PMS 2.0 1469 - TNF Preview, Sherrone Moore Fired at Michigan, Pete Thamel, Miami Head Coach Mario Cristobal, Coach Mike McCarthy, & AJ Hawk

23:13Excellent question. Not one I've put a ton of thought to, Ty, to be honest with you. If you look at Iowa State and K-State not playing in their bowls or is a half-million-dollar fine, this game's obviously going to be a ratings monster. So the Big Ten is going to be incentivized to want to participate in it. Now, if the roster isn't available to play, that would certainly be a different conversation. I think it's so early. We're not even 24 hours from this happening. It's difficult to project. But New Year's Eve is – you talk about serendipitous timing, right? Like that's fascinating with the portal opening essentially 48 hours later.

23:54Look, with these big brand programs, your high-end NFL guys aren't going to play in the bowl anyway, right? That's just the way of the world from Christian McCaffrey now. It went from an anomaly to just the expectation. So I think, Ty, it's just too early for me to have any kind of feel on that. but I have not heard anything that indicates the roster is shaken to a point where they wouldn't play in the bowl.

24:20Pat McAfee:We appreciate you, Pete. We'll continue to follow you on X. You and Wetzel have done a great job through this all. Thank you for keeping us what's real and what isn't. We very much appreciate that. If we see any good memes or things, we'll send them to you to look into. Love the memes. Thank you, Pat. You're the man. Hey, they're calling you Buckeye Pete again. Look out. Buckeye Pete again. You're the man. Yeah. OG. Yeah. OG. OG. OG. Of course they are. Listen, I'm just trying to do my job. It's not my fault. They're always in the middle of it. They're always in the middle of it. They are. They're right in the middle of it.

24:52Pat McAfee:This is very, this is a, this came out. See, that's why I was so confused. Cause I feel like we are, I mean, somewhat plugged in the college world now, you know, cause I get a chance to meet these people and travel. And there was a lot of people on the internet that were like, this was known. This was known. This was known. It's a different section of the internet. I didn't know any of this. Legit. talking to Sharon, I was like happy for him. Now you lose to Ohio State, you don't make the playoffs. They just paid$16 million to a quarterback for you. The natural college football fan objective is if he beats Ohio State, it's all this...

25:23Pat McAfee:It's crazy to even think that. Maybe it's another three-game suspension instead of... That's what I'm saying. Sports are an insane thing. They are a great unifier, but they're also potentially something that can expose things. And this is just a sad situation. Sharon's always been nice to us, but all this stuff that we learned about quickly and turn around, it's like chaos was happening I guess behind the scenes over there. How do you even win a game? Well, like you said, that's why it was so hard to track last night because some of the tweets that you were seeing were backdated like two weeks ago and there were like shreds of truth in those and then surrounded by a bunch of other bullshit.

26:02So it's like, well, this part might be correct. All of this who knows? So it was like it really was just trying to keep your head above water because it's such a crazy situation that you can kind of talk yourself into believing certain parts of all the kind of more sensational stuff that's out there.

26:20Pat McAfee:Especially with the AI being able to make mug shots and police reports. It is outrageous on the internet. Let's pivot away from Michigan and what's going on in college ball. We'll visit with Coach Mario Cristobal here in about 15 minutes or so. His team is in the playoff. You should be pumped. And breaking news, we will be doing a field pass for his game versus Texas A &M down there in College Station. We will also have Mike Elko joining us tomorrow to chat about what's going on. So we're very thankful to both of them. We will be fair and unbiased. Yeah, you're right. Non-biased and fair whenever we do the coverage.

26:57Pat McAfee:But also, we have so much respect for both these teams. We cannot wait to get down there. We're so excited for the college football playoff to get started, which is why all this negative news potentially happening kind of sucks because we have so much great stuff around the corner in college football. This week, Army-Navy, can't wait for that. Heisman, obviously excited for that. And then the college football playoffs start now a huge way next week. And college football will showcase why it's great. And that's what we're excited to be a part of and lucky to be a part of. And JMU? Tough. Don't look now.

27:27Pat McAfee:Tulane? I'm worried about Oregon. Yeah, there's a chance. Oregon? Oh, Ole Miss? Whoa. Now, if they win by 50, Oregon and Ole Miss there over Tulane and JMU, does that help maybe guide a conversation in the offseason about what we need to do with these 12 spots? Potentially. You would hope so. So we would like to say Tulane and JMU, you're not just playing for yourselves here. You know that. You're playing for all future group of five. Because with how loud it got this year, and everybody was kind of aiming at Alabama and aiming at Miami, and obviously Notre Dame were the mad ones, if Tulane and JMU go in there and lose by 70 points each of them, which I'm not saying is going to happen, certainly possible, but any college football game can have that happen.

28:07Pat McAfee:But those games, not saying it's a definite, but they're certainly possible, especially with how much Ole Miss can do it, right? Ole Miss can run it. They can run it up. Oregon, if they just start pounding you. These aren't at neutral sites either. Yeah, these are home games. Okay, so there is a chance these get ugly. And if that is the case, then maybe there is a conversation. But if JMU and Tulane hold their own as champions, as two of the top five-ranked conference champions in the country, I think we're just kind of status quo going forward. So a lot on the line in those two games. Obviously, Oklahoma-Alabama is going to be special on Friday night, and Norman cannot wait to get out there for college game day.

28:44Pat McAfee:Then we'll travel over to College Station. Saturday morning will be college game day, and then we'll be field pass on the sideline for another college football playoff game. That's the dumbest thing of all time. I can't believe we get to do that. Without a doubt, can't we? And, you know, like you've been there a couple times. Like, I've never been to Kyle Field. I'm so ready for that atmosphere and not just like a big game week two of the season. Like, this is a playoff game. This is insane. You guys should be going to the midnight Yale practice the night before. Why not? Yeah, you guys should be doing it.

29:12Pat McAfee:When in Rome, definitely. Yeah, you guys should definitely be doing that. Can they change it to 10? What's that? I know you got kids. For those who have children. Yeah, I don't think they will. I think it's pretty standard timing. I think everybody kind of understands the deal. but I had a chance to sit outside the stadium. I guess I was laying at the time. I was staying in a bus with where they had my bus at. It was right outside of the stadium. And obviously, there's a large amount of people just gathering to go in. And I was told that it was going to happen. I don't think I fully understand what was going to take place.

29:42Pat McAfee:They are. I mean, they are yelling. That is a midnight yell. It's a special atmosphere. It is a beautiful place down there. I think you guys are going to love it. And it gives us an excuse to dress like Cowboys. Bingo! Yeah, I mean, we're talking maybe Spurs on these boots. Trying to get there early Friday. Hit up every cowboy hat store down there. Where was the place? We went to a spot down there. I forget what it was. They got me the finest of hat. I got some Lucchese boots. By the way. It's not the stockyards. Remember where we were first round last year? That's Fort Worth. Fort Worth, yep.

30:14Remember last year where we were first round? Where at? Ohio State. Oh, yeah. Low chili. 70 and sunny in College Station.

30:21Pat McAfee:Oh! Wow. That was a treat. I was expecting it to be a little chilly, but that's off. As of right now. So we can do the full Cowboys-Spurs. Exactly. We can do the whole thing, potentially. Because we're going to be able to – we might be sweating. What if we did it on horses? On horseback the entire game? Something to think about. Dump that. Or we – Anybody else do that? Or instead of – if we can't get the horses, just for safety reasons, we can go toy horses, just the horse head. Oh, I saw another group of white people doing that on the internet. Tyler? Oh, nice. The World Championship? No, Tyler.

30:56Who won?

30:57Pat McAfee:I saw a group of white people just doing this thing here where they're riding a horse. Oh, the hobby horse. Yeah, the hobby horse. Is that what it's called? I believe so. They're talented. They are not. Somebody needs to tell them, hey, anybody can do what you're doing. Okay? This isn't a thing. But I do appreciate that you're out there and you're active. That is the whitest thing I think I've ever seen. Without question. That's the most Caucasian thing that has ever hit the internet. Okay, so I thought you were talking about the humans that actually gallop like a horse. Oh, no, that's the – sorry.

31:24Pat McAfee:That's up there. That's the most Caucasian. Yeah, yeah. So let me do that thing. But on that note, we appreciate that you're out – yeah, here it is. I appreciate you're out there doing it. I appreciate you're out there doing it. Athletes. Hey! Yeah, I mean, that's good play. I like what you're doing. I was – the ones that are on all fours acting like they're horses, also a thing. I saw a fight coming out of Russia probably or somewhere over there. Two heavyweight professional MMA guys. Saw that. Taking on 10 amateur guys. That feels like something that only happens over there. Certainly. Very Eastern European.

31:58Pat McAfee:I'm excited that we get a chance to kind of see what the outcome would be over here in our country where we'd never let that happen. But I do appreciate that this is happening. Yeah, this is... It's all out of chaos. Yeah, just full out of chaos. Not a lot of English words have ever been spoken by any of these people, but this is happening in the world. Okay, this is just happening in the world. What are those refs supposed to do? You see that guy running in there trying to break it? Well, I think they're dragging bodies, right? You have been eliminated. Okay. It's now two verse nine. They're even doing the Squid Games announcement.

32:26Pat McAfee:Yep. It is now two verse six, you know, but there was a little bit of the amateurs attacking from behind, which was a smart play. So this is happening in the world, just like the pony riding is happening around the world. And the fake horses are happening around the world. Let's talk about what's happening in the NFL world. So in the NFL, I guess every single year at this time, there are winter meetings. You know, I guess that's what the MLB calls it, But the owners have met at this time for a long time. This year, they decided we're not going to do it. We'll just meet virtually. Yesterday, some group met.

32:57Pat McAfee:Today, the owners will meet. And this is when we start getting some news on maybe some adjustments that are taking place. Big adjustment that's about to take place. The NFL and the refs are about to have a new deal. In May, the NFL refs union's deal with the NFL is expiring. So the NFL, I believe, has been trying to negotiate a deal. If you listen to the source from the NFL. because the last time we had the backup refs, it was embarrassing for the league. It was not good for anybody. It was chaos. But the last time we had those backup refs, whenever they were literally getting everything wrong, is it supposed to be on the left hash or the right hash?

33:29Pat McAfee:Who knows? Why are we reffing an NFL game? We're not supposed to be here. Oh, we're scabs. Yeah, exactly. They would call catches wrong. They would call touchdowns wrong. The balls would be wrong. The whistles would be wrong. The timing of everything was wrong. The backup refs really put this refs union in a great spot. So whenever the backup refs cause full chaos on primetime with the non-touchdown touchdown thing to win. Fail Mary, yep. The fail Mary. The NFL refs unions, at that point, knowing they had a lot of leverage, go to the NFL and say, you want us back or not? Here's what we need. We're not talking to any media afterwards.

34:03Pat McAfee:We're not allowed to be full-time. We're allowed to work other gigs if we want to. And after the season, you can't even talk to us until May. You want us to do training in the offseason? We don't need it. If you want to talk to us about a little accountability in the offseason, we don't need it. You don't talk to us until May. And in May, you tell us what you're expecting, what the new rules are, and then we'll move forward. So I like the fact that the NFL has come out through Troy Vincent, but the NFL as a whole has come out and been like, hey, we're trying to make this ref thing better. The refs union, though, they're not really listening to this entire thing because the refs deal is very sweet because they were able to negotiate this deal.

34:37Pat McAfee:Whatever the refs, the bad refs were the complete problem for the NFL. Bruce Arians has sat on this show for multiple weeks and said the most powerful union in sports is the NFL refs union. They have no accountability. There's literally nothing expected of them, and that's written into the contract that they signed with the NFL. So now that it's up, I think we all see an opportunity to maybe kind of dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge our way to a better way because if you're going to be perfect as officials and not cause jobs to be lost or teams to lose games, then I think just expecting not to be talked to for five, six months in the offseason and not having to be full-time and not having to be work and not having to answer any questions, I think we would all be okay with it.

35:16Pat McAfee:But if you continue to just get very easy things wrong, ruin games, ruin careers, get people fired and stuff like that, there should be a little bit of an adjustment on getting better. And also, can we kickstart the player pipeline into becoming officials? Just like they have the broadcast boot camp, the business boot camp. There's all these other boot camps that the NFLPA and the NFL put together. Why can we not put an officiating one in there? I'm sure there's enough refs out there that would like to commit full time to their gig, but also train and get better at their job While also understanding that you're part of the biggest league in the world So if you mess something up, you might have to answer it So we all want this to happen But from what I've been told is the refs union very strong and I think it's gonna be a very difficult thing to get that deal Done with the NFL unless the refs want to and everything we learned from the rest or in the fail Mary and the Scab refs was they don't care these people are gonna do what they're gonna do So I think we're staring down a pretty big situation, but an opportunity for potential good change if there's an agreement to be able to be made.

36:14And there's been some great change in college already. Like the biggest thing for me that I think of is the ref from the Georgia-Texas game, I want to say, and they ended up reviewing, you know, nine of 11 of the calls that he made being wrong. And so what they did is they just, hey, you're suspended. Like you're dumb for the year. 11 of the calls you made, nine of them were incorrect. So it really would just be an accountability type thing would be one just simple step. The other thing might be like, hey, we're at a point in technology now where we can kind of rely on it very heavily if they can figure out exactly how to do it.

36:49Like clearly the Hawkeye technology, that still doesn't work because it's based on where the ball is placed. It has nothing to do. By the humans. By the human, yeah. Like if they could figure that out maybe over the next few months, that might help as well. But accountability would just be the biggest thing.

37:04Pat McAfee:Accountability would be great. full-time would be great so we don't have to worry about them potentially taking but not that they're not getting paid a lot and all this type of stuff but just in a modern world that we're in full-time would be good year-round commitment would be good having a pool of refs that you could maybe substitute bad refs with a development system like it's it's all there already in the nfl with the players with the coaches with the systems that we have just apply it to the refs is kind of how i think we all are at the point of thinking but from our understanding from our source in the NFL.

37:34That refs union, they know

37:36Pat McAfee:that they got everybody by the thin hairs. And they will continue to act as such. So we got a few months until they got to renegotiate a deal, but let's hope it's for the better as opposed to the worse of all, like it was the last time this deal was up. I mean, the pipeline is the way to do it, because it seems like for the most part, we don't see very many new refs coming to the NFL. Every once in a while, you'll see a guy who you haven't recognized before, but these guys stay in there for the longest time. And if they do have that kind of power, this is a side gig for them. Why would you ever want, you know what I mean?

38:09But that's the simplest way to do it, is let's get a pipeline of a bunch of people in there. So that way, if guys aren't any good, we have people who are ready and waiting. And train them. Exactly.

38:18Pat McAfee:Watch film. You're required to watch film. You're required to train. You're required to attend this. Maybe, guess what? Maybe you guys even go do trust falls together. Yeah, that'd be cool. Retreat, some getaway. I think the NFL should have its own team. The refs should have their own team and should be treated that way. Have your own facility. Do the whole thing because we're at the point where it matters the most. Hopefully they're able to get that done. That's coming out of this winter Zoom call meetings amongst the owners. Also, big deal. As Roger Goodell alluded to us the day after the draft in Green Bay, and I think the year before we talked to him about it in Detroit, the NFL will get rid of two minutes per pick in the first round, from 10 minutes to eight minutes for the selection process.

38:57Pat McAfee:And we appreciate the hell out of the NFL doing this. As people that host a draft spectacular every single year is one of our biggest shows. Us being able to be on site has been absolutely absurd. We're so thankful for it. It becomes a very long night, a very drawn-out night. And some of these picks, they're drawing them out just strictly so they can maybe get a call to get traded for. So you have to wait the entire nine minutes and 59 seconds just to see if you can potentially leave. Now they're shorting that to at least an eight-minute wait for the teams that don't want to make a pick to get traded.

