REShow: Matt Fortuna - Hour 3

What's Right with Nick Wright is a rapidly growing podcast from the Fox Sports Podcast Network. You may know Nick Wright from co-hosting FS1's First Things First. This podcast gives Nick a chance to develop, deep dive, and defend his sharpest opinions. During the show, Nick faces off against a ticking clock, a team of producers, and even his own family to try and get his points across.

New episodes drop Monday, Thursday, and Friday wherever you get your podcasts. of the year should i do year in review let's see if i start right now no we're not going to get it instead we'll talk primarily nfl and then we'll wrap it up in 40 minutes with more college football thoughts national semifinals coming up tomorrow riches michigan wolverines against tcu georgia looking to go back to back win another national championship this time as an undefeated team against ohio state we're looking forward to our conversation with matt fortuna of the athletic last hour we brought in our first guest jared bell longtime nfl columnist for usa today a reminder miss any portion of any program you can catch it anytime on demand with the podcast we're going to jump right in as we continue to get granular i'm going through all the teams that i think have a legitimate playoff stake coming up this weekend not team still mathematically alive teams that actually have a likelihood of getting in and when they get in they can actually do something of consequence and then in 20 minutes and i'll keep it light it is the holiday season after all but it's reality and with the extended regular season when we went to 18 games it pushed off the inevitable but it's time of the year we're talking black monday because we know a bunch of coaches are gonna get fired at the conclusion of the regular season who should be renting and not buying and just think about how this year has progressed early on matt rule got paid a bunch of money by the panthers deep-pocketed owner dave tapper to go away landed nicely in nebraska he's gonna try to jump start that once proud program i have a degree of empathy for frank reich i don't think he was the problem in indy pretty obvious right now he didn't have to go think about that symmetry people forget prior to the meltdown a few weeks ago colts squandering a 33-nothing lead on the road to minnesota with jeff saturday unable to win on a saturday if you can't win on a saturday not your last name you got no chance well before that the greatest comeback in nfl history decades ago early 90s the houston oilers collapsed against the buffalo bills the quarterback that day for buffalo not jim kelly frank reich so really did complete the circle and then nathaniel hackett pushed out on monday we were on the air for that news yesterday i was with you when we found out it wasn't earth shattering but it changed the dynamic of how things played out last night on thursday night football that the titans were going with josh dobbs just a week and a few days removed from picking him up from the practice squad of the lions josh in his nfl starting debut after he was a fourth round pick by the steelers in 2017 played adequate football and moving forward that's what tennessee is looking for because malik willis has been overwhelmed just could do virtually nothing right in his three filling opportunities for the injured ryan tannenhill so as we talk about thursday night football i can give you one other quarterback development it's minor in fact it was the game that i hammered in passing as i was going through sunday slate saying there are some less than stellar matchups how about that mediocre is the word that comes to mind four and eleven arizona on the road at five and ten atlanta tough year on many levels for the cardinals it was tough to see kyler murray go down with a torn acl at least he's got the peace of mind knowing he's got all that guaranteed money coming his way colt mccoy the backup has now been ruled out for sunday dealing with more concussion symptoms so cliff kingsbury saying it's the third string quarterback one of my favorite names to say and i have to really sound it out david blah b-l-o-u-g-h remember he played for the lions in the past one more reason i will not be hanging on every down on the red zone when the cardinals and the falcons get together let's talk about matchups and teams that matter so if you weren't with me early on i'm disappointed but i understand especially with the combination of it being a friday it being a radio show no simulcast no rich comes back and check out the fine work on the roku channel it being the holiday season the audience is always in and out dobbs at least looked like he was not going to fall apart as willis has done the three times he was asked to fill in as a rookie for ryan tano he looked like dobbs pronouns matter somebody who understood how an nfl offense works that's a step in the right direction and even though the titans lost their six consecutive game didn't matter that's why they rested so many starters for mike vable's team it's winner take all next week now just from a standpoint of objectivity looking for the best stories to talk about i don't root for individuals or teams i stopped doing that a long time ago when i got into this business i'm on team content i'm looking for what's interesting