The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 09/22/2021 - Best of The Herd

Episode Date: September 22, 2021

Colin pushes back against Aaron Rodgers calling out the media for creating “false narratives” by pointing that Rodgers is the one who put himself in this situation. He has bad news for the Steelers as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is dealing with another injury and what this says about their future without him. He reacts to rookie QB Justin Fields getting announced as the starter in week 3 against the Browns. Plus, Fox Sports College Football analyst Joel Klatt joins the show to tell Colin if the field of contenders for the National Championship is as wide open as it has ever been.   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 I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On The Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me.

I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, 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. 84 was a wild year. 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. 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 grahammed.

Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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 Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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 Heard. Heard with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. This is The Herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening. We are live in Los Angeles, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. It is great to have you in today.

One hour from now, Joel Clad on Wednesday. We'll talk college football, some massive, massive games this week, including Wisconsin and Notre Dame. updates on the USC job. Two or three names are now surfacing. Joy, you know, Joy, it's Wednesday, and so that is us reacting to Aaron Rogers' weekly grievance. I mean, is that what today means?

That's what it means. You know, it's interesting. I find Aaron fascinating because he, in the offseason, the quote he had, which was beautiful mystery. Right. And then the second quote was, silence is often wisdom. yet there's no mystery and no silence. He literally is driving all these stories because he won't stop talking.

It's interesting. He's a lot of work. So let's just start with that. Nate Burleson, former NFL player, Bill Cower, legendary coach on CBS. We're very critical of Aaron Rogers. Apparently I didn't see it this past week. Aaron, by the way, watches and here's everything. Not married, no kids, Green Bay, small town, can't go out publicly.

like one restaurant he goes to legendarily. He sits home and consumes a lot of what people say about him. This is not a guy with kids and a family and Aaron's not overly close to his family. A lot of time consuming stuff about you and it gets in your head and you create these little minefield. So apparently Bill Cower and I read the quotes, Cowher said stuff like, you know, he comes out kind of selfish. Nate Burleson said, you know, it feels like it's a little. bit about himself. These are not zany opinions. These are shared by almost everybody. Apparently, a former teammate who knows him well, Jermichael Finley, you know, went out and just basically said,

you know, he's not really committed. He doesn't look like he was committed against the Saints. These are not out of left field. A lot of people were saying a lot of things. And Nate Burleson and Bill Cower and Jermichael Finley, I don't know, they played the game at a pretty high level. So Aaron had a couple of comments firing back on the Pat McAfee show. We like Pat. Here's the first one. What's crazy to me is to let one storyline by a person who has no contact with me, has zero relationship.

So that becomes some sort of narrative that's out there, that now I somehow don't care about ball because of my zero. in attitude in the op season? Yeah, Jermichael Finley actually did have a relationship with you, but you ghosted him, like you do to many people. I've got seven I counted this morning that have told me that, Aaron. If anybody's ever critical of Aaron, he ghosts them, he ignores them. Aaron likes relationships that he can control and that people just say nice things about him.

Aaron's complaining about don't know me. Jer Michael Finley knows you, and that's who you're talking about, has no relationship with me. Well, that's because you won't have any relationship with anybody who pushes back. It's you and your Hollywood friends and people who suck up to you. By the way, you don't have a relationship with your family, Aaron, because they won't suck up to you. So this idea that Jermichael Finley's opinion has no credibility, he played in the NFL at a high level. He was a teammate. But I've had multiple people tell me that if you don't suck up to Aaron,

Aaron. He'll only go on shows where you just, you know, you let him say what he wants to say. And that's fine. But let's not pretend that Jermichael Finley is a nobody didn't play football, never played with you because that's who you're addressing. You don't have a lot of relationships, Aaron. You don't have a lot of people outside of your little football teammates. Here's the second comment from Aaron Rogers. It's absolute horses to give a platform to people who have no idea what they're talking about as far as my mental state and, you know, my focus, my work habits, people that have not been around me. They're not in my life. I don't have communication with them or not in the locker room.

I mean, that's just, that's just, it's chicken. You know, it's so ridiculous that people get a platform to do this, and it's the same type of people. Your work habits, Aaron? They're well documented. You skipped all of your off-season program. You admitted that. You didn't work out with your receivers all year. Russell Wilson did. Brady did.

