Best of The Herd

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Herd with Colin Cowherd – "Best of The Herd" (Released August 4, 2025)

In the "Best of The Herd" episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, host Colin Cowherd teams up with sports analyst Jason McIntyre to delve into a myriad of pressing sports topics. This episode offers a comprehensive exploration of young quarterbacks, team dynamics, coaching philosophies, player holdouts, and cross-sport comparisons, providing listeners with in-depth analysis and engaging discussions.

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1. The Crucial Role of Training Camps for Young Quarterbacks (01:03 – 07:07)

Jason McIntyre opens the discussion by emphasizing the significance of training camps for emerging quarterbacks like Caleb Williams and J.J. McCarthy. He highlights how these formative periods are pivotal not just for player development but also for building trust within the coaching staff.

• Caleb Williams' Struggles: McIntyre references a viral clip where Caleb Williams throws inaccurately at a net, leading to his dismissal from practice. He notes, “Caleb Williams had the most notable. He's thrown at a net. He goes, oh, for three, and the last throw is so bad, he misses the net completely” (03:15).

• Impact on Coaching Decisions: The episode discusses how such performances influence coaching strategies. McIntyre remarks, “When a quarterback is unproven... camp matters more. Not just for the player, for the staff” (05:42).

Colin Cowherd draws an analogy to the culinary world, comparing established quarterbacks to renowned chefs whose reputations aren’t easily swayed by isolated incidents:

“If you're an established quarterback... it's like Gordon Ramsay's restaurant is not dependent on a review from the local newspaper.” (06:30)

This comparison underscores the heightened scrutiny young quarterbacks face and the critical nature of their early career performances.

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2. Detroit Lions' Disastrous Hall of Fame Game Performance (07:07 – 15:08)

Transitioning to team performances, Jason McIntyre critiques the Detroit Lions’ recent Hall of Fame game, citing issues like excessive penalties and turnovers that highlighted deeper organizational problems.

• Game Analysis: McIntyre states, “They were sloppy. Five turnovers, yet didn't create any. And sloppy is coaching and scheme and communication and it's coordinating” (09:25).

• Loss of Key Coordinators: The discussion points out the Lions' loss of top-tier coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, which McIntyre believes contributed heavily to their poor performance:

  “They lost two great coordinators. And did they do a league-wide search to replace them? No. They chose comfort.” (11:50)

• Dan Campbell’s Reaction: Reflecting on the coach’s comments, McIntyre mentions, “Dan Campbell on the loss... we didn’t get any takeaways” (13:10), highlighting the need for the team to regroup and improve.

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3. Coaching Philosophies: Scheme Guys vs. Culture Builders (15:08 – 23:08)

Jason McIntyre and Colin Cowherd explore the contrasting coaching styles within the NFL, distinguishing between "scheme guys" like Andy Reid and Sean Payton, who excel in play-calling, and "culture builders" like Mike Tomlin and Dan Campbell, who prioritize team ethos over tactical schemes.

• Scheme Coaches: McIntyre praises coaches who can iterate through coordinators seamlessly, stating, “Andy Reid, Sean Payton, run through coordinators, doesn’t matter” (18:45).

• Culture Builders: In contrast, he critiques coaches who are heavily dependent on their coordinators, noting, “Guys like Nick Ceriani or Dan Campbell, culture builders... you have to get the coordinators right if you're a scheme guy” (20:30).

Colin Cowherd adds that while culture is paramount, the immediate challenges of new coordinators can expose a team’s vulnerabilities during high-pressure moments like preseason games:

“But it's not a big deal because it just comes as a wake-up call right away, national TV, everyone knows about it” (25:00).

This segment underscores the delicate balance teams must maintain between fostering a strong internal culture and executing effective game strategies.

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4. Player Holdouts: Micah Parsons vs. Terry McLaurin (23:08 – 28:15)

The conversation shifts to the topic of player holdouts, focusing on Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys and Terry McLaurin of the Washington Football Team.