what's alluring what's compelling i think we'd all like to see trevor lawrence in the postseason as justin herbert's already taken that next step chargers locking up a playoff bid with their monday night victory over the lowly cults lawrence in the span of one year went from looking confused overwhelmed not at all ready for prime time i think a lot of that had to do with the coaching mal practice and just the lousy behavior of irvin mayer what do you know you plug in a legitimate professional coach and doug peterson in addition to winning that super bowl with the philly special doug is universally respected a good dude coaching up trevor lawrence and suddenly not only does lawrence look like a real potential franchise quarterback the jags are relevant once more america's team is back is back in the mix remember afc title game about a half decade ago they have a second half lead on the road in new england with so little faith in blake bortles they went into a show played as conservatively as you could with the plague calling and what do you know they failed to win that game but that's ancient history still one of those teams jacksonville or tennessee is going to win a division title and with that the right to host a playoff game how do tom brady and the bucks look to you i look like a robust franchise look like a team that's really getting hot at the right time no but they found a way to win on christmas night now they got a lot of help from arizona with that ghastly fumble late in the game still here's brady at seven and eight with the division lead taking on carolina brady's worst game of the year came at carolina this one will be in the sunshine state if you haven't looked at the standings in that terrible division new orleans six and nine carolina six and nine but tampa bay at seven and eight still eking things out should they win the division they also host a playoff game and don't lose sight of the fact that tampa bay and the bucks won the super bowl a few years back as a wildcard team yes that was the covid season that you should hang an asterisk on because everything was a bit funky that year still while brady's been in rapid decline and finally looking something approximating a middle age quarterback not his actual looks he's the benjamin button of pro sports his face looks to be new improved revised he's got a lot more hair than he used to i'm talking between the lines a lot of times this year he has looked old he has looked ineffective but he's done just enough especially in late game situations like we saw against the saints like we saw against the rams we saw it again against the cardinals on sunday night i don't think the bucks are going anywhere but you put brady in the postseason there is a shot but let's talk about the teams that can really win it all i'm brian weber in for rich this is a friday and a final show of the year edition of the program hit me up on twitter bw weber weber with two b's in 30 minutes we talk college football football with matt fortuna of the athletic i think there are six teams that can realistically map out a path to the super bowl and i am aware when i was here last year i didn't talk about the bangles at all so i have just exposed myself as a fraud teams get hot we know that still i can only go with the insights quote unquote that i have put together over not only watching every sunday i sit down at 10 o'clock pacific time and there i am deep into the night now sunday football sometimes i jump out around the third quarter but my point here is i'm going a long way to tell you i actually watch games maybe back to that central thesis i don't have much of a life you can skate by now if you want you can just watch highlights that's fine i still feel all responsibility because for better or worse this is my occupation that i want to know what i'm talking about i don't want to try to fake my way through this exercise plus since i have a few different roles the payoff is if i invest the time i can use that intellectual capital in other settings so watching games here's what i come down to and unfortunately most of it is the usual suspects but i'm going to throw a team in there that i can't believe i'm endorsing given my issues with the franchise their playoff history and i got major question marks about the coaching staff still if i'm trying to be objective and now that we know they're going to the playoffs for the playoffs for the first time since 2018 there's a lot to like about the chargers and don't overlook the fact that joey boza is getting healthier they're going to have him for the playoffs and derwin james has been in and out and dealing with the kerfuffle on monday night but let's hope he's fine and ready to go come playoff time it was a charger defense we spend so much time talking about the offense but let me just focus on the other side of the football that had a abysmal start to the year well if you care about teams playing well down the stretch last four games chargers one of the best defenses in all football with you're gonna parse those numbers benefiting from a schedule that provided the colts as the patsy on monday night i know nick foals is a hero to many six teams now for foals a super bowl champion but he was horrendous in that game with the early picks and tennessee was unable to do much