Hour 1: From NFL Combine with Ravens HC Jesse Minter & Dolphins New GM & HC

16:56Rich Eisen:Which he stakes in Philly's are the best. Yeah. You know what I mean? Who's the best? When you're choosing 23rd overall, who's the best Georgia player available? What SEC guy are you looking at? All right. Okay.

17:07Jeff Hafley:I mean, is there X number of Georgia players they must draft?

17:09Rich Eisen:Yes. Yeah, what's his plan? Yeah, exactly. All right, let's take a break. Jesse Minner's off the podium. Hey. And I'm sending my muscle throughout the rest of the room. We're off and running here from the scouting combine with the new head coach of the Ravens when we come back. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.

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20:13Rich Eisen:our radio audience just returned here on espn radio we're here live with the head coach of the baltimore ravens jesse minter here on the program so what was your conversation with steve like what was that like to be in that man's office and chit chat knowing what this organization means to him it means the world to him and wanting to and continuity means the world to him too it must have been awkward for him to be in a situation like switching head coaches yeah it was humbling

20:44Jesse Minter:and i think uh i think the head coaching change was a major you know a major thing weighing on his mind obviously over that time frame um i think i think in the end you know it came down to there was a chance for it to have a little bit of continuity, but also a new, fresh leader. And so I think you get a little bit of like, hey, let's not throw away, let's not tear down what's been built here for 18 years. It's been very successful. They've been an organization at or near the top every year, in contention, regularly. And so now it's like there's some things that you can keep. There's some things that you can maybe update and change.

21:23Jesse Minter:and I think he felt really good about all the things we talked about. Tell me about the offensive coordinator you hired and why you hired him. Declan Doyle, I think he's creative. I think he's a connector with the players. I think it was really helpful for him to be with Ben Johnson last year in Chicago. Tons of respect for Ben, how he operates, and being part of a new staff as the offensive coordinator. So he was able to really kind of set the table week to week for Ben as the play caller, Ben being the play caller. but he's been preparing for this he's been in the league he's been in the league since he was 22 years old so I don't think the age is a major factor here this guy's been been rolling in this level for a long time work with Sean Payton Ben Johnson some great offensive minds and I'm excited

22:09Rich Eisen:to see what he can do well obviously with Lamar so let's get to this uh conversation I've got Jesse Menter here on the Rich Eisen show your conversations with Lamar what can you share with me that you've had with him?

22:22Jesse Minter:Great. You know, very similar. Like at the beginning, there's normal, you know, there's an openness to want to learn about me. We did know each other. We crossed over for a couple of years in Baltimore. So I think there was, again, like a little bit of a familiarity. Okay, this younger guy, I remember him. We've had a lot of opportunities to talk. I'll try to probably keep a lot of what we say to each other private between the two of us, but I feel like the relationship is off to a great start and headed in a great direction.

22:52Rich Eisen:So what questions did he have for you that you're willing to make public?

22:57Jesse Minter:He was involved in the interview process. So he was in an interview room with you at one point? We were on a Zoom. Okay. And so that was cool. He wanted to hear my vision for him, the offense, the team. What is that that you're willing to share? Yeah, I think it's a really well-connected team that plays team football, that cares about each other, that plays for each other on the field, an offense that takes advantage of his skill set, but also has plays off of plays off of plays. It's a very systematic approach that we can take some pressure off of him in the run game by handing the ball to Derrick Henry as many times as possible.

23:34Jesse Minter:You had a big smile on your face as you said. Excited about that. Right. And so really just building a system that allows him to thrive and be the MVP caliber player that he's been. Run more? I don't know that he needs to run more. You know, I actually think there's times where he can run less. If you build an offense that takes advantage of the under center, the downhill run game, now that opens up a lot of boots and play action and plays. And then, you know, the great quarterbacks have that ability on the key play to execute the second play. So the first play is maybe not there. It's not the perfect play call.

24:09Jesse Minter:Now he can take advantage of that with his athleticism and his skill set. That's what he's always been able to do. And we'll continue to be able to do. You know, listen, I understand the sensitivity of this question, you know, or this subject matter with him about running.

