PMS 2.0 1503 - Live from the Lahd Hahse for the NFL Combine, Mat Ishbia, Joe Hortiz, Jim Harbaugh, Mike McDaniel, Jesse Minter, John Schneider, Robert Saleh & Mike Borgonzi

11:47Mike Borgonzi:Okay, that's an interesting time to have a lot of time to go on your phone. And then the Olympics are happening at the same time, and you're kind of watching all this stuff.

11:55Pat McAfee:And Alyssa Liu's story, amazing. We're talking like a prodigy, 13, 14-year-old prodigy, young, young. Then she leaves the game. Then she comes back. She has this clear mind. She's obviously incredibly talented, and she just takes over. Story is, allegedly, she was approached because her dad, I believe, from China to potentially go on to Team China. And her dad said, no, we live in America or whatever. And then she gets a gold medal for us. She has moxie. She has swag. She's awesome. She was so happy and joyful while she was out there. It was a beautiful representation of competitive sport for the United States of America.

12:27Pat McAfee:Shout out to her. Battling adversity. Coming back. Getting to the top and enjoying the entire thing. I loved watching Alyssa Lou.

12:34Mat Ishbia:Yeah, she's a perfect example of what the Olympics are all about. Like, you don't really know much about the person, Alyssa Liu, before the Olympics. Figure skater, sure. But then she goes out, dominates, and then she has that moment coming off the ice. Let's go as she's yelling and it gets picked up on the hot mic. And that felt like a great encapsulation of the figure skating in general. Like, she crushed it and delivered. You mentioned kind of being a prodigy, that pressure in between the ears. Hey, I need to win gold or else, you know, I'm a huge kind of letdown to my country. you're on half an inch of a skate in any little sneeze movement ilia like your entire four years build up is ruined because of that and she delivered on every single fast so much pressure

13:17Pat McAfee:scary as hell i would say it is a scary yes as i'm watching i get so nervous for him just because the amount of work that had to have gone in to get to that point and then you just and then maybe there's a judge from a bingo yeah speak yeah no no but mac for we mentioned the skin yeah yeah

13:33Mat Ishbia:You're right. Back forehand. I got screwed. He did something no one's ever done. In the history. And landed it perfectly. Any time. If you do something for the first time ever and you land it perfectly, you win gold. Every single time. I watch X Games. I watch the Olympics. Every time. If you do it first, you win gold. But there just had to be a Norway judge. You know what I mean? Had to be a Norway judge. Had to be some Norway son of a bitch. Didn't they win the most medals? Yeah, I think they did.

13:59Pat McAfee:Oh, yeah. Well, I will say, though, it does feel like some of those countries are. much more suited to win some of these.

14:05John Schneider:Well, it's cold a lot. That's what I do.

14:07Pat McAfee:They run uphill with their skis. They're proud of it. I get it. Let's talk about, speaking of, let's talk about Michaela Schifrin. Congrats. Wow. Legend. American legend. Appreciate you, Michaela, going out there and getting another one. I'll tell you, the slalom's crazy. I mean, the amount of quads, I think, AJ. That's quads, core, and then your knee's got to be phenomenal out there as well.

14:26AJ Hawk:Yeah, I've never seen. I've actually never really skied, so I don't even understand, but this looks absolutely impossible to me. And you talk about the pressure. we talk about this all the time when everything comes down to like one or two runs and you like i just don't get it i don't understand how these people are able to compete at the highest level and able to to actually stand up and live up to all that hype it's just it's unbelievable and talk

14:47Pat McAfee:about amazing moments how about the first gold medal in bobsled for our 41 year old badass named elena myers taylor what a story i believe her whole family there's a lot a lot behind this she's been in bobsledding for a long time wins gold con man special story coming out of the Olympics.

15:03Mat Ishbia:Yeah, so cool. I think it was her fifth total medal at the Olympics. So she's been in never gold. She's been chasing it. You mentioned first ever for her. So that was cool. And then the moment with her son, her son, I believe is deaf. I think she has another son who also is impaired. I think he has a handicap and is deaf. So like that story and just a moment of the family, like her crying, signing to her son, like mommy won. That was, you know, I'm getting chills.

15:29Pat McAfee:There's a lot of those moments while you're watching. And then let's Let's talk about Jordan Stolz. He wins the 500-meter and 1 ,000-meter gold medals for the United States of America. He ends up with the most amount of golds, I believe, Tom.

15:40John Schneider:Yeah, he won gold and set Olympic records in the 500 and the 1 ,000 Stolz he did is what I call him. I'm sure everybody else calls him Stolz he as well. And in the 1 ,500, he got silver. He was the most, quote-unquote, decorated Olympic athlete for the U.S. of this Olympics with the most medals for the U.S. this year.

15:59Mike Borgonzi:And story of the Olympics. Who owns hockey, though?

16:04Mat Ishbia:Let's think about that.

16:09Mike Borgonzi:Who owns hockey, though?

16:11AJ Hawk:I know the Swedes play. They do.

16:13Pat McAfee:What do you think, Gumpy? And then there's obviously the Olympic athletes of Russia.

16:16Mike Borgonzi:They play really good hockey.

16:19Mat Ishbia:Slovakia. They play good. They're good. Finland. Oh, they're so – with cool names.

16:25Mike Borgonzi:Did the Czechs have a team this year? They were there. They play hockey for sure. I think so. And then there's one country that maybe had their best team to ever go onto the ice.

16:37Mat Ishbia:That's what a lot of people were saying. Of all the countries, best team ever. And all they do is play hockey, right? And it's like their thing.

16:42Pat McAfee:Every day you wake up. Some Canadians actually turn their living rooms into hockey rinks

16:48Mike Borgonzi:and just leave their doors open. Washers and dryers. Canada, really good hockey. The best. Very good hockey. You guys are, hey, Canada. You guys are great at hockey. Unbelievable.

17:00Joe Hortiz:58 times they've won major tournaments. Congrats.

17:05Mike Borgonzi:58 times, boy. Look at the poundage. A little shit painter from Canada dropping in with some stats. That's cool. What have you done for me lately? Oh, the USA women's hockey team? Gold medal winner, Megan Keller. Hi, hi. Hockey's our sport, says the U.S. women's hockey team.

17:26Pat McAfee:They've won it three times. They're absolute monsters, beasts on the ice. We, I believe, are going to be catching up with Megan Keller this week. Cannot wait to chat with her. That was fun to watch. Overtime. Especially with women's hockey. Fast. Yes. Very fast. Obviously, the evolution of sports as a whole for the women. Flag football is about to be insane, by the way. I'm getting to hear what the behind the scenes are. But women's hockey, our team, always fast. Always intense. Every Olympics, it feels like women's hockey is a fun watch. Us beating Canada in overtime.

17:56Mike Borgonzi:What a magical way to start the hockey dominant run that we had.

18:00Mat Ishbia:Especially a goal like that. You can think of sometimes some of the game-winning goals that we've seen, like even Patty Kane sliding it through the legs against the Flyers to win the Stanley Cup. Sidney Crosby, that backhand. Crosby, backhand, kind of weird goals. Left her in her boots. That was the filthiest goal to win a game, let alone a gold medal. That is a dream come true. And from a girl that doesn't score as much. If it's Hillary Knight, you think, okay, fine. That's the superstar. Megan Keller doing it even cooler.

18:27Pat McAfee:And then, ladies and gentlemen, the talk of the town,

18:29Mike Borgonzi:now there's a Presidential Medal of Freedom winner that was on the team. The U.S. men beat the Canadian men in overtime in the Olympic gold medal game. And whenever you think about all the boys, the Kachuks, the Hughes,

18:44Pat McAfee:you know, Austin Matthews is captain, and then how the buck standing on his head. It was a magical run. They should not have won that game. One goalie decided that we were going to win the gold medal. And then in overtime, it felt like the boys' moxie really shined through. Some people didn't think Jack Hughes was tough because he's a little bit undersized. He's a goal scorer. He's from a family of hockey. The natural thing to say is like, oh, he's not tough. He's small.

19:06Mike Borgonzi:Guy eats his tooth. Eats a tooth and a half while eating a stick. Then comes back in overtime. Hi. How you doing? Keep it moving. Jackie Aces. Jack Eichel's out there doing his thing.

19:16Pat McAfee:It was like fun to learn about all these guys, but also watch the amount of pride that they had in beating Canada.

19:21Mike Borgonzi:Remember, these boys, these lads, have, like, lived in the league.

19:27Pat McAfee:Canada, Canada. I mean, our accent for hockey is a Canadian accent because that is what hockey has always been known. And the Kachuk boys, the attitude in which they bring to it all, I think the first time we talked to Matthew Kachuk, we mentioned, like, hey, got to beat Canada. And he's like, we got a team. We got a team. These boys have been gearing up for this. Johnny Gaudreau. Yeah. Him being a part of that group that has been gearing up for this moment and being a part of it, special, man. I haven't felt like that watching a game in I don't know how long. 8 a.m. game, I think they had 26 million whenever he scored or whatever it was.

19:59Pat McAfee:They had 27 million, I believe, for the 2 o 'clock game in Vancouver. If that game would have been in the afternoon, 2 or 4 o 'clock, I think we're touching like 40 there. I think with how socially relevant it became. At 5 a.m., West Coast start is a very tough start for this entire thing. 26 million live in real time is crazy. But it generated and garnered so many emotions for me while I was watching because I know how hard these dudes have worked to do this. And I think, you know, it's been interesting dealing with the whole, you know, people not being happy because the world and the country isn't going how they feel the country should be going.

20:40Pat McAfee:And it's like sports are just so different. I don't know how to explain it or to get into people's minds. I tried to explain whenever I was getting attacked by everybody. You know, it's like when you grow up in a sport that has the international capabilities and plays against other countries, you're kind of taught like, hey, we are better than them. I was trying to play on the U.S. men's national team to beat the hell out of England because England owns soccer. So whenever the national anthem is played before sports, athletes are thinking about our athletes that are made on this land are better than your athletes.

21:11Pat McAfee:We're bigger dogs than you. We're more talented than you are. There's not a lot of ways for countries to compete with other countries. And in sports, it's a big deal for our athletes, who are naturally competitive people, to have a sense of pride in where they come from, a sense of pride in who they're representing, because there's not a lot of ways to show other countries you're better.

21:28Mike Borgonzi:War, okay?

21:29John Schneider:Yep, that's one way.

21:30Mike Borgonzi:Which none of us want. Nope. Okay? Nobody, I don't think anybody on earth, I don't want to say that. I'm undefeated, though. I've been reading a lot. But on that note, it's like war exists, okay?

21:41Pat McAfee:Hate that it does. Hopefully we get to a time where there's none of it. I think that would be incredible. But, like, sports are the way. Sports are really the way. So whenever these Olympics happen and America wins and these guys are drunk off of the emotions of being incredible and actually drunk as they're celebrating something that they've worked for, it's like I didn't really just – just the expectation of what that men's team was supposed to do in the moment immediately after being in Canada on a phone call with the president of the United States from some people to start – I'm just like, come on, man.

22:09Mike Borgonzi:Like these dudes just wanted to prove that our country creates better hockey players than your country does. Our country is grittier than your country is.

22:19Pat McAfee:Our country is better. That is what athletes do. That is why I think a lot more athletic people have a lot more pride in the fact of USA. And it's like, I don't understand the people that don't grow up in sports. I don't think I fully understand what they are, but it's like, man, whenever you win for your, it's huge. And I love that the boys celebrated and I did not want it. I knew that it would because the video sure I knew that the video would inevitably get out but I didn't want to be the person to do it as soon as I heard they were headed to 11 down there whenever it was announced I woke up and I was like oh gotta buy the boys a drink so then I did this with Notre Dame whenever they were in Europe I've done this with other teams that win if they if they tell the world like hey this is where we're going my natural instinct is like gotta buy them a drink gotta do that I had a lot of people in the comments that were you know mad about the U.S.

23:08Pat McAfee:men's team saying, did you buy the U.S. women's? I would have. I don't know. If I would have heard about something, I want to let you know I would have. I love when USA athletes showcase that we are the best in the world. I love everything about that. That is our world that we're from. So as soon as I hear about this, I get a chance to talk to the people down there. Gina, Harrison, Daniel, Cam from the U. I want to kind of plug it all together. Just felt like the right play, felt like the right move. And it wasn't just – I felt legitimately as I was doing it, like this ain't for me. This is from America.

23:36Pat McAfee:Thank you for doing what you did, boys. And I'm happy they enjoyed the hell out of it.

23:40John Schneider:The one thing that we haven't mentioned that felt like the most American women's and men's, they were both perfect on the power play. They didn't give up one power play goal the entire Olympics on both, including the five-on-three. Shout out Vinny Trocek, Pittsburgh legend, who I believe did get effed up that night. Yeah, they took that video off the internet. But that five-on-three, during that, that was the most pride I've had in a country team, a U.S. team in a long, long time. That was awesome.

24:08Mike Borgonzi:I was sweating it. Oh, yeah. I was riding with it. It was a long five-on-three. Now, granted, I have been in the middle of a U.S.-Canada political thing before.

24:18Pat McAfee:Four Nations, yeah. Yeah, that happened. Four Nations was a thing, yeah. Four Nations and Elimination Chamber, and then, you know, that's a WWE event.

24:24John Schneider:Yep.

24:25Pat McAfee:And then all of a sudden, I'm dropped into a thing, and it's like, oh, I didn't know it was like this right now. And then on that note, it's like, yeah, sports are supposed to be like this. This is what we're supposed to want to beat each other. Supposed to care. I mean, it felt like Sidney crossed me. He broke his leg out there for that team. And he wanted to go out and play. It's like, we need more of that. I love everything about that. Okay, let's pivot away from the Olympics. Shout out to NBC, by the way. I think they were up 97 % or something. Yeah, almost doubled the last. Yeah, they were up 97 % versus the last winner of the Olympics.

24:52Pat McAfee:Congrats to them on that. And Tariq, yeah.

24:54AJ Hawk:Wow. Hey. He can do it all.

24:57Pat McAfee:Tariq. Super Bowl to that. Unbelievable. There was like one night where I saw him bobble a stat in his head. and by that is just because I'm watching him talk and then I see him go to say something and then I saw him adjust. I saw him change in the middle of speaking just from watching him, you know? And he was just the smoothest. I'm like, oh, he didn't know where the hell he was going right there. And he just went immediately to it. Talking about a sport he's never heard of before, but he had to do research on. He was phenomenal, honestly. And his thing about sports bringing people together and inspiring people, that's what sports are all about.

25:26Pat McAfee:And we're lucky to talk about him. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who owns an NBA team. A man who is friend of the program. A man who showed out in his celebrity NBA All-Star game. If there was ten of him on the court, everything would be entertaining. Ladies and gentlemen, the owner of the Suns, Matty. Good day, Matty.

25:46Mike Borgonzi:Brother. Good to see you. Appreciate you, dude. Yeah, absolutely. All right, buddy. Good to see you.

25:49AJ Hawk:Appreciate you, man.

25:51Mike Borgonzi:See, I didn't know for a hand shake there. Yeah. Because he's businessman. It's good to go last. I get to see what everyone else does. But ball player at heart, you know?

25:58AJ Hawk:Yeah. That's right.

25:59Pat McAfee:Yeah. Yeah.

26:00Mat Ishbia:You know? Yeah.

26:02Pat McAfee:How are you, dude? Doing great, man. Doing great. You give me that up just a little bit. It's on your chin. Gotcha. Now it's on your nose. Boom. We got it. I'm not a pro. I don't know. I'm trying to learn about you guys. Hey, trying not to do as much media, trying to stay out of the tabloids, trying to stay out of the headlines. But I'll tell you what, in your performance in that NBA All-Star Game, Celebrity All-Star Game, you got us through. We were off, obviously. So we were just trying to find things to pass the time. The Olympics helped us. You in that All-Star Game, bopping wood, okay, applying full pressure.

26:29Pat McAfee:and then having a shot over 7 '7", while you're fading away.

26:34Mike Borgonzi:Unreal.

26:35Pat McAfee:Unbelievable performance out of you. I just need you to know that. How long did you know you were going to play in that? And I know you played at Michigan State. I know you were on Michigan State. Is Tom Izzo still coaching you up for that L-Star game performance right there?

26:47Jesse Minter:Oh, man, yeah. I had a great time. I knew for a couple months, but I knew if I didn't play the right way, Coach Izzo would be calling me. I'm still scared of that phone call. So I had a great time, competed, had some fun, made a shot or two, had a fun time.

26:59Pat McAfee:I think a lot of people found out, though, that you're a basketball guy. So, obviously, we know you're a basketball guy. We know that you said if I had to mop the floors to be on the team, I would do that. And then, obviously, you're in the mortgage business with family, United Wholesale. Did you guys sell my mortgage? I think you sold my mortgage.

27:16Jesse Minter:We might have. We might have only sell the ones that we don't think are to pay us.

27:21Pat McAfee:Anyways, you've got great business. I've experienced it. It's all the kicks. It's an incredible. Yeah, this guy's giving away a lot of money. Might be time to get out of that. He's saying some dumb shit. No, but obviously in the mortgage business, we assume Dream, as basketball guy, is to own NBA team. How has it been? Because obviously it's been an interesting ride. You get Kevin Durant, you get a star-packed team, doesn't work out. Now you've got no picks, now you're back in it. All-star game, feels like you went over a little bit with maybe your fans, probably Phoenix Suns fans, probably pumped with the way you performed.

27:49Pat McAfee:How has it been living out this dream?

27:52Jesse Minter:It's exactly that, it's a dream. It's been the best thing ever. Obviously we went through some not great times when we got the team, but I got the women's team, the men's team. We're competing. I'm having the best time. I wasn't good enough to play in the NBA, but being able to own a team is unbelievable because now I'm at 46. I can still be involved, be engaged, and it's awesome because you also get to deliver things to the fans, do cool shit. That's stuff we just haven't been able to do, and we can do stuff that other people don't do.

28:15Pat McAfee:Okay, so on that note, whenever a general manager gets hired in the NFL, we say the general manager has always had a vision on what their team would look like. Then they get the job, and what the old team is, There's no allegiances. I'm trying to build this in my way. You, dream of NBA team, I would assume. Were you, okay, and I don't want this to be a rude question, but owners meddling is always like a thing. Like, hey, you're a basketball guy that played basketball, so I think we would want you to medal potentially if you're an owner, but you guys didn't have success whenever you got over there, so people were maybe saying this guy doesn't.

28:47Pat McAfee:How has that whole thing gone with your restraint maybe or discipline or hands-on, hands-off? Like, how have you handled all that?

28:52Jesse Minter:Yeah, well, right when you buy the team, everyone says, Don't medal. Own the team. Stay out of it. Let the experts do their thing. I thought, okay, let me give some extra money. The team was already pretty good at that time. Let's put some luxury tax. Let's go for it. And it didn't work. Now I kind of stepped back and said, no, let's do it the right way. Let's build. Let's get toughness. Let's get grit. Let's get dogs. Let's get guys that my whole life I'm all heart, no talent. I want to get heart and talent. But we went just talent. We want guys that want to win, that want to compete every night.

29:22Jesse Minter:And like, so we're building it and we're going to build it the right way. And hopefully we're going to compete. We're doing pretty well this year, but we're going to keep getting better every day.

29:28Pat McAfee:Okay. Where you are right now, play-in area, I think seven, eight. Now I've done some resource on this or research on this entire thing. I guess nobody in the NBA wants to be in a play-in zone right now. Is that an accurate thing? Because, and you put a tweet out about it, but it's like the guys obviously at the top of the league, they want to go win it all. It's great for the franchise. We're going to go for it. And also attract a lot of free agents and everything like that. And then if you're in the middle, you're not going to be a part of the lottery. So you're going to have to pick a – your guys' draft is hilarious.

29:54Pat McAfee:It's like after pick eight, like – Yeah, the guy – he's going to come over from Greece maybe five years from now. So it is an interesting dynamic with how the league is, right, with where your team is. You have no picks, obviously. But being in the play-in zone is not necessarily a beneficial area. Like how do you kind of talk about where the league is right now? Because you put a tweet out talking about how we can't be a tanking league, which it seems like you guys kind of are. And if you do and you do it right, you benefit from it greatly. So how do you kind of view it all?

30:25Jesse Minter:It's an embarrassment. It's horrible. Like, my perspective is tanking is loser mentality. Like, I've never been around anyone. You show me someone that wants to lose or thinks about losing, like, I'll show you a loser. That's losers. That's not my stuff. And so I don't like losing. I don't want to ever talk about losing. We try to win. And the draft works. If you don't win and you don't have a good team, you get a good pick. But if you purposely trade for players and then don't play them, trying to lose games, like, I think it's bad for the NBA. I think Adam Silver knows it. Organizations know it.

30:53Jesse Minter:It's got to change. It will change.

30:54Pat McAfee:Okay, so Oklahoma City, I think, would be an example that people would say. They tanked for a while, like openly, but it was small market, I think, so maybe nobody was paying attention as much. But then it ended up paying off. I mean, they hit bang, bang, bang, and they're about to be a dynasty. So how do you kind of fix that potential thing? Do you think that's a league overall situation that has to change? How do you think it's fixable, or is it fixable?

31:15Jesse Minter:It's fixable. And Adam Silver, to credit him, he knows it's a problem. him he's going to fix it I believe he'll fix it but you can't have teams like when you say they're tanking it's one thing if you trade players and you're not a good team and I'm not sure I mean Oklahoma City if you correct me if I'm wrong I think they have only one player with a drafted over number nine Chet Holmgren on their team everyone else is later in the draft and so let's not like you know they built it they built it they did a good job give them some credit it's not they have the first pick three years in a row and that's how they became a great team and so I think purposely losing in anything is the loser mentality i i can't stand for it i don't agree with it and i think the other organizations realize it but right now the problem is the incentives are misaligned if you purposely lose you get better players in the future you have a better chance and that's just not how i that's not how i was brought up i respect i respect that now

32:02Pat McAfee:you got a lot of teams right now trying to get down it feels like the nba it's almost like 20 percent of the league you know especially this year it's a good draft as you're watching yeah Yeah, because the draft is so good. But if they end up benefiting from it, then the next team, the next year is like, well, we could put that. It's an interesting. You guys' league is fascinating. Best athletes, you know, they're seven foot tall running around doing the entire thing. It is a spectacle. It is incredible competition at its highest level. But it does feel like there's always some drama bullshit around your guys' league.

32:29Pat McAfee:Now, on that note, it is now NBA time. Connor has a question for you.

32:32Mat Ishbia:Yeah, obviously, yesterday was a tough one for the Suns. I don't know if you caught that one, Governor Ispia. But Celtics put it on you. But regardless of that, what is kind of the main thing right now when it comes to, you know, developing talent and also, you know, acquiring people? Because we talk about draft being important. Like, it feels as though the NBA as a whole, you know, with the luxury tax and acquiring players, you're almost discouraged because you go into that first, second apron. And then all of a sudden, you know, you owe a ton of money. And you've said this before. Fans don't want to hear owners talking about owing a bunch of money.

33:05Mat Ishbia:fans don't give a shit about that which is you know a huge reason we like you so much because you know that and that's the reality of it but do you does it feel as though the setup for team building does sometimes encourage you know getting more draft picks and getting you know a better draft position versus going out and spending money yeah i mean it's a combination now it used

33:26Jesse Minter:to be a lot more free agency free agency's a little bit slower these days and so it's changed with that draft is a big thing these days but also player development and developing players and finding good players. On our team, we've got some guys that people didn't have. Colin Gillespie, he took them on a two-way. He's a great player now. He's an NBA starter. You've got to develop players as well. I think team building is definitely through the draft right now and that's why people are tanking. That's why people are doing that because they think that's the only way. But there's multiple ways to win and succeed and we're trying to prove that in Phoenix and we're working on it.

33:54Jesse Minter:We've got a ways to go.

33:55Mike Borgonzi:You need to bop some wood. Everybody out there bopping wood like you were doing. How old are you? 46. You look good, dude. Put it on, Sean. Put it on, Sean. Put it on, Sean. Yeah, Sean's had a tough day. Sean's had a tough day. We do. Yes. We love Sean.

34:10Pat McAfee:We love Sean more. But we call it like it is. He was on Giannis' team, fresh off of what happened with Giannis, the entire thing.

34:16Jim Harbaugh:That's a whole thing.

34:17Pat McAfee:Then he kind of gets bullied by his friend. History is running him out of bounds. Yeah, and then, you know, it's not good.

34:21Mike Borgonzi:And I don't even think he broke anything big. Oh, no. Yeah, it was like yogurt for lunch. Oh, for 10. Yeah, it was not good. Next year, Sean. Hey, Sean. Next year. Giannis might want to leave. I'm joking. I'm joking. AJ has a question for you, Matt.

