The Herd with Colin CowherdWhere Colin was right and wrong
5-time National Champion and former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski joins the show to tell Colin what type of prospect Cooper Flagg is and how to navigate today's era college athletics featuring NIL
Colin wants to remove the "America's Team" label from the Cowboys as we prepare for the full release of the NFL schedule and why it's time to stop putting Dallas in the premier time slots
Colin talks to new Bears head coach Ben Johnson about his vision for Caleb Williams and Chicago's offense
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 noone Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at Fox Sportsradio dot com, or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. It is a Monday live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. Nice to be in today. Jmac. The NBA Ping Pong Ball Draft lottery tonight. Very exciting, very exciting weather. It was so amazing out of here all weekend.
I forgot to ask you get your sun little suns out, guns out for you.
No beach.
I worked out, had a great time, Sadhu. Watched a lot of NBA stuff, a lot of bad NBA basketable yesterday, went and had a beer with a buddy.
That Celtics Knicks game Saturday was unwatchable, kind of watchable.
To be honest with you, why if I had, you know, I think Boston's gonna win this ser well, not if the Knicks win tonight. If the Knicks win tonight, I think.
They got a great chance to win the series as well, nickl.
If the Knicks win tonight, they're gonna win the series. By the way, Celtics have led every game by twenty second of the seven games this year. That's not great. It's their formula, all right, it's a Monday right wrong as oh was plenty of both. Here we go where Colin was right, Jannis, according to Shams, is going to explore the best fits outside of Milwaukee. We've been saying this for the last year to year and a half. You got a trophy, you don't control your first picks. You're not close to being in Indiana, a Cleveland, a Boston, an ok C. And you're not close to being a San Antonio in Houston. Potentially after the draft lottery tonight, it's time to reboot. And according to Shams, that's what Milwaukee and Yanni's plan to do.
Where Colin was raw.
If you'd have told me the Knicks would beat Boston both times in Boston, I'd have said you're crazy. If it had told me Boston was lead by twenty in both games or more and still lose. I'd to say impossible, but the impossible happen. Hard to explain. What I watched in Boston is the Knicks currently lead two to one. Again very clearly, one roster has eight guys who can shoot, pass, and handle the ball. New York is not that roster. But if they win tonight, Boston's in big trouble. Where Colin was right, I said teams didn't want to draft Shanor Sanders once he got out of the first round because they didn't want to Tim Tebow's circus. And sure enough, even though he was the second quarterback taken by the Cleveland Browns. What were the questions about from the Cleveland media at camp?
This will probably fall in deaf ears, but don't look too much into it. There's plenty of reps. There's a lot of time between now and September, so we'll have a plan. But it's an all encompassing evaluation. It's not something that it's just based on the the practice reps.
There's a lot that goes into first questions, why is Shadu or not getting the starting reps? You knew it was coming. It's t bow two point zero. Where Colin was raw Derek Carr retired. I listen. I always liked him. A four time All Pro during the bad al Pro bowler during the Al Davis Kruddy years, which is hard to do. He was a life preserver for a terribly run franchise. Third season in the league, he was third in the MVP vote, second round rout of Fresno State. I liked him a lot, but there's not much you can do. The Raiders were a mess when he was there. And then Dennis Allen is not a head coach, He's more of a coordinator. I thought he was going to have a Philip Rivers career where you didn't maybe watch a ton of them in college, but you're going to look at the end of his career and there'd be some Hall of Fame votes. And he retired yesterday and it never transpired.
Where Colin was right.
Well, The Athletic is reporting that NFL teams laughed at the Cowboys for giving up a third round pick for George Pickens, the very talented but an incredibly vollied a wide receiver. And as we said, when Mike Tomlin moves off a drama filled offensive playmaker, they do not recover. I can give you about seven examples. This is also Jerry Jones once again. As the NFL front offices have gotten younger and shrewder, the Cowboys are giving away draft picks like skittles. The Cowboys, to me have one of the weaker rosters overall in the league. Where Colin was wrong Julius Randall. Where did this come from? I always kind of liked him, but his assist totals have gone through the roof. He has led Julius Randall has led the tea Wolves and assists and by the way, with New York, they wanted him to be a one pre Jalen Brunton, and that's not what he is. But I never saw him as a two. I saw him as a three. He was great against the Lakers, been excellent in this series. He had a triple double Saturday, And we just got to be honest. Here is it late developing? No, it's probably this staff Chris Finch has assembled knows how to use him. I don't think he's a better player. I think he is used more efficiently in Minnesota. And good for Julius Randall.
Where Colin was right.
I did not buy the odds makers who had OKC at minus eight hundred to bury the Nuggets. I said this is gonna be a six or seven game series. Jokich is the best player in the world, and even though I love Okc's roster construct and depth, I would take the Nuggets starting five if he gave me a quarter to play for the championship. Again, OKAC is built to win the entire thing, and maybe Denver with no bench isn't. But it was disrespectful the odds had this thing being a four or five game series, and I'm sorry. Denver's got three great playoff veterans who have been a lot of these close, big games.
Where Colin was right.
Well, the Steelers enter twenty twenty five as the only team in the league without their top quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and left tackle from last year. I have said this for years. They don't take offense seriously. Once again third year in a row. They are among the league leaders in defensive spending. I'll get to this later, but they become opposite of the Rams with an offensive coach and offensive spending and no drama. But it is remarkable there's only one team in this league quarterback, running back, wide receiver, left tackle, gone gone, gone gone in an offensive league. I like Mike Tomlin, respect the Rooneyes, but they just feel out of touch. For twenty twenty five NFL Football.
