The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Writing Off NFL Playoff Teams Before It Starts With Damien Woody, Plus Danny Kanell Revisits Old Tweets

Episode Date: January 8, 2024

Russillo opens by recapping the final week of the NFL season and giving his biggest winners and losers (0:32). Then he is joined by ESPN’s Damien Woody to discuss Antonio Pierce, Josh Allen against pressure, and Bill Belichick’s future (20:00). Then, SiriusXM’s Danny Kanell returns to give his pick for the CFP final, discuss whether Jim Harbaugh will leave Michigan, and look through his tweet history (47:25). Finally, the guys close it out with some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (93:55). 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 Guests: Damien Woody and Danny Kanell Producers: Steve Ceruti, Kyle Crichton, and Stefan Anderson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Let's break down the end of the regular season, look ahead to the playoffs, try to figure out who would be a surprise in the playoffs. I'm going to give you the things I love, didn't like, Jameis stuff, coaching carousel stuff, Pierce Belichick with Damian Woody, and a preview for Michigan and Washington, and our picks with Danny Cannell plus life advice. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Winter is here, so be prepared and get almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. What do I mean by almost anything? Well, you can't get a ski slope, but dish soap, definitely doable. Sunshine, that's no. A bottle of wine, yeah. And a snow day,

again, no. But blueberry muffins with the delicious crumb topping? Total yes. Get almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol and select markets. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details.

The regular season is done and we're ready for the playoffs. Good luck talking yourself into anyone that isn't Baltimore or San Francisco, but that's why we play the games. Let's start with last night. It was the headliner. It was the thing I was looking forward to all night. Bills in Miami.

They clinched their fourth straight AFC East 21-14 win in Miami. I wanted Jacksonville to still be alive, to have even more be on the table for the Bills here with this one, but now I don't know what to do with the Bills. I thought they're going to win this game. It's a bit like how Miami's trending. It's a bit like how Buffalo's been trending, but then you're watching it all play out and you're like, why do I still like this team? I'll admit I have those moments. Allen third and goal at the Miami five-yard line. Zero blitz, full blitz. Just an awful decision. Throws it. Eli Apple has the pick. Next possession. It's fourth

and two at the Miami 35. He rolls out to his right. He chucks it. You could argue, hey, fourth and two. It's kind of like a punt. They gain 15 yards. I don't know. If it's almost like a punt, then try to give your receiver a better chance. He did fall down,

but it looked like a defensive player for Miami was underneath, and anyway, it wasn't going to matter. End of the half was really nasty. They're at the Miami 11 with 11 seconds left, but no timeouts, and Allen throws it short of the sticks, or short of the goal line in this case. Tackle, half is over. McDermott, halftime interview, obviously very annoyed,

being like, you can't throw that ball into the field. I can't believe how many NFL quarterbacks do this, but I shouldn't say it that way because there's so many third and seven throws that go five yards where you feel like the reason the guy was open underneath, maybe he can make a play and get clean and fall forward and then get us that first down. Clearly, that's what Allen was thinking on this one, but you couldn't do that. It's one thing to not get the first down. It's another thing to cost you the field goal because you let the clock run out because you don't have anything going on. The first possessions of the second half,

both teams exchanged punts. You're expecting at some point, you're like, are the Bills going to answer? Okay. They get back into the red zone again. And then Christian Wilkins with an incredible strip sack, fumble, and fumble recovery, and you're just left going, why do I still like Buffalo?

And I thought Chris Collinsworth and Mike Tirico were so on point last night. You know what I love in a broadcast is when you're giving me the game, but you're giving me tidbits that don't feel like a distraction from the game itself because it's still obviously a very competitive game. But there's a lot on the line. There's a lot into this, And I think Collinsworth was perfect, perfect on telling you, hey, this feels like their season. Every time you feel like they're going to turn this page and be the team that we'd expect

them to be, granted they've had all these different injuries, but I'd rather have Buffalo's injuries last night than Miami's injuries. Being down Phillips and Chubb, Ginkle out with the foot injury, Van Ginkle to be official here. I know that the Bills lost Douglas and they basically lost a couple receivers, including Gabe Davis and another one that is kind of a bit player. So you can make an argument either side, but when your edge guys are gone and then Melvin Ingram is running around at 34 years old in coverage against Kincaid, that's not ideal. And that's why I think Miami to their credit and Fangio's credit, like a big part of what they were trying

to do is create some sort of pressure against Allen, hoping that it would work, because they just didn't have the personnel to get there with just four guys. And it actually looked like it was working. But after that fumble, I'm like, what is wrong with me? Because this felt like a microcosm of their entire season. Bills get off to a good start.

Record-wise, after the Jets' OT loss, you're like, that's weird. How did that happen? The Jacksonville-London game where they looked dead for three quarters, they gave up a game-winning drive to Mac Jones. Mac Jones is going to be at a Rotary Club years from now. They're going to play that drive for him. They lost to Cincinnati, which was just Cincinnati answering after their dismal start to everything. A game-winning field goal to Denver. Then a-winning field goal to Denver. Then a Jake Elliott field goal for 59 yards in the rain to lose in overtime to the Eagles,

and they looked like they were clearly the better team. So as you're looking at all of those outcomes, it felt like it was playing out in the game. You're like, what the hell is wrong with this team? What's wrong with me? me. And then Deontay Hardy from Assumption takes it 96 yards of the house and saves the season. Now, maybe not save the season because they were going to be in the playoffs because of the Jacksonville result, but it kind of felt that way.

That Buffalo getting that punt return touchdown, then the touchdown later, and then running out a lot of that clock with return touchdown, then the touchdown later, and then running out a lot of that clock with the runs, then obviously not getting it in the very last one. And then you had Miami's issues, which we'll get to here in a second. I don't know if it saved the season because as I've just run through everything and with Allen,

I don't know if I'm, like, I guess I'm supposed to feel better, but I don't. And that's also based on Buffalo, not just being a team of like, Hey, we're in the playoffs. This is a team with real expectations and a team.

I still kind of hold out hope for. And last night I asked myself as much as I've asked myself through the second half of the season. It's like, why are you into these guys again? Because they want a bunch of games towards the end of the year when they had to have it. Well,

they did win their four straight AFC East. So maybe that's why I'm here with it. Uh, Alan's got 18 picks. Second, most of the year when they had to have it. Well, they did win their four straight AFC East, so maybe that's why I'm here with it. Allen's got 18 picks, second most in the NFL behind Howell's 21. Sometimes I wonder if I'm lying to myself. I've done it at times. They were 6-6 to 11-6. They're the two seed, but maybe it has more to do with every other team not being Baltimore where you're like, yeah, why doesn't Buffalo have as good of a chance?

They just beat Miami. You want to sign up for Kansas City? You like Pittsburgh? You like the Browns? You like Houston? So maybe that's it. Maybe it's not so much about Buffalo. It's everybody else.

Miami's the sixth seed, and they have to face the worst offense of Mahomes' Chiefs tenure. Miami's edge guys we've already talked about. I appreciate what they tried to do last night, trying to be aggressive like that against Allen. It worked against Allen for the most part. It's probably not going to work against Mahomes even in this diminished version of a Chiefs offense against Mahomes. Great stat by Tirico. Points out in the second half, Miami has to have it. Instead, four consecutive punts in a game, all in that second half. First time all season for Miami. They had 24 yards total on those four punt possessions. And then the fifth possession, they move it 23 yards before an absolutely awful pick by Tua where you still had downs, you still had time, and throws it where he completely misses the target. And there was two guys over there. You didn't need that throw right then and

there. Fourth down, no issue with whatsoever. A little closer, less time. Third down, no issue with it. Right there, can't happen. So what do the Tua people have to say today? Well, it wasn't as good as its greatest part of it. Maybe it's not as bad, but you also have a price thing that you have to worry about. But there's some clear indicators here that there seems to be some fatal flaw stuff with him. I asked somebody to run the numbers, and the numbers came back confirming what I think I've seen this season. Tua is first in QBR. If you look at his rating for the first three quarters, I don't know if that would adjust. I don't have the latest adjustment stuff off of last night.

If you go by EPA, quarters one through three, nobody's better than him. If you go through EPA in the fourth quarter only, and it's going to be worse after last night's games calculated into this, the only quarterbacks, too, was better than in that fourth quarter, Sam Howell, Bryce Young, Josh Dobbs,

Bailey Zappi, and Zach Wilson. Not exactly guys that are going to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. There's also some numbers if you look at him when he's trailing in games. So basically when it's not training wheel quarterback stuff, as good as he is at it, and he might be

the answer for multiple years, there feels like there's an off-script ceiling with him that the doubters have brought up this year. And there were just a lot of numbers. You're like, what are you talking about? Look at the full season. Look how good this guy's actually been. It's confusing.

It's complicated. Or maybe it's not complicated at all after a season of watching, feeling like, hey, they don't beat a lot of good teams. Their strength of victory is the worst of any team in the playoff field. So good luck in Kansas City. The most disappointing team of the season. I mentioned it before, Jacksonville, 8-3 to 9-8. How did that happen? Now, you want to talk about lying to yourself? There was a time I was pushing Jacksonville on you. I'm sorry. I got off of it at some point

because I'd look at the numbers and go, dude, none of these numbers are actually good. I think there was one part where I was like, yeah, Lawrence, though, third and long, gives you a better chance. I think there was a time where the third down conversion for this offense was actually pretty good, but there's a lot of numbers that weren't very good. Once I was off them, I called them fancier Pittsburgh. At least Pittsburgh's in the playoffs. going into next year with Lawrence playing like this, and clearly he was dealing with injuries, you're going to get that excuse for a year, and maybe that's all it is, and he comes back and he's awesome. Anything's on the table. If it gets off to a bad start next year in that first month,

that's what you're going to be watching on TV and hearing on podcasts. Best surprise, one of my favorite things that's happened this season is Jordan Love. I, like a lot of people, was like, is this guy going to be the guy? We'll get to my quarterback replacement rankings that I did midway through the season. I luckily did not have Jordan Love in it because we'd seen a couple things. But Green Bay was 2-5.

Love had three games with a QBR of 19, 17, and 6.5. 6.5 is really low. That's on a scale of 100. So three games with those QBR numbers. He had eight interceptions

over the course of five straight weeks. Since November 19, the Week 11 Chargers matchup, he has a touchdown-interception split of 18-1. He had a throw last night. Romo called it in that Bears game. Two deep zone, two safeties back. That means somebody in that alignment was going to be playing underneath the sideline throw. You have a small pocket to throw that ball into. You can't throw a pop-up because it's going to get blasted. You can't throw it short because the guy underneath is going to pick it. You have a very, very specific small window to make that throw, and he made it great. There was another end zone throw where you could see the slot route,

clear out the inside of the traffic, but it was still going to be a very tight spot because all those red zone throws are really tough. You have to be definitive. You have to be quick. You have to have the arm strength, and he let that one fly off to his right. I want this to happen. I want Jordan Love to be the next Packer quarterback that has that job for a long time because they deserve it after all the bullshit with Aaron Rodgers. My argument during the Aaron Rodgers exit strategy events of multiple seasons was very simple. You have not had it nearly bad enough to be dumping on this organization this way. Instead of wanting all of your retread buddies who may not make other rosters being on the team. My point with Rodgers is always very simple. Make a better argument about why you deserve to feel this wrong. And he never could. And the fact that they were forced to finally move on from him, it sucks he got hurt. I wanted to see him play with the Jets this year. Clearly, I would never root for that. But I'm rooting for

Jordan Love to be the answer at that position. In the second half of the season, it looks like they have that guy after a rough start. The coaching carousel. The only one I really care about is Antonio Pierce. I am biased. I love the guy, but I want it to happen. He went five and four of the Raiders. The defense went from 27th to fourth once he took over. It feels a bit like the not being Rick Pitino theory that we experienced with the Celtics in 2001, the 2000-2001 season. Pitino had been there a bit. People were getting a little sick of him,

him yelling rebound to NBA players after a free throw attempt. Make sure you box out, Paul, was something I used to hear on the TV broadcast. And it just wasn't working out. So Rick resigned. And then Jim O'Brien, longtime assistant, went on to be head coach, multiple stops.

He took over. And the team was better just because he wasn't Rick Pitino. He went 24-24, and that was not a great team. So I don't know if Pierce is the long-term answer. I understand any owner, especially with a need at quarterback, like the Raiders have, despite an investment in Garoppolo, where it's like, dude, Shanahan's ready to move on from this guy. What do you think you're going to get out of him?

So the trend of the offensive mind has been actually very successful. As much as it was being made fun of, I love Kevin Clark's did you have a Bud Light line with Sean McVay? Question hired. It was really funny, but this tree of offensive gurus, you go through it and you're like, all right, if I'm an owner, I'd want my next guy unless I own the Raiders. Pierce deserves a chance. I love people that break the mold. I hope that he gets it because you can understand, say Ben Johnson getting an opportunity somewhere else. Maybe it's with Washington. Maybe it's that Carolina connection. They draft Drake May and we're on to the next. Or maybe it's Harbaugh with either the Raiders or the Chargers. I thought Jair Alexander's interview after explaining why he went to the coin toss against Carolina because it suits him was one of the weirdest interviews I've ever seen in a locker room. Jair at one point was one of the best corners in the league.

