Speaker 1: The Season with Peter Schreeger as a production of the
Speaker 1: NFL in partnership with My Heart Radio. What's up, everybody,
Speaker 1: This is Peter Schreeger. You're listening to the Season with
Speaker 1: Peter Schreeger, a week eighteen episode that we're recording two
Speaker 1: days later than we were planning on recording, UM on Tuesday.
Speaker 1: We're actually here on Thursday morning, And the reason we
Speaker 1: didn't record anything on Tuesday was for obvious reasons. It
Speaker 1: was still in the immediate aftermath of the Damar Hamlin
Speaker 1: situation Monday night during Monday Night football, and I wanted
Speaker 1: to start off this podcast by kind of talking about
Speaker 1: when it's appropriate and how I'm handling turning the page
Speaker 1: in such a way metaphorically you don't ever turn the
Speaker 1: page from it, but from going from that conversation topic
Speaker 1: and when it's inappropriate to talk football, and then saying, hey,
Speaker 1: there is games on Sunday. We do love football and
Speaker 1: we do want to talk about the sport. I actually
Speaker 1: I leaned on a lot of coaches that I speak
Speaker 1: with on a regular basis this past weekend, was texting
Speaker 1: them and UM, I don't think he would mind me
Speaker 1: saying it. Sean McDermott texted me and said, hey, thanks
Speaker 1: for all the work that you guys are doing on
Speaker 1: Good Morning Football. You guys are leading from the front,
Speaker 1: and I thought your show today was beautiful. That was Tuesday. Wednesday, Uh,
Speaker 1: still no real update on tomorrow, Hamlin and we did
Speaker 1: a sprinkling of football Talk and now Thursday kind of
Speaker 1: did a half and half where we gave you the
Speaker 1: latest up to date news and we had reporters on
Speaker 1: the ground in both Buffalo and at the hospital, and
Speaker 1: also great reporters from the NFL network offering insights on
Speaker 1: not only, uh, you know, the Hamlet situation, but also
Speaker 1: what the Bills Bengals game situation would be, whether they'd
Speaker 1: replay it or whether they're not going to replay it,
Speaker 1: and how they would break that down. All that is
Speaker 1: is important because I you know, we gotta do a
Speaker 1: podcast talking football, and we can do the same things,
Speaker 1: uh simultaneously. We could to vote our energy, g's in
Speaker 1: our time and our hearts to Damore Hamlin and his
Speaker 1: family and this incredible fight that he's in right now.
Speaker 1: But we could also talk about the games and acknowledge
Speaker 1: and be self aware that saying, hey, the games might
Speaker 1: feel like they're secondary, they don't matter, but they also
Speaker 1: are um part of the NFL. And it's the final
Speaker 1: week of what's been an amazing season, and uh, we
Speaker 1: gotta tackle that too. I I thought McDermott and Zach
Speaker 1: Taylor were incredible on Monday night, and I wanted to
Speaker 1: use this monologue to kind of give a little I
Speaker 1: guess the word would be respect and uh shine props
Speaker 1: if you will for their grace under fire. Uh. The
Speaker 1: story goes that, you know, Zach Taylor was down there
Speaker 1: and Sean McDermott said to him, so like, I've got
Speaker 1: to go to the hospital. I gotta be with Tamar
Speaker 1: and Zach Taylor not thinking about what that would mean
Speaker 1: for playoff potential and not thinking that his team was
Speaker 1: was rolling, not thinking that okay, yes, so now if
Speaker 1: your team refuses to take the field, but my team stays,
Speaker 1: we get a forfeit and that would actually help us
Speaker 1: in the stay. Like that stuff wasn't even even in
Speaker 1: his mind. It wasn't even brought up. And Zach Taylor
Speaker 1: was like, of course. And then what Taylor said was
Speaker 1: his captain's burrow and the guys were like, can we go?
Speaker 1: And speak with the Bills captains, which doesn't happen, and
Speaker 1: of course sac Taylor grab McDermott was like that the
Speaker 1: captains want to speak to your captain said, yes, talk
Speaker 1: and it was decided right then and there that they're
Speaker 1: not going to take the field. Um. Zach Taylor on
Speaker 1: a fourth and one earlier this season called an end
Speaker 1: around to Trent Taylor and I got stuff at the
Speaker 1: goal line against the Chiefs, and I remember going on
Speaker 1: Twitter in the real time and the amount of vitriol
Speaker 1: and the amount of just fire this guy. This is
Speaker 1: the guy who had been to the Super Bowl year earlier, um,
Speaker 1: and a guy whose players love him and has taken
Speaker 1: the Bengals from the like the immediate reaction when we
Speaker 1: watched these games is that these coaches that they can't
Speaker 1: get a fourth oun call right or if they mismanaged
Speaker 1: the clock or fire them, fire them, fire them. I
Speaker 1: don't know. My takeaway from this week was there's so
Speaker 1: much more to coaching than in game management and you know,
Speaker 1: fourth down calls and time out. There's an emotional element
Speaker 1: to this, there is a leadership element to this, and
Speaker 1: there is truly a human element to this, and I
Speaker 1: think that's part about being a coach that maybe doesn't
Speaker 1: get talked about enough. And that's why some coaches who
Speaker 1: who do have UM, you know, maybe questionable calls or
Speaker 1: losing records, get another shot because people in the building
Speaker 1: know that this guy's a leader of men and women.
Speaker 1: And then this guy is different than just UH an
Speaker 1: almanac or a binder that you go to and say,
Speaker 1: what do I do on fourth and three? Here's what
Speaker 1: it's here's what they tell you. I think about the
Speaker 1: different teams and the tragedies that they've had to face,
Speaker 1: and how these coaches are turned to UM and they're
Speaker 1: asked to lead the Bills this season. I mean, gosh,
Speaker 1: has any team in the history of the sport had
Speaker 1: to go through more just negative, negative, negative, adverse situations
Speaker 1: time after time for time not to go through a
Speaker 1: timeline of it. And if they do win the Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: trust me, this is gonna be a hell of a
Speaker 1: book that McDermott writes. Uh. But the owner Kimpagoulas fell
Speaker 1: on some unfortunate health events this summer that leads to
Speaker 1: a season where Dawson Knox startight end, his brother unexpectedly
Speaker 1: passes away early, and the loved player, his brother passes away.
Speaker 1: Talking about multiple weather events, you're talking about a senseless
Speaker 1: killing and a supermarket in Buffalo that rock that that
Speaker 1: market in a way that obviously trickles down to the
Speaker 1: team talking about a fire on New Year's Eve that
Speaker 1: did not get a lot of national press, that killed
Speaker 1: many people in the city. And you're talking about a
Speaker 1: team that was coming off of a year where they
Speaker 1: came just short of rich in the a f C
Speaker 1: Championship Game and lost in historic fashion. You add this
Speaker 1: piece to this. You're talking about resiliency, but you're also
Speaker 1: talking about leadership that these guys all turned to Sean
Speaker 1: McDermott and say that's our dude. And when it comes
Speaker 1: to Zach Taylor, those Bengals players all turned to Zach
Speaker 1: Taylor and say that's our dude. They're not worried about
Speaker 1: the fourth and one call about Trent to turn Taylor
Speaker 1: in Week six or whatever it was. They're not thinking
Speaker 1: about Sean McDermott and a decision in the a f
Speaker 1: C Championship Game not to squib kick it, or how
Speaker 1: they handled the final moments of that game. UH. The
Speaker 1: AFC Divisional Round last year, UH coaching is a lot
Speaker 1: more than that. Coaching is emotional like you. Coaching is
Speaker 1: being a person that everyone in the building can go to.
Speaker 1: And coaching is having the amount of vulnerability that you
Speaker 1: can have to turn to others and say, hey, I
Speaker 1: need a hand. I have been exchanging text with a
Speaker 1: lot of these coaches. One of the interesting things New
Speaker 1: York Giants had coach Brian Dable. You know, Brian Dable
Speaker 1: was a coach on the staff when they drafted to
Speaker 1: mar Hamlin last year. And Brian Dable when he got
Speaker 1: the job in Buffalo, was sure to work with his
Speaker 1: general manager Joe Shane, who we've had on as a
Speaker 1: guest here, who was part of the front office that
Speaker 1: that drafted UM to mar Hamblin a season ago. And
Speaker 1: part of what they want to do is they wanted
Speaker 1: to build a culture, and they wanted to build UM
Speaker 1: things the way that they had it in Buffalo, where
Speaker 1: it's the right kinds of people and and in the
Speaker 1: face of what Sean McDermott was leading, and also from
Speaker 1: top to bottom on the roster, guys that you want
Speaker 1: to be around, and guys that you want to fight for,
Speaker 1: and guys who want to fight with and they went
Speaker 1: into debt. They went and brought in Davis Webb. They
Speaker 1: went and they brought in John Feliciano. They went out
Speaker 1: and they got back Matt Brita and Isaiah Hodgens and
Speaker 1: uh Nick McLeod who was in the same defensive backfield
Speaker 1: as as uh To more Hamlin last year in Buffalo.
