THE HERD – HOUR 3 – Urban Meyer: Make or Break for Lincoln Riley & USC

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Herd with Colin Cowherd

Episode: THE HERD – HOUR 3 – Urban Meyer: Make or Break for Lincoln Riley & USC
Date: August 3, 2026
Host(s): Colin Cowherd, Rob Parker
Guests: Urban Meyer, John Harbaugh
Theme: Deep dive into college football’s evolving power structure, Lincoln Riley’s trajectory at USC, the Big Ten vs. SEC, and coaching philosophies with Urban Meyer.

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Episode Overview

This episode focuses on pivotal storylines in college football, with particular attention to the shifting landscape between the Big Ten and SEC, the pressure on Lincoln Riley at USC, Notre Dame’s surprising adaptability in the NIL era, and Urban Meyer’s candid reflections on coaching, culture, and game management. The conversation balances analysis, personal experience, and industry insight, offering listeners a behind-the-scenes look at leadership and trends within elite college programs.

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Key Topics & Insights

1. Coaching Relationships and Player-Centric Philosophies

(Starts ~02:54 – 05:20)

• Urban Meyer recalls having both Kyle Whittingham and Ryan Day on his staff, noting what unites them:
  • “The care of the player... a lot of coaches, it's very transactional... Kyle is not that way at all.” (Urban Meyer, 04:03)
  • Both focus on genuine, holistic care for players, including life after football.

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2. Big Ten vs. SEC: Power Shift in College Football

(05:20 – 08:37)

• Rob Parker and Meyer discuss Kurt Signetti’s outspoken style, likening him to Steve Spurrier and Lane Kiffin—embracing the coach’s willingness to “poke” the SEC.
• Undeniable evidence now shows the Big Ten has pulled ahead of the SEC at the top, according to Meyer’s observations:
  • “Big Ten right now at the top's better... the athleticism up front. That's always been the SEC advantage. Ohio State was the first team that brought the SEC mentality recruiting to the Big Ten.” (Urban Meyer, 07:15)
  • Stadium atmosphere, fan passion, and talent acquisition in the Big Ten have caught up to and surpassed the SEC in recent years.

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3. Lincoln Riley at USC: Make or Break Time?

(08:37 – 10:47)

• Debate over whether Lincoln Riley has proven himself as a culture-builder at USC, beyond his offensive acumen.
  • “I have a lot of respect... Lincoln Riley calling plays, running offense. But that's only a small part of your job as a head coach... You can't hire a lot of people to build a culture, recruit to a culture, demand a culture. And that's, at the end of the day, how you win.” (Urban Meyer, 09:45)
  • Meyer expresses that USC, given its resources, should be a perennial playoff team, calling it an “enigma.”
  • “I do not understand... how in the world are you not in the playoffs at USC?” (Urban Meyer, 10:17)

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4. Notre Dame’s NIL Era Transformation

(10:47 – 13:12)

• Meyer is surprised by Notre Dame’s turnaround, embracing the NIL era when he once saw deep resistance to financial adaptation:
  • “I was told directly, we will not pay our coaches... Notre Dame doesn't need that... We don't do that. We're Notre Dame.” (Urban Meyer, 11:35)
  • Credits Brian Kelly for helping shift this culture—leading to new facilities, competitive recruiting, and national title contention.
  • “Notre Dame... said, you know what, we will never ever get caught falling behind again.” (Urban Meyer, 12:49)

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5. Top College Quarterbacks

(13:12 – 13:43)

• Discussion focused on C.J. Carr (Notre Dame), Dante Moore (Oregon), and Arch Manning.
  • “He's certainly one of the top three in my top three... Notre Dame schedule, they're a double digit favorite till November.” (Urban Meyer, 13:27)

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6. Coaching: Gameplans, Mistakes, and the Coaching Mindset

(17:54 – 23:06)

• Urban Meyer openly discusses the anxiety, pressure, and occasional failures of game planning:
  • “The big games we were really good at... We screwed up, a couple times we lost games we shouldn't lose. Of course that's my fault. Every coach has had some awful game plans that you just kick yourself for when you lose.” (Urban Meyer, 19:02)
  • Admits sometimes he knew a game plan was off even before kickoff.
• Rob Parker presses Meyer on missing coaching:
  • “You and Bob Stoops are the two coaches in my life that retired and could have still coached for seven years and won multiple national championships... You miss it a little bit?” (Rob Parker, 21:05)
  • “Of course. We all do... but there's no chance go back. I enjoy watching it.” (Urban Meyer, 21:15)

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7. Coaching Adjustments & On-Field Realities

(21:45 – 23:06)

• Coaches often realize within two series if their game plan will work; quick adjustments are crucial.
• Example from Mike Belotti (Oregon):
  • “He would know. Two series in... we got to make adjustments.” (Rob Parker, 21:49)
• Meyer is noted for his schematic insight well before games (predicting outcomes accurately, e.g., Ohio State vs LSU).

