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- [00:00]
Danny Parkins
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:04]
Jeff Schwartz
Banking with Capital One helps you keep more money in your wallet with no fees or minimums on checking accounts and no overdraft fees. Just ask the Capital One Bank Guy. It's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. He'd also tell you that this podcast is his favorite podcast too. Oh really? Thanks Capital One Bank Guy. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capital1.com Bank Capital One NA Member FDIC okay, have you heard about this? Last year, Degree changed the formula for their Cool Rush deodorant and their fans rebelled and wanted the old scent back. And Degree listened. That doesn't happen often. They admitted they effed up and they're bringing back the original Cool Rush scent. They're bringing it back and it's exactly how you remember it. Cool, crisp and fresh. There's a reason it's the number one men's antiperspirant and it's back in Walmart, Target and other stores now for under four bucks. So try and see what the fuss is about. Head to your local Walmart or Target to try the OG Degree Cool Rush for yourself. 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 Wasabi's 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. All right folks, this is insane. For the first time ever, we got a full blown all women's boxing mega event going down in New York City. Two title fights same night. Let's go. If you're like me and Love the action, DraftKings Sportsbook is where it's at. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app right now. The promo code is heard H E R D New Customers 150 bucks in bonus bets instantly. When you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings, the crown is yours. Gambling problem.
- [02:20]
Danny Parkins
Call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York.
- [02:22]
Ben Volen
Call 877-8-HOPENY or text hopeny467-369 in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play.
- [02:35]
Danny Parkins
Responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Kansas, 21 plus. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction.
- [02:41]
Ben Volen
Void in Ontario, bonus bets expire.
- [02:45]
Danny Parkins
For additional terms and responsible gaming resources.
- [02:47]
Ben Volen
See DKNG Co Audio.
- [02:51]
Jeff Schwartz
Thanks for listening to the Heard 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 herd@foxsportsradio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
- [03:11]
Chris Felica
Now, let's get this party started.
- [03:13]
Danny Parkins
You're listening to FOX Sports Radio. Welcome back in to the Herd. I'm Danny Parkins in for Colin. This is another surreal one for me because when I was doing radio in Kansas City, I always had to also kind of COVID you know, the Chiefs to get us sound for the radio show. And I was looking around and I was like, I don't know any of these guys. None of these guys went to Syracuse. That was the only football team I had ever covered before. And I was looking at the list and I was like, Jeff Schwartz, I'll go up to the Jewish offensive lineman and we'll become friends. So Jeff Schwartz, Fox Sports analyst, former lineman, host of Bare Bets with Chris Felica, is with us on the Herd. We've come very far, Jeff from Kansas City.
- [03:56]
Chris Felica
We certainly have. Yeah. I mean, I came on, I think, your show once a week against the best wishes of the people in charge. For some reason, they just didn't like it. I don't know. I think it was a rival, a rivalry thing. Right. You guys were the station that didn't cover the Chiefs. I think it doesn't matter.
- [04:09]
Danny Parkins
But they really didn't like that you and I like each other.
- [04:13]
Chris Felica
It was very odd. But I'm glad to be with you now. Yes.
- [04:15]
Danny Parkins
And we're, we're, we're glad to have you. For four years in a row, I have picked the Pittsburgh Steelers to have their first losing season under Mike Tomlin. And I have just every year I like they can't keep getting away with this. And then they do. And then this off season, I actually think the moves on the chessboard made sense. And I like what they did, especially the John who Smith ad for what they need with Aaron Rodgers. So I'll probably be wrong again. But do you buy into what the Steelers have done heading into this year?
- [04:45]
Ben Volen
Yeah.
- [04:45]
Chris Felica
I mean, look, in the short term, yes. I've also been with you on losing money on Pittsburgh under every year. I did it twice last Year took two wagers, didn't matter. Look, I think that in the short term, this is the best they could have done. But my, my, my thought process, like, if the short term. To worry about the long term. Right. The long term is this team will look vastly different next season without Rogers, their quarterback. Right. And they get older on defense with all their superstars. So in, in this year, this is probably the best they could have done. Could they have drafted Sanders at 21?
- [05:16]
Danny Parkins
Sure.
