Best of Outkick the Coverage: 01/03/2020

Clay Travis reacts to the Vols coming back to beat Indiana and talks about what the Cowboys do next in their coaching search. The crew pick their favorite Wild Card Weekend game and Chris Mannix is in the house to talk about David Stern's legacy and more. Outkick revisits their Super Bowl picks (surprising brains on the crew) and Dub re-picks his NFC representative. Plus, Clay welcomes in a Vols fan who went viral in a jersey that was too small last night!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of out Kick the
Coverage podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday
morning from six to nine am Eastern three to six
am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station
for OutKick the Coverage at Fox Sports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every morning on the i Heart
Radio app by searching f s R. This is the
best of OutKick the Coverage with Clay Travis on Fox

(00:22):
Sports Radio. We've got several different stories that we are tracking. Uh.
First of all, Dallas Cowboys are, according to multiple reports,
are moving on from Jason Garrett. They officially have begun
the coaching search and we will see who exactly is
going to end up their next head coach, whether it's

(00:44):
Thinken Riley, Dan Mullen, Urban Meyer, Matt Rule, Greg Roman,
lots of different directions that the Dallas Cowboys can go uh.
Now that Jered Jones is officially moving on again reportedly
from Jason Garrett, first home coaching search for the Dallas
Cowboys since two thousand seven, a lot to be determined.

(01:05):
What's the future at Dak Prescott, Where the Cowboys gonna
do with a Mari Cooper and who is going to
be the head coach to lead them into this new decade.
All of that could be decided in the near future.
There are, by the way, four NFL head coaching jobs
that are open right now, Carolina Panthers, Giants, the Cleveland Browns,
and the Dallas Cowboys. So much to follow there. We

(01:28):
will continue to keep you updated on Fox Sports Radio
for all the latest in the Dallas Cowboy coaching search,
and we've been talking about it quite a bit in
the first two hours. NFL wild Card Weekend is officially
underway starting tomorrow. We've got the Houston Texans hosting the
Buffalo Bills as the first game. Then we've got the
New England Patriots Hope hosting the Titans. We will dive

(01:50):
into those games, plus the Sunday ones of course, with
the Eagles going up against the Seahawks and the Minnesota
Vikings on the road against the New England Patriots for
really entertaining wild Card Weekend games. Only eleven games overall
left in the NFL season as we come down the
stretch run of the playoffs, wild Card Weekend this week,

(02:11):
Divisional Weekend next week, then the a f C NFC
Championship games, and we get ready to go down to
Miami where this show will be uh in Miami for
a week of of Fox Sports Radio as well as
I'm told I haven't seen it. I haven't really seen
it in the mock up, but I'm told if you
are going to be in South Florida or you listen
to this show in South Florida, that we will also

(02:32):
have an outdoor stage uh in UH in Miami. The
Fox Fox Sports Stage will be on the beach in
South Beach. You'll be able to watch our locke In
Show and all the other programs that are going on
on FS one live. From what I'm told, is going
to be a pretty awesome stage and set on the
literally on the sound sand in South Beach as we

(02:55):
get ready for the Super Bowl. But last night biggest
sporting event of the evening was a monumental, crazy, wild
comeback by the University of Tennessee against the Indiana Hoosiers.
I'm sorry, Indiana fans, you guys going for your first
Bowl win since never had played in a Florida Bowl game.

(03:16):
At all, things that looked great. Indiana was in phenomenal shape.
They were up thirteen, UH and then Tennessee gets possession
and they have an improbable on side kick that works.
In the space of thirty seconds, they scored two touchdowns.
I'll play the audio for you uh here momentarily, but first,
this is a wild stats so far this year, when

(03:39):
a team has been up by thirteen or more points
with under five minutes to play, they were four hundred
and seventy one and zero. Again, to repeat, when you
are up thirteen or more points with five minutes or
less to play in college football this year, you're four

(04:00):
hundred and seventy one and zero. Well, Tennessee managed to
make it four hundred and seventy one and one. Here
is what the final two touchdowns sounded like. There's a
hand off the crouch and he's in ind of the
checker boards here in Jacksonville, and Tennessee gets its first
touchdown of the night. Come on, Voutiers have cut it

(04:21):
to seven. They're gonna hand off the grains. Got a
big hole on the off side round of the five
tell seven ards touchdown, Tenni, says Eric Prayer, right down
the middle of the field. So that is the win
for Tennessee. And it's a pretty crazy final game scenario there.
Tennessee now win six straight games under Jeremy Pruett. The

(04:45):
verdict is still out on how exactly Jeremy PRUITTT is
going to do as the head coach at Tennessee. But
if you compare the one in four start that featured
losses to Georgia State and b y U with the
close of this season where Tennessee went seven and one
and the only loss was on the road against Alabama,

(05:05):
it's pretty amazing to think about the trajectory since September
for this program to go from one in four to
eight and five and winning a New Year's Day Bowl game. Uh,
we'll see what happens in year three. Lots of reason
for optimism based on the based on the recruiting class
and also just the overall depth that's being built. But

(05:27):
year two with Jeremy Pruett, Tennessee finds a way down
the stretch to win a lot of close football games.
And if you're Indiana, you managed yet again, this is
what Indiana football does, uh to snatch defeat from the
jaws of victory. So that was the big event that
was going on last night. Basically that ends all of
the major college football bowl games. Now every time I

(05:50):
say this, somebody hops on and and blows me up
on Twitter because they're like, that's not the end of
the bowl games. There's still some left, all right, here's
what's left. Ohio, Nevada is today. Then we got Southern
miss in two lane and Louisiana Lafayette Miami of Ohio.
Those are your three bowl games that are remaining on Friday, Saturday,

(06:11):
and Monday. Uh. So the final Big five conference bowl
game was last night. UH. And then we've obviously got
Clemson in L s U from down in New Orleans,
where I believe I will be down in New Orleans
for that game, which which I am looking forward to
very much. UH. Final results from the major conferences in

(06:32):
bowl season are out as well, and the SEC is
going to win uh the Bowl Challenge season they get
a trophy. I think as a result of this. SEC
finishes seven and two in bowl games. The Pack twelve
is second best among the major conferences. Big bounce back
for the Pack twelve, going four and three. UH. The

(06:54):
Big Ten finishes four and five and the Big Twelve
finishes one in five. Now, obviously there is one game
left between L s U and Clemson. UH. The A
c C sitting at four and six, the SEC sitting
at seven and two. Nothing is going to change substantially
based on the outcome of of that game. So that