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8. NFL Talk: Chiefs, Bears, Giants

(29:36 – 36:42)

• Mahomes’ recovery and Chiefs' draft strategy.
• Discussion about Bears’ offense under Ben Johnson and the emergence of young stars (e.g., Luther Burden).
• John Harbaugh’s player development philosophy credited for diverse QB success.
• Giants’ culture and prospects compared to historic “Harbaugh way.”

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Culture Building:
  “You can't hire a lot of people to build a culture, recruit to a culture, demand a culture. And that's, at the end of the day, how you win.”
  —Urban Meyer (09:45)

• On Notre Dame’s Change:
  “Notre Dame... will never ever get caught falling behind again.”
  —Urban Meyer (12:49)

• On Realizing Bad Gameplans:
  “Every coach has had some awful game plans that you just kick yourself for when you lose that game.”
  —Urban Meyer (19:02)

• On Why He Left Notre Dame for Florida:
  “Notre Dame was set their way... But by the way, I'm going to go try to go win a national title somewhere.”
  —Urban Meyer (12:53)

• On Missing Coaching:
  “Of course. We all do [miss it]... but there's no chance go back. I enjoy watching it.”
  —Urban Meyer (21:15)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------| | Coaches’ player philosophy (Whittingham, Day) | 04:03 – 04:48 | | Big Ten vs SEC Talent Parity | 07:15 – 08:37 | | Lincoln Riley & USC “Make or Break” | 09:45 – 10:47 | | Notre Dame’s NIL evolution | 11:35 – 12:49 | | C.J. Carr and college QBs | 13:12 – 13:43 | | Urban Meyer on game plans, missed opportunities | 19:02 – 20:16 | | Meyer on missing coaching | 21:15 |

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Episode Tone & Style

The conversation is candid, energetic, and insightful, with Urban Meyer providing honest, sometimes self-critical reflection. Rob Parker is unabashedly opinionated, probing Meyer for both wisdom and personal admissions, while John Harbaugh supplies a professional’s perspective on player development and organizational culture.

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Takeaway

This episode offers listeners a rare, in-depth look into the minds of successful college coaches, the strategic and cultural shifts in top football programs, emerging stars, and the enduring importance of leadership and adaptability in both college and professional football.

Transcript

[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

Thanks for listening to the Herd Podcast.

[Rob Parker]

Be sure to catch us live every

[Colin Cowherd]

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.

[Kelvin Washington]

Now let's get this.

[Show Announcer]

You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

[Rob Parker]

Three time national champ Kurt Signetti now leading with his chin. I think it's funny. I remember when Steve Spurrier used to be obnoxious and make fun of the Big Ten. So I don't have a problem with Signetti poking the SEC in the ribs. Lane Kiffin, he's poking SEC teams. And I like my college coaches. Nothing wrong with Steve Spurrier and Lane Kiffin being outspoken and nothing wrong with that. Urban Meyer is now joining me live. Undisclosed location, but I know where he's at. It's very bougie, very upscale, very luxury. I'm not going to give it away right there. Hey, by the way, do you know this? How about this one? I'm going to give you a little love here. Don't let it go to your head. Do you know Kyle Whittingham and Ryan Day, Michigan, Ohio State coach? You had both those on your staff? I don't know. In the history of Ohio, I'm not sure how many coaches have done that. You're on a short list. Do they have anything in common? I mean they're both now super successful guys to Ryan Dade, Ohio State and Whittingham at Michigan. If I said they have one thing in common, what is it?

[Urban Meyer]

I would say the care of the player and what I mean, not soft, not, but they, you know, a lot of the times I've been around coaches that it's very transactional business and they look as a player as number 47. Kyle is not that way at all. And he actually when I was on my staff at Utah, I learned a lot from him. His father was a very successful NFL coach, assistant and coach Utah and just phenomenal coach. But Ryan Day, Ryan Day was the same thing. Ryan Day was a GA for me at Florida and then obviously coached for Ohio State. But the deep care that when you, when you dig into their programs, it's very deep. And when I say deep, it's about life after football. It's about making sure they're taken care of. So genuine care of the athlete.

