The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 11/07/2018

Episode Date: November 7, 2018

Colin reacts to the breaking news that Dez Bryant is signing with the Saints and thinks it is a direct result of Josh Gordon's success with the Patriots. He shares a scary stat that shows the closest direct comparison for Dak Prescott is Blake Bortles. Plus, recently fired Browns Head Coach Hue Jackson comes in studio to explain what went wrong in Cleveland and why he thinks Baker Mayfield is going to be great. Presented by Perky Jerky. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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 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. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

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What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. You just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis, coming to her, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeartRadio 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 SportsRodio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by search heard. This is the best of the herd with

Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go. Breaking news. This is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening live in Los Angeles, Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me on

a Wednesday, and we got breaking news. Lots of stuff happening today. All right, we got lots of breaking news. Let's start with the breaking news. Des Bryant troubled wide receiver, a little bit of a diva, still's got some talent, no question, good enough to be an NFL receiver. Not a one, but on a good team, maybe a two or a three, has been signed to a one-year deal by the New Orleans Saints who are averaging, you know, 30 a game. It's not like they needed him.

You know who got Des Bryant this job. Do you know who Des Bryant should send a thank you note to? Josh Gordon of the New England Patriots. Josh Gordon comes with some baggage. Can be needy, high maintenance, but man is he talented. And Sunday night, Josh Gordon and Tom Brady, the veteran quarterback, the established offense. Josh McDaniels, Brady, Josh Gordon and Tom Brady,

ooh, that looks pretty good. Josh Gordon and Brady. Oh, oh. AFC. Josh Gordon and Brady look pretty good. And this is a copycat league. That's all this league is. This league has always loved change. They like rule changes, coaching changes, player changes, legislation, PAT changes. But they do like to see somebody else do it first and succeed first. Russell Wilson, 5-11 quarterback, college numbers were amazing, gets drafted, succeeds. Everybody's like, yeah, Johnny Mansell. Let's take that 5-11. Johnny Manzell. Johnny Manzell.

doesn't get drafted in the first round, if not for Russell Wilson. Philadelphia Eagles do a bunch of free agent moves in the offseason win a Super Bowl. And then Jay Glazer told us, now everybody in the league wants to do it because, like, well, the Eagles did it. Now everybody's trading like crazy in the season and making moves in the season and free agents that trades during the season. They used to do that. Sean McVeigh gets a job with the L.A. Rams.

He's like 32 years old. He just got his driver's license. And now everybody wants to hire. Oh, Matt Nagy gets a job. And Kyle Shanahan gets a job. The other day, they're talking about Lincoln Riley, coach in the Dallas. Cowboys. Lincoln Riley didn't even get a phone call five years ago. Sean McVeigh is the gateway to all the young coaches. How about, remember, you couldn't draft a running back in the first round that

Cowboys got Ezekiel Elliott at number four for the Cowboys, and he leads the NFL in rushing, and he gets Sequin Barclay drafted at number two. A couple years ago, it was like, you can't draft a running back in the first round. Cowboys do it. Boom, hit a home run, and now the New York Giants pass on quarterbacks to get one. This is all about Josh Gordon. I mean, Des Bryant is no better today than he was three months ago. He's not any better today than three months ago. Hey, by the way, the Saints don't even need him, just like the Patriots got to a Super Bowl without Julian Edelman. Just like the Patriots have gotten to a Super Bowl without Gronk. Patriots won the AFC. Gronk was hurt and Edelman was out. But when you watch the Patriot Sunday and you'll watch Josh Gordon and Tom Brady,

Let's be honest. You sat there if you were a Steelers fan. You sat there if you were a Chiefs fan. If you were a Chargers fan, if you're a Texans fan, you're like, damn. This Brady Josh Gordon, B. Tom's got a deep threat. Tom's got his first deep threat since Randy Moss. And I think Drew Brees is looking there and they're watching Sunday night.

And I think because they just beat in the Rams, they go out to dinner, they come home and they watch Brady and Josh Gordon. and they don't need him. And Josh Gordon, the Patriots didn't have to have him. But man, Josh Gordon gives you that little icing. Yeah, it tastes a little better. And if that's how he got picked up, that's the difference. Peyton, Sean Peyton and Drew Brees, watch Tom Brady and Belichick get Gordon every week he's better.

