First Things First - UConn beats Duke to advance to Final Four, Dan Quinn joins, Will A.J. Brown stay with the Eagles?

Episode Date: March 30, 2026

(0:00) UConn beats Duke, Final Four predictions (22:25) Dan Quinn joins (32:07) Packers retain most of Offensive staff, Will A.J. Brown stay an Eagle? (39:33) Best of UFL opening weekend Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to first things first overtime. A ton of things to get to today, including an instant classic. No other way to describe it. One of the great moments in the history of the great NCAA tournament. And I don't know if anyone's crying for Duke. NFL owners are being, it's kind of satisfied. Coaches, owners, they're talking out in Arizona, Matt LaFleur on the expectations for the Packers

and what needs to happen for them to get over the hump in Green Bay. And the commanders coming off a. last place finish in the tough NFC East last year, but Jaden Daniels is ready to return. Dan Quinn, Willie Colon's guy, kind enough to join us. That is the aforementioned Willie Colon. I'm Danny Parkins. Fun sports weekend, Willie. I was geeked for it.

I heard you were yelling about St. Johns in a bar. Well, you know, I was, I'm a New Yorker. You got to rule for the Johnny's man. Got a, got a rep no matter what state you're in? I got to stay in it, man. I respect it. Listen, I was yelling about Yukon in a bar in Milwaukee this week. weekend. So we're up wherever we go.

Next time, Joni's. Maybe. Oh, no start. Maybe. Maybe. We'll have to get to. So let's begin with the madness. Last night, Braylon Mullins capped off a 19-point comeback, a logo three, no big deal.

Sent Duke home. Ten points from Mullins. Three of them, though, are the ones that we will remember forever. Head coach Dan Hurley, still alive in the tournament, still trying to get three titles in four years. Here is how he was processed. that final possession. Take a listen. I mean, you're torn right there, and you're almost like, and you're just, it's instincts, it's gut instinct.

But I think with their size, their length, their ability to switch everything, you know, it just felt like the window where you just got to let March Madness take over, March Magic. Ah, the words of a great coach. It was just, eh, eh. All right. It's not exactly how you draw it up, but it's an absolute classic, Willie. What's your reaction to this all-time March moment? I mean, off the rip, I mean, Yukon still has championship DNA, man, and that's the honest of God truth.

When you watch this game, first of all, Yukon shouldn't be here. Danny Hurley and how he has his team ready to fight, especially through this game, being down 19. I mean, I have a stat right here that I picked out of the week. Look at Yukon, I mean, when trailing by 10 or more at halftime, they're 1 and 12 DP. Yeah. And that's going into the game. Like, you're not supposed to win.

You're not supposed to be, like, Duke should be going to the final forward. But when you turn on the tape and you watch this team in the second half, and they just leaned on Duke, they did work to persistent, they were aggressive, it was grit. And I think the unsung hero, and I don't know if you can agree, we'll agree with me on this. Alex Carabin, the fifth year senior. Yeah. In the moment, think about how big he was in the last five minutes of that game. He dives into the bench for a ball, right?

He hits a three with one minute, right? And then on this possession right here, he gets the ball. Mario, you're a fifth-year-old senior, probably one of the most decorated guys in Yukon history. He trusts a true freshman. Yeah, listen, I- Braylonlon's to hit the game-winning shot. I thought he was going to shoot because he had finally- I would have shot it. He had finally just hit one, figure you're going to go out with your career.

I thought he was going to shoot. Mullins is a better shooter. He gave it up to him from deeper, though. Right. But, you know, but yeah, it is an incredible pass from Caraban and that's fine, who had a brutal game. I mean, five points, three assists. You know, he was.

When he was money against Michigan State. Oh, yeah. He was great against Michigan State. And then he shows up in his game. I'm like, man, they need you more than ever. And you can't find him on tape. And for him to show up, I thought they won't talk about them when they go back in and watch this game.

But I thought he was great. You know, listen, Caraban was definitely clutch at the end. And I love the tournament because it creates. these stories out of nowhere. And now, like Braylon Mullins, he might be a top 10 pick. We'll see where he is in the NBA. He's going to have a long career. Hopefully we have a lot of moments for him in our basketball consciousness.

But he is now synonymous with March Madness. It's just one of those things where, man, you'll remember where you were when you saw the shot if you were watching the game. Because the comeback is so ridiculous and the shot is so ridiculous. You had a stat and I'm like, I see the game. I'm consuming it and I go go to social media. And I thought this tweet just began to scratch the surface of it. Basically, it's Yukon's Braylon Mollens's game winner. It's the deepest game winning three ever for a team trailing by two in the final seconds.

So that is a shot to win the game. This is not Jaylon's Suggs, which was an all-time shot. But that game is tied. You even bring up Bryce Drew. You're talking about remember where you were. Like Valparaiso versus Illinois. I remember I was in my mom's liver. Right, right, with cheese doodles in a bowl and a doctor pepper and I threw it all over the couch.

