00:00Welcome back in on WQAM on this Tuesday morning. Hollywood, 10 wins Omar Kelly and Dan Day along with you.
00:08We're going to head out to the Toyota of Hollywood hotline, shop over 2,000 Toyotas on sale at one
00:13location.
00:14Toyota of Hollywood on 441, which is in Hollywood, and share it in toyotafollywood.com, where we are joined by
00:18our friend Dave Hyde.
00:20Dave, how you doing, man?
00:22Hey, all good. How's everybody in there?
00:24We are great, man. It is good to hear from you, Dave.
00:27And we'll jump right into this Dolphins deal.
00:31And Miami, you know, there's, I guess, an expected start here, Dave.
00:35But, you know, I think they've been very competitive in the last two games.
00:39My view on it is Jeff Halfley is doing a very good job with the hand that he's been dealt.
00:45What do you think about the job that the new Dolphins head coach has done so far?
00:50Yeah, I mean, the young guys are developing, and you like to see that.
00:55Yeah, but I thought last week's game was the first one I walked away from and said,
00:59eh, not, that wasn't good.
01:01For three quarters, it was what you'd expect when you have the Dolphins' worst scoring offense
01:07against the second-best defense.
01:10And then on the flip side, the best Vikings defense against the worst,
01:17or excuse me, the worst Vikings offense against a, you know, defense that's playing hard.
01:22So, but you go in the fourth quarter, the Dolphins ran three plays for two yards
01:27and had the ball for one minute in the fourth quarter.
01:29So, the Vikings had the ball 14 minutes in the fourth quarter.
01:35And the Dolphins' defense just could not make a play to get off the field.
01:39And so, it was disappointing to me that way.
01:45Go ahead, Omar.
01:48Dave, from a disappointing standpoint, we've seen this.
01:53We've been on this merry-go-round with new coaches.
01:55I always think the magic trick is getting fans to lower their expectations
02:03because that's really what has been done this season.
02:06But when you've got a team that is taking games into the fourth quarter
02:11and is shooting themselves in the foot the whole game,
02:15how do you fix that issue if you're Jeff Halfley?
02:19I don't know.
02:21You want to fix that issue.
02:24I mean, look, this is what you signed on for.
02:27When you have a roster that's 39 cents on the dollar,
02:33that's how much they're spending compared to other teams,
02:35and you're playing this many young guys,
02:38from a coaching standpoint, you can only do so much.
02:42And so, what can you do in the fourth quarter?
02:46I mean, tell me who the playmaker is on the offense to go to.
02:49Tell me who's your go-to guy when you need something.
02:54They don't have one.
02:55And so, what you're just looking for is progress.
03:00But I'm not going to slam them for 0-4,
03:06and at the same time, I'm not going to overpraise them.
03:08Most NFL games go into the fourth quarter.
03:11And most of them are single-score games at some point in that period.
03:20And, you know, Jimmy Johnson, when they won in 15, he thought,
03:24wow, we're close, we're close, we're close to every game.
03:26Then he realized, oh, that's the NFL.
03:28So, and the Dolphins, you know, this is what you signed up for if you believe.
03:34I think they're doing it the right way, but it's going to be a painful year.
03:38What makes you confident that they're doing this the right way?
03:42Because when you've got a Vegas team that is seemingly doing a one-season turnaround
03:47with Kirk Cousins as a starting quarterback and, obviously, a center that you paid ridiculous money for,
03:54is it really just that simple?
03:56And why do the Dolphins make it look so hard?
04:00Well, let's start here.
04:01Why do I think they're doing it the right way?
04:03First of all, for the first time, and Steve Ross, they got the coach and the GM on the same
04:08timeline,
04:09same idea, same wavelength, they're like the three-legged sack race, you know, they're together.
04:16So that's important.
04:19Then they got rid of all these dumb contracts that they gave.
04:25And rather than being a marginally good team by keeping a couple of the guys and winning a couple games,
04:33possibly they just dumped everybody overboard and said, let's get everything in order.
