January 8, 2025 • 33 mins
Colin is surprised the Raiders decided to fire head coach Antonio Pierce considering the quarterbacks he had to work with and why they will struggle to land an elite candidate to replace him. 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. He also talks to Super Bowl champ Drew Brees about dealing with the nerves of a big playoff environment as Lamar Jackson looks to improve on his postseason struggles.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Oh, we got a good 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.
(00:46):
It 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 Gulf Malibu.
It's hard to see anything left standing, so families, kids.
So far, it's been property and homes lost just just
(01:08):
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
(01:55):
we'll go from there, and we'll start our show today,
and listen, we got college football the playoff 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.
(02:16):
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 Piers, and probably in the next
two days a fourth coach. That'll be official. They'll hire
(02:38):
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,
(03:00):
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'connolc 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 an Antonio Pierce issue.
But we all know being the Raiders head coach is
not a job. It's a residency twelve to fifteen months,
get some cash, be on your way. We are. This
(04:07):
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
(04:30):
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.
(04:52):
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 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. The Texas College coach Arizona NFL coach
(05:15):
had done USC for one year. He wanted to stay
out West. He wanted that Raider offensive coordinator gig, and
it wouldn't give him 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 Jayden
(05:36):
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. And
(05:58):
this is the guy that should have in back to
back years 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 2 (06:18):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
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 3 (06:41):
That shared vision between ownership and coaching and scouting, and
that's when you can be successful. And I had that
up until the the last four years in New England.
And when you have that share 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 else. So
(07:01):
I think you look at the organizations and you can
kind of see the ones that are and the ones
that aren't.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
No, Bill, it's SIT'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
(07:29):
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.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
Now.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
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 Lock eleven and five,
eleven and five, eleven and 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 done.
(08:00):
And I like the 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. They were going to 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
(08:22):
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 the coach, did a local
AM radio hit every Monday to have the same message
(08:42):
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. The minute Brady left,
(09:02):
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, one skill player made
(09:24):
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 after winning six
(09:49):
Super Bowls, Robert Kraft did not get dumb. But as
we know in multiple books, Bill took more power. Brady
was irritated, annoyed, defeated, and left and that's when the
problem started. Brady's last year, the year he would complain
(10:09):
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 young staff. It's the
(10:30):
same old reed 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 made the Pro Bowl. So the Raiders situation,
that's an owner situation, the New England one. I don't
(10:52):
buy the craft suddenly who wanted to keep Tom? Who
pushed backed on keeping Garoppolo and keeping Tom, and they
want to there's 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 of people saw
(11:14):
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. Literally Belichick, who couldn't
(11:35):
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 won
with a bunch, Bill one, Greg Olsen, Peter Schrager, and
Drew Brees. I'll stop by today again. Heart's thoughts prayers
(11:56):
go out to the people in Malibu and Pacific Palisades
coastal towns here just wrecked 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, but we're not that
(12:17):
far from the beach. You know, rough day here in
LA for a lot of people thinking of you.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
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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
Schreger 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
(12:54):
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
(13:16):
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 mcvagh 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
(13:36):
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, they're 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
(13:58):
slick y, clever, 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 Rabel as Dan Campbell,
(14:24):
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 thing
(14:44):
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 rule changes and safety practices,
he's on the right side of the ball. And none
(15:05):
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
(15:26):
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
(15:47):
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.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
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Speaker 1 (17:07):
Well, he is eligible for the Hall of Fame in
twenty twenty six, and it just turned twenty twenty five,
so he won't have much much of a wait. Thirteen
time Pro bowler, one of the top ten quarterbacks I've
ever seen, Drew Brees joining us live. So I think
we both like Bonnicks and Sean Payton, I think we
both thought this is gonna work. If you've got to
(17:27):
land somewhere, if you're bo Nix, this is it. So
here they are going into a playoff, King, So I
want you to go back to your first year with Sean.
So Sean's intense. I can't even imagine what playoff Sean
is like. Is it different his playoff week with Sean
Drew and you had a lot of them. Is he
a little different?
Speaker 7 (17:49):
You know? I wouldn't say that he's different, but he's
definitely gonna have something up his sleeve, you know. And
I would say, look, he's still relatively new in his
tenure there obviously, you know, only a second year in Denver.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
But really I would say this year based on new.
Speaker 7 (18:07):
Quarterback and kind of like the first year in the
system where everybody's really kind of you know, starting to
embrace it now and moving forward. Like he he's gonna
look at this as like there's gonna be something special
this week or something unique this week that he kind
of throws into the preparation that makes the guys.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
Feel like this is a little something different. Yeah.
