The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 1 - Thoughts on Mike Tomlin stepping down, Steelers next move

Episode Date: January 14, 2026

Colin Cowherd reacts to Mike Tomlin stepping down as head coach of the Steelers after 19 seasons. He discusses what the Steelers should consider when replacing him and why sitting out a season is a go...od thing for Tomlin before he returns to coaching. Colin also explains what this means for Aaron Rodgers at 42 years old and if it’s time to retire.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:02:40 It is a Wednesday. We're live in snowy Chicago. It's the herd, wherever you may be. However, you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day, former Steeler. Great tenure. A decade with the Steelers. Jerome Bettis next hour.
Starting point is 00:03:00 So I was thinking about the Pittsburgh Steelers job opening. Last hour of our show, Mike Tomlin stepped down. And there's a lot of things they don't have. A head coach, a quarterback for the future, the defense is old, the defense is expensive. Their money's on the wrong side of the ball. But what the Ravens and the Steelers have that the other seven job openings and seven franchises don't, Ravens and the Steelers don't fire coaches. Harbaugh got 18 years.
Starting point is 00:03:31 Tomlin got 19 years. And so you could go to a Kevin Stefansky in Pittsburgh and say, listen, we're going to bottom out. Our scouting department doesn't like Ty Simpson until the third round, second round. You're going to win three games. And Stefansky knows, I'm not going to get fired in Pittsburgh. They don't fire coaches. Tomlin in the end walked away. And that's at the core of what the Steelers are really uncomfortable with.
Starting point is 00:03:56 And they need to get over it. this no losing seasons thing being awful got the patriots drake may being awful got the bears Caleb Williams you know what being mid got the Steelers can he pick it folks the richest people in the world carry debt to acquire assets to get wealthy you got to carry debt and Mark Zuckerberg has mortgages to a dozen homes. He could own every city block in Silicon Valley. He takes out mortgages. You've got, if you want to get wealthy in the NFL,
Starting point is 00:04:37 you've got to be able to take a big swing and not worry about having the cleanest books for a year. And my takeaway, you've got an old roster, expensive, you don't have a quarterback, you don't have a coach. The one thing and the one box the Steelers check is stability. You're great at stability. But so is Baltimore, and they have Lamar Jackson. So how do you get the best candidate?
Starting point is 00:05:03 Because Baltimore's got Lamar. You got nothing. And the way to do it is you go to us, Stefanski, and say, you can be terrible next year. We're not going to fire you. We think next year we can get Arch Manning and win three games. Load your roster up. Win three or four games.
Starting point is 00:05:21 I think you have to have the conversation in Pittsburgh, and it gets very uncomfortable for people in Pittsburgh, of just resetting the franchise, going the opposite of Tomlin. We're going to go a young offensive coach, and we're going to bottom out. Because you know what quicksand is in the NBA and the NFL? The 18th, the 20th pick. That's where Pittsburgh always feels like they're at. The 20th pick.
Starting point is 00:05:46 The only way you want to be at the 20th pick is if you have Josh Allen and you can't get up. go look at Tomlin's seven quarterbacks. Where's the one where he hoisted trophies? Big Ben. The rest of it's guys. Now, Aaron Rogers at 32 wasn't just a guy. He was the guy, maybe. But go look at the Tomlin era.
Starting point is 00:06:06 Seven straight seasons. Seven straight seasons. Bottom 10 in offensive spending. It's time you can respect somebody like Mike Tomlin and think it's time to do the opposite of Mike Tomlin. offensive coach money all on offense not old and experienced on defense young and cheap and aggressive because the quarterbacks in the aFC now mahomes and alan and lamar and burrow and herbert and bo necks and trevorrence and c j stroud here they come waves of justin herbert can't win a
Starting point is 00:06:42 playoff game so you you got to do the zuckerberg take on some debt for a year get uncomfortable to salvage next season. You've been doing that for years. Seven straight years, bottom 10 in offensive spending. I can respect the hell out of Mike Tomlin, but want to do the opposite going forward to Mike Tomlin. I want a very current, very young offensive coach who spends all his money on offense because I just feel like year after year after year, this team's not viable. This team is not a viable franchise. It's not insulting. if I buy your house and think your house is charming, I just want to redo it in my style.
Starting point is 00:07:27 And the style Pittsburgh has to acquire with a little debt, be awful next year and start over. The athletics Robert May says it may not take very long to look completely different. They have seven picks in the top four rounds this year and five picks in the top 100. Already on offense, they have one of the youngest offensive lines in the league. and on defense, there are a lot of guys that I do not think we'll be back next year if you are kind of transitioning to a different version of the team. They were one of the oldest teams in the NFL. I expect them when we wake up in the middle of next season and you look at the ages of these rosters to be one of the youngest teams in the NFL. Aaron Rogers now had a good year.