(07:18):
is where we are with all of the news that
is currently percolating there in the world of sports. Again,
appreciate all of you guys hanging out with us. And
I thought, as we headed into wild card weekend before
the season starts, we all make our super Bowl predictions.
And I don't even remember exactly what my super Bowl

(07:39):
prediction because it was all the way back in August
and so much has happened since then. But I thought
maybe we could go back over what our super Bowl
predictions are and sees who's still live, see who still
feels good about their picks, and uh and everything associated
with the preseason projections. So, Danny G I believe you
have all the list of the predictions. Let's run through

(08:02):
and see who's in good shape. All right, we'll start
with you, Clay. You picked the Saints and the Chiefs,
with the Chiefs winning the big Game. You know what,
I actually still like that pick. I I think the Saints, Yes,
they can do it. I would not be stunned if
they won three straight games, even coming out of the
wild Card. And I love the way the Chiefs are

(08:24):
playing right now in the two seed. They've already beaten
the Ravens. I think they're pretty confident in theory, they
would only have to get past what like the Bills
or the Texans, depending on how exactly uh this playoff
race shakes out. So I like my picks. I like
the Chiefs, and I like the Saints. I wouldn't be

(08:44):
stunned at all if that ended up being the Super Bowl.
All right, let me move on over to Roberto. This
doesn't surprise me. He wears the same CROs as you.
He also picked the same Super Bowl as you, Saints Chiefs,
but he picked the Saints to win. Yeah. I still
think that's a solid pick. I don't think there's any
he's into you would say that, Yeah, right, I mean
solid good choice for him for the Super Bowl. And so, Roberto,

(09:05):
you still like the Saints? Ye okay? And Eddie Garcia,
you picked the Seahawks and the Chiefs. With the Chiefs winning,
still both alive not bad? Would you like to adjust?
Are you very confident in your picks right now? I'll
stick with Kansas City Um, I'm I'm I might rethink
see out a little bit, but I'm you know, I'm

(09:26):
good on the road. Yeah, there's seven and one on
the road. I mean, they'll obviously have to win three
straight road games, probably unless uh who's the six seed?
Unless the Vikings won two straight games than they could host.
But that seems very unlikely. So okay, that's not bad.
I mean, but then so far, these have not been
disastrous picks, uh in general. Alright, what else we got?
All right, I'll go with mine really quick here. I

(09:47):
picked the Vikings and the Chiefs, with the Chiefs to win.
I'm a little nervous about Kirk Cousins, but I'm still
rolling with my picks. Now, this is where our show rails. Yeah, Dub,
and this doesn't surprise me because back when we were
doing the top five bottom five towards the starting the

(10:08):
middle of the season, Remember how Dub was the only
one with the Cowboys in his top five. Dub also
picked the Cowboys to represent the NFC of the Super Bowl. Dub,
you had the Cowboys Patriots with the Patriots winning. I
still alive with the Patriots. But what say you, Dub
about your Cowboys pick. I thought I had forty Niners Ravens.

(10:29):
Yeah right. I will say I will say this, like
the picks are not usually if you have an entire show.
I mean, that's what ten picks usually, it's not it's
not very common that nine of the teams would be
in the postseason. So, I mean that's some pretty solid
selections overall that we ended up with. Because in the NFL,

(10:52):
so much changes injuries, it's pretty difficult to pick who
is even going to make the playoffs a lot of years,
and so to go nine out of ten on playoff
teams to still be alive, the brain other than the
Cowboys more in the mix and really, frankly should have
been in the playoffs at least if Jason Garrett and
the Wheels don't come off that franchise, Uh then uh

(11:15):
then then I think that's a that's a pretty solid
it's a pretty solid job in general. Alright, So those
are the Super Bowl picks. Does anybody want to make
a major like, I'm actually pretty confident with I. I
I am very comfortable with my Chiefs and Saints. Like
I don't even know. I guess maybe maybe it would
just be smart strategically to go forty Niners. But I'm

(11:36):
pretty confident with those two teams that I picked, and
obviously the Ravens came out of nowhere. I don't think
very many people out there had the Ravens sitting at
fourteen and two or having the number one overall seat
in the playoffs. So anybody want to make substantial adjustments
to their picks, Well, Dub needs to switch out his Cowboys,
So pick in the NFC. Now in the NFC, now

(11:56):
that my my Dallas Cowboys are no longer a part
of the mix, I am gonna go with the forty Niners.
I think the home field advantage is huge, especially in
the loaded NFC brackets, So I will go forty Niners.
And to be honest with you, I don't really like
my Patriots pick, but I feel like I have to
roll with it since that was my preseason selection. Fox
Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.

(12:17):
Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot
com and within the I Heart Radio app search f
s R to listen live. Last night, biggest sporting event
of the evening, Tennessee going up against Indiana in the
Gator Bowl. If you fell asleep before this one was over,
and you're just waking up now. Maybe a bit of

(12:37):
a surprise. Teams that had been down by thirteen or
more points with five minutes to play or less. We're
oh and four hundred and seventy one so far this year.
We'll make it one and four hundred and seventy one.
This is what it sounded like in the last four
and a half minutes. There's a hand off the crouch
and he's in end of the checker bars here in Jacksonville,

(13:01):
and Tennessee gets its first touchdown on the night. Come
up on on tiers have cut it to seven. They're
gonna hand off the grains. Got a big whole on
the outside down of the Fox Tell tegn Arde touchdown Tennle,
says Eric Prayer, right down the middle of the field.
That's the Tennessee Radio network. Last big game, I would
say of bowl season. I know there are a couple
more bowl games, but last big major conference bowl game

(13:25):
of the year with l s U and Clemson still
to come in the National Title Game. But the last
bowl game of the year, the Gator Bowl. Uh. The
results are in for all of the different teams in
terms of conferences and performances and how everybody did in
the bowl games, and UH, the SEC did pretty well.
As we get ready for the UH for the title game,

(13:49):
SEC seven and two overall among the major conference teams,
Pack twelve, four and three, UH, the Big Ten four
and five, a C C four and six, Big twelve
one in five. Now, I don't use the bowl games
as a definite referendum on anything other than one year

(14:09):
in the bowl season, but the trajectory over time is
the SEC has been dominant in bowls compared to other conferences,
and that is certainly the case again this year. The
Big Twelve has been awful and UH, and that is
UH maybe not gonna change. I don't know. We'll see
tying in with the Big twelve. Something that could hurt

