← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
THE HERD - Hour 1 - Mike McCarthy & Aaron Rodgers may still work, taking a look at Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson
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This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human 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 Hanquitz and Jenise Torres are talking to self starters about the ins and outs of entrepreneurship and 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. RingCentral knows that businesses run on communication and juggling separate systems for team collaboration and customer service creates confusion, missed opportunities and frustrated customers. RingCentral changes everything with RingEx and Ring CX, one powerful platform that connects your entire organization. RingEx keeps connected with seamless calling, messaging and video meetings, whether they're in the office or working remotely. Meanwhile, Ring CX transforms your customer experience with AI powered contact center capabilities that route calls intelligently and provide real time insights. The magic happens when they work together. Your customer service agents can instantly collaborate with experts across your company to solve problems faster. No more transferring customers between systems or losing context. With over 500,000 businesses trusting RingCentral and 99.999 uptime reliability, you're in good company. Visit RingCentral.com that's RingCentral.com RingCentral voice of your business thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the 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. Oh we got a good one today. It's a Friday. This will be the best Friday show pre super bowl week I've ever had. I really believe that. I, I honestly what happened in the NBA night last night was unbelievable. What's happening with a couple of the young stars? Unbelievable. I love today's show, you know, so I gotta, I didn't know what I'm about to tell you but I, I have a couple of young hipsters on the staff and they informed me this morning and I thought this had a sports connection, that the Android phone actually has better technology than the Apple iPhone, but the Apple iPhone has better marketing and branding. And what'll happen is, you know, this happens in tech. Apple will, you know, maybe borrow a couple of the Android widget features, and a couple years later, you'll be like, oh, man, Apple's phone's the best. And Android users are like, yeah, we've been doing that stuff. We've been doing that stuff years ago. So I was told, hey, don't shoot the messenger. The hipsters tell me that Android phones have better widgets, gadgets, features than the iPhone. IPhone's got better branding. And I saw a story this morning, late yesterday actually, that Mike McCarthy, the Steelers, hired his old offensive line coach, James Campen, who Aaron Rodgers loves, to go with him to Pittsburgh. They're trying to transform this offense. And I think a lot of Mike McCarthy's problem, like Android, is the marketing and branding. I mean, you hear people say, Pete Carroll, he'll get hall of Fame votes. Well, Mike McCarthy has the same playoff record as Pete Carroll and a better regular season record. And McCarthy's only been canned once. Pete's adding them up. I mean, Mike McCarthy 12 times has had a top 10 scoring offense. Pete Carroll doesn't have that. So he is a good coach, there's no question. And he wins a lot of games and his team score a lot of points. So I think hearing this news, I said this, it feels a little uninspiring. He's older, he's a Pittsburgh guy, but I think he's a good coach. And Pittsburgh did just go 10 and 7 with an organization and a head coach that felt kind of the last six, seven years, tone deaf to offense. And remember this Mike McCarthy when he joined Green Bay, you remember Brett Favre was like 36 years old, led the league at interceptions. Packers were bad. They hired Mike McCarthy. What happened? Favre was back to being a Pro Bowler, and I think he made the NFC championship. So it's like Mike McCarthy makes quarterbacks better. In fact, Ian O', Connor, who wrote a book, a great book on Aaron Rodgers, out of the Darkness, must read. The first couple chapters are his family's history. Aaron's family's history is amazing. He says when he did all this homework for the book, he says, Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy don't believe it. It'll work. Their relationship is better now than it ever was when they were together in Green Bay. And Roger said to me, listen, we did butt heads, but at the end of the day, we lit it up for a lot of years. And what people Forget is Mike McCarthy changed Aaron Rodgers entire style of play when he got him out of Cal. He was very robotic. He had the ball back at his ear hole and McCarthy loosened him up and made him a more athletic player and really helped develop him into an all time great and never gets any credit for that. So what is the ceiling for this partnership? Probably 11 and 6 at best. Winning a playoff game. Okay. They were 10 and 7 last year and they weren't great offensively, but they won the division and they'll be better offensively. It's just certain. The Android. Mike McCarthy. I always said Steven Soderbergh is a director in Hollywood. I love all his films. The Limey, Ocean's Eleven, Aaron Brockovich, Sex Lives and Videotape Traffic is one of my 10, 15 