It was a window into like, ooh, okay, that's where you're at. I don't know that it played as much nationally as maybe I would have thought it would have if you really played up the timeline of what he did. He just went out to the coin toss because he wanted to, wasn't actually a captain, kind of screwed it up, was given an out by the official on the whole deal. And then his explanation of it was like, oh wait, this is even worse. And then he gets suspended for a game. What Jameis Winston did yesterday was absolute bullshit. All right? Now, let me explain something. I think athletes love reasons to get mad. I think there's no group of athletes in the world that loves getting madder than professional

baseball players over the dumbest shit. Can't steal a base when you're up a certain number of runs. Oh, you came inside. That means, you know, we've got to retaliate when a lot of times guys just lose the grip on, although I don't feel like I see guys pitch inside as much as they used to back in the day. Anyway, the point is baseball players, like they show up to the park being like, I hope I can get excessively mad about something that's pretty stupid. Basketball players getting mad now where it's just assumed that you're supposed to take the shock clock violation if you're up outside of the free throw game, up 9, 10 points.

Do not shoot the basketball. That's bullshit. That's why I love the in-season tournament pool games because point differential matters. I hope they keep that because all these guys being upset about it. It's like, hey, man, it's not the other team's fault that you down 30, or maybe it is their fault, but again, you get the point. So if there's a late score and disrespecting the game, disrespecting the opponent, I am normally on the side of the person like, who gives a shit? That's not the case here. These are not all the same things. When you have Matthew return an interception essentially to the goal line, but you could tell he actually didn't want

to score the touchdown. He was thinking, hey, let's just get down. But then nobody was catching him. And then he still allowed himself to get tackled. So you're thinking, okay, Winston comes in. They're lined up in victory formation. They're going to take the knee, run this clock out. They're blowing out Atlanta.

This game's over. And by the way, New Orleans, a massive disappointment this season based on opposing quarterbacks that they were going to face, bringing in Carr. I know they scored a ton of points yesterday, but that team is a big disappointment considering what their opposing schedule was looking like before the season started. So Winston decides to just change the play, not tell the coach, hand it off to Jamal Williams. He goes in for his only touchdown of the season. Now, I knew it was bad when I saw it. Then I saw Winston's explanation saying it was a team decision. Yeah, except it wasn't. It was yours. The head coach didn't know. Arthur Smith, who's clearly pissed off

because he knows he's going to be fired in another disaster season, is mad at Allen. And you can hear the audio of Allen saying, I know, I know, because he didn't know what had happened. His own player decided to change the whole thing. One of Winston's ridiculous explanations in this was that, well, what if Matthew had run it in? Then what? You're like, yeah, except you ran another play. This is one of those rare instances. If you're lined up, there's a gentleman's agreement out there that we're victory formation taking knee. We're not going to do this to you. But that's what Winston has been about his entire life. This is the same guy in 14 when he was suspended against Clemson. And you can get into whether or not the suspension would deserve for him yelling an obscenity in a cafeteria or a

student gathering center or whatever. And then it got upgraded to full suspension. And then he just shows up in pads, full warmup, like in Jimbo. Like we're watching, I remember watching that game years ago at home going, what the fuck is he doing? And that's just kind of who he is. And I know some people think it's like really funny. I would be so sick of him and so furious if I were the head coach. And I don't think you have to like that if you like any of the other stuff. QB replacement rankings. Let's look back at what I had. I think it was about midway through the season when we did it. Number one was a bit of a layup. Zach Wilson, check. Number two, Mac Jones, check. Number three, Justin Fields. He's going to get replaced. Number four, Kyler Murray. It looks like he's the guy, and I credit Sandoe, who joined

us last week. He goes, this is an ownership group that's not going to be in a hurry to just move on from a guy they paid all of that money. And number five was Russell Wilson. It feels like four for five. And finally, the numbers you should know. The 2023 season team's average point total, 21.8. That's three straight seasons of decline since an all-time high of 24.8 points per game by team in an NFL season in 2020. The 21.3, excuse me, the 21.8 ranks 26th all time. I thought the quality of play over the course of the season was bad. Maybe it's just being caught up in it every single week, but the number of primetime games where they were close, so we were tricked into thinking they were entertaining because they were entertaining. I don't know that it was great. Or maybe the quality of play on offense was just worse.

And I'm not giving the quality of play on defense enough credit for a league that looked like it was impossible to stop anybody. There seems to have been some kind of correction. To finish where I started, how many teams can you get to before you wouldn't go, how the hell did that team win a Super Bowl? Right? We know that it's Baltimore, San Francisco, the Mahomes factor. It's those three. Buffalo, maybe. I picked Buffalo, San Francisco before the season started. At least I have a chance at it. Dallas, I don't think

history should get in the way of it. I don't think it'd be necessarily a surprise. Is it only five? think history should get in the way of it. I don't think it'd be necessarily a surprise. So is it only five? Pittsburgh, no. Miami, no. Cleveland interception fest. I mean, really? Stroud, a rookie quarterback. The NFC, Detroit, maybe if something got real weird, but probably not. Tampa, nine and eight with Baker limping all over the field again yesterday, barely beating Carolina. Philly, who's signing up for that?

The defense is getting worse since they brought in Matt Patricia. So, look, it's still football. You're still plus two in the turnover game after playoff, and crazy stuff can happen. But the middle to back end, it feels impossible to talk yourself into one of those teams right now. to back end, it feels impossible to talk yourself into one of those teams right now. We've got Damian Woody as we close out

the regular season in the NFL from ESPN. What's good, man? It's good to see you. Yeah, man. Happy New Year to you, man. It's good to be talking ball with you again. So I ended the thing I just opened the show with by talking about how many teams could win the Super Bowl where you'd be like, how the hell did that happen? It feels like a shorter list this year than other years. Maybe it's just prisoner of the moment. Baltimore, San Francisco, how much longer is your list where if this team were to win a Super Bowl, you wouldn't be surprised?

were to win a Super Bowl, you wouldn't be surprised. The list wouldn't be that long. You know, it feels like, honestly, this year is about as wide open as I've seen in quite some time. I know we got Baltimore and San Francisco right there. It's kind of the two alphas in both conferences. But listen, man, it's just for a variety of reasons, there's a lot of weaknesses with all these teams that they've all displayed readily throughout the regular season.

I look at this thing, man, and for me it's, okay, who's playing some good ball at the right time? That's pretty much where I'm at when I'm evaluating these teams. And, you know, we're going to talk about quarterbacks, but who is playing the best ball at the right time? Who has momentum going into the postseason? And if you look at that, there's like a couple teams out there that could pose problems.

So who would the third team be for you? If you had to take out those two, I don't let you pick Baltimore, San Francisco, and you're like, you have to pick another one to win the Super Bowl. Who's the third team? Because it feels a bit like, are you taking Kansas City with Mahomes in this offense, or are you taking Dallas over Buffalo? Buffalo gets it done last night, but I think a lot of us are left with being like, I mean, come on. What am I supposed to do, right? What am I supposed to do with Allen and Buffalo because the start of that game was the reason

why you have doubt about them? Yeah. Again, it goes back to the flaws in a lot of these teams. Ryan, I'm going to say this. I think Dallas might be the team. And I know people will be like, why are you saying Dallas? Like, we've seen this from Dallas, you know, it seemed like every year for the last 25 years. But I do think that this might be Dallas' best chance to get to the Super Bowl in the last 25 years.

I think them getting the number two seed was critical for them because they, at minimum, want to have two home playoff games. And we know Dallas is a different team at home than on the road. They're very Jekyll and Hyde. Dak Prescott is playing the best ball of his career. We know that defense can create a bunch of turnovers.

They're a front-running team, especially at home. So at minimum, if Dallas take care of business at home, now it's just can we be better than San Francisco one time in San Francisco? At that point, it's anybody's game when you get to the championship game. Can you be better than that team on that given day? Philadelphia, you know, A.J. Brown goes down in the game. Hurts has the finger issue. But it was actually awful for the most part with the regular guys in,

and they took out the O-line. So you can't just chalk that game up against the Giants. Sure, they may not have cared as much, but there was still seating on the line. And I'm left looking at this team that at one point was 10-1 with a roster that you were like, there's not many that are more talented than that. Hurts coming into the year, you're like, who's even in the conversation with him as far as NFC quarterbacks are concerned? And clearly, I think Dak, whatever the gap was, he's part of the conversation at the

end of this year because I agree with you on Dak. And I, I think Dak, whatever the gap was, he's part of the conversation at the end of this year because I agree with you on Dak. And I don't think it's fair. I don't think it's fair to just look at Dallas and go, just because it hasn't happened in the past, that they're incapable of getting through the playoffs. They protect the football, although they look so bad on the road that you're just like, I'm not sure I love them either.

But Philadelphia, despite the resume and who they were last year, they feel like a total write-off. That's a bad football team with a good record. Yeah, you're exactly right. I mean, listen, they really tried to win that football game yesterday against the New York Giants, and they were awful. They were awful. And I think as much as we talk about their defense,

and their defense has been bad, and their play calling, how stale it's become, they're very static. we talk about their defense and their defense has been bad and their play calling that you know how stale it's become they're very static they they they don't even they they i think they run like the least amount of motion of any team in the national football league they're very predictable and so when i look at both sides of the ball people underestimate losing both coordinators you lose jonathan gannon and shane stuyton like that's how many teams can really recover losing both your coordinators like that and and get back to the school or not have you know damage to your team and i think we're seeing in real time the

effects of both of those quarterback i mean coordinators and how the effect that they've had on that ball club. Yeah, that's what it feels like, despite the fact, even when they were winning, you were kind of like, what's going on? Are they leaking a bit? And then you figure the best teams, like San Francisco, maybe you have your bad three- to four-week stretch, and then you figure it back out, and then it just got worse and worse and worse. I thought yesterday's game was, like, when they beat the Giants a couple weeks ago, people were mad, right?

They're like, what's up with this team? And then, you know, I know people, I don't know that it'll happen. You know, the thing I like about Philadelphia is I'm not sure, at least Eagles fans. I think there's some Sixers fans that I would disagree with about certain theories. But when it comes to the Eagles, I think they kind of know what they've seen. And instead of talking themselves into it, they looked at the end of the season going all right this is brutal um let's talk Antonio Pierce I assume did you know him as a player before ESPN at all yeah oh yeah yeah he AP was one of those guys were very smart very smart not only you know, just intellectually, but football, high football IQ type of guy.

Strong leader. Always, you know, always appreciate going up against really good players. And AP was one of those guys that you just had an appreciation for as an opponent. And so, you know, then I got to know him at ESPN and just talk with him, man. It's like, this dude is supposed to be a coach. Literally, he was born to be a coach because he has all of the qualities that a coach has. He's, you know, he's football savvy.

He's played the game. So guys in the locker room will respect him. He just has great leadership qualities, man. So does it surprise me where that whole – it seemed like the whole Raiders organization is backing him. Hell, we saw the stadium chanting his name after that win against the Broncos. So Mark Davis is going to have a very interesting choice because we know how this whole thing played out a couple years ago

in a similar situation. Because it's nontraditional, right? And I don't know if the Dan Campbell success this year helps in Antonio Pierce because Pierce is a no bullshit guy. He's very straightforward. The team clearly responded. And you look at it and you go, okay, but I know everybody's obsessed with the offensive guru thing. And that has had a pretty good track record here recently. I just wonder if he can continue to break the mold in a way.

Look, I know everybody hated the Saturday thing last year. It was kind of an impossible situation for everybody to be involved. And, you know, people arguing they shouldn't even be able to get the chance. I understand. But with Campbell, you know, everybody making fun of him because he's this meathead and there's a big segment of the football media that doesn't want that guy to succeed because he's in the past and the Neanderthal. And Pierce isn't outwardly like that, but I know he's just, I can just imagine him meeting with a player and going like, hey man, this isn't working.

What's going on with you? And being really straightforward. And I wonder if that vision or that kind of singular voice is as important as having a genius on X and O execution. Because as you know, in the NFL, the head coach, he just has to kind of make sure everybody's on the same page. And I can't imagine anybody working with Antonio not liking him and not wanting to work hard for him. So it's not so much about Pierce perhaps not having the resume to not be able to groom the next quarterback if the Raiders decide to take somebody early in the draft. I would just think like, hey, if it's about a CEO and a singular

voice, I think it'd be hard to find a guy that was better suited for that. Yeah. Listen, a couple of things. I think number one, there's two things that a head coach has to do. First and foremost, you've got to be a leader in men. You got to have the ability to have guys buy into what you're selling, buy into your vision. That's clearly happened in that locker room with that. And number two, you got to be able to delegate. You got to be able to get your people to execute your vision. I mean, like assistant coaches and everyone that's affiliated with the program. And so for me, like, I absolutely can see Antonio Pierce thriving. I think it's going to be very important to make sure that particularly on the offensive side of football, the OC, he has to make the right, make the right hire. I think that's the one thing you

got to point to. And in that meet with Mark Davis and whoever he's going to meet with, you know, post, you know, post, you know, regular season, that he has to lay out the vision. Okay, what do we want to do offensively? Offensive coordinator, quarterback, because obviously those are like the two most important things in football right now.

