Hour 2: NFL Insider Tom Pelissero Talks Coaching Carousel, plus Wild Card Round ‘Higher Register’

21:50Tom Pelissero:But every team is going to have different criteria for what they're looking to hire, which brings us to what are the logical landing spots for John Harbaugh? Yes, sir. I would say this. Nothing is off the table. And again, I spoke to Brian Harlan a short time ago. John Harbaugh's agent, he told me John is taking a few days to decompress. He's getting his daughter back to college. He wants to see what all the options are and, you know, be able to kind of think through what he wants to do next. I personally, speaking for myself, Rich, I don't see John Harbaugh as the next head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.

22:21Tom Pelissero:That's not been their MO in terms of jumping out quick and paying top dollar for a top coach. Arizona's never done that. Doesn't mean they can't. I don't really see it going that direction. I don't see him as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. Being in a division with his brother as well as his mentor in Andy Reid, I don't see that being the fit for John Harbaugh. The places that make sense to me for John Harbaugh, Miami is certainly one. Though again, John Harbaugh is going to want to have alignment, if not be able to have a strong voice in his GM. Miami right now is moving forward as if they are going to hire a GM.

22:57Tom Pelissero:That's their full intention in the next day or two. Atlanta makes a lot of sense. Arthur Blank talked about it earlier today, saying they'd like to talk to John Harbaugh if he's willing to talk to them. But they are also pretty far down the line in terms of the interview process, where they're interviewing a bunch of people for this president of football job that is widely believed to be Matt Ryan's job. And then in turn, they'll hire somebody else into the general manager role. That all could be done in the next 48 hours. The other place that makes sense is the New York Giants. Joe Shane is running that search.

23:31Tom Pelissero:New York has reaffirmed its commitment to Joe Shane. My understanding is Joe Shane has certainly, to say the least, been recruiting John Harbaugh while also interviewing other head coaching candidates. There's all kinds of reasons that New York, at the center of this, would appear to be the logical spot for John Harbaugh. But it is not a slam dunk. It is not a done deal. This is not waiting out them checking boxes and talking to other people. I mean, they've got other strong candidates. Kevin Stefanski was in the building. I believe Raheem Morris is there today. Antonio Pierce is going to interview tomorrow.

24:05Tom Pelissero:They've got some Zoom set up with guys like Vance Joseph. And Mike McCarthy is coming in next week. I'm told that he's going to be in there Monday night, have dinner and interview on Tuesday. If you do a blind resume, Rich, and I did this the other day and sent it to a few people just as a test, there are four coaches who were all hired between 2006 and 2008 to their first 10 coaching jobs. They all have one Super Bowl win. They've all won between 60 and 63 percent of their games, and they've all been to the playoffs either 12 or 13 times. Those four coaches are Sean Payton, Mike Tomlin, John Harbaugh, and Mike McCarthy.

24:43Tom Pelissero:For whatever reason, Mike McCarthy's name comes up and doesn't seem to get the same massive response that John Harbaugh's does. But Mike McCarthy's also the one guy out of that group, along with Sean Payton, who is a quarterback guy, who has worked with him. I think that Mike McCarthy is a completely logical fit for what New York wants to do. So let's see how these processes roll out. There will be nothing precluding the Giants by even this weekend of hiring a head coach. But again, when I asked Brian Harlan, he said, absolutely not going to be, you know, all right, they checked the Rooney Rule boxes and they just hired John on Saturday.

25:18Tom Pelissero:That's not going to happen. Potentially, you know, they'll regroup over the weekend. He could take one visit. He could take two or three. This might be like an old school coaching search, Rich, 20, 30 years ago where it was, all right, you order those top three teams, and if you take the first visit and you don't get a deal done with them, not in the building. He's going someplace else. This could set up that way for John Harbaugh. Nothing is set right now. Nothing is scheduled. But that first team well could be the New York Giants. We're just going to have to see exactly how this plays out.

25:47Rich Eisen:Tom Pellicero here on the Rich Eisen Show. And I appreciate you, you know, turning the page about what's next. And I guess that the fact that the Dolphins fired Mike McDaniel and there's already so much interest in John Harbaugh and things move so fast, it's kind of crazy that my first question to you wasn't what happened in Baltimore, right? I mean, so let's pause before we turn the page to the next steps again. What happened, Tom, in Baltimore?