• Differentiating Holdouts: Jason McIntyre explains that not all holdouts are alike. He defends Terry McLaurin’s stance, describing him as “a third-round pick, has wildly outperformed his contract. He’s been a great guy” (26:54), while expressing skepticism about Micah Parsons’ situation.

• Impact on Teams: McIntyre discusses how McLaurin is integral to his team's success, stating, “Terry McLaurin is like everything that you're looking for in... a veteran guy to put with a young guy” (27:15). In contrast, he questions the Cowboys' approach to handling Parsons’ holdout, highlighting organizational challenges under Jerry Jones.

• Colin Cowherd weighs in on the Cowboys' predicament, pondering whether the team should concede to Parsons' demands or pivot towards rebuilding for the future:

  “So, you know, this one's a little bit tricky for me, but the gloves have come off, unfortunately, publicly, so it's gotten a little ugly.” (28:05)

This discussion highlights the complexities teams face when balancing player satisfaction with long-term strategic planning.

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5. Cross-Sport Insights: Luka Doncic and the Indiana Fever (28:15 – 33:20)

Jason McIntyre briefly touches upon NBA matters, specifically focusing on Luka Doncic’s performance and the Indiana Fever's recent winning streak.

• Luka Doncic’s Evolution: McIntyre compares Doncic to legendary players, expressing confidence in his resurgence:

  “He’s much better version of Carmelo Anthony. I don't worry about his game. I think he's going to have an unbelievable season.” (30:50)

• Indiana Fever’s Performance: Highlighting the Fever’s success despite Caitlin Clark’s struggles, McIntyre remarks, “Sophie Cunningham's been on fire hitting threes yesterday. They’re in a five-game winning streak with no Caitlin Clark” (32:00).

Colin Cowherd ties this back to organizational health, suggesting that strong performances in one area can compensate for weaknesses in another:

“It's still a buy as a sports franchise. I felt this way five years ago about the MLS... merch, TV ratings, attendance all up at least a hundred percent.” (33:00)

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6. Final Thoughts and Insights (33:20 – End)

In the concluding segments, Jason McIntyre and Colin Cowherd reflect on the importance of a quarterback's behavior and body language, drawing parallels to past NFL personalities like Jay Cutler. They emphasize that a quarterback’s demeanor can significantly influence team morale and performance:

“Players take cues from the quarterback. His temperament, his body language. It matters to your opponent and it matters maybe just as much to your teammates.” – Colin Cowherd (33:20)

Colin Cowherd reinforces the notion that while individual performances are critical, the overarching team culture and leadership play indispensable roles in a team's success.

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Conclusion

The "Best of The Herd" episode offers listeners a nuanced examination of various facets shaping contemporary sports landscapes. From the developmental trials of young quarterbacks to the strategic intricacies of coaching philosophies, and from the tensions of player holdouts to the dynamic performances across different sports, Colin Cowherd and Jason McIntyre provide a thorough and engaging analysis. This episode serves as a valuable resource for sports enthusiasts seeking deeper insights into the factors influencing team performances and player careers.

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Note: The timestamps referenced in the quotes are approximations based on the provided transcript segments.

Transcript

[Colin Cowherd]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Jason McIntyre]

Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the [e-mail] or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. All right, here we go. Back in the fold and ready to go. We are live. It is the Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening, thanks for making us part of your day. I got a little sun, the hair's a little long. I look a little shaggy today. That's okay. That's just, you know, you're out there. You're out there golfing and having fun and playing with the dogs and the surf. That's life. I feel refreshed and ready to go. And J. Mac, it's I. I tune out when I'm on vacation. I think you do the same thing. We were talking. We both kind of tune out, unplug, hang out with family. But you are seeing now a lot more videos come up with camp. And the story at this time of the year every August is young quarterbacks. So I want to talk about young quarterbacks and the videos that are out there. So we're going to start with that. J. Mac, one hour from now Calling right, calling wrong. Listen, all these videos matter. All of them matter. Good, bad, and the ugly. Caleb Williams had the most notable. He's thrown at a net. He goes, oh, for three, and the last throw is so bad, he misses the net completely. And then he gets kicked off. How do I know this matters? Because they deleted it after a while because it was getting so much play. There's also a story out there where JJ McCarthy's throwing red zone picks and, quote, he's working on his touch because everything's a fastball, which you'd hope guys get figured out, you know, at college. So when a quarterback is unproven, like Caleb WILLIAMS or like J.J. mcCarthy, camp matters more. Not just for the player, for the staff. When you haven't shown your competency, when you haven't shown your aptitude, a player's confidence. I mean, you can see on that net video that was in Caleb's head. And the coaching staff, there's a story that J.J. mcCarthy is struggling in the red zone with picks. Well, Kevin o' Connell is watching that and thinking to himself, okay, this is practice. Can I call stuff during games on the road, he can't hear. I mean, the advantage to having a Josh Allen or a Lamar Jackson or a Patrick Mahomes or a Joe Burrow, you can use the whole playbook all over the field. All over the field. You start throwing red zone picks in practice, you're closing parts of the playbook. And for an offensive coach like a Kevin o' Connell or a Ben Johnson, they don't want to close any of the playbook. I saw a story this weekend where Joe Burrow actually saw the video of this. So they got Noah Fant, a tight end from Denver. They got Noah Fant and Burrow first, second practice with him, up and down the field in practice, of course, it's Joe Burrow. So that just tells Zach Taylor a couple practices with no offense, we'll throw to him at any point, anywhere. Trailing, leading, red zone. It doesn't matter. All this stuff matters. What's a little nugget in one camp can be a code red in another. And by the way, you can tell when a coach isn't totally happy because they get a little defensive, like Kevin o' Connell at one point in a press conference, looked to the ceiling and went, the sky is not falling. He had the quip ready. Meanwhile, last year in camp, the effusive praise for Jaden Daniels. We said on the air, we're like, I've never heard anything like this. It mattered What Dan Quinn was seeing last year in camp, he couldn't get his eyes off it. They couldn't believe it. So all this stuff matters. Look at it this way. If you're an established quarterback, let's say you're Gordon Ramsay and you build restaurants, it doesn't matter what the reviewer Sundays. You've got 20 years of success and aptitude and competency. Gordon Ramsay's new restaurant is not dependent on a review from the local newspaper. Okay, you're a new chef, you have new investors. They're not quite sure. They don't love the feng shui of the restaurant. The food better be really damn good, and you better get a good write up in the Chicago trip or the LA Times. That can ruin a young restaurant or a young chef. That stuff matters. And that's how I look at quarterbacks. So Caleb Williams, he struggled in college. We're starting to get a drip, drip, drip with Caleb Williams. So he struggled in college. And I said this, I loved him. A little bit of hero ball. Could be a little moody. Accuracy. Two GMs told me, little worried about it, Think they'll clean it up. Then he goes, last year, oh, little hero ball. Lot of accuracy issues. Now we go to otas and camp. Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip. More accuracy issues. Now we've got video. So all of this stuff matters. And it matters more for young, unproven chefs, artists, quarterbacks. It's not just your confidence, it's your staff's confidence with you. You can be a cornerback. Can I put him on an island against a boundary receiver? Hey, this kid's not quite as twitchy as we thought. He doesn't play at corner with as much confidence. Okay, we. We better go zone. We better roll over. Help. It does matter because the expectations with a first round player in year two, Caleb at any position is okay now. He's got to be elite. I've said this. You get about five starts. I want good real fast. Here's Caleb.

[Colin Cowherd]

I take pride in, you know, trying.

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To retain it all, every single detail that we have.

[Colin Cowherd]

And I think that's where, you know, I've been growing so far since Ben's.

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Been here, is retaining all the information.

[Colin Cowherd]

All of it makes sense to me and, you know, been able to go out there and execute.

