The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 2 - Yogi Roth

Episode Date: September 5, 2022

In this hour of The Herd, it's another edition of "Where Colin Was Right, Where Colin Was Wrong." Later, Colin gets a visit from Pac-12 Networks college football analyst Yogi Roth, who shares his observations on Lincoln Riley's first game as head coach of USC, Ohio State's offensive struggles and Oregon's poor showing against Georgia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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High Heart Radio today. TV. We're on FS2 for a couple hours. We'll be on FS1 the last hour. So get your remote, try to find us. J. Max joining me. By the way, it's Lincoln Riley's birthday today. As far as I'm concerned, it should be a national holiday.

That's just my opinion. Somebody told me you were jumping out of his birthday cake later today. I mean, you are the biggest USC guy. ever, Colin. I'm leaning into it. I could pretend. I could be subtle. I'm not a real subtle guy. I'm going to lean into it. When could we talk about the Stanford USC line for this week? Well, it's open 10 and a half. What is it? Sharp money on Stanford down to 9. Be careful, Colin. Be very careful. Nine. Favored by 9. Where USC has been for five years, I'll just take favored by 9. I don't care where the line's moving. I like the 9. All right, we call it Colin right, Colin wrong.

You know, I admit when I whiff, and occasionally I get one right. Here we go on a Monday. Where Colin was right? Well, let's start with Lincoln Riley. I said they're not going to win the national championship this year, but they're going to look smarter. They had all three timeouts left at the end of the first half. There weren't any turnovers. Their manipulation of personnel, their substitution patterns.

Listen, they scored 66 points. They had the ball 27 minutes. That's what USC is again. You can't change a four and eight program to Alabama overnight. You can't. Nick Saban lost a Louisiana Monroe's first year at Bama. But you can get smart fast. And between the transfer portal, the upgrade in coaching, a team that was four and eight last year looked like they can probably compete with anybody.

I mean, I watched Notre Dame. They can compete with Notre Dame. They don't have George on the schedule. They don't have Ohio State in the schedule. they can beat Utah. Now, they may be in a lot of close games because of the lack of their defensive personnel in the middle. But in the end, Oklahoma fans, get over it.

11 wins, four straight years, three playoff appearances he can coach. Where Colin was wrong. I thought Russell Wilson should take a little bit, not a pick, just a little bit of a team-friendly deal. If you're battling Mahomes, you're battling Herbert, you're battling Derek Carr, you don't want to have a weak secondary.

You don't want to have a bad right tackle or center. Now, it's a $55 million cap hit in a couple of years, and I don't care how much money is infused into the NFL. A $55 million cap hit means you're going to be perilously thin at certain spots. So I was wrong. Where Colin was right? Well, Eric Mangini and I said before it happened, re-signing Jimmy Garoppolo wasn't crazy,

mostly because he's a nice guy. He'll make the quarterback room work. And Tray Lance, to this point, as I had said, I had three different sources, three or four, that had told me he's struggling with accuracy. Well, this is too good of a roster to roll the dice at quarterback. So we said, initially, I'd move Garoppolo out. But then what you started hearing about Lance's struggles with consistency and accuracy, it made a little bit of sense. It gives you a bullpen. Now, I do think the schedule is so daunting that they're going to go.

to the bullpen more than once. But I have this feeling this is going to work, and you're going to be looking at a 9- or a 10-win team. Where Colin was right? I've tried to be nice to Baker-Mayfield. I really have, but God, he can't help himself. So he's facing this week, he's facing the Browns, and he's got a T-shirt

already hitting the market. Off the leash, baby. Come on, bro. Can you wait to the games over? You've had a thousand national commercials. You have a 70 million net worth, and you're selling T-shirts. Well, what are you, an overnight guy in Sheboygan?

You're an NFL quarterback. You're not barstool. You're not selling merch for a business. What are you doing here? I mean, I tried so hard. But once a cocky sooner, oh, is a cocky sooner, I guess. He just can't get out of his own way. Where Colin was wrong.

Listen, I love Donovan Mitchell to the Cavs, but that came out of left field. I hadn't even heard a rumor. I thought he was going to Miami. And I thought he was going to the Knicks. I didn't know he was going to the Cavs. I wasn't in my top 10. Now, I think it's a great move.

