The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 05/13/2021 - HOUR 3 - Schedule

Episode Date: May 13, 2021

How does the NFL come up with its schedule?Guests: Bob Stoops, Michael Mulvihill Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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How lucky are we 18 years at Oklahoma, a national champion, a 10-time Big 12 coach. of the year. One of the great, I mean, really top four or five coaches last 25 years in college football, he'd be embarrassed by that because he's a humble guy, Bob Stoops, who's the newest member of the Big Noon kickoff team. Urban Meyer was here. He'd gone, big shoes to fill, but that's why we went out and got Bob Stoops. It is great to see you. When your name came up, I don't know how far the negotiations were. And, you know, they said, well, what do you have to make? And I said, well, I think Stoop should go into coaching still. I think he's got 10 years left to coach.

And they said, you know, he may work at Fox. And I thought, we're going to get Bob Stoop. So it's great to have here as part of the team. I appreciate it, Colin. I'm really looking forward to Big Noon Saturday, working with the team. Working here at Fox, it's been awesome. What a great team and what great camaraderie already. But I'm a little concerned that they brought me on your show to argue about

Brite Baker Mayfield. And I don't think I'm the right guy for you to argue Baker-Mayfield. filled about. No, he's going to do fine, by the way. He's got, he's going to do fine this year. It is interesting. We'll get into some of the, you know, Oklahoma when you were there, put a lot of guys in the NFL. Similarly, they do it with Lincoln Riley. And a lot of times, a legend leaves almost always, and you never find their replacement. I mean, it's almost a guarantee. You can never replace, I mean, Alabama's going to have their hands full. And then you guys get Lincoln Riley. And it almost felt like to me, because you were so selfless that you could have

kept going, but you thought to yourself, I found the guy. This is perfect. That's what it felt like to me. No, it's truly that way. I've always said I wasn't going to be a lifer. I wasn't going to coach till I wasn't going to coach till I was old. I guess I'm old, though. But in the end, I knew the right guy was there in all the right ways, just the person, the man that he is. family man that he is, the leadership qualities, the way he connected with players. I just knew this was perfect that I could step out and it would have killed me to have hurt the program. But I knew if I could step out and they could continue on in the same manner and hopefully

make improvements that this is the right time. And I knew there was strong structure around them that was still remained in place. Great AD president. So that's why. And I just thought, you know, I don't want to miss the right moment. And it was perfect. And Lincoln's doing a great job. Now, he's terrific.

We bring him on all the time. Oklahoma's a top five program all time, top three probably right now. So Urban Myers going college to pro, and it's interesting because for years and years, a lot of the guys, Pete Carroll was in the NFL, went to college, back to the NFL. Tom Coughlin had even done some NFL position coaching. Urban had told me years ago, I don't even watch the NFL. Like Sunday is, it's film day. And so I think Urban smart, curious, intellectual, he'll figure it out.

You have been offered NFL jobs. You didn't take them. From all the opportunities you've had, what does it take? Because some guys have worked, some haven't. College to Pro, what would concern you, what would make you hopeful with Urban? You know, as much as any, it's hard for me to speak of it since I'm no expert and I haven't coached in the NFL. So that part of it, you know, take, you know, you just got to take for what it is. But to me, it's the schedule, the length of the season, the length of preseason,

keeping players healthy, managing all of that. You're going to surround yourself with great coaches at whatever level they're going to help you win or not win. So no one does it by their self in our game. But so to me, the biggest part would be to handle that length of a schedule, that, you know, that many football games and how to manage it. 20 games. That doesn't even count playoffs. You know, Reggie Bush and I were just talking in back here, part of our, you know,

big noon Saturday team. And I said to me, it'd be like, be like maybe basketball. I'd be rotating players, counting how many snaps each guy's had, midway through the year, who's had so many, you know, almost, you know, like, again, like basketball does. You just use your entire roster. I know everyone does, but I mean, even in the rotation of your normal downs is making sure, were keeping up with how long a guy's been on the field. So I grew up with Oklahoma and Barry Switzer and literally 10 guys in the backfield and one receiver. It was a power program.

And then Bob Stoops come in. And this is one of the things I've always admired about Saban. Saban just acknowledged, we've got to spread it out. The game's changing. You did it before him. You literally were like, I mean, Oklahoma football was the running program in America with Nebraska. And you were like at some point, all right, fellas, run them out. Here we go.

