The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Rodgers vs. Payton, Matt Mosley on Zach Martin Holdout, Super Bowl Expectations, Dak Bounce Back

Episode Date: July 31, 2023

First, Colin defends the Barbie movie against miserable internet critics, and explains why he’s in favor of Aaron Rodgers defending his OC Nathaniel Hackett after getting trashed by Sean Payton. Then, longtime Dallas Cowboys writer - and host of The Doomsday Podcast - Matt Mosley joins Colin to discuss why the vibe out of Cowboys camp was different than past years, if All-Pro G Zach Martin's contract holdout will get uglier, the noticeable absence of Zeke Elliott in the locker room, if Dallas is ready to handle a daunting early schedule, the potential impact of 5’5’’ rookie RB Deuce Vaughn, how the offense will look differently without Kellen Moore, the biggest takeaway after Mosley’s interview with COO Stephen Jones, why the Super Bowl expectations feel more realistic, if Dak Prescott can bounce back from a disappointing 2022, why Mike McCarthy works so well with DC Dan Quinn, and why the Big 12 is in a far better position than the Pac-12.  Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Herd #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The volume. Hi, everybody, and welcome in to a Sunday night, Monday morning podcast.

My good buddy, Matt Mosley, who does the Doomsday Podcast with Edward or the popular Dallas Cowboys podcast, has been in Oxnard, California this week, at Dallas Cowboys Training Camp. and so he's going to join me for about 25 minutes and give us sort of the insight on the Dallas Cowboys. I look forward to that. Matt's a very, very funny guy. Two takes before we start that. So, you know, one of the things that I think is important to realize when I talk to young people, high school or college, and I don't do it very often, maybe two or three times a year, I'll talk to a broadcasting class. the one thing I always say is don't produce your show through social media. It's a fun house mirror. It's not really life. So, you know, a prime example of that, the movie Barbie.

I have not seen it. I'm going to probably see Oppenheimer and Barbie this week. It's summer. It's slow. It's late July, early August. I got nothing but time to kill. It's that or a Twins Guardians game. All up for the movie.

But if you go to social media, you would think, Barbie is controversial, a highly political, very difficult to stomach if you're a moderate or you lean right. I now have officially nine people, either in my family or who work at the volume, nine for nine loved it. I have no idea about their political affiliation. I have no idea. I don't ask my kids.

Barbie's a really good movie, great acting, funny. everybody had the same take clever funny makes you think good laughs i mean it's it's not hangover in terms of sheer comedic value nobody presented like that or animal house it's it's a broad movie with a lot of different views and ideas and it'll make you think but if you go to social media you think it's highly controversial virtually nobody dislikes it and the people who do go online and get clicks. And that's something I try to tell people all the time, that nobody is really outraged that Twitter is now called X.

Nobody. Absolutely nobody really cares. Nobody thinks Barbie is highly controversial, except people seeking attention on social media. So you enjoy your social media apps. You enjoy Barbie. Don't think for a second you're walking into a trap that will politically shift your views. It's a movie.

And a lot of people wear pink when they go. That's that's it. Second thought. So Sean Payton fires at Nathaniel Hackett day later, regrets saying it and apologizes. Aaron Rogers talking to Peter Schrager fires back at Sean Payton, calls him insecure and should keep his favorite coach's name out of his mouth. This is good old-fashioned 1985 media before everybody was terrified to be cancelled and criticized and the avalanche that

follows. This happened all the time. People are outspoken. Buddy Ryan would rip Mike Ditka. Buddy Ryan would rip Jimmy Johnson. Jimmy Johnson would rip Buddy Ryan. And it was wildly entertaining. But there's so much money in sports now. everybody's afraid to lose their position, their job, their tenure, their gig. Sean Payton was in one of those moods, an intense guy said something. He regretted a day later. Aaron Rogers defended his coach.

I loved both Peyton's willingness to offend and Aaron Rogers' tenacity on defending Nathaniel Hackett. I think Hackett, from what I've been told, many of my contemporaries, I've got a lot of sources in the league. Hackett's one of the nicest guys in the league. Good dad, good father, wonderful guy, just doesn't have an edge, doesn't have a bite to him. And you kind of sort of have to have that. I mean, the five best head coaches in my lifetime, I think a Walsh and Belichick and Andy Reed and Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells, they've all got an edge. Bill Walsh had a bite. Andy Reid had a bite. We all know Belichick Parcells and Jimmy Johnson had a bite. Hackett doesn't. He's a coordinator. He's a position coach.

