Speaker 1: Welcome into the Official Jets Podcast.
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Speaker 1: Always great to see a big time friend here of
Speaker 1: the New York Jets.
Speaker 2: That's Mike tan Obauma.
Speaker 1: Of course, Mike, you just taped something here at Indianapolis
Speaker 1: at the NFL Combine, a GM Roundtable. Can you talk
Speaker 1: about the genesis of that and when that production is
Speaker 1: actually going to air?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I appreciate that. Eric.
Speaker 5: Yeah, So we did a GM round table, John Schneider,
Speaker 5: Jason Light and it was just the idea of the
Speaker 5: piece was to take the fans behind the curtain of
Speaker 5: what's it actually like to be a jim, what does
Speaker 5: it like to make decisions, what's it like to get
Speaker 5: between you know, the head coach and the owner and say, hey,
Speaker 5: we got you know, a challenge here, a bump of
Speaker 5: the road, what are we going to do? And two
Speaker 5: Super Bowl winning gms. They were great, great stories. Touch
Speaker 5: on the Brett Favre trade, Yeah, yeah. John Schneider was
Speaker 5: a big part of the Green Bay Packer front office
Speaker 5: when I was with the Jets, and we trade for
Speaker 5: far so we went a little bit deep on that.
Speaker 5: We made Jason like the commissioner of the NFL had
Speaker 5: a great conversation. So NFL Live Tomorrow and other ESPN
Speaker 5: digital platforms.
Speaker 2: All right, cool.
Speaker 1: So but for Jets fans, yeah, can we go back
Speaker 1: in history to the trade.
Speaker 3: Let's go.
Speaker 1: Okay, so take me through because it's the summer, take
Speaker 1: me through those conversations inside the building and then also
Speaker 1: ultimately what led to the deal.
Speaker 5: Yeah, a lot of head coaches, Brian Daball, Brian Schottenheimer,
Speaker 5: Eric Mangini, we kind of all felt like, hey, Chad
Speaker 5: Paynton was a really good quarterback and we were trying
Speaker 5: to beat Tom Brady and the Patriots at the time,
Speaker 5: and felt like, wow, nothing against Chap, but if we
Speaker 5: could go get Brett Favre, let's go try to get
Speaker 5: him and what he Johnson was totally on board and
Speaker 5: we were battling hard you know, initially, I think Brett
Speaker 5: Favre wanted to go to other places. I think it's
Speaker 5: well documented in Minnesota, Tampa Bay. He had played for
Speaker 5: John Gruden at Green Bay, who is now the head
Speaker 5: coach of Tampa Bay. We had to compete against that.
Speaker 5: So and then there was always once we made the
Speaker 5: trade Eric, there was a big question like, well he
Speaker 5: actually come.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 5: So at the time Dave Zott was the player development guy.
Speaker 5: We went down and I said, look, you know, Dave,
Speaker 5: like Brett's coming back because we had to cut Chad
Speaker 5: Paint in the stand of the cap. Whether he's coming
Speaker 5: voluntarily or involuntarily, I don't know that, but he's coming.
Speaker 1: What were those twenty four hours like for you? Because
Speaker 1: I remember jumping on conference calls late that night where
Speaker 1: you were addressing the media. I probably went into the
Speaker 1: wee hours of the morning, and then following night Jets
Speaker 1: had a preseason game in Cleveland against the Brons.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's exactly right. So I actually I didn't sleep.
Speaker 5: I went home and basically changed clothes and then went
Speaker 5: to the airport to go get them. So we did
Speaker 5: do a media call, like it was very late at night.
Speaker 5: Good memory and Eric, Me and Jeanie actually had a
Speaker 5: cut Chad in Cleveland because they were there for the
Speaker 5: preseason game. I had stayed behind because I knew what
Speaker 5: was going on, and I just felt like it was
Speaker 5: we had a better chance to execute this trade if
Speaker 5: I was back.
Speaker 3: At the office.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I remember people saying, Mike t that you didn't get
Speaker 1: on the bus.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, yeah, and uh yeah, And that's kind of
Speaker 5: how it all happened.
Speaker 1: So what about that roster at that point, because you
Speaker 1: make the trade for Farv And that team started eight
Speaker 1: and three, including a thumping of the Tennessee Titans in Nashville.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and Jeff Fishery jumped out of a plane before
Speaker 5: the game. They were undefeated, and I pissed everybody off,
Speaker 5: like he's jumping out of the plane, He's not taking
Speaker 5: it seriously. And the Vernious Coals and the Daban Woodies
Speaker 5: of the world, they were pissed.
Speaker 3: They were really mad.
Speaker 5: We had a good team, and they were really disrespected
Speaker 5: that the opposing head coach would jump out of a
Speaker 5: plane before the game and not take it seriously.
Speaker 3: And we waxed them.
Speaker 5: And I was one of those games where people were
Speaker 5: like afterwards in the locker. I still remember that they
Speaker 5: were like, who is.
Speaker 3: He to do that?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Do you ever wonder what would have happened with the
Speaker 1: eight team had not far it heard some physical injuries
Speaker 1: down the stretch.
Speaker 5: It was interesting when you ask guys like Damian Woody
Speaker 5: or Lavernius Coals and Potato like they'll they'll tell you that,
Speaker 5: you know, the team and O nine may have gone
Speaker 5: to the championship game, but the eight team was actually better.