[Jason McIntyre]

Okay, so I also want to talk about. We're going to stay on this theme that everything matters a little. So I know it's the hall of Fame game, the Chargers just barrel roll the Detroit Lions, but when you watch that game, it wasn't just that the Lions lost. Everything's something, nothing's everything. They were sloppy. Five turnovers, yet didn't create any. And sloppy is coaching and scheme and communication and it's coordinating. And what did the Lions do? They didn't just lose two coordinators, they lost the talk of the league at offensive coordinator Ben Johnson of the Bears and Aaron Glenn, who somehow got the Lions to a top 10 total defense despite the fact it was with band aids, Bondo, smoke and mirrors, because everybody was hurt. So he lost. They lost two great coordinators. And did they do a league wide search to replace them? No. One guy on staff elevated him. Another guy formerly on staff, they went and got him. They chose comfort. That's what they chose, comfort. Over the top candidate they talked themselves into. Well, this guy knows who we are, this guy understands who we are. And that's why I said to me, the Lions never forget Philadelphia. And this is where Nick Ceriani and Dan Campbell and the Eagles and the Lions are very similar here. So the Eagles and the Lions, arguably best two rosters in the nfc. And Sirianni and Campbell are very coordinator dependent. They're not scheme guys like McVeigh or Reed or Shanahan. They're not. They're not. Or Sean Payton. They're not scheme guys. So Sirianni went from being in a Super bowl, hired the wrong coordinators. Next year, at the end of the year, the Eagles roster lost six of seven and it was at that point the first or second best roster in the NFL. Now it's the best along with Baltimore. So again with a Sean McVay, he loses coordinators annually. Doesn't matter. He's a scheme guy. Andy Reid, Sean Payton, run through coordinators, doesn't matter. But a guy like Mike Tomlin or a Pete Carroll, who are culture builders, Guys like Nick Ceriani or Dan Campbell, culture builders. You pick the wrong coordinator, you get in trouble. And I've told buddies this for years. Jon Stewart, David Letterman and Bill Maher were stand up comedians. They're unbelievable. Years and years, decades on their feet in clubs. When they host a show, they're not as dependent on great writing. They're better with it, but they can ad lib their way to funny. A Jimmy Kimmel or a Stephen Colbert didn't have long standup careers. They got to their hosting spot different ways. Very, very competent guys, but different ways. They're probably going to be more dependent on a lead writer being really good. Right? That's the same way I look at scheme coaches. Andy Reid Kyle Shanahan, Sean Payton, Sean McVeigh, it doesn't matter. It just. They can just run through coordinators. But a lot of these guys are kind of CEO culture builders. And not all culture builders are bad coaches. I mean, Jimmie Johnson was. His greatest strength was personnel and building a staff. There's nothing wrong with that, but you got to get the coordinators right if you're a scheme guy. So I'm just saying, I don't question the Lions gm, the roster, Penne Sewell, Omaron St. Brown, Aiden Hutchinson. But when I watch that opening act, eight penalties, five turnovers, they look disorganized. Here's Dan Campbell on the loss. First one out of the gate. You know, we the. The story of the game is returned it over five times and. And then we didn't get any takeaways. So that's. That's hard, you know, just from that standpoint, when you put your defense in that kind of position, that's. That's tough. And offensively, like we said, it's hard to get in a rhythm when you turn a ball over like that. We're excited to watch some of these guys see how they did. Grade the tape, learn from it, grow from it. That's what it's about. Yeah, I'll grade the tape. Let's start with a D minus and work our way from there. That was bad. That looked out of sorts. Discombobulated. So all this stuff, all these videos. I looked at the Caleb video, remember? I think Caleb's great, but I also don't think he's Andrew Luck. I don't think he's guaranteed I. There's some footwork stuff that's totally valid. There's some hero ball stuff and moodiness. Those are very fair critiques. Andrew Luck didn't have any of those issues. And by the way, either did John Elway. Andrew Luck and John Elway, in my lifetime are the two can't Mrs. Peyton Manning, by the way. I watched him in college. Nervous feet, didn't have a huge arm, didn't throw the prettiest ball. Really intense. The volunteers want a natty after he left, right? Like, like. So there were questions about Peyton Manning. Nobody questioned his robotic brain. He was AI pre AI like he was doing stuff at the line of scrimmage. Nobody else was. But Caleb comes with some questions and they haven't been answered yet. So it's okay to look at video. That net video is something his reaction. That was a. When anytime people have concerns about you and you validate them, his accuracy and moodiness both on that tape, both on that. It's a little too angry, throwing it a net. Like it's a little over the top. So it's just something J. Mac I hope you had a great vacation. Colin Right. Colin wrong. In 45 minutes from now, you were with a fam in an undisclosed location. The other thing, you know, I'm watching all this stuff so I have a take on this. The Micah there's two holdouts right now in the NFL. The Micah Parsons thing in Dallas and the Terry McLaurin issue in Washington. And I'm just going to say not all holdouts are the same. One I'll totally defend and one I will not. And I'll talk about that next. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the hey, we're Covino and Rich, Fox Sports radio every day 5 to 7pm Eastern. But here's the thing. We never have enough time to get to everything we want to get to. And that's why we have a brand new podcast called Over Promised. You see, we're having so much fun in our two hour show. We never get to everything honestly, because this guy is over promising things we never have time for. Yeah, you blubber lips blaming me. Well, you know what it's called? Over Promise. You should be good at it because you've been over promising women for years. Well, it's a Covino and Rich after show and we want you to be a part of it. We're going to be talking sports, of course, but we're also going to talk life and relationships. And if Rich and I are arguing about something or we didn't have enough time, it will continue on our after show called Over Promised. Well, if you don't get enough Covino and Rich, make sure you check out Over Promised and also uncensored, by the way, so maybe we'll go at it even a little harder. It's going to be the best after show podcast of all time. There you go, Overpromising. And remember, you could see it on YouTube, but definitely. Join Us Listen to Over Promised with Covino and rich on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Jason McIntyre]

