Speaker 1: The season with Peter Schreeger as a production of the
Speaker 1: NFL in partnership with My Heart Radio. What's Up, Everybody?
Speaker 1: This is Peter Schreeger from the Season with Peter Schreeger.
Speaker 1: I am the host of Good Morning Football on the
Speaker 1: NFL Network. I am also the NFL reporter slash insider
Speaker 1: on Fox. NFL Kickoff every Sunday eleven am on Fox
Speaker 1: lemon A m Eastern and Uh. I am joined by
Speaker 1: my wonderful producer, Mr Aaron won Kaufman. Aaron, what's up,
Speaker 1: my friend? Not too much? How you doing today? I'm
Speaker 1: doing good. I'm exhausted. This weekend is like, you know,
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving weekend takes everything out of you. And then in
Speaker 1: the NFL, it's like, all right, Monday, go keep going.
Speaker 1: And I'll tell you I had a big Saturday night.
Speaker 1: Can I get into my Saturday night details with you? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's from l A. This is l A and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna tell you why it was a. It was a
Speaker 1: different one for me. So fly on Saturday morning and
Speaker 1: I fly in and I get in around three o'clock
Speaker 1: l A time, and I do my customary eat everything
Speaker 1: in sight on the flight six bag of cheese. It's
Speaker 1: seven things of sour patch kids. Um asked the flight
Speaker 1: attendant for multiple diet cokes. Uh watch a couple of movies.
Speaker 1: Saw the Clerks three film. I don't know if you
Speaker 1: knew there was a Clerks three. I think they put
Speaker 1: it out. Do a skew shout out to Kevin Smith.
Speaker 1: I enjoyed it got kind of sentimental at the end
Speaker 1: and a little dark at the end. It was did
Speaker 1: not expect spoiler alert to Clerks three, do not expect.
Speaker 1: They like tragic death at the end, and like this emotional,
Speaker 1: like heart wrenching scene. I don't know if it really worked,
Speaker 1: but I watched the whole movie. Then I watched Cramer
Speaker 1: Versus Cramer, which is a nineteen seventy nine custody battle,
Speaker 1: which is very quiet custody battle film film with Meryl
Speaker 1: Streep and Dustin Off and I've never seen it, and
Speaker 1: whenever you came up, fantastic film. Yet I get off
Speaker 1: the plane just crying my eyes out. So here I
Speaker 1: am in this state after watching this brutal film Cramer
Speaker 1: versus Cramer, about you know, a child being battled over
Speaker 1: in courts, And then I get the text from my
Speaker 1: host on Fox NFL Kickoff, Charissa Thompson. We're doing a
Speaker 1: team dinner tonight. You're in. I said, I'm in, So
Speaker 1: the crew was myself, Charissa Thompson, who is an angel,
Speaker 1: Michael Vick, former NFL quarterback. He's on the show with
Speaker 1: us Sean Payton, former New Orleans Saints head coach, super
Speaker 1: Bowl champion, and Danny A. Mendola. Danny Amendola is filming
Speaker 1: this Fox show that looks absolutely insane, where I forget
Speaker 1: what it's like Fox Special Force or something, but it's him,
Speaker 1: and it's Mike Piazzi. You saw the commercials during Thanksgiving
Speaker 1: week and they go through ten days of like elite
Speaker 1: military training. And A. Mendola was promoting the show. Of course,
Speaker 1: he's a two times super Bowl champion and a gentleman.
Speaker 1: We had him on also, so I'm like, sure, I'm in.
Speaker 1: Let's go put on some jeans, put on a shirt.
Speaker 1: Don't know what I'm going into. We go to a
Speaker 1: place called Eggs. Aaron, have you heard of Craig's. I
Speaker 1: never heard of Craig's. Story with Craigs is thus the
Speaker 1: major d at Dantana's. You've heard of Dantana's. Dantona's is
Speaker 1: the spot in l A for you know Sinatra, and
Speaker 1: right down to al Pacino and de Niro. The major
Speaker 1: d About ten years ago left and opened his own
Speaker 1: spot called Craig's. It is the Hollywood hot spot of
Speaker 1: hot spots. I'm talking paparazzi outside, I'm talking. I went
Speaker 1: Super Bowl week. I saw just about every NFL Hall
Speaker 1: of Famer and I think there was a Kardashion or
Speaker 1: two there. And last year I went with h my
Speaker 1: dear friends Aaron Andrews and Caarissa Thompson to Craig's. And
Speaker 1: we were there and Jim Nance was next to us,
Speaker 1: and they were calling a Chargers game, and Doc Rivers
Speaker 1: was there, and George Cloney was in the house. So
Speaker 1: when I heard we're going to Craigs, that's all right.
Speaker 1: What we got, what we got? What we got? We
Speaker 1: go there dinners at six o'clock. There were no other celebrities.
Speaker 1: That I say other because I think Sean Payton qualifies
Speaker 1: as a celebrity. Day Chris is probably a celebrity. They
Speaker 1: all right, great night, take a take a team photo after,
Speaker 1: you know, a couple of bottles of wine and Sean
Speaker 1: pay In is the Rock and Tory. He's telling us
Speaker 1: stories from the Super Bowl years, and he's ordering bottles
Speaker 1: of wine. We're having a great night, and we leave
Speaker 1: and then we wake up do the show. I'm flying
Speaker 1: back and I get a text from my wife's friend, Margot,
Speaker 1: who lives out in Los Angeles, and she texts me, oh,
Speaker 1: you were out last night. Huh what? Craig's Instagram posted
Speaker 1: a photo of all you guys at dinner. I am
Speaker 1: Instagram famous right now, Aaron, we made the Craig's Instagram
Speaker 1: story feed. I got multiple texts about it. It wasn't
Speaker 1: a great angle. You see my entire stomach, and it
Speaker 1: was not in a good day. But I made the shot,
Speaker 1: and I gotta say, while I'm taking the photo, I'm saying,
Speaker 1: take a video. I'm gonna plug this season with Peter Schreeger.
Speaker 1: Can we get some additional viewers? Because that was my
Speaker 1: first brush with like being in l a celebrity. Are
Speaker 1: you impressed? I love it. I also know you famously
Speaker 1: are not on Instagram too, so I love that you
Speaker 1: didn't know that you were on there their page and
Speaker 1: someone else let you know on Sunday. That's great. You
Speaker 1: know it's funny. I'm not on Instagram, and uh, everyone's
Speaker 1: like a hysteria over you know, what's going on with Twitter.
Speaker 1: And then there was like this push from a lot
Speaker 1: of people in media to join something called Mastadon. I said, guys,
Speaker 1: I don't have Facebook, I don't have Instagram. I I'm
Speaker 1: I'm a little slow on the uptick. I think I'm
Speaker 1: gonna be just fine saying off all those things. But
Speaker 1: I am on the Craig's Instagram. So I've made it. Uh,
Speaker 1: let's do a little four downs. What do you say? Alright?
Speaker 1: First down? Which team had the biggest statement win over
Speaker 1: the weekend? I think it has to be the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals season has been one that's really interesting worth charting.
Speaker 1: And Aaron I go back to the first two weeks,
Speaker 1: and they started off oh and two, and they couldn't
Speaker 1: protect the quarterback Joe Burrow. After they spent the entire
Speaker 1: offseason spending a lot of money to protect him, brought
Speaker 1: in guys like Lyle Collins and Alex Carris, and they
Speaker 1: really did beef up that offensive line. But the first
Speaker 1: two weeks he got absolutely destroyed in hindsight. Week one
Speaker 1: was against t J. Watt and the Steelers front, which
Speaker 1: is really good. And Week two was against Michael Parsons
Speaker 1: and the Cowboys front, which is really good. They lost
Speaker 1: a few games more then they had that Monday night game.
Speaker 1: Monday night game was against the Browns, and I think
Speaker 1: everyone was like, all right, the Bengals will roll over
Speaker 1: the Browns. This will be easy. And the Browns absolutely
Speaker 1: blew them out. Nick Chubb still running touchdowns in And
Speaker 1: the story that came out on Tuesday, and maybe not
Speaker 1: everyone knew and still doesn't even acknowledge, is that one
Speaker 1: of their dear and beloved assistant coaches, Adam Zimmer, thirty
Speaker 1: eight years old, actually passed away over the weekend in
Speaker 1: the early hours Monday morning, and they all got that
Speaker 1: news Monday before the Monday night game. The coaching staff
Speaker 1: at least did a lot of heavy hearts people's heads
Speaker 1: in a lot of different places. They got blown out
Speaker 1: in that game, and it's like, all right, there, frauds.
