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- [00:00]
Colin Cowherd
With Amex, there's always a new experience to explore. From curating the perfect vacation and chilling in the Centurion Lounge before you get there trying out that new trendy restaurant. Thanks to Priority Notify with global dining, access by Resy and getting straight to the action at the big game. With Card member entrances at select venues with Amex Platinum, you can experience it all. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply. Access to the Card member entrance not limited to the American Express Platinum card. Learn more@americanexpress.com with AmEx look around.
- [00:31]
Doug Gottlieb
Every car you see is probably on Autotrader. Like that sleek convertible that turned heads when it picked you up from the airport. Or the custom ride from your favorite van. Life couple on social media. Even that vintage sports car that's tailing you a little too closely. New cars, used cars, electric cars, even flying cars. Okay, no flying cars yet, but as soon as those get invented, they'll be on Auto Trader. If you see a car you like, it's probably on Autotrader. That's kind of their thing. Autotrader Wasabi Technologies is purpose built to free businesses from skyrocketing storage costs and unpredictable egress fees from those old and top heavy legacy providers. You know the big guys. Wasabi is the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams around the world. From Wasabis to AI enabled intelligent media storage, Wasabi Air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cyber criminals. Wasabi is driving innovation in data storage. All for up to 80% less than the other guys. Triumph for free@wasabi.com Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage Proud partner of the volume podcast network, Virgin Voyages isn't your average cruise. It's a masterclass in luxury all in voyage. Pricing includes over $1,000 in value, Wi, Fi, tips, entertainment, even specialty dining. No hidden fees, no surprises. The cabins are next level private terraces, virgin red hammocks, unbeatable sea views. Add in the adults only factor. No kids. That's right, just relaxation. It's no surprise they're award winning. And the destinations? Caribbean this winter, Iceland, North America and the Mediterranean in 2025 and 2026. Virgin Voyages is where luxury meets travel. Book it and see what you've been missing. Learn more@virginvoyages.com or contact your travel advisor. Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports radio at noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd@foxsportsradio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
- [02:56]
Ryan Music
Now, let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. What up? Welcome in. This is the Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be making it as part of your day. Thanks so much. I'm Doug Gottlieb in for Colin Cowherd on an absolutely spectacular Friday in Southern California. Absolutely spectacular Friday in Southern California. Welcome in. Had a great time hosting with the boys, being back in town for a couple of days. Full disclosure, I had a full day yesterday. Full day yesterday. I don't know if I shared this with you, Greg and Ryan and Brian part of the production crew. So yesterday's show, and then it's my work. It's like our celebration week for my son's 16th birthday. So we have a. We normally do it when we lived in Southern California on the Jewish holidays because he went to a small private school and we'd go to Six Flags during, you know, one of the high holidays and ride all the roller coasters and just have a great time. We did it yesterday instead. And then all the while, right, you got your, your cell phones handy. We're watching the March Madness games, then the drive home. We're watching Kansas and Arkansas. And then you watch all the games at the end as well. Right? Great thing about west coast time is they were all wrapped up and you're, you're good. You're like, okay, I saw Michigan hold off UC San Diego and shut it down. Go to bed. Wake up this morning. Oh, yeah, by the way, we'll get to Bronny James. His best off a pro in the NBA last night. Full day. Full day. It's a good day. Good day. But I was, we were watching Arkansas and Kansas and I got, I got a text from a friend who was like, ah, Bill Self. Bill Self. This thing might have passed him by. And I was, I was, I don't know if I was laughing or crying on the, on the inside at that text. So you mean to tell me that a coach who just four years ago won a national championship and had a run of, what was it, 12 consecutive Big 12 titles, the game has passed him by after signing a new contract with the Jayhawks over the offseason, or there's a different way to look at it. Look, it was a, it wasn't a well played game. It was an ugly game. Self lost one of his best players to what appears to be an Achilles injury. But I was watching Kansas play and I was identifying, you know, their players and what was going right, what was going wrong. And like, look, I make no mistake about it. I have a ton to learn. Anybody can learn watching the best of the best of the best. You know, they mix and match with a two, three zone, there's a little triangle and two. It really confused Arkansas. And Arkansas just survived, really was because Kansas just turned the ball over so much. And the things that when you games or lose, you games are, you know, turnovers, basically, defense, turnovers and rebounding. And look at that game. And in Kansas had 16 turnovers, had one less offensive rebound and. And only shot out, shot them from the free throw line. But, you know, Arkansas took 65 shots, they took 58, and they lose the game by seven points. KJ Adams hurts his Achilles tendon. But then I was, I was, I was watching their lineups and I was like, okay. Hunter Dickinson played four years at Michigan. Zeke Mayo just transferred in from South Dakota State. Rylan Griffin transferred in from Alabama. AJ Storr, who probably plays best game as a Jayhawk last night, he transfers in from Wisconsin. David Coit had transferred in from Northern