- [05:16]
Chris Felica
But they got Aaron Rodgers, right? Who I think we all agree right now, better than Sanders. They went and got some weapons on defense. They got some guys on offense. Like, yeah, they did the best they could, but is it good enough in this division to really do much damage? I'd argue no. Right. Division winners every year tend to be the best quarterback in the. In the division. The best quarterback in the division is not Aaron Rodgers. It's Lamar. Or it's Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow has a defensive issue, so it's probably the Ravens. So what becomes of this Pittsburgh team? Do they win 10 games again and lose in the first round of the postseason? I don't know what the end goal is for this year. Just to be competent, just to make the playoffs again, just to be over.500. So again, they did what they had to do to put together a team this season. But long term, this does nothing for them.
- [06:04]
Danny Parkins
I agree with that. I just think they don't have it in them to tank and rebuild. And yeah, they'll win 10 games, lose from the wild card round of the playoffs, and then be in the exact same spot they were in before. But they will be very interesting. And as you mentioned in the afc, you got to be more than interesting. I've seen you on social media talking about Josh Simmons with the Chiefs. The explosiveness has left that offense the last couple of years, which is bizarre for a team that, you know, won 15 games and two years ago wins a Super Bowl. Simmons at left tackle, Worthy Rice, Hollywood Brown healthy and playing together. What do you expect from the Chiefs offense this season?
- [06:44]
Chris Felica
I know people have Chiefs fatigue. You're going to have her for one more season, guys, because it's going to be more than that. About last year, right? Think about last year. So they entered the season very clearly. Rachi Rice was going to be the number one option on offense, and he was. He had nearly 30 catches in three weeks. He gets hurt. Now you're left with Hollywood Brown already hurt in the preseason, Rashid Rice hurt, and Travis Kelsey who did not want to rely on to be your offense. Right. You wanted these other wide receivers to help you out. So it turns into basically being a Travis Kelsey led offense and then a bunch of guys sort of around him now. Worthy got better throughout the season, but it's hard to rely on a rookie in this offense. We've seen so many examples of first year wide receivers, not even just rookies. But Juju mentioned this specifically. We play with him the first time he said it took me 12 weeks to figure out where I need to be in the offense. Look at Rashid Rice's first season. When did it click? About 12 weeks and into the playoffs. So there was really no one there to help with the passing game until the end of the season when Brown came back. But by then again he never really played with Patrick Mahomes enter this season. Rashee Rice healthy, ready to go. Now he will be suspended I would imagine at some point, but Brown healthy, ready to go. Worthy year to Travis Kelsey looks like he lost 20 pounds. He looks great right now. I think last year we can admit maybe came in, you know, a little bit overweight and a little bit out of shape. This year not. Not the case. He looks fantastic this season. Right. And you add in Royals, you had the offensive line. Yeah. They lose Joe Tunney, that's going to be a loss for them. They're figuring out left guard right now. But Simmons looks like a steal already. His. His. He looks great right now. Left tackle. He was going to be off at the tackle one before he got hurt. The question I have is why did no one else know he was going to be able to play so soon? The thought was you draft Simmons and he has to sit for a little bit. He's. He's the day one starter at tackle. You add in obviously more to play somewhere. Left guard maybe or right tackle. So. So Danny, this feels like an offense that's just going to return to what it's been now. It's never going to be the Tyreek Hill offense. It's never going to happen again. That was a special player, a special offense, but does feel like they're going to return to pass the ball down the field a little bit because they have healthy wide receivers.
- [08:53]
Danny Parkins
Be sure to catch Live editions of the Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. FS1 and the iHeartRadio app.
- [09:02]
Jeff Schwartz
Everybody loves a good MVP story and the story of Wasabi Technologies is one of the best. Wasabi is purpose built to free businesses from skyrocketing storage costs and and unpredictable egress. Fees from old and top heavy legacy providers. You know the big guys. Wasabi is the world's hottest cloud storage company, becoming the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams and leagues around the world. And here's why. From Wasabi's AI enabled intelligent media storage, Wasabi Air, to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cybercriminals, data deletion and ransomware. Wasabi has taken the lead in driving innovation in data storage, eliminating overhead where it matters to deliver you results you can count on and won't break the bank. In fact, Wasabi is up to 80% less than those other guys and doesn't charge a cent for businesses to access their own data. Wasabi another championship story. Check them out for free@wasabi.com, wasabi Hot Cloud Storage, proud partner of the Voluum podcast network.