Do you why were you so willing to adapt and evolve? Did you go to camps? It was at fear base that I'm going to get overwhelmed here if I don't involve? You know what it was? When I first was hired at Oklahoma, I hired

Mike Leach. And the primary reason I hired Mike Leach, he was working as the offensive coordinator with Hal Mummy at Kentucky. I'm the defensive coordinator at Florida. And the person, the team that gave me the most problems and drove me crazy was Kentucky.

They had the most first downs in the league. They had the most points on and on and on. And so I called hell mummy, because I knew I couldn't hire him. He wasn't going to leave his head coaching position. I said, hey, can Mike Leach be the run the offense and do the things you do at Kentucky? He said, absolutely. I just wanted to know could he be that kind of leader, and Mike is. Mike's a leader.

He has his own way of doing things. But anyway, so I hired Mike, and all he did is show Tim Couches, highlights when we were recruiting. We really didn't have any quality big-time quarterbacks on campus. So when Mike arrives, we get Josh Heppel, runner up in the Heisman trophy, and also a national champion quarterback. We get Jason White, most decorated player in Oklahoma history when you look at awards and brought us to two national championship games. And then Nate Hibble, who won us a Big 12 championship, and he's a Rose Bowl MVP. those three guys came that year that I hired Mike Leach right off to start.

Isn't that funny? The coach who drove you crazy in the SEC is the guy you hired at Oklahoma because you couldn't stop him. And by the way, it takes guts because Mike is his own guy. He says, you know, loves pirates. If I had known him, then maybe I wouldn't have. I'm kidding. I love Mike. He's awesome.

And he was a great hire for me. So Texas, this is interesting. So Oklahoma and Texas, top three rivalry in the sport. And they hired Steve Sarkesian, and I think he's going to work, and I think Bobby's going to work big. At USC, he had some personal issues that he's overcome, but he can recruit. He's got a good eye for personnel. He's got a good energy about when Sark walks in a room, there's a presence to him. Your thoughts on the task at Texas, because they don't have, I watched that draft.

There's not a ton of Texas guys got drafted this year. Is it a huge rebuild or are they close? Well, I don't know why it would be a huge rebuild. they've had the top recruiting class the last three years in the Big 12. And it's been top 10 nationally. So they have players. Unlike when we walked in Oklahoma, I don't think that was the case. So bottom line, they have players.

To me, it's about development. And I do believe, I agree with you. I think Steve Sarkisian's a really great coach. He's got a really good, great track record. And I believe he'll, you know, he'll do really well, hopefully just not as well as Oklahoma. So Spencer Rattler. Joy last year is like, you've got to watch this kid, and I watch a lot of Oklahoma games.

So Spencer Rattler is the quarterback. And there is a big, there's a big, people are suggesting he'd be the number one pick. Wouldn't surprise me. And it's funny because there's a, I mean, I think he's more naturally gifted than a Baker. He's a little bit of a gunslinger. And it works at Oklahoma. In the Big 12, there's a lot of points. You can throw the occasional pick.

It's okay, right? Well, now there's a lot of points in the SEC, too, now that there's some quarterbacks that are throwing the ball around. You've always poked the SEC and the ribs. Well, I'm just saying, look at LSU when, you know, and a year ago or two years ago, look at Alabama the last couple of years. There's, you know, when there's great quality quarterback play,

it's hard to deal with. So Spencer Rattler, if I'd never seen him play, what makes him special? Great release, great arm. Just got one of those, he has the ability to throw the ball at any angle and got a really quick release and very accurate. How long did you guys recruit him there?

I mean, was he good at eighth grade, ninth grade? Well, he committed to OU when I was there. Holy moly. So he committed young, I want to say, a sophomore or junior year. And then I stepped away, but of course Lincoln had the best relationship with him. Yeah. And, of course, he stayed with us, knowing Lincoln was going to be his guy and going to be his quarterback coach and head coach. By the way, your son Drake's a receiver at Oklahoma.

Do you miss the juice of game day? Oh, yeah. You know, nothing in life, you know, compares to that. You know, people, you do as a coach. You get addicted to the, you know, the excitement of it, the intensity of it all. And the pressure of it. Oddly, you get, you love it, you know, because you really know you're alive when you're pulling in that stadium or walking down that ramp, getting ready to kick it off, not knowing the outcome, you know.

