Hour 1 – Titans Malpractice, Blake Snell’s Legendary Performance, Kirk Herbstreit

Summary

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The Dan Patrick Show – Hour 1

Date: October 14, 2025
Host: Dan Patrick
Featured Guest: Kirk Herbstreit
Podcast Theme: Inside analysis and lively discussion of the latest headlines in sports, focusing on Titans coaching turmoil, Blake Snell's postseason heroics, young quarterbacks' challenges, and marquee college football matchups.

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Episode Overview

Dan Patrick dives into the day's biggest sports stories with wit and candor, highlighting legendary and bizarre moments from MLB playoffs, dissecting the Tennessee Titans’ chaotic front-office moves, and exploring why NFL teams keep hampering young quarterbacks’ progress. ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit joins in for an illuminating conversation covering the perils of rapid-fire football coaching changes, the evolving quarterback landscape, and the state of top college programs.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. NFL Recap & Titans Coaching Carousel

• Dan recaps recent NFL games:
  • Falcons beat the Bills by 10 on national TV.
  • Bears get their second straight buzzer-beating 25–24 win, a feat not seen since 1926.
  • Analysis of Bears QB situation: "Jaden Daniels is a better quarterback [than Caleb Williams], but it doesn’t mean Ben Johnson can’t get the best out of Caleb Williams" (03:47).
• Tennessee Titans organizational chaos (reset culture):
  • Recent firings: Brian Callahan after a 4–19 record; rapid succession since Mike Vrabel’s exit.
  • Dan’s diagnosis: “You know what the problem is? Probably the people in the front office.” (05:50)
  • Critique of instability: “When you look at young quarterbacks, I always talk about, give me continuity because it’s not fair… and that’s what they need.” (06:35)
  • Points to a pattern of NFL teams failing QBs by churning through coaches—calamitous for rookie quarterbacks.

2. Young Quarterbacks and NFL Development

• Dan’s recurring theme:
  • Owners draft a QB, keep the coach for “stability,” then fire the coach partway through the season, disrupting development.
  • “Four quarterbacks taken first overall have had their head coach fired during their rookie season. That’s the last four.” (08:48)
• Highlight on the importance of processing and stability for young QBs.
• Notable example: “Frank Reich didn’t want to start Bryce Young… That is terrible. That is irresponsible by ownership.” (09:18)

3. MLB Playoffs: Legendary & Chaotic Moments

• Blake Snell’s historic performance:
  • Dodgers beat Brewers 2–1 in a nail-biter.
  • “Blake Snell, two-time Cy Young winner—how can you win the Cy Young and NOT make the All-Star team?” (12:55)
  • Snell: 1 H, 10 K in 8 IP, faced the minimum for a postseason game—a feat not seen since Don Larsen's perfect game in 1956.
    • Memorable quote: “If he would have had a complete game, that would be like an eclipse.” (15:16)
• Wild defensive plays:
  • Brewers’ unprecedented 8-6-2 double play versus the Dodgers. “First in major league Baseball postseason history. What a wild, wild play.” (19:37)
  • Mariners slugging past the Blue Jays, go up 2-0 in the series.

4. Bijan Robinson and the Falcons in Focus

• Bijan Robinson joins elite company with 822 scrimmage yards in five games—only McCaffrey, O.J. Simpson, Jim Brown have more in that span.
• Notable quote: “He’s doing it rushing and receiving… he joined Thurman Thomas [1991] with at least 450 rushing, 300 receiving yards through his team’s first five games.” (04:51)
• Play of the day: Robinson’s 81-yard TD run. “Oh my goodness…to the house, as the kids like to say!” (42:06)

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Kirk Herbstreit Segment (Starts approx. 20:15)

1. Why Do Teams Keep Hurting Their Young Quarterbacks?

• Dan’s question: Why don’t owners and GMs learn? “Cam Ward’s not going to get any better this year where you fire his head coach. So why do they keep making the same mistakes?” (20:16)
• Herbstreit’s response:
  • Young quarterbacks now are developed with advanced technical skills but little in live-game offense management.
  • “I’ve heard Tom Brady talk about this—how the game has been dumbed down to a certain degree, and I agree with that.” (21:23)
  • “What we’re doing is kind of smoke and mirrors…these quarterbacks throw for 4,000 yards and everybody thinks this guy’s the first pick overall in the draft. Is he truly ready?” (22:19)
  • Drafting QBs is “rolling the dice”—sometimes you hit (e.g., Jackson Dart), sometimes not.

2. The “Processing” Issue in Quarterback Development

• Dan: “You must throw a receiver open… In college, you’ve got guys that are open… in the NFL, it’s like, ‘wait a minute, I thought you were open!’” (24:17)
• Herbstreit: Praises Mac Jones’ processing—even over more spectacular tools in prospects.
  • “[Mac Jones] processes at an elite level…when it comes to getting the ball out.” (25:29)
  • Importance of reps, overcoming failure: “The position is about overcoming failure. And I think Arch Manning, the best thing that’s going to happen to him long term is people going from he’s the Heisman…to this dude sucks.” (27:36)

3. Quick Hits: College Football Headlines

• On James Franklin’s firing at Penn State:
  • “Maybe he lost the team…maybe the ship was sinking as far as the buy in behind the scenes.” (30:06)
  • Penn State still “a premier job—they spend money.” (31:20)
• On USC and Notre Dame:
  • “USC…kind of one foot in and one foot out. Even after beating Michigan convincingly, people are still ‘let’s wait and see.’” (32:59)
  • “Notre Dame’s finally playing like we thought they were going to play.” (32:59)
• On Indiana's quarterback Mendoza:
  • “You said, keep an eye on Indiana’s quarterback, Mendoza…he’s probably the leading candidate for the Heisman right now.” (34:54)