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Well, there's no basketball coach ever. I'm reading the accolades the most wins by any head basketball coach in men's basketball history. That's pretty good. That seems like that'd be near the top of my resume. Five natties, forty two years at Duke, the gold Standard program twenty four to zero. Is an Olympic coach and now a public speaker with grandkids in the area. What a life for Mike Krzyzewski, who's now joining US Live. You know you told me years ago, you said, Colin, I start recruiting guys six to seven years before you you see me sign them. So let's talk Cooper Flag. Basketball is a very unique sport where you can see at ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, you can see special. Do you remember the first time you saw Cooper Flag?
You know I do not because.
I'm three years retired so Shire must have seen him when he was fourteen team, but I did see him when he was at Mont D. Yeah, like, yeah, they have Actually they have four from his high school team. They have four kids are going to be first round draft picks. And I knew he was special, but because they had so much talent, I didn't realize how special he is. And this kid plays every play hard and yes, every play, every play.
Yeah, people have compared him, I think almost favorably to Jason Tatum. When I watch him, he feels a little more aggressive than Jason, and he's an aggressive attacking player. Do you think that comp is fair and realistic?
I don't.
I think they're two different players. They're both six eight. Actually, I think Cooper grew about an inch here. You know, he's still only eighteen years old, so he's still growing end up being sixteen. Uh, but uh, I think offensively, you know, Jason really has developed into a great shooter. H We're waiting to find out about his injury. But uh uh, he's really developed differently than I think Cooper will develop.
Uh.
Cooper is.
Just unique, you know, like he he's Yeah, he's so strong, his legs are so strong and athletically, he's gifted, but attitude, and when you add his athletic ability and his competitive attitude, you have a very special guy. And Uh, he can really score the ball. I think he's a good shooter, uh, trying to become a really good shooter, whereas Jason, Jason is that shooter.
I read Ian O'Connor's book about you, which I thought was fascinating on so many levels, and it's so funny John Wooden in you. You know, you're obviously the all time greats. But John Wooden, it took a long time for him to win at UCLA. And as Ian O'Connor pointed out, there was a meeting or two about Mike Krzyzewski in about your fourth year and people are like, we don't know if this kid from Army is gonna work. You endured for a lot of reasons. You're smart, you're collaborative, you were a grinder. There's a lot of reasons. But when I look at college basketball today, do you like the place we're in? Tom Izzo's a survivor, but a lot of the big ones have left. Sometimes college football I think is too impatient. Do you think college basketball is good to coaches because the NBA, I could argue, is not a great place to coach. Is college basketball today?
Actually, I think the NBA is a better price to coach. I think college basketball now is pretty much like the NBA, except there's no transparency. In other words, you're at one school on at another. I don't know what you're doing for a player. You don't know what I'm doing for a player. And it's really professional right now or college basketball, but the product is outstanding and kids are staying longer because of n IL. You're getting older teams, the influx of international, young international pro players to college. There you can win quicker in college now. And there's by John Shire has done a great job here at Duke replacing me, and I've told him, I said, I think you've done a better job than I would have done in the last three years with all the changes, because I would have always been saying stuff, well, it used to be this way, it used to be that way, and for you you're just starting out, it wasn't used to be it is and right now. I just think people should put their arms around college sports, especially college basketball, in my opinion, and run it like a business because it is a business and the product is great. Though there's so much talent out there.
You know, there's an argument people have made. I don't know if I concur with it, but it's an interesting argument that JJ Reddick is smart, he's very tightly wound. That in the NBA, in big games, he kind of he's a teeth clencher a little bit. He's very very intense. And in the NBA as a coach, he was very intense. And people say, boy, it's not about that, it's it's more Steve Kerr, you got to be part psychologist, part schematic guy. That maybe JJ is is just too intense. When you watched I mean and listen, it's a good quality to have. What do you make of I mean, you were intense. I watched you write officials for several years. Is what do you make of those discussions about JJ that maybe he's wound a little tight.
Now you know he he wants to win and his preparation to win is outstanding. You know, there's a learning curve in every profession. I thought he had a great, great uh season and uh, his players, he went over his players. His players know how hard he works. And yeah, he was a terrific player. He uh, you know, I think he's he's learned a lot from this year. You know, he'll critique himself and have you know, as a veteran staff, uh where those guys will take a look at what they did and uh how they were doing it and make adjustments going into into next year. But he had a great uh, he had a great first year. And they played a team in the first round that was deeper and more athletic. Yes, and and the the n B a uh has scotten more physical, which I think is good. But it's really physical in the playoffs and that lent itself to uh given the Timberwolves a little bit more of an advantage.
And they're a good team. You know, they they're a really good team.
You Steve Kerr, Mark few Beheim, you guys all have done a very good job coaching professional players, uh as college coaches. Obviously Kerr played at Arizona, but he's a pro coach and is there coaching is coaching at Duke because you have so many pro players is a little NBA.
Ish, Yeah, it is?
It is. It is. Do you think did you ever take anything from the pros and bring it back to Duke to help you.