(14:31):
the Big twelve in a big way is the decision
that Lincoln Riley has to make. The Dallas Cowboys effectively
moving on from Jason Garrett and now have to make
a decision about who they're gonna hire. We've been talking
about it a great deal, UH, and Lincoln Riley seems
to be the guy that is that is getting the
most attention and has been for a while. Will the
Cowboys be able to get a deal done with him

(14:53):
or not. Can Jerry Jones pay whatever it takes. We
will be following that minute by minute over the ensuing
several days days to see who the Cowboys end up
hiring to replace Jason Garrett for their first coaching search
since two thousand and seven. But it is wild card
weekend in the NFL, and uh. As improbable as that

(15:13):
Tennessee win might have been, and as wild as the
coaching search might end up being for the Dallas Cowboys,
we got four big football games going on this weekend
to on Saturday and two on Sunday. What do we
anticipate happening? And more importantly, as we typically do on Friday's,
who are we gonna draft for the best games going

(15:34):
into the weekend? I will start this off, I think
pretty much if you're drafting anything other than the wild
card weekend, so we're only gonna have four picks. Uh
we uh. This is kind of a sad time of
the year because we used to have all this different
embarrassment of riches, all the college football games, all the
NFL games, and we could go around the entirety of

(15:54):
the crew to find out what the best sporting events
are that are going on. Now. We're down to four
NFL games this weekend, four NFL games next weekend, and
then two and then one. So if my math is correct,
we've got eleven NFL games left for the remainder of
the season. Two on Saturday, two on Sunday. Uh coming up,

(16:15):
and I think the best game uh. And yes, maybe
this is a little bit of a Homer pick because
I am a Tennessee Titan fan, but I want to
see how the Patriots are gonna look. Patriots lose at
home against the Miami Dolphins and Ryan Fitzpatrick in a
game they needed to win to be able to walk
up a home playoff game. I'm intrigued to watch all four.
So it's not as if I'm going to ignore any

(16:38):
of these games. I will be watching the Vikings in
the Saints, I'll be watching, uh, the Texans and the Bills,
and UH. I will also be watching certainly the Titans
and the Patriots. I will be watching every single game
that is going to be taking place, regardless of what
what you know otherwise is going on. There for really

(16:59):
good NFL games, and I will be locked in and
loaded to see every single one of them and not
miss anything including By the way, I don't think I
mentioned it, but the Eagles on the road are hosting
the Seattle Seahawks, who are on the road. I'll be
watching all four of them. But I think the best game,
in the most interesting game is the Titans against the
Patriots for a couple of reasons. One, I want to

(17:21):
see what's gonna happen with the Patriots. Are the Patriots
going to be able to flip the switch like they
did last year and suddenly handle everybody in the playoffs?
In particular, the first game that the Patriots played last year.
Now it is a divisional round playoff game, but there
was a lot of optimism that the Chargers were gonna
be able to go on the road and beat the Patriots,

(17:41):
who were sitting at eleven and five and didn't finish
the season very well last year either, and then the
Patriots went out and whipped them in that first game
in Foxborough. Now you have to play on wild card weekend.
In theory, the Patriots would have to beat the Titans,
then they would have to go on the road and
beat the Kansas City Chiefs, and then maybe also go
on the road and beat the Baltimore Ravens. We don't

(18:02):
know how all the playoffs are gonna shake out, but
I feel like the a f C playoffs are pretty
wide open. Uh, anything can happen with these six teams.
I love what Tannehill has done. He's the highest rated
passer in the NFL this year. Derrick Henry is the
is the NFL leading rusher. I like with this Titan
offense has been able to do a j Brown coming

(18:23):
into his own as a rookie. John who Smith at
tight end, I think as a matchup problem. I like
the Titans to go on the road and not just
cover this line is around four and a half or
five points. I like the Titans to win out right.
And I think if they can overlook or get past
the mystique and the aura and the history of this
Patriot dynasty. I just don't think the Patriots are very good.

(18:46):
You look at their schedule, you look at their winds
down the stretch. Best win for the Patriots this year
probably the Buffalo Bills, who they beat twice. I think
that's fair. You know, you look at the Patriots. They
started off eight. No, they're just four and four that defense,
which looks so incredible, has not looked very impressive. I
think the Titans are gonna be able to lean on

(19:07):
him with Derrick Henry set up play action passing. If Tannehill,
who is already, by the way, beaten the Patriots four times,
I think that matters. He is, I believe four and
six in his career. He's got more wins against the
Patriots than any quarterback in the NFL. Right now. I
believe is is accurate. He hasn't one in Foxborough, but

(19:28):
he knows what Belichick and the Patriots due. I think
it's Ryan Tannehill's time. I think comes Saturday night, the
Titans find a way to get it done. It's my
overall number one draft picks. So what would you pick
after that one? Danny g Well, before I get to mind,
I gotta ask you because your old analogy on the
Patriots has been that they're the villain in the movie Yeah,

(19:48):
where you gotta shoot him, make sure they're dead, but
they get up again, they get killed a second time,
then they come back alive again. On a scale of
one to ten, how nervous are you that the Patriots
still have another life? I mean, I think the Patriots,
it's all about their aura and their history right now,
and which is why if you just if you just
stripped away the Patriots and you said, okay, instead of

(20:11):
the Patriots, this team is uh. And I'm trying to
think of UH, you know, kind of a if you
look at their talent, if you look at their talent,
and you look at the way they've played down the
stretch run of the season, and let's just say they're
the Bills, because the Bills have played the Patriots pretty
much even would anybody be nervous about going on the
road to play against the Buffalo Bills? Uh? In in

(20:33):
Orchard Park. I'm not taking anything away from the Bills,
but you'd say, Okay, you just gotta play your game.
I think it's rare that you can go to Foxborough
and say, hey, we don't have to do anything special
to win this game. We just have to play a
solid game. I think that's where the Titans are. I
think if the Titans and Ryan Tannehill go out and
play a solid game, they have a very very good

(20:55):
chance of winning because I think they're better top to bottom. Now.
The Patriots are gonna have a home field advance inage
of their fan base will be fired up. Looks like
there may be some weather related concerns, a little bit
a little bit of rain, maybe some late snow, depending
on how exactly everything materializes. But it's rare that you
can say you don't need to do anything spectacular to
beat the Patriots on the road in Foxborough, and I

(21:16):
think you can say it this year. All right, Well,
I'll get to my pick here. Uh. I gotta go
with the early game on Sunday, and it's on Fox.
The Vikings at the Saints. You could call him playoff rivals,
the miracle in Minneapolis just a few seasons ago. Of course,
that game would have finished a lot different had you
been on the field plane defense, I would have stopped
that play. There's no way I would have loved that