Speaker 1: He's now a Giant. All up and down that Giant's
Speaker 1: building in that locker room are former Bills, And that's
Speaker 1: the coach, it's the GM, it's players. And I think
Speaker 1: about coaching and Daboll having to come to his team
Speaker 1: and saying, that's one of our brothers. You know, he's
Speaker 1: not with us in in our in our locker room anymore.
Speaker 1: But we all know that guy. And for those of
Speaker 1: you guys who don't know that guy, there are players
Speaker 1: on this lock in this locker room who do know
Speaker 1: that guy and are hurting right now. So many great
Speaker 1: examples of leadership and coaching this week, through this horrible tragedy,
Speaker 1: UM and coaches looking to their players and saying I'm
Speaker 1: here on someone you can come to. And mental health
Speaker 1: matters just as much as this week a teen battle.
Speaker 1: I love that our league has rallied around this and
Speaker 1: that we've seen the best that the league has to offer.
Speaker 1: And by the league, I mean the players, two coaches,
Speaker 1: and all the people who work UH at the various organizations.
Speaker 1: And I hope that everything, UH does take a turn
Speaker 1: for the better. As we're recording this, we're waiting for
Speaker 1: for great news. UM. But I also know it is
Speaker 1: appropriate to talk about football, and we're gonna do that
Speaker 1: as a football podcast, and UH, We're gonna look at
Speaker 1: the games on Sunday, but we're also going to look
Speaker 1: at some of the some of the different storylines that
Speaker 1: goes into it. And we're talking about leadership so much.
Speaker 1: And I think that's the theme of this week's show. Uh. Ironically,
Speaker 1: a quote that I love, UM that comes up. There's
Speaker 1: an NFL films series called The Missing Rings and it's
Speaker 1: really good, and The Missing Rings chronicles all the great
Speaker 1: teams that didn't win Super Bowls, and it's different teams
Speaker 1: at a different hour. And they did the nineties Bills
Speaker 1: and this must have been from like five years ago.
Speaker 1: And Marv Levy looks to the camera and Marv Levy was,
Speaker 1: of course the Hall of Fame coach of the Bills,
Speaker 1: who lost four Super Bowls. He looks at the camera
Speaker 1: and he says, after that first Super Bowl, after the
Speaker 1: Norwood miss field goal, he came into the locker room
Speaker 1: and the guys were devastated, and he quoted Sir Andrew
Speaker 1: Barton and he said, this poem allowed. Now, Marv Levy
Speaker 1: has a military background. He's a military historian. He was
Speaker 1: able to rattle this off to his guys after a
Speaker 1: heartbreaking loss in the Super Bowl. He said, fight on
Speaker 1: my men. I am hurt, but I am not slain.
Speaker 1: I laid me down and bleed awhile, and then I'll
Speaker 1: eyes and I'll fight again. And I get chills saying it.
Speaker 1: But I think about what we're asking from these players
Speaker 1: this week, and we're asking from all these different coaches,
Speaker 1: and we're asking from broadcasters, and we're asking from those
Speaker 1: folks who work in the medical community who will be
Speaker 1: at the game doing what they always do on Sundays.
Speaker 1: Fight on my men, and uh, I've hurt, but I'm
Speaker 1: not slain. I'll lay me down and bleed awhile, and
Speaker 1: I'll fight again. I think of that. Um, we gotta
Speaker 1: get up and we can all have uh, all of
Speaker 1: our emotions in our hearts and our prayers with DeMar Hamlin.
Speaker 1: But Um, the games will be played, and we've got
Speaker 1: to do our best to go there and do the
Speaker 1: best job we can, either playing in it, coaching it,
Speaker 1: or covering it. Our guest today is going to be
Speaker 1: one of the most coveted men to get in an
Speaker 1: interview anywhere. He agreed to do it on Tuesday. He's
Speaker 1: been gracious enough to do it on Thursday, and he
Speaker 1: also knows a thing or two about overcoming not only tragedy,
Speaker 1: but in the face of adversity. Our guest is gonna
Speaker 1: be Sean Payton, and we're gonna be open and honest
Speaker 1: with Sean, and he's going to talk to us about
Speaker 1: what he wants to be in the future, whether it
Speaker 1: be a TV analyst or a coach, and which place
Speaker 1: he might end up with. We have not recorded the
Speaker 1: interview yet, but I'm hopeful that you're going to come
Speaker 1: away from it saying not only is Shawn pat And
Speaker 1: a great coaching candidate, but that Sean Payton is a
Speaker 1: great leader of men, and I think that's a good
Speaker 1: theme for this week leadership. Um, and hopefully you enjoy
Speaker 1: the interview all right, let's bring him in here. Uh.
Speaker 1: Super Bowl winning coach, one of the greatest to ever
Speaker 1: do it. He's a current colleague of mine at Fox Sports,
Speaker 1: and you're gonna hear his name a bunch of the
Speaker 1: next few days. Uh. And I've grown to look at
Speaker 1: him as one of my closest friends. I love working
Speaker 1: with this guy, and I'm sad those days might be
Speaker 1: coming to an end soon. Sean Payton, Welcome to the
Speaker 1: season with Peter Schreger. Peter, I appreciate um. First off,
Speaker 1: I appreciate our friendship. You mentioned it. It's funny. Um,
Speaker 1: we get so in tune to our own jobs, and
Speaker 1: then all of a sudden, Uh, there's a switch for me.
Speaker 1: I meet guys like you, Carissa, Charles and Michael and
Speaker 1: and everyone else there. Um in in not only a
Speaker 1: new career, but really in a new light relative to
Speaker 1: how we interact and get a chance to visit. And
Speaker 1: I've really enjoyed it. Uh. It's it's You've helped me immensely.
Speaker 1: And but it's the reason we have good jobs. I
Speaker 1: think is about the people. You know, I was That's
Speaker 1: why my job at the Saints was a good job,
Speaker 1: because it was about the people and ownership there, Mickey Loomis,
Speaker 1: and the job at Fox is good because of that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I see your face and I and I smile because
Speaker 1: we have a great time together. And yet I also
Speaker 1: see your face and I think of the word leader.
Speaker 1: And I started this whole podcast off doing a monologue
Speaker 1: of sorts about leadership. And my big takeaway was, you know,
Speaker 1: we critique in a in a football world, especially online
Speaker 1: and on TV, like hey, how does how does Zach
Speaker 1: Taylor not kick the field goal? Instead of why is
Speaker 1: he going for it on fourth and one when the
Speaker 1: odds say this? Or how does Sean McDermott not squib
Speaker 1: kick that in the a f C divisional round? And
Speaker 1: you say, well, fire that coach, get rid of that coach.
Speaker 1: That coach sucks, And then you see the emotional intelligence
Speaker 1: and the leadership of how both those men immediately sprung
Speaker 1: to action like generals on a field of war. Um,
Speaker 1: and we're able to lead men through some of the
Speaker 1: darkest times. In the last seventy two hours, I look
Speaker 1: to you as a lifetime uh you know, leader of
Speaker 1: men and as a as a coach. What was your
Speaker 1: takeaway and maybe my question to you is when you
Speaker 1: identify a leader, is it? Is it something that we
Speaker 1: may be at home, don't don't don't get to see
Speaker 1: becast of all the stuff that goes into coaching that
Speaker 1: that maybe isn't exactly in the field of play for
Speaker 1: those three hours. Well, I think we get glimpses of it, um, surely,
Speaker 1: But but I feel like they exist in our children's schools,
Speaker 1: great leaders. Um. We we just don't maybe equate them
Speaker 1: in that light. I think, having two children myself, UM,
Speaker 1: if during the course of their lifetime they're blessed with
Speaker 1: two or three different individuals, might be a counselor might
Speaker 1: be a teacher when they were in grade school, might
Speaker 1: be a coach, um, maybe uh, an art professor, UM.
Speaker 1: Somebody that loves them as much as we their parents
Speaker 1: do and and impacts their lives in such a way
Speaker 1: that that's the greatest gift we can get his parents
Speaker 1: and so UM. I think what we saw the other
Speaker 1: night were two individuals along with the teammates, that cared
Speaker 1: for an individual, uh, just as we would their parents.