These are public. These aren't reaches by Bill Cower or Jermichael Finley or Nate Burleson. These aren't reaches. This is all public. They commented on that. By the way, if these people, don't deserve a platform. If these people don't know anything,

why does it so deeply bother you? Why are you making these insignificant people so significant? Brough, you're a public figure. Quarterbacks in America are royalty. You're a public figure. These people that aren't qualified,

Bill Cower, Nate Burleson, Jim Michael Finley aren't qualified? I don't know. You want a Super Bowl? Pretty good players. Again, I don't comment on bloggers. If I don't think people have really any access or insight, I don't comment on them. Why are you elevating people and simultaneously saying they have no credibility? Then why are you talking about that? You know, it's so funny when I look at the NFL right now in quarterbacks.

This is so beneath Tom Brady. Can you imagine Tom Brady weekly going out and whining and complaining and being this high maintenance? Like Brady now with seven Super Bowls when he won in Tampa. He's like the dad of all the quarterbacks. He like offers wisdom. He keeps his cool. He's sort of above the fray. And Aaron who can't get to any more Super Bowls is the bratty kid that won't listen to dad.

And it gets very defensive if anybody offers criticism. But I look at this situation now. And it's kind of, Aaron's kind of unraveling. He is, he's in a really, really weird space that he's, the off-season demanding power, this is not my opinion. We all know that. And yet he doesn't like the responsibility that comes with power, which is criticism. And then he spent the off-season talking about beautiful mysteries and the wisdom of silence,

and he won't shut up. He's driving all this stuff. And I'll go back to it. Never married, no kids, not close with family, in a town he can't go outside that's cold and wet by mid-October. It's in his head. He's reading too much. This stuff is just insignificant. You're Aaron Rogers. You're the reigning MVP.

CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN. They're not going to talk about you when you get blown out, when you won't work out. I mean, he's unrambling. And can you imagine Tom Brady wasting this kind of time, how small it would look to be bothered by a former tight end. By the way, Brady gets along, you know, with his former teammates. He doesn't ghost them. Heard brought to you by Jersey Mike's subs, be a sub above. So I said this. When quarterbacks get old, you know, we've seen this with a breeze. Brady's December record, the last few years in New England wasn't quite as good as stats went down a little bit. We arm fatigue for older players. We get that.

Everybody's fresh in September. But for an older quarterback, you know, gets to be November and in December and, you know, you've thrown 600 passes and all those practices. But what happens when the quarterback looks really old in week two, and that's Ben Rothlessberger, and now in week two, here's the latest, according to his coach. Ben has a peck injury of some kind on his left peck that could affect him from a preparation standpoint. Don't have a idea how much as I sit here right now, but we better be ready to be adjustable and deal with that. I believe, and I said this before the season, that Pittsburgh's in a very, very bad place. They have a quarterback that was shot by the end of last year.

He comes back. They give him more money. They've got no succession plan. They're rebuilding the offensive line, and the division is getting much, much better. Succession plans are hard, but Bill Belichick had one until he was forced to move Garoppolo. The Colts had to make tough decisions. They had one with Peyton Manning. Give the Packers credit.

Aaron Rogers sat and watched far for years. Alex Smith to Mahomes. These are difficult. I'm not saying they're easy. You got to draft somebody. Hopefully the quarterback understands the business of it, but I mean, give Philadelphia credit. the minute Carson Wentz appeared to be brittle, second round. They went out and got Jalen Hertz. I don't know if Jalen Hertz is good, but they got a quarterback and he's committed and he's young and he's

mobile. Pittsburgh, the most disappointing part about this is you saw it coming for a decade. Like COVID caught the country off guard, right? Like there are certain things like, whoa, whoa, we're kind of bailing water here on what to do. I understand situations like that. Or if Russell Wilson tomorrow just retired. Whoa. But when you have a quarterback like Dak or Brady or Breeze or Russell Wilson and you get this offseason commitment, leadership commitment, great with teammates, total team guy, if you got caught off guard with them, if Dak announced retirement tomorrow, I'll give you a total pass.