Starting point is 00:08:11 I thought he should be called comeback player of the year. I stand by that. It's probably over for him in Pittsburgh. I would guess unless the Vikings call and they talked about it, this week, they'd like competition for J.J. McCarthy. Aaron Rogers would take that job and win that job, in my opinion. Where do we stand on Aaron Rogers? Because he may retire. What do we think of him? And the way I look at Aaron Rogers is you can't tell the story of the NFL without Aaron Rogers. In any profession, we can argue best, worst, mid. You can't argue mattered. Great talent, little prickly. unbelievable first ballot hall of fame i remember 15 years ago when everybody was treating him like archbishop aaron everybody in the media worshipped him even insisting he was better than brady and i kept saying bad body language sometimes he's a baller sometimes he's a baler he's passive
Starting point is 00:09:11 aggressive i i i don't i i think he's really really talented i don't think he's going to end up being close to like a manning or brady in the trophy category and i stand by that. I said that 15 years ago, there's things I don't love. Love his talent. Leadership, forgetting a bad interception and moving on. Thought he was a little safe in big games, whatever. But even on draft night, Aaron created drama. In his profession, he mattered. And let's face it, very few quarterbacks. Most quarterbacks, in the end, leave it up to interpretation. Montana didn't four rings. Brady
Starting point is 00:09:52 didn't, seven rings. But most quarterbacks are closer. The great ones are closer to like Marino. Man, he was great. I can't believe he didn't win a Super Bowl. Farvin Rogers. Man, they were great. They only won one. Very few quarterbacks. Mahomes
Starting point is 00:10:08 has now become one. Brady, Montana. They don't leave anything on the cutting room floor. They get every trophy they get close to. But I look at Aaron as one of those 15 guys all time that you can't write the story of the NFL without that quarterback. It doesn't matter if you have all the hardware like Spielberg or you have less hardware, one Oscar like Scorsese. You can't argue, toe-to-toe, completely, inarguably transformative. And that's why I look at Aaron. The rest of it, almost all quarterbacks we can debate.
Starting point is 00:10:48 Third best, eighth best, ninth best, sixth best. Aaron mattered. You can't write the story of the league without him. Who cares if he's prickly. Push back on the media. Eh, whatever. I mean, Brady Mahomes, probably Manning, Montana. The titles they should have won, they won.
Starting point is 00:11:08 The years they were great, they hoisted something. Even the other 15 great quarterbacks of all time, it's interpretation. here's Aaron Monday about his future. I'm not going to make any emotional decisions. Disappointed, you know, obviously. It's such a fun year. Wade, Dan, do you want it to be here? I'm not going to talk about that.
Starting point is 00:11:32 Aaron, how do you approach just what you decide to do next? Yeah, just get away and then have the right conversations. Listen, I had said before Pittsburgh, I would take the Vikings gig or retired. I think Aaron made the most of it. I think he's a little prickly. What-evs? Who cares?
Starting point is 00:11:54 In your industry, in your space, do you matter? That's indisputable. That's inarguable. Even the years he didn't start. Go read the Jeff Perlman book, Gunslinger. In that building, he was poking Brett Farb in the ribs. Draft night, drama. He wasn't even a Packer official yet, had never dawned a uniform, and we were talking about him.
Starting point is 00:12:21 And that says a lot. J. Mack, Mike Tomlin's walking away. We got nine openings. That is so crazy. Now, there's a sense there aren't nine good candidates. I'm going to push back on that. We also will present a Super Bowl bubble today of the eight remaining teams, four in, four out, and the outs. There'll be some dispute on that, but four in, four out. We'll talk about that. Yeah, wow. So you think maybe there are some good candidates because that's a bit of a surprise to me when I hear some of these guys who are interviewing, Colin, like some of these, like, well, just because you're interviewing doesn't mean you're a candidate. It's fair. I mean, you know, these owners aren't going to interview one, two people. They want to interview eight. And so a lot of times, and this is very clear, the way that it works with agents is a lot of times an agent will get somebody an interview knowing he's not going to be head coaching jobs. but he wants him to get the interview with the owner to impress him so if that guy gets fired.
Starting point is 00:13:19 So a lot of the people interviewing for jobs are not truly head coaching candidates, but the agents are getting him interviews. So they just, you know, like McVeigh was rare. His first year of interviewing, he got the Rams job. Generally, there's a McVeigh out there. Mike McDonald's another guy. The minute we talked about him as a head coach, he walked into Seattle's building.