So, sure, you miss it. I don't know that you ever get used to it. You know, it's one of the things I always respected about Oklahoma. You played Notre Dame. You're just thinking of the big games. You played Ohio State. Alabama, Florida State, Miami. No shot at the SEC, but yeah, I can only see Citadel so many times on those schedules.

You have always said, bring in the big dogs. By the way, that's not necessarily always great for you because everybody watches it. If it's week one or two and you lose, you've got to build your way back up, voter confidence. So what was Bob Stoop's theory? USC, by the way, has always done that too. USC wants to schedule big games. What was your theory on that? Once we won the national championship in 2000,

I said to our athletic director, Joe Cicelyon, look, if we're going to be a big dog, we're going to play other big dogs. I mean, we're not going to shy away from anybody. And we didn't. I think in 2003 on our out-of-conference schedule, we had Oregon and Alabama. Yep. So we were always willing to play big games.

you know, home and away, you know, take our turns and never. Again, we just felt that way. If you're going to be a ranked top 5, 10 ranked team, you're not afraid to go play anywhere, anytime. By the way, it is funny. A lot of college coaches, they want to coach until, you know, they're on a golf cart and, you know, they can, you know, they've got to be helped around campus. You left 10 miles early.

You, I mean, now you've got a beautiful wife, great family, but it is interesting. You are rare. Most coaches, they stick around forever. What was it, do you think in your DNA that you're like, I'm not going to be that guy? Well, I just have always had other interests in life. And as much as anything, I appreciate and enjoy my own time. And with my family, with my friends, doing things I want to do. And in our profession, it's all-consuming.

And at a certain point, I figured, you know, I've loved what I've done. It couldn't have been better. I mean, I had so much fun. but it was just time to gab my own time. And in life, I don't think until you open yourself up to other opportunities, you don't know what else is out there. So in the end, I miss it, heck yeah. But do I regret it?

No. So it was just time for me. And I felt too, you know, after 18 years in one place, that I had run my course there, that it was just a perfect time for me to step away and let the, you know, the program continue with Lincoln. Now, Leinert and Reggie are very nice. but Notre Dame guys, Brady Quinn, you've got to keep your eye on them. These Notre Dame guys, you got to just fire back at Brady.

You know, the SC guys, L.A. guys are all laid back. Yeah, they've been easy on me. So, but anyway, it's a great crew. Great. You said, Brady Quinn, Reggie Bush, Matt Linerd, Rob Stone, keeping everybody in line. So I'm really excited about it and can't wait, you know, for the fall. So lucky to have you. Thank you.

Great to see you again. I appreciate it, Colin. Always good to be on with you. All right. Go Baker. Baker is going to have a very... By the way, I picked the Browns to win the division. You did.

Yeah. All right. There we go. As Joey knows, people only hear the bad stuff. What happens when I say nice stuff? That's a very supportive of them all year last year. Disappears into the ether. Nobody hears it.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility. of connection. This mental health awareness month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we

actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Jared Adano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! Please!

But there's so much more to me than me. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian, and recently I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope I'm a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant,

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from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hypocrat as part of the Mike Pulturra podcast network available on the IHartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds.

Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And, finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs.

I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friend's side, by like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too.

Steve Nash will get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. There's something else about Spencer Rattler, Colin. Because I know you like this. He is a two-sport athlete. Oh, he is? He won a state championship his senior year, played alongside Nico Mannion, who was drafted by the Warriors this year,

at 18 points in the state championship game. I like that. Yes. Nice. So Tom Brady's much-anticipated return to Foxboro will happen October 3rd. Buck's Patriots will be the Sunday night football game in week four. He played 20 seasons with the Patriots,

obviously, with Bill Belichick. he will enter the season just 1,154 yards behind Drew Breeze for the NFL's career passing record. So with the Patriots game in week four, he could be in line to break that record in Foxborough. Brady, who has become just really excellent at social media since his time away from New England's tweeted this morning about returning. It's like when your high school friends meet your college friends. That's funny. which Betty Wood who went to college can relate to. The bucks are favored by three over the Patriots, according to Fox Bet, right now.

