May 13, 2021 • 30 mins
How does the NFL come up with its schedule?
Guests: Bob Stoops, Michael Mulvihill
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to
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Find your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports
Radio dot com, or stream us live every day on
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Sports Radio. Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be
(00:23):
sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve to
three eastern nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
and FS one. 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 heard, you're
listening to Fox Sports Radio. How lucky are we? Eighteen
(00:44):
years at Oklahoma, national champion, at ten time Big twelve
coach of the year, one of the great I mean,
really top four or five coaches last twenty five years
in college football. He'd be embarrassed by that because he's
a humble guy. Bob Stoops, who's the newest member of
the Big Noon kickoff team. Urban Meyer was here. We
gone big shoes to fill, but that's why we went
out and got Bob Stoops. It is great to see you. Um,
(01:06):
when your name came up before, I don't know how
far the negotiations were, and uh, you know, they said,
well what do you what do you make And I said, well,
I think Stoop should go into coaching still. I think
he's got ten years left to coach. And they said,
you know, he may work at Fox, and I thought,
we're gonna get Bob Stoops. So it's great to have
her as part of the team. I appreciate it. Calling.
I'm really looking forward to big Noon Saturday, working with
(01:29):
the team. Working here at Fox. It's been been awesome
with a great team and what great camaraderie already and
h but I'm a little concerned that they brought me
on your show to argue about bright Baker Mayfield and
I don't I don't think I'm the right guy for
you to beat to argue Baker Mayfield about. Now he's
gonna do fine by the way he's got He's gonna
(01:49):
do fine this year. It is interesting, Um, we'll get
into some of the you know, Oklahoma when you were there,
put a lot of guys in the NFL. Similarly they
do it with Lincoln Ryan and a lot of times
a legend leaves almost always and you never find the replacement.
I mean, it's almost a guarantee you can never a play.
(02:10):
I mean, Alabama's going to have their hands full. And
then you guys get Lincoln Riley. And it almost felt
like to me, because you're you were so selfless that
you could have kept going, but you thought to yourself,
I found the guy. This is perfect. That's what it
felt like to me. No, it's truly that way. I'm
you know, I've always said I wasn't going to be
(02:30):
a lifer. I wasn't going to coach till I wasn't
going to coach till I was old. I guess I'm old, though.
But in the end, I knew the right guy was
there in all the right ways, just the person, the
man that he is, family man that he is, the
leadership qualities, the way you connected with players. I just
(02:51):
knew this was perfect. That I could step out, and
it would have killed me to have hurt the program.
But I knew if I could step out in the
saying they could continue on in the same manner and
hopefully make improvements, that this is the right time. And
I knew there was strong structure around them that was
still remained in place grain a d president. Yeah, so
(03:12):
that's why that's and I just thought, you know, I
don't want to miss the right moment. And it was perfect.
And Lincoln's doing a great job now, he's terrific. We
bring him on all the time. Oklahoma's a top five
program all time, top three probably right now. So Urban
Meyer's going college to pro. And it's interesting because for
years and years a lot of the guys Pete Carroll
was in the NFL went to college back to the NFL.
(03:35):
Tom Coughlin had even done some NFL position coaching. Urban
had told me years ago, I don't even watch the
NFL like Sunday is it's film day. And so I
think Urban smart, curious, intellectual, he'll figure it out. You
have been offered NFL jobs, you didn't take them. If
from all the opportunities you've had, what does it take,
(03:58):
because some guys have worked, I'm having college de pro.
What would concern you? What would make you hopeful with Urban?
You know as much as any It's hard for me
to speak of it since I'm no expert and I
haven't coached in the NFL. So that part of it
you know, take, you know, you just got to take
for what it is. But to me, it's the schedule,
the length of the length of the season, the length
(04:21):
of preseason, keeping players healthy, managing all of that. You're
going to surround yourself with great coaches at whatever level,
they're going to help you win or not win. So
no one does it by their self in our game.
But so to me, the biggest part would be to
handle that length of a schedule that you know, that
many football games and how to manage it twenty games
(04:43):
that doesn't account playoffs. You know. Reggie Bush and I
were just talking in back here part of our you know,
big noon Saturday team, and I said to me, it'd
be like I'd be like maybe basketball, I'd be rotating players,
counting how many snaps each guy has had midway through
the year, who's had so many you know, almost you know,
like again, like basketball, does you just use your entire roster?
(05:05):
I know everyone does, but I mean even in the
rotation of your normal downs as making sure we're keeping
up with how, you know, how long a guy's been
on the field. So I grew up with Oklahoma and
Barry Switzer and literally ten guys in the backfield and
one receiver. It was a power program. And then Bob
Stoops come in, and this is one of the things
I've always admired about Saban. Saban just acknowledged we got
(05:28):
to spread it out. The game's changing. You did it
before him. You literally were like, I mean, Oklahoma football
was the running program in America with Nebraska, and you
were like, at some point, all right, fellas, run them
out here we go. Do you Why were you so
willing to adapt and evolved? Did you go to camps?
(05:48):
Did you? Were you? It was at fear base that
I'm gonna get overwhelmed here if I don't involve. You
know what it was When I first was hired at Oklahoma,
I hired Mike Leach. In the primary reason I hired
Mike Leach he was working as the offensive coordinator with
How Mummy at Kentucky. I'm the defensive coordinator at Florida,
and the person the team that gave me the most
(06:10):
problems and drove me crazy was Kentucky. They had the
most first downs in the league, they had the most points,
on and on and on, and so I called how
Mummy because I knew I couldn't hire him. He wasn't
going to leave his head coaching position. I said, hey,
can Mike Leach be the run the offense and do
the things you do at Kentucky? He said absolutely. I
just wanted to know could he be that kind of leader?
(06:32):
And Mike is Mike's a leader. He has his own
way of doing things. But anyway, so I hired Mike
and all he did his show Tim Couch's Highlights. When
we were recruiting, we really didn't have any quality, big
time quarterbacks on campus. So when Mike arrives, we get
Josh Hypel, runner up in the Heisman Trophy went and
(06:53):
also a national champion quarterback. We get Jason White, most
decorated player in Oklahoma history when you look at a
war and brought us to two national championship games. And
then in Nate Hibble, who won us a Big Twelve
championship and he's a Rose Bowl MVP. Those three guys
came that year that I hired Mike Leach right off
the start. Isn't that funny? The coach who drove you
(07:14):
crazy in the SEC is the guy who hired in
Oklahoma because you couldn't stop him. And by the way,
it takes guts because Mike is his own guy. He says,
you know, loves pirates. If I'd have known him, then
maybe I wouldn't have fired. I'm kidding. I love Mike.
He's awesome and he was a great hire for me.
