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Football. Billy Gill.

God bless football.

Mike Golick.

God bless football. Mikey A.

God bless football. Stu got.

Yep. It is a big weekend. Mike, you have the Eagles Dolphins game Sunday night, correct?

Yes, I do. Looking forward to that one. See what's going to be interesting. And I talked to my play by play guy, Ryan Radke about it. Know, we kind of talk about storylines. And one of the storylines now, I played for three teams in the NFL, and these are two of them, right? The dolphins and the eagles. And I think one of the discussions we're going to have is which ring of honor will I go into first, the Eagles or the Dolphins ring of honor? I think that's one of the big storylines of the game.

Right. You should be in the Eagles Ring of honor, though. You should be, Mike.

No, I shouldn't.

Yes, you should.

Thank you, but no, I shouldn't.

No. We support Mike Golick on the show. Billy, what are your feelings on this ring of honor? Really? Here's what I would like.

I would like that if you peel Reggie White, the Reggie White one behind it was a Mike Golick one that nobody could see, but it's there. You have to peel off the Reggie White one.

That was my career. I was behind Reggie as he got to the quarterback. He always beat me by two steps at least there, right?

Right.

Maybe I'll be on their wall of fame for, like, media, not for actual football play.

Well, there you go, Mike. I want to get to some of the NFL games quickly. So for me, there are three big games this weekend. We'll dolphins and eagles. Last year, that's the game you're on Sunday night. Westwood won. But I want to start with the Lions and the Ravens and your thoughts on that game, because, Mike, it's interesting. Detroit, my entire life, they've been really bad, and now people are talking about them as a team that could make it to the Super Bowl. Might be the best team in the NFL. Jared Goff for MVP. This is a really big game for both teams, Mike.

Oh, huge game. I mean, you look at Detroit, I mean, we know about their offense, right, because we saw it last year with the point they could score. They're a top ten defense. They have lifted that part. They worked a lot on their secondary in the offseason. They are a top ten defense. Now, going against Lamar Jackson, who is on pace, we talked about with the Todd Monkin, the new offensive coordinator, that there'd be more passing, less running. He is on pace for less than 1000 yards rushing, and he's on pace for a career high in passing, I think a little over 3500 yards. He's on pace for and his high was a little over 3100 yards. So it's kind of holding true now. I do think eventually for Baltimore, he is going to be around that 1000 yards or more and have to run to be successful to do what they want to do. But the passing is improving. But I've talked about this guys, with Detroit now football is the most popular sport in the country and NFL is the most popular and then it's college. So most people have a team. But man, if a if your team's not in it or for some reason just like football and don't have a team, how do you not root for Detroit, right?

Yeah. If they go six and one, it would be the first time since like the 17 hundreds that they've been six and one. I mean, it's crazy how long it's been for them. But I love the attitude that Jared Goff playing with an edge. Remember, Jared Goff is a guy, his rookie year when they were talking to him out with the Rams, didn't know that the sun rose in the east and set in the mean and we are having fun with that too. This guy has kind of rejuvenated his career in Detroit, has that kind of chip on his shoulder attitude that the rest of the team has, which they got from Dan Campbell. So a great matchups on both sides, right. Big time offense for Detroit, high scoring against, always tough defense from Baltimore and now a top ten Detroit defense against Lamar Jackson led offense. So yeah, I'm looking forward to this one a lot.

Mike, golf is interesting from this standpoint. That's the rare trade in the NFL that really worked out for both teams. Exactly. Stafford went to the Rams, they won a Super Bowl and now the Lions have golf. They developed him into a top five quarterback, top ten quarterback, whatever you want to call them, and they have him for the next ten years.

Yeah. And unfortunately the thing you can never get around is attrition you see David Montgomery gets hurt in Detroit and that's the one thing, as we do all our prognosticating at the beginning of the year, you don't know who's going to get hurt and somebody does. It's not an if people get hurt, it's when they get hurt and how bad are they hurt. And that's what every team deals with during the regular season and you hope it happens earlier and you're better by the end of the year. But what a great kind of close to midseason matchup this is with two teams that listen, a lot of us picked Detroit to win the division, right. And a lot of that was because we thought Detroit was going in the right direction, but also that the rest of the division was taking a step back, especially the Green Bay Packers losing Aaron Rogers. And for Baltimore, we keep waiting for Cincinnati to get back to what they were and it's taken them a little while. So it is Baltimore and a lot of these teams in the AFC North are led by their defense, quite honestly, especially Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

Chargers and Chiefs is an interesting game as well. We'll get to the dolphins and eagles. Last year chargers. Mike, I do not understand how a team with Justin Herbert, with Austin Eckler, with Keenan Allen, with Khalil Mack I mean, this team should not be two and three. It's puzzling. They're a puzzling team, Mike, and I.

Just had them last week against the Cowboys where the Cowboys ended up getting that feel. I agree, Stu. They feel like they're underachieving. Right. I mean, that's and eventually, and unfortunately, I never call for firings, and I wish nobody ever did, but we know that's not how it works. That's what's going to cost Brandon Staley his job. He's a defensive coach, and his defense isn't good. Right. You have this high flying offense, but even their the last three losses, I believe, were by less than eight points or something like that combined, or a couple of losses out of that. They can't win the big games. They can't get over that hump with all that talent they have on offense. It's been somewhat surprising, quite honestly. And the offensive line struggled while Dallas only had one sack. Dallas had a 47% pressure rate, which is crazy. It's almost half the times Herbert was in the pocket. He got pressured. So I am surprised as well that's all I can say about them, is they seem to be really underachieving with the talent they have.

What did you make of the Chiefs kind of admitting an error that they may have made this offseason and trading to get McColl hardman back from the jets?

Isn't it amazing? It's almost like this is what Bill Belichick would pull off, right?

Yes.

Get rid of a guy before you're supposed to pay him big money, let him go somewhere else and then bring him back on the or or at a lesser rate or didn't have to pay him that money. And now you're doing that with Harvey. You may be doing it with Frank Clark, too. Right. It's unreal how these guys and these guys are sprinting away from their situations in New York and Denver. Well, Harvey Gregory was released, so he didn't have a choice there.

Right. But, Mike, the Chiefs have become that team where if you're one of those guys who gets let go by a team, you have some talent, or you're at the end of your career and you're fishing for a Super Bowl, you go to, you know, why not?

I mean, you're in the mix every single year, and if they're going to have you and that's what we were waiting for. That was one of the worries for me in Kansas City, is who steps forward in the wide receiver room because, you know, you have Travis Kelsey Pacheco at running back. You have a good offensive line, especially that interior, who steps up that it had been the rookie Rice who had been stepping up some, but you needed somebody else to be able to trust, and maybe Harbin's going to be that guy.

All right, your game Sunday night, Dolphins and Eagles, the big game of the weekend. You can make a case that this could be a Super Bowl preview.

Just look at some of the stats of this thing. Miami has a number one rushing offense. The Eagles have the number two rushing defense. The quarterback hits. The Eagles are tied for second with San Francisco with 46 quarterback hits. Miami leads with 49. Even though Miami statistically isn't very good defensively, jalen Hurts ranked second in the NFL in total yards, guess who he's behind? Tua.

AJ.

Brown is second amongst receiving yards in the NFL. Guess who's first? Tyree Kill. I mean, this is just a matchup of top talent. Even though the Eagles haven't been playing at the level that we've accustomed to them seeing that got them to the Super Bowl last year, they certainly had the talent to do it. Lane Johnson being hurt on the right tackle position really hurts the Eagles. But man, am I looking forward to this game.

Billy, that sounds like a man who's calling a game. I mean, did you see it? He ratled off all those stats.

Said a lot of nothing, too.

I'm usually not a stat guy, but the stats match up to just how good these a sides of the ball are and individuals are playing this year. So Mike, with all that being said.

What is this game actually going to come down to?

Well, I think it's going to come down to the Eagle defense. They're getting Jalen Carter back. He's back practicing again. So it looks like he's on the road there. And I think it's going to be slowing down this. Right. I think I think that's the key to any team. We talk about this a lot in the AFC, which obviously Miami is part of, is you have high scoring teams in the AFC. The Chiefs could be a high scoring team. Buffalo could be a high scoring team. Miami can be a high scoring team. So if you're playing them and again, these two teams wouldn't meet again unless it was the Super Bowl. But how do you slow that down? Because you either match scores or you have to find a way to slow them down. And I think this Eagle defense can slow them down, but it's always how you play the fastest receivers and running backs is not giving them the deep ball. So what you do, I think, in this game is you don't want to give them the home run ball. So the job of the defense is make the field shorter with the passes, make it get the ball out, make two, or get the ball of his hands to those very good receivers.

But you have to tackle them right away. You can't give them the yards after the catch. Don't let him get the home run ball. Tyreek Hill over the top and Tua just laying it up there and Tyreek sometimes having to wait for the ball because he's so damn fast. But make them throw the shorter routes and they may have to anyway because of the pressure that the Eagles can apply. And then you have to make the tackles right away, especially on those slant routes or you see the quick hitch routes where the other receivers are blocking for them. Don't let those guys use space to their advantage.