4. Herbstreit’s Reflections on Broadcasting

• On his role helping Lee Corso on College GameDay after Corso’s stroke:
  • “I just tried to do it as subtly as I could…over time, it just became [that] I was sitting next to him…two friends hanging out next to each other talking football.” (38:08)
  • “It was a delicate, delicate moment each time he was there. And you could tell Herbie was there just in case he slipped or he forgot…” (39:24)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dan Patrick on Titans instability:
  “Keep hitting the reset button and then you’ve got to come to the realization that it’s the ownership/front office that seems to be the problem.” (06:15)

• Herbstreit on QB development:
  “The downside to [spread offenses]…you don’t have quarterbacks anymore that are learning how to run an offense, getting down on a knee and looking up to 10 guys and calling a play.” (21:48)

• Herbstreit on Mac Jones:
  “His brain just fired…it just really stuck out to me…processing is the hardest thing I think to predict because you don’t see enough evidence of it in college.” (25:17)

• Dan on play of the day:
  “Bijan Robinson, 81 yards to the house. As the kids like to say.” (42:06)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• NFL/MLB Recap & Titans Rant: 02:01–15:41
• Caller on Falcons’ shutout loss: 15:41–16:28
• Bijan Robinson Play Breakdown: 41:44–42:06
• Kirk Herbstreit Segment: 20:15–39:22
• Reflections on College GameDay & Lee Corso: 36:22–39:04

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Additional Notes

• Poll Question: Most likely playoff team: Cowboys, Bears, Vikings—Dan picks Bears. (43:47)
• Baseball Trivia: Since 1933, 22 Cy Young winners weren’t All-Stars that year—a fact that surprised Dan. (45:56)
• Show Location Reminder: Broadcasting live from South Bend, Indiana, Thursday and Friday at Legends Pub, Notre Dame campus.

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Summary

This hour of The Dan Patrick Show delivers fast-paced, insightful sportstalk, combining game recaps with deeper conversations about the organizational dysfunctions that hinder NFL quarterbacks and the nuanced realities of coaching and player development. Kirk Herbstreit offers both big-picture and personal perspectives, from trends in quarterback readiness to his bond with Lee Corso. The dialogue provides context, humor, and memorable anecdotes, making it essential listening for sports fans looking for more than just box scores and highlights.

Transcript

[Kirk Herbstreit]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Dan Patrick]

You are listening to the Dan Patrick show on Fox Sports Radio. It's the day before, the day before. We're broadcasting in South Bend, Indiana. If you get a chance, you want to come out and say hello. You want to press the flesh, you can do that. The entire crew ready to go to South Bend? We'll be outside Legends Pub on the campus of Notre Dame Thursday and Friday. First come first serve. Standing room only. Parking is self directed there. Poll Question Play of the Day Stat of the Day all of that forthcoming Stat of the Day is always brought to you by Panini America, the official trading cards of the program. And the first hour is brought to you by TireRack.com located in South Bend, Indiana. We're going to do A drive by. Literally a drive by at their headquarters there@ Tire Rack.com they've been doing it for over 40 years. The right tires for how and what and where you drive tire rack.com the way tire buying should be. Good morning if you're watching on Peacock, our streaming partner and we say good morning to our Radio affiliates Over 400 cities in America that carry this award nominated program. Tonight, Dodgers, brewers, game two. Some great baseball yesterday. And last night Blake Snell, he was dealing. Dodgers hold on in a wild one to beat the Brewers 2 1. And the Mariners, they blow out the Blue Jays and now they're up 2 0. They win that one 10 to 3. Football taking the headlines. The Falcons surprising the bills by 10. Felt like it was more than that. And the Bears stunned the Commanders at the buzzer 25 to 24. Now if you look at, am I right that the Bears beat the Raiders 2524 last week?

[Kirk Herbstreit]

That's right.

[Dan Patrick]