[Rob Parker]

I love that.

[Urban Meyer]

So great guys.

[Rob Parker]

Great guy, great guys. I love them both.

[Urban Meyer]

Great guys. Yeah.

[Rob Parker]

You know, Signetti is, makes me laugh. He's just, you know, he's just, you know, Spurrier, I mean Spurrier never Shut up. He liked making fun of Tennessee anytime. And I was okay. Lane Kiffin the same way. He can't stop. I don't mind Signetti saying, you know what? We're a little old Indiana. We just went 16 and 0. I'm going to push back. I kind of like it. What do you make of it?

[Urban Meyer]

I've known Kurt Signetti since he was at Pitt and I was at Notre Dame. And I don't want to use the word awkward, but he's just a different guy. And I really attached to the guy. We hung out recruiting, we hung out, had dinner. We stayed someone in touch and then kind of lost touch for a while until he. I remember he was at Alabama. I believe it was at Alabama the year that Ohio. We played him at, when I was at Ohio State. But no, I think he's great. I think he's. I think he's very. I, I think there's a lot of genius behind what he does. You know, a little bit like Spurrier. Spurrier. You would look at him and hear, listen to him say, what in the hell did he just say? But then you think about what he does. There's a reason behind. I think I got so much respect for Sagani.

[Rob Parker]

Yeah. You know, I was, I was looking at obviously the Big Ten the last three years. It's indisputable. If you look at the bowl record, if you look at the playoff record, if you look head to head, Big Ten, sec, they've pulled away. It's not, it's not subtle, it's not nuanced. Big Ten right now at the top's better. And I think this is the best Oregon team ever. I think Ohio State would be my

[Colin Cowherd]

favorite to win it all.

[Rob Parker]

And I think also something that's hurting the SEC is that Notre Dame and Miami to me are the biggest threats to the Big Ten. Notre Dame is, You know, the thing at Notre Dame is when they get those nil guys, they don't leave. They go to Notre Dame for more than just football. And Miami is spending big boy money. When was the first time Urban, because you coached at Florida for years. And you know, personnel, Boswells, any college coach in my life, Jimmy Johnson, NFL U, college or personnel guys, when did you notice, wow, the gap is closed. Because I remember six, seven years ago, I'd watch, I'd watch. Only Ohio State to me looked like an SEC team. After that, it wasn't the same. When's the first time you looked and said, oh, the Big Ten's caught up and maybe More.

[Urban Meyer]

I think that near the end of my career you had Penn State, the Wolverines and the Buckeyes that were starting to me look like SEC looking teams. And what I mean that, I mean not, not just the size up front, because Big Ten's been big up front as long as you can say the word Big Ten. The difference is the athleticism up front. That's always been the SEC advantage. And I would like to say that Ohio State was the first team that brought the SEC mentality recruiting to the Big Ten. Yeah, but obviously James Franklin was a great recruiter, spent time in the sec and then Jim Harbaugh is a hell of a recruiter. So those two, those three teams started looking very SEC ish near the end of my career. And then Oregon, USC, Washington and UCLA. Not so much UCLA's as far as their talent right now, but in the last three years when the Wolverines won the national title, that's when I said wait a minute. Now that looks like those are SEC looking teams. But I'm going to add this. Colin also, the Big Ten stadiums are very SEC like they were not when I was hired in 2012. I'd have. It wasn't even close, man. The teams weren't close. The, the venues weren't close. The passion of the fans wasn't close. It's. It's caught up and like you said last year, it bypassed the sec.

[Rob Parker]

So listen, Notre Dame, USC are going to play again.

[Colin Cowherd]

Jen Cohen, the AD at USC said

[Rob Parker]

we don't hate Notre Dame. We just want to play them early in the season. We don't want to have to play them after we played Ohio State or Penn State in the snow. We just want to move it up so they, they got that thing re signed. But I want to talk about Lincoln Riley. I had this, I have had this discussion. A do with friends in LA is I know I always judge a coach initially. Is he good on his side of the ball first couple years? Listen, he's. He may be inheriting a mess. There could be cultural issues, personnel issues. But if a defensive coach has the defense elite, he knows what he's doing. So the offense at USC is not a problem. But I would argue this part of Lincoln Riley is unproven and I don't

[Colin Cowherd]

know if he's great at that.

