Jets-Patriots REACTION: Drake Maye for MVP + Aaron Glenn on HOT SEAT | THE HERD NFL w/ Colin Cowherd

Jets-Patriots REACTION: Drake Maye for MVP + Aaron Glenn on HOT SEAT | THE HERD NFL w/ Colin Cowherd

Welcome to the Herd’s 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. Jmack, um, it’s inevitable. When a young quarterback flourishes, everybody’s like, well, is it the coach or is it the quarterback? We always got to give everybody credit. We got to figure out who gets the credit. So, that’s all I’m hearing this morning. Well, is it Mike Frabel or is it Drake May? And this is an easy one, folks. All you have to do is look at the Washington Commanders. Why are they so bad this year? Cuz Jaden Daniels got hurt. Did Dan Quinn and Cliff Kingsbury forget how to coach? No. Jaden Daniels is hurt. The team stinks. In college football at 7030, coach matters more than quarterback. He’s head coach, GM, and therapist. In the NFL, flip it. Look at Mike Tomlin when he had prime big Ben Super Bowls. Old Big Ben playoffs but couldn’t beat good teams. Now yikes. So the Colt Shane Stiken, was he a bum last year? No. They upgraded at quarterback to Daniel Jones. Andy Reid’s entire career was Oh, he’s a very good coach. Now he’s a legend. Why? He gets smarter. Mahomes. If you’re looking at last night, 80% of the NFL winning games comes down to your quarterback making five, six, seven throws or decisions. Highlevel execution that wins games. Mike Frabel’s not winning that game last night with Justin Fields as his quarterback because it was a reasonably close game. But Drake May made six or seven decisions and throws that are incredibly high level. That kid is so good on first down, it’s amazing. He had a jump pass, couple sideline throws. That’s the difference. I mean, Mike Vrabel certainly elevates him. Mike Vrabel made Ryan Tanahill a number one seed. Remember that in Tennessee, who did Frabel get beat by that year in the playoffs? At home as a favorite, Zack Taylor. That’s not who beat him. Joe Burrow beat him with a much worse roster. And Frabel knows that. I mean, and Vrabel like Bellichic understands that a lot of times just give it to the coordinator and the quarterback. It’s a little harder to do when Drake May’s young, but I mean, Bellich largely Tom Brady and Josh McDaniels ran the offense. They were on the phone constantly. So Josh McDaniels probably the best offensive coordinator in the league last decade. I guarantee you he and Drake May are running most of the offense. And that that’s not a knock. I mean, but but I mean, you watch the Jets offense. It looks like a service academy. a run on third and eight. That’s That’s like Jurassic. That’s awful. But I I watched that game last night. There’s another one of his throws right there. He just made about six or seven big plays in a reasonably close game. There’s another one. You know, back of the linebacker in front of the safety. That’s what the kid does. And um you know, again, I I am not saying that Reed doesn’t deserve credit for Momes. In college, Mark F is Gonzaga basketball. Nick Sabin was Bama football. They recruit, they develop, they’re the therapist, they’re the GM, they work the cap, they do the international stuff, and they make every decision. That’s not the way it works. Frael doesn’t want to make every decision. He’s trying to build a culture. You see this thing he does when he’s every he’s been doing this for years. That’s culture building. He is a players coach and he wants you can’t do everything. You can’t do that. Coach the offense, the defense, do the cap. That’s what Bellich tried to do. Old Bellich tried to do that. He took over personnel. He was terrible at it. He was a great culture builder and a great defensive coach. So Rael’s absolutely a huge part of this. But in the NFL, it it’s always felt like to me it’s 65, 35, 7030. You got to have the guy that can execute at a high level intellectually, physically, emotionally. And that is a potential MVP. Drake May Drake, how’s it feel to uh get those MVP chance and just have people recognize the way you’re playing right now? Yeah. Um it was May for Trayvon tonight. I mean, you scored three touchdowns. So, um you know, I think it’s you know, our fans have uh you know, been great with uh you know, me since I got here. So, they got drafted and I think just appreciate them for uh you know, embracing me. Um you know, just trying to embrace this city and um you know, give these fans and this team and um you know, just myself just leave it all out there and give me everything I got. And here’s the other thing about Drake May. He’s unbelievable on first down. He completes 78% of his throws on first down. Last night he was nine for 11. That is the highest completion percentage on first down since they’ve tracked it. And that they’re always ahead of the chains. What did Bichc say about Brady? When they asked Bellich about Brady, his greatest thing, he didn’t say his arm or you know what he said? He didn’t go backwards. No pre- snap penalties. Didn’t take a lot of sacks. We always had second and five, second and four, second and six. I mean, Justin Fields, you you don’t know what you get by second down. With Drake May, you’re ahead of the chains. That opens up the playbook for Josh McDaniels. It opens up the playbook, the culture for Mike Vrabel. So, so much of what Drake May does is what Brady does. Now, now he’s a more athletic version of Brady, and he’s not right now pre- snap as good as Brady, but Brady was so good on first down. You were never