And they're thinking to themselves, you know what, eight weeks from now, we're holding hosting Philadelphia in a playoff game, we're hosting Carolina in a playoff game, we're hosting the Packers or Minnesota in a playoff game, we're hosting the Rams in a playoff game. And it's a tie game late. Can Des make a 38-yard catch to get us in the red zone with three minutes left? Darn right, he can. Darn right he can. There you go. All right. Let's shift gears to yesterday, a story that broke when we were on the air. And I do think, by the way, Dez is going to work. I don't think he's going to be a superstar. I don't think you'll probably be quite as good as Josh Gordon in New England, but he'll be something. They've already got,

you know, Mike Thomas, they already got two backs, they got Breeze, they have a great O line, he'll be something. He'll be a catch-a-game. He'll be a catch-a-game. He'll be something. So yesterday, Troy Aikman used two words, and they're big words, and they're powerful words. And they got everybody talk on these words did. Because Troy Eichman must have said 200 words, but there were two words, he said. One was dysfunction, one was overhaul, that got every everybody's attention. Let's start with the first thing he said yesterday about the Cowboys Dysfunction. You know, I talk to people. I talk to people who have been inside the building and have a pretty good understanding of how things are run. The dysfunction. And that has to

change if this T-Pet on a consistent basis like the teams that you look to around the league, so let's talk about the word dysfunction. That lands big in Dallas. That's a talk in Dallas yesterday. That was a talk around the country yesterday. Troyickman doesn't talk like that about the Cowboys bunch. Disfunction. Is he right about that? Yes. We have seen over the last 100 years in this country, wealthy families, the DuPonts, the Kennedys, the Rockefellers, the Hearst family, the Trumps, wealth creates power and leverage, and it creates celebrities and stars and entitlement, and it creates some dysfunction. I told Joy this yesterday. The Lakers, Real Madrid, Manchester United, New York Giants, New York Yankees, FIFA, the

soccer organization, IOC, the Olympic Committee, Dallas Cowboys, New York Knicks. When you are that big and there's so much money involved, you start making decisions for money. A couple years ago, the Lakers signed Kobe Bryant to a massive contract. Why? Because their broadcasting partner, Time Warner said, we're not sign up. in a deal unless you sign Kobe. And so the Lakers made a move for Time Warner. Now, I'm ready for the team to appease a broadcaster. For the record, years ago, the Yes Network, had the Yankees games.

And they said sign A-Rod, big contract. Well, it's a lot of money. You want to deal with us? You want your games on Yes Network? Make sure you sign A-Rod. So when you're a rich family, the DuPonts, when you're a rich family, the DuPonts, when you're a rich, organization, Real Madrid, you know, these, these Manchester United, Dallas Cowboys, New York

Yankees, there is so much money and so much wealth that decisions are often made, not just about wins and losses. So I think Troy Aikman's comment on dysfunction is accurate, it's fair, there's some of it, and I would say you see more of it than you do less at the very top. The second word Troy Aikman used, let's overhaul. That's another big word. Let's go with that. this team you're asking me, I'd say there has to be a commization. You just can't simply replace head coaches and say, now it's going to be better. No, it's been shown that it's not better. Now, that's where I disagree.

The Chicago Bears made one move. Tribusky played for John Fox. Tribusky now with Matt Nagy. One move. It changed everything. 13 points more a game. Sean McVeigh replaces Jeff Fisher. Now, they did get a left tackle, and they grabbed.

at Robert Woods, a wide receiver, but they made one huge move. Jeff Fisher defensive guy, Sean McVeigh offensive guy. By the way, the Philadelphia Eagles, and on that Chip Kelly, they brought in Doug Peterson, and it kind of changed everything. This is a quarterback coach league. Don't kid yourself. Coaches matter. Never forget the four teams in college football that are one, two, and three, and four.

Nick Sabin, Dabo Sweeney, Brian Kelly, and Jim Harbaugh. all four of those programs before those coaches got there. Those huge brands were a mess. Bama was a mess. Clemson was a mess. Michigan was a mess. And Notre Dame was a mess. I don't believe the Cowboys need an overhaul.

I think they need a new coach. And I think they probably have to draft another quarterback. But let me tell you why I don't think it's an overhaul. They have cap space. They have an excellent, athletic, aggressive, talented front seven. Very few in the league better than them. It's a passing league. They now have a number one receiver.

