← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
THE HERD - Hour 2 - Coaching in college before NIL, looking at the NFL Draft
00:41:49
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This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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. Here we go. It's hour two. Rachel Nichols today in for J. Mac. She's part of the team around all the time and. And she's gonna find out by the end of the show. I'm a lot more fun to work with than J. Mac. That goes without saying, but she's ready. I'm taking shots at him. Poor guy's out with his kids in Vegas. I'm taking shots at him. At the end of this hour, we're gonna have Rachel, who's got an NBA MVP vote, Some thoughts. We're gonna go through the playoff series west and east. I'm telling you something out east, nobody knows what to do with the Knicks. Fascinating team. We like the players. Mike Brown doesn't feel right. Josh Hart hints at something's not right in chemistry. So there's some really. And you know, this spurs team is a bunch of kids. We've never seen them in the playoffs yet we think they're dominant. So it's a really interesting NBA playoff and we'll get to that. I. I gotta talk about something. Dusty May coaches Michigan. So I used to ask the question, would you rather be an NFL coach or a college coach? And the thing that always turned me off about college coaching pre nil was this GROSS Groveling to 16 and 17 year old kids and writing 42 letters a month like you're some GI sending mail back to loved ones. It's like gross. These are 50, 60 year old successful men and women coaching college athletics and they're groveling to 17 year olds. They're putting in all this time and 75% of the time they don't pick you. Now the relationship, it's transactional. It's quid. Go pro. Here's what we can offer. You want to be a Michigan Wolverine? You don't have to have a 13th cold tub. You don't have to spend money in an arms race for facilities. It's like the real world. Here's what we can offer. Here's the contract. You interested? Dusty May talked about liking the new world of recruiting. We always thought those were Pretty shallow reasons to choose a university because a coach came to more 6am workouts, things like that. And now the players and each coach may have a different opinion, but the players are choosing us. We used to recruit guys for three years and spend 8200 man hours away from our families begging these 15 to 18 year olds to come play at our university. And then they decide to go in another direction. And you just think of all the time and resources you've wasted. And so recruiting has definitely been streamlined and it's much more efficient. You know, there's a saying in the business world, this could have been an email. And that's sort of what college recruiting has come. This could have been just a check instead of 400 hours pursuing you at camps and high school practices, groveling and begging. Another reason I like the NFL. It's transactional. It's the real world. With that, Daniel Jeremiah, former scout in the NFL for multiple teams, is joining us live. NFL Network's lead analyst Scouting combine in the draft. All right, buddy. First thing, I think you do something interesting. You have a mock draft. But what you really have that I always love when you do this, you have your prospect rankings. So this is not about teams like who are the best players. And this goes to something I've been hot on. So I think David Bailey has now moved into the massively underrated player. I think he's a plug and play guy. His ceiling may be lower than a Micah Parsons or a Miles Garrett, but day one, he's an edge rusher. You have him ranked above Arvell Reese, who I'm told is Superman, but doesn't really have a position. So you like him, clearly. So my question is when you talk to people in the league, because I think you're right. But do people that number two pick jets, where who are they taking? Which one of those two are they taking?
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Well, that's where the draft starts. And it's interesting debate, Colin, because I go back to just my Ravens training, which is in the first round. Like, hey, Ozzy would always talk about a double off the wall. Like we'll live with doubles off the wall all day long. We don't need to take a wild swing. We can't afford to miss in the first round. So with the Bailey Reese debate, which I think is a fascinating one, I think for 26, for sure, no question it's Bailey and that's how I have them stacked up. But if you're the jets and everything's kind of pointing towards 27, where they have those three first round picks and if they want to take a swing on somebody that does have more ceiling, more upside and they're not really going to be a competitive team here in 26. I could see them getting to Reese as their pick. For me personally, I would take Bailey. I've seen him rush, he's polished, he's got a plan and I'm not sacrificing any of the athleticism. He's got big time, big time juice.
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I'm going to tell you something. If Robert Sala and Tennessee are lucky enough to get Bailey with a number four pick, that Tennessee Titans draft room is going to be fist pumping because he's going to be that bosa for them. Maybe he doesn't have that ceiling, but I think Bailey's a great player. Okay, so Fernando Mendoza is pro day. First of all, it looks like he packed on £15. I mean he looked bigger. He looked bigger in a T shirt and shorts than he did in shoulder pads and thigh pads in the natty. You talk to people around the league. What was the interpretation of his pro day?
