March 3, 2025 • 35 mins
Colin points out what the Lakers understand better than any team in the NBA as they win their 6th game in a row. He believes the 49ers made the right decision to trade wide receiver Deebo Samuel and why this move is bad news for the NFC East. Plus, 3-time Super Bowl champion Jimmy Johnson joins the show to announce his retirement from a Hall of Fame career as a broadcaster for Fox Sports.
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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 Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Oh, it is a Monday, and we are gonna be
loaded Jimmy Johnson, the Hall of Fame in one hour
with Colin Wright, Colin Long live in Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
It's the Herd wherever you may be, however you may
be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
And once again, I did not see any of the
movies that won the Oscars last night, for the ninth
straight year.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
I used to watch all of them. Now I watch
none of them.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Jmax, you know, you said, and I said, you know,
you're a little ahead of yourself. It's that young man,
that young stallion energy of yours. You had Luca turning
the Lakers into Bill Russell's Celtics, and I was.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Like, hold on there, cowboy.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
But I will say they leaned on Luca last night,
and something is happening here. You start looking at the
last six or seven games with Luca. They didn't even
have Austin Reeves and Ruey last night and they won.
And there was a brief moment as they beat the
Clippers last night that we thought tech CEO billionaire Steve
Ballmer would overtake the Bus family and the Lakers Genie
(01:32):
and Jim Buss were struggling to get along. Yeah, that
idea has been squashed. The Lakers better today, the Lakers
future much brighter. Last night, Luca huge first half of
the Lakers once again bolt out to a lead, and
the Clippers, desperate to have relevance in a star have
the unlikable Kawhi who's never available and rarely talks, and
(01:54):
James Harden, who can still give you numbers but was
minus eighteen plus and minus last night. Lakers have lovable Luca.
Everybody loves Austin Reeves, and whether you love Lebron or not,
you have to worship at the altar of his physicality,
his biology. He is playing like he's twenty seven years old,
(02:14):
and the Lakers have always understood this, and the Clippers
in their growth and their ascension. Don't understand this. It's
not just about having a star. It's about in Los Angeles,
having the right star. This is not Indianapolis, this is
not Orlando. They're stars everywhere. It's about having.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
The right star.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Kawhi, James Harden, come on, No, it's about having Jim
Harbaugh's coach or Matt Stafford or Shohey or Tani or Luca.
Luca is big and that the Lakers have always done that.
I mean, they've had some stars who were stoic, like Kareem,
but they got him, Magic Paw Gasol bit more stoic,
(02:57):
and they've got Kobe. The Lakers understood it's not just
a star. It's Magic, it's Shack, it's Kobe, it's Lebron,
it's Luca bigger than life. A lot of stars out
there in the NBA that don't translate to wins. The
other thing about the Lakers is they get stars. They're
(03:19):
not desperate to get them. Same with the Dodgers. Dodgers
and the Lakers aren't desperate for stars. They want to
get stars like Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts, who win games,
who are great postseason guys. Who can do multiple things well.
And I mean comparing the Clippers and Lakers is six
flags to Disney. You gotta be more than roller coasters.
(03:39):
You gotta bring more in than roller coasters. And that's
the difference with the Lakers last twenty two games, their first,
second and third in every analytic that matters first in wins.
And there's so much inherent love and tradition and history
with the Lakers in Los Angeles and the Dodgers that
if you bring in a catalyst like a show Hey
(04:00):
or a Luca, they're not only the biggest game in
town to the biggest team in their sport. So they've
won six straight and give JJ Reddick credit. Didn't have
Austin Reeves, didn't have Rui. They're playing incredible defense, as
Anthony Davis arguably the best defenseer in the league left.
They're playing out of their mind. He's experimenting with small
(04:20):
ball lineups. It's got a little Warriors feel to it.
They don't have to necessarily a center on the floor
at all times. I know a lot of people questioned
Reddick and I may have wondered if Luca was in
the right shade, But last night was Luca's night and
once again the Lakers night, and here's the coach.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
After And it just seemed like throughout the game, when
we needed a bucket, when we needed him to draw
a second, third defender. At times he was able to
make the right play, minus the six turnovers, but he
played fantastic tonight. And again it was that verve in
that spirit of Titian, but also just something that is
(05:05):
maybe it's an inner demon, I don't know, but it
comes out and and it's fantastic for us when it does.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Hey, this can't be overstated.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
For a lot of places in this country, it's just
about getting a star that has never been it.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
With the Lakers, it's not just about getting a star.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
How Gasol was the right fit for Kobe Bryant, who
could be fall centric magic. Johnson was perfect to bring
out the best in Kareem And I think what you're
seeing with Luca and the reason they made the move.
They already had a d and Lebron two stars, but
their takeaway was Luca will be better with Lebron. Luca
(05:47):
on the Knights, Lebron is a little tired, Luca can
score thirty points and take over the game. You never
knew if you were getting that with ad Ady was
a star. His personality more number two, littlemore stoic, a
little quieter, more reticent.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
But again it's not just about the start.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Meanwhile, the Clippers have Kawhi Leonard who's almost never available.
They give him an extension. They just want a star.
Just give us a star. We just don't want to
be irrelevant. The Lakers are never irrelevant, so they don't
have to worry about they get the right star. And
that's the difference between those two organizations. Six Flag and
Disney both have roller coasters. One of them is beyond that,
(06:26):
one of them is hotels, one of them is movies,
one of them is films. One of them is working
the late Steve jobs, connecting to people's hearts, not just
going up and down on a roller coaster. Right, So
when I'm watching Luca last night, like once again the
Lakers do it, it's not just that, hey, we got
a famous guy, That's not it. Spielberg can get a
(06:49):
lot of famous actors. He leans on the really really
box office draws who can draw people into a theater.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
That's the difference.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
And I thought this was into justing this weekend, So
you know, the forty nine ers will get to this later,
they'll be fine. But Deebo Samuel got traded to the
Washington commander. So this is something Jay Mack and I
have been talking about. I think we even talked about
this December January, like Deebo was unhappy, you know, where
(07:19):
he'd fit Washington. So this was a pretty easy one
to predict. The two things that jump out to me
with this deal. Number one, it's a perfect fit. So
Washington's got a ton of cap space, and Cliff Kinsbury's offense,
which is a lot of motion, a lot of tricks,
needs a chess piece. Deebo is not your classic number
one receiver. He doesn't really separate. I think he's had
one thousand yard reception year and that was four years ago.
(07:41):
He's not Jamar Chase or Justin Jefferson. But Deebo Samuel
is a great chess piece. And Shanahan is a chess master,
and Cliff Kingsbury as an offensive coordinator is a chess master.
So Debo really works with about a half dozen teams
in this league. So that's the first thing, he's a
good fit. The second thing, though, they only gave a
(08:02):
fifth round pick. Now think about that, a fifth round pick.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
The Dallas Cowboys in their division gave up a fourth
round pick for quarterback Trey Lance. And basically every quarterback
that Kyle Shanahan's ever had, he makes them better. Kyle
Shanahan gave up on Trey Lance. The Cowboys gave up
a fourth round pick for Trey Lance. It didn't play
third string behind Cooper Rush. They gave up a fourth
(08:29):
round pick. The Cowboys did for Jonathan Mingo, who I
told you the day they did it. That's a terrible move.
A Mingo, by the way, last year had five catches
for Dallas. Like I'm telling you moves. I'm a sportscaster.