39:24Pat McAfee:That's good news, and it's not going to cut this thing off completely. they're projecting maybe 30 minutes will be less, which will be great on draft night. Big 30 minutes. Because it seems like most, like you mentioned, like most of it, a lot of times it's just ceremony. Like teams know, because like how many times last year did we see the pick is in, and then it still uses the full 10 minutes of the clock. Like it's mostly ceremony. So if we can shave off 30 minutes, why don't we? Heading to Pittsburgh, you think they're shortening it just strictly because they're in Pittsburgh? What's the deal?

39:51What's that all about? Yeah, they could be worried about, you know, that extra 64 minutes potentially of Yinsers having a chance the booze and just get rally riled up so yeah cut it off uh i like the fact that they're cutting

40:02Pat McAfee:it down i think if you don't know who you're taking by the seventh minute uh you're probably going to be shit out of luck anyways yeah and no offense to anybody in the first round to the people that get drafted or to the teams doing it for a large portion of the first round it is a on who's going to hit who's not going to hit is the extra two minutes going to change anything i don't think so it makes it a better viewer experience and i appreciate that roger goodell literally as soon as he sat down with us. He was like, last night I was thinking, we got to move this a little bit quicker. It's got to be him standing up there behind the scenes.

40:31He's sitting in the green room too. We're still doing this.

40:34Pat McAfee:And then he starts looking into war rooms. What's taking you guys so long? Well, we're waiting to see if I'm done with this. And then him actually driving this initiative, we appreciate for the good of entertainment, for the good of draft, which will be in Pittsburgh. And last conversation that was happening out of the meetings, the NFL has announced that they will be putting $30 to$32 million into a professional flag football league, Six men's teams, six women's teams is kind of how it's kind of being projected right now from our source. Sis. At the NFL. I followed up and asked, like, are we also investing in college flag football and high school flag football?

41:05Pat McAfee:I got a chance to be a part of a Super Bowl commercial last year that was basically pushing to get high school girls flag football sanctioned in all 50 states. It's been sanctioned in 38 of them. So flag football is becoming a very real high school sport, which will hopefully lead to more opportunities in college. and then now they want professional opportunities as well. Who knows when this will run? I assume in the summer, right, Con Man? We're assuming what this will be? Yeah, that's my assumption. Probably after the season, you wonder if in March when they're going to do the Saudi Arabia thing, that that might even be kind of like a, hey, this is what it might look like with all the NFL guys, Brady and all of them.

41:36Pat McAfee:So that's Fanatics, right? That's not the NFL. I thought NFL was still a part of it because there are NFL players doing it, and maybe that isn't a part of it. And Fanatics makes deals with the players that are there already and they already have deals with them. I think it's a Fanatics-Tom Brady thing, from my understanding. Don't know if the NFL is doing this. What I'm saying is I don't know if the NFL is a part of that at all. But to your point about that becoming a thing, flag football becoming very, very real in our world, I think that's a good thing, not a bad thing to have more ball. The NFL investing in a professional league, good as long as it's not during an actual football season.

42:06Yeah. That's how we all feel. And I think we're smart enough to know we don't need to double dip here because if that's the case, like guess what, people are going to watch tackle football as opposed to flag football. So right now the calendar, it owns until February through the Super Bowl, and then you have the draft, and then you have free agency. So maybe if it started literally right after free agency, that just keeps football going.

42:27Pat McAfee:Yeah, so then we have it all throughout the offseason. And if the NFL is putting$32 million into it, we assume they're going to want it to succeed, so they're probably going to put some juice behind it whenever it comes to press and everything like that. So hopefully it will become a part of our zeitgeist because more opportunities to play ball is good. Six professional women's teams, six professional men's teams, More ball is good for all of us. Speaking of more ball, there was a team down in Miami that was wondering if their more ball was going to be college football playoff ball. They were on the outside looking in for a long time.

42:55Pat McAfee:They were ranked lower than Notre Dame for a long time. That's right. How's that work? We just beat Notre Dame. Yeah, but you're 18th, actually. Notre Dame's 10th, so you got no shot at this thing. And then all they kept doing was just stacking dubs, stacking dubs, stacking dubs, stacking dubs. Then there's all of a sudden a cluster in a bubble. And all they're wondering is, do the games matter? Like, why are we even playing them? Well, the committee said yes, they do. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now, a man will be taking his team down to College Station to take on Texas A &M next Saturday in the first round of the college football playoff.

43:25Pat McAfee:The head coach of the Miami Hurricanes, Mario Cristobal. Hey, coach! What's up, dudes? How we doing? Hey, hola, amigo. How you doing, brother? You're in the tournament. Hey, you're in the tournament. They sound muy bien. ¿Cómo estás, Jote? Si, si, si. I don't know what you said there, but I certainly agree with how you said it. I want to let you know that. Look for the captions later. And shout out to A. Is that my screenshot back here? Please say you're going to get me in some shit with some people. You know, because I'm calling this game. It was either that picture or the one of you in the Speedo.

44:00Like, they're born.

44:01Pat McAfee:Yeah, beginning of season. Hey, end of season. I'm a little bit more. You know, if I would have had this body. Yeah, you saw it. And single leg, too. You know I would. Yeah. Okay. All right. Let's move along. we appreciate your hospitality early in the year we appreciate you being a friend of the program and we also appreciate the fact that your team just kept battling even though each tuesday night they learned that they were potentially going to get screwed whenever it all came uh to kind of make the final decision what was your messaging to the team all year it was basically like hey we still got a shot we should have a shot how did you handle that with the locker room whenever it was kind of a question mark on whether or not you'd have college football playoff ball sure i mean it was always about if you take care of your business where it's going to take care of itself And obviously the big one was after the SMU loss, right?

44:43It was, that's when things were like, we put it in maybe in not entirely in our control, but we could work ourselves back to having it in our control. And we did it, man. We had a team meeting where they didn't have to speak, just kind of let the reel of film play with us in our first five games and how well we were playing and how the plays we were making. And after sitting there in silence and watching it for 10 minutes, we just woke up and realized who the hell we are and played some unbelievable football down the stretch.

45:09Pat McAfee:Tony is obviously spectacular. You have weapons all over the place. The defense has got dogs. It feels like college football playoff football, though. Quarterbacks got to be able to play Carson Beck in there, done that good news. How do you feel with Carson? And, you know, obviously, whenever we talked to you before, it was a little different time of the Carson Beck Miami Hurricane experience versus now. What are your thoughts on him as your leader going into the big dance? Yeah, down the stretch these last four games, I think you've seen his numbers, man. He's playing at a really, really high level.

45:36And quite honestly, he's fully healthy now. And he was healthy going into the season, but not at this level. That arm is strong now. He's slinging it. He's really comfortable with our offense, and it led to just an awesome November. So we're fired up about him and certainly confident in everything that he's been doing. And our guys love him, man. He's a real deal dude.

45:55Pat McAfee:Playing a real team, obviously, in the college football playoff in Texas A &M. At one point, they were the only undefeated team left in the SEC. Go ahead, Tone. Yeah, Coach, I don't know if you want to comment on this or not, but I saw he's first team all SEC, so he's great. One of the tackles for Texas A &M said that it's not going to be a problem blocking Reuben Bain, who is projected to be the number one defender in this upcoming draft. Do you think Reuben has heard that yet? And how do you think he feels about that? I think when I hear stuff like that, I just always say the same, no comment.

46:27I thought that might be it.

46:29Pat McAfee:I love everything about it. How do you feel about the vibes of your team? What was the moment when you guys get into the playoff? When you find out it's Texas A &M, what is your locker room? Do you feel like you have a, obviously, a bunch that are ready to go win a national championship, but do you feel like mentally, physically, you do have a squad that can go here? I mean, you've been around our guys. You've been around our building. I mean, the people here, it's been a long time since Miami has been in a situation where December, they're in the conversation and they're really relevant. And so around here, it's like it's all about the work, man.

47:01I mean, everything down here was built with the work done on a green tree practice field. And, you know, the guys that have been through here and what they've emphasized and that right now, that vibe, the vibe of grinding and getting after it, it's stronger than it's ever been. So it's really that simple, making sure that we focus on us and doing all the things necessary to play winning football.

47:20Pat McAfee:Vince Wolfwork was on yesterday and we took a trip down memory lane with Miami. You know, he's BCS national champion. I think he can give you a snap, too. I don't know if he has any eligibility left. Maybe we can ask the NCAA before next week. A creature, man. I was a GA when he was on the scout team when he had to sit that year. And I'm sitting there as a GA going, I've got Vince Woolfork. I've got John Vilma, Ed Reed. Like, why am I leaving here? Can I just stay here as a GA and be part of this? Yeah, Vince is an awesome dude. You see how he's trimmed down, too, now. He looks great, man. And he's an exceptional human being and love having him around.

47:52When he's around, the guys go crazy, man. They love him.

47:55Pat McAfee:He just got off his third consecutive holiday USO tour where he leaves after Thanksgiving before Christmas and goes over to the Middle East and kind of sees the troop. And he talked about how important it is. You're like, good dude. I think a perfect indication of who you were trying to have represent the U. Ty has a question for you about maybe the future of the U while also balancing the current. Yeah, Coach, how was it handling the chaos of, you know, lobbying to get into the playoff when you guys felt you'd done enough and that you should be in? And then on top of that, you have early signing day.

48:24you knew that what the class that you were going to bring in was going to be very important, and then also just hoping that you're going to get in the playoff. How nice was it being past that and now just going back to, hey, now we just prepare to go play football. All the hay is in the barn with all that BS, and now I can do what I'm supposed to be doing. Well, it's the life of a college football coach nowadays, right? You're on 24-7, cancel Christmas, and go do your job, right? So, I mean, for us, it was, and credit to our, the guy who runs sports information for us, Cam Borby, because we never felt like we had a lobby.

48:58We felt like we just weren't going to let the facts like be, I don't know, like almost like just covered up and pushed to the side for other narratives. I mean, at the end of the day, we were a head-to-head winner of a primetime game and we stacked, you know, 10 wins and playing our best football. And I felt like people were posturing to try to, I don't know, just supersede that. and we're going to let it happen. And when you couple that with the fact that signing day was going on around the same time and we signed a trench-heavy class with the number one player in the country, an absolute creature, which I think you guys are going to love.

49:34I think you had him on your show. I hope you have him on your show. And Jackson Cantwell just got named the Gatorade player of the year, the natural player of the year. We signed our best and deepest class. So the future here and the fact that this facility they're building, Pat, you'll have your own little section in the weight room, have all your hammer strength machines, all that stuff. Thank you. Like everything, the trajectory is going like this. And we have humble, hardworking people that, you know, it's a bunch of nobodies, man, that work their butts off and are looking forward to just getting better.

50:04Pat McAfee:Got a bunch of nobodies whose names are about to be in the lights, especially if you get a college football playoff run in front of the world to see a guy who's been a believer ever since he was a little baby boy in North Left Canada. Gumpy has a question for you, Coach. Yeah, Coach, glad you guys could make it into the playoff. How nice is it to have a guy like Tony where you can just run any play, the guy can sling it, the guy can run it, his routes are absurd. He's so fun to watch, man. Yeah, if you get a chance, just throw on his high school highlight tape, it is absolutely insane. I mean, he's, again, a team that lost its quarterback in high school during a run at the playoffs.

50:41He goes in there at quarterback and just takes them all the way through it in the state title game. I believe at one point he was like 15 of 15 with a couple of touchdowns. He, uh, special dude, special attitude, ridiculous energy on a daily basis. Um, you're not going to outwork the guy. He's going to be here at five 30 in the morning, catching, you know, balls in the jugs machine. And he's going to, I mean, he's a wide receiver that actually takes time to spend quality time with the old line coach in the morning. Told you a lot about like his level of just care, his level of investment. he's exactly what you would drop a football player to be like.

51:17Pat McAfee:And he's a true freshman, right? Yep. True freshman. And actually, an early enrollee, he should be in high school this year. Well, you know, West Virginia's got their eyes on him, Coach. Uh-oh. Yeah, West Virginia. One of West Virginia's donors, you know, watched some high school film of him, saw him throwing a little bit just there. We got some donors in Miami, too, buddy. The buildings here are a lot taller than over there.

51:42Pat McAfee:You talked about that Cam guy. What a weapon, man. You guys do have a special alignment. And obviously, Cam is a part of the sports. President, AD, you, all the sports. It feels like a special time to be down there in Coral Gables. Congratulations on getting into the tournament. We can't wait to watch your team play. Appreciate you, man. Thanks for having me on. Go Kings. Hey, we'll be on that sideline. Okay? So there might come a time where you're paying attention like this. And guess who's coming? Who's single leg takedown from the side? Just know it's coming. You better gain some weight and buckle your ass up.

52:18Pat McAfee:I only got a week and a half. Ladies and gentlemen. I don't play in the lightweight division, buddy. Oh, okay. All right. I got a week and a half. Don't you worry. I'm beating everything. Ladies and gentlemen, it's Mario Cristobal. There it goes. He's the best. He is the best. That game's going to be awesome. That Cam guy, he's special. I mean, every team wishes they had a guy like him. Obviously, Mario as well. Energy. I mean, the Cam guy, though, loves the U. The guy who is the SID and a communications guy, like all those jobs for Miami is down for the cause. I mean, he will literally in front of.

52:52You need a linen suit? I'll get you a linen suit.

52:54Pat McAfee:Boom. Speedo, I can find you one of those. We definitely have one of those for sure. We can do that. No problem. And then if something was to happen to that you, he would literally in front of it. I got you, coach. Don't worry about it. He is special. They all are down. The president, too, used to run a fund, like a multibillion-dollar fund, and now he becomes the leader of Miami, and he's like, what does everybody need right now? They need money. Oh, I know all the rich people. Yeah. And they love being in Miami. We can give them a little, right? Yeah, no problem. New building here, new stadium here, new locker room.

53:26Pat McAfee:They do need a stadium, though. Yes. Big time. There's not enough space, though. No. Especially down this Miami-Coral Gables area, there's a lot on top of everything. The stadium being so far is really the only downfall. But other than that, special community down there. That was a special place. Felt like it was a resort. You were on a university that was a resort down there. Yeah, because it's not like they're lacking for fans. Like, they have a ton of fans. But, like, you look at some of the games and, like, in the fourth quarters, it's like, hey, it's going to take us an hour to get back to campus.

53:54It's pretty empty or whatever. But other than that, it's an absolute perfect football program.

53:58Pat McAfee:I picked against Miami a couple times this year, and I get a text from Cristobal every time. It's just like, what are you doing, dude? why are you, what do you think this is? He was like, we are a team that you like, remember? All we care about is work. This is a team that you like. It's like, I forget about that because I think about Miami. Glitz in the glamour. Yeah, I forget that literally Cristobal's entire messaging is like, we got to work. The only thing that matters is how hard we work. And Tony being 5.30 a.m. guy, as a true freshman and wide receiver, that's a huge ordeal for the entire culture.

54:26Yeah, especially going forward. But I think that's kind of the biggest thing about these teams that are left in the college football playoff is they're all teams that are obsessed with work. You talk about Miami, Texas A &M, who they're playing. Elko's come on here. All he talks about is work. Dan Lanning in Oregon. I mean, the memes of him yesterday were incredible. Bama, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Golding with what he's said. And that's not even including the teams in the bye. Obviously, Joey McGuire, Sig, Kirby Smart, and Ryan Day. That's all they preach. So, I think it is sweet seeing that resurgence.

54:56And it's going to definitely bleed into the NFL if it hasn't already and making that game even better, too.

55:00Pat McAfee:Okay, let's talk about the NFL a little bit. former national champion, now Cincinnati Bengal quarterback. Joey Burrow had a press conference and has the whole world talking. Is he all right? No. Is Joey Burrow all right? You tell us. Change the way that you view the game. No, it certainly doesn't. I've changed my desire to win.

55:32You know, if I want to keep doing this, I have to have fun doing it. You know, I've been through a lot, and if it's not fun, then what am I doing it for?

55:45Pat McAfee:Whoa. He would go on for another minute and a half, obviously, as he would continue to give an answer. But that scares me. Joey B, we hope you're having fun. You're really good at football. Really good. You're really good at spinning it. I don't want to say your entire life you've been a great ball player because there's obviously other personalities and other parts of you who definitely exist. You're super handsome. I think you like fashion. Obviously, you're into other things. But whenever you talk about football, Joey Burr, we talk about you, buddy. You're a stud. We hope you're having fun.

