THE HERD – HOUR 3 – Josh Allen Still Improving, Packers Lack Toughness

Summary

The Herd with Colin Cowherd — Hour 3

“Josh Allen Still Improving, Packers Lack Toughness”

Date: August 6, 2026
Host: Colin Cowherd
Notable Guest: Tyler Dunne (GolongTD.com)

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Episode Overview

This hour of The Herd is a dynamic exploration of NFL leadership, quarterback evolution, and shifting team identities. Colin welcomes NFL journalist Tyler Dunne to break down the changing dynamics for three major franchises: the Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers, and Dallas Cowboys. Key discussions include Josh Allen’s ongoing development under new leadership, concerns about the Packers’ toughness and lack of “killer instinct,” and notable league storylines like Aaron Donald’s return, Patrick Mahomes’ ACL recovery, and big-picture coaching trends. The tone is insightful, occasionally irreverent, and rooted in deep reporting.

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Main Guests and Segments

• Guest: Tyler Dunne, founder of GolongTD.com (00:50–15:51)
• Co-host/Analyst: John Middlekauff (news analysis, 16:35–29:00)
• Host: Colin Cowherd

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy: The (Surprising) Reunion

(00:50–05:54)

• Background: Tyler Dunne recalls reporting on the rocky relationship between Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy in Green Bay, with Rodgers openly showing disdain and the two becoming “over each other.”
• Surprise Reconciliation: Dunne feels their professional reunion is akin to a "midlife crisis" decision:

  “They’re in the midlife crisis, they’re single on Facebook…let’s get together, let’s get married and let’s see if this thing can work out…” – Tyler Dunne (04:55)

• Family parallels: Dunne is more surprised by Rodgers reconciling with his family, attributing some of that healing to McCarthy’s influence.

2. Bills Coaching Transition: Is Joe Brady Big Enough for Buffalo?

(05:54–08:55)

• Comfort vs. Courage: Colin questions if the Bills made the right call hiring the “comfortable” in-house candidate (Joe Brady) instead of pursuing a big name.
• Brady’s Backstory: Tyler highlights Brady’s resilience and connection to Josh Allen, emphasizing the importance of the head coach–quarterback bond.
• Player Input: Josh Allen, typically humble and “a golden retriever” (per Dunne), was deeply involved in the coaching interviews, reflecting a franchise seeking buy-in from its centerpiece.
• Coaching Approach: Brady is intentionally challenging Allen at practice, pushing him out of his comfort zone:

  “He’s going to Jim Leonard…telling Jim Leonard…make it as hard as possible on Josh Allen. Use disguise, use deception…and then he’s calling a play that’s the worst possible play against that look. Just to challenge Josh Allen at this point of his career…” – Tyler Dunne (08:00)

3. Packers’ Identity Crisis: Lack of Toughness

(13:34–15:36, revisited at 37:36–38:17)

• Team History’s Weigh-In: Dunne highlights that NFL teams winning Super Bowls with the same coach happens early in a tenure. The “clock is ticking” on Matt LaFleur.
• Painful Losses: Green Bay’s 2025 collapses (blown leads, poor response to adversity) point to a psychological issue:

  “Again and again and again, you just see a lack of will, a lack of toughness…if you punch the Packers in the mouth under Matt LaFleur, they’re not going to punch back.” – Tyler Dunne (37:36)

• Leadership Style: LaFleur’s approach—focusing on discipline without aggressive response—may be to blame.
• Roster Response: Packers management is now drafting and signing “tough guys” to shift the culture.
• Killer Instinct Needed:

  “They need a killer instinct. And can you get that in an offseason? That’s up to Matt LaFleur.” – Tyler Dunne (38:00)

4. Evolution of Key Quarterbacks and Coaching Movements

Relevant throughout hour (esp. 30:41–37:36)

• Colin’s Analysis: The NFL’s premier coaching jobs go where the quarterbacks are:

  “If you get the quarterback right…Everything in this league just goes downhill…that’s the whole game.” – Colin Cowherd (34:35)

• Justin Herbert as the Magnet: Both Jim Harbaugh and Mike McDaniel’s moves to the Chargers were all about coaching Herbert.
• Ben Johnson’s Decision: The Lions’ OC waited for the Bears’ top job because of Caleb Williams (the best QB prospect).