favorite movies of all time. He doesn't get mentioned a lot. He's got one Oscar. Mike McCarthy's got one super bowl trophy. Like some people, and I don't know why it necessarily is. I just watched Black Bag. Steven Soderbergh, I don't go to the theater anymore unless it's Mission Impossible. I do not go to the theater. I literally was sitting on my couch. The staff laughed at me. I look, oh, Steven Soderbergh's got a new movie. Boom. Went and watched it. I was like, came back. I'm like, it's the best movie I've seen of the year. Black Bag. Loved it. Spy thriller. Unbelievable. So, like, I, I don't think it's the as good as John Harbaugh, maybe to the giants. But McCarthy's record and John Harbaugh's resume, they look like they're mirror images of one another. We think this of Harbaugh and then Mike McCarthy's like, yeah, I don't know. I don't know if it works. You know, the Harbaugh name is obviously very powerful and it should be. But when I saw the hiring of the Green Bay offensive line coach that Aaron loved and McCarthy loved, I'm like, okay, here's the transition to finally getting an offensive coordinator that the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers loves and has worked with. It's like, oh, that's a real thing. That's a real thing. When Robert Sala got the job of the Titans, it's even better that Brian Dables is the offensive coordinator. I'm like, oh, that will work for sure now. The Pittsburgh thing has grown on me. So this week, very interesting. Josh Allen. We've had a lot of people crying this week and we've had a lot of emotional people getting jobs, getting let go. Josh Allen got very Very emotional this week when Sean McDermott got fired. Reportedly, it was a very emotional time. You know, I don't know if people know this in the last 40 years, that's four decades. That's a long time. Every quarterback that's won an MVP in the last 40 years has won a Super bowl except Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. And I was thinking about this this morning. Both now are massive cap hits limits the roster. Both now have head coaches. It's very realistic. The coaches now they have are not as good as the last guy. I mean, Sean McDermott won 66% of his games. Okay, that's, that's really high. And John Harbaugh's got a winning playoff record and a Super bowl trophy. Do we think Jesse Minter will be better than that? I don't know. Do we think Joe Brady will be better than McDermott? And both quarterbacks now not only have massive cap hits, we just saw Josh Allen in a boot. And Lamar Jackson has been hurt several times, so he's a little bit injury prone. And then here's the other thing. So if I had to bet today, is Lamar Jackson going to get to a Super bowl, my bet today would be, no, I don't think he will. And I'm a huge fan. And if I had to bet, will Josh Allen get to a Super bowl, it would be yes, but he would be an underdog. And I don't think they would win because of his cap hit. Because just in the afc. Forget the fact that Drake May and Bo Nix both have a top five coach in the league, an established winning coach. But both Drake May and Bo Nicks have tiny cap hits for the next three, four years. So those Denver rosters, those New England rosters are going to be baked. They're going to be fantastic. Better than Buffalo for sure. And then my question is if Josh Allen gets to a Super Bowl. Well, the NFC has many of the best GMs. Seattle and San Francisco and LA and Philadelphia and Detroit and the Rams and Tampa Bay and Green Bay. So if you get to a Super bowl, you got to get past Sean Payton and a stack roster and Mike Vrabel in the stacked roster, Jim Harbaugh. Then you get to the NFC with more stacked rosters. Here's Josh Allen on the moves in Buffalo. As much success we've had over the last, you know, eight to nine seasons, we still haven't been able to get, get the main job done. So again, what does that look like? Who's involved in those decisions of what it looks like but I truly believe in the direction of this organization starting from the top. And I think that again, whatever Joe needs from me, I'm going to do. I think that it's the right decision for this organization. Now there's only two jobs left. Clint Kubiak, the Seattle offensive coordinator obviously has a Super Bowl a couple Sundays from now. He is the leading candidate in Las Vegas, reportedly, and Arizona. I think Vegas is a better gig. I Tom Brady's one of the owners. I like that they've also got some interesting offensive people. Last night in the NBA, something crazy happened and it never happened before. And also Sean Payton and Bo Nixon. Are they at each other's throats? That's what's being reported. We'll talk about both next in Chicago. 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 hey, it's Ben, host of the Fifth Hour with Ben Maller. Would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking, what in God's name is the fifth Hour? I'll tell you. It's a spin off of the Ben Ma Show, a cold hit overnights on fsr. Why should you listen? Picture, if you will, a world where we chat with captains of industry in media, sports and more every week. Explore some amazing facts about human nature and more. Listen to the fifth hour with Ben Ma on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. 