July 22, 2025 • 43 mins
Nick Wright stops by The Herd to talk about the report that LeBron James considered the Mavericks, Cooper Flagg, Luka Doncic, and more
Colin also talks to Ohio State head coach Ryan Day about defending their National Championship and what makes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith a generational player
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
All right, here we go. It is our two on
a Tuesday. All those NFL camps are starting up. We
are live. We are in Chicago. It is the Herd,
so Jmac the you know it's it's the second round
picks for not signing contracts. Now they're starting to sign
contracts the first rounders who are all signed except guess what,
(00:48):
the Cincinnati Bengals, the Micah Parsons contract. Jerry Jones is
prone to do this to push it off, push it off,
push it off, push it off, then sign them late.
Now the downside is Miles Garrett comes in and signs
a edge Rush deal or a TJ. Watt does and
then the market tells you, well, you got to pay
Mi cup Off six million more a year than you
actually wanted to. So we talked about it. I think lad, Yeah.
(01:09):
Last week. We talked about it Thursday Friday that if
you identify a guy very early, you know Josh Allen,
Patrick Sirtan, Patrick Mahomes, you know a left tackle. You
can identify guys very early and go, you know what,
I'm gonna pay him. This is what Chargers did with
Justin Herbert, Like, that's gonna work for us. Philip Rivers gone,
(01:30):
we got our guy for the next ten years. I
am four paying. I think every team has one or
two players that you know at a really key position.
I wouldn't do it for a linebacker. I wouldn't do
it for a safety. I wouldn't do it for an
interior alignment. But quarterback, left tackle, edge rusher, defensive tackle,
maybe a great corner. You can identify them very very
(01:50):
early and just sign them. Like Jamar Chase, Just get
that puppy done. Not only is he great, he played
with Burrow in college. Just get it signed. He's fine.
So Michael Parsons is an interesting one because I think
he's really good. But I don't think he's TJ Watt
the numbers. He's not Miles Garrett. I don't think he
has a future as good as Jared Verse. He's not
(02:11):
interior dominant like Chris Jones of Kansas City or Jalen
Carter of Philadelphia. But he's good, He's very good. But
they keep pushing it off, pushing it off, pushing it off.
And I think Jerry Jones, you know, I'd probably keep
this to myself, but Jerry keeps talking about the Micah
Parsons deal, and he was asked about it about, you know,
the reluctance. Why isn't it already done at camp this week?
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Just because we signed him doesn't mean we're going to
have him. He was hurt six games last year. Seriously,
we've signed I remember signing a player for the highest
paid it's position in the league and he got knocked
out two thirds of the year, Dark Prescott. So there's
a lot of things you can think about when you
(02:56):
and just as the player does, when you're thinking about
committing and guaranteeing money.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
So I said this, the Cowboys have not had a
great draft since twenty twenty, and if you asked, when's
the last time Philadelphia had a great draft, Washington had
a great draft last year. So I think the division
has changed. Philadelphia nowt is stacked and Washington has the
next Lamar Jackson, the NFC version of Lamar Jackson, better
in the pocket, maybe not as fast. And I think
(03:25):
those little mistakes are not going to catch up to
you as quickly in the AFC South or the NFC South.
The Philadelphia Eagles and now Jaden Daniels, you're going to
see all these mistakes start adding up. But they haven't
drafted well, they've been a non factor. And free agency.
Couldn't afford Derek Henry for eight million, how do the
(03:46):
Eagles afford Saquon Barkley. They're paying everybody, So you know, again,
this feels like they let dan Quinn go to the
rival Commanders. This feels like they've just played this out
longer and longer and longer. And I said this a
couple of weeks ago. I would have thought about last
year moving Micah and getting more draft capital. But I
don't know if I trust the Cowboys to draft the
(04:07):
right players if they got the draft capitol. But I
want to shift that. We're gonna bring in Nick Right.
Haven't talked to him in a while. He's been in
the World Series of Poker. First things first, Nick Wright
and joining us live. So I started the top of
the show today with his topic. So a story comes
out from The Athletic that Lebron is not going to
take a mid level exemption. He was not willing to
(04:27):
do it, but he had his eyes on the Dallas Mavericks,
which I have said. I think Cooper's better than Austin
Reeves is a young player, eighties better than DeAndre eight
and they have a better bench, a better coach, and
they have more depth. I think Dallas competes for the
championship if Lebron shows up now, They're gonna have to
give up three first round picks Gaffer, PJ. Washington, Max Chris.
(04:48):
But I think it'd be a really interesting team. But
was interesting to me as I said this. Lebron in
twenty sixteen or twenty nineteen acknowledged, I'm chasing a goat,
I'm chasing a ghost played for Chicago said. I think
in his head, Lebron's like listen, Michael's more beloved. Michael's
(05:08):
net worth is three point five billion, minds one, I'm
never going to catch him. And the truth is, I'm
taking the money. I mean, that's the one I got
more points. My son made the league. I'm taking the
money that I do think there's a part of Lebron
that he knows going back to Cleveland that's a better
roster for him. Going back to Dallas, Cooper ad coach,
(05:31):
that's a better opportunity. But Michael's still in his head
and he's just going to take the money and bleed
it out for another year in La Okay.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
I I think I disagree with every single piece of that.
So let's let's.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Go one by one.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
You did a very interest I don't know that I
agree with you that next year Cooper Flag will be
already better than Austin Reeves. Maybe, but let's just say
that's a push. Obviously, Anthony Davis, yes, is better than
DeAndre Ayton. But there's one guy on the Lakers. I'm
trying to figure out. Remember who it was who you
(06:09):
didn't do the tit for tat with? Oh yeah, Lukadancic.
So who's the guy on the MAVs that cancels out
Lukodancic on the Lakers. I'm just curious, and like, as
a crazy thought exercise, like if you traded the best
player on the MAVs, Anthony Davis for Lukadancic, what do
you think the public reaction would be who won that
trade or did somebody get concussed? It was the worst
(06:31):
trade in NBA history. So there's that piece of it
where if Kyrie were healthy.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
And then then you could talk me into it.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
But I think Kyrie's gonna miss all of certainly most
if not all of next year. So then there This
is why the Lebron money thing to me is so
wildly unfair. First of all, he's the only guy in
the NBA that has ever asked of this, and we
can say, well, he's made the most money, but at
all of the best players have made hundreds of millions
(07:02):
of dollars, and Lebron last year finished sixth in MVP voting,
got the sixth most all NBA votes, and the fact
that he makes slightly less than Zach Levine makes me
feel like he's at the very least unfairly compensated in
his direction. Steph Curry, who Lebron by every vote, all
(07:23):
the awards, every metric Lebron was better than last year,
is the highest paid player in the league.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
No one has a problem with it. So there's that
piece of it.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
There's the other piece of it, which is you are
I think a lot of people are acting as if
Lebron opted out and took the minimum and then won
a championship, that we are all pretending that championship would
not have been met with eye rolls and stacked the
(07:53):
deck and fake title all of Lebron's titles, by the way,
Ray Allen saved him Kyrie in Bubble Championship. Every Lebron championship,
no matter the competition, no.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Matter how well he's played.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
Some folks have tried to put an asterisk on if
he took the minimum to go play for a team
that won sixty four games, people would definitively try to
put an asterisk on it. So I don't think that
there was a way for Lebron to do this where
he was going to escape criticism. I also think that
what is true is you can't No one ever can
(08:29):
have everything in life, and Lebron, because of the salary
cap situation across the league this year, had to choose
between fifty two million or five million if he wanted
to leave the Lakers and go to a contender, and
leaving forty seven million dollars on the table is not
appealing to anybody, and so I understand it. I'm also
(08:53):
not one hundred percent certain Lebron finishes the year as
a Laker, but they've made some moves around the edges.
Luke will be great, they will be contenderish and you'll see.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
How they look at the deadline. So I'm going to
throw this. I know you're not a huge college football fan,
but you have a great sense of history, and sure,
if you look at the nil, Nick Saban can't go
back to college because you're asking your boosters now to
raise twenty million a year for nil and you'd have
(09:25):
to pay Nick sixty million, and you'd have to buy
out your coach for forty to fifty million. He's not
going to Bama. He's not going to any of these schools, Michigan.
There's just no way that colleges can They can't be
outside of Texas. Nobody can afford to do that and
starts going nowhere. But I do think six coaches a
year get fired. Coordinators are at best a coin flip
(09:49):
that if I was Cleveland and got the number one
pick and they're in their running for the worst team,
I would draft Archs Manning. I would hire Nick Saban.
Tell me if you ran a team in this league
or owned it, you would not call seventy three year
old Nick Saban. I floated it last week. Even urban
Meyer said, oh, yeah, he'll take an NFL call. Do
(10:11):
you believe that would you hire him? Oh? I definitely yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
I mean I don't know that he would definitively be
my number one choice first phone call, because every you know,
Mike Tomlin might be available after this year.
Speaker 5 (10:24):
I'm I'm just picking that name out of the hat.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
But you know what I mean, there's very often there's
a really good coach who just kind of has time
has passed at his destination who comes available. So I'm
not saying Nick Saban would be the number one candidate
for every job. But the idea that your take was
a hot take, I think is ridiculous age. Notwithstanding, he
(10:49):
clearly has the energy, the attention to detail, the football mind.
