THE HERD - Hour 2 - Eric Mangini joins The Herd to defend Bill Belichick

Summary

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The Herd with Colin Cowherd

Hour 2 – Eric Mangini Joins The Herd to Defend Bill Belichick
Date: January 30, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this engaging hour of “The Herd,” Colin Cowherd is joined by Eric Mangini for candid, nuanced, and at times playful conversations about NFL headline stories. The episode balances debate with analysis, as the pair dig deep on the Minnesota Vikings’ surprising firing of their GM after Sam Darnold’s unexpected resurgence, debates surrounding Bill Belichick’s Hall of Fame snub, the coaching carousel, playoff narratives, and broader football culture. Mangini offers insider perspective and a robust defense of Belichick, while Colin guides the conversation with trademark wit and sharp takes.
(Content focuses solely on sports stories; ads, intros/outros, and promos omitted.)

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Sam Darnold’s Resurgence & Vikings GM Firing

[00:00–07:02]

• Colin opens with news: Vikings have fired GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, after Sam Darnold—whom they let go—has thrived, making a Super Bowl with Seattle.

• Darnold was viewed as a “major upgrade” over Geno Smith in Seattle. His play, especially after overcoming injuries and not practicing (receiving painkiller injections pregame), has inspired a playful Hollywood narrative from Colin (“Mission Very Possible,” “The Salmonator”).

• Mangini analyzes the Vikings’ miscalculation, suggesting the tension in the building was over quarterback decisions—paying $25M for Darnold as insurance would have been wise, especially with J.J. McCarthy unproven and injury-prone:

  “They could have kept him for $25 million…if he was there, then that would slow down McCarthy's development…But in retrospect, it definitely was the issue and why he got fired."
  (Eric Mangini, 05:57)

• Both agree: letting Darnold walk looks bad in hindsight, especially as his best game as a pro highlights the Vikings’ own offensive struggles.

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2. Defending Bill Belichick – Hall of Fame Snub Debate

[07:02–10:53]

• Colin raises Belichick's first-ballot Hall of Fame snub, referencing “multiple gates” (Spygate, Deflategate) and league/media frustrations.
• Mangini pushes back, framing the snub as “ridiculous,” emphasizing Belichick’s unprecedented post-controversy achievements:

  “There may have been multiple gates, but we're talking about three Super Bowls after that…it's because you have some other issue with him that you want to play out, not based off…his accomplishments…”
  (Eric Mangini, 07:48)

• Colin probes the notion of repeated league warnings; Mangini says Belichick’s subsequent success should outweigh the scandals.
• Mangini argues personal/press issues taint the voting:

  “He's not warm and fuzzy. He didn't endear himself to the media…That doesn't resonate with a lot of people, and the voters are media members.”
  (Eric Mangini, 10:04)

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3. Sean Payton, Bo Nix, & Constructive Conflict

[10:53–12:36]

• Discussion shifts to Sean Payton & Bo Nix’s public disagreement over injury status.
• Mangini distinguishes between “constructive conflict” and negativity—Payton’s airing of details gained nothing and Nix was right to respond publicly:

  “You want to disagree without being disagreeable, ideally. To call out Bo Nix and share personal information—what did it really gain?”
  (Eric Mangini, 11:22)

• Both agree the coaching decisions (OC firing, game management) signal confusion in Denver’s direction.

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4. Mike McCarthy’s Reputation Problem

[12:36–14:59]

• Colin draws an analogy between Apple vs. Android and NFL coaching reputations—Mike McCarthy mentioned as having “branding” issues compared to John Harbaugh and Pete Carroll, despite similar records.
• Mangini reflects on McCarthy’s likability giving him new opportunities, jealousy that Belichick didn’t sniff even an interview, and surprise at Pittsburgh’s hire:

  “Mike McCarthy is a good example…he's very likable…he got a third opportunity to be a head coach where Bill Belichick didn't even get a sniff…”
  (Eric Mangini, 13:45)

• Colin and Mangini both express doubt McCarthy fits the “Steelers for 20 years” mold.

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5. Seattle vs. New England – Playoff & Underdog Mentality

[14:59–20:24]

• Colin contrasts Seattle’s talent advantage with New England’s “underdog” edge under Vrabel.
• Mangini draws parallel between current Pats and their first dynasty run (his own tenure), highlighting New England’s ability to create problems for QBs like Darnold:

  “It's really about New England's defense…they’re going to create problems for Sam Darnold, no question...It's palpable and fun to watch.”
  (Eric Mangini, 16:16)

• The “seeing ghosts” narrative is revived, with Mangini suggesting some psychological hurdles for Darnold vs. NE (“this is the team they saw ghosts against…”).
• Both assert New England’s culture (brains over flash, chip on their shoulder) shapes both team and region. Comparing with L.A. and the Lakers’ flashiness.
• Mangini: “It's a great motivator in sports…all the great teams want that element of ‘they don't believe in us’…” (19:31)

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6. Super Bowl Picks & QB Comparisons

[20:24–21:44]

• Colin: “I have a right to change,” but leans New England 27-26 over Seattle, citing defensive strengths and reliability against Seattle’s youth and pass-centric offense.
• Mangini shares his player comparison:

  “My player comparison with Drake May was Sam Darnold. He just has the benefit of getting Josh McDaniels a lot early in his career than Sam Darnold got…” (Eric Mangini, 21:14)

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7. Rapid Reaction: Vikings GM, Offseason Moves

[33:50–37:20]

• Jason McIntyre (J-Mac) updates on Vikings GM firing: “Pretty shocking development…he hasn't had many home runs in the last few years. This past draft was a total disaster.”
• Colin muses on internal politics: coach vs. GM power, J.J. McCarthy pick, Darnold’s up-and-down record.
• J-Mac: “Let's be real…Darnold had one good season, Colin. That was it…we’re not judging guys on one season now, are we?”
• Mangini and Colin both question if McCarthy was worth pushing Darnold out.