You need a star running back too. That helps. They got one of those. They also have an elite left tackle. And their offensive lines not as good as it was years ago, it's still top eight, stop 10. I agree with a dysfunction, which I think is unavoidable in wealthy families and in mega brands. I just think it's unavoidable. That much money creates dysfunction.

But I don't think the Cowboys need an overhaul. I think what the Cowboys' new need is a fresh leader at the top. And I do think you got one more year a DAC, the rest of this year and next year, you should draft another quarterback. You should draft another quarterback. Disfunction, yes. Overhaul. I disagree. 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. If you want to know what the Cowboys should do with Dak Prescott, you know, I mean, listen, what do they say? The past tells you the future, just pay attention. And so, you know, I look at the Jacksonville Jaguars, and they kind of gave the Dallas Cowboys a roadmap on what to do with the young quarterback. Now, Dallas crushed Jacksonville earlier this year, right? Last year, Jacksonville was the talk of the league. The Patriots are always good. The Steelers are always good.

The Packers are always good. Oh my God, Jacksonville's good. So a year ago, Joy, Jacksonville had a great front seven, had a star running back, and they had, you know, a young quarterback who runs better than he throws. And he went out and Jacksonville had a decision to make and they had a little success. They almost beat New England. They beat Pittsburgh and they gave Blake Bordles a lot of money and a contract extension. And now this year, Jacksonville looks like the fourth.

best team in their division. So now you have the Dallas Cowboys. They have a really talented front seven, young and talented. They got a star running back, Zeke. And they've got this quarterback who's young and is kind of mobile. And it looks like he kind of runs better than he throws. And here's what Jerry Jones said. He's about to do with Dak Prescott.

Jack, his completion was last night, you don't have anybody that's more kicking. Is he a quarterback for the next 10 years? Dak is the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. He's young and he's going to get extended. Okay. And we were all asking the same questions about Blake Bortles a year ago, right? Like Jacksonville had Front 7 star running back, power team, and a mobile quarterback runs better than throws. You didn't really trust.

So he had his moments. And a couple big wins beat Pittsburgh. It gave you a glimpse. Dak Prescott 13 and 3 rookie year. film kind of gave you a glimpse. And then they extended Blake Bortles in now. Well, Colin Bortles and Dak are different. And no, they're not.

Is it fair if you take the last 16 regular season games of a quarterback? Is that a good enough number of games to get a fair kind of read on a player? I think it is. Last 16 regular season games, Dack Prescott on the left, Blake Bortles on the right. Uh-oh. they're the same quarterback. For our radio listeners, if you hear something,

it's John Goulet throwing up in his mouth. Dak to the left and Blake Bortles to the right and Dak Prescott, it should be noted, had the better offensive line. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app.

So college football playoff last night, I'm driving in this morning. And I was watching some politics last night, so I missed the live version of this, and then I went online and stuff. Alabama's won, Clemson, 2, Notre Dame 3, Michigan 4, and then Georgia and Oklahoma real close. And you know what I keep hearing? I drove in the work this morning. Who's going to be number 4? Oh, Michigan, George, Oklahoma.

Who's going to be number 4? Who cares? That means you play Alabama and get beat by 30. That's like saying, I can't wait to be the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs so I can get swept by the war. carriers. Everybody in this thing is a pinata to Alabama. Now, I will say, the three best teams I've seen this year, Alabama, Clemson, and Notre Dame in that order. I do think Alabama could make it interesting, and I don't count out the possibility of Clemson upsetting Alabama potentially. Notre Dame is just below Clemson, could give Clemson a fight. I don't think Notre Dame

matches up well with Alabama. I think Clemson's got the athletes and they've got the quarterback, and they've got the coach. So I think Clemson, I'm not counting out. I don't want to hear about, you know, they can beat an NFL team. Don't give me that crap. I don't want to hear that stuff. There is no, the best Canadian football league team would beat Alabama. Don't tell me that garbage.

Alabama coming into a national championship game, having blown out everybody, and I got Clemson playing with House Money and three NFL defensive linemen up front and a big time quarterback and a big time offense and NFL bodies all over the place playing with house money, got nothing to lose against Nick Saban, who they've beaten before and almost beat a second time. Don't tell me Clemson can't be to Alabama. Not saying they will. Notre Dame can't.

Michigan can't. I don't think Georgia can. Oklahoma plays no defense. Georgia's secondary is bad to get lit up by Tua. Michigan's offensive line is mediocre at best. They would be overwhelmed by Alabama's front. But, you know, I'm hearing this driving in today. Oh, the season's over.