Nothing wrong with that at all. Kyle Shanahan was a great coordinator, became a great coach. Dan Quinn's a great coordinator. Try the coaching. Okay, probably gets a second chance. We don't know if he's a great head coach. We know he's a great coordinator defensively with the Cowboys, with Atlanta, with Seattle, or with the Cowboys and Seattle before he got the Falcons gig.

So I like these little whizzing matches, media scrums. I think they're healthy. I think they're fun. Nobody gets hurt. And the winner is you and me and the consumer. When we lose is when people are terrified to be authentic and afraid to be honest. I've been doing radio for 30 years, almost, almost 30 years, 25 years. I'm on the air live. Some things I say don't come out right. Some things I say are a little harsh. Some things aren't as funny as I think. It's an imperfect world. You take some big swings.

It's not edited. Not every time you ask a quarterback or a coach an opinion. It should be fully edited. I don't want PR people around it. Peyton didn't have a PR person around him. And Aaron Rogers didn't have a PR person around him. And it was really, really interesting raw content. Loved them both.

All right, my guy Matt Mosley, Doomsday Podcast with Ed Werder. He's been embedded with the Cowboys in, Oxnard. It's hot as you know what in California. We usually, first of all, it rained like Seattle in the winter and now it feels like Louisiana in the summer. It's humid and hot. So, you know, you've been to so many of these things. This feel like just another one? No. I mean, it, you know, I have been to a lot of them. And by the way, nobody cares about any Southern California heat wave. I landed back in Dallas in 105, all right? It was.

101 at about 9 o'clock when I landed, about 100 or something like that. Oh, yeah. So speaking of 100, I just came from my grandmother's 100th birthday celebration. All right. Wow. Francis Hendricks Lawrence has turned 100. So pretty neat, pretty neat. What's the secret to her life?

Boy, it's been a lot of clean living involved in that. church secretary for many, many years, had about a 25-year run there. But just she comes from a long line of people who live a long time. And when my grandfather passed away, I don't know, 16, 17 years ago, just never missed a beat. It was just kind of like, you know what? I got to keep rolling here.

And so as of today, even, I mean, she's just, she was the bell of the ball. Everybody came, you know, she had something to say to everybody. She knew who everybody was. And so it's pretty awesome to watch and we're extremely fortunate. So how does this camp feel different? You know, I think the McCarthy thing makes it different with the play calling. He's handling himself in a different manner than when I've been around him.

And I think Jerry, with each passing year, and Jerry's into his 80s now, I think Jerry sometimes has a a little bit different way about him. I don't want to call it an edge, really. But Jerry, for one of the first times that I can recall was all business at the state of the union addressed to start. You know, he's generally known for saying something off the wall in that, in that setting. And he didn't even make an opening statement. I mean, we're all set, you know, we're set up to hear him talk before anybody ask a

question for at least 20 minutes. and literally they just started the news conference and he said, okay, let's go. Let's go with some questions. What do you all have? So I, there's always, it's, I think it's hard to have a sense of urgency. There are better places to have a sense of urgency than in Oxnard because of where we're used to being and how it feels and how much nicer it is and the surroundings and everything.

but I mean McCarthy met with his player council the night before that state of the union and got a vibe that I mean the team sort of has a little edge

and they don't even have the pads on yet pads come on tomorrow so to me there was a little more edginess from the team to start a training camp it's usually very late back not much going on and I think they've since that

you know, a couple of 12 win seasons, not being able to get by San Francisco, like if they're ever going to do it, like it almost has to be this season. Well, Zach Martin, 10th year in Dallas, eight-time all pro. Jerry said I'm not budging on the contract. This is one of the rare times I support Jerry. They made him the highest paid guard when he signed. He was for many of the years of his contract. He has made more money than any guard in the NFL that's been in the league for 10 years.

and he's got a couple years left on his contract. And, you know, Patrick Mahomes right now is the seventh highest paid quarterback. Do you think that's a – I don't think Jerry should budge, but do you think this could get ugly, surly? No, because Zach is not really – he's not up to that. Zeke was willing a few years ago to stare Jerry down. And Zach doesn't have that in him. And I'm not even saying what Zeke did and was wrong.

