← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
THE HERD - Hour 2 - More on Caleb Williams high praise, the difficulty adjusting to a new coordinator, Kevin Durant might be causing drama, Matt Hasselbeck
00:41:43
Loading summary
Transcript122 lines
- [00:00]
Emily Simpson
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:02]
Colin Cowherd
Guaranteed Human we all want the best without having to pay the most. That's where Verizon comes in. Get this now you can take your AT and T or T mobile bill into any Verizon store. They'll look at what you're paying and give you a better deal. Period. You get the amazing coverage you want while keeping more cash in your pocket. Visit your local Verizon store to start saving today. Must provide recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms and conditions apply. This is Lavar Harrington from Up on Game. This message is brought to you by Apple Card It's a great time to apply for an Apple Card. You'll love earning unlimited daily cash on every purchase. That includes 3% daily cash when you buy the latest iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch at Apple through this special referral offer. When you get a new Apple Card, you can earn bonus daily cash. To qualify, you must apply at Apple co getdailycash Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch offer may not be available elsewhere. Terms and limitations apply. I'm Colin Coward from the Herd. Whether you're a seasoned small business owner or thinking about getting started, you'll definitely want to check out season four of Mind the Business small business success stories from iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Inuit QuickBooks. In the latest season, hosts Austin Hankwitz and 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. Hey, it's Covino and Rich ready to tackle your financial goals. Webull makes it simple to start investing, no matter your experience, whether you're actively trading or building. For the long term, We Bull gives you the tools to invest, Trade stocks, options, ETFs and more. Or explore cash management and retirement accounts to help your money work harder in the long term all in one platform. With advanced trading tools and an intuitive app, webull helps you stay informed and in control. Don't sit on the sidelines. Download the Webull app today W E B U L l or visit we bull.com We Bull Financial LLC member SIPC FINRA Investing involves risk. For more information, visit webull.com disclosures 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. Welcome in hour two on a Wednesday. I'm going on a brief Sebastian a very, very short hiatus for a few days. J Mac will take over starting tomorrow. Matt Hasselbeck will join us in a couple of minutes. We are live at Chicago. It's 65 degrees. People always ask me, how are you gonna handle the winter? I'm like, apparently it's over. That was it. I may go play volleyball on the beach today. Incredible. So you know, I used to live in Vegas and I always, I've been the last year. How many stories last two years. Vegas is dying. Vegas is dying. I don't think Vegas is dying. I think Vegas is pivoting. And I think I saw a story today where Las Vegas tourum tourism is dipping but Allegiant stadium, the Raiders stadium, attendance is increasing. And that leads me to my point on what's happening to Vegas because I lived there for seven years, I have friends there. I just talked to one two days ago. And I don't think Vegas is dying. I think in the 50s Vegas was mob guys in the rat pack. And then 70s and 80s it was boxing, got more global baccarat players and in the 90s it became families and gigantic pools and dining. And then in the early 2000s it was nightclubs and bottle service and residencies for stars. And now it's a grown up city with pro sports and UFC and major league baseball and the NHL and the NFL and not as many people drink. So free drinks and smoky casinos is not the turn on it apparently used to be. Vegas is a grown up city with pro sports in this country. What makes you a grown up city? When professional leagues and advertisers go, yeah, I mean even the sphere, it's not about going to shows. Go to Vegas now. You go for pro football and you go for the sphere. I mean they're building the sphere in other parts of the world. So I've been hearing these stories of Vegas is just dying. I'm like, no, it was a better spot for the A's than Oakland and a better spot for the Raiders than Oakland. Sorry, Oakland didn't keep up. Vegas is exploding in the right ways. So it used to be all about gambling. The economy in Vegas is not as uneven as it Used to be as lopsided as it used to be. And Vegas has reinvented itself. I mean, I lived there for seven years. It reinvented itself at one time, Steve Wynn said it's for families. And then he realized families, kids don't gamble. So he went back to gambling. And then it's nightclubs and bottle service and residency and it was mob guys and it was giant pools. And now, now it's a real city. And you're a real city when you got multiple pro sports teams with that. Matt Hasselbeck joining us live. 18 years in the NFL. His Seahawks played there for a decade, won a Super bowl, and he's in a good mood about that. So let's. I want to do two things.
- [06:01]
Matt Hasselbeck
Can I just ask a quick question before, before you go. So when you lived in Vegas for seven years, was that bottle service time or was that like the family time? Just great.
- [06:12]
Colin Cowherd
So when I lived there, the mobsters. Tony Spilotro was still alive. Over the course of my seven years, he got whacked in a cornfield. So when you see the movie Casino, my first couple years in town were the end of like Casino where the mob guys got whacked. And then it became very corporate and it was about cheap breakfast When I first got to town, 99 cent breakfast, there were none of those when I left seven years later. So it became about boxing, gigantic pools, unbelievable spas. And then after that, it was bottle service, nightclub and residency and.
- [06:53]
Matt Hasselbeck
But I was kind of. I was hoping to envision calling cowherd bottle service guy, but okay, you got that in Chicago now if you want it. There you go.
- [07:01]
Colin Cowherd
That's right, pms. So we talked about this yesterday. Sam Darnold has succeeded at the end in Carolina, Minnesota, Seattle. And I think he'll be fine with the new offensive coordinator. But there's a real growing belief that they're not going to franchise tag Kenneth Walker. He is not a pass receiver or a pass pro blocker. Kind of a one trick bully out of the backfield. I love him, but do you worry that losing him and Clint Kubiak, it's. How long does it take to get sealegs when you had a new coordinator, how long does it take?