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. Mind the Business is part entertainment, part instruction manual, part inspiration. Each episode features practical tips and success stories that will resonate with entrepreneurs in any industry. In their latest season, hosts Austin Henkowitz and Janieze Torres are covering topics on the forefront of running a small business. They're talking to self starters about everything from how AI helps them work smarter to weathering market uncertainties and enjoying the benefits of being your own boss and using Inuit QuickBooks to help you get more done in less time. You won'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. All right, two Truths and a Lie. Here we go. I went to college with college football coach Jim McElwain I began my broadcasting career doing play by play for the Las Vegas Stars, and I've been a Verizon customer for 15 years. Okay, I lied. All three are true. Verizon isn't as expensive as you think. In fact, if you bring in your AT&T or T Mobile bill to a Verizon store, they'll give you a better deal. That's right, a better deal on the best network with the most ways to save on plans, streaming and phone deals. So take that AT and T or T Mobile, build your local Verizon store today, get a better deal and start saving based on root metrics. Best overall Mobile Network Performance U.S. 2nd Half 2025 All Rights Reserve must provide recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply. Maybe it's because I like conflict. I'm okay with it. I don't know why it is, but a lot of times I defend people. I remember when Peyton Manning got into a really ugly argument with Jeff Saturday, and I worked at the other place at the time. And I remember saying, you got to resign Saturday. Somebody's got to push back on Peyton Manning. We had the famous Josh McDaniel, Tom Brady Blow up on the sidelines, and I'm like, well, Brady's got an ego. No, Brady's competitive and so is Josh McDaniels, who I talked to this morning. Like, these guys are fighters. They're competitive, they're intense, they're talented. Like, everybody's freaking out about, like Bo Nixon, Sean Payton. Now, Sean sometimes leads with his chin and not everybody likes him and I didn't love him talking about Bo Nix's injury and Bo Nix fired back. This happened this week. What was found, though? What was a condition that was like predisposed because when you look at the play and you're trying to evaluate it, he said, the doctor operating surgeon said that though this was, this was going to happen sooner than later. Nothing predisposed, nothing that was there originally. I might have gotten confused, but I don't think he really should share how many surgeries I've had in the past, to be honest with you. But because I don't, you know, he doesn't really even know that and nothing really that concerns me. Nothing that scares me going forward. So I heard this week and read this week all over the Internet. Is Sean Payton blowing up the Broncos? No. That's what Nat Hackett almost did and the gm, who's pretty sharp almost did. Giving away draft picks and paying a fortune for Russell Wilson. Sean Payton saved Denver. Saved Denver. If Bo Nix is healthy, they're probably in the Super Bowl. So sometimes, you know, one of the things I love about the NFL, it's not sanitized. It's. It's not. It's. It's the most popular thing on tv, but it's not a TV show. There's controversy and weird calls and people get emotional and they cry and they. It's not sanitized. It's head coach, Quarterback, to me is a lot like a marriage when you stop talking. That's the problem. That was sort of the Belichick, Tom Brady issue. They didn't have dinner for 20 years. They didn't, you know, and they would go back and forth. But at some point, remember that documentary from Gotham Chopra? Like, you know, even, you know, Giselle was saying, my, my husband doesn't feel respected or heard. Like, that's the problem. Bo Nix wants to make sure Sean Payton's hurt him. And Sean Payton's a guy that leads with his chin. So I always feel like this. If. If. And Sean leads with his chin and gets battered around, it's like, okay, like, if you want to dominate your players, coach college sports, you recruit him, you control them, go be a college coach. But pro athletes have strong opinions. Pro athletes fire back. Bo Nix is hyper intense and super competitive, and he's going to defend his body and his brand. And Sean Payton probably heard something from the doctor and kind of ad libbed it, and Bo Nix didn't love it. And that's okay. That's the reality of pro sports. And football's got a regulated level of violence. Go sit in the sideline and listen to the language during the game between teammates. We just saw the Seahawks, their safety and their corner going after each other on the sidelines. And when they asked the Seahawk corner about that, he's like, it's good, bro. We're all trying to get to the same place. We love each other. Any relationship that's close has disagreements, deal with a conflict. It's not that big of a deal. And sometimes I think the people that cover the sport, they want it more sanitized. That's why even when Aaron Rodgers gives me a quote and I totally disagree with it, I appreciate the content, I appreciate the quote, I appreciate the segment. And Sean Payton gives me segments. And I like the fact that Bo Nick's pushed back, but I've seen him argue three or four times on the sideline this year, and I'm totally Okay with it. I kind of like it. J. Mac with the news. No, no, no. Turn on the news.
