Kevin Carter: Coaching Matters! NFL Blunders & College Football Chaos

All right, everyone, welcome to another edition of Mac Daddy this Monday morning, week five of the NFL. And this, everyone, is why we absolutely love the NFL. We are Mac Daddy, presented by our friends at Volition. Got my USA Volition shirt. What's that? Uh, what's the name of the company again? Boast, right? But it's Boast, baby. Give it to Boast right here. P Mac here, Rich, Big Daddy Selgado over there. And look what he's sporting today. J, E, T, S, Jet, Jet, Jet, get it done, Big Daddy. How did our, I'm gonna call him Rjet, because I know you were there on the sideline. How did they pull it off? Before we get to our special guest, give us the rundown, please.

A lot of luck. And um, you know, wait, I don't appreciate that at all. I'm gonna be a line guy. I'm being a line guy. No, um, I'm I'll tell you, um they were in tune from the get-go. I mean, you could just tell, you could see, remember how we've been talking about the change in attitude, the difference, and how they look more like a team this year than they have in um than they did last year. So it was really, even with the weather, because the weather was like, I sat down there during a pregame, man. I was like, I I usually stay the whole time, but me and the crew that I was with, it was like, we're gonna have to go get new clothes because we got annihilated with the rain. And I was prepared though, so I wasn't worried about it. I had the nice raincoat on, and but my friends did not. They were overly dressed with all the jet clear and all that, and they're proud of being uh fans and whatnot, but it was not uh it wasn't weatherproof. But anyway, yeah, it was really the defense came up when they came when they needed to come up and made some, I mean some stops and sacks, and and yeah, I'll tell you one thing, Deshaun Watson, he impressed me yesterday. You could see that the change, like I know you've been talking about him from since training camp. Yeah, he really has stepped up his game compared to the past. So again, I was, you know, the Jets won. If had Deshaun played a little bit better, and the the team in whole, Plevelon might have pulled that out.

Yeah, well, they didn't, and my Jets did, okay. That's the bottom line because the defensive line was on fire. Eight sacks, I believe, they had. Lauren Emery's our producer. He's got the fire department coffee, he's got the dos umbres. Well, Big Daddy usually got the Dos Umbres, maybe keeping that on ice for tonight's Monday night game. We welcome in now our special guest, Kevin Carter, 14 years played in the NFL. Overall, first uh round pick, round pick number six, I believe, out of the University of Florida. Give me the chop, baby. Give me the Shelton. You know I love the Sheltons, Kevin, baby. Uh, but the your Florida Gators, we appreciate you. Look, I I can't believe we started with the Jets based on what happened in the NFL. Unbelievable win for the Jags over the Eagles, right? That was insane with what happened there. What was Ciriani thinking about? We'll get to that. What was Dan Quinn thinking about? His Giants, Big Daddy's Giants come back, and then they blow it to Washington in the this is why, Kevin, we love football so much and we love the NFL. Because, I mean, you've seen the most remarkable athletic plays, right, from these receivers Jefferson, uh Jamar Chase, the catches these guys are making, the runs, and then you see these bonehead moves by uh I'm gonna say the combination of head coaches, and you got to put it on Jaden Daniels as well, because in my view, it's his fault what went down there that they didn't uh kick the field goal to win it in overtime. Welcome to the program. What say you about what you saw, not just yesterday, but Saturday as well, Kevin?

You know what? To me, I think the more things change and the more the game evolves, there may be different aspects of you know, read option concepts, old things. You see some double wing, old school, under center things. No matter what evolution the game or what shape that takes, it's always going to come down to who is more fundamentally uh solid, and it's gonna come down to who has the collective uh higher IQ in the key moments of execution. Um, game day execution was is the most important thing, and we used to talk about it on different teams that I played on, and especially when I played for Dick Vermeal, there was a man named Frank Gans, and he said, You can be the most talented team from wall to wall, but if you don't execute properly when the time comes, you forfeit everything you've worked so hard for. So yesterday you're talking about Jaden Daniels, and I know they prepare for crap like that. Okay, don't don't tell me that in this day and age you're running a billion-dollar corporation and you're not prepared, you have contingency plans. Now, how well everyone has their mind wrapped around what you're gonna do in those key moments is really one of those things that if your head coach prioritizes those things, if he prioritizes talking in that way to you, if you practice in a way where you don't just do, you know, your everyone warms up and then you do this run period, and then you do this pass period, and then you have a blitz period, it's like, no, your practice needs to be interrupted by situational football. You know, hey, you know, quick punt or do this, you know, punt after a safety, and everyone needs to be able to adjust on the move. The best teams, the championship teams that I played on in my life, whether it's college or the NFL, they were they were teams that were situationally and collective football IQ smart. Um, so that's always the difference that I see. Um, every Sunday, every Saturday, every Friday, every Thursday, whenever I'm covering football.

Every day of the week now, basically.