for the majority of the game made a tight and then herbert put together the latest game winning drive defense playing better herbert trying to demonstrate he's going to wind up on that same tier as josh allen and patrick mahomes and joe burrow who went to a super bowl last year certainly we've seen enough early in his career that herbert belongs in that same conversation he's got playmakers in mike williams and kain and allen issue for la i would say la so i don't walk my way into a san diego conundrum they just don't run the football bottom five teams over the course of the year and you can move them 25 to 32 but they're right in that mix they were 31 heading into monday night football average less than four yards a carry austin eckler is not a reliable dependable every down back but that's not how the offense works and that's one of my issues with this team i think you have to have a legitimacy with a rushing attack just to keep the defenses honest keep some of the pressure off of herbert now if you're a bill fan you're gonna say hey uh tough guy weird guy whoever you are we don't run the ball that much i agree and that's one of the issues i have with buffalo why i was so pleased to see when they beat up a lousy chicago team as they should have buffalo ran it for 250 yards last week and you're seeing more from devin singletary and more from james cook problem for josh allen long term is he's taking too many hits and he's putting his body on the line in a different way than lamar jackson but the consequences will be the same and lamar unable to practice again yesterday no idea when we're going to see him again as the ravens have already clinched a playoff spot ravens and steelers pittsburgh still mathematically alive in the wildcard hunt renewing their rivalry coming up on sunday night football that game flexed out but as i do my best to move beyond the usual suspects to me the chargers are a team to circle and be aware of come playoff time i had a lot of faith in miami don't know what to make of them now with all the uncertainty at the quarterback position i think we can say with a high degree of confidence we will not see two again even if miami locks up the remaining wild card and that's the right choice with all of the head trauma we're going to call it three distinct incidences the bill game that was misdiagnosed we were told it was a back issue the bengal game with that horrific scene of two going down four days later on thursday night football and then the packer game i didn't see it in real time but if in fact that injury was suffered in the second quarter it makes the three consecutive picks in the second half thrown by to a more understandable still i think we've seen enough throughout his career from jenny bridgewater that he can hold that offense together get it to waddle get it to hill let your playmakers do the rest miami interesting team and still dangerous even if it's teddy bridgewater leading them in the postseason but if we're gonna elevate things to the top of the hierarchy it is buffalo not a hot take remember they were the preseason favorite from the perspective of the sharpies in las vegas to win the championship kansas city amazing that they say goodbye to the hill and they keep moving along and making juju smith schuster and mvs and all of these other second-tier receivers look so phenomenal and that's a reflection of the transcendence of patrick mahomes and cincinnati should be talking more about cincinnati's defense more about their depth because joe mixon's been in and out of the lineup same thing with jamar chase jabarro is tough he is resilient and he is resourceful so i'm going cincinnati i'm going buffalo kansas city and maybe the chargers that's the afc in the nfc philadelphia i don't care if in fact we don't see jaylen hurts again this sunday there's enough for gardner minchu to work with to beat a lousy team like the saints philadelphia clearly even though they lost to dallas but clearly in my estimation with a healthy jaylen hurts the best team in the nfc what do we make of the vikings i have bashed them every time i've had an opportunity i might look like a fool come playoff time but i also remember how they played head to head on the road in philadelphia and head to head against the dallas cowboys in minnesota so i think they are a mirage i think they are fraudulent if i'm looking for teams i believe in in the nfc it comes down to the 49ers irrespective of who the quarterback is and i think they're going to ride with brock purty good news percolating on the injury front debo samuel returning to the practice field and as we come up with the winning combination for the niners it is all of the impact on all of the different levels of the offense from christian mccaffrey what a bold move that was and a tremendous trade to get him from carolina and san francisco's defense that's number one in all of football like the niners are right there close your eyes not if you're driving but just a smidge a smidge below philadelphia in fact i could probably talk myself into believing in the niners the most i'm still waiting for purty to wake up and play like mr relevant and then i can't believe i'm going to do this i still believe in dallas now there are a lot of reasons to say you are a fool fill-in guy but i'm aware 14 picks