The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 2 - Some voters were probably being petty towards Belichick, USC's schedule next season, looking at Sam Darnold's career, Albert Breer

Episode Date: January 28, 2026

More on Bill Belichick not getting in the HOF on his first try and what probably happened when they were deciding if they should vote for Belichick or not Colin talks about the toughness of USC's schedule next season and the fact they no longer play Notre Dame We really are underappreciating what Sam Darnold has doneSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the ice.

Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying.

You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis' keep coming to you. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

So listen to Point Game on the, IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your husband is not who you think he is. Your body is not what you thought it was. Your identity is formed by a secret history. I'm Danny Shapiro. And these are just a few of the stunning stories I'll be exploring on the 14th season of Family Secrets.

He kind of shoved me out of the way and said, move. And he went out the front door and he jumped in a car and drove off. And that was the last time I saw him. Listen to Season 14 of Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. 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 on the iHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. To Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It's hour two. Albert Brear around the corner. Jimmy Johnson is all fired up. Hall of Fame coach. Boy, he's mad at me.

He wants Bella Check, his fishing buddy, to be in the Hall of Fame. Jimmy Johnson in one hour. He's all worked up. I love it. So can I tell you a story? My dad gave me two great pieces of advice that I think of regularly.

Just give me a couple minutes on this. So one of the pieces of advice my dad gave me, we had a house on the coast of Washington and we had a long driveway and about Halfway down the driveway, I had a basketball hoop. My dad put a basketball hoop up, and it was next to the place where we kept our firewood. And one time my dad comes down to get some wood to put up in the wood stove. And I'm sitting there taking hook shots and playing basketball by myself, which I often did.

And my dad called me Tiger. He said he grabbed the firewood and he turned around. He goes, Tiger, why would you ever take a shot when you're by yourself? that you wouldn't take in a game. Practice the stuff you're going to do in the game. That has lived with me for 50 years. Like, don't waste time. And I tell my kids that practice what you're going to do in life.

Don't waste time taking hook shots in your yard from 40 feet. The second piece of advice my dad gave me was many decisions in your life about your career will be made when you're not in the room, also known as lubricate society, don't agitate it. Bill Belichick was called and told he didn't make the Hall of Fame. Bill wasn't in the room. Bill Belichick controlled the rooms he was in.

The one room he needed people to raise their hand in his favor, he wasn't there. And the voters maybe were as petty as Bill can be. That's part of it, right? A lot of decisions are made about your employment, your legacy, your career, your opportunities. When you and I aren't in the rooms, if you can, be nice as often as you can be.

I know it shouldn't matter, but it does. Albert Breer, live from Mobile, Alabama at the Senior Bowl. Okay, so, you know, I said this before, is that they changed some of the methodology in voting. So now coaches can get right in after they retire with one year. Brady still can't get in. And they're like 2028, the coaches can. And I said, is it possible? And you covered Bill.

I said, is it possible that people said, well, Lombardi didn't get in initially? Walsh didn't. Gibbs didn't. Don Shula, who Belichick's been chasing, had to wait five years. you change your methodology Bill's going to get in next year but if all these other legends didn't and had to wait five years

you can wait one is that possible it was just maybe yeah I think it could be a couple things like first of all so everybody understands the process there are five guys you know in this voting pool and so those five guys three seniors candidates is Kenne Anderson

Roger Craig and Elsie Greenwood a contributor that's Robert Kraft coach Bill Belichick So the voters, the 50 voters have to pick three of the five, which basically means there's 150 votes total. And you have to win 40 of those 150 votes, which is a lot. If you think about it, you're competing with four other people in the zero-sum game. And so they do take votes away from each other. I'm explaining that because I do think one piece of this could be where a certain voter feels married to a player that's up as a seniors committee candidate.

it and thinks he's not going to get he's not going to be he's not going to be nominated again bill's going to be nominated until he gets in so like let's just put the player in over the over the coach but yeah i i personally think that's the absolute wrong way to look at this i i think you have to look at these things as yes or no questions Colin you know is he a hall of fame or is he isn't that's how i view that that's how i would vote yes or no to me it's yes or no and i think you know like i can understand like where maybe you think four of those guys are qualified right but you can only vote for three so fine one of them gets lopped off but it shouldn't be like game like oh well bill have another chance no it's the three most qualified guys that's what a first