And I do think that what NIL has done is
it has leveled the playing field inasmuch as if Saban
went back to college, his historic recruiting prowess would be
muted to a degree in a way it wasn't while
(11:12):
he was sacking up national championships at Auburn. So yeah,
I mean you mentioned. I mean, I'll throw a different
one at you that is same state, different team if
this coming year goes the way I think it might
for Cincinnati. I think Nick Saban's an interesting idea.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
There where a.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Team It's like, listen, got to coach up the defense,
got to have someone to actually have as big of
a voice in the organization as the owner. Got to
clean up some of the nonsense going into years they
deal with every year again most of which is owner related,
and let Joe and Jamar handle the offense, like almost
(11:52):
offload the offense to them. You handled the details, the
you know, finding some of the edges in young players
from the college game that you're very aware of their
skill set, and coach up the defense because we're the
Only point that you made that I kind of disagree
with is if I'm Nick Saban and I want to
(12:12):
do this, I'm not that interested in a studs to
the top down rebuild. I'm much more interested in i've
got three or four years, let me see if i
can have a contender immediately. I think the Bengals, who
if they missed the playoffs again probably will be looking
for a new coach. I think they could be an
attractive one.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
So now living in Chicago and by the way, taking
the train Monday through.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
Friday, I know, man of the people, Man of the people.
Nobody loves Chicago more than Colin Gowhert in July. Very
excited for the November update, very excited. Hey, I took
the train today. I'm covered in salt. I slipped on
the ice. There's no palm trees. Again, I'm rooting for you, buddy,
(13:00):
but it's been a long time since you were a
rustic Midwesterner about thirty years and maybe as many millions ago.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
So we'll see. Let's just wait and see. Go ahead.
So I'm thinking about Caleb Williams. If you turn on
radio in Chicago, it's Cubs and Caleb Williams. And I
still have misgivings about ownership. I don't know if I
love Ryan Poles, but I like Ben Johnson. I think
the roster is pretty good, probably middle of the pack
around Green Bay. When you, if I had to say
(13:30):
you're pretty good at this, you're Matthew. If I said
project how the season goes, we can put the schedule up,
is that you've always been pretty good at kind of
guessing how things work over the course of a season.
And I've said, listen, he's too talented. Everything he makes
mistakes at is coachable like pocket presence. Well, we've seen
Lamar Jackson grow accuracy, We've seen Josh Allan grow. All
(13:56):
of his problems are solvable. When I give you this schedule,
I want you to a little fortune teller here, How
do you what do you think it looks like with
Caleb Williams, Because I think that there are so many
variables in how this thing could turn out, because Chicago's
a big, loud, football loving city, and if he struggles early, Nick,
(14:17):
you know this city, it could go sideways fast in
public opinion.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
But I think it goes the opposite. Okay, I think
they have success early. I think they're three and one
going into the by and feeling quite good. I think
that next group of games they go, you know, call
it two and two in that next little quarter of
the season, So that would put him at five and three.
You then have a tough five game stretch. Say they
(14:42):
go two and three in that they're seven and six,
and then down the stretch of the season. A note
on why I think this, I'll explain in a second.
I think they go ten and seven, eleven and six,
and I think that can win the division because I
think the other the story about when we're talking about
the Bears is what about the Lions. And I've said
(15:06):
this for years during the season that I was not
going to during the year. Every year there is a
team that we think is gonna be awesome that struggles
and we're like, what's different and then we're like, oh man,
they lost both of their coordinators. That's hard for teams
to deal with. That's the Detroit Lions. Also the Lions,
(15:28):
whose biggest strength has been their offensive line since Golf
and Campbell have been together, their guard center Guard Combo
going into this season might be one of the weakest
in the league. If there's one way to make Lions
Jared Goff turn into late and early stage rams, Jared
goff its pressure up the middle.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
All of that plus those.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
Back to back absolutely gut wrenching playoff defeats, I could
see the Lions dropping from fifteen wins to ten wins.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
So listen.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
I think the Bears defense is going to be.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
A work in progress.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
I think the offense is instantly going to be much
much better because Caleb will be better, and because Ben
Johnson will be worlds better from a play design play
calling standpoint they had last year. So I don't think
it's out of the realm of possibility that the Bears
win the division, and I certainly expect them in the playoffs.
Like Caleb is too talented and Caleb is too I
(16:26):
think the creativity is a good thing to not be
a very good NFL quarterback. I thought very good was
the floor and I thought all time great was the ceiling.
One mediocre year is not going to push me off that.
So I think the Bears are quite dangerous this year.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Colin.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Now, I did take them to go to the super
Bowl last year, so maybe I'm wrong again, But.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Well, I do think Detroit's the one great team last
year that has pullback potential. Based on your thoughts, I
also think JJ McCarthy is a complete and utter wild card.
And if it's average, well you're just battling Green Bay.
Who PFF said yesterday or it was ESPN's data team
said Packers line Packers Bears fourteenth fifteenth best rosters, So
(17:10):
there's not a big gap in personnel there. Nick Wright,
First things first, as always, Buddy, great sing you you
as well. Good Seacon. All right, he didn't love my
Lebron take there. He kind of kind of poof foo
the old Lebron take. I've said before. The caveat with
Luca is he needs the ball and he won't defend
at a high level. I'm ignow. I've always said better
(17:31):
version than Carmelo Anthony. You're gonna get a lot of points.
He'll be a top ten scorer of all time. He
is fun to watch, He's unstoppable, he'll be in better shape.
He's not commit, not commit to defense. That's not gonna happen.
And he needs the ball, and and Lebron doesn't want
to defend at this point, so you're not making up
his bad defense with Lebron at this point. And Ad
(17:53):
is no longer there, and Eighton doesn't play defense, and
Austin Reeve's done a great defender. So Lakers have a
very mediocre defensive roster. The MAVs Cooper Flag, Anthony, Davis
Lively all really good defenders, allowing Lebron not at this
point in his career, to have to bust his urse
(18:14):
on that side of the floor. I think it matters.
Ryan Day Buckeye's coach. Next, it's the hurt One.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
More Heard. 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 (18:33):
Hey, we're Cavino and Rich Fox Sports Radio every day
five to seven pm Eastern.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
But here's the thing, we never have enough time to
get to everything we want to get to.
Speaker 6 (18:41):
And that's why we have a brand new podcast called
over Promised. You see, we're having so much fun in
our two hour show. We never get to everything, honestly,
because this guy is over promising things we never have
time for.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Yeah, you blubber this name and me.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Well you know what it's called over promise. You should
be good at it because you've been over promising women
for a year.
Speaker 6 (19:00):
Well, it's a Covino and Rich after show, and we
want you to be a part of it. We're gonna
be talking sports, of course, but we're also gonna talk
life and relationships. And if Rich and I are arguing
about something or we didn't have enough time, it will
continue on our after show called over Promised. Well, if
you don't get enough Covino and Rich make sure you
check out over Promise and also uncensored by the way,
so maybe we'll go at it even a little harder.
(19:21):
It's gonna be the best after show podcast of all time.
There you go, over Promising. Remember you could see it
on YouTube, but definitely join us. Listen Over Promised with
Covino and Rich on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Ryan Day, Buckeye Coaches around the corner. Let's not waste
sudy time. J Mack with the news. Turn on the news.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
This is the headline.
Speaker 7 (19:49):
News now, Colin, we moved off the silly season in
the NFL, right the June July where not.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
A lot's going on. Well, all of a sudden people
are showing up at camp and talk to the media.
Speaker 7 (19:57):
And Dak Prescott said some at the start of camp
to reporters yesterday. I don't know what's he doing here, Colin.
I'd give the money I make to win and be broke.
That that's an actual quote from Dak Prescott, where triple
checking is stom fake. That's a real quote Dak Prescott.
I'd give the money I make to win and be broke.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Now, Jerry was.
Speaker 5 (20:18):
Stealing all the headlines yesterday with his nonsense.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
I don't get what's he's saying.
Speaker 7 (20:22):
I don't understand he's say, Oh, I would give back
all this money I've got if I could win the
super Bowl.
Speaker 5 (20:28):
So maybe Jerry Jones would take him up on that.
Speaker 7 (20:30):
Hey, if we win the super Bowl, you give me
your give me your sixty two million back this past year.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
Well, I don't know, like who, that's just what are
you doing, Dak?
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Well, you know he's trying to he wants to show
that he he wants to win, while.
Speaker 7 (20:44):
Also pounding the table two years ago to make sure
he's the highest paid quarterback in the league.
Speaker 8 (20:48):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Well, I listen, it's money feels great, but you find
very quickly that it's pretty hollow if you're not accomplishing
in any industry. What the standard you've set for yourself?
And I think it feels like DA's kind of hit
his prime a few years ago. They won twelve, and
now he's got a second lower body injury, and he's
(21:11):
got a coach that's a notch below Mike McCarthy, and
the roster isn't close to Philadelphia. And I think Dak's
smart and kind of realizes we're not. Really we can
convince ourselves we are. But they've got like four elite players.
Philadelphia's got twelve.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
Listen, I'm not looking at his pockets. I get it.
Go make the most you can.
Speaker 7 (21:30):
Your careers are short, right, But then don't come out
at the same time. Oh, I give it all back
if I could just win.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
One, like I don't know, it's one bite at one podium,
you know, I mean we asked these guys, we ask
him questions that we want them to be perfect.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
It is, you know, I mean, yeah, I mean, listen,
you and I. After this show's done, we don't have to.
Speaker 7 (21:50):
Go meet the media every day and ask, hey, j Mack,
you botch that segment.
Speaker 5 (21:54):
Amen, I didn't like that time.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
To get through three hours with you, I don't need
anything else to lift.
Speaker 7 (22:01):
All right, Let's move on to another guy talking out
of his rear end Derek Stingley, junior of the Houston Texans. Hey, listen,
he had a good year, no denying it. He's no
Sauce Gardner, but he's very good. He said that the
Texans will lead the NFL in interceptions this season by
his estimates, at least ten to fifteen interceptions. He's that
(22:22):
confident in this secondary that Houston is going to dominate.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Now.
