← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
THE HERD - Hour 1 - Lakers are just not a good roster, What will 2026 hold for Lamar Jackson?
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Colin Cowherd
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Colin Cowherd
Remember when people were nice? When we could occasionally stop fighting and come together? Well, here's some good news. The Ripple Effect is here. Hosted by comedian Jenna Kim Jones, it's a show about how powerful it is when we reach out to one another. It's the perfect weekly proof that goodness isn't gone. The Ripple Effect is more than a podcast. It's a reminder that you can start a ripple that changes everything. Listen to the ripple effect on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Colin Coward from the Herd. Whether you're a seasoned small business owner or thinking about getting started, you'll definitely want to check out season four of Mind the Business small business success stories from iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Inuit QuickBooks. In the latest season, hosts Austin Hankwitz and Janie Torres are talking to self starters about the ins and outs of entrepreneurship, how QuickBooks helps you to get more done in less time. You don't want to miss it. Listen to Mind the Business Small business success Stories on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Wasabi is purpose built to free your business from skyrocketing storage costs and fees from the big guys. Wasabi is the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams around the world. Check out Wasabi's AI enabled intelligent media storage. Wasabi Air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cybercriminals. Wasabi driving innovation in data storage for up to 80% less than the other guys. Try for free@wasabi.com, wasabi Hot Cloud Storage proud partner of the Volume Podcast Network hi, it's Colin. I've been around long enough to know quality when I see it, or in this case, when I taste it. Tito's Handmade Vodka. Good stuff. No flash, no gimmick. Smooth, clean tasting made the right way. Tito's Made in Austin, Texas. Real attention to detail. I like to keep it simple. Tito's soda, one lime, lot of ice. Refreshing, easy. Summer, winter, spring. Totally versatile. Always works. Listen. Baseball season's here. The perfect time to kick back with some Tito's. It's what I pour. You should too. Distilled and bottled by 5th Generation Inc. Austin, Texas. 40% alcohol by volume. Savor responsibly. 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. Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go. New Year's Eve. I don't know about the rest of ya. Party time tonight. Buckeyes Canes. We are live. It is Wednesday in Chicago. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be watching or listening, thanks for making us part of your day. Greg Col Cell one hour from now. You know, you learn something as a dad when you have kids. You know you can only threaten them and their video games so many times. You have to find different things to use as levers. So the Lakers get house last night, they get crushed by Detroit and J.J. redick's banging on the officials. Well, it's not the officials. The Lakers actually shot more free throws than Detroit. Detroit shot 63% from the field. It was the second worst defensive performance by any NBA team all year. Players guarded by Luke and LeBron shot 68%. But JJ Redick is discovering what dads know. You can't keep ripping the kids and you can't keep ripping the team or they'll tune you out. And so after the game, of course, J.J. well, I've already used rip the team lever. What J.J. redick is finding out he's the seventh coach the Lakers have had since Phil. None of them last more than three seasons. And J.J. redick is now 31 games in, trapped with a completely, utterly flawed roster built by Rob Pelinka. You don't have a multitude of three point shooters, no rim protection. You're not athletic on the wing. The last seven NBA champs, there are things that you have to have. You have to be at least solid defensively. That's what Denver was with Jokic. Multiple three point shooters, athletic wings. They don't check any of the boxes. And he's trying to pull every lever. But this is what Laker coach is. They're not a viable team in the west. And he's already ripped the team and threatened them with hard practices. So, you know, I look at this and time and time again, when Phil was here, the Lakers biggest issue was you had the late Jerry West. You had Phil over the course of 20 and 30 years. It's the buses, it's Pat Riley. You had all these smart people and, and could you keep him in the same building to get along? And the answer, you know, Riley goes to Miami. Now you have coaches. I think Frank Vogel's pretty smart. Coach Mike Brown, he's, he's now doing a good job of the Knicks and J.J. redick. Schemes are great. You know, the Lakers are 10 and oh, and clutch games this year. 10. Oh, but J.J. redick can't get him into clutch games because they get blown out because they can't guard anybody. They also need to be younger. And it's the second, third oldest roster. The west is all about youth and multiple three point shooters and athletic wings and rim protection. And the Lakers don't check any of the boxes. So here is JJ Redick. He's like, yeah, he's officials. It's like, I mean, the Pistons are not a good three point shooting team. Last night I'm looking at their three point shots 46%. I mean, it was layup line, it was, it was practice shots. So I just feel like it's Groundhog Day. I've seen this before. It's always blame the coach in la. Well, JJ Redick's a scheme guy. If you ask coaches in the NBA, he's very good with schemes. So he's 100 in clutch games with an old LeBron and a star in Luga. That can't guard