Speaker 1: I have to think that was an incredible rough not
Speaker 1: only twenty four hours, forty eight hours week everything when
Speaker 1: you find news out the Zimmer family very very important
Speaker 1: to Cincinnati Bengals. Of course, Mike Zimmer was defensive coach
Speaker 1: there for many years under Marvin Lewis, and of course
Speaker 1: had such great success with those defenses with pac Man
Speaker 1: Jones and all those guys. This is his son. Now.
Speaker 1: The Bengals players would never point to that and say, oh,
Speaker 1: that was why we lost, and the Bengals coaches certainly
Speaker 1: wouldn't either. And I'm not saying that's why they lost.
Speaker 1: I just know what that does to a building, to
Speaker 1: any workplace environment, whether people were close with Zimmer or not,
Speaker 1: it has an effect. So they lost that game. They
Speaker 1: go out there the next week, they absolutely blow out
Speaker 1: the Carolina Panthers. Joe Mixon has five touchdowns. They go
Speaker 1: on to buy They go out there, and they go
Speaker 1: into Pittsburgh, a place that could be a house of
Speaker 1: horrors for teams that go out there, and they beat
Speaker 1: the Steelers in Pittsburgh. And they go into Tennessee. They're
Speaker 1: huge underdogs and they find out right for the game,
Speaker 1: Jamaar Chase is actually not going to go, even though
Speaker 1: there was expectations he would play. Joe Mixon not in
Speaker 1: the lineup. And they start off and they're struggling early
Speaker 1: and the Titans have this weird play where Henry drops
Speaker 1: the ball after an eight yard option and then Burke's recovers.
Speaker 1: It just didn't seem like it's gonna be their day.
Speaker 1: And the Bengals fought. Gosh did they fight. The Bengals fought,
Speaker 1: and they come out on top, and suddenly there's seven
Speaker 1: and four. They're tired to top the a f C. North.
Speaker 1: They're alive in this thing, and now they take the
Speaker 1: Chiefs on on Sunday, and it's like, this isn't gonna
Speaker 1: be just a Chiefs blowout. You can't be not considering
Speaker 1: the history that last year they played him twice. One
Speaker 1: time in Cincinnati, Jamaar Chase had three touchdowns about two
Speaker 1: yards and the ANC Championship came down twenty one three
Speaker 1: in Kansas City and came back on this team. My
Speaker 1: whole point about the story of the season, like they've
Speaker 1: been through such such highs and lows already, like they've
Speaker 1: been through adversity, and it really starts off with an
Speaker 1: appendicitis from Joe Burrow over the summer when we missed
Speaker 1: all of August and came out and just kind of
Speaker 1: played Week one, but we weren't sure where his health was.
Speaker 1: And now we have the final two months of the season,
Speaker 1: and this is when this team got really hot last year.
Speaker 1: It's when this team really put it all together. They've
Speaker 1: got five more regular season games. I'm watching the Ravens
Speaker 1: lose to the Jaguars in a game where you can't
Speaker 1: tell me that the a f C North is owned
Speaker 1: by Baltimore. When they can't beat the Jaguars up late
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter and their defense gives up another game.
Speaker 1: I think the Bengals had a huge win. It was
Speaker 1: a statement went to the rest of the league, and
Speaker 1: even if they do drop one into Kansas City, it
Speaker 1: doesn't mean they're not gonna be the team that's the
Speaker 1: last one standing in the a f C North. And
Speaker 1: it doesn't mean they can't go on the road and
Speaker 1: win games in the playoffs. So they have to. I
Speaker 1: was really impressed with the Bengals this week. Can I
Speaker 1: give you one stat? I had them so since Week
Speaker 1: four against Miami, the Bengals have had twenty touchdowns on
Speaker 1: twenty three red zone trips, which is an eight seven
Speaker 1: percent conversion rate. The league averages fifty six percent, and
Speaker 1: the second most efficient is the Eagles. With seventy six,
Speaker 1: so they're eleven percent better in on their red zone
Speaker 1: trips getting a touchdown. I mean that's like, those numbers
Speaker 1: are ridiculous if you watch a team every Sunday that
Speaker 1: can't put the ball in the end. So, and you
Speaker 1: know how important that is. Bengals are for real, uh
Speaker 1: ton of injuries and they're all coming back. I mean,
Speaker 1: Chase is coming back, Mixing is coming back. So I
Speaker 1: think they're gonna be straight. Yeah, all right, second down.
Speaker 1: How bad is it in Denver right now? What's going on? Oh,
Speaker 1: it's it's bad. Uh. If you watch that game, it's
Speaker 1: it's real bad. They lost to the Carolina Panthers by
Speaker 1: the score twenty three to ten. It really was a
Speaker 1: twenty three to three game. The Broncos at the end
Speaker 1: had like eighteen shots at the end zone, including four
Speaker 1: penalties on the Panthers to finally get one in just
Speaker 1: to put up double digits. Um, here's why it's so bad. Yes,
Speaker 1: you know Russell Wilson is not fulfilling expectations. Yes, you
Speaker 1: know his contract, you know all that. Why it's so
Speaker 1: bad is that the ownership group is brand new and
Speaker 1: they inherited all of this mess. So the new owners,
Speaker 1: the Walton, the Penner family, they come in and they
Speaker 1: inherit Nathaniel Hackett as the head coach. They inherit George
Speaker 1: Payton as the GM. They inherit Russell Wilson in a
Speaker 1: two D and twenty five million dollar contract which I
Speaker 1: truly can't get out of until from what it looks like.
Speaker 1: So to me, it's bad because I think it might
Speaker 1: be a one and done coach and if attack it,
Speaker 1: you're paying him out the next four years. He signed
Speaker 1: a five year deal, I believe for guaranteed money. George
Speaker 1: Payton had a great first year as a general manager,
Speaker 1: and then his second year had this big splash Russell
Speaker 1: Wilson deale. I don't know if the owners look at
Speaker 1: that and say, well, what the hell did that? What?
Speaker 1: What kind of judgment was this? Did anyone watch him
Speaker 1: play last year? I am the first one to raise
Speaker 1: my hand and say, I did not see this coming.
Speaker 1: I picked Russell Wilson before this season to be my
Speaker 1: m v P of the league, not winning quarterback, not
Speaker 1: a playoff correct, the m v P of the league.
Speaker 1: I also said that the Broncos would be going to
Speaker 1: the playoffs. And I also said famously, and this is
Speaker 1: why I'm the greatest in sports media, because I will
Speaker 1: say it on my own podcast, that Nathaniel Hackett would
Speaker 1: be the coach of the year. I had such high
Speaker 1: hopes for this team. Why because the defense has always
Speaker 1: been good, and guess what, the defense this year is
Speaker 1: still really really good. All they add were question marks
Speaker 1: at quarterback, and then they got Russell Wilson. I figured,
Speaker 1: like Stafford did last year, and like Tom Brady did
Speaker 1: two years ago, you take this team with a good
Speaker 1: roster and you just put in a better quarterback, we
Speaker 1: can elevate. It's been the absolute opposite. And when you
Speaker 1: see Mike Priscell the defensive tackle, arguing with Russell Wilson
Speaker 1: or barking at Russell Wilson or Russell kind of like
Speaker 1: shoving his shoulders like I don't know what to do
Speaker 1: on the sideline, you know it's it's off the rails. Um.
Speaker 1: Nathaniel Hackett is one of the all time great great
Speaker 1: dudes of this league. Players love him. He's an awesome person.
Speaker 1: He's coached everywhere. Aaron Rodgers swore by him. It's one
Speaker 1: of the main reasons he was such a valued uh,
Speaker 1: you know, hire by the Broncos and why they kind
Speaker 1: of jumped out and hired him early in this process.
Speaker 1: Everyone squeaks the world of him. This might not be
Speaker 1: his deal like it. Maybe he'll be another coach somewhere else.
Speaker 1: Maybe he gets another season with them. I don't know
Speaker 1: if that's possible. But this thing has been just off
Speaker 1: the rails. And the second you, as an offensive coach
Speaker 1: give up play calling duties and he did that to
Speaker 1: Click Kubiak two weeks ago, it's almost a giant white flag.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying he's quitting. I know what he's doing.
Speaker 1: He's trying to salvage something and get something going and kickstarted. Um,
Speaker 1: but I don't see it happening. And the worst part
Speaker 1: about this thing there the third worst team in football
Speaker 1: and their first round pick gos to the Seattle Seahawks.
Speaker 1: This yere alright? I think we're doing this every week.
Speaker 1: It seems like for our four downs at just another update,
Speaker 1: third down? What do we make of the Odell Beckham
Speaker 1: plane situation that happens Sunday? Picture yourself now, Aaron. You
Speaker 1: just had Thanksgiving weekend. You were with your grandparents in Florida.