Speaker 7 (22:26):
They were second in the league last year with nineteen
trailing the Vikings. But Colin, the problem is outside of
the division. The schedule's not easy for Houston. Yeah, they're
going to intercept cam Ward Bunch and Anthony Richardson, but
they got to face Stafford Baker, Mayfield, Lamar Jackson, Herbert,
You're facing a lot of elite quarterbacks. You see Patrick
Olons in there.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
That's a rough schedule, and yeah, that is a rough schedule.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
I don't have them winning the division. And also John allgo.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
Quarterbacks, Yeah, you go Stafford Baker Mayfield, Trevor Lawrence, Lamar Jackson,
Sam Darnold brought pretty bow knicks, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes,
Kyler Murray, Justin Herbert. There's like eight games you better
play well. You can't turn it over.
Speaker 7 (23:13):
So I know we flip flopped on this division. I
think last you checked in it, you had Titans winning
the division.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
No, I think I have Texans winning it, Titans wild card.
Speaker 5 (23:22):
Okay, I will go Jaguars. I'm ryan the.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Trevor you're high on them.
Speaker 5 (23:26):
Yeah, I'm gonna made on them.
Speaker 7 (23:27):
Final story, Colin, Okay, Okay, here we go. WNBA. Obviously,
there was the big T shirt issue over the weekend. Well, reportedly,
forty players went to a big meeting.
Speaker 5 (23:39):
Over the All Star weekend to.
Speaker 7 (23:40):
Discuss the CBA, and negotiations are at a standstill. WNBA
players have asked for a revenue share similar to other
pro sports. Obviously, if the WNBA had a CBA structure
like the NBA. This is what a first year of
the rookie Supermax would look like.
Speaker 5 (24:00):
Okay, based on.
Speaker 7 (24:02):
The cap, they're only currently getting sixteen and a half
percent of the cap. It would go up to twenty
five percent, which is reasonable. They're not breaking the bank.
Here the way this breaks down, Colin, I don't hate it.
I'm just curious that the owners are going to say, well,
we're not giving you everything you want.
Speaker 5 (24:19):
We're not gonna go twenty five, We'll go twenty one, and.
Speaker 7 (24:22):
Then it's like, no, we need twenty five to get
on par with the other pro sports leagues.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
And I would be much more comfortable giving them rev
shares than massive salaries like baseball football or the NBA,
because in those leagues, you have a broader number of
superstar players that move the needle and win games. I think,
I don't think you. I mean, you know you've got
six to eight really elite players in this league that
(24:48):
can sell some merch. Obviously there's one Caitlin Clark. But
my take is I do a rev share with a
WNBA much more than I would give them, like thirty
percent of revenues, but they're only getting nine percent. And
I know everybody's banging on the last twenty five years
of the WNBA, but the bottom line is, what you
want to do when your contract is up is to
(25:11):
be hot, and right now the WNBA merch, ticket sales,
TV ratings is hot. Now. I know it's driven by
Caitlin Clark, but guess what, she's not going anywhere for
a decade, so she's this is the worst she'll ever
be because she's banged up now. So for the next
ten years, you can make a lot of money in
(25:31):
this league advertising dollars, suites, ticket sales, merch. I think
the players have some I think they have some leverage.
They have.
Speaker 7 (25:39):
Yeah, the whole red share deal A lot of people
don't understand. In the podcast space, there's a lot of
revenue sharing deals, but it's like, hey, I'm doing numbers,
you're not doing your part selling the podcast and making
me money.
Speaker 5 (25:51):
So I don't love a red share idea for the WNBA.
I just say, hey, the NBA players have this, why
can't we have this? But obviously it's going to be
a much like.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Down version, like people are saying this, I hear a
lot of this. Well, they've only got one player that
moves the needle. If you made a movie like Matt
Damon was in the adjacent Bourne series, oh yeah, and
you can argue the only guy that really sold tickets
was Matt Damon in that movie. All the writers, all
of it, they didn't really sell tickets. It was just
(26:22):
basically Matt Damon. Okay, it was still a great series.
I would have invested in that series. You could say
Mission impossible. It's basically Tom Cruise. Everybody else can move around,
but it's all about Tom Cruise. It's been a great
series for over a decade. So the bottom line is
Caitlin Clark will never be a worse player and less
(26:43):
recognized than now, so they have leverage. When Tiger Woods
was on the tour, if you were a network vine
for a major golf event, well, I mean only Tiger
Woods moves the needle. Yeah, but he's going to be
great for twelve years and I'm going to get him
on my network if I pay the PGA blank. So
I don't need a depth of talent to want to
(27:06):
know to want to sign a league. I don't.
Speaker 7 (27:09):
The only problem with that is, like Tom Cruise stars
in the whole movie, nobody's stealing scenes, nobody's emerging as
a superstar in that movie. In the WNBA, there'll be
a week where Susie Q goes off and averages thirty
points and she's like, hey, I'm not making any money.
It's all going to Caitlin Clark. I mean, listen, it's
tough and complicated. It's not gonna be sorted out right now.
(27:31):
I would guess there's probably some holdout gonna happen here
because these players seem really rooted and dug in Colin
kind of like the political spectrum right now, people do
not want to move off their opinions. I don't think
these players want to move off at all. I would
not be shocked if there was a hold out.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
With the wn Well, but WNBA players relative to other
pro leagues, don't make a lot of money. Now, Caitlin
Clark made eleven million off the court this year. She's fine,
But most of these players, eventually, I think they've caved ownership.
I think so. J mcklnews, Well.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
That's the news, and thanks for stopping by the Herd line. News.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Well, he's entering his seventh season at Ohio State. He's
coached eighty games and won seventy of him in the
National Championship last year they won four playoff games by
an average at ten points. Look at that, he's got
a Herd microphone. Boy, you are part of the team here, coach.
I love seeing that. Let's start with this. That your
schedule Texas to start, it's rough. Three weeks later at
(28:31):
Seattle at Illinois, best Illinois team in years, Penn State
at Michigan. You've got a quarterback who's really good, Julian saying,
you got to get him ready to roll really early
in that season. How big of a what do you
do as a staff to get that kid ready? Week
one is arguably the toughest game he will play in
(28:52):
his career. How do you get him ready to roll?
Speaker 9 (28:57):
Well, it starts early.
Speaker 8 (28:59):
When you start off with a game like this first
game of the season, you know, it's it just has
your attention even in July, and then you know, we've
got to have a great August.
Speaker 9 (29:08):
You know, I think in the spring we made a
lot of progress.
Speaker 8 (29:11):
We try to put him in as many game situations
as possible and then go from there. But you know,
he's got a really good supporting group around him. You know,
Linking Keynots is right there with him too. He's had
a great summer. So the two of these guys are
going to compete, you know, all summer and we'll kind
of see how that all shakes out. But put them
in as many competitive situations as possible and see how
they react to it. But ultimately, they got really good
(29:32):
guys around them. They need to make routine plays, take
care of the football, and then you know, when it's
fourth and two, find a way to get three yards.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
You know, people would look at this and say, boy,
Ryan Day, he's got the national championship. I would argue,
this is a tough year to be a coach at
Ohio State. You lost sixteen starters. You got to navigate
through this nil which is hard for everybody, including Ohio State.
You could draw up plays in front of me for
five hours, but creating chemistry is hard. You got a
(30:00):
lot of new faces. Let's take us through that. Like
the downside of being Ohio State is you lose fifteen
guys to the pros every year. You've got a lot
of new faces. How do you build that culture quickly?
Speaker 8 (30:14):
Well, I think going back to last year, we had
so many guys decided to come back, and then we
brought in a few older guys in the portal and
then so what happened was, you know, like you said,
you had a mass exodus this year. But that's part
of the cultures is bringing those young guys along and
they were able to not only be a part of
the run, but they they played. They just they didn't
carry the water. And so now they have to do that.
(30:36):
And so one of the biggest challenges this offseason was
our team has to grow up. And the faster we
grow up, the faster we're going to be able to,
you know, reach our maximum capacity. And so you know,
the goal was for that to be in the first
game and then you know, we come up for air
and figure out where we're at But you guys are
going to be a little experience going into the season.
But but that's college football. You're constantly gonna have turnover
(30:58):
like this, and so this is the first time we've
gone through it before. But having a game like this
certainly has everybody's attention in the summer.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Well I said yesterday, I picked Penn State to play
for the national championship, and I said the fact that
Ohio State is as good as they are and the
Big Ten media took Penn State. I said, I think
Penn State's backfield's about as good as a college backfield
can get their O lines excellent. I think it's going
to be a real challenge. The good thing you get them,
you get them at home, and that is a big advantage.
You beat them last year there. Now you get them
(31:27):
at home and that's where the field goal are more
in college football. Let's talk to Penn State game because
everybody's going to talk about Texas. But it looks like
to me over the last three years, Ryan, I said
this yesterday, I think the Big Ten at the top
is better than the SEC. I think the NIL is
more powerful. You've got more big markets. You go back
three years. When you look at film on Sunday preparing
(31:50):
for the next team, do you notice a significant improvement
in your conference personnel wise, not just from Penn State,
but illinoi in Minnesota and Iowa. Do you notice it
on film?
Speaker 9 (32:05):
Yes?
Speaker 8 (32:06):
Yes, I think that we have tremendous coaches. I think
James does a great job, Brett does a great job.
You know, you see the different coaches throughout the league.
So I think the Big Ten is attracting the best
coaches in the country, not to say anyone, you know,
other conferences don't have great coaches, but I think we
have really good coaches. But I also think that you know,
with the you know, the age of the NIL, we're
(32:29):
able to tap into the resources that you know, some
of the Big Ten areas are able to grab onto.