Oh yeah, you know, I coached the US team for eleven years, in three Olympics and two World Championships, and I brought back a lot, you know, you know, the sports science. You know, how guys prepared language, not cussing in that but different although probably picked up a few words there too. Uh now, just how their defensive coverages, you know, but they're one of the main things is how hard they prepared and the excellent shape they kept themselves in. And I brought that back where we really increased our sports medicine science and and uh but it also helped me uh X and O wise. You know, I had Jim Beheim was with me eleven years, but I had Mannie Williams and uh Thibodeau. You know, these guys who are uh, you know, terrific pro coaches and and I learned a lot from them, But I learned from the players because they really Yeah, these are great players. Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, all these guys. Uh, they they really understand the game. People uh don't realize how smart they are and how much preparation that that they give. So uh, those were eleven amazing years for uh, for me, and I was very lucky to have that opportunity.
You know, Christian Latner was so dominant when he played, and he was part of that Kentucky win. You just years and years ago, maybe it was Jay Billis was sharing a story about the first time you had seen Lebron and he took two steps at half court and dunked it, and you turned to Billis, what in the world am I watching? Go back to your college career. I'm going to test your memory. Was there a moment when you obviously coached your team hard, but you allowed players to go off script the Grant Hill players. Was there ever a moment in college you went back and you turned to an assistant and you're like, this player is better than I thought he would be. This like you were actually as a coach, you turned an assistant and said, I never imagined he would be this good, this this player.
Yeah.
Now a number of times I can remember when we had Bobby Hurley yep, and he was just good at point guard that's ever played a college and one practice he's playing defense. And I will to Tommy Amaker, who was one of my assistants then in it, I said I've never seen anybody play that hard. And then at times with grand Hell, you know, if grand Hill had not been injured five years since his pro career, he would have ended up being one of the top ten players of all time. But he was very humble, and there are times at timeouts I would say, you know, for every four minutes, I'd say, okay, every time you touch the ball, I don't want you to pass it. I just want you to do whatever you want with it. He said, what do you mean. I said, no, just do something where someone says, you know, how did coach k teach you how to do that?
I'm not lying. I mean this is true.
And because there are players, there's certain players that you have to be careful not to overcoach. You have to give them the room to become what their talent can can show. And uh, you know, Zion was was that uh uh you know really even though he's an outstanding athlete, but he wasn't that like those two guys Zion and Grant Beattier was like that. He was very humble too, and uh, let's say, come on, man, you know, let it out, you know, let it out. Like we were talking about JJ earlier, JJ did Colin. He did some stuff that I I could not imagine. You know, in hostel arenas. You know, guys were pulling on his shirt. He was trying to run him into the ground. And he enjoyed putting up forty on the road or thirty eight or thirty six.
He was.
He was so damn cocky and good. No, he he really was.
I love my place worked better worth I'll tell you that.
That's what Nick Saban says. Yeah, those plays better when I get a great pass rush from a five star guy. Finally, there's a lot of reasons I like NIL. One of the reasons I like it is because I like kids having a little money and before they have a lot of money, because a lot of athletes don't have it. So I like a guy having a couple hundred thousand and maybe blown it on a you know, close and before he gets twenty million. And I do think it's instructive that before you get you know, it used to be no money college, you make a fortune. And I think that's tough on anybody, regardless of your background. Is have you found there are some things with NIL that that I think it's keeping more kids in college. I like college basketball over gage. I like that. But are there things about nil beyond just a kid making money that you think are instructive or you like about it?
Well, it is what it is, and so we should put our arms around it and figure out how to make it the very very best. I will say that one of the things you just mentioned, it's not right with all all these kids where you make a lot of money now and then you're going to make a lot of money later. Most of the kids, remember there's there's not as many are going to make it into the MBA are going to be making more money in college than they will after college.
Wow.
And that's the thing. I mean, their kids make. There are a lot of kids making seven figures now, not all if you've counted all those kids up around the country making half a million to three or four million, depending on the school. And there are a lot of kids and they're you know, what's the lottery got fourteen guys. The first round has thirty picks, and so they're going to be guys who there are kids now, they're kids that have not been invited to the combine who were making seven figures last year in college. You know, so you're going to have to deal with that. However, if they're smart, they have a right to make that money, just so they use it wisely and they're able to transition to the next phase of their playing career. You know, the guys who are lottery picks and that they don't. That's the normal thing. That's the normal thing. But it's all changed, Colin. It's it's changed, and it doesn't mean that it's bad. It just means that we have to get better control over it and make sure make sure that these kids are well taken care of. You know, right now, if you're a college coach at a high level program, you know you're dealing more with agents than you are with coaches, and that's why you have general managers and it's run like a professional team, except there are no contracts, which that might change depending on where the hell this SOLI is going.
But it's just in.
A state of flux right now. But God blessed. The kids should make as much as they can. They should transfer just like any other student whenever they want. But that's going to run out, and hopefully when it runs out in college, they're able to go to a level of playing basketball that is really good for them.
Coach k forty two years Ambassa are now in the speaker circuit. Love to hear some of his stories. Nobody's ever won more basketball games and men's basketball, and that is saying something. There's been unbelievable coaches. You can turn the TV on every night. It can be Rick Carlisle or Chris Finch. There are great coaches everywhere. My buddy Tom Izzo. Uh, basketball has got great coaches everywhere, and you're at the very top of that coach, And I appreciate you stopping by.
Yeah.
No, I've always enjoyed being on and thanks for not forgetting me. Yeah, it's just that was you know, I don't even know why I said that. I shouldn't have said that.
I liked it. He listened race, he raced.
That, you're you're you're capable of anything.
He raced that just go right into the ether. Nobody heard but you and me. That's it. That's the only people that heard it.
All right, all right, good seeing Thanks for having me out.
