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Super Bowl Matchups Power Rankings

The Rich Eisen Show / Rich Eisen
The Truth Network Radio
January 15, 2025 2:56 pm

Super Bowl Matchups Power Rankings

The Rich Eisen Show / Rich Eisen

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January 15, 2025 2:56 pm

1/15/25 - Hour 2

Jets fan Rich reacts to the latest names reported to have interviewed for the team’s vacant head coaching job and ESPN’s Rex Ryan’s candidacy, debates Brockman on which is the NFL’s best head coach/quarterback duo, and ranks the top 10 possible Super Bowl LIX matchups.

FOX Sports/The Athletic’s CFB Insider Bruce Feldman and Rich preview the Ohio State vs Notre Dame College Football Playoff national championship game, if Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman could leave South Bend to coach the Chicago Bears, if Deion Sanders would be a good fit in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, the draft stock of Texas Longhorns QB Quinn Ewers, and more. 

Please check out other RES productions:

Overreaction Monday: http://apple.co/overreactionmonday 

What the Football with Suzy Shuster and Amy Trask: http://apple.co/whatthefootball

The Jim Jackson Show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jim-jackson-show/id1770609432

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Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states. And you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. This is The Rich Eisen Show.

Live from The Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Here's what I think the Vikings should do. What they should do is re-sign Sam and come up with a number that they won't go past.

And if I'm Sam Darnold, I accept that number. Earlier on the show, NBC Sports Boston Patriots insider Tom Curran. Coming up, Fox Sports college football analyst Bruce Feldman.

Bill's linebacker, Von Miller. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Our number two of The Rich Eisen Show is on the air.

844204 Rich is the number to dial. We're here live on the Infinity Sports Network. Now, 120 radio affiliates smart enough to have us. That's a high watermark in our reconstitution. We've been there for ten years.

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375 for those satellite listening at home or in the car. We greatly appreciate that. Odyssey app is another way to stream us to listen. There's our YouTube channel, as always, as a nice backstop.

YouTube.com slash Rich Eisen Show. Overreaction Mondays out there from Monday. Great What the Football with Suzy and Amy. Albert Breer on everything from what the Vikings are going to do at quarterback. Same thing with the Steelers. Head coaching Carousel Dion and the Cowboys and things of that nature. We just chatted with Tom Carin about Mike Vrabel's hiring and Gerard Mayo's firing in New England. And did you see Rex on ESPN say that he can't wait to kick Mike Vrabel's ass twice a year? He meant, you know, my team as if he's going to be the next head coach of the Jets, which, you know, I'm always for speaking things into existence. But I think I've I've kind of covered that here that the Jets need to turn the page.

The whole pugnacious we're going to kick ass. I'm not here to kiss Bill Belichick's rings. And if they hire me, I'm not going to, you know, I'm not going to kiss Aaron Rodgers's rings. He can.

You can. He's not a country club guy. And now he's going to take on Mike Vrabel's Patriots like, you know what? Then the Jets, by the way, are interviewing, I believe, Vance Joseph today, Arthur Smith tomorrow. They've interviewed 10 head coaching candidates. And I believe I'm hearing they've got at least five more to go.

They're not even close to finishing that round. Do they even know what they're looking for? I don't know.

I don't know. Aaron Glenn, who turned down the Patriots offer to interview. He had a high class thing to say today saying that that the Patriots have a terrific job and opportunity, but, you know, he decided that it was to go somewhere else. And, you know, makes sense because it was Vrabel's gig. I mean, that was a very nice way of him to basically say it was Mike Vrabel's gig. It wasn't going to be mine.

So why would I interview there? Right. But. Rex would be brilliant. Lifetime contract.

Go for it. It's just, you know, it's kind of like a nod. I think that, like I said, I think they did him a solid and Mike Tannenbaum's helping lead. Well, there's certainly with I think 15 head coaching candidates and 16 general manager candidates. I mean, they're certainly getting their money's worth out of the 33rd team to identify people to interview.

I just don't know how they're going to slice it down. Robert Sala's first up apparently in Dallas to interview there. I love this guy, man. You would do well to hire him. As a D coordinator? Yeah.

OK. Listen, I know he would get smacked down for not being the proper CEO, head coach of the Jets. But, you know, maybe bring in the right offensive coordinator. You just didn't get the quarterback right. Never had the quarterback right. If you don't have the quarterback right, you're not going to last long in the NFL as a head coach. It's just period.

End of story. That's true. You know, I mean, even Bill Belichick didn't get the quarterback right with Mac Jones and it wound up costing him. And it looked like they got it right the first time. And then Josh McDaniels leaves to go to Vegas and then he didn't have the quarterback right. He sent Derek Carr home and then Antonio Pierce didn't get the quarterback right.

Honestly, it's that simple. You don't get the quarterback right. You're not going to win. Period. End story.

End of story. And so, you know, Zach Wilson wasn't the answer. And then Aaron Rodgers was the answer.

And then he blows his Achilles out. And then this year he got five games for whatever reason. So and in terms of Vrabel, you know, an interesting conversation that Tom Caron brought up before he left. Top coach quarterback combinations in the NFL. So I was just looking through the list.

Tears. And where do you put Vrabel and May? I got to say they're firmly in the middle. So you'd put McDermott Allen as the best in... Do you put McDaniel and Tua above Vrabel and May?