56:10Pat McAfee:We're sorry you're going through it. But on that note, whenever the Cincinnati Bengals decided to build the team the way they built the team, a lot of us wonder, are they going to be able to win the big games, which ultimately brings the real happiness to the true competitors, which we think Joe Burrow is. So are they ever going to be able to get back to where they were a few years ago in the Super Bowl? We're not sure the way it's built, but we do know, Joey B, we hope you have fun, dude. Come on. You're Joey B. And also, some of it is going to suck. Some of it is going to suck. We just hope you keep battling, brother.

56:38Pat McAfee:I don't like all the injuries. I obviously saw the Andrew Luck story happen in front of my eyes. I mean, it is a wild thing when one of the greats this early starts saying, is this for me anymore? We hope he says yes. But that's not good. Not at all. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions.

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57:43Pat McAfee:Football is magical tonight. Tonight, the NFC South will be in prime time on Amazon Prime as the Falcons take on the Buccaneers. Kirk Cousins takes on Tampa Bay. And what does he do last time he took on Tampa Bay? Well, he shredded them. He went absolutely apeshit. Will he be able to do that this week as Drake London's out with Mike Evans returning for Baker Mayfield and a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team who's fresh off a loss to who? Oh, the corn shucker. The ball shucker. The touchdown shucker. The wind shucker. dollar shock in the new orleans saints what is tonight hold we have no idea we'll be excited to watch kirk and al and kaylee hartung and carissa thompson and fits in wit and sherm and tanny gonzalez all on the call as amazon provides a week 15 kickoff that we'll all remember for the rest of time the toxic table is here at boston corner and at ty schmidt one half of the hammer cowboys ap tone is here and joining us live from an attic in ohio ladies and gentlemen is a college football national champion, a Super Bowl champion, a Ryder Cup winner, ladies and gentlemen, A.J.

58:45Pat McAfee:Haas. Yeah, Haas. First of all, A.J., I have to ask you, Cristobal said I'm in a lightweight division. I don't like that at all. Did you hear that from him? Kind of a shot. Multiple shots from him that you heard that I heard as well. Yeah, I definitely heard that. I don't think he knows how much you weigh, first off, and second. You're going to have to try to take him down now during the game. So hopefully they're doing well. Whenever they're doing well, say they score a touchdown or something, that's when you got to go get him. Yeah, we need him to be distracted. I might also call for your help.

59:11Pat McAfee:so I hope you're... I don't know if I want to help on that one I mean, Cristobal, he seems like he doesn't mess around. Is he a jiu-jitsu guy as well? Yeah, yes. Okay, yeah. You're on your own there, pal. Black belt. Yeah, I think he does have a black belt. I do believe rolling is like a part of his entire thing. Oh, no. Yeah. That's how we got into the conversation down at Coral Gables when I thought about getting after him. And he like looked at me and he was like, do you want to go? Like, on air. Oh, yeah. And I was like, ah. He was not amused. That was a joke. I was just... You see, this is my thing I do with like UFC fighters and people that have Caulfiary are like, obviously they could beat my ass, but I just want to let them know that.

59:44Pat McAfee:Boom, boom. You tapped out Diamond Dustin Poirier. Exactly. That's a good point. He had no idea that was coming. That was on the same show, Roger Goodell telling us that the draft clock was way too long in the first round and we're going to be able to shorten that. Let's get to tonight's game, shall we? Foxy put up a tale of the tape. I think we should dive into it, AJ. The NFC South tonight on Amazon Prime. What numbers kind of stick out to you that we need to be looking at and what you're looking at? I mean, look at that rush defense of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Obviously, eighth, they do pretty well.

1:00:12So let's see if they can shut the run down and make Kirk Cousins one-dimensional, see if he can beat you through the air. Do you think Kirk has some magic left? I think he does, but I'm leaning the Bucs right now as we talk.

1:00:22Pat McAfee:The line is now five and a half for the Buccaneers. They favored a full-point move. That feels a little interesting from the beginning of the show until now. Tone, what does that say? Yeah, especially since – well, actually, because more and more money is pouring in on the Buccaneers, it will tend to go in that direction versus last week when we had the reverse line movement, which is weird when you're getting more money on a team and the line benefits the other team. But this, today, with the money coming in on the Bucs, this was the direction that it would go in if we're just looking at it like that.

1:00:52And Jalen McMillan and Mike Evans being back. So they're going to have Godwin, Abuka, Mike Evans, and Jalen McMillan for the first time all year. No Cade Otten. He's doubtful they're starting tight end, but having those four with Bucky Irving finally back as well, their offense will now finally be full strength for the most part.

1:01:07Pat McAfee:I think we all feel the same way about the Bucs tonight. I think it just kind of feels weird. I assume. What's the percentage of money? Do we know what the percentage of money is? 68, I believe. 68. It's creeping towards that 70 % line. And obviously, the Buccaneers very much still in the NFC South running. They have the Falcons and then two times with the Panthers. The Panthers are also in it. Have the Saints, which the Bucs just lost a crucial game to. And then they got the Seahawks as their alternate game and then the Dolphins. So these two are obviously going to have to figure out who's going into the NFC playoffs to take on a very top-heavy NFC team.

1:01:38Pat McAfee:But we love that Week 15's happening. And you guys were saying the other day, this is a shite game. This game? Well, yeah. What are you talking about? What are you talking about? Just relativity. I just, I have a tough time. I feel bad for Kirk Cousins as of late. Watching him play, I just feel really bad for him. And I just hope it's a competitive game because, boy. And you know what? A big part of that is recency bias because Seattle is very, very good, and they just beat the absolute dog shit out of them. So maybe I'm leaning a little bit too much on that with how bad they looked last week.

1:02:14But no Drake London, you know, Bucs being pretty stat against the run, B. John Robinson kind of being their only weapon. We'll see. I just I hope it's a good game. It's Thursday. It's kicking. I mean, the rest of the slate this weekend is great, so it'd be nice if we could get a big boost going into the weekend. If Tampa Bay demolishes Atlanta, how do we feel about Rahim?

1:02:38Pat McAfee:Bye-bye. Yeah, that's right. I'm saying there is those potential. It's week 15, bro. Second year? It's week 15. We're getting to that point now. We are getting to that point of the season. Not that we haven't already. There's obviously already been a firing or two, but we're getting to that point now where a primetime loss or an embarrassing loss for an owner can cause an emotional reaction. I'm not saying Arthur Blank will do that, but I'm just saying we are at that point of the season where things can bubble and come to a fester very quickly, especially if in the division you get blown out on primetime.

1:03:09Pat McAfee:There's a chance that that's going to get very, very loud. We like Rahim. We love Rahim. Yes. But it feels like the people in Atlanta do not. I mean, everything I hear out of Atlanta – now, granted, there's probably a lot of Falcons fans that love Rahim and understand it's going to be a process, yada, yada, yada. But it has gotten very loud for him and very early in his tenure down there. And the things that matter, like how it looks. Like they got blown out at home. Nobody's even there to watch. The week before, like even just going past because Seattle's good, the week before they lose to the New York football Jets.

1:03:38And, like, I get Penix is hurt and Drake London is hurt, and those things do also account. But at the same time, like the competition doesn't look like it's there for the team.

1:03:47Pat McAfee:Yeah, and I think to your point, Tone actually just sent in a video. Yeah, I sent in a video of the crowd. This is at kickoff. and there is no one there. There is something about being a bad team or whatever, but when it's a bad team, the owner looks at the stadium and sees all these empty seats, that does not help the case either. Especially when the day before the SEC championship was there and it's packed, chocked full. Also, going into the year, the Falcons were a very trendy pick to win this division. The expectations were very high this year, and I understand Michael Penix got hurt, but it was even starting to kind of go that way before he got hurt.

1:04:24So it's just kind of been like a whatever can go wrong has gone wrong, and I think that has a lot to do with it too.

1:04:29Pat McAfee:Yeah, the empty stadium is always the problem because that goes right to the pockets, which we understand is exactly what kind of drives decisions. You talked about the SEC championship the day before. Atlanta Hawks, the night before that, packed. It was a celebration of Atlanta basically the entire weekend. Everything was filled up. And I think they stink too. So it's like if they stink and people are still showing up in droves to go to those games. And at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, very expensive. Yeah. But also very nice. Very nice. The stuff in there, Arthur Blank has made a point for it to be affordable.

1:04:59So it's not even as if you're going there and beers are more expensive. No, that's not how it is. And you have to think, hey, we are looking at the Carolina Panthers and we are now the Carolina Panthers.

1:05:09Pat McAfee:And we like the Carolina Panthers now. And we think that the Carolina Panthers, AJ, all made a change whenever the Grinch's heart grew three sizes. Who is the Grinch in this particular case? The owner, David Tepper. This guy who the only stories that we were talking about with him was not only what he did back in the day in the financial world whenever he bought somebody else's house that was potentially above him and then just tore it down to build a bigger one just to prove a point, basically. Or the new facility and saying, nah. Or the throwing out. Or the knocking off the hat. Or the, I mean, this guy was in everything.

1:05:41Pat McAfee:Charlotte FC, the soccer team, had like 45 coaches in two years because Tepper didn't like anything that was happening. The Carolina Panthers asked. They had like 250 people in the stands at the end. And Tepper, the owner, was basically the reason of this entire thing. Then he offers up the stadium. He donates a bunch of money for the hurricane relief down there. He hires the right people, seemingly. Becomes a little bit hands-off. And all of a sudden, the Carolina Panthers start becoming, Charlotte FC starts becoming a little bit, and now we got Tepper in a Christmas sweater talking to cameras.

1:06:10It's not that shabby. Thank you. Listen, it's pretty good. It's all building process. And look, we'll see where we go, we'll see what happens. But we do think, as I said, Canales, Morgan, Tillis, and everybody here in the whole organization, I think we're building something special in Carolina. And we've been building it outside the community, we're building it on the field. So it's a total picture, and hopefully we can go on and we have that for many years here. That's what we're going to do.

1:06:42Pat McAfee:Yeah, great microphone setup. Yup, without a doubt. But I like the fact that Tepper's out there in the community. Honestly, has there been a bigger change in how somebody is viewed than him? I think that's very real, AJ. Yeah, for multiple years in a row, it feels like we just talked, like, oh, what's the next thing where he, you know, shut down the practice facility or he has issues with somebody, there's signs about him. But, yeah, so what do you think it is? When he opened up that stadium for the benefit concert, that's what turned everything? I genuinely think that was. And I think Morgan, too, coming in there, right, that's GM.

1:07:11Huge hire, yes.

1:07:12Pat McAfee:I think him coming in there and being like, hey, we got the football with his eyes taped open. We got the football. We are not, you cannot just be in everything that we're doing. And Tepper said, I never wanted to be. I never wanted to be. And then everybody's like, well, you were though. That was kind of part of the problem. So him acknowledging that, realizing that, backing away and then them having success. So he can maybe realize or feel fulfillment of backing away and having success. Because his big thing, just like all these owners, unless they're just born into money, which certainly happens.

1:07:39Pat McAfee:So I'm not going to say that hasn't taken place. But a lot of these owners have created a massive amount of wealth and had a lot of success and have been the actual smartest people in the room in basically every single room that they've gone into for a majority of their life. And also, they've been the people who have had to make decisions when everybody else doesn't want to make decisions. Like the people that become the billionaires that end up, you know, owning NFL teams are the people who have to sit in the pocket and say, you're fired, you're fired, you're fired and probably screw people up.

1:08:06Pat McAfee:I mean, that is just the reality of running a business into money that high end. So whenever they get into something that they've invested six, seven, eight, ten billion dollars into, they've always been the ones that have had to make the decision, always been the ones that have had success. This place hasn't had success. That's why I was able to buy it. So it's hard, I think, for these humans, these types of humans, to get in there and be like, okay, now you guys do everything. I'm not going to say anything. I'm going to stay out. I think that was a very difficult move for Tepper. So we very much need to celebrate that, I think, even though billionaires don't need to be patted on the back for things.

1:08:42Pat McAfee:It's like Tepper stepping away when I know that was very much against his shit. That is a big deal, I think, AJ. Yeah, he probably became a billionaire because he had his hands in everything. He's micromanaging people, making sure whatever standard he felt was being met. But I'm sure every owner goes through that, right? Especially if you all of a sudden come into ownership uh-oh, Phil Rivers returns clock now. That just popped up out of nowhere. It's cut off. I can't even see all the numbers. 56 hours, 11 minutes, 22 seconds from now, Phillip Rivers will be taking the field against the Seattle Seahawks at 425 Eastern.

1:09:22Pat McAfee:Back to your point, though. Please don't let this distract you. I'm not even sure what I was saying about the owner, but I feel like, yeah. Can you imagine any owner, though, coming in? Yeah, you've been the guy that everyone's looking to your whole life. You have the answers. But then, like, football's a different thing, man. Yeah, we understand the business part of it. But I would imagine as an owner trying to figure out where you fit in, when you should pop in, when you shouldn't, when you should leave them alone. Like, that's a tough thing. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who's been a head coach for a team that has a very involved owner and a team that actually doesn't have an owner.

1:09:51Pat McAfee:A Super Bowl champion, a living legend, a Yinzer icon. Ladies and gentlemen, our coach, Coach Mike McCarthy. Yeah, Coach. Coach, how you doing, Coach? good-looking dog back there is that that is that that uh blue ribbon 11 time title dog back there that's gus yes he is that's uh the best picture of the week up here it's a wonder winter wonderland so um so yeah that's the best thing i got for you this week i love that gus a good looking dude just is a stud yeah gus looks like he has a good time he wants to be out there finding the dog you know he's never had a bad day that's for sure neither of you a good life either of you it feels like every time oh i'm having a great i'm having a great time i mean i got the got the christmas colors on i mean i'm ready yeah the holiday season's about i wish you would have told me that you're gonna have tepper on in a in a christmas sweater i could have you know i'm sure i got a bunch of ugly christmas sweaters i could have threw on today some from the good old days yeah so well we appreciate you it's that time of year we appreciate you celebrating coach because it is that time of year it is meaningful football time and it's been a long time since you haven't had to have a job fully focused every day of your life on winning games in this particular time of year so i'm happy you're enjoying it let's wrap up the tepper conversation i let in there that jerry jones obviously very involved owner green bay doesn't have an owner they have like a group or whatever that makes decisions for the tepper story and for the carolina panther story they might actually win the nfc the carolina panthers might be in a might be hosting a playoff game this year just a couple years back 250 people in the stands everybody hated them i would say brand image likeness everything lowest maybe in all of professional sports Carolina Panthers.

1:11:24Pat McAfee:They hire new GM. They get Canales in there. Bryce Young gets benched. Then he comes back. He starts doing his thing. And I genuinely believe, as somebody that has followed this story from very much the beginning, Tepper becoming a better owner is a massive piece of why they've become good. Is that an accurate assessment from somebody that's in an actual position and understands what a good owner can do and what a no ownership can do? What are your thoughts on that entire vibe between owner and how team is actually run? I definitely agree. I think it's a big part of it. And I think that, you know, every leader has to go through it, whether whether you're the owner, a president, a general manager or a head coach.

1:12:02I mean, for a successful he's been in his, you know, in his business life, this was this was a new opportunity, a new arena to compete in. And definitely there was some growing pains. But no, I agree with you 100 percent. Just to have the opportunity to interview with Carolina in 2019, and I look back at that conversation and compare to where they are today, I think they're leaps and bounds ahead of where they were back then. They were talking about building a facility down the road there in South Carolina, that whole process, and we're talking about facilities. Now you see what he's done, and I think the most important thing is he's a fellow Yenzer.

1:12:41You knew he was going to figure it out.