Speaker 7 (18:29):
And the fact that, look, you're going on the road
and playing you know, arguably one of the favorites, you know,
and and a guy in Josh Allen in an environment
like you know, Bill's Mafia, where like he's gonna build
that up a little bit like playing in that atmosphere
in that stadium with the weather conditions, you know, like
(18:51):
all that stuff he's going to have he's gonna be
talking about you know, yeah it's on turf, but it's slick,
you know, make sure you got the right cleats, and
you know, uh, he's gonna he's gonna have something about like, man,
we're gonna like be throwing snowballs, you know, into the
stands at the fan. Like he's gonna build it up
to where it's, yes, it's it's it's different, but man,
(19:13):
it's gonna be fun. Right, there's gonna be the keys
to victory. There's gonna be the lot, you know, locked
in and focused, but at the same time, like there's
gonna be something different and fun about this week.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
So Jaden Daniels on the road, first playoff game, And
I think I've talked to you through the years. Playoffs
are different. Peyton told me this. I think you've told
me this. They're different. There's like preseason speed, regular season speed,
division rival speed, playoff speed. So, Jaden Daniels first playoff
game on the road, Vina Via, you tell me, take
(19:45):
me to your first playoff game. Just the nerves you
dealt with, the anxiety, the prep.
Speaker 7 (19:52):
Yeah, you know, it's I would equate it to like
similar to when you watch the Super Bowl, like it
always feels in the beginning of the Super Bowl like
everybody's on eggshelves.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Yeah, Like the game is just slower.
Speaker 7 (20:05):
Everyone's trying to feel it out, you know, and then
all of a sudden, second quarter, third quarter, it feels like,
all of a sudden, now there's this explosion. Everyone starts
playing a little bit more loose, a bit more confident.
Obviously the more experienced teams, you know, maybe it doesn't
affect them as much. Like it's easy to sit here
and say, hey, these young quarterbacks. Man, it's the playoffs
(20:27):
and everybody's going to build it up and you know,
more pressure in this and that. In some cases, young
guys step in these things and it's like they don't
know any better, right, Like this is the game that
they've played their whole life. And like a guy like
Jayden Daniels to me, comes across as somebody, especially just
watching the way that he's progressed and especially played down
the stretch, like this dude plays loose. This guy looks
(20:50):
like he's having fun, like he's just playing ball in
the backyard. I don't think he really knows any better.
And and he's he's just having fun. And it looks
like the team is feeding off of that as well.
And look, I've always loved dan Quinn and and dan
Quinn has a tremendous track record, and these guys, man,
he has them prepared and playing hard, playing loose, like
(21:14):
playing confident.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
So like I see a commander's team of any team.
Speaker 7 (21:20):
That is going to just come into this thing like,
hey man, we got nothing to lose, Like, let's turn
it loose, right, Like we're a wild card, man, Nobody
expects us to do anything.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
We've flown under the radar the whole season, you know.
Speaker 7 (21:32):
Yeah, we got this young quarterback that now all of
a sudden starting to get some notoriety.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
But it's like, man, this does unfaze us. This is
not too big for us.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Yeah. So Buffalo, Baltimore and Philadelphia are considered pretty heavy
favorites and they're at home. Uh, they're at home. Go
back to your career. You're a home favorite in the
playoffs and a couple of times a big favorite. Is
there sort of a weird pressure knowing we got the
probably got the better coach. You're a real great player,
(22:01):
we're at home. We should win this game. But in
the back of your head, are you thinking, Okay, it's
the playoffs. Crazy stuff happens. What is it like to
be a big playoff favorite, because there's usually about one
a weekend in the NFL.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
Yeah, I'll be honest.
Speaker 7 (22:17):
I never paid attention or was aware of the line
in a playoff game except for one time, and that
was when we played in the Super Bowl against the Colts.
To start that week, we were a seven and a
half point dog, and I remember Sean Payton made the
point early in the week of preparation, like you're a
seven and a half point dog. But very few times
(22:42):
do I go into a game or a scenario where
I truly feel like, like with that line, we are
the better team.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
Wow.
Speaker 7 (22:49):
Watch how this line changes from Monday to Sunday. Watch
how this line changed from Monday to game day. And
sure enough, like every day he would put up there,
and we dropped the six and a half, We dropped
the five and a half, we dropped the four and
a half.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
I don't even know what it was by the time game.
