January 8, 2025 • 40 mins
Colin gives his reasons why the Raiders shouldn't have fired HC Antonio Pierce
He shares the obvious reason why Bill Belichick failed at the end of his time with the Patriots and why NFL teams aren't interested in hiring him
Guest: Greg Olsen
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Oh, we got a Wednesday show today, Drew Brees, Greg Olsen,
Peter Schrager live in LA. It's The Herd wherever you
may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for
making as a part of your day, and thoughts and
prayers to the people in Malibu and Pacific Palisades. I've
never seen anything like it. I did not grow up
in Los Angeles. I've been here almost a decade. It
(00:45):
is apocalyptic in Los Angeles this morning. Dark clouds over
all over Los Angeles as fires in one hundred mile
an hour winds reportedly last night just in Golf Malibu.
It's hard to see anything left standing. So Fami, these kids.
So far, it's been property and homes lost just just
(01:07):
a rough twenty four hours in Los Angeles. Pretty gutting
to drive to work this morning. J. Mac is joining
me as always, and again we've got a really good
show today, but it's a pretty somber tone here in
Los Angeles as we're watching friends and associates and neighbors
and colleagues go through really, really difficult times. Some of
the videos online that I watched for thirty minutes this morning,
(01:31):
it's hard to wrap your brain around. It looks like
an awful movie. So again, best everybody out there getting
through in Los Angeles in absolutely horrible, horrific, unspeakable tragedy
with these very unique, bizarre, eighty ninety mile an hour
wins which are spreading wildfires all over the city. And
(01:54):
we'll go from there, and we'll start our show today
and listen, we got college football theF tomorrow and Friday,
great games. I mean that Ohio State Texas game is
going to be one for the ages. And then we
have you know, NFL Playoff Action starts this weekend, and
you know, we talk are more willing to fire coaching staffs.
(02:15):
So I'm going to play a game today called defend
the owner and blame the owner. And let's start with
the latter. Blame the owner. The Raiders fired Antonio Piers
I would have not fired Antonio Piers. They are now
as a franchise, paying four coaches. They're paying John Gruden still,
Josh McDaniel still, Antonio Peers, and probably in the next
two days a fourth coach. That'll be official. They'll hire
(02:37):
somebody else. I assume they'll have another coach, And they've
tried every path. The owner wanted to hire a legend
who'd been out of the sport for a while. John
Gruden didn't work. They tried to hire Josh McDaniels, the
whiz kid from the Dynasty. That did not work, and
then they thought, well, we're going to do We're going
to keep the interim coach who's a former Raider and
love by players. And I didn't know if it would work,
(02:59):
but I still would have kept him on. And Antonio
Pierce got fired. So for the record, he was nine
and seventeen. But I thought the Raiders, considering their quarterback situation,
played close games. I mean, they beat Mahomes in Red
in Arrowhead in Arrowhead last season with Aiden o'connollt quarterback,
and they were a block kick away from beating Mahomes
(03:22):
in Reid this year in Arrowhead with Aiden o'connollc quarterback.
I mean Andy Reid in his division with a better quarterback,
Jim Harbaugh his division with a better quarterback. Sean Payton
in his division with a better quarterback. I mean they
were three and one in division last year and almost
all their games in division were close. He even beat
(03:44):
the Ravens this year in Baltimore and Lamar Jackson with
Gardner Minshew. So I don't think it's to an Antonio
Pierce issue. But we all know being the Raiders head
coach is not a job. It's a residency. Fifteen months,
get some cash, be on your way. We are. This
(04:06):
is a classic example where we are blaming the coaches
and often blaming the gms, and that's not the issue here.
You tell me the great candidate for this job right now,
Ben Johnson. You think with this carousela coaches, he's putting
the Raiders on his list. And oh, by the way,
I like Ben Johnson. This Detroit offense is like eight
(04:29):
guys that could end up getting Hall of Fame votes.
There's a dozen coordinators in the NFL that could score
a lot of points with the Lions. In fact, I'd
argue the Lions' most impressive coordinators Aaron Glenn, the defensive
coordinator who lost his best player, Aiden Hutchinson early in
the year. At one point had like twelve guys on
the ir on defense, and yet week after week, I mean,
they just made Sam Darnold look like he saw ghosts again.
(04:51):
So who are the great candidates? The truth of this,
I'm blaming the owner here. If they would have given
Cliff Kingsbury one more year as the coordinator, he was
offered a two year deal, Washington said, we'll give you
three years. If they'd have offered one more year, Kingsbury
wanted to stay out West. A Texas College coach, Arizona
(05:14):
NFL coach had done USC for one year. He wanted
to stay out West. He wanted that Raider offensive coordinator gig,
and it wouldn't give it to him. And if he
would have gotten the gig, Cliff Kingsbury would have pounded
the table I imagine for Jaden Daniels, because he pounded
the table to Dan Quinn, for Jaden Daniels, not Drake May,
not JJ McCarthy, not Michael Pennix, not Bo Dix, and
(05:35):
Jayden Daniels. This year looks like the best rookie quarterback.
So this is on the owner. You know, the Raiders
owner keeps giving his coach spam and can beans, and
he wants him to beat Bobby Flay and Wolfgang Puck.
Across the street Andy Reid with Mahomes, Jim Harbaugh with
Justin Herbert, Sean Payton with a very good rookie bow knicks.
(05:58):
And this is a guy that should have in back
to back beaten Andy Reid and Mahomes and Arrowhead with
Aidan O'Connell. So in this instance, to me, this is
blamed the owner. This is not blamed the coach. I
would not have fired Antonio Pierce. I'm a friend of
the GM, Tom Telesco. Nobody knew if he would keep
the job. I'm not sure he knew if he would
keep the job. They kept the GM.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
I would have kept the coach. Okay, So that's that's
the first part of this, and that is blame the owner.
Now I'm going to defend an owner, So Bill Belichick.
This week the Legend weighed in on the New England
Patriots firing Gurrod Mayo.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
That shared vision between ownership and coaching and scouting and
that's when you can be successful. And I had that
up until with the last four years in New England.
And when you have that shared vision and you know
everybody kind of pulling in the same direction, you know
you have a chance you can get a lot done.
When you're going in different directions, then that's that makes
it really hard to keep up with everybody body else.
So I think you look at the organizations and you
(07:03):
can kind of see the ones that are and the
ones that aren't.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
No, Bill, It's it's simpler than that. Tom Brady left
New England somebody you wouldn't have dinner with for twenty years,
not one time, who struggled to give him a game ball.
He had good years, left, won a Super Bowl in Tampa,
and you built no coalition, no relationship with him. I
watched the documentary we all did. This isn't about Robert
(07:28):
Kraft not sharing and pulling in the same direction. Robert
Craft didn't get dumb at eighty and decide I want
to do business differently. Now. Quarterbacks are like filters on Instagram.
They make everything pretty. Take them away. A lot of
people look average. Take the Indianapolis Colts when they had
Andrew Locke eleven and five, eleven and five, eleven and
(07:49):
five with an average roster. Everybody loved Chris Ballard, Jim
Ursay straight letting go of Peyton Manning. Now everybody thinks
everybody in the building's dumb. And I like that roster
more than I did with Andrew Luck and I like
Shane Steikin. But the quarterback position in Indianapolis is awful.
I mean, go look at the Bills pre Josh Allen.
(08:11):
They were gonna move to Toronto. They didn't have a
playoff win in twenty five years. They've now won five
straight division titles and they literally own Miami the Jets
in New England. This is not about pulling in the
same direction. This is about a coach who made everybody
bend the knee and the minute. Tom Brady, who bought
into it for twenty years, took pay cuts, rallied behind
(08:36):
the coach, did a local AM radio hit every Monday
to have the same message as Bill Belichick the next week.
I mean, it was all sacrificed by Brady until it
was enough sacrificing and he wanted to have some say
in the offense. Go watch the documentary and then he
left and won a Super Bowl in Tampa, being that
franchise as best quarterback too. This is not about Robert Kraft.
(09:00):
The minute Brady left, the filter was off Instagram. Bill
hired a defensive coordinator to be offensive coordinator. He had
a draft in which he picked three offensive guards and
two kickers, and they desperately needed speed. In fact, if
you go back and look at the last twenty years,
only one of Belichick's drafts at New England, one player,
(09:22):
one skill player made a Pro Bowl. Gronk won twenty years.
Bill seized control, made everybody bend to knee, and that
worked when you had that eraser and Tom Brady, and
when he left, it all came tumbling down. And by
the way, I think Dan Quinn's doing a great job
in Washington, but Jaden Daniels erases all the mistakes. So
(09:47):
after winning six Super Bowls, Robert Kraft did not get dumb.
But as we know in multiple books, Bill took more power.
If Brady was irritated, annoyed, defeated and left, and that's
when the problem started. Brady's last year the year he
(10:08):
would complain on television and the cameras caught him about
yelling at receivers. Somebody gets separation. They can't. They were
Belichick's draft picks and free agent makings. So you know,
I think what happens is Brady hid Bill's inability to
draft well, his grumpiness, his inability to create a progressive
(10:28):
young staff. It's the same old re treads every time,
and Brady hit all of it. Then he left and
it all came tumbling down twenty years with Belichick mostly
controlling the personnel. One skill player grunk me the Pro Bowl.
So the Raiders situation, that's an owner situation, the New
(10:50):
England one. I don't buy the craft suddenly who wanted
to keep Tom? Who pushed back on keeping Garoppolo and
keeping Tom and they won other Super Bowls. I don't
buy it's all craft. I don't buy it for a second.