me. But the reality is they can't get into those close games. Good teams like Detroit blow their doors off. Do you know how ridiculous it is to shoot 63% in an NBA game? So last night he rips the officials. Well, that. I've used every other lever. I've seen other Laker coaches do this. They blame the roster. They blame. They never go, you know, could somebody just say this out loud? This roster is not a viable championship roster. Over the last seven to eight years, you start looking at it. It's not. When they had LeBron closer to his prime. Anthony Davis, Rim Protection, KCP. That was, that was. Even though, even though LeBron was getting older. Like, oh, rim protection, dual scores, little more athletic on the wing three Point shooter, KCP from the corner. That's what a championship roster looks like. This is in close. Here's Reddick after frustrated with the refs. I think there's probably a level of frustration when you're turning the ball over and you're feeling like you're getting fouled. There's, there's frustration there for sure. But I mean, again, we, I said it in here, we said it this morning. They're going to foul every possession. It's just, you got to play through it. Okay, so tonight, yeah, there you look at it. And for the record, Lakers in December. I'm putting this up for the TV audience. It's getting worse. So the question, and I think JJ Reddick can feel this, is the team tuning him out. It was bad, now it's getting worse. I mean, the longer a good coach has a team, the better you get. The Lakers are getting worse. They're old and they're tired of getting ripped. And I think J.J. redick knowing that, okay, we got to pull another lever. The zebras were terrible last night. Now Lakers shot more free throws. That wasn't it. Okay, so tonight, Miami, I like the points. Close game, 27:20. Ohio State, Miami, maybe lower scoring. And Wall Street Journal did a story recently, more people watched at least, you know, 10 minutes of college football this year than any other time. People are watching college football. And I'm one of those people that I know care how we get there in life as long as we get there. And for the first time in my life, the best eight teams are left. Without question. That's what I care about. You guys keep telling me March madness is great. 20 teams are unwatchable. The first round average margin of victory in March Madness is 17 points. But you get one or two upsets and you're like, oh, it's, it's magical. It's awful. So blowouts and a lot of empty afternoon arenas. I get West Coast, Oregon, flashy Miami, the blue bloods like Bama, Georgia, Ohio State. I get newcomers like Indiana and Texas Tech. I get everything. I get Mendoza, the consensus number one quarterback, Ty Simpson, the underrated Southern quarterback, Julian Sand. Dante Moore could be 1 and 2 in next year's draft. At quarterback, I don't want to hear about the labor. Show me the baby. I don't care how you got there. When I'm going on a nine day vacation, I may get a middle seat. The flight's delayed, they run out of pretzels. When my feet hit the water in Turks and Caicos, I'M good. Show me the baby. I don't care about the labor. Everybody spends so much time catastrophizing the how and why. AI, robots, we're all doomed. Or maybe, like the Internet, the economy expands and the smart people figure it out. I look at college football, I get everything. I get my west coast power. I get my blue bloods. I get the new guys. I get the best quarterbacks. Tonight, I get the former national champion. Doesn't feel like the margins are quite as big this year. Miami could upset them. Don't think they will, but they could. We have all this mythology about how great the basketball tournament is and there are blowouts everywhere. 17 points, first round. Who cares about James Madison and Tulane? These playoffs in college feel more like the NFL playoffs. And you know why that's good? Because nobody ever complains about the NFL playoffs. The numbers show it. The audience, the consumer likes it. They like the structure, the dependability and the quality. And that's what I like. Tonight. I'm getting west coast blue blood. New guys, old guys, best quarterback, some young somebody to play in the pros. I think tonight is close, but regardless. Notre Dame was not one of the eight best teams. They're not here. Texas was not one of the eight best teams. They're not here. And I'm comfortable with both. Here's Joel Klatt on what he expects tonight. I think that Miami had the benefit of playing against a team that was overmatched, had an incredibly easy SEC schedule in Texas A and M and a quarterback that really played poorly and they. And they won, barely. This Ohio State team is different. You know, they've got absolute dudes on the outside, on the offensive side. They're going to have a whole month to prepare. We saw what they did in the playoffs a year ago. They've got a quarterback that throws it accurately in a defense that's the best defense since the 2011 Alabama team. What I'm really fascinated about. What if you look at the bracket, you can put it up again. We had Michigan win a Natty. We had Ohio State win a Natty. I've got a feeling we're going to end up with Ohio State in Indiana playing again for the Natty. Big Ten. Big Ten. Big 10. Verse. Big 10. Now I don't watch bowl games anymore, not even USCS. But it does feel like if you're one of the people that does. I've seen highlights. We've got a little changing of the guard in college football. J. Mac. J. Mac. You came in this morning. With a little chip on your shoulder with the Trojans, I decided after looking at the two deeps, an hour and a half before the game and I couldn't recognize half the offensive players, that I was going to watch a documentary on some streaming service, how the game turn out.