So Texas, this is interesting. So Oklahoma and Texas top
(07:35):
three rivalry in the sport, and they hired Steve sarkheesian
and I think he's gonna work and I think Bobby's
gonna work big at USC. He had some personal issues
that he's overcome, but he can recruit. He's got a
good eye for personnel. He's young, he's got a good
energy about When Sark walks in a room, there's a
presence to him. Your thoughts on the task at Texas
(07:57):
because they don't have I watched that draft. There's not
a ton of Texas guys got drafted this year. Is
it a huge rebuild or are they close? Well, I
don't know why would be a huge rebuild. They've had
the top recruiting class the last three years in the
Big twelve and it's been top ten nationally. So they
have players. Unlike when we walked it in Oklahoma, that
I don't think that was the case. So bottom line,
(08:19):
they have players. To me, it's about development and and
I do believe I agree with you. I think Steve
Sarkisian is a really great coach. He's got a really good,
great track record, and I believe he'll, you know, he'll
he'll do really well, hopefully just not as well as Oklahoma.
So Spencer Rattler joy last year is like, you gotta
watch this kid. And I watched a lot of Oklahoma games.
(08:41):
So Spencer Rattlers the quarterback, and there is a long
there's a big people are suggesting he'd be the number
one pick. Wouldn't surprise me. And it's funny because there's
a I mean, I think he's more naturally gifted than
a baker. He's a little bit of a gun slinger.
And it works in Oklahoma because in the Big twelve
there's a lot of points you can throw the occasional pick.
(09:02):
It's okay, right, Well, now there's a lot of points
in the SEC too. Now that there's some quarterbacks that
are throwing the ball around, so you've always poked the
SEC in the ribs. Well, I'm just saying, look at
LSU when you know, and the last year ago or
two years ago, look at Alabama that the last couple
of years, there's you know, when there's great quality quarterback play,
it's hard to deal with. So Spencer Rattler, if I'd
(09:24):
never seen him play, what makes him special? Um? Great release,
great arm, just got a got one of those. He
has the ability to throw the ball at any angle
and got a really quick release and very accurate. How
long did you guys recruit him there? I mean he
was he good at eighth grade, ninth grade, and he
committed to owe you when I was there. Holy mo.
(09:47):
He committed young, I want to say, a sophomore or
junior year, and then I stepped away. But of course
Lincoln had the best relationship with him. Yeah, and of
course he stayed with us, knowing Lincoln was going to
be a guy and to be as quarterback coach and
head coach. By the way, your son Drakes a receiver
at Oklahoma. Do you miss the juice of game day? Oh? Yeah,
(10:08):
you know, nothing in life, you know, compares to that.
You know, people, you you do. As a coach, you
get addicted to the to the you know the excitement
of it, the intensity of it, all and the pressure
of it. Oddly you get you love it, you know,
because you really know you're alive when you're you're pulling
in that stadium or walking walking down that ramp getting
(10:29):
ready to kick it off, not knowing the outcome, you know,
so uh sure you miss it. I don't. I don't
know that you ever get used to it. You know.
It's one of the things I always respected about Oklahoma.
You played Notre Dame m You're just thinking of the
big games you played Ohio State, Alabama, Alabama, or to State.
You know, no shot at the SEC, but yeah, I
(10:50):
can only see Citadel so many times on those schedules.
You have always said bringing the big dogs. By the way,
that's not necessarily always great for you because everybody watches it.
If it's Week one or two and you lose, you
got to build your way back up voter confidence. So
what was Bob Stoop's theory? USC, by the way, has
always done that too. USC wants to schedule big games.
What was your theory on that. Once we won the
(11:12):
national championship in two thousand, I said to our athletic director,
joke as Siglio, and look, if we're going to be
a big dog. We're gonna play other big ducks. I mean,
we're we're not going to shy away from anybody. And
we didn't, I think in two thousand and three on
our out of conference schedule we had Oregon and Alabama yep.
So we were always willing to play big games, you know,
(11:34):
home and away, you know, take our turns and never again.
We just felt that way. If you're going to be
a ranked top five, ten ranked team, you're not afraid
to go play anywhere anytime. By the way, it is
funny a lot of college coaches they want to coach
until you know they're on a golf cart and you
know they can. You know they're gonna be helped around campus.
You left ten miles early, you, I mean, now you've
(11:57):
got a beautiful wife, great family. But it is interesting,
you are rare most coaches they stick around forever. What
was it do you think in your DNA that you're like,
I'm not going to be that guy. Well, I just
have always had other interests in life, and as much
as anything, I appreciate and enjoy my own time and
(12:17):
with my family, with my friends, doing things I want
to do, and in our profession. It's all consuming, and
at a certain point I figured, you know, I've loved
what I've done. It couldn't have been better. I mean,
I had so much fun, but it was just time
to gab my own time. And in life, I don't
think you until you open yourself up to other opportunities,
(12:37):
you don't know what else is out there. So in
the end that I miss it, heckya. But do I
regret it? No, you know, so it is just time
for me. And I felt too, you know, after eighteen
years in one place that I had run my course there,
that it was just perfect time for me to step
away and let the you know, the program continue with
(12:57):
Lincoln now, Leonard and Reggie you're very nice, but Notre
Dame guys, Brady Quinn, you gotta keep your eye on it.
These Notre Dame guys. You gotta just fire back at Brady.
You know, the the SEC guys, Elie La guys are
all laid back. Yeah, they've been easy on me. So
but anyway, it's a great crew, you know, Brady, said
Brady Quinn. Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, Rob Stone, keeping everybody
(13:20):
in line. So I'm really excited about it. And can't wait,
you know, for the fall. So lucky to have you.
Thank you, great to see you again. I appreciate it, Colin.
Always good to be on with you. All right, go Baker,
Baker's gonna have a very by By the way, I
picked the Browns to win the division. You did? Yeah?
All right? Joy knows people only hear the bad stuff.
What happens when I say nice stuff? It just disappears
(13:43):
into the ether. Nobody hears it. Be sure to catch
live editions of The Herd weekdays and noon Eastern a Empacific. No, no,
on the news. This is the Herd Line News. Something
else about Spencer Rattler, Colin, what I know? You like this?
He is two sport athlete. Oh he is. He won
a state championship his senior year, played alongside Nico Mannion,
(14:06):
who was drafted by the Warriors this year. Eighteen points
in the state championship game. Like that? Yes, yeah, So.
Tom Brady's a much anticipated return to Foxborough will happen
October three. Bucks Patriots will be the Sunday night football
game in Week four. He played twenty seasons with the Patriots,
obviously with Bill Belichick. He will enter the season, just
(14:28):
one one hundred and fifty four yards behind Drew Brees
for the NFL's career passing record, so with the Patriots
game in Week four, he could be in line to
break that record. In Foxborough, Brady, who has become just
really excellent at social media since his time away from
New England's, tweeted this morning about returning. It's like when
(14:50):
your high school friends meet your college friends. That's funny,
which Bettye Woe, who went to college, can relate to.
The Bucks are favored by three over the Patriots, according
to Fox bet right now. This will also be a
homecoming for Gronk as well, who played nine seasons with God.
Can you imagine the reaction Brady'll get? Can you imagine that?