Because I couldn't believe it what I saw. So it's the second biggest comeback ever in the final four. It's the longest game winning shot ever for a team that's down to. It has the added bonus of why we'll remember it because it's against Duke. Like it's the nation loves to hate on Duke if you're not a Duke fan. I was a Duke fan. They're the number one. I apologize.

The number one overall seed, they're the more talented team. I think if Duke and Yukon play 10 times, I think Duke wins eight of the 10 times, right? They were clearly the better team until they weren't. And Mullins had been struggling. He's 0 for 4 from 3 in the game. He's 9 of 53 from 3 in the month of March, Biggie's tournament and this, you know, combined. And then you learn about the kid's story and he's like, oh, he's Mr. Indiana basketball who hits the three.

to send his team to the final four in his hometown, keeping Duke's chances alive for three titles in four years. Dan Hurley, the Dynasty first program to do it since UCLA. And listen, Lorenzo Charles and Chris Jenkins, those are like, yeah, put them over here because they happen in the title game. Yeah. Right? They're, you know, buzzer-beaters to win a championship.

But Tyos Edney. Oh. You know, Jalen, Jalen, Sons. Those iconic. Christian Layton or like no matter what happens in Brayland Mullins' basketball life, we will remember this. But that's why. It's so great.

That's why you see Danny Hurley in that presser and he goes, ah. Because you can't draw that up, right? Like sometimes the stars and the magic just has to happen. Coming out, like one of the shots out of I never, I think, it pretty much paints a picture of why Duke loss. They got beat up. When you see Caden Boozer at the presser and he has a black eye next to his head, coach, that explains it, right? Like, Yukon just showed you're going to have to kill them.

They were going to fight you for every second, every minute. They were going to go out, crawling and fighting. And I think that's a great compliment to a gritty head coach and Dan Hurley to have that optics. You want a game wizard winner with your opponent beat up and bruised up. I thought it was, I thought it was a master class. Yeah, listen, a lot of the Yukon players said after the game that they could tell that Duke was getting tight because They were huddling up a lot. It was in their body language. And like they were just incrementally coming back over the course of that second half.

You mentioned Caraband. He's obviously, you know, 50 year senior. He's got. Teres Reed had a big game too. He had dropped 20. He was, he was ice cold. He's been a monster, the whole, the whole tournament. He's an awesome college.

He's an awesome college basketball player. But it's just like you kind of just kept coming. And they kept coming. And then, yeah, boozer. And that's the other side of it. He's devastated after the game. You hold the ball. You get foul.

you probably win the game. You throw the ball straight up into the air. You probably win the game. You just, that's not on the coach. The guy just didn't execute the pass. But when you get 16 points off for turnovers, Duke came out in second half and they laid down. I mean, they had eight turnovers in the second half alone,

13 in total in the game. And so when you talk about what's wrong with Duke, this game was lost kind of before those last minutes. You know what I mean? Like, you start to see this team. No, it never comes down to just one play. Right. Right, but you start, we talk about Duke being like the Blue Bloods, the elite.

Like they looked unhinged. They looked unhinged and it came out of fast. A young team, man, that'll happen to you in March. Let's talk to John Shire in his side of that moment. Reporters asked after the game, you know, you went into the offseason with a timeout on the last possession with that turnover. What he was going through his mind when the trap came in on Boozer. Take a listen.

We just have to secure it, right? I mean, we got it. They had a foul. I was ready for a timeout, and we just got to hold on. And, you know, it's easy to look at that play. You know, I look at every play that happened, especially in that second half. This is not about one play. It's about every play to put us in that position.

We're joined now by our friend here at Fox College basketball analyst, Casey Jacobson, with us. Casey, it was an unbelievable game. There's so many angles there, but you just heard John Shire. So we'll start with the Duke side of it. Did you have any problem with how they handled the late game execution down the stretch there? Good to be with you guys, first of all. Thank you. Second, I don't put this on John Shire.

There's some dialogue going around like did Danny Hurley outcoach John Shire. Danny Hurley is a legend. John Shire is young. As a former player, I don't put the blame on John Shire here. This was the lack of execution. And one team simply got tight. There is real pressure. Now, gentlemen, let me let you in on a secret here.

