October 15, 2025 • 40 mins
Colin is joined by Fox Sports College Football Analyst Joel Klatt to react to the stunning firing of Penn State head coach James Franklin. The two dive deep into the fallout and explain why Ohio State looks like the most complete team in college football this season. Colin also discusses the Josh Allen-Sean McDermott combo and why they will probably win it all. And it is being rumored Penn State is going after Marcus Freeman to fill their HC opening.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
All right, here we go. It's our number two on
a Wednesday. Great show so far alive in Chicago. It's
The Herd wherever you may be and however you may
be listening. Thanks for making us on any platform part
of your day. Joel Clatton about five minutes, I was
saying one of the things I like about postseason baseball
there's so much urgency. Analytics are important during the regular season,
(00:46):
but you get into the playoffs and there's so much
urgency that you may bring a starter who pitched brilliantly
two days ago and bring them out of the pen.
You're just doing things. I mean, like watch the Dodgers
starting pitching. There's no ren to pull a guy out
in the sixth inning. I mean, last night they let
Yoshi go the whole game. You don't do that in
the regular season. That's just not the way it works.
(01:07):
So analytics, to some degree. In the NBA playoffs, it
becomes a situational basketball league. Two pointers are fine, it's
not all three pointers. And in baseball everything changes. You're
just pitching differently. But I thought they should have kept
Blake Snell in the game in Game one, and instead
they went to the bullpen, because I want to take
(01:28):
a series lead before I go to a bullpen that
I don't entirely trust. Last night, Yamamoto was good. He
wasn't as good as Snell. He was great, but not
that great. You already have a one zero series lead
and you got a four run cushion. I would have
gone to the pin. So it's okay. But even the announcers,
Ron Darning and the guys they were, they didn't know
(01:50):
quite what they were going to do. And everybody's a brilliant,
everybody's a genius about baseball after the fact, but in
real time, nobody kind of knew what Dave Roberts was
going to do. And that's the fun of baseball. And
here were the announcers talking about it at the eighth.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
And now, if you're Dave Roberts, you have to start
thinking seriously about allowing Almamota to finish this game.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
I don't think he's going to finish those six just
because of the big delay in the eighth inning. Because
the offense of the Dodgers. He's going to give him
this inning, and I think Banda will probably finish it
in the ninth. But let's see, I mean, we're watching
baseball from the seventies and eighties now with this kind
of starting pitching by the Dodgers.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah, I mean, And here's the thing. The reason I
would have kept Snell in Game one, He'd retired seventeen
straight Brewers, nobody'd hit the ball out of the infield
since the third it was Sandy Kofax. Just let him go.
And he's also a very good pitcher post one hundred pitches.
And again, Yamamoto Yoshi was great last night, he wasn't
quite as dominant. I've got a four run cushion, I've
(02:52):
got a one zero series lead, I've stolen home field advantage,
so I would have flipped it. Dave Roberts, who we love,
talked about going back to Yamamodo in the ninth.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
I see a real confidence.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
I think that's what it is.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
I think that you know, last year, certainly there was
a transition, and even in the postseason I didn't give
them a whole lot of leash. But I think this
year he's got true confidence. For me that third time
through at pitch ninety, he feels that he's the best option.
And so I think for me, that just gives me
(03:32):
that confidence.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
I like my managers to be adaptable and pragmatic, and
that's the thing with Dave Roberts. He said after Game one,
he goes it was fifty to fifty again, the Brewers
couldn't get bat on ball. They did not hit a
ball out of the infield since the third inning. I'd
have just gone with snow, but there is it's not yields.
You're up to none to nothing. There's no right answer.
(03:54):
That's the fun of baseball. But you do manage it
differently now than you do in the regular season. And
I've said the term I've always used is analytics. It's analytics.
Postseason's analytics. I'll look at the analytics, but sometimes I
want my alpha. I'm just gonna go with him. I'm
just gonna trust him. I don't care what the numbers say,
and with that, we bring in Joel Klatt. He'll be
(04:15):
calling the Washington at Michigan games. That is a really,
really good game, a lot of urgency for both teams.
So let's start with this. There's rumors, and they seem
pretty substantial that Penn State's like, Okay, we know we're
spending seven hundred million in an update in the Beaver Stadium.
We know we just wrote a forty five million dollar
(04:36):
check to James Franklin, and we know we'd have to
write one hundred million dollar check for Marcus Freeman and
his staff. But I hear those rumors and that's probably
the guy I would go after. Do you buy him?
What are your thoughts about that? Well?
Speaker 5 (04:50):
I think that Pat Kraft, the athletic director at Penn State,
is going to take a big swing. I don't think
that anybody is off of his list, to be quite
honest with you, And if I was Pat Kraft, I
would start with the biggest swing possible. I know this
sounds crazy, but I think the first call I would
make is Nick Saban and just like just make sure
that that's not gonna happen. And then you start going
(05:11):
down the list of the other coaches around the country.
I think Dan Lanning will get a call, and I
think Marcus Freeman would get a call. Now, would Freeman
leave Notre Dame? I'm not sure. He just went to
the National championship, you know, I'm sure he feels like
he can build something special. Is Penn State a better
job than Notre Dame? I don't think it is personally,
(05:32):
But that's a call that I would make if I
was Pat Kraft, because again.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
This is a good job.
Speaker 5 (05:38):
I don't know if it is a great job in
college football, but in this cycle, it's probably going to
be the best job available calling. Even if Florida were
to come open, if they make a move off of
Billy Napier, even if Florida State, you know, went south
and Mike Norvelle was let go of Florida State, whatever
happens at Wisconsin, you know, even if Brian Kelly were to,
you know, somehow take a nosedive with LSU beginning, like
(06:02):
let's say that this week. I'm not sure that any
of those jobs. Maybe LSUS, but but Penn State is
set up perfectly. You brought up the investment into the
stadium seven hundred million dollars into the stadium. They're willing
to pay the money to James Franklin to buy him out.
They've got support, and they've got an athletic director that's
willing to win. I think Kurse Signetti should probably get
(06:22):
a call.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
I would be swinging.
Speaker 5 (06:25):
For the fences if I was Patcraft, because here's the
thing is that this reminds me a lot. Maybe not
quite to the tier of Georgia, but Mark Rick at
Georgia seemed to have a ceiling on that program and
they felt like they could go higher. They bring in
Kirby Smart and they did go higher. Maybe that's the
moment that we're in for Penn State right now, where
the next guy is going to lift the ceiling of
(06:46):
this program and they can actually go out there and
win some of these top twenty five, top ten.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Games that James Franklin has fallen short in. So a USC,
speaking of Notre Dame, goes to South Bend. I don't
think it's a great spot for them. I think the
play at Notre Dame is so efficient. They'll pick on
USC's corners, the weakness of their roster. I thought they
bullied Michigan. I do not think they'll be able to
do this to Notre Dame. I thought it was a
(07:11):
very imply I said. I thought it was bigger than
people realized. Beating Michigan and beating them the way they did.
That game was not as close as the score, and
I'm not sure Michigan's got the right coach. We'll talk
about that in five minutes. But I don't think USC
necessarily matches up well here, let's git you.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
It's not as good of a matchup as they had
against Michigan. But I think, let me go back to
your point about the substance or the substantial moment for
USC last week in beating Michigan the way that they did,
I started to think to myself, Yeah, they've had some
big wins since Pete Carroll left, but I can't remember
one that was maybe as important because of the way
(07:49):
that it was played. This signals to everybody like, hey,
maybe we can play at the top end of the
Big Ten. They took the team in this conference that
not only won the national championship a year ago in Michigan,
but also lays their entire identity in being a physical
team and winning the line of scrimmage. In USC one
both lines of scrimmage. That's why you saw Lincoln Riley
(08:10):
so emotional and joyful after the game is because he
knew what that win meant and the fashion in which
it happened.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
So that's an important win.
Speaker 5 (08:18):
Now, the matchup against Notre Dame probably isn't quite as good,
and the reason is, and you touched on it briefly,
is the balance that Notre Dame.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Has on offense.
Speaker 5 (08:26):
Yeah, because Michigan really can't well I shouldn't say can't.
They don't throw the ball well and just a drop
back scenario, so they have to run the football and
then get their quarterback out on the outside in order
to start to throw the ball and be efficient doing so.
But that's not the case with Notre Dame. So Notre
Dame can run it with Jeremiah Love, he's one of
the best backs in the country. And then CJ. Carr
(08:47):
has been outstanding. He's been one of the most efficient
quarterbacks in the country. And so they have that balance
that would scare you a little bit. And yes, there
is an opportunity to throw the ball against USC. Illinois
proved that a couple of weeks ago when Illinois ended
up beating the Trojans, and so this matchup maybe isn't
quite as good. But I sure feel a lot different
(09:07):
about this game as a Trojan fan, if I was
a Trojan fan today than I did last week at
this point because of the way that they were able
to beat Michigan. Now you can at least lean on
the fact that, hey, maybe we can run the football
and it's not just going to be a Miava show
on the road. And what could be rainy conditions by
the way, fifty with some rain, It's like it's almost
(09:29):
like it's almost like the Catholic school has a direct
line to God, right, It's like, hey, what do you
want to do with USC It's like, give us some
rain and some cool weather.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
So it could be an interesting one.
Speaker 5 (09:40):
But I certainly feel like Notre Dame is set up
in this game and balanced enough on offense to take advantage.
Speaker 6 (09:46):
Well.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Your top ten as Ohio State, Indiana, Miami, Texas and
m Bama, Texas, Tech, Oregon, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ole, miss
I don't have any quabbles with it. Let's talk Oregon.
