The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 1 - Sean Payton, Aaron Rodgers

Episode Date: January 26, 2022

Sean Payton is burnt outAaron Rodgers is playing the victim again.The list of good coaches without jobsGuest: Nick Wright Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Oh, here we go on a Wednesday. I swear we just keep getting post-Christmas gifts. It's the herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. It is a pleasure to be here. Today I was so lucky. I had coffee with a comedian yesterday.

I had lunch with a friend of mine who's a great reporter yesterday, the stories I could tell. I was on the phone with executives yesterday regarding Sean Payton. And I was doing journalism, as you know, as a co-journalist. We had a story break in our last hour yesterday, Joy, Taylor, about Sean Payton. And, you know, when stories break, you and I are kind of ad-libate and we thought Raiders and the Cowboys, that was our initial take is, boy, that would be good fits. Yeah, but you've got to dig deeper and get the real story. That's what we do here. not pad with us all day.

So I did think the Cowboys and the Raiders, because of Derek Carr and Dack, would be a really good fit. And then I got off the air and made a bunch of calls. And here's what I was told with Sean Payton. It's TV1, TV 2, and TV 3. Now, he may do part-time TV, meaning he takes a month off. He goes to Cabo with his beautiful new wife. He does some, you know, little here, a little there. He may not go all in.

but football is not his primary interest. I was told by two different sources he is burned out. And I'll get to that in a second. But yesterday, Sean held a press conference. He looked good. He actually looked pretty rested for a guy that's burned out. And at the end of this, he was very open. He talked a little bit about the TV thing.

I don't know what's next. And look, I read the reports and I understand. And I've not spoken to anyone from a media outlet relative to doing television or radio. Maybe that opportunity arises. But every time I read something that says, like, he's in line for this job, I'll call my agent Don and I'll say, Don, did you hear some? Because I have not heard anything. And that's okay.

I think I'd like to do that. I think it'd be pretty good at it. He would. And so I am told TV is first, second, and third. It may be all-in TV. And the reason Sean Payton would work on TV, in my opinion, 75% of the people ex-Jox and coaches doing this stuff are fine. They're not special.

I think Greg Olson is, wow, good. Romo popped very quickly. You know, I have fondness for Aikman. I've known Troy for years. You've got to sometimes be critical of people, and a lot of ex-coaches and jocks won't be. And also, Sean, I don't know. know him well, but I know many people who do. He is really intense. He burns hot and he goes all in on stuff. So if Sean's all in and he would go all in on broadcasting, because he's a very

competitive guy. He was an athletic guy. He's going to go all in on it. He'd be good at it. He'd be good day one. I mean, Romo was good day one. But I think the more interesting thing is this. Two things have happened. Coaching in the NFL. Two things have happened. Number one. one, every owner in the NFL now is a billionaire. Okay, these franchises now, the biggest money in the world is all on sports franchises. That's why people are shocked Jeff Bezos of Amazon hasn't bought a franchise yet. Nobody knows where to put their money, the Uber, Uber wealthy in the world.

Sports teams is one of the, oh, Stan Cronky of the Rams, one of the richest people in America. Stadiums and teams is where a lot of rich people are putting their money. because you don't know what the market's going to do. You don't know about instability. You don't know about leadership. You don't know about terrorism. You don't know. There's a lot of things that could tank the market, tank the housing market.

But you know the Boston Red Sox are Planet Fenway in 20 years. And Liverpool's going to be playing over in England. And, you know, the Packers are going to be in Green Bay. If they had an owner and the Cowboys are going to be in Dallas. So these own global wealth has exploded. The half of one-one-one percent has separated from even other rich people. They're billionaires. They write $75 million checks.

They make that in an hour. The ownership in the NFL is so bloody rich. Everything's a rounding error. They'll just fire you very quickly. And also, the richer people get, the more delusional they get, and the more impatient they get, because everything is given to you and granted to you. And so you don't really do much. You don't go to the DMB.

You don't go to the grocery store. You don't do anything. The dog walker, this, that, this. These people are impatient. They're richer than ever. These are toys. It's often the third or fourth thing they own. The equity has quadrupled in the last five or ten years.