[Rob Parker]

And that is culture. He inherited stoops momentum. He doesn't get it now. He won games. He won 11 games. But the culture was built. My knock on USC is they go on the road. It's a different football team. They don't even look like the same team. Is he a culture? Is that the jury out? The jury is out for me on that. Is it for you still?

[Urban Meyer]

It is, because I have a lot of respect, like all of us do in the profession. Lincoln Riley calling plays, running offense. But that's a. Only a. If you, if you dig in, that's just a really, a small part of your job as a head coach. You can hire a lot of people to call them good games. You can't hire a lot of people to build a culture, recruit to a culture, demand a culture. And that's, at the end of the day, how you win. It's not offense. There's a lot of great offenses out there, a lot of great defenses out there. So I think this is. I don't want to say make or break, but we're getting pretty close to that.

[Show Announcer]

Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

And usc, and I've said this hundreds of times, USC is an enigma to me. I do not understand when you just as a coach, someone in the Bennett profession, how in the world are you not in the playoffs at usc? They got it all. To me, it's. It's the other enigmas. Florida. How do you do? How's that? And I believe they both have the right coaches. I believe that this will be a great year for usc. And I brought up Florida. I think Florida is getting ready to make a run. But those are. You start checking boxes. Colin, they got it all.

[Rob Parker]

Well, you coached at Notre Dame. I didn't know if Notre Dame would be good in the Nil era. I knew Texas would spend money. I knew USC would. I knew Ohio State would. I knew. You know, I'm. I'm a little surprised Miami got so good so fast. I didn't know anything about Indiana, but Notre Dame, I'm like, it's very academic, very proud. They're not going to sell the farm out. And I got to tell you, I look at their talent right now, Urban. It's like with the Lou Holtz days, like, it matches up with everybody. Are you surprised? Not because we know Marcus Freeman's good, that's been established, but are you surprised in the NIL era, they. They write checks, they have great players, and they have. It almost feels like it's empowered them. Does that surprise you?

[Urban Meyer]

It does. It does. And I was there. And Lou Holtz hired me in 1996. And I was told directly, we will not pay our coaches. Whether the coaches get paid, you're not allowed. We weren't allowed to have a cell phone. Other Schools had cell phones. Notre Dame did not allow us on the road because Notre Dame doesn't need that. We were in offices that were, you know, I don't want to get too deep, but awful. I mean just the facilities were awful. We didn't have training table for our players. And it kept coming back to me because I would push on it a little bit. We don't do that. We're Notre Dame, we don't need to do that. That's where I gave recently Brian Kelly a lot of credit that he pushed on everything. And as a result now Notre Dame, you see the new facility, they're open. It's the finest, I think the finest in the land. Notre Dame is opening, I want to say 100 plus million dollar facility. I saw the video. I had some friends still in order to said, you will not believe what we've done here. So Notre Dame, whoever it had to go from the top. The president on the way down said, you know what? We will never ever get caught falling behind again because you can say what you want. And I know because I was there. We fell behind. We. I had a chance to be careful. I say this, I had a chance to be the head coach at Notre Dame.

[Rob Parker]

I know.

[Urban Meyer]

And I picked Florida because of that reason.

[Rob Parker]

Yep.

[Urban Meyer]

Notre Dame was set their way. So we are not going to follow the ways of everyone else because we're Notre Dame. And I said, okay, I'm good. I understand that because you are Notre Dame. But by the way, I'm going to go try to go win a national title somewhere.

[Rob Parker]

No, I heard that.

[Urban Meyer]

So you can win a title there now. You can, you can win it there now.

[Rob Parker]

Oh, absolutely.

[Urban Meyer]

You couldn't years back. You can win it there.

[Rob Parker]

I like their quarterback. What do you're good with quarterback? C.J. carr. What do you make of him?

[John Harbaugh]

I think he's.

[Rob Parker]

I think he may be the best. All these guys. I know everybody loves Arch Manning and saying I get it, I get it. I is he the best quarterback in college?

[Urban Meyer]

I. He's certainly one of the top three in my top three. You're saying Dante Moore at Oregon. I love that kid. And C.J. carr. You look at Notre Dame schedule, Colin, they're a double digit favorite till November. Double digit favorite until November.

