Speaker 1: This episode of the group Chat is brought to you
Speaker 1: by Lift. Skip the hassle of finding and paying for parking,
Speaker 1: take lift instead. M You've been added to the group
Speaker 1: chat with your friends Caroline, can, Max Sensen, and Will Brian.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Indianapolis to the NFL Combine. The group chat
Speaker 1: on the road. But we left Will at home. Well
Speaker 1: it kind of on the slope. Have we heard from him?
Speaker 1: Is he okay? I haven't. Well, he has corresponded with
Speaker 1: intern Zac, so I know he is. So he is able. Mind,
Speaker 1: I don't know about body will see how his skiing adventure.
Speaker 1: I can't wait. I did enjoy keeping up with him
Speaker 1: this weekend on social media with his extravaganza he went skiing.
Speaker 1: Those of you that did not here on the last
Speaker 1: group chat, he winsking in West Virginia. And we've got
Speaker 1: a beer opening up on the group chat. We can't
Speaker 1: even make it. It would MAT's over here opening up
Speaker 1: um an ice cold soda. Uh, it's not really a beer.
Speaker 1: Because we're at the NFL Combine. We are working, we're
Speaker 1: in the convention center. I mean, this is always an
Speaker 1: interesting it's an interesting day, and I actually want to
Speaker 1: bring surprise we're going to bring Matt into this more
Speaker 1: than he thinks because Max and I have been to
Speaker 1: multiple comment. How many combines have you been to? A handful?
Speaker 1: I can tell you exactly how many, but this is
Speaker 1: probably enough to not count, or fifth combine something like that,
Speaker 1: so it's easy to count when you've never been before
Speaker 1: and this is what you're going through. You've been to
Speaker 1: one one day? How is your first day? I loved it.
Speaker 1: I'm like a junkie for this kind of stuff though,
Speaker 1: So it was fun. I was watching shoulders with a
Speaker 1: bunch of people have watched for like ten years at least,
Speaker 1: so it's fun. He knew a lot of people. We
Speaker 1: were walking around trying to get interviews and I and
Speaker 1: I admit that I'm not very good at recognizing people.
Speaker 1: And he killed it. You knew exactly who they were.
Speaker 1: Think anymore about the analyst here than who are the
Speaker 1: most star strapped by? Oh that's tough. Uh, they'll just
Speaker 1: gesture towards himself. I thought you weren't listening, Bill, He's
Speaker 1: got his headphones on, like he's not listening. But yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: it was cool to We talked to Ian Rappaport that
Speaker 1: was pretty cool. He's, you know, up there, Uh, probably
Speaker 1: one of the more cont actually not up there. He's
Speaker 1: actually pretty sure TV. Actually I hope he heard that
Speaker 1: to beat up. It's the Tom Cruise effect was here.
Speaker 1: That was pretty cool. She's been around forever, so that's sure.
Speaker 1: She loves that as well. He's called Ian short and Susie.
Speaker 1: I didn't call him. Actually you tied me up for
Speaker 1: it though. No and no, like you're naming media types,
Speaker 1: no players. How many l s U people are here?
Speaker 1: Do you know? I think I saw how many l
Speaker 1: s U participants are there. I knew we had crazy
Speaker 1: that's that's that's a lot so wrong. Six. I think
Speaker 1: I got confused with the ones that left earlier. All right, well,
Speaker 1: I'm glad you had a good first day. No, it's
Speaker 1: a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to today to
Speaker 1: what was your biggest like take away, like what what
Speaker 1: are you gonna go home and like call your parents
Speaker 1: or call your fiance and like this is this is
Speaker 1: what happened today. Well, it's just weird to be in
Speaker 1: a room and like, obviously I'm not in the same
Speaker 1: level as a lot of these people, but it's like
Speaker 1: they're not looking at me as like a fan. It's
Speaker 1: like he might be at the bottom of the totem pole,
Speaker 1: but he's like the pole exactly. So that that's pretty
Speaker 1: cool to be in a professional setting with a lot
Speaker 1: of these people that I've looked up to for a
Speaker 1: long time. That's really cool. What do you remember about
Speaker 1: your first combine? Um? How tiring it is oddly, you know,
Speaker 1: like essentially I'm just going from podium to podium with
Speaker 1: a recorder. But this convention center is huge, and by
Speaker 1: the end of the day you've walked so many steps
Speaker 1: that it's like, man for just like being in a
Speaker 1: convention center, it's oddly exhausting. Um, And it's just the
Speaker 1: days are long. I mean, like they today we cycled
Speaker 1: through quarterbacks, tight ends, wide receivers. They just come in
Speaker 1: half hour increments for a few hours and then we're
Speaker 1: waiting on that rule. So today was the busiest day
Speaker 1: for us. And obviously now you know, we're still churning
Speaker 1: through the rule presser and getting out content from that.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I just remember like thinking, well, it's not
Speaker 1: going to be that involved, you know, It's not like
Speaker 1: there's not really any football happening. They're just talking. But
Speaker 1: it's their long days out here in Indy for sure.
