The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD BEST OF THE WEEK – Colin Was Wrong About Fernando Mendoza, Colin’s 5 New NFL Playoff Teams, LeBron James Best Athlete Ever

Episode Date: August 8, 2026

Where Colin was right and where he was wrong. Colin also shares his 5 new playoff teams in the NFL for 2026. He explains why the Chiefs & Patrick Mahomes will bounce back and a surprise team emerging in the NFC. Nick Wright from First Things First joins the show to talk about the Chiefs as a bounce back team for this season and why LeBron James is clearly still the face of the NBA until he retires. Plus, Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh joins the show to talk about coaching Justin Herbert and the hiring offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at Fox SportsRadio.com, or stream us live every day in the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go, hour two. It's a Monday. It's good to be back, John Middilcoff, joining me next two weeks.

Absolute pleasure. We are live. Weather's amazing. Hope it's, hope you're finding some time to hang out with family. Matt Hasselbeck in five minutes. Urban Meyer next hour. We do it every Monday. Hour two, Colin Wright, Colin Wrong.

Let's hit it. where Colin was right? LeBron James chose the team I thought he should choose, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the NBA odds immediately changed, putting the Sixers in a very elevated class for the championship. I never thought money mattered. LeBron's people said that.

I thought Golden State and Cleveland were more comfortable, and he may choose that, but I said I thought Philadelphia was the only team he could choose, and contention was a reality. Well, that's the case. LeBron also said when asked why he chose Philadelphia, he used the word contention. LeBron's a winning player. They give him the best chance to win. Sixers the call. We got it right. Where Colin was wrong. Fernando Mendoza struggled a little bit, even though he got to camp a week before Kirk Cousins, Clint Kubiak saying, cousins will get the starting nod going forward. Mendoza will have to beat him out.

Fernando had a pretty bad practice a couple days ago. Listen, he's going under center for the first time in his career. This is an offensive line that has struggled at times with protection over the last several years. I think there's some growing pains. I think Mendoza is going to end up being a high-end franchise quarterback, but Kirk Cousins is going to beat him out. Where Colin was right? Well, the Dodgers front office is what scares people. the payroll and revenue. The Yankees and the Mets have massive payroll and revenue. The Dodgers

went and got the best pitcher on the market, Terrick Scoobble, for three minor league prospects, two of them, mid-round picks. Nobody drafts and develops and creates value better than Andrew Friedman and the Dodgers front office. Once again, winning a trade. I don't think he's a long-term Dodger, I think it's more of a rental for a very old and expensive roster. But again, this is what the Dodgers do. They do what the Yankees don't. Getting value, even after the trade, Dodgers minor league system still top three. Where Colin was right.

Kyler Murray, reportedly running away with the Vikings quarterback competition. Listen, the guys never had an elite O line in Arizona, one of the cheapest ownership groups in Arizona. And yet he's got a 92 career passer rating. That's the same as Matt Stafford's career passer rating and 67% completion percentage. Haven't we watched this with Sam Darnold? Arizona's the Jets of the West. Certain places make it really hard to succeed.

Arizona's one of them. And I never thought J.J. McCarthy would put up much resistance to Kyler Murray taking over the offense. where Colin was wrong. Well, Jackson, Dart and the Giants, reportedly Abdul Carter, is breaking up the offense. It has been rough. You know, listen, I think this is what I've predicted, my double your win total team. I pick a team every year to double their win total. Last year, the Giants won four.

I think this year they win nine, so they are my predicted double the win total team. But it's been an ugly offensive camp. John Harbaugh opens with the Rams in Dallas, so they have to get it dialed up quickly. He also had a cringy team speech that got, you know, beat up a little bit online. Welcome, man. Good to see everybody here. You're excited? Yes, sir. I'm a little nervous. No nervous. No nervous. I'm a little nervous, man. You're excited nervous, you know? Nervous like you full of game almost. Amazing. Give it a sick kick off. standing up here in front of New York Giants.

The New York Giants. It's a New York Giants sitting in this room. The New York Giants. Yeah, I think he got his point across. That was a little cringy. Where Colin was right? The NIL continues to pull away from the SEC, right? The NIL has jet-fueled a big 10.

and Kurt Signetti came out last week and said, we are the best conference. And you know what? If you look at the bowl record and the playoff record and the head-to-head, it's not particularly close. Signetti is saying a very uncomfortable truth. This will be the best Washington team in years, the best USC team Lincoln Riley's had.

Oregon is arguably the best team in the country, if not Ohio State is. And Notre Dame in Miami, not SEC teams are now the biggest threat to beat the Buckeyes for a national championship. The SEC has fallen quickly. This year will be the hammer on the nail as the separation will be official. Where Colin was right. Finally, Maricio Pochitino.

