Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast doesn't know which day of
Speaker 1: the week it is. Welcome to another edition of the
Speaker 1: Around the NFL Podcast. My name is Dan Hansis. I
Speaker 1: come to you from the virtual room filled with some heroes,
Speaker 1: Mark Sessler, Gregg Rosenthal. But is up boys? Hey now?
Speaker 1: Championship week? Good week? I mean Greg is pumping his
Speaker 1: arms left and right. It's uh if you were able
Speaker 1: to if you're not watching this on YouTube, it's quite
Speaker 1: a sight. You gotta do sometimes give yourself the energy
Speaker 1: if you're not feeling it right at the beginning. Yesterday
Speaker 1: was the I do know what day it is, it's Tuesday, um,
Speaker 1: and yesterday Monday. I feel like it was the first
Speaker 1: time we hadn't seen each other in about a hundred
Speaker 1: and ninety seven days, so Phil totally refreshed, like really
Speaker 1: miss you guys. It's uh yeah, I mean we spent
Speaker 1: all Saturday and Sunday together on Sky which was a
Speaker 1: delight to do. But it is it's been a lot
Speaker 1: of um and from my p o V a lot
Speaker 1: of Greg and Dan um and from yours a lot
Speaker 1: of of me, which is if if it's if I'm
Speaker 1: to measure the way that my household is responding to me.
Speaker 1: I don't think that people are wanting more. They're wanting
Speaker 1: maybe just a little bit less. What was the vibe
Speaker 1: in the household after the Browns went down on Sunday?
Speaker 1: I imagine obviously supportive. Do you think there was a
Speaker 1: part of Simone who was obviously not rooting against the
Speaker 1: Browns but relieved to have that tension out of the house.
Speaker 1: Because sometimes you mark, you do bring a level of tension,
Speaker 1: and I imagine when the Browns are in the playoffs
Speaker 1: it has to be at another level. Well, I there
Speaker 1: were really only a couple of Super ten tense moments,
Speaker 1: and the first was the Steelers game, which was largely celebratory. Um,
Speaker 1: but the Chiefs one. I would say that my like,
Speaker 1: you know, take on the whole thing and it meets
Speaker 1: stomping around the house was a lot less because it
Speaker 1: was I wasn't expecting necessarily the team to win. I
Speaker 1: just wanted to see what happened, and um, you know,
Speaker 1: we're doing the sky thing at the same time. So
Speaker 1: I wasn't like a raving nightmare according to me, I
Speaker 1: I don't think I was. It's more like coming off
Speaker 1: your pores and than what you actually are outwardly doing.
Speaker 1: It's just sort of an energy of which I'm sure
Speaker 1: Simone has a better sense of than any human, not
Speaker 1: even Game day necessarily, but just that general like Godzilla
Speaker 1: when you see the scales in his back have the
Speaker 1: radiational electricity buzzing on them that going on from Sunday
Speaker 1: to Sunday. I wonder if there's a difference in mark
Speaker 1: and your demeanor and just the way you're hardwired now
Speaker 1: compared to last Tuesday. It's possible, I will say that
Speaker 1: if if she were to probably compile a list of annoyances,
Speaker 1: um like the couple of times we watched the Browns game,
Speaker 1: wouldn't crack the top twenty. There are other larger things
Speaker 1: to be tackled there. How is everyone's marriages, by the way,
Speaker 1: let's let's dig into that before we get into today's show.
Speaker 1: Because mine, I would say, remains strong, too, very strong,
Speaker 1: with periods of um icy tension that is all born
Speaker 1: out of like you think we see each other too much,
Speaker 1: uh the other all the other hours that we're not
Speaker 1: talking into our computers, uh we're with our wives. That
Speaker 1: this has been um quite a study. Like they they
Speaker 1: will they will study the amount of human interaction within
Speaker 1: your pods for centuries to come off this. How how
Speaker 1: are the marriages. Let's say it's fine. You know, they
Speaker 1: go and find that the whole like not being able
Speaker 1: to leave leave Los Angeles in the country. Um. In
Speaker 1: the case of my wife who wants to visit her
Speaker 1: family in Japan and stuff, you know that that's more
Speaker 1: of attention. So maybe i'm I'm blamed a little bit
Speaker 1: for bringing her to this this city. Um. But I
Speaker 1: was trying to make the case. I was like, would
Speaker 1: you rather be in New York when everything's falling, where
Speaker 1: everything's falling apart? Come on, you're a hero on that front.
Speaker 1: I I liked your description dance strong with moments of
Speaker 1: iciness and um issues. But I think we try to
Speaker 1: keep a sense of humor to some degree. I'm, i'm.
Speaker 1: My concern is like for our kids who have like
Speaker 1: no friends. You know it just said, I don't like
Speaker 1: thinking about that as much. Let's bring in Ricky Hollywood too.
Speaker 1: I mean, she is in a relationship with jet a
Speaker 1: wonderful woman, and uh, you guys aren't married, maybe you
Speaker 1: will be down the road. Has has this pandemic? Drew
Speaker 1: you closer or are you pushed apart to the point
Speaker 1: where this thing is on the rocks. Um, I wouldn't
Speaker 1: say necessarily on the rocks, but it's definitely much worse.
Speaker 1: Is the only one keeping it real? Right, Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: it's this. This is hell, this is hell. Oh man.
Speaker 1: I'd like to say, we're almost there. We have a
Speaker 1: new president coming in. There's there's going to be changes,
Speaker 1: uh to the protocol. Hopefully the vaccination process speeds up
Speaker 1: and and we're heading toward better times. There is no
Speaker 1: Scouting combine. You want to talk about how much things
Speaker 1: changed last year. We were all at the Scouting Combine
Speaker 1: the last February, which, really, if you want to be real,
Speaker 1: it's probably like a super spreader event. It was nobody's
Speaker 1: faulcause nobody really understood what was going on where it's
Speaker 1: going to be a totally different setup this year with
Speaker 1: combine it's mostly virtual with local pro days. Um. Just
Speaker 1: another example of how the world has changed. Well, we've
Speaker 1: now made it through to the point where events are
Speaker 1: getting gonna get canceled for a second time. The combine
Speaker 1: is like literally is like the last possible thing that happened,
Speaker 1: and there are some I can think of, you know,
Speaker 1: other sports, tennis, and I like where things are getting
Speaker 1: canceled for a second time around, like we've we've been
Speaker 1: through that. Yeah. Like the last time I went out
Speaker 1: to dinner with people was with Dan, Colleen and Erica
Speaker 1: at that pizza place on that snowy night, And I
Speaker 1: have tons of video footage of that, which I sent
Speaker 1: out an abbreviated clip of Dan in the snow because
Speaker 1: when I initially sent it out, um, I didn't realize
Speaker 1: that Colleen dropped like a tremendous s bomb in the
Speaker 1: middle of it, and I didn't think she probably wanted
Speaker 1: that to go out there without my permission. But I've
Speaker 1: got lots of other footage to share with you behind us,
Speaker 1: will you guys miss most about not going to the combine,
Speaker 1: taking care of Erica and making sure she goes back
Speaker 1: to her hotel room to get well. Yeah, the nights,
Speaker 1: maybe the I love when there's like three coaches talking
Speaker 1: at the same time and I'm responsible to know what
Speaker 1: all three said, and there's they're like sixty yards apart.
Speaker 1: It's wonderful. I mean, we're not in the coal mine
Speaker 1: here almost it's almost nothing. I you know if I'm happy,
Speaker 1: it's I've gotten for sixteen straight years or something. I
Speaker 1: don't want to go. You always have like a quaint
Speaker 1: little dinner with like always some friends friends that that
Speaker 1: is what you missed. But I wouldn't mind if they
Speaker 1: move locations next time around. I wanted to see Robert
Speaker 1: Sala Sala Sala up close and personal at the podium,
Speaker 1: but maybe that will have to wait for another year.
Speaker 1: Who knows, everything can change, Yeah, you don't know. All right,
Speaker 1: we got a lot to get into um today. We
Speaker 1: have a guest, and a really good one. He's one
Speaker 1: of the great Buffalo Bills of all times, Steve Tasker,
Speaker 1: who now is a major force up there in the
Speaker 1: media game in Western New York. You know him also
Speaker 1: from his time at CBS uh SO. Steve Tasker will
Speaker 1: join us on the podcast to talk about the Bills,
Speaker 1: what's going on up there in Western New York right
Speaker 1: now and as they prepare for the a f C
Speaker 1: Championship game against the defending champion Chiefs. But before that,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of news to get to. Some things
Speaker 1: that happened at the end of last week and we
Speaker 1: didn't get a chance to get to it because obviously
Speaker 1: Sunday was all about game talk and things that are happening.
Speaker 1: Is this week unfold, so let's hit the news, Ricky.
Speaker 1: Everybody always asked what was due? And you know, we
Speaker 1: didn't have a health Wait, coach b a, he had
Speaker 1: a health He said, we some mother who gonna find
Speaker 1: a way to win the game. I love that quote
Speaker 1: from Devin White and uh, Bruce Arians one of those coaches.
Speaker 1: It runs me in some ways Rex Ryan and at
Speaker 1: his peak where the team could take on the identity
Speaker 1: of the coach and Bruce Arians like, man, we're just
Speaker 1: gonna be the m efforts that are gonna win the game.