26:22Tom Pelissero:I have spoken to a number of people very familiar with the dynamics in that building, both during the season and over the past couple of days. First of all, you know, I think that it would be naive to sit there and say, that in a locker room of 70 high-testosterone, high-performing men, you're going to be 70 were in on John Harbaugh or 70 were out. There were probably differing opinions like there are in every single building. But my understanding has been there was a general frustration. It was not all directed at John Harbaugh. There was a general frustration of a season that seemed to go sideways from go.

27:03Tom Pelissero:Week one, they've got that game one in Baltimore. They looked like world beaters. They're future Super Bowl champions. Derrick Henry fumbles the ball. That game goes sideways. All of a sudden, you're off to a one in five start. And everything after that, the emotional energy that went into trying to claw back from that weighed on people. There were times during the season that I was told Lamar Jackson, who had, I think, every lower body part plus his back by the end that was on the injury report. It was an ankle. It was a knee. It was a foot. It was his back. He was worn out. It got to the point, and obviously he missed some time during the season, where there were times Lamar just felt like, I don't want to be out there.

27:43Tom Pelissero:And that's not in any way to cast dispersions on Lamar, the competitor. It's more about he didn't feel like he could function at that level. There were injuries at every level of that team. And when you get to the end of it and you have that level of disappointment, where let's remember, we could easily be talking about the Ravens hosting a playoff game This week against the Texans, if Tyler Loop, the hand-picked kicker that was picked by John Harbaugh, former special teams coordinator, doesn't slice a field goal at Akershire Stadium. That's the thin margin between John Harbaugh being in the playoffs and John Harbaugh right now being out of a job.

28:22Tom Pelissero:This was not a team that quit. This was not a team that was completely done. Were there certain players that felt like change was needed? I'm sure there were. And I know that the team brass and Steve Bishotti talked to some of those players, and I'm sure that they heard a variety of different opinions. But, you know, frankly, I got a text from John Harbaugh yesterday, and one of the things that he said was this was actually one of his, I believe he said, most rewarding years, favorite years, because of the way that the team battled through adversity to give themselves a chance. You're one in five.

28:56Tom Pelissero:You know, the statistics, the history of the NFL would say you're done. They did. they did battle back, but there was always something that never felt like it was clicking through the course of the season. And a big piece of that was the two-time NFL MVP quarterback, whose mobility, his playmaking ability, his elusiveness didn't look like the Lamar Jackson we've seen of old. That had a trickle-down effect on everything else. So Steve Bishotti made that decision. It was shocking enough to people involved that John Harbaugh, as recently as that day was talking to his assistant coaches about what the future was going to hold for them.

29:34Tom Pelissero:Staff members got called into a meeting with Eric DaCosta and the team president, Sashi Brown, in which they said, Steve made a change. We'll get back to you with more information. Everybody was taken aback. There was always a chance. We all talked about it, Rich. Could something happen with John Harbaugh? Usually, though, after 18 years in a franchise, these are the type of organizational decisions. We had conversations and parted ways. It was abundantly clear from the statement from Steve Bishotti, the statement from John Harbaugh. John Harbaugh was fired after 18 years in Baltimore. You look back at the number, I believe, four playoff wins since 2013 over a 13-year span.

30:11Tom Pelissero:You understand some of that. They've been a very patient and consistent franchise. Steve Bishotti's patience ran out, but it was with the overall program and the direction they were going. They felt like they needed a reboot, and that is going to be a highly coveted job in Baltimore.

30:26Rich Eisen:Tom Pelissero here on the Rich Eisen Show. Okay. So now with Harbaugh out there and on the market and, you know, the wild card weekend coming up, are there any teams whose coaches are playing for their jobs this weekend? Because this whole Harbaugh's gone and McDaniel is gone now that Harbaugh's gone, but it's not really because Harbaugh's gone. is a two-day stretch of a coaching carousel that's so unique. I have to figure that we're not done in some way, shape, or form. Tom, are there any coaches coaching for their gig this weekend, do you think?