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Yeah, I mean just, you know that that was it. The first and foremost, just how big he is and really in the lower body like his, his lower half is enormous. He's 238 pounds. He really cut even his body fat down. He's just a real thick, dead dense dude. So that was the first thing that you noticed from the pro day? I don't know that. I mean, I refer to his pro day as some others in the past. It's a proof of life pro day Colin, it's. Let's hold up today's newspaper show that you're facing. This is the proper date and you're still alive. That's pretty much all he needed to do at that pro day. He was more servicing the receivers, getting them what they needed. But I mean, look, he's big, he's strong, he's powerful. We there was a long run up before he worked out. So I was more curious as we were covering it live, was just watching him interact with all of his teammates, interact with coaches, interact with some of the other people who were there on the sideline. You could tell he does have, you know, has a personality that's endearing and guys like being around him. That's. Those are the types of things you can pick up at pro days, more so than just watching them throw a dig.
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So I'm really interested on your rules. Ozzie Newsom was just such a great general manager and the great GMs I know have certain measurements and rules. So what would Aussie say about Reuben Bane, who was just a bulldozer, arguably the best player in the national championship game, was great in any big spot. What would you say about Reuben Bane, who's the arm measurements don't, don't. They're not first round. What do you do with a, with a productive player that doesn't hit the measurables?
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Well, I think the Ravens in that organization, you know, I haven't been there in of gosh. Now it's coming up or getting close to 20 years now since I've been there. But things have stayed the same, which is they, they are able to capitalize off other people overthinking this thing. They did it when Terrell Suggs didn't run fast even though he had a bazillion sacks coming out of Arizona State. Ed Reed wasn't the biggest guy, wasn't the fastest guy in the world. Ray Lewis, you know, wasn't a 6 foot 3 linebacker. They just, they're just great players. So. Well, you let the rest of the league overthink this thing. You watch him dominate really, really good competition through a deep run, especially when you get to the postseason. That's the best college football has to offer. There's a lot of NFL players he's going up against and he was dominant. So I, I, when you don't have some of those traits, like there's Ponds, the little corner from Indiana, who's 5, 8. Well, he jumped 43 inches, he ran 4 3. He, he's exceptional in these other areas. You can't be below the line at everything, Colin. You can't lack the, you know, the athleticism and the production. You got to have something going for you. And Bain clearly does.
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I'm so glad you brought up Ed Reed, who's probably the best safety I've ever seen. I remember people just think everybody loved him. And I don't recall where exactly he got drafted, but I remember there being people. I remember some of the reviews were I don't know if he's this, this, this. And then you watch him play. He could have been an offensive player. Every time he got an interception, you're like, oh, he's a running back. So that, that in Ray Lewis again, I've been in the same room with Ray. Ray is not when he put pads on and when he growled was different than the measurables. So those are great points the player And I keep going back to some of these Ohio State guys last year. If you'd have asked me the best college player I saw, I think I would have said Jeremiah Smith at Ohio state. Caleb Downs 2. Now I'm seeing mock drafts where Caleb downs is going 12. I'm like, what happened? Is there an injury? I don't know about what I thought last year he got more love than this year. And I would argue maybe that's because he had better people in front of him making tackles and he was less valuable maybe because of Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese. Is he as good as last year or is there a regression? Why the drop in the draft?
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I think everybody that I talk to at least views him as a really, really good player. They just don't put him and nor do I put him into the Derwin James, Kyle Hamilton, and even going back to last year. And Iman worry fell unexplicably into the second round. But those guys were just, they were imposing figures who also had the splash plays to go along with the rare height, weight, speed that they possessed. So that was a kind of like complete package. Players. Well, Derwin James didn't go in the top 10, Kyle Hamilton didn't go in the top 10 and even worry went in the second round. So I don't think it's like a reach. To say that there's a possibility he gets outside of the top 10 again doesn't change the fact I think he is a really, really good football player. But when you look at the position, some people, you know, don't place that position as high a value as they should, in my opinion. And then you're talking about somebody who doesn't, you know, blow you away with a zillion splash plays. When you're watching that defense, which to be honest, Colin, probably the best collection of talent on a defense in college football in the last decade.