Speaker 1: That's our identity. I like that players buy into that.
Speaker 1: And Devin White certainly did with a unbelievable performance this weekend.
Speaker 1: And and I didn't even consider the Bruce Arians. Like
Speaker 1: he's been on the edge of retirement a couple of times.
Speaker 1: You wonder if he could ever get to the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl as a head coach for the first time and
Speaker 1: even win it, whether whether he'd want to continue well,
Speaker 1: and my reports that he you know, and this was
Speaker 1: a year ago, not this year, that he seemed tuned
Speaker 1: out and not there presently are no longer. Um, they
Speaker 1: weren't factual then and they're definitely not factual when they
Speaker 1: went in well, I will say, when they were going
Speaker 1: into their by at the end of November on a
Speaker 1: losing streak, I think you started to text a little
Speaker 1: bit about that again. Then he's starting to look a
Speaker 1: little checked out again. Maybe it's just how he looks
Speaker 1: on the sidelines to me. Sometimes maybe it's it's a
Speaker 1: it's a poor read on my part. All right, let's
Speaker 1: get into it. Let's art with the big soap opera
Speaker 1: unfolding down there in Houston. Um, we have been tracking this.
Speaker 1: DeShawn Watson, he might want out. The superstar quarterback for
Speaker 1: the Texans, is very unhappy with the direction of the organization. Um,
Speaker 1: where things are, where things stand in terms of ownership
Speaker 1: and the hiring of the new general manager, and of
Speaker 1: course Jack easterby his involvement and cal McNair, if he's
Speaker 1: going to keep his quarterback in the building, is going
Speaker 1: to have to pull off something special. Uh. And there is,
Speaker 1: according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, growing sentiment that Deshaun Watson
Speaker 1: has played his last snap for the team. Greg this
Speaker 1: is like again there's no way people, no way the
Speaker 1: Texans want to trade Deshaun Watson. There's no way, because
Speaker 1: he's that good. This is a Hall of Fame level talent,
Speaker 1: a coming off another incredible scene. And but in our
Speaker 1: league one that doesn't matter. If you can't keep your
Speaker 1: superstar happy, he holds the leverage. So unless they can
Speaker 1: convince this guy that this is still the place to be,
Speaker 1: he will be moved and it will become one of
Speaker 1: the blockbuster trades of the century. That's all true. And
Speaker 1: as Sunday morning hit with the Schefter reports and Watson,
Speaker 1: you know, sending out a tweet that he was at
Speaker 1: a two and now he's at a ten. You know,
Speaker 1: Schefter had tweeted something basically the exact same right before it,
Speaker 1: so we know where his sources are. Um, you see
Speaker 1: them pushing and that you know, even if they fired
Speaker 1: Jack easter Be, that wouldn't satisfy um Deshaun Watson, because
Speaker 1: ultimately it's about cal McNair, the owner, and unless the
Speaker 1: owner fires himself, there's not gonna be a lot of faith.
Speaker 1: I still even then thought, Okay, this is becoming more serious.
Speaker 1: My skepticism of whether this could actually happen. UM is
Speaker 1: starting to you know, thaw. And yet here we are
Speaker 1: on Tuesday, and we already see maybe the beginnings of
Speaker 1: a way for them to UM have some reconciliation. Watson
Speaker 1: sends out a tweet saying, you know, I've been having
Speaker 1: to try some to have some patience. I told my
Speaker 1: mama she should prey on it. I mean, and we're
Speaker 1: still so far away from when any of this would happen.
Speaker 1: You you do wonder they have not, you know, hired
Speaker 1: their coach yet the off seasons truly still at least
Speaker 1: a month away and even longer than before when he
Speaker 1: would have to be traded. It just it seems like
Speaker 1: a long time for them to try to make make
Speaker 1: it up to him. But UM teams have got teams
Speaker 1: like the Jets that should be out there getting those
Speaker 1: packages ready, and maybe they'll they'll make such great offers
Speaker 1: that the Texans will just have to listen. I think
Speaker 1: you've got to see who they hire a coach, UM.
Speaker 1: But from another angle, I mean, when relationships in general
Speaker 1: just become fractured sometimes it's just, you know, Deshaun Watson
Speaker 1: has lost the trust. If he doesn't trust this organization,
Speaker 1: UM it's hard just to get that back by hiring
Speaker 1: a head coach, no matter who it is. I mean,
Speaker 1: there are a lot of stories through history of like
Speaker 1: leaders who I don't think truly feel to be themselves
Speaker 1: to be leaders. And that kind of might be Cal McNair,
Speaker 1: who's you know, somewhat thrust into this position listening to
Speaker 1: the wrong people. And I think he's been listening to
Speaker 1: the wrong people. And Jack Easterby is one of the
Speaker 1: wrong people. And the process, um, I mean it's you know,
Speaker 1: you've got to do some work to totally disenfranchise your
Speaker 1: franchise quarterback. And they've done the work, um, and they're
Speaker 1: in a really rough spot. And you know, Nick Kissario
Speaker 1: taking this job, I mean, he's walked into a hurricane
Speaker 1: and and I don't know if he's going to be
Speaker 1: able to tone this thing down. And suddenly, if you
Speaker 1: get really attractive packages um of draft picks and players
Speaker 1: coming at you, uh, maybe you have to start looking
Speaker 1: at it from the other side. But this is a
Speaker 1: an organizational meltdown. I'm gonna it's it's nuclear, That's what
Speaker 1: it is for Houston, and they have to figure out
Speaker 1: out a way to keep this from becoming a nuclear
Speaker 1: disaster and kind of like yes, kind of like that.
Speaker 1: And by the way, I have to say, mark Um,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna steal it for the Zoos Gazette. I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: but that's just the way this game works in the
Speaker 1: tabloid journalism game. Disenfranchise quarterback. Nice headline to get into
Speaker 1: the Deshaun Watson mess. And yes, the Jets are a
Speaker 1: team that people are connecting dots on. They make a
Speaker 1: lot of sense because they have two first round picks
Speaker 1: and each of the next two years they have a
Speaker 1: need at quarterback. Potentially they are starting over with a
Speaker 1: new head coach. Uh and listen, this is a Jets
Speaker 1: team that has struggled to find a franchise quarterback for
Speaker 1: almost fifty years, so he makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 1: In fact, there's a website or a sports book, uh,
Speaker 1: sports betting, a g that has set odds for Deshaun
Speaker 1: Watson have the Jets to top at two to one,
Speaker 1: like pinch me. I mean, it's a no brain or
Speaker 1: And I've seen I've seen some talk out there amongst
Speaker 1: Jets fans. Well, you know, they have so many holes.
Speaker 1: You should take all this draft capital that you have
Speaker 1: and use that to plug holes and get the roster better. Okay,
Speaker 1: and they might end up doing that because it's gonna
Speaker 1: be hard to get Watson if he truly is on
Speaker 1: the market. But if you have a chance to get
Speaker 1: a twenty five year old generational superstar quarterback, you go
Speaker 1: get him, and you pair him with a good head coach,
Speaker 1: which we believe Robert Sala will be, and the GM
Speaker 1: that you trust, and then you figure things out. Don't
Speaker 1: get caught up in draft capital. I I I think
Speaker 1: you go forward. But the other the other teams that
Speaker 1: um according to that one book, Jets Dolphins at three
Speaker 1: to one, Bears at four to one, Broncos at five
Speaker 1: to one, Colts eight to one, Pats eight to one,
Speaker 1: Eagles tend to one, Panthers twelve to one. There are
Speaker 1: a lot of teams that can put together a competitive offer.
Speaker 1: And oh, by the way, Greg Deshaun Watson holds a
Speaker 1: no trade clause. That's such a huge factor, and that
Speaker 1: does give him some leverage, you know, if they actually
Speaker 1: wanted to make a move his contract too. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's almost worth too much to me, Like he's only
Speaker 1: do ten million dollars next year. So so yeah, yet
Speaker 1: you're the cap figure is gonna explode. I think it's
Speaker 1: even the year after that. But even then it's the
Speaker 1: thirty five thirty seven, which is what the top quarterbacks
Speaker 1: end up, you know, getting, But for at least one
Speaker 1: you're getting, you're paying them like like a decent right guard,
Speaker 1: because the Texans already paid that bonus. So I think
Speaker 1: it would take like three, you know, three or four first,
Speaker 1: including one of those top couple of picks. And and
Speaker 1: even then I just got to I just can't believe
Speaker 1: the Texans would be so dumb um and uh maybe
Speaker 1: Watson will just push the matter, but it's because it's
Speaker 1: never happened in the hit through the NFL, and it
Speaker 1: hasn't there there is no precedent for a quarterback like
Speaker 1: this getting traded at this point of his career. That's
Speaker 1: why I kind of in the end, you know, I
Speaker 1: know that that book, for instance, it's not that is
Speaker 1: a I mean, he gets traded. They're not showing the
Speaker 1: odds of him staying. And that's still what I would
Speaker 1: what I would bet, but I would I would say
Speaker 1: that the Jets where they were three weeks ago to
Speaker 1: now um is seismic in terms of their chances to
Speaker 1: be the frontrunner for that kind of a trade. I mean,
Speaker 1: Watson is a Robert Salo fan. You gotta know he's
Speaker 1: got players telling them Salo would be awesome for you.