playing behind the sticks. That’s exactly what Drake May does. It’s a gift. He’s great at it. You know, I said they were going to double their win total from last year. My bad. They’re going to triple it. Well, whenever it’s college or pro, and this is why I’ve always defended Lincoln Riley, I always say with a new coach, does he at least get his side of the ball right? USC’s offense since Lincoln arrived, top two or three in the country. Aaron Glenn got hired by the Jets as a defensive guy. Dude, Robert Solah’s last three years in New York, top five defenses all three years. Aaron Glenn has destroyed has nuked the Jets defense. It’s now terrible. Forget the fact he can’t handle press conferences. Basic press conference. It was fighting with me. Forget the fact the offense looks like an service academy. I mean, it’s just it’s embarrassing. Their defense opposing quarterbacks against the Jets this year have 18 touchdowns and no picks. They have one takeaway all season. Second worst in the league is six. I mean, it’s like the guy took over McDonald’s and he can’t even get the French fries, right? I didn’t ask for new menu items. I didn’t ask for the milkshake machine to work at McDonald’s. It never does. Just Just keep the fries great. We didn’t ask him to do a lot. Just keep the defense good. The Jets defense has no identity. This is bad. They don’t take the ball away. The pressure is inconsistent. I’m not going to beat up on him for the media stuff, which is embarrassing, or the offense. that’s not his side of the ball. But you you got to get the defense right. You you got to know what you’re doing defensively. And so, and you can say what you want about Robert Salah, and I admit I think Salah should get another head coaching job, but Salah’s defenses were really good. Well, they traded Sauce Gardner and Quinn Williams recently. So, I mean, you just I’m not asking for new items on the menu here. Just keep the stuff that was good. That’s all I’m asking. So when people say, “Well, Colin, you said this year one with Dan Campbell in Detroit.” No, I didn’t. No, I did not. I said year one when they were losing 61 possession games about Dan Campbell. I said, “I hate his press conferences, but god, this team plays hard.” They were crazy aggressive. Crazy aggressive going forward on fourth down. He created an identity. The Lions were playing their butt off. They just had a terrible defense. That was pre-Aiden Hutcherson. You got to show me something. I I He can’t do it defensively. So, and then he’s got, you know, here. Remember before the season when, and I’m, you know, I I know Aaron Rogers can be a little difficult. I I’m I’m not denying that. But there was a moment, there was a tell. Aaron Rogers got on his private jet, flew all the way cross country because he he still wanted to play football and he wanted to be a New York Jet. And do you remember what happened? I’ll read you the story. He goes, “It was really strange. I thought we were going to have this long conversation. I flew across the country.” 20 seconds in, Aaron leans in the edge of his seat and says, “So, you want to play football?” And I’m like, “Yeah, I’m interested.” And he was like, “Yeah, we’re going in a different direction at quarterback.” He goes, “I was shocked. Not shocked because I didn’t think it was a possibility. Shocked because I just flew across the country. They could have told me over the phone.” And when I heard that and I text a few executives in the league, they were like, “Yeah, that’s not great. You You don’t want to treat players like that. Word’s going to get out.” Just I mean, you you you listen, you got to treat employees well. professional football players, young or old, they’re employees. You want to treat them well if you’re the manager, if you’re the coach, if you’re the CEO. So, I thought that was weird. And um he can’t deal with the media, but I’m not going to beat him up for that or the offense, which are in net, but you the defense is horrible. It’s got no identity. I was texting with an executive last night. I’m like, what what am I watching? So, if we can get rid of quarterbacks, if we can oneand done quarterbacks, can you not do it with a coach? I mean, I remember Freddy Kitchens. I was like, Baker doesn’t respect him. The body language is weird. Freddy Kitchens is not an NFL head coach. Remember that in Cleveland? I’m like, yeah, that doesn’t work. That’s that’s not going to work. Mike McDaniel at least showed signs offensively. And Mike McDaniel’s on the hot seat. Mike McDaniels in the first couple years with all that motion, we were like, man, that’s a sophisticated offense. He may not make it, but you saw things with Mike McDaniel like, “Okay, that that does work. That is smart.” So, I’m not I I don’t like people going cross country, getting a new job. But opposing quarterbacks this year have 18 touchdowns, no picks, and have a passer rating of 104. And I remember years ago and I’ve defended Kyler Murray to the end. I have been a Kyler Murray guy to the point where I get made fun of on this show. But there are these little tells during job interviews. My wife used to be in HR and she’d say, you know, you you people would say things in job interviews and you’re like, I can’t believe somebody said that in the job interview. You do see glimpses on dates. They say men need 8 seconds. Women need eight minutes to decide yes, I’ll get intimate with that person. Right? Like stuff happens very quickly. I always said it’s American Idol. I don’t know music. I can listen