PMS 2.0 1485 - Super Wildcard Weekend MNF Recap, Mike Tomlin Steps Down as Steelers Head Coach, Bruce Arians, Peter Schrager, Darius Butler, & AJ Hawk

18:35Pat McAfee:I forget how it was exactly said. Yeah, it was basically something along the lines of, he's going to make that decision on his own. The Steelers are not going to fire him, so if he wants to coach another year, he will be able to coach, but he also does have a potential lucrative TV career that he can fall back on as soon as next year, maybe with you know me and the boys at Fox okay I don't think Jay alluded to Fox but I think everybody else kind of assumed he's definitely talking about Jay Glazer knowing that but it's not just Fox I mean Netflix is building a sports department right they paid L congrats to L by the way Honnold January 23rd Honnold's climbing the skyscraper yep exactly and Netflix is getting more and more in sports remember they were doing like the gimmicky tennis and like the gimmicky shit.

19:21Pat McAfee:Now they're like trying to get into actual sports on a regular basis. I think WWE kind of moved them in that direction. Now we get the Christmas games. We assume there's only going to be more and more there, especially if they're hiring full-time Netflix sports department. Congrats to hell. We're big fans there, but Netflix is going to want to get in. Prime's going to want to get in. YouTube's getting in. ESPN obviously still very much involved. They just bought Sunday tickets, so they got a lot of NFL interest. Fox always going to, CBS always going to. It's like There's a lot of NFL jobs. And we would like to thank the NFL for blessing us all with a profession for sure.

19:52Pat McAfee:But there's a lot of places that can give a lot of money to Coach Tomlin, man. We've all seen him on a microphone. The dude's never lost in front of a microphone. Ever. I've never seen a bad session from Mike Tomlin. Always some form of entertainment. Missoula's catching up maybe, though. Missoula. Illegal screen. What he did last night, Connor. Illegal screen. That was outrageous. What was that? Johnny Furphy? Who hit the illegal screen? Was he so upset? I saw the Pacers beat the Celtics last night. Yeah, it was Siakam. Siakam set the screen, then got the ball back, and then layup game winner, but it was an illegal screen.

20:26It's impossible to argue with. Right here. Here it comes. This is after it. But still, yeah, that's how he got the ball. It's ridiculous.

20:35Pat McAfee:Spicy! Back to house, kind of. Yeah, well, I don't want to say it's the Celtics, but I will say Pacers, Tyrese Halliburton, from my... What, that right there? A legal screen right there. That's illegal. That's an illegal screen. Learn the rules. That's what we did the whole press conference for. He's damn near dislocated his hip.

20:59Darius Butler:Maybe we don't crown Mazzola for that.

21:02Pat McAfee:I like Mazzola a lot. He's a West Virginia guy. They got West Virginia guys on their staff. Sounds like he's pouting. Rules are rules, guys. Grow up. Dude, that's a crazy play for Mazzola to do that. That's a big decision to do that press conference. Like, just every answer is going to be illegal screen. I love that there was one point where I think one of them thought they were going to crack him. Are you only going to say that? And he sits. Illegal screen. Like, yes. Okay, that was awesome. That was crazy. It was against the Pacers this early in the season with that particular play. Shout out to Joe Mazzola.

21:40Pat McAfee:But Tomlin, anytime he's on a microphone, it's awesome. The amount of one-liners he has. I mean, his wife, who obviously another incredible citizen of Pittsburgh, has done a lot of charity stuff in Pittsburgh, has done a lot of incredible stuff. She's built a merch brand because I think she's a fashion designer of sorts. She built a merch brand around a lot of his one-liners. So think about him on TV with one-liners. I mean, the television entertainment industry is going to be very kind to Mike Tomlin. Very, very kind to Mike Tomlin.

22:09Darius Butler:Can I ask you three a question? Okay.

22:12Pat McAfee:Yeah.

22:14Darius Butler:So no one has pushed back on saying like, on me saying that Mike Tomlin is going to be back next year. What other coach in the history of the NFL or professional sports, when you haven't won a playoff game in nine years and you've lost seven straight playoff games, let's say it's playoff series in another sport, would have the ability to come back, the decision to come back, and losing like that every single year. Am I taking crazy pills? I mean, it's a good question, but it's one of one. That still is organization. Obviously, Mike Tomlin and his record throughout, you know, no losing seasons and all these different things.

22:55But, yeah, how many coaches have you guys had in the last week? Three. Yeah, so, I mean, that's kind of your answer right there. Three since. Pittsburgh is special. Three since 69.

23:03Darius Butler:It's one of one. Yeah, a different sport, but we just talked about basketball. like Tom Thibodeau went to the conference finals for the Knicks and then got fired after they lost to the Pacers. So it does feel like it is a steal. Shot and I were 14 and two ago. Exactly. So you're talking about franchises, sports franchises. You put the Pittsburgh Steelers up here, and the New York Knicks are probably – It's like the standard of how you do things. And I understand it from a fan's point of view. Like you want a new coach. You want a new voice. I just want to win, man. Yeah, you want to win. I mean, six championships.

23:34So it's tough. I expect, especially going out like that on that stage, you expect a change. But what we know from the Steelers and their history, probably not.

23:46Pat McAfee:Okay. Follow up here now. Who would you take? Because you talk about how many coaches since when?

23:53Darius Butler:Three. Three since 69.

23:55Pat McAfee:19. Yeah, 19. That's insane. Yeah, that is a – we're pretty good. Whoa. Yeah. I mean, that would be, I guess, the only really answer. It's like, who has the ability at this point that you could forecast? Because Tomlin was young when he got that. 32? Yep.

24:15Darius Butler:Yeah, he was super young. And I think he was at the Vikings as a DC for like a year. So, yeah, that was... He was 32, I think. I think he was 32 years old. And you talk about... They do love young because Kyra was super young when he got hired as well. But you talk about winning in front of people in a microphone. like no one thought he was going to get that job when they interviewed him and he did and it's been an incredible run but yes to your point who is out there great question yeah i don't know who you

24:42Pat McAfee:would mike mccarthy going back to pittsburgh he could how was mike mccarthy has changed signetti no longer on the high dive uh because basically everybody has said that's not real but if you're trying to hire a coach in football feels like i'd at least try to snoop or not that he wants to we have not talked to him. I actually texted him last week before the Peach Bowl or something, and he still has yet to respond. Locked in. I think he's locked in. His boys are deleting apps, social media apps from the phone. So, like, the Indiana football team is locked in, we'll say completely. So I'm not saying Signetti is saying this, and we don't even know his agent.

25:24Pat McAfee:I think he just has a lawyer from my understanding of how that last deal went down. I don't know if he has an agent in this entire thing so i i don't even know if that thought is even cross his mind he's a king in bloomington forever he'll have a statue he's got a nice house they treat him well his wife i think he loves the place i think i think he is a college football coach i think that is what he is now granted does he want to be able to prove that he could also do it at the nfl maybe you know like there's uh there's a couple different trains of thought there but i think he just stays in indiana forever, especially with the new deal that he has where basically it bumps up any time it goes.

25:59Pat McAfee:So let's take him out of the picture. Harbaugh and the Giants feel like that's really heating up, right? Then you have dinner at Marr's house and Marr watched Is This Thing On? in Harbaugh's movie. What was it? So Giants executive Chris Marr told the athletic that he met John Harbaugh for lunch Sunday and had an informal meeting at Coach's house. People on both sides say Harbaugh remains very interested in John's job. Hey, great journalism Ian O 'Connor. Good work. Now, Grant, I could have found that out other ways, potentially, but we appreciate you finding it out. If we had to, we probably could have.

26:33Pat McAfee:But on that note, Barbaugh and the Giants feel like that's a thing. I feel like the Giants is considered one of those big jobs, you know, by coaches. Like, yeah, big brand, but also for, like, coaches, it feels like it's a bigger job. I don't know why, but I think, like, in college, there's always jobs that open up where coaches go, that's a job. LSU, we just watched it. Michigan's one of those places. There's some of these places that are held in higher regard. It feels like the New York Giants are. And do you think it is just because of brand? What do you think it is? Brand, location. Jackson Dart, I think he would like it.

27:06Well, I mean, in general, I think for a reason why Harbaugh would like it. I think he loves the potential in Jackson Dart and what he's done. The history, though, is just like the history of it all? The history, brand, location, championships, all the – And right now, is that much better than the Jets brand? The Giants over the Jets? Same. The Jets are below the Knicks on D-Buds' list. I'm just asking the question.

27:27Pat McAfee:It's true. Well, we all knew the answer. You knew the answer, too. As those words were coming out of your mouth, you knew the answer for that. But it feels like Harbaugh's probably going to the Giants. It feels like that is at least something. Now, maybe it's Atlanta as well. But Mike McCarthy, I think as this cycle and interview process goes on, I think he's going to do well with his jolliness, his youthful spirit, his deep thinking and his resume when they start looking at the numbers. I think there's going to be a good argument for the nerds to kind of say, hey, he could be a guy. But Conman, you texted me something this morning that's a pretty good point.

28:03Pat McAfee:A lot of these hirings and things like that are about to be completely changed whenever these teams that are still in it, all their assistants and coordinators with no clear frontrunner other than Harbaugh, the coordinators that are still in this are obviously going to be highly, highly sought after. I think McDaniels is what? The only guy we know that'll probably stay in New England, even if he's offered the opportunity to come in. Yeah, bingo. The Patriots and the Bears are the two teams that don't really have any, you know, convos around their coordinators going other places. But if you do go from team to team with those, you know, last six, and I guess you could say Buffalo with Joe Brady maybe kind of off the table, but Sam Fran, you know, Salah is a hot name, kind of goes to the Jets point about how big of a dumpster fire that place is because he's getting jobs immediately, at least, you know, interviews.

28:48Kubiak with Seattle. He is also kind of the young, hot, offensive mind, it feels like, in this cycle. Shula with the Rams. He is a guy that everybody seems to basically dub him as the next defensive guy. I know the Broncos as well are getting some with Vance Joseph, but it does feel as though aside from Harbaugh, all these teams, at least the teams that are looking for head coaches, are going to be looking for guys from these final eight. I know for the Patriots, Zach Kaur, the insider linebackers coach who's now become the D.C., has kind of become a hot ticket over the last couple weeks. You know, Burke, you guys mentioned with the Texans, has become one of those guys like, hey, why aren't we giving the D.C.

29:29of the best defense more interviews kind of makes a lot of sense. But aside from Harbaugh, all those teams should wait. Like what happens if down the stretch, you know, for instance, Seattle, like Kubiak and the Seahawks defense is the conversation. but what if Kubiak and the Seattle Seahawks offense becomes this unbelievable thing? And then you think if you're the Giants, sure, Harbaugh, of course, but do you not think Kubiak could come in and kind of guide Jackson Dart? Like there are so many things that still have to happen, and that might be the reason that all this is delayed for so long too.

30:02Like last year, Ben Johnson and Vrabel, they were slated. They were getting jobs at this point. Like it's January 13th. We knew January 13, 2025, like two of the jobs that are open are going to those two guys. Now Harbaugh, you could say, is that one guy that's definitely slated for one of these jobs, the Giants, we all can see. But for all those other places, and there's a lot of jobs open, it feels like they're going to come from these final eight teams.

30:28Pat McAfee:AJ, I mean, there's a chance that there was a dumping situation at the house with Mara and Harbaugh. There's a chance. It happened before. Yeah, like I was saying, McDaniels. Well, we don't know what all went down. We do know weak pipes up there in Massachusetts. Jim Irsay just tried to drop a hog diner. Can't flush towels, okay? Listen, he wipes his butt with towels. Rest in peace, Jim Irsay. He earned that, okay? We love that man. But we don't know. I am bummed out I never got to ask him his side of that story. Oh, my God. him telling that story would have been Barnes, what do you want me to do?

31:14Pat McAfee:Didn't have any toilet paper. No wipes. I almost didn't want to give him the job, brother, because he didn't have toilet paper. That would have been single ply. That's a bad decision. I would have loved to hear his side of it all. But maybe Mara in the Harbaugh meeting doesn't go as well as we're just kind of reading this and thinking this and Giants fans are assuming that it is as we all are. So let's say he's on a market. You got eight jobs open. That's quarter of the league. And how many coaches do we have to hire these people? I'm very fascinated by it. Like, Liam Cohen came out of nowhere last year for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

31:51Pat McAfee:Came out of nowhere. Late hire. We didn't really know him. And there was a worry that he wasn't, who are these people going to hire? That's like the Steelers. They're just passing around these head coaches. McDaniel might get a job. Stefanski's going to get a job. Harbaugh's going to get a job. It's like, okay. so it it didn't work these guys just got fired at the last place what it'll work in this building i i just it's also fascinating right now because i i think back to carly galen and casey the big three of the indianapolis colts deciding to stick around with shane and ballard and i don't know what the gm front is who was the guy that just got hired in miami uh john eric solvin greenback congrats to him we assume he's going to be great he's out to the Packers organization, going down to the Dolphins.

32:34Pat McAfee:Now, I do have a wonder if you can win in Miami with all the distractions and stuff. An entire football team is bigger than a basketball team. You know, you got 50-some guys that have to stay locked in. Miami's got a lot of distractions. Maybe John Eric will be able to find the guys that can go ahead and navigate that entire thing. They got to get like a BYU team down there somehow. And I don't know if that's going to be possible. That's my personal thoughts on it all. so like in the front office thing we never know who's going to get the jobs because these people are kind of just like unassuming not knowing people but the head coaching stuff normally we know the people a little bit liam we didn't know at all he's done great it's like if the colts would have moved on from ballard i think we would have found somebody that we don't know and they would have said this guy's super genius he was there whenever some good player was drafted it's like what was he sitting at the table or was he sitting in the in the seats over there i would I'd like to know, is he actually listening to the decision or making the decision?

33:28Pat McAfee:You know, these are all decisions that people have to make. The coaching one, though, like Shane Steichen, hey, D-Bone, I think we got a guy. I think Shane Steichen right now, if he was available, I think he would get head coaching opportunities. I think Shane Steichen would get head coaching opportunities right now. So that makes me wonder. Go ahead. Yeah, I like Shane a lot. We saw what he did with a healthy Daniel Jones this year. They were off to a historic start. I think he was great. There is a name that's kind of been coming up more and more often on the offensive side of things. We're all looking for that next offensive super genius, and a lot of these guys have been connected to McVay over the years.

34:04Guy Nate Shilhouse, past game coordinator. I believe he's like early 30s, early 34, 35 years old. Yeah, I believe he's already getting some requests. Next big guy. Shilhouse. Shilhouse. Yeah, he's a past game coordinator out there in L.A.

34:20Pat McAfee:Nate Shilhouse. Okay, so coordinator L.A. had Stoner, right? They just got Stoner. And now they got Sheil Haas. Yeah. Liam was there a couple years ago before he – Sheil Haas? Yeah. He's the next hot offensive name. AJ, you said Yelp. Like you knew who he was. I just saw the story. They just did a whole thing on him about how he's like the next up-and-comer rising through the ranks, like offensive guru guy that has been grinding and cutting his teeth, you know, where you should cut your teeth. Like if a country music star cuts their teeth in Nashville, you know. Sure, sure. Yeah, but if you're from Texas, I think that's pretty south too.