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This is the Herd line news. Well, the Eagles announced yesterday that they have found their offensive coordinator and he is. Drum roll, please. 33 year old Sean Manion. Yes, 33 years old. You probably remember the name. I'm fairly certain he was in the league in 2021. I mean, Colin, this is a super young guy. He will be replacing Kevin Petullo, who was a straight up disaster. Sirianni is very excited about this hire and I think part of it has to do with some of the coaches that Sean Manion played for. Are you ready, Colin? During his NFL career, he just happened to be a backup with Sean McVay as his head coach, with Kevin O' Connell as his head coach, with Matt LaFleur as his head coach. So he comes from that McVay tree.
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Yes.
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It's unclear as of right now if he's going to call plays or not. This guy has 2 years experience as a coach. He was a quarterback coach last year. That's all he's really done. Colin, is, is he too young for the job? Does he have enough experience?
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I root for people, young people who get jobs. I've always, you probably in your first big job, could be my kids. It could be this coach. Your first big job of your career, you should bail water for about six weeks if you're ready for the job. Your first job out of college or your first big job in your mid-20s, late 20s. I mean, big job, if you're totally ready for it. It's not a challenge. So I, I, I am always rooting for people that go into jobs where you're like, I'm not sure they're ready. It'll all come down to this. How smart is he? Smart people learn stuff faster that, I mean, if he's a smart guy. Philadelphia's whiffed on some coordinator hires. They've hit on some coordinator hires. You'll know by Thanksgiving. I don't expect him to be great in, you know, he's not Sean McVeigh. He worked, he worked next to Sean McVeigh. He is not Sean McVeigh. But I, we just don't know. This is one of these. He could be brilliant, but it is Sean McVeigh's. He's really become one of the coaching tree guys of note in this league and some of them have worked. And Raheem Morris in Atlanta didn't work, so who knows?
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Yeah, interesting. So he went to Oregon State. I Think you have an affinity for.
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Or for the Beavers?
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I do want to ask one of your theories that you like to say is, hey, if a coach hits the open market, how much interest is there? I can't find a lot of interviews that Sean Marion had this cycle, Colin. So I don't know if this is a job that's maybe above his head. Like you said, bailing water for six weeks. Is that going to work on a team that just won the super bowl and it's supposed to be a contender?
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It is a high scrutiny job like Philadelphia offensive coordinator is probably the toughest coordinator job in the entire league. I'd argue it is. Philadelphia is different. You know, it's just, it's even harsher than New York.
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I would say it's a very boom bust because right now people coming in like, what is, what kind of.
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Sean McGee was a coordinator at 27. You can look that up. Shanahan was a coordinator at 28. So I'm not going to, you know, again, I'm not banging on somebody because they're young. There's a, there's brilliant 27, 28, 29 year olds all over the country. Agree.
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Let's move on to the Tennessee Titans. They had a really strong coaching cycle, hiring Robert Salah as a head coach and Brian dabel as the OC. Salah said Dable's history of developing young QBs was the reason he wanted him on the staff, calling him the perfect man to match up with Cam Ward and maximize who he is. You and I both love this pairing. I, I, you don't want to go overboard and say D was going to take them to the moon. But remember, Cam Ward was the number one overall pick. Slam dunk. There was no debate about it.
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It's very difficult. Listen, I mean it's, it's. And I think most fans are pretty good about this when you don't have the right coach, coordinator or roster. And they're. And it always feels like to me, mine the last 10 years, I always feel like Tennessee is like skilled players shy. They're like they get the defensive line right. They've had good offensive linemen, they've had star backs, good tight. I always feel like they're a receiver or three shy nothing. Nobody could have won last year. You could take a veteran quarterback and you would have struggled with this team. So Cam Ward's a kid. I, my take is this is, this is. How many games did Tennessee win this year?
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Not many. 3 and 14.