Ask yourself this, If it's all craft, why did Belichick
get one legitimate interview for a job, Because a lot
(11:12):
of people saw what I saw on what you saw.
Everybody was going in the same direction, and Tom kept
it all together. Colin, you're saying that because he works
at Fox. I said it three years ago, I said
it five years ago. It's the most lob sided divorce
in pro sports history. Brady left and one in Tampa,
(11:33):
literally Belichick, who couldn't win in Cleveland, who couldn't win
with Ledsoe, who couldn't let win when Brady left won
one time with one quarterback Andy Reid's one with a Bunch,
Sean Payton's one with a bunch, Bill one, Greg Olsen,
Peter Scheger, and Drew Brees. I'll stop by today again.
(11:53):
Heart's thoughts prayers go out to the people in Malibu
and Pacific Palisades coastal towns here just over the last
twenty four hours. The winds continue to whip. As I
drove in this morning again, it was just a haunting
scene the hills on fire in Los Angeles. So you
just you cross your fingers. We got a lot of
people in this building. I don't think we'll be evacuated,
(12:15):
but we're not that far from the beach. You know,
rough day here in LA for a lot of people
thinking of you.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
All right, welcome back, Greg Olsen, who's just fantastics going
to join us in twenty minutes. Drew Brees also, Peter
Scheger stops by. There's a lot of movement in the
coaching area and we should know stuff here in the
next six to seven days. The Chicago Bears are interested
in Mike McCarthy and Jerry Jones. In the last twelve
twenty four hours has denied the Chicago Bears the right
(12:53):
to interview Mike McCarthy until his contract runs out. So
my guess is they're working on extending Mike McCarthy in Dallas,
and we can take jabs at Jerry Jones, but I
think it's a smart move. So first of all, there's
not a huge list of proven candidates, and McCarthy is
actually the guy that gets the most out of Dak
and that's a real thing since he arrived. This is
(13:15):
hard to believe, but since Mike McCarthy arrived in Dallas,
they have the number two offense in the NFL. That
is ahead of Reied Mahomes, Sean mcvah and Stafford and
boy genius Kyle Shanahan is ninth on that list. And
that's what Dak Prescott. So once you decided to pay
Dak Prescott two hundred and forty million. In an extension,
you got to find somebody that gets the best out
(13:35):
of Dak Prescott. And you know who gets the best
out of him? That guy. When Dak is healthy, they
win twelve games. But remarkably, when Dak isn't healthy and
doesn't play, there's still five hundred and I think one
of the things that really hurts Mike McCarthy is optics.
There's two kind of coaches. Everybody, including me, loves the slick, young, clever,
(14:01):
a lot of motion in the offense, offensive guy. It's
a lot of McVeigh lafleur. We like those guys. People
like those guys, the young, progressive, smart, clever, outthink people.
Ben Johnson now is that. And the other kind of
coach we really wrap our arms around is the alpha
the presence as Mike Tomlin, that's Vrabel, as Dan Campbell,
(14:23):
that's Jim Harbaugh, a little bit of John Harbaugh. McCarthy's neither.
It's not slick, young and clever, just a good offensive coach,
and he doesn't have a big alpha presence in the
locker room. So and a lot of it to me
is optics. Those are the two kind of coaches we
like so and I think Mike McCarthy though, the one
(14:43):
thing I will defend him on. If you're gonna defend
Mike Tomlin, who is a defensive coach and the offense
feels absolutely outdated under him in Pittsburgh for about seven, eight, nine,
ten years, then you got to defend Mike McCarthy because
in an offensive league, because a rule changes and safety practices,
he's on the right side of the ball. And none
(15:04):
of us think Dak is Josh Allen or Lamar or
Mahomes or Burrow. We think he's pretty good and he's
winning twelve games a year when Dak Prescott is healthy
with a pretty good quarterback. McCarthy's got a Super Bowl ring.
He's effective, he wins a lot, and he wins with
different personalities. Now that we've seen more about Aaron Rodgers
(15:25):
and his for lack of a better word, quirkiness, he
worked with that, he worked with Farv, he works with Dak,
he works with Cooper, rush, starters, legends, backups. He wins
with all of them. So we can take all the
jabs at Jerry Jones, but I will say, if you're
defending Tomlin. You got to defend Mike McCarthy. He's got
(15:46):
a Super Bowl ring. He's worked with multiple personalities, He's
won with stars and non stars, non legends and legends
at quarterback, and he's on the right side of the ball.
And I think right now Dallas saying no to the
Chicago Bears is saying actually yes to an extension of
Mike McCarthy. And I think they're working on one. J
Mack with the.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
News this is the herd Line.
Speaker 5 (16:11):
News stick in the NFL where the Eagles, they are
the number two seed in the NFC playoffs. They will
host the seven seed Packers. Last year, everybody remembers the
Packers becoming the first seven seed to advance to the
divisional round when they smoke Dallas. Eagles did lose to
Tampa in the wild card. Obviously, the Eagles don't want
(16:32):
to repeat a history. And Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fongio
broke down what makes the Packers offense special.
Speaker 6 (16:40):
Well, they got a really good line to begin with.
You know, I think their five o linemen have stayed,
have been in there for every play. I think number one,
number two, they have a great back. Jacobs has had
as good as your as anybody, and he's hard to tackle,
runs physical, and they have the play pass game off
(17:01):
of it, you know. So they have really good big
play receivers that you're always worried about, and the combination
of them being to throw it down the field and
run it is a tough combination.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
By the way, Jalen Hurts will practice today, According to
Ian Rappaport, Nick Seriani says, Jalen Hurts is practicing. Therefore,
in the concussion protocol now he's moved forward. And that's
what we talked about yesterday. I feel good about Philadelphia
winning this game. This was the first day of practice
for them, first day of eligible practice. So Hurts is
out there. Hurts is playing, and that means he'll play
against green Bay.
Speaker 5 (17:34):
My guess is most people who are looking at the
Packers here just remember that Dallas game last year, yeah.
Speaker 7 (17:40):
And are like, oh, well, you know, the end of
the season wasn't great, but they'll be fine. They're a
playoff team.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
I'm with you.
Speaker 7 (17:46):
I think Eagles will decide if it Hurts is okay.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
I think green Bay is built now, and I think
green Bay's staff deserves a lot of credit. We talk
about this all the time. Doesn't matter if it's a
business or a football team, what's your identity. And I
thought last year their identity was Jordan Love ascension and
all these great receivers and Aaron Jones sort of got lost.
And then in the offseason they said, we're going to
(18:11):
become a power run team and our off speed pitch
is Jordan Love and the young receivers and tight ends.
And so I think what they did a really good
job of is here's what we were last year, young, ascending,
a little bit reckless, very youthful. Now we're going to
be an older team and more of a power run
team first, and Jordan Love will throw twenty six times,
(18:33):
not thirty eight times. And I think they're a very
good team. So I still think I think this is
a bit and I like Green Bay's personnel, but it's
a bit of a personnel matchup. I think Philadelphia's got
the best roster in football, and Green Bay without Jai
r Alexander and Christian Watson and on the road, and
(18:54):
Jordan Love's got a semi groin injury. This just feels
like they're just not going to have the ammo to
go three and a half hours toe to toe with Philly.
Speaker 5 (19:03):
So I think that if you look back at that
Vikings game two weeks ago against the Packers where the
Green bakerld do nothing for three quarters, the Minnesota folks
talked about they changed their defense up because Jordan Love
destroys zone defense on the back end. If you play zone,
he can find the spots his receivers sit down, but
against man coverage his numbers are way down. Philly can
play a lot of man because they got the two
(19:23):
young corners. I'm leaning toward the Eagles with Yell.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
That's my favorite bet of the weekend.
Speaker 8 (19:29):
Favorite.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
I like, Wow, there's a college game I like, and
I think Philadelphia is there's one underdog this weekend. I
like in the NFL.
Speaker 5 (19:38):
Now, the only reason to not love Philly, I'm telling you,
Laflor versus Sirianni is a really lopsided matchup when coach
is awesome and then they're Sirianni. Let's move on to
the Chicago Bears. They got a lot of work to
do this offseason. Topic Number one, obviously for them is
finding a new head coach you can work with.
Speaker 7 (19:56):
Caleb Williams.
Speaker 5 (19:57):
Caleb spoke to the media about what he's looking for
in a new coach.
Speaker 9 (20:02):
I would just say, I mean, just challenge me, you know,
whether it's you know, pulling me aside, whether it's you
know and saying whatever, or you know, I haven't talked
consistently or maybe not or uh maybe having you know,
a list of things that you know, we want to accomplish,
you know, myself first, and then you know, because that
that helps helps team, and then you know, from there,
(20:24):
you know, help find ways to you know, set other
goals and things like that.
Speaker 7 (20:28):
So Howiver Alver may work out, you know, just a challenge.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Yeah, I've got more thoughts on that later. But I mean,
let me ask you should he have a say in
the coach.
Speaker 5 (20:43):
I don't have a major problem with going in and saying, hey, Caleb,
I'm just curious, what do you think about X y Z.
Speaker 7 (20:51):
I don't have a problem with that asking for his input.
What's wrong with that?
Speaker 1 (20:55):
The only downside of that, I'm sure you could predict
is if he has a strong opinion and you'd go
in an opposite direction.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
Well, again, That's why I'm not saying who do you want?
Speaker 7 (21:05):
I'm saying, like, hey, Joe Smith, over here.
Speaker 5 (21:08):
Do you know him at all? You know, Mike, Mike Jones.
