PMS 2.0 1524 - LIVE From The NFL League Meetings, with Peter Schrager, Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Brandon Beane, Braylon Mullins, Coach K, & Mike McCarthy

22:09Pat McAfee:Yeah, it's a good learning experience. Every coach, every GM, every owner, every coach, GM owner's family, and then you also have every working journalist that is credentialed here. So it's this giant convention, but there's no players, no agents, and there are league officials, which is why you're getting a lot of that league news this week. Yeah, I missed that last one, the every credentialed journalist in the league. I missed that last one when I was going through the box to check of how many people were going to be here. But I thought we were getting some special access. No doubt. Turns out we got an awesome set, though.

22:36Pat McAfee:Yeah, we did. Very, very grateful for it. Very, very grateful for it. But I did not expect to walk in that room. Dee Bud has a question for you. What's your feel so far on this referee deal? Do you think it's going to get done? How is it going to get done? Are we going to actually have replacement refs in the NFL coming up? Well, I'll tell you, this is the behind the scenes a little bit. Everyone in the league got a memo saying don't talk publicly. if you're a team official about this. Let's leave this for 48 hours. Don't have any comments. Try to dismiss. That was from the league, a memo from them.

23:04So already you feel like, okay, well, then that means tensions are heightened. And then you got some talking points that everyone got. The same people that always get all the same information, they all got the same information about what the league has opened up as far as conversations go. And then Scott Green, who's the officials union leader, he came out and was like, that's BS. Here is this, this, this, and this. So it's very public right now. Everyone's kind of chirping back and forth, but the league learned its lesson in 2012 when they went through the replacement ref situation. A lot of those people were unprepared.

23:36So I would not be shocked if you see some D1, D2, D3 officials getting a little bit of extra work, maybe during training camp or potentially during OTAs at these teams, just to see if we can get those balls in motion.

23:49Pat McAfee:If this thing doesn't come to be not actual D1 or D2 refs though. No, it would not be. this would be the d3 in high school because none of the d1 the d1 refs think they'll still make the nfl so they're not gonna piss off the refs interesting yeah you gotta remember that oh yeah they're not gonna anybody that thinks they're gonna be able to make it to the nfl as a ref will not do it because they don't want to scab they're crossing the picket line like the 87 uh nfl that's real yeah yeah that's a real thing yeah that's why do you know i haven't thought of that you know how i knowst falco because i was in exactly i was in the league whenever the last one's happened 2011 and uh these assholes had no idea what they were doing like clearly and i so i had a couple chatters you know with a couple of them just like hey how'd we get they were usually like high school gym teacher like how do we get literally how do we get here and they're like well to be honest i know i'm not reffing in the nfl so i wasn't really prepared to kind of ruffle the feather you're right it's a breeding ground the college game they take the best college officials and they bring them to the nfl that's a great point you don't want to be a scab you don't want to have that on your resume.

24:53Pat McAfee:Yeah, yeah. And all those refs are there for 100 years, which is a part of the thing that the NFL wants to change. It's like, hey, you don't just get a job and keep it forever. It's not a Supreme Court justice. Yeah, if you suck, you need to be fired. I think it's being part of, now granted, the NFL Ref Association can come out and say, we do fire people. It's like, I don't think so. Yeah, no, you don't. You've been big on the ex-player movement, though. Yes. And I think a lot of the, there's a few of them, and they have been highlighted. I did a Monday night game, Texans versus Seahawks, where there was an ex-player official who kept JSN on the sidelines.

25:21That was great. Nate Jones. Nate Jones, former player, right? So was he a teammate or no? No, Rutgers guy. Rutgers guy, that's right. But that is an interesting pipeline of maybe you don't have to go through

25:31Pat McAfee:and we can kind of – And also, we hope the refs understand that they are valuable and we hope the association does that for them. And how hard their job is. Yes, we understand that. But also, we need to make this best for the game. Okay, last question for you as we have an owner waiting for us. Go ahead, Tone. Yes, right. McVay also brought up Kirk Cousins as potentially a backup to Matt Stafford. I know there's been rumors about him maybe going to Raiders to bring in Mendoza. Is he viewed as a backup now, do you think? Or is there potentially other places where he could still be? I think you get the carousel and you fill the seats, and Kirk Cousins is not going to do a one-year,$1 million deal.

26:03He still wants to get paid. The Rams, of course, have a history with him. Sean McVay had him in Washington way back when, when he first had those breakout years and there were franchise tagging him. I think it makes a lot of sense. And if you're Kirk Cousins, this is exactly what you want to hear because everyone just assumes you're going to the Raiders. Well, now you can have a little leverage play and say, well, I can actually play for a contender and finally get that ring instead of just mentoring Mendoza. So very good opportunity for Kirk Cousins when you have two teams that are viably looking for you.

26:28And I don't think McVay is just saying that. I think he would actually love to have him in the team.

26:31Pat McAfee:Biggest news that we haven't brought to you yet that you have heard right now as you get out of here. OBJ possibly a return to the Giants. Oh, we just just spoke with John Harbaugh. He said he's one of his favorite players he has ever coached, one of his favorite people he's ever coached. And also at that flag football deal, OBJ was going and telling anyone in the media who could possibly have a microphone that he still believes he can play. So you think about the Giants, they lost Wandale Robinson. Of course, they have Malik Nabors coming back from the injury, a fellow LSU wide receiver. I think that would be a wonderful, wonderful bookend to OBJ's career, who has a Super Bowl ring with the Rams, and yet it ended so weird with the Giants the first time around.

27:06He is a superstar and a supernova in that city. it would be pretty cool to see him back.

27:10Pat McAfee:Now, you are obviously a journalist. You have no bias, but you would like the Giants to have success? Yes. It would be good for the league. It would be good for me in New York. They've been an irrelevant franchise with that one Daniel Jones miracle. You remember you said Malik Neighbors was better than Terry McCord. Yeah, McCord. I said I was crazy. I still think he's better than Terry McCord. What, like at the combine, like when he's running? Yeah, but what big games has? On the football field. What's he actually? What big games? We think he has a chance. He is good. The league neighbors was a second-year player.

27:41Terry McLaurin was 30. I think that you're looking at, like, what are you getting over the next 10 years and what are you getting over the next two contracts? No, that was not the conversation.

27:48Pat McAfee:That's not the conversation. Your conversation was that he was better than Terry McLaurin. Did Terry McLaurin light up the league after making all that money? Oh, jeez. What big games did Mendoza win? All right. Hey, Dano, smart move, Dano. By the way, Dano owning it. He ended it. Smart move. Over it. Smart move. I know it wants me to join. We appreciate the hell out of you. ESPN. Emmy winner. Yeah. And now NFL Live and our show, I believe, Emmy nominated again. Wow. Thank you for that pizza last night. That was excellent. Delicious. That was delicious. Ty was a little boozed up. No, he wasn't.

28:24Thank you.

28:24Pat McAfee:Ty was a little boozed up. We were talking comedy, weren't we? We were. Who's your favorite? We certainly were. All right. Come on. I'm a Dave Attell guy. We talked about that. Come on, come on. We got an actual real person. Yeah, please, please, please. And you're trying to take this somewhere. It should not. Yeah. Unbelievable conversations at dinner last night. Ty was doing the loudest, fakest New York Italian accent he could in front of this guy that owns the restaurant. Now that's comedy. How you doing? Screaming in this place. The guy's right behind him. Ty goes, oh, sorry. How you doing?

28:53Pat McAfee:And that shakes his hand. It was a good time. And what'd he say? Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, Carly Ursa Gorda. Yay, Carly! How are you? Thank you so much for joining us. Good to see you. Handshake for me. Hug for D-Buts. Standard operation. How are you doing, boss? Great. How are you? Thank you for joining us. We're kind of at your thing now. Hey, D-Bow, you hold that so it doesn't roll out. Yeah, don't fall off. Hey, seriously, cannot have that. You cannot be dying here. That cannot happen. That'd be bad for the show. No one. That'd be bad for the show.

29:26Pat McAfee:That'd be really bad for the program. That'd be bad for a lot of things. I think it'd be bad for the NFL as well. you can't die here yeah you can put those on whichever year you would like

29:38Pat McAfee:i like that so why'd you go with the right here i am intrigued to hear the okay guys so you went on your right side i like the way you know she's smart professional yeah she does loud do you want to lower yeah what was that it was like the voice of god yeah yeah that's what we're trying to do around here you know, trying to get that all up. Congratulations on being a badass here at this time. Not that you weren't before, but now like real conversations are happening and your quotes are going viral. Anything you say now at this point, because you are face of league at this point, is going to be a massive conversation.

30:13Pat McAfee:This morning, 18 game conversation went viral after a conversation you had. Robert Kraft also mentioned it. It feels like it's been lingering, you know, over the last couple years. Do you think that's a main focal point of the conversations here this week? Or what are you guys basically trying to get done you think at this particular league meetings so i think we went to the 17 and 3 model you know obviously since then we've been having that conversation because it's hard to remember and it's a little wonky you know afc one year nfc the other it's hard to plan for revenue you know and you have one less home game and all those things so i think an even number would be nice to get to and obviously i think the pre-season product as far as we always are thinking about what is best for our fans and you know the commissioner's been open that the preseason product isn't quite you know what it used to be and i still think the players need it you know for some development if they if the coach actually plays them but um yeah well i'm excited to see what shane steichen does and uh you know your donner maybe you send some guys in there as well for the preseason games so if it goes to 18 games i'll go to another bye week obviously that'll be an exciting time for us as fans we get two more weeks of awesome football which is spectacular The league's hotter than it's ever been.

31:26Pat McAfee:You guys understand that, I would assume, whenever you were chit-chatting in there? Or what are the conversations like behind the scenes amongst you owners about where the state of the league is right now? Well, we just left a session with the guy from YouTube that's in charge of trends, which would be a fascinating job. That would be an amazing job. It would be a hard job, I think. But, you know, the Thanksgiving games, having, you know, 50-plus million viewers for that Thanksgiving game is just, that's amazing. just seeing the success of the Super Bowl and every year, you know, we just keep raising the bar.

32:00So I think we're just continuing to focus on, as my dad would say, give the fans what they want and paying attention to what's important to them, how it's evolving. You know, it's such a, you know, when I was a kid, my grandmother used to, she was a diehard fan and she would have people in her suite. And if people were kind of getting up and milling around and eating the food, she's like you didn't come here to eat my free food you you need to sit down and watch you just miss this play you need to sit in your seat right now so i think it's the i think we have those avid fans that like that but then we also have people where our game is such a unifying um experience yeah and just hearing from fans about you know i met my wife here or just the memories that they have with their kids and the traditions that they carry on i mean even for us it's so many of my memories growing up you know christmas is in arizona because we were playing there or you know we hit that playoff game in the kansas city chiefs and just being able to travel with my dad and you know we didn't have the same kind of christmas break which when i was little it was

33:07Pat McAfee:that kind of sucked yeah well thanksgiving christmas new year's yeah there is all the all the fall holidays are much different for a football group but nfl is now yeah just a part culture, just part of society. They have the 100 top-rated TV things. The NFL has 94 of them or 95 of them every single year. You guys are crushing it. Your league is crushing it. Let's talk about your team. Last question from me before the boys have some about all the badass shit that you're going to be doing in here. Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce, let's go. Yep. Huge. You want to give fans what they want, you said? I'll tell you what.

33:38Pat McAfee:I like what I've seen with what you guys did this offseason with your free agents and getting your guys back in there. You had a quote that said, it was like we were watching a movie last year, and then we had to hit pause on it and then i'll tell you that movie went real bad at the end seven straight just like this now we're getting a chance to pick it back up that is the mindset and whenever they're pitching you to sign daniel jones to a potential two-year 100 million dollar deal or alec pierce to the highest at the time free agent wide receiver deal how do those conversations go and how excited were you to get them both back i mean first i was very excited to get both of them back and i think they both wanted to come back together and i think it's important as i've said that you know talking to a lot of the guys like how did they feel who how did they feel what what did we need to keep moving forward and they you know most of them overwhelmingly agreed you know daniel was the right person and obviously what he went through with his achilles i mean that as players you and broken leg ain't a broken leg yeah i mean it was and he played with that I mean, for multiple games.

34:39And I just remember them saying, like, how can you play with a broken leg? It's like, well, your fibula only supports 15 % of your weight. I'm like, oh, okay.

34:50Pat McAfee:This is normal? No, it's not normal. Okay, all right. We appreciate him doing that. And then the Achilles goes. But it did just, it felt so good. Lucas Oil Stadium felt special. I mean, everything, like, felt special there for a bit. I can respect the fact that let's run that thing back. Good luck to you. Good luck to us, because we're going to be in there as well. D-Bot has a question for you. Yeah, speaking of Lucas Oil Stadium, and we always get great reviews on like the game day experience. Obviously you talked about the different types of fans. Some of us show up and all we care about is the football.

35:15And a lot of us show up, especially kids, people with families, they care about the overall game day experience. How did you kind of attack that coming in once you took over? So I think fortunately I've been able to, growing up in the business and working in it for over 20 years now, I think that a lot of the pieces that we had in place, We're just going to continue to capitalize on some of those efforts that we've been doing. But obviously, there's a lot of stuff that we've been able to evolve with digital media and performance marketing and making sure in a non-creepy way that we're understanding what our fans want and what those different cohorts want.

35:54Because what kids want versus what women want versus what a casual fan wants versus what an avid fan wants, it's all different. And I think that's okay. And I think there's a way that we can, you know, kind of serve each one of those groups and make sure that they're having an amazing time and an amazing experience. Another quick question. Your fashion is always a topic. What do we got today? Is there a stylist or is this all you? Just your closet, your mind, your vision, or do you have stylists who dress you? I mean, I don't think having a stylist would feel so weird. It'd be like having someone that picks out.

36:29Darius has one. You do? they would not have packed the hoodies out here yeah i know at least you have that air connection yeah i'm good no i just think that for years you know my dad would always you would call it being proper you know on on game days you know game days are very serious in a serious and in a good way right it's like we only have so many of them in our league compared to i mean that'd be expensive if i worked in baseball it'd be a lot of it oh you look so cool though could you imagine

37:02Pat McAfee:walking into 81 home games 162 on the road yeah a lot of fits some of the fits hey some of the fits so when you put one on you go yeah yeah it was a winner you do that and then there's some that you go and you know who i've actually gotten advice from is sometimes like i've texted kenny like more what about these shoes or i've talked to ej speed i'm like could i wear this with that and he'll be like no you know don't do that heads up connor has a question for you boss yeah speaking of the stadium you know right now is kind of the time where it's like yeah this city you know vegas wants to host the super bowl uh minneapolis wants to host the draft is that something that you know indianapolis or you are even you know thinking about whether it be the draft because the draft now is such a massive event and Indy's so great at hosting things like the Combine every single year is amazing is that something that you consider or even think about or how does that go as far as those types of bids just because we see it almost every week now a different team wants to you know build a new stadium so that they can host a Super Bowl or a draft now what is that process we're definitely interested in hosting a draft and I think you know you guys have experienced Indiana and the Final Four is going to be there.

