December 2, 2025 • 30 mins
Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh joins the show for an in-depth interview on the toughness and leadership of Justin Herbert, how the Chargers are building around their franchise QB, and what to expect in a crowded AFC playoff race
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Well, I said yesterday on the show, I don't know
how the Niners are doing it with all their injuries.
And I also said yesterday on the show, you know
Mike Rable may win Coach of the Year. Right number
one seed, I said, what Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman
are doing with that offense? When you lose your two
offensive tackles, usually it's over. But the Chargers, now justin
(00:48):
Herbert had surgery, knocking to miss time. Here comes to
Marion Hampton back. They have the number two pass defense
in the NFL, number three total defense. The good news
is Herbert Hampton and Philadelphia's Wobbley a little bit.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Jim Harbaugh's now joining US live.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
You know, it is interesting, Jim, because you are one
of these coaches that you create a toughness and a resilience.
I don't care If it's Stanford, I don't care. What's
San Diego, San Francisco, Michigan Chargers. First week of practice,
it feels different. I thought, when you lost both tackles,
I said, so over Keith, pro football can't win and
(01:29):
you're still running the football.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
What is it? Give me the secrets.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
How do you run the football when you're offensive lineman?
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Your offensive line is missing two Pro Bowlers? How do
you do it?
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Well? Good players, good players up front, you know.
Speaker 5 (01:45):
And I thought our offensive line really, you know, have
one of its one of its best games this past week. Yeah,
Jamari Saw, you really did a heck of a job
at left tackle. Zion Johnson played one of his best games.
Brad Boseman had one of his best game games. Kai
Beck then uh graded out over all all of our
linement graded out over ninety percent.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Trey Pipkins had had a bunch of key blocks.
Speaker 5 (02:10):
Our running backs really, uh, you know, did a phenomenal job, Kamanie,
but now, uh, Jared Patterson really, uh you know played
some of our best football. I just uh, And it's
those guys, they're the they're.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
The tough tough men.
Speaker 5 (02:24):
Plus faith uh and number ten Uh let's never forget.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Uh, Justin Herbert.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
He is uh, uh, he's he's he's a he's a lead,
he's a beast, he's uh he's one of the best
in my opinion.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
So he is playing the game now and ever, Yeah, Max.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Crosby and him, Max Crosby, you know, pushes him over.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Shoved him.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
I love Max, okay, and Justin probably did a little
trash talk.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I'm okay with that. Well really yeah, I mean, did
you did you try to talk a little in your
day a little?
Speaker 4 (03:03):
You know? I was?
Speaker 5 (03:04):
I was, uh probably, I'm a lot like Justin. I'm
more of a counterpuncher, you know what I mean. I
wasn't gonna get the first one in. I can promise
you that Max Max was Max gets uh, he's he's
quite good at trash talking himself. And uh Justin was
kind of counterpunching, like a like a Floyd Mayweather, like
(03:25):
a Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard and uh.
Speaker 6 (03:29):
Yeah that uh those two they have they have nothing
but respect for each other. And uh yeah, I like
I like you, I I I really like I really
like Max Crosby.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
I love Justin, but uh yeah, and.
Speaker 5 (03:46):
I like I like there are two greats and the
two of the the greats and the two of the
best in the game.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
When you when you did, when you did have losses
to injuries, do you have to co differently psychologically? Do
you have to be more upbeat? I mean, you're very
very optimistic guy. You love football like nobody I have ever seen.
But when you have all these injuries, Jim, players can
have self doubt. Players are all it's cold, it's it's
(04:13):
the weather changes. Do you have to coach differently? Almost psychologically?
The speech is the motivation, the tactics. When you are
injury depleted, which you really have been this year, it's.
Speaker 5 (04:26):
It's a it's a you know, next man up mentality,
you know it.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
It's emotional, it hurts, you know. Rashon Slater for.
Speaker 5 (04:38):
Example, I mean that like I mean, it's just gut wrenching.
You know how much he poured into this entire offseason.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
I mean him and Joe All.
Speaker 5 (04:47):
I mean they're elite guys when it comes to training
and their preparation. And then you know when that and
then unfortunate long term you know, six month type injury.
You know, hits you just uh me, you feel sick,
I mean physically physically sick. But then uh, you know,
(05:07):
then uh you know, uh I mean and then there's
a you know, there's uh yeah, what's what's next?
Speaker 4 (05:17):
Who's the next man up?
Speaker 5 (05:18):
And uh and you got a guy you know, sitting
there on a spring who's also been training and preparing,
and you know how much they poured into it that
you know, that's that's their opportunity. So I guess, uh yeah,
there's two ways of two ways you.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Feel about it.
Speaker 5 (05:35):
And you know, when you kind of get your breath back,
you gotta kinda get your footing back. Uh you know,
here we go, let's let's attack it and uh next
man up mentality?
Speaker 1 (05:45):
You know, it's this a couple of weeks ago. Green
Bay's offense was broken and they solved it. Right now,
Philadelphia's offense a little they can't quite figure it out.
It happens. It's a long, long season, Jim. When when
you when you look at a team like Philadelphia, you're
pouring over the film and they just can't quite get
the running game right.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Have you ever been in those situations?
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I mean, have you ever had even this year, you
have a two game stretch and it's just not it's
just not working. How do you get Because Matt Lafleuror
had that about three weeks ago, and then I watched
them last week and I'm like, Okay, they solved their problem.
When you do have these two game skids, when you're
not quite right, how do you get out of it?
Speaker 3 (06:23):
What do you do? Is it usually schematics player's health?
How do you get out of it? Because Philly's in
one right now?
Speaker 4 (06:29):
It's h.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
Yeah, you want to get better at something, you know,
you just work a little bit harder at it.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
So it's really it's really that.
Speaker 5 (06:42):
That's the formula, you know, improvement, better today than yesterday,
better tomorrow than today. That that theory that improvement will
lead to success is how I see everybody, uh you know,
everybody attacking whatever or issued that.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
That they have. And I see that with the the.
Speaker 5 (07:03):
Eagles, and let's remember they're they're they're leading their division,
they're they're nine and three, then the world champions, and
uh you know it's uh, you know, big challenge, big
challenge for us, and uh so we're working, we're working hard,
uh you know, trying to improve our strengths, trying to
improve our weaknesses. You know a lot of a lot
(07:24):
of things that that it's a that there's emphasis on.
And uh, I know the Eagles are doing the exact
same thing.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
You know, Jim, when you came out of Michigan, you
had a little bit of an advantage because you had
recruited so many of the players you were going to draft.
You you, I mean a lot of those guys. So
you guys have hit on a lot of your draft picks.