(15:12):
I think he'll be very well received. It will be that,
first of all, the rating that game is gonna get
is a monster. Well, I just want to see, I think,
along with everyone else, what the interaction between Balicheck and
him is. Well, Belichick is not warm and fuzzy, right,
But here's the thing about Bill. He is when he
(15:33):
wants to be, when he wants support on. There is
no one more a complimentary He doesn't every single week
because he talks about the opposing quarterback glowingly, even if
they're terrible. Every single week it's his move, great prost
the ball or distributor, roll strong strong. You can tell
he's great in the room. He's always saying nice things
about people when he wants to. So I don't know
(15:55):
he's sneaky that one stuff. I do want to see
how they act. I think it'll be like a quick,
a quick little hug, pat in the back, a little
church hug, little space between. Yeah. So five quarterbacks were
drafted in the first round this year, and there's obviously
a lot of speculation about when each of them will
start their first game. So Yahoo Sports made a prediction
for each quarterback and when they're gonna start. We like
(16:17):
playing this game. So obviously Trevor Lawrence is gonna start
Week one against the Texans. We're assuming Zach Wilson is
gonna start Week one against the Panthers. So they have
Trey Lands starting Week one at the Lions. Oh no,
Justin Fields week four against the Lions. This sounds about right.
What did we discuss earlier with Justin Fields? Where do
we say it was gonna wait? The bottom line is
as you pointed out, the city of Chicago needs juice. Well,
(16:42):
they're going to want him out there, but they're also
their buys and until week ten, and they're not going
to run Andy Dalton until week ten. Yeah, okay, So
you don't believe Trey Lance week one, No mac Jones
week eleven at the Falcons. That's I looked at their
schedule this morning. If he was gonna start this year,
that would be it. I don't I don't think mac
Jones sees the field of Cam Newton is injured. Well,
in Cam's last couple of years, I mean, yeah, he's
(17:04):
get board, but unless he is healthy the whole year,
I don't think that mac Jones is gonna be out there. Okay,
So the only one you really disagree with is is Trailians.
I don't think he's at first. I don't think he's
ready to play. And I also think in that division,
which is going to be decided by a game, it
could be a tiebreaker division, you I think you would
just start the guy who's been there. There's no hurry.
(17:24):
If Garoppolo's there, what's the hurry? Is Garoppolo going to
be healthy? If he is, I would start him. I
just think that division. I'm not taking any chances, like,
let's just win. Well. Also, Trey hasn't played a game
in a long time, so yeah, so he's not like
these other incoming rookies who you know, even though he
has the same amount of stars as mac Jones, he
hasn't He did not play this past year, so you
(17:46):
have to account for that as well. Okay. Finally, due
to the nature of the twenty twenty season, the Lakers
said they wouldn't reveal their latest championship banner until they
could have fans in the stands. Last night, they were
able to raise it in front of two thousand fans
at Savill Center, and Lebron let them know that they
are motivated to bring another be in her home to LA.
I know we're missing a lot of our Laker faithful,
(18:07):
but this is absolutely for you guys. We said we
would not reveal this banner until we had some of
you guys in the seat, So this is you guys moment.
We had our ring night. We wanted you guys there,
but we made sure we saved the banner for y'all.
So we love you guys, and on a road to
back to back starts about a week. So let's get
gone now. We'll see. He's still day to day. Frank
(18:30):
Vogel said it's possible Lebron plays in the last two games,
but there's no clear word on his return. I don't
know why you would rush Lebron back at this point, Like,
what's what's the point. It's not like he doesn't know
how to play in the playoffs. He's uh. They're battling
the injury bug. Obviously they didn't have Lebron. They gave
another night of rust to a D Dennis Shooter and
Alex Crusoe. So they're currently the seventh seed out West,
(18:51):
so it'll be interesting for the Lakers. I don't look
at it. It's the same way as they did in
the bubble. They didn't have time off. They're coming in
very banged up into the playoffs. Not what you want
to be dealing with at this point in the season.
You want to be rolling all years flowing. But if
they can all be out there, it's hard to count
Lebron out. Yep Joy with the news. Well that's the news,
(19:14):
and thanks for stopping by the herdline. New Fox Sports
vice President head of Strategy Michael mulva Hill. He's going
to tell you how they lay out the schedule. Fascinating stuff.
It is very complex. The schedule is out, he joins us. Next,
be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
(19:36):
FS one and the iHeartRadio app. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre.
Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire
with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing
the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straight
Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines,
accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book,
(19:59):
and all the best g Do yourself a favor and
listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. For hot
water that never runs out, tankless made simple dot Com.
Tankless made simple dot Com, Navian water filter, say money
efficient space. So Mike mulvihill is the Fox Sports Executive
(20:22):
Vice president, head of Strategy and Analytics, so I lean
on him often for TV questions. How schedules are molded
side behind the velvet rope of our business, and a
lot of people are fascinated by this stuff. I know
whenever I've done podcasts or had Mike on, we get
great feedback. So, first of all, how many different versions
(20:43):
of the schedule are made before the final one's introduced.
So thanks for having me here. It's great to be
with you, great to be back in the studio. There
are The number that was related to me yesterday was
that they went through eighty thousand iterations of the schedule
over the last couple of months before finally landing on
the one that was released last night. So this is
a process that plays out over several months. We start
(21:05):
our conversations with the league just before the Super Bowl.
Every network submits a wish list of games. We give
them a top thirty. They take those lists, they start
their process. We have a lot of back and forth
throughout the winter months about games they could potentially anchor
an America's Game of the Week window, games that could
be useful for Thursday night football. Does this game go early,
this game go late. There's a lot of dialogue, but
(21:28):
I should be really clear, ultimately, it's the league's job
to author the schedule, They create the schedule, and the
role that we play is some combination of advisor and lobbyist.
You know, we're trying to give as much insight and
help as we can, and we're also trying to lobby
for the games that we want, and every network is
doing that. Everybody wants Green Bay, Kansas City, everybody wants Dallas,
(21:49):
Tampa Bay. And then we find out yesterday which Christmas
presents we got. How do you navigate through an Aaron
Rodgers trade rumor? Because the Packers are so spectacularly popular popular, Yeah,
the Aaron Rodgers story definitely casts a little bit of
a shadow over the process over these last couple of weeks,
and we had a number of conversations with Howard Katz
(22:11):
and Mike North and our colleagues at the league about
how we wanted to approach this situation. You know, I
would start by saying that, without question, our preferred outcome
is for the MVP to be back at lambeau Field
or quarterbacking the Green Bay Packers. They've been an incredibly
important brand to the NFC package for thirty years, going
back to Brett Farve's emergence. So we would love to
(22:33):
see the status quo, but we feel like we are
well prepared to adapt if Aaron Rodgers isn't back in
Green Bay. You know, because we regionalize our games and
because on a typical doubleheader Sunday we might have five
to seven games, you know, we have that optionality to
move a game from one o'clock to four twenty five,
(22:54):
to change the percentage of the country that's going to
see a game, and we can dial up or dial
back games in response to conditions on the field. That's
what we did last year. The NFC East didn't pan
out the way that we all thought it would. We
had some big NFC East games in November and December.