34:58Pat McAfee:Oh, yeah, no doubt. He was with Matt Campbell for a long time at Iowa State. He was the quarterback's coach. That's what they said, like his development of Brock Purdy and then Rocco Beck. Like he was there for a decent amount of time. But, yeah, he's kind of the bell of the ball right now. Good for him, man. Good for him. And a lot of coaching jobs open. and I guess somebody will hit somewhere, but a lot of these aren't going to work.

35:23Darius Butler:There was also a report earlier. Remember when there was a report that the Steelers were kind of looking at people just in case Tomlin decided to leave? And I believe Marcus Freeman was one of them as well. I would not be upset with Marcus Freeman either.

35:36Pat McAfee:Okay, Marcus Freeman, I think he's getting a lot of NFL looks. I've heard a rumor of what he was offered to coach somewhere, the amount of money. That was a lot, huh? And he turned it down, you're saying? the rumor i mean i don't know if it's real you know i don't know if it's accurate but felt like it came from a pretty accurate source who would know it but like i i was told he was offered a king's ransom i heard he was offered a king's ransom to go coach somewhere and uh he didn't make that decision now is that just somebody from somewhere else trying to feed that info to get to you know you never know where things are coming from but it sounds like marcus Freeman is very committed to Notre Dame as a whole.

36:17Pat McAfee:And then you think about Midwest teams and who represents a Green Bay Packers situation. It's interesting, AJ. Now, what is policy's policy going to be on extending a head coach who has an incredible winning record? A coach who, if he was to hit that coach's pool right there that we showed, he'd be getting a job literally the next day. It'd be like a hardball situation, but probably even quicker. I think it'd be even quicker because he's younger and all that type of stuff. But it feels like the Green Bay faithful are out on him. Who are they going to hire if you guys fire? Have you thought about that, Ty Schmidt?

36:59Pat McAfee:Who are you guys going to hire? Mike McCarthy? Hardball? I guess those would be the top. two options who would who would you guys hire if you moved on from uh la floor and do you think that you guys inevitably end up moving on from the floor it's an interesting situation over there with that contract and like aj quick before ty gives this answer here yeah am i out of my mind for thinking like the coach's contract's already slated this is what it is this is what you're making and you don't have an owner so it's not like you have to debate with the owner for the amount of money you just you have like a vault of money right it's like this is what is required to pay this person.

37:36Pat McAfee:This is what we have to pay. We have to justify it to a committee, I think. But you're able to get that, right? So like Schefter's saying the price they offered him is just much lower than what he could get on the market because of what contracts aren't. So are they saying they don't want him by doing it? Like why wouldn't... It's what it feels like to me because you're right. It doesn't count against the cap. You're not working against the salary cap. It's like a normal team is what is the owner willing to pay you because that would be money that the owner could keep his profit, I guess. But when it comes to Green Bay, it's different.

38:03They don't have an owner. So it's like, what are they willing to pay? But is it almost like, hey, we want to work out a deal with you, but we don't want to pay you too much. It's not like a weird – it's not like a good – Yeah, we like you as our coach. Is it in good faith negotiation? I don't get it.

38:16Pat McAfee:We like you at$10 million, but we don't like you at$11 million. It's like, what's the cutoff number and what does that mean? I don't think I've ever heard that. You know what Shefty said? It was interesting when he said he threw out the thing. like, well, what if they think, okay, maybe we can get a few draft picks back. If they could, like, move Matt LaFleur. I'm thinking, like, if you don't want a guy and you can get something for him, then, yeah, obviously you'd want to do that, right? Like, if you don't really want to resign him. Sean Payton went for a one, right? Sean Payton went for a one, I think.

38:45Yeah, I think it was like a one and a four or something. I think they got two picks. If you want to fire a guy or not resign him, that's ideal for a franchise. Like, hey, let me get some draft picks for this guy, send him away, and then we'll get to hire a guy.

38:56Darius Butler:So, Sean Payton, the Saints received the Broncos' 2023 first-round pick, and their 2024 second round pick. Damn, that's a lot. And the Broncos got Peyton and a third round pick from the Saints. Oh.

39:10Pat McAfee:Interesting. Hey, Ty, now your thoughts on all that, because he's coaching jobs. Somebody would potentially give you guys a one for Matt LaFleur with how much he would be wanted in the market. What are your thoughts on it as we sit today, a couple days removed from another loss out there? Yeah, I mean, it's tough, because the big thing is, like you said, You can't really fire him and just assume, hey, we're going to go hire John Harbaugh. Because if you do let him go and then you don't get Harbaugh, you're kind of shit out of luck. And they, I mean, the belief is that they are close enough with this roster and a healthy Micah Parsons and some of the other pieces they lost that they're close enough to win the Super Bowl.

39:47But, I mean, at this point, and this is kind of crazy to say, like, I almost feel like even a guy like Kevin Stefanski. Stefanski. It feels like the proof is in the pudding with LaFleur. He's an offensive guy. They need a head coach. He's a very good play caller, but the special teams has sucked for a long time, and the defense has kind of just left to Jeff Halfley where it's like, hey, you figure it out. We've seen a guy like Vrabel. You don't have to be a successful, great head coach by calling plays. You can be the CEO and kind of just have your hands in everything, and I mean I don't think that's going to ever happen but it's interesting like you said like it seems like the decision has kind of already been made so I don't know why we're belaboring the point so much like isn't it kind of just a done deal when they say yeah we'd like to work something out obviously but then that just means that they don't they aren't comfortable going to the number that Matt LaFleur wants and they're kind of just standing pat and if that's the case then yeah like he's not going to sign an extension and why are we waiting when all these other potential candidates are going to get hired elsewhere.

40:51Well, and that's the thing with the Patriots, and I feel like the Steelers and the Packers, and you can even throw the Eagles in there because they're having the conversation about Sirianni, even though that might just be strictly on the outside and on the inside. Like, if you don't have a guy, like, there's no point to move on. Because if Harbaugh is going to the Giants and, like, the Packers can't get him, why, like, pivot? Whereas, like, if the Packers and the Steelers wait a year and then pull the trigger on a guy like Mike Vrabel, because the Patriots hired Gerard Mayo and then fired him after a year.

41:24That never happens, especially with the expectations of New England. New England wasn't supposed to be good. They were supposed to be one of the worst teams and then slowly get better with Gerard Mayo. They were really bad, and then instead of waiting, they had Mike Vrabel, and they said, you know what? Let's get rid of Gerard Mayo. Who cares what everyone says? We'll bring in Vrabel, and then I think this thing will look different. They were right, but it feels like unless you have that guy, you're going to completely screw your franchise by getting rid of the dude that you currently have.

41:54Pat McAfee:A Ring of Honor member who's an incredible football coach just lingering around for everybody. Exactly, yeah. Like if Bart Starr is going to run through that tunnel, then the Packers should pull the trigger and make that guy the head football coach. But unless not, it is so hard to find a guy who immediately knows the culture, who immediately knows how to turn the place around, who knows the ownership. It's hard, I think, to look, to not be comparative when it comes to the head coaching cycle and bringing guys in just because the Patriots were so unique. The Jags, they were very, very unique as well.

42:32It's so difficult to get that right. Luckily and very gratefully, the Patriots did. But there is a very real world where the Patriots get rid of Gerard Mayo, they don't end up with Vrabel and instead of winning four games they win one game and it's even worse and you just completely tanked your franchise.

42:50Pat McAfee:It's a fascinating thing trying to develop a squad, hire the right people. I was so incredibly lucky that I have a chance to work with the great group of guys that I work with every single day. The best in the biz boys. Thank you guys for putting me in a position to not have to hire anybody else ever. Thank you man. Thank you for the job. Hiring sucks. It's really hard. Because if you bring in one shit bird, it can ruin everything that you have. It can ruin everything. And then if you bring in somebody that's not right for the job, like Connor just alluded to, you have to make another incredibly hard decision very quickly, and then you also have to restart.

43:27Pat McAfee:It's not easy finding the right person to lead a multi-billion dollar organization. Joining us now is the man who was tasked with that multiple times. 47 years he spent coaching football in his life, multiple times. Super Bowl champion, future Hall of Famer, ladies and gentlemen. B.A.

43:43Pat McAfee:How are you, Coach? I'm doing great, baby. Great to see you. You look wonderful. I love all the trophies behind you. I love the magic. You look incredible. I hope the golf game is going well. Let's talk about hiring coaches. It's almost like we are getting to a point of reason and logic in coaches' minds as this conversation goes. because like when Carly Ursa makes the decision, Carly, Kalen, and Casey make the decision to stay with Shane and Chris Ballard, everybody goes, what are we doing? Why are we doing this again? And then whenever the Steelers don't move on immediately from Tomlin, Steelers fans go, what are we doing?

44:19Pat McAfee:What are we doing? Packers, what are we doing? What are we doing? Who are they hiring, B.A.? How many of these coaches, okay, just in your eyes, you've been 47 years coaching football. How many of these coaches do you think are actually equipped to be head coaches? And is there like a trait that you've noticed that some good assistant coaches have that will make them great head coaches? And like, what do you think is the biggest indicator on somebody being good? Because there's not obviously all these names we know, but like eight head coaching jobs are up right now. There's going to be eight next year.

44:49Pat McAfee:That's a quarter of the league. Like a lot of these guys are going to be ass head coaches, right? Isn't that kind of how we should look at it? How do they get it right? How do they get it wrong in your eyes whenever you're doing the hiring process? Yeah, I think it's very, very interesting to see who owners listen to. You know, is it the general manager? Is it buddies that they have business with and sometimes have no damn clue what football is all about? You know, they just sell cars or something else. But, you know, it's hard. When you look at these young coordinators, some haven't called plays.

45:20Pat McAfee:They're just quarterback coaches. Now you're expecting them to be the head coach and the play caller? I think that's extremely, extremely hard for somebody to do the first year. some guys like go call plays for a while and then become a head coach but I think this cycle is going to be all about rehiring ex-head coaches you know because so many guys got fired a couple years ago that went back and are doing great jobs as coordinators Robert Sala a couple of guys like that I think they're gonna all the guys are gonna get these jobs this year Stefanski's getting an interview McDaniel's getting an interview Harbaugh's getting an interview obviously and McCarthy already a head coach in there.

45:58Pat McAfee:Just to wrap up my question before AJ and the boys have more for you, especially about that Steelers game last night. Jeez. Always. No renegade, B.A. No renegade. They didn't even play as shit. There's no mama. No. None. No mama. No mama last night. They would have to play in the first five minutes. It's a good first five minutes, boss. Okay, but before we get to all that, what is the trait of being a good head coach, you think? Like, if you were hiring let's say you were owner you were the glazer family they call you instead of calling a car salesman around town that they're friends with or their golfing buddy what would you say is required to be a good head coach what is the trait that needs to be needs to happen i think first and foremost the guy's leader of men you know it's it's not uh it's a as a head coach you're responsible for everybody the staff the entire building so you have to be a leader of men and uh and have a plan.

46:51Everybody said, what's your philosophy?

46:52Pat McAfee:I don't want to hear shit about philosophies. Give me your plan. How are you going to do it? Show me on paper. Talk to me about how you're going to get this done day to day and get all the way to the season and through it. To me, it's a matter of experience. I think you're high risk when you go out for guys that have no experience as being a head coach or, like I said, never calling plays and all of a sudden you're a head coach and you're going be a head coach and call plays, there's just not enough time for a guy to get that done, I don't think. It's very rare. The Sean McVeighs, everybody wants to touch somebody from Sean McVeigh.

47:29And that's been the hiring cycle for the last, what, five years now? Offensive guys. And I think there's a lot of teams looking for that young offensive guy who they can help with their young quarterback and get cheap. Cheel Haas. Cheel Haas is the new name. Nate's going to be – he's going to get a bunch of – because he's in that golden goose tree. Mmm. It's good to be in, brother. Yeah, back in the day, back in the day, if you were the quarterback coach at the Packers, you got a head job every year. When you go Andy Reid, John Gruden, all the way through,

48:03Pat McAfee:I mean, that guy got a head job every year, whoever's quarterback coach at the Packers. Now it's anybody that touches Sean McVay. Go ahead, D-Bot. Yeah, Coach, on Nate Shearhaus, not just him, but just a past game coordinator, something you hear on the offensive and the defensive side of the ball. Can you kind of tell us what that is? Because obviously Sean McVay is calling the plays, but what is like a pass game coordinator and what's the difference between that and then like an actual offensive coordinator? Yeah, you're responsible for just half the game plan. You know, you're putting up the passing game along with somebody else.

48:37You're not doing it all by yourself. You know, Sean's hands in there totally.

48:40Pat McAfee:and uh but for me you can't have the word coordinator next to your name unless you're calling plays unless you're in front of the room installation meetings and calling plays uh there are way too many titles out there right now that don't mean shit i mean it's just it's just a way to get raised and uh so just hey if you're not in front of the damn room calling and and calling plays you ain't coordinate corporate structure has gotten into ball that's what it It sounds like you just said. I'm executive vice coordinator of the offense. You know, well, what does that mean? I don't understand what that is.

49:16Pat McAfee:I'm assistant head coach. I'm assistant head coach offense, run game quarter, pass game quarter. And I'm the offensive coordinator, but I'm calling the goddamn players.

49:28Pat McAfee:Good luck to all these people hiring things. Now, speaking of hiring, firing, when do you know the time is right? AJ has a question about, you know, hardball. It was already made in Baltimore. Is there more? Go ahead, AJ. Yeah, B.A., we hear sometimes when a coach is out of place long enough that their message might get stale. Obviously, Harbaugh's an unbelievable coach, legendary coach, and he's going to get hired right away. But did his message get stale? And is that something as a coach you have to be aware of and try to always evolve what you're doing and not your philosophy but your plan?

49:52Does it change over the years?

49:55Pat McAfee:Yeah, I think totally, A.J. I mean, you've got to have a different message. You can't be the same one over and over and over. Now, game week, it is, to me, what I'm saying on Monday, I'm saying on Friday and Saturday. and maybe by then they've heard it. You know, if I say it five times, maybe one of them finally listened and got it. But I always check what my players were saying in the press and if they were repeating the message, I know they heard it. Interesting. Interesting. There's a little homework assignment whenever you're talking to the media. Has this guy been paying attention at all to what we're trying to say this week?

50:27Pat McAfee:I love that. What was your message normally, Coach? Five stars. Other guys. I love that. That was my favorite one. That's the one I remember. that's when I remember most because that's my favorite of all time night before game VA giving a speech to all of us or actually it starts on Wednesday starts on Wednesday whenever we do the initial plan in the morning uh this week our five stars are gonna cancel out their five stars this game's gonna be won by you motherfuckers out here okay so let's let's make sure we it was one of the funniest things I've ever I was sitting there just not expecting it at all and I'm like god damn that was like maybe the most blunt way I've ever heard somebody talk about a game but it was right you're basically but and then also all the other guys they took on like uh yeah this is our week it felt like a super bowl almost for the role guys in the entirety i love that was that always your messaging what was your style you think did you i didn't i don't remember much storytelling you yeah i was never much of a of a motivating storyteller guy i just want to tell the truth and what i thought was going to take to win or lose the game and keep it short and sweet and uh that way i know they're going to hear me and uh like i said i I never gave elaborate speeches on Saturday night.