Mike, what do you say to people like Billy Gill who thinks Jalen hurts is not what I said.

What I said was actually worse is two guys, I guess two guys we run with the idea that jalen hurts is a one trick pony and it's.

Just a I mean, I think he's obviously proven he's more than that now. He does. Now listen, he's got some mean, you know, that's part of it you have to look at with seven touchdowns, seven interceptions. So that's the one thing that can hurt you is turning the ball, especially in a game like this, you turn the ball over in a game like this, the one thing you don't need to do is give Miami any extra possessions, right? So those interceptions would definitely hurt. But he has proven what a rushing attack that they can have. So much so that they let Miles Sanders go for a measly five. $6 million to Carolina. Now, DeAndre Swift, after he got his chance when Gainwell got hurt, has been doing a nice job, but that's how confident they are at the combination of running they can do. With Jalen being part of that, he just can't turn the ball over, passing the ball and I mentioned the yardage, you know, catching the ball, but they are accumulating a lot of yards but not a lot of touchdown passes at this point.

Switching over to college for a minute, I have a question and I feel like I may know how Mike feels about this, but I'm not entirely sure. So for me the game of the weekend is Ohio State and Penn State. Number three. Number seven. It's a noon kickoff for that game. Now, Mike liked playing in the early games and didn't like the night games, but as a viewer I feel like I like it at night better than.

I do at twelve.

Now, sometimes there's really bad games at 12:00 so you're looking for anything to watch where I'm watching like Marshall sometimes at noon on a right. So like, this will be a nice change of pace where it's like, wow, this feels like a big game at noon. But I also feel like then my day is kind of going to be done and I want to build up to a bigger game at night.

Mike, before you answer, can we call him out. Billy has never watched a Marshall game. The thundering herd.

Get out of here.

He loves the thundering.

The thundering herd. Oh, my God. Sorry. Well, listen, I know what you're saying because you do like to build the noon to 330 to 730, right? Kind of build up. But the bottom line is for me, guys, I'm not going to lie, I get freaking tired by halftime of the night game because I've watched so much football, I get worn out. I mean, how great was it to watch Texas and Oklahoma was a noon game, was it not?

Correct? Yes.

I mean, how great was that? You finished with the pregame show, whether you're watching ESPN, you're watching Fox, whichever one you're watching, and then boom, there you go. Texas and Oklahoma are kicking off. What a great game that was. So while, Billy, you're right, I loved playing. The earlier the better. I don't mind watching that good early game. And quite honestly, I don't mind if the big game is a 330 game. Kind of kind of work my way into it from the noon game. Because if that late game gets really good, then I'm like, oh, my God, I'm tired. I got to stay up for it. And it's all about us, right? It's all about us how individually forget the game. It's about how it affects our lives.

See, what I look for is I look for good games at every level, meaning a good game at twelve, a good game at 330, a good game at 730, and you have that this week.

I was going to ask, what is your schedule this week?

Well, you have Duke Florida State at 730, you have Alabama Tennessee at 330, and you have the noon game.

We just discussed do and the Duke Florida State. Normally you wouldn't think much of it. And on a quick side note, that's a game Mike is calling my son for Learfield this week, so he gets another good game. He had Washington and Oregon last week. So, yeah, this is going to be normally you see Duke Florida State and you're like, but this year Duke is playing some ball. Florida State's been hanging on in a few games. So this, I think, is going to be a good one. And then obviously, Tennessee and Bama, they were two both higher ranked last year when they got together, but still both ranked teams and should be a good game. It's amazing how we seem to have counted. Alabama out already. Alabama is undefeated. The SEC game, they are right there.

Yeah, I mean, maybe you did, but me and Billy didn't. I can tell you that much.

You know what I like?

I haven't heard, your know, your guys next week ranking.

Whatever.

You know what I like about this Saturday is if that Duke FSU game ends up being a dud, utah USC right there.

Yeah, that's a big game as well. Just a quick.

I have been amazed with Utah. I expected Cam Rising, their quarterback who blew his knee out, I think it was the Rose Bowl last year. I expected him back. I think everybody did. Like three weeks ago we were talking about him coming back and he still hasn't. And Utah, I mean, last two Pac twelve championships are not going to get it this year. I think either Washington or Oregon are just too damn good right now. But that's been a shame for Utah not getting canned back. And USC, USC had a game against Notre Dame that Notre Dame had against that, that just happens.

Mike did Pennix Jr. Win the heisman last week. That was such a great game. That's what college football is all about. It's what it should be every single week.

So the amazing thing is, before that game and Kayla Williams had been having before the Notre Dame game a better statistical year than the year before. And coming into the games, Washington, Oregon, Notre Dame, USC, Pennix had become the favorite for the Heisman. And certainly after that game, four touchdowns against Oregon and Caleb Williams. Notre Dame defense, I mean was they were like a goalie standing on their head in the playoffs. They were phenomenal, incredible. Xavier Watts had one of the great games, individual games all time. It was great to watch because I love when Notre Dame takes out USC. They not only took out USC, they dropped the Heisman Trophy winner probably from being able to win it now though, still, who would have a chance?

Small victories without question, championship, I mean go ahead.

Pennix without question is a high favorite for this thing.

Yeah, no doubt about it. Quickly. My Tennessee. Alabama. I love these games. Both teams have a loss, but it's a de facto playoff game because if you have two losses, you ain't getting in. If you have one loss, you're good. You still have a shot. I'm not saying you're getting in, but you still have a shot. You have that with the Tennessee Alabama game and the Utah USC game. But I want to focus on Tennessee and Alabama because you're right, Alabama is not done by any stretch, Mike. In fact, if they have one loss, I think they'll wind up in the College Football Playoff. But what are your thoughts on this mean?

Listen, is Alabama starting to get it millro again, more that running quarterback then that passing quarterback defense, stepping up a little bit more, but they're still a little worrisome. But Tennessee is not the team they were last year. So I think ultimately Alabama takes control of this. And that's the amazing thing, is Alabama could be right there, right there at the end of the year, right playing in the SEC championship. And you're absolutely correct and this is the last year of it because it's the last year of four teams and a two loss team has never gotten in and a two loss team is not getting in this year. So that can start next year. With two lost teams. We can start saying, OK, which two loss team has a chance to get in? But you're right. A second loss, even with one out of the conference, one in the conference, you are not getting into the college football playoffs. But I think eventually alabama, I think is better than Tennessee. I think they get this win. And for us, thinking Alabama is down a little bit, georgia is still the team. Alabama is just saban's, probably pretty happy to fly under the radar and not have to talk about the rat poison.

Media are hurting his team anymore.

Right.

Focus on Georgia. Yeah, exactly.

Don't look here.

Look over there.

Look at the big bells and whistles over there, not us.

Check him out every morning. Gojo Ngolick. He does a show with his son every morning. Eight to ten on the Draft Kings Network and wherever you get your podcast. Also Eagles, Dolphins, Sunday night. Westwood One. Kevin harlan.

Ryan radke.

Come on.

I love Ryan.

I know. Listen, we like Radke. We love Harlan, though.

I know Harlan and Kurt Warner are back together on Monday nights. Kurt was doing the games out of the country, so that's why he wasn't around. So I filled in on Monday nights.

All right, Mike, enjoy the weekend and we'll talk to you next week. Halloween week, Mike. It's coming up.

Love that candy, baby. We're going to start talking about the big bars. You better be giving out none of those small skimpy crappy bars.

Why'd you get punched in the head, right?

That was wild, wasn't it? It was wild.

Look like you're the peacemaker there and you caught, man.

Sometimes people that are the peacemakers catch collateral damage.

Right. Can you walk us through that? Like, set the scene? What happened there? What happened before the game? Last night, you guys got in a fight with the Dallas Cowboys. Someone punched you in the head and your helmet came flying off. Yeah.

So good thing I was wearing my helmet. But here's what happened. So before the game, we all have these big stretch lines and do these little drills and people come out at different times. Well, the DBS come out of the tunnel and at the same time, Dallas had some group. I don't know if it was a D line or someone that was also coming out. And because of that, there was just like this crossing that ended up taking place. And apparently during the crossing, something was either said or someone was bumped. And testosterone, you bump somebody now, it's just a big old puff my chest until people are pushing each other around. And my drill that I'm going to is like right next to the area. And I look over, I hear a bunch of people hollering and stuff like that. And I look over and one of our corners. Zant is in there pushing this guy, pushing them in the face, and they're pushing each other back and forth. I'm like, all right, I'm going to get my guy out. So I come jogging in. I'm not at the same level of intensity that anyone is, right?