ballot hall of famer is it's to me it's not like some sort of like separate category um that you should be well he needs to be clean rules per rules perspective he needs to be clean off the field all that different stuff like that to me it shouldn't be what it is the first ballot hall of Damar, I think in any sport should be the guy that you cannot say no to. And that's what Bill is as a coach. Okay. Okay, we got a bunch of stuff here to talk about beyond Belichick, because he will eventually get in, obviously, and it's kind of the topic of the day. But I want to ask you about the Steelers. So I said, I was making a joke. I just watched the movie. You'd appreciate this with Affleck and Damon on Netflix called Rip. And all the, you know, the critics

are savaging it. They're saying, oh, it doesn't elevate the genre. And I'm like, it was fine. I was entertained for 90 minutes. I came home from work. My wife wanted to watch it, and I make her watch football all year. And I said this, Mike McCarthy. Okay, it's not Sean McVeigh. But it's like, he did have the number four offense in a year Cooper Cup started, Cooper Rush

started five games, and you can say what you want about him, but when Dak was upright, top ten offense, one, 12 games, he, Aaron Rogers and him split, but now you can look at it and think Aaron was as much the blame for that as Mike McCarthy. Like, it's not a bad higher. I mean, was he

always the frontrunner, I guess, is my question. No. I think that they did look down, did they start to go down the path they've normally gone down, which is finding a guy in his 30s that maybe not everybody's looking at the same way they are. Chuck Mill, I believe, was 37. Bill Cowher was 34. Mike Tomlin was 34. So

this is a departure. On his first day in the office, Mike McCarthy becomes the oldest coach in Pittsburgh Steelers history, the 93-year history of the Steelers. So this is definitely different. I think what's most interesting about it, at least as I see it, and this is what I've heard some people say who went through there. They don't want to be bad. And I think you look at their roster, right?

And they're kind of at this natural point. And you and I have talked about this with the older players there, Aaron Rogers, T.J. Watt, Jalen Ramsey, of Isaac Simola, Sussiomola. Like, they relied on guys like Adam Thielander in this year, Marquez Valdez Gantling. To me, it's like screaming for it's sort of time. to tear it down and maybe if you have to be bad for a year or two, it's not the worst thing in the world. And the more I talk to people about this,

I don't think the Roonies want to be bad. And I think there's something to that whole Mike Tomlin thing of just being pretty good for an extended period of time. I don't think the Roonies want to sink to the bottom of the league. And if you're looking in the situation that you're in right now, not to sink to the bottom of the league and to try to get something out of what you've got left with the veteran players,

Yeah. Well, then, yeah, it does make sense to bring in a more experienced guy. Is it the right thing to do, or would you have been better off hiring and Chris Shula? That remains to be seen. But I think a huge piece of this is we're not looking to go 4 and 13 and develop a young coach here. We want to continue to contend. Yeah. Uninspiring, but I get the reasoning.

So Joe Brady's interesting. So I asked the question of the audience yesterday. Do we know if he's better than Sean McDermott? not really. I could argue under Ken Dorsey and Brian Daibble, the offense was actually higher rated across the league. So my take is, and he had success with Joe Burrow and maybe the most talented college team I've ever seen LSU. There's some success on the resume with Burrow and Josh Allen. But, I mean, I guess my take was this was Josh Allen having a big say. And I said this, if you're not going to get John Harbaugh or Jim Harbaugh or Kyle Shanahan from Atlanta,

when everybody knew that works, then Joe Brady is comfortable, and I understand comfort when you don't get the number one guy in the market. Like it felt like Josh said, you know what, I don't want to learn another offense. I know him. I mean,

is it possible that Josh had more say than we think here? I think Josh did have a say. I mean, he was one of like six or seven guys in the room. So it was the Pagoolas. It was Brandon being their GM, being's top two lieutenants, Terrence Gray.

and Brian Gain and Josh Allen. So that's the group, right? Like it's a very, it was a small group. And I do think that continuity was a huge piece of this in two different ways. Number one, obviously the offense has been pretty good, right? Top five in the league the last two years. We can argue whether or not it looks smoother when Ken Dorsey or Brian Dayball were calling the place. But it has been productive the last couple of years.

You get the scheme familiarity that you are talking about. There's also that you're not projecting the relationship. between coaching and scouting, which is part of the deal when you decide to keep the GM and not the coach. The GM is going to be more comfortable with that coaching and scouting are going to be aligned. You know, if he's bringing in somebody he knows, which obviously he had that with Sean McDermott going all the way back to Carolina with him. And now he has that with Joe Brady. I thought this was the interesting part, though. I was told the part of the interview that he really nailed was the CEO as head coach piece of the interview.