1:12:42Pat McAfee:Tepper's a Yenzer? Oh, yeah. You didn't know that? Oh, no. I feel like a terrible person. I was burying him for a long time. But I made him better. Made him stronger is what I was saying. Yes, you did. You pushed the right buttons. Hey, I hope so. I hope I was a part of the solution as opposed to the problem because we love the city of Charlotte, and good luck to the Panthers as they go. I don't know if you saw this clock. We are 56 hours away, 7 minutes and 33 seconds, 32, 31. Now 30 seconds away from Phillip Rivers returning to a football game for the first time in five years. How do you feel about this?

1:13:14Pat McAfee:Obviously, he's going to be able to spin it. We've seen video coming out of practice from both Romeo Boyd and Anthony Calhoun. He can still spin it. The ball is still getting to where we want it to go. Nobody's expecting him to be able to move, including himself. What is your expectation of a grandfather taking the field for the first time in five years? Strictly because, and I would like to answer this because I have a lot of respect for Cam Newton and I have a lot of respect for all the other quarterbacks that are potentially out there. He was signed because he knows the offense. We're in week 15 right now.

1:13:42Pat McAfee:We don't have time for somebody to learn this shit. We need to kind of get and go. Just what are your thoughts on it all and the expectations of the outcome? I mean, I think it's awesome, and I think it's a great story. You know, personally having an opportunity to work or, you know, really learn from, frankly, learn from older quarterbacks, you know, back in the 90s with Joe Montana and Dave Craig. You know, Brett Favre was an older quarterback. You know, so I mean these these guys have seen so much football in their time clocks or they're ingrained. I think the fact that he's able to come back and I think the most important thing in this transaction is the fact that he has history in Indianapolis.

1:14:21You know, they have they have a renowned training staff there. There's a relationship so they're going to know what kind of shape he's in because, you know, you worry about fatigue injuries and things like that. for guys that have been out. The stress is that the actual movement in a game opposed to the movements that they go through in their training segments. So I think the fact that he's back at Indianapolis, he's with Shane, he'll run the run game. That'll be a breeze. The communication, the language and all that. I think the protection adjustments will be something that he just needs to get back into that.

1:14:56But it's going to be the timing throws. I think just as much as he can throw to those perimeter guys between now and Sunday is going to be the key. Just to kind of give him those automatic throws that he's had his whole career. When you get out there on the numbers, out there on the autobahn, the timing throws, the individual cuts, the inside throws. And in red zone, the third down will be the toughest things for him. Because there's the height of pressure and man-to-man and things like that. And it'll be curious to see how the defense reacts to him being out there. or what kind of coverage they give him in passing situations.

1:15:30So if there's anybody that can do it, definitely Phillip can pull this off.

1:15:35Pat McAfee:Hey, no speed limits out there. Go ahead, AJ. Coach, what would your game plan be, I guess, if Phil is thrusting the lineup after five years away? Obviously you say, oh, yeah, I want to get the ball out of our hands quick, you know, all this. We ideally like to run the ball. It's not always easy. But what would you do, I guess, if you were coaching Phil for his first game back? Well, I think you hit the most important thing. You got Jonathan back here. Let's not forget about that. So let's make sure he gets his touches. But I think clearly for Phillip, and it's really what I like to do every time you start a game, is, you know, try to make first and second down as easy as possible for him.

1:16:10Because, you know, the challenge is the situational football that he's going to encounter. And the speed of that and just being back in the flow of that, that's going to be, I think, the biggest challenge for the quarterback position. So, and I mean by that, it's try to find him some rhythm throws, try to find him some free access situation, create some type formations and motion that, you know, gets him off the ball type easy completions early so he can get into a rhythm and just get back into what Sunday afternoon really feels like.

1:16:40Pat McAfee:I hope Phil Rivers utilizes Tyler Warren just like he did Antonio Gates. Michael Pittman would be willing to die on a football field to go get a ball. Phil Rivers knows that. And from my understanding, the competitive juices and the chirping has not slowed down at all. The guy's excited. The guy's eager. And the guy's about to kick his Hall of Fame status back another five years. And that's going to be a first ballot Hall of Fame talk after he wins his Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts this year. Just like Coach McCarthy said. Just like this guy just said here in front of his dog, Gus. Looking to win that trophy right there.

1:17:13Pat McAfee:The one that's kind of peeking out right there. That's what Phil Rivers is looking to do with the Indianapolis Colts. Now, you won one of those with the Packers. Ty has a question about that. Yeah, coach, after the Packers got a massive win at home against the Bears to go back into first in the NFC North, how confident are you in them going into the playoffs? Jordan Love obviously playing his best football right now. I think the team is as a whole in a league where there's maybe three to four teams who could go to the NFC championship. Just how confident are you in the Packers moving forward? I love what the Packers are doing.

1:17:47I think A, number one, the most important part of your football team is the defense, and that defense is playing lights out. I just can't say enough about the consistency of how they played week in and week out. I think it's the most consistent component of their football team. Secondly, the run game is definitely there, and they had the two big post throws for touchdowns by Jordan. So I think they're playing very well. The ability to play at home, I thought that was a hell of a game Sunday you know, versus the Bears, you know, you look at the first half versus second half, and you cannot win enough close games throughout the season, especially this time of year.

1:18:26I've always felt that, you know, winning close games was critical to have during your path, because, you know, I look back and AJ can attest to this. When we were 15 and one, we actually, you know, we had too many blowout wins and not that you can ever have too many of them. But you need those tough games. You need those physical games, those reality games. And I think when you get into these late division games, it gives you that. And I think it's great preparation for the playoffs. But the best thing we got going in Green Bay right now is that defense. And the perimeter is getting healthy. You can see them getting better each week.

1:19:06So that's exciting. Ball distribution, I think Jordan's done a really nice job with that. but you have to like Ty what the Packers are doing.

1:19:14Pat McAfee:How about on the other side, the Bears, you think they're about a year out? I think, you know, AQ Shipley comes in here once a week and I said, you think they're about a year out with Ben Johnson and the Bears? I think they're a really good team. I'm talking a year out from being like a Super Bowl conversation team and AQ goes, if the quarterback can learn some football, basically was his response it's like, quarterback definitely much better this year than he was last year. He's like, yeah, but he's got to continue to go. He obviously has a new situation, new system this year than he did last year.

1:19:41Pat McAfee:They're having success. Ben Johnson is super genius offensively is how we all view him, right? Don't we all? We all view Ben Johnson, super genius on the offensive side. Is it just Caleb's development? That's basically you decide whether or not the bears win a Superbowl or not? Like how do you kind of view the bears over the next two years? If you had to project? Well, it's definitely arrow pointing up. And I think sometimes, you know, when you win, when you win a lot in your first year, um, you know, particularly close games and things go your way. I mean, look at Washington last year, and then look what they were able to spring the board that into with an excellent run all the way to the NFC Championship game.

1:20:18So, you know, I do believe in year to year. But frankly, I wouldn't be too hard on Cleve, because he's different. Who? He makes Cleve Williams. It's Caleb.

1:20:31Pat McAfee:I mean, Jesus Christ. You are nowhere near. Okay, you've never made a mistake.

1:20:38I knew what you were talking about. We knew what you were talking about. I was just giving you an opportunity there, Rob. I love it when you talk about four. You end up talking about some other bullshit. Hey,

1:20:53Pat McAfee:Kaleem is a dog, though. Kaleem. Sorry, Caleb, I cut you off. I didn't know if you were talking about a quarterback coach. I honestly did not know. I apologize. Yeah, right.

1:21:06Well, I'm not as down on him as your comment there is. I see a guy that makes a lot of plays. He is in a structured, you know, an offense that asks a lot of the quarterback, which is a great thing for him, but it's his first year in that offense. So, yeah, so are there growing pains? I would think clearly. I'm not in there, don't have access to any of that type of information, but there's definitely some growing pains, but the guy can make plays with his feet in his arm. And, you know, when I look back in the history of some great quarterbacks that were a little bit bouncing off the walls the first couple years, and if they could just stay healthy and keep playing, I think they're going to have a hell of a player there.

1:21:48But the best thing they got going for him has been because he has them in a structured, you know, he has a system. He has to learn to run that system, and then everything he does with his feet and his playmaking ability is a bonus. And that's a good place to be in quarterback development, in my opinion.

1:22:04Pat McAfee:Yeah, they got good people around them. Coach Ben Johnson, Coach Klebe. They also got D out there. You know, they got D out there, Coach. What's that? No, no, no. Not doing it. Not doing it. Not doing it. Coach, you did not deserve that. That was rude. But let's talk about staying healthy, shall we? Let's talk about staying healthy, especially at the quarterback position. I was on the Colts, obviously, when Andrew Luck was just getting – I mean, he thought it was disrespectful to football to give up on a play. He got hit a lot. A lot of injuries took place. Serious injuries took place. Another one happened, and then that led to an early retirement.

1:22:35Pat McAfee:Now all eyes are looking towards Cincinnati and have been for a while. Go ahead, Conman. Yeah, Coach, with the Bengals and Jeff – I can't even get it out. I was going to say Jeff Burrow. But with the Bengals and Joe Burrow, he gave a press conference yesterday and basically said, like, hey, the fun of the game seems to be, you know, not leaving him. But he doesn't – he's not finding joy right now and everything. And that's kind of understandable with the injuries he's had. I believe, you know, he's 29. He's only played three full seasons. I believe that's accurate. And he just came back. They were still in it.

1:23:07Unfortunately, with the loss to Buffalo, it's very, very hard for them now to kind of find a way to the playoffs. You were coaching Dak Prescott when he went through, you know, his kind of worst time as a pro with, you know, his injuries and some of the terrible things he had to go through to get to, you know, the point where he's at now. what do you say to a player like this when they're in a situation where there doesn't seem to be much hope at the end of the tunnel do you think Burrow this is kind of one of those things where you just kind of have to go back to the drawing board what do you think of this whole situation and how do you think the Bengals as a front office and an organization can kind of fix Jeff Burrow?

1:23:47Joe. His name's fucking Joe. Joey B. I think number one just overall, injuries is clearly the worst part of the game. When you watch players go through injury and the amount of time they put into each and every season, the prehab and the sports science and advancement, and to think how much Joe has been through as far as getting back from the injuries of the past, yes, I could definitely see why he may be feeling the way he is. I think you have to, number one, for people that have to go up there and do press conferences on a regular basis, everybody wants you to be honest and give a real answer.

1:24:32And the fact that he gave one, I think you have to respect that because that's very personal to him. And I think he gives you inside of what he's thinking about right now. But coming back from injuries, it's a long process. I mean, Dak in particular, I mean, there's clearly, you know, nothing that you can't feel for these guys because playing quarterback and really playing professional football, it's a 12-month, seven-day-a-week deal. I mean, these guys, you know, whether, you know, postseason and what they get through as far as their time off and going into it. But I think what do you do and what do you say?

1:25:09I think, frankly, you rely on the relationships and the support, you know, that you have around him. I mean, you know, just from my understanding, you know, he's a very well-respected young man, not only, you know, in Cincinnati, but in the National Football League. So I think the people closest to him and relying on that and just to make sure he's talking to people and going through this. But I think he gave you a very honest answer to a question in a press conference that he could have easily threw away. And also just I think it shows how much he cares. you know, how much he puts into it. And, yeah, injury is the worst part of it.

1:25:47There's been a lot of great players, you know, whose careers have been cut short, quarterbacks who maybe have never got off to the start or maybe have the finish in their career because of injury.

1:26:00Pat McAfee:They're saying some crazy stuff about Joe Burrow leaving the Bengals and maybe getting traded and going somewhere else. Oh, yeah, they're definitely going to trade him. They do that. Yeah, that's what the Bengals do, yeah. They could call Carson Palmer. Well, he could say, I'm either going to retire or you're going to let me out here? I'm not eating the sauce. I'm not paying for the chili, the skyline that you guys are serving. That's what happened. That's just what happened back in the day, allegedly. I think reportedly. Carson Palmer, allegedly, reportedly, I think on the record said, I'm going to retire.

1:26:34Pat McAfee:Which one?

1:26:38I think it was all of them.

1:26:41Pat McAfee:It was alleged at the beginning that it was reported and then i think carson himself came out and said that is kind of how the conversation went so what i was trying to give you is a full dive of journalism it was alleged at the beginning then it got reported and then i think carson came out and said yeah i told him i'm not doing it anymore and then he goes to the raiders and then he goes to the cardinals then he has a full career afterwards but he had to like say he was gonna just i'm not playing football anymore i'm not doing it if you're not gonna let me out of here cincinnati bangles aren't like a big move type place, you know.

1:27:11Pat McAfee:But on that note, they did spend massive amounts of money seemingly to keep Joe Burrow happy. And then now, if you don't win, is anybody ever happy? We just want Joey B to know, we love you, buddy. We love you. You're good for ball, Joe. You're good for ball. In that same press conference, he seemed pretty happy when they talked about Pokemon cards. So maybe the Bengals could just start paying him in Pokemon cards. Hey, Coach, you remember when everybody was doing Pokemon Go at training camp? Was that happening with your team? probably was but I didn't participate that's probably a better question for AJ AJ were you guys Pokemon going no we were not don't lie me and Vinatieri are walking through training camp and there's like an open area that's what people are like walking off of buildings and stuff out of windows and everything they had their phone like this it was Pokemon Go coach you know anything about this I do not superficially yeah you're a 30 ,000 foot view 30 ,000 foot view.

1:28:06Pat McAfee:You've heard the stories, obviously. But, yeah, it was the thing that kind of captivated everybody. Everybody was playing as Pokemon Go. Had to be on your phone. And people were just on their phones. They were walking right off buildings, right into trains, just into things. It really captivated the world. Not NFL guys. Well, maybe. I don't know. But we were walking from the cafeteria area to team meeting after practice at night. And me and Vinny are just walking through. And we got offensive linemen, linebackers doing this Pokemon Go. We got a meeting in 10 minutes. We got the Pokemon going up.

1:28:35Pat McAfee:Let me catch it. Let me catch it. I've never heard Vinatieri Quicker say, we're fucked this year. And I just laughed. I said, yes, we are. Any other position, maybe. You know, any other position. It wasn't our starters, obviously, but it was in the offensive line room kind of doing their thing. And it's like, well, season hasn't started, but it's already over. Basically, we might as well go ahead and see how this goes. But it was a good game. It was. I didn't play any. I didn't catch any of them. I would try to catch them all. Sure. but it had everybody including our team and it was not good indicators it was like uh i don't think it was great for anybody okay aj has a question for you guys speaking of that teams that especially don't have any chance it seems like this year there's more teams that have a chance to win it and usually going in there's like a handful of teams i feel like okay they actually have a chance but now we talk about parity throughout the league why do you think that is right now why are there so many teams i guess seems like more teams that that truly could go on a run and win a Super Bowl.

1:29:31Yeah, I think it's amazing. I think the definition of parity is adjusted every year, and definitely it's what the league wants, and I think what the commissioner wants, and personally, I think it's awesome. I go back to 1993. It was my first year, and that's right when Plan B, free agency, ended, and I always remember the speech that Marty Schottenheimer gave, particularly at the beginning of the season, and he said, hey, there's three categories of teams in this league. He says, you got the Super Bowl contenders. He goes, and at that time, you know, he was flat out. He just said it. He said, San Francisco and Dallas, they're better than all of us right now.

1:30:08And Buffalo's probably right up there. He says, so that's the group that on paper could win the Super Bowl today. And he said, then you got about 12 or 15 teams that are, you know, the second group. And, you know, those teams, our team, we need to work, you know, throughout the season to continue to get better and continue. And he had his plan and was stating his vision in how it's so important to November, December, playing your best football into the playoffs. And then he said the third category is the teams that just have so many challenges that they won't be able to overcome. And then certain teams are so effed up, they're never going to win.

1:30:43So in his colorful words. And I always thought that was a really good 360 viewpoint of the league. And I've always looked at it that way. and I think if you as you know everybody gears up in the offseason we go into training camp and and I'm sure you guys talked about this on the show I mean I don't know how many teams you probably thought were Super Bowl contenders this year I think the number's bigger probably 10 to 12 and then there's a then there is probably that second group is probably 12 to 14 and then you have another you know eight six to eight down there at the bottom that they just have so many challenges they they can't overcome and I think that's really how the league has gone of of of particularly late.

