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Hour 3 - UCLA head coach Mich Cronin

Hour 3 - UCLA head coach Mich Cronin

Released Monday, 25th March 2024
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Hour 3 - UCLA head coach Mich Cronin

Hour 3 - UCLA head coach Mich Cronin

Hour 3 - UCLA head coach Mich Cronin

Hour 3 - UCLA head coach Mich Cronin

Monday, 25th March 2024
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0:00

Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast.

0:02

Be sure to catch us live every weekday on

0:04

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0:06

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0:09

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0:13

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0:17

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0:21

You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

0:25

All right, great opening weekend

0:27

of March Madness. Let's bring on to the

0:29

sec UCLA basketball coach Mick

0:31

Cronin, two time pac twelve Coach

0:33

of the Year, nine and three in

0:35

the tournament since he arrived. In fact, only

0:38

Zaga and the Zags in Houston are better

0:40

since you arrived. So we were talking about

0:42

this last week that you're going through

0:44

some real cultural changes. Nil Now kids

0:47

want to get paid. We get it.

0:48

I get it totally.

0:49

And by the way, unlike college football where

0:52

they have to stay in college, your kids

0:54

can two classes. Thanks for

0:56

flying United. The second thing

0:58

is the one and one thing where Calipari

1:01

sees that about ten years ago, the

1:03

teams that are winning in this tournament have juniors

1:05

and seniors. They're men, they're twenty three year olds.

1:08

So when I look at

1:10

a Yukon or a Carolina. What

1:13

I see is good players, but I see like men

1:16

has it? Is it changed the way you recruit.

1:19

Well, the COVID year.

1:21

You know, Armando Bako's in his fifth year,

1:24

right, you know, so he's played. That's a new thing,

1:26

right for us this and there's one more

1:28

year of that. So next year it will be another fifth

1:30

year class, right, guys playing their

1:32

fifth year.

1:33

A lot of graduates that are gonna leave.

1:36

And you cannot fault kids for

1:38

going into portal, that's right, and especially

1:40

if you know you're not an NBA player. Of

1:42

course in Europe, isn't what people

1:45

think. You know, my great point guard

1:47

Tiger Campbell's in Europe and he

1:49

could have made more money in NIL

1:52

than Europe than Europe, but he wanted to get his career

1:54

started. He had already been in college five years.

1:56

He sat with an injury. But no, you cannot.

1:59

It's a different era. Like there's eras

2:01

right in sports, right, this is a whole

2:03

nother era of college basketball

2:06

and college football.

2:07

So I had said this that

2:10

with a transfer portal and

2:12

the one and done culture, it is harder to

2:14

follow. That's why women's college basketball, where

2:16

you have Caitlin Clark coming back and back and

2:18

back. That's what I grew up. And she could come back again.

2:21

She could. So I looked

2:23

at Yukon and Carolina and I had said

2:25

all the air multiple times this year. Okay, those

2:27

are the two best teams I've seen. They've got

2:29

the mix of youth NBA guys.

2:31

I agree.

2:32

So those are the two best teams you saw.

2:33

The difference would be Carolina's

2:36

bench is not what

2:38

Yukon's bench is. That's

2:40

what I would say to you. The Carolina doesn't have the

2:42

same bench as Yukon. So their starters

2:45

really, I mean they're kind of the Iron five. They

2:48

kind of got one six goy, you know, six man

2:50

guy. Yes, and in the one game

2:52

shot a little injury happened.

2:55

All Yeah, Oregon's point guard got hurt

2:57

late in the game, Jackson schell

2:59

Stead. The other night they losing double overtime.

3:01

If he didn't get hurt, they win, Yeah, they don't.

3:03

They didn't have anybody else. They had a lot of injuries. Ordering so

3:06

Caroline, when you know, foul trouble. So

3:09

your bench is important to get

3:11

through six, to win six.

3:13

I'm talking about to win at all. They'll win

3:15

the whole thing.

3:15

That's I'd say Yukon's a prohibitive favorite.

3:18

But as you know, this tournament's nuts.

3:20

It's nuts. Yeah. So you know it's

3:22

interesting when I watch Purdue, So you

3:24

know the Midwest. Well, yeah, so you've been coaching college

3:27

basketball for twenty one years, thirteen at

3:29

Cincinnati, couple at Marie State. So

3:31

the Big Tan's got great brands. I think

3:34

the coaching Matt Panter, I think it's excellent. Excellent.

3:36

Is low excellent coaching in the Midwest,

3:38

maybe not as many NBA guys. So I watched

3:40

Zach Edyan Purdue. So my takeaway

3:43

on them is they come down, they have set plays,

3:45

they know what they want to do. They're not going to go

3:47

off script much. They're a machine, a machine.

3:50

I do think the way to discombobulate that

3:52

is make them play fast, trap, get them out of

3:54

their comfort zone, which is not easy

3:56

ease. A lot of people say with Zachi, they

3:59

say, yeah, listen, a great college guy

4:01

won't work in the NBA and laterally he's

4:03

not a great movement. I'm okay

4:05

with that. Tim Tebow is a great college football player.

4:07

What do you make of Zach Edie as somebody

4:10

that watches him, How would you defend

4:12

him? Let's start with that. How would you defend a

4:14

dominant college big.

4:16

What depends who you have, right, If you don't

4:18

have people that can match up with him, you almost

4:20

have to play zone or double teaming on every

4:22

catch.