- [10:07]
Danny Parkins
I'm with you, Justin Herbert is in that division. Was in the playoffs. Bo Nicks in the division, in the playoffs. Raiders upgraded. Coach and quarterback certainly got better. We'll see what happens. But on Herbert specifically, people say he's all hype, he's all hypothetical, he's all eye test. What do you make of what he's done and where he's going?
- [10:29]
Chris Felica
I think like 27 teams like to have that eye test in their building. Yeah, sure, he looks good throwing the football.
- [10:37]
Ben Volen
Wow.
- [10:38]
Chris Felica
Look, of course you get to a certain point in your career, he was there very quickly where the, the talent and skills were very obvious right from his first start, which was odd enough against the Chiefs. Right. Remember the puncture Long. And he played against Kansas City in week two that year. And incredible. Like, immediately good. So when you immediately become good, we start judging you on other things. Right. Quarterback wins, which isn't really a stat per se, but we judge you on that. And then we judge you on like big moments in games. Right. Do you have, do you make those plays on third down? Do you make those plays in two minutes? Or do you make those plays now in the postseason? And Herbert's at the point now where he's only going to be judging his career on postseason success. That's all it is. We know he can play, but it's all in front of him. We know that. So now it's a matter of postseason success and he hasn't had that yet. I think that's why people are down on him. When you say, like, oh, he's so talented, he looks the part, why is there not the playoff? Success is always the next question. So he's that's where he's at in his career. He's evolved now, is one of the better quarterbacks in the league. So it only matters what he does in the postseason. How many quarterbacks do we look at that way, right? Mahomes, Allen, Jackson, Burrow, Jalen, Hurts probably now Stafford, maybe we look at otherwise no one else. Like Herbert's up in that class now where he can do everything he needs to do on the field now do it in the postseason.
- [11:55]
Danny Parkins
So you've played on a bunch of different teams. You've seen a lot of different young quarterbacks. The reports are Caleb Williams struggling very early with the, with the install of Ben Johnson's offense. But then you talk to people there and they're like, we want him to be drinking out of a fire hose. We want to overload him early. We'll see what he can handle. Then we'll scale it back as it goes. In terms of realistic expectations of this type of offense, that type of talent and all of the newness, what would you say is reasonable to expect from Caleb in the offense this year?
- [12:30]
Chris Felica
So what you want to see when you have a new coach and quarterback and I mentioned the Chiefs wide receivers with Mahomes, it does take like eight to 10 weeks for a new offense to get going. Just does. Right. Like you need to see. So you mentioned they throw the whole playbook at him. They're going to do that because they want. They need to see what works for Caleb Williams. He might, Ben Johnson might have a thought. Okay, these are the plays that I think will work for Caleb Williams. You get into practice and preseason games and those don't work. They have to change and run different plays that work for him. You also have to play this thing against that defense and it takes time to figure all those things out. That's why it takes sometimes 8, 10, 12. I'll give you another example of how that works on like the Eagles defense last season, right? It took half a season to figure out what works. What calls do we do, where do guys go, who needs to play, what's the rotation? It just takes time. So you have to have some patience here. The thing I will say though is that the only reports that worry me is like with a quarterback, like what I told, I think he's going to be good. And I'll move off of that opinion if I need to at some point based on some more evidence. It does worry me, Danny, that we just haven't seen at least reports, right. Of like, wow, like there's some like you typically know with young guys, there's some wildness in practice and that, that only part of the worries me. We haven't seen much of like, wow, this, this was really great. It's also mostly been negative, which isn't great. But I understand how they're trying to build him up in this offense.
- [14:00]
Danny Parkins
I'm going to ignore the last 15 seconds of that answer as a Bears fan from Chicago, because I saw some wow in games last year. So give me, give me another couple of weeks before I get a little worried that there's not enough wow moments in practice. We have a Hall of Fame game this week, so that means preseason is starting. I know it was practice and I know the Cowboys got lucky that Tyler Guyton did not tear his ACL as initially feared. But I am very risk averse when it comes to playing guys in preseason and I know injuries can happen in practice. I understand that and I know injuries are inevitable. Where do you come out on playing guys who matter in meaningless football games?