And it's interesting. I'll take you back five years. When Joe Brady was still in Carolina, before he got fired there, he went an interview with the Atlanta Falcons, and he had almost no experience. He was a hot name because of what happened at LSU, but he, I mean, hit a walk-off home run in that interview and almost wound up getting that job.

He was the runner-up to Arthur Smith, who everyone wanted that off-season. And I just filed that away. Like, this guy interviews really well. And so putting that together with what happened in Buffalo, with his vision for what the program should be as the CEO as head coach. I think Gabe Brandon Bean and those guys a little bit of a feeling of we get the offense. And now we get this vision that he's had all along that a lot of other teams were buying into in the interview room as well.

Okay. I want to, Darnold meets Drake May, and it's pretty well documented. I really like Donald a lot. Maybe it's the USC thing or just I like him as a guy. but I always kind of believed he was too talented not to win. So when Brady was leaving New England, there were two teams that really came after him hard. Tampa and the Chargers came after him hard, and then you look at retrospect, you're like, that's it? I mean, even when he retired, he was a top six quarterback.

So I don't know if there was a huge market for Darnold, which is remarkable because outside of that last game for seating against Detroit, I mean, he was unbelievable against the Packers, 2-0 against the Bears, winning in a division, winning, he had a 106-passer rating against playoff teams. Let's go back to when Darnold was on the market briefly. I don't remember the stories. There was this surge of teams interested. Was Seattle one of the only teams truly, deeply interesting? Wow. The Raiders had talked about it, and obviously then

Gino becomes available through this whole song and dance, but the Raiders had talked about it. And it's something that I know Tom Brady and John Spitech and Pete Carroll had kicked around there. That's before Gino became available in the trade. And I think in the end, it was really Minnesota versus Seattle. And for Sam, what it was, sort of similar to Daniel Jones leaving Minnesota. For Sam, it was, well, even if I play great Minnesota, if J.J. McCarthy takes off, they invests a first round pick in him. So I still might be a one-year guy here.

I go to Seattle. I kill it. And then I could be their quarterback for the next half-decent. decade. So that was really what kind of pushed him to make the decision that he did. It's interesting. I think your point about like why there wasn't more of a market. I just think in the NFL old evaluations die hard, you know, and I just think, you know, like you, I think for a lot of people, they have the three years with the Jets, which I think we could chalk up to circumstances now, but he was raw coming out of USC.

Yeah. Adam Gates wasn't the right. Adam Gase was not the right coach for him because he was coming out of running a Peyton Manning type of offense was manning himself and then Jay Cutler. And so he went to a situation where there's a bad fit. Then was with, you know, and went through a coaching change very early in his career. Gase came in there in his second year. And then he goes to Carolina. Circumstances aren't great there. And so like all these things happen early on. And you have that evaluation from him being in that. And then he has one bad game or two bad games at the end of last year. And you know what people say? There it is. There it is. And they're not giving him the grace they would give a younger quarterback to grow through that.

That's where these reclamation projects are coming from, Colin, you know. But this is a guy who had a year working under Kyle Shanahan, right? So he has that year in the Shanahan incubator, comes out of it, goes with Kevin O'Connell, crushes it through a 14 and 2 start, has a rough ending. And now here we are, and he's in the Super Bowl with a third team. You know, I mean, I don't know we're giving him enough credit, are we? It's, I mean, we have almost two years of evidence. This is who he is now. And so I just, I just think the old evaluations of him diehard. And I think you have to give Seattle a lot of credit for cutting through that and saying, let's look at what he really is now. And what he is, is I think, who a lot of people thought he was going to become when he came

out of USC in 2018. He's in Mobile at the, I'm impressed that you got down to mobile considering the ice storms and the horrible weather you're going to have a ball it's one event in this country i've never been to and i want to go to someday great seniors always albert bell uh albert bell brier monday morning morning good about all right thanks calling yeah so the uh you know the bellichick thing it gets people all fired up jimmy johnson top of next hour he is he is not happy um it's it's these hall of fames they they get us all worked up I mean, listen, the baseball one, I mean, it was, as a sports talk radio host, that was like a seven year. Pete Rose, Hall of Fame, that was like a Barry Bonds.