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Jason McIntyre
I only watch the ending because, you know, just an action play for fun. It's what was last night, Tuesday. Let me take USC. TCU's quarterback was ruled out. You know, transfer portals action. And USC, like, up 10 in the fourth and then not tackling in overtime. Colin, it was third and 20 just wrap up. TCU ties it on field goal. We go to double overtime, and three guys totally with. I mean, the announcers, I forget who they were, were just stunned. I mean, I think everybody was. The referee kept saying, it's not over. The game's not over. Because they thought, oh, he had to go out of bounds.
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Colin Cowherd
He didn't.
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Jason McIntyre
TCU with the win. Well, I'm Lincoln Riley.
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Colin Cowherd
Hey.
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Jason McIntyre
He was taking some heat from some prominent media folks last night online. Your boy going into next year, big season at usc.
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Colin Cowherd
It's hard for me to take these bowl games seriously like I want. I mean, Notre Dame got invited to one. They're like, no, thanks. Yeah, I was told usc, a lot of these coaches, from what I'm being told, their only reason they want to go to bowl games is the extra practices for their young players that don't play. So. So, all right, we got good stuff. Very interesting. A prominent NFL media member suggests a landing spot for Lamar Jackson of the Ravens. That would be really, really interesting. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific, on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app.
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Jason McIntyre
Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod, pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at the sportsbook and all the best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight fire with Jason McIntyre on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Colin Cowherd
Greg Cosell, 40 minutes from now. You know, New Year's Eve, you start sort of looking yourself in the mirror as we come into the new year. Last year I pulled way back on condiments. Way back. Really pulled back. This year, you know, I was thinking maybe I'm just too cold, too transactional. I should fall in love more. And I was thinking about these rumors about Lamar Jackson. A prominent NFL agent said, keep your eye on the Minnesota Vikings. Uh, the Baltimore sun had reported that he wanted to play Lamar Miami Dolphins. Cause he went to high school down there. And so I'd be okay with it. Like, not every divorce has to be Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Since he joined the Ravens. Third best winning percentage in the league. Number one point differential in the league, number two in total points in the league. Eight years, potentially seven playoff appearances, four division titles, two MVPs. Manny Ramirez didn't need to end his career in Boston for it to be an amazing career in Boston. Lamar Jackson can't beat Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. Not a lot of people can. The last decade of the NFL, is it not? Basically, the headline could be Josh Allen can't beat Mahomes and Lamar can't beat Josh Allen or Mahomes. A lot of people could not get through Tiger woods and Phil Mickelson. I got news for you. It's hard to win a lot of majors. Even Rory just finally won his first master 17th, 18th try. So maybe I'm, maybe I'm just too cold and transactional. But if somebody gives me eight amazing years in life, in any industry, it could be a personal relationship. Why does the divorce have to be ugly? Baltimore and Lamar have been exciting and dynamic. Second, third best winning percentage, more blowout wins than anybody else. If I could get out from under Lamar's $74 million potential cap hit next year, I would strongly consider it. Why would it have to be ugly? Who's beaten Mahomes the last eight years? Josh Allen in the regular season, not in January. So. And I like Lamar. I've been, I'm a Lamar fan. When he came out of college, I'm like, I'm not sure if that's going to work. I didn't think he was going to be a wide receiver, but he ran a lot and I thought that may work against Clemson. I'm not sure that's going to work in the NFL. And then after about his fifth start, I'm like, yeah, that's going to work big time in the NFL and I've loved watching him play. But in the last year, let's be honest, he and Harbaugh felt a little weird. The report from the Baltimore Sun Longtime beat writer A little weird. I always use this line, I've talked to a management about this throughout my career. Weird doesn't age well. And when you have a relationship that's quirky and kind of odd and it's always felt a little, you know, it's not quite Mahomes Reed, right? Like it's, you know, stories. Why is he not practicing? Maybe it's time. But Ravens, Harbaugh, Lamar, potentially they win this weekend. You got, you got eight years and seven playoff appearances. I mean, Joe Burrow back to back years. Can't get into the, can't get into the dance. Here's Matt Hasselbeck on how he views the Baltimore situation. For whatever reason, Lamar Jackson just doesn't look like Lamar Jackson this year. You know, I don't know if it's on the field, off the field, it's not the same Tyler Huntley, you know, for, for whatever reason, when he's in the game, they lean more on Derrick Henry.
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Jason McIntyre
They use a flowers in the run game.
