THE HERD – HOUR 1 – Brock Purdy Leads 49ers to 6-0 | Jayden Daniels – Dan Quinn Issues | Pat Murphy on Sweeping The Dodgers

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0:26 Here we go. It's a Tuesday. Herd hierarchy in one hour. Pat Murphy, Brewer's manager, is going to be joining us today. Nick Wright, Todd McShay, it is great to have you in. We are live in Chicago. It's the Herd, wherever you may be and however. You may be watching or listening. A lot of choices. Thanks for making us part of your day. Who you get compared to says a lot about you. And when Brock Purdy took over the Niners quarterback job, people said, well, he's better than Garoppolo. He's got better mobility than Garoppolo, a little better deep ball arm than Jimmy Garoppolo, right? Now, who are we comparing Brock Purdy to? The best quarterbacks in the league. Now, does it help that Kittle's a first ballot Hall of Famer?

1:10 Shanahan's the only coach that regularly works. Sean McVay. And that last night, Christian McCaffrey had 26 touches. Too many, in my opinion. That helps. We all need good bosses, though. We all need help. Nobody lives on an island. Purdy now is directing this offense. This is not just about Shanahan.

1:28 This is about Purdy. They run more motion and more groupings than any offense in the league, and he does it without batting an eye. He is conducting the London Symphony here. And I love Justin Herbert, but he looks befuddled with parts of the same offense with Mike McDaniel.

1:48 Lost.

1:49 Not processing quickly. Sam Darnold said it years ago. Brock Purdy, he's the perfect quarterback for Kyle Shanahan. Real smart, don't see a lot of emotion from him, and processes at a completely different level. There was a time when Brock Purdy, I mean, let's be honest here. There was a time in the first couple years he was a product of the environment. But now the Niners are a product of his talent and processing. He is driving the bust here.

2:21 Quick thinking, quick release, knows when to scramble. Kid makes good decisions. Period. End of story. It feels very, it feels to me, very Brady Belichick. The first couple of years, Belichick did carry Tom. And then all of a sudden, end of year three, year four, year five, young people, especially more than old people, they can learn languages more quickly.

2:46 My son can learn languages much more quickly than I can. OK, young athletes, young quarterbacks, you'll see these big, big leaps like Brady and Brock Purdy, who both had great coaches. And yes, Belichick carried Brady for a couple years, but year three, year four, year five, Tom broke through. Tom rose above it. Tom won the nature versus nurture argument.

3:10 And that's what you're seeing with Purdy. Kyle and Kittle and Trent and McCaffrey. First year, second, third, he was the last pick in the seventh round. And yes, Mike Evans and the talent and Shanahan help him. But he is now driving the bus. His decision making is so good. And I'll give you a stat that proves that he rises above San Francisco's structure. That doesn't mean he's not great with it. But statistically, when the play breaks down, one quarterback in the league is better than Brock Purdy, Josh Allen. That tells you it's not just Shanahan. It's not just Kittle. First couple years, you know, I'm going to be honest with you. First couple of years, you're like, this is Shanahan. He made a lot of mistakes. His judgment,

4:03 sometimes he was, you know, a little too relentless, a little too risk-oriented. I mean, his ball placement, his release, his judgment, his decision-making is absolutely great. He is threading the needle. So Brock Purdy's gone from beneficiary to breadwinner. He's driving the revenue. That's a great pass right there. Now, Washington closed the gap late in the game. A lot of that is, let's be honest, you lead 23-3. You're at home. Washington's not much of a threat. It's hard to keep your foot on the gas. We're not being fair if we're going to keep just saying, well, it's Shanahan.

4:42 That's not fair anymore. Here's Purdy after.

4:46 Obviously, offensively and for myself, in the second half, it's It's tough just to do what we did, three and outs. And I think there's some plays where I could have been better for sure and getting the ball out and whatnot instead of taking some sacks. But for our defense to do what they did, man, obviously, I know it sounds cheesy, but I mean, it's true. It's a team win.

5:06 It takes a whole team collectively for four quarters. And so for our defense to do what they did at the end, man, that was really impressive.

5:13 No ego. All about ball. No ego. No nonsense. Okay, I've been on this for a long time. I know you're tired of it. I totally understand it. But you're now starting to see it in real time. Currently in the NFL, if you look at the standings, there is not a single defensive coach who is in first place. In fact, John Harbaugh was a special teams coach. Seven of eight offensive coaches lead their divisions. And in many instances, most instances, an offensive coach is in second place. Okay.