This will also be a homecoming for Gronk as well, who played 19 seasons with... God, can you imagine the reaction Brady will get? Can you imagine that? I think he'll be very well received. It will be that, first of all, the rating that game is going to get is a monster. Well, I just want to see, I think, along with everyone else, what's the interaction between Belichick and him is. Well, Belichick is not warm and fuzzy.

Right. But here's the thing about Bill. He is when he wants to be. When he wants to pour it on, there is no one more complimentary. He does it every single week because he talks about the opposing quarterback glowingly, even if they're terrible, every single

week. It's his move. Great pass for the ball, a good distributor. Roll strong, strong. You can tell he's great in the room. He's always saying nice things about people when he wants to. So I don't know. He's sneaky that one. He'll get a mind game.

He'll say nice stuff. I do want to see how they interact. I think it'll be like a quick, a quick little hug, a pat on the back, a little church hug, a little space between. So five quarterbacks were drafted in the first round this year, and there's obviously a lot of speculation about when each of them will start their first game. So Yahoo Sports made a prediction for each quarterback and when they're going to start. We like playing this game.

So obviously Trevor Lawrence is going to start week one against the Texans. We're assuming that Zach Wilson is going to start week one against the Panthers. So they have Trey Lance starting week one at the Lions. No, no. Justin Fields, week four against the lions. Sounds about right. What did we discuss earlier with Justin Fields? Where do we say he was going to later?

The bottom line is, as you pointed out, the city of Chicago needs juice. Well, they're going to want him out there, but also their bison until week 10, and they're not going to run Andy Dalton until week 10. Okay, so you don't believe Trey Lance week one? No, no, no, no, no. Mack Jones, week 11 at the Falcons. I looked at their schedule this morning. If he was going to start this year, that would be it.

I don't think Mac Jones sees the field unless Cam Newton is injured. Well, and Cam's last couple years. I mean, yeah, he's on the board. But unless he is healthy the whole year, I don't think that Mac Jones is going to be out there. Okay, so the only one you really disagree with is Trey Lance. I don't think he's ready to play. And I also think in that division, which is going to be decided by a game, it could be a tiebreaker division.

I think you would just start. the guy who's been there. There's no hurry if Garapolo's there. What's the hurry? Is Garoppolo going to be healthy? If he is, I would start him. I just think that division, I'm not taking any chances. Like, let's just win. Well, also, Trey hasn't played a game

in a long time. He's not like these other incoming rookies who, you know, even though he has the same amount of starts as Mac Jones, he didn't not play this past year. So you have to account for that as well. Okay, finally, due to the nature of the 2020 season, the Lakers said they wouldn't

reveal their latest championship banner until they could have fans in the stands. Last night, they were able to raise it in front of 2,000 fans at Sable Center, and LeBron let them know that they are motivated to bring another banner home to L.A. I know we're missing a lot of our Laker faithful, but this is absolutely for you guys. We said we would not reveal this banner until we had some of you guys in the seats. So this is you guys' moment. We had our ring night. We wanted you guys there, but we made sure we saved the banner for y'all.

So we love you guys and on a road to back-to-back starts in about a week. So let's get going. Now we'll see. He's still day-to-day. Frank Vogel said it's possible LeBron plays in the last two games, but there's no clear word on his return. I don't know why he would rush LeBron back at this point. What's the point?

It's not like he doesn't know how to play in the playoffs. He's, they're battling the injury bug. Obviously they didn't have LeBron. They gave another night of rest to AD, Dennis Schroeder, and Alex Crusoe. So they're currently the seventh seed. West. So it'll be interesting for the Lakers. I don't look at it as the same way as I did in the bubble. They didn't have time off. They're coming in very banged up into the playoffs. Not what you want to be dealing with at this point in the season. You want to be rolling,

all gears flowing. But if they can all be out there, it's hard to count LeBron out. Yep. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. Fox Sports Vice President, head of strategy, Michael Mulvahill. He's going to tell you how they lay out the schedule. Fascinating stuff. It is very complex.

The schedule is out. He joins us next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straightfire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straightfire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book, and all the best guests.

Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. call it grotesque, others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Jared Adano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! But there's so much more to me than that.

I'm an actor. I'm a comedian, and recently I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man.

If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Oh, cream of chicken suit. Hey, cream, cream a chicken suit. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from a Hypocrite as part of the Mike Coutura Podcast Network available on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The story I've told myself about love or relationships, can they? shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection.