- [07:41]
Matt Hasselbeck
Yeah, it's a big thing losing your coordinator, especially when they're really good like Clint Kubiak. And you know, I think the big concern was who's he taking with him. But Mike McDonald's done a great job of keeping continuity. They lost the, you know, essentially they lost Clint Kubiak. And the quarterback coach and that's it. You know, maybe a senior advisor, offensive line coach as well. But no, the continuity is there. And I think it was kind of a surprise pick going outside the organization, getting Brian fleury as the O.C. and you know, the tight who, you know, he's coming from San Francisco as the tight ends coach. I think he's got an edge to him though. I mean when I think of him as a coach, you look at the guys he coaches, you know, and George Kittle, I think George Kittle is one of. He's got like a Gronkowski quality about how he plays. He plays with a smile on his face, with an edge, very physical. He's a playmaker. So when you think about what Mike McDonald has talked about, what he wants to be identity wise offensively, it's a run the ball first kind of team. And another future star that he has that I don't think really broke out in the way that he will is tight end A.J. barner.
- [08:41]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [08:42]
Matt Hasselbeck
So I do think that this is going to show up to be a tight end heavy offense. And you mentioned Kenneth Walker. Yeah, I don't think they'll franchise him, but they could transition, tag him, they could sign him to like a three or four year deal, you know, so there's other things on the table to keep him in play, especially with Zach Charbonnet being out with a serious injury this offseason.
- [09:01]
Colin Cowherd
We, we were talking about Caleb Williams and I said there was a story this morning that came out of NFL.com where they said Caleb Williams is the best quarterback in the NFC North. And I said, okay, let's forget resumes. I don't care about what you did. Let's talk about 2026. So if you go back and look at. And I think Matt, when you talk quarterback, you have to consider their health and their cost so Caleb does not get hurt. And he's 3.5% of the cap. So last year he was the fastest quarterback, not Lamar Jackson. Last year he had the longest completion. He is the lowest interception rate since he entered the league and he was second to Matt Stafford on big plays. And so I look at Caleb and I'm like, okay, so he is fewer interceptions than Mahomes and Lamar and Josh and lots of that is because he's a small cap hit and he's got better players around him. Okay. Like he's got. There's no question Bills have no Pro Bowlers on defense. Part of that is the $54 million annually to Josh Allen. So I said, is it outrageous to think he doesn't get hurt? He doesn't throw picks. He's an ascending player. No cap hit, better roster that Caleb Williams enters next year as a top three or four quarterback. Does that just sound absurd to you?
- [10:23]
Matt Hasselbeck
Yeah, I thought, I thought you started out saying NFC North. Listen, there's a lot to like about his game. A lot. His improvement from year one to year two has been astronomical. Like, I've been very, very impressed. They built the team up. Ryan Poles built the team up around him in an impressive way. Started up front Ben Johnson. His impact on Caleb has been incredible. It's fun to watch. Exciting. Caleb's got a clutch gene that, that you don't know if a quarterback has it till you put him in that situation. 2 minute 4th, 4th quarter, like games on the line. He doesn't flinch, he makes plays. He's got all those types of things. But I think like some of the things you talk about, availability is really important. Sure. Touchdown, interception ratio. Yeah, that is huge. I mean, Aaron Rodgers has been the best in the game at that for years. He's got a quality like Aaron Rodgers that way, you know. Really? I thought you were talking about just the NFC North. Like, would you rank him number one in the NFC North? And I do think there's an argument to be made there. If you, if you think about play caller quarterback together. Play caller quarterback together, would I put the Chicago Bears number one? That's an interesting, that's an interesting thought. You know, last, the year before last, if you would have said to me, Ben Johnson, Jared Goff, I would have said, yeah, that's your, that's your.
- [11:39]
Colin Cowherd
That's right. I'm.
- [11:40]
Matt Hasselbeck
That's your gold medalist. Absolutely. But there's an argument to be made for Leflore and Jordan Love. However, then you go back to some of the other things you were talking about, just availability. You know, I do believe that's underrated and important. But no, I mean, if he can, if he can continue to improve the way he did from year one to year two to, from two to three, then, then, yeah, I think this guy's the limit. But that's not always the case. Some guys, some sometimes that after that first year of success, it doesn't mean that you're guaranteed to have another great year right after, you know, you, you.
- [12:11]
Colin Cowherd
Bring up a good point that I didn't, which is when I consider. Quarterback said, not considering what they cost is like doing your family budget and not counting the Maserati payment. It's like, no, that that's going to eat away at your nanny. You're not going to go out to three vacations. Like you have to count everything for your budget, including that second car you like to show off to your golf buddies. And my take is you have to consider what a quarterback costs. You're adding another element. You have to consider the play caller. So if, now if you give me Ben Johnson, he's almost free. He doesn't throw picks number two in big plays. He is right now the number one bet for MVP next year. So it's crazy as it sounds, everybody's projecting he's going to put up monster numbers.
