The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Michigan Is the Champion, Harbaugh’s Best NFL Fit, and a Top 10 NFL Mock Draft With Todd McShay

Episode Date: January 9, 2024

Todd McShay joins Ryen to discuss Michigan’s impressive victory over Michael Penix Jr. and the Washington Huskies (00:55). How did the Wolverines defense stifle the explosive Huskies offense? What��s Jim Harbaugh’s future? Will he stay at Michigan or head for the NFL again? Todd also gives his 2024 top 10 mock draft (49:48). Plus, Life Advice! One guy has a friend who’s getting engaged after four months (55:04). The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out theringer.com/RG to find out more or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Todd McShay Producers: Cliff Augustin, Steve Ceruti, and Kyle Crichton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we break down Michigan's national championship run in their win against Washington last night. We've got McShea on that one. What happened and how did Michigan build this team to roll in an old school way? Some thoughts on Harbaugh, some thoughts on Pennix, also on JJ McCarthy, a little evaluation from Todd on that one, plus his top 10 picks, his first mock for the NFL draft in 2024. We've got life advice and our pick for wildcard weekend. Enjoy. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats.

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Alcohol in select markets. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. It is the morning after Michigan, your national title winner. I'm here with Todd McShay, big win over Washington. Let me just start with this Todd. I'm glad the final score was 34-13 even though we had a 17-10 half. We had a 20-13 score at some point. You were kind of wondering like hey can Washington actually make this. It was game but you're wondering like could we have a tie score at some point but ultimately Michigan was was the superior football team superior defensive and offensive lines and you know my main concern was you know you think about Aller McCord Milrow in the three biggest games Iowa's version of offense in the Big Ten championship game I'm like Pennix in this wide receiver group is a massive step up I think my favorite thing from last night you know there's a bunch of different elements and ways you can look at this game but there was a stat in the fur after the first half where they said in Kalen DeBoer's tenure at Washington it's the first time they've

ever gone a half without a 20-yard completion the coverage and eliminating that part of the game, the deep shot from Penix to these guys, knowing that it wasn't there, Washington adjusting and having to throw underneath. For me, that's the most impressive thing I saw. What we know is a great statistical Michigan defense. And then to see him go up against this and take away this thing that was just so much fun to watch all season long, that's how they won the game i mean look there's other factors as well but that's the thing throughout i'm like man it's just not there for pennix they found a way to eliminate these guys yeah i mean it was impressive and and i agree i watched a game that was a two or three touchdown difference for for the for the most part and in michigan pulling

away felt like like the appropriate the appropriate finish to that game. I mean, there were so many things that stood out. I think defensively what you were touching on, how well coached, and we've talked about this before, how well coached is Michigan defensively? Both sides of the ball, but defensively especially. And to come out, and we really focus on defensive coordinator and the scheme and what Harbaugh's done and new coaches and kind of what his progression was over the years at Michigan.

But specifically in that game, to take away the deep ball, it was like watching a pro defense is really what it was. Like watching Belichick's defense from week to week changing according to what the opponent does best and taking away what the opponent does best. If you're going to beat Washington, you've got to take away the deep pass. And how do you do that? You do that with a lot of zone coverage, mixing coverages, two high safeties. Mikey Sanestral had that missed tackle in the semifinal game. But other than that, you go back and watch the tape the last two games. How impactful is he? Not only the big interception at the end of the game, but in coverage, making open field tackles, that one-on-one tackle that he had was critical. I think it was on a third down, turn the ball over. So playing a disciplined style of defense, they're good at corner.

They're really good and disciplined and have veteran guys at the safety position saying we're still playing that nickel you know kind of on the inside and then the thing that I pointed out I texted you last night while we were watching the game we say this a lot like I remember talking about the bills earlier in the season we're talking about the 49ers the Eagles if you're going to be able to play that that two you that too high safety shell and back off in coverage and take away the deep ball, you've got to be dominant up front. And not only was Michigan dominant with their front four, the depth stood out to me.

Like every time I'm watching the ball snap, it's a different combination of numbers along that defensive front. You've got Mason Graham, Chris Jenkins, Kenneth Grant at defensive tackle. At the edge spots, you've got Jalen Harrell, Josiah Stewart, Derek Moore, Braylon McGregor. These guys are rotating in and out throughout the game. And the sack production wasn't great last night, but look at Michael Penix at the end of the game, limping with the left ankle sprain, grabbing onto it. It looked like a cracked rib right in the fourth quarter. And it wasn't – what did they finish with, one sack I think it was?

I mean, if you watch him physically, how disrupted he was, you would have thought, well, he was sacked six, seven times in that game, right? I mean, Michigan had the five sacks in the first half against Jalen Milrow against Alabama in the semifinal. It wasn't the sack production. It was the constant pressure. And it was from the interior. And then it was from coming on the edges.

And it was throwing him off his mark. If you really study his throws, and I went back early this morning and watched it. That's why I'm five minutes late coming on the podcast for you. I apologize. I was studying the throws early this morning. There were very few, Rye, where he was sitting there and could step up in the pocket, follow through, you know, transitioning his weight from back to front and actually, you know, drive the football the way he's used to driving the

football. And we'll get into the NFL draft stuff. But when people see Penix in the semifinal game and say, well, why isn't he a first rounder part of a good part of it might be the, might be the, the durability issues, which we saw crept in, crept into the, into play last night. But also if you take away his ability to hang in the pocket and throw on time and have protection around him, he can become, I don't want to say ordinary by any stretch, but he can become a lot less easy to to say ordinary by any stretch, but he can become a lot

less easy to deal with. And that front, you know, they came in with the combination of those six guys, or seven guys I just listed off, right? The defensive tackles and edge guys, 32 and a half sacks coming into the game combined, and they all had production, none of them being like a 10, 12 sack guy. They consistently disrupted, and that made the lives of the of the secondary easier and it allowed Michigan to play that softer coverage over the top and take away the deep ball that that Pennix and and you know McMillan and and Odunze and all those great receivers have lived off of they've thrived off that all year long yeah Grant had the only sack but sacks can be a big lie you know years that's Nick Saban's

biggest thing right he always yells at me about that because I talked to you know all the edge rushers he's had over the years he's like I don't he's like sacks are the most overrated stat in in football he's like pressure pressure pressure that's all that matters and we saw that in this game last night first quarter Michigan runs for 170 yards on nine carries. And the Edwards one when they're behind the sticks and you're like, man, he got stuffed and then bounced out and no one is there and he's not touched. Corum has the big run. I'm sure if you're Washington, whenever you get to the point of being able to watch the film, you're like, is it our guys came out too hyped? Because there was literally no gap contained at all in that first quarter where you're like, is it our guys came out too hyped because there was literally no gap contained at all in that first quarter where you just you're like, where where are you guys like you're all getting bottled up and then it's these free runs. And clearly they figured out something, you know, in the meat of this game in the middle part of it.

But at that point, it was so horrifying. They're going like, what's going to happen here? And look, the old line had some plays too there was one play I think it was like the first thing after the first play after um let me see here it might have been after the pick to start the second half there was two old linemen like they're two interior linemen with 10 yards down the field just chucking guys out of the way but I think that first quarter as dominant as it was for Michigan has to be the thing the staff for washington looks back and he's just incredibly frustrated being like the first 15 minutes our defensive like nobody was in their assignments and it was

it was just at that point it's like you know you've given up this many points like this is going to get ugly i almost thought watching it that washington was playing and i again went back and studied the coach copy tape they were almost too worried about discipline and not just just playing just like playing loose and fast if you look at the adjustments they they brought up another safety more consistently especially on first downs and second downs uh in the second quarter third quarter fourth quarter and the adjustments were made. I mean, you look at they averaged 19 yards per carry,

obviously kind of a twisted stat because of the three long runs in the first quarter. And then the rest of the game, it was just over four yards per carry. So Washington made the adjustment. Unfortunately, it was so bad in the first quarter that it was too little too late for three quarters, which is rare to say. But watching Washington early on, they were so obsessed with being gap sound that ironically, it prevented, like the linebackers weren't firing gaps. They weren't playing aggressive. They were so worried that, all right, we're playing Michigan. They're going to line up and jumbo packages. They're going to, you know, they're going to bring in a third

tackle at times. They're going to have two or three tight ends in. We've got to make sure we have our gap assignments and everyone was doing their, trying to do their job, but no one was doing it aggressively enough. Then they brought in more, you know, additional help, more seven, eight man boxes and in the third a second third and they were showing it too like they were getting out of it a lot but it was clear that they were like let's just at least like show that we have numbers here yes yes exactly and and i to me like you saw in the second quarter linebackers finally being like all right i'm gonna take a chance and and shoot a gap and see if we can disrupt more. There was more like kind of laying back, holding on to blocks and hoping.