Speaker 1: You were with your parents, you were with your cousins,
Speaker 1: your aunts and your uncle's. You've got four kids, let's
Speaker 1: say four kids. You've got four kids. They want to
Speaker 1: go to Disney, but you're in Miami, so you're not
Speaker 1: going to Disney. What do you mean, We're going to Florida,
Speaker 1: but we're not going to Disney. We're not going to Disney. Okay, Saturday,
Speaker 1: it was raining Sunday. You know, all right, we're going
Speaker 1: to the airport. You got the two car seats in
Speaker 1: the back. You gotta return the rental car. You get
Speaker 1: to the airport, we're going back home. The kid is
Speaker 1: asking why Blue's not working on the iPad. The other kid,
Speaker 1: UH is upset because you promised that you were going
Speaker 1: to get something at the Hudson News. But we're not
Speaker 1: buying you a tabarone. We're not we're not buying you
Speaker 1: a turbaron before uh eight am flight out of Miami,
Speaker 1: and you've got two other kids who are bickering with
Speaker 1: each other. One of them doesn't talk to you because
Speaker 1: you took away some you know, toy. Whatever. You get
Speaker 1: on the plane, you get buckled in. The flight's about
Speaker 1: to take off and you as that passenger are told, folks,
Speaker 1: we're gonna have to deplane the plane. You have to
Speaker 1: get off the plane, take your bags from the top.
Speaker 1: You in thirty six C because a passenger in first
Speaker 1: class will not put on his seatbelt and is dipping
Speaker 1: in and out of consciousness. And that person is Odell Beckham.
Speaker 1: That's who I feel for. I feel for the mother
Speaker 1: and the father and the kids in the back of
Speaker 1: coach is not flying Coach. I know that a lot
Speaker 1: of people haven't had to be through these situation. Have
Speaker 1: you ever been on a plane where you deplane because
Speaker 1: of an unruly patrick. I have that passenger. You're saying
Speaker 1: things under your breath and over your breath at that point,
Speaker 1: and everyone's in a collective, you know. So we had
Speaker 1: Nate Burlison on the show Monday, and you know, I
Speaker 1: don't know if Nate's ever smell old Coach and what
Speaker 1: it's like sitting back there. Um, But Nate was saying, like,
Speaker 1: how are you how are you gonna take this man
Speaker 1: all thing? I'm like, why has everyone all worked up?
Speaker 1: I'm like, it's not about the fact whether he was
Speaker 1: asleep or not asleeper were a sleepbelt. It was the
Speaker 1: inconvenience for the others that I'm thinking about. As for football,
Speaker 1: none of it matters. None of it matters at all.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter at all. The Cowboys don't care, the
Speaker 1: Bills don't care, the Giants don't care. Ohto Beck comes
Speaker 1: a really good wide receiver. He's a pretty good dude.
Speaker 1: I think everyone who's ever played with him likes the guy,
Speaker 1: and I think he's gonna make an immediate impact for
Speaker 1: one of these teams. I'm surprised the Cowboys haven't signed
Speaker 1: him yet. For all the talk that Jerry Jones has had,
Speaker 1: for all the you know, the mutual love with the
Speaker 1: Micah Parson stuff and all, I am shocked that O'Dell
Speaker 1: has not signed with the Dallas Cowboys, and the fact
Speaker 1: that Von Miller got hurt in that Thanksgiving Day game.
Speaker 1: That's the biggest guy for Odell. I assume Von's coming back.
Speaker 1: We hope so. But I don't know if Buffalo is
Speaker 1: still much in the cards. And I said it last week,
Speaker 1: I don't see the Giants thing happening. It would be
Speaker 1: a shock to me as actually, with them having two
Speaker 1: losses in a row, it makes too much sense for
Speaker 1: Odell Beckham, the biggest international star on the sport. And
Speaker 1: I mean that we go to London in Germany, like
Speaker 1: there's Oldell Beckham jerseys everywhere and they come from all
Speaker 1: shapes and sizes, giants, rams, browns. I wouldn't be shocked
Speaker 1: if the Cowboys got that thing done this week and
Speaker 1: he said, hey, let's stry, let's finish our stretch out
Speaker 1: around with them. But the plan thing, I thought more
Speaker 1: about the parents and the uh other people coming back
Speaker 1: from a long Thanksgiving weekend with family and having to
Speaker 1: wait before a five hour flight and get off the
Speaker 1: plane because some guy in first class, uh you know,
Speaker 1: maybe it was getting a little ZS in the front seat.
Speaker 1: Al Right, fourth down, Who do you want to shout
Speaker 1: out this week? I would like to shout out my
Speaker 1: favorite mascot and all of sports, the great Jackson Deville.
Speaker 1: Jackson Deville is a modern marvel. And as much as
Speaker 1: we love Vince Lombardi and John Madden and Tom Brady
Speaker 1: and Joe Montana, I think Jackson Deville is the face
Speaker 1: of the NFL. This mascot was completely drenched before the
Speaker 1: game against the Ravens and out of oh, I don't know,
Speaker 1: not coming out for his his his day of work.
Speaker 1: For instead of putting on a giant parco or a
Speaker 1: windbreaker or a poncho, Jackson Deville de robed his entire
Speaker 1: mascot costumed down to just his underwear and it just
Speaker 1: happened to be a bikini underwear, a speedo, if you will,
Speaker 1: And that speedo underwear was an American flag on the
Speaker 1: front and a string bikini on the back, so you
Speaker 1: could see Jackson's cat ass in in just bare bare
Speaker 1: wind and he was slapping his own butt. He was
Speaker 1: gyrating after a touchdown. This is what being a mascot
Speaker 1: is all about. I'm all for the T shirt, cannon,
Speaker 1: and I'm all for the JumboTron and posing for photos
Speaker 1: and doing whatever. But if you can make me howl
Speaker 1: in laughter, and you can make me want to go
Speaker 1: see the Jaguars in person because of the mascot and
Speaker 1: his hijinks, and if you can single handedly be the
Speaker 1: reason the Jaguars had a fourth debt quarter drive down
Speaker 1: seven points against a perennial playoff team, and when the
Speaker 1: biggest game that the franchise has had in two years,
Speaker 1: which Jackson Deville did, Trevor Lawrence had nothing to do
Speaker 1: with that game. Zay Jones had nothing to do with
Speaker 1: that game. And I promise you, Marvin Jones is catch
Speaker 1: doesn't happen if Jackson Deville is not thrusting himself in
Speaker 1: the back of the end zone with a American flag
Speaker 1: string bikini on everyone. If you haven't seen it, google
Speaker 1: Jackson Deville, have yourself an entire wormhole on Wikipedia and YouTube.
Speaker 1: This is not his first time up to no good
Speaker 1: and up to everything I want out of a mascot.
Speaker 1: I'm a huge Jackson Deville fan. He's getting my shout out.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's a man or a woman
Speaker 1: under that costume. I don't want to know. I just
Speaker 1: know that he brought the funnies on Sunday and I
Speaker 1: needed it. Eric, who do you want to give a
Speaker 1: shout out to? Um? I think I want to shout
Speaker 1: out just like the rookie class in general. This week,
Speaker 1: it seemed like another viral moment from the weekend was
Speaker 1: Brian Robinson Jr. With the big hat, but he also
Speaker 1: before the big hat, he had a great game for
Speaker 1: the Commanders. Christian Watson had the touchdown at the end
Speaker 1: of the game and it was a garbage time didn't
Speaker 1: and then last night Ken he pickt George Pickens like
Speaker 1: pick it has looks good. I think last night was
Speaker 1: one of the first nights when we really have started
Speaker 1: to feel okay with Pickens, like the future of the Steelers.
Speaker 1: And I mean Pickens is just like this incredible Anyways. Yeah, um,
Speaker 1: the Jets we had bam n uh. And then I
Speaker 1: mean Mike White's not a rookie, but yeah, so I
Speaker 1: think the rookie class Garrett Wilson on the Jets, Ryan
Speaker 1: Robinson on the Commanders, Yeah, big week for rookies. I
Speaker 1: think huge week for rookies. I'll throw into defensive players.
Speaker 1: I thought read Blanket Ship for the Philadelphia Eagles filling
Speaker 1: in for Chauncey Gardner. Johnson played incredibly well. And the
Speaker 1: other rookie I'd like to mention is Martin m j
Speaker 1: Emerson for the Cleveland Browns. He was up against Mike
Speaker 1: Evans in a huge game and shut Evans down. There
Speaker 1: are six targets on him, he didn't catch any of them.
Speaker 1: So you're right, the rookies are playing well. And as
Speaker 1: for Kenny Pickett, I made the point on Good Morning Football.