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Colin Cowherd
Like they get a little bit more of what I think about Baltimore Raven football. Like we're going to be the hammer, not the nail. We're not going to get too cute. You know, I, I use this a lot of times in my personal life. If you think you have trauma or a bad situation with one of your kids or your business and you go, okay, let's look back the last 10 years. Would you have signed up for the current situation if I would have told you with Lamar Jackson? Eight years, seven playoffs, two MVPs, 219 total touchdowns, several top 10 offenses. Would you signed up for it? There were people that weren't sure he was going to be a quarterback, signed up for it. You'd have signed up on the spot for massive eight year cap hits. So if it breaks up, it was a great run. Not, not every divorce has to be ugly. J. Mac for the news.
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Jason McIntyre
No, no, no, turn on the news. This is the Herd line news. All right, Colin, let's go to the Philadelphia Eagles. Boy, that offense was really goofing around in Buffalo. Got that big early lead and sat on it. 17 yards in the second half. Not great. You think maybe Sirianni would say, all right, well let's get it together in week 18. Let's put it on Washington early, get the offense Right, but it sounds like they will be benching Jalen Hurts and the majority of starters in Week 18 game doesn't really mean anything. I guess technically if something wacky happened to the Bears, maybe they lose to the Lions and the Eagles win. The Eagles could move up as high as the 2 seed. But personally I like this decision by Sirianni to benches guys, rest them. Rest is more important than No, I.
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Colin Cowherd
So we. We've talked about this. The Rams defense is really young. They need to keep playing the Eagles. Some of their best players are old. They need to rest. Philadelphia is one of the few teams I look at like if I was New England. I do not want to rest. A lot of young guys, they're feeling it. New England don't rest. Play your starters. Drake May could take more snaps. But I look at Philadelphia and I think that's the one team I look at and I think rest your guys. SAQUON Barkley Hurts, A.J. brown, Lane, Johnson, those kind of players, they don't need another start. They need to get healthy, get ready, get focused and get better.
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Jason McIntyre
Yeah, they had the early November buy, so they've been, you know, they've had like eight straight games. Get some rest. What's the big deal? I don't think two or three really matters that much. You know Colin, this is interesting because yesterday I was positing the idea. Listen, if Sirianni goes one and done, maybe adust him, maybe you move off the oc I don't know. What about AJ Brown? Have you noticed things have been quiet around AJ Brown lately? What do you think that signifies? Is he happy all of a sudden?
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Colin Cowherd
Ask yourself this. Go look at the playoffs right now. So if you're Philadelphia, the Rams do not match up with AJ Brown. The Niners cannot create a pass rush. Chicago again does not generate a huge pass rush. Green Bay? No. Micah Parsons, Kenny Clark, Philadelphia. The one team that you look at with Philadelphia go that could be trouble is Seattle. Seattle generates a pass rush. They don't have to blitz. They've got old, they've got new Seattle, Philadelphia. But actually if you look at how Philadelphia matchups against the Niners, they're not great at corner. Jalen hurts with time to throw. If you look at the Rams again, hit and miss back into their defense, small corners. So I think Philadelphia all year long we've sort of, you know this J. Mac. When you get into the playoffs, a lot of it is matchups. Lamar beats everybody. He can't beat Mahomes and Steve Spagnola. So I Think Philadelphia outside of Seattle kind of matches up favorably. I mean, the Rams prime example, struggle at center. Well, Jalen, Carter, Davis. Remember when the Rams outplayed him earlier? And here comes the big Philadelphia nose block kicks. So a lot of these good teams in the NFC don't necessarily. With Micah out, Green Bay is not going to generate a pass rush. That would be great for Philadelphia.
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Jason McIntyre
Interesting. You, you think Seattle gives Philly problems? I, I, I don't want to go too overboard. It's early, but since they're by Seattle has had east coast trips to Washington, Tennessee, Atlanta, Carolina last week. If they have to go back to Philly in the playoffs. And your guys, SoCal guy, Sam Darnold in the cold, frigid Philadelphia weather in January, no shot. I'm not worried about Seattle at all, by the way, for gambling. I know Nobody's betting week 18 games like this. Tanner McKee, good backup quarterback. And you always like to say Philly has one of the best rosters. I think Philadelphia is a side here should anybody feel like they want to get involved. All right, let's go to the next story, and I love this one, Colin. The Dallas Cowboys, all of a sudden the George Pickens stuff is getting interesting. But one thing we never talked about, Colin, who is his agent? David Mulaguetta, who negotiated Micah Parsons out of Dallas. Remember Jerry Jones had the thing where he's like, I'll negotiate with the player, not the agent. Well, David Mulaguetta reps Pickens. And Jerry Jones was asked about that. Here is what he said.