You're at the great Mike Krzyzewski. Yeah, it's uh, I mean, like I I think what it took Mike A couple of years to embrace one and done. But I think with nil, you can complain about stuff, like Rick Carla or Rick Patino said, you can complain about stuff or you can embrace it and try to figure it out. It's like anything. I mean, I almost look at NIL as a new tax code. All right, got a new tax code. An accountant's job is to figure out how to use it best for his clients. I mean, in the end, you can you know, I don't like what it is. It. By the way, every year the wild wild West will get a little less wild, and everybody will get their arms around it and we're gonna be okay, Nick, Right, Coach k good guest today as I get ready to get on a plane with a few others and head to a beautiful city. Some of us are staying behind, others are taking the big swing.
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Here we go. It is a Wednesday, nfl A schedule release Wednesday. We are live. It's the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day, j Mac, I'm gonna let you, throughout Herdline News today announce a lot of the schedules that are coming out, So tonight's gonna be great. I know you're enamored with the Bears schedule. I understand it. I'm really interested in the forty nine Ers schedule, but I you know, it's funny and we'll get to the NBA here in a second. But it's funny that, you know how the NBA they're struggling to move off Lebron at Christmas. Right, It's like I'm watching these playoffs you know who's not involved Lebron, and I'm glued to the TV set like the NBA needs to next Christmas. I don't need Lebron anymore. And I thought I thought i'd start the show with that. I think the NFL, and because it's so powerful, the media hates power being concentrated in one business or a few hands. The media has always been tougher on the NFL and more congratulatory and softer on the NBA or baseball. They're tough on the NFL. Roger Goodell. Roger Goodell's really smart. It's a really well run league. I thought they made a rare scheduling mistake. Cowboys are in the opener at Philly, a game they never win. In fact, if you go look at those games, the Cowboys are one in five in their last six against Philadelphia. And this is the best Eagles roster in the long time, and it's the worst Cowboys roster in a long time. I don't need to see that game. That feels like November. I do not need to open the NFL now. Now there are games you could open with. Then they have the Cowboys against Kansas City on Thanksgiving. I don't need to see that either. Andy Reid and Mahomes against dak Off a second surgery and Brian Schottenheimer doesn't scream fascinating. Listen, there are traditions like Thanksgiving, I'm not going to bail on. And then there are traditions the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving. We can bail on. No more Lebron on Christmas. Frankly, I'd rather watch Tyrese Haliburton, Okay, see, and I'm sorry, I would the Knicks Boston of Tatum comes back. I'd rather watch those teams. I really would. So it's a quarterback league. We all know Buffalo, Cincinnati, Kansas City. You know, the Bills are just more interesting to watch. And not only do the Cowboys have a second tier head coach, maybe third tier. Dak's off a second surgery, and so Dak has become much less dynamic as an athlete. He's a little bit like Aaron Rodgers. Now you know the name. The paid check is more fascinating than the player. DA's kind of boring. Great guy, great leader. Dak's kind of boring. The Cowboys are kind of boring. And I was looking at the numbers last year, and I've been saying this now for two years. Kansas City is America's team. Everywhere I go, I see chief stuff. So last year, the most watched team in the NFL was Kansas City. The second most watched team in the NFL was Detroit, and then the Cowboys are now tied for third with San Francisco, Buffalo, and Baltimore. Those teams this year will surpass the Cowboys because they'll be in more big games, and so the Cowboys will be the fifth most watched NFL team by the end of this year, maybe sixth. And the only thing keeping the Cowboys TV numbers up is networks putting them on and the NFL putting them on more it's really the NFL. What's the netw're gonna do? You jam them on Thanksgiving, you jam them in the opener. There's nothing NBC can do. So this is one of these things. The Cowboys were not a top twenty team last year offensively, and they were thirtieth defensively. And I think the NFL is usually incredibly proactive, but the openers should have been maybe Detroit and Philadelphia, the two best rosters in the NFC. Get Lamar Jackson Josh Allen somewhere on that the idea that Dallas has earned that spot. It's Lakers on Christmas? Who cares? At some point, you've got to introduce people, because I understand those one o'clock games, there's a lot of games on simultaneously in the NFL. You got to start introducing people, and not only that but marketing, pushing and promoting Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen every opportunity. By the way, I'm not even mentioning Jaden Daniels, who I'm fascinated to watch much more than Dak. And you know what this felt like by the NFL. Remember when Apple inserted the U two album on your iPod and you didn't want it and you couldn't get rid of it, and there was a backlash. That's what I feel about the Cowboys. They're going to get beat Byhiladelphia. They're going to get beat on Thanksgiving. I went and looked at their Thanksgiving numbers. Of the last twelve games that Dallas Cowboys have played on Thanksgiving, five of them have been double digit losses. Okay, that does not scream get this team on television. Same with the Lakers. There's just better products out there. One more Herd. The Herd streams twenty four hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you like. Here we go. It is a Thursday, our post NFL schedule release show. The Warrior season is now officially done live. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. Well, you know, J Mack, there are certain things in sports that I get weird over years ago. People used to think it was a weird o twenty years ago because I love the draft so much, But everybody's coming around on that. The schedule release is another one of those that I do think it does matter, especially most teams in this league are playing on the margins. They're not Baltimore or Philadelphia where they've got better personnel and star quarterbacks and they're winning by ten to twelve points. A lot of teams those you know, TUA playing up north in December is a disadvantage for the Dolphins. You have to look at that right, huge.