I don't know about that, actually. I think they're probably the same at this point. Because Tua is above May in terms of his experience and Vrabel's above McDaniel in terms of his experience? Is that what you're saying? Yeah, they kind of cancel each other out. Also, just Tua's inability to stay healthy. The combination of Zach Taylor and Burroughs above it, right? Yes. The Harbaugh-Lamar combination, obviously.

Obviously. The rest of the division doesn't have a quarterback. Steelers don't have a quarterback. Other than Skylar Thompson under contract. Right. You can't put them there no matter the fact that you've got a two-time coach of the year in Stefanski. Right. D'Amico, Ryan, C.J.

Stroud you put above it? Yes. Uh-huh. Steichen and Anthony Richardson?

No. You can't put the Tennessee Titans there and the Jaguars don't have a coach? Right.

Obviously, Reid and Mahomes is the gold standard. Yeah, everybody in that division except the Raiders, I think. Okay. Yeah.

The NFC East has two teams in the divisional round, so we'll obviously put them there. Correct. But the Cowboys don't have a coach.

Right. Giants don't have a quarterback. But the minute they have a coach, do you put that above Vrabel and May? No. Because of Dak. I don't think whoever they're hiring is not better than Mike Vrabel.

I guess you've got to see who that person is before you can make that blanket statement. Right. Giants don't have a quarterback? Yep. Every team in the NFC minus Chicago doesn't have a coach? You put above Vrabel and May? You have to. You have to. Vikings don't have a quarterback.

Let's say it's Darnold. Of course you put it there. Come on, now. Maybe slightly above.

Slightly. Bucks? Bowls and Baker? Come on, now.

Come on, now. Mike Vrabel's a better coach than Todd Bowles. But Baker's a better quarterback than Drake May.

True. You don't put the Saints there? You don't put... What about Raheem Morris and Pennix? No.

Okay. Obviously Carolina. What about Canales and Bryce Young? Vrabel better than Canales. Bryce Young slightly?

Vrabel's more experienced than Canales. There may be even. Maybe Carolina slightly below. The entire NFC West.

Entire. Who's the Seahawks quarterback next year? Geno Smith. Okay.

You got any pushback over there? I mean, he and I, we talked about this earlier, and our only combo was the Cowboys. And I had to start with, we don't have a coach.

Dion and Dak, where do you put that? He gave me his thought process like he just gave you. And I'm like, all right.

Yeah. I'm trying to be reasoned about this. I think Vrabel really elevates the situation now. There's no question he does. There's no question he does. And certainly if Josh McDaniels does, in fact, come in to be the OC. Right. Then it might be even higher.

Then it's on. Yeah. Dion and Dak, that's interesting. Dion doesn't have the pro experience and his college record is, you know, okay.

Well, it's more than okay. What he's done in Colorado is unreal. That, that team was, you can't even say down and out. That team was dormant.

That team was like, was like borderline shuttered is what he's done. And so, you know, we'll talk about that with Bruce Feldman. Quinn Ewers has decided to go pro, not in the portal. So we'll talk about that decision and obviously set up the national championship game between new Notre Dame and the Ohio State University. Unless, of course, a meteor hits.

I'm not rooting for the meteor. I promise you. I was thinking about this. Can we root for a tie?

Are you? There can't be one. Come on.

Why not? Come on. Come on. Just you and I are in the same boat.

Yeah, man. I'm going to hate what you got to root for. You got to root for Notre Dame. You got to root for the team that beat you.

I don't think I've ever done that. When I was an intern at the Staten Island Advance, I had a big time crush on another fellow intern. She wound up getting married to the chief, one of the one of the photographers. And you told me about this. And I lost. I lost to the champ.

That's the way I looked at it. Are they still married? I don't believe so. Did he take good pictures? He won. He was excellent at his job.

I mean, it would make it easier to be sick as a photographer. No, no, no. I think he's a good photographer. But I lost. Was he a good guy?

I lost to the guy that got the ring. Was he taller than you? I don't recall. Do you have a little bit more ends in the tape? Oh, first of all, I had Flo at the time, but he had a great head of hair. No, I meant like scratch.

Like a little bit. Was it a money thing? Was it a money thing?

Dude, I was an intern. What are you talking about? That's what I'm saying. So she big reared you because he had a little bit of change.

But that's my, you know, like at least I lost to somebody who went, you know, the entire distance. We don't know that. Look where you're at. He ain't where you're at. He ain't got his name on him. Yada, yada, yada.

My prom date vomited off the side of the Staten Island Ferry. At least I got it right in the end. Yeah, you got Susie Schuster, so you did all right with yourself. Okay, very good. Save your time. All right. I got a power rankings guy. Oh, yeah. I can't.

I mean, it's Wednesday. I don't have a top 10, you know, just in terms of power rankings teams anymore, right? Because there's only eight left. And I could have like put the Bucks in at nine and figured out, which is the better team that lost?

The team that didn't get blown out. You know what I mean? Exactly, right? Like the Bucks would be nine and then we'd have to figure out the team that got blown out the least after that at 10. It just doesn't make sense. So a great idea from Rich Eisen Show coordinating producer Mike Hoskins. He said, why not do a power rankings of possible Super Bowl matchups?