04:39And then, you know, the big question is building through the draft.
04:44We've done this before.
04:46What I like so far is some of these rookies are actually producing.
04:50And when can you look back and say, oh, okay, this is, we've got a,
04:57it looks like a group of rookies that might be something.
05:00So there's the position of hope for the Dolphins.
05:05Well, speaking of rookies, Dave, everyone keeps texting in names of quarterbacks.
05:10Of course, the one with the last name Manning is very popular.
05:13And I don't, you know, I don't know if he's going to end up being the first pick or not,
05:17Dave,
05:17but it seems to be like, it seems to me that the Dolphins, you know,
05:23if Malik Willis continues down this road where he maybe shows you some good things,
05:26but he's certainly not going to enter that top five elite category.
05:29If there's a quarterback that's screaming elite upside,
05:34they're going to jump and take the guy at one or two, wherever they end up picking,
05:37I would think, right?
05:40I would think, but how many,
05:43how many quarterbacks out there that look like they're screaming elite up?
05:47Yeah, that's the other problem.
05:48Everyone just keeps throwing names like Manning and whoever.
05:51Omar, I love how this is Malik Willis' fault.
05:58I mean, now, you can see what he can do.
06:02He can do something that the Dolphin quarterback hasn't been able to do for, I mean, decades,
06:07which is create something out of chaos.
06:11So you've got to love that.
06:12Now, can he improve the things that he can see in the field?
06:17He missed a couple deep throws against Kansas City.
06:20I mean, things like that.
06:21Now, the margin for error for him is so small because, again, who's he throwing to?
06:27He lost his one, you know, real weapon in A-Chan.
06:31And I get Ollie Gordon had a real nice game.
06:35Okay, he's a running back.
06:36A-Chan was a weapon.
06:37He could line up anywhere on the field.
06:39He could make mismatches.
06:41He could beat you catching.
06:43He could beat you with his speed.
06:44He could beat you with his running inside or outside.
06:47So that was the one weapon they had.
06:50And tell me who you're throwing to now.
06:53I really have a hard time judging Willis, and I'm not going to judge him until, you know,
06:59he gets a full season here.
07:00And then we can make everybody wants to be first.
07:03Oh, he's terrible.
07:04He's awful.
07:05Let's draft somebody else.
07:06I mean, it's like I said it first.
07:09I said it first.
07:10I win.
07:10And so let the season play out here.
07:13Well, one team we can all agree about, Dave Hyde, is the Miami Hurricanes and the way they
07:19have started their season.
07:21They put it on Clemson in every possible way on Saturday night in front of the national
07:27TV audience.
07:29Dave, they really have it rolling.
07:31And that offense, I don't know how anyone is going to stop that machine right now.
07:37I mean, you want to shut down Malachi?
07:39Okay, great.
07:40We have like eight other options to beat you, and that's what they did on Saturday.
07:44This Canes team looks very tough right now.
07:47I loved it because anybody beating up on holier-than-thou, Dabo Sweeney, I'm all in favor of.
07:54For the past how many years have we had to listen to him talk about the way college should be
08:01and this, and now he's realizing like it's a Darwinian change to evolve.
08:08To win, he better evolve a little.
08:10And all of a sudden, he's embracing the portal a little and all.
08:13And so, look, the Hurricanes were 16-point favorites, which is pretty much saying, take your guess
08:23on what the point spread is because it's going to be a lot.
08:25And they went out and played that way.
08:27And now, really, until Notre Dame, what they have to do is just show up strong every week,
08:37not just play their game every week, and they should be okay.
08:41What is the biggest thing that you think Mario Cristobal has done that has helped transform that program?
08:51Well, I mean, to me, it's the Butch Davis way.
08:55He went out, and it's obviously a different era with the money and all that.
08:59But the Butch Davis way was, I'm going to go out, and I'm going to recruit and recruit
09:05and bring in all this top talent to the point, you know, coaching matters as developing players,
09:14but the X's and O's on game day don't matter as much because I have so much better talent than
09:19you.