(21:37):
past to happen. Dalvin Cook is expected to play. That's
a big deal for the Vikings, and his talented backup
Alexander Madison was back at practice. That's also good news
for Minnesota. The question mark is about Kirk Cousins. Which
version of him are we going to see on Sunday.
Everybody wants to find out the answer to that. It's
been a really special year for Drew Brees and Michael

(21:59):
tom Us breaking records left and right. Got to tune in.
Michael Thomas is must watch TV. That game on Sunday,
I think is going to have a lot of fireworks.
I I do think that this is where Drew Brees
is getting a benefit from his injury that he had
to his thumb earlier in the season, because he looks
so much healthier to me, Yeah, instead of fatigued like

(22:21):
he did at the end of last season. Yeah. And
we need to pull up, maybe an hour three on
the show, all of our Super Bowl predictions. I know
you have those written down somewhere in the studio, right, Uh,
So let's pull those up because I want to see
what our predictions were, and maybe we can make predictions
for now that the NFL playoffs are starting. What kind
of adjustments would they would we make? But I like

(22:41):
the Saints to be the Super Bowl representative, uh, coming
out of the NFC, even though they have to win
three games, even though they have to beat the Vikings.
Probably would be going on the road, would be your
expectation against the Green Bay Packers, and then would theoretically
have to go on the road against the Forts. If
the brackets held, that's a tough trio of games to win.

(23:04):
There's no doubt at all. Coming out of the wild
card is very difficult. But I like the Saints is
playing the best. What about you, Dub what game would
you select given the two choices? Yeah, I'm going with
Seattle traveling to Philadelphia. Now, we all know the Eagles
are really banged up, but so is Seattle. I cannot
believe the Seahawks are actually favored in this game, to
be honest with you, Philadelphia. They love the underdog role

(23:25):
in the playoffs. They're five and oh against the spread
the last two seasons in the playoffs, and the dog
mass will be out in Philadelphia. That place will be rocking.
It'll basically be a night game with UH now that
we're back on standard time here in Philadelphia. I think
the Eagles win this game. I agree with what Lance
Taylor said earlier, and I think it's gonna be a
great game against two teams that are really known for

(23:46):
their playoff UH success in recent years. And both teams,
like I said earlier, are totally banged up. So I
think this is gonna be a total battle. And I
like the Eagles in this one, all right, Eddie. That
leaves you with the game that it is really kind
of amazing how little the NFL respects ESPN because you
can kind of look at it and be like, Okay,

(24:07):
what's the worst wild card game? That's the only playoff
game that ESPN gets every year. And I understand there's
a lot of people listening who are Bills and Texans fans,
but even Bills and Texans fans are like, yeah, I
think that's probably the worst game of wild Card weekend.
Sell it to me. Well, you've got you know, Deshaun
Watson uh and DeAndre Hopkins going up against that Buffalo's

(24:29):
Bills defense. The Texans you know, at home, uh, looking
to finally have some success in the postseason. You would
think this is at least one of their better shots
to at least advance into the next round. That's all
I got, all right, So let me just now, we
usually we have more games to be able to draft,
so it's a little bit harder to do the draft

(24:50):
when you only have four games. But I want to
circle back around. Now, you get to pick any game,
but you can only watch one. You can only watch
one Wild Card game this weekend. Most of you out
there listening, or a lot of you out there listening,
are going to be like me. And if you don't
watch every snap of all four games, you will at
least watch a lot of them, right, I'll watch. I

(25:11):
don't know if they'll see every snap, but I'll watch
all four games. Uh. And you know, if somebody ends
up in a blowout situation, I'll move away from the television,
probably end up doing something else, but I'll watch all
four games. I clearly am a Titans fan, so I
am going to draft the Titans Patriots game. But I
also think it may be the most intriguing overall by itself,

(25:34):
even if you weren't a Titans fan, or even if
you're not a Patriots fan, even if you don't have
a rooting interest on either side of the equation here.
So I would pick that game as the one that
I would choose to watch out of all four. What
game would you pick, Danny g Uh, if you could
only watch one of these, that's a tough choice here,
between the Titans Patriots and the Vikings Saints. I guess

(25:58):
I would have to go Vikings Paints. Because before the
season started I picked the Vikings to represent the NFC
in the Super Bowl in Miami's that's the one where
you know, I'm most intrigued because I picked the Vikings.
What about you, Dub, which game do you take? I'm
with Danny G I'm going Vikings Saints. I think there's
a decent chance that Lackings actually win this game and
pull the upset off in New Orleans. So that's the

(26:20):
game that interests me the most. That would be an
improbable win and it would send the Vikings out to
San Francisco, which would would be interesting because right now,
I think if you're a forty Niner fan, while you're
enjoying your your week off, you're a little bit apprehensive.
I think about playing against the Seahawks for a third
time in a relatively short period, particularly because those teams

(26:41):
have been almost dead, even when you look at the
Seahawks and the and the forty Niners in the way
that division was decided just on Sunday night. So so
that would be that would be a big upset because
the Vikings right now seven and a half point underdogs,
the biggest underdog in Wild Card weekend. Eddie, where do
you go I'm going with you, Clay. I'm going with
the Titans and the Patriots. I want to see if

(27:04):
this is the end of the dynasty for New England.
Is this gonna be Tom Brady's final game, not only
in Foxboro but as a Patriot, or the Patriots gonna
prove us all to be idiots and do what they
do at home in the postseason, and uh figure out
a way to get it done. So I'm picking Patriots Titans. Yeah,
I agree with you. I think it's the best game.
What about you, Roberto? I also had the Saints uh

(27:25):
going to the Super Bowl this year. So I'm gonna
go with the Vikings in the Saints, even though it's
kind of early in the morning for me here at
ten o'clock in the morning, but I'm gonna go Vikings
in the Saints the early kickoff on Sunday. This is
outkicked the coverage with Clay Travis joined now by Chris Mannox.
He's at Sports Illustrated. He has been covering all of this.