It may take you five years to figure it out. But Pittsburgh saw this coming for years. They've got an antiquated audible system. It's just simplistic. He didn't work out in the off-season. There was constant drama. He was never the greatest teammate. Leadership, very debatable.

This was the classic case. And Ben is aging like everybody ages in any industry when they don't commit to something. You can't eat like crap. And then all of a sudden, at 62, say, you know what? I'm going to go into vegetables and yoga. Brough, it's too late. It's too late. But the disappointing part of it.

this. Ben is what Ben is. And the Steelers allowed it. Again, if the Seahawks didn't have a succession plan today or Dallas and they got caught off guard, I get it. Because the traits of Russell Wilson, of a Brady in his prime, you know, the traits are totally committed. It's a 24-7 job. Football and family. Ben's been telling you for 12 years, uh, die. quiet, off-season, audible system, leadership. This morning you wake up, I think they're in a really bad spot. Would not be surprised at all.

I'll tell you right now, one of my blazing five picks, Cincinnati plus three and a half at Pittsburgh. This Steeler team and this Steeler franchise, not good. Say what you want about the Packers drafting Jordan Love. Had they given Aaron a heads up? I said, I didn't have a problem drafting him. Moving up, I don't know. Not giving him a text, I don't know.

But it's hard. The succession plan thing, every quarterback gets really insecure. I get it. Pittsburgh's got none. Dwayne Haskins is not really a succession plan. It's a finger cross. He didn't work at the other place. 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 I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw,

unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast,

it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, Follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap 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 Jett.

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 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, 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. Yes. 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, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast,

Learn the Hardway. Open your free, our Heart Radio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. Great players want to be coached hard. I've never met a great player. They want to be pushed.

I talked to Tony Dungee recently about Peyton Manning. Peyton wanted to be coached hard. Brady wanted to be coached hard. Kobe Bryant wanted to be coached hard. All great players do. The rest of the guys are insecure. If you're really great, you want people to get the most out of you.

And so Bruce Ariens, and I love this, is criticizing Tom Brady, the goat, but said this week there was a moment that ticked him off. The sack fumble, he just should have got that out of his hand. He was getting little greedy and he should have got that ball out of his hand and we got a field goal. Of all the drives in the game, that was the one I was most disappointed in because that was when we got the penalty. We're going in the score. We get the penalty for rough and. then we get to sack fumble. It should have been 14-0.

That put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day. I'm totally okay with that. Sean McVeigh got very frustrated with Jared Gough, started holding him accountable for all the turnovers, not knowing the playbook, not having the ability to go deeper into the playbook. He had to call Jared Gough's audibles for him. He held him accountable.

Sean McVeigh should, and the Rams today are better for it. The Steelers, by the way, have never held Ben accountable. What are they today? Rams look great to me. Steelers look like they could fold fast. By the way, the Philadelphia 76ers have never held Ben Simmons accountable. Now I think he's got all the leverage.

Sean Payton came out and publicly criticized Michael Thomas. Well, Sean Payton is largely considered, along with Andy Reid, the best offensive coach since Bill Walsh. And Michael Thomas, I've been told this by a Saints long-time. employee is difficult and is hard to coach. And Sean Payton came out and said, you're hard to coach. This is on you. It's okay. The reason the NFL ratings this year, have you seen them? They're going through the roof. Any show, including ours that is connected to the NFL. Up, up, up. Why? Because it's like a real workplace. You can hold people accountable.

The NBA, in my opinion, is panders too often to stars. The great players want to be coached hard. You know, Ben Simmons doesn't want to be great. He doesn't want to be coached hard. All right. He's just going to make a lot of money. That's fine. But I love that Goff holds, or McVeigh holds golf responsible.

I like that Bruce Ariens goes out. I'd love to see more of this in the NBA. But if an NBA coach to even a marginal player says anything, he's in big trouble. But this is okay. This is fine. Bruce Ariens is a coach. He's earned the right to criticize. even the goat. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

Hey, what's up everybody? It's me three-time Pro Bowl of LaVar Arrington and I couldn't be more excited to announce a new podcast called Up on Game. What is Up on Game, you ask? Along with my fellow Pro Bowler, T.J. Hushman Zada and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right. Plexico Burris. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. Up on Game. We're going to be sharing our real-life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up On Game with me, LaVar Arington, T.J. Hushmanzada, and Plexico Burris on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast from. 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.