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Okay. This is the easiest bet the two easiest bets of teams in the league that will double their win total. New York Giants and the Tennessee Titans. Those are the two easiest. Now the over, under, over Vegas total is probably going to be for the Giants about seven and a half. Take the over for Tennessee it'll probably be six. I'd probably take the over there. I don't think either is a 13 win team, but I can assure you Tennessee is going to double their win total minimum.
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I don't, I don't disagree. Interesting that Cam Ward is not in the Pro Bowl. He did have 15 touchdowns and seven picks better ratio than Shadour Sanders who is in the Pro Bowl. Let's move on to the final story. Let's go to Kansas City Chiefs Scotland. Oh, we love the Chiefs on this network, although on this show not so much. But they did add Eric B. Enemy as their new offensive coordinator. Now it's technically not new because this is his second stint as the OC and kc he is very excited to be back with Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid. Here's the Enemy talking to the media.
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Big Red ever picks up the phone, that's the only person that you'll say, hey, you know what, it may be time to return home. Having this opportunity to come back and be put in this chair with Coach Reed, that was just something that is tough to pass up on. I'm just excited and fired up about the opportunity. I feel like a kid in a candy store. Well, they got to fix their offensive line, but my guess is that division now, I mean you got a stacked roster. The Charger in Denver, you got Fernando Mendoza is going to. You say what you want about the Raiders, they're going to knock off those teams. They're going to. They may finish fourth. They'll be feisty if they get Clint Kubiak, Fernando Mendoza, Colton Miller, left tackle, gets healthy. Keep your eye on the Raiders. Being interesting that that division is a handful. We've said this before. J. Mac lebron. He kept getting to the finals because Toronto was the second best team in the East. Saban dominated the sec. Then Kirby Smart got the job at Georgia. Sark from Texas. Alabama didn't look the same. Part of being a dynasty. Tom Brady had a dynasty. Buffalo was a mess. The jets were often a mess. I mean Rex Ryan actually beat New England a couple times. It's part of being a dynasty is it's an easy Runway. We thought Buffalo was going to have an easy path. Now they've got Drake, Maeve Rabel, Josh McDaniel, cap space like, it can't. Kansas City could be significantly better than last year and not make the playoffs because, you know, the chargers with Mike McDaniel and their tackles are going to be a different offense completely.
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But does this kind of not feel like, hey, man, you know, there was a. They were dating before the Chiefs had beat me. Then they break up, go in a different direction, and then you break up for that relationship and you go back to your old girlfriend. I mean, this is kind of the same thing the Chiefs had before. I don't want to say Andy Reid's running out of ideas, but, Colin, at some point, don't you have to go outside of your comfort zone? Hey, we got Nagy, we got bnm, we got. We got all our guys.
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If, like, if something works, it's okay to go back to.
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It didn't work last year. That's the problem. They went back to old stuff. It didn't work. I mean, I don't know, maybe I'm being too negative here. I know Chiefs fans get very passionate defending their team.
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I think the Eric B. Enemy Andy Reid relationship was very strong. They want to lot of games.
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I'm five years ago, different time, different roster, different everything.
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I think Mahomes and Andy Reed are still there. That's good. Yeah. Yeah.
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No Kelsey, no Tyreek Hill to bail him out.