- [13:00]
Matt Hasselbeck
Yeah. And I could see that happening. I would also just say that, you know, just having gone through my career, one of the things that is absolutely true, every year is a little bit different. Every year is just different. And so would it surprise me if he came out and had the exact same kind of like success that he had this year? No, I guess it wouldn't. It would not. But that doesn't guarantee it. Like I would tell you straight up, two years ago, the best quarterback, you know, one of the best quarterbacks in the game, top three in my mind, was Jaden Daniels. Like, he was so impressive, like incredibly impressive. And then the next year just, you know, wasn't quite the same. Drake May was the runner up for the MVP this year. His, his, his year before it was, it was nothing like that. Nothing at all. I mean, he backed up Jacoby Briss for probably six of those games, I mean, and just didn't have that, that much success. So every year is different. I think that the, the arrow is trending up and, and when you have a franchise quarterback, which the Bears feel like they do, then that can also help in free agency. You get guys looking around the league like, hey, where do I want to go? I want to go to a team that's on the rise. The Bears are on the rise. I want to go to a team with a franchise quarterback. And I think that everyone really feels like, hey, Caleb is that guy. So yeah, you can definitely get, get momentum that way as well.
- [14:11]
Colin Cowherd
You were lucky. You played for the well run, you had good coaches, smart team in Seattle, also Green Bay, but you played for the Titans and the Colts and you had a different journey. And I was saying this week, I don't worry about Fernando Mendoza. I do worry about Fernando Mendoza to the Raiders because I said, find me the quarterback in the last 20 years that goes to a bottom tier franchise and succeeds and Everybody goes, Joe Burrow. And I'm like, yeah, he hasn't made the playoff three straight years. Like at some point, once they paid him the roster stint. Well, C.J. stroud and he has regressed in the last two years. I don't worry about Mendoza. I think he's a, I think he's Matt Ryan plus, and Matt Ryan was very good. But you in your career in the NFL, I think the gap in locker rooms, travel, coaching, training is pretty broad. You have always talked about your good experiences on this show. Was there experience or did you have teammates that talked about organizations that didn't have it buttoned up and like, what. Did the story shock you?
- [15:18]
Matt Hasselbeck
Yeah, for sure. I mean, you go back to the controversy that was this NFLPA report card in the NFL kind of, you know, going at it in court and saying, hey, we don't like that. We don't want the players sort of grading the team. I mean, this is what you did back in the day with your cell phone. You know, what's it like where you. Are you. Back when I played, it was things like nutrition and some of those type of things. The one place I was, I parked in the parking lot. By the time I pulled into my parking spot, the chef in the kitchen was already working on my veggie omelet. That's just how it went. Another team I was on, I come in the building, one of the first people there. There's an igloo cooler with two hour old breakfast sandwiches that were just sitting in there. You could grab one if you wanted. It just was like a different experience. Lunch provided at one place and another place. It was, you know, you'd be in line at Subway with your coaches, like with your cleats on. It just was a totally different vibe. So I do think there, there are, there are certain teams that are cutting edge, they're ahead of the curb, they spend money to make money. They make it feel like this is not work. Like we're, we're just having fun. We're at a family, it's contagious. And then, you know, then there's, there's other workplace environments that are not that way. But I think that the main, the main thing that I would point to for success is, you know, particularly like in my experience with, you mentioned the packers and the Seahawks, like the football people were very much in charge. There was no, there was no owner coming in and saying, like, hey, I went to this alma mater, I need to draft that player or something like that, which that can happen. You know, throughout the NFL, where you basically aren't on the same page on draft, on free agency, on players you're going to keep and some of those kinds of things. So not every team is the same that way.
- [17:07]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. So what do you do now in the off season? What, over the next.
- [17:13]
Matt Hasselbeck
It's a good question, Colin. I, like, I'm just trying to figure it out. Like, the football season was so fun. Luckily, I've got a middle daughter who plays lacrosse at Stanford and they're, they're having a run right now. They're a top five team. So big matchup Syracuse for Stanford and girls lacrosse this, this weekend. So looking forward to that. But no, they. Listen, the combine will be here shortly. I'll be at the combine to be working with some of the wide receivers and quarterbacks at that. You've got free agenc right after that. You know, a lot of these coaching stabs are being filled there. I think it's fascinating. 10 new head coaches, 20, 21, 22 new offensive coordinators in the NFL. That's kind of why I say every year is different. And so I really think that being an NFL fan, you can, you can do that 12 months a year, 365.
- [17:57]
Colin Cowherd
Let me ask you this on the way out. Aaron Rodgers, 42 years old. Do you think he comes back to Pittsburgh? I said earlier, he's got a very casual timeline in a very urgent league. Everybody likes answers now. Everybody's intense. And he's kind of the. He's a little bit of a Hollywood kind of lifestyle. Kind of like, let me see how it lands for me. Let me get into character. I need time off. Which. That's his personality. If, if you are in business with Aaron, that's his personality. He's upfront about it. He's totally authentic about it. He doesn't deny it. He's kind of very LA Chill, Malibu chill about it. Would you bring him back if you were the coaching staff?
- [18:34]
Matt Hasselbeck
Yeah, I think he wants to play football, but. But with a caveat only somewhere that plays in his offense with his verbiage. Someone that age. I lived it. You don't want to try to learn a new language. You. You don't. You like. If it's. If it's in Pittsburgh with Mike McCarthy or someone that runs that same offense, yes. If it's not, then no. He doesn't want to get in the huddle and have to think about red left, swap tight close, Z right, sprint right, G U corner halfback flat on one.
- [18:59]
J. Mac
Ready, break.
- [18:59]
Matt Hasselbeck
Like he doesn't want to do that. He doesn't want to wear a wristband. He wants to own the off. So it's got to be in that kind of a system for him to come back in my mind.
- [19:08]
Colin Cowherd
Good stuff. Good seeing you, buddy.