Illinois and didn't stun me. But there was an aha moment, right? And obviously John Calperi's in his first year at Arkansas, and his, his team will look wildly different next year as he brought over several players, kept a couple from Arkansas last year, and then brought over players, you know, John L. Davis, who was at Florida Atlantic, D.J. wagner, who was one of the players that came over along with Big Z from Kentucky. And I thought to myself, hold on, this is a different sport than the one both of these two men have coached in before. I actually think Bill Self is like the perfect example. The guy's the best of the best of the best. And you could say the same thing, honestly, about John Calipari. Different ways of doing the same thing and same thing meaning being a Hall of Fame coach. Both are in the hall of Fame, both have won national titles, and Bill's won two of them. Two of them. And you look at how they went about their business, right? John Calipari, you know, evolved from what he was at UMass, then the NBA. And of course, when he was at Kentucky, it was one and dones. And he would go and hand pick the best five freshmen that he could get. And more often than not, it would hit. And whether they got to the final Four or one year, one national championship, or were constantly competitive at the very top of the sport, he became the signature of the one and done era. Now, truth be told that even when they won the national championship, one of the. One of the strengths of that team was some of the veteran players. But he picked off the top of the deck. Bill Self a little bit different at Kansas, right? They had guys that you would call program guys, guys that improved over time. A Darnell Robinson, for example, would start their career at one thing and play four or five years and evolve, become really good, all Big 12 caliber players. And he would sprinkle in one or maybe two one and dones and then have a couple that were pros and maybe take one transfer. And again, I don't think that it's just Covid or just nil or just the transfer portal or just the fact that it's not just the transfer portal. The fact you can transfer without repercussion, transfer and not sit out. But those three things have changed their business dramatically. And it's hard to adjust. Hard to adjust. My mom is, let's just say she's in her late 70s and we go out to dinner the other night and she's had a problem with her phone. She hands it to my son, she's like, I've had this problem for a month. It won't do something. My son presses two buttons, problem solved. Because he grew up, frankly, too much with a phone in his hand. My mom still has a landline. How many of you have a landline? And the point is that here's the things that have changed. It started with the G League Ignite, where players could go straight to the G league for a year, get paid, and then go presumably to the NBA. Did it all work out great? Did a bunch of guys go? No, but it was a couple a year. Then there was overtime elite, which has since expanded. But did it all was. Did it take 20, 30 guys? No, but there were two or three that mattered. A couple of went to Australia. One a year maybe would go to Australia. And for John Calipari, the pool and frankly for Bill Self, the pool of those one and dones on a given year that can really impact a program was between 5 and 15 and 15 is probably too much. Really. It's 2 or 3 and 10. And when you take just a couple of them out there out of it, and then you factor in that, you know, one would go to ote, one would go overseas, one or two would go the G League night. Now all of a sudden that pool started to shrink. Then you factor in that there are players, Kevin Durant, D'Angelo Russell are perfect examples of guys that, you know, could have gone to Kentucky and been a part of that one and done era, but instead chose to have their own path. And you're fighting Duke for these one and dones. And now all of a sudden, instead of getting the best five players in the country, you might get one of the five best or one. And then you strike up a lean year and it's hard. Then you go to Covid. And how did Covid affect college basketball, by the way? Bill Self had a team that during COVID could have won a national championship. They were dominant. Covid canceled that tournament. But if you go to Covid, that extended to where now you're playing against guys that have a Covid year. I don't know how many people are listening to the Herd know this, but if you not only do you have a Covid year, that given that's the super seniors you're seeing play college basketball this year, fifth and sixth year seniors, sometimes seventh years. But now there's a recent ruling that if you play junior college basketball or NAIA basketball during any of those last four years, this is after the COVID year, that year doesn't count and you get another year. So I don't care how good you are, with the exception maybe of Cooper Flagg, like he's a unicorn. He's a generational player. Outside of that, all of these other freshmen, you're 18, 19. And look, a lot of freshmen are 20 years old. A lot of seniors are 23, 24, 25 years old. Steven Ashworth is played. They Creighton beat Louisville last night. Now again, part of it is he's a Mormon. He went on a mission. But part of it is he also existed during the COVID year. He's 25 years old with a wife and a kid playing college basketball. So if you're somebody who's always played freshman, what am I gonna. This is a completely different landscape, a completely different sport. Then post Covid, you have the transfer portal and no. And you can transfer without ramification. You don't have to sit out. So everything you built in terms of your culture, and that's what Kansas always built on their culture. Come in. You're part of KU's program. They've had transfers before, but they've never played four transfers at once. And again, it doesn't mean that transfers bad. I was a transfer and I didn't sit out at my school. I went sat out at a junior college. But when you have a team full of them and that's not how you've always coached. And coaching a transfer that's