51:35Pat McAfee:It was just, hey, this is what it's going to take to win. Go do it. And then, hey, we want speakers next week. That's right. Let's get the hell out of here. D-Bot, what a run, dude. Were you there, D-Bot, for the B.A. run? Yes. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. That was my first year. First year here, obviously, with Chuck. And then once Chuck went down, B.A. stepped up. And, yeah, that was pretty much the message week in and week out. And him being an offensive head coach at the time, he still kind of set the tone of practice with him talking shit to the defense. because, you know, Luck wasn't that type of, I guess, quarterback.

52:06He went about his business in a different way. So, B.A. set the tone with that. But, yeah, when you lay out the plan, like you said, it's about being the leader of men. When you lay out a plan and what's the plan of action, a lot of times you go into the game and certain things have to change, but nine times out of ten, coaches prepare you for how that game is going to go, how you're going to win this game, whether it's the environment, whether it's going to be a big red zone day, a third, whatever it is, they kind of lay it out, and then the best ones kind of adjust as the game kind of unfolds as well.

52:32But B.A. always had a clear message on who was going to have to step up and make that play, and nine times out of ten it played out that way.

52:38Pat McAfee:Hey, that's no B.S., baby. Now, A.J., you talk about a message getting stale or not getting stale. You mentioned hardball. Obviously, Baltimore thought that was the case. Pittsburgh now is the entire conversation. Go ahead, Don.

52:51Darius Butler:Yeah, Coach, obviously you were in Pittsburgh for a long time. Majority of it with Coach Tomlin. You know him. You know the Roonies. You know the GM, Omar Khan. What do you think about the situation as a whole? Because a lot of people report, and there's no way the Roonies would ever just blatantly outright fire Mike Tomlin. It would have to be him stepping away. Do you think he's someone who would step away? And do you have any thoughts on why they keep getting blown out every single playoff game? Yeah, I mean, they limped in, and they're not a very good football team. so when you go up especially when you get three turnovers from the quarterback

53:26Pat McAfee:at home you would expect a whole different outcome than what happened last night and like I said the last seven playoff games they've been down at least 21 points in all of them so it's if that is the standard then the standard bearer has to be held accountable and 9 and 8 and getting blown out in the first round has been going on for a long time and so So I don't see the Steelers firing him because they haven't fired a coach since 69. So it's the same old thing. I'm fascinated by the Pittsburgh story. Also, the lingering messaging of Tomlin potentially having a TV deal. Who's putting that message out, you think?

54:10Pat McAfee:Not Tomlin necessarily the direct person, but when we hear these types of rumors circling, that's an agent working? Is that an agent working? What do you think that is exactly? Yeah, I think it's politically people setting it up for, hey,

54:23Darius Butler:don't piss him off because he'll leave. And if you want to make a move, make a move.

54:29Pat McAfee:I don't know if Art's going to do that. I doubt it. But for me, it's time. Wow. That'd be crazy. Would you imagine Pittsburgh? I mean, Pittsburgh just spent$30 million on a wide receiver that had never played football for them before. So that was abnormal. There's been a lot of abnormal Pittsburgh Steelers stuff happening in this new generation. I'm not saying they fired a coordinator in the middle of the season. That hadn't happened in a long, long time. I don't know. It would be crazy. Pittsburgh would be upside down. All right, let's talk about a place that seemingly got flipped upside down and then put right back into the same damn place, which is maybe a dynasty.

55:02Pat McAfee:Go ahead, Connor. Yeah, B.A., you talked about playoff experience. Drake May, he finally got his first victory, his first game under his belt. How huge is this for the Patriots going forward that he now has kind of the taste of the playoffs? and where do you see them kind of going here as the playoffs continue and Houston comes to town? Yeah, I think it was fantastic. You know, he did. He didn't play fantastic, but he played good enough, and that defense was just unbelievable. That show that defense put on was unbelievable the way they confused Herbert and had him running all over the place. But, yeah, Drake, his athletic ability shows up, and that ain't ever going away.

55:39You know, just play natural football for him.

55:42Pat McAfee:Josh McDaniel is doing a great job putting him in very good situations. But, again, Houston's defense, that's a whole different story, brother. That ball is going to have to come out quick, and they're going to have to run the football a little bit better. Coach, we got 30 seconds here before a hard out in the first hour. What was the most impressive thing you saw from wild card weekend? Was it that Texans defense? I mean, that could be your answer. It was probably Josh Allen putting the cape back on down in Jacksonville. I mean, he keeps doing it, man. I don't know how he's doing it, but he keeps doing it.

56:14Pat McAfee:That's no BS, baby. That's no BS. BA's game ball. Josh Allen, how about the NFC? Oh, Robert Sala and the 49ers defense. I mean, the job he did with fourth, fifth, and sixth linebackers was just amazing in Philadelphia. We appreciate you, Coach. You're the man. Thank you for spending time with us all season thus far. You got it, brother. Love it. Hell yeah. Love you, too. See you later. That's Coach BA. Yeah, Coach.

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57:45Darius Butler:Welcome back to Uh Yeah, That's a Pepper Thing. First up, we've got Harrison wrapping his Dr. Pepper in a tiny quilt so it feels at home. Oh, how tender. That's a Pepper Thing. And over to Becca, who's whispering affirmations to her can. You're sweet. You're unique. You're the best thing I ever poured over ice. She swears it makes it taste better. It's not a science thing, but it's a Pepper Thing. Why do they all do it? All for that sweet, delicious, truly one-of-a-kind taste of Dr. Pepper. It's a pepper thing.

58:18Football! It's happening everywhere. Last night, obviously, Houston Texans beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-6 in a rout. Pat, what do you think? B.A. had some interesting insight about the whole coaching situation. I don't know what's going to happen out there.

58:32Pat McAfee:Yeah, it seems like Coach B.A. just said it's time to move on from Tomlin. I feel like that's a pretty big deal, especially as a guy who's been in that building for the Pittsburgh Steelers and a guy who's friends with every coach ever, basically. That feels like a big thing for him to say. But I think he's also coming from a place where, like, hey, baby, I've had to go to a couple different places. You know, he went to Indianapolis, he went over to Arizona. He was done. There was multiple times he was potentially done with football and then gets called back to the game and gets to rebuild, re-experience, reconnect with new people, I guess.

59:01Pat McAfee:Like, after Pittsburgh Steelers, he was done. Allegedly, he was heading to the lake. Now, would he have got sick of golfing and boozing and hanging? Maybe. But I think, you know, football would have come calling at any point. But maybe not. I mean, legit, maybe not. Allegedly, the story goes is he was actually driving to get his stuff to go back to Georgia, where he has a lake house with his wife. And Chuck McGonagall calls him and goes, what's up, cuz? Like, anyway, you could come be by OC. We got Andrew Luck. Because his wife allegedly goes, yeah, fuck it, baby. Let's go. And I just turned right.

59:32Pat McAfee:you know instead of going to atlanta or down to georgia he just turns right and heads you know to indianapolis indiana as he does that so then obviously that an incredible year comes the interim head coach chuck pagano wins coach a year b.a win coach a year kind of together then he goes to arizona has to re-establish himself all the way there he goes pittsburgh all the way to arizona and he's done and then he's like tampa he goes back to tampa it's like he's gotten a chance to experience like hey a new building new fans new messaging like coach tomlin i don't know if ba knows if coach tomlin's gonna continue to coach or if he's gonna do tv but i think what he's trying to say is like this this feels like time not only for the steelers fans with how they've experienced it whenever you start lining up those stats just getting your ass beat in the first round like that's not a fun year hey yeah but you guys are above 500 are we at the end of the year because it feels like we're the worst team in football every time the season ends because the way the last taste in her mouth goes so b.a saying that i thought was pretty big i thought that was big for i think he was speaking for both sides though too like hey coach tomlin like this this would be good for you as well you know like experiencing something new and then for the steelers it's like if not now when like what do you is this just going to go on forever like when do you kind of do it so i think that's what he was saying but that felt big coming out of his mouth aj yeah definitely did and the thing about we haven't even mentioned with tomlin for some reason the Steelers move on from Tomlin and Tomlin doesn't go to TV.

1:00:54He has every NFL job open for him as well. You put him in line with Harbaugh to where, hey, you pick whatever opening you want is yours, right?

1:01:03Pat McAfee:He's viewed above Harbaugh, isn't he? Slightly, I would say so. I think so. I'm saying just like that's kind of I'm talking about ownership and national conversation. Yeah, I'd say so. I'd say they're pretty close. I don't know. Ten years younger? You think they're close? I think they're pretty close. I think player-wise, but listening to AQ and people who've been in that building, they love hardball, and I would say the same thing for Pittsburgh. When we were players, everybody talked highly of them. If it was one coach, he would probably be at the top of the list that players would want to play for.

1:01:34But now, I feel like ownership and even the higher cycle, just football coaches in general. If you view the football coach, I just pictured an NFL football coach 15, 20 years ago compared to now. It's a completely different landscape, but as far as like legacy wise and all that i would say they're pretty pretty close i wonder how much brable's hiring is going to affect this entire legit because what a perfect ben johnson too but

1:02:01Pat McAfee:i guess these ben johnsons aren't just growing on trees you know that's what they've been saying the last couple years which is why everybody was trying to hire him but like brable ben johnson super alpha is going into these buildings just kind of and brable already done it before he has so much experience for it all basically it's one perfect hire for you guys con man well yeah and vrabel has seemingly brought back to like hey you don't need to be the genius offense or defense play car and you could argue this with demiko ryans too but they are the uh encapsulation of ceo leader of men leader of the team helping out every single aspect of the team not just focused on one thing but tomlin would then fall into that variable category of hey look screw whoever we have.

1:02:46Like, let's go and get like when we were just talking about the Packers and are they really going to let go of LaFleur just to let go and kind of move in a different direction. Whereas if Tomlin was available, that is where you would think, hey, 20 teams 25 teams, whether they kind of like their head coach or feel like it's going in the right direction or not they're probably going to say Tomlin is better than the current option we have whether we went to the playoffs or not like Mike Tomlin's a guy that we can rely on for the next, you know, 20 years because Like Ty mentioned there, he's 10 years younger than Harbaugh, and they still do feel reasonably neck and neck.

1:03:23But, yeah, to your point, Vrabel does seem to be that guy and that hire that has kind of changed that narrative around guys that aren't just the genius offensive play caller.

1:03:35Pat McAfee:Yeah, MCDC did it with Detroit a couple years back. I just don't know who those – Sirianni don't call plays, but everybody obviously shits on Sirianni. Yeah, he's getting fired every other year. Yeah, but he's been there two Super Bowls. Every other week. Winning percentages up there with like John Madden or whoever else, their star. So I think he's a name too who's kind of in that, you know, CEO archetype because it's been a revolving door, offensive and defensive coordinators. You know, Vic is kind of locked down the defense, but offensively they've been changing coordinators and play callers damn near every year.

1:04:06Pat McAfee:D-Bot just sent me a tweet from – well, sent it into the group. I don't know if D-Bot has sent that to Bruce yet or not. Yeah, I sent it into Bruce. Thank you. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah. So it's very important, I think. Absolutely. Yeah, we are. We're talking about it. We are. We definitely would need the audio for it to get the point across. But when Ben Johnson, I don't remember our initial reaction to him, you know, talking to the whole atrium and the whole building. But when you go into these interviews and obviously stuff we're not privy to, this is what the owners have to deal with. OK, how is it?

1:04:38Is this a leader of men? Can this guy lead the building? Because it's not just the players, the front office. And now looking back on this a year back, I feel like Ben Johnson, this was like a 10 out of 10 from the jump.

1:05:02Everyone get back to work.

1:05:06Darius Butler:Listen, thank you so much. My family and I, we are beyond excited. This is exactly where we wanted to be. That's exactly where we want to be. This is going to be a challenge. I am well aware of that. I know what this division is about. And this is exactly where we want to be. We're going to go after this thing, and it's going to take all of us in this room. It's going to take this locker room. It's nothing more important than that locker room and us serving that locker room and those players. They need to understand that. They need to feel that from us every single day. And if we do that, the wins are going to come.

1:05:46Darius Butler:The playoffs are going to come. All right? Can't wait to get to know you guys. And thank you so much for the warm welcome. Thank you.

1:05:57Hell yeah. Yeah, so obviously that's a very awkward spot to be in, but I felt like he handled it well and kind of sent that message early, like, hey, the locker room, the whole building, everybody in this building. It was another kind of piece of it. somebody zoomed in on somebody in the back kind of making a face like oh shit I kind of never heard that message before and then obviously just like the variable hire you know and if they make a move in Green Bay by going to these places that kind of have a quarterback in place as well like a talented quarterback we knew Drake would be a guy we thought Caleb would be a guy we know we'd see George Love to be a guy like if you can go into these places and you have a nice mindset and a nice trajectory for the team and actually have that trigger man on the center as well things can it go well you see it going well in Chicago Ben Johnson being the bell of the ball for so many

1:06:44Pat McAfee:years I guess it all makes sense now doesn't it I guess it all makes sense right now but that was Detroit Lions were obviously reaping the benefit of Ben Johnson for a while alongside everybody else they're about to lose their DC did you see that AJ yeah he's interviewed for head coaching gigs right Kelvin Shepard hell yeah Shep Shep don't get a head coaching opportunity now we thought with potentially the way the season ended first year defense coordinator Kelvin Shepard longtime time NFL vet, former teammate of myself and Darius Butler. We love this dude. We are big, big fans of the way this guy played ball, the way this guy operated in a locker room, the way everybody felt about him, his energy, his aura, his passion for the game.

1:07:22Pat McAfee:You name it. We love Shepdog. Fought with the way the season ended. There was no chance he'd be getting any head coaching opportunities. He was going to run it back for his second year as DC, but now he's getting some head coaching spots. And I'll let you know this, Evan Fox. If he gets in a room, he'll win room. He's good in room. Yeah, I believe that. I 100 % believe that. But Shep's young, and I'm happy he's getting these interviews. He's going through the process. I don't see him going anywhere yet. I think he'll stay in Detroit. And then we got Mike McDaniel right now in Detroit today interviewing for that OC job.

1:07:54So you got Shep Dogg on the defense. You got Mike McDaniel on the offense. And then MCDC back to being a CEO. I don't want him calling plays. I don't want him only worrying about the offense. We had so many holes this year, and I think a big part of that was because MCDC couldn't oversee everything. He was so locked in on that. So I'm hoping we get back to old MCDC ground and pond football.

1:08:16Pat McAfee:MCDC was spreading himself too thin, man. Ty, what did MCDC say about McDaniel and kind of how he operates who he is and how he'd fit in in the MCDC culture up there in Detroit? All right, first things first, man. I'm going to haze you a little bit. Turn around, I'm going to give you a big wedgie and hang you up on where my coat goes on the back of the door. Okay? I don't want any of this pussyfooting BS wearing your high waters, the cool glasses. We're going to cut that shit out right away, man. So I'm going to go ahead and put you up there, rip your underwear. We'll head to the bathroom. I'll give you a swirly, and then we'll get the interview process.

1:08:50Sorry.