You can't just give away picks. And and you see
this in the NFL. You start making two or three
(08:52):
great moves. You get a Jayden Daniels, you get a
debo for a fifth round pick. You get Kingsbury, he
was going to be a race or a bear coordinator. No,
you steal Kingsbury with an aggressive deal. And then you
on the other side in your division, you overpay a
quarterback who's a b dack and make him a plus
plus money quarterback, and then you give away fourth round picks,
(09:14):
and all of a sudden, one year later, you look
at the Cowboys in Washington. Two years ago, Cowboys are
winning twelve games. Washington is a laughingstock. Today the d
ball move considered Washington's a better team, a better organization,
a better quarterback, and a much better deal. That's how
(09:34):
quickly it happens in the NFL. I mean, look at
the Cowboys. Coaching situation was a mess. The Mike McCarthy,
basically begging for a job, got one with Dallas and said,
no thanks, I'm out of here. And from what I
can tell, Jerry Jones walked down the hallway at one
Cowboy place and said, what's your name again, Schottenheimer? I
(09:55):
knew your father, would you like to be coach? I mean,
it was a mess. It was a Friday news dump.
So one of the things that's great about the NFL.
In baseball, you know, it takes a while to go
from awful to good. In the NBA, you gotta land
the right stars. It takes a while. I mean, the draft,
it's a bunch of eighteen nineteen year old kids. They
can't even get into the hotel bar they're staying at
(10:16):
the Rits. But in the NFL you get the coach right,
the quarterback right. Two years of making good deals in
the front office, Houston Texans laughing stock to playoff team
Washington Commanders laughing stock that they are now a better team,
better quarterback, better GM savvier coach. Oh, by the way,
(10:39):
their coach dan Quinn. They stole from the Cowboys and
it did not appear to be great for Dallas. So yeah,
I thought this move. I mean, forget Philadelphia, they lapped
the Cowboys years ago. But this you start watching the
Commanders right now. From stealing Cliff Kingsbury, who everybody he
(11:01):
wanted to go to Vegas in Chicago, Washington, he's more
of a Texas West Coast guy. Washington gets him. They
draft Jayden Daniels. Remember a lot of people thought they
were gonna draft Drake May. Nope, the Jayden Daniels move.
They get an NBA ish guy, Adam Peters. The GM
make him a football guy. Now they get Deebo Samuel, which, yes,
(11:22):
it was obvious it would work. I would give up
a fifth rounder, didn't even have to give up Jonathan Allen,
a good defensive lineman, in the in the move which
which that was rumored, didn't have to. So the silver
star in Dallas becoming a bit of a black hole.
That's what I feel like this morning. Does not take
long in the NFL. Two or three missteps overpay for
(11:43):
a quarterback, you go from a big brand to irrelevant.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
That's Dallas this morning.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Who by the way, Jerry did not show up reasons
unknown to the combine. They're giving away fourth round picks.
You overpaid Dak that is a third or fourth round team.
If Matt Stafford would have gone to the Giants, I'd
pick Dallas for last. Aaron Rodgers reportedly still in line
potentially for the Giants. If that happens, I'd pick Dallas last.
(12:09):
J Mack, you were right on Luca and his relevance.
You know what's really interesting. When JJ Reddick got the job,
everybody's like, well, yeah, he's got a little bit of
a duke y ego. He's coaching the hell out of
this team. They are experient. Let mean, last night, it's like, Okay,
we need more Dalton Dalton connect. I mean, we need
more from other guys. You don't get Ruey in the corner.
(12:31):
You don't have Ruey's side. You don't have the playmaking
of Austin Reeves. Lebron only gave you seventeen. You needed
Luca to be more centralized focus of the offense. JJ
Reddick is becoming a coaching stone.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
I think he's a Coach of the Year without questioning
the NBA. By the way, when you saw the Clippers
start double teaming, Luca instantly goes.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
To the bench.
Speaker 5 (12:51):
Do'lton connect get in there, and he starts getting wide
open threes.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Hit five threes.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
That's as many as Kawhi and James Harden hit combined.
I mean, Colin, this Lakers team, they're going to the finals.
I've been saying this down for two weeks. People yelling
at me, laughing, Oh, making fun on the Lakers.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
You watch this team.
Speaker 5 (13:07):
I mean that twenty two game sample size you posted
about earlier, that's like a quarter of the season.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
They're playing amazing right now.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Yeah, how's low Casey beating the team?
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Just tell me, And you know it's hard when you
give up stars. I mean, Jimmy Butler leaves Miami with
a great coach and they're rudderless to be able to
get Luca going into his prime and still be a
very good defensive team. And it's really true, the Clippers
just want a star. The Lakers picked the right star.
(13:37):
They had one with Ad. I mean you could have argued,
I mean, why move Ad because the Lakers are like,
we think this star plays better than a star that
already won a title with Lebron AD and Lebron did work.
We think we can elevate another level of a Shaq
(13:57):
Kobe combination Kobe Gasol. Like, we think we can be
better with Luca Lebron than a D Lebron, and a
D Lebron was very good.
Speaker 5 (14:07):
Can you imagine when Lucas starts actually making three pointers
like he was last night, Like he's probably at eighty
to ninety percent coming back from the injury, probably eighty
once he finds his legs.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
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.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
App So every Monday, any right, wrong, It's a fun
time of the year. By the way, we're getting into
the NFL free agency. Deebo Samuel one of the first moves.
It's gonna be very busy next three week plus. You
love March madness. I watched some college basketball this week,
and to keep up with the you know, the guru
over here, let's spend Ghali for college hoops.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
I did go eight and two on Sunday post of
the best.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
I've never met anybody like you. One and three Sunday
not great, but all right. We do it every Monday.
At this time. It's called Colin Wright, Colin wrong. Here
we go.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Where Colin was right debo to Washington. Both J McK
and I thought this was an obvious one. He's a
great He's not your classic wide receiver, but for the
right kind of play. Designer Cliff Kingsbury, I think it
makes a ton of sense. He's only had one thousand
yard receiver. But I think, you know, I think Belichick
in New England did this for years when they find
chess pieces.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Andy Reid does a good job with this.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
I like Deebo, I think it was time to move on,
and I think Washington's the perfect fit.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
And we predicted it. Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
We said Matt Stafford we thought would stay with the Rams,
but the Raiders were making a real push.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
It's been announced yesterday the.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Raiders offered and this was our guess, one hundred million,
fifty million guaranteed two years. I thought the Raiders would
go to a third year to get him. They didn't,
and therefore he stayed with the Rams. I was told
the Rams wanted him. They feel they're too close to
a super Bowl and another trophy to move off him.
Matt didn't make a lot of money last year relative
(15:51):
to other star quarterbacks. He wanted a better deal.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
He'll get it.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Where Colin was raw, I.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Thought Travis Kelsey would retire. I thought it was time.
I thought he looked hired in the Super Bowl and
he only had in three playoff games one touchdown catch.
He still blocks, he's still tough, he's still great.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
On third down.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
He's got a year left. And let's be honest about this.
You'd rather have Travis Kelcey on your team than not.
He tends to be a very good big game player.
But I had predicted that. I thought this was with
Taylor Swift, his life, his podcast, it was a perfect time.