5. NFL Injury Rundown: Donald, Mahomes, and Parsons

(16:35–26:46)

• Aaron Donald’s Return: Discussed as a unique situation; he returns to Rams workouts “not as a normal player”—suggesting his Hall-of-Fame level conditioning and leadership.
• Patrick Mahomes: After a late-season ACL, Mahomes’ rapid recovery and readiness for OTAs is compared to Micah Parsons’ longer timeline.
• Cowboys’ Parsons & the Packers: Micah Parsons’ injury was a turning point for Green Bay’s defense:

  “When Parsons didn’t play, the defense wasn’t the same…” – Colin Cowherd (12:34)

• Cowboys–Packers Trade: Colin and John dissect how Dallas won the trade for Parsons, as his injury prevented Green Bay from reaching its potential last season.

6. The Power of “Presence” in Head Coaches

Through Line / (35:00–end)

• Coach Archetypes: Colin compares the “presence” of various NFL coaches, contrasting Matt LaFleur’s academic, likable style with the intensity of a Vrabel, Harbaugh, or Belichick.
• Front Office Compensation: The Packers are adjusting by adding roster toughness rather than expecting LaFleur to change personality.
• There’s No Single Blueprint:

  “…not everybody, like Mike Vrabel's got a physical presence…Bill Belichick was intimidating because he was so damn smart...Andy Reid uses experience…Jim Harbaugh is just a big man and he’s intense…McVay is not a huge physical presence, but he’s got presence.” – Colin Cowherd (38:17)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Rodgers/McCarthy Reunion:

  “They’re in the midlife crisis, they’re single on Facebook…let’s get together, let’s get married and let’s see if this thing can work out…”
  — Tyler Dunne (04:55)

• On Bills' New HC-QB Dynamic:

  “There’s nothing more important in the NFL…than that relationship between the head coach and the quarterback. That dynamic, whatever goes into that dynamic, it’s got to be special.”
  — Tyler Dunne (07:05)

• On Packers’ Lack of Toughness:

  “Again and again and again, you just see a lack of will, a lack of toughness…if you punch the Packers in the mouth under Matt LaFleur, they’re not going to punch back.”
  — Tyler Dunne (37:36)

• On NFL Coaching Market:

  “In this league, if you get the quarterback right...that's the whole game.”
  — Colin Cowherd (34:35)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:50 — Tyler Dunne on Rodgers/McCarthy reunion
• 04:55 — Dunne’s analogy: “midlife crisis” for Rodgers/McCarthy
• 05:54 — Discussion on Joe Brady’s hire & Josh Allen’s development
• 07:05 — The importance of HC-QB relationships (Dunne)
• 08:00 — Joe Brady pushing Allen with complex defensive looks
• 13:34 — Packers’ “broken” psychology and leadership heat on LaFleur
• 15:36 — Colin wraps with thanks to Tyler Dunne
• 16:35–26:46 — John Middlekauff news desk (Donald’s tryout, Mahomes injury, Parsons update, trade talk)
• 30:41 — Big coaching hires & why they follow quarterbacks
• 34:35 — Why quarterback is the difference in NFL hiring
• 37:36 — Dunne diagnosis: Packers’ lack of killer instinct
• 38:17 — Colin on different types of coaching “presence”

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Takeaways for Listeners

• Buffalo’s Big Gamble: The Bills are banking their future on familiar chemistry and a coach who can push Allen in new ways—will “comfortable” be enough for a Super Bowl run?
• Green Bay’s Crisis of Identity: The Packers’ cerebral, diplomatic head coach is respected but not feared—the front office is now drafting toughness to compensate.
• Coaching & QB Synergy Rules: The best NFL jobs—and quickest turnarounds—go to teams with the best quarterback situations.
• Team Building Philosophies: There is no singular way to build a winning NFL franchise, but killer instinct and psychological resilience remain hard to manufacture overnight.

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For the full experience, this hour is a deep dive into what truly separates pretenders from contenders: leadership, trust between coach and quarterback, and the hard-to-define edge that championship teams display.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

I think initially, yes. Colin, very surprised for the reasons you just laid out. It was bad. It was really bad. At that point, they were over each other. I mean, think about your, your college roommate that you love. You're around each other every day for three or four years. You're going to be at each other's throats. And these two were together a very long time. I don't think Aaron Rodgers Forgot that Mike McCarthy's preference in San Francisco is Alex Smith. The best way I can put it, Colin, is at this point of their careers, they are. Who else really wanted Aaron Rodgers? Who else really wanted Mike McCarthy? They're in the midlife crisis, they're single on Facebook. You know what, let's get together, let's get married and let's see if this thing can work out in our second stage of life. I don't think it really will. When you look at Cincinnati's roster, when you look at Baltimore's roster, but they seem happy, they seem rejuvenated. I love the fact that Aaron Rodgers reconciled with his family, something we both knew a lot about that. I'm more surprised that he got to that point with a mom and dad that thought they lost a son, a brother that thought he lost a brother. That's awesome. And you know, as an aside to that, Colin, that story that you referenced, I remember reporting on that. There was a source that told me in 2019 that Mike McCarthy would go out of his way to tell Aaron, you know, family's family man, like, whatever happened, like get together, reconcile. And so you have to wonder them getting back together if Mike said a word or two. He is a very good man.