matching a career high for dak prescott two more coming last night he had three turnovers five multiple interception games this year and remember he missed five games with the finger injury still small sample size if you can just find your way to play more economical football more efficiently in the postseason and relying on the defense i got to give dallas a shot but that's the list now a lot more football coming up i could be wrong here's the good news rich does not take a lot of vacation which is great for you you'll have to deal with me and if i'm wrong next time i'm here few people will remember although the podcast lives forever and never lies i'm brian weber in for rich a lot more to get to limited time to achieve that goal hit me up on twitter bw weber weber with two b's coming up in just over 20 minutes we get you set for the national semifinals and college football when we say hello to matt fortuna of the athletics straight ahead we go from the positivity of teams that can win the super bowl to the negativity of who's getting fired in the nfl who's coaching to keep their jobs with just two games left in the regular season that's on the way i'm brian weber in for rich eisen this is it the pot to win the tournament if you sink it the championship is yours but on your backswing your hat falls over your eyes is this how you're running your business poor visibility because you're still relying on spreadsheets and outdated finance software to see the full picture you need to upgrade to net suite by oracle net suite is the number one cloud financial system to power your growth with visibility and control of your financials inventory hr planning budgeting and more net suite is everything you need to grow all in one convenient place with net suite you can automate your processes and close your books in no time while staying well ahead of the competition 93 of surveyed businesses increase their visibility and control after upgrading to net suite over 32,000 businesses already use net suite for the new year net suite has a new financing program for those ready to upgrade at net suite dot com slash rich radio head to net suite dot com slash rich radio for the special one-of-a-kind financing offer on the number one financial system for growing businesses net suite dot com slash rich radio did you know that driving high is considered driving under the influence that's right driving under the influence of marijuana is against the law in every state even in states where marijuana is legal that means driving high could get you a dui and if you think law enforcement officers can't tell when you're driving high you're wrong your friends can tell your co-workers can tell even your parents can tell everyone can tell so what makes you think that law enforcement officers don't know when you're driving high driving under the influence of marijuana can slow your response time and change how you perceive time and speed so even if you think you're fine to drive when you're high you're not because the bottom line is if you feel different you drive different you drive different and driving high is driving under the influence so remember drive high get a dui paid for by nitsa home stretch final hour final program of the year the ball is dropping now they're going to start it very gradually and then tomorrow the excitement in times square i'm brian weber aim for rich rich eyes and show here's the good news if you've not enjoyed this audio experience that's okay i get it some people like strawberry ice cream others like vanilla rich and the fellas back next week with a ton to get to among the items on the agenda as a proud and notable alumnus of michigan almost as good a school as leland stanford junior university rich will be breaking down what happens tomorrow in the national semifinal with his beloved wolverines taking on tcu other game features georgia and ohio state we're going to give you all the details you need to know about how things will play out in both national semifinals coming up at 15 minutes when we chat with matt fortuna of the athletic bw weber weber with two bs is the twitter feed i check out your tweets during the break mostly to see is twitter still functioning and then i see what's trending as well so among the trending topics brock oswell and occurred to me wait a minute is brock lobster coming out of retirement i thought josh dobbs played adequately enough for tennessee that he could probably hang out to that gig next week when they take on jacksonville to determine who's going to win the afc south no chapter two for brock apparently he's calling the mayo bowl and a few people think he is projecting let me read you one tweet somebody tell brock oswell were to stop yelling we can hear him fine now i should stay away from that i am well aware i am the loudest man in the world in fact i'm so loud i turned down the audio in my headset to preserve what little hearing i have left so i'm not trying to be hypocritical in fairness though i've arrived at this style after years of evolution understanding that as a listener whatever i'm enjoying now different platforms require different approaches but specifically sports talk radio if i'm listening to a host who sounds like he doesn't want to be there why am i listening so i'm not looking for fake outrage i'm not