We were able to move some games around and adjust
to that and it works out just fine. And because
we had that flexibility, I think that's a big reason
(23:15):
why our late afternoon games on Sundays are the number
one show on TV, because we can react to events
as they happen. What are storylines that interest you stuff early?
I think Stafford to the Rams is very interesting to me. Yeah,
I think the Stafford to the Rams story is interesting
to us too. Because the way the schedule fell, we
have twelve La Rams appearances. I think we obviously believe
(23:38):
that they're a championship contender. I think a lot of
people feel that way. When you have twelve Rams games
and nine San Francisco forty nine Er games, you know,
it does give you a certain opinion on how you'd
like to see that division play out. I mean, I
think there's a lot of benefit to us if Stafford
comes in and plays at a high level and the
Rams are competing throughout the season. What does Fox's schedule
(23:59):
every but he loves our schedule, but give me a
uniqueness to the Fox schedule. Look very simply. I think
what makes our package different and what makes Fox different
is very simply the NFC. The NFC has always been
our identity. It's the home of the brands that do
the most to drive national viewership, those being the Cowboys
(24:20):
and the Packers, and now you can put Tampa Bay
and Tom Brady in that category. But aside from the
brands and from a business perspective, it's also the markets
that are part of the NFC. We're obviously New York
in LA, but we're also Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle,
and those are the markets that really drive the American economy.
So as a business proposition, you know, our NFC markets
(24:43):
generate about two trillion dollars more in economic activity every
year than the AFC markets do. We think that's a
real business advantage for us. Obviously has nothing to do
with the game on the field, But when we approach
advertisers and we try to make this package work financially,
that's a big differentiator. That's a big deal there. Something
that goes into the creation of this Fans wouldn't know about,
some little quirky niche thing that guys like, I'm so
(25:06):
fascinated by the nuts and bolts of it. Yeah, you know,
I think what we try to do, and I know
the league has made this a point of emphasis in
the last couple of years is have geographic balance and
try to make sure that we have something in every
window for every part of the country. If you're a
fan sitting at home, your experience of a Sunday afternoon
generally is that you see your local team in the
early window and you see the big national game in
(25:27):
the late window. So that idea of geographic balance just
isn't relevant. But when we're looking at a map of
the entire country. We want to make sure that we've
got something for that NFC North footprint, something for the
East Coast, something for out here in the West. And
I think the league is taking that into account much
more now than they were as recently as a few
years ago. And it really shows in our schedule. When
(25:48):
we went through it yesterday, I didn't see a single
week where I felt, Wow, what are we going to
do on this week for the Midwest or what are
we going to do for the Southeast. It really felt
like we had every region covered, you know, Mike Mulvihill.
It's interesting, you know, I think of the biggest brands
in the NFL, I think Dallas, I think Pittsburgh, I
think Green Bay is you know, New England's funny once
(26:10):
Brady leaves, they're not nearly as interest thing, right Like
it's Is there a brand that's bigger than I would think?
For instance, you say San Francisco, Is that a big brand?
In research? Yeah, there's no doubt. I think the two
teams that are sleeping giants in our package are the
Niners and the Chicago Bears. You know, they both come
with a lot of history of success. They have they
come from very big markets. In the case of Chicago,
(26:32):
they bring not just the number three market, but they
bring all those surrounding markets in downstate Illinois and Iowa
in Indiana, and they really do add up. So when
the Bears are competing and the Bears have a chance
to make a deep playoff run, that's really impactful for us.
We're very happy to see them trade up. Inte justin Fields,
did you know immediately Tampa Bay and Brady were going
(26:53):
to be a ratings hit? Like? Was that just automatic understood? Yeah?
I think so. I mean I certainly wasn't predicting a
Super Bowl championship. I try not to be in the
predict the business of predictions unless it comes to you.
But can they go tote toe like that Dallas Tampa Bay? Like,
are they cluck? Can they go tote toe? That guy's
Brady got that poll? Yeah? Absolutely, And you know, we're
(27:13):
happy to have the Bucks on our schedule to ten
times this year. We've got them in some really important windows,
and I think coming off the Super Bowl championship, they're
going to be even more of a ratings factor this
year than they were last season. And also Alabama's dynasty's
kind of sleepy. This is a championship team with all
sorts of fireworks grong, so it's like it's a good
team to be dominating. They got offensive players. Arians Brady.
(27:37):
By the way, you have an announcement to make I
believe it's a college football announcement. Yeah, you know. I
guess in looking at the schedule and thinking about weeks
that really jump out and have a chance to be special,
a week that jumps out to me is Week one. Yes,
right at the start of the NFL really went big.
Week one right, the Thursday night game Dallas and Tampa
(27:58):
Bay is a phenomenal game. Hats off to NBA. See
I hope they knock it out of the park. That's
a great way to start the season for us at Fox.
It's a huge weekend because on Saturday, we're going to
have and we're revealing this for the first time, Oregon
Ohio State will be our big noon game in that
noon eastern window, one of the I think one of
the three best non conference games in the entire country
(28:19):
this year. So that's new information. Oregon Ohio State for
Big Noon. We will have Yankees Mets later that night.
It's the twentieth anniversary of nine to eleven, so that
obviously has a chance to be a very special commemoration.
And all of that pushes into our Week one doubleheader,
which I think is going to be one of the
most fun days of the season because both Fox and
(28:39):
CBS have a doubleheader on the day, we have Green Bay,
New Orleans in the late window. CBS has Kansas City
Cleveland at Kansas City. That's gonna be an absolute feast
for viewers. It's very rare that the viewer at home
has five NFL games to choose from on a Sunday.
So from that Dallas Tampa game on Thursday, through what
we think is a really special college ball game at
(29:00):
noon on Saturday, through an absolute overabundance of great NFL
action to kick off the season, it's gonna be a
great way to start the year. I think over the
next couple months there are going to be a lot
of America is Back kind of moments as we get
past the pandemic and get back to normal. I think
for sports fans that weekend from Thursday all the way
through Sunday is really going to feel like a back
(29:22):
to normal and America is back weekend. That's what we
wanted to be. Yeah. Good stuff. So Mike mulva Hill,
sports executive vice president at Fox, a little bit on
how the as they say, sausage is made. It's fascinating
stuff in the NFL. So many games are interesting. I
even think Jets Carolina darnaled against the team that dumped
him week ten. Maybe I don't care week one. It's
(29:45):
a fascinating watch. Mike. It's great having you on the show.
Thanks for having me. All right, speak for yourself as
around the corner. I'm off tomorrow, Joey, Taylor, Ryan, all
you guys, thank you so much, and thanks to Mike.