Speaker 5: And sometimes that happens in football. That's what makes it,
Speaker 5: you know, a great sport. You know, on paper, you
Speaker 5: know when team certainly had more accomplishments, but uh, those
Speaker 5: guys would tell you like, maybe that team and in
Speaker 5: O Waight was actually better.
Speaker 1: Why was Rex the right guy for you in O nine?
Speaker 1: As he made the switch for Mangeni. But he comes
Speaker 1: in and you talk about his approach from day one
Speaker 1: when he walked into the building.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think you know, Woodie Johnson, myself, Scott Cohen,
Speaker 5: I think what we saw was a guy that was
Speaker 5: going to come in.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 5: It was a little bit of a two for one Eric.
Speaker 5: So Brian Schottenheimer was the offensive coordinator. We felt good
Speaker 5: about Brian and keep him and that offensive structure in
Speaker 5: place with a lot of really good coaches, and then
Speaker 5: have Rex kind of come in and for lack of
Speaker 5: a better maybe like rejuvenate the defense, give it a
Speaker 5: little bit more of a newer look, a pressure look,
Speaker 5: and we felt like it was a two for one,
Speaker 5: and you know Rex came in and Rex's Rex, like yeah,
Speaker 5: unabashably confident, a lot of energy, and it just worked right.
Speaker 5: It was the right time with the right coach, with
Speaker 5: the right roster. We had a couple you know, really
Speaker 5: really fun years.
Speaker 1: Did the organization need that kind of voice at that time?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I just think, like again, like give a lot
Speaker 5: of credit to Scott Cohen, what do I think? We
Speaker 5: just kind of felt like, yeah, this is the guy.
Speaker 3: Like it was.
Speaker 5: Pretty clear, you know, ironically one of the other finalists
Speaker 5: for the job with Steve Spagnola, who's obviously got on
Speaker 5: to do terrific things. I mean, you think about all
Speaker 5: the great coaches we were around from day ball and
Speaker 5: Shoddy and obviously Rex bags, Like, you know, there were
Speaker 5: some really talented coaches.
Speaker 1: What stands out more when you look back when people say, hey,
Speaker 1: Mike t O nine twenty ten each of them very different,
Speaker 1: unique in their own right.
Speaker 2: As far as the runs are concerned.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think a couple of things stand out. I
Speaker 5: thought Rex's ability to make every player feel like they mattered,
Speaker 5: like a story I like to tell, like a mad
Speaker 5: Carol Batman, he was a first round pick with the
Speaker 5: Green Bay Packers at.
Speaker 3: Corner University of Arkansas. Didn't work out.
Speaker 5: He came in and I'll never forget this, you know,
Speaker 5: Rex says to him, Hey, like, what do you like
Speaker 5: to do? I like the blitz? And so his nickname
Speaker 5: was Batman, so we put it into Batman Blitz.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 5: I don't know how many times we use the Batman
Speaker 5: blitz in a game. But you talk about getting more
Speaker 5: out of a guy like who's totally vested in that's
Speaker 5: just like a little story. But like to have that
Speaker 5: relatability with players is so.
Speaker 1: Important, magical in terms of winning four road playoff games
Speaker 1: over the course of two seasons. Do you ever Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: that championship game? Do you think about that one more
Speaker 1: than Indianapolis?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 5: I do, And I got to get over at some point,
Speaker 5: but you know, I look and he was a good player,
Speaker 5: so don't get but like we're off the field on
Speaker 5: the first drive of the game, and like fifty yards
Speaker 5: away they call Antonio Cormarti for like hands to the
Speaker 5: face and then they want up scoring on that drive.
Speaker 3: And I think.
Speaker 5: Myself, like, if nothing else in the universe ever changes,
Speaker 5: but that one call, I actually think we win the
Speaker 5: game because I think the whole game changes. You know,
Speaker 5: they're off the field, we stop them. But look, it
Speaker 5: was you know great. More than anything. This is a
Speaker 5: relationship business. Sure, Just proud of the relationships that I
Speaker 5: had with them, with a lot of those players and
Speaker 5: coaches and staff to this day.
Speaker 1: All right, Jets fans want to get back to the
Speaker 1: postseason desperately. You know that you mentioned, you know, getting
Speaker 1: back in relationships, So let's start their transitions. Bill Parcells,
Speaker 1: how much of an influence has he had on your career?
Speaker 3: A ton?
Speaker 5: He probably a lot more about life, you know, than
Speaker 5: than than anything else. And tell a quick story. So
Speaker 5: you know, I'm very fortunate to be on ESPN. And ironically,
Speaker 5: going back a couple of years ago, Aaron Rodgers is
Speaker 5: with the Packers and it's clear like he wants out
Speaker 5: and we're on air, and you know, the first hour
Speaker 5: for whatever reason. That day I was a little bit
Speaker 5: more pro player, saying, like, you know, Greenie, if he
Speaker 5: doesn't want to be a packer, they.
Speaker 3: Should just let him move on.
Speaker 5: And you know, for whatever reason, I just kind of
Speaker 5: like that day was like definitely leaning towards more like
Speaker 5: the player side of the situation.
Speaker 3: And between the eight and nine we had a little
Speaker 3: bit of a break.
Speaker 5: So I'm checking my phone and it's a text on
Speaker 5: coach of ourselves, like, don't ever tell anybody who work
Speaker 5: for me. It's embarrassing. What does a contract actually mean?
