The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 2 - USC HC Lincoln Riley

Episode Date: July 24, 2025

Colin gives his NFL predictions with some interesting thoughts on the Green Bay Packers USC Head Coach Lincoln Riley joins The Herd to talk about the college football portal, how he is building his program, the football playoff, and more  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Find your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. All right, here we go. It's hour two. Lincoln Riley in about 30 minutes. A lot of people questioning, is he the right guy? What is up with USC? I've got the same questions. Steve Sarkeesians got it rolling. He was on earlier today in Texas. So, J-Mack, I saw a story this morning. Whatever people think about Dion Sanders, he has added value to Colorado. They sell their games out. They're on TV all the time. He's got better players going there than previously. He has been a success. Would you not have? agree at Colorado. 100%, 1,000%. Yeah. So here's the story out of Carolina on Bill Belichick. The school announced yesterday

all their tickets for 2025, all of them, including season tickets, single game tickets. All of them sold out. So the hype, the juice, the buzz, the discussion, the recruiting, it's all working. Two years later,

Colorado's a good program. Not great, but a good program with a Heisman Trophy win. So he's, and by the way, Colorado has a clear ceiling financially, historically, marginally at best committed in sports. And it's not like Colorado has a great high school football. You got to leave the state to get people into that region of the country. Carolina is a little bit of a sleeping giant. More proximity to great high school players.

It's got more money in the athletic department. And frankly, it's a bigger brand with deeper pockets. So I saw this morning the athletic just did a story. The timing was good. They calculated how much college football teams would be worth all of them. Division one. Carolina was at 26 projected at $572 million. So, and I, I mean, it's a real brand.

Carolina is a real brand. It may start with basketball, but football, they've had good players. A lot of NFL guys from Carolina. So in Colorado football. it's a story of shaky commitment, brief success, and long droughts. So this thing should work for Bill Belichick. And we're in the first inning,

but so far the first inning, they're off to as going to start as Deion Sanders. The money, the buzz, the recruiting. And if you look at this schedule, Dion's schedule in that first year is pretty good, who they had to face. This schedule outside of Clemson. So I put the over-under win the future bet next to the teams.

The Draft Kings projected wins. The second toughest game on that schedule after Clemson is TCU at home. Now, Syracuse was good last year, but they lost their quarterback and 15 starters. So Syracuse is in a total rebuild. But that is as easy as it gets. Also, it should be noted that ESPN is going to put, eight if not ten of Carolina's games on television.

So it is it's all baked in for him. And I think Carolina is a really good. We said this between the ease of the schedule, if you go back and look at Dion's first year at Colorado, their schedule was a lot tougher than that. And they played a TCU game

ironically to start as well, but it was a TCU team that was very, very good the year before, but it lost a lot of guys to the NFL. So they blew out TCU was not very good that year. This TCU, similarly, good, not special. So it should work. Belichick is talking at Carolina. We'll have more on that later. And so as we make our NFL predictions, I've always felt I do a pretty good job on predicting teams that were bad and they can double their win total. This year, I'm taking New England as one of the shocking teams. Last year, I took Washington and Denver. Did pretty well on that. And then there are teams that are

good that everybody kind of agrees probably caught lightning in a bubble. They won't be as good this year. Detroit. The good team I'm not sure what to do with is Green Bay. I don't know what to do with them. And the reason being is most Super Bowl winning teams, even teams that get to the Super Bowl have like six to seven elite players. And I looked at this, the athletic this week, ran pre-training camp NFL power rankings.

And they had Green Bay at five. Well, I can name the Eagles, I can name eight to nine great eagle players, seven or eight Ravens, six or seven Bill, six or seven chiefs. I can't really name seven or eight great Packer players. And so I said to the staff this morning, let's go to a team that's viewed as middle of the pack power rankings, Denver. So let's rate the 12 best players if you combine Denver viewed as middle of the pack. don't think so. I think they're better than that. And Green Bay, elite. So the best player would be Patrick Sertan of Denver. He did not miss a tackle last year. I'm not joking. He's the best corner in the NFL. Highest coverage grade of every corner. He is an unbelievable all-time