Speaker 1: I thought this was interesting that in New York we've
Speaker 1: got Zack Wilson, who is now in his second year
Speaker 1: and as all these starts under his belt, and he's regressing,
Speaker 1: and you're not seeing any progress in Pittsburgh. If you're patient,
Speaker 1: you might have to sacrifice one season of going to
Speaker 1: the playoffs. But this guy has gotten so much better
Speaker 1: week after week after week. That is how it's supposed
Speaker 1: to go. You throw a guy into the fire and
Speaker 1: he gets better, and there's obvious improvement. Kenny Pickett was
Speaker 1: really good Monday night against the Colts. Great call Aaron
Speaker 1: coming up after this break. We've got one of my
Speaker 1: favorite guys in football. He was the head coach of
Speaker 1: the Carolina Panthers for two and a half seasons and
Speaker 1: now he is the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Speaker 1: Fresh off the announcement, he's cool enough to join us.
Speaker 1: Matt Rule on the season with Peter Schraeger. Now, welcome
Speaker 1: me on a guest for this week. I couldn't be
Speaker 1: more excited. One of the great men in football. Uh.
Speaker 1: You knew him as the head coach of the Carolina
Speaker 1: Panthers for the past few years, and before that he
Speaker 1: was at Baylor, he was at Temple, he was at
Speaker 1: a million other places on his rise, and now he
Speaker 1: is the head coach of the Nebraska corn Huskers. Let's
Speaker 1: welcome in Matt Rule to the show. Matt, what's up it?
Speaker 1: What's up? Dude? How are you? I am great? It
Speaker 1: has been a whirlwind for you. You announced on Twitter
Speaker 1: or they announced Nebraska that you would be the head
Speaker 1: coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday afternoon. We're recording
Speaker 1: this Tuesday morning. You are so cool for joining us
Speaker 1: in such a whirlwind. What has the last nineties six
Speaker 1: hours of your life been? Like, dude, it was, it was.
Speaker 1: It was crazy. It was like, um, I guess it
Speaker 1: would be. Uh. Friday night, we thought it was done.
Speaker 1: We thought it was you know, it's not gonna work out.
Speaker 1: He thought it was over. It was gonna fall. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I just I was all going to fall apart, you know,
Speaker 1: just just a bunch of things. Right. So Friday night
Speaker 1: I got called act like, hey, what if we work
Speaker 1: on you know, change a little structure. Work on this
Speaker 1: Saturday morning, Um, it all worked out. I took the job. Um,
Speaker 1: and it was kind of already out there, you know.
Speaker 1: My phone was blown up, But it wasn't actually really
Speaker 1: done until Saturday. Even Saturday when people would text me
Speaker 1: and say, I don't know, like there's we're working out,
Speaker 1: and you know, then we just sat and sat around
Speaker 1: and kind of like processed it. Man. We watched college
Speaker 1: football and my wife, you know, we were up in
Speaker 1: Cape May, New Jersey. It's it's it's a good ten
Speaker 1: and eleven hours back to Charlotte. We had my wife
Speaker 1: and we had my wife had me and her obviously
Speaker 1: three dogs, three kids, and we will up. We will
Speaker 1: up sex you want to wake up at four am
Speaker 1: on Sunday, I was like a later or later took us,
Speaker 1: but we left our GPS when we left, said you'll
Speaker 1: arrive at six pm in Charlotte. I'm gonna get up
Speaker 1: there till eleven thirty, sitting in traffic, my wife's ironing
Speaker 1: clothes to like one in the morning. We're up at
Speaker 1: four one of private jet from Carolina to Charlotte at six.
Speaker 1: I got here yesterday, met everybody, press conference, talk to
Speaker 1: the team. Um, it's been crazy, but uh but it's
Speaker 1: been fun. Dude, Why are you driving? Why couldn't you
Speaker 1: fly from you know, get the Philly airport twenty minute drive.
Speaker 1: You put those dogs and crates. I don't know what
Speaker 1: they do on these flights. I don't have a dog.
Speaker 1: Why are you driving eleven hours? You're a head coach
Speaker 1: of one of the storied college ball programs of all time. Well,
Speaker 1: so at the time when we went to Kate maybe
Speaker 1: went to Kate May last, you know, last weeks last Friday,
Speaker 1: we were like, yeah, we'll we'll get the sprinter van.
Speaker 1: We'll take a bunch of stuff up to the house.
Speaker 1: You know, we'll spend all week. We were coming to
Speaker 1: New York to see you, so, you know, so we
Speaker 1: just never thought that, hey, by the way, next week
Speaker 1: we'll be moving to another time ago. So um, trust
Speaker 1: me about hour six and the whole time we Julie
Speaker 1: drove the whole time, I was really, what are you
Speaker 1: doing on the phone? You're dealing with the with the
Speaker 1: with new recruits already or are you talking to coaching
Speaker 1: staff trying to get a coaching staff together. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: I was talking to coaches. I was talking to current
Speaker 1: players at Nebraska, you know, because that's a crazy time, Alsodden,
Speaker 1: you have a new coach, You're like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: what's this gonna mean, you know, do I have a
Speaker 1: future here? That I was calling recruits like, you know,
Speaker 1: the kids that were committed, just saying hey, you know,
Speaker 1: excited they have a chance to get to know you.
Speaker 1: Um and uh. But a lot of a lot of coaches,
Speaker 1: a lot of staff, a lot of people reaching out
Speaker 1: and I never wanted to be one of those guys
Speaker 1: blows people off. And you know, I still haven't got
Speaker 1: back to people because now your iPhone works. Man. You
Speaker 1: you you try to hit one and then like three
Speaker 1: more come in and goes to the bottom. So it's
Speaker 1: just been a NonStop process. Let me ask you when
Speaker 1: something like that happens, and it's a you know you've
Speaker 1: been whether you're dismisses the coach. You go through this
Speaker 1: low and maybe it's quiet on the phone, but then
Speaker 1: when the good news comes, everybody's there for you and
Speaker 1: everybody comes out of the woodwork. Hey coach, I knew
Speaker 1: you'd be back. Well where were you the last six weeks?
Speaker 1: Who was it who reached out to you when you
Speaker 1: lost your job in Carolina that maybe you were a
Speaker 1: little surprised by that had your back and said, hey,
Speaker 1: I'm here for your regardless name me someone a former coach,
Speaker 1: former teammate, anybody. I think that's the cool stuff. Not
Speaker 1: when you get the great news, but when the bad
Speaker 1: news comes down. I'll tell you what people that really
Speaker 1: had an impact on mean, like Howie Roseman was one
Speaker 1: of the first people to take me Andy Reid uh
Speaker 1: that that day, just you know, a Brad Children who
Speaker 1: I've never worked with, uh, you know, and just was like, hey,
Speaker 1: you know, obviously you know you're a good coach, you know,
Speaker 1: but this will this will teach you a lot, this
Speaker 1: will this will make you a way better coach in
Speaker 1: the future. Um. You know, Coach Belichick out of goes
Speaker 1: out of his way to call me and just you know,
Speaker 1: you know, waited a little while. I was like, hey, Matt,
Speaker 1: what can I do for you? I mean, I just
Speaker 1: I think that that's really cool that that that those
Speaker 1: guys did that for me. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: you know, uh, Coach read went through this, Uh, Coach
Speaker 1: Belichick went through it. They lost their jobs and they
Speaker 1: knew the best was ahead and so, um, you know
Speaker 1: that that's a hard time. It's kind of like after
Speaker 1: a game, you win the game, you have five texts,
Speaker 1: lose the games, like my mom, my aunt, my wife,
Speaker 1: and like three of three of my friends, and so
Speaker 1: I always I always just try to keep track of, Hey,
Speaker 1: who are the all the time people? Who are the
Speaker 1: people that, no matter what happens, you know, they're kind
Speaker 1: of ride or die with me. We're in NFL podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm an NFL guy, you know that. But Nebraska Cornhusker's dude. Now,
Speaker 1: they might not have been, it might not be right
Speaker 1: now where they were, but you and I growing up
Speaker 1: in the eighties and nineties, I'm talking you know obviously
Speaker 1: Tom Osborne, but I go right through to you know,
Speaker 1: Tommy Fraser, to Corey Schlessinger too, and Dominican Sue in
Speaker 1: the early two thousands under Bill Callahan, just wrecking shop.
Speaker 1: What an important program for college football? When you see
Speaker 1: that logo on your the breast of your shirt, like,
Speaker 1: do you get chills? Absolutely? Um. I came in this morning.
Speaker 1: I couldn't really sleep, so I came in this morning.
Speaker 1: I was walking in, you know. And now now that
Speaker 1: I'm back to college recruiting, I'm posting stuff on Twitter
Speaker 1: and Instagram again, and but I'm walking and I can see, like,
Speaker 1: you know, you you come around the corner and the
Speaker 1: and the door of the stadiums open. I kind of
Speaker 1: walked in the stadium and the five national championships are
Speaker 1: lit and you look up there and you want to
Speaker 1: talk about you know, I've been some great places, but
Speaker 1: I've never been to a place that's you know, as
Speaker 1: a head coach that's won the ultimate prize and so
Speaker 1: um that that that lets you know that you know, hey,
Speaker 1: you know what it can be done here, and therefore
Speaker 1: it should be done here, and so um just you're
Speaker 1: exactly right thinking back to to all the great teams.
