What Colin Cowherd got RIGHT & WRONG: Seahawks, Patriots, Vikings, Eagles, Bills, Browns | HERD NFL

What this episode is about

The discussion highlights Colin Cowherd's assessments of several NFL teams and figures, focusing on where he was accurate and where he missed the mark. Key points include his critique of Bill Belichick's coaching career in relation to Tom Brady's influence, as well as reflections on the performance expectations for teams like the Seahawks, Patriots, Vikings, Eagles, Bills, and Browns.

Key takeaways

• Bill Belichick's legacy hinges on Brady; without him, the GOAT coach looks like just an average Joe.
• Hiring within brings comfort, but history shows a cozy choice rarely leads to success in the NFL.
• Cooper Flagg is the best domestic prospect since LeBron—pressure? He thrives on it like a pro.
• Minnesota's abrupt GM firing proves NFL decisions can be as surprising as a last-minute game-winning field goal.
• The cyclical nature of the NFL exposes the myth that offense always rules; defense is still the backbone.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Colin Cowherd (Host) · 42 min speaking
• Matt Hasselbeck (Guest) · 18 min speaking
• Albert Breer (Guest) · 12 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Sam Darnold, Ian Brady, Cooper Flagg, Colin Cowherd
2. 5:00 – 10:00: Super Bowl, Matt Hasselbeck, Mike Vrabel, New England Patriots
3. 10:00 – 15:00: Super Bowl, Drake May, Josh McDaniels, Matt Hasselbeck
4. 15:00 – 20:00: Sam Darnold, Drake May, Super Bowl, JSN
5. 20:00 – 25:00: Sam Darnold, Drake May, Super Bowl
6. 25:00 – 30:00: Super Bowl, Sam Darnold, Drake May, JSN
7. 30:00 – 35:00: Super Bowl
8. 35:00 – 40:00: Sam Darnold, Mike Vrabel, Christian Gonzalez
9. 40:00 – 45:00: Super Bowl, Sam Darnold
10. 45:00 – 50:00: Sam Darnold, Drake May
11. 50:00 – 55:00: Sam Darnold
12. 55:00 – 59:22: Super Bowl

Notable quotes from "What Colin Cowherd got RIGHT & WRONG: Seahawks, Patriots, Vikings, Eagles, Bills, Browns | HERD NFL"

• It's the herd slinging Sammy Darnold favored to win the Super Bowl. That's one of the great things about sports is that, when you have a strong opinion in our.

  about Super Bowl · at 0:16

• Make the playoffs the one year Matt Castle played. Disaster pre Brady in New England disaster Brady leaves in New England. Disaster in college. His ability to draft awful. The…

  about Ian Brady · at 1:24

• Don't want to hear about the paternity leave stuff or the relationship with Kevin O'Connell. The Darnold acceleration is why he got whacked.

  about Sam Darnold · at 4:33

• For, where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong on a Monday. And with that, Matt Hasselbeck up already in the Bay Area is now joining us live. So, you've been in one of…

  about Matt Hasselbeck · at 7:50

• So, think what the New England Patriots are doing. they think this is just normal. this is like a preseason game to them in terms of like that routine. And so I think if you make it a big deal, it.

  about New England Patriots · at 9:09

• Concern because of how good this, front four the Seahawks is. But again, like I have confidence in Josh McDaniels understanding how to slow that rush down. And then I'll say it again.

  about Josh McDaniels · at 14:28

• It's interesting. Drake May's not taken a ton of snaps because of a shoulder injury. And I think to myself, well, Sam Darnold took almost no snaps in the previous two games. He just.

  about Drake May · at 17:08

• Player in the Super Bowl. Tough to disagree. after his 119 catches for a league high 1793 yards, 10 ties. he became the first Seahawks player to lead the NFL in receiving yards…

  about JSN · at 34:06

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Colin Cowherd — Person · Host / main speaker · 1 mention · first at 0:00
  Leads the show, delivers the 'Where Colin was right/wrong' segment, and conducts the main interview with Matt Hasselbeck while framing the Super Bowl narratives (Darnold, Drake May, coaching, Patriots/Seahawks).
  Welcome to the Herds official YouTube channel. Make sure to like and subscribe. Don't forget to check out the Colin Coward podcast, all of our NFL instant reactions, and more football.
• Sam Darnold — Person · Primary discussed athlete (Super Bowl QB storyline) · 18 mentions · first at 0:19
  Central on-field storyline: his perceived transformation into elite play and the volatility of his career arc; discussed in relation to Seattle’s offense, practice/injury rhythm, and coaching changes (Kubia(k) leaving).
• Matt Hasselbeck — Person · Main guest (interviewee) · 4 mentions · first at 1:00
  Provides quarterback/Super Bowl preparation insight, discusses game-week routine, nerves, first-drive dynamics, and tactical expectations (screens, protection, trick plays) for Patriots vs Seahawks.
• Drake May — Person · Primary discussed athlete (Patriots QB storyline) · 10 mentions · first at 10:27
  Key Super Bowl storyline: first-drive nerves, protection concerns, and shoulder/practice limitations; framed as a young QB facing Seattle’s pass rush and needing screens/trick plays to stabilize.
• Mike Vrabel — Person · Primary discussed coach (Super Bowl + coaching quality) · 4 mentions · first at 5:33
  Discussed as a top-tier defensive/CEO-style coach, Super Bowl-week tone-setter, and as someone with strong intellect and leadership; also tied to planning for JSN and Patriots defensive approach.
  So I think if you make it a big deal, it can be a big deal. But I can promise you that, Mike Vrabel's going to talk about this like he's done it before. Kind of yeah, and then…
• JSN — Person · Primary discussed athlete (Seahawks WR focal point) · 2 mentions · first at 18:39
  Identified as Seattle’s most explosive offensive weapon and possibly the best player in the Super Bowl; discussed in relation to coverage plans (Christian Gonzalez) and Darnold’s reads.
• Ian Brady — Person · Referenced athlete (legacy comparator) · 3 mentions · first at 1:18
  Appears as the key variable in Colin’s argument about Belichick’s coaching legacy; also referenced in Super Bowl pacing/first-quarter scoring tendencies.
• Bill Belichick — Person · Referenced coach (debated legacy) · 1 mention · first at 1:18
  Used as a debate point in Colin’s 'right/wrong' segment—legacy framed as heavily dependent on Tom Brady; also referenced as a comparator for Vrabel’s personality and intellect.
  But I wasn't shocked that 11 voters said you got a couple of spy gates. You win 44% with Brady. You didn't treat people necessarily well. You made a DC the offensive coordinator. I get it.
• Josh McDaniels — Person · Referenced strategist (Patriots offensive plan) · 3 mentions · first at 13:40
  Presented as the schematic counter to Seattle’s pass rush—especially via screen game and trick plays—supporting the argument that New England can 'play Patriots football' and protect Drake May.
• Christian Gonzalez — Person · Referenced athlete (coverage matchup vs JSN) · 2 mentions · first at 27:03
  Discussed as the likely primary coverage defender on JSN and as a high-end cornerback factor in the Super Bowl game plan.
  He is. I'll give the edge to JSN just because he's a stud. all right, let's go to the second story. This kind of broke over the weekend. Interesting, Colin. The Eagles, they got a great.
• Kevin O'Connell — Person · Referenced coach (Vikings context / relationship factor) · 1 mention · first at 4:34
  Mentioned in the Vikings GM firing discussion as a relationship point that Colin dismisses in favor of the 'Darnold acceleration' explanation; also referenced later as someone who liked Drake May (via Breer).
  Don't want to hear about the paternity leave stuff or the relationship with Kevin O'Connell. The Darnold acceleration is why he got whacked.
• Payton Manning — Person · Referenced athlete (Super Bowl routine anecdote) · 5 mentions
  Serves as an example of a 'creature of habit' who disliked Super Bowl-week disruptions; used to frame Hasselbeck’s discussion of routine and preparation.
  Yeah, that doesn't surprise me at all about Pton Manning, by the way. even the two weeks he probably was petitioning the league to get rid of the by-week before. I mean,.
• Cooper Flagg — Person · Referenced athlete (college basketball prospect) · 2 mentions · first at 3:06
  Used in Colin’s 'right' segment as an example of a hyped domestic prospect; compared to Jason Tatum and LeBron as a high-upside NBA projection.
  End. Remember when people said, Well, I you can't compare him to Jason Tatum. I think he is the best domestic prospect since LeBron James, and I think he has a better offensive…