Starting point is 00:13:40 John Snyder's like, don't let him leave. Yeah, the other thing, yeah, you're right. because as soon as the agent gets you in for an interview, what happens next? Right to the media. Everybody fans it out. Joe Smith interviewed with the Patriots. And next thing you know, oh, Joe Smith, he's in high demand. So you create this artificial market that maybe really isn't there.
Starting point is 00:13:58 But I do think Mike McDaniel is soaring up the charts. I don't know if you're following some of this closely. He might be like a top three or four guy on the market right now, Colin. I know you have a big affinity for Mike McDaniel. Well, we'll see. He is one of the people being talked about. 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.
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Starting point is 00:14:57 Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. but this one's extra special.
Starting point is 00:15:12 So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down?
Starting point is 00:15:31 Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, Hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad Hey Jonas and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.
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Starting point is 00:18:12 Baltimore with Lamar Jackson, great ownership, probably number one. I think, in my opinion, the New York Giants are number two. Steelers probably three, Atlanta, four. Somebody's going to get Fernando Mendoza Raiders. That's pretty good. Here's the thing with Mike Tomlin. He's an incredibly prideful guy. Once those fire Tomlin chance came down from the rafters, he's probably done.
Starting point is 00:18:33 He made up his mind. People make up their mind long before they do. things. I think he made up his mind several weeks ago. I think he could do television and be great. He's certainly great at the podium. He's the best I've ever heard. Everything's a nine-second soundbite. He'd be great. But he's not a TV guy. He reminds me of Mike Vrable. Vrable could do TV. He's not a TV guy. It's like I always said. Park City's of you. It's in Utah. It's not really of Utah. It's a party town. Austin, Texas. It's in Texas. It's not of Texas. it's way left.
Starting point is 00:19:08 Mike Tomlin could do TV and so could Vrable. They're not of TV. It's not their thing. Sean Payton, I worked with him for a year at Fox. He was going back to coaching. So there's a lot of times I've been critical of Tomlin, but leadership, IQ, EQ, motivator, culture creator,
Starting point is 00:19:24 he's great. He's great. I think he needs to modernize a little bit. I would give you this as an example. You know, Tomlin's got an iPhone like the rest of us, and it keeps asking him, to install now the new software, and he's for the last seven years pushed, remind me later,
Starting point is 00:19:44 it's time to install now. Take a year off, modernize, reflect. His coaching tree is a cactus. He didn't have anybody. Since Bruce Ariens, he's had four OCs, none have done anything. Dude, go to a mixer, wear a name tag,
Starting point is 00:20:03 meet some offensive young coaches, modernize, stay current. Leadership, smarts, toughness, Alpha, Culture Creator, and on TV for a year, all great. But he does feel like he's got to push, install now, not remind me later on offense. I really think he needs to modernize.
Starting point is 00:20:25 Robert Mays of the Athletic talked about this yesterday. If I'm Mike Tomlin, I want to take a step back and for a year, just visit with people around the league, talk to people. Who should I be seeking out? What should my offense look like? Who are the people that I should build my staff with?
Starting point is 00:20:40 Just take yourself out of that small kind of insulated world when you're the head coach and your head is down all the time and just think about how you need to build things moving forward for you to be successful. Because I think if he surrounds himself with the right ideas, he is such a good coach and a good motivator that that overall construction and that overall model that would be appealing to me if I were an owner trying to fill one of these jobs. Like Nick Saban was a defensive coach, but he hired, I mean, Jim McElwain, Doug Nussmeyer,
Starting point is 00:21:14 Lane Kiffin, Sark. I mean, he was really good at finding offensive coaches. Really good. Not all defensive guys. Now, Belichick had to keep going back to Josh McDaniels. The minute he was left to his own devices, he moved Matt Patricia to an OC. Okay, so Tomlin, maybe one of those defensive guys, like, Vrable.
Starting point is 00:21:36 Vrable's got Josh McDaniel. He gets it. Some of these defensive guys are really good finding offensive guys. Some of the old school guys are not. So I don't know what Tomlin is, but I feel like a year, reflect, do TV, make some money, have some fun. He would be, I mean, I'm not going to give away any inside stuff that I am aware of currently, but Tomlin's going to get jobs multiple.
Starting point is 00:22:06 I think you put him in a studio. I think it'd be a home run. I think it'd be just major energy. I mean, I honestly am rooting for him to go to Fox, because I think it'd be a great watch. And that way, if he goes to Fox, which has more NFC games than AFC games, he may not have to criticize contemporaries he coached against a lot. He can go over and talk about the Niners.