All right, Colin right. Colin wrong on Monday. Here we go. Where Colin was right. Jerry Jones once again has mangled a contract situation. I said this a couple years ago with Jerry. The Cowboys are starting to feel like the Raiders when Al Davis aged. Al lost his fastball, I think. I think Jerry has lost his fastball and has too much power in the organization. The old saying, all hat, no cattle. Jerry tells us he's a great businessman, but he keeps getting taken to the cleaners by players and Micah. Now what are you going to do? Trade him? Now what are you going to do? You could have traded him last year and gotten multiple players that could help you now in the NFC as it strengthens as a conference. I don't like where Dallas is headed and it's all on Jerry. Where Colin was wrong. Well, Jimmy, I don't know if I believe him, but Jimmy Haslam says the Shadow Sanders draft pick, hey, I didn't do that. That was all on Andrew Barry. And to that I would say, why would you draft when you had Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco? Why would you draft two more quarterbacks in the third and fifth round? I don't get it. But at least Jimmy Haslam is saying the right things publicly, which is, hey, I didn't have two anything to do with a draft pick where Colin was right. Well, I won't beat on it too much more. But Tyree Kill said last week that one of the Dolphins running backs shouldn't be a short yardage tailback. On Sunday, Mike McDaniel said, yeah, he isn't. We worked on that. So there there appears to be a gap this offseason between Tyreek and Tua, Tyreek and the team and Tyreek and Mike McDaniels. And we've always said a lot more sizzle than actual state with that acquisition. Where Colin was right. J.J. mcCarthy, according to Kevin Seifert, respected reporter at ESPN. Accuracy a bit of an issue in the red zone. Jeremy Fowler, another respected reporter, saying they're having to work a lot on touch. Everything is a fastball. I don't know how good JJ McCarthy is, but I never bought into the narrative that multiple teams were going to move up in the draft to get him. I've heard the opposite is that there were real concerns that JJ McCarthy had been led by a great coach, a great defense, a great run game in college and never really had to lead inferior talent, which is what happens in the NFL if you're a lottery quarterback. Where Colin was wrong. Yeah, I may have to temper my Tennessee Titan predictions. They just got rid of their first round receiver a couple years ago. Traylon Burks, apparently. Cam Ward, last couple of practices, four picks. Cam Ward admits we're really right now. Very mid is what he called his offense between Tyler Lockett, Calvin Ridley and Van Jefferson. Now no berks. It's arguably the weakest receiving core in the NFL. I do get two more revisions on my NFL predictions. So I I may have to scale back on the Titans where Colin was right. Luka Dontich, men's health in the best shape of his career. This is what I've said about Luca. Defense and being in great shape are all about wanting to do you want to be a great defender? Do you want to be in great shape? When did Luca get in the best shape of his career? His first year as a rookie when he wanted to impress. And now the Lakers have new owners. This is why I've said he's a much better version of Carmelo Anthony. I don't worry about his game. I think he's going to have an unbelievable season. Does he have the want LeBron, Kobe, Michael, they were great defenders because they wanted to be great defenders. So he breaks into the NBA, we're like wow, this guy's amazing. And increasingly gets in worse shape. Lakers have new owners, he has an off season now. Once again, he's in unbelievable Shape where Colin was wrong, the Indiana Fever are on a heater. All of it without Caitlin Clark. Gotta be honest, she is a great player. But Sophie Cunningham's been on fire hitting threes yesterday. They're in a five game winning streak with no Caitlin Clark. So in fact, Caitlin this year, between injuries and struggling, has not been Caitlin Clark. And Indiana still has the fifth best record in the league where Colin was right. What do you know? The Celtics minority owner is buying the Connecticut sun for $325 million. I had said this two weeks ago. Yes, merch up a thousand percent. TV ratings, attendance, this league and it's got issues like it's officiating, like its inability to handle Caitlin Clark. Well, but is it a buy as a stock? Absolutely. I don't care about the last 25 years. Merch. TV ratings, attendance all up at least a hundred percent. It's absolutely a buy as a sports franchise. I felt this way five years ago about the mls. I feel that now and so do one of the Boston Celtics minority owners. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. Colin right? Colin wrong on a Monday. And with that, Matt Hasselbeck, 18 years, three pro ball, stopping by our show. All right. You know, I said earlier, whenever your issues in college, I can see them in the pros, I'm a little concerned. So I thought the questions about Caleb Williams were little hero ball accuracy could be a little dicey and moody. So when I see a video of him freaking out, I see temper, I see accuracy issues. I know I'm supposed to say it's, yeah, it's just camp, it's just thrown into a net. But those are some of the things GMs told me they were concerned about. So it's like, oh, I'm seeing that now in the pros. Should I be a little concerned about that net video? Matt Hasselbeck?