Speaker 1: There's a couple he I think he wants to be,
Speaker 1: you know, closely linked with his head coach, and he
Speaker 1: feels like that's just not necessarily to happen the way
Speaker 1: that he wanted in Houston, and the Jets to me,
Speaker 1: um leap frog every other team because of what they
Speaker 1: offer and because of who they hired. You gotta think
Speaker 1: of who's trading him too. Is his relationships are important
Speaker 1: and and um, you know Casario coming from the Patriots.
Speaker 1: It's it's interesting that he's the one that holds the
Speaker 1: key here now they made some trade since Joe Douglas
Speaker 1: popped up there the Jets and the Patriots also has
Speaker 1: you know, close relationship with with the Dolphins and stuff like.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it comes comes down to that it's no income
Speaker 1: tax in Texas, no come text in Florida. Playing in
Speaker 1: South Beach a big difference from Floren Park. So you
Speaker 1: can see why the Dolphins would be very attractive, uh
Speaker 1: for Watson. I think That's a big part of it too.
Speaker 1: Is Deshaun Watson, if he does get moved, does he
Speaker 1: want to go to a team that's an immediate Super
Speaker 1: Bowl contender kind of go the traded NBA superstar route
Speaker 1: or is he down to go somewhere where he believes
Speaker 1: in the coaching staff and the potential of the team.
Speaker 1: That's a big part of it. If ever, there was
Speaker 1: time for Pink Pony to step up, Mark, this is
Speaker 1: it back to New England, Cassario, it's p I mean,
Speaker 1: if you want to talk about people storming various public
Speaker 1: places there that will be occurring, there is no yeah.
Speaker 1: I I mean, I would be shocked he he didn't
Speaker 1: like being under the thumb of Bill O'Brien, who learned
Speaker 1: everything he knew from Bill Belichick. I would think that
Speaker 1: Deshaun would put the Kai bosh on us. So you
Speaker 1: know what this really is about the gm APP. This
Speaker 1: is the impact prime moment for the gm APP. Every team,
Speaker 1: well us about outside the teams that have the true
Speaker 1: superstar quarterbacks should be in this derby and what they
Speaker 1: should all be doing is just getting on that app
Speaker 1: and saying, here's our offer for Deshaun Watson. And then
Speaker 1: it's up to the brain trust up there to decide
Speaker 1: down there in Texan to to decide, Okay, that's enough,
Speaker 1: We're gonna keep tracking it. That would be crazy. That
Speaker 1: would change everything. If he went to the Jets, that
Speaker 1: would change everything. All right. Now, let's get on the
Speaker 1: coaching carousel starting to fill out. Now, let's start with
Speaker 1: the Chargers. H they raid the Rams cupboard and they
Speaker 1: hire former defensive coordinator of the Rams, Brandon Staley as
Speaker 1: head coach. We touched on this quickly on the Sunday
Speaker 1: Night Show. UH one year as d C for Stanley
Speaker 1: for Staley, but he interviewed so well, he knocked the
Speaker 1: socks off the Chargers, who see him as their version
Speaker 1: of Sean McVeigh. A young quarterback to get behind NFL,
Speaker 1: young head coach to get behind NFL Networks. Tom Pallisera
Speaker 1: also reported that Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell is a
Speaker 1: candidate to take over the same position with the Chargers.
Speaker 1: Why would he make a neutral move mark because Sean
Speaker 1: McVeigh is still the g As they say, when it
Speaker 1: comes to well, nobody says that calling plays for the Rams.
Speaker 1: This would give O'Connell the chance to lead an offense
Speaker 1: led by Justin in in a delicious update to this um.
Speaker 1: It kind of gives the l A football teams a
Speaker 1: little bit of New York type of big brother little brother. Um.
Speaker 1: The Rams have declined permission for to speak with Kevin O'Connell.
Speaker 1: So I love that. It's a little bit petty. It's
Speaker 1: a little bit um. You know, you're not taking our guy.
Speaker 1: But to go back to Brandon Staley, I mean the
Speaker 1: first person that Brandon Staley really blew away in this
Speaker 1: process with Sean McVeigh when they met UM for this
Speaker 1: to happen a year ago, and that McVeigh basically just said,
Speaker 1: this guy is every thing that he saw on himself.
Speaker 1: And you know it went on into the into the
Speaker 1: off season with all these zoom calls, guys like Michael
Speaker 1: Brockers saying that he that Staley just was. It's so
Speaker 1: impressive in such a great teacher and tactician and explainer
Speaker 1: of process. UM. But I think these new coaches you're
Speaker 1: seeing this and it's Salah, it's Staley. You have to
Speaker 1: be a communicator. And his players loved him, and so
Speaker 1: I think the quick rise um is not to me
Speaker 1: an aberration or something that, Um, I don't know if
Speaker 1: it's I think in the past was like these coaches
Speaker 1: have to go through the process of being a coordinator
Speaker 1: for six, seven, eight years. It's like not anymore. If
Speaker 1: they've got it, they've got it. And I mean he
Speaker 1: he was, this is an obsessive coach. He was obsessed
Speaker 1: with Vic Fongio. He basically told McVeigh, I've studied you
Speaker 1: so much, straining quorder on me, and you know I
Speaker 1: would go read if you're wondering if you're a Chargers fan.
Speaker 1: Jordan Rodrigo wrote an excellent piece on him in September.
Speaker 1: Robert Mays on The Athletic also wrote a great piece.
Speaker 1: I mean I started to you know, when I start
Speaker 1: to fall for these coaches, Um, it started to happen
Speaker 1: a little bit when I got to know a little
Speaker 1: bit more about him. I think he's a really interesting
Speaker 1: higher and a sharp right turn from the Anthony Lynn
Speaker 1: way of doing things, going into games, game day, coaching,
Speaker 1: all of it. We'll see four years removed from being
Speaker 1: like a position coach at John Carroll. It's pretty wild.
Speaker 1: I mean he is thirty eight, so he's older than McVeigh. By,
Speaker 1: you know, by a little bit. I I think the
Speaker 1: whole thing though, is if you're hiring the defensive coach
Speaker 1: and you've got the franchise at quarterback, what are you
Speaker 1: doing with Justin Herbert and maybe his first choice O'Connell
Speaker 1: just got squashed. Um, I wouldn't be surprised if he
Speaker 1: interviews and and keeps the staff that's there. Knowing the Chargers,
Speaker 1: you know, you know they're they're already, they're already, they're
Speaker 1: already playing, they're already paying Shane Stike and Pet Hamilton,
Speaker 1: the QB coach who did such a good job with
Speaker 1: her I don't hate that choice either. Actually thought they
Speaker 1: might be a nice higher that that l a crew
Speaker 1: up in Seattle if if the Seahawks are But but
Speaker 1: that's everything. It's a big risk. You know, it's a
Speaker 1: great defensive team on on paper, and hopefully Staley is
Speaker 1: a true like you know leader. Um. But I do
Speaker 1: think there's probably some people in the Rams it's like, man,
Speaker 1: you can't get your own stadium, you can't develop your
Speaker 1: own coaches. You gotta take our coach. There's there's a
Speaker 1: wrinkle here too. There was a rule change in the NFL,
Speaker 1: where UH teams could not could no longer block position
Speaker 1: coach interviews for coordinator jobs. However, that does not apply
Speaker 1: when there's a lateral move involved, so Sean McVeigh had
Speaker 1: the option here to block O'Connell, which he did. Albert
Speaker 1: Brier reported that the lines of communication are open between
Speaker 1: the two teams on this, so there's still a chance
Speaker 1: it ends up with O'Connell getting that job. But it's
Speaker 1: also equally possible that the Rams are already a little
Speaker 1: ticked off and they'll be like, you know, go fly
Speaker 1: a kite, as they say, all right, other news, let's
Speaker 1: keep spinning that carousel. Ricky Hollywood Arthur Smith is the
Speaker 1: new head coach of the Atlanta Foulkins, and he will
Speaker 1: be calling the plays UH in Atlanta. Of course, it
Speaker 1: comes over after a really fantastic run with the Titans,
Speaker 1: with that great, great Tennessee offense with Derrick Henry and
Speaker 1: run Tannehill. Now he'll be tasked with maximizing the potential
Speaker 1: the Falcons attack, which has some really big time talent
Speaker 1: on it. It makes me think, Greg that I think
Speaker 1: about it. I know Matt Ryan's getting older now and
Speaker 1: there's a lot of talk about his future, But don't
Speaker 1: you kind of want to see what Arthur Smith can
Speaker 1: do with a Matt Ryan led offense with Ridley and
Speaker 1: Julio Jones and hopefully they you know, upgrade in the
Speaker 1: backfield and see where that offense can go with different leadership. Yes,
Speaker 1: and and I think the Falcons are planning on it.
