The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 09/02/2021 - Best of The Herd

Episode Date: September 2, 2021

Colin dives in on Jon Gruden's lack of success he's had since returning to the NFL and what has led to his downfall throughout his career. He completely disagrees with Tony Romo claiming Jets rookie QB Zach Wilson will be a top 3 player in a few years. He also believes Aaron Rodgers will be a repeat MVP contender to start the season but points out where it could all unravel. Plus, Fox Sports College Football Analyst Joel Klatt joins the show to tell Colin which national powerhouse will contend for a championship this season. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer,

Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host,

Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor it? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to, Listen and learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying.

Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast.

From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to the best of Heard Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday. From 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1, find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, it is a Thursday. College football's great weekend starts tonight, live in Los Angeles. It's the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1,

Peter King, Bob Stoops, Joel Clatt, Dodgers, by the way, are now in first place, the best baseball roster. I have seen in 15 to 20 years, top to bottom, which got stronger with the trading deadline with Trey Turner and Max Scherzer. The Brewers, hot knife through butter through the Giants. The Dodgers fly through. Now the injury riddled Braves, and the Dodgers are in first place. I am not a homer because I live in Los Angeles.

I will say, though, that it's nice since I moved to the city. Yes. Everybody wins all the time. There's a magic potion with this. show. We should be re-signed for decades. We just bring winners here. All we do is hang out. Winning energy. That's what we have. Big win energy. That's what. Joy Taylor is with me today. So tonight, we got a college football game. Great college football weekend. So we got Bob Stoops and Clat in the show today. I want to start with this, though. I say this all the time. And I've watched this in

broadcasting. It's amazing who we choose to support and who we choose. use the pick on. And that's why I tell young broadcasters, just don't listen to the noise, believe in your content, work hard. If you do good work and you're a good person, you will make it. But Matt Nagy's been in Chicago three years. He's made the playoffs twice with Mitch Trubisky and everybody wants him out. Gruden has Derek Carr, a much better quarterback, top 10, 12 quarterback, in my opinion, in the NFL, and they're picked for 4.5. place. But you all love Chuckie, and I got nothing against Chuckie. But Mike Mayock, the GM, and let's be honest, Gruden runs the organization, sort of like in Seattle. They got a GM,

but Pete Carroll runs it. I'm not a fan of that. I don't think you should give guys this much power, powerful, big emotional guys with too much wealth and power, screw everything up. But Mike Mayock laid it out yesterday about this season for the Raiders. I think John and I would both tell you that we feel like we need to be a playoff team this year. And I don't think there's any doubt about that. And you guys are all going to put that in your headlines and I understand it. But we're not, I mean, that's what the expectation is. We think we've done the infrastructure work necessary to put us in position. And we got to take care of business. All right. The pressure is on. We need to be a playoff team. They will

not. Gruden's fascinating. So I think John Gruden knows football. I know John. I like John. He knows football. That's not the question. But personalities matter. And that's why I always said it was very dangerous to give John a 10-year contract. If you really inspect John's career, last 14 years total, he's made the playoffs five years. And the beginning of his career was better than what's happened recently. Why? Because before John had the big money and the fame, he didn't have as much power, his flaws, his vulnerabilities, his personality, which is he runs really hot, falls in love with players. It didn't hurt as much because, because there was, he was on a leash a little bit, right? He had an owner, he had a GM. He didn't have

ultimate power. If you go look at John Gruden's last six years, last three in Tampa, or excuse me, Last three in Tampa, last three in Las Vegas slash Oakland. His teams have all ended the same way. They've either been bad all year or awful post- Thanksgiving. Look at John Gruden's career in December. It's never been good. With the Raiders, it was its best. He won 41% of his games in December.

The Bucks, it was bad, 38%. Raiders, it's terrible, 28. He wins 37% of his Denver games. Yet the five winningest December coaches in the NFL, since John came back are Pete Carroll, Belichick, Andy Reid, Sean Peyton Harbaugh. Why? By the way, those are the five best coaches, arguably. Why? Because they have strong messages. Some are intense. Some are laid back. They're all different personalities. Andy and Peter are different personalities. Sean Peyton and Belichick, different personalities. That's not what bothers me.