It's official this morning, inked a new deal with the United States men's national team. I like the continuity. Do not let an ugly second half performance against. Belgium, derail your confidence in this coach. They scored the most goals of any American team at a World Cup. Had they played their starters for every game, they would have won four games. The reality is we were weakened goal. Inexperience, except for 138-year-old on the back end, we just need to fortify the goal,

our back end, little size on the front line. This team is more free-flowing. Pochitino is hyper-aggressive. That works in our North American, especially American kind of ideology in sports. So I love this move. Maricio Pocetino is back and should be. 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 Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from the odd couple on Fox Sports Radio. And in addition to hearing us live weeknights from 7 to 10 p.m. Eastern on Fox Sports Radio. We are excited to announce brand new YouTube channel for the show. That's right. You can now watch the Odd Couple live on YouTube every day. All you got to do, search Odd Couple FSR on YouTube again. YouTube. Just search Odd Couple FSR.

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And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together and I Heart Women's Sports. Because let's be real. Women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days. So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo roer to go from California to Hawaii. My first thought is, like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating?

The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments to take over your entire timeline. In the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. Naomi Osaka showing out, she beat Sabalinka. Shout-outs to you, Naomi.

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Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. You know us, or rather you know them. Tony and Candice, Nina and Lance, Spike, and yes, The Chicken. We've played a lot of iconic characters over the years, but today we're showing up as ourselves to tell you about Podlandia, AEO, rewatch, our brand new podcast. Each week, we'll revisit an episode of Portlandia from the very beginning, breaking down the sketches, exploring the backstories of our most like. iconic characters, revisiting the Portland locations you know and love, and opening up about our creative process. How did any of this get made?

Why do we think that was a good idea? We're ready to talk about it. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life. Guest stars, collaborators, and friends, including director Jonathan Chrysall, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more. Kyle is going for it here. You fully improvised, not just words, but a song, a melody. I thought he was going to write.

I thought you were all going to write a song. I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia. Ayo, rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last 36 years, on average, there's a minimum of four new playoff teams. Last decade, the average is six new playoff teams. So John and I split it in the middle. We each took five teams that did not make the playoffs last year to make it this year.

Now, we both like the Chiefs and we both like the Saints. He then liked the Cowboys, Bengals, Colts. I went Lions, Giants, Ravens. Here's Nick Wright on John and I both like in Kansas City to sneak back into the playoffs. We saw Patrick win a league MVP and set the NFL single season record for total yards with Mark Westwald as Scantling as his number one receiver. He doesn't have to have Tyreek to be an MVP level player. He won it in 22.

Patrick is the only starting quarterback in the league who's been a starter more than three years who's never had a thousand yard rusher. I mean, the Chiefs, he's never had in his career a guy rushed for a thousand yards. I do worry about Kenneth Walker staying healthy because yards after contact, he's great, but he does. He doesn't necessarily run away from people. He'll run at people. So what was the one team, John, that you have going into the playoffs that you had to,

like I went back and forth on the Giants, but I'm pot committed, so I just say, even though their divisions better, is there one that you're concerned about? Yeah, I would say the Colts, you know, they went into, I'm not a huge Daniel Jones guy, he's coming off in Achilles, but they were so good early in that season and so much momentum. The other team that I think they would kind of replace would be the Jags, ETN was a huge part of their offense last year. He's gone. I think sometimes it's like this in college, but definitely in the NFL, you get to fly a little, like the Giants, they're going to fly a little under the radar this year.

If they were to make the playoffs, that's done. Like the Chiefs, Bills, Rams, 9, certain teams don't get to fly. Like, they get every team's best shot. Like what Saban did for 15 years is crazy. They got everyone's best game. I do think the Jags are going to get taken a little more seriously this year by every opponent. Because we're all human beings. If I'm, remember last year

they played the Denver Broncos in Denver and they killed them? Yeah. I just think that we're at a point in time where some of these teams are going to treat the Jags like a playoff team and I do think they'll come back to Earth and that opens it up for the Colts a little bit. Yeah, this is a, it's such an interesting, it's such an interesting time of the year

where you basically hold your breath right now for injuries. most starters. We only have three weeks of preseason football. When is the Hall of Fame game? I think it's Thursday. They just announced Carson Beck's going to start for the Cardinals. I got to tell you, the college coaches poll came out today. This just came out a couple of hours ago.

The college coaches poll. Miami didn't get a lot of respect. George is a little better than I. I don't think George is quite as good as everybody else thinks. I think it's Oregon's best team. No team. in the last eight years that has been number one in the preseason poll has gone onto a national championship uh julian sand's good i don't know if he's a sunday quarterback uh you know my takeaway on this is it does think about this so this is what i've been i've been selling my stock on

texas think about this they're right number four and and they're very good but there's two things about texas and i think this is fair i like sark i like him a lot in big games i mean remember that play in georgia a couple times and you're like They're not ready to play. In big games, sometimes Sark out thinks the room a little bit. They're a little loose on the details. Here's the other thing. Half of the schedule of Texas.