And certainly, you know, Columbus is one of those that
not only has a great infrastructure in the city, but
also the fan base that we have, and I think
that's been powerful along the way to continue to build
and we're positioned really good moving forward, like you said,
But the other part of it is, you know, when
you bring in some of the strongest teams, you know,
(32:50):
four of them from the Pac twelve to make an
eight team team conference. Now you're talking about a national
conference that's strong from coast to coast.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Yeah, your schedule is rough. What is the balance? Because
I still think I said this before USC LSU and
Colorado went heavy portal, and I don't feel like their
chemistry has ever been as solvent as stable as yours.
And my take is there is a balance. I mean,
(33:20):
when you can get a Caleb Downs, go get him.
The kids just absolutely incredible. But do you go back
and forth on this? Is it a little bit of
an emotional balance of how much is high school and
how much is nil? Because I still think high school football,
you know the odometer, you've been recruiting him since they
were fourteen. Sometimes you get anil guy Ryan and you
(33:42):
just there's stuff. You don't know. What is the perfect
balance to you on that?
Speaker 9 (33:48):
I think it's a great point.
Speaker 8 (33:49):
I think we could talk about it for a long time,
but I think now more than ever, we have to
recruit the right people and then retain them, and then
develop them and then keep them in your program, which.
Speaker 9 (33:59):
Is kind of what you sawlast year.
Speaker 8 (34:00):
We did add a couple of pieces, but the majority
of that team was guys that have been here for
four and five years, and not only the older but
you know, they had a lot of experience and they.
Speaker 9 (34:09):
Really wanted to leave a legacy behind at Ohio State.
Speaker 8 (34:11):
And to your point, I think we're you know, we're
all trying to figure that part of it out. And
I think at Ohio State, you know, we want to
make sure as the rules continue to evolve and really change,
like the new format of the salary cap, and we're
all trying to identify how this third party NIL is
actually going to be figured out and really managed, you know,
in the structure that's going to be in place in
(34:33):
enforcement wise. You know, we're all trying to figure that
part of it out. And I think some programs, you know,
their decision is to be really super aggressive, and there's
other programs that are going to try to be in
the middle, and then some others that are conservative. And
I think understanding that the culture is the number one
most important thing along the way, we've got to make
sure the culture is right.
Speaker 9 (34:50):
And so that's the focus for me. That's the focus
for us. We've got to make sure we.
Speaker 8 (34:53):
Still have the right people, recruit the right people in
high school and then retain them.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
A couple of years ago, Well, I had said on
this show, I said Jamar Chase was a pro when
he was a sophomore at LSU. Who I said he's
playing on Saturday is that guy would be a Number
one on Sundays as a sophomore. He's the best young
receiver I think I've ever seen. And then I watched
Jeremiah Smith and I'm like, oh no, he's better. How
do you keep somebody that gifted, who's gonna win all
one on one matchups? How do you keep him focused?
(35:20):
How do you keep him centered? How do you keep
him energized? How do you keep him I mean, listen,
he's going to beat coverage. There's nobody like him in
college football. That can be a challenge for a coach.
How do you keep him centered and focused and energized
when he is that gifted and can beat singular coverage
so easily and consistently.
Speaker 8 (35:41):
I think the thing that's remarkable about Jeremiah is you
don't have to He does it on his own. He's
self motivated, he brings it every day. Our strength coach
mcmuratty was talking about the other day when we do
warm up sprints before every workout. He wins every one
of them, he says the other day, because he wins
every single sprint, he just for somebody is a talent
as he is. He has a tremendous amount of discipline
(36:02):
and skill in his life. And I think that's what's
making you know, he's already special, but it's it's continuing
to make him special.
Speaker 9 (36:09):
I mean, you should see him now.
Speaker 8 (36:10):
He's bigger, he's faster, he's stronger, he's extremely motivated.
Speaker 9 (36:14):
He wants to win every game.
Speaker 8 (36:15):
When he loses a game, I mean he can't eat
solid food for a long time. I mean, he really
cares about his teammates. He sets an amazing example, and
he doesn't need to be motivated. I think that's what
makes him special. And I think a lot of guys
are seeing that in his own way. You know, he's
not a real, you know, verbal guy. He doesn't you know,
really you know, get out and get out in front
of things in terms of that. But he leads the
(36:36):
way in terms of his work ethic and obviously he
has so much respect for what he does on the field.
Speaker 9 (36:40):
But you know, when you talk to people who play
up against him.
Speaker 8 (36:43):
I think his size and his power and his strength
and what really separates him as a player.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
Yeah, it just I mean, he just comes out of
the uniform like he just there. You don't have to
be a football expert to watch him come out of
the tunnel and go, wow, Ryan Day the national championship
a Buckeye coach. They open on Fox with Texas that
Folks is one for the ages. Get in front of
a TV and enjoy that. It's in Columbus and that
(37:08):
isn't edge. Ryan. We appreciate you stopping by.
Speaker 9 (37:12):
Thanks call I appreciate you. Man.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
You bet that's going to be when's the last time
an opening game in the college football weekend was that good?
I couldn't say that. You could argue well that the
two best players in the country are Jeremiah Smith and
Caleb Downs. Those are the two best players in the country.
I had somebody tell me that Caleb Downs would have
gone number one. You got almost take out quarterback. He
would have goten number one last year's draft, that's how
(37:33):
good he is. Then you got arch Manning, which is
an unbelievable store. You have two huge brands that I
bet you that sets a record for a Labor Day
weekend college football game. I bet you that sets an
Everybody tells me on nobody's watching TV that will set
a record. I can't wait for that thing. Fox gave
(37:54):
me my college football preview book this weekend. I'm sitting
there watching the British Open, The Open with Rory McKell
and Scotti Scheffler and reading that I'm not gonna be
I'm not gonna lie eleven thirty in the morning, a
pot a cold one. I was totally committed to that
beer and Texas Ohio State and the Open live in Chicago.
(38:14):
It's third.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
in neonon Eastern nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 5 (38:27):
Sunday on Fox.
Speaker 7 (38:29):
With a historic three feet on the line, can Alex
Below become the fastest ever to lock up Indie Series
championship or will the Pack hold him off at Laguna Sake?
It all starts Sunday at three eastern only on Fox.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
By the way, USC reached out to me and said
we dispute the athletics revenue numbers. They listed him at
seventy one million, which puts him around Ole, Miss Miami, Utah,
South Carolina. USC says, hey, that's not the case. We
have almost double that. They'd be around seven or eight
kind of Tennessee, Bama, Auburn Ish area. USC is private,
(39:09):
by the way, but this is the number we worked
off of. I do know USC is raising eight. I've
said this ten times during the last six months. They're
up to about eighteen million in the nil, which I
never thought they'd get to. Jen Cohen's the athletic director.
It has been it has been a work to kind
of galvanize all the boosters to be on the same page.
(39:29):
But it's really it is still really interesting. USC didn't
have a single player first team offense or defense. Indiana
and Iowa have four each, and so it's fascinanding with
Lincoln Riley. He's making too much money. There's no buyout happening.
They're building new facilities, They're given eighteen million. They got
the donors. They have some older donors. I don't know
how many great young donors they have. But it's a
(39:52):
fascinating college football dilemma out west for USC because Oregon
has got nothing but money. Michigan in Notre Dame, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas,
A and M. So you would think because of the
Los Angeles County in LA, you'd think USC is loaded.
Now they're saying we're way more loaded and doing much
(40:15):
better than the athletic is saying. And they are private.
So I'm not exactly sure how the athletic got all
their numbers. I know their nil number is. I was
told two years ago it was at thirteen, and I
thought that was, you know, six to seven below Oregon,
but I thought that was double Washington. I was blown
away by that because it's a very political, distracted, kind
(40:36):
of agenda driven base. But they're saying, hey, our number
is much better than that. But what's interesting is all
the other teams that are spending that kind of money,
they got a lot of good players. That's the thing.
If USC's is in line with all these where are
the players. They don't have a single player first team
(40:58):
all big ten offens or defense, and they have a
Page A left tackle, Kamari Ramsey, Eric Gentry, a linebacker,
lemon A widersh. They got some good players. But you know,
these days, this idea of we're going to move off
coaches those days are over. If you're paying fifteen million
up for NIL, keeping up with facilities, you're not buying
(41:19):
at a coach for seventy million dollars as well, and
then bringing a new guy for seventy five. Those days
are over. You know, you don't have to like Brian
Kelly and LSU. He's going to stay until he wants
to go. That's just what the NIL has done for
the record. J Mac, did you Nick Wright earlier talked
about Caleb Williams. He thinks it starts well. I thought
(41:42):
he brought up a really interesting point and it's one
that you agree with. Here's what the Bears have going
for them Detroit, and I think it's even the oddsmakers
in Vegas, the draft kings of the worlds are saying
Detroit's pulling back. They lost their stud center, the schedule tough,
everybody in the division is probably better. They lost both coordinators.
(42:06):
So that's what the Bears have going for him. Detroit's
not going to be as dominant as they've been in
the last two years. Secondly, we don't know if JJ
McCarthy can play, and there's people that I trust saying
it ain't great. There's a reason you're not seeing much video.
Third is Jordan Love did not end the season in
good shape, and they drafted the receiver with a first pick.
(42:28):
You and I love Green Bay's receivers inside the building,
they clearly don't because their first pick was a wide receiver.
So I would say this regarding the Bears, that division
looks like it's as good as the AFC West with
Kansas City. Here's Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly and Sean
Payton and bow Nix and Herbert and Harbaugh, JJ McCarthy.
(42:50):
We don't know, Detroit. I think you and Nick Fairley
are saying that's the pullback team of last year in
Green Bay this morning. Do we know what Jordon Love is?
Speaker 5 (43:00):
Well, let me ask you, do we know what Caleb
Williams is?
Speaker 1 (43:04):
We don't. But I like going into a season having
upgraded O line significantly and head coach significantly. That I like.