Companies & orgs

• New England Patriots — Company · Main team discussed · 1 mention · first at 9:09
  One of the teams playing in the Super Bowl, with a focus on their performance and players
• Seattle Seahawks — Company · Main team discussed · 1 mention · first at 12:53
  One of the teams playing in the Super Bowl, with a focus on their performance and players
  Experience playing in Super Bowls, some teams, they can just it's like autopilot. I know for the Seahawks, it's kind of like there's a group of people that are just like the…
• Cleveland Browns — Company · Referenced team · 1 mention · first at 4:48
  Mentioned in the context of coaching hires and team performance
  Cleveland Browns hired Todd Mon.

Concepts & topics

• NFL — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention · first at 5:46
  The league in which the Super Bowl is played, with discussions about teams, players, and strategies
  Welcome to the Herds official YouTube channel. Make sure to like and subscribe. Don't forget to check out the Colin Coward podcast, all of our NFL instant reactions, and more football content.
• NCAA — Concept · Referenced concept · 3 mentions
  Mentioned in passing in the context of sports discussions
  Watching a little Michigan State. You just pointed this out to me during the break. The Big 10 is not only the best football conference now that Indiana is a powerhouse, Big 10 basketball this year.

Places & events

• Super Bowl — Event · Core topic · 19 mentions · first at 0:22
  Central theme of the episode, discussing the upcoming Super Bowl game between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Welcome to the Herds official YouTube channel. Make sure to like and subscribe. Don't forget to check out the Colin Coward podcast, all of our NFL instant reactions, and more football content. Here we go. It's hour two. It is a Monday. We're in LA this week. It's the herd slinging Sammy Darnold favored to win the Super Bowl. That's one of the great things about sports is that, you know, when you have a strong opinion in our space, people are like, "Whoa, that's crazy." Nothing's crazy. Kevin Durant went from having the rivals of his Oklahoma City Thunder being the Warriors to joining them.

0:44 Sam Darnold, what you saw with the Jets to MVP level play with Seattle and Minnesota. in sports, you know, you just absolutely never know what's going to happen. You absolutely never know. And um and we'll get to Matt Hasselbeck. He's up in San Francisco already. But first, where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong.

1:08 Where Colin was right. Well, I'm not that surprised that uh Bill Bellichic didn't get in. 11 people did not vote for Bill Bich to get into the Hall of Fame because I've been saying for years, take Tom Brady out of Bill Bich, fired in Cleveland, couldn't make the playoffs the one year Matt Castle played. Disaster pre Brady in New England disaster Brady leaves in New England. Disaster in college. His his ability to draft awful. The more control he had, the worse it was. his NFL career when Tom Brady's not playing for him. He averages 19 points a game. So, I think he'll get into the Hall of Fame, but I have said for years when you take Brady out, there is no great coach in the history of football that if you take one player out, you view them much, much differently. So, I think he'll get in.

2:03 But I wasn't shocked that 11 voters said you got a couple of spy gates. You win 44% with Brady. You didn't treat people necessarily well. You made a DC the offensive coordinator. I get it.

2:16 Where Colin was wrong. Um, which one is this guy? Oh, the Buffalo Bills. Yeah, the Buffalo Bills didn't hire Brian Dable. Shocking. who made the playoffs with Daniel Jones. Instead, they went with a very young, unproven coach, Joe Brady, which I felt was a little bit of a comfortable hire. Um, maybe Joe Brady works, maybe he doesn't, but there is recent history that says if you hire somebody in the building, the comfort hire, it overwhelmingly will not work.

2:57 Where Colin was right. Which one, guys? Uh, Cooper Flag. Not shocking. We said out of Duke, I thought he would be a better Jason Tatum. And honestly, today, he looks much better than Jason Tatum on the defensive end and is much more consistently aggressive on the offensive end. Remember when people said, "Well, I you can't compare him to Jason Tatum." I think he is the best domestic prospect since LeBron James, and I think he has a better offensive bag at this age than LeBron James. People are always, "Hey, don't pile on the pressure of the young athlete." When we have a Tiger Woods or a Bryce Harper or a Caleb Williams, a they can handle it. And B, when the media goes that gaga for Cooper Flag, we're usually right.

3:58 Where Colin was wrong. The Minnesota Vikings have mostly been a buttoned up franchise. So, I'll take a wrong here. I was kind of surprised that they suddenly fired somebody that appeared to be a somewhat capable GM, Quzy Adopo Mensah. Now, he missed on quarterback Sam Darnold. And I'd argue if Darnold bombed in Seattle, he'd still have his job. But it was weird giving him an extension and then a year later firing him. And I don't want to hear about the paternity leave stuff or the relationship with Kevin O'Connell. The Darnold acceleration is why he got whacked.

4:42 Where Colin was right. Cleveland Browns hired Todd Mon. What a shock. Of all the coaching hires, he just turned 60. It was the least inspiring. I'll even buy in to Matt Laflur's brother in Arizona. Rams guy, young guy, offensive guy, but he was a coach in college briefly down in the South. That was a disaster. This is a disorganized dysfunctional organization. They had Jim Schwarz in the building who's very respected. They mistakenly thought that if he passed him over, he would stay and they bailed on him. The Browns of the Browns

5:26 where Colin was wrong. Well, you know, I love my offensive coaches. Two defensive coaches, Mike McDonald, Mike Vrabel, meeting in the Super Bowl. Now, they're both really smart guys and they've gotten excellent quarterback play, but it should be noted that the NFL has always been fairly cyclical and the final four teams all had top 10 defenses. And these days, it's not really about, you hear this continually, it's not really about the scheme of the offensive coach. It's about can the coach be a CEO? And Mike McDonald and Frabel inarguably are

6:05 where Colin was right. Matt Laflur and the GM Brian Guten are getting an extension. Of course they are. Remember when the season ended and there were many people calling for Matt Laflur's head? guys. He's made the playoffs in six or seven years. He's by all accounts, you know, elevated Aaron Rodgers when he got him closer to the end of his prime. And Brian Cuden, I I I can we not at least discuss the Packers made draft over the last 30 years as well as anybody in the NFL? That was just, you know, it was recency bias. It was everybody's freaking out. The truth is once Micah Parsons got hurt, the defense was kind of average. And at wide receiver and tight end, they had key losses due to injury.

6:59 Where Colin was right, Shawn Manion hired with little to no play calling experience as the Eagles offensive coordinator. Now, it may work, but I had said during the process, I had been told by people in the league that even though offensive coordinator for the Eagles sounds like a great job, it's one of the worst good jobs in the league. You have a quarterback that struggles to identify people over the middle of the field. You got a AJ Brown drama. Uh you've got maybe the harshest, most unrelenting media in the country.