looking for contrived embrace debate i'm not looking for a pro wrestling promo as much as i miss mean gene oakland holding that stick mike i'm just looking for legitimate energy passion intensity so yes i will concede sometimes i can be a little bit too forceful from a standpoint of projecting into the microphone but i always thought i've got the ability hopefully to dial it down now when you flip over and watch me do tennis next week you're not gonna have any idea i was the same guy giving you these sizzling hot takes among them who's getting fired in the nfl so nate can't hack it was pushed out on monday long overdue by the broncos early in the year a lot of money paid to matt rule to do virtually nothing in carolina now he's going to try to rejuvenate the nebraska corn huskers and frank reich i don't think deserve to be fired but when you sign up to work for a erratic owner i'll be kind a unpredictable enigmatic mercurial jimmer say don't be surprised if he wakes up in the day and says you know i'm going to hire somebody not only with no pro experience or college experience he's right now in the hot take business like yours truly that was the case for jeff saturday so saturday has to be one and done now nothing has to happen remember these nfl franchises are not public trusts we don't get a vote it's not american idol jimmer say can do whatever he wants to as demonstrated by the saturday hire which never should have happened i've laid out the case jim harbaugh his agent if he wants to get one more payday for all parties concerned beyond what he can drum up in ant arbor where he can stay now as long as he wants to pick up the phone call her say and demand 12 14 million bucks if her say has any reason to go to the if her say has any real designs i'm making that franchise relevant again that's the way to go but even if i've given you the wrong outcome that job should open up other coaches that could be on their way out lovey smith and houston and i can't defend what's happened with the texans now this is not a lovey issue this is a texans issue this is a mcnair family issue because even all of those years they were winning division titles and we'd have to endure the texans playing that first unwatchable playoff game they did nothing it's a franchise that's been stuck in neutral for way too long but those years now look like glory years compared to what's happened as of late houston two 12 and one but if you've been watching them i'm sure you've tried to avoid it's like a car wreck at least they've been competing and what do you expect from davis mills although you did go to stanford or jeff driscoll or whoever they've been trotting out out there they just don't have nearly enough talent to compete so lovey always seemed like he was going to be the fall guy and it's not fair but this is a franchise that has been going nowhere for a long time and at some point something's got to change the easiest thing to change is the head coach how about arizona it's a weird situation because in retrospect it made no sense in the spring that after they limped down the stretch remember arizona either starts hot and then falls apart or reverses that tepid start and then gets hot and then loses meaningful games but when bill bedwell the owner of the cardinals inexplicably decided to give both gm steve kheim who stepped away with personal issues now and head coach cliff kingsbury the contract extensions in the spring it made no sense whatsoever what had the franchise done to justify that now there are reports that cliff may cliff may walk away on his own terms now he realizes this is not working because even before kylar murray went down with the knee injury there was all of the friction back to the home war clause in that contract extension and who leaked it and what the motivation was and kylar being vocal about the lack of creativity in their offense using words i can't say on the radio it just seems like a dysfunctional toxic situation and at some point whether it's now next year the year after cliff knows he's dead man walking so maybe he spins it and says i feel like i've done everything i can for the franchise i'm gonna step away and because he fails upward remember what did cliff kingsbury do in college to get this job didn't have a winning record think about the quarterbacks he coached along the way yeah patrick my homes what do you win with him but cliff interviews well he's got the gq look on the sideline i don't know what it is he must be exceedingly charming but he's had this moniker he's had this reputation for being an offensive guru i have yet to see him but since we've already had three coaching changes doesn't feel like we're doesn't feel like we're gonna have the typical macabre day after the regular season finale when some years we have upwards of seven coaches lose their job and just so you know i'm not rooting for anyone to get fired look i work in the media business we have our own problems i'm on a segment by segment deal hopefully i've done enough to come back to have this upcoming conversation with matt fortuna of the athletic but coaches understand when they get into this profession just how volatile it is and all your cliches about the business we have chosen pointing in that direction i'll give you a guy who deserves to keep his job and certainly