Speaker 1: There's not many analysts out there who can talk on
Speaker 1: a chalkboard with Sean McVay and Andy Reid and Lincoln
Speaker 1: Riley and Josh Hipel and Steve Sarkigian other than Gary Danielson.
Speaker 1: And he can do that because of his vast experience
Speaker 1: and he joins us on exus and Bros.
Speaker 2: Gary.
Speaker 1: Thanks for the time. How are you? How are you
Speaker 1: and your family?
Speaker 2: I'm doing great, Mattison. It's been a long time. It's
Speaker 2: great to talk to you. It's kind of a cool
Speaker 2: time to be in Michigan. Sports are rolling pretty good
Speaker 2: there as.
Speaker 1: Aren't Yeah, you're always been a big Tigers fan. This
Speaker 1: has kind of caught you a little bit, hasn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah? Absolutely, you know, I grew up in Michigan. I
Speaker 2: mean we used to go down to the ballpark. That's
Speaker 2: a pretty funny story. I think it's either in Madison
Speaker 2: or nineteen eighty three, eighty two something in that area,
Speaker 2: you know. And the Tigers are just starting to roll,
Speaker 2: you know, Gibbie and Trammel and the boys, Jack Morris
Speaker 2: and of course I'm playing quarterback for the Lions, and
Speaker 2: we're up and down like we were and my days.
Speaker 2: You know, Dad, everybody at school or just you know,
Speaker 2: we got Tiger stuff. I wish you played for the Tigers,
Speaker 2: you know, like that, I said, Honey, turnout see that
Speaker 2: pool in the backyard. That's pretty good there. Yeah, it's
Speaker 2: kind of funny, but I love them all. We used
Speaker 2: to go to red Wing games, Piston games when they
Speaker 2: were downtown at Coobo, you know. So yeah, I'm a detroiter.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And of course you did that successful show with
Speaker 1: with Gibby for so long. I enjoyed being with Gibby
Speaker 1: in my years in the booth and actually just played golf,
Speaker 1: played golf with your buddy Elisier at the other day.
Speaker 1: So you're missed, but you're absolutely missed. But we love
Speaker 1: watching your work because you're so good at what you do.
Speaker 1: And your partner is my favorite play by play guy.
Speaker 1: I can promise you. I mean that sincerely. I think
Speaker 1: he's phenomenal what he does.
Speaker 2: He's a pros pro, you know, it's funny. He's done
Speaker 2: a lot of big things. Brad nessler As and I've
Speaker 2: been charmed, as you said, you know, I've got to
Speaker 2: work with you know, Hall of Famer Vern Lunk was
Speaker 2: Hall of Famer Bret Musburger. But but Brad is going
Speaker 2: to be a Hall of Famer as well. So in
Speaker 2: my thirty five years of broadcasting, I'm going to be
Speaker 2: working with three Hall of famers. Or that ain't bad
Speaker 2: this our fifteenth year and again so's.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, well it ain't bad that they're working with
Speaker 1: you either. Tell me, well your impressions of Michigan. You
Speaker 1: guys did a phenomenal job against when we called the
Speaker 1: Michigan USC game, which I think surprised a lot of people,
Speaker 1: but it was, you know, all about their ground attack.
Speaker 1: Is that sustainable for them moving forward or they're going
Speaker 1: to have to find a little bit more than just
Speaker 1: the run game.
Speaker 2: Yes, and I think they will. I said during the
Speaker 2: broadcast that Michigan's going to be a much better team
Speaker 2: in decemmer met than they are right now. But they
Speaker 2: need to just survive right now. And that was the
Speaker 2: move that had to be made. I think all of
Speaker 2: us anticipated it. But you're right, you know, the big
Speaker 2: ten is, you know, Sleepy getting better. I mean just
Speaker 2: like kind of you know, Illinois better, Rutgers better, Penn
Speaker 2: State better than a year ago. I you know, returns
Speaker 2: twenty one starters. You know, they can play that game.
Speaker 2: So it's not going to be easy to play continue
Speaker 2: to play just one dimensional football. But I'm sure Alex
Speaker 2: will Orgie will get better. He has to get better.