4:23

Which that's why I produce that.

4:25

Like forty one percent from three because

4:27

they're literally playing horse in their driveway

4:29

like you and I in Manhattan, beach down

4:32

in your driveway, right, I mean that's how open

4:34

those guys right now? Can

4:37

they run into somebody that has you

4:39

need to now because you're gonna need ten fouls.

4:42

Yeah, one guy is not gonna stop. He's gonna get in

4:44

foul trouble, right, so you're going to need two

4:46

guys to be able to deal

4:48

with it.

4:49

Uh, And I agree with you.

4:51

They're gonna You're gonna need a lot of quickness,

4:54

yes, to get them out.

4:55

They get very comfortable, get out.

4:57

Of their comfort zone. You've got to get him out

4:59

of their comfort zone. And Gonzaga's

5:02

transition. You know they played earlier

5:04

yep in Maui. We were all in

5:06

Maui, so we talked about that. You

5:08

know, they got worn down

5:10

late. You know they're better now, so

5:13

that'll be interesting, but you gotta have

5:15

it's going to take somebody can match up with them

5:17

with Edie, because if you can't match up

5:20

with him, them guys, like I said, they're like me and you playing horse

5:22

Man and Man had.

5:23

A lot of open looks, a lot of open looks. I

5:25

get why certain programs

5:27

are great. For instance, you

5:29

know Duke coach k was there.

5:31

Forever I heard you talking about this driving

5:33

in yu Kh, I got

5:35

your answer for.

5:36

Okay, So I'm gonna set it up for the audience, Yukon.

5:39

I think Calhoun's one of the most underrated coaches

5:41

ever.

5:42

I coached against him. Unbelievable

5:45

you talk.

5:45

I sat behind the bench a couple of times. I was in the Big East

5:47

many years. Yes.

5:48

No, he's as good at college coach

5:51

has ever walked the sideline period, end of

5:53

story.

5:53

They're always great. There's no players in their state.

5:56

They have to leave the state for all their kids. They've

5:58

had multiple coaches every time. I Kevin

6:00

o Lee, Calhoun, Hurley. How

6:02

do they do it there? And they're

6:05

also mick in big games,

6:07

both the men's and women's programs. They often

6:09

play better. They're chopping in the regular season,

6:12

you get them in March. They gave

6:14

Duke fits for years. Explain

6:17

that program.

6:18

Well, I'll give you my opinion on the whole big game

6:20

thing.

6:20

You know, one thing I think that I fought

6:22

at Cincinnati was when you recruit

6:25

a certain level guy, getting them to believe, like,

6:27

we can win it all, we can advance in

6:29

the tournament. You know, you get to UCLA

6:32

and immediately, you know, everybody thinks they're

6:34

they're gonna be famous here because their neighbor's

6:36

famous.

6:38

The guy they grew up with. Everybody does I mean,

6:40

it really does happen.

6:41

It's title town, right right, Well, because

6:43

of Yukon's history, we win

6:45

type Yeah, they you would believe you can win

6:47

the title there because they've won plenty more

6:49

than anybody in the last twenty years. Right, So

6:52

they got the mindset. But you remember

6:54

in New England, who are they competing with?

6:57

So yeah, and for

6:59

fans at college basketball,

7:01

yeah, okay, and they're an hour and twenty minutes from New

7:03

York City for recruiting, uh,

7:05

you know, Boston. So they've got the

7:08

best program in you know,

7:10

New York to New England by far.

7:13

So they have a big recruiting base.

7:15

Obviously, there's nobody running around the milk farms

7:17

of stores.

7:18

That's the recruit you know.

7:19

I mean, and it's just it's just.

7:21

Not Hartford, but it's the prep school haven

7:24

of America. America is all

7:26

up there. So that and the

7:28

tradition and Danny's you know, look, he's a friend of

7:30

mine.

7:32

Good coach, really really good coaches.

7:34

Funny dude, though, is he

7:36

He's a huge Bengals fan.

7:38

I just gave you nobody, what do you say?

7:40

Danny Hurley literally flied too,

7:42

flies to Cincinnati once a year to watch a

7:44

Bengals game. He's a Danny beats

7:46

to a different drum man, which makes him

7:48

special. That's you know, he's got a great

7:51

staff.

7:51

Okay, So let me ask you this. If

7:55

I'd have said to you, listen, you're gonna have one

7:57

or two jobs, one in New York City, Saint

7:59

John's or in Spokan, you'd go,

8:01

yeah, I'll take the city. Explain

8:04

Gonzaga.

8:05

Yeah, Well that when they all jobs are

8:07

different, right, some are built in for

8:09

success, fan base.

8:11

I heard you talk about Arizona.

8:13

Why the five different coaches,

8:15

It's.

8:15

Just like SEC football right. You

8:18

know, they the support.

8:19

Now they hate me, some of the UCLA coach, but

8:21

I respect their fans because

8:24

of their passions.

8:24

You can't get a seat there.

8:26

Their passion, and it's just set

8:28

up for success because you're the only show

8:30

in town.

8:31

It's not against two boosters. By the way, we're

8:33

all lined up to the basketball team.

8:35

But we're not going there for vacation, right.

8:37

I mean, that's the thing to do, right,

8:40

just like certain schools you and I talked about it's

8:42

the thing to do. But Gonzaga

8:44

is phenomenon. It's just been unbelievable

8:47

because they're in a very small league,

8:50

right, and and they've

8:52

been offered to leave multiple times.