And these are 22-year-old kids. Half of the schedule is against ranked teams. Ohio State, A&M, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, LSU, Tennessee, Missouri. You are not coming close to running the table. By the way, Oklahoma's quarterback material, as we talked about, really good LSU's got that kid from Arizona State Leavitt. Really good.

Hypoil at Tennessee's got them rolling. Ohio State could be the best team. I just think that's scheduled. For a college program, that's brutal. Couldn't you argue that Texas' entire season hinges on, I think is it week two, they play Ohio State at home? If they don't win that game, think how many players Ohio State has lost these last two years.

If they can't win that game in Austin, they would be, you know, one in one, because their first game's a joke. You're probably not making the playoffs at 9 and 3. Maybe, but, you know, they would have, they're going to lose an SEC game. So if you win that Ohio State game, it gives them a lot of margin for error in the SEC. And you get a great win. Do you lose that game? Well, think about this.

It's still only a 12-team playoff, right? Yeah. So you lose that game, just you start, you start looking at Indiana. schedule. Very favorable. You look at Oregon schedule, pretty favorable. You start looking at the teams that could knock you out. Yeah, I mean, it's the team I think the team I think is underrated. I don't think people quite think Penn State's good because they had to wait so long to get a coach, but Campbell had a good transfer portal. I think he's a schematic upgrade over the guy he replaced. I think Penn State's going to be a little better than people think. It's also a tough place to play.

home they got a lot of home games um i mean it does it does feel like if you start if you look at the top 19 teams it is a lot of big 10 it is a lot of s cc and that's we're getting now more of an nfl model we have a you know two conferences we have two conferences uh thank god for miami and notre dame that feel like they pulled away yeah what about the lane kiff and hype train going to lSU obviously devastating season transfers. I mean, a lot of moving parts, but some big time transfers. That tackle from Colorado by all reports is in great shape. He's got a chance to be a top 15, 20 pick. What do you do if your USC, you're on the hook, a lot of years with Lincoln Riley. We have them 14. What if they lose

three games? They lose to Ohio State. They lose to Oregon. They lose at Indiana. But they win the rest of their games. What do you do? Well, wasn't part of the selling point with Lincoln Riley this offseason was a great high school recruiting class? Don't you got to give them a couple years to work with those guys. Yeah. Like to me, isn't it about the next couple years? I think he's got two more years. So do I.

I don't think he can go eight. I mean, can we get a nine and three season? Well, if you put up USC schedule, okay, so they've made it easier at a conference. They get Oregon and Washington at home. So let's say they split those. Okay. So they're one, two, three, four. They're five and one going to Penn State.

The Penn State games a big one. They have not been a good Big Ten Road team, especially now you start looking, okay, now it's October, get a little chilly. Thank God, Wisconsin's falling off. Maryland, UCLA will see. You can just say Ohio State Indiana, if you go 0 and 2 there, you got one other misstep. Because Ohio State's got better personnel, and Indiana at home is a handful, and that is, again, mid-November Indiana,

weather. So if they go 0 and 2 there, you get one more loss or you're out of the playoff. So that Oregon game early is huge. I think it's very important this year for Lincoln to have a program changing win. So to have an upset against Ohio State, have an upset against Oregon, even if they go 9 and 3 to change the trajectory of the program. A little sourcing here, getting text. I mean, not even in the football season. I'm getting guys dropping the bombs. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Eating well shouldn't be complicated, but somehow it turns into recipes, prep, cleanup, and half your Sunday gone. Factors solves all that. These are fresh, ready-to-eat meals

designed by dieticians, delivered to your door, and ready in just minutes. No prep, no cleanup, no excuses. And it's not just about convenience. You're getting real food, balanced nutrition, and zero artificial stuff. Meals that help you stay on track for all of your goals without the grind of doing it all yourself. Grilled chicken, roasted veggies, steak plates, postables. They taste like something you get in a restaurant, but they come out of your microwave in two minutes flat. If time, cost, or effort have been holding you back from eating better, Factor just took those off the table. Right now, get 11 free meals and free shipping. Hurry, this offer won't last long. Go to FactorMeals.ca and use code power. That's 11 free meals and free shipping,

but only with the code power at factormeals.ca. FactorMeals.C.A. Factor Canada's number one ready-to-eat meal delivery service. There's no shortcut for saving time, but saving money is simple. Just combine your car and home insurance with Bel Air Direct and save. Get a quote at bellairdirect.com. What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports,

a new podcast from Together and I-heart women's sports. Because let's be real. Women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days. So Kelsey Finler, She became the first female solo rower to go from California to Hawaii. My first thought is like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire timeline.