So I come, like, kind of strolling in. These guys are all yelling, cussing each other out. And so we're two different mindsets here. And so I come strolling in like, eyes on, come on, come on. We can't be doing this bunch of knuckleheads. And all of a sudden, wham. I just get hit from the side of the head and, yeah, my helmet goes flying. And I was like, what the heck even happened? I didn't even take anything or time to stop and think. I just was getting my guy out. That was like, my reaction, like, hey, get your own guys out. You get the guys that are fighting out, then it'll die out. And, yeah, the nights caught some of the collateral damage, like I said, going in there. But, hey, nonetheless, I'll get up in there, it's no big deal.

Did it hurt?

No. That's why I said it was girls wearing a helmet.

I know, but the way the helmet came off your head, it seemed like that might have hurt.

I don't mean I don't know if you watch me, but I play running back. So I'm a human battering ram.

Yeah.

So it's in my nature to get hit really hard by these guys.

I'll say it austin dante fowler's a.

I didn't say I don't know what happened. I don't know who said what what happened. I just knew I was getting my guys out. I don't want them getting fined. So, hey, save your money, boys. I'll get you out of there.

Austin I did notice this once the helmet came off and you're in the middle of a scrum, you're like, I'm getting the hell out of here.

So that's what I did.

I got my guy.

I'm like, okay, let me get my guy. I'm getting out. And that was my contribution to trying to die down the altercation, right? Yeah, that was funny because that was.

All over the place.

People were texting me like, hey, man, why are you out there starting fights? If the circumstances are high, I'm signing up. I'll go fight. I'll do what I need to do. I'll get it done and things like that. I try to stay so far, as far away. I'm not trying to be around these petty fights, being around these high tension situations between people like, come on. And if I see it happening with my crew, do, I'm going to go in there, defend them, get them out of there because they need to be doing that.

All right, so I got kind of.

An OD question for you. There was also a fight between the browns and the 49 ers or there was about to be one. Then Trent Williams walked over, and everybody just chilled out.

That's because that's what I'm saying.

So who's the guy on your team that you're just like, man, I just hope he walks over right now, because then this is just over.

Do we have a guy on our team?

I mean, it wasn't you. We know that.

No, it wasn't.

Really? I got to be honest, I don't feel like Josh Kelly really did you good. Like, he should have punched Fowler right.

In the did Isaiah Spiller? He's our other guy. I actually text him. I was like, hey, thanks for having my back in there, because he started going after him after he hit me. So shout out to Isaiah. Do we have a guy like.

Any.

Of our offensive lineman? Obviously, those guys are huge. Maybe rashawn. Slater. That'd be a good one, because if he gets involved, then you know it's real serious because that man is, like, laser focused.

But, Austin, it's so out of character for you because peacemaker, that makes sense. You as a peacemaker, that makes sense because that fits your character. You as a fighter does not. It just doesn't.

That's what I said. If I'm fighting, the circumstances are very high. We're way past the point of going back. I got to be pushed to the brink.

When's the last time you've been in a fight? Like, a real fight?

The last time I was in a.

Fight was my freshman year of high school, and I called this guy's girlfriend an inappropriate name, and he's like, all right, at the park, we're going to go fight. So we went and fought at the park, and I broke my hand, and then I got in trouble because I couldn't play basketball for the rest of the season because I had a cast on my hand.

Right.

No one wins.

I didn't win. Sure, win the fight, but lose. Now I can't go play basketball. And it's like, come on.

Won the fight but lost the war, right? Exactly.

Come on.

Wait, so that's some old school right there. I'll meet you at the park. Was there, like, a set lunch man showed up.

Him and his crew showed up, and me and my crew showed up. He was a lot taller than me. He was, like, six foot, and I'm still, like, five six. And I remember he was, like, older than me. So he's like, hey, you got to throw the first punch because I don't want to get in trouble. I was like, all right.

Wham.

And then we just, boom, started going at it. Yeah.

Wait a minute. The guy you were fighting said, hey, you need to throw the first punch because I don't want to get in.

Trouble because he was older than me and he was, like, 18, and I was, like, 16.

Anyway, we don't need to go into.

The details of my fighting. Let's digress that. Conversation.

We so appreciate you doing this because Billy and I, honestly, we were not sure if you wanted to do today's appearance. Like you're coming off a game. It was a tough loss. You've lost, I think, three games by a combined ten points. That's got to be frustrating. Austin right.

It's devastating, man. As competitors, we are expected to go perform and we have expectations for ourselves internally and then we also have expectations for our team. And that's kind of built up on the history of like, hey, what kind of players do we have? What's the ceiling for this team? And those set the expectations where it's like, okay, we've seen a lot of good football from this team and so that's going to set a standard where it's like we expect ourselves to go and play at a very high level. And it is the NFL, which you can see any team can get beat on any single day. We saw both the undefeated teams get beat this week and this was no different. It was going to be a battle. We didn't make enough plays, we had opportunities, we didn't make enough plays, including myself, to really put ourselves in a situation where we were getting out in front. I think of it for myself, there's such tiny little details that people on the outside would never even think about that make the difference. And it's little techniques here and there that can spring a one two yard run into one on one with the safety, for example, run down in the goal line.

We ran like a little power play and it was like on the three yard line and Rashawn's coming around to pull and as I'm running through, I'm getting right behind him because he's going to kick out. I'm going to get in behind there and he kind of gets bumped back just a little bit, but I get turned because of it because I was a little too close to him. I needed to get a little bit more separation so I could assess when he blocks out and make sure I get through there. But I get bumped and I get turned, and instead of being able to run forward and actually, it would have been a walk in if I wasn't obstructed, but I get turned, and so now I have to catch my balance and then I finally get going vertical again and the safety comes over the top and makes the play on the 1 YD line. And so little things like that, man, that make a huge difference and you see them play out all over the place on offense and defense on both sides of the ball. And so for us, man, that's why we practice, that's why we continue to go out there and try to minimize those and make sure that we're on all of our techniques and things.

But yeah, it is frustrating, obviously, especially to lose and then to be in a close game on Monday night. The whole world's watching. But look, we have another opportunity to come back against the Chiefs. I can tell you this right now, I cannot wait to get back on the practice field because I feel like, man, we had opportunities. We were right there. And so it's like, man, I cannot wait to go practice to get this stuff ironed out and then go show what we did during Sunday game versus Chiefs.

You might see Taylor Austin.

I mean, oh, God, don't even start.

That.

Good for them.

But I was so happy because it's kind of died down in the past and actually started unfollowing accounts because some accounts posting it like five times and I'm like, okay, now I'm out of here. These are obviously the trend chasers that are just like, oh, let's just post Taylor because it's going to give us.

A lot of clicks.

And so I'm like, yeah, get out of here. It was actually funny. My family after the game said the same thing and they're like, if they play on the jumbotron, we're going to be looking down to make sure you don't look up. You better be locked in.

They want you to be locked in. Yeah.

They're like, you better not be looking.

Up at the Jumbo. Trot wait, I have a question for Billy here. Billy, did you see the final Chargers touchdown? Because you have Austin on your fantasy team, you've been waiting patiently for him to get back. And I'm certainly when they tucked it into Austin's stomach and then threw the ball, you wanted a TD for your fantasy team so badly.

Falsehoods. I wanted a TD for Austin's Charity. I wanted to raise money for charity.

In a couple of weeks, he hasn't.

Gotten in the end zone. We need to raise some more money.

There you go. I got a lot of catching up.

To do on these touchdowns. We're supposed to raise some money because I was supposed to score some touchdowns and I missed a bunch of games. So now, yeah, a lot of catching up to do.

Austin, how do you feel? We probably should have started there. How do you feel today?

Yeah, that is actually the best part about today is my body feels like ready to go. I came out clean. I'm so excited. Okay, yeah, I made it through a game. Let's start stacking up more times where I can come through a game and come out clean. And so it really is a blessing because, yes, obviously we want to win the game, but as we can see across the league, every single week, there's guys getting hurt and it's minor to major. And so, man, I love this game, but I love living and being healthy even more. So there's priorities and that's definitely number one. And then obviously it sucks losing, but really fortunate to come out of the game and give another try. Next week.

I'm going to bring in a friend of yours really quick. No one on the Chargers, okay? Just someone who we're interviewing next. Okay. It's raheem mostert. He's going to come into the zoom here? Yes. Because I want to see I know he's your guy. He loves you. I know you love him. But I want to see if he was watching last night and get his account of the fight between you and let's do it.

Let's do.

We have Austin Eckler with us. We're going to let him go here in just a second. But we wanted your account of what transpired before the game last night. Did you watch it? What were your thoughts?

Yeah, I saw the whole thing. Had it been me, austin, I think.

You did a hell of a job.

I'm not going to lie, brother.

I appreciate it, man. I was protecting my guys. That's what I was doing. Get my guys out.

You did the right thing. You did the right thing. And me knowing you, that's like you.

I appreciate it, man.

Your get back is on the field. I love your tenacity, man.

No doubt, no doubt. I appreciate it, man. Hey, keep crushing out there, brother. I've been having so much fun watching you, man. I'm so happy for you.