And I think Blake Corum, if you really watched it early on, Blake Corum is so patient, right? And he's a powerful runner and he's got great vision. And so he came in early in the game and he was picking up five, six yards at a time. But they were, you know, they were in their gaps and they weren't giving up the big plays. And then Edwards comes in and in the one, one of the two long runs, when you talked about it, when he ran into the offensive line, then cut back, he didn't have the patience that Corum had, but his speed, I think it shocked Washington.

It's like, all right, we're so used to Corum and what we've watched on tape. And it's like, you know, if we're in the right position, we might give up four or five or six yards, but we're not going to give up a big play. Let's, let's be where we need to be. And then all of a sudden Edwards comes in those two long runs. It was like, holy shit. Like he's doing something that Corum doesn't do. And Edwards hasn't been Edwards, you know, the vast majority of the season. He was the biggest difference in the game to me, at least in the first half, because that change of pace, that speed that Edwards had through Washington completely off guard, their, their, you know, their pursuit angles were killed. They just, they couldn't track him and

they couldn't get back in position. So that game plan from Sherrod Moore, from Jim Harbaugh to come out and pound it. And you got to believe too, all week long, like you look for motivation. Michigan won the Joe Moore award, the best offensive line in college football the past two years. And now, now all of a sudden it gets ripped from them. And that's what they've built this program on. You know, early on it was Jim Harbaugh and Shea Patterson, and we're going to do more spread and all that. And when he got back to his roots of what we did at Stanford, what I did at San Francisco, like who I am, and they brought in different coaches and they focused more on the power run game, that's when they started to ascend outside of that COVID year in 2020. But Michigan, the

identity of this team is its offensive line. And to know that they're going up against Washington and the defensive line trying to prove that we've got the best offensive line and Michigan's offensive line coming in with an edge, you could see early on, it was, we're going to make a point of this, that we are the best offensive line in the country, and we are going to line up. We're going to get hat on hat. It's going to be old school football. It may not be sexy. It may not be a lot of fun for television, but we're going to line up. We're going to get hat on hat. It's going to be old school football. It may not be sexy. It may not be a lot of fun for television, but we're going to do it our way.

And that's what they did. And they sent a big message in that first quarter. Yeah, if you look at Harbaugh's entire run, like when everybody is falling in love with this spread, it's like, yeah, but have you played Stanford yet? And that's what I appreciated so much about Stanford at the time. You know, there was a time, I think, with Wisconsin as well, where it's like, I kind of like, you know,

the reason I love college football so much is that there were still times where you felt like teams had real identity styles. That's how they recruited. And because they recruited that way, that's how they had to play. Now, when you didn't score, you know, boosters get mad because it's like, I'd rather lose 42- 35 than not be able to score 20 points every single week right it worked at stanford um and to see with michigan you're like

well you know michigan's had its own deal like i always felt like when oregon showed up to ann arbor i think in 07 and looked like a track team running around they were like all right we need we need to catch up with everybody else and then you bring in rich rod rich rodriguez because he he was kind of the guy you know he was one of the early architects of a lot of this stuff however however he inherited uh the influence of offensive styles so the reason i'm bringing it up is like to see it all come full circle, to see Jim flirt with different things and then to come back. And I don't know if this proves, hey, there could be this shift. You know, sometimes something will happen. It's like, you know what, just get back to old school football and have awesome D lines

and have awesome offensive lines. Maybe this was just their year and the way that was going to work out. They're going to beat everybody anyway. so i don't think there's going to be some some shift now philosophically for college football teams to want to look like this all the time because it's you know look it's probably hard to recruit it's not only so many of these dudes is the problem right right but that's that's what i love about the harbaugh story you know like he's an interesting cat we both had times with him uh you probably more so than I have you know after the game you never really know you're like what what is he but whatever it is it works you know and now this is the fourth time it's worked and that's like it's not a long resume of like no matter where you go with this guy and granted

in Michigan it took longer than everybody expected, but it actually happened. And there's a long list of people where this doesn't even come close to happening, even when you think you have the right guy. So I don't know if there's more that you can tell us about his philosophy and conversations with him, the team building part of this. We touched on how this is like the year three, a culmination of everything they've been through. He called these, this core stalwarts.

You look at the career starts, there's like 600 starts with these guys. I don't know if there's more that I haven't pointed out that you want to share about him and how Michigan got here. He's, he's such a quirky dude, right? That he turns off a lot of people nationally.

Even just watching him in the interviews that he's had this past week, he's very clearly trying to avoid any questions about what the future is and not take any of the spotlight away from his players and what this season has been. He's always testing the boundaries. Of all the coaches I've been around, I don't think a coach has asked me more questions. And it's not because of me. He's also asking, in production meetings,

Brian Greasy questions. He's asking, you know, he's asking, like he's always trying to figure out another angle. And I even go back and laugh about, like the stories I've heard him tell about Halloween and how it's a competition in his house and like it's not about the it's not about the costumes and going out to parties like the harbaugh family like literally like it's a competition to see who can get the most candy on on halloween and that like it doesn't surprise me some of the things that's happened this year and that he's kind of in that gray area when it comes

to recruiting and the in the sign stealing and all that and I don't know yeah I'm not even getting into that I'm just saying being around him and I've spent more time I don't want to say more but like I've spent a lot it's we we had so many Michigan games I was part of them I actually got in trouble at ESPN I was part of of that big recruiting thing. He called me in to help and spend a weekend in Ann Arbor and not help recruit, but to be there. And they were putting on a big show. And my grandfather worked at Michigan, and I thought it was okay to go.

And then ESPN called and was like, don't we pay you a paycheck? And I was like, I didn't get money. And they were still mad at me. I've been around Jim a good amount. he's just so inquisitive and he's, his brain works different than most guys. And I mean that in a positive way, when it comes to coaching that he, he doesn't leave anything on turn.

He's never satisfied with, okay, we've got the answers. And so it's always, what can we do a little bit better? How, how can we compete? And I think players, I mean, you listen to players, they adore this guy because they know that he's doing every single day he's fighting for just some competitive edge that can make them better. And to have guys like Blake Corum come back when they didn't need to come back and could have gone on to the NFL,

a lot of players go back to Michigan because they love the environment. They love what's going on there. They love the way they're treated. They love the way they're pushed properly. They love the privacy of every practice. They love how everything's insulated there. And I think the little things that he has done over the course of the last five years, the coaching changes were the biggest thing, bringing in younger coaches, more innovative coaches, guys that kind of were, you know,

were ahead of the curve instead of reacting to the curve and then trusting those guys. You know, when you're Jim Harbaugh, those types of coaches can be power freaks and take control of everything. That's not his deal, man. Like if he trusts you and you earn his trust, he's going to let you run your stuff. And I think that's what a lot of great coaches in college football and the NFL do, but you've got to earn that trust. And he finally got a staff where he could take a step back and he was forced to take a step back twice this year. Right. But he can take a step back even when he's the head guy on the field and doing everything and say, you run your deal. I'm here to like support it. I'm here to like support it I'm here to help you I'm going to make decisions on

fourth downs I'm going to you know tell you the things that a head coach needs to tell you but you run your deal and and he's allowed the young coaches to run their run their side of the ball and I would argue there isn't a team in college football with better coordinators and assistant coaches than Michigan. And it showed this year. As good as the regular season is, there's nothing like NFL Super Wild Card weekend. Six games, three days. For these teams, it's win or go home.

But you'll always have a spot in the playoffs with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. FanDuel has so many ways for you to pick up a W. Okay, looking at the lines for this week, I think there's probably a lot of people that are going to want to bet Kansas City at home, Cleveland and Houston. Good luck with that one.

The Pittsburgh Buffalo number is massive. Buffalo's minus 10 on FanDuel right now. Dallas, if you're looking at them at home against Green Bay, they seem like a completely different team. Green Bay plus 7.5 feels a little tasty, or the Rams a little overrated. Going into Detroit, plus 3.5 in that one. You know what I'm going to do?