[Rob Parker]

Yeah, that's. By the way, Notre Dame won't admit this, but the reason they were mad that they didn't get the USC game. They need the USC game. USC plays Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana. No, USC is fine. Notre Dame's. Look at that schedule. Oh my Lord, and they got the right coach.

[Urban Meyer]

That guy's really Coach Freeman's really grown into that job.

[Show Announcer]

Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app.

[Rob Parker]

Hey, it's Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from the Odd Couple on Fox Sports Radio.

[Kelvin Washington]

And in addition to hearing us live weeknights from 7 to 10pm Eastern on Fox Sports Radio, we are excited to announce brand new YouTube channel for the show.

[Rob Parker]

That's right, you can now watch the Odd couple live on YouTube every day.

[Kelvin Washington]

All you got to do search Odd Couple FSR on YouTube again. YouTube just search Odd Couple FSR. Check us out on YouTube and subscribe

[Colin Cowherd]

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[Rob Parker]

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[Colin Cowherd]

Only in theaters Friday. Get tickets.

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Rob Parker]

Network can I ask you. I want to. I want to. I want to put you on the spot again because I always suck up to you and say nice stuff. I'm going to get. I want to ask you a really tough question.

[John Harbaugh]

I want to.

[Rob Parker]

This is totally off the beaten path, doesn't mean anything and you're in where you're at for a big speech. I want to tell us. This fascinates me because I was talking to you before we went on the air and I was saying I love coaching, I love it. And I said, urban, did you ever in your career? Because I was. I was. Before we went on the air, we were talking about coaches who I like, but I didn't like a certain game plan. I said, did you ever have a bad game plan? And you said, oh my Lord, of course I did. I remember last year Harbaugh had one against Jacksonville in an NFL game. And I'm like, that game was over in eight minutes. I'm like, oh my God, Lian Cohen circled the wagons. When you're a coach and you go into a season and you look at your roster and you know, okay, I got Ohio State talent, I should win these games. You ever overthink a big game do you ever, do you ever think going up, I'm going to hide stuff because I got a big game in two weeks? Did you ever have a game plan in your career? Like, what was I thinking?

[Urban Meyer]

Oh, many, many times. And I, I mean, I look back now and it's, and I've talked to people about this, friends of mine in the profession, the big games we were really good at and that was myself on our staff. You look at our record in the top 10 matchups, the bowl games, the national championship games were. We screwed up, Colin. A couple times we, we lost some games we shouldn't lose. You know, we lost Iowa one year beat the hell out of us. Purdue one year, beat the hell out of us. And I look back now and of course that's my fault. You know, maybe, you know, when it's big game time, that's when I just felt my very best. And that's when I felt my staff and I pushed our staff so hard and I, I think I took my foot off the accelerator as far as pushing my staff really hard. And some of those, I think, I mean, that's when you look back and say, why were we so good? Because my offensive defense coordinator and coaching staff was on point in those big games. How in the hell do you lose some games that you're double ditch favorites to? And of course I take responsibility. So to answer your question, every coach has had some awful game plans that you just kick yourself in the, you know, you kick yourself for when you

[Rob Parker]

lose that game and you don't know it 10 minutes before kickoff, do you?

[Urban Meyer]

I hate to say this, a couple times, I did a couple times. You just, you don't feel good about it. You don't feel good about it. And then the players don't lie. You know, there's other times you can look at that quarterback and that kid's ready to rock and roll and other times he just so. Oh, hell yeah. Why do you bring that up now? I was trying to enjoy myself. Now I'm pissed off

[Rob Parker]

because I'm so fascinated by it because I always think

[Urban Meyer]

I'm gonna write them all down here in a minute.

[Rob Parker]

Well, you know, I think this because you and Bob Stoops are the two coaches in my life that retired and you could have still coached for seven years and won multiple national championship. Only two guys in my life. Really? Seriously, you and Stoops are packing it in and you're going to go have a great life. And I'm like, wait a minute, time out. I don't like, don't retire. What are you doing? I like college football, so I still think sometimes I'll watch a game and I'll watch you. And I think, oh, Urban misses that Saturday. He misses that Saturday. You miss it a little bit? Oh, of course.

[Urban Meyer]

We all do. I know Coach Stoops misses a little bit. I know Nick Saban misses a little bit. But I also know there's no chance go back. I enjoy watching it.