Every time I watch, every time I analyze a game, you know, when you say, Oh, what happened? I immediately, I can, you're talking about the Jets and the Browns, and I immediately go to the stats, and you know, things start coming back to me. You know, both teams had less than four and a half yards per rush, you know, neither team was over 300 total yards. Um, you know, but eight, yeah, eight sacks, ten tackles for a loss for the Jets, and that was the deep that was the difference, right? Making the plays in crunch time in situational football. And that's really all football is it's really hard comes down to situational moments because you've got free agency, the teams are evenly matched, everyone is great. It's uh a cutthroat business where the best collection of 1,700 guys at at a given time are playing this great game.

So yeah, and I think and I think arguably we saw possibly two of the best teams in what was an absolute barn burner at the late in the day yesterday, with uh, and I bring in our man Lauren because his Niners get it done, which I did not predict. I had Seattle winning this one and a tight one at home. Man it was close, man, it was up and down. We sort of, I mean, we I'm not an expert, but I thought, okay, Seattle's defense is gonna be too tough. Both teams scored a ton of points in this one, Lauren. And your Niners get it done on the road to stay undefeated. What was the key in that performance for them?

That that, well, Kevin talks about coaching, and that coaching had a lot to do with that because that was a back and forth game, kind of a microcosm of the entire weekend in one game with uh some sloppy choices, some weird referee decisions, uh, some clutch play down the stretch. Uh, Seattle fans would probably look at that game and say that Cup deserved the first down, and in many ways, back to Kevin and fundamentals. I think that he probably did get the first down. The nice thing to know as a Niners fan is they didn't deserve the ball in the first place because Purdy did not ground the ball. So so it did all come down to the final stretch. Great game. Sets up uh the I mean, I personally, I I don't know about you, Kevin. I'm curious, are the 49ers the best team of football? Is it the Vikings or is it the Chiefs?

Or none of those three? I think right now, um it doesn't matter, right? True. I the ultimately, but I I I think right now, in terms of early season composition, how your team is um made up, um, what you kind of excel at. Um they can run the ball when they need to run the ball. They've got a more than capable quarterback and they play good defense. Um those are the things you kind of really look for. Um and I think as the season goes on, different things become more important. Um football is a game of attrition, it's also a game of information gathering. Um after you've scouted and shown everything that you have in your playbook, everyone is going to look and see what you do best, where you do it best, and when and in what situation you employ and use all those different things. If you're not constantly self-scouting and making the adjustment going forward in terms of evolution, then you may be the best team for weeks one through 10. But then when the dash for the cash is on, you know, we used to say weeks 10 through 16, we're now 17. Um, you know, going into the playoffs, you know, you can you can disqualify yourself if you're not ready at that point. So right now, in the in an early season, yeah, the 49ers are built right. Um, but you know, you have to look and say, right now they're healthy. Um lost Debo Samuel, right, with a hamstring. You know, how's that going to affect them kind of going down the road? Um, Christian McCaffrey's healthy right now. Don't want to jinx anyone. He looked good, man. He looked good. Don't want to jinx anyone.

They don't have any receivers, though. They're not that healthy.

Well, ask yourself, and that's another that's another concern, right? Um, when you need to push the ball downfield, can you? Um right now, they're not needing to do it as much. The intermediate passing game, um, and how well they run the ball and how mobile, you know, they do a lot with moving the launch point with Brock Purdy. It's he's such an easy quarterback to do that with. He's so comfortable in this offense, and everyone knows their role. You know, you have Kittle, you have you know the HBACs and and tight ends, everyone. Really, really good, effective, kind of a frustrating offense to play against because it is so it keeps you moving in the West Coast thing. And um, but right now, yeah, easily they're one of two best teams in football. Um who's the other? Gotta get on the Vikings train for a little while. Okay. I mean, you know defense, defense is strong, yeah. Yeah, defense is strong and and the offense is exciting.

You know what's you know what's also strong? But Big Dan, I'm coming to you now because what's also strong is this guy KC's not only brain power breaking this down, but I love the voice. And this is why you're working every weekend calling football, doing your thing, because you got the voice for TV and radio. Big Daddy, you both you guys give back so much, both you and Kevin. That's how I know think of how you guys met, right? Giving back all the charity work that you do. But you talk, let's go back to brain power on the field and and and uh from the sideline, because yesterday your Giants, and right after the Jets got the win, you texted me and you gave me the Jets, Jets, Jets, and then you said, okay, now it's time to turn to big blue. I'm sure you were up in a suite probably at MetLife. You went up there and you were, you know, sipping some wine and you know, watching the rest of the Giant game, and they come back. Jameis Winston comes back, who you know, talk about another reclamation project like Deshaun Watson. He's been playing pretty damn well. Uh 326 yards, three touchdowns, including coming from two touchdowns down. You're thinking, okay, we got this in the in the uh overtime, we got all the momentum, didn't happen. Coach Harbour, I loved his comments after the game, Big Daddy. It was hey, it's it's not it's it's not as bad as a loss, but it's not as good as a win. It's a tie. But I think the commanders, and I know you you got some buddies over there too. They got buddies everywhere. What in the world were they thinking to not have be able to kick that field goal?