Yeah, And I got to thank the NFL for giving my Jets a one or zero start to the season. We get the Steelers that hold open and makes it Rudolph not Airy.
Well, let's start with this. So my one takeaway the NFL schedule, and it's a fairly obvious one. Kansas City that is rough. So Kansas City does not have a great O line and they're going to try to figure it out. And they're using a backup at left tackle that hasn't really started and been the man from the Niners. So and it's a hard unit to create cohesion. And if you look at their first ten games, even the teams that we view as weaker teams like the Giants, good pass rush Jacksonville pass rush Raiders Max Crosby. So even the Wu's could create problems for them. Forget Denver that led the NFL in sacks, you face them. Conversely, the Chargers. Jim Harball look at his career in year two. Everywhere he goes. Chargers revamped run game, high end, left and right tackles, have a cookie dough soft schedule in the middle of the season to gain momentum. So my prediction that the Chargers win this division with a weaker schedule really plays in the middle of the season. You're starting to get dinged up, you're not playing with full rosters. It is really soft for the Chargers. And I again, we've watched We've watched the Chiefs and Mahomes get blown out in two Super Bowls. It's always been the same reason, O lines not right. Well, I think they're going into a season where the old line's not right. Add another thing, Kansas City opens in Brazil. They have the most seven prime time games. That's what the NFL does once you're the star attraction. They have the Lions on a short week. Oh that's not good. They have the Buffalo Bills on a short week. Yeah, that's not good either. Remember that Brazil game last year, Philadelphia went to Brazil and beat Green Bay. The Eagles came back groggy and the next week lost to the Atlanta Falcons. So that'll take some that'll take some air out of the sales. Here's what we know. Andy Reid and Mahomes are as good as anybody in the world at what they do. But again, this team played on the margins last year, okay, and I think with this old line, the kryptonite to Kansas City in their two Super Bowl blowout losses has been the O line this going into a season, the U Joe Tooney is their weakest on line. Little bit of finger crossing here. Last year's was okay going into the season, a bit of a mess at the end of the season. So this is not a team like Baltimore, Detroit Philadelphia with stacked rosters that are not playing on the margins. They're getting seven or eight blowout games a year when margins shrink, everything counts. This team had the third lowest point in differential in the AFC West, so in their own division, Denver and the Chargers had more blowout wins, and I think Denver and the Chargers will be noticeably better. Bo Nicks now into a second year with Peyton. They had some interesting draft picks at running back and wide receiver. So the downside to becoming America's team is that the NFL, this is what they do. And I can remember after the Giants would win a Super Bowl in Coffin and Eli and they'd put them on Sunday Night and they'd flex them in and everybody loved it except the Giants and the older players. So here is Travis Kelcey on his podcast New Heights talking about that opener in Brazil.
I'll be there, not to do a yeah, I'll be there pretty in the heat. If it's human, I'm gonna be miserable. I'm gonna make I'm gonna be.
Just surrounded by the Amazon rainforest.
This is a good point. If it's hot and humid and kind of what I'm expecting, I'm gonna be miserable. But we're going to find a way to get a win.
Hip hip hooray. So my number one take Kansas City going into a season with an offensive line I don't love. I mean, when you start looking last year at the teams at the end of the season that are really formidable and leaning on people, a lot of them. Washington was an exception, had really really buttoned up o lines. All right, So the Warriors lost. The oldest interesting team in the league is out Minnesota that's got some age, but much deeper, bigger roster, prevails pretty easily. Jimmy Butler only took eleven shots. Some of that is energy, some of that was Kaminga had a lot of energy. Minnesota got great looks. All you had to do is look at the box score and it tells you Golden State was tired. Minnesota shot sixty three percent, dominated in the paint, had almost double the assists. They were moving very well. Julius Randall thirteen of eighteen Bullyball. The three best Warriors Butler, Steph, and Draymond all out of their prime. Two thirty five year olds and a thirty seven year old, and they're only getting older. So all it took was a popped hamstring and the house collapses. It's interesting Jonathan Kaminga, who just doesn't work with Butler and staff. He's great. He was great when Steph got hurt, so they'll be able to show that off. And he raised his market value because everybody has sort of understood that the Steph offense that ecosystem that's not friendly the young players. James Wiseman never got it going. Cominga can't be on the floor with Butler and Steph. It just doesn't work. But he was the one guy last night that jumped off the TV. He was the one guy you looked at and thought, oh, he can go toe to toe with Minnesota's athletic bigs. So they'll have a market for him. And Pods is a guy you have to keep. He's got a market as well, but you're going to have to move off at least one of your really good young players. So the Warriors to some degree have become an antique store. And okaysee is the Apple store right next door? And I think the Warriors are going to get worse every year unless they pull off a big, big deal for Kaminga. People are gonna want Pods and Cominga. They'll keep Pods. They view him as sort of a Steph, an emerging shooter that works with Steph. But I will say this, you know what, it really reminds me of watching last night. So and Belichick took the hit for all of the shortcomings for the New England offense right before Tom left. But just consider New England and Belichick and Brady, the Warriors staff and Steve Kerr. They built a very high intellect, sophisticated offense, both Kerr and Curry and Draymond. It's very sophisticated. Young people struggle and for years everybody always said, well, why can't New England, why can't they draft the wide receiver. Well, some of it was most of it was Belichick wasn't a good drafter. Some of it was Tom didn't want a babysit them. And so what you have. You have the benefit of the brilliance of Belichick and the brilliance of Steve Kerr. You have the benefit of Brady and Steph. But these are so high functioning, almost academic offenses. They don't play with kids. Well, New England didn't. That's why New England got old and slow, really fast. Brady went young down in Tampa, and that's why it look when you watch Okathy and you watch Indiana, and you watch these young teams Houston and then you watch Golden State, some of it is on this offense that just doesn't play well with others under the age of twenty three years old. That's what New England became. So I just think they're just getting a year older. I think all these Houston's, Indiana's maybe some degree in New York still got some youth Cleveland. I think those teams are getting better. I think the Warriors are getting older. But Steve Kerr is still a believer.