24:23Rich Eisen:We're here in Indianapolis where he refused to run purposely. And it made sense. We're just like, hey, you know, you want a quarterback? I'm your guy. Okay. And Ozzie Newsome and the Ravens were the ones who said, we get it. We're going to trade up in the first round and get that fifth year of contractual control. We believe in you. And we're going to get you up and running, literally and figuratively. But, I mean, he is in this league where the two-way threat, you as somebody who's built to try and stop that stuff, knows how much of an advantage it would be to you to get him to do both. And the question is, is how do you do it?

25:01Rich Eisen:Does he want to do it? Do you want to tell your new OC, we have to do it? And that's the question that I kind of am wondering about.

25:10Jesse Minter:I think there's high leverage moments where the quarterback's willing to do what he needs to do to win the game or win the play or whatever it might be.

25:18Rich Eisen:Right.

25:19Jesse Minter:And I think there's times where you've got to, you know, this is a franchise player. This is a guy you want to be the quarterback for a long, long time. Yes. And so there's a health element and a protection element that needs to be in place to where he's not taking some of the hits that he doesn't need to. So I think it's a great balance there. You want him to be what's made him great. I think you look at Mahomes and Josh Allen and all those type of quarterbacks that can make that second play. And so he's certainly up there in that stratosphere. And again, it's like, can we make the offense help him?

25:52Jesse Minter:And then to where when he does have to do that, he has that opportunity to do that. So best Michigan defender available with your first draft choice as a head coach?

26:01Rich Eisen:We'll see. You got some targeted here? Yeah. I mean, you know how I feel about you. and how I just loved watching you do what you did. And when I first saw you with the lightning bolt, I'm like, you know, of all the guys that Jim took, you're the one that really just stuck it in the guts. But the fact that you left with a championship and now you're trying to bring that to Baltimore, I'm excited for you. Yeah, thank you. I'm really excited for you. Are you all situated? You got everything going? Getting there.

26:33Jesse Minter:Getting ready to maybe make an offer on a house. Okay. How many kids do you have? Three kids. How old are they? Yeah, nine, seven, and four. Okay. So my wife, Rachel, she's the rock star. She has her hands full right now. Right. Kind of going back and forth. Figuring out schools and stuff like that.

26:50Rich Eisen:See, people don't get that. Well, they get it, but they don't think about that when culture changes.

26:54Jesse Minter:My daughter, for example, is fourth grade, and she's gone to five different schools. Oh, my word. So we've had some different moves. Of course. Right. Now we hope that this is one where we can stay somewhere and be somewhere for a long time. Okay.

27:07Rich Eisen:So, and again, what was your first memory of a combine? Where was the first combine you were at?

27:12Jesse Minter:Oh, probably 2018. Just doing like a lot of the informal interviews with the secondary. Kind of seeing it and just being amazed. For John, Steph.

27:23Rich Eisen:Okay.

27:23Jesse Minter:Just being amazed at how big of a deal it is and really just how big the NFL is and how everything is entertainment. Everything's a production. And you realize quickly that it's a business, but it's great. and it allows us to be able to do what we do. This league gives us that platform to do what we want to do at a high level.

27:44Rich Eisen:And so who did you, over the years, spot that you can take credit for that wound up somewhere?

27:50Jesse Minter:I'd say really the first one for me was Geno Stone. He was a safety that we drafted in Baltimore. Now, ironically, he went somewhere else first, came back there, had a really good year, I think in 23, had six or seven interceptions. Sure. Now plays for one of our rivals in Cincinnati. So that's definitely one that jumps out. Jumps out at you.

28:13Rich Eisen:Okay, fantastic. And what's your message to Ravens fans who are still wondering who you are after 18 years of John Harbaugh and having a team that, again, where the results didn't hit in a manner that Steve Bishotti was comfortable doing anymore?

28:32Jesse Minter:I think the message is we want the Ravens fans to have the highest expectations possible, which is to win the last game of the year we we want to internally create standards and create operating procedures that allow us day by day to chase that that allow us to get a little bit better each day not worry about the end result right now but really focus on the process of getting a little bit better at a time right now is the time to build a team you know through free agency through the draft through the offseason program and then when we go out on the field in September that we're ready to represent our great fan base put a product out there they can be excited about.

