Hour 1: Harbaugh to Giants, Dante Moore Snubs Jets, plus ESPN CFB Analyst Josh Pate

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0:39Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami. Gunned down. The key to this case, it's Brian.

0:47Rich Eisen:Boy, he's ripped him. An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with somebody. This might be a hit. You want the truth. Biggest one of convictions being placed into arrest. We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now.

1:28This is The Rich Eisen Show.

1:30Rich Eisen:The Giants, they sent a jet for John Harbaugh. This is the Rich Eisen Show. If you're flying your candidate via PJ, you want his... The Rich Eisen Show. Jay Hancock on a piece of paper. Today's guests, ESPN college football analyst Josh Pate, actor Rob Lowe, senior writer for the MMQB, Albert Breer. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Hey, everybody. Welcome to this edition of The Rich Eisen Show here on a Thursday on Disney+. The ESPN app, ESPN Radio, Sirius XM Channel 80. We say hello to all of you. Every single person watching us or listening to us, you're very important to us. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial.

2:20Rich Eisen:We've got phone lines open for you right now. We already love looking down and seeing phone lines lit. As soon as I say a word, that's all good in our hood. and Rob Lowe's back here on the program right in the middle of the show. It's going to be a lot of fun. He is here to support On Location, which is the spot that leads to, I guess, stadium experiences, sports experiences. He's here because he's going to the Super Bowl along with On Location. And so the man known for wearing a shield on his hat is representing the shield on the hat in a way. Do you have to wear the shield? I don't know. I can't wait to see Robbie.

3:08Rich Eisen:Can't wait to maybe talk with him about what was up with the shield on the hat. And I shouldn't say anything because I've been wearing a shield on my figurative hat for about 24 years. You get accused of that. Yeah, of course. At any rate, he is on location's first ever brand ambassador. So we're going to talk Super Bowl with Rob friggin' Lowe. Love it. Hour number two. Josh Pate is going to join us to talk a little college football with Dante Moore saying he's staying put. And, you know, Timo Mahomes is saying, well, I'm here. Come on. He has a name. Dylan Real. Okay, good. Okay, thank you. It's amazing.

3:47Rich Eisen:Every single time I see him, I'm like, is he trying to be Patrick Mahomes? And in our number three, Albert Breer is going to make heads or tails of this crazy football world in which we live. Good to see you, Chris Brockman. Hey, Rich, how are you, man? Good to see you, Jason Feller. Are you kidding? This is a dream. Good to see you over there, TJ Jefferson. How are you? You know, me and Adam had a conversation about Rayola the other day, Rich. Adam Chudwin, our call screener. Adam, our call screener. And he thought it was weird like you did. But I'm like, if you're growing up in this generation, like our generation, everyone wanted to be like Mike.

4:19Rich Eisen:Sure. The next generation was Kobe and AI. So, yeah, if you're if you want to make it as a quarterback in this generation, why wouldn't you emulate? Of course, that makes complete sense. But when you're saying like Mike, are you saying Dylan Rayle is only good because he's wearing Patrick Mahomes, his shoes? Are you saying? Wow, maybe. That's a deep pop culture reference right there. Easy as there, Thomas. Was it in a movie? Rich was in. All good. Yes. As Stuart Scott, by the way. That was my IMDB. Look it up. Rich Eisen is Stuart Scott. Like Mike. At any rate, 844-204-RICH, number to dial here on the show.

4:55Rich Eisen:Let's get to it. We start today's show. I love doing this sort of stuff. We start today's program here on the second Thursday of this new year. Third Thursday of this new year. We start today's program in the middle of January on November 18th, 2007. That was the day the New York Giants went into Detroit and beat the Detroit Lions thanks to Eli Manning's arm. Manning, yeah. 16 to 10. Oh. The reason why I bring this up, it was on this day. Tom Coughlin, who had joined the Giants organization just only a couple years ago with 68 career wins from his Jacksonville Jaguars tenure, he won his 32nd game as head coach of the New York Giants.

5:43Rich Eisen:Giving him, we'll do the math for you, 100 career regular season wins. And at the time, that was a rarity because no other coach has stood on a Giants sideline since with 100 career coaching wins. The last time the Giants had somebody stand on their sideline with 100 career regular season coaching wins, it wasn't Bill Parcells, who won only 77 games starting his career as a Hall of Fame head coach with the Giants. Steve Owen, who holds the record for most career wins by any Giants head coach with 153. And here he is on the sideline talking to his New York football giant, as they were known back in those days.