And I got to be honest with you. Danny Aange is smarter than I am, but I... Hey, aye, y'ye, who's going to score? Who's scoring for Utah? I mean, you're paying $300 for tickets. You want to have a college team? I don't love Utah moving him. And by the way, there's also a story

that the Knicks were willing to part with R.J. Barrett? Well, I'd have taken that deal over the Cleveland guys. But, you know, the good news, the winner in this me is the Cavs, a really, really interesting young team that just got themselves an A score. Where Colin was right? I said the whole Matthew Stafford 10 to 9th story was a, we're all bored. That's why we made news out of it. Sean McVeigh said this week, no limitations, everything's fine. Part of it is because starters don't play in the preseason anymore. August is like there's no news.

Literally Kenny Pickett took over our show. There's no news in August anymore. And so the The Stafford tendonitis story got played up bigger than it was. And, you know, tendonitis is something pro-athlete, even tennis players battle all the time. And this is something also the Rams are acknowledging. They dealt with some of this last year. So I just never thought this was the story it was presented to be. Where Colin was right? Well, I said before the season, I thought batting order won through eight or nine.

The Dodgers had the best batting order I had ever seen in my life. Now, Walker Bueller's injury could be problematic in the public. season. But the Dodgers now have 92 wins with over a month left. They're on target to win 113 games. This is out without Walker Bueller, an ace, and without Kershaw for a big portion of the summer, their run differential is plus 294. That's over a hundred runs better than second place New York. There are just no soft spots in that batting order. Even a talented a team like the Padres feels overwhelmed when they face the Dodgers, Colin Wright, Colin wrong on a Monday.

Well, I've known our next guest for a long time. If you live on the West Coast, he's a former USC quarterback. He's a Pac-12 analyst, a New York's bestselling, a New York Times bestselling author, Win Forever with Pete Carroll. He's our friend Yogi Roth is now joining us on the show on a Monday. He's also got another book of five-star quarterbacks. Good to see you, my friend. good to see you as always ran into you in Hermosa Beach a couple weeks ago.

Nobody, you don't age. You could be 50 and look at exactly. You literally don't age. So let's start with this. Listen, it's rice. All right, we know they're going to win. I was taken back just by the little goofy, dorky football stuff. No turnovers.

Timeout usage. Manipulation of personnel. And I hate to say this, but they seemed really organized. And I don't want to take shots at previous regimes. So what was your interpret? I mean, you're on the sidelines. You're doing the game. You know, you know their playbook.

What was your interpretation of it? Well, one, thanks for having me. And thanks for being so cool to our oldest son when we ran into it in Hermosa. That was amazing. For SC, there's so much to it. I went to practice with Ted Robinson, my partner, a week and half ago. And I'll never forget his line. He goes, they come at you in waves.

And then watching it, we were calling the game from the 50, right? And you're looking at it. And that's exactly what you saw offensively. not only did they come out with playmakers, but the style in which the plays were developed and how Caleb Williams was so efficient, tying his feet to his eyes, doing all the little things to manipulate defenders.

They weren't just playing catch with elite athletes. Like he was playing quarterback. The offense was off the charts, and then defensively, the second half is what I loved. First two drives, they're losing in the run game, right? The amount of movement from Rice offensively, what the offensive line was doing, pulling-wise. They got it together, and I saw incredible effort.

And I like to say this, They're on the bridge from hoping. That's where I think they used to be. Let's hope things go well to when I was there with Pete. We knew we could throw it out. We knew things would go well. And I think they're on that bridge now, from hoping to knowing. And I think that second half, especially on defense,

it's going to allow them move even faster because they have to with the next three games. Yeah, listen, we all have collective amnesia. Kirby Smart's a great coach, eight and five first year. Dabo Sweeney took actually, he became an interim. It went four and three. And then he had two seasons with five or seven. six losses, it's hard. So when I looked at them, I thought, okay, they've solved the offense.

That's Lincoln's side of the ball. McVeigh for the Rams when he got there. He solved the, they got Whitworth, golf got his confidence, and you're like, okay, the Rams offense, that's good enough to get to a Super Bowl. Then he went through some coordinators. So I look at them, I want you to look at them through a critical eye on Lincoln Riley's birthday. I don't think they can compete with the top three or four team.

What are they missing? What do they have to get in the transfer portal? What do they have to develop? Where do they have in your eyes a whole? The biggest question to be coming into the game was who could be a difference maker on defense. We've seen names. Corey Foreman is the name.

He was Kvon-Tibato coming out of high school. Biggest get in the country. You're thinking, whoa, is he going to have that impact? KT went off. I think he was the player of the game in the Pac-12 title game as a freshman against Utah. Where's Corey Foreman last year? This year in training camp, you're wondering, is he okay?