Speaker 1: That was my huge takeaway from Smith press conferences. You know,
Speaker 1: he spoke about Matt Ryan and and and maximizing what
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan does well in a very definitive way. That
Speaker 1: indicated Matt Ryan will definitely be on the team, which
Speaker 1: is not a surprise eyes based on their contracts. Now,
Speaker 1: maybe you know, maybe they still draft someone and you know,
Speaker 1: it's year to year, let's see how he looks um
Speaker 1: But to me, the way he what he did with
Speaker 1: Ryan Dannehill, I think you have I think even at
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan's age, you have as much or more to
Speaker 1: work with with Matt Ryan. And I think that's one
Speaker 1: of that's probably the reason they hired Arthur Smith. I'm
Speaker 1: with you. I mean, they are twenty four million over
Speaker 1: the cap, they have only thirty one players under contracts,
Speaker 1: so it's not the easiest of landing spots. But so
Speaker 1: I don't think you move away from Ryan. I you know,
Speaker 1: Arthur Smith may not be the guy that I think
Speaker 1: when we when these hires happen, it's like who who
Speaker 1: is really entertaining, who grabs our attention in the press conference,
Speaker 1: And he's not that guy necessarily. I think he's you know,
Speaker 1: he's kind of noted for his um demeanor, his intelligence. Uh.
Speaker 1: And I do like this. I know everyone talks about
Speaker 1: the fact that he's the son of Fred Smith, the
Speaker 1: FedEx founder. His quote was, I've never mistaken his success
Speaker 1: for minus my success, and his kind of his creator
Speaker 1: to his players has dropped the entitlement and earn your job.
Speaker 1: I mean, there was you know a lot of this
Speaker 1: is coach speak, but I think Arthur Smith, Um the
Speaker 1: Lions were really wanted to get in a second interview
Speaker 1: with him, So something must be going on well with
Speaker 1: these interviews, and I think there is. Um He was
Speaker 1: with the Titans through so many different regimes. He started
Speaker 1: under Mike Munchak in two thousand and ten. It says
Speaker 1: something when these new coaches come and they want to
Speaker 1: keep you, And I thought it came in and did
Speaker 1: an excellent job as offensive coordinator, so you know, interesting
Speaker 1: higher I I want to see what he can accomplish
Speaker 1: with Matt Ryan m I don't think greg is Gregory.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you're as high on him as
Speaker 1: I am, but no, I just know I'm I'm high.
Speaker 1: I it's it's Arthur Smith that bothers you now I have.
Speaker 1: I don't have a strong take. I think he did
Speaker 1: a really good job, so it's worth the shot. Um,
Speaker 1: the the entitlement thing, you know, I want an offensive
Speaker 1: coach and like the entitlement thing. Okay, it's like I
Speaker 1: think this is where you talk about like coaches getting chances.
Speaker 1: You know, you know that when normally you know, he
Speaker 1: he started his career in part because because of his dad,
Speaker 1: and and then he made the most of it. You know,
Speaker 1: he worked for a team where his dad was the
Speaker 1: minority owner. That's how he got into the NFL. Like
Speaker 1: he started college football at a place where his dad
Speaker 1: is like a huge donor. But then he proves that
Speaker 1: that he's great. But it's the type of thing that
Speaker 1: if you're if you're someone without those advantages, of course
Speaker 1: you think about I do like that he's bringing DNPS
Speaker 1: out of retirement. Looks like old Dan Pas love that guy,
Speaker 1: and the Titans defense went down to hill pretty fast.
Speaker 1: So as usual, these coaches are only retired until they
Speaker 1: get like a nice next offer, right, and Arthur Smith
Speaker 1: obviously is their credentials based on what he did last year.
Speaker 1: But this is a conversation that is that's continuing in
Speaker 1: the league about opportunities for minority head coaches, and you're
Speaker 1: not seeing this cycle being flooded with hires of minority coaches.
Speaker 1: Now you know there's two laughs, Yeah, there's still more.
Speaker 1: Enemy seems to be a strong candidate for the opening jobs.
Speaker 1: But so far, you're you know, we're not basically singing
Speaker 1: to the progress. The process is a total flop from
Speaker 1: that angle so far. And we can see what happens
Speaker 1: with the final two. But I mean all year long,
Speaker 1: it was Eric b Enemy is gonna grab one of
Speaker 1: these coaching vacancies. Everyone's gonna rush to to grab him,
Speaker 1: and it's been the opposite. I don't know what's happening
Speaker 1: um in the interview process, but I mean there is
Speaker 1: like the NFL cannot love this look. I mean, they
Speaker 1: have to have the opposite of loving it. Okay, in
Speaker 1: other news. Okay, so this happened late last week. Robert
Speaker 1: Sala Sala Sala Sala is the new head coach of
Speaker 1: the New York Jets, and I obviously feel so excited
Speaker 1: about this. He is a heavenly choice, Um, compared to
Speaker 1: what we're dealing with. Sal, So, is that who I
Speaker 1: think it is? I think it is. I think it
Speaker 1: is who you think it is, the great La Sid
Speaker 1: with the pipes. I mean, what a what a singer
Speaker 1: she is. Um, you can't give Nick Shook the nickname
Speaker 1: pike pipe when Um, she's singing that way. I mean,
Speaker 1: we already had issues with the Nick Shook. She's pipes pluralized.
Speaker 1: He's just the pipe. There. There is a very big difference,
Speaker 1: and we don't have time to dig into that because
Speaker 1: we've got to talk about the new look Jets with
Speaker 1: Robert Sala. Um. This is a total one eighty for
Speaker 1: the Jets of so excited. Even the photos they tweeted out. Uh,
Speaker 1: he officially signed his contract with the Jets to become
Speaker 1: head coach, and he's wearing the Jets hoodie and he's
Speaker 1: got the big smile and it's like this guy looks
Speaker 1: like he's he should have been. He's been the Jets
Speaker 1: coach forever and ever. It just looks right, it feels right.
Speaker 1: It's totally different than Adam Gaze, who, by the way,
Speaker 1: report out there that he he was under some consider
Speaker 1: duration for the Seahawks offensive coordinator job. If you ever
Speaker 1: got him back in the same buildings, Jamal Adams, that
Speaker 1: would be to me more exciting and making me more
Speaker 1: happy that higher in New York. I just think there's
Speaker 1: so much that Jets have to do to get to
Speaker 1: get really back on track. And I am loving life
Speaker 1: right now because it's been so long since the Jets
Speaker 1: fans got a W. Robert sala is a W mark.
Speaker 1: He he's a guy that we don't know if he's
Speaker 1: gonna be able to play the guitar in the head
Speaker 1: coach role, but damn, it feels like he's the right guy.
Speaker 1: And and you saw Dani Rolovski at VSPN tweeted yesterday,
Speaker 1: you know he's pumped up about the assistant coaches that
Speaker 1: Salives bringing in, including Michae la Floor who's going to
Speaker 1: be the O. C Uh. It just feels like they
Speaker 1: hit on something here, and um, I can't wait to
Speaker 1: see where it goes from here. But I think the
Speaker 1: La Flora thing is huge because it gives your parents salads,
Speaker 1: defense and what it will be and wants to be
Speaker 1: with an offense that meshed really well with it in
Speaker 1: San Francisco. And I think that the idea is you know,
Speaker 1: not you know Shanahan two point oh, because this is
Speaker 1: a very different type of coach, but some from you know,
Speaker 1: some familiarity with that in some familiarity with what San
Speaker 1: Francisco accomplished. Um, I love it. I think we've we've
Speaker 1: talked about this on our network show. I think this
Speaker 1: is a fascinating, fantastic higher for the Jets, and they
Speaker 1: nailed it. I mean, you know, there were a couple
Speaker 1: other names that came up in the Jets search that
Speaker 1: really concerned me. Um, just because I think they needed
Speaker 1: to do something so fresh and new. And I talked
Speaker 1: about communication and that is the wave for me of
Speaker 1: new coaches, and I think Solid brings that and look
Speaker 1: at yeah, will he succeed right away? Um, it's a
Speaker 1: tall order. But you've got Quentin Williams, You've got Marcus
Speaker 1: May there. If they resign him, I'm sure that's a
Speaker 1: priority for them. And I just love I love the
Speaker 1: departure point. Um. I think that there's gonna be some
Speaker 1: patients because everyone understands that he's inheriting something of a
Speaker 1: train wreck. Except there's a lot to like with what
Speaker 1: they can do quickly with the picks. It doesn't totally um.
Speaker 1: It reminds me a little bit of teams like Cleveland,
Speaker 1: where the right coach came at the right time when
Speaker 1: there were a lot of draft picks and a lot
Speaker 1: of potential young talent on board. I think it's a
Speaker 1: good marriage and solid me is what the Jets needed
Speaker 1: in so many different ways. I am genuinely happy for you. Um.
Speaker 1: I think it's you're gonna see market changes right away.
Speaker 1: It's not that unusual when a new coach comes in
Speaker 1: and changes everything that The Jets, to me, could be
Speaker 1: a team that I want to get ahead of myself.
Speaker 1: But they should have had more wins than they had
Speaker 1: all along under Gates, and I don't think they're as
Speaker 1: far away as some would some would think. I I
Speaker 1: totally agree, and I I think the process is the key.
Speaker 1: When was the last Jets coach, GM Perry, and that
Speaker 1: didn't seem like it had a ton of potential for
Speaker 1: dysfunction from minute one, maybe Rex and Mike Tannenbaum, although
Speaker 1: you can even look into the way that that works
Speaker 1: through ownership and everything. Joe Douglas picked Sala. I'm sure
Speaker 1: ownership was part of it too, but ultimately, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna assume the reports that say Douglas was leading
Speaker 1: this are right, and that's the most important thing to me, UM,
Speaker 1: because Douglas seems like like a solid guy who's gonna
Speaker 1: build this organization, and Sala has a real staff. Now,
Speaker 1: it's interesting that the forty Niners promoted Mike McDaniel. There
Speaker 1: there's some thought, you know, to offensive coordinator that like,
Speaker 1: you know, they sort of got to keep you know,
Speaker 1: who knows, like they kept McDaniel and La Fleur goes
Speaker 1: they were only going to be able to keep one
Speaker 1: UM and everyone seems to love Michael Fleur, And I
Speaker 1: think that offense UM at least if you don't take
Speaker 1: a quarterback number two and you don't get DeShawn Watson.