[A]

And.

[B]

And I guess when you do look at this roster, I love what they did in the off season. DK Metcalf, Michael Pittman, I mean, those are two big receivers for Aaron. They get Rico Dowdle. The offense, though, is going to have to carry them, which is a big ask out of a 42, 42 year old quarterback who isn't very mobile at this point.

[A]

So Joe Brady takes over for Sean McDermott. And it was not, I mean, there was. Brady was not a hot ticket on the market. They kind of went with a guy in house that Josh Allen's comfortable with, which may be comfortable, but if you look at coaching moves that have worked, Sean Payton, Mike Vrabel, Jim Harbaugh, Ben Johnson, you go get the hot coach on the market. Buffalo, smaller market, said we're going to take the comfortable hire. Is Joe Brady, in your opinion, having covered this, is he big enough for the room? Is he big enough for the assignment? There's a lot of pressure nationally on this franchise.

[B]

There is 100%. And in sitting down with Joe Brady for a couple hours, really hearing where he comes from, his rise, everything he overcame is incredible. You know, down to a staff infection. He thinks his high school football career is over. He fights his way to college. He's sleeping on hotel floors at coaching clinics to get a chance. There's a lot there, I'll say this about that relationship. I know he's 36 years old. He was the quarterback's coach, he was the oc. He was around Josh Allen a lot. I think that there's nothing more important in the NFL column than that relationship between the head coach and the quarterback. That dynamic, whatever goes into that dynamic, it's got to be special, right? Tom Brady, Bill Belichick. Tom Brady is indoctrinated into Bill Belichick's world as a six round pick. He's going to do whatever Bill says. And if Tom Brady's doing whatever Bill says, the rest of the team as to it worked. Andy Reid takes the chance on Patrick Mahomes. He sees Brett Favre, he develops him for a year. That works. They've got a special relationship. The prior relationship between the head coach and the quarterback in Buffalo, everything that I've heard from several sources, it was not good. Right. I think they just coexisted. They just kind of worked together. And by the time Sean really tried to get to know Josh, it was too late. That's why they have Josh Allen sitting in those nine head coach interviews. They wanted his input because look, Josh Allen is a golden retriever. He's not going to be barking for this and that. You know, he is going to do what he's told. He's the son of a farmer. Fireball, CA 0 stars. Nobody wants them all that. That's who Josh Allen is. So they took the Bills and Terry Pula to be like, look, we want your voice, we want your input. So he was in all of those interviews. And look, if they just went for Josh Allen's best friend, you hire Brian Dabel, that's who he was close to here in Western York. And I do think this is what you're getting at. I think Joe is going to push Josh. He really, I asked him this week at training camp how you push him at practice. The way they're structuring things. He's going to Jim Leonard and telling Jim Leonard the DC make it as hard as possible on Josh Allen. Use this disguise, use this deception and then he's calling a play. That is the worst possible play against that. Look, just to challenge Josh Allen at this point of his career, 30 or 30 years old, MVP, all of that. So I think a decade facing a very stagnant defense. That's been a nice change too.

[A]

Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. Hey, it's Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from the Odd Couple on Fox Sports Radio. And in addition to hearing us live weeknights from 7 to 10pm Eastern on Fox Sports Radio, we are excited announce brand new YouTube channel for the show. That's right.

[C]

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[A]

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[C]

YouTube.