7:34 And if you do succeed, you may get a head coaching job, but you're going to be given until about Thanksgiving for fan approval. So, they settle on a guy that may be successful, but doesn't really have any experience doing in Philadelphia, what they hired him for, where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong on a Monday. And with that, Matt Hasselbeck up already in the Bay Area is now joining us live. So, you've been in one of these. I I remember years hearing ago that um that Pton Manning did not love the playoff or the Super Bowl experience because it took him out of his um he's a creature of habit that you know the timeouts are longer, the halftimes longer, the media is all over you. Take me to your Super Bowl week.

8:16 Did you find it tedious, annoying, or refreshing and fun? Yeah, that doesn't surprise me at all about Pton Manning, by the way. I mean, even the two weeks he probably he probably was petitioning the league to get rid of the by-week before. I mean, I've heard stories about him even like, uh, hey, this is how we're going to do travel with the family. Family, you can stay with the players. And, you know, I've heard stories about Payton be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, no, there's going to be no family staying with players, you know, like like uh, no, every every team's different. And you know, I think that when your organization has experience playing in Super Bowls, you know, some teams, they can just it's like autopilot. You know, I I know for the Seahawks, it's kind of like there's a group of people that are just like the advanced team, the Super Bowl team. Like they've got it all dialed. Hey, we're in

8:59 charge of the advanced team for the families, you know, and then there's a group of people that are just in charge of the advanced team for the players and then advanced team for the equipment managers and, you know, all the stuff. So, think what the New England Patriots are doing. Like, they think this is just normal. this is like a preseason game to them in terms of like that routine. And so I think if you make it a big deal, it can be a big deal. But I can promise you that, you know, Mike Vrabel's going to talk about this like like he's done it before. Kind of like, yeah, and then we're going to do this and then Friday's going to be a Wednesday and Wednesday's going to be a, you know, a Thursday and then Sunday we're off. And then, you know, just talking about it like it is just what we do. This is just our Super Bowl schedule. And I know for me when Mikegrren was our head coach, we as

9:42 players took a lot of confidence from that. You know, him and most of his staff, they were there with Bill Walsh and Joe Montana and Steve Young and San Fran doing this. They were there in Green Bay with Brett Favre and Reggie White doing this. And so like when they said, "Hey, here's the schedule." I as a player for me, I just turned my brain off and I was like, Homegrren's got it. You know, like he's doing the Bill Walsh thing. And so I think in a similar way, that's how they're going to feel about Mike Vrabel. And and I'll give you like Mike McDonald just gives you that vibe also. And then the people in the building are mostly the Pete Carol people as well.

10:15 Um so I've talked to different players about that first series in the Super Bowl. Like it's just it's just you you you go two hours after the game, you're like, I don't remember a lot about it. Um and so for Drake May and Darnold, it's just different. I mean, it's go to your first series. You know, Matt, what's interesting, even Brady and the Patriots, they never scored touchdowns in the first quarter. They came, they were, they were always very cautious. It was a feeling out quarter. Go take me to your first series. Was it numbing? Do you remember a lot of it? Was it flashbulbs and just kind of lost?

10:49 Uh, listen, I I was ready to burst. Okay. Like I mentioned like about Payton, like ready to play on that first Sunday. Same. Like we're we're all ready. Creatures of habit. Yes. And so to wait two weeks, you're like dying to get out there, you know? For me, you know, I I also have regrets sometimes. Like, uh, Daryl Jackson was a wide receiver. He was probably our number one receiver. Hadn't missed a ton of time, and I was begging him to, "Hey, you got to make it back for the playoffs. You got to make it back for the playoffs. If you do, I'm going to make you Super Bowl MVP. I'm going to make you the Super Bowl MVP." And I threw my first five passes of the game to him. He's our strong side receiver to the tight end side. I just wanted to get him going.

11:27 And uh, and we did get him going. I mean, he had he had caught a touchdown that got called back. But what happened on the next series was Dick Leau, the D coordinator, was like, "Oh, they're trying to throw to that strongside receiver. I'm going to change what we're doing." He made an in-game adjustment after the first series that really kind of spooked all the stuff that I had studied, you know, tendencies and all that kind of stuff. So, I'm sometimes kicking myself for that kind of stuff. Like, I think the lesson would be for any quarterback, don't try to do anything unique that like remember what got you here. Spread the ball around.

11:58 take what the defense gives you. Get a bunch of snapshot pictures that you can go to the sidelines and say, "Hey, this is their plan versus three wides. This is their plan versus two tights, you know, and then come back and talk about it. You don't have to do anything that you didn't do all season long."

12:13 Yeah, it was funny. I was watching uh Netflix had a special. It's The Boys of 80, The Miracle on Ice. And Herb Brooks when they were playing against Czechoslovakia and the Russians, he kept saying, "Play your game. They're not playing their game. they're reacting to us. Play your game. And I always think it's interesting. For instance, you can say that, but what if the game unravels? Like I can see a scenario where Seattle's just speed and length is a lot for the offensive line for New England to handle. And listen, I watched Houston sort of make New England very uncomfortable. I outside of that Rams game, Seattle's never uncomfortable.

12:53 Seattle makes people uncomfortable. Do you worry that Drake May who's had you know a very nice brief career that O line could get overwhelmed is there a part in big games that you played when instead of play your game you're like guys it's not working because I think most people believe Matt if this became a blowout Seattle's probably not getting run out of the building but the old Seahawk team leads in the boom and this Seahawk team they've humiliated people this here.

13:26 Yeah, they have. But the Patriots are much better than people are giving them credit for. And when you say play your game, referencing Herb Brooks, like the Patriots can say that. Let's play Patriots football. And you don't have to wonder what that is. Like, let's get back to doing what we want to do. Screen game is going to be a huge thing. Josh McDaniels, huge screen guy. Huge screen guy. So you you know you want to like rush the passer, but when you know they've got every which way to run screens to Raandre Stevenson and Tayvon Henderson and even to Hunter Henry and then you got the wide receiver screen game and then Matt Collins is a factor as a blocker out there like those now and later plays like the they happen right now or way later and you got to worry about those right now plays against this team. And so I know I think the other thing is just like they they do run the ball. They commit to running

14:10 I think both these teams commit to running it. Yeah. their run game efficiencies aren't gonna like blow you out of the water, but they stick to it. So, if they say play Patriots football to get us settled down, I'm not worried about Drake May in this game. Like, he's the least of my worries really. The protection of Drake May would be my concern because of how good this, you know, front four the Seahawks is. But again, like I have confidence in Josh McDaniels understanding how to slow that rush down. And then I'll say it again.

14:39 I've been saying it uh maybe too much, but all year long you practice these trick plays and if you haven't run them yet, you you're saving them for nothing. Like you run them in a game like this. And I listen, I lost a Super Bowl because Bruce Arens had the courage to call like basically a double double reverse pass with Antoine Randle throwing it to Hines Ward. Josh McDaniels, he's he's got him in his bag and Patriot fans know all about the Philly special. like trick plays are coming in this game. So, you can't just close your eyes, rush the passer. Um, this this will be a football game. This this will not be a blowout in my mind.

15:16 Do you worry? Um, listen, Sam Darnold succeeded at the end in Carolina. He succeeded in Minnesota and Seattle, but Clint Kubak is probably going to get the Raiders job. Um, do you worry about Darnold next year? And do you worry about that story sort of engulfing the Seahawks as everybody in the building knows? I mean, if you have a great job, your first head coaching job coming, I don't know how you concentrate. I mean, that's like your first big career break. Do you worry about that Kubiaak um situation where it's like he's he's leaving and everybody in the building knows it.