And so if he can do that and sell that vision, he has every other quality that you can have. Yeah, I hope so. What do you think happens with Belichick? My gut tells me that they move on. That's my gut. I mean, listen, all good things got to come to an end, right? Like, think about the run that Bill has had in New England. I mean, we're probably never going to see anything like that again in our lifetime.

The run, the 24-year run that he's had there and everything that they've accomplished over a 24-year span. But when you look at the Patriots, particularly over the last three years, we've talked about the personnel, right? Coach Bilicek, the GM, is killing Bilicek, the coach. It's one of the least talented teams in the National Football League. It's been just deteriorating, deteriorating year after year, and I feel like it's bottomed out now. deteriorating year after year. And I feel like it's bottomed out now. And so I don't think Bill has forgotten how to coach.

But I just feel like now is the time if Robert Kraft really wants to say, you know what, I want to hit a reset. I want to reclaim the team as mine and just kind of go in a new direction. This would be the perfect time to do it in New England. Yeah, I don't know how there's any way to excuse the track record as a general manager. You know, I could go for 20 straight minutes. And I remember I was still

at ESPN when we were looking at the draft stuff and it wasn't a main topic. Like, I just don't know if there's many people in the ground, me being from the area and wanting to watch all the Brady games and all that kind of stuff. I was like, man, this is a far cry from the Dan Coppin at Sonic Samuel. Man, he had some drafts back in the day. And the way it was described to me, I remember when Pioli left and I was like, man, that's going to be a hit for them. And it was like, no, honestly, Bill has a vision.

And then once everybody buys into his vision and is like, this is who I want, this is what I don't want. If you want a smart team, draft smart players and all this stuff. And forever, it was just rolling. And as much as I love Brady's story, I don't want to agree with people who think Belichick was just a product of Brady. Clearly, it obviously gave him a massive advantage to have arguably the greatest to ever do it. But I don't know how you would allow him to have final say, whether it's in New England or somewhere else. Because even watching that disaster against the Jets, which is the right outcome, that's what was supposed to happen. He's supposed to lose, make sure the draft pick positioning, all that kind of stuff.

There was a small part of me that was like, man, I wonder if this is really it. And him walking off. Um, I also wondered, you know, like, is, is this some weird karma type thing where, you know, post Brady, you know, you wanted to get rid of him and this is how it went for you. And now this is how it's going to end. And do you deserve that a little bit? And that's how that felt nasty and unfair.

And then I even, like, I felt all these different things all at the same time because part of me had all this sympathy for him going, to your point, that kind of run. And look, all the endings are usually bad endings, okay? They're almost always bad endings. But clearly he still wants to coach. Clearly he wants to go for Shula's record. I just don't know how a new owner, even if it's a Carolina going, dude, if I can introduce Belichick as my guy, that's the biggest win ever for a franchise that's really stale and going in the wrong direction. But I don't know how you look at his track record of like a decade plus of some of these transactions, the lack of development in certain positions he just cannot get right and say, here's the keys to my franchise. I don't know how anybody does that, and I don't know why New

England would. Yeah. A couple of things. I think you agree with me on this one. Number one, I think New England, I think Bill suffered from brain drain over the years. I think all the executives and everyone that worked in their front office, you referenced the drafts, like kind of like in the earlier part of the dynasty. New England suffered a lot of drain as far as their front office is concerned. And you can only sustain for so much before it really starts to affect you. I think that's happened in New England over the years, especially over the past, you know, wherever it's been seven or eight years. There's been a lot of bad drafts. and I think the brain drain really affected them. And number two, Bill is 71, 71 years old.

I know he wants to keep coaching, but I think you bring up a great point in that, okay, like, Bill's not going to want to have a GM over top of him. Like, as accomplished as he is, why would Bill want to have someone over him? You know, telling him, no, Bill, like, no, you know, yeah, you might like this guy, but I'm going to override you. Like, I couldn't see that scenario playing itself out.

So I think that, yes, Bill is the greatest of all time. I think that Bill can still coach his ass off. But where's the fit around the league? Where's the fit? That's what I'm thinking right now. Where's the fit at? Where a team is going to hand everything over to Bill again. Maybe it's Arthur Blank at the end of it going like, we like some of the pieces that we have

here already, but then again, all right, what's your quarterback answer? Because it's not Ritter. It's not anyone that's on that roster. Is Belichick going to go into some situation where you're taking a new guy and you're going to have him develop? Because I think that'd be another part with Belichick. It's like post-Brady, that's a failing grade. Not only did Mac Jones go in the opposite direction, although I think some of the early Mac hype was ridiculous because it was like, oh, hey, he's just like Brady when Brady wasn't good. You're like, wait a minute, what does that mean?

Right. But they didn't do him any favors. They didn't do him any favors as personnel in the way they did the coaching staff. So I wonder if there's any part of Bill that goes, when he has a private moment with himself, where he goes, all right, this is what I did wrong, and I needed some more help.

Or if he's like, fuck everybody, fuck the crafts if they get rid of me. Look what I did for this franchise. It's probably more of the latter. Yeah, listen, I don't like to assume things about people, but I will say this, though. Like, bro, he's an alpha. Like, everyone has an ego.

Think about if you accomplish what Bill accomplished, wouldn't a party you'd be like fuck it like bro i brought you six rings i did that like if you want to screw me over screw you yeah i look i would do that all right if i had six rings for a franchise i would be thinking you're gonna get rid of me? And look, all of us, no matter what we do, have a very hard time actually accepting blame for any of this stuff. The track record on

the personnel stuff is absurd. I could do a dissertation on it, and it's been going on for a long time. Okay, I got to ask you about the Jameis thing. My point was this. I think people getting mad about running up to score and all that stuff,

like all the different things that happen in sports where everybody gets like super mad, like guys just like to be mad, right? It's like fun to be mad sometimes. In this case, when you line up to take a knee though and then run it, that's where it crosses the line. And his explanation afterwards makes even less sense so you played i didn't what happened i think it's i think it's listen i think james is like a caricature you know he's that that's the way we kind of most people view him and i think it was

absolute bullshit what he did because once you line up in victory formation, everyone knows, like, okay, the white flag is up. We're chilling. And then you come off the fucking rock and, like, someone can get hurt in that situation. Like, seriously. Like, I'm not expecting anything. And I would have told Jameson, I'm like, bro, no. Like, no, bro, this is not, I'm not cool with this. Like, I'm just not, I'm not cool with this. Like, I'm just not, I'm not cool with this.

And to me, like, that whole thing playing out, it just made you think to yourself, like, maybe that's why this guy's a fucking loser. Like, maybe that's why this guy, you know, flamed out in Tampa. Where Baker Mayfield comes in and wins a division in Tampa. Like, that's the vibe that I get when you do something like that. Everybody will say, oh, it's no big deal. They just did a little run play on victory formation. Why are you getting so amped up about it? Because I think it reveals who you are. I think it reveals who

you are if you're Jameis Winston. You went directly against the coach and the play call. Then your coach has to deal with it. It was great to hear the mic'd up part of him, Dennis Allen talking with Arthur Smith. He's like, hey, I

know. I know. Then your coach didn't even realize you were going to do it. And Arthur Smith, who knows he's probably going to be fired, already is in a bad mood. But this is way different than the normal, hey, stop him from scoring. The victory formation thing, I'm just glad that we got a former player to agree with that. All right, so let's do this. Let's run through it.

Who was your Super Bowl pick at the beginning of the year? I believe I had San Francisco and Buffalo. I, too, had San Francisco and Buffalo. Yeah. I feel really good about the San Francisco part of it. The Buffalo thing it i'm nervous because josh allen is a top three quarterback in this league but boy like he can go nuclear anytime but i hate this so everybody's like oh why are you so concerned about the turnovers? Because they fucking matter.

Like, when does turnovers not fucking matter in this league? Oh, but you're getting these plays from Josh Allen. Yes, but you're also giving your opponent opportunities, more opportunities. So it's just like, you're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't when it comes to Josh Allen and the Bills. I want to ask you a specific question about how the game played out last night because, you know, zero blitz in the end zone,

he makes a terrible decision, Eli Apple picks it off, who then gets up to try to run out of the end zone, which was pretty classic, Eli. But it's against zero blitz pressure. And you knew that Miami had to do it because of the personnel issues that they were having. but it's against zero blitz pressure, zero blitz pressure. And you knew that Miami had to do it because the personnel issues that they were having. So I actually got what,

like it's Fangio. All right. So I, I defer to Vic and then you think, you know, it's a little like double teaming guys in basketball. Like if you just send a straight double to the guy with the ball handler, who's like the best player,

eventually you're going to get burned because it's the NBA and they're going to figure it out. And with Allen, you know, they kept sending pressure. I go, man, you've been around a long time and I know you're down a couple receivers here and the dig story this year has been kind of weird, but it also felt like they're reluctant to run the football as much as that we saw against like Dallas, where it was great. It was like the game prep all week was this is the game plan. This is their weakness. This is all we have to do. I love to see teams be adaptable like that.

But with Josh, I think it was in the second half where against another pretty heavy pressure set there by Miami where he hit the tight end, I think on second down. And it was like, oh, okay. Like, finally. Like, you got to cut off one of these routes. And then the strip sack, and I was like, is he going to go the whole game and not quite get everybody?

And I don't know if that's a Joe Brady thing. I don't know if it's an Allen thing. I don't know if it's a receiver thing, understanding the hot route. But it's like, you know, you shouldn't be able to blitz all game in those situations, especially with Chabau, especially with Phillips, who's their best player. He's been out now for a while. Van Ginkle goes down with the foot injury. And I'm like, it kind of scared the shit out of me, even though they won the game, because I thought, dude, you've been around him. Like you're, you are that, like, at least you're a top five guy. How is this zero blitz stuff or some of these heavy pressure packages,

how is this still freaking you out? And you guys haven't unlocked this yet. Yeah, I think that Josh is going to continue to see that type of stuff because defensive coaches know that Josh is going to give you something. He's going to serve you something up. All you have to do is capitalize on it. And when you run these zero blitzes, okay, a lot of times he's going to throw it up there. He's going to throw it to his guy.

But defensively, you're going to have opportunities on that. So I don't necessarily think they have, like, really found concrete answers to those type of things. They're going to get more of it in the playoffs. Because clearly we saw last night, Josh can be reckless with the football. He's done that his whole all year long. And yes, everyone, people will watch this podcast afterwards and they'll be like, oh, Damian allen has 40 you know you know 4 500 yards and then yes it's all that's all good and everything but he's also going to give you the damn ball a probably two or three times in the game and so teams are going to keep coming after him

josh is going to either burn you or he's going to get or he's going to give it to you and that's just what it's going to be moving forward. Yeah, I mean, 15 of those touchdowns are rushing because he's such a physical presence. But when you look at his rushing totals, this is probably the point of his career where the rushing isn't going to be effective moving forward over seasons. I'd rather have him than not have him. Okay? Most teams would change out their situation for him.

He's not as bad as I think some of the propaganda from just specific people that want to hate on him all the time is because he isn't that. But to go into the playoffs and think, man, it's the last game of the season and I still don't know if I trust you here, even though I think that was their first red zone turnover. There's just throws. The Cincinnati game, there was a throw there early that I spent a lot of time on on the Monday after him. Early downs, backed up, still a lot of time left. That's a don't need it there throw.

There were some throws in the second half where he got it behind the safety, the sideline, where he just kind of waited for him to release behind it because the defender came up, not knowing if Allen was going to run. That's one of those throws. That's nasty, and that's where you have to have it. I got a question for you. Who do you trust more, Josh Allen or C.J. Stroud?

A rookie in the playoffs, but Stroud's numbers – I mean, you want to talk about somebody that every time you dig into what he's done and the throws he's capable of making, I mean, a couple of the throws, again, against pressure, it seems like he is less – I don't have the numbers in front of me. And, you know, a lot of times you can kind of dig through this and tell whatever story you want to tell. But I'd say over the course of the season, I trust Stroud more against pressure than I would Allen. But I don't know if there's a number that's going to come out that tells me their QBR EPA is actually still favors Allen. And maybe it's a bit, I just expect more of Allen. You know what? I'm sorry.

I can't take a rookie quarterback in the playoffs over Allen who's had at least a little bit of experience with everything going on. But the fact that it's not a slam dunk answer maybe is more of a compliment

for CJ than it is an indictment on Allen. But I'm going to go into their first playoff game going, is he going to stay clean here in the first half?

I mean, is it Stroud for you? No, I would go with Josh. I think the sentiment that you raise is like it's eye-opening. The fact that a rookie quarterback has played this well, and they're not managing C.J. Stroud. You know how a lot of rookie quarterbacks come to the league, they try to manage them, run the football. They don't manage C.J. Stroud.

They're like, bro, run the football. They don't manage C.J. Stroud. They're like, bro, go get it. Go win. They throw... C.J. Stroud might throw more deep passes than any quarterback in the league. This dude is throwing chunk passes week in and week out.