[A]

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[B]

Heck yes. Justified. Look at NFL history, Colin. I mean if you're going to win a Super bowl with a team, usually it's happened by now, Bill Cower, Tom Landry and I guess Hank Strand. But he even won an AFL title. Year eight and beyond, I get, you know, John Madden was year eight too, but year nine and beyond, it's really just those two guys. The Steelers, the Steelers never fire anybody. And Tom Landry felt like he coached forever. So yeah, usually happens by now, usually teams move on. And you look at last season, I think this team was just psychologically broken. Those two Chicago games you lose on the botched on site kick in the playoffs is 21 to 3. You somehow cough that one up. They blew a 10 nothing lead to the Cleveland Browns. There were in five of their nine losses. They led by nine plus points against the Baltimore Ravens. They gave up 307 yards on the ground. I mean again and again and again you just see a lack of will, a lack of toughness. Go back to that Denver game, right? Jordan Love gets whacked in the head and he's down. What did the teammates do? They, they're doing what they're told by Matt LaFleur. They're not jumping in, they're not going to get a penalty. But guess what? That, that is embedded into the fabric of who you are as a team. I mean, they knew if you punch the packers in the mouth under Matt LaFleur, they're not going to punch back. And to their credit, I sat down with Javon Bowler this offseason down in Milledgeville, Georgia. He is a tough son of a gun. And you give Brian Gudick, against the GM credit. He's finding the right players. He's getting guys like Bullard and Edgerton Cooper, trading for Micah Parsons, Evan Williams. These are tough guys. You know, he said, I don't like my coach getting punked by Ben Johnson like that. Don't let him talk to you like that. He said, we need that instinct to kill M efforts. Hope Javon Bullard's word. So I think more than personnel, Colin, more than any transactions, they need a killer instinct. And can you get that in an offseason? That's up to Matt LaFleur. How he practices day in and day out, how he leads day in and day out. Yes. The pressure should be on him completely into this year to get it done.

[A]

All right, Steelers, Aaron Rodgers. Josh Allen, Buffalo Packers, Matt LaFleur, the founder of Golong TD.com Tyler Dunn, as always, great insights and reporting. Thanks, buddy.

[B]

Anytime, Colin. Thanks for having me, man.

[A]

You bet. Does really, really good stuff and really embedded in those organizations. Yeah, the. You know, Aaron Rodgers got married, back with his family, back with Mike McCarthy. That is a lot of profound relationship changes, from not talking to family to all in on family, not married to married. And Mike's back. That's a lot of growth and movement and relationships and commitments in one off season. Let's see. He was feisty. The other day, Aaron was firing shots at our government television networks. We'll see John Midkoff with the news. No, no, turn on the news.

[C]

This is the Herdline news. Well, Colin, in a former life, I, I used to be a part of NFL tryouts and watch them go down. And a lot of them did not

[A]

go well for random players.

[C]

That's not the case with the Rams. They had a tryout yesterday. It included Aaron Donald. Well, technically he's not trying out because he just wanted to work out in his helmet. And they had to label it that way for the waiver wire. And here's what Sean McVeigh said about the. The situation. The NFL transaction wire had Aaron Donald working out with the Rams today, which

[B]

I guess did it come across as a tryout?

[C]

It did come across as best tryout

[B]

that we've ever had.

[C]

Okay. Do you think you could make the team phenomenal? I think you can make the kids got a shot.

[A]

Yeah, it is, it is in. We know this was getting a little pushback today and yesterday and I think both our show and the other network, you start looking at that defensive front. Not a lot of defensive fronts historically that had that much death. I mean, Braden Fisk may be a backup now. I mean, you're talking Garrett, Kobe, Puna, Donald, Byron Young, Braden Fisk. Somebody's backing up and I mean, who backs up on that team? Here's what I wonder. John, because of his age and inactivity for three years. Look at this video.

[C]

Looks like you, Colin.

[A]

Oh my God. But I was thinking about this. Do you do like, when you bring him back, he practices every other day, you start him at 12 snaps or do you just go all in? I was thinking like, how do you ensure a 35 year old guy that's been off for a couple years? Do you just say, hey, first two weeks, 12 to 15 snaps, we'll go 15 to 18 the next two, we're never going to play him more than 40 snaps because they have the depth to make that a reality. He's never been in bad shape. The guy's like a workout. He. A lot of NFL guys stop lifting, lifting weights when the career's over. They're like over it. Like Tony Gonzalez told me, I'm never going to lift weights again. Aaron Donald loves lifting weights. So how do you bring him back?

[C]

Well, to me I would say typically with a defensive tackle it would be a slow, methodical 5, 10 snaps. Try to work your way up to the mid to high 20s. He is not your typical defensive lineman. I would say most D tackles have what you would call a gut. Aaron Donald has a six pack and he plays defensive tackle. So you know, he's got some, you know, parallels in terms of like LeBron's known for how well he treats his body. I think Aaron Donald, Jared Verse has been training with him for multiple years, right. These videos have been going viral. He has looked the exact same, I feel like, since he went to the Senior Bowl a long, long time ago when he was playing at Pittsburgh. So I, I think they'll hit the ground running if he's in good shape. I mean, look at this guy. Colin, next. Patrick Mahomes obviously tore his ACL at the Dec. 14. So it's not, it's not like he did it early in the season, but he's been practicing. Really. He's been active since, since OTAs. Chris Jones, star defensive tackle, was asked about his quarterback recently and I think his brief response says a lot

[A]

look like Pat Mahomes.