Stretching my head, right? All your hair, all your hair and your head. Yeah, exactly. I'm like saying, you know, obviously after the jet game, I yes, I was uh sitting in a suite and I switched to get in front of the TV that the giant came on. So I'm saying to myself, wow, it looks like these the boys are gonna come through. Boom, doesn't happen. Then they get the ball, and it seemed like the whole conference was like laying there, like nonchalantly getting up, like they had 35 seconds, not eight seconds. So who takes the blame for that? You know, look, you can point the finger at a lot of people, but they definitely they had the opportunity to, you know, at least attempt the field goal and and and try to win the game. Am I happy with the outcome? Yeah, you know, look, uh a tie is better than a loss. Like coaching.

Right. And they're still in first place, Kevin, meaning the Giants, right? Three, one, and one now in that NFC East, which uh uh we gotta I gotta ask you about the Eagles because uh coming into this game in London, you're saying, okay, no Saquon, offensive line in all sorts of trouble. Um, Jacksonville's been rock solid. I happen to love Trevor Lawrence. I I think he's ready to, I mean, he's already damn good. I think he's ready to go that next level. We'll see if he gets it done in the playoffs. But I mean, what a to me it was like what a performance by the Eagles, where they're like they kicked a field goal, eight seconds left. I mean, that would have been a monster win for them, right? You know, just kind of get their season back on track, and then that happens. Please explain.

You know, we we talk about the aptitude for your team, but it's it also starts with how much your head coach wants to invest in looking at NFL history and seeing what works and then what his philosophy is ultimately, right? Because different people believe in different things. Some coaches go for it every time when it's less than you know a yard and a half, to where they are on the field or whatever. But this was this is a situation where if you're gonna kick someone deep with, you know, and make someone drive the length of the field, you know, how do you what do you do? And I I I guess they said we're gonna kick to them instead of kicking it out of the end zone.

Right.

To me, with no timeouts left, I'm gonna pin you deep. I'm gonna I'm gonna kick you, I'm gonna kick the ball out of the end zone, I'm not gonna give you a chance to return, and I'm gonna set up for two plays, you know, and not give you the chance to come back in the game. I'm gonna give my put my best shot. You're gonna have to I mean, obviously a 56 yarder, right, with with no time left. And I guess this kid made this kick this unbelievable field. And that's what he gets paid for, but uh I'm taking my chances before kicking you, kicking you out of the end zone. And so that that that to me, um if you are gonna kick off, if you're gonna s why not squib it?

I was just gonna ask you about the squib kick, because I'd to me like they used to use that all the time, and it doesn't seem like they use that as much anymore.

I like the squib kick because it has to go end over end, and it's gotta go in someone's hands, and they've got to physically down the ball. I I that's what I'm like to me, you know, put it put the ball in play, make them actively, you know, secure their time, get the timeout, and get their two best plays, and maybe they do a couple of Hail Marys. Um but you live and you learn. We see this week in and week out. Unfortunately, you'd like to say that, okay, these are cardinal sins, you know, rules, things that you don't do, and it's a common thread. But no, you'll see head coaches make bonehead decisions as to where they're either the hero or they're the goat and not the good kind of goat, right? So it's like and it happens all the time. And sometimes they come out on top, sometimes we're we're talking trash about them. I I think you're kind of damned if you do, damned if you don't, I think, but whatever the situation is, the the decision is, um, you can either make the right decision or you can make the decision right. Um, and and kicking the ball off yesterday in that situation and putting it in someone's hands and allowing them to return, that's not making the decision right. That's not that's just not properly executing and not having a heightened sense of awareness, not having enough guys clued in to the moment and not finishing to the nth or the echo of the whistle, um, so to speak. And you you pay the price for things like that. And it's you know, it's a game of inches. Yes. You know, wins are hard to come by on Sunday every week, and you're like if you're scratching your head as a Giants fan, and or if you're scratching your head as a Commanders fan, I mean, what a bonehead thing, of course. Like Jaden Daniels. I'm like, I love Jaden Daniels to death, but I'm I'm definitely taking a look at you know the whole situation that exists around him in terms of his maturity, in terms of how much, you know, I I I think he's great, I think he's awesome, but he's gonna have to you gotta be able to trust someone to do what you need them to do in the crunch time moments. You have to have a shared brain mentality with your offensive coordinator, with your team, because you have the responsibility of the a franchise in those moments. So he makes a better decision as a quarterback instead of running around, sliding down, not having everyone on the page. I mean, I'm throwing that ball away. I'm oh yeah, I don't know, I don't give a shit if it's intentional grounding or whatever. Like I'm I'm I have a heightened sense of awareness. I don't, but to me, I don't know, maybe I was different. I I don't know. I to me, it was for me, it was it was a it was a game, it was a dream come true, right? Um, I I never took one second on that field when I played for granted. I always thought it was the coolest thing in the world. And I swear, some of these kids are so casual about this, and I sound like an old guy, I sound like an old head. But in those situations, it breaks my heart when I when I see players not make the right decision and they don't have an explanation for it. And you're like, how can you not have worked on this? You as a coach, you're gonna encounter this. What's your policy? What's your rule? We all have to be on the same page, but then you realize it's human nature. Okay, I played at Florida for a guy named Steve Spurrier.

Sounds familiar.