Is he healthy? What's going to happen? As the game went on, he flashed. He flashed coming off. Very active. And I felt like his confidence grew as the game went on. They're going to need that. And then I think another guy, like who in the interior defensive line could be a game wrecker?

Who do you have to account for? Where's Vita Valle. For instance, somebody that can just clog up and take at least two blockers on, no problem. And then linebackers can boom, all of a sudden it's tackle, tackle, tackle. And they look like all Americans at that position, like Eric Gentry, got a chance to be that guy. So that's to me the thing that when you watch Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, the big three, in my opinion. They got freaks coming off the edge.

You can feel that speed at linebacker. That's, to me, the spot, the position, who can be a true first rounder. Where's Leonard Williams? We're some of these guys that we've seen in the past. And I think they'll get there. I think that's a development thing with Corey Foreman or guys, they'll continue to recruit. So, you know, when it comes to quarterbacks and you were that and you've written books on it, I kind of depend on scouts or like a Jordan Palmer.

So I was talking to Jordan Palmer a couple months ago. And he knows Caleb Williams. And I said, I said, you know, they're going to be a nine and three team. Teams like a Stanford or a Utah or Notre Dame are just going to grind them out, take the ball away because they're defense. And he said to me, he said, Caleb Williams is going to solve a lot of problems. So this is the first time I've watched Caleb Williams live. It's very different to watch on TV and live. He is so bright.

I mean, he didn't make a. errant throw. Again, it's rice. I get it. But there are some quarterbacks, you can see the intelligence through the helmet. His pacing, his timing. You watch his head turn. Second receiver. Third receiver. Fourth receiver. Because they were dropping eight at sometimes. Take me as a former quarterback. What you see with him. The biggest thing that I noticed, because I went back and watched all of his like, quote unquote, bad game statistically from a year ago in advance of calling this one. And I looked at whether it was the Baylor game or Iowa State or Oklahoma State.

And he's on. He's on a lot of those games. And he's not perfect. He was a true freshman, but it was either drops, offensive line miss, cues. Like, he, to me, is a really talented guy. So then you say, all right, how can he really grow this year? Number one was efficiency.

Two was, can he tie his feet to his eyes as he referenced? So imagine dental floss coming from your eyelids to your feet. When you look to one read, number two, three, are your feet following you? If you watch him, whether it was the second big completion he had, Tosh Washington, down the seam on the first drive of the game, or late in the game when he's scrambling and he throws a dart that's dropped for a touchdown pass before the half. You remember that play? He's always connected.

I love how he just sinks up his entire body. And then you get to meet him. I did a long interview with him that airs this week on the Pact 12 networks where you get to learn about his makeup. This guy is a one-percenter. I think he's going to become the blueprint for new-age quarterbacks. I'm talking about dealing with NIL. dealing with LA, big media markets, and being a baller. I don't think those things are all of a sudden

going to make him an individual in the ultimate team sport. He knows how to compartmentalize, and he's got Lincoln Riley. He's got a guy who's been there in the throws with number one picks, Heisman Trophy winners, all those elements that I think he's got a guy that he can talk to. When you get a great coach and a quarterback, so Sabin gets Bryce Young. It doesn't take long. McVeigh got golf. Andy Reid got Mahomes.

when you get the mentor who's great and the kid, it's not a long process, right? So like to me, Lincoln, my NFL scouts have been telling me this for two years. They're like, Lincoln Riley is the McVeigh of the NFL. He's just different. Okay?

It's just Oklahoma does not have Bama's personnel. They don't recruit like Georgia. He got him to three playoffs. The fact they lost, he got him there. Right? So I guess my takeaway is, I'm not shocked. I think they're going to win a lot of games.

And I think when you get the right quarterback and the right coach, college or pro, it's pretty quick. Now, I want to segue to a couple of our college football things. I know Ohio State's really good. And I think Ryan Day is a good coach. But if you go to now year four, in a lot of the biggest games, Notre Dame, I thought they looked off. Michigan, Oregon last year, they lost. Take the COVID year out. First year he lost to Clemson.

This is a little Chip Kelly. because they're so good at quarterback and receiver and skill players, they roll the Big Ten and they have a Mike Tyson quality. Fights over in a minute. You put them up against a Michigan, a Clemson, a Notre Dame, an Oregon last year. As I watched them this weekend, it felt a little Chip Kelly.

It overwhelms 93% of their schedule. But they're a little more finesse than I think Ohio State should be. I thought Ohio State kind of manipulated them for about two and a half, three quarters. Yeah, I always look at week one as we don't know. They have a new defensive coordinator.