And I and I said this, there is an advant
The one advantage for a college coach to go pro
is you know, you know the players. You're a recruit
them at high school. You know they're odometer, you know
(07:52):
their strengths and weakness. Is nobody's gonna fool you. You
have had some of your young players, I mean, Latin McConkey,
some of your young players have been I mean really
hit early. Did you think during your first couple of
drafts here, did you kind of sense you know what,
I know these guys better than these other teams know
these guys because it looks like you did.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Man, look that way, No, that's that's not the case.
Speaker 5 (08:18):
That's uh, that's Joe Hartiz that's our our personnel staff.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
I mean, and that's what they do every day.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
You know, it's uh they uh you know I try
to I chip in there, you know where I can, but.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
Uh no, I mean we all see the good players.
Speaker 5 (08:36):
I mean you're really you can you watch the tape
and uh everybody can see the good players and and
then you realize, you know what they're gonna be playing
for somebody else because we only get one pick, you know,
every every thirty two picks.
Speaker 4 (08:49):
But yeah, are you do?
Speaker 5 (08:52):
You do the best you can when when it's your
time to pick, uh, you know, you pick the best
best player available. That's the that's the Joe or Teas
and uh you know his his strategy and it's uh,
you know, I have learned so much, uh just being
in those meetings and listening to uh our scouts, our personnel.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
Chad Alexander's phenomenal.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
He'll be a general manager, uh you know soon for
a for a smart team that's looking for uh you
know a guy that's that's great and uh and Louis
lou Clark, all the guys uh you know in our
in our personnel room to go through that board to
watch Joe Ortiz uh you know lead that process. That's
(09:35):
that's uh, you know, years in the making and then
you know culminates at the at the NFL Draft. Uh,
you know, it's it's uh, it's inspiring. I've learned a ton.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
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Speaker 1 (10:22):
Last night I saw Jackson Dart was scrambling around. He
got a little cute in the sidelines and he just
got smoked.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
It was bad.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
He got smoked, and I said, if it was a
Super Bowl, you're going for.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
The winning drive. Okay.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
You know, Justin takes a lot of hits. I think
his first year sometimes he tried to stand up a
linebacker and that I didn't like that at all. If
you ever said, because he's taking some hits, do you
ever have to say to Justin, listen, I love that
you're a tough guy, because you'd be a little less tough,
could just slide. Do you ever have to just sit
him down, as a former quarterback, say Justin, I know
(10:54):
you're six five and two fifty.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
These guys want to hurt you. Do you ever have
those conversations.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
With uh, you know, not not too many, you know,
not really.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
Justin is just he's at a level.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
That that I just let Justin be Justin and uh,
and he knows exactly what he's doing. He's doing it,
you know, at the highest level of person possibly can.
But I would I would tell all quarterbacks because I
remember those days of trying to be cute on the
sideline too. You know, you just you kind of get
to the sideline, just slow up a little bit. You know,
(11:33):
you look like you're stepping out of bounds and you're
trying to get him to hit you so you can
kind of you know, uh, get get the penalty.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
But you know those that's a that's an emphasis right.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
Now in the NFL that and they even send it
up for review. Like if both those feet aren't out
of bounds, uh, you know you can you can be hit.
So yeah, you know, piece of advice to to all
NFL quarterbacks is clearly get out of bounds.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
You know you can't play that. You can't play for that.
Speaker 5 (12:02):
That penal anymore because uh you know that's that's gonna
be uh that's gonna be reviewed. Right So uh yeah,
I think all quarterbacks need to need to know that.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Okay, Now, just just I used to I.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
Used to try to get a couple of those those penalties.
Uh well it's different now. I mean they're they're reviewing
that both both those feet aren't in the white you
can be hit.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
The Justin had surgery on his hand. He's the kind
of kid. He'll fight through it. I know you'd have to.
He is he gonna play Monday against Philly? Do we
know that today?
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Right now?
Speaker 4 (12:38):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (12:38):
If there's any possible way, Yeah, Justin will uh will
do anything and everything in his power to uh to
play in the game.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Okay, what is He's.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
The kind of he's the kind of guy you have
to pull back.
Speaker 5 (12:51):
You can never you can never uh you could never
uh you never have to talk.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
Him into playing football, that's for sure.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
You saw that. Uh saw that in our game against
the Raiders. You know, one minute he's he just he
just went in. He just went in.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Yeah, I mean Justin's the kind of it all.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
Comes out of the doctors. I mean, I got a
lot of a lot of things hanging on the wall here,
but a medical degree is not one of them.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
So is funny.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Hey you get Amari and Hampton back, that's kinda feel great,
does it not?
Speaker 5 (13:26):
Yeah, he's uh, he's he's been trending great. He's uh,
you know, another guy that's just done everything and anything
to uh to get back, and you know, and it's this,
it's the same same course action.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
Uh. You know, the doctors, you know, cleared him to
have limited participation last week, and uh see where the
week takes us this week.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
But uh uh you know he's says he's uh you know,
says he's looking good, feeling good. So he's looking good,
he says he's feeling good, and uh, you know, we'll
see where the weak takes us.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
You know.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Uh, finally a lot of time in Chicago, I saw
twenty four degrees the other day. Do you have any hints.
I mean, you know the Midwest. Well, any secrets to
staying warm out here. It's my first winter out here, Jim, Oh.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Yeah, just enjoy it. Con, you know, the changing of
the seasons. The only piece of advice is.
Speaker 5 (14:16):
Uh, enjoy the snow, you know, crunching under your feet.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
Just make sure you have the proper footwear.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Okay, all right, I'll wear a.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
Boot, nice winter jacket.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm not sure I was built
for it. We'll see. Spending too much time in Manhattan Beach.
I got a little soft, Jim. I'm gonna be honest
with you. I got a little soft.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
I'm not buying it. I'm not buying that. Tough the toughest,
they come toughest.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
All right, here we go Monday night football, Eagles. Good luck,
Jim Harball, appreciate it. Con, thanks for having me on
you bet. Yeah, Thursday with the highest nineteen degrees, that's
what's gonna be this Thursday. Listen, they get Hampton back,
Herbert's gonna play Monday. The Eagles are wobbling the problem
with the Chargers now they got here's their schedule coming up,
all above five hundred Chiefs, Cowboys, Texans, Broncos, and three
(15:05):
of those teams I mean Eagles, Chiefs, Cowboys, Texans, Broncos
in Kansas City's desperate, Dallas is desperate Texans. I mean
in most of this situations, Philly doesn't have to win.
Everybody else on that list. I mean, Denver's gotta win
because Denver wants that number one seed in a bye
for Sean Payton. So their schedule is brutal, but they've quietly,
(15:27):
they've quietly become eight and four, and now they get
their star running back back. So one thing of break
Jaymack around the corner.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
It's the hurd.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 9 (15:48):
It's a great time to be a soccer fan.
