THE HERD - Hour 3 - Jimmy Johnson stops by The Herd

Summary

Podcast Episode Summary

Podcast: The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Episode: THE HERD - Hour 3 - Jimmy Johnson stops by The Herd
Date: January 28, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Herd focuses on the controversial news that Bill Belichick was not inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first attempt—an event that sent shockwaves through the sports world. Colin Cowherd invites Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson to discuss why Belichick was snubbed, the Hall of Fame voting process, the impact of personality and relationships in sports recognition, and broader topics around football coaching, legacy, and recent developments in the NFL.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Bill Belichick’s Hall of Fame Snub

• Voting Process Changes & Historic Context

  • The Hall recently changed eligibility rules, so coaches can be considered for induction a year after retirement instead of waiting five years (unlike players).
  • Historic coaching figures like Don Shula, Bill Walsh, Vince Lombardi, and Joe Gibbs all had to wait; some not getting in on their first opportunity.

• Why Didn't Belichick Get In?

  • Jimmy Johnson’s View:
    • “Coaches are a lot older than players and you'd like to get the coach in before he's dead... because of the age of coaches, it's not like they're going to retire when they're 31. They're going to retire when they're 65.” (03:11)
    • Snub is “so wrong...look at all the division wins. Look at eight Super Bowls, six of them as a head coach, second all time winningest coach in history.” (04:17)
  • Media & Owner Influence:
    • Belichick’s notorious lack of media friendliness and tense relationship with Patriots owner Robert Kraft are discussed as possible reasons for the snub.
    • Jimmy Johnson acknowledges, “He wasn't the most pleasant to the media...some of them use the excuse of Spygate, which is totally ridiculous.” (04:17)
    • Colin adds, “In life a lot of decisions are made when you’re not in the room and Bill alienated a lot of people.” (15:59)

• Spygate and Signal Stealing:

  • Johnson defends Belichick by saying sign-stealing has long been a part of the game: “Every team in the league tried to steal the opponent's signals before they had electronic communication… we tried it. We were horrible at it.” (05:15)

• Process & Perception:

  • Seth Wickersham (reporter): “Belichick was expecting he was going to get 49 votes… he didn’t come close to 40. A lot of voters didn’t know he hadn’t gotten in… this is an embarrassment for all of us.” (09:12)
  • Johnson on flawed voting: “Some of the media might have said… ‘it's a slam dunk that Bill's going in, so I'm going to vote for so and so because I know Bill's going in.’” (10:04)

2. Personal Impact on Belichick

• Does It Hurt Him?

  • “I think it hurts him.” – Jimmy Johnson (07:29)
  • Johnson shares that even Belichick himself was invested, hoping to see Johnson at the Hall. Johnson chartered a flight to attend Belichick’s presumed induction – “Well, I canceled that flight. I'm not going.” (08:46)

• Legacy and Quarterbacks

  • Johnson dismisses the narrative that Belichick only succeeded because of Tom Brady: “How many Hall of Fame coaches didn’t have a great quarterback? I had Troy Aikman, Noel had Terry Bradshaw, Walsh had Joe Montana…” (07:31)

3. Evaluating Belichick as a Coach

• Belichick’s Strengths and Weaknesses (per Johnson):
  • “He is a great situation coach. He's a great fundamental coach. He coaches all phases… as a pure coach, he's the best I’ve ever known.” (10:46)
  • “Personnel wise, hey, you can take him or leave him… as a coach, as a pure coach, he’s the best I’ve ever known.” (11:14)

4. Super Bowl & Quarterback Discussion

• Focus shifted briefly to Sam Darnold and the Seahawks’ Super Bowl prospects.
  • Johnson: Darnold’s prior experiences “taught him to be more protective with the football… Now he knows he’s got a great defense. He knows that he can be patient, take his time…” (12:27)

5. Miami Hurricanes & College Football

• Colin asks about Mario Cristobal’s growth as a coach at Miami.
  • Johnson: “He grew as a coach. He got a lot better… And you’re right, he’s a great recruiter. We just signed the top quarterback, top transfer portal out of Duke, and a receiver and one of the top pass rushers from Missouri. We've got the players.” (14:27)
  • Johnson stresses importance of assistant coaches: “The reason I went to the hall of Fame, I had great players and I had great assistant coaches.” (15:27)

6. Wider NFL & NBA News

• Discussion on Kansas City Chiefs’ struggles and Andy Reid’s off-season.
• Colin and J. Mac debate LeBron James’ statements on the differences between playing today versus in the '80s/'90s NBA—a brief, lively exchange about eras, pace, physicality, and athleticism.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Hall of Fame Candidacy & Age:
  • “[Coaches] need to go in, you know, really, before they get to the point where they can't enjoy it.”
    — Jimmy Johnson (03:11)
• On Media Relationships:
  • “He wasn't the most pleasant to the media back when he coached. You just don't know.”
    — Jimmy Johnson (04:17)
  • “I do think when you start looking at…in life, a lot of decisions are made when you’re not in the room and Bill alienated a lot of people.”
    — Colin Cowherd (15:59)
• On Coaching Process:
  • “If you're going to win championships, it can't be one individual. There’s a lot of people involved in that.”
    — Jimmy Johnson (15:27)
• On Belichick’s Legacy Without Brady:
  • “It is interesting…when you take Brady out of his career, he wins 44% of his games. That’s Anthony Lynn now.”
    — Colin Cowherd (32:33)
• On the Owner-Coach Dynamic:
  • “The coach has never had power in this league over the owner. Now, sometimes the owners, they hold grudges. It gets personal. And that's what money does to men.”
    — Colin Cowherd (32:33)
• On Hall Voting Process:
  • “Some of the media might have said, ‘Well, it's a slam dunk that Bill's going in…’ And so it could have been the process of picking the hall of Fame candidates, but that's still no excuse.”
    — Jimmy Johnson (41:53)