Speaker 1: I don't really have a cool story from mine. I
Speaker 1: think I just, of course remember the shrim cocktail as
Speaker 1: a might first. Yes, if you you've never been to
Speaker 1: Indianapolis and try the shrimp cocktail, we're going to get
Speaker 1: you some. Don't worry about it. We're clear, clear out
Speaker 1: your sinuses. Tomorrow we can we can get you something.
Speaker 1: But I don't remember much. I think, like you're saying,
Speaker 1: it's overwhelming, the day is because you don't really know
Speaker 1: this schedule on your first one, even coming years, you
Speaker 1: don't really know the schedule and you don't know exactly
Speaker 1: what's going to happen. Coaches are walking in and out.
Speaker 1: A story that I do have, though it wasn't the
Speaker 1: first combine, but it was the combine after um the
Speaker 1: Colts hired Frank Raich during the process of looking at coaches.
Speaker 1: I think it was the year or maybe it was
Speaker 1: the year Kyle Shanahan was hired in what year do
Speaker 1: we remember? I don't think it was the same year
Speaker 1: with san Franz. Was his first year there, Okay, so
Speaker 1: it was actually when we were going through our g
Speaker 1: M search and the reason when it was going through
Speaker 1: of when the coult Ryan Chris Ballard, we looked at
Speaker 1: some coaches too, because the writing was a little bit
Speaker 1: on the wall that Okay, he may keep a going
Speaker 1: over a year, but then after that he may bring
Speaker 1: in his own guy. So we're kind of looking, what
Speaker 1: are these coaching connections that maybe we can get some
Speaker 1: sound from guys like we were really going out on
Speaker 1: a limb here. I had looked up Kyle Shanahan so
Speaker 1: much I thought I knew him, and so when he
Speaker 1: started walking through the podiums or the podium are I
Speaker 1: almost went up and said, hey, how like I didn't
Speaker 1: register that here he would have no idea who I
Speaker 1: would be. And thankfully I caught myself before I got
Speaker 1: up to go do that. Pretty embarrassing, but I think
Speaker 1: about that every time I see him. And I saw
Speaker 1: him today and I thought, gosh, thank god, you're just
Speaker 1: waiting for him one day to look at you and
Speaker 1: be like, Caroline, what's up? Yeah, like you actually do know?
Speaker 1: Oh my god, I knew we were friends, but it
Speaker 1: is an overwhelming day. Um. And I will say that's
Speaker 1: one of the strange things about your The first combine
Speaker 1: for me too, was just like walking down a hallway
Speaker 1: and seeing like seven different head coaches in the span
Speaker 1: of a couple of minutes, just like everyone is here
Speaker 1: in the league. And like, so he walked, you know,
Speaker 1: by Starbucks and there's like a GM you recognize and
Speaker 1: a couple of coaches and then here's you know, all
Speaker 1: the media types of Shifters. It's just like the entire
Speaker 1: NFL universe is in this one place. So especially the
Speaker 1: first time going through that, I just remember being kind
Speaker 1: of like I could just people watch for hours because
Speaker 1: they're just all recognizable faces. And you do get to
Speaker 1: people watch for hours because you just sit in here
Speaker 1: essentially and you wait and you work, and you wait
Speaker 1: and you work and you wait. But it is, like
Speaker 1: we said, a very overwhelming week. But it's really cool
Speaker 1: to see all these prospects um be very polite, uh,
Speaker 1: be very open to any and all media opportunities that
Speaker 1: they have. And this is one of the last times
Speaker 1: I always joke that they'll do this because once they
Speaker 1: get into the league, it becomes all about football and
Speaker 1: they just don't want to do a lot of these
Speaker 1: media things, which you have to understand that some part
Speaker 1: of it. Um, So it is fun to get to
Speaker 1: know these players first impression and all the media that
Speaker 1: they're going to be doing leading up to the draft.
Speaker 1: Let's go behind the curtain a little bit of what
Speaker 1: happened today, um Max. Your biggest takeaways from listening to
Speaker 1: a lot of these players will get to the Rule
Speaker 1: press conference in a little bit if you do want
Speaker 1: to hear if you're just dying of like what did
Speaker 1: Rule saying you haven't heard yet? That is on Panthers
Speaker 1: dot com. You can listen to that, um and watch that.
