Schooled With "the Professor" John Clayton

The Professor sits down with David Fleming, senior writer for ESPN to discuss the recent trend of NFL players retiring earlier in their career rather than waiting too long. Luke Keuchly, Andrew Luck, and Doug Baldwin are all examples in the last calendar year that have walked away from the game with more football left in their tank. Will this trend continue? How will it impact the quality of the NFL game that fans are watching on the field?

The XFL season is just around the corner, and with a new league comes a new set of rules for the familiar game of football. Seattle Dragons President, Ryan Gustafson, sits down with us to talk about everything that will be different about this fast-paced version of the game that we all know and love.

Officiating has been a major topic this year in the NFL. The NFL installed a coach challenge system for pass interference that has created nothing but controversy and confusion this year as to what is interference and what isn’t interference. Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com joins us on Schooled with the Professor to go through this season of change. We start off by discussing officiating in general this year. The officials agreed to a five-year extension but there could be as many as two dozen officials leaving the league because of a lucrative severance program for officials who have been in the league for two decades. We talk about how much tougher it is to find people willing to be officials. That has a major impact on high school, college and pro sports league. There have been seven referee changes in the past two years. Some of the best of the best have left and more may join them. Kevin then breaks down the pass interference experiment. Officiating is the main topic on Schooled.

Even though no one expected the Arizona Cardinals to be good this year, they remain one of the most interesting teams in football. They surprised everyone by signing Kliff Kingsbury as head coach and then drafted Kyler Murray with the first pick in the draft. On Schooled with the Professor, we break down the Cardinals season with Arizona Republic’s Kent Somers. Somers has covered the Cardinals for many years as a beat writer and now as a columnist. We go in depth about the Cardinals problems on defense. We spent a lot of time talking Kingsbury and Murray. David Johnson is making $13 million as a running back but he’s now a backup. Somers tells us why. We talk about how the Cardinals use their wide receivers in the Air Raid offense. The NFC West is the league’s best division. How long will it take the Cardinals to catch up? We get some answers on Schooled.

The Carolina Panthers have been one of the biggest disappointments of the 2019 season. They were thought to be a solid playoff contender but losing Cam Newton after two games changed that. Also, owner David Tepper decided to move on from longtime head coach Ron Rivera. We take a big look at the Panthers on Schooled with the Professor with former Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme. Jake helped the Panthers go to the Super Bowl back in 2003 and now he’s working as an analyst on the Panthers radio broadcasts. He breaks down the Cam Newton injuries and the impact of his loss as well as his replacement, Kyle Allen. Later we spend time talking about running back Christian McCaffery and how he’s emerged as one of the best running backs in the NFL. Delhomme also talks about the coaching change, the problems on the offensive line and what’s left on the Panthers defense. The Panthers are under the microscope on Schooled.

Why have the Rams been able to latch on to the sports fan base in Los Angeles quicker than the Chargers? This week on Schooled, I'm joined by Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times as we go in depth as to why one franchise has more stable footing than other. Were there any truth to the rumors the Chargers were looking internationally for their next home? We also take a look at what the reason is for the Rams' up and down season. We get Schooled this week by Sam Farmer.

It’s Thanksgiving week and it’s time to be thankful. It’s time for family, friends, food and football. One thing we can be thankful for is Larry Fitzgerald Sr.’s gift to football. He has been a sports writer for years and is the father of NFL future Hall of Fame receiver Larry Fitzgerald...one of the great gentlemen in sports. Larry Sr. lives in Minnesota and has covered the Vikings for decades. He joins us on Schooled with the Professor to talk about the Vikings, the NFC West and the Seahawks. Larry knows his football. We talk about the Cardinals’ new Kliff Kingsbury offense and also dive into the struggles of the Los Angeles Rams. Larry offers great praise for the San Francisco 49er offense and Russell Wilson. We have a long, deep discussion about the Minnesota Vikings and how they’ve turned their offense around but also discuss some of the struggles they are having on defense. It’s a feast of football knowledge with Larry Fitzgerald Sr. on Schooled.

The NFL is undergoing an amazing change. About 18 teams have quarterbacks who are 26 years old or younger. Many of those quarterbacks are runners, making it tough on defensive coordinators to figure out how to stop them. Steve Mariucci of the NFL Network joins us on Schooled to talk about the changing quarterback landscape. We discuss whether it’s better to plan man coverage or zone coverage to stop these running quarterbacks. So far, no one has figured out how to stop Jackson. Steve likes Russell Wilson as the league’s MVP so we discuss his season and his value to the Seahawks. We talk about the pocket passing quarterbacks, particularly the older ones such as Philip Rivers and Tom Brady. Do those kinds of quarterbacks have a place in the NFL anymore? Steve Mariucci educates on Schooled about quarterbacks.