6:34Rich Eisen:That's Yankee Stadium behind him. He's talking to Tom Landry right there on the screen. I'm looking at that like... That is Tom Landry, who played for the Giants before he became, as we know, an all-time great winning games for the Dallas Cowboys. That's it. That's it. Those are the coaches in the Giants history who have stood on the sidelines with 100 career wins until week one of next season. Because John Harbaugh is going to be the next head coach of the New York Giants. 21st full-time head coach in Giants history. The New York Post. Their headline this very day. Harbaugh's. All signs point to championship coach taking charge of Big Blue.

7:23Rich Eisen:And this is a rarity for the Giants. Not just because of what I just said, but John Harbaugh will be the first head coach in the history of this franchise to stand on the sidelines for the first time to coach them with a Super Bowl ring in his back pocket or in his home closet or a championship figuratively inside his playbook. Nobody's ever taken the reins of the Giants who's either already won a Super Bowl or an NFL championship. As you know, we're going way back here. So John Harbaugh's coming. And it's after 18 seasons with the Ravens, second most seasons with one franchise entering a new job with another franchise.

8:16Rich Eisen:The only guy with more seasons with one franchise before joining another, Curly Lambeau. 29 seasons with the Packers before he moved on to the Cardinals. Whoa. That's it. Some historic stuff. Curly Lambeau, John Harbaugh. oh, this is the sort of stuff we so rarely see. And this, for the Giants fans, they have got to be out of their skulls. Can't imagine that when they fired Brian Dayball in the middle of the season, after Dayball didn't work out, and after they kicked the tires on Pat Shermer, right? Kicked the tires on Ben Don't Call Me Bob McAdoo. after doing all of that with Joe Judge in between.

9:10Rich Eisen:That's the bridge, Day Bowl, Judge, Shermer, McAdoo to Coughlin. And in the middle of all that, an unfortunate boat trip prior to a wild card weekend contest from which the Giants have not recovered since that time. this is exactly what the Giants fans wanted and needed which is somebody saying you've had some issues around these parts let me uh let me bring what I do for a living to you which is why they sent him a private jet and apparently offered him five years 100 million bucks and he's like sold Sold. Sold. Thank you. Sold. Now, let's not dive into the fact that the Giants just had five losses in 2025 in which they held a 10-larger point lead in the game.

10:07Rich Eisen:And part of the reason why Harbaugh is available is because the head coach there in Baltimore, why he's not there anymore is because the owner essentially said in his press conference, we've we've lost too many fourth quarter leads let's not go there even though i kind of just did because john harbaugh will tell you things didn't work out in the long run in baltimore but the 18 seasons are exactly what the giants fans want in say what 10 with this guy in his early 60s you want to get another 10 years out of John Harbaugh go on the sideline and just stop the carousel and searching for the next John Harbaugh honestly the guy also knows the division he went to Baltimore from the Eagles he knows Andy Reid he knows the whole business he knows what it takes to win in this division he knows what it takes to win in any division he knows what it takes to win with a quarterback who can run it and throw it.

11:14Rich Eisen:He knows what it takes to win a division where you want to run the ball downhill with somebody who knows how to run downhill because that's all he knows how to do because he figures the defense is like a brick wall. The guy who's going to be coaching the Tango and Cash of the National Football League, Jackson, Dart, and Cam Scadaboo. And then you throw and Malik Nabors on top of it. And a defense that can rush the passer with just four sets of hands in the dirt. That's what the Giants want to do. And John Harbaugh will know how to do it. And he'll step up there with his Harbaugh demeanor and his Harbaugh smile.

11:54Rich Eisen:And he will charm the pants off of the New York media market. Certainly those who've been covering the Giants with a bunch of coaches that are trying to get their bones, trying to just even match what Tom Coughlin could do. in his tenure there. Grand slam, home run, touch them all. That's it. And they can't believe that John Harbaugh is available for them to fill this void. And fill it, he shall. Let's go. Apparently Todd Monken's coming too. This is OC. Say what you will. Ravens fans will just fill your ears about what they didn't like, how things went crazy, and Giants fans will be like, so did you make the playoffs that year?

12:41Rich Eisen:Yeah, we did. Did you win your division that year? Yeah, we did. Guess what we don't do around here? Guess what hasn't happened around here? And the fact that the owner's like Joe Shane and he apparently is fine, like, fine, let's do it. Check boxes, man. And the Giants haven't had a box checked like this in the head coaching department in a long time. So I will say this. I will ask this question. John Harbaugh's coming. To the Giants. Do they make the playoffs next year? Let's do it. That's a sports talk radio conversation. Yeah, I threw it out. You love this sort of stuff. It's the middle of January.