They obviously have a reigning everything at quarterback and C.J. Stroud. I think sometimes when you have so much time to repair, like a Notre Dame did, like any of these big games, whether it was Florida and Utah or look at the Oregon game against Georgia, when you have so much time,

I think you just have the ability to say, you know, we're going to throw it out in this game because we prepared for everything and they haven't prepared for everything they're going to see. And I think we saw that as you watch that game back, Notre Dame and Ohio State. I still think they're one of the kingpins in the game. They're definitely top five. Yeah, definitely

top five. And then I think there's there's a little bit of a drop of when we're talking about the elite teams to then that next tier. And that next tier isn't that far. Like we saw it in the Rose Bowl last year. It's not like Utah's that far off from Ohio State. It's not as dramatic as I think it is with, well, you look at Alabama and

Georgia and those teams. But that's where I net out, man. Like overall, Ohio State to me will be that team in the playoff. They'll do exactly a reference. But they're still going to be games. I think the number one thing we lose is we forget that these guys are still the same age. It's not like Ohio State is a team full of 25-year-olds. You know, I think there's still the developmental side of things that still take place

at every one of these teams. And every week in college football, we forget that 18 to 22, you can not focus. You can slip up. You can have a challenging game. And I think that's what we'll see as the year goes on, whether it's or Georgia, they'll have their moments. They'll still be more talented. All I have a state will still be more talented, but they'll still have their moments where everything doesn't come together perfectly because that's just the nature of, you still got to go

to class. He's still got to go to school. You're still a college athlete. So, you know, when Oklahoma hired Brett Venables, he was a coordinator, 70% of coordinators fail, but he was proven. Like Venables had been a great coordinator for a lot of years. He was at Oklahoma. So that's the kind of coordinator that usually works. over half don't work. Over half the coordinator hires bomb some miserably. Brett Venables at Oklahoma, that's the one you feel pretty good about.

Good program, good coach, has history at the school. Lincoln Riley you feel good about because great coach goes to big brand. Brian Kelly to LSU. They'll figure that crap out pretty quick. All right. Oregon hires a guy that's a kid. He's not from the region. Lenning.

He wasn't on a lot of radars. And Oregon spends big money, but it kind of felt like Christobal left. they kind of got caught, all the guys gone. And I watched Oregon play. And I thought to myself, how much of that's Georgia's talent? Because Oregon recruits national players. And how much of that is maybe this guy isn't quite ready for the moment.

Yeah, I think Dan Landings are star. You do? Yeah. I mean, pending the recruiting site, Oregon's had three straight top 10 classes. Yeah, they recruit. They recruit. But that game wasn't competitive four minutes in. Well, I say this.

When it's 14 nothing and they're driving, they got a chance to, make some noise, gain some confidence in that game. True road game. Let's be real. Granted, it was a neutral site. Let's eliminate those and played in LA, playing in Vegas, something. Like, those have to go away, in my opinion. But with that said, I went back and watched that game last night. Bownix is driving. He's checking the ball down.

He's hitting an out route. They're running the ball while. They're running screens. Little zone read. And then all of a sudden, it's that pick. And to me, that was the moment where I was like, that was our shot. Because it's 14-0 real fast. And you're saying, okay, this is a heavyweight bout. This is a battle. If they score there, I don't think they win the game.

but I don't think it becomes what it became because it got out of hand pretty fast oh it it went downhill fast yeah so but to the point on dan landing I spent a bunch of time with dan I was up there about a week and a half ago I think he's going to be perfect for the situation I think when you look at like new age coaches especially the younger guys look at lincoln dan landing you look at jake dick or kailin de boar the four in the pack 12 right three of them are under 40 years old man right it's lincoln riley's birthday he's not 40 right like they're young guys I think dan lannings unique ability is to connect to players. He spent so much time connecting with guys.

He's not going to lose this team. There's no lack of confidence. I have their game this weekend against your eastern Washington. So I look forward to calling that to watch how this team bounces back. It's not going to be easy. I don't think they're elite elite at quarterback like Caleb Williams in terms of, as the quote you referenced earlier, he can fix a lot of your problems.