34:37AJ Hawk:Yeah, I guess the NBA as a whole, I guess, where do you think it is? We've seen different eras of the NBA. They say, okay, once Jordan and his whole generation goes, no one's going to watch anymore. And then Steph and LeBron and this whole. What do you see at the NBA as a whole, like the next five to ten years? And who do you think are some organizations right now doing things right, winning games the right way, and kind of building up their team the way that you should?

34:57Jesse Minter:Yeah, I mean, I think the NBA is in great hands. Obviously, there's this tanking thing we're talking about. There's always an issue, as you pointed out, Pat. Always, yeah. There's always something. But you know what? The truth is, the league's in a great place. It's a global game. People all around the world love it. They love the NBA. They love the players. We've got star players from all around the world. And it's going to continue to grow and develop. It's not perfect. Nothing's perfect. But we're going to keep getting it there. I feel great about where the NBA is right now. Even with some of those superstars you're talking about are retiring and moving on, are going to be retiring.

35:22Jesse Minter:But there's a lot of great young players from overseas and Americans, and it's awesome to see.

35:26Pat McAfee:You watch every game in the NBA right now? What are the storylines that we need to be? Let's act. Not us, obviously. We would never be like that.

35:32Mat Ishbia:But let's say you're talking to people who have no clue what's going on in the NBA.

35:38Mike Borgonzi:Just other people.

35:39Mat Ishbia:What is? Yeah, yeah. Not us. We've been down in. We've been watching football for six months.

35:43Pat McAfee:Yeah, people that have just been on a beach a little bit, watching Olympics.

35:47Mat Ishbia:Crushing NBA tape like us. Exactly. No, no. We're talking about other people.

35:52Mike Borgonzi:Yeah, other people. If they didn't know what was going on in the NBA right now. Celtics are still great. Suns are awesome. Suns. Gorilla did the dunk. Anything else?

36:02Jesse Minter:It's playoff time now. It's going towards the playoffs. The West is really strong right now. The Celtics have been a great surprise team in the East. The Pistons are good in the East. But the West is really deep, and there's a lot of teams. You don't think there's only one team that's going to win it. Early in the season, they said OKC is dominating. I think there's five to eight teams that can win an NBA championship right now. And it's going to see. We're going to see what happens in the playoffs.

36:25Pat McAfee:OK, you've got some injury issues, right, going on? Yeah, right now we do.

36:28Jesse Minter:Everybody does. Is that an NBA thing? Everyone has to deal with it. We just got to play through it. We got guys that want to play, and we'll get them out there.

36:34Pat McAfee:Okay, speaking of Dylan Brooks, I believe, was injured for you right now, right? Yes. So the only way I know Dylan Brooks is because him and LeBron James always get injured.

36:40Jesse Minter:Oh, yeah.

36:40Pat McAfee:So now that I'm hearing the way you would like your team to be run, the Michigan State team,

36:43Jesse Minter:it seems like he was a perfect guy for you. Is that it? He was exactly what we wanted. We made the Kevin Durant trade. We want a dog. Dylan Brooks defines everything I believe in, work ethic, leadership. He'll grind. He'll fist fight you, but he'll also make some shots. He does everything we want. We love Dylan. and he's out for four to six weeks right now. But he'll be back before the playoffs, and he's our guy.

37:01Mike Borgonzi:Do you have a playlist? Is this yours?

37:05Jesse Minter:Let him know. Hey, T.I., welcome back, by the way.

37:07Mike Borgonzi:It is absolute heat, T.I. It is him doing a victory lap right now.

37:13Pat McAfee:Hey, T.I., congratulations, by the way. Because I like my top. He's our generation. Yes, it is. So watching him kind of come back with Let Him Know is a fantastic thing. Okay, so we just watched you at the All-Star game. So you've got to play again next year, right? We'll see. I'm hosting at All-Star Games in Phoenix next year. So you have to play. You have to play. I've got to host you guys. I've got to host everyone. They're going to have a heck of a time. It's going to be great. Okay, so what does that mean? Ownership. Like, how much does the NBA run? How much do you implement? Like, what is the kind of the, like, you're saying you're hosting the All-Star Game.

37:45Pat McAfee:The league will tell you what's happening, or do you have any say in how can this go?

37:48Jesse Minter:No, I have a say in how to make it great. You know, not the actual game part of it, like how they do East versus West or World versus U.S., but I have a say in how do we get great players in it? How do we make it a great event? How do we make the fan experience phenomenal? We're going to make it an amazing event.

38:01Pat McAfee:Let's announce it right now what we're doing for the Slam Dunk Contest. Yep. Let's do it. Let's do it. We can do it. All right. Tell me what we're doing. You're going to put a million dollars up for the winner and then a million dollar donation to a charity of their choice. Done. For the Slam Dunk winner.

38:12Jesse Minter:Let's get the best guys in it. Let's make it awesome.

38:14Pat McAfee:Okay, and then the three-point shooting contest. We're doing a million dollars to the winner, a million dollars to the charity. Hey, let's do it.

38:21Jesse Minter:Okay. That's the show we're in on it with. Let's do it. Okay, okay. Good negotiation right there.

38:25Pat McAfee:I might sell that deal to another company like you did with my mortgage, but. I got it.

38:30Jesse Minter:I'll take care of it. Let's do it.

38:31Pat McAfee:I would like to be involved, too, though. I would like to make it big because I love the All-Star Game is something that we have all loved.

38:36John Schneider:You should be in it.

38:37Pat McAfee:Nah, I got it. Okay, yeah. Three-point contest. No, the All-Star Game. You play. You play. No, yeah, the dunk contest. You should be in the dunk contest. Yeah, I'll be in the dunk contest. Give me that trampoline like the gorilla got, and we'll keep it moving. Okay, so a million dollars to the winner for the dunk contest with a million-dollar donation, and then a million dollars to a three-point shooting contest with a million-dollar donation. I'm in.

38:55Jesse Minter:Let's do it.

38:56Mike Borgonzi:Let's go. Let's do this. Now, boys, we need you to want to win a million bucks. Do you have to run that by Adam Silver?

39:05Jesse Minter:I'm sure Silver will be a supporter. Adam Silver's putting in a million, too.

39:10Mike Borgonzi:Adam Silver doing that. Adam, baby, Adam.

39:13Pat McAfee:All right, we appreciate the hell out of you, man. Thank you for stopping by. We can do this more. We can do this more.

39:18Jesse Minter:I love it. Anytime.

39:19Pat McAfee:Okay, sick. We appreciate the hell of you. Before you get out of here, we need you to do something. Oh, yeah.

39:24AJ Hawk:You see it.

39:25Mike Borgonzi:Fire that thing.

39:26Pat McAfee:You see it. It's a$100 ,000 donation on the line here. All right. You're coming right over here, Matt. You're going to stand on the platform? I'm going to try to hand-held on. Careful. Hello, hello. Okay, yeah, come up here. Come up here. Yeah, don't bop wood and throw yourself out here. Okay, you will try to get this ball into that hole right there.

39:42Mike Borgonzi:This is called the Combine Charity Cont Challenge. This is Combine Charity Challenge.

39:50Pat McAfee:Shout out to Matt Conti of the Indianapolis Colts and Lucas Oil Stadium in blue for having all these things available for us that we found out 35 minutes before the show started. This is what we'll do. You have three attempts at throwing that football. Watch it. Watch it. Jesus. Jesus. Don't get hurt.

40:04John Schneider:His spatial awareness is really good. Yeah. Bop in one.

40:07Pat McAfee:Yeah. Stepped out of bounds there. But if you put one of the throws through that hole right there with an elevation difference, we would donate$100 ,000 to a charity of your choosing. You sound good. I love it. Let's do it. Can you throw a football? I can. Where are you from originally? Birmingham, Michigan.

40:20Jesse Minter:Oh, so you love hockey? It's good. I like basketball, football, but hockey's all right. Wait, how? Jeez.

40:25Mike Borgonzi:Oh, Foxy. We were talking about that later. Holy shit. Mike Vrabel's walking in here. Okay, so don't get nervous because Mike Vrabel's back there.

40:35Pat McAfee:Obviously the alpha of alphas. Congrats to you, coach. You're the man. Matt Ishby, if you make this ball into that hole right there, we'll go. Hey, good to see you, Vrabes. Hey, owner of the Suns, you think he has a chance of making it? No chance.

40:48Mike Borgonzi:You have three throws. Matt, good luck.

40:51AJ Hawk:He's going to watch.

40:53Mike Borgonzi:Okay, okay, here's second ball.

40:55Pat McAfee:Here's second ball. You had the right height there, Matt. Now, any adjustment that you would be looking to make here?

41:01Jesse Minter:It's declined, so I've got to throw it down a little further. Oh, like a pitcher coming off the mound. Maybe take a knee.

41:06Mike Borgonzi:I don't know if we need to take a knee. Make the scene. Braves is telling him. Braves is telling him. Blow it down, says Braves. Oh! Congrats. Congrats.

41:17Pat McAfee:We appreciate you, man. You are the best, dude. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Matt. Good luck, man.

41:21John Schneider:Thank you, Matt. Thank you. Way to sling it.

41:24Mike Borgonzi:Hey, good coaching, Vribes. Good coaching, Vribes. Here we go, Vribes. I got your coach. Thank you, coach. There he is. You. Warm up. Oh, he's warming up.

41:38Pat McAfee:Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to be joined by some of our favorite humans that exist on Earth, not just... Did I just drop out right there? No, did you? Not sure. Oh, there was an accident in the truck.

41:51Mike Borgonzi:I just heard there was a full accident in the truck.

41:53Pat McAfee:I think we're going to have to go down one more here, too. You guys might have to lap up. Yeah, yeah, Tone. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Tone. Yeah. Yeah, smart. Yeah, just go. Because I think we're being joined by OC as well. A lot of adjustment happening on the fly. Call it inaudible. Justin Herbert, obviously legend. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now, maybe the most entertaining group in the NFL. No questions asked. General manager, head coach, and offense coordinator for the Chargers, Hortiz Harbaugh McDaniel.

42:20Mike Borgonzi:Wow. Good to see you.

42:24AJ Hawk:How are you? This is great, Daniel.

42:27Mat Ishbia:Good to see you, Coach.

42:28AJ Hawk:What's up, Coach?

42:30Mat Ishbia:Coach, good to see you. Good to see you.

42:32AJ Hawk:Coach, how are you?

42:33Mat Ishbia:Sunday red. High five. Come on. Let me get one. Oh, Sunday.

42:36AJ Hawk:Okay. It's the second person I've ever seen wear the other day. Yeah.

42:41Mat Ishbia:That's a good. That's good. What's your Sunday red?

42:43Pat McAfee:Yeah, they're saying that's worth a billion or something. That's the first one I've seen in a while. Sunday red.

42:50AJ Hawk:Guess we're good.

42:52Pat McAfee:Nah.

42:55AJ Hawk:Just flex.

42:57Pat McAfee:Could you use that or do you want to use this? Your world, literally. Your world, anything you need. Boys. Hey. Thank you for telling us, guys. Good to see you guys. Thank you.

43:10John Schneider:I recruited some friends. Yeah, I appreciate this. Thank you for stopping by.

43:14Pat McAfee:Okay, this is becoming an annual thing. I assume you guys are on your way out.

43:16Mike McDaniel:Yes.

43:18Pat McAfee:Okay, on-field workouts start tomorrow. All the interviews have already happened. How do you feel? All anybody's saying about you guys is if you get an offensive line, you're going to win a Super Bowl. What is the mindset coming into this entire meeting session for you guys?

43:29John Schneider:You know, yeah, we're looking at all positions. But, yeah, definitely want to shore up the offensive line. We've got some holes there. Bradley retired and got some free agents on the other line. So definitely got to add to it. but excited about the week. Excited to be with Coach again, and obviously adding Mike to the mix. It's awesome, man. We're having a lot of fun.

43:47Pat McAfee:Let's talk about that. What has been the first couple weeks? Like, I saw you guys at a game together. You guys are sitting next to each other. I immediately pumped for your press conferences. Describing him as an offensive wizard is one of my favorite things that happened this offseason. How has the relationship gone, and how do you feel, Coach, going into the combine here?

44:03Robert Saleh:Great. You know, just really learning. I'm really just leaning into how Mike sees the game. It's creative. It puts defenses in a conflict. And kind of like our players, there's just a lot of excitement to learn everything that Mike knows. That's really the main thing I'm leaning into. People keep asking me, like, you know, you're going to start wearing the kind of shoes that he wore. Or the cool jacket.

44:39Mike McDaniel:I wouldn't dress this way if my name was up there. Yeah, exactly. I wouldn't have to dress this way.

44:44Robert Saleh:Yeah, on the ring of arms. Yeah, like maybe I'll go to the wardrobe. Oh, my God, you showing up to a game. I'm leaning into what he knows about football. That's what I'm most excited about.

44:55Pat McAfee:New OC, new DC here. How does that affect your life?

44:59Robert Saleh:You know, really good. Jesse Minter, you know, credible coach. And Chris O 'Leary, we just – we think we have – you know, just the great next, the next great coach. Absolutely. So just say it like that.

45:15Pat McAfee:And let's talk about a great human. McDaniel, we love you as a human. Just as you changed the game. Obviously, you came in with your quick shit and just flipped everybody's mindset whenever you did that. Hung 70 on that Denver defense. I mean, there was a lot of that. How has it been now getting into offensive coordinator role as opposed to maybe having everything that head coach has? How has life been for you, and how has the adjustment with Coach Harbaugh been going?

45:40Mike McDaniel:Awesome.

45:41Pat McAfee:Really?

45:42Mike McDaniel:Period. Awesome. No, you know, I couldn't ask for more. You know, I think, you know, it's just been awesome to join what they're trying to do. There's a lot of overlap and belief. And, you know, we're coming to work every day enthused, trying to go chase the same outcome. So I'm invigorated. I'm juiced up. you know, I am firmly aware that nobody, nobody has a better than us. And I'm living that way every day.

46:16Mike Borgonzi:Because it's often asked who does. Oh, yeah, all the time?

46:19Pat McAfee:Yeah, who, who. Everybody's wondering. And I'll tell you, you look around, look at us right now.

46:25Robert Saleh:Nobody. Oh, nobody. Nobody, Coach. Yeah, nobody. And possibly future us has a better.

46:35Mike McDaniel:You're right. No, that's a good –

46:39Robert Saleh:It's evolved. What does that mean? We got the chance for future us, Mike, and being here, being here at the combine. We just don't feel like we're getting worse. We feel like we're going to get better. And, you know, that's a big reason for being here this week. And, yeah, it's just one day closer to our next win. That's how I'm approaching every single day and get the most out of it so, you know, that next win can come faster.

47:02Pat McAfee:Yeah, current us is having a good time. But, boy, future us. Yeah. Especially you guys. So, last question for you here before I get to him trying to put pieces together for your offense. Herbert, tell me about it. You know, he's a good punter. I don't know if you want to have him do that, maybe.

47:16Mike McDaniel:Man, it didn't surprise me. No. You know, I think I look at a player that has shown he can do everything on the football field. And, you know, football is an 11-person game that, you know, There's a lot that coaches have to offer as well to help assist a player. I mean, I feel very fortunate to coach a player of his skill set and have high ambitions. And, you know, I think that meets him where he's at and for what he needs to do to take the next step in his career.

47:53Pat McAfee:He's special to watch. He's so much fun to watch. I mean, he is so much fun to watch. I'm just excited to see how that all comes together in your offensive vision. And on that note, Joe, how does that change your life with him being the offense coordinator? Like, obviously, offensive line is important in any offense. But is there, like, things that you have to look for now that he's the OC as opposed to maybe before? Or you and Jim talk about because of the new defense. Like, how does that change your life?

48:13John Schneider:Yeah, absolutely. And I think the great thing about Mike is when he came in the first night he was in there, he was talking about he did things in Miami because that's who he had on the team. And so his adaptability and his creativity. So that gets you fired up. These guys are closers, by the way. They closed me fast.

48:30Pat McAfee:Yeah.

48:30Mike McDaniel:It was pretty cool.

48:32Pat McAfee:Yeah, I could imagine. The thought, though, that the last time we talked to you, you were sitting just at God's job, look cool. He looked so cool. He had such a cool thing on. You said you got to figure out what the next chess move is. You know, we changed the game. Then defense caught up is what you said. Now we got to figure out what the next chess move is. I love that your queen's gambit on the sky, you know, tripping balls seeing new close Sicilian and kind of doing your thing. I cannot wait to see what you come up with, especially with what Herbert's able to do. AJ has a question.

48:58AJ Hawk:Yeah, Coach Harbaugh, for you first, I guess when you're interviewing these guys, we hear about the interviews you have with these potential draftees that you're talking to. I guess what are you looking for? Do you care more about X's and O's and what they know about football, or do you care more like, hey, does this person love football? Do they love the game? I guess how do you balance all that?

49:14Robert Saleh:Yeah, I mean, it first started just the respect I've had for Mike, his offenses and we played him this year. I mean, he got us on a look that nobody had gotten us on yet and made us go back and change what we were doing. Just things like that. I love the emphasis on the run game, on the play action pass, just the ability to get first down, score points, and thought we needed a fresh start, and fresh start we got, and now we're –

49:48AJ Hawk:we're our defense ahead we talked about that a little bit defenses do feel like we've heard all they're you know they're playing too high and they're you know no you can't get over the top why i've i've always been taught as a young kid if they're playing too high you gotta run them out of it i gotta be able to run the ball then you gotta you gotta ball cyclical yeah but like where are we at i guess you think with like the scheme why schematically is defense did defense

50:07Mike McDaniel:take a little step forward these last couple years i i think they did i think they um there THERE WAS A LOT OF PRE-SNAP MOVEMENT THAT THEY 'VE PATTERNIZED AND BEING ABLE TO FORCE OFFENSES TO EARN IT. THE PERCENTAGES WITH WHICH THE SHELL, TWO SHELL DEFENSES I THINK ACROSS THE LEAGUE IS ABOUT 40 % WHERE IT WAS ABOUT 25 LIKE A HANDFUL OF YEARS AGO. AND SO THEY'RE DOING A GOOD JOB AND THERE'S EBS AND FLOWS WITH THAT. It takes, you know, a couple teams that really take advantage of a light box to have success. And then people to copy that and patternize that. And, you know, the game ebbs and flows.

50:49Mike McDaniel:But I would say that the, you know, where the conversation went two years ago was that offense was ahead of defense. Yes.

50:57Pat McAfee:And that's what I want to ask you about. You talk about pre-snap movement. Should I, when we talk about what you did, is it the timing of your pre-snap movement? What was your differentiator? You think that you kind of threw a big wrench into the entire system?

51:09Mike McDaniel:Well, I think there were some really, really, really fast guys that defenses were going to try to reroute. So you found ways for them to struggle to reroute. And, you know, I think it's both, you know, messing with defense's rules. There's a lot of people that have to communicate at one time. when one person motions, you change his strength, and three people are flipping around and stuff. You change the timing of that, and you're, you know, to me, like we've said, you're adapting to your players, and if you have an extreme skill set somewhere, it gives you an opportunity to kind of lean into other things that teams aren't ready for, then they prepare for it, then you think the next thing.

51:52Pat McAfee:Man, I'm pumped to see what you do with Herbert. That's all I keep thinking of. He's like, what you're going to do with Herbert. His first play, okay, Tyrod Taylor got a golf, T shoved in his lung. Okay? That's what happened, like five minutes before the game started. Just go out of here. Guy can't breathe. Herbert, you're starting. First play, right? Down the sideline. Runs the guy over. Right. Just full on, and then pops right back up, goes right in the huddle. And I think football fans, the huddle, I assume, and everybody was like, oh, shit, this guy isn't just like a pretty boy from Oregon, because the question was, can he do it?

52:22Pat McAfee:I'm excited to see what you do with him. Now, on that note, 87 million in cap space right now?

52:26Mike Borgonzi:Yeah.

52:26Pat McAfee:Wow. Wow. Look at you.

52:29Mike Borgonzi:Wow. So you're in the bars here? No, no, no. You're doing all the backdoor free agency frenzy, tampering.

52:36John Schneider:We got some guys we got to re-sign first, and then we're going to hit free agency.

52:42Pat McAfee:You're definitely sending some texts, though, huh? How are we feeling?

52:45John Schneider:Nope.

52:45Pat McAfee:$87 million? What's the second most? You got the second most?

52:48Mat Ishbia:Yeah, people are sending you texts for sure. How much money you got for me?

52:50Pat McAfee:Third highest, third most. Good luck on that. Excited to watch you kind of do that. And for you, Coach Harbaugh, how do you feel about the state of the Harbaugh-led Chargers? Like, how do you kind of look back on it since you've got there to where you are now?

53:05Robert Saleh:You know, good. But the thing that's not good is that we're not playing our best football at the end of the season in those playoffs. So, you know, just that focus, I mean, to, you know, that better and then best in the elimination games.

53:26Pat McAfee:What is the – do you already have the mantra or motto for the next season?

53:29Robert Saleh:Not yet, no. I mean, I always think it's going to kind of come out natural. Really? Really? Okay, so you don't have like the three legs. No, how can you really, you know what I mean? People do. They do.

53:38Mike Borgonzi:Hustle, Lord, to your respect. John Cena. That's what we're going to do.

53:42Robert Saleh:It'll come to us as al natural.

53:46AJ Hawk:Just hits you any time? Do you put it in your phone or something? Write it down? Yeah, how does it work? It just hits you when it hits you.

53:53Pat McAfee:Okay, so you're not writing down any of your punchlines? You've got to be. You've got to think of something and be like, got to remember that. Holy shit, when I drop the golden goose line on Justin Herbert, they're going to love that. Or are you standing at the podium and you're like, we got the golden goose and then just go on, wow, golden gooses are interesting to think about, and then go in that entire thing? Or are you writing those down like comedians would do?

54:12Robert Saleh:No, we're just thinking about getting really good at football.

54:18Robert Saleh:That might be the motto. He's not lying.

54:20AJ Hawk:I'm telling you. That might be the motto. We're just thinking about getting really good at it.

54:24Mike Borgonzi:We're just thinking. Imagine Herb down there in the way there. We're just thinking about getting really good at football. Okay, that's all we need here.

54:30Pat McAfee:Coach, I saw you warming up over there. Would you like to do the throw here for a$100 ,000 donation? Sure. Would you each like to take one maybe? I don't know how many good arms we have.

54:40Mike McDaniel:I mean, he's played professionally. at that exercise, I think. His name is on there. Yeah.

54:46Pat McAfee:His name is on there.

54:47Mike McDaniel:Right.

54:48Pat McAfee:You pointed that out. Have you ever seen 94 to 97? That's a... Four years.

54:53Mike McDaniel:I just impact the city. Yeah, that much.

54:56Mike Borgonzi:Yeah, that's unbelievable.

54:57Mike McDaniel:Legendary. Who else is doing that? No. Body.

55:01Mike Borgonzi:Okay, Coach, how old are you? 62. Are you throwing every day?

55:06Robert Saleh:Not every day.

55:07Pat McAfee:We saw those videos of Pete Carroll running, throwing, doing all that. Are you that active at practice? We know you were at cleats.

55:12Robert Saleh:Yeah, I mean, if there's a ball near, I'm going to pick it up and throw it.

55:17Mat Ishbia:Boom. That's what you do with the ball. Maybe that's the – That might be it.

55:20Mike Borgonzi:Pick it up and throw it. Pick it up and throw it.

55:23Pat McAfee:Obviously, we've seen you play catch with the warm-ups. We've seen you beat the shit out of Justin Herbert before the game. Oh, he still got the ball control. I like that. Coach, if you make it in that hole right there,$100 ,000 donation to a charity of your choosing here in the Combine Charity Challenge. They move it back a little, man. He was warming up. 62 years old. First throw. Head coach of the Chargers. Yeah, I am worried it's going to fall. So let's do this quicker than slower. Okay.

55:52Mike Borgonzi:We got another one.

55:53Joe Hortiz:That was warm up.

55:53Mike Borgonzi:First one a little low. Threw it in. $100 ,000. Yeah. Coach, you're pissed about that first one. I know it.

55:59Mat Ishbia:Yeah, you are. So bad.

56:02Mike Borgonzi:Man. Came through. $100 ,000 is so good. Coach. Coach, it's still$100 ,000. Coach, it's still$100 ,000. We'll cut the first one. It's good.