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Important Timestamps

• [03:11] Johnson on why the age of coaches justifies new HOF rules
• [04:17] Johnson’s reaction to Belichick not getting in, discusses media and Kraft influences
• [05:15] Johnson on Spygate and the tradition of sign-stealing
• [07:29] Johnson: “I think it hurts him” — on whether Belichick cares about the snub
• [09:12] Seth Wickersham unveils voter confusion and lack of consensus
• [10:46] Johnson details what makes Belichick a coaching legend
• [12:27] Johnson on Sam Darnold's maturity and Seahawks’ Super Bowl outlook
• [14:27] Johnson credits Mario Cristobal’s growth at Miami and the significance of strong assistants
• [15:59] Colin contextualizes Hall voting and the impact of Belichick’s personality

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Tone and Style

The conversation balances passionate advocacy (Johnson defending Belichick's credentials) with Colin’s characteristic measured, big-picture analysis. The energy is opinionated yet respectful, alternating between industry insights and sports radio banter.

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Summary Takeaway

The episode centers on the Hall of Fame's controversial snub of Bill Belichick, dissecting the process, human dynamics, and the often-unseen politics influential in professional sports recognition. Through candid anecdotes and football philosophy, Jimmy Johnson and Colin Cowherd underscore the uniqueness of Belichick's career, the factors that play into legacy, and how even greatness can fall victim to timing, perception, and interpersonal friction.

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.

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[Colin Cowherd]

[e-mail] 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 FSR. Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Well, it's been the story of the day. Bill Belichick, who will get into the hall of Fame, but it shocked a lot of people that he did not get in. Now, we've talked about this today. The strange thing about hall of Fame voting is they just tweaked the voting so now coaches can get in one year after they leave the sport. Players, doesn't matter if you're the greatest player in the world, you got to wait five years. But. But we said earlier, Don Shul is the winningest coach ever. He had to wait five years. For the record, Bill Walsh, arguably the most innovative coach ever, did not get in the first time he was eligible. Vince Lombardi didn't, and Joe Gibbs, who won three Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks, did not. But there's a sense with Belichick. I mean, come on, he's got this cachet of rings and again, I would have voted him in. I get it. But my argument is when you start looking at people who didn't get in and they had to wait five years to begin with. Our next guest is somebody that waited far too long, one of the great coaches of all time, Jimmy Johnson, the Hall of Famer. FOX Sports is now joining us live down, as you know, in the Keys. So listen, I would have voted him in, but my take is when a Lombardi or a Walsh or a Joe Gibbs or a Jimmy Johnson or a Parcels who won a Super bowl with Jeff Hostetler and Sims, can you not argue? Well, those guys had to wait. Why can't Bill? Isn't that a legit argument?

[Jimmy Johnson]

No, it's not. You're completely wrong, Colin, because coaches are a lot older than players and you'd like to get the coach in before he's dead. You know, and so, you know, because of the age of coaches, it's not like, you know, they're going to retire, you know, when they're 31. They're going to retire when they're 65. And so because of the difference in the age, you know, the coaches really need to go in, you know, really, before they get to the point where they can't enjoy it.

[Colin Cowherd]

You know, when you were elected into the hall of Fame, it was live on Fox tv and you were not only emotional, so was everybody that works with you because you've been at Fox, you've ingratiated yourself to a lot of people. Listen, Bill didn't get along with the Crafts. I mean, he said he's never gotten along with the media. I know that shouldn't matter, but stuff like that in life does matter. What about the whole pushback that, you know, Bill's going to be in in a year. But, you know, he poked the media in the ribs and some of those guys vote and he just shut them off and built up walls. What about that argument?

[Jimmy Johnson]

Well, I don't really think I've had three hours sleep ever since the news came out last night because it's so wrong. You know, look at the accolades. You know, look at all the division wins. Look at eight Super Bowls, six of them as a head coach, second all time winning is coach in history. And so I'm not going to talk about the accolades. I'm just going to say, okay, why did he not go in? I'm searching my own mind. Why did he not go in? Did Kraft, because him and Kraft were at odds at one another. Did he have an influence? Did some of the media have an influence because he didn't give him an interview. He wasn't the most pleasant to the media back when he coached. You just don't know. Some of them use the excuse of Spygate, which is totally ridiculous. Every team in the league before they had electronic communication from sideline to the field. Every team in the league tried to steal the opponent's signals, whether or not it be an assistant coach studying the opponent on how he was signaling, whether or not they're doing one thing. We actually picked it up from Kansas City. Howard Mudd was a great offensive line coach, and they had some outstanding teams, but he was at Kansas City, and a scout told us, says, here's how we do it. You know, we actually filmed the opponent's signal caller, then we match it up with the film with their signals. And so I said, hey, that's a great idea. We tried doing it. We were horrible at it. It really took up too much time because it's only got a few seconds that you can get it in. But we watched Kansas City. The offensive guard will look over at Howard Mudd on the sideline, and he'd give him a signal whether or not it was going to be man coverage or zone coverage or a blitz, et cetera, et cetera. So, like I said, we tried it. You know, we didn't do very good at it. We stopped doing it after a couple of weeks. But, you know, teams have been trying this, you know, ever since, you know, they had signals before they did the electronic communication.