That was like seven years of content for me. This is only going to be like two and a half hours. But, you know, they get us worked up. To me, Hall of Fame voting should be yes or no, pull the lever, check the box. Belichick, yeah, he's in. Oh, Kermudgeon Lee, didn't do a ton without Tom Brady, to be honest. but you know you get that much hardware you're in you know I'm in radio Howard Stern poked a lot of people in the ribs took him forever to get in that's the way Hall of Fame's

work it's and you could say well that's petty Bill Belichick's in the Petty Hall of Fame okay somebody a little petty back to Bill at welcome to life one more herd the herd streams 24 hours a day seven days a week within the IHeart radio app search herd to listen to live or on demand whenever you'd like. Hey, it's Ben, host of the fifth hour with Ben Mallor, and would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking what in God's name is the fifth hour?

I'll tell you, it's a spinoff of the Ben Mallor show, a cult hit overnights on FSR. Why should you listen? Picture, if you will, a world where we chat with captains of industry, in media, sports, and more every week, explore some amazing facts about human nature and more. Listen to the fifth hour with Ben Mallor on the Iheart radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. 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. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts.

Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And, well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down?

Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy. Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel

and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. Help an Acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-heartedly. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking

down everything happening at Roland Garris, every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French, 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. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. By the way, big 10 schedules came out. There was a big curfell.

There was a lot of controversy when USC said, we don't want to play Notre Dame anymore. We're now in the Big Ten. And the Big Ten is the best conference, three straight national championships. We don't want to have to wedge a Notre Dame game in between Ohio State and Penn State or Indiana and Ohio State. Everybody was freaking out. Well, the schedule came out for USC. And what do you know?

They have a six-game stretch of playing Oregon, Washington, Penn State, and Ohio State, Indiana. Do you know where the Notre Dame game would probably go? After the Ohio State game and before the Indiana game. They would wedge it in there. You can kiss the CFP goodbye, baby. The world has changed. Just to illustrate how much tougher schedules are, it used to be an SEC team only had to play eight conference games.

Now you have to play nine. Let's look at the Texas Longhorns schedule this year. the Texas Longhorns Ohio State at Tennessee Oklahoma, Florida at LSU, at A&M, Ole Miss. Compare that

to a Nick Sabin's schedule just five years ago that had four cupcakes in it and only eight SEC games. Saban got to play Duke, New Mexico State, Southern Miss, Western Carolina. Okay? It's a joke.

So the world changed. changes. USC to its credit said, we're playing in the toughest conference. Like we need another game. I mean, give Ohio State credit and Texas credit. They don't have to play. They're willing to, which we win. But Joel Clatt and I talked about this. Notre Dame plays in a weaker conference and has, you know, this new addendum where all they have to do is finish in the top 12 and they're automatically in. didn't get a play by those rules.

Texas doesn't get a play by those rules. Ohio State doesn't get a play by those rules. Here's Joel Klapp. Listen, it does not move anybody. I can't believe I'm saying this, but like to schedule Notre Dame. Because they have such an advantage

over these teams that are playing and in the Big Ten in the SEC's cases, much more difficult schedules. And now there's this. This bar, like a minimum bar where all Notre Dame has to do is being the top 12 with their schedule? That's crazy. Go look at Ohio State Schedule, Texas Schedule, USC Schedule, Oregon Schedule, and then go look at Notre Dame's. And Notre Dame gets the automatic.

I mean, Ohio State Schedule is brutal at Texas. Illinois now is legit. At Iowa, at Indiana, at USC, Oregon. That's a three-game stretch. That is a three-game stretch at Indiana, at USC. It's the most talented USC team in years, and then Oregon. Yeah, I'd say that's pretty tough. So, I don't know.

And I'm not, you know, I think this is good for you, the consumer, and me, the sports guy. I like more good schedules. And I think, you know, I think you should be able to lose two games now, maybe even three, depending on your schedule and get in. But the world has changed. Go back to some of those Sabin, 2018, 2019. schedules. I mean, give me a break. Four cupcakes, it's a bakery down there.

J-Mack with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the heard-line news. You crack me up today. He's on one, folks. All right, let's get started with this Kevin Stefansky Baker-Mayfield drama. You know, Baker-Mafield's got a little Michael Jordan in him, right? He has to create these narratives in his head that sound good to, like, motivate him to go against people. And he's like blaming

Kevin Stefansky for getting run out of Cleveland. Anyways, Stefansky was meeting the media after he was announced as Falcons coach and he responded to Baker Mayfield. I love rivalries in sports and obviously Buccaneers Falcons have a great rivalry.