Speaker 1: I don't totally buy like that they're all in on
Speaker 1: Sam Donald, but I do buy that they are giving
Speaker 1: themselves the opportunity that that might be one of the
Speaker 1: things they do is look at what Sam Donald looks
Speaker 1: like in this offense, because I think the best he looked,
Speaker 1: I thought was really his rookie year, especially for a
Speaker 1: rookie in a different non gaze offense. And so if
Speaker 1: if you don't right and if you don't fall in
Speaker 1: love with just A Fields and you don't get Deshaun Watson,
Speaker 1: is that going to be part of it? And rich
Speaker 1: to media. ESPN reported that Sala Sala Sala and La
Speaker 1: Floor believe that Donald has quote untapped potential. I I try,
Speaker 1: I'm trying to stay kind of even killed with Donald
Speaker 1: because I I always fall hard for the next Savior
Speaker 1: Jets quarterback, and I know he's put a lot of
Speaker 1: bad football on tape, So I'm trying to, like, I
Speaker 1: really do want to see him get one more shot,
Speaker 1: uh and do it with better coaching and hopefully a
Speaker 1: better roster. At the same time, I would not hesitate
Speaker 1: to go get de Shaun Watson if I could, But
Speaker 1: would I rather have Donald and give him a shot
Speaker 1: with the staff and of the draft picks to build
Speaker 1: around him, or take a chance on another rookie. Man,
Speaker 1: I'm not really the guy to ask us. I don't
Speaker 1: know how good these top process, but I know they
Speaker 1: don't have Trevor Lawrence, which would have been a no brainer.
Speaker 1: So I'm more into staying Sam if you don't get Watson.
Speaker 1: But there's so much to be uncovered on that end.
Speaker 1: It's the next big decision for the jet. But for
Speaker 1: the first time in a long time, I feel like
Speaker 1: you could trust the people making the decisions. I think
Speaker 1: you can. Yeah, I wanted to throw throw in there too.
Speaker 1: I mentioned the GM process in part, like like in
Speaker 1: contrast to Atlanta, which we didn't mention, which you know,
Speaker 1: it's fine, Arthur Blank hired Terry Fontineau, who looks like
Speaker 1: a promising GM from New Orleans, and he hires are
Speaker 1: Arthur Smith, and they're going to be attached to the hip.
Speaker 1: But I like, I like the idea that like these guys,
Speaker 1: you know, they one chose the other. In Atlanta, it's
Speaker 1: like they're basically strangers meeting um and the owner hired
Speaker 1: in both and that's sort of how they're reporting through.
Speaker 1: And that to me is always a little tricky. That
Speaker 1: seems like it just create will create friction where you've
Speaker 1: got both of them trying to vie for the owners
Speaker 1: um favor, and that's we've seen this play out poorly
Speaker 1: ten thousand times alright in other carousel news, Yes it happened.
Speaker 1: Urban Meyer is the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Speaker 1: He takes over a team it's coming off a one
Speaker 1: and fifteen. But yes, they have the number one overall
Speaker 1: pick and everything that comes with that. Um, we don't
Speaker 1: know what the their GM situation there right now, but
Speaker 1: urban Meyer is gonna be the boss. There's no doubt
Speaker 1: about that. And Scott Linahan is being interviewed for their
Speaker 1: o C opening Urban Meyer Jacksonville Jaguars. Greg, is this
Speaker 1: a home run marriage to you? No, not a home run.
Speaker 1: I think it's exciting. You know, fans never want to
Speaker 1: hear about um that their new head coaching hiring isn't
Speaker 1: like gonna be a home run. But how how can
Speaker 1: you assume a guy that's never coached in the NFL
Speaker 1: where there's sort of nebulous who has finals say on
Speaker 1: the roster um kind of chatter with whether it's ownership
Speaker 1: or whether it's urban Meyer. But you know, ultimately urban
Speaker 1: Meyer is gonna have a lot of power. And then
Speaker 1: Scott Lenahan is the first guy that pops up as
Speaker 1: the guy like you want to bring in right away.
Speaker 1: That doesn't to me inspire a ton of um excitement.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's been he's always had the advantage of
Speaker 1: having much better players than the than the opponent. That's
Speaker 1: the whole thing of being a college coach and coming
Speaker 1: to the pros. It's not gonna happen. It's the opposite.
Speaker 1: Instead of Ohio State having way better players than every
Speaker 1: single team on their schedule until they've los in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: you know they they're gonna have inferior players for the
Speaker 1: most part. It's gonna be close, but they're gonna you
Speaker 1: know right now that Jacksonville Jaguars don't have great players.
Speaker 1: I mean, what I would say for Urban Meyers that yes,
Speaker 1: he had those advantages in college, and yes he won
Speaker 1: with I mean, you know there are college coaches out
Speaker 1: there that have a lot of talent that don't get
Speaker 1: it done. I mean, he's been a winner. Um My
Speaker 1: question would be how long is this going to last?
Speaker 1: And I mean, you know, Urban Meyer has had some
Speaker 1: health issues in the past him. I'm not really leaning
Speaker 1: on that with this. It's just that he's also got
Speaker 1: up and walked away from from jobs when I don't
Speaker 1: know if, if, if he had accomplished enough there, he
Speaker 1: felt like the challenge was elsewhere at some point, um
Speaker 1: he said he spent you know, a long long time, um,
Speaker 1: diagnosing and studying the NFL to determine if he thought
Speaker 1: he could go and succeed there. I think that he
Speaker 1: doesn't want for determination um and probably UM, a part
Speaker 1: of him wants to show yes, Like any coach that's successfully,
Speaker 1: I want to go to the NFL and show I
Speaker 1: can do it there. Um. I think he has the
Speaker 1: innate coaching talent to do it from what we've seen.
Speaker 1: But to me, this is a higher that I just
Speaker 1: sort of want to sit back and watch because I
Speaker 1: don't have a huge hot take here. I I would
Speaker 1: love it, love it content wise though, to be clear,
Speaker 1: Like I love that he is content joining the NFL
Speaker 1: because super good, good or bad. It's totally intriguing and
Speaker 1: his offenses are fun to watch. You wonder if if
Speaker 1: they go three and thirteen instead of two, one and fifteen,
Speaker 1: and they don't have Trevor Lawrence locked and loaded. Uh,
Speaker 1: if he takes that job, it might be to him
Speaker 1: it's a perfect setup enter the NFL with this potential
Speaker 1: generational talent, and we all know that the NFL highway
Speaker 1: is littered with the carcasses of college hot shot coaches
Speaker 1: who couldn't hack it. Uh my erk though, could just
Speaker 1: as easily be an example of a college coach that
Speaker 1: just came in and and got better. So you know
Speaker 1: you're excited if you're a Jaguars fan, because they've made
Speaker 1: they made a huge splash hired head coach. They're gonna
Speaker 1: make a huge splash draft pick at number one overall,
Speaker 1: and now you can start to piece it together. I
Speaker 1: wonder what happens now with your boy. By the way,
Speaker 1: Mark does urban Meyer like the mustachioed one. Is he
Speaker 1: in the building anymore? I mean, I don't think the
Speaker 1: discussion is about in the building. Possibly, but as a starter,
Speaker 1: I think those days have come to a close based
Speaker 1: on where they sit. I mean, the London fans, assuming
Speaker 1: they can travel next year, they gotta be excited, uh,
Speaker 1: a little more juiced coming over or sees absolutely Trevor
Speaker 1: Lawrence and everything. It's a game changer in Jacksonville, all right.
Speaker 1: In other coaching carousel news, Dan Campbell, you remember Dan Campbell,
Speaker 1: He took over years ago when Joey Fieldman got canned
Speaker 1: in Miami and did a pretty good job in an
Speaker 1: interim role. He then went to the Saints, where he's
Speaker 1: been learning under the great Sean Payton. And now it's
Speaker 1: believed that he will be the next head coach of
Speaker 1: the Detroit Lions. It's still expected to happen, because it
Speaker 1: has been floating around now for days, but rap Sheet
Speaker 1: reported um on Sunday that it's still expected to go down. Uh,
Speaker 1: this is your classic mark guy that gets the locker
Speaker 1: room behind him, leader of men. Will it work in Detroit?
Speaker 1: This feels like a trickier one. It's really hard to
Speaker 1: make a judgment call one way or another right off
Speaker 1: the bat. I think we're all surprised by it, um,
Speaker 1: I mean Chris Spielman had a lot to do with it.
Speaker 1: He's been consulting with them as a special assistant on this,
Speaker 1: and you're right. I mean, I think his qualities, according
Speaker 1: to what I've read and looked into, is intense a
Speaker 1: motivating force. Um. I thought he did a pretty good
Speaker 1: job with that Dolphins team when he came in. I mean,
Speaker 1: perhaps he can relate to players better than someone like
Speaker 1: Joe philm and I wouldn't be surprised. I like the
Speaker 1: fact that he's been inside the Saints system for a while.