played multiple years at another school. That's. Here's the easiest analogy I can give you. Go over to a. Get ready to watch the games today. Go over to a buddy's house, have him hand you the remote and say, how about it? And you're a Spectrum guy, and he's got DirecTV. And you're like, whoa, wait, what? He's got Sonos and DirecTV, and he's got one universal remote. And you would look at that thing, and it's not your same universal remote you got. That's what it's like to coach. Somebody who's. Who's played college basketball has succeeded in college basketball at a different level, a different school. David Coit was at Northern Illinois and a star. Zeke Mayo was a star at South Dakota State. But now you have to completely change roles and you played for somebody else, and there's different verbiage and different ways of doing things. And again, you have a coach who's used to coaching people a certain way, and now he's coaching you that same way, only you've been coached and programmed by somebody else. And then you factor in nil into the whole thing where, if we're honest with ourselves, there were schools that were compensating student athletes above that of your normal Grant Nate room, board, tuition and fees. Now everybody can. So everybody can go and find players and pay them to stay or pay them to transfer, or you can go get an overseas player who's older experience, played professional basketball and can go and compete against your college player. I don't know if you want to use this, if this is an appropriate analogy, but Monday I took my son to see Black Bag. Black Bag is a new Stephen Sodenheim movie. And Black Bag, by the way, if you like short movies, it's like 80, 85 minutes long. It's great, and it's really good. We're sitting in the movie theater. It's like a private showing. It's me and my son, nobody else. And I'm thinking to myself, this is a. It was a really good movie. It was short. It was interesting. It's kind of a spy flick. It's. It's. It's good. I would Rotten Tomatoes. It was like in the 90. Like 97% in Rotten Tomatoes. But who goes to movies anymore? Here's a guy who's made some of the best, most clever movies in the last 25 years, and I have no idea what it made opening box. And of course it opens in March, which means they didn't think that it was going to do do huge numbers. But I guarantee you've seen Landman more than you've ever heard of Black back right, because the same people that are making the same shows in the same movies, they're getting left behind because their business, their industry has changed. And whether it's changed because of COVID or changed because of our viewing habits, which were only sped up by Covid, whatever it is, it's a different sport than it ever used to be. I'm watching John Calipari come from behind and take down Kansas, two Hall of Fame coaches, two well invested programs and two guys who are coaching similarly, if not the same to how they've always coached. And it has worked and it will work. But the business of the sport has changed. Yes, Arkansas won. Yes, Kansas's mix it just I don't know what happened within the chemistry of that squad that caused them to look so dysfunctional, but the game has passed anybody by. It's just changed so quickly that you have to I don't level up or level over or otherwise. You're leveling home. Doug Gottlieb in for Colin this is the Hurt fox Sports Radio iHeartradio app. We talked Bronnie a little bit at the end of the show yesterday. Did you see what he did last night? We'll discuss next in the Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS1 and the iHeartRadio app with AMEX.
- [18:53]
Colin Cowherd
There's always a new experience to explore from curating the perfect vac and chilling in the Centurion Lounge before you get there trying out that new trendy restaurant thanks to priority notify with global dining access by resy and getting straight to the action at the big game. With card member entrances at select venues with AMEX Platinum, you can experience it all. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply. Access to the card member entrance not limited to the American Express Platinum card. Learn more@americanexpress.com withamx you can count on.
- [19:23]
Doug Gottlieb
T Mobile to help keep you connected from big cities to small towns on America's largest 5G network. Switch the T Mobile keep your phone and they'll pay it off up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com heap and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device credit service port in 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Cart has no cash access and expires in six months.
- [19:58]
Ryan Music
Introducing Instagram Teen Accounts.
- [20:00]
Colin Cowherd
A new way to keep your teen safer as they grow. Like making sure they've got the right.
- [20:04]
Ryan Music
Gear for writing, knee pads, check and helmet. Done. See you, dad. New Instagram Teen Accounts. Automatic protections for who can contact your teen and the content they can see.
- [20:13]
Doug Gottlieb
Hi everybody. This message is brought to you by the official Whiskey of the Herd with Colin Coward podcast, Green River Whiskey. As you know, we've been having some fun getting to know Green River Whiskey. And let me tell you, there's a ton of incredible stories to be told in its 140 year history. How's this? For example, Green River Whiskey was once the most advertised whiskey in the world, but just now they've launched their first advertising campaign in more than 100 years. You see, it seems the team from Green river in reviving the whiskey have accidentally also revived its resident ghost. And he's quite a character, spending his days reminding us to keep it simple, focus on the quality, and have a little fun along the way. So if you want to see the ghost of Green river come to Life, check out greenriverwhiskey on their YouTube channel or head on over to greenriverwhiskey.com here's to green River Whiskey. Raise your spirits. Product of Green River Distilling Company, Owensboro, Kentucky. Alcohol by volume varies by product. Greenriverwhiskey.com Please drink responsibly.