31:11Tom Pelissero:There's a wise football man that I talk to a lot this time of year whose phrase is always, the owners are always watching the owners. In other words, when all of a sudden, let's say the Browns fire a two-time NFL Coach of the Year in Kevin Stefanski. The Falcons fire a coach who ended on a four-game winning streak in year two in Raheem Morris. Then John Harbaugh gets fired by the Ravens. There are owners who suddenly start to rethink their position and go, wait, they fired those guys and we're keeping this guy? That is a real phenomenon within the league, and that's where sometimes you see these ripple effect firings that don't take place on the proverbial Black Monday.

31:53Tom Pelissero:We've had a Black Tuesday. We've had a Black Thursday this week. And there oftentimes is one more that comes next week. I don't think that it's any secret who potentially those teams could be or minimum what has been speculated about in league circles. You start with Pittsburgh. I have no reason to believe at this point, based on my understanding of how Mike Tomlin has proceeded about his business in recent weeks, the type of conversations that happen internally, the way that he's focused on this team. I have no reason to believe the rampant rumors that I get five calls about a day that Mike Tomlin is going to walk away and take a year off.

32:29Tom Pelissero:He could do that. Mike Tomlin would have a TV job in about five seconds. But does Mike Tomlin actually want to do that? I don't get that sense from people who are around Mike Tomlin on a daily basis. Could he go to Art Rooney and say, you know what, I want to go someplace else? I could certainly see Mike Tomlin being appealing to, let's say, a Miami Dolphins that have now made a change. But is any situation going to be better than the one that Mike Tomlin has in Pittsburgh, where he's got authority over really everything? He's got the ultimate job security. I don't envision a scenario where Art Rooney is moving on from a guy who's never had a losing season and is in the playoffs for the 13th time in 19 years, albeit without a playoff win over the past nearly a decade here.

33:17Tom Pelissero:so for Mike Tomlin he's going to make that call or he'll make none and he'll say Aaron Rodgers quite possibly wants to come back we really made strides down the stretch we're finally playing the style we want to maybe I'll give this another run in 2026 we'll see how that plays out we won't know that unless and until the Steelers are out which they don't play until Monday night against the Texans there's certainly been speculation about Buffalo I would also say Sean McDermott is one of the fastest, if not the fastest coach in NFL history to 100 wins in nine years. He's been highly successful in the NFL.

33:52Tom Pelissero:But again, to use that theory of the owners watching the other owners, Terry Pagula is not blind to what's going on in other places. If you are firing John Harbaugh because he's not getting over the hump with Lamar Jackson, do you consider just, hey, Sean McDermott's a great and highly successful coach, but maybe we need a different voice. Again, there's nothing in motion at this time, but let's see what happens on Sunday in Jacksonville and then find out if we get another stunner. And then the other one that just is a topic because of the situation contractually is in Green Bay. Matt LaFleur is, again, the oldest coach in the NFC playoff field at age 46.

34:33Tom Pelissero:He's in the middle of his career. He's got a long way to go. But Matt LaFleur, if you just look at the market here, the market dynamics, Rich, and they exploded last year with coaching contracts, both for veteran coaches and for first timers. Matt LaFleur, objectively speaking, is a$15 million a year coach in the NFL. The Packers are not paying them 15. I'll tell you that right now at this time. If they decide, you know what, we're not willing to go there or we're not willing to commit long term, then there's decisions that everybody needs to make. Does Matt say, I'm just going to coach out 2026?

35:08Tom Pelissero:Does he say, all right, cool. If you're not going to pay me, then let's work out something with another team that was willing to make a long-term commitment. And, you know, maybe I can just turn loose my agent to go negotiate a contract and then work out compensation in a trade. Do they just decide to part ways? I personally believe that that is unlikely right now. I believe that the Packers would be making, frankly, subjectively, to me, a huge mistake, letting go a guy who is not just one of the most successful, youngish coaches in the NFL, but also a top five play caller in the NFL. That is not an easy guy to replace.