I appreciate that, brother.

Man.

It means a lot coming from you, bro.

Heck, yeah. All righty, boys. I appreciate you guys.

You guys have a good one.

I'll see you next week.

Raheem, stay right there. Austin. Appreciate it. I'll talk to you in a little bit. But you want to promote the charity on the way out?

We're good.

I got to score some more touchdowns so we can get this pledge rolling.

Good.

You know what, man? Doing it.

Get money. Every time Raheem scores, he leads. I need to switch the pledge to him.

We could do it together, brother.

Come on.

Next year it's done. Next year we get it done.

I love it, Austin. Thank you, budy. That was Austin Eckler. He comes on after the game. He is so great. Raheem, where are you going right now, man?

Honestly, I have no idea. My wife all of a sudden booked something and yeah, I'm going to figure it out, I guess. I think I'm supposed to be meeting a couple of teammates and their significant others on a boat or something like that.

Were you kidnapped? Are you okay?

Or should we be worried? It's his wife.

My wife's holding me hostage right now.

Right, man, I'm trying to think whose boat you would be meeting. Somebody tariq's?

No, no, not his boat.

Yeah. Be careful. Those boat days get a little out of control from what I hear. Raheem, quickly here. If I told you before the season started, Raheem, that six weeks into the NFL season, you would be leading the NFL in touchdowns, you would have told me.

What?

You're crazy.

But here you are my man.

Yeah, no here mean it's. Honestly, you know, I just go out there and just try to produce as much as I can, as best as I can, and of course, as best I can. But it's fun, man. Honestly, it's crazy to think that I'm leading the league right now. Usually that's the other way around for Austin, right? Austin is the one that's leading the way, but I just got to thank the guys up front and the coaching staff and everybody. Man.

Do you guys even sweat being down 14 to nothing with your offense?

No, not really. We just know, hey, it's time for us to start making some hay, try to do our best to put some points on the board, especially with a defense like them. And they're a good defense now.

It was amazing because they went down to the sidelines. You guys were down 14 nothing, and most teams, their heads are down. They're sulking a little bit. Tua looked more confident than I've ever seen him in my life. Down 14 to nothing.

Yeah, he knows how to handle the situation, I tell you that. He does an unbelievable job, and, man, he's been killing it this season so far, so we just got to keep it going.

You're playing the Eagles this week. You had a chance of getting them undefeated. Are you upset that they're not going to be undefeated when you get to them?

Honestly, to be honest, I don't even look at it like that. It'd have been nice to break that street for them, but another team did in the jets, so that means they're going to be a little bit more amped up and juiced up for the Sunday night game against us.

Are you ever surprised with how much running room you have? Are you ever, like, bust through the hole? You're like, man, somebody should have been here, but I guess I'll just keep going.

I do get surprised at times, but honestly, I'm a little more hesitant if I start thinking about, wow, somebody should be here. I won't be playing fast. So I'm glad that it's all working out just fine for me right now.

Raheem, what do you say to people that say, jalen hurts? He's got one move, the Tush push, and that's it, he's overrated. Billy's one of those people.

I wouldn't say he's overrated because obviously it's, um, the Tush push, man. They're trying to put a ban on it. I don't know, man. I think that it's a good play, but I hope it just doesn't work against us.

How about you get into the end zone on your own? I mean, Tua doesn't have anyone pushing him. He just gets in the end zone. That's it.

You just got to find a way. And they found their way.

People are saying the Dolphins are the best team in the NFL. Do you think you're the best team in the know?

It's hard to argue that statement after what we've been doing, but I just try to keep a level headed, me and the game, we just try to keep that level headed because there's a lot of good football to be played left. And it doesn't matter what you do early on this season or middle of the season. It's what you do at the end of the season. It leads you into the playoffs. And so if we got that level head like we've been consistent with, then we'll be fine. But to be considered as one of the best teams in the league right now is definitely a statement to the whole league.

We were discussing with Austin, obviously, that fight before the game, and then he told us about the last time he got in a fight, and he met a kid in a parking lot, and they got in a fight. It was like back in high school or something. Raheem, you don't seem like a fighter, but I'm wondering when's the last time you got in a fight?

I actually just had a conversation with my wife.

It was back in college.

I had gotten to it with a basketball player. He had did some things at the time. My wife was my girlfriend, and it got out of hand at a frat party, soccer party. But, yeah, I had just saw a guy yesterday, matter of fact, Kelsey Barlow, who was a basketball player at the time at Purdue. And we ran into each other at this facility that go and get treatment and stuff like that outside of the Dolphins. And, man, it was crazy. As soon as my trainer mentioned my name, he sat up in his chair, was like, wait, you beat my best friend up? And I'm like, Wait, who are Kelsey Barlow? And then it just clicked. It was crazy. He talked about how the whole thing went down, and I was like, yeah, I kind of did go after your boy, man. I apologize. It's not like me anymore. But it was funny, though.

It was a good it's amazing. Billy, this is the perfect person to ask. I'm telling you, because Halloween is a big deal where me and Raheem live. Raheem's already shaking his head yes. Everyone's out in the golf course. Everyone's partying, everyone's celebrating. Are you a big Halloween guy, Raheem? Mostard?

I am a big Halloween guy. We definitely take Halloween a little bit serious over at our house.

If I go to the Mostard house on Halloween, what should I expect? Am I getting big bars? Like, what's going on here?

We'll be in Europe at the know. It's a Germany trip, so we'll probably be up in yeah, but typically what we do, man, everything has to be big. Everything has to be bright, and it also has to be spooky. I think that's the three big components in making a house go, especially on our street, you know, our street is live and bright in our communities.

Do you want me to man your house while you're away in Germany? Like, what do you want me to do?

Mean?

Why would he want mean?

Listen, he doesn't want to be mean to the kids.

John got a connection, Billy. Me and John got a connection.

That's okay.

We community neighbors, man.

You got to respect yes, yes. So would you like me to be there? Because I'll be there. I mean, I'll take care of the house because my wife will be home. She'll be here. She'll take care of this one, and I'll take care of the mostard house. Okay? All right.

Sound like a plan?

Billy is so puzzled by this. Yeah, it's weird.

I don't know what's going on. Billy is literally shocked right now.

It's crazy. Wait, raheem. So I noticed that you were on the Pat McAfee show. Okay. Because you leave the NFL in touchdowns and because you're a big star, because you're great. You're great at this. Okay? But I am wondering, because we have laid down a challenge. Now, I hope you play in the Super Bowl, obviously, okay? Billy, we all hope that. Well, I don't know if Mikey does. He's a jets fan, but Billy definitely does. Okay? And I am wondering here, if you don't make it to the Super Bowl, we have issued a flag football challenge to the Pat McAfee Show. I like Pat. He's a friend of mine. I know Pat. Okay, we have billy, you missed the show the day we did it, but we did it. Okay? And I am wondering, because they kind of outnumber us. They have better athletes is what I'm trying to tell you. Raheem, do you think you would be on our team or Pat McAfee's team? And I'm hoping the answer is our team. We need you.

Hey, look, if you know who I am, I'm a big underdog guy. And obviously I think there's a statement right now that you guys are the underdog. So I guess I got to roll with the underdogs.

Thank you. We get you and Eckler, and we become the favorites, though.

They have saving coaching.

Don't worry, we'll get McDaniels to coach. That.

Mean. I almost don't want you to make the Super Bowl now.

Weird.

I'm teasing you. I'm teasing you. All right, man. Enjoy yourself. Raheem. We appreciate it. We're so happy for your success, man. Leaving the NFL at touchdowns, what a great story. What a great team. What a fun team to watch, man. Good luck against Philadelphia, my friend.

I appreciate it, man. And thank you guys a lot for having me.

It is time for this week's edition of Stu Gats, presented by DraftKing Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL. Download the DraftKing sportsbook app today. Use Code Stu for a special offer when you sign up. That's code Stu? Only at DraftKing sportsbook. Week eight. College football got a lot of games. Big weekend college football. Penn State at Ohio State. Penn State getting five points on the road. This is a spot where Penn State normally trips up. They will again, but they'll cover the spread. And that's all that matters. Ohio State wins the game by three. I'm taking Penn State. They cover the spread. They are plus five. Oklahoma. The Sooners. -17. And a half at home. Take it on UCF. Buy it down to 17. Oklahoma wins, they cover the spread. Oklahoma by 24 points. The Air Force Academy. They're minus ten at Navy. Buy it down a half point to minus nine and a half. Air Force wins. They cover. They beat Navy by 14 points on the road. Rutgers at Indiana. Rutgers is minus five on the road at Indiana. Rutgers wins. They cover the spread. Rutgers wins by eight points on the road.