1:08:51Pat McAfee:Okay, I figured it wasn't something like that. Now, what was the interview about? His offense or just mostly about him? Well, he pretty much, like right away, he was just like, sorry I didn't flush the toilet before the swirl. All I could say, there's poop in your hair. why don't you we'll sketch back it's there so curly too sketch back to the hotel man you can shower up we can come back in tomorrow and we'll really dive in into the football stuff there's a chance we don't know obviously MCDC is an incredibly deep thinking man I think it's obvious one of you listed super meathead but very deep thinker and obviously a stud but McDaniel and MCDC together would be much just the sight of them two on the sideline would be the best McDaniel jumping on his back after a big touchdown and MCDC going crazy that would be you see my backpack man the guy used to be a head coach that'd be incredible dude so he's in Detroit right now what other interview is happening Stefanski interviewed somewhere right McCarthy in New York today right is that right McCarthy interviewed for the Giants today I believe Luana Rumo also interviewing for the Giants I'm not sure if it's today or tomorrow yeah I know every single team has reached out every team with an opening has reached out to Jesse Minter to want to hire or you know set up an interview with him as well how do you guys feel about that with like the Giants I guess you could throw the Dolphins in because they just hired him who else Cleveland the Raiders where the GM's already there and you know instead of firing GM and head coach like spy tech uh with the raiders he got hired with p carroll only head coach leaves andrew barry with cleveland like we just showed ben johnson with the bears polls already there they held on to them like how do you guys feel about that versus some of the other spots where hey clean house we're going to bring in uh two guys together two different mindsets going in gm is who you're working for if you go in there and gm's already there that's your boss then gm reports to ownership that's just you just got to have that mindset you got to know that's what you're signing up for you know usually it's a younger coach that's signing up for that who's thankful for the opportunity you know like thankful for the opportunity i will work for gm gm obviously reports the boss owner and that's kind of how this whole thing goes but then if you come in together you know then you know you see maybe the power struggle is a little bit more like that so that's kind of my mindset would be two different mindsets completely aj yeah you just got to know your role you got to know like and also when you're in if you already have a gm in your interview and head coaches that gm's got to be in every single interview and got to see can you guys mesh does your guys is do you guys think the same way or would you know however also you need to know what you're going to do there's some places where the gm they set they pick the whole roster hey i will give you the roster i will show here's here's your team and then i will stay out of it i'm not going to get into any football you do whatever you do i'm not going to push you to play to pay or to put players in if i feel like they should be playing whatever and the coach doesn't try to like get in the personnel side so you kind of got to know what it is going in it's different it's always different.

1:11:55I mean, it's people, so it's always going to be shit that you got to deal with and things happen. I personally saw a power struggle with the GM and the head coach that came in together as it went on. And that's tough because as players, you know players, you can't bullshit us. We feel it. We see it. We know the decisions that are being made. We see guys that are maybe on the roster playing and we know good and damn well they shouldn't be. So that definitely can be tough. And I came into the league. I was in New England. So Bill, he ran the entire show. There was no, you know, it was one accord.

1:12:27Everybody was on the same page. So it really just depends on the people. But it's working, I guess it's working in Chicago so far. That's what made me think of it. Just like wow, respect to Ryan Poults for just basically being like, yeah, look, it didn't go well. You just tell me what to do. And maybe that's not how it goes. Maybe Ben Johnson had similar mindsets, but it's just, it feels like that is a very tough dynamic, especially in Cleveland. Like if Andrew Barry wants to Jadir to play over to Gabriel or Gabriel to play however the hell that thing plays out but if that is his mindset and then the coach has a different one like how does that even how does that even work?

1:13:02Pat McAfee:Well and then Haslam has them saying well Deshaun's helping too you know so there's a lot of different conversations there they started pitching GMs and coaches together during the interview process that was like the last three four years during the cycles where agencies or coaches or GMs whatever the case whoever was a part of it would tag team into the interview process together and say, hey, we can get along. We kind of see football the same. We understand what we want, what we don't want. We've been together this long. We've been through it. You know, like Andy Reid brings over Veach, right?

1:13:31Pat McAfee:Whenever he goes over to Kansas City, Veach working for him. You know, like into Rebott's point there, Chuck and Grigson is who he's talking about. He's talking Coach Pagano, Ryan Grigson. Coach Pagano and Ryan Grigson get brought in together, okay, as a unit. then Chuck Pagano gets leukemia his first season early he misses basically a majority of the year then comes back for last week of season unbelievable he beats leukemia and comes back to coach last year game of the season by the way it was an insane story all of it should be a movie Chuck awesome we all love him and appreciate him and then he coaches then Grigson won executive of the year that year though Chuck wasn't there so then all of a sudden there is already a lot of decisions that had to be made in the first year when you're setting precedent where GM's there, present every single day, head coach is not.

1:14:22Pat McAfee:So then a relationship is built and a standard is set, and then all of a sudden it's like catch-up is happening for the people that are supposed to be together. So that was an interesting, fascinating thing, watching that kind of all take place. It was very clear on what side those two. It feels like those two may have picked teams at one point, and I was certainly a pick for one side and definitely not a pick for the other side. So that certainly felt like that. Since then, though, I had a conversation, you know, moved on. But there was a lot of problems in there. And I think that was the most amateur kind of part of it all.

1:14:56Pat McAfee:It's like you two have to get along. Like you two have to. You two are very important to each other. And if you're not going to, it's like you can't happen. This is where every coach that is trying to get a job says, I want vertical alignment. I want vertical alignment because I don't want anybody saw me off at the knees if we don't play or coach if we don't play well because we have good players bm gave me good players i can't coach good gm selling under that other things i'm a dipshit i'm not really a political uh political person so i'm not gonna go say these players kind of ask for a system to kind of it's always like it's always one of these kind of happening so gotta get it right it's not easy to get it right egos you know those positions everybody has an ego but when you're a head coach you're a general manager when you're an owner like big you know Egos definitely become a big part of it as well.

1:15:42Managing those, how do you deal with those from the top? It's tough.

1:15:46Pat McAfee:Speaking of really cool things before we move on, do you see the Pennsylvania hockey lads? Oh, yeah. The little guys? Do you see that, AJ? Oh, yeah, I see these guys just knocking each other out. What are they, eight, ten years old? Intermission game. Intermission game. Hey, just go skate. You're going to be able to skate on, I believe, is this the Baby Pens? Whose game was this? Hershey's? This was in Hershey. Yeah. Yeah, so just go get on the ice during the intermission. I love that kid coming in late. What a ref. Yeah, where are the refs? There's another one coming in late. Boom! Yeah, that's a goalie coming in saying, what do you got?

1:16:23Pat McAfee:I don't think so. I don't think so. So, allegedly, it's a Pittsburgh team and a Philly team. They're all throwing bombs. It's good to know. And back here, there's almost going to be a one-on-one. Those two are the stars out there. You can kind of tell they're the goal scorers. But the rest of the lads getting after it. I appreciate the boys scrapping out here and happy nobody was seriously injured. But I also like that maybe this generation still got it. Still got it. And Pittsburgh and Philly always going to do that. I appreciate old buddy getting a buck too. Maybe somebody's going to go score.

1:16:51Pat McAfee:It's a bully again with a cross jack to the face. And it gets back in net because the guy's trying to score. Yeah, full chaos there. That is – I like that that happened in sports. And I appreciate Pennsylvania being the place to do that. Shout out to hockey.

1:17:09Pat McAfee:went in the fight from my understanding yep by the way I just froze over here did I freeze over there yeah it's just back in half a second it's probably because you call it hockey town that's a lie well said you saying it's Detroit

1:17:26Darius Butler:what he pronounced it hockey town so it's hockey town so is that what your problem is yeah I just repeat it Pat He called it Hockey Town, which was the last. That's why he got throttled. Hockey Town was in Detroit. And now it's in Sunrise. Now it's off of Los Olos Boulevard. Perfect. Okay. Yeah, to be fair, the Bruins did just beat the Penguins 1-0. Blanked them. So that's a good call by you, D. First win of the year for the Bruins.

1:17:49Pat McAfee:1-0. 1-0. Blanked the 85th game last. Sid the kid who? Who's the GOAT? They got zero goals. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is Amanda might have more answers on all the head coaching jobs that are coming. He's an Emmy Award winner. Absolute stallion. Ladies and gentlemen, Peter Schrager. Yay! Shreg, you look amazing. You were at the game in Pittsburgh yesterday. Your thoughts as a 30-6 ass beating happened against the Pittsburgh Steelers in front of their fans? Yeah, I felt like that Sunday night game against the Ravens was a cool moment for Steelers fans as much as now in reflection. They're like, that meant nothing.

1:18:24It was a cool moment to end the Baltimore Ravens season and to end John Harbaugh's time as coach of the Baltimore Ravens, essentially with that loss. last night they were hanging around hanging around and the Texans defense was just too much and overpowered what's fascinating to me is the timeline here with Tomlin um I've known Mike a little bit like he's going to be deliberate with his actions he doesn't speak in hypotheticals we know that I would think in the next 48 hours he's going to meet with Art Rooney and the two of them will come to an agreement or a decision of some sort and we should know I would imagine by the end of the week I don't think this is one of those where it lingers on and I think it would be a mutual conversation.

1:19:04And then it's anybody's ballgame, what he wants to do. And he hasn't really told anybody. I think everyone assumes that he still can coach, but also assumes that he'd be great in broadcasting. So there are doors open for him. And I'm fascinated with the timeline here. It could be today, tomorrow. I would be shocked if we went into the weekend and we don't have a word on what Tomlin's future is.

1:19:24Pat McAfee:Interesting. This guy could be in the booth by the championship. We'd be excited to see if that's the case. If he was getting TB, we all believe he'd be unbelievable. He'd win every award that there is to do whenever you're talking into microphones. And his football knowledge is absurd. Pat, studio or game? What do you think? Whatever he wants. I think studio is much better for him, but he could do game as well. Yeah. I worked at Fox for many years. Jimmy Johnson was an absolute legend and loved working with Jimmy. Then Sean Payton was in there as the coach. Fox currently doesn't have a coach.

1:20:00on that panel. Jay Glazer.

1:20:02Darius Butler:Jay Glazer's pushing. They're throwing so much money. Terry's getting older. Terry's getting a little older, but Terry's still at the basketball. No, he's not. I'll say this. I've been with Glaze at the league meetings where there's the owners' meetings, and no one puts a party on like Jay Glazer at the league meetings. All the current head coaches kind of get together for drinks on that Tuesday, and it's all the neophytes, the young guys kind of like hanging around and like holding their beer. And then in that back corner, it's Glaze and Tomlin just sitting at the top of the table and it's Tomlin, just the king of the castle.

1:20:38And that's a real relationship. And when you bring in the history with John Lynch and Rondé Barber, Fox makes sense. Not to that I'm playing the agent for Mike Tomlin or anything.

1:20:49Pat McAfee:Well, Jay Glazer's been playing the agent because he's the one who on going into week 18 and we watched Jay Glazer on Sunday. Scoop edge, right? Isn't that what he calls it? Yeah, scoop edge. and he only he doesn't do the day-to-day anymore no he wanted to he could he waits for sunday so he can break it on their countdown show and we respect it and they got him this big screen now that he stands in front of i mean it's it's the best glazer setup we've seen in some time so we're happy for him that it's taken place but the way you talked about tomlin and harbaugh two very different things he was like yeah they've both been there a long time harbaugh can certainly move on from tomlin they won't move on he might do tv and as soon as i heard jay glazer say that i was like wait Jay Glazer and Tomlin are like very very very tight and then the boys were like boys are talking poor Fox right there he's saying he's going in there and if that's the case football will get better if Tomlin is on a microphone every single week talking about it and I don't know how the Pittsburgh people feel like I wonder how the Pittsburgh people will feel if this decision is made in the next 48 hours where he stays and he's a coach and they're taking the tractor another round so you're boots on the ground Aaron didn't give any definitives afterwards either.

1:21:56Pat McAfee:So he didn't want to make a decision in the middle of the emotion. Didn't want to make any emotional decisions is what he said. So that means he's not sure either. What are your thoughts after being around there? What the future does look like for them? I don't know. It's pretty reflective though, right? Like to do this thing again, I don't know. You know, I hate that his last pass was a pick six. I hate that he goes out as a wild card loser. But I do like the fact that Aaron, who is, I think, the most talented quarterback I've ever seen play talent-wise, just sheer throwing the ball and we can get into those semantics.

1:22:26I do like the fact that he had that Sunday night win last week. And I think it's okay if this is it for Aaron Rodgers. Now, if he has a burning desire to run it back one more time and do it with the Steelers or do it with somebody else that got, hey, that's his prerogative. But he left it on the field, played the complete season at 42, won a division, won a huge winning in game on Sunday night football with the world to see where he threw for 400 yards. I think he could hold his head pretty high saying, hey, I didn't go out the way it would have gone out if he had ended after those Jets two seasons.

1:22:58Pat McAfee:Congratulations to whatever decision is made, and congrats to the Houston Texans. I mean, what an unbelievable win, Shregs. We talk, I'm saying glowingly of the Houston Texans defense since I watched them play against the Colts. They were so good, so fast. Our crowd was booing within the first five minutes of the first quarter because they knew our offense wasn't going to be able to do anything against them. They did that last night, and then some obviously scoring like 14 points within a matter of what seemed like two minutes in the fourth quarter to kind of change the entire game. But you mentioned Matt Burke as being a head coach.

1:23:35Pat McAfee:No shit. I haven't heard his name at all. That was special defense over there right now. They're on the path to be historic. They might win it all because of the defense strengths. Let me tell you something about Matt Burke. This is a guy who has been around the league, has bounced around a bit, It was with the Dolphins, with the Eagles. Gets to Houston, and this is before they drafted Stroud and before they drafted Will Anderson. And D 'Amico's obviously a defensive coach. This year, D 'Amico gives up play-calling duties on defense to Matt Burke, who very quietly has put together this season with D 'Amico, obviously a big voice in it.

1:24:09And these guys have been unbelievable all season. So week four or five, Orlovsky and I went out there, and we called, and I was on that broadcast crew, that called the Seahawks-Texans Monday night game. It was part of a doubleheader. Not a lot of people stayed up to watch it. But now you look at it, it's Seahawks-Texans. Seahawks won by 14 points. You don't think much about it, whatever. The Texans defense absolutely dominated that game. And I came out of that thing being like, okay, I know they lost, but this team is legit. Then they beat the snot out of Josh Allen and the Bills. They eliminate the Chiefs.

1:24:45They go on, they get to the playoffs. And then last night on national television, Just absolutely destroyed the Steelers offense, which was clicking the week before. Top to bottom. And I give not only D 'Amico and Matt Burke and the players a lot of credit. I give Nick Casario, the GM, a lot of credit because a lot of it's homegrown. They drafted Stingley before Sauce Gardner. Everyone was like, you're drafting Stingley before Sauce? Stingley had all the injuries. Drafted Stingley before Sauce. Traded up to get Will Anderson. Petrie was a second round pick. You look at those different pieces, Bullock, draft pick, Lasseter, draft pick, and then bring in Alshair, right?