And I said, why not hit it? Power rankings. There are many like it, but this one is mine. Power rankings. Now, obviously, when it comes to ranking possible Super Bowl matchups, narratives come into play and the possibility of of having a well-matched teams because you want to see a good game.

Number 10 on the list of the power rankings of possible Super Bowl matchups. I'm going commanders Texans, dynamic young quarterbacks chosen second overall. CJ Stroud set a standard that we thought that would be difficult to top. And then Jayden Daniels followed up the rookie year of CJ Stroud.

This would be the matchup of the reigning offensive rookie of the year and the guy who followed him up. Texans and commanders, Texans have never been to a Super Bowl. So let's go.

I mean, Fox is praying against this with all their might. I understand. I understand.

I understand. But, you know, back in the day, Steelers and the Cardinals, I spoke to a very high ranking television executive. It was like, oh, Cardinals are in it. And then it was it's still it still keeps pushing mash down the list of most watched television shows in history of of United States viewership. So number nine. Most entertaining regular season game of the year. Would you say it was Ramsbills? Kind of put it up there.

Oh, OK. Number forty two final. Josh Allen had six touchdowns in the game, three in the air, three in the ground. Matthew Stafford and Josh Allen in SoFi Stadium. You want to run it up, run it back in the Superdome? I think that would be a highly anticipated, much watched game. Bills back to the Super Bowl.

Matthew Stafford trying to win his second. Let's go. Number eight on the list.

I think that's kind of low. Number eight. Well, let's see how the rest of them go here.

Number eight on the list. Commanders Ravens. Now, oh, that's no, no, but the one thing that you you if you want to talk about television ratings is you don't want to have two teams in the same area, you kind of want to spread it out. Right. But the Battle of the Mid-Atlantic, commanders, Ravens, Lamar and Jayden Daniels. You know, if you want to take a look at Jayden Daniels again, look at the photographs on the screen. Yeah, I like this QB matchup. Kind of similar, right? Like if you look at Jayden Daniels, how far he drops back and how he runs and how he's smart enough to run and how he's smart enough to get down and he can sling it.

It's like Lamar. Let's go. I really like that. Number seven. One of the most entertaining Monday Night Football games ever. Rams Chiefs. Remember that one?

Yeah. I understand it was Jared Goff at the time. I mean, I was there, but let's run this one back as well. Let's see what the Rams and the Chiefs can do with one another. Chiefs putting a three peat on the line against the Los Angeles. If the Rams make it to the Super Bowl, it would be just filled with win one for L.A. and we would talk about all the heroics that we're seeing go down literally as we're talking right now here in Los Angeles. So that's number seven. Number six on the list. First time I'm mentioning this team's name, the Eagles taking on the Bills. Yes.

This would be a lot of fun here. You know, Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni, and we all know there's a history of Sean McDermott with Philadelphia and the Bills making the Super Bowl against an NFC East team. Where have we heard that before? Oh, every single time they've made it right. So they played a great game last year as well. That was without Saquon on Philadelphia.

So that's number six. Let's go top five of my power rankings of possible Super Bowl matchups. Number five, Lions, Ravens. Oh, let's go Ravens, as we all know, if they make the Super Bowl, that's the last time they won. It was in the Superdome. It was John Harbaugh versus brother. Now here comes Dan Campbell and the Lions making the Super Bowl against the Ravens. This would be just a fun, fun Super Bowl. Derek Henry being rolled downhill at Dan Campbell's defense.

Come on now. Number four on the list, Eagles, Ravens, Eagles, Ravens, because you want to talk about this being a game with Derek Henry and Saquon in there. Now this game happened in Baltimore. The Eagles won it. Ravens have played, haven't lost since that game, by the way, they would be on a losing streak ever since facing the Eagles in the regular season. And then of course, Lamar and Jalen Hurts, that would be significant in so many ways. And then John Harbaugh was a special teams assistant for Philadelphia. But if you want to talk about a former coach coaching against his former team, I mean, John is just the special teams coach for Philadelphia.

If it's Eagles chiefs and Andy Reid could become a three-peat head coach for the first time in NFL history and do it against the Eagles or the Eagles are the ones to prevent Andy from doing it again. And we run back the Super Bowl from a couple of years ago where Jalen Hurts made a case to be MVP in a losing effort in that game. Maybe they won't call a bogus holding in this game. Maybe there wouldn't be a bogus holding is another way to talk about that contest.

Sure. Although kind of looked like it was holding that said, that's number three, the final two on my power rankings of possible Super Bowl match-ups, the one seeds, the one seeds, the chiefs are going for the three-peat and the team to prevent it are the Detroit Lions. If the Detroit Lions make the Super Bowl, it would be one of those moments where, I mean, with the entire state of Michigan moved to Louisiana for the week, right?

A lot of blue. And then again, yes, Jared Goff and the Lions did start their run a couple of seasons ago, right? And you could say the night that they learned that their final game of the regular season that was being broadcast by NBC, flexed into in Green Bay, that the Lions had no shot to make the playoffs. Green Bay did. And they wound up sending Aaron Rodgers into the tunnel arm in arm with Randall Cobb. He wound up being the Jets quarterback after that, that that was a big moment for the Lions. Really the biggest moment was to be chosen as the team to open up in Kansas City and watch the chiefs raise a banner. And they won that game on Thursday night and they serve notice, right?