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8. Coaching Hires: Joe Brady & Jesse Minter

[38:02–39:57]

• Joe Brady, new Bills coach, addresses high expectations:

  “I didn't take this job to shy away from expectations…I know what I signed up for…” (Joe Brady, 38:02)

• Light banter about coaching “vibes” (appearance and demeanor) as Jesse Minter joins the Ravens—and the challenge of winning with a high QB cap hit (Lamar Jackson).

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9. Modern Roster Construction: QB Cap Hits & Winning Widows

[41:37–42:54]

• Colin discusses challenges for teams with expensive, veteran QBs (Lamar, Josh Allen), and competitive advantage for teams with young QBs on rookie deals (Bo Nix, Drake May, C.J. Stroud):

  “The final four playoff teams—not a single team had a quarterback with a top 15 cap hit…” (Colin Cowherd, 42:42)

• Suggests next year’s AFC will be shaped by these economic realities.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Belichick’s Snub:

  “To look at his body of work versus other coaches and not say he’s a first ballot hall of Famer, it’s just not realistic.”
  (Eric Mangini, 07:48)

• On Vikings Letting Darnold Walk:

  “They could have kept him for $25 million... to have that kind of insurance policy at the most important position, you typically would do it."
  (Eric Mangini, 05:57)

• On NFL Playoff “Underdog” Culture:

  “We’re not supposed to be here. People are probably upset that we’re here, but we’re here and we’re going to create problems for Seattle.”
  (Eric Mangini, 18:15)

• Colin, On NFL Coach Branding:

  “Mike McCarthy's a good coach. He's got a branding problem.”
  (Colin Cowherd, 16:46 and in recap segment)

• On Super Bowl Pick:

  “As of today, if I made a Super Bowl pick…It would be 27, 26 New England…Seattle struggles to start a run game and they have to throw and the pass rush, there’s a lot of pressure.”
  (Colin Cowherd, 20:24)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Sam Darnold’s Resurgence & Vikings GM Firing: [00:00–07:02]
• Belichick Hall of Fame Debate: [07:02–10:53]
• Sean Payton & Bo Nix Rift: [10:53–12:36]
• McCarthy’s Reputation: [12:36–14:59]
• Seattle vs. New England, Playoff Mentality: [14:59–20:24]
• Super Bowl Prediction/Drake May Comparison: [20:24–21:44]
• Vikings GM Analysis / Offseason Moves: [33:50–37:20]
• Coaching Changes/Offseason News: [38:02–39:57]
• NFL Roster Construction & Cap Hits: [41:37–42:54]

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Tone & Style

Conversational, candid, occasionally irreverent. Colin Cowherd’s humor and Mangini’s analytical but direct delivery mesh well: criticism is balanced with praise, and hot takes are tempered by experience-based insight.

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Summary by The Herd Expert Podcast Summarizer.

Transcript

[Colin Cowherd]

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. 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 [e-mail] or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FS. Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It is our number two and we have breaking news. It's just incredible. So the Minnesota Vikings had Sam Darnold in the building and they let him go after drafting J.J. mcCarthy and John Snyder. To me, the sharpest GM in the NFL, I mean, as good as anybody in personnel went and grabbed Sam Darnold. We told you on this show that is a major upgrade over Geno Smith. Everybody I talked to, every coach I talked to in the league said more athletic. Sam Darnold can play. He's finally gotten good coaching. This is great for Seattle. They were good with Gito. They're going to be exceptional. That's why I picked him as my surprise playoff team. I love Sam. The people who I respect love Sam. Couple calls and it's like, yeah, this gonna work in Seattle. Big. So the Vikings who let him go just fired their general manager, according to Diana Rossini. Adam Schefter added this throughout the season, there was underlying tension in the Vikings building. It was ugly. And you know, you let somebody walk like this, you let Sam Darnold walk who? Since I said it, he got benched in Carolina and then he got to start again. First time in his pro career he was benched. And when he was given that Minnesota or that Carolina job, it was no late November of 2022. From that moment on, he went 4 and 2 there, 1 and oh in San Francisco. 14 wins in Minnesota super bowl this year. He has the highest winning percentage in the league and they let him walk. And they didn't have to pay him a fortune. I mean, Seattle's paying him a very, very team friendly deal. But Sam's like, no, you drafted J.J. mcCarthy. Who? I was not a fan of that pick. I kept reading, oh, everybody loves JJ's a winner. I'm like, nah, Darnold's better. So anyway, they fired him. And it's interesting, John Snyder was talking last night. There's a great quote about John Snyder. There was a report again by Schefter that over the last couple of weeks that Darnold's been getting these pain killing injections before the games so he can play. He's not practicing. And here's John Snyder talking about that.

[Eric Mangini]

He hasn't flinched.

[Colin Cowherd]

You know, it's kind of like, like.