They bought these franchises for $380 million and they're now worth $6 billion. And it's a tough place to be. Owners have never been crazier, never been more impatient. They've never had more money. And I'm not saying Gail Benson is a bad owner. She has a reputation as a good owner. The Benson family are very supportive. It's the first thing that's happening, though.

this is why a lot of these NFL guys are thinking about college or thinking about going into TV. It's crazy town. These owners are now crazy. The second thing that's happening is, and we've talked about this multiple times, quarterback always mattered in this league. But Andy Reid got to five NFC championships without a Hall of Fame quarterback. You could win a lot of games with a great running back, with a great defense. The last four coaches left are all offensive.

Zach Taylor's, one of the last four coaches. coaches. Belichick isn't. Pete Carroll finished in fourth place. Mike Tomlin's gone. Zach Taylor's in. Same division. If you don't have a quarterback, and right now the Saints quarterback room is a hot mess. I mean, it's just, it's just all, they're paying taste of Hill money. James Winston doesn't work. Ian Book's a nice kid but limited. It's a, it's a mess. And Sean's like, I can't win with this. I mean, Andy Reed, in today's game, moved off Alex Smith. Alex Smith was a winning quarterback.

He's like, yeah, there's limitations on. And this has been going on for about six years now, and it's getting worse and worse and worse. And finally this year, the best quarterback won every division in the NFC. Every single playoff team had an offensive coach, if not for the AFC East, which has all defensive coaches. Seven of eight divisions won by an offensive coach. All the rules are offense.

So Sean Payton's like, I can't win. I can't win with this. And I think it's smart. So a lot of people are writing about the cowboy job. Now, could Jerry Jones write $125 million check, $25 million a year for the next five years? Jerry is getting close to 80 years old. He may be getting impatient.

Absolutely. That could happen. But I am told by people I trust, it is TV1, TV2, and TV3. And by the way, in regards to his quarterback room, last year, as you watched it, and he was struggled with it, he even acknowledged. his quarterback room last year. He tried to add another quarterback. I thank Drew and his wife, Brittany, and their family. I spoke to him at length last night about this decision for the first time, and he was fantastic. And I did call him during this

season, and we discussed him coming back. And I think both of us agreed, based on our lineup versus Miami. It was a good thing he stayed and didn't come. So he would tell you how much he loved the quarterback there. He wanted Drew Brees. You wanted a 40-year-old broadcaster, Drew Brees, in the quarterback room. So expect him near a TV set, near you, actually, in the very near future. All right? You know what magicians do, right?

Magicians have the card over here, and then they make you look over to the right. Look over here, and then they make the card disappear, and they do their magic trick over here. It's all about distraction and illusion for a magician. Aaron Rogers should be a magician. He's very good at that. So Aaron's right hand is the one that has the football, and that's the one that got scared in the playoff game and played fearful and wasn't daring

and scored three points at home as a number one seed. That's the right hand. Aaron yesterday talked to the media. He wanted you to look over the left hand. Aaron said, quote, everybody was rooting against us because of my anti-vaccine stance. A lot of people are rooting against me. They were tuning in rooting against me.

That's the left hand over here. Look over here. I'm the victim. Over here. You. No, no, Aaron, I want to pay attention to the right arm because this weekend, Joe Burrow was more daring than you. And Patrick Mahomes was more daring. And Matt Stafford was more daring.

I don't want to look at you the victim. Don't try to fool me with all the victim stuff. The right hand is the one to worry about. Not the left. Not the everybody hates me. Do some people root against Aaron because of his vaccine status? Yeah, I mean, the internet, Twitter is just a toilet. 22% of America is on Twitter.

It's not real life. People say awful things to me on Twitter. I've been in this business 30 years. People come up to me in real life and are the sweetest, nicest, kindest, smartest, most thoughtful people. I've never had anybody say anything nice to me on Twitter. Of course, I'm embellishing, but we all know the game on Twitter. It's not real life. It's anonymous.

And everybody, you know, when you don't know who they are, They get out their frustration, their misery in life. They take it out on you. Overwhelmingly, people were not rooting against the Green Bay Packers. They have fans all over the place. Aaron's fun to watch. Aaron drives me nuts. I've been the most critical Aaron Rogers critic in the American sports media.

There is no second place. This, he doesn't like me. He's told people he doesn't like me. He goes on rival shows to, we don't see eye to eye. But he's great for football. He's a villain. I think this right here is the classic, oh, everybody's rude.