So they, they're the first team since 1926 to win back to back games by the same score 25 to 24. And at the buzzer in both of those in previous years, these are games that they would probably lose. And that really, that comes down to coaching and your quarterback. And Caleb Williams didn't have a great night. Jaden Daniels didn't have a great night. But you still see there's separation between those two. Jaden Daniels is a better quarterback, but it doesn't mean that Ben Johnson can't get the best out of Caleb Williams. But Jaden Daniels is more polished. The Falcons I think, stole the night because you watch the Falcons, here is a nationally televised game and you're able to see Bijon Robinson dominated and he's off to a historical start. Now. We love the kid. When we had him on prior to the draft, I mean he got so much charisma and so much talent. It's just we didn't kind of lump him in with Saquon Barkley or Derrick Henry or Christian McCaffrey. It's oh yeah, you know, he would always have a highlight. Now I'm looking at his numbers. He has 822 scrimmage yards. Only three players have had more scrimmage yards through their team's first five games of a season in history. Christian McCaffrey, O.J. simpson and Jim Brown. Stat of the day brought to you by Panini America, the official trading cards of the Dan Patrick Show. But he's doing it rushing and receiving and this is what people thought he was going to be like, and he joined Thurman Thomas, who did this in 1991, to have at least 450 rushing yards, 300 receiving yards through his team's first five games of the season. And maybe the NFC south is not that bad, certainly better than the AFC North. But then this is still a Falcons team that got shut out 30 to nothing. This, a couple of weeks ago, where I go, who are you? But maybe that's who the Falcons are. We're not quite sure who they are. I don't know about Michael Penix. There are times when I go, okay, and he's played a lot of football, you know, at Indiana and then U Dub. And I'm waiting to see. You know who I'm waiting to see is Pitts. Like, I'm watching the game and I go, didn't they take him like fourth overall? He had three catches and he was supposed to be the thing. It's like you need a quarterback. We're going to take him. They're going to take a tight end. But Drake, London look great. It just Falcons defensively, that's always been my big bugaboo. I'm waiting, making sure that they, I don't know, can they win games defensively now? They won offensively last night, but still you're holding Buffalo to 14 points, but you start to look. And they lost by three points to open the season against Tampa. And we look at Tampa differently, but they got shut out 30 to nothing a couple of weeks ago. I don't know how that happens to a team where you go, yeah, we're going to beat Buffalo, but we're going to get shut out 30 to nothing. Who shut him out? Was that Panthers? Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Like, where you go, huh? Things that make you go, huh? Big news yesterday, you know, we're looking at turnarounds here. Brian Callahan got fired, got fired by the Titans. And the Titans, of course, moved on from Mike Vrabel, which I didn't understand why, but they moved on from Derek Henry, they moved on from A.J. brown. And you start to go, you know what the problem is? Probably the people in the front office there. But if you look at this team four years ago, you're thinking, all right, they still got a good nucleus. They had 12 wins. So here Mike Munchak lasted three seasons, Ken Wisenhunt two, Mike Malarkey two, then Vrabel, and then all of a sudden, they chase him out the door. Brian Callahan comes in and he goes 4 and 19 before he got fired. Keep hitting the reset button and Then you got to come to the realization that it's the ownership front office that seems to be the problem. But they have the fire and hire. They're really good at this. John Robinson, GM, fired in 2022. Ran Carthon, hired in 2023. Mike Vrabel, fired in 2024. Brian Callahan, hired. Ran Carthon fired. Mike borgonzi, hired in 2025. And Brian Callahan has been fired now, yesterday. And I start to look at this and, you know, when you look at young quarterbacks, I always talk about, give me continuity because it's not fair. You bring these kids in, they're supposed to be saviors, and then you don't have stability for them, and that's what they need. You can't keep churning through OC's and head coaches. You can't. And I never would have brought Brian Callahan back. He won three games last year. You were going to take a quarterback. Unless you felt like that guy is the guy. Then you don't fire him now, like, what happened? How surprised are you and how much of this is on him that all of a sudden you guys are still bad? But I wouldn't have brought him back. I said I wouldn't have brought him back. I don't know Brian Callahan. I just look at these scenarios here, like Kevin Stefanski and Cleveland. If you're going to take a quarterback next year, are you bringing Kevin Stefanski back? And I would say, no, don't do that. Brian Dable with the Giants might keep his job because they took Jackson Darth, and they were probably told, you got to play Jackson Dart, his future is attached to him, but they might move on from him. And then all of a sudden he's got a new OC and he's got a new head coach. It's not fair to these quarterbacks. You know, Caleb Williams, he's got some bad habits, but, you know, remember Matt Eber Fluss? I said, you got to give him stability. I didn't think he was a great coach, but if you're going to keep him in there to have stability, great. But these owners who bring them, bring their coaches back and then they re, you know, get rid of them halfway through the season. Was it that tenuous to begin with? And if it was, then don't bring him back. You're looking at these quarterbacks and you're going, hey, go out there and be a star. You know, Trevor Lawrence had Urban Meyer, Bryce Young, Frank Reich, Caleb Williams, Matt Eber, Floose, Cam Ward, Brian Callahan. Do you see a Theme here, you draft a quarterback and then you have a coach and then you fire your coach. Four quarterbacks taken first overall have had their head coach fired during their rookie season. That's the last four. And Frank Reich didn't want to start Bryce Young. Go back to draft night. Sal Pale Antonio reported this is who they're taking and who they're taking will be their starter week one. That is terrible. That is irresponsible by ownership. And Frank, who played the position, did not want to take Bryce Young or didn't want to play Bryce Young. Right away Caleb Williams got in there, all of a sudden now you have turnover there. Trevor Lawrence, you know, the Urban Meyer debacle and now Cam Ward. We're looking for them to be great and sometimes that's where the quarterback who's taken in the second, third, fourth, fifth round can have more success because they'll watch for a little while and then they'll get into a stable situation or a more stable situation. There's a reason why these teams are drafting number one. They're bad. That's the problem. Jared Goff sat. You know, the homes was different, but it's just, it's kind of crazy. It, you know, the, the logic of we're going to draft a guy playing right away, the coaches on a. On the hot seat and then we're going to get rid of him and then we're going to expect Cam Ward to get better here as rookie year and that's not going to happen. But this is malpractice with the, you know, Tennessee Titans and the fact that Mike Brable and the Patriots are coming to town this week. You can't script it. You can't. All righty. 8773 DP show email address DP danpatrick.com Twitter handle @DP Show Once again, you got baseball. Game 2 Dodgers at the Brewers. There was a wild, wild play. I don't know how to describe a double play at. I'm trying to think what were the numbers? It was eight. So center fielder, the relay catcher, and then. Yeah, do you have 6, 2, 8, 6, 2? Has that ever happened in the history of major league baseball in the playoffs? Eight, six, two. And I thought it was a grand slam. I think they thought it was a grand slam. And then all of a sudden it turned out to be a double play and I'm like, wow. Because that could have, that would have blown the game wide open. But Blake Snell, two time Cy Young winner, how is it you can win the Cy Young one year, you're not an All Star in a year where you win the Cy Young. So in San Diego, he won a Cy Young. He wasn't on the All Star team. I said, I, I mean, once again, I don't know if a Cy Young winner has ever gone through the season where he won the Cy Young and didn't make the All Star team, but that was a wild. And I watched a lot of this Seattle game because they hit bombs. You know, Toronto, you're an obviously a deep hole. And teams that lose the first two games, they don't come back to win these things. The odds are not in their favor. In fact, I've got the math on this. So the Mariners are the 28th team in playoff history to win the first two games of a best of seven series on the road. 24 of the previous 27 went on to win the series. This is the start of the day. Yeah, they hit three home runs, two were three run homers. And Ben, but then, you know, the big dumper, they walked him a couple of times. They were pitching around him. And then the Blake Snell game. One hit, struck out 10 in eight innings. And then he picked off the only guy that he allowed, only base runner. So that's the first pitcher to face the minimum through eight innings in a postseason game since Don Larson in 1956 when he threw a perfect game.