1:31:23And I think he's division games at the end have been very helpful. You know, I think, you know, the drafting and all the other, you know, the people utilizing the free agency, they're increasing the cap. And, you know, I just, I think the parity of the league is great. And I think it really illustrates the importance of, you know, the organizational, you know, impact as far as facilities, sports science, you know, your support, your support people. Their importance should be, you know, higher valued. The value of coaching should be should be higher and not to be self-serving, but, you know, because because it is so competitive, you know, in the arena of player acquisition, you know, because, you know, with the draft and, you know, there's so much information that's out there today compared to, you know, where where we were 30 years ago on these guys.

1:32:14And, you know, just think about, you know, a player coming out out of high school, going through college, and by the time he gets to the NFL draft, just the amount of information on that particular individual. So parity is awesome for the league, and I think you see it more and more each year. But teams who you thought were in September going to win the Super Bowl, where are they at today? And then you look at the teams like Indianapolis or was probably in that second group, if they can get going and Daniel comes along like the way we thought and can now get into that. New England was probably a team that you thought, hey, they were young.

1:32:51They did some things at the end of the year that you really liked. Drake May was shown what he can be. So I just think – did I get the name right, Pat?

1:32:58Pat McAfee:Yeah, you did. I thought you were going to do more about the Colts. And then as soon as we got the countdown clock for the Rivers returns and you moved off the Colts, you went to the Patriots and then Connor was losing his ball. So you did a great job for the all parties there. But I was hoping we were going to talk about how Phil Rivers maybe takes them from we're in that middle group and then we're moving in the top group and then all of a sudden quickly we went down to bottom group. These guys got a chance. And then 44-year-old grandpa comes in. All of a sudden we go, yodel, yodel. You know, we go right back up that thing.

1:33:25Pat McAfee:In 55 hours we find out. 55 hours we find out. Well, we're in the top group in the Colts right now. So, I mean, you know, definitely you can go from group one to two to three. I mean, I'm excited to watch Phillip play. I think it's awesome. And I think the fit with Shane and everything he's got going. So, like I said, maybe I've got to say it again. If anybody can do it, Phillip Rivers can do it. 55 hours and 46 minutes and 48 seconds. Wow, that's pretty good on you right there. That's multiple. Pay attention. Yeah, you saw it. You saw it. Phil, you can get it. See you later, Phil. See you later.

1:33:59Pat McAfee:Thank you. It's a nice little reminder to pop that up like holy hell. That's cool. Your graphics are unbelievable. Your production team's incredible. Yeah, the boys are really good. They're special. I mean, that Galileo thing, I'm still laughing. Where the hell you guys pulled that out of? Well, you know, mathematics is the universe's love language. Well said. You know, that's what... Galileo's singing it. I mean... I see a little silhouette of a man. Galileo, Galileo. Can I do that bandango? Very, very frightening. Galileo, Galileo. Galileo. Let me go. I'm just a poor boy from a poor family. He's just a poor boy from a poor family.

1:34:51Pat McAfee:He's just a poor boy from a poor family. AJ, you must have missed the rehearsal there. Nah, AJ won't put it. Nah, he's a bitch, coach. He's a bitch, dog. He will buy it. He will buy the fucking shit. It bothers him a bit, coach. It does bother him a bit. Bad teammate. Yeah, I don't know if he didn't buy in with you guys at the Packers, but I'll tell you what. Wiz Khalifa was on our team for one day, and he said, boys, put your hands up. Immediately, everybody's hands went up like this. AJ, two feet away from Wiz Khalifa. I don't think so, Bob. I'm not your puppet. He actually gave him the finger.

1:35:28Yeah, he did.

1:35:28Pat McAfee:It was unbelievable. Just like he did to you. Just like he did to you on the field, yeah. So thank you, Coach. If you could send him a side note about buying in, we'd appreciate that. Thank you for bringing that up, Coach. I'll coach him up. Thank you, Coach. All right. I see Gus in the snow back here. Yeah. That means magic's happening. That means meaningful football's happening. AJ, we let you off the hook there too easy. I don't think we yelled enough, but we will get back to that after Coach McCarthy is no longer here. I feel like we are disrespecting Coach McCarthy, airing out kind of our inner team dynamics right now.

1:36:01Pat McAfee:But, AJ, you need to buy in when we're singing Goddamn Galileo. Okay? That is just for the good of your... You know the delay. There's other programs. Shut up, dude. Always excuses. That's asshole. Always. They're like socks. Everybody's got them. And Bone's got them a bunch of crusty ones. All right. What? What is happening? That's gusting the snow. Okay? It's cold time. It's very cold here. We got snow. We just had a snowstorm. We did. And it's coming again. It's supposed to come tonight. It came earlier. But that means one thing. Holidays. Thanksgiving already happened. We got Christmas. New Year's.

1:36:37Pat McAfee:We got all the holidays. That are happening right now. More importantly, though, we got playoff pushes, playoff runs, meaningful football, which means one thing. Go ahead, Tone. Yeah, Coach. Obviously, you coached in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Outside, very, very cold, a lot of snow. And then down in Dallas, inside, it's warmer down there. Everyone talks about the advantages of cold-weather teams and playing in the cold weather all the time. There's seven games this weekend under 32. Four of those games are going to be under 20 with wind chills about zero. Is it actually an advantage to those teams that are used to playing outside in the cold, or is that something that we make too much of?

1:37:15I think it's definitely an advantage. I mean, I've always felt that. And I wouldn't say from a psychological or mental. I think it's more about the opportunity to handle the football on the cold. And AJ, when we were in Green Bay, we would always practice outside. The only thing that ever took me inside was the wind, high winds. I always felt it was important to be outside on the grass. And we were fortunate to have the facilities up there with the heated field. The practice fields were identical to the field at Lambeau Field. So I think it's critical. And the most important part is the ball, is handling the football.

1:37:53We would do extra ball drills religiously in the outdoor work because that's where I felt the biggest advantage was. and thank God for Aaron Rodgers and thank God for Brett Favre, but the big hands, the long arms, the ability to torque the football, and I always loved it when the weather was cold and you didn't have the high wind in there because you always felt great confidence in your passing game because of the ability to throw the ball, and I thought it really helped our perimeter group create separation in that weather because defense is, you know, half a step slower, you know, in that weather on the outdoor surface, in my opinion, in those elements.

1:38:35So I think there's clearly are advantages playing in that weather and practicing outside and being in that more from the, you know, the element standpoint as far as how you play in it, not the psychological, oh, it's cold. And because, hell, I mean, you know, the players are probably in the best spot in the whole stadium as far as keeping warm. You know, they're out there running around. and they come off, they got the jackets put on them, the heating. I mean, the only time I think I ever went to the bench was in cool weather to talk to the quarterbacks, and I really wasn't over there to talk to them.

1:39:06I was over there to get, you know, warm my ass up because I was freezing. But I think that, you know, the elements do favor the teams that do play, and I always felt. And it was more, you know, catching a football. And some of the games that, you know, we had lost over the years, and it really came down to, you know, who handled the football better. And I think that'll be a big key in all these games played this weekend.

1:39:30Pat McAfee:NFLweather.com, shout out to them for providing all that. And we talked to Jordan Love the other day as he was promoting Toyotathon, in which he has dominated during. But during Toyotathon, there's a lot of bad weather at Lambeau, and he's always played well during it. And he talked about how, I don't love it. AJ's from Ohio. I'm from Pittsburgh. You know, we're from cold places. Everybody's like, you know, they're from the north. They like the cold. Uh-uh. Nobody likes the cold. It's just whether or not you've already mentally had to go through the entirety of how bad it sucks, which is what happens on the daily basis.

1:40:02Pat McAfee:I think that's a huge deal as well, which is why you pointed out we practice outside every day unless the wind would affect it. I think that is the big advantage, Coach. You agree? Yeah, definitely. And, you know, the quarterbacks that play in the dome, you know, that are not used to it and maybe don't have big hands, you know, that's something they've got to deal with. That ball comes off their hand a little differently, too. So, yeah, I agree with everything you've said. I mean, no one likes playing in that weather, but I do think it is an advantage to be able to practice in that weather. What, Tua got any of these games, cold games coming up, or had any?

1:40:39Pat McAfee:Because remember, he was literally the example that everybody gave. Like, this Miami Dolphins seems very good. Then he traveled up to Kansas City. It was like negative five or whatever, and it was just the complete opposite, like clearly getting beat by the cold weather. Go ahead, Tom. Monday night it's supposed to be 18, I believe, in Pittsburgh. We're going to find out, Gumby. We pound the rock now. We've got an offensive line now. It's a different ball club than years past. I'm excited for this. Who are the mentally tough teams that can handle the weather and who needs to have home field advantage through the playoffs?

1:41:07Pat McAfee:That's a big deal through it all. And is Phil Rivers going to be a guy who in 74 hours, 39 minutes. What? There it is. I can't see the first number. So that's been off by 20 hours? Nope. No, game got flexed. It was initially supposed to be a 4 a.m. local kickoff time. They moved it to 425. Easier, yeah. So we just got the information. Who discovered that it got flipped from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m.? Connor dropped in my ear there, and he goes, if at 425, would we not be 72 hours away from the game? And I looked up the clock, and I was like, yeah, it's Thursday. And then, you know, go to the back room.

1:41:48Pat McAfee:Hey, we're way off on that thing. How do we even? So while you were giving a great answer about the weather there, there was quite an explosion of joy around here with how stupid we are. Just know that 74 hours from now, 38 minutes and 40 seconds, Phil Rivers returns to a football field. Let's go, baby. Hey, Seattle, good luck. Yeah, right, good luck. He's been waiting five years for this. Should we have a West Coast clock, too, just so they know? Oh, that's fine. Just 71, 38, 25. Nope, I don't think it changes, actually. You're right. Oh, Jesus. Let's not – Speaking of time and everybody having one, Connor has a question about when the time is right.

1:42:27Yeah, Coach, hate to go there with Green Bay, but towards the end of your tenure there, you know, you were a legend. You won a Super Bowl. And, you know, the time just seemed right for you to be leaving, you know, whether you felt that or not. But right now with Kansas City and Baltimore and Pittsburgh, it does feel as though three places, three legendary coaches, and not that their seats are hot, but the conversation at least is there where, hey, there needs to be some sort of change. Kansas City is much different, of course, just because of the very recent success. But with Baltimore and Pittsburgh, it just feels as though they've fallen short very consistently here in recent memory.

1:43:08Do you think that those coaches, whether it be Harbaugh, Tomlin, or Andy Reid, have a sense of the end is close as far as those particular locations? or do you think they don't even hear that, they don't feel that, they're just staying the course? What was your experience with that in Green Bay, and what do you think they're going through right now? I'll say this. I think, number one, all three of those men, in my opinion, deserve to step away when they feel it's time, and hopefully that'll be a mutual understanding between them and their organizations. because when their time is up at the three organizations they work for, they will be missed.

1:43:52It may take a year or two. Trust me, those are three Hall of Fame caliber football coaches you're talking about. Not only that, as far as who they are as coaches, they've built a championship program. Winning a Super Bowl is very difficult, and I've said this before on this show, and I believe it wholeheartedly, but sustained success in the NFL, in my opinion, is much harder. To be able to win week in and week out, year in and year out, put your team in the playoffs is extremely difficult because we've seen it time and time again where a team gets hot and probably plays their best football the last five weeks of the season but was so up and down and maybe just got into the playoffs.

1:44:37You look at our particular team in 2010. We felt we were a Super Bowl contender when the season started. We felt we arrived in 09, but we had a tremendous amount of challenges with the injuries and kind of slugged it around. Aaron missed two games with two concussions. I mean, we had injuries all over the place, and we were kind of just scrapping to stay in there and really fought to get in at the end. We weren't playing really great football. Even the last game against the Bears, it was not our best outing. But, you know, we still won the game to get into playoffs. And then, you know, we got going.

1:45:17And so we went on a four-game tear. And, you know, I think all the adversity that we went through gave us confidence. So, you know, I think you got to be careful about that. But I understand the fans. I'm getting to watch it from this chair. I talked about this last week. I can't believe the volatility, the up and down, because, you know, you look at Pittsburgh seven days ago, you know, the way we were talking about them now in the first place. So, you know, I just think, and I think number eight will throw the ball very well come Sunday in the weather. But, you know, I just think you've got to be careful.

1:45:50Watch what you wish for, I guess, is my message here.

1:45:54Pat McAfee:But everybody wants more, Coach. Everybody wants more. Hey, watch what you wish for. I mean, the Philly media is calling for, you know, is Jalen Hurts going to be the starter? To Coach Sirianni getting asked that question actually right now. He in the presser yesterday. Hey, are you thinking about quarterback change? One more bad game. They just paid him, what,$700 billion? And he just won a Super Bowl last year. And, you know, things obviously aren't going great. And people were addressing Petullo immediately throughout the entire season. But now Jalen, the year after winning the Super Bowl as quarterback, like, hey, are you thinking about?

1:46:28Pat McAfee:Tanner McKee looks good. You talk about the volatility. It's like that's a good thing for the league to have that amount of passion, but it is in those buildings, and I appreciate you saying you didn't even realize it was like this. You have to be able to keep everybody going the same way because nowadays, more so than ever, all that shit can get in. It's in everybody's hand. All that shit's in everybody's hand that is walking around there. Players, coaches, you name it, trainers, managers, they all see all of it. So once that starts getting in, I assume that is when it ends, right? That's the goal of a head coach in the modern world.

1:46:56Pat McAfee:Welcome to the modern world. that is like the modern world head coach though, right? The noise is very loud and maybe louder than it's ever been and more accessible for players, coaches, you name it, in the building? I think it's a great lead-in to why a head coach is messaging. His messaging is so important. I think, you know, working in Dallas was a tremendous experience on so many different fronts. But, you know, it really, you know, gave me a great view to the – frankly, working at the content capital of the world. I mean, content is generated at every turn because there's value in that. And I think when you look at some of these situations that we're talking about, you know, you got content that's being created through dramatic questioning in a press conference.

1:47:41And it's, you know, sometimes, you know, the reality and the common sense is not even in the building. So I think you've got to have the ability to filter and have an understanding what content is really being generated for why it's the agenda, why it's being generated. But the reality of it is, you know, now for something that you feel is wrong with that championship program that's not getting you to the spot that, you know, that was getting you before, then you're having a different conversation. But I don't think that's the case in Kansas City, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh. So I think you got to really, really, you know, take a close look at that.

1:48:17And I think, frankly, that's, you know, you look at the ownership in all three of those places. You're talking about great, great ownership. And, you know, I think those are internal conversations that, you know, common sense will prevail. And then they'll make a, you know, they'll make educated decisions. And I think all three of those coaches will be, you know, involved in that decision making.

1:48:37Pat McAfee:Coach, penthouse to outhouse, so quick. Yeah. Everything is, what have you done for me lately? And for those coaches, you talk about Andy Reid, Tomlin, and Harbaugh, and you mentioned at the beginning, I think those coaches have earned their ability to be able to say when they want to leave. Then we just saw what happened with Pete Carroll in Seattle a couple years ago, and then we see what happens immediately afterwards. We saw what happened in New England whenever they make a change from Bill. Then they make a change. It doesn't work out. They make another change, and they immediately have success.

1:49:02Pat McAfee:It's like you see those two, but we don't talk about how about Tennessee kicking Vrabel out, kicking a new coach, and they go in even – like there's a lot of the other side too that happens whenever you decide to move on. The grass isn't necessarily always greener, but all these fans want to say is, it'd be nice to just see it, though. See if it's greener. See if it is maybe a little bit more potent. If we could do it, maybe a little bit more exciting. Maybe less we have a winning season and we won a Super Bowl again, is what Yenzers are saying. Baltimore Ravens are saying the same thing. We shall see it all works out.