[Colin Cowherd]

There are. You're not the only person that thinks Robert Kraft did not want to go in with Belichick. And there's. I mean, listen, you know, better than anybody, owners want to get their way. Owners are very close with Roger Goodell because they're his boss. And, I mean, do you think around the league, people in your space, legendary coaches, think Kraft has a lot to do with this?

[Jimmy Johnson]

Well, it could be because, for instance, there's a lot of media that said they want to have access to the New England Patriots. Well, who's going to give them access? Bob Graff? And so if there is some tension between Belichick and Kraft and maybe Kraft, you know, he. He wants to go in before Belichick goes in. And I don't know this for a fact. I mean, there are a lot of different factors, but for some reason, you know, these people, 10 or 11 or 12 voters did not vote for Belichick. And with his accolades and all of the championships, he deserved to go in first ballot, you know, unanimously and with no one voting against him.

[Colin Cowherd]

Do you think he's bothered by it.

[Jimmy Johnson]

I think it hurts him.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jimmy Johnson]

Hey, Colin.

[Colin Cowherd]

We're all.

[Jimmy Johnson]

We're all bothered by it. You know, when you work as hard as coaches work, they're proud of what they accomplished, you know, and Bill's proud of what he accomplished at New England. Yeah, yeah, he had a great quarterback. But how many pro hall of Fame coaches didn't have a great quarterback? I had Troy Aikman, you know, Noel had Terry Bradshaw, Walsh had, you know, Joe Montana, you know, on and on. And so you can't use that excuse and see the other thing, too. Just knowing Bill personally. Yeah. I don't know of a single person, yourself included, anybody that knows the history of the NFL, like Bill Belichick, anybody that ever watched him on TV picking the top hundred players in the history of the NFL could see the knowledge that he has about the league. He loves the NFL. He loves the history of the NFL. And, you know, it's got to hurt him that he didn't go first bout. I was with him at the national championship game, and I walked away, and he said, I hope to see you in the hall this year. And, you know, I thought it was just going to be a slam dunk. And so I chartered a plane. I was going to fly a jet up to Canton to see him go in. Well, I canceled that flight. I'm not going.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, yeah. Again, I'd have voted him in. I've spent today saying we can all vent that he didn't get in. But let's add some context. Have we run the Seth Wickersham bite yet? I don't think we have. Seth Wickersham's a writer for espn. They did change the voting methodology this year, and I. Which is weird. And I think all hall of Fames get a little too personal and petty. So here's Seth Wickersham, great writer on Belichick and the voting process.

[Seth Wickersham]

Belichick was expecting that he was going to get 49 votes. Like, privately, that was his expectation that he would get 49 votes. And obviously he didn't come close to 40. And I think that that's pretty interesting. And again, how that happened is really difficult. Like, it wasn't like the hall of Fame wanted us to break this story yesterday. They didn't. And a lot of the voters didn't. Didn't know that Belichick hadn't gotten in. You see a lot of their reactions on social media, and they were blowing up Don and I's phones for sure. Saying, like, this is an embarrassment for all of us, we had no idea that Belichick didn't get in.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, well.

[Jimmy Johnson]

Because of the process, you know, they had, you know, like five candidates and they picked three of the five. Well, some of the media might have said, well, it's a Sam dunk that Bill's going in.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's right.

[Jimmy Johnson]

So I'm going to vote for so and so to help him get in because I know Bill's going in.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Jimmy Johnson]

And so it could have been the process of picking the hall of Fame candidates, but that's still no excuse. You pick the best, you know, available. Hey, listen, I'm a coach, Colin, and you know, if a player doesn't go in, hey, I live with it. Okay, then you'll get a chance next year. But I know how great a coach Bill Belichick is. And for him not to go in first ballot is wrong.

[Colin Cowherd]

What is his greatest asset as a coach? When you go fishing with him, what's the one thing you just think to yourself, man, he's different.

[Jimmy Johnson]

I'll give you the best and the worst. The best thing. He is a great situation coach. He's a great fundamental coach. He coaches all phases, special teams, all offense, defense. He's a great game day coach. He's a great game plan coach. To go ahead and take away what the opponent does best and, you know, take advantage of that. He does all of those things. That's what he's good at.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Jimmy Johnson]

You know, personnel wise, hey, you can take him or leave him. He did pretty good with some of the veterans. Some of his draft picks you're going to have questions about. But as a coach, as a pure coach, he's the best I've ever known.

[Colin Cowherd]

Wow. There we go. See, we did, we did 12 minutes here on Belichick, who again, I would have voted for him. But I do think it's interesting to just kind of contextualize all this stuff. Let me ask you one thing about the super bowl, because you've been in this thing and, you know, the weight. I'm going to focus on Darnold. Listen, he was, he was. He struggled with the jets. He was 20 years old. He didn't have the right coach. It was man overboard. Are you surprised? Did you think he'd go toe to toe and play his best game? Or is. Or. And you were a great. You're one of the coaches. You may be the best ever at this. You were a great personnel coach. You, you could have just said, I don't need a gm. I'm going to draft there's maybe only two or three coaches ever that could do that. So I'm interested in your perspective on Darnold. I thought he was too damn talented not to win some games. He was too talented. Did you or were you shocked by what he did?