Speaker 1: And and I've known Sean Um for a long time.
Speaker 1: You know, he was started with the Eagles U and
Speaker 1: was there cutting his teeth under the late Jim Johnson
Speaker 1: and Andy Reid and then Zack I haven't worked with,
Speaker 1: but I've had a chance to visit with or talk with.
Speaker 1: But to watch their leadership the other evening was was
Speaker 1: really cool. And I was watching it like you were live. Um.
Speaker 1: You know you saw the concern on their faces, just
Speaker 1: like you did with the players, and you know that
Speaker 1: that on the ground leadership relative to understanding, this is
Speaker 1: what's happening to my team right now, this is what
Speaker 1: I think is best. And then eventually the league, you know,
Speaker 1: having a chance to visit with those coaches and kind
Speaker 1: of acquiesced and say, hey, we we trust your opinions. Um.
Speaker 1: I thought that was There were a lot of things
Speaker 1: that I don't want to use the word word encouraging,
Speaker 1: but man, we all went to bed with prayer, but
Speaker 1: we also went to bed with like, uh that that
Speaker 1: moment we stopped for a second and it was like
Speaker 1: recalibrated and and now you see the whole country. Um.
Speaker 1: Each morning, I get up in the morning and I
Speaker 1: quickly go to the news to see if there's an update,
Speaker 1: and I just keep thinking to myself, I would love
Speaker 1: to be a fly on the wall when his family
Speaker 1: is explaining to him the eight million dollar balance in
Speaker 1: his toys for charity that when the last he recall,
Speaker 1: you know, he was handling like a part of a neighborhood,
Speaker 1: Like you know, he's gonna need yeah, and so he's
Speaker 1: gonna need um a lot of assistance. And I'm sure
Speaker 1: he'll find that to distribute that much in toys. But um, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it gave us all a chance to quickly
Speaker 1: recalibrate to your point and recognize, um, these individuals beyond
Speaker 1: their football helmets, these coaches, beyond their decisions with clipboards
Speaker 1: and and all of the other things we get so
Speaker 1: now you just kind of you get in the habit
Speaker 1: and a routine. And this was one of those moments
Speaker 1: where I think that there were parts of it that
Speaker 1: made you proud to be a part of what we
Speaker 1: do and to see the human response to this, and
Speaker 1: and we continue to pray for for his recovery. We do. Um,
Speaker 1: when you were the coach of the Saints, the city,
Speaker 1: the organization, I mean, you're talking coming off a Katrina,
Speaker 1: we're talking about you know, I don't want to go
Speaker 1: down the throat, but like you know, Will Smith was
Speaker 1: one of your greatest players tragically murdered, and like you've
Speaker 1: got to talk to the team the next day. Is
Speaker 1: that the stuff that you look back on and say, well,
Speaker 1: that's what leadership is? Or is it Hey, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: call it on side kick on Super Bowl and we're
Speaker 1: going to shock the world. I think it's all of
Speaker 1: the above. Um. You mentioned that the tragic death of
Speaker 1: Will Smith. Um. I also I can recall the day
Speaker 1: we found out Steve Gleeson was diagnosed with als and
Speaker 1: we were flying to Seattle, we were playing in the
Speaker 1: wild card round of the two thousand ten playoffs, and
Speaker 1: then talking you know, basically talking to our team about
Speaker 1: that in the team meeting the night before. And um,
Speaker 1: I think I think we we we know that there's
Speaker 1: a lot of times spent in those football buildings, just
Speaker 1: like there's a lot of time spent. I mean every
Speaker 1: time I turned the TV on you guys a good
Speaker 1: morning football. That's there's a lot of hours. And so
Speaker 1: you become very close to your peers and your co workers,
Speaker 1: and I think that same thing exists, and so they
Speaker 1: are in some ways of a family. And I've heard
Speaker 1: the term brotherhood and all of those other terms. Um,
Speaker 1: and it's it's because of common goals, it's oftentimes because
Speaker 1: the amount of time we're all together. But there's a
Speaker 1: love and caring for one another, and so um inevitably,
Speaker 1: when you're dealing with large numbers of teams, there you know,
Speaker 1: on any given week, there's there's somebody that's aching, or
Speaker 1: someone that's not feeling good. There's someone who's got personal
Speaker 1: problems that could be a coach and assistant coach, a player.
Speaker 1: When you take that bigger group of people, Um, that
Speaker 1: comes up pretty regularly. And and so how do you
Speaker 1: deal with that? And how do you how do you listen?
Speaker 1: You know sometimes that's a really good trait that we
Speaker 1: we don't pay enough attention to. And uh, and then
Speaker 1: how do you react and act on that? And so um,
Speaker 1: certainly for me is you know, is I'm watching this
Speaker 1: week and watching the game the other night. You know,
Speaker 1: I think our biggest fear, and I do recall thinking
Speaker 1: of this, Our biggest fear is a teacher, coaches man
Speaker 1: having something terribly wrong happened to one of your players
Speaker 1: while you're on watch, you know. And it's been a while, uh,
Speaker 1: but we we had a string of adversity. And I
Speaker 1: say that there was a college death and a professional
Speaker 1: player's death in training camp because of the heat and
Speaker 1: and UM, so you're always as as a teacher, we're
Speaker 1: taught to secure the field, you know, make it a
Speaker 1: safe environment. Um, you know, equipment outside the parameters of
Speaker 1: the sidelines, all these little things that you don't want
Speaker 1: a player to get injured because we we didn't have
Speaker 1: the field set up correctly or our drills set up correctly.
Speaker 1: And that same thing applies in training camp with the heat.
Speaker 1: Um it applies. Um it's seven and there your responsibility
Speaker 1: and that's a pretty powerful thing. And UM, I thought
Speaker 1: both act and Seawan were unbelievable the other night. I
Speaker 1: remember COVID you were the first one to say, you know,
Speaker 1: it's screw it. We're putting our whole team in a
Speaker 1: hotel like you guys are gonna say at the Ritz
Speaker 1: you're gonna be or was it just whatever it was? Well,
Speaker 1: it's um there's some things that you look at they
Speaker 1: seem like, oh, that's a big change to do that,
Speaker 1: and it's yet it's very small if it keeps everyone safe.
Speaker 1: Your name was the biggest name last weekend. There were
Speaker 1: reports about teams being interested in you. We know Denver
Speaker 1: fired fired their coach Nathaniel Hackett a couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 1: There's going to be a vacancy likely in Carolinea all
Speaker 1: these things. Let's set the stage though, what is your
Speaker 1: current contracts status? Because I think a lot of people
Speaker 1: are confused, are like, well, then isn't he with the
Speaker 1: Saints and how does that work? Can you just on
Speaker 1: the record explain to us what your status is? And
Speaker 1: then also what would have to happen if if a
Speaker 1: team were to want to inquire yourself, cause I don't
Speaker 1: I don't know exactly if and I certainly don't think
Speaker 1: the listeners know, Like well, can they even talk to him?
Speaker 1: Like just go through it for us? Yeah? Um, well
Speaker 1: that's a good question because look, it doesn't happen often.
Speaker 1: And right now, and I say this, I'm happily employed
Speaker 1: at Fox with a good contract and a good job
Speaker 1: with people like yourself. Relative to the NFL, my contract
Speaker 1: that I have with the Saints essentially runs through twenty
Speaker 1: three and twenty four, so two more seasons, so something
Speaker 1: more to happen, Peter, and I say this, I think
Speaker 1: there's this assumption like all these deals are getting done
Speaker 1: right now. And and honestly, like like we said at
Speaker 1: the beginning, I get up this morning, I'm having a
Speaker 1: Noah's Bagelsiago cheese with coffee. Um, I'm gonna walk the
Speaker 1: dogs and uh my wife and mother in law. We'll
Speaker 1: probably do something this afternoon. We're still weeks away from
Speaker 1: the period where maybe a week away or two weeks
Speaker 1: away from the period where other teams, UM would put
Speaker 1: it in a request in that would simply, you're not
Speaker 1: on the phone with the agent. Sell me here, what's
Speaker 1: going on. That's not the that's not the vibe right now.
Speaker 1: It's not Manhattan Beach. It's a little cold here. Um,
Speaker 1: we're at the south end of that like that that
Speaker 1: like winter swall or whatever that is that what's it
Speaker 1: called the bomb cyclone? Um that San Francisco together. But
Speaker 1: we're getting a lot of rain here and I'm sure
Speaker 1: this state needs it. So, because of those two years
Speaker 1: existing on a contract with the Saints, if in fact
Speaker 1: there was interest by another team, the first step would
Speaker 1: be permission to to speak with me, and that would
Speaker 1: be the other team, you know, talking to Mickey Loomis.