[C]

Doesn't look like anything changed.

[A]

He's jumping around being Pat. So we just got to get it going, man. Yeah, it's, it's. I, I question when they moved off McDuffie because obviously Kelsey and Chris Jones are not the same players they were three years ago. No, I, I question the McDuffie move, not the move itself because I think they felt they kind of had to make it because some of their high end salaries. I just, I look at the top rosters in the league, I look at the Rams, I look at Seattle's, I look at Philadelphia's, I look at Detroit's, I look at Baltimore's, I don't think Kansas City matches up. They feel very wild. Denver's another great roster. I mean, hell, the Chargers roster's pretty thick. If they can stay healthy, I just don't think their roster composition feels like the Seattle's and the Phillies.

[C]

Yeah, they feel much closer to a wild card team than they do a true divisional, you know, winning contender. I will say this about Mahomes throughout his career. You remember his leg, his knee got dislocated in the, in the quarterback sneak. He has recovered from injury at rapid speed. I mean, this is not an ACL 10 tear week two. So we had the entire, this was December 14th. They had like two games left and Colin, he was out there in OTAs. And then they come. I understand we'll get into. Micah Parsons plays a different position, a little more torque and explosion needed to play pass rusher. He's not gonna be ready till October. And he tore his ACL before Patrick Mahomes did. So I think you're gonna get a motivated guy. You have to be motivated. You know, we talk about Aaron Rodgers kind of coming into his own from a maturity standpoint, getting married back to his family. Patrick Mahomes been married, I feel like his entire career. He's got like three kids. I mean, this is not a guy out at the clubs three nights a week. This is a very, very focused, serious guy. And I think it's pretty evident during this rehabilitation.

[A]

And I said this, I think the NFL is very intentional on their schedule. I thought they gave them a fairly light early schedule. Dolphins, Raiders by, you know, Denver at home. They get two home games. Bo Nix, Daniel Jones, then, then some pretty light lifting on the road.

[B]

I.

[A]

It was almost as if they didn't want the big Kansas City marquee games when they made the schedule. They didn't know if Mahomes was going to play.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

So they didn't want to burn, you know, they didn't want to burn like that Joe Burrow matchup potentially. They don't want to burn that early. They, you know, that was my take. They didn't want to, you know, Drake May against Mahomes. They didn't want to burn that early. So they made the schedule fairly quarterback light early in the season against the Chiefs.

[C]

Man, they give him a lot of night games, which I understand. Speaking of ACL tears, Michael Parsons, he's clearly working his way back from his injury last year. Michael was asked why he thinks the injury happened on what appeared to be a fairly routine play, Week 15 against the Broncos. Here's what Parsons said.

[A]

It's hard to really think.

[C]

I could just think of. It was just a cumulative things within

[A]

my body pushing through the no cam.

[C]

The

[A]

dealing with injuries throughout the season.

[C]

And I just think my body just was overloaded and.

[A]

Which caused my knee to give out. Well, he's not having much of a camp this year. He's not. Not participating.

[C]

So to not come back till, you know, I mean, they don't really know, but he's definitely not playing in September because he's gonna want pop. I mean, your big thing is, did the Cowboys win? And it feels right now, the Cowboys do not regret that. You can never project a guy getting injured.

[A]

But it feels like I said during the trade, Jerry's a deal maker. And if they signed Micah and Dallas, you were tying Jerry's hands financially because they paid Dak and CD Lam and they were going to want to pay Pickens. And they. And they. So my. And they've got some young offensive linemen here in about two years. They got to pay because they're really good on the interior O line. So my take was deal makers will take swings and they'll miss, but they want to make deals. And Jerry's like, I just need. I want picks. And I would argue less than a year after this trade or about a year after this trade, Dallas won the trade.

[C]

I will defend Gudikens. You know, this was a huge swing for a franchise that never takes huge swings.

[A]

Right.

