Herm Edwards, Former NFL Head Coach

Alrighty, welcome back in. This is Zach Gelb Show Coast to Coast on CBS Sports Radio. We'll continue the football conversation now with the former NFL defensive back, also coached in college and in the pros, as you did see him on NFL Sideline with the Jets and Kansas City Chiefs. Now back at ESPN, and that of course is Herm Edwards.

Herm, always appreciate the time. How are you? I've been well.

Thank you for having me on. Everyone's getting excited again. All of a sudden these teams are starting to report to training camp, and there's hope. There's hope and optimism out there for a lot of football teams. Yeah, there's also some hope and optimism for commanders fans today, because the big news today is that the NFL owners has unanimously approved the commander sale from Daniel Snyder to Josh Harris. A good day for the folks that root for the football team near DC, as they could finally be optimistic maybe about their football team moving forward. Yeah, and Ron Revere is a good friend.

We're from the same hometown. So, you know, Ron has kind of held that thing together for the last couple years, and that's kind of man he is. So, I think with the acquisition of new offensive coordinator, Eric, the enemy, that ought to help that offense defensively. They're a pretty good football team. I think offensively now, Eric can bring some life to that offense, and they'll be able to compete in that division. Yeah, I thought it was a joke that the enemy had to leave the the Chiefs, and a lot of the thinking was that maybe it needs to go somewhere else to try to get a head coaching job. I thought Herm, he's already should have been a head coach in the league. Are you confident that one day we'll see the enemy get a head coaching job, or do you kind of feel like that ship has already sailed?

Well, I'm hopeful. I think if you can turn it around there and get that offense going, and the quarterback, you know, if you can get Howell going and playing well. I mean, this team last year, you know, they were eight and one, and they were two, three, and one in a division, and, you know, if they could just get the quarterback position settled down and get some type of offense going, and if they do, let's just say, if they could, you know, win 10 games with Eric being there, I mean, that's going to give him a better chance, I would think, because now they can't say, well, Andy's helping him call the plays, you know, it's his show, and he needed to do that. Herb Edwards here with us. Let me get to a team that used to coach the Jets. Expectations are sky high with Aaron Rodgers.

What are your expectations for gangrene? Well, I think they are a legitimate playoff team. There's no doubt about that. When you think about what they went through last year as well, you know, they couldn't score the ball defensively. They've got a top 10 defense, but it'll be interesting now because of the expectations.

I mean, it used to be, for the worldwide leader, you know, you always talk about Dallas Cowboys, and now it looks to me that we're always talking about New York Jets, and rightly so, because they have Aaron Rodgers, so that is kind of a daily subject now. Are the Jets a Super Bowl team? I just hope they get in the playoffs. Let's just try to get in the playoffs.

Let's just try to win that division. You know, they play in a pretty tough division with the Buffalo Bills, obviously, and then there's a team that's kind of sneaky. The Miami Dolphins are a very good football team, and if that quarterback can stay healthy, they're going to be hard to deal with. The AFC East is loaded. The AFC is loaded. Are you confident the Jets will make the playoffs? Yeah, I think they're a 10-win team to shore, and I think 10 gets you in.

I do believe that. It'll be interesting if they hit a couple hiccups, how they will react to that. You know, it was easy last year to blame, obviously, the play of the offense on the quarterback, okay, but at the end, they lost six in a row. They lost six games in a row, and, you know, you still got to learn how to win, and you got to win football games. Aaron gives them an excellent chance to do that because they'll put up numbers offensively. He's a quarterback and was going to throw at least 30 touchdown passes, so if you do the math, you know, he gives you 14 points just coming into the stadium, and if you can kick two field goals, you got 20.

Well, that gives you a chance. You know, when you think about the National Football League, how close it is with 272 plays were played last year, 141 games were won by 7 points less. You know what it's like to be a coach in New York. You know what it's like to deal with expectations. Do you think that's a concern to see how the Jets are going to handle that, or you have Rogers in there? He's probably seen everything in his career so far. Well, Rogers has, and I think they're getting him in a good spot. You know, they're getting a guy that's 39 years old. This would be his last team. This is going to be his last hurrah. Can you imagine if he could do it in New York? They'll name a street after him, right?