8:55

And it's it's it's simply because Mark

8:57

few. It's just have

9:00

support. And then I'm sure if they if they didn't

9:02

support him at a certain level, he would have left

9:05

as much as he likes it in this you know.

9:06

It's by the way, you know Hack twelve

9:08

schools I know very well. Oregon's

9:11

come after him.

9:11

Sure he was offered my job.

9:13

Yeah, No, U c l A two or three times he

9:15

was, you know, but my point in Oregon

9:18

and probably Arizona, Yeah, but uh,

9:20

there's so there are.

9:21

People there that support him.

9:23

But the infrastructure is why

9:26

certain college football and basketball programs

9:29

succeed over time, regardless of coach.

9:32

You know, it's so set up for success. Support,

9:35

fan base, budget, financials,

9:38

recruiting base, they have all. They have

9:41

everything. Obviously in Zaged, you

9:43

know they don't. They don't have a recruiting

9:45

base.

9:45

Now he gets to use a private jet from a big booster.

9:48

That helps a little bit. They're not a big money

9:50

school.

9:50

No, I mean, what he's done there is amazing.

9:53

So it's interesting. I would not fire

9:55

John Calipari. I don't like going on Aaron

9:57

talking about fire and coaches once a year

9:59

ahead. Yeah, I'm not into that. It's not my thing.

10:02

But I will say I'm always

10:04

very reluctant to support a coach, including

10:07

Belichick, that when two

10:09

things happen simultaneously, you're not

10:11

winning on the biggest moments and there's

10:13

been a cultural shift and you're not willing

10:15

to embrace it. So it's not that

10:17

he lost again first round, that's one

10:20

thing. But he said a day later,

10:22

or maybe it was that day, he said, hey, listen, I'm not sure I'm

10:24

going to change it. I like freshman that's who I

10:26

recruit. And I thought, John, you're

10:28

not winning in March. There's been a cultural

10:31

shift, and you can't win. I don't care how good the players are,

10:33

you cannot win with five freshmen. No, that

10:35

worries me as an athletic. I'm Mitch Barnhardt.

10:38

I'm like like Belichick. Robert Kraft

10:40

eventually said, you're the best football coach ever.

10:42

Bill.

10:42

You have to understand the league's an offensive league.

10:45

Would you be concerned that John

10:48

is not doesn't appear yet quite willing to

10:50

shift out of a one and done

10:52

culture that just is virtually

10:55

impossible to win with kids against men.

10:57

Now, I would agree with you that you

11:00

have to have older players. I went through it this year.

11:02

Yes, you know so, I

11:05

would tell you, first of all, in

11:07

defensive all coaches when

11:09

people say, well, he made this comment, he

11:13

was answering a question, and

11:15

but what what gets played is his answer

11:18

as an excuse, and he's

11:20

making an excuse. No, he was answering a question

11:23

in a press conference. So but now you

11:25

know, at times I don't like answering questions. The hardest

11:27

thing to do is to get your ass beat, and

11:30

then you've got to go in right, you

11:32

know, like you you know, like you're you're just like

11:34

you're sipping on water all day and have a and be

11:37

calm in a press conference. So you just lose a game.

11:39

It's not easy, right, So and

11:41

then maybe you know you don't want to answer

11:43

this guy's question because then they're going to say you made

11:46

the comment. So you have to be so careful

11:48

nowadays in your press conference.

11:50

That's right.

11:52

So what I would say is, do you know that Kentucky's

11:54

leading score the last three

11:56

years has been a transfer all

11:59

three years? Oscarbwe who was out here winning

12:01

the Wooden Award. Antonio Reeves

12:04

this year, fifth year player from Illinois

12:06

State, so he has embraced the transfer

12:08

portal he has. And

12:10

when he won the title, Darius Miller was a senior,

12:13

Deron Lamb was a junior, and Terrence Jones was a

12:15

sophomore. Now he had the best freshman

12:17

maybe in the last fifty years since Kareem

12:19

and Anthony Davis. But

12:22

you know, so, but I would say, look, some of these

12:24

jobs, colin are so hard.

12:27

I don't know how long you can survive.

12:30

So Mark Feu told me this year's ago, he

12:33

said it, and it was fascinating. We were

12:35

talking about the UCLA job, I think it was before

12:37

you took it, and he said, the UCLA

12:40

job is different. He goes at Gonzaga,

12:42

I can recruit a three star kid and

12:44

develop him. Yeah, nobody

12:46

cares at UCLA.

12:49

If I bring in a three star guy. The message

12:52

boards kill me, the administrators kill me.

12:54

So at Kentucky, Calipari

12:57

would get clobbard if

12:59

he brought in developmental players.

13:02

So, and I'll defend John on this. I do stay

13:04

with Alabama or USC

13:07

football. If USC football

13:09

brings in three star guys, they get crushed.

13:11

Well what if your coach is really good at developing

13:14

And by the way, you get less ego,

13:16

you get a harder worker, you get So I do

13:18

think you're hawk Is. You're

13:21

in one of these six to eight jobs. Kansas

13:23

is another. Do you feel sometimes

13:25

the pressure to deliver on recruiting

13:28

day?

13:28

No, you don't. I'm a little different though.