I don't care about the left hand in the Vax crap. I don't care. I'm not a mandate guy. But I do think the right hand's fascinating. You watched all these games. You saw how Stafford and Burrow and Allen and Mahomes, how poised they were. Getting sacked under duress.

Stafford's team was melting. Burrow got sacked nine times. Mahomes and Alan. They were these young, mostly young, Stafford's older, these young, daring, risk-taking, coaching, coachable quarterbacks. And Aaron was the, and Garoppolo's limited, but he didn't play safe. Garoppelos totally limited. He was throwing the ball right down the middle.

I thought the fascinating thing about the weekend was, I keep being told how great Aaron is. He played fearful. He played scared. He played without trust. that's the right hand. That's the hand I care about. If you want to play victim,

it's not my cup of Joe, man. I'm just, I'm not, I talk about this all the time to my kids. We have granite countertops. I don't, I don't, and crown molding. There's no victims in the house. We're fine. And I don't think Aaron's a victim. And I don't think everybody was rooting against him.

But I do think if Aaron goes on Twitter and reads it, people are awful. But they're awful to joy. They're probably worse to joy than me, because she'll fight with them, and I just ignore them. They're awful to me. They're awful to everybody. In real life, people aren't. If you ran into Aaron Rogers at a supermarket, you'd ask for a selfie, the same guy that's hating him. And I do think Twitter tends to be, the media tends to lean left my entire life.

It's more left than it used to be. And now you can see how far they lean left. And they get a little dogmatic on the whole mask and vaccine thing. Again, NFL did not have a mandate. It just made it tougher if you weren't vaccine. That said, I don't really care. Aaron's good for my business. But this feels like, look over here.

I don't want to. I want to look over there. Because what I saw was a quarterback I've been assured by all the experts is the great quarterback talent of my generation. And he wasn't as good as Burrough and he wasn't as good as Mahomes. He wasn't close to Josh Allen. And frankly, Matt Stafford now with a legitimate culture, he wasn't as good as Matt Stafford. I don't want to hear it zero degrees. I don't want to hear it.

It was zero degrees the week before for Josh Allen, against New England, wasn't it? He threw it. They had seven straight touchdowns. It was zero degrees in Buffalo. I don't want to hear about the weather. It's an advantage for Aaron Rogers. So, Aaron, I know you can host Jeopardy.

I know you're an actor. I know you do commercials. I know you do quarterback. But I don't need you to be a magician. I'm not going to pay attention to the victimhood on the left hand. I want to pay attention to what I saw on the right hand, which is a gifted quarterback that played fearfully, played cautiously, and didn't trust teammates not named Devante Adams.

That is what I want to talk about, that hand. All right. Sean Payton, there's other things on Sean Payton that are interesting, I think are very interesting. You know, somebody on our team this morning made a really good point about the Brooklyn Nets. It was a really good point. I'm going to talk about that this hour as well. Nick Wright, my buddy has always stops by.

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 Heart Radio. 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, Clivert 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 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 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'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, so... 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 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 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 that's two different levels of trust I want you to just really be a good person

Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. Hustler Turf, the brand lawn care pros use weekend joes too. Full lineup of residential mowers. HustlerTurf.com. Find a dealer near you. All right, Sean Payton stepped down. That means there's nine coaching openings in the NFL. It's crazy. 28% of the league. It is kind of remarkable. Who's getting interviewed and who isn't? I see some of these guys getting interviewed.

They've either been coaches, had losing records, their coordinators. I just want to remind everybody that Doug Peterson won a Super Bowl and beat Belichick with Nick Foles. He's still unemployed. Jim Caldwell had five of six winning seasons in Indianapolis

and got to the playoffs twice with the Lions. And Jason Garrett coached for nine and a half years had one losing season and three division titles. I don't think Jason Garrett's even being interviewed. Call me nutty, but if you've won in the league, as a proven head coach, I'd probably get Jim Caldwell, and I think he may get the Bears job.

He's an offensive guy, too. Jason Garrett's an offensive guy. Doug Peterson's an offensive guy. I see these defensive coordinators getting a second chance to coach, and I'm like, what are we doing here? I think Jason Garrett, Jim Caldwell, and Doug Peterson would be boom, boom, boom. But Sean Peyton is stepping down. And let's be honest about it, the last five years for the Saints have been crazy town.