Zeke did it because he knew his value and the Cowboys cratered. they know they don't have to. I mean, like, you know, if Zach truly didn't show up, I mean, that's a,

that's a big problem. You can't start this season without your all pro right guard. I mean, they don't really have anybody to turn to in that regard. Yeah. You heard in Jerry's voice was the fact that, hey,

there's two years left on his contract. What's he talking about? And to your point, Colin, he got his rookie contract. He's a first round pick. And then he got another contract. And so Jerry's kind of right.

Like, I mean, everybody loves Zach. And it's not like, and the other thing is he's a veteran and he's so good and he's so good at staying prepared that I don't know any other position. You know, and Zeke came in and was kind of ready to go at the last minute. This guy could be. So I don't, I don't sense any worry. And I think, you know, you heard Dak say, Dak was quoted saying, pay the man talking about Zach.

And Jerry was asked about that. And Jerry had a very funny answer. which was, well, we pay the quarterbacks all the money. That is funny. By the way, I saw that Zeke visited the Patriots. You know, you always said Zeke was a little bit the soul of the locker room. Now that he's gone, do you still believe that? Oh, yeah.

Yeah, he was sending messages to the team on the eve of their first practice. I think in the meeting room, the running backs, they're still hearing from him. Tony Pollard still brings him up. I mean, people are still, there's still an aura about him. Now, he had faded some of his playing ability. So you're okay moving away from that. But yeah, there's still some, they're still some. And that's what the call that Bill Belichick made was to Stephen Jones.

And he just wanted to know kind of where Zeke was. and Ed and I had a chance to go one-on-one with Stephen or two-on-one, and that was one of the things Stephen talked about, was just how he went on and on about Zeke and what he could mean in one of those running back rooms. So, I mean, it tells you all you need to know, though, on how much he has left into the tank on the fact that he's still out there.

He's a workhorse. He's played through all sorts of injuries. I mean, he's not, I don't know if he's anywhere close to a lead back anymore. I mean, it's one of the few positions you can go from, think about that, last year the starter, even though Pollard took over, he was almost a symbolic starter. This year he can't even get a role on a team. He can't even get out there. Right.

But Belichick has had a way over the years of taking chances on certain veteran players that maybe have some deans on their character. This guy, he had some issues, obviously, he was suspended for several years ago. But in terms of what the players think of him and the coaches, other than maybe DAC, there's no one who approaches Zeke in that regard. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast, Superhuman, documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, 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 kill? 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 all day, but just so you all right, literally.

But just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed cracks. starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, Dallas, you know, they face the AFC East until they get the Patriots and the Jets and the Jets and the Dolphins. and the bills, by no means is that easy. They also get the 49ers and the Chargers both out west. It's an interesting schedule where, you know, you've got two games against Washington. They should fare well. If they split against the Giants or split against the Eagles,

there's a couple of layups. They're going to go to Arizona early. That feels like a layup. You know, again, they face the Carolina Panthers. Carolina does not have Dallas's personnel. They don't. That feels like a W. There's some absolute lock Ws.

But this is by no means. I mean, when you got games at San Francisco, at the Chargers, a Seahawks game at home, at the Bills, at the Dolphins, this feels like a little bit tougher schedule than normal. And here's my take, is that Jets Week 2, Patriots, Week 2, Patriots, week four, Niners, week five, Chargers week six, Eagles, week seven. Go back to Mike McCarthy.

Do you feel like his teams, Andy Reid teams, come right out of the gate? Belichick's take a little baking. They take a little work. With McCarthy, what is your sense in September since he arrived? Well, I think they've, I think for the most part, there have been lulls in these seasons.

I mean, but it really has more to do with DAC's injuries. I mean, Mike has had some pretty bad luck as far as losing DAC, losing players, injuries, that kind of thing. I think if everybody's healthy, I see a fast start. I mean, I'm not buying, like years ago, when Favre went to Minnesota, I said it's going to make an enormous change. And I thought Minnesota had a real shot to Super Bowl, and they ended up doing that. I'd have a really hard time just because Rogers in his past greatness, I just don't. see that Jets game. I also think it's a chance.

McCarthy, he's a little embarrassed about what happened to him in Green Bay last year. That was a huge reunion. That was his first time back. Yeah. They had a lead. They had like a 14 or maybe 17 point lead and they let it get away from him against a bad Green Bay team. And I think McCarthy thinks he's got something on his hands here.