Starting point is 00:22:29 And the Eagles and the Rams, who we didn't have to face as much, He didn't want to be critical of the guys on his side of the ledger. But I'm selfishly, I would love if he was a Fox guy. I think he's going to be so good. But he feels very much like Vrable to me. Could do TV, but not a TV guy. That's not his DNA. He has referred to television as the dark side a couple times in his career.
Starting point is 00:22:55 J-Mack with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, Colin, I got a surprise for you to start Herd Line, and that is one, Brock Purdy. A big game from Purdy on Sunday against the Eagles. Another fourth quarter comeback in the playoffs for Brock Pretty. Colin, wouldn't you know it, he is now five and one in his career in the playoffs.
Starting point is 00:23:19 Yes. Colin, that's more wins than Lamar Jackson and Cam Newton in the postseason. I know Cam Newton's not going to take that well. Also, his five wins tied Jared Gough, Rivers and Burrow. He's third all-time, sorry, in 49ers' playoff history in terms of wins. Go ahead. The one thing I'll say about Purdy, whereas Lamar Jackson, there are times he visually looks tight in the playoffs.
Starting point is 00:23:47 I feel like Brock Purdy Week 2, Brock Purdy, Week 11, Brock Purdy Playoffs, I get the same guy. He's not affected by the scenario. Like, I always feel with Brock Purdy, he's always been a guy that's going to let it rip. He's going to have some ugly picks. they all stick to Darnold. They don't stick to Purdy because Purdy's had more playoff success. But Brock will let it rip. He's not a guy.
Starting point is 00:24:08 One of my favorite qualities, in fact, my favorite quality, I've told this story about Andrew Luck when he was at Stanford. I went to the Coliseum. I'm sitting there, pretty good seats. USC's in a shootout with Andrew Luck and Stanford. And luck is unbelievable. And then he throws a pick six. It is an awful pick six to get the Trojans back into it.
Starting point is 00:24:27 I remember that. And he smiles. He puts his hand on his helmet. he's like, oh, stupid, goes out. He's slinging the ball down the field. A huge part of Brock Purdy's success is he's not affected. I never watched Purdy and think, oh, he's tight. He just, you know, it could be good parenting.
Starting point is 00:24:45 It could be confidence, whatever it is. The kid likes to let it rip. That's one of the Darnold quotes. Darnold's always like, hey, man, you do your prep, you let it rip. And that's what I totally respect about Brock. So it's interesting. A lot of people are going to say, well, wait a second. said, Jay, you're forgetting.
Starting point is 00:25:02 Brock had a second loss against the Eagles. That's not technically a loss. Remember, he got injured with the shoulder in the first quarter? That doesn't count as a loss on your ledger. The one loss is the Super Bowl. Yeah. And he didn't lose that. He drove them down the field in overtime for points.
Starting point is 00:25:17 I mean, at some point, we've got to start giving Brock Purdy his flowers. I know everybody loves Dak Prescott and Dak is their top five, top ten quarterback. I think, I think. That's got two playoff wins. He hasn't done much. Brock Purdy is consistently praised. you're sensitive to it. Brock Purdy is considered exactly where he should be considered.
Starting point is 00:25:34 A gamer that gets banged up. He's not a Josh Allen talent. No. But he's going to win playoff games. I think he is appropriately discussed. I don't think everybody thinks he's way up here, but everybody, like if you told me him or Jalen Hertz, I would take Brock Purdy. He's better from the pocket.
Starting point is 00:25:53 Oh, okay. Yeah, in terms of pocket passer with mobility, pretty's good player. Pretty's a good player. Okay, can I ask you a couple more because you like this game? Brock Purdy or Jordan Love? Jordan Love is a bigger, stronger quarterback. Both get hurt more than I'd like, but I think he's a bigger, taller guy with a little better arm. I think they're both talented, but you know I like traits.
Starting point is 00:26:15 I'm loyal to size. I'm loyal to arm. I'm loyal to mobility. I would take love over Brock Purdy. Brock Purdy or Bo Nex? Bo Nix doesn't get hurt like ever. Like ever, he's on a very team-friendly deal. for the next several years, and he's a tremendous fourth quarterback.
Starting point is 00:26:33 And because I have to do it, Jared Goff or Brock Birdie. Jared Goff is a better pocket quarterback. And again, doesn't get... And Jared Goff... That's appropriately rated. Jared Goff doesn't get hurt. I mean, Bo Nix and Jared Goff, both guys from the Pack 12 that got, you know, tossed around, a lot of starts.