1:49:31Pat McAfee:Let's look at tonight's game. Tampa Bay Buccaneers can still very much go win a Super Bowl. They can win the NFC South. They can have a home playoff game. They're taking on Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons, fresh off an ass-beating from the Seattle Seahawks. Bucs just lost to the Saints. It is now five and a half points, the spread the Bucs are favored at home on Thursday night on Prime. Coach McCarthy, you would be very, very good if you were to actually be picking games for Thursday night. Nine and four. Nine and four is the record. We went through all your text messages. We went through everything.

1:50:02Pat McAfee:Nine and four is what you would be right now. How do you see tonight going, Coach? Well, I'll say this. I made my pick this morning when it was four and a half, but that's fine. I'll participate. No, I think number one, when I look at this game, here we go again. He's going to say, yeah, it's a division game. I think you've got to always bring that into light, especially division games at the end of the year. And I think any time you feel like the field's tilted one way or the other too high, I think you've got to really look at counterintuition. And that's it. And I go back to the division games, how well these teams know each other.

1:50:41So I do think it's going to be a very good game. The first thing that I see when I look at the matchup, I think it's going to be critical. The team that gets the ball to their running backs, I think, will be probably the most successful on offense, regardless if they hand it to or throw it to them. I think you got you got two dynamic running back groups in this game. I think you got good matchups up front. You know, it looks like, you know, it looks like Tampa's healthy. I really like the way the edge players are playing in Atlanta here down the stretch the last four or five weeks. You know, Leonard Floyd's back.

1:51:11You know, I think they've got a really good rotation there. So I think you've got some really good matchups. I think Atlanta's going to have to shorten the game some. You know, try to – you know, I don't think you want to get into a big – a lot of series exchange with Tampa Bay because Tampa Bay, to me, is still the best team in the NFC South. I think their ability to both run it and throw it is, you know, they got a lot of balance throughout that team. You know, they got Bucky Irvin back. It's great to see him healthy, you know, dynamic young player. So, you know, I think the balance of Tampa Bay would prevail.

1:51:48You know, the defenses, you know, they both bring a lot to the table. I think schematically Tampa has always been a challenge, you know, schematically, you know, especially if you don't play them very often. But it is a division game. So, you know, I looked at the weather. It's going to be a beautiful night down there, I think 58 degrees, four mile an hour. And, you know, I think with that, you know, ball distribution should be very high. The vitals are always there. You know, who takes care of the football versus who takes it away, no question. But I think if Atlanta can shorten the game, it'll serve them well.

1:52:17But I do like Tampa Bay in this game with the points.

1:52:21Pat McAfee:Mike Evans is back, too. You know, so we'll see a show there. Baker Mayfield is going to go crazy on primetime per usual. And we can't thank you enough, Coach, for joining us. Tell Gus we said hello and the entire fam. You bet. Happy holidays. I know we're just getting started. So you guys have a great weekend. Happy holidays, Coach. Ladies and gentlemen, it's Coach Michael Clark. Yeah, Coach. He's been pulling for Khalid for the whole time. Ben Johnson brought him in there as a quarterback coach and then just kind of kept going. He was amazing. He likes the Bucs down there in Tampa Bay. Beautiful weather tonight.

1:52:53Yeah.

1:52:54Pat McAfee:I like that, especially as we got snow all around. We got to watch a game down there in Tampa. Mike Evans is going to go ham. Mike, that's just what is going to happen. Primetime game. Mike Evans, what do you think? No, no, I think he might, but also this is the first time that Ibuka is not the number one wide receiver in a long time. Remember how he went when he was, yeah. Okay, so we're all seeing it the same way. We'll continue digitally on YouTube, ESPN +, Disney+. We got kicked off of TikTok, I guess. Again? What the hell? I feel like we get attacked on there by people. Been getting attacked a lot lately.

1:53:27Pat McAfee:I wonder why. What's that all about? Be a friend to a friend. Something nice might change your life. We'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye.

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1:54:54Pat McAfee:Maybe the singing. That'd be crazy. A singing? That would be crazy. That's exactly right. Or the MMA. Fighting. Yeah, more so. Fighting could have been the thing. No, but it's 100 % the singing. 100 % our fault. That could be the Galileo. It's the singing. It's the singing. Queen was pissed. Yeah. Said, yeah, right. That sounds too much like what it's supposed to sound like. Freddie Mercury back. I see a little silhouette of a man. We're going to get banned. We're going to get banned. You're right. We're going to get banned. AJ, that's why AJ didn't sing. Yeah, he's a beautiful voice. You're right.

1:55:28Pat McAfee:That's what he said. He said, I'm trying to look out for the business, for this business, for the program. Speaking of this business, we will have John Cena live in studio tomorrow. What? John Cena? No, John Cena. Oh, excuse me, sorry. John Cena will be in the Thunderdome tomorrow. And Saturday night, he will have his last ever WWE match on Saturday night, main event on Peacock and NBC against Gunther. They got a stacked card. It's going to be a spectacular night. And his last conversation, I do believe, before a big fight, will be with us as he sits right here. I don't know if that chair is going to be big enough for how Jack John Cena is.

1:56:08I need to wear my glasses. Any surprises, you think? Are they going to have any run-ins or anything? Anything crazy?

1:56:16Pat McAfee:I would assume now... This could just be a match, you know, could just want to go out old school. Let's just do a match. Let's not do this. But they've been the last time is now has kind of been the entire year here. And this would be the last time ever for a guy that a lot of people in the business call the goat for good reason. 20 plus years on top carried business to a completely different level and into a whole thing and was there every single night, like love the business. So I would assume that they're going to try to make this a spectacle. But John Cena is very much like, I don't want it.

1:56:49Pat McAfee:I would rather it just be wrestling show because he's super wrestling guy like he is. This is how wrestling is supposed to go. This is how it's supposed to be. This is what it's supposed to be. And I think he does have some say in that whole thing. So I assume that there will be quite a who's who on Saturday night for John Cena's last match ever, especially with how many years and how many different generations he worked with and all that stuff. So, yeah, I think it's probably going to be a Royal Rumble. turn into Royal Rumble. Oh, the new music hits, John knocks that dude out. Someone else comes out, knock you out, throw you into the crowd.

1:57:20Pat McAfee:A.A., Undertaker comes out. A.A. The Rock comes out. A.A., just everybody, even, I mean. Batista. Batista comes out, boom. Kurt Angle comes out, boom. I mean, it would be sweet if he gave 47 attitude adjustments. And then one, two, three, I'm getting out of here. The Batista entrance would be worth it. Jesse the Body on the call as well. It doesn't get any bigger. Do we know if that's real or not? Because didn't we just see a report that he was no longer? I would like to say as somebody that got to work alongside Jesse the Body at Saturday Night Main Event a few different times, what an honor it was to be talking to the Body, the governor, and learning about him off air.

1:58:01And some of the stories were, I mean, you get caught in one of those convos.

1:58:06Pat McAfee:You have no idea where it's going. I mean, I don't think I knew exactly what I was signing up for. Holy hell, Mr. Body, Mr. Governor, very nice to meet you. I'm Pat. oh I know who you are and then all of a sudden it's like holy shit I know who you are too do you ever think about and then we're right into it and it's hard to get out of it because it is something that you've never heard before so it was an honor to get to meet him and work alongside of him I have no idea what the future looks like if he is on the call great for Saturday Night Main Event that's throwback to the past if he's not on the call which is possible I know that Michael Cole will be this is Michael Cole's you know it's his dude right it's his goat yeah they were road dogs together for a while there you know so like and michael cole also road dog i mean that guy's been on the road for 27 years basically the entirety of john cena's they john cena rose to the top of the business as a whole as michael cole was raising to the top of his particular world within the profession so i i expect a goat performance by Michael Cole on Saturday night, and I expect John Cena in the send-off to be special.

1:59:12Pat McAfee:And Gunther, he's the right guy for it. I know a lot of people are saying there's a lot of different names for it. I mean, there's a lot of different people for it. Gunther, I don't think I've ever seen him not do his shit. Right? He's always been... You know exactly what you're getting from Gunther. Ring hand around. Exactly. He's a great athlete, too. He can do everything. Move. He goes off the top. He's gigantic. Obviously, he's punishing, but he can move. You know, he can move for a big guy. And I don't think there's ever been like, oh, that was a bad match from Gunther. Oh, he did bad today.

1:59:39Pat McAfee:It's like Gunther always does his shit. Now, I was hoping I was going to catch him on an off night, you know, because maybe he didn't have respect for me or what. Sure. But that wasn't the case. I guess he took me pretty seriously. He knew. He's seen the tape. I have a countdown, too. Well, that might have been what? Our countdown. Sure. That makes sense. It probably would be, actually. Yeah. The Rivers returns in being the wrong time is perfect. I love that. That is perfect. You know, I spent so much time trying to get it to look right and function. I just forgot to actually check the time. You see, the countdown of the countdown was the last thing because it did look cool.

2:00:25Yes.

2:00:25Pat McAfee:Yeah. The placement was spectacular. I mean, this is a perfect spot. Just boom. Look at my little ball right here. You see this clock right here? This clock is counting down to a changing of an era, a changing of a dynasty, a passing of a torch from the Kansas City Chiefs to the Indianapolis Colts. I'm sorry, I was under center. He's not going to be under center. No. He's going to be right back here. He's going to have to get under center. No, yeah, if he gets under center, aren't they happy? No, he's not. When's he taking under center? When's he have to do it? I mean, it's Phil Rivers. Goal line.

2:00:53Phil Rivers. Push, push. Tyler Warren's down there. What if he said no? I'm sorry, does Phil Rivers respect football? He's going to get under center.

2:01:00Pat McAfee:So Aaron Rodgers? Under center. When? All the time. No, Phil Rivers, a little different story than Aaron Rodgers. They're doing a tush push with JT and Tyler Warren, but instead of pushing him, they're just bending him down and then actually walking him back for his drop back. What do you mean? Like for every drop back? Yeah, only when he goes under center, just to help him bend and help him move. Oh, so they're all going to, like that thing where all the bodies are connected? Bingo. You're saying it's going to be like that? Yeah. They're going to pick up his leg. Yeah, here you go. Tie them together.

2:01:31Pat McAfee:So when I pick up this right leg, the left leg picks up. Yes. Tyler Warren and JT are going to help them. I want to let you know, yesterday, maybe I was a little bit turning towards the negative about it because a lot of people are pointing out a lot of things. Here we sit 74 hours, 19 minutes and 54 seconds away from the debut. I'm all in. After seeing him throw the ball, after hearing him talk, after listening to Josh Downs on Downs to Business podcast say, hey, he can spin it. the guy could still spin it he knows everything i'm all the way back in and uh not that i was ever all the way out but there were certainly some points that were being made that were hard to counter by others people that were saying it wasn't going to go good i'm all the way back i didn't like people putting the miles per hour on a couple of throws hey i don't think those are accurate that's fake yep and i don't know well there was one particular account that is well they are some menaces yeah see that's underdog and underdog will do this to you underdog will dance on social media what's normal then okay is 18 miles an hour normal because obviously i've seen people throw things 100 miles an hour so it's a little tough to just see 18 miles an hour when i've seen balls go 105 miles an hour out of hand not that that's what we need on that particular pass and phil rivers doesn't care about speediest cares about where it is and who's getting the ball and then what's the placement and i think and all this shit right here okay that's what phil rivers doing oh tyler warren but phil rivers says oh would you like a fucking gift Here's one.

2:02:56Pat McAfee:Bang. Boom. Josh Downs. I can't wait until Phil's first angry timeout when the play clock is running down or delay of game if they get. Chin shot. I'm excited for him at the end when he has to do the kneel down from shotgun like it's college. Yep. And he's going to be trying to talk shit to people on the other side of the line. They're going to be like, we can't hear you. You're 18 feet away, dude. If I could get under center, I'd say this to your face, but I can't. and he hands it off to somebody, they kneel it. Yeah. I hope so. He looked like he could move, though. He did look like he could.

2:03:31Pat McAfee:He did. It is a crazy story, though. Like, when Colin Kaepernick was like, I want to get back into football, I want to get back into football. We were like, cool, cool, cool, good luck, good luck, good luck, good luck, good luck. But then it was like six years, and he was like, I want to get back into football. My first take was like, brother, I'm a punter, and I've been out of the game for like two years. I don't even know what my body would do if I had to get back into peak. That's not just UX, FSS, and all. Yeah, exactly. This is the NFL, you know, like, especially at the quarterback position.

2:03:59Pat McAfee:It's like five years away from the elite level of something. You would assume that there's going to be some creaks and cracks and some rust that's going to happen. But you hear Phil Rivers talk, shoot, I've been calling this offense all year. I actually know this thing better than Shane. And do you know, we made it to the state finals. Is this team going to the Super Bowl without me coming here? That's what I thought. So maybe I'm actually better at this offense than he is. He seems very confident. very very comfortable obviously the same exact person mentally and they talked about his family his press conference his younger kids obviously haven't really seen him they've only seen the videos and highlight packages and say what's the deal so i think he's driven to have success because he's got an entire new five kids four kids that really never seen him ever ever do it and let alone the grandbaby that they're going to get a picture on his it's like i think he's driven to be good i think he feels very good and i don't think they're doing this for any other reason And then, hey, why not?

2:04:52Pat McAfee:We are in this. We need to go do this. And it's like this guy knows our offense completely. Did you hear Cam got upset? I didn't expect that. Cam said he thought it was a – I didn't hear the quote. I only saw the headline. And I – massive respect for Cam Newton. You can go back and check. On the record, I am a Cam Newton fan. Love his moxie. Love his size. Love what he did in the NFL. He's allowed to talk about football, however the fuck he wants to talk about football. It's his league. It's his sport. He's one of them. So, like, that is what he can do. But he said he was upset that the Colts didn't call him.

2:05:19Pat McAfee:and it's like week 15 I think they were just, I didn't even think of Cam now granted, I thought of Cam before because he knows the playbook, just because his relationship was stinking, that's why they didn't call Cam if Cam was in that system, then they probably would yeah, because we don't have time for you to learn here week 15, this is we don't have any time it's whoever knows our shit because if we go back to elementary level offense against Seattle, we got no shot I mean, you know, like so if you change the entire offense to fit one guy You got no shot because nobody else knows what the hell they're doing.

2:05:50Pat McAfee:Yeah, so I think the decision was strictly a who knows our shit and then who can execute it conversation first. That's why Sam Ellinger got to work out. A couple of the other people got to work out. We don't have a lot of time. We're still trying to make a run at this thing very much. We've invested a lot of money and a lot of pieces in this roster. We are still going to try to go. And then they just, it all goes down. And then there's a 44-year-old down in Alabama that's catching high school. Think he can still do it? and then they look online and there's some TikTok of Phil Rivers throwing to his kid.

2:06:20Pat McAfee:Yup, fucking son of them. And that's what we got. We got a potential fairytale Disney movie happening and starting this weekend in 74 hours, 15 minutes, and 13 seconds. Can't wait. So bummed. Give it a week. What's that called? What was that movie? The baseball movie? Oh, The Rookie. Was that Randy Quaid? That was Dennis Quaid. But you know that was Dennis Quaid. Didn't he come back as like a 60-year-old pitcher and making the majors or something? Yeah, but remember the goddamn speedometer on the street. Yeah, it said 64. And he threw a pass in, and he walked past it, and it blinks. 94. That's 96, whatever it was.

2:06:55Pat McAfee:He missed that, so he was potentially going to miss out on his dream. That's Phil Rivers in the backyard. Hopefully. 14 points is way too many. Biggest spread of the weekend. I don't love that. I think the offense is going to be better. Do you? Yes. I'm dead serious. Yeah, we put a Colts JMU Moneyline Parlay and feel so good about it. Yep. I will buy a Phillip Rivers jersey if the Colts win. Yes. You're invested. Why? Because, boy, if the Packers want to get that number one seed, I'm just kind of looking ahead here. If the Colts could somehow beat the Seahawks and the Seahawks could beat the Rams, that would put the Packers in a pretty good position to go hunting for that number one seed.

2:07:35So I don't just want the Colts to win this weekend. Nay, I need the Colts to win this weekend.