The standard for how I operate and what I think is is probably crazy to a lot of people. Um, my third year in the league, I after after being heartbroken, right, the first couple of years, because it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. It was all these individuals and guys didn't care about each other, and we weren't, we didn't have this personal excellence. And then a guy named Dick Fremil walks in and he restores my faith in everything that is good and holy about the game of football and people, and I can believe again, and I can be a kid and just put my full trust in a situation. You know, I was lucky to play for great coaches and be in great environments, but when you don't have that collectively, then your team ends up making things bonehead decisions and losing in key moments, and everyone's scratching their head. Yeah, including Big Daddy, no.

P Mac how funny explanation, but how funny is this that that's every week. These last few international games have been pretty damn destroyed by coaching in the last seven seconds. Remember, you were calling me on the phone before the this game was crazy before half. It was with that goal line stand. So again, everything you could ask for and and all the coaching blunders to ruin it in the final seven seconds.

You know, uh, I'll tell you, we were talking before, just to go back, about coaching and you know, doing what's best for your team to beat the other team. I got to get and I watched this game twice now. I got the tip of my hat to Chip Kelly. What he did to Penn State two weeks ago, they didn't, no one saw that coming. I mean, to run the wing T, which is like from the 40s or whatever, the 50s, Tuppy Raymond made it famous in Delaware. Penn State did not know what happened.

No clue.

No clue. They're linebackers. It was funny. They're, you know, obviously the wing tee is all motion and you know, inside out. And they just left them standing still. I mean, what they did, uh, like I said, kudos to Chip Kelly, because he's he's always been an opportunity. And um that probably will get him in the back of the mix because the way Northwestern is playing, I mean, people are gonna notice saying, hey, you know what? This guy deserves another chance. I mean, he came from the uh Oregon Ducks, Lauren.

So uh I was waiting to bring that up, you know. I didn't want to bring up a story subject.

Enjoy recruiting with the guys have fun with that one.

But but I do take personality. I do want to dive in, Kevin, to what was also a huge college weekend uh on Saturday. I mean, you had Oklahoma upsetting Texas, and now Texas knocked out of being number one 27-24, walk-off uh field goal to win it. Uh Georgia, Alabama, two heavyweights going at it and look like two heavyweights Georgia winning it. How about Kentucky shocking LSU in overtime 35-34? Um, what stands out for you? Because when you I I I love hearing you talk about the NFL, and I thoroughly agree that it's it's it there's so minimal difference, even between the really good teams and sort of the mediocre teams at times. College, I wonder what direction it's going with all the money you know coming into the game. Is that going to start to happen a little bit more with the with these bigger schools? How do you see the separation happening and who's most impressed you thus far in what you've seen on Saturdays?

Well, the thing about the college game is they don't quite have it figured out to the degree of uh the transfer portal affecting the game quite like free agency affects the NFL game. But there is some very translatable parody that exists every weekend out. Um, you know, you got games, people losing and winning games that have no business losing and winning games, right? And you have you know a team like a Northwestern, like Big Daddy mentioned, right? That can that can pull something out in terms of you know fundamentals that another team hasn't seen. And you know, I but I was impressed with Northwestern, you know, with that whole uh Aiden Childs, I was impressed with them versus Indiana, you know, and and I understood that they were a good team because fundamentally they were sound and they were smart. Um but those wrinkles, you know, uh still exist. And I think yeah, it's about having 10,000 hours. Um you're still dealing with people's football whose football IQ and experience in the game isn't on the professional level. So that's the cool thing about college. You can get the fastest, biggest, strongest pieces, but if you there are only gonna be so many k kids who have an elevated understanding about what they're doing. Like every kid's not gonna have the natural tools like a Jeremiah Smith, and also have the football aptitude, right, of a Jeremiah Smith. Like those are those are gonna be special players, special dudes here and there, but the mentality of teaching these kids and and disseminating talent is going everywhere. So the college game is more volatile and exciting every weekend, more so, you know, talk about like a Kentucky um and LSU, right? Great players don't win championships, um, great teams do. And it's and it's it's a team sport, and so you see it in college as well. But what's standing out to me is is it's it's becoming a tougher game to be consistently great at. Um, and we're seeing more parody, we're seeing more upsets, um, but we're also seeing teams that you know have that are very talented, have everything going for them, but they can't collectively keep it together from a character standpoint um because they're dealing with so much other personnel, and they're dealing with the aspect of, you know, these kids make so much money.

Yeah.

So, you know, some kids aren't living in college housing, they're living in, you know, these penthouses, right? Yeah, and they're driving Lambo trucks, and it's not really the balance between being a collegiate athlete and having the student athlete experience, that is really out the door when it comes to college football. You you walk through the parking lot and it's it's like a luxury car dealer. It's it's like walking through an NFL parking lot when you walk through and see these cars, these kids are driving. Um so it's but what impresses me, uh I I I'm impressed every weekend. Um I couldn't wait to see Georgia, Alabama, because to me, you know, Georgia, Kirby Smart runs the best development program in the country. I think there's three parts to your program, who can you recruit and who can you develop, and then who can you bring in in the portal, right? And and having to navigate that culture of those three aspects um is gonna be how well you do in the modern game, um, you know, especially with a big component coming from the transfer portal. But to me, Kirby Smart develops from within. Very little portal talent on the roster. But then you have Alabama that has the name, and there's enough of Nick Saban still left to end the building as to where there's five stars, you know, abounding and the promise of you know other great players. I think Keelan Russell is special.