So in 2017, they lost Minneapolis Miracle, which is one of the craziest finishes in the history of the NFL. In 2019, it was the loss of the Rams on that non-pass interference call. The following year, he lost to the Vikings again in overtime in the playoffs. In 2020, he beat the Bucks twice handily in the regular season, then lost in the the playoffs. That's frustrating. And then this year, they had four to five quarterbacks, Michael Thomas, the $100 million receiver. I've told you about this yesterday. Something's not right in that relationship. It's beyond injuries. And they had to relocate because of a hurricane to Dallas. It's just been five years of a lot of tumult and a lot of turbulence. And he's got

his legacy, a new wife, a great life. And I think it's really time for him to do it. I mean, it's just time to recharge. He's 58. He looks great. but he talked about yesterday the opportunity of coaching again if it presents itself. I don't know what's next. I don't like the word retirement. Mr. B didn't like it either. He always said, you know, retirement's overrated. I still have a vision for doing things in football.

And I'll be honest with you, that might be coaching again at some point. I don't think it's this year. I think maybe in the future, but that's not where my heart is right now. A lot of times people hold press conferences, and they're vague because they have have to be for legal reasons. A couple times he was vague yesterday, but he was pretty honest as well. Here's what I'm going to tell you. He's going to go into broadcasting first, and then he will return, I believe, to coaching.

The salaries are going through the roof. He has no reason to take any job that isn't perfect. Now, the Raiders have Derek Carr, so that's pretty good. But the ownership situation is not great, and it's a tough division. And the Cowboys have Dak Prescott, and he would make him better. but Dak Prescott is not Mahomes or Burrow or Rogers or Stafford or it's not perfect. There's no perfect job. And they do exist.

Green Bay had an opening with a great roster, good front office, and Aaron Rogers. They do exist. So they're out there. They don't happen often, but they do exist. There's no reason for Sean Payton not to do television, make money, have fun, be engaged, and then cherry pick in three or four years or two years. Still wouldn't count out Dallas. Joy with the news.

No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, Sunday's loss to the chiefs might go down as one of the most heartbreaking ever for Bill's fans who have had some pretty heartbreaking losses over their history. And Sean McDermott said he's having a hard time not revisiting and thinking about the final 13 seconds of regulation. I watched it on video and I watched it over and over. head a million times and in my stomach a million more. That's what we do. As was mentioned earlier, it's my livelihood. And, you know, I'm super competitive as well. I'll continue to watch it in my

mind and in my gut for for years. And, you know, it's something that I'm going to, but when we get to where we're trying to get to, I believe that that'll be, that'll make it that much more enjoyable in that moment. By the way, if not for 13 seconds, Andy Reid would be having these conversations at a Chief's podium. There isn't a reason he lost. Well, there is. It's called Patrick Mahomes. Right. And it's okay. If you're going to lose in the NFL today and you know, there's a million excuses. And you said, okay, my excuse is Patrick Mahomes. That's the one that doesn't get you fired. Yeah. I mean, there's, there's different ways to lose. Like there's, the Green Bay loss is It's ugly.

Pretty brutal. Dallas. The Titans loss is pretty brutal. Quarterback draws with no timeouts left. Brutal. That loss is explainable. It's acceptable. Now, 13 seconds is extreme.

It is extreme. And, you know, there were some conversations of, you know, should they have, you know, not kicked it down the field? Like, should they try and burn more time? I mean, 13 seconds. Come on. Like, who could imagine that that could happen? Listen, earlier in the year, I don't remember the exact seconds. I think it was 37.

But the Niners had Aaron Rogers beat in San Francisco, and he made two passes. And it was like, and I think it was 37 seconds. And we were like, not shocked. So with Mahomes, we're going to have to come to terms with 13 seconds. It's too much time. It's too much time. By the way, Tony Romo on the broadcast, he had, I remember him saying this. And sometimes Tony can be goofy, but he did say this.