09:20And I think that's what Mario's brought, that, you know, it's not just Mario.
09:26Joe Etchuria, the president, said, we're going to embrace, again, comparing it to Clemson.
09:31Clemson was, we're not going to change.
09:34We're going to do it our way.
09:37University of Miami was at the front of embracing all the changes with the money and the portal
09:43and all that, and that's what's showing up.
09:48They could finally play the SEC way without getting penalized and actually just buy players.
09:53Without cheating, without cheating, yeah.
09:55Now it's above board, and it's legal to pay players.
09:58And Miami said, we're going to spend, and we're going to spend as much as anybody in the country.
10:04And they have, and they're getting return on investment out of it.
10:08Well, Dave, we know all those politicians have nothing better to do than to get involved in college football.
10:14And they're trying to pass this act here that seemingly only benefits the SEC because then the SEC can go
10:22back to paying players under the table on top of what's already legal, right?
10:27I mean, this thing doesn't seem to make any sense.
10:30Yeah, you've got all these old politicians and old coaches who want it the old way because that was not
10:38only what they know, it was how they won.
10:41And look, I'm an old guy.
10:44Time's changed on me, too.
10:45That's just the way it goes.
10:48But, you know, I love the fact players are getting some money.
10:52And I saw last week John Calipari, the basketball coach at Arkansas, that players are making more than my assistant
11:02coaches.
11:03Well, yeah, it's sort of like when it was pointed out way back that Warren Hardy and the president made
11:12less than Babe Ruth.
11:13And somebody said, well, Babe Ruth had a better year, and he's more important.
11:16And that's sort of the same idea here.
11:18The players are important.
11:20And so I like they're getting money.
11:23Let me ask you this, Dave.
11:25From a competitive standpoint, I think we're getting to the point where Arch Manning might make more in college than
11:34he could make in one season in the NFL.
11:37Do you think that we're at a point where NCAA football is competing with the NFL for talent?
11:46Yeah, absolutely.
11:47If, well, let's look at Daria Mensah right here.
11:53He's making, I mean, it cost Miami around $7 million for him, right?
11:57Miami's quarterback costs have gone up from $1.5 million, Cam Ward to $4.5 for Carson Beck, and now
12:03around $7 million for Mensah.
12:09Now, unless he's going to be in the top half of the first round, I mean, I don't know what
12:15the contracts in the latter half of the first round are.
12:18But the point is, that's a decision to make.
12:23And you know what?
12:24Someone like Cooper Manning or Arch Manning, Cooper's son.
12:30If he's thinking about going back to college anyway because to get an extra year, which is sort of what
12:36the man, Peyton did it, Eli did it.
12:40They played their holes through their senior years.
12:43It's not like you're costing yourself much anything anyway for that extra year of progression and growth.
12:51So, but yeah, that's, I do think they're competing with the colleges and the pros right now.
12:59Well, Dave, every dollar Miami has spent on quarterbacks, I think, has been well worth it.
13:04Yeah, yeah.
13:05Up to this point, Dave Hyde here with us.
13:08Dave, I want to hit on the Panthers in heat real quick.
13:10I'll start with the Panthers.
13:12They're getting ready to play one more on the road.
13:14Feels like we're disconnected from this team right now.
13:17They've been out on the West Coast to start this thing.
13:20Finally, they're going to come home this weekend.
13:22But waiting on, I guess, definitive news here on Barkov.
13:26Looks like the early reporting was, could be a few months.
13:30Coach Paul Maurice said, you know, give us a little time to evaluate here.
13:34How, I mean, Barkov, you need him in the lineup, Dave, obviously.
13:39But I just think the Panthers have loaded this thing up and they are playing like a team that's hungry
13:44to win games right now.
13:46Yeah, they got Marchand back and he scores the tying goal on, what was that, Saturday night.
13:52But, look, to win the Stanley Cup, they need Barkov.
13:56He's the train in the middle of that team.
13:58And it's hard to imagine they don't know what the news.