Speaker 5: So the producer gets in my ear and says, hey,
Speaker 5: the A block of the nine o'clock hour is going
Speaker 5: to be the same as the A block of the
Speaker 5: eight o'clock hour. Your answers were great to say, you know,
Speaker 5: run it back. So Greeney comes to me. He's like, so,
Speaker 5: Mike Wi, should you know the Green Bay Packers do
Speaker 5: with our And I'm like, you know, Greene contracts a contract.
Speaker 5: I mean, you know, if he doesn't want to be there,
Speaker 5: they should find him, they should suspend him. And I
Speaker 5: was like I had a gut, like a pit in
Speaker 5: my stomach, like I still work for the guy. It's
Speaker 5: been twenty plus years, and he's just such a special guy.
Speaker 5: You know, I see him pretty regularly now and we
Speaker 5: talk about life and politics and religion and racial matters,
Speaker 5: and he has so much wisdom about our country. You know,
Speaker 5: sometimes like football doesn't even come up.
Speaker 2: Is he the best program builder in the history of
Speaker 2: this league?
Speaker 5: You know, certainly he's up the you know, look, I'm
Speaker 5: really fortunate. You know, I got a chance to work
Speaker 5: for coach Belichick too, who's in that conversation with Bill Walsh,
Speaker 5: Like those guys are amongst the best of all time.
Speaker 5: And to take you know, four different teams to the playoffs,
Speaker 5: is you know, something that no one else has ever done.
Speaker 1: All Right, So he had such a huge influence on
Speaker 1: Aaron Glenn as well. Let's go back to AG's playing career.
Speaker 1: He started in ninety four with the Jets, and of
Speaker 1: course you were there we view Bank call Hofstra.
Speaker 2: What was Aaron like as a player?
Speaker 5: A lot of the same attributes you've seen now. Look
Speaker 5: he's been on the job now for ten minutes. I
Speaker 5: get like it's not been that long, but the same
Speaker 5: attributes you're seeing, Like someone that's very like serious minded,
Speaker 5: very focused, very driven, does not suffer fool as well.
Speaker 5: A kind compassionate person, but who's very, very competitive.
Speaker 1: You're not going to tell us too much what happened
Speaker 1: behind those closed doors. But what was he like during
Speaker 1: the interviews this time around?
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, Eric, it's what you see is what
Speaker 5: you get, Like, it's really not a mystery. Like he's
Speaker 5: you know, gotten the most out of players at you know,
Speaker 5: a few different stops.
Speaker 3: He's paid his dues.
Speaker 5: You go back to twenty twelve when he started with
Speaker 5: the Jets as a scout and just worked his way
Speaker 5: up and grind it. So he's a rare, rare guy,
Speaker 5: you know. And I know how hard he worked at scouting.
Speaker 5: I know how hard he's worked at coaching. He paid
Speaker 5: his dues. You know, sometimes you see people not work
Speaker 5: out because they've gone from you know, a position coach
Speaker 5: to a head coach. Like he's done it the right
Speaker 5: way and he's had success at every stop.
Speaker 1: Exhausted searches that land the Jets. Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougi.
Speaker 1: What was it like working with the guys this time around?
Speaker 1: You know, Woody Johnson for a long time, you've worked
Speaker 1: with them before. Obviously you're a member, a founder of
Speaker 1: the thirty third team, and you were working with Rix
Speaker 1: s Pielman as well in support of the search.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and Christopher Johnson and Jimi el High team president.
Speaker 5: Like it was it was I tell you, like, it's
Speaker 5: kind of it's gonna sound like weird to say this,
Speaker 5: Like there was a little part of me. It was
Speaker 5: like I was almost sad when it was over because
Speaker 5: it was so much fun. Yeah, and I learned so much.
Speaker 5: It was an unbelievable experience. I mean, we talked to
Speaker 5: so many people and just to learn from so many
Speaker 5: disparate you know, approaches and backgrounds and just it was awesome. Like,
Speaker 5: I really enjoyed it. It was long, it was detailed
Speaker 5: a lot of hours, but it was a great group
Speaker 5: of people that I think, you know, if you would ask,
Speaker 5: you know, Woody or Christopher High, me Rick, Like, I
Speaker 5: think we just kind of enjoyed being around one another.
Speaker 5: It was it was a like I said, it was
Speaker 5: a really fun process.
Speaker 1: How unique is Age's journey When you're talking about a
Speaker 1: guy who played here first round pick in ninety four
Speaker 1: coming out of Texas and place fifteen seasons in the
Speaker 1: National Football League, you hire them as a scout two
Speaker 1: thousand and twelve. He works a couple of years on
Speaker 1: the pro side and the college scout inside, and then
Speaker 1: works his way up as an assistant assistant coach, starting
Speaker 1: off with the Cleveland Browns, of course, working with Sean
Speaker 1: Payton and New Orleans, and then finally working as a
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator under Dan Campbell Detroit.
Speaker 5: Yeah, he, like I said, he's earned it all. Like
Speaker 5: you know, there's no part of him that doesn't deserve this,
Speaker 5: you know, opportunity again. And that's not to say, like
Speaker 5: you know, there won't be bumps in the road along
Speaker 5: the way, Eric, but like he he has been around
Speaker 5: a lot of disparate guys from Sean Dan coach parcels
Speaker 5: like and knowing Aaron, He'll take all of those and
Speaker 5: he'll be his own guy. Like he's very comfortable in
Speaker 5: his own skin. He'll have the hard conversations like all
Speaker 5: those things are you know, really important.
Speaker 3: And I think it's kind of cool.