[Jimmy Johnson]

I agree with you 100%. Coming out of college there at SC, you know, everybody says, okay, if you can cut his turnovers down, this guy can be a great, great quarterback. Two things happened for him when Seattle. I think the experience of what he went through with the jets, with Carolina, on and on. That experience, you know, taught him to be more protective with the football. The second thing, he's part of a great team. He's got a great defensive team. He doesn't have to carry that team on his shoulders. At Carolina, he had to carry that football team. He couldn't do it because he turned it over. Now he knows he's got a great defense. He knows that he can be patient, take his time, take the check downs, you know, throw it here every now and then, take a shot, you know, down the field. So I think the experience that he had and the team that he's with and the coaching that he's getting allowed him to be a great player. And hey, Seattle, right now, they look like the favorite in the Super Bowl.

[Colin Cowherd]

Oh, they're good. Hey, I. I've got to mention the Miami Hurricanes, it's interesting.

[Matt and Joel]

Oh, boy.

[Colin Cowherd]

So they are so close. So Mario Cristobal's reputation forever was great recruiter, but we had sort of labeled him as. I don't know if I love him as a game coach, situational coach, but, man, I like his energy, man, he can build a program. I watch them this year and my take on Mario is he grew as a coach. Now, a lot of it is that D line and that O line is good, but coaches have a right to grow, too, not just Sam Darnold and players. Your thoughts on what Mario did, Because at Oregon, the take was he doesn't win big games, but he's a hell of a recruiter. I don't know. I watched him in close games this year. I thought he was. I thought he really grew as a coach.

[Jimmy Johnson]

Well, I think he grew as a coach. He got a lot better. And you're. You're right, he's a great recruiter. We just signed, you know, the top quarterback, top transfer portal out of Duke here just recently and the receiver and got one of the top pass rushers from Missouri. So we've got the players. I think the two things not Only has he gotten better as a head coach. He's got some outstanding assistance. Corey Heatherton, you know, there as a defensive coordinator, did a great job with that defense. If we'd have had that defense a year ago when we had Cam Ward and nobody would have come close to us. And the other thing is often Shannon Dawson's an outstanding offensive coach, so he's got some outstanding assistant coaches as well. And you know, the reason I went to the hall of Fame, I had great players and I had great assistant coaches. And so you got to. If you're going to win championships, it can't be one individual. There's a lot of people involved in that.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I mean, Dave Wanstadt, you know, if you don't have Wanstadt, Uncle Dave.

[Jimmy Johnson]

Dave was important to me. North Turner was important to me. Troy Aikman did a nice little job. I mean, so if you're going to win a championship, it can't be one individual. You got to have a team.

[Colin Cowherd]

Great stuff. Coach, as always. It's wonderful. Senior, I love you're fighting for Belichick. You're not sleeping. And I love that support and loyalty. Thanks.

[Jimmy Johnson]

All right, Colin, good talking with you.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, listen, I, it. I was taking the train in today and my takeaway is I could just vent that Belichick should get in. But let's add some, let's add some context to it. Bill Walsh didn't get in first vote. Shula waited forever. Vince Lombardi didn't get in first vote. Joe Gibbs didn't get in. And Belichick's winning percentage without Brady is. Jerry Glanville had a higher winning percentage. Okay. So my take on this is, yeah, of course I would have vote build in, but I'm not, I don't. I would say I've got a lot of faults. I'm not a real grudge holder. I don't give a rip. I mean, I. People that don't like me, it makes me laugh. It's like, okay, whatever. Yeah. I just don't. I'm not a grudge holder. I'm not terribly petty. That's just not my personality. Some people, you know, they, they use that as jet fuel. That's not my thing. So. But I do think when you start looking at. I said this earlier is that in life a lot of decisions are made when you're not in the room and Bill alienated a lot of people and, you know, you gotta have self awareness and. No, if I want to get into the hall of Fame, I probably shouldn't go out of my way to mock and humiliate people who could vote for me. They will all sleep on the couch for a year. He's gonna get in, obviously. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific.

[Ben Maller]

Hey, it's Ben. Host of the Fifth Hour with Ben Maller would mean a to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking what in God's name is the fifth Hour?

[Jimmy Johnson]

I'll tell you.

[Ben Maller]

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[Colin Cowherd]

Colin I'm Colin Coward from the Herd. Whether you're a seasoned small business owner or thinking about getting started, you'll definitely want to check out season four of Mind the Business. Small business success stories from iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Inuit QuickBooks. Mind the Business is part entertainment, part instruction manual, part inspiration. Each episode features practical tips and success stories that will resonate with entrepreneurs in any industry. In their latest season, hosts Austin Henkewicz and Janiez 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.

[Matt and Joel]

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[Colin Cowherd]

Jimmy Johnson, Seth Wickersham, Albert Breer all weighing in. Bill Belichick doesn't make the hall of Fame. All sorts of different opinions today. Jimmie Johnson this is outrageous. I just. I saw an Article. The hall of Fame will never recover. I think it will. It's. I think it'll recover just fine. J. Mac with the news. No, no, no, turn on the news. This is the Herdline news.

[J. Mac]

You know, it's been a great January, Colin. We haven't talked about the Kansas City Chiefs because they missed the playoffs and they were a disaster this season. But guess what? Andy Reid is kind of excited to leave the struggles behind. Colin. I mean, it was a rough year for the Chiefs. Reed Mahomes obviously injured. Nine straight division titles as toast. Here's Andy Reid.

[Andy Reid]

Well, listen, I'm fired up to get in this off season and get going and we didn't do very well this past year and that's not been our M.O. there. So I, I want to fix a problem and let's, let's. The problems that we had and, and, and in all phases, you know, change can be good sometimes for you. And, and so that's what I'm fired up about.