Speaker 1: And then you know, some of my favorite players, like
Speaker 1: I love in dominance. I had a chance to coach
Speaker 1: Am Abdullah, probably one of my favorite players I've ever coached.
Speaker 1: And so it's do in the league mirror, I saw
Speaker 1: him have a touchdown this week. I was like, Abdula
Speaker 1: is there. He's outrageous. He said, he's so smart, so competitive. Man,
Speaker 1: I love him, and so it's really cool. It's really
Speaker 1: cool to be at those guys programs. Yeah, and you know,
Speaker 1: you go from the NFL back to college and in
Speaker 1: that time it's only been two and a half years,
Speaker 1: but transfer portal n I L Now you know USC
Speaker 1: and U. C. L Ayer coming to the Big ten
Speaker 1: to face you, A lot has happened. Do you feel
Speaker 1: like you could just get right back in the saddle
Speaker 1: or do you have to like kind of study up
Speaker 1: on what all this stuff means before we hit the
Speaker 1: recruiting trail. Yeah, you definitely have to study up. And
Speaker 1: you know, from the day I got fired, you know,
Speaker 1: I I said, know what I'm gonna I'm gonna work
Speaker 1: on all these things, and so I really started looking
Speaker 1: at you know, what does n I l I mean?
Speaker 1: You know what, you know, what is the trans report
Speaker 1: with me? Because you know, when we won at Temple
Speaker 1: and we want at Baylor and those those are great places,
Speaker 1: but they're not blue bloods. You had to you had
Speaker 1: to know every rule, You had to know every edge.
Speaker 1: You had to find a way to you know, hey,
Speaker 1: how are we going to build the best roster possible?
Speaker 1: And so now that there's new rules, man, I need
Speaker 1: to know. I need to know what I can do
Speaker 1: and when I can't do um And you know what
Speaker 1: that that's something that take a lot of pride and
Speaker 1: so I'm excited to get out there. You know, we
Speaker 1: we uh, you know obviously they're coming off of three
Speaker 1: and nine and four and eight. So the only way
Speaker 1: to fix that is is to make sure the players
Speaker 1: you have, you're you're coaching, help and developing and getting
Speaker 1: them big and strong. But you have to go recruit
Speaker 1: and you have the guys the trans report, you have
Speaker 1: to you have to you know, upgrade the roster. I
Speaker 1: know how you are in in the in the living
Speaker 1: rooms because we've been hearing about it for years that
Speaker 1: you're one of the best recruiters to ever hit college
Speaker 1: football to get you know, three star four star talent
Speaker 1: to two places like Temple and then Baylor after the
Speaker 1: controversies that they went through. Um, what's the matt rural
Speaker 1: pitch in Nebraska? What are you telling to a kid
Speaker 1: who's from Atlanta, Georgia or the kid who you know
Speaker 1: is in California or Texas. Why should I come to Lincoln,
Speaker 1: Nebraska for a program that hasn't had much success of
Speaker 1: other recent history. Yeah, well, I think I think when
Speaker 1: you look back at the history of Nebraska, Okay, it's
Speaker 1: it's always been probably the premier player development uh team.
Speaker 1: You know, UM guys have come there for years, you know,
Speaker 1: walk onto state. Um, you know, they were. They were
Speaker 1: one of the originals in terms of strength and conditioning,
Speaker 1: in terms of nutrition, in terms of academic support. They
Speaker 1: leave the country in academic all Americans, and it's not
Speaker 1: even close. So you know, to me, it's not going
Speaker 1: to be for everybody. But if you're somebody who really
Speaker 1: really wants to become a pro football player, or you
Speaker 1: really want to become a guy that doesn't just play
Speaker 1: three years but plays like ten years in the league,
Speaker 1: if you want to come and get a great education,
Speaker 1: those are the guys I want to coach, you know,
Speaker 1: I want to coach guys who are really serious about football.
Speaker 1: You know, I mean it's out ra just here. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm sitting in an office in a facility that that
Speaker 1: is nicer than any place I've ever been. And it's
Speaker 1: only here for like three more months before we move
Speaker 1: into our new hundred and fifty million million dollar facility.
Speaker 1: And so you know, if if no matter where you
Speaker 1: are in the country, if you're really serious about training,
Speaker 1: if you're really serious about your body and sports science,
Speaker 1: if you're serious about your academics, you know we have
Speaker 1: we have as much, if not more than anyone else.
Speaker 1: What was your pitch to some of these coaches to
Speaker 1: leave their jobs and maybe consider joining your staff. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, it's ten years for me as a head coach,
Speaker 1: three different places. Um, you know, going into my fourth
Speaker 1: place in my eleventh year. I've got a lot of
Speaker 1: guys that are like my guys. Um. You know, if
Speaker 1: I if I, if I made a mistake in the NFL.
Speaker 1: You know, one of them is I hired some guys
Speaker 1: who I hired them for their experience, but they weren't.
Speaker 1: They didn't maybe always connect with me, and that's not
Speaker 1: their fault. I'm not say anything negative about them, but
Speaker 1: you know, I do things differently. I'm gonna be a
Speaker 1: highly demanding guy. I want things done a certain way.
Speaker 1: I want us to serve of the players. The players
Speaker 1: don't serve us, We serve the players. And so interesting,
Speaker 1: it's a it's a it's for me, it's about us,
Speaker 1: I me identifying the right guys and and so a
Speaker 1: lot it will be a lot of my guys that calm,
Speaker 1: guys that trust me and believe in me. Um, these
Speaker 1: guys that you know, to be a player development program,
Speaker 1: you have to have coaches that love love helping players
Speaker 1: get better and I'm not just talking about, hey, you're
Speaker 1: great players. I'm talking about who's the coach, who's the
Speaker 1: strength coach that's working with the walk on that probably
Speaker 1: will never play well. You know what the walk on
Speaker 1: that if people thought would never play at Temple was
Speaker 1: was the sonwritick. You know. So if you just poured
Speaker 1: into young people and you help them, um, they'll have
Speaker 1: better lives and some some will work out for you.
Speaker 1: So my taket has been, hey, if you come here, man,
Speaker 1: we're gonna build something special. There's no doubt we'll win,
Speaker 1: but we'll we'll affect a lot of lives along the way.
Speaker 1: And the biggest thing is, you know, we get to
Speaker 1: do it our way here. You know, Trev Alberts, the
Speaker 1: A d s and Matt we're bringing you here for
Speaker 1: what you did at Baylor and Temple. I want you
Speaker 1: to do it your way. And you know sometimes people
Speaker 1: say they want you to do it their way, and
Speaker 1: then they it's uncomfortable, they don't want to do it here. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, I just fit and so I think they'll
Speaker 1: let me do it my way, and the coaches are
Speaker 1: believing that will be with me. All right, rapid fire
Speaker 1: before you go because I know you've got a million
Speaker 1: things to do, including calling every recruit in the Northeast
Speaker 1: that had just their eyes their ears perked up. Way wait,
Speaker 1: Matt Rule just went to Nebraska. Okay, Um, here are
Speaker 1: some things I'm gonna say A name, you give me
Speaker 1: a story that comes to mind about this person we're
Speaker 1: gonna stick in the NFL. Let's start off with one
Speaker 1: of your first NFL coaches when you were an assistant,
Speaker 1: Tom Coughlan. Give us a good Tom Coughlin story. Yes, so,
Speaker 1: shall I get the head coaching job at Temple and
Speaker 1: I'm the assistant online coach. He walks in my office
Speaker 1: and he says, you know you're taking that job? I said, yes, sir.
Speaker 1: He said, I'm expecting you to finish the season. He
Speaker 1: said yes, sir. He just turned and walked out, And
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, jeez, what month was it? When
Speaker 1: was this December? January? Yeah? It was like it was
Speaker 1: like December. Yeah, we were getting to play at the
Speaker 1: Atlanta Falcons. We had some games left and U yeah,
Speaker 1: it was it was. It was it was December because
Speaker 1: like at night was the was the Meritish New York
Speaker 1: Giants Christmas Party, which is well done, and my wife
Speaker 1: and I show up. My wife's pregnant out to hear
Speaker 1: and Judy Coughlin just one of the most wonderful women
Speaker 1: ever Grace this earth comes walking up and she said, Oh, Matt, Julie,
Speaker 1: were so happy for you. She'sa Matt. Tom is so excited.