What do you think about that guy? And I'm looking
on the list. I don't see a lot of guys
who have a history with Caleb. Yeah, I don't see
a lot of guys that he is gonna David Shaw,
that's a surprise name. I don't Would you be interested
in David Shaw? Well, you're not giving him the keys
to the franchise, but he is the face of your team.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
There is only one coach that I know would win
on that list, Mike Roumele. Mike Rabel would win games.
I don't know how many, but Mike Rabel would win games.
Outside of that, it is coordinators, coaches who have listen
br I like Brian Flores. He robbed a lot of
people the wrong way. So he's an intense guy.
Speaker 7 (21:48):
We'll get to him later.
Speaker 5 (21:50):
Yeah, But like you see Joe Brady on the list. Okay,
Joe Brady awesome regular season? Can I see in the playoffs?
By the way, Todd Munkett, you see what he dig
up against the Chiefs last year in that playoff lost They.
Speaker 7 (22:00):
Looked it was one of the worst game plans I've ever.
Speaker 5 (22:02):
Seen Remember they didn't run the football, remember, and it's like, oh,
Tod Munkin's on the list.
Speaker 7 (22:07):
Can we just see the playoffs?
Speaker 5 (22:09):
I get regular season success, but I don't want to
see postseason success as well.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Yeah, I agree, all right, It.
Speaker 7 (22:15):
Just it doesn't look great for Chicago. But it did
like a month ago, didn't it. Things changed quickly.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Man, they changed very quickly. If you if you hired
Rabel tomorrow or even to me, Pete Carroll, I would
be like, Okay, this is interesting. I'm gonna win some games.
But I but I would say I said this yesterday
on there set nine guys on this list aren't serious
candidates for this kind of franchise and this kind of
lift in that kind of division. I mean, let's just
be honest. The Raiders have to hire a coach who
(22:42):
goes up against Andy Reid, Jim Harbaugh, Sean Payton. That's
six of your games every year. You're gonna go with
the first time coach, you know? I mean that, I
mean to me, uh, I'm I'm if Tom Brady's got
to say get on the phone with some hitters. Now.
Speaker 7 (23:00):
It was early December when I mentioned Marcus Freeman or
Notre Dame. I know, Notre Dame re up to him.
Speaker 5 (23:06):
If Freeman gets the win over Penn State, Okay, goes
to the national Championship.
Speaker 7 (23:12):
I mean, do you do you have to revisit dude,
don't you?
Speaker 5 (23:15):
I would say, I know some people are gonna think
this is crazy. I would at least put in a
call to Dillingham at Arizona State. The speed in which
he turned that program around and the ingenuity that they
have offensively, the creativity, I would at least see what
he's got to say. I'm more intrigued by a couple
of college guys sark as opposed to no disrespect with
(23:35):
some of these guys on this list.
Speaker 7 (23:37):
I'm refused, like, what are we doing now?
Speaker 5 (23:38):
Final story, Colin, I love this. You and I both
love takes. Okay, this is an outside the box. So
Peter King has chimed in on a suggestion the Pittsburgh
Steelers could do at quarterback next season.
Speaker 7 (23:52):
Are you ready for this? Here we go.
Speaker 8 (23:55):
If I were the Pittsburgh Steelers, knowing that I've got
Cam Hayward, TJ wh I got guys on defense with
their expiration dates not long in the future, you know,
and I would want to come in and try to
get a quarterback who could make me competitive with Baltimore
(24:17):
and Cincinnati in twenty twenty five. And that guy, to
me would be Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 7 (24:26):
That is juicy stuff. You're not as intrigued.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
I think Aaron's gonna have a market. I think he
should stay in New York. I don't think Aaron should
be a bounce around the league guy.
Speaker 7 (24:38):
That's where he is. My friend Brett Farve was a
bounce around the league guy.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Until he got to the perfect spot. He got to
a really good spot in Minneapolis with the Vikings had
some real good players. I again, I got DeVante Adams,
my friend, I got a place there. I've got teammates.
I like, I've got a really good defense. Want you now?
Speaker 7 (24:58):
You know the Jets don't want to there.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Man, that feels like a leap. I don't know if
that's true.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
Garret Wilson was on record, well I don't know if
he's on record, but there was a lot of chatter
that Garrett Wilson was like, get me out of here, okay.
Soft Gardner look at some of the social media stuff
from him and dj Reen like Rogers rubbed people the
wrong way, just like he did in Greenville.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Well, he's gonna do it in Pittsburgh. Go fine, just
do it in another locker.
Speaker 7 (25:19):
Room on the Jets. I don't know how how do
you think he would fare in that division? That's a
tough division.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
I think Aaron at this point is about the fifteenth
best quarterback in the league, and I think he would
fare the same in virtually every situation. There's no place
he's gonna win the super Bowl, and there's no place
he's going to go, you know, oh and seventeen. I
think I think you're going to be looking at a
guy in a really good situation. He could win nine
games and a bad one. It's the Jets. He wins
four or five.
Speaker 7 (25:47):
No, I do I think actually does he work in Pittsburgh?
Speaker 5 (25:50):
Because I felt like it was oil and water in
New York and it hasn't gone great.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Well. He worked in the smallest city in the NFL,
Green Bay, and the biggest city in our country, New York.
Speaker 7 (25:59):
So I don't think work well in New York. Please
stops well.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
I think he said it's the best two years of
his life. He is, well, the success is not there.
The media is all over him like the owner.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
I think, Aaron, we have to shift our expectations. I
think he in a very good spot. He could win
nine ten games.
Speaker 7 (26:16):
Hey, Russell Wilson did that.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
If he didn't, well that's what Pittsburgh went. That's what
I'm saying is I don't think. I think you look
at it and think, oh, he'd be an upgrade over
Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson with Mike Tomlin beat the teams
they should have and couldn't beat the really good teams
in the league. I don't think you're beating Baltimore with
Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson.
Speaker 5 (26:34):
So would you bring back Russell Wilson over Gopher Aaron
because he wants money. Russ wants money.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Yeah. I think there's again I can see the ceiling
with Russell Wilson and Aaron. I can see the ceiling.
Sometimes it's not about the ceiling, it's just you know,
it's just like Lamar Jackson, by the way, losing in
the playoffs. It's not a ceiling issue. It's he gets
all worked up, issue intense, and he admitted that yesterday.
But I think with Aaron and Russell, I think they're
closer inability than people. I think Aaron's better from the pocket,
(27:02):
and I think Russell's better moving around. But I think
in both instances, in a really good situation, they can
win nine or ten games. No shot to win a
playoff game in the AFC, no way. There's just too
many great players and great quarterbacks. Look at look at
how good the quarterbacks are in the AFC. Now Mahomes
Allan Lamar Herbert just right off the top Borough. That's
five of the there's an argument those are the five
(27:23):
best quarterbacks in the league, all in the AFC. Now,
Stafford's up there, Gof's very good, Jalen Hurts, But there's
an argument the five best are in the AFC.
Speaker 7 (27:31):
Don't forget your guy bo Nicks of course.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Well, and then the second tier is bow Nicks and C. J. Stroud,
and they're not bad. So I just think that you
have to come to terms expectations, and I think Aaron
and Russell Wilson are closer in talent than anybody would
want to admit. One's more popular than the other, or
at least Aaron used to be more popular. I'm not
sure what he is now. Jmack with the news.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by The
Herd Line news.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Greg Olsen did such a remarkable job and has done
a remarkable job for us here at Fox Sports. He's
going to join us around the corner.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
at noon Eastern non am Pacific.
Speaker 10 (28:12):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 11 (28:17):
You could catch us weekdays from five to seven pm
Eastern two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and
of course the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 11 (28:26):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world.
Speaker 10 (28:30):
We have a lot of fun talking about the stories
behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture,
stories that well, other shows don't seem to have the
time to discuss.
Speaker 11 (28:39):
And the fact that we've been friends for the last
twenty years and still work together. I mean that says something, right,
So check us out.
Speaker 10 (28:44):
We like to get you involved too, take your phone calls,
chop it up, as they say.
Speaker 11 (28:49):
I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio,
maybe the most interactive show on Planetar.
Speaker 10 (28:54):
Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app from five to
seven pm Eastern for Pacific, and if you miss any
of the live show, just search Kobe non Rich wherever
you get your podcasts, and of course on social media.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
That's Cavino and Rich. Well. Greg Olsen played for fourteen
years in the NFL, primarily for the Bears and the Panthers.
He was a multiple time pro bowler. Now he's a
great broadcaster for Fox Sports. He's now joining US Live.
And you know there's the Game of Note on our
network primarily as Packers Eagles. Everybody will talk about that.
(29:26):
It's interesting because you know, Green Bay did something in
the off season. I really liked. They identified and you
know this, you're as good as your identity. And they
were a little bit young and reckless last year, very
dependent on Jordan Love making plays, which he could do.
But then in the off season they said, you know what,
we're gonna go get Josh Jacobs. We're gonna be a
little bit more of a power running team. And Jordan
Love's not gonna throw thirty eight times, he's gonna throw
(29:48):
twenty six, and I like that version. But he's banged up,
Christian Watson's out, JayR Alexander banged up. And I don't know, Greg,
if they you've seen both these teams, I don't know
if they can go into Philadelphia and win. I mean,
are they just outmanned here? Listen.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
I've been pretty clear the multiple games I've called for Philadelphia.
I think the Eagles, from top to bottom, have the
best roster in football. Now the caveat it. By all measures,
it sounds like that Hurts is going to be back
out there at practice and take the next step in
the concussion protocol. So obviously that's the big kind of
question mark that lingers. But just overall, big picture, top
to bottom, both sides of the ball, both coordinators, head coach,
(30:26):
play style. They're probably the best roster top to bottom
in football. Now, how does that always play out? Not
always the case in the NFL that the best team wins.