I think he has like a, I mean, we've had these 12, you've had these 12 win seasons. I mean, I think, and they're trying, Jerry's trying to hide it. He's trying to hide it the best he can. But, I mean, I don't, I heard what you just said. And no one in the business remembers a schedule quite like you. I mean, the way you commit these things to memory, I'm often, I just brag on you all the time about it. But I think, I think we're talking, I mean, Cowboys have a shot at 14 wins.

I had a little cheat sheet here, by the way. So, Deuce Vaughn, five foot, five i swear to god kansas state unveils one of these about every four or five years we get one of these darren sproles deuce von running backs from k state uh it looks so strange uh when you see the video tape when you see the you know the stuff the highlights is he going to make the team what's a story on him yeah his dad's a scout on the team yes and he they he's really close with sproles he talks to sproles all the time deuce von does i mean you're going to love this guy if you ever have a chance to have him on. I mean, he's a fun, smart dude. He's, he's a, boy, he came from a

great Texas high school down kind of the Austin area, the central Texas kid, kind of hill country. He is, I think, now, they've had problems in the past. They've, they've said, okay, we want to turn this guy into some kind of matchup problem. And they always love running these endarounds or jet sweeps. Oh, we're going to get this guy, Tim, Tavon Austin. Remember him? And it's like, oh, my gosh, we're going to get him 10 to 15 touches a game. They couldn't get him three touches. So it remains to be seen.

But in space, and think about some of these, even other than Sproles, whether Terrick Cohen or somebody like that, there's been some of these little guys. Quentin years ago came out of Oklahoma. Yeah. If they'll get him in among the trees behind these occupants of linemen, they can kind of jump around and do some things. And so I think he's a, I think he's a perfect compliment. And they're looking for every way in the world to use him. In fact, they've got him as the punt protector.

All right. So that's going to be an odd thing. When they snap it back there, you got a 5-5 man. And the bones fossil said he was going to be able to out-leverage anybody. Now, I don't want to see him just get engulfed. I can see somebody running over him back there. But also, who loves to do fake punts more than. than anybody. It's this guy. Bones Fossil. So here's a, here's a fake pun option. He is a total

gadget guy, a huge gadget guy. But what I, Sproles was about a half inch taller than this guy. But this, but Deuce is thicker. I always thought Sproles was like, oh, strong, huge legs, almost like Robert Newhouse type legs. And this guy's thick. And he, and you're right. And they put those I've seen all the memes and everything. They put those little protective helmet things on. He looks like a Martian or something. Yeah. But he is fast.

And he's like he was on Kansas State just won big 12th title. I mean, and he was an enormous part of that. Yeah. They're good again this year, by the way. They'll probably finish second to Texas. They return a ton of starters. Hey, so when Kellanmore left, he was unemployed for about an hour. And same thing with Andy Ree.

Andy Reid was unemployed, you know, for a couple days in Kansas City reached out. And Kellyn Moore was unemployed briefly and the Chargers reached out. Do we know exactly why? I mean, stuff is printed. But a story softens three months, six months after, you know, a story. Now it's about the Cowboys and about the Chargers. There's no animosity. Do we know exactly why Kellan Moore left?

Was there a moment an epiphany, a game, a series or something? that didn't work? Well, I mean, it was, it was, you know, DAC and somebody had to take the blame for those interceptions. And the fact that he played so poorly, he had a beautiful game against the bucks. And then horrible against the 49ers. And somebody had to pay. And it wasn't going to be McCarthy. And also something Jerry's known for doing. And I've got a lot of friends out there who've worked for him. And he's pretty nice about this. He gives you some time. Hey, go find another job. Okay, we're not going to fire you right away. Just take some time. go find another job.

And so they kind of allowed, I would imagine, the Chargers thing to kind of get settled and be ready because that thing happened too quickly for the Chargers just to have waited. Oh, I wonder if they're going to fire Kellyn Moore. I would say within 24 to 48 hours after the Cowboys season ended, Kellyn Moore was told, hey, look around, look around. And then he was brought over there. And I did think it was funny, by the way, Brian Schottenheimer is now has the title of the officer coordinator. I mean, he was so different than Kellynne Moore. I got to talk to

Schottheimer the other day. We had the big news conference for him. Then he did a one-on-one with Ed for our Doomsday podcast after I had to kind of fly back for my grandmother's birthday. And Schottenheimer, it was like night and day. Schottenheimer put on a show. I mean, just was in his element, loved it. I mean, it was just, it was like, man, I'm here. Nobody's talked to me in a while. I'm going to give you guys one of the greatest press conferences you've ever seen. Kellyn is not that guy. Right. That's why people have a little trouble envisioning him as a head coach.