- [21:10]
Ryan Music
Doug Alibin for Con this is the Herd, Fox Sports Radio iheartradio Grant McCaslin set to join us upcoming. He's the head coach of Texas Tech. The Raiders only four point lead at halftime, but then they end up winning by 10 against UNC Wilmington. We'll talk with Texas Tech's second year, second year head coach Grant McCaslin who former Baylor assistant, former head coach at North Texas. We'll get, we'll get Grant in here in a moment. In the meantime, let's give him like a little credit here. To Bronny James had finally had an NBA game where you're like, all right, that, that tape looks like an NBA player. Now to people who are like, oh God, leap. And your face. And your face. Bronny. Awesome, right? 17 points, 7 of 10 from the field, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 of 4 from 3. Yeah, he had four turnovers. But you know, Bronnie was awesome last night playing a, a career high 29 minutes. Yeah, I mean he shot the ball well. He looked for the first time like an NBA player. And it's like the number one thing you need in life, the number one thing you need in sports is confidence and his ability to maintain and even grow his confidence through. Look, he has not had, not shot the ball well at all until recently in the G league. Right. Percentages were 30s and 20s from field and 3. Now it's 40s and 30s and obviously in limited minutes had shot the ball very poorly with the Lakers and just look lost, right? Look lost, looked overwhelmed, look like. I don't think he's got it. It's a fair assessment last night. It's some shots. It's also fair if we're going to be the voice of actually reasonable. And I understand that. I operate in a world of sports radio and sports television where you have to have unreasonable polar opposite takes. He can either be awesome or can't play and there's nothing in between. You're either LeBron or you're Jordan. You can't go either. Different. I prefer Jordan, but I respect that because you can and you can never throw like, you know, I, I mean it's prime. I think I might take Magic or Bird, you know, or, you know, some would say Kobe, I wouldn't. But some would say Kobe or Tim Duncan or, you know, you have all these others that we have seen play. We're not allowed to do that. Well, I get to host the Herd and I get my own show, the Doug Gottlieb show on Fox Sports Radio. So I'm going to do that because the reality is he was a minus 36. They did get smoked. They threw out essentially a G league roster and the only other, you know, Laker to do anything was Dalton Connect, who, you know, with the Lakers is now based upon their roster now is probably out of the rotation or, or barely hanging on the rotation as he's a rookie who they want to develop. Here's JJ Redick talking about Bronnie after the game. You know, we've obviously monitored him in the G and feel like he's, you know, in those sort of end game situations when he's gotten a chance to play with us. He's been, he's been really good. So not surprised by tonight. I think his, his confidence is growing. His. You, you mentioned the word comfort. That's, that' there for him. And I think the next step is just, you know, becoming like a, like an elite conditioned athlete. Because when he does that with his physical tools and just his like burst and his handle and, you know, we think he's Going to be an above average to really good NBA shooter. Okay, there's. There's actually a lot to kind of digest there. Okay. Can I tell you what I heard in the coach's ear and trying to read now? Some of it is he hadn't. I actually don't buy the. He's been really good with us. He has not. Second lowest field goal percentage in the NBA. You know, you're talking about four minutes, two minutes. He played 16 minutes of Denver in a blowout. He, you know, barely played and hasn't looked the part. I don't think anybody would agree with that. And it's hard to do anything in four minutes or two minutes. Anyway, again, if we're being fair, when he said he needs to be an elite conditioned athlete, that was a little bit of a. I don't want to say shot, but that wasn't a positive note from your head coach. That wasn't a positive note from your head coach if you said he needs to be an elite. Because remember, it's all about wording. JJ has, knows he has to. Knows he has to be measured in his wording and. Because it's pretty obvious. I don't know, guys, if we've talked about this, I have a friend who's worked for President Trump in the first administration. And if you notice how people who work for him or want to work with him, they either bow at the altar or he tries to crucify them, Right? And the expression they had in the White House, it's a real thing, is you're either at the table or you're on the menu. And I love that you're either at the table or you're on the menu. And honestly, that's how LeBron treats people. You're either at the table, you're on the menu, you're either all in. LeBron's the greatest and Bronnie's gonna be awesome. Or you're on the menu. And he may tweet at you, he may call you out or call you over in the middle, in the middle of a competitive basketball game. So JJ has to be measured with everything he says. Because LeBron's got rabbit ears, especially about his kid. We all kind of do. And when he says he needs to be an elite condition athlete, that. Here's the translation, right? If you do the coaching translation, Bronnie's not in shape. Bronnie's not in shape. So the issue with the idea that he'll become an above average to elite shooter is you can't show me anywhere so far in his life that that has been the case. Again, my issue with Bronny James, in terms of the evaluation of Bronny James has been every NBA player that has been or every future NBA player I've seen, outside of a couple that are truly late bloomers, right? There are some guys that are really late. They grew late in high school, grew in college or whatever. But if you say, hey, here's a McDonald's All American, you can pick apart, you know, 10 high school games in their senior year where they were the best player in the court by a mile, you're like, well, that's a pro. You know, that's a pro. I can't mention the school by name, but there's a school in Wisconsin that I believe is the number one ranked school and they play the state playoffs or tonight in Madison. And I went to see them play against another school. They're both in Milwaukee, and there's a sophomore who's 6 foot 9. And you're like, that's a problem. And so my issue with Bronnie was like, there's never been a moment where he's been an elite, elite shooter. So why would we think he. Why we put that expectation that he'll be an above average to great shooter in the NBA when that's never happened before. The part I do agree with is he's getting more comfortable, he's getting confident, and you're not going to achieve anything if you're not confident. Last night was the first night Bronny James looked like an NBA player. His confidence is still there. That's something outstanding considering how oft discussed his game is, despite the fact he plays like two minutes a game for Lakers. But let's not get it twisted. He was a minus 36. It was a blowout. And his own coach said he's got to get into better shape. So. Meanwhile, Texas Tech was fighting off UNC Wilmington, and Grant McCaslin was winning an NCAA tournament game as head coach, the Red Raiders. And he joins us in the Herd on Fox Sports Radio. Coach, how are you?