2:07:40Pat McAfee:So you're on Old Man Rivers. Big time. Hell yeah. And, Tone, what were you saying? I didn't like the way you said it earlier, but I do appreciate that you're almost kind of positive about the situation. I was just – I am very positive about the situation. I was just saying that – who's the semifinalist for the Hall of Fame this year? Phillip Rivers. Phillip Rivers. So, like, one of the best quarterbacks of all time, correct? Absolutely. We've seen it. He can still sling it. He knows the offense. Danny Dimes, we love him. He was great this season, but he was never Phillip Rivers, so there's a chance the offense is better.

2:08:12Pat McAfee:Danny Dimes we appreciate you we appreciate you but when we signed Danny Dimes to your point he was never going to be a semi-finalist for the Hall of Fame now he's currently in the middle of his prime and has been playing football and you know we've seen him in the last five years we've also seen what Phil's done off the field we know his body still works who says Phil doesn't get a three year deal there's a chance honestly maybe catches up with Blanda Now, if we do lose this weekend, and I don't know if Cadell is taking this into consideration. I didn't know they had their Zoom winter meetings.

2:08:48Pat McAfee:I proposed a clause to him yesterday. I wrote a formal letter. You see it? D at the top. And I even sign off with a comma, okay, with a space. This is a formal letter, I think, if you were to look at it. I'd like to propose a Week 15 clause for any team that has a grandfather playing quarterback that hasn't played football in five years that states a loss will not be held against the team's overall record when determining the playoff picture or division titlehood. I think that's fair. Yeah, I don't think a win should count either for the Seahawks. Well, so on that note, due to how special of a moment it is in the history of humanity, the game's outcome should count as a win for that particular team regardless of the final scores.

2:09:26Pat McAfee:Oh. So I think that would kind of – and this is, once again, thank you for your consideration. This is from an NFL fan who just wants the best for the game no matter who would benefit from it immediately. I don't see anyone who would have any problem with that. Yeah, people were saying, a lot of people were saying, like, I'm saying that because that's the situation we have and it will never happen again. So there's no reason. But in my eyes, like, who knows who's going to be in this position going forward with the way the game is and with the way science is and technology and, you know, the ability to have kids, I guess, for kids to have kids.

2:09:53Pat McAfee:People have been doing that forever. So I'm just saying we should maybe put this in ahead of time because we don't want these grandfathers, these fairytale stories to always come back as a negative one. For the good of the game, for the good of the league, AJ, we'd like that to be a win regardless of the score. Right, AJ? Yeah, of course. I'm sure a commissioner will change the rules instantly, but then are you going to propose another clause next week, I would assume? No, this is just for week 15. Yeah, just this team. Just this week, okay. So if they win, it doesn't count either? If they win, it's just nothing?

2:10:20Pat McAfee:No, no, definitely a win. I'm just saying the loss should be counted. We're always winning. That is basically what I'm saying. We're playing a grandfather who has not played in five years. That's good for the league for people to think, I could play in the NFL. That's it. oh my God, it's a dream all of a sudden. I want to be like Phil Rivers. Like, the league needs that. We need more good stories. We need more of that type of stuff happening. So if he comes back and just, and we lose, like, that's not good for all of a sudden. It doesn't count. So I just think the commission should think about this being like an exhibition almost, and give us the win.

2:10:55Pat McAfee:Now, on that note, fully confident. Fully confident. Of course. That we're going to be out just for other teams. I just wanted to pitch that for other teams, AJ. Not for us this week. Go look at what Luanna Rumo has done to Sam Donald. I have not. Is that something we need to look into? I don't know. Maybe. Let's go look. Let's do a little homework for Sam. Speaking of homework, women's college basketball has become something that is on our radar. Oh, boy. Because Audie is unstoppable. She goes for another 30-point game in the Cy Hawk game, which is obviously Iowa versus Iowa State. Iowa State has been beating Iowa in most things as of late.

2:11:35Pat McAfee:And Audie, I don't think she's losing to anybody, let alone Iowa, where she herself said after the game that while she was shooting a free throw in this run, she got emotional because her dad, who passed away from Iowa, would have loved the fact that she was playing in this game. Ty, I know you're an Iowa Hawkeye. Audie is special. Absolutely unguardable, unstoppable. And it seems like she's a joy. She seems to be very, very pleasant for her team. Yeah, she's an absolute dog. And while, yes, I did go to Iowa and am an Iowa fan, she's still homegrown. She's from the state. So I love any time an Iowan puts on, whether that is for Iowa or Iowa State.

2:12:14And, I mean, that's no bullshit. You know, not only is she unbelievable, Hilton Magic is the real deal. You play at Hilton for basketball, Iowa State. The men play tonight, Iowa, Iowa State. and the men. So not only are the women unbelievable and have a legit chance to maybe win a national championship this year, Iowa State men's team is also one of the best teams in the nation. And that arena is a special, special place and very difficult to play.

2:12:41Pat McAfee:She has a Shaq vibe. She does. Just like dominant, you know, just absolutely dominating of a game. And obviously people take shots at her. She's a superstar that looks different than everybody else that plays in it. I would like to let her know I fucking love the way she sits in the paint and just goes for it and continues the ball and has a positive attitude through it all and dominates. I think she's special. I appreciate her contributions to sports and sports media world for us to talk about. Anytime we can dive into another sport or another league, it's a good thing. She has captivated us and certainly captivated me, and she knows we exist, which is good.

2:13:13Pat McAfee:She sent us an autographed jersey. We love Audi. You like women's hoops more than people would ever really realize, I think. Yeah, absolutely, and that was the other thing from watching the game. Audi does get a lot of the headlines because she has all these historic numbers with another girl on the team, Addy. It's kind of Audie and Addy. They're the front court, if you will. She's unbelievable. And just, like, the sport as a whole is growing so much. Like, getting to go to, you know, season tickets for the Fever with Caitlin Clark was really cool, but then just learning about everybody else who's in the game.

2:13:43Like, Juju Watkins for USC, she's out for the entire year, but USC has another girl that's going bananas this season. It is cool just the more sport and the bigger everything gets, the better it is for everybody. Downtown Indy is legitimately changing before our eyes because of the fever. They are changing the landscape of the city to add on for the fever practice facility, for a lot of other things that just benefits everybody in the city. And it does feel as though that effect will carry over to some of the other places that these women's teams are.

2:14:18Pat McAfee:Yeah, Audie might be doing the same damn thing wherever she has to. She has 276 points in 245 minutes this season. She's on pace to be the second D1 men's or women's NBA or WNBA player this century to average at least one point per minute in a single campaign, joining the 76ers' Joelle M. Bede. Now, that's a problem for everybody else, not for us. Congrats, Audie. Keep it going. Keep going, Audie. Audie and Addie? Yeah. Over there in Iowa State? No, their girl's very good as well. Oh, no. I mean, Hawks lost by five at Hilton, so let's not sound the alarms and act like the sky's falling. What happened in football?

2:14:57It's their first loss of the season. Well, I've actually been waiting to kind of say this, but if you've been on my Twitter, basically anything that comes out about Matt Campbell, I've kind of just been – and I do actually believe it, but this guy's a class act. This guy's all class. There's been a lot of Matt Campbell. Yeah, there have been. And, you know, it's just hilarious, absolutely hilarious that this whole Penn State thing's happening. And we're wondering, what is going to go? And then out of nowhere, Iowa State's program just gets gutted because of it. I mean, it just, you know, it couldn't have worked out better.

2:15:31I do love Matt Campbell.

2:15:32Pat McAfee:He's a terrible person. I'm not. I'm not. The other day I was like, I think it was yesterday or two days ago to tie. I'm like, Matt Campbell, what a great hire for Penn State. Like, actually, what a great hire for Penn State. And Ty goes, yeah. And who would have thought in this whole Penn State thing, Iowa State's program would be the only one that would really end up suffering totally from it. That was Ty's like first reaction whenever I talked about it. And then you think about it, it's like during the Matt Campbell-Iowa State run, like real program, real operation. They were legit. This is not just me being an Iowa grad.

2:16:03Like they were one of the worst Division I college football teams for a long time, like really fucking bad. And then he got there and completely changed everything, They went to two Big 12 championship games. They went to a BCS Bowl. He is an unbelievable coach. So I think that is also why even Iowa State fans understood that this guy got an opportunity. He said in his opening press conference, I think his grandparents were massive Penn State fans. I think he has family that went to Penn State. He has a lineage connected to that. And he really didn't owe Iowa State anything. He gave them the best 11 years in their program's history, and he deserved the opportunity to go somewhere bigger who has a bigger budget and all that kind of stuff, and I'm excited to see what he does at Penn State.

2:16:52Perfect hire.

2:16:53Pat McAfee:Yes. Like, actually a perfect hire. I think. Even if they would have hired him, which nobody thought was possible, nobody thought he was ever going to leave because to Ty's point in his first tweet there, the guy's God in aims. But if they would have hired him week five or week six, whenever they was, after they fired James Franklin, I think everybody's been like, that's a good hire. That's a really good hire. So for them to go through the entire song and dance and then end up with Matt Campbell, it's like they ended up somehow going through it all and ended up in the perfect spot. And for Matt Campbell, he's got an athletic director that took a big swing, got buried publicly by a lot of people who now would like to see you have the most amount of success.

2:17:33Pat McAfee:So they are going to line that whole thing up to go on a run. And we all believe Matt Campbell can win the big one, right? Yeah. I mean, he has done more with less than I don't think there's any arguing that like and yeah, I mean there's a chance we'll see which. Yeah, I believe Rocco Beck does have another year of eligibility. I'm pretty sure he's a redshirt junior. So that is obviously the but like look at Iowa State's recruiting class this year. Like they're unbelievable. I think they they had the 50th ranked recruit like that is what they do. They go get two-star guys from Nebraska and the surrounding parts of Iowa, and he develops them and turns them into NFL guys.

2:18:11That's what he does.

2:18:13Pat McAfee:He's a junior. Rocco Beck has another year. So if Matt Campbell is 22 years old, so not really. Wow, we've been seeing him a long time. We've been seeing Rocco Beck. Yeah, started as a freshman. His dad, Anthony Beck, a West Virginia legend. He's in a West Virginia Hall of Fame. He was played for the Jets. He was a coach in the XFL. Anthony Beck is a stud. Paisan, absolute legend. Rocco has been great for Iowa State. And the fact that he has another year now, I'm not saying he's going to leave the Cyclones, okay, even though. But. Probable. He's not going to. He's leaving the Cyclones. Don't sleep on Jimmy Rogers.

2:18:45You might keep him there. But forget all that.

2:18:47Pat McAfee:Matt Campbell thinking to himself, like, what I could do at Penn State. Think about Rocco Beck to Penn State. Like, he's going to have four stars, right? Playing wide receiver. We would assume five stars. Be a little better. Playing wide receiver. Running backs. He'll be able to get to it. It's like Rocco Beck is the one who's ready for the moment. Now it's only one year. You know, this would be only a one-year run. But it's like Rocco would be a great quarterback in the Big Ten like that. So when you talk about Penn State going through shit and ending up in Sugar, it's like not only do you seemingly, potentially, because they have the funds and the connection with the guy, to be able to get a top five quarterback in the country, but now you've got a coach that is a dog.

2:19:22And it's like, is Penn State back,

2:19:25Pat McAfee:especially with what's going on with Michigan right now, AJ? So, you know, it's – Penn State, it's looking like they have all the pieces in place, yes, to be back and to make it happen. But, yeah, it's up to the new coach. Can he come in and instill what he did at Iowa State? You would think so. Two weeks ago, Penn State sucks. Laughing stock. This place, what a joke. Embarrassing. Yeah, embarrassing. Everything like that. You are now mid-tier Big Ten, maybe even bottom of Big Ten because you're losing all your recruits. Your players are posting. you didn't know what you had until it was gone with the last head coach.

2:20:00Pat McAfee:That player potentially a part of the whole thing. But nonetheless, the thought of where Penn State was three weeks ago versus where it is now, it's like college football is insane. On that note, Ohio State, Buckeye legend you. You saw what was happening yesterday on the internet. Crazy night on the internet. I mean, that was one of the wildest evenings. Just keeps going, huh? Yeah, it was. Well, I assume in your algo, because you're in Ohio, I assume X says this guy's in Ohio. We need to feed him everything that's happening up there in Michigan. But last night was insanity. The For You tab on X.

2:20:39Pat McAfee:Every scroll was either some new AI photo, maybe a police report, maybe a new reporter, maybe a journalist who might know something. I actually am a journalist, but I don't report on football. I actually report on this thing, but I have this source that says this. that has 700 ,000 views right now. Is that real? Is that not real? It was chaotic last night because it's a crazy story where, you know, he gets fired, Shroom Moore gets fired for cause from the University of Michigan as their football coach because of an affair with a staffer. Okay, so he's in a position of power. He abused that and obviously you can't do that.

2:21:18Pat McAfee:That's part of the contract. For cause, you're gone. Then we hear he's been arrested. It's like, no way. he's been he's been arrested for this it has to be much more than just having an affair with a staffer for him to be arrested and then like craziness starts coming out accusations of why he got arrested starts coming out and then pete thamel told us this morning uh off the police report it was an alleged assault he was being uh held but he wasn't officially charged with anything they were waiting to potentially file any charges to investigate to see what it was now we know that tomorrow there will be an arraignment where we will know more information So Sharon Moore will remain in custody until then.

2:21:57Pat McAfee:So that's kind of where we're at right now, AJ. As an Ohio State Buckeye fan, obviously this was your feed all night because Ohio State Michigan is what it is. But this is a wild thing to happen at this stage of the college football season. We talked about Penn State hiring late. Now Michigan's in the game late. Signing day already happened. They all can bounce. Bryce Underwood has eliminated everything Michigan-wise from his social media. it's like this could be a disaster not it is our obviously and not great but you're talking about for the future of the program we're talking about devastation potentially here AJ Locke yeah that's why I think Michigan's gonna have to they're gonna have to act quickly and find a way to bring a big name in or make a big splash higher to try to shore up some of those recruits and figure out what you're gonna do because yeah like just think a couple days ago for Sharon Moore compared to now like you look around like geez what what has happened in such a short span especially if this guy's in jail and all the alleged situations that happen like i wonder how heavy it weighed on his mind knowing like what's the end game to this like if you knew all this stuff's going on did he think he could find a way you got to win a lot of games if you want to figure stuff like this out yeah and you're right i mean you talk about conscious all the time you know there's uh i always wonder that with some folks i'm like how are you able to perform with all that going on because it's such a hard thing to be able to balance everything pete damill told us earlier that there was an investigation from an anonymous tip into this particular relationship that Sharon Moore was a part of.

2:23:25Pat McAfee:The University of Michigan did an investigation. It came back saying that everything was above board and good. And then within the last couple of days, they learned more information and everything kind of led, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, quickly. So I wonder if after said first investigation, you're like, all right, we're good. Everybody said everything's good. And then you move forward. And then all of a sudden, boom, boom, boom, boom, Everything kind of, that's crazy. Sorry to everybody that is a victim in this situation, which there are a lot because this is not fun. But in the sports world, this is a very relevant conversation.

2:23:55Pat McAfee:Like a very, very, this is one of the most prominent schools in college football, one of the biggest businesses on earth, all of a sudden has a major dynamic shift because of off-field issues that are obviously very serious. And like the victims, of course, very sorry, but there are a lot of people who aren't technically victims in this situation that are effective, or that are affected, rather. Like, the number one running back in a country, and again, this is two separate things, like a serious situation in a sport, a game, but futures in a game matter a lot. Savion Hitter is the number one running back in the entire country, and he committed to Michigan a week ago.

2:24:31Like, we had Chris Henry Jr. on the program last week, and he committed to Ohio State. That is a massive moment in these kids' lives, and that is now effective. Now, obviously, you know, with that rule Thamel mentioned, when a new coach is hired, you get five days after where you can transfer. But does that even – does that account for incoming freshmen that aren't technically – I think so. Okay, okay, good. But, like, that's just kind of the weight of everything. Like, massive, massive decisions in these high school kids' lives. Incoming freshmen can hit the transfer portal. Well, and also that, like Pete said, how, like, the staff was just blindsided.