- [14:44]
Chris Felica
I'm on the side of playing them a little bit. I saw it in my career and I also just go off of what we see the better coaches do. Now, to be fair, this is mostly the older guys that are the better coaches right there, young coaches that don't play their guys. But Andy Reid, man, plays the starters every year. There's a value in that. The Chiefs start hot every year. When I was in Kansas City, we had a tough training camp. We played our starters and we came out of week one and kicked and kicked butt like we were ready to go. There's always risk in football. Injuries happen all the time. It's interesting that the Bengals, for example, have talked about playing starters this year because they start slow every year. Like, you do need some of those reps. At least I believe you do. Do you need to play half like we used to play? No. But also too mentally. When, when you are playing in a preseason game, you treat that week of practice or a couple days, for the most part, like it's a game. So you mentally prepare like you would for week one or week two or week three. You start going through your checklist of how do I get ready on Saturday night, You know, how do I warm up, how do I feel in pads? Like all the little things you do, what's my pregame routine? You mostly know what it is, right? But you get to rehearse that. So when you get to week one, it's like you haven't done it in eight, nine months. And I get It's a physical sport. Things happen. But you would also think, like, would it be odd if a baseball player didn't take any live batting practice before they. Or live at bats before they played a baseball game? Right. Like, you think that was a little different? Kind of weird.
- [16:12]
Danny Parkins
Yeah.
- [16:13]
Chris Felica
I mean, I'm saying. I'm just saying, like, two drives. I think two drives the first game, one drive the first game to the second game. It's just something. And the injury thing, like, it's very rare. We think it happens all the time when ones are playing ones. It doesn't happen. They know how to play to not get hurt, if that makes sense. So I'm a fan of playing some in the preseason. I get why teams don't. But it seems to work out for some of the better coaches in the NFL.
- [16:39]
Danny Parkins
All right, so you host Bear Bets with Chris Felica. I've been a guest. I don't want you to keep mentioning that I was 65% against the spread in the NFL last year. Stop bringing it up. Stop. But I want to get you out of here with a bet. Yeah, anything on the board. A Super bowl pick, a prop. I don't care. Give me.
- [16:59]
Chris Felica
Give me NFL.
- [17:01]
Danny Parkins
Give me an NFL bet for. For this season. Yes, sir.
- [17:05]
Chris Felica
So I think my. My favorite one right now is the Giants under five and a half wins. It's a little juice now. That's okay. The problem is this with the Giants. I think they're a better team this year than last season. Like, they're better quarterback. They're healthy. Offensive line neighbors is good. Like, defensively, they were good last year.
- [17:23]
Jeff Schwartz
Added.
- [17:23]
Chris Felica
Added Abdul Carter. But their schedule, Danny, is so hard. Like, that's. That's the problem. Look at their schedule.
- [17:29]
Danny Parkins
It's ridiculous.
- [17:30]
Chris Felica
Top of my head, it's like, it's like commanders. Cowboys, two AFC west teams at New Orleans. And then it's like Eagles, Broncos, Niners, Lions, Bears. It's just horrific schedule. And so that. That's my concern. I actually think they're better this year, but their schedule is very difficult. So I have Giants under five and a half wins.
- [17:47]
Danny Parkins
Yeah. At Washington, at Dallas, Kansas City. And the Chargers are the first four. That feels like. Oh, and four out of the chute. Listen to Bare bet. Listen to Jeff Schwartz. Watch him. You're a good man and thorough. Thank you, Jeff.
- [18:00]
Chris Felica
Thank you, buddy. Appreciate it.
- [18:02]
Danny Parkins
All right, we'll talk soon. That's Jeff Schwartz, terrific Fox NFL analyst coming up next. Drake, may I own a lot of stock in this kid. I think he's going to be an absolute star. Is he ready to take that next leap? We head to Boston next. The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific.
- [18:21]
Jeff Schwartz
Everybody loves a good MVP story, and the story of Wasabi Technologies is one of the best. Wasabi is purpose built to free businesses from skyrocketing storage costs and unpredictable egress fees from old and top heavy legacy providers. You know the big guys. Wasabi is the world's hottest cloud storage company, becoming the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams and leagues around the world. And here's why. From Wasabi's AI enabled intelligent media storage, Wasabi Air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cyber criminals, data deletion and ransomware, Wasabi has taken the lead in driving innovation in data storage, eliminating overhead where it matters to deliver you results you can count on and won't break the bank. In fact, Wasabi is up to 80% less than those other guys and doesn't charge a cent for businesses to access their own data. Wasabi another championship story. Check them out for free@wasabi.com Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage, proud partner of the Volume.