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Yeah, I would agree with that. I could see the Dolphins moving up. They have four threes. I could see them saying, let's go get, let's go get Carnell Tate. I could. I don't know why I think the Dolphins, with all those third round picks could move up. I think the Giants should move back. The Ty Simpson stuff is interesting because I was thinking the other day, Daniel, if you like Ty Simpson. So going into this year, we thought Cade Klubnick was going to be this and Nussmeier was going to be this and Arch Manning was going to be this and they. And they weren't. And so next year everybody's telling me there's seven first round guys. Well, Half of them are not going to have as good a years as we're projecting. So my take is if you're a team that thinks, listen, we like Ty Simpson and he's in the ballpark of blank, blank, blank next year. Let's not get into a bidding war next year for Arch Manning. We may be able to get this kid with a 15th or 16th pick and you get out of the, you know, because a lot of times you have to make choices. You love this college quarterback, but you give up draft capital. What are you hearing on Ty Simpson? I think he's, I think he's, you know, the 33rd to 41, but it's quarterback and it's going to be, you know, next year. Daniel. It's going to be, I mean, you got six teams that are. It's bidding war time. Ty Simpson is not a bidding war guy. Do you think he goes in the first?
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I would say to me, the team that I just keep coming back to is Arizona. And whether that's Arizona is patient and just waits for him and he falls to him at 34 or whether they want to come back into the bottom of the first round to guarantee that they have him and obviously pick up the extra year in the contract if they do that as well. The Rams were the other team I would mention just because the connection there, there's a relationship there with, you know, general manager as well as with the dad. They've known each other forever, so there's a connection there. Obviously don't know how long Matt Stafford's going to play, but when you're a drop punt away from getting into a Super bowl potentially, I have a hard time thinking that they're going to take a backup player with a 13th pick even if it's at the most important position. So I keep coming back to Arizona. Where do they do it now? The thing I would argue Colin about, I did not have Clyde watch those guys over the summer. I did not club. Nick and Nussmeier, to me were not ever first round caliber players. And I think what could hurt Ty a little bit in this one is we only have to go back two years. We had six quarterbacks go in the first half of the first round and you know, for those so far the returns have been excellent off of four of those guys. So I think there is, and we'll see if it's misguided, but there is a lot of hope and belief and next year's group just, you haven't going to have more options at that point. In time.
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Yeah. Let me just throw the Jalen Hurt story out there. Rachel and I were talking about this last hour that nothing gets out. I mean, she's been reporting forever. Nothing gets out unless people want it out. And the Jaylen Hurt story got out. And some supposition by us is that Philadelphia wanted it out. It's like, hey, Jaylen, we're not taking all the arrows here. If we struggle, the coordinators are not the only one that are going to get hammered here. Is that. That Jalen Hurts story? There were 12 sources. That's a lot of sources. What did you make of it? What do you hear?
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Yeah, I mean, I read it. I thought it was interesting. And look, you're right. When there's that many people that are talking, then there's, you know, there's at least a few people that want that to get out and want this to become known and. And maybe apply a little bit of pressure on Jalen. I. My thing on the Eagles is pretty simple. They need to use his legs a little bit more. Go back to when he was running a little bit more. I know you paid him all this money now, but that's still what makes him, you know, who he is. Run him a little bit more. And they've got to find reinforcements for the offensive line. They've just broken down up front along the offensive line. When that group's not healthy and playing well, Saquon's not rolling. It just changes that whole offense. So we're getting ready to come up on the draft column. I'll be very surprised if they don't double dip along the offensive line. Even if these guys aren't starting, you know, right away, but just having some insurance, they can't continue to go down that path. And I will say, I don't know that there's been a greater upgrade in the history of sports television than for somehow J. Mac to go play basketball somewhere and for you to get Rachel Nichols to slide into that role. I can't think of a time in history it's the greatest upgrade of all time.
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I mean, six man of the Year award. I literally go to the. I go to the bench and it's like, that's a starter. What am I doing here?
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I love how J. Mac framed it as. He framed it as some kind of vacation. Is that what I'm hearing? He's playing in a men's basketball league, Rachel. He's playing in, like, Utah right now for like an under 60 all star team is what he's doing.
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Colin. I Think intentionally took the week off that J. Mac had his, like, men's rec league tournament because he would not stop talking about it on the show every hour.
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Yeah.
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I don't know how he props the phone up, guys. I don't know how he's able to prop the phone up and get that video. It's amazing.
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Great seeing you, Daniel, as always.
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All right, see you guys.
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You know, this is. I was thinking about this, Rachel. So you, you have to go to locker room still. You, you are there before the game. You are boots on the ground.
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Yep.
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And I did that for a long time. And now I just sit in a drink smoothies and sit in the studio. So. But one of the things I always thought was interesting is when. And I. And I'm genuinely curious about this. So when I would occasionally go and get, you know, I was pursuing a story, I would always like, double down during a conversation. I would say, can I go with that?
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Yeah.
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Because 90% of the information I get when I talk to GMs, I'm like, you know, this is. I'll say this is off the record. Bob, Chris, Jim, I just go. And then sometimes they're so giving in their information. I'm like, is it okay if I kind of. And they're like, you can do what you want.