Now, if he does really well with the Chargers, he's going to get a shot. But think of one of those boy wonders who just has kind of come across, at least publicly, is kind of like, and there's not much there. I mean, I don't know. I mean, again, nobody cares. Mike Marks was a weirdo. I mean, he just kind of, that's how he kind of came across. But when they were putting up huge numbers, nobody cared about that.

And maybe that'll be the way with Kellyn. But he's certainly not somebody who's going to go in and win a press conference. I sure know that. Yeah. And, you know, one of the reasons they like him with Herbert, Justin Herbert's really quiet. And I know Justin pretty well. But I mean, Justin has avoided the media as well as any LA athlete I've ever seen. And so he and Kellan are kind of sit in a film room and work.

There'll be no clash of egos or personalities. They're chess players. So I think the Chargers saw him as a perfect fit for a. Joel Lombardi was a bit more rigid as a play caller. Kellan's more amenable to listen to a young guy. But I think you're right. I've talked about this before. Not every coordinator is a great coach.

Dan Quinn has been a great defensive coordinator twice. He was an okay head coach. It's okay. I'm just, I think, you know, there's a lot of hot seat talk with Mike McCarthy. And I look at that early schedule. I think I've always seen Jerry is a bit more patient. He'll give Chan Galey an extra six games or a year. He gave Jason Garrett two more years than many thought.

I've always looked at Jerry in terms of coaches as fairly patient. Am I wrong? No, he, well, he was not patient when it came to, you know, Jimmy and going back to all that. That was a huge personality thing. It's funny you brought up Chan. That's one of his biggest regrets as an owner that he gave up on Chan too quickly. So he has.

He kept Jason Garrett a long time. Jerry likes head coaches who allow him to be Jerry. And I don't mind the parade coming through. And Jerry's showing up at the fights and showing up when, you know, just kind of being up front and Mike doesn't really care about that. Now, much like Wade Phillips, Mike does have a little bit of thin skin, you know, and at some points, I asked him about some of his play calling. He talked about looking at films back to 2000, back when he was calling plays at New Orleans,

you know, to go back and look at that. And I said, well, what did you think? What did you think when you went back and looked at yourself as a play caller? And he kind of bristled a little bit. And he's like, well, he said, go look it up. I was the assistant coach of the year that year. And I was like, okay, okay. I mean, it was, and he did it in kind of a joking way, and we had a nice laugh about it.

But yeah, he's kind of, but that said, he doesn't mind all the Jerry stuff. Now what bugs him a little bit? Like, we were a tent over while he was doing his news conference Saturday morning talking to Stephen, you know, like doing our interviews. I don't know if he could see that, but I do think from time to time, Mike notices when, when, when, Those of us in the media are off talking to somebody else instead of him. Right. That's not how they did in Green Bay. Now, now, give us a little hint.

Give my audience a little hint. You interviewed Stephen Jones with Edwarder. I don't want you to give the whole present, but was there a moment in the interview that is worthy, that we're worthy of getting here at the volume? Because it was a pretty good interview you told me with Stephen Jones. What was your takeaway overall on it? There was one moment that he talks about DAC turning 30, and he mentions a Super Bowl,

and he doesn't do that as much as Jerry, but kind of brings that up. And no Cowboys quarterback in his 30s has ever won a Super Bowl. And it really, to me, spoke to the sense of urgency of this guy's 30. he wants to get it done now. And he put special emphasis this year, this year. And this is not always a this year team. This is, let's be competitive. They want credit for winning a bunch of division titles.

But that's not what the team should be measured on, given its illustrious past. But it's been a long, long time. I mean, it's been a long time since all that happened. And as I've often told you, if they even made it to the NFC title game, everybody would have 10-year extensions. Like it's not, everybody thinks it's Super Bowl or bust.