He's had almost ten surgeries, but he's coming back at
least for one more year.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
I love Kevin Duran, but story this weekend he's going
to get traded by Phoenix, and he has been reduced
to a guy that scores twenty seven to night on
bad teams, and I think he's really valuable. I still
think he's got two or three huge years left. I
wish he would have considered the Warriors. He wasn't comfortable
with that. Can't blame him, I guess. But you know,
(16:48):
five years ago we were talking about is he better
than Lebron? And maybe he doesn't care, but I feel
like his legacy. I hope it remains all time top
ten stuff because he's one of the best basketball players.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
I've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Where Colin was right, I didn't like Aaron Rodgers using
his leverage to bring in Nathaniel Hackett and Alan Lazard
into Vante Adams and story this morning that Jets are
going to move off to Vontae Adams, who I like
a lot. But in the end, I think GM should
GM coaches should coach, quarterback should quarterback. Listen, you know
how hard it is to be a good GM and
a good coach. Quarterbacks should do what they do. And
(17:25):
that's okay. Aaron's a smart guy, but I never thought
it was gonna work. I didn't think having your buddies
on the team matters. Sometimes being a great quarterback is
being uncomfortable, not.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Just comfortable, where Colin was wraw.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
You know, I've been skeptical on Bill Belichick at college,
but he has signed up for HBO Max.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
They do that hard knock show, which no coach likes.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
He would never do it in the NFL, and it
tells me that Bill is a little bit more committed
to the college game. And by the way, a couple
of Bill's friends are Jimmy Johnson and Urban Meyers, so
he's got guys leaning on him. If you have to
have questions about it. But I've always thought this was
kind of a one and done, but I think him
going to hard knock shows Bill's willing to get uncomfortable
(18:10):
because he would have never done this in the NFL,
and he's doing it now in.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
College where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Well, I predicted one of my five bold NBA predictions
with Paul George and Joel Embiid would not even play
twenty games together, and it's been announced that Joel Embiid
shutting her down for the season, so they will not
play twenty games.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Together.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Listen, Embad's an unbelievable talent. But biggs who get hurt
early get hurt often, and this has been We've got
to be honest. It's been a disappointing career, considering many
were comping him to Shack five.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Years ago, where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Ashton Gent, the running back from Boise State, announced this
weekend he said running backs are not only back, they're
kind of integral to football. Yes, when the media a
year ago said running backs are being treated unfairly, I
said they're going to get paid a running Backs are
a quarterback's best friend, especially in December, January and February
(19:06):
when it gets cold and windy. They get first downs,
they block for you. It's easier to find them out
of the backfield. Running Backs will always matter in the NFL.
They create physicality, especially if they can do multiple things,
which Jen can do. Look at Saquon Barkley's value, Derek
Henry's value in Baltimore. I think there's been a wide
(19:29):
receiver bubble in the NFL. I never think there's a
running back bubble. I will take a star running back.
Physical toughness can block a little, catch a little any
day of the Week, Colin Wright, Colin Wrong on a
Monday One More Heard.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
The Herd streams twenty four hours a day, seven days
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live or on demand whenever you like.
Speaker 6 (19:52):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together We're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven p Eastern two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 6 (20:06):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
On in the world.
Speaker 6 (20:10):
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. And the fact that we've been friends
for the last twenty years and still work together.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
I mean that says something, right. So check us out.
Speaker 6 (20:25):
We like to get you involved too, take your phone calls,
chop it up. As they say, I'd say, the most
interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe the.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
Most interactive show on planetar.
Speaker 6 (20:34):
Be sure to check out Covino and Rich Live on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app from five to
seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific, And if you
miss any of the live show, just search Covino and
Rich wherever you get your podcasts, and of course on
social media.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
That's Covino and Rich. Well, Jimmy Johnson. I've said this before.
There's been a handful of people in my life. When
I used to do the weekend shows at Fox, I
would hurry up and get the makeup on. I would
go into the break room and I would basically pastor
Jimmy Johnson for thirty minutes, asking about pulling guards and
(21:08):
slot receivers, and Jimmy Johnson would patiently answer all my
minutia and nonsense. And he is joining us now live,
the Hall of Famer, the two time Duer Bowl champion.
So I owe you a debt of gratitude as I
ask you about roverbacks and nickel coverage and dime coverage,
and you would smile at me and patiently as I
(21:29):
sat there eating food and asking, And I just want
to say thank you for that, even in your off season,
you're willing to come on the show.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
So thank you, genuine thank you for me.
Speaker 7 (21:38):
Jimmy, Well, thank you, Colin.
Speaker 8 (21:40):
As you know, probably the most fun I've ever had
in my career, and that's counting Super Bowls and National Championships,
was at Fox Sports. You know, I have an absolute
ball with my friends on the set and the best
friends I've ever had there with Fox. And and then
(22:03):
I tell you on top of that, you know, I
love working for Eric Shanks, our CEO, and our producer
Bill Richards. But I've made an extremely difficult decision. I've
been thinking about it for the last four or five years,
and I've decided to retire from Fox and I'm.
Speaker 7 (22:21):
Gonna miss it. I'm gonna miss all the guys and
I'll see them occasionally.
Speaker 8 (22:25):
But it has been a great run starting back thirty
one years ago.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
You know it's being met.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
I got to call this weekend from Shanks and this
is something inside the building. We knew it was coming
over the last couple of years, and they've talked you
into it. One of the ways you are viewed in
the building is the way you were viewed as a
football coach. You're kind of the general manager and the
coach of the show. Otherwise, you know, Bradshaw will never
(22:53):
stop talking, and you know basically, you have to you
have to coach the guys on the set, and don't
be humble for a second. I think you love that
is that you viewed your That's.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
How we viewed you. You were the.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Coach on the set, behind the scenes, and if you
could for a moment share that with the audience.
Speaker 8 (23:14):
Why you love that, well, you know, I guess it
goes back to all the years that I coached and
you look at the guys on the set, you know
not only are the best friends, but you know I
watched Terry play in college when he was at Woodlawn
High School and we recruited him for Louisiana Tech. I
coached Howie Long in the Blue Gray Game when he
(23:36):
just left Villanova.
Speaker 7 (23:39):
I had Michael Strahan.
Speaker 8 (23:40):
Yeah, they're in Dallas, and I was going to draft him,
and he reminds me of it many many times when
it was a mistake. I was trying to get him
cheat and New York jumped in front of me, so
I wasn't able to draft him. I actually had a
scout in his home ow draft day, and so we're
all very very close. And Kurt Minife, he was he
(24:01):
was in Dallas when I was in Dallas, and so
it was just natural for me to be somewhat of
a coach. And Bill Richards, who you know, I love
to death, you know, Uh, he kiddingly calls me my,
calls me assistant producer because I had suggestions on what
to do on uh or maybe our own the field segment,
(24:24):
et cetera. Uh So I just kind of played the
same role that I played for many, many years as
a hit football coach.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
You know, Jimmy, there's a handful of people that have
done it none better than you. You were a dominant
college coach.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
That's hard.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Then you were a dominant NFL coach. I think that's harder.
You were also then, uh you're a Hall of Famer
broadcasting hall of famer. They're all hard. How are you able?
College coaching and pro coaching is different now. It's a
little more similar now than it was in your day.
(25:00):
Was there ever a moment you're a Hall of famer
football broadcasting college. Do guys like you ever have self doubt?
Was there ever a moment in Dallas that first year
you thought this is a.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
Bit I've been asked to shoe all. I'm not sure
I bit off too much.
Speaker 7 (25:18):
Colin absolutely not. I can.
Speaker 8 (25:21):
I can tell you the story, and day Wanstad and
Tony Wise, they can verify this. When I was at
Oklahoma State University, I went to a little restaurant and
we were struggling, you know. I said, you know, guys,
hang with me. We're gonna win a national championship. We
were at Ancestor restaurant, and we ended up winning national
championship at University of Mind because I took all of
(25:43):
them with me and we were going through that one
and fifteen year we went to a little Mexican restaurant
right there close to Valley Ranch, and I told the guys,
I said, listen, I said, we're making some moves now
that are going to hurt us on the short term.
We traded our starting quarterback, we cut the leading receiver
because he couldn't play the caliber that we wanted. And
(26:07):
we made some trades, obviously trade and herschel Walker, but
we made fifty one trades.
Speaker 7 (26:11):
In five years.
Speaker 8 (26:12):
And I told the guys, I said, listen, I know
it's a real struggle right now, but you hang with
me because we're going to win a super Bowl.
Speaker 7 (26:19):
And that's I mean.