I know we had a shot. I know we could have gone the distance. Maybe we wouldn't have, but it doesn't matter. Again, everything in the playoffs is about who stays healthy and who gets hot. You know, are you playing well at the right time, do you have multiple guys step up in key game make shots, and do you have good health? And you know, you see it every year in every series, and so there's a there's there's a little bit of luck involved, you know, and we, like I said, we've been on both sides of that and it's just part of it.
But I will say this, and I love Steve Kerr. Older teams get hurt more often and older teams recover more slowly, and the Warriors are just getting older. There is a little bit of luck involved. But when you got when you got Steph Curry running two miles per game on that treadmill for that offense, and he is so valuable without it, they're not even the same looking watching team. Warriors are a hard watch without Steph. So I I you could say there's there's luck involved, but remember we all know this. The NBA, and it's helped ratings, is allowing more physical basketball. What does that mean more injuries? My guess they will come to the older teams, not the younger ones. And I really do believe the NBA used to be go get three great players the heatles KD, Steph Clay. I don't think that's it anymore. I think the new CBA and the new Aprons, it's all about roster construction. I mean the Celtics are often weirdly as good or better without Tatum. I mean, like like Oklahoma City's roster. I think San Antonio's is going to get very deep. Houston's already is. They just don't have a second dominant great score. So I just Steve kerstill believes it. You can talk yourself it's into luck. But the new style of playoff basketball is not going to aid. It's not going to aid the older rickety teams two thirty five year olds and a thirty seven year old so j mac it is. I got into this discussion last night. Lebron's out of the playoffs, Steph Curry's out of the playoffs. The Celtics brand, I think we'll lose to New York, They'll be out of the playoffs. Do you think Knicks Pacers?
I do.
I think it's compelling. Do you think Oklahoma City Minnesota? Like? I think these are really good series. But I'm more NBA die hard than the casuals. This whole thing about the NBA being rigged, you wouldn't have OKAC and Minnesota in and Stephan Lebron out. What do you make of what potentially is our final four? Yeah?
The way I look at as I talk to buddies and they're like, hey, hey, let's go out to hang out. And I'm like, well, there's an NBA Finals game and Lebron's in it. I'm not missing that. I would be okay missing a conference semi conference finals matchup between and SGA, Like, it's.
Not mandatory viewing. I mean it's a great matchup, no doubt.
I'm gonna watch the games, but if something comes up, you know you want to go to a Dodgers game. Sure, I'll go to a Dodgers game, but Colin, it's just it's not the sexy matchups that we want. Right if Curry's playing, I'm glued to the TV. Lebron, I'm glued, but Sga, I'm just not there yet.
I'm sorry. I hope that doesn't make me an elitist. Yeah, no, I think I think this is the transition. I think when Michael Jordan left, the league lost fifty percent of its numbers. But I do think I do think there's a little Lebron fatigue where stylistically, Curry is still a great watch. But I do think Lebron is an older player. I'm more fascinated I am with Luca than Lebron because I've seen all Lebron's game, Luca's growth, his cardio, lack of defense a bit controversial part of a trade. So I don't think you're going to see a massive drop off. I just I don't think the Warriors are what Steve Kerr believes, just bad luck away from advancing. I think they're just going to be a year older. And I think Oklahoma City, with all this experience Indiana, they're just going to be better. Don't forget to love hate the polarization. If you really love or hate Lebron and that's what he is, you're gonna watch.
I just don't feel like anybody hates sga hey, but he hates it. They haven't done anything to be hatable. Lebron's won a lot, moved around teams. People just dislike him. But I do believe, you know, maybe there's that element with the Knicks, but they still have to pull it out.
Colin, Are you sure they're a lock to win this series? All the pressures on them? Yeah, I'm not good points.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in newon Easter not a em Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
I thought Chicago's old line would get better last year, it golt worse. He completed sixty two and a half percent of his throat as running for his life, twenty touchdown passes, only six picks. Now, he was sacked sixty eight times, but the numbers aren't you know? I mean only six picks, sixty two and a half percent completion. Persige running for his life in a division that had Detroit Green Band Minnesota all really good teams. So I don't think Minnesota's going to be as good this year, and I think Caleb's got a much better quarterback. Also, the story coming out today Seth Wickersham had talked to Caleb's father, Carl Williams, and reporting that Karl did not want his son initially to play in Chicago, and Albert Breer addressed that an hour ago.
And his dad's a very smart and accomplished businessman, and you know, taught his son to think differently. And the reality is like, this is something that all teams were looking into, and anybody that was going to be in a position to draft him was concerned about this. You can understand his concerns certainly.
You know.
I think this is something that more and more athletes think about, and you know, it's something we heard about with Shadur a lot, you know, going into his draft a lot of times. You know, I think these guys were able to take a bigger picture view of it, and the bigger picture view of it would show that going to the right place isn't more is absolutely more important than the game.
Drafted as high as he can.