And the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. Naomi Osaka showing out, she beat Sabalinka. Shout out to you, Naomi. You get the palm, Naomi. You get the palm for that. because we're not just interested in what happened. We're interested in why everyone's talking about it.

Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. You know us, or rather you know them. Tony and Candace, Nina and Lance, Spike, and yes, the chicken. We've played a lot of iconic characters over the years,

but today we're showing up as ourselves to tell you about Podlandia, AEO, rewatch, our brand new podcast. Each week, we'll revisit an episode of Portlandia from the very beginning, breaking down the sketches, exploring the backstories of our most iconic characters, revisiting the Portland locations you know and love, and opening up about our creative process. How did any of this get made? Why do we think that was a good idea?

We're ready to talk about it. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life. Guest stars, collaborators, and friends, including director Jonathan Chrysler, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann and many more. Kyle is going for it here. You fully improvised, not just words, but a song. I thought he was going to write.

I thought you were all going to write a song. I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia. Ayo rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. With that, Nick Wright is joining us first things first. All right. So I didn't have a problem mostly with it. I think Lamar, I've got too much now.

I got too much video, too many Januaries. Ah, finally coming around all Nickside. I like to see that. Listen, I think now I feel like you might have over-corrected. I can't have Lamar behind Jordan Love

or Brock Purdy or your beloved. You're talking about a play-off, play-off, play-off. I didn't hear a mumbling word about Justin Herbert sitting right there. Justin Herbert would kill for Lamar's playoff resume. But I agree. I think Lamar is a tick higher than I would have him.

Caleb's a tick lower. I am curious about Burrow, though, because when you look at the, Sando does a great job with this every year. Shout out to him. Shout out to the athletic. Burrow, it's not just that he's Tier 1. It's that he got, I think it was 46 of 50 Tier 1 votes, and Lamar was in fifth place with 22. Like Mahomes, it was 49, Allen and Stafford 48, and Burrow was 46 or 47. Is there not a level of with Burrow as great as he throws the ball?

The combination of everyone on this list, only he, Gough, and Stafford give you nothing from an escapeability standpoint, plus the injuries that make you ding him a bit to where he feels more like a top of tier two guy than a tier one guy. Yeah, now that's what I had said. I made a ranking a couple of weeks ago, and I said, listen, we are one injury away from Joe Burrow where I have to draft another quarterback. I may start him, but I got to have a backup plan. So I think that's very, very fair.

You know, a guy, an interesting guy here is Dak Prescott's at number seven. So that's higher than I would have him, but I will say this, is that I would told the staff this morning, sometimes people are just late bloomers in life. It doesn't matter if you're in law or in sports. And mostly we know very early, you're going to be a good NBA player, a good quarterback. I usually know by chapter two of the book.

Dackett took about chapter eight. And I was like, okay, he won with Garrett. He was really good with McCarthy. He was really good with Brian Shanahan. I'm kind of like, I think that's a common. was wrong, a lot of it's EQ IQ and maturity. I don't love the way he throws.

But I can chalk it up to my think, like, I kind of missed on deck. I never bought in. You have three coaches. You could argue none are world class. He's been great with all of them. And when he's healthy, they have a top five offense almost every single year.

Now, he also, there are, I'm doing it kind of quickly. There's, from looking at the list, if we were ranking guys on this list that have the biggest playoff yeah buts it would be Herbert Lamar and then you could argue Dak like that is a fair knock now some of the guys haven't been in the playoffs enough or been around long enough to really figure that out where they're going to fall on that that is a fair knock but DAC to me is definitionally what a non-superstar franchise quarterback is where if he is your quarterback

for 15 years. You are legitimately happy. There are various times where you're like, ah, is he, like, are we going to be able to win four straight games in the postseason? Probably going to need the perfect set of circumstances to make that happen. But his floor is so high. And his ceiling is not really all that limited. Like we've seen him put up crazy numbers.

He now has what Burrow has, which is the two star receivers. And the numbers last year went along with it where he threw for 4,000, you had 2,000 yard receivers. Like, their problem last year was the defense. I think DAC is right around where he should be, not in the top five, but solidly in the top 10. I am, and I apologize, I didn't see the first hour of your show. I was on my way into work. Are you angry, dismayed, distraught about how low they have your guy, Sam Darnold, coming off winning the Super Bowl? He's in. Darnold and Baker tied two peas in a pot.

It's just perfect for you, Colin. No, I'm going to flip the telescope. It will give me another opportunity to taunt America about how right I am. So I just look at it. It's just a wide open jumper. If you guys can't see it and hit it, it's your problem. But Donald's going to crush again. And I will get a good year of content on eye-rolling the rest of America.