29:05Jesse Minter:And the defensive side of the ball, what are you going to do?

29:09Rich Eisen:Yeah, we're going to play

29:10Jesse Minter:Ravens defense. You know, historically, this franchise has been the bar for defense in the National Football League, I would say. We plan on getting back to that, and we plan on doing it very quickly.

29:22Rich Eisen:Fair to say Kyle Hamilton is sort of in the Derwin James role for your defense? Yeah, I think there's a fair to say.

29:29Jesse Minter:Fair to say. Right. They're their own players. They, of course, you know their own strengths they're both unbelievable derwin was such a joy to work

29:36Rich Eisen:with for two years love that man he loved you and so he does love it's yeah really really excited to work with kyle kind of what he brings to the table right he's he's younger so he's i think is

29:48Jesse Minter:fourth or fifth year now um and has been already you know first team all pro a couple times so

29:53Rich Eisen:could not be more excited to have him well i'm excited for you uh jesse minter thanks again Really appreciate everything that you've done in your career to get to this point. And I'm fired up to see what you're going to do for a fan base that is second to none, you know, and an owner who is as generous as they come. He's so great with my charity run every single year, me and his wife. And I'm a fan of the organization. And for you, I'm really excited for you. Appreciate that. That's Jesse Minter, the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, right here on the Rich Eisen Show, live from Indianapolis.

30:25Rich Eisen:When we come back, the new coach and general manager of the Miami Dolphins, Jeff Halfley and John Eric Sullivan together when we come back. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.

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31:44Rich Eisen:Jeff Halfley, the new head coach of the Miami Dolphins and the new GM. John Eric Sullivan here on the Rich Eisen show did you guys know at any point in time in your careers that you were on the radar screen of Troy Aikman in any way shape or form for me that's a

32:02Jon-Eric Sullivan:no not until this Miami Dolphins kind of the Miami Dolphins situation came into play um I will say it was a it was a privilege and an honor to once I came on board yeah work alongside of Troy to get him in place um what a resource what an asset uh goes about it the right way and just and just and just a good guy like a tremendous sounding board um for me when we were going through the head coaching process to have troy and dan marino you know sitting sitting by the way i shouldn't leave

32:33Rich Eisen:him out my bad but just troy's new to the was new to the operation that stephen ross is putting

32:40Jon-Eric Sullivan:together exactly but from my vantage point to look at troy and dan yeah two of the best that ever did it at the most important position. And I look at him and I say, would you follow that guy? Whoever it was. And to get their feedback, I mean, I'd be a fool not to weigh that heavily into the equation. Obviously, they both thought the world of him as I knew they would. But yeah, he was Troy was awesome.

33:02Rich Eisen:And so you never really had any conversations prior to a Packer game on the field on a Monday night or a Sunday or anything?

33:08Jon-Eric Sullivan:No, I met Troy years ago. So I'll give you probably more information than you want to know i'll make it quick so my time for you my dad grew up in miami um okay and grew up with joe avizano's family he lived with joe avizano okay um bounced around in the foster care system for a while he lived with him lived with yeah joe's family raised him they both went to florida state together to play football and so their relationship is lifelong obviously joe went on to be a longtime coach of the cowboys he and troy are close so i met troy very quickly on the field when the Packers played the Cowboys. It was a five-minute conversation in 2007.

33:46Jon-Eric Sullivan:I remember it because it was Troy Eggman. He doesn't remember it. I was just a young scout at the time. But anyway, so that was our one and only kind of crossing paths. Memorable for me, not for him, but it's kind of cool how life works out, you know, small world.

34:03Jeff Hafley:Yeah, I had done the broadcast meetings with Troy, just being back in Green Bay for the Monday night games. And then he actually reached out to me, I forget, at some point, you know, before all this happened. And I remember getting a text and said, hey, Jeff, it's Troy Aikman. Can you talk? I was like, yeah, Troy Aikman. If you want to talk, I'll talk whenever you want. I was like, at first I thought it was one of my friends just kind of playing a joke on me. It's like, this is Troy Aikman. It's like, okay, yeah, sure. Yeah. Sure it is. But it was because I called him and it was Troy. And we just talked.