A win is a win. A win is a win. Yep, that's me, Clipper Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement

to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music.

The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space. For honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart 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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap 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 a little count? 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 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 is big to me not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed. That's correct. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes.

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 Hardway 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, 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 Hardway. Open your free, our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. You know, one of the things that you rarely see in the NFL is a lousy contract. You know, in baseball, you sign these stars to 10-year deals. Even the stars, like you're like four years in and you're like, oh, this doesn't feel right.

You see that a lot in baseball. There are a lot of bad contracts because the contracts are so long and guaranteed. In the NBA right now, Ben Simmons is a terrible contract. And remember, in the NBA, you have. have to spend a certain amount. And so sometimes you're just given huge contracts to Otto Porter, who's a nice player a few years ago. He got a contract. There are a lot of guys in this league paid like stars, and they're C players. And in the NFL, you don't see it a lot. I mean, you could cut Tom Brady today. He's not much of a cap hit. You could literally cut the goat.

You couldn't cut Russell Wilson. You wouldn't want to, and you couldn't because he's a huge cap hit. But I mean, I mean, think about the Rams right now. They're paying. Jared Goff 13% of their cap. We consider them first, second, or third best team in the league. Because there's not a lot of bad contracts. If you're in a bad contract, you can get out of it very quickly. The NFL union, players union, is the weakest union, which I don't think is necessarily a bad thing. What happens is as a fan, your team is rarely trapped. And that's why I'm not a big believer in baseball and basketball, just giving the player what they want. In the NFL, I can appease a player, and I can eventually move off him, draft his replacement.

One of the few bad contracts in the NFL, and it's awful now, and it's looking worse every month is Zechiel Elliott and the Cowboys. Jerry Jones got worked. He got completely worked. Right now, Pollard is averaging double, almost double per carry what Zeke is. Now, Jerry was talking on Dallas radio about how he just loves the running back group. The facts are that we really have an outstanding situation here that Pollard gets up on him so fast and can really surprise the defense.

He's stronger than he looks, but he just has got so sudden and got such a burst. And then Zeke, you don't even need to describe him. He's as powerful in terms of, I'm going to overuse the word, but his burst, I mean, to tell you, he punishes the hell out of those defenders. and both of those are going to be a real staple for us as we get into the season. Zeke is averaging 74 yards rushing since he signed two years ago that massive contract. That's with a good offensive line. That's an above-average offensive line.

He's averaging 4.3 yards a carry since he signed that contract. Again, you can't jam your safeties down in the box against Dallas. The receivers are too good. they have a good offensive line. This is a terrible contract. The only thing that makes it palatable is that Tony Pollard's a fourth rounder and you're not paying him anything. So the running back unit as a whole, Tony Pollard saves it.

Or it would be one of the most overpaid groups, position groups in the league. Jerry got worked. Next year, Zeke is an $18.2 million cap hit. Next year, the year after that, he's a 16.5.5. $17.7 million cap hit. He looks, if not washed, clearly the second best running back on this team. And so this is what I've said for Dallas.

By the way, they have arguably the second worst contract in the league with Jalen Smith, the linebacker, great kid who's now a backup. Because of Michael Parsons. They tried to trade Jalen Smith in the preseason. No takers. So this has been my knock on Dallas.

When it's a family business, you give your son, Give your daughter. And I think Charlotte Jones and Stephen Jones are very capable. That's not the issue. The issue is Dallas, Jerry does not allow outside voices, outside ears and eyes to have strong opinions. Jimmy Johnson tried to. Ran him off. Parcells tried to.

Outsider. Ran him off. Since then it's been friends of Jerry and people that agree with Jerry. They have the worst skill contract in the league with Zeke. And Jalen Smith, again, good guy, as a bad contract. He's not starting, and he's being paid like a high-end starter. And now the Cowboys have an extra linebacker because Michael Parsons appears to be, you know, really, really good player.