1:25:22Bring in Daniil Hunter. This is a loaded team, all three levels. And it might be one of those years where everyone's like, anyone's guessed who's in the Super Bowl. We wake up the Monday after the AFC Championship game and we're like, holy crap, the Houston Texans are playing in the Super Bowl. And they have the best defense since the Baltimore Ravens fielded in 2000. they're that good and they are that deep and they're that well coached sorry for this six minute soliloquy on the texans defense but i've been wowed by them four different occasions seahawks game bills game chiefs game and this game where it's like holy crap yeah when you get eyes

1:26:00Pat McAfee:on them in person it's even different because they're all big they're all fast they're all strong and a gap sound and d but you you were talking in that uh troy was talking a lot about it last night they're like the old seattle seahawks defense right where they're just doing their shit you just know exactly what it is it's not like aaron was going to have some sort of advantage by being able to pick apart what they were doing they're not disguised at anything they're just playing football saying let's go and get it right but what does that mean for like going forward i mean it just means basically everyone knows their roles so everyone and even the offense is coming in they know okay this is where it's going to be they're going to be playing this type of coverage it's how we can attack it but everyone knows their role so if i'm playing with AJ, I'm always in a curl flat, and he's always in a hook curl.

1:26:42Like, we almost know how each other is going to play each down. And you talked about that Ravens 2000 defense, the LOB, they were similar. Even that no-fly zone defense in Denver, they kind of won that Super Bowl when Peyton was there. Like, you knew what they were doing lining up. Their guys were just better, and they flied around. They were better coached. And, I mean, the way that this team swarms, and even when you catch the ball, like you're going to get a headache every time you catch the ball. and that's if the quarterback can get the damn ball out of his hands. They are unbelievable. Depending on how they finish this playoff run, can definitely go down as one of the all-time great defenses that we've seen.

1:27:17Pat, I love that AJ and Darius are here also. Daniil Hunter's got 115 career sacks. He's 31 years old. We never, never talk about this guy. I mean, we're talking about an all-time legend putting a career together that is doing so anonymously. Minnesota and here just compiles the sacks.

1:27:38Darius Butler:Should have been first team all-pro. Oh, that's rich. I don't vote. I voted for him as first team all-pro. Did you?

1:27:48Pat McAfee:Can't say that. The Houston sack station, brother. The Houston sack station. Daniil and Will Anderson. Listening to Will talk. Geez, he's a 55-year-old man. Getting sweat. How about D 'Amico? How about D 'Amico? How about D 'Amico mic'd up right before the game? That's abnormal. The first good pre-game interview, too. We always talk about how terrible those are. He was good, but he was on with Scott Van Pelt. He was on with I think Ryan and Jason and Swagu. Don't get that often. No, you just signed up for it. There's always an issue with the earpiece. Always an issue with the earpiece. We have it there.

1:28:32Pat McAfee:College Game Day has it every once in a while. And then D 'Amico had it a little bit. I think it's because these new modern ear things are supposed to be bent around the ear. But nobody wants to get in there and really bend it. You've got to really bend it. So then if you don't, that thing's sticking straight out the side, you know, like this as it's on there. It's just not a thing I've noticed. Do you go molded earpiece on Game Day? I go. I use Shure's. I got some Shure's, S-H-U-R-E's. but they mold them to your ear or no no no i don't like that i don't want to do the uh what's that they put in your ear where they feel like you're underground and it's like underwater it's super but like and i have the molded ones yeah i know i like my loud my shit's very loud too loud probably i'm gonna be deaf whenever it gets up i think those molded ones aren't loud enough because i think they're trying to look out for my ears so i need that shit pumped in there.

1:29:25Pat McAfee:I need that shit pumped in there. This is inside baseball for you viewers at home. This is how we talk about sports broadcasting. But when you're at a live event and then Pat's at these game day experiences and these guys are doing the alt cast, there's different earpieces. Each ball. So loud. That was the loudest pop I've ever heard. I was there for John Cena whenever he came back in Fort Worth, Texas, I think. El Paso, Texas. That was loud. That was an insane pop. Stone Cold Steve Austin in Dallas, WrestleMania. Take it. First time out. Oh, yeah. Dong, obviously, is kind of a different pop, but that's real.

1:30:05Pat McAfee:Last night at the Peach Bowl, that picked six by Bonds, first play. First play. First play. First play. They're already loud and juiced, making noise because Dante's out there. Oh, and then picked six. Oh, it was. That was the loudest pop I think I've ever heard in my entire life. I, uh, that was impressive, but yeah, you're right. I was in Seattle, Seattle for 2013 NFC championship game, Kaepernick versus Crabtree in the back of the end zone. And when that play happens, it's still the loudest I've ever heard a stadium in my life. Is that the one in the chain snatch? No, that was, that was Aaron Andrews.

1:30:47This was the Aaron Andrews afterwards where Aaron Andrews interview. Sherman's, I, you don't know this. Don't you ever talk about me? Yeah, try me the sorry ass.

1:30:57Pat McAfee:I love that. I like how Aaron handled that, by the way, like a boss. Yeah. Like a boss. Just like Laura earlier this year with Herbert, like a boss. Just like, no big deal, we're in the sports world. Let's get back to the sports world. Go ahead, AJ. AJ has a question for you, Shrigs. Shrigs, what about with this coaching hires in the NFL, obviously? Is there any young or, like, say, people under the radar that's going to get hired? We heard B.A. came on earlier. He thinks it's going to be like the recycled coaches are going to get these jobs. Like, who is someone that we're not talking about that's probably going to pop up and get one of these gigs?

1:31:27Yeah, I'm looking for your list. I don't see this guy. Nathan Schillhaus. Okay, yeah, we mentioned him earlier, too. All of a sudden, you guys just make the decision we're going to pump this guy up today. What's going on? No, I've been talking about him for weeks. But I'm also from the McVay camp, if you will, as far as talking to those guys. And they've been talking about him for several weeks and several years. So here's his story. 35 years old, quarterback at Illinois. four-year starter quarterback in Illinois then goes and works for Matt Campbell for a bunch of years at Iowa State I'm sure Ty Schmidt got to see his eyes on the Shillhouse experience out there and then he left and was like I need to do more so he goes to coach for McVay the issue is this he's never called plays so he's not the play caller he's the third guy on the org chart underneath Michael Floor and McVay but everyone raves about this one he's 35 he's got three interviews.

1:32:20He's got the Ravens on board also, which is an interesting fit considering Lamar. And we're talking about guys like Jim Schwartz and different older coaches for Lamar. Well, here's a 35-year-old who might be considered a peer. Maybe he's the voice you want. So that's one to watch. Kubiak and Minter got interviewed by everybody and Minter's going to interview with everybody. Those are sort of the young names. The wild card is this guy, Grant Udinski, who's 30 years old as of today. He's the offensive coordinator. Thank you. Happy birthday, Grant. 30 years old, but he was the OC for Jacksonville this year.

1:32:57And I heard you guys talking beforehand about Ben Johnson and what a difference that was. Like, how about Liam Cohen? And one year ago, we were talking about this moribund franchise and why would you interview? Liam Cohen got one slip for an interview, one, and it was the Jaguars, and they just had this wonderful season. And so all it takes is the right hire and the right juice and the right energy. And things can change. They really can. And I know fans in Cleveland or fans in Miami right now are like, what the heck? We can't get this right. If you hire the right guy, things can change.

1:33:29Pat McAfee:All the guys that are deemed not the right guys in a lot of these places are going to get hired at new places. Your thoughts? Meaning? Stefanski, McDaniel, Harbaugh. if they were to move on from LaFleur I guess they would probably trade him I guess is what people are saying but they would get a head coach Tomlin if Tomlin gets moved on from he'd be a head coach anywhere he wants it's just like all these guys like hey if you hire the right guy if you hire the right guy it's like well maybe it's a guy who just got fired from another place where he wasn't the right guy there's a chance that happens a lot on this particular Andy Reid worked I think Mike McCarthy worked in Dallas for the most part had a nice second run there Gary Kubiak worked in Denver like it's worked.

1:34:12It's interesting because, you know, the Harbaugh stuff, the Harbaugh discourse is all over the map. It's like Atlanta interviewed him. And then I've never seen this before. Beat reporters from the Giants coming out and being like, yes, but the Giants had a meeting on Saturday. Like it's all over the map. And I think he'll end up somewhere. But I also would say hang tight on everyone, you know, Harbaugh being able to pick and choose where he wants to go. Not every team wants John Harbaugh necessarily as their coach. Who doesn't want him? I don't know who doesn't want him, but not every team is looking for a man who's been coaching for 20 years somewhere else.

1:34:46And they might be looking for the first-time coach and a young voice who we haven't seen. Every team is different. So Harbaugh, I believe, is the lead dog for the Giants. I would imagine that's a great fit. But it's not necessarily the perfect fit everywhere. And just because there's an opening doesn't mean John Harbaugh is going to be the head coach of that team. the team that I would say keep an eye on with Harbaugh other than the Giants interesting Tennessee Titans makes a lot of sense yeah what happened why is this

1:35:15Pat McAfee:happening I heard this we need to keep him out you hear this elsewhere no yeah well yeah I saw it on the internet it might have been your tweet I don't know if you post it but I saw like multiple people posting that for some reason Tennessee Titans might land Harbaugh I'm like get the fuck out of the AFC South Harbaugh what are we talking about we got D 'Amico Ryans Liam Cohen. We're about to John Harbaugh on the AFC South. I don't think so. And why would he like Tennessee? Because Nashville is the sweetest city in America? Is that – he loves honky-tonks? It helps. It helps. Nashville is a cool city.

1:35:47I love honky-tonks.

1:35:48Pat McAfee:We all love honky-tonks. I love Nashville. Blank slate. Quarterback's in place. Cool, good GM in Mike Borgonzie, who everyone respects around the league. And an owner is basically going to say, like, hey, as much as everyone thinks she's meddling, like they want to win like here here are the keys build it like build it and they have a new stadium coming yeah yeah like all that stuff is exciting for now you it's a great city was awesome nashville's awesome it might be the best city in america so you'd think about it like that and then it's you know the giants gm's already in place uh they have a young quarterback four lombardi trophies on the wall.

1:36:31A lot of... The Giants thing is like, this is a Giants type of coach. Tom Coughlin came in here. Parcells came in. The Nashville thing is a little looser if he wants to and if he interviews well with them. I'm not even sure they're offering him the job. My point is this. Stefanski can interview for all these jobs. He's got to impress him.

1:36:54Pat McAfee:I'm sorry, Shregs. I'm stepping on you here. A couple of things you've said have been so surprising. Maybe the Titans don't want Harbaugh. And you know, for the Titans, I don't think he do. I don't think he fits the culture down there. I think we need to keep him out of there. I think we need to keep him out of there. As an NFC South man, I understand, or AFC South man, I understand you saying that. I would add this. The Ravens, really interesting, right? They had their run with Harbaugh. It ended. It was time. They move on. Whatever. There are going to be questions to everybody around the Ravens and everybody who's been around Lamar Jackson if you're hiring John Harbaugh, well, what exactly happened there, right?

1:37:33So there's going to be other sides to this. I'm just saying it's not Harbaugh having eight choices and picking. He's got to interview for these jobs and it's got to be the right fit. He'll get a job. If he wants to get it, he'll get one of these. But I don't think it's eight teams waiting on their hands while they're not meeting other people and not open to other ideas saying, gosh, will John Harbaugh pick us or not? I don't think it's that deal. Look, Bill Belichick interviewed with one team and everyone when he was done was assuming he was going to have his choice. one team and he didn't get the job.

1:38:01Pat McAfee:Interesting. So we'll see what happens with Harbaugh. We assume he's going to get a job. But there's another guy that you talk about, Baltimore, allegedly did get an interview, not 100 % sure. Didn't expect this name in the cycle, but it could get hot. Diggs has a question for you, Shregs.

1:38:13Darius Butler:Yeah, I do, Shregs. I did see that Cliff, I believe, did interview. Sorry, Cliff Kingsbury, OC for the Commanders, former coach of the Arizona Cardinals, did interview with the Baltimore Ravens. Do you have any insight on kind of how that ended in Washington? because it was kind of surprising as far as there was reports about they had a meeting and then they decided part ways after the meeting. And is Cliff someone who do you think could get a head coach job and will definitely get an OC job if he doesn't get a head coaching job? Well, he wants to work, and I could tell you it would be just – I think he would be fine with me saying this.

1:38:48It would be an honor for him to be able to work with Lamar Jackson. That is something that is very exciting for him. I think for Cliff and Washington, at the end of the day, they wanted to make a change, and he was more than fine to no longer be the offensive play caller in that building anymore. And he loves Jaden, and he loves Dan Quinn. I think it was just time. And they're moving on to David Blau, who's a 30-year-old, and they get their fresh new start and excited to see where that goes. It actually ended on good terms with him and Quinn. Cliff goes on now. They don't like each other's strengths.

1:39:18They don't like his system, his scheme? Do they want him to run something that he doesn't want to run? I think that was it. I think they're looking to get more into a different scheme and really mirror what they did in San Francisco and some of that stuff that Adam Peters brought over there. And I think that's fair. What Cliff does is different. It's not what they want to run. So they're going to move on. And again, both sides are cool with each other, happy, and Cliff's going to get an opportunity. Now, what's interesting is, well, you know, DQ, like Dan Quinn was like broken hearted. He's like the greatest guy in the world.

1:39:50So it's fine. But with Cliff, he interviewed yesterday with the Ravens, did it in person. And he interviewed both for the head coaching job and the offensive coordinator job, which I think is really interesting. And I think Mike McDaniel is going to do the same thing with Baltimore as well. They're bringing these guys in and it's DaCosta. It's Sashi. And it's I believe Bashadi has input, but I don't know if he's in this round of interviews. and they just want to hear you talk because they haven't had a fresh voice in there for 18 years and they want to hear what your philosophies are and they want to hear what you're going to maximize and do with Lamar because this doesn't come from the Ravens side or Cliff but you know Lamar this is this is one of the greatest offensive talents we've ever seen enter this league and that window as huge as it is well with his contract all that stuff like I don't know if Lamar plays the same way at the later part of his 30s so right now the next three four, five years, we have to strike the iron.

1:40:50You have to make the right hire. And there has to be a connection between quarterback, coach, and offensive coordinator. So what I thought is interesting is McDaniel, Cliff, they can meet in person because they're currently not employed by these teams. And they're interviewing for both positions. And maybe Sala's the coach and Cliff's the OC. Or maybe Jim Schwartz is the coach and Mike McDaniel's the OC. Pretty cool way they're going about this. They just want to meet and learn and hear about everything. And I believe Cliff has a request for Tennessee to interview for their head coaching job, but that hasn't been scheduled yet.

1:41:22So Cliff's wide open. I think Baltimore makes a lot of sense either in that head coaching job or offensive coordinator. But if it doesn't go that way, he's cool. He's open. He wants to see what's next also.

1:41:32Pat McAfee:Fascinating interviewing for both jobs. Good luck to all parties. McDaniel going over there would be fascinating. He's in Detroit today, right? McDaniel interviewing with mcdc is that accurate it is he's in there today um mike interviewed with he interviewed with cleveland and atlanta yesterday for their head coaching jobs that would be interesting i you know mcdaniel very well obviously we've gotten a chance to chat with him a couple times i don't think if i was a fan of a team and they hired mcdaniel as a head coach right now after what just happened in miami i'd be pumped but hey everybody can rewrite whatever they want him being an offense coordinator though i think he's getting a parade in every place he gets hired.