Speaker 8 (15:50):
On Friday, it all kicks off with the FIFA World
Cup Final draw at eleven thirty am Eastern on Fox.
Then on Saturday, a Messy and Inter Miami square off
against Vancouver for the MLS Cup at two thirty pm Eastern,
also on Fox.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Think about this, we were talking about Mike Tomlin. People
are criticizing and I'm criticizing his offense and his inability
to fix the offense.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
We just looked us up.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
The last time Mike Tomlin won a playoff game and
his team scored an offensive touchdown was January eighth of
twenty seventeen. We're at December second of twenty twenty five.
That's almost nine years they have not so for people
protecting Tomlin, almost nine years where they won a playoff
(16:42):
game and actually scored a single offensive touchdown. Well about
ten years ago the NFL pivoted to an offensive league.
So I can like lots of factors, but Fiel Tomlin,
Pittsburgh is run its course. J Mac with the news.
(17:03):
This is the herdline.
Speaker 8 (17:05):
News, all right, con let's start with the Minnesota Vikings
and J. J. McCarthy that he is expected to clear
concussion protocol this week and start on Sunday against the
Washington Commanders. Kevin O'Connell said yesterday, McCarthy is symptom free,
just needs to have a full practice to clear concussion
protocol and that is expected to happen Maniana Colin JJ
(17:29):
McCarthy against Washington. Now, if you see that on the screen,
Washington minus one and a half. That will not be
the case of McCarthy's the starter. He is definitely better
than Max Brosmer, who was awful.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
I mean, Washington just played a Sunday night game that
went to overtime, a lot of snaps, so I would
say if you're a Viking fan, you could be a
little optimistic. Also, they got shut out last week, so
they're not going to get shut out, and it's at home.
If you're given me Minnesota and two or three points,
(18:02):
I would take Minnesota.
Speaker 8 (18:03):
Or Minnesota will probably be favored tomorrow. This time so interesting.
I just bet this game today. Here are the last
seven opponents Minnesota's face. Okay, Eagles, Chargers, Lions, Ravens, Bears, Packers, Seahawks.
They have one thing in common. They're all playoff teams.
Seven in a row. That is a gauntlet.
Speaker 9 (18:23):
Colin.
Speaker 8 (18:23):
Obviously they're not beating any of those teams, but Washington,
they're not a playoff team. And I'm totally with you
the overtime game, Max Effort, empty the tank and lose,
and now you got to go to Minnesota. We know
what Flores Is gonna do, dial up, blitz, heavy packages.
Speaker 9 (18:37):
I think Minnesota's aside here for sure, I don't know.
Are you buying this? Kevin O'Connell's job is on the line.
Is is he in trouble? I'm not believing that.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
But don't buy it. He's a very It's like Kevin Stefanski.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
The people in the league know Stefanski and Kevin O'Connell
very good coaches.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
That stuff's ridiculous. Totally agree.
Speaker 8 (18:55):
All right, Let's move on to the Penn State coaching search,
which is, you know, not on great now listen, mess
is a bit strong, But interestingly, Penn State is focusing
on BYU coach and apologies for butchering his name, Kalani Satake.
The sides have been in discussions, no deals signed yet.
Speaker 9 (19:15):
Here's the thing.
Speaker 8 (19:16):
BYU is playing in a conference championship game this weekend
against Texas Tech. Now, I'm holding a Red Raiders playoff
ticket from August. I need the Red Raiders to deliver here.
They are already huge favorites. I'm a little suspicious of this.
I mean, has he done that good of a job
that he's going to grab the Penn State job? Nobody
on the East coast really well.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
There are discussions that James Franklin's powerful agent did not
like the way Woo it was handled at Penn State.
And Penn State is being shut out of the top candidates.
Speaker 9 (19:53):
Now that is spicy. I have not heard that anywhere.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Yeah, so the agent for James Franklin is sending his
client to other jobs.
Speaker 8 (20:03):
And you know, only a handful of agents called the
shots in college football.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Oh there's two again.
Speaker 9 (20:08):
I'm not denying this BYU coach is a good coach.
Speaker 8 (20:11):
But again, a lot of times, you know the regionally,
coaches stay where they fit, like Brian Kelly, as you said,
didn't fit in the deep South. Lane Kiffin's gonna work fine.
I just don't know if this BYU coach will fit
in Penn State. I personally, I would make a run
at Brian Dable. I know he wants to go back
to the NFL. But they missed on Clark Lee, the
Vanderbilt coach.
Speaker 9 (20:31):
He's staying.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Man this.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
I wasn't a fan of firing James Franklin. It creates chaos.
And again the minute Franklin got fired, Signette got an
extension and Lane Kiffen was never interested. And I think
Penn State's a really good job. I think that there
may be not quite as good a job as they
(20:57):
think if you considered everything, everything like geography, the state,
the recruiting. The best job in the big ten is
Ohio State. The second best job a lot of people
think it's USC, but let's just say Michigan.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Third best job in the nil era, it's either USC
or Oregon. They're both great. Right, So that's your top four.
Your fifth best job is what.
Speaker 8 (21:25):
Probably Penn State. I would say Penn State, but it's listen.
They have so much talent there and kids in that.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
You know.
Speaker 9 (21:33):
I would spend a lot of time in Pennsylvania living
with my family.
Speaker 8 (21:36):
My brother lives out there. We know a lot of
people there. Penn State is the jam in and around Pennsylvania. Okay,
people aren't clamoring to get to Pittsburgh or Temple. Penn
State is the place to be. It is a great
college vibe in atmosphere. They're going to be fine colin
regardless of who the coaches. I think they're going to
be fine.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Right.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
I'm just saying they may have not considered that. By
firing James Franklin said a very toxic message that angered
elite agents.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
War One in particular, I'm tall.
Speaker 8 (22:08):
I'm saying, yeah, a final story, coln uh Listen, Lakers
lost last night.
Speaker 9 (22:12):
They got housed lost. Now, now this is not great. Okay.
Speaker 8 (22:17):
So if you look at this video, Lebron's talking to
somebody on the Sun's bench.
Speaker 9 (22:21):
It might have been Godwin. While he's doing that, play
is happening, and JJ Reddick is trying to call a
play for Lebron.
Speaker 8 (22:27):
He's like, Bron, we're running this play, and Lebron's talking
to the Suns so he can't hear him. JJ Reddick
has to burn a time out and you see him
kind of shake his head, like, what are we doing Lebron?
Now he doesn't say that in the video, and the
Lakers were down twenty in the third quarter, but you
can see Reddick is not thrilled with this. Now people
are coming after Lebron right now. For last night's game,
(22:49):
he didn't play well.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Yeah, it was hurt, he said. He woke up and
felt stuff when you got old stuff breaks.