35:47Tom Pelissero:All of which makes me believe, you know, Brian Gutekunst's contract also has one year left, the GM. it makes me believe they're going to find a way to work this thing out. But coaches are very aware of their value. You remember in Minnesota last year, Rich, there were rumors about, well, somebody tried to trade for Kevin O 'Connell. What does the future hold there? The Vikings, if memory serves, had a deal done with Kevin O 'Connell like four days after the season, ten days after the season, whatever it was. It was right after. It was in January. They immediately took care of business. I think the timeline applies.

36:17Tom Pelissero:It's the same agency that represents Matt LaFleur, that represents Kevin O 'Connell. I have no reason to believe that they're not going to see if they can get something done. But if they can't or if they're not on the same page of what Matt LeFleur is worth, then that opens up other possibilities. So right there you've got three teams that, while it seems unlikely on paper that anything happens with any of those, we've already seen some unlikely things happen just in the past few days.

36:42Rich Eisen:All right, Tommy. In the just two minutes I have left, I'm going to go off the board and just go a little crazy here because I did mention on Monday's show if I'm a team in the NFL, I throw a dart in the direction of Bloomington, Indiana, and I just say, what do you think, Kurt Signetti? Is there any reason for us to even keep the door open? You hearing anything on that front at all?

37:07Tom Pelissero:Rich, I always know that you're fired up with a theory when you're actively texting me about it late at night, musings. I don't think that—

37:16Rich Eisen:I have very little lifetime. Is that what you're trying to say to the ESPN audience?

37:19Tom Pelissero:No, I just always know what you're really interested in because they're the things you text late at night. That's what I can always tell. At least it's about football. This is the rich part of things that I deeply enjoy. I mean, I don't think that it's completely out of pocket to say, why wouldn't you? I mean, the question, we talked about this last week, Rich. It's who is going to fill these jobs. And I said at that time, this cycle will be defined in part by who gets fired and becomes available for other jobs. We're already seeing that take place. You still don't have a lot of dialed up the classic young coordinator candidates to get hired across the board.

37:57Tom Pelissero:So, you know, there were multiple teams, the Titans and the Giants at minimum did a lot of homework on Marcus Freeman. Ultimately, Marcus Freeman went back to Notre Dame. I anticipate he'll get a new deal there, but he'll be a name to watch in the future. Kurt Signetti doesn't fit any box, but Google him. He wins. And that's what he's done his entire career. it would make sense for people to at least inquire. Signetti, though, also just got a new deal. He doesn't strike me as somebody who is chasing that extra$5 million a year, chasing the next level. It's a unique situation because Fernando Mendoza quite possibly could be the number one pick.

38:32Tom Pelissero:I think the more likely scenario, Rich, is that you will see NFL teams showing interest in other members of his coaching staff. Chandler Whitmer is one who is the quarterback's coach and co-offensive coordinator who I know the teams have some level of interest in. So even if it's not getting Kurt Signetti, when you're drafting Fernando Mendoza and you are like with all young quarterbacks trying to build that nest, which is not one person, it's many people around him, bringing in someone like Whitmer who can help bridge the gap between what Mendoza did at Indiana and what he will need to do in the NFL, I would say that would be a more likely scenario than Kurt Signetti making the jump.

39:11Tom Pelissero:Also, Kurt Signetti is not a guy who is going to pull Lane Kiffin and just, you know, hit the eject button in the middle of a playoff run here. If anybody's going to make a run at Kirk Cignetti, that's probably still, I don't know when they play again, but at least a few days, if not a couple of weeks away.

39:26Rich Eisen:Yes, they play tomorrow night. And then after that, the 19th, and after that, the season's over. Somewhat like this segment. Tom, thanks again. Greatly appreciate your time and your information. And we'll chat again very, very soon.

39:39Tom Pelissero:Thanks, Rich. Tony Favreau,

39:42Rich Eisen:NFL Network Insider, and I greatly appreciate the multiple sips of the Rich Eisen Show mug in the middle of transitioning from segment to segment and topic to topic. And, yes, I do text him to make sure my ideas aren't totally out of the realm. Nice. We used to text him, but then you put the kibosh on that. Yeah. What do you mean? You basically told us not to. We were having fun, you know, making videos. Having fun of them. The Tom liked. and all that stuff. Ask him about A.J. Brown injury updates for Fantasy, and you shut it down. Well, I just, you know, Tom letting you know how the sausage gets good.