Speaker 2: I think one thing, and it surprised me about this
Speaker 2: Michigan team because we know Michigan fans and the program themselves,
Speaker 2: they measure their season's success by you know, big ten
Speaker 2: run championships or getting into the playoffs. It kind of
Speaker 2: let that quarterback position be unprotected. Let's hope Alex Orgy
Speaker 2: is the guy, and you know, let's let's if he
Speaker 2: needs help, and for Michigan fans, maybe Davis Warren can
Speaker 2: settle down and be back up. But you know, transfer
Speaker 2: players have been really good an important part of college football,
Speaker 2: and Michigan has taken advantage it. Look at Josiah Stewart
Speaker 2: the game he's had transfer, Housman barm inside, they're left tackle,
Speaker 2: Hnton the transfer. I'm surprised they didn't understand, you know,
Speaker 2: that position. Seems like they could have looked in the
Speaker 2: transfer portal just to protect it a little bit more.
Speaker 2: Maybe they'll be right, but there's a lot of games
Speaker 2: to be played, and sooner or later they're going to
Speaker 2: get the need to throw the ball from the pocket.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it has to be more than Jack Tuttle transferred.
Speaker 1: And I agree with you one hundred percent. We've said that.
Speaker 1: I'm surprised it's happened that way from Michigan, but there's
Speaker 1: something that you know, they've got to deal with. Gary Danielson,
Speaker 1: CBS Sports Football Analysts since two thousand and six, ESPN
Speaker 1: from ninety through ninety six, ABC ninety seven through two
Speaker 1: thousand and five with us here on Exues and Bros.
Speaker 1: Michigan State is in an interesting spot right now. It's
Speaker 1: almost like a grace period. I really think Jonathan Smith
Speaker 1: is the right guy. What's your impression of him as
Speaker 1: a head coach?
Speaker 2: Yeah, hundred percent. I love what he did the similar
Speaker 2: type school, you know, Oregon State. You have to be
Speaker 2: a developmental program, and he was not just a flash
Speaker 2: and dash air raid throw the ball every down and
Speaker 2: a lot of those coaches are doing that to move
Speaker 2: up the ladder because athletic directors love the hire guys
Speaker 2: that can produce points. His team was tough, they ran
Speaker 2: the ball downhill. He's really good with coaching the quarterback.
Speaker 2: I think he has a vision of what Michigan State
Speaker 2: could be, and I think, I really think this is
Speaker 2: going to work for Michigan State in the long run.
Speaker 1: Here, their quarterback, Aiden Childs is only nineteen. He doesn't
Speaker 1: that what he starts under his belt. I want to
Speaker 1: know from you, as a college and a pro quarterback,
Speaker 1: how do you help fix a young man's delivery and
Speaker 1: or decision making? What's more challenging and how do you
Speaker 1: go about it?
Speaker 2: You know, that's really interesting question, and I think of
Speaker 2: so many things when you ask that question, Matt. You know,
Speaker 2: when I went to Purdue, I was seventeen my freshman year,
Speaker 2: so I played as you know, there was no red shirting. Then,
Speaker 2: you know, eighteen, I started as a sophomore. Then nineteen,
Speaker 2: I was a junior already. And it was really one
Speaker 2: of the big regrets in my life that I wasn't
Speaker 2: the type of focused athlete that I became as a pro,
Speaker 2: where I was totally dedicated year round at helping my
Speaker 2: team be as good as I could be to help him.
Speaker 2: So how do you do that with a seventeen, eighteen,
Speaker 2: nineteen year old I wasn't mature enough at that point.
Speaker 2: But it's a little bit of everything. You know, I
Speaker 2: played with Bernie Kozar. He didn't have the greatest delivery,
Speaker 2: but Howard Snellenberger didn't change it and it worked for him.
Speaker 2: I look at Alex Orgy, there's no really problem with
Speaker 2: his delivery your stuff. He just kind of learn that
Speaker 2: the different you know, the different parts of being a quarterback,
Speaker 2: how to lay it off, how to move in the
Speaker 2: pocket comfortably, and how to use his gifts more naturally.