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, it's year two, Colin. Listen, year one, rookie year, you chalk some of those things up to a rookie situation. Year two, you know, training camp, I think we make a little bit of a huge deal out of certain things. Sometimes things are fun, sometimes things are pouty. You don't know the whole story. But in general, last year to this year, you've even heard Ben Johnson talk about it. Body language at the quarterback position matters. It matters to your opponent and it matters maybe just as much to your teammates. And so the camera's always going to be on him. Like, the microscope's always going to be on him. A lot of people made a lot of excuses for him last year. I think the excuses are out the window. The focus is going to be on him. And, you know, like I've said many times, you know, your. Your teammates get confidence or insecurity by how you carry yourself as a franchise quarterback.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah, no, you've. You've been on that from day one. So I said this. There are coaches in the league, and you've probably had these. Maybe Mike Holmgren was one of these where you get a great scheme coach, that he's a head coach, but if you put him on the headset, he'd call a great game. And then there are coaches that. Mike Tomlin's a culture builder. I would say Dan Campbell, Nick Sirianni, they build cultures. There is nothing wrong with that. But they are more dependent on coordinators than, say, a Sean McVeigh or a Sean Payton or maybe, again, maybe Holmgren was that. Andy Reid's a guy. It doesn't matter who his coordinator is. Offensively, they're fine. Detroit loses two coordinators, including Ben Johnson, who was kind of regarded as the hot coordinator in the market. I know it's the hall of Fame game. They were a mess. I mean, eight penalties, five turnover. They look disorganized. How do I not look at that and go, that's not great? I watched Philadelphia miss on coordinators and lose six or seven games off a Super bowl year. Do I take anything off that abysmal hall of Fame game performance?