Speaker 7 (23:05):
Rolled around, but bottom line, it was the world feels
like you are the better bet right, right, Like they
are betting on you, and so this line is beginning
to change, right. So it was it was supposed it
was meant to be a confidence builder for us as
a team.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
But like that was the only time I ever paid
attention to it.
Speaker 7 (23:26):
Otherwise, man, like I was locked in focused on my job,
Like I don't care who we're playing. It's a faceless opponent.
Like I'm studying the opponent. We're gonna go kick their butt.
I'm trying to score forty points. I'm trying to complete
every pass. I'm trying to score on every drive. I'm
trying Like like it didn't matter, you know, the intent
was still the same, regardless of what the liable was.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Sometimes I will watch sporting events and all get nervous
for a player. I know the player, I like the player.
Sam Darnold's one of those. If he'd play great against Detroit,
I wouldn't feel this way. And I didn't think it
was a very winnable game, biggest game in Detroit in
fifty years. I'm like, this is a tough game for Minnesota.
So he goes there, he didn't play well. Now I'm thinking, okay, Sam,
(24:12):
you're going to a playoff game. It's your first playoff game.
I'm really hoping he plays well. You didn't have many
bad games, but was there ever a moment for you
Drew that you didn't love your performance one week and
the next week was a playoff game or a big game.
How do you forget it? And again, you didn't have
(24:32):
many of those, but how do you forget a performance
you're not happy with six seven days earlier?
Speaker 7 (24:39):
I'll be honest, those were typically the games where I
played my best was coming off of maybe a one
or two game stretch where I just felt like I
hadn't played my best or you know, there was a
lot more to be had, you know, out of the game,
(25:00):
you know. So just the way that I then approached
that next week of preparation, I would really lock in
on the process, you know, because if you focus on
the process, the result will take care of itself. So
it became just this laser focus on like each day,
my routine, my habits, getting my work done, and knowing
(25:23):
that that will equate to a great performance on Sunday,
regardless of what happened the weeks before. Like just focusing
on the process and knowing the result will take care
of itself.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
And so like call it a.
Speaker 7 (25:36):
Little bit just like a heightened level of urgency and
a focus, not pressure, just urgency and maybe getting back
to just some of the basics, you know. So like, look,
I think this is a pivotal game for Sam Darnold.
He's played a phenomenal regular season, phenomenal especially all that
(25:58):
he's you know, gone through to get to the point
and then the opportunity that he had this season to
making the most of it. But you know, you're remembered
for what you do in the playoffs, and it's all
all that regular season did was get you to this
moment so that you would have this opportunity. Look, I
was actually went to the game. I took my sons
to the to the Detroit game. We were sitting literally
(26:18):
front row. I watched, I watched every step. They had
tons of opportunities. Yeah, again, they were down inside the
ten yard line four times. They could have been up fourteen,
seventeen points at halftime. Yeah, they were terrible in the
red zone. A lot of things I saw that I
would have done differently. But but you take that performance
(26:38):
and you you turn that into one of two things.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
Either you let that you know, drag you.
Speaker 7 (26:43):
Down moving forward, or that has created a high level
of urgency and focus and intensity to attention to the
process this week so that you go out and play
lights out.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Finally, I want to circle back to Sean Payton, because
you have you. When I think of Sean, I think
of you, and I think of you, I think of
Sean and like Reiden Mahomes or Brady and Belichick, it's
just legendary legacy stuff. Not all coaches age well. Sean
is aged well. He is blunt. He put it out there.
(27:16):
There's just something when I sat when he was here
at Fox, I'd go to dinner with him and he's
so intense And if I had to guess why he's aged, well,
he just loves it so much that that light has
never dimmed. But why do you think that he remains
so good all these years after he started?
Speaker 7 (27:36):
Yeah, So a couple things. Number one, And there's so
much of a product of your mentors and who you've
had a chance to be around. And you know Sean
would test to this, but just from being around him
and looking at his influences like Bill.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
Parcell's, John Gruden. Yeah, like there there was so much.
Speaker 7 (27:56):
Of an influence from those guys in the way that
Sean would teach, coach, communicate, and it was like the
best of like the best of those guys, you know,
Sean took and kind of made his own, you know.
So I feel like there's there's always that that he's
taken the best of what people have bowed in to
him and now he's carrying that on to become his
(28:18):
coaching style. Look, he's an offensive guy, right. He loves
he loves being ahead of the curve. He loves like
he's a grinder. The dude's a grinder man. He puts
in a ton of time late nights, like just trying
to find those little like edges or advantages that he
(28:39):
can put in the game plan.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
They're going to make the difference. And so many times
I can't tell you, like.