- [29:55]
Grant McCaslin
Doug, what's up, man? How are you?
- [29:57]
Ryan Music
Not as, not as good as you coming into the game, right? When you throw on the tape, Selection Sunday, you're watching Wilmington. What'd you think of the matchup?
- [30:09]
Grant McCaslin
Well, I was concerned and everybody is. When you get in the tournament and there's nobody you're not concerned about, but legitimately, because. And I said this a few times in preparation for the game, but we played Coach Siddle and UNC Wilmington when I was at North Texas in the chance championship of the Baha Mar. So I watched them play two games leading up to it, scouted them closely, was around their program, watching them compete, and man, are they tough. And they won games that they won because of their grit. They had a crazy amount of belief. They were crazy physical. They rebounded well. And so I wasn't confused on watching on film and going, oh, they're kind of small, or maybe they don't do this well. I just knew their fight level would be what it needed to be in. That part really concerned me. So I was concerned, you know, this, like, you can face some teams that can score, but it's teams that really believe that they're going to win or the ones that can go in there and find a way to win a game.
- [31:11]
Ryan Music
How long did it take your team to adjust to the fact you're in the NCAA terminal? And I say that because you've coached before, right? You know what this is about having, having played in it and covered it. I know that, you know, it's, it's just different. You know, the environment's different, the expectation different, and, you know, you just got done playing in arguably the best or second best conference in the country, and there's a team that has a hyphenated name there, and all of a sudden it's a ball game. How long did it take your team to kind of adjust to playing in the NCAA Tournament?
- [31:43]
Grant McCaslin
Well, honestly, it didn't take this team very long. And thankfully we recruited a team that every player that played, has played in the NCAA tourn, played multiple games. And so that was kind of intentional. Not kind of. It was intentional in the way we recruited because we just felt like, you know, maybe some guys didn't have the greatest numbers or whatever it may be, but they had all had success on teams and played a role that was significant on a team that was able to compete in NCAA Tournament. I mean, every player, like literally every transfer we've signed since we've been here in the portal has played the NCAA tournament. So I do think that was a benefit. We didn't handle the, the, the end of the half. We got a little fatigued and we got up 15 and we, we let them back in the game and they cut it to four before the half. But really, to start the game, it felt like we settled in pretty well.
- [32:38]
Ryan Music
Yeah, I, I, I mentioned the end, end of the half. It's really interesting, right, because you want to go in up 10, up 11 to where they go into their locker room and no matter what belief they have, it's dwindling. Instead, you had to think only up 4. Like now all of a sudden they're like, we got them. We're in a. In a good space. What was your message at halftime?
- [33:00]
Grant McCaslin
Well, it really keyed around offensive rebounding and limiting their second attempts. And I, you know, that's the great thing, you know, Doug, about having these, the technology that we have. So I had six clips of them getting offensive rebounds or them beating our guys. And I went in there and pulled it up because, you know these tournament games, you get 20 minutes. So that was the first thing we showed him. We showed him a few possessions offensively of things we can do better. And then we showed them clips at which we felt like we had holes in what we were doing defensive rebounding wise. And so there's no argument anymore. It's just these are the things we got to fix. And it's not to say you can do it because they're such a good team at, at rebounding specifically from the guard spots, but it at least made it clear that what the message was in order for us to win the game.
- [33:54]
Ryan Music
Yeah, yeah. And you end up out rebounding them. You only have six turnovers as well, right? I mean, if you out rebound a team and you only have six turnovers despite the fact, which is kind of strangely, you're a good free throw shooting team, didn't shoot the ball well from the free throw line like you're going to. You're going to win more often. More often than not. And you did. Grant McCaslin joining us, he's head coach at Texas Tech. He's been a head coach at Arc State and North Texas. And now in his second year at Texas Tech, they're 26, eight and the reward is the Drake Bulldogs. And Ben McCollum, who of course has won four national titles at Division 2 level we played against earlier this year. How do you prepare for that pace? One of slowest paces in the country. How do you prepare your team for that?
- [34:39]
Grant McCaslin
Well, ironically, the three seasons before that, before we got here at Texas Tech, our North Texas team was the slowest team in the country. And I talked to Ben literally every day. The second year I was at North Texas and prep or the third year I talked to him basically every day for about an hour in prep for that season. I'm not joking. I mean, it was probably five months that I talked to him just about every day. And we went over philosophy. He watched film of our team and told me our offense sucked. And so I went back and watched his teams and saw how well they moved the ball. And so he and I became really close. We'd known each other a while, but we became really close about eight years ago. And just we, we talked a lot. And so we modeled a lot of our teams after the Texas Tech team and the Virginia team with Tony Bennett that played in the national championship game in 19. And then I talk Ben, because he'd won so many national championships. Like, how could we do that at North Texas? So familiar with that. I mean, you just got to be comfortable with the fact that you're going to be in a grinder. I mean, you can think you can speed teams like that up, but you cannot. You really just got to take advantage of the opportunities you get and be a gritty team in regards to how you manage every possession. And don't panic. That's the key to these games.