15:53 I'm not worried about Sam next year. I'm worried about Sam this week. And yes, I've been I've I've been there where your coach, your guy, he's getting a promotion and you know he's already accepted that job and you know that his his time is not 100% on the mission and the mission is hoisting hoisting a Leardi. He's doing job interviews and you're not like upset about it. You're not upset with him, but the process is the process. I mean, I've had I've had quarterback coaches do it. I've had coordinators do it. Like it's it's it's a bad feeling. It's a bad feeling. So I think the what you need to do is somehow somehow make it a good thing. Somehow make it like you know what this team right here, this special team, this journey that we've been on together, we will never be together again. Like we have a chance to do something together this week and that's it. We'll never be together again as

16:45 this unit. Let's do it together. Players and coaches. And with players, you're used to that. With coaches, you're a little less used to that. So, they got to just turn that and rally that kind of a mindset where it's um you know, this is still the 2025 26 Seahawk team. We're together one more time and we'll worry about tomorrow some other day.

17:08 You know, um it's interesting. Drake May's not taken a ton of snaps because of a shoulder injury. And I think to myself, well, Sam Darnold took almost no snaps in the previous two games. He just played his best game as a pro. And I remember when Shawn McVey came into the league and he said, "I'm not playing my starters in the preseason." And people are like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." And they went 8 and0, right? And I and I and I think about this that have we overstated how much practice you need by the end of the season? And when I read a Drake May story or a Sam Darnold story, you know, my initial concern is, oh, they're out of rhythm.

17:46 and Sam just played a great defense and his best game as a pro and he wasn't practicing. What do you make of that?

17:53 No, I hear what you're saying, but um I I think sometimes an injury can make you a better player in a weird way, you know, like you don't try to play outside of yourself. You play on time. You don't take three hitches in the pocket because you're not feeling 100%. You're you're sitting there and you're like, "Okay, one hitch, two hitch, check down. I'm done. I'm not trying to be Superman today. I can be Clark Kent because I'm playing with a bunch of Superman's. I'm good. I can just, you know, add water and stir today. Now, you know, you still got to make those throws when they're ready to be made. And I think like just even going back to the NFC Championship game for Sam Darnold as an example because he did not practice, didn't throw much, didn't throw deep. I mean, he made it look effortless on his first touchdown to to Jake Bobo. You know, it was a play action to the right, corner blitz. They're trying to throw to JSN.

18:40 He's doubled. He just, you know, two hitches, comes back and boom, us or nobody right down the middle to boowbo like it was nothing. So, you know, playing on rhythm. I know that sometimes when I've been sick with the flu or sometimes when I've had an injury where I'm like, "Hey, I know I could start this game. I'm not 100% sure I can finish this game." You play more like the coaches are have been asking play. Hey, we got a great punter. We got a great defense. Just play within our little system here and we'll be fine.

19:10 That is really funny. It's like the governor gets turned down naturally on your body and you play the game the coaches want you to play. The um

19:17 And can I just can I just add on that Colin though? It doesn't mean you can't throw the ball deep or you can't take shots. You got to have training wheels on. You can still throw a go route 48 yards downfield if they ever leave Rashahed or JSN one-on-one, but you can't do it in more than two hitches. You take your drop two one or two hitches and then we're moving on. Like the ball's out of your hand somewhere.

19:38 Yeah. the um the first week, last week of practice, I imagine you install the game. What do you do in terms of football? Just the football part. What do you do this week? It's a game week. It's a game week and it's a cleanup. Uh it's also rest is very important as well. And you know, as an NFL football player now, even at the end of my career, they all wear a catapult system where it it it's got accelerometers in there. It measures how fast you run, how quick, how many bursts you have, how many stops you have, and they're they're, you know, working load management. Um, and so like there's this is a very scientific thing. It's not just a feel thing, but you also lay the schedule out for the week. And when you say to a football player in the NFL, today is a Wednesday. We all know what that means. Like we don't know what day it really is in in the real world. We have no idea, but we know that we're

20:32 doing first and second down today. We know that. And when you say, "Hey, today is a Thursday. Okay, we're going to do some review of first and second down. We're going to do third down and maybe short yardage and goal line. And then you say today is a Friday as an example. Okay, today is a red zone emphasis. Uh the O line's not going to be as physical. The D line's not going to be as physical, but on the outside the seven on seven guys, we're going fast. You know, like things like that. Now, you could tweak it where some people make uh one day a different day. But but that is really what you're doing. You're not adding another game plan. You're not adding two weeks of football in. You're sort of I to use an old Abraham Lincoln quote, you're not swinging the axe harder, you're just simply sharpening the blade.

21:10 Yeah. Did you get um final question when you're a pro alete, they the legendary stories Bill Russell threw up before every game. That's very unique. Um you're walking out to the field for the Super Bowl for the first time. I mean, this is for Sam Darnold and Drake May. Did you at that point in your career, despite all the preparation, were you were you was there a little awe inspiring? Did you get nervous?

21:37 Well, I I would say going back to the Bill Russell thing, I it I played with a lot of guys, great players that would throw up before games like great players. You're kind of you see him going to the thing and then you hear him just hurling like you're like, "What's going on in there?" And then your Hall of Fame teammate comes walking back out and you're like, "Really, dude? You're throwing up? Okay." You know, I'm not nervous anymore. Look at you. you know, uh, for me, no, that wasn't really my situation. You know, I would huddle with the quarterbacks and usually the centers and say a prayer, um, almost to calm myself down, um, because I was so excited. This is a dream come true. I can't believe you're paying me to do this. Like, this is awesome. I am having so much fun. This is incredible. And then what happens in the Super Bowl, it's a neutral site, but they will play when you come out of the tunnel, a lot

22:18 of times they will play a song that I'm getting goosebumps now. Like in Seattle, they would play this bittersweet symphony song for us. It's a song that you play in your home stadium and it's like, "No, no, that's our song." Like, I don't know, whoever sang that song, they didn't sing it for us, but we decided it's our song and this is a home game for us. And so, I think for both teams, they're going to come out of those tunnels and they're going to hear that song that they're used to hearing in Foxboro or that song that they're used to hearing at Lumen Field and they're going to be like, you know, it's it's on. Like, the problem is you got all this extra time. You usually come out of the tunnel and it's time to go. Now there's like an anthem and a pageantry and all this stuff.

22:55 Yeah, you're you're already amped up. Yeah, I can feel it with you. It's my old team, Colin. It's on my old It's my old team against my dad's old team. This is a it's a cool matchup and it's a it's in a great city and uh it it you know, San Jose to San Fran. Like it's everybody's here in town for it. It's really neat.

23:13 Great to see you, buddy. Matt Hasselback. All right. Um, yeah, it is. Uh, it's just it's really interesting when you look I saw it I actually saw it first on First Things First. They put up a graphic

23:25 and you just and I said this earlier, you kind of forget because New England started poorly. They lost to the Steelers and Raiders and and and Drake may had a really bad game against the Steelers. You kind of checked them like, "Oh, I don't have to watch that team a lot." And then you forget about them and they're beating bad teams in the schedule. But if you look at Seattle and you look at New England, they had the same number of blowouts, same number of points, right down the line. Seattle did it against better better teams. And I think Seattle's more explosive, but when a team I mean, here it is. They both averaged 5.9 yards a play. They both got 41% on third down. They both allowed exactly 17 points. Uh they both only lost three games. They both won nine games by 10 points. Seattle's offense, I think it's fair to say, with JSN and Darnold, it's it's a little more explosive. But I I would also say,

24:20 Jason, the weakness of both teams is probably the offensive line that we look at it and we think not great. Seattle left side got Gray Zable in the draft. I think it's a little better. Will Campbell the Patriots got although he's been roughed up by some of the better edge rushers, but they're kind of mirror images. defensive coach really dominated their side with wins. Uh could be a little reckless at times. We've seen it with Drake May in the playoffs. We saw it with Sam Darnold. Yeah. O lines are not the strength.