Speaker 5: There's now five current NFL hit coaches that played for
Speaker 5: the team that they're now coaching from. Coach Harbaugh in
Speaker 5: uh Los Angeles with the Chargers Dan Campbell, as we
Speaker 5: mentioned in Detroit, Domingo, Ryans Houston, and Mike Rable in
Speaker 5: New England.
Speaker 1: That's a great stat you're starting out there. That's your
Speaker 1: ESPN knowledge, you're analysis coming up here. So let's talk
Speaker 1: about Darren Muci. I don't think a lot of Jets
Speaker 1: fans knew about Mooge at the beginning of this process,
Speaker 1: but now he's been on the job here over a month. Well,
Speaker 1: what stood out to you guys about Darren during this
Speaker 1: whole thing?
Speaker 5: Yeah, he was like very thorough, he was thoughtful. He
Speaker 5: certainly had a plan, you know, he had I know
Speaker 5: people will say, like he's young, but he's had a
Speaker 5: lot of experience in different roles, and when there's ownership
Speaker 5: changes or leadership changes and someone gets more responsibility, that's
Speaker 5: typically a pretty good indicy of someone that's you know,
Speaker 5: very talented, very well thought of and again, like similar
Speaker 5: to ag like he's checked a lot of the boxes
Speaker 5: and he's earned this right.
Speaker 1: As a first time GM, which you were, you have
Speaker 1: that experience. Well, what are going to be some of
Speaker 1: the eye opening things for Darren in this role?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 5: Well, I would say to NFL Live Tomorrow and ESPN
Speaker 5: because we talk a lot about the first question actually
Speaker 5: in the roundtable is what do you know today that
Speaker 5: you wish you know on the first day of the job.
Speaker 5: And we kind of had to laugh about like, you know,
Speaker 5: you manage generally, that's what a GM does, but you
Speaker 5: know it just look, I was lucky. I was the
Speaker 5: assistant GM for five years of the New York Jets
Speaker 5: before I became the GM, and when I got the position,
Speaker 5: I was lucky enough to get the position. I had
Speaker 5: no idea what I was getting to and it could be, Hey,
Speaker 5: this person wants a new title, this person feels like
Speaker 5: they're underpaid. You know, this person is going through like
Speaker 5: a personal situation, this player's just changed agents, whatever it
Speaker 5: could be. And it's like, oh my gosh, Like I
Speaker 5: thought we were like, you know, watching film or you know,
Speaker 5: trying sad like and some of your most productive days
Speaker 5: you're not even behind your desk.
Speaker 1: How important is that relationship between GM and high coaching.
Speaker 1: What have you seen in the early stages from Aaron
Speaker 1: and Darren that you're encouraged by.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think there's like mutual respect and good communication.
Speaker 5: And you know, on this round table, I said, look,
Speaker 5: at the end of the day, like I it's such
Speaker 5: a hard and complicated job. Like if I was shoulder
Speaker 5: shoulder with the head coach and owner, I didn't care
Speaker 5: about the rest. I could handle the age and I
Speaker 5: could handle the media. But it was those two people
Speaker 5: that were critical to have alignment with.
Speaker 2: So we're coming full circle.
Speaker 1: We started off this conversation talking about your trade for
Speaker 1: Brett Favre as GM and the New York Jets. What
Speaker 1: does this leadership team have in front of them at
Speaker 1: the quarterback position?
Speaker 2: Right now? We know Tyra Taylor in the building.
Speaker 1: You got a couple of young passers as well, Jordan
Speaker 1: Travis was on a FI last year.
Speaker 2: Agri and Martinez in house.
Speaker 1: But we're a couple of days now away from free
Speaker 1: agency and then that will be followed by the draft.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's a great opportunity, you know, And I think
Speaker 5: that's like in a perfect world, how things work. You
Speaker 5: reset with a in this case, head coach GM, and
Speaker 5: obviously hopefully the quarterback you know, follows, you know, quickly behind,
Speaker 5: and you know, sometimes you can get all done year one,
Speaker 5: sometimes you can't. But I can totally understand, you know,
Speaker 5: why they made the decision they made.
Speaker 1: But Moji, did you like what you hear from him
Speaker 1: as far as a decision maker is concerned, when he
Speaker 1: says at number seven, I'm open to moving up, I'm
Speaker 1: open to move him back.
Speaker 2: Because he's going to keep all options open.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Absolutely, yeah, No, he's running the right play about one
Speaker 5: hundred percent. And look we're sitting here. It's the end
Speaker 5: of February. Free agency is still several weeks away, the
Speaker 5: drafts a couple of months away. So absolutely you got
Speaker 5: to get all the information that make the best decision possible.
Speaker 1: What's the first steps for this team in terms of
Speaker 1: with the new regime, once you get these guys on
Speaker 1: the field, in terms of setting third tone, the way
Speaker 1: they want to run things.
Speaker 5: Yo, go back to the beginning with Coach Parcels. I remember,
Speaker 5: you know, first being like I'm in there. It's nineteen
Speaker 5: ninety seven and he's just talking about, Hey, we're gonna
Speaker 5: have less injuries this year. The ninety six Jets had
Speaker 5: too many injuries and they won one game seven, we
Speaker 5: won nine ninety eight. We were in the championship game,
Speaker 5: and Coach Parcels, if he was sitting right here, we
Speaker 5: talked about it was the off season program being more
Speaker 5: conditioned and whatever the record is, Like, I would expect
Speaker 5: this team to be really well coached, and you'll you
Speaker 5: look at conditioning, you look at penalties, you look at
Speaker 5: end of game situations, and I have tremendous confidence that Aaron.