What happened against Indiana. I mean, I'll say this about
Indian is last year they were a great story. They
weren't a great team. I had my reservations. I did
say I thought it would be closed, but they really
(10:08):
dominated the game. Do you buy in let's talk Oregon
what happened? And do you buy Indiana as a national
title contender?
Speaker 6 (10:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
So the first part of that is is I think
that Oregon has got to look themselves in the mirror
a little bit, because physically they got beat up at
the line of scrimmage and they couldn't protect their quarterback.
That was a huge issue in particular in the second half,
and they didn't really do anything defensively to disrupt the
(10:36):
timing of Fernando Mendoza.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
You know.
Speaker 5 (10:38):
So Indiana was able to stay balanced and run the
football if they needed to, and the Mendoza was really
good and not pressured much in the pocket.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
So the line of scrimmage for.
Speaker 5 (10:48):
Oregon, they've got to take a big look in the
mirror and actually evaluate what are we right now and
what are we going to be moving forward. I do
think that they're talented enough and that's a good enough
coaching staff where they can learn from this, grow from this,
and become better. Remember, Ohio State lost at Oregon last
year they lost against Michigan and became something great afterwards.
That's certainly still on the table for Oregon. Now the
(11:09):
second part of your question, I think this when maybe
even more so than USC over Michigan in the way
that that happened in the coliseum. This was a real
seismic type of performance because it transitioned Indiana from a
good team that we didn't know if they could handle
the big boys to okay, wow, this is a national
championship caliber team. I really believe that they were great
(11:32):
on the offensive line, They were terrific on the defensive line.
Their quarterback is as good as any out there, and
their wide receivers make a ton of plays. I talked
with Kurt Signetti on my show earlier this week. He
is a process oriented guy. He's one of the best
coaches in America, and they really attack the weaknesses of
their opponent as well as anybody. Their coordinators have been terrific.
(11:53):
This is again a seismic moment in college football and
in the Big Ten Conference because Indiana just proved to
everybody around the country that they're not just a cute
story and they're not just a legit team that's a
team that could beat anybody in America and potentially win
a national championship.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
You know it's last year. I thought Ohio State. It
took Chip Kelly a while, and in new coordinators too.
He was a pro coordinator. He comes in to his
buddy Ryan Day, and it took him a while. And
then Matt Patricia and Chip leaves. Matt Patricia comes in,
and you know, the arch manning struggling. He struggled a lot.
Maybe it wasn't Matt Patricia, but I'm watching that Ohio
(12:31):
State defense and I'm just telling you, turn the volume
down on your TV, don't listen to the announcers, don't
listen to confirmation bias. Well, no, you guys are good
and everything. But my point is they look shots fired
in the middle of the question. My goodness, they look
faster than college offenses can handle. Ohio State's defense looks
(12:53):
too equipped for the average college offense. That's what it
looks like to me.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
I am going to try to disregard that that clear
personal shot that was taken and try to address the
question as it was asked from the substance.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Colin.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
I will tell you this that this defense, yes, they're fast. Yes,
they're physical, but it's the fact that they can run
so much from a schematic perspective and.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Do it well.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
Their players are really smart, and I think the thing
that makes them so difficult is a lot of their
players are what I would call hybrid players, so they're versatile.
Caleb Down's probably the most versatile defensive back in all
of college football.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
They can line them up anywhere.
Speaker 5 (13:34):
It makes it incredibly difficult to get an indicator of
what they're in. Rvel Reese has been maybe the story
in college football on the defensive side for how quickly
he's rising up draft boards. He could be one of,
if not the best defender in college football. Their linebacker. Oh,
by the way, they also have Sonny Styles, who's a
five star six five, two hundred, two hundred and forty
(13:55):
pounds linebacker that can run. All you have to do
is look at some of these these opposing offenses, what
they've done against other opponents, and then what they don't
do against Ohio State. I think this weekend I'm studying
Demand Williams getting ready for the Michigan Washington game, which
I think is going to be a fantastic game. By
the way, Demand Williams in the Washington offense is one
(14:17):
of the best offenses in all of college football. Demon
Williams is like Kyler Murray light. He had just short
of I think a million yards against Rutgers last Friday night,
and then you look at what he did against Ohio
State and it was basically nothing. And it's because of
the scheme, and it's because of the length, the versatile
nature of their players, and the speed with which they play.
(14:38):
Matt Patricia has done an incredible job. Every play it's
a different defensive front and a different coverage, and that
combination changes throughout the game and it makes it hard
on the play caller and the quarterback to decipher what
that defense is in. And by the way, they've got
some of the better players in the country. That defense
has has allowed me to sit there watch Ohio State
(14:59):
and be pretty comfortable in saying that they have separated
themselves at the top tier of college football. That is, yeah,
pretty clearly the best team in college football. And think
about this colin they haven't even really gone into third gear.
They've just been allowed to play patient, conservative offense and
no game is close.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
The Washington game was a real eye opener because Washington's
offense sometimes it took out a while to get going
against Maryland, but Washington can score at all levels, tight end,
running back, quarterback, receiver. They got pro they got Sunday guys.
So I want to I want to talk about Michigan.
I've said this for years. It can become you know,
it sounds a little elitist when I say, don't hire
(15:38):
the coordinator, don't hire the popular guy on staff. Do
a global search and get the best coach. So Harbaugh
leaves and they bring in the popular guy in the staff,
capable guy, nice guy. But I'm like, it's Michigan. I'm
not sure I want Michigan to be your first job.
Harbaugh head coached in college, he coached in the NFL,
and it took Harbaugh a long time at Michigan to
(15:58):
get going. Was I know that's the popular choice. I
love marsh and I love Underwood, but I doesn't. I mean,
I'm watching Michigan get pushed around, and I don't remember
hardball teams getting pushed around like that. Did Michigan did
they got the right guy?
Speaker 5 (16:14):
Well, here's the pushback I would give you, is that
when your team is having top end success. A succession
plan has actually been the blueprint that has worked best.
Think of Ohio State, from Urban Meyer to Ryan Day,
from Oklahoma Bob Stoops to Lincoln Riley.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
You know, it's you can have the global search.
Speaker 5 (16:36):
Yeah, I understand that sentiment, but the problem is is
that that locker room felt like they didn't need a change,
and you don't want to disrupt the culture of something
that is working. It's different when you've got to fire
James Franklin and then there is a clear mantra of
like we're going to build something different or go to
a different location when a coach is underperforming. But when
(16:57):
you're performing at the highest level, the succession plan is
actually what has worked in college football. And the fear
even though you don't want to operate out of fear,
but the fear would have been if you were a
ward manual, the athletic director that if you would have
brought someone in from the outside, even if it was
a home run, right, you know, and you win the
press conference, do you retain the roster and that's a question.
(17:19):
Do you retain the culture? That's a question because we've
also seen seen teams that are really close that are
good cultures, that are good football teams but want to
go to greatness, and they make the wrong hire Bill
Callahan at Nebraska, possibly Luke Fickle at Wisconsin. And so
you change that culture of something that you've been for
a long time and your players believe in, and it
(17:40):
can go south. And I think that was the predicament
that Michigan was in when Jim Harbaugh left.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Sharon Moore is at a really important time in his
tenure at Michigan.
Speaker 5 (17:49):
That loss was ground shaking in a lot of ways
in that building because of the way that it happened.
As big as it was for USC, is probably even
worse for Mission because of the way that it happened.
They have to get back to first principles what made
you great in twenty twenty one that started the run
toward a national championship, Physicality, stopping the run, running the football. See,
(18:13):
if you do three things at Michigan really well, you
can probably win. Stop the run, run the ball, cover kicks.
That's what Jim Harbaugh did. Now it started to grow
after JJ McCarthy became a veteran quarterback and they get
some guys like Blake Koram and things like that in
their offense. But those foundational things, that's what Sharon has
to go back to. I would be pretty surprised if
(18:35):
they didn't run the football forty five fifty times this
week to get back to first Principal's Michigan identity.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Joel Klatt College Football The Boy said, Fox, good see anybody.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
I mean, I didn't even take a shot at weekly
radio hosts and why you wouldn't want to listen to
those guys? Well, man, I felt like I took one
right between the eyes. You know, you stay in Chicago
or via remote, and.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
It's just like, dam listen, this show is hard kidding yourself.
Like it's like it's like going to Columbus in October.
It's home. You gotta be ready. You show up here,
you better be ready. Good seeing you. So if you
made your picks, j Mack, I already got my past,
sent my picks in today, my NFL picks. I send
(19:17):
him seven every week and I get down to five.
Where are you at?
Speaker 6 (19:20):
You you're at seven?
Speaker 1 (19:21):
No? I start with seven. I send them seven the guys,
I tell them seven games I like, and then Friday,
as the staff knows, I pare them down to five.
Speaker 7 (19:30):
Well, unlike you, I like to see a good injury
report before I fire on teams like I don't know
the Niners. I mean, who's telling who's going to show
up for the Niners. I did fire on two that
Cleveland Miami game.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
You know that's the wise guy the Sharps. The Sharps
like Cleveland.
Speaker 7 (19:49):
Well, are you willing to lay after tax dollars right
that you hard earned on Dylan Gabriel? Yeah, that's that
ain't easy. And then the Lions game. I'm on that
one as well. That would be Lion's Buccaneers.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Hey, are you getting to your big Luke when you
get into your big Lucas story.
Speaker 7 (20:05):
You're really fired up about that. Huh, why do you
say big? Don't you mean your skinny Lucas story?
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Everybody? J Mack was so fired up because Luca dropped
twenty five last night against G League Johnny in some
preseason game. Oh my god, you're gonna be incorrigible this season.
Speaker 7 (20:23):
Oh hey, by the way, I know Lebron's hurt and
that we're very all, very worried, but Luca looked pretty
good running that offense last night. Colin, I know it's
only preseason, but Luca jj Reddick.