I remember I played at Stanford for three years. We were a number one seed in the tournament, two of my three years, and we did not make a final four. I have felt that pressure, not only before the tournament started, but before each game, and in the game, when you're a number one seed and you're getting tested, you can hear the ooze and oz and the groaning of the crowd. That is a real thing that no player will actually admit to any microphone ever, but it is a real thing and Yukon just gave themselves a chance. They hung in, they kept putting the pressure on Duke to

make plays. A couple of things I want to get to. One, and Willie talked about it. Terris Reed was a monster and he carried this Duke team when they were, excuse me, this Yukon team, thank you, this Yukon team when they were floundering. Yukon was one for 18 from three to start. This is a jump shooting team, mind you. The only back to the basket post threat they have. is Terris Reed. That's it. Everybody else wants to shoot threes, including Caravan and Mullen and solo ball. Those guys couldn't hit anything. The fact that they were even still in this game at all, thank you to Terris Reed. And then you go to the last play, and here's what I want to talk about a little bit here with the Brailin Mullins, Alex Caravan thing. Okay, Brailin Mullins has not had a

good shooting tournament. You guys showed the graphic right before I came on. He was four for 23 from in the tournament before this shot, he gets the deflection and he's like, I don't want it. Like, I'm going to throw this ball up because I don't have a rhythm. My shot's not going in. He throws it up to Alex Caravan, who had hit a three earlier, a big massive three. And then Caraband shovels it back to Bray Lamones, which is, by the way, the right play. But this is what I want to talk about. As a shooter, if you are struggling with confidence, if you're open and you have time, that that doubt sinks in. When you have no time when the shot clock is winding down or the game clock is winding down

and you know you have nobody else to throw the ball to, this has to go up, then all thinking goes out the window and you just launch one. And that's what happened here with Breil-Lamons. I actually think that if Brayle, if they ran a play and he was wide open, he would have felt more pressure than the 30-footer he launched and made in this game. So I think that that point about the shooting is so interesting, but I wonder if, in your experience, if it ever could apply to a coach. Because listen, I do not think it's on Shire for the last possession.

They only had four buckets in the last eight minutes. Only one of them was assisted. They clearly got tight. You'd like to think the coach could have an impact there. And it's hard for me to not think about Casey. And maybe that's not fair. This game and last year's game. Like the collapse with Houston.

And to be clear, I absolutely think John Shire will win. a title and maybe multiple titles at Duke. If you keep getting Cooper Flag and Connopple and Boozer and you get all of that talent there, and he's got three ACC tournament championships already, 27 wins every year. He's off to one of the great starts to a coaching career ever. But if you blow this lead against Yukon in the elite eight,

and then you're up seven with a minute 15 against Houston last year in the final four, is it ever, it took Coach K awhile? To Bill Self, took Bill Self. Took Bill self, took Roy Williams. Sometimes it does take a while to ultimately cut down the nets. It's single elimination basketball. Can that pressure ever get to a coach if it becomes a part of your reputation?

Sure, it can. A couple of guys you didn't even mention. Let's talk about Jay Wright, who, you know, was talking about it. He couldn't win the big one until he won two in three years. Tony Bennett at Virginia. They said his slow tempo at Virginia would never win a national championship. their team loses, becomes the first number one seed to ever lose to a 16 seed, and then they bounce back. Don't tell me that that Virginia and that Tony Bennett team didn't feel a lot of pressure going into that NCAA tournament.

Matt Painter, still yet to win a national championship. Mark Few, Kelvin Samson. So there are a ton of really great high-level coaches that have lost leads. Like, okay, so you mentioned last year with Cooper Flagg, they lose a final four game to Houston, double-digit. I think they're up nine points with like two minutes to go. Yeah, seven with 115. Seven with 115. Okay, but that's a Houston team, a veteran squad led by Kelvin Samson,

who can also coach? So we put that on John Shire, or do you put it on the fact that, like, Duke was the younger team going against Kelvin Samson and Houston? Like, there's so many things that can go right and wrong in these moments. And also, like, so Duke's made three elite eights and one final four in the last three years. North Carolina just fired their head coach, Hubert Brown, because they lack consistency.

North Carolina's made one national title game. They were ranked 11th. They were an 11 seed in that tournament, so it seemed kind of fluky. And that's why, like, because Hubert Davis couldn't consistently get his team to perform, North Carolina's looking for a new coach. John Schar, I know the standard at Duke is championship. Final four or national championship, or it's a bust.

but he is knocking on the door of a national title in his first four years. But going back to your original question, will the pressure like get to him? I think it gets to all of these guys, including the guys I mentioned, Kelvin Samson, Matt Painter. It gets to all of them, but just like players, you have to put that pressure aside in the moment, do the best you can. But let's remember, again, I'm from a player's perspective. No coach would have had to call a timeout. I don't blame any coach of mine for not call him.

calling a timeout in the right moment during a 10-0 run that the opponent went on. I don't blame my coach for that. I look around on our players like, hey, can we guard somebody? Can we get a rebound? That's where I come from. Well, you also come from a spot because, listen, I know there's a lot of broken-hearted Laker, Yankee and Duke fans out there, and they're all the same person. And it's just fun when Duke loses.