That their bite kneecaps. And then the chiefs wound up winning the next Super Bowl anyway, but yada, yada, yada. The Lions and chiefs would be dynamite, what a Super Bowl that would be. But the number one possible Super Bowl matchup atop my power rankings list, certainly for those out there who have chiefs fatigue and don't care about a three-peat, Lions and Bills playing in the Super Bowl together, the two starved fan bases to see their dream come true in Detroit, because at least Bills fans have seen their team in Super Bowl four times.

But I just mentioned what the entire state of Michigan moved to Louisiana, what the entire Western part of New York moved to Louisiana at the same time. I don't even know if there would be enough hotel rooms in the entire Gulf South for the two fan bases that would come to this town and watch in the Superdome, Lions and Bills for the right to finally end the two fan bases that talk about just one before I die. Going against each other in the Super Bowl would just be monumental. And those are my power rankings of the possible Super Bowl 59 matchups.

What say you? 844204, rich number to dial, always ready to take your calls. When we come back, Bruce Felbert of Fox Sports and The Athletic to talk about the national championship game on Monday night between the Ohio State and Notre Dame. The conversation about Dion getting a phone call from Jerry Jones. Will Steve Sarkisian be on that call list as well?

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Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, potential savings will vary. Not available in all states or situations. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, look who's back here from Fox Sports and the Athletic, none other than Bruce Feldman. Good to see you, sir. Good to see you, too. When do you go to Atlanta? When do you hit the ATO? I will red-eye there this weekend.

Okay. So I'll get there in time for media days. So what I was about to say.

So walk me through, what does it look like? It's like a Super Bowl. Have they laid it out with a radio row and everything like that? Yeah, but it's not Super Bowl. You have the five days extravaganza of that, as you know. This is, media day has Saturday morning, and then there's a lot of stuff that'll happen, but at that point, there's not too much run-up, because you've got to remember, you're going through the middle, it's the weekend, there's NFL playoffs. And so what's different about this is obviously you've had a, we've had a couple of weeks of the playoff already. So there's already been plenty of media day sessions and everything like that, but it's all building towards Monday night. And you just can't wait to see how this is going to unfold, because I feel like we've had, just the fact that you have Ohio State on this run there on Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman going up against the school he played for, Ryan Day, who's dynamic with that fan base, has taken such a 180, I feel like, in the last month, right? It wasn't that long ago, you and I were talking about Michigan upsetting them, in Columbus no less, and people were apoplectic. And then they were always the most talented team in the country, but then they just absolutely throttle Tennessee and then go on this run, avenge and beat Oregon, and then had a tough game but ended up beating Texas, and here we are. And I think there's just two remarkable storylines of the coaches involved in this, between Ryan Day's path, or here's Marcus Freeman, who a couple months ago had a really bad loss against the Northern Illinois team, but he's kept on evolving, and now you see the guy who feels like he's in total control of this team. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show radio network, I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk, furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call clickrainger.com or just stop by. Bruce Feldman from Fox Sports and The Athletic joining us here on the Rich Eisen Show. Your first blush thoughts on the keys to the national championship game between Ohio State and Notre Dame, or what? Notre Dame's got to find a way to get a couple of turnovers, I feel like. They're really good in special teams, maybe they can get a big play there, and that could be one of those turnover kind of like situations. I feel like their defense is playing so well.

They've lost really good players, Benjamin Morrison, their best cornerback, certainly Riley Mills, their best defensive lineman, but they found a way to be very disruptive still, and they play a lot of man coverage, which is interesting. They play as much as anybody pretty much in the playoff, and I think it was effective against Penn State, except Penn State didn't have a receiver who had a catch, but Penn State's receivers aren't Ohio State's receivers, right? Heck no.

Oh my God, I don't think anybody's is, right? No. They play, if you play against, you play a lot of man, you run the risk of having the running backs run wild, and Ohio State's running backs are really, really good too.

Yes. I mean, Penn State had a great one-two punch, so does Ohio State, and Texas made a concerted effort to try to shut down Jeremiah Smith. Well, it worked mostly, you know, right? It did, and then Cornell Tate kind of went off and had a big game, and the running backs played well. I think talking to coaches who played, played Ohio State, they're like, Jeremiah Smith will kill you if you don't try to, you know, the other guys can be a problem. It's just, you know, it's the one guy is the most talented guy in college football. The other guys are five star receivers who are really good too.

They're just not at his level, but I think it's a pick your poison thing, but you know, talking to coaches who played both of them, one of them was very adamant. He was like, Notre Dame is way better than I thought they were, and you know, you watch them in warmups, and they're, they look good, but they're better. They're playing with a lot of confidence.

There's a belief they have, they're really well coached, and I think that's the stuff that I think people, you know, may not have a great feel for. You know, one of the coaches I talked to is a defense coordinator who played him. He was like, they were the best offensive line we played. Individually, I don't, I think there was other guys who have better offensive linemen, but they're so well coached, play well, so well together, and I think that is a credit to Marcus Freeman, the staff he's put together.