2:25:06Like, none of these guys knew. So like you have a bunch of like coaches.

2:25:10Pat McAfee:Why was everybody acting like everybody knew that was kind of like the overall last night. Everybody was like, everybody knows this. Everybody knew this was happening. It was like, I was just there. I, I, nobody told me and I feel like I pepper Pete a lot on like, Hey Pete, what, what even not just on our show, but like you, I've never been around a human like Pete Dammell before. Okay. Me. That's a flaw, I guess. This is one of the biggest robot nerds, but who also loves ball humans that I've ever been around. I've never had the opportunity to be around this human on a regular basis. It has been fun for me to learn about said types of humans, you know, and how they respond, pressure, adversity, response, work ethic, all that shit.

2:25:49Pat McAfee:It's been fun to learn about the authority Pete Thamel, but I feel like I pepper him a lot with information that I already know from the source that he's trying to get, so I can hear what he knows, so that I know what I'm allowed to say, or shit that I think is pretty prevalent to a conversation. it didn't, we were just up there. I mean, we're literally just up there. There was, so. So you got all those guys who, a bunch of those guys are going to lose their jobs. A bunch of support staff people are going to lose their jobs because you're bringing in, you know, if they, if they get someone like Kalen DeBoer or whoever, like he's bringing in all, all his guys, all his assistants, all his people that he worked with.

2:26:22Like, so you have a bunch of people who probably expected like, oh, you know, I'll be at Michigan here for the next three to five years. And then we'll see, just getting the rug completely pulled out from under them and now it's scrambling for them too like what am I going to do next if you have a family like how at this point in the season am I going to be able to go find another job for next year like what what do I do now and like Kalen DeBoer is the perfect hire like let's talk about the other aspect of it where nobody wants to go to Michigan right now and what happens if the guy that comes in or if they hire from within and everything just goes to shit like okay let let alone did the current place you're at go to shit, but now I'm the coach on a team that's terrible.

2:27:00Like, what are my opportunities going forward after all of this happens? Like, the fallout is just insane.

2:27:06Pat McAfee:Kalen DeBoer answered at the SEC Championship about the Penn State interest that was alleged. He said, I never talked. They never talked. I love being here. I love part of the grind. Said no. And there was a lot of people at Alabama like, why didn't he address the Penn State? Why didn't he address the Penn State? I think from reading the tweets from the video from a couple weeks back. And then he finally, he was like, thank you for asking me about that. I would like to say this is how I feel. His name being in the Penn State thing was interesting, though. Very much so. It was like, Kalen DeBoer?

2:27:33Pat McAfee:Not supposed to be in the South? Is that what people are saying? Just like the Brian Kelly thing? Like, Brian Kelly wasn't supposed to be in the South? Are they saying about Kalen? He's got Alabama in the fucking playoff. Yeah. I don't... But maybe Kalen is like, I'm going to get back. Who did they hire? Yeah, weren't they the first team ever to beat five ranked teams in five straight weeks? Yeah, I don't fucking... It feels like he has his guys in there now, and he's been accepted into the Alabama community. Yeah. Michigan is one of those jobs, though. Yes. True. Alabama is, though, too. It definitely is, but I've always thought with him, too, is like, if you're a competitor, that's one thing.

2:28:05But, like, he's never going to do what Saban's done. Like, he's living in Saban's shadow. Or better. Yeah, exactly. No matter what for the entire time he's there. If he wins five national titles, he still isn't living up to Saban. Now, granted, he'll be a legend in his own right, but, like, it just at a certain point is it like, hey, no matter what I do, it's never going to be enough. and Michigan is as blue of a blood of a program as there is in the country.

2:28:28Pat McAfee:And they got 117 ,000, I mean, everything that you would possibly need. But his name was up with the Penn State conversation, and he said there was no links, and obviously the coaches are not supposed to be linked. That's what you have agents for to do it. So that means Penn State probably was making a run at him, just making an offer, just a feeler. I assume all those coaches that got feelers from Penn State's at places are going to get feelers from Michigan as well outside of Cignetti, Rule. He might get a feeler too. Rule? I mean, during the playoffs, Michigan's got to hire somebody somewhat soon, don't you think?

2:28:58Pat McAfee:Yeah, what if it's Biff? They have to – you would hope – Whoa, whoa. What? You said maybe. No, their first sound was, oh, like an excited – it almost sounded like you were trying to – as an Ohio State guy. But the portal opens on the second, so you would hope they would want someone by the second, which is a couple weeks away. Also, you need to put the fire out right now. Yeah, and the thing Ty brought up to Thamel, like, okay, let's say they hire someone in a week, and then next week, all their guys, well, fuck that, I'm transferring. And then they only have 30 guys for the bowl game? Six and a half right now.

2:29:35Six and a half, Texas is favored by.

2:29:39Pat McAfee:Arch, all of them are playing down there in Texas. Except for probably the guys that are going to the NFL. Yeah, but they got to change, right? Young team. It was four and a half, moved to six and a half. It was my first question to turn. I'm like, what's the immediate this morning? Hey, what's the line for their bowl game or whatever? They're playing Texas, right? Yeah. That's got to be like 20. Six and a half. I'm like, what? Excuse me? Arch and Em are playing, right? Yeah. Seven, no. Maybe to seven? I think a lot of people are probably seeing what we're seeing. This one might get taken off the board.

2:30:10Pat McAfee:Yeah. This one might get taken off the board. What happens if I get in here early? Just send the money back if it gets taken off the board? I believe so, yeah. I mean, each book is different, and you have to read all the fine print. if you really want to know. Bruce just shook his head no. What do you think, Bruce? I think if you get in at 6.5, even if they pull the line temporarily, you're in there. No, no, he means pull the game completely. And never put it back up. No, they will. Void. Why don't they just pull the game? Haven't they done that before? They've just pulled games? Yeah, but they would, if the game goes on, like if Michigan does play Texas, they will put the line back up.

2:30:41It'll just be at 20.

2:30:43Pat McAfee:Okay, so I'd still be able to keep 6.5. I don't know. I think so, and then you're cashed out before the game even starts just goes like to the moon six and a half feels crazy seven i guess is what it is now still that just feels crazy to me i i especially with how hard it is to win a football game you know with everything going on this is so much worse than penn state like you mentioned the last 14 days before mcdambles transfer thing is two days after that the transfer portal was two days after that. So the amount of money conversations that are happening right now with all them, I'm sure they're training for this cheese-a-bull.

2:31:22Pat McAfee:Yeah. Hard. What are you saying to future recruits? What are you saying to them? How do you make them feel? You just gotta get to them. You gotta stop the bleeding. You're telling... I don't know, just because it is NIO and it's all different, but it is very hard to imagine that the number one running back in the country who's going into his freshman year next year at Michigan... Hasn't heard from some other school that was recruiting them. Matt Campbell, perhaps. Penn State, who is maybe a more desperate team right now, especially in recruiting. And that's all their thing. I don't know. It's insane.

2:31:55I mean, you'd imagine that at this point, they're praying to God that Alabama gets kind of embarrassed in the first round by Oklahoma, and then they can just put the full court press on DeBoer.

2:32:06Pat McAfee:Then you can get, hopefully, DeBoer's recruits. Exactly. Not to mention a couple guys who maybe will transfer from Alabama to Michigan. Alabama would be in a terrible spot then. Big time. Then Saban's in the building still. Were you the one that tweeted that tone last night about Kalen DeBoer maybe getting plucked to Michigan, and then who's in the building? Who's the interim coach? Oh, look who's winning an eighth national championship potentially, Coach Saban. Yeah, a lot of people weren't happy about that. Why? They didn't love that AI-ed Nick Saban. Oh. That was AI? Yeah, I didn't know that.

2:32:37Pat McAfee:I thought he took that at the Hall of Fame. I thought that was just Santa Claus. Looks pretty sweet. Doesn't he? He's still – I got to watch one of those games with him. Vandy, I think. I got to watch Vandy play against him. Alabama. Maybe tennis – Vandy. Wow, this season really all kind of goes together. I think it was Vandy. He's still every play. I mean, they scored a touchdown. He stood up, fixed his hands, didn't even know where to look. Did one of these, and then he just turned back around. The whole stadium's looking at him, then he sat back down. He's like, oh, this guy. Didn't even say anything.

2:33:09Pat McAfee:I'm standing right behind him. Gumpy, I think you were right next to me, right? Yeah. Me and Gumpy are standing. He's like, there's three rows of seats, and then there's one of those bars. We're standing at bar. He's second row. Miss Terry's first seat on the outside. That was kind of a rotating seat. Come sit, talk to Coach Saban, the entire thing. But it is Miss Terry's seat. Then it was Coach Saban. I think Reese was right here, and then somebody. And we're kind of standing back here because, you know, it was pretty good. They had a great setup for us, I will say. The Sabans always deliver every single time, which is why he's a goat, she's a goat, they are goats.

2:33:40Pat McAfee:you get it but every single play he was living and dying with having a conversation with him yeah right he's fucking coach what do you think about that huh yeah i don't like it yeah i think so that fucker doesn't have the headset on but he might as well i mean he is still he's in the building every single day and whenever he says he'll slip up every once in a while and say we got to be able to alabama's got to be able to it's like he's still very much and i think that's a cool thing that he has done for deborah awesome by the way he's done a lot of that for deborah like hey i will support the hell out of you i'm not gonna try to make your job as hard as it already is so if deborah was to leave and it was a lang kiffin o'miss situation it does feel like there is a guy that just said all right he's in there i don't see why you would though like deborah like what yeah why i don't deborah's already put his culture in and they'd like him at this point.

2:34:35Pat McAfee:Now granted he loses to Oklahoma by shit I thought it would get loud all offseason but it's like he had to work his ass off to get to this point where he's like kind of in there. Like welcomed. Yeah like an Alabama. Going up to Michigan you're just I don't know. Gotta do it again. Yeah gotta do it again in a much shorter quicker time. They don't have a president right in their AD. They don't know what the situation is. They don't know anything going on. That's why maybe you have to just go the NFL route because like Pete said, like, you know, Elijah Drinkvist. It's like, listen, nothing against that guy.

2:35:07Like, he will get fucking chewed up and spit out at Michigan, especially with all the stuff that's happening. They're very need a Michigan man. If you get a guy, I mean, we saw the rich route. If they hire a guy who's not a Michigan man and he doesn't do well, fuck this guy, get him out of here. So maybe it is like, hey, what's John Gruden doing right now or what's Brian Day?

2:35:26Pat McAfee:So Portnoy, obviously a very important alumni there in Michigan. I think he's given everything. He's obviously employed Gruden, so he has a great relationship with Gruden. We've been told numerous times by John Gruden, not only to us, but also to the public, like, I'm preparing to coach, man. That's literally what I do all day, every day. And any time I hear him speak, I think to myself as a high schooler, college kid, or now, and it's like, I'd run with that guy right there. And he's certified. And he's certified. The fucking guy is actually certified. So that's why I didn't fully understand why a lot of teams weren't, like, pressing for Gruden.

2:35:59Pat McAfee:Like, why isn't Florida pressing for group? Why isn't – I was confused by it, but, hey, they got it right. The guy's got two hats on now. You know, he took two lanes. Yeah, that's right. But John Gruden's still making magic on the internet, which we are grateful for. But it's like, I don't know why his name wasn't brought up more. Is Michigan the right spot for him? Who knows? They have all the facilities. They have everything you possibly need. It may be. Maybe there's – I hadn't heard about Drink until Pete brought it up because he's a Southern guy. He's been in the SEC the majority of his career.

2:36:23So I don't know if, like, that was a thing. But, like, Jed Fish kind of makes sense because he was at Arizona, turned that program around, took over Washington after DeBoer left and got them back to where they had a 9-win season this year. There's another name floating around out there, and it's kind of similar to Matt Campbell because he's done a good job at a place where they haven't always been good, and that's our guy. That's our guy, P.J. Fleck.

2:36:44Pat McAfee:Really? Minnesota? Would he be considered a Michigan man? They'd get sick of his – Never in a million years. No, they would not get sick of his – I'm sorry. You don't think, Ty? No, Michigan's not fucking hiring P.J. Fleck. Well, he started up there in Michigan. They're not rolling boats. Western Michigan. What about Chip Kelly? He just interviewed for the offensive coaching role at Georgia Tech. Clark Lee was a name that Pete brought up. That would be Manny Diaz. I still think Manny Diaz is out there. I think Minter, man. I do. Yeah, Minter would make sense. Why would Minter do it? That's the – Just to be a head coach.

2:37:19Pat McAfee:He could be a head coach in the NFL. His show clause just ended. He's already – And they can't afford – the Chargers are going to the playoffs. We just talked about the timeline. They can't afford to wait until the Chargers get eliminated from the playoffs to hire someone. We think he'd be good as the head coach of Michigan. We would like that to be done. We just don't know if that would even be something that he would, especially he left with. How does that staff that got all those sanctions from that feel about? Yeah, and how does Michigan feel about that staff, especially if they want to get away from it?

2:37:51Pat McAfee:Kevin Bowen just posted a video from Colts practice. Put the clock up. Put the clock up. Put the clock up, please. Please, please, please. A good pat and go session? Don't you worry about what session it is. Please, don't you worry about it. It's in the group text, Bruce. If you could please find it in the group text. It is, boom, full screen on that thing. Thank you, Kevin Bone. We appreciate your morning show host here. I don't think that was him. I hope not. I don't think that was him. That's definitely not him. He's not 1-7 in there? That's him right there. Boom. There he is. Yeah. Yeah. That was over the linebacker.

2:38:24Pat McAfee:Did you see that? A layered throw, as they say, right? Yeah, right over AJ's stupid hands. You're right. Look at him getting around the edge, too. Is that Freeney? The sound effects. Was that Freeney moving on him? Yeah, I think it might be. Might have been Mathis. I'm not her saying sure. It's going to be awesome. Honestly, I can't wait to watch the Colts game. So pumped. Hey, he looks good. He is moving. It's great. Look how quick his release is, obviously. That's Phil. Thank you, Kevin Bone, for that. Pause, please. Pause. Pause, please. That's what it's all about right there. Character. Bingo.

2:38:58Pat McAfee:What's your character? Exactly. We know who Phil Rivers is. He's a dog. And in 73 hours, 42 minutes, and 35 seconds, he's going to showcase that to the entire world once again. Speaking of characters, if Wazowski was on the field for Phil, game over. I think we'd take Sully or Wazowski at this point. Sully's locked up. Sully's locked up. You can't get him. Signed a five-year deal with Chargers. We'll see if Howie nuts up. How much is Sully getting paid? Yeah,$380 guaranteed. Million. $520 overall. Excuse me,$530 overall. Oh. Yeah, but the$530 is not real. The guaranteed money always with these contracts is with the one that we're really looking at.

2:39:38Yeah, but the incentive, just after one game, I mean, he's a quarter of the way there on his incentives. Two touchdowns, two interceptions, two fumble fours, two fumble recovered. Bunch of sacks.

2:39:48Pat McAfee:Yeah, so. All right, we'll take Wazowski, I guess, if we can get him. Wazowski's a good player. You'll be happy with him. Let's make some picks for tonight's game. Let's get the hell out of here. AJ, NFC South on Amazon Prime. Falcons, Bucs, Kirk, Baker. Mike Evans is back. Drake London is out. Raheem Morris is obviously feeling the heat around him in Atlanta. They're four and nine, taking on a team but still trying to win the NFC South. Fresh off a loss is both of these teams. AJ, who do you like? How do you like it? Man, as Coach Mike, we heard him say it's a lot of points in division. but I like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

2:40:24I like Baker Mayfield and what they're doing. Obviously, Mike Evans coming back. Let's go, Bucs. I think they win and they cover this.

2:40:30Pat McAfee:I agree. I'll ride with you into tomorrow, and I won't be live from anywhere tomorrow. I'll be right here. I'm so thankful, so pumped to be here. John Cena. John Cena will be right here.

2:40:44Right here.

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