But is there a group chat with a you and Leitner and Breeland Mones? Because this is back in the standard definition days. That's Casey Jacobson hit a game winner to eliminate Duke from a December basketball game. But still, I'm just wondering if you and Braylin Mullins feel any sort of like, you know, kindred spirit here connection. We definitely like in my mind. I was like, yeah, Braylin, go ahead and stick it to the Dukies. I mean, I'm friends with Jay Williams now, Mike Denleavy Jr. Yeah.

So watching that that happened in the year 2000. It was the 2000-2001 season. We were ranked third in the country at the time. Duke was number one in the nation. This was four days before Christmas. It was like the best Christmas I've ever had. Just that natural high. Santa didn't have to bring me any gifts.

That buzzer-beating shot against Duke was all I needed to have a good time. Yeah, Duke is easy to hate, but they won a national title in over a decade. So there's, I think, more hate coming towards Dan Hurley and Yukon and kind of, the way that they act and the way that they win more than Duke nowadays. Right. Hey, sports need villains, and Dan Hurley is certainly happy to do it. And that'll be a huge storyline for this Final Four. And it's a pretty loaded Final Four, Casey.

I mean, you've got Brad Underwood taking the fighting line eye back there against, obviously Dan Hurley trying to go for the Dynasty with three titles in four years, hasn't been done since John Wooden and UCLA. And then you get just, I mean, one of the great on-paper Final Four. matches in the history of the tournament. And Ken Pomeroy in his rankings would say these are two of the five best teams that we've ever seen, the best Final Four matchup in the history of the tournament.

Who do you have cutting down the nets now that the bracket's gotten to where it is? I've had Michigan from early on this season, and they've shown me no reason to back off of that. Now Arizona is going to be, as Charles Barkley say, it's going to be a handful. Both teams are incredible. I've worked at Fox. 12th year with Fox. And I am confident in saying that this is the most excited that I have ever

been for any singular college basketball game in my 12 years. Michigan versus Arizona. This is must watch TV. They're similar in size in the front court. And that's really important. I think the reason why Arizona and Michigan have dominated for many big stretches of this season is because they're massive and athletic and they're physical. Like there's a lot of teams that are tall, but they're not physical. A lot of teams that are tall, but they're like kind of slow. They have all three, but they have different styles. And that's what makes us really fascinating. Arizona, they're number one in the country when you combine points in the paint and free throws. That's where they want to live. They're like a team version of a sledgehammer. They just want to smack you

over the head over and over and over again. They make more free throws in this tournament and the season than their opponents, they make more free throws in the games than their opponents shoot. And that's how they play. They'll take occasional threes, but only when they're wide open. Michigan, on the other hand, is a little more loosey-goosey. They want to run up and down. They will launch threes. They love the threes. Their best player, Yaxil Lindaborg, is really shooting the three really well, a match-up problem for everybody. But Michigan, I would categorize as the more explosive team. Here's the difference to me. Arizona, they can methodically blow you out, meaning piece by piece they will dismantle you. Like basically, physically, they will take away your will over the course of a 40-minute

game, and you'll look up at the scoreboard and you'll be down 25. Michigan will do it in a five-minute stretch. They'll rip off 17-0 run in what seems like two and a half minutes. And before you can say, mercy, there's a immediate timeout and the game is over. And so I'm just wondering, Can Arizona, you know, take away a 120-14-0 run from Michigan? Because when they get rolling, it's hard to shut off their water. Casey, I agree with you. I think Michigan is the most complete team. But we're talking about Arizona having a fighting chance.

Who needs to show up for them to have a, you know, a solid outing against Michigan? Well, Willie, it's an all hands-on-deck situation when you're going up against Michigan. It's not all one guy. Now, Braden Burry is their freshman. He's their most elite shooter and one-on-one playmaker. But Jaden Bradley, their point guard, senior, big 12 player of the year, they're going to need him to be steady. The ball's going to be in his hands late in shot clocks.

They often give it. He's one of the most clutched players in all of college basketball. So he'll be a decision maker late in games. But a guy that really did not have a good offensive game in the elite matchup is Mo Creevas. He's probably the most unharalded. starting of the starters for Arizona, seven foot two, junior. They need him to be a little bit better offensively.

Touch around the basket. I'm not saying he's got to be Terris Reed and go for 25, but he's got to be in the 10 to 15 point range because they need some low post scoring against Adai Mara, Morris Johnson, and Lindeborg down low. You can't just, you know, think that you're going to get

drives and easy buckets in transition. They need a back to the basket center. Coa Pete can get in the middle of lane and he's got a really nice jumper, turn around jumper. But Mo Creevas needs to do his job to me. That's between 10 and 15 points. He needs to score in this game. Well, I picked Michigan before the tournament, so I'm not abandoning it now, given that they're

averaging 95 points per game so far in this tournament. And listen, we talk a ton of NFL around here, Casey. I would just say, this feels like the NFC championship game to me. where like the NFC championship game was the real Super Bowl when it was Seattle and the Rams. Obviously, Illinois or Yukon could win at single elimination basketball, but it feels to me like the winner of Michigan, Arizona

ends up cutting down the nets on Monday. Casey, this was fun, man. Don't be a stranger. Thank you so much and enjoy what should be a historic final four. All right, guys, thanks a lot. Thanks a lot. Thank you.