So in this matchup, more about the Packers and the
place that I agree with you like that was a
conscious effort by Laflora to say, Okay, we're gonna put
last last week, we put a ton on Jordan Love. Yes,
we put a ton on the youngest wide receiver corps
(30:48):
in football, and they took it way longer than anybody
imagine going into the season. We called that upset win
over the Cowboys there in the wildcard round. That kind
of started the downfall in Dallas. But the biggest difference,
remember now, their only ability to play that run style
with Josh Jacobs and be more committed to all that
heavy run and not and take some load off Jordan
Loup is completely dependent upon how good are they playing
(31:10):
on defense. Right, So every time everyone talks about, man,
they've got this great run game, your ability to run
the ball in the NFL is directly proportionate to your
ability to play defense. If your defense can't get stops
and Philly goes up and down the field, no one
cares how good you're running back is. Nobody cares if
you run for one hundred and fifty yards, because you're
gonna run for one hundred and fifty yards, you're gonna
score seventeen points and we're gonna score thirty. So like
(31:33):
it's that's been the biggest difference. I think defensively in
Green Bay they've played well. I think they've really and
that run game and play good defense and then make
the plays with the young athletic wide receiver corps and
Jordan Loup. That formula has served them well. The question
is against the team like Philly on the road that
with a healthy Jalen Hurts can score, can run ken
pass is explosive and is one of the top defenses
(31:55):
in football. Can you keep the game close enough to
allow Josh Jacobs and this really fun, kind of diverse
style of run game that that Lafleur has concoct it up?
Can you play?
Speaker 1 (32:07):
I got to ask you about something I said this
a couple of days ago about Detroit. When Dan Campbell
gives these speeches sometimes I'm you know, I'm a little
bit of a cynical media person. I go, oh, they're
a little they're a little cringey, but they're not to
the players. You know, you guys are all there's a
brotherhood and the masculinity to football that I can't relate to.
And one guy unravels a locker room if he's not
(32:28):
on board. So I think Dan Campbell I missed on that.
I think he's a home run coach. Now, Sirianni can
drive me crazy because he has assistance holding him back
from players. He's barking at fans. But my brain goes to, well,
Dan Campbell is very emotional. I didn't see it. It works.
Do you ever watch the Sirianni theatrics as a player
(32:51):
who's got a better feel of this than I do.
Do you ever look at it and go, Nick, you're
not a fan? Or do you get the emotion in
an emotional city? Philadelphia works because I look at it
and I think this is going to unravel. You can
have your coach being held off by assistance. How do
you view him?
Speaker 3 (33:11):
No, I think it's a great question right there, and
that was something we always preaching in a locker room.
There's a very there's a difference between being emotional and
being passionate. Right, Emotions sometimes can get away from you
and be a distraction. Passionate means like, I am so
committed to the goals and the objectives of this unit
that I'm willing to do anything and everything when it
comes to the emotion and the passion whenever you want
(33:31):
to classify it in this case, on the sideline of
these two guys, remember the advantage that they have is
that they're not the play callers right, So their team,
their their role on the team on game day is
game day management, timeouts, end of game situations, before half
clock management. We got we got four downs here, Hey,
we got to play for the touchdown, we're in field
(33:52):
goal range.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Whatever.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
The game management. I think the two of these guys
do it as well as anybody in football. I think
that's there in game day roll. But they are not
living and dying like Kevin O'Connell and that lafleur and McVeigh,
where they're living and dying with their call sheet in
every single play. I'm mad about first down, I'm mad
about the offensive holding call. I'm mad, but I've got
(34:14):
to call second and twenty right. So it's a little
bit of an advantage that the non play calling head
coaches have is they can really dive deep into messaging
and vision and game day emotion and strategy and manage
the team, manage the people, manage the relationships because they
don't have to do the play to play first and ten,
(34:36):
second and five, third and two. That's a whole different advantage.
Kevin O'Connell can't be losing his mind getting into it
with defensive players because the offense is on the field,
so again it's a different role. I think it's two
roles that these guys have obviously done as well as
anybody in football. And I think I don't think Sirianni
gets enough credit. I think right now Dan Campbell's getting
(34:58):
all the flowers, and god, he probably even deserves more.
He's what he's done there is remarkable. Sirianni. All he
has done is win. He's won with different coordinators on
both sides of the ball. Obviously, how he wrote, they
draft incredible, they develop. I think Sirianni doesn't get enough credit.
And I think to your point, it's a lot because
if everyone sees the high emotion in the high But
(35:19):
as a player, I love it. I don't mind my
coach being into it because that's how I was like,
I'm cool with it.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
I love that. Okay, I want to give you some
time for this one. We got about four minutes left.
There are times that I see players in Major League Baseball,
the NBA, or football. They have a ceiling and they
get to the playoffs against the very best, and they
hit the ceiling and then there's Peyton Manning or a
rod until the Yankees or Aaron Judge or Lamar Jackson.
(35:47):
It's not a ceiling thing. They're clenching their teeth too hard.
Lamar came out and said, I just get too anty
in these games. And you know, and so like Aaron
Judge dropping a fly ball, that's not Aaron Judge. That's
not a thing. So how do you break through it?
Bill Pollian once told me with Peyton Manning, he said, Peyton,
(36:07):
you're a teeth clencher. Give yourself a break. You make
me up tight being around you in a playoff game.
And Peyton got some wins and got through it. How
does Lamar do that?
Speaker 3 (36:18):
Yeah? Well, I think the last thing you just said, right,
the Peyton example is sometimes in order to get through something,
the only option is is that's the way, right. The
obstacle is the way. The only way through it is
through it. So I think it's gonna take one playoff win.
I think it's gonna get off, get off to a
fast start, right, And I think that's where coaches. I
think Todd Munkin's done a masterful job there since since
(36:40):
Harball bought him in. We talked about this in our
game we covered a couple of weeks ago he said,
Harball's done an unbelievable job surrounding Lamar Jackson with the
right coordinator at the right time, and early in his
career they built it around his run, and now with
Todd Munkin, they've really as he makes a bigger impact
as a passer than he does as a runner, and
that's kind of crazy to say for a guy like
(37:00):
Lamar Jackson. So the point being made is understand who
he is, Understand what he does well, Understand the emotion,
the character again, the relationship between coach, play caller and
in this case the quarterback. Get him off to a
really fast start. Call the plays that he loves, Call
the plays he's had success with. See completion, see the
ball go into the hands of your player, get him tackled,
(37:21):
run all the things that are the magic and the
beauty of Lamar Jackson. You know who he is as
a person, you know the caliber he wants to play at,
and you know how much pressure he's putting on himself.
You've got to coach around it. You've got to help
him through that early in games, early in series, and
let him settle into the first playoff game this weekend.
And then you know, what one win turns into two
(37:44):
all of a sudden, he gets that off of his
back and he's the Lamar Jackson that we've seen now
for years and you know, potentially could win another MVP.
So I can't stress enough x's and o's and who
can draw the best plays we are seeing weekend and
week out all across the NFL, which is that understand
the relationships and the motivations of their players, playing to
(38:04):
their strengths. Who are they as people? What motivates them,
what scares them? Where are their weakness?
Speaker 5 (38:09):
Is?
Speaker 3 (38:10):
Man, those guys that have a pulse of their players
in their locker room are the reason you look around
and they win the amount of games. That's Dan Campbell,
that's Sirianni, that's Kevin O'Connell. That's horriball and so many
of these guys, like there's no question Harbaugh, Todd Mounkin,
they know this, They know who Lamar is, they know
the level of expectations he has for himself. They're going
to do a good job settling him to this game
(38:31):
this weekend and saying, hey, the better start we get,
the more comfortable and the more pressure, the less pressure
he feels, and when he feels no pressure, he's he's
Lamar Jackson, and we see the magic that comes with him.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Greg Olsen, Fox Sports, three Pro Bowls, fourteen years in
the league. Credit to our industry. It's good seeing Zola's
my friend.
Speaker 3 (38:50):
I appreciate it. And stay safe out there. Hope you
guys are doing all right.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
All right, one of the really good guys and really
talented guys in our business. Greg Olsen. Also today Peter
Schreger and Drew breestop By. Yeah, it's it's interesting with
with Lamar. It's like with Kirk Cousins or for me,
brought pretty Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 9 (39:09):
Dec.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
I think like there are limitations certain times in cold
weather or against great defenses. I see they've hit something
for years with Alec Rodriguez, it was just above the
shoulders or Barry Bonds, and baseball, you know, is a
little bit like that. Golf has that with those extended
periods of inactivity and you get into your head. Whereas
hockey and basketball there's another shot. You know, the game's
(39:29):
going so fast it's harder to go. And slumps in
the NBA and hockey, I think same with quarterbacks in
the NFL you get five straight passes, you get out
of it. But I do feel with Lamar it's a
he admitted this week, and get I think this is
growth and maturity. He admitted, Yeah, I get tight. I
get all amped up for the record. We saw it
with Sam Darnold against Detroit in Detroit on Monday. Sam
(39:53):
was all juiced up. Sam was overthrowing everybody. Sam was
missing throws he made all year. So these are human beings.
They're young, they get amped up up. They got all
that testostero and all that juice and our and the
stadium's going crazy. And Sam Darnold it just it wasn't
a ghost thing as much as it was. He just
had he had, he was all amped up. I was
watching the clip yesterday Belichick and Brady years ago, and
(40:14):
Belichick on the sidelines is like Tom settle down, step
into it and they start arguing on the sidelines. Young
athletes get amped up means the world to them and
sometimes it overwhelms them. Saw it was Sam. We've seen
it with Lamar Jackson. Okay. Peter Schrager is around the corner.