Speaker 8 (26:21):
I might have sounded like a crazy man because we
were going one in fifteen. But I say, we're making
some moves now that are going to help us three
years from now. And so you say, was there any doubt? No,
there wasn't any doubt. And it wasn't that we had
a dream. And I said this at the Hall of
Fame induction. We didn't dream. We truly believed that we
(26:43):
were going to get it done. I think if you
believe that you're going to get it done, you work
to make it happen. If you dream, you're hoping that
it happens. But we worked to make sure it happened.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
You know, I think more than ever coach quarterback. And
I've always said this, if you get the coach right
and the quarterback right, everything else will work itself out.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
You'll figure it out.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
I've said Sean Payton and bow Nicks that I got Sean,
I got bon Nicks. I don't know what's going to
happen if they win trophies, but they're gonna be fine
in Denver.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
They're going to be fine.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
But but quarterbacks now make seventy million, sixty million. There's
there are social media stars, shoe deals, you didn't deal
with that. But I still contend that the Andy Reids
and the Peytons and the guys like you, you just
make it work. I look at you and Troy, Troy
gets emotional when you got into the Hall of Fame.
(27:38):
I'm watching that. That makes me emotional. What was the
relationship even then? Because Troy was getting banged up, he
was getting criticized. Quarterbacks go one in fifteen if they don't,
you know, Dallas media was not giving you guys a pass.
How did your relationship get so tight or was it
always like that?
Speaker 7 (27:59):
No, it wasn't always look right there. I actually tried
to recruit Troy to.
Speaker 8 (28:05):
Oklahoma State there in Henryetta, Oklahoma. I was in his
home when he was a sophomore and junior, and Troy
was just here at the house two weeks ago. We
had a strained relationship that first year because I drafted
Steve Walsh with a supplemental pick, and I knew Troy
was our guy. But I wanted to take Steve Walsh
(28:27):
because quarterbacks are so valuable. I knew that I would
be able to trade him. I actually started trying to
trade Steve Walsh a month or two after I drafted him,
but I had to kind of walk a tight rope
because I couldn't brag on Troy knowing that I was
going to trade Steve Walsh, so I had to kind
of brag on both of mine. You know, I kept
(28:47):
saying we got two quarterbacks, but I knew exactly what
I was going to do. And then I ended up
trading Wallah for a one, two and a three. But
that upset Troy that I didn't go all in on
him that first year. But after the first year, then
you know, I started making overtures to de Troy to
get out relationship better.
Speaker 7 (29:06):
And like I said, we're best friends now. He was
just here two weeks ago.
Speaker 8 (29:11):
So yeah, again, it was a strained relationship because of
the way we were dealing with things. Plus one at
fifteen that'll strain any relationship. But it got better and
now it's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
You know, Bill Belichick, I remember when he left New England.
I think he was grateful for Bob Kraft. But in
the end, richer owners now, Jimmy, they're all billionaires, and
the richer owners get they'll just run, They'll fifty millions
a rounding air. They'll just blowout of staff. I have
(29:45):
never seen more impulsive owners in my life. In the NFL,
there used to be one crazy guy or too. Now
it feels like half the league's owners think they're coaches.
And when Belichick left, he acknowledged that you you had
relationships that may have been impulsive, but you turn it
into championships. Do you think it's harder to coach today?
(30:07):
I mean, there's a lot of ways it could be easier,
but the owners, Jimmy, they're all billionaires, and that has
a way of making owners think they know a lot
more football than they do.
Speaker 8 (30:19):
Yeah, I think it's it's more difficult with the owners.
But what makes it a lot easier if you've got
a great quarterback. You got a great quarterback that you
can overcome a lot of things. But you know, you're
talking about billions of dollars, you know, And you know,
(30:39):
Jerry and I our relationship was fine for a while
because he borrowed one hundred and forty million dollars. He
was trying to pay off that loan, so he spent
all of his time trying to make money to pay
off the loan. So he really didn't bother me. Now,
once he got the.
Speaker 7 (30:54):
Loan paid off after we won the Super Bowl. He
wanted to jump into football business.
Speaker 8 (31:00):
But yeah, I think the relationship with Bill and Craft
probably was a little strained there at the end.
Speaker 7 (31:07):
I told Bill.
Speaker 8 (31:07):
In fact, he came down here right after he left
doing and with his girlfriend, and I was talking to
him and I said, you know, yeah, the NFL stiff,
but you know college football with the nil and the
transfer portal, that's a headache.
Speaker 7 (31:23):
He said, yeah, but they were headaches in the pro
football as well.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Yeah, when you ultimately made this decision. If you've just
joined us, Jimmy Johnson has announced his retirement from Fox,
you kept coming back, and we talked into it about
four different times.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Right, that's the truth. And there are people in.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
The hallway this morning that are a little melancholy about
all this. How do you hope, I mean, you achieved everything,
three different hall of fames? How do you hope you're viewed?
Speaker 7 (32:01):
How do I I mean.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
You're successful? You're successful at three different hall of fames?
What matters if somebody, if I'd never met Jimmy Johnson,
I walked up to somebody said tell me about Jimmy Johnson.
What at a value level. What matters to Jimmy Johnson?
Why what but your relationships?
Speaker 8 (32:21):
You know, the guys uh that were here, you know,
like I said a couple of weeks ago, some of
my former coaches and Troy and you know players, et cetera. Yeah,
they were talking about I said, you know, the thing
I try to do is I tried to bring out
the best in everybody, everybody that I came into contact with, uh,
And I tried to have some interaction. The way you
(32:41):
bring out the best in people is you have interaction
with them. You communicate with them. The biggest problems I
ever had with anybody is when I didn't communicate. And
that's what happened to Jerry and I on our relationship
until he got fixed here later on, is we stopped communicating.
And you know, it never gets better if you don't
(33:03):
talk about it. It never gets better if you don't interact.
And uh, you know, and not not necessarily you know,
pumping somebody up and praising them, but they are just
acknowledging them, you know, and saying, hey, you need to
pick it up a little bit. You know, maybe in
a kidding way, but you need to have some interaction
with individuals, But I tried to bring out the best
(33:25):
in everybody that I came into contact with. I don't
care what their role was, I don't care how important
they were. I don't care if they were a Hall
of Fame player or an intern on our set. I
tried to bring out the best in everybody.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
How are you going to watch football next year? And
not send Eric?
Speaker 1 (33:45):
And I send Eric Shanks written notes on email about
things he needs to tweak.
Speaker 8 (33:52):
Colin, I've got three TV set up, and you know
how much I love watching football, Terry said brad Joe.
Speaker 7 (33:59):
He told me that day before yesterday. He said, guy,
you're going to be able to sit at home and
what's all those college games without me? And you're going
to watch all those pro games without me? I said, yeah,
but I'll be watching them with a cold beer.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Absolute pleasure. One of the best people I've and smartest
people I've ever met in this business. And you've always
treated not only people behind the scenes here, interns, producers.
Nobody sees, but I just want to put it out there.
You treated me great and I appreciate it.
Speaker 7 (34:31):
Coach Colin.
Speaker 8 (34:33):
I loved every minute of it, and thank you. I
appreciate it, and hey, thanks to Fox Sports. I mean
it was really the best time of my entire career.
And you mentioned it the Hall of Fame, College Hall
of Fame, Pro Hall of Fame Broadcasting. The best time
in my career was with with Fox Sports.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
Great to see Jimmy, Thanks man, the great Jimmy Johnson
retiring at Fox. You know, I had all these football
questions I was gonna ask him, Yeah, forget it, it
doesn't matter. Let's talk about the stuff that matters for
people that don't know. Behind the scenes, Jimmy was essentially
(35:15):
along with Bill Richards, that's been number one for I
think thirty one years in a row. The Fox Show
has been number one for thirty one years in a row.
Bill Richards is the producer.
Speaker 3 (35:25):
And it's a lot. It's a lot.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
There's a lot of live shows, and it's you do
live television. You bounce around a city to city to city.
