis on. that as there is on just the football program.
All right, man. You're the best. Thanks for the time, man. I appreciate it. Appreciate that knowledge.
And for the rest, I'll ask Jimmy Sexton. Right? Right, Todd? I mean, he's. Is there a more powerful man in any sport at any level than Sexton is in college football right now?
It's wild. All the tea leaves. He's gotten a lot of people. Penn State made a lot of people rich with the way he did this throughout that process. And they wound out with Matt Campbell anyway, which is an outstanding phenomenal hire.
And that wasn't even, yeah, there's a whole story on that. That's not even it. That's the president kind of stepping into a conversation that nobody expected, and there were wrong email addresses and couldn't have been bungled more, but it all worked out. But I was told it was like almost $370 million that Sexton did this with Penn State to get other coaches and cost other programs around the country during that process. That's commerce, that's for sure.
Todd, thanks again, brother. Look out for more of my calls and texts. Appreciate it. Got it, my man. Look forward to it.
Have a great holiday season. We'll talk maybe in the new year. That's Todd McShea, everybody, of the Ringer. Everybody, check out his pod. And of course, everything that he's got to say, wherever you follow Todd McShea and the Ringer.
That was great stuff. All right, we got to beat it on down the line. Phone calls, 844-204-RICH. Number to dial. That was great.
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The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Get into the Hyundai Getaway sales event, folks, and get away with a deal so right it almost feels wrong. Right now, great deals on the most popular models, including their adventure-ready SUVs like the Hyundai Santa Fe and Santa Fe hybrid models. There's also our bold and stylish Elantra, packed with all the latest tech or go all-electric with the Ionic Fiber Ionic. Six.
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Okay, Kimberly in Virginia. Let's go to Angie in South Jersey, everybody. What's up, Angie? Hi, Rich. Hey, what's on your mind, Angie?
I'm just calling in response to some of the comments you were making earlier with the Jalen thing. I live in Long Beach Island, New Jersey now, but my family is from Cherry Hill and I come from a long line of diner waitresses, so just to qualify as a bird stand, my grandmother worked at a diner called Ponzio's that buddy Ryan used to come in and sit at her counter.
So I have been a bird stand since I was a little girl drinking Shirley Temples next to him. And I love that. I just wanted to yes, I thought you would. But I just wanted to throw my support behind Jalen. I happen to be a yoga teacher now and always trying to keep people even keeled, not getting too high, not getting too low.
I feel like he embodies that. I think he's a great leader, and I really love him as a quarterback. I do find that I have to defend him constantly amongst the fan base here.
So, you know, I don't have maybe the most popular opinion because the fans here do seem to get on the roller coaster. But I am with him all the way, and I really like what you said earlier about him and his character.
So, when they wore dog masks back in the day, they were downward-facing dog masks, is what you're saying for you, Branji. Ladies and gentlemen, that's a yoga. Joke. Wow. Thank you, Angie, in South Jersey.
See? You can go from drinking Shirley Temples next to. buddy Ryan of being a yoga teacher. By the Ponzios, it looks like the carrot cake. Dude, I love that.
I love stories like that. Angie had made hello. I don't know.
So, by the way, we're all about pop culture here. Remember the movie Single White Female? Remember that? Oh, yeah. I think we got a movie poster of it right there.
Single White Female. Uh that was where uh Bridget Fonda's roommate uh Started creeping her out, right? Remember, Jennifer Jason Lee wanted to become her. Be like her, yeah. Be like her.
Like, take her entire life. We now have a baseball version of that. Uh-oh. Oh, gosh. The New York Mets are the single white females of the New York metropolitan area.
All right. Take Juan Soto and Clay Holmes one year.
Now, Devin Williams, and guess who just signed a two-year deal to close for the New York Mets? Luke Weaver. Wow. The single white females of Queens. Do we need a restraining order, TJ?
Do you guys want to be the Yankees? Just change the interlocking NY to the Yankees. Just go ahead and do it. That's one way to look at it. What would you want?
When you guys won those world championships in the 90s, right? You had Daryl Strawberry. He was a Met. Don Good. He was a Met.
JJ. Keep going. He was a Met. So, were you the single white females? Wasn't Joe Tourette a former Met?
Yeah, we had our own identity. Joe Tourey wasn't. We had our own identity. And we supplemented. We had our own identity.
It sounds like the same. Dude Alonzo's gone. Hopefully, the same thing works for us. Hopefully, like, you know, they were not the sole members of a bullpen and the number one player on the team. They were just great because would you have won the World Series in the 90s without those guys?
Well, we were Trump. Maybe. He won a lot of them. He might have.
So, right back at Strawberry? We could have won without Strawberry with his white. A little bit. I know what was going on. Dwight couldn't have to go to the Yankees to get his no-hitter.
Oh, so that's how you flip it. I'm not flipping anything. This is just weird, man. Do we need a restraining order? Did we need one when you were taking our guy?
Why are you acting like that didn't happen? Because we also had Jeter and we had our own identity. This is because those guys were company. Did you win before Doc and Darrell got there with that? You get out of here with that nonsense.
Let me look up. Let me Google because it exists. Let's see. They went out the 905. We didn't trust our entire image in the Mets' image.
That wasn't happening like it is now. We don't care about you, man. We ain't trying to make ourselves in your image. Who are you? We ain't won nothing lately.
If anything, I'm going to make our image in his budget. Excuse me. Let me just tell you: come on. Hour three, Gary Cole's coming up. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.
Mm-hmm.