38:18Just I think a really cool part of Indianapolis identity that we need to lean into is just their sports tourism and no one does it better. But I think part of with the draft and some of these other tentpole events, we've sort of modified our model around the Super Bowl. I mean, I think it used to be if you built a stadium, you would get a Super Bowl. It was kind of like a handshake thing. But I think, you know, the part, you know, and obviously we're in a cold we got so lucky the weather was apparently amazing when we hosted our super bowl it was it was we got lucky but i think that again going back to what fans want if you're going to spend thousands of dollars on tickets you might want to be by a beach or you know you might want to go to the pool or go to do slot machines in las vegas i don't know understandable

39:06Pat McAfee:are you would you do a slot machine in las vegas thing like that's your thing no blackjack no none Nothing? No. Nothing of chance over there? No. Love that. Poker? Back locked in. It stresses me out. How about poker? Would you play poker? A little bit more control? I mean, like, maybe with my kids and, like, some marshmallows or something. What about chess or checkers? You play either of those? I love chess. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We like what we're doing. Nice. Speaking of chess, I know you're not allowed to move the pawn whenever it comes to a closed Sicilian conversation about the refs. So you guys got an email that said, don't talk about it?

39:37Pat McAfee:Is that what happened? Well, I think that any time you have ongoing negotiations, I would say best practices, you don't comment on that. And you let the league people handle it. But one of the things I will say is that I have tremendous respect in regard for what officials have to do. I know we all have various opinions depending on what side of the decision they're making. But I think that as a league, we always need to be trying to get better in every way. like I should be getting better all of us should be getting better all the time and I think that's one of the things that the league does a good job of we're always trying to innovate new technology health and safety all that stuff unbelievable answer you said nothing but you said good that was that was really good work there and I appreciate you kind of dropping some game there hey anytime there's any negotiations going you probably shut up yeah all right we will it'll be tough for us to do that though I will say you say you're getting better every day we're just trying not to get worse absolutely worse so we appreciate your service not only to our city, but also to the league.

40:37Pat McAfee:Good luck this weekend, and I'm excited to see what ends up coming out of this weekend. We're going to be... Okay, you're not going to say anything. We're going to get... No, I'm not going to say anything. I'm trying to push some of these rules, how they're going to go through, but we just want to let you know, we trust the hell out of you, and we appreciate you stopping by, Ms. Carly. Thank you. No problem. Have a great one. Thank you, thank you. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, owner of the Colts, Carly. Thank you.

41:03Perfect. Really cool fit. Yeah. Great outfit. Unbelievable shades.

41:09Pat McAfee:That's good ownership shit right there. At the gas station? Yeah. That's where we met him. Love that. I love that move. As long as you keep doing that, we're very grateful. Ms. Carly, thank you so much. Yeah, don't fall off. Please. Once again, please do not fall off. Our show will be over. Forever. All right, we appreciate you. Have a great weekend. Thank you, Ms. Carly. Okay, as we transition from one of the owners of the NFL here at the Biltmore, there's going to be so many movies about her. Oh, yeah. I think that's safe to say. Yeah. Hey, thank you, Colts. Thank you, Colts, people. Yeah, maybe the Colts if they win.

41:50Pat McAfee:Hey, Conti, really good work, Conti. Hey, baby, Conti. Hey, baby, Conti. Conti. He baked on Garouche yesterday. Good. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is not an owner, but a man who has a damn good golf swing. Damn good. Hey, you need to move your microphone back just a little bit. It was perfect. It was perfect. It was a great job. Ladies and gentlemen, general manager of the Buffalo Beals, friend of the program, Brandon Bean. Hey! Me and Bean, you know, fresh out of an absolute drumming of AQ Shipley and Evan Fox on a golf course. Oh, an AQ? An absolute drumming. I heard Q sucked yesterday.

42:24Pat McAfee:Hometown? He had a tough day. Duck hook. He would say that he ended up winning the last Wolf round because me and Fox just kind of said we're kind of done with this one. We played 17 holes this year. We played a long time. We had a great day out there. We appreciate you joining us. We appreciate your friendship, too. Let's talk about being out here. Everybody's here. What are the general managers doing out here? You guys are meeting with each other, trying to get deals done still as free agency lingers and the draft is kind of upon us. What is your kind of entire goal of this particular week out here?

42:54Yeah, I think it's just the leagues give us a lot of data. Health and safety. Carly was just talking about it. some of the new and up-and-coming things, whether it's AI, just where our league's headed, how they pertain to your job as GM. Yesterday afternoon, we're going to continue this morning, combo meetings with the head coaches, just some of the rules, rules on the field, but also some of the roster rules. There's a game in Australia this year, probably moving when we cut the 53 down, just to make sure those teams can get their roster set before they have to travel over there. So just a lot of logistical things.

43:29And then everyone, you know, kind of shift back, travel home and get ready for the draft.

43:32Pat McAfee:It feels like a very positive vibe here. Everybody on the same page. Has there ever been heat at this place? People get any heat at this place? I walked into a little journalism room and it was good to see everybody. It was great to see everybody. There's a couple people I don't like in there. I thought to myself, like, just be positive. We're at the league meetings. Feels like everybody is kind of on the same mission out here. Yeah, I think, listen, free agency is mostly done. People are kind of seeing players change. You're seeing, you know, hey, you run into a guy. hey, you signed this guy, hey, you're going to love this guy.

43:58This is how he does best. Some of those conversations happen, and like I said, it's usually calm. It's kind of a good lull between free agency and what's happening in three weeks.

44:09Pat McAfee:Will players be able to survive 18 games? I mean, it's a good question. I mean, it's one more. I think you obviously probably would lose a preseason game. I think you would have to talk about expanding rosters and then game day rosters. You know, from 48, I think we need to talk about getting, you know, 50 north of 50 to be able to accommodate another game. So the fact that you said that feels like that is something that's probably in the conversation this entire piece. Yeah, you're going to have to get the players to agree to this. More players on active rosters means more contracts, which probably means a little bit of a give and take there.

44:39Pat McAfee:Sounds like. Yeah. I mean, obviously, you would go to 18 games for, you know, the revenue piece of it and cut one out of preseason. It's going to be more revenue. And so ultimately you're going to have to, you know, make sure you got the right players to, because you do want to make sure teams that make the playoffs have the best players playing. So how do you get through a season so that you're, you know, the rosters aren't depleted? Yeah. Bo breaking his leg right before the AFC champion. Yeah. It's just like a drumming. Obviously it happens to everybody with injuries. Football is a very physical and demanding sport.

45:10Pat McAfee:No matter how many rules are changed, 18 games be a long time, especially for the big guys. Last question for me, for the boys have questions, by the way, great day on the course. That was awesome. Hey, Foxy, how's it going back here? You owe Bean$100. Yeah, I definitely still owe Bean$100. I only had$500 cash on me, but Bean is a gentleman. So he said, you know what? You keep that extra$100. No, that's negotiation. Foxy, keep that$100, buddy. That was fun. Yeah, keep that$100 until... Which leads to my question. You got to win a Super Bowl? So we talked about this yesterday. You know that this is the only conversation about you publicly, right?

45:45Pat McAfee:You understand that. Yeah. This guy's got to win a Super Bowl. It's the same thing for Josh. Same thing with Lamar. I feel like you understand that in your position. And I think we talked about it the other day. I think you are very much. We got an alien at quarterback. Now, granted, you drafted him. Okay. Nice job. Yeah. Great draft. Yeah. Decided to go all in on him when there was other options, and he didn't look as good early. Decided to continue to build around him. So, it is kind of, you know, your thing. But also, you have the thing, and you haven't. New head coach, new D.C. You can feel it, right?

46:14Pat McAfee:That's all anybody's ever going to talk about with you until it happens? Yeah, I mean, listen, at the end of the day, we're hired to win championships. We're not hired just to win games or put, you know, butts in the seats. We're here to one goal, and that's to win a championship, bring the first championship to the Buffalo Bills, Bills Mafia, everybody. And so that hasn't changed this year. Obviously, we have a new head coach, Joe Brady. We're excited about the energy he's brought. And I know Josh and crew will be excited when we get this thing started here in a couple weeks. Offseason program is crazy.

46:43It's already here like April 7th for us. But, no, the mission hasn't changed. We know, you know, what the expectations are. No expectations on the outside are going to be more than what I put on myself or, you know, what Josh or Joe or anyone else.

46:57Pat McAfee:So you're not trying to win. Okay, so you are trying to win. Interesting. You're trying to win. Okay, I didn't know that. That's crazy that you're trying to do. Deuce flash. Yeah. Yeah, well, you just kind of mentioned the draft. We're a little more than three weeks away right now. Like, how set is your board right now? What can change as far as players or prospects to move them up or maybe you take them off, obviously, outside of some freak accident or injury away from the field? Yeah, so prior to Indy, you know, we had kind of our last set of meetings with the scouts, and we pared it down. At this point, you know, the scouts have been – they went to Indy, pro days.

47:30We've had privates. So I'm bringing them in this Thursday. We'll spend four or five days just kind of talking through each players, where they've been, where they're at, the medical information that we now have from Indy. And so all those things will go into kind of – maybe there's guys, DB, that, hey, you really like the player, but we've learned they struggle mentally and we're worried that they're going to be able to handle the magnitude of the playbook. And so all those conversations come in. Then we'll kind of bring our coaches in. Our coaches have not had weighed in on any of these guys.

48:02They've been meeting them in Zoom, pro days, privates. At some point they've got to be around them to kind of feel the personality, feel the intelligence, the learns. So they'll come in, say their piece, and then we kind of see where we see things alike and where we see things differently. And the ones that we see things alike, those are easy. Check. We keep them where they're at. The ones we see different. Now let's get in a room. What do you see? What do we see as scouts? And let's make sure we're aligned.

48:27Pat McAfee:When do you guys bring Dan Orlovsky in? Well. Why is that funny? What's the deal? That's not funny. Dan doesn't deserve that. Whatever Dan can get around. I'm staying out of the Dan Orlovsky. You already got my son going on that. Yeah. His son went to Alabama. He's son went to Alabama. Loves Ty Simpson. What happened with Dano, it happened with his boy at the combine. Told you. For like 45, 50. I mean, everything Dan was saying, I had already been there, done that with his boy at the combine. He pulled the trump card and FaceTimed Nick Saban, which just ended the whole thing. His kid wouldn't stop.

49:06Pat McAfee:He kept coming. kept coming, kept coming. It was just like a non-ending. I was showing highlights and all these stuff. He's like, yeah, Ty's one of Saban's guys. I was like, what do you think Saban says? And he goes, if Saban says that Fernando is the top quarterback prospect, I'll believe it. Say, all right, FaceTime Saban. He answers it. Coach, who's number one quarterback prospect in this draft? He goes, what? I go, who's number one quarterback? He goes, Fernando, he got one national championship. Thank you. And I turn right to his face and right to his kid's face and uh he goes thanks for everything coach say but you know hang up on and then he goes i just screwed with coaching it's just like dan it was only just like and i respect and appreciate it because it's like i think dan has found some traits in tie that he loves he's like hey this is my guy your boy same thing because he's an alabama fan does that how do you separate that though like is that why you have to have everybody in a room yeah like what are the conversations has there ever been like two very huge like josh shell and when you drafted him was there i assume there's people in your room that were very either against that or wanted somebody differently yes and how do you kind of get through that entire process other than just making memes out of the person well that's what they did they were lost that's right they hey we did not ask questions that was not us you guys are lobbing softballs though you know it listen i think the one thing like we're obviously not in the quarterback market but if you're these teams that are in that the one thing that someone like us can't answer right now is you're meeting with these guys in multiple settings.

50:36And, you know, I think that's where Josh really stood out, you know, for us when we were making that decision. Just, again, the leadership. There's so many pieces to the quarterback other than what we see that, you know, you're the tip of the spear of your organization, your team, if you have a franchise guy. So do you feel this guy can walk into a grown man's huddle? Let's say he's got all the physical, you know, all those things are part of this. So I have not met Fernando. I've not met Ty. But to me, those are some unanswered questions that people on the outside really don't have the keys to be able to answer that.

51:07Pat McAfee:Yeah, and it sounds like, from our understanding, Fernando is just installing the Raiders' offense right now. So I think Tom, you know, Tom was there for a lot of this stuff. It feels like that's that way, but we want Ty to be successful, too. Oh, yeah. Anytime we can bring up. Hey, Dan. Way good, Dan. Good job. And a baby, Dan. All right, Dan. They said they run your takes in the film room, and they say who agrees or disagree. Yeah, they're not the only one. And then they fire the people that agree with him. No! Tony has a question for you, Bino. Yeah, I do. It came out this morning. I believe.

51:37Congratulations. I think. Is this how draft picks are judged that you picked up the fifth year option for tight end Dalton Kincaid? That came out this morning. I don't know if that's true or not. I don't know if that's been confirmed by you. But is that kind of how an organization potentially judges a first-round draft pick if they get to the second contract, whether it's a draft pick that worked out or not? Yeah. I mean, I think you want to be excited. You know, and we are. You want to be excited to say, hey, this is a guy we want to continue. And listen, at some point, you know, he's played three years.

52:02You can also extend him. You know, we picked up Josh's fifth year and some of these other guys and then later extended him. But it just goes ahead and confirms to him that, hey, we're committed to you. We know right now, you know, you're going to be a Buffalo Bill for at least two more years. And excited about what Dalton's done. You know, the one thing that's, you know, he had a little knee deal that's, you know, hampered him. And we had to monitor kind of his reps. We're hoping this year that we can get back to kind of a normal set of reps with him.

52:27Pat McAfee:Congratulations. Appreciate that. Let's make sure he's paid top of the market. Most money ever. Ever. Yeah, right. Don't be negotiating against me up here. Let's make sure we're taking care of that guy. Let's make sure we're taking care of that guy. Thanks, Mr. Brightson. Yeah, Ty has a question for you. First and foremost, kudos on the buffalo, on the bison out front. Because we were going to give you hell for it like it was solely your response. Oh, don't think I didn't know. Don't think I wasn't in the back asking questions, dude. I cannot go on McAfee's show again. These buffaloes are weak, man.

52:56They're going to kill me. Big, strong bison. I'm curious, though, when it comes to DJ more, everyone's making a big deal about that. And you kind of told us, you know, previous trade deadlines like you'll call around like was that and everyone was saying, hey, you know, Buffalo is in on Waddle or so and so all these different receivers. Was that something you guys looked at last year? And do you feel like he is kind of the piece to take that offense to the next level where you guys are trying to get? Yeah, he was one of the guys that we called and checked. I mean, we checked a lot of guys just to see and Chicago shut it down.

53:27They were trying to make a run. But I think they at least knew there was interest, and they reached back out when we got to Indy and said, hey, maybe we'd be open if something made sense. And we were fortunate to be able to figure that out. I've always loved DJ's skill set. Adds another player, a big play ability, run after catch. Shakir, one of the best things he does is run after the catch. I think this adds another guy that's played some big-time football, big-time games, and so he'll be a good addition for us, I think.