That's Casey Jacobson, our friend here at Fox. Coming up, Jaden Daniels is making a comeback. We already saw him in flag football. Dan Quinn will join us coming up. on the O.T. Welcome back to first things first. The NFL league meetings have taken place right now out in Arizona. Head coaches all sat with the media to address everything that they did in the offseason looking ahead and more. So joining us now from Arizona, Commander's head coach, Dan Quinn. Dan, thank you so much for joining Willie Colon and myself. We really appreciate it.

And listen, a huge story, obviously, with your team is going to be Jaden Daniels's return. But I feel like I already saw him because I watched. I have. watched him play flag football, which, you know, he's running for two-point conversions. He's catching passes. He looks good. So I don't know if that's like, it's good to see him look good, or you're nervous with this guy out there, you know, playing receiver. What was it like watching your quarterback and play flag football? I think for everybody who knows, Jaden like this, is one of the best competitors that I've ever coached. And so there's no doubt he looks great. And I'm really pumped for him to get rolling with everybody. He is an absolute

savage in terms of work and preparation and competing. So, yeah, we're pumped to get rolling with them. Coach, I know, listen, last year was tough, but you guys, your outfit, man, they fought. I think the people don't talk about it. I know, obviously, the record doesn't reflect that. But I turned on the tube, man, and you guys were in it and scrapping and fighting as hard as you could. Obviously, Jaden Daniels goes down.

But can you talk about this? Just pretty much the mindset and everything you guys went through last year and what should we expect from you guys this year? Yeah, it was super tough, man. And as you go through those fights, Willie, you know this. Like, man, you can gain some things in these hard spaces. And the lessons that you want to pull forward into 26, you do that. You leave behind the things, the injuries, et cetera.

But, man, when it comes time to, like, building the team again, absolute, you know, like going for it in every way, that's the beginning of this offseason program. Coming up, we added some new guys to the crew. But, yeah, you do want to pull through those lessons of going through the hard fights together. They don't fully express themselves until you get into these tough spaces again. But guys like McLaren and Daniels and others that absolutely are down for the fight, there's another one that same are still. Those are the players that absolutely light me up.

Well, you mentioned the new additions, new coaches come in. Yes. It's got to be, it's obviously a huge year, tons of expectations for you guys. What's it like to build that all back up in one off season with new coordinators on both sides of the ball? Yeah. Right, Danny. That's, you know, the change, that's a big deal, you know, that goes through. And with that, come some new systems in terms of how we'd like to go about it, what that would look like from offensive scheme, defensive scheme. And so when those are getting implemented all through April and May and June, you get a chance to fully develop that. And then as Willie would say, man, in training camp, you start putting the pieces in the right spot, seeing what you can do. But I do love the competitive makeup of our crew. There is nothing wrong with having a chip on your shoulder and ready to go prove it. we have a number of guys in that spot. So I'm very much looking forward to getting rolling with everybody.

Coach, you talk about putting it together. How close are you guys are from a roster standpoint to getting back into January and going for, you know, fighting for a Lombardi? Yeah, Adam and the staff did a really good job, Willie, of a number of pieces at different spots. And if you think about the best teams, you've been on some excellent ones, you've been a part of,

competition at different groups was a big part of that, whether it's an offensive line or tight ends or receiver or a D-Line, whatever that looked like. You need a big crew to be a heavy hitter in our league. And so adding pieces to that, we're also getting the number of guys back who had some significant injuries in 25. So to add some to the crew, add some back,

and with some new scheme, man, like, we're really fired up to get rolling. Yeah, you mentioned, obviously, Jaden Daniels is the biggest guy that you're going to get back. It's tough to evaluate a team when the star quarterback goes down. And we talk a ton of quarterbacks, obviously, on shows like this. And I said, you know, his rookie year is the most impressive rookie year I'd ever seen. Not just because of the stats.

You know, Justin Herbert had a couple more touchdowns. But what he was asked to do, third down, fourth down, playoff wins. Like I put it up there with Andrew Luck, Cam Newton, some of the all-time rookie quarterback seasons. But then in his class, Caleb Williams has all the highlights this year. Drake May ends up in the Super Bowl. Bo Nix has more touchdowns than any of them. I'm wondering, now that's more of a media thing. I get it.