But I've always felt once John went to TV, he kind of became a salesman. I'm selling this rant to you right now. and John salespeople sell whatever they need to sell today to sell the product. And that's not authentic and that wears thin with players. So as we've given this guy that's highly emotional that runs really hot, a 10-year contract, an ultimate power, his messaging falls flat and his teams erode over the season. He is a bad coach post- Thanksgiving. But I don't think he's a bad coach.

That's why with Gruden, I never love. liked the 10-year contract. I'd give Andy Reid a 10-year contract. That's a different personality. I would give Belichick a 10-year contract. That's a different personality. I would never give Jim Harbaugh a 10-year contract. He runs too hot. I'd never give Gruden a 10-year contract. He runs too hot. But it's interesting now, if you go look at Gruden's career, last three years in Tampa, and with this Raider reunion, it's the same story. Bad late. really bad late. And that's coincided with his wealth,

his fame, his power. So not all coaches, John can coach. But when you lay it out there, this year, I think this team's his worst team. I think they have the worst offensive line. They have a weird cap situation.

And I wish him the very best of luck because I like him. But when he signed that 10-year deal, I said, he's not the personality to sign a 10-year contract. We've all worked with people. We've all worked with people. Oh, that's a 10-year deal. And then, you know, sometimes you fall in love with somebody.

You marry somebody you think it's going to last forever. A lot of times you date somebody you think you're going to have a fun weekend in Vegas with. And I think John is more the latter than the former. And so Mike Mayock laid it out there. We're a playoff team. Good luck with that because I don't see it. I see a fourth place roster in that division. I like Tony Romo.

I defended him forever when he was a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. I did. I was always a huge Romo fan. I think he's a terrific broadcaster. But he's officially lost his mind. He said this yesterday about Jets' rookie quarterback, Zach Wilson. I think Zach Wilson is going to be in discussion as one of the top three to five quarterbacks very quickly. You know, within the next couple of years, I think you're going to see him rise.

I think he's unbelievable. His ceiling is so high. It's rare for me to say someone has the ability to get in the stratosphere of a Mahomes, but I think this kid actually has that ability. There is zero chance that Zach Wilson in the next, quote, couple of years will be a top three quarterback. How do I know that? Because if Patrick Mahomes didn't win, he would be Matt Stafford.

Crazy talented, big stats. massive arm, and we'd never talk about him. Quarterback is about winning. James Winston threw for 5,000 yards and 33 touchdowns. What did Tampa do? See ya. He went 7 and 9. 9 and 7, Brady does not end up in Tampa.

You watch Matt Stafford this year. He's past his prime. This is year 13. He's not in his prime. We've never put him in top 10. We don't even talk about him. He is going to be in every single, top 10 list by the end of this year.

Is it because he's better? Is it because his stats will explode? No, it's because he'll be winning. I'll give you an example. I like Derek Carr. Derek Carr's last two years, he has carried the Raiders and they're a horrible defense. Look at these numbers the last two years for Derek Carr.

They're insane. He completes 69% of his throws. His touchdown to interception ratio is insane, 48 to 17. His passer ratings over. a hundred. And when I suggest he's a top 10 quarterback, you mock me, you crush me, you destroy me. Why? Because he doesn't win. Zach Wilson has no chance to be a top three quarterback in the next two years. Here's what would have to happen just in his division. Forget about Justin Herbert. Forget about Patrick Mahomes, Josh, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield, all these

AFC quarterbacks we like. Forget about all those guys. For him in the next two years to be a top three quarterback, he would have to win. So that means Josh Allen would regress badly. The Miami situation would have to regress badly, not just quarterback everything. I mean, they won last year with Ryan Fitzpatrick and two of them. New England, Mack Jones implodes. Folks, when you finish third or fourth in division, you are not a top quarterback. The only reason we have Mahomes won is because he wins.

He gets to Super Bowls. I mean, there's a lot of people out there that would tell you to Sean Watson and Lamar are way more athletic than Mahomes. Aaron Rogers throws a slicker ball. Brady's more efficient. Mahomes ends up in Super Bowls. He's the best come from behind quarterback in the last couple years in the NFL, maybe one of the best I've ever seen. And so this is nothing against Tony Romo. I like him.

but Zach Wilson has the worst coach in his division and the worst roster. The AFC East has never had better coaches that I can recall. Flores McDermott-Belichick, A-A-A-A-plus. So love Tony Romo, but that's not going to happen. This is not baseball where you can bat 340 for a lousy team and we write columns about you. That's not what we do in football. Football is about winning. Brady doesn't have the biggest arm.