It's something that I'm excited about. But I would not get into the specifics of those type of things. Other than to say, I have a ton of respect for Baker as a player, as a person. That's a great team with a great player. there you go. That's well said.

I like Stefansky. I know a lot of morons out there are like, oh, he won two coaches of the year. What does he want? Give me the win. Like, settled down. He was in Cleveland, Colin. Do people not understand how bad it's dysfunctional this franchise has been? Yeah.

And our staff put together some Baker numbers with and without Stefanski. Oh, I want to see. Just to see if there's any big difference. You tell me, I don't know, Colin. You see anything big there? Well, he had a much better. better winning percentage with Stefansky than without. Yeah, imagine that in the factory of sadness, Cleveland.

I'll just remind people, including Baker, what happened? Basically, he got run out, but they were doing it for Deshaun Watson. And that's not Kevin Stefansky pulling the strings, right? Why can't I like both? I like Stefansky and I like Baker. I like both, and I root for both. But do you like what Baker Mayfield's doing here, though, Colin? That's the real question.

Out of the blue, he's just all of a sudden taking shots at Cepansky. That's Baker's personality. Right. There's a reason I offered him a podcast at my little podcast company. There's a reason I offered him a podcast. He's fascinating personality. He has just got a chip on both shoulders. He is just fire and jet fuel.

They can only take you so far, though. Come on. Johnny Mansell. All these guys are fascinating personalities. Baker's a much, much better player than Johnny Manson. Better player, yeah, but personality? I don't know. No, no.

I think Johnny had issues with that are now acknowledged in his personal life that are much deeper and more troubling. Baker's got, I don't even think it's ego. I think Baker is one of those guys who's been doubted his entire life and he uses it as fuel and I totally respect that. He starts a few, too many fires for my taste, but that's just me. I don't want my quarterback being bulletin board guy, but you know what? It works for him.

He's had a heck of a career and I'm, I don't root against baseball. When he wins, it's good for the league. I mean, Bill Pollyan might vote him in the Hall of Fame over Bill Belichick. I don't know. All right, let's move on to the Denver Broncos con. Weird-ish situation. So they lose the ASC championship. And yesterday, the Broncos fired their offensive coordinator.

Yeah. Joe Lombardi and two other assistants. Wait, it gets better. So all the criticism is for that fourth down call. It's like, bro, Lombardi's not calling the plays. That was all Sean Payton, as we heard from our guest, Wickersham earlier. There's a young guy on the staff. I think Davis Webb.

Everybody thinks is the next hot shot, and maybe Lombardi was sort of blocking his ascension within the staff. I think Lombardi's got a – I always thought he had a decent reputation, good reputation. I think sometimes Peyton – and it's hard. You don't want to be Aaron Glenn and get rid of everybody, but I don't think it's the worst thing in the world every year to tweak somebody on your staff. I don't think that's terrible.

I think there's history that proves – remember when the Bucks won the title, and they brought everybody back the following year? And it's like, I think it's, there is an argument to be made. You should change your roster by 10 to 12 percent. And you should probably move off a couple of coaches. Just for freshness, new eyes, new narrative, new point of view. Lombardi will get a job.

That's not that. I mean, I don't think this is a, I don't think this speaks to some level of incompetence by Lombardi. I think he just, Sean's moving off. And he's got a young guy in the staff that he wants to elevate. Davis Webb has been interviewing around the league for OC, and I think he got some head coaching, which is a little crazy. He's a young guy. This guy was a backup like five years ago.

Yeah. And now all of a sudden he's interviewing for jobs. So the best way to keep him on staff is to kind of bounce somebody, which, listen, this is a cold world out there, Colin. That is rough. That's a tough way to treat a veteran. Lombardi's like 54 years old. He's been around the league.

I would just say, you know, Bo Nix, you thought he had a good season. Lombardi clearly as the O.C. did something in that room. That's a tough one, Sean Payton. Let's go to the final story, Colin. And that is Joe Brady, going from offensive coordinator to head coach in Buffalo.

And I kind of love what our staff did here. So you've been beating this drum to death and you've been right about it. Promoting from within is very dangerous. Yes. Right? Historically, it doesn't work. Colin, I want to see you to take a look at guys who have been promoted

from a, a, coordinator to head coach just since 2016. Oh my Lord. You find me the winners on here. So these are a, oh my God, nice job of the staff. These are, I want to do this for our radio audience because this is a big, big graphic. So these are the assistants promoted the head coach within the organization, the comfortable hire. Last nine years.