Speaker 8 (22:55):
He also has like the NBA record for longest streak
of double digit scoring, and he was down bad in
like the third quarter with four points and starts chucking
in whatever.
Speaker 9 (23:03):
I don't care about that. This though I don't think
that's a good look talking.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
To the other bench while your team's calling up till
I was thinking about this this morning because I saw
that is that it's very interesting. So Lebron has never
clearly been the second best player on a team. Okay,
so we said this in the offseason last year because
of Luca's weight and injuries, it depended on the Knight
who was better. I said, coming into this season, I
(23:30):
think you agreed. This will be the first time Lebron
was not only the second best player.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
On a team.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
But it's not close, Skinny. Luca is the best offensive
player in the world. So this is the first time
in Lebron's career he's not only the number one player,
he is not close to the number one player on
a team. That psychology is going to be interesting. That
movie he's doing is what you do when you're the.
Speaker 9 (23:54):
Man out of a power in.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Yeah, he's not the man.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
And there are nights because Austin Reeves is younger and
athletic lead his prime that he's going to come into
a game, have the hot hand and be healthier. So
this is a very interesting JJ. Reddick's a really smart guy.
There's a little bit of psychology here. I said, Lebron
came back the first game. He came back passing, passing
(24:18):
only seven shots, and everybody's like, oh, he's such a
team player. He is, But what's it going to be
like when Austin and Luca on any given night are
better and he settles for five shots? Is he going
to be okay with that?
Speaker 9 (24:31):
So I went to that Clippers Lakers game and I
watched Lebron closely.
Speaker 8 (24:34):
I'm just telling you, for the first seven minutes he
barely touched the ball. I know, he's basically going on.
Speaker 9 (24:38):
You know, and it's like, wait, and now he ended
up with.
Speaker 8 (24:41):
Good nat stats, but he's still finding his way. I
will say this small thing. Luca and Austin Reeves have
developed some kind of romance. I don't know, if you
see the postgame interviews, they're joking I've got more duns
than you, yep, and Austin and I don't want to
say Lebron's on the outs because he loves Austin Reeves
and obviously him and Luke are fine.
Speaker 9 (24:58):
But there is a butt here.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
The butt is there's a new ownership group. They're already
fire and Bus members Jeanie Buss and I love her.
She's great at what she did. But there was a
little fear dealing with Lebron. Right it was still Lebron
had sold a lot of tickets. There was loyalty. These
guys don't care. This ownership group, the Dodgers. They got
rid of Cody Bellinger, Trey Turner who just won the
(25:23):
batting crown, A Scott seeger Manny Machado. They know the
future of disfranchise is Luca one, JJ Riddick two and
probably Austin Reeves three because he's raw. Polinka's guy. Lebron's
four in the room now he is four, and I
(25:43):
think he knows it. And I think I'm being fair here.
I think it's hard for him. You don't think it's
easy when you've been a twenty year alpha.
Speaker 9 (25:51):
Yeah, now Colin elsewhere in the league. Giannis and the
Bucks loss last night. There's some social media activity around Yiannis. Yeah,
I'm just saying Lakers are fifteen and five.
Speaker 8 (26:00):
Overreact, But let's just keep an eye on the Lakers
and the Bucks.
Speaker 9 (26:04):
Just putting that out there, agree.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
J McK with the news, Well, that's the news and
thanks for stopping by the herd line.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Ye, Lebron's a team player is great. I'm just saying,
if you you're an attorney to law firm and you're
the number one earner, the number one lawyer for twenty
seven years, suddenly you're number four really quickly. It's hard
to say, it's not number one salesperson forever.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Then you're four. Because these new owners.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Lucas the future, Reddick's number two, often's probably three, all right,
and Lebron, smart guy, rich Paul agent, he's four. And
this ownership group, they have raised the bar in the room.
The Athletic did a poll I Nov. It was last
(26:58):
year where they they had a poll all the GM's
anonymous poll who are the best front offices? Lakers didn't
get any first place votes. The Dodgers, where there's no
salary cap, so there's real animosity for the Dodgers in baseball.
They had double the first place votes in that same
pole in the Athletic anonymous gms and execs, and there's
(27:21):
people that resent the Dodgers having all that money nobody
resents because the CAP's different in the NBA. So I've said,
and my prediction was coming into this year, this would
be the first time Lebron is a mile from the
best player on a team. Like last year, there were
nights Luca was better, but Luca wasn't in great shape.
(27:43):
He was coming off an injury. There were halves and
quarters that Lebron was better.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
That ain't the case.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Lucas a mile better now and Luca's the best offensive
player in the league. And also it's very human nature.
Luca is no dummy. Luca knows he and JJ Reddie
are the future, right like he knows he's an alpha.
And I think everybody in the room knows Austin Reeves
can give you twenty three on any given night. He's
(28:09):
in his prime. And he's not gonna be that expensive.
They're gonna get Austin Reeves on a team friendly deal.
So it's just a different psychology with the Lakers right now.
That doesn't mean Lebron's a bad guy. I just think
it's hard, you know. And and the Luca now can
beat people off the dribble, can finish at the rim,
he didn't do that last couple of years. I mean
(28:30):
it was his first year in the league. I think
he had twenty five dunks and I think last year
he had like one so he just it just it
wasn't it just and he was emotionally he got traded.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
That was rough for him.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
International players they just want to come over play for
one team, star ball head home in the summer. You know,
that's what that's what they want to do. So it's
gonna be it's gonna be a very interesting I am
fascinated with ownership groups and front offices in sports because
you know, you don't talk about him. It's the guy,
rich guy wearing some glasses on a Sunday, you know,
(29:01):
upstairs in the suite, and you know, we know Robert
Kraft and Jerry Jones. But these owners for the Dodgers
are fairly low profile considering how powerful they are, and
they've let all sorts of really good players go. Trade
Turner is one of the best packer hitters in baseball,
and they had a tough decision to let them go.
And when they by the way, when they go big,
(29:22):
Yoshi Otawni, Freddie Freeman, Betts, when they go big, they
don't miss. So there is something brewing. I'm a believer
in this that you know, Jannis Yannis could very much
be in play. I really believe that.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Very much. In play.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
And listen, we all know this Lebron's it's a me league,
not a wee league. He bailed on Dwayne Wade. A
lot of people think he bailed on a d and
knew that trade was coming.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
I don't know that. I kind of think that we'll
see them row
Speaker 4 (30:00):
Six.
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Well, I said yesterday on the show, I don't know
how the Niners are doing it with all their injuries.