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Wow.

[Dan Patrick]

Here comes that one stat of the day. If he would have had a complete game, that would be like an eclipse where you'd go, what, what just happened? And this is a guy normally doesn't go deep, you know, like a six inning pitcher. But that was an impressive performance in Milwaukee. All right, Alton in North Carolina. Hey, Alton. What's on your mind today?

[Caller]

Dan, what's going on, brother? Hey, hey, man. You're killing me with, you know, with the Falcons losing, you know, to the Panthers. I live in North Carolina, I do love the Panthers, but I'm a, I'm a big Falcons fan. I mean, they did shut us out. Okay, but you know, they had lost two games in a row and they, they was, they was mad. I mean, they wanted to do something. We just had a, we had a bad game. We shit to bed, man.

[Dan Patrick]

But you shot out 30 to nothing. You can be mad and have a bad day, but.

[Caller]

Yeah, but all of our play, all of our playmakers are young. You know, they, Michael Penix, he's young. He don't, he don't know much yet. Our defense was young. You know, they just, I mean, we we still haven't. I, we still held them to like what, 200 yards. We got the number one, we got the number one defense. Now we gotta give him a little bit of credit.

[Dan Patrick]

I know, I know. I, I respect you for calling in to try to defend being shut out by Carolina. Not many people would do that, Alton, but you did it and congratulations. Yeah, Atlanta's always had some offensive guys. You know, they're, they got weapons. I've always waited for them to have a formidable defense and maybe they got one. But for Buffalo, that's back to back losses like lost in all of this. His Buffalo lost back to back games, which I think they're going to be really active trade deadline here. All right. And you give up over 400 yards. All right, Kirk, Herb Street's going to join us momentarily. Matt Leinert, Fox Big noon kickoff. He'll join us as well. We'll come back, we'll settle on our poll question. Got a play of the day stat of the day. As always, we're just getting started. Back after this Dan Patrick Show. Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan Patrick show, weekdays at 9am Eastern, 6am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio in iHeartRadio app.

[Kirk Herbstreit]

Paulie Fusco here with Tony Fusco. Yo, as everybody knows, we're the host of the award winning Paulie and Tony Fusco Show. Yeah, but instead of us telling you how great we are, here's how Dan Patrick described us when he came on our show.

[Dan Patrick]

Quick, knowledgeable and funny. Opinionated. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?

[Kirk Herbstreit]

You're interrupting our promo.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, he wasn't talking about you. You took those clips totally out of context. Oh, yeah?

[Kirk Herbstreit]

Well, after this promo, I'm gonna take you out and beat you.

[Dan Patrick]

Let me put this into context. Shut up.

[Kirk Herbstreit]

Yeah.

[Dan Patrick]

Anyway, just listen to the Paulie and.

[Kirk Herbstreit]

Tony Fusco show on iHeartRadio Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Dan Patrick]

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Today, Thursday Night Football is on, and it's only on Prime Video. This week, the AFC north takes center stage as the Pittsburgh Steelers battle the Cincinnati Bengals. Coverage begins at 7pm Eastern with football's best party TNF. Tonight presented by Verizon. Not a Prime member? Not a problem. Simply sign up for a 30 day free trial. It's the Steelers and Bengals Thursday at 7pm Eastern only on Prime Video. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com Amazon prime for details.

[Dan Patrick]

We'll settle on a poll question. Your phone call is always welcome. Operator Tyler sitting by 877-3-DP-SHoVE by the way, the Brewers 862 double play against the Dodgers was the first in major league Baseball postseason history. What a wild, wild play. Kirk Curb Street Herbie was in Eugene, Oregon. Got to see Indiana beat Oregon, rough him up and he also had Oklahoma and Texas and Steelers Bengals. Coming up on Thursday night, college game day in Athens, Ole Miss in Georgia kicking off at 3:30 Eastern on ABC. Herbie, great to see you again. How you doing?

[Kirk Herbstreit]

I'm great, man. How are you doing?

[Dan Patrick]

Great. But I still get frustrated when I watch these young quarterbacks in the NFL and you don't have continuity in the coaching staff or the offensive coordinators and then you send them out and they just kind of run around in circles here. I don't know why owners and GMs haven't learned from this. And Cam Ward's not going to get any better this year where you fire his head coach. So why do they keep making the same mistakes?