Speaker 2: The guy at Alabama, Jalen Millroll, has learned to do
Speaker 2: that and Kalen Divor is doing a good job to
Speaker 2: continue that. So you know, Jonathan played quarterback, he has
Speaker 2: to tweak it, which I don't think he can overhaul
Speaker 2: a guy where he becomes uncomfortable. But you're right. You know,
Speaker 2: we covered Oregon State and we knew that Aiden's going
Speaker 2: to be a tremendous athlete. How does he learn how
Speaker 2: to do it? Just give another example. I covered Jayden
Speaker 2: Daniels at Arizona State, and you know he showed potential,
Speaker 2: but it wasn't until he was refined five years later
Speaker 2: at LSU and look what he did last night. So
Speaker 2: it's a journey, but you have to be careful not
Speaker 2: to try to do too much with the throwing motion.
Speaker 2: In my opite you know.
Speaker 1: It's it's so it's always been this way. I suppose
Speaker 1: it's really your position is the only position. You go
Speaker 1: to Pro Football Reference and you see it's the only
Speaker 1: position where you get wins and losses connected to it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's way too often where we're read into that.
Speaker 1: But I've talked with NFL general managers like you have,
Speaker 1: and they have told me, if you don't have the trigger,
Speaker 1: you spend your entire career looking for them.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: Has it gotten out of control at the NFL level
Speaker 1: where you're paying guys like Jordan Love, who I like,
Speaker 1: don't get me wrong, but doesn't have He's nine and
Speaker 1: ten in his career, He's got nineteen career starts and
Speaker 1: he makes He's one of the highest paid players in
Speaker 1: NFL history. How do you reel that in if at all?
Speaker 2: I guess it's just the marketplace of what it does.
Speaker 2: You know. I had a really good buddy that I
Speaker 2: ruined with with the Lions with Tom Skud and I
Speaker 2: think he was on a Frank Beckman show to tell
Speaker 2: you that sheuth one day ball all the way back
Speaker 2: and some caller called in because I think Tom was
Speaker 2: holding out, and said, you know, I'm sick of you
Speaker 2: athletes all this money. He goes, you know, he goes,
Speaker 2: I'd like to play baseball, and Tom goes, you know,
Speaker 2: I'd like to play football, and Tom goes, yeah, I know,
Speaker 2: but if you could, you'd do it. There's just not
Speaker 2: a lot of guys. And that's how the story goes.
Speaker 2: Why should a Major League baseball play a second baseman
Speaker 2: five million dollars and he's only hitting two twenty And
Speaker 2: I always say, because if they could find somebody to
Speaker 2: twenty one, you'd be unemployed. So that kind of goes
Speaker 2: with that situation, you know. So yeah, it is what
Speaker 2: it is. But it does make the fans more frustrated
Speaker 2: when you see somebody, you know, you go to a
Speaker 2: concert and you pay all that money and that that
Speaker 2: performer isn't you know, you don't have Taylor Swift competing
Speaker 2: against Adele and pick a winner. You know, this time,
Speaker 2: every time you play, there's a winner. But you know,
Speaker 2: that goes with the quarterback position. One more thing about
Speaker 2: that position that I tell young quarterbacks when I go
Speaker 2: to camp, it's the only position in sports where you're
Speaker 2: at to perform at the highest level and also orchestrate
Speaker 2: the whole you know, orchestra at the same time. You're
Speaker 2: the conductor and one of the musicians at the same time,
Speaker 2: and that just goes with the territory. And then on
Speaker 2: top of that, after the game, you have to walk
Speaker 2: up to that microphone, protect your teammates, say the right
Speaker 2: things even though you're dying, about the mistakes you made
Speaker 2: and things that were made, and make sure that that
Speaker 2: fifth quarter doesn't upset that locker room going into the
Speaker 2: next game.
Speaker 1: I'm so glad you brought up the entertainer because my
Speaker 1: argument to people when they say this all the time,
Speaker 1: as I say, how come you never complain that Samuel
Speaker 1: Jackson makes twenty million dollars in movie? Yeah, how come
Speaker 1: you never complain that Barbara streisand charges, you know, fifteen
Speaker 1: hundred dollars for a ticket. Go watch her in concert,
Speaker 1: and she may have a scratchy throat and may not
Speaker 1: sound at the top of her game. I paid money
Speaker 1: to go watch David Lee Roth and Van Hanlin. David
Speaker 1: Lee Roth was drunk on stage. Okay, so it's funny.