He's not the biggest quarterback. he's not the most athletic he's not the best he wins the most that's why he's the goat joe montana was not as talented i'd argue as troy aickman he kept going to super bowl's and winning he was a goat and it was replaced by another guy that just won more than him and that's Brady and Brady's the goat you think Montana and Brady the best quarterbacks the best darts that just won the biggest game so therefore they're the goats the zoo in the NFL the goats they just have the most rings that's the way it He's not going to win a lot of games next two years. He's talented.

Matt Stafford's been talented forever. We never talk about him. You put him top five or six in the NFL in Detroit. You get laughed at. I mean, literally people would be like, Matt Stafford, I'll give me a break. He finishes fourth. He finishes third. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. 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'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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-taped Little Kills, Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do with a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84's big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day.

Yeah, yeah, literally. But just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed, correct. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line.

We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to my new podcast. Learn the hard way with. me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing,

we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tontons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your. your podcast. I've said this about Aaron Rogers. You know this. I lay it out there. I have strong

opinions on quarterbacks. I think Aaron, there's two versions of Aaron. He's a very complex guy. There's nice Aaron and there's a nasty Aaron. He turns on people fast. I think there's swell Aaron and snarky Aaron. I think there's pleasant Aaron and passive aggressive Aaron. He turns on people. We've seen him turn on his family. He ghost people. He turns on people. Okay. That's fine. Whatever. But that's what he is. You know, break. He's got all these long relationships, families. He's just different personality. And it's Aaron, I've always said.

There's a statistic out there with Aaron that you can't deny. He plays great with a lead. He's more, he's a little bit of a bailer in tough situations. He'll bail on people. He'll ghost people. I've had multiple people that know Aaron. And that's just his personality. So when the going gets tough, I don't love him.

When the going's going well, he's great. He's the best play with the lead guy in the league. and there's stats that back that up. He has very few come from behind wins, fewer than Andy Dalton, fewer than Matt Ryan, I think fewer than Derek Carr. How's that possible? He's not a going-and-get-tuff foxhole guy. That's not who he is.

That's more Russell Wilson's personality. That's more Brady's personality. That has clearly become Patrick Mahomes' personality, right? And so it's very interesting. Brian Gudenkoons and Aaron Rogers had a really bad offseason. It was bad. It was bad. but apparently

Brian saying it's been pretty good couple weeks here I've had really good conversations throughout camp with Aaron and Matt and I think the communication has been really,

really good and so as we went into this kind of decision making period I think everybody, all the people that are kind of involved in that were very aware of what was going on

and why we were doing what we were doing. So I feel really good about that and the conversations that I've had with it. Aaron of the next line. Well, it's preseasoned, so they should be excellent. And you're picked to win the division, and they should be excellent. I really think, I said, Aaron's got two personalities. And we've seen this. I think the Packers season, what's fascinating about it is two seasons.

There is the first six weeks where they face several teams that are rebuilding. They face the Saints, and they face Detroit, and they face the Bengals, and they face hit and miss Chicago. They get a host Pittsburgh. Road game at San Francisco's no day at the beach, but they're trying to figure out their quarterback situation. That's season one. I think Aaron's going to be five and one. We're going to be talking about back-to-back MVP's. Whether it's going to be good in Wisconsin. Badgers winning, Packers winning, Aaron, a good mood. And there's the second season, and it starts Sunday, October 24th. This is the lowest rated Packer offensive line I can recall. The PFF, the grading camps, put it at like 16, 17th. Not a great old line. They lost

to Pro Bowl Center, David Bocciari's, an elite pass blocking left tackle. Could be the best in football. He's on the Pup list. He's not back until, I think, Chicago or the Washington game. The second season for Green Bay is brutal. Washington, best front in the NFL. Arizona on the road. Great pass rush.