NFL officiating is under review more than any time I can remember. Kevin Seifert from ESPN.com joins me on Schooled to figure what is going on. The big concern is whether the pool of future officials is shrinking. There have been seven ref changes over the past two years and it could bleed into next season as talk of 10 to 20 officials possibly departing. We dig deep into officiating on Schooled

It’s always great to catchup with former Detroit Lions wide receiver Herman Moore and talk about the evolution of the wide receiver position. He joins us on Schooled this week.  Moore came into the league in 1991 as a first-round pick of the Lions. At 6-4, 210 pounds, Moore started a trend in which the NFL got bigger and taller at wide receiver. On Schooled, he discusses how receivers have gotten faster in recent years. He also talks about how the defenseless receiver rule has allowed smaller, faster receivers to work the middle of the field and make plays. When he played, even the big receivers had to shy away from the middle because safeties had the license to blow up those trying to catch the ball. We talk about how the Air Raid offense being run in Arizona has some similarities to the Run and Shoot he played in Detroit. We discuss current Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. Offense is the name of the game on this week’s Schooled.

We’ve reached the halfway mark of the NFL season, so it was time to get a great perspective on what’s happened over the last eight weeks. Mike Silver of the NFL Network joins us on Schooled to break it all down. Silver started covering the San Francisco 49ers in the newspaper world back in 1989 so he was the perfect person to talk about how the 49ers have ascended from the second worst team in football to a 7-0 start. We talk about the offense, the defense and the great coaching of Kyle Shanahan. Mike’s dropped up to a bunch of Seahawks game for the NFL Network, so he gives a positive review of what he’s seen so far from this team. We go league wide and talk officiating, Cleveland Browns and more. It’s a mid-year breakdown on Schooled with Mike Silver.

What has happened to the Atlanta Falcons? Thought to be a Super Bowl contender, the Falcons are 1-6 and are giving up more points than any team in the NFL. On Schooled with the Professor, we try to get some answers. We link up with our buddy D. Orlando Ledbettter, long time Falcons beat writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He answers the question whether Dan Quinn is coaching for his job this Sunday. He tells us how owner Arthur Blank has handled the horrible season, the offensive line problems even though the Falcons forked up $80 million to fix blocking problems. We get an update on Matt Ryan’s high ankle sprain and whether he will play Sunday. We discuss all of that and more on Schooled.

The Baltimore Ravens have been one of the better success stories in the NFL early in 2019. Last year, John Harbaugh decided to bench Joe Flacco and go with rookie Lamar Jackson. The Ravens made the playoffs and Harbaugh got a well-earned contract extension. This year, Jackson has gotten better as a runner and a quarterback and the Ravens lead the AFC North with a 4-2 records. On Schooled this week, we caught up with Vinny Cerrato to get the full story on the Ravens and the NFL. Vinny ran the personnel office of the San Francisco 49ers and was the general manager for the Washington Redskins. He now hosts for 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore. On Schooled, we discussed the addition of Earl Thomas and the changes in the Ravens secondary. We also talked about the Ravens lack of a pass rush and the addition of Marcus Peters. From the league perspective, we look at the struggles of the AFC as a conference, the Washington Redskins and officiating.

The Cleveland Browns have been one of the biggest mysteries in the NFL this season. Projected to be the team that could win the AFC North, the Browns have struggled to a 2-3 start and are scoring a little over 14 points a game even with the addition of Odell Beckham Jr. to go with Baker Mayfield, Jarvis Landry and Nick Chubb. To get an education on the Browns for Schooled with the Professor, we dialed up Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. Mary Kay discusses the problems the Browns have had getting the offense started. She also discusses what defenses are doing to slow down Baker Mayfield and the performance of head coach Freddie Kitchens in his first season. Mary Kay has seen firsthand the amount of struggles the Browns have had through the years. For Schooled, she does a great job of previewing the team that faces the Seahawks Sunday.