Tennessee plus nine and a half at Alabama. Alabama is going to win the game. Tennessee is going to cover. Buy it up to ten points. Alabama wins by four. Tennessee covers the spread. Iowa minus three and a half. This is for Lucy. They're taking on Minnesota. Buy it down to three. The Hawkeyes win, they cover the spread. They win by a field goal. Why? Because that's all they do is kick field goals. Missouri minus seven and a half. They're taking on South Carolina at home. Buy it down to seven. I like Missouri. Pretty good team. They win, they cover the spread. Missouri. By ten points. At home. Michigan -24 take it on michigan State. I think michigan is the best team in the country, but I have no proof. They haven't played anybody. I know michigan State is really bad. Michigan wins. They cover the spread. Michigan by 31 points over Sparty. Duke plus 14 and a half. Take it on Florida State at Florida State. Florida State wins the game. Duke covers Florida State by a touchdown. At home. Take the Blue Devils. Stanford plus 17 and a half. They're taking on UCLA. They're at home.

UCLA is good. They're not good enough to beat anyone by more than 17. And a half points on the road. Maybe they've done it, I have no idea. But they're not doing it this week. Stanford loses the game, but they cover the spread. NFL. Buffalo at New England. Buffalo is minus nine. New England. Really bad. Really bad. I can't believe I'm saying this. Buffalo, they're pissed off. Buffalo wins. They cover the spread. They win by 17 points on the road against the Patriots. The Lions might be the best team in the NFL. They are plus three at Baltimore. I want you to buy it to three and a half. The Lions, they win the game outright. I don't know why I'm buying a half point, but I am. Lions win the game outright. They beat Baltimore on the road. Lions by a field goal. The Bucks minus two and a half at home against the Falcons. I'm taking Tampa to win the game and cover the spread. The Bucks by ten points at home, the Giants plus two and a half at home against the Commanders. Buy it to three. Giants plus three. They win the game outright.

They beat the Commanders by four points at home. Colts plus three against the Browns at home. No deshaun Watson. Buy it up to three and a half points. No Richardson either, but I'll go with Minshew. Minshew mania back. The Colts win the game outright. They win by a field goal at home. Seattle at home. Take it on the Cardinals, it is minus seven and a half. Buy it down to seven. Seattle wins, they cover the Seahawks by ten points. Chargers plus five and a half at Kansas City. Kansas City wins the game, the Chargers cover. Buy it up to six, by the way, but Kansas City wins the game by three. I'm taking the chargers here. Rams minus three at home against the Steelers. I'm going to regret doing this. Why? Because Mike Tomlin and because that team, they defend every blade of grass. Buy it to two and a half. I am taking the Rams to win and cover the Rams by seven points at home. And finally, big game of the weekend. Dolphins plus two and a half at Philadelphia, Sunday Night Football. Buy it to three. Dolphins plus three. The Dolphins, they win the game outright.

They win by 14 points on the road at Philadelphia. And on Monday, everyone's talking about how the Dolphins are going to win the Super Bowl. Those are the picks, everyone. Good luck.

How are you feeling? I heard you were sick.

Oh, man, I heard your tummy hurt. How are you feeling?

Oh, my gosh, I don't know. I haven't been as violently sick as that in a long time. Weren't you sick?

A couple jet fan.

Pretty sure.

Yeah.

That's right. Made smart life decision early on. I might have helped my dad with the quarterback of the Giants, but either way, who cares?

How about that greeting from Billy, though, by the way? I mean, he acts like he cares about you, and then he starts with a Whining. Oh, my knee.

I know.

Yeah, right.

Well, typical Billy. Typical Billy. Hit you below the belt. That's kind of what he does.

No, I care about you. I don't know if we're recording yet, so let's not get too excited.

Oh, we're not recording?

Why not? I was. I thought we were.

Hold on. Let me make sure we're good like we are.

I mean, how about instead of being so smart ass, you press the record button?

Record buttons get after Sims.

I mean, I only got no spleen and had a bacterial infection that I could die from, but you make fun of it. Okay, no problem.

You just had one now. A bacterial infection?

Well, food poisoning is a bacterial infection.

You were not going to die from food poisoning.

Chris, listen, it's a fancy name for food poisoning, okay. That's what it is. To be honest with you, I don't.

Know what I haven't thrown up that.

Many times in the three hour span ever in my life.

Wow.

I don't want to get too graphic, so we'll just leave it at that.

Okay? Sure. We have a surprise for you today. Chris Sims.

Does he not know? Wow.

He does not know. Oh, wow.

That's nice.

Really? Yes. What do we got? Wow. Okay. Billy is now so excited. I mean, are we recording yet?

Yeah, we're recording. We have a surprise guest for you. Coming. I didn't know it was a surprise.

Sims I have said there are a few people in my life where upon seeing them, they make me smile. Okay. Greg Cody is one of those people. You're one of those people. Now, not for Billy, but for me. Chris Cody has become one of those people. My father, he is one of those people. Christopher Mad Dog Russo is one of those what are you doing? I believe the person we're about to bring on is someone when you see them and every time you see them, you are going to smile. Okay.

Okay.

All right.

We'll see.

I have a prediction.

Look at him.

He's excited. Look at him.

I feel like this person is going to struggle with zoom.

Oh, no doubt. Yeah. Worse than Golick.

Is this my dad? It might be my no.

We'll get your dad on at some point. But the last time I texted your dad, he goes, I know you and my son are up to no good. I'll be with you in a couple of weeks. That was like a year that's you.

Got to stay on dad for sure. I mean, he's text messaging. Anything like that are not strong points for him.

We will get to the surprise guest in a second. PFT with Mike Florio. The unbuttoned podcast football night in America. Big one this weekend. SIBs Dolphins, eagles. Big one for you. Big one for Billy.

It's going to be awesome. I really am. I'm trying to think if we had any other we've had some good matchups 49 ers Cowboys a few weeks ago, of course, was that I think I'm actually more excited about this. I am. Just because we know how good the Eagles are, how talented the roster is. They're not playing their best football. And Miami, I know they went to the playoffs last year, but they're new to the Super Bowl. Standard conversation. Right. So this will be a big test for them on the road, on a grass field late October. Playing Philadelphia is going to be pissed off about how they played last week. And of course, there's just a lot of X's and O's to be excited about in this type of football game for a guy like me.

Yeah. Were you more surprised, Chris, by the 49 Ers losing last week or the Eagles losing last week.

I'm going to say the 49 ers, I think just because more just because Deshaun Watson didn't play right. I just thought when, man, when Deshaun Watson I heard he wasn't playing on Thursday or Friday. I just is as much respect as I have for that Cleveland defense and everything. That's just going to be too much for them to overcome. But a phenomenal performance by them that was surprising. The jets one, of course, was shocking as well. But if you made me bet on Saturday with the current status of how the rosters and the quarterback were, yeah, I think the 49 ers one shocked me a little bit more. Chris, the trade deadline used to be kind of ho hum, but it's coming up. And I'm curious, if Chris Sims were the Czar of football, what's one move he would make? Who would you take and put with? Damn that's one. I wish you would have gave me a little warning about just a little. I think, you know, the Bills getting another weapon. I think we're back there at that point again. That just comes to my mind right away.

But how are we back here with Josh Allen? We were raving about Gabe Davis last week. We're off that train again. What happened?

Well, it wasn't last week we were.

Raving about two weeks.

Know, I think here it's the second week in a row two teams played. Here was the big thing to me, without getting too deep into the weeds here and all that, but the Giants did a little bit of what Jacksonville did, maybe in a different way, but basically said, you're not going to throw the ball deep, and we're going to limit your running and scrambling and the magic plays. And the Giants were great at that. If you really go back and watch the film, they kind of all said, hey, we're going to push the pocket. We're not going to go by him. We're going to keep eyes on him. And if he breaks, we're going to break with him. Now, he still broke the pocket a few times, as we know, on that miraculous second touchdown pass, but for the most part, yeah, they gave them issues. Buffalo has to find something else in their offense that makes defenses have to think about it. It can't just be bomb to diggs and Josh Allen scrambling, getting it done. Now, whether they have to be stubborn in the patience of the run game or find more of a surgical five to eight yard passing game to start to get people to come up and respect that and defend that, something has to happen.

But they're going to be good. I know that. Can they get to where they want to go with this current formula? I don't think they can, no.

All right. There is a big guest in the waiting room here. We're going to bring them. On right now. My guess is Chris sims is going to have a big smile on his face when he sees this man. And this man is going to have a big smile on his face when he sees Chris Sims, I hope.

Look at that. Mr. Mac Brown. The man, the myth, the legend. What's up, coach?

I'm doing great. I didn't know I'll tell you. I was coming on because of you. I thought they'd at least tell you.

No, they don't tell me anything, coach. They don't. They're jerks, this crew here.

So be careful.

Tread lightly. Okay?

That's not nice. Sims, we reunited you with your coach, man.

Ken, is there a cooler background? See, Mac was always so cool, right? And he knows how to look. Look at his background right now. He got the air Jordans, all the north Carolina gear. I mean, coach, you're the man that'll reel in some of those young guys for sure.