You're not comparing him necessarily to those guys. But in terms of sealing and what he can be compared to his peers, how do you describe Jaden Daniels when you talk about him? Yeah, I think he's just remarkable. And in this offense, he'll even be under center some more. And so some of the big play passes and shots down the field, he's got a very strong arm, extremely accurate. And then with his ability to create on the run,

there's no telling where it's going to go, Danny. We just think this guy is an absolute savage of a competitor. We love what he brings to us as a teammate. And he, me, as his coach, there's a lot to prove. And like I said, we can't wait to get rolling, man. Can you talk a little bit more about him as a competitor? Because that's just guys need to have that to reach their ultimate ceiling, it seems like. Yeah.

And I think that and like what you know you need to work on. And that was one of the things I was so impressed by with Jaden. you are developing, what are the areas you want to grow? How do you go about it and have an intentional plan to go do that? We didn't name him as a starter when we drafted him. He went through that process to earn the starting job. And with that comes the respect of proving it. And so that is one of his traits that I think is just elite.

He's going to put the work in early riser to make sure he knows it inside out. Big Todd, before it comes time to practice, like he's ready to get down in the, in the biggest ways. My best example, I'd say, would probably like in a second start. It was a tie game, about to go in a two-minute scenario, and just you could expect someone in their first two-minute scenario to be nervous or uptight or whatever you think, coach, and just he had this smile, like, let's go do this cue. And so it was probably early on, and we ended up going down to kick a field goal to win the game. Even if we hadn't of won, I knew he was ready for the moment. Even if we had missed the kick, didn't go, like, it wasn't about the result. It

was about entering into that drive ready to go compete. And so early on, that was just a second game. And you have to go through struggles. At one point during his rookie year, we had a three-game losing streak. You got to dig your way out and go fight for it. But he is really resilient. And so that's why going through this before he's been through some things, I know what it looks like on the other end of that with him.

Coach, you're talking about being competitive. And I know a lot of guys who've played for you and coach for you, you don't give yourself enough credit. When people talk about DQ in the locker room, they speak about you being fiery, and when he speaks, you believe it and you're ready to go through the wall for him. Going into this year,

how motivated are you to get this thing back on the trap? Because I know a lot of guys I spoke to behind the current, and they're saying, man, it's all hands on dick. This man's fired up and ready to roll, man. Can you speak to you what keeps you motivated and stay in the fight and get ready to hunt? Yeah, I really appreciate that you saying that because that's why I coach is to help take the players

to the next spot to see what they can become. And it's my job to make sure I enforce those standards from the staff through the coaches and play in a style and an attitude that, man, when people watch this play, they say, I love how they get down. And so, yeah, there's a lot to prove. And some of the best, most competitive moments

in my coaching career have come from prove it. And so I love being in that space. I love having to take on that mindset and attitude. And so me and a bunch of others in our locker room are very much looking forward to doing that, Willie. So, Coach, I'm a Chicago guy, and I absolutely loves this year that Ben Johnson, he's like, I don't like Matt LaFloor.

And like Bears and Packers, they should not like each other. I think that less hate in the world, more hate in sports. I call it sports hate. You're in the NFC East. That's fair, Danny. That's fair. Yeah, I would say if we could channel it to a certain spot against rivals, that would be cool.

Right. Well, so you're in the NFC East. Great rivalries. You and the Eagles kind of going back and they're running up the score going for too late. Like, do you subscribe to that in terms of sports hate in the NFC East and being a part of that? I don't know if it's sport hate, but I grew up in the East Coast. And so for me, you know, kind of growing up, you know, into this spot, I like guys that have one another's back.

So if you take on me, you get all of us. And so I like that attitude. And so we don't, none of us want this. Like we're ejections and fights. But I do want to know if it was. late in a dark alley, I'd want somebody like Willie Cologne right with me to say, hey, if this is going to go sideways, I want people, you know, in my corner ready to get down. So I think as much as it's not one team, it's us against. And if you have that mentality and the chemistry's right, it doesn't have to be against one opponent. It just has to be, this is how we get down. And I'm hopeful that that style can come across and that when you play the commanders on Monday, like you're sore. And Willie was a part of a team like that. that you played some of the teams that he was a part of. So, okay, it's going to be a real deal.

Well, Coach, thank you so much. Good luck this year. We really appreciate you joining us here on the OT. Don't be a stranger. All right. Thanks, guys. Thanks, having me on. Thanks, coach.

All right, good after it. You got my back. In a dark island. I got you. Yeah, I appreciate that. I can be a little soft. To the NFL. Oh, wow.

NFL League meetings today in Arizona. Coaches across the league spoke to the media, and Matt LaFleur of the Packers was asked about the decisions that went into keeping a large part of his offensive staff the same. Take a listen to the Packers coach. You're always evaluating and trying to make the decisions that are best for your football team, at least what you believe are going to be best for your football team. So, yeah, I mean, that you always look at ways you can improve. And I thought the best way for us to reward is we just got to start. trip everything down and start like it's your one all over again.