13:18Rich Eisen:We haven't seen a damn thing. John Harbaugh hasn't said a syllable yet. Right. There's not even... It's trying. We're jumping the gun here. I threw this out on Overreaction Monday this week. John Harbaugh, no matter where he goes, is going to win more games than the Ravens this year. Yes, the Giants make the playoffs. Okay, so the Giants make the playoffs. T.J. Jefferson. No. Okay, and why is that? Why is that? Because the Dallas Cowboys, why can't they have three teams come from that division? Well, I'm saying, I truly believe the Washington football team is going to be better next year with Jayden Daniels hopefully staying healthy.

13:55Rich Eisen:Even though I don't like them, I don't like to see a young man hurt. Oldest roster in the NFL. True, but I don't know. I think that this is going to be a competitive division next year, so I can't say for sure that that's going to happen. I would argue they're the best team in the NFC East. This year? No, going into next year, they're the best team. Eagles, dysfunction. They're going to look really different. New OC, A.J. Brown, probably gone. They've had new OCs every year, though, and they still do well. Dallas, you aren't a serious franchise. Washington, the Giants are still better at nearly every position.

14:31We don't know what Jaden Daniels is going to look like next year.

14:35Rich Eisen:Give me the G-men. The Giants went from 4-13 to what? What are we going to say next year? Your team completely reversed this four-year. We went 10-plus. I'm going to say 11-6 Giants next year. There you go. Win the division. TJ Jefferson, yes or no? Winning the division or going? Going to the playoffs. No. Okay. What am I going to answer this question? We know what you're going to answer. Which is what? You love the Harbaugh's. Of course I do. So you feel like the Giants are going to be better. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not saying it as a diss. Let's see what they do in the draft, too.

15:14Rich Eisen:They got a heck of a draft choice at the top of this draft. And that also goes back to my Cowboy thing, something no one's talking about. That they draft well. Not only that, the reason I was kind of rooting for the Bears so hard is we get that Packers pick at 20. Now the Cowboys have two first-round picks within the first 20. And we do draft well, so I'm hoping we don't mess it up. Who in the playoffs now doesn't make it because the Giants make it? Chris? Oh, the Eagles. The Eagles are out. Yeah. Well, it's every other year they find their proper offensive coordinator. They reset after an OC goes and takes another job.

15:52Rich Eisen:Everybody's wondering if Sirianni knows what the hell he's doing. Everyone wonders what the hell happened to the offense. Are the Eagles now done? Is the window now closed? Then they find another offensive coordinator who gets it right. then he leaves for a new head coaching job. Then they spend another year wondering what the hell's happening around here. Does Sirianni know what he's doing? Next year's getting the offensive coordinator right. Mike Tomlin is going to be... And then that person's going to leave for a new job. That person's going to leave for a new job. Mike Tomlin, Eagles, collision course, 2027.

16:23Rich Eisen:Later on the program, you're going to hear somebody who knows Mike Tomlin very well thinks Tomlin's never coaching again. We'll hit that later on in the program. But I will say this. I'll just say things look really good for the Giants because all you have to say is five losses if they protect four of them. They got eight wins this year. Good point. Okay. And Tango and Cash are coming back healthy, right? I think Munkin is going to love using Cam Scadaboo in his offense. And they got Tyrone Tracy still. They're going to end up drafting well on top of it. I think you're forgetting though you're mentioning Dart and Scadaboo a lot but Malik neighbors coming back too I'm with you I'll say yes I'm not going to say who's out because I need to see other pieces that's not what we're doing here sure it is what we're doing I'm not saying the Eagles are out that's crazy talk someone's got to go you know where you got to go?

17:28Rich Eisen:it's a break Josh Pate coming up next We'll talk some college football. Dante Moore says, I will take Phil Knight's money rather than Woody Johnson's. Am I getting right? Am I getting warmer? Look, I like this one. What the hell? How many kids are in the portal? I want to know the answer to that. That's an excellent question. I've seen something like 10 ,000. I'm going to look that up. Look it up. I don't know if we actually know. It's probably half that. Josh Pate will join us next. The Ball Brotherhood is about to expand on this program.