Speaker 1: Ownership of the Saints asking for permission to to visit.
Speaker 1: Then if it got to a point where it was
Speaker 1: serious and there was interest, I'm sure that compensation then
Speaker 1: would would take place, and very similar to a player trade.
Speaker 1: So essentially, what I don't know is what that compensation
Speaker 1: would be, because that would be Mickey in the Saints,
Speaker 1: in the club that had that interest. So that's essentially
Speaker 1: in a nutshell. And two seasons, I'm under contract with
Speaker 1: New Orleans and I'm also working at Fox, and there
Speaker 1: isn't there's there's nothing pressing right now is certainly you
Speaker 1: think about some of the jobs that have opened. And
Speaker 1: yet I kind of like the job I had with
Speaker 1: you guys, And you know that that's real because you
Speaker 1: see me on Yeah, he hasn't left the building yet,
Speaker 1: you know, and and and so I just like going
Speaker 1: over there. There is a little bit of that void,
Speaker 1: you know, when you leave the coaching realm, which is
Speaker 1: obviously seven days a week, a lot of time and hours,
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden it's quiet in and
Speaker 1: you go to work once a week and it's on
Speaker 1: Sunday only, Um, my clothes like are laid out, my socks,
Speaker 1: my you know what I'm what I'm wearing is laid
Speaker 1: out Saturday night, go to bed early, and you know
Speaker 1: we're in there, what five in the morning on on Sundays. Uh,
Speaker 1: So that is uh, that's a huge day for me,
Speaker 1: meaning it's a day to be around football and be
Speaker 1: around uh people that are that are talking football, that
Speaker 1: are around the people like you're on field covering games. Uh.
Speaker 1: Because it's it's quite a change when you go from
Speaker 1: one extreme to the other. And so Sunday is that
Speaker 1: like smorgas for all Right, you're there and and time
Speaker 1: to go home, and you're like, I don't want to go.
Speaker 1: I love I missed this. Yeah. You know. One of
Speaker 1: the things I remember, John Lynch and I were on
Speaker 1: the same crew for years. I was a sideline reporter.
Speaker 1: He was a broadcaster and you know, behind closed doors,
Speaker 1: he had indicated like you know, a desire to someday
Speaker 1: get back in the NFL, and I was on the crew.
Speaker 1: The same weekend he actually spoke with Atlanta, spoke with
Speaker 1: San Francisco about the Atlanta I'm sorry about the GM job.
Speaker 1: While we were in Atlanta doing a Seattle Atlanta job.
Speaker 1: I didn't even know about it. He didn't tell me
Speaker 1: about it, and then I found out later one of
Speaker 1: the things John said to me was I missed the scoreboard.
Speaker 1: You know, I call all these games, but I missed
Speaker 1: the scoreboard, and I had this burning desire. Do you
Speaker 1: miss the scoreboard? I know it's just been one year,
Speaker 1: but do you miss at the end of that Sunday
Speaker 1: that there's no winning loss at the end. It's kind
Speaker 1: of like Shawnny did a good job. You made a
Speaker 1: great point about Teddy Bridgewater, right, go home. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think I totally get that, because you can have a
Speaker 1: real good day on Sunday with some of your insighter
Speaker 1: predictions or your narratives. Maybe some days not so so good,
Speaker 1: but you do drive home and and and you know
Speaker 1: you probably get home in time or you fly home
Speaker 1: in time to watch a little Sunday night football. Uh man,
Speaker 1: It's it's hard to it's hard to replace that drug
Speaker 1: of winning though, and that, you know, the the amount
Speaker 1: of work that goes in to a game plan with
Speaker 1: your players and coaches and as an organization, everyone is
Speaker 1: working their tails off. And then to enjoy that in
Speaker 1: a locker room celebration. And you know, we we tried
Speaker 1: to become the best at what we did, uh winning,
Speaker 1: and then we tried to celebrate better than anyone as well,
Speaker 1: like you know, with the fancy speaker system, and and
Speaker 1: but it's, uh, it's it's it's something. And so I
Speaker 1: would describe if I was painting the perfect analogy relative
Speaker 1: to me um coaching. Again, It's like there's this NASCAR
Speaker 1: race track about two blocks away from where I'm staying
Speaker 1: now with the lights on, and I can hear the
Speaker 1: cars running around the track. I can smell the gasoline
Speaker 1: and and I can even hear the p A announcer.
Speaker 1: And so like today, I'll get out and I'll walk
Speaker 1: the dogs, and I'll look over there and I think
Speaker 1: there's you just know at some point you're going to
Speaker 1: go back to that track, but you don't know when
Speaker 1: you got I mean, you're great. I love the way
Speaker 1: of words you have, and I look at these jobs.
Speaker 1: There are going to be several I would ask you,
Speaker 1: and you tell me when I'm asking too many questions,
Speaker 1: and you could say, Schregor, shut up. We're not trying
Speaker 1: to make news having a conversation. What do you value
Speaker 1: most when you're looking at these jobs? Is it the quarterback?
Speaker 1: Is it the city? Is it the owner. Is it
Speaker 1: that when you're putting down your pros and cons? What
Speaker 1: what is what is on that list? It's what we
Speaker 1: just talked about relative to Zack and Seawan and then
Speaker 1: their teams. Uh, and then we talked about it with
Speaker 1: our job. And I mean this this sounds cliche, but
Speaker 1: it's people. UM. I'll give you an example. When I
Speaker 1: interviewed with the Saints, I had already interviewed in Green
Speaker 1: Bay and had a really good interview there. The late
Speaker 1: Ted Thompson was the general manager at the time. Um,
Speaker 1: they're there a ton of good folks in that building.
Speaker 1: And I'm from Chicago, so obviously that's fairly close to home.
Speaker 1: And they're the story tradition. UM. I taking that interview
Speaker 1: and was back and now I was interviewing at the Saints,
Speaker 1: waiting to hear from the packers. Now New Orleans was
Speaker 1: post Katrina, and I can't explain flying in there for
Speaker 1: off when when Holmes have trouble after a huge hurricane,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of blue tarps on all the roofs.
Speaker 1: So when you landed, you saw thousands of blue roofs
Speaker 1: that were just temporarily uh, covering up the holes in
Speaker 1: the roofs, the airport was empty. Mickey Loomis picks me up.
Speaker 1: I kind of like this guy, Mickey Loomis, Um, we're
Speaker 1: gonna have dinner that night. I like him even more. Uh.
Speaker 1: And that evening I find out that I didn't get
Speaker 1: the packers job. You know. I remember just getting a
Speaker 1: voicemail and like ripping my phone into the pillow and
Speaker 1: just be like ah and uh. And then the focus
Speaker 1: shifted a little bit more towards New Orleans. And despite
Speaker 1: all the things that we could have drawn from that
Speaker 1: visit which were negative, there were so many the schools
Speaker 1: weren't open yet, hospitals. I think as a country, and
Speaker 1: I was in Dallas at the time, but I don't
Speaker 1: know about you, but as a country, I don't know that.
Speaker 1: The I think the concern was, hey, are we going
Speaker 1: to have New Orleans again? Like in other words, it
Speaker 1: didn't just go away, did it? With that storm? And
Speaker 1: so football was kind of like way down the list
Speaker 1: on priorities as far as recovery. But hindsight and I
Speaker 1: get back to the topic of people, um ownership. Mickey Loomis,
Speaker 1: Dennis last to the club president. All these people were
Speaker 1: in place that were a part of what we were
Speaker 1: going to build. And so I think finding that right triangle,
Speaker 1: if you will, of ownership, front office employees, we'll we'll
Speaker 1: get the players. You know, I don't say that lightly,
Speaker 1: but I think we'll figure out who the quarterback is
Speaker 1: going to be and those things we can change easy.
Speaker 1: Uh may take a minute, but yeah, I think that's important.
Speaker 1: And I also think the fan base is important because
Speaker 1: it tells you a little bit of how serious. Like,
Speaker 1: you know, I was spoiled in New Orleans. You know
Speaker 1: there's a waiting list of thirty thousand people for season
Speaker 1: tickets there, and so you knew when you played there
Speaker 1: it was a tough place to play. That equates to
Speaker 1: that equates to something over a period of time, certain
Speaker 1: amount of winds. And so you go into Seattle, you
Speaker 1: know it's gonna be a tough place. Kansas City, Minnesota.