- [19:10]
Matt Hasselbeck
Good to see you too.
- [19:11]
Colin Cowherd
Matt Hasselbeck, 18 years in the NFL. So at one place he played that you came in and they had three hour old sandwiches and an igloo cooler. And I'm looking at his resume. He didn't play for the jets. So it's not them. Well, I know it wasn't the packers and the Seahawks.
- [19:30]
J. Mac
So who are the other teams?
- [19:31]
Colin Cowherd
Colts or The Titans? Listen, T.J. hush. Manzada told me stories about the Bengals. I, I have two stories about the Arizona Cardinals.
- [19:40]
J. Mac
Oh, only two.
- [19:42]
Colin Cowherd
And Michael Bidwell that are. It's just it, you know, you think, oh, billionaires, they'll be very secure. You know, these, these people make $12 million a day on their dividends, you know, on their, on their stock portfolios. You'd think they'd be very secure, and it's just not that way. I remember thinking this years ago. I wish somebody, maybe I should do this sometime. Put somebody on this. I don't have the time for it. But if you found every owner and how. What are their top two businesses? And are there certain businesses that lend themselves to being good owners, like real estate or tech or like you. Is tech a good? Because tech people maybe sort of remove. They're not big personality people. You know, Jerry's in like oil catter and real estate and those people. That's a very social. Steven Ross, Miami Real estate. It's deal making. I would think real estate is deal making. You'd be kind of good at that. Stan Kroenke is in real estate and land ownership. That's deal making. I would think that's a great billionaire to have in the building. A real estate guy, a deal maker would tech people be? Now Mark Cuban was tech, but he was also very progressive. He was all about finding new ways to do the same old thing. So I thought he was an above average owner. So I don't know.
- [21:12]
J. Mac
Remember the. Your favorite movie, Moneyball? The Cheap A's owner. I mean, I've watched that 50 times. He made the players pay for soda in the soda machine. Remember that scene? And eventually he. The players complained. David justice, famously on the airplane. And eventually he made a trade and made the other team pay for the soda machines because he didn't want to. Some of these guys are just cheap man, it's really not a smart way. Your employees, you want them happy, right? You don't want them unhappy and angry. Some of these owners are just doing a terrible job.
- [21:42]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. I mean, there are some college programs that do a better job. When Nick Saban was at Alabama, I had an. I had somebody in the league, a general manager go. And he was scouting, he was a gm, and he went down to Alabama and he's like, they have it buttoned up better than we do.
- [21:58]
J. Mac
Yeah.
- [21:58]
Colin Cowherd
As an NFL franchise program, if you're.
- [22:02]
J. Mac
Drafted out of Oregon to like Arizona or the jets, you're downgrading in facilities. Very likely. I'm not kidding. That's like real. Colin, go look at the ori. Have you seen the videos Oregon puts out? It's not just Oregon. A lot of people are upgrading, but like Arizona, Bengals, jets, these guys, they just don't care.
- [22:18]
Colin Cowherd
One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand, whenever you'd like. Fox Sports Radio is taking over YouTube and you can be a part of it. Pay attention. Just go to YouTube and search Fox Sports Radio. Hit that subscribe button and smash that notification bell and catch all the videos from your favorite shows. Two pros and a cup of Joe. Dan Patrick, Colin Cowherd, Doug Gottlieb, Covino and Rich. The Odd Couple with Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington. The Jason Smith show with Mike Harmon and the Ben Maller Show. Fox sports radio on YouTube. Subscribe hit that thumbs up icon and comment away. This month, iHeartRadio is celebrating the stars of the 2026 Winter Games. The pride of Starksboro, Vermont, Ryan Cochran. Siegel carries one the of of the most famous names in American skiing history.
- [23:08]
Matt Hasselbeck
A super G specialist with a silver medal already to his name, he attacks the mountain with a smooth technical style.
- [23:13]
Colin Cowherd
That separates him from the pack. Known for finding speed where others find trouble, he drops into Milano Cortina looking to upgrade his silver to gold. For Cochrane Siegel, skiing fast is a family tradition. For more Winter Games gold, search olympics.
- [23:27]
Matt Hasselbeck
On the iHeartRadio app.
- [23:28]
Emily Simpson
Hey, everyone, it's Emily Simpson and Shane Simpson from the Legally Brunette podcast.
- [23:34]
Colin Cowherd
Each week, we're bringing you true crime through a legal lens.
- [23:37]
Emily Simpson
Whether you want all the facts on the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie or you still need to wrap your head around the diddy verdict, we're breaking it all down step by step.
- [23:47]
Colin Cowherd
And we're not just lawyers. We're also husband and wife. It makes for some pretty Entertaining episodes.
- [23:52]
Emily Simpson
Listen to Legally Brunette on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [24:00]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, we were talking about Caleb Williams with Matt Hasselbeck and I said you have to consider what you're pay, that you have to have an adult Discussion. The final eight teams in the NFL playoffs this year. Final eight teams. Four quarterbacks were on their rookie deal. Caleb Drake, May, C.J. stroud, Bonex. Two were on discount deals, Sam Darnold, Matt Stafford, and two were really expensive. Josh Allen, the most talented guy in the league couldn't get to the super bowl in a year that Mahomesboro and Lamar Jackson didn't make the playoffs. And the other one was Brock Purdy. So to me, everybody wants to talk about best quarterback based on what resume? I mean, then, then, then nobody can ever be better than Mahomes. Who has not played great football the last two years. Who's the best quarterback? Well, am I going to consider cap space, your coach, arm, talent, mobility. I'm watching this great play by Caleb Williams that was the play of the year in the NFL by Caleb Williams. The scramble. By the way, he talked on the Max Crosby podcast about Ben Johnson. Did not love the play initially.