And I also said yesterday on the show, you know
Mike Rable may win Coach of the Year. Right number
one seed, I said, what Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman
are doing with that offense? When you lose your two
offensive tackles, usually it's over. But the Chargers, now justin
(00:48):
Herbert had surgery, knocking to miss time. Here comes to
Marion Hampton back. They have the number two pass defense
in the NFL, number three total defense. The good news
is Herbert Hampton and Philadelphia's Wobbley a little bit.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Jim Harbaugh's now joining US live.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
You know, it is interesting, Jim, because you are one
of these coaches that you create a toughness and a resilience.
I don't care If it's Stanford, I don't care. What's
San Diego, San Francisco, Michigan Chargers. First week of practice,
it feels different. I thought, when you lost both tackles,
I said, so over Keith, pro football can't win and
(01:29):
you're still running the football.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
What is it? Give me the secrets.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
How do you run the football when you're offensive lineman?
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Your offensive line is missing two Pro Bowlers? How do
you do it?
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Well? Good players, good players up front, you know.
Speaker 5 (01:45):
And I thought our offensive line really, you know, have
one of its one of its best games this past week. Yeah,
Jamari Saw, you really did a heck of a job
at left tackle. Zion Johnson played one of his best games.
Brad Boseman had one of his best game games. Kai
Beck then uh graded out over all all of our
linement graded out over ninety percent.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Trey Pipkins had had a bunch of key blocks.
Speaker 5 (02:10):
Our running backs really, uh, you know, did a phenomenal job, Kamanie,
but now, uh, Jared Patterson really, uh you know played
some of our best football. I just uh, And it's
those guys, they're the they're.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
The tough tough men.
Speaker 5 (02:24):
Plus faith uh and number ten Uh let's never forget.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Uh, Justin Herbert.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
He is uh, uh, he's he's he's a he's a lead,
he's a beast, he's uh he's one of the best
in my opinion.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
So he is playing the game now and ever, Yeah, Max.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Crosby and him, Max Crosby, you know, pushes him over.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Shoved him.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
I love Max, okay, and Justin probably did a little
trash talk.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I'm okay with that. Well really yeah, I mean, did
you did you try to talk a little in your
day a little?
Speaker 4 (03:03):
You know? I was?
Speaker 5 (03:04):
I was, uh probably, I'm a lot like Justin. I'm
more of a counterpuncher, you know what I mean. I
wasn't gonna get the first one in. I can promise
you that Max Max was Max gets uh, he's he's
quite good at trash talking himself. And uh Justin was
kind of counterpunching, like a like a Floyd Mayweather, like
(03:25):
a Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard and uh.
Speaker 6 (03:29):
Yeah that uh those two they have they have nothing
but respect for each other. And uh yeah, I like
I like you, I I I really like I really
like Max Crosby.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
I love Justin, but uh yeah, and.
Speaker 5 (03:46):
I like I like there are two greats and the
two of the the greats and the two of the
best in the game.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
When you when you did, when you did have losses
to injuries, do you have to co differently psychologically? Do
you have to be more upbeat? I mean, you're very
very optimistic guy. You love football like nobody I have ever seen.
But when you have all these injuries, Jim, players can
have self doubt. Players are all it's cold, it's it's
(04:13):
the weather changes. Do you have to coach differently? Almost psychologically?
The speech is the motivation, the tactics. When you are
injury depleted, which you really have been this year, it's.
Speaker 5 (04:26):
It's a it's a you know, next man up mentality,
you know it.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
It's emotional, it hurts, you know. Rashon Slater for.
Speaker 5 (04:38):
Example, I mean that like I mean, it's just gut wrenching.
You know how much he poured into this entire offseason.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
I mean him and Joe All.
Speaker 5 (04:47):
I mean they're elite guys when it comes to training
and their preparation. And then you know when that and
then unfortunate long term you know, six month type injury.
You know, hits you just uh me, you feel sick,
I mean physically physically sick. But then uh, you know,
(05:07):
then uh you know, uh I mean and then there's
a you know, there's uh yeah, what's what's next?
Speaker 4 (05:17):
Who's the next man up?
Speaker 5 (05:18):
And uh and you got a guy you know, sitting
there on a spring who's also been training and preparing,
and you know how much they poured into it that
you know, that's that's their opportunity. So I guess, uh yeah,
there's two ways of two ways you.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Feel about it.
Speaker 5 (05:35):
And you know, when you kind of get your breath back,
you gotta kinda get your footing back. Uh you know,
here we go, let's let's attack it and uh next
man up mentality?
Speaker 1 (05:45):
You know, it's this a couple of weeks ago. Green
Bay's offense was broken and they solved it. Right now,
Philadelphia's offense a little they can't quite figure it out.
It happens. It's a long, long season, Jim. When when
you when you look at a team like Philadelphia, you're
pouring over the film and they just can't quite get
the running game right.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Have you ever been in those situations?
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I mean, have you ever had even this year, you
have a two game stretch and it's just not it's
just not working. How do you get Because Matt Lafleuror
had that about three weeks ago, and then I watched
them last week and I'm like, Okay, they solved their problem.
When you do have these two game skids, when you're
not quite right, how do you get out of it?
Speaker 3 (06:23):
What do you do? Is it usually schematics player's health?
How do you get out of it? Because Philly's in
one right now?
Speaker 4 (06:29):
It's h.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
Yeah, you want to get better at something, you know,
you just work a little bit harder at it.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
So it's really it's really that.
Speaker 5 (06:42):
That's the formula, you know, improvement, better today than yesterday,
better tomorrow than today. That that theory that improvement will
lead to success is how I see everybody, uh you know,
everybody attacking whatever or issued that.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
That they have. And I see that with the the.
Speaker 5 (07:03):
Eagles, and let's remember they're they're they're leading their division,
they're they're nine and three, then the world champions, and
uh you know it's uh, you know, big challenge, big
challenge for us, and uh so we're working, we're working hard,
uh you know, trying to improve our strengths, trying to
improve our weaknesses. You know a lot of a lot
(07:24):
of things that that it's a that there's emphasis on.
And uh, I know the Eagles are doing the exact
same thing.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
You know, Jim, when you came out of Michigan, you
had a little bit of an advantage because you had
recruited so many of the players you were going to draft.
You you, I mean a lot of those guys. So
you guys have hit on a lot of your draft picks.
And I and I said this, there is an advant
The one advantage for a college coach to go pro
is you know, you know the players. You're a recruit
them at high school. You know they're odometer, you know
(07:52):
their strengths and weakness. Is nobody's gonna fool you. You
have had some of your young players, I mean, Latin McConkey,
some of your young players have been I mean really
hit early. Did you think during your first couple of
drafts here, did you kind of sense you know what,
I know these guys better than these other teams know
these guys because it looks like you did.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Man, look that way, No, that's that's not the case.