This game against the Colts, the Colts was getting after him. He had to answer for all their pressure. Yes, I would go with Josh Allen because I've seen him in the Colts, the Colts was getting after him. But he had an answer for all their pressure. So, yes, I would go with Josh Allen because I've seen him in the postseason. But C.J. Stroud, man, is playing like – he's playing beyond his years right now. Yeah. No, he's been one of the best stories in the league. Should be Rookie of the Year despite McCool because he's the quarterback.

And maybe D'Amico gets Coach of the Year as well. Hey, looking forward to seeing you throughout the playoffs, man. Thanks for checking in. Yeah, man. I appreciate you having me on. Danny Cannell, back in the mix. CBS, sports, and SiriusXM every single day. What's up, man? I know you're

in Houston, so you getting rowdy or what? Yeah, man. Houston, I wouldn't put it in the top three cities to host a championship game, but it's been good. It's a little muted. It's hard to tell. When you go to Indy, everybody's walking around downtown. Everybody kind of stays there. So you see jerseys everywhere. I went to the mall yesterday, shopping for court, my wife's birthday. I saw like a few Michigan fans, a few Washington fans, but it didn't feel like a college football takeover, which some cities are better than others. But it's raining here today. So thankfully they have NRG Stadium will be closed. So we don't have to worry about that. And hopefully it keeps the rain out. Unlike SoFi stadium last year, where it was raining with a covered roof. I don't know how that happened,

but it did. Okay. Give me your biggest thing. The thing you've been thinking about since this final game was set a week ago. Can Washington stop Michigan's run game? I mean, like that's, it really is simple when it boils down to that. That to me is the matchup of the game. I mean, it really is simple when it boils down to that. That to me is the matchup of the game. I know there's strength on strength. I'm excited to see Washington's offensive line, see if they can handle Jesse Minter's game plan and can they protect Michael Penix? Does he get sacked? Can they put up points? But in order to score points, you got to get the ball. And for a team like Michigan, who is not afraid to keep handing it to the running backs, all I have to do is go back and look at the Penn State game.

It was 30 runs in a row, aside from one pass interference call in the second half against Penn State. I think Harbaugh would love nothing more than to challenge Washington and say, stop us, good luck. So that to me is the matchup that determines the game. It might be.

And it could be an issue with Washington's defense where you go, are they good enough tacklers? I think the passing yards allowed per game stat is incredibly misleading because it's one of the worst in college football. But when it's yards per attempt, it's actually like top 25 because it makes sense. You get to try to keep pace with them,

which that staff has pointed out. But I think about this Michigan game plan that I've heard you explain, and I've heard the same explanation over and over again. It's like, okay, but Aller for Penn State wasn't good. There's no threat from that offense whatsoever. McCord is gone. And Milrow was, I think, a pretty consistently overrated quarterback all season long, especially when you look at the Heisman voting. And I've already spent too much time on Milrow already. This is a completely different level. This is a completely...

Michigan could play out... The Bama game was still even weirder. It took until overtime. But if you look specifically at Penn State, Ohio State, I don't want to hear about what the score was at certain points in that game. And the McCord turnovers were another huge part of it. Ohio State feels like they played with them a little bit. I don't know that they ever felt like they were scared, certainly in the Penn State game, to run it that many times in a row.

It doesn't even matter. We didn't even need to do that. I don't think you can have that same mindset against Washington's offense. Especially if they get ahead. Because I think that's one of the things that Kalen DeBoer does really well is scripting that first 15 plays. You know, he's had time to study this defense. He'll have something up his sleeve. If Michigan decides to get after Pennix, that really puts, you know, the secondary in a bind because it's not just Roman Dunzey. It's all three of them. And

they're all three capable of killing you in the quick pass game. And then you got Penix, who's really comfortable reading out. He knows where to go with the football. He's a very smart quarterback when you watch him play. That's why only giving up 11 sacks all season long. Yes, it's the Joe Moore award winning line, but it's a tribute to Pennix knowing where to go with the football with Dylan Johnson, who I think is a key factor too, as far as his health, picking up, you know, blitzes in the past game, you know, receivers getting their heads around quick, breaking off routes early to, you know, get the ball out of his hands. That to me is kind of something else to watch out for too, because can Washington get ahead and maybe pressure them out of that game plan? But yeah don't think you can I don't think you can do what you're gonna

did against Penn State I think they're gonna try to be physical but I don't think they're gonna run it 30 times in a row by any means Stanford C was big on the number of snaps for that d-line for Michigan's rotation and he was there in attendance on the sideline for the Rose Bowl. And he was like, man, they kept those guys fresh. I don't know if it was always Alabama's offensive line. Clearly, the right tackle gets blown up on the fourth and four in the overtime play, which just kind of gives the play no chance to begin with. So that was definitely another win by the D-line there. I thought Texas had some wins and then Penix just moves in the pocket. Is that sustainable against Michigan's D-line,

what you saw him do against Texas' D-line? Again, it goes back to why he doesn't get sacked much. He's excellent in the pocket. Milrow sacked six times. I went back and watched that game. It wasn't all pass protection breakdown. Sometimes it was just crediting Pennix for being able to know

where to go with the football. And whether it was because Melro kept looking down to get the snap because there were so many bad snaps, he missed a couple guys where there's a free rusher. Those usually, like Tommy Reese isn't an idiot, usually have a plan in place. You either got to throw it to somebody, get rid of it, or check out of it, or do something.

But there were a couple of plays where it just looked inexplicable. I don't think that happens with Penix. But I also don't think he's clean all night. One of my favorite props is Michael Penix under two and a half rushing yards because you get one or two sacks, and all of a sudden you're looking at minus 15 yards you got to come back from and I don't think he runs I don't I know that that was a big storyline coming out as oh look how mobile he is and look how they used him as a runner that's not what he's been all season long he can but I also think Michigan will be better at corralling him in

the pocket than Texas was yeah you're right you know, as we've covered too many times, Indiana Pennix was a completely different cat. And, you know, if I look up the numbers here again quickly, um, you know, it was, there was some, I think maybe the second year, I mean, he wasn't running it all the time. Design carries, there's only like 22. But it was fun, but it also felt really dangerous. He just didn't know what to make of it. He only has 13 yards rushing this season. And you can say, okay, but that's the sack numbers.

Well, he was only sacked 10 times. This offensive line gave up 11 sacks total on 522 attempts and if you look at the bama game you're like okay well this is a different michigan d line like whatever that is and there's just too many people as we've learned that watched panics for the first time in the rose bowl like whoa or excuse me not the rose bowl in the sugar bowl there was a lot of people was pretty clear at least the way it played out on social media i'm talking like guys in the media where it felt like wait did you not know what what this guy has been doing this year i i feel like if bama was was it maybe it's just the lines knowing that bama is going to get way more money

than washington is going to get because people are more aware of Bama. But the fact that the Bama line is like one and a half to two and a half. And as of this taping, the Washington line was like at four and a half and it's five and a half right now. I, when I think about the Millrow Pennix part of it, I gotta be honest with you, it kind of shocks me. That number shocks me. I think it's more about Washington's defense. That number shocks me. I think it's more about Washington's defense. I do. And I think that's a legitimate concern is can they get the stops they need?

You know, because I don't envision a scenario where Washington gets shut out. I mean, Penix is going to be a top 15 pick. I do think he's got a lot of pressure on him. I think he's got to play well tonight. I think he will. But like Milrow, I don't think he is an NFL quarterback. At least not yet. He's got to take a massive leap. So,

I think it has to do with the other side of the ball. I think that's the matchup that the odds makers are more respectful of or giving a lot of credit to Michigan is their ability to move the ball

against Washington's defense. So, I've covered, you mentioned Indiana. Sorry, just a little side story. My first or second year at CBS Sports, I called Indiana versus Ball State. It was like a kickoff game, one of the first games of the year. And I sat down with Indiana's coaches. It was Tom Allen. And then we met with Kalen DeBoer, who was the offensive coordinator there. And they were undecided on their starting quarterback for the season. And he was, he's like, oh, he's like, we got this freshman. You know, he's young, he's talented.

We really like what we see in him. And he was talking about Michael Penix and he came into the game and kind of popped. And you could see like, there's something about just the delivery. It's beautiful. It's like just slings. And you could see it from an early age. And it was kind of wild because I still remember him and how much he spoke highly of Penix at the time.

And then of course he had the COVID year where he played pretty well. And they had this amazing season, which led to DeBoer getting the Fresno State job. And then, of course, they reunite. It's just pretty wild how the college football works with these reunions that take place. And I think it's been one of the better stories this year about these two kind of coming back together for the last two years. Yeah, that's what I love about it because DeBoer was there. Pennix's first year was 18, but I mean, he really was the guy in 19, but then he throws two picks.

He was running it all over Ball State in that game too. And that was, I think the game where it felt like everybody kind of loved him was the Ohio State game in 2020. It was in November. They lose by a touchdown. He threw it for 491, had five touchdowns. And he didn't run it really at all that year in 2020. But it was so much fun. And then Allen, I mean, you want to talk about how quickly the tide turns on coaches, all these things. Like, man, this guy's a perfect fit. Will he even stay at Indiana? Like, man, you want to play for this guy? And it's like, all right, get him out of here. Like

everybody else that doesn't live up to expectations. But the fact that the bore was there and then was like, no, no, bring me this guy. Um, you know, maybe, maybe it's part of the storytelling that sounds a lot better now. It also could have been like, Hey, we need depth in the QB room. And Hey, I'm familiar with Pennix. Let's just throw them in there. Maybe even like Buckner with Notre Dame going to Bama. It wasn't like, hey, I think this guy's awesome. It's just at least this guy's played in the system that we have with a new offensive coordinator. But whatever it is, it's been incredible. But I do think the defense is part of it, but I also think there's just more people that are sitting around going, I'm going to bet on the title game tonight. I guess I'll just take Michigan as opposed to

Bama was still going to get more money on them because of the resume and who they have been. Michigan's offense. So you're laying Washington. Plus four and a half, five and a half, yeah. I mean, do you have your pick out right here? Yeah, I'm taking Michigan and I'm laying them. I do. And again, you could hear in Kalen DeBoer's voice the last couple days.

He's getting irritated. Like he mentioned, people questioned our physicality against Oregon twice. Oregon State ran it in Corvallis. They were a physical team. Texas, people said the same thing. I do think this team, this Michigan team, is the most complete team he's faced. I mean, Harbaugh said at the beginning of the season that they might break the record for most NFL draft picks from a team. The numbers like, was it 15, 16?

They do have a ton of NFL talent. And they might not have the amount of first-round picks that Georgia had off that defense, but they'll have NFL talent. I just think they're the better, more complete football team on both sides of the ball. I think J.J. McCarthy's really underrated. If they need him to, he can get in that sort of pass game where he does. I don't envision him throwing for 350, but he's so good off play action. He just manages the game. I think he's got better. I think Michigan, I just think, is the more complete team. Man, not to mention the trend of favorites. You know, it's been a while since we've had a good game in the championship game,

and the favorites, you know, coming to the forefront and winning by double digits is a trend that we've seen develop here recently. But I, I think the, like, I would love Washington to win. I think they're the purest story. Like PAC 12 was the best conference college football. They won it. They ran it unscathed. You know, there's no scandal around them. Like I do think like if there were football gods monitoring who should win, it should be Washington. I'm with you on the storyline part of how fitting it would be for the Pac-12 to feel like they had to do something

and they couldn't get a better TV deal. I just think the recency and how many of these transactions works out all the time. It drives me crazy where you're just like, wait, now this league is worth nothing because they've had a bit of a playoff drought. Like these things cycle. You just named it the best conference in college football, which I think there may be a little pushback on, but we'll maybe get to that, some of that stuff a little bit later. What did you like from Michigan's offense? What did you like about them

calming down? Because I think it was some of the stuff that they did where they were getting absolutely shut down in the second half. And against that Bama defense that had held them, I think, to 40 yards, 41 yards prior to the game-tying drive, it felt like McCarthy had that next level in him, that Wilson and Corum and the way they were using those guys and some of the motion stuff. It feels like they could probably show you a little bit more, but in some of their bigger Big Ten matchups, they didn't really have to. So what did you

notice from what they needed? That's always one of my favorite things. When you need it, what are you going to? And clearly, we know the trio of names they would trust the most. Right. It's J.J. McCarthy, the most right it's jj mccarthy the quarterback it's blake corman the running back roman wilson in the receiving game and then the tight ends are deadly too uh the pre-snap motion i think is something they use really effectively you know helping out jj finding out the matchups are they man are they zone finding um you know finding the fish on the other side like like finding the duck, whatever you call the name of the defender that you want to match up against.

And, I mean, they did pull out the bag of tricks a little bit too. And McCarthy showed you, you know, he can make throws under duress. I think it was all, I think it was just like, I think Sharon Moore is a really good offensive coordinator who disguises things and, you know, was able to kind of, you know,

put some window dressing on it. But yet, overall, when you watch what they do, they're not that much different concepts. They're just kind of running them out of different formations. Do you think Harbaugh's gone, win or lose? Man, it seems like that's, especially around here in Houston, it seems like everybody just thinks it's a done deal. Whitey hired an agent?