[Eric Mangini]

I think we were all more panicked.

[Colin Cowherd]

You know, than what was going on, than he was. He's kind of like looking at us like we had three heads. Like, wait, like, what's every so worried about? You know? Yeah, yeah. So he's like, I'll be good. So I haven't seen a lot of quarterbacks like not throw a ball and then go out and play like that, you know, and we've been blessed to.

[Eric Mangini]

Be around some pretty damn good ones.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, he didn't practice and he played his best game as a pro. So I made a couple calls last night to, let's just say some Hollywood insiders and there's a lot of talk about a story about an American hero. And now that Darnold's made Michael Jordan's flu game look like the sniffles, I am told there's a bidding war. Casting directors are already working on it. One of the movies they're throwing around will be called Mission Very Possible starring Sam Darnold. Oh, that's not the only one. I was told last night they're working on another movie, the Salmonator. Yeah, Darnold, Schwarzenegger. Oh, it doesn't stop there. Sammy. Rocky. Sammy. Yeah. Same steps just in the Pacific Northwest. The Lord of the ring people in Hollywood are, you know, Hollywood they say is dying. Thank God for Sam Darnold saving it. And with that, Eric Mangini Ghostbuster. Who you gonna call? Okay, Eric Mangini is joining us live. Enough this Tom foolery.

[Eric Mangini]

You may be a little early on those. Colin, you may be a little early.

[Colin Cowherd]

I may be maybe six or seven days early on that. Let me start with this. I'll even start with. Let's just start with Darby. So the PM of the Vikings just Got whacked. And so. And my take is there was tension in the building. I think there was some. J.J. mcCarthy couldn't stay healthy tension. Do you think you've been in this league that when Sam leaves and crushes it, do you think that was part of the tension over the course of a year?

[Eric Mangini]

Yeah, it was definitely part of the tension. They could have kept him for $25 million. They didn't know how J.J. mcCarthy was going to a play because he didn't really play and how he was going to play coming back from an injury. So for $25 million to have that kind of insurance policy at the most important position, you typically would do it. But I feel like they felt in the building, if he was there, then that would slow down McCarthy's development and it would put an impediment to it. But in retrospect, you know, it probably was. It definitely was the issue and why he got fired. Now, I'd say the way that the season finished in Minnesota allowed him to make that argument. Losing the game to secure the number one seed, then losing the playoffs like they did then, it was okay. He's great in the regular season, but can he really bring us to a Super Bowl?

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. And then he plays his best game as a pro and beats the Rams and you're reminded that your. Your offense struggled.

[Eric Mangini]

Yeah. That probably made the owner pretty angry.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. Yeah. All right. I want to talk about the Bill Belichick snub. So I would have voted him in. I would have slept on it. I do think, and you have direct knowledge of this, if you have multiple gates on your resume and you've lost first round picks and been fine. The NFL does not like to take away first round picks. They don't like to do that. They didn't like in 2007, the Super bowl week. And Roger Goodell has to address the media and they're asking about Spygate for a week because that's the most coveted week of the year in the sport. It's, it's, you know, so like, I get people that were ticked off within the league. And by the way, I think most voters probably voted for him. And there's probably, you know, one or two. Had they gone the other way, he would have gotten in. But what did you make it? A snub? Let's start that. You know, Bill. Yeah.

[Eric Mangini]

I thought it was pretty ridiculous. There may have been multiple gates, but we're talking about three Super Bowls after that. And what did he go to? 6 after that and he's got a total of 6. He's got 2 as a, as a coordinator. And you could say, okay, it's all Tom Brady. That's not true. Look at Tom Brady early in his career. Tom wasn't the guy at the end of his career that he was at the beginning of his career. We scored two offensive or three offensive touchdowns in that first super bowl run, and one of them was from Drew Bledsoe. So, so to say it's, you know, all time. A lot of great coaches have had great quarterbacks and not had that level of success. Now, look, I've had my challenges with Bill. A lot of people have. He's not Mr. Personality. The stuff that at Carolina, I don't think has helped him. And the end, the way it ended, New England didn't help him. But to look at his body of work versus other coaches and not say he's a first ballot hall of Famer, that's, that's, it's just not realistic. And it's, it's because you have some other issue with him that you want to play out, not based off of whether or not his accomplishments merit a first ballot hall of Fame, which they obviously do.

[Colin Cowherd]

You know, the league, the argument is, I mean, the league for seven years warned him. You know, they warned him for years and years. You know this. They warned him for years. Years. I think at one point you've told a story where you called him and said, you know, stop, stop taping, stop doing that. Could I make an argument if you would have been warned and stopped, but you know, it's like telling your kid, don't do this, and your kid does that over and over. That's when you get angry as a parent. Is. Is there an argument that you were warned for seven years, the league was warning you to stop. By the way, there was a Spygate two, there was a second Spygate where there was another third round pick taken. Is it. Maybe we're not talking about Spygate too, because Deflategate, which I never bought at all, I thought that was insane. But what about the argument? If you keep warning somebody about something and they don't listen, that's where you get into trouble.

[Eric Mangini]

Yeah, I understand that, but it's not like after that happened, he didn't have success.

[Colin Cowherd]

Okay.