great corner. They got him locked up financially. Second best player would be a Green Bay tackle, Zach Tom. So he was the third highest-graded right tackle. I think Tristan Wirth's, Panaisal, was better and Lane Johnson was better. Tristan's moved over to the left side. So he's a, they just signed him up. He's a really, really good tackle. He'd be the second best player. Third best player would, I'll give it to the Packers again, Josh Jacobs. PFF has their best 101 players. They have him 34th. He was a touchdown machine last year, 15 rushing touchdowns. He's a tremendous player. Fourth, Nick Medito, Denver. That guy popped last year. He absolutely pop. Pro bowler, all pro bowl first team. He can run like a small linebacker and give you the edge

rush like a Max Crosby. He is a just a hybrid great athlete. Number five, Quinn Miners, Denver. I know you don't talk about interior linemen. Second highest graded guard in the league last year. 711 pass blocking attempts gave up one sack. I may have him low, mostly because he's a guard. I would say the six best players defensive end for Denver, Zach Allen. Again, in this franchise, some of these guys we don't talk about a lot, he led the NFL in 40 quarterback hits and ranked second in quarterback pressure. So again, he's kind of an unheralded guy. We know about Chris Jones.

You know, we know a lot about Jalen Carter, because those teams are on TV every week. Those teams are in playoff kick. Zach Allen is a dog. He's a big-time player. I'd say number seven is Garrett Bowles, left tackle for Denver. Again, great position. Great player. 700 times he dropped back to protect his quarterback.

He gave up two sacks. By the way, I've sat next to him on a plane. They don't make humans that big. I'm just telling you right now, they don't make a lot of humans that big. Second highest-grated player on the entire Bronco roster. Now I'm going to put Jordan Love at 8 and Bo Nix at 9. Because I think we both acknowledge Jordan Love is good,

but is he great? We don't know. felt like he regressed last year, but he is one of six quarterbacks with 55 touchdown passes over the last couple of season. So he's good. And then I'll put Bo Nicks right behind him. Listen, he led Jaden Daniels. He led all rookies. Passing yards, completions, touchdown passes, total TDs, and he's a really good athlete.

So I'm going to put those guys eight and nine. Ten, I'll give it back to the Packers. Xavier McKinney. They got him in a deal. He's been great for them. Nine takeaways last year. He's a great player. came from the New York Giants, really, really good player.

Now, in 11 and 12, again, I think these guys could finish higher, but they both come off injuries. Tylenna, Hufunga, the safety that they got, Denver got from San Francisco. He's a great player. He was great at USC. He was great at San Francisco. Pro bowler, first team all pro with 97 tackles as a safety in 2022. He got hurt. He is a tremendous player.

He could be number four or five on this list. I'm going to put him 11. I'm going to put Drey Greenlaw, Denver at 12, the linebacker. He was the fifth highest-rated linebacker by PFF. Again, San Francisco did not want to lose him. They tried to figure out a way to keep him, but they paid Fred Warner and they couldn't keep it. So eight of the 12 best players with Denver, who the athletic is saying is kind of a middle of the pack team. Eight of the 12 are Broncos.

So, and here's the thing. It's not that I dislike Green Bay. I just, what's their best unit? You'd be like, oh, a wide receiver. Well, then why do they draft a wide receiver with their first pick? Because Christian Watson can't stay healthy. Well, their offensive line. Usually a strength, PFF has at 14th.

So organizational stability has always been outstanding in Green Bay. But you've got to have players. So when I see Green Bay top five or six, I just, I just, they don't have enough great players. And by the way, if you told me this year, Bo Nix was better than Jordan Love, I put him eight and nine. I'm not doubting it would happen. The defense for Denver is better than Green Bay.

So my takeaway is that Bo Nix is going to have the advantages any quarterback would have with an elite defense, which is better field position. You can open up the playbook. And I think we all acknowledge that Sean Payton's better than Matt LaFleur. I like both. Sean's different. So I just don't know exactly what to do with Green Bay, Jamek. I know they're good.

I mean, listen, last year they had quarterback injuries, they still won 11 games. But I think the division's better this year. Hey, can you pop that on the screen once again, Colin? Because I think that list that you just came up with, I think this is a first in the history of your rank players. There's not one wide receiver or tight end on this list. Am I correct here? Now, I love.