It's a lot of work. It is hard and on
any given segment it can go sideways fast. And the
guy on the set that was the glue menifee the
host obviously, and Jimmy Johnson. And with that we take
(35:47):
a break. Jimmy Johnson retiring from Fox Sports.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
It's the hurt
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 Sports Radio 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 Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Oh, it is a Monday, and we are gonna be
loaded Jimmy Johnson, the Hall of Fame in one hour
with Colin Wright, Colin Long live in Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
It's the Herd wherever you may be, however you may
be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
And once again, I did not see any of the
movies that won the Oscars last night, for the ninth
straight year.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
I used to watch all of them. Now I watch
none of them.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Jmax, you know, you said, and I said, you know,
you're a little ahead of yourself. It's that young man,
that young stallion energy of yours. You had Luca turning
the Lakers into Bill Russell's Celtics, and I was.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Like, hold on there, cowboy.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
But I will say they leaned on Luca last night,
and something is happening here. You start looking at the
last six or seven games with Luca. They didn't even
have Austin Reeves and Ruey last night and they won.
And there was a brief moment as they beat the
Clippers last night that we thought tech CEO billionaire Steve
Ballmer would overtake the Bus family and the Lakers Genie
(01:32):
and Jim Buss were struggling to get along. Yeah, that
idea has been squashed. The Lakers better today, the Lakers
future much brighter. Last night, Luca huge first half of
the Lakers once again bolt out to a lead, and
the Clippers, desperate to have relevance in a star have
the unlikable Kawhi who's never available and rarely talks, and
(01:54):
James Harden, who can still give you numbers but was
minus eighteen plus and minus last night. Lakers have lovable Luca.
Everybody loves Austin Reeves, and whether you love Lebron or not,
you have to worship at the altar of his physicality,
his biology. He is playing like he's twenty seven years old,
(02:14):
and the Lakers have always understood this, and the Clippers
in their growth and their ascension. Don't understand this. It's
not just about having a star. It's about in Los Angeles,
having the right star. This is not Indianapolis, this is
not Orlando. They're stars everywhere. It's about having.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
The right star.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Kawhi, James Harden, come on, No, it's about having Jim
Harbaugh's coach or Matt Stafford or Shohey or Tani or Luca.
Luca is big and that the Lakers have always done that.
I mean, they've had some stars who were stoic, like Kareem,
but they got him, Magic Paw Gasol bit more stoic,
(02:57):
and they've got Kobe. The Lakers understood it's not just
a star. It's Magic, it's Shack, it's Kobe, it's Lebron,
it's Luca bigger than life. A lot of stars out
there in the NBA that don't translate to wins. The
other thing about the Lakers is they get stars. They're
(03:19):
not desperate to get them. Same with the Dodgers. Dodgers
and the Lakers aren't desperate for stars. They want to
get stars like Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts, who win games,
who are great postseason guys. Who can do multiple things well.
And I mean comparing the Clippers and Lakers is six
flags to Disney. You gotta be more than roller coasters.
(03:39):
You gotta bring more in than roller coasters. And that's
the difference with the Lakers last twenty two games, their first,
second and third in every analytic that matters first in wins.
And there's so much inherent love and tradition and history
with the Lakers in Los Angeles and the Dodgers that
if you bring in a catalyst like a show Hey
(04:00):
or a Luca, they're not only the biggest game in
town to the biggest team in their sport. So they've
won six straight and give JJ Reddick credit. Didn't have
Austin Reeves, didn't have Rui. They're playing incredible defense, as
Anthony Davis arguably the best defenseer in the league left.
They're playing out of their mind. He's experimenting with small
(04:20):
ball lineups. It's got a little Warriors feel to it.
They don't have to necessarily a center on the floor
at all times. I know a lot of people questioned
Reddick and I may have wondered if Luca was in
the right shade, But last night was Luca's night and
once again the Lakers night, and here's the coach.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
After And it just seemed like throughout the game, when
we needed a bucket, when we needed him to draw
a second, third defender. At times he was able to
make the right play, minus the six turnovers, but he
played fantastic tonight. And again it was that verve in
that spirit of Titian, but also just something that is
(05:05):
maybe it's an inner demon, I don't know, but it
comes out and and it's fantastic for us when it does.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Hey, this can't be overstated.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
For a lot of places in this country, it's just
about getting a star that has never been it.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
With the Lakers, it's not just about getting a star.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
How Gasol was the right fit for Kobe Bryant, who
could be fall centric magic. Johnson was perfect to bring
out the best in Kareem And I think what you're
seeing with Luca and the reason they made the move.
They already had a d and Lebron two stars, but
their takeaway was Luca will be better with Lebron. Luca
(05:47):
on the Knights, Lebron is a little tired, Luca can
score thirty points and take over the game. You never
knew if you were getting that with ad Ady was
a star. His personality more number two, littlemore stoic, a
little quieter, more reticent.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
But again it's not just about the start.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Meanwhile, the Clippers have Kawhi Leonard who's almost never available.
They give him an extension. They just want a star.
Just give us a star. We just don't want to
be irrelevant. The Lakers are never irrelevant, so they don't
have to worry about they get the right star. And
that's the difference between those two organizations. Six Flag and
Disney both have roller coasters. One of them is beyond that,
(06:26):
one of them is hotels, one of them is movies,
one of them is films. One of them is working
the late Steve jobs, connecting to people's hearts, not just
going up and down on a roller coaster. Right, So
when I'm watching Luca last night, like once again the
Lakers do it, it's not just that, hey, we got
a famous guy, That's not it. Spielberg can get a
(06:49):
lot of famous actors. He leans on the really really
box office draws who can draw people into a theater.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
That's the difference.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
And I thought this was into justing this weekend, So
you know, the forty nine ers will get to this later,
they'll be fine. But Deebo Samuel got traded to the
Washington commander. So this is something Jay Mack and I
have been talking about. I think we even talked about
this December January, like Deebo was unhappy, you know, where
(07:19):
he'd fit Washington. So this was a pretty easy one
to predict. The two things that jump out to me
with this deal. Number one, it's a perfect fit. So
Washington's got a ton of cap space, and Cliff Kinsbury's offense,
which is a lot of motion, a lot of tricks,
needs a chess piece. Deebo is not your classic number
one receiver. He doesn't really separate. I think he's had
one thousand yard reception year and that was four years ago.
(07:41):
He's not Jamar Chase or Justin Jefferson. But Deebo Samuel
is a great chess piece. And Shanahan is a chess master,
and Cliff Kingsbury as an offensive coordinator is a chess master.
So Debo really works with about a half dozen teams
in this league. So that's the first thing, he's a
good fit. The second thing, though, they only gave a
(08:02):
fifth round pick. Now think about that, a fifth round pick.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
The Dallas Cowboys in their division gave up a fourth
round pick for quarterback Trey Lance. And basically every quarterback
that Kyle Shanahan's ever had, he makes them better. Kyle
Shanahan gave up on Trey Lance. The Cowboys gave up
a fourth round pick for Trey Lance. It didn't play
third string behind Cooper Rush. They gave up a fourth
(08:29):
round pick. The Cowboys did for Jonathan Mingo, who I
told you the day they did it. That's a terrible move.
A Mingo, by the way, last year had five catches
for Dallas. Like I'm telling you moves. I'm a sportscaster.
You can't just give away picks. And and you see
this in the NFL. You start making two or three
(08:52):
great moves. You get a Jayden Daniels, you get a
debo for a fifth round pick. You get Kingsbury, he
was going to be a race or a bear coordinator. No,
you steal Kingsbury with an aggressive deal. And then you
on the other side in your division, you overpay a
quarterback who's a b dack and make him a plus
plus money quarterback, and then you give away fourth round picks,
(09:14):
and all of a sudden, one year later, you look
at the Cowboys in Washington. Two years ago, Cowboys are
winning twelve games. Washington is a laughingstock. Today the d
ball move considered Washington's a better team, a better organization,
a better quarterback, and a much better deal. That's how
(09:34):
quickly it happens in the NFL. I mean, look at
the Cowboys. Coaching situation was a mess. The Mike McCarthy,
basically begging for a job, got one with Dallas and said,
no thanks, I'm out of here. And from what I
can tell, Jerry Jones walked down the hallway at one
Cowboy place and said, what's your name again, Schottenheimer? I
(09:55):
knew your father, would you like to be coach? I mean,
it was a mess. It was a Friday news dump.