Dallas's first and second round picks in the last 10 years have been good. It's not like they don't do anything right. But this is what I always worry about. If you go look at Kansas City and Tampa, Seattle, the L.A. Rams, their best players aren't all theirs. they have an incredible willingness to just go out and say, yeah, we made a mistake there. We're going to take that. We're going to take that. Dallas, except Amari Cooper, all their top players are their draft picks.

Why? It's a family business. We know what we're doing. Our players are the best. And then they overpay them to validate their players. Just because you pay a guy like a star, doesn't mean he's a star. Zeech's no longer a star in this league. He's averaging 4.3 yards of carry.

This year, he's averaging. 3.9 yards of carry. Well, the offensive line. Well, Pollard's averaging 7.3 yards of carry. And again, this is not a team you can jam safeties down in the box and stop the run. CD Lamb is a touchdown waiting to happen. Amari Cooper is a top 15 receiver.

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. So everybody always freaks out in the NFL. You got to play the young guy, got to play the young guy, play the old guy. It's just like take a deep breath. It'll all work out. Matt and Aggie just announced Justin Fields for the Bears will start. Now Andy Dalton's all beat up. He's an old quarterback that happens. So Justin Fields is going to start. It's going to be bumpy. This is a bad offensive line.

I've told you before. I got into this discussion yesterday. I do not trust the Bears front office. I don't call out a lot of front offices. But I don't know if they know how to work the cap. literally the Rams must be using a Swiss bank for the last seven years. Jared Goff eats 13% of their cap. They're still paying Todd Gurley on their cap. And yet they can afford Matt Stafford and Andrew Whitworth and Jalen Ramsey and Aaron Donald. And the bears don't pay their quarterback, got rid of their best corner because he was too expensive. And they're literally out of money.

I can't explain it. Somebody's using a different bank. I don't think they understand the cap. The New Orleans Saints, before they had to unload some contracts two years ago, had like nine highly paid players, O-line, D-line, secondary, wide receiver quarterback. The Bears don't pay, if you don't pay your quarterback, then you should have a great offensive line or a great secondary. The only unit I like with the Bears really like is linebacker.

They're offensive lines a mess. How's that possible? You don't pay your quarterback. So Justin Fields is going to be running for his life. They don't have a lot here. They're rebuilding everywhere. If Alan Robinson twists an ankle, I don't like the receiving core. They're still waiting for Torek Cohen to come back.

I think I liked him. So here we go. Ready to go with Justin Fields. Just be fair about it. Be fair with Trevor Lawrence. We view Trevor Lawrence, though, or Zach Wilson. We view them as, well, they don't have anything to work with. All I'm saying is, I don't think.

think Justin Fields has a lot to work with. I don't. I love Alan Robinson. I like their linebackers. Roquan Smith, Khalil Mack, Robert Quinn. I like their linebackers a lot. Love Alan Robinson. They got a young safety back there that's pretty good. But this is a rebuilding team in Chicago. And Justin Fields, I think a lot of people think this is a great defense. No, it's not. It was a great defense two years ago and they wasted it with Trubisky. It's not a great defense. Inconsistent pass rush. secondary, eaten alive, mistake after mistake against the Rams. So just, just be patient. I'm not saying this is Zach Wilson bat or Trevor Lawrence,

but it's not close to what Mack Jones has. Mac Jones has an elite O line, an elite coordinator, elite head coach, excellent running back group, tremendous defense, and now pretty KG tight ends and wide receivers. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard Radio app. And with that, the voice of college football, boy, we got a big one this week. Notre Dame at Wisconsin.

Joel Clatt joining us live. 44 school records as the Buffalo starting quarterback. So let's start with this. Notre Dame at Wisconsin. So Jack Cohn was the Wisconsin quarterback. And I don't know the particulars, and I'm very well connected. But he ended up at Notre Dame. and now he faces them.