Speaker 1: These these are passionate fan bases, Green Bay, Pittsburgh. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm only hitting a few, but it's it's enjoyable to
Speaker 1: go to work there. Maybe I think it would be
Speaker 1: more challenging when you see a lot of people dressed
Speaker 1: up in empty seats. The quarterback position is interesting, though,
Speaker 1: because you had Breeze for all those years, but we didn't.
Speaker 1: And I was texting you yesterday we didn't when we
Speaker 1: got this, well, we got there, Breeds a free agent.
Speaker 1: He to tell the story of the visit. By the way,
Speaker 1: the drive you took with Breeze through the ninth ward,
Speaker 1: I love. So when we get there, we have all
Speaker 1: we we know is we have the second pick of
Speaker 1: the draft, so we know that we're more than likely
Speaker 1: looking at a quarterback with that pick. And man, we're
Speaker 1: ending a lot of time on liner Cutler. Cutler, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: those are the Those are the three projected first round,
Speaker 1: top of the first round players. Um. And we were
Speaker 1: at the combine the day the offensive linemen were working out.
Speaker 1: The reason I know that is that's the only day
Speaker 1: I sit in the end zone at the combine the
Speaker 1: old Indianapolis Stadium, all right, And so I was sitting
Speaker 1: in that end zone section and we found out Drew
Speaker 1: had been released by the Chargers. Of course, for people
Speaker 1: who didn't know that, in the last game of the season,
Speaker 1: the last game of the season, last he was playing,
Speaker 1: he tore he fully tore his throwing shoulder. UM. And
Speaker 1: it was an injury that really no other player in
Speaker 1: our league had ever had before fully torn rotator cuff
Speaker 1: or shoulder, and so there was no precedent. There was
Speaker 1: no like this has been done. This is what the
Speaker 1: rehab it was. It was a significant dree and it
Speaker 1: was going to cost him a lot of time. Um.
Speaker 1: But we got that news, we began like doing our
Speaker 1: due diligence, and long story short, he's rehabbing. We're going
Speaker 1: to bring him in for a visit. The Dolphins are
Speaker 1: going to do the same. Um, and we're kind of
Speaker 1: we haven't hit the draft yet, you know, we we
Speaker 1: the draft is going to be at the end of April.
Speaker 1: So we're between I'm gonna say, we're in March, and
Speaker 1: the competition for Drew. It's two teams, it's Miami and
Speaker 1: and coach Saban ourselves and Drew happened to be rehabbing
Speaker 1: in Birmingham where uh doctor m Andrews. Dr Andrews. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's got a couple of locations, right, and so Andrews
Speaker 1: did the surgery. We bring Drew in. We've got this now.
Speaker 1: We were when I say we were at that time
Speaker 1: a complete business startup, Like there was like eight coaches
Speaker 1: at the time on our staff. Um, we were in
Speaker 1: temporary offices. Um, we all agreed that we weren't going
Speaker 1: to use the K word anymore. So no one could
Speaker 1: sake a train anymore. It couldn't be used, right, And
Speaker 1: then it was like we were celebrating each a little
Speaker 1: marginal victory. We signed Scott Pagitta as a free agent.
Speaker 1: We were like food, he chose us, he shows us,
Speaker 1: and like, where else did he have to choose? We're like,
Speaker 1: that was us, and he us he's coming all right,
Speaker 1: and uh. But it was really the beginning of the
Speaker 1: start of all of this. And so here comes Drew
Speaker 1: and Pete Carmichael, who at that time was my quarterback coach.
Speaker 1: I just hired. Pete was at the Chargers as a
Speaker 1: quality control coach, and so Pete new Drew actually was
Speaker 1: in meetings Withdrew, and so there was like this tie.
Speaker 1: It was purely coincidental, obviously, because I had hired Pete
Speaker 1: and it was, you know, months later that we were
Speaker 1: recruiting Drew. But Pete gave us a good lea aison
Speaker 1: if you will, uh, and a go between. You know,
Speaker 1: here's some of the offensive philosophies that he knows These
Speaker 1: are some of the tags we're putting in the offense
Speaker 1: will change how we're calling it based on you know,
Speaker 1: if Drew's coming, we'll call we'll call these plays what
Speaker 1: he already knows. You know, it's easy for us to adjust.
Speaker 1: So we've got the whole power point and everything goes great.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm telling you, we've got the finger food,
Speaker 1: the white Brittany, I think it's maybe a day of
Speaker 1: shopping in Magazine Street, maybe a spa somewhere. Um, then
Speaker 1: I've got a chance. I'm like, I volunteer, like, hey,
Speaker 1: I'll show him some property, and not knowing any better.
Speaker 1: But this is a complete mistake, right, I've only been
Speaker 1: there a month and I'm driving him around. We go
Speaker 1: to the north Shore, and if you're not familiar with
Speaker 1: New Orleans, it's like it's like you're in New York
Speaker 1: and you're saying, hey, we're gonna go over to Jersey.
Speaker 1: All Right, it's a different area, but it's an option
Speaker 1: to live, right, So yes, forty minutes across the bridge,
Speaker 1: forty minutes back, A couple of wrong turns. Next you know,
Speaker 1: I'm looking in the review mirror and Brittany is in
Speaker 1: the back seat, and you know that Sunday afternoon drive
Speaker 1: where you know you're on the way home and she's
Speaker 1: dozing off. Drew's kind of looking at me, and he
Speaker 1: can see the pilot is concerned. All right, I'm concerned.
Speaker 1: You can look at the cockpit. Does not look great
Speaker 1: right now. It doesn't look good. It looks definitely on dishoveled.
Speaker 1: That would be the dish. And so it's not too
Speaker 1: long ago. Two thousand and six. We didn't have like
Speaker 1: directions on the phone. We had a BlackBerry, all right,
Speaker 1: We had a BlackBerry. I happened to have a flip
Speaker 1: at the time. So if I wanted to text somebody,
Speaker 1: it was three times to get the letter. C You
Speaker 1: with me, all right, So I call, I call, I
Speaker 1: call home base Mickey Loomis Mickey, Yeah, he's where you
Speaker 1: at hes We've been waiting on you. I said, uh,
Speaker 1: kind of lost. Um. So some eventually we get back.
Speaker 1: I take him off to dinner and I just remember
Speaker 1: thinking I should just drive him right out to Miami.
Speaker 1: It's over and uh, he saw things that these eyes
Speaker 1: should not see. No, it was not they were not
Speaker 1: on it was not on the trip. Itinerary. I was
Speaker 1: off the itinerary um and but it was one of
Speaker 1: those things though that we look back on and laugh,
Speaker 1: um and then slowly, slowly, the collection of the right
Speaker 1: people is what brought success. And so I do think
Speaker 1: we're uh and and that's not just a loan to
Speaker 1: the NFL that that's I think any business with the
Speaker 1: collection of the right people who were you know, kind
Speaker 1: of motivated and um, forward thinking, unselfish and smart, you
Speaker 1: can do a lot. Will you tell that story? And
Speaker 1: the writer journalist and me ties it all up and says,
Speaker 1: twenty years later, those two guys in the car help
Speaker 1: rebuild that city, that that area, that area that you
Speaker 1: were so you know, scared to be and driving through
Speaker 1: look like it had been rocked. It is probably right
Speaker 1: now in a lot better Apen. I'm not saying it's
Speaker 1: it's the work of Sean Paigne and Drew Brees, but
Speaker 1: you better believe that you guys are in the soil
Speaker 1: there at New Orleans for the last twenty years. That
Speaker 1: was Listen. I don't know that any of us knew truly,
Speaker 1: we all knew we were going to a place to
Speaker 1: play football and a place that hadn't had success and
Speaker 1: those early stages, you know, the only jump ball. Everyone
Speaker 1: that came came with a clear promotion. You know, I
Speaker 1: got a head coaching job. You know, we didn't win
Speaker 1: any ties. You know, Joe Bitt was the only guy
Speaker 1: that had other opportunities of the same value, and he
Speaker 1: chose us. The rest of us all came for promotion.
Speaker 1: But how Drew ended up there, how Reggie Bush ended
Speaker 1: up there. There's so many different stories that tie it
Speaker 1: all together, but none of us could have imagined the
Speaker 1: significance of that timing. You know, I heard this term
Speaker 1: the other night. I thought it was interesting. The OH
Speaker 1: six team that first year, we went to the NFC
Speaker 1: championship game, and it wasn't our best team. I've said
Speaker 1: two things about that team. It was our toughest team.