Speaker 1: He's so proud of you. I was like, Tom walked
Speaker 1: him office this morning, told me I can't leave. I
Speaker 1: mean just like just yelled at me. And she said,
Speaker 1: she said, oh, you know how Tom is, but he
Speaker 1: is so proud of you, and we're so excited for you.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know, so she was a wonderful, wonderful
Speaker 1: person to offset his uh you know, his just you know,
Speaker 1: coach Coughlin way. But I love the man. He's He's
Speaker 1: done more for me than I could ever do for him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and he speaks the world of you as well. Uh.
Speaker 1: Sam Donald just got his first career win for the
Speaker 1: Carolina Panthers. You traded picks to get him. It didn't
Speaker 1: work out for him and you together yet, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I look at the team right now. The season has
Speaker 1: not done. Sam's played well against Denver. Yeah, I'm excited
Speaker 1: for Sam. You know, um uh Sam, Sam's a uh,
Speaker 1: He's one of my favorite guys. And I just you know,
Speaker 1: I think I said it on the show with you,
Speaker 1: like I want to see it work out for him somehow,
Speaker 1: some way, because he's such a good dude. What I
Speaker 1: remember when he first came, Um, my son and I
Speaker 1: were walking around the Wells Fargo Golf Championship. What's happening?
Speaker 1: I heard this guy go, coach Rule. I look over
Speaker 1: and there's Sam walking. He's got like a Miller light
Speaker 1: or a play light, and he's walking with his mom.
Speaker 1: His dad is his sister, and um, you know, he's
Speaker 1: just a regular guy and he's just walking around a
Speaker 1: golf tournament drinking a beer. You know. Uh, just uh,
Speaker 1: He's the type of guy you root for. Man. Yeah, alright,
Speaker 1: Christian McCaffrey now having a lot of success in San
Speaker 1: Francisco for a team that's won four straight games. I
Speaker 1: have a hundred stories I can tell you about him
Speaker 1: cheating and ping pong, I can, I can. I can
Speaker 1: tell you about a lot of things. But you know,
Speaker 1: it's funny. He actually texted me yesterday he huh, details
Speaker 1: of my contract came out. He had he had no
Speaker 1: choice but to say, hey, I can't wait for the offseason.
Speaker 1: You're buying dinner and the first time time he's not
Speaker 1: buying dinner. Come on, I'm looking a contract. You guys
Speaker 1: gave him no doubt. He's doing just fine. But I'm
Speaker 1: so happy for him that he's he's playing well because
Speaker 1: you know what I think, Peter, I think I think
Speaker 1: people haven't seen his best football. They'll see it in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. They'll see in the playoffs when like you're
Speaker 1: not worried about hate getting him to the playoffs or
Speaker 1: keeping them, you know, And I'm not saying injury wise,
Speaker 1: just like explosive when it when it's time to cut loose,
Speaker 1: that guy's gonna do special things. Yeah, Bill Belichick, you
Speaker 1: mentioned that. I know you guys had joint practices with
Speaker 1: the Patriots. I was. I'm always fascinating because every coach
Speaker 1: in the coaching community absolutely adores Belichick and says he's
Speaker 1: a big brother. He's incredible, he does out wisdom, and
Speaker 1: yet we in the outside the media, the fans, we
Speaker 1: don't see that side. So any interactions with Belichick, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, um, I'll tell you two of them. I
Speaker 1: hope he doesn't get mad at me for the first one.
Speaker 1: But years ago I went to the combine when I
Speaker 1: had Reddick and I had a bunch of guys and
Speaker 1: Nickossario in the bassal like, hey, you know, why don't
Speaker 1: you come up and meet Coach Belichick? And I was like,
Speaker 1: if you want me to, And then they went to
Speaker 1: get some information. So I went up to the suite
Speaker 1: and Coach Belichick was sitting in the corner and I
Speaker 1: walked in. Coach kind of looked at me and I
Speaker 1: don't think you knew hopefully didn't know what give me,
Speaker 1: and he looked away and he just walked in the
Speaker 1: other road, and I was like, they were like Matt
Speaker 1: and Mat. I'm like, I'm like, this the greatest story
Speaker 1: of all. It's good, but just completely blew me off.
Speaker 1: It's good, but you know what, like just going up
Speaker 1: there and working with him this year, playing him, playing
Speaker 1: against him last year, seeing at the owner's meetings, like
Speaker 1: he's become a friend to me. I you know, I
Speaker 1: consider him a friend. I mean even in this job.
Speaker 1: You know, our president Ted Carter uh navy man, new
Speaker 1: Coach Belichick, and he's someone who's wisdom I rely on you. Know,
Speaker 1: coach and I talked about this job, and and I,
Speaker 1: you know, I hope that I can do here what
Speaker 1: he did in his second stance, and that's do it,
Speaker 1: do it right, and do it the way. You know.
Speaker 1: I want two last questions. One, what was the one
Speaker 1: thing you learned from your two and a half years
Speaker 1: in the NFL as a head coach? And in the
Speaker 1: same vein if you could do it all over again,
Speaker 1: what would be the one thing you would change looking
Speaker 1: back on it, as obviously it didn't work out with
Speaker 1: Super Bowl victories or anything like that, I think I
Speaker 1: probably would just probably just you know, probably taking another job,
Speaker 1: you know. I mean, I think it's a great place,
Speaker 1: you know, the wonderful people. But I just don't know
Speaker 1: if I was a fit there. You know. At the
Speaker 1: end of the day, Um, you know, we we we
Speaker 1: talked about, hey, we're gonna have a four year plan,
Speaker 1: a five year plan. You know, if you tell me, hey,
Speaker 1: we got a two year plan, then then I'm gonna
Speaker 1: get signed a bunch of free agents and do it. So,
Speaker 1: you know, what was a four year plan became a
Speaker 1: two year and five game plan real quick and interesting.
Speaker 1: It's not about hey, it's not. And I'm not angry
Speaker 1: about it. You know, at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: I understand. But if you're if it's gonna be that quick,
Speaker 1: then then we're gonna sign some more free agents. We're
Speaker 1: gonna we're gonna go make the blockbuster trade. We're gonna
Speaker 1: do those things. I think the trajectory that we were
Speaker 1: on was correct. It was too It was to have
Speaker 1: a team that next year to make a big trade.
Speaker 1: Um that could you know, And I think you see
Speaker 1: the signs of it right now. When they play well
Speaker 1: on offense, they win. You know, there's a good defense there.
Speaker 1: And um, I give Steve all the credit, I give
Speaker 1: the coaches all the credit, but I'm part of that
Speaker 1: building process. So had that just stayed for maybe through
Speaker 1: this year and maybe made the big free agent signing
Speaker 1: this year to get them over the top, I think
Speaker 1: that the Panthers could win the the NFC South for
Speaker 1: years to come. And yeah, and they still might win
Speaker 1: it this year. They still might win it this year.
Speaker 1: You know, I feel bad I did say it. I'm
Speaker 1: a good but you know, I know, Kyle picked I
Speaker 1: was doing the NFC South. I told you guys, I
Speaker 1: told the team Hey, guys, I know we're struggling right
Speaker 1: now non you know, outside the conference, but we we
Speaker 1: were win the NFC South that we stayed to it.
Speaker 1: So you know, hey, I hated getting fired. I understand,
Speaker 1: you know, when you're one in four, but I look
Speaker 1: at what Ron did. I look at what Kyle did
Speaker 1: last year. I think Kyle was two and four last year.
Speaker 1: You know, the only thing I didn't want to do
Speaker 1: is leave the guys early because I believe the team
Speaker 1: would have a chance if if this thing started to
Speaker 1: click and p J made some plays, they won some games.
Speaker 1: Deanti Foreman's coming on DJs. So you know, I take
Speaker 1: give Scott a lot of credit, but I also I
Speaker 1: also deserve some of the credit for some of those players,
Speaker 1: absolutely for some of the culture that's been built, to
Speaker 1: the systems that were put in. UM So, yeah, when
Speaker 1: I look back, what what I do differently those little
Speaker 1: things I made. I might have not signed this guy,
Speaker 1: might have traded for this guy. But there's no major one.
Speaker 1: You know, I think, as I said, you like, we
Speaker 1: made we had some close attempts at some blockbuster trades,
Speaker 1: and if one of those trades would have gone through,
Speaker 1: it might be in a whole different spot. But everything
Speaker 1: happens for a reason. You know. I'm I'm here, and
Speaker 1: you know what, I'm probably supposed to be here. And uh,
Speaker 1: I'm happy for Steve. I'm really excited for Scott Fitterer.
Speaker 1: I can't say enough how much I think of him. Um,
Speaker 1: But you know, Peter, I'll be honest with you, I think, Uh,
Speaker 1: if you ask me to get do you a four
Speaker 1: year plan? I think the four year plan was close.
Speaker 1: I can't say it was perfect, but it was close.