Speaker 7 (28:45):
We'd be getting a Saturday and it was like, ah,
you know, he'd say, I went back and watched this
and I just came up with this idea and we
would massage it a little bit and it would go
in the game plan, and sure enough it would be
one of the game changing plays in the game. Right.
Speaker 4 (28:59):
Happened so many times.
Speaker 7 (29:02):
He's an outstanding communicator, like just his ability to order
the chaos. Order the chaos, like block out the noise,
like get the team zeroed in on the keys to
victory each and every week despite all of the distractions
and all the other stuff that people want to talk about. Like, man, fellas,
if we do this, like we put ourselves in the
(29:23):
best best position to win this game. Right. He had
a great way of bringing levity and humor to tense
situations or as a way to motivate guys, right, Like
I'll never forget we had a we had a safety
one time who was was a ballhawk machine and he
would always make he would always make the comment to him, Hey,
(29:47):
you know, defense, when so and so gets this interception,
we're gonna have to block everybody to get him in
the end zone, to get him a pick six. Right,
So make sure that when you, like we get this interception,
you got to go find a block because otherwise there's
no way this guy's gonna make his way. Course, Like
so it was like a subtle jab but then sure enough,
like it just you know, created a little extra motivation
(30:08):
for the defense of this so like little stuff like
that where he would find ways to just kind of like,
you know, dig in here a little bit and everybody's laughing,
everybody's having a good time, and you kind of walk
away and you're like, was he just.
Speaker 4 (30:19):
Making fun of me?
Speaker 7 (30:21):
But at the end of the day, like that would
create a little bit of an edge and a chip
on your shoulder, like, man, he got something to prove,
Like I was always feeling like I had something to
prove to Sean Payton.
Speaker 4 (30:29):
And maybe it was just proving him right because he
believed in me and when a lot of people didn't.
Speaker 7 (30:34):
But he's that's why he's aged weel because he can
identify with players, and he makes it fun when it's
time to work, it's time to work, when it's time
to play, and then we're gonna have a good time.
And he's taken the best of those who have poured
into him and now he's just carrying on that legacy.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
You've been so good today. I'd be remiss if I
didn't ask you this. I want you to listen to them.
I love Lamar Jackson. He cares so damn much. He
gets so mad when he struggles. I love guys like that.
I want to play a Lamar Jackson bite, and I
have a question out of it. Let's play this real
quick about why he struggled in the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
Yeah, I'll just be too excited, that's all you know,
too ask he like I'm seeing things before I having like, Oh,
I got to calm myself down.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
But there's man more experience. I've found a way to
about banish it out. Okay. When he says that, I
get all juiced. Uff. I never think of you because
you were such an accuracy machine. I don't ever remember
I remember anxious Brady. I definitely remember anxious Manning. I
(31:37):
never remember. Yeah, yeah, Drew looks a little frenetic. Don't
remember it. Did you ever get nervous? Did?
Speaker 7 (31:45):
I'll give you.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
I'll give you one example.
Speaker 7 (31:47):
So super Bowl, right, you know you're going into his like, man,
just any other game. It's just like any other game.
And I think, first play we hand the ball off
for like five yard game. Next play we throw a
short pass. It's like third and four and we're gonna
we're gonna run. We called just like you know, all
go We're just gonna run by the corner on third
and four, thinking he might be sitting at the sticks
and we're gonna get a big play. Robert Meacham runs
(32:09):
by the.
Speaker 4 (32:09):
Corner and he's got like three or four yard.
Speaker 7 (32:13):
Of space on him, and I launched the ball over
his head. I mean launch it over his head ten
yards and go to the sideline. And I'm just sitting
there going, dude, calm down, like my heart was raising.
You know, it's the Super Bowl. It's the first drive
we had all go called. And I just watched it
over this guy's head and he's wide open, you know.
And then that's when I was like, hey, man, it's
(32:34):
just like any other game. Okay, right, just just play
the game. Just just focus on focus on your job.
But like that that would be you know, look, I
get it, you know, I get it like you get
in some of these moments, and it's easy to get
amped up, you know, and anxious and feel like, man,
I gotta go make a play, right, I gotta go. No,
just execute, man, just execute the offense right, and all
(32:56):
those opportunities will come.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Yeah. Now I want to go look up that it's
a video. Now that you've told it to me, I'm like, oh,
I don't remember Drew missing by ten yards over a receiver.
What a pleasure. What a pleasure to have you, but
I appreciate you coming on again. Great stories today.
Thanks for listening to the Best of 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 Sportsradio dot com, or stream us live every day
on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Oh, we got a good 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.