I don't think that's the case. But I do think it's been so long since they've been, 1996, since they've been to an NFC title game, or 95 season. It's, they can't, it can't go on anymore. Like, it's just, it's year after year after year. And they think that they have this window right now. And they have a couple of stars on.

defense. And Colin, we've talked about it in the past, they've been kind of, they've been bare at wide receiver and they've entered these seasons and they just don't have enough firepower there with Brandon Cooks, C.D. Lamb, a renewed Gallup, who's back to full health. And then Jalen Tolbert, at least in the first four days of camp where I attended putting on a show, they're jacked up at wide receiver. And obviously they think Pollard has more juice than than certainly what Zeke was showing. So anyway, I thought there were a lot of different ways. Also, Stephen, on the on the rookies,

there's some stuff I think folks might enjoy there. Yeah, I think the Niners have the best roster in the NFC. And I think Dallas and Philadelphia are somewhere in that second spot, depending on the unit. You know, Dallas has Micah, so they get the edge at linebacker. I would say the Eagles get the edge at offensive line. Both have very capable quarterbacks. Harts maybe a little more talented.

But I think if you looked in the AFC, I would not consider Dallas. I wouldn't give them a faint chance to make the AFC championship. But they knock off the jets early. They beat the Giants in the opener. It's a 2-0 start. They're healthy. You start stockpiling wins. You get a couple Ws against the commanders.

You don't have to win all those Bills, Miami Road games. You look up, you've got 11 wins. You don't have the buy, you know, but you're opening up in your first playoff game at home against Seattle. You know, that's a really winnable game. I think take the Niners out. That because of Brock Purdy, they don't pay anything for quarterback. So they basically have a stacked 1987 roster. I think Philadelphia and Dallas probably are somewhere fighting for the second best roster in the NFC.

That's my take. Does that seem far-fetched? No, I don't. I think it's interesting. Hertz was so great last season. Let's see him back that up. Without Shane Steichen, by the way, who may do wonders for Anthony Richardson.

That's going to be one of the stories. You know, that Jonathan Taylor Colts thing, what people aren't talking about, Matt, is that are the Colts coaches watching Anthony Richardson and saying, folks, we have a quarterback slash running back. We don't need to pay. a star running back.

Because if you look at the backup running backs for the Colts, they're not Jonathan Taylor. But Shane Steichen, rookie year with Justin Herbert, two years with Jalen Hertz, the guy does wonders with young quarterbacks, right? So I'm fascinated by the Colt situation. I do wonder if Jalen Hertz. I think we both love him.

But I do wonder if he takes a step back. He goes from A plus to A minus. If he just takes a tad step back. Yeah, that could happen. And I just think from a leadership standpoint, Dak is, boy, he's at a different level, but he has to back it up at some point. And he had some introspective things to say,

you know, about like it happening and feeling so easy for him in 2016 when he started and that it may have messed with his mind a little bit. Well, he's turning third. I think he was legitimately embarrassed by the turnovers, all the interceptions. And that's a McCarthy. McCarthy is now, it was fun to watch at camp because he was like a little kid. He reverted back to being a quarterback's coach, you know, back in the day, even before, you know, when he was like back in the late 1990s.

he did not leave the side of the quarterbacks. And then when we, I thought, I thought he was kidding at one point. He said, were you still going to go to the defensive meetings and that kind of thing? And he said, no, no. Basically that part of my coaching life, or at least for now, is over. I mean, it's all in. It's all offense. And this is getting back to where Jerry always said he was the most comfortable,

which was having like a Jason Garrett, having the offensive coach or the defensive of coach, do it all. He didn't like the walk-around coach. And so I don't know why they had to wait this long to do it. But more McCarthy, the way he's behaving on the field and all, it's like he's more of an offensive coordinator than a head coach, which is kind of interesting because the team kind of has two head coaches. And one of the reasons he can act like this now is because Quinn, I mean, that's a

pretty interesting thing, Colin, that Quinn has stayed around even when he had opportunities because the two of those guys, things could have gotten awkward. And Quinn is one of those rare guys who recognize what you brought up earlier that, hey, I got all this talent. I'm getting paid huge money. I'm at this marquee place. If I keep doing this, I'm going to keep getting opportunities. Why do I need to jump back in and be a head coach?

Is it just for ego or something? It is very rare when a coach actually realizes I might be better at this than that. Yeah. And Quinn sort of gets that. So it sets up a, you've got a defensive head coach and an offensive head coach, which sounds like it could be awkward. The only time it could be awkward is they do have a great interim head coach, right, if things went south. Right. But right now it looks like it works pretty nicely for them.