[Colin Cowherd]

Listen, they have a good draft pick, finally. Seriously, I mean, it's, they have a great GM and they have a good draft pick. It's, I think it's very difficult to draft at the bottom of the first round. And I've talked to GMs through the years multiple times. They're like, it's Death Valley. You get down to like 23 and you're basically paying a first round price for a second round guy. And there's always a sense, J. Mac, the first 16 picks are first round. They're difference makers. And then you go from about pick 17, 18 to the bottom of the second and you're like, a lot of times those guys will be good, but they're not ready to help you quite yet. Yet. You drafted them in a space. Fans want him to make a contribution. Coaches can put pressure on him. So a great example of that is the Chiefs drafted Xavier Worthy, who I think's a great gadget guy. But if you draft the first round receiver you'd like. Well, I want jsn. Well, no, no, no. He's, he's not necessarily at the end of the first round. So I think, you know, Buffalo, Baltimore, Kansas City, Rams are getting into this. Now when you draft at the bottom of our first round, Rams have an earlier pick. It's just really hard to, you know, these, it's just tough. Like they've got a lot of good players. Chiefs don't have a lot of great players, in my opinion.

[J. Mac]

Yeah, I'm going to reach for my violin here.

[Colin Cowherd]

Oh, Colin.

[J. Mac]

It's so tough to draft at the end of the first round. Yeah, tell that to the Philadelphia Eagles and Howie Roseman. Okay? Like I don't want to hear it. Bottom line is the Chiefs don't have a lot of good players. I know that GM has been great. He hasn't been amazing of late. Colin, look at the stats for your boy Mahomes. You want to talk turnovers? You like turnovers? Patrick Mahomes is your guy. I mean, listen, they couldn't win a one score game to save their life. I'm sorry. I'm excited that this team is down and I'm just telling you right now, Colin, I know we have a bunch of new playoff teams every year. I don't think the Chiefs are a lock to get to the playoffs as of now. Now let's see. What if that changes free agency in the draft. But they've got an uphill climb.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, I mean the Chargers will upgrade their tackles, will be healthy. They'll have another Harbaugh right out of college draft and they have upgraded significantly. Many believe it. Offensive coordinator. The Chargers will be better. We talked about this with Denver. Bo Nix is going to get better with more starts. They've got a young OC everybody loves and they've got some. I don't think they have the Russell Wilson cap hit anymore. I think they're out of that. So they got some space. It is now depending on who the Raiders hire. I mean between Harbaugh, Andy Reid and Sean Payton, there's the argument it's the best coach division in the sport. So I've always said this. When you have dynasties, when LeBron was dominating the east, who was the second best team? Toronto. So I mean part of when Nick Saban was dominating the sec, Kirby Smart wasn't in Georgia the minute he got to Georgia and Texas came into the conference, Alabama didn't look and play the same. So I think it's just. It's a really hard division to win 13 games going forward.

[J. Mac]

Yeah, a lot of chatter that the Raiders are targeting Kubiak the OC for Seattle, in which case they'd have to wait until after the Super Bowl. Here's my thing. Raiders is still an attractive job because of Mendoza. Would you agree?

[Colin Cowherd]

I. I think Mendo. Yeah, I mean I get a really talented quarterback and don't have to pay him big money for five years. That is attractive.

[J. Mac]

I say Raiders is a better job than Arizona and Cleveland.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yes, yes, absolutely. And, and yes, absolutely. No question. It's better than that. Better than Cleveland. Absolutely.

[J. Mac]

All right, let's go to the NBA. Colin, my guy. LeBron James, the greatest basketball player in the history of the sport, obviously is, you know, voicing displeasure about a new rule, talking about how much more difficult the league is now with pace and speed than it was in the 80s and 90s. And he's arguing pretty vociferously.

[Colin Cowherd]

Here we go.

[LeBron James]

The game is different. Like I want people to understand and our fans to understand that playing 82 games in the 80s and 90s is not the same as playing 82 games in the 2000s. You know, it's a lot of soft tissue injuries that's happened now because of it. I hope we can get a handle on that as well, you know, because that's big in our game.

[Colin Cowherd]

Okay. But I would push back. Oh, okay. Yeah, you're right. The game's faster and it's less physical. You shoot more threes. In the 80s and 90s it was a mid range game. You had to bump and grind to get your shot. Go look at the Pistons and the Lakers and the Knicks. People were tackling each other. So yes, the game is slower then. Much more physical. The guys were flying, by the way. I don't know when it changed, but people were flying commercial. You know, that didn't happen for a while. So I mean the travel was tougher, the nutrition wasn't as good. The game was more physical. The Pistons and the Bulls, these were on the Celtics, were they. I mean it was like full contact sport. So yeah, the game is faster and there are some soft tissue injuries, but the game was much more physical then and guys still didn't miss as many games as they're missing. So yeah, he's right. But also ask yourself this J. Mac, when you're running down the floor and shooting threes and don't have to initiate physicality like Luka, I went and watched Luka the other night against the Bulls. He barely gets touched. He shoots threes and waltzes down and doesn't play any defense. So he's not getting banged on very much. When Isaiah Thomas was scoring his points and Michael was scoring his points and Bird was scoring his points, you're getting clotheslined twice a week.

[J. Mac]

I know. I mean, okay, I'd like to see some data to back that up. But you were at that Bulls Lakers game. Colin, you want to talk about 80s and 90s verse now you saw with Jackson Hayes, the center seven footer, stole the ball at the three point line, went in but under the legs dunk a seven Footer.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[J. Mac]

Colin, the athleticism, the skill, these guys are way better than 80s and 90s.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. The Showtime Lakers didn't have up tempo. Yeah.