- [35:59]
Ryan Music
Don't. Don't panic. And it sounds easy, right? You're like, I've done this, but it's different for your kids. It's just, it's. It's very, very different for those players. Grant McCaslin joining us on the Doug Gottlieb show on Fox Sports Radio. Obviously, coming from North Texas, coming from Arc State to Tech, and for people don't know, Tech has an unbelievable level of investment in not just the program everybody talks about nil, but like practice facility, the fans, the arena, like the whole thing is national championship ready. I was, I started the show talking about, here you have Bill Self and John Calipari, and they're two guys that have won national titles, two hall of Famers. And I don't. They don't look uncomfortable, but it's such a different environment for them. You know, Self had at one point a lineup with four transfers out there. Right. It's just so very different for them. For you, what has the kind of evolution of the sport been like?
- [36:57]
Grant McCaslin
Well, I mean, you know, this, Doug. We needed it. And so whether, whether anybody likes it or not, it feels like this is just what should have happened at a more rapid pace over time. And we held on to something that wasn't sustainable until it broke. And then it just kind of broke everybody in a. In a fashion that feels like it's. It separated, you know, a lot of people quickly. And, and I do know, and you know, this, and I'm thankful that I've been turn. Turning over rosters and teams and that experience of doing that and not Having the continuity gives you a different confidence level that. That of what it is that you're looking for in a short amount of time. And I just think that's extremely different than, hey, we're going to get this guy. He's going to be with us for four years. And that mentality over time is helpful and in some scenarios, but it just wasn't my story and our story. I mean, I was a part of rosters, and I took, you know, junior College to Division 2 and then was at Arkansas State. Then one year later, I was at North Texas, and then we revamped that roster and flipped it in two years and had transfers every year. So I will tell you, the biggest thing for me is really trying to find the quality of a guy that you want to be around every day that you feel like believes in winning. And I know that sounds easy, but it really is not. It's. It's unique to every team of finding that. And I think the obsession with finding guys that really want to win in a time in a climate where everything's changing quickly is probably the most valuable that you can find.
- [38:33]
Ryan Music
No, I could not possibly agree with you more. I had a conversation with a parent two days ago, Three days ago. Talked for an hour. When I hung up the phone, I talked to my staff, and they're like, what'd you think, Coach? And I said, we talked for an hour, not one second. Did the parent talk about, hey, my kid can help you win. None of it. And I was like, I think I'm gonna. Think I'm. Think I'm gonna think I'm gonna pass. All right, so you have the day off, a day to prep. They run a million things. He has guys, you know, Ben has guys that have played for him for four and five years. Four and five years. How do you prep for a Drake Ben McCollum in, you know, 48 hours? Well, we.
- [39:20]
Grant McCaslin
You know, it's. It's crazy, but because we're so close, and obviously Jeff Linder was an assistant, Emporia State. Ben took his spot when Jeff came, and he and I worked together at Midland College back in 2003. So it's a wild circle, but we actually scrimmage them at our place in. In October. So, I mean, who would have thought? Not me. But when the first two brackets came up, first two regions, That's.
- [39:48]
Ryan Music
That's. That's. That's crazy. That is. That's. That's crazy.
- [39:52]
Grant McCaslin
So, like, when the first two brackets came up on in the NCAA tournament, and I Knew they would be somewhere around, you know, a 10, 11, you know, seed. And I knew we were probably going to be a three. And I was just like, don't say it, you know, and so I sent the, you know, a message to Ben after the second bracket came out with the hand over the face emoji, like, is this really going to be us? And sure enough, you know, there it came. So I just, you know, it's prepare basically in regards to. Now we kind of know what it is for both of us. I mean, they're not going to be overly concerned about size and athleticism because they played K State, they played Missouri. I mean, they're going to be teed up for it. And at least we have some film of trying to guard a lot of their actions that we can at least reference. And our guys have a genuine respect for the way those guys compete and how good they are.
- [40:47]
Ryan Music
Yeah, that'll be fun. Fun and yet not fun. That's. That's what it is. Like, it was. I basically paid for, I got paid for a coaching clinic. When we played, played there, as I walked away, I was like, hey, coach, I got a lot of notes. I really appreciate the coaching clinic. Thanks. Thanks so much. Shook the hand and, and he was, he was really kind after beating us. Hey, man, always rooting for you. Keep it going. And thanks so much for being our guest on Fox Sports.
- [41:11]
Grant McCaslin
You're the best, brother. Good. Good to catch up. Talk to you soon.
- [41:14]
Ryan Music
Thanks, Grant. Grant McCaslin, head coach of the Red Raiders of Texas Tech. You want to talk about evolutions, and obviously I think it happened when Chris Beard was there, but, you know, I was obviously playing the Big 12. And we're at Oklahoma State. They opened that arena, went my senior year, so 99, 2000. And it's always been beautiful. And they used to say it was too big. Like, it's too big, it's too big, it's too big. And now it might be too small. It's. They. You can win national championship there as. As Chris Beard nearly did. And. And Grant McAssen's got a chance to win one this year. I'm Doug Gottlieb in for Callum. This is the Herd on Fox Sports radio on the iHeartradio app. Are the warriors title hopes in trouble? Wait till you hear what happened next. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific.