At Kansas City, Seattle, at Minnesota Rams. A couple weeks later, at Baltimore, Cleveland. A lot of pass rushes, a lot of good teams. the weather turns. So we've seen kind of a dual personality with Aaron. This is two seasons for Green Bay, and I can't wait to watch it. Because I think Aaron's going to have a great September 12th to October 17th. MVP level talked, he's going to be happy.

O-line's not great, but you're not facing a lot there that could disrupt it. Second season starts Sunday, October 24th. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, Weekdays, and noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straight Fire 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. Some 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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at It podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really?

Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross because you find it important to be a good person

while you hear on earth? Or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure,

and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, iHeartRadio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast.

Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away,

such as the biology of tontons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business, sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Bo Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A lot of pressure on Jim Harbaugh. The Athletic had a tremendous article on Harbaugh.

It was a deep dive on what has gone wrong. Remember, he started 10 and 3, 10 and 3. So the first two years, there were no complaints. He'd won at Stanford. He'd won at San Diego. He got to a Super Bowl. Mick Saban couldn't win an NFL. Harbaugh got to a Super Bowl.

That should not be lost. Spurrier couldn't win in the NFL. Sabin couldn't win in the NFL. Harbaugh got to a Super Bowl in a division with Pete Carroll. Okay, pretty good. And the article goes on to say, much like Gruden, too many yes, man. He needed to go find younger, confident coaches who will push back that can connect with recruits better.

The recruiting's gone downhill. And Harbaal really had too much power. So the athletic director sat him down and said, we're going to redo your contract. You've got to win more games. It's about winning football games. So Harbaugh, who runs, he's like, he can bulldoze people. It's a big, strong personality, had this big, fat contract, and got rid of people who pushed back on him, got rid of coaches who didn't agree with him, and they went down south fast. So it's a fascinating article.

Bruce Feldman came on the show yesterday, and I've said from about Harbaugh is that, I mean, look at his resume before Michigan. In fact, look at his resume up until year three at Michigan. Win, win, win, win, win, win. Everything worked. He turned Michigan around immediately. Then about year three and four, it started going sideways. Here's Feldman. The hardest thing for him is he had a pretty decent start the first few years. And then honestly, at the end of 2018, it just kind of fell apart. And then it's been sputtering since then. I think he's had a hard time establishing identity there, which is curious because he was always Mr. Physical Football, right? Tight ends, fullbacks, that's him. and it seems like they've kind of lost their way with that. They have and they've also struggled to land a quarterback.

And I've always said about Michigan, they're not as good as Ohio State. If they can beat them once every four years, take it. They should beat Michigan State and they should win their bowl games more consistently. But I like Harbaugh. I think because Jim rubs people the wrong way and he's kind of hyper-aggressive, that he turns people off. Urban Meyer can do that with people. There's already people rooting against Urban.

But if you go look at Harbaugh's career, it's better than Sabre. early. I mean, he turned around the University of San Diego. Stanford was the worst team in the conference. A few years later, they were a 41-point underdog and beat Pete Carroll at the Coliseum when USC was the best program in the country. He goes to the NFL. He goes to Stanford. He goes to the NFL. He gets to a Super Bowl. First two years at Michigan took over for Brady Hoke. 10-3-10-3. They're not going to beat Ohio State. That's not who they are.

They're not as good as Ohio State. But I'd love to see him get back on track, and I think they will. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day. Seven Days a Week within the IHeart Radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. We like athletic quarterbacks. I mean, the rules have changed. Of course.

Nobody's saying you want a statue. But it is fascinating to, when Mac Jones was drafted, I was the guy out there saying, you know, the play's got to be kind of designed for him. He's not going to move. I've said the same thing about two. I feel the ceiling's lower. But if you go to the last.

five Super Bowls, here have been the quarterbacks in the game. Some of the least athletic in the league. Brady twice, Nick Foles, oh, Brady again, Matt Ryan, Jared Gough, and Jimmy Garofalo. Those are pocket guys. By the way, Patrick Mahomes is athletic, but he averages 17 and a half yards rushing a game. He's a pocket guy. He can move, but he's a pocket guy. The quarterback position is a distribution position. First, I love Lamar Jackson. I defend him on every show. Russell Wilson's one of my faves.