I mean, they're playing really well right now, but again, the spread's almost 10 points, and can they slow down Ohio State with the firepower Ohio State has, and again, you know, like they have one, they have a special player on their side of the ball in Jeremiah Love. I mean, the coaches I've talked to think he is as talented as any running back in college football. I mean, he had one of the best short runs you will ever see against Penn State, two yard run, breaks like five tackles. I mean, he's a legit track guy who's become really physical and runs hard, and that's part of the identity of the place. So can't wait to see, you know, what Marcus Freeman and that staff has up their sleeve for Ohio State.

I've got Bruce Feldman in the athletic here on the Rich Eisen Show. Is there any way to go back to the last time they played a couple of years ago to use that as a template or no, not really? I feel like things are different.

Yeah, things are different right now. You know, in this regard, I mean, what helped them, I feel like a little bit was, remember there was that goofy subplot about Lou Holtz and kind of calling out, sort of calling out Ryan Day and then Ryan Day in the postgame, you know, where's Lou Holtz? I don't know, he spent the first 90 seconds of his postgame interview all heated and barking at a, I don't even think of it, was it the real Lou Holtz or was it the McAfee Lou Holtz? No, it was Pat's Lou Holtz. You know, like that's... Pat's Lou Holtz is fantastic.

It's one of the, by the way, some of the best television that's out there. And if I'm Marcus Freeman, I'm reaching out down, you know, downstate to see if Pat can get him back on the air. Just anything to get in Ryan Day's kitchen, you know, if you can, so. I think what definitely helped them was, much like Michigan, it's like when they're in their heads, when they're trying to prove something as opposed to just seemingly just win the game.

Well, if I'm Ryan Day, I would exercise that person from my personality and being it's all worked out the last three games otherwise. Yeah, who, I mean, the only thing they have to, I think they have to do is just be the best version of themselves. They don't have to prove anything to anybody about like dominating the line of scrimmage or trying, you know, like, you know, Notre Dame is a very physical, tough team.

You know what? So is Ohio State. I mean, I don't think whether they, whether they rush for 250 yards and they might or throw for 300, I mean, they could, they could do both. You know what's the toughest thing to do is win the national championship. And if you're the national champion, who the hell cares what, what adjective they use to term your team.

It just doesn't matter. You know what I mean? I don't, I don't, I don't think anybody looks at Jack Sawyer and thinks he's not tough. You know what I mean? Like, I don't think anybody looks at you know, Downs and says, he's not tough.

I mean, he, he lays a wood. Oh, he's a brilliant player. I mean, nobody thinks that.

Yeah. I don't know who does, but they have a bunch of special players on that side of the ball. They're really well coached and you know, you look at what they've done on this playoff run. I mean, they made good teams look very ordinary. I mean, Tennessee did not look like they belonged on the same field with Ohio state. They didn't look like they wanted to be on the same field with Ohio state.

Right. And then Oregon, they sack Dylan Gabriel eight times, completely shut down the run game. You know, that's a good offense. That game was over in five minutes. Yeah. And then they also exposed the defense, you know, like JJ Smith goes wild in that game. But I think some of the stuff that they schemed up, I think were things that, that just exploited some match-ups they wanted to exploit.

And so, you know, right now it feels like they're in their sweet spot too. I mean, I, I do think it would be a sizable upset if Notre Dame would win this game, but I think if you'd asked anybody a month ago or two months ago, would Notre Dame beat Georgia by two touchdowns? I think nobody would have believed it. I've got Bruce Feldman here on the Rich Eisen show. Moving on to other stories in college football, but still bridging to the national championship game is the fact that the Chicago Bears would love to talk to Marcus Freeman as soon as I imagine Monday night is finished.

Is there any there there? I could see Kevin Warren, you know, the former big 10 commissioner having a lot of interest in Marcus Freeman. Marcus Freeman right now has done a masterful job taking and elevating this program.

He's also only just turned 39. If I'm Marcus Freeman and obviously I'm not, he doesn't need my advice, but I'm like, he's got a really good thing going. He has elevated the brand. He has made, you know, one of the, one of the like kind of storylines has gotten run, a lot of run in the last couple of weeks is like, you know, yeah, there's a lot of people who grew up loving Notre Dame. Marcus Freeman has helped make Notre Dame very likable right now, probably more so, much more so than when Brian Kelly was there, you know, certainly the fact that I'm sitting here even considering rooting for Notre Dame outside of just the enemy of the enemy is my friend. That's a big thing for you.

There is, and I said that to Riley Leonard yesterday, I said, I'm going to be unprofessional here, but you know, I'm, I need you to win, sir. But they're also likable. They really are. I mean, they're, they're a likable team and it's a likable quarterback and a likable coach. I think by and large, like in fairness, like I don't think it's ever been the Notre Dame players who have not been likable.

I have not, you know, and this is a little all anecdotal, but almost everybody I've met who played at Notre Dame, I've come away, barely impressed with, this is a little sketchy, but it's true though. Like by and large, nobody liked Chip Kelly, that guy was as abrasive as it got, but he's at Oregon and he's at Ohio state. Not Chip Kelly.

Sorry, Brian Kelly. Oh yeah. No, my point.

No, I'm not disagreeing with you. Like Spencer Hall, who's a brilliant writer on the internet. He had had a line once that I thought was very clever.