[Rob Parker]

Good seeing you, as always, Urban. Great seeing you.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah. All the best, man. You're the best.

[Rob Parker]

All right, thanks. I hope I didn't ruin his day there. I just. I love that stuff. I love John talking to coaches and say, okay, give me your favorite play call of all time in a big spot. And they all remember it. They're all like a steel trap.

[John Harbaugh]

Or.

[Rob Parker]

Do you ever have. Do you ever have a game? You just.

[Colin Cowherd]

You knew.

[Rob Parker]

You're like, oh, crap. Two series in Mike Bilotti. It was an Oregon coach. He gave me great advice years ago. I said, you know, do you know if you watch Mike Bilotti? When he coached at Oregon, he got him to number two in the country. The first two series of the game, Mike would line up. He taught me this. He would line up on the ball because Oregon didn't get, during the bloody tenure, great defensive tackle talent. The west coast didn't have as much as maybe a Texas or something or the. The South. And he said he would line up on the ball. And he said, if we're getting. There were times there was a Stanford team that did this. He's like, oh, yeah, we're not going to stop him. We're going to change the game plan. And like, he would know. Two series in. We got to make adjustments. We got to. We got to increase the tempo. Like, he goes a lot of things on film, you think, but you don't know. And you got to get right on the ball. Look at the line of scrimmage, who wins the push. And sometimes on film, you're like, I think we match up with them and two series, and you're like, we don't match up with them, and we've got to change the splits. We got to start rolling out. So it's fascinating to listen to coaches, and it's very rare when coaches will give you a little bit of that sauce, a little bit of that insight. But, I mean, when I see Urban off the air and I ask him about questions, it's always about schematics and game plans. It's fascinating part of the sport.

[John Harbaugh]

Well, you know, when you're at a place like Ohio State or Alabama or the biggest programs, those kids that beat his Ohio State team at Purdue, they will talk about that till the day they die. That is the biggest moment of their college career, right. In Ohio State, those players that were part of those three or four years of that program, they'll never really talk about it. They'll talk about the national championships, the playoff runs. So it's, you know, in the NFL you have so much more margin for error because you can lose five games and win 12, right. And you be the beat the two seed in college. Now you have a little more room with the playoffs. But before, you know, it's one thing if you're Ohio State getting up for Texas or Michigan or Penn State or now Oregon. So I think when you get the Rutgers and the Purdue's, it's kind of understandable being a 20 year old not taking them as seriously. It's honestly kind of crazy. It doesn't happen more often.

[Rob Parker]

Yeah, I remember years ago, it's a true story. Ohio State played LSU in the national championship. Jim Trestle was the coach of Ohio State. And I think I'm fuzzy here, but I think Urban was the coach at Florida and he was up at the other place I used to work. And I asked him off the air, I said I think LSU is better. And Urban in two minutes broke down how the game was going to work because he knew LSU really well and of course he knows Ohio State, you know, I mean he's a Midwest guy. And he said, here's what's going to happen. That was the one. I think Maurice Claret had a big run early for a touchdown. Then they just, Ohio State just didn't have. That was a. LSU had two backs, two receivers, two times, just more players. And Urban literally told me exactly how the game was going to turn out and the spread. He said, one by two touchdowns. Ohio State has a, they'll be good early, but you're going to find mid second quarter you're going to feel like this game is getting out of hand. It was the exact game. And I went on the air and I didn't, you know, I said, hey, I just got a feeling about this game. Here's what it's going to look like. And I laid it out. It was basically Urban's view of it, which was LSU is just going to, as the game goes, going to have too many, too much depth of skill, a third great corner, a second, a third good tight end. And he was right anyway, Urban Meyer Matt Hasselbeck crushed it today. It's the Herd.

[Show Announcer]

Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific.

[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

Good to be back from vacay.

[Rob Parker]

Really is have the Dodgers ruined baseball yet? I'm trying to keep track. Come on that's so ridiculous. We're not going to have a strike because when the money's rolling, when the gravy trains rolling for rich guys you'll move the shells around a little bit will number move a comma there. They're not they're not giving up this momentum. Baseball's booming right now. Sports great it's fast runs all the the Dodgers, the Yankees, the Cubs all made moves at the deadline by the way. Big big market, big payroll. Toronto in the tank sellers Mets sellers Yankees, Dodgers Cubs buyers at the trade deadline so and the small market brewers are still crushing John Middelkoff with the news.