Speaker 3: Will do a great job with all that.
Speaker 5: And I think all the indices to say, like, wow,
Speaker 5: is this team being coached, Well, we'll be there.
Speaker 1: What about Aaron's And you were part of this as well,
Speaker 1: but you guys sign on Vinnie Tester Verdie. I think
Speaker 1: he was thirty five years old in ninety eight, and
Speaker 1: people on the outside probably started that sceneson saying, you, guys,
Speaker 1: don't have an answer a quarterback. Glenn fully started on
Speaker 1: that season, but then Vinnie went on a magical run.
Speaker 1: So I think there is a rush for people and
Speaker 1: fans to say you have to have the answer a
Speaker 1: quarterback right now. Where ultimately this is going to develop.
Speaker 5: Yeah, no, that's exactly right, and things will happen like
Speaker 5: we've already seen is like it's Matt Stafford available, Like
Speaker 5: there's just a lot of uncertainty and we'll see what
Speaker 5: the draft brings too. You know, last year there were
Speaker 5: six quarterbacks in the top twelve. I doubt we'll see
Speaker 5: that this year, but you know, maybe there's more quarterbacks
Speaker 5: that go earlier than you know, people expect so early.
Speaker 1: Thoughts on this twenty twenty five draft class overall, you
Speaker 1: would boots on the ground and mobile you're here in Indianapolis.
Speaker 1: Just as far as maybe position groups that are more
Speaker 1: talented than the russ Yeah.
Speaker 5: I would start, you know, at the running back position.
Speaker 5: It's historically great, you know, like I think, I mean,
Speaker 5: we're obviously you start with Ashton genty, but you know
Speaker 5: from there, like you know, Hampton from North Carolina. I'm
Speaker 5: a big Campskaboo fan out of Arizona State. There's probably
Speaker 5: like ten to twelve guys. I think we'll play meaningful snaps.
Speaker 5: I think d line is also very similar, led by
Speaker 5: obviously Abdul Carter out of Penn State. But I see
Speaker 5: another ten to twelve defensive lineman going early, probably in
Speaker 5: the first you know, fifty sixty picks.
Speaker 1: Lad made his case today in Indianapolis to be the
Speaker 1: number one overall selection. Your thoughts if you're a team there,
Speaker 1: if you because the Jets aren't there right now at
Speaker 1: seven unless they move up to one, and we'll let's
Speaker 1: see what happens. It's probably I would imagine there's a
Speaker 1: lot of small percentage of that happening. But if you're
Speaker 1: Tennessee and people say, hey, maybe they would look to
Speaker 1: upgrade the quarterback position, you're staring at cam Ward, but
Speaker 1: then you're also staring at a guy like Abduall Carter
Speaker 1: who could be a potential game wrecker in the defensive
Speaker 1: side of the ball.
Speaker 2: Can you weigh that?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean you have to factor all those things.
Speaker 5: And if you're Tennessee, you want to have your roster
Speaker 5: set to the extent you can so you can have flexibility.
Speaker 5: And obviously you know their decision in parts going to
Speaker 5: wait in what's you know, Brian Callahan and Mike Borganzhi's
Speaker 5: evaluation on Will Levis and that will factor in, you know,
Speaker 5: quite a bit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, a final thought, I just wanted to get your
Speaker 1: analysis on the quarterback class here this year because we
Speaker 1: mentioned cam Ward, but Anders, Jackson, Dart.
Speaker 2: And well you could continue to name the names.
Speaker 1: We're not going to see six quarterbacks taken in the
Speaker 1: first twelve overall selections, but do you like maybe potentially
Speaker 1: some developmental prospects down the line, you.
Speaker 5: Know, I do like Shug from Louisville, like very interesting guy.
Speaker 5: Started off, he was, of all things, justin Herbert's backup
Speaker 5: at Oregon, goes to Texas Tech, dealt with some injuries
Speaker 5: long way. I thought he was very good in mobile,
Speaker 5: talking about the Senior Bowl. Anxious to see what he
Speaker 5: does here. He's just one of you know a few others.
Speaker 5: Riley Leonard, who was a basketball player until his junior
Speaker 5: in high school, quarterback that start off at Duke, did
Speaker 5: really well, transfer to Notre Dame, did some things in
Speaker 5: mobile that were encouraging and things that he's still gonna
Speaker 5: have to work on. But you know, a big, long,
Speaker 5: good looking athlete. Jalen Milroe, another guy that flashed in mobile.
Speaker 5: So there's some guys that will be you know, developmental
Speaker 5: that you know will be interesting to follow.
Speaker 2: Enjoyed it as always.
Speaker 1: I know you're going to keep a keen eye on
Speaker 1: North Carolina next year.
Speaker 2: Can you talk about the football program and their.
Speaker 5: Latest our son, Jacob's gonna be a long snapper for them,
Speaker 5: and it's a position that he's earned and their remarkable job.
Speaker 5: And yeah, I didn't think that Mike Son would be
Speaker 5: playing for coach bellchecking Kyle.
Speaker 1: Yeah, who would have thought that back in the day
Speaker 1: when you guys were walking the halls at the Weaview
Speaker 1: Bank and now your son is playing for Bill Beljicks.
Speaker 2: It's crazy.
Speaker 3: It is crazy.
Speaker 2: Hey, hey man, great, see you.
Speaker 3: All right, Thanks so much.
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Speaker 2: What's this week like for you? With free agency on
Speaker 2: the horizon?