Speaker 1: And I'm hoping that you know, uh, and that four
Speaker 1: year plans without Christian. Had Christian stayed, you know, maybe
Speaker 1: next year the right the right person, you know, the
Speaker 1: right addition, maybe that team could have won the NFC
Speaker 1: South and won it for a couple of years. Totally. Um,
Speaker 1: You're the best for being so candid, open and honest.
Speaker 1: My last question is a fun one. Coaching in the
Speaker 1: NFL for two and a half years, seen a training camp, preseason,
Speaker 1: regular season. Who is the greatest player that you saw
Speaker 1: alive and in person as far as the NFL goes,
Speaker 1: the guy that you are like now, hey, now and
Speaker 1: this is something different, Well, okay, my favorite player your favorite,
Speaker 1: like the player that like if you got excited to
Speaker 1: see even if he's wearing a different uniform. Yeah, like
Speaker 1: like like it's gonna so I'm nuts, but not nuts,
Speaker 1: but it's gonna be out outside of Budda Baker talk
Speaker 1: about I love that answer. He's number three on the
Speaker 1: Arizona Cardinals boot of the Captain. I mean he plays,
Speaker 1: he plays like like scary hard. Um. You know, I
Speaker 1: think he's so unsung. I think he's one of the
Speaker 1: premier players. Like I hugged him after the game, like
Speaker 1: they beat us this year and I hugged him. I'm like,
Speaker 1: I just love the way you play football. Um. Another
Speaker 1: guy that I don't think it's enough credit who I
Speaker 1: loved watching him play, Grady Jarrett. I think he's Atlanta
Speaker 1: Falcons dominant ninety seven, the big man. I think he's
Speaker 1: just a dominant, dominant, dominant player. Um. But the probably
Speaker 1: the there's a lot of them. I thought, like you
Speaker 1: hear about Nick bos So, like like we literally had
Speaker 1: on a call sheet this year, like because like sometimes
Speaker 1: in the fourth reason he would rotate out. We literally
Speaker 1: had like plays that were like ninety seven out plays
Speaker 1: Like I I mean one person like, is his boasting
Speaker 1: his boasted in his boat's out? Okay, and hey let's paul.
Speaker 1: No one's gonna no one's gonna match up with it.
Speaker 1: But I think the best player in the NFL is
Speaker 1: you know, one of the to me is is Trent Williams.
Speaker 1: I think it was funny earlier. There's the thing about
Speaker 1: his stance and all that he does this, he's running,
Speaker 1: if he does that, he's pass it. You say something Williams.
Speaker 1: Trent Williams, if he told me he wanted to stand
Speaker 1: on one leg to block people, I'd say like, cool,
Speaker 1: well do your things. But he is just he is
Speaker 1: just elite beyond elite. And but the best player I
Speaker 1: ever saw in the league, um was Tom Brady just
Speaker 1: you know, I just uh, you know. I saw him
Speaker 1: later in his career. He didn't think we played two
Speaker 1: man and we undercut the route like you're supposed When
Speaker 1: he actually threw it behind the undercutting guy and the
Speaker 1: guy made the catch, and I was like, I can't
Speaker 1: defend it. When I was at a wedding this, I
Speaker 1: was at a wedding the summer and we're sitting there.
Speaker 1: My girls were not you know, they were not really
Speaker 1: listening to their mom and we were kind of like, hey,
Speaker 1: hanging then. And also my son was like and I said,
Speaker 1: why my buddy. What he should I know was the
Speaker 1: Stummer but whatever it was. March showed it to me
Speaker 1: and it was Tom Brady's coming back. You know, you
Speaker 1: want to go the best of the best. I was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I thought he was gonna go on Amazon,
Speaker 1: and so I would say, I just you know, it
Speaker 1: was just an honor to be on the same field
Speaker 1: as him. It's an honor having you on the podcast
Speaker 1: to the listeners listen, and you know, we like having uh,
Speaker 1: you know, the coolest guests, and we've had so many
Speaker 1: great gems and coaches. But Matt, for you to come on,
Speaker 1: you know, a couple of days after announcing your joining
Speaker 1: one of the most storied programs to be their head
Speaker 1: coach and join our NFL podcast, be open, honest and
Speaker 1: give us the time. You know how much it means
Speaker 1: to me, But it really means a lot to everybody
Speaker 1: involved with the podcast. I appreciate you, brother. You're you're
Speaker 1: you're the best of the best. You are and we
Speaker 1: are rooting for Nebraska. I'm hoping that you sent me either,
Speaker 1: who what Which player should I reference from the old
Speaker 1: Nebraska days? I want an old Nebraska throwback player? You
Speaker 1: pick it? Which guy do you think? It's? Like? Who
Speaker 1: do you think of when you think of like eighties
Speaker 1: Tom Osborne, Blackshirts defense? Who's the name that comes to mind?
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I since he's my new boss,
Speaker 1: I gotta see trev albres Trefor is amazing college football
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame. I gotta I gotta put you know,
Speaker 1: he's he's my But there's there's so many man and
Speaker 1: I got to beet Jhonny Rogers yesterday, did you he be?
Speaker 1: And Bryan All all, we all, we all, we all
Speaker 1: hit the Heisman post together. So uh, you know, this
Speaker 1: is just you know, every every every day, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: meet someone else who's you know, you know, Grant Whistram.
Speaker 1: I mean the guys am I gonna meet that? You know?
Speaker 1: I watched on TV and it's uh, it's it's pretty surreal.
Speaker 1: It's amazing. I'm on Green with Nebraska, right and I'm
Speaker 1: on Green was awesome, great packer player too. I was
Speaker 1: always Tommy Frasier. That was my guy. And I think
Speaker 1: if Tommy Fraser enters the NFL in two He's probably
Speaker 1: starting on an NFL team making plays. It's just a
Speaker 1: different time. There's no doubt. It's a fun lead to watch,
Speaker 1: you know, you watch. Uh We're sit here talk about
Speaker 1: recruiting and I'm watching Jalen Hurts play the right night
Speaker 1: and I'm like what he's doing, like that out, Um,
Speaker 1: you're the best, man. I appreciate it. Good luck to
Speaker 1: you in the family and uh, get settled, man, We'll
Speaker 1: be watching good luck in the Big ten big Red.
Speaker 1: Matt rule was incredible. I love when a coach or
Speaker 1: a GM or someone in Matt's position who has recently
Speaker 1: been fired comes on and it's just candid, vulnerable, open, honest.
Speaker 1: I think he said a lot more than I even expected.
Speaker 1: And Uh, Aaron and I might might wrap this thing
Speaker 1: in a little bit. But before we do that, I
Speaker 1: gotta get smarter. And for the last two weeks, Taylor
Speaker 1: Kyles has joined us from the NFL Network Research Group
Speaker 1: and has made us smarter. He's talked about Justin Jefferson,
Speaker 1: He's talked about Matthew jude On and today I want
Speaker 1: to welcome Taylor to the show because we got to
Speaker 1: talk about Josh Jacobs in the Raiders. Taylor, what's up it?
Speaker 1: I'm excited to heap some praise on Josh Jacobs. That
Speaker 1: performance was insane. It was, and it started off early.
Speaker 1: He had like a one handed grab early on the
Speaker 1: sidelines and I'm like, all right, this guy's having a day.
Speaker 1: But before we get into like what he's doing, just
Speaker 1: big picture from me. What's amazing is in August I
Speaker 1: was doing the Good Morning Football Show and we're talking
Speaker 1: about Josh Jacobs playing in the Hall of Fame game,
Speaker 1: like getting real carries in August and the questions are like,
Speaker 1: well what, I'm like, Well, he's on the fifth year option.
Speaker 1: They didn't pick it up. It's his like, you know,
Speaker 1: he's he's in his last season with the Raiders. Is
Speaker 1: kind of like this might be a showcase if they
Speaker 1: want to trade him before the season. There is talk
Speaker 1: of that, and so you let him get some carries
Speaker 1: and put it on tape. Uh, Taylor, We're into week thirteen.
Speaker 1: He might be the best running back and football this season. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean it's hard to debate. He's the rushing leader.
Speaker 1: He just set the Raiders franchise record for scrimmage yards
Speaker 1: in a game, and the thing is he's doing it
Speaker 1: in multiple facets. Like you said, he had the one
Speaker 1: handed catch against Denver, you saw he had a crazy
Speaker 1: vertical route out of the backfield where he got open
Speaker 1: down field. So you're starting to see not only is
Speaker 1: he this bruising you know back who can do it
Speaker 1: all run different schemes, but he's also starting to getting
Speaker 1: all in the past games. So I mean it's kind
Speaker 1: of like Gamar Jackson situation where it feels like every
Speaker 1: single game will maybe not ringing our Jackson recently, but
Speaker 1: the situation he had early in the season, where it's
Speaker 1: like this man is making more money every single time
Speaker 1: he touches the field because his performance has just been great.