[Kirk Herbstreit]

I wish I knew. I mean, I think I just left the game I did last week with Philly and the New York Giants. And there's an example on the opposite end, you know, where Jackson Darts has seemed to kind of figure things out with what Brian Dabel wants to do with with the Giants. So I don't know if we can just throw a blanket over all of it and say that there just aren't any quarterbacks that are figuring out. But I do think the majority of what you're describing and I think it has a lot to do with first of all, I think what's happened in the last 15 years is quarterbacks are advancing at a record Pace off, away from the, the lights and the cameras. As far as training, like if you look at a 10th grade quarterback that's in an elite level today, and you go back to the 90s or the early 2000s, it's night and day with the development of these middle school and high school quarterbacks. And then you eventually take them into college in the NFL. So technically they're incredibly sound. It's almost like in hoops, a guy that just works on a jumper or works on, on individual moves, but he doesn't get a lot of action in an actual pickup games. And then you throw them into pickup games and it's like, whoa, this is different than my training. And I think what's happened is, and I've heard Tom Brady talk about this, how the game has been dumbed down to a certain degree and I agree with that. Doing college for the last 30 years and watching the changes just at that level, forget the NFL. You know, we started to see if you go back to like you're in I era, it was more I formation and, and more traditional what you would think of football. And then Joe Till came around and Rich Rodriguez came around and Chip Kelly came around and all of a sudden we started to see teams go really fast and we're like, what's going on with all this speed? And you see signs on the sideline, just Daffy Duck or Dan Patrick or whatever it might be, whatever the play might be, no one's huddling. So you just keep going down that path that becomes, instead of outliers like Chip and Rich Rodriguez, it becomes the norm. So what's the, what's the downside to that? The downside to that is you don't have quarterbacks anymore that are learning how to run an offense. Getting down on a knee and looking up to 10 guys in their face and calling a play and getting ready to read structures of defenses. What we're doing is kind of smoke and mirrors. In a lot of the college offenses, it's going so fast that the defenses, they're looking over to the sideline, they're not quite lined up. 50 yard touchdown. And you start having these quarterbacks throw for 4,000 yards and everybody thinks this guy's the first pick overall in the draft and is he truly ready? Is he truly more than just potential? You know, when Tom Brady came out, there were those quarterbacks, there was evidence of their play on the field. And you could, as an evaluator, you could, you could kind of see how he fit into your scheme. Now you're kind of guessing, you're kind of thinking, you're looking at his individual ability and you're forecasting how he might fit in to your scheme. So that's why I think we have this. I mean, it's literally first round draft picks, you're rolling the dice and sometimes you hit a Jackson dart and sometimes it's a swing and a miss. And I think that's why we have what we have. But these guys are so desperate to get the guy like a Jackson dart maybe, that they're willing to keep taking those chances, even though the result potentially is them losing their job if they don't get it.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, a friend of mine who's an NFL scout said that, and he's been doing this for a long, long time. He said, these young quarterbacks don't realize that you must throw a receiver open. And if a receiver is open, he won't be open much more than, you know, a second or two. In college you got guys that are open. You got kind of, you know, avenues or alleys I can throw there and, you know, I have to worry about anything. These guys now it's like, damn, wait a minute, I thought you were open. And it's just so quick and, and I don't know how you, you know, that's why Dylan Gabriel got the start in Cleveland over Shador and they, you know, set Joe down south. He at least processes really quick and gets it out really quick. But can you teach or how do you teach getting the ball out quickly, whether it's college or certainly the NFL.

[Kirk Herbstreit]

You just hit the word processing. When Mac Jones came out, and I can't remember all the quarterbacks that came out that year is Trevor and Mack and there were a bunch of guys that came out that year. And I do shows like this and people ask me of all these, I think there's maybe five in the first round that year, which is the guy that you think really has a chance. And I said, Mac Jones. And they said, what about Trevor Lawrence? I mean he's, and Trevor Lawrence a great player and he won national championships at Clemson. And it was nothing. It wasn't not a knock on Trevor. It was just I, I had a chance that year to sit down with all five of these guys and watch film. And I remember sitting down with Mac Jones and remember he's running Sark's offense and Sark had been an offense coordinator for the Falcons and runs in the college game. What's probably closest to the, to the pro game. And my gosh, the command of the offense and, and the way he was like Rain mance on the board trying to tell me all these different things and I was just like, holy cow. And watching film with him, like the way his brain just fired, it just really stuck out to me and I just thought, wow, this dude processes at an elite level now he's not 6 4, he's not going to throw it 80 yards and all that, but man, and when it comes to getting the ball out. So now look at what his career New England with at one point Matt Patricia calling plays and Joe Judge and everything that went on there. And then he goes, he's a backup, ironically to Trevor. And now he's at San Francisco and he's with a coach that really, really relies heavily on that. Here's my system, I'm good. This is quarterback friendly offense. You got to know where to go with the ball. And we want the ball out on time. If you do that, we're going to be fine. And I'm not saying Mac Jones is going to take Brock Birdie's job. I'm just saying processing is the hardest thing I think to predict because you don't see enough evidence of it in college because of the tempo and because of the wide open receivers. You're kind of sitting down, doing talks with them and watching film with them, listening to how they recount different kind of coverages and what kind of adjustments they would make. But it's a trick. Bo Nix is doing a great job with Sean Payton. I mean we can find guys early in their careers are, are doing well, but you know, it's, it's, it's something that more often than not at that position, it takes time and reps and failure to overcome the failure. And I think what Arch Manning is going through right now, I just had his game in Dallas last week. I think the greatest thing is that he's going through this right now. I really do. I think how great. As opposed to Anthony Richardson, the only failure he really met was injuries in Gainesville. And all of a sudden he gets to the NFL and now you gotta. The position is about overcoming failure. And I think Arch Manning, the best thing that's going to happen to him long term is people going from he's the Heisman, he's the best, he's better than Peyton, he's better than Eli. To this dude sucks. This guy's trash. What to go through that and to not point fingers and to just endure that, man, is that going to help him? It sucks to go through It. But, man, is that going to help him long term.