Speaker 1: So if that team got in a bar fight with
Speaker 1: any of the other teams, I think Goes six would
Speaker 1: have won that fight. And I think it was our
Speaker 1: most important team. The O nine team obviously won a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl eleven. We had a number of great, great teams,
Speaker 1: but the significance of that first year relative to what
Speaker 1: that city was going through, and so I think one
Speaker 1: of the things that is pretty cool and it's back
Speaker 1: to your jumping backwards here to your question about decisions
Speaker 1: relative to existing teams. Is sometimes those challenges where everyone
Speaker 1: says no way, and you're like, I can totally see
Speaker 1: it there, and and it's the adversity that becomes somewhat comical,
Speaker 1: and you have those moments where you're building that when
Speaker 1: people say it's the journey, it really is. It's not
Speaker 1: the end. It's not holding the rise. It's all the
Speaker 1: It's like you don't want that to end. It's it's
Speaker 1: it's the it's the you know, you're running around trying
Speaker 1: to catch the chicken, and you pick it up and
Speaker 1: you've caught it, Like what do I do now? You
Speaker 1: throw it and you start chasing it again, and and
Speaker 1: if you'd like to change, yeah, it's that um And
Speaker 1: so I think back to that triangle. You just want
Speaker 1: that clear opportunity like the other teams have, and you
Speaker 1: don't want to be handicapped or handcuffed to where I mean,
Speaker 1: it's impossible, and so there's nothing. You know, we've all
Speaker 1: been in a job where you're like you're looking at
Speaker 1: something early on and you've got to fight through this job.
Speaker 1: It's not the perfect job. But for one reason or another,
Speaker 1: the success you're hoping to attain may take a walk.
Speaker 1: Quarterback positions, it is great. Do have a preference veteran
Speaker 1: to drafting a rookie if you had to, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: I you want to you know, someone that's passionate about playing.
Speaker 1: You know, parcels at a ten ten point checklist for
Speaker 1: what you're looking for in this position. Please take me
Speaker 1: through this parcels. He wanted a battlefield commander. He didn't
Speaker 1: he didn't want the I think the word was no
Speaker 1: prima donnas or Hollywood. He just he wanted someone that
Speaker 1: would lead. He wanted someone in the weight room with
Speaker 1: his team. He wanted someone that was part of his team.
Speaker 1: And he wanted someone that you know, your job is
Speaker 1: to move the ball and get your team to the
Speaker 1: end zone. Um. And so history has told us they
Speaker 1: come in a lot of different shapes and sizes that
Speaker 1: history has told us they come from all over our
Speaker 1: country for the most part. And so, um, you know,
Speaker 1: there's a handful of quarterbacks in this year's draft, but
Speaker 1: there'll be a pretty I'm sure that not as many,
Speaker 1: not as many people like that. All of a sudden,
Speaker 1: we start to look at our draft reports now and say, man,
Speaker 1: and how did I miss this game? How did I
Speaker 1: miss this guy? Right? So that's the great thing about
Speaker 1: our game. Um, watching him, watching Cody pick at play,
Speaker 1: you know for Pittsburgh is that his first name is
Speaker 1: it Kenny? I used to love Cody Pickett, Niners guy
Speaker 1: was like Kenny pt Pittsburgh's Kenny. Watching him the other
Speaker 1: night delivered for his team was was fantastic. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: seeing some of these guys right now in the college stage.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm kind of right now in the middle
Speaker 1: of this TCU bandwagon. My son's senior there. He works
Speaker 1: in the football office as a student assistant. And watching
Speaker 1: watching last weekend's game, you know, with with TCU and
Speaker 1: Michigan are our good friend Charles Woodson had to wear
Speaker 1: a purple tie the other day. Then you got Georgia
Speaker 1: in Ohio State. I mean that was pretty amazing those
Speaker 1: those two games in the back and forth. I don't
Speaker 1: know if I don't like to have been a defensive coach,
Speaker 1: but um, so much good quarterback play. Really, when you're
Speaker 1: watching it, there's they're being developed quicker I think than before.
Speaker 1: They're in offenses that are accelerating their learning curve now,
Speaker 1: and so they come a little bit more ready to
Speaker 1: our league to play um than they typically have in
Speaker 1: the past. And that's a good thing. Team says, hey,
Speaker 1: coach Payton, we love you, we'll pay you X amount
Speaker 1: of dollars, and we want everything you bring. But we've
Speaker 1: got a GM already here that we've been working with
Speaker 1: for years. Is that a non starter for you? No? No,
Speaker 1: I think um no, because I listen, that exact thing
Speaker 1: happened in New Orleans, and so Parcels told me this once.
Speaker 1: It was interesting. He said, you know, when a team
Speaker 1: makes a change, he goes you study that roster, and
Speaker 1: those coaches that end up leaving there. Oftentimes the mistake
Speaker 1: of a new coach or a new front office, new
Speaker 1: GM is they'll jettison some really good talent that really
Speaker 1: wanted to be there, but they just happened to be
Speaker 1: at the wrong place at the wrong time. In other words, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, some some good talent will leave that building.
Speaker 1: And so when I look back on that first year
Speaker 1: in New Orleans, man, there were some key players that
Speaker 1: were currently already in the building that wanted to be champions,
Speaker 1: that wanted to work that wanted to structure discipline. You
Speaker 1: had Will Smith, you had Charles Grant, you had jamar Nesbit,
Speaker 1: you had John Stinchcomb is going to become a starter.
Speaker 1: Yet a practice squad receiver by the name of Lance Moore,
Speaker 1: Debree Henderson from l s u UM. I could go
Speaker 1: on and on bullocks. We had, Uh. Look, I don't
Speaker 1: want to leave players out, Mike Karney. There were a
Speaker 1: lot of guys that we're just waiting for the right
Speaker 1: and so I think the mistakes sometimes if if you
Speaker 1: go in and you just start evaluate what you see
Speaker 1: and go by what you see in the same thing
Speaker 1: takes place with the within the building. We had scouts
Speaker 1: and coaches that became part of it that we're part
Speaker 1: of the old staff. And so it's back to your
Speaker 1: question about an existing GM. It might be the perfect
Speaker 1: combination that's waiting to happen. UM. Certainly you want to
Speaker 1: meet and visit with them. I just knew the one
Speaker 1: positive and there it was. Really there were a few
Speaker 1: and far between. But Mickey made a great first impression.
Speaker 1: And you know, he's one of my closest friends to
Speaker 1: this day and so but honestly speaking, and he knows
Speaker 1: this I kept thinking, Man, I like this guy. He's
Speaker 1: got a lot of work ahead of him. I don't
Speaker 1: know who he's going to get as a head coach
Speaker 1: because I thought I'm going to Green Bay. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And that's how the world works sometimes, you know, it's like, wait,
Speaker 1: I like this guy. Wait, actually it might work out
Speaker 1: just fine. Um, you're talking a lot about New Orleans.
Speaker 1: They have a coach, Dennis Allen. I know you're not in.
Speaker 1: It's not a comfortable conversation, but who knows that might be?
Speaker 1: Is there a potential return to New Orld? Think so?
Speaker 1: And look, I'm kind of proud of how those guys
Speaker 1: are playing and the way Dennis is handled. They had
Speaker 1: some tough adversity early in the season, they had lost
Speaker 1: some close games. Um, they're going to finish the year
Speaker 1: versus Carolina at home. I know that because it's it's
Speaker 1: one of my picks this week in our segment. Um.
Speaker 1: And I think that Dennis is someone that I remember.
Speaker 1: I mean I hired in two thousand and six, so
Speaker 1: he was on that first staff. Um. So he came
Speaker 1: as an assistant defensive line coach. I think that was
Speaker 1: his title, and then eventually became promoted to secondary coach
Speaker 1: and then uh past two thousand and ten eleven twelve,
Speaker 1: at some point he gets hired to be the defensive
Speaker 1: coordinator of the Broncos and then went on to become
Speaker 1: the head coach of the then Oakland Raiders. So no
Speaker 1: guys like Dennis Dan Campbell, you know how much I'm
Speaker 1: pulling for him, Doug Moron at one point. You know,
Speaker 1: we've had a number of guys come through our program
Speaker 1: be a part of our staff that went on to
Speaker 1: become either coordinators or head coaches. And I think Dennis
Speaker 1: is one of those guys that's going to do a
Speaker 1: really good job. A couple more questions then we'll wrap.
Speaker 1: I hate feeling like this is like you on the
Speaker 1: hot seat, but this is fun. No, it's all good. Hey,
Speaker 1: when you're done, all right, what do I have here?