53:53Pat McAfee:DJ Moore's 2 ,350 receiving yards in 2021 with Joe Brady. Yeah. Was the seventh highest total in the NFL. He's had success with that white guy that has a good fade, except for whenever he comes on our show at the combine. What have you seen from still love everything about Joe Brady's energy? Yeah. I mean, Joe, you can just feel it. Can I mention this? You know, you have to win a Super Bowl. Everybody knows you have to win a Super Bowl. You're the one that hires Joe Brady. People attack you for hiring Joe Brady. I think it's fascinating that you know, like, this is the guy you went with, watching him work, understanding what he's like in a building, knowing that, hey, career potentially online here in this entire thing.

54:30Pat McAfee:I love that show of commitment to a guy in your building. But what you've seen from him since that moment of hiring, how have you felt about it going rookie head coaching? Yeah, I think, listen, Joe's a young guy, but you don't feel it. You can feel him naturally stepping in this position. He's showing great energy. He's, you know, I love the staff that he's hired. you know when these guys enter come in an interview for a job you lay out plans and you say you're going to do this this and this but how many people actually stick to the plan and I give Joe a lot of credit you can throw names hey I'm going to hire this guy I'm going to get this guy and then you know you're kind of questioning are you really going to get this guy and I think Joe you know he went through some of the guys that he really wanted to target on his staff you know a guy like Jim Leonard yeah who's bringing obviously played you know dog you know really good yeah yeah really good baller as a player and then was at Wisconsin you know went to Denver was part of that staff great defense and so he Jim's been fond to get to really know I only knew him as a player and so I just think a lot of the guys that Joe has brought on staff are kind of carrying out his vision and like I said we're starting in a couple weeks and it's going to be excited for our players to walk into the building and feel this positive energy you're saying people lie about who they're going to be able to hire for their staff that'd be awesome come in how about this Parcells Vince LaVarge Saban.

55:45Yeah, Vic Satan, listen, he's going to consult,

55:47Pat McAfee:but also he said he'll do DBs during offseason. Yeah, and then you having to pick through what's real and what's not real, spectacular part of the entire job. Everything you do, they're just going to wonder if you want to. That's all they're going to say. And that's crazy that that's what the business is and that's where you are. You've earned that, obviously, and congrats. We appreciate the hell out of you taking the time. Foxy has one last thing he wants to say to you about your golf game. Yeah, Bean, you deserved every bit of that 500. I know I owe you another$100, so Con Man on stage actually has that for me.

56:16Pat McAfee:He'll give it to you right after this day. Yeah, right. It's nice of you, Conor. Thank you, Conor. It ain't coming for me. All I was talking about the Bills is fun. We're talking Super Bowls. Better come get the division, bitch. Get back in New England. That's all you're going to hear. That's the business. That's the job. There's only 32 of you, and we're very lucky that you're a friend of ours. Ladies and gentlemen, Brian Bean, General Manager. Yeah, Bino. Bino, you got something in a minute. Thank you for taking time with us, dude. All right, hour two will roll on on the other side. This guy's unbelievable at golf.

56:47Pat McAfee:Absolute stick. Started playing when he was 13. Could have beer with the guy, you know? Yeah, can definitely have a beer. He did not. I would like it to be known. He was dealing with us being pretty boozed up. He was not. Shout out to him. Hour two is on the other side. Be a friend, tell a friend something nice. It might change your life.

57:07Pat McAfee:Are the greatest. Scott, great work on the jib. ESPN people a phenomenal job on the setup here and we are at the Biltmore the home of the NFL's league meetings every owner GM and coach is in there alongside their local media as we try to figure out what the future of the NFL looks like while everybody is shaking hands and kissing babies as networking is at an all-time high here in hot as hell Arizona the views are impeccable the golf spectacular and the information that's going to be tossed around in this wall back here is going to be something that's going to change the way the biggest league on earth operates at least for the foreseeable future we're so incredibly thankful and lucky to be here obviously college hoops is happening all over the place the final four has been decided yukon breaks the hearts of duke on a 40-foot splash city from mr indiana braylon mullins who'll be joining us here in about three minutes or so.

58:01Pat McAfee:Obviously, everybody saw this. The shot seen around the world. Splash! 19 points. UConn were down at one point in this game. 15 at the half. They end up winning by one. Dan Hurley has another final four. His record is getting outrageous as we are introduced to his mom and dad in the crowd. Also, Illinois beat the hell out of Iowa. Sorry about it. Sorry about it. Arizona beat the dog crap out of Purdue. Michigan pounded Tennessee. The final four might be more talented than it's ever been. We'll have Coach K joining us here in a matter of moments. We believe Coach McCarthy from the Pittsburgh Steelers will be joining us this hour and this should be spectacular as it continues to be awesome to be here.

58:42Pat McAfee:The Talks at Tables here at Boston Corner at Ty Schmidt. Con, man, what did you learn from Beano and Carly there in our conversations? Sounds like 18 games is coming right around the corner. Yeah, no doubt about it. That feels like the biggest news, especially when you think about the NFL telling basically all the streaming services and all the networks like hey we're going back to the table because we want to change these deals maybe you know adjust them a little bit make a little bit more money now it all is kind of making more sense you know those friday games we talked about that don't exist right now they might exist in a month and then those games you know who knows who else gets in the entire deal like is apple going to come to the table does does you know when does apple get involved maybe this i don't know if they even want to why not they have i mean how much money did they spend on f1 i don't know if they're like f1 in baseball f1 baseball real sports you're gonna love it now granted soccer i got some bad news for us what do you mean our team sucks what what do you mean five two oh it's a friendly it wasn't very friendly what the Belgium team did to us.

59:47Pat McAfee:I'm sorry. Belgique did to us. They smacked our cheeks. And we might be cheeks. This is what Belgique showed me in the international friendly 5-2. We have a nasty goal early. Holy hell, we're doing this. USA. USA. USA. Tied halftime. Second half, we get demolished. Now, Gumpy, who follows soccer much closer than I, says we subbed out all our good players at halftime, put all our trash players in the second half, and we lose. On that note, I want to let Paunch you, I believe. Yeah. But I can't be watching that anymore. Well, you know what's nice is so, like, when a situation like that happens for me, now I will not pay attention to the U.S.

1:00:26men's national team until the World Cup kicks off. So you can put them out of your head. Fuck these guys. They got to prove it. They got to prove it. And I agree because I'm a Paunch guy as well. I will show up. I will ride into the midst of Avalon with him. But now I'm just going to pay him no mind until the World Cup kicks off. And then if we don't make it out of the group stage or we get beat or we get embarrassed, we can go, told you so. These guys stink. At this point, too. We're in on baseball. Soccer is kind of an act. We like everything. Expectations are now here. If we lose 5-2 every game.

1:01:01Listen, when we're watching preseason football and the Chiefs are playing and Mahomes plays the first half and they're 17-3 and then some team comes back in the second half against some nobodies, do we say the Chiefs?

1:01:13Pat McAfee:No, we don't care. We're still in on - Bingo. I say, there's no reason for you to say F these guys. These guys are wearing a bag. We're wearing the crest on our chest. I'm not F these guys. I'm just, I'm not going to pay them any, I'm not going to let them get into my brain or, you know, any thought. Oceans. Yeah, exactly. Until the World Cup is here. So next time we have a friendly, and if we win 4-0, you're going to hear, I'm going to be mum on it. You know, these boys got to show up, and they will. They will once the World Cup gets up. Team USA flag football showed up. Team USA hockey showed up both in the Paralympics and the Olympics.

1:01:46Pat McAfee:Baseball. Our skiers kind of showed up. Our baseball team. They showed up with receipts, which helped, but they didn't. Nine-year NFL vet, Gary Shade Butler is here at D-Butch. What's he talking about? You know what? Honestly, I care less about any of this. Any of this. What do you care about? I got two Final Fours to prepare for. One out here with the women, out here in beautiful Phoenix, our 25th for women's side, and then another one for the men, third and four years. Congrats. Free furniture. I will. And a lot of people pouting about Darren Hurley after the game. Yeah, he was a little juiced up with.3 on the clock.

1:02:16Wouldn't you be if Mullins hit a 40? footer in your face. Just an unbelievable performance. I'm still elated. I'm still on cloud nine. I can't wait to see these boys host another one. I'm happy

1:02:26Pat McAfee:that the Huskies are having success. It's cool. Because when our coach left for Dubai State. Colorado State. It happens. Sometimes you just want to get away. Go see the mountains and do that whole thing. The way people were talking about a UConn coach, though, just taking that job was not good for UConn, I thought. Then the whole meme with Dano, UConn. There was a Lotta, right? Yeah. And then Coach Orem is making the other coach quit. Yeah. I don't want to do this anymore. Now, Dan Hurley, 19-point comeback in the Elite Eight against the most powerful, most talented. Overall number one seed. Duke team.

1:03:03It's Duke. Everybody saw, they got two free throws. They all went down there, pissed down their leg, and missed both of those. Okay. You might be right. This is Duke. Duke Con, baby. That's all it's about. Basketball capital of the world.

1:03:13Pat McAfee:Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who's from the basketball capital of the world, Indiana. Okay? Okay. And Mr. Indiana punched the ticket back to Indianapolis for a Final Four. An absolute legend forever. Was 0 for 4 in the game until you couldn't see an ounce of worry in his soul. Splash to the Final Four. Ladies and gentlemen, Braylon Mullen. Yeah! How'd it feel good? Yeah, I appreciate it. I appreciate you guys having me. That had to feel so good. That had to feel so good. As it was coming out, you knew? As it was coming out? Man, yeah. You got to shoot it with confidence. What?

1:03:53Pat McAfee:Yeah, so I heard your teammates say, anytime he's shooting it, confidence going in. You obviously hadn't had your best night shooting, but as this thing is leaving your hands, you know it's going in? You feel? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I knew once I had the ball, there was like two seconds left, so I had to put one up, and I came off the hand pretty well. It's crazy that was the one that I made yesterday. Yeah, I'm still full of emotions. It's still crazy to process it. And, man, we're going back to Indy now. Yeah, we can't wait to have you in the city. And, obviously, congratulations. We wish you would have stayed in Indiana.

1:04:29Pat McAfee:Don't know how that happened. Dan Hurley is obviously a weapon. There's a lot of conversation about how he operates and runs a program. You guys are down 19. You're down 15 in that game at half. What is his messaging to you guys, and why do you think your team was able to kind of rally? I mean, yeah, I think Coach just, he wanted to keep the positivity with the group and just keep the confidence high. And I think just coming out of halftime, we just had to chip at the lead, just dug the hole that we dug in the first half. And I think we got it to single digits, like 10, 12 minutes into the second half.

1:04:59And I think we got it to a game manageable for us. And we were just, we knew we worked too hard for it. And we were just, we knew it was like you got clawed back into it.

1:05:09Pat McAfee:Do you think every Caucasian in Indiana can shoot? Absolutely. What? Yeah, I think so, yeah. I think so, too. That's what I learned whenever I got drafted to the Colts. You just go mess around at the L.A. Fitness. You got large, you got small, you got fat, you got – I mean, you got all types of whites from Indiana. All of them. All of them have a jumper. It does feel like the state creates hoopers. You potentially next legend coming out. We appreciate that. D-butt, UConn Husky alum has been singing your praises, obviously. Yeah, obviously playing for Coach Hurley has been unbelievable. But, like, what was his messaging throughout the game?

1:05:44Because I'm watching the game, and regardless of what the score was, he's pumping the crowd up, he's staying engaged. What was his messaging throughout keeping you guys on point? And then that last play, because you guys are pressing. And, Fox, if you run that clip and kind of pause it as he throws the ball, it's five on three in the backcourt. What was the message on the sideline going into this play? I mean, yeah, just going into that play, I think we were just trying to foul the worst free throw shooter on the floor. and I mean you could tell on the front we tried to foul on Sarr and Boozer ended up turning the ball over and I was like I'm going to try to get the ball to AK he had just hit one and we're going to let him take the last shot he threw the ball back to me I knew I threw it to him with like four seconds left I was like we got to get a shot up I'm not going to go out with no shot and man that was the one that went down

1:06:29Pat McAfee:can you tell me immediately afterwards you guys dump a bunch of water is Hurley always showing up in the post game locker room in his towel and tell me about the celebration afterwards. The boys had to be elated, obviously. Yeah, I mean, coach is used to that. The water spilling and everything. But yeah, coming in there with a towel, I've never seen that. He's one of a kind. What if he pooped his pants? Do you think he maybe pooped there whenever you make that? He was so good. Possible. Is there anything on underneath the towel? You'll never know. You'll never know. I heard he wears the same suit.

1:06:59Pat McAfee:We'll find out next game, I guess. Ty has a question for you, brother. Yeah, Braylon, just curious. Obviously, a certain kind of player gets attracted to go play for a guy like Coach Hurley because he is a psycho in the best way possible. I don't know what your high school coach was like, but were you fully prepared for everything that he was going to demand of you day in, day out when you got to UConn? And what's that kind of process been like? I mean, yeah, I think when I was with my high school coach and me and my dad coached as well, so they kind of resembled a little bit of how they pushed you to the limit.

1:07:33and I mean going to play for coach early I thought it was just an easier transition I knew I was gonna get you're gonna get yelled at that just happens but it's just like I knew he was gonna push me to to my max and uh he's gonna make make sure I'm better and get better and yeah he's he's my he's my role model he's the guy I look up to he holds the standard I mean I wouldn't want to

1:07:51Pat McAfee:play for anybody else hey I think your generation gets a lot of shit talked about you about how you can handle coaching do you think that's fair or no obviously you don't think that because you're with Danny you just call him your role model and you like good hard coaching but does it feel like your generation maybe gets mislabeled a little bit because every college coach we talk to is like we're accountability accountability accountability but your generation gets a lot of shit talked about you guys do you hear that do you understand that yeah I do I mean you'll see that on social media all the time like we can't take the criticism from the coaches the media and everything so I think just playing for somebody like coach Hurley is just like man you you gotta you gotta take some of that criticism.

1:08:27It just makes you a better person and a better, just better at life.

1:08:31Pat McAfee:Yeah, see, that's a good perspective, though, that they say your generation died to have. He's mature beyond his years. You can tell that. What if they all are, though? I don't know. They got to handle business, these guys. It's like every generation. Some are, some are. We're having a conversation about you while you're here. We're appreciative that you're a dog, dude. Connor has a question for you. Yeah, Braylon, you just mentioned your dad's a coach. Have you had a chance to kind of talk with your family, have a moment with your family I assume it's been about you know you being a basketball star your whole life Mr.