for 15 seconds and go that’s a hack. That’s a star. That’s a good lounge singer. It’s not that difficult. And I always said I’ve been a Kyler Murray fan. But remember that interview before he played in the NFL with Dan Patrick. Remember that? I I’ll play I’ll play a little bit. Remember this interview. Are you going to the combine? I don’t know. Well, wait. Dad, is he going to the combine? No comment. Dad had no comment there. Wait, are you going to spring training? Oh, no. Wait, you don’t know. Dad, is he going to spring training? Another no comment here. Okay, so that’s weird. You’re the most verbal position in sports, quarterback. It’s just odd. Well, from that to here, there have been questions about his commitment. Does he like baseball more? Does he put the time in? Doesn’t mean he’s a bad human being. But it was a tell. It’s like that it that’s weird. That that that’s a quarterback. I’m all for quirky, not a quarterback. So, the Aaron Glenn, the fighting stuff, the Aaron Rodgers stuff is like I don’t know. I I don’t know, man. But more than anything, okay, let’s just go look at the defense. I’m not going to blame him for media. I’m not going to blame him for arguing with New York Post reporters. I’m not going to crush him on the offense. Let’s just go look at his defense. It’s awful. There’s nothing to it. That’s why I defend the Lincoln Riley. USC’s offense been unbelievable. Number one in the nation like three times in four or five years. I don’t know if he can build a culture, but he knows offense. I mean, the Mike McDonald for the Seahawks first year took the 28th defense to 11th. I’m like, “Yeah, that guy knows defense. I don’t know if he’s going to be a head coach. Now, in year two, you’re like, “Yeah, he the defense even better.” So, I got to judge you on your expertise cuz I know building culture is hard. I know the other side of the ball is hard. I know the media can be obnoxious in big cities. That that defense, there’s nothing to it. Well, Colin, it’s hard to be a good defense when your offense can’t move the football. I mean, 121 passing yards this week. I think they had 54 last week. There’s so much pressure on the defense. But, I’ll say this. Listen, last year with the Patriots, Gerrod Mayo was a dumpster fire. We both saw that. It was obvious. Yeah. However, they had a man. Oh, we want Vrabel. We’re going all into Rabel. We got him. I I understood that. If you want to go one and Glen with one and done with Glenn, that’s fine, Colin. But I need a name. I need a Mike McCarthy. Mike McCarthy. 12 and five. 12 and five. 12 and five. Three years in a row in Dallas. I I I’m I’m aware. I like him. You want to pair him with Mendoza? Fine. I’ll get on board with that. I don’t know that McCarthy is going to want to go to the Jets. Remember, he left the 12- win Cowboys team cuz the owner was nutty. So, is he going to want to get back in? What do they say? Out of the frying pan into the You’re you’re a Jets fan. Yeah, I am. Isn’t it legitimate that at least get the defense right? Well, it’s a little harder. You know, it was a little harder last night when you trade away Quinn Williams and Sarah. Yeah, but it was bad before that. It was bad before they solid against the Browns. They’ve had one takeaway all season. Yeah, I know. the whole season. The second fewest in the league is six. Yeah, they did do a good job against Drake. Uh not Drake May, Bo Nicks, your guy. They bottled him up and everybody Everybody’s done a good job against Bo Knicks. Everybody. We got some players, but it’s a work in progress. You know, it’s a rebuild. I’m rooting for Glenn, but I I would agree. I’ll prime example. Cleveland has Dylan Gabriel. Dylan Gabriel has not thrown a pick in a couple of games and has had multiple touchdowns in the last couple games. We don’t think Dylan Gabriel is great, but clearly Stfansky has taken Dylan Gabriel and every week Dylan Gabriel looks better. He’s limited. I’m not saying Dylan Gabriel’s Drake May, but you can see Dylan Gabriel today and Dylan Gabriel five weeks ago, four weeks ago. He’s getting better. You got to make stuff better on your side of the ball. Yeah. Not a lot of progress on the defense. Okay. So Kansas City’s at Denver. They are a favorite, but they’re at Denver. And I made a bold proclamation before the year. I said the dynasty’s over. I did not say Kansas City would fail to make the playoffs. I said they’ll make the playoffs and they’re they’re going to win another Super Bowl. Andy Reid and Mahomes may win another Super Bowl, but this going to the AFC Championship every year, going to the Super Bowl every year, that’s done. And and and they’ll be good. They’ll be a playoff team, but you’re not going to get four more trips to the Super Bowl in five years. And if they lose to Denver, they’re five and five, okay? And four games behind the Broncos. So only one team’s ever started five and five and won a Super Bowl. The reason I made this proclamation was Momes is really expensive. Chris Jones and Kelsey are really old. It gets harder. Andy Reid 67. But mostly I said Jim Harbaugh, Shawn Payeyton in division. You’re not going to win this thing going away. You’re gonna have to get in as a wild card team. One of the great advantages Brady had very early, I think, in his career, Pton Manning was in the AFC East and they moved him to the AFC South. You know, they realigned the divisions. So Tom just got buys and Tom got home playoff game. Tom struggled to the very end when he had to go to Denver and play in the snow. But Tom was