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20:08Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show podcast. From ESPN, making his maiden voyage here on the Rich Eisen Show, Josh Pates, ESPN college football analyst galore. Good to see you, Josh. How are you? Good to see you guys. I feel strangely, almost suspiciously at home. Yes. You should, Chris. That's Chris Brockman right there. There you go. Jason Feller took off his hat just to be involved in this moment. This is my welcoming. Good for you. There you go. TJ, you want to say hello to Josh Payne? Josh, sorry, I can't. I can't. Oh, gosh. Let's go. I understand, man. We were all there. For me, it was third grade. But, yeah, we've all been there one time.

20:49Rich Eisen:Good to see you, Josh. Pleasure to have you on here right now. We were just talking about the ticket prices and the ability to get tickets to the national championship game. Are people even hitting you up to say what's up for this? It's pretty cool. By the way, I was at the semifinal game. I was talking to some of the Miami dignitaries and what happened. And their big conundrum that they already saw on the horizon was not just the ticket situation. Every other play in a Miami game, you get a shot of the play, and then you get a shot of Michael Irvin. Now Ray Lewis has been on the sideline. And so every other former player is out there watching that.

21:27Okay? So every other former player has it in their mind that, wait a second, national championship game in our building, certainly we have unlimited sideline passes. Certainly I could just get myself down there. And they were already preparing different methodology to break the news that, no, in fact, we do not control who's on the sideline. No, this is not like if we're playing FIU in week three. We can't just flood the sidelines. It's not like a homecoming down here. So it is a tough, tough time. It's a tight little situation they have themselves done in there right now.

21:58Rich Eisen:So we're going to see who's atop the pecking order of the U here, right? I mean, do you have to have a gold jacket? That's what Irv would say. I'm sure Ed Reed would say that. You know, obviously Edren James, Andre Johnson, Ray, right? Sat. Sat. These are the these are the you these guys probably have to be up here. It's got to start some, you know. And then, of course, there's the Clinton Portis contingent who could say who else was Uncle Spanky Janky? You know what I mean? From back in the day, I'm going to get him. Sheriff. Coach Spanky Janky. Josh, this is it. This is the intrigue. This is the grist for the millware.

22:36Rich Eisen:We appreciate very much. This is why I think you pull up at some point in the game. You just pull up the spider cam and you don't even focus on the game so much. but you focus on who made the cut, like who got down there, whose feelings are hurt, you know, who's permanently got friction with their own university because we thought it was a cane sting and no one else understands. And it turns out we did not understand ourselves. And then the college football playoff the whole time is really the bad guy. Of course, this could all be a Kurt Signetti palooza at the end of the day. Josh, can you explain to me why Indiana has been able to do what it has done so quickly with Kurt Signetti and how the current landscape of college football might have leveled the playing field for this to happen?

23:20Yeah, you're going to see a lot of people doing that whole, how good is this team relative to 2020 Alabama, 2019 LSU? People always do that. I never like doing that. But if you look at those teams, those sorts of teams don't exist anymore. The teams that are knee deep in future NFL talent, you go to practice and the twos and in some cases the threes are going to end up being first and second round draft picks a couple years down the road. No one's roster looks like that anymore. And as a result, when you add in the factor of injury throughout the year, when it comes to the big time programs, the tops of the tallest trees, Rich, just don't look like they used to.

23:54They're not as insurmountable as they used to be. So then you got that, you know, the elite teams aren't quite as elite. And then you got this other concept of this guy coming in from James Madison, importing some 22, 23, 24 year old guys with him, bringing his coaching staff, He's got an environment that guys want to stick around in. And everybody's searching for the secret formula, secret ingredients. And he keeps telling people. And people don't believe it because they think it's got to be more complicated than just defining your process. And then people yawn. And then, oh, it's got to adhere to the process.

24:28He's really, really good at player evals. Saban had him doing it once upon a time at Alabama. So he's really good at evaluating. They're obviously really good at developing. But it's just a bunch of old guys who know how to play football really good against teams that in the aggregate aren't as elite as teams would have been five years ago at this stage in the playoff.

24:46Rich Eisen:Well, what about the fact that their average age mirrors a National Football League team that's on the younger scale and that there's grown ass men with, you know, extra eligibility due to what? I guess we're on the back end of the COVID year even still for some. the transfer portal and things of that nature that they also now have got the money for the portal thanks to Mark Cuban and others and what about that that they're coming in as a highly experienced team and obviously the Canes winning this game with somebody like Malachi Tony would be sort of the antidote in a way for that it's just an interesting aspect of the Indiana Hoosiers that is an outlier as well.