[C]

They're not the Rams. I mean, wasn't that a big knock on the Aaron Rodgers era? Like, can you guys be a little more aggressive here? You know, I mean, let's. Let's take some. And they did, and it was working. I mean, when they. Before he got injured, they felt like a legitimate super bowl contender. And he looked awesome. Yeah, but like you said, the wear and tear playing through injuries, the no camp. The no camp now with some of these linemen has been pretty or your past rushers or O linemen. They tend to get hurt during the season because they need the kind of calluses and build up on their body for what is going to be asked of them in the trenches. And this, I mean that was a devastating blow last year. And if he can't come back and return to form immediately, I might be with you. The packers this season could get a little, little weird.

[A]

Yeah, no, I listen Chicago Ben Johnson in year one there were dramatic changes to lack of sacks for Caleb Williams and late game performance. You could see the impact of Ben Johnson the very first week. Yeah, they just didn't. They eliminated the sacking issue in the first week. Well now we go into year two with that and then it's like Kyler Murray. I mean last year the Vikings had eight different guys start at quarterback. It was insane. Well, Kyler Murray is going to be a much higher level quarterback play. And I think Detroit found this OC at Arizona. I said last year you live in Arizona. I said during the season. How are they scoring 30 points with Jacoby Brissette and Marvin Harrison can't catch. How is Arizona scoring? Well so now. So I think there's an argument statistically that the best division in football is not the Chiefs, Chargers, Denver, it's the NFC North. And without Mike and Jeff Halfley I, I think they could be a fourth place team. And I like so much about them. But I, I mean you start looking at that, you open up at Minnesota. Okay, that's a pretty rough open now you get a couple of, you get a couple of winnable games. But you look at that middle late schedule man, there are some. That is right. You start, you start with New England, New England, Minnesota Rams. We both think the Saints are going to make a big jump. Here comes Josh Allen, Caleb Williams, the Texans defense, the Lions, the nice semi soft start. It gets rough by about week five.

[C]

You know one of the highlights for me last season was the rivalry because for so long what Rogers tell I own the Bears. That game the Bears beat him for the first time. Those three games, the two regular season games and the playoff game felt made me feel like a little kid again. They were. That was as good as the NFL had to offer last year. So I hope the packers are just competitive because I want that game to matter and it mattered last year a lot.

[A]

Absolutely. John Middelkoff for the news.

[C]

Well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by the Herd Lie.

[A]

Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. If you're spending time outside, it's important to know the potential risks of skin cancer non melanoma skin cancers, or NMSCs, including basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinom, common in the US and can become advanced and harder to treat if left undetected. Our sponsor, Regeneron, is raising awareness about advanced NMSCs. Learn more and take the pledge to see a dermatologist annually@letsgetrealaboutskin cancer.com for any small business owner, there's a moment when you realize the next hire could be the difference between staying busy and actually growing. The challenge is finding the right person without wasting time sorting through candidates who aren't the right fit. That's where Indeed Sponsored Jobs comes in, where a workplace chaos hits and you need somebody who can step in and make a difference. This is a job for Sponsored Jobs. It helps you put your job in front of candidates who match the criteria that matter most to you, whether it's skills, experience, certifications or location. And you're certainly not alone in using Indeed. Join the 3.3 million employers worldwide that use Indeed to connect with quality talent that fits their needs. That's millions of businesses turning to Indeed to help solve hiring challenges and find people who can drive results. Spend less time searching, more time actually interviewing candidates who check all the boxes. Less stress, less time, more results. Get your $75 sponsored job credit today at Indeed.com podcast terms and conditions apply. Hiring now then, this is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Every day, American heroes put it all on the line to protect our freedoms, communities and families. And behind every folded flag and RET uniform is a family that carries the weight of their sacrifice. Folds of Honor steps in with educational scholarships for spouses and children of fallen or disabled military service members and first responders. The mission is life changing, and monthly donations make it possible. Become a donor [e-mail] to help meet their sacrifice with hope. Living with a rare autoimmune condition can bring a lot of uncertainty, but can also bring people together in powerful ways. Tune in for Season six of Untold Life with a severe autoimmune condition, a Ruby Studio production in partnership with Argenics. This season, host Martine Hackett brings you fresh stories from people living with MG and CIDP and expands the conversation of people living with other rare conditions like Myositis and Igan. Through their stories, you'll learn what it's like to participate in clinical trials seeking new treatments, how connection fuels hope, and how people can support one another along the way. Because living with a rare disease isn't about getting through it. It's about moving forward together. Listen to untold stories life with a severe autoimmune condition on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[C]

Sunday on Fox. The stars of IndyCar are going full throttle as they look to chase down Alex Paloa, Portland. Sunday at 4 Eastern, only on Fox.