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Huh? Huh? Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by the herd Lie news. I've said this. I love the NBA playoffs. Regular season can be sort of long. But let me give the NBA credit. Adam Silver has finally, the league has figured it out that college basketball is a free marketing brand for you, like college football is for the NFL. The difference is the NFL's always understood how valuable college football is. The NBA is like G League. Don't go to college, go to the G League. G League is the witness protection program. Nobody cares. Nobody watches it. Duke, Carolina, Arizona, UConn, Michigan State. That is free marketing. And the coaches are better than G League coaches. So Adam Silver, I think, has finally wrapped his brain around this and wrapped his arms around it. He came on our show and we talked about this. Lean into college basketball, especially programs like Duke, who furnish you with not only great players, but we all know who they are. And this is a multifaceted rant. I could go on for an hour on this topic, but two dookies that just came out of the draft, which was a hell of a draft, have now entered the NBA. And they met last night. And these kids are unbelievable. Two Dukies, two Duke rookies, Cooper flags only 19 years old, he dropped 49 points. And then Con Kanopol is only 20. He dropped 34. Both Duke guys and they are so insanely skilled for their age. I mean when LeBron came out, he was a freight train. I don't think he had Cooper Flag's bag. I really don't. Rookie year. I've never seen a teenager in the NBA that is this good. Offensively, both these kids are sensational. They're almost European in their skill set. They're versatile. I mean they put Cooper Flag at point guard. They put on a show last night, 149, 134. It was a great game. And this is. They're what the NBA was hoping John Morant was, but he was too immature. Or Zion, but he kept getting hurt and was unfocused. I don't know if these two dookies can be the face of the league. But Cooper Flag, I said it before the draft, I'll say it now. He's a better version at this age than Jason Tatum. Much more aggressive, better defender. These kids are unbelievable. If you go to the last 25 games for Cooper flag shooting 50% from the floor average and 22 and a half points a game. And they put on a clinic last night. And the other thing that really helps, college basketball went through about a 20 year drought where I stopped talking about it. All the good players were one and done. And so college basketball is significantly better today. They're just got more, more good players. And what it's done, it's given like these two Duke kids a better training ground for the NBA. So I mean that Cooper Flag is something else. And the other thing is, I looked this up this morning just to give you an idea of how college basketball has changed. Three drafts ago there was only one college basketball player in the top five. It was becoming a European draft. They had more skill this draft, first 11 picks, I'll say it, ours, our college basketball players. So and J. Mac and I have talked about this. Next year's draft, this upcoming draft is unbelievable. At the top, the top three players could all be like high end all stars. And the top five players in this draft, Ace Bailey's in Utah, Edgecomb in Philadelphia, Harper in San Antonio, the kid in Charlotte, Cooper Flag, all outstanding. But those two guys last night, I mean it was, it was something else. Here's Cooper Flag on his battle with a former teammate. It's incredible, you know. You know, I think it's pretty well known that was my roommate last year and you know, just to have a, have a night like this with him and you know, I know how special he is and you know how hard he works. So it's just funny, you know, I think, you know, 10 plus years down the road, you know, I think we'll both be looking back on this, you know, as a pretty special thing. Con, can Apple and Cooper flag? I'm looking at their rookie rankings. Points a game, they're 1 and 2. Rebounds a game, they're 3 and 7. Assists a game, they're 4th and 5. God, it, they are. It's just, you know, if you didn't watch it, go to YouTube. Both these guys are. They just, I mean, they look like they're 26, 27 year old guys. All sorts of, I mean Khan can literally catch and shoot. He can lead with the ball. They both have a sense of what's around them. It just, we thought, John Moran Zion we thought were like, okay, this is going to be the league going forward. And between injuries and immaturity, like that didn't work. I don't see that as an issue with these two guys. But it is. Thankfully, the NBA has finally come to terms with use and lean into Duke and UConn and Kansas and UCLA and Arizona and Gonzaga and your, you know, Michigan states lean into this. The coaching's better and it's free marketing. It's I get to watch these guys for two years, sometimes only one, but I get to watch them. So it's been one of the gifts of the NFL whether you liked Baker Mayfield or not. Coming out of Oklahoma, you had an opinion. European guys could be good. I haven't seen them. I don't even have an opinion. And they usually go to awful teams, so you don't watch them much for the first four or five years. All right, the coaching hires. We've only got two coaching positions left. We'll grade what we think are the coaching hires. And you're not going to believe a movie that's going to get made in Hollywood. You're not going to believe this thing they're talking about. Sam Darnold in Tinseltown. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific. I'm calling 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 for My Heart Media's Ruby Studio and Inuit QuickBooks. Mind the business is part entertainment, part instruction manual, part inspiration. Each episode features practical tips and success stories that will resonate with entrepreneurs in any industry. In their latest season, hosts Austin Henk and Janie Torres are covering topics on the forefront of running a small business. They're talking to self starters about everything from how AI helps them work smarter to weathering market uncertainties and enjoying the benefits of being your own boss. And using Inuit Quickbooks to help you get more done in less time. You won'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. All right, two truths and a lie. Here we go. I went to college with college football coach Jim McElwain. I began my broadcasting career doing play by play for the Las Vegas Stars and I've been a Verizon customer for 15 years. Okay, I lied. All three are true. Verizon isn't as expensive as you think. In fact, if you bring in your ATT or T Mobile bill to a Verizon store, they'll give you a better deal. That's right, a better deal on the best network with the most ways to save on plans, streaming and phone deals. So take that AT and T or T Mobile. Build to your local Verizon store today, get a better deal and start saving based on root metrics. Best overall Mobile Network Performance US Second Half 2025 all rights reserve must provide recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply Tomorrow on Fox.
