Leroy Hoard, Former Michigan Wolverine Running Back

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Get six times longer lasting freshness plus odor protection with Downy Unstoppables in wash scent beads. Leroy, how you doing, man? I'm good, man. I'm good. I'm feeling great. Little hoarse from last night. It was truly incredible. Well, certainly that was going to be my first question.

It is my first question. How the hell have you celebrated last night into today? What did you do? Well, pretty much just exude confidence, my man. You walk around, you put that big M on your chest, can't nobody say nothing to you. We were 15-0, beat all teams that were put in front of us, the only undefeated team in the country. And guess what? They got everything they deserved. And they did it, you know, a number of different ways. I was impressed these last two games with one, how they defended Milro against Alabama with those blitzes. And then how they defended Pinnix last night. And the incredible thing about it is when you watch football and you watch the limitations that college teams have as far as practice and preparation, that looked like an NFL defense with how they were disguising coverages, how they were in and out of blitzes, how they were walking up and then dropping back. That looked like an NFL defense. And it was pretty amazing to see how that coaching staff was able to put that group of guys together to be able to play that way consistently for at least the last two weeks.

Let me ask you this, Leroy. Over the past couple of years, we've had disappointments here from Michigan, even in Jim Harbaugh having to prove himself and re-earn a lot of his money. From your perspective, what changed? He was teetering on the line for a minute like they will give him the boot, but what have you seen that's changed? They were more consistent with their identity. It seemed like last year they wanted to win a shootout and they tried to air it out a little bit more.

And this year they said, you know what? We're a team that runs the football really well. We have a big offensive line and that's where we're going to start. And J.J. McCarthy had to make a play every now and then, but he was not the focal point of that offense. And I think the more they relied on that, not only did J.J. McCarthy wasn't able to make plays when he needed to, but, you know, when you start leaning on a team with that big offensive line over and over and over again, and then you get into the fourth quarter where you need a four-minute drive or you get into overtime and you need to pound the ball, it always seemed like they wore the other team down and at the end of the game they could run the football at will. Former Michigan running back Leroy Hoard is joining us here at the JR Sport Reshow on CBS Sports Radio. You mentioned J.J. McCarthy not necessarily being the focal point of the offense. We know Michigan wants to run you out of the building.

That's what they did last night, 303 yards rushing. But when you talk about J.J. McCarthy, because of the spotlight moving towards the national championship, people have talked about him and his draft stock. You've seen him and watched him play. You played in the NFL for 10 years. What do you think the potential might be for J.J. McCarthy at the next level? I think, and this is going back, but I remember when Jim Harbaugh, I think he got drafted in the first round.

And I remember playing against him and I went up to him and I said, you got drafted in the first round and I don't even remember you throwing passes in Michigan. Right? And I just think, like Jim Harbaugh, J.J. McCarthy has those leadership qualities.

Right? When you see him, he exudes leadership. He does what he needs to do to win football games. And his numbers aren't going to be as gaudy as everybody else's. But you see him make throws.

You see him make plays with his feet. And I think that's something that when you want a quarterback at the next level, you need to have. And so I do think he's going to have success at the NFL, in the NFL. Where he's going to get drafted, I don't know, because you know there's a premium on quarterbacks. There's a bunch of teams that need him.

So if you have any type of ability or skill at the quarterback position, somebody is probably going to draft you pretty high. Leroy, you mentioned that former QB, the man who won the championship last night as head coach, Jim Harbaugh. Lucky enough for him, his family was there and mom and pop. It was really cool to see his brother, right?

Say again? It was really cool to see John there. Oh yeah, he shocked the living hell out of him.

He didn't expect to see his brother there. I feel like the last the last time I really would in a decent point saw them on the same field. They were coaching in the Super Bowl against each other.

What do you think the future holds for Jim Harbaugh? I am so torn with this because you ever you ever faced with a person that will fight through all adversity just so he could stand up on the other side of it and say you didn't break me? Right? There's a lot of professional athletes that have that in them. Right? I had it in me.

Right? No matter how hard you hit me in the first half, you're not going to break me. I think Jim Harbaugh has that. And that part of me says that he's going to stay just so everybody has to acknowledge that all that he went through and that university went through and that football team went through that they still ended up on top.

The other part of me says. I said that I would stay here until I brought this team back. Till I got this team back to the top. And he did that. So if he were to leave.

Right? I would understand that. But I would hope that he would stay just so he could just almost take a victory lap and everybody has to acknowledge what he has done at the University of Michigan with all the criticism, with all the pay cuts, with all the can't get it done. And all those things circling around him for the last couple of years. Leroy Hoard is here with us. The general sport ratio on CBS Sports Radio.

That is certainly a hope. I want to switch gears a little bit. Knowing that you are also a midday host down in Miami. WQAM. College just crowned their national champions. We know it's Michigan. What the hell is going on with Miami?

Can they come out of the depths? I mean, are there too many injuries? What's going on with the Dolphins?