[A]

So I, I think every year there's a one or two big coaching hires with established coaches like Sean Payton, a Vrabel, a Harbaugh. And then every year there's one or two coordinator hires that everybody's like, oh, that's going to work. The, the, the big coordinator hire in the NFL that everybody's really excited about. And there are several good ones. But I think Mike McDaniel, going from kind of this Svengali, this academic guy, kind of quirky guy, goes to Miami. It should be noted, Tua made a Pro Bowl. The offense was pretty darn good. I never thought Tua was a Pro bowl quarterback. Now, over the course of time, the Knock on Mike McDaniel was, you know, he didn't have a certain presence. The team, like players sort of kind of like, did what they wanted to do. There are some that complained publicly that he was a little bit of a permissive parent. There wasn't enough fear. Players not only after respect, they gotta be a little fear on the coach. Like Gronk talking about Belichick, you could tell. It's like, I don't want to get in trouble. Coach Belichick's mad at me. Like that. That stuff goes a long way. Respect is big. Fear's not terrible either at some level, and McDaniel didn't really have that. But Harbaugh brings that. What, what they were looking for offensively was take Justin Herbert, creatively sets motions, take him to another level. And I asked Jim Harbaugh earlier Today about Mike McDaniel as the new team's OC. When you looked at the landscape for, I mean, offensive minds, proven, proven, you know, football guys. There was a lot, there was a lot of highly qualified coaches in this hiring cycle.

[C]

And,

[A]

and Mike the top of the list. And it's even better than I thought. And it's a better fit than I thought. And it just, it keeps getting better and better yeah, Mike McDaniel. A gift that keeps on giving, I don't think. You know, initially when it happened, I was like, oh, that's a poll. But I will say this. Why did Harbaugh leave college and choose the Chargers? Justin Herbert. When I asked Harbaugh, why did Mike McDaniel, who had multiple coordinator offers, choose the Chargers? Justin Herbert. This league, if you get the quarterback right, Bears and Caleb Williams, everything. By the way, you think Ben Johnson is taking the Bears job if they've got a stiff at quarterback? No, he's not. He's taking it because of Caleb Williams. That's the whole game. In this league, coaching matters. But in order to land the best coach, to be able to get a variable, why does Vrabel go back to New England? Drake may go look at all these top jobs. I mean, that's why. When Sean Payton took the Broncos job, I'd gone to dinner with Sean. I was shocked because I'm like, he and Russell Wilson, their personalities are the opposite. One guy is kind of rosy and optimistic. The other guy is kind of harsh and funny and smart. But I'm like, that's not going to work. I mean, Russell's running around. He wants his plays ran the way he designed them. This is not going to work. And then eventually he went and got his guy, Bo Nix. So that's why in this whole era, the coach, man, yeah, it's great if you got Andy Reid. It's great if you got the coach. But if you get the star quarterback, everything in this league just goes downhill. That's why when Andrew Luck retired with Indy, they were screwed. They're like. Because they were just too good, right? They're like. And they're Matt Ryan, Philip River. I thought they did a great job. I thought Chris Ballard did a great job. You're bailing water. You got a little bit of a quirky owner at the time, the late Jim Ursay, you know, so I've always been a little forgiving for Indianapolis, because right before a season, Andrew Luck's like, I'm out. Okay, good luck. How do you. If you get the coach right, that doesn't ensure anything. You get the quarterback right, it's like Buffalo gets Josh Allen right immediately. Viable merchandise, attendance money, momentum wins, division titles. You can, you know, players going to last a while. Josh Allen's going to have eight years of prime. 13 to 15 years total of playing. He may have longer than eight years. You got to get the quarterback right. That's why McDaniel and Harbaugh in L. A one reason Justin Herbert Spanos isn't one of the richest owners. They share a stadium. Louisiana. Is expensive. Does your family want to move there? There's a. I mean, there's a. They don't have a ton of historic momentum. Not a lot of super bowl trophies, right? None. So Multiple reports from 2023 and 2024. Lions OC Ben Johnson willing to wait on the head coaching job. What was he waiting for? Oh, Caleb Williams is available. By the way, you didn't go to Chicago because of ownership. You didn't go to Chicago because by I love the personnel, the old lot. You didn't go to Chicago because their recent history. There was a million reasons not to go to Chicago. I mean, you got Green Bay's, well, running division, Detroit's offensive line and Detroit's gm. Detroit's kind of stacked. Minnesota's very competent. He's like, yeah, I'm gonna take that job in that division. Why? One guy, Caleb Williams. So I thought this was interesting. Ty Dunn said something interesting. So when Matt LaFleur got the job, he was OC for the Titans and Mike Vrabel, and he went to Green Bay and got the job. So I made two calls on it, and I was told at the time, smart guy, good guy, but he hasn't illustrated a lot of presence. Tahit McVeigh and Shanahan were together in D.C. shanahan was the brilliant scheme guy. McVeigh was the presence, culture guy. And Lafleur was like the nice guy. Competent guy, smart guy, but he wasn't great culture wasn't schematically Shanahan. So it's interesting when Ty Dunn said that the front office for the packers specifically went after fighters and tough guys during the draft because Matt doesn't kind of have that. That's not his thing. And so what's funny is, all these years later, and I love lafleur, but he has become the reputation I heard where he not. He doesn't get guys running through the gates. He's academic, he's smart, he's thoughtful, he's liked. But here's Ty Dunn. Some thoughts on Matt LaFleur's coaching style.