Speaker 1: Everybody here including agents, all thirty two teams represented, and
Speaker 1: then you got hundreds of prospects here and the drafts
Speaker 1: right around the corner.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's uh, we're jugglingmultiple things and we're starting to
Speaker 6: gather information for the Draft. It's like, you know, it
Speaker 6: starts actually at the Senior Bowl when we're down there
Speaker 6: and just kind of like one eye on the prospects
Speaker 6: because that's three steps.
Speaker 2: Down the road and we've got free agency.
Speaker 6: In the meantime, we've got trades that could potentially happen,
Speaker 6: guys that.
Speaker 2: Are going to be released.
Speaker 6: It's it's you leave here and you go I can't
Speaker 6: believe I didn't get a chance to talk to X.
Speaker 6: Your list you go in, I've I've gone in and
Speaker 6: I've made lists and say I've got to these are
Speaker 6: the people I have to see, and I never complete
Speaker 6: the list because it's just it's it's too many people
Speaker 6: here trying to conduct their business, get their stuff done.
Speaker 6: But that's a good thing, right, It's it means it's
Speaker 6: a game that everybody's interested in. The off season is
Speaker 6: as entertaining as the regular season, sometimes in a different way, obviously,
Speaker 6: but it keeps it keeps everybody engaged.
Speaker 2: Three sixty five.
Speaker 1: Jets again busy this offseason. Have a new leadership team,
Speaker 1: Aaron g Darren Mugi. What are people around the lead
Speaker 1: saying about the fires?
Speaker 6: A lot of respect for for Darren Moogie and what
Speaker 6: he's done and what he was able to do in
Speaker 6: Denver in numerous roles, right and also being part of
Speaker 6: regime changes there, so seeing how things multiple times, seeing
Speaker 6: how the table was reset, what worked, what didn't work.
Speaker 6: And I know that he came in and really did
Speaker 6: a good job of communicating what his plan was going
Speaker 6: to be, more so than a lot of other guys
Speaker 6: that they interviewed, and a clear vision for what he
Speaker 6: wanted to do. That's the best thing. I mean, it's
Speaker 6: never you've got a clear vision. It may not work,
Speaker 6: but you want you want somebody who comes in has
Speaker 6: a planet and be able to execute and you go, Okay,
Speaker 6: that guy had a plan. So I know that there's
Speaker 6: a lot of respect for what he was able to do.
Speaker 6: As for Aaron Glenn, the way that they really established
Speaker 6: a culture in Detroit has really impressed people. And and
Speaker 6: and the way that he has progressed from a former
Speaker 6: player into his coaching career, a smooth transition. A guy
Speaker 6: who was h a really good coordinator and a great
Speaker 6: motivator too. I mean, that's to me, we focus way
Speaker 6: too much on here's a guy as a coordinator, that's
Speaker 6: gonna make him a good hit.
Speaker 2: That's not it.
Speaker 6: It's not necessarily that, certainly from an extent, it's who
Speaker 6: can run the operation. And they did a great job
Speaker 6: of it in Detroit, and feel like he learned a
Speaker 6: lot and is able to set it up for the
Speaker 6: Jets for what he wants to do.
Speaker 2: How much is his voice?
Speaker 1: AG's gonna resonate throughout the building and inside the lockow.
Speaker 6: It's gonna be huge, there's no doubt about it. And
Speaker 6: you saw his interactions with the media. Listen from the beginning,
Speaker 6: from the beginning of the search, before the search, actually,
Speaker 6: who can handle the New York market was going to
Speaker 6: be a big part of this whole thing, and his
Speaker 6: name was the name that came to the forefront first
Speaker 6: and foremost because they knew a guy that already had
Speaker 6: experience in this market and his so strong will that
Speaker 6: you see in his interactions with the media, the way
Speaker 6: that he's able to handle those things, that's how it's
Speaker 6: going to be internally. And you know, he already had
Speaker 6: the Quinn Williams thing with the tweet that was taken
Speaker 6: down and uh, showing already that he can handle that
Speaker 6: and and make it clear like we're we're going to
Speaker 6: be uh stronger from the inside now as an organization,
Speaker 6: uh and and and work together here and make sure
Speaker 6: that uh the strength is inside that locker room and
Speaker 6: inside the building. He's already establishing that, I believe quarterback position.
Speaker 1: Jets announced that they're gonna part ways from Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1: He's still on the roster. We'll have to find out
Speaker 1: what that ultimately looks like. If it is a juvene
Speaker 1: one designation. You got Tyrod Taylor in the house, you
Speaker 1: got a couple of young passers. Do you anticipate the
Speaker 1: Jets addressing the quarterback position in free agency and draft.
Speaker 6: Uh in free in both? Yeah, Well I think yeah,
Speaker 6: or and or. The problem could Yeah. The problem is
Speaker 6: there's a lot of teams that are trying to do that.
Speaker 6: And I've heard that from multiple gms, uh talking about
Speaker 6: how different avenues can get you to the answer. They've cited,
Speaker 6: you know, back when the Seahawks difford multiple gms cite
Speaker 6: this this offseason. For some reason, everybody remembers twenty ten
Speaker 6: now where the Seahawks traded for Charlie Whitehurst and the
Speaker 6: next year they signed Matt Flanlin and they drafted Russell
Speaker 6: Wilson and in the end they said, we're just gonna
Speaker 6: go with the guy that we think and Russell was
Speaker 6: the best option for them, so they went with him,
Speaker 6: and it turned out to be the right decision, obviously.