Brian Schottnheimer, Todd Bowles, Gerard Mayo, Antonio Pierce, Dennis Allen, Lovie Smith, Doug Marone, Freddie Kitchens, Dirk Cutter, and Ben McAdoo. There's one guy with a winning record on there. that is Todd Bowles. That's it. I mean, Colin, this is the ultimate poo-poo platter. Well, this has been my- I know people love Joe Brady, but... So this has been my knock forever at the college level.

Is that what do you think the chances are in the NFL when there's only 32 head jobs? That the single best candidate in your domestic search is in the building. What are the chances of that? Everybody does this because it's comfortable. Yeah. But this graphic shows. shows. What are the chances? Like when Ben Johnson leaves, let's go get that guy that used to be

here, is that the best candidate? And I've always said this. The greater the coach who leaves, the wider the search has to be to replace it. If Jim Harbaugh leaves Michigan, you don't give it to a guy in the staff. You go get, you know, you go get the hottest coach on the market. You call Lane Kiff at Ole Miss and say,

okay, you want to interview. I mean, you go get the guy who can recruit. It's Michigan. It's blue blood. It almost never, in my childhood growing up, all my favorite regional college teams, and I could give you the names and not bore you. Oregon State, Jimmy Anderson basketball,

Jim Lambright, all these programs that I loved, they all gave it to the popular assistant at one point. Nice men. None of them were as good as the legend that moved on. I just don't think the answer is usually down the hallway.

I just don't. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. You know, the other thing with Joe Brady, Josh Allen's cap hit this year was $36 million. Next year it's $56 million.

So they're the fourth oldest team in the league now. That means if teams get older, there's more injuries. They're already over the cap now. You know who's not over the cap? They're rival in the division. New England's $31 million. the cap. So, I mean, it's only going to get harder for Buffalo. They're old with no cap room and Josh costs more. Drake May is still discount counter. They've got 31 million more cap space.

I mean, the bills right now are 14 million over the cap today. So whoever gets the bill's job, it's a harder lift next year than this year. In my opinion, Drake May should be even better next year with this whole playoff run. It's the hurt. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a...

We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name? Hey Jonas, guys. I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band.

Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, Hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.

But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. Help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris.

Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jen, she won. I mean, she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena 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. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Great American Race returns with back-to-back champ, William Byron, looking for a historic three-peat. It doesn't get any bigger than this. The 68th running of the Daytona 500, February 15th, only on Fox.

So Albert Breer said this. Are we really underappreciating what 28-year-old Sam Darnold has done? I think the most remarkable part of Sam Darnold making a Super Bowl and having back-to-back unbelievable years. In fact, if you go back to November 27th of like 2022, when he was benched by Carolina, then given

the starting job again, if you go from that moment till today, it's the highest winning percentage in the league higher than Mahomes and the highest 100 plus pass-er rating percentage in the league. I think second is like golf. But it's a remarkable. He was 14 and three in Minnesota, and he did not have

a big market. He didn't have a big market. And it reminds me at Tom Brady, who came out in 2020 and only two teams wanted Tom Brady, the Chargers and the Buccaneers. And not only did Tom win a Super Bowl first year, but Tom four years later was still a top six quarterback in the league. So, I mean, Kirk Cousins,

there was more demand for Kirk Cousins leaving Minnesota than Tom Brady when he hit the market and Sam Donald. I like Kirk, but give me a break. So, you know, it's just one of those things where quarterback evaluation is hard, but it's not that hard. I mean, why did I go on the air and say, Tebow, Johnny Mansell, and Zach Wilson? That is not going to work. Those are busts.

I shouldn't be able to say that, and GMs are picking them in the first round. You know, it's hard, but I've always said it's about traits. I don't care what your winning record was. And if you look at Darnold, big, 6-3, thick, athletic, big arm, unbelievably coachable, tough guy, everybody loves him. I'm like, that's just, you're going to

win games with that. You just got to get a competent coach. So we do this thing called blind resume just how good Darnold has been. Because it really, I think to this point, is underreported what he's done. So let's do a blind resume with Sam Darnold

just to give you a sense how good he's been. So the first one, this is from 2022, the Carolina Days. He's 32 and 9. For our radio audience, the other quarterback is just slightly lower in virtually every statistic. So Sam is 5 to 8% better in every statistic. And who is that quarterback since 2022? Josh Allen.