[B]

Again and again and again, you just see a lack of will, a lack of toughness. Go back to that Denver game, right? Jordan Love gets whacked in the head and he's down. What did the teammates do? They. They're doing what they're told by Matt LaFleur. They're not jumping in. They're not going to get a penalty. But guess what that. That is embedded into the fabric of who you are as a team. I mean, they knew if you punch the packers in the mouth under Matt LaFleur, they're not going to punch back. I think more than personnel, Colin, more than any transactions, they need a killer instinct. And can you get that in an offseason? That's up to Matt LaFleur. How he practices day in and day out, how he leads day in and day out. Yes, the pressure should be on him completely.

[A]

And Ty said in the draft process, they really went aft. They went after kind of tough, physical guys to create sort of a different environment. And it's not really a criticism. Not everybody, like Mike Vrabel's got a physical presence. Bill Belichick was intimidating because he was so damn smart and he and Brady were dominating the league. Andy Reid uses experience and volume and knowledge. He's not too much into the power, but Andy's so smart and he's got volume. He can be intimidating. You know, Jim Harbaugh is just a big man and he's intense and it's. Whereas like LaFleur or Mike McDaniel, they're just different cats. So. And then like McVeigh is not a huge physical presence. But if you've ever been around McVeigh or you've watched the speaking videos, I mean, his first, first press conference in LA, he's like a 30 year old guy. He steps to the podium in Los Angeles to coach the Rams and you're like, is he using a teleprompter? This guy's been a senator. He was just so polished. You're like, who at 30 years old stands in front of a. You know, some of these guys are still bad. So some guys just, they have a presence, other guys don't. Some guys are academic, some guys are, they kind of, you know, Dan Campbell's going to bite your kneecaps off. There's a lot of different ways that work. There is not one way. See you tomorrow. This episode brought to you by Verizon Business. The World cup from FIFA isn't just the biggest ever. It's also the most technologically complex. 104 matches, 16 stadiums, 3 countries. But for Verizon business, that's another day with private 5G networks in every stadium, more than 80,000 miles of fiber, end to end security. Verizon business is powering FIFA's World Cup. If Verizon business can do that, imagine what they can do for your business. Visit verizon.com powering FIFAWorld cup now to Learn more Workplace Chaos We've all been there. Deadlines are slipping, projects are piling up, and suddenly you realize the missing piece is the right person. That's when you say this is a job for Sponsored Jobs. With Indeed Sponsored Jobs, your job post gets a boost so you can connect with quality candidates faster. In fact, Sponsored Jobs posted directly on indeed are 95% more likely to report a higher than a non sponsored job. Spend less time searching, more time interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Get a $75 sponsored job credit@ Indeed.com podcast need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Living with a rare autoimmune condition can bring a lot of uncertainty, but it can also create community. In season six of Untold Stories, Life with a Severe Autoimmune Condition, they go beyond MG and CIDP as host Martine Hackett welcomes stories from other conditions like myositis and IgAN into the conversation. Untold Stories is produced by Ruby Studio in partnership with Argenics. Listen to Untold Stories Life with a Severe Autoimmune condition on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every day, American heroes put it all on the line to protect our freedoms, communities and families. And behind every folded flag and retired uniform is a family that carries the weight of their sacrifice. Folds of Honor steps in with educational scholarships for spouses and children of fallen or disabled military service members and first responders. The mission is life changing and monthly donations make it possible. Become a donor [e-mail] to help meet their sacrifice with hope. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.