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B
They come from all over for the 150th Westminster Kennel Club show. The nose to nose battle for top dog begins with the masters agility championship tomorrow at 4:30 Eastern on Fox.
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A
Yeah, you say that as if you're not excited for that. A lot of people watch that, that dog show.
- [34:58]
B
I'm stoked.
- [34:59]
A
Yeah. World Cup. Did you see the World cup announcement came out? That is going to shout. People aren't going to believe, not that they care, the ratings that thing's going to get.
- [35:10]
B
Yeah, there's nothing up against it. It's going to be like, I mean regular season baseball, NBA finals will be done. It's all World cup. Like it's going to be the biggest story in sports.
- [35:19]
A
Have you seen how many tickets you had? There was a window to apply for tickets. 500 million ticket applications. 500 million ticket applications in the brief window for the World Cup. So the Raiders don't have a coach. I think it's going to be Clint Kubiak after Sunday and and The Arizona Cardinals, who are kind of a turbulent mess, don't have a coach and I don't know where they're going and I kind of look usually I do grades on coaches. I don't know. I here's all the hires. I would say this here's my confidence. I'll give you my confidence meter on the coaching hire so far. Let's start. I am supremely confident on John Harbaugh with the New York Giants that it will work to some level. First of all, The Giants were 1 and 7 in one score games. Their D line is to me top 10 in the NFL. Scatterboo and Jackson Dart were super productive as rookies. It's a winnable division to me. The Eagles regressed. We don't know about their new OC Commanders are a bit of a mess right now. Cross your fingers on Jaden Daniels health. Cliff Kingsbury, left. Harbaugh's been.500 or better in 15 of his 18 seasons. I would say I am supremely confident that John Harbaugh. I'm not promising Super Bowls but I think they're going to vie for the division title next year. I think they're going to be a very good 8, 9, 10 win team. I really do okay. So I'm supremely confident in that. I am confident in Kevin Stefanski within two years getting Atlanta right. First of all he's a really smart guy. He's an offensive coach, stable ownership. I think their own line is really solid. Above average. Michael Penix B John Robinson, Drake London. Kyle Pitts had his moments last year I think again Arthur Blank, Matt Ryan. I'm interested to see his work inside the organization. Another smart guy. I think within two years I am confident that he'll get them humming. Very winnable division. Also Titans, Robert Saleh. I'm very confident in one year they will turn it around because they have a healthy quarterback. Cam Ward. I think Brian Dable's a great hire at oc. Sala did it with smoke and mirrors. Defensively his teams play hard and fast and are a little cocky. They have the most cap space in the NFL. So I am supremely confident on the Harbaugh Giants hire. I am confident on the Robert Sala and Kevin Stefanski hires. Now I would go down to competent Jesse mentor with a good organization that is a competency hire. I do not know. He's never been a head coach. I have no idea. It's the fourth head coach in the Ravens history. They don't. They don't move around a lot they don't make a lot of mistakes. He's a sharp young guy. Last four years he's been with Harbaugh. Crushed it at Michigan. Crushed it. But I don't know. They have Lamar Jackson, excellent ownership, they had six Pro Bowlers. If nothing else he's a very competent coach and I feel that way about Mike McCarthy. I think he's the offensive version of my, of Mike Tomlin. But Mike Tomlin just finished 10, 7 with a 42 year old quarterback and won the division. Mike McCarthy is competent. They're not going to fall off. They've already gotten the offensive line coach that Aaron likes and Mike likes again I feel like you're getting competency. Jesse mentor and Mike McCarthy, very, very high floor. And then let's go to this C word concern. Let's start with Joe Brady with the Bills. He's young. I mean Brian Dabel statistically was a little better with Ken Dorsey on the offense than Joe Brady. He did a good job with Joe Burrow and lsu. He's done a good job with Josh Allen. I have no idea. Josh Allen covers up a lot of deficiencies. I'm sorry, he just does. I don't know. I don't. And also it's going to be harder for him than it was for McDermott because Josh Allen's cap hit goes up like 20 million a year. Well, that's, that just makes it tougher. That's one less high end player. The other one I'm concerned about and I think this is pretty obvious. Todd Monken with the Browns. Was he on anybody else's coaching radar? That whole coaching search, everybody thought it was Jim Schwartz and I think they thought Jim Schwartz would hang around if they didn't hire him. And Jim Schwartz said no. Jim Schwartz for the record probably goes with Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco and he's going to crush. I have no idea. I mean again he was nobody's top choice. The organization