You know, the MVP. Wins, completion percentage, yards per. attempt pass a rating. Higher than Josh. Okay, let's do it again. Here's Sam Darnold since 22. This quarterback, Sam is, yeah, again, much higher winning percentage, all the other numbers, slight edge to Sam since 2022. That quarterback would be, you guessed it, Matt Stafford. Who's going to win MVP? Basically this year was on fire against everybody not named Carolina. Okay, let's go to another one.

Sam since 2022, the Carolina days. Across the board, Sam, even or slight edge, except passer rating. This quarterback has a higher passer rating, but this quarterback also has 10 more losses. Who is this quarterback? Lamar Jackson, who's going to get a new contract, probably making him the highest paid quarterback in the NFL. Okay, let's do one or two more. Okay, since 2022, here's Sam Narnel.

That's Carolina, you're in San Francisco, Minnesota, Seattle. Yeah, this again, Sam hasn't won as many games, but is, I mean, these quarterbacks might as well be the exact same guy. Whoever this quarterback is, this is Sam Darnold. Let's see that. Maybe you've heard of him, Patrick Mahomes. hangs out with Taylor Swift. Maybe you've heard of him. I don't know.

And let's do. Do we have one more? I mean, I think I've made my point on this. We have one more. All right. This quarterback, Sam, across the board, just more wins, better passer rating.

Who's this quarterback since 2022? Oh, Jalen Hertz. Well, we know one thing they'll have in common. A few weeks from now, both will have a trophy. Why you got to do this to me, dude? I don't think you want the Jalen Hurt smoke against Sam Darnold, do you? Interestingly, can we add another category on there live on television? Turnovers?

Because Sam Darnold led the NFL in turnovers this year. Yes, more than Gino Smith and more than Tua. Come on, Colin. I just can't get over this. And I know you love Sam Darnal. I like him. You know, when we were at that Arizona Super Bowl, I'm outside on one of these parties. And I see this guy on his phone.

I'm like, holy cow, that's Sam Darnold. Went right up and talked to him. I was like, oh, I'm a Jets fan, Bobba. Nicest guy. I'm a fan. I love the USC story. The Minnesota Vikings had him in the building. The entire season, they have a smart front office.

It's very shrewd. They have a super sharp coach who everybody likes. You call him Tall McVeigh. Yeah. He had Sam Donald for the entire season and said, you had a great run, 35 touchdowns, but we're going to move on. There is no planet where anybody would do that to Jalen Hertz who won a Super Bowl MVP. Let me throw this out.

I always try to be consistent on this show. I have defended quarterbacks who throw interceptions. Because most of your great coaches bake it in. I want you throwing 38 times. I want you thrown it downfield. If Darnold wins the Super Bowl, he will be the second quarterback to win one and lead the league in picks or turnovers. The other is Matt Stafford is a ram.

Matt Stafford throws the ball aggressively down the field. Sam Darnold does. when you watch a lot of these guys in the league doing the underneath. Kirk Cousins, they don't want to get whacked. There's a lot of stuff that's underneath. Sam is letting it rip. Stafford is letting it rip. I have defended forever.

Andrew Luck. By the way, Eli Manning, two Super Bowls. I want my quarterback to be aggressive. I want my general manager to be aggressive. I want my coach to be aggressive. I don't think in a league with the margins are this thin, you win being safe. That's why I said with both Sean Payton and McVey going for it on fourth,

I just hated the play call by Sean Payton. I didn't hate going for it. I just not going to put the ball in Jared Stidham's hands. Stiddy. Hey, so let me ask you, Colin. So Sam Donald is not one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the league or even close. No. I am on Seattle to win the Super Bowl.

I'm rooting for them. I'm financially invested. What do you do if Sam Donald wins a Super Bowl? Does he then have the ability to go to Seattle and be like, hey, I want a Super Bowl. I want Jalen Hertz money. I want top five quarterback. But can he do that?

Because all of a sudden, you know, his stats show, he's right up there with Mahomes and Lamar. Like, is that what's coming next for Sam Darnold? I don't think that's his personality. I don't. He's leaving 20 mil on the table when those guys are pocketing 55 and he's at 35 or whatever the numbers are? I don't know.

I think he has, I thought he had a two or a three-year deal. I don't think they're going to tear about. I'm just curious. It's like, you win the Super Bowl, you're the MVP. You kind of get what you ask for, right? Hey, I need a new deal. That's how this works. That's how the business works.