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Yeah.
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So I always think when you. Because you're dealing with LeBron, you're dealing with ownership. When you get a scoop, do you ever have to ask, can I go with this? Or is it understood when you come with paper and pad, it counts.
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I like to clarify. Right. Because those long. You're talking about, like your really long term relationships, people who really tell you stuff, you want to make sure that you maintain those. It's also what your role is. Right. So if you or I go and ask about a story now, there's a big assumption that part of this is just to help inform us to talk intelligently and educated on TV about it.
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Right.
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Whereas if you're a beat reporter, which is what I started out as, you're there with your notebook. The assumption is you are there to quote them. So it's a little bit like who you are. Ask who's asking too. But I'm. And you do this all the time, Colin. A lot of people who do just sit in a studio and drink smoothies, don't make phone calls. And I just think it's very hard to talk about all these guys and what's actually happening without talking to these guys. And I think it's a credit to the people who do it.
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Yeah, no, there's lots of guys. I bring Ryan Rosillo on all the time. That's a guy that makes phone calls. You obviously do. But it is interesting cause sometimes you get such a gem. And I also know that they don't want to. A lot of my sources would rather talk to me than text it.
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Yes.
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They're like, hey, call me in five minutes.
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Right.
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And that, that usually tells me they don't want that on the text. You know, Good stuff. All right, Rachel's filling in. Mick Cronin, UCLA basketball coach, last hour. He, you know, he knows these teams. He played these teams. And we'll talk about that. It's the Herd. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app search heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Hey, it's me, Rob Parker. Check out my weekly MLB podcast, Inside the Parker for 22 minutes of piping hot baseball talk featuring the biggest names and newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe in analytics or the eye test, we've got all the bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday, so don't do yourself a favor and listen to Inside the Parker with Rob Parker on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, Heard. Sports and steak a perfect combo. True Nature Meats is offering an incredible deal. Their pre cooked New York strip. Insanely tender, juicy, rich beefy flavor that melts in every bite. Ready in just four minutes. In a skillet, buy 10 New York strip steaks and get 10 free sirloin steaks. 20 restaurant grade steaks for about 740 per steak. Incredible value. Only 250 promo codes available. Head to TrueNatureMeats.com and use the promo code Freestake. Hurry. This won't last. Hey Donald, really flying on that treadmill. I'm trying to run as fast AS T mobile. 5G home Internet, Zach. Well you better pick it up because now T Mobile has the fastest 5G home Internet according to OOKLA Speed test. Really? How's this? T Mobile's faster than that, bud. Speed up. Go. Plus they've got a five year price guarantee. Come on. Faster. How can I go any faster? Channel the speed of t mobile. 5G home Internet. Think hundred meter dash fast. Think drag racing fast. Think speed skating fast. Now let's bump up your speed a notch. Hey, whoa, whoa. That's too fast. You'll be alright. Just walk it off. Get on the fast track. T Mobile now has the fastest 5G home Internet. And for a limited time it starts at just 30 bucks a month with autopay and a voice line. Plus a five year price guarantee plus taxes and fees. Fastest according to Ooklev Speed test intelligence data. Second half 2025.
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All rights reserved.
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Guarantee for monthly price of 5G Internet data on eligible plans. Find exclusions and details@t mobile.com Mick Cronin Last hour. Who's gonna win the MVP? Lot of good topics, Rachel with the news. No, no, no, turn on the news. This is the Herdline news.
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Well, I don't have to tell you, Colin, from your perch in Chicago, Caleb Williams major leap in his first season under Ben Johnson. But despite Caleb leading the Bears to their first playoff win in 15 years, Johnson told the Chicago Sun Times Williams development is just getting started. He wants Caleb's completion rate to go way up. And he's also looking for Caleb to balance that like street ball, you know, off script play thing with a little bit more of staying in the pocket, quick releases, off on script kind of things. I love this about Ben Johnson. Right. You want a guy who is holding everyone to the highest possible standard. What's your standard for Caleb in year three? What do you think he's going to be?
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Yeah, I mean, it's funny. The Bears have never had a great quarterback. And so people in this town, when I walk out, when I'm outside during the football season, they're, they're very protective of Caleb Williams or like, you guys are brutal. He's unbelievable. I'm like, you do understand anything I say. Ben Johnson's five times harder.
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Yes.