I'm going to lay the three points of Philadelphia against Tampa on the road. Now, I don't love it. I don't love it. A Tampa team that went from 4-7 to 9-8 to close out and win the division. But baked in there, Carolina twice, Atlanta once, Jacksonville once, and then the loss to New Orleans. They did beat Green Bay, which is probably the best win

because that one was on the road and Jacksonville was at home there. But maybe just a bit of a dead cat bounce from the Eagles here. Only laying three on the road in the playoffs, despite how we feel about a team that's maybe, with that talent, the most disappointing in the NFL. So if you want to follow my pick,

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NFL. 21 and older and present in select states. First online real money wager. Only $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable. Bonus bets expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. I think we should at least spend a minute on, you know, if you're just, if you hate Michigan, you're going to be like, well, whatever.

You know, they cheated and years from now now we won't look at this the same i mean it's it's up for every one of us like i don't want instructions with everything and how i'm supposed to feel um i probably if you've listened to me feel like man you know you seem kind of dismissive of the whole thing and i i probably am even if I think some of their explanation is bullshit and I think this is where Harbaugh gets into trouble is after the win when he's asked about it and he's like we were innocent and it's like okay but you also accepted a three-game suspension you accepted it I think the bigger thing at play here was the Big Ten did not want to get in the way of one of its own potentially winning a national championship especially with the SEC having the run that they've had for the last two decades and by the way the sec would do

the exact same thing so you know it was a bit like when ohio state when they had that weird covid season and they had a rule about how many games you would have to play and to be eligible and then it was like oh actually we're just going to change the rule here and i'm not criticizing the big 10 for doing it because i don't know that any conference. It's a business, man. Right. Exactly. Like, oh, wait, do we want to eliminate one of our own teams, but just as we were playing for national championship, we're going to play in the play.

How about we don't do that? Right. But with Harbaugh going, maybe I think probably too far for some to say, well, wait a minute. What do you mean we're innocent? What does that mean? Now, as far as like the team and the kids, I don't love some of the explanations. I think some of it's bullshit, but it's also kind of PR bullshit. But I also

watched them play. You know, I watched them play these two playoff games. They're the national champ for me. And, you know, if people want to dump on the Lakers bubble title, that's up to you to go ahead and do it. Like it's a real NBA ring for me. And that's how I'll normally, uh, if not always look at, at some of these gray area conclusions that we have to come to for a team winning a title. Let me ask you this, right? Had, had all this controversy come out, let's say next week and all the evidence that we saw early in the season about sign stealing and cheating and all that stuff, would it be a different opinion for you if it came out now and we saw evidence of it or perceived evidence like we did of it happening against Penn State, Ohio State, Alabama, Washington? Sign stealing in football, you have a hard time convincing me

that you're this rogue agent. Clearly, it feels like Michigan, whatever understood level of cheating goes on, it feels like they went above and beyond. They crossed the line. But even that, there's never going to be a part of me that's sitting here today going like, oh, they're not my title they're not my okay but let's you know even even for those out there i

know what you're saying right like have i ever already have i become desensitized to it because you've already processed this story for months and months and months and the only reason i'm bringing it up now is because like hey it's the end of season the whole thing is done like i want to have a final say on it with you on it i also know in all the years that you and i traveled like you telling me like these guys are awesome at stealing signs yeah you know about all these other programs are like everybody knows they can steal these guys the right way right right right there's no question there's no question i mean there's enough evidence and i've talked to enough people that inside college football and not just people who are spiteful and like they cross the

line sure there's no question about okay but everyone's trying to do it they just they cross the line and wind up wind up doing it better my point is this like if you're gonna sit here now and say oh this is it's tainted put an asterisk on it my my response to it is, and I don't have a horse in the race. My response to it is, okay, you found out about it, you shut it down. And then they went on, who did they play early in the season that it mattered? They were going to beat all those teams no matter what. They beat their opponents by over like 20 points per game. I think it was like 28 point something points a game for the vast majority of the season. But when they played Penn state without Jim Harbaugh and with all the, you know, with, with all the, the media frenzy on them, they weren't stealing signage signs and cheating and whatever, however you want to phrase it. Right. Against Ohio state, they were doing it the way

that everyone else is doing it. They weren't testing the line. Against Alabama, against Washington. So to me, there was a punishment there. I do believe, just as an innocent bystander, and I have probably more information than the average person, but I don't have all the information. I do believe that they crossed the line and it was inappropriate and they did more than almost everyone,

if not every other team in college football to steal signs. But at the end of the day, if you go out and beat Penn State, beat Ohio State, beat Alabama, beat Washington, and you're doing it within the parameters. Like to me, there's no argument here anymore. That's my point. My point is to say that J.J. McCarthy, Blake Corum, Donovan Edwards, Roman Wilson, all those defensive linemen, Mikey Sanmarsville, to say to those guys and to have it in their brains that people think it's tainted is bullshit. It really is. They're the competitors. They're on the field. They weren't cheating. If they were given more information than they should have had,

it was against teams that they were going to beat no matter what. And this year, when they made their championship run, they weren't doing those things that most of us deemed to be crossing the line. So this, to me, is absolutely the best team in college football. It was proven on the field, and they weren't cheating while doing it, is my whole point. Okay. Let's talk J.J. McCarthy.

When they were backed up deep, third down, and he runs it out for 22 yards, I was like, man, that might be the biggest play of the game. I don't think it ended up being the biggest play of the game. It was one of them, though. Flipping the field because they didn't score on that drive, but flipping the field was obviously very important. But I'm left with another J.J. game where I know you like him more than I do.

I can't look at the numbers. I can't look at the numbers. I thought he got off to a nice start with some of his throws. His athleticism is clear. I even texted you early on. I was like, he's dealing tonight. Seriously, from that text on? When I texted you, it was a ball that was well defended,

and it wasn't a completion, but the perfect throw rolling out to the right. I think it was to one of his tight ends. Ball was right there. I was like, he's dealing tonight. Like he's on a roll. And literally from that text on, he was one of the most average players on the field.

Yeah, because even the Loveland throw, which I give JJ credit for this. He was about to get crushed from his right side. His arm even got touched a little, and he got out enough. So to say that that was a missed target, I mean, it's more of a credit for Loveland going up and getting the ball. I fucking love that guy. He is special.

I mean, I'm not saying he's going to be Brock Bowers, but he's like the closest thing in college football to Bowers. Now, I mean, look, if he played a different offense, I think he might be. They didn't really need him, but there's just too many times this year where like certain plays and catches to him i'm like man what a what a safety valve for him because you know even with the receivers not you know even being close to washington's receivers um you know you still think he would get more touches but it was a great catch that was a huge play it was also

under a lot of pressure so i don't look at that as like a JJ miss. Um, all right. So we're like the, and I know we're going to do more on Pennix and we're going to get to a mock here at the back end. Um, I know that you're watching everything. The teams are watching everything. I don't know how much a national title game would sway it. And if you've watched Michigan this year, don't look for huge numbers with JJ McCarthy. Like don't look for huge numbers with JJ McCarthy. Don't look for him because they're not going to be there because they didn't need him to be that guy. And yeah, I think other than the run in the second half, he was a lot looser than he was to start the game. He's a tough evaluation, right? Because in every game, there are moments of brilliance. There are flashes like, oh, this is who this guy could be but in every game you're like is he developed enough as a passer is he consistent enough as

a passer like let's not overthink this let's not get into mechanics let's not get into you know all these different things i there every single game i watch like that's that's the top end that play right there are those three plays are what he can be. And that's why he's got a chance to be a good starting quarterback in the NFL. And then there are three or four throws, maybe five throws where you're like, damn, he's not there yet. to school, will that help him? Well, he's played a lot of ball. From a mental standpoint, he's intelligent enough to make that jump. He's got more athleticism than people think. He can make a lot of good throws, especially rolling to the right, but the consistency isn't there. So then you have to go back and ask yourself the other question. Is it because they're not dropping? If he's in a Pennix offense, if he's in an offense where they're throwing the ball 25, 30, 35 times a game, is he more consistent because he's in a rhythm

and he's out there getting the reps? And like anyone who's played the quarterback position at any level will tell you like when you get going and you're in a rhythm and you're throwing the ball like two out of every three downs, it's a lot easier. You just, you're in a rhythm and you're throwing the ball like two out of every three downs, it's a lot easier. You just you're in you're in you have a feel for the game. The timing is better. You just you feel like you get me in shotgun. Let's throw the ball five out of six times.

I'm going to be more accurate versus like run the ball three out of four times. And then we're going to work a play action to surprise them. I don't want to say it's rusty, but it just doesn't have that feeling. So I keep struggling with McCarthy because I think he's going to be a more productive pro and have better numbers, if you will, than he was in college because of his role in college. But I still struggle with, is he consistent enough?