in Foxboro. Tom was at home. Tom was comfortable. Tom got an extra week of prep. He got the buy. Those days are over for Kansas City. You’re not getting that number one seed anymore. Not with Payton in the building. Say what you want about Bo Knicks. Not with Harbaugh and Herbert in the building. You’re not getting that number one seed. And so, I’ve said this before, so much of Sabin’s run was the incompetency of the rest of the SEC. So much of LeBron’s dominance in the NBA was the incompetence of the NBA’s Eastern Conference. It’s very very hard once Kirby Smart Texas get into the SEC and Nick Sabin’s like get me out of here. Urban Meyer dominated the SEC. Then Nick Sabin arrived, right? It’s hard to be a dominant golfer, skier team when you got an all-timer breathing down your neck. And so Shawn Payeyton and Jim Harbaugh arguably the second and third best coach in the league and Andy may be the first. it it’s just a natural progression. Mahomes is getting older and he’s a little more expensive and then you can’t you can’t miss on his many draft picks and every good GM misses on draft picks. You can’t miss on them now because you don’t have the ability to go buy players when your quarterback costs what Josh Allen does or or or a Herbert does or a Mahomes does. You can’t. So, I think that I think the game is it it is not in my Blazing Five. I said, um, you know, if it was only minus three, I think I would take Kansas City. It’s three and a half, so it’s a stay away for me. And here’s here’s Patrick on facing the rival Broncos. I think you understand this game’s important. I think that that’s that’s the biggest thing. I mean, it’s divisional game and they’re always important. But with them having the lead and that’s um needing to go out there and win to have a chance to to win the division, I think guys understand that. If you lose this game, um it’s going to be with them having the tiebreaker and the would that be like four games ahead of us. It’d be it’d be tough to go back and get that one. Um but um all you can do is just handle this week and that’s all you can really worry about. And we still play a lot of great football teams, but I like I said, I feel like if we play our best, we can beat anybody. So I said when I said the dynasty’s over, the reason I said that also is look at last year. They were 11-0 in one possession games. That was impressive. But what wasn’t? They were in 11 one possession games. Oh, that’s because Jim Harbaugh arrived in the division and Shawn Peyton was in year two and had his quarterback in division. So, I mean, the Raiders are non-competitive. They’re a mess, but I I I said before, I’m not sure there’s ever been a division in football that has had a John a Jim Harbaugh and Andy Reid and a Shawn Payeyton. That That’s as good as coaching gets. I mean, the Rams, you think, yeah, they should win their division every year. Well, Kyle Shanahan’s in division, and now Mike McDonald’s in division, so it matters. It really does. I I think this going to be a great game. I like Kansas City, but I don’t love him uh for the obvious reasons. Denver at home and Shawn Payeyton in spots like this is really good. Today’s show is brought to you by our new presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet. This is that golden time of the year when it’s not just pro football. NBA, college football, college hoops, hockey, all share the stage. There’s always something to bet on. If you haven’t tried your first bet on Hard Rock Bet yet, there’s still time to get 150 bucks in bonus bets. If you win, all you have to do is place $5 bet. That’s it. Five bucks. 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Here’s the interesting thing. I don’t need my young quarterbacks to be perfect. I need progress. I’m not looking for perfection. The Vikings are bad on third down. They’re giving the ball up pre- snap penalties. I’m not getting progress. So the interesting thing is JJ McCarthy and Justin Jefferson are not working. He’s averaging four catches a game. So you can go back to 2023 when the Vikings had Kurt Cousins and Josh Dobs and Nick Mullen and Jiren Hall. Nobody was talking about Justin Jefferson quitting. There’s a lot of talk now Justin Jefferson’s body language is bad. So that tells me the belief in the building practice is not great. That’s what it tells me. So, I don’t think JJ McCarthy has to beat the Bears. I think the Bears are pretty good. I was just asked this morning by somebody, Scott, what do you make of the Bears? And I said, they’re exactly what you see on TV. They’re good enough to beat average teams narrowly. They got to clean some stuff up. They need DeAndre Swift back, but they’re a good solid playoff feeling team that just needs to keep getting seven, eight, nine% better every weekend. It’s really interesting. What also doesn’t help JJ McCarthy, let’s be honest about this. You ever worked at a place and you have this employee that everybody loves and the company’s better with the employee and then the company does not pay that employee goes across the street and he crushes it and the guy that replaces him at your company and not very good. Everybody’s watching Daniel Jones and Sam Darnold. They were both in the building and they’re both having MVP years. So that doesn’t help JJ McCarthy because the two guys that everybody liked in the building left and they’re crushing it. So, it just adds a dimension of pressure on him. So, um I I I I don’t need him to beat the Bears. I don’t need him to be perfect, but you got to pick up first downs on third. You can’t have the giveaways. You got to get out of the pre-nap operational stuff. I said that about Caleb Williams first three weeks. I’m like, you got to get the operational stuff down because I I’ve just seen too many quarterbacks with this coaching staff. I mean, this this this is a good tool belt. This is a good tool belt. I get Kevin Oonnell, a great left tackle. Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and the Vikings in the offseason. They spent money on the O line, the Dline, the running back room, and the secondary. And we just saw him win what, 13, 14 games last couple years. So, yeah, everybody knows it can be done with this group of guys that have all been upgraded in the offseason. So, there’s no question there’s pressure. Here’s Kevin O’Connell on his young quarterback JJ McCarthy. Most importantly, what I look for is uh the the consistency of being able to put some routine things in that category of I can expect them every time and and it becomes second nature. And you know, sometimes when a guy’s making his third or fourth start now or fifth start this week, um it’s a lot to ask in in the midst of games, especially how they’ve kind of played out. Um but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re you know in a business of you know trying to go 1 and0 this week. There’s been a lot of encouraging things to to go along with some things that um you know we we can improve on and and he knows that. We know that. Yeah. The false starts I think they had seven or eight penalties last week. It was ugly. That that was like the most in 25 years. That was ugly. That’s what the road team is supposed to do in Minnesota. So I this is not a game I’m going to pick. I’m going to watch it. Um it’s a weird line to me. I think Chicago is the better team. I also think Caleb Williams and Ben feel like they they get a field goal better every week. They just get a little tighter every week. So, I don’t I don’t have a strong feel for it, but I I am I’m fascinated by the JJ McCarthy angle. That I think is interesting. Former Bears coach Dave Wanat joining us in studio next. Well, he coached the Chicago Bears, still beloved by the plumbers union in town and every Italian joint. Dave Wanat joining me in studio. the um I mean listen, you thought you were going to go to Naples. Uh you’re going to be up here doing Bear playoff shows for the next month. So the Caleb Williams thing, somebody asked me today, uh and you know, a fan of the Bears, what do you think of them? I said, “They are what they look like on TV. They’re good enough to beat average teams. Let’s see if they can beat good teams.” Y but and you know, you’ve been here, you’ve coached in the NFL, they are getting better. like the operations are cleaned up. And the one thing I’ll say about there’s two things about Caleb, coach, I always like. He doesn’t get hurt. A lot of these young guys get banged out. He doesn’t get hurt and he doesn’t throw picks. What do you see? Uh, right on. I mean, he’s about 225 230 lbs. So, he does he’s not the 6’4 Josh Allen heightwise, but he is physical runner like that. So, you’re you’re correct there. doesn’t throw picks and and I you know the biggest improvement on this Bears football team and they have improved is the offensive line this you know they assigned three new guys a center two guards they hasn’t they haven’t missed a down they’ve been healthy and obviously Darnell Wright is heading to the Pro Bowl their right tackle and then they finally got a left tackle you know stabilized yeah kind of stabilized so and and Ben will not hesitate to bring in an extra lineman as a blocker in situations He’ll keep a tight end in if he has to as a blocker. So, he’s going to do the things smart to to protect. There’s no question the offense is better with Ben. You can see the coaching. Well, and I tell you, I was thinking about this up under center. Up under the first two or three passes in last week’s game, up under center, back play action pass. And you know he So, when you’re playaction passes, that’s timing. So the ball is going to come out quicker. You don’t have to stand back there and try and find your first, second, third receiver. So the things he does with the quarterback and the running game, don’t lose sight. I mean, last week DeAndre Swift had 13 carries. K Manunga, yeah, the rookie from seventh rounder, coach, seven carries last week, too. So, they have evolved their running game from just a wide stretch play, the outside zone to they’re running some Don Hill stuff now, which is Manangai. They’re also using their tight end better. The kid from Michigan better. I Yeah, I’ll argue all day. I like their personnel. I think off they got more talent on offense than defense. I think if you took their 10 best players, eight are offensive guys, but I don’t know if they’re an elite team, but I I’ve watched them now. They feel like a playoff team. Yeah, this is this is a huge game for them this week, you know, going to Minnesota. Mi Minnesota not physical in the first time. They couldn’t get the running game going, you know. So, this game here, I think with a with a variation, the offensive line’s better in the running game. This it’s going to be a little different game, but this is the real this is the litness. This is the test this week. So, um I love Mike Vrabel. Everybody’s saying, “Well, who gets more credit, Vrabel or Drake May?” And I said, “To me in the NFL, winning and losing games comes down to about seven plays by a quarterback. They may be pre- snap, a sideline throw. Last night he had a jump pass, a big throw down the seam is that there’s and that’s the difference between Andy Reid in Philly and Andy Reid in Kansas City. It’s not 50 plays. It’s seven by Mahomes and he’s so good in big moments. I watch Drake May. I mean, on first down, he’s completing 78% of his throws. They’re never behind the chains. They’re It’s always second and four. They look pretty welloiled to me. I I don’t think it’s a mirage. This looks like a really elite team. You know what? What I think and Mike Vrabel number one, obviously he he’s had success, so he had a blueprint. We know that. But he brings in Josh McDaniels, okay? And Josh McDaniels is a guy that you don’t have to coach your coaches. Vabel and him were together. They work together. They they they if if somebody jumps offside, they both know how the other side is going to respond. And when you can hire guys that you know, I I did that with Jimmy brought us all from Miami. We’ve all we were all together. If you don’t have to waste time coaching coaches on how you want to run a operation and what’s important to you and what’s a point of emphasis, you can make a lot of progress and don’t lose and then you walk in and you’ve got five or six how many they got of these things Super Bowl rings. Instant credibility. So Brabel brings instant credibility. He brings coaches that he don’t have to waste time coaching coaches. And the third thing they did hit on these draft picks. Oh yeah. Yeah. Right. I mean Henderson’s the real deal. Henderson’s the real deal. Obviously you Campbell the left tackle. Campbell is the real deal. People had him as the first offensive tackle in the and then they hit Drake May. So they have hit on their draft picks in addition to it. Um we were talking about Seattle playing the Rams probably the best game of the year. Um, you know, John Snyder, the GM, wanted, everybody wants their McVey, and I would argue they found him. He’s just a defensive coach. Is that he took that Pete Carroll defense and next year they were noticeably better. Another draft class. Now they’re even better. They got four or five guys rotating up front. They they just it’s a bunch of it could be Murphy, it can be uh Demarcus Lawrence, it’s a bunch of different guys. They’re not dependent on like Abosa or a Khalil Mack or a Von Miller. What do you make of the defense and what he’s doing? Well, I I love it. It’s a style that I ran everywhere I coached. Okay. We We were They’re blitzing right now. First, let’s go back before he got that Seattle job. When he was at Baltimore as the coordinator, they were first, second, or third every year that he was there in defense. So, he he he obviously had a a a foundation for what he wanted to do. And you know what’s amazing? when he gets the job, when I first got the Bears job, I went out and played golf with uh Coach Null, Chuck Null, and on every hole, I was asking him a question and at the end of the day, we were sitting there having a beer and he said, “You know, keep this in mind. Why did you get this job?” And I said, “Because of my defensive expertise.” And he said, “When you go in there, there’s going to be a lot of holes in the dam. The first thing you do, you spend time and get the defense right.” Yeah. Get your side right. to get your side right while you were hired. And that’s what Mike has done. And people talk about him not pressuring. I used to have a guy in the press box. I was only pressuring 12% of the time. He’s around 15%. But I used to have a coach tell me it’s time to blitz just to keep the offense honest so they know that you had some. And we get into the Super Bowl, that first Super Bowl, and it was the same thing. The coach said, my young guy was saying to me, “Coach, you haven’t blitzed. You haven’t blitzed.” And I said, “Well, okay.” And I call a blitz that we ran the first game of the season. Nothing new. We just ran one all year and ran it and sacked Jim Kelly. So, my point was that I really appreciate what he’s done. And you can you can do it a lot of different ways. You might get somebody up here that’s a blitz maniac and he’s going to see it completely different. You can win and win Super Bowls doing a lot of different ways. So, I’m not a fan of uh firing coaches mid-season. Um Brian Dable and Jackson Dark got along great. What’s going to happen is Kofka is not explosive. So, the media is going to like him. The players going to like him. I call it the substitute teacher rule. Everybody loves him, right? But what happens is if you look at the Giant schedule at the end of the year, a lot of winnable games. You go on a three-game winning streak, the players like you, the media likes you. Uh Jackson Dart’s like, “Man, this guy played in the NFL. I like him.” And then you’re stuck hiring the interim guy. I like Mike McCarthy because I think he’s a proven I said this about New York. Joe Tory, Pat Riley, Tibs, Bill Parcels, Coughlin. I don’t like inter I don’t want interim guys getting jobs, coordinators in New York getting jobs. What do you make about how they’re dealing with it with Kafka, the interim, and Dable? Yeah, I like Mike McCarthy. I’d love to see Mike get that job. Where is he from? Chicago. Pittsburgh. Oh, Pittsburgh guy. You’re right. My bad. Pittsburgh guy. No, but but seriously, Mike would do a fantastic job there. But yeah, you’re correct. Cuz what happens is the guy takes over. He wants him to play hard. He’s saying, “Oh, no. I’m just the inner bed. He wants He’s going to eliminate no more equipment. No pads and practice.” No, I’m serious. You No pads. What do you got? Dress code’s gone. Forget the No, there’s no dress code anymore. Everybody loves them. coach everybody lo but I I’ll tell you what it does do it kind of gives I guess you more time it gives the general manager the owner even though there’s rules in the contract you can’t talk to people formally I get that but we all know that people are talking behind the scenes to agents if you want a college coach I mean that maybe it’s Lane Keifin they’re interested in I I think Lane would do a great job they get the agent to call Lane’s guy and just just to find out would you be interested. If he says absolutely not, then they they they won’t waste time on him. So, it does give you a little bit of a jump that way. Yeah. I want to ask you about because you do a lot of college football and I thought Mendoza last week kind of separated from all the other quarterbacks. I like Dante Moore, but he’s 20. And when Sam Darnold came to New York at 21, he was too young. 20’s too young to play in the NFL. So, I like Mendoza is 22. He’s going to be 23, 6’5. He’s got a big arm. I thought that Penn State road win, the way he was throwing balls down. Um, but if I told you, so we had a list earlier today of the teams that have to draft a quarterback with their first pick. There’s about five, and four others that should consider drafting a quarterback, maybe second or third pick, but like the Rams, Stafford’s old, maybe your second or third pick, go get somebody. Would you take a M. Jones who’s had a hell of a year in San Francisco. You can get him for a very Baker Mayfield level price or go with a rookie if if you’re Cleveland for instance, Stfansky who’s got a really good defense. You bring in Mack, he’s not going to not going to make a lot of turnovers. He’s seen every NFL defense. And I look at all these teams and I think, well, if Dante Moore doesn’t come out, if Sellers in South Carolina, who I like, doesn’t come out, would you go with the rookie or M. Jones? Wow. you you know what I would have I’m gonna be honest with you. I would have to really deep dive into these guys. Mendoza is a guy that um I think because of maturity I think the quarterback position that’s what held sand should have stayed there at USC. He was just a kid. He was a kid. So I think maturity at the quarterback position has a lot to do with it. A lot of these guys that they’re talking about, these quarterbacks are just juniors, uh, transfer guys, one-year wonder type guys. You know, you like to see a little bit of history about them. I might go with M. Jones or some to be honest with you, just because I know I know what I’m getting. I know what I’m getting as compared to taking a chance on a first round pick and losing it. Uh, Dave Wanstad is joining us. 39 seasons coaching. Let’s go back to the NFL. Um, it used to be that you gave quarterbacks three years, that’s over. Now these college kids, they got private coaches, seven on seven summer. I always say Thanksgiving year two, you and the GM got to go upstairs quietly, privately, and make a decision. So JJ McCarthy has struggled. He’s been very good on script, pretty bad off it. My take is just give me the rest of the starts. Um, he was hurt last year. If you’re in that room, you’re JJ McCarthy. You won with Sam Darnold. You won with Kirk Cousins. Hell, Josh Dobs without a practice one. You’ve got a good You’ve got a good roster. What do you What What does Kevin Oonnell or you would you need to see the rest of the way to go, okay, we’re not going to draft the quarterback. He’s the guy. This is his fourth NFL start, right? We all know that. Fourth start coming up this week against the Bears. And I’m I’m a JJ fan. I’m a I’m a fan of his and I would go back to he’s a young quarterback. What can I do to help him? I just think that they got to do more. You see what the Bears are doing? The Bears are up under center. They’re going play action pass. They’re running the ball and then a lot of ca the touchdown to win the game. Caleb Williams, that was a fake run or pass option play. Runner pass option. the tight end and receiver coming across the field. You know, Cole Kit made a great block. My point is JJ’s a good enough athlete that you can do some things in my opinion, I would to protect him a little bit more. I mean, you got to try to keep him out of harm’s way until he gains some confidence because right now, I mean, he doesn’t have any confidence. He got no conf coach. When you complete 40% of your passes in the second half or whatever he did last week, that doesn’t give you much confidence. I don’t care what you say at a press conference. Is there a team like like for instance Seattle Rams? I actually like Seattle. Better special teams. They run the ball really consistently. They’re a great road team strangely. Uh is there do you have a feel on that? I think it’s the best fox game and the best game of the year. Seattle Rams, what’s your what’s your gut on that? Wow. I I just I I kind of like the Rams because I think the Rams are a little more complete team. They’re older. Yeah, they’re older, but we’re talking about one game, right? Right. One game for three hours. Who who for three hours? I like the Rams young aggressive defense. Okay. And obviously they got the the quarterback and the explosive. So, I like the Rams. I just think they’re a more complete team. Yeah. I mean, there’s it’s it’s hard to argue. They they’ve been using three tight ends in the middle of a season. They changed their offense. Yep. It’s it’s it’s very impressive. So, um, right now you had Charles Haley in Dallas and he could be a little disruptive. So, in Philadelphia, they have AJ Brown and he wants the ball. And just like with Haley, you were winning games. Um, and that mostly soothes friction. What do you do when you have a great player, AJ Brown, Charles Haley, they’re a little disruptive and they’re verbal. you’re winning. But a coach told me this years ago, the only thing that gets in the way of a great roster is cluster injuries or drama. Nothing else. You can even be average at quarterback. You’ll win games. What do you do with AJ Brown? The quickest way to be defeated is to be distracted, right? And and you got to just be careful. I don’t know. I I think they’re doing the right thing. You know, they they know how good he is. I think he likes winning. He just wants the ball. I mean, I would I would love to know what the conver one- on-one conversations are between Nick Seriani and AJ Brown. You know, I think it comes down to sitting down and just Did you sit down with Haley? Oh, God. Yes, you did. Yeah. He threatened to beat me up a couple times, but but I No, but I did. Oh, Charles. I every day I would go out of my way to try to talk with him, you know, and just and just have a relationship with him. I think that goes a long way and I’m sure that Nick does. I I assume I assume he does, but I think that’s the the best way. And then other guys on the team that, you know, what’s the relationship with other players on the team, which you know, with with the player. Um, you know, I had a couple Tony Casillas and a couple defensive linemen that were veteran guys, big-time players, and uh and and they would talk with Charles, you know, and uh so I think communication in that situation is the number one key. There there’s never a perfect locker room. No, even the Cowboys when you were winning Super Bowls. Oh god, no. Are you kidding me? Right. Oh, no. It uh there there’s not there there’s not. And as long as guys are working hard and showing up on time, now this carries over to practice or it carries over to meetings, then you got a problem. Did you ever have a great player who was a bad a bad practice player? No. Not not I a few guys that at the end of the your careers my when I was at the Bears my first year, Richard Dent, Hall of Famer. Yeah. Right. Richard came out and he wanted to play. He played another year. Did a fabulous job for me. Fabulous job. But he uh you know he was just an older guy and his being able to run and do the things. Did he come to you and just say can I get a few of these off? No. I just didn’t I just said take some plays off. Now the fridge came to me the first practice I ever had. Wait now think of this. I’m the first time head coach and we go out to Mesa, Arizona to get out of the weather because I wanted to evaluate the team before the draft. And I said, “Guys, after we I told him a lot thing after we stretch and it’s Cubs are in the spring training, thousands of people, right?” Yeah. Out there, Chicago fans. So, this it’s important to get off on the right foot. Your first time. And I said, “After we kind of talk to you, we’re going to run a half a lap and then go to our drills.” So, we do it. I blow the whistle. Everybody takes off running. The fridge starts walking over to the bicycles. I said, “Fridge, come here.” I said, “We got we got to take a lap.” He looked at me. He says, “Coach, I can’t run anymore.” And I said, “You can’t run anymore.” I said, “Well, we’ll have go over on the bikes and we’ll talk about this when we get home.” So, I called him in and I said, “Fridge, this isn’t going to work.” And I said, “If he can’t run in our scheme, we He says, “Well, coach, you know, I I got to work. I need a job. I’m building a house in South Carolina. And I said, I’ll tell you what, back then, if you stayed eight weeks, you got your full salary as a as a co as a player. Okay. So, I said, I’ll be right back. Don’t move. So, I get on to Macy’s office and I said, “We got to keep the fridge. I’m going to keep him eight weeks in one day.” Okay? But he needs to be on this team. He will help us. So, McCassie said, “Fine, if that’s what you want to do.” So, I go back. I said, “Fridge, eight weeks in one day, but I need you as a short yardage guy. I need you to help the young players, coach. I’ll do whatever you need.” And he was fantastic. We kept him eight weeks in one day. It was unbelievable. Yeah. So, did I ever have a player that couldn’t run? Yes. To answer your question, uh Dave wants that. Nobody better.

Colin Cowherd reacts to the latest in the NFL, starting with the New England Patriots’ win over the New York Jets. He discusses how Drake Maye and Mike Vrabel have combined for instant success in New England. Then, Colin discusses why Aaron Glenn might be a one and done coach for the Jets. Next, Colin talks about whether this week’s matchup with the Denver Broncos is a must-win for Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Then, he discusses if Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy is under pressure to outplay Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams this weekend. Finally, Colin is joined in studio by Dave Wannstedt to discuss the latest in the NFL and college football.

0:00 Drake Maye/Mike Vrabel
5:46 Aaron Glenn on hot seat
15:15 Chiefs dynasty is over
20:41 Pressure on J.J. McCarthy vs Bears
24:36 Dave Wannstedt in studio

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