- [25:09]
Matt Hasselbeck
Here he is, Ben, he's watching me and he goes. He like tilts his head back and I already know his mind's like, what.
- [25:17]
Colin Cowherd
The is he doing?
- [25:18]
Matt Hasselbeck
And so I'm like, all right, I'm about to just, you know, gain a little depth, try and wait for somebody to pop open. And I turn around and I see everybody. And there's a 6 foot 6 tight end and then there's a shorter cornerback. My only thought was put this ball in the back of the end zone.
- [25:32]
Colin Cowherd
When I let it go, I knew.
- [25:33]
Matt Hasselbeck
It was a touchdown.
- [25:34]
Colin Cowherd
So that's why I got up and.
- [25:35]
Matt Hasselbeck
Just went straight to the sideline.
- [25:35]
Colin Cowherd
I was like, oh yeah, home run trot. Yeah, that was something else. J. Mac with the news. No, no, no, turn on the news. This is the Herd line news.
- [25:49]
J. Mac
We haven't talked about the Philadelphia Eagles in quite some time because nothing's really happening there except stuff that you're totally shocked by. Colin. Reports are now indicating Philly has promoted their past game coordinator, a gentleman by the name of Parks Frazier. He has been upgraded to quarterbacks coach, replacing a veteran who had 20 years of experience. Why does this matter? Well, one Eagles writer said Frazier has never been in charge of a position group in his NFL coaching career over nine seasons. That's like having some guy in the building for nine Seasons and like pretty much never promoting him to a position group leader. And now he's going to be alongside Jalen.
- [26:30]
Colin Cowherd
Hurts like we always try to project on this show for the benefit of the audience and ourselves. Bad teams that will suddenly get really good. Last year we picked New England. We got that right. There's also always, without question, a great team that falls off the cliff. Washington was that team this year. Kansas City was that team. There were two teams that we thought, you know, their super bowl bubble last year and they were bad. Doesn't it feel like this thing in Philadelphia, if it unraveled by late October, just completely unraveled, you wouldn't be shocked.
- [27:07]
J. Mac
Late October? What about, like March in free agency if they start losing guys? Like, I don't know, it just. I haven't read one positive article out of Philadelphia since I got eliminated. Have you? I can't think of one positive thing. Very strange, Colin. All anybody's doing is bashing Hertz, bashing Sirianni's decisions. All we keep saying is the GM is outstanding. Can he fix the coaching staff? Like, what are we doing?
- [27:31]
Colin Cowherd
No, it's, it's, you know, we. For years and years, I've noted that the Eagles do things bad teams do. I mean, they, they, they move off successful. They move off quarterbacks after signing them to big deals. They fire very quickly. Super bowl winning coaches, you know, they take big risks. They paid big money for a running back. A lot of what they do, bad teams do. But the Eagles are well run. So they, they, they, they compensate for it in other ways, but it feels like they are a lot. Doesn't a lot of this come down to a very simple truth? Is that other in the coaching fraternity, Nick Sirianni isn't highly thought of. So guys are leaving the staff, people want to retire, people are moving off. They, I mean, the whole off season is, what in the hell is this coaching staff? Yeah. Does McVay ever have a problem firing, finding coaches? Does Kyle Shanahan or Kevin o'? Connell? Kevin o' Connell calls Brian Flores, it's like, boom. It's good. Like, the best. Jim Harbaugh, he needs an offensive coordinator. Mike McDaniel's like, yeah, I'll sign up for it. The better your coach, the easier it is to build a staff. This staff is Hammond egging. It is just. I mean, it is bailing water life preserver here, unproven guy here. What does that tell you? I mean, do you think when McVay would have this much trouble creating a staff that's why you can't judge coaches just on winning percentage and trophies. It's more that Don Coryell never won a trophy with San Diego. He was a great coach. So I, I, this thing feels it can't be this hard to build a staff. It's the Philadelphia Eagles, one of the best owned, best run franchises in football. And yet this staff is, to be kind, suboptimal. Suboptimal.
- [29:30]
J. Mac
Yeah. All right, let's move to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Colin. Mike Evans, unbelievable career in Tampa. One of the best receivers in the league. Great red zone threat. There's talk he could retire, but now, according to his agent, he is going to return for a 13th season. However, it's unclear if he's staying in Tampa or going somewhere else. Now, listen, this guy's had 11 straight seasons with a thousand yards. He's still very good. He's not like, still a top five. I don't know about a top ten anymore, but he's still very good. I think he could help a contender. I mean, if you're Buffalo, you're, you're, you're just getting Josh Allen on the horn. Please recruit this guy to Buffalo because if he doesn't stay in Tampa and they have some good receivers, somebody's going to get a good one in.
- [30:13]
Colin Cowherd
Mike Evans, he's a pro. He's probably, does he get hall of Fame votes? I would say yes.
- [30:19]
J. Mac
I think he has to. Right? Obviously last season, you know, had some injuries, only played eight games. So some people are going to be like, well, I don't know if I want Mike Evans. Listen, that he's going to be motivated to chase a Super Bowl. Hasn't sniffed one in Tampa. Final story. Colin, let's go to the NBA. Obviously the Lakers are dealing with some injuries, but despite that, they're 33 and 21 5th in the West. Colin, give them some props. They've only had LeBron, Luka and Reeves for 10 games. That's incredible. Here's LeBron on the mind the Game podcast, breaking down the state of the team as they head toward a playoff run.