Yep.

I think he elevates their program. I think from a personnel standpoint, they are good. They are great with Keelan Russell. He is uh he is an X Factor who's only getting better and better and better. Um, but I love Georgia, and I they they were my pick, you know, to be in the national championship game, and I think they are the best team in the SEC because um the development is there. Gunnar Stockton is humble, um, doesn't make a lot of mistakes. They've got a three or four-headed monster at running back. You know, we saw Dwight Phillips and no one had seen Dwight Phillips. Everyone's talking about Chauncey Bowens and Frazier, and I think they're sound everywhere you look. Um seeing Arch Manning be a little bit underwhelming um and in the in the clutch moments of the game. Um it's but when you look at at anybody, it's a bit of an unreasonable request, right? You know, he had the team had put him put themselves in a difficult situation getting a punt locked backed up on their you know um in their own end zone, and that's again situational football. It's it's situational football awareness in those moments. Um but everywhere you look, you're gonna have you know those types of situations. I love what I saw from Indiana. Um on the road in Lincoln, yeah. Yes, because I don't care what you say. Um, you know, people say, oh, well, Nebraska's not that good, and you're like, stop with the not that good crap anymore. The the the talent is more balanced, balanced more more so than it ever has been because of the transfer portal. Everyone has good players. It's just about being able to put the right plan together on game day, and it's also about how strong is your collective football culture from year to year having 15 to 25 new contributing players on your roster. Kirstignetti has got it down to an art form. He has formed a culture. You do your job. He's not looking for Mr. Five Star, he's looking for Mr. Seasoned, you know, three-year letter winner who knows exactly what he is supposed to do. That's who he's looking for. And, you know, you you see that that talent and those and you see the the playmakers show up in those key moments of the game. Indiana rushed the ball for less than 70 yards. Um, you know, Nebraska beat them in every statistical category, and they only had three chances to win the game. And on every one of those chances, they knocked them out of the park with you know a pass to Nick, you know, two passes to Nick Marsh and a couple of big runs. And oh, that's right, they didn't give up anything, and they only committed two or three penalties on the day. They played mistake free football without turning it over. Um, so you know, Kurt Signetti impresses me. Ohio State rebounding and being where they are, they impressed me. I claim this week.

Yeah.

I I cautioned everyone when everyone said that, oh, is Florida back? And I'm I said no. You know, I had to I had to actually get on the air and say, being back, if you want to say Florida's back, okay, if you look at the last 30 years of of college football, especially in Florida's program, you're talking about a couple of coaches. You're talking about either Urban Meyer or you're talking about Steve Spurrier. And what those two coaches did in their collective tenures, like, I've got three SEC titles in four years.

And a Super Bowl title, just FYI.

Right. But when I was in college, like, we didn't lose a lot. Like, we beat everybody's ass. Like it was, and people hated us, and they hated Coach Spurrier. And we were confident, we were cocky, and we boat raced damn near everybody we played. And we have had very few bad, you know, Saturday afternoons when I was in college. Um, and but it was also because you know, you you have a level of greatness that is that is Saban-like, right? That there aren't many people who have done this in these big time conferences. So when you talk about being back, you know, I I I told Gator fans, and they were all mad at me. I was like, no, they're not back. Go win consecutive SEC titles and then talk about being back. You've won a couple of games, and you're just trying to get back to relevancy. And so um, you know, they got Texas this week. Um, that's gonna be just a battle of to see who's who's slipping, who's who's losing their grip on reality. Can Florida rebound? Can Arch rebound? What's been exposed? Florida, Florida has a quarterback problem. You know, they they don't have a personnel problem anywhere else, but they have a quarterback problem. So you know you're talking to the wrong person. I can go on and on about these things.

No, we love it. You know, what I what I take away from what you just went on and on about, which is fascinating to me, is the fact that it sounds, I mean, we always know how important coaching is, and especially in football. I've always said to me it's the most important in that sport than any other any sport, right? Because it's a collective team effort. Big Daddy's talked a ton about this with Harbaugh coming to the Giants, how what a difference that's made. But it sounds like because of all the craziness, right, that's happened in college football, the transfer portal, these kids, you know, that are 18, 19, making all this money, coaching is now maybe even more important in the college game than it's ever been. And just by what you said, Spurrier, Urban Meyer, Nick Staven, it was important then. But let's be honest, they also had a huge advantage because they were who they were. And now that advantage, that name brand advantage, is not quite there as much as it used to be. I mean, I would say in a big way, because of the portal, because of the craziness in the game. So, Big Daddy, let me ask you this before I get to Lauren, because he was texting me yesterday about his ducks, and he said he's never seen a team so disorganized, I believe was the word he used, about your Oregon ducks under landing. What how is this playing out in college? Because you follow the college game as well as anyone, um, that the coaching at that level is it more important now than it's ever been?