24:50 Excellent secondaries, ball hawking fast linebackers. Uh and they just they've been on a heater it feels like for three and a half months. I it's tough to wrap your arms around this when you know in recent years we've seen do utterly dominant Eagles Chiefs going for the three Pete Joe Burrow. I mean you you you've just had amazing games and teams and Colin let's be real these for I mean we were probably week 11 in the herd hierarchy and none of these teams were top five. I mean they're just not great teams. They had really good seasons. There's there's an NBA coralary here where it's like hey they they put up great stats almost like an OKC. We're blowing teams out, but they're not great teams.

25:29 Would I would disagree. If Seattle wins, let's say 3120. Okay. And then you look back and say they dominated the Super Bowl. They beat a Rams team twice that we thought was the best team in the league. They literally shut Kyle Shanahan's offense out twice. Shut it out. That's never happened with Shanahan. Then you start adding it up and going, "Oh, and they blew out that team and that." I think Seattle's different. I think if Seattle wins by comfortably, you'll go back and look at the book and you'll start reading the chapters and go, "Oh, yeah, they now that's 10 games they've won." I mean, in pro football, if you win 10 games, including the Super Bowl, by double digits,

26:16 that's rare. The NFC, remember, NFC was the better conference. Yeah. So, I mean, I' I've never seen

26:23 The defense is great, but like the Rams defense that won the Super Bowl against the Bengals had Aaron Donald, a historically great Hall of Famer. Real quick, Colin, give me a Hall of Famer from the Seahawks defense.

26:33 They got a lot of good guys. I like that rookie safety. You're the rookie safety whose name we can't even pronounce.

26:38 My My guess is Witherspoon will end up in Canton. That's way premature. Like, he's really good. They got some Alloss, but like they're just not a Who's the number one player when you do your top 10? Who's the number one player in the Super Bowl?

26:53 Uh the I you can't say Drake May. I'm sorry. He's had a really good season, but he's not the best player in the Super Bowl.

27:00 Uh the best player in the Super Bowl. Not Christian Gonzalez. This is a weird I would say JSN's the number one player in the Super Bowl.

27:09 I I don't totally disagree with that. And I think he right now is the best receiver in this.

27:13 And by the way, a year ago at this time, he was clearly a number two on the Seahawks. And when they traded the number one, oh, what are they going to do at receiver? So, like he had an amazing season. I love him. But it's just a wacky Maybe maybe this is me justifying why I missed so many games in the NFL playoffs. I got so many bets wrong because I didn't I MEAN NOBODY SAW THESE two teams coming. Did anybody have a futures ticket on a Patriots Seahawks Super Bowl?

27:34 Well, I had that I think No, I I will say I like you I read a lot of the athletic I think midseason people were like I mean I'll tell you a moment for me. You know how sometimes uh you learn more in a bad job experience than a good one, right? And I've said that before. When you go back to the Seahawks schedule, this is crazy. If I told you, yeah, they played the Rams in LA. Darnold had four picks. You're like, "Oh, they got the, you know, oh, no, no, they were driving for the win in their loss." My takeaway was what team in the league could throw four picks against the Rams and it was 2119 in LA. If I said the Rams played uh Minnesota four picks, you'd be like 38-10. The Seahawks lose a game and they literally it is bakery turnovers for three and a half hours and they almost won that game.

28:35 That was a moment where I was like, "God, how good are they?" Are you ready for the play of the NFL season? The singular play that changed everything. The two-point conversion, Seattle Rams, where it goes off the helmet. Everybody stops. Charban just scoops it up. They review it, and it's a good two-point conversion that got them essentially the tie, and they end up winning that game in overtime. If they don't get that, the Rams get homefield advantage, and the Seahawks are nowhere near this game. Like, Colin, that's how fluky this season was. And I know Seahawks fans are upset hearing that.

29:04 Have you ever seen a play like that? That two-point conversion. No, it was weird.

29:07 IT WAS WEIRD. EVERYBODY STOPPED PLAYING. The refs were like, "That's" And then he just scoops it up. Wait a minute. That was a backward pass. It's just been a crazy season. Hopefully we get a good game and the Seahawks winning comfortably.

29:19 I I think we will, Jac uh live in LA, it's the herd. highly recommend uh uh that Netflix special uh The Boys of 80. It is the uh you know The Miracle on Ice, Lake Placid. It's an incredibly deep dive on that. Maybe it's generational, but I can't watch that without getting very emotional. Talking about it makes me emotional. So, it's one of those sports moments, and I haven't had many. I remember exactly where I was. I remember the color of the carpet. Uh I remember the color and the painting on the wall. Uh when I had heard somebody rushed out because it I wasn't allowed to watch it in this bar area where I was at a bowling alley. Everybody was screaming.

30:12 We just beat the Russians and I couldn't watch it live. So I went and watched it on on tape and I was at a local bowling alley and I I can really I remember just not being able because they had beaten Czechoslovakia. It was a different world where you just you waited for the newspaper to get information. You didn't have it like we have today. So I just so strongly strongly recommend our audience, our sport fan, sports fans, go watch that. And again, it maybe touches me more if you're over 4550. It's I remember where America was at. And you know, gas lines, we were not in a good space as a country. And you know, for a lot of 20 and 30 year olds, it's all rainbows and birds chirping and AI and life's fun.

30:54 I know you've talked about it, but the Tyson Buster Douglas, remember it was in like Japan or China. Oh, yeah. So, and as a young guy, I would only get my news through the Washington Post and it was it ended so late they didn't have it in the paper the next day, but there was all these local TV things saying, "Oh, Mike Tyson lost." I mean, do you remember that? It was like you didn't get the news. I texted with somebody in Las Vegas a week ago that said, "Do you remember where we were at?" And you kept running back to your car cuz you were listening to the fight. And I would go listen to my car. It was on uh an AM radio station in Vegas. And then in between rounds, I would run in with my friends and say, "Ty just lost round six."

31:36 And so everybody was at this party, this corporate party. And then I would go, "Okay, I got to go." and I would listen to the fight on radio. It's just, you know, now we watch everything live and it's just it's just

31:48 not the way it works. So, I just I highly recommend you go watch it. Albert Brer next hour, Lincoln Riley as well.

31:54 Herdline news around the corner in LA. It's the herd, you know, uh, watching a little Michigan State. You just pointed this out to me during the break. The Big 10 is not only the best football conference now that Indiana is a powerhouse, Big 10 basketball this year.

32:16 Goodness, they look really good. I mean, Nebraska is unbelievable. Purdue, Illinois, it's so loaded.

32:24 SEC SEC's second, but I think Big 10's stacked. Yeah. And I think what's happened with college sports, it used to be what schools had the most great athletes within their geographic footprint. Like the South, Georgia, Florida, Bama, and now it's that matters, but like who are your top two boosters? Will they write checks? And the Big 10, you know this,

32:51 um there's not as many jobs in the Midwest. So Big 10 graduates, and these are massive schools, they go to the coast to make money or the South, but they always miss the Big 10. One of the things that takes them home, it's not the weather, you know, the weather's better out west or the weather's better in Arizona or the South, but what always connects Midwesterners who leave is their teams. Yeah. And they to a large degree, they'll write those checks. And right now it's just the NIL has literally turned the Big 10 into a great brand with sort of soggy athletics.

33:28 Brands were better than the product into the brand's great and the product's unbelievable. If you if you change uniforms and just say Indiana football is a top 10 program and if you look at their NIL and their coach, they are.

33:42 Yeah. You're like, "Oh, Michigan, Oregon, USC, Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana." I watched Iowa last year and there's some farmers with some lettuce because I watched Iowa and I'm like they're not that far off.