56:10Mike McDaniel:all right dude and it was like that was a good miss that was in line it was a hair low you

56:15Mat Ishbia:adjusted for the second rep you know it was such a bummed out high five yeah i felt bad

56:22Mike Borgonzi:used to be proud dude it's such a supreme flex all right hours ending here they saw you awesomely earn a hundred thousand dollars to charity with your name on the building yeah

56:34Pat McAfee:we appreciate you coach we appreciate you coach joe good luck this off season thank you guys so Thank you so much for stopping by. State Travel is back. The next season of the NFL kicks off here in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Combine. Our two will be on the other side. We got Jesse Minter joining us. Mmm. Great, man. They're saying we're going to like him. I assume they're a little. Yeah, they're pumping out there. It's a coaching trip. Yes. All right, we'll see you on the other side. Be a friend, tell a friend something nice. Might change your life. Take five. Bye. Bye.

57:03AJ Hawk:From 30 for 30 podcasts.

57:13John Schneider:Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami, gunned down.

57:17Mike Borgonzi: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. Biggest one of convictions. We had a killer amongst us.

57:31AJ Hawk:Murder at the U. Listen now.

57:41Mat Ishbia:I went all in. I went balls to the wall. Okay. It's hard. It's hard to hear. Is that why you're looking? There's a little thing or was it the timing? There's a little thing. Yeah, the timing was bad.

57:51Mike Borgonzi:I don't like what just happened there. We're missing Ty.

57:55Mat Ishbia:We're missing Ty because Ty usually gets us a nice little, like, football right here.

57:59Pat McAfee:Ty, we will see you in a few days. We love you, brother. As the Chargers exit. Safe Travelers, Chargers. I think it was our

58:04John Schneider:Green Dot.

58:05Pat McAfee:Yeah, there's a chance to middle linebacker, college football, national championship, football champion, Ryder Cup winner, A.J. Hawkins.

58:11AJ Hawk:I don't like what you did there. No, I might have been a bit, a little, a beat late, I think.

58:15Pat McAfee:Is that a confidence issue? Like, what is it? No, not at all.

58:17AJ Hawk:Actually, very confident. That's why I waited. I let it breathe a little bit, and then I went.

58:21Pat McAfee:No, no, aren't you in the zone? Getting in a flow state. Just kind of let it happen. There shouldn't be any thinking. It should just be taking place. We come off a break. You know, maybe, got a little ring rust. Rusty. Rusty. Rusty. Rusty. Rusty.

58:34Mike Borgonzi:I don't know. You're out there on the C's. Let's see how the next one works. Let's see how the next hour goes.

58:38Mat Ishbia:To be completely honest, to AJ's point, when we came back, all of a sudden, where's the jib shot? Yeah, exactly. What do we zoomed in on the field? Scott made some creative decision. I would go to Scott here as what the hell was that intro, Scott?

58:51Pat McAfee:Scott's taking some creative liberties. Hey, listen, Scott's been with us through a lot, okay? That's true. He's not doing what he wants. What he wanted to showcase, I think, I don't want to get into his Cajun brain down there, but I think what he was thinking is the action has begun. Yeah. Here at the combine, AT LUCAS OIL STADIUM. THAT'S BOSTON CONNER. AP TONE IS HERE AS WELL. AND OBVIOUSLY WE ARE LIVE FROM THE NFL COMBINE HERE IN INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA. IT WILL BE THE HOME HERE FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER TWO YEARS, MARKING 41 YEARS OF INDIANAPOLIS BEING THE HOST OF THE NFL COMBINE. WE LOVE IT HERE IN THIS CITY.

59:20Pat McAfee:WE ARE BUILT FOR IT. OBVIOUSLY ALL THE HOTELS ARE CLOSED. ALL THE RESTAURANTS ARE CLOSED. THE STADIUM, EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED. WE ARE THANKFUL AND LUCKY THAT THIS HAPPENS IN THIS CITY. And we are also pumped that the next NFL season has officially begun. Now, you can gamble on the combine.

59:35John Schneider:Yep.

59:35Pat McAfee:If you're itching and you're looking for it, there is gambling abilities on the combine. But I don't think it's just gambling on the combine. It kind of is the story of the combine. Tone, what are most people moving money on whenever it comes to betting on guys trying to earn jobs in the NFL?

59:50John Schneider:Yeah, you're looking at it here. A lot of things that you can bet on, the 40-yard dash, the 20-yard settle, the three-cone drill, obviously the bench press, the vertical and the broad jump those are or obviously if someone will set a record uh for the 40 yard dash which was four two one was xavier worthy so i wanted to start with the 40 yard dash that's it's the most popular thing that's where i wanted to start the over under for this is 4.265 okay that's flying last year's uh fastest time was 428 so this would have gone slower than 4265 last year i did some research okay xavier worthy when he ran his 421 he was running 24.41 miles per hour okay that's fast that's speeding in some school zones okay then i tried to find what 4.265 translated to that's 23.7 miles per hour dre archer former pittsburgh steeler was running 23.7 when he when he ran a 4.26 here at the club i like what we're doing here it's good research so then you go and you take a look at everyone in the combine And I used, oh, his name is blanking on me.

1:00:54John Schneider:I apologize. Bruce Feldman, he did a freaks list for college football before the season. And in there, he showed that Chris Hilton, wide receiver from LSU right here. You look at him right here. He's an absolute freak athlete. At LSU, he ran 23.7 miles an hour. So that's the exact same as Drew Archer. That's putting him at a 4-2-6 range, okay? Then my other guy, Brendan Thompson, he is a track star in high school. Ran a 10-1-8, 100-meter in high school. He also ran 23.7 miles an hour. So that's putting these guys both at around 4.26. That's why I decided, you know what, we get out here on this coconut hut.

1:01:28John Schneider:Oh, yeah. This was in pads, too. Excitement. We go no pads. We go sprinter stance.

1:01:32AJ Hawk:We go out here. They might run a 4.1 in no pads. And guys, humans are getting faster.

1:01:36John Schneider:They are getting faster. So I decided to go faster than the 4.265. Okay. I like that bet.

1:01:41Pat McAfee:I like that bet a lot, Tone. And that's fun, too. That's wishing for success. That's like betting. Bingo. That's like betting it over on a game that you hope offense is going to happen. if we got somebody running faster than 4-2-6-5, I mean, that's an electrifying combine, AJ.

1:01:52AJ Hawk:Yeah, everybody seems to be getting faster in every single position. I mean, we might see D-Lyman running 4-4s. Oh, yeah. Cyclicality. Remember, I think linebackers are starting to get bigger. Yeah, you're right. Well, and now guys are like hybrid. Are you an edge guy? Are you an off-the-ball linebacker? All of that as well.

1:02:08Pat McAfee:Guys, remember, I mean, McDaniel there is a trendsetter. Him. He is a trendsetter in the NFL, that guy right there. Super cool jacket. Obviously, Glass is always going to be – the Moxie's going to be through the roof.

1:02:21Mat Ishbia:The shoes. Oh, everything. Never even seen a parallel.

1:02:24Pat McAfee:But he is one of the ones. McVay, Shanahan, McDaniel. There's a couple guys that kind of set the tone on what the offense is going to be. He's Kelly Moe, I guess we could probably say now, down in New Orleans. Kubiak, probably the next one. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, with the Raiders now. So there's guys that set the tone on what it is. He's very clear, like, hey, cyclicality, cyclicality. It's like it feels like it's going to get big again. So this might be the last, like, everybody's ridiculously fast. Because it might go back to, like, hey, if you're a linebacker and you run a 4-5, it's not like you're dead.

1:02:52Pat McAfee:Or like it used to be within the last 10 years, if he's running a 4-6, 4-7, can't be on an NFL field because there's too much speed, there's too much space. But now because everybody gets small and fast, offenses are going to be like, all right, well, let's go ahead and pound these dudes. So it's an interesting dynamic that we'll kind of get a sense for here at the combine.

1:03:10Mat Ishbia:I mean, look at the last two Super Bowls, even. My bad, but the Eagles running team, Saquon Barkley, Jalen Hurts, of course, the tush push. And then the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle won. I mean, the Super Bowl MVP was Kenneth Walker. Running the football in between the tackles, that is very much back. So when we're talking about speed, especially at a linebacker position, you do need to bring a little more beef.

1:03:30Mike Borgonzi:A little bit more thump. A little bit more pump. A little bit more pound. A couple more ounces. That's what we're going to find out.

1:03:37Pat McAfee:But I do believe I like the way you've gone with,

1:03:39John Schneider:well if you put the radar exactly he's going 23 and i picked track guys i picked freak track guys

1:03:46Pat McAfee:another couple and there's probably some corner that we did not bring up uh damonte jackson he

1:03:51John Schneider:was a five star out of california he went to bama he was setting records at track back in california when he came out and then obviously you know ponds is uh ponds is someone iu corner is someone to watch too in the 40 he is quick fast someone to watch there okay so i think we all like that

1:04:04Mike Borgonzi:That's not a guarantee. No. I think we all say we like that one. That's a fun one, too.

1:04:11John Schneider:That one's, I get why they said it at 426, because, you know, 23.7 miles per hour. That's what that equals. You're basically a fuck. I use formulas for this next one, too. Okay? The bench press, 225. How many times can you do it? Okay? 35 and a half is the over or under for this one. Last year, the highest was 32. So a bit of a down year last year. Definitely would have gone under last year for the 32. This one has an equation as well, AJ. I'm taking the over. I don't even care about your equation. I'm taking the over. There's an Epley equation. It's one rep max equals whatever equals how many times you do 225.

1:04:44John Schneider:There are three Alabama offensive linemen who all bench press over 500 pounds. Caden Proctor, Parker Brailsford, and Jane Roberts. They all have 505 to 535 bench. That equals 35-plus reps every single time. I think one of those Alabama offensive linemen are going to do it. Peter Woods, a defensive line from Clemson, is on record doing 34. And then Gabe Jackis, he's outside edge for Illinois. He's done 30-plus as well, and that is documented. So there's five guys who I think could potentially go over 35 and a half. So I'm going to go over for the 225.

1:05:19Pat McAfee:36 reps of 225 is insane, AJ.

1:05:21AJ Hawk:It is so much. And the best part is it doesn't really matter at all. No, it doesn't. The coaches don't really care. For this, it does. For us, it does. For us, it cares. That's the point. For our egos and everything, yes, it does care. But there's never been a coach that says, this guy, you know, this DN ran a 4-2-5. His L drill was beautiful. Everything. He's super quick. But he only got 19 reps at 225. And we're not going to take him. That doesn't happen.

1:05:44Mike Borgonzi:Yeah, well, you know, the L drill, I've heard some great stories in the past of people kind of managing. I need a clean lane. I need a clean path. I really do. Hey, Bob Carpenter.

1:05:52Pat McAfee:That's a good story. Thank you. Thank you, Bobby Carpenter. Thank you for always being the general. I don't know if the boys in the truck got to hear this. Before the show went live, we heard about General Bob Carpenter's workout at Ohio State. Bobby Carpenter, a part of the legendary linebacker crew at Ohio State, a Schlage Hawk Carpenter. Marcus Freeman also in that room. An incredibly legendary crew. Luke Fickle was the coach. He's currently at Wisconsin, we think. Luke, come on back.

1:06:18Mike Borgonzi:Luke, we need you in football. Okay, good luck to Wisconsin.

1:06:22Mat Ishbia:Good luck.

1:06:23Mike Borgonzi:Go back, Wisconsin.

1:06:24Pat McAfee:But a lot of these guys want to put their best foot forward, You know, both on the field and how they present themselves. No doubt. The general Bob Carpenter said, move this L drill. This is too worn down for me. And he was telling the NFL scouts he's going to have to adjust that. There's different levels of confidence. But there is a way that everybody – Brant Boyer just walked by. Good to see you, special teams coordinator. For the Niners, you're the man, Brant. Hey, get away from that electromagnetic thing.

1:06:51Mike Borgonzi:Substation. Watch those knees and those ankles. But, like, everything's being judged. Everything.

1:07:00AJ Hawk:Like, literally everything. How you walk through the hallway.

1:07:02Pat McAfee:How you talk to the people on the field. How you go after your rep. How you stretch. It's like, it's crazy how much every single thing that you do is being scouted and judged, AJ.

1:07:10AJ Hawk:It is. I mean, it's the ultimate job interview. And think about it. If you're a coach or GM and you're thinking about spending millions of dollars on a player, like, if I see him throw his bottle away and it clangs off the rim, that's one question. Okay, he can't play basketball. He's not that good of an athlete. But if he leaves it on the ground and doesn't pick it up and put it back, that's going to legit have an impact on people. For some people. Yeah, for some people. Not everybody, but everything is being watched. But I think the greatest thing, all you can do, be yourself. Be authentic. You can't be coached up.

1:07:38AJ Hawk:A lot of times you go to these draft gurus that try to tell you how to speak to these coaches and what to do. I think be yourself. Whoever that is, show that to the coaches. Show them you love ball, and that's all that matters.

1:07:49Pat McAfee:All right. We have a man who's a head coach for the first time in the NFL. He's a national champion at Michigan, goes over the Chargers, easily picks up the NFL game, and now he's being tasked with being Lamar Jackson's head coach.

1:08:04Mike Borgonzi:Ladies and gentlemen, head coach of the Ravens, Jesse Minton. Yay, coach. Hey, coach.

1:08:14AJ Hawk:This thing.

1:08:16Pat McAfee:Just stand up.

1:08:17AJ Hawk:Coach, how are you? See you. How are you doing, coach? Good to see you.

1:08:20Mike Borgonzi:Handshakes. Very Caucasian, boys. Well, clean beard. Yeah. Clean. Ravens, too, you know. Yeah, true. Yeah. Scumbags, normally.

1:08:29Pat McAfee:No. Whoa. That is not true at all. That is not true at all. Hey, good to see you, man. Good to see you. Congrats on being a head coach. Appreciate that. Let's go, coach. Hey, that's awesome. You know? Obviously, you make the jump from Michigan to the NFL with Harbaugh. In L.A., obviously, the conversation is Jesse Minter is a wizard at defensive side of the ball. Is it going to work in the NFL? Then what you do with Derwin James? What you do with that entire defense immediately puts your name into conversations for head coaching shit. Are you ready for it? Do you feel like why do you think you're ready to be a head coach?

1:08:59Pat McAfee:And what is your expectations now that you have the Baltimore Ravens gig?

1:09:02Jim Harbaugh:I definitely feel prepared. Well, that's a bad question. But like, why do you think you are ready for that situation? You know, the last two years, I would say, going from Michigan back to the NFL with Jim and being being at with the Chargers as he was trying to, you know, kind of kind of claim an identity. build something so being there with him his first year I think really started to allow me to be prepared for this I think the second year Jim and Joe Ortiz who I know I think they were both just on yeah yeah they both really you know took a lot into helping me be prepared for this moment so they gave me a lot of insight they let me be involved in a lot of different types of things in the organization to help me be prepared and now that I am you know their advice is just go Go be yourself.

1:09:47Jim Harbaugh:You're ready for this and go be you. Tell me about Bashadi.

1:09:50Pat McAfee:We didn't know much about him. Your wire's on your mic. Yeah. No, it's up underneath the thing. Up in the thing. Yeah, just move it down. The wire down. I got you. I got you.

1:10:02Mike Borgonzi:Perfect. They're fickle. It's not your fault.

1:10:04Pat McAfee:100 % our fault.

1:10:05Mike Borgonzi:All good.

1:10:05Pat McAfee:These wires do kind of do their own thing. Blame Joe Ortiz. Yeah, Ortiz. He said you got to figure that out. Okay, so let's talk about Bashadi a little bit. We don't really know much about him other than he needs to be on a microphone more. That's a man. That is what we expect. He, rightfully so, said, hey, I'm good at my job. Let me, okay, I can hire people. I can kind of figure it out. What was the interview process like, and why ultimately do you think he decided that you were the right guy to be the steward of the Baltimore Ravens with Lamar Jackson and a loaded talent after an incredibly long run by John Hartwell?

1:10:41Jim Harbaugh:Yeah, I mean, number one, I think he's the best owner in sports. he creates an environment where you're always going to be, you know, doing what's needed to be successful. So there's not any amount of money he's not willing to spend, any type of thing you need that you think might help you be better, he's providing. And then through the interview process, I think there was a little bit of, you know, this guy understands the foundation that's been built here, but he's also now been out on his own and has some different ideas of how to, you know, bring a few new things while also understanding and respecting the history, how it's been built, why it's been built a certain way.

1:11:21Jim Harbaugh:And so we certainly want to lean into that. We want to lean into what's been really good there. But I also think just having a younger, newer, fresher thing sometimes, you know, people embrace change.

1:11:32Pat McAfee:Definitely. And I think Baltimore Ravens fans are excited. I don't think – I don't know if they expected you to necessarily beat, especially because Lamar Jackson is your quarterback. Whenever you think about being the head coach of a team that has Lamar Jackson, how that has to feel. Pretty amazing.

1:11:45Jim Harbaugh:Yeah.

1:11:46Pat McAfee:Not that Herbert, obviously. We love Herbert. And we think the same thing about Justin Herbert. We think he is a fantastic player. But you're Lamar Jackson's head coach, especially at this level, where his arm is maybe best in the league. Obviously, he's still Lamar. How does that kind of, I don't know, motivate you, inspire you? How have you handled that entire relationship?

1:12:03Jim Harbaugh:I would say it's certainly motivating to, number one, build a team that allows him to have success at the level that he's chasing. There's nothing more that he would rather do than to bring a championship to Baltimore. And so when you know that he's your quarterback, you always have a chance. Motivating to build a great defense. Motivating to hire a great offensive staff. Motivating to build a great special teams. So that the team around him is up to his level.

1:12:31Pat McAfee:He's so much fun to watch. Go ahead, AJ.

1:12:32AJ Hawk:I guess your first time being a head coach in the NFL at the Combine. What's it feel like the few short days you have been here? Is there a different energy coming in? Like, what does it feel like for you?

1:12:42Jim Harbaugh:Yeah, it's definitely a little different. But having, you know, having been here a few times, there's at least like the familiarity of how it all works. Now you're the big guy. A lot more. Every conversation.

1:12:52Pat McAfee:Hey, every combo you have now is the most important combo that people have.

1:12:56Jim Harbaugh:A lot more media obligations, I would say. Thank you for doing our show. That's the fun stuff. But, you know, it's just like getting a chance to evaluate everybody, not just the defensive player, all the offensive players, getting a feel for what makes them go you know in those short meetings it's just a touch point it's

1:13:14AJ Hawk:just like uh can you gain a lot from those short meetings with these players you know i think you

1:13:18Jim Harbaugh:can gain a little bit and so but a little bit is better than nothing and i would say that they're you know most of these guys are well prepared you know they have these people that do you like that

1:13:26AJ Hawk:do you want them well prepared like that or do you want to just be in them i think uh you try your

1:13:31Jim Harbaugh:best to get them off of the well-prepared script their guru that coached them up and talk a little bit and find out a little bit about maybe something that makes them go, something that makes them, that motivates them. And these guys, you know, everybody's been great. You can certainly, there's levels to a really good interview. And then there's guys that may not know certain detail as much as you'd like to see. So try to, if you can get a little bit from it, I think it's worth doing.

1:13:56Pat McAfee:Mike Tallman has said in the past that the AFC North is the kitchen and it's hot in the kitchen. There is a lot of tradition and a lot of history in the AFC North, especially with a lot of rivalries, a lot of change as well. Go ahead, Tom.

1:14:09John Schneider:Yeah, with all due respect to the Browns and the Bengals, it's been the Steelers and Ravens for 20 plus years. He's Steelers fan, Jesse, by the way. Yes, I am. And, like, when you're at the combine and when you're doing the draft and you look at guys, it used to be a thing, and I think it still is a thing, you're like, that's a Raven, that's a Steeler, and you being used to being with the Ravens, is that how you're going to go into this? because it felt like the Ravens' defense was not as disruptive last year as it has been in the past. Like, that's literally what they are. That's what the Ravens are.

1:14:35John Schneider:That's what the Steelers are. So when you go in there and you talk about, you know, you know how this was built, but you're going to bring in some new things, are you still going to be like, this is a Raven guy, and that's what we're going to be on the defensive side?

1:14:45Jim Harbaugh:Yeah, I definitely think that guys that play a certain style, play a certain way, fit Baltimore. It'd be crazy to go away from that, you know, with what's been so successful. and you look at really probably over the history of the last 30 years, the two organizations who's, when you think defense, you kind of think those two teams. And so we feel like there's a lot of work to do to get back to that while also doing it maybe a different way, doing it with the new age style, the new age defensive system, maybe a different philosophy, but certainly want to play Ravens defense at the end of the day.

1:15:21Pat McAfee:Jesse, mentor defense is also good. But Hembo sent us some stats here on your defense when you were at the Chargers. 23 % pressure to sack rate. That's the fourth highest in the NFL. 70 % zone usage, second highest rate in the NFL. 55 % too high safety usage, which is second highest rate. Feels like you like your dogs to do your dog stuff. Go ahead, Connor.

1:15:40Mat Ishbia:Yeah, and you got an all-pro at safety, Kyle Hamilton. I think we asked you about this when you first got the job, but how special is it to have a chess piece like that? Was that an attraction for you? I mean, first head coaching job, so no matter what, You know, it's going to be incredible. But when you think about the guys that you have, those pieces that you have, is he the most integral part? Is he the one you've kind of been talking to as you've taken over the head gig? And where do you kind of envision him and using him this upcoming season?

1:16:08Jim Harbaugh:Yeah, you know, I classify him as a defensive weapon. Like there's guys that play positions. There's guys that play three technique, and that's what they play. There's guys that play corner, and that's what they play. There's guys that you can move anywhere within the defense, and they can be really effective. And the closer you have him to the point of attack, the more impactful he can be. And so the goal on every play will be to, you know, take advantage of Kyle's skill set, have him as close to the action and as impactful as he can be, try to have him be disruptive. Had a guy similar with L.A.

1:16:42Jim Harbaugh:and Derwin. And so, you know, couldn't be more excited to have Kyle, be able to work with Kyle.

1:16:46Pat McAfee:You can have a couple of Kyles. I think Kyle Van Nooy would love to go back. Yeah, he's a great player. He'd love to go back. I think he's been losing his leverage publicly every time he talks about it business-wise. But he – Still got it. The way he talks about that defense and, like, that building, it's like there's a lot of pride from those folks, obviously, as there should be. Excited to see what you're able to do. Because this last year the conversation was the defense is not going to be able to win for him. It's like the Raven? Correct. That is never the convo. But what do you think about that?

1:17:11Mat Ishbia:A little more. Yeah, Derrick Henry. Oh. I mean.

1:17:16Mike Borgonzi:He's untackleable. Come on. And we're in the fountain of youth. He's still running harder than everybody. Are you guys going to win a Super Bowl, Jesse? Is that what's about to happen right now?

1:17:25Jim Harbaugh:That's the plan. It has to be, right? That's the plan. Everybody has to have that mindset. That's right. But you can talk about that and you can say that. We want our fans to have expectations of us to win the Super Bowl. But really, it's about creating standards, creating an environment, creating a day-to-day process that allows you to do that.

1:17:43Pat McAfee:Yeah, I'm excited to watch you guys do it. Good, AJ.

1:17:45AJ Hawk:Yeah, how much of coaching, especially defense, I guess, is taking your team, the talent that you have, and then kind of crafting the defense around them and not trying to jam them into whatever your scheme is. I say this because I remember back in the day your dad was coaching at Cincinnati. I still remember being in person watching these tall, I think, converted receivers playing DN, literally jumping over running backs to get to the quarterback. I don't know how old I was watching it, but I remember that and think, oh, that's how you use your athletes. And I assume you want to do something like that.

1:18:12Jim Harbaugh:I think that's what coaching is. I mean, you know, it's what do you have available? how can you best put them in position to be successful and do the things that they do really well. I really think that's the job of a coach on any position, any phase of the game, offense, defense, special teams, is to create a system that allows you the flexibility. Your best player is a three technique. Let's have some stuff that really takes advantage of him. Your best player is a corner. Let's have some things that take advantage of him. And so over the last four years of doing this, really this scheme, You know, it's almost been a different player, you know, at different times.

1:18:48Jim Harbaugh:And so that's the goal that we have, and that's what we'll try to do. Your dad's still working with you, huh? He is, yeah. Senior defensive analyst?

1:18:55Pat McAfee:Living the dream. So, okay, so you boss him around? Yeah, sometimes. That's awesome. Hey, go.

1:19:01AJ Hawk:When did that switch? When did that flip where you could start bossing him around?

1:19:05Jim Harbaugh:The first time was in 2016. I was at D.C. at Georgia State, and this was really the first time he decided he was with the Eagles, with Chip Kelly prior to that, ended up in that coaching cycle looking for something to do, decided to come down there and coach our defensive line, which he had never done, which was kind of a fun challenge for somebody like him. And so it's kind of been that way ever since.