Speaker 1: But what is your takeaway from today? You talk to
Speaker 1: a lot of players and the coaches. Yeah, I guess
Speaker 1: we'll start with the players first. I mean, the big
Speaker 1: attraction today obviously was Joe Burrow. The This is the
Speaker 1: sheer size of the crowd that was forming around his
Speaker 1: podium just like fifteen minutes beforehand. Um. I mean, you
Speaker 1: know every year at the Combine, then the top quarterback
Speaker 1: prospect is the big attraction. So obviously this year it's Burrow,
Speaker 1: and um, you know, it was funny. I think like
Speaker 1: he sat down and knew he was like, I gotta
Speaker 1: get comfortable because I'm gonna be here for a while
Speaker 1: answering some questions and whether it was about the comments
Speaker 1: that were maybe taking a context about Cincinnati and how
Speaker 1: he feels about being potentially the first round pick, any
Speaker 1: sort of leverage he feels he might have. I thought
Speaker 1: he did a really good job of just navigating the
Speaker 1: whole thing. He has an undeniable swagger to him that
Speaker 1: is evident when he's playing football, and it's also evident
Speaker 1: when he's sitting at a podium. I mean, the guy
Speaker 1: carries himself with a certain just confidence. I wouldn't say
Speaker 1: it's arrogance, um, it doesn't come off that way. But
Speaker 1: it's clear he's very comfortable in his own skin. He's
Speaker 1: very prepared, um, and you can just tell why people
Speaker 1: follow him, you know, in a huddle and on a
Speaker 1: football teams. So I came away very impressed with the
Speaker 1: way he handled himself. It was interesting to listen to
Speaker 1: tow Us speak the guy who went through such a
Speaker 1: gruesome injury at the last image we all had of
Speaker 1: him was in tears being carted off the field, the
Speaker 1: last thing anybody wants to see right before this part
Speaker 1: part of the process. So it was interesting to hear
Speaker 1: him talk about where he's at and the wide receivers, UM,
Speaker 1: this is anybody you talk to here will tell you
Speaker 1: it's the deepest wide receiver group we've seen. I mean,
Speaker 1: all the way through round four. They're gonna be guys
Speaker 1: who are going to be impact, you know, contributors. UM.
Speaker 1: So there's just a lot of talent on display and here,
Speaker 1: and those guys just kind of talk about being a
Speaker 1: part of that class. I mean, it's it's it's kind
Speaker 1: of a cool to be a part of. But it's
Speaker 1: also man and another draft. A guy who might be
Speaker 1: a first late first round pick might not be taken
Speaker 1: until the second or third round just because of the
Speaker 1: strength of the class. UM. So curious to see how
Speaker 1: those guys run, especially UM jump and do all those things.
Speaker 1: With the testing because especially at those skill positions, we
Speaker 1: know those are some freak athletes. But the interviews, I thought,
Speaker 1: especially with wide receivers, you're always gonna get guys who
Speaker 1: are confident with their speed. UM are not afraid to
Speaker 1: say it, you know, and Rugs out of Alabama said,
Speaker 1: I'm the fastest guy here, no doubt about it. UM.
Speaker 1: I believe Caroline Yea, you asked that I would raise
Speaker 1: him I said, I'm not. Yeah, I know, I'm not
Speaker 1: doing jewels in my pro day and you can talk
Speaker 1: to my agents about that, which is it's been a
Speaker 1: long season and resting and recovering. Yes, Joe Burrow also
Speaker 1: said he's not gonna be doing drills, right. I thought
Speaker 1: it was interesting too. One of the things he said
Speaker 1: was L s U season was so long, it was
Speaker 1: essentially an NFL season. I mean they were playing into
Speaker 1: the NFL playoffs. And I think a lot of those
Speaker 1: L s U guys are smartly deciding I'm gonna wait
Speaker 1: till pro day allow myself to kind of rest and recover,
Speaker 1: which which makes sense to me. Um So, yeah, it was,
Speaker 1: it was. It was a good day. Interviews. Quarterbacks always
Speaker 1: a lot of attention, and then with this wide receiver group, um,
Speaker 1: it's very very competitive and there's a lot of talent there. Well,
Speaker 1: that was really the first round of interviews for these
Speaker 1: prospects because they have two more. But these are not
Speaker 1: with the medium members. These are behind closed words. They
Speaker 1: are the informal and the formal interviews that these prospects
Speaker 1: go through. And and this this process we don't know
Speaker 1: a ton about these processes of of what these interviews
Speaker 1: look like. But we do know that you know, therefore,
Speaker 1: and a lotted amount of time, only one team can
Speaker 1: can get with these players at one time. They only
Speaker 1: get you know, fifteen to twenty minutes. You have to
Speaker 1: hit him with all these questions. But what kind of
Speaker 1: questions are asked, we don't really know. It is one
Speaker 1: of the um questions of the NFL. One thing to
Speaker 1: keep mysterious is what questions are actually asked in those interviews.
Speaker 1: We know, you know, the Wonder Lake is a part
Speaker 1: of this, but then you know, you also get into
Speaker 1: personal questions. We've we've heard like every once in a
Speaker 1: while somebody weird come to the podium of the combat
Speaker 1: and like to say, like what you'll get asked, They'll
Speaker 1: get asked, what was the weirdest question you get? And
Speaker 1: you've we've heard some strange one weird, weird stuff. But
Speaker 1: there are the formal and the informal. So in spirit
Speaker 1: of that, we are going to play a little game.