[Eric Mangini]

He still had incredible success after that happened. So do. To pigeonhole the whole body of work under that one time period. It doesn't make sense because there was incredible numbers after that. Whether it was appearances, super bowl victories. Yeah. I think it comes more to people have personal issues with him. He's not warm and fuzzy. He didn't endear himself to the media. You know, his whole thing was, I don't care about the media because if I win, they can't touch me, and if I lose, they can't save me. So it was never a big deal for him. His thing was like, so what? You know? And that doesn't resonate with a lot of people, and the voters are media members.

[Colin Cowherd]

Listen, I. I like Sean Payton sometimes. He leads with his chin. And I've also said you have to be comfortable with conflict if you're a head coach. A head coach, quarterback. Relationships, like a marriage, you're in trouble when you stop talking. I've seen. I mean, that's. That's when you're in trouble. If you don't have disagreements, you're in a lifeless marriage, lifeless relationship. I argue with buddies, I argue with friends. That's the reality of relationships. But Bo Nix called out Sean Payton for talking about his injury. What did you make of the whole thing?

[Eric Mangini]

Yeah, I didn't understand. And I agree with you, Colin. You do have to be willing to have conflict, but you want the conflict to be constructive conflict. And you want to be. You want to disagree without being disagreeable, ideally. And to call out Bo Nix and to share the personal information, what did it really gain? Like, what was the upside of doing that? And I understand why Bo Nix then turned around and said, hey, that's not the case, and wanted to state his case. And when you look at the end of the season for Denver, does any of that make sense to you? I mean, Sean called the offensive plays but then fired the offensive coordinator. Sean decided not to kick a field goal and go for it on 4th and 1. The difference is a field goal and he fired the offensive coordinator. And so maybe he's looking for new ideas. There are other coaches that were fired too. Objectively, the best thing they do in Denver is play defense.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Eric Mangini]

Which is not his forte. So the whole end of the season doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Maybe. Maybe you have a different perspective on it, but what's. What's the goal of this? I guess.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I think Sean too, often leads with his chin. I like him, but he's polarizing for a reason. So I've said my staff was joking with me this morning that I've never owned an Android phone. I've always had an iPhone. My guys are kind of hipsters, and they're like, the Androids got way better tech than Apple. But Apple's got way better branding. News to me. And. But I said it's like Mike McCarthy. Mike McCarthy doesn't have good branding. He's got John Harbaugh's record. Go Pete Carroll can make the hall of Fame. Well, he's got a bigger regular season record than Pete. He's been fired less than Pete, and he got the same playoff record as Pete. My take is with McCarthy, his team score a lot of points. I mean, he won. Remember the year they had Cooper Rush play five game start. Dak got hurt. They had one receiver in the building he could trust. They were like top four in scoring. Is Mike McCarthy the classic better than you? John Harbaugh and him have almost identical resumes. We all love John Harbaugh. We, Mike McCarthy. Everybody rolls their eyes at the hire. What do you make of Mike?

[Eric Mangini]

I was really surprised that Pittsburgh did what they did. It seems very off brand for them. And then Mike McCarthy is a good example of someone who does have a good relationship with a lot of people. Who people. He's very likable. He's a. He's a really nice guy. And he got a third opportunity to be a head coach where Bill Belichick didn't even get a sniff. There was. Nobody even talked to him. Think about how many jobs were open and what Bill could possibly bring to the table. He got nothing. But with Mike, he does have really good offensive production. He's a likable guy. He's all those things in terms of leading your organization. And I'm sure the, the hierarchy in Pittsburgh saying, okay, this is a guy that can come in and hopefully help us win right now and get over the hump. But it, it just doesn't seem consistent with how the Pittsburgh Steelers have always done things. And how many years do you anticipate him being there? I mean, Steelers coaches are there for, you know, 18 to 20 years. Like, I can't see Mike being there for 18 to 20 years.

[Colin Cowherd]

Right. You and I both love Mike Vrabel. You know, Josh McDaniel. I think Seattle's got a better roster. I think Seattle. But I think New England's defensive roster is underrated. I just think Seattle offensively with jsn, I think Seattle's O lines a little better, especially on the left side. I think Darnold's got more experience, but I think there's no question to me is Seattle makes mistakes. It's a young team. Darnold can throw a bad pick. I wouldn't be shocked at all if New England won I think what's happened here is New England was so bad last year that people just don't think it's possible they're that good. And I'm like, you guys understand the Chargers are good, the Houston Texans are good, Denver's good. Well, Drake May didn't play well. They won all three. Okay. They won playoff games. Not by the way, Stafford and the Rams. I think the Stafford and The Rams scored 14 points early in the season against the Texans. Everybody struggled with the Texans.

[Eric Mangini]

Yep.

[Colin Cowherd]

So my takeaway is Vrabel is going to go for two weeks telling these guys, nobody believes in you. Absolutely. And I think it's incredibly powerful. Your thoughts on New England, Vrabel, a guy, you know, facing a team as an underdog and nobody's given him a chance.