1:19:31Pat McAfee:Okay, hold on, because we just saw this not work in Tennessee. Yeah, not at all. The O-line coach overall, yeah. Yeah, that did not go great. I'm sure there has been times in the past where it's worked out very well.

1:19:43Mat Ishbia:Plenty. The Kiffins, not NFL, but Lane and Monty. Monty, yeah.

1:19:49Pat McAfee:I just love the thought of your dad looking at you going, I'm not doing that.

1:19:55Mike Borgonzi:I think you're – I'm not going to do that.

1:19:58Pat McAfee:Speaking of doing something, there's been a staple on the Baltimore Ravens for a while now, obviously, conversation taking place. Go ahead, Tone.

1:20:04John Schneider:Yeah, Coach, a lot of people, number one free agent out there, Linderbaum. I don't know how much you're involved with the negotiations or stuff like that but have you gone to his house yet and said hey we would love to have you back?

1:20:15Jim Harbaugh:I would say that he knows how we feel about him.

1:20:18Pat McAfee:What do they do for Jason Kelsey?

1:20:19Jim Harbaugh:Keg of beers.

1:20:22Pat McAfee:They sent him a little gift.

1:20:23Jim Harbaugh:He knows how we feel about him. He's one of the best in the business. He's maybe the best center. One of the best linemen period. Major part of the team the last few years. You've really seen him develop into that since they drafted him. A guy we'd love to have back.

1:20:39Pat McAfee:You have your headphones on. I don't know if you have any cauliflower ear. He a really good wrestler, too, if you want to start dancing with him. Okay, McDonald, obviously with what he was able to do in Seattle, defensive genius, okay? Offensive Wizards had their run. You defensive gurus seemingly having a run right now as head coach. What McDonald's able to accomplish in Seattle so quickly, I think we're all incredibly marveled by. Unbelievable work. They put out a video of his first team meeting, and he said, I want you to close your eyes and think so. It's going to be late January. It's going to be in the 30s.

1:21:10Pat McAfee:It's going to be rainy. Shitty for them. Just right for us. And then two years, I think he was nine months off. He said nine months. He was 12 months. I forget what it was. Nine months off maybe because he said it was going to happen in the first year. It happens in the second year. He obviously looks like a genius. Have you envisioned what this first team meeting is going to be like? Have you envisioned a message? How many times have you practiced it in the mirror? Or how do you kind of handle that first message to the team? Because obviously you know that's very important. because we as players can immediately see, oh, this guy's scared.

1:21:40Pat McAfee:Oh, this guy doesn't really have a plan. Can't read the notes, obviously. Have to talk directly to the people. How many times have you thought about that, and how excited are you for those moments?

1:21:48Jim Harbaugh:Yeah, I've put a lot of thought into it. And that's exactly, to me, it's laying out a vision for what's about to happen. Some big picture where you're looking all the way to the Super Bowl, some where it's maybe just, hey, we're going after small, small wins every day. And so I think it's a combination of that. But we certainly want the guys to understand where we're headed, but also what it's going to take to get there.

1:22:13Pat McAfee:AFC seems like there's a lot of turnover. Seems like there's a lot of potential question marks, but it's very deep. Go ahead, Con, man.

1:22:19Mat Ishbia:Yeah, deep. And one thing we were just talking to Mike McDaniel about, actually, now we see the Chargers was kind of how the football is cyclical, of course. But two years ago, offenses were way ahead. And then to what Pat just said, the defensive coaches, you guys, McDonald's huge run now it's kind of going the other way when you see guys at the combine and when you just see kind of schemes and things of that nature in the NFL now does it feel like it is swinging back to kind of bigger uh you know players and also defensive being more of a focal

1:22:49Jim Harbaugh:point yeah it's definitely it definitely goes in cycles um and it's a copycat league and so teams try to emulate what's been successful you look at the Eagles two years ago line of scrimmage great defense um and a defense really young and built through the draft they had a they had a really young defense in 24 they added one or two really key pieces um and then you look at mike's defense this year and it was a little bit more they drafted a d lineman again a couple years ago and murphy who had a who's had a great second year and so the o-line and d-line driven teams i think is back you know but and i also think like defenses the explosive play metrics have kind of flipped because everybody's more too high, more shell.

1:23:37Jim Harbaugh:But if you're going to do that, and that's what we want to do, you want to not let them throw the ball over your head. You've got to be really big and strong up front and be able to still stop the run at times without maybe throwing extra people down there. So I definitely think it's a copycat league, and more and more people are going to be trying to build like that.

1:23:53Pat McAfee:Four ones on D-line, right? That's what you need. That's right. You need four ones. We need seven, 14 eyes. We need 14 eyes to be able to watch everything else. we need the D-line to win, right? That's right. That's kind of who's been winning. Yeah.

1:24:05Mat Ishbia:And that was a big thing for the Ravens this year was Matt Abike couldn't play. Yeah. He was out the whole year, you know?

1:24:11Pat McAfee:Maybe you get down there.

1:24:13Mike Borgonzi:That's what I'm thinking about.

1:24:15Jim Harbaugh:I don't know if that would help us.

1:24:17Pat McAfee:Congratulations, man.

1:24:18Jim Harbaugh:Thank you.

1:24:18Pat McAfee:You should be incredibly pumped. There's only 32 of them. Fired up. Bashadi, I don't think, gets it wrong either. No. I feel like he knows. Just from listening to him talk one time.

1:24:28John Schneider:I believe in him. I believe in Bashadi. His last coach was 18 years.

1:24:32Pat McAfee:Have you met Buda or Stavi yet? No. You need to.

1:24:37Mat Ishbia:Get him on your side.

1:24:38Pat McAfee:You want Buda on your side. You would like Stavi on your side as well. Got you.

1:24:42Mike Borgonzi:And his cousin.

1:24:44Pat McAfee:Yes, certainly. Definitely his cousin. Okay. You would like them on your side. I'm excited for them to ride along the wave with Jesse Manter. Yeah. They will be your biggest advocates when you guys win.

1:24:56Mat Ishbia:Put Joe Flacco in the Hall of Fame. If you do that.

1:24:59Pat McAfee:We'll do the entire thing. So I'm excited for you to kind of take over in Baltimore. Appreciate that. Such a good football town, man. Such a good football city. Such a good team. Such a good organization. And Lamar Jackson deserves a Lombardi. I'm excited to see how quickly you can get that job done. Congrats on it. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, Jesse Minter. Now, Jesse, before you get out of here, Jesse, can you throw or no? Yeah, we'll see. You throw the DBs and shit? Yeah. Okay, okay, let's go. Let's go. All right, let's go. All right, Jesse. Jesse Minter, head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, former D.C.

1:25:32Pat McAfee:of Michigan Wolverines, had been with the Ravens before, had been in college before as well. Don't like the slant kind of Siciliano-ing you right now. Jesse Minter is a 5 '10", 6' tall man. It is not a slant's getting you right now. Yeah, I don't like it at all. Here's the sky cap. Jesse, if you were able to put that foot – are you a lefty? Lefty. Oh. Lefty Jesse. Okay, coming in from the – let me stand on this side. Yeah, let me get the hell out of the way. There you go. How old are you, Jesse? 42. You throw every day of practice? No. Do you put the cleats on like Jim and kind of run around? I do not.

1:26:05Pat McAfee:Do you work out on a daily basis? I do. What do you do?

1:26:08Jim Harbaugh:A little workout, a little weight room, a little Peloton, a little mix up. You got a Peloton in the office? Not in my office yet.

1:26:15Pat McAfee:It's going to be there, though.

1:26:16Mike Borgonzi:Potentially. It feels like that's what you guys do because you can still watch film.

1:26:19Jim Harbaugh:I can still do get my sweat on here. I do the one down in the weight room. I'm good. I need a little break from the office.

1:26:25Pat McAfee:I like that. New scenes, new vibes, new ideas. How about a$100 ,000 donation if you're able to put that football into that hole right over there? It has not been conquerable on the first attempt yet. Okay? Myself missed it. Jim Horbaugh missed it. We think you are going to make it. If you're able to put it on the first one,$100 ,000 donation to a charity of your choosing. Jesse Mentor, the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens. $100 ,000. Jesse.

1:26:49AJ Hawk:Oh, man. Never a doubt. Nailed. Steve Young. We're at the combine.

1:26:55Mike Borgonzi:All right, Jesse. Thank you dude.

1:26:58AJ Hawk:Never a doubt man.

1:26:59Mike Borgonzi:That was unbelievable. There was no climax. No, no. Just the easiest. You made that look so simple. That's Baltimore Ravens head coach.

1:27:10Pat McAfee:Thank you man. See you later brother.

1:27:12AJ Hawk:Appreciate it, good luck. Handshake. Good luck coach.

1:27:14Pat McAfee:Handshake.

1:27:16AJ Hawk:There it is.

1:27:17Pat McAfee:Handshake, thank you sir. Unbelievable. How boring was that? That was dead center.

1:27:21AJ Hawk:That was unbelievable. Just cool, calm and collected. Yeah, he did.

1:27:26Mike Borgonzi:It looked like Kellen Moore right there. Steve Young.

1:27:29AJ Hawk:Yeah.

1:27:29Mike Borgonzi:Defensive guy? Did we expect that?

1:27:31AJ Hawk:They throw a lot. I can see when he held it. He doesn't. You can see when he held the ball in his left hand, he looked like comfortable. Got it. He looked very, very comfortable.

1:27:37Pat McAfee:Yeah, he even did one of these, I think. A couple of these.

1:27:40AJ Hawk:These guys are about to find out.

1:27:42Pat McAfee:Break on the ball and put anything. As Jesse Minter continued to astonish us with his brain and his new title as the Baltimore Ravens head coach, the kickers have gotten started down on the field. Obviously, kickers are drafted. When they are drafted, they are given an opportunity to make a roster. There's only 32 kickers in the NFL. If you get a job and you do well, you could be there for 20 years. You miss a couple kicks, you could be gone, seemingly, as soon as possible. There was a miss, I believe, that just took place, but there's been a lot of makes. I'll tell you, just by watching the balls come through the uprights and hitting the net, I think I could scout on who's going to make it and who's not going to make it.

1:28:18AJ Hawk:I'm pretty sure you could. There's been a couple. What are you looking for, for real?

1:28:20Pat McAfee:Height. I want to see height.

1:28:21AJ Hawk:Like up quick, you mean? Like bam.

1:28:23Pat McAfee:Yeah, I went to height. So there's a couple guys here that we've been watching earlier that have been kicking from closer distances where it's been going like middle of the upright. It's like I don't think his leg's strong enough. This guy, good kick right there. I think that's a good ball right there. That thing was going through still. There's a couple guys where it was kind of falling off a little bit. I think NFL coaches are saying, okay, it's a 17-game season. This guy's leg's going to get tired. I don't think he's going to make it. I think strength is obviously number one. Control is obviously a massive ordeal.

1:28:46Pat McAfee:But also how you handle this. This new snapper, new holder, new balls. How do you kind of emulate what NFL life is going to be? and there's always a couple kickers that go on and save team seasons. And there's always a couple kickers that go on and win some games that you don't think a team's going to be able to do. And that ball is really low. That guy, I think, XFL probably, or UXFL for probably a year or two and then maybe come into the NFL or maybe just hit a bad ball in a bad hole.

1:29:12John Schneider:Maybe not with the new rules in the XSFFL.

1:29:15Pat McAfee:Yeah, 4.60-yard kicks.

1:29:17John Schneider:Love that they're doing that.

1:29:18Pat McAfee:I love that the UXXSFL is doing that. and the combine is officially on the way.

1:29:24AJ Hawk:What's wrong, H? New Columbus team, Ted Ginn Jr., my old teammate's coaching. In the U.S.S.S.A. Yeah, he's a great leader. What's the league?

1:29:30John Schneider:What's the league? USFXXL. I don't believe that's the way up on the net. That's exactly what they call it. They changed the name.

1:29:37Mike Borgonzi:The U.S.S.S.F.L.? I think it's the U.S. XFL. It's the United States Extreme Football League.

1:29:44Pat McAfee:And you get four points if you hit a 60-yard field goal. I like that we're doing that. I do, too. You know, the big three, not the big three. Was that what?

1:29:52John Schneider:Ice Cube.

1:29:53Mike Borgonzi:Yeah.

1:29:53John Schneider:Big S.

1:29:54Mike Borgonzi:That four-point shot. Yeah, four-point shot. I like that. Yeah. I hope the NBA would take it in there. I don't think they ever will.

1:30:00Pat McAfee:Four-point 60-yard field goals, potential. I think it has potential because the guys are able to do it now. With that being said, Brandon Aubrey is potentially going to get$10 million a year as the kicker. Now, I saw the way it was reported that Brandon Aubrey is looking to get$10 million. I don't think Brandon, unless he's representing himself, I think what is happening here is Brandon Aubrey's agents are saying, hey, I think this guy's worth$10 million. And if he's able to accomplish that, especially with how true he has been since stepping foot, USXFL alumni, since stepping foot onto the field for the Dallas Cowboys, He's been true.

1:30:35Pat McAfee:He's been their best player. And if he gets$10 million a year, that'll be great for kickers and punters everywhere.

1:30:40Mike Borgonzi:But that also means that, you know, you've got to make every single kick.

1:30:48Pat McAfee:That is one of those jobs. So I went into free agency one time. I got franchise tagged, and then I went into free agency. And it was an interesting negotiation. I've talked about this. Grigson, not the biggest fan of mine. He was the general manager at the time. him and I have a good relationship now by the way saw each other that's actually been a pretty cool thing he's an orangutan I mean he is like big strong guy giant he is gigantic he's with the Vikings right now but I wasn't exactly who he was thinking of was going to be his punter so this guy's uh on Twitter he's popular he's out Jersey talks a lot he swears this is not what I want it's not normal this is not what I want my punter position to be now a general manager could have came in there and said holy hell we got a guy who you know does all this stuff but it wasn't his vision of what a kicker and punter should be he's offensive lineman too like hey like let's shut up so i understand the disagreement in that entire thing but the negotiation was not like a positive one you know like jim ursay was the reason why he was being forced to negotiate with me he would have been okay with me leaving jim ursay says the guy's not leaving so then when while you're negotiating me as punter and guy that at that time i don't think i was the best in the league or whatever it's like what's the right price that if i hit a couple bad balls i'm not immediately getting cut because i'm a cap casualty so for me there was like a fine balance where it's like Do I need to be the highest paid guy?

1:32:02Pat McAfee:I don't think I need to be the highest paid guy. You're going to give me a couple million to do this? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, that sounds like a deal to me. And with the cap part of it,$10 million a year to a kicker. Brandon Aubrey would certainly be the guy that would be worth it. But if you have just a couple weeks where it's not good, even the most beloved kicker or punter will waste the money. We'll get a wide receiver. We don't have an offensive lineman. We can get three good offensive linemen with that amount of money. It's crazy how that all kind of comes into play. And if Aubrey does this, I'll be pumped for him.

1:32:33Pat McAfee:And I think he's the right guy for it. But anytime you get the new record-setting contract, comes the expectations as well. I hope he pulls it off. And maybe one of these guys will be the next guy to become the next Brandon Aubrey.

1:32:44John Schneider:Yeah, I mean, if it is going to be anybody, Aubrey makes sense. You just looked at those Hembo stats and how good he has been since he has been with the Cowboys. And for someone to do this, they have to be a weapon. It's not like someone who is making 50-yarders consistent. It has to be these guys who can make 65, 68, 60. Like, this has to be someone who is different, unique, unicorn, so that it is a situation where, like, oh, okay, he is worth this$10 million. Even though if you make kicks, tell you what, I know a lot of coaches who don't like points, points are very important. If you make your kicks, like I think$10 million for a kicker, and no one's talking about salary cap's a billion dollars now.

1:33:19Pat McAfee:Yeah, salary cap is certainly jumping, and I think it's only going to go up as they continue to add primetime games and more streaming platforms are getting into it. Obviously, remember, 49.5 % of the revenue from media, TV rights, and merch, I think, is what the players end up getting. So every new primetime game that gets signed, massive money comes into the leagues. It obviously is dispersed amongst 32. The new salary cap gone up in a big way. 2020, if you look at the yodely yodely salary cap, which means the – I think you can kind of judge it as the health of the league. I think you can kind of judge it as the health of the league.

1:33:54Pat McAfee:The salary cap, just since its inception, basically, has gone up like this. COVID, because there's no ticket sales or anything like that, kind of sat down like this. So a lot of the GMs are kind of put behind because of what they were expecting it to be whenever they were negotiating deals. Then there was a makeup jump. They're like, hey, we got you for COVID. We'll make it back. And then now it's escalating quicker than they ever could have imagined. So$10 million for a kicker, if he's great, might become status quo. Because if you don't have a guy, you are. You don't know when you're going to be screwed.

1:34:24Pat McAfee:But it's normally going to be the biggest moment of the season. It is going to come down to it, and you're not going to have the guy, and you're going to regret not having it. And that is just kind of how it goes at those certain positions. Congrats to Brandon Aubrey. Speaking of$10 in dollars, Seattle Seahawks have begun the sale process$10 billion.

1:34:40Mat Ishbia:Wow. Sheesh.

1:34:44Mike Borgonzi:Jody Allen. Yeah. Wins Super Bowl. Gets trophy on stage. Hey, we did. It's a good time. We're open for business. We are open for. Young coach, got a lot of contracts still here.

1:34:57Pat McAfee:Sam Donald, I think he's going to be thankful for what we did for him. Not a bad time to maybe get up here in the Pacific Northwest for you people that have a lot of money. $10 billion for the Seahawks. Miami Dolphins allegedly in the past have been offered a$10 billion valuation, is what Stephen Ross said. So who knows what this is going to get up to, but congrats to the Seattle Seahawks and to the Allen family for guiding it in such a good way. John Schneider will join us in about 22 minutes. Obviously, he's going to go down as one of the greatest GMs in the history of the NFL. Good for them.

1:35:24Pat McAfee:And good for the NFL that their teams are just 10-billed potentially. It's probably going to be even more than that.

1:35:28Mat Ishbia:Well, and if there's ever been a more perfect time, you mentioned the Super Bowl, but also they have to pay so many players. I assume maybe the Allen estate, you know, Jody especially might say, like, hey, look, you want to get in on this business? Because it is. I mean, you said it. It's one of the most consistent, healthy businesses over the last, what, 30 years, 25 years? Like, yeah, it's undefeated. And, I mean, we're talking about it here at the Combine. And, like, these dudes are getting bigger, faster, stronger. And maybe not if they're getting faster, but they're getting stronger then if they're not getting faster.

1:35:57Mat Ishbia:So the league as a whole, especially with how good the quarterbacks are right now, like, it is at an all-time high.

1:36:03Pat McAfee:Hey, is it the offseason?

1:36:05AJ Hawk:No. There is no offseason. Bingo. I like what you guys are doing to try to sell the league. But it is the offseason. It is the offseason. Technically. I mean, there is. The ratings for the combine beat, like.

1:36:18Mike Borgonzi:Okay, we're talking business. Okay, sorry. NFL football's not being played right now. We agree that the NFL never sleeps.

1:36:25AJ Hawk:Yes.

1:36:26Mike Borgonzi:I'll step aside. But it is the offseason. And that means Trey Hendrickson and Cincinnati Bengals don't know what the hell's going to happen. What is going on, honestly? Where are we at right now? Nothing's off the table. Could franchise tag him, could trade him, could cut him, could release him, could pay him.

1:36:41AJ Hawk:There's no way he's going in.

1:36:42Mike Borgonzi:I think he would.

1:36:44Mat Ishbia:I think he would actually go in. Funny enough, I saw some people saying, hey, if this guy gets franchise tagged, no way he goes to the Bengals. I think if he got franchise tagged, it'll probably be a couple months of tissues. But then after a little bit. We love you, Trey. It is crazy that this is never getting figured out.

1:37:01Pat McAfee:You're wasting away. Both of you are just wasting away. At some point, somebody has to make a decision. Okay? Like, that is kind of the position that some people are in. And it's like, why are we just letting this continue to be a thing? And the Bengals say it's never been a thing. We've given him a contract. What is the thing?

1:37:19John Schneider:That's what the Bengals are saying. We'll know soon, right? When's the tag deadline?

1:37:22Pat McAfee:March.

1:37:23John Schneider:I think it's the end of it. If he doesn't get tagged, he's a free agent.

1:37:26Pat McAfee:All right. So we will keep our eye on Trey Hendrickson's watch, which we, I mean, we don't like to talk about our journalism exploits, but I think that all kind of started on our show, Radio Row, years ago.

1:37:37Jim Harbaugh:Yes.

1:37:37Pat McAfee:Years ago. And now it is still continuing. And then if we're going to talk pass rushers, we've been calling for this for a while oh yeah okay and people don't necessarily love that we've been calling for it especially Raiders fans and the person himself has not been happy that we've been calling for it because he has so much pride and we understand we respect it Max Crosby might be on a move to a playoff contender Max Crosby might be in the Super Bowl Max Crosby might be seen by the 30, 40, 50 million viewer count games that we get only in the biggest stages of the season in which the Raiders have not been in for a long time.

1:38:17Pat McAfee:Now, do we think with Fernando Mendoza, the Raiders are going to be great? I do. I think Fernando Mendoza is generational. I think Fernando Mendoza, six foot five dog, has beers with the boys, super smart, wildly intelligent, accurate, and he's tough. I think he is generational. I think the people that are on TV talking about him, maybe not being a guy, or the same people that were saying Dante Moore was the number one overall quarterback in this particular draft class, and it's just because they were late to the party with Mendoza and they don't want to realize that. They don't want to state that they were late to the party.

1:38:50Pat McAfee:We have seen this guy because we are lucky to be in this state since he got here. I saw Macal. I mean, I were out there with Cal whenever we went out to the incredible Berkeley campus out there and had a wild morning shot to Daniel kind of starting a field goal thing out there as well that entire thing against Miami pulls another one. Cam Ward has another magical win over him. But Fernando Mendoza, everything we have heard about him, everything we have seen from him, every pass that we've watched him throw in games and in warm-ups says he's a guy. And I assume there's going to have to be nitpicking because this is the draft and everything like that.

1:39:23Pat McAfee:But I think a lot of guys that like to judge what the forecast of the future is going to be just maybe didn't know about Mendoza until late so it feels like they're maybe trying to justify themselves with some negative i think he's a guy guy and i uh i'm a firm believer in that i think the raiders are getting an incredible football player over that great leader of the team oh yeah he i mean all of the all the on the

1:39:46AJ Hawk:field stuff off the field stuff you don't have to worry about him but his size too is what's very it's just impressive sometimes the guys will have everything but they might be a little undersized and you understand people saying hey he's going to be great but i'm not sure if this translates to the nfl like fernando it sure feels like everything will translate to the nfl He felt very, very well. And being able to be around him a little bit at the Super Bowl at Radio Row, I was walking next to him in the break. I'm like, geez, you're a much bigger human than I even thought. And we watched him play in person multiple times.

1:40:13AJ Hawk:So, yeah, I am definitely sold on Fernando Mendoza. You said that, yeah, the Raiders will be great maybe win. Like, I think the Raiders will be better with Fernando. Ashing, Jente, Brock Byers, Union offensive line in there.

1:40:24Pat McAfee:You know, you talk about him being – the conversation about him, I guess, because we've asked some people around town, you know, Why is there some people coming out saying Fernando might not be a guy? Well, it's R.P. Ogu. So he's athletic? Yeah. So he's much more athletic than you think he would?

1:40:39John Schneider:He can quickly make decisions? Yeah.

1:40:40Pat McAfee:How about his back shoulder and the way he throws the ball? It's like, how come everybody gets around? I think they're just looking for negatives. He's minus 20 ,000 to go number one overall. He's going number one overall. But I think the Raiders are getting a special player. So it would be crazy if they traded Max now. Yeah. That would be an insane thing for the Max Crosby Raiders arc if that was a tip.

1:40:58John Schneider:And what, Spitek came out yesterday and said that he wants Max to be on the team, I believe, and expects Max to be on the team, which you're looking at it right there. So, yeah, it would make sense to be. But you're like, now you can't do this every offseason because free agency is different. It's not as good this year now. But if they were to get Linderbaum, it may be. But, like, if they sure up that interior offensive line and then they have Mendoza and then they draft well on defense, yes. But, like, the offense that he's going to be running with Kubiak fits him perfectly. And the one thing that we haven't mentioned is we watched him get smacked in the mouth multiple times.

1:41:33John Schneider:That Miami game, the Ohio State game, like he took an absolute beating. It did not faze him. And I think that comes a lot from Cal. When he was at Cal, he was one of the most sacked quarterbacks in college football. He took an absolute beating there. So I think that benefited him, actually, so that when he got behind a good offensive line, he was like, oh, this is awesome. But then when he still got hit, it didn't bother him at all. So if he goes to the Raiders and it takes him a little bit of time with the offensive line, he's not going to be one of those rookie quarterbacks where, like, they just go into a shell on their entire career.