NFL schedules out. I'm flying to Chicago. I'm going to
chew on it more. There can't get enough it. See
you the Herd
Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday from twelve to three eastern
nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS one.
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 heard, you're listening to Fox
Sports Radio. Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be
(00:23):
sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve to
three eastern nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
and FS one. 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 heard, you're
listening to Fox Sports Radio. How lucky are we? Eighteen
(00:44):
years at Oklahoma, national champion, at ten time Big twelve
coach of the year, one of the great I mean,
really top four or five coaches last twenty five years
in college football. He'd be embarrassed by that because he's
a humble guy. Bob Stoops, who's the newest member of
the Big Noon kickoff team. Urban Meyer was here. We
gone big shoes to fill, but that's why we went
out and got Bob Stoops. It is great to see you. Um,
(01:06):
when your name came up before, I don't know how
far the negotiations were, and uh, you know, they said,
well what do you what do you make And I said, well,
I think Stoop should go into coaching still. I think
he's got ten years left to coach. And they said,
you know, he may work at Fox, and I thought,
we're gonna get Bob Stoops. So it's great to have
her as part of the team. I appreciate it. Calling.
I'm really looking forward to big Noon Saturday, working with
(01:29):
the team. Working here at Fox. It's been been awesome
with a great team and what great camaraderie already and
h but I'm a little concerned that they brought me
on your show to argue about bright Baker Mayfield and
I don't I don't think I'm the right guy for
you to beat to argue Baker Mayfield about. Now he's
gonna do fine by the way he's got He's gonna
(01:49):
do fine this year. It is interesting, Um, we'll get
into some of the you know, Oklahoma when you were there,
put a lot of guys in the NFL. Similarly they
do it with Lincoln Ryan and a lot of times
a legend leaves almost always and you never find the replacement.
I mean, it's almost a guarantee you can never a play.
(02:10):
I mean, Alabama's going to have their hands full. And
then you guys get Lincoln Riley. And it almost felt
like to me, because you're you were so selfless that
you could have kept going, but you thought to yourself,
I found the guy. This is perfect. That's what it
felt like to me. No, it's truly that way. I'm
you know, I've always said I wasn't going to be
(02:30):
a lifer. I wasn't going to coach till I wasn't
going to coach till I was old. I guess I'm old, though.
But in the end, I knew the right guy was
there in all the right ways, just the person, the
man that he is, family man that he is, the
leadership qualities, the way you connected with players. I just
(02:51):
knew this was perfect. That I could step out, and
it would have killed me to have hurt the program.
But I knew if I could step out in the
saying they could continue on in the same manner and
hopefully make improvements, that this is the right time. And
I knew there was strong structure around them that was
still remained in place grain a d president. Yeah, so
(03:12):
that's why that's and I just thought, you know, I
don't want to miss the right moment. And it was perfect.
And Lincoln's doing a great job now, he's terrific. We
bring him on all the time. Oklahoma's a top five
program all time, top three probably right now. So Urban
Meyer's going college to pro. And it's interesting because for
years and years a lot of the guys Pete Carroll
was in the NFL went to college back to the NFL.
(03:35):
Tom Coughlin had even done some NFL position coaching. Urban
had told me years ago, I don't even watch the
NFL like Sunday is it's film day. And so I
think Urban smart, curious, intellectual, he'll figure it out. You
have been offered NFL jobs, you didn't take them. If
from all the opportunities you've had, what does it take,
(03:58):
because some guys have worked, I'm having college de pro.
What would concern you? What would make you hopeful with Urban?
You know as much as any It's hard for me
to speak of it since I'm no expert and I
haven't coached in the NFL. So that part of it
you know, take, you know, you just got to take
for what it is. But to me, it's the schedule,
the length of the length of the season, the length
(04:21):
of preseason, keeping players healthy, managing all of that. You're
going to surround yourself with great coaches at whatever level,
they're going to help you win or not win. So
no one does it by their self in our game.
But so to me, the biggest part would be to
handle that length of a schedule that you know, that
many football games and how to manage it twenty games
(04:43):
that doesn't account playoffs. You know. Reggie Bush and I
were just talking in back here part of our you know,
big noon Saturday team, and I said to me, it'd
be like I'd be like maybe basketball, I'd be rotating players,
counting how many snaps each guy has had midway through
the year, who's had so many you know, almost you know,
like again, like basketball, does you just use your entire roster?
(05:05):
I know everyone does, but I mean even in the
rotation of your normal downs as making sure we're keeping
up with how, you know, how long a guy's been
on the field. So I grew up with Oklahoma and
Barry Switzer and literally ten guys in the backfield and
one receiver. It was a power program. And then Bob
Stoops come in, and this is one of the things
I've always admired about Saban. Saban just acknowledged we got
(05:28):
to spread it out. The game's changing. You did it
before him. You literally were like, I mean, Oklahoma football
was the running program in America with Nebraska, and you
were like, at some point, all right, fellas, run them
out here we go. Do you Why were you so
willing to adapt and evolved? Did you go to camps?
(05:48):
Did you? Were you? It was at fear base that
I'm gonna get overwhelmed here if I don't involve. You
know what it was When I first was hired at Oklahoma,
I hired Mike Leach. In the primary reason I hired
Mike Leach he was working as the offensive coordinator with
How Mummy at Kentucky. I'm the defensive coordinator at Florida,
and the person the team that gave me the most
(06:10):
problems and drove me crazy was Kentucky. They had the
most first downs in the league, they had the most points,
on and on and on, and so I called how
Mummy because I knew I couldn't hire him. He wasn't
going to leave his head coaching position. I said, hey,
can Mike Leach be the run the offense and do
the things you do at Kentucky? He said absolutely. I
just wanted to know could he be that kind of leader?
(06:32):
And Mike is Mike's a leader. He has his own
way of doing things. But anyway, so I hired Mike
and all he did his show Tim Couch's Highlights. When
we were recruiting, we really didn't have any quality, big
time quarterbacks on campus. So when Mike arrives, we get
Josh Hypel, runner up in the Heisman Trophy went and
(06:53):
also a national champion quarterback. We get Jason White, most
decorated player in Oklahoma history when you look at a
war and brought us to two national championship games. And
then in Nate Hibble, who won us a Big Twelve
championship and he's a Rose Bowl MVP. Those three guys
came that year that I hired Mike Leach right off
the start. Isn't that funny? The coach who drove you
(07:14):
crazy in the SEC is the guy who hired in
Oklahoma because you couldn't stop him. And by the way,
it takes guts because Mike is his own guy. He says,
you know, loves pirates. If I'd have known him, then
maybe I wouldn't have fired. I'm kidding. I love Mike.
He's awesome and he was a great hire for me.