[Dan Patrick]

Talking to Kirk, Herb street, college game day, they were in Eugene, Oregon. Then he went to the Cotton bowl, the Red River Rivalry. Then he's got Thursday night, Steelers, Bengals, and then college game day will be in Athens, Ole Miss, and Georgia kickoff, 3:30 Eastern on ABC. How often have you gotten up in the middle of the night and not sure where you are, what city you're in?

[Kirk Herbstreit]

Happens. Happens quite often. I, I think the hardest thing is, like, you going through my, my schedule there. If you said, where were you last week? That's the hardest thing to know because just, you know, when you do this, it just stacks. Days and weeks just stack on top of each other. So you, you, you kind of get lost on where you've been. And I know where I am right now, and I know where I'm going this week. I know that. But other than that, I don't. I don't know a whole lot.

[Dan Patrick]

I've gotten up in the middle of the night on the road. I think during the NBA Finals, it was Seattle and Chicago and the configuration of the hotel room, it like, I wasn't in Seattle, but I thought I was. Take a.

[Kirk Herbstreit]

You get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, walk into a wall.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. Like white wind. Next thing you know, you're in a closet there. The Penn State situation. Why fire James Franklin now?

[Kirk Herbstreit]

The only thing I can think of without talking to anybody there is, was the locker room completely out where the guys just. They lost to you. First of all, they lost to Oregon when they were still ranked, and everybody thought they're a great team, a great football game that they could have won.

[Dan Patrick]

And that's 16 days ago, Herbie, they're ranked like two or three in the country.

[Kirk Herbstreit]

Yeah. Yeah. And last year, they were a play away from playing in the national title. Everybody always talks about his record against top five or top 10 teams, but when he lost to UCLA, it was, it was clearly nothing against UCLA because they, they're playing so differently right now. But clearly that team was impacted by the disappointment, and they couldn't shake it. Against Oregon. They showed up, they looked at the film. They're like, this UCLA team sucks. They just fired their coach. Whatever. We'll kill them. Boom. Got embarrassed. And I don't know, whatever happened on that flight home and that next week of practice, getting ready for Northwestern, the only thing you can think of is maybe he lost the team. And if you're the AD or you're the decision makers, and they're still looking at maybe trying to salvage this year. By the way, I know Drew Aller's got the injury, but there's enough talent on that roster. If you look at their schedule, they can win a lot of games. But maybe, I don't know this, but maybe the ship was sinking as far as the buy in behind the scenes and maybe the decision makers thought, let's get out of this now. Let's try to salvage this year and let's try to find our next guy. That's the only thing I can think of is why you do it right now.

[Dan Patrick]

How attractive is that job?

[Kirk Herbstreit]

I still think it's a premier job. I, you know, I, they spend money. I mean they are willing. Isn't that sad? That's how you have to look at it. Not tradition and history and what they're capable of doing. Joe Paterno and all the wins and championships. Now it's, are they spending money? And they are, you know, and they will be very attractive now you might be. This day and age, it's different, you know, in the NFL and college because the noise outside of the buildings is so much louder. And with the money, hey, you know, I gave a million dollars. I, I gave what you got all these, these money people now that are helping influence and make decisions that, that, that's a slippery slope, I think when it comes to coaches making a decision on should I go to this school? You know, because I, I need your. I, we're gonna have some tough times. I need you to be in the corner with me. I don'. Throw me out there and let me, you know, be by myself. So I, I like Penn State. It's, it's a great campus, great university, great tradition, great stadium. They're spending money. I think anybody would, would go to Penn State if they got the opportunity. That's just my take.

[Dan Patrick]

We're going to South Bend. We're going to be there Thursday and Friday for us, USC and, and Notre Dame. USC is kind of quiet, which to me if this is 2004, they're ranked in the top five. You know, with a one loss record. They weren't even ranked. And they, they roughed up Michigan there. So what, what do you expect out of USC and Notre Dame's finally playing like we thought they were going to play.

[Kirk Herbstreit]

That's a really good point. You're right. I think what's happened to USC when it comes to AP voters and maybe even the coaches poll is they're, they're kind of one foot in and One foot out. You know, it's been a long time since USC has been a, a relevant top 10 team. And I think more often than not, a program like usc, with its tradition, gets the benefit of the doubt when it comes to preseason rankings. In the last few years with, with Lincoln Riley there, they've not proven to be the team that could adjust to the Big Ten and, and become a perennial power. So people are kind of like, okay, let's wait and see. And I still feel like even though they beat Michigan fairly convincingly, I still feel, okay, okay, okay, let's see how they do with Notre Dame. Let's see what they do at Notre Dame. Then I can say, okay, Lincoln Riley's got him going. That's my take on, on where USC is. And on the other side, Notre Dame go back and look at who they played early in the year with a brand new quarterback, new defensive coordinator. They're just trying to kind of find themselves. I think there's enough ability there for them to run the table. Find this is probably their toughest game they have left Saturday against SC at home. But if they just focus on week to week and not people like me saying they're going to finish 10 and 2, they're going to be in, you know, at large, they're going to the playoff. If they just focus on every week getting ready, which Marcus is as good as there is, then that, that's a team that can do a lot of good things this year and still achieve their goals, even though they were set back their first two games.