40:14Tom Pelissero:I can't give you all the ingredients to the hot dog you might not like.

40:17Rich Eisen:That's right.

40:17Tom Pelissero:You're saying.

40:18Rich Eisen:You just gave us the ingredients about what I do around here. We had fun with Tom, and you won't let us have fun. No, I've moved on from another subject matter. We'll take a break. Our Higher Register Thursday segment, where we go higher register to believe our takes. That's coming up in a moment.

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43:27Rich Eisen:844-204-RICH being the number to dial. We have a segment here called Higher Register. We do it every Thursday because guess what? We began to realize in our daily lives, whenever you have a friend or a colleague or a family member that goes up here and says, hey, you know, you look great. They have to go higher register to believe what they're saying. I noticed that. So we do a segment. Here are our wildcard weekend, Higher Register takes. Hit it. There's a chance. The The Rich Eisen shows that there could be higher register.

43:58Tom Pelissero:Take of the week.

44:00Rich Eisen:All right, Christopher, what do you got over there? Go higher register to give me a take that you'll believe for the weekend. All right, here we go. We got six wild card weekend games. That's definitely not higher register. And I'm looking at all of the matchups. And, you know, I pay attention to the spreads. Maybe you don't. But it does give you an indication on where people think the final result might. Oh, my word. I look at all of them, TJ, and I think to myself, all the favorites are winning this weekend. Oh, really? I like every single one. You're zagging when everybody's zigging. Or you're zigging when everyone's zagging.

44:35Rich Eisen:I think they're all going to do it. Buffalo's going to go to Jacksonville, and the Rams take care of business. How many road favorites are there? How many home dogs are there? Home dogs, I think there are two. Jacksonville's a home dog, and who else is a home dog? Carolina's a big home dog. Actually, there's three. Chicago's a slight home dog. Chicago's a slight home dog. Point and a half. Okay. And Jacksonville, point and a half against Boston. Oh, it's a little coin flip, though, right? Yeah. What do you got over there, TJ? Steelers home dog. Well, like Chris said, there's a lot of great games coming up.

45:05Rich Eisen:And imagine my surprise when I just took a final look at the playoff bracket and I double-tripled, quadruple-checked, and I didn't see the Dallas Cowboys on there. And I was a little upset. You're playing all the hits over there. But that, you know, whatever. Just give me your higher register. So here's my higher register. I'm going to focus on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Home. Taking it home. And if the Steelers lose this week, Mike Tomlin should reach out to the Dolphins. Oh. See if there's some love. Stay by your phone, man. I may need you. Okay. You know, no state income tax. A lot warmer in Florida than it is in Pittsburgh.

45:42Rich Eisen:I'd like to say there's a lot of other teams he should be checking into on that. Yeah, but Florida. I'm going to go with the wild card matchup for you, Chris Brockman. Hey, now. If I were you and if I were my son, Cooper, my wife, Susie, and my in-laws and everybody else that I know from the New England area, I would be quite nervous. Oh, weird you would say that. I'm serious. I look at this matchup and I'm wondering if the Patriots are, in fact, equipped to take advantage of the weaknesses of the Los Angeles Chargers. Okay. And at the end of the day, I'm sitting here and I'm thinking, And maybe the Chargers do have a pretty good red-eye flight home on Sunday night.

46:22Rich Eisen:Maybe they're going to have a happy red-eye flight. And I've been on one of them all the way from Brazil. Me and Conta Brazil. Indeed. I'm just wondering. I don't know. The Chargers are coming to town with Jim, and the Patriots haven't seen a defense like them all year long. I don't know if I'm going to do that on game day morning. I'm thinking about my picks. I don't know if I will have the temerity to show a lightning bolt on Sunday morning. Why not? I feel like you'd be on wolfing that. I think I would be. Yeah. I don't know. Because the Patriots are just such a great collective and have an MVP quarterback and a coach of the year.

47:00Rich Eisen:Yeah, but you love Harbaugh and you've never been. No, I know that. But I just look at the matchups and it's a challenge that the Patriots have not had. And they're better on the road. How does that sound? Undefeated. That's correct.

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