I don't want to hear that. I don't know don't tell me that Kentucky had Anthony Davis they were great games got close don't tell me Alabama can't lose to Clemson I don't want to hear that they can lose to Clemson but you know you're talking about

I've watched everybody nobody really nobody really matches up to Alabama perfectly Clemson and Notre Dame match up okay Georgia matches up okay except they're horrible secondary so that's what you got

But it's, you know, everybody, everybody's talking about, well, it could be number four. That's just the first one to get crushed by Alabama. All those teams that would be number four. And I also heard this. Well, what if Alabama loses, will they drop out? No, they won't. Alabama can lose a game.

They'll still get in. Nobody else can lose. If Clemson loses a game in their bad conference, they're out. If Notre Dame loses a game, they're out. If any of those other one-lost teams, Michigan, Oklahoma, Georgia, lose a game. They're out. Yeah, Alabama's good enough to lose a game and stay in.

They should. I got no problem with that. If Alabama loses the Georgia on a field goal, because they're not going to get blown out, you know, in the SEC championship game, I'd keep Alabama in. I'd move them down to three or four. But Clemson 1, then you'd have Notre Dame 2, then you probably put like, you know, Georgia beat them there 3, and then you have Alabama 4 and then Clemson. I think my gut feeling is Clemson's going to be the Alabama for the title.

That's my gut feeling. And so if Alabama did lose and move to 4, Clemson would go to 1, they'd still meet. The game I want to see is Clemson, Alabama. That's the game I want to see. And I think we're going to get it either way. If Alabama goes undefeated, we'll eventually get it. And if Alabama loses the Georgia in his fourth and Clemson goes to what, we'll get it just sooner. But that's the national championship.

Whether they play for the final game of the second to last game, Clemson, Alabama feels like the national championship. And I don't think the line's going to be 25. I think the line's going to be like seven and a half. And I think Clemson playing with House Money has a real shot to beat him. Dabo Sweeney's Clemson coach. He joked about, you know, and by the way, he's a smart. He's planted up that nobody should even be discussed with Alabama. We're just glad to have an opportunity at this point to know that we're still in the hunt.

But the reality of it, it's like, you know, back when I was a player, you know, they had kind of the big time bus. And then they had the Roy bus, the rest of y'all. And, you know, it's kind of Alabama and then the rest of y'all. We're just glad to be on the Roy bus right now and to still have a chance. I don't buy that. No, I don't. And I got to tell you something, that New England Patriots team, don't kid yourself. When you come into a national championship game and you're being, you're telling a bunch of 19-year-olds, you're the best college team ever. You could beat a pro football team. And you got seniors on that team and they're thinking about playing on Sundays and making money.

And yesterday, John Middilkoff, our buddy, a former NFL scout said he had a scout tell him, I think Bama could beat the Raiders. No, they couldn't. And, but you got to remember, you got a bunch of 19, 20-year-old kids. Those are boys, not men. and they're going to be told to the best team ever. It's, it's, I don't know why we do this. People have been constantly doing this. They've done, did this with the 2001 hurricanes forever. There's men and then there's kids. This is a difference.

Yeah, Clemson's got a shot. The only ones that have a shot. But, you know, if Alabama loses, they should still play in the playoff. Absolutely. What's up, John Middilcoff, three and out podcast. Brought to you by Colin Coward's Podcast Network. If you like Colin's show, you will like mine. I talk a ton of football.

Jerry Jones has a major problem on his hands. I talk about what he needs to do. John Harbaugh, big time overrated. Josh McDaniels is really going to be a head coach again. I can't see it. Bill Belichick still kicking butt. Three and out podcast with me. That's John Middletalcough.

I want to bring in a man I've watched for years. I've known people who've known him. Hugh Jackson on our show today. A real pleasure for me. I have said through the years there's a handful of NFL guys that should never discount college football and I'll get into that in about 10 minutes.

How are you? I'm good. How are you doing? Pew, it's great to meet you. It's great to have you on the show. Glad to be here. Let's start with Des. He was in your facility and I may be full of hooey but I do think the Gordon thing

makes it easier to get the Des thing. You had Des, why didn't you make the move? Well, we just, you know, as an organization at that time, didn't feel like it was the right fit. And I think also, in fairness to Dez, I didn't think he felt like it was the right fit at that time. You know, sometimes the both sides have to come together. Right. And it's got to work for everybody.