33:56 Yeah. So Jac with the news. NO HEARD ON THE NEWS. This is the herd line news. All right, let's go to the Super Bowl and JSN. You said he's probably the best player in the Super Bowl. Tough to disagree. after his 119 catches for a league high 1793 yards, 10 ties. Uh he became the first Seahawks player to lead the NFL in receiving yards since Steve Larent. Steve Larent with the iconic helmet. Uh Mike Frabel knows he'll have his hands full planning for the AllPro.

34:26 Sudden savvy, competitive, really good play strength for, you know, he's his stature. You wouldn't think, you know, I mean, it's not not 6'3, 220 lb receiver, but he's got great play strength. He's really good contested catch, but uh I think good route craft, you know, understanding in zone and man, great body control.

34:51 I love all the terminology he uses. Frabel's a really sharp He's a really sharp guy, man.

34:57 He's as much as we talk about Sam D in the history of football. Yeah. Who is the best ex player who was a coach?

35:04 Oh boy. I mean, I get it. I'll defer to you on that one. No, I I mean, you start looking around. I I watch Mike Vrabel and I'm like, never forget this. Got to be a number one seed in the AFC.

35:18 Oh, with Ryan Tanahill. when when I mean it's like again didn't hoist a trophy but I Vrabel is you know Vrabel is the one guy has never cowtowed ever to Bichc

35:33 ever Brady played the good soldier for yearsel went right after Bellich Bellich loved Vrabel in fact when he was scouting him in college he said we're not we don't have a place to draft you but when you become available I'm going to get you cuz they're intellects. I mean, Bellich checked to appreciate how smart he was.

35:53 Verbel's a ve I know Michael Little texted him a little bit. He's a very unique personality and I I I'm I'm telling you there are not three coaches smarter than him in the league. He is really bright.

36:05 We'll see how he schemes up JSN. I would imagine a lot of Christian Gonzalez uh Gonzalez very good quarterback

36:11 and strong. He is. Uh I'll give the edge to JSN just because he's a stud. Um all right, let's go to the second story. This kind of broke over the weekend. Interesting, Colin. The Eagles, they got a great defensive coordinator, Vic Fonio. However, reports indicate he is mulling retirement and has been since the end of the season. And Philly doesn't have a final decision from him. That's not great news. Obviously, Fio a masterful defensive coordinator. I Colin, they were thinking about a Jonathan Ganon move. Remember, he was with the Cardinals. He just landed with the Packers as their defensive coordinator.

36:45 Um, the Eagles plan on checking in with Jim Schwarz. Colin, a lot of coaching changes. So, that'll be if Thio leaves. That's a new OC and DC.

36:55 I would say Jim Schwarz would be the leading candidate. Yeah, he he's very good. Um, this would be an attractive job. They have an elite secondary. Mitchell and Deine are all pros. The defensive line, Jordan Davis, uh, the other defensive tackle whose name escapes me. Um, the linebackers are good. This is a loaded unit. I don't know why people wouldn't be clamoring to get this job if Fio says I'm out.

37:17 Coordinator jobs in Philadelphia. I think it has to do with Sirriani. Like, hey, what's my job security? If Serriiani gets tossed, I'm out, too.

37:24 That's right. By the way, Mike Ditka, former player who's a coach. I think Brabbel's a better coach than Ditka. Ditka had the 85 Bears.

37:33 85 Bears. Yeah. Well, no. I mean, they were great, but I if you're asking me long-term intellect, um, ability to deal with the media, the players, the cap, I I think Varelable's kind of unique.

37:46 Okay. I think as a Chicago guy now, you have to say Dick. Yeah. Contractually obligated.

37:51 People don't like that. I think LeBron is every bit as good as MJ in Chicago. Oh, they don't like

37:55 that does not play well. Are you catching heat? That's like, you know, I really like your show, but the one thing and I'm like, is it the Jordan thing? I just I know what it is before they say it.

38:05 Of course. Uh final story. Let's uh stick with defensive coordinators. And the 49ers lost Robert Salah. Obviously, he's now with the Titans, but they've brought in Raheem Morris, who becomes, wait for it, this is interesting. San Fran's fifth defensive coordinator in five years. So, Shanahan and Morris have a history together. They were with the Bucks, the Commanders of Falcons. Raheem Morris obviously a sharp defensive mind. This is huge for San Fran. And let's remember they had what, like four starters on IR out for the year, so they'll all come back. This will be a strong unit next year. Um, I think it's a good hire in San Fran.

38:40 Yeah, it's Shanahan and McVey both like him a lot. Very respected guy. Again, I think it's very hard in this league. There is a gap between coordinator and coach. It's hard and you just don't know. Like Jeff Halfley could be great in Miami or it could be a disaster. I have to watch it.

38:59 Yeah. Well, actually speaking of I have no idea how it's going to work. You should rank all those new head coaches one to 10. The new hires. Halfley might be 10. Sorry.

39:06 I don't know. We don't know yet. I know Harball's going to work. Absolutely. And I'm almost sure Stfansky and Salah within two years you'll be like, "Oh yeah, that that you're on the right track."

39:17 I mean, if you're ranking coordinator hires, I think Morris is probably top four. I think McDaniel is with the Chargers is the best, but this is a really good hire. By the way, he was uh he knows the Rams very well. Uh which is good institutional knowledge in the division. I think this is good. I just don't know about the Niners next year overall. We'll see what happens with McCaffrey.

39:36 Well, you can bake in about six games missed by Pertie because he got a, you know, his left finger uh is achy on a cloudy day.

39:43 Pery hate. I have a fun Darnold stat for you that relates to Pertie. No, I'm saving that for later in the week. Can't burn all my good stuff on Monday. Come on.

39:51 Niners will be fine. It's uh but the Seahawks and the Rams, this is nothing against our friend John Lynch, but the Seahawks and Rams have hit on a higher percentage of their draft picks. I mean, it's it's I I think most people still believe the Super Bowl was Ram Seahawks. Now, Vable is going to make sure the Patriots hear that all week.

40:11 Yeah. But it's um Is that line moved up to five yet? Uh it's I think it's five, four and a half depending on where you shop as the pros say.

40:19 All right. I'm not much of a shopper. Jac with the news. Well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by.

40:26 The herd lie news. It is, you know, I'm glad you watched that Michigan State game because the it is, it is noticeable. You were, when I first met you, you were always a college basketball fan.

40:38 Still am. I just don't talk about as much because I know I got to play to your strengths.

40:41 Okay. And so, and you know, the audience is is more pro sports than college sports most of the time. But isn't it noticeable to you how much better college basketball is today than like six years ago?

40:51 Oh, it's not even close. Like there's just more pros. There's more size. And that's the NIL, right?

40:57 By the way, on on I believe it was Saturday on FS1, it might have been with the uh the BYU Kansas game. Did you watch this?

41:03 Oh, first of all, that they're both great. Those are the top two picks. Boozer at Duke's probably three.

41:09 He's good. Yeah, that Peterson kid for Kansas first half he was unbel like he's got he's got cramping issues so he struggles to stay in

41:18 if you go watch him and you haven't watched him within three possessions you will say to yourself oh that's what Kobe Bryant would have looked like in college his game looks like Kobe

41:27 he looks like the number one pick for sure yeah he is really good he he is struggling to play bonus minutes but he is And uh we are not on radio row at Super Bowl week, although I'm dashing up there Wednesday. Um Albert Brerier is Monday morning quarterback. He is joining us live from San Francisco.

41:56 You know, it's interesting. People have said I I've heard this from friends like it doesn't really move me. You got a team from the Pacific Northwest and then the Patriots feel like they're still a little bit in a rebuild.