Brian Kelly was doing college game day, got off the bus and he had a blazer on. He just, and Spencer was like, he looks like the quintessential pro wrestling manager. And there was like a kind of a smugness and you see the, and he's a really good coach. Can't take that away from him, but you, you see, he gets red faced on the sidelines.

He's not the only coach who's yelled at his players and goes, it looks apoplectic at times, but I think there was something there, you know, like Charlie Weiss also was not very lovable when he came in there talking about schematic advantage and some of the things he said, you know, especially when he first got there Lou Holtz can be a, you know, it was another one that that's where my, the Genesis of my intense dislike for Notre Dame comes from. But be that as it may, do you think Marcus Freeman would have an interest in hearing from the bears or sitting down? I would doubt it. You know, he's 39.

This is where I was going. The NFL is going to be there, you know, five, 10 years from now. And even if it's not, you know, you're talking about a guy with a young family that's, that's like, I know they really liked the idea of being there in the Midwest because at one point he had a chance to be on the LSU DC or the Notre Dame DC.

Obviously he picked right. And I think that yes, you know, he could still be in the Midwest, but like, who's it worked out for in a long time to be the Chicago Bears head coach? No, I'm, I'm, I'm offering little pushback on that regard, but if you do hit, you can find out that that's really a football town more than a hoops town more than a baseball town.

That is a football town. It can be all those things, Rich, but he's the head coach at Notre Dame. He's like, you know, that's like the, if you're talking about hitting, if he somehow wins a national, just the fact that he's there, got them this far and they can build off this and that's only going to make him, you know, much more of a recruiting presence.

It's only going to, you know, more buy-in to the things they need, whether it's NIL or whatnot. I think you can't get a bigger job as a football coach than be the head coach at Notre Dame, especially as the guy who elevated him to this. Bruce Feldman here on the Rich Eisen show. What is Deion Sanders' status?

What is it? I'm, I'm curious how much Jerry Jones would want him back in Dallas. I don't know.

You know, I don't know the answer to that. He did it. He's done a terrific job at CU again, you know, like I know a lot of people get tired of hearing about CU and about Deion. They were horrible before he got there. Right. Now they, they weren't great this past year, but they were so much better.

I mean, they made it. There's no pulse when Deion showed up and now it's a vibrant, vibrant situation. And on top of it, I don't know if you saw the, the the Instagram posts that Deion put up yesterday, he was told his team got over a 3-0 GPA. And that is as significant as anything else that I know that Deion wants to, wants to have talked about his program. The question is though, Jerry did reach out to him for a reason.

It wasn't just to say, you know, do you got any extra blenders for me? You know what I mean? Like there's, there's, there's something in terms of interest there. It got out as well.

But my, I guess my question is like, what is it? Are they, he's two years into a deal. Are there, are they talking about extending him? I mean, cause he was telling us when he was here three weeks ago on the show that basically there is a conversation going on about extending him. So at CU?

Yeah. I mean, like if Deion left, like I feel like you're almost starting all over again because no coach I can think of who's coaching in college football right now is more tied into the identity of the program than Deion Sanders. You know, with all respect to the two coaches, like they, those programs were not bad when they got there. His program was atrocious.

His program now is a TV ratings monster. His program can get kids to come on recruiting visits that probably couldn't have showed you where Boulder, Colorado is on the map or even where Colorado is in terms of like, because there was no reason to know it if you're a college football prospect, because it hadn't been good in 20 plus years, you know? So I think that, you know, again, you're if you're the AD there who Rick George, who has been a real good partner for Deion and helped really brought Deion there.

And if I would see no reason why, whatever they can do to keep them, they're going to, I'm sure try to do the question ultimately. And I've had this in the, you know, in the back of my head and talked about it at times is like, obviously Chidor's leaving, Travis Hunter's leaving, Shiloh's leaving, you know, then you have the Cam Sillman Craig, who is a terrific defensive back, who was with Deion in high school and then followed him to Jackson State and then followed him again. Like you have a lot of really good players who are essentially family to him who are also moving on. So does that, does that this chapter is closed and I was there for the, for the Alamo Bowl and saw some of the, just how hard it was for them just to realize this is the last one.

This is the last ride. So, you know, going into the NFL, if he can be part of that next chapter, I'm sure he, I'm sure that would be tempting. No, of course. And I understand that, but the NFL is like, it's a different ball of wax and the fact that there's no guarantee that he could run it back with the same, there's no way he's going to get, um, Chidor and Travis Hunter together. Can he get one of them? Right.

Just even one of them. And so there's also a way that I think Deion would kind of like to prove I, I can build the program without my literal kids and other people who I consider kids to stay and stay and stay at CU. That's what I'm saying. Plus on top of it, it's part of the reason why, you know, Bill also has gone to UNC. You win the ACC, you've got a seat at the playoffs, right? You win the B-12, you've got a seat in the playoffs and Deion almost did it this year. But you look, you know Deion way better than I do.

I don't think Deion needs, I don't think Deion feels like he needs to prove anything to anybody. That doesn't strike me as that's the way he's wired. I understand that. But when you're looking at, you know, pros and cons on a list here, right?