And at that time, it just didn't work out. Yeah, I mean, you had a new quarterback and a young quarterback. Now, similarly, I didn't think Josh Gordon in New England would work. I came out and I said, oh, boy, listen, when you get, when there's too many things on the periphery here, I just don't think it's going to work. I get Cleveland. And at the time, I'm like, I don't want Josh Gordon with Baker. I don't feel this is good.

So I didn't mind your move and I didn't get New England's move. It's kind of working. Let's go back to the Josh Gordon thing. You let him go. Why? Well, again, as an organization, we made a decision to move forward and move on. And honestly, I think it's great for Josh. I think Josh needed a change of scenery.

I think everything that had happened to him happened in Cleveland. And the organization did anything and everything that it could to help him be the best version of himself. It just didn't work out. So we moved on. And we wish Josh well. And obviously, Josh is doing great things. You know, I'm not going to put you in a compromising situation. I have supported you.

I have said before, I think the problem in Cleveland is not coaching its ownership. And I'm not going to put you in that spot because that's my opinion. And I don't think coaches should have to comment about owners because you have further employment down the road. But I will say that I said on the air two weeks ago that I had been told through sources I trust that you liked Wentz, loved him, that you liked Deshaun Watson, loved him. And then T.J. Hushman Zada came on my show a day later and said this. Number one, I knew he wanted Wince two years ago. I knew he wanted Watson last year.

Me and you talked, when he was in Baltimore, we talk about players. When he was in Atlanta, we talk about players. When he was in Cleveland, we talked about players prior to each and every draft. And he straight up said, I love Carson Wins. Dude, he loved Deshawn. He loved him. but you don't get that choice. That choice, you lobbied for it, though, right?

You were in a room lobbying. Oh, you always lobby. But at the end of the day, we make a decision as an organization. You be collaborative. That's where you work. You do what you think is best for the organization. But owners don't get fired. You do.

That's part of it. Oh, you know, I mean, Hugh, I'm not going to lie. I am not mature enough. I would be a little bitter. If I lobbied for stuff, you didn't take him. They star against, for, down the street, how can you not have a little bitterness? You know what, Colin, I mean, I am excited that I was one of 32.

You know, I was very privileged and honored to be the head coach in Cleveland. And when I look back at it, it just didn't work out. You know, I think why it didn't really that matter, you know, whether I did get this, didn't get that. And none of that matters at this point. I think today where I am, they've moved forward. I have to move forward. I'm grateful for the time.

The fans have been outstanding. As a fact, my flight over here, there was fans in the airport. and they were outstanding. And I need to take the opportunity to tell them thank you because truly all I ever wanted to do was bring winning to Cleveland. But at the end of the day, I wasn't able to hold up my end of the bargain.

I'm not a fan of hard knocks. As a consumer, I get it. I think it's unfair to coaching staffs. If you put a camera in my house, and you see stuff my wife's throwing at me, you'd think we were crazy people. Okay, I don't like it. I think reality shows you start acting,

young players start acting. It changes people. I didn't think you or the organization looked great. It took me to places that I don't need to see. Did you push back on that? We always push back on those things. But I think when I looked at it, again, I didn't see it the way everybody else saw it. You know, because in real time, I think it was totally different.

I think the optics of what people see are totally different of what really happens as is happening. You know, all that stuff is put together. They're trying to tell a story. And sometimes it can tell the wrong story, and I get it. Yeah. So, I mean, there's a moment with you and Haley. And, listen, Todd's reputation, he's an intense dude.

He's been a head coach. He wants to be a head coach again. Is it, I'll just show 15 seconds of it. Roll the tape. Our team has to get mentally tougher and be able to fight through the that we've got to fight through. We've got to change this drastically. And if we've got guys that haven't done shit sitting around doing nothing, you know, I just don't know how we're going to do it. Well, I respect you saying that.

I mean, I used to sit in the same chair. Let me finish. Whoa, let me finish. I used to sit in the same chair as you guys sat in. And I used to feel the same way. I just want to kill them, okay, until all of a sudden I sat in this chair and then they're not there. Say it again, but the chair I sit in a little different in the chair you guys are. I get to watch from a different lens.