So continuity on the coaching staff. Obviously every roster undergoes changes, Willie. But do you think the Packers have enough to get over the hump this year? Well, I think they have enough talent to matter. The issue is how do they, can they hold up until Michael Parsons gets back, right? You let go with Sean Gary. You've lost some pieces on the defense as a whole. But nevertheless, man, you know, you're looking at a Packer team that seems to always be in the fight

but never get over the hump. And you talk about division as a whole, the bears, I think, are going to be better. Detroit is going to be a lot hungry. You know, you talk about the Vikings and with the addition to Kalimerra and what they could look like. So if you're Green Bay, man, you know, under Matt LaFleur, you're looking at seven years of just being at the gate can never get in the club. I've been there. Right. So, you know, tearing it down, we have to see if he's even capable of that because, you know, some of their deficiencies has been under his watch and him building a roster up and him kind of building his thing up.

They just can never get over the hump. So we'll see, but it's going to be a lot to watch. Yeah, Matt LaFleur has got a weird coaching record because everyone agrees. He's a great offensive coach. He got Aaron Rogers, a couple of MVPs. Jordan Love is ready-made. He's got, you know, the blowout playoff window over the Cowboys. But a couple of times, he's in the playoffs only has the seven seed,

where it's like, well, if the playoffs had it and expanded, you wouldn't have even been in. And then how would we have looked at his resume? I think the case for Packers optimism, I don't. I know there's like a growing sentiment of people that have a lot of pessimism about them right now, but I'll put that aside for a second. Like, if you looked at what they did when they had Micah. Because it was a large body of work. Like when the Packers had Micah Partisans through week 14, they were, I mean, top five, top seven team in football. That's the yards against, the points against, the point differential, the win-loss record.

They were a contender. And I was skeptical because of like Jordan Love and inconsistency and things like that. But assuming Micah comes back to be Micah Parsons, I think a lot of those injuries, we know Elkton Jenkins's name. We know Rashon Gary's name. But they didn't lose players. They lost players approaching 30 or on the wrong side of 30. You know, I don't know the departures that they had.

Now, Romeo Dobbs. That's what I was going to say. Like he was big in the red zone for them. Yep. Jeff Halfley. as a defensive coordinator. Like, there's, there are questions there, but the core of the team should still be

a diversified offensive attack, turnovers, Xavier McKinney, Micah Parsons, hopefully Van Ness plays more for them. You know, like, I just, they had a lot of guys who got injured last year who should be healthier this year, that I do think that there's a totally reasonable path for optimism. Well, I think there's also a question with the culture,

especially with the chemistry in the locker. A lot of those guys have, yeah, that was a big story. Right, a lot of guys didn't understand their role, questioning, you know, where they set with the team and on and on and on. And nevertheless, man, that comes down on him, right? Like, one thing as a head coach, you have to be able to have a pulse on the locker room on and off the field.

And when guys are questioning your leadership and where this is the thing is going, who's in charge, and nevertheless, what the plan is, you know, in reference to, you know, being prepared for Sunday, you know, that's an issue. So they don't have to figure that out. Hopefully they can. But I, listen, I set up here and defending Mike Thomas, right? with all air. So I can't be hypocritical against Matt LaFlorre.

I believe the Packers got to give him another shot. Wait, they're going with the continuity argument, which Steelers fans certainly know well. So let's go to Philadelphia. It's in Willie's contract. We have to talk about AJ Brown. Have to at least once a week. According to NBC Philadelphia, Howie Roseman met with the media yesterday, answered every question regarding A.J. Brown with, quote,

AJ is an eagle. Head coach Nick Siriani took note of that ahead of today's owner's meeting. Staying on message. Here's Nick Siriani. Yeah, everything, nothing's changed there. AJ's an eagle. Nothing's changed from the last time I spoke to you guys. And, yeah, that's where we are.

Willie? You know why we laugh America? Because we've been on this hamster wheel. Well, you know why? Week after week about A.J. Brand. That's right. Well, bad job by me, Troy. I should have suggested my graphic for this, because we don't have one, just being a calendar.

Pretty much. She's just like, is it June? No. Then it doesn't matter. Yeah. Because, like, AJ is an eagle is a technical answer. Like, it is technically correct. It is, he is under contract.

But he's not going anywhere. Can we establish that? Or is that? We disagree. Why do you, why do, so I don't think. You think June 15th he's an eagle? It doesn't make sense for the Eagles to let go, AJ Brown. When you just hired an office of coordinator who's never called plays, right?

Yeah. And you take away at a well. a dangerous alpha weapon like that from your roster to leave a guy who's never been in this position before. Like he needs all the weapon where he can at his disposal rather. So I'm sitting here saying like A.J. Brown had what, 78 catches had over 1,000 yards. He's still a problem. And the reason Devonte Smith was a problem because A.J. Brown was a problem. And the reason why Dallas got it was a problem because AJ, like A.J. Brown makes the Eagles dangerous.