He thought the ball should be kicked in the field of play to burn four seconds. He's like, you want to give Mahomes one play. 13. He said on the air, that's two plays. I'm not giving my home. When you have your timeouts, when you're Dallas and you want to run up the field and burn the timeout, then that's different. But Romo did say, in fairness to Tony Romo and CBS guys, he was like, I don't love kicking it through the end zone. That is two plays. Tyreek Hill is such a game changer. And the other thing that happens now, these guys practice the laterals to move up the field. Like a couple years ago, the dolphins beat the Patriots on a lot of the last year. lateral. It may only happen once a decade, but I see that more at college and pro level.

Like, I'm giving you one play. The second play may end up being that lateral thing, and I don't love that either. Yeah, I mean, one play is obviously ideal because that makes the probability of you winning the game much more difficult. But 13 seconds is also a miracle. Yes. Let's be honest. You have two timeouts, which is great, which means you've managed the game well, but it's still only 13 seconds. Like, there's a lot that can go wrong in that 13 seconds. And, you know, that's why I think everyone's looking at the bill's like, man, that's a brutal loss. But what else could you possibly do? Like, it's not like it was the Dallas situation where you're like, that's bad coaching, bad decisions, bad play

calling, bad execution. Like, this is just probably the greatest quarterback in the league doing what he does. And and this generation's Elway, who by the way had 44 come from behind wins. Like, this is what you deal with when you face the best quarterback of a generation. How many times did Brady and Elway do this? Right. What Josh Allen did the possession before was incredible. So it's like this is going to happen a lot.

Yeah. But you should never get fired because you lose to Mahomes in that style. That's the new excuse that's a real excuse. That's a reason. There are excuses and there are reasons. The reason is Patrick Mahomes. It's become a reason. So Anthony Davis made his return to the Lakers last night after missing the last 17 games with a knee injury.

And he only played for a limited amount of minutes, but LeBron credited 80s being on the floor as a boosting for the team's performance. Just his presence is the impact for our ball club. You know, he adds so much more length to our defense. He adds another playmaker. He has another dynamic player on the floor where, you know, you can't have all eyes on myself and Russ and mellow. And now you've got to account for 80 as well. So, you know, it's his first game.

And, you know, he was excited to get back out there. We was excited to have them. And it resulted in us getting a win. The Lakers played really well. Well, the first thing he said is Anthony Davis on the defensive end gives us length. The Lakers have, Vogel is a defensive coach. Anthony is a unbelievable defender. So when I watch bits and pieces of this game, yeah, he's going to score because he's just very skilled.

But Anthony Davis, that bubble championship, a lot of that was the Lakers had really good defensive pieces. And they played a Miami Heat team that had a bunch of kids and they wore them down on the defensive end. So Anthony, once they got rid of KCP and Caruso, they're not as good a defensive team on the perimeter. But Anthony does add an element that they just can't have without his length. Yeah, I mean, he's an unbelievable player when he's healthy. That's why the whole idea that you can even evaluate what the Lakers are without Anthony Davis healthy and on the court is just kind of silly to me. Like the Lakers are 500.

They're 24 and 24. And everyone's like, it should be better than that. Like, why? Based off of what? They don't have Anthony Davis on the court. He hasn't been available for 17 games. So all this panic about the Lakers. and Vogel and Westbrook, it's like,

what are you guys even talking about? They are not a complete team without Anthony Davis. And you saw, even in the limited amount of minutes, only 25 minutes, the effect that he had being on the floor. The nets were without Kyrie, obviously, because they were at home. And KD. is injured. So Harden at 38 minutes and 33 points. Nice game, 12 rebounds, 11 assists,

but not enough for the Lakers last night. So the Bears recently hired GM Ryan Poles. That was yesterday. And he was the former chief's executive director of player, personnel. He began the process of in-person interviews on his first day on the job. Albert Breer reported that they did meet with Jim Caldwell in Chicago, and they reportedly have second interview scheduled today with Dan Quinn and Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eber Fluse today as well. I, if I am the Chicago Bears, am going in the direction of a offensive guy. Like you have Justin Fields. You've got to do everything that you can to develop him and build around him. Absolutely. And like the Chicago Bears always focus on defense. Like we talk about this a lot.

It's like a cliche. Right. Like there's just certain, I feel like the Raiders are like this in a way. Like the Raiders always go for the big splashy hire. We're always talking about, you know, how they have all these dogs and these Raiders. And it's like, yeah, are you really that? Are you just like a, you know, middle of the road team that occasionally pops?