I'll talk me a long time ago. You know, what is it out that will give it to me? If you're a team, you do whatever the hell you want. If you're a team, you do it the hell you want. Okay, so this one's mine. So that's just the way it's going to be. Now, do you regret that? It looked like he was not happy with it.

And what do you make of that now you watch it? No, I still think, you know, everybody needs to understand the conversation prior to that. It was already explained why we had taken guys out. So I was a little surprised that we were even going back through it again. You know, we made decisions because of data that we found that if we monitor how guys practice, it cuts down on soft tissue injuries. So here we are again discussing it. And I understand where Todd's coming from.

he's new. So maybe the first meeting, maybe he didn't hear everything. Maybe he didn't understand it all. At that time, I needed to move forward because what we were doing, we were going to do.

We wasn't going to change. We had too many, too much of the data that said to us, our players, we don't pull muscles if we do it this way. So everybody else that was there understood it. He was new.

He caught that piece of it. And so really, I was trying to make fun of it. And that's why I say, what did we always say? Because that's something between me and Al Saunders and the rest of the guys had been there.

Hey, look, here, you know, when you get your own team, you get to do whatever you want. That's all that was. Baker Mayfield, I didn't like the off-field nonsense and a lot of the grab-it and stuff. I was more of a darnald guy, but I did say that Darnold would lead the NFL in interceptions. He played hero ball at USC. He's two years younger, half the starts of Baker. Be that as it may. You like Baker enough because you can tell that you like him enough, and he can do some things.

He's accurate as heck with the football. He does a great ball. What was the ultimate selling point? If there was one thing they're all lined up, because Donald's a little bigger, probably a little better athlete. You know, he's a big, he's played linebacker in high school,

and he made some great, he didn't have quite the system, but was there one thing about Baker that when he was out of the room, you could like or not like, but what was the deal with the deal closer for you? The deal closer for me is I've watched him impact the people around him.

He's able to make people play better than what they can play. I mean, he has an internal fire within him that is unmatched, in my opinion. The guy is built the right way. And if you're going to turn around an organization that has been losing, a guy's got to be able to handle that. You can't just walk in there because all of a sudden you become what that organization is. And I don't think he will ever let the organization what's gone on there affect him. I think he will rise above it. Now, there is a moment, a piece of tape, it was early in the camp.

This was one of my favorite moments where you as the veteran coach, and the kid. And let me play this. What's up, my son? I guess that's what you said when you said it was different. I tried to tell you. And what time do you normally get up in the morning? I was a little bit later this morning. No, no, I know.

What time do you know when they come over? It depends on when we, sir. Huh? Try and get in about two hours before. You ever come in with your boy five? He does his own little workouts in the morning. Where's your own little workout in the morning? Huh? Where's your little workout in the morning? You start starting your career, how you want.

You know what I'm saying? It's a competition. All and everything you do, baby. You know how to do it? Why not? You know what? I saw that and I went, oh, oh, Baker's already shown up late,

having a bagel in the morning. Come on, Coach. No, that's not what it was at all. What was that? No, I think what I was trying to do is he was already had a process. To me, let's make sure it's the best. You're competing against Tyrod Taylor.

So I made a statement in there that, if you're going to compete on the football field, compete off the field, compete in everything that you do. It's the meeting room everywhere. That's what that was about. I think Baker has had a really good system, but boy, if there's more you could do, do as much as you could. I was just challenging him that way.

I think there was nothing wrong. It was nothing that he was doing wrong or anything like that. Again, that's the moment that people catch, and that's what was said. And all it was, hey, here's an opportunity for you to do more, compete. Go take a shot at it. You like that whole grabbing himself stuff in college, though? Got to hate that, Hugh.

He got swag. So why did you? You tell me why you hated it. I don't like the police video. I don't think Russell Wilson would have that. I don't think Andrew Luck would have that. I don't like grabbing junk. I think quarterback is an extension of coach.

I think I always use a term. One of the reasons I have a problem with Trump, he's not presidential. I like my quarterbacks to be quarterbackial. Okay? So Jeff George, won my cup of tea. Mansell, not my cup of tea. I think there are times that Russell Wilson had a player drop a touchdown in the end zone Sunday. Made a hell of a throw. And for one second, Russell was angry. And then it snapped on the quarterback of a franchise, $2 billion franchise. There are times Baker's not quarterback heel.