Speaker 1: It happens strictly with athletes, and especially with quarterbacks, you
Speaker 1: get Wisconsin, USC.
Speaker 3: I believe this weekend, right you and Brad on CBS Sports,
Speaker 3: Do you like that the four teams from the PAC
Speaker 3: twelve are now part of the Big Ten?
Speaker 1: And if so, why.
Speaker 2: So? One of the things we talked about during the
Speaker 2: game was, you know, like this thing seems to be
Speaker 2: working pretty good, even though there's no real commissioner driving
Speaker 2: you know, all the decisions, and it kind of reminds
Speaker 2: me of our great country we live in, you know.
Speaker 2: I mean, there's the invisible hand of capitalism at work here,
Speaker 2: and somehow the TV networks and the commissioners and people
Speaker 2: involved in the game, the fourteen playoff and some of
Speaker 2: these contests, and the sophisticated fans going you know, I
Speaker 2: don't really want to tune in and watch USC play Arizona.
Speaker 2: I mean, I want to watch the best play against
Speaker 2: the best, and somehow, you know, I think it's working.
Speaker 2: Nobody's in charge. Maybe nobody needs to be in charge.
Speaker 2: We should just trust the people going out there and
Speaker 2: make capitalistic decisions. And I think this is really going
Speaker 2: to work. I hated the fourteen playoffs. I was laughed
Speaker 2: at by saying four would be worse than two, and
Speaker 2: it was because it exposed conferences needlessly that they weren't involved.
Speaker 2: I think it was the downfall of the PAC twelve,
Speaker 2: but I think it was natural that this is going
Speaker 2: to kind of gravitate. It's almost like your kids, you know,
Speaker 2: when some kids play double a hockey, some kids play
Speaker 2: a hockey, and then there's triple a hockey. I think
Speaker 2: it's great the way it's going. I like the transfer rules.
Speaker 2: I like the idea that a kid coming out of
Speaker 2: high school maybe doesn't get the scholarship from Michigan or
Speaker 2: Notre Dame, but he goes and plays at Toledo or
Speaker 2: Western Michigan and then he finds out he's better or
Speaker 2: good enough, and then he transfers up. I think we're
Speaker 2: on the right path. They're going to fix this nil stuff,
Speaker 2: But overall, I think this big tent expansion thing is
Speaker 2: going to work perfectly.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree with you, but I do think it's
Speaker 1: really important that the mid major programs get the opportunity
Speaker 1: to make those paydays that really last them and their
Speaker 1: entire athletic programs the entire season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good point. I think that will still
Speaker 2: happen because these major blue bloods need some wins. They
Speaker 2: can't have their team play an NFL schedule every week.
Speaker 2: They just don't have enough players on their team so
Speaker 2: or at least that play at that level. But I
Speaker 2: think the twelve team playoff is great, you know, I
Speaker 2: really did. You know. So it's going to go to
Speaker 2: fourteen the end. You know, Michigan's going to have going
Speaker 2: to have a shot at this. We're going to have
Speaker 2: to improve obviously a quarterback. But this is going to
Speaker 2: be a fun run through this fall watching this Michigan
Speaker 2: football team.
Speaker 1: Final thing for you. You and Brad Nessler and you
Speaker 1: and Verne Lunkaz were the staples of SEC football. Right,
Speaker 1: You've got Alabama Georgia. I don't know how much you
Speaker 1: miss that on a regular basis. You're doing games every Saturday.
Speaker 1: It doesn't get a whole lot better than that. But
Speaker 1: you do have Alabama Georgia this weekend. How excited should
Speaker 1: people be for that matchup? And what do you like
Speaker 1: most about it?
Speaker 2: Yeah? We did a few of those, you know, SEC
Speaker 2: championship games, and yeah, they're quite a thrill, you know.