And you already have a bad offense aligned. You need all hands on deck and you need this offense to get back on track. I don't know that you could put the toothpaste back of the tube here. In what way? I think that the league knows that they are, the reason they haven't traded AJ Brown is because of the contract that it would take to trade him before June 1st. So it was a $40 million? Yeah, and it gets a lot easier post June 1.

And so in a vacuum here, of course, correct. We've agreed on AJ Brown, the football player every time we talk about him. He's a top 10 receiver in football. and the message that he gave out about Eagle's frustration was he was just the messenger. The things he was saying was true. Did he sometimes say on Maddened Twitch streams in ways that you wouldn't love in the locker room? Sure. But he's an awesome player.

But if he's a little bit of a distraction and he's a lot of bit of money and you have to get something for him, the O.C. is not going to want him gone. Maybe DeVante Smith's not going to want him gone. But Howie Roseman is, I think, going to move him for cap space and draft capital. At the end of the day, you looking at a division, we just said, hey, we're DQ. Everybody's gearing up. Like, I don't think you can look at this division and say, all right, they're a definite winner. I don't look at the Eagles as a definite winner right now.

So if that's the story right now, you have to figure out, man, we got to get to a point where we can get back to being dangerous. You can't get dangerous without AJ Brown, despite what the money looks like. If you trade AJ Brown for a draft pick, you are worse for this year. There's no denying. Period. There's no. I agree. I agree.

I still think they're going to do it. Mike Hill, Don Troil, Willis inside our LA studios here on FS1, getting you ready for baseball, doubleheader. Baseball is underway. We got two National League games starting off with the Pirates and the Reds. Don Trell now will have a 30-minute pre-game show right after. First things first. Stick on. Thanks, Mike and Don Trell.

We'll see you guys at the top of the hour. All right, so the UFL season open this weekend, and we are giving you some of our favorite plays coming out of week one. And there were some, honestly, some great ones here. We began with the Birmingham Stallions, running. back Snoop Connor dives into the end zone. Get some for the first time. At first points of the season. Got to celebrate football being back and Connor going to the end zone.

And as much as we celebrated it, Willie, you might remember this name. What's up? A.J. McCarran. Oh. The coach of the Stallions. He was very pumped about it. Roll tie. Yeah.

Exactly. Yeah, he was going nuts. But, like, you know, extending for the pilot. Look at him. There you go. Had a little passion in the spring. A little let's go, let's go. And cool thing with the UFL broadcast, they're all miced up.

Oh, wow. You know what I mean? So you can just see and hear it, a lot of good sounds. I don't think I could ever be miced up. There's a reason I never put a mic on Willie Glover. Yeah, no. You have to FCC. It would have happened there.

All right, let's go to Louisville here. Louisville King's cornerback, Eric Geroor. You'll like this one, Willie. Bam! Man! That was a big noise that you made there. Did I scare the crowd? You scared me a little bit.

A little bit. Yeah, I was going to go for the big noise, and then you check. So this was a big thing because they had the drone going overhead. So he got a great shot of him after you get split in half. Hello, Mom. Yeah, there's really no angle where that looks coming. That's Matt Corral, by the way.

Yeah. Oh, Miss. Yeah. You don't think I'm in my bag today, D.P. I'm feeling me. All right. My bad. Okay.

I apologize. I was focused on the hit. You're focused on the quarterback who got split up. All right, Orlando Storm receiver, Chris Rowland here. Dive and catch, early, early, early catch of the year candidate? Ooh, the toe tap. That's nice. Not catch of the year, but it's a good.

Standard compared to, you know. Some of the things we see. Yes. It's getting easier to. I'm used to the one hand grab, you know, that's, yeah. It's elementary there deep. Is it even hard to be a receiver anymore with the sticky gloves? I don't know. People are asking.

You go I got Anthony Beck. We had them on the show. That's true. All right, I want to show you a little bit of history, Willie. This is my favorite thing about the UFL. They try things, okay? DC defender kicker, Matt McCrane, first ever four-point field goal. What a dad.

If you kick from more than 60, counts four. You don't see the four-zero score every day of the week. Not at all. But if you kick it from longer than 60 yards, three points. So you're saying this is a thing? This could be a thing for the NFL. I think that a lot of the things that the U.F.L. is trying could and when they should be a thing for the NFL. Now, listen, I actually, this is not my favorite of the U.F.

rules because I don't like things that add emphasis for kickers. Like I want the uprights narrowed. I want fewer kicks in my football, not more. But like my favorite UFL rule, if you want to instead of an onside kick, fourth and 12th. So if you're Brandon Aubrey, you're kind of drooling at this. Brandon Aubrey. This is how you get the bag if you're Brandon Aubrey.

An alum of the U.S. Look at that. Yeah. I'm in my bag today. The bag, D.P. You think you're the only one who's got a bag around here? You got to wake up pretty early to get one past your boy. Thank you.