That's insane. No, no. I love Cortland Sutton. He's a, how is he not top 12? I mean, Hufunga and Greenlaw haven't played a snapping Denver. Okay, but Hufunga and Greenlaw were elite pro bowl level players. Sutton in a lot of eyes is a number two receiver. I like him.

He's a lower end one or a great two. Remember Michael Pittman of the Colts? Like, is he a one or a great two? So I like Cortland Sutton a lot. But if you look at all the ratings, people see him as like the best number two in the league, kind of a number two. That's why they drafted Mims who they think has more number one potential talent. And again, I love Cortland. But I would probably have him 13. And that would be another Denver guy. Yeah, Christian Watson just too injured. He can't stay healthy. So if you told me 13, I would do

Cortland Sutton. And so now I have nine of the top 13 Denver. And we think they have a better coach. What is it? Well, LaFleur is excellent. I don't know better. They're both very, very good. Maybe you go A and a B plus, whatever. What does it say that neither of these teams has skill position guys that scare you? Are they legit? Can they legit be contenders? Like, don't put them in the Kansas City group because you have Mahomes who can elevate players. I don't know that Love and Knicks can elevate their receivers the way Mahomes can. Well, I think both, I think both are good enough at receiver. Yeah, Baltimore is good enough to contend? Yes, absolutely.

Tell me, Jamar Chase, triple crown winner last year, didn't make the playoffs. I know, I know, I'm aware. So I think, I mean, Mims, Cortland Sutton, they drafted that kid in the second round that they, that Sean Peyton likes Harvey. Their offensive line is good. Bo Nix, by the way, hybrid, very capable of moving the pocket and running. I think Denver's fine offensively. I do. I think they're fine.

Fine, fine doesn't get you to the Super Bowl, bro. Fine is good, but. But no, I'm not saying these are Super Bowl teams. My whole rant was, how is 1-6 and 114? My rant was, I don't get the greatness of Green Bay. I'm assuming if the athletic have them fifth, that they think they're a Super Bowl contender. I don't. I would agree with you.

I don't think the Packers are. So what are we missing on this team? What are they seeing that we're not on the Packers? By the way, Sutton, Cortland Sutton, 27th wide receiver, according to PFF, a very good starter. But a 27th best receiver would be like low one, top two, and I put him 13. So 9 of 13 would be Broncos. Yeah, that Packers, that high is so puzzling because that division's so difficult. Yeah, that may just be a whiff by the athletic.

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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 to Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. 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

And 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

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growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search learning a hard way and listen now. It's been great to have James Franklin and Ryan Day and Steve Sarkesian. Lincoln Riley is around the corner. They went four and five in the Big Ten last year. A lot of giveaways.

Now, it should be noted, Texas, I think, led the SEC in giveaways. So you can spit the ball up occasionally if you have a high-powered offense. So USC had a little bit too many giveaways. They had leads in a lot of Big Ten games and could not hold the lead. it was a weird season. They went to another quarterback late in the year and had some success. So Lincoln Riley's around the corner. But first, J. Mack, with the news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, Patrick Mahomes, Colin. Everybody loves him. We love to talk about him. But he's just like us, Colin. He's looking to change his game a little bit.

Here's what he wants to improve on at trading camp. Take a listen. Yeah, for me, I've got to be better at throwing the ball down the field. I mean, obviously, we weren't good enough there. We've had success in prior years, these last few years. We haven't done that. And in order for our offense to be great, you have to be able to complete those passes. It opens up everything else.

That's the mindset is getting back to throwing the ball down the field. And if we can do that, it'll open up the rest of the offense. And we have some stats to back that up that Patrick Mahomes over the last two seasons, Colin. He's kind of been a checkdown artist. Look at how much he struggled, throwing the ball down the field 15 or more yards. That is not good. Six touchdowns and 12 picks? Well, in fairness, it's been a revolving door because of wide receivers' immaturity on the team.

A left tackle position, right tackle position, it's been a little shaky. So in fairness, he's had to be a little bit of checkdown Charlie, and I will defend him. Offensive line has been hit and miss, and the wide receivers, you know, these guys can't get out of trouble. And I like worthy the wide receiver, but he feels a bit more of a gadget guy than a volume guy to me. He's good. Rishie Rice, by the way, who's suspended. We're waiting for that final count on that. He's a volume by, but he can't stay on the field.