Speaker 6 (20:34):
That's it. That's a winning combo right there.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Against the El Segundo nights. Who do they play?
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neonon eastern nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
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Speaker 8 (20:47):
Hi, this is Jay.
Speaker 9 (20:48):
I'm the producer of the Paul and Tony Fusco Show.
Usually in these promos they asked you to listen to
the show. I'm here to ask you please don't listen
to the show. The hosts are two absolute morons who
have the dumbest takes on sports. Now, don't listen to
the show so it can get camp.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Who what the hell are you doing in our studio?
Hit him?
Speaker 6 (21:05):
Paul? Ignore that fool. Listen to the Pauline Tony Fusco
Show on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.
He's still moving.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
Haucky's gonna have the best team in baseball. Mariners are
going to get to the World Series potentially.
Speaker 6 (21:21):
Yea, what is it?
Speaker 7 (21:22):
What do you think this West Coast World Series would
mean for the East Coast fans?
Speaker 6 (21:26):
Are they going to stay up late?
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Well?
Speaker 10 (21:28):
Year.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Years ago, there was a Subway series Met's Met the
Yankees in the World Series, and I remember that everybody
in the you know, the Northeast media kind of toned
after the rest of the country predicted big numbers. Nobody watched.
It was at the time like a very lowly rated
world Series. It felt very New York. I think the
Dodgers are a big enough brand. It'll feel like, you
know what it'll feel like, big versus small, David verus Goliath.
(21:50):
That's what it'll feel like. Remember years ago when Michael
Jordan faced the Utah Jazz, So everybody was saying, oh,
Utah is a small market, nobody would watch. But it
felt like David and Goliath. You had the legendary Dynasty
against Stockton and Malone and small market Utah, almost collegiate feeling,
and it got huge numbers. Jordan flu game, but they
the Jordan flu game and it was Jordan. And the
(22:13):
truth of the matter was the story was captivating and
Utah was really really good. But then when I think
the Mariners are really really good without it, they don't
have the Dodgers dominant starting pitching, but they're really good.
Speaker 6 (22:25):
Yeah, Mariners are good.
Speaker 7 (22:26):
That Jordan Jazz stuff that was in like ninety seven.
There was no iPhone, there was no streaming. I mean, honestly,
if NFL Thursday Night stinks, you know, second quarter, I'm
firing up Netflix and seeing what's on or Amazon Prime,
like I'm checking out movies. You couldn't do that back then.
So I know, those Jordan numbers, I'm not really buying that.
I will say the Mariners are an interesting story because
(22:47):
of the Griffy Junior angle. Everybody loves Griffy Junior, right,
everybody has that upper deck card. There's a history with
that team that they never really made it through, and
I do think you're right there will be a gravitational
pull toward them against the Evil Empire West Coast edition.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
The problem is the Dodger Milwaukee is certainly the Mariners
equal this year. You know, it's a mid pay roll
team with no real holes. Milwaukee's totally outclassed. I mean
Game one, they could not get bat on ball, they
couldn't get the ball to the infield and so and
last night the Dodgers had I mean they stranded runners
left and right. Dodgers should have blown them out so
(23:23):
that it does you're starting to see it. Like you
can watch the Dodgers and it's like there's just no
breaks in their batting order. They're they're they're I mean,
it's it is hard to go one, two, three against
the Dodgers. It's I mean, maybe in the first couple
of innings when a starter per Alta's got his best stuff,
it's throwing the hardest. Maybe, But I mean by the
time you get to the second time around the order,
I mean, tasker hernettez is hitting these moon shots. There's
(23:47):
I mean Max Moncy is I mean, he has been
so good in the postseason for the Dodgers. Freddie Freeman
Mooky bets they don't even need their bullpen. Yeah, not
even party. The key is they haven't needed their bullpen.
Speaker 7 (24:00):
You're not mentioning Otani, by the way, I know, Otani's
the man and the Yankee stink.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Uh.
Speaker 7 (24:04):
You know, put judges postseason numbers next to Otani and
you can have a conversation if you want to.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Now, J Mack with the news, turn on the news.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
This is the Herdline News.
Speaker 6 (24:17):
Let's start with the team.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Listen.
Speaker 7 (24:18):
Is the most we've talked Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 6 (24:20):
Colin all season. I'm fired up.
Speaker 7 (24:21):
Love to talk about the Mike Vrabel revenge game. The
Patriots come to town to face the wobbly Titans.
Speaker 6 (24:28):
They fired their coach. I just saw online there.
Speaker 7 (24:31):
Will be no video tribute for Mike Vrabel returning to Tennessee.
Video tributes are stupid. The Tennessee intro coach is a
guy by the name of Mike McCoy. Chargers fans certainly
remember him.
Speaker 6 (24:44):
Gollin.
Speaker 7 (24:45):
I see, I see you rolling your eyes. Listen, it's
a plug and play. If you want to take the
points in the Titans, you've got to plug your nose
because that's a stinky, stinky team.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Andy Reid's been fired, Vrabel's been fired, Belichick's been fired.
Like you know, Pete Carroll, the reality in this league
is is when you let guys like Mike Vrabel out
of the building, what are you doing? Like, ask yourself this,
when Robert Sala left the Jets building, you let the
best coach leave the building. Well, you know we're some
(25:19):
of these owners.
Speaker 6 (25:20):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
You do not ever let Mike Vrabel out of your building.
That's why New England was the easiest prediction I made
this year. I said they'll double their win total. It's
bad organizations. There's nobody to blame. All these fans want
to your game is rigged. No, your owner stinks, GM stinks,
your coach stinks. Bad teams have bad ownership and bad
(25:41):
front offices. If you let Mike Rabel go, bad things
happen to your organization, Shame on you.
Speaker 6 (25:47):
I totally agree. Now, con let's spin it forward.
Speaker 7 (25:49):
You know, we like to see around corners, who's the
next Harball?
Speaker 6 (25:53):
Who's the next Rabel?
Speaker 7 (25:54):
Is there someone out there who's had success and is
on the market and is a slam dunk. This guy's
going to your team to the postseason in a year
or two. Is there somebody out there you don't get?
Speaker 1 (26:06):
You get one of those every four years. I mean,
there's just there's just there's no guarantee. Like Sean Payton
was a guarantee. Yes, Vrabel was a guarantee. Harball was
a guarantee.
Speaker 7 (26:17):
Those are all in like the last four years, though
that's three of them. There's got to be We just gotta.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Think if you're asking me, who would make sure the
Jets were watchable? Mike McCarthy, thank you.
Speaker 6 (26:30):
I like that.
Speaker 7 (26:31):
I'm just telling you I'm gonna start pounding the drum
for him, because I do think he's a winning coach.
By the way he left Dallas. How's Dallas playing this year?
I know they're they're plucky, but they're not eleven wins.
They're not like a contender like they used to be.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Remember Marthey McCarthy left Dallas on his urn exactly.
Speaker 7 (26:47):
He knew that the bottom was falling out of that organization.
Is there anyone else do we need to expand our
mind a little? Is there anyone else on the market
we need to come up with?
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Let me think real quick, No, I mean no guarantees.
Speaker 7 (27:09):
Well, I was gonna say a certain guy who's coaching
in Chapel Hill right now.
Speaker 6 (27:13):
But uh, I think the bloom was off that rose. Huh.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Bill's brand has taking such a weird turn and beating
and like you know.
Speaker 6 (27:22):
Got to bylow stock. Bill Belichick is trading for pennies
on the dollar right now. He knows a little about winning.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
The need a coach. Who's going to need a coach
next year?
Speaker 7 (27:32):
We're probably the Giants, probably where Bill coached previously. I
think Davile's getting run, but maybe the Jets, maybe the
Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Dolphins for sure, Dolphins for sure.
Speaker 6 (27:45):
Tennessee Titans job is already open. Who else has been under?
I don't think hardball is gonna.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Get to Mike McCarthy down in Miami. You could do
a lot worse. That's probably who I'd hire. You could do.
It's an offensive league. Dak had eight years with him.
You could do a lot worse than Mike mcarth.
Speaker 6 (28:02):
How about Arizona with Gannon? Is he going to get run?
Speaker 1 (28:05):
I think he's a good coach. Oh. Interesting, we love
firing guys.
Speaker 6 (28:09):
I like, what are you talking about? You're the one
firing people left and right. All right, let's move on.
Speaker 7 (28:14):
To the Philadelphia Eagles. Colin the offense has been pretty
terrible and everybody wants answers. Nick Sirianni gave his offensive
corner Kevin Petullo the dreaded vote of confidence. Patulo talked
about his relationship with the players.
Speaker 8 (28:30):
I think the comment, you know, Layne had and what's
great about the players is the communication with all of
us is constant, right, whether it's during game, whether it's
during the week, evon days off, you know, things like that.
So that's been really, really good and productive for us.
And I think it was very productive. We had a
good meeting, essays and offensive unit, and so I think
we're gonna good spot working forward.
Speaker 7 (28:51):
M it's that line coming down. It was two and
a half yesterday, now one and a half. Colin, I
gotta say, this guy's in a no win spot. Okay,
you take over as OC for a team that won
the Super Bowl. I mean, the only way to keep
your job is what repeat like.
Speaker 6 (29:05):
He's it feels a little.
Speaker 7 (29:06):
I know they're not playing great, but it does it
not feel like sky is falling at four and two
for the Eels, Like can we take a deep breath
in Philly?
Speaker 6 (29:14):
Or is that not allowed?