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Colin Cowherd
I don't know. We'll see how it goes. Probably both. But I certainly intend to be speaking with George and I always have, always do. Already starting badly, I'm telling you. Ryan Flournoy CD Lamb Turpin, go draft another one. I think the Cowboys have more than enough depth. I think George Pickens kind of gave you an example of a little DK Metcalf where you don't dispute the talent, the size, you don't, the explosiveness, the physical dominance. But, you know, not all movies that are good for the first hour end well. And the George Pickens drama series did not end particularly well. Great start to the movie. I think I'd move off him now, and I didn't feel that eight weeks ago.
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Jason McIntyre
Yeah, the Mulaguetta stuff, I'm totally into, man. I, I love it because he is, he's not going to be happy. Hey, Jerry, didn't you learn your lesson with Micah? Don't go to the player, go to the Agent.
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Colin Cowherd
Why not?
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Jason McIntyre
What do you mean, why not? That's how it's done in the business.
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Colin Cowherd
What, I can't talk to my employees?
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Jason McIntyre
You think Fox comes to you to deal with you for your contract?
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Public Podcast Sponsor
No.
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Colin Cowherd
Oh, I actually talk with people. Yeah.
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Jason McIntyre
Okay.
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Colin Cowherd
All right. I'm just, I'm just saying as I, I, I don't think you always have to include an agent. I, I think that the idea that you have to include the agent, I can tell you owners would rather not deal with agents. And, and you know, the agent can often. I, I've had agents because I don't want to deal with my bosses. I'm doing content, so I just don't have time for it. And it is a lot of game playing. But I have no problem with Jerry reached out to the player and saying, you want to be a cowboy or not?
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Jason McIntyre
How many contracts do you think George Pickens has negotiated?
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Colin Cowherd
I don't know. It's none of my business.
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Jason McIntyre
He knows the ins and outs. This is this guy's job. His job is to strictly negotiate deals and get the best number for him. Pickens should say, yeah, Jerry, sorry I can't meet with you. I, I'm meeting with my agent. We'll bring him in the meeting. I think this has the, this is a fun all season story now because.
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Colin Cowherd
Mulligetta such a hard, legendary story where Jerry met with Michael Irvin one time and Michael Irvin was getting older or something. Michael Irvin came up and, you know, he wanted big money and Jerry said, I know Texas pretty well and I'm going to El Paso on that offer or something like that. Isn't there a funny old story which I don't know.
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Jason McIntyre
Sounds good though. Michael Irvin's got some stories. All right, let's wrap up with college football. Let's go back to your. That's your USC Trojans. Colin, if you're watching on the screen, this is the play that just got me last night. A dump off right, third and 21. Missed tackle two. And this one right. Oh, my gosh. And then he breaks it and he's gone. Listen, the kid Payne, I had to look him up to see if he was draft eligible for the jets. Like the mid rounds. That was a hell of a play by the running back. He's tough, man, this kid is. But this tackle, that's just abhorrent. USC was the first Big Ten loss of the exhibition bowl season. They started six and oh, oh. Afterward, Lindale White tweeted, do y' all ever practice tackling or is it always just about offense? I'm telling you, the Buzzards are certain. Lincoln Riley seems like a nice guy. We both have some connections there. This is going to be the big year for him. He needs lost.
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Colin Cowherd
He's lost now Tulane and TCU and bowl game.
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Jason McIntyre
Well, I don't care so much of it's how you lose. You can't tackle. And this has been a problem for three years. Remember that was it, the Pac12 title game against Utah where they just couldn't make. They couldn't tackle at all in that game. I think it might have been Utah, but this is just a problem that's just killed this team, man.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I think I don't know the solution. The one thing I've always said about Lincoln Riley, he's an offensive coach and the offense is always exceptional. I don't worry. I mean their star running backs, a walk on. I mean he gets walk on. They have walk ons on the O line. Walk ons at running back. He squeezes all the talent out of the offense. Jaden Maba should not be this good. Jaden Myop is going to get drafted next year.
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Jason McIntyre
He's good. I think he's good, man.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah, he wasn't that good at unlv.
- [32:23]
Jason McIntyre
Unlv.
- [32:24]
Colin Cowherd
So. So my question is, and it still stands, there's a difference between being a great offensive coach and being a great head coach. And there are still legitimate questions about around culture building and toughness and defense. With Lincoln running, I think that's totally fair. I think he's good at. At offense. I think he's very. He has obviously galvanized some of the players. The team likes each other. These bowl games are kind of irrelevant. I don't judge anything on these stupid bowl games anymore.
- [32:54]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah.