I have the Bears as a wild card team, about
nine to ten wins, wild card team.
Speaker 5 (43:17):
I'm gonna see you got the playoffs, Cowhard fifteen.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
We'll get to it.
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
All right, here we go. It is our two on
a Tuesday. All those NFL camps are starting up. We
are live. We are in Chicago. It is the Herd,
so Jmac the you know it's it's the second round
picks for not signing contracts. Now they're starting to sign
contracts the first rounders who are all signed except guess what,
(00:48):
the Cincinnati Bengals, the Micah Parsons contract. Jerry Jones is
prone to do this to push it off, push it off,
push it off, push it off, then sign them late.
Now the downside is Miles Garrett comes in and signs
a edge Rush deal or a TJ. Watt does and
then the market tells you, well, you got to pay
Mi cup Off six million more a year than you
actually wanted to. So we talked about it. I think lad, Yeah.
(01:09):
Last week. We talked about it Thursday Friday that if
you identify a guy very early, you know Josh Allen,
Patrick Sirtan, Patrick Mahomes, you know a left tackle. You
can identify guys very early and go, you know what,
I'm gonna pay him. This is what Chargers did with
Justin Herbert, Like, that's gonna work for us. Philip Rivers gone,
(01:30):
we got our guy for the next ten years. I
am four paying. I think every team has one or
two players that you know at a really key position.
I wouldn't do it for a linebacker. I wouldn't do
it for a safety. I wouldn't do it for an
interior alignment. But quarterback, left tackle, edge rusher, defensive tackle,
maybe a great corner. You can identify them very very
(01:50):
early and just sign them. Like Jamar Chase, Just get
that puppy done. Not only is he great, he played
with Burrow in college. Just get it signed. He's fine.
So Michael Parsons is an interesting one because I think
he's really good. But I don't think he's TJ Watt
the numbers. He's not Miles Garrett. I don't think he
has a future as good as Jared Verse. He's not
(02:11):
interior dominant like Chris Jones of Kansas City or Jalen
Carter of Philadelphia. But he's good, He's very good. But
they keep pushing it off, pushing it off, pushing it off.
And I think Jerry Jones, you know, I'd probably keep
this to myself, but Jerry keeps talking about the Micah
Parsons deal, and he was asked about it about, you know,
the reluctance. Why isn't it already done at camp this week?
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Just because we signed him doesn't mean we're going to
have him. He was hurt six games last year. Seriously,
we've signed I remember signing a player for the highest
paid it's position in the league and he got knocked
out two thirds of the year, Dark Prescott. So there's
a lot of things you can think about when you
(02:56):
and just as the player does, when you're thinking about
committing and guaranteeing money.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
So I said this, the Cowboys have not had a
great draft since twenty twenty, and if you asked, when's
the last time Philadelphia had a great draft, Washington had
a great draft last year. So I think the division
has changed. Philadelphia nowt is stacked and Washington has the
next Lamar Jackson, the NFC version of Lamar Jackson, better
in the pocket, maybe not as fast. And I think
(03:25):
those little mistakes are not going to catch up to
you as quickly in the AFC South or the NFC South.
The Philadelphia Eagles and now Jaden Daniels, you're going to
see all these mistakes start adding up. But they haven't
drafted well, they've been a non factor. And free agency.
Couldn't afford Derek Henry for eight million, how do the
(03:46):
Eagles afford Saquon Barkley. They're paying everybody, So you know, again,
this feels like they let dan Quinn go to the
rival Commanders. This feels like they've just played this out
longer and longer and longer. And I said this a
couple of weeks ago. I would have thought about last
year moving Micah and getting more draft capital. But I
don't know if I trust the Cowboys to draft the
(04:07):
right players if they got the draft capitol. But I
want to shift that. We're gonna bring in Nick Right.
Haven't talked to him in a while. He's been in
the World Series of Poker. First things first, Nick Wright
and joining us live. So I started the top of
the show today with his topic. So a story comes
out from The Athletic that Lebron is not going to
take a mid level exemption. He was not willing to
(04:27):
do it, but he had his eyes on the Dallas Mavericks,
which I have said. I think Cooper's better than Austin
Reeves is a young player, eighties better than DeAndre eight
and they have a better bench, a better coach, and
they have more depth. I think Dallas competes for the
championship if Lebron shows up now, They're gonna have to
give up three first round picks Gaffer, PJ. Washington, Max Chris.
(04:48):
But I think it'd be a really interesting team. But
was interesting to me as I said this. Lebron in
twenty sixteen or twenty nineteen acknowledged, I'm chasing a goat,
I'm chasing a ghost played for Chicago said. I think
in his head, Lebron's like listen, Michael's more beloved. Michael's
(05:08):
net worth is three point five billion, minds one, I'm
never going to catch him. And the truth is, I'm
taking the money. I mean, that's the one I got
more points. My son made the league. I'm taking the
money that I do think there's a part of Lebron
that he knows going back to Cleveland that's a better
roster for him. Going back to Dallas, Cooper ad coach,
(05:31):
that's a better opportunity. But Michael's still in his head
and he's just going to take the money and bleed
it out for another year in La Okay.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
I I think I disagree with every single piece of that.
So let's let's.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Go one by one.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
You did a very interest I don't know that I
agree with you that next year Cooper Flag will be
already better than Austin Reeves. Maybe, but let's just say
that's a push. Obviously, Anthony Davis, yes, is better than
DeAndre Ayton. But there's one guy on the Lakers. I'm
trying to figure out. Remember who it was who you
(06:09):
didn't do the tit for tat with? Oh yeah, Lukadancic.
So who's the guy on the MAVs that cancels out
Lukodancic on the Lakers. I'm just curious, and like, as
a crazy thought exercise, like if you traded the best
player on the MAVs, Anthony Davis for Lukadancic, what do
you think the public reaction would be who won that
trade or did somebody get concussed? It was the worst
(06:31):
trade in NBA history. So there's that piece of it
where if Kyrie were healthy.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
And then then you could talk me into it.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
But I think Kyrie's gonna miss all of certainly most
if not all of next year. So then there This
is why the Lebron money thing to me is so
wildly unfair. First of all, he's the only guy in
the NBA that has ever asked of this, and we
can say, well, he's made the most money, but at
all of the best players have made hundreds of millions
(07:02):
of dollars, and Lebron last year finished sixth in MVP voting,
got the sixth most all NBA votes, and the fact
that he makes slightly less than Zach Levine makes me
feel like he's at the very least unfairly compensated in
his direction. Steph Curry, who Lebron by every vote, all
(07:23):
the awards, every metric Lebron was better than last year,
is the highest paid player in the league.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
No one has a problem with it. So there's that
piece of it.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
There's the other piece of it, which is you are
I think a lot of people are acting as if
Lebron opted out and took the minimum and then won
a championship, that we are all pretending that championship would
not have been met with eye rolls and stacked the
(07:53):
deck and fake title all of Lebron's titles, by the way,
Ray Allen saved him Kyrie in Bubble Championship. Every Lebron championship,
no matter the competition, no.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Matter how well he's played.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
Some folks have tried to put an asterisk on if
he took the minimum to go play for a team
that won sixty four games, people would definitively try to
put an asterisk on it. So I don't think that
there was a way for Lebron to do this where
he was going to escape criticism. I also think that
what is true is you can't No one ever can
(08:29):
have everything in life, and Lebron, because of the salary
cap situation across the league this year, had to choose
between fifty two million or five million if he wanted
to leave the Lakers and go to a contender, and
leaving forty seven million dollars on the table is not
appealing to anybody, and so I understand it. I'm also
(08:53):
not one hundred percent certain Lebron finishes the year as
a Laker, but they've made some moves around the edges.
Luke will be great, they will be contenderish and you'll see.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
How they look at the deadline. So I'm going to
throw this. I know you're not a huge college football fan,
but you have a great sense of history, and sure,
if you look at the nil, Nick Saban can't go
back to college because you're asking your boosters now to
raise twenty million a year for nil and you'd have
(09:25):
to pay Nick sixty million, and you'd have to buy
out your coach for forty to fifty million. He's not
going to Bama. He's not going to any of these schools, Michigan.
There's just no way that colleges can They can't be
outside of Texas. Nobody can afford to do that and
starts going nowhere. But I do think six coaches a
year get fired. Coordinators are at best a coin flip
(09:49):
that if I was Cleveland and got the number one
pick and they're in their running for the worst team,
I would draft Archs Manning. I would hire Nick Saban.
Tell me if you ran a team in this league
or owned it, you would not call seventy three year
old Nick Saban. I floated it last week. Even urban
Meyer said, oh, yeah, he'll take an NFL call. Do
(10:11):
you believe that would you hire him? Oh? I definitely yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
I mean I don't know that he would definitively be
my number one choice first phone call, because every you know,
Mike Tomlin might be available after this year.
Speaker 5 (10:24):
I'm I'm just picking that name out of the hat.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
But you know what I mean, there's very often there's
a really good coach who just kind of has time
has passed at his destination who comes available. So I'm
not saying Nick Saban would be the number one candidate
for every job. But the idea that your take was
a hot take, I think is ridiculous age. Notwithstanding, he
(10:49):
clearly has the energy, the attention to detail, the football mind.