Well, I don't think it, I don't think that's his personality, and I don't think he'll get it. And I don't think, I mean, he may, Seattle is drafted so well. They probably, I don't know what their cap situation is yet, but. They got like three cornerbacks who are going to be free agents and could be on the move. So that, that wouldn't be ideal. This is interesting. The staff just sent me this. He's under contract, Donald, for two more years.

Okay. From 2022 to 23, Mahomes had the second most picks across those seasons and the Chiefs won back-to-back Super Bowls. I think old-school thinking can't throw picks. Stafford won a Super Bowl. Mahomes

won back-to-back Super Bowls. Darnold is favored to win the Super Bowl with all those picks. The other thing is, teams don't huddle as much as they used to. The pace, like the NBA, the pace is faster. What does that mean? If you used to throw an interception

and there were only 49 snaps, what if you have 68 and throw an interception? You can throw an interception and you can recover from it because now you're getting another 18 snaps or whatever it is per game. So again, it's over the course of a concert, an hour concert is a musician. If you hit the wrong note once, be one thing if you were doing a song.

If you're doing 16, you can hit the wrong note once. And my take is the game is faster. There's more snaps. quarterbacks now often throw more times than there were snaps 20 years ago so I can live with interceptions. Okay, so it's not just interceptions. It was fumbles. I have to punch it in here real quick. So total fumbles this year among quarterbacks.

Cam Ward, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield all had 11. Cam lost seven of them, so ball security an issue. Sam Darnold lost six, second most among quarterbacks. And ball security was a bugaboo of his with the Jets. He gets a little loosey-goosey in the pocket. So it's not just the interceptions. Again, he's a really good quarterback. I don't think this great game he had against the Rams, one game vaults him into like top

10 quarterback status in the league. I was thinking about this. And I'm not going to do a list. But if you think about top 10 quarterbacks in the league, you have to consider everything. Yeah. And right now, what do I do with Donald and what do I do with Drake May? What do I do with Drake May? He literally led the NFL to the dot in completion percentage.

Yeah. He has won 16 of his last 17 games with a battle. offensive line and a run game that took a while to get going? I mean, well, what do I do with Drake May? I think he's a top 10 quarterback. Let me posit this question, Colin, based on that. So you have one game to win. Forget salary. One game to win. You plop him on your team. You go. Are you taking Dak Prescott or Drake May? Drake May. Wow, that was fast. What about Jared Goff or Drake May? Drake May can move. Drake May. So you clearly have Drake May as a top 10 quarter. Well, Drake May is, I have to consider everything.

He is young and super mobile. I mean, in the Denver game, he had the scramble. He is very, like the Herbert and Drake Mays, they can get out of the pocket and give me extra plays. Caleb Williams, you call a play with Caleb Williams, it goes south. So what?

I get a second play. Same with Alan. Same with Drake May. You don't get that with golf. You don't get that with Matt Stavert. The play you call is the play you get, and that's it. So when I have a young guy that can move, I mean, you saw what Josh McDaniel was doing in two of the biggest plays of the game.

Yeah. He wanted Drake made a run. You can't do that if you're the Rams. You don't get that play. It reminds me of Jack Prescott early. He was running a lot, Colin, his like first five years. Then he had that gnarly leg injury. He's not running as much.

He's more of a pocket guy than he used to be. He used to scramble with his legs. So that's a fair point on May. Darnold also very mobile with the legs. He can move. He could scoot, as they say. Yeah. Wow.

Okay. Jimmy Johnson, the Hall of Famer, who, for the record, had to wait a long time to get into the Hall of Fame. You know, used to be coaches. You had to be out of the league, what, five, six years? Players still have to be out of the league for a long time. Tom Brady's not eligible for years. Drew Breeze is just eligible, I believe, this year. Now coaches, all they have to do is wait one year.

I don't like, if players have to wait, why do coaches get in? Players are more valuable than coaches. We watch for players more than we watch for coaches. I don't love that kind of alteration of methodology. Seth Wickersham talked about that. So did Albert Breer, Jimmy Johnson next. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers.

I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to it. We get to ask people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put. it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

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. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season.

And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to. He's like, you know. I love you, dog.

You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your husband is not who you think he is. Your body is not what you thought it was. Your identity is formed by a secret history. I'm Danny Shapiro.

And these are just a few of the stunning stories I'll be exploring on the 14th season of family secrets. He kind of shoved me out of the way and said, move. And he went out the front door and he jumped. in a car and drove off, and that was the last time I saw him. Listen to season 14 of Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.