So Texas, this is interesting. So Oklahoma and Texas top
(07:35):
three rivalry in the sport, and they hired Steve sarkheesian
and I think he's gonna work and I think Bobby's
gonna work big at USC. He had some personal issues
that he's overcome, but he can recruit. He's got a
good eye for personnel. He's young, he's got a good
energy about When Sark walks in a room, there's a
presence to him. Your thoughts on the task at Texas
(07:57):
because they don't have I watched that draft. There's not
a ton of Texas guys got drafted this year. Is
it a huge rebuild or are they close? Well, I
don't know why would be a huge rebuild. They've had
the top recruiting class the last three years in the
Big twelve and it's been top ten nationally. So they
have players. Unlike when we walked it in Oklahoma, that
I don't think that was the case. So bottom line,
(08:19):
they have players. To me, it's about development and and
I do believe I agree with you. I think Steve
Sarkisian is a really great coach. He's got a really good,
great track record, and I believe he'll, you know, he'll
he'll do really well, hopefully just not as well as Oklahoma.
So Spencer Rattler joy last year is like, you gotta
watch this kid. And I watched a lot of Oklahoma games.
(08:41):
So Spencer Rattlers the quarterback, and there is a long
there's a big people are suggesting he'd be the number
one pick. Wouldn't surprise me. And it's funny because there's
a I mean, I think he's more naturally gifted than
a baker. He's a little bit of a gun slinger.
And it works in Oklahoma because in the Big twelve
there's a lot of points you can throw the occasional pick.
(09:02):
It's okay, right, Well, now there's a lot of points
in the SEC too. Now that there's some quarterbacks that
are throwing the ball around, so you've always poked the
SEC in the ribs. Well, I'm just saying, look at
LSU when you know, and the last year ago or
two years ago, look at Alabama that the last couple
of years, there's you know, when there's great quality quarterback play,
it's hard to deal with. So Spencer Rattler, if I'd
(09:24):
never seen him play, what makes him special? Um? Great release,
great arm, just got a got one of those. He
has the ability to throw the ball at any angle
and got a really quick release and very accurate. How
long did you guys recruit him there? I mean he
was he good at eighth grade, ninth grade, and he
committed to owe you when I was there. Holy mo.
(09:47):
He committed young, I want to say, a sophomore or
junior year, and then I stepped away. But of course
Lincoln had the best relationship with him. Yeah, and of
course he stayed with us, knowing Lincoln was going to
be a guy and to be as quarterback coach and
head coach. By the way, your son Drakes a receiver
at Oklahoma. Do you miss the juice of game day? Oh? Yeah,
(10:08):
you know, nothing in life, you know, compares to that.
You know, people, you you do. As a coach, you
get addicted to the to the you know the excitement
of it, the intensity of it, all and the pressure
of it. Oddly you get you love it, you know,
because you really know you're alive when you're you're pulling
in that stadium or walking walking down that ramp getting
(10:29):
ready to kick it off, not knowing the outcome, you know,
so uh sure you miss it. I don't. I don't
know that you ever get used to it. You know.
It's one of the things I always respected about Oklahoma.
You played Notre Dame m You're just thinking of the
big games you played Ohio State, Alabama, Alabama, or to State.
You know, no shot at the SEC, but yeah, I
(10:50):
can only see Citadel so many times on those schedules.
You have always said bringing the big dogs. By the way,
that's not necessarily always great for you because everybody watches it.
If it's Week one or two and you lose, you
got to build your way back up voter confidence. So
what was Bob Stoop's theory? USC, by the way, has
always done that too. USC wants to schedule big games.
What was your theory on that. Once we won the
(11:12):
national championship in two thousand, I said to our athletic director,
joke as Siglio, and look, if we're going to be
a big dog. We're gonna play other big ducks. I mean,
we're we're not going to shy away from anybody. And
we didn't, I think in two thousand and three on
our out of conference schedule we had Oregon and Alabama yep.
So we were always willing to play big games, you know,
(11:34):
home and away, you know, take our turns and never again.
We just felt that way. If you're going to be
a ranked top five, ten ranked team, you're not afraid
to go play anywhere anytime. By the way, it is
funny a lot of college coaches they want to coach
until you know they're on a golf cart and you
know they can. You know they're gonna be helped around campus.
You left ten miles early, you, I mean, now you've
(11:57):
got a beautiful wife, great family. But it is interesting,
you are rare most coaches they stick around forever. What
was it do you think in your DNA that you're like,
I'm not going to be that guy. Well, I just
have always had other interests in life, and as much
as anything, I appreciate and enjoy my own time and
(12:17):
with my family, with my friends, doing things I want
to do, and in our profession. It's all consuming, and
at a certain point I figured, you know, I've loved
what I've done. It couldn't have been better. I mean,
I had so much fun, but it was just time
to gab my own time. And in life, I don't
think you until you open yourself up to other opportunities,
(12:37):
you don't know what else is out there. So in
the end that I miss it, heckya. But do I
regret it? No, you know, so it is just time
for me. And I felt too, you know, after eighteen
years in one place that I had run my course there,
that it was just perfect time for me to step
away and let the you know, the program continue with
(12:57):
Lincoln now, Leonard and Reggie you're very nice, but Notre
Dame guys, Brady Quinn, you gotta keep your eye on it.
These Notre Dame guys. You gotta just fire back at Brady.
You know, the the SEC guys, Elie La guys are
all laid back. Yeah, they've been easy on me. So
but anyway, it's a great crew, you know, Brady, said
Brady Quinn. Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, Rob Stone, keeping everybody
(13:20):
in line. So I'm really excited about it. And can't wait,
you know, for the fall. So lucky to have you.
Thank you, great to see you again. I appreciate it, Colin.
Always good to be on with you. All right, go Baker,
Baker's gonna have a very by By the way, I
picked the Browns to win the division. You did? Yeah?
All right? Joy knows people only hear the bad stuff.
What happens when I say nice stuff? It just disappears
(13:43):
into the ether. Nobody hears it. Be sure to catch
live editions of The Herd weekdays and noon Eastern a Empacific. No, no,
on the news. This is the Herd Line News. Something
else about Spencer Rattler, Colin, what I know? You like this?
He is two sport athlete. Oh he is. He won
a state championship his senior year, played alongside Nico Mannion,
(14:06):
who was drafted by the Warriors this year. Eighteen points
in the state championship game. Like that? Yes, yeah, So.
Tom Brady's a much anticipated return to Foxborough will happen
October three. Bucks Patriots will be the Sunday night football
game in Week four. He played twenty seasons with the Patriots,
obviously with Bill Belichick. He will enter the season, just
(14:28):
one one hundred and fifty four yards behind Drew Brees
for the NFL's career passing record, so with the Patriots
game in Week four, he could be in line to
break that record. In Foxborough, Brady, who has become just
really excellent at social media since his time away from
New England's, tweeted this morning about returning. It's like when
(14:50):
your high school friends meet your college friends. That's funny,
which Bettye Woe, who went to college, can relate to.
The Bucks are favored by three over the Patriots, according
to Fox bet right now. This will also be a
homecoming for Gronk as well, who played nine seasons with God.
Can you imagine the reaction Brady'll get? Can you imagine that?