- [42:04]
Steve Covino
Hey, it's Steve Covino. And I'm Rich Davis. And together we're Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific, on Fox Sports Radio. And of course, the iHeartRadio app. Why should you listen to Covino and Rich? We talk about everything. Life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world. We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture. Stories that, well, other shows don't seem.
- [42:30]
Doug Gottlieb
To have the time to discuss.
- [42:31]
Steve Covino
And the fact that we've been friends for the last 20 years and still work together, I mean, that says something, right? So check us out. We like to get you involved, too. Take your phone calls, chop it up, as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe the most interactive show on planet Earth. Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on Fox Sports radio and the iHeartradio app from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search Covino and Rich wherever you get your podcast. And of course, on social media, that's Covino and Rich.
- [43:01]
Colin Cowherd
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- [43:17]
Doug Gottlieb
Count on T Mobile to help keep you connected from big cities to small towns on America's largest 5G network. Switch the T Mobile, keep your phone and they'll pay it off up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com heap and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device, credit service port in 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months.
- [43:54]
Steve Covino
Introducing Instagram Teen Accounts. A new way to keep your teen safer as they grow. Like making sure they always have their seatbelt on.
- [44:01]
Colin Cowherd
All right, sweetie pie, buckle up.
- [44:03]
Grant McCaslin
Good job.
- [44:04]
Steve Covino
Or ring the bell on their bike.
- [44:06]
Ryan Music
Okay, kid, give it a try.
- [44:08]
Doug Gottlieb
Nice.
- [44:09]
Steve Covino
Or remember their elbow pads.
- [44:12]
Ryan Music
Knees too. Okay. Yep, there you go.
- [44:15]
Steve Covino
New Instagram Teen Accounts. Automatic protections for who can contact your teen and the content they can see.
- [44:22]
Doug Gottlieb
Hi everybody. This message is brought to you by the official Whiskey of the Herd with Colin Coward podcast, Green River Whiskey. As you know, we've been having some fun getting to know Green River Whiskey. And let me tell you, there's a ton of incredible stories to be told in its 140 year history. How's this? For example, Green River Whiskey was once the most advertised whiskey in the world, but just now they've launched their first advertising campaign in more than 100 years. You see, it seems the team from Green river in reviving the whiskey have accidentally also revived its resident ghost. And he's quite a character, spending his days reminding us to keep it simple, focus on the quality and have a little fun along the way. So if you want to see the ghost of Green river come to Life, check out greenriverwhiskey on their YouTube channel or head on over to greenriverwhiskey.com here's to green River Whiskey. Raise your spirits. Product of Green River Distilling Company, Owensboro, Kentucky. Alcohol by volume varies by product. Greenriverwhiskey.com Please drink responsibly.
- [45:19]
Ryan Music
Doug Gotleyman for Colin Cowherd, this is the Herd FOX Sports Radio iHeartradio app. Welcome in. Grant McCaslam spoke glowingly about Ben McCollum, the Drake head coach who's won four national titles at Northwest Missouri State. He'll join us top of next hour. He's the head coach at Dr. Bulldogs. Took down the Missouri Tigers last night, got led start to finish. And you know, I think the mainstream world has learned what we in college basketball knew, which is Drake's been for real all year. Undefeated in the non conference beat Vanderbilt, beat Kansas State. They're, they're legit. And Ben McCollum, obviously, that guy's a ball coach. He's, he's pretty darn good. He'll join us top of next hour. Plus you'll hear interesting thoughts from Najee Harris on his former team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Speaking of the Pittsburgh Steelers, we have breaking news as a part of Herdline News with Ryan. Music no, no, no.
- [46:16]
Colin Cowherd
Heard on the news.
- [46:18]
Ryan Music
This is the Herdline news. Hello, Ryan.
- [46:23]
Steve Covino
Oh, Doug, Good morning. And I don't know, you know, normally Monday mornings, second hour we do where Colin was.
- [46:31]
Doug Gottlieb
Right.
- [46:31]
Steve Covino
Where Colin was. This will be a little Herdline news NFL update and a where Doug Gottlieb was right breaking news coming out of Pittsburgh. That's right, Jerry Dulak, a longtime reporter for Pittsburgh and the Steelers tweeting out breaking Aaron Rodgers is at the Steelers facility today. An indication a deal with the team could be forthcoming per sources. Aaron Rodgers, Steelers facility deal potentially incoming.
- [47:03]
Ryan Music
That tracks nut tracks.
- [47:05]
Steve Covino
And for what I was referencing to those who didn't know, yesterday on the show, Doug very clearly laid out Aaron Rodgers making a announcement about the team. He will sign with in the middle of the start of March Madness weekend is perfectly Aaron Rodgers.