also merits being in conversation for coach of the year although i think it's going to be nick seriani in philadelphia and why not steve walks has done a marvelous job in carolina now whether he is able to lose the interim tag and hang on to that job remains to be seen but just go through the circumstances there ownership makes it clear the franchise is not moving in the way that david temper wants so he writes the big check to say goodbye to matt rule he eats the money they then flip the franchise's best asset in christian mccaffrey and he got baker freaking mayfield when he was looking terrible now you put him on the rams shawn mcveigh coaching him up to a degree i think there's a lot of also hey baker go do your own thing because it's not like he's got cooper cup or a full complement of wide receivers because the rams got absolutely battered by injuries among other problems this year but baker was atrocious on the panthers make the coaching change and this team has played respectable football in fact they still are very much alive in the division hunt they have already defeated tampa bay have a chance to make a major statement and potentially move towards winning that division with a showdown against the bucks yes a six and nine carolina versus a seven and eight tampa is a showdown given how horrific that division is so i'm not sure understanding the temper with his private equity money is going to be attracted to the bright shiny objects and he's going to want to make a splash well how'd that work out with rule when he was the hot name coming out of bailer but just from but just from a standpoint of watching a team that could have quit and most assuredly has not at getting the most out of pj walker of all people steve wilkes deserves to keep that job but i'm not the one making the hire obviously i am just a filling hack getting closer to the final segment of the final program of the year a lot of pressure let's see if we can execute that smoothly we're going to wrap it up with gusto talking college football with the national semifinals tomorrow any chance georgia should be on upset alert against ohio state looking forward to our latest conversation with matt fortuna of the athletic always a delight to be in for rich i'm brian weber this is the rich eisen show i'm brian weber in for rich on the rich eisen show let's wrap up the program with style points talk more college football the last time i was here on thanksgiving day enjoyed our conversation with matt fortuna of the athletic matt kind enough to rejoin us today matt happy holidays how are you happy new year doing well my friend how are you i am doing well let's jump right in talking georgia ohio state we've known for decades that the bulldogs have been a pipeline to the pros so as we take a step back what do you think has allowed kirby smart now to maximize the talent and give georgia a shot at winning back-to-back national titles yeah you know brand i i've always thought you know even before kirby smart got there georgia was the one job of the country that i thought more than any others had the potential to truly be the best college football job in america i just think with the passion of that fan base with the proximity to talent in that great football state and with all the kind of inherent natural resources there that was a sleeping giant now they were always really really good they just had never got it over the hump until last year i mean it's pretty crazy when you think about it that the university of georgia went 41 years without winning a national championship but they finally got over that hump they've obviously been pretty close to it multiple times before kirby smart and they're on the brink of doing it again and if they went back-to-back titles here which are the favorite to do that'll be the first time anyone's repeated in almost 10 years since six haven well exactly 10 years since Nick Saban did alabama in 2011 2012 and they're obviously recruiting at an elite level as good as anyone anywhere in the country and they're operating the way right now that Nick Saban had had alabama operating at its peak and their dynasty is certainly um not dead just yet either so you could be looking at an alabama georgia you know sec on sec battle for national supremacy here for for years to come if we're not already there right now and Kirby loses 15 NFL draft picks last year and reloads and has the number one team in the country again this year so there's no questioning just how high of a level that he has that program operated on right now Matt we're always looking for the good story to tell the right narrative so what do you make of the career progression of Stetson Bennett this guy has dealt with so much scrutiny he went from being a walk-on to a national champion Heisman Trophy finalist and now he's got a chance to win another one it's incredible brian i think it's one of the the better individual stories in recent college football history and honestly it would have been that way if it just ended last year with him winning the national title and and moving on to the NFL or wherever his post college life takes him to and to come back and you know quarterback the number one team in the country make it to new york as a Heisman finalist i know you know a lot of people including myself frankly