The very latest on the Bears coaching search in Chicago
(40:34):
Live in Lance the herd,
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Oh, we got a Wednesday show today, Drew Brees, Greg Olsen,
Peter Schrager live in LA. It's The Herd wherever you
may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for
making as a part of your day, and thoughts and
prayers to the people in Malibu and Pacific Palisades. I've
never seen anything like it. I did not grow up
in Los Angeles. I've been here almost a decade. It
(00:45):
is apocalyptic in Los Angeles this morning. Dark clouds over
all over Los Angeles as fires in one hundred mile
an hour winds reportedly last night just in Golf Malibu.
It's hard to see anything left standing. So Fami, these kids.
So far, it's been property and homes lost just just
(01:07):
a rough twenty four hours in Los Angeles. Pretty gutting
to drive to work this morning. J. Mac is joining
me as always, and again we've got a really good
show today, but it's a pretty somber tone here in
Los Angeles as we're watching friends and associates and neighbors
and colleagues go through really, really difficult times. Some of
the videos online that I watched for thirty minutes this morning,
(01:31):
it's hard to wrap your brain around. It looks like
an awful movie. So again, best everybody out there getting
through in Los Angeles in absolutely horrible, horrific, unspeakable tragedy
with these very unique, bizarre, eighty ninety mile an hour
wins which are spreading wildfires all over the city. And
(01:54):
we'll go from there, and we'll start our show today
and listen, we got college football theF tomorrow and Friday,
great games. I mean that Ohio State Texas game is
going to be one for the ages. And then we
have you know, NFL Playoff Action starts this weekend, and
you know, we talk are more willing to fire coaching staffs.
(02:15):
So I'm going to play a game today called defend
the owner and blame the owner. And let's start with
the latter. Blame the owner. The Raiders fired Antonio Piers
I would have not fired Antonio Piers. They are now
as a franchise, paying four coaches. They're paying John Gruden still,
Josh McDaniel still, Antonio Peers, and probably in the next
two days a fourth coach. That'll be official. They'll hire
(02:37):
somebody else. I assume they'll have another coach, And they've
tried every path. The owner wanted to hire a legend
who'd been out of the sport for a while. John
Gruden didn't work. They tried to hire Josh McDaniels, the
whiz kid from the Dynasty. That did not work, and
then they thought, well, we're going to do We're going
to keep the interim coach who's a former Raider and
love by players. And I didn't know if it would work,
(02:59):
but I still would have kept him on. And Antonio
Pierce got fired. So for the record, he was nine
and seventeen. But I thought the Raiders, considering their quarterback situation,
played close games. I mean, they beat Mahomes in Red
in Arrowhead in Arrowhead last season with Aiden o'connollt quarterback,
and they were a block kick away from beating Mahomes
(03:22):
in Reid this year in Arrowhead with Aiden o'connollc quarterback.
I mean Andy Reid in his division with a better quarterback,
Jim Harbaugh his division with a better quarterback. Sean Payton
in his division with a better quarterback. I mean they
were three and one in division last year and almost
all their games in division were close. He even beat
(03:44):
the Ravens this year in Baltimore and Lamar Jackson with
Gardner Minshew. So I don't think it's to an Antonio
Pierce issue. But we all know being the Raiders head
coach is not a job. It's a residency. Fifteen months,
get some cash, be on your way. We are. This
(04:06):
is a classic example where we are blaming the coaches
and often blaming the gms, and that's not the issue here.
You tell me the great candidate for this job right now,
Ben Johnson. You think with this carousela coaches, he's putting
the Raiders on his list. And oh, by the way,
I like Ben Johnson. This Detroit offense is like eight
(04:29):
guys that could end up getting Hall of Fame votes.
There's a dozen coordinators in the NFL that could score
a lot of points with the Lions. In fact, I'd
argue the Lions' most impressive coordinators Aaron Glenn, the defensive
coordinator who lost his best player, Aiden Hutchinson early in
the year. At one point had like twelve guys on
the ir on defense, and yet week after week, I mean,
they just made Sam Darnold look like he saw ghosts again.
(04:51):
So who are the great candidates? The truth of this,
I'm blaming the owner here. If they would have given
Cliff Kingsbury one more year as the coordinator, he was
offered a two year deal, Washington said, we'll give you
three years. If they'd have offered one more year, Kingsbury
wanted to stay out West. A Texas College coach, Arizona
(05:14):
NFL coach had done USC for one year. He wanted
to stay out West. He wanted that Raider offensive coordinator gig,
and it wouldn't give it to him. And if he
would have gotten the gig, Cliff Kingsbury would have pounded
the table I imagine for Jaden Daniels, because he pounded
the table to Dan Quinn, for Jaden Daniels, not Drake May,
not JJ McCarthy, not Michael Pennix, not Bo Dix, and
(05:35):
Jayden Daniels. This year looks like the best rookie quarterback.
So this is on the owner. You know, the Raiders
owner keeps giving his coach spam and can beans, and
he wants him to beat Bobby Flay and Wolfgang Puck.
Across the street Andy Reid with Mahomes, Jim Harbaugh with
Justin Herbert, Sean Payton with a very good rookie bow knicks.
(05:58):
And this is a guy that should have in back
to back beaten Andy Reid and Mahomes and Arrowhead with
Aidan O'Connell. So in this instance, to me, this is
blamed the owner. This is not blamed the coach. I
would not have fired Antonio Pierce. I'm a friend of
the GM, Tom Telesco. Nobody knew if he would keep
the job. I'm not sure he knew if he would
keep the job. They kept the GM.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
I would have kept the coach. Okay, So that's that's
the first part of this, and that is blame the owner.
Now I'm going to defend an owner, So Bill Belichick.
This week the Legend weighed in on the New England
Patriots firing Gurrod Mayo.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
That shared vision between ownership and coaching and scouting and
that's when you can be successful. And I had that
up until with the last four years in New England.
And when you have that shared vision and you know
everybody kind of pulling in the same direction, you know
you have a chance you can get a lot done.
When you're going in different directions, then that's that makes
it really hard to keep up with everybody body else.
So I think you look at the organizations and you
(07:03):
can kind of see the ones that are and the
ones that aren't.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
No, Bill, It's it's simpler than that. Tom Brady left
New England somebody you wouldn't have dinner with for twenty years,
not one time, who struggled to give him a game ball.
He had good years, left, won a Super Bowl in Tampa,
and you built no coalition, no relationship with him. I
watched the documentary we all did. This isn't about Robert
(07:28):
Kraft not sharing and pulling in the same direction. Robert
Craft didn't get dumb at eighty and decide I want
to do business differently. Now. Quarterbacks are like filters on Instagram.
They make everything pretty. Take them away. A lot of
people look average. Take the Indianapolis Colts when they had
Andrew Locke eleven and five, eleven and five, eleven and
(07:49):
five with an average roster. Everybody loved Chris Ballard, Jim
Ursay straight letting go of Peyton Manning. Now everybody thinks
everybody in the building's dumb. And I like that roster
more than I did with Andrew Luck and I like
Shane Steikin. But the quarterback position in Indianapolis is awful.
I mean, go look at the Bills pre Josh Allen.
(08:11):
They were gonna move to Toronto. They didn't have a
playoff win in twenty five years. They've now won five
straight division titles and they literally own Miami the Jets
in New England. This is not about pulling in the
same direction. This is about a coach who made everybody
bend the knee and the minute. Tom Brady, who bought
into it for twenty years, took pay cuts, rallied behind
(08:36):
the coach, did a local AM radio hit every Monday
to have the same message as Bill Belichick the next week.
I mean, it was all sacrificed by Brady until it
was enough sacrificing and he wanted to have some say
in the offense. Go watch the documentary and then he
left and won a Super Bowl in Tampa, being that
franchise as best quarterback too. This is not about Robert Kraft.
(09:00):
The minute Brady left, the filter was off Instagram. Bill
hired a defensive coordinator to be offensive coordinator. He had
a draft in which he picked three offensive guards and
two kickers, and they desperately needed speed. In fact, if
you go back and look at the last twenty years,
only one of Belichick's drafts at New England, one player,
(09:22):
one skill player made a Pro Bowl. Gronk won twenty years.
Bill seized control, made everybody bend to knee, and that
worked when you had that eraser and Tom Brady, and
when he left, it all came tumbling down. And by
the way, I think Dan Quinn's doing a great job
in Washington, but Jaden Daniels erases all the mistakes. So
(09:47):
after winning six Super Bowls, Robert Kraft did not get dumb.
But as we know in multiple books, Bill took more power.
If Brady was irritated, annoyed, defeated and left, and that's
when the problem started. Brady's last year the year he
(10:08):
would complain on television and the cameras caught him about
yelling at receivers. Somebody gets separation. They can't. They were
Belichick's draft picks and free agent makings. So you know,
I think what happens is Brady hid Bill's inability to
draft well, his grumpiness, his inability to create a progressive
(10:28):
young staff. It's the same old re treads every time,
and Brady hit all of it. Then he left and
it all came tumbling down twenty years with Belichick mostly
controlling the personnel. One skill player grunk me the Pro Bowl.
So the Raiders situation, that's an owner situation, the New
(10:50):
England one. I don't buy the craft suddenly who wanted
to keep Tom? Who pushed back on keeping Garoppolo and
keeping Tom and they won other Super Bowls. I don't
buy it's all craft. I don't buy it for a second.
Ask yourself this, If it's all craft, why did Belichick
get one legitimate interview for a job, Because a lot
(11:12):
of people saw what I saw on what you saw.