I know Schefter came out with that report. Maybe he just felt it was time. I honestly, nothing would surprise me. And I do think it matters. Like I think if they lose, I don't see him, like maybe he wants to come back and try to run it back and see if he can get one. But if he wins, like if he wins,

I think he leaves. If he wins, I think he leaves. If he loses, I think it's still up in the air. But like if you said I had to put my money one side or another, I'd probably say he's gone, which is wild. I mean, it's just crazy. I think he was closer to leaving for the NFL not that long ago. There were certainly people, I would say, in the mix. What?

Yeah. When he met with member, he would say, in the mix. Yeah. When he met with member, he went to Minnesota on signing day. That was insane. Signing day is a coveted, sacred day in college football where you have to sell your team to the boosters and you celebrate. You do a press conference. And Michigan signing day, he went to, if you believe what happened, he was going to take, he thought it was a done deal to take the Minnesota job. And then he had to interview. And I think it surprised him a little bit. Minnesota was just doing their due diligence, having a true hiring process and he didn't get

it. And so then he had to come back and that's when the statement came out and they didn't get it. And so then he had to come back, and that's when the statement came out, and they had to address it. And they said, oh, he's a Michigan man for life now. And then the very next year, he flirted again, and thankfully it wasn't on signing day, but they came out and put another statement. That's why I think it's so interesting, because I think in a normal world, we'd be like, why would he leave? He's got a great thing going, but he clearly has interest.

I love the Michigan man thing, because it's like, clearly he he leave? He's got a great thing going. But he clearly has interest. I love the Michigan man thing. Because it's like, clearly he's a Michigan man. Yeah, except when he's almost left twice. So, you know. On signing day. Right. It's like my husband, you know, he's committed. He was going to cheat on me last weekend.

But he didn't. So, we're psyched. Now he's put a ring on it. Yeah. So, we're good. There's no issues. Yeah. We're psyched. Now he's put a ring on it.

Yeah. There's no issues. I wonder, too, like the whole cheating scandal, the COVID stuff. I mean, the first three games was a different suspension than the Conor Stallion stuff. That annoyed him, clearly, when he referenced the cheeseburger and meeting with people during COVID. I think the cheating thing has caught him by surprise. It's definitely hurt his reputation. And I don't think he gives a crap about the NCAA.

And I think he might be just sick and tired of it. Be like, hey, I'm done with this crap. Why do I have to do this? Yeah, that would not surprise me at all. He could still have a love for it. But his story, I'm happy that he's here. I'll be happy if he wins a national championship because I'll just be so happy that so many loud mouths in college football that wanted this guy fired after the COVID season were wrong.

My point all along was if he's happy there and Michigan's happy with him, you've been close enough, you've been competitive enough, and I know you're not beating Ohio State, but I mean, look at the other side of that right now with all the frustration with Ryan Day. But unless it's somebody who is in the program being like, hey, this is the wrong guy. We can't have this guy in the building anymore. He doesn't want to be here. We don't want him here.

Okay, that's fine. I don't have access to that for all of the top programs. We all hear different stuff, but unless you're around it all the time and from everything you'd heard, despite his flirtation with the NFL part of it, and this is somebody that weirdly restructured the contract, I'm sure you remember and everybody remembers,

where it's like, wait, he took a pay cut, but he can get it back with the bonuses. He crushed the bonus thing here again. That part of me, I'm rooting for Washington for the Pac-12, but I'm also going to be happy if Harbaugh is hoisting a trophy tonight because it proves that if everybody's still somewhat aligned at these top programs, you don't have to just change the guy to change the guy because then you may

reset the clock in a way that's far more damaging. Maybe I'd be a bad AD. I don't know. But if I thought I had a good coach and I felt like I was close, even if boosters were mad about the rivalry stuff, I would just be like, everybody needs to calm down because you start going out there looking for the replacements. That list is way shorter than you think it is because every program thinks they can get whoever they want. In reality, you're like, whoa. And I don't even know what Michigan would do. I mean, granted, it seems like Dan Lanning's the first call to literally everybody there. Oregon might be positioned moving forward now to the Big Ten. If I have this thing rolling and you feel like you're a possession away from maybe

even being in the playoff, why does Lanning need to leave for anything that doesn't look like Georgia needs anything anytime soon? How long are you going to wait on Nick? I just don't think the list would even be that long for somebody wanting to leave Oregon. So I don't know what Michigan's going to do here. And this late in the game, it can get a little weird too, which then disrupts all these other things, as we've seen before with the domino effect. I think the guy's right on staff. It's Jerome Moore.

I think that's the easiest one. I don't know if that… He would get it. You're right. You know, like, I think that's easy. You know what's wild? I heard this for the first time on Thursday. I was doing a radio hit from a station in Seattle. They're like, should we be worried that Kalen DeBoer goes here. I think he's, I think he's a perfect fit for Washington. I don't think it happens, but I think that kind of speaks to what you're saying is that, you know, word, what direction do they turn? How many people are out there that would take it?

You know, it's clearly, it's a great gig, but at this point in the game, a lot of those spots are taken. Harbaugh had three 10 win seasons when they were talking about getting rid of them, right? I know. I mean, and I remember saying the same thing to a lot of Michigan fans. They were the one thing. We're not good enough. He's not the guy.

He can't do it. I'll say this. Harbaugh, you got to give him credit because the year he took the pay cut after, was it right after COVID? Whatever year they started turning around. He had brought Josh Gadison and he was kind of flirting with adapting to newer college football concepts like RPOs, running quarterback, like let's maybe throw it a little bit more. And he took over the offense again, him and Jerome Moore, and he went back to what his

bread and butter was. And it's always been wherever he's been, back at Stanford, San Francisco, San Diego, and here at Michigan this time around. It's like, I'm going to do it my way. And he's physical. We're going to run the football. We're going to use our tight ends. We're going to have our quarterback be a great game manager. And it's worked.

Like he said, I'm going to take this pay cut, but I'm going to do it my way. And it is a pretty compelling story. Yeah, I think the 2016 one where they lost to Iowa 14-13. They lose in overtime. Ohio State, you know, the spot. Hey, was it a first down? You know, over and over and over again. And it's like, I just always feel like if you're close,

if you're close and not necessarily in the conference championship game, like, what are you doing? And then, you know, everybody kind of lost their minds during the COVID stuff. Okay, I need to ask you about a couple things here before we let you go so your pick officially is Washington you would take excuse me your pick is Michigan yeah but even you're picking Michigan minus spread on top of everything else yeah I think I think they win by double digits but I don't think it's a blowout like three touchdowns I think they win by you know between 10 and 14 points. I would take Washington to points and I'll take Washington outright.

Vegas dinner. We'll see our guy Bernie at Carbone. We'll have to sit at the bar. I've yet to get a table in there. I just lurk. The reunion will get us in there. I just lurk. Can I sit at the bar? The reunion will get us in. That'll get us through. Table for one?

Okay. There was a video of some tailgaters at a Jags game saying, fuck Danny Cannell. I know you don't like curse words, but I have to tell the full story here. This is an adult podcast. And they were playing tequila, like spin the bottle, but instead of making out, which is better, they were drinking tequila. What was the origin of this Jags fan base being so upset with you

before the game and then you, of course, predictably, after the Jags lost, and maybe the most disappointing season in the NFL this year, you were like, oh, hey, how'd that go? Or there was some kind of quote tweet where you clearly bookmarked that one if the game went your way. What happened here? I kind of forgot about it.

I was doing a hit with CBS Sports HQ hq uh some of this the other side gigs i do and i was on with pete prisco and we were talking about jacksonville and it was the 49ers game it was 49ers coming off three game losing streak streak they were playing in jacksonville and pete prisco said something to the effect of the home field advantage is going to be huge for Jacksonville. And I kind of made a comment. I was like, really? Like Jacksonville is this gauntlet to go through? Like, I don't think anybody puts it up there as, ooh, we're worried about going to Jacksonville. And then I made a comment. I said, why do you think they're a franchise that has been always mentioned as moving to London? I'm like, the fan base isn't that great. And Pete used to do radio in Jacksonville for about 15 years. And he has a lot of Jacksonville followers.

They saw it. And I'm telling you, it was up there, but it was more like cute that they came after me because Philly fans have come after me. New England fans have come after me. I remember when Brady, when I said they should hit him in Denver, they were not happy. So I felt the brunt of different fan bases and it was not pleasant, but they were upset that I said this. And they said, you don't have your facts straight and all this stuff and we're going to show you. And then of course they have the game coming up.

So this podcast, this Jacksonville podcast, who was really crushing me, I had said something. I saw they were doing a fundraiser for their tailgate. And so I Venmoed them 50 bucks because they were raising money to drink tequila. They were going all in on Casamigos. So I sent them 50 bucks. I was like, hey, it's all good. Have a good game. Good luck versus San Francisco.

And so I thought it was an olive branch that was extended that was going to quiet the water, so to speak. And we were able to, I don't live that far from Jacksonville. I have family in Jacksonville. I thought it was going to suit things over. And then before the game at the tailgate, which I bought some of the tequila, they're out there chanting F Danny, F Danny. So I was like, all right. So I just kind of tucked it back there, bookmarked it on X, So I just kind of tucked it back there, bookmarked it on X, very valuable feature. And, you know, just had to remind them that karma is a bitch. That was the quote.

That was it. Like they could have said, hey, thanks for being a standup guy. Thanks for the tequila. We'll go here and I could wish Jacksonville well, but instead they turned on me. Wow. You know, I think people hear that story and they go, first of all, I don't know that Jacksonville is one of the early draft picks to be like, how do you go in there and win a game? Um, no one does. Yeah. Coming for you now. That's all right. They got other stuff to worry about. Um, yeah. Yeah.

But then I saw the video and I was like, man, is this an SEC thing? Okay. So this, this is a perfect segue. We're going to play the sound right now. I want to go behind the canal because I noticed a series of tweets over the last week that I think I know you pretty well. And I have to explain you to a lot of people because they're like, is the real Danny the one that comes on with you? Or is the real Danny the guy just firing off these tweets? And I was like, I don't know. Because they seem to like the first 28 minutes, Danny. I don't know if they're going to like the next five. First one was on January 2nd. So Penix was pretty much

robbed of a Heisman hunt. Would you have said that if it wasn't an LSU quarterback winning the Heisman? Yes. Full disclosure, I voted for Jaden Daniels for the Heisman. I have a vote. He was my winner.

I had Penix second. I forget the third now. No row third. It's like how far back it goes. So I put it out the next day or the Monday after. So it's Saturday. It's Sunday. I saw some people, some Pac-12 apologists,

Best Conference of College Football this year, pointing out some people, some Pac-12 apologists, best conference of college football this year, pointing out some facts, just kind of portraying things in a different way. And on the radio show with Dusty in the morning, I had a little bit of voters remorse. I was like, man, did I? I actually fell victim to the machine of the SEC and the exposure and seeing more Jaden Daniels highlights than I had a Pennix. So I had, but I can't take it back. Jaden Daniels was spectacular.

They both had phenomenal years, but one did run the table. One did, you know, amazing things. They both had amazing careers. So I had a little voter's remorse, full disclosure.

And then as I'm watching the game, how could you not at least have that thought that that was the best player in college football with the display he put on versus Texas? Now, I easily would see him having a rough game against Michigan and everybody, well, what do you do now? That wouldn't surprise me. But in the aftermath of that game, I thought it might've been the performance of the year from anybody. But in the aftermath of that game, I thought it might have been the performance of the year from anybody. Yeah, I think I would have voted for Pennix. But, you know, at the core of the award, it's, hey man, it's supposed to be, you know, it's supposed to be the best player, right? One of the stupidest things, I will say one of the stupidest things I've heard. There have been a lot of articles written like, should we wait to give the Heisman? You can't

do it after the playoffs because then it would just be the MVP of the playoff game. If they win time. Or Penixworth. I think that's the dumbest thing. It happened a lot after the Deshaun Watson when they finally beat Bama. It was like, hey, we need to wait on this

whole thing. It's like, okay, then just call it the national championship final because nobody else is going to win the thing. Is that tweet out of bounds? No, we're building here. We're building. Okay. When Bama was up against Michigan on January 1st, you said, this is where the cake schedule hurts Michigan.

Haven't faced this type of adversity all year long. Interesting to see if they can handle it quickly followed by the only thing this robo rose bowl proves is the committee doesn't care about the regular season or cheating so it felt weird that you thought bama stunk no but it felt like it it was like wait so bama's good now so you're giving bama credit for being an actual opponent after what some would argue is a soft regular season Big Ten schedule because of Iowa in the title game. No argument there.

Down Ohio State at quarterback. Penn State being a mess on offense. It's like, man, Bama's up. This is a real test. While simultaneously arguing that Bama stinks, that's hard to do. Which there was neither tweet that Bama stinks. That's hard to do. Which there was neither tweet said Bama stinks. It was just two totally separate thoughts. They were separate times.