The Bears always focus on defense. You have a skilled, very raw, but with lots of potential, young quarterback. Also, they have a very good young tight end, two interesting running backs and two interesting receivers. They're rebuilding their own line, but they're a little bit like the Raiders. There's some offensive pieces here

that with the right offensive coach, watch out. If Justin Fields is what we think and they can get some protection, it's a pretty interesting roster of good young offensive talent. You've tried the defensive thing over and over and over again. We get it. We get it the bears like their defense, but just build

around Justin Fields and give them everything you got. like Matt Nagy. He got you to the playoffs twice. Okay, so you didn't like... With the quarterback that you hated. Yeah, so don't give me this. We had an offensive coach. I know.

And he got Trubiski to the playoffs twice. So an offensive coach who you didn't like got you into the playoffs. That is the league right now. You don't even have to have a great offensive coach. If you have the right one, we didn't know if Zach Taylor could coach. If the quarterback works, there is a symmetry with Burrow and Zach Taylor that they got along quickly and both of them elevated each other fast. I'm not saying that no defensive coaches should be hired.

I do think that there are great coaches. I mean, Belichick is the greatest coach of all time. He's a defensive coach. There are great defensive coaches out there. But when you have a young quarterback, you need to build everything around their development and what's going to make them better, starting with an offensive line.

Just focus on the offensive side of the ball. Right. Joy of the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line news. I've tried to avoid Nick Wright for the last couple of days because the Chiefs won, and in the style they won, he went on Twitter rampages. He went crazy. But you know what?

As his mentor, I'm happy for him. And listen, Kansas City is easy to root for. I like the coach. I like the quarterback. I like their tight end. I like their players. And so let's bring on Nick Wright who's really. All right.

Anyway, let's just not congratulations. Whatever. So let's just get to this. Are you ready to admit? I'm just, listen, it's your show you asked the questions, but I'm asked one right now. Are you ready to admit that the current iteration of Patrick Mahomes is quarterbacking at the finest it's ever been? That the current iteration of Patrick Mahomes is better than your beloved Tom Brady could have ever dreamt him being. Are you ready?

Because the league changes ever 15 years, with the current offensive rules which favor quarterback mobility, I think John Elway in this era could have put up bigger numbers. I think Mahomes is the best quarterback. He is totally built for this league. It takes advantage of all of his strengths. Oh, by the way, 1A is Josh Allen. So you have to acknowledge he is a handful and you're not going to beat you. All right.

You know what? You know what? It's fair. It's fair. It's fair. I will give an inch in this regard. sometimes the truest test of how good someone is is how much fear does he instill in the opposition

and I as an honorary member of the Kansas Chiefs can tell you I was terrified so I will put my sword down when it comes to Josh Allen he has the questions I had can he string together consecutive great playoff games he answered those now listen I will say this

I'm curious about this Alan was great you were right about Alan You're very, very wrong, very many times about Mahomes, but I'm glad you've come around. I do worry for the bills, though, that this law, the Falcons never recovered from the Super Bowl. Right. The Seahawks never recovered, I would argue, from Marshawn Lynch play. Yeah. You lose Daible and that type of emotional devastation, I think, can have a long tail, especially when,

just to get to Mahomes, you've got to get through Herbert or Burrow or a healthy Lamont. So the idea that we're definitely going to get part three of this next year, I hope we do. I think it's fun, but I don't know that we will. No, I'm going to address this later in the show. In fact, I'll throw this at you. This is a good discussion. Defensive coaches, the legends, Mike Tomlin, Pete Carroll, whiff on about every other offensive coordinator hire. McVeigh's never whiffed.

Andy Reid's never whiffed. Fangio couldn't get the OC right. Mike Zimmer whiffed once Stefansky left who he inherited. Ron Rivera can't get it right. If Brian DeBow leaves, there is a strong likelihood. Brian Flores went through three. You look around at this league. The defensive coaches, there are a lot of whiffs,

and I don't think you can replace Brian Dayball an upgrade. I think that's a very interesting. I'll take it a step further. And I'll take a step further. Let's say he gets it. The problem for with the NFL right now, It's not, you know, I know it's all three phases of the game, but if we're breaking it down percentage-wise, unless you're the Green Bay Packers, it's about right now a 60% offense, 35% defense, 5% special teams league. The offense is tilted that far. The problem for hiring defensive coaches is Colin, even if they get the offensive coordinator right, if they get it too right, you got to replace him because he goes and gets a job.

Yes. So like, right? Yes. That's the issue. The issue is you want so much stability for your quarterback. If the head coach isn't an offensive guy, you bring in the offensive guy, but if he's good enough, he then leaves. So I think we're going to see even more teams go offense, offense, offense with their head coaches, especially if they have a quarterback they believe in. But I actually am, it's impossible for me not to root for Andy Reid.

And it's also, I think Mahalms is incredibly likable. I have no problem acknowledging. Kansas City's number one in this league. I think Buffalo, to your point, is a terrifying rival for the next 10 years. Josh Allen is an insane once-in-a-franchised talent. Now, it's interesting. I said this the day after, and I'll say it again, three days in a row. It's not the Green Bay lost.

It's that I watched Burrow Mahomes, Allen, and Stafford, and they were more daring, and they trailed, and they got hit. and I couldn't tell and they didn't play safe and they took risks. I watched Aaron shut down after a Mercedes-Louis fumble. Three-and-out, three-and-out, no yards. It was, again, Garapolo is limited

and was more daring. My takeaway on Aaron was he's got to fix Aaron. There's something going on here with Aaron upstairs. Did you see that? Yeah, listen, I've argued with you a lot about Aaron Rogers,

and the more evidence is coming in on your side of the ledger. I thought you were categorically insane on Rogers about five years ago. About three years ago, I thought you had a few good points.

At this point, I think you mostly nailed it. And there's, so I thought his interview yesterday was interesting because it showed to me a bit of delusion when he said,

you had the whole world, you know, people rooting against me purely because of my vaccination status. Colin, Aaron's vaccination status is the exact same as Carson Winces. And people adored the cults. They were everyone's sleeper. People weren't actively rooting against the cults.

People, if they were actively rooting against Aaron for non-football reasons, it's not because of his vaccination status. It's because of his seemingly endless dedication to being loud and wrong. It's the same. He has, I have some of this too, not the wrong part. But people don't like when you act like you're the smartest guy in the room all the time. I do that a little too often and you've, you know, off the air told me, yeah, it'd be a little less patronizing. The problem is I'm just right so often.

It's hard. However, we joked about it this weekend. How many people, the moment the bills threw that touchdown pass, Josh Allen threw it with 13 seconds left, tweeted me. Because they wanted to see me in pain because I'd been so arrogant about stuff. Right, right. Well, you bring that upon yourself to a degree, Aaron. When you act the way he's acted, people, yeah, they're rooting for your downfall. And when it's in that type of fashion, so glaring.

And when even after the blocks punt, Colin, he's got, it's a tie game. He has Lazard over the middle. He makes one throw. And it's like, oh, we got away with it. We got to scare, but we're fine. Instead, and I find this interesting, Colin, in the three years of LaFloor, each regular season, he's gotten better than the previous, and each postseason he's gotten worse than the previous.

I find that interesting. Hey, by the way, do you have, are you busy with your family right now? No, anything for you and Joy Taylor. Everyone involved in this show except Chris Healy, I have time. If you stick around, I got you. Okay. Can I have two more things I want to ask you, one football, one basketball? Nick Wright, first things first.

I got to take a quick break here. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. He's by Carmen. I'm Dan Byard. We have a brand new fantasy football podcast called I Want Your Flex. Twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday, we come up with new episodes to not only look back at what happened, what you need to do at that minute, and also look ahead of what's coming up in the fantasy football world. That's right, Dan. Every week, we're going to scour the waiver wire to find the pickups to turbo boost your fantasy lineup. Sit, starts, fantasy football players' rankings to get you ready to dominate the competition. Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Harmon and me, Dan Byer, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, and 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. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm 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 with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick 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 crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so.

Thank you for finishing that. sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking.

Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, 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 hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. All right, one more football question with my buddy, Nick Wright, who's in a great mood. Touchdown favorite, the Chiefs are over the Bengals, and I do like the Chiefs, and I think they'll be favored over. I'm not sure the Rams are winning. It's close for a reason. They play close games.