Starting point is 00:26:53 Every Sunday, they're ready to play. Now, listen, I don't expect him to go to Seattle and win. They're the lines up to seven and a half. in some places, seven where we have. Colin, if he does pull this off as a big underdog, Monday is going to be fun. Yeah. Just filing that one away.
Starting point is 00:27:10 All right, let's move to the Rams. They are out here in warm Southern California. It was 78 degrees yesterday, Colin. It was 79 today. It's lovely. But they're playing in frigid temps Sunday in Chicago. They're calling for a high of 21 with a low of eight, Colin. Eight degrees.
Starting point is 00:27:27 That's insanity. Matt Stafford, he says he don't care about no elements. As far as the wind goes, you're right, it is always winning in Chicago. I've played a handful of games there throughout the years. The good thing for us is it was windy this past week in Carolina. When it goes to cold weather, we played the Jets last year in what was, I think it was like 12 degrees, you know, at kickoff. And you just adjust to whatever the game, you know, whatever the weather allows you to do. And I think if it's just cold with a little bit of wind, we go play.
Starting point is 00:27:56 You know, I love that kind of stuff. I mean, that's a playoff football, right? Cold weather in Chicago, windy day. There's nothing better than that in my mind, so I'm excited for it. Yeah, that's right. There's never been a warm weather dynasty. If you can't handle 27 degrees, you're not built for this stuff. I mean, Caleb Williams in the fourth quarter.
Starting point is 00:28:18 Caleb played at USC Oklahoma. He looked fine to me in the fourth quarter. If you've got a strong arm, the issue with cold weather is arm strength. Tua struggles in wind. Stafford doesn't. Caleb doesn't. Some would argue Lamar's got an average arm. You know who doesn't? Josh Allen, Mahomes.
Starting point is 00:28:35 So if your arm is strong, bad weather, Brady, I thought Brady was the best cold weather, crappy weather thrower I've ever seen because of his hip torque. Brady was an un, and did Brady have the biggest arm in the league? No. He was a great cold weather quarterback. Yeah, a lot of cold weather guys on the Rams. I mean, Stafford played for years in that division. outdoor games in Green Bay, Chicago.
Starting point is 00:28:59 Devante Adams played for years in Green Bay. Kyron Williams went to Notre Dame playing in the Midwest. I think the cold is a little bit of an overblown narrative here. And Colin, I haven't officially fired on this game, but I think I'm on the Rams here. I know the Bears have delivered to Charm Life, but the more you look at the numbers, I'm the same. I think I really, when you lose Edwards, the linebacker,
Starting point is 00:29:19 that really makes it because, by the way, that linebacker with those ram tight ends in that Ram run game, you can live with a backup left tackle. Again, if you speed up, getting rid of the ball to your tight ends, you can speed things up. But I'd see the Bears defense having a lot of trouble stopping Ram drives. I think the Rams, even if they don't score, are going to get field goals and are going to win field possession for a big chunk of this game. And that's why I like the Rams.
Starting point is 00:29:49 Yeah, total agreement. Colin, let's go final story. One of your favorites, Sean Payton, he was fun. when he was working here, man. That guy has stories for days. Well, he's got a Super Bowl team on his hands right now. They're preparing for the game against Josh Allen. Obviously, Denver had the buy.
Starting point is 00:30:05 And Sean says he wants to see his offense be more aggressive when it needs to be. Do I think he needs to be more aggressive going down to the field, going downfield in the playoffs? A lot of that would be based on who we're playing. We want to be aggressive. We obviously want to, you know, and we will tell. take our shots, but a lot of it, like, tell me the opponent, and then it's like, all right, how's that got to be done? Are they an eyes-in team, or are they a manned team? We'll definitely stretch the ball down the field. We feel like we've got some guys that can go down and get it.
Starting point is 00:30:41 Yeah, if you play Houston, you can't be as aggressive because of their pass rush. If you play the bills, you can be more aggressive. They don't have the pass rush. So, again, it's dictated on, your game plan is largely dictated on, who are you playing? If you have a, the Bears have a backup left tackle, they're going to want Caleb Williams to get rid of the ball quickly. I guarantee you that's part of Ben Johnson's game plan. We're not sitting back in the pocket. They've got, they've got Young and Verse coming on the edges. They got Kobe Turner, Puna Ford in the middle.
Starting point is 00:31:12 And oh, by the way, we're missing our left tackle. Like you can tell what you're going to do going into it. Chicago, I don't think it's going to be one of those deep ball games. You're going to want to get that thing out. Two and a half, three seconds. get it out of Caleb's hands, because I do think pass protection for the bears could be challenged. Yeah, I do wonder this Bill's defense was kind of sort of solid against Trevor Lawrence.