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And the truth is it's like golf and you know, even Tiger woods in his prime. It's like you, you need a great coach. And I think what was always Brady's, Tom Brady's always a great comp here on how to do it, which is Tom Brady after four Super Bowls would go to Costa Rica with his wide receivers in the off season. Constant repetition and mechanics. So the good news for Caleb is if 10 is an amazing play and one is basic footwork, we know that 7, 8, 9, 10. Only Josh Allen can do what he can do in the league. His stuff to work on is stuff he can work at. You can't make a guy bigger, you can't make a guy faster. You can improve footwork, you know, you can improve accuracy. And so like it's the, it's the best kind of young quarterback. The stuff to work on is just repetition makes you better stuff. Not I wish you could bench press more and throw it further like that stuff's done. He's got a power arm and I. And I think honestly, even more. I mean, it's like he's a. A stronger Lamar or a smaller Josh. He's off script. He's just a different ballgame.
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Yeah. Yeah. Well, first of all, on behalf of Jim McMahon, let me say. How dare you, sir. But also, look, the completion percentage is really going to be a big factor for Caleb. Ben has told him he wants him to be at the 70% mark. Drake May was at 72%. Caleb this past season, 58%. Ranked 22nd in the league there. So I think that's going to be a big thing. Ben told the Sun Times he going to show Caleb 100 plays where he could have been more accurate. And that does not include wide receiver drops. So I think it's going to be a fun summer for those guys. And I, I love Williams. I think he's going to be a lot of fun to watch next season. So it'll be good. All right. I want to stick to the NFC North. The Lions, as we know, did not live up to expectations last year. They lost Ben Johnson, they lost Darren Glenn to head coaching jobs, and they finished the year just 9 and 8. Just missed the playoffs. So entering the season, Dan Campbell wants the team to get back their edgy mindset. This was a great set bite.
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Everybody wants talent, all want talent, but it's always nice to have a little bit of saltiness to you over the talent that lacks saltiness, because that's kind of what we were in 22, you know, that's a little bit. And part of 23, we had talent, but we were all. We had some salty guys, man, and we were highly competitive and we were willing to make it work, figure it out. And so just a little bit of that edge back. Well, also a lot of his guys have gotten paid. Yeah, I mean, that, that. That's a part of it is that it's like we just said about Oklahoma City, when you win a championship, it's not that they don't care about the regular season, but they pick five or six nights. Last night. Being one of them is kind of a showcase to make sure the Lakers know they're not in our satellite. Right. They're not in our sphere. And I think, you know, this team was young and hungry. And now Jameer Gibbs is still young and hungry. But, you know, a lot of these guys, you know, you get a few injuries, you make money, you have Families. So part of being salty is youth and not winning, you know, So I know what he's saying, but I don't think. I think the big issue, Rachel, Ben Johnson is one of one.
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Yeah.
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And I think when Atlanta lost Kyle Shanahan, the team the next year wasn't the same. Sometimes you just have a great employee, they leave, you can't replace them. And that was Ben.
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This is going to be a prove it year for Dan Campbell. Right. Like how much of this was him and how much of this was you? I think there's maybe some complacency after you do well, like the Lions players thought, oh, we got here, now we can just get here next year without as much effort. Saltiness is one thing. Also, I think they're going to have one of the easiest schedules in the NFL next season. So that'll help too, you know, the back at the top of the NFC north. So we'll see what happens there. I do want to get though, back to the NBA for one thing, because we know that the warriors were going hard after Giannis right at the trade deadline. Now we're learning from the athletic. Golden State was actually much closer to landing Kawhi Leonard Collin. They had a framework of a deal set before LA ultimately pulled out. But that trade could be revisited this summer. We know the Giannis talks will probably pipe up again this summer. So I wanted to ask you, who is a better fit for Steph Curry? Giannis Antetokounmpo or Kawhi Leonard?
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Giannis. I think Giannis still has three amazing years left. I've always thought Kawhi a bit of an enigma. Like, I don't know, at 4 o' clock driving to the arena, if he's going to be there. Giannis does have more injuries. I also think what Steph is great at, Giannis isn't. Giannis is not a perimeter player. He's a great rim defender. And I think. I think Steph and Giannis work together. Giannis will do the outside and you know, Steph outside, Giannis inside. Giannis does like the ball in his hands, but that's okay because Steph is actually pretty good off ball. So, I mean, to me, I don't know if they have enough to get him, but that one makes sense.