Now, over the last 36 years, four teams minimum, new teams have made the playoffs. The average is about six. So John and I gave five this morning, our new five to make the playoffs. There's two teams we agreed on. Your Kansas City Chiefs and the New Orleans Saints, where Tyler Shuck was, nobody watched, but was actually kind of good. And then we mixed and matched.

But I will say this about Kansas City. In my take is, when my guys were Kansas City, Saints, Lions, Giants, Ravens, I probably have no buy-in with the Giants. But I'd say this about Kansas City. Let's stay on them. My take is once you pay a quarterback a lot of money, Josh Allen, they had to get rid of defensive faces. Kansas City said, listen, we think Mahomes is so great.

We're not going to give him a number one receiver who we're going to miss on a couple of draft picks at running back. Left tackle, we'll see what happens. It's not that they took advantage of him, but they had a couple of misses. And the truth is, in Mahomes' career, when he has protection, he doesn't. need a great receiving corps. He doesn't need an athletic tight end in his prime or a great run game. If you give him protection, he wins playoff games. That's my take on him this year. Where are you on my list in Kansas City? All right, let me start with Kansas City. So I,

I think it is on the board that Patrick statistically in the regular season has another good but not great year because it's one thing to not give him a number one receipts. It's another thing to have the number one receiver have knee surgery and then 12 hours later have to report to county lockup for 30 days and have to rehab in there. That was not ideal for Rishi Rice. I got to tell you, I appreciate Rishie Rice's playoff run as rookie here. It's been a bit of a mixed bag since then. The guy we then drafted after that, fastest player 40 times in the history of the league,

you know, as it turns out, having my frame in the NFL, that can also be a bit of a risk. And so I do think there is going to, Liz, we saw Patrick win a league MVP and set the NFL's single season record for total yards with Mark Westwald as Scantling as his number one receiver. He doesn't have to have Tyreek to be an MVP level player. He won it in 22. The receiving core, though, is a concern.

I think the offensive line is, and I think you hit on it, is going to be excellent. The reason last year's offensive line was a problem was because their left tackle missed half the season, their right guard missed a quarter of the season. They were on their fourth string right tackle. Josh Simmons, when he's there, I think is excellent. He was their first round pick last year.

Kingsley Suamata is their left guard. Creed Humphrey is the best center in football. Trey Smith is an excellent right guard question at right tackle. That combined with, you know, Patrick is the only starting quarterback in the league who's been a starter more than three years who's never had a thousand yard rusher. I mean, the Chiefs, he's never had in his career a guy rushed for a thousand yards. It's not that I think Kenneth Walker, Colin, is a superstar.

It's that I think teams are going to have to at least somewhat respect the running game for the first time in three years. I think that will help Patrick. I think the pass rush will be improved. So I think the Chiefs are a great pick to be back. I agree with you on the Ravens. I am worried about the Giants from a maturity of their young players standpoint. I think that's a fair concern.

I don't know if I'm with you on the Saints because I still believe in Baker and the Bucks. I'm trying to think of the – because there's also usually a, oh, my God, they made it. And none of these teams, Colin, would make me go, oh, my God. Cleveland, I think Shadour Sanders is better than people think. I think he was underdrafted. That's it. Oh, my God. No, I said it yesterday and John mocked me.

And J-Mack has mocked me. Can we just stop this? Shudor Sanders was underdrafted by three and a half rounds. Now, the reasons dad, legendary, I mean, again, fair. Speeding tickets, little immature, he's good. I watched every college game that mattered. And Cleveland is aced three straight drafts. The GM, Andrew Barry is sharp.

He is great. Cleveland's got players. That's all like that. So they were my six. They were my shocker. I didn't include them in my top five. So here's the thing. Because if there's going to, to me, I'm going to do this in real time with you just quickly.

What teams actually are even qualify as, oh my God? Jets, dolphins, Browns, the Titans, Raiders. That's in the AFC. And in the NFC, no one in the East, no one in the United. the north. Arizona. That might be the whole list of oh my gods. Like that, because anyone in the South we feel like could win it. So those, it's those five teams in the AFC plus Arizona. If there's going to be an oh my God, it's going to be one of them. The Raiders might have the most talent, but they're in the toughest division. I don't know. I haven't done this yet. I haven't

done the official playoff teams thing yet. I do the worry a bit that everyone, is going to have Chiefs Ravens Lions or almost everyone. It's going to have Chiefs Ravens Lions or one of those teams going to miss it for a second straight year. Okay, I want to shift last couple of questions to LeBron. So I had said before, if he chooses Cleveland and Golden State, it's comfort. That's not, you're not going to win. Miami, weird spacing, no back court. That's weird. He doesn't have enough shooters. I said from the beginning, oh, Philadelphia could win a championship. They need, they got, LeBron at this point has to protect

himself and he's very smart. He's like, listen, I need explosive dynamic back court guys that can protect me, guys that can play big minutes, Maxie never misses games, I need a very good defensive wing, I need athleticism, youth and guys that play 68 games. I don't

need James Harden or a back court. I don't need age. So Philadelphia didn't shock me. This surprised me. This surprised me. This surprised. You know, you're pro LeBron, I am generally pro LeBron.