5:47 Dan Quinn, backward hat guy. Somebody told him to turn it around. He did. He's still coaching like a backwards hat guy. Last night, fourth down, second quarter. Jaden Daniels, this is basic math. It's not algebra. Threw it out of bounds. Did not know it was fourth down. I know you can beat up on Jaden Daniels. Five years of college, three years NFL. He's 25. He's got to know better. He lacks self-awareness. He doesn't play with any urgency.

6:15 And there's some lip reading going on with Dan Quinn. Dan Quinn tried to explain himself out of it. I don't know. He looks confused, befuddled. This is my knock on defensive coaches. They don't have the symmetry and the relationship with quarterbacks. This was Sean McDermott. Nobody said Sean McDermott was a bad coach. But remember that playoff game they got into and it was during the tush push was huge in the NFL and they didn't really have a fourth and one play. It was just, hey, Josh at six, six, try to leap over the line. It looked like they didn't practice or didn't communicate. This is the second week in a row. Remember, it was the Giants game. where they played with no urgency. They didn't

6:57 spike the ball. You can't have that. I'm sorry. I just don't think Brock Purdy and Shanahan are in back-to-back weeks ever going to look this lost in crisis. What do you want me to say on this? I've been on this for years. Offensive coaches, you get so many primary benefits. They're much better with quarterbacks. They speak the same language. The secondary benefits, they always help the offensive lines.

7:22 Top eight offensive lines, all offensive coaches. And I got nothing against Dan Quinn, but you've been coaching nine years in this league. Nine years as a head coach. You cannot be this bad with clock management, back-to-back weeks. You can buy since Cliff Kingsbury left, who, by the way, offensive guy was a head coach. It's all gone downhill.

7:39 We didn't see that in year one. OK, this thing is so bad. It's time for a cultural reset. Now, Dan Quinn says, hey, hey, I knew it was. They also burned a timeout, by the way. They burned a timeout late in the game. They're down a touchdown. They right here. They burn a timeout with a stopped clock. The hell are we doing here? Back-to-back weeks. Here's Dan Quinn on the fourth down saying, yeah, yeah, I knew it was fourth down. I definitely knew it was fourth down.

8:13 We were going for it, and I was, I think whatever you're referring to, I was probably saying, like, with the illegal shift, there's not a penalty to go for a field goal. Like, it doesn't go, like, it's the turn on downs. Like, I think somebody asked me, can we kick a field goal? It was by design that we were going to go, but I knew what happened.

8:29 I think I was probably just commenting that, I remember, at least on the headset, somebody asked me, and after a legal shift, like it was turnover on downs.

8:38 Okay, I'm not going to call him a liar. He says it. I believe him. I think he was probably saying it was fourth down. Was it fourth down? I think he was probably saying it to Jaden Daniels. They made eye contact. I'll give him a pass on that. But after last weekend, it's not just about not knowing what down it is. It's like, come on, guys. This is a crisis league. This is not college football where you get like blowouts all September. A lot of these games are decided. Even last night's game, which, by the way, was a blowout for three quarters, ended up getting kind of hairy, kind of getting close. So I just think not a single defensive coach leads the division right now. Now, there are more offensive coaches than defensive coaches, but I

9:21 just don't see this happening anymore. On back-to-back weeks, all these missteps, I just don't see it happening. And I'm not saying that Jaden Daniels isn't culpable. He's 25, but he played forever in college and pro. You have to have some sense of urgency. He just lacks self-awareness. But what really bothers me, he's just casual. Quarterback is not a casual position. maybe punter kicker is I don't know quarterback it's very rarely casual it's a hard position especially on the road the Niners are well coached I'm not saying it's easy but I just don't think an old school defensive guy Dan Quinn you're not firing the quarterback I think it's time to move on I just don't think this is going to work and this was McDermott

10:12 Allen it's like everybody likes Sean Sean smart he's capable he's But there was a lack of communication. Hell, Belichick and Brady never had dinner together. And I think you could get away with that a long time ago. I don't think it plays now. I think quarterbacks are higher paid. They have more control. They're more valuable. It's more of an offensive league. You've got to have really strong communication for moments like Washington has faced the last two weeks. Oh, J-Mac, that was.

10:47 It was just a circus last night.

10:50 At least we at least we cashed some tickets with that with the dog in prime time. But that was that was not a great game, Colin, like watching it. I just didn't think like either of these teams look good. And Mike Evans goes down with the Achilles.