1:42:10Pat McAfee:So, you know, just two different ways to kind of look at it. I have some source telling me that rather large news is coming in about 15 minutes or so. It's 1.45 Eastern, I believe like 15 minutes out. Shregs, you're getting the same information that I'm getting at from Texas. No. Is it what I started the show with saying that the next couple of days will know? I don't know. Is it that topic? I don't know. Maybe. Maybe. I don't know, though. I don't know, though. But yeah, I heard we're going to hear some news here relatively quick. I tried putting out some breadcrumbs when I came on, just saying, and gave myself a little bit of a runway.

1:42:48Pat McAfee:Yeah, hold on. Don't be trying to take my take right now. Don't be trying to take my take right now. I did not say today. That's fair. Well, because I'm not saying what it is. You guys are eluded. You're eluded. No, I'm not eluding to anything. You are. You're eluded. You're doing a chef and shit right now. I'm not. I have no idea. I'm getting butterflies in my tummy. A little Traeger side eye. You should. From what I'm not alluding to. Uh-oh. Sounds like you should get pretty excited from what I'm not alluding to. Whoa. Good butterflies? Is Tony going to be happy or sad? I don't know. I'm not alluding to anything.

1:43:26Darius Butler:Am I going to need happy tissues or sad tissues?

1:43:30Pat McAfee:They're all the same for how you finish, Tony. I don't want to put you in a position to have to celebrate something. Hey, do I kind of look? Hey, buddy. Hey, Ray. I look like that South Park character with that thing across my mouth. Hey, buddy! I'm not your buddy, guy. Terrence and what? All right. Anyways, yeah, there's allegedly from my source, we're 14 minutes out. Is there a presser or something? Is there a presser coming up or is there just news? I have no idea. I think the person that texted me is just here in a room or two, but that person would definitely know. Dude, just break it. Just break it right now.

1:44:12Just do it right now.

1:44:13Pat McAfee:I've heard enough. I'm tweeting eyeballs. No, no. I'm doing the eyeballs tweet right now. That's what I'm doing.

1:44:21Darius Butler:I just sent it out for you.

1:44:23Pat McAfee:Okay, thank you. That's my tweet, Shrigz. I don't want to dive into the insider world. I have nothing, so this is all you, baby. Anytime I put the eyeball tweets out and then news breaks like 30, 45 minutes later, that's just me saying, hey, I knew it this time. I got it. You know, because I had it. Jerk, come on, you're doing the eyeball. You don't know what it is. I said I would do it for you.

1:44:47Darius Butler:You said enough. Okay. It could be like, your news could be Fred Warner ran today at practice and everyone's like, I told you I had the eyeballs. I knew it was coming. That's not an eyeball worthy.

1:44:59Pat McAfee:Fred Warner, maybe. Fred Warner, maybe. If we didn't know that he was potentially going to be back, the eyeball worthy would be there. He looks amazing. We love Fred Warner. His recovery, if he was able to get back on the field, obviously that'd be absurd. We have massive respect for him. The Niners being able to win without him and Bosa have been absolutely outrageous. Alongside Trent Williams missing a game, Brock Purdy missing some games, Kyle Shanahan's a beast. Now, let's go to a couple quarterbacks through their story. What do you want to know? I just got a text, too.

1:45:32Pat McAfee:Yes, I wonder if it's the same as mine. I don't know if his name was mine. All right. Hey, D-Bot's up, by the way. I think he's going back to Patriots fan base. I don't know if you heard about this. He's hopping a bandwagon. They are rubble. I think that is. I saw him in McCourty. I saw him in McCourty hugging in a photograph. Lovely. He's getting recruited. D-Bot's getting recruited to take his bandwagon to other places. It's insanity. But I'll tell you what, D-Bot, got to keep four teams in the holster. Never know who's going to let you down. Got to. Okay, let's move along. A couple quarterbacks that their story is obviously potentially not a great ending.

1:46:04Pat McAfee:but could change massively. Connor has a question. Yeah, Shrakes, feels like next in line for a new home would be Tua and Kyler Murray when it comes to next year and where they're going to play. Do you have any read on what teams might be interested, whether they're going to be traded, whether they're going to be cut? What is that situation with Tua and Kyler? Do you fully expect them to be starters somewhere next year? No. Tua, I don't know. I don't think Tua will ever. Again, I have to say this with like a giant I don't think Tua is going to be the quarterback of the Dolphins next year Kyler, I don't know Kyler finished the season hurt obviously And everyone's assuming they're just going to get out of that contract But let's see who they hire as a head coach And what that head coach's vision is Because a lot of the conversations there in Arizona are going to be What is your plan at quarterback?

1:46:56Because Jacoby Brissett played well But they didn't win a game in the final, I think, 10 weeks of the season So I'm interested on both of those as well. Those are two of the names that are going to be like those veteran guys that might be out there. Mac Jones is another one. And then Malik Willis is another one. Those are four names that are being circulated as like, who's your Baker Mayfield? Who's your Sam Darnold? Who's your, you know, reclamation project that you can get behind this year and say, hey, he's either a bridge quarterback or he's a guy that you could be a competent veteran starter that maybe isn't going to cost you 50 to 60 million.

1:47:24What are some of those team strikes? Which kind of team – you just listed four, but what are some of the teams you would say, hey, they're not going to do the entire, hey, let's go get a young guy, let's draft a guy and build around them. But where would you kind of pin as a team that might do a bridge year for a quarterback? Maybe Pittsburgh, any of those? Pittsburgh, I think Cleveland is a possibility. I look at Minnesota. I don't know what we have with J.J. McCarthy moving forward. I don't know if they were blown away. Like, do you bring in a Tua or do you bring in a Malik Willis or do you bring in a Kyler Murray to Minnesota and say, all right, we're going to challenge J.J.

1:48:02McCarthy. It's year three and we haven't seen anything really that's given us the proof that this is the guy moving forward. So interesting with all those teams. And of course, the Jets are on the board. But after the Justin Fields experiment, I think, you know, be cautious of them giving a big contract to one of these other reclamation projects.

1:48:19Pat McAfee:What about Aaron Rodgers, Kevin O 'Connell's offense like we almost saw this year? Remember that? That was a potential possibility. And I was bummed out. What's that? I just say bro because that's not a crazy thing if Aaron still wants to play and that roster still to this moment is built to win. Have you heard any rumblings between them? You heard anything about how – No, there was rumblings. There was rumblings during the whole Rodgers wait and see, and that was real. Like, you know, Darnold going to Seattle was one move. And then you were like, well, what's the other shoe that's going to drop?

1:48:56And then there wasn't. It was just J.J.'s team. And then when J.J. got hurt, no offense to Max Brosmer, but it wasn't necessarily built to win. You know, Carson Wentz with the longest edition.

1:49:09Pat McAfee:Brosmer's a real Brosmer. He'll be in the USXFL. We know that. And he'll do – He'll be an NFL quarterback, but, you know, he wasn't – He's not Aaron Rodgers. He's got a lot of Wentz in him. Not yet. I mean, maybe Brosmer is an NFL quarterback. In my eyes, he's got Birmingham Stallions written all over him. Oh, my. Learning under the tutelage of A.J. McCarron. Kind of good. Good coach. That's what I'm saying. If he's on our stadium, maybe he goes to the Battle Hawks. Sure.

1:49:41Darius Butler:Ricky Prohl. Jordan Ta 'amon might still be. Anthony Beck still with the Battle Hawks wasn't he the coach?

1:49:51Pat McAfee:He's entering his fifth season with the Battle Hawks they're obviously under new ownership there as a whole, they're excited shout out to Rocco Beck joining the Penn State Nittany Lions I believe good for Rocco he feels like he's 27 years old he's only like 23 or whatever unbelievable there's somebody looking for 7 years of eligibility the other day. Who was that? Somebody was trying to...

1:50:16Darius Butler:UVA's quarterback. Can't remember his name off the top of my head. There's a couple of them.

1:50:24Pat McAfee:Okay, what else do we need to hit?

1:50:28Pat McAfee:No, Shreg, you have the answers on stuff. That's what I'm trying to make sure we get from you, because you have the answers on all the shit. Okay, yeah. Last question here from Conman. Yeah, Shreg, you mentioned a bunch of different quarterbacks there in different locations. What about Atlanta? Is Penix and Kirk, are they just rolling with those two? Are they going to be in kind of the quarterback conversation when it comes to, you know, new head coach coming in, possibly new front man as well? So Atlanta is a really interesting deal. So let's go through it. So Raheem doesn't think he's getting fired, gets fired after winning four straight games.

1:51:03And then we learn after the fact that, you know, the conversations informal were happening with Matt Ryan anyway. They go through this entire search for this head of football operations deal. They interview Brent Tillis, who's the man down in Carolina. They interview Mike Disner, who's in Detroit. Foxy might know that name pretty well. He's been part of that whole rebuild. And in the end, they're like, it's going to be Matt Ryan. Matt Ryan's doing his press conference right now. Fine. But they don't have a GM yet and they don't have a head coach yet. And there's also Arthur Blank, who's an owner in his 80s, and Arthur's son, who's 29, Josh Blank, who's been working at the league office for years and is now sort of taking a bigger role.

1:51:40So there's a lot of voices in that room already of like what we're looking at, vision, and Matt Ryan's there to kind of synergize it all. I say all this because I don't think I could give you a valid answer on what their plan is at quarterback because we don't have the head coach, we don't have the GM, and Matt Ryan's voice is going to play such a large role in the vision of this team. So anything I thought would have been from the previous regime and before the last couple days, Matt Ryan's not coming in and saying, hey, Pennix is the guy or Pennix is not the guy. That's why you do the interviews.

1:52:09That's why you meet all these people.

1:52:11Pat McAfee:Excited to see that. He said he's not going to pull a Phillip Rivers and play football, but we'll see. You never know. We'll see. We'll see you with Matt Ryan. All right, Shregs, we appreciate the hell out of you. T-minus five minutes from my clock. I'm checking my non-watch. Yes. Let's go. Oh, that's a real one. Yeah, that's a nice one. It's like Sheffy Fontes. Hey, press one button car, automatic start. Stand to close car alarm, my bar. That's what they're saying. We got rolling out here, but this is also black and yellow. Interesting. Love you guys. What was that little tidbit? I'm telling you, dude.

1:52:54Pat McAfee:This could be pretty big.

1:52:57Darius Butler:I was getting a transfer portal quarterback. Oh, I hope. No, freaking Mace is re-signing with the Steelers. Seven might be cool.

1:53:04Pat McAfee:Maybe. Oh, maybe Ben. Ben was on the Super Duper cast last night, right, with Manning? Yep. Yep. I didn't get to watch much of it. Was he bummed out the whole time?

1:53:14Darius Butler:He was a bit bummed out. He also was.

1:53:17Pat McAfee:He loves the Steelers, dude. He loves the Steelers. He does.

1:53:21Darius Butler:We love him. And he was trying to get, like, he was trying to talk about the game. And Peyton and Eli just wanted to talk about goofy faces of quarterbacks and stuff. So, yeah, it was super enlightening. Loved it. return happened when he was on, too. No, no, that's not a fumble. No. It was pretty good.

1:53:36Pat McAfee:Certainly was. And Rank is just picking that up, just casually, and taking that to the crib. After he bullrushed the guard, too. Beautiful play by this front. Fell on it. AJ, I think there's huge news coming in four minutes. The SportsCenter will obviously be on top of that here on ESPN. We'll continue digitally on ESPN +, YouTube, TikTok, and X. We can't thank you enough for allowing us to do this for a living. I'm doing something right now shaking some hands because the fact that you give us a chance to do this every day we hope you come visit us tomorrow be a friend tell a friend something nice that might change your life goodbye bam got it can I hit it?

1:54:11oh yeah perfect one of the screws

1:54:15Pat McAfee:this is I think we should take a break uh should we wait we should wait it out we should wait it out

1:54:20Darius Butler:okay silence or talk silence would be cool okay like three and a half minutes of silence that'd be sick like meditation Maybe Mick could do like a There was some breaking news while we were on with Shregs Oh yeah, Greg Roman

1:54:39Pat McAfee:Offensive coordinator for Los Angeles Chargers has been fired Now, is it his fault that the offensive line couldn't stay healthy? Is it his fault they couldn't protect her? But is it his fault? I think a lot of people over there are saying, we don't care if it's his fault We need something new. Obviously, Greg Roman and Jim Harbaugh close friends. They were living in an RV together whenever they got out there, try to flip this entire thing around. Now they will move on. A lot of great offensive coordinators available. Justin Herbert, D-Bot, is certainly something that would draw a lot of people's interest in a Los Angeles Chargers building, I think.

1:55:08Absolutely. One of the most talented quarterbacks in the league. A lot of people were putting Greg Roman's playoff stats side by side, along with Lamar Jackson and Justin Herbert. The lack of success in the playoffs. So you kind of saw this coming. So now it's three jobs with quarterbacks and with very good offensive weapons, In my opinion, the Chargers, the Lions, and the Ravens now who have open spots at some head coaching and some offensive coordinator spots. So I'd be interested to see what big names they get into building.

1:55:38Pat McAfee:Yeah. You talk about Baltimore, Detroit, and now Los Angeles. I mean, Cliff Kingsbury, McDaniel, this Sheilhaas guy, I guess, because he's not calling actual plays in L.A. He's available. Promotion. I got a name that no one's talking about that would fit really well in Detroit if you guys want to hear that one. I already know. I think Dan Orlovsky with his history with the Lions, former teammate of MCDCs. True. The guy knows everything about the Ben Johnson offense. Good call. He loves Jared Goff, accurate quarterbacks, all those weapons, St. Brown, J-Mo, Gibbs, Monty, Laporta when he comes back.

1:56:19Can you imagine Dan Orlovsky on a pen and paper or in the VR writing up plays for the Detroit Lions next year and sending us to the Super Bowl?

1:56:29Pat McAfee:Dan Orlovsky maybe to the Lions? That would be awesome. That would be the best case scenario for our show, for sure. Now, well, MCDC, now we probably wouldn't be able to talk to Orlovsky after he gets up there. But would MCDC let Dano be Dana? Like, is he going to let Dano stay fudging and do all the tricks that he wants to be able to do? I think he would. Man, Dan Orlovsky back with the Lions to right the wrong of the 0-16 season. To right the wrong of the 11-yard end zone. To right the wrong of his story in Detroit. And make it a better one alongside a former teammate of his to bring a title to Detroit.

1:57:11Pat McAfee:Oh, AJ. Oh, it writes itself. Get Dano up there, Foxy. That's brilliant. We've been talking about it for how many off seasons now. Has he officially interviewed for any of these jobs? I feel like he used to. A couple times he actually interviewed. He's interviewing every day, brother. And the other thing, too, with the Lions is they were boo-hooing because Skip was retiring. Guess who's not retiring anymore if Dan was coming in? Skip. Good point. Decker. What about Dan for head coaching opportunities? Why are we talking coordinator? Why don't you just go right to the top? Well, if NCDC brought him in, he'd probably be nervous that he'd be.

1:57:46Great point. Great point. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's a threat. Yeah, absolutely. Hey, all the boys are asking for Dan to be head coach now that he's here.