And I'm just saying Mike's through going to any defensive meetings. Well, I felt Sean McDermott and Brian Daibble felt like a little bit that. where you had a guy that was a brilliant young offensive coordinator who kind of ran the offense. He leaves. The offense doesn't look as good. McDermott pretty much let him run it. So I don't think that's bad at all. I mean, a lot of times, you know, Pete Carroll's running the defense, Dan Quinn on the defense, he needs to leave.

Right? Like he's getting Kirby Smart needed to leave Nick Saban. But I think Dan Quinn, I think he is a star in his own right. So I think that, I think you get that. you know, you get that occasionally, D'emico Ryan's with Kyle Shanahan. Kyle gave him the defense. You'd be a star.

If you want to leave, leave. But that part about Dallas, I actually like. I like having a rock star. I mean, I think Quinn's on a short list of one of the three best coordinators in football. I don't think there's many. Now that Stuyken is a head coach and Dable's a head coach, I think Dan Quinn's a top two to three coordinator in the NFL.

That's never a bad thing to me. No. And you match that up. with the most dynamic defender in the NFL. Right. With Michael Parsons, a guy who knows how to deploy and change things up. And as somebody was saying the other day, this guy hasn't even really figured out pass rushing yet. Like he's this big, he's this big of a threat and he's still learning how to be a pass rusher.

Like that's not what he grew up doing. And if he figures it all out, I mean, he's a holy terror. All right, Mosley. So you're back home in Texas now. I hope a cooling trend awaits you at some point. You guys have had quite a steamer this summer. Yeah, we have. I have thought about next week going to Boulder to welcome the Colorado Buffs

back to our Big 12. And I think that would be a nice, cool environment. And there's been some excitement with that. So the Big 12 that a lot of people dismissed has come roaring back. I know. The pack nine is in a bit of a pit. We're going to be inviting schools

from Idaho and directional schools. And I saw a story today. Washington and Oregon are listening to the ACC. I mean, it's like, good hell. What's happened to the you know what, though? I say this all the time. I grew up. I love the pack 12, pack 10, pack eight. I loved it.

But the downside of the West Coast as a collegiate conference is, Seattle, San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles have got dozens of pro teams. And it's the passion filling the stadiums and arenas is harder. It's not Waco. It's not Stillwater. It's not Madison, Wisconsin. It's not Starksville, Mississippi.

You know, out west, we got the mountains, we got the beaches, we got the lakes, we got pro sports. It's harder to get people on a Saturday to jam into a college stadium. And frankly, the Big 12 passion is better than the past. Pact 12 passion. And I think Colorado realized. Well, and they had a chance, by the way, to do some big merger when the Pact, when the Big 12 was in trouble after Texas and OU left. And Kleevekov and the rest of the Pact 12 kind of laughed at the Big 12 leftovers. And since then, they made some good moves, brought some teams

in. And this Brett, Your Mark, you've probably had him on already at some point. But he needs to be on the volume. He needs to be on a podcast with you because he is a fascinating guy. And I learn more and more about him all the time. And I just, I love kind of seeing a basketball guy who comes from entertainment try to like, I mean, he's, he's galvanized all these football people. And he's even convinced him, hey, we can, we can, we may be able to go find a whole another revenue stream based off basketball. It's amazing. I mean, like some of the stuff he's doing should have been thought about forever. is like, hey, why don't you, instead of just constantly on these media rights deals, go find some of these other streams.

Go find, I mean, get some basketball only money. Build the greatest basketball conference you could ever have. And they're on their way to doing it. Yeah. I mean, if they steal Arizona and you put Arizona with Kansas and Missouri and, you know, Texas always has talent, you know, although they're leaving, obviously Baylor's become a power. house. So you throw, you throw Arizona schools, especially Tucson is a great basketball program. You get all worked up. I don't want to take the, you know, attention away from your excellent cowboy stories today because you're very, very embedded. And I thought you really brought your

A game today considering you're in sweltering heat for the last two months. It's been a little rough, but we're going to, we're going to make it. And, man, just like most years. I always kind of roll into LAX and my thought is all my buddies, Colin, Dave, Greg, all these names that have been great friends for years that we're going to hang out. It didn't quite happen. I think that's a 17th consecutive year. But one of these years will make it happen. Good seeing you, buddy. All right. Good night. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite, unhumor me with Robert Smygle and friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, S&L'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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Thank you.