(27:48):
David stern fallout as the commissioner of the NBA at
the age of seventy seven, has has passed on. He
is at s I Chris Mannox on Twitter yesterday. Chris
I was saying, I think that David Stern is probably
going to be the greatest sports commissioner of all time,
and it's hard to believe that anybody could ever surpass

(28:09):
what he accomplished with the NBA over thirty years. Fair
or foul analysis from your perspective, So I think that's fair.
And I've heard that from a lot of different people.
I mean, pat Riley was among the people that came
out and you know, flat out said it, best commissioner
in the history of pro sports. I mean, his legacy

(28:30):
is is multifaceted. But I've always most impressed Clay with
how David Stern in the nineteen eighties, with those television
ratings just floundering. Um really understood that in basketball it
wasn't about the laundry. You know, in football you kind
of root for your teams, right they're Cowboys fan, Eagles fan,
Patriots fan. David Stern realized in basketball the best way

(28:54):
to sell the property was selling matchups. And it wasn't
just you know, Nick's versus Bulls. It was doing versus Jordan's,
and and and and the Magic versus Burn and all
those those matchups, and and that took some some vision
at that time, and I think that really propelled the
NBA into the sort of watchable property that became. Do

(29:14):
you think, uh, that David Stern agrees with the direction
that Adam Silver has taken the league? I think so,
And I based that on two things. One, I mean,
David Stern was Adam Silver's or Adam Silver's David stern
handpicked successor. I mean he walked into those meetings with
ownership towards the end of his tenure and pointed at
Adam Silver and said, you know that's the guy. And look,

(29:37):
David Stern was all about the money, you know, with
his his commissionership, with the deals he made in foreign
countries and everything he did with NBA Entertainment, the Adam Silver.
As much as people look at him as a progressive
commissioner and all that stuff, He's all about the money,
you know, with with that group. So yeah, I do
think that while they're probably not in lockstep on everything,

(29:59):
I would thinking the broad strokes, they're very much in line.
Will there ever be a commissioner with as much authority
as David Stern developed over thirty years and how much
of that was just being there for thirty years, which
seems like, I mean, an improbable length of time. Now.
It used to be in the world of sports, guys
kept their jobs, whether it's coaches, whether it's owners, whether

(30:20):
it's g ms, guys kept their jobs a lot longer.
It seems like we burn out on ownership and everything
else and jobs a lot faster now than we did
back in the day. Will anybody else even accomplish this,
you know, that's a good question. I don't know. Um.
You know, David Stern obviously had a lot of of
of credibility banks, you know, later in his tenure ship

(30:42):
because of what he did at the beginning. But I
will say this, I mean players respected David Stern. I
mean not everyone you know agreed with them his policies,
and you go back to the early two thousands and
and the dress code stuff, and that was a real
source of conflict between Stern and the player. But in
talking to you know, players and player agents over the

(31:03):
last couple of days, you know, one thing that that
David they respected about David Stern was that he was
willing to listen two players, even though he came down
on guys pretty hard for stuff. He was always willing
to hear guys out. A great example that I wrote
about was Alan Iverson, and you know, Iverson wrote that
rap song and and I think it was two thousand
that had a lot of women's groups up in arms,

(31:24):
the gay community up in arms, and a lot of
people are calling for David Stern to to punish Iverson
severely for it. You know, Stern called Iverson to his
office in New York. They had a meeting, they talked
it out. Irish explained where he was coming from, and
while he was you know, uh, he had that there
was a strong award statement about what Iverson did. There
was no punishment for it. And a lot of that
was because he heard from Iverson, and you know, he

(31:47):
was willing to accept what Iverson said. I think players
really respected that he was, you know, willing to hear
them out on significant issues. There were a lot of
rumors about David Stern. It was almost like he was
the guy father making moves. Whether it was uh, you know,
the famous frozen envelope with Patrick Ewing, which he continued
to shoot down throughout his entire career, whether it was

(32:09):
and this is I don't know if you would buy
into this at all, but I kind of do. Of
all the sports conspiracies that are out there, think there
was something to Jordan's deciding to leave and go play
baseball and then miraculously come back. Maybe I'm wrong, but
I feel like something happened there, and I feel like
there are a lot of sports fans who agree with me.
Do you think that was just a sign of David

(32:30):
Stearn's overall power and influence in the league, or do
you think he was legitimately capable of, for instance, keeping
something like a Jordan's secret suspension that close to a
vest I mean, you could, you could keep a lot
of things a secret back then that you certainly couldn't today. Like,
do you buy do you buy into that at all?
Like that? There are certain conspiracy theories that that I'm like,

(32:52):
that's crazy. I could buy into the idea that Jordan
got suspended for betting on basketball games. I can buy
into it, of course, because of the stories of Jordan
gambling a legendary. It's just I just don't know. I mean,
the frozen envelope thing, I think it's kind of stupid. Yeah,
I know that, you know, I know that sterns the
Knicks fan growing up in New York and everything, but
come on, like, that's that's a little bit too far
outside the box. But yeah, the the Jordan gambling stuff,

(33:15):
the way it all kind of played out, and how
he came back a couple of years later, I certainly
can get buy to that. And I do believe that
in Stern's regime and how he kind of oversaw the NBA,
I do believe that he was about as capable as
any commissioner keeping that a secret. You hit on something
when you're talking about the dress code. Stern understood the

(33:35):
business side of the NBA, and this is something that
I've kind of hit on on my show. I think
Stern sold the players, but he also sold the relationship
between fans and players. And you remember, because you're around
my age, the calling card for the NBA as the
league was in its heyday was what NBA action is fantastic,
And it was, you know, they put a variety of

(33:57):
different celebrities on as part of the advertisements, and the
fans were exulting and celebrating the player moves, and it
felt like everybody was pulling in the same direction. Now,
it doesn't seem like that as much. You've got players,
and it seems like almost every week or certainly every month,
there's a player upset about something that a fan says

(34:19):
uh their social media, where people are kind of diving
into their different niches. It seemed to me like Stern
was a big tent guy. I want to appeal to everybody.
I'll do whatever I need to to make Middle America happy,
and that's that that There has been a difference now
with Adam Silver. Do you buy into that that Stern
was a guy who was trying to create as big

(34:41):
of a tent as possible and that now things are
a lot more niche You know, I don't know that
I buy that he was trying to create this big tent,
because anyone the new David Stern knows that he probably
would have been happy with the dynamic that exists in
the eighties, you know, kind of translating all throughout the decade,
that being the Lakers being great, and the Knicks being great,

(35:03):
and the Celtics being great, and the Bulls being great
and everybody kind of in the middle, you know, whatever
I mean. And Stern, remember, also didn't have to deal
on the same level that Silver is dealing with with
social media. I mean, it's just there's some things that
you just can't kind of get out of the way from,
and the evolution of social media how players handle it
is one of them. And I think what's one thing

(35:24):
Silver has embraced, which Stern embraced to a degree is
kind of transactional nature of the NBA and how player
movement has become a big reef in the NBA is
so popular. Does any league clay have a better trade
deadline in the NBA? Does any league have a better
off season than the NBA. These are all things that
that Adam Silver embraced that that I think I've really