[J. Mac]

Kareem Abdul Jabbar was not sprinting up and down the floor like seven footers now.

[Colin Cowherd]

I mean with Doug Moe's Nuggets, the Suns with Nash, those teams weren't up tenfold. People were scoring 125 points without the three point shot being really part of the culture like it is today.

[J. Mac]

7 seconds or less with the Suns. I think that was like 2007. I guess the last point here is let's not Forget in the 90s it was the expansion era. You had the new teams come in four teams over I think the span of seven years and the talent was diluted. Go look at some of those Michael Jordan regular season highlights, okay? He's going against guys that would not sniff the current NBA. So LeBron is definitely onto something. You know, I'm going to ride for my guy LeBron. Even up or down, I got. I'll call it like I see it. And the Lakers, Colin Austin Reaves is coming back soon. Just as a reminder. I know you're excited. All right, let's go to the final story. And the kind souls on this staff have wedged the New York jets into the show because they're my favorite team. But only because an anonymous critic who is a former GM told ESPN that Aaron Glenn with New York has done nothing for the culture and that they played like a bunch of guys punching time clocks. They didn't want to be there. Take it away, big guy.

[Colin Cowherd]

What do you got? Well, I think the good news is next year's a great quarterback draft class. The jets will have the first or second pick which by the way means they could move down to six or seven and still get one of the top three or four quarterbacks. So in one year from today, the conversation will be very optimistic and very hopeful for the Jets. It's now that for the Giants who have a good quarterback on a rookie deal and John Harbaugh and so now today the Giants discussions are very positive and optimistic and should be the jets will be in a year. But he appears to be a coach and this happens all the time that his he is a coordinator, a very good player, a very good position coach, maybe a really good coordinator. It to this point it doesn't look like he's going to be a great.

[J. Mac]

Head coach and he's got an uphill climb. Let's be real, okay? They're not going to Be good next year. I'm already anticipating you mocking them when they lose 35 nothing in the opener.

[Colin Cowherd]

No, they're going to lose a lot of games.

[J. Mac]

You know what? I'm fine with that because we need a quarterback and no, I don't want to go chase Kyler Murray or Malik Willis. Draft and develop your quarterback jets.

[Colin Cowherd]

Just.

[J. Mac]

We're going to be patient folks, all right?

[Colin Cowherd]

I like positive people. J Mac with the news. Well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by the herd lie news. I don't think it the end of the world. Like the jets have been bad forever. What's one more year? And next year you're going to have five or six. I mean I think the jets are going to end up winning like three games. I mean max four that they're going to the first or second pick and you're going to have like six quarterbacks next year. Arch Manning is going to be available and you'll be moving on to a new coach and a new staff. And we saw what New England did with Vrabel. You get the right coach with Ben Johnson, Vrabel it folks, it doesn't take long. I mean you're dealing with 25, 28, 30, 31. You're going to have a ton of cap room. You're going to have a new coach, a new quarterback. They're going to be bad this year. So what? They've been bad forever. You're a year away from being very, very positive. I mean the New York Giants have been a mess for a decade. Every Giant fan is so fired up for the season. Why? John Harbaugh is an excellent coach. Jackson Dart is talented enough to be a starter. You know, they've got some really, really nice elements along the defensive line and its skill positions. Giants are going to be good. It's just, you know, some of this stuff, some of these organizations have to bottom out. Like Pittsburgh Steelers are not comfortable bottoming out. Albert Breer said last hour they don't want to be terrible. I don't, I don't really get that way of thinking at all. But that's the way Pittsburgh thinks they want to be viable. And I think if Aaron plays in Mike McCarthy, they will be. They'll win like nine games. They're not going to win a Super bowl and maybe that. And they'll get a mid first round pick and they'll need another quarterback. The story of the day is obviously Bill Belichick not getting in. People are outraged. I have criticized the media before for something it's not the end of the world. He's going to get in. People are all worked up. The great thing about politics and sports, it's what people argue about and debate about in bars. Like, it's great. He's going to get in. He's obviously a Hall of Famer. I would have voted him in. But when you looked at Bill Walsh, did not get in first time he was eligible. Vince Lombardi didn't. Joe Gibbs, who won three Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks, didn't get in. Don Shuler, the winning as coach had to wait five years until he was eligible. You know, they changed the methodology. Now Bill Belichick can get in just, you know, a year or two after he leaves the sport. Okay, that's never been the case. So I do think some voters are like, wait a minute. All these other coaches waited, but Brady's got to wait. And Brady's career defines Belichick's winning. We're going to make him wait a year. And a few guys talk themselves out of it. Shouldn't have. It should be a yes or no vote. I would have voted him in. But, I mean, stuff like this happens. It's one of the great things about sports is today. You can contextualize it, talk about it. Here's Seth Wickersham on, you know, why he thinks maybe Belichick came up short.

[Seth Wickersham]

That's where things got really tricky. I think that there's some voters who didn't vote for him because of Spygate and because of the, you know, the cheating and the rule breaking that happened during that time. And then I think there's a lot of voters who tried to vote for their guys with the assumption that Belichick was gonna get in. I think they figured that it was a fait accompli. And so because of that, it's like this perfect storm of dysfunction where a guy who has eight super bowl rings and is the second winningest coach of all time, greatest coach at least of the super bowl era in the NFL, didn't get in. I think that's what happened.