Got to be the cool place to be, right, Chris? That's it.

No doubt about it, coach.

72, you have to keep trying to be cool.

Well, no, coach, I want to start right there. How do you stay cool at 72? Because I'm fading at 52.

I saw something from Toby Keith yesterday that said, how old would you be if you didn't know the day you were born? And that's pretty cool. So you can't let a number be your age. And I feel like I'm 52 and one of the reasons I love doing TV, but I love being around these guys and they just keep me young. And everybody talks about all the problems in college sports. The thing that hadn't changed are the guys they still love to play, they still love to compete. They're still at a very influential time in their lives. And I love being around them and what a gift for somebody that might can help somebody that's struggling change their life.

That's what makes coach brown special. It is. He was always open to listening to the kids as far as what's cool, what are they doing, what's the music you're listening to. So he tried know, conversate and relate to us, which was like much respect to him that way we always found that really cool. And then, of course, his wife is really cool, too, so she really keeps them cool. Sally's about she's top five coolest wives in college football. They don't get any better than her. Yeah, she's amazing. So they got a dynamic duo working and coach Brown, just because you brought it up, but 52, you still look 52. And I can still remember the day you turned 52. We were getting ready to actually get off the bus to play north Carolina and it was his 52nd birthday. And I remember getting off the bus and going, coach, we're going to put 52 on them tonight, okay, for you. And I think we did right. I think we scored 51 or 53, like, right around there.

I think it was 51 to 31, right.

Coach? Never forget the victory. Knows the exact score, knows everything.

I do remember that I walked out on the field and Mac Mccorder and I looked a lot alike. He was the offensive line coach. He walked out on the field first and they all boot him. And he came back in, said, God, they thought I was you. And I said, yeah. So after the game, we win big. Chris plays great. And Josh, Roy Williams made one of the best catches I've ever seen behind right when the game was over. And Selvin made a long run. So we're sitting there after the game and the media says, how'd you feel being booed in Keenan Stadium? I said, oh, I was booed here for ten years.

Chris has told us, chris, correct me if I'm wrong, that Roy Williams was the best college football player he's ever seen, right?

Both roy Williams. Actually, I would say Roy Williams on Oklahoma was the best defensive player I played against while I was in college. I don't think I'm putting this lightly, Coach. I mean, he's one of the greatest athletes I was ever around 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump, high jump, adjusting the ball. He could do it. All right, Coach.

Yes. And there was a day in the Cotton Bowl that Chris and Roy teamed up and beat a Nick Saban team 35 to 20. And it wasn't even close. It wasn't near as close as the 35 to 20. And he had a reverse for a touchdown. Chris hit him on a skinny post. He hit him on a takeoff. He's one of those six three plus guys that could run four three right. And had big hands so he could catch everything.

Yeah.

Coach, I will tell you that Billy just informed me that Texas, you won that game 52 to 21. So Chris Sims was indeed right. I mean, nailed it.

I had us 51 to 31. So that shows you 72 slipping a little bit.

Don't take a point away from Chris Sims. Coach, what was it like recruiting Chris Sims? Did his dad get in the way? Like, what happened there?

Chris is great. Chris was he got enamored. I'll say this, chris is so direct, and I love him for who he is. He got enamored by Tennessee and that's huge stadium and fan base.

I got it.

And they were probably more aggressive in the recruiting than we were, because we're who we are, and we say, this is what we got, and we'd like for you to come here. And then Chris was strong enough that after he felt like that, it wasn't as good a fit for him. He changed. He just flipped. And we don't flip people usually either. So I thought it was great, and for us, and sometimes it was a little weird. Major Applewhite was the small redheaded guy that was there. And he was a fan favorite and they all loved him. And Chris was coming from the Northeast and there weren't many guys from the Northeast. And Chris won. I think you were 22 and 725.

And seven somewhere in there somewhere. It was pretty good.

But we didn't beat Oklahoma the first couple of years because that's when they were really hot. We were killing A and M. Yeah, when you're beating somebody really badly, like we were beating a M, we don't count them anymore. We only count the one lose. And we lost a conference championship game to Colorado, who was really good that we had killed earlier in the year. So there are a few things that didn't happen as well as they could have, because we could have as easily won a national championship when Chris was playing as we did when Vince was playing and then lost one when Colt was playing, because they're three of the best quarterbacks that have ever played the game.

Let me piggyback that's. Very nice of you to say, Coach. Yeah, we didn't go to the national championship because of me. I played my worst game my junior year in the Big Twelve championship game. Kind of started out hot. Coach was always really supportive of me, but even stugas to your question of the recruiting. So Coach Brown was at North Carolina, and I was always like, man, this Mac Brown and his staff, I love them, right? I didn't know if I wanted to go to a basketball school. Okay. As the number one recruit in the country, he goes to Texas and I go on a visit, I want to go see Texas. And they're selling, hey, we're going to bring Texas football back. And I'm like, man, that's awesome. But I wasn't quite sure. I knew I loved my visit, the team and Coach Brown. I committed to Tennessee. They had some coaching changes, and even when I committed, I was like, I don't know if this is right, but Major Applewhite wasn't there. I might have to red shirt a year. I thought, okay, I'm going to play. After that, there'll be no issues.

So it might have been less risky. But as time got closer and closer to signing day, and to Max credit, because he wasn't like he was calling me, asking me to switch or anything, I actually think I called them. I called Tim Brewster, who was recruiting me, and I was, you know, maybe you should keep calling. I'm not so sure I'm going to go through with this Tennessee thing. And he'd call and check in. And then one day I think I called Coach Brown. I said, I think I'm going to make the switch. And he's like, OK, that's a bold move. You sure you want to do it? And I did it. And I got a lot of hate mail from the other UT for a long time, but still had a great time at the real UT, as I like to call it.

Chris signed with us and the number one defensive player in the country, c. Red.

Yeah.

Corey Redding.

Corey Redding. That's what got us started, because then, quote Texas. A lot has said we're back and we haven't been back all the time. But that was a message to everybody that when you can sign the number one offensive and the number one defensive player in the country, that this means something and you better look out. This program's on the rise. So Chris and Corey really got us started. Headed back in the right direction.

Coach, down here in Miami, the University of Miami, they like to say they're back every year. You made certain they weren't back last week. Your team is good, coach.

Thank you. I'm excited about this team. They're fun, they're practicing hard. I thought it was really interesting, the open date. They had three really good practices. And I'm thinking this isn't normal, but they like each other, they're having fun. We've got some skill. We still haven't played near our best game. We've got a great quarterback. We've got speed at wide receiver, omari and Hampton's really a good running back. We're playing better defense, so we do have a chance and we have to play every week and we got to grow up. But this is an older team and they've been there, done that. They were nine and one and lost some games last year we shouldn't have won. So it's easy to pinpoint things that we haven't done well to try to help this team do better.

Coach, tell me about your quarter back a little bit. Give me a little inside look. What he's like and what I would like about him and kind of what's know Drake May, who he is.

Chris, he's a lot like you in that he was raised in a football. He he has three older brothers. Two of them won national championships, one in baseball and one in basketball. So they pick on him all the time. But he's very competitive. He had a dad that led the ACC in passing as a quarterback. That's helped raised him and get him in the right places and get his throwing motion right. And he loves to. A week before the Syracuse game, open week, and you would have been this way. I said, Why don't you back off a little bit? You've thrown the ball every day, you're working hard, you've been banged up some. He said, Man, I need to get better. I can't take a playoff. I'm not going to come out of a drill. And the kids just love him. He reaches out to all of them. He's so positive. If we miss a block, he gets up and goes back to work. He's tough as hell. So he's one of those guys that has it.

Coach, when you left the game, I think it was 2013 when you left Texas, and then you came back a couple of years ago at North Carolina. The game you left was vastly different than it is today. So was there an adjustment period for you, Coach?

There was, but not as much as people would think it's happened since I got back. The first year I was back, there wasn't any transfer portal, there wasn't Nil. The only thing that had really changed was early signing date, and so we were having official visits in spring, and that didn't make any difference. They were signing in December instead of February. So that wasn't a drastic change. People thought it was, but it really wasn't. It was just speeded up the process a little bit. But then Nil has changed everything. Transfer portal and Nil colliding together has changed even more things, because now you've got to protect people on your own team not even thinking about recruiting. They get re recruited when you get them on your team. So you've got to try to figure out who wants to come for the right reasons instead of who's got their hand. And then you got to figure out if they play really good, who's going to stay, or they're going to have their hand out the second time and leave.

Right.

So that's the different part now. Gene Chisk stayed out five years as a defensive coordinator. He comes back. Things have drastically changed on offense. Tempo is so much more than it's ever been, and formations and no substitution on defense. So it was a harder adjustment for him last year than it was for me. And after a year, he's doing a great job for us this year.

Coach it was an incredible environment this week, and you had the big win against the University of Miami. The rankings come out. You're now a top ten team in only a few years. It seems like you've done the impossible and turned North Carolina into a football school.