(35:46):
helped the NBA's popularity. We're talking to Chris mannox at
s Chris Mannix alright, as David Stern is is. Uh,
it's an incredible legacy that he left. But in the
last week I read in the Wall Street Journal and
I don't think it's gotten as much attention as certainly
the NFL rating struggles did. And I think we've hinted
it this a couple of times with you, but I
was blown away by the actual numbers the NBA in

(36:08):
the past two years is down twenty six and its
ratings on ESPN and on T n T, according to
the Wall Street Journal article that I read on Saturday.
Um and that comes while the NFL is up over
the past two years, Major League Baseball, NASCAR, NHL, college football,
all of those sports are up. So the Mark Cubans

(36:30):
of the world can say, well, you know, it's just
a cord cutting phenomenon, but it really isn't. Translating sports
is maybe the only thing that's holding up at all.
What would you do to fix that? Well, you know,
I've seen all the theories and and I understand some
of them. But you know what happened in the last
two years. When as the ratings have gone down the

(36:51):
last two years, what's the big change that happened. It's
Lebron going west. I mean, I don't want to boil
it down to something so simple, but the Eastern Conference
does not have kind of must see TV at this point.
And Lebron through his entire professional career up until last
two years, was the Eastern Conference player Cleveland Miami back
to Cleveland, and he was a massive writings driver every

(37:15):
time he played, whether it was on national TV or
even the local TV affiliates. He's gone. And in the
Eastern Conference you have you know, Janice is there, but
Janice hasn't quite connected with the audience in the same
way that other superstars have. Philadelphia is unwatchable. You know,
Boston doesn't have that alpha right now, Kevin Durant not
playing for Brooklyn. There just isn't a star there. And

(37:37):
as much as the die hards will stay up late
to watch Lebron James, a lot of the casual fans
won't stay up to watch Lebron James. So I don't
mean to oversimplify it, but I do think there's a
lot to the argument that Lebron's gone and people aren't
watching Eastern Conference games. Are the seven o'clock eight o'clock
window games as much as they were in years past?
How much more popular would you, honest be if he

(37:58):
was American? Every anything else is the exact same. But
he is an American born player, I do think a
lot more popular. And and it's funny because he's an
incredibly likable player. Um his his game translates to television
and he's got that same killer instinct that we love
in players like Jordan and Kobe and Lebron. I mean,
watch him out there on the floor. He's you know that,

(38:19):
there's a seriousness to him every single possession. And I
agree with you. I think if his name was like
George King or something like that that came out of Duke,
we'd probably be talking about a much more popular player.
All that's being said, he is. I mean, he's leading
the All Star voting right now for the Eastern Conference,
so he is incredibly popular. But maybe television wise, uh,
he might have a different connection another guy who's leading

(38:41):
in the NBA voting. I think if I saw it
was a Luca, how incredible has he been in year
to another foreign born player? It is interesting that the
two leading vote getters in the NBA All Star Game
right now both foreign born players. How how important is
Luca looking ahead for the NBA's future. Yeah, meanwhile, Taco
Falls played like eleven minute and the sixth of the
Eastern Conference. But take this voting away for the fans

(39:03):
and I give them as much of a saying all this.
Luca came along at just the right time because I
think there was, you know, not a vacuum yet, because
Lebron James is still at the top of his game.
But we're all kind of looking around for the next guy,
the next player that is gonna be dazzling out there
on the floor and dominate in dep bunch of different ways.
And Luca does it differently. He's not Lebron in the

(39:26):
in the way that Lebron dominates, but man, he is
special when you watch him out there on the floor
and he's become you know, for me anyway I got
he looked for the dial. If I'm watching Lead Path,
I'm looking for a Dallas Mavericks game. When that, you know,
you see more and more nationally televised Dallas Mavericks games.
He's just he again, He's an international player that might
connect in a different way, but because of the way

(39:46):
he plays, in the position he plays, I think he's
going to connect with fans for a long time. What
are you hearing? We're talking to Chris Mannix at SI
Chris Mannox. What are you hearing about Zion? When are
we going to see his debut? How important is that?
You know that? I believe I saw that he's practiced
now um with with the Pelicans and everything I've heard
from people down there involved with the team, was that
end of January was a realistic possibility. What I'm curious

(40:10):
about is, you know, what does Zia look like when
he comes back? I mean you heard a lot in
the last really, you know, as I started really to
cover Zion even before the draft, about just how top
heavy he was, and how is that going to affect,
uh the long term health of his lower body? How
much weight did he lose? How much weight is he
going to lose um as his career moves forward, because
he plays with such explosiveness and when you bring that

(40:34):
big frame down those knees every single time, it naturally
is gonna have somewhere on them. So I'm curious to
see as he comes back, how does his game evolve?
And he's did the same player that we saw do.
How much nervousness do you think there is among the Pelicans.
I mean, that's kind of a big deal that he
might not come back till the end of January. Uh,
missing at least half of the NBA season. Uh. And

(40:55):
how much do you think they are concerned about him
going forward? As you just hinted at that this would
be a major issue that maybe doesn't go away and
he's not you know, this isn't the equivalent of let's
say you've got a shoulder injury, you have surgery, it
goes away and you never have to worry about it again.
This could be something more structural for his career. Well,
I think there's there's natural nervousness, and there should be
in New Orleans, especially when this guy was hailed as

(41:17):
kind of the savior of this team in the post
Anthony Davis age, I would say that, you know, even
if this guy has injuries in the first couple of
years of his career, the reason his history has suggested
that patients is okay in situations like this that you know,
guys tend to figure out their bodies and figure out
how to play, uh consistently. Look at Joel embiid. I mean,

(41:38):
does Minnesota sitting back wish they had drafted Joel empat
number one and not Andrew Wiggins and waited a couple
of years as the Sixers and Sam Hanky was willing
to do. I'm watching last night Clay Michael Porter Jr.
Dominate in a game, you know, for the Denver Nuggets,
who sat back and took him at fourteen and said
we'll let him red shirt his first year because we
can get a top two type of talent as long

(41:59):
as he's healthy. So you know, it could be a
rough go of it for the first year, maybe the
first two years with Zion Williamson, but I just have
enough confidence in NBA medical staffs that eventually these guys
figure it out, all right. Last question for you, Lakers
or the Clippers, who are you more optimistic and in
the next couple of months. I'm more optimistic in the
Clippers because defensively one through three they can be just