1:09:01Indiana the whole thing have you had a chance to kind of talk to them and have you re-watched the clip back just on your own and kind of watch it in disbelief or are you still kind of not there yet don't even want to see how ridiculous of a shot it was I mean yeah I think I didn't get to watch the first clip until like after we were out of the locker room midnight 1 a.m it's just crazy how everything unfolding but it's just like yeah i get to get to look at back at that every single year i know that that shot's gonna be be in history yeah i had to celebrate with the family i called my i think i was on the phone with my dad probably 15 20 minutes before this he's back at work in indy because he was at the game yesterday so uh but yeah he's we're all we're all excited yeah dude we're all

1:09:42Pat McAfee:excited march madness having that moment in it this year is a beautiful thing feels like the final four he's gonna have to get a hundred tickets yeah a lot of cousins yeah yeah and you're getting paid now too so shit yeah we're gonna expect you to pay for it brother i mean that's welcome to the life you know welcome to the life can't wait to see you back in indy final four is spectacular go ahead it is awesome speaking of the final four we always make a big deal about now that you're going to the final four shooting in lucas oil shooting in a huge stadium in the shooter's eye have you guys talked about that at all and is that actually something that that we should think about going into this Final Four?

1:10:19I mean, yeah, I don't think we've gotten too far down to Lucas Oil. Like, I mean, we kind of just preparing now for Illinois. Man, I mean, Lucas Oil is one of a kind place as well. I got to watch some games, football and everything. So I know the environment. I'm kind of used to it. But it's just, man, I'm so excited to play in front of the hometown and just be able to show what we're all about.

1:10:43Pat McAfee:Well, Caden Curry came back. with Ohio State. I think he's from Greenfield area, too. No, where's he from? No idea. But the kid from Illinois now, another Indian. He's from Lawrence as well. You guys are all over the place. Hey, you're not at Indiana, but you guys are all over the place. And it's been an honor to watch you, brother. There's also been somebody that hasn't been able to listen to this entire conversation, but he's been, I think, seeing it. He can hear me. He can't hear you. I think he has something he wants to say. Coach K, you here, Coach K? Coach K here? I am. and I wish I could first bring one and not you guys.

1:11:18Okay. But congratulations, son. What an amazing moment. And how about your senior leader, Caravan, having the confidence in you to make a historical pass before the historical shot? Congratulations.

1:11:35Pat McAfee:Coach K, he actually couldn't hear you either, so I will spread that information. He said, wow, how about Caravan passing you the ball? must have incredible pressure or belief in you. Congratulations, Coach K. Sid, you're the man. Thank you. I appreciate you, Coach. Hey, safe travels back home. We appreciate the hell out of you, man. Thank you for showing up for basketball, for sport, for Indiana. Legend. You name it, brother. You're the man. Hell yeah, I appreciate you guys. Ladies and gentlemen, it's Braylon Boyd. Yeah, Braylon. And ladies and gentlemen, Coach K. Yeah, Coach. Coach, we're sorry you had to hear us instead of Braylon.

1:12:07Pat McAfee:Braylon was giving a lot of good answers. He was complimenting Dan Hurley. He was talking about how he's his role model. He's his idol. He likes getting coached, knew that he was going to have to get coached. And he said every shot felt good. What a winner for them. That's a story they're going to remember forever. Now, you on the Duke side, obviously not great, but down 19, 15 at half. Can you describe what Dan Hurley and his team was able to accomplish there and how legendary of a moment it is for them? Well, the moment was set up because of outstanding defense. You know, ironically, the last shot occurred because of a turnover.

1:12:39And throughout the second half, Duke, we turned the ball over too much. We were outscoring 16 to nothing after turnovers. And it's because, you know, Connecticut played great defense and they never quit. And, you know, it's to their credit that they hung in there and we could not knock them out. They would not allow Duke to knock them out. but it was defense and they played tremendous defense which Danny's teams play all the time

1:13:14Pat McAfee:yeah they're bopping wood all the time they're smacking wood out there slapping a bologna around whenever they have to and that was a magical end for the Connecticut folks that was a magical end for the Connecticut folks and for the basketball fans I mean that was exhilarating I felt alive watching that thing fly and then go in it's like this is the March Madness let's go to the other side and obviously you're not the coach of the Duke team anymore. Shire is. What is his messaging to his team after that? Obviously, everybody's talking about the collapse and everything like that. And they live in a world where they're going to see it and feel it, I think.

1:13:44Pat McAfee:How does he kind of deal with that, you think, going forward? Well, you just saw Braylon, how happy his smile went from ear to ear. The joy of winning, but really the despair and the agony of losing. And dealing with that with your team, I think John's primary concern, and he does a great job of this, he and his staff, making sure you take care of those young men. They had a magnificent season, one of the best ever, and you lose. It's brutal. It's so abrupt, and from the joy to the agony, and to especially make sure that you embrace collective responsibility, that you win and you lose together so that no one individual player bears the burden of that alone.

1:14:45And I felt so bad for Caden Booser because I felt that the interviews afterwards, one, he was man enough to do the interviews and he took individual responsibility for it. And hopefully, I'm sure his teammates and his coaches hugged him afterward and said, listen, man, we were there. Hey, your 15 points in the first half were the reason that we were up by 15 points at halftime. He was playing, he played an outstanding game and step one, one turnover, but it wasn't one play. I'm telling you, we turned the ball over too much because of Connecticut's defense. And what happened, Connecticut had a hard time scoring, but when you get live ball turnovers, you have a numerical superiority going down to the offensive end, and you take it to the hole better, and they got their offensive mojo going.

1:15:49And really, two of the biggest shots was from Demary. Duke was up 10, and he hit a corner three. One of our kids, Nick, trumped it to go back to 10, and boom, he trumped that by hitting two threes. And those were, you talk about huge shots, those were amazing shots.

1:16:13Pat McAfee:You talk about numerical superiority. They were one of 18 from three in the first half. Dan Hurley found out about that in a postgame press conference in real time. He had a hilarious reaction, both hands to his face of embarrassment after such a huge win. And he said the assistant coaches were telling me it was bad. I did not know we were one for 18 in the first half. Then he said at some point we're going to have to start knocking down a three if we're going to want to win this game. You talk about the numerical superiority. What you're saying is whenever you play good defense, you get turnovers, you get high-percented shots.

1:16:42Pat McAfee:So if it's not falling, all of a sudden it's a gritty way back into the game. And then they end up four or five down the stretch for three. So they get hot late. They bop the wood. That's classic Dan Hurley football, it feels like, in the end. And on that note, D-butt, UConn Husky has a question for you. Yeah, Coach, I was just talking to Braylon about this. Kind of in the midst of a game, whether you're down big, you're on Hurley's side, UConn's side, you know, I kind of feel like it's easier as a player, I know, to keep fighting and stay hungry. But on that opposite side, when you have a big lead, maybe some complacency, how do you handle that as a coach?

1:17:13What is tougher as a coach, being up, handling that success in the middle of a game, or being down, kind of still chasing those guys? Well, I'd rather handle it when we're up. That's a hell of a lot better. But what you hope is you can knock them out. And some teams allow themselves to get knocked out. Danny's team did not allow themselves to get knocked out. You know, we talked about this last week about making adjustments. And whatever Dan did at halftime with his defense, they were a different team defensively in the second half. And seeing the ball go in and they were aggressive offensively then and got Duke into some foul trouble.

1:18:03So they saw free throws go in and they saw some layups go in and that gave them the momentum. But really, to Connecticut's credit, they were not going to get knocked out. and our guys did a great job, but we turned it over too much. Heartbreaker for Krzyzewskiville. It was heartbreaking, I'm telling you. I haven't coached for four years now, but it was a great, great basketball game. Not a good one. It was a great game, and I could not fall asleep last night. I felt like I was part of that. And then you're thinking about all these individual kids and how you're going to take care of them. And there's such great empathy for our guys.

1:19:01I mean, obviously, I'm a Duke guy. And have concern for them and still do because that's a tough one to get over. How old are you? I'm 79.

1:19:16Pat McAfee:man still staying awake four years removed yeah that's gonna happen forever love of the game yeah it's gonna happen for i don't know that's why we're talking about with your hair you know look like if you're staying up not sleeping you know to 79 for a game you're not even coaching just built different let me make one other point okay you know for my entire year and time as a coach i love being in the moments of those players uh you know the the highs the lows uh And they kept you young because you were in their moment. You weren't watching their moment. You were in their moment. And Danny and John Shire, they're in the moments of their players.

1:19:57So, you know, what Danny was doing after the game, I'm going to send them a few diapers as they go forward. That's in the moment. And John Shire was in his moment taking care. And so that's the kind of thing I kind of relived last night. And even though it was bad, it felt good to be in that moment with our team.

1:20:25Pat McAfee:Aren't sports the greatest, Coach? Sports are the absolute greatest. And obviously you talk about the joy and the heartbreak. But for us as fans, it was a magical game. Let's talk about the rest of the Elite Eight and the Final Four now. Let's head to the Big Ten world. Go ahead, Ty. Yeah, Coach. before last night, you know, I think you could argue that the Big Ten kind of stole the weekend. And then obviously, you know, we talk about that and it was it was insane. But I want to go back to something that you've been talking to us about kind of for several appearances now that we've had you. When it comes to Illinois, they were just I mean, they have all these European guys who are older.

1:20:58They're so much size, so physical. Do you think we're kind of seeing in real time that this might be a blueprint that a lot of teams will try to employ going forward? because, boy, I tell you what, Iowa kind of gave them everything they had early, and it really didn't matter. They were just so physical and so dominant inside. Do you think we're kind of seeing in real time, like, oh, this might be something that a lot of these schools kind of try to rely on and use to go deep into the tournament in the future? Yeah, most definitely, and it'll be a combination because Arizona Arizona and their game against Michigan will have the international players also.

1:21:39Arizona and Illinois have the best combination. Actually, Illinois has a few more of international, a young player, a freshman, and some older veterans. that combination and what it produces because of the portal. If you get a transfer, they're older. The international players are older also. And so what we're seeing is older, good teams, older, good teams. And as long as NIL and rev share are there, we're going to continue to see it unless in a couple of years, if there's NBA Europe, what kind of contracts would come from that? Right now, the international players are able to make more money here than they would be in the EuroLeague.

1:22:31And you're seeing great basketball. The product is unbelievable.

1:22:36Pat McAfee:So let's talk about the international players getting more money with NIO now because wasn't that kind of the alternative for high school players that were no longer allowed to go straight to the NBA? I think one of the Ball brothers went over and played in Latvia. Yeah, Australia. Or something like that. And they talked about how you can get money over there while also learning how to play against pros and everything like that. Now the NIL money is more than what those leagues were going to be. That's a fascinating little... And rev share. You know, rev share is what schools can pay. But NIL is added to it.

1:23:10So, look, these young men are making a lot of money. God bless them, they should. They're putting on a great show. And that's the model from now on. And then a big phrase, a big term is roster management. And so in the next few weeks, with the portal opening up, who's going pro, who's transferring, how these teams manage their roster, you can come back. If you're a big-time program, you can come back in one year because you can bring 10 new players in.

1:23:51Pat McAfee:Coach, hypothetical here, and I know you're not in there, but let's say somebody at West Virginia was an alumni. Okay. Wanted to take maybe a Euro trip. Okay, I want to go take a Euro trip, check out some of these European pros. Naturally. I found four of these guys that I like. These guys be good Mountaineers. How much are these guys making? Actually, how much money are these guys making in college? hoops right now because the money around college football was like there was like a six six and a half seven coming at the quarterback position obviously that is uh that is a different animal and who knows what's real because nothing needs to be actually reported which is kind of a part of the entire problem because what is the market everybody just kind of makes it up as they go but i think people kind of have a sense for basketball i'm not talking about a duke but let's say a basketball what is the going rate for like a top guard or a top big or a top something like that is that already been figured out yeah it'll well it's seven figures and what level of seven figures The thing that you mentioned, though, you would not be able to just go over and watch them all play.

1:24:49In Europe, now wait a minute, you would have to do a tour because we're able to see high school kids when they go to AAU tournaments, a group of them together. The international players are all over Europe. You might go and see one and see another or whatever. So really the job under Coach Underwood's done at Illinois is fantastic. He seems to have fallen in love with the Eastern European player and they're good. And you do that, that means his staff must spend a lot of time or a member of his staff going over and visiting different places and having contacts in Europe. How you recruit now is so much different than when I recruited.

1:25:47It's so much different. That's why John Shire's done a much better job than I would have done in putting this whole thing together. I don't think that's true.

1:25:57Pat McAfee:I'm not going to let you say that. I'd like you complimenting Shire because he's probably taking a lot of heat right now in your world, but you would have figured it out. you know you would have figured it out well I would have had him as an associate helping me exactly exactly you would have had it figured out so I understand what you're saying and this is just like Saban too Saban's like I don't think I would have been able to it's like you would have you would have you would have been able to figure it out that's a that's a whole different beast like going European obviously coach K would figure it out but going over there knowing which leagues because like you said the AAU circus here you know you're going to get top players playing against the top players now going over there language barriers I'm sure people around Like, that's a whole different...

1:26:33What was that, Doc? They're men, too. They're men. They're men. They're not 18-year-old boys. And they've played against men. They've been pros for X number of years. Two, three, four, five years. And so, you know, when it says on the rosters, some of the international players are freshmen, look at their age. Okay? Look at their age. They're not 18. What was that movie where they went to Spain?

1:27:01Pat McAfee:Hustle. Yeah. Yeah. And then there was a documentary down in Africa too. Right. I think there's like a basketball academies down in Africa is what, yeah. Like basketball academies all over the world and the NBA, I've worked for the NBA now for the last three years, the NBA has done such a great job of global management of the game and the teaching of the game. And, and so there are just more good players in the world than ever, than ever. And college basketball now is not U.S. It's the world, for crying out loud. Yeah, West Virginia needs to get a little worldly. West Virginia needs to get a little worldly.

1:27:42Pat McAfee:They're focused on the next game. They got that Canadian guy. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about over air. I'm not talking about up air. I'm talking about over air. There are a lot of great Canadian players. Steve Nash, I got respect. Justin Bieber can obviously shoot well. I got a lot of respect for the Canadians, but what I'm talking about is that we want the Luka. You want the Eurostep. I know Stoyakovich is from here, but I want... He's got that flair. Why don't you guys win the thingamajig out there? Have you heard about this new tournament that's going to rival the Final Four, the SuperDuper other crown, West Virginia's playing against Toronto Blue Jays?

1:28:20Pat McAfee:Just early look at this bracket. Not yet. You guys have to publicize that a little bit. All right, let's get back to the final four. Tone has a question for you. Yeah, Coach, I have a question about Michigan. They have won by 21, 23, 13, and then 33 against Tennessee yesterday. As a coach, does that concern you at all going into the final four that they haven't played a close game in this tournament yet? Or do you believe it's a good thing that they're playing so well that they're blowing out teams? I feel like UConn might have done that a couple years ago where they just blew out teams their entire run.

1:28:56Well, your points about Michigan are well taken. They're on a roll. They lost their backup point guard about a month or so ago, and it took them just a little bit to regain their continuity. See, continuity is key. I thought it hurt our team with the injuries to have continuity going in, being in the tournament. They are on a roll right now. They are having fun together. They have eight guys who can play. Lindenborg is really as good as anybody in college. I'd still vote for our guy for national player of the year. But Lindenborg's right there. And Mera is unbelievable. I mean, 7-3 from Spain.