Speaker 1 (29:15):
Well, Philadelphia's best case, worst case, best job, worst job
scenario in that the pressure is like Kentucky basketball, it's
literally not fair to be a coach. I mean, Calipari
kept getting to Sweet sixteen's or at least getting into
the tournament. He won a Natty, and they were never
really satisfied. Now he lost a couple of games in
(29:35):
the tournament to bad teams and it was timed for
a new Boys. But there are these kind of places
where like Ohio State football, Yeah, and I think Philadelphia
in pro sports has almost a collegiate delusion in zelotry,
and a lot of it's because Howie Roseman is so respected.
Is that everybody's like, well, we always have the best
(29:56):
GM and the best players, so our coach has to win. Now,
Philadelphia does things that bad organizations do, but it doesn't
affect them. They fire good coaches or winning coaches, and
they get rid of good quarterbacks or productive quarterbacks, and
they take big swings and it usually works. So Philadelphia
has got a little low level chaos in terms of
who's the coach, who's the coordinate, who's the quarterback? They'll
(30:18):
move off. I'm telling you right now, everybody loves Jalen Hurts,
but Greg Cosel's been telling us this for years from
the pocket he's mediocre, that he's not. He's a smaller quarterback.
So you have to win a certain way in Philadelphia,
and the more Jalen throws, the less effective the offense is.
So you have to just own the fact you got
to get the on line in the running game, right.
(30:40):
Everything else in Philly feeds off that.
Speaker 7 (30:42):
Can you imagine if they lose to the Vikings column
fall the four and three.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Wise guys, you know what side they're on.
Speaker 7 (30:49):
Eagle O'Connell off a bye oh now that I'm just saying.
At four and three, I'll be honest. You know, we
keep it real on this show. Authenticity's big. I thought
your AJ Brown take was. I never chimed in on it.
I will say, if they fall to four and three
and it's like we need to change things up, all
of a.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
Sudden, your A. J.
Speaker 6 (31:07):
Brown takes out seems pretty good. What can we get?
Speaker 7 (31:09):
Get this guy out of here? We need to change
the juju in the locker room.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
The only thing that ruins a great locker room is drama.
That's it. Yeah, that's the only thing that ruins a
great locker room. Injuries or drama. They're not dealing with
how many injuries, it's drama.
Speaker 7 (31:25):
My final story is MVP odds for the NFL this season.
Speaker 6 (31:29):
Listen. Patrick Mahomes' number one should not surprise anybody. He's
been good.
Speaker 7 (31:33):
Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen are tied for second. Your
guy Drake may checking in at fourth.
Speaker 8 (31:41):
I don't know.
Speaker 6 (31:42):
I'll let you go off. Where's Sam Donald in this list?
Speaker 7 (31:44):
I mean Sam Darnold's been the second best quarterback in
the league this season after Baker.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
I would go Baker won, Mahomes two, Donald three.
Speaker 6 (31:52):
We're at the one third of the way mark.
Speaker 7 (31:53):
Like you don't call a horse race one third of
the way through, you know, Like, I'm not going to
go over four.
Speaker 6 (31:57):
Don't what are you doing?
Speaker 7 (31:58):
Don't bet on Mahomes two in the MVP at plus
one seventy five or way better numbers weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
Guys.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Come on, Yeah, how about Drake May What a great story.
Speaker 6 (32:09):
He's been quite good.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Yeah. J Mack with the news.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the
herd Line News.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Patriots have as many wins now as they had all
last season, and if you look, they have the easiest
remaining schedule in the league. So you spend two hundred
and seventy five million or whatever it was on free agency,
you get the coach and the quarterback, right, I'm serious, though,
you let Mike Rabel out of a building. Shame on you.
I mean, Michigan lost Harball. Harball was going to go.
(32:38):
But they're they're sometimes like when Robert Salad got fired
and he goes to San Francisco and they're all banged
up and the defense is planing out of its mind.
Just good rule even if somebody, if you own a
company and somebody's struggling in a unit or a department,
but they're really smart and really talented, don't let them
out of the building. There's not that many smart talented people.
(32:58):
Vrabel's really smart and they just let him walk. I'm
going to fire you, Okay, how you've been since then,
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Easter, not a em Pacific.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
In thoughts this week. You know, Buffalo for about a
six year run here, we've had them just a notch
below like a Philadelphia or a Kansas City. But after
losing to New England and then losing to Atlanta and
Michael Pennick's kind of shredding them. They're just not that
good defensively. And you know, Sean McDermott, let's be honest,
(33:34):
Josh Allen has not let this franchise down in the playoffs.
Sean McDermott's defense has let them down in the playoffs.
So that's a burden. He's got a bear. Robert May's
a podcaster sports writer from the Athletics stop by this
week and talked about just this defense and why it's
not working now.
Speaker 11 (33:53):
When Joe Brady took over, they developed this really downhill
run game that they could rely on, and now they
have this flexibility where if we need to throw the
ball forty times, we can, If we need to run
the ball forty times, we can't. That evolution has not
happened on defense. All they're doing now is they're tinkering
within the same world in which they've always existed, and
I think that's where you're seeing some of the limitations,
and ultimately that does.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Fall on the coach.
Speaker 11 (34:14):
The Bill's offense figured that out, we're going to be
the dominant, We're going to be the enforcers. Now, the
Bill's defense has never gotten there, and I think you're
seeing how that's holding them back right now.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
Yeah. I mean, they struggled with the Jets, they struggled
with the Saints, they struggled with the Dolphins, They've struggled
with the one in five Ravens. Their top five draft
picks were all defense. Now one of them is yet
to play as a corner Harriston, But they acquired Joey Bosa.
They paid guys in the offseason defensive players, so they
drafted it, they acquired it, they paid it. It's still bad.
(34:46):
They're allowing five point eight yards per rush and that
is the worst since the nineteen thirty four Cincinnati Reds,
and I swear they're a baseball franchise, So it's bad.
Like a Joe Nuxall wasn't a good tackler or something.
It's just bad. And Nick Wright brought a very interesting
(35:07):
point up about the McDermott Josh Allen partnership.
Speaker 10 (35:12):
Every single coach quarterback combo that has ever won at
least one Super Bowl together won their first Super Bowl
together within five years of being together. For McDermott and Allen,
and by the way, Lamar and Harball.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
This is year eight.
Speaker 10 (35:32):
No one else has taken this long to have it
happen and then it actually happened. So history tells us
for either of those teams to get over the hump,
they probably will need to at some point make a change.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
So I mean, just think about that, is what Nick
is saying, and it's factually true. If you're really an
elite coach in those first four or five years, go
back to Shula Marino. Those are the super Bowl years
because then they get older, they get beat up, they
get expensive. You have limitations in modern football. You go
to make Hay early. I mean McVeigh got golf to
(36:07):
a super Bowl early and then he won it with Stafford.
But they were winning a lot of games with Goff
and McVeigh and they got to a super Bowl. So
if you can't get to a super Bowl, you can say, well,
it's like Phil Mickelson. We know he wasn't Tiger. He
could still win majors when Tiger was in his prime.
He would have won more without Tiger, but he could
still but he could still Sunday on the leader board,
(36:28):
finish on top. If you're going to be great, you
got to do it in certain years. And you know,
it's not like neck Worth where people generally get rich late.
When the quarterbacks first five or six years. Your ability
to spot him, polish, refine, elevate and surround him with
(36:48):
elite talent. Now you're at a point where, well, he's
very expensive. And that's why Brett Veetz, the general manager
of Kansas City, you have got a hit on fifth
and SAYD than seven. So Kansas City is the perfect
match where they've been kind of you know, a lot
of smoking mirrors a wide receiver for two or three years.
(37:09):
I do think Rashi Rice is really talented and really
has questionable judgment. But they have hit on enough mid
to low round draft picks that okay that you have
to figure out a way. Once you pay Dak and
Patrick and Herbert, you got to start hitting on fifth rounders.
You need cheap labor. And so I look at Buffalo
(37:30):
right now and they you know, now again, I think
their top pick Harriston in the corner has not played.
I think he's going to play. That could solve some
of it on the back end. But you know, you
got to you gotta get when they getting's good. And
you you know, I've said this, I watched Cam Newton
and Ben Roethlisberger age overnight because they took so many hits.
(37:53):
And you probably have four great years of Josh Allen
and then he'll be great beyond that, but he won't
be quite the same. So other big story today, it's
pretty significant. The rumors are out that Penn State and
they got a lot of money, Penn State spending seven
hundred million on a stadium upgrade forty five million to
(38:14):
get rid of the guy behind me, James Franklin. Rumors
are they want Marcus Freeman and they probably have to
spend one hundred million on a six year deal for
he and the staff. They've clearly got no issues financially.
And my take is, you know, Notre Dame's a special place.
It's not that special. You better pay Marcus Freeman because
(38:36):
I can remember a lot of misses after lou Holtz.
We can all remember the misses Ty Willingham, Bob Davey,
good gentleman, missus. Notre Dame's hard, and you know Notre
Dame Brian Kelly won there and later admitted it's tough.
It's a tough place. You've got the academic umbrella, You've
got a lot of pressure. It's iconic. You know, it's
(38:59):
not always the easiest place to get a kid from
Texas when he goes up there and sees that it's
cold all the time and it's out in the middle
of nowhere. So you got to pay the money for
Marcus Freeman. Notre Dame. You got to step up. And
by the way, when you get a great coach or
a great CEO or a great employee. That's the reality
of it. Sometimes you got to tear the contract up
and start over. So that's who I would target. Marcus Freeman.
(39:22):
I didn't even I mean, listen, here's how the agent
game works. Media gets frustrated fans. I don't think Marcus
Freeman's interested in it. I don't. I think Notre Dame's
a better job. I didn't think that maybe seven, eight
years ago, but then Brian Kelly turned it around. Marcus Freeman.
I think Notre Dame is a better job than Penn State.