But I think he's good enough. And it's his first year in the system. It's been a couple years since he was with Kenny Dalingham, the offensive coordinator. So they still have a lot to live. learn. They play five running backs. Play seven, eight receivers. Like, I think as the year goes on, they'll find their guys that

they'll lean on as the games get tighter. Yeah. Yogi Roth's joining us, college football analyst PAC 12. He's got a book out. Five star quarterback. It's not about the stars. It's about the journey. Where we see a lot of these five star guy fizzle out, transfers, J.C.

guys come in. I always feel like with quarterback, I mean, Bryce Young was the five star guy. Caleb Williams was. I'm not sure if Strowdwell, was he? No, he wasn't. So a lot of these guys come from, I mean, Aaron Rogers went to a junior college. Carson Palmer was a five-star guy, Aaron Rogers, junior college, Warren Moon Jr. College. My entire, Josh Allen, Wyoming. The Bryce Young Alabama kid, though, that's the one I saw the tape. And I'm like, oh, wow, release, fast, wow. The journey part, if you could, in your

career. If you could have said you'll go to a modern day high school, it'll be easy. J.T. Daniels, you'll set records or you go to a second tier high school and get that you know what beat out of you. Do you think there's value in the latter? Oh yeah. I think there's value in both in your approach, right? And I think that's what I love

about this book, right? C.J. is that approach. He didn't go to a big time high school. Yeah, where did he go? He came out of somewhere in the Inland Empire. Right. So he comes out of that community and doesn't have a ton of attention. doesn't have a personal QB coach, just as a love for the craft.

Isn't ranked? He's a three-star guy, cows all over him, schools out West are all over him. He comes to the Elite 11, and all of a sudden, he's with Drew Pine at Notre Dame. He's with Bryce Young.

That year at Elite 11, we had, instead of Trent Dilfer and myself and our staff, Joey Roberts and company, voting who the MVP was in the Elite 11, we said, let's put it on the players. There's so much attention around the voting and really social media is going crazy in that era.

We're at the Cowboys facility. We said, let's let the players. do and we'll group them. So we put Drew Pine, Bryce, and CJ in the same group. And they had to vote on each other. And the whole point was teaching them emotional intelligence, meaning you have the capacity to deal with your thoughts and the thoughts of others and empathy. So they had to look each other in the eye and be like, hey, you were the one today. You were the two today. You were the three today. You were the four today. And then at the end, CJ ends up winning the MVP. And what I remember about that journey for him is one when he gets invited. And his mom is in the book, Kimberly. We have a whole

chapter on parents and advice from parents, as is Craig Young, Bryce's father in the same chapter. And says when I got invited, I ran out and saw my mom at her job. I'm crying. I can't believe I got this opportunity to go. And then when he got there, the dude, it's like he never slept. Whether Bruce Feldman just wrote a great piece this morning about him, whether he was training in chess with the chess coach we had, whether he was meeting with me on media training,

whether he was talking to coaches on exos like Gerard Johnson, who's now with the Vikings, he never stopped. And I remember sitting next to him just like this, and coaches just kept calling him, whether it's Ryan Day or Mario Cristobal, his phone just kept blowing up. And you just saw his star rise. And he met the moment. And I think there's something to that.

That's why I say how you handle it. Bryce knew how to handle it. Some guys, they struggle because they get anointed. They get anointed. Yeah, Bryce is really sharp. Bryce is different. He's a 101. But most of these guys don't ask to be a five-star quarterback.

I called Ryan Parolew. If you remember him from back in the day, you're recruiting nerd, right? Yeah, yeah. And I said, well, tell me about the day. He went to LSU, didn't he? Went to LSU, ended up getting kicked out of school, transferred to Jacksonville State, and never really played a ton, right? It wasn't a big guy in the NFL, obviously.

He goes, I was on my football. farm of Louisiana and somebody who's called me and said you're the greatest quarterback in the country. And now you've got to live up to that. And that's what was fascinating about this book is the origin is none of these quarterbacks are begging to get that. They all think it's cool. But once they get it, the attention, the expectation, it's just like the Heisman. Liner, it's the only guy to ever win the Heisman who was a preseason favorite in the last 20 years. Because what do we do? We chip away. We chip away. We find the kinks in the armor. You can't tell me, Andrew Luck shouldn't have won the Heism. Best player in America. Easy. His year, right? And on and on and on. And a quarterback,

it's off the charts. And what I'm seeing now, that's what I'm seeing now, that's I say, how do you handle it? I talked to the parents of fifth and sixth and seventh graders that say, hey, my son's only going to play one sport now. We got the personal quarterback coach. He's such a star. You could pay. In the research for this book, Joey and I learn, you could pay 60 bucks and all of a sudden beyond this amazing fifth grade ranking system. It's complete BS. And the parents, they don't know how to manage it. And I'm not faulting them because you can't Google how to be the parent of an elite quarterback. You just can't do it. So we need to offer them some tools to manage it. So whether you are Bryce and you transfer, you go to modern day, or you're

CJ and you go to a school that it doesn't have that notoriety. You got to have an opportunity to manage it, and the people around you can help you with that. So I think this book is just going to offer them. How do I become a parent of this? How do I deal with offers when I'm in eighth grade and I'm Tate Martel or Max Brown or no offers

until my junior senior year and I'm C.J. Stroud and all of a sudden now I'm the guy. And I love that journey for all the quarterbacks that we talk to in that regard. Yogi Roth, great stuff. The book again five-star quarterback, not about the stars. as it's about the journey, and it is Lincoln Riley's birthday today. He's in the book.