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C
Yeah. I mean, look, Kawhi is interesting, right? I mean, he does a lot of things. He's almost like a KD light version of what KD was in 2018 and 2019. But he. Giannis. To me, you're completely right. I mean, Just the inside outside game. The two of them could have. You could see Giannis, who's already been an mvp, an NBA champion, ratchet his game up with Steph because he's never had this kind of space to attack the rim that Steph would give him. So I love, I love the Giannis idea still. I had a long one on one talk with Giannis a couple weeks ago when they were here in la. That situation is just getting dicier and dicier and I'm very interested to see what happens because the warriors are going to go after him again hard.
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Rachel with the news. Well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by the herd lie news. Okay, so this is breaking. Tommy Lloyd, Arizona basketball coach, has agreed to a five year deal with Arizona. He's staying. It'll make him one of the highest paid college basketball coaches. They face Michigan Saturday tomorrow. They are stacked very young. He's a great recruiter. So I was told a week ago that Michael Jordan called Tommy Lloyd, Michael Jordan, the Carolina legend and his, he was asked about that and Tommy Lloyd said in regards to the Michael Jordan call, he said my Michael Jordan is Steve Kerr. So Steve Kerr, former Arizona Wildcat, called on the university's behalf. Yeah, I, I, I, I've said before I would if I was Tommy Lloyd, I think you have a top three job. I would not leave for Carolina. I think there's a regional truth. Tommy Lloyd, Arizona Gonzaga, he really knows like Denver west and there's a lot of great talent. Denver west basketball. Tommy has owned it and been part of it for years. In fact, there's some that think Gonzaga slipped a little bit in the last couple years. True or not, it would explain, I mean if you lose your best assistant, somebody as smart as Tommy Lloyd and that good of a recruiter, it doesn't benefit a program. He is fantastic. So I, I've said this before. Don't chase money, chase management. There's a sea of money for talented people. There's not a sea of great athletic directors, relationships and boosters. Tucson's a wonderful place to spend your career. Nice winners, a lot of good golf, lot of great people. Tommy knows the west now. I just didn't I my take was stay at Arizona. That's as good as you're going to get. I mean you can't get a season ticket if you begged for it down there. Now does Carolina have more money? Yeah, but you're not as familiar with the territory. You know, you've got. There's politics at Carolina. You go look at the last 20 years. There's some politics at that school. You know, I think about that. You got the Belichick situation. You walk in, that thing could implode in a year in the athletic department, you know, shrapnel from that. You know, you don't know how that's going to turn out. So I think Arizona is a great job. You know, I read a story, it was about a year ago or two years ago, somebody wrote a story. I don't know, maybe it was the Atlantic or New York Times or Wall Street Journal, somebody that people aren't moving for jobs as much as they used to. That we were very mobile. You know, people used to have a job. You get the gold watch, you work there 30 years. And there was a 20 year period where we were just moving all over the place. And now it's kind of reverted back to people like the job they have. They like community, they like family. And Arizona basketball, that just about as good as it gets. I mean, you could say, well, this one's got more this and this one's got a bigger arena. And not about, not much about Arizona basketball. You can do better. That's when Nick Saban interviewed for the Texas job. Remember that? He lost to Auburn and Nick interviewed for the Texas job. And I'm thinking, I've seen Alabama's facilities and Alabama doesn't have the Texas money, but that was pre nil. Pre nil. Bama is a better job than Texas. Post nil. Texas is the better job than Bama. But there are certain jobs collegiately like UConn. I mean, Storrs, Connecticut is not as cool as Chapel Hill. UConn cares about basketball and they do basketball really well. You stay at UConn, 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 heard, listen up. Sports and steaks go hand in hand and True Nature Meats is delivering an incredible offer. They're pre cooked New York strip steaks are insanely tender, juicy and packed with rich beefy flavor that melts in every bite. Ready in just four minutes in a warm skillet. 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Channel the speed of t mobile 5G home Internet. Think 100 meter dash fast. Think drag racing fast. Think speed skating fast. Now let's bump up your speed a notch. Hey, whoa, whoa. That's too fast. You'll be alright. Just walk it off. Get on the fast track. T Mobile now has the fastest 5G home Internet. And for a limited time it starts at just 30 bucks a month with autopay and a voice line. Plus a five year price guarantee plus taxes and fees. Fastest according to Ooglo Speed test intelligence data. Second half 2025. All rights reserved. Guarantee for monthly price of 5G Internet data on eligible plans. Find exclusions and details@t mobile.com you know, I think it's so interesting when people nitpick Fernando Mendoza. I honestly think I don't understand people not being incredibly high on Fernando Mendoza when I hear this. Well, he's not a great athlete. I don't want a dual threat quarterback. I want a guy that's big, strong, accurate and can take a shot to the solar plexus. I mean I watched Fernando Mendoza against Ohio State and Miami get smoked. Blood pouring out of his mouth. Did not care. I