And I do think that what NIL has done is
it has leveled the playing field inasmuch as if Saban
went back to college, his historic recruiting prowess would be
muted to a degree in a way it wasn't while
(11:12):
he was sacking up national championships at Auburn. So yeah,
I mean you mentioned. I mean, I'll throw a different
one at you that is same state, different team if
this coming year goes the way I think it might
for Cincinnati. I think Nick Saban's an interesting idea.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
There where a.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Team It's like, listen, got to coach up the defense,
got to have someone to actually have as big of
a voice in the organization as the owner. Got to
clean up some of the nonsense going into years they
deal with every year again most of which is owner related,
and let Joe and Jamar handle the offense, like almost
(11:52):
offload the offense to them. You handled the details, the
you know, finding some of the edges in young players
from the college game that you're very aware of their
skill set, and coach up the defense because we're the
Only point that you made that I kind of disagree
with is if I'm Nick Saban and I want to
(12:12):
do this, I'm not that interested in a studs to
the top down rebuild. I'm much more interested in i've
got three or four years, let me see if i
can have a contender immediately. I think the Bengals, who
if they missed the playoffs again probably will be looking
for a new coach. I think they could be an
attractive one.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
So now living in Chicago and by the way, taking
the train Monday through.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
Friday, I know, man of the people, Man of the people.
Nobody loves Chicago more than Colin Gowhert in July. Very
excited for the November update, very excited. Hey, I took
the train today. I'm covered in salt. I slipped on
the ice. There's no palm trees. Again, I'm rooting for you, buddy,
(13:00):
but it's been a long time since you were a
rustic Midwesterner about thirty years and maybe as many millions ago.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
So we'll see. Let's just wait and see. Go ahead.
So I'm thinking about Caleb Williams. If you turn on
radio in Chicago, it's Cubs and Caleb Williams. And I
still have misgivings about ownership. I don't know if I
love Ryan Poles, but I like Ben Johnson. I think
the roster is pretty good, probably middle of the pack
around Green Bay. When you, if I had to say
(13:30):
you're pretty good at this, you're Matthew. If I said
project how the season goes, we can put the schedule up,
is that you've always been pretty good at kind of
guessing how things work over the course of a season.
And I've said, listen, he's too talented. Everything he makes
mistakes at is coachable like pocket presence. Well, we've seen
Lamar Jackson grow accuracy, We've seen Josh Allan grow. All
(13:56):
of his problems are solvable. When I give you this schedule,
I want you to a little fortune teller here, How
do you what do you think it looks like with
Caleb Williams, Because I think that there are so many
variables in how this thing could turn out, because Chicago's
a big, loud, football loving city, and if he struggles early, Nick,
(14:17):
you know this city, it could go sideways fast in
public opinion.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
But I think it goes the opposite. Okay, I think
they have success early. I think they're three and one
going into the by and feeling quite good. I think
that next group of games they go, you know, call
it two and two in that next little quarter of
the season, So that would put him at five and three.
You then have a tough five game stretch. Say they
(14:42):
go two and three in that they're seven and six,
and then down the stretch of the season. A note
on why I think this, I'll explain in a second.
I think they go ten and seven, eleven and six,
and I think that can win the division because I
think the other the story about when we're talking about
the Bears is what about the Lions. And I've said
(15:06):
this for years during the season that I was not
going to during the year. Every year there is a
team that we think is gonna be awesome that struggles
and we're like, what's different and then we're like, oh man,
they lost both of their coordinators. That's hard for teams
to deal with. That's the Detroit Lions. Also the Lions,
(15:28):
whose biggest strength has been their offensive line since Golf
and Campbell have been together, their guard center Guard Combo
going into this season might be one of the weakest
in the league. If there's one way to make Lions
Jared Goff turn into late and early stage rams, Jared
goff its pressure up the middle.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
All of that plus those.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
Back to back absolutely gut wrenching playoff defeats, I could
see the Lions dropping from fifteen wins to ten wins.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
So listen.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
I think the Bears defense is going to be.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
A work in progress.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
I think the offense is instantly going to be much
much better because Caleb will be better, and because Ben
Johnson will be worlds better from a play design play
calling standpoint they had last year. So I don't think
it's out of the realm of possibility that the Bears
win the division, and I certainly expect them in the playoffs.
Like Caleb is too talented and Caleb is too I
(16:26):
think the creativity is a good thing to not be
a very good NFL quarterback. I thought very good was
the floor and I thought all time great was the ceiling.
One mediocre year is not going to push me off that.
So I think the Bears are quite dangerous this year.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Colin.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Now, I did take them to go to the super
Bowl last year, so maybe I'm wrong again, But.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Well, I do think Detroit's the one great team last
year that has pullback potential. Based on your thoughts, I
also think JJ McCarthy is a complete and utter wild card.
And if it's average, well you're just battling Green Bay.
Who PFF said yesterday or it was ESPN's data team
said Packers line Packers Bears fourteenth fifteenth best rosters, So
(17:10):
there's not a big gap in personnel there. Nick Wright,
First things first, as always, Buddy, great sing you you
as well. Good Seacon. All right, he didn't love my
Lebron take there. He kind of kind of poof foo
the old Lebron take. I've said before. The caveat with
Luca is he needs the ball and he won't defend
at a high level. I'm ignow. I've always said better
(17:31):
version than Carmelo Anthony. You're gonna get a lot of points.
He'll be a top ten scorer of all time. He
is fun to watch, He's unstoppable, he'll be in better shape.
He's not commit, not commit to defense. That's not gonna happen.
And he needs the ball, and and Lebron doesn't want
to defend at this point, so you're not making up
his bad defense with Lebron at this point. And Ad
(17:53):
is no longer there, and Eighton doesn't play defense, and
Austin Reeve's done a great defender. So Lakers have a
very mediocre defensive roster. The MAVs Cooper Flag, Anthony, Davis
Lively all really good defenders, allowing Lebron not at this
point in his career, to have to bust his urse
(18:14):
on that side of the floor. I think it matters.
Ryan Day Buckeye's coach. Next, it's the hurt One.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
More Heard. 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 (18:33):
Hey, we're Cavino and Rich Fox Sports Radio every day
five to seven pm Eastern.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
But here's the thing, we never have enough time to
get to everything we want to get to.
Speaker 6 (18:41):
And that's why we have a brand new podcast called
over Promised. You see, we're having so much fun in
our two hour show. We never get to everything, honestly,
because this guy is over promising things we never have
time for.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Yeah, you blubber this name and me.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Well you know what it's called over promise. You should
be good at it because you've been over promising women
for a year.
Speaker 6 (19:00):
Well, it's a Covino and Rich after show, and we
want you to be a part of it. We're gonna
be talking sports, of course, but we're also gonna talk
life and relationships. And if Rich and I are arguing
about something or we didn't have enough time, it will
continue on our after show called over Promised. Well, if
you don't get enough Covino and Rich make sure you
check out over Promise and also uncensored by the way,
so maybe we'll go at it even a little harder.
(19:21):
It's gonna be the best after show podcast of all time.
There you go, over Promising. Remember you could see it
on YouTube, but definitely join us. Listen Over Promised with
Covino and Rich on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Ryan Day, Buckeye Coaches around the corner. Let's not waste
sudy time. J Mack with the news. Turn on the news.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
This is the headline.
Speaker 7 (19:49):
News now, Colin, we moved off the silly season in
the NFL, right the June July where not.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
A lot's going on. Well, all of a sudden people
are showing up at camp and talk to the media.
Speaker 7 (19:57):
And Dak Prescott said some at the start of camp
to reporters yesterday. I don't know what's he doing here, Colin.
I'd give the money I make to win and be broke.
That that's an actual quote from Dak Prescott, where triple
checking is stom fake. That's a real quote Dak Prescott.
I'd give the money I make to win and be broke.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Now, Jerry was.
Speaker 5 (20:18):
Stealing all the headlines yesterday with his nonsense.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
I don't get what's he's saying.
Speaker 7 (20:22):
I don't understand he's say, Oh, I would give back
all this money I've got if I could win the
super Bowl.
Speaker 5 (20:28):
So maybe Jerry Jones would take him up on that.
Speaker 7 (20:30):
Hey, if we win the super Bowl, you give me
your give me your sixty two million back this past year.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
Well, I don't know, like who, that's just what are
you doing, Dak?
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Well, you know he's trying to he wants to show
that he he wants to win, while.
Speaker 7 (20:44):
Also pounding the table two years ago to make sure
he's the highest paid quarterback in the league.
Speaker 8 (20:48):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Well, I listen, it's money feels great, but you find
very quickly that it's pretty hollow if you're not accomplishing
in any industry. What the standard you've set for yourself?
And I think it feels like DA's kind of hit
his prime a few years ago. They won twelve, and
now he's got a second lower body injury, and he's
(21:11):
got a coach that's a notch below Mike McCarthy, and
the roster isn't close to Philadelphia. And I think Dak's
smart and kind of realizes we're not. Really we can
convince ourselves we are. But they've got like four elite players.
Philadelphia's got twelve.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
Listen, I'm not looking at his pockets. I get it.
Go make the most you can.
Speaker 7 (21:30):
Your careers are short, right, But then don't come out
at the same time. Oh, I give it all back
if I could just win.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
One, like I don't know, it's one bite at one podium,
you know, I mean we asked these guys, we ask
him questions that we want them to be perfect.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
It is, you know, I mean, yeah, I mean, listen,
you and I. After this show's done, we don't have to.
Speaker 7 (21:50):
Go meet the media every day and ask, hey, j Mack,
you botch that segment.
Speaker 5 (21:54):
Amen, I didn't like that time.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
To get through three hours with you, I don't need
anything else to lift.
Speaker 7 (22:01):
All right, Let's move on to another guy talking out
of his rear end Derek Stingley, junior of the Houston Texans. Hey, listen,
he had a good year, no denying it. He's no
Sauce Gardner, but he's very good. He said that the
Texans will lead the NFL in interceptions this season by
his estimates, at least ten to fifteen interceptions. He's that
(22:22):
confident in this secondary that Houston is going to dominate.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Now.