- [19:25]
Danny Parkins
Podcast Network back in on the Herd Danny Parkins in for Colin. I'll be back doing this again tomorrow. We've got an NFL game on Thursday. We've made it to football season, college football right around the corner, trade deadline in baseball, any sort of slow time that people think it is coming up in the past. Let's talk to a terrific NFL reporter right now and head to Boston where he's covered the NFL since 2007. Senior NFL writer for the Boston Globe, Ben Volen joins us on the Herd. Ben, thank you very much for the time. Very few teams in the NFL have undergone more change than the Patriots from last year to this. And Drake May did not have much talent around him last year, but I thought acquitted himself very well. I think he looks like a future star. I own a lot of stock in that kid. What are you expecting in in terms of a year one to year two growth for Drake May with all these new people around him?
- [20:21]
Ben Volen
Well, you know, for any NFL player, I think it goes without saying you want to see that big jump from year one to year two and especially for the Patriots, you want to see that from Drake May now that you've got a much better and more, much more credible team around him, you've got a real coaching staff. With all due respect to last year's coaches, now with Mike Vrabel, Josh McDaniels running the offense. A lot of experience on this staff. Now, Stefon Diggs is the best receiver the Patriots have had in a long time, assuming he can come back healthy and be close to what he was. They've spent the most money in free agency, over 180 million fully guaranteed. They brought in like 10 new starters on both sides of the ball, new offensive linemen, new defense, new receivers, just everything new to upgrade the situation around Drake May. So yeah, if they go 4 and 13 again, that's a terrible sign for May in the franchise. I think they want to see a nice jump here in year two, not only in Drake May's performance, but in the team's one loss record.
- [21:20]
Danny Parkins
Offseason videos with Cardi B are one thing. How does Stefan Diggs look?
- [21:25]
Ben Volen
You know, Stefan Diggs, I got to say it looks fantastic. And yes, he got off to a bad start with that video in Miami. Not what your new coaching staff wants to see when you're joining a new team. But Stefan Diggs showed up to the offseason program towards the end and then I think most impressively passed his physical to start training camp, putting him at full go just 8 months after having ACL surgery. So I think a real testament to how hard, despite the video, how hard Stefon Diggs worked on his rehab in the offseason, how hard he's been, you know, putting in time both away from the Patriots and now with the team. And he looks good. You know, it's almost to the point where it almost might not be fair to him because he's coming back from an acl. Receivers that first month is going to be a little slow, but he looks really good. His teammate Kendrick Bourne said he jokes with Stefan Diggs, says he's going to have an Adrian Peterson type season. You remember Adrian Peterson rushed for 2,000 yards coming off of his torn ACL. So again, maybe the expectations not quite fair for Stefan Diggs, but physically he looks great so far.
- [22:29]
Danny Parkins
The Patriots maybe had the worst offensive line in football last year in terms of talent and production. They use this top five pick on Will Campbell. I've seen some conflicting reports on how he's looked so far. What do you think about how he's making the transition?
- [22:45]
Ben Volen
Well, yesterday was the first day in pads and he got tossed around a little bit by veteran Keon White. And that is a concern with Will Campbell. Keon White is a big, lanky, physical defensive end and Will Campbell, you know, we heard it all throughout the pre Draft process, the short arms, the narrow shoulders, is he going to be able to handle the defensive ends who have the long reach here in the NFL? So day one, not so great. Also a little surprising. I want to cut him some slack, but the heat here in Foxborough has been very hot this week and the heat definitely got on top of Will Campbell the last couple of days. Where you think maybe a guy from LSU is maybe used to it, but it's been very hot here. And Will Campbell, the heat has definitely gotten to him, but it's early. It's only two days in pads. He did have a much better day today, but you know, the real question is going to be the arm length thing and I think it's a real concern. It's one thing for him to block guys in training camp and the preseason, but what happens when he's got to go against miles Garrett and T.J. watt and some of these, you know, elite pass rushers that the Patriots are probably going to face this year? So we're not going to have the answers to that question until Will Campbell steps on the field and does it, you know, so far, kind of an up and down performance. But it is still early for Will Campbell.