[Eric Mangini]

Yeah, I would absolutely take New England. I love, I love this story. It reminds me so much of, of our first run, the amount of guys that they brought in. And this is very similar. We went 5 and 11. And the next year we bring in a bunch of guys. Vrabel was one of those guys. He was supposed to be a teams player. Ends up starting. They bring in a bunch of guys from all over the place. They've got a rookie 4th round draft pick starting at safety. They've got another rookie free agent who's contributing as a pass rusher. And they have a second year quarterback. We had a second year quarterback. They have the light schedule but the gain, although that momentum. We were five and five through 10 games and then went on a run. They, they were much better than us throughout the course of the year. Then they go through this gauntlet of defenses, but it's really about New England's defense. And when you watch them play, they're going to create problems for Sam Darnold, no question. Match up, they disguise, they bring multiple blitzes, they use everybody. They're playing the tempo that they're playing with, the energy, all that stuff, it's palpable and it's fun to watch. And as much as you have the Hollywood movie set out where you had Ghostbusters, this is the team they saw ghosts against. And I know it's not Bill, but there's a lot of elements of that in this mix. And there's a lot of things that he's going to have to sort through and people he's going to have to sort through. And this, this could be problematic for, for Sam. For Sam Darnold.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yep.

[Eric Mangini]

And outside of Jackson, Smith and Jigbo, which I think they'll take away, you know, they could potentially double him and. And say, okay, the rest of this group is going to have to beat us. They can hold up in the running game so that they. They're going to create a lot of problems. And they're selling the. You know, you saw the warriors, you know, walking in. They see clanging the bottles from, you know, the mov. The old movie was the 80s movie.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Eric Mangini]

Great move. Like, they're playing into that whole idea of, yeah, we're. We're not supposed to be here. People are probably upset that we're here, but we're here and we're going to create problems for Seattle.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. You know what's funny? I said this the other day because I spent 10 years living in the New England region, and there is something about the New England region is that it's very petty. Know, mit, Harvard, it's a highly educated area. It is not a flashy area. So I used to tell my wife, Anna, I'm like, for all the money here, you never see a Maserati. You don't see a. You don't see many Porsches. I'm like, there's so much money on our. In this neighborhood, these suburbs, and people are not flashy and they don't show it. And Randy Moss was the rare hot, flashy player for the PA it was a lot of. I mean, even the stars, Gronk, Edelman were like, tough guys. Like, tough. And I think Vrabel loves being the underdog. And I. And I do think you become your region. There's never been a Laker team that's great. That isn't flashy. Right. Like, that's just L. A. I think New England feeds off this. And when you work, I always feel like it's the smartest region of the country. And they love being disrespected.

[Eric Mangini]

Yeah, it's a great motivator in sports. And you would see Michael Jordan, he would always look for some way that he was being disrespected, as great as he was. And all the great teams want that element of they don't believe in us. And even Drake may kind of reminds you of Tom Brady in the sense that he seems like a great, nice kid who just as is happy to be part of the team and play his role, just like Tom was. And then you got all these other guys that were throwaways from their team or they didn't want to sign them as free agents, or now they're all together and to some degree. So is Rabel, right? Tennessee Got rid of him. He spent a year in Cleveland. Now he's got this other opportunity and they're all saying, okay, let's see. Let's see whether or not you can hold up against us.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, as of today, if I made a Super bowl pick, I said it the other day, and it can change. I have a right to change. It would be 27, 26 New England field goal light. Tough game. Sam's imperfect. Drake May's not perfect. And it's just Seattle struggles to start a run game and they have to throw and the pass rush, there's a lot of pressure. And remember, I don't think Drake may as Matt Stafford, but Matt Stafford had a lot of success against Seattle. Like a lot. And New England's receivers are better than people give them credit for. Again, they were so bad last year. If you don't watch the Patriot games, you don't understand. They, they. The Seattle defense, there are ways to attack it and it's, it's young. So that would be. That's kind of my take.

[Eric Mangini]

All right. Yeah, I'm with you, Colin. I think New England wins and I'm hoping it's close. I'm hoping it's exciting. I don't know for, you know, venater, Terry type finish in this one or not. But, you know, my player comparison with Drake May was Sam Darnold. You know, he just has the benefit of getting Josh McDaniels a lot early in his career than Sam Darnold got, you know, got with his sort of coaching mentor. Not mentors, but at least the guys that were able to elevate him to, to what his potential always was.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. Eric, good senior. Have a great weekend.

[Eric Mangini]

Great senior. Colin.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, yeah. No, I've gone back and forth on this. I was telling Danny Parkins, I, I just have this feeling is that I. And some of it was I lived there for 10 years and I watched the repatriate game. So you just become kind of like fans of the culture and craft and how it was operated. And I mean, I think about the, the Patriot dynasty. Same owner this team has, same owner, same offensive coordinator. The Patriots never had the most talent. One a Super bowl is a 14 point dog once. And Drake may share so much of the gratitude and humility and size and arm strength of Brady. He's a little bit. He's more athletic, but it's. And to me, Vrabel is Belichick. He's the current Belichick. Super smart, attention to detail, a little gruff at times. Will fire back at the media. I think he's a little more current, he's a little more player friendly. I think you have to be today. But I think it's to me it is. It's the start. And what's so ironic is that the start of the first dynasty was the tuck rule game and the start of this one could be that Denver Blizzard. So I don't know. I think it's really close and I think, you know, and Seattle could just be an avalanche and overwhelm them. But I Greg Cosell said this yesterday, people, because they've played a lot of high profile defenses like the Texans and the Broncos, people are overlooking how good the defensive personnel is for New England. It is excellent. And Drake may had a really bad half. He didn't play very well against Pittsburgh, if I recall, and he had a bad half against Buffalo. I mean, it's so many games now, by and large. I kind of know what I get with New England. He's got a little bit of a fumble issue. But again, they've been playing in weird weather. Now they're playing in Santa Clara.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

One more herd the herd streams 24.