And I've always had this weird, I can't figure it Wisconsin out. How can they be great everywhere and never at quarterback? So Jack actually has some talent. He goes to Notre Dame. And what I've seen so far, he's better with the Irish than he was with Wisconsin. I mean, you could argue that. It is interesting with Wisconsin. But part of the reason why he is at Notre Dame is because they felt like this Graham

Mertz, who is their quarterback, was going to be higher ceiling player than what Cohn is. And Mertz hasn't really panned out in that regard, but they were clamoring for Mertz because he was more highly recruited than Jack Cohn. Cohn has been very good for Notre Dame. And he's actually given them a little bit more in the passing game and the explosive passing game than they had with Ian Book.

And I don't want to take anything away from Book. He was a winning quarterback. He's got a better arm than Book, doesn't he? Yes, he does. And in particular down the field, and Merr's a great tight end, and I think that they're going to be decent on offense. The struggle comes in for Notre Dame

is that they're finally young. I say finally because they've had such a great run of offensive linemen. Such a great run. Now it's all underclass. And now they've got a lot of young guys who will be great. Like in two and three years, this Notre Dame offensive line is probably going to be as good as anybody in college football. Top two, three offensive line in college football. But right now they're getting their feet wet.

They've dealt with some injuries. And so that's what Cohn is having to deal with is trying to play quarterback behind an offensive line that's not quite giving the same run game production that they had a couple of years. years ago. So I've been on this for years, and I think you have. We both love college football, but it's gotten very southern and very insular. Now, I love the SEC. I watch a ton of it, but I don't think any sport is good when it's regional. Sure. In fact, this is why it's, what's wrong with baseball. It's, yeah, it's like, it's regional. Like nobody in New York cares about the Padres or the Minnesota Twins. That's right. So the NFL will watch anybody. So this year in college football, it feels a little different. So first of all, Dan Mullen's a great coach.

Florida gave Alabama a lot of problems. Everything I could handle. Now we know A&M and Georgia have five-star athletes everywhere. By the way, I know Alabama is going to be around at the end, but do you think they roll through the SEC? Well, I will stop short. Listen, I will not make the mistake of saying Alabama is beatable. This is the year.

Listen, Alabama still went in and won a game against a ranking. opponent on the road with a very young roster, beat up at linebacker, first year starter at quarterback, replacing all those wide receivers, right? Like what they were able to do is still pretty impressive. The problem is that we hold them to the Alabama standard, which is beat the doors off of everybody. And maybe they're not quite that team, but they're still a very good team, and they probably will be there in the end. This year for me, though, I feel, and I see it in the ratings of our games and others, I feel it in the, in the, you know, stadiums that we're at. And when I just walk around these towns, when I get into town on Thursday and Friday,

people are more excited about college football this year than they have been in a long time. Totally agree. In a long time. And Colin, I think that part of that, there's two factors that I think are leading to this. One of them is the fact that we've seen vulnerability from the top. Yeah. And Clemson's already lost. Their quarterback is not struggling a little bit. Ohio State has lost. Alabama almost lost. Oklahoma has not looked like world beaters. And so now all of a sudden you're getting these other fan bases that are like, hey, hey, this could be a great year for us at Iowa and Penn State and Michigan State has come out of the doors playing so well. Michigan has as well, Oregon. You're getting this new blood feel of college football and I think it's very good for the sport.

Also, I would also say that the two things this year that are different are that you've got So many transfers and the super senior, the sixth year player, which don't necessarily affect in a positive fashion, OU, Clemson, Ohio State, and Alabama because all of their super seniors are in the NFL. So all these other programs are very experienced older players. Now, let me push back a little. A lot of you guys, you media types, you give flowers to players and coaches, you crown them. And let me push back on this. So, you know, Ryan Day gets the job from Urban.

and an hour later, I'm told he should be, he's Belichick. He is on the train. And I'm like, all right, I watched their defense last year. Stinkaroo. I watch it this year. It's not very good. Everybody, Mark Helfrich took over for Chip Kelly. And for a year, you didn't see anything.

The way, had Marioota. Still. I'm watching Ohio State now. This is the second year without Urban. That defense is not a championship defense. No. It's not close. No.

And they're going through some. wild growing pains right now. And you could argue like, well, he just inherited everything from Urban, but that's not technically accurate because he recruited Justin Fields to come in. That was a post-urban decision from Justin Fields.