Which is what, you know, you write down, what do I do? If there is an opportunity in Dallas, I think on a pro side of things, it's like, I stay here. I continue building something and I'm becoming a national champion head coach here. And you know, he's only, what is it? Is Deion 60? Is he pushing 60? I think he's in his late fifties. Yeah. He's in his late fifties. I would, I would have thought. Yeah.

57. Yeah. Like the NFL is there too. I mean, Dallas might not be there. As somebody who works in college football, I think it would be, I think it'd be great if he stayed as somebody who's just thinking as a parent and you see, you know, like, again, and I don't know if he has the opportunity to connect to coach who is Chador at the next step. You know, that is his son and everything.

And you can only have one quarterback and everything about that. I don't think like, you know, I don't think there's any more he would need to prove anybody who hasn't been wowed by what he's done in two years. They're not going to, no matter what he does, he'd get them to the playoff. And I don't think it'd be any more impressive than what he's already done. Really?

Yeah. I mean, winning, going to the playoffs and 12 teams make the playoff now, if he wins a national title, different story. But if he goes in there, like, like SMU or you, you pick the school. I mean, yeah, that's, that's, that's another step, but I think to go from one win before he got there, to get them, you know, to into the top 25 in two years into, you know, like borderline, you know, make it to the conference title game, they didn't, but like, to me, that's the bigger step than to make a 12 team playoff because they were really close to making the 12 team playoff. I would just think for the, if the chance is there to coach in the NFL and to be an NFL head coach, then it's a different thing. Like you, I, I guess to prove that, you know, to himself or wherever to run an NFL team on that stage, I feel like is probably then is probably very, you know, compelling to stay there.

I mean, yeah, it'd be great for CU and it'd be great for college football. I don't think he has anything. I don't, I don't think there's that much more you need to prove. Bruce Feldman here on the Rich Eisen show. Can I keep you one more segment? Great. We're going to take a break.

I'm saying he's going pro, um, and you can check your phone that has been literally blowing up since the minute you started talking here 20 minutes ago, rich Ackerman though, on the infinity sports network with an update, I got a riddle for you. What are yoga mats, a toothbrush and a Hyundai have in common? I'll give you a moment.

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Learn more at AmericanExpress.com slash Amex Business. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, a couple of minutes before the radio audience returns. I mean, let's just keep on going down the list here. Take a look at the, if you wouldn't mind Mike Hoskins calling up the draft list as it currently stands, Dion would never, I mean, the Cowboys are 12. There's no, plus Dak Prescott is under contract at 60 million per. If he takes the Cowboys job, he would not be coaching his son if that is, at quarterback, if that is what he would want to do. Now, you mean the job that's open right now in Jacksonville, I don't know if that would be of interest, but they also have Trevor Lawrence at $55 million. The Raiders one, that's the one.

You're sitting there at six. Your door could be available if the Raiders want. I just don't know. That I don't know. That's a Tom Brady question.

Yeah. Report today is that they're zeroing in on Ben Johnson. Raiders.

That would make sense. You're going to draft somebody six. You were going to, you want Ben Johnson to coach that kid and assuming Ben's got it, the plan ready to go.

I mean, the Saints at nine, boy, put Dion in New Orleans, that would be a blast. That's fun. But I don't. And again, this is just total complete speculation here because he, the last one before we move on.

Okay. Would it not hurt Colorado to have this stuff out there that Dion's talked to Jerry Jones? Wouldn't it? I mean, would there be some recruits that sit around and go, wait a minute? I think it depends. Is it happening?

You know, are there guys he's losing who are in the portal who are making a decision now or is there? I don't know. I don't, I don't think it's a, it's a, like a death knell or anything like that. No, I know that.

But it's not, it doesn't help, right? I mean, that the coach of, of Colorado that's told you X, Y, and Z, or the people of Colorado told you X, Y, and Z. If they're already committed to them, they're not going to, they can't, they're not going to bail out right now and go, oh yeah, I heard there's a rumor that, you know, the Cowboys are interested or team X or whatever. What if there's anybody that they're zeroing in on right now, right? I mean, you like for the kids who are high school recruits, you know, it's not, we still have like another three weeks before that. I am, you know, I know I've heard that this is a real slow process for the NFL side on the coaching part, but it is, I would not think that that would be such a, such an issue for them. I think the challenge is going to be what they can do in the portal to reload. And I think that'll be heavy, certainly in the spring where they've done a lot of, where they've done a lot of damage in the past getting players, you know, post spring football.

So but that's the nature of this now, right? You know, like Matt Campbell, you know, interviewed, I think for the Bears job and, you know, I think that's, you know, there's a few other guys I know who have been discussed as possible. I don't, I don't know if it hurt Sark any, that it was mentioned that, you know, I think Jerry Jones was one of them who had interest in him now from what I'd heard early on this week was that Sark was like, I'm good, I'm, you know, not budging, but he's got arch, man.

He's got more than arch too. No doubt. You know, so Matt Campbell, also a name that I heard from all of my Buckeye friends on November 30th, that they would love to have. He's a good coach and he's an Ohio guy. He's a good coach. I know. That's where they're like, let's get him.