The one was genuinely like an open, because Michigan fans were like, oh, we've been tested before. We were down against Ohio State. Their schedule was easy. And I genuinely felt like Washington, I do think has an advantage. Bama, I thought had an advantage because they had been in more tested games, battle tested games. You don't know how they're going to respond. So it wasn't, it was genuinely a observation with a question mark. I wonder how they're going to respond. And they did. And it was awesome to see them do that. So that wasn't,

the other one was a snarky I'm still ticked off of what happened to Florida State. You've got one team with the number one seed, which I still think that's kind of a joke even though if Michigan wins it. But then you start hearing people say, well if Michigan wins it, see the committee

got it right. They were the number one seed. Or see they did this. The playoffs don't prove anything. They don't prove anybody correct or incorrect. Nothing. They prove nothing. Zero. No. This is breaking news. Hey, guys, have this be the video breakout. All the playoffs do is prove that there was one

team that won two games from the four teams that were invited. That is the only thing it proves. The previous 13 games mean nothing. No. Or else, why wouldn't you have Florida State in these games? The regular season does not matter if you don't invite a team that ran the table in a Power 5 conference. Okay, December 3rd. Great segue.

The committee set a precedent by not allowing Florida State to play for a title. Florida State should return the favor and boycott the Orange Bowl. I mean, they don't have their QB, so why play at all? Some would argue they did boycott the Orange Bowl. I think you could make a really strong case they boycotted the Orange Bowl. Clearly in a very weak position to make a strong argument about Florida State, but I will die on a hill that Florida State at full strength with Tate Rodemaker, their backup quarterback, could have beaten any of the four teams in the college football playoff.

I'm not going to tell you you're wrong about that one. And I didn't love Florida State being left out, but I also understand it. I mean, I know you hate this. Yeah. When we used to argue about it, when the committee made it really simple, they're like, hey, we're taking the four best teams. And it's just a bunch of people in the room who think the four best teams are the four best teams. And the system was set up to leave somebody out. We actually had depth at the top this year, which is a complete change of where it felt like it was Georgia, Clemson, and Alabama. Then who wants to come get their ass kicked for so much of this? give Kirby Smart a ton of credit because after the game he could have he could have pounded the table and said we're the better team why aren't we national champions we could make a claim

but like the first thing out of his mouth is like we got to fix this I mean he recognized Florida State was a shell of the team that they watched on film and he like I thought it was pretty classy move for Kirby to recognize that uh we talked about it. We talked about it last night with Steve. Can you imagine Jimbo in that role being left out and then stomping a team, missing 24 guys, and then going, well, maybe I got it wrong. I really liked Kirby there,

and then I just started thinking about the list of other coaches that would have been insufferable, where you'd be like, now I'm glad you're not in. No doubt. That's another part of, you know, look, Bama getting it. I feel like, have been insufferable where you'd be like now i'm glad you're not in and no doubt that's that's another part of you know look bama getting it i i feel like the bama win against georgia nobody like acted like it meant anything i know it but it's like you realize what they just did is they

beat the team that hadn't lost in three and they won the title and then the committee liked that team that much having number one and that's kind of why they're ahead of florida state with the injury thing all right but we don't need to relitigate all of that we've done it for a month plus so we leave you with this one this is the last one awful announcing a story on december 6th will espn ever be able to shake claims of scc bias quote tweet from danny canal quote you can't shake what is real so my question to you is this we both worked there a long time I was never invited

in any of the meetings be like here's the agenda now I very simply said hey they win all the time you and I argued before you were my co-host we argued all the time and we still think we've matured a bit so I just kind of let it because I know there's no shift here so considering that you believe that it was this bias, this calculated, coordinated thing by all of us on the air to promote a lesser product, do you think, knowing me as well as you do, that if the Big Ten had won 13 of 17 national championships with five different programs, I would show up to Monday after the 13th title by a fifth different program. And I would start the show looking at you saying,

I know what they've done. I just don't think it's better. I don't see it. Have I not said, just to make it clear, that the gap between the SEC and everybody else is never as significant as it's portrayed on television. Because I have no problem saying the SEC has been, majority of years, the strongest conference in college football. Wow. But where it comes into play is when you have an undefeated ACC champion

who was still a Power 5 conference get left out. That's where perception becomes reality. And all of a sudden, they leave them out. And they're okay with it. Like, there's no world we could live in that an SEC undefeated team would get left out. No matter who their non-conference was, they could have four cakewalk opponents.

And if they had a win over, like, east champion would absolutely be in yeah but our biggest arguments you would you had to admit it was the best but you would hit me with like if you attack an argument with vagueness i can't counter it you would just say it's not what everybody thinks. I'm like, well, no, it needs to be defined. Because my point was always this. Who do you think was the best? So you don't think the Pac-12 was the best conference in college football this year? You know, I kind of think they were, but I'm not. Wow.

I'm not opposed. I think it was as obvious as it gets. Multiple national championship contenders. Depth was there. More teams in the top 25. So two national championship contenders and the SEC had two national championship contenders. Yeah, but I don't think Bama was.

I think Bama was one. I don't think they should have been a national championship contender. I don't know, dude. I mean, look, there are arguments where I'm like, what are you talking about? If you want to tell me the Pac-12 is the best. But the thing is, I know you're in a hurry.

You want it to be true so much more than the other thing is true. I think there's clearly two teams in a weird year in college football where if you're telling me, like, look, I really like the Pac-12 this year going down like, hey, Oregon State was still a tough out. Arizona became a really tough out. I mean, SC was a mess. Washington State had a weird season with all of that, but I still felt like Utah kind of fell apart there towards the end. But considering what they did with the injuries and without their quarterback and going through all the different guys at times, there was a time where I liked

Utah. So yeah, maybe I'll give it to you, but Ole Miss was really good. Missouri was really good. Tennessee, some of those SEC Big Ten matchups, other than Michigan one, that was getting ugly there for a while. I didn't love Penn State this year. I was kind of surprised Ole Miss put that much up on them. I don't want to hear about just Chop not being there. I think the Big Ten was the most overrated conference all season long. My point has always

been this. I don't even think it was overrated anymore. I think everybody knew. I think 20 teams in the Power Five would have won the Big Ten West this year. I might still have a few left over. And that's what happens in the Big 10 now. The whole 25 points a game for Iowa was this whole big deal with Brian Ferenc. He had to meet that number.

Seven or eight teams in the Big 10 didn't score 25 points a game. The offensives are just atrocious. That's why they have the four top scoring defenses in the country because of that. Have you noticed though? I have not pounded the table and said the ACC is the strongest. I'm not an idiot. Because you can't. Why would you? Do you want credit for that? They were 7-5 against the SEC. They were, but you know that they weren't better.

We would think that the best conference in college football would dominate a little bit more against the underling that's surviving by a thread in the ACC. Look, the SEC was down this year, but was it down because LSU and Florida were disappointing and we don't want to give Ole Ole Miss and in Mizzou more credit. Uh, I don't think it's a clear cut thing with the PAC 12 and SEC this year. If you want to say it's the PAC 12. And I think I've made the argument that it might've been multiple times during the

season. I don't know that it's, my point has always been this is that when you went through the other power five conferences, you couldn't get to program four or five and say, yeah, they could win a national championship without laughing. Say it one more time. Go through the other four Power 5s and you have to get to a 15 where you're like, yeah, they could win a national championship without laughing. And you think you can do that in the SEC? They already did it. laughing. And you think you can do that in the SEC? They already did it. What? Because Auburn had

one year where they had Cam Newton, all of a sudden they're a juggernaut. And they played in the National Championship to your guys. So it's not like it was this weird, fluky you know, I don't even want to call Cincinnati a fluke because it's been a really good program in the group of five. But I mean, Auburn getting to a second title game means that Auburn is capable of it, right?

Yeah, but I think you could make five Pac-12 teams like is USC. I mean, like by your logic, you would say USC, you can make a case for them being a national champion, even though this year was a disaster. It'd be nice if it was within the last 20 years. even though this year was a disaster. It'd be nice if it was within the last 20 years. Right. It's been 19. So it is by your criteria in there.

They were, they had a good season last year. Okay. But there's a point. Too much meaning on the history of those programs. And I do think the downturns in those programs, like the Florida Gators, you just brought them up. Like there are two of those titles and they're not any good.

Like they're not a tough out. No, and it's, but it isn't just history. I think if you start going through the ACC and you're like, all right, Clemson, Florida State. I'm supposed to put Miami in there? Miami? Right. You want me to put Louisville in there?

North Carolina? No, but again, I'm not saying I'm not pounding the table for the ACC as a viable threat to the SEC. Do it with the Big Ten. Who's the fifth team in the Big Ten where you're like, yeah, that's not weird they won a national championship? Yeah, but see, this is one thing that always bothered me. I think you should have this discussion individually based on each season at the end of the year. That's why I think the Pac-12 was the best one.

Because I think they had more national champion contention. They had deeper depth. I thought they were better across the year. That's why I think the Pac-12 was the best one. Because I think they had more national champion contention. They had deeper depth. I thought they were better across the board. Like, no one really talks about Arizona. They had two national championship teams in the mix. They had two, which is the same number as the SEC. Who's this mystical third team? You don't want to put a two on it. You say multiple.

That, by definition, could be two or other. Who's the third team that was fighting for a national championship? I think Pac-12 was clearly deeper. I think their gauntlet was much tougher. Do you think the one through six is deeper? I get it. Ole Miss, Tennessee, or Mizzou, they've been good years. No one brings up Arizona.

They were a phenomenal team this year. We brought them up. We already brought them up. They were awesome. They were awesome this year. We thought it was like a weird sign for Washington without realizing, no, it's a wake-up call about who Arizona is. And then after the SC game, I was like, dude, these guys are kind of nasty right now. If you want to tell me one through six, you like better than the Pac-12,

I'd agree with you. But I don't know that this one year was definitive, even though it felt like the SEC was down, because to my original point, because it was Ole Miss and Mizzou, and it's not the other names. If it ended up being Bama, Georgia, LSU, and Florida in the top 10, then people might be like, oh, see, the SEC was awesome this year. And the ACC matchup, that's an indictment. The non-conference stuff that happened at the beginning of the year, you're like, what the hell's going on? So they weren't clearly as strong as they've been in the past.

And I don't know what we solved here. I just know that there were no secret meetings. It's a conference that won a ton of games, put a bunch of guys in the league, and we talked about it. But some of us disagree. We do. Take out one game for the Pac-12

because they play nine conference opponents, give them a cupcake, all of a sudden the perception of that conference changes dramatically. Yeah, maybe. I don't know. Big 10 guys acted like they've been doing it a hundred years and you go, do you realize like how the, how the schedule works?

My favorite part of it. Well, I'm going to save it because I know it'll happen. And then I'm not going to say anything until it actually happens. Response to this. You're a good sport. Thanks for playing along. Enjoy the title game tonight. And where are you sitting?

Field. As long title game tonight. Where are you sitting? Field, as long as I can. When you hover around and try to get the awkward look and you try to dodge them, then I'll be in the press box. I'll be in the press box. I don't have any connections at either one of these schools with some guy who will say, hey, just stay on the field the whole game. I don't have that.

What's the statute of limitations on the tweets? And you know the tweets I'm talking about. You've had to deal with them. I had to deal with them for a long time. The response from any tweet was, oh, this is why you were fired from ESPN. You know what it is now?

I could say I'm going out for a run, and the first response will be 63-3. It's going to take a while to get those kind of out of the timeline. Is it a year? Is it until Florida State's good again? It takes a while. I don't love the 63-3 content.

It just wasn't fair to Florida State. I took your side, but I've noticed a pattern with you. When you really get into the mud, you immediately go beach shot or in this case, it was ski house where you kind of are doing a big fuck you to everybody that's giving you a hard time i know what you're doing it's like oh hey quick announcement like if you were really unbothered you wouldn't even post the video

so it means you're a little bothered and you want everyone to see how sick your ski place is i had a few people reach out, own or rental. I go, I'm not getting into windows business. But when it gets really dark for you during these tweet storms, I know we're 12 hours away from a beach sunset video. Yeah, it's close. You know what's better than owning or renting or VRBO or Airbnb? Friend's house. I mean, that's the best way to go.

That is my very well-to-do friend. That's like a $15 million mansion. People were, I got a few side inquiries being like, dude. It's insane. It's absolutely insane. It's good to have friends in high places with third or fourth homes in Deer Valley. I just go, Hey, he was first money in and Russell athletic,

but it kind of hurts my leverage. That's the only thing like contract year. I'm like, man, like my boss is probably, this guy doesn't need any money. Like, look at his fat crib. He's got out in Utah. That is not the case. I got mouths to feed. Well, good luck with that, and have fun at the game tonight.

You got it. See you in Vegas. See you in Vegas. They say money can't buy happiness? Look at the fucking smile on my face. Ear to ear, baby. You want details? Buy. I drive a Ferrari. 355 Cabriolet. 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. The email address is lifeadvicerr at gmail.com.