- [32:54]
Colin Cowherd
But I think the questions about Lincoln Riley are fair. Is he a culture builder? Does he create toughness? He inherited Bob Stoop's momentum and did. Did fine, but didn't necessarily elevate it to a new level. So I think all the questions about him are legitimate. Just like the questions about Brett Venables are. Okay, he's a great defensive coach, but what's the offense look like? And you watched Oklahoma this year and the offense was dreadful. So two guys who do some things very well are very good. Venables very good with defense. Lincoln very good with offense. But being Bob Stoops, you got to be good at both.
- [33:29]
Jason McIntyre
Is there a Mike McDaniel whiff here that USC's kind of soft like the Dolphins, you know, when they have to go to perf. Not a perfect setup. Don't play defense.
- [33:40]
Colin Cowherd
In Lincoln Riley's run at usc, they are number one passing offense in college football, number three total offense. So again, I've always said this. I will defend coaches who know their side of the ball. The Texans offense may stink, but d' Ameco Ryan's defense is money every year. I know d' Ameco can coach it. Does he know the offense very well and it's all over the map.
- [34:03]
Jason McIntyre
So is this an issue with just identifying hard nosed tough guys to get to your defense? Because, well, the portal's got a billion guys in it. You're telling me they can't go out and just hand pick and say, hey man, you want to come live in California? Go to usc, make some nil. Just we need you to tackle and.
- [34:18]
Colin Cowherd
Play tough, physical, wearing a blindfold here. I am not oblivious to the issues with Lincoln Riley's teams. Bad tackling, feel soft. If it, if it gets cloudy, a little rain, they don't, they, they don't show up. I think those are all totally legitimate. Am I, do I think USC donors ad former players should be happy where they're at? No, I don't think it should take this long. Bob Stoops won a Natty at Oklahoma year two.
- [34:45]
Jason McIntyre
That was a different era though.
- [34:46]
Colin Cowherd
Well, it should be easier now. I can go buy players.
- [34:49]
Jason McIntyre
It should. No, that's fair.
- [34:50]
Commercial Voice
That's fair.
- [34:51]
Colin Cowherd
Lane Kiffin. How long did it take Lane Kiffin to win at Ole Miss in the sec?
- [34:55]
Jason McIntyre
And by the way, are you reading some of this Lane Kiffin stuff that's going on with this bowl game? Ole Miss? Oh my gosh.
- [35:03]
Colin Cowherd
J. Mac of the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by the Herd line news since Lincoln Riley got to USC number one passing offense in college football, 103rd defense. I'm watching the same thing you're watching. I think you're, I think your criticisms are totally valid. Just get out of the USC Notre Dame argument. The criticisms are totally valid. I watched the highlights last night. I, I bowl games now are backups and third string guys. But I think the criticisms are fair. I don't think they're cheap shots. You can't be 103rd in the country in defense during your run as a coach. If you're, if you're the number one program in Southern California, that's not good enough. There's all sorts of good defensive players in high school in the area. It's 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.
- [35:58]
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- [36:29]
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- [36:59]
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- [37:29]
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- [38:39]
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- [39:15]
Jason McIntyre
There's some more great football coming your way in the Trust and will Holiday Bowl Noah Fifita in Arizona take on SMU it's a can't miss showdown in San Diego Friday 7:30 Eastern, 4:30 Pacific on Fox.
- [39:30]
Colin Cowherd
The LeBron James is shooting 65% from the free throw line this year. Even the freebies are hard. The Lakers are statistically better when he's not on the floor, not when he's on it. He's averaging 20 a game, so statistically, yes, he's still viable, but it's not M.J. to the Wizards. He's still more viable than that because it's a different era. He's in better shape and I will defend LeBron forever. He does more things well than any basketball player I've ever seen. He's the most skilled top to bottom. Talent, size, skill. If you add it all up. Teammate passing, he's really the best I've ever seen. I don't think. He passes like Magic, shoots like Bird, is quite the twitchy athlete as Michael Jordan. Not as not as aggressive as Kobe or MJ with a ball in his hands. But he's always done the league right, never gets in trouble. But I do think I saw this this morning. The All Star voting came out. He was 15th and that's actually good for LeBron and it's good for the league. If LeBron was top two or three in voting, you'd have a real problem. He's not. He's below a guy that's a forward for the Blazers, and I'm not sure people know who that guy is in Portland. LeBron has moved into the career achievement stage like Al Pacino, you know, a little bit. People want to see Timothy Chalamet, but Al Pacino has the better resume. And so I think that's where we are with LeBron. And I think this new ownership group. Remember when Bob Myers left the warriors as GM because he didn't want to move off Klay Thompson? He loved those guys. I think the Buss family felt they owed LeBron a solid. Let's draft Bronnie. Let's give LeBron another extension. I think they struggled with it, and I think over the course of the last couple years, Jeannie Buss is like, you know what? I feel like we're just not really getting any better in the west, and we're going to sell it to the Dodgers group. And I don't think the Dodgers group is cutthroat. They have a lot more money. Their R and D with the Dodgers is amazing. But I think the Buss family would not quite know what to do with this LeBron. And I think the Dodger and new Laker owners know exactly what to do. LeBron's been great for the game, and it's actually great for the game that he is 15th in all star voting. There is no question he's had his run. He knows