Let's get Marcus Freeman. Let's get, and now, you know, I don't, it's crickets. At one point I'm sure they were saying Vrabel, you know. Oh, Vrabel, are you kidding me? Come back and save the program that three weeks later is now I have an opportunity. Glad you have Ryan Day and look, hopefully for this, win or lose, that a lot of that drama, venom will have dissipated. We'll discuss the Ryan Day future, I guess, on January 21st. I've got Bruce Feldman back here on the Rich Eisen Show radio network. In the three minutes we have left, I know we've talked about Quentin Ewers' future and how a lot of people in the NFL, from what I've heard, told him transfer portal might be a wise thing. Stick around, see how you work at a new spot because Texas wouldn't be the spot with Arch Manning there.

But guess what? He announced he's going pro today. How did that news hit you?

What can you, what insight can you give us on that front? I don't think it's like he had said this was the direction he was going to go for a couple of weeks. Look, on one side, he played for Steve Sarkeesian with a really good group of skill receivers and a good offensive line and a terrific system. I think if you're him, you look and go, am I going to be able to, yes, could I make more money perhaps someplace else, but am I going to get any better?

Is my stock going to get any higher? I wouldn't be surprised if somebody got word to them that like, hey, you can be a second or third round pick. Now his name had been all over the place from fourth to sixth round for a while.

So if he goes and he goes in the third or fourth round, if he lands in a good spot, I imagine then it's get to work. He's played a lot of football and he's played well when he's been healthy. I think one of the challenges for him was going to be to show that he could stay healthy throughout the course of a year, but he played a lot of games this year.

They made it to the semifinals, obviously. The knock on him has been just when he has to ad lib and things aren't just right athletically, he would struggle. You saw some of that the other night, but he did make a good play where he was under pressure and he was able to flip the ball to his back and pick up a first down. How about the throw to golden to save the day? Against Arizona State.

Yeah. Fourth and forever. I think to his credit, some of that was because he really plays quarterback and some of the things pre snap wise that he's on top of. So again, it'll be interesting to see where he goes. If he's a third round pick, I think the calculus here, in Cam Ward's case last year, people thought he was going to be a fifth or sixth round pick.

He decided to go to Miami and he tore it up at Miami and a lot of people think he'll be a top five pick. I don't know if yours went someplace else. Could that have happened?

Perhaps. I just wonder how much he could have changed the narrative about himself at that point. Bruce Feldman, I appreciate you coming here. Have a safe journey to Atlanta. Enjoy that national championship game.

We'll have you back on a week from today and talk about the aftermath of that. That's Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports and the Athletic. Von Miller coming up here in hour number three, still here on the Roku channel for another couple of minutes. I mean, watching that game, because again, I might've been rooting for Texas, and just watching that game and watching viewers struggle at times, I'm like, put Arch in there, man. Let's see what this kid can do. Well, there was a red zone situation where you're like, man, you know. Well, they put him in the game on a fourth down midfield and Arch runs it. And I'm like, in the middle of that run, I'm like, exactly.

That's why this kid should be in the game. And then he got hit. I thought that was a fumble, by the way.

I know that they went, the call stood as not a fumble, but he did look like Bambi out there with some grown-ass NFL men in that front seven and back end coming to hit him. So I kind of understood in a way, like maybe he wasn't ready for that prime time moment. But he went up against it when he, look, when mid-season, Georgia comes in there and just slaughtered them and Ewers was dreadful under the pressure. And then Arch went in and gave him a little spark and then Arch was, it was similar, you know, where it was, you know, that, that look. So he's been in a, you know, a little bit. I think it's, I think honestly for, for Texas and for Arch, it's probably played out about as well. You and I have talked about this a bunch over the past year, even when the time when Ewers said he was coming back, you know, last year was he got to play, he got started some games.

You saw enough where you're like, okay, yeah, this is why. It's not just because he's, he's like Arch Smith, you know, like he has a, you know, it comes with his name, but he is really good. And people there love him. I mean, people inside the program there love him and he's a terrific athlete and he's physically grown and there's plenty of arm talent and he will be one of the big storylines going into 2025 season to see how he does there. I'm sure they'll add more talent around him. They had some running backs who are really good players who missed the whole season with injury. You know, they do have to replace some offensive linemen.

But as Texas, I feel confident they'll do that. Which is why Sark might be just telling Jerry Jones, I'm cool. You know what I mean?

Like that may be part of the reason you got there. You know, I would be curious what happens, you know, post Arch, you know, two more years. Does Sark get itchy? Sark's been in the NFL. He has.

He had, he had some moments with Al Davis, that's for sure. Thanks for coming in. Greatly appreciate it.

Now you can go back to your phone. Who's blowing you up, man? I can't say, but it's a, it's a story that I'm hoping we'll be patient for the afternoon and then I can go. Well, keep an eye on the athletic, everybody, for Bruce Feldman, because he breaks news about Michigan's latest five-star recruit. Oh, not that, not that, damn! Actor Michael Rosenbaum, he knows some of the most talented people in the business and now he's getting the inside story.

Let's get inside of Heather Graham. I can't look at like Boogie Nights and think that you are a nerd. Johnny Knoxville. You think you're gonna do another Jackass movie? What do your kids want?

Dad's not gonna do that. You gotta be careful how you choose your heroes. Here's a picture from some of the most fascinating people in pop culture today. Danny Trejo. You're a legend. Do you know you're a legend? You can't be a legend having this much fun. The Inside of You podcast. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.
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