[Colin Cowherd]

Hours a day, seven days a week.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

Within the iHeartRadio app.

[Colin Cowherd]

Search herd to listen live or on.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

Demand whenever you'd like.

[Colin Cowherd]

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 Mather Show, a cult 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 Mather 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 for 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 Henwitz 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 with 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 McElwaine. 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 bill to 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. By the way, Mike McCarthy, new Steelers coach, we've talked about him today. He was on Pittsburgh Radio this morning talking about Aaron Rodgers and taking his time to decide if he's a Steeler next year. Here's Mike. This is normal for him this time of year. This has been my experience with Aaron and something that I always encouraged him to do. It's important for really all these, all these guys to get away. You know, the super bowl is really kind of Monday. Afterwards is just, I think emotionally for all of us is when the page truly gets turned onto the, onto the new year. So I think Aaron's just going through his process and, you know, evaluating, you know, what he wants to do moving forward with Mike. I hope he's coming back. And I said this earlier that Mike McCarthy has a bit of a branding problem. We do the blind resume from time to time. And the staff said, okay, I haven't seen these. Let's do a blind resume with Mike McCarthy. So you put up McCarthy's 18 seasons, 61% winning percentage, eight division titles, 11 playoff wins, and a Super bowl title. So on the other side, basically, Mike is slightly better, slightly worse, toe to toe with this coach. Who would that coach be? All right, Mike Tomlin. So when he got hired, my take was Mike is the offensive version of Mike Tomlin. You're not going to get A bad team. You know, it may not be an exciting hire, but Mike McCarthy, Mike Tomlin, I think the same thing. You're going to win a bunch of games capable of winning any division. All right, let's do the next blind resume. Let's see this. Okay, Mike McCarthy, this coach, he has a higher winning percentage, more division titles, both have a Super bowl title. What do we got right here? And that's Pete Carroll. And Pete Carroll, before the Raider firing. People would suggest, you know, Pete may get some hall of Fame boats. And certainly I think Mike McCarthy offensively is aged better than Pete. I mean, his. He's even in Dallas when Dak got hurt, they won games. All right, let's do another one. We got a couple here. This is the. You know, Mike McCarthy's a good coach. He's got a branding problem. Okay, this coach has a couple more playoff wins, but not as many division titles. It's a coin flip. Their careers are 18 years. Throw it out there. All right, John Harbaugh. And that's what I said earlier. It's the same guy. One we think is great. I do. And the other one, I'm guilty of this, too. With McCarthy, I'm like, he's fine. It's the same resume. We have one more. Here's one more. All right, this coach again. It's amazing how many coaches, 18 years, I haven't seen any of these. Fire away. Same coach, Sean Payton, the genius who's getting batted around this week? Well, Mike McCarthy had Aaron Rodgers. Well, Sean Payton had Drew Brees. So, you know, I think. I think Mike in Pittsburgh, I think people like, not every movie's good, fellas. Sometimes, you know, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon made the movie for Netflix. RIP I watched it this past week. It's fine. It's entertaining. Not everything is. The Irishman are goodfellas, you know, and not every coach is Sean McVeigh. So if you can't get Sean McVay, it's like, you know, Mike McCarthy in Pittsburgh. He's from there. He's comfortable. They're comfortable. Live in Chicago, it's the Herd. Foreign. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific, on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. 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 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 Henkewicz and Janice 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 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.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

Two of the best in the country Tip it off on Fox Friday Hoops Yoxa Lendeborg leads third ranked Michigan as they continue their fight for the top spot in the nation against Tom Izzo's seventh ranked Michigan State squad Tonight eight Eastern only on fox. That's a banger of a game, Colin. Yeah, I bet. Sparty.

[Colin Cowherd]

How about Cooper Flag last night Cooper flag just turned 19. He's not 20 I think until like next December.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

He's the best teenager in NBA history. It's okay to say that.

[Colin Cowherd]

Like by fine I mean Luca. When Luca came into the league I, I think by the way, Cooper Flag is a much better defender than Luca. That's not like a stretch. I, I, I've said this. Everybody loves Luca. I think he's great. Knock me for it but I read an article this week where people are saying he's not in as good a shape as he was when he came to camp. Is that Luka is one of the few Players that, that plays himself out of shape.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

How is that possible?

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, I mean, diet and you know how he lives. But, you know, very few guys are like D. Wade, LeBron, they're in impeccable shape. I always said Luke is a better version of Carmelo. Not really interested in defense, honestly, not really ever in great shape. But maybe for a decade. One of the great. Get a bucket guys, he's a better version of Carmelo and Carmelo was obviously a Hall of Famer, but I mean, if I said not in the best shape, get a bucket for a decade, going to be a top 10 all time scorer. Unbelievable offensive talent. Not. Doesn't care much about the other end of the floor. That's kind of an equivalency. I mean, there's, there's some similarity. I think Luke is obviously, I think his offensive bag is. But Cooper, Cooper flag is an early. A young 19.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

49 points. And again, I remember LeBron's first year. LeBron was physically a different. He just different than everybody. I remember it well. Is that. I mean, LeBron's first game was in Sacramento. People were all excited for it. LeBron was sensational. But early in his career, it was more freight train than shooting. J. Mac with the news.