42:09 Is there a storyline that intrigues you the most? And maybe it is, Darnold, that's predictable. Is is there one thing that jumps out to you that if you ran the network, you would sell this as the storyline?

42:23 Yeah, I'd say a couple things, Colin. The first thing would probably be T May's shoulder is something we're going to be following all week and kind of how that storyline took on a life of its own um last week. And so where is he at? He was limited in practice on Thursday. He didn't practice on Friday. So just in the micro sense, that would be one. As far as like a macro storyline, I think the Seahawks feel like they're on the verge of where they were 12, 13 years ago on the front end of something and that this is not a one-off. And if you look,

42:52 you see a lot of really solid pieces at the premium positions. And I said this to you, I think before the year. I looked at the Seahawks, the Packers in the same category. This is before the Packers traded for Micah Parsons. They had a lot of very good young players where if those guys could just elevate to become great players, they'd really have something. And that's more or less happened, hasn't it? I mean, you look at it across the board. Jackson Smith and Jigba, really good receiver, now he's a great one. Charles Cross at left tackle, Kenneth Walker at running back, Byron Murphy at defensive tackle, Devin Witherspoon, um, at corner. You know, you have guys that were probably Pro Bowl type players becoming allpro type players. And those guys are all young.

43:33 And so I, you know, just talking to Seahawks people over the course of the last few months, they really felt like the team was continuing to get better over the course of time. That was because of that individual improvement. Now, what Sam Darnold is on this stage is going to be really interesting because for the most part, outside of a couple games, he's been the same guy for two years now. Yeah. Like that those games in Minnesota last year at the end of the year, he didn't have his left tackle. the offensive line in general didn't do a good job of protecting him against Detroit or the Rams, but for the most part, he's been the same guy over the course of the last next last couple of years. So now you're looking at like this quarterback with a a chance to have full redemption and become the guy that everybody thought he was going to be when he was picked third overall coming out of USC to the Jets. And you have

44:18 this team around him that looks like it could be another version of what John Schneider and Pete Carol built 12 or 13 years ago. We were um you know I was saying about 30 minutes ago I said Vel could be the best ex player coach ever. Mike Ditka obviously formed the 85 Bears. I I just think when I look at Vrabel intellectually and his um ability to compartmentalize media responsibility, players uh drafting, developing um

44:52 you know, so much of sports debates is about hoisting trophies. I don't think there are three coaches in this league smarter than Mike Frabel just in terms of and you know this Albert, he is the one Patriot ever that didn't suck up to Bellich

45:08 first day. I mean, he has always challenged Bellich. Yeah. When you covered this team and you're in that part of the country,

45:16 there's a certain reverence he's almost held in. Like, he's he's like the guy you don't want to mess with. I mean, how would you categorize him?

45:22 Well, I mean, he's always been that guy. That's the other thing. I could tell you a story. When he was 18 years old, as a freshman at Ohio State, his high school coach showed up at the Ohio State facility to go and visit him and a couple other guys there. Asked where Mike was. Somebody told him Mike is in Cooper in John Cooper's office, the head coach's office. And the coach walks in there and he sees Mike in there with his feet up at 18 years old. And so this is sort of like always who Vel has been. And I think what he's evolved into is the total package as a head coach.

45:53 Leadership relationships scheme game management, roster building. I I just think when you're talking about the totality of what a head coach is, Mike Frabel checks every single box. And I think it really crystallized for me when I was hearing about how they put the team together um during the last off season, right? And that and this isn't really Gerard Mayo's fault, but the personnel department the year before went into it with Gerard Mayo as the coach, and they had a bunch of new guys, and those guys didn't really know what they wanted at every single position.

46:26 And so it kind of became hard for them to put the team together. When Vrabel came in there, he knew exactly what he wanted from an intangible standpoint, from a skill set standpoint at every single position. And that weaponized the the the personnel department to go up and find guys who are fits. And that I think is why I mean, you look across the board, it's home run after home run after home run at different levels of free agency. They hit in the draft. Like they would tell you Craig Woodson was a fourth round pick. they would tell you they viewed him as a starter from the time they drafted him and he winds up starting. And so I I just think Mike has grown into becoming the total package as a head coach. I think the last piece came together at the end in Tennessee when there was some dysfunction in the building that really wasn't his fault, but I I don't know that he did everything to bring things back together

47:13 either. And you saw the lesson he learned when he came in on the first day in New England and said, "I'm going to unify the building." And he's really been able to do that. again like I think he checks every box as a head coach and you put them together with that quarterback and they should be able to sustain success.

47:28 So, uh, a couple of things happened this weekend. Um, you know, I I was saying earlier a couple hours ago,

47:35 you can do a lot wrong as a GM. You can miss on a lot of picks, but Brandon Bean got Josh Allen right and he got promoted. Okay, I if if if John Lynch doesn't draft Brock Pury, that Trey Lance draft pick, he could have lost his job. And I look at Minnesota firing their young Princeton, Stanford, Wall Street GM, and my take is if Darnold goes to Seattle and struggles and wins six games, but it was the weekly reminder. Okay, you had Daniel Jones in the building, you had Darnold in the building. I read a lot of stuff about fraternity leave and relationships.

48:16 Isn't so much of this job, Albert? Just hit the quarterback and owners forget about a lot of other mistakes.

48:24 Well, I made the point um in my column this morning like that they actually offered a hall for Drake May and they love Drake May. Kevin Okonnell loved him. Josh Macau, who's their quarterback's coach, actually coached Drake May in high school and so they were all in and trying to trade up for him. Now, New England, to its credit, wouldn't budge, but how different does this look if Drake Tay is the quarterback right now,

48:46 right? Like, I I mean, like, it looks it's a totally different deal if now Sam Darnold was your quarterback in 2024 and you're offloading him to go to Drake Bay in 25. I mean, they may still be playing right now, like based on where the rest of the roster is. And so, um, you know, I I I I think like with Quy, it was the totality of everything. it was some of the work hours he kept and that stuff was out there and had been kind of circulating at NFL circles for quite some time. not as much internally, but externally you heard it from a lot of people that were out on the road scouting and that that sort of stuff gets around. And I think when you compound that with mistakes that are made in the draft and you compound that with roster building issues and then you do what you did at quarterback and it doesn't work out, like obviously then everybody's going to point right back to the other stuff and say that was the

49:40 problem. And so I I think it's it's the totality of it in that I think some of those things shrunk quads margin for error with everything else and then when he slipped up all that stuff came back to Hana.

49:56 Yeah. I think um and I haven't thought this very often but Clint Kubiaak, Fernando Mendoza, I like their general manager. I I think when they make that move, I worry about Clint Kubiaak. I don't care who it is, Albert. What career? When you get your when you get the greatest job you've ever had in your career, it is hard to focus. I worry a little bit about that with Darnold and the Seahawks. But I I Let's talk about that. I think this one of the few times I really feel positively about the Raiders from Brady's association, Spy Tech, Clint Kubak, Fernando Mendoza. How is he viewed around the league? And and and you tell me Kubak's got a sounds like Arizona wanted him as well. How is he viewed?

50:47 I think this is the highest compliment I can give him like his dad, you know. I think that that's that's how people view him. Um he carries himself the same sort of way. And I think one of the best things you can say about him is he was genuinely uncomfortable pursuing the opportunities that were in front of him because he really was truly committed to the Seahawks playoff run. Now, everyone says that, right? Like, but the reality is like you've got this job in front of you that could be the greatest opportunity you'll ever have and it's hard to keep your focus on the task at hand when that's kind of on the side there. But Clint was very disciplined about that. this Clint didn't want to didn't want a big deal made of it. Like I knew some things here like that were like very difficult to report about what was going on because Clint was very tight about the way that he was handling all of this. And so I think that that's

51:38 a I think that's a a good sign of his self-awareness, which is an important piece of being a head coach. We know what he can do from a scheme standpoint. I think what's cool about him is that he kind of fell on his face at the end in New Orleans and I know he learned from that and took valuable lessons from that and the Seahawks are are reaping the rewards of that now. And I think he'll be able to put together a good staff like I I think there's a possibility he's going to try to get Jim Schwarz out of Cleveland.