Speaker 5 (08:18):
That's uh, that's Joe Hartiz that's our our personnel staff.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
I mean, and that's what they do every day.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
You know, it's uh they uh you know I try
to I chip in there, you know where I can, but.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
Uh no, I mean we all see the good players.
Speaker 5 (08:36):
I mean you're really you can you watch the tape
and uh everybody can see the good players and and
then you realize, you know what they're gonna be playing
for somebody else because we only get one pick, you know,
every every thirty two picks.
Speaker 4 (08:49):
But yeah, are you do?
Speaker 5 (08:52):
You do the best you can when when it's your
time to pick, uh, you know, you pick the best
best player available. That's the that's the Joe or Teas
and uh you know his his strategy and it's uh,
you know, I have learned so much, uh just being
in those meetings and listening to uh our scouts, our personnel.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
Chad Alexander's phenomenal.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
He'll be a general manager, uh you know soon for
a for a smart team that's looking for uh you
know a guy that's that's great and uh and Louis
lou Clark, all the guys uh you know in our
in our personnel room to go through that board to
watch Joe Ortiz uh you know lead that process. That's
(09:35):
that's uh, you know, years in the making and then
you know culminates at the at the NFL Draft. Uh,
you know, it's it's uh, it's inspiring. I've learned a ton.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non a Empacific.
Speaker 7 (09:52):
Hey, it's Rob Parker and Calvin Washington from The Odd
Couple on Fox Sports Radio. And in addition to hearing
us live week nights from seven to two Eastern on
Fox Sports Radio, we are excited to announce brand new
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Speaker 3 (10:06):
That's right.
Speaker 8 (10:07):
You can now watch The Odd Couple live on YouTube
every day.
Speaker 7 (10:12):
All you gotta do search Odd Couple FSR on YouTube.
Again YouTube, Just search Odd Couple FSR. Check us out
on YouTube and subscribe.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Last night I saw Jackson Dart was scrambling around. He
got a little cute in the sidelines and he just
got smoked.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
It was bad.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
He got smoked, and I said, if it was a
Super Bowl, you're going for.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
The winning drive. Okay.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
You know, Justin takes a lot of hits. I think
his first year sometimes he tried to stand up a
linebacker and that I didn't like that at all. If
you ever said, because he's taking some hits, do you
ever have to say to Justin, listen, I love that
you're a tough guy, because you'd be a little less tough,
could just slide. Do you ever have to just sit
him down, as a former quarterback, say Justin, I know
(10:54):
you're six five and two fifty.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
These guys want to hurt you. Do you ever have
those conversations.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
With uh, you know, not not too many, you know,
not really.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
Justin is just he's at a level.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
That that I just let Justin be Justin and uh,
and he knows exactly what he's doing. He's doing it,
you know, at the highest level of person possibly can.
But I would I would tell all quarterbacks because I
remember those days of trying to be cute on the
sideline too. You know, you just you kind of get
to the sideline, just slow up a little bit. You know,
(11:33):
you look like you're stepping out of bounds and you're
trying to get him to hit you so you can
kind of you know, uh, get get the penalty.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
But you know those that's a that's an emphasis right.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
Now in the NFL that and they even send it
up for review. Like if both those feet aren't out
of bounds, uh, you know you can you can be hit.
So yeah, you know, piece of advice to to all
NFL quarterbacks is clearly get out of bounds.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
You know you can't play that. You can't play for that.
Speaker 5 (12:02):
That penal anymore because uh you know that's that's gonna
be uh that's gonna be reviewed. Right So uh yeah,
I think all quarterbacks need to need to know that.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Okay, Now, just just I used to I.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
Used to try to get a couple of those those penalties.
Uh well it's different now. I mean they're they're reviewing
that both both those feet aren't in the white you
can be hit.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
The Justin had surgery on his hand. He's the kind
of kid. He'll fight through it. I know you'd have to.
He is he gonna play Monday against Philly? Do we
know that today?
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Right now?
Speaker 4 (12:38):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (12:38):
If there's any possible way, Yeah, Justin will uh will
do anything and everything in his power to uh to
play in the game.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Okay, what is He's.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
The kind of he's the kind of guy you have
to pull back.
Speaker 5 (12:51):
You can never you can never uh you could never
uh you never have to talk.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
Him into playing football, that's for sure.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
You saw that. Uh saw that in our game against
the Raiders. You know, one minute he's he just he
just went in. He just went in.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Yeah, I mean Justin's the kind of it all.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
Comes out of the doctors. I mean, I got a
lot of a lot of things hanging on the wall here,
but a medical degree is not one of them.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
So is funny.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Hey you get Amari and Hampton back, that's kinda feel great,
does it not?
Speaker 5 (13:26):
Yeah, he's uh, he's he's been trending great. He's uh,
you know, another guy that's just done everything and anything
to uh to get back, and you know, and it's this,
it's the same same course action.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
Uh. You know, the doctors, you know, cleared him to
have limited participation last week, and uh see where the
week takes us this week.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
But uh uh you know he's says he's uh you know,
says he's looking good, feeling good. So he's looking good,
he says he's feeling good, and uh, you know, we'll
see where the weak takes us.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
You know.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Uh, finally a lot of time in Chicago, I saw
twenty four degrees the other day. Do you have any hints.
I mean, you know the Midwest. Well, any secrets to
staying warm out here. It's my first winter out here, Jim, Oh.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Yeah, just enjoy it. Con, you know, the changing of
the seasons. The only piece of advice is.
Speaker 5 (14:16):
Uh, enjoy the snow, you know, crunching under your feet.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
Just make sure you have the proper footwear.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Okay, all right, I'll wear a.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
Boot, nice winter jacket.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm not sure I was built
for it. We'll see. Spending too much time in Manhattan Beach.
I got a little soft, Jim. I'm gonna be honest
with you. I got a little soft.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
I'm not buying it. I'm not buying that. Tough the toughest,
they come toughest.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
All right, here we go Monday night football, Eagles. Good luck,
Jim Harball, appreciate it. Con, thanks for having me on
you bet. Yeah, Thursday with the highest nineteen degrees, that's
what's gonna be this Thursday. Listen, they get Hampton back,
Herbert's gonna play Monday. The Eagles are wobbling the problem
with the Chargers now they got here's their schedule coming up,
all above five hundred Chiefs, Cowboys, Texans, Broncos, and three
(15:05):
of those teams I mean Eagles, Chiefs, Cowboys, Texans, Broncos
in Kansas City's desperate, Dallas is desperate Texans. I mean
in most of this situations, Philly doesn't have to win.