1:29:46That's what's happening. And they block about six, seven shots a game. And the beauty yesterday was not just their defense. They were passing the damn ball. They made the extra pass all the time. And it looks like they're having a lot of fun playing.

1:30:08Their game against Arizona, you're going to see eight against eight. And I'm not talking about officials. Both teams have eight solid players. in that combination of international, young U.S. and old U.S. And they're both amazingly well-coached. And they have continuity. They have continuity going in. And so does – well, all four do now.

1:30:35Pat McAfee:I love the final four that we have. I think we've got a gritty, talented, exciting dogs. Like, I think we've got a group that will fight, which, you know, that goes back to the question you just asked about Michigan there. It's like, I think they haven't had to prove that yet to us yet. But I feel like they will. They went through the whole Big Tens. Yeah, exactly. They're playing great. They're not playing well. They're playing great. And they have a – and Dusty, they have a coach that's been there. You know, he's been there before. He's from Indiana. Yeah, he's an Indiana guy. You know, he's a manager.

1:31:08He's a manager for Coach Knight.

1:31:10Pat McAfee:Yeah, and then just kick him out of the building. Mullins is Mr. Indiana. He's a Yukon now. You know, that kid with the ponytail from Illinois. Davis. He's literally from right where the Thunderdome is. These kids could all be playing. Got to recruit your state. You could be wearing the... Got to recruit your state. Yeah, we'll see. That's what you got to do. You know what you need to recruit? Where's that? Europe. Yeah, well, it's in Europe. It's the Indiana. Okay, I understand. Indiana is kind of the Europe of America when it comes to creating basketball talent. Now, let's get to some more conversation about the top here of college hoops as a whole.

1:31:44Pat McAfee:Good con man. Yeah, Coach, you mentioned Dusty there, And it feels like right now, looking at these four teams, all four, you know, leaders, all four head coaches are, you know, very in your face type coach, kind of old school, like we say. But they've led their teams in their respective to win their region. What is this week like? You know, how much of an advantage to kind of give Hurley just because he's gone through it more recently than some of these other guys. And he's won kind of on his own with that back to back run UConn had. Or do you kind of think maybe some of these other schools, Illinois in particular, they're so young there, they don't even have to think about it.

1:32:20And I say young as in their run in the tournament. None of these guys have the pressure or thought of like what to expect, even though they're much older European players. What do you think about that aspect? Do you kind of think UConn might have a little bit of an advantage just because they know, hey, this is going to be the media day. this is going to be the stuff they're going through, or where do you kind of see that going into this weekend? Well, it's a good point about Danny. I mean, obviously he's won two national championships, so he's driven that road before and driven it really well.

1:32:55It's a long week. It's, you know, everyone is euphoric around you. I think these first couple days, probably to enjoy it a little bit more and find out when you stop enjoying it, you know, like later in the week. Is it the Wednesday or the Thursday? When do you get there? You can get there too soon. Danny probably has, I don't know if he's done the same travel each time, but how do you do that? How do you get adjusted there? And then while you're there, what access do you give the players to everyone else? Because everyone's going to want to be around them. You know, you guys brought up a point about Lucas Oil and being in the Dome and shooting.

1:33:47That's as good a place to play the Final Four as there is. I can remember our last Final Four there. We won three championships in Indy, two in Lucas, Ohio. And I remember walking up for the championship game and how beautiful it was. Like I'm saying, holy crap. Thank you for saying this. This is magnificent. I think it'll lift up all the kids. But it's, you know, like Saturday's a moment in time for all these teams. And four champions under one roof. It's the best day in college basketball. And to do it in Indianapolis where you can feel the tournament all the time, wherever you're walking, eating, in Lucas Oil.

1:34:44Yeah.

1:34:45Pat McAfee:I'll tell you what. You're 100 % right. Indy should host all of these. Yeah, they should. Every single time, bring it to Annapolis. Does Coach K have any say? He should. Here is the first look at Lucas Oil Stadium as it is getting pieced together. You know, that stadium has hosted many things. Olympic swimming trials. They put an entire Olympic-sized pool in there. That was deeper than France's pool, I think, whenever they put it in the stadium. Anytime they did basketball in there, your immediate thought is, I always hate the way a court looks inside a stadium. It looks stupid. They have that thing executed perfectly.

1:35:14Pat McAfee:They shut that thing down. It just looks like a massive basketball arena. It doesn't feel like you're too far away. It feels alive. And I appreciate you saying that, Coach, as somebody who's obviously played in there. That means a lot, obviously, coming from you. It feels like it's a great venue. It does feel like it's a great venue. You know, nothing against all the other venues. But if they ever had a permanent home for it, it would be there. Wow. By the way, the people who own the tournament are the NCAA. The NCAA owns the tournament, and that's where they're at. you know and maybe while the tournament's going on they could meet and figure out how the hell to put guardrails and transparency okay what the hell's going on let's not try to deflect this because duke's not in the final four okay we know there's a lot of things to figure out final four in indianapolis will be incredible shout to scott agnes on the photo there uh for it coming together and uh we appreciate the hell out of you coach thank you for joining us please send our positive words to the Duke Blue Devils and also a reminder that was one of the biggest moments in the history of basketball last night what happened.

1:36:19Pat McAfee:Huge. That was gigantic. You guys' positive words. What's that? I'm a husky man. He said no positive words to Shire from him. No, he should be proud of man. Look, one of the reasons they won is on the court leadership. Caravan is magnificent. For him to make that shot the three before and then have the presence of mind to throw it to Mullins not throw it pass it to him that was one of to me one of the great plays to pass not just the shot I mean there's pressure there's a turnover Mullins gets it actually says let's give it to the senior the guy that coach Hurley has said the greatest player he's ever coached and Mullins gets ball back and say you know what I guess I gotta do it yep ready it's a big time on the court leadership he's as good as there is the caravan have you ever forehead the forehead a ref and say you know what I think time's up I think we won the game didn't we bud is that good you ever do one of those no but I'm glad Roger Ayers the official handled it right that would have been catastrophic for calling the truth maybe it's something on his nose we don't know coach's nose was itchy what if that's their handshake if they've got a really good relationship because COVID was taking us completely away from handshakes whenever they got on the other side of COVID they decided we're going to kind of counter that We're going to be as close as possible every time we see each other.

1:38:04Pat McAfee:Every time you're in nosies, they do every single time they see each other. I think it's bopping heads. It is bopping heads, isn't it? First you bop the wood, then the heads start bopping. Then you got some real stuff going on. We appreciate the hell out of you, coach. All right. See you guys. You're the man, ladies and gentlemen, Coach Krzyzewski. Yeah, coach. Coach would have been proud of the putts I made yesterday. Yeah, he would have. Uh-huh. I feel bad for him. Coach a golfer? He's bummed out. Yeah, he's scrapped. I would assume so. He's scratching. All these. I don't know. He's so lucky.

1:38:36Pat McAfee:He's saving golf a lot. A lot. Different sport. Now that he's retired, he does a lot of the golfing. I think that's kind of his thing. He's a really cool-looking guy kind of walking around in Air Forces. Have you guys seen him? He kind of – This guy? Yeah. Wow. He looks really cool. Like Michael Imperioli. Yeah, there was three cops that showed up very, like, stern-looking as they walked down this far here. I had eyes on them. I was wondering what's going on. And then you've got to remind yourself, there's 32 billion 31 billionaires here and they all have all their families here so all of the securities oh yeah that all of them have are all here and you can you can sense it that we are in a place that is uh good luck serious people so the fact that we're in here is outrageous i would say todd yeah without a doubt uh you know it kind of just it sets in when you're walking up there and they got these dog sniff and everything.

1:39:26It's like, hey, this isn't some, you know, Mickey Mouse dick around thing. This is very serious business. How much money do you think is in this hotel right now? Total. I don't know.

1:39:36Pat McAfee:I mean, like... I thought about that as I was walking through because I see one billionaire walk by. Damn, actually here. I'd say, actually here. Because I assume this would be one that a lot of people would just say, no, I'm not doing that. Whatever. But it feels like this is one where everybody is like, hey, yeah, we actually got to do it. Now, I think they have it to a point where it's only at a couple spots. which I assume it is like very well. Hand-selected. Yeah, like, hey, we need the rooms. We need this. We need this type of stuff because obviously these people are living very good lives.

1:40:00Pat McAfee:Their league's the biggest on planet Earth. And coming into the league, some of these owners, wealthiest humans to ever exist. So to have all that and for us to be here is pretty outrageous. It's wild. Very lucky to be here. Very thankful to be here. And the decisions that are made here are literally a big deal. And I will say, Joe Buck, I just saw walk by. Oh, really? The Joe Buck? McDonough was here. Okay. hey it's not to rico my italian mike's here yes collinsworth was here okay all the stars are at shrags treggs he's around here i guess it's brady's got to be here then too right uh he's owner right yeah do they bring brady's one percenters brady's private like is lin been here oh i hope it's for sure here linben owns this but actually the biltmore i didn't know if one Lin Bin, 1 % purchaser of the Miami Dolphins recently for$125 million, which is a$12.5 billion valuation for a team that hasn't won a Super Bowl since.

1:40:5973? 1973. 74, maybe?

1:41:02Pat McAfee:Did you guys win it after the perfect year as well? I don't remember. Yeah, the actual year is 74, but 73 season. Okay. Long time. They haven't won a playoff game in, what, 26 years? Gumpy, how's it going back there? Powell had a little bit of a day yesterday. Gumpy did a little golf. have a day a little chat and did a little insider did a little networking him and sal capaccio caught up for a bit of a while gumpy how we doing back here paul pretty good a little bit of a runaway yesterday it's about a 12-hour shift i'd say pretty good run there pretty good run boys i took a nap in the middle of it i came back for your late shift you know the old school days the shipyard painting days when you're doing the uh the third shift if you close i'll tell you i haven't seen guppy like that in a long time hey gumpy you look like you had one yesterday how could you not We're celebrating football in the middle of March.

1:41:46Pat McAfee:Amen. Right, Gumps? Yeah, it was a hell of a day on the course. Like, I've never seen a performance. That was the best round of golf I've ever seen. It was legit 10 fucking putts. It was insane to watch. I was just driving around in the car. And Bean. Bean's hitting three woods. He's as advertised. You're around trees. He was so good. Did you bring those shoes? I bought everything you see there I bought there. That's a great looking outfit. Thank you. It came together. Classic you. Happy to see you out there, man. Size 35. that calper i'm just uh flyers okay yeah i brought the flowers to the desert you know what i mean shoes unbelievable um i would say a pro shop was a 10 out of 10 okay arizona country club is the name floppy that's useful that was a flop right there this one might have a little bit of a role is the kid going to be able to knock it down yeah he will no problem see you later there's beano going there's foxy saying what's going on man and then everybody knows it's spider x 250 plus unlimited and uh whatever i'm holding that thing like a hockey stick i'm rolling that thing and uh i did a lot of research strictly from my mentions there's me and bino having a good time i guess everybody's using this putter yeah i was going to take it home because it was a rental thing uh after the round i went and put it on the uh counter sure at the pro shop i said i'm gonna go to the bathroom i need you guys to figure out what i need to pay you for this yep come back out of the bathroom they say 100 bucks i say what you could have got yeah you're the proud of giving you 5 ,000.

1:43:09Pat McAfee:So now that golf club with no head cover. Okay. No, nothing. Certainly used is now in the hotel room right now. Oh, nice. Boom. Don't forget it. Yeah. And I'm going to, I'm going to have that thing forever. Best round of golf I've played. Looked like it. First round of golf I played. Maybe we're doing golf this year, boys. Here we go. Maybe we're doing golf putters used by PGA tour winners. Spider, spider, spider, phantom, spider, spider. So I think it makes sense. I think that thing I don't know what it was doing but it felt like it was kind of rolling for itself and we had a great time no driver speaking of hey hey Tiger perfect timing Tiger enough dude for society for your legacy for everything you suck at driving okay your ass at it I don't like this I don't like the conversations that are being forced to happen about you.

1:44:08Pat McAfee:This is reckless. 2026, we got this shit just fucking pulling up here. This thing had to get through two security checkpoints. Stopped, put a hand up, waved, got itself through there. That's where we're at in 2026. Come on. You could probably put that technology in his Buick. Or a Rolls Royce or fucking anything. Sure. That is the conversation that I think, that's my take on this. Incredibly dangerous. I've had friends obviously that have passed away from DUIs, both driving and victims of the entire thing. I've been around the generation of people that thought they were okay driving as they were completely intoxicated because, you know, through our lives, this has basically become something that's very real.

1:44:47Pat McAfee:And it's like, dude, you suck. You suck at it. Like, you're just not. You're not. This is nowhere near a thought that should continue to happen. And maybe, you know, who knows what's going to come out. Maybe he just fell asleep. Maybe something like that happened. But whatever the case, it feels like I hear about it too much and I'm done hearing about it. You're the fucking greatest golfer of all time. You worked your ass off, dude. You woke up at like 3 a.m. every single day to do all the shit that you did. You carried golf on your big red shoulders every single Sunday. You're on the prowl for the golf.

1:45:16Pat McAfee:You took it to a place that was crazy. What you are in the sports conversation as an athlete is goat. Absolute goat of everything. So let's stop with the bullshit that doesn't have to happen. Because this is not something that you should be doing. It's not something that we should be trying to let other people know it's okay. We got robots driving everywhere right now. Figure it out. That's what I would like to say about Tiger Woods. I feel like we had to talk about it. Love you, Tiger. Yes, exactly. That is where this is getting like, hey, dude, come on. You are huge for sports. You are huge for our story, for golf, for everything.

1:45:50Pat McAfee:So let's figure it out, Todd. Yeah, figure it out. Let's figure this out. I don't like seeing it. No, I just think that driving, like, it makes maybe feel normal. Tony, stop it, all right? Come on. Serious moment. There was an interesting reaction. Yeah, there was. There certainly was. I hope he does figure it out, though. Whatever that is. Who knows? Who knows the entire story? I know he blew triple zeros, and the cops said they felt this and that about him. But hopefully he figures out whatever. You know, obviously he's an all-time great athlete. He's human. He has his battles. So hopefully he figures it out.

1:46:21And, you know, we need you around, Tiger. Yes, we do.

1:46:25Pat McAfee:I'm sick of seeing and hearing about him potentially dying as he's dying. I don't like this. Exactly. You don't want the first thing associated with Tiger to be this type of stuff now. Like, you know, I mean, obviously he's had his issues in the past, but, like, you don't want to ruin your entire legacy where the first thing people mention with it is not how many majors it's once. It's like this guy has 10 DUIs. Have Sunday Red, okay? Get a robot vehicle. Tiger Mobile, okay? The Sunday Red Mobile. You can maybe create it. Yeah. just you you own the car congratulations you have a vehicle you can sell for other people orange with stripes you know i mean like this is something now because the tiger yeah i thought you were thinking maybe red because that's kind of his entire that'd be cool too i just figured tiger moving um yeah i feel like they probably had this conversation with like babe ruth like a hundred years ago like hey baby can't you can't be driving like it's 2026 we got this thing this robot showed up right here sure or you know what you could actually probably pick someone you like just give give them a salary and have them drive you around that you enjoy being around like what are we what are we even talking about here yeah i don't know come on figure it out come on dude that's real come on man you're great for sport you did incredible things for golf every time you're around the needle moves for sport let's continue that okay let's be smart let's not die how about that and let's not kill anybody bingo that that would be that would be that would be great um some other things we have not talked about there are some quotes that have come out of the meetings behind us now these meetings are they're all in sessions right now they are literally all in sessions right now there's actual voting and presentations happening now the youtube trends person i didn't know that person's doing it yeah yeah i'd like to see them that was kind of an interesting little drop there by carly urs we don't know who's all talking there but we do know A lot of people talked this morning.