Everybody was going in the same direction, and Tom kept
it all together. Colin, you're saying that because he works
at Fox. I said it three years ago, I said
it five years ago. It's the most lob sided divorce
in pro sports history. Brady left and one in Tampa,
(11:33):
literally Belichick, who couldn't win in Cleveland, who couldn't win
with Ledsoe, who couldn't let win when Brady left won
one time with one quarterback Andy Reid's one with a Bunch,
Sean Payton's one with a bunch, Bill one, Greg Olsen,
Peter Scheger, and Drew Brees. I'll stop by today again.
(11:53):
Heart's thoughts prayers go out to the people in Malibu
and Pacific Palisades coastal towns here just over the last
twenty four hours. The winds continue to whip. As I
drove in this morning again, it was just a haunting
scene the hills on fire in Los Angeles. So you
just you cross your fingers. We got a lot of
people in this building. I don't think we'll be evacuated,
(12:15):
but we're not that far from the beach. You know,
rough day here in LA for a lot of people
thinking of you.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
All right, welcome back, Greg Olsen, who's just fantastics going
to join us in twenty minutes. Drew Brees also, Peter
Scheger stops by. There's a lot of movement in the
coaching area and we should know stuff here in the
next six to seven days. The Chicago Bears are interested
in Mike McCarthy and Jerry Jones. In the last twelve
twenty four hours has denied the Chicago Bears the right
(12:53):
to interview Mike McCarthy until his contract runs out. So
my guess is they're working on extending Mike McCarthy in Dallas,
and we can take jabs at Jerry Jones, but I
think it's a smart move. So first of all, there's
not a huge list of proven candidates, and McCarthy is
actually the guy that gets the most out of Dak
and that's a real thing since he arrived. This is
(13:15):
hard to believe, but since Mike McCarthy arrived in Dallas,
they have the number two offense in the NFL. That
is ahead of Reied Mahomes, Sean mcvah and Stafford and
boy genius Kyle Shanahan is ninth on that list. And
that's what Dak Prescott. So once you decided to pay
Dak Prescott two hundred and forty million. In an extension,
you got to find somebody that gets the best out
(13:35):
of Dak Prescott. And you know who gets the best
out of him? That guy. When Dak is healthy, they
win twelve games. But remarkably, when Dak isn't healthy and
doesn't play, there's still five hundred and I think one
of the things that really hurts Mike McCarthy is optics.
There's two kind of coaches. Everybody, including me, loves the slick, young, clever,
(14:01):
a lot of motion in the offense, offensive guy. It's
a lot of McVeigh lafleur. We like those guys. People
like those guys, the young, progressive, smart, clever, outthink people.
Ben Johnson now is that. And the other kind of
coach we really wrap our arms around is the alpha
the presence as Mike Tomlin, that's Vrabel, as Dan Campbell,
(14:23):
that's Jim Harbaugh, a little bit of John Harbaugh. McCarthy's neither.
It's not slick, young and clever, just a good offensive coach,
and he doesn't have a big alpha presence in the
locker room. So and a lot of it to me
is optics. Those are the two kind of coaches we
like so and I think Mike McCarthy though, the one
(14:43):
thing I will defend him on. If you're gonna defend
Mike Tomlin, who is a defensive coach and the offense
feels absolutely outdated under him in Pittsburgh for about seven, eight, nine,
ten years, then you got to defend Mike McCarthy because
in an offensive league, because a rule changes and safety practices,
he's on the right side of the ball. And none
(15:04):
of us think Dak is Josh Allen or Lamar or
Mahomes or Burrow. We think he's pretty good and he's
winning twelve games a year when Dak Prescott is healthy
with a pretty good quarterback. McCarthy's got a Super Bowl ring.
He's effective, he wins a lot, and he wins with
different personalities. Now that we've seen more about Aaron Rodgers
(15:25):
and his for lack of a better word, quirkiness, he
worked with that, he worked with Farv, he works with Dak,
he works with Cooper, rush, starters, legends, backups. He wins
with all of them. So we can take all the
jabs at Jerry Jones, but I will say, if you're
defending Tomlin. You got to defend Mike McCarthy. He's got
(15:46):
a Super Bowl ring. He's worked with multiple personalities, He's
won with stars and non stars, non legends and legends
at quarterback, and he's on the right side of the ball.
And I think right now Dallas saying no to the
Chicago Bears is saying actually yes to an extension of
Mike McCarthy. And I think they're working on one. J
Mack with the.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
News this is the herd Line.
Speaker 5 (16:11):
News stick in the NFL where the Eagles, they are
the number two seed in the NFC playoffs. They will
host the seven seed Packers. Last year, everybody remembers the
Packers becoming the first seven seed to advance to the
divisional round when they smoke Dallas. Eagles did lose to
Tampa in the wild card. Obviously, the Eagles don't want
(16:32):
to repeat a history. And Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fongio
broke down what makes the Packers offense special.
Speaker 6 (16:40):
Well, they got a really good line to begin with.
You know, I think their five o linemen have stayed,
have been in there for every play. I think number one,
number two, they have a great back. Jacobs has had
as good as your as anybody, and he's hard to tackle,
runs physical, and they have the play pass game off
(17:01):
of it, you know. So they have really good big
play receivers that you're always worried about, and the combination
of them being to throw it down the field and
run it is a tough combination.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
By the way, Jalen Hurts will practice today, According to
Ian Rappaport, Nick Seriani says, Jalen Hurts is practicing. Therefore,
in the concussion protocol now he's moved forward. And that's
what we talked about yesterday. I feel good about Philadelphia
winning this game. This was the first day of practice
for them, first day of eligible practice. So Hurts is
out there. Hurts is playing, and that means he'll play
against green Bay.
Speaker 5 (17:34):
My guess is most people who are looking at the
Packers here just remember that Dallas game last year, yeah.
Speaker 7 (17:40):
And are like, oh, well, you know, the end of
the season wasn't great, but they'll be fine. They're a
playoff team.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
I'm with you.
Speaker 7 (17:46):
I think Eagles will decide if it Hurts is okay.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
I think green Bay is built now, and I think
green Bay's staff deserves a lot of credit. We talk
about this all the time. Doesn't matter if it's a
business or a football team, what's your identity. And I
thought last year their identity was Jordan Love ascension and
all these great receivers and Aaron Jones sort of got lost.
And then in the offseason they said, we're going to
(18:11):
become a power run team and our off speed pitch
is Jordan Love and the young receivers and tight ends.
And so I think what they did a really good
job of is here's what we were last year, young, ascending,
a little bit reckless, very youthful. Now we're going to
be an older team and more of a power run
team first, and Jordan Love will throw twenty six times,
(18:33):
not thirty eight times. And I think they're a very
good team. So I still think I think this is
a bit and I like Green Bay's personnel, but it's
a bit of a personnel matchup. I think Philadelphia's got
the best roster in football, and Green Bay without Jai
r Alexander and Christian Watson and on the road, and
(18:54):
Jordan Love's got a semi groin injury. This just feels
like they're just not going to have the ammo to
go three and a half hours toe to toe with Philly.
Speaker 5 (19:03):
So I think that if you look back at that
Vikings game two weeks ago against the Packers where the
Green bakerld do nothing for three quarters, the Minnesota folks
talked about they changed their defense up because Jordan Love
destroys zone defense on the back end. If you play zone,
he can find the spots his receivers sit down, but
against man coverage his numbers are way down. Philly can
play a lot of man because they got the two
(19:23):
young corners. I'm leaning toward the Eagles with Yell.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
That's my favorite bet of the weekend.
Speaker 8 (19:29):
Favorite.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
I like, Wow, there's a college game I like, and
I think Philadelphia is there's one underdog this weekend. I
like in the NFL.
Speaker 5 (19:38):
Now, the only reason to not love Philly, I'm telling you,
Laflor versus Sirianni is a really lopsided matchup when coach
is awesome and then they're Sirianni. Let's move on to
the Chicago Bears. They got a lot of work to
do this offseason. Topic Number one, obviously for them is
finding a new head coach you can work with.
Speaker 7 (19:56):
Caleb Williams.
Speaker 5 (19:57):
Caleb spoke to the media about what he's looking for
in a new coach.
Speaker 9 (20:02):
I would just say, I mean, just challenge me, you know,
whether it's you know, pulling me aside, whether it's you
know and saying whatever, or you know, I haven't talked
consistently or maybe not or uh maybe having you know,
a list of things that you know, we want to accomplish,
you know, myself first, and then you know, because that
that helps helps team, and then you know, from there,
(20:24):
you know, help find ways to you know, set other
goals and things like that.
Speaker 7 (20:28):
So Howiver Alver may work out, you know, just a challenge.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Yeah, I've got more thoughts on that later. But I mean,
let me ask you should he have a say in
the coach.
Speaker 5 (20:43):
I don't have a major problem with going in and saying, hey, Caleb,
I'm just curious, what do you think about X y Z.
Speaker 7 (20:51):
I don't have a problem with that asking for his input.
What's wrong with that?
Speaker 1 (20:55):
The only downside of that, I'm sure you could predict
is if he has a strong opinion and you'd go
in an opposite direction.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
Well, again, That's why I'm not saying who do you want?
Speaker 7 (21:05):
I'm saying, like, hey, Joe Smith, over here.
Speaker 5 (21:08):
Do you know him at all? You know, Mike, Mike Jones.
What do you think about that guy? And I'm looking
on the list. I don't see a lot of guys
who have a history with Caleb. Yeah, I don't see
a lot of guys that he is gonna David Shaw,
that's a surprise name. I don't Would you be interested
in David Shaw? Well, you're not giving him the keys
to the franchise, but he is the face of your team.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
There is only one coach that I know would win
on that list, Mike Roumele. Mike Rabel would win games.