11:02 Well, San Francisco has some wide receiver cluster injuries. Now they're getting back Christian Kirk probably. In week seven, Mike Evans, by the way, will come back. DeMarcus, I think it's Robinson in two or three weeks. So they'll be fine. They've got Christian McCaffrey. My knock on them is that, okay, Christian McCaffrey had 26 touches. It's like guys.

11:24 Yeah.

11:25 It's like quarterbacks that throw 50 times. You feel great, man. We're humming it. That's too many touches for Christian McCaffrey at this age.

11:32 They don't have anyone else to go to. You look at the targets. He's getting most of the target share. I'm just calling it right now. Falcons are beating the 49ers outright on Sunday. 49ers have a bye the following week. I think you just, hey, Mike Evans, take a break. Take the two-week vacation. I think the Niners lose. Again, I think they're very good, but calling these injuries. like i mean brock purdy's throwing the guys.

11:54 I've never heard of yeah well i'm not sure shanahan's heard of them i mean it's it's a it is no name guys okay we got a lot of stuff coming up nick sirianni is also in trouble this is the time of the year we've said week six week seven week eight owners more impulsive than ever is sirianni in trouble that's next live in chicago it's the.

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12:50 On YouTube. Subscribe, hit that thumbs up icon, and comment away. So the NFL is the only league in America, pro sports league, where there's 100% chance your players, all of them, will get hurt. Even kickers ask the LA Rams. It is a crisis league. And all pilots can fly in 77 degrees sunny with no wind. Fighter pilots, that's the best of the best. Nick Ceriani, I thought, handled the Jalen Hurts medical issue about as well as you can handle it from the podium. You know, the Philadelphia media is relentless, aggressive, and they were circling. I thought he handled it about as well as you can for a coach in trouble.

13:40 I'm not a medical expert. Same deal there. We get medical information from our guys. And we always put the players' health first and foremost in every situation. Guys, I've addressed this. I've talked to you guys about this. Again, the medical experts are there. And I think I've answered this question multiple times. We put out a statement for you guys to hear, put out multiple statements for you guys to hear.

14:10 And I told you guys that last week that I was going to leave it at that.

14:14 Listen, Belichick used to always say it. I'm not a doctor. OK, you just tell me who's available. So I don't know what's going on with the inner workings of Jalen Hurts and the blood clot issue and the flight to London. I don't know. I'm not going to pry because I don't know and I'm not going to speculate. But this is not why the medical situation is not why Nick Sirianni is in trouble. That that's not it. Let's not let's not. Forget the ineptitude of what's happened. He is incredibly beholden to coordinators. So you knew it and I knew it from that first press conference on. It was going to be bumpy. Now, when you've got, you know, a quarterback's not making much money and you can stack the roster, we've had non-great coaches win Super Bowls. But

14:59 this league is all about, can you problem solve? Last year, Kyle Shanahan went 12-5. They were on third string receivers and scout team linebackers, and they beat Sirianni. That was an indictment of that coach. I mean, John Harbaugh is 3-1-1, and they're on their third quarterback. Kevin O'Connell is 5-0, and I don't even have any idea who the Vikings quarterback is week to week. So the problem solving and navigating adversity is really the number one quality. It's not that you're smart. Kevin Stefanski went to Penn. He got fired in Cleveland. Todd Munkin now has been unbelievably successful in Cleveland. It's not where you went to college. It's not just how smart you are. Can you solve problems?

15:50 It's a little AI. I need an answer. It needs to be right. And I need it right now. And that's where Sirianni, I think, he struggles. Ben Johnson, this is a great example of problem solving. Ben Johnson's down to Case Keenum had not started in several years. Blew out Sirianni. So in the last year, I've seen Kyle Shanahan go to Philadelphia with nine starters banged up or out and beat Sirianni. I've seen Ben Johnson take Case Keenum.

16:25 Wasn't even a backup. He was like a coach player. Hammers Philadelphia. Well, he's missing this guy and he's missing that guy. Come on now. I mean, look at the Rams injury report this morning. I've always thought Sirianni, I don't think he's a bad guy. I think he loves football. He's a hard worker. He's got a ring. He deserves credit for it. I think he needed to grow up when he got the job. I thought he was over his skis. I feel like watching the Eagles and Sirianni is like the Angelina Jolie, Billy Bob Thornton marriage. Like we all knew it wasn't going to last, but it was kind of fun to watch the circus. I'll be honest.

