The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 2 - Herd Hierarchy, Lincoln Riley, Baker Mayfield

Episode Date: November 30, 2021

Colin's new Herd HierarchyColin talks to the new head coach at USC, Lincoln RileyShould Colin keep talking about Baker Mayfield?Guest: Lincoln Riley Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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 SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go. It's hour two. It is such a pleasure to have you in today, live from Los Angeles.

It's the hurt. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. Lincoln Riley, the new USC football coach, will be joining us here in about four to five minutes. Joy Taylor is always here for us. She, of course, is rooting for Lane Kiffin to go to Miami, Which, by the way, anybody that's watched this show for years, she's a huge hurricane fan.

I'm a huge Trojan fan. And we always said that we think college football is better when you get a couple big coastal cities involved. So Miami's fun and wild and L.A. is the entertainment capital. It's not that we don't love our Michigan's and our Oklahomas, but those teams are doing great. It's like I like when you get L.A., Miami, a little swag, a little fun, a little bravado. It's fun for us. Well, they feel like pro teams in the college space. They don't have a problem having a little edge to them.

That's right. You know, we can be coastal elitist. That's fine. That's what we are. But it makes a sport better to have parity, and we're seeing a lot of that this year. All right. We do it every Tuesday, our top 10 NFL teams. Then we'll get to Lincoln Riley.

Here we go. Heard hierarchy. Time is now. Let's go. The top 10 NFL teams, according to college. Number 10. Well, I was a little high on Dallas. I have the Cowboys 10.

they've lost three of four and they're one in four when held under a hundred rushing yards right now. And frankly, Zeke looks a little tired and a little banged up and Tony Pollard appears to be their best back. I think this is a good football team. Now Mike McCarthy's out. Amari Cooper still has questions. C.D. Lamb had the concussions. I don't doubt the personnel. But these seasons are long and they're in a slump.

I'll keep them at 10 for now. Number nine. The Ravens. When you can throw four. picks and beat a pretty good roster in Cleveland, you're a good football team. Their defense has held opponents under 20 points in back-to-back games. I trust the staff. I like their defensive front. Lamar can drive me nuts at times, but he is so dynamic that he never loses confidence. They've won three of four, despite some of Lamar's bad halves, Ravens 9. Number eight.

49ers, I don't care what their record is. This football team is healthy and you don't want any part of them. It's one of the best coach teams. Elijah Mitchell, what a shock. They go get a running back in the sixth round that he's great. That's what Kyle Shanahan does. By the way, y'all bang on Jimmy Garoppolo. A hundred plus pass rating in five straight games. Can you give me a break on this guy?

I know. He's good looking. He looks like George Clooney. You're jealous. He's a very, very competent quarterback. And when you give him a running game and a little time on play action, he's money. Number seven. Listen, the Titans are struggling.

They're falling apart physically. It's a long season. It happens. We know this is well, coached football team. We know it's a good football team. But now you've got so many injuries. Ryan Tannehill has asked to carry him, and he's got two TDs and five picks and a 58 quarterback rating in the last two games.

They'll be fine. They've got to get healthy. Number six. Buffalo is a fascinating team, and there's part of me that thinks they're the best team in football. Every one of their wins has been by 15 plus points. There's a Mike Tyson quality. If they feel weakness, they pounce on you, but they don't pass block. They have no running game.

They're very one-dimensional with Josh Allen, but they are so magnificently dynamic that you can't, you can never look at them as anything other as like Kansas City good. Because if you have weakness, if your O-line struggles, you're going to be running all day from their defensive front. Number five. Tampa Bay, they're still the favorite to win this whole thing. Brady's going to win the MVP. leads the NFL and touchdown passes.

My concern is, will Grong be healthy? And will they run the football consistently? Because they'll go months where it's like the running game is a hobby, not a profession. But I have to put them in the top five. Number four. Kansas City, four-game winning streak. I think their defense is the key. I think Chris Jones is really the key now of the season.

I don't worry about Andy Reid. I don't worry about Mahomes. I don't worry about Travis Kelsey. They need a pass rush. They don't run the football. They're not really a physical team, and Chris Jones gives them that dimension. Their defense has had eight takeaways in the last four games. That's the key.

They're now taking the ball from you, giving it back to Andy and Mahomes. Number three. Arizona. If Kyler Murray's healthy, I want no part of him. He's still not 100 percent hurt for the second straight year. But they do two things well. They make your quarterback uncomfortable, and their quarterback makes your defense uncomfortable, and that's a big component to football.

very hard to prepare for. I've talked to coaches about this. Big plays everywhere. Playmakers on offense. Playmakers on defense. They may be the fastest team in the league. Number two. New England.

They got a six-game winning streak and a no. Myself included, we all go, well, Mac Jones isn't very athletic. They're averaging 35 points a game. Kendrick Bourne. Boy, that was money well spent. Hunter Henry, money well spent. They've also drafted well. Christian Marmore.

A Ramon-Drey Stevenson, Mack Jones, best coach in football, best defense in football. And by the way, they're plus 13 in turnover differential during their winning streak. That is more than double the next best team. They are just taking the ball away. Number one. Green Bay Packers. I've said this for three weeks.

The ability to win missing starters is amazing. The ability to win missing multiple pro bowlers, tight ends, Aaron Jones, running backs, Jirir Alexander, the corner, Jaira Alexander, Zadaria Smith, they're missing like four of their best players and they're going to Arizona and winning. I think it's the most talented team, including the Super Bowl year, Green Bay has ever had. Packers number one. There you go. Sorry, Dallas.

Love you. Don't anymore. And with that, what I was saying earlier is that I grew up in a small town. And so for me, some of you grow up. in New York or L.A. or Chicago, and you don't have to leave. There's jobs there. But my next guest also grew up in a small town. And there's something about when you grow up in a small town, you know at a very early age. You've got to leave to make things happen. And I think it's a great quality. I think America, if you look at many of the great technological advances are politicians,

a lot of small town people are just jumping around. They're mobile. They're mobile. They're taking big risks, they're putting themselves out there, and they end up changing our lives for the better. And Lincoln Riley was once from a small town, and he is now living in Los Angeles. The new USC football coach now joins us live in studio. Let's bring in Lincoln Riley. So I was telling my staff yesterday, fight on. Look at that. Thank you very much, Lincoln. You know, my staff said this yesterday. They said, listen, Oklahoma's a great job. There's no reason. Ninety-nine percent of coaches in the history of the world would never

leave Oklahoma. But there is something about you and your beautiful family and your young girls and that small town thing. And when you grow up in a small town, it becomes part of your life. You've got to take some risks. Was that a component to leaving one of the top five jobs for, in my opinion, a top one or two job? I think that's fair to say. I would say we've definitely been shaped both me and my wife are from small towns. I think we have been shaped by our upbringing and not afraid to take risk if we felt like they were the right opportunities at the right time. And that's that's essentially what this was. It was very difficult to leave Oklahoma. I love Oklahoma.

They were phenomenal. It was nothing about something that Oklahoma wasn't. It was seeing this opportunity for our family for USC and what we felt like this program could be that just really intrigued us and just it felt like the right thing to do and the right opportunity at the right time. You know, the PAC 12 years ago wanted both Oklahoma and Texas in the conference. And I had said at the time is they feel West. I don't, I know Oklahoma is part of the South, but I can't get my arms around Oklahoma in the SEC. Getting my arms around progressive Lincoln Riley in the PAC 12, it like fits. You feel like, I mean, say what you want about the PAC 12. but a lot of our offenses, Bill Walsh, Don Correel, Eric Correel, Chip Kelly, modernized football,

13 seconds of snap. There is something about you feel like the Pact 12 to me. Does that make sense? It does. I think when we thought about the fit, both from a football standpoint, I think culturally just for our family, there was nothing about this that was uncomfortable. I agree with you. Obviously, this is an innovative point.

place. It's one of the greatest cities in the world for so many different reasons and yeah, hopefully we can bring something to it. And you can feel the energy in this city. I mean, we could feel it yesterday as we traveled around, got introduced to so many people and I think that's something that we'll

feed off of and be excited to be a part of. Listen, Brian Kelly just took an LSU job. A lot of times, I've always defended coaches on this because schools don't give you much of a heads up when they fire you. It's not like you guys in the recruiting wars have to give people along tarmac on it.

When I read the clippings, and I followed this story pretty closely for a month, it was sudden. I didn't hear your name until like three days ago, maybe two. It felt sudden to me. Was it sudden? It was very sudden. I was totally committed to our team as we made a championship and playoff run and made that very clear to anybody that was interested.

And yeah, we got to Norman late, late. late Saturday night, early Sunday morning, had a conversation that USC had some serious interest and slept for a couple hours, woke up, had a conversation with the USC people, and you could feel their energy. You could feel the leadership from the very top as willing to do the things that maybe haven't been done here

as of recent to get USC to where it needs to be. And when you combine that commitment from the people in this university with the history, the tradition, the opportunities here at USC. The future is so bright. And just, again, to us, that excitement was tough to ignore. You know, it is interesting. Programs like this, and there's six or seven, Oklahoma is one of these,

Alabama, Ohio State, USC. They're generally not your classic rebuild. They're more of a reboot. There are some offensive line personnel issues for USC, but, and I'm, you know, you don't, you haven't seen a ton of the footage, right? You're looking at film right now. Take me to what the process feels like to you, like year one, year two. Are you thinking about that in terms of, okay, this is what we implement first. This is where we go second. Here's our needs third. Or can you patch it up with a transfer portal now much more quickly? I would say there's a balance of both. Certainly getting the right staff in here is a key priority.

There are, there's going to be certain steps that we're going to have to take that are going to take time. It's not going to happen overnight. But at the same time, as you mentioned, there is opportunities to rebuild rosters and to add to rosters and change rosters. There's more opportunities to do that than ever before. There's so many different ways that you can go about it. So I think what big part is having a staff that can be creative that can look at, here's where the roster's in a great place. here's where we need to add, here's where we need to change and adapt. And again, I think with once all the future recruits and future FC players out there

see what we've seen, the commitment and what this place is getting ready to do in terms of going completely all in on this football program, I think that's what sold us. I mean, at the end of the day, that's a big reason why we're here. We saw that. And in some ways, we were kind of like recruits. And so I think when all of these people see what we saw, I think we'll have some great opportunities to have some great Trojans. Not to be nosy, but take me to the moment you decided to take the job and your wife.

And take me to the moment six in the morning, seven in the morning. And there's that moment where you're loyal and you got your program and you're being sold something and you're an aspirational person and something flips. And take me to that moment if you could. Yeah, I honestly didn't think I would do it. I really didn't. But we were interested enough to have a conversation. We had a great conversation with the leadership at SC.

And after we got off the call, my wife and I just sat there, and we really broke it down. And it was a tough decision. I mean, there is no denying that. I mean, leaving not just the quality of program at Oklahoma, but the people there, the relationships. I mean, that was seven years of my life. You know, we had a historic run there. My second daughter was born there. We were very entrenched.

And so the gravity of not just taking the job and the excitement, but also knowing what we were leaving was tough, and it was very emotional. But we both believed at the end of the day that this was right. It was right for our family. It was, and so we, despite being nervous, I think apprehensive about having to leave a place like OU, the confidence we had in this place,

and the opportunity just, it outweighed that. And so it was very emotional. It was bittersweet in the last. lot of ways, but we are thrilled to be here. By the way, the accolades for a 38-year-old coach, most wins by any sooner coach first five years, most points per game by any Division I coach in the last 40 games coached. I've heard this before. Jimmy Johnson has told me this. Sometimes the best time to reevaluate something personally or on a team is when you're winning. It's easier to send the message after a winning streak. And so you've had so much.

much success, you're not failing it much. Is there anything you look at now as you move to USC and go, you know, this is one thing I'm a redo, because you did inherit a program for Bob Stoom, so it had its own inertia. Absolutely. Now it's your program. Is there anything you look at and go, oh, you know, I may do that differently? Well, I think there's going to be a lot of things that we did at our program at Oklahoma that I think have been big parts of the success. at Oklahoma that we will bring here, but this isn't Oklahoma either. And so I think we have to be flexible and fine for us What works out here? You know work what works for this part of the country? What works for our players and our staff out here? And so I think I think having a staff that can be very flexible in that is very very important

I think the first thing to me that that comes to mind is the culture and accountability within the program and again I'm not judging anything before for me. It's going to be about these days going forward, but I know that I know enough from being in that program at OU that if you want to have a championship program, if you want to truly compete and be at the top, you better have a locker room that's about that. You know, you better have guys that are about each other, guys that care about the program, guys that want to win, and guys that are able to put that in front of the personal accolades and all the individual needs and wants that they're out in the world right now. Because the crazy thing is when you care about the team and when culture is important

And when you just want to win, the individual things come. And you see that with the great players in any sport right now. The majority of the great ones are great team guys, and a lot of their success has started because of that mentality. And so we're going to do everything possible to make sure that when somebody walks into our football program, when somebody gets around our program, they feel that. You know, Michigan beat Ohio State this weekend, and it was the first Jim Harbaugh team that I felt had a real identity.

They always had talent. Michigan's always got talent. but I was like, oh, this is power football. This is a real identity. Seven yards a chunk. I mean, when Ohio State can't stop you, you're a good football team. If I said to you what you want USC to be in two years, if people go, oh, USC, blank. What football?

I want a football brand. Yeah. You know, I think so many people with the game and the way the games evolved, you know, talk about the speech. they talk about the throw game, all the flashy plays on the edge. It still comes down to physicality. It still comes down to being dominant at the line of scrimmages. And our best OU teams on both sides of the ball certainly had that. And so that's what, and I think that's what we have to build here.

I think it starts with the big guys. It starts with being dominant on the fronts because that allows you to do all the different things that you want to do from a skill standpoint. Absolutely. We were tremendous at OU. It was a huge part of our success. It's something we believe in. and defensively the same way. We believe in building it from the front back.

And so we're going to, that'll be the approach. But I want people to see us play with an edge. I want people to see a smart football team and a team that plays for each other. And to be great, again, to be a championship team, you can't have holes. You can't have weaknesses. You've got to be really strong on all sides this day and age. And we certainly are going to have the opportunity to build that. PAC 12 has always been, I think, the conference of innovation.

I really believe that. There's other conferences that do other things. The Big Ten's always felt like, you know, right in the middle of the country. Like it's just cold weather football and there's a certain player that you would recruit. You've got to be a tough kid to play in that weather. And the West Coast, it's fast. We've got Arizona schools and the L.A. schools. And, I mean, our cold city is Boulder, Colorado.

We don't have all the snow out here. It's interesting. I feel your offense and your kind of system works out west. This is not a shot at the SEC, but you didn't get a say on Oklahoma going to the SEC. Was there a little part of that ever that was that in the decision at all that you're a big 12 guy and a big 12 coach? And oh, wait, SEC, was that part of it? Zero, zero percent. The leadership at OU was fantastic communicating with me throughout that process.

Asked feedback. I'm certainly not saying I made the decision by any stretch. but I was able to give some feedback and be a part of those discussions. And I think it's going to be a great move for OU. I do. And that had no part of it. This decision really and truly, no matter what anybody thinks on the outside, was about this opportunity for so many different reasons,

for my family, for the opportunity that we believed in as far as what USC could be and what we could do to help USC. And it was just the right challenge at the right time. So, no, it had nothing to do with it. I do think what we do is going to translate well out here and can't wait to get implemented and started. Oklahoma recruited Los Angeles very well. And by the way, Bob did.

It's always been something where there's talent here. And when USC and UCLA are down, there's opportunities. When you look right now in this class, because you've got about two weeks here, right? How is the talent in Southern California that you could drive in your car over the next two weeks. How is the talent in this state high school football? Oh, it's tremendous. It's tremendous. I've had a long respect for these players, and no matter where I've been, we've always wanted to come out west and recruit, because there is great talent. There's players here that want to be great. There's elite coaches in this area. I mean, you can, and we've had a lot of success, not just in recruiting, but when these guys have gotten to our schools,

they've become really, really good football players. And so, I love it. I love recruiting out here. always have a lot of great relationships already. Obviously, it's going to be a huge key to our success at SC, but very confident that one of the players right here too, but the second part is we have to build and put something in front of them that says there's no reason to go across the country. There's no reason to go anywhere else. I can get the very best right here in L.A.

You've never coached at the Coliseum, have you? I have not. Yesterday was my first time in there. Let me tell you something. On a Saturday night when Pete had it rolling, it's different. I mean, don't get me wrong. I've been to almost all these. Will Ferrell's over there and you got,

it's such a crazy scene. Because in Los Angeles, it's always been a Laker Dodger USC market. It's nothing against the Rams. It's nothing against the Clippers. But it is such a, you know, in big cities in America like New York and Philadelphia, you know, Joy and I think she's from Pittsburgh.

That's a pro sports town in Miami. And I'm from, you know, part of the country where it's like pro sports town. It's a remarkable scene in Los Angeles. This city of, all these pro sports, when USC is rocking, it is the ticket in town. It's incredible. You're just going to have so much fun. Now, have you met with the players yet? I have. I got a chance to quickly, you know, obviously they played the game against Cal this weekend. So not trying not to

step too much in there, but had a great chance to have an initial meeting with them yesterday. And will you start watching film on what works, what doesn't? Yeah, we will. It'll be a great chance for myself and the staff that we've already brought here to have a chance to evaluate them. We'll get to watch them practice a little bit this week, which would be great to start to get an idea of what our roster looks like and get to know these players. And so, yeah, that's one great advantage of being here early. Will you reach out to Pete Carroll? He, by the way, called, I don't know if you were told us.

Pete Carroll called USC and was so overjoyed that you were hired. He's like grand slam. He loved you being hired. Is there anybody, like, would you reach out to Pete? Oh, 100%. We got to know each other a few years ago. I got to spend a few days with him out in Seattle. He's phenomenal, as everybody knows.

So now he knows this place as well as anybody. So I've got a long list of people that I can't wait to talk to, but he's certainly at the top. So in the next six hours, do you get in a car and go visit high schools? Absolutely. Absolutely. Could I go with you? I'm sorry.

I'm a total dork. Oh, by the way, Linerd and Reggie Bush. And Linerd, he still wants to show you he's got an arm. You're just going to have to tolerate it. That's okay. I can handle that. Great meeting you, great seeing you. Thanks, Colin.

Appreciate it. Lincoln Riley, new coach at USC. How exciting is that? All right, Joy Taylor with the news. Oh, no, I go to break. I'm sorry. I lost myself, folks. Back after this.

One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the I-Hard Radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

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as 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, nice to have you back. I'm dead serious. If Lincoln Riley said, just come on with me on recruiting for six hours, I'd be like, let's go to Herd Burger, get your burger.

We're going to go recruit and have it. I'm surprised you didn't invite him to Herd Burger. You know, there's a time and place for everything. You don't want to do too much. I'm not a fan anymore outside of USC. That's my last team. Yeah, yeah. Everybody's got a team.

Every sportscaster is allowed one team. that's the rules. That's my team. I think overall the business has changed a lot in that regard. People are very open about their loyalty. Yeah, Bill Simmons. He's got his Boston teams. I get one.

It's actually more obnoxious when you pretend that you're not an actual fan of the team. Because then it's like, come on. I get one. I think there's a new rule in the show. All sportscasters get one. I used to work with Greenberg like the Jets, Mike Greenberg. So you can't. He was irrational.

You're allowed to have some... No, he was irrational. Are you allowed to have... Well, anyone who's a Jets fan is irrational at this point. Are you allowed to have sensitivities to teams? What's that mean? Like, I think you have, you know, certain insights and sensitivity to the Seahawks. I wouldn't necessarily call...

Sensitivity is probably not the right word. No, no. In pro sports... But you're not a fan. No, in pro sports, there are players I like. But there's something about the fight songs, the college. Well, college is more emotional. By the way, I'm not...

anti-U-CLA. I like Chip Kelly. I've been saying this on the air. People are out of your minds if you're not happy with Chip Kelly. I'd sign them to a 10-year deal today. You're crazy. But my heart's with USC. You know this. I try to stay above board. I don't root for teams. Like tonight, Phoenix plays Golden State. They would mop the floor with the Lakers. I think Laker fans are out of the gourd this year. They're not even close to as good as those teams. I don't want to be a Homer. But I was a USC homer when I lived in Connecticut. You were always a USC guy. All right. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. I'm just supposed to keep it real.

Just want to keep it real with America. Just be authentic and tell people, I have a weakness here. It's USC. It's USC. So Washington won its third game in a row last night. What a weird game, too. You know, we talked about this yesterday. If you just let Taylor Heineke be Taylor Heineke.

Yeah. He's like a poor man's farf. He wears his number. You just got to let him do his thing. And he's a little bit of a runaround guy. He didn't have a big arm. He didn't run around like, you know, Kyler. But he's a little bit of a bunch of stuff.

There's something there. He's like a smaller Ryan Fitzpatrick. A little bit of a gunslinger. And by the way, they've got some nice weapons. They've got a nice run game. Washington's not probably not going to be a playoff team. But if they got in, they'd be no fun to play. Because you're supposed to beat him.

Kind of like last year. Yeah, and they've got some really good personnel. I'm just glad that they got back on track because it was really bumpy there for a while. But following the game, Ron Rivera said his message to the team was to keep fighting for the playoffs. Well, we're not out of it completely. You know, but, you know, unfortunate it was about learning and growing and it was all part of the process that we've had to go through to develop as a team. I mean, it really wasn't going to happen overnight. I mean, you know, I know last year and a lot of people I talked about early and I got people who got upset with me, but that's ball.

I mean, it's just the way it is. That's the truth of the matter. Just being honest. I think we're coming together and being the kind of team that we envisioned. And if we can continue to work and play the way we've played, we give ourselves a chance. And that's all we need is a chance. So Washington plays the Raiders on Sunday. So make of the Raiders, which you will.

Who knows week to week what they are, but they can certainly beat you if they want to. And then they wrap up the season with five games against NFC East opponents. So they have Dallas at Philadelphia, at Dallas, Philly, and. the New York Giants. So it's really in their hands. Yeah. Like, it's up to you. This is what the NFL did.

They have tweaked their schedule so you play your division in the last month. So these games, even if the records aren't good, you can get a Philadelphia team that can knock Dallas out of the playoffs. And that's why those, they're really very strategic about it. You get these rivalry games and you don't have to be a great team. But you can ruin a good team season. And it's interesting they did that because generally teams are banged up at this point in the season. So guys find a way to play. You probably want to play all those division games early.

But Washington's second in the NFC East, five and six behind the seven and four cowboys. And they're right in it. Arizona, Green Bay, Tampa Bay, and Dallas are the division leaders. And then the wild card spots right now are the Rams, the Niners, and the Washington football team. And they are currently two and a half point underdogs against Las Vegas this weekend, according to Fox Bet. And that will be a very important game. The bottom of the AFC is. is a lot more dynamic to me than the bottom of the NFC.

I think San Francisco doesn't, they feel like a five. Like 49, I think that's what I predicted. They'd be the best non-division winner, and they're becoming that again. But if you look at these teams that are in the hunts, we don't expect the bears of the giants or the Panthers at this point to really make a run. The Eagles are very interesting.

The Saints are now switching to Taysam Hills, we discussed earlier. Taysom went three in one last year when he was filling in for Drew Breeze. I don't know ever know what to make up the Falcons. And the Vikings just lost Alvin Cook. So these next couple weeks, there could be a lot of shakeup with that wildcard spot. And like I said, it's in Washington's hands. They play the rest of their division to finish out after the Raiders. So Tiger Wood spoke for the first time publicly this morning about the accident that he suffered in February. And he talks about his career plans for the future.

I don't foresee this leg ever being with what it used to be. Hence, I'll never have the back, what it used to be. And clock's ticking. I'm getting older. I'm not getting any younger. So all that combined means that a full schedule and a full practice schedule and the recovery that it would take to do that. No, I don't have any desire to do that.

But to ramp up for a few events a year, I know the recipe for it. I just got to get to a point where I feel comfortable enough where I can do that again. it's it's really telling what the damage was to his leg that he is describing what it would take to get out there and do it. I mean, rehab is exhausting. And that is that what he said and the way he's saying it is an example of that. Like it is emotionally and mentally beyond physically draining to get your body back from an accident or a horrific injury. That's why some guys retire in pro sports. They're dinged up at the end of their career.

and they just, they want to play the games. They don't want to go through rehab. Rehab, and it's just, you know how hard it is to get back to then put yourself in a position where you're going to have to do that every single week. Like, that's what the phenomenon really of Tom Brady is. Now, he hasn't had a lot of horrific injuries, obviously, but to want to do everything that you have to do to get out there after a certain age and that amount of wear and tear, it can really be exhausting.

He fractured his tibia, and the fibula in his right leg in the crash on February 23rd here in L.A. He's won 82 tournaments in a 25-year career. At this point, I don't believe he has anything left to prove or give to the sport. And it's clearly, I think he's stated there that he's not really willing to do that and put his body through that at this point. So I think we'll see flashes of Tiger moving forward. But he also said he was afraid that they were going to have to amputate it.

That's how bad it was. I mean, so that's, you know, silver lining is that he is going to be able to be whole as a person away from the sport. And that's really the best news of it all. So, Ryan Kelly is going to LSU, leaving Notre Dame. And apparently he let his current players know via a leaked text that reportedly said, let me first apologize to the late night text. And more importantly, for not being able to share the news with you in person that I'll be leaving Notre Dame.

I'm so sorry you found out through social media or news reporters. just know my love for you is limitless and I am so proud of all that you have accomplished. Our program is elite because of your hard work and commitment. LSU officially announced the hire this morning on their Twitter page. The contract is reportedly for 10 years, $95 million with incentives.

Notre Dame's AD said he wasn't given the chance to match the offer. I think Brian had done everything he could and he said there's no reason to match the offer. I've done what I can do. I'm moving. It's okay. You don't have to give somebody a match. Mel Tucker doesn't have Brian Kelly's resume. He wanted to match. He kind of wanted to stay at Michigan State. Brian had accomplished

more than any Notre Dame coach. I don't have that stuff in front of me, but almost ever outside of the national championship vacancy there. But outside of that, they're in great hands. They'll get a great coach. I mean, he's been there for 12 seasons. That is 20 seasons at USC. USC is easier. You get in a car, you go to Palm Springs and get a lineman. Notre Dame is a really hard job. And sometimes things just come to an end. None of us saw this coming, obviously,

and I'm going to sit up here and pretend like, you know, I wasn't surprised to see it just like everyone else. And, you know, LSU is an interesting place to go because we know they don't hang on to coaches very long. Can we officially stop as fans? Because I always laugh when fans say, my coach would never leave. I think we probably should stop doing that.

Are we past you believing that your coach wakes up every morning and he wants to live in Norman, Oklahoma, forever? Maybe he does, but maybe he doesn't. Or South Bend, Indiana. There's a big world out there. And these driven men or women in coaching, they like challenges. Tom Brady had all the rings. He had all the trophies. He wanted some new weapons, a new challenge.

But also things just, things, sports is a microcosmobiles. life, right? And community and society. So you can apply so many things that happen in sports that happen in your life. Things are constantly changing. Your life is not the same likely as it was 10 years ago. You got married. You have kids now. You moved out of your apartment. You're in a bigger place. Or you got divorced. So now you're in a smaller place. Like things change. Your life changes. Your goals change. What you want. What you need changes. And in your career, when you have a certain level of accomplishments like Brian Kelly and you want a new challenge or you're just tired of the grind of the challenges you have now and the expectations that come with that.

What you want can change and it can change overnight. Most people are not aspirational. They're talented, but most people at 60, they're done taking on a rigorous challenge. Coaches tend to be a little different animals. That's why they do these jobs that are high pressure and constant change and constant movements and... I think they get addicted to the challenge of it. I think Nick Saban loves the battle of recruiting.

In the morning, he gets up with a purpose. You have to be wired that way. You have to be. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Live News. It is a great year for candidates, by the way. 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. He's by Carmen. I'm Dan Bayard. 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 sits, 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. with grace. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clipper Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple 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 Jek. 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. 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. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough.

Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Keer Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Saturday, after finally beating Ohio State, Jim Harbaugh leads his fifth-ranked Michigan Wolverines into their first ever Big Ten championship game, looking to punch their ticket to the playoffs against number 16 Iowa. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. Eastern only on Fox, and the Fox Sports Up. By the way, so Sunday I'm watching The Ravens, Lamar Jackson throw four interceptions, but he's so dynamic, he still beat the Cleveland Browns. And I said, my loyalty to this show from day one has always been, there's one word I care about.

Interesting. If you're interesting, you make the show. And people often say, why do you bring up Baker Mayfield? And I said, because his story and his trajectory and his attitude, it's polarizing, it's controversial, he's on a million commercials. He's interesting. And then I'm watching the game Sunday night, and I'm like, he's not that interesting. Joe Burrell now is more interesting in that division. Lamar's more interesting.

Lamar throws four picks and he's more interesting. And Justin Herbert and Mahomes and now Mack Jones. It's like, that's just in the AFC. And I said, he's not interesting. He's 28 and 28 through 56 games. He's on his fourth coach. He's not one of the 10 best players for Cleveland. He's not.

He's not one of the 10 best players for that team. Definitely not fought top five or six. I don't think he's top 10. And so my takeaway is people say, why do you talk about him? And I thought driving in this morning, I thought, that's a good question. Why don't I give those people who say that some fun in our show? So I went to Twitter this morning and I said, I'll make a deal. I'll give you 30 minutes to vote on Twitter.

I did a poll. You tell me, should I talk Baker Mayfield ever again on the show? Now, you vote. It's up to you. Because I got a lot to talk about. I mean, just today, I didn't have to talk about it. And I said, you vote. And if the answer is yes, then I'll talk about him, win or lose.

If the answer is no, if he wins 10 games in a row, I'm not talking about it. You decide. You don't get both. You don't get me just talking about if he wins. You know, this show's got a little bit of journalistic integrity. But, and I don't think he's going to win 10 in a row and win the Super Bowl. But you vote and you tell me, because I don't find him interesting anymore. And that's really the gateway to get on this show.

Are you interesting? I don't talk all college football. I talk Michigan, Ohio State. You know, I talk Alabama, Saban, USC. I talk a handful of programs. I don't talk all NFL teams. I talk the most interesting coaches and quarterbacks and players. So the Twitter poll this morning, I gave people 30 minutes.

I said, we've got a lot to do today. I'm not going to sit and monitor it all day. I'll give you 30 minutes. 11, 12,000 votes came in in 30 minutes. And should I stop talking about Baker? 59% said stop talking and 40% said no, so I'm done talking. Right? I guess.

I mean, I like to read the responses on things like this too. Well, yeah. There's a little pushback. So my take, for example, this guy, Dan said he's the number one overall pick that's underachieving with a good to great team around him. He deserves the talk. Well, I did talk about him, though. I mean, it's not like I didn't.

I did. But now it's 56 games. He's 500. He's not one of their best players. You could argue the coaches don't trust him. He's all banged up. He's not an, he's not an exhilarating talent like Mahomes. or Josh Allen or Lamar or Kyler or Aaron Rogers where he's like an exhilarating talent.

I'm already getting bored with Matt Stafford. By the way, I don't talk Ryan Tannahill. He's not the centerpiece of his team. Ryan Tannehill is not the number one overall pick. I know, but I did serve my time here. Yeah, no, you gave him the space. I squeezed the juice out of this topic. And my takeaway watching Sunday was he's just not interesting anymore.

I'm over the story because, again, when he was going back and forth and you're going back and forth. But when you win the argument, it's no fun for me anymore. Like Sam Darnold, I lost the argument. So what's the fun of it? I said, I lost the argument. Baker, I won the argument. All right, now they're both boring to me.

I like one more than the other as a guy, but it's like, it's okay. I'm not going to hold a grudge. If Baker came on tomorrow, I'd bring him on. I don't care. But now I can't. So if he goes to the Super Bowl, I'm going to have to pretend whoever the other quarterback is. God, I hope it's Aaron Roger. about him. I hope it's Brady. I hope it's somebody big. No. I mean, if he makes the Super Bowl,

I think you can go from being compelling to not being compelling. Cam Newton is an incredibly compelling conversation and compelling personality. But when he wasn't playing, it's not like we were discussing Cam Newton every day. But then he became relevant again. And then we discussed him again. Well, I think the audience, listen, people like to be part of a show. And it was like, this is only one segment, it's only one personality. I mean, I don't need this person to fill my show. We have plenty of stuff. But it's fun for the audience. I thought, well, you vote. You tell me. And so 60, 40, stop talking about him. People have spoken. We are America's honesty brokers. Absolutely. I mean, it's not my responsibility to talk about your team. It's your team's responsibility

to be interesting and have interesting players. Colin, you talk so much about L.A. sports. That's because all New York teams stink and most Chicago teams stink and most Dallas teams are not great. If L.A. stunk and New York teams were all great. When Boston teams were great and I lived out east, I wasn't talking about them because I lived out east. I was talking about because the Red Sox were winning, the Patriots are winning. The Celtics were good. The teams were good. And right now L.A.'s teams are fascinating. Even they're melting down with the Rams. It makes it interesting. The Stafford meltdown is kind of interesting. Joel Clatt, hour number three, is going to join us. I miss these college football days.

Big stuff happening. Notre Dame's looking for a coach. LSU has one. 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, 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 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. 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. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tontons and wampas on the ice planet hot,

or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.