Speaker 1: The segment for this podcast is going to be formal
Speaker 1: or informal. We're going to put out a quote that
Speaker 1: Matt Rule said at the podium today, taking the podium
Speaker 1: at the NFL combine today, his first time at a
Speaker 1: combine UM as an NFL head coach team. He talked
Speaker 1: about that in his press conference today. Um talked about
Speaker 1: just kind of how he is approaching this, how the
Speaker 1: team is, but of course the big, big topic was
Speaker 1: about Cam Newton. This is really the first time that
Speaker 1: we've heard Matt Rule, uh give some detail on Cam
Speaker 1: Newton and his future and in anything like that. So
Speaker 1: we're going to give the formal statements is going to
Speaker 1: be from Matt Rule himself, and then we're gonna come
Speaker 1: behind with the informal and give you our takeaways UM
Speaker 1: and maybe some insight into what was says. So for
Speaker 1: this first one, let's just go, of course, about Cam Newton,
Speaker 1: and this is what Matt Rule formally had to say
Speaker 1: about the quarterback. You know, from my perspective, I'm unbelievably
Speaker 1: excited to get to get a chance to work with Cam. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, you come in from the outside, you don't
Speaker 1: really you kind of know as as a fan, but
Speaker 1: just Um on a personal note, getting to know him.
Speaker 1: I mean, he is a diligent guy. He's working so hard, Um,
Speaker 1: both in Atlanta and in Carolina to get himself healthy. UM,
Speaker 1: you know, you meet him, he's he's this massive man,
Speaker 1: impressive man, and UM, I really enjoyed getting to know him.
Speaker 1: I've enjoyed getting to you know, sit down in the
Speaker 1: cafeteria when he comes by, sitting down to my office.
Speaker 1: I think he's doing a great job. And for me,
Speaker 1: you know, the way he balances being a great father,
Speaker 1: the way he balances being a great you know, quarterback,
Speaker 1: and the way you know, the things he's done in
Speaker 1: the community are are really really important. So I want
Speaker 1: to make sure I say that. And so I'm excited
Speaker 1: to get him healthy obviously. UM. You know that's the
Speaker 1: number one goal for us. Um, he's doing a great
Speaker 1: job of doing his part. We have to make sure
Speaker 1: that we're doing our part as we uh as we
Speaker 1: try to get him healthy for the seasons. So, but
Speaker 1: I know you guys have lots of questions. I'll listen
Speaker 1: to you guys. You know, UM, I probably won't say
Speaker 1: about anybody that the hey, there'll be a starter. I'll
Speaker 1: try to be really you know, especially in my first year,
Speaker 1: try to be really um uh discipline about not promising
Speaker 1: things to certain guys. I'll just say that I really
Speaker 1: want him on the team, and I really want him
Speaker 1: to be healthy. And I know when when Cam's healthy,
Speaker 1: who he is and the type of player that he is,
Speaker 1: and so my focus. You know, you'll hear me say
Speaker 1: him a process or in a guy, and that just
Speaker 1: sounds so cliche. I know. I know my wife says,
Speaker 1: like Matt, stop saying the process. But to me, it's
Speaker 1: just about, hey, am I are we doing all the
Speaker 1: things to get him healthy. When Cam's healthy, he's you know,
Speaker 1: one of the best of the best. So, um, I
Speaker 1: won't speculate maybe on the future of really any player
Speaker 1: on our team, you know, but um, I'd like to
Speaker 1: get him healthy. I'd like to get him out there.
Speaker 1: That's more than we've gotten in the past couple of months.
Speaker 1: We've always heard about the health, and David Tepper has
Speaker 1: said that multiple times and of hearing that of it
Speaker 1: is his health, but I think that was the first time. Um,
Speaker 1: and there's there is more to this if you do
Speaker 1: want to hear on Panthers dot Com. But I mean,
Speaker 1: this was the first time that you know, we heard
Speaker 1: if Cam is healthy, we like him and we want
Speaker 1: him here. Yeah, I know, And I think and Matt
Speaker 1: uses the phrase, there no doubt. You know, I think
Speaker 1: people do have some doubts on the outside, and that's
Speaker 1: why I lot of the questions about Camera being asked
Speaker 1: and his future is uncertain. Um, you know, with the
Speaker 1: injuries the past two seasons, I think there there is
Speaker 1: there's some doubt out there. But I think what Matt's
Speaker 1: point there is that when healthy, and again that's as
Speaker 1: you mentioned, Caroline, something Dave Tepper said over and over,
Speaker 1: that's the big factor in this equation, right is he's
Speaker 1: got to be healthy to be out there on the field.
Speaker 1: When healthy, um, they feel like there is no doubt
Speaker 1: about his ability and what he can do. He's he's
Speaker 1: the quarterback of this team. That the hard part of
Speaker 1: this equation is just getting him healthy and keeping him healthy.