He made the comment at the end of the game, he's like, the hard part, I forget exactly his words, I'll paraphrase, but something along the lines of the only thing that's difficult, difficult about tonight is knowing that we're not all going to be back. This group isn't going to be playing together again. Basically like this is the last time that this group is playing together again. Now he does have another year of eligibility. He can come back, but I don't think he's going to. And to me, McCarthy, like I would draft him late first, early second, and, and hope that he's the flashes of brilliance that you see and hope

that he can, when thrown into an NFL offense, he picks it up quickly. I think he will. And that he'll develop more consistency in terms of his ball placement. But I wouldn't use a top 15, maybe even a top 20 pick on him because I just don't have enough video evidence for lack of a better phrase to, to trust what I'm seeing. Does that make sense? It does. I want to ask another question here because, you know, a big part of his mental health has been shared on the broadcasts. And I always think about like, okay, I wonder what football people think of this. And it may sound like insensitive to whatever it is that he's gone through throughout high school

and the mental coach. And, you know, we started seeing that. There was the mental check-in before the fourth quarter. See the footage of him taking his shoes off so that he can feel grounded, so that his feet are touching the grass. And then he meditates at the goalpost. Give me a percentage of which nfl teams are super into that versus the ones that are like i i think we're seeing a shift and it's it's probably long overdue

um and you have you have no choice. Well, you do have, you have two choices. You can, you can be disgusted by today's athlete and the NIL deals and the entitlement and the mental health aspect of it. And I think you've even seen it in the NBA. Correct me if I'm wrong. Like, and I think the world, big time, big time. I think it's, it's become, it's become great. You know, I think the awareness uh the sympathy i think that part is great for anybody that's gone through something or or has has loved

ones you know people they care about uh that have gone through things but i also think there's a limit on how much co- like, you know, now I feel like I'm making this too big now and I don't want to like get on it. I just was watching it and I've seen it, you know, throughout the year and towards the end, a big part of the storytelling, which I think it's great, but I can't help myself going, I wonder how evaluators feel about it.

I wonder about guys in the room having to make a decision with a quarterback being like, all right, are all of us on the same page with this? I know this for a fact. There are plenty of old guard people that are still around that are like you know you're soft right i mean that's the implication you're soft you have to sit there with your bare feet and ground yourself like there are plenty of those guys still around the good news is they're being weeded out or they're having they're being forced to have a mental shift and i think the country i, I think the world, I think in a positive way, I think we've all kind of come to the consensus. Like this is a real problem. Human beings are human beings.

So let's embrace this. Let's, let's take away that stigma and, and credit to JJ, how many guys that at that age are, have enough self-confidence to actually go out there and expose themselves and make themselves vulnerable? That to me, and I'll be totally honest, if you want to have a real moment, like 10 years ago, I would have been like, that dude's soft. I don't want him on my team. Thank God I've been around enough intelligent people and I've had my view shift and I've had, you know, we've all had our own issues and different things we've dealt

with in our lives that it's allowed me to understand and not only say, okay, that's acceptable, but applaud that dude and say, he's strong. Like I want that, that he's strong enough to do that with all those reporters and cameras on. And by the way, anyone who's out there, and I saw plenty of it on Twitter and social media last night, said, look at him trying to get attention. No, he did it against garbage teams that they played against. This is his thing. And that helps him.

That's his mental process. So I applaud him and I view him as stronger than the average guy, than the average prospect coming in because he's so grounded in what he's doing. He's such a believer in his mental process that he's willing to go out there and expose himself and be vulnerable. So I think the shift in the NFL is happening. It has happened with a lot of organizations and with the leaders of organizations.

But I'd be lying to you if I said that I won't talk to scouts who are like that dude's soft. It happens, but I'm, but it's not the right mindset. And those are the guys that are going to wind up getting left behind and are in the process of getting left behind to be totally frank. Okay. Let's finish with Pennix. Uh, you watched the coach's tape. I obviously did not. Um, I had it as as five misses we were arguing about misses last night on our texts it wasn't it wasn't a heated debate i i always like to text todd like he said he had two misses and i was like i didn't grade the first one as a miss i just like to say that sentence to mcshay um because people were people were blaming him for the adunze second read uh in the end zone

thing and i i thought he got bumped a bit. Yeah, he got bumped, but it was an overshot. All right. Well, I think the timing of that is so thrown off, especially with being the second read. I mean, we want to talk second reads. If I were more trollish, I would have been like, despite who wins tonight,

the most impressive thing I've seen all season is Penix pointing out the Adunze hold on the end zone and then getting to McMillan on that throw from left to right uh for the touchdown we thought hey maybe Washington is going to get back into this thing Michigan hasn't been able to pull away as dominant as they've been in the first half I interrupted or I kept going so what do you have to say because there is a question there about Penix because I had it as five I had it as five misses I think it's the second worst game he played all season after the Arizona State

game. Yeah, I would agree with that. Listen, if you want to go dissect, we can dissect a bunch of throws. The biggest play, the biggest missed opportunity for Washington was that what should have been a corner route by Odunze when he broke it off. Because a lot of times both guys can be right, but both guys can be wrong. And I thought that this is a classic case. That's a cover two where the cornerback is playing the flat, right, underneath. The safety, I think it was Rod Moore,

the safety got caught inside and he was out of position. But even if the safety is in the proper position but even if the safety is in the proper well if the safety is in the proper position Odunze runs the corner route but what happened was he got to the top of his stem the top of his route where you can break in you know post in out with all that stuff at the top of his stem and saw that the safety had gone with one of the inside receivers and was like hey i'm wide open and kind of hands up the problem for pennix was even if even if you're wide open you're still like this is a cover two the second they showed cover two doesn't matter where that safety went you got to run a corner route that's the option read on this that like it is a hundred out of a hundred times run the corner route okay he doesn't run the corner route he kind of he leverages it

off and kind of stays and stays down the seam more and you saw it was a it was a miss by inches had Odunze run his route that you're supposed to run against cover two and and get you know more flat to the corner towards the sideline, it's a completion like it is 99 other times on that play. He was wide open, saw the safety go, and was just like, put it on me. So there's blame on a dunes, a run your route against that coverage, the ball's going to be where it's supposed to be. Then there's blame on pennix. This is the other part. Yes, the ball's supposed to go there, but you got a receiver wide open, put it on him, just put it on him. So it wasn't everyone said,

oh, he's off target tonight. He's not accurate. That wasn't the case. It was the receiver was not where he was supposed to be. And it was just because of a fluke situation that occurred, but that play was critical. Other than that, my takeaway is, and it's what we've kind of known about Pennix, he's got some mobility in terms of pocket mobility, but when you bottle him up and you take away those deep things like Michigan did, that's when he becomes pretty, I don't want to say ordinary, but that's when he becomes beatable. And that's exactly what Michigan did. And as a pro evaluator, projecting him to the next level,

you always want to look at what can he do? What makes him special? What's the NFL comp? What can he be if he has the right supporting cast and is in the right system? But then you also have to look at, and a lot of great general managers that I've talked to and have had the good fortune of spending time with, there always has to be this conversation. Every great GM that I respect focuses on this. I want to know the positive. I want to know who he can be if he has the right

system and the right supporting cast. But I also need to know, if he fails, why is he going to fail? And with Penix, you have two very obvious things. First is durability because there's a history of it. And because of his style of play, not being able to protect himself with that mobility. And second is if you do what Michigan did, get pressure on him, doesn't have to be sacks, but get pressure on him, take him off his be sacks, but get pressure on him, take him off his spot and take away that deep ball, that first, second read, drive the ball down the field, then he becomes beatable. And so now we know why he's going to fail. And you got to weigh that as a general manager. From a talent standpoint, when things are going right, you can argue he's

the best pure passer in this class. Caleb Williams is special in his own regard. Drake May is special in his own regard. But if you're talking pure pocket passers, I think Penix is the best pure pocket passer in this class. But I know too many ways that he could fail. And that's why, is he a first rounder? Yeah, maybe, possibly, mid to late first round. But if he falls to the second round, it's because of those two reasons that you're scared of. And it's going to keep you up at night as a general manager saying, if I'm drafting him in the first round, trying to get that fifth year option for a quarterback, because you want him to be your franchise quarterback, you're saying, okay, am I willing to give up all of that for a quarterback that I'm not sure is going to be the guy for the next 10

years? That's why a lot of guys you see, you force them into the first round because you want that fifth-year option, but ultimately, if you don't believe in that guy and you think that there's enough reasons why he might not succeed, then you go to the second, third round with all those other quarterbacks. That's why you see a lot of guys forced into the first that don't pan out, and then a lot of teams say, in the second round, if I didn't love him enough to take him in the first,

let's just wait until the third. He's going to be a fascinating case study on whether a team believes that they can protect him physically and protect his weakness because if you can get the most out of Michael Penix he's got a chance to be a really good pro yeah look um I I figure with Washington especially after the Sugar Bowl you're like, the pennix to either one of those receivers, that's good for 14 points. And it wasn't the case at all last night. They hit Rome, the holding penalty, they got called back, they finally hit them a little bit later.