Speaker 7 (22:26):
They were second in the league last year with nineteen
trailing the Vikings. But Colin, the problem is outside of
the division. The schedule's not easy for Houston. Yeah, they're
going to intercept cam Ward Bunch and Anthony Richardson, but
they got to face Stafford Baker, Mayfield, Lamar Jackson, Herbert,
You're facing a lot of elite quarterbacks. You see Patrick
Olons in there.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
That's a rough schedule, and yeah, that is a rough schedule.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
I don't have them winning the division. And also John allgo.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
Quarterbacks, Yeah, you go Stafford Baker Mayfield, Trevor Lawrence, Lamar Jackson,
Sam Darnold brought pretty bow knicks, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes,
Kyler Murray, Justin Herbert. There's like eight games you better
play well. You can't turn it over.
Speaker 7 (23:13):
So I know we flip flopped on this division. I
think last you checked in it, you had Titans winning
the division.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
No, I think I have Texans winning it, Titans wild card.
Speaker 5 (23:22):
Okay, I will go Jaguars. I'm ryan the.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Trevor you're high on them.
Speaker 5 (23:26):
Yeah, I'm gonna made on them.
Speaker 7 (23:27):
Final story, Colin, Okay, Okay, here we go. WNBA. Obviously,
there was the big T shirt issue over the weekend. Well, reportedly,
forty players went to a big meeting.
Speaker 5 (23:39):
Over the All Star weekend to.
Speaker 7 (23:40):
Discuss the CBA, and negotiations are at a standstill. WNBA
players have asked for a revenue share similar to other
pro sports. Obviously, if the WNBA had a CBA structure
like the NBA. This is what a first year of
the rookie Supermax would look like.
Speaker 5 (24:00):
Okay, based on.
Speaker 7 (24:02):
The cap, they're only currently getting sixteen and a half
percent of the cap. It would go up to twenty
five percent, which is reasonable. They're not breaking the bank.
Here the way this breaks down, Colin, I don't hate it.
I'm just curious that the owners are going to say, well,
we're not giving you everything you want.
Speaker 5 (24:19):
We're not gonna go twenty five, We'll go twenty one, and.
Speaker 7 (24:22):
Then it's like, no, we need twenty five to get
on par with the other pro sports leagues.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
And I would be much more comfortable giving them rev
shares than massive salaries like baseball football or the NBA,
because in those leagues, you have a broader number of
superstar players that move the needle and win games. I think,
I don't think you. I mean, you know you've got
six to eight really elite players in this league that
(24:48):
can sell some merch. Obviously there's one Caitlin Clark. But
my take is I do a rev share with a
WNBA much more than I would give them, like thirty
percent of revenues, but they're only getting nine percent. And
I know everybody's banging on the last twenty five years
of the WNBA, but the bottom line is, what you
want to do when your contract is up is to
(25:11):
be hot, and right now the WNBA merch, ticket sales,
TV ratings is hot. Now. I know it's driven by
Caitlin Clark, but guess what, she's not going anywhere for
a decade, so she's this is the worst she'll ever
be because she's banged up now. So for the next
ten years, you can make a lot of money in
(25:31):
this league advertising dollars, suites, ticket sales, merch. I think
the players have some I think they have some leverage.
They have.
Speaker 7 (25:39):
Yeah, the whole red share deal A lot of people
don't understand. In the podcast space, there's a lot of
revenue sharing deals, but it's like, hey, I'm doing numbers,
you're not doing your part selling the podcast and making
me money.
Speaker 5 (25:51):
So I don't love a red share idea for the WNBA.
I just say, hey, the NBA players have this, why
can't we have this? But obviously it's going to be
a much like.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Down version, like people are saying this, I hear a
lot of this. Well, they've only got one player that
moves the needle. If you made a movie like Matt
Damon was in the adjacent Bourne series, oh yeah, and
you can argue the only guy that really sold tickets
was Matt Damon in that movie. All the writers, all
of it, they didn't really sell tickets. It was just
(26:22):
basically Matt Damon. Okay, it was still a great series.
I would have invested in that series. You could say
Mission impossible. It's basically Tom Cruise. Everybody else can move around,
but it's all about Tom Cruise. It's been a great
series for over a decade. So the bottom line is
Caitlin Clark will never be a worse player and less
(26:43):
recognized than now, so they have leverage. When Tiger Woods
was on the tour, if you were a network vine
for a major golf event, well, I mean only Tiger
Woods moves the needle. Yeah, but he's going to be
great for twelve years and I'm going to get him
on my network if I pay the PGA blank. So
I don't need a depth of talent to want to
(27:06):
know to want to sign a league. I don't.
Speaker 7 (27:09):
The only problem with that is, like Tom Cruise stars
in the whole movie, nobody's stealing scenes, nobody's emerging as
a superstar in that movie. In the WNBA, there'll be
a week where Susie Q goes off and averages thirty
points and she's like, hey, I'm not making any money.
It's all going to Caitlin Clark. I mean, listen, it's
tough and complicated. It's not gonna be sorted out right now.
(27:31):
I would guess there's probably some holdout gonna happen here
because these players seem really rooted and dug in Colin
kind of like the political spectrum right now, people do
not want to move off their opinions. I don't think
these players want to move off at all. I would
not be shocked if there was a hold out.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
With the wn Well, but WNBA players relative to other
pro leagues, don't make a lot of money. Now, Caitlin
Clark made eleven million off the court this year. She's fine,
But most of these players, eventually, I think they've caved ownership.
I think so. J mcklnews, Well.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
That's the news, and thanks for stopping by the Herd line. News.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Well, he's entering his seventh season at Ohio State. He's
coached eighty games and won seventy of him in the
National Championship last year they won four playoff games by
an average at ten points. Look at that, he's got
a Herd microphone. Boy, you are part of the team here, coach.
I love seeing that. Let's start with this. That your
schedule Texas to start, it's rough. Three weeks later at
(28:31):
Seattle at Illinois, best Illinois team in years, Penn State
at Michigan. You've got a quarterback who's really good, Julian saying,
you got to get him ready to roll really early
in that season. How big of a what do you
do as a staff to get that kid ready? Week
one is arguably the toughest game he will play in
(28:52):
his career. How do you get him ready to roll?
Speaker 9 (28:57):
Well, it starts early.
Speaker 8 (28:59):
When you start off with a game like this first
game of the season, you know, it's it just has
your attention even in July, and then you know, we've
got to have a great August.
Speaker 9 (29:08):
You know, I think in the spring we made a
lot of progress.
Speaker 8 (29:11):
We try to put him in as many game situations
as possible and then go from there. But you know,
he's got a really good supporting group around him. You know,
Linking Keynots is right there with him too. He's had
a great summer. So the two of these guys are
going to compete, you know, all summer and we'll kind
of see how that all shakes out. But put them
in as many competitive situations as possible and see how
they react to it. But ultimately, they got really good
(29:32):
guys around them. They need to make routine plays, take
care of the football, and then you know, when it's
fourth and two, find a way to get three yards.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
You know, people would look at this and say, boy,
Ryan Day, he's got the national championship. I would argue,
this is a tough year to be a coach at
Ohio State. You lost sixteen starters. You got to navigate
through this nil which is hard for everybody, including Ohio State.
You could draw up plays in front of me for
five hours, but creating chemistry is hard. You got a
(30:00):
lot of new faces. Let's take us through that. Like
the downside of being Ohio State is you lose fifteen
guys to the pros every year. You've got a lot
of new faces. How do you build that culture quickly?
Speaker 8 (30:14):
Well, I think going back to last year, we had
so many guys decided to come back, and then we
brought in a few older guys in the portal and
then so what happened was, you know, like you said,
you had a mass exodus this year. But that's part
of the cultures is bringing those young guys along and
they were able to not only be a part of
the run, but they they played. They just they didn't
carry the water. And so now they have to do that.
(30:36):
And so one of the biggest challenges this offseason was
our team has to grow up. And the faster we
grow up, the faster we're going to be able to,
you know, reach our maximum capacity. And so you know,
the goal was for that to be in the first
game and then you know, we come up for air
and figure out where we're at But you guys are
going to be a little experience going into the season.
But but that's college football. You're constantly gonna have turnover
(30:58):
like this, and so this is the first time we've
gone through it before. But having a game like this
certainly has everybody's attention in the summer.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Well I said yesterday, I picked Penn State to play
for the national championship, and I said the fact that
Ohio State is as good as they are and the
Big Ten media took Penn State. I said, I think
Penn State's backfield's about as good as a college backfield
can get their O lines excellent. I think it's going
to be a real challenge. The good thing you get them,
you get them at home, and that is a big advantage.
You beat them last year there. Now you get them
(31:27):
at home and that's where the field goal are more
in college football. Let's talk to Penn State game because
everybody's going to talk about Texas. But it looks like
to me over the last three years, Ryan, I said
this yesterday, I think the Big Ten at the top
is better than the SEC. I think the NIL is
more powerful. You've got more big markets. You go back
three years. When you look at film on Sunday preparing
(31:50):
for the next team, do you notice a significant improvement
in your conference personnel wise, not just from Penn State,
but illinoi in Minnesota and Iowa. Do you notice it
on film?
Speaker 9 (32:05):
Yes?
Speaker 8 (32:06):
Yes, I think that we have tremendous coaches. I think
James does a great job, Brett does a great job.
You know, you see the different coaches throughout the league.
So I think the Big Ten is attracting the best
coaches in the country, not to say anyone, you know,
other conferences don't have great coaches, but I think we
have really good coaches. But I also think that you know,
with the you know, the age of the NIL, we're
(32:29):
able to tap into the resources that you know, some
of the Big Ten areas are able to grab onto.