[Eric Mangini]

No, no, no, turn on the news.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

This is the Herd line news. All right, listen, there's not a lot of breaking news this week, but this one is huge. Colin, this just went down within the last hour. The Minnesota Vikings have fired their GM, Quesi Adolfo Mensah. Pretty shocking development. He's been the GM there for four seasons. Vikings have had a good record, 43 and 25. But obviously there is the report, you know, not the report really, that Sam Darnold crushed it with the Seahawks and has gotten to the super bowl. And of course the Vikings cut him loose. Now, this is how wacky this story is, Colin. The Vikings sent Kwesi to the Senior bowl to scout. He was down in Mobile with Albert Brear and all those guys this week, and they all of a sudden fired him. Now, he did give a presser this week where he talked about sleepless nights.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

With Darnold's success. And I wonder if that contributed to it. Now we've got a lot of reporters coming out of the woodwork saying, well, there was beef all season. Miss me with that nonsense, okay? These reporters do tv, radio, they're on social media. Nobody has had a whiff of this all season. And to come out and say, well, this has been coming. No, it hasn't. Okay, Now I will. In defense of the Vikings, I did look up his recent drafts and Quesi has not had many home runs in the last few years. This past draft was a total disaster. They basically added no value anywhere. The JJ McCarthy pick, you've scrutinized it heavily. Jordan Addison has been good, but he's been getting in some trouble off the field. Yeah, it hasn't been a great draft, but Colin, I think this guy's going to be in high demand. He's a very sharp, analytically driven gm. He's not going to be out of work long, in my opinion.

[Colin Cowherd]

So he leaves the building and gets whacked. Yeah.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

Are you of some thought that there's a conspiracy theory with him and Kevin O'? Connell?

[Colin Cowherd]

No, I. I'm not. But, you know, Sean McDermott got in big trouble for going to his owner and GM and saying, I don't know if we have a Super bowl window, but McDermott doesn't have the power of Kevin O'. Connell. Kevin O' Connell may have gone to the owner and said, we don't have enough good players. I mean, again, when the coach has power, they win over GM. I'm not saying this happened. I'm saying Sean McDermott got in trouble, but Sean McDermott needed to get to a Super bowl. And there have been a lot of people, myself included, who said that he better get there. Kevin o' Connell thought of very highly. I. Here's the other thing is that this general manager may have pounded the table for J.J. mcCarthy. I didn't get it. I'm not going to say I said before the draft, I like Bo Nix, I like Caleb, I like Drake May. I like Jaden Daniels. I like Penix. I said I like all of them. I wouldn't draft. I was not a J.J. mcCarthy fan. I mean, here's the thing. The Vikings had Darnold. They also had at some point Daniel Jones, who played very well when he was healthy this year.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

Well, again, let's pump the br. So Daniel Jones had half a good season, then started to come back down to earth, then popped his Achilles. Okay. And just to be real on Sam Darnold and not defend the Vikings, I'm not a Vikings fan, let's be real. Darnold had one good season, Colin. That was it. He had one really, really strong season. And like, I. I'm not surprised they.

[Colin Cowherd]

Moved off of him.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

Like, he ended the season horribly. He was very good. But it's like, we're not judging guys on one season now, are we?

[Eric Mangini]

Well.

[Colin Cowherd]

I would get that if J.J. mcCarthy. I mean, again, they must have felt very strongly about J.J. mcCarthy. Yeah.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

You know, somebody loved him besides Jim Harbaugh. You know, somebody in Minnesota really liked him, and now he's got to deliver it. Listen, I know we both love Kevin o', Connell, and a couple people here at Fox know him well. Zero career playoff wins, same number as you and I. Okay, let's move on to the next story, and that's Joe Brady in Buffalo. We're going to talk about him. Well, one last time. Joe Brady, obviously, big, big pressure this year as the Bills coach. Obviously, he's got the MVP quarterback in Josh Allen. Brady talked about his approach at his introductory press conference.

[Colin Cowherd]

I didn't take this job to shy away from expectations. I sure as hell did not do that. I'm embracing it. I'm understanding it, and I'm meeting it full on. I know what I signed up for, and we're going to embrace it because no one rises to low expectations. I want what the city wants. I want what Mr. Pugula deserves.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

Who wrote that chat? GPT. Well, I mean, come on.

[Colin Cowherd]

Come on.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

The guy's crying during a. I don't.

[Colin Cowherd]

I'm out on. You're very.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

I don't know.

[Colin Cowherd]

Sorry.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

I'm a Jets fan.

[Colin Cowherd]

Come on.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

I gotta find some humor in this.

[Colin Cowherd]

This is.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

This is the most we've ever talked about Joe Brady in the last. You know, how many years we've been doing this together? Three. Yeah, I mean, Joe Brady better go. Go get some wins. And news flash, yes, we are going to be talking about him in headlines in the final hour. Well, that's called a tease in the industry, big guy. Final story, let's go to the Baltimore Ravens and their splashy hire, Jesse Minter. Coming from out here as a Chargers DC he will now have quarterback Lamar Jackson at his disposal. When talking about Lamar this week, Minter did not hold back praise for his quarterback.

[Colin Cowherd]

Lamar and I have had multiple conversations. It's been great. It's been great to get to know him. I think relationships take time. I just look forward to connecting with him, helping him become the best version of himself, creating a team identity that allows him to thrive, which he's already, you know, proven to be an elite.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

Elite.

[Colin Cowherd]

One of the.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

The best player in the National Football.