[Colin Cowherd]

Now, there's a lot of talk about Spygate, and I think there's. Listen you. The 2007 Super bowl week, Roger Goodell is sitting there having to answer questions about Spygate. That ticked him off. It ticked a lot of owners off. It ticked a lot of people off. And the NFL, I think it was Seth Wickersham who told us, had warned Belichick for seven years about the taping. Okay? So, you know, there. There's a Lot of things that go into the process. Take a deep breath. Bill's going to get in. He's an all time great coach. It has not ended well. You know, it's not been the greatest ending to a movie. And I'm sure Bill is disappointed. And by the way, that's why you bring Jimmy Johnson on the show to defend it. He. I think he is. It is. It is interesting, though, that when you take Brady out of his career, he wins 44% of his games. That's Anthony Lynn now. Now, do we hold him to a higher level? And was he very vital in those early Super Bowls where Brady wasn't fully developed? Of course. But it just shows you. I mean, I've always said this about Andy Reid and Joe Gibbs and Don Shula. They got the Super Bowls with multiple guys. Parcells won a Super bowl with Jeff Hostetler and Phil Sims, and he was Belichick's mentor. So it's also interesting how many great coaches. Parcells had issues with Jerry Jones and Kraft. Jimmy had issues with, you know, Jerry Jones, Bills, Belichick had issues with Kraft. You know, the pro football. The coach has a lot of power. You can cut anybody basically anytime you want. The one person they don't have power over is the owner. Because most coaches, when they get to 15, 18 million or whatever they make now, and it's been this way a long time, whoever's making, if you have a big gap in. In. In earnings between coach and GM McVay and less sneed if the gap is significant, the coach has the power. The owner's paying one guy this, the other guy that. But they don't have power over the owner. And as owners now are worth billions of dollars, not Hundreds of millions, 8, 12, 15, $18 billion, they have gotten A, much more impulsive and B, much more willing, little vindictive to just rip up contracts and start over. So the coach has never had power in this league over the owner. Now, sometimes the owners, they hold grudges. It gets personal. And that's what money does to men. You know, it's. It. There's a lot of people pushing back at Robert Kraft, and I'm not, I'm not sure they're wrong on that. But that relationship has deteriorated badly. And owners are usually going to win because they're the boss of Roger Goodell. That's just the reality of it. You can argue it, you can think it's wrong. I'm not saying it's right, but you know, the owners run this league. When I mean, when Jerry Jones complained, however long ago, we have to protect our quarterbacks. It's my number one asset. I'm paying my quarterback all this money and you're letting people take shots at them. Suddenly the rules change. Right now you can't touch quarterbacks. Well, who do you think instituted that? Not defensive coaches, not defensive coordinators. That's owners. I'm paying this guy 50 million. I need him upright. Protect them. So you know, it it it's been a fun day. 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. I'm Colin Coward from the Herd. Whether you're a seasoned small business owner or 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 Henkwitz and Janie Torres are covering topics on the forefront of running a small business. They're talking to self starters about everything from how AI helps them work smarter to weathering market uncertainties and enjoying the benefits of being your own boss. And using Inuit QuickBooks to help you get more done in less time. You won't want to miss it. Listen to Mind the Business Small business success Stories on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Matt and Joel]

New Year, new goals and in this economy, a better money plan is more necessary than ever.

I am Matt and I'm Joel.

We are from the how to Money podcast and every week we help you to spend smarter, save more and make sense of what's going on out there.

If you want 2026 to be the year you finally feel in control of your money, we're here to give you the tools and advice to help you make it happen. Listen to how to Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[J. Mac]

Saturday we got national powerhouse and second ranked UConn on Fox Primetime Hoops. Alex Caraban and the Huskies stake their claim as the best in the country as they take on Creighton. Coverage begins Saturday night, 7 Eastern, 4 Pacific only on Fox.

[Colin Cowherd]

So Jimmy Johnson and I struck up a friendship years ago. We would talk a lot about before he would go on the show on Sundays I would ask him Pepper him with questions. And he talked a lot about Bill Belichick coming down and his admiration for Bill, and he thought Bill was the best coach ever. And so when I woke up this morning and Bill didn't get into the hall of Fame and Jimmy Johnson was just throwing haymakers and all upset, I'm like, I got to get Jimmy on. I want to hear his perspective. We had Seth Wickersham's perspective. We had Albert Brer's perspective and mine, which is. It is kind of interesting. Mariano Rivera is the only baseball player ever that got 100% of the votes. It wasn't because of sheer production. It was because he was great. And he's like the most gracious, humble guy ever. And I do think Belichick through the years ticked off some people and you don't think it should matter. But if, you know a guy's gonna get into the hall of Fame and it's his first run, I can see some people saying, you know, screw you, you made my life difficult and you didn't have to. That's life, you know. Here's Jimmy, though, saying coaches should be eligible to get into a Hall of Fame before players. Here is his argument.

[Jimmy Johnson]

Coaches are a lot older than players and you'd like to get the coach in before he's dead, you know. And so, you know, because of the age of coaches, it's not like, you know, they're going to retire, you know, when they're 31, they're going to retire when they're 65. And so because of the difference in the age, you know, the coaches really need to go in, you know, really, before they get to the point to where they can't enjoy it.