But even with some moments of slight confusion, not really burning Michigan that much to hold up against that passing attack all night. It's massive credit to the defensive coaching staff, the prep and the players and the secondary, never feeling that that was a real threat when that's exactly who Washington has been. So two quick things before we finish up here.

If you were Harbaugh, which NFL job would you take? Because look, everybody thought he was gone two years ago. This has been going on for months in our world. we finish up here um if you were harbaugh which nfl job would you take because look everybody thought he was gone two years ago this has been going on for months in our world we're like oh he's gone he's gone he's gone he doesn't want to deal with this ncaa stuff anymore um i you know i don't know you never know what this guy but it feels like he changed his representation he's with don yee now which is a serious player and all. So I think that should be factored into it and that he could have multiple opportunities here. If you were him and you were dead set on going to the NFL, which team would you choose? I would look at the Washington situation

with new ownership, with the people that they have in place making decisions. And I would consider that. And the fact that they have the number two pick in the draft, and it could be Caleb Williams, Drake May. Over Chicago. Yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, Chicago would absolutely be, yes, Chicago would be a strong possibility. I don't know if it's because I think he's going to go there,

and because I know his love for Justin Herbert, but I think the Chargers is the most likely. And how great would it be to see Harbaugh coaching Justin Herbert and some of the talent that they have? That organization is just plagued. I don't know if it's a training regimen, whatever it is, but the injuries that they seem to have, I'd say more so than any other team in the league. But the talent is there. To me, that would make a lot of sense too. So you look for those first two teams in the draft,

Chicago, Washington, but I think the Chargers, and I've heard Las Vegas. If I'm going to make that decision and leave a place that I love and something that I've built, I also like, it's easier to coach in the NFL these days because of the NIL and because of recruiting and because of the transfer portal and all the other stuff. And I know he's pissed off at, at the big 10 and, and, you know, other, a lot of other people in college football. So it makes sense that he's going to move on. And he accomplished his goal, right? But if I'm Jim Harbaugh, it's an easier life at this point. I did what I wanted to accomplish at Michigan.

I can stay at Michigan, and I've built something great. And I can turn this into a Nick Saban run if I want to chase that or what Kirby Smart's doing at Georgia. I've got an opportunity to do that. But do I want to go back to the NFL and achieve the ultimate goal there and try to win a Superbowl? And if I do, am I trusting that I'm going to bring in a rookie quarterback and develop him?

I just think it would be, it would be fascinating if coaching Herbert and brought staff with him to do what he wants to do. So I ultimately, I do think he leaves. I think he's had enough and judging by how evasive he was how funny by the way you know look he's got a point though you know hey can i enjoy this right now look you have to ask that question um i mean those rumors have been going on like

really like from multiple people throughout the season i've been like hey you know he's gone you know he's gone i'm like all right well i heard the same thing two years ago and did they ever get him on van pelt last night i fell asleep waiting no they did did you watch it how was it it was great it was great like everybody likes scott so it's a really like you get some of these guys who in different situations maybe aren't going to be as good. And I think there's just such an affection for Scott who's doing it for two plus decades that when they come on, it's like the guys are excited.

They're just a looser version of themselves. I've seen more consistently. Yeah, no, 100%. All of those guys. I mean, I knew it would be great. I just didn't know if he was as evasive with Scott as he has been with everybody else over the last two weeks.

Look, I remember when he was at Stanford and I got him on a phoner, and I had already met him like three times. I'd shown up to the hotel for a game day radio, you know, trudge over there with your little microphone and wait and, you know, feel like a fucking loser just sitting there getting the audio. You know, I remember sitting in Stoops' office being like, what's going on in your defense, man?

You know, it's like great idea what you fail to realize ryan and i was like uh oh but it was funny you know because we went from like not liking stoops at all to like then all of us liked them um but with harbaugh once i was i kind of did like i i asked the question that had to be asked about leaving for the nfl and then I couldn't let it go. He's like, well, you're kind of badgering me now a little bit. I was just like, what? Nobody does that. Earlier, I told you the story about getting in trouble with ESPN, going and doing this recruiting thing and kind of hosting a show,

and had built a relationship with Jim, right? And then I'm doing this sideline analyst thing and, and I've got to ask questions. And he had said all week, like he's not doing, I forget what it was that there's always seems to be like a controversy or a problem or something like that. He said all week, he wasn't going to talk, but I I'm like, he's going to, he'll talk to me. Like he'll at least answer a question. Cause I, I, I don't know. I put myself in jeopardy of my job. Like I've been texting and calling with him. Like I know Jim, I've had great meetings with Jim and I go to get him at halftime and like the camera's on us. Right. So not only is he like turning me down,

like the national, like ABC three 30 game, probably two, two and a half million people watching. Not only does he not do the interview he stands there looks at me and i'm like hey coach and he looks at me and kind of gives me this disgust look and then turns his back to me and runs away and i was like all right i'm done you know like you just never you never know what you're gonna get with jim but honestly the comic relief i had all week was watching Jim just avoid the social awkwardness of like, he's just so afraid that they're going to ask that question. And I understand why.

And he's trying to avoid it because it should be about his players. But talking about each piece of confetti as a story and running away from the mics all week, I don't know if everyone else saw it the way I did, but I thought it was one of the funniest things of all of college football this past two weeks. Okay, let's do it. The draft order is set for at least the non-playoff teams. We'll get McShay's top 10 right now. All right, here we go. Number one, Chicago's got this pick from Carolina. I think they go with Caleb Williams, the USC quarterback. Drake May absolutely is in play. Everyone's talking about Justin Fields, the great end of the season he's had. I get it. But if you just boil it down from a business

standpoint, even if you think Justin's going to continue to build on this, you talk about the money that you're going to have to pay Justin for the next five years compared to the money that you're going to pay a Caleb Williams or a Drake May. It allows you to build your organization, continue to build and do what you did. You moved back last year. You got this pick. It's time to draft the quarterback of the future. I think the Bears at number one go with Caleb Williams. And if they don't, I think it'll probably be Drake May. Number two, Washington. It all fell apart this year. They made the trades. They're changing leadership, new organization, new owner. It's time to bring in their guy quarterback. If Caleb's gone, Drake May's the

guy coming out of North Carolina. If Drake May goes one, I think Caleb Williams is going to be the guy for Washington moving forward. So top two picks are quarterback. Then it gets real interesting, Ryan, right? The Patriots need a quarterback of the future, but you've got the best player in the draft, including all the quarterbacks and Marvin Harrison Jr. from Ohio State sitting there at number three. Let's say for these purposes, they go quarterback and take Jaden Daniels, but I'm not convinced that they don't just take the best player in this draft in Marvin Harrison Jr.

So that to me is going to be kind of the pressure point of this draft. Now, if Arizona is sitting there number four and they know who their quarterback is moving forward, so they're dying to get a difference maker for him. If Marvin Harrison Jr. is there, he's the pick. a difference maker for him. If Marvin Harrison Jr. is there, he's the pick. If Harrison Jr. goes, then you look at Malik Nabors as a possibility coming out LSU, a wide receiver. That to me would make the most sense, but I think it's going to be wide receiver at number four for Arizona if they don't move out of that spot. If Harrison Jr. is there, you take him. Then I get to the Chargers at number five. They've got a slew of different needs.

If Harbaugh's there, I could absolutely see them taking Brock Bowers. I think upgrading that tight end position is a possibility, getting another wide receiver is a possibility. So I would go, I think Malik Nabors could be a possibility there. I think Brock Bowers would be more likely just based off of his grade. So I'm going to go Georgia tight end Brock Bowers to the Chargers at five. Six, offensive tackle will be talked about. Joe Ault, also Olufesanu from Penn State. But I'm going to say they go edge rusher here. Maybe Dallas Turner, the edge rusher from Alabama. So the Giants take an edge in Dallas Turner. Can't get enough good pass rushers. I think offensive line continues to be in need,

but take the edge rusher and really build the depth of that defensive front. At seven, Tennessee Titans are sitting there. They take an offensive tackle is my projection. Olu Fashano, I mentioned him from Penn State. He and Joe Alt from Notre Dame are the top two offensive tackles and offensive linemen in this class the falcons at number eight this is a tough one they need a quarterback but if the top three guys and caleb williams drake may and uh jayden daniels are all off the board they're picking at eight again is this the third year in a row they're picking at eight i mean it's pretty crazy i think and they've already taken a tight end and a wide receiver at those eight you know slots and and now now in a running back in Bijan Robinson, do they go another offensive skill guy?