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, you touch on a bunch of things there. Listen, culture is super important. And just because you're a good play caller doesn't mean you're going to be a head coach. But I think what you're talking about is new coordinators, two new coordinators, and that's a lot of change. It's a bigger deal than people realize in terms of the preseason game. Listen, it's a big deal because. But it's not. It's a big deal because we got to get those things fixed. But it's not a big deal because it just comes as a wake up call right away, national tv, everyone knows about it. And then you come together as a staff. You know, last year I think there were eight new head coaches. Two of them made the playoffs. Some of those guys got the stuff figured out. You know, I was actually there for the Seahawks first preseason game. It's crazy. New head coach, new coordinators. It's crazy. The things that you don't get to Cover in a training camp situation until you get into a game situation. Where are we doing halftime adjustments? Who's going first? Where are we going to stand on the sidelines? Who's on what headset? There's two lines on the headset. Are you on line A, Are you on line B? So some of those kinks got to get worked out in the preseason. That's kind of what the preseason is for. But. But, yeah, I would say they got a little bit exposed right there. It doesn't mean they can't figure it out, though.

[Jason McIntyre]

Okay. I said not all holdouts are the same. Terry McClure is a third round pick, has wildly outperformed his contract. He's been a great guy. He's been crazy productive until last year with bad quarterback play. I would pay him tomorrow. Especially when you brought Debo. I'd pay him tomorrow. Micah, first round pick, been a Pro Bowler, been excellent. But that's why you picked him 12th. He's got a year left in his contract. I don't think he's been underpaid. I think he's been paid appropriately. On these two holdouts, do you see him as a former player as just the same thing, or are there different? And I also think it's an offensive league. I'd be more prone to pay the offensive guy. How do you view McLaurin and Micah's holdouts?

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, McLaren's tricky because he's so important, I think, to Jaden Daniels success. I mean, Jaden Daniels was just incredible last year. I'm such a huge fan. He was awesome. And Terry McLaurin is like everything that you're looking for in, you know, with a veteran guy to put with a young guy. And I think they could have a lot of success, you know. You know, in the near future, like years one, two, three, like, we could be a contender every year. They are a contender. They can compete with Philly. What's unique about Dallas, again, another great player. Teammates love him. You know what? He's exactly what you're looking for. Dallas, like, they're not going to win their division. They doubt they're even second place in their division. And now you've got a real public. It just feels different in Dallas. So I'm very curious. You know, the Cowboys scene, Jerry Jones seems to, like, be fine with this kind of conflict, fine with this kind of drama, but he also doesn't seem like the kind of owner that wants to get, like, pushed around publicly. So, you know, there's a part of me that says, hey, this is Micah Parsons. Figure it out. Close the door. Include the. Include the agent. Then there's another part of me that says, hey, why don't you just punt on this year anyway? Go out and get like, the most amazing draft package for next year and really start focusing this team on next year, because I really don't know that you can compete with Philly and that you can compete really with Washington and then the rest of the nfc. So, you know, this one's a little bit tricky for me, but the gloves have come off, unfortunately, publicly, so it's gotten a little ugly.

[Jason McIntyre]

So I was talking. I was golfing a couple days ago, and I was joking with somebody. I said, whenever I hit the ball great on the range, I know I'm in trouble. And so it's like I never have any sense of how I'm going to hit going into a round based on practice or the range in the preseason. What is something in your 18, 19 years, Matt, that carried over? Like, if you did it well in preseason, it did carry over. And are there things that you thought you had mastered in preseason and it meant nothing by the opening kickoff?