Speaker 6: So if everybody's doing that, there aren't enough guys to fill.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean.
Speaker 6: So somebody's gonna say, well, we really want to go
Speaker 6: after free free agent, and there's that cluster of free agents,
Speaker 6: whether it's I mean, I include Matthew Stafford from a
Speaker 6: trade standpoint, whether it's Stafford, Darnold, you know, Derek Carr
Speaker 6: might be free, Aaron Rodgers, you know, all these guys,
Speaker 6: and they might have that idea of but we're gonna
Speaker 6: get one of those guys. Well, if eight teams are
Speaker 6: going for five guys, then the other three then it's
Speaker 6: gonna have to be whether it's Wilson or whether it's
Speaker 6: Jacobe Prissett or one of those guys. I think then
Speaker 6: you're into a realm of player that Tyrod Taylor fits.
Speaker 6: You've already got that, you know what I mean. So
Speaker 6: if you go after that first tier, that's right, and
Speaker 6: everybody else so you stick with Tyron Taylor, which I
Speaker 6: think is a good option.
Speaker 2: Would be we counted this the other day.
Speaker 6: I think it's the fourth time he would be a
Speaker 6: bridge quarterback potentially, And I don't mean that to demean him.
Speaker 6: I think it's actually a compliment to him, the fact
Speaker 6: that he's been trusted with that role before. To get
Speaker 6: yourself to a young quarterback, whether it's not even this year,
Speaker 6: it could be you know, you draft a quarterback in
Speaker 6: the second third, fourth round, it doesn't pan out, that's okay.
Speaker 6: That's much better than taking a swing in the top
Speaker 6: ten and it doesn't work out, because then you can
Speaker 6: come back next year and say, well, we took a
Speaker 6: shot later on, but now we're really.
Speaker 2: Going to take a bigger spike, a good transition, good segue.
Speaker 2: Jets at seven. Yeah. Do you anticipate them not being
Speaker 2: in the quarterback business early in the draft? Do I
Speaker 2: anticipate them not being in the guest?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I do, because I don't think that this is
Speaker 6: the draft where you're going to force that, yep. And
Speaker 6: there's not a lot of cam Ward seems to be
Speaker 6: the guy that is the consensus number one, and most
Speaker 6: people think, well that's a guy, right, whereas Shidor Sanders's
Speaker 6: Eyety the beholder. You're seeing evaluations for him all over
Speaker 6: the board. You know, Jackson Dart's going to be in
Speaker 6: the conversation Quinn you were might get himself in there
Speaker 6: as well. But those guys are not being looked at
Speaker 6: as you know, top ten take them now type guys.
Speaker 2: So my anticipation is that they stay put and now.
Speaker 6: They're looking at some value elsewhere, whether it's the tight
Speaker 6: end from Penn State or some of these guys.
Speaker 2: Tyler Warren that Tyler Warren Warren, Yeah.
Speaker 6: Who who really is being talked about as a complete
Speaker 6: prospect in a way that and I don't know that
Speaker 6: he makes the seven by the way. I'm so we'll
Speaker 6: see how that goes. But you know there's talent that
Speaker 6: you had, certainly in the top temperature.
Speaker 1: Interesting offseason ahead for these guys, Glenn and Mugi, starting
Speaker 1: with free agency, because the Jets several needs. You go
Speaker 1: back in the defensive backfield and stay safety. You can say,
Speaker 1: opposite saus Gardner, who's going to be playing cornerback because
Speaker 1: DJ tjer Rady has got an expiring contract. Brandon Nichols
Speaker 1: his backup as an inspiring contract. Jamie Sherwood a team
Speaker 1: MVP last year at the linebacker position.
Speaker 2: He's on a restricted free agent.
Speaker 1: You have a couple of defensive tackles that aren't restricted
Speaker 1: who played next to Quinn and Williams. And then the
Speaker 1: offensive side of the Paul we talked about quarterback tight
Speaker 1: on Tyler Conklin. He look at Moses, Yeah, said more
Speaker 1: Moses as well, So he's gonna have interest. By the way,
Speaker 1: this is so how do you assess that when when
Speaker 1: we when we just start discussing top of the line,
Speaker 1: their free agents and their needs, how do you assess
Speaker 1: their priorities?
Speaker 6: It's well, you tell me who they're retaining, right, because
Speaker 6: it's not even their guys that they drafted.
Speaker 2: It's a completely different receipt, right.
Speaker 6: So a lot of a lot of times you could
Speaker 6: fall in love with a Sherwood and say, Okay, these guys.
Speaker 2: This guy's been with us, uh the last.
Speaker 6: Couple of years, and he's really become an integral piece
Speaker 6: and deserves that to be thrown into the mix there
Speaker 6: as a starter. And I think he's gonna have a
Speaker 6: lot of interest as well. And you're seeing what Zach
Speaker 6: Bond meant to the Eagles, by the way, so all
Speaker 6: of a sudden, the off the ball linebacker kind of
Speaker 6: like the running back becoming in vogue again a little
Speaker 6: bit with some teams. So uh yeah, I think the
Speaker 6: the cornerback position certainly is important for a for a
Speaker 6: coach who was a cornerback, the player is a defensive
Speaker 6: minded guy, so I'd say that that's a priority. And
Speaker 6: even if they bring back even if they bring back
Speaker 6: DJ Reid, you know, add another one. You know you
Speaker 6: need you need three, you need four and uh, Detroit
Speaker 6: certainly did a good job of that with their personnel
Speaker 6: to make sure that they were stacked at that position,
Speaker 6: had a stable of guys as well. So I think
Speaker 6: I think cornerback is certainly a priority for them. You know,
Speaker 6: defensive tackle is gonna be tough because these guys are
Speaker 6: gonna get paid. There's gonna be the haves and the
Speaker 6: have nots. Though at defensive tackle position, you're gonna see
Speaker 6: guys like Milton Williams make a ton of money. Oh
Speaker 6: so I think hezilla are gonna make a ton of money.