The Seattle Seahawks play the Los Angeles Rams Thursday night in one of the most important games of the year. Are the Rams still in total control of the NFC West as they have been since Sean McVay started coaching them? Are the Seahawks ready to challenge them for the division title? In one of the best football discussions we’ve had on Schooled, Mina Kimes from ESPN joins us to answer those questions. Mina knows the Seahawks from doing many stories on the players over the years and she knows the Rams because she was a member of their preseason TV crew. We get into a lot of great stuff. Mina goes into great detail talking about some of the early struggles of quarterback Jared Goff and the Rams offense. Because of problems in the running game, teams are causing more problems by going into zones or quarter coverage schemes. We discuss some of the early problems of the Rams offensive line, which replaced two starts and are being held back by numerous offensive holding penalties on both tackles. We also disc

Want an education on the Arizona Cardinals Air Raid Offense? On Schooled with the Professor, we talk to Ron Wolfley, who works on the Cardinals broadcast. Wolfley gives an explanation of what the offense looks like. Instead of the Air Raid, he suggests it should called the Pro Raid because they to have some use of a tight end, something that isn’t done in many college Air Raid offenses. For the most part, the Cardinals line up in four- and five-receiver sets. Like the old days of the Run-and-Shoot Offense under Mouse Davis, the best receivers work the slot. The Cardinals best receivers are Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk. Wolf spends plenty of time talking about Kyler Murray and how he operates the offense. We get into how teams are trying to defend this style of offense and we discuss Kliff Kingsbury. In depth analysis and an education of the league’s newest offense on Schooled.

 Craig Ellenport wrote NFL 100:The Greatest Moments of the NFL’s Century to reflect the most memorable and historic moments of the NFL and we discuss it on Schooled. The 1958 Championship game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants was No. 1. That overtime game won by Colts quarterbacks Johnny Unitas put the NFL on the map with television audiences. No. 2 was Joe Namath guaranteeing a Super Bowl win over Baltimore, that prompted the No. 3 story, which was the merger of the AFL and the NFL.Craig also takes us through the history of   the Dallas Cowboys, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers. It's perfect timing as the league celebrates it's 100th season, Craig Ellenport gives you a great history lesson and you can hear it on Schooled with the Professor.  

The Seahawks barely got by a Cincinnati team that most people thought would only win six games and The Pittsburgh Steelers lost by 30 points in New England. What happened to the Steelers? I get a chance to get back to Pittsburgh Sunday to watch a Steeler team that I covered for around 15 years, as they host the Seahawks. So, on Schooled with the Professor, we wanted to get a detailed look at the team. We check in with former Detroit  Lions and Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch, who does the pre- and post-game shows for the Steelers and is on KDKA in Pittsburgh. He grew up across the river from me in Pittsburgh. Charlie breaks down some of the problems on the Steelers offense. We talk at length about Ben Roethlisberger, who Batch believes is a top three quarterback. We talk about the problems that popped up with the Steelers defense, which looked good in pre-season and training camp but looked terrible in the Patriots game. Charlie went into great detail about the coaching of Mike Tomlin, whom he respect

The final NFL cuts were filled with surprising activity. The Houston Texans and head coach Bill O’Brien made some of the most trades in recent years. The Seahawks acquired Jadeveon Clowney on the cheap. On Schooled with the Professor we caught up Andrew Brandt from MMQB to review what happened. We break down the Clowney trade and discuss the difficulties of having a head coach act as the general manager. We discuss the impact of adding Clowney to the Seahawks defense and Brandt discusses whether top notch players are gaining some leverage in going to teams that they prefer even though they are holding out. We also break down contract negotiations that led to deals for Jared Goff and Ezekiel Elliott. We also talk a little bit about the positive feel for a new collective bargaining agreement.

I was near the Dallas Cowboys bench for the 1981 NFC Championship game and had a chance to witness ``The Catch.’’ Joe Montana drove a 49ers team that had been bad for years the length of the field and hit a leaping Dwight Clark in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown that sent the 49ers to the Super Bowl and changed the face of football. The 49ers started a dynasty and head coach Bill Walsh changed the game with the West Coast offense. For Schooled with the Professor, we caught up with Matt Maiocco from NBC Sports Bay Area. Maiocco, who grew up in the Bay Area, has covered the 49ers for years. He became good friends with Clark, who recently passed away. Maiocco put together a great book _ Letters to 87:Fans Remember the Legacy of Dwight Clark. This one is emotional. Clark had ALS. Matt was there when several former 49ers visited Clark and read him the letters. It turned into a documentary and now, a book. Matt discusses how football changed after 'the catch'. He also got us caught up on the