Speaker 1: I mean, you're probably seen in absorbing things that will
Speaker 1: be incredibly helpful. And he must have interviewed really well.
Speaker 1: I mean this this was not someone that a month
Speaker 1: ago was talked about as UM one of the top candidates.
Speaker 1: So the process um intrigues me. No, I mean, I
Speaker 1: think again, it's like relationships here. Spielman gets this job
Speaker 1: out of the Fox booth and kind of becomes the
Speaker 1: key guy in in hiring the coach UM, and I
Speaker 1: think he believed in Dan Campbell. There's just not many
Speaker 1: coaches like this which are like the leader of men.
Speaker 1: I'm not an offensive guru necessarily, I'm not a defensive
Speaker 1: play caller UM and that just puts more pressure on
Speaker 1: his high yires. And so it's it's kind of incomplete
Speaker 1: right now. You I would love to know who their
Speaker 1: coordinators are. Their GM, by the way, is going to
Speaker 1: be Brad Holmes from the Rams UM. A lot of
Speaker 1: a lot of teams kind of filling these GM hires
Speaker 1: with guys, you know, under the radar guys UM with
Speaker 1: good organizations that didn't necessarily do a lot of self
Speaker 1: promotion through the media. So I actually like that. It's like,
Speaker 1: I don't know these guys. They've they've stayed under the radar.
Speaker 1: Brad Homes So I'm gonna have a hot take on
Speaker 1: Brad Holmes, on John Holmes. That's what I want to
Speaker 1: hear from Greg uh but any of those out there.
Speaker 1: But it's another setup where the GM didn't didn't hire
Speaker 1: the coach, and man, you just hope for the Lions,
Speaker 1: like there is a little bit of like worry that,
Speaker 1: like we want to be a tough team who plays
Speaker 1: physical brand of football, and we're gonna bring in our
Speaker 1: tough guy coach. I mean that is Chris Spielman, and
Speaker 1: that I think is Dan Campbell too. So you mentioned, Yeah,
Speaker 1: Terry Fotno in Atlanta, he's the new GM, Brad Holmes
Speaker 1: in Detroit, George Patton in Denver from Minnesota, Yeah, taken
Speaker 1: over for John Elway in that capacity. You have Scott
Speaker 1: Fitterer in Carolina and then a familiar name former Carolina
Speaker 1: two times over GM, Marty Hernie Lands in Washington. So
Speaker 1: Ron Rivera not going the you know, forward thinking route,
Speaker 1: going more Hey, I know that guy. We've been getting
Speaker 1: steak at Peter Luger's and and uh, what's it called?
Speaker 1: What's the place in Indy that we're not going through
Speaker 1: this year? So people can't say it's actually st Elmo
Speaker 1: st Elmo? Uh, no cocktails at st Almo this year.
Speaker 1: But these are old guys that have been in the
Speaker 1: league forever. Hernie expecting Washington if it wasn't Rivera and
Speaker 1: and their new president Jason Wright hiring Marty Hernie. I
Speaker 1: mean to me, this is the ultimate crony ism. I
Speaker 1: mean they make a big show of you know, some
Speaker 1: of the some of the interviews they had for GM,
Speaker 1: and really it was it was it was Hernie all
Speaker 1: along um and we should say, you know, like the
Speaker 1: league that has not had a lot of you know,
Speaker 1: it's a league that's probably predominantly black, has not had
Speaker 1: a lot of black executives. So Holmes and Fontano get
Speaker 1: getting GM jobs. That is that is I think a
Speaker 1: win um in that area. Uh this offseason alright, So
Speaker 1: and yeah we talked about that with the new head
Speaker 1: coach hires. Uh more underwhelming in that category. But you
Speaker 1: still have the Eagles with the head coaching opening the
Speaker 1: Texans still looking to Philip Post and is there anyone
Speaker 1: else h McDaniel. Yeah, I don't know if I if
Speaker 1: Man McDaniel's is agent. You can just sometimes it's like
Speaker 1: the same guy has the same has all these coaches
Speaker 1: and the Eagles. The Eagles put it this way. I've
Speaker 1: tried to ask around a lot in this one, and
Speaker 1: I mean, he had the job in Indie. He walked
Speaker 1: out of the hands. That wasn't all smoke. The Eagles
Speaker 1: job is one that I don't think anyone has any clue.
Speaker 1: I don't neither to be clear, obviously, but I think
Speaker 1: everyone is just guessing and holding um their arms up
Speaker 1: and like their interviewing everyone. They're interviewing Dennis Allen today
Speaker 1: of the Saints. It's been a pretty wide search, and
Speaker 1: I don't think anyone has a great feel of who's
Speaker 1: going to get that job. All right, So that's what's
Speaker 1: happening in the news. Now, time to bring on a
Speaker 1: very special guest who uh you know, has a habit
Speaker 1: of going viral with some videos he's been putting together
Speaker 1: during this great Buffalo Bills run. So we'll see you
Speaker 1: in Buffalo in January. Be ready. It might be chilly.
Speaker 1: There they are the iconic words now in Western New
Speaker 1: York from Steve Tasker, former Buffalo Bills all pro really
Speaker 1: one of the great, if not the greatest special teams
Speaker 1: player of all time. Also the co host of One
Speaker 1: Bills Live on w g R Sports Radio five fifty
Speaker 1: and MSG. Now we welcome him for the first time
Speaker 1: to be around the NFL Podcast. I see, Steve, you
Speaker 1: you've got T shirts with that catchphrase. I mean, you've
Speaker 1: really built You're building an empire over there. Well, listen,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm in. I'm employed by the club, so I
Speaker 1: don't get anything out of it, man, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: and these tough financial times, we all have to pitch
Speaker 1: in to help the you know, the businesses we work
Speaker 1: for to do it. So, yeah, the Bills are doing fine.
Speaker 1: But that, yeah, that took on a life of its own,
Speaker 1: no question, and you know how it is. The fun
Speaker 1: part about it was watching people's reaction to the to
Speaker 1: the hype video. So it's been pretty cool to see it.
Speaker 1: Even you know, I was on the hook for buying, like,
Speaker 1: you know, twenty five of those T shirts and sending
Speaker 1: them around. I got a text from Bruce Bruce just
Speaker 1: textually goes, hey, bro, he goes, I need one of
Speaker 1: every size and every extra large. So I did it.
Speaker 1: I sent him to him. So there you go something
Speaker 1: that my mother always says, no good deed goes unpunished.
Speaker 1: You know, you try to get behind your former team. Uh, Steve,
Speaker 1: this is obviously such an exciting, amazing time for the Bills,
Speaker 1: and you know, I feel like where we are now
Speaker 1: in one there's like a romantic viewpoint of your old
Speaker 1: Bills team and people look back at those teams. Uh,
Speaker 1: so successful but fell short of the mountaintop, and now
Speaker 1: here the Bills finally are back in position to get
Speaker 1: back to the mountaintop. What's the vibe been like up
Speaker 1: there in Western New York during this special time for
Speaker 1: the Bills. Well, it's been muted because of the pandemic.
Speaker 1: You know that New York States probably one of the
Speaker 1: most lockdown states around in the in the Union, right,
Speaker 1: so uh, it's been really hard to congregate, uh and
Speaker 1: share it with the Bills fans that you know are
Speaker 1: so prominent and so part of the fabric up here.
Speaker 1: So uh, in that way, it's been a little muted,
Speaker 1: but there's no doubt Uh, in every household, in every business, everybody,
Speaker 1: it's all they're all sold out and bought into this team.
Speaker 1: And I think this is It's interesting too because in
Speaker 1: the years leading up to this, and it was so
Speaker 1: long between great teams, people forgot that when you get
Speaker 1: to the n f C championship team, you kind of
Speaker 1: live in that place where, gosh, I hope our team
Speaker 1: does good and you know, I you know, I hope
Speaker 1: they play well. I hope they don't, you know, mess
Speaker 1: this up, or I hope the other team plays bad
Speaker 1: so we can win. You forget that to get to
Speaker 1: the FC championship game, your team is really good. You
Speaker 1: know yet that your team has really gotta be good
Speaker 1: to get there. Not only gotta be talented, they've gotta
Speaker 1: be deep, they've gotta be well coached. You don't get
Speaker 1: to the championship game on a fluke. This is a
Speaker 1: really good football team and they're playing really well. They
Speaker 1: got some great players. Uh. You know, got a wide
Speaker 1: receiver that is an all time and had an all
Speaker 1: time great franchise season. Uh, You've got a quarterback that
Speaker 1: played at an elite level at all year, and you've
Speaker 1: got a defense that's playing better and better, and finally
Speaker 1: now is and probably one of the top four or
Speaker 1: five defenses in the league at any you know, in
Speaker 1: these last couple of weeks, three or four weeks, so
Speaker 1: you know, you're hitting on all cylinders right now. It's
Speaker 1: just not that this had this you know, great time
Speaker 1: and it's a roller coaster. He just kind of turned
Speaker 1: up in the championship game. This is a really good
Speaker 1: football team. And when you get to this point, you've
Speaker 1: got to be thinking that you're good enough to win
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. And I think a lot of people
Speaker 1: here in Western New York are thinking that, Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: one of the reasons I love this final four. I
Speaker 1: feel like none of them are heavy favorites. All of
Speaker 1: them are totally good enough to win the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: We have to find out what happens. You've watched Josh
Speaker 1: Allen mature, you know you probably know him, uh well,
Speaker 1: after these last few years. He seems like a guy
Speaker 1: who who like registers what went wrong and and goes
Speaker 1: about fixing it. And I'm wondering how you think he's
Speaker 1: processing last week, um, a game plan that they put
Speaker 1: together in Baltimore where they actually slowed down the Bill's
Speaker 1: offense pretty well in the first half. They made some adjustments,
Speaker 1: played better in the second half. How do you think
Speaker 1: like he's looking at that performance and then you know,
Speaker 1: moving forward to what the Chiefs are gonna try to
Speaker 1: do to him. It's a really interesting thought because Josh
Speaker 1: has really shown the knack for correcting mistakes quickly. Um.