Speaker 1: And that's that's that we're in a situation right now
Speaker 1: where he's not healthy at the moment. Matroo talks about
Speaker 1: the fact that he's not cleared right now. He's trending
Speaker 1: in the right direction, but this is a process that
Speaker 1: to Cam's credit, he's been working really hard to get
Speaker 1: himself there. It's just not there yet. And so this
Speaker 1: is a bit of a looking down the line, feeling
Speaker 1: like things are going in the right direction. And Matt
Speaker 1: you know, again mentioned to the media today he doesn't
Speaker 1: need him healthy right now. He isn't healthy healthy in September,
Speaker 1: and it's a mat or of trying to get himself
Speaker 1: to that point where they could have Cam Newton, the
Speaker 1: former NFL n VB quarterback and all that comes with that.
Speaker 1: His ability level is clear um when he when, when
Speaker 1: he's he's healthy, this this team has its quarterback. I
Speaker 1: thought that this was just a bread crumb, like we
Speaker 1: you know, everyone out there wants these answers. We we
Speaker 1: want to know now, you know, is he what's his future,
Speaker 1: what's going on? I thought this was a nice little
Speaker 1: bread crumb that goes back to what Matt rule has
Speaker 1: said since he took the job was and and he
Speaker 1: even jokes in his press conference. You know, I know,
Speaker 1: fans don't love to hear this. Even his wife Julie
Speaker 1: tells him stop using this word because you know the process.
Speaker 1: But this is just another Yes, this is another piece
Speaker 1: of the process. And I thought what was interesting too,
Speaker 1: we went into a bit more detail of explaining what
Speaker 1: that process means in terms of Cam Newton and his
Speaker 1: health and in his future in Carolina. And he said, look,
Speaker 1: everyone's job right now is to make sure that Cam
Speaker 1: is healthy. He gave Cam props for doing his part
Speaker 1: of making sure he's a rehab, make sure he's in
Speaker 1: the building getting everything done that he needs to be
Speaker 1: done or get done. And then he says, but it's
Speaker 1: also on the coaches to make sure that you know,
Speaker 1: they're putting him in a position of whether that's not
Speaker 1: putting too much pressure on him not going out and
Speaker 1: saying something of a timeline in the UM, you know,
Speaker 1: to the media and putting that kind of pressure on him,
Speaker 1: but also on the training staff, also on the owner,
Speaker 1: also on you know, everyone in the organization. The focus
Speaker 1: is to get him healthy. I know that's not the
Speaker 1: answer that maybe everyone was looking for, but that's where
Speaker 1: we are. And I think this was more information than
Speaker 1: we have gotten UM and maybe just more clarity what
Speaker 1: we've gotten. I wouldn't say that anything that was said
Speaker 1: today was breaking news. I think it was just some
Speaker 1: clarity to what we've heard over these past couple of months,
Speaker 1: and I honestly think just looking at some of the reaction,
Speaker 1: I think the fans just kind of needed to hear this,
Speaker 1: even if it wasn't an extremely declarative statement. It was
Speaker 1: a message of support for a quarterback who obviously has
Speaker 1: become really beloved by this fan base. And I think
Speaker 1: in this kind of period where everyone has all these
Speaker 1: questions and wants to know what's happening, just to hear
Speaker 1: from the head coach speak in this manner on this subject,
Speaker 1: I think it was important for people to hear. And
Speaker 1: I think that's kind of what we're seeing in the
Speaker 1: reaction to it, is just people feeling like, Okay, now
Speaker 1: I just have a little bit better of an idea
Speaker 1: of what's happening with this team, with this quarterback, and
Speaker 1: I think that's that's been a good thing for this
Speaker 1: fan base on the whole, and just what I've seen
Speaker 1: in the reaction to it, I think people were happy
Speaker 1: just to see Matt address this head on and obviously
Speaker 1: happy to to hear what he had to say about Cam.
Speaker 1: I mean, he said some really nice things about him.
Speaker 1: Clearly there they've gotten off on a on the struct
Speaker 1: on the right foot, just kind of communicating getting to
Speaker 1: know each other a little bit um, and that's I
Speaker 1: think that's what everybody was kind of hoping to hear. Yeah, alright,
Speaker 1: another thing about Cam. The next formal uh answer that
Speaker 1: we got from Matt Rule was when he was asked
Speaker 1: by the Athletic about Cam as a starter. Here was
Speaker 1: his formal response. I don't think I'm gonna say, you know,
Speaker 1: any anybody's a starter yet. I think that really just
Speaker 1: in the first year, you know, I think it's really
Speaker 1: important for me as I go in there that I
Speaker 1: want to create a culture of competition, and I want
Speaker 1: to create a culture where, you know, nothing's promised anybody.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, when years two and three from
Speaker 1: it'll maybe it'll be a little bit different. But um,
Speaker 1: I think that's really important for me. But that being said,
Speaker 1: I don't think that has anything to do with Cam.
Speaker 1: That just has to do overall the philosophy when it
Speaker 1: comes to Cam. Cam's a special player and so really
Speaker 1: the only thing that really matters right now is getting
Speaker 1: him healthy. Um. But I want to make sure I say,
Speaker 1: I'm excited to have him here, and I want him
Speaker 1: to be here. I want to I want to coach him.
Speaker 1: I just have to make sure that the coaching part
Speaker 1: of it is to to make sure he's healthy. So
Speaker 1: I think this is a bit there's two things to this.