(39:44):
But I think Penn State's a better job than all
but about seven jobs in college football. I think there's
seven Stot Michigan. It's not Notre Dame, it's not Ohio State.
I'd rather coach at USC or Texas, probably Georgia. But
it's good. Penn State's a good job. Our three
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 (00:26):
All right, here we go. It's our number two on
a Wednesday. Great show so far alive in Chicago. It's
The Herd wherever you may be and however you may
be listening. Thanks for making us on any platform part
of your day. Joel Clatton about five minutes, I was
saying one of the things I like about postseason baseball
there's so much urgency. Analytics are important during the regular season,
(00:46):
but you get into the playoffs and there's so much
urgency that you may bring a starter who pitched brilliantly
two days ago and bring them out of the pen.
You're just doing things. I mean, like watch the Dodgers
starting pitching. There's no ren to pull a guy out
in the sixth inning. I mean, last night they let
Yoshi go the whole game. You don't do that in
the regular season. That's just not the way it works.
(01:07):
So analytics, to some degree. In the NBA playoffs, it
becomes a situational basketball league. Two pointers are fine, it's
not all three pointers. And in baseball everything changes. You're
just pitching differently. But I thought they should have kept
Blake Snell in the game in Game one, and instead
they went to the bullpen, because I want to take
(01:28):
a series lead before I go to a bullpen that
I don't entirely trust. Last night, Yamamoto was good. He
wasn't as good as Snell. He was great, but not
that great. You already have a one zero series lead
and you got a four run cushion. I would have
gone to the pin. So it's okay. But even the announcers,
Ron Darning and the guys they were, they didn't know
(01:50):
quite what they were going to do. And everybody's a brilliant,
everybody's a genius about baseball after the fact, but in
real time, nobody kind of knew what Dave Roberts was
going to do. And that's the fun of baseball. And
here were the announcers talking about it at the eighth.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
And now, if you're Dave Roberts, you have to start
thinking seriously about allowing Almamota to finish this game.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
I don't think he's going to finish those six just
because of the big delay in the eighth inning. Because
the offense of the Dodgers. He's going to give him
this inning, and I think Banda will probably finish it
in the ninth. But let's see, I mean, we're watching
baseball from the seventies and eighties now with this kind
of starting pitching by the Dodgers.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah, I mean, And here's the thing. The reason I
would have kept Snell in Game one, He'd retired seventeen
straight Brewers, nobody'd hit the ball out of the infield
since the third it was Sandy Kofax. Just let him go.
And he's also a very good pitcher post one hundred pitches.
And again, Yamamoto Yoshi was great last night, he wasn't
quite as dominant. I've got a four run cushion, I've
(02:52):
got a one zero series lead, I've stolen home field advantage,
so I would have flipped it. Dave Roberts, who we love,
talked about going back to Yamamodo in the ninth.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
I see a real confidence.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
I think that's what it is.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
I think that you know, last year, certainly there was
a transition, and even in the postseason I didn't give
them a whole lot of leash. But I think this
year he's got true confidence. For me that third time
through at pitch ninety, he feels that he's the best option.
And so I think for me, that just gives me
(03:32):
that confidence.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
I like my managers to be adaptable and pragmatic, and
that's the thing with Dave Roberts. He said after Game one,
he goes it was fifty to fifty again, the Brewers
couldn't get bat on ball. They did not hit a
ball out of the infield since the third inning. I'd
have just gone with snow, but there is it's not yields.
You're up to none to nothing. There's no right answer.
(03:54):
That's the fun of baseball. But you do manage it
differently now than you do in the regular season. And
I've said the term I've always used is analytics. It's analytics.
Postseason's analytics. I'll look at the analytics, but sometimes I
want my alpha. I'm just gonna go with him. I'm
just gonna trust him. I don't care what the numbers say,
and with that, we bring in Joel Klatt. He'll be
(04:15):
calling the Washington at Michigan games. That is a really,
really good game, a lot of urgency for both teams.
So let's start with this. There's rumors, and they seem
pretty substantial that Penn State's like, Okay, we know we're
spending seven hundred million in an update in the Beaver Stadium.
We know we just wrote a forty five million dollar
(04:36):
check to James Franklin, and we know we'd have to
write one hundred million dollar check for Marcus Freeman and
his staff. But I hear those rumors and that's probably
the guy I would go after. Do you buy him?
What are your thoughts about that? Well?
Speaker 5 (04:50):
I think that Pat Kraft, the athletic director at Penn State,
is going to take a big swing. I don't think
that anybody is off of his list, to be quite
honest with you, And if I was Pat Kraft, I
would start with the biggest swing possible. I know this
sounds crazy, but I think the first call I would
make is Nick Saban and just like just make sure
that that's not gonna happen. And then you start going
(05:11):
down the list of the other coaches around the country.
I think Dan Lanning will get a call, and I
think Marcus Freeman would get a call. Now, would Freeman
leave Notre Dame? I'm not sure. He just went to
the National championship, you know, I'm sure he feels like
he can build something special. Is Penn State a better
job than Notre Dame? I don't think it is personally,
(05:32):
But that's a call that I would make if I
was Pat Kraft, because again.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
This is a good job.
Speaker 5 (05:38):
I don't know if it is a great job in
college football, but in this cycle, it's probably going to
be the best job available calling. Even if Florida were
to come open, if they make a move off of
Billy Napier, even if Florida State, you know, went south
and Mike Norvelle was let go of Florida State, whatever
happens at Wisconsin, you know, even if Brian Kelly were to,
you know, somehow take a nosedive with LSU beginning, like
(06:02):
let's say that this week. I'm not sure that any
of those jobs. Maybe LSUS, but but Penn State is
set up perfectly. You brought up the investment into the
stadium seven hundred million dollars into the stadium. They're willing
to pay the money to James Franklin to buy him out.
They've got support, and they've got an athletic director that's
willing to win. I think Kurse Signetti should probably get
(06:22):
a call.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
I would be swinging.
Speaker 5 (06:25):
For the fences if I was Patcraft, because here's the
thing is that this reminds me a lot. Maybe not
quite to the tier of Georgia, but Mark Rick at
Georgia seemed to have a ceiling on that program and
they felt like they could go higher. They bring in
Kirby Smart and they did go higher. Maybe that's the
moment that we're in for Penn State right now, where
the next guy is going to lift the ceiling of
(06:46):
this program and they can actually go out there and
win some of these top twenty five, top ten.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Games that James Franklin has fallen short in. So a USC,
speaking of Notre Dame, goes to South Bend. I don't
think it's a great spot for them. I think the
play at Notre Dame is so efficient. They'll pick on
USC's corners, the weakness of their roster. I thought they
bullied Michigan. I do not think they'll be able to
do this to Notre Dame. I thought it was a
(07:11):
very imply I said. I thought it was bigger than
people realized. Beating Michigan and beating them the way they did.
That game was not as close as the score, and
I'm not sure Michigan's got the right coach. We'll talk
about that in five minutes. But I don't think USC
necessarily matches up well here, let's git you.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
It's not as good of a matchup as they had
against Michigan. But I think, let me go back to
your point about the substance or the substantial moment for
USC last week in beating Michigan the way that they did,
I started to think to myself, Yeah, they've had some
big wins since Pete Carroll left, but I can't remember
one that was maybe as important because of the way
(07:49):
that it was played. This signals to everybody like, hey,
maybe we can play at the top end of the
Big Ten. They took the team in this conference that
not only won the national championship a year ago in Michigan,
but also lays their entire identity in being a physical
team and winning the line of scrimmage. In USC one
both lines of scrimmage. That's why you saw Lincoln Riley
(08:10):
so emotional and joyful after the game is because he
knew what that win meant and the fashion in which
it happened.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
So that's an important win.
Speaker 5 (08:18):
Now, the matchup against Notre Dame probably isn't quite as good,
and the reason is, and you touched on it briefly,
is the balance that Notre Dame.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Has on offense.
Speaker 5 (08:26):
Yeah, because Michigan really can't well I shouldn't say can't.
They don't throw the ball well and just a drop
back scenario, so they have to run the football and
then get their quarterback out on the outside in order
to start to throw the ball and be efficient doing so.
But that's not the case with Notre Dame. So Notre
Dame can run it with Jeremiah Love, he's one of
the best backs in the country. And then CJ. Carr
(08:47):
has been outstanding. He's been one of the most efficient
quarterbacks in the country. And so they have that balance
that would scare you a little bit. And yes, there
is an opportunity to throw the ball against USC. Illinois
proved that a couple of weeks ago when Illinois ended
up beating the Trojans, and so this matchup maybe isn't
quite as good. But I sure feel a lot different
(09:07):
about this game as a Trojan fan, if I was
a Trojan fan today than I did last week at
this point because of the way that they were able
to beat Michigan. Now you can at least lean on
the fact that, hey, maybe we can run the football
and it's not just going to be a Miava show
on the road. And what could be rainy conditions by
the way, fifty with some rain, It's like it's almost
(09:29):
like it's almost like the Catholic school has a direct
line to God, right, It's like, hey, what do you
want to do with USC It's like, give us some
rain and some cool weather.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
So it could be an interesting one.
Speaker 5 (09:40):
But I certainly feel like Notre Dame is set up
in this game and balanced enough on offense to take advantage.
Speaker 6 (09:46):
Well.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Your top ten as Ohio State, Indiana, Miami, Texas and
m Bama, Texas, Tech, Oregon, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ole, miss
I don't have any quabbles with it. Let's talk Oregon.
What happened against Indiana. I mean, I'll say this about
Indian is last year they were a great story. They
weren't a great team. I had my reservations. I did
say I thought it would be closed, but they really
(10:08):
dominated the game. Do you buy in let's talk Oregon
what happened? And do you buy Indiana as a national
title contender?