I'm one that when Chris was at Texas, rick Barnes was really good in basketball. We went to a Final Four by 2004, so I believe you can be really good in both, and I think you piggyback off each other. There's a lot of kids that want to come here for recruiting and look at our basketball team, and when we're making a lot of money, that helps everybody. We've got 28 sports, so we need to make that money. So I've never been sensitive about the other sport, but we are on a roll right now. Our fans are pumped. This whole state embraced the Tez Walker situation and trying to help him and help him get through some tough times, and they're so excited about him being back on the field. And you can't get a ticket. You can't get a ticket this weekend. Believe it or not, Duke's doing really well. The Duke Carolina game is going to be one of the biggest games in the history of this school just trying to get a ticket. It's amazing what's happening around here, and I'm excited about it, so it's fun. I wanted to come back. I missed the guys.

I didn't know it. Sometimes you get tired and you're tired of media and you're tired of fans and you're tired of parents and you're tired of administrations, and what you realize is none of that matters. You coach because of the guys, and if you focus on what's right and what's best, then it works. And my job is to treat Chris and Tez Walker like I would want my son to be treated, period.

That's awesome.

It doesn't work that way. It doesn't work. And I can't tell Chris and Tez that and not do it. So people said, Why'd you speak out against the NCAA? I thought they were wrong. And I'm not a guy that speaks out. That's not my personality. But in this situation, if it had been my son, I would have stepped up and said, this is unfair. And that's what I had to do for Tez. And I'm so glad that they changed their mind, saw different things, and have allowed this young guy to play. We're talking about an NFL draft choice. We're talking about Nil money. We're talking about changing a young guy's life here. We were four and O without him, we're better with him. But it wasn't just that he was a great player. It was the right thing to do, right?

That's what's awesome about Coach, guys. I mean, he did I can speak to that. He treated us all like we were his kids. And that goes to his wife, Sally. Never felt like the door wasn't open if you wanted to go to Coach Brown's house and be like, hey, Coach, we're going to stop over and say hi. Oh, sure, no problem. I mean, he had this awesome house when I first got to Texas, that was on Lake Austin, and he'd be like, hey, you guys want to come over and ride the Jet Skis? Come on, let me know. And we were like, what? Our football coach is telling us it was he's amazing that way. And Coach, I want to ask you this as far as because you were always amazing at recruiting and connecting with the kids and then the family as mean. Mac had my mom and my grandma wrapped around his finger. It didn't matter what school I talked about.

Look at.

My my nanny, which was Nancy, she's gone now, rip to nanny. But she was always like, oh, Christopher, that Mac Brown. That know. And so he was great that way. But what I want to ask you, Coach, is just like, how different is that with the Nil? I know you're still making the connection, but do you have to talk to boosters more and money people more now and just deal with that kind of crap, for lack of a better phrase?

Yeah, chris. We're being very unfair to our boosters with Nil. We're asking them to pay for coaches, we're asking them to pay for facilities. We're asking them to buy 40 season tickets, and then 28 sports are hitting them up for Nil money. It's not sustainable, and we're wearing people out. But what I've decided in the interim here, Chris, is I'm not going to change anything. We're not giving money up front. It's not going to be that much money, and you can't live off of it. So if that's more important than coming here, I got it. And don't come and visit because you're going to get paid by Collective after you get here if you do well. I've said it's about your ball. It's not about your brand. They can say it's not about the ball. They're not going to pay guys that don't play good.

That's right.

We're headed more toward an NFL model. That's where we're headed. Hear that? But that's facts. So at some point, there'll probably be a salary cap, and this player is going to make more than that player, but there's going to be a certain amount of money that goes to these players. And there are some things about Nil that are wonderful. Kids are learning how to give back. They're learning how to pay taxes. There were kids on your team at Texas that didn't have any money. They couldn't even go on a date. And now they can. They can get some money. So the charity part of it that they have to be involved with to get their money is helping them learn to give back so much. So as much as we criticize Nil, it's not the method or it's not the Nil itself, it's just the methods that we're doing the process that needs to change.

Coach, we're going to let you run in a second here, and we do appreciate the time. I am wondering, when Chris was at Texas, did his dad visit? And when he did visit, did he act like he owned the entire place?

We had Kyle Shanahan on the team, but is very close to Chris, so Mike and Chris's dad would come, and so I had some help. There was no question about that. But you know what I learned? I've got kids and grandkids, and I love my kids and I love my grandkids, and I'm going to take up for them and I'm going to fight for them. So I don't begrudge parents that love their kids. That's just normal. And I've got to do what's best for the team, but I also have to take care of the guys. And I would always be fair. And I can say that Mike and Phil were always professional. They were always great. We went into Lincoln and beat Nebraska with Chris, and that was a fun night. It's hard to win in lately. I will say that in both of those cases, neither dad was always happy because they never but very professional with me and very classy. And I love both families.

This is actually new to me and I don't want to keep Coach Brown too long. My dad, coach said it right. I never knew any knowledge of him ever saying anything to Coach. He was never like that in high school, so he might have came to practice and whatever else, but he wasn't overbearing. But I found out maybe within the last year I and Coach can speak to this because I don't even know this. My mom supposedly went into Coach Brown's office once and gave her two cent.

Right.

She didn't tell me. I had no idea. And I'm sorry for that, Coach, but please, what did she say if you don't tell the audience? I'm not even sure what she said.

Oh, I want to hear this.

And like I said, I've got a twelve year old grandson that didn't make the A basketball team and he's not very tall. And I'm mad at the coach. I don't know the coach. I've never seen him practice to play. So we understand parents taking up for their kids, and I don't resent that at all. I just tell the parents I got a hard job. I got to make sure that I do what's best for the team. It doesn't always fit exactly what you want for your son, but I got that. That's fair as you go through and look at it. And that is I do remember Chris threw like five touchdown passes against a.

M. Yeah, well, yeah, I think we had three or four might have hit five against Oklahoma State and less miles out there, I think, one game, right?

Because you hit Sloan down the boundary once against right. Chris's dad was up in the stands and he turned and gave him the thumbs up. That was a little bit awkward for us because before I got to Texas, but that was kind of hard in front of 100,000 at Royal Memorial Stadium. But they forgave you because we scored five touchdown pass.

That's what happens when you have a guy from Jersey down in Texas. I didn't realize that was their signal.

Right.

We got longhorns. Everybody else down in that region of the country felt like because our thing was so popular, they all had to have their own little hand signal. So I'm literally just happy. I'm thumbs up to my family and I got a friend in the crowd and like late in the fourth quarter, one of my friends on the sidelines like, man, you were trolling. You know, they had some word and I said, what do you mean? The thumbs know? They call it Gigum. And I had no idea. Oh, man, I didn't know. So I had some people on my case for a little while.

On month in Austin. There was a political convention they wanted us to come to and RC slocum, John David crowe, Coach Stallings, all Aggies were down there and I was with them. And one guy comes up and he was nagging. He said, let's take a picture. So they all throw the thumbs up. So here I am, getting ready to throw the thumbs up. RC. Grabbed it and said, no, don't be an idiot. You'll be fired before you even coach it.

Right, Coach.

He's turned into a big media star. You're not surprised, are you? A big media star?

I'm proud. He was a great player. He was a great pro player. He's tough as nails. He's smart, always loved that. He had strong opinions, and that's why he was such a good player. And he backs them up. He believes it. And I love listening to him now, so I watch him all the time and I'm very proud of him. It's one of the most wonderful things about my life. It's incredible because of people like Chris in it, but if you think most people never get to be a head coach, they sure don't get to be a head coach for more than three years. I've been a head coach 35 years. So there's so many incredible young people in my life that I feel like are family. And it's just unbelievable, the pride that I have in them. And that's what's made my life special. And Sally feels the same way. And Chris has talked about Sally. That's my best recruiting job.

I don't know what I will say this and we have to let you guys go and we appreciate it. By the way, PFT with Mike Florio for Sims on Button Podcast. Football night in America has the Dolphins and the Eagles this Sunday night. I will tell you what I've noticed here from Chris Sims. One, he has not cursed once because he respects you. Two, he got embarrassed. I've never seen him be embarrassed before with a thumbs up. And three, I wish for a second, just for a moment, that Chris Sims, at some point in our lifetime, will look at me the way he has looked at you, Coach, for the last 25 minutes.

Same.

Kick some butt.

Coach.

Go Tar Heels.

See you, Sims. We appreciate it, man. That was a nice little surprise for you. I know we didn't listen. We didn't talk a lot of NFL football. It's okay. The NFL we've got 15 more weeks to do so. Okay?

That was awesome.

It really was.

It was a pleasant surprise.

That was awesome. My only regret is that you and Billy didn't get to fight.

I know. We'll be back next week. Don't worry. Oh, my God.

That's not nice.

Blur that out, mother.

Okay.

Oh, now Mac's gone, right?