- [30:58]
Colin Cowherd
We're playing good ball at times, but the number one important thing for us is back to our, is health. Yeah, you know, we, we finally got healthy, you know, with AR coming back and then Luka goes down with the, with the hamstring. For us to be, you know, I think 11 games, 12 games over.500 right now, top six seed in the West, I think it's pretty damn good under the situation that we've been in. But we got to keep going. Well, they're built actually for the regular season because as we've stated, the regular season's about offense, the post season's about defense and situational basketball. So they're a little bit of a fool's gold roster. I know I'm very negative Nelly on the Lakers, but offensively you can win a lot of games in this league. Offensively, where the Knicks worry you is Jalen Brunson, Karl Anthony Towns pick and roll defense in the postseason. So I think the, I mean a great example is when they played Minnesota last year in the playoffs. A lot of people thought the Lakers could steal that series. They were not competitive because Minnesota has much greater athletic wings, much better rim protector. And so in the end they went and played Minnesota. And remember J. Mac, when you play a team 4, 5, 6, 7 times, you can hunt players. And that's the Lakers problem. They have several guys defensively, teams like Minnesota, okc, San Antonio will hunt. Denver will hunt their defensive players.
- [32:28]
J. Mac
So yeah, I get it. The defense isn't great. Defensive efficiency. Lakers currently 23rd in the league. You know who 24th is? Colin.
- [32:35]
Colin Cowherd
Who?
- [32:36]
J. Mac
The Denver Nuggets. Now they've had a million injuries, I get it. But so have the Lakers. 10 games together for Reeves, Luka and LeBron. I know this is not popular.
- [32:47]
Colin Cowherd
Has an elite defensive player, Gordon.
- [32:49]
J. Mac
Gordon.
- [32:49]
Colin Cowherd
And he's the world's best offensive player. Jokic. Yeah, and they also have Jokic and Jamal Murray have played together forever and won a title together. So that the construct of that team. You don't have to love Denver, but I have the best offensive player in the world and I absolutely have an elite defensive guy in Gordon.
- [33:07]
J. Mac
I mean essentially the playoffs in the west, people don't want to hear this. It's going to come down to health. SGA's hurt there. I don't know if you're reading about this. There's really no timetable yet for his return. They keep saying weeks, we'll see what happens. Jokic has been hurt. Aaron Gordon's hurt. The Clippers are banged up. Lakers, the only team to watch is the Spurs. I think, I honestly think the Lakers have a shot in the West. I know you don't laugh.
- [33:29]
Colin Cowherd
Hahaha.
- [33:30]
J. Mac
If they're healthy. I'm not betting against Luka and LeBron. Last year in the playoffs, you forget Austin Reaves was not even close to 100%. Clearly defensively he was labored. I think they're going to be a threat. I don't think they come out of the West, I got the Spurs. But don't sleep on those lakers just yet, Mr. Cowherd.
- [33:47]
Colin Cowherd
All right, J. Mac with the news. Well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by the Herd lie news. Matt Hasselbeck, Lancerlein I talked about him yesterday. Dad worked in the NFL. He works for NFL.com he's a sports radio host in Houston. He has his draft preview stuff is so good. And we've had fun this week talking about Mendoza and what I think he's going to do. And we got into this yesterday where I said as much as I love him, look at all, name the quarterbacks that go to a bottom four or five franchise and flourish and it just doesn't happen much. Joe Burrow briefly. C.J. stroud briefly and C.J. stroud and. And has a very good coach. And Joe Burrow has a good enough coach in my opinion. So that's what I worry about with Mendoza. It's just, I mean it's Andrew Luck had some success initially and then they couldn't protect him. Bad roster, out of the league. So it is. The draft's going to be great. The draft will be great for sure. Live in Chicago, it's the Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app.
- [35:01]
Emily Simpson
Hey everyone, it's Emily Simpson and Shane Simpson from the Legally Brunette podcast.
- [35:06]
Colin Cowherd
Each week we're bringing you true crime through a legal lens.
- [35:10]
Emily Simpson
Whether you want all the facts on the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie or you still need to wrap your head around the Diddy verdict, we're breaking it all down step by step.
- [35:19]
Colin Cowherd
And we're not just lawyers, we're also husband and wife. It makes for some pretty entertaining episodes.
- [35:24]
Emily Simpson
Listen to Legally brunette on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [35:32]
J. Mac
Cross state rivals tip it off on Fox College Hoops Friday. Braden Smith leads seventh ranked Purdue in a Big Ten battle against Indiana. Friday night, 8 Eastern only on Fox.