34:33Jeff Hafley:And then he said, he asked me if I ever thought about being a head coach again. And I was like, absolutely. And we kind of kept in touch a little bit and then went through the process. And really cool to get to know him and be able to pick his brain on a lot of things. So that was really our first interaction.

34:50Rich Eisen:Who is the GM mentor for you? Is it Gutekunst? Is it his predecessor?

34:55Jon-Eric Sullivan:It was Ted Thompson and then Brian Gutekunst. I mean, both had a tremendous impact on me. So you're not going to trade for anybody?

35:04Rich Eisen:That's all my Packer fan friends.

35:06Jon-Eric Sullivan:What I will say, like within the pillars of our process, those never changed. But Brian was more aggressive than Ted was. So it was cool to me to see within the same process how they can be a little bit different just based on your personality and your way of doing business. Yes. But both had a tremendous impact on me. I kind of chased Brian through my career. He was a Southeast Scout. Then I was a Southeast Scout. He was the director of college scouting. So then I was the director of college scouting all the way up. and so he was a tremendous sounding board for me um he's a very forward thinker uh he's aggressive he's got a great eye he's good with people um i i have nothing but respect for him but ted was

35:46Rich Eisen:kind of the godfather for all of us sure um and still for so many in the league for sure and you know it's interesting that you both come professionally at least for you jeff you know of you both come from an organization that's gone from one Hall of Fame quarterback to another Hall of Fame quarterback to a kid that's really balling out right now in Jordan Love. Now you're part of an organization that, for the lack of a better phrase, is still looking for the next Marino. So where are we right now on your quarterbacks on the roster right now? John Eric Sullivan.

36:22Jon-Eric Sullivan:So everything's on the table with Tua. You know, I've said it multiple times today and different media outlets. We've talked to his reps. We've talked to him. We've explored the possibility of trades. We are very appreciative of everything that Tua has done and accomplished with the Miami Dolphins. It will be interesting to see where this goes, with the Dolphins or elsewhere. Quinn Hewers is obviously on the roster. He did some nice things down the stretch. My job is to make this as competitive of a room as I can, And that goes really for every positional room. We'll see what that looks like down the roads.

36:59Jon-Eric Sullivan:There's a lot of factors at play. I can't give you a definitive answer today. A lot of conversations that need to be had. But every move you make affects the next one. So we'll kind of see how it all plays out.

37:10Rich Eisen:What are you willing to share about the market that you've seen for Tua since you said that you're talking on that front?

37:18Jon-Eric Sullivan:I think whenever you're talking about a quarterback who's accomplished some good things in the National Football League, who's played at a high level, There's always going to be interest. You know, the details and specifics of that I'll obviously keep to myself. I'd be irresponsible and unprofessional to come on live TV and share that. But there is interest. And I think Tua, I know Tua still thinks he can play at a high level, whether it's in Miami or elsewhere. So I hope that he has the opportunity to do that one way or the other.

37:49Rich Eisen:A couple questions, more questions if you don't mind about Tua. You said everything's on the table.

37:55Jon-Eric Sullivan:releasing him cutting him is also i think it's all on the table right now you know and keeping him

38:00Rich Eisen:is that on the table on the table yeah it's on the table and in terms of keeping him what conversations coach have you had with him that you're willing to share with john eric no with

38:10Jeff Hafley:the two good one i had a great conversation with uh two you know he he uh he was on vacation the first time i called him in the bahamas with his family okay and you know he came by he came by I saw both of us when he was in the office. We sat down and talked for a while, just really just like I would with any other player who's on our current roster and got to know him, wanted to know about his family and kind of talk about his football career and where it was going. And, you know, we kind of left it like that. And I just I told him, I'm going to I'm going to treat you like you're playing quarterback on this roster.

38:39Jeff Hafley:And until I'm told otherwise, and that's just I can look in the eye and tell you that's the truth. I think that's my job to do right now.