Everybody else on that list. I mean, Denver's gotta win
because Denver wants that number one seed in a bye
for Sean Payton. So their schedule is brutal, but they've quietly,
(15:27):
they've quietly become eight and four, and now they get
their star running back back. So one thing of break
Jaymack around the corner.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
It's the hurd.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 9 (15:48):
It's a great time to be a soccer fan.
Speaker 8 (15:50):
On Friday, it all kicks off with the FIFA World
Cup Final draw at eleven thirty am Eastern on Fox.
Then on Saturday, a Messy and Inter Miami square off
against Vancouver for the MLS Cup at two thirty pm Eastern,
also on Fox.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Think about this, we were talking about Mike Tomlin. People
are criticizing and I'm criticizing his offense and his inability
to fix the offense.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
We just looked us up.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
The last time Mike Tomlin won a playoff game and
his team scored an offensive touchdown was January eighth of
twenty seventeen. We're at December second of twenty twenty five.
That's almost nine years they have not so for people
protecting Tomlin, almost nine years where they won a playoff
(16:42):
game and actually scored a single offensive touchdown. Well about
ten years ago the NFL pivoted to an offensive league.
So I can like lots of factors, but Fiel Tomlin,
Pittsburgh is run its course. J Mac with the news.
(17:03):
This is the herdline.
Speaker 8 (17:05):
News, all right, con let's start with the Minnesota Vikings
and J. J. McCarthy that he is expected to clear
concussion protocol this week and start on Sunday against the
Washington Commanders. Kevin O'Connell said yesterday, McCarthy is symptom free,
just needs to have a full practice to clear concussion
protocol and that is expected to happen Maniana Colin JJ
(17:29):
McCarthy against Washington. Now, if you see that on the screen,
Washington minus one and a half. That will not be
the case of McCarthy's the starter. He is definitely better
than Max Brosmer, who was awful.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
I mean, Washington just played a Sunday night game that
went to overtime, a lot of snaps, so I would
say if you're a Viking fan, you could be a
little optimistic. Also, they got shut out last week, so
they're not going to get shut out, and it's at home.
If you're given me Minnesota and two or three points,
(18:02):
I would take Minnesota.
Speaker 8 (18:03):
Or Minnesota will probably be favored tomorrow. This time so interesting.
I just bet this game today. Here are the last
seven opponents Minnesota's face. Okay, Eagles, Chargers, Lions, Ravens, Bears, Packers, Seahawks.
They have one thing in common. They're all playoff teams.
Seven in a row. That is a gauntlet.
Speaker 9 (18:23):
Colin.
Speaker 8 (18:23):
Obviously they're not beating any of those teams, but Washington,
they're not a playoff team. And I'm totally with you
the overtime game, Max Effort, empty the tank and lose,
and now you got to go to Minnesota. We know
what Flores Is gonna do, dial up, blitz, heavy packages.
Speaker 9 (18:37):
I think Minnesota's aside here for sure, I don't know.
Are you buying this? Kevin O'Connell's job is on the line.
Is is he in trouble? I'm not believing that.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
But don't buy it. He's a very It's like Kevin Stefanski.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
The people in the league know Stefanski and Kevin O'Connell
very good coaches.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
That stuff's ridiculous. Totally agree.
Speaker 8 (18:55):
All right, Let's move on to the Penn State coaching search,
which is, you know, not on great now listen, mess
is a bit strong, But interestingly, Penn State is focusing
on BYU coach and apologies for butchering his name, Kalani Satake.
The sides have been in discussions, no deals signed yet.
Speaker 9 (19:15):
Here's the thing.
Speaker 8 (19:16):
BYU is playing in a conference championship game this weekend
against Texas Tech. Now, I'm holding a Red Raiders playoff
ticket from August. I need the Red Raiders to deliver here.
They are already huge favorites. I'm a little suspicious of this.
I mean, has he done that good of a job
that he's going to grab the Penn State job? Nobody
on the East coast really well.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
There are discussions that James Franklin's powerful agent did not
like the way Woo it was handled at Penn State.
And Penn State is being shut out of the top candidates.
Speaker 9 (19:53):
Now that is spicy. I have not heard that anywhere.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Yeah, so the agent for James Franklin is sending his
client to other jobs.
Speaker 8 (20:03):
And you know, only a handful of agents called the
shots in college football.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Oh there's two again.
Speaker 9 (20:08):
I'm not denying this BYU coach is a good coach.
Speaker 8 (20:11):
But again, a lot of times, you know the regionally,
coaches stay where they fit, like Brian Kelly, as you said,
didn't fit in the deep South. Lane Kiffin's gonna work fine.
I just don't know if this BYU coach will fit
in Penn State. I personally, I would make a run
at Brian Dable. I know he wants to go back
to the NFL. But they missed on Clark Lee, the
Vanderbilt coach.
Speaker 9 (20:31):
He's staying.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Man this.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
I wasn't a fan of firing James Franklin. It creates chaos.
And again the minute Franklin got fired, Signette got an
extension and Lane Kiffen was never interested. And I think
Penn State's a really good job. I think that there
may be not quite as good a job as they
(20:57):
think if you considered everything, everything like geography, the state,
the recruiting. The best job in the big ten is
Ohio State. The second best job a lot of people
think it's USC, but let's just say Michigan.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Third best job in the nil era, it's either USC
or Oregon. They're both great. Right, So that's your top four.
Your fifth best job is what.
Speaker 8 (21:25):
Probably Penn State. I would say Penn State, but it's listen.
They have so much talent there and kids in that.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
You know.
Speaker 9 (21:33):
I would spend a lot of time in Pennsylvania living
with my family.
Speaker 8 (21:36):
My brother lives out there. We know a lot of
people there. Penn State is the jam in and around Pennsylvania. Okay,
people aren't clamoring to get to Pittsburgh or Temple. Penn
State is the place to be. It is a great
college vibe in atmosphere. They're going to be fine colin
regardless of who the coaches. I think they're going to
be fine.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Right.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
I'm just saying they may have not considered that. By
firing James Franklin said a very toxic message that angered
elite agents.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
War One in particular, I'm tall.
Speaker 8 (22:08):
I'm saying, yeah, a final story, coln uh Listen, Lakers
lost last night.
Speaker 9 (22:12):
They got housed lost. Now, now this is not great. Okay.
Speaker 8 (22:17):
So if you look at this video, Lebron's talking to
somebody on the Sun's bench.
Speaker 9 (22:21):
It might have been Godwin. While he's doing that, play
is happening, and JJ Reddick is trying to call a
play for Lebron.
Speaker 8 (22:27):
He's like, Bron, we're running this play, and Lebron's talking
to the Suns so he can't hear him. JJ Reddick
has to burn a time out and you see him
kind of shake his head, like, what are we doing Lebron?