So one of the things that's great about the NFL.
In baseball, you know, it takes a while to go
from awful to good. In the NBA, you gotta land
the right stars. It takes a while. I mean, the draft,
it's a bunch of eighteen nineteen year old kids. They
can't even get into the hotel bar they're staying at
(10:16):
the Rits. But in the NFL you get the coach right,
the quarterback right. Two years of making good deals in
the front office, Houston Texans laughing stock to playoff team
Washington Commanders laughing stock that they are now a better team,
better quarterback, better GM savvier coach. Oh, by the way,
(10:39):
their coach dan Quinn. They stole from the Cowboys and
it did not appear to be great for Dallas. So yeah,
I thought this move. I mean, forget Philadelphia, they lapped
the Cowboys years ago. But this you start watching the
Commanders right now. From stealing Cliff Kingsbury, who everybody he
(11:01):
wanted to go to Vegas in Chicago, Washington, he's more
of a Texas West Coast guy. Washington gets him. They
draft Jayden Daniels. Remember a lot of people thought they
were gonna draft Drake May. Nope, the Jayden Daniels move.
They get an NBA ish guy, Adam Peters. The GM
make him a football guy. Now they get Deebo Samuel, which, yes,
(11:22):
it was obvious it would work. I would give up
a fifth rounder, didn't even have to give up Jonathan Allen,
a good defensive lineman, in the in the move which
which that was rumored, didn't have to. So the silver
star in Dallas becoming a bit of a black hole.
That's what I feel like this morning. Does not take
long in the NFL. Two or three missteps overpay for
(11:43):
a quarterback, you go from a big brand to irrelevant.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
That's Dallas this morning.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Who by the way, Jerry did not show up reasons
unknown to the combine. They're giving away fourth round picks.
You overpaid Dak that is a third or fourth round team.
If Matt Stafford would have gone to the Giants, I'd
pick Dallas for last. Aaron Rodgers reportedly still in line
potentially for the Giants. If that happens, I'd pick Dallas last.
(12:09):
J Mack, you were right on Luca and his relevance.
You know what's really interesting. When JJ Reddick got the job,
everybody's like, well, yeah, he's got a little bit of
a duke y ego. He's coaching the hell out of
this team. They are experient. Let mean, last night, it's like, Okay,
we need more Dalton Dalton connect. I mean, we need
more from other guys. You don't get Ruey in the corner.
(12:31):
You don't have Ruey's side. You don't have the playmaking
of Austin Reeves. Lebron only gave you seventeen. You needed
Luca to be more centralized focus of the offense. JJ
Reddick is becoming a coaching stone.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
I think he's a Coach of the Year without questioning
the NBA. By the way, when you saw the Clippers
start double teaming, Luca instantly goes.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
To the bench.
Speaker 5 (12:51):
Do'lton connect get in there, and he starts getting wide
open threes.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Hit five threes.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
That's as many as Kawhi and James Harden hit combined.
I mean, Colin, this Lakers team, they're going to the finals.
I've been saying this down for two weeks. People yelling
at me, laughing, Oh, making fun on the Lakers.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
You watch this team.
Speaker 5 (13:07):
I mean that twenty two game sample size you posted
about earlier, that's like a quarter of the season.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
They're playing amazing right now.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Yeah, how's low Casey beating the team?
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Just tell me, And you know it's hard when you
give up stars. I mean, Jimmy Butler leaves Miami with
a great coach and they're rudderless to be able to
get Luca going into his prime and still be a
very good defensive team. And it's really true, the Clippers
just want a star. The Lakers picked the right star.
(13:37):
They had one with Ad. I mean you could have argued,
I mean, why move Ad because the Lakers are like,
we think this star plays better than a star that
already won a title with Lebron AD and Lebron did work.
We think we can elevate another level of a Shaq
(13:57):
Kobe combination Kobe Gasol. Like, we think we can be
better with Luca Lebron than a D Lebron, and a
D Lebron was very good.
Speaker 5 (14:07):
Can you imagine when Lucas starts actually making three pointers
like he was last night, Like he's probably at eighty
to ninety percent coming back from the injury, probably eighty
once he finds his legs.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
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.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
App So every Monday, any right, wrong, It's a fun
time of the year. By the way, we're getting into
the NFL free agency. Deebo Samuel one of the first moves.
It's gonna be very busy next three week plus. You
love March madness. I watched some college basketball this week,
and to keep up with the you know, the guru
over here, let's spend Ghali for college hoops.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
I did go eight and two on Sunday post of
the best.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
I've never met anybody like you. One and three Sunday
not great, but all right. We do it every Monday.
At this time. It's called Colin Wright, Colin wrong. Here
we go.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Where Colin was right debo to Washington. Both J McK
and I thought this was an obvious one. He's a
great He's not your classic wide receiver, but for the
right kind of play. Designer Cliff Kingsbury, I think it
makes a ton of sense. He's only had one thousand
yard receiver. But I think, you know, I think Belichick
in New England did this for years when they find
chess pieces.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Andy Reid does a good job with this.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
I like Deebo, I think it was time to move on,
and I think Washington's the perfect fit.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
And we predicted it. Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
We said Matt Stafford we thought would stay with the Rams,
but the Raiders were making a real push.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
It's been announced yesterday the.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Raiders offered and this was our guess, one hundred million,
fifty million guaranteed two years. I thought the Raiders would
go to a third year to get him. They didn't,
and therefore he stayed with the Rams. I was told
the Rams wanted him. They feel they're too close to
a super Bowl and another trophy to move off him.
Matt didn't make a lot of money last year relative
(15:51):
to other star quarterbacks. He wanted a better deal.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
He'll get it.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Where Colin was raw, I.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Thought Travis Kelsey would retire. I thought it was time.
I thought he looked hired in the Super Bowl and
he only had in three playoff games one touchdown catch.
He still blocks, he's still tough, he's still great.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
On third down.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
He's got a year left. And let's be honest about this.
You'd rather have Travis Kelcey on your team than not.
He tends to be a very good big game player.
But I had predicted that. I thought this was with
Taylor Swift, his life, his podcast, it was a perfect time.