Yeah, I think I think listen, I never had a problem. I reported this a year ago. I said, you know, his dad had some misgivings about it, but Caleb's like, you know what, I'm going to go to Chicago. It's a great American city and I'm going to be first great quarterback. So I always like Caleb. I got along with him great, He's very respectful. I saw I went to the Notre Dame USC game and I told the story is I saw his dad said hi to his dad, and Caleb was sitting in the front row with friends, and I came down and just out of respect, I just tapped him on the shoulder. I said, hey, buddy, just great seeing you. He got up, made a point and I'm like, you don't have to get up. I just wanted to say, hey, keep kicking butt. You're going to do great, and very respectful got up, came up the stairs. Caleb did, and I was like, I just think he's a really I really like him. And I also think it's sometimes it's unfair that you know, all these quarterbacks now the nil they are stars coming out of college. Bill Parcells, a brilliant guy, used to say, do not draft a celebrity quarterback. Well, Baker Mayfield was a star. Sam Darnold, you know he was a star. Caleb's a star. I mean, yeah, it's just the reality of it. I mean, bow Nicks into Oregon. I mean everybody knew bow Nicks for the last five years. So I think we the world's changed. These kids make money in college. Take a deep breath with that. Ben john Now is joining us, the new Bears coach at joining us live. So you know, it's funny we forget about this coach. Is that you know I was looking and people forget Tua came out of college, didn't have a great fit with the staff. You know, he and the Brian Flora struggle. Got Mike McDaniels, Pro Bowl, Jared Goff, got a defensive coach, get a great Scott Boom. Here comes McVeigh Popps. So listen, we all said last year, I said, it's just easier to get an offensive coach. Go ask Bo Nixon, Sean Baiton.
It just helps.
Did you feel when we first sat down with Caleb, I gotta build this kid's confidence up like a Tua. Like a golf it's rough, it's a hard sport. Did you feel that was part of your process. I want to make sure this kid knows we really believe in him.
Yeah, well, he does know that we believe in him, there's no question about that. But Caleb Steal has never been a confidence issue. He knows he's a high level player. He's been that way since middle school, high school, college, and it's going to continue to be that way here in the NFL. But what we're trying to do is we're trying to support him, give him some clarity on what our expectations are on and off the field, and help him grow and develop. And so far we've only had call it six weeks now the off season program.
It's going really well.
So you got two new coordinators, you're on a first time head coach, Caleb's in the year two. Who do you lean on in that locker room? Ben? What player or maybe unit is it Tony? Is it Dolman? Who do you lean on in that offense?
We've got a number of players offensively and defensively that have Pro Bowls under their belt, that have playoff game experience, win experience, and so I think when you look at that, those are the guys not just.
For Caleb, but for the entire team.
That we're leaning on to show us what good football looks like, what good teams do, and to establish that standard for the rest of us to fall into line. And so Toney's a great name on I mean, I don't know that anybody's had quite the level of success on our entire roster that he's had. Call it six super Bowls and he's won four of them. I mean, it's outstanding. And then you go over to the Phase two drill workout on the field and he's busting his rear end and he just had a Super Bowl that he was in a few weeks ago.
So I mean, it's it's pretty outstanding. And it doesn't take.
Long for somebody that first time these rookies coming in, they turn and they see how he goes about his business, and pretty quick they understand, well, if I want to last a long time, I need to just do what he does.
So I asked a GM, a very very good GEM in the NFL recently about you, and he said, you know, he goes most coaches we hire CEOs now it's a CEO job. He said, you get occasionally lucky with a Shanahan or Andy Reid that they're scheme geniuses and they can do CEO. That's really hard, And he said Ben has a chance to do that. Ben's excellent on scheme and he has the personality. A lot of guys in the league think Ben has the chance to be the CEO, but most it's a CEO job now more than it is x's and o's. So is the difficulty with you? Ben, You're gonna be on that headset? How do you manage yourself to go, oh, no, no, I'm the CEO here because there are things that happen on a sideline in game where you've got to put the CEO hat on and you can't be a mile deep on calling plays? Will that be hard on the first call? You disagree with coming to the headset?
Well, shoot, I mean yeah, everything that Everything I'm.
Doing right now springtime training, it's my first time doing it, so there'll be some things that pop up that I got to work through and find the best process for not only myself, but what's best for the team.
That's the most important thing.
And the fortunate thing is the way this staff has been constructed is with that in mind. A lot of my blind spots or the areas that I could use the most help in We've got some really good experienced coaches with Dennis Allen or Richard high Tower on defense and special teams on offense. We've got Eric the Enemy that's coordinated this league, Press teeler ord in this league. So there's there's a lot of high level experience throughout this coaching staff that they're going to help help foresee any any bumps in the road and help me navigate on game day. We got a great game management guy of the name Harry Freed. He's done it for a long time and he's going to be able to help me stay ahead of that that because I really haven't. As a play caller, you have to be exposed to that and understand those situations. But now it's a little bit different moving over to the defensive side of the ball and being on the headset with them when they're up.
So one of the things I liked about Jayden Daniels and Caleb Williams coming out of college, they move a lot. You get all the upside, not a lot of picks. It's a little mahomes. Aaron Rodgers in his prime didn't throw a lot of picks. Most great quarterbacks lway manning far they throw picks. That's Andrew Luck, It's part of the deal. Caleb doesn't. Now some have said, well he holds the ball along whatever. I mean, he's a playmaker. The criticism I heard out of college from GMS with rings was he is so gifted. And we saw a little bit of this with Mahomes. Sometimes you got to just give him layouts, just take what the defense gives you. How do you coach that, because it's a strength, it can be a little bit of a burden, that great athleticism. How do you coach that? Well?