What is good to Kyle and Steve? And what is good is that we have an update on our extortion guy. Yes. So let's get right to it. Sent this email Thursday, but it must have got, yeah, it got lost. I didn't even, I didn't even see it. I don't think Kyle saw it. There was just so many people reaching out. So we hope a conclusion. So let's share that with everyone because everyone wanted this follow-up.

deadline came today. My final strategy was to give one last try to scare them off by trying to be a minor. And then if that failed to block them based on your advice and discussions with my family friend, who is a lawyer, I concluded I would under no circumstances send money. So thank you for that. Several considerations went in my message. Firstly, I wanted to make it believable by sounding like a scared 17 year old kid. I know I'm only 21, but I do feel like my prose has improved over these last four years. Yeah. I mean, it should, right? Yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah. I mean, I would imagine most people are a little bit better with the written word at 21 than 17. I wanted to be firm in order to scare them off, but also gentle so they would feel no animosity toward me. I also tried to go for the pity angle in case this individual happens to have any semblance of humanity. My message read as,

this guy is a really good writer now. I could imagine... This is a psyop. Yeah. Imagine your college essays are pretty strong too. This is what he wrote. Quote, you seem like a reasonable guy, so I just want to be upfront about my thought process.

As you know, I'm 17. I was talking to my friend, and he pointed out that it's child porn. I really don't want to have to get authorities involved but if you send it out then it's possession of that extorting a minor distribution i'm also a 17 year old kid who's broke doesn't have the money to pay you i'm wondering if you can please just let it go i don't have to get anyone involved so i don't have to get anyone involved i've screened shots of the hinge profile and what you've sent me so far i know police probably don't care about this but this could be fbi level stuff if i had money to pay i would but i don't please man

just help me out here i'm asking you the scammer immediately backed down and said they would delete the videos this was the biggest release relief of my life and i can finally breathe again on the surface i may not have exactly followed the pods advice but you guys brought me back down to earth and helped me think more clearly so thanks to all who wrote in i'm not necessarily 100 out of the woods and they could potentially come back at some point imagine if this extortion guy's listening to this and be like dude he's like i really like earth motherfucker he starts listening to the pod more he's like i'm a huge magic guy um but i'm feeling pretty good about it the story helps even one listener avoid the scam that I'm grateful.

Screenshots of our conversation is attached for your interest. The videos that almost leaked are attached as well. Just kidding. Wow. Yeah. Thank you for not sending those. Didn't ask for the thanks, yeah. So I got to be honest with you.

I'm not going to read all of it, but you already heard the first message. And then the guy goes, okay, bye. Don't worry about that. About what? You won't share it about your videos. No, I won't. Thank you. I appreciate it.

I'm in a tough spot. Then the guy replies, but can you help me out? How so? You said you can send $350. Man, that's all I have. I use 30 of that today. But can you help me out here? How so?

You said you could send $350. Man, that's all I have. I used $30 of that today for food. Listen, I understand that you have a good business going here. I can respect it, but I'm just a kid, man. Okay, bro. Good luck. I will delete your videos.

Don't worry about it. Bro was the unexpected response. Yeah, wait. You're ever in town. Is this something in America? I'm confused now. I imagine if you speak fluent female hinge, you've come across bro a few times,

even if it isn't part of your native dialect. I mean, maybe he just ran into the one guy with a conscience out there, a little bit of heart. I'm kind of shocked. I thought the fact that he was going soft was actually terrible. I mean, I guess whenever you claim to be a minor, that's like an instant red flag. I'm like, listen,

we should probably back off, so it's probably a good call on his end, but I thought I would have probably went the opposite way and gone like Tom Cruise's character in Tropic Thunder and just say, hey, we don't negotiate with terrorists. Fuck off, dude. I don't know. I don't know what the right call is here. You know, it really probably depends on on who the other guy is.

So I'm just happy that we think we have a bit of a happy ending. And, you know, as he alluded to, and it doesn't mean, you know, he could be a banner for some spam in five years. If you're messing around on hinge, the moral of the story is keep a shaved face and you can keep the minor angle. I don't know. I mean, if you, if you look any older than this guy, it sounds like that, that Avenue is, is closed. So, you know, just protect yourself out there. Shave your face. Wasn't that one of his big things? Like think i can get away with this i'm 21 but i i had a i had a cleanly shaven face in the video

yeah i don't i don't know man i mean i'm just happy for him because i can't imagine you know the anxiety of those moments of like what's this going to be like? Where's this going in the unknown? You know, sometimes you'd rather just have the bad news now than not being sure what the bad news is. I mean, I, you know, I think every one of us has had that moment or something like that. Like somebody sent me a text once about something that I thought was fairly serious, uh, about a family member. And it was like, Hey, have you done this or heard about this? And I was like, and it was like, text me back. And I've grabbed the phone and calls like, what the fuck is that text? Just don't text something like that. What's going on? And then when I got the

answer, I was like, okay, not great, but not the end of the world. Not as bad as I was thinking. Yeah. And then the person was like, Hey, you know what? Honestly, like looking back on that transaction, I probably could have done a better job. Like, yeah. And then the person was like, hey, you know what? Honestly, like looking back on that transaction, I probably could have done a better job. Like, hey, you could have just called instead of me sitting there wondering like, oh, what if you don't pick up

or you're gone for the day? And then the rest of the day, I'm dealing with this vague thing. Now you're calling people, right? Yeah, right. Now granted, this is completely different and like way more unpredictable

and all that. So do we have anything else on that? I just didn't want to. That's it. Happy for the guy. All's well that ends well. Let's see here. Okay.

A couple of blind ones here. Get revenge or get a golf club. 5'7", 175, 4'15", squat, 505, deadlift. Short guy became a college strength coach. I'm sure there's some psychology lesson there. Maybe you're just fucking strong, dude. Player comp, Boobie Gibson. Go Cavs.

Boobie had a nice little run there. Hey, guys, love the show. Boobie came by and did the car wash. Remember that, Sruti? Were you there? What was your first year at ESPN? 2011. Wow, you missed him then.

It was that 09 run. Yeah, I don't know. I don't remember that. I do remember Joakim Noah. He was a memorable one. Michael Crabtree was another memorable one, but now I don't remember Boobie. Crabtree was... He had a pretty low approval rating

after his day. Yep, wasn't great. Which I think we've discussed. Noah was awesome. Joakim Noah as a dude, you want to talk about like the full 180? Because at Florida, I was like, oh boy, this guy might be like a tough hang.

And in fact, he was the greatest of hangs. And then when he came by the studio, he was awesome. And then that's when his buddy spilled a protein shake all over all of our equipment. Yeah. Equipment, Jesus. Yeah, he just shook it and top wasn't on and it just all over the audio board oh my god it was a it was a disaster if i'm being to say lightly

but hey you know good vibes for him though yeah i don't know if that enacted the no water in the studio thing which basically became untenable because you were just like dude i gotta get up i'm gonna talk for eight hours. No water. Cool. That was a different thing. That was when Tommy Freeze Pop spilled like an entire water bottle, Nalgi bottle on the board as well and didn't end well.

You know, maybe not near the board. There's usually several tables in the room like that, right? Just keep it off the one with the audio board. But I think they told you and Scott, too, like, hey, you guys can't eat in the studio and you're like okay cool get right on i'm gonna keep eating in the studio though yeah uh then it was the solution was these cubbies that were cut into the hallway walls where all the on-air guys for a little while were standing up eating their food in between commercial breaks. Well, like tours would go by.

Yeah. There's Scott Van Pelt eating a sandwich. Yeah. That's great. And then just to kind of get back to like the root of all of us just being a slightly different version of animals, like people are just really weird about food because we are animals. And, you know, you'd see somebody coming by and they'd like,

you'd be on the air in the middle of the thing and be like, dude, I think Andrew Luck is the guy. He doesn't have a lot of help. And you were like, wait, is Darren Woodson looking at my fucking sandwich? Darren wouldn't. Darren wouldn't. That was a bad one to pick.

The reason I picked him is because he would be the least likely guy and one of our favorite dudes. All right, so Boobie Gibson. All right, got it. Hey, guys, love the show. Simple question for you. I need help deciding if I should be petty or rational.

You came to the right place. I found a Nike 5 Hybrid on Craigslist in good shape, and it was a great deal, seeing as I need another club to chunk 100 yards. I jumped on it. Nothing like a new club. Just had the shafts replaced. This guy over here.

Look out. Feel great. 10 minutes go by. I hear nothing. I send another message. Another 10 minutes go by. Nothing. At this point, I'm pretty annoyed, but I'm generally a calm and reserved guy.

Dead lifting 505. You sure? So I waited a total of 35 minutes sending two more follow-up messages and nothing angrily i sent a message saying i'm leaving a tribe okay i couldn't figure this out uh i missed a line here i thought he was like are you this hyper that you weren't getting a response message yeah no i missed not bro yeah i mean i could do the whole thing over but i'm not here's the important sentence that makes this guy seem much more. The guy sent me his location, which is 40 minutes from my house, but I had a free evening. So I made the drive.

Once I got to his apartment complex, I messaged him saying I'm out front. Okay, that's where 10 minutes go by, 40 minutes, whatever. I waited a total of 35 minutes, sending two more follow-up messages and nothing. Angrily, I sent a message saying I'm leaving a drive off. 15 minutes into my drive back, he messaged me apologizing, saying he never got the messages, asking if we can meet halfway. I pull over, don't text and drive, and we work out that he would deliver the golf clubs to me at my apartment. Still a 40-minute drive for him next weekend once I get back in town from a work trip. Part of me wants him to send him an address to my apartment, make sure he's on his way and then ghost him because I'm so annoyed.

But I should probably let humans make mistakes like they do and get this golf club, right? Appreciate it. All right, so that was it. Five years ago, Stanford Steve came into our weight room and got a lift in. Was a great guy. How many did you have any zip-ups left after?

Here's the thing. Do you want the club? Like, are you so willing to be petty that you're actually denying yourself something you actually want? Things do happen. That sounds pretty annoying. I have some gym stuff that I would like to sell, but I am horrified about any of my selling used stuff experiences. I've tried to sell furniture in the past, and people are just parading around your house. I'll never forget the one time where it was an Asian couple,

and they spoke a foreign language, and were sitting there essentially shitting on my furniture and arguing about how much they should offer me in a language I didn't understand while I sat right in front of them. And I was like, this is bullshit. I had somebody show up and then be like I don't really I don't really like this or hey would you take less or point to other shit that's never been listed and not for sale and be like would you be willing to move that like this isn't a fucking flea market dude so exhale yeah yeah yeah like

hey what are you doing with that that's my car like what so he points to that hoodie that you're wearing hey you like what's the hundred bucks what were they you have a couple of those so um i remember once i sold some used tires in vermont again this is when your boy needed a needed the cash i said they were like monster truck tires and the guy showed up was like is there any way i can pay in food stamps i was like dude i think i'm eligible for food stamps right now all right so um i was like i really need the cash that was kind of what i said on the phone and the guy you know thought he was and then he tried to he was like i really want to leave here only paying you this much for him and i was like well you can leave now and not pay anything and then he paid

the price so i i don't enjoy the transaction. I kind of dread it. But it sounds like you really want this golf club. You drove 40 minutes for it. So why deny yourself? Ultimately, the goal will be to have that in your hands, chunking it all the time. And if he's going to drive to you and make up for it, I think you need to get over it and not be petty. Because I still think despite how much he jammed you up, it'd be super shitty for you to do it the other way around, even if some people think you're justified. Yeah. And by the way, your friends will do this to you,

not in this transaction thing, but like it's in those moments when you're like waiting outside their house or something like that to go pick them up and like 15 minutes goes by. And like, that's an unacceptable amount of time to be kept waiting. If you're picking somebody up or something, if you're the one driving to the, whatever it is so like your friends your family will do this to you and and there's i know there's nothing like the rage you feel in the car in those minutes especially when you're not getting a call back or something it's it's happened it's happened to me many times and uh it's not like it's not it's not my point is it's not that foreign i know it's weird because it's like you know it's this guy's providing a service and you're driving or a good not a service i guess and it didn't work out but the fact that he's

trying to remedy it is good like i think i think you have more bad karma points if you go through with this than this guy did by inconveniencing you but i just think i know i know what that feeling of rage is when you're just waiting and you're you weren't planning on waiting and it's like it wasn't like oh yeah i should totally be's not like you're waiting in line at the grocery store at the DMV. This was supposed to be a bing bang situation. But I think I know why you were so upset because that rage is unlike anything else, but it happens to everyone, even friends, family.

No, that's a good point, Kyle. Cause like when you're in that like just rage cycle and then it gets solved, like you're still mad, but you're like, well, I shouldn't be mad, but I still remember the feeling of like being stood up because i i would say as like somebody you know obviously these guys that didn't waste you know an hour how on the drive was it actually wasn't that big of a inconvenience and he's actually helping you now so that the problem is kind of solved so my question to you would be how easy is it to find a similar deal on a club like this like if it's not, then just take the club.