(00:46):
It 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 Gulf Malibu.
It's hard to see anything left standing, so families, kids.
So far, it's been property and homes lost just just
(01:08):
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
(01:55):
we'll go from there, and we'll start our show today,
and listen, we got college football the playoff 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.
(02:16):
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 Piers, and probably in the next
two days a fourth coach. That'll be official. They'll hire
(02:38):
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,
(03:00):
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'connolc 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 an Antonio Pierce issue.
But we all know being the Raiders head coach is
not a job. It's a residency twelve to fifteen months,
get some cash, be on your way. We are. This
(04:07):
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
(04:30):
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.
(04:52):
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 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. The Texas College coach Arizona NFL coach
(05:15):
had done USC for one year. He wanted to stay
out West. He wanted that Raider offensive coordinator gig, and
it wouldn't give him 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 Jayden
(05:36):
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. And
(05:58):
this is the guy that should have in back to
back years 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 2 (06:18):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
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 3 (06:41):
That shared vision between ownership and coaching and scouting, and
that's when you can be successful. And I had that
up until the the last four years in New England.
And when you have that share 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 else. So
(07:01):
I think you look at the organizations and you can
kind of see the ones that are and the ones
that aren't.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
No, Bill, it's SIT'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
(07:29):
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.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
Now.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
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 Lock eleven and five,
eleven and five, eleven and 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 done.
(08:00):
And I like the 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. They were going to 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
(08:22):
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 the coach, did a local
AM radio hit every Monday to have the same message
(08:42):
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. The minute Brady left,
(09:02):
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, one skill player made
(09:24):
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 after winning six
(09:49):
Super Bowls, Robert Kraft did not get dumb. But as
we know in multiple books, Bill took more power. Brady
was irritated, annoyed, defeated, and left and that's when the
problem started. Brady's last year, the year he would complain
(10:09):
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 young staff. It's the
(10:30):
same old reed 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 made the Pro Bowl. So the Raiders situation,
that's an owner situation, the New England one. I don't
(10:52):
buy the craft suddenly who wanted to keep Tom? Who
pushed backed on keeping Garoppolo and keeping Tom, and they
want to there's 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 of people saw
(11:14):
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. Literally Belichick, who couldn't
(11:35):
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 won
with a bunch, Bill one, Greg Olsen, Peter Schrager, and
Drew Brees. I'll stop by today again. Heart's thoughts prayers
(11:56):
go out to the people in Malibu and Pacific Palisades
coastal towns here just wrecked 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, but we're not that
(12:17):
far from the beach. You know, rough day here in
LA for a lot of people thinking of you.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non 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
Schreger 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
(12:54):
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
(13:16):
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 mcvagh 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
(13:36):
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, they're 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
(13:58):
slick y, clever, 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 Rabel as Dan Campbell,
(14:24):
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 thing
(14:44):
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 rule changes and safety practices,
he's on the right side of the ball. And none
(15:05):
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
(15:26):
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
(15:47):
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.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
at noon eastern non am Pacific.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 6 (16:16):
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 (16:23):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 6 (16:24):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
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 6 (16:37):
And the fact that we've been friends for the last
twenty years and still work together. I mean that says something.
Speaker 5 (16:41):
Right, So check us out. We like to get you
involved too, take your phone calls, chop it up, as
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Speaker 6 (16:47):
I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio,
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Speaker 5 (16:52):
Be sure to check out Covino and Rich Live on
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that's Cavino and Rich.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Well, he is eligible for the Hall of Fame in
twenty twenty six, and it just turned twenty twenty five,
so he won't have much much of a wait. Thirteen
time Pro bowler, one of the top ten quarterbacks I've
ever seen, Drew Brees joining us live. So I think
we both like Bonnicks and Sean Payton, I think we
both thought this is gonna work. If you've got to
(17:27):
land somewhere, if you're bo Nix, this is it. So
here they are going into a playoff, King, So I
want you to go back to your first year with Sean.
So Sean's intense. I can't even imagine what playoff Sean
is like. Is it different his playoff week with Sean
Drew and you had a lot of them. Is he
a little different?
Speaker 7 (17:49):
You know? I wouldn't say that he's different, but he's
definitely gonna have something up his sleeve, you know. And
I would say, look, he's still relatively new in his
tenure there obviously, you know, only a second year in Denver.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
But really I would say this year based on new.
Speaker 7 (18:07):
Quarterback and kind of like the first year in the
system where everybody's really kind of you know, starting to
embrace it now and moving forward. Like he he's gonna
look at this as like there's gonna be something special
this week or something unique this week that he kind
of throws into the preparation that makes the guys.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
Feel like this is a little something different. Yeah.