I think it starts with what we're doing right now in the springtime is establishing the intent of every play call. And that takes time, and it takes a number of reps. But the more time we spend together with myself with Declan Doyle or our offensive coordinator, with JT. Barrett, our quarterback coach, in that room with the quarterbacks, the more it comes to light and why we're.
Calling plays and where that ball should go.
And the more the quarterback understands the why the quicker he is to see the defense and deliver the ball to the primary or the secondary targets. So that's what we're working through right now. At the end of the day, though, Caleb was taken as a high draft pick because that playmaking ability that you're alluding to, and so we don't want to newter that as well. So there's a fine line of understanding what we're doing and how we're doing it. But at the same time, when things don't go maybe to plan, we're not going to discourage his playmaking ability and his.
Ability to create outside of the pocket as well.
So that's gonna be a fun balance for us to go through both spring and training camp.
I mean, we can't we.
Can't get enough reps right now really as a team, and so we're looking to maximize those going forward.
So offensive line is to me the most underrated unit in the sport, but it's also the hardest to create cohesion. You've got a young guy, you got a rookie, You've got Drew Dolman, You've got Joe Tooney, You've got a lot of moving parts here. I think potentially it could be great, but I've seen a bit of a trend over the last five to six years that veterans aren't playing preseason football, So you're going to have to September, You're going to get a lot of the work in for the tuonies. You don't want to put him out there and get banged up. What is a I looked at your schedule and I said, well, the office part of their schedules late. They're gonna have until Thanksgiving to get that puppy rolling. You don't want to face the toughest part in the first four weeks. Not that your early schedule is easy, but at the end you're facing defensive front that can be substantially tough. How long what is realistic to say okay, Dolman, Tony the rookie. What is a realistic time to go okay, we are a cohesive top ten unit.
Yeah.
I think that's going to be the challenge there during training camp is how quickly can we come together. I mean they're really bonding as a unit right now communication wise, but we don't have the pads on. I think we need the pads on before we truly start gelling together.
So training camp is going to be critical for us. I actually like where that bye week is.
Because it usually takes about four weeks into the season to find out who you are as a team and what you do well and which you don't do well, and then that's at a good time so that we can reflect on that as a coaching staff to really hone in on what we want to be for the remaining three quarters of the season. I would say my experience has been when you when you get a new group together, it could take up to half the season before they really start to mesh in and come together. In terms of the run game more so than pass pro, I think we should be a pretty good pass pro unit right off the jump.
But that run game, the communication, the angles with which.
We're all going trusting each other, particularly in the wide zone scheme that we're installing right now in Otas's that's something that we want to make sure that we get plenty of time on task on.
So all human beings are the same in one aspect. If you're afraid of flying and you're on a plane and the minute turbulence hits, where does your mind go back to your fears? So I reported a year ago, seth Wickersham reported it today that Caleb was worried about the history of the Bears offense, and so you didn't inherit it. That's not your issue. I don't care about that, but there is a psychology, Ben that's true. He goes into a two week losing streak and it's turbulence on a plane that he was scared to fly anyway, How do you ensure that when there are bumps in this division and there are bumps for him, that those fears that are now reported of oh Man, this organization and quarterback, he's had those, that's okay, some installed by his dad, whatever, How do you ensure during the turbulence of this season, and there will be your divisions too good, there's too many good teams on the schedule, how do you ensure he doesn't lose faith, faith and belief in your system.
Well, you talk about fears, and I don't see it quite the same way.
I see.
This is what a great opportunity we have to do something that really has never been done. There hasn't been a four thousand yard passer here in this franchise, and I think Caleb is going to be the first one, and one of many years, many seasons to come where he's able to accomplish that feat. So I see a chance for greatness here for him. He's been communicated that way, and he feels the same way. I don't know what's going on prior to him joining the organization, but he is very proud to be a Chicago Bear. That's what our conversations have included. And he's really excited to get to work right now and be the best version of himself for twenty twenty five. There's no question we're gonna face adversity. Both he will, he's not gonna We want to see growth from here to here over the course of the season, and it's not gonna be linear growth. It's gonna be a little bit of ups and downs and stair steps along the way. But we want to see from Game one the game seventeen that we're getting better.
As a whole.
And that's not just him, that's us as a team as well. So I'm excited. That's what makes coaching fun is when the hiccups occur, when the adversity strikes, how do we respond to it.
That's when you find out who you are as a man.
Was there a moment in your practices and seeing Caleb it could have been a throw, it could have been something that you went, oh, oh, that's pretty good, Like what have you had one of those moments yet where you were just like, yeah, no, no, I I I see it. I see the number one pick.
That's every day.
That's every day we're out there routes versus air. We're changing maybe some footwork and some coaching points with what we're working through right now. But today it was a post route that he just he probably threw a sixty yards right on the money.
A few days ago it was a it was a keeper.
He's out of the pocket going to the left and he just able to flip his hips and fling that thing right on the money.
So he's got he's got such.
Great god given ability that we're looking to tap into.
Uh.
You see it every day right now.
And like I said, it's gonna be more fun once we get the competitive nature of offense versus defense a little bit.
O Tas coach, it is great seeing you. All I see is a smile. All you coaches smile so much during this period. Keep the smile through the sea. Don't let the league beat you down. As a head coach, it's great seeing you