52:04 Yep. And so now you start to talk about some of these pieces coming together and because of his connections in the league and because of the respect he engenders, now you can start to build a program. And so obviously a lot of this is still going to come down to is Fernando Mendoza the right guy and are they able to put the right pieces around the young quarterback? Like it's always going to come down to that. But I mean Clint was in high demand for a reason and his name picked up steam in December and I think he went from thinking maybe I get one or two interviews to everyone wanting to talk to him and then at the end having his pick of two jobs which is pretty remarkable when you consider where he was a year ago.

52:42 Okay. So every I'm looking at every coach hired from Mike Laflur to Brady to Monin to Halfley to Fansky Harbaugh, Jesse Miner, Mike McCarthy, Robert Salah. Is there one of these? Now most of us, we feel very strongly about a John Harbaugh. We're not sure about, you know, Todd Mon. Is there one of these hires that if I said to you, Albert, in four years, one of them ended up being sneaky good that you looked at it and you went, "Wow, that really fell together." I mean, that J-Mack made this point earlier that if you look at Arizona's talent, you know, Mike Laflur walks in there, if they ever get the quarterback right, like they have some really interesting elements. Now, the division's tough, but is there one to you that you're like

53:31 that one's going to be better than the market thinks today? So, Stfansky is too obvious, right? Like, so I won't go Stfansky because I think he was kind of like right there with Harbaugh as far as the pursuit, right? Teams loved him and really had a lot of respect for the job that he did in Cleveland. Um,

53:51 give me I like Jeff Hafley in Miami. Wow. And I like Jeff Hafley in Miami. Here's why. All right. And I feel the same way about Jesse Mentor, but like that might be a little too easy, too, because of the program. Like he's going into a program he was already in. I like what they're doing because I think they're focused on the right things. And I think the front office there before they went out went look for a new general manager, a new head coach says, "We did not do a good enough job over the last four years drafting and developing." They had fewer draft picks than any team in the league over the last four years. Like their 22 draft class was an abject disaster. Like there's just not young talent on that roster. And I look at John Eric Sullivan coming from Green Bay where they draft and develop their own and that roster always has good young talent on it. And then I look at Jeff Hathley who was

54:46 there in Green Bay and was a part of that. Not only that was a college head coach playing at a disadvantage, right? Like at Boston College where he had to develop young guys to be competitive. And I just I mean when you're talking about like I always think of it this way, right? Could I explain this to my 11year-old or nine-year-old son why this is logical, right? Like I think it's one of those where it's like we didn't have good enough young talent. We're bringing in guys who can develop young talent. And so like I kind of like where Miami is and I think that one has a chance to look a little bit better than people think.

55:18 What was around the league? What did people say about Mike McCarthy and Steelers to you?

55:24 So I I think that one mo the way most people digested it was the Steelers don't want to be bad. And I and I wonder what this is going to look like in two years because I a lot of people's logic on the Steelers was it's time now to tear it down, right? And it's time at this point to go in. Jaylen Ramsey's in his 30s. TJ Watson in his 30s, Aaron Rogers in his 40s. You're going to have to go and find a new quarterback. I think it's something like nine of the 22 starters in their last game were 29 or older. It is an older team and it just felt like the right time to say we're gonna jam on the reset button, go with the young coach like we always have, like a Chris Schula, somebody in their 30s that we can build around and maybe we'll be bad in the here and the now, but like we're going to try to build this thing back up. And that's not what they did. You know, like what they did I think is Art Rooney

56:18 telling you I want to remain competitive. I don't want to sink to the bottom of the league. I wanna I want to try to get them get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get get a little bit more out of the core I have in place and the best way to do that is to bring in a guy who's got experience and who's one in two different places. So right

56:35 I think the message here is we don't want to sink to the bottom of the league. We feel like we have a team that can still win right now. Whether they're right or not, I'm not sure and we'll see. But it felt to me at the end of the year like that was a place in need of a reset and I don't think that they're going to going to go through a full reset now. based on based on who they hired as their head coach.

56:56 Albert Brerier, enjoy it. Uh hope to see you at the volume party on Wednesday, buddy. And thanks.

57:03 All right. Thanks, Colin. You bet. Of course, we'll both be having iced tea. Stay laser focused. Don't stay out late. All about all about clarity, J-Mack. We're not out there on the mean streets, the Bay Area. That's why you got to be careful when you travel with uh J-Mack here. Things get a little randy. Well, first of all, I'm not a locked to be joining you. Uh 5050 coin flip, but depends. What's it? Is it an open bar? Are we talking?

57:28 Of course, if it's my party, of course it is. Yeah. It's it's really interesting about NILJMC. Like you get older players and if you I went there was a graph on the internet, Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana, a lot of 23-y old dudes. Yeah. And so that's why what what does that help the fan?

57:46 Well, you watched Indiana Miami. It felt a little bit like a pro game. Yeah. Like I mean the Miami was running like half zone, half manto man. Indiana's fourth down play calls. You're like this is really highend level football. It's not pro, but it's not college from eight years ago. And I think the sport the the quality of the games and quarterback play. I think college football with older players has just gotten smarter.

58:14 Oh, definitely. And I like his little dig there. More than uh one part of the country paying players. Very nicely done, Lincoln. That was a five-star jab. You may you've been saying the same thing. I mean, a lot of people have said it. I just like how he slid it in there.

58:28 Just slid it in there. Yeah. Yeah. Notre Dame. I I was at the airport. I was at the airport yesterday. A couple Notre Damers,

58:36 the husband, and the wife. The wife's name was Ginger. They They want to see USC and Notre Dame play.

58:41 Yeah. I don't think Lincoln Riley wants to see that. Well, I told those Notre Dame fans, I said, "Well, when you guys play uh maybe a varsity schedule instead of the JV,

58:50 what are you calling it? A Big 12 schedule." I mean, go look at Notre Dame schedule and any Big 10 schedule. Go look at Ohio State. Go look at Texas's schedule and look at Notre Dame's.

59:03 Don't hate the player, hate the game. That's right. Don't hate the player. Um, all right. We got through it. Super Bowl week. Got Christian McCaffrey coming on this week of

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "What Colin Cowherd got RIGHT & WRONG: Seahawks, Patriots, Vikings, Eagles, Bills, Browns | HERD NFL"?

Colin Cowherd (Host), Matt Hasselbeck (Guest), Albert Breer (Guest).

What is "What Colin Cowherd got RIGHT & WRONG: Seahawks, Patriots, Vikings, Eagles, Bills, Browns | HERD NFL" about?

The discussion highlights Colin Cowherd's assessments of several NFL teams and figures, focusing on where he was accurate and where he missed the mark. Key points include his critique of Bill Belichick's coaching career in relation to Tom Brady's influence, as well as reflections on the performance expectations for teams like the Seahawks, Patriots, Vikings, Eagles, Bills, and Browns.

What is mentioned in this The Herd with Colin Cowherd episode?

19 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Super Bowl, Colin Cowherd, Sam Darnold, Matt Hasselbeck, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "What Colin Cowherd got RIGHT & WRONG: Seahawks, Patriots, Vikings, Eagles, Bills, Browns | HERD NFL"?

The episode runs 59 min; the transcript is about 11,745 words in 145 timestamped sections.

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