Speaker 6 (10:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
So the first part of that is is I think
that Oregon has got to look themselves in the mirror
a little bit, because physically they got beat up at
the line of scrimmage and they couldn't protect their quarterback.
That was a huge issue in particular in the second half,
and they didn't really do anything defensively to disrupt the
(10:36):
timing of Fernando Mendoza.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
You know.
Speaker 5 (10:38):
So Indiana was able to stay balanced and run the
football if they needed to, and the Mendoza was really
good and not pressured much in the pocket.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
So the line of scrimmage for.
Speaker 5 (10:48):
Oregon, they've got to take a big look in the
mirror and actually evaluate what are we right now and
what are we going to be moving forward. I do
think that they're talented enough and that's a good enough
coaching staff where they can learn from this, grow from this,
and become better. Remember, Ohio State lost at Oregon last
year they lost against Michigan and became something great afterwards.
That's certainly still on the table for Oregon. Now the
(11:09):
second part of your question, I think this when maybe
even more so than USC over Michigan in the way
that that happened in the coliseum. This was a real
seismic type of performance because it transitioned Indiana from a
good team that we didn't know if they could handle
the big boys to okay, wow, this is a national
championship caliber team. I really believe that they were great
(11:32):
on the offensive line, They were terrific on the defensive line.
Their quarterback is as good as any out there, and
their wide receivers make a ton of plays. I talked
with Kurt Signetti on my show earlier this week. He
is a process oriented guy. He's one of the best
coaches in America, and they really attack the weaknesses of
their opponent as well as anybody. Their coordinators have been terrific.
(11:53):
This is again a seismic moment in college football and
in the Big Ten Conference because Indiana just proved to
everybody around the country that they're not just a cute
story and they're not just a legit team that's a
team that could beat anybody in America and potentially win
a national championship.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
You know it's last year. I thought Ohio State. It
took Chip Kelly a while, and in new coordinators too.
He was a pro coordinator. He comes in to his
buddy Ryan Day, and it took him a while. And
then Matt Patricia and Chip leaves. Matt Patricia comes in,
and you know, the arch manning struggling. He struggled a lot.
Maybe it wasn't Matt Patricia, but I'm watching that Ohio
(12:31):
State defense and I'm just telling you, turn the volume
down on your TV, don't listen to the announcers, don't
listen to confirmation bias. Well, no, you guys are good
and everything. But my point is they look shots fired
in the middle of the question. My goodness, they look
faster than college offenses can handle. Ohio State's defense looks
(12:53):
too equipped for the average college offense. That's what it
looks like to me.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
I am going to try to disregard that that clear
personal shot that was taken and try to address the
question as it was asked from the substance.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Colin.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
I will tell you this that this defense, yes, they're fast. Yes,
they're physical, but it's the fact that they can run
so much from a schematic perspective and.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Do it well.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
Their players are really smart, and I think the thing
that makes them so difficult is a lot of their
players are what I would call hybrid players, so they're versatile.
Caleb Down's probably the most versatile defensive back in all
of college football.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
They can line them up anywhere.
Speaker 5 (13:34):
It makes it incredibly difficult to get an indicator of
what they're in. Rvel Reese has been maybe the story
in college football on the defensive side for how quickly
he's rising up draft boards. He could be one of,
if not the best defender in college football. Their linebacker. Oh,
by the way, they also have Sonny Styles, who's a
five star six five, two hundred, two hundred and forty
(13:55):
pounds linebacker that can run. All you have to do
is look at some of these these opposing offenses, what
they've done against other opponents, and then what they don't
do against Ohio State. I think this weekend I'm studying
Demand Williams getting ready for the Michigan Washington game, which
I think is going to be a fantastic game. By
the way, Demand Williams in the Washington offense is one
(14:17):
of the best offenses in all of college football. Demon
Williams is like Kyler Murray light. He had just short
of I think a million yards against Rutgers last Friday night,
and then you look at what he did against Ohio
State and it was basically nothing. And it's because of
the scheme, and it's because of the length, the versatile
nature of their players, and the speed with which they play.
(14:38):
Matt Patricia has done an incredible job. Every play it's
a different defensive front and a different coverage, and that
combination changes throughout the game and it makes it hard
on the play caller and the quarterback to decipher what
that defense is in. And by the way, they've got
some of the better players in the country. That defense
has has allowed me to sit there watch Ohio State
(14:59):
and be pretty comfortable in saying that they have separated
themselves at the top tier of college football. That is, yeah,
pretty clearly the best team in college football. And think
about this colin they haven't even really gone into third gear.
They've just been allowed to play patient, conservative offense and
no game is close.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
The Washington game was a real eye opener because Washington's
offense sometimes it took out a while to get going
against Maryland, but Washington can score at all levels, tight end,
running back, quarterback, receiver. They got pro they got Sunday guys.
So I want to I want to talk about Michigan.
I've said this for years. It can become you know,
it sounds a little elitist when I say, don't hire
(15:38):
the coordinator, don't hire the popular guy on staff. Do
a global search and get the best coach. So Harbaugh
leaves and they bring in the popular guy in the staff,
capable guy, nice guy. But I'm like, it's Michigan. I'm
not sure I want Michigan to be your first job.
Harbaugh head coached in college, he coached in the NFL,
and it took Harbaugh a long time at Michigan to
(15:58):
get going. Was I know that's the popular choice. I
love marsh and I love Underwood, but I doesn't. I mean,
I'm watching Michigan get pushed around, and I don't remember
hardball teams getting pushed around like that. Did Michigan did
they got the right guy?
Speaker 5 (16:14):
Well, here's the pushback I would give you, is that
when your team is having top end success. A succession
plan has actually been the blueprint that has worked best.
Think of Ohio State, from Urban Meyer to Ryan Day,
from Oklahoma Bob Stoops to Lincoln Riley.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
You know, it's you can have the global search.
Speaker 5 (16:36):
Yeah, I understand that sentiment, but the problem is is
that that locker room felt like they didn't need a change,
and you don't want to disrupt the culture of something
that is working. It's different when you've got to fire
James Franklin and then there is a clear mantra of
like we're going to build something different or go to
a different location when a coach is underperforming. But when
(16:57):
you're performing at the highest level, the succession plan is
actually what has worked in college football. And the fear
even though you don't want to operate out of fear,
but the fear would have been if you were a
ward manual, the athletic director that if you would have
brought someone in from the outside, even if it was
a home run, right, you know, and you win the
press conference, do you retain the roster and that's a question.
(17:19):
Do you retain the culture? That's a question because we've
also seen seen teams that are really close that are
good cultures, that are good football teams but want to
go to greatness, and they make the wrong hire Bill
Callahan at Nebraska, possibly Luke Fickle at Wisconsin. And so
you change that culture of something that you've been for
a long time and your players believe in, and it
(17:40):
can go south. And I think that was the predicament
that Michigan was in when Jim Harbaugh left.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Sharon Moore is at a really important time in his
tenure at Michigan.
Speaker 5 (17:49):
That loss was ground shaking in a lot of ways
in that building because of the way that it happened.
As big as it was for USC, is probably even
worse for Mission because of the way that it happened.
They have to get back to first principles what made
you great in twenty twenty one that started the run
toward a national championship, Physicality, stopping the run, running the football. See,
(18:13):
if you do three things at Michigan really well, you
can probably win. Stop the run, run the ball, cover kicks.
That's what Jim Harbaugh did. Now it started to grow
after JJ McCarthy became a veteran quarterback and they get
some guys like Blake Koram and things like that in
their offense. But those foundational things, that's what Sharon has
to go back to. I would be pretty surprised if
(18:35):
they didn't run the football forty five fifty times this
week to get back to first Principal's Michigan identity.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Joel Klatt College Football The Boy said, Fox, good see anybody.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
I mean, I didn't even take a shot at weekly
radio hosts and why you wouldn't want to listen to
those guys? Well, man, I felt like I took one
right between the eyes. You know, you stay in Chicago
or via remote, and.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
It's just like, dam listen, this show is hard kidding yourself.
Like it's like it's like going to Columbus in October.
It's home. You gotta be ready. You show up here,
you better be ready. Good seeing you. So if you
made your picks, j Mack, I already got my past,
sent my picks in today, my NFL picks. I send
(19:17):
him seven every week and I get down to five.
Where are you at?
Speaker 6 (19:20):
You you're at seven?
Speaker 1 (19:21):
No? I start with seven. I send them seven the guys,
I tell them seven games I like, and then Friday,
as the staff knows, I pare them down to five.
Speaker 7 (19:30):
Well, unlike you, I like to see a good injury
report before I fire on teams like I don't know
the Niners. I mean, who's telling who's going to show
up for the Niners. I did fire on two that
Cleveland Miami game.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
You know that's the wise guy the Sharps. The Sharps
like Cleveland.
Speaker 7 (19:49):
Well, are you willing to lay after tax dollars right
that you hard earned on Dylan Gabriel? Yeah, that's that
ain't easy. And then the Lions game. I'm on that
one as well. That would be Lion's Buccaneers.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Hey, are you getting to your big Luke when you
get into your big Lucas story.
Speaker 7 (20:05):
You're really fired up about that. Huh, why do you
say big? Don't you mean your skinny Lucas story?
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Everybody? J Mack was so fired up because Luca dropped
twenty five last night against G League Johnny in some
preseason game. Oh my god, you're gonna be incorrigible this season.
Speaker 7 (20:23):
Oh hey, by the way, I know Lebron's hurt and
that we're very all, very worried, but Luca looked pretty
good running that offense last night. Colin, I know it's
only preseason, but Luca jj Reddick.
Speaker 6 (20:34):
That's it. That's a winning combo right there.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Against the El Segundo nights. Who do they play?