it, The Lakers know it, the new owners know it, the league knows it. It's time to golf. LeBron turning 41 yesterday. Here he is. Just go out, just have fun, enjoy the ride, because you never know when it comes to an end. So it goes fast. I'm solid. I'm solid. I'm living the dream. I'm solid. So, yeah, I mean, there. There you see it. It's point differentials, points per game, net rating a little bit better when LeBron's off the floor. It's okay. That's okay. You can still put Pacino in a movie. It's not going to drive ticket prices. So, you know, I was looking at all the playoff teams this morning, and we still have to watch the Seahawks Niners game and the Panthers Buck game. You don't have to watch that. But Raven Steelers I think, is very good. I'm going to take Baltimore to win, Pittsburgh to cover. I think Seattle's going to win. I'm not very sure, but I was looking over all these teams, afc, nfc. Sorry to the radio audience, but I've got them all lined up here. And I do feel like this morning that you either have to have an elite coach, an elite quarterback, or both to make it. There's really no exceptions here. I do think, however, there's a spectacular six. I think there are six coaches and that literally, I feel like the toughest matchups in the playoffs are when you say to me, Sean Payton takes on Vrabel. I really don't know who's going to win that game. It's much easier for me if you give me a Ben Johnson against the mediocre defensive coach. That's why picking the playoffs is hard. Not just against the spread. It's hard, period. But I think there are six coaches in this sport right now that they squeeze more juice out of the roster. And they do that by every player on that roster or almost every player is about a half grade better. Right? Like Sean Payton can take a C plus guy and make him a B minus guy. He can't do a full grade. This is what Phil Jackson did. He couldn't turn Brian Shaw into Derek Fisher or forget Kobe, but he could get the best Brian Shaw or Steve Kerr or Dennis Rodman. He could get the best out of every player. He would squeeze half a grade out of a player. And I, and I think there are six guys in the league that do it. And all except Andy Reader in the playoffs. I think Rabel does it. I think McVeigh and Shanahan do it. I think Peyton does it. Jim Harbaugh does it. Mike Frable now I think d' Amico Ryan's defensively and Ben Johnson offensively also do it. I think, I think these six are different. And you know, I always say, if you look at the Rams, why is the offense this good? Stafford could not win a playoff game in Detroit. Puka was drafted in the fifth round. Tyler Higby, their top tight end most of the last several years. Fourth round. Kyron Williams, running back, fifth round left tackles, undrafted. It's the McVeigh magic. They should not be this good. They just take mid round offensive guys and they. Who has undrafted left tackles and. And bone. Sean Payton was talking about winning a division with Andy Reeden, Mahomes and Herbert and Harbaugh. Here's Sean Payton. We actually didn't even talk about it. I haven't seen the hats of the shirts. My understanding is they're pretty ugly. We just didn't really talk about it. The focus was on this week's game and the Chargers and the seating ramifications. Really trying to educate them relative to what's going to be important here down the stretch. I think we have more good coaches than we've ever had, especially on the offensive side. But you know, I say people think you don't like Brock Purdy. And I always say, guys, the Niners passed on Brock Purdy six times. The Niners didn't think he was worth a six round pick. So, you know, he's a little small. He's been dinged up a little bit. His arms, okay, can be a little reckless. Certainly was at Iowa State. I mean that was the numbers. If a team passes on a guy six times and then gets magic in a seventh round pick, maybe, maybe the coach, maybe It's a Shanahan McVeigh. It's a variable. I mean, I liked Drake May a lot. Did you really think he would be MVP this year? Really? How many had that ticket? I mean, I love Mahomes. I don't think he'd be as good with Sean McDermott. Maybe he'd have a Super Bowl. Would he have multiple? I mean even Brady's early career, Belichick was hugely influential. By the end, Belichick and his lousy drafting got in the way of it. But I, when I, when you start looking at all these playoff teams that are in right now, what's the common thread? Not all of them are big markets. Not all of them are great with free agents. Not all of them are great drafting teams. You gotta have a great coach, a great quarterback or both. And you know, because Peyton can lead with his chin and be outspoken, nobody wants to put him in that McVeigh class. Go look at the Saints before Breeze got there, before Peyton got there. Look at the Saints when Sean Payton was there. Look at the Saints now that Sean Payton's gone. And, and this is just, it's almost underreported. Look at what he inherited in Denver with Russell Wilson's cap hit. And they're going to make the playoffs in Denver. Back to back years with B Knicks, who half of you don't like in A division with Harbaugh, Herbert Reed and Mahomes. I, I'm sorry, put it up again. The spectacular six. There are six coaches here that they, they got that Phil Jackson thing. They just squeeze the roster. They just. And I was told this years ago by a general manager that you can't even. The best coach in the world, Andy Reid, can't take a C receiver and make him a B receiver. He can take a C plus receiver and move him up a half grade. But Rasheed Rice is, is never going to be Calvin Johnson. You know, he's. Can you make Rasheed Rice B plus plus like Dak? Prescott's really good. He's had multiple coaches. He'll never be A plus, but, but I think he's a B Plus quarterback but I do think when you give him CD Lamb and good production in a run game there's arguments he's been in that a category maybe lower A but a so jame any anybody in the NFL I think Ben Johnson offensively feels like that D', Ameco Ryan's and Mike McDonald defensively but they're really great coaches. Their magic spreads throughout the roster, not just their side.