38:45Rich Eisen:and the rest of the offense what can you tell fans this is going to in your estimation look like what does a Jeff Halfley head coached offense look like here yeah well we've hired Bobby Sloick

38:57Jeff Hafley:who I have a ton of respect for I love the person coached against him when I was in Green Bay I love the pedigree you know really learning for years under Kyle which who I have a ton of respect for as a play caller I think it all starts with running the football and I know that's probably what everybody says but but i believe that you have got to be able to run the ball in this league we got a pretty darn good one to start with right we did we got some good pieces up front and then watching hn um how fast is he he's he's really fast but he can accelerate so quick he's got such good vision and he can make people miss and then he gets vertical and just gets the extra yards when we played against him on thanksgiving uh not this past season but right here before he caught a screen on us which I was worried about that screen the whole entire game and he made two guys miss and he is just a dynamic football player so being able to run the ball with a guy like that certainly helps and then obviously we got to throw the ball take some shots hunt explosives and but I'm really going to lean on Bobby for that and I trust him in doing so

40:03Rich Eisen:John Eric Sullivan again the new GM and Jeff Halfley the new head coach of the Miami Dolphins Kind enough to finish up the hour here of our first day at the NFL Scouting Combine Live on ESPN and Disney Plus and ESPN Radio. Who are you looking forward to? Which position group do you think can shine out here at the Combine that you're looking forward to seeing?

40:25Jon-Eric Sullivan:You know what? Every draft is different in terms of strengths and weaknesses. The thing that I pay close attention to is how they compete, how they interact with one another. I like to watch them all, to be honest with you. I grew up, my dad's a long-time wide receiver coach. I played receiver. I love watching the skill guys. But then we got to build this team inside out. So I love watching the offensive linemen, the defensive linemen. It's hard for me to say one group in particular. But I just like watching these guys compete, interact, see what kind of professionalism they have, talk to them when they get in our room, find out what's important to them in terms of their priorities, winning versus individual accomplishments.

41:03Jon-Eric Sullivan:We're trying to build something that has a certain culture certain feel to it yeah and i think you you take this week as it is and you can you can start to connect a lot of dots and cross a lot of t's what's a what's a meeting room at the combine

41:15Rich Eisen:look like jeff halfley for the miami dolphins and for you guys what's it look like what does our meeting yeah yeah like i mean are you trying to scare these guys something to these guys sometimes i've been in some i wanted i wanted to scare all of them he told me i was out if i did

41:29Jeff Hafley:so i'm not allowed to he looked at me and i started trying to go on the first one he gave me an elbow and he's like knock it off no intimidation no intimidation okay he said you're the head coach you're not a defensive guy anymore okay so lay off the hard questions but there's a grease board right there's all that sort of stuff we don't have a grease board no ours has been and i think he's done a really good job of leading it because last night was our first night and i didn't realize we're sitting there for about four straight hours so i mean welcome to the machine welcome to the machine so i got a lot of respect for what he's been doing for all these years right But it's really been about getting to know the player and then having a plan and, you know, having questions that that he's come up with so we can kind of have something to compare each player to.

42:09Jeff Hafley:Yeah. And but really making the player feel comfortable so that we can get to know him rather than just intimidating the guy and not getting anything out of it. So truthfully, I think he's done a really good job and I'm not just saying that because he's sitting here. OK, no, again, I've been in some places where they dim the lights and they just put the light over.

42:29Rich Eisen:It's not like an interrogation scene. Do you want to come and interrogate someone for us tonight? By the way, I'm for hire. I'm a Michigan man. So I go to a campus where, you know, the boss's name is everywhere. You know, the business school. You know, I'm not messing around, but sure.

42:46Jon-Eric Sullivan:Yeah. I know Aikman, too. I really can't invite you to do that. This is his deal, so I'm all for it. You're welcome anytime. Put the light on the floor. No, don't just say that now. What if we get to give you the floor?

42:55Jeff Hafley:What if we put you in the chair and get to interrogate you? I'd love that. I think we should do that.

43:01Jon-Eric Sullivan:That would be good for TV. That would be great for TV.

43:03Rich Eisen:Which is what I'm all about.

43:05Jon-Eric Sullivan:Let's do it.