1:57:54Pat McAfee:Foxy, Dan Orlovsky or McDaniel, offense coordinator for Lions? Yeah, so I put a tweet out and I said, Lions fans, who do you want to hire as your coordinator? And I got a lot of responses on that, not one Orlovsky one, so that might just be me, but overwhelming support for Mike McDaniel. So if he gets the job, I think Lions fans will be very, very happy. I like to hear that. It's 2 o 'clock. Have we heard anything? I don't know, man. I'm refreshing. Where's the news? Just break it. I want to know so bad. Well, I don't know if it's real. That's why we got to wait for this thing. We need journalists to go in there.

1:58:32Pat McAfee:Actually, Tone, you should just call the people you know in the place that you know and see if anything happened within the last... Let's take a break. Let's take a break. I think it's pretty big. Still refreshing. Nothing yet. Can we just FaceTime Muth from back there? I don't know. What do you say? Why do you think it's Trump? What do you think Muth is? Because you said you have a black and gold watch. Yeah, black and gold watch was one of the tidbits. I do, yes. Big story for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Every time we go to break when something like this happens, it breaks as soon as we go to break.

1:59:10We'll come right back up. Can we do like a fake like, all right, let's go. See you guys later. And then they'd be waiting and we don't go. Boom, boom.

1:59:17Pat McAfee:Alright, so we'll act like we're going to a break Alright, so Go to the bathroom When we come back We're going to cover all the sports stories That you need to know about So be a friend, tell a friend Something nice might change your life Take five Update, refresh Update, refresh, anything? No, nothing Nigel Sealy just tweeted What kind of news? Darts? No, it looks like he's retweeting a Mitch Michaels tweet about his chat with Lorenzo Musetti. I'm interested in that. What do they say? It's a YouTube link to the Inside In Tennis podcast. Can you read his tweet though? Can you read Mitch Michaels tweet there?

2:00:06Oh yeah. Here's the video of my chat with Lorenzo Musetti. Remember, you can watch every episode of the Inside In Tennis podcast on a YouTube channel. It's youtu.be forward slash 3gr6 Q Y2AK90 question mark SI three dots. You can get the rest of it at YouTube.

2:00:29Pat McAfee:Is Lorenzo Musetti going to tell us why I could just sign up and go play in a pro tennis game? I would like to know that. That lady that was in there, that's awesome. That's one of the best sports stories I've ever heard. What was her name? Abdel Dakar, I believe, from Egypt. That sounds right. She wasn't even like an average tennis player. Fuck! That's what made it better. Three minutes, there's supposed to be something going on here. But hold on, what kind of news could break when you say, like, whoever you're talking to, your source is. There's going to be a piece of information delivered to a group of people, allegedly at 2 p.m.

2:01:07Pat McAfee:One of those people that are getting information will certainly roll over The info. It says that the Steelers have a team meeting that started at 2 p.m. local per league sources. Oh, you're alerting, alerting. He's alerting. Hashtag Tomlin watch. Oh, there's a Tomlin watch? Who's that from? I don't know if that is a Tomlin watch. All I know is my watch and my bladder are saying I got to go to the bathroom. So let's take a break.

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2:02:43Football! Pat, what happened? We took a 30-second break. Something happened. What's going on?

2:02:50Pat McAfee:We knew exactly how this was going to go. As soon as we decided to take a break, news broke. Ladies and gentlemen, Coach Tomlin, a man who had coached the Pittsburgh Steelers for 19 seasons, who led them with great success, never had a losing season as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, informed his team at a team meeting at 2 p.m. Eastern today that he'll be stepping down as the Steelers head coach. Now, obviously, this is a gigantic decision that Coach Tomlin had to make. There was a lot of conversation and conjecture about whether or not he should be the head coach going forward. Are the Rooney's going to fire him?

2:03:24Pat McAfee:Would he ever not be the head coach unless he decided he wasn't going to be the head coach? Well, it turns out he decided he didn't want to be the head coach anymore. He is stepping down. Did that come after conversations with the Rooney family, the ownership group of the Pittsburgh Steelers? Potentially. Did that come after conversations with his family? Did that come after conversations with the fans? What led to this decision? We do not know. Hopefully we'll find out more as we go forward. But Mike Tomlin no longer being the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers is an insane thought. John Harbaugh, one week ago, loses to the Pittsburgh Seers in Week 18, misses out on an AFC North championship and a home playoff game.

2:04:02Pat McAfee:The Baltimore Ravens move on from John Harbaugh. And now a week later, after a wild card drumming to the Houston Texans, Mike Tomlin gone from the AFC North. It's the dawning of a new era, certainly in the AFC North, but definitely in football as a whole. And in Pittsburgh, this is wild to think about. Let's go to one half of the hammer. God! Cowboys AP tone. Is that what you're getting butterflies in your stomach for about 16 minutes ago, whenever you thought this was potentially going to be the news and now it's officially happened. How do you feel? And how do you think Pittsburgh feels about it?

2:04:34Darius Butler:Yeah, I, I, to be honest, had no idea how I would react if this happened. And at this moment, I kind of like hearts racing. Cause at first and foremost, obviously thank you to coach Tomlin for 19 years, one Superbowl, two Superbowl appearances, multiple AFC championships and what he did for the team and the city to carry it on from what coach Cower had done and coach Noel had done like an incredible job and he will never ever be forgotten in the city of Pittsburgh for what he did for all these years to go 19 seasons and to be in the playoff race every single season and for a lot of those seasons to have Super Bowl aspirations like he started when I was a freshman in college so I've basically spent most of my adult life with coach Tomlin as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers so first and foremost thank you to him but when you go nine years in a Steelers organization without a playoff win seven straight playoff losses um and none of them being particularly close like it's just a situation where yes he's a great coach but has it's has it run its course in Pittsburgh most likely probably so you know I'm shocked I'm surprised I didn't think I would uh that this would happen um but like I said when you go nine years and seven straight playoff losses this does happen so now I think the majority of the city is going to agree with this I think they're going to agree with what he did in Pittsburgh was incredible and the whole run was incredible and he's a great football coach but I think people will be happy with the move and I think people will be happy and now optimistic with what the future could bring.

2:06:16Pat McAfee:Okay, because it could be different than what it has been for 19 years. Now, Coach Tomlin, I think B.A. mentioned it in the first hour where he said he doesn't think Rooney will fire him, but it's time. And I think when Coach B.A. said that, that was a surprise to me that he actually said that publicly. But I think B.A. was also speaking from Tomlin's perspective. It's like, hey, man, you've done incredible things for this place. And seemingly at this point, you've got a stadium chanting to fire you right now. He goes out to go in public. Obviously, everybody's a fan of Mike Tomlin, but also there's immediate to his family, to him.

2:06:45Pat McAfee:Hey, when are we going to win a Super Bowl? We just got killed again. Is this another year? It's like that was his life anywhere outside of football and outside of his family in Pittsburgh. That's what it became, basically. And what is it? You're the dire hero. You live long enough to see yourself become the villain or whatever. It's like that was Tomlin in Pittsburgh for sure. And in this modern age, being able to stay in the same place for 19 years is wild. That's a crazy thing to even consider. That's why what Harbaugh was doing in Baltimore, crazy. So now you've got 20 NFL teams that are trying to call Tomlin and his agent to see, hey, is there any chance that he still wants to coach football?

2:07:19Pat McAfee:Or how does this whole thing work? And if he signs up to do TV, is he going to be in the booth this weekend? Is he going to be on a kickoff show this weekend? Because obviously this is the biggest time for all these shows. It's like there's a chance Mike Tomlin will have options with what he wants to do next. I cannot read the rest of that because the thing is cutting off. Still can't. he could put it in between me and AJ uh still can't if he could put it in between me and AJ maybe but Mike Tomlin have options with what he wants to do he can take the year off he can have a job in television as an analyst he gets to do what he wants but he won't be coaching for the Steelers yeah I mean good for coach Tomlin now that he has all the options in the world he's worked his ass off to get to this moment good for the Steelers good for the faithful yinzers who uh obviously have a sense of optimism and hope about okay we got some change maybe we can go win and who do you hire next, D-Butt?

2:08:11Pat McAfee:I guess that's the question. With the model the Pittsburgh Steelers have, they're looking for a lot of consistency, which you would think may be a younger coach. But Mike Vrabel goes back to New England. The reason why he does such a good job there is because he loves the place, has a history of that place. He's in the ring of honor of that place. Mike McCarthy was born and raised about three miles from the stadium, four miles from the stadium. He's available. He wanted the Pittsburgh Steelers to win a Super Bowl this year so his mom and his family could have a good time like the good old days back in the day.

2:08:41Pat McAfee:It's like, who is the right answer now for the Pittsburgh Steelers? I guess they have to find that out for the first time in 19 years, D-Buck. They definitely have to find it out. Long time. I mean, Tomlin's basically lived out a dream. Every coach's dream to stay at a place like the Pittsburgh Steelers for 19 years. We're getting old. You know, all these kind of chapters are closing. Bill Belichick in New England, Pete Carroll in Seattle, Harbaugh in Baltimore, and now Tomlin in Pittsburgh. Based on their history, Kyle was pretty young when he got hired, too. Was this his first NFL head coaching job when he got hired?

2:09:12Darius Butler:Yeah, I believe he was the special teams coach in Cleveland before he got hired, if I remember correctly. Yeah, so that was his first opportunity in Pittsburgh. Then Mike Tomlin got his first NFL opportunity in Pittsburgh. History would tell us it'll probably be another coach getting their first opportunity to take the team forward. But we shall see. It's a tough decision to make. It's an iconic franchise. Once again, Tone being a fan, being from Pittsburgh is different, but me being a fan of just football and physical, defensive football, championship caliber of football. So I have the utmost respect for Mike Tomlin and the job that he's done.

2:09:46And I personally, and this is me personally, I can't see him coaching anywhere else. This is just me, so I can maybe see him going to the TV. I can't see him with other colors and another hat or whatever on the sideline. Personally, but we shall see. we know how these coaches are wired they want to coach forever uh so we'll see what what's next

2:10:04Pat McAfee:from mike tomlin big part of this entire thing it's being talked about online is tomlin stepped down he wasn't fired so the stealers still remain or retain his rights so this is what ari mirov at my sports update former real estate guy i think he was and then he got into aggregating information for the nfl on the internet i don't think he went to journalism school but he does a great job of aggregating a lot of information on a regular basis i don't know if he sleeps he might be one of those guys that's actually plugged in which is pretty cool that we get to experience that but if mike tomlin was to go do television with fox i don't like the photo he used of mike tomlin there by the way but if he was to go do television with fox it would be very similar to situation sean payton did with fox where go do tv i think sean payton crushed it i think he did well i think tomlin would do better than anybody i think tom will be the best guy on tv as soon as he gets on tv i think that'll be like a matter of fact but if he doesn't enjoy it or for some reason does yearned to get back onto the football field, somebody's going to have to trade for the Pittsburgh Steelers to go get them.

2:11:00Pat McAfee:So, to your point, B-Butt, I think he's going to go do TV and become king, and he's going to feel respect and appreciation from the entire NFL, because the way you view Mike Tomlin is the way I think everybody outside of Pittsburgh Steelers fan base views Mike Tomlin. This guy's cool, this guy's awesome, this guy always wins. Must be nice, Steelers fans, that you're complaining about him not winning a Super Bowl. You guys are in the playoffs every single year. That's what the rest of the NFL thinks. So now that he's going to be able to speak to them, I think he's going to be a king if he does TV, AJ.

2:11:29Pat McAfee:I think he's going to live like a king, get treated like a king, and feel like a king if he does TV, and get paid like a king if he does TV, AJ. Those are a lot of four royal things to kind of change your life a little bit. Yeah, I'm not sure who mentioned it, but yeah, we could see him in a week or two doing playoff coverage, sitting at the desk somewhere doing it. But I know Rapsheet said that he informed the team that he plans to step away from coaching, meaning one of the greatest to do it will take a break. So does Rap Sheet know that he's not going to coach this next year? Jay Glazer is the guy we need to be following here.

2:11:59Yeah. I'm with what Glazer is saying.

2:12:02Pat McAfee:Glazer is the one that we need to be following. I think him and Tomlin actually like – You heard Schlegs. Remember the video Jay Glazer put from the meeting? Like they're all sitting around kind of having a drink, smoking a cigar at the end of the coaches' or owners' meetings. It was like a whole situation. Yeah, yeah. Tomlin and Jay are the guys, and that's what Schlegs talks about. Like, yeah, these guys run this whole place. Yeah, now that becomes the best, like, one of at least the top jobs. I mean, the AFC North now, there's three coaching vacancies, and the Bengals are the only one that are keeping their guy Zach Taylor, and that might only be for another year.

2:12:35But I don't know how you guys would feel, but for a place like Pittsburgh, would this be a spot where you kind of have to bring in someone who understands it? Like, immediately I was thinking Brian Flores, because Brian Flores was there for a year, kind of got back into coaching with Tomlin. Now he's the D.C. of the Vikings, kind of very similar. goes Minnesota to Pittsburgh? Do you think they're going to go that route or more so do the veteran McCarkey?

2:13:00Darius Butler:So the last two, I was wrong. Cowher was the special teams coordinator at the Browns, but then he was the D.C. at the Chiefs, and then he got hired to the Steelers. Obviously, Mike Tomlin was the D.C. at Vikings and got hired to the Steelers. So if the Roonies stick to their ways, it would be a young defensive-minded coach who is a leader of men, and that's what they do. B-Flo kind of fits that model. He is younger in that situation. Chris Shula fits that model. There's others that fit that model. I don't know. Maybe they want to change the model. Maybe they want to have a explosive offense. Which they have recently.

2:13:34Darius Butler:They've been doing things differently than they have in the past, so that could be something as well. Do you think McCarthy's ties to the city, too, play a big role in this? I guess Tomlin isn't from Pittsburgh, but by the end of it, people who don't know, you just assume, oh, Mike Tomlin's from Pittsburgh, and then obviously Bill Cowher. Like, does that play into it at all?

2:13:53Pat McAfee:I think so. I think it does, man. I think – I don't know. Just once you start going through McCarthy's stats and resume and everything. Yeah. He wins. And with the way he'll impress in a conversation, which he certainly would. It's like – If he took that, he'd be so emotional with Pittsburgh. Like, his opening presser, his different – because he'd get emotional speaking to the Green Bay Packers when I was there. speaking of things going on in Pittsburgh and growing up and all these different stories, if he was actually living it as the head coach of the Steelers, it would be amazing to watch. How would Yinzers feel?

2:14:28Pat McAfee:Yinzers would like him if he won, obviously. He knows that if you become the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, you're stepping into a – I mean, that's a little bit of a B's.

2:14:36Darius Butler:High pressure situation. They would like that he's a Yinzer first and foremost. They would like that he's an offensive guy and has had success at two places. I think the only drawback is that he's in his 60s so you're not getting a coach that can be there for potentially 15 plus years because I believe Cower was there for 15 Tommen was there for 19 Chuck Knoll was there for 23 seasons I'm not saying that's going to happen

2:15:03Pat McAfee:10 years is a long time though 10 years

2:15:07Darius Butler:he's also like a legit quarterback whisperer he's also the only one who you would hire that I think Aaron would come back for if that's something you want. Can you imagine Big Mike and Aaron reuniting? In Pittsburgh? They might be roommates. They might just move in together. That'd be amazing.