If they do, I'm going to pencil in Malik Nabors there, the wide receiver coming out of LSU. But we'll see what they wind up doing and could they move up to go get a quarterback. Then you got Chicago with their second pick in the top 10. This is, to me, this is where you get a wide receiver for a quarterback. Then you got Chicago with their second pick in the top 10. This is, to me, this is where you get a wide receiver for your quarterback. Romo Dunze would be the pick for me coming out of Washington. These wide receivers are going to go fast. There's a lot of talented guys this year, but I think it goes Marvin Harrison Jr., neighbors, then O'Dunze.

And then finally, at number 10, the Jets are sitting there. They'd be thrilled in this situation. It's very likely that the top two offensive tackles come off the board in the top nine picks. So Joe Walton might not be there, the Notre Dame offensive tackle, but if he's there, I think he would be the pick. Okay. That was awesome, man.

Appreciate the help throughout the college season and keep it rolling, man. Here in the playoffs. Alright, brother. You want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari, 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in theriolet. What's up?

I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. Email address is lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. We've got Kyle. We've got Steve.

Let's get to it. no dramatic follow-up no crime i still don't know what's going on with this woman in louisiana that everybody's talking about right now right have you guys seen this kyle you're not on this i don't think so i don't i don't know you know what that's all i got for you i don't even i don't remember her name now there's some show came out with some awful situation i mean the whole story is terrible but i feel like everybody i know is like hey have you seen this yet and you're like dude it's national championship game like what are you talking about get out of here like that fuck you think i'm doing you know all right here we go uh friend getting engaged after four months don't have many gym stats pick up game homeless man's memet or core unhoused memet or core uh i was writing in today looking for advice or maybe just to see if

any of you been in this situation a friend of mine i'll call him jack is planning on getting engaged to a woman i'll call her jill oh that's interesting um they met at the end of august 23 yes you read that correctly they met four months ago that's september october november december and yeah okay you know maybe a couple extra weeks pad it pad the stats by october they were already talking about rings and jack asked jill's family for permission over the holidays the ring is bought now he just has to ask her the family i guess the family says yes i mean none of us are old enough um or are are well suri's the only one with a kid so i can't really ask suri to get into the mind space of being the father of a daughter who's like you

know dating somebody right now it'd have to be longer than four months. You would tell a guy, no. I would just say, why now? That's great. You guys are really passionate about it. Let's see next summer. What's that look like? You didn't even get through one summer yet. You met in August.

What's the rush? You got to be out of here? You're going back to Canada? Can't come back back what's going on even though as we've we've dabbled with this topic i feel like people projecting how they know they're going to feel when they're older you know when you're younger and you're like oh exactly i'm gonna feel 30 40 and then 50 it's like no you'll be wrong i agree with saruti i think you knowing you you will in 25 30 years be like, no, if this were to present itself.

But this is pretty rare. So maybe you likely don't have to worry about it. And I could like the guy, too. And I would still say that. I could want my daughter to be like, oh, this is turning in the right direction. This would be great if they got married. But four months, that's insane to me. You don't even know each other.

Is that old school? married but four months is is is that's insane to me you don't even know is that is that old school like i'm trying to think like in like the 30s when a guy sees a girl like outside of a coffee shop he's like i'm gonna marry that girl it's like it's four months is that appropriate then you think or was there ever a time where four months because you couldn't like live together before right you should wwii yeah i mean back then they'd be getting married before they the steamers would set sail yeah yeah all right so maybe maybe it's just uh maybe it's an old school family i don't know they said yes yeah but i feel like a lot and listen i'm the divorce rates have gone you know they've skyrocketed so this isn't like the greatest point in the world but it also like

back then people would just be in marriages where they were miserable with each other and they just wouldn't get divorced so i don't know that that's the answer either no that's definitely not the answer i'm just i'm just saying what year did the four months become unacceptable i don't know because for a while it was acceptable way longer my whole life i don't i think four months i'm yeah i think your whole life for an 88 uh i don't i don't think it's ever been yeah hey that's that's that that's fine that's cool that makes sense all right i've got i've got i agree i've got the divorce rates by decade oh my god oh they probably yeah i mean they well late 19th century that's a while ago trust buster um less than one well well, no, no, no, 5%, 5%. So we got 5% there. The first 30 years of the 1900s,

so it's 11%. The 30s, it cranked up to 17%. The economy, it's all related. 40s, 28%. 50s and 60s, that's when we're feeling super patriotic, 24%. 70s, a little freedom, a little vibe in there, 40% divorce rate. 80s, 50% divorce rate. It's got to be the Coke. 90s, 44% divorce rate. 2000 to 2010, 37%. 2011 to 21, 30%. I bet you that last number, if this is too believed,

based on my 30 seconds of research, could be just less people getting married. That could be it. It could be. I was always told it's a coin flip, and I was blurting that out for the last 10 years about marriage. Turns out, not even really. It's actually been quite a bit less than a coin flip for a while.

So thanks for correcting that. 50-year low. Look at this. 50-year low. All right. Divorce rates. Helping people out. This is 2019.

It's getting better out there. Kids start getting engaged. Maybe that's why they did this. They're like, have you seen the numbers? It's trending in the right direction. Size does better in the NBA. That's right. I told him I would support him no matter what, but I can't help but thinking it's a mistake.

They're both only 25 years old, but he wants a wife and kids in the worst way. And I think that you could be clouding his judgment. I've told Jack, there's still plenty of time for that and make sure it's the right person, but he just keeps plowing ahead. I've met Jill a few times and she seems great, but there's just,

how can you really know? It's been four months. They aren't even in the honeymoon stage yet. And it seems like a lot of big red flag was that she was already talking about rings two months in maybe i'm just too paranoid but something doesn't pass the smell test to me am i being too narrow-minded or is this crazy as it seems to me any advice on anything to say to him like i said i'll support him no matter what i just don't want to see him set himself up for an avoidable agony um i would just let him do it you know like you don't know what's going on with two people

that are maybe feeling this connection in a very intense way for the first time ever in their lives. And sometimes, sometimes that can actually feel like it's a real thing. It can happen. I think it's ridiculous. I would never do it. And look at me, I've never even done the other version of it. So maybe I'm not the best person to ask, but I think ultimately like you being younger, you being in your twenties and you freaking out for him is, is really wasted energy for you, you know, cause he is, he is feeling something so intense right now and it feels so right um i don't think he can be talked out of it you know if he you know some people desperate i think

there's just i shouldn't say some there's a lot of people that really like think i remember my roommate in college shout out to mcgurk he used to go like i can't wait to have my own family and cook burgers and be out on the back deck and do summer vacations together and hit the beach on the weekends. He's like, I can't wait. And he was like 19. And I was like, what the fuck is wrong with you? You know? And the thing is.

I could wait for that. Yeah. But no, I think it's looking back. I'm like, how awesome is it that he felt that great and that passionate about it at such an early age? Like to me, that's an admirable quality that passionate about it at such an early age like that to me that's an admirable quality that that makes him a better person than most that he was that young going i couldn't i can't wait to be this excited about the whole thing and i thought i didn't understand it then looking back i realized how cool that was that he was kind of wired that way

so the point is like look you're not wrong the emailer to me is not wrong here to have these concerns and it seems ridiculous again i wouldn't tell anybody you know what you should do is try to find somebody to get engaged to within just months of knowing them but whatever is going on between this couple right now is so intense like your your powers are not strong enough for this you can't you can't beat this level so don't even bother go back and power up you know or don't even don't even play it yeah this like it's not like he's thinking about he's asked the parents right so you already know that part he's like it's not just like some crazy idea he's got after you guys are

halfway through a 30 rack or something and it's like whoa but it's not that like he's already he's taken the steps they're into it i think this isn't beyond some crafty jokes i think if you really sat down and you know thought about some funny jokes that you could say to him in passing that when he would get the point but you're not like sitting him down seriously and be like have you really considered this like honestly let's just lay it all out here just doesn't seem very smart at all hidden with divorce statistics or whatever like i think it's just it's not beyond a crafty, funny joke. Like, you can figure out the best way to drop this.