So, probably more than that. Yeah, I mean, so this is one of those deals, and you know, you're wishing them success. There's no doubt about that. Solace is a fine football coach, but now you make a point. They got pressure on them because when you pick up Aaron Rodgers, you know, it's not just, well, we want to win a couple games.

No, you want to be in contention. Talking to Herm Edwards, what would you say as a coach to Jordan Love, who now has to try to replace Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay? Well, when you think about that poor guy, it's not only Aaron Rodgers, but before Aaron Rodgers, it was Brett Favre.

Yeah. So, if you're a Green Bay fan, that's all you've seen for 30 years, right? You saw Brett Favre and you saw Aaron Rodgers. I think he just needs to be who he is. You can't be Aaron Rodgers.

That's not going to happen. Just be who you are. They drafted you for a reason.

They think you're a good football player. You're there. You're a parent to replace Aaron Rodgers.

Now it's your turn. You know, just don't try to do too much, and I think you'll be fine. Herm Edwards, we all saw what happened a few weeks back with the Buffalo Bills, right? Josh Allen, Stephon Diggs, and Sean McDermott had some issue, but not a lot of clarity on what actually happened. Is that cause for concern, or is it better that happened in the offseason than during the regular season?

Look, you're talking about competitive people, right? And, you know, we always say when the season's over with, there's always business. Don't let the business get in the way of football, and that's why you have it on the offseason. Those things will be talked about. It'll be ironed out.

You have no worries about that organization, those folks. So that's more so, like, we see that, and we go, okay, that is not normal from, like, what we see from afar, so all of a sudden we make it a bigger deal than what it is, is what you're saying. Well, yeah. There's a lot of things that we always say, you know, what we say here, what we do here, stays here when we leave here. And so there's a lot of things that happen that a lot of people don't understand, and that's not their business, because they're not a part of the team. So I just think when stuff like that happens, and people see it, and they want to throw up red flags, look, it's a very competitive world, that NFL, that locker room.

Coaches are competitive, players are competitive, you know, and you're sensitive, you know, players are sensitive, as well as coaches sometimes, especially when you have a good team, and you can't seem to crack the code, right? You know, all of a sudden this Buffalo team, we talk about them every year, but all of a sudden, you know, they keep getting there, but they just can't find a way to win a game, right? That game that gets them over to the next one, you know, it's kind of like the Buffalo Bills in the past, went to four Super Bowls, just could never finish it.

Herm Everett's here with us. I know earlier you said we used to always talk about the Cowboys, now all we do is talk about the Jets. Don't worry, Herm, we still talk about the Cowboys at times. Here's the thing with the Cowboys, their defense last two years has been good enough. Offensively in the big game, they haven't found a way to get the job done. Where's the belief level in McCarthy and Dak in that offense entering this season? It's funny how people want to always throw it on the quarterback and the coach, and I've said this numerous times, and I'll say it again, the Dallas Cowboys are playing against the Dallas Cowboys, and it doesn't matter who the head coach is, it doesn't matter who the quarterback's been, since 1995, I'll say it again, since 1995, that team has not won a divisional game.

A lot of head coaches there, a lot of quarterbacks there, a lot of good players there. So, first round of the playoffs, fine. Divisional round, since 1995, that's the last time they won a game. That's what they're dealing with.

So it doesn't matter. All that other stuff people talk about, they got to get over that hump. Are they a playoff team? They are a playoff team. Can they win the division? They'll have a chance to win the division. They have the same division record Eagles have.

They were both 4-2. But when they get in the playoffs, can they get out of the first round and win the second playoff round? Can they do that?

They had benefits in 1995. Is that a Jerry Jones problem in your opinion? That's everyone's problem. The Jerry don't play.

He's the owner. But I'm saying since 1995, if I knew, if I could tell them, hey, you need to do this to get over that hump, those guys got to look theirself in the mirror and say, you know what? We're getting the playoffs this year. It doesn't matter who we play or where we play. We got to win the second round in the divisional round. And if we can do that, it goes away.

But until they do that, 1995. I remember it's here with us. What do you make of the 49ers quarterback situation? Because we don't loaded that team is, but the quarterback's a major question mark every year.

It's amazing. Well, it's only a question mark on the get hurt. It doesn't matter who the quarterback is, right? You think about all three of them got hurt at one point.