- [49:07]
Jason McIntyre
I think Ben Johnson will get in there if he's not already. Kevin o' Connell deserves to be in there but it's interesting. So you have Peyton in there and Shanahan. Right. And they have two quarterbacks in Bo Nix and Brock Purdy and we now have two seasons of data on Bo Nicks. He's been good. We have three full seasons of data on Purdy. He's played four but due to injuries three. And pie's been by far better than Brock. Better than Bo Nicks. It's not even close. Brock Purdy over Knicks so you like to say hey when I get new information you kind of give a new diagnosis. Are you ready to give the diagnosis that Brock Purdy is an elite quarterback and better than Bo Nix? Are you ready to go there with three seasons worth of data?
- [49:47]
Colin Cowherd
Well, do you contextualize like injuries and durability and athletic ability? Bo Nix never gets hurt.
- [49:54]
Jason McIntyre
Bo Nicks hasn't been hurt.
- [49:56]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah like college pro like Brock Purdy multiple times also Bo Nix I would say late game last two years has been unbelievable. I mean Purdy there's, there's moments. I mean they did win this weekend without Kittle but when Kittle hasn't played.
- [50:17]
Jason McIntyre
Williams and Trent Williams but.
- [50:18]
Colin Cowherd
But when Kittle hasn't played Brock really hasn't been quite the quarterback. There is no individual wide receiver, tight end, running back you can tie that same number to. Bo Nixon, Drake Ocell next. What are you reaching for? If you're a smoker or dipper, you could be reaching for more with Zen nicotine pouches. When you reach for Zen, you're reaching for 10 satisfying varieties and two strengths for a smoke free, spit free option.
- [50:51]
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- [50:52]
Colin Cowherd
Instead of stepping away for premium rewards, chances to break free from your routine and a unique nationwide community. Whatever you're reaching for, reach for it with America's number one nicotine pouch brand. Find your Zen wherever nicotine products are sold near you. Warning. This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Hi, it's Colin from the Colin Coward podcast. I've been around long enough to know quality when I see it. Or in this case, when I taste it. Tito's Handmade Vodka Good stuff. No flash, no gimmick. Smooth, clean tasting. Made the right way. Tito's Made in Austin, Texas. Real attention to detail. I like to keep it simple. Tito's Soda one lime, lot of ice. Refreshing, easy. Summer, winter, spring. Totally versatile. Always works. Listen, baseball season's here. The perfect time to kick back with some Tito's. It's what I pour. You should too. Distilled and bottled by 5th Generation Inc. Austin, Texas 40% alcohol by volume saver Responsibly People talk a lot about athletes performance, but what about your own? QuestHealth.com can help you understand where your health stands. With Quest. You can buy your own lab tests online, no doctor visit required. Quest has a huge selection of lab tests for everything from fitness to heart, health and more. Just buy a test online and visit a nearby Quest location for sample collection. You'll get four fast results online and for a limited time you can save on select lab tests@questhealth.com use the code HERD10 at checkout. Terms apply on Fox 1 now you can stream your favorite live sports so you can be there live for the biggest moments. Touchdown and catch history in the Matrix. G Fox we live for live streaming now.
- [52:48]
Commercial Voice
Did you know Microsoft has officially ended Support for Windows 10? Upgrade to Windows 11 with an LG Gram laptop. Voted PCMag's Reader's Choice top laptop brand for 2025. Thin and ultra lightweight, the LG Gram keeps you productive anywhere, and Windows 11 gives you access to free security updates and ongoing feature upgrades. Visit LGUSA.com iheartra for great seasonal savings on LG Gram laptops with Windows 11. PCMag reader's choice used with permission. All rights reserved.
- [53:18]
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