And maybe it's even in the group chat of your friends if you have one of those or not. But I don't think, I don't know. Maybe it's just like, hey, man, maybe just get some cheap suits for the wedding. Because if I'm in your party, I don't want to be dropping $700 on a suit if we're going to be doing this

in a couple of years or something. Maybe that's a mean version of that joke but like maybe like you could figure it out i think that's totally fine that yeah with kyle saying that i'm trying to figure out like how how my friend group we've got it's like there's really five of us and you know it's been known to like be a little aggressive in the group chat with making fun of dudes and how how like we would handle this i definitely know one of my buddies would just constantly make jokes about it and i think i don't think that's even like a bad thing like if you're gonna get married to someone after four after four months of knowing them or at least engaged i should say uh you have

to know that you're gonna get some shit right and you have to know who's supposed to testify against you yeah what's going on you have to know there are gonna be some questions like like I'm a little bit suspicious of the I don't know how exactly it went down. Maybe there were some questions from her family, but like there should have been some questions like I don't know. Everyone's like, oh, great. This is I can't believe it. This is awesome. Like, let's just do it. I got it. I couldn't believe, you know, saying saying that to the person that's dating my daughter after four months. So, yeah, I think it's totally fair to be like, hey like hey man i just want to make sure everything's right with you like are you you know i know i know this is what you want to do but like you know you can still you can still push this off maybe just maybe suggest a long engagement i don't know what that's good too

yeah like just say hey okay you can get engaged but maybe give it give it at least a year so you get like it's four months have you even had like a real argument yet you're like you said like they're not in the honeymoon phase like they're just they're just like vibing right now i don't even know that like maddie and i really got into an actual argument in four months the first four months we were dating so yeah i would just say so make a couple of lines here and there and maybe suggest a long engagement i got a good joke for the history buffs out there but hey so what's your dowry looking like anybody a couple goats in this shed goats what about a plot of land anything all right i just looked up that was off the top of my head it was a good joke prima noctre what i don't think you know what that means uh here's uh here's something i just looked at this is a

piece from 2023 none of this is footnoted not super official but i just googled it while we were doing this um the marriage rate in 1970 was 76.5 percent and in 2023 is 31 so the divorce rate that's the first thing when i saw that that was a good hunch yeah it was a correlation here there's got to be something else going on i don't think everybody's gotten along i would think of anything people are even more likely to be like hey i'm out on this deal sucks i don't care what the church says um all right marriage rates super high world war ii fucking people came back from that that was a blast i always try to think of like if you could time travel to like one place for a weekend what would be the

most i think guys fresh off the boat now if you didn't have a uniform you'd be probably out of luck like what do you just stay home yeah pick up that extra shift at work dude we have an eye issue couldn't go huh couldn't go fight yeah right that would that would have been brutal that would have been brutal like what are you doing like oh i have a landscaping company oh really i just got back from well i i was like about like imagine yeah being like the one guy home like there's like no dudes your age around during world war ii and you're just like a guy who's just around because you know they talked about all the women having to like pick up jobs and and different things that they've never done before and you're just a guy who's

there who isn't at the war i've always thought about what that guy's probably running amok in a good way though at least for that time and then when it you know i know what you're saying and hinting at and i'm not ruling that out kyle but i mean you go back during that time and in the way uh you know there's there was a sense of duty there um you know look that it was a very different world for everybody um but for men in particular of a certain age that are supposed to be fighting in the war i would i would say from everything that i've i'd be walking around with a sling at least neck brace no it wasn't it wasn't a good time is my point is that there was a lot of it was a lot of guys that if they couldn't if they weren't cleared medically you know they couldn't go to fight it was actually the worst uh to be

back home so captain america lied about it so you know there you go there you go and he's a he's a great role model uh is captain america the worst of the super managers super no like superhero movie storylines like the which which one are you just like this isn't that interesting to me i remember not being all of the new ones fantastic four yeah i don't know no fantastic four was kind of cool they just the movies were bad um they're trying it again right they're like that came out already that franchise gets more chances than fucking isn't krasinski in it? I think he was in it Joe Flacco

is he the bendy guy? yeah he seems like a bendy guy Mr. Fantastic yes I don't know Doctor Strange didn't really hit with me even when I read comic books when I was a little kid I was like nah that's too weird

oh yeah Captain America was the fire guy too small world Even when I read comic books when I was a little kid, I was like, nah, that's too weird. Oh, yeah, Captain America was the fire guy, too. Small world. Millennium. That's right. I didn't even think about it. That's right, Millennium. Human Torch.

Do you know Human Torch's first name? Johnny. Well done. Gotta be. Well, because you've seen both the movies. All right, this is a weird life advice do we just jump into my friend has a coke problem i don't know that i don't do you want to do it all right i don't i mean i don't have any uh all right 26 61 175 185 pick up his utah watan watanabe you to the shooter asian left-handed strapping, or at least I like to imagine.

One of my friends from college, not her real name. I'm kind of nervous even reading the fake one. Carolyn, let's say. Moved to my city last year and she's since become one of my closest friends. She's brilliant, driven in a biomedical engineering company. Think Elizabeth Holmes, biomedical engineering company think elizabeth holmes minus the crimes and freakiness uh freakishness excuse me um she didn't change her voice halfway through first they call you crazy then they criticize she makes you so irrationally mad i love it's incredible i know i really don't like her not it's not even irrational i get why why. That's the wrong choice of words. She makes you so mad. It's funny. Frauds make me mad.

Like, I was at a dinner the other night, and somebody brought up, like, Jolo, and I just started being like, I just can't believe these people would hang out with this fucking loser. But then it's like, I just couldn't imagine any amount of money. It's like, do you want to go skiing with me?

No. Just because you have money? Like, no. I don't want to do that. Are you fun? Do you tell interesting stories? No. Out.

Somebody was telling me how Jolo used to hand out cartier watches as he walked he'd walk around a club he would just hand out cartier watches to chicks anyway that's just chicks damn weird move yeah should i read the rest of this like elizabeth holmes because that's the other part with her is that she just was like i'm gonna be steve jobs and take pictures just like i'm gonna use the same marketing person i'm gonna hold this thing you invented something that didn't work and we're totally cool doing a campaign and the reason why i think it's even worse with her is that people literally thought they had cancer because the misdiagnosis of her fucking machines that's pretty terrible okay like people canceling like plans over

the next year being like guess i gotta fight cancer because i just found out from this thing that i have it it's like no you don't you're good yeah she makes me the magic box was wrong yeah sorry and the weirdo she danced with remember other videos of that like dude as soon as you saw them dancing you were like i'm out i don't can i get my investment back all right so lost my mind on that one for about two minutes i don't want to be the fun police but it's getting out of hand like tony wrote on the process sixers um that's good her usage has reached disturbing levels just about every week she stays up from thursday morning until monday night okay yeah wow she's in it she spends more on uh coke than she does on rent even worse she struggled with her mental health

for a while and this has been exasperated by the insane amounts of blow her comedowns are increasingly brutal she gets super depressive and tried to hurt herself do i reach out to her family do i organize i would go i would go uh i don't know i i just don't this this is seriously an issue and as as I can tell you, at least seeing some of, like, it's not going to make you feel better. You know, the, hey, I'm dealing with all this anxiety. Let me just do this every weekend and go on these benders

and then recover. It's going to get way worse is all I can tell you. And she may not believe that right now. She's young enough. She can get through the whole whole thing i don't feel really comfortable even talking about this any more than we already have so i'm just gonna read another one is that all right yeah i would just say let the you know clearly she needs like actual help from people right chopping is to help you yeah not not a not not three guys on a podcast like find find find out if there's if

there's like a partner in crime. Is there someone that's showing up on Saturday with her? And she's like, does she have a Coke buddy? Because maybe try to separate those people. But other than that, I... You know what? As we're talking this out here, I don't want to do any more on this one. I would say find a friend that is on your side that is in the group that agrees with you. And then take it from there.

And, you know, look, we could read the whole email and the whole thing i just don't feel 100 comfortable doing that so i'm not going to do that um so let's read a different one okay how do i tell my girlfriend i don't want to go to the gym with her what's up long time listener love the pod 35 haven't played hoops in a while back in the day was a poor man's raymond felton not much of a max bench guy as i like to go to the gym solo which brings me to my email but i do press uh 90 pound dumbbells that's pretty good anyway this leads to my issue been going out my girlfriend for a year and a half i love her deeply and know she's the one so everything is going great year and a half not four months, she recently brought up this topic and prefaced the inquiry with, quote,

you can say no and I'll understand and will only be a little bit offended. Oh, that's the fun one. Which, of course, to me means, quote, you better not say no to this. She said she's listened to a pod recently about women her age having to lift weights for bone health, blah, blah, blah.