He gives great advice. Lincoln, Riley, Ryan, Dave, Chip, Kelly, David Shaw. You're going to love this book, man, because it's advice not only from the players, but from these ambassadors of the game saying, let me help you out. There's Brenda Tracy, the Holinsky family. I love that side of this book in that regard. I've just given tools to people to deal with their life. Great seeing you, ma'am.

Yeah, you too, man. As always. Yogi Roth. We know him out west. Remember that name, smart dude. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all,

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

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

is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jek. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know.

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

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough.

Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth. 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.

person. Join me, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free Our Heart Radio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Great call, let's get started with Bill Belichick. He's given very little information about how the Patriots offensive run this season. Both Matt, Patricia, and Joe Judge have had turns calling plays, but Belichick is making it clear that everything still runs through him. Here's what Belichick said.

We have a good staff. We have a lot of people on both sides of the ball. Offensibly and defensively, and definitely, I have responsibility for everything that happens on the field. So in the end, I'll take responsibility for that. But we have a lot of it. of great members of the staff, a lot of different ideas come from different areas or a collaboration of ideas. We'll see how it goes. I don't know. That's like saying you could take a pitching coach in baseball and make him the hitting coach. I think it's almost disrespectful. A great offensive mind, that's not, that's rare. I mean, McVeigh, Shanahan, something Ryan Day, Lane Kiffin, you know, Lincoln Riley.

I think it's a real gift. And to just say, yeah, we're just going to get the hitting coach. He'll be the pitching coach. There's secrets to all this stuff. There's this idea that you can just move coaches around and the coach is a coach, perhaps at the high school level,

not at the college level, and no way in heck in the NFL level. I don't buy it. Not a lot of creativity out of Joe Judge in New York. All Giants fans hated that guy. I mean, he had no idea what he was doing. Lions fans couldn't run Patricia out of town quick enough. Could get ugly from Mack Jones back there.

And Patricia, according, Jason, to a couple of reports, Matt Stafford and Matt Patricia did not sync up. So there's a great example of he's kind of a gruff, bottom line, raw guy, you know, kind of a hat on backward. And Stafford's a pretty refined, pretty smart cat. Been a great quarterback since he was 13 years old. And Patricia and Stafford didn't work. Well, what have we heard this camp?

That Mack Jones feels a little disconnected. He doesn't feel the process. So Dolphins week one? Dolphins favored by three? I like the Dolphins. Yeah, I think they... The Tuanon crowd is going to be going crazy after the week. I'm actually, I think the most interesting team in the league is the Niners.

I think Miami could be the second most interest. I cannot wait to watch this offense. All right, fair enough. Next up, the L.A. Rams, they've been lobbying for O'Dell Beckham to return to the team all off season. Remember, he got injured in the Super Bowl. Still a free agent coming off that ACL. Interesting nugget.

The Rams have kept his locker, including his nameplate, open for a potential return. Now, Colin, they added Allen Robinson. They have Cooper Cup, who we agree is top two or three receiver in the league. Van Jefferson has... Now, Van Jefferson's hurt right now. That's right. It doesn't sound like he's going to play week one. But, you know, this team adds O'Dell Becker midseason.

That could get scary. Well, they also found an undrafted free agent, Lance McCutcheon from Montana State, who I... That's your preseason hero. So, I don't know. I don't think they need a receiver. what they're doing, they're doing a hedge. If Van Jefferson comes back and is not ready to play, then you pay OBJ for a year. If Van comes back and he's fine, you've got three receivers, a couple young ones they like, good tight ends, then I think you're fine. But I think it's like

a Garoppolo thing. Trading deadline's not until like about week seven or eight. I think if Van Jefferson comes back and is not 100 percent, then I think you probably keep OBJ. And Odell, you know, his girlfriend had a kid and he's probably just enjoying being a dad right now. Doesn't need to coming off the injury. All right. Final story, Colin, the college football playoff board, big news on Friday they voted unanimously to expand the college football playoff to 12. Now, the change is currently slated to start in 2026, but they're trying to cram it down our throats for 2024, which I would love. The 12-team field would include, as of now, the six highest-ranked conference champs as well as six at-large teams. So we can still get,

you know, three or four from the SEC. Collin, we love this college football. It's Nancy. Well, listen, it'll make the sport better for two reasons. One, the big dogs will be willing to schedule tougher out of conference games because you can lose two games now and get in. And Ohio State's going to get in. Now, they may get in at 10 or 11, but you can get in with two losses.