- [47:23]
Ryan Music
Now, I will say that it does. It's a little bit like a holiday weekend. Right. So it kind of becomes a Friday news day, news dump. But it's a sports holiday weekend. So yeah, Aaron Rodgers will be on the bottom line on, on every broad sports broadcast network. I do think that if we're honest with ourselves, no matter what you feel about Aaron, positively or negatively and how he handles himself or even how he played this year with the jets, he started to look, he looked washed early in the year, but by the end of the year, he's not vintage Aaron Rodgers. But he's pretty good quarterback. Totally a pretty good quarterback.
- [48:00]
Steve Covino
Yeah. I mean him and him and Cousins were like in reverse. Cousins was better early and then fell off a cliff. Rodgers did not look. Look right initially. And then, you know, it feels like most people tuned out because you sort of made your opinion formed your opinion. Ah, he can't play anymore. Ah, the jets are a dumpster fire. And actually the last nine or ten games he was very much in that like, you know, maybe like the 15th most productive, 14th most productive quarterback in the league.
- [48:26]
Ryan Music
Fair, fair, fair, fair, fair, fair point, fair point. What's next?
- [48:31]
Steve Covino
All right, you talked about this before the break, before this. NBA NFL news is some NBA news. Warriors got the win last night, but Steph Curry went down hard, had to leave the game late in the third quarter, driving to the hoop, hit up high by two Raptors players, landed hard on his back. Warriors are saying it is a pelvic tusion injury. That's right. He was taken in for an mri. No reported results just yet. Head coach Steve Kerr after the game did say Curry thought he might be able to make a comeback, but we just decided not to risk anything. Hopefully it's not bad. So the surging warriors dealing now with a potential injury, hopefully not serious, to Steph Curry.
- [49:12]
Ryan Music
I don't think you've ever heard of a pelvic contusion. I would say though that when you think of pelvis, we think of the front side. That feels like a tailbone, right?
- [49:20]
Steve Covino
Yeah.
- [49:21]
Ryan Music
Isn't the tailbone technically a pelvic injury? I need a ruling. If you want to tweet at us, let us know. Get one more.
- [49:30]
Steve Covino
That is it for right now. We can do a quick tournament update. You have Alabama taking on Robert Morris. They're up 8 in the early in the start of that game. And then we also have Baylor taking on Mississippi State. They have a four point lead. Over Mississippi State.
- [49:46]
Ryan Music
And that's rhyme music with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by the herd lie news. So I'm a, you know, obviously in this form of the business, been 23 years. I'm a son of a coach, brother of a coach, and now I am a coach myself. Everybody in coaching knows who Ben McCollum is, or now everybody in the mainstream world knows who he is. The Drakehead coach joins us next in the hurt on Fox Sports Radio.
- [50:12]
Doug Gottlieb
This is Nikki Glaser from the Nikki Glaser podcast. Have you guys seen this new commercial from Stand up to All Hate? It's basically Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady going back and forth with reasons that they hate each other. But then when you really listen to them, the reasons for the hate are just so stupid.
- [50:27]
Ryan Music
I don't know.
- [50:28]
Doug Gottlieb
This. This commercial really got me. It's a strong reminder that hate in our country continues to be out of control. So join us at I Heart and Standing up to It. If you see hate, speak up, call it out. Your voice is a powerful tool in this fight. You can learn more by following OTs upwithhate.
- [50:43]
Ryan Music
We live in a divided country and our media couldn't be more polarizing. That's why we started the Middle with Jeremy Hobson. It's about bringing voices not from the extremes, but from the vast middle into the national conversation. Each week we hear from ordinary Americans from all over the country. And when you subscribe to the Middle, you also get an episode each week called One Thing Trump did that. That focuses on just one item from the avalanche of news. Listen to the Middle with Jeremy Hobson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Dressing. Dressing.
- [51:16]
Grant McCaslin
Oh, French dressing.
- [51:17]
Ryan Music
Exactly.
- [51:19]
Grant McCaslin
Oh, that's good.
- [51:20]
Ryan Music
I'm A.J. jacobs, and my current obsession is puzzles. And that has given birth to my podcast, the Puzzler. Something about Mary Poppins? Exactly. This is fun. You can get your daily puzzle nuggets delivered straigh. Listen to the Puzzler every day on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [51:44]
Doug Gottlieb
Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia. I'm excited to introduce a brand new season of my podcast Math and stories from the frontiers of marketing. I'm having conversations with some folks across a wide range of industries to hear how they reach the top of their fields and the lessons they learned along the way that everyone can use. I'll be joined by innovative leaders like.
- [52:05]
Ryan Music
Chairman and CEO of Elf beauty.
- [52:06]
Doug Gottlieb
Tarang Amin, legendary singer, songwriter and philanthropist.
- [52:10]
Ryan Music
Jewel Being a rock star is very fun, but helping people is way more fun.
- [52:14]
Doug Gottlieb
And Damian Maldonado, CEO of American Financing.
- [52:17]
Ryan Music
I figured out the formula. You just have to work hard, then that's magic.
- [52:20]
Doug Gottlieb
Join me as we uncover innovations in data and analytics, the math and the ever important creative spark, the magic. Listen to math and magic on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.