don't. Every time you get a dual threat quarterback, all anybody says is he's going to get hurt. I mean Lamar Jackson, I've been defending Lamar Jackson for five years. What do I hear? The big complaint is he runs too much. So Fernando Mendoza, we know he can run. Every time I show highlights on from his season, I mean you look at him at the pro day, dude, this isn't a T shirt and shorts. He's a house. He is a 65238 pound house. He. You're going to get whacked. The Raiders have Colton Miller at left tackle. Coming off an injury, they've got a pretty Tyler Lindenbaum's a great center. They have a right guard I like. We'll see. But they didn't, you know, their offensive line right now, outside of Linderbaum, you don't know what it's going to be. He's going to. And you're in a division with, you know, Denver's pass rush spags, Chargers got edge rushers. Khalil Mack, he's going to get bounced around. I want a big, strong guy who's accurate. I think he checks every single box. I think it's much tougher to be a great athlete and a quarterback, because if you're a great athlete like Josh Allen and a quarterback your entire high school and college career, you could just take off and make plays and you kind of become predictably impatient. Fernando Mendoza knows I'm only running if I have to. That's much. That's like Justin Herbert or C.J. stroud. I'll run if I have to. Well, Lamar Jackson, I mean, Johnny Manziel, it was always easy to take off and run. Fernando runs when he has to run. He's not Jared Goff, where you. You don't want him running or Matt Stafford, but all you have to do is watch his highlights. Dude's got a big arm, he's accurate, he's tough. There's nothing when you watch the film that says he's unathletic. I mean, half the time he's getting smoked when he lets go of the football. So there's, There's. I remember C.J. stroud. People said, well, he just stands in the pocket. Then he played at Ohio State, played Georgia, and he was running around the field because it was his last college game. And the coaches are like, okay, if you get hurt now, you get hurt. We gotta go win an addie. And it's the same thing with Justin Herbert. They never ran him at Oregon until they played Wisconsin in the Rose bowl his last game. They're like, okay, run when you gotta run. Everybody's like, oh, C.J. stroud and Justin Herbert can run. Mendoza's fine against Miami, when he had to run, he ran. So, you know, in the history of quarterbacks that win Super Bowls, if I gave you these kind of terms or descriptions, Tall, thick, win from the pocket. Can move if they have to. Well, that. That's all the boxes I need. Seems to be smart, grateful, humble, all. Just think about the stuff that worries you about a quarterback. Immature. Seen a few of those. No. Little small, not an issue. Got hurt a couple times in college. I mean, instead of Looking at his assets. For any prospect, go look at the stuff that doesn't age well. College to pro, we know now size matters. Russell Wilson got a lot of guys drafted, but Russell aged quickly. Jalen hurts now. Issues Tua, Kyler, Murray, Manziel. So let's look at the stuff that doesn't work. For sure, you're small, you know, you don't really, you're kind of scattershot with your accuracy. Like you can be accurate. And then you. Even for Caleb Williams, who's a world class athlete, sometimes he misses layups. Like a lot of them. Well, that's not an issue. So, I mean, I, I just watched that pro day and I'm like, I know it's a pro day. That dude packed on £15. Look at how big he is. He is bigger now in shorts and a T shirt than he was in uniform. Here's Daniel. Jeremiah was, was there broadcasting it live.
- [37:41]
B
His lower half is enormous. He's 238 pounds. He really cut even his body fat down. He's just a real thick, dense dude. He's big, he's strong, he's powerful. We, there was a long run up before he worked out, so I was more curious as we were covering it live, was just watching him interact with all of his teammates, interact with coaches, interact with some of the other people who were there on the sideline. You could tell he does have, you know, has a personality that's endearing and guys like being around him. That's. Those are types of things you can pick up pro days. More so than just watching him throw a dig.
- [38:11]
A
For the record, who was the most valuable player in the NFL last year? Matt Stafford. He did not rush for a single first down. But Colin, he's so great. He's Matt Stafford. The assets of Mendoza are ball placement. Okay? Like, so the, the one thing we all know he's great at, even the critics of him are like, his ball placement's unbelievable. So I'm not saying he's Matt Stafford, but his ball placement is elite. First day in the NFL, his ball placement will be elite. So now Ty Simpson is the opposite. Okay, you say what fails in the NFL? Well, one of the things that fails for college guys are the pros. They don't have enough starts. Ty Simpson has 15 starts. The history of the NFL, that's a whiff. It doesn't work. Also, he's not huge size average to below average size. Not a lot of college starts. So those are two total red flags to me. I do think he's talented and I think if he goes to like the Rams or even let's say Miami, Miami's not going to draft them with their. They have to rebuild their roster. But if he goes somewhere and you're like he's not going to play for two years then I think you can overcome the stars. But Ty Simpson, you've got two major red flags. He not really big, about a six' one guy. You can call him six' two about, you know, people used to call like Jaylen hurt 661. No, he's not. No, he's not. You can watch, you can watch Ty Simpson with the Alabama games. He's. He's not a towering figure and he doesn't have a lot of college starts. Here's Daniel Jeremiah on the Bama quarterback.