Exactly. All right. Goodbye.

I don't got to respect you guys, all right? I just got to respect him.

All right. It's time to bring on Carl Douglas and the guys. Kfunk's going to be mad. I didn't call it K Funk and the crew like he's going to get mad at me.

He will.

Yeah. Share bear went five and huh?

Share bear went five and o and now he's getting all cocky over here.

Did I really? Oh, great. No way.

The thing that's great about it is that you don't even know that you went five and o and k funk was texting me about it and he was very upset that you were five and oh, I would say no, I wasn't upset.

I just couldn't believe it because you posted that sometimes you don't post that shit on twitter. You posted that thing on twitter. So I was looking at everyone's picks and me gordy and carl, I think we're all two and three and then share went five and oh, straight cash homie.

Well, I messed up.

I thought it was from Arizona, fort Myers yesterday. And I wasn't paying attention.

I put fort myers to Arizona.

So I get to the airport and.

They'Re like, sorry, your flight, you missed it. I go, what do you mean?

I saw an hour.

No, it's flying right now.

So I'm having flyers, red eye. So I'm exhausted right now. Carl, let's get to the games right now. Lions at ravens. Okay. And by the way, is that a ram hat? Do you have the rams hat?

The ram hat this time? I know it's a ram hat.

For sure. For sure. Let's go. Lions at ravens. Big game this week. Ravens are minus three. Game is in Baltimore. Carl, a lot of people saying the lions could make it to the super bowl. Who you take it here?

I think the lions do got are the third best team in the NFC. They're on a roll. And I'll take the lions and give up the points.

Okay. Kayfog, who you take it?

I'm going to take Baltimore in this game. I think everyone's right. The lions pretty high. I went to the game last week. I bet on the lions against bucks. They destroyed them. So I'm going to go with the ravens at home here.

Gord, who you take it here?

I'm favoring the ravens here. I just think at home they're very, very good defense and then I just don't think the lions can handle a mobile quarterback. So I'm going to go with the ravens.

Share bear, who you take it here?

Under armor stocks been down a little bit.

I'm going to go with the lions. All right. We go to chargers at chiefs. Another big game. AFC chiefs minus five and a half. Carl, who you take it? My chiefs have been letting me down.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

My chargers have been down all season. Right.

I think the chiefs are going to bounce back this week. I'll take the chiefs and give it the points.

All right. Chiefs minus five and a half. The chargers are confounding, carl, they're hard to root for. I love them.

I hate the coach, man.

It's the coach's problem. All right. You want to fire him? Hot seat?

Yeah.

We gave him another year. This time we gave him a new OC.

He's a defensive coach. The defense is terrible, man.

Yes.

All right, Share Bear, who are you taking here? I'm going to go with the Chiefs. I'm going with the Chiefs. Good old Kansas City. I was out of chicken and pickle this weekend in Arizona where the chicken and pickle originated.

Kansas City.

And I'm going to go with the Chiefs. Let's go. To gord.

I'm going to go Chargers. This is always a tight matchup and I don't know, I just think I like La. A little bit better in this one.

Okay.

K Funk.

I love how I flustered Share Bear here because he had the Chargers also with me, and I hope this doesn't backfire on me, but I'm sticking with the Chargers. I think it's going to be a close game. The Chargers been playing pretty well lately. They just haven't been winning.

Packers at Broncos. Broncos plus one. Who you taking?

Tough game. Tough game. But I'm going to go with the packers. I'll give up.

I'll take the one point and I'll go with Jordan Love. All right, K Fog, who you take it.

This is a tough one, man. I don't even know who to pick. I want to say the packers, but for some reason I'm going to take Denver. Even though they're terrible. I'm going to go with the Broncos.

All right, gord. Who you taking here? Yeah.

This is a weird game. I'm kind of like what Kfunk's thinking here, but I just really want to pull the trigger on Green Bay.

You know Mojo played for the packers, right?

I have to go. This is for Know because that's all he talks about. Like, he actually played on the team, but he was only really on the practice team.

Not even the practice team.

He was in preseason.

He never made the team.

The truth comes out.

That's why he had to go to.

The WWE and call Gronk and I to get him a tryout.

Did you really get him a tryout?

Yes.

You can ask him.

Wait a minute. How did that happen?

Because my dad's college roommates, Mike Rotundo who runs the WWE, and we were always telling Mojo, like, Mojo, dude, you're one funny dude, but you can't be like, 340 pounds of sloppiness and you're not going to make a team in the NFL. And so he pretty much was like, yeah, you know what? I need to use my skills and do something else. And I sent him over a StairMaster. The dude literally busted his ass. He lost like 69 pounds and he went in for the tryout and absolutely killed it, and the rest is history. He took it from there, but it was because of Papa. Gronk is the one who got him that tryout.

So Mojo owes you everything.

I'll let him tell you that me.

A lot, too, so we won't get into that.

He'll probably say he owes us nothing.

Share Bear, you're up.

Yeah. Share Bear, who do you have, the.

Packers or the Broncos?

I heard it's either this week or next week. I don't know which one. But you got Antonio Freeman, Bobblehead Night, and I'm just going to go with the packers for the next two weeks. All right? I like it. Dolphins at eagles. This is the game of the weekend. Carl Douglas, game of the weekend. Sunday Night Football. Dolphins at eagles. Eagles minus two and a half points at home. I have Raheem mostard on my fantasy team.

He's been killing it all year.

I'm going to keep riding with Raheem.

Give me the dolphins. All right. K Funk. Who. You take it.

I'm gonna take my Dolphins here. Even though this is my toughest game, obviously, of the week.

Share Bear, who are you going with here? I'll stick with the dolphins. Well, I'll go Kay Funk on this one.

Okay.

I'm willing to lose that. We both lose even, okay? I don't want to give a chance to even get a game up on me, so I don't care what happens.

Okay?

Gordy.

They didn't cover the spread last week and Miami did, and it's hard to cover back to back weeks, and I just don't see the Eagles losing back to back weeks.

Final game here, 49 ers at Vikings. Kirk Cousins, still the best quarterback in the NFL.

Billy no.

Hall of Famer, first ballot.

First ballot, yeah.

Vikings are getting yeah. Billy has a first ballot. Five years from the day he retires, he strolls in the canton.

Five year walk.

Minnesota. He's crazy. Carl I can't believe that billy and I like you, Billy. I like you. My good I agree with you. When you first said it, you know, it works. Carl, sometimes you just say things. I'm sorry, but Carl, 49 ers and Vikings. Vikings plus seven. Will the hall of Famer pull off an upset here?

Because Billy is my guy. And seven points is a lot of points.

Wow. I'll take the points. Give me the Vikings and the points. Wow. How about that?

Now I feel pressure on this game.

Did you know that you were thank you, Carl.

I appreciate that.

But did you know that you were Carl's guy?

It feels good to hear him say.

I want to be Carl's guy. Yeah, mikey, don't mean of course. I know this is great place to be.

It's a great place to be, yeah.

To be your guy. But it's Billy and it's not me. And that's bullshit. Carl Douglas. When we got a time give me a break. When we got a right hey, Buck, who you taking here?

I'm taking Minnesota here. I don't know why, but I'm taking them.

Gord, who are you taking here?

Same thing. I'm going to take Minnesota. I just think it's too big of a spread at home. It's tough to lose, know? Two touchdowns at home, and Sam Fran's pretty beat up right now.

All right, share bear.

I'm going to go with my bank.

Theories like last week.

US. Bank. There's no holidays Monday, so let's go to Minnesota.

Okay.

Promote the law firm on the way out. Carl.

Best firm in California. Douglas Hicks.

Law. Give us a call, okay. I want OJ next week. Okay. Make it happen.

Fun little episode, this, huh?

Nice episode, yes. Yeah.

Were you surprised he asked Hasan Eckler about getting punched in the head?

Well, no, we had him on the morning after he got punched.

But I'm asking if you're surprised that we just went there right away and asked him, hey, what is it like getting punched?

I mean, we went right into Austin. He's a friend of ours. We like him. I thought it was fat. It was so out of character for Austin to be doing it. We've gotten to know Austin a little bit on the show. He's a peacemaker. He's a lover. He's not a fighter.

Well, that's how he got hit in the head, though, because he was trying.

To trying to make peace. Yeah, right. Yeah. Got his head exploded. Well, no, I mean, the helmet popped off.

Yeah, he just got hit with know how it came off.

Going astray Dante Fowler what'd you call him earlier in the episode?

Don't say it.

Don't say it on TV. It's why we can't hear the Dolphins and Eagles.

Billy, big one this week.

It is, yeah.

How do you think it's going to go?

I think the Dolphins are going to win. Really? I think the Dolphins are the best team in the NFL. I do.

I hope so. I'm worried about another Bills repeat.

Listen, win or lose, we have no idea, but I just think they're the best team in the NFL, and I think they'll win. Game out. Right.

All right, well, God bless football.

God bless football.