But I do think with Russell, when you're 5.11 and a half, the run thing's really valuable. Kyler Murray, he needs to be able to run. Fran Tarkington was smaller. He needed to run. Russell needs to be able to run. It's not good to be shorter and a pocket guy. It helps to be 6, 3, 6.6.4. You can peer over your 6-7 offensive line.

So I'm not anti-athleticism, but we've gone so far now. We're forgetting the quarterback is a distribution position. First, 75% of it's that, maybe 80%. It's like point guard. Everybody loves point guards who score. One great scoring point guard ever has won championships repeatedly, Steph Curry. He is the outlier.

That's it. James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Stevie Francis, Marbury, Ivers. all the great scoring point guards, Damon Stoddemeier, and no titles. Steph Curry is the outlier. So everybody thinks, oh, that's what you don't want your point guards. You want your point guard distributing first. Steph Curry happens to be the best shooter in the history of the sport.

He's an outlier. And I do think Russell Wilson is the best scrambling quarterback I've ever seen in my life. He never gets hit. Nine years, he never gets hit. That's unheard of. So like Russell, like Steph Curry, you're talking about an. otherworldly, unique, all-time. I mean, Lamar Jackson can run.

He gets lit up. Michael Vick could run. He'd get lit up. Kyler could get. Nobody hits Russell. Whatever. It doesn't make any sense. And so there are these guys like a staffer of Russell Wilson where they just, we think

you can duplicate that. You can't. You just can't duplicate that. And Josh McDaniels talked about yesterday, Mack Jones starting. Ultimately, he's a 99% nine podcast. guy but they like what they see. Really works hard. He puts a lot of time into it. He's been well prepared each day to come in and do the things that we ask our guys to do. He's learned how to operate what we've asked them to operate so far, you know, fairly well.

He's generally taking care of the football and he's given the other 10 guys on the field an opportunity to do their job effectively and produce positive plays. So I'm excited for it. And it's not that we don't like athletic quarterbacks. kids that can move. But this point guards and quarterbacks are generally get the ball to my great athletes on the perimeter. That's inaudible, in and out of trouble. Into good plays, out of trouble. That's what the position is. And Mac Jones can do that. I think at a very high level. How high? I don't know. I don't trust the preseason. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the I-Hard Radio app. Once or twice a year, Joey and I'll go to a high school or a college and you

speak to young people and young broadcasters. And, you know, I'm viewed as a controversial and polarizing, which is nonsense. I always tell them, if you want to be controversial, just say the truth. It's why Bill Maher drives far-left liberals, not most liberals, but the far-left wakadoo on Twitter crowd nuts is because he's right most of the time. And when you're right and people consume you, nobody hates what they don't consume. All my hate mail is fan mail. It's all the same.

I get paid the same for it's all the same. clicks are not my most, my most popular downloads are not my zanious contrarian takes. It's when I have my strongest opinions that are right, but nobody quite wants me to be as harsh as I am. Like the Jets fans are freaking out because I'm like Zach Wilson has zero chance, zero to be a top three quarterback in this league in two years. He's not going to win enough games, period. He's not as talented as Matt Stafford, and we never talk about Matt Stafford.

Matt Stafford, you don't win enough games. And so what I'm about to say will drive people crazy, but the Cleveland Browns are going to start the season 0-1-1. Yep, and I like them. Why am I saying that? Because Andy Reid is the greatest September football coach in league history, and because Patrick Mahomes is really good and always healthy in week one, here are Patrick Mahomes September numbers so far in the NFL.

I'm not making this up. 32 touchdowns and no picks. 10-0. A perfect passer rating. And Cleveland's got a new secondary. And even if they didn't, Cleveland would be an underdog by a touchdown, and that's about what they're an underdog now. It's nothing against Cleveland.

But this is the hardest game in the NFL to win every year at Arrowhead in September, Andy Reed and Mahomes. They're 10-0. 32 touchdowns, no pick. Cleveland, very strong likelihood they start the season, oh and one. That's it. That's the tweet, as they say.

That's it. I had Andy Reid on yesterday, and we talked about this. I said, you're getting to a point with Mahomes. Okay, like, what is, as a coach, like, where's the improvement? Like, what do you tweak at this point? I mean, right now it's small things, Colin. And it's not the big things that he had a couple years ago that he had to learn. These are small things, whether it's just improving his footwork or pocket reads and feel on certain routes.