Starting point is 00:31:34 Like Trevor Lawrence was good. Tredavius White with a crazy turn back the clock game. He's like, where did that guy come from? I just don't know if Buffalo can duplicate that in back-to-back weeks. And I do think the rest is probably underrated, right? You got a whole week off. I know the rest versus rust, but I think Denver's going to be ready. I don't know, Colin.
Starting point is 00:31:53 I wait for your blazing four on Friday on this one. All right, buddy. J-Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. It is crazy that there's nine job openings. The average has been like six or seven, it seems like, forever.
Starting point is 00:32:11 So you start asking yourself, are there nine good candidates? I think it's a better candidate year suddenly than, people think it is. So let's talk about very good candidates, people that win double-digit games, and have proven this time and time again. I think there are four candidates that I would put in the good candidate if they want to coach list. And I think we can put it up on the screen. I think John Harbaugh, Kevin Stefansky, Mike Tomlin and Mike McCarthy, those are very good candidates. Those are proven head coach of the year, double-digit wins can win a playoff game. I think Robert Sala, Brian Flores, and Brian Dable, absolutely I would be comfortable giving them a second chance.
Starting point is 00:32:57 I think, you know, Dable got Daniel Jones a playoff win, Brian Flores, that thing unraveled. But I think he's arguably the best defensive coordinator with Jesse Mincher in the sport. And Robert Sala could have been the assistant of the year. And the minute the jets fired him, they from that minute on have circled the toilet. They were at least viable. They were going to go to Buffalo. if they won, they were going to be tied for first. They let him go.
Starting point is 00:33:24 They've been a hazmat spill since. And then I think Jesse Minner, Clint Kubiak, Jeff Halfley, again, if they were there and they were my best options, I'd have no problem hiring them. My takeaway is there's two candidates out there. Cliff Kingsbury is one of them. I don't think he's a head coach personality. I don't think he is comfortable with conflict. I think in college and pro football, as teams get loose, players have a bit too much
Starting point is 00:33:50 control, and I think he's got to be a front and center guy and be willing to deal with conflict and conflict resolution. And I don't think that's Cliff's personality. I think he's a great O.C. A prime example, why is he leaving Washington? He's got a conflict with Adam Peters and he don't want to deal with it. So I was like, I'm out of here. Once again, that's who he is. That's fine. Mike McDaniel, Miami. I don't think he's a head coach. I think he's a brilliant coach, but I think he's a VP, not a president. I think he's a VP. So again, I think those are very, that's nine guys I would hire,
Starting point is 00:34:29 and two guys I'd hire in a second to be coordinator. The key in this is being decisive. Because if the New York Giants sit on their hands and are the fifth team to hire a coach, not only do you get the fifth best coach, It's breadcrumbs on the staff. If I was the New York Giants, I'd make a move now. Whether it's Stefansky or Harbaugh, I would make a move now.
Starting point is 00:34:56 Because you're also going to have a better opportunity to get a McDaniel or Cliff Kingsbury as a coordinator. So you've got to be decisive. Here's Steve Boshati Raven's owner on their head coach opening. Where we are, I could say I'm disqualifying coaches with losing records. But I think you have to remember that they were the hottest coaches in their cycle. And they got jobs and they got tough jobs. And I don't think we have a tough job. We created the best opening in this cycle.
Starting point is 00:35:33 And so that was the one category that I didn't want to ignore because the first thing you all are going to say is, my God, he went 38 and 48 in his last job and they're hiring him. Yeah, I think that's fair. Because I do think if you're the guy, you'll have a winning record. The greatest example is Sean Payton. He inherited a team and Russell Wilson didn't fit his offense and they're still this year paying off the Russell Wilson dead cap. And he's made the playoffs back to back here with a quarterback most of you don't like. Okay, so I don't want to hear, but you can figure it out.
Starting point is 00:36:13 There's no excuses. There really isn't. This is why I tend to lean offensive guy over defensive guy, but it should be noted of the eight remaining coaches for offense, four defense. So Baltimore is the best job. I would argue number two
Starting point is 00:36:30 is the Giants. That's what I would argue. In a perfect world, if I was a Giants, I'd offer to John Harbaugh today. If I was Baltimore, if he didn't want a losing record, that hurts Kevin Stefansky. I think you have to
Starting point is 00:36:46 to contextualize Kevin Stefanski's career. He coached for Cleveland. In my opinion, you have to qualify certain things. Not many things, but certain things. In Chicago, it's The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.
Starting point is 00:37:10 Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.
Starting point is 00:37:21 We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers.