Yeah, of course he'll defend him, Colin. I mean, he's Patrick Mahomes. And, you know, we love to talk about Brock Purdy and his wide receivers. Well, Brandon Ayut's a problem child. Debo Samuel was fat. They shipped him out of town. Look at that. Interesting.

Yeah, everybody's got to deal with this stuff. Bottom line is Mahomes. Not the league is caught up to him, but the way he dominated very early in his career. for like three or four years, that has tailed off a little bit. That's okay to say. I don't know if coordinators are scheming up new stuff, but he is struggling a little bit.

Well, I'll make the argument on big third and fourth downs in the playoffs. I'll take him over everybody else. Except Jayon Hertz, right? No, it's not close. I still think he is one of these guys, big third, fourth down postseason. I'll take him because I know Andy Reid's calling the plays. Yeah, as long as they're not getting blown out in the Super Bowl.

They're in competitive nature for the game. Next up, how about this, Colin? Pittsburgh GM Omar Khan met with the media for the first time since signing Aaron Rogers. Despite it taking forever to happen, Con, never worried Rogers would be a stealer. Listen to this. Some people might view my patients or our patients as a weakness, but we view it as a strength. And, you know, we just felt good about it. If there was a point where we didn't think things would end up,

what we wanted to end up, we would have gone in a different direction. But we just felt comfortable and felt good about it. And we wanted Aaron Rogers. And Rogers wanted to be a stealer. And it worked out. How about we, you know what, you and I should take a different tech. How about we just get really positive about Aaron Rogers going through? No, let's not do that.

Aaron Rogers wanted to be a stealer. I mean, there were multiple reports. He was waiting for the Vikings to decide, if they want McCarthy to be their guy. Like, he was waiting for a better offer. This is probably like you, when women, you know, ladies are asking you to the prom and you're waiting for the best offer. And then finally, you just, all right, I'll take the bird in hand here with Pittsburgh.

No, nobody, nobody asked me to the prom. So, yeah, I'm going to take a more positive spin. I think from this point forward, I'm going to try to be very positive. You know what? We're going into a season. He'll be interesting. You and I are in the interesting business. In fairness, I can't wait to watch it.

I don't think, you know, I think this organ, I think my guess is, I don't know if we have the Steelers schedule. I think they'll start pretty well. I think if you look at the Steelers the last several years, Tomlin's very much a motivator and a raw, raw guy, and that stuff wears thin by Thanksgiving and on. But I think they're going to be a pretty compelling team. I'm looking forward to watching it. It'll be better than the Jets situation simply because there's more organizational fluidity than the Jets. Back door jab at the Jets. Okay, sure.

I guarantee you if you were to rank the most interesting quarterbacks, Rogers is not in your top 10. I mean, Colin, the last time he was interesting, and again, I'm not talking about conspiracy theories and Anthony Fauci and that stuff. Regarding football was like 2019, 2020. Like, what are we talking about? Let me ask you. Let's look at that schedule.

Open at the Jets win. I don't know necessarily. That defense, you don't think they're going to be amped up to come after him? Okay. Host Seattle potential wins. New England, host Minnesota, Cleveland, at Cincinnati, Colts. There's a lot of Ws here. Pittsburgh's going to start strong.

Don't be shocked if it's 5 and 2. I don't think it's going to end well. Now, let's go to the bottom. The back of the schedule is going to be full of Baltimore and Joe Burrow. But I think they're going to start. I think they're going to be pretty interesting because all of a sudden you get to mid-October and then it's, you know, you're getting some Joe Burrow and you're getting some Green Bay. Okay, let's look at the end of the schedule.

Yeah, it gets tough. Here is, oh, there's on the road, Justin Herbert, Joe Burrow, Buffalo, at Baltimore, at Detroit. Yeah, it's going to, here's my prediction. Five and two is the start, eight and nine is the finish. Absolutely no shot. So what's weird about that is the league should have learned their lesson from his first year with the Jets. Remember, they loaded up all these great games, and Rogers got hurt early in the season? And so end of the season, Jets were not on TV at all.