(15:12):
I think he'll be very well received. It will be that,
first of all, the rating that game is gonna get
is a monster. Well, I just want to see, I think,
along with everyone else, what the interaction between Balicheck and
him is. Well, Belichick is not warm and fuzzy, right,
But here's the thing about Bill. He is when he
(15:33):
wants to be, when he wants support on. There is
no one more a complimentary He doesn't every single week
because he talks about the opposing quarterback glowingly, even if
they're terrible. Every single week it's his move, great prost
the ball or distributor, roll strong strong. You can tell
he's great in the room. He's always saying nice things
about people when he wants to. So I don't know
(15:55):
he's sneaky that one stuff. I do want to see
how they act. I think it'll be like a quick,
a quick little hug, pat in the back, a little
church hug, little space between. Yeah. So five quarterbacks were
drafted in the first round this year, and there's obviously
a lot of speculation about when each of them will
start their first game. So Yahoo Sports made a prediction
for each quarterback and when they're gonna start. We like
(16:17):
playing this game. So obviously Trevor Lawrence is gonna start
Week one against the Texans. We're assuming Zach Wilson is
gonna start Week one against the Panthers. So they have
Trey Lands starting Week one at the Lions. Oh no,
Justin Fields week four against the Lions. This sounds about right.
What did we discuss earlier with Justin Fields? Where do
we say it was gonna wait? The bottom line is
as you pointed out, the city of Chicago needs juice. Well,
(16:42):
they're going to want him out there, but they're also
their buys and until week ten, and they're not going
to run Andy Dalton until week ten. Yeah, okay, So
you don't believe Trey Lance week one, No mac Jones
week eleven at the Falcons. That's I looked at their
schedule this morning. If he was gonna start this year,
that would be it. I don't I don't think mac
Jones sees the field of Cam Newton is injured. Well,
in Cam's last couple of years, I mean, yeah, he's
(17:04):
get board, but unless he is healthy the whole year,
I don't think that mac Jones is gonna be out there. Okay,
So the only one you really disagree with is is Trailians.
I don't think he's at first. I don't think he's
ready to play. And I also think in that division,
which is going to be decided by a game, it
could be a tiebreaker division, you I think you would
just start the guy who's been there. There's no hurry.
(17:24):
If Garoppolo's there, what's the hurry? Is Garoppolo going to
be healthy? If he is, I would start him. I
just think that division. I'm not taking any chances, like,
let's just win. Well. Also, Trey hasn't played a game
in a long time, so yeah, so he's not like
these other incoming rookies who you know, even though he
has the same amount of stars as mac Jones, he
hasn't He did not play this past year, so you
(17:46):
have to account for that as well. Okay. Finally, due
to the nature of the twenty twenty season, the Lakers
said they wouldn't reveal their latest championship banner until they
could have fans in the stands. Last night, they were
able to raise it in front of two thousand fans
at Savill Center, and Lebron let them know that they
are motivated to bring another be in her home to LA.
I know we're missing a lot of our Laker faithful,
(18:07):
but this is absolutely for you guys. We said we
would not reveal this banner until we had some of
you guys in the seat, So this is you guys moment.
We had our ring night. We wanted you guys there,
but we made sure we saved the banner for y'all.
So we love you guys, and on a road to
back to back starts about a week. So let's get
gone now. We'll see. He's still day to day. Frank
(18:30):
Vogel said it's possible Lebron plays in the last two games,
but there's no clear word on his return. I don't
know why you would rush Lebron back at this point, Like,
what's what's the point. It's not like he doesn't know
how to play in the playoffs. He's uh. They're battling
the injury bug. Obviously they didn't have Lebron. They gave
another night of rust to a D Dennis Shooter and
Alex Crusoe. So they're currently the seventh seed out West,
(18:51):
so it'll be interesting for the Lakers. I don't look
at it. It's the same way as they did in
the bubble. They didn't have time off. They're coming in
very banged up into the playoffs. Not what you want
to be dealing with at this point in the season.
You want to be rolling all years flowing. But if
they can all be out there, it's hard to count
Lebron out. Yep Joy with the news. Well that's the news,
(19:14):
and thanks for stopping by the herdline. New Fox Sports
vice President head of Strategy Michael mulva Hill. He's going
to tell you how they lay out the schedule. Fascinating stuff.
It is very complex. The schedule is out, he joins us. Next,
be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
(19:36):
FS one and the iHeartRadio app. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre.
Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire
with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing
the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straight
Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines,
accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book,
(19:59):
and all the best g Do yourself a favor and
listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. For hot
water that never runs out, tankless made simple dot Com.
Tankless made simple dot Com, Navian water filter, say money
efficient space. So Mike mulvihill is the Fox Sports Executive
(20:22):
Vice president, head of Strategy and Analytics, so I lean
on him often for TV questions. How schedules are molded
side behind the velvet rope of our business, and a
lot of people are fascinated by this stuff. I know
whenever I've done podcasts or had Mike on, we get
great feedback. So, first of all, how many different versions
(20:43):
of the schedule are made before the final one's introduced.
So thanks for having me here. It's great to be
with you, great to be back in the studio. There
are The number that was related to me yesterday was
that they went through eighty thousand iterations of the schedule
over the last couple of months before finally landing on
the one that was released last night. So this is
a process that plays out over several months. We start
(21:05):
our conversations with the league just before the Super Bowl.
Every network submits a wish list of games. We give
them a top thirty. They take those lists, they start
their process. We have a lot of back and forth
throughout the winter months about games they could potentially anchor
an America's Game of the Week window, games that could
be useful for Thursday night football. Does this game go early,
this game go late. There's a lot of dialogue, but
(21:28):
I should be really clear, ultimately, it's the league's job
to author the schedule, They create the schedule, and the
role that we play is some combination of advisor and lobbyist.
You know, we're trying to give as much insight and
help as we can, and we're also trying to lobby
for the games that we want, and every network is
doing that. Everybody wants Green Bay, Kansas City, everybody wants Dallas,
(21:49):
Tampa Bay. And then we find out yesterday which Christmas
presents we got. How do you navigate through an Aaron
Rodgers trade rumor? Because the Packers are so spectacularly popular popular, Yeah,
the Aaron Rodgers story definitely casts a little bit of
a shadow over the process over these last couple of weeks,
and we had a number of conversations with Howard Katz
(22:11):
and Mike North and our colleagues at the league about
how we wanted to approach this situation. You know, I
would start by saying that, without question, our preferred outcome
is for the MVP to be back at lambeau Field
or quarterbacking the Green Bay Packers. They've been an incredibly
important brand to the NFC package for thirty years, going
back to Brett Farve's emergence. So we would love to
(22:33):
see the status quo, but we feel like we are
well prepared to adapt if Aaron Rodgers isn't back in
Green Bay. You know, because we regionalize our games and
because on a typical doubleheader Sunday we might have five
to seven games, you know, we have that optionality to
move a game from one o'clock to four twenty five,
(22:54):
to change the percentage of the country that's going to
see a game, and we can dial up or dial
back games in response to conditions on the field. That's
what we did last year. The NFC East didn't pan
out the way that we all thought it would. We
had some big NFC East games in November and December.