[Dan Patrick]

By the way, thank you for having me be ahead of the curve, because I remember in the preseason you said, hey, keep an eye on Indiana's quarterback. Mendoza. And I, it just stayed with me. And then all of a sudden they were putting up points and then they blew out Illinois. And then I was like, hey, Herb street was on this and he's probably the leading candidate for the Heisman right now.

[Kirk Herbstreit]

Probably right now.

[Dan Patrick]

And that Oregon too.

[Kirk Herbstreit]

That's exactly what I was going to say. I mean, Alabama won it. Georgia, Georgia wanted Knoxville, which those, those are huge wins. But I don't think there's a bigger win than what Indiana did. Going to Oregon and playing the way they did, this was not a, hey, Oregon, you know, they lost a game. This was Indiana. Think about the pick six that Mendoza threw and you're thinking, okay, Oregon's not going to win at home, of course, and instead they go on a 12 play drive. That was their response to the pick six. That tells you everything. You need to know about this team and the ability to respond to some adversity in the toughest environment you could be in. And they did it. They scored 10 straight points after that, pick six and deserve all the accolades they're receiving. I was a guy that's kind of been. I think you have to respect what Kurt Signetti has done. But they didn't beat a team with a winning record last year. The two times that they had a chance against winning record teams were Ohio State and Notre Dame, and they lost both those games. I mean, they're still doing a good job, but let's not put them up in the elite category yet. And then they did what they did against Illinois, and then they followed up with the win against Oregon. They deserve all the credit in the world. In fact, this week I have number one in the country or just slightly ahead of Ohio State just because of what they did against Illinois and against Oregon. Yeah. On the road, especially in Oregon, you've.

[Dan Patrick]

Called a lot of games, but your best performance wasn't on a football field. It was with Coach Corso. You should be very proud. You guys, especially you, you.

[Kirk Herbstreit]

Thank you, man.

[Dan Patrick]

You put him in a position to succeed. And having understanding tv. You did a wonderful job.

[Kirk Herbstreit]

Thank you. And I, I appreciate that on our show. It's my 30th year on. On game day. And of course, you were there at ESPN when I first started there, and I didn't know what I was doing. I had no. I. No clue. I watched Lee Corso, you know, he'd have a legal pad out. He would. He would write in black Sharpie, like two or three sentences for his.

[Dan Patrick]

His.

[Kirk Herbstreit]

On camera. He would have a green Sharpie for when he do his. He would do his throw line and they would throw to video. And then he would have, you know, whatever he would say in green and then in blue would go back on a single and he would. So nobody taught me. I. I was watching him, so I thought that's what you're supposed to do. So I, I got a legal pad and I got Sharpies and I tried to do what he did and I could never. I was so terrified of trying to memorize. And he. It was like he was reading a teleprompter because he had practiced it so much. And to go from that to all the, you know, the experiences with him both on and off camera and you know what it's like when you work with people. It's really more the experiences on, off camera that draw you closer and create a Bond. And then that bond kind of carries over on camera. I know you've done it with a bunch of different people, so you know exactly what I'm talking about. And it's almost like an unspoken friendship. And then when he had a stroke, he went from being like the mentor and the coach to me.

[Dan Patrick]

Just.

[Kirk Herbstreit]

We never talked about it. It was just, you know, you're an Ohio guy, I'm Ohio guy. Like, what can I do to help? Kind of thing. And so I just kind of sat there, and if he ever needed a little bit of help, I would help. And if he didn't, he didn't need it. And I would try to do it as subtly as I could, and. And I didn't really realize people were paying attention to it. And I think over time, it just became. Because I'm sitting next to him. If he were sitting next to Des, I bet Des would have done it, but he just happened to be sitting next to me, and. And it was just, you know, two friends hanging out next to each other talking football. And I was really, really happy the way ESPN handled that. Sometimes, you know, big companies, a lot of people, things move on, and they. They really did him right, you know, that special they did. The fact that it was at Ohio State, ironically enough, where he started with the headgear and finished with the headgear, it was. It was a cool, cool, cool experience to be there with.

[Dan Patrick]

And if we don't win the sports Emmy and you guys win it and you include that, I'm be cheering standing up. So I'll be fine with that. I'm not fine with anybody else winning the sports Emmy for, you know, show Herbie, but safe travels as always, and great, great to connect again.

[Kirk Herbstreit]

Great to see you, man, anytime.