13:30

I want to deliver on game day because

13:33

ultimately that's where you're going to be judged. And

13:35

I but I you're on onto

13:37

something because I've

13:40

heard coaches and I don't want to name names

13:42

in certain states. Well, I'm the I'm the

13:44

head coach at the state school. This is the number one

13:46

ranked player in the state. I have to recruit him. No,

13:48

you don't.

13:50

But it's you're gonna get pushback.

13:52

You better win on game day. Yeah.

13:54

But and it goes back to what you said about coach Kyle

13:56

Perry. Is what I would tell you is, guys have had

13:59

so much success because

14:01

even coach k was getting heat.

14:02

Late in his career. Okay, they

14:04

hadn't won a title.

14:05

A long time, fired fifty

14:08

year duke go read the book by Ida,

14:11

run out.

14:11

Of track and the bus pulled

14:13

back in and they had hung him in effigy from

14:15

a tree. But even late in

14:17

his last ten years, okay, no title,

14:22

nineteen first round picks. Okay,

14:25

but we play a crazy tournament where only

14:27

one team can win on a neutral site. You

14:29

know, like these games are going to be great this weekend. I

14:31

would tell you who I think is gonna win, but who

14:34

knows who's gonna win.

14:35

It's not best to seven. So it's

14:37

just so hard.

14:38

I mean, so what I Nolan Richardson

14:41

said this when he was on a roll, Well

14:43

he was on a roll. He had unbelievable role right with

14:46

you know, with Corlis Williamson, Todd

14:49

day Lee, Mary Lee Mayberry won a

14:51

title. You build the

14:53

beast, and eventually

14:55

the beast turns on you because you can't

14:57

keep feeding it. It's so hard

14:59

to keep winning titles and go to final fours.

15:01

Like John Wooden is never

15:03

going to exist again. It's

15:06

just never going to happen.

15:07

So it's just it's it's so hard

15:09

to survive.

15:10

Bigger Phelps and his book said you can't stay

15:12

at school more than nine or ten years.

15:15

Well, John Thompson's a great example of

15:17

a great coach who had these incredibly

15:19

deep embedded relationships with his players.

15:22

I mean, Patrick Ewing, Alonzo

15:24

Mourning, they were amazing relationships.

15:26

I remember when he and Tark were.

15:28

Because they spent three four years together.

15:30

And so and John Thompson changed people's

15:33

lives. The college football

15:35

coach is still allowed to change

15:37

a kid's life. Yeah, time in

15:39

college basketball. You're he's

15:41

just coming to change his tires. I mean

15:43

it's a rest area. I'm off to the pro Yeah. That

15:46

to me.

15:46

If you were to say, hey, Mick, what's the worst thing about

15:49

this whole this era where it's shifted, I

15:51

don't look forward to that. You know because

15:54

my relationship with players

15:57

that I coached for five years. I've

15:59

read a lot of guys at Cincinnati, Okay,

16:02

Like Kenneth Nuba's been with me all five years

16:04

at UCLA and people don't know him

16:07

like they would know Tiger and High May and David Singleton,

16:09

like I have lifelong

16:11

relationships that have enhanced

16:14

my life with a lot

16:16

of my players. One of my players Justin

16:18

Jackson from Cincinnati. He's been playing in Europe. He's getting

16:20

ready to retire, he's getting married this summer. You

16:23

know, he's texting me when he went from

16:25

South America.

16:26

I just got engaged.

16:27

Coach, He's all, you know, the guys haven't played

16:30

for me in eight, nine, ten years,

16:33

but we have a real relationship.

16:34

Oh no, there's no You recruit him for four years

16:37

before they come to.

16:37

Your school, and then he spends four years of

16:39

ups and downs, right, you know, they all

16:41

come in, they think they're going to be great. They're not, so they're

16:43

mad at you. They realize

16:46

eventually they realize you're right. They got to grow up,

16:48

and then they get really good and they say, well, I wish i'd

16:50

listened to you when I was a freshman but I said,

16:53

it's part of it.

16:53

You know, I was eighteen nineteen two as well.

16:56

But that part of it is the

16:58

is the thing that we all if you were to ask coach

17:01

izz Oh like to me, it's our dean

17:03

of coaching.

17:04

I still coaching like that.

17:05

When you hear him talk and people think

17:08

he gets ranty, he's

17:10

just worried about losing that because

17:12

that's what he loves the most about

17:15

it.

17:15

And you know that that's what you know, they

17:17

said Bill.

17:19

Walton called coach, wouldn't every day like

17:22

literally the last ten years of his.

17:23

Life every day. Now, I'm not sure

17:25

that coach took.

17:26

It every day.

17:27

It took the call every day, but literally.

17:29

I mean, you know, so this that that that part

17:31

of it's he's going to miss

17:33

that.

17:34

Yeah, but I don't know how. I don't know how.

17:36

I don't see once the ship is sailed, they usually

17:39

can't bring it back to port.

17:40

So you know, we just got to embrace the changes.

17:43

Finally, So

17:45

we both agree that yukon depth talent

17:48

Coaching's last team. If I said

17:50

to you, give me a team left

17:53

that is just sneaky good, could

17:56

match up, has a little depth.

17:59

I mean, is there a team out there that beyond

18:01

Carolina, because I don't know

18:03

if Purdue Purdue is gonna win games. I don't

18:05

know. Do they can they move

18:08

as well? You can get them out of their comfort

18:10

zone.

18:10

What's a sneaky They're not sneaky, right,

18:12

I mean sneaky.

18:13

No, we know what they are.

18:15

I would give you.

18:17

Analytically and Anie Test

18:19

and the analytics who tell you

18:21

that there's two teams left in top

18:24

ten offensive efficiency and

18:26

defensive officials.

18:27

Houston one of them.

18:28

No, they're they're

18:30

one in defense.

18:31

They're not in the top they're in the top twenty, but it's

18:33

only two in both Yukon

18:36

and Arizona.

18:37

Arizona's ninth and nine.

18:38

You've played them twice and they played

18:40

great.

18:41

I would they've had some head scratcher

18:44

games.

18:45

Okay, well their kids, I mean it's college,

18:47

yeah and that.

18:48

But but analytically they

18:50

will be favorite if they play Carolina

18:54

because the analytics is what Vegas is going

18:56

to go off of them.

18:57

They will be one two point if they if they

18:59

match.

18:59

Up, so you you face them twice.

19:01

Do they have a weakness? Do they have something you can

19:03

They're streaky?

19:04

Yeah?

19:05

They are? Is that their youth is

19:07

shooting.

19:08

They are a team that if

19:10

they get put in a half.

19:11

Court, slow them down, they get frustrated

19:14

because they athletic, they want to get out.

19:15

They just did. They don't practice that way. You

19:18

know, it could it could get them frustrated.

19:21

But iye, test wise, the team that I've seen

19:25

great guard play, really

19:27

good guard play. They don't have great offense,

19:29

but good enough. And they

19:32

got a couple of big guys, so they got ten

19:34

fouls as Iowa State.

19:36

Your team, boy Jmack

19:39

likes Iowa State.

19:40

Yeah, they they you know, they don't

19:43

turn it over. They do all, you know, the things that

19:45

give you a chance, Like they're not going to be an easy

19:47

out.

19:47

So they would match.

19:48

You're a problem with everybody because

19:50

you can't score easily against

19:52

them, period. And they're good enough on offense,

19:55

and they're all experienced and tough. But

19:57

when you go to play a game, like you

20:00

gotta be able to dance to every song they play, right,

20:02

it's like a dance context, Right, so you're

20:04

not gonna you're not gonna win every

20:06

game running up and down, Like how about all these games

20:08

at over one hundred points? Like it's Superman

20:11

quil when you play Iowa State, like you're

20:13

going to have to win sixty five.

20:15

To sixty and some teams are uncomfortable

20:17

with.

20:18

That and they can't. They just they

20:21

can't dance when they play that slow song. They don't

20:23

know how to do it, so they can put you into meat

20:25

grinder, you know. So they're an interesting

20:27

team.

20:28

Mick. We got to have you on more often. So you're nine

20:31

in far Away the tournament under

20:34

Mick Cronin so.

20:35

Protected my record nine and three here at UCLA

20:37

and NCATE tournament. I protected it this year

20:40

by not making a ton.

20:42

I like your way of thinking that that's good analytics

20:45

use that.

20:45

Can't play bad golf if you don't play.

20:48

This guy's good. Great seeing you.

20:51

Oh it's great to be here. Always been a fan. Oh

20:53

I probably made it here.

20:54

So that's great. Our buddy

20:56

Kevin Lagretz trying to get me to UCLA games,

20:58

so you know, let's hook

21:00

up and go to a game. By the way, beautiful facility.

21:04

Oh that's awesome, Pauli's great.

21:06

I mean, just look what you know.

21:08

I told a friend of mine that played

21:10

at ULA's coach wouldn't got Andy Hill was

21:12

president of CBS I think at one time, you

21:14

know.

21:15

I tell him.

21:16

He goes, how are you? He always checks

21:18

on me when things are bad.

21:19

I say, hey, man, I still turn left on sunset

21:22

when I go to work, you.

21:23

Know, And he goes, that's the title of your book.

21:25

You got it.

21:26

Don't forget that.

21:27

You turn left off, come over

21:29

the hill, left on sunset and drive

21:31

through bell Aaron Beverly Hills. Rough.

21:33

It's rough.

21:33

I'm going to lunch in Beverly Hills when we're

21:35

done. So, I don't know how. I don't know how

21:37

I'm gonna make it good.

21:39

Always a pleasure.

21:40

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays

21:43

and Noone Eastern nin am Pacific

21:45

on Fox Sports Radio FS one

21:47

and the iHeartRadio app.

21:49

Well, look at j Mack. This is as

21:51

good as life gets right here for us. Well,

21:54

outside of games in the NFL,

21:57

the two things I love are the draft

22:00

and the future bets. The win totals.

22:03

So DraftKings Fine Company

22:07

has come out with win totals, and here's Jmack.

22:10

With the news.

22:13

This is the Herd Line news.

22:15

You love them so much, We're just gonna hammer wind

22:18

totals here. DraftKings has

22:20

released their win totals for the twenty

22:22

twenty four season pre draft is.

22:24

Some of these are interesting to me. Two

22:27

of them are shocking.

22:28

So we talked about we'll start at the bottom. We talked about

22:30

the team last week, the Minnesota Vikings. You love them,

22:33

you had them. I believe in your herd hierarchy,

22:35

Colin. The Minnesota Vikings

22:38

win total is currently six and a half.

22:40

That is the there's.

22:42

Two six and a half for a team you have

22:44

in the top ten in the league. I told

22:47

you needed a mulligan on that one. That

22:50

the over, Oh, come on, we

22:53

don't even know who their quarterback is.

22:54

Sam Donald Winner

22:57

tells you what the market thinks is Sam Darnld. So

23:01

there were two teams that

23:05

the Vikings was the one that jumped out to me. That's

23:07

bet the over.

23:09

Then there's one team hard though, by the way, the that

23:12

division Lions. Two games against the Lions

23:14

of Packers, who you both love. Vikings

23:16

gonna go over four.

23:16

They're gonna be at a quarterback defficiency in all those meetings.

23:20

Can I throw you another one? Please do?

23:24

For anybody that doubts Kirk Cousins,

23:28

they DraftKings has the Falcons

23:30

over under just on a quarterback

23:32

move at ten and a half. That

23:35

is the ultimate analytic

23:38

gambling. Respect to Kirk. This team

23:40

could not move the ball consistently, the

23:43

Atlanta Falcons.

23:45

So the Falcons have this at ten and a half, the

23:47

same as the Cowboys, Dolphins,

23:49

Bengals, Lions,

23:52

Eagle.

23:52

Hackers, Bills.

23:54

So maybe that's the market telling you, hey, we're

23:56

gonna inflate the Falcons. All the public

23:59

betters, they're gonna be like, oh, Kirk Cousins Falcons.

24:01

That is I don't know, Okay, that is

24:04

so much respect to Kirk Cousins.

24:06

They have a defensive coach to coach that had

24:08

failed. Most

24:10

of their best players offensively are young,

24:13

unproven, just talented. Kirk

24:15

Cousins singularly gets

24:18

them an over under with the Buffalo

24:20

Bills, the Eagles, Joe Burrow and the Bengals,

24:22

Mike McDaniel and the Dolphins and the Cowboys. So

24:24

Nowboys have won twelve games a year, three years in

24:26

a row.

24:27

I mean, it's a lot of newness there, new coach,

24:29

new quarterback ten and a half seas

24:31

okay, pretty rich. He remember Peyton

24:34

and Russell Wilson last year. Everybody's like, oh,

24:36

big, big upgrade, and like it just

24:38

didn't quite pan out?

24:39

Can I throw? Can I throw another one

24:41

at you? That is insane to me? Please do? The

24:45

Jets over under is nine and a half.

24:50

Too lower, too high.

24:52

Too high?

24:53

Okay wait a second now, timeout. I'm assuming

24:55

Aaron Rodgers coming off the Achilles. You're like, eh,

24:58

Kirk Cousins is coming off.

24:59

An Achilles too.

25:00

There's similar quarterback differences the

25:02

AFC East. I have Buffalo

25:05

twice and a wildly

25:07

high scoring Miami twice. Aaron's

25:11

again forty off the surgery, but whereas

25:13

Atlanta has multiple good offensive

25:15

pieces and an elite O line.

25:19

I got a forty year old quarterback off of surgery

25:21

and a mess o line and a

25:23

tougher division and a tougher conference.

25:25

And they're nine and a half. That feels

25:28

high to me. Texans are nine and a half. That's

25:30

what I'm saying Texans, and the Texans are in an easier

25:32

division, and we love their coach

25:35

and we love their quarterback, and

25:37

they've had back to back very good free

25:39

agent signings.

25:40

How about Jags eight and a half. So the Jags

25:43

eight and a half, the Texans nine and a half. It's

25:45

pretty clear there's a new sheriff

25:48

in what are the AFC South where

25:50

people think about Misser now the team to beat.

25:52

This here's another one talk about respect.

25:56

So the Rams have eleven draft picks, they

25:58

have a top five coach, in the top five

26:01

quarterback in the weaker NFC,

26:04

and Aaron Donald retires

26:07

and the Rams over under is only

26:09

eight and a half. I

26:12

think Aaron Donald, without question,

26:14

was they're saying is worth at least a game to

26:16

a game and a half. Well, also, they have eleven draft

26:18

picks.

26:19

You've got to consider Stafford's injury history, and I

26:21

know he was injury free last year. You know, I'm the Sanna

26:23

Stafford. We are in the same neighborhood currently,

26:25

I have not seen him. I like him,

26:27

Colin. If that offensive

26:29

line doesn't hold up and Stafford gets stinged up.

26:31

They went and bought the best

26:33

guard on the market. So now they have two elite

26:35

guards. Their centers last

26:38

year's second round pick who was excellent. Moving over,

26:41

they're very good at right tackle and left

26:43

tackle. They're good enough. I don't think it's a prime.

26:45

Defensive tackles aren't worth a point to the spread,

26:47

but Aaron Donald you no longer have to triple

26:49

team anyone on the defensive line.

26:51

Of the Rams.

26:52

How they gonna get pressured without Donald?

26:54

Well, they have the kid from Wake

26:56

Forest, they have young the defensive end. These

26:58

guys are defensive courting.

27:00

There's a stay up at night game planning for the

27:02

defensive end.

27:02

Okay, so I think the Vikings, I'd bet

27:04

the over the Rams. I'd bet the over

27:07

the Jets, Falcons. I'd probably bet

27:09

the under. I will say this, though,

27:13

you pushed back. So

27:16

last week I did a

27:18

herd hierarchy. I

27:20

put the Lions and the

27:22

Packers in the top five DraftKings

27:25

has both the Lions and Packers ten

27:27

and a half wins with

27:30

a group of Joe Burrow Philadelphia

27:32

Josh Allen. I think Green Bay is they're

27:34

buying into this offense and sow them on.

27:36

That's fair.

27:37

I will also add you omitted

27:39

the Bengals from the top ten, and they have

27:41

a window toal ten and a half.

27:43

Can you admit that's a whif? Can we say like

27:46

I had done, I had them at eleven.

27:48

Oh yeah, okay, the Herd hierarchy extended

27:50

to eleven.

27:51

You just didn't like that I had Minnesota

27:53

at ten. If I had Minnesota at

27:55

eleven, you'd been okay with it. All right,

27:58

we gotta go. TJ. Hushman's Auto on

28:00

the corner, j MA the news.

28:02

Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping

28:04

by the heard line.

28:06

I will stay up with this draft Kings Wind

28:08

Total. I will literally be doing this all

28:10

night.

28:10

By the way, Steelers seven and a half with Russ

28:13

and Justin Field seven and a half.

28:16

TJ. Hushman's out of Next.

28:18

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays

28:20

and noone Easter not a Empacific.

28:23

Hey gang, this is Jay Glazer, host of

28:26

Unbreakable, a Mental Wealth

28:28

podcast, and every week

28:30

we will have on leaders from sports

28:32

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28:35

Vaughn, Michael phelf, David Spade,

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Got Fi Emmy, and also those who can help

28:40

us in between the ears, anyone from a therapist

28:42

to someone like Ed Milett or John Gordon.

28:44

We've all been through some sort of adversity

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28:49

Listen to Unbreakable with Jay Glazer

28:51

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app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

28:57

you get podcasts.

29:00

So he played eleven years in the NFL and

29:03

now works on

29:05

a regular basis quarterbacks wide

29:07

receivers. We bring him on

29:09

for insight as we go up to the draft, which

29:11

is about a month out. So you've

29:13

worked with a lot of receivers through the year, LSU

29:16

guys in particular this year, we've

29:18

talked about Marvin Harrison. His dad

29:20

was a unique cat, kind of his own guy,

29:23

didn't hang with the players, So it's

29:25

not a surprise that his son's got some of

29:27

these qualities. Are you worried that

29:29

nobody knows no

29:31

pro day he didn't talk to anybody

29:34

the combine? Is

29:36

it a little odd or is it just like you know, his dad

29:38

was very much an independent, unique, quiet.

29:40

Guy when you put it in

29:42

those terms, are you surprised

29:46

Marvin Harrison Senior didn't do a ton

29:48

of interviews. He kind of stayed to himself. If

29:52

you're junior, if

29:55

you run four two jump

29:57

fifty inches, you just break

29:59

all kind of comp You're probably

30:01

still gonna go for right. And

30:04

so is he looking at it. I

30:06

can't help myself, so I

30:10

could possibly hurt myself, but

30:12

I'm not gonna be able to help myself.

30:14

I don't mind it. I think the

30:17

problem is we've never seen this. We

30:19

literally haven't seen a god, not interview

30:21

at the combine, not work out, not do to pro.

30:24

We haven't seen unless you're injured. We

30:26

haven't seen this before, and so it's

30:28

just the uncertainty of what

30:31

has never happened before. He's

30:34

a good player. His dad taught him very well.

30:36

He can run routes, he understands coverages, he knows

30:39

why we should do things, press release,

30:42

what release I should and shouldn't use. He's

30:44

well schooled. It

30:46

will be interesting to see how it plays out, because

30:49

if he does not pan

30:51

out, people will come back

30:53

to all of this.

30:56

Yeah, so I think he is the

30:58

class of the wide receipt. I

31:00

think there's a lot of guys that are talented,

31:03

Roma Dunze, Washington not

31:05

a burner per se. Is

31:07

it fair to say Harrison size

31:09

talent, heritage family is

31:12

one. Everybody else is talented,

31:15

but they've got a hole in their games.

31:18

I don't know if that. I don't know if Roberts at LSU

31:20

is he I like neighbors a ton no

31:22

dynamic, super explosive, really

31:25

strong kid, probably about six, kind

31:27

of reminds me of Jamar Chase. Not the ball

31:29

skills, maybe a tad

31:31

bit more explosive. LSU is

31:33

just a factory. They're turning into

31:35

the receiver factory. You

31:39

have neighbors. You have Brian Thomas. I mean, Brian

31:41

Thomas ran four to three to three and he's six y three

31:43

and he can run routes and he's smart,

31:47

and he's a coach's dream because he doesn't talk to anybody.

31:51

Like you couldn't get him to say fifteen words

31:53

to you an interview. If he did, I would be shocked.

31:56

Roma Dunze had a great quarterback, a

31:58

great coach, multiple NFL receivers.

32:01

Is he worth a top ten pick?

32:02

Yes?

32:03

His ball skills are through the roof, through out

32:05

of this world. Like he has great ball skills.

32:07

Now tell the audience what that means.

32:10

He just catches the ball hard

32:12

throws or hard catches, hard plays.

32:15

He makes them look easy and you

32:18

see somebody else do it and it's not a catch.

32:20

Those are catches for he just has great He tracks

32:23

the ball very well, he sees the

32:25

ball very well, and his hands are always in a

32:27

good position. And

32:30

he'll tell you that's something that he worked

32:32

on a ton. But he just was

32:34

blessed with great ball skills. He's huge,

32:36

bro like when you see when you stand next to

32:38

Rome. He's a big boy. But

32:40

he's such a great person man like we went

32:42

to dinner. Such a great person.

32:46

But yes, I'm drafting him in the top ten.

32:47

That matters for wide receiver.

32:49

He's a great person, great person.

32:51

We have a history of receivers coming in they break

32:53

the huddle first, they want theirs. I get it is

32:55

it's the personality position in there.

32:57

That's not wrong. He is a team

33:00

first guy. Uh, hes

33:02

gonna treat people the right way. I enjoy

33:04

on a ton. He'll be a good player.

33:06

DJ Hushman Zada is joining us. So

33:09

the quarterback class, you know, it's

33:12

the JJ McCarthy stuff. Reportedly

33:14

great on the whiteboard. Also put

33:17

on about fifteen pounds. I don't know if I buy that

33:19

combine weight stuff.

33:20

Do you?

33:21

Because he was two old five it was listed as a player.

33:23

Now he gets to the combine he's two twenty. I don't

33:25

like spindally, I watched Bryce Young. I don't

33:27

like Spindle. Are you sold on

33:30

JJ McCarthy.

33:31

I am? I like JJ man, I really

33:33

do And I don't

33:35

know how much you weighed, but I've been seeing JJ

33:38

since the summer. He

33:41

looked like he was a nice size. He looked like

33:43

he was more than two o five in the summer to me, unless.

33:46

He's just seeing him in shorts, you're see yeah.

33:48

So like, I didn't think he was two o five when

33:50

I saw him, and so I thought he was two fifteen. He's

33:53

always been like, nice

33:55

size dude, but more than anything.

33:58

Like, So, I

34:00

go to the Combine this year and

34:03

he's on my flight and we're

34:05

not on the same rud the entire flight. The

34:08

entire flight, he is just diagramming plays and going

34:10

over stuff the entire flight,

34:13

and I'm like, is this dude ever gonna stop

34:16

the whole flight? And so I

34:19

was able to sit down and spend some time with him.

34:21

I like JJ a lot. I really do.

34:24

Great arm, not a good arm, a great

34:26

arm. He's accurate.

34:30

He knows how to win, and that's

34:32

what matters. You gotta be able to win. You got

34:34

to be able to be in a tough situation

34:37

in winning this all, you know, you always

34:39

feel like you have a chance. The guys

34:42

are gonna feed off that because they gonna see how

34:44

you feel about it.

34:45

I learned this last week. Bow Nicks

34:47

has had five offensive coordinators

34:50

in five years, and it's completed

34:52

almost seventy percent of his college throws.

34:54

That's something, isn't it.

34:56

Bow Knicks leaving Orgon, I mean

34:58

leaving Auburn going to Oregon was the thing

35:00

he could have done because he

35:03

was so highly rated coming out of high five

35:05

guy. And it was as if when he went to Auburn he

35:07

was a disappointment. And then

35:10

he goes to Oregon. It's like, wait, where was

35:12

this bow Knicks at Auburn? Like where? And

35:14

so that tells you a lot

35:16

about somebody when constantly your system

35:19

is changing and you have to learn a new

35:21

system every single.

35:22

Year and are productive every year.

35:24

And bow Knicks played extremely

35:27

well in a tough conference with great

35:29

competition for two years, a

35:31

ton of snaps. I believe he has the most starts of any

35:34

college quarterback ever. It's

35:36

so uh, he'll be well prepared. He'll

35:38

be well prepared once he gets to the league. I think he'll

35:40

do what this quarterback draft is. I think

35:42

he'll do what. There's gonna be some guys that

35:44

don't play well, and we're all gonna be like, wow, how

35:47

did he not pan out?

35:49

I think a lot of it is where you land. As

35:51

you've told me before, not all coaches

35:53

are equal.

35:54

No, I mean what you guys

35:56

do for a living, J Man Conn or everybody

35:58

equal to you guys and what you guys do.

36:00

Oh no, I've bosses. I've

36:02

had unequal bosses. I've got

36:04

good bosses now I haven't always in my career

36:06

had a lot of stuff. Is just

36:09

you know, now I'm old and I kind of know what I'm doing.

36:11

But when you're young, in any profession, the

36:13

quality of boss is it's

36:16

much more impactful. I mean, Brady

36:18

could go to Tampa. They didn't know who quite what

36:20

Brady has his actions.

36:21

The quality of what you do is.

36:24

Determined by my support system.

36:26

Oh that's kind of you to say that's

36:28

kind.

36:28

Well, I mean I can bring it now.

36:30

I mean, and then that's the thing, like everybody can't

36:32

do that, And so.

36:34

Yeah, all right, we

36:36

like bringing you around the draft. By the way, some

36:38

stuff TJ tells me he can't

36:40

tell us yet, but as we get closer

36:43

to the draft, when he comes on, he'll drop

36:45

little leaflets of information.

36:48

You're gonna be all'm gonna say is you're gonna be on a flight tonight,

36:51

possibly heading to Pro Days.

36:54

But the problem is, I got guys that are flying

36:56

out here to train with

36:58

me, so I got to figure out. You know, I don't

37:00

know if I can do those things.

37:01

Don't let me tell you something good problem to have is

37:03

being wanted the highly

37:06

employable T. J. Hushman

37:08

Zama. That's a that's

37:10

a that's a crisis we all need to have. See

37:13

you soon, See you guys tomorrow

37:15

in La.

37:15

It's the hurt

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