1:48:24Pat McAfee:Andrew Barry, Cleveland Browns GM. He had this to say about the Miles Garrett's going to be traded because they renegotiated and redid his deal. One of the greatest lines I've heard in some time. I'd say this, Mary Kay. Miles is a career Brown. He is one of the faces of our organization. I think we've been very clear, both past and present, in terms of our feelings. I understand all the questions. I'll be honest, I don't really want to waste them. ton more breath on the topic. There's only a limited amount of air around. I'm done wasting breath on this topic. I love that he came out that strong, and I assume that he is telling the truth.

1:49:03Pat McAfee:Yeah. That's right. I know Andrew Barry. We knew Andrew Barry whenever he was with the Colts. He does look more jacked. Yeah. Happy birthday. Happy birthday, Andrew Barry. Happy birthday, Andrew. Happy birthday, Andrew Barry. But it sounds like he's about done with it all. It sounds like they're going to be keeping Miles Garrett no matter what they do with the contract. Yeah, and those conversations will kind of, they'll be here, at least for the foreseeable future, because of who Miles Garrett has been, how he attacks his social media when he wants to get messaging out. And then whenever you rework a contract, you're always trying to look and see, okay, what's the writing on the wall?

1:49:34So that's what he's saying now. I believe him. Shefty, last time he was on here, he said it as well. And obviously, we know things change. So next year could be a different conversation and a different answer or the year after that. But you have one of the all-time great defenders at a very premium position. So, yeah, I would think the Cleveland Browns and Andrew Barry want to keep him as long as he may possible.

1:49:53Pat McAfee:And Andrew Barry, he's been through at Nas. He got hired really young. We thought he was potentially going to get the Colts gig whenever the general manager. He was been like 25, maybe 24. Would have been very early. But always very obvious that he was on the trajectory to become a general manager. Former quarterback at Harvard, I do believe. Cut his teeth in the scouting world. Used to drive around. Would spin it during workouts for the, you know, like, yeah, like the free agent workouts or whatever the case is. He loved ball, and everybody loved him. I don't remember a single person that had anything negative to say about him.

1:50:26Pat McAfee:I've seen him have a good time, too. Like, I think he's, like, built for the job. Yeah. Now, the job that he has done and had. Tough. There's been some shit now. Really tough. There's been a quarterback that took you to the playoffs and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs, and then you kind of kick him out. Then, obviously, there's a deal that changes football forever, and the Deshaun Watson$230 million negotiation fully guaranteed that David Mulligan did for the Cleveland Browns to get back into conversation and get Deshaun with everything that was happening around it. And that being said, that it came from ownership, so he's been hamstrung by this deal forever.

1:50:59Pat McAfee:It's like Andrew Barry's run as general manager has been very fascinating, and I, as fan of his and old friend of his, I think he's got a future that I think he's being told he has by ownership, okay, like because of the Deshaun deal. I think that has kind of been promised. If Stefanski's out, this is obviously like your thing. I don't know how long it's going to take. I don't know if they know who their quarterback is. I don't know if they know anything. But I think he does know that Myles Garrett's going to be his guy. And we paid him$40 million a year to do as such. Yeah, well, and also like the Baker stuff, everything we've heard is that that was kind of like a Baker-Stefanski thing.

1:51:33So he may not have even had any say in that. So it's kind of difficult when the most important position in sports and the most important position on your team, you don't really have any say in who that guy is. because and then you have to answer all the questions when you're not any good it's like well you know there's not a whole lot i can do here and now that he's got his draft picks back like last year he had mason graham who was unbelievable and then sweschinger one defense player of the year and then quinch on juckins was the best rookie running back and ever one of the best rookie yeah and like they had a they had a great great draft class like so yes when he has not been hamstrung he's been a solid gm hey he can spin it till got a couple years here to build too.

1:52:11You got a new head coach, so you got a completely new chapter, and we just had Brandon Bean on here. He's under a different type of pressure. You got to win it and win it now, and then Andrew Berry, he's got to build that winner because Cleveland, I mean, they've never had that, so you just want to see some hope and get better and better. Listen to Bean

1:52:26Pat McAfee:talk to us, you know, because we're a little bit. Sure. Having a good time, of course. Bean, you're going to win a Super Bowl up there? You know, just kind of drop one of those. He goes, believe me, I know. Yeah, I know. He knows. It's like everybody in there knows. Hopefully, everybody in there knows, especially with the way the league is going. This is an incredible time to be a part of football, and we're lucky that we are a tiny little part of it. Now, we will be here tomorrow after tonight's big networking event. What will we learn? Who knows? I'll see that. Yeah. The T's. Yep. A little cliffhanger.

1:53:01Pat McAfee:Camelback Mountains caught me thinking about the cliffs. That's right. I was thinking about hiking the tall part of that. Nah, don't do that. That'd be sweet. How long did that thought last? We had some serious combos about it yesterday. Are you going to booze in for real? Yes, we were. Why don't we climb that thing tomorrow? We were told one hour up, one hour down. It's not too bad. I said, yep, sign me up. Yeah, and I said, I'd do one hour up, one hour down, and then Bailey McComas this morning was like, I was actually poking around five hours round trips when they said, well, who's fucking lying?

1:53:33Pat McAfee:Somebody's lying out here. Who told you one up, one down? AQ should. Oh, that guy's definitely a liar. What? Why does everyone say that about him? He's a bird. AQ looks like a hiker. He is a bird. You're right. He knows the ins and outs. He knows. He's a camelback. Remember when? Was that sarcastic? What? That you said he looks like a hiker. He does. He has the body built for hiking. You think about hiking, you look at AQ and say, that's how hikers are built. Those gimmick shoes that he can like, you know. I don't think he's in that stage of his life anymore. Not. Maybe like a boulder on a hike.

1:54:03Pat McAfee:I'll tell you what. He took care of us out there at Arizona Country Club. How did he play? He took care. He was doing a lot of talking. He was talking pretty good there early. He had a lot of good talking. Moving the shadow. You would say, yeah, moving the shadow over the hole. He played good. I think I even played good. You guys just played outstanding. It was honestly very fun to watch. It was a great round of golf. Yeah, well, it was. I couldn't drive for anything. I got two drives that we used, but Beano pounds the ball. That's why you got Beano. Yep. pounds those fair teams what a gum shoot i think it was fair teams gump had a perfect game gum didn't you have a perfect game no you missed that one oh i saw an 18 i think oh it's a pretty good day oh speaking of perfect hey i wish all right we're gonna take a break on the other side we got coach mike mccarthy the pittsburgh steelers joining us he just hopped through a bush over here hey i just watched him put that there can you go to this back camp oh no not yet not yet we're gonna take a break we're gonna take a break real quick is that okay all right we take a break you put this back camera on to show these bushes that are just right down this uh this this camera back here okay that's all right we'll get it next time yeah so those bushes right there yes i just watched mike mccarthy hop out yep bushes start shaking and him bat himself off right there literally as we were speaking i think he's pretty pumped to talk we cannot wait to catch up with him yes new head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers the Inzer legend, Super Bowl champion Mike McCarthy will join us live from the league meetings here at the Biltmore in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona.

1:55:39Pat McAfee:Be your friend tell a friend something nice. It might change your life. Take five five

1:55:49Pat McAfee:Speaker 4 3rd, Speaker 4 4th, the greatest and ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is a living legend, a multiple suit, ballerunner, winner, a man who's a friend of the program, a Yenzer who is now in charge of the Yenzer's team, head coach of Pittsburgh Steelers. Ladies and gentlemen, coach Mike McCarthy. Oh, he's bringing a gift. Oh, he's bringing a gift. he's bringing a cake what oh yeah oh no we got a little lighter too who's that for Andrew Barry wow it's not for Andrew Barry wow not for Andrew Barry coach thank you for doing this Tony from Pittsburgh happy birthday thanks thank you happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday dear Tony happy birthday to you happy birthday thanks boys I kept that secret I kept that secret.

1:57:05Yeah, I feel like a real dickhead. Happy birthday, Tony. You didn't know. No, I didn't. I was hoping nobody knew.

1:57:12Pat McAfee:I knew. Coach, I know with your size brain, this could be offensive, but put that up over top of there. Why don't you grab a fistful? Perfect. Coach, thank you for bringing that cake for Tone. Oh, absolutely. He's going to obviously love that even more because of the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, let alone a Yinzer who is the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach. We saw your emotional press conference. Okay. We've obviously gotten a chance to follow along. You are the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yeah. How is it? I don't know how many days you're into the job, but how has it been kind of acclimating yourself back to being super yinzer, which is what the head coach of the Steelers is basically.

1:57:51Well, I mean, it's great to be back in Pittsburgh, but I think it's like anything else. Once you get past the press conference and you dive in there and get to work. So the organization's been phenomenal. And just hiring a coaching staff, just go through the everyday stuff. But it's really still surreal in a lot of ways. I can see my neighborhood from my office window. So I'm back living at home. I live in the basement with my parents. So that's really cool. But to be with them at this point in their lives. They're 88 and 84 years old. So it's been really cool.

1:58:29Pat McAfee:Yeah, it felt like that was a really emotional trigger for you at the press conference. And then I think a lot of Yenzer started seeing like the human that you are, the Yenzer that you are. And you talk about being able to see your neighborhood. I think AJ and everybody's told us that you had pictures of your neighborhood in your other offices at other places. So we're happy you're getting a chance to experience being back home as the head coach. Now, obviously, got a lot you got to figure out. Team won the AFC North last year, but obviously did not do well in the playoffs. That has been the story of the Steelers for a long time.

1:58:56Pat McAfee:And what has been your mentality as you address the building on what the expectations are? And how do you kind of get to that? Well, I think it's, you know, this is my third time doing it. So I think through experience, you definitely, when you walk in there, you know, there's so much greatness just as you come up the steps every day. And I think you just got to be in tune with that. You know, to have the opportunity to work in Green Bay with an incredible history and tradition, the same in Dallas. you have to embrace it, but also you've got to make it your own. You've got to build your program.

1:59:32Working with Art Rooney, Dan Rooney, and Omar, we've really just gone step by step and looked at everything. A lot of things you want to keep and build off of what they've done in the past, but then there's a new way. There's a new language. Really looking forward to getting with the players here next week. They'll come in from phase one and hopefully you get to see all those guys and just tell them, you know, this is just the way we operate and want to connect and get our program in place. Because, you know, we all teach fundamentals as coaches. We all have similar plays, but it's how you do it.

2:00:09You know, it's your process. Everybody has a plan, but, you know, we teach systems. You know, we want to get our system in place on everything we do, be proactive with our adjustments and get that in the hands of our players as fast as we can.

2:00:23Pat McAfee:You win a lot. I mean, that is well documented that you win a lot in Dallas. Got to win a Super Bowl. Doesn't matter if you win 12 games a season, which is crazy to think about. Yeah, multiple times. It's crazy. It's crazy to think about. That is the case. But you got to win a Super Bowl. That is what it's like at the places that you've only head coached. Green Bay, Dallas, and Pittsburgh. There's going to be a lot of pressure. You talk about meeting with the guys here whenever they get into the building. Have you been texting guys at FaceTime? What is your kind of role, especially with the stars of the team, or studs of the team?

2:00:51I think it's important to want to touch base. What's really nice is as guys have been coming in town, they stop in. So as the coaches were being, the staff, as we were coming together, it's trying to touch base with everybody as we get acclimated. But to be honest with you, really taking a hard dive, going through this a third time. Like, for instance, on offense, you know, I end up keeping more of the terminology and language of the past. Just trying to, because I am conscientious. You know, you've been through that. You don't want to make it totally brand new if you don't have to, you know. So you're learning their lingo.

2:01:32Well, I mean, like on defense, you know, that system's been there since 1992. You know, Bill Kyron, Dom Capers put it in. Dom worked for us in Green Bay. So you're very familiar. We have guys that have played in that system, coached in that system. So, you know, we don't want to just tear it all down and call, you know, yellow blue when it's been yellow for since 1992. So but just being in tune with, you know, because at the end of the day, it's about communication and connection. So as soon as we get the communication and the connection right, then the confidence comes. And at the end of the day, I think, you know, football is all about who's the most confident when the ball snapped.

2:02:08Pat McAfee:Yeah, because it gets a little slippy when you're getting time and communication is kind of down down there. You know what I mean? and then you put a gum band around it and then you kind of circle back to that thing and then you're talking about this and that and you know you got a lot going on down there and that kind of what it is like i'm bad huh yeah kind of yeah did you put in the buggy did you put in the buggy down there did you yeah okay you have a good time you are super yinzer right now you know that you are a pittsburgh guy no but that's just my generation so that's oh it's like i just like to correct him when i get it just know your hero yinzer right now living everybody's dream you talk about talking to players whenever they come down whenever they get in the town down there you know uh can we talk about you talking to your uh potential quarterback that you might know a little bit afc coaches sit in a really uncomfortable room in a building right over there tomorrow morning yep okay i walked in there this morning for the nfc one what's so uncomfortable about it what how many people i didn't know how many people did you know how many people were in it i guess you would i had no idea it's every local media person basically from every single city is here Look at this.

2:03:07Pat McAfee:It is packed up. I thought we were going to go in there. I've seen pictures before of coaches sitting there and nobody around them. I thought that's what I was walking into. I thought this was like a super. That's not a good sign, no. For you tomorrow. Yeah. I hope there's no one in my team. No, it's going to be packed. It's going to be packed. It's packed. But you know what you're going to get asked the entire time. That's okay. Do you know what you're going to get asked, though? You know, just what a great job you did on the McAbee show. Hanging out with you guys. Hey, that's first question.

2:03:34Pat McAfee:Let's go to the next one. But you did. Let's go to the next one. You did do that. That would be an accurate report. Absolutely. What do you think the next question would be? No, I mean, you always talk about the quarterback, right? Yeah, and they would say. It's the quarterback league. They would say, hey, Aaron Rodgers said that I haven't even really heard from the – everybody wants me to make a decision I haven't really heard from the Steelers, which led us to believe, like, okay, maybe they're both kind of going through processes right now to figure it out. Aaron trying to figure out whether or not he wants to play.

2:03:57Pat McAfee:You guys figuring out when the right time to talk to Aaron. Obviously, you have great relationships with Aaron as well on what it is. How do you kind of juggle all that that's happening right now? because that is what you're going to get 100 questions about that tomorrow. I mean, I've talked to Aaron regularly, and we'll continue to do so. And we're just working through it. And when it's time to fully address it, we will. But it's a process that he's going through, and I'm comfortable with it. But we've had very, very positive conversations on a weekly basis. his offense that he loves is the offense you put into his life.