- [23:59]
Danny Parkins
Yeah, it's early for everybody. And you know, we maybe should have talk addition of head coach Mike Vrabel at the start because it's, it's a homecoming. It's in theory a floor raising thing. It's discipline, it's competence. How what is a Mike Vrabel training camp like so far?
- [24:17]
Ben Volen
Well, I don't know how much credit he deserves versus just the circumstances, but one thing that stands out compared to last year is there is no drama. Last year, Gerard Mayo, trying to build a program, had to deal with Matthew Judon upset about his contract. They got a big fight at practice. They had to throw Judon out. He comes back to scream more at the coach. Just a lot of drama. They eventually traded him to Atlanta and moved on, but Mike Vrabel has had nothing of the sort to deal with. Everyone is under contract, everyone is happy. Everyone generally knows their role or knows what they're competing for. And it's been very calm and businesslike and professional. And that I think also speaks to the larger point of why Mike Vrabel was brought in. Just for credibility. You know, Jerod Mayo, with all due respect, was learning on the fly. And that coaching staff they gave him last year, no one had any experience. The play callers on both sides were doing it all for the first time. Now it's Mike Vrabel has been a head coach for six years. He's won coach of the year. Josh McDaniels has been a coordinator for 15 years. All the defensive coaches are Vrabel's guys from Tennessee. These are guys who have a plan. They know what they want to do, and it's just a very professional sort of training camp so far with no drama and no real hiccups yet for Mike Rabel.
- [25:31]
Danny Parkins
How is Mike Vrabel similar and how is he different from Bill Belichick?
- [25:36]
Ben Volen
Great question. Well, I think the fact that he's younger and a former player just gives him boatloads of credibility with the players like Jabril. Pepper's, the safety was joking, made a joke to Mike Vrabel, and Vrabel's response was, yeah, why don't you go check out the Patriots hall of Fame and then get back to me?
- [25:53]
Danny Parkins
So it's like, yeah, that was a great one.
- [25:54]
Ben Volen
The guy's got three super bowl rings and he's in the team hall of Fame. It's just gives him so much more credibility, which, you know, Belichick, a genius. He can never, you know, manufacture that. He was never a player the way Vrabel was. And Vrabel, I mean, he is the most active head coach I've ever seen. In practice, he puts on the scout team penny. He's playing free safety on the scout team defense, and he's getting up in drills. He's coaching guys one on one. He's wearing the blocking pad like Mike Vrabel's 49, almost 50 years old. Don't tell him that. He still thinks he's playing in the NFL, that he's so active. I do see similarities as well. He's a very smart coach. This is the guy that he stole a win over Miami a couple years ago, smartly going for two, you know, late, the analytics, following the analytics, that sort of thing, but then also the way he coaches. And this is obvious because Vrabel spent 12 years playing for Belichick. So he's going to take a lot of Belichick's tactics. But the one thing you see from Vrabel is he's constantly quizzing guys and peppering them with questions and keeping them on their toes, whether it's, you know, what did we talk about in the meeting yesterday? Or what do you do in this situation on 3rd and 6th versus when was the last time the Patriots won a division title? He's just. He's always quizzing guys and keeping them on their toes. And that was like, a staple of Bill Belichick's coaching style. And it creates accountability as well, because you don't want to be the one guy who kind of lets down the position group or shows that you're not prepared. So I. You know, there are all kinds of similarities, but, you know, things that variable learned from Belichick, but he's also being a younger guy and a former player, definitely his own man as coach.
- [27:31]
Danny Parkins
So it's years now since the Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft professional divorce, but they just can't quit each other. Like, sometimes it's like, oh, you're doing something kind of interesting and taking a shot together at the Netflix roast. And then it's like, oh, that's kind of weird. You're taking shots at each other because Robert Kraft wants to get into the hall of Fame. And he's like, I took a huge risk on Bill Belichick. And then Bill Belichick's at North Carolina issuing statements, being like, I actually took a big risk on you, because. What do you make of it? Like, what context is relevant here as to why we are still dealing with the fallout of the professional separation between Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick?