always feels like they can't figure out quarterback. They let Stefanski go who's a two time coach of the year and won a playoff game. Not a lot of people do that in Cleveland and my. The third one and I just. Jeff Halfley, Dolphins, they got to get a quarterback and this is not a good draft for quarterback. So Halfley, supposed to be a sharp guy. It could work. Did a solid job at bc. I thought he did a really nice job in Green Bay but I've never seen him as an NFL head coach. Stephen Ross, I mean they, they got rid of the GM and Mike McDaniel, I, the GM, I thought was a bigger issue. I don't know. I mean, it's, it's. Miami's hired a lot of coaches, so, a lot of coaches. So supremely confident, confident, certainly competent, concerned. Jesse Mentor was on our show this week. He says, number one, I've got to establish my own culture. I think we're going to create an identity of a really well connected team that's tough and physical, but also that's very innovative. We want to be really forward thinking schematically in all three phases. And I think there's going to be a lot of excitement when the guys come back and really feel like we're headed in the right direction. I saw another story this morning. Drake May, at 23, will become the second youngest quarterback to start in the Super Bowl. So eight quarterbacks have gotten to a Super bowl in their second year, and four and four. So I, I, two things are happening in society with age. Older people are living longer. Boomers are, are living longer. There's been obviously health advances. I mean, there's, there's, there's more information on health. If you embrace it, you can live a little longer. People now living 79 and a half years, that's, that's going up. The boomer generation is also the richest generation, so that can help with healthcare. The second thing is happening. I believe this to be true. I think young people are savvier than I was when I was young. There's more transparency in society. There are so many places to get information that you didn't get. Young people, because their parents are boomers have traveled more than we did as kids. So I think older people are living longer and young people, if they embrace it, are a little savvier. Sometimes it works against them, but they're a little savvier. And when it comes to quarterback age or age in the NFL, the league's getting younger. And I don't, to me, age is a number. I mean, Aaron Rodgers, 42, he's not as mobile. Tom Brady, 44, I mean, both those guys were really good in their 40s. Matt Stafford, I think he turns 38 here. Matt Stafford is going to win the MVP. And on the other end of the spectrum, youth Bo Nicks had 61 college starts. I think Brock Purdy, let me look it up here, had 46. Jalen Hurts had 42. These guys are starting a lot of games. College coaching's better. NFL coaching offensively has never been better. There's seven on seven camps. There's private Coaching I don't think, I mean Drake May maybe 23. Drake May is an excellent quarterback. Probably be a little more refined next year. Josh McDaniel coaching for a second year. But I don't, I don't look at him as a weakness in the Super Bowl. Is he going to put up Matt Stafford performances? Well, he doesn't have Puka Nakua. Okay. And the offensive line for the Rams is better than the offensive line for the Patriots. I also think the Rams have better tight ends than the New England Patriots. I've said this. I think the Patriots offense needs another draft. But I don't look at him as the problem against the Seahawks. Here's Drake May talking about the experience with Rabel this year. I think he, he does a great job of kind of relating to us, relating to us being able to talk as a player and now as a coach of his experiences, of his experiences winning Super Bowls, his experience of making the playoffs his first year with the Steelers. And remember we talked about in the beginning of the season kind of talking about our stories and what kind of hopes we had and you know, our hopes were to win the big game and win the super bowl and you know, look where at now and kind of all those hopes are coming into a reality. It is hard to find anybody outside of the Dunkin Donuts region that likes the New England Patriots, but that line's getting up to five. That's a lot of points. Seattle is the second youngest team in the league. Seattle will be a favorite. They can be at times a little reckless. They obviously Seattle's got at this point really. I mean there's not a lot of holes with Seattle's roster. But Greg Cosell came on yesterday and said people do not understand how good the defensive personnel is with New England. They spent a lot of money in free agency. I think New England's defense is excellent. I think their skill players, backs, tight ends are above average. Hour 2 next. Think Verizon is expensive? Think again. Anyone can bring their AT&T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal. So bring us your bill, walk in, run in, Hogo sticking teleport. If you can ride on the back of a rollerblading yak or fly in on the wings of a majestic falcon. 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