1:42:02John Schneider:I think he's special, special. Yeah.

1:42:04Pat McAfee:Honestly, I think he's special, special. And he can speak Spanish for the Raiders fans. I mean, all of it.

1:42:09AJ Hawk:I don't do much on here, though. He doesn't do a whole lot. What's that? When you speak Spanish to him, he usually.

1:42:13Mike Borgonzi:Yeah, why is every Spanish speaking? Cristobal is the same way. Yeah, why is that? I'm trying. They think you're, like, being disrespectful? No. People think that about me?

1:42:21John Schneider:That's not the word I would have used.

1:42:22Mike Borgonzi:Hey, by the way, incredible hat. I just want to let you know. I just saw the hat.

1:42:25AJ Hawk:You see it?

1:42:26Mike Borgonzi:Yeah. You definitely bought that at a store in Ohio, and I love that. I bought that at a gas station on the way.

1:42:31AJ Hawk:I knew that was the answer. Loves is a great one.

1:42:34John Schneider:Yeah, Loves is great. They have showers in there if you want. Yeah, Trekker, come on in.

1:42:39Pat McAfee:Got a little buggy on the side there. Maybe some lot lizards for you, too, if you go ahead and dance around properly. But I don't think you should do that. I don't think you should do that. But I think Fernando is special, man. I saw, obviously, these conversations have to happen in daily sports talk, especially if you cover the league. You have to say, maybe the Raiders trade their number one overall pick and go pick a bunch of things. It's like, are they not looking – have they not?

1:43:02John Schneider:So I guess Gino's going to get traded then probably right now.

1:43:04Pat McAfee:Dude. Let's go to the trade block, actually.

1:43:06Mike Borgonzi:Oh, shit.

1:43:07John Schneider:You all right? That's the second time today I've seen you do that.

1:43:11Mike Borgonzi:You hit the – Both of them. The draw. Oh, jeez. My knee kind of just got double-teamed from the front and the back. Wood this way. Wood that way. Yeah, Bob Wood there with my knee, my patella really got in there.

1:43:26Pat McAfee:Little ring rushes. We got a trade block graphic, though. There's a lot of names that are potentially on the move. Obviously, Tyreek Hill already released from the Miami Dolphins, so he would be available for a team to sign. Has another surgery. Dr. David Chow.

1:43:39John Schneider:Yeah.

1:43:40Pat McAfee:Says that one, another surgery still at this point with already having knee surgery. Could limit him for next season. We'll see how that goes. But all these guys potentially on the move. Kyler Murray, obviously Arizona Cardinals quarterback for a lot of times of transition. And if there's a lot of transition while you were the quarterback for the team, normally it means your team's not doing good. You are going to take a lot of heat for that. Then whenever there's clauses put into your contract and another thing said by former players, it's certainly going to get loud. A nice refresh for Kyler Murray could be good at a new place.

1:44:08Pat McAfee:Just like, you know, Baker Mayfield, I think, said he wasn't the most mature. He was supposed to be at Cleveland, turned into a pro. Maybe Kyler Murray gets a new stop and kind of does his thing. some people mention in an elevator on the way up here. Could you imagine Kyler Murray with Kevin O 'Connell? Who said that? That'd be interesting. Then you start thinking about the Minnesota Vikings. They got J.J. McCarthy. How's this whole entire experiment going to go with him not being able to play enough? But are they going to be in the market for a veteran quarterback? Is Kirk Cousins potentially going back to the Minnesota Vikings with the entirety of it all?

1:44:38Pat McAfee:And you start thinking about the big names. A.J. Brown, obviously, with the Philadelphia Eagles. You know, they say the squeaky wheel gets the oil.

1:44:43Mike Borgonzi:He's been a squeaky wheel for a long time. Yeah, he has. It's been a squeaky wheel over in Philly. A lot of people are saying, wow, Vrabel really likes A.J. Brown.

1:44:51Pat McAfee:If you remember when he was traded away from Tennessee to Philadelphia, Vrabel did a...

1:45:03Mike Borgonzi:Walk away. I want to kill this fucking guy.

1:45:08John Schneider:Went outside and lit up a cig immediately.

1:45:11Mike Borgonzi:Turned back around.

1:45:13Pat McAfee:Sits back down.

1:45:17I'm going to need to hear the plan on how we replace A.J.

1:45:21Pat McAfee:Brown. And then from that moment forward, it was over. Absolutely.

1:45:26Mike Borgonzi:There it is. John Robinson. Okay. All right. So we're trading away the best player on the field. Okay. All right. Okay. Hey, since back down, from that moment on, Titans and Vrabes pretty much done. Oh, yes. That was the moment on. So a lot of people up in New England are saying,

1:45:45Pat McAfee:well, it would be nice to have a number one wide receiver. And A.J., wouldn't it be nice to have a coach that loves you in that? A lot of smoke seemingly around that.

1:45:54Mike Borgonzi:But I don't think the Philadelphia Eagles are just going to give up A.J. Brown. I think that's going to be a lot there.

1:45:58Mat Ishbia:Yeah, no chance. And Sirianni came out and said he can't guarantee that the Eagles will have A.J. Brown on the roster next year. But that feels like one that gets done. Like even the Max Crosby one, a little different. You mean A.J. back in Philly? A.J. back in Philly. I don't think so. Whole new era. No, you're out, AJ.

1:46:14AJ Hawk:AJ, you're saying. I don't see how he's back there. I just feel like it feels like they have. It's always. They want it a year ago. There's enough animosity and enough going on that it feels like the Eagles, they probably want to try to keep him, but I just don't see it happening.

1:46:26Pat McAfee:Connor's trying to undersell this right now because him to the Patriots is very loud, and Connor's trying not to get too ahead. Hey, hey, hey, let's not jinx this thing.

1:46:32Mat Ishbia:We'd love for it to happen. If anything, I'd probably rather Max Crosby, but still an AJ Brown on the team would be awesome. But a year ago, we're talking about the Eagles being the Super Bowl champs. Like, is it really one year later that it doesn't work? I don't know. But the Eagles have a ton of those questions. Stoutland getting, you know, him being gone. Like, the Eagles are kind of one of those teams you look at, like, what the hell is going on there? But A.J. Brown being the guy getting traded, you know, that would make a lot of sense. And that salary cap, that hit, it's not that bad.

1:47:01John Schneider:No, especially for a one. I think there is another team that needs wide receiver help who has his college teammate on that team. gave up a third to get D.K. Metcalf last year and has multiple thirds they could give up this year to pair those two back together.

1:47:18Pat McAfee:Yeah, a couple thirds for A.J. Brown. I'm sure that'll go over well. Let's go to a couple of the other players. Tua Tonga-Valoa, potentially on the move. Tua Tonga-Valoa, obviously. We had McDaniel on earlier. They were magic together, and then we watched Tua almost give up his football career on TV a bunch of times. And then who knows what happens afterwards. that ends up getting blown up. Tua paid. Gumpy, what is Tua's contract situation for the next team and for the Miami Dolphins, Gumpy?

1:47:50Jim Harbaugh:99 million dead cap for us right now if we were to cut him today, but we can spread that out. It doesn't sound like anyone's trading for him either, so it's going pretty good.

1:47:59Pat McAfee:You sound pretty negative there. Okay, sounds like you're about done with the Tua Tongvaloa experience there in Miami, but he's potentially on a move. Hey, there's another quarterback, very accurate whenever he's in it. Does he find a home and have a second berth? Jalen Waddell potentially on the move as well. Gumps, seems like everybody has been in on Jalen Waddell for like the last two years.

1:48:17Jim Harbaugh:Yeah, there's been like three trades made for him, but somehow he's still on the Dolphins, so I'm sure we'll dial those up again.

1:48:22Mike Borgonzi:Is Gumpy behind that computer that is blocking his face right now? Yes. Popular hit-up, Gumps. Yeah, he is. Yeah, Gumps, come on. You're getting Siciliano-ed by the computer there, pal.

1:48:31Mike McDaniel:That's tough. That's a tough look right there.

1:48:33Mike Borgonzi:I like that logo back there on the wall, Foxy. What's that all about? You guys really upgraded. I'll tell you what. but this truck has really come together for the first time we ever did a truck show till now. This thing is night and day. It's incredible. Shout out to Barco. He's been alive back there. I can't. No. I see Mitt over your left shoulder. Mitt just over Roxy's shoulder. Mitt's alive. Barely. D-boats next to him.

1:48:53Pat McAfee:It's crazy. They're doing some news hit here. Hey, boys, let's stand up and wave. Oh, yeah. Where at?

1:48:59Mike Borgonzi:How are you doing? Oh, nice. Good to see you guys. Bunny ears. Bunny ears. Bunny ears. For the combine. Good to see you guys. Bunny ears.

1:49:06John Schneider:What channel so I can tell my mom to watch? Yeah, we don't know if we're back. Sorry. Is that WPC?

1:49:13Mike Borgonzi:It's great to be back. Is that WTHR? What is that? Is that THR? Moose ears, moose ears. You're so stupid. Do you watch any of the other shows? Yeah. Like what? Yeah. Every day, dude. It was fun, man. I did. I literally did. And I just watched those shows, and I'm like, holy. It felt very similar to this one.

1:49:33AJ Hawk:Shit.

1:49:33Mike Borgonzi:Yeah. The people that like this show have to absolutely despise our show. I mean, they have to absolutely hate.

1:49:42Pat McAfee:And I read it. I hear it. I see it. I appreciate it. Got a lot of texts from people asking how long we're taking off. Thought I was a hard worker. Okay. Some people I think were excited for us to be back in their lunchtime routine. We are thankful and lucky to be here. The combine is obviously going to electrify. John Schneider, who might go down as greatest general manager in the history of the NFL. That title right now is Bill Belichick.

1:50:03Mike Borgonzi:That was what I was saying, yeah, you've always been.

1:50:05Pat McAfee:That title right now is Bill Belichick. And he was our first. Tobe, how you doing, brother? Good luck out there, dude. Are you guys looking for anything? You're not looking for anything, right? You're not looking for anything, right? We're live right now, so don't say anything. It's on the record. It's good to see you, though, Tobe. Are you guys looking for anything right now or no? Always just. Yeah, I like that. Hall of Fame special teams coach right there. Appreciate you, man.

1:50:34Mike Borgonzi:spagnuolo yep reed yep

1:50:39Mike Borgonzi:to toe right yeah i don't want to get it wrong holy shit oh did you but someone else confident

1:50:44Pat McAfee:i was halfway through my mind i was just in neighbors you had it yeah i i said it you sold

1:50:48Mike Borgonzi:it well then yeah but i had to back off it a little bit i'm like that's tough that's an

1:50:52John Schneider:issue i mean that's interesting i mean they were they were horrendous this year

1:50:56Mike Borgonzi:hall of famer so i hold famer i say you're looking what are you bill johnson though

1:51:01John Schneider:We had someone on. He's called him Tom.

1:51:04Pat McAfee:He's a legend. One time. Yeah, we called him the wrong name. Yeah. And then there's another special teams guy, Colt Anderson there, former special teams coordinator for the Tennessee Titans, also a member of the fourth down army with the Indianapolis Colts. That's my former pump protector right there. That man. Right there. Who is?

1:51:18Mike Borgonzi:Hey, baby Colt.

1:51:19Pat McAfee:Stay away from that electromagnetic thing. He's out there with the Niners as well. Substance. You can't bear enough. You're running. All right, a couple of news we've got to hit before we get out of here. Trent Williams and 49ers. John Lynch talked to the press. He said that's going to get down. I'm feeling good. I'll tell you what. We'll see. Trent Williams would get a lot of calls if that was going anywhere. We saw John Lynch walk by. His off seasons are always filled with something. They mentioned how the IUK thing can finally take place and kind of have a resolution because the way the contract was set up, they'll do a post-6-1 designation once the new league year starts.

1:51:51Pat McAfee:They'll be able to move on from IUK. Before that, I mean, it was Jennings before that. It was Kittle before that. I mean, there was just Brock Purdy. Before that, it was – they just – whenever you're good, Now, granted, they have not won the Super Bowl, so that will always be held over their head. They've been an elite football team for a long time with a lot of talent, so that means every offseason that guy is in the middle of the trenches

1:52:10Mike Borgonzi:with something. Some pillar player is one of some. This would be the biggest one, we think, personally.

1:52:17Pat McAfee:When you look at the stats from their team with Trent playing and without Trent playing, it's a vastly different ballgame, and Trent knows that, obviously. And this might be the last big one that Trent Williams gets here.

1:52:28Mat Ishbia:Oh, yeah, and they've got to go, too, because you're talking about push from the outside. now the Super Bowl champions in their division. You know, you got the Rams, the other NFC finalists. It's like, hey, if they don't get it done soon, people are going to be panicking over it.

1:52:39Pat McAfee:Okay, Panthers play caller this year will be Brad Edzik. Yeah. Congrats to him. David Canales passing those things over. We'll be talking to Dan Morgan, I believe, the general manager of the Panthers here. That's becoming an annual thing. And as we remain here at the Combine, we would like to say how thankful we are that we're allowed to kind of do this. Yeah. You know, a lot of the people that have covered the combine for a while just kind of put a couple of director seats up and just kind of put like an iPhone and kind of do their thing. The fact that Indianapolis has allowed us to utilize this stage and the fact that the NFL and ESPN have helped us kind of make this a massive thing, which it is.

1:53:15Pat McAfee:There's a lot of dreams about to come true in these fields out here. The NFL season has officially begun here in Indianapolis. Hour three will be on digital. Sports center is on the other side. Be a friend, tell a friend something nice might change your life. We'll see you tomorrow from the combine. Goodbye. I feel like I hit it there. I thought about that. Woke up. I passed out in sun. Was getting burnt. Woke up, thought about just like completely missing. Just like seven seconds. The worst is early.

1:53:46John Schneider:Yeah, because then you sit there and look like an idiot. Yeah, you're not sure.

1:53:48Pat McAfee:That was what I woke up to. It was me staring. Good hour. All right, let's get to a break. On the other side, John Schneider's joining us. And we also have Bob Sala joining us. Wow.

1:53:59John Schneider:He was walking by with Dayball earlier. Yeah, he looked huge.

1:54:02Pat McAfee:Jacked?

1:54:03John Schneider:Yeah. Dayball or both of them?

1:54:05Pat McAfee:I'm excited to see Coach Bob Sala with the program. I'm excited to see how this goes because he has certainly heard us.

1:54:13Mat Ishbia:Yeah, I just hope he doesn't choke slam me.

1:54:16Pat McAfee:Yeah, because the crow and the eagle thing, remember? Uh-huh.

1:54:18John Schneider:But we know Dayball enjoys us, so he probably passed that along.

1:54:22Pat McAfee:Yeah, and Dayball, similar situation when he was at the Giants. We had to say things.

1:54:27John Schneider:He got it. He knew it.

1:54:28Pat McAfee:Liam Cohn has said that to us before. Where's he at? You guys got to say what you got to say. It's like, yeah, don't actually.

1:54:33John Schneider:I haven't seen him walk around anywhere. Yeah, he's not doing it.

1:54:36Mike Borgonzi:Setting precedent. Playing iPhone games somewhere. Not working, huh?

1:54:39John Schneider:Flappy Bird.

1:54:40Mike Borgonzi:Yeah. Great game. They had to get rid of that because too many people got addicted.

1:54:44John Schneider:Just kidding.

1:54:44Mike Borgonzi:I love it. You been watching any?

1:54:46Pat McAfee:We'll talk about this later.

1:54:47Mat Ishbia:Oh, yeah. I've been watching stuff. Love is Bind.

1:54:50Pat McAfee:This guy's watching Love is Bind. Dude, I heard it's in all Ohio.

1:54:53AJ Hawk:Cincinnati cast.

1:54:53Mat Ishbia:They did Columbus. Yeah. A lot of A.J. Hawks on there, surprisingly.

1:54:58Pat McAfee:Got a jersey.

1:54:59Mat Ishbia:No, no, just people like them.

1:55:01Pat McAfee:Ohio State Columbus got some interesting stuff going on.

1:55:04Mat Ishbia:What's that?

1:55:04Pat McAfee:A lot of fouls.

1:55:05Mike Borgonzi:Let's go to a break.

1:55:06Mat Ishbia:We'll be back on the other side.

1:55:09Mike Borgonzi:All the buildings.

1:55:10Mat Ishbia:Yeah. That was my favorite part of the whole entire thing. It was that little interaction. Hey, why don't you shut the fuck up? I'm going to kill you. Yeah. I'm going to fucking kill you.

1:55:21AJ Hawk:I can't believe that was real. Yeah, I can't believe that.

1:55:23Pat McAfee:There's a lot of things in there where it's like, okay, this is obviously the saddest thing that I've ever sure but wow this is a lot of infer and then what's next now good luck to everybody in the real world figuring that out we're going to continue to do sports over here be a friend tell a friend something nice might change your life we're back on the other side take fight

1:55:53Mike Borgonzi:Football! Hey, you guys nailed it. I like the confidence, okay? First couple hours, you guys were a little scared.

1:55:58Pat McAfee:Didn't want to really step on it. Didn't want to do a hard count. Didn't want to go for it. You're still on vacation a little bit. That one was spectacular. And I think the reason why A.J. Hawk, Boston Connor, Tone Diggs, the reason why it was so great is because we are literally in the presence of greatness. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is a man who might go down as the greatest general manager in the history of the NFL.

1:56:19Mike Borgonzi:He's built two champions in the same organization. Ladies and gentlemen, the general manager of the Seattle Seahawks, Super Bowl champion, John Schneier. Yeah, John. Hey, man, John. Sir? Handshank, sir.

1:56:32AJ Hawk:Sir, great to see you. Oh, wow. That's pretty sweet. An absolute pleasure. Hold on. Hold on. Forearm tats. Hold on.

1:56:38Pat McAfee:I don't think you're supposed to handshake a forearm tats. Can you show that real quick? How many GMs got forearm tats?

1:56:44John Schneider:I don't think a lot of them. Omar does. Omar Khan? Yeah. He's got an ass tat, too. Yeah.

1:56:52Pat McAfee:Heard it's Elmer Fudd with a gun. He's saying, come out of there. Icy look. All right. All right. Let's move along. John, thank you for joining. Congratulations.

1:57:03Mike McDaniel:It's awesome. Thanks for having me, buddy. Yeah, AJ, thank you for the booking.

1:57:07Pat McAfee:So you guys know each other from Green Bay, obviously.

1:57:09Mike McDaniel:2006 draft, brother.

1:57:11Pat McAfee:Okay, so.

1:57:11Mike McDaniel:Vernon Davis or AJ Hawk? What are you going to do? Hey. Tight ends pretty fast now, right?

1:57:18Pat McAfee:He's gone to Ohio. Look at this guy's face. And we heard he made it really easy for everybody to get information on his medical history throughout the entire process, too. Completely.

1:57:25Mike McDaniel:Yeah. It was the white tights with Carpenter that did it, too. Yeah. Who are these guys?

1:57:33AJ Hawk:The full jumpsuit. Are they? Yeah. They like each other a lot. Yeah, they do. They still do, by the way. They still. Yeah, just spent three or four days on the ship out at the sea.

1:57:42Pat McAfee:Yeah, you know, I'm not going to get into that. The Buckeye Cruise. Yeah, not going to get into that. Buckeye Cruise is a good thing. We don't want to make fun of it. We've made fun of it in years past. We do not want to do that. And there's nothing to make fun of about your resume, brother, that you're stacking together. Congratulations on building it twice. And we are talking about that. You obviously, in the middle of the entire process, understanding you're just trying to win, trying to win. Can you take me to the decision of moving on from Pete Carroll? Because Pete Carroll then comes out afterwards and says, I fought like hell for my job.

1:58:12Pat McAfee:Did not make it easy, I think, for the Seattle Seahawks after Pete Carroll left. He decided to move on. Him saying he still wanted to be there, I think kind of a tough thing with how beloved Pete Carroll is. You sitting in that pocket making that decision. Did you have to re-envision what the team was? Were you already envisioning what the team had to look like? When you make that pivotal moment there, what was going through your mind for the Seattle Seahawks?

1:58:32Mike McDaniel:Well, Pete and I had great discussions all through that process. You know, we did a lot of special things together. And, you know, it was just time for both sides. And, you know, Jody Allen, Pete, they had their conversations. And, you know, it was like, hey, Jody just entrusting us to move forward and, you know, start a new era with a different leadership group and yeah, I mean, no, I can't take you through every step because it was like, it was 72 hours of like, am I going to get fired? What's going on here? I don't even know. Am I going to hire a head coach or like, what's shaking here? And yeah, she just, you know, she had the confidence in us and obviously, you know, Pete wanted to coach again and, but it just like everybody just, it was just kind of time.

1:59:22Mike McDaniel:Yes, absolutely.

1:59:23Pat McAfee:It's a hard DECISION TO MAKE, BUT THERE'S ONLY A FEW PEOPLE THAT ARE PUTTING POSITIONS TO MAKE THOSE DECISIONS. SO THE THING THAT I'M SO IMPRESSED BY IS YOU SITTING IN THE POCKET, TAKING IT IN THE SHINS, AND THEN MOVING ON, KIND OF WITH YOUR BLINDERS ON, UNDERSTANDING THAT YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE SUCCESS IS HOW YOU FELT. MCDONALD, THIS GUY SEEMS TO BE A WHIZ. I MEAN, HE'S A WHIZ KID. I SAW HIM YESTERDAY AT THE WOMEN'S FORUM, GOT A CHANCE TO SHAKE HIS HAND AND TELL HIM, LIKE, HOW IMPRESSED I AM WITH him as a leader and everything. What did you see from him? And what did you think about the culture that he was going to be able to build for you?

1:59:51Pat McAfee:Like, if that makes sense.

1:59:52Mike McDaniel:Yeah, so it was that process. We were actually a little late that week. So we weren't able to speak with Mike, you know, because they had to buy. And so it was really, really trusting people, like good friends of mine, like Dan Morgan and I are very close. I know you guys know Dan well. Chad Brinker, Rich McKay, guys that have been able to interview him already. and then just saying, like, hey, like, your guys' personalities would work out great. No ego, all ball, like, let's rock. And when we interviewed him, it was just very clear. It was two hours. It felt like 20 minutes. So it's like, you know, clear, concise, intelligent.

2:00:31Mike McDaniel:And then where are we taking ball? Like, if we want to be the best sports organization in 10 years, which is what Jody kind of challenged us on, like, what's that going to look like? and so it was tough but it became clear because there was some great candidates in there and we interviewed about 14 guys but I really think like okay where this guy is gonna where he can take football and what I like what I can't see like what are my blind spots like where am I falling behind and you know with our staff and how can we mix our groups together and then what kind of staff can he build and take us into the future we had played there, we had played in Baltimore and it was one of those games, I know you guys have been through this I'm not sure if you guys play professional football

2:01:16Mike Borgonzi:USXFL kind of like Brandon Arbery kind of that situation

2:01:21Mike McDaniel:middle backer by the way, where's D-Bot, the Ryanfire he's born in Frankfurt yeah, D-Bot, yeah

2:01:31Pat McAfee:D-Bot's off until March, believe me until March, I forget, yeah, March 2nd. He gave me a date. He said, hey, got a daughter equestrian now. He's got a golfing daughter now. He's got a volleyball daughter now. I mean, he is. He's a football player now. And he.

2:01:45Mike McDaniel:He's a baller. One of the greatest athletes I've ever encountered. We had played in Baltimore. And you know, you have that feeling. You're like, what just, we just got shook. You walk out of there. I don't know. You know, we just, we left Baltimore that day. Like, what just happened? You know, and, you know, talking to Gino, and talking to Drew Locke, you know, after the game. And they were just like, this is – This guy's different here. Yeah. This is like, don't go.

2:02:09Pat McAfee:Okay, let's talk about the quarterback position because you had to make a decision. There was reports that you offered Geno Smith a contract. He didn't love the contract. He ends up getting one in Las Vegas. Him and Pete kind of – This is fun.

2:02:20Mike McDaniel:I'm starting to sweat already. He has these questions here. Yeah, yeah. Here we go. He wants to be pit out, brother. So we've been following the Seahawks.