(42:23):
dominant on the perimeter. And when you get Beverly Paul,
George Kawhi, Leonard uh, that's something to see. I would
say the reports out there that Darren Collison, the former
point guard Indiana, is going to come back and wants
to play for one of the l A teams, that
should make people that are wary of the Lakers nervous.
If you look at the Lakers issues point guards, one

(42:43):
of them, right, I mean Roy John Rondo is there
that play every Bradley at times, you know Caldwell Pope
is at the position, but they don't. But Lebron is
oftentimes the point guard on the floor. Darren Collison is
legit point guard. He played seventy six games for a
playoff team last year. He has a low turnover point
guard that just two years ago at the NBA in
three point shooting. Now. I don't know what kind of
shape he's in at this point, if he's ready to

(43:05):
come back and step right into a rotation, but if
he's close to the player he was last year. If
the Lakers get their hands on him, that is a
difference making pick up for a playoffs. UH set up
that probably only needs one player tilt the balance. Appreciate it,
my man, have a good long weekend, Happy New Year.
That's Chris Mannox at s I Chris Mannox. Fox Sports

(43:27):
Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot
com and within the I Heart Radio app search f
s R to listen live. There were a lot of
different Tennessee football fan images that went viral as Tennessee
looked like they were going to collapse down the stretch
down twenty two to nine. Things did not look very positive.

(43:50):
Casey Patrick was one of the Tennessee fans who was
not happy, and we tracked him down last night he
was wearing a number one Tennessee Jersey large beer man.
Uh and he is with us now, Casey. I reached
out to him on Twitter to track him down. Casey,
what did you yell? Uh? That was caught viral e

(44:10):
on on television broadcast last night on a ESPN and
the Tennessee Indiana game. Am I allowed to say it?
Don't here if there's cursing, probably not, but you can
give us a rough approximation I got here. It was
something along the lines of I'm sick of this crap
and it's the same old stuff with this guy. Um.

(44:33):
I was not a lot of a lot of people
thought I was yelling at the graphs, but I was
actually yelling at coach Fruit because I wasn't very happy
with the current quarterback situation. All right, so you weren't happy,
we're uh so the Tennessee is down twenty two to nine.
Things are looking like a disaster. Did you stay for
the entire game? Yes? I did, absolutely, Actually I stayed

(44:54):
for the trophy presentation afterwards and everything, and um uh
grant I did too because uh, they were will come
back there at the ends free while all right, So
what's your verdict on Jeremy Pruitt. Now, well, you know,
he he make makes decisions that I don't always agree with.
And uh now I still think I still think decision wise,

(45:17):
I mean he's he's probably as they learned as they
go along. But as far as a coach, I think,
you know, just just getting his guys ready and and uh,
preparing for other teams. I think, um, at least you know,
from game film and stuff like that. I've always thought
Jeremy pruit is one of the best in the country.
And recruiting wise is what I and I still think

(45:38):
he is. But as far as being a coach and
just you know, just making football players better and developing them,
I think he's he's the best in the country. And
and uh just second to nine and and I'm glad
we got it so oh and four hundred and seventy one.
When teams are down so far this year by thirteen
or more with five minutes or less remaining, Tennessee comes

(45:59):
back to to get the win. The onside kick I
think was the difference maker. How stunned were you by
the onside kick? You know, I actually I hooked, I
looked straight to my right and Uh. I was there
with a bunch of my friends and I looked at
one of my buddies and I was like, what in
the world did we just do? And I had no idea.

(46:22):
I didn't. I didn't really. It was hard to see
exactly what had happened. And um, but when we got
that ball back and of course you know that was there,
great and that's all he did all night long and
just make plays. And since we got the ball back,
I just, um, you know, you could really feel the type,
all right. So when you go viral like this, like
your picture, and it's not just that you were on television,

(46:44):
it's that the cameras catch you yelling at at the
at you know, at the field and at the coach
and at the team and everything else. What happens to
your phone? Does it immediately blow up? Does like everybody
that you know who's back home watching you and seeing
you let you oh, like, what was your phone situation
like in the wake of that? Yeah, you know, it

(47:05):
was like, Uh, I had people that I hadn't talked
to in you you know, like being in high school.
They were, you know, sending me text messages and stuff.
They're like, man, dude, you were just on mass with
TV and blah blah blah and and all the southern
and all this other nonsense. Uh I thought all that was,
Uh that was pretty cool. But I just um because

(47:26):
my phone. I mean, I don't know if you're here
right now, but it's I mean, it continues the thing
right now. I've got some guys that are you know,
big Tennessee football fans and and ball. Twitter is well known.
Uh so uh you know, once a couple of those
guys started to retweet it out and and tag me
in some stuff, I started getting followers. And uh, when
I went to football game and stay, I had like

(47:46):
four hundred fifty dollars on Twitter and I had two
thousands of when I woke up in the morning. So uh,
I mean, you know, and oh yeah, but I mean
all Twitter, dude, that's a family, you know, and and uh,
I you know, I love all those guys. Uh. You
know that the day John Curry tried to do all
that crazy stuff and then and had thought the Tennesse
City and all that, Uh, when all that happened and

(48:07):
we all really came together and you know, people, they
got each other's back, and and yesterday it was just
something else. You know, a lot of people try to
give me credit for us winning that game and that
that's not true at all, but um, you know, basically
at the time you were screaming at the field, everything changed.
By the way, how long have you had the jersey? Uh?

(48:30):
You know? I actually I just bought that jersey, but
I founded it. I found it in a local story
here for like ten bucks, and I was like, you know,
I'm fat, but I'm gonna buy this jersey because it's
like the biggest shirt they got up there. So I
wouldn't ahead, and I wouldn't hadn't got it. I wasn't
even worried about it. I mean, I'm big, I got
a mirror, I know it. I ain't stupid. I'll be

(48:51):
stoopball eat that. It's funny because all the folks on Twitter,
they're like, you know, one guy called me littered not
so little and and I thought that was great. That
was my favorite comment I saw all. So, yeah, the
jersey is pretty tight fit? Is that an extra large jersey? Like?
What's your height and weight situation here? I'm I'm about
six six one uh to seventy five to eighty I

(49:12):
said two seventy five. It's a lie two eighty five.
But uh, yeah, I'm I mean, I'm pretty empty. Uh.
The shirt itself is a two eggs, but I mean
Nike makes them little bitty jersey that that is that
is not really a two It's just like a one
egg for everybody else. So how did you celebrate after

(49:33):
the game? Do you go out drinking? What you do? Yeah? No,
I mean somebuddy's we Um. I mean we stopped at
a gas station down the road. Uh. I think I
grabbed like a coach or something that we just came
back and Um, I drank. I drank a dr pepper
and ate my chicken sandwich and actually watched the replay
of the game. I always love to watch. Uh, every