[Dan Patrick]

That's Kirk Herbstreak, ESPN college football analyst. They did a wonderful job with Coach Corso because I worried after the stroke. I wanted him to sound good. I wanted him to be in control. And Kirby did a wonderful job. You know, he just kind of guiding. You know, you're. You're filling in the blanks when you need to. It just. It was a delicate, delicate moment each time he was there. And you could tell Herbie was there just in case he slipped or he forgot or whatever it might be. But that was well done. All right, we'll take a break. Play of the day next. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our [e-mail] and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live when it comes to great meat, quality, freshness and care make all the difference. That's the Heartland difference. Heartland Steakhouse. You're getting premium Midwestern meats, hand cut, handpicked and delivered right to your door. Juicy USDA prime and choice beef, all natural pork tender chicken. Heartland Steak Co. Brings that true Midwest flavor right to your table. Perfect for backyard barbecues, weeknight dinners or sending gifts of great taste. They've got you covered. Heartland Steak Co. Choose from grill master packages, freezer filler bundles or holiday gift boxes. Everything flash frozen at peak freshness so it's ready when you are. Right now, you'll get free shipping and $25 off your next order. Promo code DAN25. When you spend $199 or more Heartland Steak Co.com your one stop shop for premium Midwest meats delivered right to your door. Taste the Heartland difference. Heartland Steak Co.com use promo code DAN25.

[TNF Prime Video Announcer]

Today, Thursday Night Football is on, and it's only on Prime Video. This week, the AFC north takes center stage. The Pittsburgh Steelers battle the Cincinnati Bengals. Coverage begins at 7pm Eastern with football's best party, TNF. Tonight presented by Verizon. Not a Prime member? Not a problem. Simply sign up for a 30 day free trial. It's the Steelers and Bengals Thursday at 7pm Eastern only on Prime Video. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com Amazon prime for details.

[Dan Patrick]

Oh, my God. The play of the day. This is the play of the day. Check this out. Buffalo adds another man to the front. They're going to hand to Robinson. Right side through the first wall. Around the corner. Here goes Bijan Robinson.

[Kirk Herbstreit]

Keeps his feet 30, 25, 20, 10, 5.

[Dan Patrick]

Touchdown Atlanta. Oh, my goodness. Yes, indeed. Courtesy of 92.9 the Game Falcons Radio Network. Bijan Robinson, 81 yards to the house. As the kids like to say. Your play of the day is brought to you by Mako. You still driving that trusty old ride? How about you make it look sharp? How about a makeover? How about some fresh paint? They got a paint sale going on. Get a free estimate today. Oh, better get Mako. I blew right by the poll question today. Seaton, what kind of options do we have here? Noticed. I'm sorry. Notice. Sorry. Okay, Larry, just be over here, okay? Doing whatever it is I do. We got a couple of options for you. I had one here most likely to make the playoffs of these three teams. Cowboys, Bears, Vikings, Cowboys, Bears, Vikings. They're all sort of on the cusp right now. Odds wise of maybe, maybe not. Well, for clicks I would say the Cowboys. I don't know what the Vikings have and it feels like Carson wentz. Even when J.J. mcCarthy gets healthy, Carson Wentz may be the quarterback or at least that was sort of the hint that I got yesterday. You know what they have is a tough remaining schedule. The Vikings. The Minnesota Vikings have a very tough schedule. I think moving forward. They still have the Lions twice. They have the Eagles, Chargers, packers twice. Oh, boy. Yeah, yeah, they might defer to Carson Wentz. I, I think I believe in the Bears more than the Bears fans believe in the Bears.

[Kirk Herbstreit]

I could second that.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, I thought they were playoff caliber last year and I still think that they have that potential to be like a nine win team. But they could easily be four and one or one in four. If you look at it honestly, they could be one in four, four and one. But I'm encouraged, I'm encouraged by what I've seen because they're not losing these games. And yes they could have, but they normally would. So I would say the Bears, I think the Giants are a little bit better. The Eagles aren't as good. Washington is. I didn't have them making the playoffs this year, so. But I still think they're really talented roster. So the Cowboys probably are maybe an eight win team. I think the Giants are almost certainly out. Yeah, they're not making the play. No, no, no. But I'm just saying to make the playoffs, who are you going to beat in your own division starting there? And I think the Giants are better than what we thought they were. You know what? Maybe next hour we play Dun Dun. The Dun Dun game. The dun Dun game. Chris in Syracuse. Hi, Chris.

[Caller]

Hey, thanks, Dan. Hey, thanks as always. A couple things for you.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah.

[Caller]

As of this morning, the New England Patriots in first place in the AFC East. Bill Belichick can't catch a break. And you were mentioned yesterday about the pass hole T shirt that you may see a few in South Bend. And I got thinking about the Catholics First Convicts their famous T shirt. And who knows, you may run into a few students wearing a T shirt that will read Mass Goers versus pass holders.

[Dan Patrick]

Thank you, Chris. Turns out that I was way off where I go. Blake Snell want to Cy Young one year and didn't make the all star team. We did some research. Since 1933 there have been 22 players who didn't make an all star team but ended up winning the Cy Young that year. Blake Snell, Robbie Ray, Rick Porcello, Jake Arietta, Corey Kluber, Felix Hernandez, Johan Santana, Pat Henken, Greg Maddox, Doug Drabeck, on and on and on and on and on. Nice try, Dan. All right, we're going to play the Dundun game coming up next hour. Fritzi Seaton, Marv Paulie, yours truly.

[WebMD Health Podcast Announcer]

Back after this, hear insightful, entertaining discussions on today's important health and wellness topics on the Health discovered podcast from WebMD. Through in depth conversations with experts, Health Discovered covers everything from tips for healthier living to the latest on therapy and mental health. My goal is to really destigmatize mental health treatment and looking at it from a whole health perspective, physical health and mental health can be intertwined. Listen to WebMD Health discovered on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Kirk Herbstreit]

This is an iHeart podcast.