2:02:26Pat McAfee:I feel like we have really followed along with your guys' journey. not just mostly because AJ and everybody that's ever talked about you he's like hey Schneider's a guy he is an actual guy out there so we respect everything that you've been able to build the decision to bring in Sam Darnold though is monumental now at this point with how it all works out how does that decision go and what did you see from Sam that's like holy hell this guy won 14 games and somehow was available for us to sign in this entire thing

2:02:54Mike McDaniel:well the combine has really changed since you guys came out there's a lot more a lot more conversations with agents and what the landscape's going to look like. And that's obviously, you know, what you guys experienced with the medicals and the testing and everything. But really, you know, behind the scenes, like, all right, you know, where are we at from a negotiation standpoint? Like, if we have to pivot, is it going to be A, B, or C? And getting all the coaches on the same plane and, you know, deciding, like, are we going to be able to do this in a concise manner? And so last year at this time, I mean, yeah, we were talking Geno.

2:03:33Mike McDaniel:It wasn't going great. The Raiders had tried to acquire a different quarterback. That didn't come to fruition. They were interested in Geno. We were just able to pivot in that three-day window and get ready to roll. And the cool thing was all of our relationships, Kevin O 'Connell, Clint Kubiak, all these guys that are good friends of ours that have been around Sam, describing him was exactly that great leader, real guy, and obviously competitor, and he doesn't wear his emotions on his sleeve, and his teammates love him.

2:04:07Mike Borgonzi:If you've got anything to say about my quarterback, if you've got anything to say about my team, if you've got anything to say about this city, we've got two words for you. Fuck you. That was so awesome. That was honestly, you love that? You have to.

2:04:26Mike McDaniel:After we lost to the Rams down there in L.A., I literally, like, stood there. Everybody was walking through the door. And I was like, you guys, we almost won that game. Like, everybody disregards that. Yeah. You know, it was a rough game for some people, a lot of people. But, like, the guys' resilience and the way they responded around Sam, I was like, we got some cool stuff going on here. Yeah, it did.

2:04:49Pat McAfee:It felt special.

2:04:49Mike McDaniel:I was like, let's go. But when Ernest took it, when we got in the locker room, obviously he took it to a different level.

2:04:56AJ Hawk:Got to have that, though.

2:04:58Pat McAfee:AJ's got a question for you.

2:04:59AJ Hawk:Yeah, I guess your time here at the Combine, you've been coming for a long time. I guess what's it like now? What are you looking for when you interview these players, when you watch them on the field? Does all the stuff on the field matter as much as some people make it out to be? I know, okay, let's just use 225 bench, for example. I said it doesn't matter. I said, ah, it's garbage. I remember whenever I did mine, I think I got 24 or something, I mean, I was all pissed off. I was all pissed. And I had one GM. He goes, what are you all doing? What's your attitude about? I was like, I only got 24 reps.

2:05:27AJ Hawk:I thought I was going to get 30. He's like, I don't care about that. Like, he instantly, and it gave me, like, a sense of relief a little bit, even though I was still pissed. I didn't get 30. Like, is there something? Like, what is it? What matters? Yeah, what does matter here? What are you looking for?

2:05:39Mike McDaniel:What really matters is, like, eye in the sky and then the person, the competitor. That's kind of what we've.

2:05:44AJ Hawk:Like, they got to love ball. They got to love ball. They need to confirm that they love ball.

2:05:47Mike McDaniel:They've got to be smart, tough, reliable football players. And then down here, it's really like these chunks now. That's why I said it was different when you guys were coming out. It's like, okay, you've got these interviews over here that we record and we're able to study that. And then you've got the canned one. It's like, what's your favorite cereal in the morning? That sort of stuff. Freddie Pebbles. You can watch all that kind of stuff and you can study all that. But really watching the guys, how they interact with the other guys on the field, how they're taking to the coaching going on out here.

2:06:21Mike McDaniel:But then it's really like obviously the medical, you know, the whole thing started because the Jets drafted a receiver that then was legally blind in one eye. So that's how the whole combine started. So you get the medical. Classic Jets. The medical is really. What year was that?

2:06:36Mike Borgonzi:What year was that? Two years ago. Yeah, exactly. 2022. We do.

2:06:41Mike McDaniel:But, yeah, no, I think just really, like, at the end of the day, the guys knowing, like, the character of the person. And we just emphasize, like, the competitor. And you don't have to have, like, a final. As an area scout, the guys are responsible for their areas. You don't have to have, like, your hard. You don't have to stick to your hard and fast grade that you had in the fall. It's more important that we get that right at least, like, the week before the draft so we can set the board and then be able to just strategize and then know who the person is that we're bringing in the building to be able to help them out and grow.

2:07:11Pat McAfee:So, like, passing your culture test is obviously a qualifier.

2:07:14Mike McDaniel:Absolutely.

2:07:15Pat McAfee:Yeah, it feels like that should be for everybody. I don't know if that is the case. It's certainly working for you. 1977 is when that happened. Okay. So it's been happening for a long time over there with that team. Same team, though. Okay, yeah, same franchise. He's blind in one eye.

2:07:26AJ Hawk:He fooled him that. Yeah, he wore sunglasses. Yeah. Credits to that guy. Guy's a good actor.

2:07:30Mike McDaniel:Phenomenal receiver, too. Crazy. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Jericho Cotter.

2:07:34Pat McAfee:I have a question. 1977. I have a question for you. You said that the standard thing is what cereal do you have in the morning? What other stuff? Do you like appliance questions? Like what are the right? I said Fruity Pebbles immediately strictly because on the back of the Fruity Pebbles box, there's always like some fun little quizzes. So I feel like I'm getting better and enjoying a phenomenal breakfast. And it always, always tastes good. Throughout many different government policies of what you're allowed to put into food and what you're not allowed to put into food. We're learning a lot about that as well.

2:07:59Pat McAfee:Fruity Pebbles has remained. Cocoa Puffs changed their ingredients. They weren't as much cocoa anymore. Yeah. I Cocoa Pebbles, I think the same exact thing. Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Cinnamon Toast Crunch, OG. It's very good. OG Cinnamon Toast Crunch. If it's a little cold outside, treat that like tomato soup. Cinnamon Toast Crunch always going to be there for you. What are the answers that you get in those questions? And what other questions do you kind of give? Because trying to find out who a person is is all this game is. Do you mess with them? Yeah, do you ask these questions?

2:08:26AJ Hawk:Do you mess with them on purpose, try to get them pissed off? By a pair of scissors?

2:08:28Mike McDaniel:No, we used to a little bit more. When I was with the Packers, I was like, you know, I was the younger guy. So I was like the guy that had to ask all the, you know, the partying questions, the marijuana questions and stuff, you know. So I'll never forget we had a running back in here. Were you around Mark Hatley?

2:08:46Pat McAfee:That's the name of the running back?

2:08:47Mike McDaniel:Yeah, no, it's not the name of the running back. I'm not going to make you the name of the running back. But he was this poor guy, like, had failed several drug tests. And Mark Hatley, God rest his soul, he worked for the – he ran the Bears for a minute. was my boss in Green Bay. And so I'm asking the questions about, like, why he failed this drug test, you know, like, again, you know. And my man had this high accent. Mark Hiley's like, shoot, why'd you do that, son? I don't get it. Like, why'd you do that? You kind of sound like Ballard. Oh, yeah. He likes his guys. He likes his guys. Yeah, he kind of had that, you know, that southern drawl to him, you know.

2:09:19Mike McDaniel:And my man's sitting on the couch, and he's kind of panicked. And he's like, he's sitting on his chair. And he goes, he's like, I'm sorry, Mark. I was just on the couch, and I was next. He's honest. He's honest. Give me that guy. He's super honest. We had a running back in the room one day, and our running back coach was like, hey, you consider yourself to be a better inside runner or outside runner. He's like, hey, coach, have you seen our indoor facility yet? Our new indoor facility is amazing. I never run outside. It's like, okay, I like this guy too. Outside the box.

2:09:56Pat McAfee:We're just trying to test your brain. And Connor has a question. Wow. Any more of those that come to your mind right now? We would love to hear. Thank you.

2:10:02Mat Ishbia:John, you don't know this, but I'm a Patriots fan, so you can go eat shit. It was very fun. It was very fun to watch that game. Hey, welcome to the show. Yeah, welcome.

2:10:11Mike McDaniel:But I did watch your – Well, I was there a couple years ago too, brother, so – Exactly, yeah. Okay, so kind of one of the same me and you. You guys are even.

2:10:20Mat Ishbia:Yeah, exactly. We're even, sure. But one thing I did watch, and it was actually the only thing I watched from your parade, was the speech you gave at the end, just talking about Jesus, talking about, you know, kind of the angels from the team. Yeah. You throwing out little tiny baby Jesuses on the parade.

2:10:36Mike McDaniel:They were tiny baby Jesuses, brother. They were like little baby Jesuses. He was a grown man. He had a beard. Yeah, he had a beard, but it was miniature. Excuse me. Mini Jesus. Mini Christ. Yes.

2:10:48Mat Ishbia:It was very cool. But at one Talladega night, how do you envision? It wasn't a tiny baby Jesus. Yeah. It was a miniature size of real grown-up Jesus. 33-year-old Jesus before. 33-year-old Jesus as a – there it is. We actually got some. What does he look like as a 20-year-old? Same thing. Cut. He cut. Shredded? Yeah, like you don't even want to know. He's always shredded. Yeah, yoked up. But speaking of, while I'm watching this, as much as it hurt, it did feel like storybook for the Seattle Seahawks. Like you, listening to all the players that had lost loved ones, everything like that and you mentioned the Rams game as kind of a locker room where it felt different it felt special was there any other points where it felt like hey this is part of a storybook ending like you could envision the Super Bowl the the storybook finish and knowing it was coming you know as a Patriots fan I said 28 to 3 against Atlanta felt better than 9-0 against Seattle just because of how dominant and how great your team was but inside that locker room, whether it's training camp, whether it was through kind of those tough trials throughout the season where, you know, some of your players are losing guys.

2:12:00Mat Ishbia:Was there a moment where you kind of felt that, you know, storybook coming together and knowing that, hey, this is going to end in glory in the end?

2:12:07Mike McDaniel:Yeah, I think Mike's, our head coach Mike's emphasis on the connectedness. Like we all grew up playing the sport because it's the ultimate team sport. You learn so many lessons in life. And he just did a great job, like, you know, turning the corner last year. He comes in his first year. He wins 10 games and he's like, what do I how do I like? How do we take this to a different level? And it was really like the connectedness of the team and the guys. And so, yeah, we had a lot of we had a lot of, you know, like Charles Cross lost his father. Ernest lost his father. Jake Bobo lost his father. I lost my father in the day after the Houston game.

2:12:44Mike McDaniel:And I just felt like everybody was just really in this place of like playing for each other. And when you're in that space, like there's just no – like it's pretty hard to – that's a hard team to beat when guys are playing together like that. You know, the Super Bowl XLVIII team, those guys were super swaggy. They loved each other. They played for each other. It was like us against the world. These guys are more like I don't care about the other team. It's all about us. We're just going to go out there and like play together and have a blast. And that's the way it felt. It wasn't like that one – it was that Rams game, yes.

2:13:20Mike McDaniel:The locker room was like afterwards, like, hey, we're going to.

2:13:23Pat McAfee:How about after the Colts game, you guys? Phil Rivers almost.

2:13:27Mike McDaniel:Hold on to it. It was pretty. Yeah. That was a little hairy there for a minute, you know?

2:13:33Pat McAfee:Yeah, it was awesome there for a minute. Yeah. So as a Colts fan.

2:13:36Mike McDaniel:Yeah.

2:13:37Pat McAfee:And as national sports show host, I guess, is what we are at this stage. We're called regional just a few years back, which is pretty cool. But now we're able to do it. We've been paying attention to your team and your defense. You guys go to Pittsburgh and just, I mean, that shit was.

2:13:54Mike Borgonzi:It was second half. That was.

2:13:56Pat McAfee:And your road warrior-ness of your team, like what you guys were able to do. And the defense was just everywhere. I mean, Houston was obviously getting a lot of love. A lot of conversation for their defense, as they should. Patriots, obviously, defense was good. Nobody really talked about it. Your defense was not getting hyped up by a lot of people at all. Phil Rivers goes in there, battles you guys, comes down to a field goal. Jason's unbelievable. I don't even want to get into that. That guy never fucking missed. $10 million. $10 million, Brandon Aubrey. You're going to have to pay him. JC. $11 million, maybe$12 million.

2:14:23Mike Borgonzi:Maybe$13 million, maybe$14 million. Maybe$15 million. A guy won a Super Bowl.

2:14:26Mike McDaniel:Former players, play the man. Hey, really? Thanks for the flash, Gordon.

2:14:32Mike McDaniel:Yes, please. There's no salary cap. There is, especially for a kicker if you got one. Figure it out.

2:14:36Pat McAfee:But on that note, I don't think your defense got any respect, really. I don't think your defense got any respect. And the reason why I'm saying that is because I'm like, Phil Rivers almost just beat the Seattle Seahawks. And I was impressed because of the Seattle Seahawks, how good you are. I don't think you guys were getting any national recognition at all. Could you sense that with the team? Did the team know that? Do you guys care about that? I know it's outside noise or whatever.

2:14:55Mike McDaniel:I don't think so. I think that, you know, they signed Phillip that week, and what's different? You know, like the ball's coming. I saw him playing the Citrus Bowl years ago. Like, here it comes. Ball's coming out. Like, you're not going to be able to get to the guy.

2:15:08Pat McAfee:Nobody talked about your defense being so good.

2:15:10Mike McDaniel:Like, I was so pumped for Phillip because Phillip knew. You're talking about the reputation? Yeah, of your defense.

2:15:14Pat McAfee:I don't think anybody was talking about it.

2:15:15Mike McDaniel:It took a little bit.

2:15:16Mike Borgonzi:Yeah, because, like, Phil, people are like, Phil Rivers almost beat this team. It's like the complete opposite.

2:15:22Pat McAfee:Phil Rivers completed some balls against this defense is more so the convo. Nobody's really talking about that.

2:15:27Mike McDaniel:Pretty special football player, Phillip Rivers. Yes. That's pretty dang good. Yeah, absolutely. But, no, I think they – no, they don't have that same – that's what I'm saying. They don't have that same us against the world chip on their shoulder that that Super Bowl 48 team had. You know, Richard would always be like, you know, why don't you draft me in the fourth round? Like, it's the fifth round. Like, Marshawn's, like, you know, mad at me because we didn't trade for him earlier. You know, like, they were just, like, mad at everybody, you know.

2:15:57Mike McDaniel:And they played like that. You know, these guys, I don't think they really – I think they were just really self-confident. And, you know, they trust the coaching. They love the scheme. They love each other. And they just flew around balling.

2:16:11Mike Borgonzi:Fun group to watch, man. Go ahead, Tone.

2:16:13John Schneider:Yeah, your first two picks last year. Gray Zabel probably could have been offensive rookie of the year. Nick Eamon-Warri could have been defensive rookie of the year. Pretty good. Yeah, pretty good. But, like, the difference between them. Zabel, small school guy, but then he got to the Senior Bowl, looked really, really good at the Senior Bowl. Eamon-Warri had one of the best combines of all time. So, like, is that just, like, when Zabel goes to the Senior Bowl and you see competition, like, okay, that's a checkmark. When Eamon-Warri comes here and just is the freakiest of freak athletes, is that a checkmark?

2:16:41John Schneider:Like, when do you know in the process these guys are your guys, if that makes sense?

2:16:46Mike McDaniel:Yeah, no, that's a really good question. Gray was exactly what you said going to the Senior Bowl, watching him be able to compete with the best of the best. And then, yeah, that's a box checked. I'm not sure if you guys know Steve Hutchinson very well, but Steve was working with us and used to do offensive line consulting and stuff. But he loved them, and we're really trying to get back to that, like, oh, man, the old school offensive line groups. It's hard to keep these guys together and have continuity. And he loved them, went down in our senior bowl. Nick was in a totally different box. This guy is like the athletic freak.

2:17:27Mike McDaniel:And so how do you – that's like, okay, let's bring Nick into the building on a 30-visit, have him spend time with the coaches. is, are we going to be able to use this guy in the manner that we, you know, personnel guys and coaches, you got to like come together, right? You're like, yeah, this guy's like six foot three and a half, and he runs 4-2-8, and you should be able to. Coach him up. Yeah, exactly. But you can't just take the guy if you don't have the buy-in from the coaching staff. And so we brought him in, total buy-in. Here's going to be the role. You know, he got hurt, like on the shoot fourth player of the opener.

2:18:01Mike McDaniel:And he was, I think he had already had two tackles. So we missed him for who got hurt Super Bowl week.

2:18:06Mike Borgonzi:It was him.

2:18:07Mike McDaniel:His ankle. Remember the show opener? Sorry. First weekly opener against San Francisco. He got hurt like on the fourth play and he had like two tackles ready. And you're just watching the guy like, holy cow. This is going to work. Good pick. Yeah, there was the ankle scare. The Super Bowl week. God helps those who can't help themselves, brother. You know, like here comes a six foot three guy that runs 436 and ends up being a good football player, you know. Everybody's like, well, he's, you know, he's, you know, he's, you know, there's some maturity things that's going to take him a minute. You know, like he's one month older than my youngest son.

2:18:39Mike McDaniel:Like, let's give this guy a break. Like, you know, like, did you see what he did out here? That was pretty good.

2:18:44John Schneider:Unbelievable, sir.

2:18:46Mike McDaniel:43 inch vertical.

2:18:47Pat McAfee:This guy's the greatest GM of all time. We got a guy 6 '3", 240, running a 4 '1". Yeah, yeah, GM's really good.

2:18:54Mike McDaniel:Yeah, yeah, way to scout your butt off, yeah.

2:18:59Pat McAfee:AJ has a last question for you, John. We appreciate your time.

2:19:01AJ Hawk:Yeah, you talk about personnel guys and coaches. I guess how do you know as a GM and as your time as a GM, has it changed how much you are involved and how much you do meddle in the day-to-day? I know it's got to be a good feeling coming down from the box when you're ahead in the fourth quarter to watch the game from the sidelines. But I guess we talk about Jerry Jones a lot doing pressers in the locker room. How do you know where you should and shouldn't go? And what do you like that balance with the coaching staff?

2:19:25Mike McDaniel:Yeah, the game day stuff is really just, for me personally, it's just trying to make the guys feel as confident as they possibly can. The coaches, the players, knowing that we're loving them up, we're supporting them. I know my space. I know when to, like, try to, you know, pump somebody up or kind of, you know, give them some crap, you know, if they're feeling pretty good about themselves and stuff like that. But a lot of people come down, like, people think that you come down to be on the sidelines to be seen. If you don't hit that elevator by a certain time, you're up there like with you know you're not coming down from like the last like 20 minutes so you gotta you gotta you gotta get down there and um i'm so short i have a hard time seeing like what's going on on the field so i never i'm like i'm always asking offensive coordinators like how do you call a game from the sidelines because i can't see nothing yeah i can't see anything i'd love to be up top and watch that but um no i think i think just knowing your space and you ever tell

2:20:16AJ Hawk:coach hey this guy you know why isn't this guy better he's 6 '3 245 you know put him in more or something. Yeah, that's personal. Do you ever tell coaches?

2:20:24Mike McDaniel:Yeah, during a game, call down on a red phone. Yeah, put that guy together. That'd be sweet. No, no, no, no, no. No, we do that behind closed doors. No, we're all just talking. Like, seriously, this guy, you know, maybe he deserves more playing time. Have we thought about this? Have we thought about that? Just open conversation. When Pete and I got together in 2010, we just said, like, no walls. Like, he'd worked with the Jets and got let go with the Jets, got let go with the Patriots, I got let go with Marty Schottenheimer We're in the Redskins, and we're like, if we ever have a chance to do this, we're going to do, like, no walls, no egos, all together, all ball.

2:20:57Mike McDaniel:That's it. And then it's not. Yeah, being that everybody says that, though. Well, it's easier said than done. Yeah, everybody says that.

2:21:03Pat McAfee:Like, actually executing that is.

2:21:04Mike McDaniel:Well, when egos come in, yeah, when it's like, hey, that's my guy. You know, I scouted this guy. We should take this guy. Or, you know, like, when you hear people say, well, I stood on a table for that guy, it's like the worst thing you can hear is a personnel guy. Like, really? You stood on a table for that guy? So I'll actually make guys do it. Oh, really? You love this guy. Why don't you stand on the table?

2:21:30Pat McAfee:Hey, whatever the hell you're doing, it's working, dude. So congratulations. Appreciate you guys. I hope you enjoy it all. Are you staying? You'll watch all the workouts, obviously. You'll do that?

2:21:39Mike McDaniel:I will watch the workouts on film now. Yeah. Yeah.

2:21:41Pat McAfee:That seems to be the new thing. Meetings matter. Okay. I want to see these people, talk to these people, try to get as much as possible. And then with how good the NFL Network and everybody does with tape, it's like, We can watch a show.

2:21:51Mike McDaniel:Yeah, Jason Light, we were talking last year, and he was getting ready to split. And I'm like, you're leaving already? He's like, when you're at the Dome, do you watch the TV or do you watch the field? I'm like, I watch the TV. I'm about to try. Yeah. I'm going home to watch it on my couch. Hey, longest season of anybody.

2:22:10Pat McAfee:Super Bowl run, congratulations. You got some shit to figure out, though, huh?

2:22:13Mike McDaniel:A lot of shit. Yeah. Oh, I almost cussed. A lot of stuff. Don't do that. That's disgusting. All good stuff. All good stuff.

2:22:19Pat McAfee:A lot of shit, though.

2:22:20Mike McDaniel:Yep.

2:22:20Pat McAfee:Yep. When you win, that's kind of what comes with it. You've already been there, obviously. How are we allocating money?

2:22:26Mat Ishbia:Where are we spending money? You got a coaching staff?

2:22:29Mike McDaniel:No, you just pay everybody, right? That's easy, right? Former players. Yeah, the cap's going up. Yeah, did you see the cap went up? Yeah, I saw it. I'm not sure if you saw it.

2:22:36Mat Ishbia:Darnold deserves a raise, though.

2:22:38Mike McDaniel:What did you say? Yeah, I think so. I've heard all these things. I hear it in my sleep.

2:22:43Mat Ishbia:I mean, Jackson Smith and Jigman did just say he's looking forward to being the highest paid receiver. That's a real thing. Which, by the way. Pretty good player. Yeah, we do.

2:22:53Pat McAfee:And then if we talk about highest paid player in the league, I mean, Dixon caused a turnover in the championship game. Oh, yeah.

2:23:00Mike McDaniel:How good is he, buddy? Is he like, right? Yeah. I don't scout punters, you know what I mean? Well, you did. You got him. But holy cow, this guy's like.

2:23:08Pat McAfee:So all the Australian guys. Okay, Darren Bennett back in the day with the Chargers, I think he kind of came from the Aussie rules football thing. But like Dixon having the success that he had, I think opened the door for like everybody else being like, let's try to get this fucking I don't think there's another one. I think Dixon is no matter what continent he's from. Have you seen him

2:23:25Mike McDaniel:do the side thing?

2:23:26Pat McAfee:Yeah, the side one, the banana ball and then he, the one that he got the turnover on, who was that against? LA off the shoulder? On the sideline or whatever. I sent him a DM, I'm like, yo, what ball was that? He was like, just sky, bro. He brought that thing down from the sky on purpose.

2:23:40Mike McDaniel:He can drive it, he can angle it, he can do like different spins with it and man. He's unbelievable. What was the guy's name we had in Green Bay when you were playing. Tim Master. Yeah, okay. He got in the hot tub with Al Harris. Yeah? Yeah. Coach of the Bears. No clothes on. And Al's like, hey, man, we don't do that. We don't do that. I was not there. I didn't see that. AJ, you told him to do it.

2:24:03AJ Hawk:Yeah, AJ kind of showed him the road. I would have loved to see Al's face when Tim walked into that thing.

2:24:07Mike McDaniel:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sam Ramsey will tell you all about that. But that guy could run and do the drop kick. Yeah, Tim was a great athlete.

2:24:13Pat McAfee:Soccer player. Great soccer player.

2:24:14Mike McDaniel:Wow.

2:24:15Pat McAfee:Tim, really good guy. He came to the Colts first.

2:24:17Mike McDaniel:Was he from Australia? No, Tim was from Kentucky. Nope, different guy then. New Zealand. This guy was from New Zealand or Australia. He was with us for like maybe. In Green Bay? Yeah, for maybe. Dave Loney.

2:24:27AJ Hawk:Dave Loney was an Australian punter there in the offseason. Was it Loney? Yeah, offseason. Can I still talk to him? Yeah, he's back. Okay, not Tim Astley. Thank God. Let's clear Tim's name. Tim is a great dude.

2:24:36Mike Borgonzi:Tim is knocking in any of his name. It was Loney Trunks. The one that got in a tub without Harris.