Speaker 1: That's been his hallmark as a quarterback, even early on
Speaker 1: when he was so raw and he was way down
Speaker 1: the ladder of you know, being a productive NFL quarterback,
Speaker 1: even week to week, back when he had so far
Speaker 1: to go to become even a petitive quarterback. Week to week,
Speaker 1: you could see him making adjustments in his game. He'd
Speaker 1: throw the football away when one year we he'd try
Speaker 1: to force it in and throw an interception. He would
Speaker 1: he would slide or run out of bounds instead of
Speaker 1: taking a big hit. He was doing things better now.
Speaker 1: Certainly it was in fits and starts, and sometimes he
Speaker 1: would regress and have a bad play here or there.
Speaker 1: But the bad plays and those crazy plays that you know,
Speaker 1: the kind of a punch line of a joke for
Speaker 1: his play in general, those plays became fewer and fewer,
Speaker 1: and further and further far between and the other end
Speaker 1: of the spectrum, the good plays became more and more
Speaker 1: prominent and more and more consistent, and that kept coming
Speaker 1: all the way throughout last year and certainly this year
Speaker 1: when he hit the field with Steph Digs in the mix,
Speaker 1: with uh Gabriel Davis in the mix, and they went
Speaker 1: four wide early in this season, way more than anybody
Speaker 1: else in the league. And man, oh man, the step
Speaker 1: he took then was amazing. Um so all the little
Speaker 1: increments he he took and growth he had this last offseason,
Speaker 1: which was totally off the radar because of the lack
Speaker 1: of off season lack of preseason games. Nobody saw it
Speaker 1: except the coaching staff and his teammates when they unveiled
Speaker 1: that in Week one against the Jets, and then in
Speaker 1: a week two against the Dolphins, and in week three
Speaker 1: against the Raiders, and week four against the Rams, they
Speaker 1: go four and oh and they're lightening it up and
Speaker 1: he actually had a couple of three hundred yard days
Speaker 1: and a four hundred yard day. It was like, wow,
Speaker 1: it was really amazing, and it's been that way for
Speaker 1: the entire year. You could see it coming and you
Speaker 1: knew in some sort of fantasy football where he had
Speaker 1: a big top end, He had a big ceiling because
Speaker 1: of his physical attributes and his intelligence and his hard
Speaker 1: work ethic. But you didn't think it was gonna go
Speaker 1: to that this level from where it was even at
Speaker 1: the end of last season, and yet here it is.
Speaker 1: It's well, you know, looking at the building of this
Speaker 1: team and I and I picked up football in the
Speaker 1: mid eighties, and you know, I remember the Bills um
Speaker 1: as they started to grow in to an a f
Speaker 1: C superpower. You were there at the very beginning of that.
Speaker 1: And I went back and looked at the roster from
Speaker 1: a week one UM two thousand seventeen when Sean McDermott
Speaker 1: coached his first game. It was Tyrod Taylor, um Le,
Speaker 1: Shawn McCoy, and Mike Tilbert. In the backfield Jordan Matthews.
Speaker 1: The team's leading receivers were z A Jones and Deonte Thompson.
Speaker 1: And those were the receivers. It was Charles Clay and
Speaker 1: the running backs that all the catches. They were such
Speaker 1: a limited different offense, and they had so much work
Speaker 1: to do, and they've been so intentional and rapid I
Speaker 1: think in building this team to what it is in
Speaker 1: such a quick fashion. Uh. I mean that's the gap
Speaker 1: between these long bills successful periods. What is your thought
Speaker 1: of sort of Brandon being and Sean McDermott and what
Speaker 1: just their overall power to build this this team up
Speaker 1: so quickly. Yeah, it's interesting because the NFL, so you
Speaker 1: guys know, it's so hard to win and win consistently
Speaker 1: because there are so many levels of complexity about every
Speaker 1: aspect of the game. Offensively, you gotta have the right tools.
Speaker 1: You gotta have the right offensive line, the right quarterback,
Speaker 1: The right weapons are around the quarterback to accentuate his gifts.
Speaker 1: You gotta have a defense that's loaded with athletes and
Speaker 1: and some experience, and a good court. You gotta have coordinators.
Speaker 1: You gotta have personnel people who are on the same
Speaker 1: page and giving you the players that fit your scheme.
Speaker 1: You gotta go the draft, you gotta go to combat.
Speaker 1: All that stuff is mixed into this and and this team.
Speaker 1: The thing I know about what they built this team
Speaker 1: is this and one thing I noticed as they as
Speaker 1: they got along with it, there's a couple of things.
Speaker 1: They were never afraid to cut loose of a really
Speaker 1: good player if he didn't fit them. Uh, Marcel Darius,
Speaker 1: Sammy Watkins, uh Ron dar Um Darby the defensive back
Speaker 1: of guys of this nature you know that just didn't
Speaker 1: fit perfectly. They got rid of them, and in fact,
Speaker 1: right before the start of the two thousand eighteen or
Speaker 1: seventeen season, they got accused of tanking and and ultimately
Speaker 1: went to the playoffs Rod Taylor at quarterback. That's how
Speaker 1: good this staff is. Now. The other thing that I've noticed,
Speaker 1: not only were they not willing, you know, too willing
Speaker 1: to part with good players, they never strayed outside their plan.
Speaker 1: Levian Bell certainly they kicked the tires on him, and
Speaker 1: Tom and and Antonio Brown, certainly they kicked the tires
Speaker 1: and checked it out. None of those guys fit, uh
Speaker 1: none of the guys that the shiny, high priced free
Speaker 1: agents kind of wavered them away from their philosophy of
Speaker 1: getting players who were middle of the road free agents,
Speaker 1: I think, but fit their system and fit it well,
Speaker 1: and had the right temperament and the right attitude and
Speaker 1: the right personality and had the right mindset. And they
Speaker 1: were also big in this not they got those guys,
Speaker 1: and plus they brought a lot of guys in on
Speaker 1: one year prove it deals. They paid them well, but
Speaker 1: they were only tied up for one year, and you
Speaker 1: get those guys, they're really highly motivated to get another contract,
Speaker 1: if not from the Bills, from somebody else. They got
Speaker 1: a lot of guys like that that are highly motivated
Speaker 1: to play well and play well throughout the season. So
Speaker 1: all those things put together, it is kind of their philosophy.
Speaker 1: And to their credit, they never wayward from that commitment,
Speaker 1: and I think that sometimes is the hardest thing to
Speaker 1: do for an organization. They've become a model for other
Speaker 1: teams UH to study. Before we say goodbye, Steve, I
Speaker 1: just wanna talk about what they need to do to
Speaker 1: win this weekend an arrowhead, because as good as the
Speaker 1: Bills have been and they are one Heil Murray away
Speaker 1: from a twelve game winning streak, in these two playoff wins,
Speaker 1: they've been outgamed yardage wise, and they've they've won because
Speaker 1: they've made the big plays in the crucial spots to
Speaker 1: carry on and get to this point. But you get
Speaker 1: the feeling they're probably gonna have to deliver that a
Speaker 1: game on offense to get past Patrick Mahomes if indeed
Speaker 1: Mahomes on the field for the Chiefs. Do you see
Speaker 1: that you see a shootout here coming up? Or do
Speaker 1: you think Leslie Fraser coming off a great performance with
Speaker 1: that defense can keep Kansas City and Check. I think
Speaker 1: the building, I don't know if you keep Kansas City
Speaker 1: and Check, I don't think. I don't think it'll be
Speaker 1: if it's a thirty point game, it will be a
Speaker 1: third point game on both sides. I think it's gonna
Speaker 1: be more like the first game they played, where the
Speaker 1: winner will be in the mid to high twenties, maybe
Speaker 1: score thirty thirty one, but the other guy, the other
Speaker 1: team will be right there too. I think this is
Speaker 1: gonna be a game where you gotta keep pace, no
Speaker 1: question about it. You gotta stay with the Chiefs. And
Speaker 1: if you've got a defense that can make enough plays,
Speaker 1: and I think that's what this Bill's defense can do,
Speaker 1: is is make some enough plays to give maybe get
Speaker 1: the Chiefs off the field offensively a couple of unexpected
Speaker 1: times and an unexpected ways, maybe the turnovers, or maybe
Speaker 1: get a lucky break on a third and eight or
Speaker 1: something to get a knockdown pass or something like that.