- [28:10]
Ben Volen
Well, I think it just shows how bad the relationship is between the two, and it's only gotten worse since Kraft fired Belichick a year and a half ago. So I think, you know, it's all. It's all there for us to see just how poorly how poor the relationship is right now. And that that shot of alcohol they took at the Netflix roast that you mentioned, I mean, if you watch Belichick, you wanted nothing to do with that crap. Kind of put him on the spot. Belichick wanted nothing to do with that. For me personally, being in the media, I love it. It's great material, gives us something to talk about. But I think for the fans, you know, the word divorce, as you said. I think that's right. It's like watching your parents divorce, and it's like, can't we just stop the fighting? Because it just. The more they fight, it just seems like it detracts from everything they accomplished here over two decades. And it really just. It looks like, you know, Brady was so much of the engine of this thing, and these two are just, like, fighting for scraps of credit. And it's like, you know, you know, I and a lot of other people I think, were on Team Bill last year when that Apple documentary, the Dynasty, came out. It was just the crafts, just like bashing Belichick Needlessly, like that was. That was a bad look for the Krafts, and I think Belichick got a lot of sympathy out of that. But then this little dust off, as you said, no, you know, Belichick having this lengthy response about some innocuous quote that Kraft made. It's like, well, now Belichick doesn't look great either. And I think that's the point. The more these guys fight, it doesn't look good for anyone. You know, you fight with a skunk and everyone comes out smelling pretty badly. So I love it. It's great material. But I think for the fans and for their legacy, I think it would behoove them all to just kind of knock it off and just kind of go their separate ways and let it be for a while.
- [29:52]
Danny Parkins
How will you define success for Bill Belichick at North Carolina?
- [29:57]
Ben Volen
You know, if he can win a few more games than just what the schedule lays out for them? You know, this first year, it's going to be tough. They have, I think, 70 new players on that roster and it's still UNC football. I don't know what kind of recruiting they were able to do. And, you know, as the last few years in New England proved with Belichick, he's not exactly a miracle worker when they have talent. He was great with the Patriots. When they didn't have talent, especially at quarterback, they were very mediocre and then pretty bad at the end. So, you know, if you're Carolina, you just want a, you want Bill to sell out the stadium, you want to be on national tv. I think that's a win in and of itself for unc. The fact that they've sold out the season tickets already, they're going to have a behind the scenes documentary. They're going to be all over TV this fall. So that's a win for the Tar Heels. And then if you know to be impressed with the coaching job by Belichick, you don't want to just see another 7, 5 UNC season. You want to see 10 and 2, winning a few games on the road, beating ranked teams and showing some of that, you know, Belichick magic that he used to have with the Patriots.
- [31:00]
Danny Parkins
Ben Volen covers the NFL for the Boston Globe. Great stuff, man. Thank you very much for the time. We appreciate you.
- [31:06]
Ben Volen
Awesome. Thanks, Danny.
- [31:07]
Danny Parkins
Thank you. Patriots are a fascinating team, but really, Drake may, I mean, that quarterback class from last year, it's remarkable. Jaden Daniels has the best rookie season any of us have ever seen. When you combine the statistical Performance, what they asked of him to do, and then, you know, the wins. Caleb Williams was the number one pick. The Bears didn't even consider drafting anyone else. Drake May had the least help. I mean, he had no coach, no offensive line and no pass catchers. And as the year went on, it was like, oh my God, Drake May is making plays. The stats weren't insane, but just again, if you watch the games, it was very clear he belonged. Justin Herbert, by the way, little eye test, little similarities between Drake May and my guy Justin Herbert. Then Penix, only three games looked good. Bo Nix, 29 touchdowns, second most ever for a rookie in the playoffs. His first games he was terrible. And then JJ McCarthy is just sitting over there with the national championship with an elite offensive head coach at Kevin o' Connell, and he gets to come in to a team that won 14 games last year with one of the five best wide receiver duos in the NFL. There's a real chance that we're going to look back at last year's quarterback class and in two years be like, is this the best quarterback class ever? Is it going to be in that conversation? Like, how good can it be? So, and I think Drake May is at the focal point there because they've made a ton of upgrades around him. So all of those guys. And they've got joint practices, by the way, the Patriots with the Vikings and the Commanders. So we're going to get Drake May v. Jaden Drake May VJJ McCarthy. Coming up, this training camp, fun day here on the Herd. Thanks again to everybody for welcoming me and making it so easy. Can't wait to get going on the new expanded first things first, which is coming up in just a little bit. But before that, I'm back in for Colin tomorrow. So you're not done with me yet. Danny Parker's in for Colin on the Herd.
- [33:02]
Jeff Schwartz
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- [33:35]
Danny Parkins
This is an iHeart podcast.