17:05 Day to day, week to week, story to story. It was kind of entertaining. Nobody thought it was a 40 year marriage like that. Just it wasn't going to be. It doesn't mean they're bad people, but there are, I mean, you've got a very strong-willed GM who has fired Super Bowl-winning coaches, and you've got Sirianni barking at fans, Dom's holding him back, totally coordinator-dependent, and the most three and outs in the league with Saquon Barkley, last year a good old line, two star receivers, above average tight ends.

17:42 Like this was never going to work. So I think the Jalen Hurts blood clot, I thought Sirianni actually deserves credit. I thought he handled it with a very aggressive Philadelphia media barking at him. I thought he handled that about as well as you can do it. But I think Dan Quinn and Nick Sirianni, Jerry doesn't like to fire people in season. I think Sirianni and Dan Quinn could be in a little trouble. j mac with the news.

18:10 No no no turn on the news this is the herd.

18:14 Line news speaking of trouble let's go to the cowboys who are a disaster right now after that loss to the packers and uh at two and four the offense seems to be the problem now they got shut out in the first half against green bay colin stephen jones says he and jerry are fully supporting brian schottenheimer take a listen.

18:35 Absolutely.

18:36 There's not any question in Jerry and I's mind. He has the team. There's no question they want to go out there and execute and make things happen and feel really good, as I've mentioned throughout this conversation, about our coaching staff. We just have to continue to have it evolve and get to a point where we can win these football games.

19:02 Well, you know, it's interesting. You can say a lot of things on Monday and Tuesday, J-Mac, but when you're flying home on the private Jerry jet and, you know, or you lose on a Thursday at home, there's a lot of different conversations. Everybody midweek is patient. They have perspective. And then all of a sudden Sunday happens and impulsive guys. Now, Jerry, historically, I think he gave Chan Gailey only two years and Mike McCarthy left twice. You know that on his own volition.

19:33 By and large, Jerry is pretty patient with coaches. He is not he is not somebody that's going to can somebody, you know, midseason. So I I don't think this coach is perfect for this team. And the longer he has the job, it feels like the more sluggish the offense gets. I thought the Green Bay performance off extra prep, only five first downs and couldn't score was outrageously bad. But I don't know if Jerry would pull the trigger. That's not really who he is with coaches.

20:02 Well, let's see what happens against the Eagles.

20:03 Monday Night Football, another primetime game. Eagles are– I mean, the Eagles are cooked. The season is over. Everybody knows that. If you can't show up in Philly and win that game, I think then you start worrying about that. But I think the bigger question, Colin, and I asked you this before the show, like– Is Dallas even a good job?

20:21 And I know some people say, well, yeah, the spotlight, they got Dak. Dak's contract makes that roster very difficult to build around. OK, you're seeing the limitations. Well, there's some stuff about Pickens from this game against Green Bay.

20:34 That's starting to look like he's.

20:36 Like, oh, geez, I would say, you know, it's interesting. What's a great job? Well, the Bears wasn't a great job. It is now because Ben Johnson made it a great job. When D'Amico Ryans took over Houston, it was a laughingstock. D'Amico Ryans made it into a great job. By the way, when Vrabel took New England, look at the year they came off with Gerard Mayo. It was awful. Sean Payton in Denver. People always say, what's a great job? In the NFL, you make it a great job. If the team had 15 wins, there would be no job opening.

21:10 So if you tell me I get CeeDee Lamb... I get that defensive front, Caleb Downs, Dak Prescott, above average skill people in a Dallas market, no state tax, attractive to free agents. You can make that a great job. Absolutely. Tell me the great jobs that are open. They're never open.

21:29 Well, the Chicago job had a number one pick in Caleb Williams.

21:32 Again, that doesn't mean anything. They have one of the poor ownership groups.

21:36 Quarterback on a rookie deal? I would take that in a heartbeat. Who was number one pick? Drake May was a young quarterback, top 10 guy.

21:41 You want me to give you the list of 20 number one pick quarterbacks that haven't worked out? We've gone through two decades where the number two quarterback taken is often better than the number one.

21:51 So you think a guy like Mike Tomlin would consider this because of Dak?

21:55 I think if you took over NVIDIA, that's a great job. If you took over Meta, that's a great job. They're not open. Okay, the bottom line is you have to make the job great. Harbaugh thought he had, then Jackson Dart gets hurt. Jim thought he had, and then Herbert regresses. So this idea, well, what's a great job? If it's a great job, well, I mean, like Mike McCarthy takes the Steelers. Oh, I get Aaron Rodgers. Aaron's 42. Right.

22:23 Like that's about as good as it gets, though. Like you have it's an organization that's got good players. You have great leadership. T.J. Watt, Cam Hayward, you have real smart leadership on the defensive side. That's about as good a job in a very weird division. There are no guaranteed great jobs.

22:40 OK, I would largely agree with that. But like the Colts is going to be open. We don't think that's a good job. The Jets is going to be open. They have three picks now. As the head coach, you walk in, you've got talent all over the place, as you agree.

22:51 And most importantly, you, you.

22:54 The new coach, get to identify the quarterback.

22:56 You want in the draft and start over.

22:58 To me, that's more attractive than Dak and his $ 60 million contract.

23:02 You have Woody Johnson, bottom three owner, totally dysfunctional. So it's not a great job based solely on that. That's the one thing that's never going to change. Secondly, oh, I'll just pick a quarterback. You do realize one star quarterback comes from the draft annually. I don't care if there's eight in the first round. Go look at now.

23:19 Caleb's a star. Drake May's a star. Everything else is a miss or under delivering or can't stay healthy. So this idea, well, all we need is a quarterback. That's like saying all I have to do is win the Powerball. It's just not that easy. Great quarterback classes. Remember the one with Herbert? Look at him now. Tua? Look at him now. Burrow can't make the playoffs. And that was a great quarterback class. So I just, I think it starts...

23:46 I mean, Todd Munkin, what he's doing with Deshaun and that young roster, you're like, oh, Cleveland doesn't look like such a terrible job now, does it? Does it?

23:56 I'll pass on answering that one.

23:57 They're just terrible.

23:59 Fun run, though.

24:00 Let's go to another team down bad, Colin.

24:01 A lot of bad news this hour.

24:03 The L.A.

24:03 Rams.

24:04 They got word yesterday Devontae Adams ruptured hamstring. By the way, he wasn't screaming on the ground in agony like quarterbacks do sometimes, Caleb Williams.

24:13 Out six to ten weeks. but it gets worse.

24:16 Puna Ford, key cog in that defensive line.

24:19 He is out for this season.

24:21 Another defensive lineman, Kobe Turner, he's.

24:24 Out on the IR. Colin, Miles Garrett, not practicing this week. He will not return.

24:28 Here's why these cluster injuries are awful. We just watched Arizona say, hey, we can't keep up with the Rams. We're just going to run the ball three yards in a cloud of dust, plow it, and then keep getting first downs because they can't stop the run. So now you remove two defensive linemen. I think the Rams are in deep, deep trouble. This line is cratering.

24:47 Okay, I don't. Here's number one. You have Puka, great tight ends, and two capable running backs, and Matt and Kyle Shanahan. If there's a team that can miss a receiver, last year Devontae Adams was also hurt, and the Rams were great. I think Kobe Turner is the miss here. That's what would worry me because I think Kobe out of Wake Forest has been a tremendous player. And it also hurts that Miles Garrett's not here. If Miles Garrett came back this week, that would supplant Kobe Turner. You'd be fine. This is an offense. Like last week, their problem is they're not a good first down offense. They're not dominating time of possession. Stafford's got a lot of third and longs, and that's not what he's built to do.

25:29 That's for Josh Allen and Caleb to solve. That's not him. So I don't think the defense... Listen, ask yourself this. Even the Texans' defense is average this year. Find me the great defenses in the NFL. I mean, honestly, Denver... Pretty good. Seattle, not as good as last year. I can give you a bunch of good offenses. And I'm being serious here. What is a great defense right now in the NFL? I don't know if there is one.

25:55 Minnesota Vikings?

25:56 Yeah. And some of that, I would say, I'd say a lot of that is Brian Flores coaching. I mean, that's coach driven.

26:03 Now, the Kansas City Chiefs, by a bunch of metrics here, have the number two defense. However, I did an examination, Colin. They haven't played an offense worth a lick yet.

26:12 That's right.

26:13 So it's still a little TBD. And they won't play one this week with Sam Darnold and the Seahawks. That being said, back to the Rams. I know you're not sounding the alarm.

26:21 I'll just say this. If they lose to the Raiders, they will not make the playoffs.

26:24 At 2-5, it's overcome.

26:26 I think that's fair. Yeah, yeah. I think they will. I don't think the Raiders can take advantage of the situation. I think it's a close game.

26:37 Hold on, hold on.

26:38 Kubiak did a really good job offensively last year against the Rams multiple times in Seattle. I would not put it out of the realm of possibility that.

26:48 He cooks up.

26:49 I've got to give Kubiak some credit. Most of their games have been close. I know they're only 3-3 and they're not going anywhere. But they're hanging around in all the games and all you need is one or two breaks.

26:59 Um.

27:00 If I'm a Rams fan, this is, I mean, honestly.

27:03 Colin, if we're talking about biggest disappointments this century, the last 26 years, the Rams and the Super Bowl odds they had and the stacked roster and the hype, this has to be the biggest letdown we've seen.

27:15 This century in the NFL.

27:16 Would you agree? This century?

27:19 The 26 years. It's not that big of a deal. You can look at the odds. The odds back it up.

27:23 Everybody. I'm not an encyclopedia Britannica. I'm not Claude.

27:29 Sometimes I think you are.

27:30 I just I think I think it's a disappointment. But let's just wait for the Raider game. Three and four. Just just, you know, Miles Garrett peels back in. I think they'll be OK.

27:40 My final story is the New York Giants and their quarterback controversy with Jackson Dart out. Jameis Winston was treading water for a minute and now it looks like he's underwater.

27:50 And J.J.

27:50 McCarthy had that brilliant fourth quarter against the Saints. Now they face Houston, a team with a nasty pass rush. Do you want Jameis Winston a sitting duck or J.J. McCarthy who could run around and make some plays? Here's John Harbaugh on having a tough time deciding on his quarterback.

28:07 We're working through that now, honing in on a decision. Like every other personnel decision we make, what gives us the best chance to win the football game at this given time or what combination of players and schemes and things like that. Give us the best chance to, in this case, move the ball, score points, protect the football, etc.

28:26 So all the things that help us win.

28:30 Yeah, I would go with J.J. McCarthy just for the fun factor. I just want to see him play.

28:33 The fun factor!

28:34 I want to see him play.

28:35 What do you do with Cam Scadaboo?

28:37 Well, he's obviously in the doghouse, A, for fumbles, and B, there's probably....

28:43 Other stuff.

28:44 Yeah, whatever. That could be... late to a meeting. I mean, I have no idea, but I, the fumbles are the primary issue there. There's also has to be a secondary issue for this. I don't know what it is, but I mean, there's a lot of stuff we don't know about until like a guy gets traded or a coach gets fired. Then you read the athletic and there's, you know, there's multiple reasons why my take is there's two reasons, the fumble we can all see there's something else. We can't J Mac with the news.

29:11 Well, that's the news.

29:12 And thanks for stopping by the herd.

29:15 We got so much stuff here. Pat Murphy Brewers. Do you know the National League Championship Series? Dodgers Brewers sweep was the highest rated NLCS in a decade. People love dynasties and they love teams slaying dynasties. And the Brewers, as they should be, are favored over the Rays in the World Series. Did you see that Rays guy last night?

29:40 That was a little over the top. I'm all for exciting. I'm all for celebrating. I thought that was a little over the top. Pat Murphy, Brewers manager, who's had a wild career. Netherlands, college baseball, interim manager, Padres is next.

30:00 Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

30:06 Well, he's had an incredible career. Netherlands, college baseball, interim manager for the Padres. Been with the Brewers for some time. Now his third year, twice National League Manager of the Year. And it's interesting when you watch the Brewers beat the Dodgers. It was the highest rated NLCS in a decade. And what that tells you is we like decades in sports.

30:29 but we really like the underdog, slan them. And they shouldn't have been an underdog. We said it during the season. If you'd watch the Dodgers and the Brewers play, Brewers were the better team, much more complete. Pat Murphy, three years, Brewers manager, is now joining us live, and we certainly appreciate that. Okay, I remember 1982. The year I graduated high school, I remember Cecil Cooper, Robin Yount, Paul Malter, Pete Vukovic. I remember that team. And it was very star-driven.

31:00 This team for you, Pat, is young. Now, Jackson Churio, he's a star. But I want to ask you, when was the moment this year for you, Pat, and it may have been spring training, that you really felt like, we may be the best team in baseball. Did you have a moment, an epiphany?

31:20 Yeah, I'm not sure.

31:21 Um, I never liked to look at it. Like we're the best. I always feel like there's somebody bigger, stronger, faster, uh, more capable. Um, and there probably was, but there was times during the season when I shook my head and I'm like, these.

31:34 Guys like winning. These guys really like this.

31:37 And, um, But I don't think we went into any series, especially in the postseason, that we were too cocky.

31:43 We went in there ready.

31:44 And we went in there with a feeling of like, let's play pitch to pitch in the now and let's see who wins.

31:50 When you were scouting the Dodgers, I called somebody I trust and he said, Milwaukee is going to win this series. They're a more complete team. They're younger and they are hungry. And they felt a little, you know, they don't like to get embarrassed. And the Dodgers the year before and had their way. When you did your scouting, did the series largely, not just the sweet part, but did it largely play like you and your staff thought it would?

32:14 Not really.

32:15 Their pitching staff, their starting staff, they're all Cy Young winners or MVPs in Yamamoto's case. So you're talking about guys, if they're on their game, which they were, you really got to scrape and claw to get back in it. So I really can't say that I could predict that, but I knew we weren't going to back down. And that was the most gratifying part is that these guys hung in there and said, we're not going to be denied, got behind in every game and still came back and responded.

32:46 And that's what this whole thing's about. Competing is about responding. We're all going to get hit in the face. And to see these guys respond, it was priceless.

32:54 The Athletic had an article today comparing you to the 2002 Angels, where you don't hit a lot of home runs, but you score a lot of runs. And I read an article a couple of weeks ago where it said, not that you're anti-analytics, but you don't pull the ball as much. You hit the ball on the ground. Was that an organizational, I mean, your belief is like analytics are important, but you can't live and die with them.

33:17 Post-season baseball is situational. It's moment to moment, pitch to pitch. Explain the birth of this team, which you can look on paper and go, boy, they don't do a lot of the analytics. Is that by design?

33:29 Right.

33:31 No, here's the thing. The analytics are very important.

33:34 They drive a lot of things in life, not just in baseball business, but in a lot of businesses.

33:39 But there comes a time, it's still a game of people.

33:42 And you recognize when you're going to play winning baseball, you recognize what the data says, but you don't make your decisions based on the data. Even the guys in our organization that produce the data tell you they understand when you don't make decisions based on the data. It's just there to guide you and to help you. But it still comes down to people. And it comes down to...

34:06 The guys in the room and their culture that they developed and how they set their standards and live up to those standards and have the awareness when things aren't going right, that's what this game's about. Winning baseball is about that. The data is a help like anything else. There's a lot of modalities that help us, the data being one of them.

34:29 Yeah, Milwaukee's been so well-run. It's a lot like the Packers. Market size doesn't feel relevant. Obviously, money does matter. But I made this argument that the downside of being with money is expectations. You're often an older roster. Dodgers were older. You're not as nimble in the front office. You can't move off certain contracts. For somebody like you that has managed for so long college majors and Jack Centurio is a star, but he's 22. Is it more fun to manage a team that you can mold a little bit because they're younger and growing?

35:06 Yeah, I mean, believe me, these young, hungry guys have made me look good.

35:13 They're hungry.

35:14 They've come together. They're good people. They're the right who, as I say. That's the key. Then you can employ them. They go out and they just you know, live, live bigger than their expectations. And that if you can get the most out of them and you can get them to play to their high end, then you got a chance in every game. And this is why our game is what it is. It's a, it's a fascinating game that you can't, you can't predict it very well. And I know, I know it's your guy's job to try to do that, but it's, it's hard to predict it.

35:48 And I come into every season wondering if we can win anything and it just works out because we have the right people.

35:54 Okay, seven days off between NLC. Yeah, that's a downside of the sweep. That's what you get in football. Seven days off is forever in baseball. I mean, simulated games, Pat? I mean, what do you do?

36:09 Yeah, you do all that kind of stuff, simulated games. The one thing you don't do is you don't try to recreate what isn't real. You just be authentic. Like, this is a long layoff, but everybody can use a little bit of a break physically for sure.

36:22 These guys are grinded.

36:24 Then, you know, you simulate, you emphasize certain things and you just try to be real. And it is what it is. It can be an excuse if you let it be. Or you can get yourself ready mentally. You can get yourself ready to play and it might take you a minute. But, you know, that's not going to be an excuse at this time of year. The excuses are not they're not tolerated.

36:47 Finally, I've never thought in baseball of home field advantage. I live in Chicago now. I go to Wrigley, and I thought the Cubs were kind of athletic and fun, and I thought they did play better at home. Milwaukee's crowd is nuts. There's a Midwest beer and brat vibe, the small market thing. There is just a— when you watch you guys on television, it jumps through the television. It is fantastic. Tell me— an edge. Yeah.

37:19 I don't know what the number is that it gives us, but it's definitely an edge. You know, if you look at our record at home every year, it's, it's better. Um, and you know, there's places like that. And I never have that perspective because when we go into Wrigley or we go into San Francisco, or you go into some of those places, Philadelphia, and it's live, you're like, wow, Atlanta, San Diego in the post season, you're like, Man, that's an advantage. That's a home field advantage. Wrigley, for sure, because they got the wall. They got the no-foul territory. Plus, they have guys with great aptitude and play the game right.

37:55 And it's like you can feel the home field advantage when you're on the road. When I'm at home, obviously, we feel more comfortable at home. There's no doubt about it. And our fans, they come out and support us. Now, once the game starts, I can't tell any of that stuff.

38:12 Right.

38:13 I don't hear it, but, um, I think, I think you can tell in our play and then our energy is much better at home.

38:20 By the way, uh, go back to Netherlands, Notre Dame. Were you all, did you always love the bunt? Pat, be honest. You loved it back at Notre Dame. Did you not?

38:30 Um, I'll tell you this. I'm a football guy at heart, right? So I, I, my life was going to be a college football coach. I love Notre Dame forever and then got the chance to coach there, even though I couldn't get in school there. It's kind of ironic, but anyways, I get a chance to be the baseball coach and everything turns to gold. And Holtz was unbelievable to me and kind of watered my football stuff. And, you know, it's like, I felt like you got to be able to beat people in many different ways. Just like a football team, you can't just run the option. You got to be able to beat teams in many ways. So I worked, because when you're indoors all the time practicing baseball, there's a lot of things you can work on. And

39:16 bunting and hit and run and stealing bases and the threat to steal, it all has its place in the game.

39:23 And if you can impact, if I can make the quarterback feel rushed in football, right?

39:29 Yeah.

39:30 You can make that quarterback feel like he has no time, that changes how he's going to perform.

39:34 Well, the little game does the same thing in baseball.

39:37 Yeah.

39:38 Two-time National League Manager of the Year, their favorite in the World Series, an absolute blast to watch. Congrats on the success. And Pat, a lot of people rooting for you. Congrats and good luck to the Brewers.

39:48 I'm very grateful. Thank you very much.

39:50 Yeah.

39:51 I love, I love that idea as a football guy. There's a lot of different ways to beat you. They didn't just, they didn't just beat the Dodgers. Like that was a butt kicking. And that was between the Padres, the Cubs and the Brewers. There are some, I mean, we always know Fenway is, can be magical, but there are some environments in the national league right now. Milwaukee is one of them. It's just Atlanta's pretty good. Cubs is fantastic. San Diego's nuts. You know, they lost their NFL team, and it's like only game in town. San Diego's nuts. So they are favored in that game. Okay, we do the herd hierarchy at the start of next hour.

40:30 You know, I saw a really interesting headline. Arch Manning remains the Longhorn starter, but Sark needs to see a better version. What if there isn't? Like 75% to 80% of these five-star quarterbacks, there's nothing against them. They don't pan out. I mean, Bryce Underwood at Michigan looks lost. It's chaotic. They put in the backup car, and you're like, oh, yeah, he's functional. He runs the offense. What if there's no there there? I mean, he's 6'4, 220, and mobile, so he's got good traits, but there is something about processing and it quality there. I mean, Justin Fields was a great athlete. Went to Ohio State. George Judge, like, oh, he's a great. He didn't have the it. Didn't see the field. Didn't process particularly well, I guess. And you're

41:20 always like, it looks like it should work. But my thing is, like, Arch Manning is not going to be the first five-star guy. In fact, it's kind of an exception when, you know, like, Caleb and Josh Allen, Caleb Williams, Josh Allen, come into the NFL. They need to clean some stuff up. And then they go from, I think it'll work, to, wow, they're great. That is totally the exception.

41:45 That is completely the exception. So far against power opponents this year, five touchdowns, five picks, two wins, two losses, 206 yards passed in the game. So he's got the pedigree, but he doesn't have the processing or the performance. And when I hear this, well, when are we going to see– I don't know. There was a kid out of L.A.

42:08 named Malachi Nelson, who was a five-star guy, went to USC. They knew immediately, not going to work. He's bounced around to four or five colleges. Bryce Underwood, it's not going to work. The backup came in, much more functional offense. It just happens. The exception is five-star, great in college, number one pick, Peyton Manning. That's the exception. Joe Burrow backed up, be transferred. It's turbulent.