Yeah. He hired Jeff Halfley. That actually wasn't Urban's first choice to be the defensive coordinator in Ryan's first year. That was a Ryan hire. Now, as a head coach, what these guys are going to have to start to understand these young guys and Lincoln Riley is going to deal with

it and Ryan Day is going to deal with it, is that you have to either be Davosweeney or Nick Sabin. What do you mean by that, Joel? Well, Davosweeney has created a culture where all of his assistants just stay. Yeah. So he doesn't have to deal with the turnover on the staff. Elliot has been there. Vincibles has been there. They're coordinators.

Now, they get the support from the school to pay them handsomely, well over $2 million just to be assistant coaches. Or you've got to be Nick Sabin, which is I'll win with eight different coordinators. It doesn't matter because my standard is high enough, and the draw to coach here is high enough, where it doesn't matter who comes in, we're going to still succeed. And Ryan is going to have to figure out where do I want to go defensively? It's not a particular scheme, but it's a coach. And he hired Kerry Combs, and it hasn't worked.

No, didn't they dem owe him? And then they took his play calling duties last week in the Tulsa game, and that didn't necessarily work. they're struggling with some personnel, both from injuries and the fact that they're just inexperienced at defensive back. Let's wait another hour or two before we crown him the next Belichick. Okay. I'm not pointing just at you. You are actually physically. I feel like physically he was pointing just to me.

Ryan is a heck of a coach. Offensively, they're so good. And it won't surprise me at all if they're just fine after all of this is all said. Okay. I want to get to something else. So again, I view myself as almost. America's mentor to the media. America's mentor to the media, man, to the media.

Yeah, Joy and I, by the way, collaborate on this because we see the world from a unique, accurate view. Well, thank God Joy's involved, because if it was just you. So when Mel Tucker got the Michigan State job, this is where I don't get the media. There were all these questions. I don't know. I don't know. And I remember going and saying something on Twitter.

I don't recall what it was. And I'm like, time out. Mel Tucker's going to be a home run at Michigan State. First of all, I've met Mel. Walks into the room, boom. He's got James Franklin quality. Some guys walk in and they're like, they walk. He does have presents.

And at times it can be even like, some people can own the room with like a jovial presence and some can own it with an angry presence. This is more of like an intimidating anger type of presence. In college football. A furrowed brow. Yes, presence is everything. I agree. Play Hilton at none.

Mel Tucker's got a presence. The second thing is he turned Colorado in two years, which is a soft, uh, croissant, cross on, stop it, at the bakery program, into a physical presence. Now,

Colorado, Colorado is a great historically, uh, good program that has fallen on some hard times and they're going to be just fine. But I do agree with you though. He is the greatest mission. He's the best underdog coach arguably in the big ten.

Harbaugh never wins as an underdog. Mel Tucker wins everywhere he goes as an underdog. I think Kirk Ferrence is in there as well. I mean, and you're forgetting about Pat Fitzgerald. You, to be, well, you proclaim yourself to be like the mentor to the media. You also are like the world's biggest prisoner of the moment, which is happening right now. So you see Mel like beat Miami and he's

like, yes, and you just dive into the prison cell of the moment. You don't like, now, Mel is very good. And I'm a big fan of what Michigan State has done with Kenneth Walker. But the best underdog coach in the Big Ten is Pat Fitzgerald. Let's not be the prisoner of the model. They've won the division two of the last three years. And he's done it at Northwestern. Northwestern. Like that Pat Fitzgerald does more with less in the Big Ten than anybody. Now, having said that, I love what Michigan State has done. And their identity of toughness and physical play and run game,

that's going to pay huge dividends down the road in the Big Ten schedule. And that division, by the way, all of a sudden, looks like it's somewhat up in the air. Penn State looks very good. Very good. Michigan, I'm not going to say this is the year because that's just like, it's great. Michigan looks good. They're leading the country and rushing in the Michigan state also.

I'll tell you. How about that? I got to be honest. Just that whole Penn State thing. Oh, my God. It was good. Oh, I took Auburn. I was slightly off.

So let's go to this. So when you had a big announcement. Let's wait. I want to hold that for a couple minutes. You've got a big major announcement. I've got news. I'm breaking news here on your show today. Okay.