Speaker 1: So in our informal response here, I think there's two
Speaker 1: sides to this. The first one is what we were
Speaker 1: just reiterating that that's not where their focus is right
Speaker 1: now on if Cam is he starting as of February.
Speaker 1: He's not healthy, so you can't start him today. So
Speaker 1: I mean, I really think rules gonna He's going to
Speaker 1: continue to say that until his health is cleared. But
Speaker 1: the fact that I also walked away from this was
Speaker 1: he's not kidding when he says that everyone has this
Speaker 1: clean slate you're gonna walk in. He even made a joke,
Speaker 1: um a little bit reference someone say it was a joke.
Speaker 1: It was a reference to the running backs that you know,
Speaker 1: even there's a competition there, you've Christian McCaffrey like, we
Speaker 1: get it. We know that's your starter, and I think
Speaker 1: it every other position you're talking to analysts around here
Speaker 1: is it's there are question marks everywhere except we're running back.
Speaker 1: But then you can even make a case for the
Speaker 1: running back where some people are throwing around these wild
Speaker 1: speculations of trade, which Matt Roue also talked about of
Speaker 1: of everyone is you know they're they're taking questions and
Speaker 1: then taking, so even that is a question mark. So
Speaker 1: I just took away from from this that Matt Roe's
Speaker 1: creating a competitive locker room, and so he's not going
Speaker 1: to on February for the next I believe Bill did
Speaker 1: the wonderful math force as one day days until the
Speaker 1: start of the season, he's not naming a starter. Yeah,
Speaker 1: to that point, the coaches I've been around don't like
Speaker 1: announcing a starter six days before a game or two
Speaker 1: days before a game, let alone two and one six months.
Speaker 1: Let it's just not in their nature to be asked
Speaker 1: a question about who's your starter at X physician and
Speaker 1: them to willingly just give They just they're just not
Speaker 1: comfortable doing that. So this far out not at all
Speaker 1: surprised that that's not that's not really a corner Matt
Speaker 1: wanted to be backed into. But my own words here,
Speaker 1: if and this goes to the previous question that we
Speaker 1: just an answer that we just talked about, If Cam
Speaker 1: Newton is healthy, cam Newton is the starting quarterback, I
Speaker 1: think that's just kind of where where this is. But
Speaker 1: being the head coach, all the cameras around you, again,
Speaker 1: what we know about football coaches, they're just now they're
Speaker 1: not very willing to say, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, he's
Speaker 1: he's going to be your star. That this is not
Speaker 1: something they tend to do. No, it's not. And that
Speaker 1: leads us to our final quotes, and for the formal
Speaker 1: this is where I think it's interesting to hear him
Speaker 1: talk about the I don't want to steal the quote,
Speaker 1: but just the edge that maybe this staff has going into.
Speaker 1: There's places that you know, obviously, like any team this
Speaker 1: time year, that we have to build, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: as you know, I probably don't want to say too
Speaker 1: much about what we're going to do because it kind
Speaker 1: of gives One next thing about being a first time
Speaker 1: head coach is no one really knows what our defenses
Speaker 1: or offenses, and so I'd like to keep that as
Speaker 1: long as possible. So, you know, but I think we
Speaker 1: have a really good plan. Um you know, we want
Speaker 1: to as I said the first time, of the plans
Speaker 1: that combine then free agen see them the draft. But
Speaker 1: there's there's good players, there's guys who are really you know,
Speaker 1: one thing I've been impressed with is the locker room
Speaker 1: and like the culture of the guys that are there.
Speaker 1: I really liked the guys that I've met them so far,
Speaker 1: so um, just making sure we bring another good guys
Speaker 1: around them. I'm going full biased here on this. Informal
Speaker 1: response to this, this was one of my favorite quotes
Speaker 1: because I saw this happen in Indianapolis for a couple
Speaker 1: of years when Balor took over his GM. There is
Speaker 1: this you know, you have no idea what we're gonna
Speaker 1: do in the draft, so we're not gonna show anyone where,
Speaker 1: keep everything close to the best. But then you really
Speaker 1: see when you get a new coach, because it's true,
Speaker 1: you don't know the scheme right now. You don't even
Speaker 1: know who the starting quarterback is. You don't know who
Speaker 1: anyone really outside the running back who could be? You
Speaker 1: know your your premier guy. You don't know anything. You
Speaker 1: don't know what O t A s are gonna look like,
Speaker 1: you don't know how many days are gonna be tackling
Speaker 1: in training camp. You just don't know anything. And I
Speaker 1: love that he leaned into that and was like, look, guys,
Speaker 1: I'm not telling Yeah, I'm just not going to tell you.