[Show Announcer]

No no no turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

[John Harbaugh]

While Andy Reid told reporters that Mahomes is looking good at practice as he works back from the acl Reid well he's been non committal about Mahomes seeing any action in the preseason. Something you know Andy has historically liked to do play a starter is he did say that the three time Super Bowl MVP quote sure looks sharp out there Colin I mean these guys now Daniel Jones this guy towards ACL with a couple games remaining the season I like he tore it like you remember when Tom Brady came back right the following year told tore that week one this is the modern medicine the ability to recover from knees and Achilles now

[Rob Parker]

truly incredible he's got a fortified run game with Kenneth Walker. I think they feel good about left and right tackle. I think right tackle is going to be Jalen Moore who you know about he was the back of San Francisco behind Trent. They thought so highly of him they brought him in and he was a non starter so he's going to Be right. They have the Ohio State kid, left tackle Creed Humphreys, best center in the sport. So they're in a pretty good spot up front. When Mahomes has had protection regardless of personnel around him, he's been really good.

[John Harbaugh]

One key to me for the Chiefs is defense. You know, they drafted three guys right in the top 40 because they had the high pick. They traded McDuffie for the late first round pick and they had an early second round pick. They got two defensive linemen and the corner from LSU. If two of three of those guys are impact rookies, we know how good Spags is defensively. They could bounce back, run the ball and just kind of be a grinded out team as they've been the last couple years.

[Rob Parker]

If Chris Jones can have a little bit of a bounce back year, he's past his prime. But he, he didn't, he didn't have a great year. If he could have a little bit of a bounce back year, they're a playoff team.

[John Harbaugh]

I agree. Well, you know your favorite team, the Bears. The hype going into year two of Ben Johnson is real and in part because some of the young players, they traded away D.J. moore to Buffalo. I think that's because Ben Johnson's favorite player in the NFL is Luther Burton and he's set to take a much larger role in Chicago's offense. Here's how excited Ben Johnson currently is.

[Ben Johnson]

They kind of flip a switch when they go on the field and they just, they feel like that they're invincible and that they're the best players out there. St Brown in Detroit, who I have a strong affinity for, he plays the game the same way. I feel that from Luther and I know he wasn't a full time starter for us a year ago, but the snapshot that he did had, he's got that competitive edge and desire to be great and it's carried over throughout the spring and summer as well.

[Rob Parker]

Yeah, Luther really Loveland and Luther Burden really became Caleb's favorite targets. That's why I think they thought DJ Moore was expendable is the emergence of Luther Burden. Roma Dunz has been a disappointment, but the tight ends are good. Colston Loveland became kind of Kelsey to Mahomes. It really was who Caleb was looking for in big spots on kind of a consistent basis.

[John Harbaugh]

Yeah, I mean we talk a lot about front office GMs, how much they love certain players. Coaches can be the same. And Ben Johnson last year in his first draft, his hands were all over the Loveland and Luther Burden pick. You know A lot of people were stunned when they took Loveland because they already have Comet, they already have some other. It's like you could tell by the end of the year Loveland's their guy for the next 10 years.

[Show Announcer]

Yep.

[John Harbaugh]

And Luther Burden, there were some question marks off the field. No one ever disputed his talent.

[Show Announcer]

Yeah.

[John Harbaugh]

And by his second year he's, he's comparing him to St. Brown who I would say pound for pounds like an MMA fighter meets football. I mean he's, he's one of the toughest guys in the league. So for him to say that, that's, that's pretty high. Praise Colin for Amon Ross. St. Brown's been one of the most productive guys in the NFL for five plus years.

[Rob Parker]

I mean all they're missing really is an edge rusher. But you know, they said they passed on edge rushing and their take was we like the guys we have in house, they have Montez Sweat, Jalen Johnson, they have a pretty good personnel in the back end. They're a little light to this point at edge rusher. But again they, they knew that going into the draft and they, they said we like, we like our personnel in house. So you know, that was kind of the first or second pick was like get an edge rusher and there were some good ones and they moved in a better direction. So we'll see if they pay a price for that.

[John Harbaugh]

I also think Crosby, you know, if the Raiders are not going to make the playoffs come October, the Bears, the Cowboys, the Bills, some of these teams, you know, it's, it's pretty easy to see who's going to be all over him. Speaking of another football team that I know you're high on, the New York Football Giants, they, they've, they've had a rough stretch since Tom Coughlin.