So one more little tiny thing. So it's not news yet USC. So I came out and I said, I said, listen, consider a pro coach. Miami, UCLA and USC are urban universities. You're not going to control things. You've got to get out of that. NFL coaches never get control.

The owner has it. The GM has it. So NFL coaches, they like to coach. They don't worry too much about control. College guys tend to be kind of control freaks. No, they're dictators. Okay. So I said, L.A., Miami, look at the history.

You know, John Robinson, Pete Carroll, Dennis Erickson, Jimmy Johnson, Butch Davis, they either came from the NFL or appreciated it and saw the NFL as a real future job. So I threw Doug Peterson out, the Philadelphia coach, who's on the beach, reminds me of an offensive Pete Carroll,

kind of a youthful fun. If he lived in Hermosa Beach tomorrow and coach USC, he looks and feels like the coach. But I'll say this. And I'm not that I'm anti-college coach, but I would prefer a pro coach. The name I'm, I've heard from about six people.

I don't even like going there. But good God, does he have a presence and does he feel big as James Franklin? He feels huge. I watched him before that game. He like owns every room he's in. Yeah, I mean, and he's done a really, a really good job with Penn State and gotten them to a point where he won a Big Ten championship, probably should have gone to the playoff over an Ohio State team that he beat that year.

Yes. But he didn't get in because of our wonky system with the postseason. He's done a heck of a job. recruit. And I think the one question, because I agree with you. And I don't think that the coach has to have coached in the NFL, but he has to have, I call it NFL DNA. And what does that mean? It means that a coach can own a pro city with his presence and also be comfortable enough in his own skin for his players to be more famous than him. That takes a unique personality. It does. And I think James has that as well. He's done a heck of a

job. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a lot of interest there mutually. I'm hearing that name in L.A. from people that have at least, they're around USC. I'm just hearing it over and from people I respect. I have as well. Okay. All right. So I don't know what's going on here. You got some big announcement to make. Yes. All right. So announce it. Okay. So next week, our big noon kickoff game is going back to Madison. We will have the Wolverines. on our air against Wisconsin, Big Noon Saturday. But we also have had our road show, the Big Noon Kickoff, out with us to begin the season, and they're coming back out on the road.

So we are going back to Madison, Wisconsin with Big Noon Kickoff, Rob, Reggie, Matt, Brady, and Coach Stoops will be live on campus for Big Noon Kickoff. Coverage starts at 10 a.m. Eastern time. Two weeks. In two weeks. Not this Saturday, but next. We're going to be live, both shows in Chicago this week for Wisconsin, Notre Dame. But the big news is big noon kickoff will be live from Madison next Saturday, October 2nd before Wisconsin and Michigan kick on Fox at noon Eastern.

I'll tell you what, these noon games are great. I love them. And the ratings have been terrific. The appetite for college football right now has never been better. And this is exactly what we needed is more teams to have interest. Now all we need. And by the way, the college football playoff board of managers are meeting today and they're talking about expansion. It's not going to go through today because of the SEC and their growth and economic.

expansion with Texas and Oklahoma, but very quickly, it will happen at some point. It's going to be great for the sport, in particular if we can grow to 10, 12, or maybe even 14 teams. Because think of all the teams that would still have a massive amount of interest. Think about BYU fans right now. Thinking about a 12-team playoff, they'd be like, we're right in the hunt. We're 3 and 0, two ranked wins. BYU would be right in the hunt for the playoff. That would be good for the sport, folks. Good to see you. You know what? The mutual respect here between us is very strong. It's very high. It's been stronger this year than others. I just have to pull you out of that prisoner of the moment issue. I got a lot of passion for what I'm doing. Sometimes. I understand.

I mean, you forgot about Pat Fitzgerald. He was basically offered the Packers job a couple of years ago. You got Ryan Day and Canton three weeks ago. When did this happen? I've never compared him to Belichick in my life. Some of you media types. I'm not in the media. You're not. No. I always say this. Austin, Texas is in Texas. It's not of Texas. Oh, you're in the media, not of the media. I see. You're a man of the people. Boom. That's interesting because I actually go and I'm around people.

And none of them claim that you're a man of the people when I'm out and about. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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 acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

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