I don't know how many, but Mike Rabel would win games.
Outside of that, it is coordinators, coaches who have listen
br I like Brian Flores. He robbed a lot of
people the wrong way. So he's an intense guy.
Speaker 7 (21:48):
We'll get to him later.
Speaker 5 (21:50):
Yeah, But like you see Joe Brady on the list. Okay,
Joe Brady awesome regular season? Can I see in the playoffs?
By the way, Todd Munkett, you see what he dig
up against the Chiefs last year in that playoff lost They.
Speaker 7 (22:00):
Looked it was one of the worst game plans I've ever.
Speaker 5 (22:02):
Seen Remember they didn't run the football, remember, and it's like, oh,
Tod Munkin's on the list.
Speaker 7 (22:07):
Can we just see the playoffs?
Speaker 5 (22:09):
I get regular season success, but I don't want to
see postseason success as well.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Yeah, I agree, all right, It.
Speaker 7 (22:15):
Just it doesn't look great for Chicago. But it did
like a month ago, didn't it. Things changed quickly.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Man, they changed very quickly. If you if you hired
Rabel tomorrow or even to me, Pete Carroll, I would
be like, Okay, this is interesting. I'm gonna win some games.
But I but I would say I said this yesterday
on there set nine guys on this list aren't serious
candidates for this kind of franchise and this kind of
lift in that kind of division. I mean, let's just
be honest. The Raiders have to hire a coach who
(22:42):
goes up against Andy Reid, Jim Harbaugh, Sean Payton. That's
six of your games every year. You're gonna go with
the first time coach, you know? I mean that, I
mean to me, uh, I'm I'm if Tom Brady's got
to say get on the phone with some hitters. Now.
Speaker 7 (23:00):
It was early December when I mentioned Marcus Freeman or
Notre Dame. I know, Notre Dame re up to him.
Speaker 5 (23:06):
If Freeman gets the win over Penn State, Okay, goes
to the national Championship.
Speaker 7 (23:12):
I mean, do you do you have to revisit dude,
don't you?
Speaker 5 (23:15):
I would say, I know some people are gonna think
this is crazy. I would at least put in a
call to Dillingham at Arizona State. The speed in which
he turned that program around and the ingenuity that they
have offensively, the creativity, I would at least see what
he's got to say. I'm more intrigued by a couple
of college guys sark as opposed to no disrespect with
(23:35):
some of these guys on this list.
Speaker 7 (23:37):
I'm refused, like, what are we doing now?
Speaker 5 (23:38):
Final story, Colin, I love this. You and I both
love takes. Okay, this is an outside the box. So
Peter King has chimed in on a suggestion the Pittsburgh
Steelers could do at quarterback next season.
Speaker 7 (23:52):
Are you ready for this? Here we go.
Speaker 8 (23:55):
If I were the Pittsburgh Steelers, knowing that I've got
Cam Hayward, TJ wh I got guys on defense with
their expiration dates not long in the future, you know,
and I would want to come in and try to
get a quarterback who could make me competitive with Baltimore
(24:17):
and Cincinnati in twenty twenty five. And that guy, to
me would be Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 7 (24:26):
That is juicy stuff. You're not as intrigued.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
I think Aaron's gonna have a market. I think he
should stay in New York. I don't think Aaron should
be a bounce around the league guy.
Speaker 7 (24:38):
That's where he is. My friend Brett Farve was a
bounce around the league guy.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Until he got to the perfect spot. He got to
a really good spot in Minneapolis with the Vikings had
some real good players. I again, I got DeVante Adams,
my friend, I got a place there. I've got teammates.
I like, I've got a really good defense. Want you now?
Speaker 7 (24:58):
You know the Jets don't want to there.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Man, that feels like a leap. I don't know if
that's true.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
Garret Wilson was on record, well I don't know if
he's on record, but there was a lot of chatter
that Garrett Wilson was like, get me out of here, okay.
Soft Gardner look at some of the social media stuff
from him and dj Reen like Rogers rubbed people the
wrong way, just like he did in Greenville.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Well, he's gonna do it in Pittsburgh. Go fine, just
do it in another locker.
Speaker 7 (25:19):
Room on the Jets. I don't know how how do
you think he would fare in that division? That's a
tough division.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
I think Aaron at this point is about the fifteenth
best quarterback in the league, and I think he would
fare the same in virtually every situation. There's no place
he's gonna win the super Bowl, and there's no place
he's going to go, you know, oh and seventeen. I
think I think you're going to be looking at a
guy in a really good situation. He could win nine
games and a bad one. It's the Jets. He wins
four or five.
Speaker 7 (25:47):
No, I do I think actually does he work in Pittsburgh?
Speaker 5 (25:50):
Because I felt like it was oil and water in
New York and it hasn't gone great.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Well. He worked in the smallest city in the NFL,
Green Bay, and the biggest city in our country, New York.
Speaker 7 (25:59):
So I don't think work well in New York. Please
stops well.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
I think he said it's the best two years of
his life. He is, well, the success is not there.
The media is all over him like the owner.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
I think, Aaron, we have to shift our expectations. I
think he in a very good spot. He could win
nine ten games.
Speaker 7 (26:16):
Hey, Russell Wilson did that.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
If he didn't, well that's what Pittsburgh went. That's what
I'm saying is I don't think. I think you look
at it and think, oh, he'd be an upgrade over
Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson with Mike Tomlin beat the teams
they should have and couldn't beat the really good teams
in the league. I don't think you're beating Baltimore with
Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson.
Speaker 5 (26:34):
So would you bring back Russell Wilson over Gopher Aaron
because he wants money. Russ wants money.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Yeah. I think there's again I can see the ceiling
with Russell Wilson and Aaron. I can see the ceiling.
Sometimes it's not about the ceiling, it's just you know,
it's just like Lamar Jackson, by the way, losing in
the playoffs. It's not a ceiling issue. It's he gets
all worked up, issue intense, and he admitted that yesterday.
But I think with Aaron and Russell, I think they're
closer inability than people. I think Aaron's better from the pocket,
(27:02):
and I think Russell's better moving around. But I think
in both instances, in a really good situation, they can
win nine or ten games. No shot to win a
playoff game in the AFC, no way. There's just too
many great players and great quarterbacks. Look at look at
how good the quarterbacks are in the AFC. Now Mahomes
Allan Lamar Herbert just right off the top Borough. That's
five of the there's an argument those are the five
(27:23):
best quarterbacks in the league, all in the AFC. Now,
Stafford's up there, Gof's very good, Jalen Hurts, But there's
an argument the five best are in the AFC.
Speaker 7 (27:31):
Don't forget your guy bo Nicks of course.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Well, and then the second tier is bow Nicks and C. J. Stroud,
and they're not bad. So I just think that you
have to come to terms expectations, and I think Aaron
and Russell Wilson are closer in talent than anybody would
want to admit. One's more popular than the other, or
at least Aaron used to be more popular. I'm not
sure what he is now. Jmack with the news.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by The
Herd Line news.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Greg Olsen did such a remarkable job and has done
a remarkable job for us here at Fox Sports. He's
going to join us around the corner.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
at noon Eastern non am Pacific.
Speaker 10 (28:12):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 11 (28:17):
You could catch us weekdays from five to seven pm
Eastern two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and
of course the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 11 (28:26):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world.
Speaker 10 (28:30):
We have a lot of fun talking about the stories
behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture,
stories that well, other shows don't seem to have the
time to discuss.
Speaker 11 (28:39):
And the fact that we've been friends for the last
twenty years and still work together. I mean that says something, right,
So check us out.
Speaker 10 (28:44):
We like to get you involved too, take your phone calls,
chop it up, as they say.
Speaker 11 (28:49):
I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio,
maybe the most interactive show on Planetar.
Speaker 10 (28:54):
Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app from five to
seven pm Eastern for Pacific, and if you miss any
of the live show, just search Kobe non Rich wherever
you get your podcasts, and of course on social media.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
That's Cavino and Rich. Well. Greg Olsen played for fourteen
years in the NFL, primarily for the Bears and the Panthers.
He was a multiple time pro bowler. Now he's a
great broadcaster for Fox Sports. He's now joining US Live.
And you know there's the Game of Note on our
network primarily as Packers Eagles. Everybody will talk about that.
(29:26):
It's interesting because you know, Green Bay did something in
the off season. I really liked. They identified and you
know this, you're as good as your identity. And they
were a little bit young and reckless last year, very
dependent on Jordan Love making plays, which he could do.
But then in the off season they said, you know what,
we're gonna go get Josh Jacobs. We're gonna be a
little bit more of a power running team. And Jordan
Love's not gonna throw thirty eight times, he's gonna throw
(29:48):
twenty six, and I like that version. But he's banged up,
Christian Watson's out, JayR Alexander banged up. And I don't know, Greg,
if they you've seen both these teams, I don't know
if they can go into Philadelphia and win. I mean,
are they just outmanned here? Listen.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
I've been pretty clear the multiple games I've called for Philadelphia.
I think the Eagles, from top to bottom, have the
best roster in football. Now the caveat it. By all measures,
it sounds like that Hurts is going to be back
out there at practice and take the next step in
the concussion protocol. So obviously that's the big kind of
question mark that lingers. But just overall, big picture, top
to bottom, both sides of the ball, both coordinators, head coach,
(30:26):
play style. They're probably the best roster top to bottom
in football. Now, how does that always play out? Not
always the case in the NFL that the best team wins.