So, I mean, I like when Florida plays Utah. I like when Ohio State plays Notre Dame. Why are those the two big games? Why don't we have nine of those Saturdays? So I think when you're a big dog, a Michigan, you can lose to Ohio State and out of conference, and you can squeeze into the tournament. Secondly, we know it's going to be better at the end of the season because if you look at the bowl ratings, they've been eroding for years. I mean, the bottom line is in America, college basketball is not nearly as popular as college football. And look at the ratings of March Madness.

They beat the NBA playoffs for most of it. And these are like not great players. It's very few pros in college basketball. The NFL, the top teams have pros everywhere. They've been in college for three or four years. The numbers for this playoff are going to be huge rating. So the beginning will be better. The end will be better.

And so what if occasionally Auburn, Alabama, have to play twice? We'll be fine with it. And a lot of the haters were in my feed over the weekend saying, oh, we're just going to get a Georgia 49, Oregon three in the the playoffs and I'm like, so what? By the way, also in December, teams are going to look a lot different than they do in September. Take Utah,

for instance, last year. They were terrible early. The quarterback change, and they almost beat Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. So George is going to crush virtually everybody they play, except Alabama. So it doesn't matter if you had a 14-team playoff or a 12-team playoff.

The bottom line is, you will give more fan bases in America hope. So if you're Setting 12 in, what that means is a week before you probably got 16 teams that think they can get in. So you're going to have like, I mean, we all know. Bama, Ohio State are in every year. It feels like in now at Georgia. We're all fighting for one spot.

Yeah, that's not fun. So 12 means you probably got 16 the week before that are absolutely, if they win the game, they're in and they don't. That's a lot of teams. That's a lot of teams and a lot of fan bases that feel included. you can now lose an out of conference game and a conference game and most of you could still get in. So Utah's season would not be over.

Right now, all their fans are just like, oh, it's done. We have no chance of getting to the playoff. It's not over. No, Utah has a chance to run the Pack 12. So they would try it being like a seven in the tournament. Exactly. And Colin, you know, one final note, you just wonder about the length of the season and prolonging.

This is, what, an extra two games? So you're losing one of these games against East Cupcake State University? Well, here's the thing. And I've been a believer in this for years. If the NCAA had a president, I would give you one out of conference game. One cupcake, one power five out of conference game, then you get into conference play. There's no reason to have a third cupcake extra. Let's just, I'll give you a directional school and then one out of conference game.

You don't have to play that game. You can do a buy, but most teams want a home game for revenue. But the truth is, let's get to by mid-September, let's get to conference play. Let's not like the NFL. Let's just not waste a lot of time here. And hey, the NFL, by the way, they added playoff teams. Look at how good the final week of the season was. That Chargers Raiders game was incredible other games impacting the playoff race.

You love it. Jay Mack with the news. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book and all the best guests.

Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations

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

Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or we're at you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross

double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim?

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

Including a recent episode, with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence.

Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

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

because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? 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,

as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. All right, good to have you back. So I've always believed that

there are a little tiny, subtle, and not so subtle warning signs about a football team. One of them is, if your quarterback is not named captain, something is a miss. He touches the ball 60 times a game. Your quarterback's got to be a captain. If he's not, your coaching staff, or your players are telling you some.

So last couple of years, Tua was not named captain. And I said, that's a bad sign. Fanboys down in Miami. No, no, no. I said, somebody's telling you they don't trust him. Well, we found out it was Brian Flores, who didn't trust him. So whether you agree with it or not, we were right. Is that there was a fissure in the locker room we now have discovered.

It was Brian Flores, who I still contends a really good coach. They didn't get along. Years ago, there was a quarterback at Michigan State. He was a three-year starter. His name was Connor Cook. And he wasn't captain. And I remember saying on the air, I was at ESPN, I said, okay, if you're a three-year starter and a good one and you're not one of the four or five captains, guys don't like you.