Is that fair? Well, I think, you know, I understand where you're coming from. But I think we're talking about college and young men, you know, and I think, again, everybody makes a lot of, everybody make some mistakes sometimes. You know, but I think, I know when I dove into it, I understood it better. I think the young man learned from it. I don't think that's who he is. Now, he has a swagger. He has a fire and he has a desire, and he's trying to beat you.

There's no question about that. I will never take that away from him. Can everybody do things better? Yes, we all can. But that young man is a quarterback, and he's going to be a really good quarterback in a national football league. All right, John Gruden right now, you know, we're pretty brutal in the media. Once the avalanche starts, we all just pile on it.

And you were in that, you were in that little bit of that tornado where, oh, Hugh Jackson's no good. Get him out of here. Now, John Gruden, you've been, we're starting to pile on, John. Do you have any sympathy for him? Yes, get off my guy. I mean, you like it? That's my guy.

Yeah, that guy taught me a lot of football. He did. We're at the University Pacific together. We were office mates. So I do sympathize with him because I know what it's like when you're trying to go in and change a culture and trying to build it in your vision. And he's had, obviously, to make some decisions. to do things, to get it to where he wants it to be, it's going to take time.

I mean, none of those things just happen overnight, even though we all want them to happen fast. It's going to take time. But this guy is still a really good football coach. He's still the same coach he was. What's his greatest strength? Offense. The guy can run an offense and he can lead a football team. There's no question about that.

I think guys would follow him because he just has that inner strength. And believe me, he's going to come out of this. I understand where he is right now. in regards to what the record is, I just know what kind of football coach is and what kind of person he is. Hugh Jackson joining us. Hugh, you know, you've watched Belichick and he was in Cleveland for a while. So we all know Bill's really a smart academic guy. I mean, his mom spoke seven languages.

Bill's just an academic. He's a really adaptable guy. You know, Brady's funny. So Brady, six-round guy, didn't look the part. Right. I am just a believer in this thing that early failure, creates the medal. Russell Wilson, by the way,

had to transfer to Wisconsin because his coach at NC State said, we're going with Mike Glennon. And Aaron Rogers had to go to a junior college. And Big Ben, Ohio State didn't want him. And Drew Brees, nobody wanted him in Texas. Is that the secret sauce with Brady? How good of a thrower is he?

How good is his arm? Like, if you were scouting Tom today, like what is he great? Is his arm underrated? I think it's underrated. And I think he's improved himself, tremendously over the years. I tried to get Tom to leave Michigan and come to Cal when I was that cow. So that was a long story, but we wasn't able to persuade him to leave. He stayed.

He was not starting to Michigan. Absolutely. And so we thought we had him. Myself and Steve Mariucci, we thought we had him coming. What did you like about him then? Well, because one, he was, he was from, that's where he was from, you know, he's from the Bay Area. But we, his stature and his ability to throw the football, you know, you didn't see the athleticism that way, you know, boy, he could throw football, and you can tell he had fire. He had fire. He wanted to win. And that's truly what it's all about.

Yeah. What with Belichick, this is, you know, the NFL's not built for dynasties. Colleges, you get the best recruiting class every year. The more you win, the better players you get. In the NFL goes the opposite. They want you to have, you know, there's just, there's limitations on what you can do. Is Bill smarter than everybody? I mean, is it owner, Brady?

I mean, he didn't win before Tom. when you go up against Belichick, what's the one thing that always concerns you? He's going to take your strength away, period. On offense and defense and special teams, he's going to make, you got to work. Obviously, we all work, but you're going to have to find different ways to do things because he's going to definitely negate your strength. Well, I think everybody tries to do that. He just has a way of doing it.

I mean, we're talking about arguably one of the best coaches that's ever coached in this league and one of the best quarterbacks too. So they have a really good thing going. And I think he's done a tremendous job. Mike McCarthy's in a different situation. So Aaron's great and he just got a big contract. They don't fire quarterbacks. Mike McCarthy's a very good football coach.

But, I mean, listen, you can see it on TV. There's attention. Aaron's taking a few passive aggressive shots at the organization. Pat Riley used to say, Hugh, no matter how good you are, after 10 years, you're just Charlie Brown's teacher, your noise, players tune you out. Is it possible that Mike McCarthy is a real coach, but that after eight, nine years with Aaron, maybe they're wearing each other out.