I mean, the Steelers, you really, I would have flipped it. I would have had the hard games early when Rogers is around. Well, late in the season, you think he's going to still be standing upright? Yeah, I think if you look at the schedule, week nine on, it gets, it gets prickly. But the first eight weeks, there's a lot of wins there for our Rogers. Over under eight and a half. I think that's the right number. I would, you know, Tomlin's never had a losing season, so I don't.

say, I'll take the over, but it's an eight or nine win team. That's what it is. We need a scoreboard. You're going over. I'm going under for sure, eight and a half, and we're just obviously. I can be talked into either one. Let me watch the preseason. Does everybody stay healthy? I mean, honestly, let me watch the preseason. Let's see what the camp shows us, but I didn't get me fine. Okay. All right. Next up is Baker Mayfield, who has bounced around a bit in the NFL before landing in Tampa, and it feels like he's found a home. Pro Bowler, both seasons at training camp, Baker talked about why Tampa is such a great fit.

This isn't to on the other teams and franchises. No, man, you already know. But like when you step in and your GM and your head coach say, hey, just be you. After I've been told at every stop and everywhere I go,

hey, you need to tone it down a little bit. You need to be a franchise quarterback. It's just not who I am. I wear my emotions on my sleeves. Talk. I'm going to do whatever. But when it's time to turn the lights on, and go do something, I'm going to do it. So when I stepped into the building, they all told me to just be myself.

I still have hopes I can get him back on the show. Your boy, Baker? Yeah, because somebody asked Baker about me a year ago, and he said, we're frenemies. That's what he said. And I think, I don't think I'm, I think, I told her the story about what he did at a restaurant in L.A. He's a really good guy. Baker's a really good guy.

He's had to deal with some family nonsense, but he's a really good guy. And he and Emily are good people. I am genuinely happy for him. And I think even in the darkest hour, I always said, oh, he's a starting quarterback. He throws a beautiful ball when he can plan it and let it rip. He throws a great ball. Now, sometimes he gets ahead of himself and he can get a little reckless. So can Darnold.

So can he can get a little reckless. Sometimes his confidence is better than his game. But that's part of the beauty of him is that he's got incredible confidence. They're going to win that division. I'll go Atlanta. We're just on opposite sides today, man. I don't know, Colin. Well, there's a right side and your side, so that's all the sides we're on.

Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. I really, you know, I talked about this to start the show, is that people were so freaked out, and I understand this. I think I was talking to Danny Parkins about this on a podcast yesterday, that if you take AI, watch how people react to AI.

There are people out there in life that are just, they don't like change, they get very neurotic on stuff. You can see it with AI. The world's going to end. And then there are people that I didn't grow up in a traditional household. So I like change. I've moved all over the country. I now live in Chicago. I love it.

How do you love it? I love it. I like change. I like new stuff. My wife's the same way. And I think AI is going to be revolutionary. I'm not worried about robots taking over the world. I think in science and in medicine, it's going to change everything.

We're going to find cures for cancer. It's going to save lives. I think AI is unbelievable. And I trust the smartest people in the world to put enough guardrails on it that robots are not going to be knocking on my door and slinging me around the yard. But, and so when the college football playoff was announced, I mean, there was just a lot of naysayers and negative people. What about the bowl games? What about them? Most are awful.

Half the seats are empty. Well, what about the rivalries? You're not going to watch Ohio State, Michigan? If it's on, you're not going to watch it. You're going to watch it. Well, it won't feel the same. It will if your team's winning or your bets winning, it'll feel just the same. So I love that Ohio State and Texas are playing, and the thing I really like about it, you can be aggressive, you can take chances in your play calling, because you can lose the game and still lose another game, and both these teams can get into the playoffs.

Think about last year, Ohio State. They lose a go-either-way game at Oregon. In the old system, they lose to Michigan, and the season's over, because they were a home favorite. Seasons over. Fiesta Bowl. Instead, they win the national championship. They use that loss as jet fuel, the staff, the players. That's how it works in the NFL.