14:04Here we are entering, I believe, day six of the injury or day five.
14:12But it's been a long time.
14:15And they must be wondering, I guess, going through, okay, how do we want to treat this or something.
14:21I don't know.
14:22It's dragging on here.
14:25On the other hand.
14:27Dave, you know that.
14:28Hockey players are different.
14:30They'll play through an MCL.
14:32TCL.
14:34Well, can you play through it well, I guess, would be the thing.
14:37Well, that's in the playoffs.
14:38They do that, Omar.
14:40Like, you'll see a guy gutted out in the playoffs.
14:41He's not going to do that in the regular season.
14:43And can you play through torn ligaments in your knee?
14:47Probably not.
14:48I'm not sure.
14:49I know.
14:50Yeah.
14:50Also, why Omar's not an athletic trainer, Dave.
14:54Yeah.
14:55Well, but the point being, what a sad story that would be if they lose him for the season.
15:01I mean, they lost him last year in the first practice.
15:04They would lose him here in the second game.
15:06Um, so, basically, all Panther fans are doing are sitting here crossing their fingers.
15:13Yeah.
15:13Omar just wants to glue them back together and send them out there.
15:16All I'm saying is they're a different breed over there in that hockey, in that sport.
15:22Well, they are.
15:23Look, you can play through things.
15:25You can play through, uh, uh, you know, getting 12 stitches in your, in your shoulder, your,
15:32your, your, whatever face or whatever, as they always do, but, um, you can't play through
15:38teeth and go back in the game.
15:39Yeah.
15:40Yeah.
15:41Yeah.
15:41Yeah.
15:41Well, uh, I don't know.
15:44It seems like every hockey, just ask them to smile without, without the prosthetics.
15:52Yeah.
15:53It used to be in hockey, the, the, the, um, they don't do this anymore, but in the old
15:58day, they, they, they used to give out, uh, the actual injuries, you know, now it's upper
16:03body or lower body injury, but it used to be like left shoulder.
16:06But I was talking to one player and he said, no, it's the, it's the diagonal rule when they
16:11do that.
16:11And I go, what does that mean?
16:12He goes, well, if they say it's the left shoulder, it's really the right ankle.
16:16So, you know, they're, they're all hiding their injuries too.
16:22Dave, uh, really quick, uh, before we let you run here, just, uh, your thoughts on this
16:26heat roster.
16:26They got their red, white and pink game coming up, uh, tonight at the Kaseya center.
16:31So, uh, people get an opportunity to, uh, to see Giannis and, uh, and the crew here.
16:35But, uh, Dave, there seems to be a, uh, renewed excitement around this heat team.
16:39And it's, it's finally not, uh, you know, we're running it back with the same group.
16:43They got some fresh faces there, including, uh, the biggest star to be in Miami in a long time
16:47here in Giannis.
16:49Yeah.
16:49Top five player when he's healthy.
16:51And I love what they're doing, which look, when LeBron came here, it was fascinating.
16:57He, he couldn't play inside.
16:59I, I, it's hard to imagine right now, but in the, in the finals against Dallas, remember
17:04JJ Barea took them would guard him and LeBron couldn't be, you know, a 5, 10, 5, 11 guy
17:10and LeBron couldn't beat him inside.
17:13And so they had to develop his inside game.
17:15And now what you're hearing what's coming out over, over Giannis, which he's a playmaker,
17:20you know, he can, he can create and, and they're going to look, it sounds like, and I'm watching
17:25them the other day, um, up in Quebec when they played, they're going to try to, um, bring
17:33out the playmaking skills of, of Giannis and, and, and allow that to flourish and see where
17:40that goes.
17:40So it's interesting how they're trying to expand a, you know, the talent of, again, a top five
17:46player in the league, Dave, thank you for the time.
17:49It's great to talk to you as always.
17:51And, uh, hopefully we'll talk to you again soon.
17:53All right, guys.
17:54Thanks.
17:55All right, Dave Hyde, kind enough to join us here.
17:57We are going to take a pause.