So in this matchup, more about the Packers and the
place that I agree with you like that was a
conscious effort by Laflora to say, Okay, we're gonna put
last last week, we put a ton on Jordan Love. Yes,
we put a ton on the youngest wide receiver corps
(30:48):
in football, and they took it way longer than anybody
imagine going into the season. We called that upset win
over the Cowboys there in the wildcard round. That kind
of started the downfall in Dallas. But the biggest difference,
remember now, their only ability to play that run style
with Josh Jacobs and be more committed to all that
heavy run and not and take some load off Jordan
Loup is completely dependent upon how good are they playing
(31:10):
on defense. Right, So every time everyone talks about, man,
they've got this great run game, your ability to run
the ball in the NFL is directly proportionate to your
ability to play defense. If your defense can't get stops
and Philly goes up and down the field, no one
cares how good you're running back is. Nobody cares if
you run for one hundred and fifty yards, because you're
gonna run for one hundred and fifty yards, you're gonna
score seventeen points and we're gonna score thirty. So like
(31:33):
it's that's been the biggest difference. I think defensively in
Green Bay they've played well. I think they've really and
that run game and play good defense and then make
the plays with the young athletic wide receiver corps and
Jordan Loup. That formula has served them well. The question
is against the team like Philly on the road that
with a healthy Jalen Hurts can score, can run ken
pass is explosive and is one of the top defenses
(31:55):
in football. Can you keep the game close enough to
allow Josh Jacobs and this really fun, kind of diverse
style of run game that that Lafleur has concoct it up?
Can you play?
Speaker 1 (32:07):
I got to ask you about something I said this
a couple of days ago about Detroit. When Dan Campbell
gives these speeches sometimes I'm you know, I'm a little
bit of a cynical media person. I go, oh, they're
a little they're a little cringey, but they're not to
the players. You know, you guys are all there's a
brotherhood and the masculinity to football that I can't relate to.
And one guy unravels a locker room if he's not
(32:28):
on board. So I think Dan Campbell I missed on that.
I think he's a home run coach. Now, Sirianni can
drive me crazy because he has assistance holding him back
from players. He's barking at fans. But my brain goes to, well,
Dan Campbell is very emotional. I didn't see it. It works.
Do you ever watch the Sirianni theatrics as a player
(32:51):
who's got a better feel of this than I do.
Do you ever look at it and go, Nick, you're
not a fan? Or do you get the emotion in
an emotional city? Philadelphia works because I look at it
and I think this is going to unravel. You can
have your coach being held off by assistance. How do
you view him?
Speaker 3 (33:11):
No, I think it's a great question right there, and
that was something we always preaching in a locker room.
There's a very there's a difference between being emotional and
being passionate. Right, Emotions sometimes can get away from you
and be a distraction. Passionate means like, I am so
committed to the goals and the objectives of this unit
that I'm willing to do anything and everything when it
comes to the emotion and the passion whenever you want
(33:31):
to classify it in this case, on the sideline of
these two guys, remember the advantage that they have is
that they're not the play callers right, So their team,
their their role on the team on game day is
game day management, timeouts, end of game situations, before half
clock management. We got we got four downs here, Hey,
we got to play for the touchdown, we're in field
(33:52):
goal range.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Whatever.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
The game management. I think the two of these guys
do it as well as anybody in football. I think
that's there in game day roll. But they are not
living and dying like Kevin O'Connell and that lafleur and McVeigh,
where they're living and dying with their call sheet in
every single play. I'm mad about first down, I'm mad
about the offensive holding call. I'm mad, but I've got
(34:14):
to call second and twenty right. So it's a little
bit of an advantage that the non play calling head
coaches have is they can really dive deep into messaging
and vision and game day emotion and strategy and manage
the team, manage the people, manage the relationships because they
don't have to do the play to play first and ten,
(34:36):
second and five, third and two. That's a whole different advantage.
Kevin O'Connell can't be losing his mind getting into it
with defensive players because the offense is on the field,
so again it's a different role. I think it's two
roles that these guys have obviously done as well as
anybody in football. And I think I don't think Sirianni
gets enough credit. I think right now Dan Campbell's getting
(34:58):
all the flowers, and god, he probably even deserves more.
He's what he's done there is remarkable. Sirianni. All he
has done is win. He's won with different coordinators on
both sides of the ball. Obviously, how he wrote, they
draft incredible, they develop. I think Sirianni doesn't get enough credit.
And I think to your point, it's a lot because
if everyone sees the high emotion in the high But
(35:19):
as a player, I love it. I don't mind my
coach being into it because that's how I was like,
I'm cool with it.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
I love that. Okay, I want to give you some
time for this one. We got about four minutes left.
There are times that I see players in Major League Baseball,
the NBA, or football. They have a ceiling and they
get to the playoffs against the very best, and they
hit the ceiling and then there's Peyton Manning or a
rod until the Yankees or Aaron Judge or Lamar Jackson.
(35:47):
It's not a ceiling thing. They're clenching their teeth too hard.
Lamar came out and said, I just get too anty
in these games. And you know, and so like Aaron
Judge dropping a fly ball, that's not Aaron Judge. That's
not a thing. So how do you break through it?
Bill Pollian once told me with Peyton Manning, he said, Peyton,
(36:07):
you're a teeth clencher. Give yourself a break. You make
me up tight being around you in a playoff game.
And Peyton got some wins and got through it. How
does Lamar do that?
Speaker 3 (36:18):
Yeah? Well, I think the last thing you just said, right,
the Peyton example is sometimes in order to get through something,
the only option is is that's the way, right. The
obstacle is the way. The only way through it is
through it. So I think it's gonna take one playoff win.
I think it's gonna get off, get off to a
fast start, right, And I think that's where coaches. I
think Todd Munkin's done a masterful job there since since
(36:40):
Harball bought him in. We talked about this in our
game we covered a couple of weeks ago he said,
Harball's done an unbelievable job surrounding Lamar Jackson with the
right coordinator at the right time, and early in his
career they built it around his run, and now with
Todd Munkin, they've really as he makes a bigger impact
as a passer than he does as a runner, and
that's kind of crazy to say for a guy like
(37:00):
Lamar Jackson. So the point being made is understand who
he is, Understand what he does well, Understand the emotion,
the character again, the relationship between coach, play caller and
in this case the quarterback. Get him off to a
really fast start. Call the plays that he loves, Call
the plays he's had success with. See completion, see the
ball go into the hands of your player, get him tackled,
(37:21):
run all the things that are the magic and the
beauty of Lamar Jackson. You know who he is as
a person, you know the caliber he wants to play at,
and you know how much pressure he's putting on himself.
You've got to coach around it. You've got to help
him through that early in games, early in series, and
let him settle into the first playoff game this weekend.
And then you know, what one win turns into two
(37:44):
all of a sudden, he gets that off of his
back and he's the Lamar Jackson that we've seen now
for years and you know, potentially could win another MVP.
So I can't stress enough x's and o's and who
can draw the best plays we are seeing weekend and
week out all across the NFL, which is that understand
the relationships and the motivations of their players, playing to
(38:04):
their strengths. Who are they as people? What motivates them,
what scares them? Where are their weakness?
Speaker 5 (38:09):
Is?
Speaker 3 (38:10):
Man, those guys that have a pulse of their players
in their locker room are the reason you look around
and they win the amount of games. That's Dan Campbell,
that's Sirianni, that's Kevin O'Connell. That's horriball and so many
of these guys, like there's no question Harbaugh, Todd Mounkin,
they know this, They know who Lamar is, they know
the level of expectations he has for himself. They're going
to do a good job settling him to this game
(38:31):
this weekend and saying, hey, the better start we get,
the more comfortable and the more pressure, the less pressure
he feels, and when he feels no pressure, he's he's
Lamar Jackson, and we see the magic that comes with him.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Greg Olsen, Fox Sports, three Pro Bowls, fourteen years in
the league. Credit to our industry. It's good seeing Zola's
my friend.
Speaker 3 (38:50):
I appreciate it. And stay safe out there. Hope you
guys are doing all right.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
All right, one of the really good guys and really
talented guys in our business. Greg Olsen. Also today Peter
Schreger and Drew breestop By. Yeah, it's it's interesting with
with Lamar. It's like with Kirk Cousins or for me,
brought pretty Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 9 (39:09):
Dec.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
I think like there are limitations certain times in cold
weather or against great defenses. I see they've hit something
for years with Alec Rodriguez, it was just above the
shoulders or Barry Bonds, and baseball, you know, is a
little bit like that. Golf has that with those extended
periods of inactivity and you get into your head. Whereas
hockey and basketball there's another shot. You know, the game's
(39:29):
going so fast it's harder to go. And slumps in
the NBA and hockey, I think same with quarterbacks in
the NFL you get five straight passes, you get out
of it. But I do feel with Lamar it's a
he admitted this week, and get I think this is
growth and maturity. He admitted, Yeah, I get tight. I
get all amped up for the record. We saw it
with Sam Darnold against Detroit in Detroit on Monday. Sam
(39:53):
was all juiced up. Sam was overthrowing everybody. Sam was
missing throws he made all year. So these are human beings.
They're young, they get amped up up. They got all
that testostero and all that juice and our and the
stadium's going crazy. And Sam Darnold it just it wasn't
a ghost thing as much as it was. He just
had he had, he was all amped up. I was
watching the clip yesterday Belichick and Brady years ago, and
(40:14):
Belichick on the sidelines is like Tom settle down, step
into it and they start arguing on the sidelines. Young
athletes get amped up means the world to them and
sometimes it overwhelms them. Saw it was Sam. We've seen
it with Lamar Jackson. Okay. Peter Schrager is around the corner.
The very latest on the Bears coaching search in Chicago
(40:34):
Live in Lance the herd,
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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