I mean, that's where you're at. And so he can't wait to figure out what those things are, what you think they are, and then go ahead and look at the tape himself and then add to that and then go work on it. And he's great that way. There are very few guarantees in the NFL. Here are the two. Belichick against young quarterbacks. Now, Josh Allen may beat him, but they will play poorly.

Don't argue it. Zach Wilson is going to struggle twice against New England. I'll just tell you right now, Tua is going to struggle twice. Josh Allen will struggle at least once because he's moving from young to prime. He's kind of moving out of the young class. And the second one is Andy Reid in September. He sits around all off season. He's texted me these.

He sent me these. He did a couple years ago. He's sending me these. He goes, wait till you see what we do here. They're not going to believe this play. Remember he was the one years ago. He found that play in the Rose Bowl, like the 60s, Michigan Rose Bowl. He found a play.

That's what Andy does. By the way, he has unraveled Belichick in September. Like he's humiliated Belichick and Brady. Remember a few years ago? About five, six years ago, we all said Brady's done. So Cleveland's going to start on one. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific

on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. So tonight, college football stars, is a huge weekend. And Joel Clatt, a lot of times, he likes to argue with me. I think we're going to have a better year together. I think we're going to have some symmetry and get along better this year. I'm hoping for that. The heels are wounds. We've been very in each other's throats for the last couple.

That's interesting because you have some hot takes going into the... Oh, I got some bigons. Some college football season. I wonder if Joel will agree. Okay, so he is calling the Ohio State Minnesota game tonight. Let's bring him in live. He's also doing Penn State Wisconsin Saturday. Look at that.

Boy, he looks like the voice of college football right there. He's all dressed up and stuff. What's going on? Okay, so I'm going to throw a... I'm going to throw one at you before we get to this Big Ten stuff tonight. I'm going to throw one at you right now. Chip Kelly's best team ever, and they're going to beat LSU this weekend. Tell me I'm wrong, Clat.

I think that you're wildly wrong. His best team ever was a wild play away from winning a national championship. So, no, UCLA is not going to be one snap away from winning a national championship. That's absolutely ludicrous. You could not be more wrong. It might be his best team at UCLA. and they may potentially beat LSU, but I think it's going to be a tall order. Dorian Thompson Robinson's got to play better than he did against Hawaii, right?

Hawaii is basically like a glorified JV team. That's not a huge knock. They're just not very good right now. And he didn't play well last week. If he plays better, then they'll have a shot against LSU. There's no doubt. That seems very negative to me. Okay, whatever, we'll move past that one.

So let's get to this. You know, the Big Ten's doing something here, and I don't know if it's very good. I love it, but they got. real teams playing each other week one. I mean, Penn State, Wisconsin, week one, I don't get a layup. I go right to the rim against the bad boy pistons. So what do you make of the Big Ten having these massive games in week one, like tonight? Well, I was going to say, I mean, this one's a huge one, obviously, with Ohio State on the road against Minnesota and Ohio State's first game of the year and the first start for their new quarterback, C.J. Stroud.

But, you know, we've seen this over the last couple of years. Remember, I know it was a pandemic year, but last year, Penn State opened on the road against Indiana, and they lost that game on the Michael Pinnock's reach for the pylon. They did not recover that first month. Remember, they started Ofer, I believe they were 0 and 5 going into the Michigan game. So it's difficult. There's no doubt about it. And I can't wait until Saturday.

I actually like it, though, because you get the eyes and the focus at the college football world on your conference early in the year. Remember, Indiana and Iowa are going to play early here in the season. So all the focus is. going to be on the Big Ten this week. And granted, there's a couple of big ins on Saturday outside of the Big Ten, but the bulk of the college football schedule is going to rest right here in the Big Ten conference. And they're going to have to go and prove it.