Speaker 7 (18:29):
And the fact that, look, you're going on the road
and playing you know, arguably one of the favorites, you know,
and and a guy in Josh Allen in an environment
like you know, Bill's Mafia, where like he's gonna build
that up a little bit like playing in that atmosphere
in that stadium with the weather conditions, you know, like
(18:51):
all that stuff he's going to have he's gonna be
talking about you know, yeah it's on turf, but it's slick,
you know, make sure you got the right cleats, and
you know, uh, he's gonna he's gonna have something about like, man,
we're gonna like be throwing snowballs, you know, into the
stands at the fan. Like he's gonna build it up
to where it's, yes, it's it's it's different, but man,
(19:13):
it's gonna be fun. Right, there's gonna be the keys
to victory. There's gonna be the lot, you know, locked
in and focused, but at the same time, like there's
gonna be something different and fun about this week.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
So Jaden Daniels on the road, first playoff game, And
I think I've talked to you through the years. Playoffs
are different. Peyton told me this. I think you've told
me this. They're different. There's like preseason speed, regular season speed,
division rival speed, playoff speed. So, Jaden Daniels first playoff
game on the road, Vina Via, you tell me, take
(19:45):
me to your first playoff game. Just the nerves you
dealt with, the anxiety, the prep.
Speaker 7 (19:52):
Yeah, you know, it's I would equate it to like
similar to when you watch the Super Bowl, like it
always feels in the beginning of the Super Bowl like
everybody's on eggshelves.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Yeah, Like the game is just slower.
Speaker 7 (20:05):
Everyone's trying to feel it out, you know, and then
all of a sudden, second quarter, third quarter, it feels like,
all of a sudden, now there's this explosion. Everyone starts
playing a little bit more loose, a bit more confident.
Obviously the more experienced teams, you know, maybe it doesn't
affect them as much. Like it's easy to sit here
and say, hey, these young quarterbacks. Man, it's the playoffs
(20:27):
and everybody's going to build it up and you know,
more pressure in this and that. In some cases, young
guys step in these things and it's like they don't
know any better, right, Like this is the game that
they've played their whole life. And like a guy like
Jayden Daniels to me, comes across as somebody, especially just
watching the way that he's progressed and especially played down
the stretch, like this dude plays loose. This guy looks
(20:50):
like he's having fun, like he's just playing ball in
the backyard. I don't think he really knows any better.
And and he's he's just having fun. And it looks
like the team is feeding off of that as well.
And look, I've always loved dan Quinn and and dan
Quinn has a tremendous track record, and these guys, man,
he has them prepared and playing hard, playing loose, like
(21:14):
playing confident.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
So like I see a commander's team of any team.
Speaker 7 (21:20):
That is going to just come into this thing like,
hey man, we got nothing to lose, Like, let's turn
it loose, right, Like we're a wild card, man, Nobody
expects us to do anything.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
We've flown under the radar the whole season, you know.
Speaker 7 (21:32):
Yeah, we got this young quarterback that now all of
a sudden starting to get some notoriety.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
But it's like, man, this does unfaze us. This is
not too big for us.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Yeah. So Buffalo, Baltimore and Philadelphia are considered pretty heavy
favorites and they're at home. Uh, they're at home. Go
back to your career. You're a home favorite in the
playoffs and a couple of times a big favorite. Is
there sort of a weird pressure knowing we got the
probably got the better coach. You're a real great player,
(22:01):
we're at home. We should win this game. But in
the back of your head, are you thinking, Okay, it's
the playoffs. Crazy stuff happens. What is it like to
be a big playoff favorite, because there's usually about one
a weekend in the NFL.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
Yeah, I'll be honest.
Speaker 7 (22:17):
I never paid attention or was aware of the line
in a playoff game except for one time, and that
was when we played in the Super Bowl against the Colts.
To start that week, we were a seven and a
half point dog, and I remember Sean Payton made the
point early in the week of preparation, like you're a
seven and a half point dog. But very few times
(22:42):
do I go into a game or a scenario where
I truly feel like, like with that line, we are
the better team.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
Wow.
Speaker 7 (22:49):
Watch how this line changes from Monday to Sunday. Watch
how this line changed from Monday to game day. And
sure enough, like every day he would put up there,
and we dropped the six and a half, We dropped
the five and a half, we dropped the four and
a half.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
I don't even know what it was by the time game.