It is more important because you're getting these, you know, everyone's out there shopping around for their new, you know, the 10, 15 guys that are coming in every year, you know. So the coaching has to play a big part because remember, these guys that are being brought in and being paid this money, they all have egos. They've all been shopped around. Okay, so I'm most of the time it's I'm gonna go to the biggest bidder, the highest bidder. And then the coach now has to take a kid that he hasn't developed, like when you're a freshman and you get put into that um the mindset of, okay, you're starting here, you're going to year two, you're going to year three, and you're part of the program, you're part of the building process, and the mindset to go and win. But like when you bring in a guy who's coming in as third year, fourth year, the coach really now has to double down because he's got to do twice as much work in the shorter period of time to get this player on par with the rest of the team. So coaching does play a big part in the whole uh the whole revival, the whole winning, the whole uh it's coaching, educating, and teaching the right mindset. So you might as well say the coaches are like teachers, coaches, psychologists, yeah, and a new parent.

Yeah.

They've got to follow those rules. They're laying on, they're giving you all this money. Well, look, you're in my house, I'm the boss. You don't follow those rules, I get rid of you. You know, so and that's what, and and most of the time you can't get rid of a kid, but you just won't play him next man up. You know, you've got to follow that coaching mentality, and you've got to be a part of the program and be a part of the mindset that you that the head coach implements so that they can win.

All right. So, Lauren, I know you're you're upset about your ducks because like again, this year, just like last year, you're thinking maybe this is the year that they can compete, you know, be in the tournament, actually have a shot to, well, they've had a shot to win it all, but actually win it all. But are are we underestimating UCLA? Because they're unbeaten now. They go up to Eugene, get it done, a tight ball game. But uh, I'm trying to like soften the blow for you and say maybe UCLA is for real.

Yeah, you bring it's coaching. It's coaching. UCLA came in, they said we're not gonna out athletic Oregon. They did all the fundamental things right. They didn't do bone-headed things, they didn't hit late hits out of bounds. They played fundamental football. And and to bring it back to, okay, sure, the Oregon offensive line is not what it used to be. And you can tell because three quarterbacks have looked awful going off their back foot. But I would say, you know, Tim Brando weeks ago said Oregon was going to struggle because they lost their defensive coordinator and their offensive coordinator. And both Rich and Kevin have brought up Kentucky. Well, guess who is coaching Kentucky? Well, it all comes down to coaching. Look at that. And Dan Lane's kind of lost handle on his team, and he better get it back quickly because when you have a bad offensive line like that, you have to adjust fast and you can't rely on new D. So again, yeah, it does come down to coaching. And sure, they can blame their offensive line, they can blame some circumstantial things, but at the end of the day, coaching very much matters. Kevin, I want some die on the hill predictions from you for this weekend, though, because we we have some big games. I want to know, stick your neck out. Your beautiful big, beautiful neck, stick it out for us and tell us who's gonna win Indiana, Ohio State.

Indiana, Ohio State. Um that is a tough one. I'd I'd I think I think this is the first game that Kirsignetti loses in a long time. Um I think that when you catch people um matters. Um I think this is a game that both teams can afford to both teams can afford to lose. Um because of course Indiana is undefeated, and they can, you know, this is one of the games circling on their calendar on schedule saying, okay, we can lose this and still make the college football playoff.

And just for the record, Kevin, just for the everyone listening out there, Indiana's at home, and Ohio State's a three and a half point favor.