Speaker 1: Cards against Humanity? What hidden gems? Bundle? Okay, bring it
Speaker 1: this weekend play with I think you'd be pretty good
Speaker 1: at trivia. I'll bet you'd be real good. Guys. Do
Speaker 1: it right now? Do you have it? It's wrapped Christmas gift,
Speaker 1: A little little stocking stuff. That's good. So Tom Brady
Speaker 1: is here your quarterback wherever you go. How's that for
Speaker 1: a nice one? Man? I'll tell you what, um that No,
Speaker 1: I think that there are a number of things that
Speaker 1: play into Tom's decision. When I can't speak for Tom
Speaker 1: what I haven't talked to Tom. Uh. I'm certainly a
Speaker 1: big fan. It was good to see them play well
Speaker 1: this past week. And when I say it was good
Speaker 1: to see them, I'm actually pulling for New Orleans and
Speaker 1: against that division. It's just my nature. Um, But he
Speaker 1: and Mike Evans hooked up for you know, some big
Speaker 1: plays people forget. And I'm not sidestepping this question real quick.
Speaker 1: You're always as an evaluator trying to see how much
Speaker 1: of the decline has been Tom, or how much has
Speaker 1: it been the three offensive lineman that we're injured, a
Speaker 1: starting center. You know, a lot of different faces in
Speaker 1: the offensive line. Who's blocking the d gap? The tight
Speaker 1: ends gone, Gronkowski. All I hear about Gronk is his
Speaker 1: red zone is catches. But there's a lot of there's
Speaker 1: a lot of ditch digg and he did all right
Speaker 1: when it came to their run game. And and so
Speaker 1: that's gone. There's one receiver less, another receiver coming off
Speaker 1: an injury. So that cast. And this is nothing. This
Speaker 1: is just factual, al right. So I'm not talking about
Speaker 1: Todd Byron, Tom Brady or anyone else. That cast changed
Speaker 1: on the Buccaneers this year on offense. Um, just because
Speaker 1: there were some injuries and a number of reasons. And
Speaker 1: so when that cast change changes like that, the quarterback
Speaker 1: position is affected, the clock in his head is quicker,
Speaker 1: He's having to throw the ball a little bit quicker.
Speaker 1: Last week, another tick, another one count, and all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, some balls down the field. So I don't
Speaker 1: know that I've seen a drop off when I watched
Speaker 1: his team play. Um, I've seen a little bit of
Speaker 1: a drop off in their offense, but but not necessarily
Speaker 1: with Tom and but certainly to the mind's eye, we
Speaker 1: can look at it and say he didn't look the same. Well, no, kid,
Speaker 1: he didn't look the same. And none of us are
Speaker 1: if if that type of thing changes. As part of
Speaker 1: our eleven we've known each other for years. Um. We
Speaker 1: both happened to be from the same area. And Kelly Forna,
Speaker 1: now I was only there for seven years. That's where
Speaker 1: he grew up, San Mateo, California. He went to high
Speaker 1: school where my brother went to high school. And it
Speaker 1: wasn't until really thirty years later, twenty five years later
Speaker 1: that this agent by the name of Don Yee who
Speaker 1: represents me and who has Tom, introduced us. We had
Speaker 1: a joint practice when I was with the Giants. Tom's
Speaker 1: rookie year with the Patriots, UM, Tom was coached by
Speaker 1: the late Dick Raybind Dick was a fantastic coach for
Speaker 1: us at the Giants, who then went to the Patriots
Speaker 1: to coach quarterbacks and and had a lot to do
Speaker 1: with getting Tom there as a draft pick. And anyway,
Speaker 1: Tom was a backup. I've got some pictures I'll show
Speaker 1: you where you know here to like really green when
Speaker 1: I say green coach and a green player. UM, and
Speaker 1: so over the years we've always stayed in touch, never
Speaker 1: worked together, and I think there's too many, too many
Speaker 1: variables in that equation. If we work together, shregs. I'm
Speaker 1: going to predict there's a good chance if we work together,
Speaker 1: it'll be with Fox. Really we didn't. Brady signed a
Speaker 1: deal with Fox. Yes, but I'm I'm thinking, here comes
Speaker 1: Sean Payton and it's traveling. You know, he's traveling rodeo
Speaker 1: of of people that are coming with him, And it's
Speaker 1: a defensive question. Can you imagine? And here's and here's
Speaker 1: the guy in the fourth spot, Tom Brady. You're talking,
Speaker 1: he's gonna breakdown, He's gonna breakdown. Saints Panther still with us.
Speaker 1: You're gonna have You're gonna have him on a podcast
Speaker 1: this time next year, and you're gonna be introducing him.
Speaker 1: Is hey one of the guys I see on weekends?
Speaker 1: You know? And and uh yeah, I think um and
Speaker 1: and look, I can't honestly who can blame him with
Speaker 1: the contract that that that was reported relative to to
Speaker 1: that deal, I know, I know it was nice. Uh
Speaker 1: all right, this is awesome. My last one, I guess
Speaker 1: would be if you're a betting man, Um, is your
Speaker 1: next month going to be filmed filled with flying to
Speaker 1: local to local all and having dinner with billionaire owners?
Speaker 1: Or is this next month going to be you know what,
Speaker 1: they can come to me and or they don't have
Speaker 1: to come to me? Like, how do you think this
Speaker 1: is going to play out? Oh? I honestly, I'm the
Speaker 1: worst at that. I here's what I know. I'm always
Speaker 1: like eight days in advance. I know we're in the
Speaker 1: office Sunday. Uh, and and we may have a Saturday dinner,
Speaker 1: but we're in the office Sunday all day. I know Monday,
Speaker 1: TCU plays, um right here at Sofi Stadium. TCU is
Speaker 1: playing Georgia. Uh. Two great coaches and football programs, and
Speaker 1: we're excited to see that game. I know that I
Speaker 1: might be golfing on Wednesday next week. So the point is, though,
Speaker 1: like I'm the worst that like, oh, I think they're
Speaker 1: I do think after this weekend one of the tough
Speaker 1: things about our business and I hate that we we
Speaker 1: even use this phrase is black Monday. You don't have
Speaker 1: to you know, have they even say we don't even
Speaker 1: do it anymore on NFL network. We're like, let's just
Speaker 1: not call it that anymore. It's it's just, you know,
Speaker 1: end of the season changes are being made and uh.
Speaker 1: And it's tough because if it's if it's a head
Speaker 1: coach that's going through that, that probably means there's seventeen
Speaker 1: assistant coaches that are that are going through the same thing.
Speaker 1: So um, yeah, it's always a tough part of the year. Um.
Speaker 1: But I do think this, the next time we do
Speaker 1: this podcast, I think we'll have a little bit more clarity.
Speaker 1: I really enjoy what I'm doing right now, and I
Speaker 1: have a hard time with fantasy football right now, like
Speaker 1: I don't I don't keep my roster up to date.
Speaker 1: I do all these things that you're not supposed to do,
Speaker 1: and I think I'm in the same way when it
Speaker 1: would come to wagering odds. But I do think, um, currently,
Speaker 1: the job I have at Fox, I enjoy, and there's
Speaker 1: there's a good chance that that I'm I'm doing that
Speaker 1: again this upcoming year. Wow. You know it's funny because
Speaker 1: I'm looking at our playoff schedule and Fox has two
Speaker 1: wild card rounds, two divisional rounds, an NFC Championship game,
Speaker 1: and then we host the Super Bowl Fox. So in
Speaker 1: my head, I was talking to my wife, Erica, who
Speaker 1: you got to know, and I'm like, gosh, I love
Speaker 1: coach so much and I want him to get the
Speaker 1: best job that he can in head coaching. But I'm
Speaker 1: also selfishly like, we got a cool month ahead, but
Speaker 1: we're gonna be doing a lot of football talk together
Speaker 1: and I don't wanted to leave. I wanted to be
Speaker 1: there so Peter, for our audience, I want to explain
Speaker 1: to them. Last night um, just random randomly, Trags will
Speaker 1: send me something like, hey, I'm just looking here. Drew
Speaker 1: Brees set the all time UH touchdown pass mark or
Speaker 1: yardage mark. It was one of these three. It was
Speaker 1: a Chris Ivory throw, it was a Jimmy Graham throw,
Speaker 1: or Darren Sproles. And right away, I'm like Darren Sproles,
Speaker 1: I knew, I knew the play. I had the ball,
Speaker 1: all right. You know, here's what it is. The homes
Speaker 1: is you can finish it about He's four thirty away
Speaker 1: from breaking the record which Manning broke from Breeze. But
Speaker 1: I'm looking at the I'm a sick pupp And if
Speaker 1: you listen to this podcast, you know I have a lot,
Speaker 1: a lot of interest in like deep football's stuff that
Speaker 1: maybe not everyone does. Coach Payton and I share that
Speaker 1: deep love, my kindred spirit. So I said, Trivia, who
Speaker 1: caught the past when Breeze broke Dan Marino's twenty seven
Speaker 1: year record of passing yards in a season, And I said,
Speaker 1: was it Chris Ivory? Was it Marcus Coulson, was it
Speaker 1: Darren Sprowls or was it I think? I said Robert Meacham,
Speaker 1: and coach take it away yeah, so right away, as
Speaker 1: soon as he gave me the options, I saw one
Speaker 1: of them. You know, the right away I knew was Sprowls.