That Adam Silver said, Wemby's the face of the league. No. The Knicks won the championship. Give them the most TV games. No. We're going to give Philadelphia the most television games. I was like, oh, damn, LeBron's still the face of the league.

Yeah, of course. Yeah. So you weren't shocked by that at all? No, I mean, when the greatest athlete in the history of recorded human history is playing your sport, he's probably the face of it, and he's still pretty great. Listen, I think Wimby is going to be the face of the league, but the fact of the matter is this, until he retires, that guy right there is the face of professional basketball. When he retires, he should become the logo of professional basketball. The point you made yesterday about his, I had a bunch of takeaways.

I want to give you maybe not the most important, but the one I think you'll like the most. I had a guy who still does radio in Kansas City, a guy I've talked to about, my buddy Laslo, who had a line that I don't want to butcher because I butchered it yesterday, which was, he used to always say, I'm not saying I love my kids more than you love yours. What I'm saying is no one loves their kids more than I love mine. We can be tied for first. But that's how I feel about LeBron and his love of basketball. I'm not saying he loves it more than Jamal Crawford or than Bill Russell did or whomever.

What I am saying is no one has ever loved the sport more than LeBron James. It can be a multi-weight tie. But the fact that he, Colin, I, the right. reason I'm a LeBron James fan. I'm from Kansas City. We didn't have a team was when I was in high school, my junior year, there was a team that would play on ESPN whose best player was a junior, St. Vincent St. Mary's. I was like, this is the coolest thing ever. Like that I, this guy's the same age as me. He's on ESPN. And I said to my buddies, my high school basketball teammates, I said, wherever he goes, that's going to be my team. I'm now a 41-year-old grand. I'm now a 41-year-old

grandfather still picking teams because he's still playing. I know a Sixers fan. He is what he has given the league, no one will ever do it in multiple careers. And the fact that we truly believe he can be a difference making piece on a champion at soon to be 42 years old and at age or in year 24 is. is remarkable. And the other point that you made, I don't know, it was yesterday or whenever it was, was that it's not ring chasing, it's Brady to Tampa, is 100% correct. It is that you, the Sixers haven't been out of round two in a quarter century. They haven't won a title since before LeBron was born.

Ring chasing, which he would be allowed to do in year 24, would have been San Antonio or Oklahoma City, or you could argue the Knicks. This is being the final piece of something, and I'll say one of the reasons I like Philly is, while he doesn't have to be the best player, in any given series he could be. Like he could be the best player on the team for Eastern Conference Finals. Like that is absolutely on the board.

And I want to add one other thing. Sorry, I'm going on long here. But about LeBron's how reliable he is. sent in the last three years, his age 39, 40, and 41 season. He has played more minutes than Cade Cunningham, Palo Boncaro, Scotty Barnes, the same almost to the minute as Ironman Jalen Brown, more than Steph, more than Wimby, more than Janice, more than Chet. In the last three years, minutes.

He is overall in the league, the last three years, 22nd in minutes played. The guy's available. People might want to convince themselves always going to miss a bunch of time. Historically, he hasn't. So, listen, I think the Sixers are really, really dangerous. And I also think that they are an hour and 41 minute drive from my front door. And I think I'll be going to a bunch of games finally for the first time. Nick Wright.

Well, this was so fun. Good to see. I was on vacation. I missed you. I was on vacation. You were on vacation? Where did you go, by the way? Oh, well, I, you know, I took, you know, as I mentioned, my son, co-os of the podcast, what's right?

And they're right, DeMonzei, his family, they just had a baby. So I took 15 members of our family down to Aruba to come meet and see the baby and everyone hang out. So we were down there. So that was delightful. Where were you? I assume grinding tape somewhere, getting ready for the NFL season. It was labor intensive, absolutely. I took Ann to Rhode Island to drink cocktails and have fun.

You love Rhode Island. I do. You and Taylor Swift. Nobody loves Rhode Island more than the cow herds and the Swift Kelsey's. It's really unbelievable. Good to see you, buddy. All right. Took 15 people to Aruba.

That is a commitment right there. Middle cough, you have a new baby. Get ready for those family vacays, buddy. I did a lot of Disney trips. I'll tell you that. Yeah, we're not doing Disney. I was told the line, if he can't remember it, then don't do the trip. So we're still years away from even attacking that.