Yes. Um makes sense. Um Ohio State has already withstood, um, has already gone through a major test, right? And and and came up short against Texas, right? You know, hats off to Arch Manning and Crew early in the year, but that game is not hurting either one of them. I said at the time, both either both those teams could afford to lose, but neither could afford to play poorly. Um, this game is a little different. Um I don't think that Ohio State is wants to lose another game. Um, but I also think that they're prepared not to lose another game. I think that from a personnel standpoint, you're talking about them really investing in the run game in a way, um, really taking the taking the load off of Julian Sands' shoulders. And I say Julian Sands, I mean because he's obviously got the best player in college football in Jeremiah Smith. He's got a cheat code, he's got a guy who can he can throw a check down to that can, you know, just more man than who you got playing on, you know, opposite of him and can make and can really, really compromise your defense. But I'm I'm with Ohio State this weekend just from uh from our star power, from an identity. Um, I think they're gonna they realize that the thing about Indiana, Indiana is not gonna overwhelm you. Indiana almost plays like kind of like old that old Patriot ball. They they kind of wait for you to make mistakes, and it's kind of like washing paint dry, and they're not gonna overwhelm you. They're just gonna they're just gonna beat you. And that's what Indiana has done each week this season, even against a really talented Nebraska team last week that did almost they did everything right. Man, I mean I felt kind of bad for Matt Rule and those kids and Anthony Calandria because they had it, they had a day. They were awesome. But you're you're playing Indiana. And and going back to what want to back and back to what Big Daddy said a minute ago about coaching. Okay, he brought the psychologist, the the team manager, the the personality manager. Understand that is the biggest difference on in the NFL when you've got all the talent in the world to work with and an unlimited budget and everything. It's about managing personalities, it's about trusting someone that your contribution of what they ask you to do, no matter how big or how small, is the difference between winning and losing. It's about taking that responsibility and doing it and doing your job, not doing anything outside of your job, but doing your job. And then other people having the trust in you to do your job so that they can trust and focus in on their job because they know that you're doing your job. And that continuity is hard to build. The aspect of college coaches, dare I say, and Big Daddy hit the nail on the head, is like you better be a personality manager at this point, and also that doesn't just extend to your players, it extends to your coaching staff as well. And it's also about whom you hire at coaches. So, Lauren, yeah, no more Will Stein. Okay, you lose you you lose your coordinators, and you're gonna have a gap in the communication, even if you've got four and five-star talent, which they do, but I I've said since the beginning of the year, man, there's a lot of money invested in that defensive line, and man, I'm not seeing it. Like I am not seeing the this overwhelming, hulking offensive line that they're supposed to have. I know they had some injuries, knows they lost some guys, and knows there's been a little bit of shakeup, but man, I'm just not seeing Oregon overwhelm opponents like they should be. They don't look like one of those teams. And I know that a team like in Ohio State with a big bunch of impressive physically looking people can look overwhelming, but a team like Indiana, who doesn't necessarily have five stars wall to wall, they can look overwhelming too, because of how they play. Um, haven't seen either aspect for Oregon. Really a lot of issues there. Um and seeing them go down to UCLA, um, I think they're still a good team, but UCLA is really good. And UCLA has something that they have the simplicity of their identity, and it doesn't matter. That's why it didn't matter when Nico went down, right? This other kid comes in the game and he's able to, you know, deepen Bach or whoever it was, it doesn't matter. It's like their identity held true. And even through what 10 turnovers in the game, right? Three made by by UCLA, seven by Oregon in this game. You're looking at 10 turnovers, but who was able to adhere and be closer to their identity? Well, it was the CLA because they still ran the ball and Wayne Knight was doing Wayne Knight type things, right? And they didn't turn the ball over as much as Oregon did on the day. And that at the end of the day is the difference and identity. Bob Chesney has got something, and he's real simplistic with his with the roles of different guys, which is why the personnel hasn't mattered. Um to me, they're really impressive for that reason. But the common thread you're gonna see across college football is how much trust players have in the structure that they're given. That's why I hit on Georgia earlier, because those kids they don't give a shit. They're gonna trust Kirby Smart because a guy like Jalen Carter can play behind Jordan Davis and still be the number one pick when you know he doesn't even start for a team. And that type of trust for development for future dividends depends on what you want. And everyone's got a different idea of what they want. Some of these kids just want to maximize their portfolio in college, you know, sample best programs, get a bunch of stars by their name, make some money, and start their life. Other kids have a dream of playing professional football, playing in the NFL. Um and so there's different trajectories of you know, of also uh dynamics at work while you're trying to build your team and trying to win football games.

Sounds like you think Indiana's a little more methodical, right? I mean, the way they go about their business, and uh Ohio State's got the got the athletes and um they they got a lot of firepower. Uh Big Daddy, what you got?

No, you know what the funniest thing is now, all these college programs are watching uh Chesney and Signetti win. They're gonna be going, let's go to JMU and get Nate Beard next, because everybody goes out of JMU wins.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, it's hilarious. Uh I uh I was listening to a guy say that uh yesterday. He's like, Man, what is it with James Madison? They got all these winning coaches coming out of there. Hey, well, listen, whatever the pedigree is, man, that's that's what you're in the game for, to win, you know, not to not to look smart, look funny, look great. No, win, win, win. College playoffs. That's the mindset.

Now, one of the things we we we like to do sometimes, Kevin, on this show is we try to find out with one of our guests the things that we can't Google about them, right? So we did Google a bunch. I did, and so did Lauren. And I'm not sure if it's on your Google, but I think it is that you played the sacks. Now, in addition to all you do giving back to people, I we know how important that is to you and to Big Daddy. Are you still playing the sax?

I have not played the sax in a long time. How come I I used to play every now and then like for charity? Like if someone, if someone would would, would bid, you know, at my different events or whatever, I would I would pull it out and and play at saxophone. Um, it's just obviously something I got away from, but I but I grew up playing, you know, playing the saxophone. I played, I didn't play football until the end of my going into my junior year. I was a bit of a late bloomer. Wow. And so I was a marching band when I was um freshman. I need some pictures of that.

We gotta find some pictures of that, Lauren. You know, when we when we post this episode, he's gotta have he's gotta have a nickname.

I got a nickname for him when he joins us next time.

Okay, let me hear.

Okay, we got we got Big Daddy, now we got Big Sacty.

That's it. I love it.

All right, before we haven't talked about your rants tonight, Kevin.

No, I was just I was just gonna say, I was just going there, but but I wanna I wanna I do want to say just before as we lead into that, that the other to me headline of what happened yesterday was Drake May in the Pats just dominating um Vegas the way they did, which uh to me kind of sets them back on track in that AFTE. So that leads us to tonight now, where the Bills obviously dropped their first game against the Pats last week. This was my Super Bowl prediction, Kevin, uh, as I said earlier, not that I know Jack, you know what, about football, but I do I do think that this is still possible. I'm not as confident about it now, but how important is this game for your well what they're one of your four teams, but your Rams tonight at home against Buffalo?