- [35:43]
Colin Cowherd
You know, it's as much as everybody criticizes the NBA, the NBA has a little bit of the UFC issue and it's UFC, Hollywood, NBA or star driven vehicles. UFC. When they had Jon Jones and Conor McGregor in their prime, they had a pay per view business. Dana White's a smart guy. He's like I, I'm, I've got a bunch of good fighters. I don't have a Ronda Rousey. I don't have a Jon Jones. I don't Have a Jon Jones to me is the best UFC fighter pound for pound ever. I don't have a Conor McGregor who's wildly controversial. I've got just a bunch of good fighters. Well, it's harder to get people behind a paywall for that, right? I mean even like a Howard Stern, when he went behind a paywall, you lose like 25% of your audience, right? You just lose them. And so you really need stars. Well, same with Hollywood. People don't go to a theater except for like Tom Cruise. So you know, they, they, that's why they've done these remakes and the Avengers. You can collaborate and put six semi stars together into a movie and that gets people back to a theater. And so it's the same thing with the NBA right now. There have only been about 7, 8 players in my life that were face of the league. Like Kareem was the best player in the league for a decade, but he wasn't a face of the league because he was prickly and stoic. Wilt was too flaky to be face of the league. MJ was a face of the league. Bird and Magic, Steph Curry, LeBron. I don't know if Kobe ever was Shaq and Kobe felt like, like it. For about a four or five year period, the Lakers kind of felt like the face of the league. But it's one of those things where part of the NBA's issue is that like they, they. That's why Cooper flag is so important, that he feels like there's something there. But what, what does face of the league mean for the NBA? I always say this about politics people complain about. I mean before Bill Clinton, the Democrats were lost and then they found their rising ascending star and then they weren't lost overnight. And the Democrats felt kind of lost pre Obama and then they found their guy and then they weren't lost. And same with the conservatives and Trump. Oh, they're swimming. Trump loses, they're in chaos. Oh, he's, he's running again. And suddenly they control the Supreme Court and the White House. It, it, sometimes it falls into your lap. Generally NBA face of the league, it's just unique. Like magic, the smile, Lakers, his style of play Magic is a once in a Laker story. I mean a lot of the Lakers best players haven't been as likable. You know Shaq, incredibly likable. So much fun. But he started with Orlando. They had to trade for him. And a lot of great players. Dwight Howard don't have the personality. Ant doesn't Want to be it. Jayson Tatum's great, doesn't have an aura. It's very rare when you can get a Curry or a LeBron or like Michael Jordan was just naturally cool. The earrings, the suits, the look, the smile, the game. Some of it's just. It all adds. That's when for years people were saying, oh, Jason Tatum's the face of the league. I'm like, stop it. He's not cool. He's a nice guy. He's kind of quiet. Sometimes he disappears on the floor and Jaylen Brown's taking all the shots. And I like Jalen Brown, but Jaylen's not dominant enough to be a face of the leak. Is Wemby potentially the face of the league. Could be. Got a little attitude, got a dominant game. But like so many, everybody's complaining about the NBA and the style of play. The bottom line is if, if the next Michael Jordan walked into this league, it would solve a lot of problems. The baseball is team driven. The NFL isn't anything driven. Maybe gambling like NBA, ufc, Hollywood are star driven vehicles. And ufc. Dana White's a smart guy. Is like, I'm going to move out of that pay per view thing. Pretty good timing, right? Because he knows. Think of how well run the UFC's been. How many Conor McGregor's have they had? One. Yeah. I mean, it's hard. There's just not that many people that walk into music. I remember for years and years and years and years I watched American Idol. I mean that thing was on forever. And it's like there's just. There's not that many people that are great and have star power. Carrie Underwood and there's a lot of people that had great voices. I was a Daughtry fan. Like, I like more rock. I loved him, but that was kind of my voice. I wouldn't listen to Carrie Underwood's talent, but how many people in the history of the Voice, in the history of American Idol had the look, the sound, the voice, the charisma, the swagger, the small. And there were tens of thousands of people in America that tried to get on. A thousand people who were super talented. And it creates two or three stars and a lot of them don't last long. So it's just a lot of. Whenever I see a political party saying, we don't have a this, we don't have that, you find your Obama, you find your Conor McGregor, you find your Michael Jordan and it solves all these issues, it solves them overnight. If Michael was so cool and so unique, and he had the game and the smile and the look and the attitude. And he just solved all their problems. I mean, don't kid yourself. When Michael walked into the NBA, it was a domestic league. It was Magic and Bird, but they had. I mean, people were tackling everybody. It was. A lot of owners were unhappy with the league and you couldn't sell merchandise. Then suddenly Michael walks in. It's Gatorade. It's, you know, it's Nike shoes. Suddenly all the problems of the NBA, when Michael came to the Bulls, they were. Remember that documentary? And they were called like the Cocaine Cowboys or something. Michael didn't know. He walked into rooms, guys were doing blow and all that stuff. And Michael solved all the problems. The NBA had problems during Michael Jordan's run. He just. We just. You overlooked them. Yeah.
- [41:41]
J. Mac
He solved them off the court, on the court. He couldn't win for the first six years. Couldn't do anything in the playoffs. Clark. Yeah.
- [41:47]
Colin Cowherd
WNBA was irrelevant. One player from Iowa shows up.
- [41:53]
J. Mac
Yeah.
- [41:53]
Colin Cowherd
And it's all of a sudden, suddenly we're flying private.
- [41:57]
J. Mac
But don't you think, Colin, that this is a cyclical thing in the NBA, every 15 years, you reboot the stars, they move out. We just saw this with the NFL. Remember the concern, oh, my gosh, Brady and Manning are retiring. What's the league going to do? These guys are battling every year.
- [42:14]
Colin Cowherd
The NFL baseball is team driven.
- [42:16]
J. Mac
Yes.
- [42:17]
Colin Cowherd
The Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, Braves are good. The sport's good. Yeah.
- [42:21]
J. Mac
Because a pitcher only pitches every five days.