[Colin Cowherd]

League and put a team around him that, that allows him to reach that ultimate goal of bringing a Super bowl back to Baltimore.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

Maybe it's me, but just the. The difference in appearance. Minter's got the side part, the ties not really snug up against the neck. He just looks like somebody I want to talk to and listen to. I, I'm not bashing Brady, but he had like a haircut I had when I was like 22 years old. You know, Minter looks like, he just looks like he's got his act together. I'm rooting for him. Not that I'm against Brady. And now I'm going over the overboard.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's interesting. You know, you got Josh Allen and, and Lamar and these super bowl windows. I mean we thought, I don't know if you did. We didn't work together at time. A lot of people thought that the Seahawks window with Russell Wilson and that stacked roster, we thought that was like a seven year window. And it closed after like three. You're like, they're great. Super bowl, another boom. You know, it's. You get drama in the locker room. Philadelphia this year, we're like this team, this locker room is stack. All of a sudden wrong. OC In Philadelphia literally had halves where they didn't complete a forward pass. So I mean Baltimore now the story about Jesse mentor, the cap hit for Lamar. Lamar wants to be the highest paid quarterback in the league. Well, he's not the best quarterback in the league, so that is going to limit the roster. John Harbaugh got Lamar Jackson on a rookie contract and he struggled to get him to a Super Bowl. He struggled to get him to play well in the postseason. So Jesse now is going to have a massive cap hit with Lamar Jackson. Well, there's just limitations on what you can do in free agency. I mean, part of the New England story this year, the Denver story, you know, is you can go, you can go buy players. I mean when Stafford signed a team friendly deal for the Rams, they went and got Nate Landman and Devonte Adams and those kind of players. So I think, I think that Baltimore job, it's a gold standard job. But when your cap hit is, is 28% or something like that, whatever it is, think about that. Over a quarter of your roster, you're paying one guy and you got 54 other dudes. Just hard to win.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

Colin, you can only take one. Which of these teams is making the playoff next year? Bills, Ravens or Chiefs? It's not easy. Remember Mahomes conservatively out at least two.

[Colin Cowherd]

Years, probably Bills, probably. But again, his cap hit goes up 20 million. Josh Allen's cap hit. I don't remember the exact numbers. I think it's like 36 to 56 or something. It's, it goes Up. So that's just a huge advantage for Bo Nix and Drake May. And look in the NFC right now. Look at what the Chicago Bears did with their roster when Ben got Joe Tunney maybe the best old lineman in the sport. Drew Dahlman, great center. I mean, I mean they went and got, they drafted well so they hit on draft picks. They totally changed their offensive line. They hit on a right tackle. Was that the year before that right tackle becomes really elite and all of a sudden you look up and you're like man, Chicago's, Chicago's got dudes.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

By the way, C.J. stroud in Houston still on the rookie deal has a lot of guy that, that's a dangerous team. Houston next year in the afc.

[Colin Cowherd]

J. Mac with the news. Well, that's the news and thanks for.

[J. Mac (Jason McIntyre)]

Stopping by the Herd lie news.

[Colin Cowherd]

I was looking this morning at the NFL standings and the changes I would make because I have no life to my next year predictions and I was just jotting it down and you know it's like the Giants and Tennessee are the two teams. I said oh those, those are going to be playoff teams because it's on average it's four. And so I thought okay, New York Giants are going to make the playoffs. I think Tennessee is going to be really, really interesting. But, but it's hard because if you have a really good coach, I mean if you go look at the 14 teams that got in this year, there's a lot of good coaches and either a lot of really good quarterbacks or, or really capable quarterbacks on rookie deals. Well, Drake's still on a rookie deal. Bo still on a rookie deal. Caleb's still on a rookie deal. C.J. stroud, like it's, we, we talked about this. The if you go to the final four playoff teams, not a single team had a quarterback with a top 15 cap hit like there is. I mean what is Bo Nix's cap hit like 3, 5, 4 or 5% of the roster. You can just, I mean lower than that. Like Drake Maze is like tiny. We just let you go spend all you can just go buy good players. So I mean it's Bo Nicks here it is Bo Nicks in Denver. So, so next year Lamar Jackson could potentially be 26, 27% of the cap one player Bo Nix next season is 1.5% of the Denver Bronco Cav. Maybe that's why he's feisty. I mean he's that, that's free, that's a free player and he was a first round pick that's a free player at the most important position who's great in the fourth quarter and super productive. So when I say I don't think Lamar Jackson is going to make a Super bowl again, it's not a knock on the Ravens. I think, I think Josh Allen probably makes a Super bowl, but I don't think he'd win it. Right now, the top jams in the league and there's good ones in the AFC, a lot of them are in the NFC. So Lamar's cap hit next season as of today is 15 times higher than Bo Nicks next year. I mean, you tell me, what are the rosters going to look like? That's, that's, I mean, when you look at Seattle's roster, I like Sam Darnold and they don't have any holes and they, they're missing a really good number two running back in the Super Bowl. They don't have a lot of holes. Not a lot of places to attack our number three on a Friday. It's there. 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 running Hogo, sticking teleport, if you can ride on the back of a rollerblading yak or fly in on the wings of a majestic falcon. Any way you can bring your AT&T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal on the best network based on root metrics. Best overall Mobile Network Performance US Second Half 2025 all rights reserved. Must provide very recent postpaid consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.