2:04:34Pat McAfee:He's called it many times. Beautiful. The West coast offense is beautiful and it does this. And he says the modern game is missing out on this. He like, I think he would write maybe a book about the beauty of the West coast. Like, I think he would actually do that the way he's talked about it in the past. That is obviously an offense that, you know, very, very well that feels like simpatico conversations that you're having, or are you going to take, because you just talked about systems that have been in place. first one, it hasn't been in place. If Aaron's your quarterback, it feels like you have everything at your disposal right in the history of your offense.

2:05:03Pat McAfee:Is that true? Yeah, definitely. I mean, the offense is what I believe in. It's obviously what he believes in. That part's already being built on a daily basis with the coaches. We're getting geared up for when we can meet with our guys next week. He's doing it right. It's got to be. It just makes too much sense. 100%. Why would he not want to showcase the offense that he has been singing the praises of every single time he spoke about it, you know? Especially with winning the AFC North last year with how the way it went. Exactly, yeah. A bunch of his former head coach and a bunch of other guys who are in Green Bay who he presumably has good relationships with.

2:05:43Seems like it'd just be a fun year.

2:05:45Pat McAfee:That feels like the right... Yeah. Is that what you're saying to him, though? Is that like the conversations you're having, a part of everything? Oh, yeah. He knows, you know, he talks to the coaches that are there, and there's a lot of very positive, healthy communication going on. Okay. Positive, healthy. Good for you. Go ahead, D. Buck. Yeah, we talked about your previous stops. So now Packers, Cowboys, and now Steelers. How is it addressing the team for the first time as a head coach? Because obviously you know the building, you know the city, but now this is your team. We always talk about presence and commanding room, which obviously you have no problem doing that.

2:06:18But how do you go? What's that process leading up? Is it something you write down? Are there notes? Do you practice it in the mirror? Like how does this go? Oh, yeah. That's a great question because, you know, I could still remember, I think it was March 15th, 2006, you know, the first time, you know, I addressed the full team. And when I walked in there in Green Bay and I was a little under the weather and I stood up front and I'm like, oh, shit, there's a lot of people. Because I've not been a coordinator. But, gosh, it was just, you know, it was a moment. It was actually something I've shared with all the assistants that have worked with me.

2:06:50and we have a program, you can call it, that we have General of the Week where we let the assistant coach talk on Fridays, 8 to 10 minutes, and he gets to present his why or something in line with our messaging. And it really came from that experience because I thought, boy, if I can give an assistant coach for – because as a coordinator, you get to talk in front of a big group a lot. But for a position coach to do that, And it's been awesome to watch younger coaches over the last 20 years do that and see them do it the first time and do it the second time and so forth. But to answer your question specifically, I'm looking forward to it.

2:07:29I really am. And, you know, every team meeting room is different, you know, and it's no different here. But, yeah, I'm ready to go. And what I've learned is less is better. You know, less volume, more creativity is a coaching principle I believe in And I think it's important, you know, because I think we all get up there and, you know, we want to talk and say more than we probably should. But, yeah, I'm looking forward to getting in front of the team.

2:07:56Pat McAfee:Yeah, he wants to run a scoreboard up. I know. I know what we all want. We all want to run a scoreboard up. Yeah, right. Yes, we certainly. When I'm calling the plays, that's right. Yeah, that's right. That's right. What you're back doing, right? Yeah, yeah. You're calling plays next year? Oh, absolutely. How do you feel about that? Because you were calling plays and you weren't calling plays. You're calling plays, not calling plays. You could be a CEO is what they always say if you're not calling the plays. Yeah, you know, it's philosophical, clearly. You know, I didn't call them twice in my career, and I think they clearly were the right decisions, you know, when I did in 15 and did it in 2020 to 2022.

2:08:33So, I mean, you learn from that and so forth. But, you know, I think it's important to, as a head coach, you know, When you bring something specific to the table, that your team reflects that. And when I did make a decision the other two times, I felt like the offenses were successful. So I didn't feel like it was not the right decision. But we want to play a certain way on offense. We're an outdoor team, which I'm back to the Green Bay days as opposed to being an indoor team in Dallas. So, you know, with that comes, you know, different thought process and how you may look at certain things. So, but, yeah, that's why I'm going to call it.

2:09:18Pat McAfee:You see there's no PFF for that. Congrats, Collinsworth, by the way. There's a big acquisition that just happened,$100 million. I didn't read the article, but I saw$100 million and Chris Collinsworth and PFF in there. Congratulations to him. Still bringing it. Yeah, still bringing it. Great product. You being sarcastic? No. You don't like it? Well, I know. Yeah, I like it. I know mathematics is the universe of? Language of the universe. Yes, yeah. Galileo. I didn't know that was Galileo. Galileo. I like it as a tool. I like it as a tool as well. It's a tool. It's a good tool. Yeah, I think it's a good tool.

2:09:51Pat McAfee:I don't like the rankings of guys on Sunday Night Football. You know, I don't think I love that. That's not what I use it for. Well, if you watch games, which we do as fans, I watch with sound. You watch without sound because you're watching film. I'm just watching the game in its entirety. But, yeah, congrats to this. You're watching the game. Sorry, I'm not. That's what I'm saying. You're actually watching. I'm just kind of watching, if that makes sense. But the PFF can't judge like, hey, in Dallas we have an indoor team. Majority of our games are happening in great weather, great footing, great everything like that.

2:10:21Pat McAfee:Let's build the team as such. AFC North football, outdoor football, different. I think that's like the, you know, that's the shit that I think some people get lost in and don't have a good feel for. And inevitably it just doesn't work out. And people are like, why didn't it work out? It's like, whoa. You've got to match the culture, I think, of where you're at. That feels like something you definitely think about, which I like. Yeah, definitely. And I think we all do. Yeah, I agree with everything you said. Pittsburgh's going to be proud of your team. It's part of the fabric. I mean, you know, it's so neat when you do sit down with some of the younger people.

2:10:54When you're in the facility, you're literally sitting where Steel Mill used to be. You know, because when I was a kid, you know, I'd drive down Greenfield Avenue, 2nd Avenue across the hot, you know, mellow bridge and go down Water Street to go to work every day. That was all mills, you know, back in the 70s and into the mid-80s. So, it is part of the fabric is the point I'm making. I mean, there's an identity of how Pittsburgh Steelers football is. And it's at the core. And I'm just thrilled to be part of it. What's your alarm? Is it Oh, my

2:11:26Pat McAfee:life from the

2:11:36You don't even practice this stuff, too. We practice live.

2:11:40Pat McAfee:That one's happened a lot. But that's three songs we haven't got you to buy in on. Happy birthday. The other one. Nice song. Happy birthday song because he felt a lot of words. Birthday boy has a question for you, Coach. Yeah, Coach. Obviously, Coach Tomlin was there for a very, very long time, 18 years or whatever, and had a lot of success. and then you have guys who were with him and Cam and TJ. Like when you go in there and you get a feel of the building, will you use those veterans to, I don't want to say change the building or change the locker room, but maybe will you use them to kind of instill what you believe in and things differently maybe than Coach Tomlin did?

2:12:17Definitely. I think you've got to use everybody. And, you know, they have an experience and, you know, They're assets to what you're trying to build, no doubt about it. But also, you know, we have 12 picks. We have 12 draft picks. A.J. Hawk was my first ever draft pick. Good pick, Coach. God bless him. You see him on the spray tan? He looks good still. Oh, really?

2:12:40Pat McAfee:Yeah. Uh-huh. Spray tan, huh? Yeah. Yeah, he did. He showed up on Friday with one. It was crazy. He looked so handsome. Yeah, that's real. You'd be proud of him. His teeth so white. Oh, my God. Spray tan. Nice little trick for our colored folks as well. I'll have to get to that, yeah. Maybe first game. Come out. Great draft pick. Great draft pick. C.D. Lamb was our first pick in Dallas. I just think that first class is important when you're building a program. The veterans and what's there, when we start next week, they will impact the success of our football team in its upcoming year. But to get them guys connected and show this young group coming in it's extremely important.

2:13:26Yeah, Coach, speaking of the draft, obviously, you know, this is – I don't know if it changes anything with it being in Pittsburgh, being the host city. I'm sure there's a lot of other bullshit that you have to do that maybe you wouldn't normally have to do.

2:13:37Pat McAfee:Wednesday night, by the way, we need you. Yeah, exactly. But when it comes to this draft, you know, you were on the show with us in January before you got the job. Like, how much have you kept up on this particular class? Is that something where you're relying on the scouts a lot more than maybe you would in the past? Like, have you really – I mean, I assume, obviously, you've dove in quite a bit. The draft's right around the corner. But just looking at this draft class, like, how did that process go? Is there anyone you really like? And was it different than years past? Who are you taking? I mean, it's – And who are you taking?

2:14:07Pat McAfee:You know our draft spectacular. That would help us out a lot. Yeah, please. Speed dial, yeah. I'll keep you on there. But I think the biggest thing is, you know, every opportunity has been different for me. You know, Green Bay, Dallas. But, yes, we spent a lot of time in the draft process. I was able to sit in with the scouts before we went to the combine. You know, we took a lap through most of the positions. Didn't get to as many of the pro days as we had scheduled. We were originally scheduled to go to six of them. Just because of a bunch of other things moving around, we just made the one down there in Georgia.

2:14:40But, yeah, we're very, very involved. And when we get back, you know, we have our draft meetings, our final draft meetings with the coaches that we'll go through. So, yeah, we've been working hand in hand, working, you know, splitting our time, probably 60-40 on football versus draft. But, yeah, this is a big draft for us. But as far as being in Pittsburgh, you're just so locked in with what you're doing. It's a couple miles down the river there. But it looks to be incredible. I mean, hey, they canceled school.

2:15:11Pat McAfee:Yeah. People aren't happy about that that don't get it. Yeah, I don't even want to talk to them. They don't get it. That's why the football town wins tonight. We'll see you there. We need you to come through. Yeah, definitely. Don't ruffle any feathers, of course. We don't want any of that shit, but we would love to have you there at football time. What's that mean? Like if you're supposed to go to some hot knobby dinner. Yeah, you're supposed to go to some uppity, you know, super. With suits? Yeah. A lot of them in there, aren't they? They're all in there. I like my new job, Pat. Connor, his question for you.

2:15:46Yeah, coach, draft, free agent. And also adding players through traits this offseason for you guys, especially establishing culture. Did you listen to everything Pat had to say about Michael Pittman Jr. last year and then just say, okay, I'm going to go ahead and tell Omar Khan we need to bring this guy in for our own culture? And also, how much does it help having kind of two number ones, being able to partner him up with DK Metcalf or whoever is a quarterback, having those two guys is going to help out a lot? No, definitely. I mean, Pat's influence is huge in every personnel decision that we make.

2:16:17Hell yeah.

2:16:19Pat McAfee:I would like a fee. I want paid. Yeah, I would. Talk to you, Bert. Bert Lott. Figure that out. Bert will get it done. But no, Michael, I frankly love them coming out in the draft. He was someone that we had rated very highly in Dallas. And if you remember, CD fell to us, which we thought. But yeah, watching his career and just the way that whole deal came available. You know, you've got to give Omar a ton of credit. You know, he was watching that situation, and then, you know, it timed up great. So he's going to be – he's perfect. He's the way I love to play. He's a bigger target, can play all three spots.

2:16:58You know, you play the XZ and the F, you know, move him around. And that's just the way we like to play football. You know, we like to play concept football and keep moving our guys around and try to create matchups. You just said bigger target. Have you imagined what you're going to do with Darnell Washington yet? Big target. Yeah. Big target. No, and Pat also. Tight ends, outdoor football, which Pat's already alluded to, I think it's important. And that's the way the team's supposed to look. You alluded to it. Oh, me.

2:17:27Pat McAfee:I'm just a parrot. Just speaking what I'm hearing. And what I'm hearing is, the Ingers are excited for the McCarthy era. I can't wait to watch you and Renegade do that. Down there at Akershire. We've got to get to work, son. Yep. Oh, my God. I'm in fear for my life. Okay, so it's Obama. Okay, I'll work on it. You on the sideline. In the shower. Yeah. There you go. That's my place to do it. Down in the shower. Yeah, you're right. The coach's photo is about to happen, I think, right? Are they setting up for that? How do you plan who you sit next to? Is it assigned seating? Are you trying to find somebody to sit next to?

2:18:04Pat McAfee:Do push-ups before? You need to sit on both the floors. Yeah. Body them both. No, you just find your spot and take the picture. Don't really put a whole lot of thought into it. I got more important things to do during the day. Yeah, what are we figuring out? The refs? We figuring out 18 season? We got what type of stuff do the coaches handle here? Yeah, I'll tell you what. I've always enjoyed coming to the owners meeting because it's very informative. You know, obviously there's a lot of dialogue. You see the direction, you know, of how things go. I think my first one ever in 2006 was here at the Bill Moore.

2:18:37So, it's always a good experience. I mean, there's not a lot of topics compared to other years, you know, this year. But, yeah, it's a lot of things that you just, you know, it's not my responsibility to talk about outside the room. Do you get to stand up there and, like, talk in front of everybody about the refs and basically say, like, hey, I went through this bullshit once before. I got a fucking loss on my record because of the – The film area? Yeah, exactly. Like, I mean, they should be listening to you maybe more so than anybody else on this. Yeah. Well, I mean, it's – I think technology would take care of that today.

2:19:08You know, I'm being, you know, the optimist. Okay. Because I can't go back.

2:19:13Pat McAfee:Yeah, I don't want to lose your job. I think you're missing a photo, actually, as we speak right now. The boys are all napping each other up. That's the GMs. I think I go first. No. No, I see Andy. I see all the coaches. All right, we're going to go to this. Yes, you do. Hey, ladies and gentlemen, head coach of Pittsburgh Steelers, friend of the program, we appreciate you. Proud of you. Ladies and gentlemen, Michael. Thanks, guys. Coach. Coach. Love you, Coach. Good luck out there. Make sure you can get a good spot out there. Let's not be next to Dan Campbell of Raves. you know I mean LaFleur super attractive maybe don't sit you know get next to uh Liam Cohen looks so cool those pants oh my god Liam Cohen looks so cool look at him look how cool this dude looks dude you look so cool hopefully you'll join us I bet him and Salah already went forehead to forehead they're doing the Hurley that's what they're calling it Yeah, yeah.

2:20:05Pat McAfee:Hurley. I like that. Hurley? You want to do the Hurley? As the boys file in for the notorious annual head coach's photo, Liam Cohen just shook the hand of Jim Harbaugh. Obviously, he looked incredibly cool. Burt Lawton is in the seat there walking behind Mike McCarthy as they make their way. Burt Lawton, the Ends are legend and Pittsburgh Steelers staple. He has a bald head, not worried about the Arizona Sun. I thought that was an aggressive decision. We'll see who sits next to who, who likes who, who hates who. That was going to be the question I was going to have for the NFC coaches when I went in there.