This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X, woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with the Adamani Arriba where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her. So I didn't even consider how empty that nest is going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How can it be getting naked at 50 with the new guy? That one's kind of hard, no. Well, that's

lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of my Coutura. network available on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. For hot water that never runs out, tankless made simple.com, tankless made simple.com, Navian water filter, save money, efficient space. So Mike Mulvahill is the Fox Sports Executive Vice President, head of strategy and analytics. So I lean on him often for TV questions, how schedules are

molded, behind the velvet rope of our business. And a lot of people are fascinated by this stuff. I know whenever I've done podcasts or had mic on, we get great feedback. So, first of all, how many different versions of the schedule are made before the final ones introduced? So thanks for having me here. It's great to be with you. Great to be back in the studio. The number that was relayed to me yesterday was that they went through 80,000 iterations of the schedule over the last couple months before finally landing on the one that was released last night. So this is a process that plays out over several months.

We start our conversations with the league just before the Super Bowl. Every network submits a wish list of games. We give them a top 30. They take those lists. They start their process. We have a lot of back and forth throughout the winter months about games that could potentially anchor an America's game of the week window, games that could be useful for Thursday night football.

Does this game go early? This game go late. There's a lot of dialogue, but I should be really clear. Ultimately, it's the league's just. job to author the schedule. They create the schedule. And the role that we play is some combination of advisor and lobbyist. You know, we're trying to give as much insight and help as we can. And we're also trying to lobby for the games that we want. And every network is doing that. Everybody wants Green Bay, Kansas City. Everybody wants Dallas, Tampa Bay. And then we find out yesterday which

Christmas presents we got. How do you navigate through an Aaron Rogers trade rumor because the Packers are so spectacularly popular? Yeah, the Aaron Rogers story definitely casts a little bit of a shadow over the process over these last couple weeks. And we had a number of conversations with Howard Katz and Mike North and our colleagues at the league about how we wanted to approach this situation. You know, I would start by saying that without question, our preferred outcome is for the MVP to be back at Lambeau Field quarterbacking the Green Bay Packers. They've been an incredibly important brand to the NFC package for 30 years going back to Brett Farbs and Merse. So we would love to see the status quo, but we feel like we are well prepared to adapt if Aaron Rogers isn't back in Green Bay.

You know, because we regionalize our games and because on a typical doubleheader Sunday, we might have five to seven games. You know, we have that optionality to move a game from 1 o'clock to 425 to change the percentage of the country that's going to see a game. And we can dial up or dial back games in response to conditions. on the field. That's what we did last year. The NFC East didn't pan out the way that we all thought it would. We had some big NFC East games in November and December.

We were able to move some games around and adjust to that. And it works out just fine. And because we had that flexibility, I think that's a big reason why our late afternoon games on Sundays are the number one show on TV because we can react to events as they happen. What are storylines that interest you stuff early? I think Stafford to the Rams is very interesting to me. Yeah, I think the Stafford to the Rams story is interesting to us too, because

the way the schedule fell, we have 12 L.A. Rams appearances. I think we obviously believe that they're a championship contender. I think a lot of people feel that way. When you have 12 Rams games and nine San Francisco 49er games, you know, it does give you a certain opinion on how you'd like to see that division play out. I mean, I think there's a lot of benefit to us if Stafford comes in and plays at a high level and the Rams are competing throughout the season. What is Fox's schedule? Everybody loves their schedule, but give me a uniqueness to the Fox schedule. Look, very simply, I think what makes our package different and what makes Fox different is very simply the NFC. The NFC has always been our identity. It's the home of the brands that do

the most to drive national viewership, those being the Cowboys and the Packers, and now you can put Tampa Bay and Tom Brady in that category. But aside from the brands and from a business perspective. It's also the markets that are part of the NFC. We're obviously New York and LA, but we're also Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle. And those are the markets that really drive the American economy. So as a business proposition, you know, our NFC markets generate about $2 trillion more in economic activity every year than the AFC markets do. We think that's a real business advantage for us. Obviously has nothing to do with the game on the field. But when we approach advertisers and we try to make this package work financially, that's a big