When the Raiders beat the Chiefs years ago at the end of the year and the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, this idea that this harsh, punitive action for a 19-year-old kid losing a game, you should, I mean, if you look at how many games these teams are playing, if you count the playoffs like 16 games you got to go 15 and 1 with a transfer portal with the nil i mean georgia now doesn't have a third great receiver they're lucky to have two the third guy just got poached by oklahoma or louisville so you don't these you can't stockpile talent at georgia or ls u because the minute you have a five-star guy by the beginning of his sophomore year if he's not playing he's going to

going to go play at Oklahoma. He's going to go play at Clemson. He's out. He's leaving. So the teams aren't going to be as dominating as those Alabama teams eight years ago. They're not going to be as deep. You're not going to be able to have two offensive line injuries. You're done.

It's over. So, I mean, here was Sark on facing the Ohio State in the opener in Columbus. That's the beauty of this format now that you can afford to play these games. It's great for the fans. It's great for college football. Everybody's talking about it. And I was jokingly

saying, you know, it's so different than the NFL. Nobody's talking about week one matchups in the NFL. Everybody's talking about this game. And then the idea that I don't think either of us get punished playing this game. Obviously, we all, we both need to play well throughout the entirety of the season. But sure, it's what a spotlight it puts on both programs as well as college football. I mean, it just makes no sense. We don't ask 32-year-old professional football players to go 17-0 or 15-and-2. But we're asking 19, 20- and 21-year-old kids, hey, you lose the opener. You've got to win the rest of your games.

That's why the playoff is great. It allows coaches to take risks. Schedule bigger games. Young people can grow. These college football players, from week two to week seven, you have a different person. They got midterms and girlfriends and classes. let them grow. It's okay to lose a couple of games. I love the college football playoff for the growth of the young people playing it. Lincoln Riley is now joining us and are his fourth season at USC.

You know, Lincoln, all of this stuff is you're growing with it. The NIL, the portal. Let's talk portal. What have you learned about the portal from the first year you dealt with it to now? Like, is there something that you know to be true with the portal, or is it still kind of, you take your swings at it and you cross your fingers? All right, right now he can't hear us. Lincoln Riley can't hear us. All right, we'll try to get it right. Because that's the thing about, like when the portal came out, again, just like the playoff,

everybody freaked out with a portal. And my takeaway was, guys, if you hire a new coach and they use the port, I mean, Dion Sanders without the portal, He'd still be rebuilding Colorado. He'd still be rebuilding Colorado. I mean, Lincoln Rodley won 11 games first year at USC. They had 30 guys in the portal. I mean, if you want to sit and wait for three years to build a program,

but the portal allows you to build it virtually overnight. We'll take a break. Back with Lincoln Riley next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news?

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. 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 on Humor Me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get. your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now.

Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis,

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you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Lincoln Riley, fourth year, USC, they have struggled in their opening year in the Big Ten, so I got to ask you to start. The weather's colder, the flights are longer, stylistically, it's different than the air raid, all the passing in the 70-degree weather of the Pack 12. So is there, when you this off-season looked at your roster, did you recruit and say, hey, this, we got to get bigger here, we got to get sturdier here, did it change? Did it change because you were kind of flying blind. You just went into the Big Ten. Did you build your roster accordingly? Did you make alterations? We did. And I think some of that's in response to the

Big Ten, but I also think a lot of it is just response to our natural growth as a program. We want to be a team that's a national championship contender every single year like you should expect at USC. And to do that, you have to be great on the line of scrimmage. And so we've certainly tried to build that throughout the years. I think this group coming up on both fronts has a chance to be the very best we've had and certainly see a major difference, especially on the defensive line that I know will pay dividends this year. You know, you guys got your NIL in order now. There is a sense with Jen Cohen. People can look and go, well, what about the record and what about the record? But the reality is, is that the portal in the NIL create advantages and sometimes

they muddy it up. I want to go back to the question I ask you. What have you learned about the portal that you like and that you may have a cautionary tale about how do you view the portal today lincoln well the portal is just another tool to to build your roster and certainly it gives teams the opportunities to really maybe shock the system when it hasn't been successful i mean our first year at u sc is a great example we went heavy in the portal we were able to have a really good season uh but also you know the portal has has its danger You don't get a real chance to evaluate and get to know a lot of these guys. Some of these guys are coming in for such a short amount of time.