Speaker 6: I don't think you have to go certainly there. If
Speaker 6: you've got Quinn and Williams sense it's so deep in
Speaker 6: the draft, right, exactly right, exactly right. So I think
Speaker 6: I think you're gonna have the guys take the big swings.
Speaker 6: Then there's gonna be a huge drop off. They'll be
Speaker 6: guys Sheldon Rankins, the former jet is gonna be is
Speaker 6: already available. Excuse me, So I think he'll make some money.
Speaker 6: You'll have some guys in that realm. But yeah, I
Speaker 6: don't think you have to go that route. If you
Speaker 6: certainly got a dominic guy like Quinn. I don't think
Speaker 6: you have to make that necessarily a priority to go
Speaker 6: big in free agency.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's something that I think is flying under the radar.
Speaker 2: By the way, you mentioned Conklin. Apparently he's got some
Speaker 2: interest around the league as well.
Speaker 1: Too, interesting, because the other thing that these guys have
Speaker 1: to do is assess the roster because maybe the old
Speaker 1: regime thought differently as some of these guys, and then
Speaker 1: you have new coordinators across the board. Anything catch your
Speaker 1: eye there as far as Glenn's hires, respectively, when you're
Speaker 1: speaking about Tanner Angstron who came over from Detroit, passing
Speaker 1: game coordinator, Steve Wilkes, experienced guy who's done everything in
Speaker 1: the National Football League, like Chris Banjo who played under
Speaker 1: Glenn in New Orleans and was most recently assistant special
Speaker 1: teams coordinator with the Problem.
Speaker 6: And you saw how much interest there was in Banjo
Speaker 6: because he had multiple interviews this offseason. So he's considered
Speaker 6: a blossoming stud in the coaching industry as well. I
Speaker 6: love Steve Wilkes. I thought he got an extremely raw
Speaker 6: deal in San Francisco two years ago, and somebody had
Speaker 6: to take the blame for that Super Bowl loss that
Speaker 6: wound up being him, and things weren't much better once
Speaker 6: he left there.
Speaker 2: So Steve Steve.
Speaker 6: I also think Steve is and I've said this before,
Speaker 6: he's a good coordinator. I think he's got the chops
Speaker 6: to be a great head coach, and I don't think
Speaker 6: he got a fair shake in Arizona or Carolina, where
Speaker 6: he led them to a six and six record, I
Speaker 6: believe for a team that was struggling as an interim
Speaker 6: head coach and then didn't get real serious consideration for
Speaker 6: the job there because they wanted an offensive guy and
Speaker 6: then wound up hiring Frank Reich, who was gone quickly
Speaker 6: in the mid It's just it's it's Steve Wilks is
Speaker 6: a great hire and he'll be able to give Aaron
Speaker 6: Glenn the experience of, Hey, I've been in that chair twice.
Speaker 6: Once he's an interim, once is a full time guy
Speaker 6: to help him get get movement as a head coach.
Speaker 1: All right, we're going to get you out of here,
Speaker 1: but state true case. You can pick any card here.
Speaker 1: As far as since we've been talking a little bit
Speaker 1: about pro free agency, pick a card and then anyway, Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: you're going right off the top.
Speaker 2: Hold on, hold on, Ah, this is actually a good one.
Speaker 2: So this is a good one. This is a guy
Speaker 2: going right off the top.
Speaker 6: When you when I've when you get a a GM
Speaker 6: or a head coach who comes in and you can
Speaker 6: get a guy who has been with him before. In
Speaker 6: Carlton Davis, I probably should say the name. You get
Speaker 6: a guy who's been with him before. That helps set
Speaker 6: the tone for the other guys there to say, I
Speaker 6: can translate what he wants, what he's expecting, uh, to
Speaker 6: those guys that have already been there. Uh, that is
Speaker 6: extremely helpful. Plus he's I mean, he's a good player
Speaker 6: as well. I don't mean to make it just seem
Speaker 6: like he's an honorary coach, but uh, I.
Speaker 3: Like that one.
Speaker 1: It's a good fit for the Jets right there. There
Speaker 1: you go the three card Monty, you're card mont You're
Speaker 1: a good fit for the Jets as well. Because I'm
Speaker 1: hearing that, Hey, when you're on Jets platforms, people are
Speaker 1: consuming people.
Speaker 6: My Jets, I mean my Jet fan friends, and there
Speaker 6: are plenty of them. Uh, they're watching this now. So
Speaker 6: so when Jets drive or whatever. It's always like, dude,
Speaker 6: saw you on that great awesome or you know you're
Speaker 6: an idiot at that too, but they see it, well,
Speaker 6: we all do.
Speaker 1: Maybe we can circle back and see what the Jets
Speaker 1: actually did in free agency at the league meetings.
Speaker 2: Here in a couple of weeks, I will be there.
Speaker 6: Beautiful weather in Palm Beach this time of year, so
Speaker 6: excited for that.
Speaker 2: Thanks Buding, you got a pout