Now, that Wisconsin Penn State game, though, here's what's so interesting is that those are two teams that have bona fide, I would say, expectations to potentially challenge and win their division. Maybe Penn State a little less so because of Ohio State, but certainly Wisconsin. So getting off on the right foot, as was proven a year. ago in Penn State not being able to do that is going to be very important for those two teams. Yeah, I think Wisconsin is such a great program. Nobody talks about Wisconsin because their coach wears a hoodie and he doesn't sell, you know, he's not a big salesman or anything. He looks like

my accountant. But I love Wisconsin. I like what they stand for. It's like Clat. I like what you stand for. That's like we bring on the show. I like your values. I like Wisconsin's values. I appreciate that. I'm sensing a lot of olive branches being extended here. You want to turn the You're tired of me stuffing you into a locker every week, and so you're wanting this to be more cordial. I'm with you here. This is good. Okay. So how about this one?

I don't, you know, new quarterbacks are fine. Big Ten's pretty interesting at the top. I don't know. This Ohio State kid open up against Minnesota on the road. This doesn't feel like an easy one tonight. Who is this Ohio State quarterback? Can he play? Yes.

Remember, that quarterback. room is loaded. While they have zero experience, I think they're the only FBS team with zero passing attempts in their quarterback room, period. But it's still incredibly talented. Remember, they had a five-star kid McCord. They've got highly recruited. Quinn Ewers came in. He reclassified and came in. Granted, he's been here like 32 seconds. So C.J. Stroud can play. There's no doubt about it. He got into that Michigan State game last year and went on a 48-yard run. Like, in order to be the quarterback and win a legitimate battle at this school and this program, you've got to be able to play. And then here's the thing that I

think we should all focus on is, and we do in the NFL a bit, Colin, we talk about the supporting cast, right? How, what this rookie quarterback doesn't have the supporting cast? This one does. You know, what's the fit? What does it look like all around that player? Well, around C.J. Stroud, it looks unbelievable. They have potentially the best offensive line in the country. In fact, when I'm talking with their coaches, they talk about, you know, when you're talking about the lifetime of NFL contracts sitting on the offensive line just for Ohio State, you're looking at like a quarter of a billion dollars in front of C.J. Stroud. They are legit up front. They've got a great stable of running backs, including a guy that no one has seen yet, Travion Henderson, a true freshman. Very excited to see him

tonight. They've got the best and deepest stable of wide receivers in all of college football. They've got a guy that potentially could win the Mackey Award as the best tight end in Jeremy Ruckert. it is an embarrassment of riches for C.J. Stroud. So if you're going to come in with no experience, granted at a place with high expectations, but this is a type of offense that you want a quarterback. And I didn't even mention that they've got one of the best minds and play callers in the sport and Ryan Day at the helm. All right, let's segue over to Michigan.

You and I have mostly been supportive of Jim, and I thought his career was flying. He was really, he was the guy at San Diego and Stanford and the 9th. Niners in the Super Bowl in Michigan, back-to-back 10 and 3. And then it just didn't work. And I have this, and then this, I just read a story in the athletic today where, listen, he had to redo his staff. The AD sat him down. And I said earlier today, there are certain personalities, Gruden's one, Harbaugh's one. They can bulldoze people.

And you've got to make sure when you build a staff, you have people on a staff that push back. Because Jim will just run you over. And Gruden will just run you over. And I do feel like Jim got a little too much power at Michigan based on his Super Bowl in the contract. And I think he needs people to push back. That's my 30,000 feet view. What do you make of that? I think that sounds good in theory.

I don't think that that's right because he's been giving up power for a while. Josh Gaddis, remember, came in a couple of years ago and totally changed the offense. and he kind of exited from that role of trying to be the main identity of the offense. I think that this reminds me a lot. Do you remember back in like the early, what was it, 2011, 2012, Colin, when Mack Brown had struggled for a couple of years. They go to the national championship in 09. Colt McCoy goes down, Bama wins.