[Rob Parker]

Right.

[John Harbaugh]

But you know, they obviously Jackson Dart last year showed some promise. Dart commented on Harbaugh's leadership style. Point out the players across the entire roster are fully committed to his plan. You know, one thing that I was thinking of, Colin, you know, Harbaugh is a special teams defense tough guy, but in his 18 almost, he was almost 20 years in Baltimore, he's had two franchise quarterbacks starting from their rookie year, Flacco and then Lamar. So if you're Jackson Dart, I know you're getting, not necessarily an offensive coach, but you're getting a head coach that knows how to deal and nurture quarterbacks. And Flacco and Lamar couldn't be on the polar opposite sides of the spectrum.

[Rob Parker]

Right.

[John Harbaugh]

1 guy 66 can't move. The other guy's one of the greatest athletes the league's ever seen and both of them flourished under Harbaugh. So if I'm Dart, if I'm Dart's camp, I'm thrilled that I got John Harbaugh.

[Rob Parker]

Yeah, I think, you know, there are most great coaches. It's not schematics, it's culture building. That's what Vrabel did in New England. That's what Harbaugh did. You know, Shanahan's one of the rare guys who like I'm going to take over the play sheet. McVeigh's as good as McVay is. He's a culture builder first. So I kind of look at Harbaugh the same way. I've never looked at the Harbaughs as the X's and O's guys. They're motivators, they have good sense of personnel, they create toughness. I mean if you go look at what Jim did in LA, Brandon Staley, that was the 32nd best defense, was the worst third down defense I'd ever seen. Third and long defense and literally by the first week of his first year, they were one of the more physical teams in the league. I remember when Jim Harbaugh took over Stanford, they were the worst team in the country. They went into USC in the Coliseum as a might have been a 50 point dog and one. So I don't know whatever the spread was. But John Harbaugh to me is the same. Is that maybe not quite as intense as Jim, but I all his teams are tough. They're not perfect, but they're tough. It's the Harbaugh way and I actually like their personnel. If Andrew Thomas at left tackle can stay healthy, I think they're a playoff team.

[John Harbaugh]

Yeah, Malik neighbors, I mean a lot of stuff's going over the course of the last week. His knee looks to be trending in the right direction. If they can get the Malik neighbors pre injury, you know that their offense would have a chance definitely to be pretty explosive.

[Rob Parker]

John Middelkoff of the News.

[Show Announcer]

Well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by the herd lie news.

[Rob Parker]

Boy, it's good to be back. It is good to be back. Yeah. I'm in the minority here here at the baseball trade deadline. I don't think we're going to have a lockout. I you have a lockout when you have a. Because the owners always have the power. Billionaires have more power than 100 millionair. Okay, so billionaires have multiple companies Baseball guys, pro athletes usually have one or two revenue streams, maybe now three with you know, social media revenue streams. But they spend money, they're young. You know, when you're young you spend money. You're not as you know, you don't have the acumen with your finances that you know, an older businessman has. Older businessman, you usually find a way to keep the gravy train going and the money train in baseball. Now you I sometimes I worry more about the bottom end baseball spending than I do the top. The top doesn't guarantee anything. The Mets are a circus. I don't think the Yankees are particularly well run. I don't when I watch the Yankees despite that payroll. I don't think they're a great defensive team. I don't think they play station to station baseball. I don't think they're necessarily great on the basis they they hit for power and they've got some excellent starting pitching and the Yankees actually would match up in a series pretty well because of their starting pitching with the Dodgers. I don't think there is good defensively. I don't think they run the bases as well.

[Colin Cowherd]

But I don't, I don't worry about

[Rob Parker]

the top end of baseball. I worry about cheapskates that these billionaires that don't spend any money and you know, that's what I think hurts the sport. I if you ask yourself what's bad for professional sports, it's always the bottom third of leagues. The Washington Wizards come to town hard to sell tickets. The Colorado Rockies come to town hard to sell tickets. The high end of all sports, regardless of how they get there, is never the problem. That's UConn basketball is never the problem with college basketball. The problem is the 200 Division 1 programs that are unwatchable. We'll see you tomorrow.

[Colin Cowherd]

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 cel carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, are 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 @letsgetrealabout skin cancer.com Foodies Unite.

[Angie Martinez]

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[Colin Cowherd]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.