Well, he washed out in the NFL. Dad said a couple of things that weren't smart. A little bit of sideways stuff, not really a leadership guy. But he was a talented kid. He was in NFL for a couple years of the Raiders, I guess. think. So this week, Tua's name Campton. And I think it is something. I think it is Mike McDonald, the new coach of the Dolphins, and they've done this with Cedric Wilson. They've done it by getting Tarrant Armstead, the left tackle from New Orleans, by getting Tyree Kill.

They're all in on Tua. Now, whether or not they truthfully believe Tua is great, isn't the point, because I don't think he is. And I don't think most people think he is. He's not a great athlete. He didn't have a big arm. His deep ball kind of. of dies. He's accurate. He's Drew Brees, accurate. Although, you know, he and Drew Brees is a weird comp because Drew's one of the best ever. But the point being is, the game plan, what Mike McDonald is doing is saying, all right, whether or not you're a star, we're going to treat you like one. Because confidence is a huge component to quarterback success. It's a confidence game. And so I do think it's something. Whether it's a big something, I don't know. But if your quarterback

Drew Locke, by the way, in Denver, I had heard rumblings, not a leader, not liked by the coaches, not named captain. They went with Teddy Bridgewater, who has a record of being, you know, kind of a grown-up, somebody they can trust. So it is a warning sign when your young quarterback has talent. They don't name him a captain. Russell Wilson walked into the Seattle, Seattle Seahawks camp. Remember, they just paid Matt Flynn money. They paid Matt Flynn. I think it was 10.5 million a year to play.

At the time, in the salary cap, that's a lot of money. And Russell Wilson, three weeks in, starting quarterback, captain, guy. Leadership, you can see it really quick. And whether or not this matters to Tua, but I always felt when he wasn't captain, it was telling you something. Somebody in the room wasn't buying it. it. We found out later it was Brian Flores wasn't buying it.

My other takeaway from the weekend is unlike Yogi Roth, I thought Georgia would have crushed Oregon regardless of that one interception. So my two thoughts, Georgia humiliating Oregon, are number one is the big the SEC once again.

They went 14 and 1 over the weekend. They're the best conference. They have the best players. Go look at last year's NFL draft first round. 12 SEC players. three times as many as the PAC 12. And it looks about three times bigger, stronger, and faster. So Bama and Georgia looked like next level.

So Utah, I think the best team, and perhaps easily in the Pact 12, could not beat an unranked Florida team. And so you're smart. You can watch these games. Georgia's bigger, faster, stronger. Bama is a 19-point favorite at Texas this weekend. Okay. So that's the first thing. SEC's got better players. They have for years.

That's why when Brian Kelly took the LSU job, I get it. You can get more guys into school. You can have a broader roster. You can have a fourth great running back. The state of Louisiana has unbelievably competitive and high-level high school football. The second takeaway is, and this will get everybody worked up, but in my entire life as a kid from the Pacific Northwest, the only times like Oregon or Washington or Utah or Cal can run the conference is when USC doesn't have the right coach.

The minute they had John McKay, John Robinson, Pete Carroll, they rise to the top of the conference in about two years, and they dominate the West. And when I watched Lincoln Raleigh this weekend, Oregon has been a great story with Mario Cristobal. Kyle Wittingham does a great job at Utah. But this time next year, USC will be an overwhelming favorite to win the conference, and they will for the next eight years of Lincoln Riley stays.

It's just the school, it's the football school in the state of California. State of Oregon has five high school players a year. Utah's got six. They don't have enough players. It's very, very rare. If you take out Phil Knight, what would Oregon football be? Well, you know what they were without him? Six wins a year.

Right? Because the state doesn't have any players. If you take out Barry Alvarez and his leadership, what's Wisconsin, another state with no high school players. How many games would they win? historically. They were terrible when Barry Alvarez got there. So how many players, the reason George is so great, they have over 100 Division I football players in their state. That's why they're great. By the way, Ohio

State, Ohio's got 15, 20, 25 division one players in their state. So USC is the football school in the state of California, which has over 100 Division I players, the minute they get the right coach, by the second year, Pete Carroll's second year, They went to the Orange Bowl. They tagged Iowa, and they were on their way for the next six years. So Lincoln Riley is not going to win a national championship this year. But if an Oregon or a Utah are dominating the conference, it is usually because the Trojans are down.

That's not being a fanboy. That's just like the history of the conference. So I think Oregon had their run. We'll see going forward. Phil Knight's money can get you a lot and his brilliance in his money. But hour three next. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day,

seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest,

SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the 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 IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.