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neonon eastern nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 8 (20:47):
Hi, this is Jay.
Speaker 9 (20:48):
I'm the producer of the Paul and Tony Fusco Show.
Usually in these promos they asked you to listen to
the show. I'm here to ask you please don't listen
to the show. The hosts are two absolute morons who
have the dumbest takes on sports. Now, don't listen to
the show so it can get camp.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Who what the hell are you doing in our studio?
Hit him?
Speaker 6 (21:05):
Paul? Ignore that fool. Listen to the Pauline Tony Fusco
Show on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.
He's still moving.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
Haucky's gonna have the best team in baseball. Mariners are
going to get to the World Series potentially.
Speaker 6 (21:21):
Yea, what is it?
Speaker 7 (21:22):
What do you think this West Coast World Series would
mean for the East Coast fans?
Speaker 6 (21:26):
Are they going to stay up late?
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Well?
Speaker 10 (21:28):
Year.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Years ago, there was a Subway series Met's Met the
Yankees in the World Series, and I remember that everybody
in the you know, the Northeast media kind of toned
after the rest of the country predicted big numbers. Nobody watched.
It was at the time like a very lowly rated
world Series. It felt very New York. I think the
Dodgers are a big enough brand. It'll feel like, you
know what it'll feel like, big versus small, David verus Goliath.
(21:50):
That's what it'll feel like. Remember years ago when Michael
Jordan faced the Utah Jazz, So everybody was saying, oh,
Utah is a small market, nobody would watch. But it
felt like David and Goliath. You had the legendary Dynasty
against Stockton and Malone and small market Utah, almost collegiate feeling,
and it got huge numbers. Jordan flu game, but they
the Jordan flu game and it was Jordan. And the
(22:13):
truth of the matter was the story was captivating and
Utah was really really good. But then when I think
the Mariners are really really good without it, they don't
have the Dodgers dominant starting pitching, but they're really good.
Speaker 6 (22:25):
Yeah, Mariners are good.
Speaker 7 (22:26):
That Jordan Jazz stuff that was in like ninety seven.
There was no iPhone, there was no streaming. I mean, honestly,
if NFL Thursday Night stinks, you know, second quarter, I'm
firing up Netflix and seeing what's on or Amazon Prime,
like I'm checking out movies. You couldn't do that back then.
So I know, those Jordan numbers, I'm not really buying that.
I will say the Mariners are an interesting story because
(22:47):
of the Griffy Junior angle. Everybody loves Griffy Junior, right,
everybody has that upper deck card. There's a history with
that team that they never really made it through, and
I do think you're right there will be a gravitational
pull toward them against the Evil Empire West Coast edition.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
The problem is the Dodger Milwaukee is certainly the Mariners
equal this year. You know, it's a mid pay roll
team with no real holes. Milwaukee's totally outclassed. I mean
Game one, they could not get bat on ball, they
couldn't get the ball to the infield and so and
last night the Dodgers had I mean they stranded runners
left and right. Dodgers should have blown them out so
(23:23):
that it does you're starting to see it. Like you
can watch the Dodgers and it's like there's just no
breaks in their batting order. They're they're they're I mean,
it's it is hard to go one, two, three against
the Dodgers. It's I mean, maybe in the first couple
of innings when a starter per Alta's got his best stuff,
it's throwing the hardest. Maybe, But I mean by the
time you get to the second time around the order,
I mean, tasker hernettez is hitting these moon shots. There's
(23:47):
I mean Max Moncy is I mean, he has been
so good in the postseason for the Dodgers. Freddie Freeman
Mooky bets they don't even need their bullpen. Yeah, not
even party. The key is they haven't needed their bullpen.
Speaker 7 (24:00):
You're not mentioning Otani, by the way, I know, Otani's
the man and the Yankee stink.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Uh.
Speaker 7 (24:04):
You know, put judges postseason numbers next to Otani and
you can have a conversation if you want to.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Now, J Mack with the news, turn on the news.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
This is the Herdline News.
Speaker 6 (24:17):
Let's start with the team.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Listen.
Speaker 7 (24:18):
Is the most we've talked Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 6 (24:20):
Colin all season. I'm fired up.
Speaker 7 (24:21):
Love to talk about the Mike Vrabel revenge game. The
Patriots come to town to face the wobbly Titans.
Speaker 6 (24:28):
They fired their coach. I just saw online there.
Speaker 7 (24:31):
Will be no video tribute for Mike Vrabel returning to Tennessee.
Video tributes are stupid. The Tennessee intro coach is a
guy by the name of Mike McCoy. Chargers fans certainly
remember him.
Speaker 6 (24:44):
Gollin.
Speaker 7 (24:45):
I see, I see you rolling your eyes. Listen, it's
a plug and play. If you want to take the
points in the Titans, you've got to plug your nose
because that's a stinky, stinky team.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Andy Reid's been fired, Vrabel's been fired, Belichick's been fired.
Like you know, Pete Carroll, the reality in this league
is is when you let guys like Mike Vrabel out
of the building, what are you doing? Like, ask yourself this,
when Robert Sala left the Jets building, you let the
best coach leave the building. Well, you know we're some
(25:19):
of these owners.
Speaker 6 (25:20):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
You do not ever let Mike Vrabel out of your building.
That's why New England was the easiest prediction I made
this year. I said they'll double their win total. It's
bad organizations. There's nobody to blame. All these fans want
to your game is rigged. No, your owner stinks, GM stinks,
your coach stinks. Bad teams have bad ownership and bad
(25:41):
front offices. If you let Mike Rabel go, bad things
happen to your organization, Shame on you.
Speaker 6 (25:47):
I totally agree. Now, con let's spin it forward.
Speaker 7 (25:49):
You know, we like to see around corners, who's the
next Harball?
Speaker 6 (25:53):
Who's the next Rabel?
Speaker 7 (25:54):
Is there someone out there who's had success and is
on the market and is a slam dunk. This guy's
going to your team to the postseason in a year
or two. Is there somebody out there you don't get?
Speaker 1 (26:06):
You get one of those every four years. I mean,
there's just there's just there's no guarantee. Like Sean Payton
was a guarantee. Yes, Vrabel was a guarantee. Harball was
a guarantee.
Speaker 7 (26:17):
Those are all in like the last four years, though
that's three of them. There's got to be We just gotta.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Think if you're asking me, who would make sure the
Jets were watchable? Mike McCarthy, thank you.
Speaker 6 (26:30):
I like that.
Speaker 7 (26:31):
I'm just telling you I'm gonna start pounding the drum
for him, because I do think he's a winning coach.
By the way he left Dallas. How's Dallas playing this year?
I know they're they're plucky, but they're not eleven wins.
They're not like a contender like they used to be.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Remember Marthey McCarthy left Dallas on his urn exactly.
Speaker 7 (26:47):
He knew that the bottom was falling out of that organization.
Is there anyone else do we need to expand our
mind a little? Is there anyone else on the market
we need to come up with?
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Let me think real quick, No, I mean no guarantees.
Speaker 7 (27:09):
Well, I was gonna say a certain guy who's coaching
in Chapel Hill right now.
Speaker 6 (27:13):
But uh, I think the bloom was off that rose. Huh.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Bill's brand has taking such a weird turn and beating
and like you know.
Speaker 6 (27:22):
Got to bylow stock. Bill Belichick is trading for pennies
on the dollar right now. He knows a little about winning.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
The need a coach. Who's going to need a coach
next year?
Speaker 7 (27:32):
We're probably the Giants, probably where Bill coached previously. I
think Davile's getting run, but maybe the Jets, maybe the
Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Dolphins for sure, Dolphins for sure.
Speaker 6 (27:45):
Tennessee Titans job is already open. Who else has been under?
I don't think hardball is gonna.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Get to Mike McCarthy down in Miami. You could do
a lot worse. That's probably who I'd hire. You could do.
It's an offensive league. Dak had eight years with him.
You could do a lot worse than Mike mcarth.
Speaker 6 (28:02):
How about Arizona with Gannon? Is he going to get run?
Speaker 1 (28:05):
I think he's a good coach. Oh. Interesting, we love
firing guys.
Speaker 6 (28:09):
I like, what are you talking about? You're the one
firing people left and right. All right, let's move on.
Speaker 7 (28:14):
To the Philadelphia Eagles. Colin the offense has been pretty
terrible and everybody wants answers. Nick Sirianni gave his offensive
corner Kevin Petullo the dreaded vote of confidence. Patulo talked
about his relationship with the players.
Speaker 8 (28:30):
I think the comment, you know, Layne had and what's
great about the players is the communication with all of
us is constant, right, whether it's during game, whether it's
during the week, evon days off, you know, things like that.
So that's been really, really good and productive for us.
And I think it was very productive. We had a
good meeting, essays and offensive unit, and so I think
we're gonna good spot working forward.
Speaker 7 (28:51):
M it's that line coming down. It was two and
a half yesterday, now one and a half. Colin, I
gotta say, this guy's in a no win spot. Okay,
you take over as OC for a team that won
the Super Bowl. I mean, the only way to keep
your job is what repeat like.
Speaker 6 (29:05):
He's it feels a little.
Speaker 7 (29:06):
I know they're not playing great, but it does it
not feel like sky is falling at four and two
for the Eels, Like can we take a deep breath
in Philly?
Speaker 6 (29:14):
Or is that not allowed?
Speaker 1 (29:15):
Well, Philadelphia's best case, worst case, best job, worst job
scenario in that the pressure is like Kentucky basketball, it's
literally not fair to be a coach. I mean, Calipari
kept getting to Sweet sixteen's or at least getting into
the tournament. He won a Natty, and they were never
really satisfied. Now he lost a couple of games in
(29:35):
the tournament to bad teams and it was timed for
a new Boys. But there are these kind of places
where like Ohio State football, Yeah, and I think Philadelphia
in pro sports has almost a collegiate delusion in zelotry,
and a lot of it's because Howie Roseman is so respected.