differentiator. That's a big deal. Is there something that goes into the creation of this? Fans wouldn't know about some little quirky niche thing that guys like, I'm so fascinated by the nuts and bolts of it. Yeah, you know, I think what we try to do, and I know the league has made this a point of emphasis in the last couple years, is have geographic balance and try to make sure that we have something in every window for every part of the country. If you're a fan sitting at home, your experience of a Sunday afternoon generally is that you see your local team in the early window and you see the big national game in the late window. So that idea of geographic balance just isn't relevant. But when we're looking at a map of the entire country, we want to make sure

that we've got something for that NFC North footprint, something for the East Coast, something for out here in the West. And I think the league is taking that into account much more now than they were as recently as a few years ago. And it really shows in our schedule when we went through it yesterday, I didn't see a single week where I felt, wow, what are we going to do on this week for the Midwest? or what are we going to do for the southeast? It really felt like we had every region covered. You know, Mike Mulvahill, it's interesting. You know, I think of the biggest brands in the NFL.

I think Dallas, I think Pittsburgh, I think Green Bay is, you know, New England's funny. Once Brady leaves, they're not nearly as interesting, right? Like, is there a brand that's bigger than I would think? For instance, you say San Francisco. Is that a big brand in research? Yeah, there's no doubt. I think the two teams that are sleeping giants in our package are the Niners. and the Chicago Bears.

They both come with a lot of history of success. They come from very big markets. In the case of Chicago, they bring not just the number three market, but they bring all those surrounding markets in downstate Illinois and Iowa and Indiana, and they really do add up. So when the bears are competing and the bears have a chance to make a deep playoff run, that's really impactful for us. We're very happy to see them trade up and get Justin Fields.

Did you know immediately Tampa Bay and Brady were going to be a ratings hit? Like, was that just automatic understood? Yeah, I think so. I mean, I certainly wasn't predicting a Super Bowl championship. I try not to be in the business of predictions unless it comes to viewership. But can they go toe to toe to, like that Dallas, Tampa Bay, like are they, can they go toe to toe that? Has Brady got that pull? Yeah, absolutely.

And, you know, we're happy to have the bucks on our schedule 10 times this year. We've got them in some really important windows. And I think coming off the Super Bowl championship, they're going to be even more of a ratings factor. year than they were last season. And also, Alabama's dynasty's kind of sleepy. This is a championship team with all sorts of fireworks. Grong. So it's like it's a good team to be dominating.

They've got offensive players, Arians, Brady. By the way, you have an announcement to make. I believe it's a college football announcement. Yeah, you know, I guess in looking at the schedule and thinking about weeks that really jump out and have a chance to be special, a week that jumps out to me is week one. Yes. Right at the start of the season. really went big week one. Right. The Thursday night game, Dallas and Tampa Bay is a phenomenal game. Hats off to NBC. I hope they knock it out of the park. That's a great way to start the season. For us at Fox, it's a huge weekend because on Saturday we're going to have, and we're revealing this for the first time, Oregon, Ohio State will be our big noon game in that noon eastern window, I think one of the three best non-conference games in the entire country this year. So that's new information. Oregon, Ohio State for big noon.

We will have Yankees Mets later that night. It's the 20th anniversary of 9-11, so that obviously has a chance to be a very special commemoration. And all of that pushes into our week one doubleheader, which I think is going to be one of the most fun days of the season because both Fox and CBS have a double header on the day. We have Green Bay, New Orleans in the late window. CBS has Cleveland at Kansas City.

That's going to be an absolute feast for viewers. It's very rare that the viewer at home has five NFL games to choose. choose from on a Sunday. So from that Dallas Tampa game on Thursday through what we think is a really special college football game at noon on Saturday, through an absolute overabundance of great NFL action to kick off the season. It's going to be a great way to start the year. I think over the next couple months, there are going to be a lot of America is back kind of moments as we get past the pandemic and get back to normal. I think for sports fans, that weekend, from Thursday all the way through Sunday, is really going to feel like a back to normal. And

America is back weekend. That's what we wanted to be. Yeah, good stuff. So Mike Mulvahill, sports executive vice president at Fox, a little bit on how the, as they say, sausage is made. It's fascinating stuff. In the NFL, so many games are interesting. I even think Jets Carolina darnled against the team that dumped him. Week 10, maybe I don't care. Week one, it's a fascinating watch. Mike, it's great having you on the show. Thanks for having me. All right. Speak for Yourself is around the corner. I'm off tomorrow. Joy Taylor. Ryan, all you guys. Guys, thank you so much, and thanks to Mike. NFL schedules out.

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