- [39:56]
B
I would say to me, the team that I just keep coming back to is Arizona and whether that's Arizona is patient and just waits for him and he falls to him at 34 or whether they want to come back in to the bottom of the first round to, to guarantee that they have him and obviously pick up the extra year on the contract. I think what could hurt Ty a little bit in this one is we only have to go back two years. We had six quarterbacks go in the first half of the first round and you know, four of those so far. The returns have been excellent.
- [40:23]
A
Yeah, most of the first round quarterbacks it seems like in recent years have delivered. I mean, go back to Caleb, yes. Jaden, yes. Bo, yes. Drake, yes. Penix will see J. JJ McCarthy up in the air. All right. Tommy Lloyd is staying at the University of Arizona. I think it's the right call. I think it's a great school. I think he's a great coach. I think he's. His recruiting like Dallas, Denver west is exceptional. And here he is talking about the MJ phone call. It's an honor to even be, you know, considered for that job. And you know, you know the young kid for me, the college basketball junkie watching those games at home, you know, never would have thought something like that could have happened to somebody like me. So did their. North Carolina is a first class organization and I appreciate them for the way they've handled this, you know, you know, Michael Jordan, the phone call never did happen. It's amazing that you know, that opportunity was even, you know, thought could be possible. You know with that being said though, I made a decision that you know, you know my Michael Jordan, Steve Kerr. Yeah. The now he says the MJ call did not happen I think the college landscape now is so much different than like four years ago. I mean, it's so much different and there's so many moving parts. I think it would be asking a lot to take another high profile job. Like there's just this nil thing. It's so complex. The transfer portal. I mean, I've talked to multiple college coaches on the air and off the air on this, I mean, this transfer portal. European recruiting, if you can get to a good program, you got so many moving parts, stay put and build it because. And the other thing is the Big Ten is so great, is that, you know, I, I just kind of look at where Arizona is in the Big 12. There's an argument it's the second best college basketball conference. He's arguably the best west coast recruiter. I just don't see the point of leaving. And I listen, I have somebody, you know, I'm, I'm pro. LeBron on mobility. I've moved more than a couple of times, but I can say with all the moves, don't move for money, move for management, move for location. Arizona is about as good as you could do at the college level. I don't know how much money they have. There's a lot of retirees down there that have money. I'm sure they do fine. If you look at college basketball this season, Arizona was 36 and 2. And there is something to be said about winning games. You know, people have asked me, I know Mark Few, you think Fewy would ever leave? And my take is if I can guarantee 32 wins a year, it doesn't matter what conference you're in. He's going to get into the tournament. Spokane, he can mountain bike around his house. Nobody bothers them. The media is small. They're not, you know, Philadelphia, relentless. Why would you leave? There are certain times in college, like in college football, you know, Ohio State is just going to tilt the table in your favor. And even in the Big Ten, outside of Phil Knight's money, and they're up in Oregon, Ohio State has a geographical financial passion advantage over a lot of schools. And I don't know, I mean, because remember in college football, the roster is 85 players. So it's a volume play. You need to get 4, 3 great left tackles a class. College basketball, if you can convince three kids that Arizona is the best fit for them, that's three guys a year. You know, there, there's some. In Arizona you may have a little more turnover because you get five star guys. College football, you're talking your recruiting class is 27, 26 guys. That is a volume sport. College basketball, you get to a great place. Got to get three guys a year. Since 2010, Arizona has the fourth most wins in college basketball, more than Carolina or Kentucky. Yeah. So there you go. That's a great school. And Steve Kirmaid called. Apparently not Michael Jordan. So Mick Cronin's gonna stop by. I think I like Michigan over Arizona. One of the things about college basketball that's pretty clear, size changes everything. Illinois is big. Michigan's a really, really big Yukon. Got size. You saw it all through the Big Ten. This year, big mattered more than quickness and guard play. I mean, Arizona may have had the best. Arkansas may have had the best guard. He just couldn't stop the size of teams they played. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.