disagreed with with him being that high but but it is what it is and it's a great moment for him and for that program you know i've heard Kirby Smart say you know some variation of hey we did everything we could for as long as we could to try to convince Stetson Bennett that he will never be the starting quarterback in the university university of Georgia and he never listened to us and good for him you talk about a guy who has proven everyone wrong um you know for for him to go there to begin with to leave to come back um you know finally you know get the happy marriage with offensive coordinator Todd Monkian who's really taken that offense that program to to another level uh and to to thrive and have the kind of success he's had and it let's be clear here uh this Georgia offense is a huge part of this program not not sure you could have said that in years past uh with as dominant as that defense was but but this defense is really good but it's not the dominant defense of a year ago they don't force turnovers at the rate they did last year they don't stack the quarterback the way they did last year and they don't um you know play as well in the secondary as well as they did last year now they're still very very good but but they're doing it on both sides of the ball this year and Stetson Bennett is a big reason for that and I mean again for him to win one national title there was improbable enough for him to come back and even further cement his legacy and maybe do it again you you cannot make a story like that up it just hats off to him the guy's 25 years old that's not an exaggeration he actually turned 25 in season you don't see that every day but um I don't think it takes away at all from from the narrative and the impact that he's had on that program. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich it's the Rich Eisen show getting you fully lined up for tomorrow's national semifinals with Matt Fortuna check out his great work at the athletics so let's jump over to Ohio State last time we saw them they were getting rocked by Michigan Matt in terms of game flow and progression what has to happen tomorrow for the Buckeyes to make this matchup competitive? They need Marvin Harrison Jr. and CJ Stroud and really that entire offense to do what they did last year against Utah and that is basically put on a historic performance and if anyone's capable of doing that it's Ohio State with these skill players but I do think there's there's been a hitch with them right there's been an and or a but and frankly you know they get boat raced the way they did last year against Michigan they get questioned about their toughness and their credentials and they basically spent the past year saying that's not us that's not us we're gonna get them back this year and what happened the exact same thing happened Michigan destroyed them they were the tougher team they were the deeper team they were the more physical team and we all kind of rode Ohio State off after that game and deservedly so and through divine intervention through luck USC loses the Pac-12 title game and paves the way back for Ohio State to get to the playoff and potentially redeem themselves I mean certainly this is a roster that is as talented maybe as anyone in the country and they are capable of winning a national championship but they have not exactly proven that they're the complete elite tough team that you need to be to win it all over the last two years that they can obviously flip the script and change the narrative by beating Georgia tomorrow and hey if they get a rematch with Michigan there's going to be a lot of anxiety on both sides going into that game because you definitely don't want to be on the losing end of that one but if you can avenge a Michigan loss by beating them and winning the national title that's going to answer every question we've all had about this program but these questions have been persistent over the last year and a half with Ohio State and it's up to them eventually to to change the narrative and to answer those questions definitively and what better shot than than having the opportunity to beat Georgia in their backyard tomorrow. How do you see the Fiesta Bowl I think a lot of observers may be discounting TCU because they lost the conference title game but if you watch that game you realize how tight it was it was just three-point loss in overtime maybe hangover assessment from the escape against Baylor as you line up TCU and Michigan what do you think is the most intriguing element of this game? Can TCU make plays against the Michigan defense? I mean Michigan's plays defensive football at different levels than pretty much everyone else in the Big 12. Now the Big 12 I think was the deepest conference of the country this year one of the most exciting conferences in the country TCU answered every single question that came their way based on stats based on experience based on recruiting rankings they have no business being here and they're a great underdog sports story why we love this sport so much because a guy like Max Duggan can enter his senior year as a backup in week one to Chandler Morris and not only take over the starting job but finishes the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy and get Sonny Dykes to the college football playoff in