Speaker 7 (23:05):
Rolled around, but bottom line, it was the world feels
like you are the better bet right, right, Like they
are betting on you, and so this line is beginning
to change, right. So it was it was supposed it
was meant to be a confidence builder for us as
a team.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
But like that was the only time I ever paid
attention to it.
Speaker 7 (23:26):
Otherwise, man, like I was locked in focused on my job,
Like I don't care who we're playing. It's a faceless opponent.
Like I'm studying the opponent. We're gonna go kick their butt.
I'm trying to score forty points. I'm trying to complete
every pass. I'm trying to score on every drive. I'm
trying Like like it didn't matter, you know, the intent
was still the same, regardless of what the liable was.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Sometimes I will watch sporting events and all get nervous
for a player. I know the player, I like the player.
Sam Darnold's one of those. If he'd play great against Detroit,
I wouldn't feel this way. And I didn't think it
was a very winnable game, biggest game in Detroit in
fifty years. I'm like, this is a tough game for Minnesota.
So he goes there, he didn't play well. Now I'm thinking, okay, Sam,
(24:12):
you're going to a playoff game. It's your first playoff game.
I'm really hoping he plays well. You didn't have many
bad games, but was there ever a moment for you
Drew that you didn't love your performance one week and
the next week was a playoff game or a big game.
How do you forget it? And again, you didn't have
(24:32):
many of those, but how do you forget a performance
you're not happy with six seven days earlier?
Speaker 7 (24:39):
I'll be honest, those were typically the games where I
played my best was coming off of maybe a one
or two game stretch where I just felt like I
hadn't played my best or you know, there was a
lot more to be had, you know, out of the game,
(25:00):
you know. So just the way that I then approached
that next week of preparation, I would really lock in
on the process, you know, because if you focus on
the process, the result will take care of itself. So
it became just this laser focus on like each day,
my routine, my habits, getting my work done, and knowing
(25:23):
that that will equate to a great performance on Sunday,
regardless of what happened the weeks before. Like just focusing
on the process and knowing the result will take care
of itself.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
And so like call it a.
Speaker 7 (25:36):
Little bit just like a heightened level of urgency and
a focus, not pressure, just urgency and maybe getting back
to just some of the basics, you know. So like, look,
I think this is a pivotal game for Sam Darnold.
He's played a phenomenal regular season, phenomenal especially all that
(25:58):
he's you know, gone through to get to the point
and then the opportunity that he had this season to
making the most of it. But you know, you're remembered
for what you do in the playoffs, and it's all
all that regular season did was get you to this
moment so that you would have this opportunity. Look, I
was actually went to the game. I took my sons
to the to the Detroit game. We were sitting literally
(26:18):
front row. I watched, I watched every step. They had
tons of opportunities. Yeah, again, they were down inside the
ten yard line four times. They could have been up fourteen,
seventeen points at halftime. Yeah, they were terrible in the
red zone. A lot of things I saw that I
would have done differently. But but you take that performance
(26:38):
and you you turn that into one of two things.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
Either you let that you know, drag you.
Speaker 7 (26:43):
Down moving forward, or that has created a high level
of urgency and focus and intensity to attention to the
process this week so that you go out and play
lights out.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Finally, I want to circle back to Sean Payton, because
you have you. When I think of Sean, I think
of you, and I think of you, I think of
Sean and like Reiden Mahomes or Brady and Belichick, it's
just legendary legacy stuff. Not all coaches age well. Sean
is aged well. He is blunt. He put it out there.
(27:16):
There's just something when I sat when he was here
at Fox, I'd go to dinner with him and he's
so intense And if I had to guess why he's aged, well,
he just loves it so much that that light has
never dimmed. But why do you think that he remains
so good all these years after he started?
Speaker 7 (27:36):
Yeah, So a couple things. Number one, And there's so
much of a product of your mentors and who you've
had a chance to be around. And you know Sean
would test to this, but just from being around him
and looking at his influences like Bill.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
Parcell's, John Gruden. Yeah, like there there was so much.
Speaker 7 (27:56):
Of an influence from those guys in the way that
Sean would teach, coach, communicate, and it was like the
best of like the best of those guys, you know,
Sean took and kind of made his own, you know.
So I feel like there's there's always that that he's
taken the best of what people have bowed in to
him and now he's carrying that on to become his
(28:18):
coaching style. Look, he's an offensive guy, right. He loves
he loves being ahead of the curve. He loves like
he's a grinder. The dude's a grinder man. He puts
in a ton of time late nights, like just trying
to find those little like edges or advantages that he
(28:39):
can put in the game plan.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
They're going to make the difference. And so many times
I can't tell you, like.