We were able to move some games around and adjust
to that and it works out just fine. And because
we had that flexibility, I think that's a big reason
(23:15):
why our late afternoon games on Sundays are the number
one show on TV, because we can react to events
as they happen. What are storylines that interest you stuff early?
I think Stafford to the Rams is very interesting to me. Yeah,
I think the Stafford to the Rams story is interesting
to us too. Because the way the schedule fell, we
have twelve La Rams appearances. I think we obviously believe
(23:38):
that they're a championship contender. I think a lot of
people feel that way. When you have twelve Rams games
and nine San Francisco forty nine Er games, you know,
it does give you a certain opinion on how you'd
like to see that division play out. I mean, I
think there's a lot of benefit to us if Stafford
comes in and plays at a high level and the
Rams are competing throughout the season. What does Fox's schedule
(23:59):
every but he loves our schedule, but give me a
uniqueness to the Fox schedule. Look very simply. I think
what makes our package different and what makes Fox different
is very simply the NFC. The NFC has always been
our identity. It's the home of the brands that do
the most to drive national viewership, those being the Cowboys
(24:20):
and the Packers, and now you can put Tampa Bay
and Tom Brady in that category. But aside from the
brands and from a business perspective, it's also the markets
that are part of the NFC. We're obviously New York
in LA, but we're also Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle,
and those are the markets that really drive the American economy.
So as a business proposition, you know, our NFC markets
(24:43):
generate about two trillion dollars more in economic activity every
year than the AFC markets do. We think that's a
real business advantage for us. Obviously has nothing to do
with the game on the field, But when we approach
advertisers and we try to make this package work financially,
that's a big differentiator. That's a big deal there. Something
that goes into the creation of this Fans wouldn't know about,
some little quirky niche thing that guys like, I'm so
(25:06):
fascinated by the nuts and bolts of it. Yeah, you know,
I think what we try to do, and I know
the league has made this a point of emphasis in
the last couple of years is have geographic balance and
try to make sure that we have something in every
window for every part of the country. If you're a
fan sitting at home, your experience of a Sunday afternoon
generally is that you see your local team in the
early window and you see the big national game in
(25:27):
the late window. So that idea of geographic balance just
isn't relevant. But when we're looking at a map of
the entire country. We want to make sure that we've
got something for that NFC North footprint, something for the
East Coast, something for out here in the West. And
I think the league is taking that into account much
more now than they were as recently as a few
years ago. And it really shows in our schedule. When
(25:48):
we went through it yesterday, I didn't see a single
week where I felt, Wow, what are we going to
do on this week for the Midwest or what are
we going to do for the Southeast. It really felt
like we had every region covered, you know, Mike Mulvihill.
It's interesting, you know, I think of the biggest brands
in the NFL, I think Dallas, I think Pittsburgh, I
think Green Bay is you know, New England's funny once
(26:10):
Brady leaves, they're not nearly as interest thing, right Like
it's Is there a brand that's bigger than I would think?
For instance, you say San Francisco, Is that a big brand?
In research? Yeah, there's no doubt. I think the two
teams that are sleeping giants in our package are the
Niners and the Chicago Bears. You know, they both come
with a lot of history of success. They have they
come from very big markets. In the case of Chicago,
(26:32):
they bring not just the number three market, but they
bring all those surrounding markets in downstate Illinois and Iowa
in Indiana, and they really do add up. So when
the Bears are competing and the Bears have a chance
to make a deep playoff run, that's really impactful for us.
We're very happy to see them trade up. Inte justin Fields,
did you know immediately Tampa Bay and Brady were going
(26:53):
to be a ratings hit? Like? Was that just automatic understood? Yeah?
I think so. I mean I certainly wasn't predicting a
Super Bowl championship. I try not to be in the
predict the business of predictions unless it comes to you.
But can they go tote toe like that Dallas Tampa Bay? Like,
are they cluck? Can they go tote toe? That guy's
Brady got that poll? Yeah? Absolutely, And you know, we're
(27:13):
happy to have the Bucks on our schedule to ten
times this year. We've got them in some really important windows,
and I think coming off the Super Bowl championship, they're
going to be even more of a ratings factor this
year than they were last season. And also Alabama's dynasty's
kind of sleepy. This is a championship team with all
sorts of fireworks grong, so it's like it's a good
team to be dominating. They got offensive players. Arians Brady.
(27:37):
By the way, you have an announcement to make I
believe it's a college football announcement. Yeah, you know. I
guess in looking at the schedule and thinking about weeks
that really jump out and have a chance to be special,
a week that jumps out to me is Week one. Yes,
right at the start of the NFL really went big.
Week one right, the Thursday night game Dallas and Tampa
(27:58):
Bay is a phenomenal game. Hats off to NBA. See
I hope they knock it out of the park. That's
a great way to start the season for us at Fox.
It's a huge weekend because on Saturday, we're going to
have and we're revealing this for the first time, Oregon
Ohio State will be our big noon game in that
noon eastern window, one of the I think one of
the three best non conference games in the entire country
(28:19):
this year. So that's new information. Oregon Ohio State for
Big Noon. We will have Yankees Mets later that night.
It's the twentieth anniversary of nine to eleven, so that
obviously has a chance to be a very special commemoration.
And all of that pushes into our Week one doubleheader,
which I think is going to be one of the
most fun days of the season because both Fox and
(28:39):
CBS have a doubleheader on the day, we have Green Bay,
New Orleans in the late window. CBS has Kansas City
Cleveland at Kansas City. That's gonna be an absolute feast
for viewers. It's very rare that the viewer at home
has five NFL games to choose from on a Sunday.
So from that Dallas Tampa game on Thursday, through what
we think is a really special college ball game at
(29:00):
noon on Saturday, through an absolute overabundance of great NFL
action to kick off the season, it's gonna be a
great way to start the year. I think over the
next couple months there are going to be a lot
of America is Back kind of moments as we get
past the pandemic and get back to normal. I think
for sports fans that weekend from Thursday all the way
through Sunday is really going to feel like a back
(29:22):
to normal and America is back weekend. That's what we
wanted to be. Yeah. Good stuff. So Mike mulva Hill,
sports executive vice president at Fox, a little bit on
how the as they say, sausage is made. It's fascinating
stuff in the NFL. So many games are interesting. I
even think Jets Carolina darnaled against the team that dumped
him week ten. Maybe I don't care week one. It's
(29:45):
a fascinating watch. Mike. It's great having you on the show.
Thanks for having me. All right, speak for yourself as
around the corner. I'm off tomorrow, Joey, Taylor, Ryan, all
you guys, thank you so much, and thanks to Mike.
NFL schedules out. I'm flying to Chicago. I'm going to
chew on it more. There can't get enough it. See
you the Herd
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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