And then finding the right fit, I think, can be very, very difficult. And so we're a great example. And then you see teams across the country are having to decide, are we going to really be a portal heavy team that dabbles in high school recruiting, or are we going to be vice versa? And certainly we know what we did early at USC, but we've certainly pivoted to what we believe we want to be and know we want to be long term,

especially being in Los Angeles and in Southern California, and that's a high school developmental program that uses the portal sparingly. And I think our upcoming recruiting class is a great example of that. Jade My Eye is your quarterback comes from UNLV. You also get a five-star best high school football player, arguably in L.A. in the program. So you want to be patient. But there are kids that are really good really soon, and I've seen your five-star all the highlights.

It's a lot of jaw-dropping wow stuff. Could it be a rotational situation? How do you weigh it when you have an enormously gifted backup quarterback? You have a very tough schedule. How do you weigh that stuff? Well, it's first world problems, right? Having two guys that you really believe in and multiple guys that you believe in in a quarterback room is a great thing.

It's hard to do, especially in this day and age. We were super impressed with how Jane Maiva played in the last four games, his four starts, who went three and one against four really quality teams, four very strong defenses, and thought he did some just really, really outstanding work in those games, and he's grown and progressed a lot. Certainly, Hassan Longstreet is a really special talent that I think is certainly one of those guys that is going to get better quickly and certainly could have a role on this football team. There's no doubt about it. And then really plays with Sam Heward as well. I think the room is as deep as we've had it at USC.

And from then on, it's competition. Now, that's what the best programs are based on. There's got to be competition in that room. And we always want that. We've always had that. And we think that's the reason that our quarterback rooms throughout history have been pretty successful. If you go back to your Oklahoma years, we didn't have a 12-team playoff, right? We didn't have that.

We do now. And I've said this. It's a different world. I look at your schedule, and it's like, okay, do you? I mean, how do you go five, six years ago? I look at your schedule and I think, man, that Illinois, Michigan, that Illinois, Michigan, Notre Dame, Nebraska run, that is rough. Do you, and then you have a couple of games early that you will be heavy favorites.

Do you think, if you went six years ago, Lincoln, do you look at the season more as a whole? Are you more strategic with it? Because now it could be potentially a 15-game schedule if you get into the playoffs. I think you certainly have to factor that in. I mean, so much of this has changed. I think one, you know, like you said, keeping in mind that this season could be several games longer than anything we ever would have thought of, you know, multiple years ago. And I think the other thing that you have to really, you know, pay attention to it, maybe create awareness among the staff, the coaches, fans, everybody is, you know, now, you know, losing a game here or there, you know, doesn't put you out. Whereas years ago, you knew pretty quickly that it was going to be a tough road to have a chance to get back to a playoff.

I mean, heck, that national champion last year lost two games. And so I think it's something that everybody's kind of got to get used to, especially with these, you know, almost super conferences starting to get established like the Big Ten and the SEC has done where there's so many good football teams, you know, weekend and week out, the competition's high, the parody's high. And so, yeah, I think it's, you've had to change your mindset. I think you have to have an awareness within the program and adapt whatever systems in front of us at the current time. So your first seven years ahead, coach, you were a top 10 offensive team every year, Oklahoma, USC. Last year it drops off. Some of it was a turnover year. You were also very young.

I mean, your two receivers I love were both kids. Do you look at it as youth turnovers? What happened last year that you look at the season as it ends? And you said, hey, we got to clean this up. We got to get better here. Where will you make the two biggest leaps offensively to get back to a top 10 offense, which you were your first seven years ahead coach? I think first I would look at our offensive line, the recruiting, the development that we've done.

I feel like we really have championship caliber depth and a really strong starting group there right now. And then, yeah, I think the big thing for us is you've certainly, you know, we've got to get more consistent play out of our quarterback, position as well. And that was a, you know, we had some really great moments last year, but also, you know, we turned it over a few too many times. And when you're playing, you know, in a league, like what's been created, where you're playing a really good defense just about every single week, you know, that's, that's going to become a little bit more pressure on that, right? The windows to make throws or to make plays or the opportunities to score points are going to start to tighten up.

So you've got to be that much sharper. So certainly our expectations are as high as they possibly We could be there, and I think this group has a chance to be one of the best groups in the country. I was watching the Caleb Williams story in Chicago, and it's interesting about quarterbacks. When a quarterback gets out of rhythm, it could be Caleb, it could be your young kids now. Go back to your career. It could be Baker Mayfield. When a quarterback is a little out of sorts, reportedly Caleb has been in camp. What do you tell, like, do you keep messaging simple for quarterbacks?