She asked me if she would be open to having her come to the gym with me a couple times a week i go to the gym in the morning about three or four days a week it's my favorite alone time i put my head down usually have you guys in my ear listening to the pod do my lifts on and get out of there i told her yeah that'd be cool hoping that the topic kind of fades away and she doesn't bring it up again but if it does what do you guys think is the best way to let her down easy and let her know i want to keep my gym time to myself thanks fellas love the pod every man's nightmare that goes to the gym at least i hate it i mean i i had uh i had somebody like, we'd be there at the same time, but

like we both kind of, she knew the deal. She was like, I'm not going to go over there and like, I'm not going to lift with them. Um, and she stayed at one end and I stayed at the other end. That was the only kind of compromise we'd come up with. Um, so I, I just wish you could say, you know, you want to talk about like, I wish you could just say, I don't want to do that and not have it turn into something else, but it's clearly going to turn into something else. So could the compromise be that you map out to her and be like, look, I'm fired up. Like you're, you're doing kind of the salesman thing where you're,

you're making everything a positive, even though it's a negative, right? So she's saying, no, seriously, like, okay, so you want to come to the gym. I love that you want to come to the gym. All right. You listen to some pod, like, okay, that's great. Here's what I like to do. I go in, I do this, this, and this, and then I do this, and this is my routine. And that's the routine that I need to get my mind right, to get myself through the day. What you need to do is figure out your routine. So what you're already doing is planting the seed that when we roll in there, we're not taking turns on the bench. We're not doing dumbbell stuff. Although you said, if you want to get your, your max numbers up, maybe you have a spotter with you. So who knows, maybe there's a positive in all of this. I think you have to like outline how it's going to be and maybe sell it in such an intense way that she's

like, I might not even want to go to the gym with this guy. So there could be that part of it. Uh, I don't know that you're going to get out of this free and clear of just saying, don't come with me. I don't want you to, cause it's just not going to go over well. If you paint a picture of an experience that she may not be into, that might be the best way of getting her to think it was her idea that she doesn't actually want to do this with you, right? Or you can tell her, these are the rules. You're coming. I love it.

When we walk in those doors, we have. We have. Lose my number. I don't know you. Separate experiences. Lose my number. W't know you separate experiences lose my number worry about your own reps it's basically a shared uber don't be peeking don't be peeking at other people's reps yeah so go ahead go no all right i i just i think that people that go to the gym

together at least at my golds and i've seen especially on youtube it's like a step below youtube couples or like it's social and i and i'm sure that i just pissed a bunch of people off with that it just feels like the people that some people like it i know some people like it some people it works you know i i look i don't think you should rule out all couples but i don't necessarily think you're wrong either you're right the people that are really into it and then they're filming it with all the bullshit that goes on at gyms now like that's not fun by the way and aside kyle golds 2024 what are we talking about so far pretty much all of 2024 has been golds and i didn't even i had that already i didn't sign up i didn't sign up i just started. What did you sign up? August, last August. But you had to like mentally be signed up for a couple months before.

I went for a while and then I don't know. I guess I think the pod schedule changed and I just was like, oh, I don't have like nothing to do in the mornings anymore. So anyway, but I'm figuring it out. I can get there. If you really want to get there, you can get there, you know. But I guess there's two solutions I would have here is one, you could just be like, listen, this is a long time for me. It's not, it doesn't bother me that you're in the gym.

If you're in the building, that doesn't bother me. That would be silly. But just so you know, my headphones are going in and I'm doing my thing. And like, I'm all for us being here and we could recap later. Fine. But, or you can just be like be like hey there's some great classes and just get her in one of those glass rooms where you're just like you don't even have to worry about her just be like here's some great here's some great pdx or or whatever they're whatever

they're called this one's got dancing and kettlebells how about that that sounds interesting so maybe like if you can get her in one of those glass rooms and then you wouldn't even worry about it and then it's just you guys come out at the end and how is class great yeah my buddy bought a used peloton for a couple hundred bucks and that seems like a good deal investment if you have the funds a couple hundred yeah maybe that and that keeps her at home and you can still go to the gym like maybe you give her something should we just put it right in the kitchen god damn I'm just saying you're giving her

this one has a laundry table that's not what I meant by that come on no I'm just dying laughing at like the whole concept of no I spent a couple hundred on a used Peloton she doesn't only have to stay at home you can never leave.

Actually, I'm just saying if you don't like it's something else for her to do or like, yeah, I don't know. Does her friend do Pilates? Like, can you just say, hey, could you do me a favor and invite her to some of your Pilates classes? You clearly want it doesn't have to be in the house, but give her something else to do that isn't your gym. But I'm also not a big, I'm not a shocker.

I'm not like a gym guy. So my first instinct on this was what Kyle said is, can you just both go and just kind of give her the lay of the land and say, Hey, like I'm in the zone. Like I'm not really like, we're not chit chatting the whole time. Like we're going to be on,

like, this is an hour where I'm going to have my headphones on. We're not going to talk. I could do that to my wife. I know not everybody can necessarily do that to, to their significant other, but that was my first, my first instinct was just like, is it that big of a deal that she goes? Could you just kind of like give her, you know, the boundaries that you just don't really want to talk to her during that time? Yeah, I'm not your personal trainer,

stuff like that. Like, I sounds like you don't even really know what she's expecting from the from the gym. Maybe it's just you going and her having to be in the car or, you know, is enough of the motivation that she needs to go help her bone density or whatever article she read right so i mean i think like i think start forwarding some other articles that's a good call give us yeah give her like a different scent on something else you know like microplastics and she'll get really into that yeah right be like hey have you heard about this college and stuff stay at home the 15-day college and stay at home right start setting your links for everything and stay at home how you can work out at home and more efficient uh yeah no uh look some some women are not going to be cool with you

being like hey this is the deal like this is the deal i i don't know if there's is there anything that exists in reverse where women enjoy this one thing and that dudes you could have men be like i really think it'd be cool if you could include me in that and i'd like i'd like to be brunches i feel like brunch is a little bit brunch is unisex but i don't know if you were like hey like i was thinking maybe i'd go to the brunch today that is it yeah how does that go over like i don't i don't know that world but but i think there's just there's a lot of stuff that is not consistent in debate of of like gender stuff where it's like oh that's such i mean because because dude let's face it like men have been a declining stock here for about six seven years and i don't i don't know if that's get out now there's gonna be any bounce look i don't know i don't know if that bounce is coming i made everyone in the nail

salon uncomfortable when i got a pedicure on my wife that was i could just tell oh that's a good one even even the lady who like was assigned to my feet she was like fuck i could tell so yeah i'm kind of i'm kind of too embarrassed to go to the because i've had a pedicure before but like my feet are just they're just not great i'll be honest and i'm just like embarrassed to go back now but my wife like have you considered a pedicure ryan uh dudes were doing like a real real still shot you know mission impossible analysis of my feet in the in the boss pick that's right yeah you know and it wasn't it wasn't even remotely like people were like wait what could his feet be dirty on top of everything else right i was like what is going on with you guys

people got real weird about it um people get weird about feet yeah maybe nails that might be the one thing like if you're just a guy out there listening right now just to fight back try to get back some of that territory that we're losing in the gym where you just go clear i would like when i was like when you and the gals go get your nails done i like i'd just like to be a part of that like to be a part of that every week if that's cool with you how will that go over so it's not apples to apples necessarily on the gym thing i just think there should be things in relationships where it's like hey i'm gonna need i'm gonna need this i need this little thing you know it's only gonna make us stronger if you're not a part of it yeah

it'll make us weaker if you're involved if you understand and i just think it's not gonna go over very well so i don't know We gave you a lot of different stuff. No clear example there. The home Peloton line, though. We're not going to top that. So we'll just keep it moving. All right. Thank you.

You guys know what I meant. Come on. I know exactly what you meant. But the way it came out, it was just very funny. Get a Peloton. We'll put a gazebo in the backyard. She can hang out back there. She can read.

She can read. Why is my Peloton screen not any villages but it's all just recipes what's going on here all right uh steve with the line of the week low line of the week thanks to cliff we'll be back on friday we'll be just loaded up with n for your dome on Friday and get you ready for the NFL playoffs as well. Ryan Russillo podcast, Ringer Spotify. Must be 21 and older. Present in select states. FanDuel is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under agreement with Kansas Star Casino, LLC.

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