God Purdy is the guy. It'll be interested now because of what he did last year. You know, winning all those games in a row.

Now he's a projected starter. The expectations, how do they deal with that? How will he handle that?

I think you'll handle it fine. The 49ers will be right there in the hunt. You got an outstanding defense. You got a great play call on head coach, coach Shannon. He makes it work with that offense. So you can look for the 49ers being back in it again. There's no doubt about that.

I'll tell you, Herb, a team I like a lot are the Seattle Seahawks. Their offense is absolutely loaded with weapons. You know, I had a great comeback story. That defense is getting better, but I'm wondering how much regression will occur from Gino Smith. Do you think that was a one hit wonder? Can he replicate and get even better from what he did last year?

I hope not. I hope that is the Gino that we thought he was going to be when he first came out, right? And he's gone through a lot in his career and he found a way to resurrect his career. Last year, he was outstanding football player, what was puzzling to me about Seattle. And this is, and this is coach, you know, this is, this is, this is coach. I mean, he, you know, that defense, it wasn't, it wasn't the defense of old now.

Yeah. And that's not who Seattle is. And they've always played defense. If that defense improves, they're going to be hard to handle. And I think they will because Kelly, they're a defensive driven team, similar to San Francisco, you know, they're a defensive driven team. And coach has always been that way.

Last year, it wasn't, wasn't the deal and Gino boy, I mean, he was, he was terrific last year. Wrap it up with Herm Edwards. Right now, it's the Bengals division to lose in the AFC North.

Who do you think is the second best team in the North, which is a very intriguing division? Well, well, I'm going to say the pressure for me is on the Ravens. Because of Lamar. He ended up getting what he wanted. I think a new offensive coordinator. They're going to ask him to play from the pocket more.

I want to see him do that. So now he becomes the second best team in the North. So now he becomes the complete quarterback. Not that, not the athletic guy that can mark, but a guy that can play inside the pocket, make plays. They went out, got some receivers.

And so that's going to be an interesting team to watch. Defensively, you know, they're going to be in it. But offensively now, this is all Lamar. This is all Lamar. I mean, let's just call like it is. He's the quarterback. He's gotten everything he's wanted.

And so now they got to put it together. You talk about throwing the football more. That's been a big talking point. You know that they're going to throw the ball more. The question just is how much more?

And I'm curious how much of a difference it is from what we see a year ago. More explosive plays, right? From the wide receivers. We knew he loved the tight end. Tight end was good. They went and got three.

They got Beckham and these other guys. They went out and got some guys to surround him with some guys that can get the ball. It doesn't mean you got to throw the ball down the field 50 yards. But you got to throw the ball a little bit more inside those numbers, you know, on those deep over routes and those seam routes down the middle. You got to be more explosive and take a lot of pressure off Lamar's legs because Lamar can make plays with his legs. There's no doubt about that. But he's going to cut his career short with all that running, you know, because eventually they get you.

I don't care how fast you are. You can't run away from it. Those guys eventually hit you and you get the hit the wrong way, then you sit on the sideline. Last thing I'll ask you, coach Herm Edwards, big year for the Broncos. We know last year was a disaster. Now you're bringing Sean Payton. What are realistic expectations in your mind for the Broncos this year?

Defensively, they're a playoff team. Can Russell Wilson resurrect his career with Sean Payton? I think he can. I think he'll play on offense now where he'll have to get the ball out of his hand. They'll move the pocket for him some.

He won't hold the ball for long periods of time and I think he has something to prove too because this is his career now. Because let me tell you something, if it doesn't work out this year, Russell Wilson will be gone. Sean Payton's going to draft a quarterback. I mean, that's the bottom line.

We all know that. I mean, Sean Payton's not going anywhere. He's coaching. And not only that, if it doesn't work out in Denver, he may have played himself out of the Hall of Fame too.

Well, and you're hoping that's not the case. And he's got one of the best teachers that you could have right now to try to resurrect his career. But he's got to go do it now.

He's got to do it on the field. And I'm pulling for him. I pull for players. That's his me. That's his my nature. I was a former player.

I want players to play well and when they struggle, I want them to learn from that and get better and I'm hoping Russell Wilson will do that. Coach, always great to catch up with you. Appreciate the time, Herm Edwards. My pleasure, my friend. Thank you.