Speaker 1: Get a couple of plays like that to give Josh
Speaker 1: Allen a couple of extra possessions, and certainly the Bills
Speaker 1: have to play better offensively than they did the first
Speaker 1: time around. Josh threw for like two hundred and six
Speaker 1: yards against the Chiefs the last time they played in
Speaker 1: Week six. Certainly they weren't their best. John Brown was
Speaker 1: not a factor. He was ailing. Their offensive line had
Speaker 1: been shuffling every single week during that up to that
Speaker 1: point of the season. Um, their guards and their center
Speaker 1: were never set in stone. Uh So now they've got
Speaker 1: that kind of under control. John Feliciano, their great guard
Speaker 1: is in there and has been in there for a
Speaker 1: while now. They they were a little unsettled up front
Speaker 1: in that game. But still, Josh Allen's gotta play better.
Speaker 1: He's got to play well. They've got to score points
Speaker 1: against his Chiefs team. Um, I think they can do it.
Speaker 1: But they're gonna have to play better offensively and more
Speaker 1: consistently offensively than they did in the first two weeks
Speaker 1: of the playoffs, no question about it. But I think
Speaker 1: this game both teams their defense are gonna play well
Speaker 1: enough to be have respectable outings against these offenses, which
Speaker 1: means in this day and age, mid twenties to low
Speaker 1: thirties for these teams, and I think that's where this
Speaker 1: is gonna be. And I and look for the Bills
Speaker 1: to put together enough of a performance where it's gonna
Speaker 1: be in doubt. Certainly the Chiefs if everybody's playing their best,
Speaker 1: the Chiefs are maybe a better team than the Bills.
Speaker 1: But the Bills are gonna play well enough to to
Speaker 1: put it in doubt late in this game and have
Speaker 1: a chance to win it. Uh, that's their modus operandi.
Speaker 1: And then it will be come down. It'll come down
Speaker 1: to the last part of the game where either Josh
Speaker 1: Allen the offense and Steph Diggs are gonna have to
Speaker 1: make a play or Patrick Mahomes and their crew were
Speaker 1: gonna have to make a play to win the game. Well,
Speaker 1: I know you got a head to a car commercial appearance.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you're getting a lot of offers because you know,
Speaker 1: we heard the audio at first, but it was really
Speaker 1: the the cigar smoking and the mean mugging into the hymn.
Speaker 1: It was the acting that Tasker delivered in that hype video.
Speaker 1: That's gotta be getting your age and a lot of
Speaker 1: offers lately. Yeah, you know, I'm trying hey, down, I
Speaker 1: haven't left my house. I come into show and I
Speaker 1: go home. I haven't left the house in like ten months.
Speaker 1: I I put an alarm on my wife, so if
Speaker 1: she moves, I hear because I'm afraid she's gonna kill
Speaker 1: me in my sleep. So you know that kind of thing.
Speaker 1: We're we're buttoned up tight here in New York. Everybody's
Speaker 1: just aching for a chance for the screws to get
Speaker 1: loosened a little bit so we can get out, go
Speaker 1: to dinner, go out to movies, you know, go out
Speaker 1: to a bar for a beer. Everybody's buttoned up hid here.
Speaker 1: So every time I chance to get a leave home
Speaker 1: just for work, I'm absolutely out the door to do it.
Speaker 1: And it is it's a shame what you said at
Speaker 1: the top, that it is a little more muted because
Speaker 1: where we are in the world. But we won't be
Speaker 1: here forever. Steve Tasker will be a legend forever up
Speaker 1: there in Western New York, and and one day he'll
Speaker 1: be in Canton too, if the football gods have their say. Steve,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us, and enjoy the
Speaker 1: football this weekend. Thank you guys, and there you go.
Speaker 1: Steve Tasker did fall short. I mentioned the Hall of Fame. Uh,
Speaker 1: he was a semifinalist and he's been that several times
Speaker 1: through the years, but did not get selected to go
Speaker 1: forward for the final voting. But Mark, I know you
Speaker 1: love those old Bills teams as many people do. Tasker
Speaker 1: was a glue guy. Yeah, he's he's seen a tough
Speaker 1: category to to to get in. I love that he's
Speaker 1: been recognized to the extent he has in terms of
Speaker 1: getting through portions of the Hall of Fame process, and
Speaker 1: maybe it will happen. But I mean watching those Bills teams, Um,
Speaker 1: there is a real reason that he resonates with people
Speaker 1: still because he was a heart and soul member and
Speaker 1: he just had so many plays and every you know,
Speaker 1: in big moments, and he he just kind of was
Speaker 1: the classic. I don't think that you know, Bill Belichick
Speaker 1: loves special teams and he's had his guys that have
Speaker 1: been special teams guys forever. Um. I mean the task
Speaker 1: is one of the early imprints of that where maybe
Speaker 1: he gets flushed out in roster because he's not, you know,
Speaker 1: a contributing wide receiver. He was everything the Buffalo Bills
Speaker 1: were back then and totally an engaging watchable UM athlete
Speaker 1: isn't like a famous NFL Films clip where he goes
Speaker 1: up for a ball then lands like straight on his helmet,
Speaker 1: like standing that's done. Yeah, but um, but you know what,
Speaker 1: relatively short white guy Don beebe H. I don't know
Speaker 1: if he would have been allowed. You know that what
Speaker 1: happened with his head in his neck off flipping him
Speaker 1: was He's in the blue tent for roughly three weeks
Speaker 1: of that, right. Connor or made a good point, by
Speaker 1: the way, on that before we say goodbye Connor, who
Speaker 1: we love and it's over at s I now wrote
Speaker 1: about it that nobody really even gave it a second thought.
Speaker 1: When Lamar Jackson, the reigning m v P, and Patrick
Speaker 1: Mahomes the m v P before Lamar and the reigning
Speaker 1: Super Bowl MVP, both suffer head injuries and they disappear
Speaker 1: from the divisional playoffs like in the old days, those
Speaker 1: dudes are taking smelling salts and they're back on the
Speaker 1: field getting punished some more, trying to get their team
Speaker 1: to the next round. But as football fans and you
Speaker 1: gotta I give the league credit for this as well.
Speaker 1: They have made progress in installing a culture to protect
Speaker 1: these guys even when they need to be protected from themselves.
Speaker 1: So that is that was a big step forward that
Speaker 1: we saw this weekend. There's an interview with Troy ack
Speaker 1: When where he talks about um having literally no memory
Speaker 1: of one of the NFC Championship games he was in.
Speaker 1: That's no memory of it. That's so scary, unbelievable. UM.
Speaker 1: All right, so what's coming up this week Thursday? It
Speaker 1: is the Championship Sunday Preview and UH, I don't know,
Speaker 1: maybe we'll line up some guests for that show too,
Speaker 1: because that's gonna be a lot of fun, uh talking
Speaker 1: about those two games that will decide who plays in
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. On Friday. We will have a completely separate,
Speaker 1: UH Championship preview episode on television on NFL Network, So
Speaker 1: you can catch that at six pm Eastern three pm
Speaker 1: Pacific on Friday and also overseas game Pass International. UH,
Speaker 1: you should have access to our program from there. And
Speaker 1: then of course Sunday Night, the Flagship Show, when you
Speaker 1: know what's gonna happen there we break it all down.
Speaker 1: And it is sad because in the past we do
Speaker 1: that show and then you know we'd be in the
Speaker 1: studio for a couple more days, then we'll be packing
Speaker 1: up and heading uh to the Super Bowl. This is
Speaker 1: the first year in a decade that that's not happening.
Speaker 1: But still look forward to um covering the games and
Speaker 1: talking about them with you boys and hopefully Chris Wesley
Speaker 1: as well. And then you know, I know that it
Speaker 1: thinks the Browns aren't there, but like a little less
Speaker 1: pressure and tension at least that was my that's my
Speaker 1: experience when the Patriots loses, at least like I'm enjoying
Speaker 1: this being like, hey, I could just watch some football
Speaker 1: on you guys. Cann't be more different, Um in a
Speaker 1: lot of ways, But as football fans, I don't think
Speaker 1: it's an apples to apples comparison. Yeah, I don't like,
Speaker 1: I don't feel what you're feeling on that front, Greg,
Speaker 1: But Um, I will say that it kind of it
Speaker 1: took a little bit of the heat off a little
Speaker 1: I kind of you know, it's been a lot of
Speaker 1: football lately, so yeah, as you know, Mark Um, from
Speaker 1: the years of Brown's toil before they put it together,
Speaker 1: it does take us some of the heat off. Sundays
Speaker 1: in general during the season when your team sucks so
Speaker 1: hard that there's nothing on the line. Ever, so you
Speaker 1: don't you don't have that. I'm watching my favorite team
Speaker 1: and hoping their season progresses in a good direction while
Speaker 1: also trying to do my job. It's been coast time
Speaker 1: for for the old Zeuser during the Adam Gates era,
Speaker 1: so my job could get more difficult and hopefully will
Speaker 1: starting next to fall. All right, good stuff, sollelujah, baby,
Speaker 1: We'll be back, like I said on Thursday, so tune in.
Speaker 1: This is Dan Hanss signing off for Quiet Storm, the
Speaker 1: old Boss, Ricky Hollywood and the great Steve Task. How
Speaker 1: about that? Till heellujah, so llelujah, sollelujah, sollelujah. So so helloyal,
Speaker 1: so hell lawyer, soallluaria, soalllaria Souia