Just think about this. You lost two Pro Bowl quality back ups. Rush heads. In Jalen Phillips and in Bradley Chubb. Then you lost Andrew Van Ginkle who was a contributor and had sacks also. Right? They just signed with Houston. They only played seven games this year, but that's basically where they are. They need bodies. They lost Xavian Howard.

Right? Waddles questionable. When he monsters questionable. I have never seen a team go through injuries like this this late in the season. And so, do they have the ability to win in the playoffs?

Absolutely. But I'm just wondering at what point, because of what you have to change and do, both offensively and defensively, does it affect you on the football field? You know, defensively it's a very intricate defense. There's a lot of moving pieces.

There's a lot of things that everybody on that team has to know. You bringing guys in to just fill roles at this point, does that limit what your defense can do? Offensively, Tyreke Hill has been banged up. You got his running mate and Jalen Wallace has been banged up.

When he mostly has been banged up, he led the league in touchdowns. And so, you're very thin at a lot of the positions you depended on to get to where you are. So, I don't know what it's going to look like. I do know that they have the talent and ability to win some games in the playoffs. But I just don't know at what point do you have to simplify everything and you hurt the team because you're trying to fill spots. And that's the only thing I'm worried about. Yeah, it doesn't sound good for the Dolphins.

Let's end on a high note. The team that you started your career with, the Cleveland Browns. If you would have told me, I don't know, two months ago that they'd be in the postseason. Deshaun Watson got a broken shoulder and Joe Flacco is leading the way.

I'd say, what movie book and what story are we reading? What do you think the likelihood is that the Browns can continue to ride on this magic carpet? Here's the thing about Joe Flacco that makes him so unique in what he does. He throws the ball down the field. When you've got all these quarterbacks throwing these timing routes, these deep in, these out routes and all that, Joe Flacco is throwing the ball down the field. Now, what people are overlooking right now is not what Amari Cooper is doing.

Okay? But look at what David Njoku is doing and what he's done and what his impact has been ever since Joe Flacco became the quarterback. And so I think that added a whole new dynamic to this offense. He has a great rapport with Cooper and it just seems to click in a way that, I think, even if you're a Browns fan, you're shocked. Like, man, this thing is like he's been here all year.

And I think this skill set just kind of fits what Kevin Stefanski wants to do. The other thing is it eliminates a portion of the offense because all the other quarterbacks had the ability to run. So you had the RPOs, you had all these different options as far as the quarterback maybe running the football a little bit, and that's eliminated. Joe Flacco is not running.

And so now you have a more, you know, a more guest pro style offense. They're protecting Joe Flacco. He's creating some space and he's throwing the ball down the field. Yeah, I think the only thing Joe Flacco is running from is maybe all them kids he got at home. But right now he's – Let me tell you, he does throw it to the other team. Oh, yeah, he will throw it to the other team.

He might have three bombs and three INTs. It is weird because, you know, the Cleveland Browns lead the league in turnovers. And that doesn't usually result in the record that they have.

So they must be doing something really, really good. Well, it's certainly a matchup in unlikely hell that we would have the Browns here in their current situation getting ready to take on the Houston Texans with their rookie QB. Leroy Hoard is joining us here at CBS Sports Radio. As we wrap things up, man, I want you to have the final word here on the team that actually won. What would you say to anyone or people listening right now who would look at the championship and go, tainted?

Well, I would say you line up across from them kids and play and tell me if they're playing like they know what you're doing or they're just really good, right? I mean, look, we watch these games and I watch these games every week. And Michigan was the best team in the country, okay?

They've proven it. And then if you want to take it one step further, they were either the best cheaters in the world or they stopped. They still kept winning. So whatever twist you want to put on it, however you want to play it out, it don't matter to me because those guys proved it on the field.

Went through Alabama. They beat a potent offense in Washington. And they beat them with basic football. They didn't all of a sudden have this game plan where they're going to throw it all over the place. You know what? They lined up across from these guys man against man and they just dominated them. And so however you want to look at it, that's fine.

I'm going to wear my t-shirt tomorrow when it comes in, right? And you can argue about it however you want, but the fact of the matter is if you watch those games, if you watch them against Ohio State, then Alabama, then Washington, so they played number two teams. Ohio State was number one or two, right? Then Alabama was number four and then Washington was number two and three games back to back to back and they dominated them all.

You can put whatever twist you want on it. I watched the games and I watched them dominate these teams. Leroy Hoard here with us getting the final word. Leroy, I appreciate you taking the time to hop on with your expertise as a former running back for Michigan, your expertise playing in the NFL. Where can people follow and keep up with you today? Well, it's no secret. You can follow me on Twitter at big mouth Leroy because I'm going to tell you what, my only regret in life is that they don't pay me by the words because I will talk. Other than that, that's really about it, man. The sport that I love, I get to talk about it and I enjoy every second of it. Leroy, thank you so much for joining us. You wear that t-shirt proudly, okay? I sure will.