Speaker 1: I put down B right away, be he got it
Speaker 1: like right when he sent it. And then and then
Speaker 1: I wrote following, I said, I have the ball and
Speaker 1: he just went up. So that being said, when when
Speaker 1: you do these podcasts, I don't know the people at
Speaker 1: home do this, but I do. I propped the computer
Speaker 1: on something. I'm gonna give you three choices. This laptop,
Speaker 1: Peter is propped on one of three choices. A A
Speaker 1: Christmas set of Riddell four four wine glasses. You know,
Speaker 1: a four pack of Riddell um looks like yeah, it
Speaker 1: looks like a Cabernet wine glasses. Or it's propped on
Speaker 1: um a Friedo Lay five pack of Cheeto's Son Chips
Speaker 1: to Rito's Chilian Cheese Friedo's. Or it's propped on two
Speaker 1: boxes of cereal, one being apple Jack's and the other
Speaker 1: box being Raisin Brand. So a the ridel wineglass gift set,
Speaker 1: be the Friedo Lay five pack of chips, or see
Speaker 1: all right, see the unhealthy cereal boxes of apple Jack's.
Speaker 1: And uh would I say the second one, I'm looking
Speaker 1: at it right here, Apple Jack's and um Raisin Brandon.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with b. I'm gonna say we've got
Speaker 1: the potato chip variety pack that you bought while walking
Speaker 1: through a bodega in Manhattan Beach. You're like, oh, let's
Speaker 1: pick it up with me? Did we might not? You
Speaker 1: know what? Those don't go old. I'm gonna say we've
Speaker 1: got some some some some friedo lay Friedo's that were
Speaker 1: resting this laptop. Yes, I got it right, I got
Speaker 1: it right right from the Sam's Club. It looks like, yes,
Speaker 1: we got that. That is so delicious. Oh I want
Speaker 1: it all right now to sun Chips. That's the healthy option.
Speaker 1: Those don't go eating. I can't No one's eating sonships.
Speaker 1: I can't believe you got be I'm thinking and I
Speaker 1: had to like put my eyes down there like I
Speaker 1: was reading each one, and I struggled with that's good.
Speaker 1: Uh do you remember so real quick? You guys love this.
Speaker 1: You know, here's this Hall of Fame coach and there's
Speaker 1: this me Mr hot Shot on tv UM he's about
Speaker 1: to go on the Manning Cast and I and I'm like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: what's good and coach just sends me a text. It's
Speaker 1: a picture of his jersey Mike. Subby's about to eat.
Speaker 1: So sure enough, sure enough. A couple of weeks later,
Speaker 1: I'm stuck in l a X airport. I take a
Speaker 1: self I got my club sell number nine. Baby, I'm
Speaker 1: in let's go. Just showing my face with jersey Mike.
Speaker 1: That's the good stuff, no question, no question. It's uh yeah,
Speaker 1: it's is honestly. So, I have this eight Sleep app
Speaker 1: that grades my sleep and it's simple. It's just a
Speaker 1: mattress cover. Um and look, it can chill, it can warm,
Speaker 1: and it reads your heart rate all those things. How
Speaker 1: long you slept? Four? And I said to my wife
Speaker 1: the other day, I said, hey, my eight Sleep. Just
Speaker 1: asked me if I've changed professions. She's like, what are
Speaker 1: you talking about? It says, well, you're you're averaging eight
Speaker 1: and a half hours per per night sleep compared to
Speaker 1: your four and a half. And we just started laughing. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So the first thing I do when I get up
Speaker 1: is like, what's my grade? What I get? I got
Speaker 1: a ninety two this morning? I had eight hours and
Speaker 1: four minutes. Um slept well, and uh, there's quite a
Speaker 1: bit of rain here. But um no, I yeah, we're
Speaker 1: having we're having fun, and we're talking about a lot
Speaker 1: of things. Uh. And I listen, I say this, I
Speaker 1: appreciate our friendship and and it's easier uh after this week.
Speaker 1: You just want to make sure those people, if if
Speaker 1: we all as human beings are just a little kinder,
Speaker 1: a little closer, a little smarter, hug a little bit more.
Speaker 1: To see what went on to start our week, and
Speaker 1: to watch our country's response, our league's response, are our
Speaker 1: peers responses. It just gives you a good feeling relative
Speaker 1: to the spirit. And uh. So we're pulling for to
Speaker 1: Mar's health and recovery. Uh and each day it sounds
Speaker 1: like it's getting better, and we continue to uh. But
Speaker 1: we all want to see that picture where he just
Speaker 1: looks at that balance and and and it's almost like
Speaker 1: a movie, right you just like you know those movies
Speaker 1: where they talk about you've been asleep for this long
Speaker 1: and it's it's hopefully we get that that happy we're
Speaker 1: all praying. Hey, that's a perfect way to end this, coach.
Speaker 1: We thought maybe it's be a fifteen twenty minute chat
Speaker 1: you at the full hour. I love you, man, I
Speaker 1: will see you this weekend. We'll have some Radel wine. Um,
Speaker 1: we'll laugh a bunch, and then if you're the coach,
Speaker 1: bring the son chips. And if you're the coach of
Speaker 1: the Houston Texans in a week we'll say, yeah, well
Speaker 1: we didn't know that then, but now we know it now.
Speaker 1: I'm just kidding. Have an amazing rest of your week.
Speaker 1: And then uh, we'll talk to some football this weekend.
Speaker 1: You're the best. You're the best too. We see Peter.
Speaker 1: I love that guy. Uh, Sean Payton is It was awesome.
Speaker 1: I didn't know him like this. I think he said
Speaker 1: that we just became friends this year. Like he was
Speaker 1: always a coach and I would do sidelines and I'd
Speaker 1: go in there and he was always very engaging. But
Speaker 1: Sean always had his guys in the media, and one
Speaker 1: of them was Jake Glazer at Fox. And I was
Speaker 1: always like, you know what I have my guys. Glazers
Speaker 1: got his, chefter has got his. It's like and I
Speaker 1: never really made the effort, and I never really thought
Speaker 1: Sean I wanted to make the effort with me, And
Speaker 1: then sure enough we worked together Fox and A because
Speaker 1: of this guy, A friend for life. UM a leader,
Speaker 1: an incredibly charismatic guy. He's funny as hell, and I
Speaker 1: think a lot of the things he said we're poignant.
Speaker 1: I also think, Um, after that full hour, I don't
Speaker 1: I can't take away if if he wants to coach
Speaker 1: or not, if he's going to be coaching or not.
Speaker 1: And maybe that's the beauty of it. He plays his cards,
Speaker 1: uh pretty much what feels like wide open. And yet
Speaker 1: I come away from that interview saying, if I had
Speaker 1: to put money on whether he's back or not, I'd
Speaker 1: say please pass. I don't know. I don't know. Um,
Speaker 1: I want to say back, I mean back at Fox.
Speaker 1: We've been lucky to have him. I started this podcast
Speaker 1: about an hour ago talking about Damor Hamblin and how
Speaker 1: we're gonna transition to talk about football. We ended it
Speaker 1: with big laughs and uh, Sean Payton and I talking
Speaker 1: about son chips and whether they're a chip worth eating
Speaker 1: and Jersey Mike's and how we've been sleeping a little
Speaker 1: better since his coaching days are ending. I love you
Speaker 1: guys for listening. I hope this brought you some joy.
Speaker 1: And what was a very weird week for an NFL
Speaker 1: fan and Hopefully we have some better news on the
Speaker 1: moor Hamlin when this thing post and you start listen
Speaker 1: to it, Enjoy the weekend. It's week eighteen. We'll check
Speaker 1: in next week, hopefully with some different terms. Alright, guys.
Speaker 1: The Season with Peter Schraeger is a production of the
Speaker 1: NFL and partnership with I heart Radio. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: from my Heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts.