The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 2 - Ryan Day

Episode Date: July 22, 2025

Nick Wright stops by The Herd to talk about the report that LeBron James considered the Mavericks, Cooper Flagg, Luka Doncic, and more Colin also talks to Ohio State head coach Ryan Day about defending their National Championship and what makes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith a generational playerSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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All right, here we go. It is hour two on a Tuesday. All those NFL camps are starting up. We are live. We are in Chicago. It is the herd. So, J-MAC, the, you know, it's the second round picks. We're not signing contracts.

Now they're starting to sign contracts. The first rounders are all signed except guess what? The Cincinnati Bengals. the Micah Parsons contract. Jerry Jones is prone to do this. Push it off, push it off, push it off, push it off, then sign them late. Now the downside is

Miles Garrett comes in and signs a big edge rush deal or a T.J. Watt does. And then the market tells you, well, you've got to pay Micah about $6 million more a year than you actually wanted to. So we talked about it, I think, Ladd, last week we talked about it Thursday, Friday, that if you identify a guy very early,

you know, Josh Allen, Patrick Sertan, Patrick Mahomes, you know, a left tackle. You can identify guys very early and go, you know what, I'm going to pay him. This is what Chargers did with Justin Herbert. Like, that's going to work for us. Philip Rivers gone.

We got our guy for the next 10 years. I am for paying. I think every team has one or two players that you know at a really key position. I wouldn't do it for a linebacker. I wouldn't do it for a safety. I wouldn't do it for an interior lineman. But quarterback left tackle, edge rusher,

defensive tackle, maybe a great corner. you can identify them very, very early and just sign them. Like Jamar Chase, just get that puppy done. Not only is he great, he played with Burrow in college, just get it signed. He's fine. So Michael Parsons is an interesting one because I think he's really good, but I don't think he's T.J. Watt, the numbers tell you. He's not Miles Garrett.

I don't think he has a future as good as Jared Verse. He's not interior dominant like Chris Jones of Kansas City or Jalen Carter of Philadelphia. But he's good. He's very good, but they keep pushing it off, pushing it off, pushing it off. And I think Jerry Jones is, you know, I'd probably keep this to myself, but Jerry keeps talking about the Micah Parsons deal. He was asked about it about, you know, the reluctance, why isn't it already done at camp this week? Just because we sign him doesn't mean we're going to have him.

He was hurt six games last year. Seriously. We've signed, I remember signing a player for the highest paid. the position in the league and he got knocked out two-thirds of the year, Doc Prescott. So there's a lot of things you can think about when you, just as the player does, when you're thinking about committing and guaranteeing money. So I said this.

The Cowboys have not had a great draft since 2020. And if you asked, when's the last time Philadelphia had a great draft or Washington had a great draft last year. So I think the division has changed. Philadelphia now is stacked. and Washington has the next Lamar Jackson, the NFC version of Lamar Jackson, better in the pocket, maybe not as fast. And I think those little mistakes are not going to catch up to you as quickly in the AFC South or the NFC South. The Philadelphia Eagles and now Jaden Daniels, you're going to see all these mistakes start adding up.

But they haven't drafted well. They've been a non-factor in free agency. Couldn't afford Derek Henry for $8 million. How do the Eagles afford Sequin Barclay? and everybody. So I, you know, again, this feels like they let Dan Quinn go to the rival commanders. This feels like they've just played this out longer and longer and longer. And I said this a couple weeks ago, I would have thought about last year moving Micah and getting more draft capital, but I don't know if I trust the Cowboys to draft the right players if they got the draft

capital. But I want to, I want to shift that. We're going to bring in Nick Wright, haven't talked to him in a while. He's been in the World Series of Poker. First things first, Nick Wright joining us live. So I started the top of the show today with this topic. So a story comes out from the athletic that LeBron is not going to take a mid-level exemption. He was not willing to do it, but he had his eyes on the Dallas Mavericks, which I have said, I think Cooper is better than Austin Reeves as a young player,

80's better than DeAndre 8, and they have a better bench, and they have more depth. I think Dallas competes for the championship if LeBron shows up. Now, they're going to have to get about three first-round picks, Gafford, PJ Washington, Washington, Max Crisp, but I think it'd be a really interesting team. But was interesting to me as I said this, LeBron in 2016 or 2019 acknowledged,

I'm chasing a goat. I'm chasing a ghost. He played for Chicago. I think in his head, LeBron's like, listen, Michael's more beloved. Michael's net worth is $3.5 billion. Mine's one.

I'm never going to catch him. And the truth is, I'm taking the money. I mean, that's the one. I got more points. my son made the league, I'm taking the money. That I do think there's a part of LeBron that he knows going back to Cleveland. That's a better roster for him. Going back to Dallas, Cooper, A.D., coach, that's a better opportunity.

But Michael's still in his head, and he's just going to take the money and bleed it out for another year in L.A. Okay. I think I disagree with every single piece of that. So let's go one by one. You did a very interesting. I don't know that I agree with you that next year, Cooper Flag will be already better than Austin Reeves. Maybe, but let's just say that's a push.

Obviously, Anthony Davis, yes, is better than DeAndre Aiton. But there's one guy on the Lakers. I'm trying to figure out, remember who it was, who you didn't do the tit for tat with. Oh, yeah, Luca Dach. So who's the guy on? the Mavs that cancels out Luka D'Anchev on the Lakers. I'm just curious.

And like as a crazy thought exercise, like if you traded the best player on the Mavs, Anthony Davis, for Luka Dantzich, what do you think the public reaction would be? Who won that trade? Or did somebody get concussed and it was the worst trade in NBA history? So there's that piece of it where if Kyrie were healthy and then you could talk me into it. But I think Kyrie is going to miss all, certainly most if not all of next year. So then this is why the LeBron money thing to me is so wildly unfair. First of all, he's the only guy in the NBA that has ever asked of this.

And we can say, well, he's made the most money. But all of the best players have made hundreds of millions of dollars. And LeBron last year finished sixth in MVP voting, got the sixth most all-MBA votes. and the fact that he makes slightly less than Zach Levine makes me feel like he's at the very least unfairly compensated in his direction. Steph Curry, who LeBron, by every vote, all the awards, every metric, LeBron was better than last year, is the highest paid player in the league.

No one has a problem with it. So there's that piece of it. There's the other piece of it of, which is you are, I think a lot of people are acting as if LeBron opted out and took the minimum and then won a championship that we are all pretending that championship would not have been met with eye rolls and stacked the deck and fake title. All of LeBron's titles, by the way, Ray Allen saved him, Kyrie saved him, bubble championship. Every LeBron championship, no matter the competition, no matter how well he's played,

some folks have tried to put an asterisk on. if he took the minimum to go play for a team that won 64 games, people would definitively try to put an asterisk on it. So I don't think that there was a way for LeBron to do this where he was going to escape criticism. I also think that what is true is you can't, no one ever can have everything in life. And LeBron, because of the salary cap situation across the league this year,

had to choose between 52 million or 5 million if he wanted to leave the Lakers and go to a contender, and leaving $47 million on the table is not appealing to anybody. And so I understand it. I'm also not 100% certain LeBron finishes the year as a Laker, but they've made some moves around the edges. Luke will be great. They will be contender-ish, and you'll see how they look at the deadline. So I'm going to throw this.

I know you're not a huge college football fan, but you have a great sense of history. And if you look at the NIL, Nick Saban can't go back to college because you're asking your boosters now to raise $20 million a year for NIL, and you'd have to pay Nick 60 million, and you'd have to buy out your coach for $40 to $50 million.

He's not going to Bama. He's not going to any of these schools, Michigan. There's just no way that colleges can, they can't, outside of Texas, nobody can afford to do that and Sarks going nowhere. But I do think six coaches a year get fired. Coordinators are at best a coin flip. That if I was Cleveland and got the number one pick and they're in the running for the worst team,

I would draft Archmanning, I would hire Nick Saban. Tell me if you ran a team in this league or owned it. You would not call 73-year-old Nick Sabin. I floated it last week. Even Urban Myers said, oh, yeah, he'll take an NFL call. Do you believe that? Would you hire him? Oh, I definitely, yeah.

I mean, I don't know that he would definitively be my number one choice first phone call because Mike Tomlin might be available after this year. I'm just picking that name out of the hat. But you know what I mean? Very often there's a really good coach who just kind of has time has passed at his destination who comes available. So I'm not saying Nick Saban would be the number one candidate for every job, but the idea that your take was a hot take, I think, is ridiculous.

Age notwithstanding, he clearly has the energy, the attention to detail, the football mind, and I do think that what NIL has done is it has leveled the playing field in as much as if Saban went back to college, his historic recruiting prowess would be muted to a degree in a way it wasn't while he was stacking up national championships at Auburn. So, yeah, I mean, you mentioned, I mean, I'll throw a different one at you that same state, different team. If this coming year goes the way I think it might for Cincinnati, I think Nick Saban's an interesting idea there where a team, it's like, listen, got to coach up.

the defense, got to have someone to actually have as big of a voice in the organization as the owner, got to clean up some of the nonsense going into years they deal with every year, again, most of which is owner-related, and let Joe and Jamar handle the offense. Like almost offload the offense to them, you handle the details, you know, finding some of the edges in young players from the college game that you're very aware of their skill set and coach up the defense because the only point that you made that I kind of disagree with is if I'm Nick Saban and I want to do this, I'm not that interested in a studs to the top down rebuild. I'm much more interested in.

I've got three or four years. Let me see if I can have a contender immediately. I think the Bengals who, if they miss the playoffs again, probably will be looking for a new coach, I think they could be an attractive one. So, um, now living in Chicago, and by the way, taking the train Monday through Friday. I know. Man of the people. Man of the people. Nobody loves Chicago more than Colin Cowherd in July. Very excited for the November update. Very excited. Hey, I took the train today. I'm covered in salt. I slipped on the ice. There's no palm trees again i i'm rooting for you buddy but i you have you it's been a long time since you are a rustic

midwesterner about 30 years and maybe as many millions ago so we'll see let's just wait and see go ahead so i'm thinking about caleb williams if you turn on radio in chicago it's cubs and kaleb williams and i still have misgivings about ownership i don't know if i love ryan paul's but i like ben johnson i think the roster's pretty good probably middle of the pack around Green Bay. When you, if I had to say, you're pretty good at this, you're mathy. If I said, project how the season goes. We can put the schedule up.

Is that you've always been pretty good at kind of guessing how things work over the course of a season. And I've said, listen, he's too talented. Everything he makes mistakes at is coachable. Like pocket presence. Well, we've seen Lamar Jackson grow. Accuracy. We've seen Josh Allen grow.

All of his problems. are solvable. When I give you this schedule, I want you do a little fortune teller here. What do you think it looks like with Caleb Williams? Because I think that there are so many variables in how this thing could turn out because Chicago's a big, loud, football-loving city. And if he struggles early, Nick, you know this city. It could go sideways fast in public opinion. But I think it goes the opposite. I think they have success early. I think they're three-and-one going into the buy and feeling quite good. I think that next group of games,

they call it two and two in that next little quarter of the season. So that would put them at five and three. You then have a tough five-game stretch. Say they go two and three in that. They're seven and six. And then down the stretch of the season, a note on why I think this, I'll explain in a second.

I think they go 10 and 7, 11, and 6, and I think that can win the division because I think the other, the sub-story about when we're talking about the bears is what about the lions? And I've said this for years during the season

that I was not going to continue during the year, every year, there is a team that we think is going to be awesome that struggles and we're like, what's different? And then we're like, oh man, they lost both of their coordinators. That's hard for teams to do.

deal with. That's the Detroit Lions. Also, the Lions, whose biggest strength has been their offensive lines since Goff and Campbell have been together. Their guard center guard combo going into this season might be one of the weakest in the league. If there's one way to make Lions Jared Goff turn into late and early stage Rams Jared Goff, it's pressure up the middle. All of that, plus those back-to-back absolutely gut-wrenching playoff defeats, I could see the Lions dropping from 15 wins to 10 wins. So listen, I think the Bears' defense is going to be a work in progress. I think the offense is instantly going to be much, much better

because Caleb will be better and because Ben Johnson will be worlds better from a play-design, play-calling standpoint they had last year. So I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that the Bears win the division, and I certainly expect them in the playoffs. Like Caleb is too talented and Caleb is too, I think the creativity is a good thing to not be a very good NFL quarterback. I thought very good was the floor and I thought all time great was the ceiling. One mediocre year is not going to push me off that. So I think the bears are quite dangerous this year, Colin.

Now I did pick him to go to the Super Bowl last year, so maybe I'm wrong again. Well, I do think Detroit's the one great team last year that has. pullback potential based on your thoughts. I also think J.J. McCarthy is a complete and utter wild card. And if it's average, well, you're just battling Green Bay, who PFF said yesterday, or it was ESPN's data team said Packers' Packers' 14th, 15th best roster. So there's not a big gap in personnel there. Nick Wright, first things first.

As always, buddy, great seeing you. You as well. Good to see you, Colin. All right. He didn't love my LeBron take there. He kind of poohed the old LeBron. take. I've said before the caveat with Luca is he needs

the ball and he won't defend at a high level. I'm I've always said, better version than Carmelho Anthony. You're going to get a lot of points. He'll be a top 10 score of all time. He is fun to watch. He's unstoppable. He'll be in better shape. It's not coming to defense. That's not going to

happen. And he needs the ball. And LeBron doesn't want to defend at this point. So you're not making up his bad defense with LeBron at this point. And AD is no longer there. And Aitin doesn't play defense. And Austin Reeves not a great defender.

Lakers have a very mediocre defensive roster. The Mavs Cooper Flag. Anthony Davis, lively, all really good defenders, allowing LeBron not at this point in his career to have to bust his arse on that side of the floor. I think it matters. Ryan Day, Buckheyes coach. Next, it's The Hurt. One more HARD.

The HARD. Streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart Radio app. Search Her to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Hey, we're Kavino and Rich. Fox Sports Radio every day, 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern. But here's the thing. We never have enough time to get to everything we want to get to. And that's why we have a brand new podcast called Overpromised.

You see, we're having so much fun in our two-hour show. We never get to everything. Honestly, because this guy is over-promising things we never have time for. You blubberlips. Blameen me. Well, you know what? It's called Overpromise. You should be good at it because you've been overpromising women for years.

Well, it's a Kavino and Rich After Show, and we want you to be a part of it. We're going to be talking sports, of course. But we're also going to talk life and relationships. And if Rich and I are arguing about something or we didn't have enough time, it will continue on our after show called Overpromised. Well, if you don't get enough, Kavino and Rich, make sure you check out Overpromised. And also, uncensored, by the way. So maybe we'll go at it even a little harder. It's going to be the best after show podcast of all time.

There you go. Overpromising. And remember, you could see it on YouTube, but definitely join us. Listen to Overpromised with Kavino and Rich on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, dude? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember.

I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas.

And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis.

And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jen she went. I mean, she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay.

Listen, Lena Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts. or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ryan Day, Buckye Coach is around the corner. Let's not waste any time. J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Now, Colin, we've moved off the silly season in the NFL right, the June, July.

We're not a lot's going on. Well, all of a sudden, people are showing up at camp and talking to the media, and Dak Prescott said something at the start of camp to reporters yesterday. I don't know. What's he doing here, Colin? I'd give the money I make to win and be broke. That's an actual quote from Deck Prescott. We're triple checking. It's not fake. That's a real quote, Dak Prescott.

I'd give the money I make to win and be broke. Now, Jerry was stealing all the headlines yesterday with his nonsense. I don't get the, what's he saying? I don't understand that. He's saying, oh, I would give back all this money I've got if I can win the Super Bowl. So maybe Jerry Jones would take him up on that. Hey, if we win the Super Bowl, you give me your, give me your, your, 62 million back this past year. I don't know.

Like, who, that's just, what are you doing, Dak? Well, you know, he's trying to, he wants to show that he, he wants to win. While also pounding the table two years ago to make sure he's the highest paid quarterback in the league, right? Well, listen,

it's, um, money feels great, but you find very quickly that it's pretty hollow if you're not accomplishing in any industry, what the standard you've set for yourself. And I think it feels like Dax kind of hit his prime.

A few years ago, they won 12. And now he's got a second lower body injury. And he's got a coach that's a notch below Mike McCarthy, and the roster isn't close to Philadelphia. And I think Dax's smart and kind of realizes we're not really, we can convince ourselves we are, but they've got like four elite players. Philadelphia's got 12.

Listen, I'm not looking at his pockets. I get it. Go make the most you can. your careers are short, right? But then don't come out at the same time. Oh, I'd give it all back if I could just win one. Like, I don't want to do that. Well, it's one bite at one podium.

You know, I mean, we ask these guys, we ask them questions, and we want them to be perfect. It is, you know, I mean. I mean, listen, you and I, after this show's done, we don't have to go meet the media every day and ask, hey, Jay Mack, you botched that segment. Hey, man, I didn't like that fact. I'm just trying to get through three hours with you.

I don't need anything else to lift. All right, let's move on to another guy talking out of his rear end. Derek Stingley Jr. of the Houston Texans, hey, listen, he had a good year, no denying it. He's no sauce gardener, but he's very good. He said that the Texans will lead the NFL in interceptions this season by his estimates at least 10 to 15 interceptions. He's that confident in this secondary that Houston is going to dominate. Now, they were second in the league last year with 19 trailing the Vikings, But Colin, the problem is outside of the division, the schedule's not easy for Houston.

Yeah, they're going to intercept Cam Ward a bunch and Anthony Richardson, but they've got to face Stafford, Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson, Herbert. You're facing a lot of elite quarterbacks. You see Patrick Lohn's in there. That's a rough schedule. And, yeah, that is a rough schedule. I don't have them winning the division. And also, Josh, you have good quarterbacks.

Yeah. You go Stafford, Baker Mayfield, Trevor Lawrence, Lamar Jackson. Jackson, Sam Darnold, Brock Purdy, Bo Nix, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Tyler Murray, Justin Herbert. Dude, there's like eight games. You better play well. You can't turn it over. So I know we flip-flopped on this division. I think last you checked in it, you had Titans winning the division?

No, I think I have Texans winning it Titans Wild Card. Okay. I will go Jaguars. I'm Ryan the Trevor. Yeah, you're high on them, yeah. I'm made on them. Final story, Colin. Okay, okay.

here we go. WNBA, obviously there was the big t-shirt issue over the weekend. Well, reportedly, 40 players went to a big meeting over the All-Star weekend to discuss the CBA, and negotiations are at a standstill. WNBA players have asked for a revenue share similar to other pro sports. Obviously, if the WNBA had a CBA structure like the NBA, this is what a first year of the rookie supermax would look like. Okay? Based on the cap, they're only currently getting 16.5% of the cap.

It would go up to 25%, which is reasonable. They're not breaking the bank here. The way this breaks down, Colin, I don't hate it. I'm just curious that the owners are going to say, well, we're not giving you everything you want. We're not going to go 25. We'll go 21. And then it's like, no, we need 25 to get on par.

with the other pro sports leagues. And I would be much more comfortable giving them rev shares than massive salaries like baseball, football, or the NBA. Because in those leagues, you have a broader number of superstar players that move the needle and win games. I think you, I don't think you, you know, you've got six to eight really elite players in this league that can sell some merch. Obviously, there's one Caitlin Clark. But my take is I do a rev share. with the WNBA much more than I would give them like 30% of revenues. But they're only getting 9%.

And I know everybody's banging on the last 25 years of the WNBA, but the bottom line is what you want to do when your contract is up is to be hot. And right now, the WNBA merch, ticket sales, TV ratings is hot. Now, I know it's driven by Caitlin Clark. But guess what? She's not going anywhere for a decade. So she's, this is the worst she'll ever be because she's banged up now. So for the next 10 years, you can make a lot of money in this league,

advertising dollars, sweets, ticket sales, merch. I think the players have some, I think they have some leverage. They have, yeah, the whole rev share deal, a lot of people don't understand. In the podcast space, there's a lot of revenue sharing deals. But it's like, hey, I'm doing numbers, you're not doing your part selling the podcast and making me money. So I don't love a rev share idea for the WNBA. I just say, hey, the NBA players have this.

Why can't we have this? But obviously, it's going to be at a much scale-down version. People are saying this. I hear a lot of this. Well, they've only got one player that moves the needle. If you made a movie, like Matt Damon was in the Jason Bourne series. Oh, yeah. And you can argue the only guy that really sold tickets was Matt Damon in that movie.

All the writers, all of it, they didn't really sell tickets. It was just basically Matt Damon. Okay, it was still a great series. I would have invested in that series. You could say Mission Impossible. It's basically Tom Cruise. Everybody else can move around, but it's all about Tom Cruise. It's been a great series for over a decade.

So the bottom line is Caitlin Clark will never be a worse player and less recognized than now. So they have leverage. When Tiger Woods was on the tour, if you were a network vying for a, major golf event. Well, I mean, only Tiger Woods moves the needle. Yeah, but he's going to be great for 12 years and I'm going to get him on my network if I pay the PGA blank. So I don't need a depth of talent to want to, you know, to want to sign a league. I don't. The only problem with that is like Tom Cruise stars in the whole movie. Nobody's stealing scenes. Nobody's emerging as a superstar in that movie. In the WNBA, there'll be a week where Susie Q goes off.

and averages 30 points, and she's like, hey, I'm not making any money. It's all going to Caitlin Clark. I mean, listen, it's tough and complicated. It's not going to be sorted out right now. I would guess there's probably some holdout going to happen here. Because these players seem really rooted and dug in, Colin. Kind of like the political spectrum right now. People do not want to move off their opinions.

I don't think these players want to move off at all. I would not be shocked if there was a holdout with the WMB. Well, but WNBA players, relative do other pro leagues, don't make a lot of money. Now, Caitlin Clark made $11 million off the court this year. She's fine. But most of these players eventually, I think they'd caved ownership. I think so. Jay Mackle, the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News. Well, he's entering his seventh season at Ohio State. He's coached 80 games and 170 of them. And the national championship last year, they won four playoff games by an average of 10 points. Look at that. He's got a herd microphone.

Boy, you are part of the team here. coach i love seeing that let's let's start with this that your schedule texas to start it's rough three weeks later at seattle at illinois best illinois team in years pen state at michigan you got a quarterback who's really good julian sand you got to get him ready to roll really early in that season how big of what do you do as a staff to get that kid ready week one is arguably the toughest game he will play in his career. How do you get him ready to roll? Well, it starts early.

When you start off with a game like this first game of the season, you know, it just has your attention even in July. And then, you know, we've got to have a great August. You know, I think in the spring we made a lot of progress. We try to put him in as many game situations as possible and then go from there. But, you know, he's got a really good supporting group around him. You know, licking keynotes is right there with him too. He's had a great summer.

So the two of these guys are going to compete all summer. And we'll kind of see how that all shakes out. But put them in as many competitive situations as possible and see how they react to it. But ultimately, they got really good guys around them. They need to make routine plays, take care of the football. And then when it's fourth and two, find a way to get three yards. You know, people would look at this and say, boy, Ryan Day, he's got the national championship. I would argue this is a tough year to be a coach at Ohio State.

You lost 16 starters. You've got to navigate through this NIL, which is hard. for everybody, including Ohio State. You can draw up plays in front of me for five hours. But creating chemistry is hard. You've got a lot of new faces. Let's take us through that. The downside to be in Ohio State is you lose 15 guys to the pros every year.

You've got a lot of new faces. How do you build that culture quickly? Well, I think going back to last year, we had so many guys decided to come back. And then we brought in a few older guys in the portal. And then so what happened was, you know, like you said, you had a mass exodus this year. But that's part of the culture is bringing those young guys along. And they were able to not only be a part of the run, but they played.

They just didn't carry the water. And so now they have to do that. And so one of the biggest challenges this offseason was our team has to grow up. And the faster we grow up, the faster we're going to be able to, you know, reach our maximum capacity. And so, you know, the goal is for that to be in the first game. And then, you know, we come up for air and figure out where we're at. you know, guys are going to be a little experience going into the season, but that's college football. You're constantly going to have turnover like this. And so this isn't the first time we've gone through it before, but having a game like this certainly has everybody's attention in the summer.

Well, I said yesterday, I picked Penn State to play for the national championship, and I said the fact that Ohio State is as good as they are, and the Big Ten media took Penn State. I said, I think Penn State's backfields about as good as a college backfield can get, their O-lines. it's going to be a real challenge. The good thing you get them, you get them at home, and that is a big advantage. You beat them last year there. Now you get them at home, and that's worth a field goal or more in college football. Let's talk to Penn State game, because everybody's going to talk about Texas, but it looks like to me over the last three years, Ryan, I said this yesterday, I think the Big Ten at the top is better than the SEC. I think the NIL is more powerful. You've got more big markets. You go back three years. When you look at film on Sunday preparing for the next team,

Do you notice a significant improvement in your conference personnel-wise? Not just from Penn State, but Illinois and Minnesota and Iowa. Do you notice it on film? Yes, yes. I think that we have tremendous coaches. I think James is a great job. Brett does a great job. You know, you see the different coaches throughout the league.

So I think the Big Ten is attracting the best coaches in the country. Not to say anyone, you know, other conferences don't have great coaches. coaches, but I think we have really good coaches. But I also think that with the age of the NIL, we're able to tap into the resources that some of the Big Ten areas are able to grab onto. And certainly, Columbus is one of those that not only has a great infrastructure in the city, but also the fan base that we have. And I think that's been powerful along the way to continue to build and we're positioned really good moving forward, like you said. But the other part of it is, when you bring in some of the strongest teams, you know, four of them from the past,

Act 12 to make an 18 team conference. Now you're talking about a national conference that's strong from coast to coast. Yeah, your schedule is rough. What is the balance? Because I still think, I said this before. USC, LSU and Colorado went heavy portal. And I don't feel like their chemistry's ever been as solvent, as stable as yours. And my take is there is a balance.

I mean, when you can get a Caleb Downs, go get him. The kid's just absolutely incredible. But do you go back and forth on this? Is it a little bit of an emotional balance of how much is high school and how much is NIL? Because I still think high school football, you know the odometer, you've been recruiting him since they were 14. Sometimes you get an NIL guy, Ryan, and you just, there's stuff you don't know. What is the perfect balance to you on that? I think it's a great point.

I think we could talk about it for a long time, but I think now more than ever, we have to recruit the right people and then retain them and then develop them and then keep them in your program, which is kind of what you saw last year. We did add a couple pieces, but the majority of that team was guys that had been here for four and five years.

And not only they older, but they had a lot of experience, and they really wanted to leave a legacy behind at Ohio State. And to your point, I think we're all trying to figure that part of it out. And I think at Ohio State, you know, we want to make sure as the rules continue to evolve and really change like the new format of the salary cap. And we're all trying to identify how this third party NIL is actually going to be figured out and really managed, you know, and the structure that's going to be in place enforcement-wise, you know, we're all trying to figure that part of it out.

And I think some programs, you know, their decision is to be really super aggressive. And there's other programs that are going to try to be in the middle and then some others that are conservative. And I think understanding that the culture is the number one but most important thing along the way. We've got to make sure that culture is right. And so that's the focus for me. That's the focus for us. We've got to make sure we still have the right people, recruit the right people in high school and then retain them. A couple years ago, I had said on this show, I said, Jamar Chase was a pro when he was a sophomore at LSU.

I said he's playing on Saturdays. That guy would be a number one on Sundays as a sophomore. He's the best young receiver I think I've ever seen. And then I watched Jeremiah Smith and I'm like, oh, no, he's better. How do you keep somebody that gifted who's going to win all one-on-one matchups? How do you keep him focused? How do you keep him centered? How do you keep him energized?

How do you keep him? I mean, listen, he's going to beat coverage. There's nobody like him in college football. That can be a challenge for a coach. How do you keep him centered and focused and energized when he is that gifted and can beat singular coverage so easily and consistently? I think the thing that's remarkable about Jeremiah is we don't have to. He does it on his own. He's self-motivated.

He brings it every day. Our strength coach, Mick Moratti, was talking about the other day. When we do warm-up sprints before every workout, he wins every one of them. He says the other day, he goes he wins every single sprint. He just, for somebody as talented as he is, he has a tremendous amount of discipline and skill in his life. And I think that's what's making, you know, he's already special, but it's continuing to make him special. I mean, you should see him now. He's bigger, he's faster, he's stronger.

He's extremely motivated. He wants to win every game when he loses a game. I mean, he can't eat solid food for a long time. I mean, he really cares about his teammates. He sets an amazing example, and he doesn't need to be motivated. I think that's what makes him special, and I think a lot of guys are seeing that. In his own way, you know, he's not a real, you know, verbal guy. He doesn't, you know, really, you know, get out in front of things in terms of that.

But he leads the way in terms of his work ethic. And obviously, he has so much respect for why. what he does on the field. But, you know, when you talk to people who play up against him, I think his size and his power and his strength and what really separates him as a player. Yeah. It just, I mean, he just comes out of the uniform. Like it just, they're, you don't have to be a football expert to watch him come out of the tunnel and go, wow. Ryan Day, the national championship, Buckeye coach, they open on Foxwood, Texas. That folks is one for the ages. Get in front of a TV and enjoy that. It's in Columbus, and that is an

edge. Ryan, we appreciate you stopping by. Thanks, Colin. Appreciate you, man. You bet. That's going to be, when's the last time, an opening game in the college football weekend was that good? I couldn't tell. You could argue, well, the two best players in the country are Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs. Those are the two best

players in the country. I had somebody tell me that Caleb Downs would have gone number one. He got almost take out quarterback. He would have got number one last year's draft. That's how good he is. Then you got Arch Manning, which is an unbelievable story. You have two huge brands that I bet you that sets a record for a Labor Day weekend college football game.

I bet you that sets and that set everybody tells me nobody's watching TV. That will set a record. I can't wait for that thing. Fox gave me my college football preview book this weekend. I'm sitting there watching the British Open, the Open with Roy McElroy and Scotty Schaeffler and reading that. I'm not going to be, I'm not going to lie, 11.30 in the morning. I poured a cold one. I was totally committed to that beer

and Texas, Ohio State, and the Open. Live in Chicago, it's third. 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. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new?

Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special.

So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey, Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this.

We were talking about a thing. a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, Hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title

for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumored me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funny.

This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis,

and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jen she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now.

And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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. Sunday on Fox, with a historic three-peat on the line, can Alex Palo become the fastest ever to lock up Indy Series Championship?

Or will the pack hold him off at Laguna Seke? It all starts Sunday at 3 Eastern only on Fox. By the way, USC reached out to me and said, we dispute the athletics revenue numbers. They listed them at 71 million, which puts them around Ole Miss, Miami, Utah, South Carolina. USC says, hey, that's not the case. We have almost doubled that. They'd be around seven or eight, kind of Tennessee, Bama, Auburn, is area. USC is private, by the way.

But this is the number we worked off of. I do know USC is raising eight. I've said this 10 times. in the last six months. They're up to about 18 million in the NIL, which I never thought they'd get to. Jen Cohen's the athletic director. It has been it has been a work

to kind of galvanize all the boosters to be on the same page. But it's really, it is still really interesting. USC doesn't have a single player, first team, offense or defense. Indiana and Iowa have four each. And so it's fascinating with Lincoln Riley. He's making too much money. There's no buyout

happening. They're building new facilities. they're given $18 million. They've got the donors. They have some older donors. I don't know how many great young donors they have. But it's a fascinating college football dilemma out west for USC because Oregon has got nothing but money. Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, A&M.

So you would think because of Los Angeles County and L.A., you'd think USC is loaded. Now, they're saying we're way more loaded. and doing much better than the athletic is saying, and they are private, so I'm not exactly sure how the athletic got all their numbers. I know their NIL number is, I was told two years ago it was at 13,

and I thought that was, you know, six to seven below Oregon, but I thought that was double washing, but I was blown away by that because it's a very political, distracted, kind of agenda-driven base, but they're saying, hey, our number's much better than that.

But what's interesting is all the other teams that are spending that kind of money, they got a lot of good players. That's the thing. If USC's is in line with all these, where are the players? They don't have a single player, first team, all Big Ten offense or defense. And they have a page, a left tackle, Kamari Ramsey, Eric Gentry, a linebacker, Lemon and a wider. They get some good players.

But, you know, these days, this idea of, we're going to move off coaches. Those days are over. If you're paying $15 million up for NIL, keeping up with facilities, you're not buying out of coach for $70 million as well and then bringing in a new guy for $75. Those days are over. You know, you don't have to like Brian Kelly and LSU. He's going to stay until he wants to go. That's just what the NIL has done.

For the record, J-MAC, did you, Nick Wright earlier talked about Caleb Williams. He thinks it starts well. I thought he brought up a really interesting point. And it's one that you agree with. Here's what the bears have going for them. Detroit, and I think it's even the odds makers in Vegas, the draft kings of the worlds are saying Detroit's pulling back. They lost their stud center.

The schedule's tough. Everybody in the division is probably better. They lost both coordinators. So that's what the bears have going for them. Detroit's not going to be as dominant as they've been the last two years. Secondly, we don't know if J.J. McCarthy can play. And there's people that I trust saying, it ain't great. There's a reason you're not seeing much video.

Third is, Jordan Love did not end the season in good shape, and they drafted a receiver with the first pick. You and I love Green Bay's receivers. Inside the building, they clearly don't, because their first pick was a wide receiver. So I would say this regarding the Bears. That division looks like it's as a big. good as the AFC West with Kansas City.

Here's Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly and Sean Peyton and Bo Nicks and Herbert and Harbaugh. J.J. McCarthy, we don't know. Detroit, I think you and Nick Fairley are saying that's the pullback team of last year. In Green Bay this morning, do we know what Jordan Love is? Well, let me ask you, do we know what Caleb Williams is? We don't. But I like going into a season having upgraded O-line significantly and head coach significant. That I like.

I have the Bears as a wild card team. About 9 to 10 wins, wild card team. How many teams you got in the playoffs, Cowhert, 15? We'll get to it. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin.

And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We get to ask other people to do podcasts.

We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired of it. and sick, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Another podcast from some SNL, late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement home. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. She's an outsider to win the French name.

And she likes Clayton's. Listen, Lennarabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcasts on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

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

This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed Human.