[Colin Cowherd]

You know, it's interesting when you see somebody that is hardened by it, like Bill Belichick, later years, very hardened, like he didn't care. But when I watched the documentary and I watched old clips of Belichick on the podium, he was, you know, kind of young and good looking guy. He was actually occasionally funny with the media and he turned on them. And what that really proves is Bill does have a heart. Stuff did bother Bill. He felt the media was unfair and he got real cranky and a little bit vindictive. And so, you know, Bill can be framed as this ogre who doesn't care. But the truth is, the reason that Bobby Knight did care, it did bother him. And the crusty curmudgeon guy, he is bothered by it. It's like the athlete who puts the chest out to was always like most Alpha. And then he would break down and start crying at the podium. So with Dennis Rodman, it's all a little bit of a front, like all these people. And I asked Jimmy Johnson, do you think this bothers Bill?

[Jimmy Johnson]

I think it hurts him.

[Matt and Joel]

Yeah.

[Jimmy Johnson]

Yeah. Hey, call it. We're all, we're all bothered by it. You know, when you work as hard as coaches work, they're proud of what they accomplished, you know, and I'm. Bill's proud of what he accomplished at New England. Yeah, yeah, he had a great quarterback. But how many pro hall of Fame coaches didn't have a great quarterback? I had Troy Aikman, you know, no Ed Terry Bradshaw. Walsh had, you know, Joe Montana, you know, on and on. And so you can't use that excuse.

[Colin Cowherd]

I do think a real big part of this, and I touched on this three hours ago, was they changed the methodology. They suddenly said coaches don't have to wait to get in. And I do think there are voters who look at that and go, vince Lombardi had to wait all those years before he was even eligible. Joe Gibbs, Bill Walsh, Don Shula, they had to wait five years before they were even eligible. Bill gets in immediately, long before Brady. That's weird. I think some people, Jimmy Johnson talked about the, the voting process.

[Jimmy Johnson]

Some of the media might have said, well, it's a Sam dunk that Bill's going in, so I'm going to vote for so and so to help him get in, because I know Bill's going in. And so it could have been the process of picking the hall of Fame candidates, but that's still no excuse. You pick the best, you know, available. Hey, listen, I'm a coach, Colin, and you know, if a player doesn't go in a. I live with it, okay, then you'll get a chance next year. But I know how great a coach Bill Belichick is, and for him not to go in first ballot is wrong.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. And yeah. And that is the overwhelming sentiment today. I do think the hall of Fames will survive baseball. I mean, it was a 15 year topic on Barry Bonds for any radio host. 15 years. We argued about, you know, and my argument was always. I always argued, actually, I think that was the opposite of cost. This my take was we don't know any of the answers, so I'm going to let all of them in. I'm not going to punish Bonds because half the pitchers throwing to them are on steroids. And so unless you have all the answers, let them all in. That was, I think that was my all was my take on it is everybody thought they knew. And then all of a sudden the Mitchell Report comes out and there's various reports, oh, that guy too. I mean, there were people that obviously, you know, their numbers wildly spiked. But my take was. And batters got on the juice before the pitchers, but a pitchers eventually got on the juice too. So my take is if you didn't have all the answers in baseball, you really didn't know. Everybody that was on it, let them all in. It was Royd guy against Roy guy. It was cream against cream. The BALCO lab against this lab on the East Coast. You didn't know, let them all in. Otherwise you're kind of cherry picking on, you know, the Mitchell Report focused on a couple of clubhouses. Well, what about that clubhouse and that clubhouse? The Mitchell Report didn't focus on those clubhouses. So, you know, and my take is, Bill's going to get in. Lombardi got in, Gibbs got in, Walsh got in. I think a lot of young people don't under. They underestimate how great Joe Gibbs was and they underestimate how great Bill Walsh was. People copied Bill Walsh. His coaching tree is legendary. Hell, at one point it felt like half of the league's coaches came from. You were using Walsh's offense or came from his coaching tree. I mean, he had so much influence. I mean, you talk to older coaches now, they talk about the late Bill Walsh in utter reverence. And so whereas Belichick doesn't have much of a coaching tree, but the guys he's close to, the handful of guys he's close to, he is really close to. And Jimmy Johnson is one of those guys. So it is crazy though, the influence Brady has on Belichick's career. It really is amazing. Belichick without Brady, his teams average 19 points a game with Brady is closer to 29, 30. He won 77% of his games with Brady, 44, 45% without like it. And it just goes to show you, it doesn't matter if it's broadcasting or quarterback play. Brady's impact, I mean, he's just. It's just substantial. And as good as a coach is, that's why I always said Andy Reid's underrated. Annie Reid got to a Super bowl with, with Donovan McNabb, who is considered, you know, okay, above average. But I mean, Andy Reid won with virtually everybody. Well, he didn't win Super Bowl. Well, I mean, Belichick's winning 45% of his. He had Drew bled, so that's pretty good, right? You had Cam Newton at the end. I mean, so, you know, this stuff out there is. I think it's a fascinating topic. I once had a Heisman vote. I always thought that was insanely provincial and regional. The west coast guy would vote for this guy. The Southern guy would vote for that guy. I thought it was just nonsense. J. Mac, fun show today. Would you have voted him in? J. Mac?

[J. Mac]

Listen, I'm a Jets fan and I do not like anything Patriots. Of course you voted Belichick. Come on, it's a no brainer. It's embarrassing. Listen, I know that you said, the hall of Fame will survive. It's just a bad look for Kraft Polio. And all these old guys who are, you know, want the hot, want the spotlight to themselves. It's an ugly look for the league.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, so was Spygate, by the way.

[J. Mac]

Also true.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. That was not a great look for the league. Seven years they told him, stop taping. Pure Belichick style. I'll do it on my terms.

[J. Mac]

He was never suspended.

[Colin Cowherd]

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