But the overtime rule is interesting. I have always, I wrote in my first book, I believe overtime. The road team should get the choice because if you can't win as a home team after 13 possessions and the crowd in your favor, road team gets the call. That said, I don't lose any sleep with Kansas City getting it. Bills had their chances. Didn't play penalty-free football. Get over it.

But you have a solution to improve it. And a lot of people disagree with me. well listen i and by the way nice humble brag in my first book my first of many books that i've written there were best sellers um the here's the the ravens proposed this years ago and it's the right solution it's the football version of the old parenting tactic i cut you choose which is the you know we have we have one piece of cake left we got to split it how we're going to split it fair someone cuts and the other person gets choose which slice they want it's the spot and choose solution so Allen, the bills are playing the Chiefs.

When it goes to overtime, it's sudden death first to score. The Chiefs decide where on the field the possession will start, and the bills then decide if they want to play offense or defense. Ooh, like that. So it is as fair as you can be. So how deep would the Chiefs have to say for the bills to say you can have the ball? If they said the 10 would the bills choose defense, Would they have to say the five?

But you are the one that's choosing. So one team picks where it starts, the other team picks which side of the ball they want to start on offense or defense. I love that. It's the fairest way and it takes into account injury, fatigue, all of that. Sudden death go play. Yeah, because you and I both know the league does not want another 30 minutes of football because you have fatigued athletes, fatigue muscles. That could compromise your roster the following week if you got Chris Jones playing 29 more snaps.

That's nobody wants to address that. So I think that that makes sense. Okay, it is amazing watching LeBron. He's going to lead the league in scoring. Give me some context on how amazing that is. It's insane. Okay, so, and last night, so I was at the game last night. Oddly enough, I was sitting next to Commissioner Silver,

who must not be a viewer because when I introduced myself, he looked like I had three heads. I'm like, thanks for watching, Adam. Appreciate it. But doesn't matter. Neither here nor there. This play right here, Colin, made the commissioner of the league stand up and cheer. I don't know if he cheered. I don't want to be wrong. He stood up.

And it's like, what is happening? LeBron's just taking over fourth quarters in year 19. Here's the context for it. Carmelo Anthony this year, Colin, is averaging more points per game than any player ever in year 19 other than Kobe, Kareem, Dirk, and LeBron. So Carmelo is having one of the best year 19s we've ever seen. He's averaging half the points LeBron is. Do you remember about 10 years ago,

when Durant won his first and only MVP, and I think LeBron was a little, you know, saw Durant kind of coming for his corner. It was a very interesting moment. He was asked about the scoring. And LeBron said, listen, I could lead the league in scoring every year if I wanted to. And I think people were like, okay, yeah, sure. I think he's proving it, Colin.

He needed to leave. He needed go 30 a night for the Lakers stay afloat. And in year 19, he's doing it. He's not as good as he used to be, and he's still good enough to be the best scorer in the league. Yeah. And scoring's not what he does best. It's unfathomable what he's doing. Yeah, it is. And I will say this. I think they're a limited team. They're too old. Their bench is too old. I don't think they defend the perimeter well. I don't think they're a title team. But Anthony Davis, it should be noted, and LeBron, you're going to win a playoff series or two. You may not beat Phoenix. You may not be Golden State, but I still think of Anthony A.D. and LeBron, I mean, is it fair to say they're well, I think here's what I'll say, Colin. I think the only guys in the league who have an

argument, they're better than him. And I don't know if any of it's true, but they have an argument are all out east. Janus, Embed, and Durant are the only guys who could say they're better than LeBron, they're all out east. There is nobody out west that can look LeBron James in the eye and say, I'm as good as you. So NBA history says if Anthony Davis is healthy, they're going to be a tough out. Great stuff, buddy. Nick Wright, first things first. We've got to get on the commissioner Adam Silver. I mean, that's outrageous. That is an egregious front. It's slight. It really is. I'm never going to get a vote this way. You got to watch the show, Adam. I have great takes. All right. Good see you, buddy. Nick Wright. Yeah, it is remarkable. LeBron is

Right. And I think it is. People made their decision on LeBron and Michael Jordan a long time ago. And it's like, well, time out. You got to count Tom Brady's four years in his 40s. You got to count the Tampa stuff. You have to count this for LeBron. He's going to lead the league in scoring. So the Michael Jordan LeBron debate is not done.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor?

It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. both lifelong Star Wars fans, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind

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