They have to know the whole playback. in your career of coaching quarterbacks, you've had Heisman winners, you've got first rounders, number one picks. What is a message that almost always works for any young quarterback that's a little out of rhythm or struggling? Well, you said a word there. I think simplicity is very important. And then I think it's important for the coach to remember it's such a confidence-driven position. And so often in my career with guys, even some of the guys that were more experienced and played a lot of ball, you know, when they got out of rhythm, it was just kind of going back to the basics, you know, going back to the day one things that they learned because that's what they're going to have the most confidence.

They're going to have the most repetitions banked on. And a lot of times that helps those guys settle in. And then I think it's also, you know, on every coach and head coach that you've got that type of relationship, you know, with your guys. And so that there is that trust built and you can have that conversation and help adjust them and get them back on the same page and get them back playing confident football. All right. Lincoln Riley entering his fourth season at USC. Their 2026 recruiting class is number one in the country.

It is the best O&D line size-wise. USC, I'll say it since the Pete Carroll era. It is NFL bodies. They are big across both lines, and I can't wait to watch it. Lincoln, I appreciate you stopping by. Anytime. Thanks, call on. Okay.

Yeah, it is the first time since I would say Pete Carroll, where their left tackle is going to be a pro. Their right guard is going to be a pro. they'll probably leave early. Defensive line, spent some money, NFL bodies. But again, you start looking at that schedule. They've got a four-game stretch that is brutal. Illinois returned 16 starters.

This is the best Illinois football team in a decade. Illinois is good. That is a tough game. First four, you'll be favored. Michigan at home, very winnable, playing probably a freshman quarterback. Notre Dame on the road, good luck. Nebraska has trouble written all. over it. So obviously at

Oregon and at Notre Dame, you can lose those games and make the playoffs. Those are really good teams. It's how you lose them. You can write, like Ohio State lost twice, close to Oregon, close to Michigan. Can't get blown out. But if you look at that schedule,

at Notre Dame and at Oregon, they're going to be underdogs. They're going to be favorites a lot. Nine wins. Let me think here. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, I have nine wins. What are you shaking your head out?

I mean, nine wins and your boy's going to keep his job, that's for sure. He's keeping his job. Well, listen, you see all these hot seat lists. I don't think he deserves to be on there because of the contract. He's not going anywhere. But you look at the hot seat list and he's up there, Colin, near the top. Yeah, that's what they say. You know, all I know, you know, there are people out there that love the NFL but don't

watch college football. How can you not watch some of these games? Like, I mean, honestly, I looked at the Labor Day schedule. There was obviously Texas, Ohio State. College football is so much fun. And I do think, I really do think this, the quarterback play in college is so much better than 10 years ago. These guys have so many seven-on-seven camps and private tutoring and private coaching. You got LSU Nussmeyer, you got Aller, you got Arch Manning, the kid at South Carolina. There's like five or six guys. And by the way, there will be a quarterback in college that emerges by week six, seven, or eight. We're all going to go, I didn't know about this guy.

Like a Cam Ward? Yeah, I mean, we thought Cam Ward was interesting at Washington State, and you look up and you're like, oh, my God. So, I mean, we could have six first-round quarterbacks. And three of them being, keep your eye on the kid at Clemson, highly, highly productive. It is the ACC, but highly productive. So we've had Sarkon, Lincoln, Ryan Day, and James Franklin. I love your optimism. You're really in a positive headspace right now.

You think every quarterback's amazing. Every team is outstanding. You're loving everything right now except the Lakers and Clippers. But fortunately, Lakers will be fine. NBA's on the back burner. No, no. Lakers will be fine. DeAndre Aiton, Marcus Smart, LeBron, Austin Reeves, Luca.

That's a fine team. But if you put them in the east, they could buy for a conference. championship series. Absolutely. The West is a whole different ballgame. It's the difference between the ACC and the Big Ten. The whole different ballgame. The West is completely stacked. Mark Sanchez is going to be stopping by last hour with former Trojan. Good stuff. Two down, one to go. It's third. 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're the first 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 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 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 I-Heart 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 I-Hard Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on, a Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, Private Jess, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know.

Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human.