Speaker 1: And like I said, we're starting to see more of
Speaker 1: his versatility as well, which is exciting but might be
Speaker 1: tough for the Raiders. They want to bring him back. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they drafted the kid White out of Georgia, and I
Speaker 1: thought by now he would be the one. He's him
Speaker 1: and Cook we're in the backfield for those Bulldogs and
Speaker 1: you're like, all right, well, they drafted this guy, He's
Speaker 1: gonna play, and Jacobs is kind of gonna be like
Speaker 1: the Melvin Gordon to the Javante Williams. It's been just
Speaker 1: the opposite. Uh, it has been all Josh Jacobs. Take
Speaker 1: us within the numbers, take us a little deeper, empty
Speaker 1: the bag. Josh Jacobs two and especially this past week.
Speaker 1: This past week, interestingly, he actually had the fastest speed
Speaker 1: for a ball carrier on his final touchdown running overtime.
Speaker 1: And he's had his entire career, which is pretty nuts
Speaker 1: because I mean, it's he's a pretty fast guy, but
Speaker 1: you give him room. Clearly that guy's in twenty miles.
Speaker 1: And then he also had a career high and rushing
Speaker 1: yards over expected and receiving yards over expected by next
Speaker 1: Gen stats in his career in that game. So what
Speaker 1: does that mean? Take me through that. And I know
Speaker 1: there's a lot of next Gen stats, but over expected.
Speaker 1: So who someone based on past performances gives you, like
Speaker 1: what we expect from rushing yards and receiving yards. Is
Speaker 1: that what that is? Yes, sir. So with next Gen
Speaker 1: we got the players with the chips and the pads
Speaker 1: and that way we contract them their speed different things
Speaker 1: like that. So based on where different players are on
Speaker 1: the field of the situation that they're currently in and
Speaker 1: then comparing that to all these other different simulations based
Speaker 1: on what's happened in the past. It gives you an
Speaker 1: idea of Okay, you know, based on the space, seeing
Speaker 1: where players are around him, this player should gain x
Speaker 1: amount of yards on this catcher on this run, and
Speaker 1: by that metric, he just completely broke the system and
Speaker 1: just decided, Hey, I'm gonna set myself a little career
Speaker 1: records today. Yeah, he was awesome. Is it sustainable? And
Speaker 1: if you're the Raiders, are you actually considering bringing him back?
Speaker 1: He's playing that. Uh, it's tough because no one Dave
Speaker 1: Ziegler and all the Pat's guy So the Patriots are
Speaker 1: very strict with their numbers. You know, you can have
Speaker 1: the best year of your career. But really it's more
Speaker 1: of them looking into the future. While I do think
Speaker 1: that josh Jacobs can build on this, and I think
Speaker 1: that casiling maybe higher because like I said, again, it's
Speaker 1: the receiving elements of it. We all knew he was
Speaker 1: a great running back. Now he's really getting a chance
Speaker 1: to prove it. And as much as I know josh
Speaker 1: Ua Daniels likes is running backs, it's tough to see
Speaker 1: Dave Ziegler matching what I'm sure he's going to get
Speaker 1: on the market, especially with all the fantastic free agent
Speaker 1: running backs we got coming this offseason. Can I can
Speaker 1: I just take a moment to respect the Alabama Crimson
Speaker 1: Tide running back situation right now in the NFL. Derrick Henry,
Speaker 1: this guy, Josh Jacobs, and then you've got Brian Robinson
Speaker 1: with the Commanders, who's on August was shot and now
Speaker 1: you know, less than three months later, especially for a
Speaker 1: hundred yards and is on a team that is red
Speaker 1: hot with the Commanders and making extreme amazing fashion statements.
Speaker 1: Let's not forget about that. What do you think of
Speaker 1: the big hat? You liked it? I was it reminded
Speaker 1: me of the UM I think you should leave sketch
Speaker 1: with Bryan's hat if you haven't seen it yet. I
Speaker 1: love that. You know that. I love that. You know
Speaker 1: that was the first thing. Tim Robinson fantastic. Uh real quick,
Speaker 1: before we let you go, I went on a good
Speaker 1: two minutes soliloquy about my love for Jackson Deville, the
Speaker 1: mascot for the Jaguars, and his attire during Sunday's game.
Speaker 1: I am assuming you saw the American flag bikini and
Speaker 1: the rear shot as well. Your thoughts on Jackson Deville
Speaker 1: and what he brought to the to the Jaguars on Sunday.
Speaker 1: I mean, another fashion statement. I have never in my
Speaker 1: life seeing a mascot with only the head, but I mean,
Speaker 1: he was making it work. It gets hot down there.
Speaker 1: You gotta do what you gotta do, and if you're
Speaker 1: gonna do it, you might as well represent country on
Speaker 1: your attire. So I thought he looked. I thought it
Speaker 1: was definitely an interesting choice. But what I'm hoping they
Speaker 1: bring back that was a that was a pretty sick look. Taylor.
Speaker 1: That's why I want you on the podcast. I love
Speaker 1: the next gen stats and the winds above replacement, and
Speaker 1: you do an amazing job. It's why you are the
Speaker 1: guy who makes a smart her. But when you can
Speaker 1: talk about bikinis that have American flags in the same conversation,
Speaker 1: that makes you truly, truly exemplary. Thank you for setting
Speaker 1: me up for it. Beautiful. All right, we'll talk to
Speaker 1: you next week, Taylor. Thanks for making us smarter. Can't wait.
Speaker 1: Thank you again. I'm gonna wrap this week's podcast here,
Speaker 1: and before we go, I just wanted to shout out
Speaker 1: two amazing games that are both in the four o'clock
Speaker 1: window this Sunday. I gotta tell you, there's very few
Speaker 1: regular season games before Thanksgiving that I can really genuinely
Speaker 1: be so excited for once Thanksgiving hits and John Matten
Speaker 1: used to say this, that's when football really matters. And
Speaker 1: I'm looking at the schedule, I'm telling you, as much
Speaker 1: as we love the Chiefs in Buffalo, and I think
Speaker 1: like the Dolphins are a story and I still don't
Speaker 1: think they're getting their respect yet. They're playing the Niners
Speaker 1: on Sunday, and the interactions between these two teams are
Speaker 1: gonna be really interesting because Mike McDaniel coached for Kyle
Speaker 1: Shanahan and about ten different places before he got to Miami,
Speaker 1: and of course was with the Niners throughout this recent
Speaker 1: rise that they've had. But it's not just him. There's
Speaker 1: a out of Dolphins staff members Wes Welker, uh Embree,
Speaker 1: who's a tight ends coach. Then you've got the players,
Speaker 1: whether it be Jeff Wilson or Moster. There are so
Speaker 1: many common bonds between these two teams, and I think
Speaker 1: the Dolphins fashion themselves like Niners Southeast I'm not saying
Speaker 1: Super Bowl preview, but I'm not not saying Super Bowl preview.
Speaker 1: And while that game is going on on Fox, over
Speaker 1: on CBS, you have a rematch of last year's ANFC
Speaker 1: championship game, the suddenly red hot Bengals against the suddenly
Speaker 1: red hot Chiefs. UM to have Bengals, Chiefs and Niners
Speaker 1: Dolphins on at the same time as we go into
Speaker 1: week thirteen. That's why we watch, It's why you stay
Speaker 1: home on Sunday. I can't wait for it. It's gonna
Speaker 1: be excellent. Uh, Aaron. I love going on the podcast
Speaker 1: once a week with you, but I love our text
Speaker 1: throughout the week as well. UM. Looking forward to texting
Speaker 1: me throughout both of those games. UM are gonna be exciting.
Speaker 1: I can't wait. This is a good weekend of games,
Speaker 1: good weekend of games, and we're just getting started. Uh.
Speaker 1: Many thanks to you, Aaron. Many thanks to the terrific
Speaker 1: Matt Rule. Say what you want about his NFL career.
Speaker 1: This guy can coach on the college level, and he
Speaker 1: came on and stood to the music and was pretty
Speaker 1: open and honest on our podcast. I'm pretty proud of
Speaker 1: that interview. Taylor Kyle's made a smarter talking about a
Speaker 1: little bit of Josh Jacobs, but also a little bit
Speaker 1: about Jackson Deville and his bikini. Um. Yeah, I love
Speaker 1: doing this podcast on behalf of Aaron Jason English, who's
Speaker 1: here with us every week, The I Heart Team, the
Speaker 1: NFL Digital team, our music maestro Jack rudd Uh and
Speaker 1: everybody at the NFL network. Thanks for listening, guys, Tell
Speaker 1: your friends, subscribe and enjoy the games this weekend. The
Speaker 1: Season with Peter Schrager is a production of the NFL
Speaker 1: and partnership with I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app app
Speaker 1: podcasts wherever you get your podcasts.