Now he doesn't say that in the video, and the
Lakers were down twenty in the third quarter, but you
can see Reddick is not thrilled with this. Now people
are coming after Lebron right now. For last night's game,
(22:49):
he didn't play well.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Yeah, it was hurt, he said. He woke up and
felt stuff when you got old stuff breaks.
Speaker 8 (22:55):
He also has like the NBA record for longest streak
of double digit scoring, and he was down bad in
like the third quarter with four points and starts chucking
in whatever.
Speaker 9 (23:03):
I don't care about that. This though I don't think
that's a good look talking.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
To the other bench while your team's calling up till
I was thinking about this this morning because I saw
that is that it's very interesting. So Lebron has never
clearly been the second best player on a team. Okay,
so we said this in the offseason last year because
of Luca's weight and injuries, it depended on the Knight
who was better. I said, coming into this season, I
(23:30):
think you agreed. This will be the first time Lebron
was not only the second best player.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
On a team.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
But it's not close, Skinny. Luca is the best offensive
player in the world. So this is the first time
in Lebron's career he's not only the number one player,
he is not close to the number one player on
a team. That psychology is going to be interesting. That
movie he's doing is what you do when you're the.
Speaker 9 (23:54):
Man out of a power in.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Yeah, he's not the man.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
And there are nights because Austin Reeves is younger and
athletic lead his prime that he's going to come into
a game, have the hot hand and be healthier. So
this is a very interesting JJ. Reddick's a really smart guy.
There's a little bit of psychology here. I said, Lebron
came back the first game. He came back passing, passing
(24:18):
only seven shots, and everybody's like, oh, he's such a
team player. He is, But what's it going to be
like when Austin and Luca on any given night are
better and he settles for five shots? Is he going
to be okay with that?
Speaker 9 (24:31):
So I went to that Clippers Lakers game and I
watched Lebron closely.
Speaker 8 (24:34):
I'm just telling you, for the first seven minutes he
barely touched the ball. I know, he's basically going on.
Speaker 9 (24:38):
You know, and it's like, wait, and now he ended
up with.
Speaker 8 (24:41):
Good nat stats, but he's still finding his way. I
will say this small thing. Luca and Austin Reeves have
developed some kind of romance. I don't know, if you
see the postgame interviews, they're joking I've got more duns
than you, yep, and Austin and I don't want to
say Lebron's on the outs because he loves Austin Reeves
and obviously him and Luke are fine.
Speaker 9 (24:58):
But there is a butt here.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
The butt is there's a new ownership group. They're already
fire and Bus members Jeanie Buss and I love her.
She's great at what she did. But there was a
little fear dealing with Lebron. Right it was still Lebron
had sold a lot of tickets. There was loyalty. These
guys don't care. This ownership group, the Dodgers. They got
rid of Cody Bellinger, Trey Turner who just won the
(25:23):
batting crown, A Scott seeger Manny Machado. They know the
future of disfranchise is Luca one, JJ Riddick two and
probably Austin Reeves three because he's raw. Polinka's guy. Lebron's
four in the room now he is four, and I
(25:43):
think he knows it. And I think I'm being fair here.
I think it's hard for him. You don't think it's
easy when you've been a twenty year alpha.
Speaker 9 (25:51):
Yeah, now Colin elsewhere in the league. Giannis and the
Bucks loss last night. There's some social media activity around Yiannis. Yeah,
I'm just saying Lakers are fifteen and five.
Speaker 8 (26:00):
Overreact, But let's just keep an eye on the Lakers
and the Bucks.
Speaker 9 (26:04):
Just putting that out there, agree.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
J McK with the news, Well, that's the news and
thanks for stopping by the herd line.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Ye, Lebron's a team player is great. I'm just saying,
if you you're an attorney to law firm and you're
the number one earner, the number one lawyer for twenty
seven years, suddenly you're number four really quickly. It's hard
to say, it's not number one salesperson forever.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Then you're four. Because these new owners.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Lucas the future, Reddick's number two, often's probably three, all right,
and Lebron, smart guy, rich Paul agent, he's four. And
this ownership group, they have raised the bar in the room.
The Athletic did a poll I Nov. It was last
(26:58):
year where they they had a poll all the GM's
anonymous poll who are the best front offices? Lakers didn't
get any first place votes. The Dodgers, where there's no
salary cap, so there's real animosity for the Dodgers in baseball.
They had double the first place votes in that same
pole in the Athletic anonymous gms and execs, and there's
(27:21):
people that resent the Dodgers having all that money nobody
resents because the CAP's different in the NBA. So I've said,
and my prediction was coming into this year, this would
be the first time Lebron is a mile from the
best player on a team. Like last year, there were
nights Luca was better, but Luca wasn't in great shape.
(27:43):
He was coming off an injury. There were halves and
quarters that Lebron was better.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
That ain't the case.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Lucas a mile better now and Luca's the best offensive
player in the league. And also it's very human nature.
Luca is no dummy. Luca knows he and JJ Reddie
are the future, right like he knows he's an alpha.
And I think everybody in the room knows Austin Reeves
can give you twenty three on any given night. He's
(28:09):
in his prime. And he's not gonna be that expensive.
They're gonna get Austin Reeves on a team friendly deal.
So it's just a different psychology with the Lakers right now.
That doesn't mean Lebron's a bad guy. I just think
it's hard, you know. And and the Luca now can
beat people off the dribble, can finish at the rim,
he didn't do that last couple of years. I mean
(28:30):
it was his first year in the league. I think
he had twenty five dunks and I think last year
he had like one so he just it just it
wasn't it just and he was emotionally he got traded.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
That was rough for him.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
International players they just want to come over play for
one team, star ball head home in the summer. You know,
that's what that's what they want to do. So it's
gonna be it's gonna be a very interesting I am
fascinated with ownership groups and front offices in sports because
you know, you don't talk about him. It's the guy,
rich guy wearing some glasses on a Sunday, you know,
(29:01):
upstairs in the suite, and you know, we know Robert
Kraft and Jerry Jones. But these owners for the Dodgers
are fairly low profile considering how powerful they are, and
they've let all sorts of really good players go. Trade
Turner is one of the best packer hitters in baseball,
and they had a tough decision to let them go.
And when they by the way, when they go big,
(29:22):
Yoshi Otawni, Freddie Freeman, Betts, when they go big, they
don't miss. So there is something brewing. I'm a believer
in this that you know, Jannis Yannis could very much
be in play. I really believe that.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Very much. In play.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
And listen, we all know this Lebron's it's a me league,
not a wee league. He bailed on Dwayne Wade. A
lot of people think he bailed on a d and
knew that trade was coming.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
I don't know that. I kind of think that we'll
see them row
Speaker 4 (30:00):
Six.
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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