He's had almost ten surgeries, but he's coming back at
least for one more year.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
I love Kevin Duran, but story this weekend he's going
to get traded by Phoenix, and he has been reduced
to a guy that scores twenty seven to night on
bad teams, and I think he's really valuable. I still
think he's got two or three huge years left. I
wish he would have considered the Warriors. He wasn't comfortable
with that. Can't blame him, I guess. But you know,
(16:48):
five years ago we were talking about is he better
than Lebron? And maybe he doesn't care, but I feel
like his legacy. I hope it remains all time top
ten stuff because he's one of the best basketball players.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
I've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Where Colin was right, I didn't like Aaron Rodgers using
his leverage to bring in Nathaniel Hackett and Alan Lazard
into Vante Adams and story this morning that Jets are
going to move off to Vontae Adams, who I like
a lot. But in the end, I think GM should
GM coaches should coach, quarterback should quarterback. Listen, you know
how hard it is to be a good GM and
a good coach. Quarterbacks should do what they do. And
(17:25):
that's okay. Aaron's a smart guy, but I never thought
it was gonna work. I didn't think having your buddies
on the team matters. Sometimes being a great quarterback is
being uncomfortable, not.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Just comfortable, where Colin was wraw.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
You know, I've been skeptical on Bill Belichick at college,
but he has signed up for HBO Max.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
They do that hard knock show, which no coach likes.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
He would never do it in the NFL, and it
tells me that Bill is a little bit more committed
to the college game. And by the way, a couple
of Bill's friends are Jimmy Johnson and Urban Meyers, so
he's got guys leaning on him. If you have to
have questions about it. But I've always thought this was
kind of a one and done, but I think him
going to hard knock shows Bill's willing to get uncomfortable
(18:10):
because he would have never done this in the NFL,
and he's doing it now in.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
College where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Well, I predicted one of my five bold NBA predictions
with Paul George and Joel Embiid would not even play
twenty games together, and it's been announced that Joel Embiid
shutting her down for the season, so they will not
play twenty games.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Together.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Listen, Embad's an unbelievable talent. But biggs who get hurt
early get hurt often, and this has been We've got
to be honest. It's been a disappointing career, considering many
were comping him to Shack five.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Years ago, where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Ashton Gent, the running back from Boise State, announced this
weekend he said running backs are not only back, they're
kind of integral to football. Yes, when the media a
year ago said running backs are being treated unfairly, I
said they're going to get paid a running Backs are
a quarterback's best friend, especially in December, January and February
(19:06):
when it gets cold and windy. They get first downs,
they block for you. It's easier to find them out
of the backfield. Running Backs will always matter in the NFL.
They create physicality, especially if they can do multiple things,
which Jen can do. Look at Saquon Barkley's value, Derek
Henry's value in Baltimore. I think there's been a wide
(19:29):
receiver bubble in the NFL. I never think there's a
running back bubble. I will take a star running back.
Physical toughness can block a little, catch a little any
day of the Week, Colin Wright, Colin Wrong on a
Monday One More Heard.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
The Herd streams twenty four hours a day, seven days
a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd to listen
live or on demand whenever you like.
Speaker 6 (19:52):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together We're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven p Eastern two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 6 (20:06):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
On in the world.
Speaker 6 (20:10):
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. And the fact that we've been friends
for the last twenty years and still work together.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
I mean that says something, right. So check us out.
Speaker 6 (20:25):
We like to get you involved too, take your phone calls,
chop it up. As they say, I'd say, the most
interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe the.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
Most interactive show on planetar.
Speaker 6 (20:34):
Be sure to check out Covino and Rich Live on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app from five to
seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific, And if you
miss any of the live show, just search Covino and
Rich wherever you get your podcasts, and of course on
social media.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
That's Covino and Rich. Well, Jimmy Johnson. I've said this before.
There's been a handful of people in my life. When
I used to do the weekend shows at Fox, I
would hurry up and get the makeup on. I would
go into the break room and I would basically pastor
Jimmy Johnson for thirty minutes, asking about pulling guards and
(21:08):
slot receivers, and Jimmy Johnson would patiently answer all my
minutia and nonsense. And he is joining us now live,
the Hall of Famer, the two time Duer Bowl champion.
So I owe you a debt of gratitude as I
ask you about roverbacks and nickel coverage and dime coverage,
and you would smile at me and patiently as I
(21:29):
sat there eating food and asking, And I just want
to say thank you for that, even in your off season,
you're willing to come on the show.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
So thank you, genuine thank you for me.
Speaker 7 (21:38):
Jimmy, Well, thank you, Colin.
Speaker 8 (21:40):
As you know, probably the most fun I've ever had
in my career, and that's counting Super Bowls and National Championships,
was at Fox Sports. You know, I have an absolute
ball with my friends on the set and the best
friends I've ever had there with Fox. And and then
(22:03):
I tell you on top of that, you know, I
love working for Eric Shanks, our CEO, and our producer
Bill Richards. But I've made an extremely difficult decision. I've
been thinking about it for the last four or five years,
and I've decided to retire from Fox and I'm.
Speaker 7 (22:21):
Gonna miss it. I'm gonna miss all the guys and
I'll see them occasionally.
Speaker 8 (22:25):
But it has been a great run starting back thirty
one years ago.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
You know it's being met.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
I got to call this weekend from Shanks and this
is something inside the building. We knew it was coming
over the last couple of years, and they've talked you
into it. One of the ways you are viewed in
the building is the way you were viewed as a
football coach. You're kind of the general manager and the
coach of the show. Otherwise, you know, Bradshaw will never
(22:53):
stop talking, and you know basically, you have to you
have to coach the guys on the set, and don't
be humble for a second. I think you love that
is that you viewed your That's.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
How we viewed you. You were the.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Coach on the set, behind the scenes, and if you
could for a moment share that with the audience.
Speaker 8 (23:14):
Why you love that, well, you know, I guess it
goes back to all the years that I coached and
you look at the guys on the set, you know
not only are the best friends, but you know I
watched Terry play in college when he was at Woodlawn
High School and we recruited him for Louisiana Tech. I
coached Howie Long in the Blue Gray Game when he
(23:36):
just left Villanova.
Speaker 7 (23:39):
I had Michael Strahan.
Speaker 8 (23:40):
Yeah, they're in Dallas, and I was going to draft him,
and he reminds me of it many many times when
it was a mistake. I was trying to get him
cheat and New York jumped in front of me, so
I wasn't able to draft him. I actually had a
scout in his home ow draft day, and so we're
all very very close. And Kurt Minife, he was he
(24:01):
was in Dallas when I was in Dallas, and so
it was just natural for me to be somewhat of
a coach. And Bill Richards, who you know, I love
to death, you know, Uh, he kiddingly calls me my,
calls me assistant producer because I had suggestions on what
to do on uh or maybe our own the field segment,
(24:24):
et cetera. Uh So I just kind of played the
same role that I played for many, many years as
a hit football coach.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
You know, Jimmy, there's a handful of people that have
done it none better than you. You were a dominant
college coach.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
That's hard.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Then you were a dominant NFL coach. I think that's harder.
You were also then, uh you're a Hall of Famer
broadcasting hall of famer. They're all hard. How are you able?
College coaching and pro coaching is different now. It's a
little more similar now than it was in your day.
(25:00):
Was there ever a moment you're a Hall of famer
football broadcasting college. Do guys like you ever have self doubt?
Was there ever a moment in Dallas that first year
you thought this is a.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
Bit I've been asked to shoe all. I'm not sure
I bit off too much.
Speaker 7 (25:18):
Colin absolutely not. I can.
Speaker 8 (25:21):
I can tell you the story, and day Wanstad and
Tony Wise, they can verify this. When I was at
Oklahoma State University, I went to a little restaurant and
we were struggling, you know. I said, you know, guys,
hang with me. We're gonna win a national championship. We
were at Ancestor restaurant, and we ended up winning national
championship at University of Mind because I took all of
(25:43):
them with me and we were going through that one
and fifteen year we went to a little Mexican restaurant
right there close to Valley Ranch, and I told the guys,
I said, listen, I said, we're making some moves now
that are going to hurt us on the short term.
We traded our starting quarterback, we cut the leading receiver
because he couldn't play the caliber that we wanted. And
(26:07):
we made some trades, obviously trade and herschel Walker, but
we made fifty one trades.
Speaker 7 (26:11):
In five years.
Speaker 8 (26:12):
And I told the guys, I said, listen, I know
it's a real struggle right now, but you hang with
me because we're going to win a super Bowl.
Speaker 7 (26:19):
And that's I mean.