2:15:24Pat McAfee:He didn't like what was being said about Tomlin. He didn't like what was being said about LaFleur. Aaron said, I don't like the way we're doing things around here anymore. What is this, NFL? It's like, it is a what have you done for me lately league. But for Tomlin, how many Super Bowls have you won for me lately? None. Get the hell out of town. him stepping away from coaching as his messaging is interesting that means he's on a microphone football just got better football got so much better that we got tomlin on open mic like i can't stress that enough just as somebody who has paid attention to mike tomlin speaking for a very long time just i think we used to run a segment just tomlin speaking didn't we yes yes tomlin ism yeah i mean yeah tomlin isms or something like that yeah that's well tomlin isms i think is what tomlin's shit is called but we used to run a segment whenever we were just on youtube we're in the old office where we would just pull a random tomlin clip had not listened to it let's just pull the shit and see what it is and he would just drop some gem in there it would just be some ridiculous tv like movie like gem and it's like now he's gonna be focusing on that and working on that plus hanging chilling has to be in the studio i don't think in the booth would be great but like football got better today football got better today if mike thalman's becoming a national you know kind of voice for the league for the sport as a whole that's crazy we put sig back on the springboard now it's from pittsburgh is this the job pittsburgh sig's not leaving are you sure nope i'm not sure about it i am not sure but man no that'd be why Would he pay him$25 million a year and try to lure him away from Indiana?

2:17:08I don't know. Well, like in Harbaugh. Like, do they even – we're talking about Harbaugh as if he's locked in. But does Harbaugh look at this? Like, should I have been on the other sideline for a long time? He can't do it. The Steelers are a place that they care more about football than damn near any other city. No. No. But why not? No. I'm just saying. No. You're not going to bring in the guy who's a part of – No. who was part of the Baltimore team just to at least hear what he has to say and what they did over there and what he thinks that he could have done better. Because it's all about gathering information, right?

2:17:42Pat McAfee:All right, boys, I got to go. I do. I have to go. You got business. We got you. It's 2.23. I got something. 2.30. This is a while that this all happened. Congrats to the Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Feels like you guys got what you wanted, right, Tone? Yeah.

2:17:59Darius Butler:Not all of them. Yeah, I had a majority.

2:18:01Pat McAfee:I think all of them. Really? Fresh start? Yeah, especially after last night. Yeah, turn the page. Especially after last night. I think it became a pretty big, okay, we're not doing this. This is not what we're doing. You got to remember, Pittsburgh is a blue-collar, okay, blue-collar people. Talking to a lot of Italians, a lot of Irish people. These people are a pretty emotional group, okay? And they also hold on to grudges. These are people that will remember everything. Yeah, elephant brains all over the place in Pittsburgh. A lot of that. This is just the demo of humans. So when everything starts piling up, it's like, oh, we're doing the same thing again.

2:18:43Pat McAfee:We're doing the same thing. We're doing the same thing. It's like inevitably everybody's going to buy in. It kind of feels like it got to that in Pittsburgh. Beating Baltimore with a missed kick kind of had a moment where it's like, okay, we're back. Holy hell, maybe this guy does have some magic. And then a slaughtering on prime time. It's like, nope, just like we fucking thought it was. That's kind of, I feel like that is how it went. Do you think that's accurate?

2:19:06Darius Butler:Yeah, I agree. A thousand percent.

2:19:09Pat McAfee:Yeah, I think that's kind of how it all went. So good for Tom and not having to deal with that anymore. Because if you're this person, it's all going this way against you. Like, good for you not having to deal with that anymore, too. That's a life change that I think he's going to welcome. him. The sidelines will miss him, but the sport is going to thrive with him on a microphone. I'm very pumped and thankful that that's happening, and congrats to him on a hell of a run. Thank you, Tommen, for all the happiness you brought. My family, my friends, my own time, and then now we'll see what's next.

2:19:40Pat McAfee:The source was right, though, I guess.

2:19:42Darius Butler:Yeah, good source. Keep that source around.

2:19:47Pat McAfee:Maybe we will.

2:19:49Darius Butler:I can't believe Joe Hadley knew that.

2:19:51Pat McAfee:Are we going to start Are we going to start being an insider too Because of all these journalism people Doing what they're doing Good Good

2:20:05Pat McAfee:I know Alright I'll see you guys I appreciate you all AJ thank you for traveling Hope you take this thing home in a beautiful fashion Of course man I gotta do one of these Hey how you doing Yeah we love it We love everything you're doing it we love what you're doing it'd be great love it you guys got great ideas i don't ever do this because i live in indianapolis so by choice all media people are in new york and la not saying that's where i'm at right now but that's where all media people are and they all have happy hours and they all run into each other on such a regular basis and i never do any of that and uh i love it i do i don't think anybody would necessarily say that's the right way to go about building a media business but for me i enjoy it every once in a while i got to do it for the good program for to go to the boys and uh today's a really cool day for pittsburgh for us for the league and the divisional round is set i cannot wait for saturday and sunday i cannot fucking wait bills broncos let's go dude 430 on cbs number one top five defense all time denver broncos taking on josh allen is josh allen gonna be an alien probably san francisco 49ers seattle seahawks oh we've seen this a few times already, have we not?

2:21:19Pat McAfee:Yeah. Seattle won. Oh, well, now 75 % of the bets are in San Francisco early shot to DraftKings for the numbers. Then Sunday, Texans, Patriots, Rams, Bears. Wow. And then National Championship on Monday? Oh, hell yeah. Oh, boys, don't get too much nip or burn, okay? Don't get too excited. There's things happening. There's great things happening, and we're going to try to enjoy them all. All right, boys, I will see you tomorrow when I'm back in there. Sounds good. Enjoy. Enjoy it. All right. That game, I just want to talk about it before we pop off. Indiana-Miami. Oh. D-Bot, what's the final score?

2:21:56Why would we do this right now? I'm just asking for the final score before I pop off. Oh, Tuesday. You don't have to tell me the final score. I got to simulate. Okay, what's the line? I get it. What's the line? The line's eight and a half. Eight and a half is moved. Is that disrespectful to Miami? Very, I think. And everyone, all the bets are on IU. Yeah, we're 9.5 point dogs. Wait, they're 9.5 point dogs and the bets are on IU? 8.5. 8.5. I'm saying we're 9.5 point dogs against Ohio State, and that's the common opponent. Is it just because Indiana's been running through everybody? What is it? Yeah, but after the shellacking in the Rose Bowl and then what happened in the Peach Bowl.

2:22:33I mean, I guess I get it, but I mean, you also see what Miami has been able to do on this run as well. Like I said, what I go back to is a common opponent, Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship for Indiana, and then the Cotton Bowl for Miami. And dogfight in Indiana, I feel like we were there. I feel like Miami kind of bullied Ohio State late. So we'll see. We got to play the game on the grass. But a lot of people are excited about this one. It's also interesting. We'll see what the split ends up being. But the line is set like this game is being played at a neutral site. It's still a Miami home game.

2:23:05So we'll see. What's it going to feel like? Who's going to be there? Have you seen the ticket price? Yeah. How is anybody coming to the game? It's nuts. All these big games, Super Bowl, National Championship, it's never as many fans. Turns corporate. The problem is it turns corporate because corporate people weren't. We haven't had a team like Indiana in this. We haven't had a home national championship. Yeah, exactly. Both ways.

2:23:24Darius Butler:I think each school gets an allotment. I can't remember how many it is for each school. And then the rest of the tickets are out on the private market. I know IU has given out their allotment to their season ticket holders. Miami has not given out their allotment yet. I've heard. We offered their allotment at like face value? Yeah, face value. and I have a speculation why but I'm not sure. They're worried that the Miami fan base is going to sell their tickets to IU fans but yeah we'll see. We'll see how it shakes up. I think it'll happen. It will be weird if there's more Indiana fans. I just hope it's real college ball fans in there.

2:24:01I expect the Miami fans to show up but looking at the prices and I don't know how that all plays out but I just hope both sides. I hope it's real fans in there because I comment and say you get to the Super Bowl as national championships and you get a bunch of corporate people. That have no rooting interest. They're like, I'm just happy to be here. Yeah, it's not the same. So I hope we get a real college environment down in Hard Rock. We have so far. Yeah, I mean, you would expect Indiana to travel. They've proven it. They went all the way to Pasadena. Pasadena, we know, is a shit show getting in and out of that place.

2:24:31They went to Atlanta, packed it out, legitimately 95 % to 5%. That was the biggest disparity that we've probably seen as we've done the college football playoff games for the past few years. That was the biggest Indiana showed up. So I would expect Indiana to be there, but I mean$5 ,000 is the average. And imagine if you've been following them all along too. Yeah. Like this is your third game you're going to of flights, hotels, and then ticket prices. Yeah, yeah. And we know how it is getting in and out of hard rock. Like it's a pain in the ass. That's why I could see Miami fans not going just because it's like, look, that place is a fucking nightmare.

2:25:08okay i'm not i ain't going in there all right they're at they're at home that's their advantage they don't need fans too and then same thing for indiana i i would assume they're gonna go just because of the fact that indiana they probably look at it as we might never ever get back to here for the rest of time whereas miami could also say that but it's been a long time as long as it's a good game dude that eight and a half scares me do we know how it's working so So for Miami, are they going to go stay in the team hotel and do all that like the week of if they were on a way to? They're practicing in their normal facilities and doing that stuff, but I would assume they're going to try to keep it as similar to a home game as possible.

2:25:48And as far as the fans go, if they can get in, they can afford it, the Miami fans are definitely going to show up because you talk about hierarchy in sports down in Miami. Miami football is up there at the top. Miami Heat obviously with the championship they've won. You know, Panthers, you know, it's hockey still in Florida, so they're still growing, obviously, back-to-back champs. The Dolphins, you know, you know what that is right now. But this is the game, to your point. It's the game, yeah. It's like, hey, the U's back, the U's back. This would be the one. Yes. If you're attached at all. If you have any kind of attachment to Miami, you're going to want to come back for this game, especially all these alumni.

2:26:23Like our age. Oh, goodness. Because the last time that they were good, like we were kind of very, you know, young. So you're getting back there. We're the kind of group age-wise that have the money and the means to get out there. Maybe bring your kid, bring your friends. You know, you got a chance to go up against the number one team in the country and you're underdogs in your own stadium by over a touchdown. Like, you've seen all the legends that have been coming back every week for the hurricane. So I expect every alumni that can get in there will be down there. It should be a great environment.

2:26:53Think about that. Think if you're one of the – some of the Miami, I don't know, execs who are ever working in the ticket office, how many alumni you have asking to come back. Asking for free tickets, sideline passes, or just be able to buy tickets. Yeah, here you go. $7 ,500. You can get a top row. It's going to be interesting to see the atmosphere once we get there. Like Connor said, I hope we just – because the game we had in Miami last year, Notre Dame-Penn State, that was arguably maybe the best game of the college football playoff last year. So I just – I don't know. I mean, like it was awesome at the Peach Bowl, but, I mean, fuck, that game was over 10 minutes into it.

2:27:28So it's like hopefully we just get a good competitive one that goes until the very end. Well, to your point, the Natties haven't been as close. You can say the Ohio State-Notre Dame game was close, but it really wasn't for three quarters. And then the year before that, Michigan rolled Washington. And the year before that was the shit show at Georgia beating TCU by 50 fucking points. So the buildup to the Nattie has always been top tier. It's the natty itself, and it does feel like this year is different. I mean, everything we just talked about and just the teams in general, it feels like they – It's not the normal – it's not the teams we've been watching play.

2:28:07No. Georgia, Alabama, and all this stuff. For both schools, like this is a storybook finish or the nightmare finish. That's why it feels like the game is just like heightened even more this year. All the connections too, like with Mendoza going back to Miami, the coordinator for Miami. He's his dad. Everybody. Chris Ball and his dad. All the different relationships, man.

2:28:31Darius Butler:You're muted. Oh, no. Heatherman with Siggs is DC at JMU. And Siggs gave a huge compliment saying he's one of the best football minds there is. Yeah. Chris Ball didn't offer Mendoza scholarship. This is rounded up to be an amazing game. I mean, Reuben Bain Jr., I'm pretty sure, just put out a bunch of highlights of when they were in high school of him sacking Mendoza when Mendoza played for Christopher Columbus High School. That was Albert. That was Albert. Yeah, he was killing him. That was Miami Central against Columbus. And that was Albo. Yeah, that was Albo. Yeah, that was Albo. Albo has kind of been just making his presence known.

2:29:05I'm excited about his future. Waiting in the weeds. Hope he sticks around. I hope so, too. I hope so, too. I wonder how that goes, how those conversations go. I mean, Indiana's already got, like, the best team next year. Sig's got every good guy in the transfer. Is it really? Yeah. Just every day. Just loading up on his guys. Number two target in the portal. Number three target in the portal. Number five target in the board. IU. Yeah. Where are they all going? IU. It's amazing. Recruits itself. Once you win games, it recruits itself. That's how you recruit. You just win every single game. Don't look back, right?

2:29:33I mean, they'd be the first team ever to go 16-0, I believe. First college team. Yeah. Because obviously college football played more games. Yeah. Like Yale from like the 1800s. Oh, yeah. That was when they were playing like five-minute games and beating teams 5-0. And every team was within two miles. Didn't have a forward pass in the playbook, right? No black guys on the field. Yeah. That doesn't count. True. It'll be a different brand of football to watch. But that being said, we will be on the call Monday night. Obviously, 730 Eastern is going to be awesome. Can't wait to get down there with you boys.

2:30:02With that being said, we're going to wrap this sucker up. I believe Pat will be back here on this desk tomorrow. But, yeah, man, Mike Tomlin, thank you for your time. Thank you for your service. Right, Tone?

2:30:11Darius Butler:Yeah, that's what I wanted to get across first. Yes, I'm excited for the future and stuff like that. But when you're a head coach for 19 years in a place, that's insane. You're doing something right. You're there in 19 years. To be in a playoff race every single year, that's insane. Like, we never experienced losing. I mean, you lost in the playoffs and stuff like that, but, like, you never experienced a season. You were never terrible. No. You never experienced a season where it's like, yeah, ever, until week 18. So that's awesome being a fan. The last however many years has been tough because you're tired of losing in the playoffs and the jokes about the over 500 record get old or whatever.

2:30:48Darius Butler:But overall, I mean, an incredible coaching career in Pittsburgh. Yeah, Mike Tomlin, yeah, we all appreciate your time. 19 years, you're doing something right. It's really tough in the NFL, as Mike McCarthy says, like, to win consistently in the NFL. Sustain, sustain. The hardest thing to do in the NFL. It's very true. I believe him. I agree with him right there. All right, boys, here we go. Ready? Bring it in. Everyone in the back, here we go. Team on me, team on three. One, two, three. Team. See ya. Hey, sports fans. The ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place.

2:31:17Pat McAfee:The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows, and originals across every ESPN network in service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN Unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional cost. Visit activate.espn.com to learn how to access your account or sign up, then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN, all in one place. Sign up or activate now. From 30 for 30 podcasts.

2:31:53Darius Butler:Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman for Miami, gunned down. The key to this case, it's Brian. Boy, he scrapped it. An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with somebody. This might be a hit. You want the truth. They just want a conviction. We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now.