- [42:23]
Colin Cowherd
That's right. And. And the NFL isn't really driven by anything kind of TV driven. If it's on tv, we watch and we gamble. Like, but there are, like. I would say. I would say college basketball can be brand. It can be Kentucky, Kansas, Yukon, Duke, Arizona, you know, you want your five or six blue Blvilla Nova. You like. You like your blue bloods playing in March Madness. The ratings go up. Michigan's going to be a big hit this year. With Arizona, you're going to. They don't have.
- [42:48]
J. Mac
Michigan doesn't have a star. They've got a team that's awesome and they look great. They don't have a star. I think the NBA's fine. Is a lot of this consternation comes from just social media where people are engagement farming left and right, bashing the NBA and oh my gosh, they're in trouble. Like, it's just massively overblown. Colin, you know that stars are created. We didn't. Anthony Edwards, when he was coming out, remember out of Georgia.
- [43:12]
Colin Cowherd
He played at Georgia. He didn't win anything. Nobody watches Georgia basketball. He said he liked football more than basketball. He had the look in the game, but he didn't want to be the guy. And so again, by the way, I'm told here the Bulls were called the traveling cocaine circus.
- [43:26]
J. Mac
There you go.
- [43:26]
Colin Cowherd
Traveling cocaine. Michael Jordan in the documentary laughs he didn't know that. But, but I would say is it's, it's very difficult. Even if you're as good as Dana White at finding stars, well, then you have to develop them and then you have to cross your fingers that they are work ethic obsessed and that. And then the audience buys them. It's really, really. When I was in Vegas out of college and you had Sugar Ray Leonard and Hearns and Hagler, I mean boxing had about a 15 year window where there were like stars everywhere.
- [43:56]
J. Mac
And what do they got now? They got like youtubers who are trying to be boxers because they have big followings online. Like that's where box. This stuff is cyclical. I think the NBA is going to be just fine. Cooper Flag has star quality.
- [44:08]
Colin Cowherd
The, the NBA talent is through the roof. Yeah, but to hit on a star and it's a lot of it, a lot of it's luck. I mean, you need Mike. I mean, Steph had the game, the attitude, the talent, the skill, the uniqueness.
- [44:25]
J. Mac
But he wasn't a star until like year, what, five or six? Like this stuff takes time. I mean Jordan came in at like 21 years old because he was at UNC for three years. So it took him a couple. So by like 25, he was an NBA star. Right. So it's going to take Cooper Flag a few years.
- [44:40]
Colin Cowherd
I mean, Michael could not win a playoff series pre Pippin. So he had, he had his time. He could sell shoes, but he. But in sell Gatorade. But I think a lot of it is we can blame Adam Silver. Maybe this is my broader point. We can blame Adam Silver, but David Stern, who was a marketer, a legal counsel, a shrewd guy, he got lucky with Magic and Bird. They ended up going to the Lakers, the Celtics. Yeah, the two iconic franchises. I mean, it's this to be a star in music, in movies.
- [45:16]
J. Mac
Wait, was Patrick Ewing a star in New York?
- [45:20]
Colin Cowherd
I guess. Yeah. Pat Riley felt like Pat Riley. He felt like the star. The suits, the attitude, the look, the swagger, the hair. Hour three on a Wednesday coming up.
- [45:36]
Emily Simpson
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, pogo sticking, teleport. If you can ride on the back of a rollerblading yak or flying on the wings of a majestic falcon. Any way you can bring your AT&T or your T mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal on the best network based on RouteMetric's best overall mobile network performance. US second half 2025. All rights reserved. Must provide a very recent postpaid consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply.
- [46:06]
J. Mac
You know how it's never really about.
- [46:07]
Colin Cowherd
Where you're going, it's about who you're going with.
- [46:09]
J. Mac
The right people can turn any drive.
- [46:11]
Colin Cowherd
Into a great memory.
- [46:12]
J. Mac
That's something Toyota really believes. They design vehicles around real life and real people, the ones who make plans.
- [46:19]
Colin Cowherd
Happen, happen and bring everyone together inside.
- [46:21]
J. Mac
Everything's built with passengers in mind.
- [46:23]
Colin Cowherd
Comfortable seating, smart layouts, and space that.
- [46:26]
J. Mac
Actually works so everyone can relax and enjoy the ride. There's room for the people, room for.
- [46:31]
Colin Cowherd
The stuff, and room for the moments that happen along the way.
- [46:34]
J. Mac
Because when people are the destination, your ride is important. Learn more@toyota.com and find the vehicle that fits your people.
- [46:41]
Emily Simpson
On June 11, 1998, a deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department went missing.
- [46:47]
Colin Cowherd
Hey, if they'll kill a cop and bury him, what are they gonna do to me?
- [46:51]
Emily Simpson
What really happened to the missing deputy? Valley of Shadows, a new series from Pushkin Industries about crime and corruption in California's high desert.
- [47:03]
Matt Hasselbeck
Listen to Valley of shadows on the.
- [47:05]
J. Mac
Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [47:12]
Emily Simpson
Hey, everyone, it's Emily Simpson and Shane Simpson from the Legally Brunette podcast.
- [47:17]
Colin Cowherd
Each week we're bringing you true crime through a legal lens.
- [47:20]
Emily Simpson
Whether you want all the facts on the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie or you still need to wrap your head around the Diddy verdict, we're breaking it all down step by step.
- [47:30]
Colin Cowherd
And we're not just lawyers, we're also husband and wife. It makes for some pretty entertaining episodes.
- [47:35]
Emily Simpson
Listen to Legally brunette on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [47:41]
Matt Hasselbeck
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [47:44]
Colin Cowherd
Guaranteed Human.