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, you're absolutely right, Colin. I think run game, you know, I look at the Baltimore Ravens, I think they're a great preseason team. Part of that is they're great at the run game. That that's a commitment that they have. They've got a great culture when it comes to that. They know how things. But, you know, to your point, there were teams that we would play in the preseason. I'll use the Chicago Bears when they were great with, like, Brian Urlacher and those guys. They're a zone team. You know, it really didn't matter who the defensive coordinator was calling for. They were a zone team. But in the preseason, they would play so much man coverage because their scouts wanted to get a look at, hey, what kind of guys do we have in the secondary? Like, we're not going to call a lot of man coverage in the season, but we are on purpose doing something that puts our team at a disadvantage. We need to know who can play man occasionally when we want to bring a blitz and stuff like that. So there's not a lot of scheming up. And, you know, there's. There's not always calling what you're best at. Sometimes you're even setting up your week one opponent. But those are two examples of things that I think can be a little bit of fool's gold if you're trying to evaluate what a team's Going to be when you just watch them in the preseason.

[Jason McIntyre]

Now that's interesting. Finally I want you to tell me the difference. I always feel that a quarterback under center when he goes back gets to watch the defense. When it's a shotgun, you have to watch the ball and you lose that half a second of watching your safeties react. So Sean Payton would like Bo Nix to be under center more is than than last year. You tell me is that something you can elevate to quickly is there or for a guy that in, you know, maybe Bo and Auburn in Oregon has taken. He's taken the shotgun snaps. Tell me the transition, how much that matters for a young quarterback like Bo Nix?

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, it's a real thing and I trust Sean Payton wholeheartedly. I think Bo Nicks can do a great job. I think that's a team I would buy right now. I mean, I love that. Listen, Bill Walsh, Joe Montana, they love to be under center. Almost never were they in shotgun. I actually believe it was. I forget the years maybe like 05 maybe for us in Seattle 2005 when we finally put the shotgun in, we got exposed obviously or ironically against the Chicago Bears. Erlocker Briggs in the A gap and we had no choice but to go shotgun. But it is a huge advantage for the quarterback at the snap with your hands already on the ball and then your eyes on the free safety. Your eyes on the free safety tell you so much. But just like you said, if you're in shotgun and your eyes have to go down to catch the ball first, you don't get that split second advantage of having your eyes on the, on the secondary. Never mind the fact the run, the run keys that you're not giving away when you're running back and shotgun is offset to the right or to the left. So Sean Payton knows what he's talking about and and he sees an opportunity. If he can get his young quarterback to get comfortable under center the way that he did with Drew Brees, then he thinks that his offense even take a bigger step with run game play action to the run and then using their tight end, a guy like Evan Ingram, that could be huge for them this year.

[Jason McIntyre]

By the way, it does appear that you're on a coaching staff. The shirt looks very official. Are you the head coach or the offensive coordinator now?

[Colin Cowherd]

My younger brother's the head coach, which is an interesting dynamic. I'm just the offensive coordinator. Today is picture day. They said they might wait for me for the team photo depending on when this hit with you is over.

[Jason McIntyre]

If not.

[Colin Cowherd]

Not, they said it's 20, 25. They can just kind of, like, superimpose me in a picture. We used to do that when Paul Allen was the owner of the Seahawks. He would never come back from, you know, vacation or whatever. We just would, like, superimpose him into the team photo, so I know it can be done.

[Jason McIntyre]

There's only one Matt Hasselbeck. Wait for the photo, guys. Great seeing you.

[Colin Cowherd]

See you call him.

[Jason McIntyre]

All right. No, it. It's the end. The. I think one of the. One of the things he said that, which I've touched on, is that if you struggle, players take cues from the quarterback. His temperament, his body language. I used to be very critical of Jay Cutler. I thought he had horrible body language. He'd go stand by himself. He'd sit there, and he'd get moody. I'm like, bro, that's. That's not it. You got to be with the fellas. You got. And there's another quarterback that does that currently in the NFL. He's an older guy playing in Pittsburgh. I'm just not a fan of that. I want you part of the group. So it's something. Body language is clearly something.

[Colin Cowherd]

This is an I Heart podcast.