2:20:36Pat McAfee:Wasn't able to ask it because the place was too packed. Coach Mike got on the edge. Yeah, he just went and stood on the edge. Ask for play. Liam Cohen next to him. Oh, Nick got him. Mike McDonald right in the middle. This is my league now, boys. Caboli posted a photo of Sirianni who just walked by everybody there. It was breaking, yeah. It did not look as flattering as him walking. No. He looks pretty jacked right now. Yeah. He looks like he's got some diesel, maybe some science running through his veins. That was a rude photo of Caboli. And if he's super jacked and has any tub at all, he's obviously going to look like he's sitting down.

2:21:07Pat McAfee:Sirianni was exposed here. When we just saw him walk by, I think we got a little. He's going to be running through the Sirianni. He's absolutely jacked, and you just mentioned it. I think we know who Sirianni's first doing the hurley is going to be with. He's going to walk over to Caboli whenever he's done with this and get in his face. Dan Morgan straight back here in front of the hotel. I don't know if we should be shooting everybody, actually. There's a lot of – Dan Morgan has a 12 or in at least probably two of them if I had to guess. All right. It feels like it's really getting after it. We're going to go say hello.

2:21:40Oh, for each.

2:21:41Pat McAfee:Let's go photo ball. Yeah. Front center. Jack. Go back to the coach's photo, please. Can we go back to the coach's photo? Going wide. Scott's right. Right. I'm hitting halfway. I was going to say he's white pants on. How are you doing? He's making halfway both his knees together. Right next to Sean Payton in shorts. Sean Payton's going to body him back, I would assume. If I know anything about Sean Payton, he's not going to let that happen. Yeah, he's going. He's really. Braves has put both arms on the armrest. He has put both on the plane. Imagine him in the middle seat on the plane. On the bus.

2:22:12Pat McAfee:That's my head ball coat. Aaron Glenn kind of. Now we got a guy just standing right in front. Okay, he looks sweet. Congrats to all the coaches. You guys are head coaches in the NFL. Brable is not budget. No, he's not. No, he's not. Sean Payton is going to have to work. He's going to have to get leverage there. Yeah. He's going to win. See Vrabes gripping up, I believe it was Iannacho, the left tackle from Arizona State or right tackle. He was doing it. Yeah, I wonder about that, actually, because that's quite an advantage that he's able to get an actual hand. Now, granted, I don't want to say it.

2:22:42Pat McAfee:Yeah, get your weight up, other coaches. Well, he did it to Will Campbell as well. Yeah. So maybe he thought Will has it somewhere, because Will obviously struggled with some things. But Vrabel is the only guy that we see getting after it with these offensive linemen. who would, in theory, technically be able to feel if guy knows leverage, power, what type of feel he has. So with that being said, I have faith in Will Campbell in the long term. And if he likes this guy, I assume he's going to have it because Vrabels literally had to do it for his entire career. I love seeing coaches like this get hands on.

2:23:11We always see clips year in and year out at the Combine. Some coach getting ran over by either a running back or a tackle or some shit like this. But I love seeing Vrabels really getting in there. Nick Casario, GM over there, he pretty much ran. my pro day, so he put me through all the drills, through all the passes. So you get a little more in. Obviously, the Patriots went on to draft me that year, so I would definitely keep my eye on this guy going to the Patriots.

2:23:33Pat McAfee:Andrew Barry just walked by. He is jacked, so is Vrabel. We don't have Aaron Glenn just walked that way. I'm not taking the picture. Go take it now. I'm not taking the picture this year. I think that's what he said. I mean, he can do it every once. He can. He's an NFL head coach. Coach Reason is classic Hawaiian. I can't tell. Oh, actually. What if he does just send me? I would like to say we as a program thought that Dan Hurley head-to-head thing was AI. We called. For sure. I believe it. I never faltered. You're right. Mania. You believed it, too. Yep. I mean, it's Dan Hurley football. I believed it.

2:24:10Pat McAfee:That's why it went triple platinum. I thought it was a perfect video. Yeah. Yeah, we're like, wow. Believable. AI is really doing it. AI is really doing it because it seemed to have no glitches, no flubs. And it was at the end of a very long video. The original video is like a minute long. So I was like, man, if some editor used AI to add that at the very end of that, that'd be a great. How is that not? I don't know how it's not. Honestly. What is history? What is history of refs too? Different glasses. I'm telling you, I think his nose was just itchy. You saw him. I love it. That might have been there.

2:24:43Pat McAfee:We don't know if that was their handshake. Can you imagine what would have happened, though, if the ref came in just a little bit faster? He did. He's headbutting that guy and breaking his nose. Both of them. both of them bleeding automatic boom boom boom he was just in the moment wow i appreciate it's awesome and i love that it it went the way it went which leads us to this we love good officiating yeah we love refs to get it we love refs that don't want to make it about themselves we love refs that say you can't all right you need to not But is it worth me winning this game for this team right now?

2:25:22Pat McAfee:Yeah. And the ref deciding not to do that? We like that type of feel. Unreal. We like that. We need them in the NFL. That's the type of shit we need in the NFL. So with these negotiations that are currently happening between the refs and everybody in this building in here, that has been very kind to us, very respectful to us, and put us up in this entire situation at a different hotel.

2:25:44Pat McAfee:So nice hotel, too. Nice. Nice hotel. Kind of got our own hotel over there. But on that note, different hotel I've been seeing who's been staying here. Fascinating. So we certainly have a – we like the league. We fucking like it. I like the NFL. I love the NFL. I'm very grateful for the NFL, for what it did for me as a player, what it did for everything. I would like to see the NFL to continue to prosper because the NFL is good for society. We're in Australia now. It's fucking good to be everywhere. It's like, this is good. This is unity. It's good for the game. The refs are a very important part of this thing.

2:26:13Pat McAfee:and I just hope it doesn't become what always happens in these CBA negotiations where it's just like fighting over everything and not just like maybe expanding your horizon, being like, all right, maybe better, we could do that, maybe. Because it feels like there is very heels dug in, which is every CBA, and it's like, hey, especially with what's going on with ABS right now with the umpires, it's like, I think we as a sports are ready for the advancement of officials as well. Yeah. And we know it's a hard job, but we're tired of having to say that. so if we can get to a point where we can all be very good and consistent at a more rapid clip and then we can utilize their current technology as well to help it and then we can also hear why you made the calls that'd be big I think for you guys even though you guys think it wouldn't be good for you I think it'd be good to hear why you made the call that you made that we never have to actually hear from I just hope that they get to a point where this ain't gonna fucking ruin the league because it can't yeah it really can't even if it's oh it's only it'll only be four games it's like okay playoffs don't get decided by some game that happened week two week three week four some loss some string some fail mary happens and it's just completely like we can't have any of it especially at this time it's like we gotta make sure we get this right but it sounds like both sides are ready for war i don't love that yeah exactly you can hope as much as we want and but the reality is what what you just said at the end like in in the most likely scenario it does feel like will be a year with these refs calling up.

2:27:45Man, I hope it's not that long.

2:27:46Pat McAfee:It can't be. The three high school refs that don't think they'll ever make it to the NFL. And if they add that rule, though, that the competition committee proposed, like, hey, one year of an eye in the sky, Gene Steratore calling in when they're obviously wrong, then that would be a great step to, hey, when this does get done, let's keep that rule in and then help these draft season more? I don't like that either. Honestly, as a player, we know it's a tough job. We talked, I think Todd mentioned it, how tough the job is. But these are the humans. These are the guys on the field. Sometimes it's a field game.

2:28:23You don't want... I wouldn't be a fan of an ABS system. That's even as a DB.

2:28:28Pat McAfee:That's because of pass interference. No. You guys... That goes both ways. If you slow down any play down the field, it's going to look like pass interference going frame by frame. I remember the year they tried to do that bullshit. Yeah, they were terrible. we gotta have the best guys out there covering and calling the best products full-time we would like you to fully focus on this please please please we're fully i mean look at us and we have no outcome power nope we don't need you selling cars no we don't need you doing insurance no get the calls right we need you we need good flags yep great flag we need the best flags We need that Team USA flag.

2:29:11Pat McAfee:Yeah. Control. Exactly. These guys are unbelievable. Also, we need these refs to have a little moxie, too. You're talking to 50 million people, potentially. You're speaking for the game. Let's make sure that we have things going on in the spring where we're getting better at that. Hey, here's promo class. Hey, here's a little bit of this. How about we do trust falls? Okay, together so we build up a little camaraderie, a little chemistry here. Then let's talk about it after we fuck up a game. callous the skin maybe just have someone come in and just berate and yell at these guys and be really mean for them to like an hour also in that session make them scroll through tweets about them yep yeah make them see it exactly make them feel it that's how you get hardened exactly bingo grow up a bit this guy bro gotta be shirtless in a cooler that's right yeah exactly this guy's gonna come here he's gonna beat the shit out of you guys for an hour we got toughen you guys up harden you up calcio it's gonna be okay though on the other side you're gonna love it see We don't know if all of these will get instituted.

2:30:08Pat McAfee:But what we think is. It's brainstorming. Can we not all have, you know, we need the refs. But also we need the refs to want to be the greatest. Like the hockey refs. I like them. I don't know what they got going on over there. But I like them. Have you ever seen the hockey refs? Yes. They are the best. I do like them. I'm starting to. I know they get a bad rap. But umps in baseball. I kind of like the umps. I met a couple at the airport. Jordan Baker. Shout out to Jordan Baker. MLB up. Been around for a long time. We'll see what his ABS. Yeah, we'll see. But look him up, please. A house. Walked up to me to the airport.

2:30:46I thought he was like a former coach or maybe a former teammate of mine. Left tackle. Huge. But, yeah, I like the cut of those guys.

2:30:52Pat McAfee:Okay, we're loading a photo right now as we speak on Jordan Baker. Stats and content. He's a 93.9 % accuracy right now. David's son. That feels good. Awesome. Can we get a picture of said Jordan Baker, potentially? Let's get a height, wait. I do believe he's probably a house. I'll tell you what, there's one ump out there who's really been getting cooked. Uh-huh. And Salvi's been cooking him, I think, on the most. These dudes are going to get exposed. And women, right? There's a woman ump, right? Yeah, she got exposed pretty bad on her first call. They said it was right down the middle. Literally right down the middle.

2:31:22Pat McAfee:That would happen to any ump. Happened to be the woman ump. Yeah. Hasn't happened with anybody else, I guess, with the ABS. But it happened to her. They will all be getting judged. Oh, yeah. By all of us. the fact that it's happening in front of 40 some thousand people it's awesome i don't know how we got to this point where it's happening but boy players and coaches are celebrating mightily here yeah you know because like in tennis when they do the hawkeye thing and it's yeah they all clap waiting for the decision the person that's down there making that call like not really known yeah umpires known nfl officials if this was somehow to happen known so the entire stadium being able What a point and be like, you bum.

2:32:03Pat McAfee:I have no idea. As it's being shown up there, crazy new added element to the sport. If Salby's going to be seeing these strikes in the way he's been seeing it, I think a lot of these umps are going to be getting got around. Catchers are seeing it, obviously, because they have the best advantage. But catchers have been seeing it the best, because obviously the pitchers are moving a lot. The batters, it's a tough angle. Catchers are at, like, if the catchers challenge it, it's most likely going to be right. But this ump for the Reds game, and Eugenio Suarez got back-to-back pitches where they said he struck out and he challenged it, and he absolutely did not strike out.

2:32:36But this ump was the one that took it the worst. C.B.

2:32:40Pat McAfee:Buckner. C.B. what? C.B. Buckner. He can't be C.M.B. No, he can't. Come on. That's the thing, though, is like this will probably – like he missed a bunch of calls. Like I assume that is something where the league will go to him and be like, hey, we know it's not easy. But like this can't be happening. It just – it can't. Otherwise, you know, you're maybe going to, we're going to have to put you at third base and kind of just stick you down. I saw some ALCS game of the past. Oh, yeah. From like 2006. Yeah, the Marlins. He might have been reffing that or umping that. He might have been the one because it looked like the strike zone that he'd been given out was.

2:33:14Pat McAfee:That was awesome. There wasn't a single strike. I saw a three-minute video. Not even close. I mean, we're talking like in the middle of the right-handed batter box for a left-handed shooter. Yeah. And just immediately, too, rigging these guys up. Is that Hernandez? Yeah, Levon Hernandez pitching. Legend. One of these. It's a curveball. Hey, Ponche. Look at the Atlanta Braves guy thinking, there's no way. What? My bat doesn't even reach out. Hey. And you can see why guys used to get ejected. Because back then, it's just like, you know, you motherfucker. Are you kidding me? This is 10 feet outside.

2:33:49But there's nothing they can do about it. And now they can.

2:33:51Pat McAfee:And now it's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. All right, let's get out of here. We're back here tomorrow. I feel like tomorrow is going to be a pretty wild day. I don't think the meetings are set up as same as today's are. Okay. With that being said, I wonder if we're allowed to drop into any of this. The meetings? My guess would be no, but maybe. That was going to be my guess, too. You might be able to get in. Yeah. I feel like I would like to learn some of the stuff that they're probably. Like, if you just walked into a meeting with Big Mike and just kind of sat down in a chair. So, me and Foxy walking that way three different times.

2:34:24Pat McAfee:they said media's all out here so I think there is like a pretty uh uh strict yeah I tried to get into the block Nike gift and suite what they say hey someone couldn't know me damn so we just go back with Eller could I take that off I would say also sign right there must have credentials to enter only credential I got what is so confident I'm the DC of the Colts let me buy Hey, happy birthday, buddy. Happy birthday, Tony. Happy birthday, Tony. Thanks, Foxy. They didn't sing in the truck. Happy birthday, Tony. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, Tony. Happy birthday, dear Tony. Happy birthday to you.

2:35:01Happy birthday, Tony.

2:35:02Pat McAfee:Happy birthday to you. You know, nobody else sang back there. It's bullshit. Well, Bone's still potting, so. Wow, Bone, tough days. I mean, you took it worse than Coach K. Yeah, he did. Coach K couldn't sleep. You couldn't breathe, basically. I mean, this guy was in a bad spot last night, patting all over the place. Bone, have you gotten over the fact that Duke's probably never going to do it? Have you seen that list of players? You didn't have anything to say at all. Talk about a sad boner. That list of players that come through Duke? A lot of good players. No chips. Fucking sucks me, yo, guys.

2:35:37That program. Blue blood, huh?

2:35:38Pat McAfee:Thank you all for setting this up. We'll be back tomorrow. Let's get out of here. Be friends, tell our friends something nice. It might change your life. We're in this thing together. Team on me. Team on three. He's gonna get that officer to law. Come on, team on you. Come on. Come on, officer. He has no idea. Come on. There we go. Nope, nope, nope. Put it up. Keep it up there. Put it up. Team, team. Team. Hell yeah. Team on three. We'll see you tomorrow, everybody. One, two, three. Team. Goodbye. Great work, officer.