Is that everybody's like, well, we always have the best
(29:56):
GM and the best players, so our coach has to win. Now,
Philadelphia does things that bad organizations do, but it doesn't
affect them. They fire good coaches or winning coaches, and
they get rid of good quarterbacks or productive quarterbacks, and
they take big swings and it usually works. So Philadelphia
has got a little low level chaos in terms of
who's the coach, who's the coordinate, who's the quarterback? They'll
(30:18):
move off. I'm telling you right now, everybody loves Jalen Hurts,
but Greg Cosel's been telling us this for years from
the pocket he's mediocre, that he's not. He's a smaller quarterback.
So you have to win a certain way in Philadelphia,
and the more Jalen throws, the less effective the offense is.
So you have to just own the fact you got
to get the on line in the running game, right.
(30:40):
Everything else in Philly feeds off that.
Speaker 7 (30:42):
Can you imagine if they lose to the Vikings column
fall the four and three.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Wise guys, you know what side they're on.
Speaker 7 (30:49):
Eagle O'Connell off a bye oh now that I'm just saying.
At four and three, I'll be honest. You know, we
keep it real on this show. Authenticity's big. I thought
your AJ Brown take was. I never chimed in on it.
I will say, if they fall to four and three
and it's like we need to change things up, all
of a.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
Sudden, your A. J.
Speaker 6 (31:07):
Brown takes out seems pretty good. What can we get?
Speaker 7 (31:09):
Get this guy out of here? We need to change
the juju in the locker room.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
The only thing that ruins a great locker room is drama.
That's it. Yeah, that's the only thing that ruins a
great locker room. Injuries or drama. They're not dealing with
how many injuries, it's drama.
Speaker 7 (31:25):
My final story is MVP odds for the NFL this season.
Speaker 6 (31:29):
Listen. Patrick Mahomes' number one should not surprise anybody. He's
been good.
Speaker 7 (31:33):
Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen are tied for second. Your
guy Drake may checking in at fourth.
Speaker 8 (31:41):
I don't know.
Speaker 6 (31:42):
I'll let you go off. Where's Sam Donald in this list?
Speaker 7 (31:44):
I mean Sam Darnold's been the second best quarterback in
the league this season after Baker.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
I would go Baker won, Mahomes two, Donald three.
Speaker 6 (31:52):
We're at the one third of the way mark.
Speaker 7 (31:53):
Like you don't call a horse race one third of
the way through, you know, Like, I'm not going to
go over four.
Speaker 6 (31:57):
Don't what are you doing?
Speaker 7 (31:58):
Don't bet on Mahomes two in the MVP at plus
one seventy five or way better numbers weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
Guys.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Come on, Yeah, how about Drake May What a great story.
Speaker 6 (32:09):
He's been quite good.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Yeah. J Mack with the news.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the
herd Line News.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Patriots have as many wins now as they had all
last season, and if you look, they have the easiest
remaining schedule in the league. So you spend two hundred
and seventy five million or whatever it was on free agency,
you get the coach and the quarterback, right, I'm serious, though,
you let Mike Rabel out of a building. Shame on you.
I mean, Michigan lost Harball. Harball was going to go.
(32:38):
But they're they're sometimes like when Robert Salad got fired
and he goes to San Francisco and they're all banged
up and the defense is planing out of its mind.
Just good rule even if somebody, if you own a
company and somebody's struggling in a unit or a department,
but they're really smart and really talented, don't let them
out of the building. There's not that many smart talented people.
(32:58):
Vrabel's really smart and they just let him walk. I'm
going to fire you, Okay, how you've been since then,
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Easter, not a em Pacific.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
In thoughts this week. You know, Buffalo for about a
six year run here, we've had them just a notch
below like a Philadelphia or a Kansas City. But after
losing to New England and then losing to Atlanta and
Michael Pennick's kind of shredding them. They're just not that
good defensively. And you know, Sean McDermott, let's be honest,
(33:34):
Josh Allen has not let this franchise down in the playoffs.
Sean McDermott's defense has let them down in the playoffs.
So that's a burden. He's got a bear. Robert May's
a podcaster sports writer from the Athletics stop by this
week and talked about just this defense and why it's
not working now.
Speaker 11 (33:53):
When Joe Brady took over, they developed this really downhill
run game that they could rely on, and now they
have this flexibility where if we need to throw the
ball forty times, we can, If we need to run
the ball forty times, we can't. That evolution has not
happened on defense. All they're doing now is they're tinkering
within the same world in which they've always existed, and
I think that's where you're seeing some of the limitations,
and ultimately that does.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Fall on the coach.
Speaker 11 (34:14):
The Bill's offense figured that out, we're going to be
the dominant, We're going to be the enforcers. Now, the
Bill's defense has never gotten there, and I think you're
seeing how that's holding them back right now.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
Yeah. I mean, they struggled with the Jets, they struggled
with the Saints, they struggled with the Dolphins, They've struggled
with the one in five Ravens. Their top five draft
picks were all defense. Now one of them is yet
to play as a corner Harriston, But they acquired Joey Bosa.
They paid guys in the offseason defensive players, so they
drafted it, they acquired it, they paid it. It's still bad.
(34:46):
They're allowing five point eight yards per rush and that
is the worst since the nineteen thirty four Cincinnati Reds,
and I swear they're a baseball franchise, So it's bad.
Like a Joe Nuxall wasn't a good tackler or something.
It's just bad. And Nick Wright brought a very interesting
(35:07):
point up about the McDermott Josh Allen partnership.
Speaker 10 (35:12):
Every single coach quarterback combo that has ever won at
least one Super Bowl together won their first Super Bowl
together within five years of being together. For McDermott and Allen,
and by the way, Lamar and Harball.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
This is year eight.
Speaker 10 (35:32):
No one else has taken this long to have it
happen and then it actually happened. So history tells us
for either of those teams to get over the hump,
they probably will need to at some point make a change.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
So I mean, just think about that, is what Nick
is saying, and it's factually true. If you're really an
elite coach in those first four or five years, go
back to Shula Marino. Those are the super Bowl years
because then they get older, they get beat up, they
get expensive. You have limitations in modern football. You go
to make Hay early. I mean McVeigh got golf to
(36:07):
a super Bowl early and then he won it with Stafford.
But they were winning a lot of games with Goff
and McVeigh and they got to a super Bowl. So
if you can't get to a super Bowl, you can say, well,
it's like Phil Mickelson. We know he wasn't Tiger. He
could still win majors when Tiger was in his prime.
He would have won more without Tiger, but he could
still but he could still Sunday on the leader board,
(36:28):
finish on top. If you're going to be great, you
got to do it in certain years. And you know,
it's not like neck Worth where people generally get rich late.
When the quarterbacks first five or six years. Your ability
to spot him, polish, refine, elevate and surround him with
(36:48):
elite talent. Now you're at a point where, well, he's
very expensive. And that's why Brett Veetz, the general manager
of Kansas City, you have got a hit on fifth
and SAYD than seven. So Kansas City is the perfect
match where they've been kind of you know, a lot
of smoking mirrors a wide receiver for two or three years.
(37:09):
I do think Rashi Rice is really talented and really
has questionable judgment. But they have hit on enough mid
to low round draft picks that okay that you have
to figure out a way. Once you pay Dak and
Patrick and Herbert, you got to start hitting on fifth rounders.
You need cheap labor. And so I look at Buffalo
(37:30):
right now and they you know, now again, I think
their top pick Harriston in the corner has not played.
I think he's going to play. That could solve some
of it on the back end. But you know, you
got to you gotta get when they getting's good. And
you you know, I've said this, I watched Cam Newton
and Ben Roethlisberger age overnight because they took so many hits.
(37:53):
And you probably have four great years of Josh Allen
and then he'll be great beyond that, but he won't
be quite the same. So other big story today, it's
pretty significant. The rumors are out that Penn State and
they got a lot of money, Penn State spending seven
hundred million on a stadium upgrade forty five million to
(38:14):
get rid of the guy behind me, James Franklin. Rumors
are they want Marcus Freeman and they probably have to
spend one hundred million on a six year deal for
he and the staff. They've clearly got no issues financially.
And my take is, you know, Notre Dame's a special place.
It's not that special. You better pay Marcus Freeman because
(38:36):
I can remember a lot of misses after lou Holtz.
We can all remember the misses Ty Willingham, Bob Davey,
good gentleman, missus. Notre Dame's hard, and you know Notre
Dame Brian Kelly won there and later admitted it's tough.
It's a tough place. You've got the academic umbrella, You've
got a lot of pressure. It's iconic. You know, it's
(38:59):
not always the easiest place to get a kid from
Texas when he goes up there and sees that it's
cold all the time and it's out in the middle
of nowhere. So you got to pay the money for
Marcus Freeman. Notre Dame. You got to step up. And
by the way, when you get a great coach or
a great CEO or a great employee. That's the reality
of it. Sometimes you got to tear the contract up
and start over. So that's who I would target. Marcus Freeman.
(39:22):
I didn't even I mean, listen, here's how the agent
game works. Media gets frustrated fans. I don't think Marcus
Freeman's interested in it. I don't. I think Notre Dame's
a better job. I didn't think that maybe seven, eight
years ago, but then Brian Kelly turned it around. Marcus Freeman.
I think Notre Dame is a better job than Penn State.
(39:44):
But I think Penn State's a better job than all
but about seven jobs in college football. I think there's
seven Stot Michigan. It's not Notre Dame, it's not Ohio State.
I'd rather coach at USC or Texas, probably Georgia. But
it's good. Penn State's a good job. Our three
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