Speaker 1: And I just kind of I smirked when he did
Speaker 1: it because I thought, don't, like, don't because you have
Speaker 1: this for one year. For one year, you have this Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: And I think, yeah, that's certainly something he feels is
Speaker 1: an advantage that he wants to continue to use. Is
Speaker 1: there's there's not as as the saying always goes, there's
Speaker 1: not a lot of tape on the Matt Rule Panthers,
Speaker 1: there is none. So that's an advantage right now. Um,
Speaker 1: I think in those coaches offices at Bank America Stadium,
Speaker 1: they do have a planet they're putting in place, and
Speaker 1: I think they have an idea of what they're going
Speaker 1: to look like on defense and what Joe Brady is
Speaker 1: going to want to do on offense. It's not finalized yet,
Speaker 1: but that's what they're working on right now. But yeah,
Speaker 1: there's no reason for Matt to come out here today
Speaker 1: and start divulging all of that to everybody. It would
Speaker 1: be interesting to hear, and we would all love to
Speaker 1: write about it and talk about it. But I totally,
Speaker 1: I totally get it and and look and in situations
Speaker 1: like this, I think every head coach is meeting with
Speaker 1: his communication staff and at the end of their podium
Speaker 1: session they hope to come away saying I didn't really
Speaker 1: say too much, did I You know like you're they're
Speaker 1: trying to get out of it without saying really anything.
Speaker 1: Um And now, of course there's a game to play here,
Speaker 1: and you know you have to be you have to
Speaker 1: give something to your fans, and there are people who
Speaker 1: are looking for you know, you gotta give them some substance.
Speaker 1: But as a head coach, you want to walk away
Speaker 1: feeling like, oh, I didn't step in anything, I didn't
Speaker 1: give away too much. Especially this time of year, everyone
Speaker 1: is so high strung about what our plans are for
Speaker 1: the draft and what we're gonna do in free agency.
Speaker 1: It's so secretive of this league is just so protective
Speaker 1: of that um that I think, you know, the sweat
Speaker 1: on Matt's forehead is maybe a little bit just like,
Speaker 1: oh I got I got out of there without having
Speaker 1: without getting pushed into something I didn't want to get
Speaker 1: pushed into. I think the Panther's biggest competitive advantage right
Speaker 1: now is the mystery of what the Carolina Panthers are
Speaker 1: going to be. It's what it's what is keeping everyone
Speaker 1: asking questions. But I think for some coaches and gms
Speaker 1: when they come here, they have an agenda to either
Speaker 1: quiet something down or to you know we're not going
Speaker 1: to do this. The best thing that Matt Rule can
Speaker 1: do right now, and it is not fun to hear.
Speaker 1: It's just gonna make us all be very patient and
Speaker 1: pull our hair out is to be quiet and to
Speaker 1: just not divulge too much. You know. I just I
Speaker 1: think for this offseason it's going to be a bit yeah, frustrating.
Speaker 1: You know. I do love about this time of year though.
Speaker 1: Is the smoke screen. It's when people they people say something,
Speaker 1: but it's a it's a diversion. It's trying to get
Speaker 1: your attention somewhere else. The owner of the Indianapolis College
Speaker 1: De Mercy just had a press conference on Tuesday, and
Speaker 1: I was a Tuesday, Today's Tuesday. On Sunday he had
Speaker 1: this I don't even on Sunday because on Sunday um
Speaker 1: and he said that in his press conference, was like,
Speaker 1: now we're gonna we're gonna throw throw some people off
Speaker 1: with what we're doing. And it's one of those it's
Speaker 1: like you can't tell people you're gonna do it, and
Speaker 1: what's not you'll never know. You'll have some people, you know,
Speaker 1: watching a guy to pro day and go watch it.
Speaker 1: And that's a very real thing people you know, NFL
Speaker 1: types I think have said before like they're kind of
Speaker 1: proud of the moments where it's like, h see, we
Speaker 1: thought you all thought, you know, we sent people out
Speaker 1: to this pro day, or everyone thought we were so
Speaker 1: interested in this guy went all along it was. It's
Speaker 1: kind of the fun of it, right. It is another
Speaker 1: thing I recently I heard about this combine. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of changes to this combine and just far from
Speaker 1: a protocol kind of how things are going to run.
Speaker 1: Like they moved the interview rooms from this hotel that
Speaker 1: has always been home to these interviews. It's now in
Speaker 1: Lucas Oil Stadium and suites of the stadium. Drills. New
Speaker 1: apparel for the guys, new era. It used to be
Speaker 1: under armour. What do you what do you think of
Speaker 1: the new era apparel. It's it's very not flashy. The
Speaker 1: under armur was very flashy, bright colors. I liked that
Speaker 1: for the For this I think this is it adds
Speaker 1: to it. I don't mind it. So really the Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl is what bothered me. You're you're at the Pro Bowl.
Speaker 1: It is nothing but fun and these guys are in
Speaker 1: black and white practice. You know, I just thought that
Speaker 1: was weird. I think here it looks kind of sleek,
Speaker 1: and it's like here because this is a little bit
Speaker 1: more business. But I didn't love the Pro Bowl. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm with you. The Pro Bowl should be fun. I
Speaker 1: mean there should be, but it does look clean. What
Speaker 1: about when they went to the neon in the Pro Bowl?