If you ever been in a situation where you kind of feel players tune out? Oh, they do. I mean, I think we all know that they do. But you said it first that Mike is an extremely good football coach. You think so? I know he is. He is, and he's very good at what he does. And we're talking about one of the better quarterbacks

in the National Football League. They will work through that. Whatever that is. You think they will? I think they will because in the end you have two men who are driven towards winning. And I think they both want to do everything they can to get the Packers back to where they should be. And I think when you have that kind of like mindness, and they have the mindset to fix it, then they'll do it together. Lavian Bell, what do you do?

Multiple teammates now have said, we like James Connor. They're first in their division. I got Big Ben, Juju Smith-Schuster. Should have drafted him, too. he was good. Antonio Brown, they have two pro offensive linemen,

heck of a pass rush. They figured their defense out. And now I got Levian Bell, and I'm not sure how he plays in the locker room. Hugh, what would you do? Well, I think, obviously, I think Mike Tomlin has done a great job.

You know, it's not about the people who are not there. It's about the team that's there right now. We don't coach the players that's on the team. And we'll deal with all the other things as they happen. And right now, you see the pitch first Steelers, they're playing really good football.

They've done an outstanding job from the start. You played them twice? They were a different team. They were a different team. What did they do the second time? I think obviously when you come out of training camp, you think your team is ready to do certain things, and then you look and go, uh-uh, we need to press on some of these other things and get them better.

So I've watched that team improve from week one to week eight. Pass rush? All of it. Pass rush, the way they ran the football. They improve overall. And that's what you want your team to do, just kick. keep getting better during the season, not take a step back, is to keep moving forward. And that's what the Steelers are doing.

You know, finally, there are, I told Herm Edwards this years ago, and I work with him. I said, Herm, you could work in college. You'd be good in the living room. And I said, you'd build a staff. You got great energy. And I've said this before. I thought Gruden would work in college. I don't think Belichick would.

I don't think he'd deal with boosters. I think Bill would just, I don't think Parcells would have worked. there are guys Tony Dungey would have worked in college he would relate to the kids I think you would work there's big jobs don't even need to name them one right down the street would you consider college I would always consider college I think coaching's coaching and obviously leading men rather they're grown men or young men this is truly what it's all about

so you like the idea of that oh I do by the way I don't think it's any worse dealing with the NCAA than crazy owners I mean, billionaires are different cats. They are. They are. So, I mean, you've dealt with a few billionaires. Yes, I have. I don't think it's the easiest job in the world.

Hey, it was great meeting you today. Thank you. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. My dad used to say this, that most of the big decisions in your life will be made when you're not in the room. Everybody's nice to your face. But my dad always said, the big decisions like your employment, will be decided when you are not in the room. It matters.

Get along with people. Be a good guy. So everybody always says Belichick, oh my God, Aaron Rogers is the most amazing. So here's Belichick last week, the week before he played Aaron Rogers. When Aaron Rogers could hear it, he was in the room. Go ahead.

I mean, he's a great player. He does everything well. Very mobile in the pocket. Extends plays. really good vision down the field uses a cadence well as a good situational player one of the great quarterbacks you know

in national football league no question about it does everything good oh everything everything oh really well it's interesting what does he say when Aaron Rogers is not in the room sideline mic this past game here's what Belichick said about Aaron Rogers The pass rush is what we want. We just got to keep doing it.

Hey, we got to keep doing it for 60 minutes. The pass rush is what we want, all right? Keep working the shit out of those guards. Keep in the pocket. He's trying to throw us two interceptions now. We're going to get one. All right, he's just lobbing it up there. That's a great job.

Keep pressing up. If he runs backwards, all right, then run him out of balance. That's great. They're just lobbing him up there. That's funny. He's the best quarterback of all the time. That's secretly Mike Belichick. The guy's just throwing it up there.

He's loving it up there. He's already thrown his two interceptions. Aaron Rogers isn't perfect. We have a problem saying breeze is too short. Matt Ryan didn't have a good enough arm. And Cam's not precise enough. And Brady's not an athlete. And Philip Rivers is a weird delivery.

And Lux's no good overrated. Oh, he's just lobbing him up there. It's okay to criticize Aaron Rogers. You're not a hater. just adding context to it. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio,

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or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Clivert Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes,

A, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office, Blue, 42. Hey, Rhett, Mom, I want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker.

Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season, and I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments.

If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis coming to, he's like, you know I love you, dog.

You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.