his first year as a head coach there so taking nothing away from TCU but I just don't think they face a team as deep on the defensive side of the ball as Michigan is I mean Michigan is playing a different level right now they're playing with an edge to them that they did not have last year and they know it's not about just getting to the playoff and beating Ohio State it's about finishing the job and winning it all this year and they've been playing like a team possessed throughout much of this year I think they're the deeper more talented team on the field tomorrow night I think they've got it done against TCU. And looking for a concise answer here what's the likelihood irrespective of how things play out but let's assume Michigan wins tomorrow then loses to Georgia in the national title game what's the likelihood that Jim Harbaugh would be open to going back to the NFL now? You know I think the answer to that question is independent of whatever happens this year for Michigan both good and bad right I mean clearly he wanted to go last year he would not have interviewed with the Minnesota Vikings on national signing day of all days if he did not intend to go to the NFL now he did not get that job offer that he presumably expected I will say this about Jim Harbaugh and I'm not breaking any news here the guy marches to the beat of drum drum unlike most coaches most people in this position he doesn't have an agent speaking for him he doesn't have friends in the media speaking for him he does what he wants when he wants to do it so I think that the forecast what he will or won't do really depends on the day of the week and how he feels when he wakes up that morning and I'm being 100 genuine when I say that I mean the guy truly does what he wants he's been more successful than not he's been very successful at the NFL level and it's very easy to see why he'd be attractive to come back to the NFL especially with all he's done at Michigan so I think win or lose this week or next he's going to be pursued by NFL guys I mean he obviously has a lot of history in Indianapolis he has an owner who by all accounts is in love with him in Jim Mercy it wouldn't surprise me at all if the Colts make a run at him here uh it's ultimately going to be up to Jim Harbaugh to decide what he wants to do and again good luck trying to predict what he wants to do I mean I wrote him off like everyone else two years ago thinking he had maxed out his time and his homecoming at Michigan and sure enough he's completely flipped the script with his alma mater uh and they have a chance to win it all here in the next couple weeks Matt great information as always I appreciate the insights thanks for taking the time I hope you enjoy the games and happy new year thank you back at you buddy Matt Fortuna of the athletic excellent nuance there to Jim Harbaugh I'd forgotten the aspect that he does not have an agent that is correct because he handles his own business I'll give you a quick anecdote when Harbaugh got the job at Stanford I had a good friend on the sports media relations department so he asked Harbaugh coach could I have your cell phone numbers just so we can text and make things more efficient and Jim said you don't need my cell number he said well how do you want to reach me just just call me at the office and that was Jim saying I'll let you know when I'm ready to converse with you think about though the cycle for Harbaugh San Diego not San Diego State San Diego won Stanford won 49ers Super Bowl Michigan back in the playoff for a second consecutive year and I gave away that bold prediction nothing close to a hot take Georgia Michigan win and that's a spicy national title game that you can assume Rich will be in the house for because it's coming up January 9th here in Southern California as one of the most notable Michigan alums so keep it where it is for that as we are winding down that means Rich and the fellas are warming up back with you next week all of the fallout from the national semi-finals plus they'll get you set for the games remaining in college football remember the traditional January 1 games are being spread out so for example tonight we got the orange ball good watch Tennessee and Clemson they got the rose bowl on January 2nd and we got nothing but NFL takeaways on the horizon what else is going to happen to the playoff picture as week 17 is underway and a enormous Sunday coming up Buffalo in Kansas City on Monday night a lot of people to thank as always primarily thanks to Rich really appreciate his confidence in me always value this opportunity all the terrific people Westwood One led by Bruce Gilbert our skilled technical producer is Art Martinez Rich is back next week happy new year I'm Brian Weber this is the Rich Eisen Show how wrestling really works and how you get the ratings Eric Bischoff and Conrad Thompson explain on 83 weeks you're either growing or you're dying I think it'd be hard to recreate the kind of growth that WCW experienced between 95 and 98 this audience should be growing the character should be coming more and they're not everybody's gradually losing audience not that people will say well but AEW is 15 ahead of where they were last year but there's variables there let's see where we're at year from now 83 weeks on YouTube or wherever you listen