43:05Rich Eisen:Which is what I am absolutely all about. In the few minutes that we have left here on the show, give me, John Eric, a moment at a combine where you were part of the process, where you identified somebody on the field, like, I need to dig in more on this kid. and then you dug in more boxes got checked draft hits you pound the table you get them and he showed out you got somebody for that Eddie Lacey awesome yeah how so just uh you know Eddie

43:38Jon-Eric Sullivan:Eddie was obviously a very good player at Alabama um there were some questions coming out when we peeled back the layers what we found out found out about Eddie Lacey is he loves to play football. When the lights come on, he performs. Incredibly tough, loves to compete. And I think that showed itself in his time with us. We had to have a lot of conversations, but you couldn't find anybody in the building that Alabama, that in their own way didn't say, hey, listen, are any players perfect? No. But here's what you need to know about this guy. When the lights come on, he shows up incredibly tough.

44:17Jon-Eric Sullivan:Teammates love him. And he was all of that once we got him.

44:20Rich Eisen:And so when you see somebody like that, right, like that, that moves them up a board when you just know that there's a love of football and everybody just says he's a gamer, that that's a metric on, on, in your world.

44:33Jon-Eric Sullivan:That's a huge part of it. And he was actually at his pro day in terms of the workout. Um, you know, it's, it's kind of what we do as evaluators. Like if he didn't blow up the testing numbers, he actually ran four, six, Oh, four, five, nine, which on the metrics would be marginal to poor. I think he jumped 30. None of that stuff would light it up. But once they put the ball in his hand and he started going through the bags, I mean, you're looking at each other like this dude's a Cadillac, man. He's really good at what he does. And then when he came to the Green Bay Packers, I'll share this story with you.

45:10Jon-Eric Sullivan:You go through phase one, phase two, you never put on the pads. And we had drafted a guy by the name of Jonathan Franklin the same year out of UCLA. Sure. Great, really good football player in his own right. Great human, great dude. Great dude, really good football player. But in shorts and t-shirts through those phases, everybody's going, man, I think Jonathan might be the better player of the two because he's twitchy, he's fast. As soon as the pads came on and we put the ball on Lacey's hand, all that went away. The balance, the contact balance, the vision, the feet. He was a marvelous player, really fun to watch.

45:42Jon-Eric Sullivan:Anyway, that would be my example.

45:44Rich Eisen:That's why you get the Bucs, man, is to try to figure out who in pads, right? I mean, Terrell Davis didn't run very fast with his combine. You put the pads on him, he's in the Hall of Fame.

45:54Jon-Eric Sullivan:That's what you're hiring him to do is play football. You know? You can't get away from that. This is all great. It's important. Of course. But it's a means to an end. It doesn't drive the ship. Well, congrats on your new gig. Thank you.

46:06Rich Eisen:Thank you. Appreciate it. Both of you, obviously. Congrats. This is the team right here in South Florida. I'm excited about it. This is it. You got a message for Dolphins fans, Coach? What do you got?

46:17Jeff Hafley:My message is, it's like what I said at the press conference. You know, they deserve a winner. And I think this is the starting point for us to build this foundation. And in time, we're going to make them proud.

46:30Rich Eisen:Okay. Thanks for coming on here. Thanks, Rich. Say hi to the boss. Tell him go blue for me. Oh, and I also meant Aikman. Say hi to Troy. Fantastic. Thanks, Rich. That is the new general manager and the new head coach of the Miami Dolphins here, John Eric Sullivan and Jeff Halfley, to wrap up our first hour here. When we come back, Omar Khan, the GM of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Robert Sala, the new HC in Tennessee, coming up. The Ridge Eisen Show podcast. Shot clocks, big shots, upsets, aces, TGL playoffs are here. First, Atlanta Drive starts their repeat run against Los Angeles Golf Club. Then, Rory's Boston Common Golf and Tiger's Jupiter Lynx face off in their playoff debuts.

47:10Rich Eisen:Who will advance? Keep up. It's playoffs. Tune in Tuesday, March 17th at 6.30 p.m. and 9 p.m. only on ESPN and the ESPN app.