All right. Well, I mean, you live in Scottsdale. That's a vacation every day. Yeah, throw them in a pool. We're good to go. Yeah. All right, good stuff today. Notre Dame USC is back.

Everybody's freaking out there, a little sabbatical. They're coming back. 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. Well, the Chargers were the only NFL team last year to rank in the top five in both third down offense and third down defense.

Now they're going to replace both coordinators, which can be, we've seen the Eagles struggle with that. It is hard to find the right two guys, especially when one's as good as Jesse Minter. But the story of the Chargers last year was offensive line issues. 32 starting combinations on the O line. 32 different combinations, most in the league by a long shot. Yet they won 11 games and were a playoff team. And Jim Harbaugh's got his tackles back.

They spent some draft capital on their Interior O line. I don't know if you're excited for the season. I don't know if you are. You're not a very excitable guy. I don't think I can't wait to see both Alt and Slater there for you. I mean, what was it like last year? Jim, it was patchwork on the offensive line. Every week you're just trying to find healthy guys.

Was it driving you crazy? No, it was football. Definitely, I think it made us grittier, made us tougher. I think there were some benefits from that, some deposits that were made and some withdrawals that can be made. But yeah, optimistic, enthusiastic, definitely. I am not curbing my enthusiasm as we've been. prepare for day eight, very, very optimistic about this football team. So what's interesting is you're not only replacing coordinators, but really good

coordinators. And it's hard. I mean, the truth is, Jim, when you've left football operations, the Niners are Michigan, it's hard to find the next head coach. It's really hard to find a next great coordinator. But it does feel like Mike McDaniel, it just, I've got to ask you, he had a lot of teams that liked him. What was your sales pitch? When you called him on the phone, what was your sales pitch to Mike McDaniel?

Justin Herbert, I mean, number one, that same thing that got, you know, I was so excited about coming here to Los Angeles. But definitely, you know, when you looked at the landscape for, I mean, offensive minds, proven, you know, football guys. there was a lot of highly qualified coaches in this hiring cycle. And Mike, the top of the list. And it's even better than I thought. And it's a better fit than I thought. And it just keeps getting better and better.

Yeah, Mike McDaniel, a gift that keeps on giving. he's worth coming to mind right now day eight you know people think boy harbaw and mcdaniel are different and i don't see it i think you're both i think you both absolutely are addicted to football you love football you both have an absolute belief in herbert the offense he likes to use a lot of sets in motion will the offense look different jim yeah i think so um in and uh in a ton of ways. But just everything you said there, I mean, I cannot disagree. I can only agree with what you're saying. He loves football. The energy is contagious. The way he thinks is awesome. And I'm just totally leaned in and learning, came up, you know, just something

good every day. I mean, just something something to get you. you know just get you just charged up and ready to go so jesse minter is was the hot coach he was the hot coordinator in the cycle you lose him he's a friend he's been great to you you love him you lose him now chris o'leary comes in another super sharp guy but how much you're an offensive guy you're a quarterback that's the other side of the ball how much of jesse's stuff do you ever say to hey chris don't screw around too much we're really good on that side i don't want too many changes like How many changes can you make to a great defense? Always.

I mean, it's, I think these defenses, these systems, they're always evolving because they have to. And there was, there was evolvement. Is that a word? Is it a word, Colin? In evolvement? Am I like evolving, evolving? Yeah. same. Mike, there was Mike McDonald and Jesse, you know, and it would be the same, same with Chris.

So we, yeah, we're in that. I think a lot of the good ways that we saw, you know, as an organization that, you know, would be with whether Jesse being here, now he's not, but like the same kind of direction that we wanted to go with this defense and with this personnel. You know, that's the direction we're headed with Chris. All right. Justin Herbert's engaged now. He's engaged. He's in love. What all that, you know how that works, coach? It's awesome, isn't it?

And so far. Super Bowl's at so far on it on Valentine's Day. Oh, good. That feels like something. Do what? Did he spring it on you? Did he tell you before a meeting? When did you find out?

Yeah. Like the, uh, before it hits. social media. We found that out, but it was after the proposal, after the engagement. Justin was telling his teammates, I heard it in the quarterback, in the quarterback meeting room. And just awesome. No surprise, you know, from the day that Justin, you know, started talking about Madison. He's just the way he lit up.

Yeah. Okay. This is good. and Madison, you know, super, super nice person. People rave about her around here, just how nice she is. And Katie Harbaugh, huge, Katie Harbaugh is a huge fan of Madison. That matters. So just good, good, good. And, yeah, a piece of advice, if I may,

attack each day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind together. And I think it's a great thing. We were just talking about my only downside to this time of the year is I hold my breath. I don't want any of my favorite coaches or players to get hurt. I'm always like, oh, God, you hear the injury report. It makes you sick to your stomach. You're, you know, let's say, there's certain teams, the Harbaugh brothers. You play physical football.