I think this is um it's it's important because it's a bit of a timing setter. This is an early season kind of um evaluation of how far along you are. And and I I I really I was talking about this earlier, and I know it's hard for some people to really conceptualize, but the any football season is an arduous, incremental week by week march. And it's it's basically um you get your best, you get all your circumstances, all your things, and all your as healthy as you are, and you put it out there on game day. Pick up the pieces, go back to the drawing board, and then you put it your best foot out there on game day, and you go through this process. Well, there's attrition in different ways. There's, you know, there's guys who, you know, aren't having the season that they're supposed to have, or people are making their incentives. So that influences how people go about doing their job. How much trust do they have in each other and the organization? How's the chemistry? You know, how directed, you know, are people? Is there baby mama drama going on in their life? You know, what's going on outside of football? What type of environment have you created, you know, for your players to be insulated from the world or how all these things come into play, but they all matter as you go through the season, no matter what level you're on. But at the NFL, it's really, really important to get through stages and you know, plan your off time and have your bye weeks, you know, for your health. And you know, you need different things firing at different times during the season. I tell everyone, going towards the playoffs, quarterbacks need to be more efficient and you need to throw the ball less and run the ball more. Um, why? Not just because the you know the conditions outside get cold, but football hurts physically. Okay? And so when you're playing in October on a nice cool day, it's fun. But then in November and December, when it's week 12 or 13, that shit starts adding up and people start hurting, and then they start thinking about their contracts, and they start thinking about making business decisions, saying, hmm, man, I sure do want to get another year on my pension, but my deal's getting ready to be up. If I don't hit this incentive, I need to make sure that I'm still viable and healthy. Maybe I can go here. There's all types of things that are at work as you're trying to methodically march through this season with keeping everyone satisfied and their egos and everyone hitting their incentives and everything else. So I go back to this being an important game. If you bank wins early strategically against teams that are not in your conference, but your non-conference wins, non non-division wins, you have tiebreakers and everything else. And also from a perception standpoint, right? When you have kind of a win over a quality team, over a quality organization that you know in a prime time moment early in the season, their mentality is just like yours. They're looking to establish a benchmark, um, kind of how far they are down the road, check off boxes and say, okay, we've banked this win versus a quality team. Now the perception of who we are is set, but also we're moving in the direction that we want to move in, right? So this is this is a pivotal game for development. How far have we come? What is our ability to gather all hands on deck and throw our best game plan out there? Because it's still early in the year. So we got to self-scout, and there's some shit that we haven't shown yet, but how much do we show and still get the win? You know, and and what's that gonna be from a perception standpoint if we if we go out there, play well, and don't win? And so there's a lot at stake. Uh Sunday, the Sunday league, I tell everyone, man, it's hard to get a win on Sunday. It is, it is life and death, and you can be 0-4 just like that. And I mean, I played on teams, you know, 2002 with the Titans, started the season one and four, almost one and five, and then ended up, you know, going to the championship game, you know, um, the AFC championship game that year. It's like that type of arduous process, this is one of those pivotal games that you want to tune into just to kind of see, kind of benchmark, okay, we earmarked these teams earlier. How are they doing from a check-in standpoint?

Well, this certainly has not been an arduous process for us, Kevin. We have thoroughly enjoyed having you on the program. Uh, we would love to have you back anytime. You and Big Daddy with your relationship going way back. We appreciate it. Big Daddy, just before we let everybody go, prediction tonight, please.

I'm uh I'm just gonna watch and see. I don't know if I'm gonna do that.

Okay, I mean honest. I'm gonna I'm gonna watch and see, and I'm gonna watch and see my Buffalo Bills get it done tonight. 31-27 on the road over the Rams. Lauren, we would you agree?

No, I do not agree. I think the Rams have to win this game. They cannot fall three games behind the 49ers. The Rams technically are still the better team and they're at home. So I would say the Rams are gonna win this one 27-20.

All right, final word to you, Kevin.

I I have to go with the Rams. Um, I I think obviously the Bills want to go on the road and make a statement, and I think they're gonna put it put their best foot forward. But if I'm the Rams organization and I've spent money to get certain people, especially up front on defense, this is where you earn your money. Um, he he he should be running for his life. He can run for his life. He's superhuman, right? Josh Allen is is is it's cut from a different cloth. Um, but but but he needs to he needs to feel your presence. Um if you're if you're miles Garrett and if you're that other guy that is one of the best ever put his hand in the dirt, you know. Um you you you this is this is this is the time for you to in prime time to to go earn your money.

Well, we're feeling your presence, Kevin. Your prime time. You can catch some CBS sports every Saturday covering college football. And I'll just give you a little bit of advice before we say goodbye, Kevin. Keep playing that sacks, my man. We we want to hear those tunes from you. It's Kevin Carter, it's Rich Big Daddy Salgado, Lauren Emery, Andrew, our tech man, getting it all organized. The best in the business. We are MacDaddy. Uh, we are presented to you by Volition, by Fire Department Coffee, and by Dos Hombres, and we will see you on Friday.

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