2:24:41Mike McDaniel:Yeah, that is not Tim Astley. It had to be Loney. Definitely an Australian guy or a New Zealand guy. Yeah, Dave Loney is an Australian guy. I can see Dave doing that. He's a 6 '4". AJ still does it with the bottom. He actually did that, too.

2:24:51Mike Borgonzi:But so talented, man. Yeah, he did that to Alpha. Do you back in? Do you back down the stairs? Hey, what's up, Al? No, I think you go front. Put your cheeks right in the house. I think you front, Don. I think you will front. Or you dip.

2:25:04Mike McDaniel:You might dip first. Test the water. Then get in. You guys are making me nervous, man.

2:25:11Mike Borgonzi:You're the one who told the story.

2:25:12Pat McAfee:What are you talking about? We wear our trunks. You just won the Super Bowl.

2:25:15Mike Borgonzi:You're fine.

2:25:16Pat McAfee:Yeah, you're going to do whatever you want. You got a lot of leash. One of the greatest GMs of all time.

2:25:20Mike Borgonzi:Tim Mastay. And you might get a new owner, too. Was fully clothed in the hot tub.

2:25:23Pat McAfee:Okay, okay. Oh, good call there, Tone. So they're saying$10 billion, but the Miami Dolphins were allegedly worth$10 billion like three years ago. So who knows what that number is going to become. Shout out to the Allen family. Shout out to Jody, by the way. That was such a cool moment. Yeah, shout out, Jody. Hell yeah. We'll clap. And I spoke at the Women's Forum with Carly and Kalen, And it's like seeing woman owner up there take the Lombardi was cool. That was a very cool moment, especially with how much the NFL is, you know, investing in women becoming a bigger piece of football as a whole, starting with flag football in high school, trying to get it, what's that called?

2:25:58Pat McAfee:Sanctioned. Yeah. And then trying to build it. Sam Rappaport with the Olympics coming. It was like really cool to see that. And I don't know Jody personally. I heard she's very tight. She doesn't have a lot of.

2:26:06Mike McDaniel:Yeah, she's awesome.

2:26:07Pat McAfee:Not a lot of anonymous sources coming out of Jody's office. Like, there's very rarely any leaks or anything like that. I feel like she's been a great leader of the ship. $10 billion is what they're talking about. How much are you involved in all that? Because I assume you're going to be the carryover to the next ownership.

2:26:21Mike McDaniel:I'm not. I wanted to, you know, get with George Payton down here, you know, because they went through it in Denver. And I just, I don't know what's coming. I don't have the experience with it. So I need somebody to coach me up on it and what that looks like. I've been, you know, Tracy, my wife, and I have been blessed to be able to work with, you know, a team, the Packers, that doesn't have an owner, Lamar Hunt, Daniel Snyder, Paul Allen, now Jody. So, very, you know, all very different people. So, yeah, I'm just – Well, you being there is upping the value, brother.

2:26:56Pat McAfee:And maybe you renegotiate as soon as they get there. Yeah, you should be smart. Trying to get your money.

2:27:01Mike McDaniel:Another former employer comment. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. Go get it, man. Yeah, do it.

2:27:07Mike Borgonzi:You're welcome. Yeah, I appreciate you. If you'd like to put a little public pressure on his new ownership, okay? Oh, welcome to the league. You just want to get rid of your general manager? Okay, why don't we give this guy a new deal?

2:27:17Pat McAfee:Let's lock him down. Ten years,$100 million. Let's win a couple more Super Bowls. We appreciate the hell out of you, Joe.

2:27:22Mike McDaniel:Hey, man, I appreciate you. I'm so glad you guys had Mike on. It was so fun for me to be able to turn it on. Like, hey, when are you going to be on, man? McCarthy. Mike McCarthy, yeah. Big Mike. How about him back in the game? I know, it was so awesome. I'm happy for him. Just had lunch with him.

2:27:35Pat McAfee:How was it? How was it? Is it jolly?

2:27:37Mike McDaniel:Yeah. Yep. Yep. He can see his neighborhood from his office. That's sweet. Home time. That is really, really cool. I can't do the accent like you guys do, though. Yeah, it's just piss from people. Sorry.

2:27:49John Schneider:I guess it helps when you're born there. I guess everybody has flaws.

2:27:53Mike McDaniel:I guess everybody does have flaws. This was fun. I appreciate you guys.

2:27:57AJ Hawk:Yeah.

2:27:57Mike McDaniel:This was fun. Will you come on again? Yeah, come back on.

2:28:00Mat Ishbia:Yeah, we need you back. You're here tomorrow? No, he's gone.

2:28:04Mike McDaniel:Are you busy during the draft?

2:28:05Mat Ishbia:Draft spectacular.

2:28:07Mike McDaniel:Yeah, no, I guess you've got to win a world championship to get on the show. I've been texting with AJ. Oh, is that right, AJ? Is that right, AJ? I see all these other GMs on there, and I'm like, AJ, I thought we were guys. I've thrown your name out many times.

2:28:20Pat McAfee:That is not true.

2:28:21Mike McDaniel:Don't lie. That is a lie. AJ has been gatekeeping. He says he wants to come on, and he's too busy. Many leather-bound books.

2:28:27Pat McAfee:Ladies and gentlemen, the gentlemen of the Seattle Seahawks. John Schneider, now, before you leave.

2:28:33AJ Hawk:Oh, we can sling it. Come on, boss. We can do it. You can throw your arm. Take that headset off so it doesn't yank you.

2:28:39Mike Borgonzi:$100 ,000. $100 ,000. $100 ,000. Happened to me. $100 ,000. $100 ,000 donation charity here, John. Go on, John. Go on, John. Come around this way.

2:28:48AJ Hawk:No, no, no. Right there. Right there.

2:28:49Mike Borgonzi:Right there. All right. You a lefty? You see the hole right there? You're a lefty? No. Okay. Hold on. He's ready. Yeah. How old are you?

2:28:58Mike McDaniel:54.

2:28:59Mike Borgonzi:You look good. You look great. For a Catholic, too? I was going to say. It is unbelievable.

2:29:06Pat McAfee:Okay, 54. How often do you throw football active, everything like that?

2:29:10Mike McDaniel:Not very. No, two torn leg rooms, so no, no. Not very much at all, brother.

2:29:14Pat McAfee:This would be very impressive. $100 ,000. You're able to make it in the hole. John Snyder, Super Bowl winning. General manager, two different eras in Seattle. Backwards hat. Oh, no. All right. This one's good. All right.

2:29:26Mike Borgonzi:You got two more. You got two more opportunities. You got two more opportunities. Like you're on a mind. I like that he won Stallone. That's a professional miss. Nobody will be the next Stallone. Yep. Oh, wait a minute. Last ball here now. John, this is the one. Make Sam Donald proud. Oh, no.

2:29:44Pat McAfee:Wait, the top's not open? The top should be open. The top's not open? Thank you so much. Hey, will you join us draft night after you make a pick? Well, you won't make a pick. Last year. 32. Will you join us on draft night? All right, sweet. We got him on the show. At 1 a.m.

2:29:57AJ Hawk:Appreciate you.

2:29:58Mat Ishbia:Great to meet you. Man. good luck the top should be open never again versus new england

2:30:06Mike Borgonzi:he said yeah all right john i'll tell you what that was exciting he's good he's the man he's

2:30:13John Schneider:really funny he's a great guy just gave me a call but i couldn't hear it because my headphones on i wish i he said i'll see you down the road i think he said like that was the best question anyone's ever asked me or something oh nice he didn't hear i think so i couldn't there's a lot of microphones

2:30:25Mike Borgonzi:up here somebody would have picked that up yeah we'll hear that we'll listen but he said like i I love you. You know ball to me. To you? Yeah. What did he say to AJ? I know what he said. You big dog.

2:30:38AJ Hawk:He got movie lines from like four different movies up here, too. Leather bound books.

2:30:42Pat McAfee:I mean, he was in there. He was really in his bag. We appreciate him. He can do whatever the hell he wants. He wants to do a ball. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now. Holy shit. I just see the silhouette. Yeah.

2:30:51AJ Hawk:I can't.

2:30:52Pat McAfee:Oh, my God.

2:30:53Mike Borgonzi:So big.

2:30:54Pat McAfee:Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now, the head coach of the Tennessee Titans. Coach Robert, what a monster.

2:31:02Mike Borgonzi:Yeah, Coach.

2:31:04AJ Hawk:Man.

2:31:08AJ Hawk:You don't want to start that. What's up, Coach? How are you? I just wanted to see. How are you, Coach?

2:31:12Mike Borgonzi:I just wanted to see.

2:31:13AJ Hawk:Coach, how are you? I wouldn't be testing.

2:31:14John Schneider:Pleasure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Appreciate you guys. Strapping. Holy shit.

2:31:20Pat McAfee:I believe the general manager is here as well, right? Can he come up? Absolutely. Holy shit. I just got to. Sorry. I just got. Ladies and gentlemen, General Mandry test you type my pergonzi

2:31:31Mike Borgonzi:Pies on I assume I don't want to guess too much

2:31:36Pat McAfee:Is it for Gunzi

2:31:38Mike Borgonzi:Pies on good. I see for Gunzi. I don't want to do too much I don't want to do too much. We've been off. Yeah. Yeah, sorry. We don't piss anybody off That was good that bumper coach You're fucking huge I'm a middle sex little underweight

2:31:55Pat McAfee:You're a monster.

2:31:56Joe Hortiz:No. You actually are. Dan Campbell's a monster.

2:32:00Pat McAfee:We've talked about you guys all fighting. Dan Campbell obviously in conversation. You and Liam Cohn almost obviously want to. Yeah. Still waiting for that tilt.

2:32:10Mike Borgonzi:We had a tail of the tape. I'll tell you what.

2:32:12Pat McAfee:The tail of the tape did not describe completely the silhouette that I saw over here. So people that don't know, off of the set here, there's just windows here at the stadium. So we can't see anybody's face. So I can't at least. I don't know about everybody else. So people are walking by and I'm just seeing silhouettes. I'm trying to guess. And I scan this thing, and then I see a mountain of a human being over here. It looks like the rock, and it's like, holy shit, that's Bob Sala. So thank you so much for coming. Mike, you as well. Thank you so much for joining us. Congrats on the gig down there in Tennessee.

2:32:38Pat McAfee:You go back to San Francisco. Is it a fall back in love with football situation, recalibrate perspective situation? How would you describe kind of that whole thing from head coach of Jets back to D.C., now head coach again? How do you kind of calibrate it all?

2:32:51Joe Hortiz:You know, obviously so much respect for San Francisco, and I've said it before. It's a championship organization, championship ownership. Kyle Shanahan is a championship head coach. John Lynch, the entire outfit is a championship outfit. And for me, it was more about going back to a place that, one, I recognize as a championship organization after being a head coach because I felt like it would help me just kind of recalibrate, maybe see something that I may have missed the first time around as a D coordinator. Having the empathy of Kyle and the chair that he's in and understanding the decisions he's making to help me piece the puzzle a little bit better together so that if I did get another opportunity, which thank goodness, I appreciate you, Mike.

2:33:34Mike Borgonzi:Grazie.

2:33:36Joe Hortiz:I do. I feel like I was preparing myself to bring more to the table.

2:33:41Pat McAfee:We've seen a lot of quarterbacks get their second chance and obviously go at it. There's a lot that comes across the table whenever you're a head coach that maybe you don't get to see. What do you think you are kind of better suited for now with Tennessee as opposed to the first time you get to New York? New York, we followed along from outside. I'm sure you heard us follow along. Seems like there's always a lot of shit. You don't have to say that. Started in 1977. They dropped that blind guy. And that's why the medical thing, Borgonza, you know their history. Yeah, so the Jets actually drafted a guy blind one eye, and then the next year they made it like, hey, we've got to at least see the medicals on everybody.

2:34:11Pat McAfee:That's kind of how the combine all came together. So that's 1977 Jets all the way through. Everything else. So, and obviously you're there. And we all watch it, especially with how many people it is. What comes across your desk that you go, well, I did not expect to have to deal with this, or I did not want to deal with this? And how do you think that kind of changes for you now in Tennessee with the Titans organization?

2:34:32Joe Hortiz:I think it's just all-encompassing, you know. Like, I've said it a few times that there's no handbook to the first time that you ever do anything. I'm sure your first episode is not nearly as good as it is now. Oh, yeah, it was terrible. It was so bad. It was so bad. It was fucking bad, Bob.

2:34:48Pat McAfee:We're actually waiting for people to bring that up and hang it over our heads.

2:34:52Joe Hortiz:But you learn through your experiences. And, you know, I'm grateful for the opportunity that I had in New York. There was a tremendous learning experience just dealing with all the different things that come to your plate as a head coach. And there's a lot of things that happened throughout the tenure that there is no, like I said, there's no preparing for them. But I could say that I'm very confident in saying that I'm more prepared now than I ever was and excited to take what I learned in New York and apply it to this new opportunity.

2:35:19Pat McAfee:We can't wait to watch in the AFC South. Hope you win every game but a couple of them. We just want to see you smile again.

2:35:25John Schneider:We do.

2:35:26Pat McAfee:I felt like you lost your happiness over there. You saw it. You felt it. And you were living it. So we're happy to see you back. We do love that. And for you, Paizan, obviously, Salah is a name that was up in the head coaching for this coaching cycle. Hardball becomes available. Obviously, that becomes like, hey, we're doing that.

2:35:48Pat McAfee:Cleveland, Kevin Stefanski, his name pops up. He gets a job immediately. I don't think I expected that, but after talking to Matt Ryan, I felt like he did. His name immediately going, what was it about him that makes you think now is the perfect time for him to be the Tennessee Titans head coach? And what is kind of the sell for what this next version of the Tennessee Titans is in your eyes?

2:36:09Jesse Minter:Yeah, I've obviously had so much respect for Robert here. You know, the first opportunity we played him when I was in Kansas City was that 19th Super Bowl. And just seeing the way he put together that defense and the energy that they play with, the guys love playing for him, right? So you could feel his leadership even just watching TV sometimes, right, on the sidelines. Like the guys loved him. And you could hear it from the players. The players would tell you throughout the league. So, you know, for us, you know, we wanted to, when we went through that head coaching process is like, we need a leader in here.

2:36:40Jesse Minter:A guy that can just take command of this place, that has a presence, that has a football mind. And the more, you know, we never worked together before, but the more that we did our research and when we finally brought Robert in here, he was exactly what we're looking for in terms of that.

2:36:57Pat McAfee:Tell me about Cam Ward, because obviously Callahan was talking about how he's talking shit to somebody while I'm giving him a play call. And then we watched him against the coach. There's a couple throws that he makes that it's like, I don't know how many humans can make that throw. Season goes the way it goes. Tell me about the future with Cam, and how do you think, like, you know, Coach here and him are going to get along? I think perfect personality traits for each other, it feels like.

2:37:19Jesse Minter:I think it's going to be a perfect match, and then bring Brian Dable in here, too, as the OC. But, Cam, you can see that we got the baldest. Yeah, I saw it. I saw that. 22 coaches all bald.

2:37:31Pat McAfee:Feels like you guys are kind of harassed, but I don't want to get into it.

2:37:35Mike Borgonzi:You can see.

2:37:38Mike McDaniel:I got to shave my head of hair. Yes, you should.

2:37:41Pat McAfee:Hey, you guys. Buy in. AMC South, I think that thing has to go. I think that is something to think about. We haven't had it in 11 years. I don't know about you guys. I think more recently than us. Yeah. Tell me a little bit about Cam Ward and the vision, because we think he's an incredible talent. We love him. I got a chance to chat with him a couple different times. I like the way he is. What are your thoughts on him?

2:37:59Jesse Minter:Yeah. I mean, obviously, you see the physical traits and the throws that he makes. And everything that we gathered from, you know, watching him at Miami, Washington State, and doing all the research on him, the dude is wired right. Right? He is a competitor. He loves football. Just loves everything about it. He doesn't have any other hobbies. He's in the office all the time watching tape. And it's even like going back to when we first got him at that rookie minicamp. I walked in at like 5.15 in the morning, and I see the lights on in there. And he's in there. He's got the whole group in there watching tape.

2:38:28Jesse Minter:And this isn't like fake. and he wasn't wanting attention for this. The guys gravitate towards him and that leadership ability. And then just getting to the season last year, I think it was great, even though the losses were there. But you saw him get better throughout the season, even though we were losing those games. But you saw the talent. And I think the vision here is going to be great with Coach Soller and Dable.

2:38:52Pat McAfee:98 million, I think.

2:38:54Jesse Minter:What's that?

2:38:55Pat McAfee:Is that the number? 98 million?

2:38:57Jesse Minter:98 million? Yeah.

2:38:59Pat McAfee:Is that what you guys have?

2:39:00Jesse Minter:Oh, for cap space.

2:39:01Pat McAfee:Yeah.

2:39:02Jesse Minter:Yeah. No, it's...

2:39:03Mike Borgonzi:Most in the league. 98.9, more like 99 million. Sorry, 99 million. I'm sorry. I screwed you out of a veteran mint.

2:39:10Pat McAfee:I actually out of a veteran mint. A little more than that, but yeah.

2:39:14Jesse Minter:Oh, so we're up over 100? You're up over 100 million? It's close to that, yeah.

2:39:19Pat McAfee:Okay, so obviously dynamics are interesting, head coach and general manager. They always talk about alignment, okay? I assume because of who he is, with the amount of respect everybody holds, we're all on the same page. spending$100 million while also having a draft, that's quick turnaround time, right? Is that the envision, the mindset? And what do you think the city of Nashville needs to get the Titans on top as a whole, in your eyes?

2:39:40Jesse Minter:I mean, we're certainly going to attack both acquisition periods here. And I think that you have to say discipline to your process, too. You know, you're still trying to build a team and a locker room and a culture, and you do that through the draft. And we're certainly going to have our hand in free agency as well, too, here. And there's going to be some great opportunities to add some players and free agency. But really through the draft is really you have to build that foundation initially. And Robert's been through it before, and I've been through it in the past. And you want to build it right, you've got to build it through the draft.

2:40:10Pat McAfee:Robert, you thinking about putting Jelly Roll at my receiver? Ooh.

2:40:13Joe Hortiz:He can come out to practice, but give him a shot. The city is awesome, dude. Oh, no, I've heard nothing but great things, especially for raising a family, man. I can't wait.

2:40:23Pat McAfee:Dude, it is littered with talent, obviously, the nicest people, and they love ball. I mean, look what happened with Vandy. Vandy got going down there, and the entire city was like, yep, we love Vandy now. It's like I think they're yearning for a great football team. When Vrabel leaves, I think they all felt like that was their connection. Vrabel was the city's connection to the team. I feel like they're going to really like your mentality, your attitude. Have you been in Nashville? Have you got to experience Nashville? How long has it been?

2:40:51Joe Hortiz:I've never been to Nashville. This is going to be my first go around, obviously, when we played. But, shoot, I hide in a hotel room anyway. But we're excited. My wife, my kids are all excited. They're chomping at the bit to get down there. How many kids again? Eight. Eight blessings. Jeez. Still going? She gets me when I'm sleeping.

2:41:11Pat McAfee:Not a bad deal. I have a daughter who's two and a half, and I got a boy on the way. When I see people, I mean, he's got four, I believe. Phil's got four kids. I'm like, how? I don't know how you just badass, white, badass.

2:41:27Joe Hortiz:She runs it.

2:41:29Pat McAfee:That's what? A starting basketball, which I assume they will be. We got a starting basketball team. We're going to almost have a starting 11 out there. And the city of Nashville is going to love it. If you can get the Titans to be great down there, it is a beautiful thing. Connor has a question for you.

2:41:41Mat Ishbia:Yeah, a player you have, Coach. Jeffrey Simmons is coming off like one of the historic years. It feels like he was kind of the bright spot of the Titans. Have you talked to him? Is he kind of the guy you've gone to to establish your culture? and what do you kind of expect out of him going forward with Tennessee?

2:41:56Joe Hortiz:No, we've had a chance to visit. Looking forward to him showing up in April and really getting to know him, really getting to know the rest of the group. But Jeffrey is as good as anybody in football, and we're looking forward to doing everything we can to help him find another level. And, you know, I feel like our system is tailor-made for his skill set, and, you know, what's important right now is to surround him with some guys who can get to the quarterback and help him out and to try to create one-on-ones. And if we can do that, I think whatever he did last year is going to be a blip.

2:42:28Pat McAfee:He's the guy that Vrabel said he didn't want to fight, right? Bingo, yeah. Yeah, Vrabel said he'd fight everybody on the team but him.

2:42:33John Schneider:Yep.

2:42:34Pat McAfee:I think that was kind of the – Verbatim.

2:42:36John Schneider:Coach said he would even fight Simmons.

2:42:38Pat McAfee:Yeah. I mean, just looking at your silhouette over there. Yeah.

2:42:43Mike Borgonzi:It's going to be hard for me to pick anybody against you.

2:42:46Pat McAfee:Yeah, that was a crazy thing that just happened there. Go ahead, Tone.

2:42:48Mike Borgonzi:Were you intimidated when he walked in, Mike? Would you do it when he walks in? He's a Boston guy.

2:42:52Mat Ishbia:He's from Everett.

2:42:53Mike Borgonzi:I didn't hear that.

2:42:54Mat Ishbia:He's not intimidated by anybody except Woody Bolger. Okay.

2:42:59John Schneider:There was a saw in there. Yeah, there was a couple.

2:43:01Mike Borgonzi:Yeah, a little Southie shit. He dropped into it.

2:43:04John Schneider:We stayed out of South when we were younger. But, yeah.

2:43:07Mike Borgonzi:Smart.

2:43:07John Schneider:Mike, I did have a question to you because they say, you know, positions of need for you could be wide receiver or edge. And they also say that is where this draft is best at. Do you agree with that? And is it way too early in the process to have an idea of what position you're going to go with at this point?

2:43:25Jesse Minter:You know, we've gone through, like, the phase one of setting the board here before the combine. So you can see, you know, it's the initial grades. You're not going to make a ton of changes here after the combine. But, yeah, there is value there at both spots, you know, for sure. But now you go through this next phase here of gathering all this information. You've got the medical character. Now you have to go through with the coaches now and sit down and get their take on these players. and it's important you have the same vision for them too. So that's what's going to go on here for the next two months as we get through it.

2:43:53Jesse Minter:But there's certainly value at those positions as well. And there's values at some other positions too up there too, but certainly those two spots.

2:44:03Pat McAfee:You said, I think last year, you don't pass on a generational talent. Do you remember that? Was that you that said that, I think? I'm trying to remember. I'm talking about Cam Ward. Yeah, but no, we didn't know. Oh, yeah. We didn't know who you were talking about.

2:44:15Jesse Minter:Yeah.

2:44:15Pat McAfee:Is that just, were you playing cards there? Like, you just don't pass on generational talent. And then you walk off and you're like, well, that should fuck everybody up.

2:44:23Mike Borgonzi:Is that what, because you did.

2:44:25Pat McAfee:I remember it was like a two-month period after you said that where it was like, the Paisan from Boston said something about a generational talent. And then people were like, is Cam Ward it?

2:44:33John Schneider:Or like, Abdo Carter's really good, too. Abdo Carter. Travis Hunter.

2:44:37Pat McAfee:Yeah, Travis Hunter was the only thing. Oh, yeah, generational, yeah. Yeah, so were you playing, you were playing, just now you can come clear with us so we know whether or not we should believe the shit you're saying whenever you talk to us. Was that – did you know what you were doing at that point whenever you said that? No.

2:44:48Jesse Minter:I mean, there's so much shit that's thrown out there.

2:44:53Mike Borgonzi:Yes.

2:44:54Pat McAfee:It is wild. It is. Like constantly. Yeah. You said that, though, in not only our show. I mean, every show is like, what does that mean?

2:45:02Mike Borgonzi:What are you talking about? So wide receiver and a DB first time ever. That's – That feels generational.

2:45:09Pat McAfee:Abdul Carter got played through a separated shoulder. He seemingly unbought – Cam Ward, though. Definitely a talent. Could be. We were just trying to pick your brain, and now we're listening. Fuck, I was trying to get out of the question. Yeah, yeah.

2:45:22Mike Borgonzi:I don't know what to tell you. AJ has a question for you.

2:45:24AJ Hawk:Coach, you have a cliche answer, a question people give you. Like, hey, what kind of – we turn the tape on. What kind of team are we going to see when we watch the Tennessee Titans? Every coach says, I want a tough physical team that, you know, balls to the wall effort. But I guess what is going to be your message to the team in a couple months when they do all come back for offseason workouts?