Speaker 1: Did you love it? Because no one wears that, and
Speaker 1: I think when you go black and white, then it's
Speaker 1: kind of like, well, is that Raiders or you know,
Speaker 1: I liked the neon. I'm like going going crazy. But
Speaker 1: this is an interesting piece about the interviews. I heard this.
Speaker 1: I thought it was really interesting. So normally when they
Speaker 1: do these interviews, it's a free for all. So they
Speaker 1: teams have, you know, interns or equipment guys that are
Speaker 1: there runners and this is happening. Let's paint the picture
Speaker 1: every but this is what happens like in the evening hours,
Speaker 1: evening hours, so you know, this is not the team
Speaker 1: representatives getting ready to speak to these guys and each
Speaker 1: player prospect is just walking around this hotel and they're
Speaker 1: popping into these informal interviews. The formal interviews are scheduled,
Speaker 1: the informals are not so there's just kind of like
Speaker 1: a bullpen and you can go grab who you want.
Speaker 1: In years past, they have been able to kind of
Speaker 1: grab guys in any order and there was no real
Speaker 1: system to it. I mean sometimes the player could say no,
Speaker 1: I'm supposed to go here, and they could be like, no,
Speaker 1: you're not, You're coming with us, and so there were
Speaker 1: some We've heard of some physical altercations about this. This
Speaker 1: year is a little bit different. They are Bill is
Speaker 1: making fun of me in the middle of trying to work.
Speaker 1: It's not a professional setting that I thought I was
Speaker 1: walking into Bill. But this year they're actually putting a
Speaker 1: handler with these prospects and there's only one spot for
Speaker 1: teams to be waiting. I think it's going to cause
Speaker 1: more problems. I would love to like just be I
Speaker 1: would volunteer to be a handler, because these we should
Speaker 1: send you an undercover, So I would definitely go under
Speaker 1: the radar as a female running these guys around. But
Speaker 1: I think it is pr assistance. Maybe we can ask
Speaker 1: Maria if she's we gotta find out more about this.
Speaker 1: I'm fascinating there. But these guys will be walking around
Speaker 1: and they'll have their handler, and then these runners will
Speaker 1: they still but they only get one runner. Now you
Speaker 1: could have you know, four or five, They get one
Speaker 1: runner and the runner will just have to stand there
Speaker 1: and wait. I'm looking at Matt just right now. You
Speaker 1: just have to look at me. Okay, we want him
Speaker 1: next to get in that queue. And if the if
Speaker 1: the you know, handlers like no, we already have someone
Speaker 1: in the queue, then you just have to wait and
Speaker 1: follow this poor handler. Are they getting counseling afterwards? We
Speaker 1: can we can create. When I heard the change, I
Speaker 1: was like, wet, were you supposed to make this better?
Speaker 1: But then this is now it's just worse for the handler.
Speaker 1: Maybe the prospect gets off, but well, the past interference
Speaker 1: reviews are supposed to make things easier, but that didn't
Speaker 1: work either. Sounds true, a good point. Hot takes I
Speaker 1: didn't say, and the past interference I said. None of those.
Speaker 1: I did say the third one. The other two I
Speaker 1: didn't say. Oh, the NFL combine it's still going here
Speaker 1: in Indianapolis is going to be going for the rest
Speaker 1: of the week. We're working closest shutting radio road down
Speaker 1: and everyone's packing up around us work. He's just done
Speaker 1: with We are one of the last ones here on
Speaker 1: Radio ro wrapping up day humble brag. We just work
Speaker 1: harder than everybody else, everybody of everyone. Giants have packed up,
Speaker 1: the Jets alongside us have been gone for two been gone.
Speaker 1: Raiders no sign of them. I haven't even seen the
Speaker 1: Raiders today. It's because they look like the Prospects. They're
Speaker 1: in black and white. See, that's the problem with those
Speaker 1: New Era the new Era look. I think I could
Speaker 1: get one with like pp O one podcast producer, just
Speaker 1: walk around maybe you know, would people take me more
Speaker 1: seriously or seriously? Yeah? I was wondering where is he
Speaker 1: going with this? Okay, got it podcast producer? And then
Speaker 1: I don't think we can make that happen. Receiver one, wide,
Speaker 1: receiver eight, whatever it is. But the NFL Combine is
Speaker 1: going to be going all week long. We have some
Speaker 1: fun things, um for the group chat, but also just
Speaker 1: for Panthers properties all throughout the combine as we zero
Speaker 1: in on the NFL Draft. Is the only time of
Speaker 1: the year I will listen to anyone talk about a
Speaker 1: mock draft. Um. But I am counting down the days
Speaker 1: until we don't have to read those anymore, and we
Speaker 1: know who those Panthers are, but thank you so much
Speaker 1: for listening to this group chat episode. We will be
Speaker 1: back and guys, we still need to pray for Will,
Speaker 1: so we hope he's okay on the slopes. We hope
Speaker 1: to hear from thinking about man well, fish you buddy.
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you all tomorrow