Speaker 2: I mean, we did the Game of the Century Alabama
Speaker 2: LSU nine to six, and then we did the Joe
Speaker 2: Burrow to a game LSU Alabama, And this is just
Speaker 2: like these things. I mean, there's a lot of good
Speaker 2: football players in a conference. And when I talked to
Speaker 2: the commissioner, to Tony Pettiti, who was at CBS when
Speaker 2: they when they hired me, Isaac commission CC is not
Speaker 2: backing up in style of football or excellence of football.
Speaker 2: You got to improve, and I think they are. It'll
Speaker 2: be a great matchup. But for me personally, as you mentioned,
Speaker 2: I'm just thrilled to be able to do a game.
Speaker 2: I mean, I've been thirty five years of doing top
Speaker 2: play games. The first game I ever did Matt was
Speaker 2: Miami at BUYU and ty Deetmer one the Heisman that
Speaker 2: day at the first game of this thing. So it's
Speaker 2: been a great run. And sooner or later I'm gonna
Speaker 2: run out of things to.
Speaker 1: Say, but so far, I don't think so. I look,
Speaker 1: you're doing it because you're the best at doing it.
Speaker 1: I don't say that just because you're with us. Lastly,
Speaker 1: you had mentioned during the broadcast you said you don't
Speaker 1: think there are better play callers than Lincoln Riley, Josh
Speaker 1: Heipel Steve Sarkushian, and I found that to be really interesting.
Speaker 1: Who are the best defensive coordinators? Who are the best guys?
Speaker 2: Oh wow, challenge that. Well, Kirby was one of them,
Speaker 2: you know, he grew up under Nick's and they were
Speaker 2: good at it. I mean, Michigan has been very interesting.
Speaker 2: The path they've taken, going the Ravens, the Harbaugh connection
Speaker 2: here has really changed their look of their team. They
Speaker 2: let me back up just a little bit. After I
Speaker 2: was playing NFL football for sixteen years, I never watched
Speaker 2: one college game in sixteen years. I was busy trying
Speaker 2: to survive in that league. Okay, so when I got
Speaker 2: my first job, I turn on the tape and I go, oh,
Speaker 2: they crap. These teams are terrible. To watch the NFL tape. Well,
Speaker 2: the game is morphed a little bit now, the sophistication
Speaker 2: of college. Even the pros are copying college offenses. Martin
Speaker 2: dal walks right into this Michigan defense and using these
Speaker 2: same type. Now they don't do it as well, but
Speaker 2: the styles have kind of morphed now. So yes, there's
Speaker 2: a lot of good ones around. I mean, I'm off
Speaker 2: the top of my head. I can't give them to you.
Speaker 2: But you know, Dan Lynn, it was under that same
Speaker 2: tree over there at UCLA and now at USC, so
Speaker 2: they're all over you know, Bobby, they do it a
Speaker 2: different way. The Parkers over at Iowa. They do it
Speaker 2: with that Tony Dungee soft cover too. Look, you know
Speaker 2: I shouldn't put soft and that into They kind of
Speaker 2: lull you into thinking it's soft. But it is fun
Speaker 2: to watch those teams. And I'll tell you another one,
Speaker 2: the whole D'Antonio tree for Michigan State. The way they
Speaker 2: played it and did it. Michigan State is in that
Speaker 2: conversation of great defenses. So that's what's fun about doing
Speaker 2: college football. I'll load up here now I've gotten familiar
Speaker 2: with USC, but I'll start at Wisconsin. I'll bet you
Speaker 2: know as many names right now as I got the
Speaker 2: general Luke Fickle feel of it and Paul long Ago
Speaker 2: and how they're changing. But you start at ground zero
Speaker 2: and build your game plan.
Speaker 1: So good and so enjoyable. Thanks for the insight, I
Speaker 1: really enjoy it. All the best to you and your family.
Speaker 1: I'll make sure I say hi to Eliaaah, Rob Rubik
Speaker 1: and all your friend's back here. Keep up the great
Speaker 1: work man.
Speaker 2: All right, thank you very much, Matt, appreciate it.
Speaker 1: You bet. Gary Danielson with us here on X's and Bros.
Speaker 1: What a treat man, incredible knowledge,