Speaker 8 (26:21):
I might have sounded like a crazy man because we
were going one in fifteen. But I say, we're making
some moves now that are going to help us three
years from now. And so you say, was there any doubt? No,
there wasn't any doubt. And it wasn't that we had
a dream. And I said this at the Hall of
Fame induction. We didn't dream. We truly believed that we
(26:43):
were going to get it done. I think if you
believe that you're going to get it done, you work
to make it happen. If you dream, you're hoping that
it happens. But we worked to make sure it happened.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
You know, I think more than ever coach quarterback. And
I've always said this, if you get the coach right
and the quarterback right, everything else will work itself out.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
You'll figure it out.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
I've said Sean Payton and bow Nicks that I got Sean,
I got bon Nicks. I don't know what's going to
happen if they win trophies, but they're gonna be fine
in Denver.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
They're going to be fine.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
But but quarterbacks now make seventy million, sixty million. There's
there are social media stars, shoe deals, you didn't deal
with that. But I still contend that the Andy Reids
and the Peytons and the guys like you, you just
make it work. I look at you and Troy, Troy
gets emotional when you got into the Hall of Fame.
(27:38):
I'm watching that. That makes me emotional. What was the
relationship even then? Because Troy was getting banged up, he
was getting criticized. Quarterbacks go one in fifteen if they don't,
you know, Dallas media was not giving you guys a pass.
How did your relationship get so tight or was it
always like that?
Speaker 7 (27:59):
No, it wasn't always look right there. I actually tried
to recruit Troy to.
Speaker 8 (28:05):
Oklahoma State there in Henryetta, Oklahoma. I was in his
home when he was a sophomore and junior, and Troy
was just here at the house two weeks ago. We
had a strained relationship that first year because I drafted
Steve Walsh with a supplemental pick, and I knew Troy
was our guy. But I wanted to take Steve Walsh
(28:27):
because quarterbacks are so valuable. I knew that I would
be able to trade him. I actually started trying to
trade Steve Walsh a month or two after I drafted him,
but I had to kind of walk a tight rope
because I couldn't brag on Troy knowing that I was
going to trade Steve Walsh, so I had to kind
of brag on both of mine. You know, I kept
(28:47):
saying we got two quarterbacks, but I knew exactly what
I was going to do. And then I ended up
trading Wallah for a one, two and a three. But
that upset Troy that I didn't go all in on
him that first year. But after the first year, then
you know, I started making overtures to de Troy to
get out relationship better.
Speaker 7 (29:06):
And like I said, we're best friends now. He was
just here two weeks ago.
Speaker 8 (29:11):
So yeah, again, it was a strained relationship because of
the way we were dealing with things. Plus one at
fifteen that'll strain any relationship. But it got better and
now it's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
You know, Bill Belichick, I remember when he left New England.
I think he was grateful for Bob Kraft. But in
the end, richer owners now, Jimmy, they're all billionaires, and
the richer owners get they'll just run, They'll fifty millions
a rounding air. They'll just blowout of staff. I have
(29:45):
never seen more impulsive owners in my life. In the NFL,
there used to be one crazy guy or too. Now
it feels like half the league's owners think they're coaches.
And when Belichick left, he acknowledged that you you had
relationships that may have been impulsive, but you turn it
into championships. Do you think it's harder to coach today?
(30:07):
I mean, there's a lot of ways it could be easier,
but the owners, Jimmy, they're all billionaires, and that has
a way of making owners think they know a lot
more football than they do.
Speaker 8 (30:19):
Yeah, I think it's it's more difficult with the owners.
But what makes it a lot easier if you've got
a great quarterback. You got a great quarterback that you
can overcome a lot of things. But you know, you're
talking about billions of dollars, you know, And you know,
(30:39):
Jerry and I our relationship was fine for a while
because he borrowed one hundred and forty million dollars. He
was trying to pay off that loan, so he spent
all of his time trying to make money to pay
off the loan. So he really didn't bother me. Now,
once he got the.
Speaker 7 (30:54):
Loan paid off after we won the Super Bowl. He
wanted to jump into football business.
Speaker 8 (31:00):
But yeah, I think the relationship with Bill and Craft
probably was a little strained there at the end.
Speaker 7 (31:07):
I told Bill.
Speaker 8 (31:07):
In fact, he came down here right after he left
doing and with his girlfriend, and I was talking to
him and I said, you know, yeah, the NFL stiff,
but you know college football with the nil and the
transfer portal, that's a headache.
Speaker 7 (31:23):
He said, yeah, but they were headaches in the pro
football as well.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Yeah, when you ultimately made this decision. If you've just
joined us, Jimmy Johnson has announced his retirement from Fox,
you kept coming back, and we talked into it about
four different times.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Right, that's the truth. And there are people in.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
The hallway this morning that are a little melancholy about
all this. How do you hope, I mean, you achieved everything,
three different hall of fames? How do you hope you're viewed?
Speaker 7 (32:01):
How do I I mean.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
You're successful? You're successful at three different hall of fames?
What matters if somebody, if I'd never met Jimmy Johnson,
I walked up to somebody said tell me about Jimmy Johnson.
What at a value level. What matters to Jimmy Johnson?
Why what but your relationships?
Speaker 8 (32:21):
You know, the guys uh that were here, you know,
like I said a couple of weeks ago, some of
my former coaches and Troy and you know players, et cetera. Yeah,
they were talking about I said, you know, the thing
I try to do is I tried to bring out
the best in everybody, everybody that I came into contact with, uh,
And I tried to have some interaction. The way you
(32:41):
bring out the best in people is you have interaction
with them. You communicate with them. The biggest problems I
ever had with anybody is when I didn't communicate. And
that's what happened to Jerry and I on our relationship
until he got fixed here later on, is we stopped communicating.
And you know, it never gets better if you don't
(33:03):
talk about it. It never gets better if you don't interact.
And uh, you know, and not not necessarily you know,
pumping somebody up and praising them, but they are just
acknowledging them, you know, and saying, hey, you need to
pick it up a little bit. You know, maybe in
a kidding way, but you need to have some interaction
with individuals, But I tried to bring out the best
(33:25):
in everybody that I came into contact with. I don't
care what their role was, I don't care how important
they were. I don't care if they were a Hall
of Fame player or an intern on our set. I
tried to bring out the best in everybody.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
How are you going to watch football next year? And
not send Eric?
Speaker 1 (33:45):
And I send Eric Shanks written notes on email about
things he needs to tweak.
Speaker 8 (33:52):
Colin, I've got three TV set up, and you know
how much I love watching football, Terry said brad Joe.
Speaker 7 (33:59):
He told me that day before yesterday. He said, guy,
you're going to be able to sit at home and
what's all those college games without me? And you're going
to watch all those pro games without me? I said, yeah,
but I'll be watching them with a cold beer.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Absolute pleasure. One of the best people I've and smartest
people I've ever met in this business. And you've always
treated not only people behind the scenes here, interns, producers.
Nobody sees, but I just want to put it out there.
You treated me great and I appreciate it.
Speaker 7 (34:31):
Coach Colin.
Speaker 8 (34:33):
I loved every minute of it, and thank you. I
appreciate it, and hey, thanks to Fox Sports. I mean
it was really the best time of my entire career.
And you mentioned it the Hall of Fame, College Hall
of Fame, Pro Hall of Fame Broadcasting. The best time
in my career was with with Fox Sports.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
Great to see Jimmy, Thanks man, the great Jimmy Johnson
retiring at Fox. You know, I had all these football
questions I was gonna ask him, Yeah, forget it, it
doesn't matter. Let's talk about the stuff that matters for
people that don't know. Behind the scenes, Jimmy was essentially
(35:15):
along with Bill Richards, that's been number one for I
think thirty one years in a row. The Fox Show
has been number one for thirty one years in a row.
Bill Richards is the producer.
Speaker 3 (35:25):
And it's a lot. It's a lot.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
There's a lot of live shows, and it's you do
live television. You bounce around a city to city to city.
It's a lot of work. It is hard and on
any given segment it can go sideways fast. And the
guy on the set that was the glue menifee the
host obviously, and Jimmy Johnson. And with that we take
(35:47):
a break. Jimmy Johnson retiring from Fox Sports.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
It's the hurt
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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