Starting point is 00:37:45 This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing. a bit for the podcast for people could call in and say, Hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential
Starting point is 00:37:59 title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumored me with Robert Smygel
Starting point is 00:38:15 and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funny. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and 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.
Starting point is 00:38:33 Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise.
Starting point is 00:38:54 Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people. who live them.
Starting point is 00:39:22 Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jen Chin Chin win.
Starting point is 00:39:50 I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:40:16 Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Saturday on Fox after dethroning the defending champs. Christian McCaffrey leads the Niners against Sam Darnold in the top-seated Seahawks. The divisional round playoffs presented by Intuit TurboTax Saturday, 730 Eastern 430 Pacific on Fox. Well, Darnold against Purdy, clearly whoever wins is the better quarterback. And what a division. Rams, Niners, Seahawks.
Starting point is 00:40:49 you talk about a power group out west. So Art Rooney spoke this morning on Mike Tomlin after 19 years stepping away, and the presumption is, and I think it's a reasonable presumption, is, you know, Tomlin, if you're in a job for 19 years and you're on that treadmill, I think it's great to just take a step back and reflect. Here's Rooney on Mike's plans going forward. Mike indicated that he did not anticipate coaching at least in the near future. I think he wants to spend time with his family and do some of the kinds of things he hasn't been able to do for the last many, many years.
Starting point is 00:41:29 And so if something like that comes up, we'll deal with it when it comes up. But right now that doesn't seem to be on his radar. You know, one of the things that's really great about the NFL and the Patriots are a great example. Denver is a great example. you get the coach and the quarterback right you can just go from doghouse to penthouse fast and that's not the way it is in the NBA
Starting point is 00:41:54 I've never understood this the NBA makes it hard to trade it's like well yeah the salaries have to come within and you got all these aprons now it's like hard to make trades so if you're in the downside of that the NBA is so paralyzed about dynasties your ratings are better with dynasties stop worrying about it I mean the the KD Steph Clay Dray
Starting point is 00:42:15 on team was fascinating. The heatles were fascinating. Seven champs in seven years isn't fascinating, but the NBA makes it hard to trade. Football is like, trade whoever you want. Also in the NFL, you can cut whoever you want. You may have to eat some salary, but you can also rework contracts constantly. You know, to me, you could do two things. I would bottom out and go get an offensive guy, or I could also say, well, we've got a first, a second, three threes, and two fours. Give up a third and a fourth, couple sixes the following year.
Starting point is 00:42:48 Give up a bunch of picks and get to like eighth in the draft and go get Ty Simpson. If it works great, if it doesn't, go draft another quarterback. The Steelers have three third round picks and two fours. So you can keep a third and a fourth and move off, two thirds and a fourth, and move up and get Simpson. Give up good picks. Try it. He is viewed, I'm told, as a late first round quarterback. But so what?
Starting point is 00:43:15 That's the one position. It's okay you can overdraft a guy. Don't overdraft by a round, but if you overdraft by nine to 11 spots to get your quarterback, it's fine. And if it works great. If it doesn't, move him and get the guy the following year in a better quarterback draft. There's a lot of options here for Pittsburgh, like a lot of good options. Or you could just say, listen, Kevin Stefansky, we don't care. We know you've been losing a lot.
Starting point is 00:43:42 We don't fire coaches here. you got a first, a second, three, threes, two, fours. We're going to stack the roster. We're going to move the old guys on defense. We're going to give you a young, twitchy, athletic, inexpensive defense. In the following year, we're not going to be very good this year. Following year, you can pick the quarterback. That's very attractive.
Starting point is 00:44:03 But doing the mid stuff, again, you got to get terrible at least for a year to get Drake, May and Caleb Williams. If you're drafting 20th, you get Kenny Pickett. Like you say, wow, what about Lamar? Not a lot of late first round Lamar Jackson's. And even when he came out, you know, you trust the Ravens, because the Ravens have drafted so well for so long, especially on their early picks. But the other story I saw this morning is, I have always said this, men are great at starting things.