Kyle Shanahan, physical football. There's some of you coaches that you're just, your culture, Mike Vrable. A lot of you guys, your whole identity is tough and physical. So you come off a year when you had some old line injuries. O'Amarion Hampton's a great young player. He got banged up. Jim, do you go into a camp when you come off an injury ravaged year? You're like, okay, I want to create physical culture.

That's who we are. But man, I want to be healthy. Labor Day. Like, does it change the way you think with injuries and last year and staying healthy? No, it's always the priority, Colin. you know, the getting your best and healthiest team to the first game. So the priority is, I mean, threading the needle of getting really good at football and getting the opportunities, the reps, you know, the guys ramped up and ready to go,

but also threading the needle of, you know, is when it comes to the soft tissue injuries or the, you know, just injuries that keep guys out. I mean, your goal is, my goal, our goal is to get the healthiest and best roster to the start of the season. And, you know, so far so good. I think the team has been really, you know, so far good. So, you know, we just keep ramping up day eight. That's a good, it's a good day where we're going to make a step, you know, in that direction of, you know, be a little more physical, a little faster.

But, okay, we're finally, part of the ramp up. Okay, you were five and one in division last year. You're very good in division. Uh, the division's excellent. It's year three of Jim Harbaugh. So the culture is built. But I remember Julian Edelman told me every Belichick team was different. He goes, you could bring back the same guys.

Every camp, every team is different. Guys get paid. A couple of replacements. You know, he's like one guy now has got a little big of an ego. He's feeling himself and another guy. He said every team was different all the years in New England. Year three, Jim Harbaugh training camp. How does this camp, eight days in, feel different than two years ago's camp or last year's camp?

Yeah, I don't disagree. I mean, he's not wrong. It's different because it's new. I mean, sometimes upward 30, 40 different, you know, new players that weren't on the team last year. How does it feel different? I don't know. It feels different in a better way. I just feel like our team is, you know, in a really good place.

Just there's a confidence. There's a knowing that we're capable. And I feel that from everybody in the organization. And let's go out and let's go attack it. There's been tremendous addition by addition, you know, with this football team. And, you know, just it's a team. I just, just the way they relate to each other, the way they, you know, the confidence, the deposits that's been made, you know, I think we just all feel, let's just take this one day at a time,

one play at a time, one game at a time, and, you know, give it our very best and then get better. You know, you are allowed to try, and it's noticed when you do, and just keep going forward, going forward. You know, it's interesting, Jim, you've... Very good. I call it kind of scary good. You know, Colin, when you're in that place of, yeah, that's a lot of good. It's mostly good.

Okay, that's a little bit... I call it scary good because you know the law of average is going to catch up to you at some point. But not today. Not today. Let's really be on guard so it doesn't happen today. The only difference between you and your brother that I can tell is you've done college, you've done pro you've had a lot of different cultures you've created now he was with the ravens for 18 years so this is kind of new territory he's got a good looking quarterback like you do he's got a handsome

quarterback he's got to rebuild the culture well you've done that multiple times you did it at stanford was a mess when you took it over they were great when you left the niners were a mess great when you left michigan you that's what you do you're like parcels that's what you do that's not what your brother does your brothers you know he gets a job he just stays there forever So now he's got to do you. Did you give him any advice on the whole well, handsome quarterback, a lot of media talk? What did you give him for advice in New York?

I mean, he knows. He knows, you know, and like you said before, I mean, every year is different. Every year really is truly, truly, truly, like Julian Edlin said. I mean, there's a difference to it every year. So he knows, he knows, you know, as well as anybody. and more than anybody. So he's at a great place, had great talks with him. You know, like I predicted and knew he is attacking with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.

By the way, week eight, I just looked at your schedule. Aaron, Donald, and Miles Garrett, week eight. I want you to get that O-line ready to play, coach. That's good. Wow. That's schedule. I mean, he's just awesome. You know, it's just so, it's just so, so good.

I mean, it's, you wish you was easy. It's never easy. It's hard. It's, it's, it's unforgiving, hard, unfair at times, but that's what makes it memorable. And, yeah, we know, we're going to take it one day at a time, one game at a time, one play at a time, and just great challenges await. And great days and great challenges that will need to be attacked. If life was easy, it wouldn't be rewarding. That's the whole point.

The journeys, the win, not the destination. Life's got to be hard. That's why winning is so amazing because it is hard. Well said. It's memorable. And that's what makes it memorable. Agree. All right, Jim, go attack the day.

Great seeing you. Great seeing you, Colin. What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your girl, Sam Jay. And we're the host of every. Everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together in I Heart Women's Sports.

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