What do you have to lose? If you could just find another one tomorrow and maybe stick with this guy that makes you feel better, then do that. But if the club is like, you're not going to find another deal on a club like this, then just let the guy bring the damn thing to your house and let it be over. Just be happy hitting on the range the next weekend. So I kind of don't think it's that big of a deal. Yeah, the appropriate revenge would be that guy

doesn't get my business, not he drives to me to then find out he doesn't get my business. I don't think that shoe fits. I agree. He shows up. He's like,

is there any way you want to just barter? What's your pots and pans situation? Okay, let's get another one. This one speaks to me here. Taking the plunge on living abroad. 6'3", 205, former professional swimmer. I like how he put professional in quotes

because I think even he's as confused. He's probably less confused than I am. Can we Google that? I'll say that seems like a pretty narrow, specific thing. Either you are a professional. It's not like if you played in the lowest of low minor league baseball leagues like there's probably a ton of swimming leagues i'm just wondering after like college maybe this guy competed internationally and and there was some cash there um had about 10 000 in endorsement deals in 2016 leading up to the rio olympic

trials if that counts oh okay yeah he just answered it that counts but i kept reading it spent a few years racing as a professional triathlete while starting out in the corporate world. You must have just smoked everybody out of the jump. Like this guy's going to kill us. Be like, no, he's a former professional swimmer. Now just stay fit with distance runs and playing in the Sunday soccer league. Shout out to Cerruti. My wife, 28 and I, 29, have been discussing the possibility of moving abroad for a period of a year or two.

And I wanted to get the crew's take on the pros and cons. The impetus for the recent push is that I'm in the final stages of getting my Irish passport, which obviously makes things a lot easier for us to spend extended time in Ireland or the rest of Europe. Or I can try to share as many relevant details about our lifestyle for your advice. Thank you for the depth. My wife and I are both from DC. We bought a home in mid-2020 that has continued to appreciate nicely despite interest rates rising. Yeah, I mean, the interest rate thing- You're buying a home in your 20s. Yeah, but I mean, the interest rate thing for the most part, when you thought, oh no,

this is going to smash a lot of property value, is that a lot of people didn't want to change their mortgage. So there was just less inventory for sale. So I know that, again, this is just my two cents on my minimal understanding of real estate, but rental comps around our street would probably get us a monthly rate 25% higher than our mortgage. Both sense of parents live in the area as well as the vast majority of our friends. Neither my wife or I are huge socialites, but we both like hosting the occasional holiday party or going out to a nice dinner with another couple on the weekend. I work fully remote for a tech company and financial services that have been going well. My wife works for a nonprofit where she's in the office a couple of times a week, but it's said

that she's open to a career change if required. We both love traveling and have been fortunate enough to go to Europe together four times during our relationship, including just getting back from nine days in Ireland over the holidays. There's a personal side of this story as well as I'm getting the citizenship through my grandmother who was an immigrant from Ireland in New York City, and she sadly passed away last year. Both my wife and I were very close to her and she was the last living relative that either of us had from that generation. So there's a pull to reconnect with our roots and honor the family legacy in any way that we can now that our grandparents' generation is no longer with us. I am fortunate enough to have about 30 second cousins in Ireland.

Dude, a deep crew from my grandmother's side of the family we just saw on a recent trip. Yeah. I mean, Kyle's like, can I, you got a plus one on this? All of whom are very friendly and hospitable and would definitely help us out whenever we need anything if we were to live in the country. Side note, we always thought Ireland would be the easiest country in Europe to do this despite the lack of a language barrier and family in Ireland. But the travel log expert has any other suggestions. I'm open to hearing it out. I do speak almost fluent French. This guy's a real

catch, man. He can swim, speaks French, owns a property, Kyle. But wouldn't want my wife to feel isolated in the local community catch man can swim, speaks French, owns a, owns a property, Kyle, uh, but wouldn't want my wife to feel isolated in the local community with the language barrier. And he's thoughtful here. Here are a couple of pros and cons cons actually starting the action items that would need to be taken care of for the move, as opposed to idealistically talking about things like setting up our house

for rent, finding an agent in Europe, figuring out what to do with our two dogs and our car, speaking to company about the move. Uh, all just sound overwhelming for something we'd be doing by choice. I know that you guys have talked about this before on the pod, but there's a concern we'd further isolate ourselves from our friends at a time when our social circles are already shrinking as we approach 30, even if we

get the occasional visitors during our stay abroad. Pros, I feel like we're both at a time where we've never had as little as responsibility as tying us to one place. No kids work remotely. So if we wanted to live abroad, it would never be as easy as it would be now. We both enjoy the cultural aspect of living in Europe. I have familial ties to Ireland. And in a romanticized way, it feels like I'd be honoring my grandmother's roots and our family history. Living in Europe would immediately boost my credibility to one day host a soccer podcast with a Roma Everton supporter. my credibility to one day host a soccer podcast with a Roma Everton supporter.

My current thought process is there are three options as we take the plunge and start putting the action items. This guy's a real prepper, man. But this is a big deal. In motion to do this in a year or 18 months so abroad starting in 2025, we

continue to just enjoy traveling together and try to plan one or two vacations abroad each year while not necessarily living anywhere else for a stated period of time, or we take the longer term approach and try to save up for the next five to 10 years and purchase another property abroad once we've already had more time to establish our family roots in the DC area, progress in our careers, knowing that we would like to have the living abroad experience at some point. I appreciate thoughts. Let me know if I'm missing anything. Whoa.

Okay. That was a long one, but I think it was super important. So I, too, romanticize about living abroad because I was like, you know, realistically, I could probably just do it for like a month. A year, I think, would be tough. You know, I'd have to watch the Banshees. Are you kidding me? I would live there.

You'd get bored there. You might not. I would get bored you'd get bored there you might not i would get bored a month i don't think a month i mean every all all everyone's doing is walking to the bar isn't that kind of what it is that's like so what's the news go to the store get some smokes go to the bar right i mean that's kind of like that's kind of what's going on in the film actually you probably kyle. No, I mean, a month straight. No, no, no looking back. No question. But, you know, chopping off your own fingers to prove a point, you know, month three. Would you do that?

I would have just found a new friend, but that's just me. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know that I would have given up that fiddle skill. So, Rudy, I mean, you must have some some Italian. I've kicked this around for many years. I mean, I didn't have any actual reason. I also didn't have the finances to potentially make that move. Now that I'm in my mid-30s, it's impossible.

You're in your 20s. I think the only thing that kind of gets me is if you do have the ability and you really believe that you have the ability in five to 10 years to be able to buy a second property in Ireland, me is if you do have the ability and you like really believe that you have the ability to like in a in five to ten years to be able to buy a second property in ireland i think that's probably the better route because then you can go back and forth like the two home thing is really cool and you're still kind of around your family i don't know if you're it's you know for the holidays or

whatever just different parts of life if you if you want to have start having kids and things like that like that becomes harder when you're living in Europe. Those trips are not easy. It's just not going to happen. I have relatives that live on the West Coast and we see them a couple times a year. And that's just how it is. And that's really trying to see them often. So if that's part of what you want your future life to be, I think it's going to be hard. For the experience, I think it's a full go I mean it'd be awesome I've looked into moving Italy I mean I sent you Ryan the one dollar euro houses in Italy many times you got to dump about 40 grand into them which is I did not have the funds I still probably don't have

the funds to do that um but they're also not in like major areas or in small villages so it's like not it's not like you're living in Rome you live in you know in Midland uh Italy so I don't know it's a tough call like you seem somewhat adventurous and like that you know but the thing about leaving your wife hanging though that's that's a if she's not going to be down with this it's going to be miserable for you too so you have to it feels like it's ireland or bus like don't go to france um but man it's a tough call i i would lean i would lean just try it because what's the worst that can happen you can come back home but if it really is on the table that in five to ten years, you can have a second house there, that to me is the way to go.

I think you're right about that. But the only thing I would say is all the things that a majority of this country, a majority of the people in this country wouldn't be able to do, you don't have that issue. You've got a fucking sick house in DC area that is going to actually bring a return on rentals. There's some houses that you have that you rent and you actually aren't making money by just what you can charge. So you've got this house and you're in your 20s. You don't have kids. You have a job that will let you go there. That already cuts like 80% of America out, right? Probably more. Your wife's into it. She's got a nonprofit. Maybe the nonprofit sector transfers. I don't know what

Ireland's deal is, but if she wants to, you've got somebody who's like, oh, fuck it, I'll change. I don't care. I'm not, you know, I'm not super into this. So, I mean, you've got all these reasons that you could do it. And it's it's young enough that, like, you know, if you want to get back to, you know, do it for two years, I don't see, you know, you don't have to sell the house to do this either, which is fucking sick.

That's another you're probably in the one percent of people who could do this in this country. So if you want to do it, I'd say I'd say do it, man. I don't know. Especially if it's only like a year or two. Look, I think this is something you should do to learn how you feel about it. You know, it's a bit like, you know, whenever I give advice to younger people that I'm close with and they're like, you know, I'm kind of stuck in this rut or whatever. And like, I might want to move from home, but I've got family. And if I want to start my own family, having family nearby is, is incredibly helpful. It's really can attest to here. So when people kind of go back home or stay home and they have help with their kids and

everything, it's a massive, massive advantage. Uh, in this case, I think it is very similar to what I say to a lot of people, at least in the States where I'll go, Hey, move. And then if you move, you learn what you actually love or what you don't love. And this idea that you're going to wait in five years and then just buy a property because you'll save enough money, life is going to throw so many different curveballs at you that it could be executed, but it's likely that it won't be. Things will happen. You'll go, I don't know. And then there also is just, as you said, romanticizing about this. It could be way better in concept than actual execution. I, last night, was looking at Airbnb's verbos in San Sebastian. And I was like, could I go there for a month? Because I want to find a village. I want it to be something that I won't be bored of after four weeks, but I know myself and that I see the pictures and I start doing some research and looking at the history and I get all excited. And it's like, what are you going to be like day eight when the gym sucks

and your league pass isn't working? So granted, I have more responsibilities despite feeling like I have none because it's basically around the clock every week. I still have to kind of be on top of stuff. So I would say do it, but maybe not as long term. Like, why does it have to be a year? I mean, I know it's just kind of a frame of reference for time where you're like, hey, maybe we should do this for a year. I just think for the rental, right? Yeah. If you're renting your house, like who wants to rent a house unless it's like a weekend or a week, right? Like who wants to be like, yeah, I'll just get out of here in three months. Like maybe, I mean, maybe actually more people in a city like DC, but like it might, that's

the other thing. Like if you're renting, if you're putting someone in, yeah, right. You could figure something out where somebody goes, okay, wait a minute, maybe we'll do it for six months and then it's up to them to renew or whatever. I mean, you can figure those things out. I just would say to think in your mid-30s, hey, we'll do this if we don't go now. Good luck with that one. If you're that determined and you're that much of a planner, which sounds like you might be, maybe you will. But I think there's a lot of people walking around that were like, hey, five years ago, I thought I was going to

be doing this. And now it's not even close. I don't even mean necessarily good or bad, just the way life happens. And then you start getting a little bit more in your routine. As far as the social circle and feeling like it's dwindling, hey, man, those are just the numbers. It's going to start dwindling. There's going to be people in your friend group that are like, I don't want the weekly updates. I don't want to hear about what you did. I get shit to do. There's seven soccer practices. All right. So I don't think that you going away for a year then takes you out of the loop and then you come back and you're like oh man now we have no friends because we lived in dublin uh you're the exciting friend now yeah you were you're like the buddy that's on broad that's

cool so i would push for you to do it now uh and i'm not going to try to talk you to another country based on everything that you just said with the cousins, the familiarity, that it's still a little bit closer. Like, look, spending a week and a half in New Zealand, I was blown away by how many people I met there that were like, I'm on a year work visa. And I was like, well, how does that work? And they just go, I don't know. I told work, I was going to work remotely.

Like I met a couple people. I'm like, you just told work. And by the way, like that's a generational thing. As far as what you need to tell work, apparently in 2024 now, you just tell, Hey, I'm moving to Europe and you know, I'll just, I'll circle back on some of these emails and I think they have to let you do it now. I don't fucking know. So, uh, I would look, I don't have the perfect answer for you other than I, it sounds like something you've really thought out. You have a place you want to go.

There's a place that kind of makes sense. It may not work out perfectly for you because when it's real versus the idea of it, it can be way less appealing as it's happening. But if you think you're just going to be able to clear the decks for 35 years old and make this happen, and then on top of it, buying the property, it's an awesome idea. I love looking up how much stuff costs. I like looking at real estate when I go and travel all these places. And you're like, maybe what if I did like a thing here? What have you got? And then you're like, okay, how often are you using it? You don't even go to fucking Santa Monica. You're going to fly to New Zealand a couple times a year to make use of your property.

New Zealand? Right. Oh yeah, that would make sense. No, it wouldn't. So I say go for it now. Watch Banshees one more time and then pull the trigger. Okay. Thanks to Stefan. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Steve.

We'll be back in 24 hours. McShane, I'll be recapping the national championship game, Michigan and Washington. So a Tuesday edition. Ryan Rosillo podcast, Ringer Spotify. We'll be right back. must be 21 and older present select states fan duel is offering online sports wagering in kansas under agreement with kansas star casino llc gambling problem call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit fanduel.com forward slash rg in colorado iowa kentucky michigan new jersey ohio pennsylvania illinois tennessee vermont and virginia call 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 in Arizona, 1-888-789-7777,

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