Starting point is 00:44:34 We're terrible at ending things. Wars, relationships, conflicts. We're great starters. Maybe if guys are hunters, we're good at chasing stuff. down. We're bad at breaking up. And LeBron has been this mobile guy. His career is so redeemable. This ending in L.A. is weird. So apparently his agent, who represents him, Rich Paul has a podcast with Max Kellerman. Two good guys like both. And apparently it's ruffling feathers inside the Lakers organization. They're talking about stuff they'd rather not be privy to. And so,
Starting point is 00:45:10 And LeBron said yesterday, hey, Rich Paul's comments on the podcast are not a reflection of me. Well, Rich Paul's job as LeBron's agent is to speak for LeBron when LeBron's not in the room. And so Rich Paul goes on his podcast and talks about, be very careful about re-signing Austin Reeves. You may want to trade Austin Reeves. Here it is. I love him as a Laker. but if that is a situation where we're getting balanced because if you put if you put all the money into just the back court and then you're and then you're you're kind of like your flexibility is
Starting point is 00:45:54 restricted going forward to fill out the rest of the team then that's kind of like riding a you know when you're when you just have the training wheels on your bike but the one training wheel is off and it kind of leans that's kind of like that uh lebron is distancing himself rich paul doesn't speak for me well if my agent was talking about certain things publicly he kind of probably would have passed it by me first you think maybe not the question now is are the lakers becoming more spectacle than spectacular so here's the thing about lebron his mobility has been great for titles viability earnings relevance but it is not in Deered him. I mean, the guy bailed on Ohio twice, and he's from there. It's not endeared him. Like a Jeter or a Magic or a Kobe.
Starting point is 00:46:45 Like the Dodgers, there's made men. Kershaw, Kofax, made men. Right. Freddie Freeman's just a great Dodger. Mookie Beck's a great Dodger. That's kind of LeBron. So he's not, he's not as popular as Magic or Kobe. Now, Shaq moved around, but his personality made him beloved. So LeBron's got a no trade clause. But I always say this. when anybody asks me, they'll do with LeBron. And my take is it's not what they'll do with LeBron. It's what the fans would say if they did move off LeBron. And you know what Laker fans would say if they moved him at the trade deadline?
Starting point is 00:47:20 What did we get for him? You know what Laker fans would say if he walked away at the end of the season? Oh, wow. And all that money we got to go get good young players. They wouldn't have said that with magic. That's not, when Shaq got traded, and they chose Shaq over.
Starting point is 00:47:37 Kobe and Kobe was still a Laker. A lot of people didn't like it. A lot of them preferred Shaq over Kobe. And they still had Kobe at the time. So LeBron's mobility, that's the downside to mobility, is you give up loyalty. And
Starting point is 00:47:53 I mean, you're never going to trade Steph Curry. You wouldn't, you know, trade Derek, Jeter. I mean, that just, it doesn't even sound right. But if you moved off LeBron or you just ended it and this new Dodger group would do that. That's how they've let, again, they've let
Starting point is 00:48:11 trade Turner, Corey Seeger, Cody Bellinger, Mani Machado. I mean, they let, you know, Zach Grinky, like there's a lot of names that wanted to be Dodgers. They could have afforded them and they just said no. Either had them let them go, said no, not interested. I mean, that's just what the Dodgers in this group do. That's the way to do it. Fall in like with your athletes, right? Fall in love with your kids. So I do think the downside to LeBron mobility and I've tried not to be a hypocrite because I've bounced around and that's the way I've done it. What's home? Where's home? And I think LeBron's home is LeBron's inner circle. Maverick Carter and his guys, Rich Paul, that's home. They're just a company willing to move, a production company
Starting point is 00:48:56 willing to move. There is no one place. So I just, when I'm watching this Rich Paul stuff and the comments he's making, it's tough. And I really believe this. The future of the Lakers is J.J. Reddick and Luca. And Rob Polenka, Austin Reeves, is his guy. That's going to be hard to separate. You can get him, but you better give us great stuff. And I do think Austin Reeves, I think the fans love him in L.A. I think he's an excellent offensive player. I think you have to consider that Luca's not an elite defender. Austin works hard, but isn't either. That has to be considered. But if you've got a rim protector, a really good in a wing, then you can keep Austin Reeves.
Starting point is 00:49:37 And Austin's not a guy that's, you know, enamored with just getting the most. I think Austin Reeves loves being a Laker. And I think there are benefits to playing with Luca and being a Laker. All right. Good stuff. All right, Albert Breer, we got nine coaching openings. How long are the New York Giants going to last?
Starting point is 00:49:54 Why don't I just go for it? Get the top candidate and fill out your staff. Hour to next. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick.
Starting point is 00:50:07 And guess what? We created our own podcast. called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.
Starting point is 00:50:21 Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.
Starting point is 00:50:44 This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcasts presents soccer moms.
Starting point is 00:51:08 So I'm Leanne. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast.
Starting point is 00:51:19 We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Therapy is fantastic. But once again, it does not have a monopoly on heat.
Starting point is 00:51:39 That's why I create the resources and that's why I create the community because I really just want you to have more access. On the podcast, Cultivating HerSpace, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. It's tough because we're suppressing our emotions and so many of us are like high achieving individuals. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human

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