And certainly, you know, Columbus is one of those that
not only has a great infrastructure in the city, but
also the fan base that we have, and I think
that's been powerful along the way to continue to build
and we're positioned really good moving forward, like you said,
But the other part of it is, you know, when
you bring in some of the strongest teams, you know,
(32:50):
four of them from the Pac twelve to make an
eight team team conference. Now you're talking about a national
conference that's strong from coast to coast.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Yeah, your schedule is rough. What is the balance? Because
I still think I said this before USC LSU and
Colorado went heavy portal, and I don't feel like their
chemistry has ever been as solvent as stable as yours.
And my take is there is a balance. I mean,
(33:20):
when you can get a Caleb Downs, go get him.
The kids just absolutely incredible. But do you go back
and forth on this? Is it a little bit of
an emotional balance of how much is high school and
how much is nil? Because I still think high school football,
you know the odometer, you've been recruiting him since they
were fourteen. Sometimes you get anil guy Ryan and you
(33:42):
just there's stuff. You don't know. What is the perfect
balance to you on that?
Speaker 9 (33:48):
I think it's a great point.
Speaker 8 (33:49):
I think we could talk about it for a long time,
but I think now more than ever, we have to
recruit the right people and then retain them, and then
develop them and then keep them in your program, which.
Speaker 9 (33:59):
Is kind of what you sawlast year.
Speaker 8 (34:00):
We did add a couple of pieces, but the majority
of that team was guys that have been here for
four and five years, and not only the older but
you know, they had a lot of experience and they.
Speaker 9 (34:09):
Really wanted to leave a legacy behind at Ohio State.
Speaker 8 (34:11):
And to your point, I think we're you know, we're
all trying to figure that part of it out. And
I think at Ohio State, you know, we want to
make sure as the rules continue to evolve and really change,
like the new format of the salary cap, and we're
all trying to identify how this third party NIL is
actually going to be figured out and really managed, you know,
in the structure that's going to be in place in
(34:33):
enforcement wise. You know, we're all trying to figure that
part of it out. And I think some programs, you know,
their decision is to be really super aggressive, and there's
other programs that are going to try to be in
the middle, and then some others that are conservative. And
I think understanding that the culture is the number one
most important thing along the way, we've got to make
sure the culture is right.
Speaker 9 (34:50):
And so that's the focus for me. That's the focus
for us. We've got to make sure we.
Speaker 8 (34:53):
Still have the right people, recruit the right people in
high school and then retain them.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
A couple of years ago, Well, I had said on
this show, I said Jamar Chase was a pro when
he was a sophomore at LSU. Who I said he's
playing on Saturday is that guy would be a Number
one on Sundays as a sophomore. He's the best young
receiver I think I've ever seen. And then I watched
Jeremiah Smith and I'm like, oh no, he's better. How
do you keep somebody that gifted, who's gonna win all
one on one matchups? How do you keep him focused?
(35:20):
How do you keep him centered? How do you keep
him energized? How do you keep him I mean, listen,
he's going to beat coverage. There's nobody like him in
college football. That can be a challenge for a coach.
How do you keep him centered and focused and energized
when he is that gifted and can beat singular coverage
so easily and consistently.
Speaker 8 (35:41):
I think the thing that's remarkable about Jeremiah is you
don't have to He does it on his own. He's
self motivated, he brings it every day. Our strength coach
mcmuratty was talking about the other day when we do
warm up sprints before every workout. He wins every one
of them, he says the other day, because he wins
every single sprint, he just for somebody is a talent
as he is. He has a tremendous amount of discipline
(36:02):
and skill in his life. And I think that's what's
making you know, he's already special, but it's it's continuing
to make him special.
Speaker 9 (36:09):
I mean, you should see him now.
Speaker 8 (36:10):
He's bigger, he's faster, he's stronger, he's extremely motivated.
Speaker 9 (36:14):
He wants to win every game.
Speaker 8 (36:15):
When he loses a game, I mean he can't eat
solid food for a long time. I mean, he really
cares about his teammates. He sets an amazing example, and
he doesn't need to be motivated. I think that's what
makes him special. And I think a lot of guys
are seeing that in his own way. You know, he's
not a real, you know, verbal guy. He doesn't you know,
really you know, get out and get out in front
of things in terms of that. But he leads the
(36:36):
way in terms of his work ethic and obviously he
has so much respect for what he does on the field.
Speaker 9 (36:40):
But you know, when you talk to people who play
up against him.
Speaker 8 (36:43):
I think his size and his power and his strength
and what really separates him as a player.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
Yeah, it just I mean, he just comes out of
the uniform like he just there. You don't have to
be a football expert to watch him come out of
the tunnel and go, wow, Ryan Day the national championship
a Buckeye coach. They open on Fox with Texas that
Folks is one for the ages. Get in front of
a TV and enjoy that. It's in Columbus and that
(37:08):
isn't edge. Ryan. We appreciate you stopping by.
Speaker 9 (37:12):
Thanks call I appreciate you. Man.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
You bet that's going to be when's the last time
an opening game in the college football weekend was that good?
I couldn't say that. You could argue well that the
two best players in the country are Jeremiah Smith and
Caleb Downs. Those are the two best players in the country.
I had somebody tell me that Caleb Downs would have
gone number one. You got almost take out quarterback. He
would have goten number one last year's draft, that's how
(37:33):
good he is. Then you got arch Manning, which is
an unbelievable store. You have two huge brands that I
bet you that sets a record for a Labor Day
weekend college football game. I bet you that sets an
Everybody tells me on nobody's watching TV that will set
a record. I can't wait for that thing. Fox gave
(37:54):
me my college football preview book this weekend. I'm sitting
there watching the British Open, The Open with Rory McKell
and Scotti Scheffler and reading that I'm not gonna be
I'm not gonna lie eleven thirty in the morning, a
pot a cold one. I was totally committed to that
beer and Texas Ohio State and the Open live in Chicago.
(38:14):
It's third.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
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Speaker 5 (38:27):
Sunday on Fox.
Speaker 7 (38:29):
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It all starts Sunday at three eastern only on Fox.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
By the way, USC reached out to me and said
we dispute the athletics revenue numbers. They listed him at
seventy one million, which puts him around Ole, Miss Miami, Utah,
South Carolina. USC says, hey, that's not the case. We
have almost double that. They'd be around seven or eight
kind of Tennessee, Bama, Auburn Ish area. USC is private,
(39:09):
by the way, but this is the number we worked
off of. I do know USC is raising eight. I've
said this ten times during the last six months. They're
up to about eighteen million in the nil, which I
never thought they'd get to. Jen Cohen's the athletic director.
It has been it has been a work to kind
of galvanize all the boosters to be on the same page.
(39:29):
But it's really it is still really interesting. USC didn't
have a single player first team offense or defense. Indiana
and Iowa have four each, and so it's fascinanding with
Lincoln Riley. He's making too much money. There's no buyout happening.
They're building new facilities, They're given eighteen million. They got
the donors. They have some older donors. I don't know
how many great young donors they have. But it's a
(39:52):
fascinating college football dilemma out west for USC because Oregon
has got nothing but money. Michigan in Notre Dame, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas,
A and M. So you would think because of the
Los Angeles County in LA, you'd think USC is loaded.
Now they're saying we're way more loaded and doing much
(40:15):
better than the athletic is saying. And they are private.
So I'm not exactly sure how the athletic got all
their numbers. I know their nil number is. I was
told two years ago it was at thirteen, and I
thought that was, you know, six to seven below Oregon,
but I thought that was double Washington. I was blown
away by that because it's a very political, distracted, kind
(40:36):
of agenda driven base. But they're saying, hey, our number
is much better than that. But what's interesting is all
the other teams that are spending that kind of money,
they got a lot of good players. That's the thing.
If USC's is in line with all these where are
the players. They don't have a single player first team
(40:58):
all big ten offens or defense, and they have a
Page A left tackle, Kamari Ramsey, Eric Gentry, a linebacker,
lemon A widersh. They got some good players. But you know,
these days, this idea of we're going to move off
coaches those days are over. If you're paying fifteen million
up for NIL, keeping up with facilities, you're not buying
(41:19):
at a coach for seventy million dollars as well, and
then bringing a new guy for seventy five. Those days
are over. You know, you don't have to like Brian
Kelly and LSU. He's going to stay until he wants
to go. That's just what the NIL has done for
the record. J Mac, did you Nick Wright earlier talked
about Caleb Williams. He thinks it starts well. I thought
(41:42):
he brought up a really interesting point and it's one
that you agree with. Here's what the Bears have going
for them Detroit, and I think it's even the oddsmakers
in Vegas, the draft kings of the worlds are saying
Detroit's pulling back. They lost their stud center, the schedule tough,
everybody in the division is probably better. They lost both coordinators.
(42:06):
So that's what the Bears have going for him. Detroit's
not going to be as dominant as they've been in
the last two years. Secondly, we don't know if JJ
McCarthy can play, and there's people that I trust saying
it ain't great. There's a reason you're not seeing much video.
Third is Jordan Love did not end the season in
good shape, and they drafted the receiver with a first pick.
(42:28):
You and I love Green Bay's receivers inside the building,
they clearly don't because their first pick was a wide receiver.
So I would say this regarding the Bears, that division
looks like it's as good as the AFC West with
Kansas City. Here's Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly and Sean
Payton and bow Nix and Herbert and Harbaugh, JJ McCarthy.
(42:50):
We don't know, Detroit. I think you and Nick Fairley
are saying that's the pullback team of last year in
Green Bay this morning. Do we know what Jordon Love is?
Speaker 5 (43:00):
Well, let me ask you, do we know what Caleb
Williams is?
Speaker 1 (43:04):
We don't. But I like going into a season having
upgraded O line significantly and head coach significantly. That I like.
I have the Bears as a wild card team, about
nine to ten wins, wild card team.
Speaker 5 (43:17):
I'm gonna see you got the playoffs, Cowhard fifteen.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
We'll get to it.
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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