Speaker 7 (28:45):
We'd be getting a Saturday and it was like, ah,
you know, he'd say, I went back and watched this
and I just came up with this idea and we
would massage it a little bit and it would go
in the game plan, and sure enough it would be
one of the game changing plays in the game. Right.
Speaker 4 (28:59):
Happened so many times.
Speaker 7 (29:02):
He's an outstanding communicator, like just his ability to order
the chaos. Order the chaos, like block out the noise,
like get the team zeroed in on the keys to
victory each and every week despite all of the distractions
and all the other stuff that people want to talk about. Like, man, fellas,
if we do this, like we put ourselves in the
(29:23):
best best position to win this game. Right. He had
a great way of bringing levity and humor to tense
situations or as a way to motivate guys, right, Like
I'll never forget we had a we had a safety
one time who was was a ballhawk machine and he
would always make he would always make the comment to him, Hey,
(29:47):
you know, defense, when so and so gets this interception,
we're gonna have to block everybody to get him in
the end zone, to get him a pick six. Right,
So make sure that when you, like we get this interception,
you got to go find a block because otherwise there's
no way this guy's gonna make his way. Course, Like
so it was like a subtle jab but then sure enough,
like it just you know, created a little extra motivation
(30:08):
for the defense of this so like little stuff like
that where he would find ways to just kind of like,
you know, dig in here a little bit and everybody's laughing,
everybody's having a good time, and you kind of walk
away and you're like, was he just.
Speaker 4 (30:19):
Making fun of me?
Speaker 7 (30:21):
But at the end of the day, like that would
create a little bit of an edge and a chip
on your shoulder, like, man, he got something to prove,
Like I was always feeling like I had something to
prove to Sean Payton.
Speaker 4 (30:29):
And maybe it was just proving him right because he
believed in me and when a lot of people didn't.
Speaker 7 (30:34):
But he's that's why he's aged weel because he can
identify with players, and he makes it fun when it's
time to work, it's time to work, when it's time
to play, and then we're gonna have a good time.
And he's taken the best of those who have poured
into him and now he's just carrying on that legacy.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
You've been so good today. I'd be remiss if I
didn't ask you this. I want you to listen to them.
I love Lamar Jackson. He cares so damn much. He
gets so mad when he struggles. I love guys like that.
I want to play a Lamar Jackson bite, and I
have a question out of it. Let's play this real
quick about why he struggled in the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
Yeah, I'll just be too excited, that's all you know,
too ask he like I'm seeing things before I having like, Oh,
I got to calm myself down.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
But there's man more experience. I've found a way to
about banish it out. Okay. When he says that, I
get all juiced. Uff. I never think of you because
you were such an accuracy machine. I don't ever remember
I remember anxious Brady. I definitely remember anxious Manning. I
(31:37):
never remember. Yeah, yeah, Drew looks a little frenetic. Don't
remember it. Did you ever get nervous? Did?
Speaker 7 (31:45):
I'll give you.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
I'll give you one example.
Speaker 7 (31:47):
So super Bowl, right, you know you're going into his like, man,
just any other game. It's just like any other game.
And I think, first play we hand the ball off
for like five yard game. Next play we throw a
short pass. It's like third and four and we're gonna
we're gonna run. We called just like you know, all
go We're just gonna run by the corner on third
and four, thinking he might be sitting at the sticks
and we're gonna get a big play. Robert Meacham runs
(32:09):
by the.
Speaker 4 (32:09):
Corner and he's got like three or four yard.
Speaker 7 (32:13):
Of space on him, and I launched the ball over
his head. I mean launch it over his head ten
yards and go to the sideline. And I'm just sitting
there going, dude, calm down, like my heart was raising.
You know, it's the Super Bowl. It's the first drive
we had all go called. And I just watched it
over this guy's head and he's wide open, you know.
And then that's when I was like, hey, man, it's
(32:34):
just like any other game. Okay, right, just just play
the game. Just just focus on focus on your job.
But like that that would be you know, look, I
get it, you know, I get it like you get
in some of these moments, and it's easy to get
amped up, you know, and anxious and feel like, man,
I gotta go make a play, right, I gotta go. No,
just execute, man, just execute the offense right, and all
(32:56):
those opportunities will come.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Yeah. Now I want to go look up that it's
a video. Now that you've told it to me, I'm like, oh,
I don't remember Drew missing by ten yards over a receiver.
What a pleasure. What a pleasure to have you, but
I appreciate you coming on again. Great stories today.
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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