2:45:40Joe Hortiz:You know, overall, I think when to a player and obviously you played a high level for a long time, like your silent tape is your is you. It is your resume. And what do you want that silent tape to represent? And for us, it's being fast. It's being violent. And and how you get to that, obviously, there's a it's not just picking guys who are fast and violent. There's a there's a there's a team aspect to it in terms of how we teach and how we get information to our guys. but you talk about our style of play and what we want to be known for. And when people are watching and they can't hear anything and you've got an opponent watching your tape in a dark room by himself with no sound, what are you telling them?

2:46:17Joe Hortiz:We want that thing to scream speed and violence. You wanted the boat eagle flying.

2:46:26Mike Borgonzi:And the crow comes. Good old crow and eagle. That was my first time hearing it.

2:46:32Pat McAfee:That was my first time hearing it. I thought it was good. I thought it was good. Have you thought about what you're going to do here for Tennessee for first team meeting?

2:46:39Joe Hortiz:You know what? I'm still working through that.

2:46:42Pat McAfee:Do you want us to brainstorm for you? You guys can. It's Nashville. Toby Keith. I think you go right to Toby Keith. Tim McGraw.

2:46:48Mat Ishbia:Who do you want to be? Do you want to be a Toby or do you want to be someone who isn't Toby Keith?

2:46:53Pat McAfee:I think there's something to think about. Tootsie's been around a long time. Not South Florida one, the Nashville one. Two different. Yeah, team bonding. Very different places. Maybe Broadway. Talk about Broadway. I mean, the amount of hits. I mean.

2:47:03Mat Ishbia:You go to Big Lounge.

2:47:04Pat McAfee:We got so many ideas. We got so many ideas.

2:47:07John Schneider:Wait, is the new stadium this season or next? Next. No.

2:47:10Pat McAfee:So you guys are still in the same stadium this year and then moving in the next one.

2:47:14John Schneider:Yeah. We saw that. It looks really nice.

2:47:17Mat Ishbia:One of the only stadiums that's going to be a rectangle, not a circle.

2:47:20John Schneider:I believe it has a 100-yard bar as well, which intrigues me. Something to think about. It's incredible. How many bartenders?

2:47:26Pat McAfee:So you've got$100 million in cap space. Okay. Sounds like. Yep. Got a brand-new stadium coming. You got the city of Nashville, which probably 10 cranes up right now, building in there. And you got Robert Sala as your head coach. And Cam Ward as your quarterback. Pretty optimistic times for the Tennessee Titans, I would say.

2:47:46Mike Borgonzi:Yeah.

2:47:47Pat McAfee:That was exciting. Brand new logo, too.

2:47:49Mike Borgonzi:The Fanatics kind of forced you guys to. Made it bald. Yep. I heard it. Yeah, you know what I mean? So there's a lot of actual times down there.

2:47:58John Schneider:Dayball's there. We would love.

2:47:59Pat McAfee:Dayball, loved it. You and Dayball, when you guys were both in New York, Did you text each other and say, this sucks? Is that how you guys?

2:48:07Joe Hortiz:A lot of empathy between me and Dave Ball. Just having a lot of conversations and being able to practice together. But I love Dave's, man. Got to know him. Like I've said it before, like when I was a coordinator, when we were both coordinators and you go, I was like, I always thought he was an asshole. You know, just a jerk. You go say hello to him. He won't say hi. He just kind of brushes you by. And my first interaction with him was when he was a first-year head coach and we were at the owner's meeting. I was like, man, this guy's pretty freaking cool. and we just, you know, we'd start having conversations.

2:48:34Joe Hortiz:But he's awesome. He's a great teammate. Excited to have him.

2:48:38Pat McAfee:When you are looking for that particular, when Dayball pops up, it's like who's good for Cam, who's good for the Titans? How do you kind of, and Dayball both, I guess, is kind of how you view that? Kind of feels like a home run hire at that perspective?

2:48:49Joe Hortiz:Yeah, there is, for this team, I won't talk about the process too much, but for this team I felt like Dayball 100 % for what this quarterback needs and what his strengths are. I felt like Dayball would be a really good fit for him. You know, his temperament, the way he teaches, his history of young quarterbacks, being in the college game, I mean, more recently than me for that matter, but winning a national championship at Alabama. But Dave's is perfect for this situation. He blows through cigars, too, I think. Oh, yeah. And stays.

2:49:22Pat McAfee:I think he's a chain cigar smoker, which I didn't even know he could do. Once again, dog. Tone has the last question for you, boys.

2:49:30John Schneider:Yeah, Mike, I did. You were at KC for so, so, so long. What was it, like 15-something? 16. 16 years. What is the one thing that you wanted to take from, obviously, an organization that won all those championships over to Tennessee?

2:49:45Jesse Minter:Yeah, that's a great question. You know, the one thing, it started at the top with Andy and the way he created that culture there. And you could feel it from day one when he got in there. There was no division, right? The coaches are going to work together. The scouts are going to work together. And bring in the right type of people. And that's how you build a culture. You've got to get talented coaches, players, scouts. But you've got to get the right type of people that work together. And that's like the biggest thing I took. Sometimes we make things harder than they really are. And if you find a bunch of good people that work together that are smart, you can accomplish some pretty cool things.

2:50:23Jesse Minter:With a good attitude. With a good attitude.

2:50:25Pat McAfee:Yeah, I think that's the biggest thing. You get a bunch of people around each other that hate each other. You're not going to do it. But if you've got a bunch of people that like each other, it feels like they're going to go further together. Seems like everything you guys are about, we like. So we are hoping for your success, except for two games a year. What do you do? You a Peloton guy? You used to lift weights?

2:50:41Joe Hortiz:Peloton, a little lifting. Little lifting. Bike? Peloton or? Bike.

2:50:45Pat McAfee:Okay, so you're?

2:50:46Joe Hortiz:I'm hauling ass. Every day? I got to get back into a rhythm. Oh, you're fat. But I've gone about 107 weeks doing at least one ride.

2:50:59Pat McAfee:You're an animal. What's the lifting? What's the lifting? We're just doing show lifting?

2:51:03Joe Hortiz:It's show lifting. There's nothing functional about this.

2:51:07Mike Borgonzi:Let's say you and Dane Campbell, okay?

2:51:10Pat McAfee:Two gorillas see each other, okay? And you guys actually decide just without saying anything, fuck it. Let's see. Let's throw it down. Let's see who this is, okay? Right now you're saying your muscle is not ready to pick up and explode if have to.

2:51:24Joe Hortiz:You know, when I look at a guy like Dan, this is the best way I can explain it, I was a D2 athlete. He was a professional athlete. He's just built different, bud.

2:51:33Mike Borgonzi:No.

2:51:34Joe Hortiz:You are built different.

2:51:36Pat McAfee:You are built different. I have massive respect for that. 107 weeks, at least one ride on Peloton. I assume that's some sort of record.

2:51:42Mike Borgonzi:They should give you like a point or something.

2:51:45Pat McAfee:And the fact that you're now a head coach again in the NFL, obviously we're pumped for you. Proud for you. There's only 32 of their jobs, dude. Excited to see what you do down there in Nashville. Can you throw?

2:51:55Joe Hortiz:Give it a shot. So you know what I'm asking right now. Yeah, I know what you're asking. Okay, yeah, let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Here we go, coach.

2:52:02Mike Borgonzi:Okay, this will be for a Nashville charity. I don't know if this thing.

2:52:06AJ Hawk:It's too tall for that thing. Careful now, coach.

2:52:10Mike Borgonzi:Hold on, coach. Hold on, coach. I'm getting on the high side here.

2:52:13AJ Hawk:How old are you?

2:52:14Joe Hortiz:47.

2:52:15Mike Borgonzi:What? Okay, what are you? I'm Irish-German. What are you? Just so I get it accurate. Lebanese.

2:52:23Pat McAfee:Lebanese.

2:52:24Mike Borgonzi:Okay, great food, right? The Lebanese. The best food. Well, okay. The Italians are going to be pissed off. I mean, you've got a couple of Italians. You've got a minute to know that. I've got to have you in my mind. Exactly. Okay, so we've got a little Lebanese food versus Italian food, a little battle down there in Nashville.

2:52:38Pat McAfee:I love everything about it. Like USA versus Canada. 46 years old, jacked. Robert Sala, defensive coordinator, now head coach for the Tennessee Titans, trying to win$100 ,000 for a charity of your choosing. Are you ready, Robert?

2:52:49Joe Hortiz:Let's do it. Good luck, sir.

2:52:54Pat McAfee:Defensive coordinator. Is he throwing? D2. Holy shit.

2:52:57Mike Borgonzi:That was the worst throw we've had. He said D2. Bob.

2:53:01John Schneider:Is he throwing balls to guys at practice? It was slippy.

2:53:03Mike Borgonzi:It was slippy. It was slippy. It was slippy. A little slippy there. Money. Okay. Okay. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Here's the low one.

2:53:09Pat McAfee:Low was the worst one we've seen. High best spiral we've seen. So now the third one. if we're just able to put it in between there. If we're able to put it in the hole. 100 ,000.

2:53:22Mike Borgonzi:The big Lebanese man.

2:53:25Pat McAfee:Congratulations. Thank you so much. Ladies and gentlemen, the head coach and the general manager of the Tennessee Titans, Robert Sala and Baganzy. Yeah, boys.

2:53:35Mike Borgonzi:That was a hell of a throw. Hey, after that first one, I thought you had no shot.

2:53:39John Schneider:Good luck, coach. Good luck, Mike.

2:53:50Mike Borgonzi:What a throw.

2:53:53Pat McAfee:All right. Good work, Zito.

2:54:02Good man, Mike.

2:54:03Mike Borgonzi:All right, Mike. A win. All right, every game but two, Mike. Every game but two. Oh, they're going to win more than that. I think I like the Titans all of a sudden.

2:54:13Mat Ishbia:Seriously.

2:54:13Mike Borgonzi:I don't like that I do that.

2:54:15Mat Ishbia:good crew yeah everybody but the colts i feel great about in the nfc i mean that that is a bummer i'm being like kind of serious it's a bummer titans jacks who am i missing oh yeah

2:54:28Pat McAfee:how about nick casario saying trading cj is moronic okay we're not doing it thanks next question it's like but maybe no we're not doing it what's your name i wonder

2:54:40Mike Borgonzi:Or someone would go after Doug Mills, though, maybe. You know, the Colts, everybody's just assuming that we're getting Danny Dimes back.

2:54:47AJ Hawk:Jets need a quarterback still. What do they have to pay him to get him back?

2:54:51Pat McAfee:That's what I'm saying. Everybody's just assuming in Indianapolis that Danny – there was posts from the Colts' social media, which we know doesn't mean anything. This social media person trying to put out good content. It was Mendoza and Daniel Jones at the Super Bowl, and they're like, Indiana quarterbacks. I'm like, do we know that?

2:55:08John Schneider:Are we sure?

2:55:09Pat McAfee:Do we know it? They also have a lot.

2:55:10John Schneider:There's been a lot of Alec Pierce posts as well.

2:55:14Pat McAfee:And then there's talks about Pittman being gone. It's like Pittman carries a$29 million cap. Okay, I understand that some people are like, is that what we're going to pay Michael Pittman? It's like Michael Pittman is a priceless commodity for the Indianapolis Colts. When we had culture issues, he was the only guy that would literally try to break his face every single play. This guy showed up for us every single day. When Jonathan Taylor was holding out first year, Shane Steichen, rookie quarterback, trying to reset a whole new culture, and he's holding out wearing a hoodie at training camp, which once again, he got his money, he did what he got to do.

2:55:49Pat McAfee:As soon as he gets paid after doing that, I think our immediate thought was like, Pittman needs to do the same thing. Pittman is more valuable to this team than anybody else other than Jonathan Taylor. So the thought of us just moving on from him was crazy for me to see, like everybody on Colts' internet. Being cool. Just being like, yeah, yeah, we got to move on from him. Sure, we got to do that.

2:56:09Mike Borgonzi:It's like, I don't know if you want to lose that type of culture builder. He's one of our best. Plays hurt all the time. So I'm bent in half.

2:56:18John Schneider:All the time.

2:56:19Pat McAfee:All the time. And it's like, well, when Daniel Jones was playing quarterback, Alec Pierce was his weapon. Michael Pittman wasn't getting the ball much. He's like our fourth option. You know, we've got Tyler Warren, Jonathan Taylor. Now you've got Alec Pierce with deep ball. It's like, okay, you're starting to make sense, but I don't know if we should just be moving on from a guy that, like, loves being a cult and like works his ass off and like wants to be here because we've had problems with that in the not so distant future. 29 million

2:56:45Mat Ishbia:for like a receiver of his caliber is not what it used to, is not what 29 million was three years ago. But we got paid Daniel Jones, John

2:56:52Pat McAfee:Taylor's going to want a new dude.

2:56:54Mat Ishbia:There you go.

2:56:55Pat McAfee:Yeah, so it's like I understand why everybody, I don't understand why everybody was just so like, yeah, let's move on.

2:57:01Mat Ishbia:It's a nonchalant.

2:57:01Pat McAfee:Yeah, it was just like, yeah, we're moving on from it. It's like, we're moving on

2:57:04John Schneider:from Michael Pittman? There's a lot of that happening the last couple weeks. Now that everyone's been asked about at the Combine, now everyone could be lying, but it seems like a lot of those probably weren't true.

2:57:15Pat McAfee:What's that? We're moving on from Pittman?

2:57:16John Schneider:No, Pittman. We're moving on from this player. Max Crosby.

2:57:20Pat McAfee:It does feel like there's a lot of smoke. And that might be coming from and we don't want to give away the game, but that could be agents just trying to especially whenever they get here, they can say hey, don't know if you're interested. We got a little bit of a thing kind of working out here. So there's always a game being played. We understand that. And hopefully the game of football is played well for the Colts. AFC South is going to be great. A lot of people said it was ass. Then all of a sudden Liam Cohen, who doesn't come to the combine.

2:57:46John Schneider:Guess he doesn't care about players' meetings.

2:57:50Mat Ishbia:Well, well, well. Communication issue maybe. It's all taped.

2:57:53John Schneider:It's all filmed. Shut up. Other teams' interviews are filmed and sent to them? Other team? What do you mean other teams? Like the interviews that they're doing here. Are the teams that are doing the interviews here sending them to the Jaguars?

2:58:05AJ Hawk:No. If you're interviewing – if I am the Jaguars that are interviewing a player, he will get to watch it at home. Oh, you're saying they sent people.

2:58:13Pat McAfee:They recorded – yeah, John Schneier mentioned the recorded interviews. I think COVID switched a lot of that. They recorded some of those interviews. You heard him say, like, yeah, we can watch the interviews now from somewhere else. You heard him kind of give a –

2:58:22AJ Hawk:I think COVID changed a lot of that. How do you know if they smell, though?

2:58:26Mat Ishbia:That's true. That's true. If a guy smells like – That's self-awareness.

2:58:29AJ Hawk:If he farts, that's one thing. We can handle that. If a guy has bad B.O., I don't know if I could sign him. If he's super fidgety. Bad breath doesn't brush his teeth in the morning. I can't do it.

2:58:38Pat McAfee:What if he has bad breath and he smells, and then you say, hey, for tomorrow, I don't want you smelling, brush your teeth. And then he comes back and he doesn't do it again. He's off my board.

2:58:48Mat Ishbia:Definitely. Unless he says, oh, sorry, Coach, I've been working all night. I've been working on my craft all night. What have you been doing?

2:58:54Mike Borgonzi:Oh, I've been gnawing rocks. Yeah, exactly. He's eating my poop watching ball. Yeah. Chewing on a football. All right, let's get out of here. We've done enough.

2:59:04AJ Hawk:Love the combine. You sure? Yeah, combine. Look at his setup, dude. It's awesome. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Indianapolis Luke's Old Stadium.

2:59:12Mike Borgonzi:We're hosting a combine.

2:59:13Mat Ishbia:2014 Divisional Champs.

2:59:15Pat McAfee:That's a huge.

2:59:16Mat Ishbia:Never forget. It's been a while.

2:59:20Mike Borgonzi:I told John Schneider he's been 11 years since Colts won. He goes, what?

2:59:24AJ Hawk:Yeah, he did. He was genuinely shocked.

2:59:26Mat Ishbia:Ah, he's huge. Yeah. Titans 2021. thought about it.

2:59:31Mike Borgonzi:Yeah.

2:59:31Mat Ishbia:That was their last division.

2:59:32Mike Borgonzi:Who was quarterback?

2:59:33Mat Ishbia:Ryan Tannehill. Mike Vrabel, number one team.

2:59:35Pat McAfee:And Derrick Henry. That was the Kansas City Chiefs started.

2:59:37Mat Ishbia:It's when they sacked Burrow a thousand times. Seven. Yeah, since he went. Eleven?

2:59:42John Schneider:I think it was ten, eleven times.

2:59:44Mat Ishbia:It started that most sacked postseason ever.

2:59:49Pat McAfee:Let's go to some other stories around football. Obviously, high schoolers are now getting NIL deals to be professional football players in college. Seniors in high school are no longer doing their spring senior year. They're going to the football teams. If you remember Kevin. Brad! Nailed it. Commits to the West Virginia Mountaineers on our program. Lights a couch on fire immediately. Dad cuts a promo. Yeah. He's squatted 605 pounds. What? Yeah, he's 18 years old. Supposed to be going to prom. Yeah, this is coming out of the West Virginia weight room. I like that we're moving weight Kevin Brown.

3:00:31Pat McAfee:Shout out to him. 655. Sorry, not 605. 655. What? That's an 18-year-old.

3:00:36John Schneider:Good to see he hasn't stopped drinking the ooze since we talked to him last year.

3:00:39Pat McAfee:He certainly hasn't. This guy is a freak. He's a tone and a – look at his quads. He's a tone setter. Yeah, he's a changer. West Virginia is about to be back because of him, and we knew that immediately upon him making his announcement on this show and then him and his whole family lighting an entire portion of a town on fire. Damn. And I'm excited about that. He's the strongest guy on the team, I think. I don't know. Probably. No, he is. Yeah, I'd be getting texts from there. It's like, hey, Kevin's the strongest kid on the team. And I'm like, don't love that. Is that good or bad? Yeah, I don't know.

3:01:09Pat McAfee:But then you're seeing him squat 65. It's like this guy might be a strong guy on a lot of teams. So we are very lucky that he's there. Shout out to football being back. Spring ball for college. And then obviously the combine here for the NFL. NHL is about to drop the puck back after an Olympic run that was electrifying. I believe we'll have Megan Keller on the program this week at some point. She is in the middle of her PWHL lead, which I think they quoted and talked about after the Olympics about not being able to make some things happen because we have some academic stuff going on. We have some professional stuff going on.

3:01:42Pat McAfee:We didn't immediately, you know, weren't going to be open. I did offer to send her plane to fly her here to be a part of show, and she didn't want to miss Bourne's Skate for a team. So, like, it's like that type of thing, which I respect. I respect so much. Like, hey, would love to fly you in here, fly you back. We'll be so thankful. and she said, I can't be missing any of my practices with my team. I'm like, fucking respect. So she'll be coming on, I believe, tomorrow. And then we got Jack Hughes flying in on Friday. He'll be here flying in. Cannot wait to chat with him. What a week he has had.

3:02:20Pat McAfee:I believe he is enjoying the moment as he should. His family has done so much for USA Hockey. I mean, the more we learn about Quinn, Jack, mom, dad, family, Michigan, Team USA, all that type of stuff. They've committed their entire beings to hockey. So for him to have that moment in the stars is just a beautiful thing. We're so incredibly thankful for all the USA athletes that are represented for our country. And let the rest of the world know that if we wanted to do your little sport,

3:02:50Mike Borgonzi:we'll be better than you. Shout out to America. Hell yeah. A lot of people don't feel that way. Fuck them. They'll never be able to get them. Never be able to get them. They should be proud of our athletes. We certainly are.

3:03:04Pat McAfee:And we can't wait to chat with them. All right, we're back here tomorrow, live from the Combine. We can't thank you enough for allowing us to do this for a living. Tom, good work today, buddy. You're going to have more bets of the day tomorrow?

3:03:12John Schneider:Yeah, I got two more tomorrow.

3:03:14Mike Borgonzi:I feel like today's were good. I hope so.

3:03:16Pat McAfee:I put a lot of thought into them. We thank you for doing that. Con man, last year, this was your Super Bowl. Now, you're kind of watching everybody else hope to get to where you were. And Vrabes is walking through here talking shit to people.

3:03:28Mat Ishbia:Yeah, it was incredible. I mean, he coached up Nate Bargatze when he was throwing Jesse Minter. Looked exactly like him in my mind since he sat down. But, yeah, seeing Vrabel, very cool. Elliot Wolfe, very cool. But it is real. Like, if you were a team that stunk last year, that's in the past. No one cares anymore now. Now you might draft two guys, and you might just go on a completely different run.

3:03:48Pat McAfee:Jacksonville, Chicago, New England, these places. Yeah. Getting new people in there. Things go well. Let alone Seattle. That's just two years. Yep. That's just two years. So fan bases are expecting Adhaas to Penthouse because they've seen it in many other places. AJ, thank you so much for traveling over to beautiful Indianapolis. Great stop at Loves for that hat. What are your thoughts for tomorrow?

3:04:09AJ Hawk:I can't wait. We'll get some guys, some position-specific drills. What is it? Tight ends? Linebackers. Tight ends DBs is on Friday. Linebackers, kickers, D-line. It's awesome. It is fun to watch these guys. I like to see all the change of direction drills, and obviously even see the defensive guys catching balls from these quarterbacks. I'm impressed by it.

3:04:26Pat McAfee:Yeah, the punters and kickers are currently working out on the field. If you remember last year, stopped the show early to go host the kicking and punting thing that was happening on the field on NFL Network. Turns out it wasn't on NFL Network. There was no cameras. Started to stop the show early, went down to the field. I said, is there a microphone? What are you talking about? They said, so I just hung out. Didn't do that this year.

3:04:47Mike Borgonzi:But it was fun to watch those guys. I saw some clips, I thought. Yeah. I assumed it was on TV. They started filming because they felt bad.

3:04:55Pat McAfee:Okay. And then they ran a 24-second clip on Good Morning Football. Do you remember? They were like, Pat hung out with the kickers. And it was like, it was my first time on Good Morning Football. It was that. Yeah, so I'm not falling for that trick again. I didn't fucking get. Yeah, I'm not doing that. NFL Network peers now all of a sudden. Yeah.

3:05:13Mat Ishbia:Yeah, after post-draft.

3:05:17Pat McAfee:It feels like they're potentially operating as if that's happening already.

3:05:20Mike Borgonzi:Yep. There's getting a head nod. There's the orangutan right there. Holy shit. Gregson boys good to see you guys. Good to see you boys.

3:05:29Pat McAfee:We talk about silhouettes you're talking about just a silverback moving in the wild.

3:05:34Mike Borgonzi:Yeah, it's like a thicker Whitworth. Yeah, look at his back right there if he needs to strap. Hey, don't even try to get bought or I will trap you. All right, see you guys. All right, we'll be back here tomorrow.

3:05:48Pat McAfee:Be a friend, tell a friend something nice that might change your life. We're so thankful to be back. We hope you will join us tomorrow. Boys in the truck, great work, boys.

3:05:58Pat McAfee:How about Bruce just blocking Gumpy's face with his computer?

3:06:01Mike Borgonzi:Yeah. That felt intentional. Yeah, that was tough. It was. Yeah, it was. It was tough.

3:06:06Pat McAfee:Barcode, an entire crew here. Thank you so much for what you guys did. It's going to be a good week. Scott with the jib. Way to get real creative for that second hour, Scott.

3:06:14Mat Ishbia:Yeah, thanks for screwing that up, Scott. I really fucked us on the football.

3:06:18Mike Borgonzi:Yeah, you're a man. Great jib shots, eh? That second hour open, though, was an aggressive choice.

3:06:23Mat Ishbia:It threw us off. That's why the third hour is so much better. First hour and third hour are fine because we're like, okay, here it comes. Camera comes down. Coming around in the corner. Football.

3:06:31Mike Borgonzi:I actually said back here, oh, Pat told him to freestyle this hour. Oh, no, that's how comfortable Scott is. That's how comfortable Scott is. I do appreciate Scott, though. Yeah. He's a weapon. If you have a jib, it just feels like it's nicer. Yeah. Emotion. Professional. Sky cam. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. XFL.

3:06:52John Schneider:Bingo. Bingo. Yeah. USXFL.

3:06:55Mike Borgonzi:USXFL. Yeah.

3:06:56Pat McAfee:Could you imagine these people thinking about putting it? All right, nope.

3:06:59Mike Borgonzi:Let's move along.

3:06:59Pat McAfee:Be your friend. Tell your friend something nice. It might change your life. We're interesting together. Team on me. Team on three. We'll see you tomorrow from the combine. You all are the best.

3:07:08Mike Borgonzi:One, two, three. Team. Goodbye.