And then they struggle for a couple of years. And then he just fired his whole staff. Right. And he brought in all these new guys. Now, if you'll remember, they were very good. good young coaches, and they have since gone on to have very good careers, but it didn't work at Texas. Brian Harsson was the offensive coordinator of that team back there at Texas. Didn't work out. He had to leave and go back to Boise. Manny Diaz was the defensive quarter, a nice young

defensive coordinator, didn't work out at Texas. He had to move on. Now he's the head coach at Miami. Of course, Harrison is at Auburn. So it's worked out for those guys. They're good coaches, but it didn't work at Texas. I don't know if this is going to work. I'm also reminded that Bob Stoop's transition to staff late in. his tenure at Oklahoma, and it did work to the Lincoln Riley's of the world. So we've seen this a couple of times. I think it's a 50-50 proposition right now at Michigan. I think Michigan could have a very average 500 type year, and I think they could go back to being a 10-and-3 team. I think they're the biggest unknown in the Big Ten conference right now. All right, so I like Sark a lot,

and I like people who stumble in life and give him a second chance, and I'm a big fan of Sark, and I thought he was a great coordinator, and I love that Nick Sabin gave him a chance, the one coordinator of the year and he goes to Texas. They got the best running back, in my opinion, in the country. He's always, even at USC, Washington, he can recruit. But they face Louisiana in the opener and that team is all, they're good. Nobody watches them. They're really good.

And I wonder about all this SEC talk and I look at Texas this year. What is Texas? What does Joel Clatt expect from Texas? Because I'm kind of resting on recruiting. I'm like, well, he likes to run. They got a good back. They'll run the ball. Can they play? Their defense always disappoints me in the last several years.

What am I going to get from Texas this year? That's a great question. I thought he did a great job hiring his staff. Pete Kutikowski is their defensive coordinator. I think that was a very good move. I think they should be better on defense, although that remains to be seen. This new quarterback, I'm very interested in. Hudson Card, this young kid, they're very high on him. And rest assured that that staff, it would have been easier for them to go with Casey Thompson, the older quarterback.

because now they're probably going to lose a guy like Casey Thompson to the transfer portal because the sense of urgency is on him to get on the field and now he's got a younger kid playing ahead of him at the University of Texas. So it didn't actually behoove them from a roster standpoint to name the young kid, the starter. He went out and earned that job. I'm with you on Bejohn Robinson. I think he's the best back in the country.

He's my number three guy right now in the preseason for the Heisman trophy. This week is a tough one. But to your point, I believe Steve Sarkesian is going to work at Texas because we've seen him work before. Let's not make the mistake of erasing history here. He took over a winless Washington team. You're from Seattle.

You remember that. Tyrone Willingham went 0 and 12. And Steve D'Archeon came in there and built what eventually Chris Peterson took over to go to a playoff. Right? Like he got him back to a winning program and then to a perennial bowl team. And then he went to USC and some personal problems derailed

that issue there at USC. But he's a really good coordinator. And As long as he's right personally, I think he's going to have a lot of success at Texas. I don't think this whole SEC thing is going to mess with the kids because remember now, they're kids, right? These are 18 to 22 year olds. They've got blinders on. They can't see further than five feet in front of their face. So a lot of times, you talk about the future like that, it really doesn't matter for them. They're not going to hear that noise. I think Texas wins this week, and I think that they have a very good year. And I think they're one of the challengers for Oklahoma in the Big 12.

Okay, so Clats do in Ohio State, Minnesota tonight. It's on Fox at 730 Eastern. It's going to be fantastic. Penn State, Wisconsin, Saturday. Okay, let me circle back because you kind of brushed off what I thought was a brilliant question. So let's go back to the Chip Kelly thing. I'm going to rephrase it. Who is going to be the best college football team in L.A. in three months?

USC or UCLA? Oh, that's now, listen, your first question was okay. It was average. That one was a good one. That's a good question. I'm hoping. I can't see you right now, but Joy,

I hope he's sitting back in his chair with like his shoulders kind of puffed up and like, yes, very proud Papa style, because that was a good question. Here's the deal. I just don't trust USC to do the right things

as far as running the football. I know they're talented. I'm a fan of their quarterback. I think their defense will be better. But when it comes down to it, like they just, I don't trust them and I'm going to trust the run game for UCLA

in three months the best team in L.A. is the UCLA Bruins. Whoa! I'll tell you something. Not a terrible start for us. You blew me off. I was okay with it.

I was the adult in that situation. I came around and we had a nice 12, 15 minute talk. I thought you were very good today, Clat. We're going to bring you on next week. I thought you were very good. No, listen, your last question

in particular kind of saved it. Kind of put a bow on. I thought it was very good. Well done. It's not how you start, Colin. That's how you finish. Boom.

Exactly. Good seeing you, clatt. You too. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

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