(49:54):
every time I go to a game, I've been to
a couple of hours. Um, every time I go to
a game, I'd like to go watch and replay things
I can and actually, you know, excuse me, see what
was going on and and really understand why things happen
in the game. I'm not too big of a party
or not crazy anyway. So all right, So, so what
what happens next year for Tennessee? Now, so we're talking

(50:14):
to Casey Patrick, he went viral during the game last
night between Tennessee and Indiana wearing his number one Tennessee jersey.
That's like at Jason Witton jersey. By the way, back
in the day, the number one Tennessee jersey winnered Little
obviously was also number one. Uh, it's it's a number
of reserve for big time playmakers like yourself. So what
happens next year? You know, I I think I think

(50:36):
Tim wins is on the table, and I don't I
don't want to, you know, sit there and say anything
that I think is impossible. It's it's not gonna be fifteen.
And oh I still think there's there's too much there's
there's not exactly enough older talent on this team. But um,
they're going to continue to get better and uh they're
gonna and and like I said, Prue, it's gonna continue

(50:58):
to learn what he's doing it. Um, I think they
can win a lot of it's gonna depend on the
QB next year. And I mean, I I just like
every other UT fan that cares about recruiting. I've been
watching these Hairs and Bailey videos and I love the kids,
But um, I know Prue. It's gonna love his senior quarterback,
Guarantanno if if Guarantanno comes back. So um, we gotta

(51:19):
see what happens. And you know, whether it's j G
or it's Bailey, or it's Shout or Myr or whoever,
we gotta figure out what we're gonna do with the
ball in the air. And I think that Steve which
is gonna be strong though, and and I love good
to fit the football, and I think that gives us
a chance to win every game. All right, my man,
I appreciate you getting up early with us. Congrats on
going viral and quadrupling or tripling your your Twitter account

(51:39):
and good luck next season, my man. All right, thank you,
And I just want to say thank you for the
Tupaca all eyes on me at the beginning of the show,
and that was pretty good. Thanks man. Uh that is
Casey Patrick giving a shout out to the music there
as well. That was fantastic. And he's got a good
sense of humor because as soon as I saw you
tweet that gift out last night, I thought of the

(52:00):
Chris Farley, what is it? Fat guy? And I mean
I do I do agree with him that that Jersey
doesn't seem that big, um. But if you haven't seen it,
you can go to my Twitter feed. He went viral
last night. It's pretty awesome to go from five and
two thousand Twitter followers in the space of an evening.
I'm sure that will continue to grow as people hear

(52:21):
him on the show today. But that was that was
pretty awesome. Um and uh, I felt like him when
he was angrily yelling at the field. That's kind of
what I was doing in my house watching that game
last night. This is outkicked the coverage with Clay Travis. Alright,

(52:44):
the odds are out for the next Cowboys head coach. Um.
You know, these different betting markets put out their odds
on who they think is going to be the next
head coach whenever there are coaching vacancies. And Jason Garrett
hasn't been officially officially fire, at least not yet, but
the expectation, based on reports from edward Er and uh

(53:05):
from Adam Schefter, is that essentially it is done. So
I always love to look at these lists of who
the next head coach might be from a gambling perspective,
and maybe a little bit of a surprise here Josh
McDaniels is favored to be the next Cowboys head coach. Uh.
Josh McDaniels was with the Denver Broncos. He obviously is

(53:27):
the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots, accepted and
then turned down the Indianapolis Colts job a couple of
years ago. There's also been the idea that he might
be the successor to Bill Belichick if Belichick decided to
step down, But that is, uh, that's interesting. I think
that then that the favorite would be Josh McDaniels. Then

(53:48):
we have Robert Sala, who is what is he the
defensive coordinator of the San Francisco forty niners, um who
is already starting to get some interviews as well. That
would be a little bit of a surprise, I think
for the Cowboys if they went with the defensive head coach,
just because so much of the focus has been on
Dak Prescott and making sure that he fits and makes

(54:11):
sense going forward. So I would say I don't like
the odds of that, just based on where the scout
Dallas Cowboy franchise is right now. Lincoln Riley is up
next at five to one, So Josh McDaniels Robert salah
Uh Lincoln Riley. Then you've got Greg Roman, the offensive
coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, and Urban Meyer both at

(54:33):
six to one, and then Eric by Enemy the enemy
who is with the the Kansas City Chiefs right now,
former Colorado running back back in the day Matt Rule
are both at seven to one, and then three guys
here all at ten to one, Dan Mullin, Gary Kubiak,
and Mike Zimmer with Jim Harbaugh at twelve to one.

(54:55):
Now I just hit you with all of these different odds.
Are you guys as surprised as I am that that
they would have Josh McDaniels as the favorite to be
the next Dallas Cowboy head coach? And not really. I
heard his name thrown around a lot yesterday when I
was watching sports shows on TV, and the one comment
that I heard a couple of times was it could

(55:16):
be Josh McDaniels second and last job as a head
coach in the NFL. I think you've got to hit
a home run on this though. If you're Jerry Jones,
there's no doubt yes day at home run. But my
thing is, does Josh McDaniels seemed like the kind of
guy who can handle the spotlight of the Dallas cowboy job.
I almost feel like, at this point in time, you
need somebody who is comfortable with massive attention. And Urban Meyer,

(55:42):
I think, beyond the shadow of a doubt, has been
in the fire. I would say Dan Mullen has two
these major ka and Lincoln Riley. Major college football coaches
are more used to dealing with media than a coordinator
is in the NFL. Now, I understand that Josh mcda
niels when he was with the Broncos dealt with the

(56:02):
media on a somewhat relatively regular basis, But I think
it takes a particular type of person to be able
to handle the Dallas cowboy job. And I don't know
him at all. I don't have any kind of personal
relationship with Josh McDaniels, but he doesn't really feel to
me like the kind of guy who would fit well
in Dallas. What about you, dub when you hear these names, uh,

(56:24):
Josh McDaniels, Robert Sala, who I know absolutely nothing about.
Lincoln Riley. I feel pretty comfortable about knowing what he's like.
Urban Meyer, Matt Rule, Dan Mullen, all those guys. Jim
Harbaugh certainly, I feel like I know somewhat well. Yeah,
the name that really surprised me is Robert Sala, because
maybe it's just us assuming, but to me, the only

(56:44):
route to go would would be to hire an offensive
guy for this Dallas Cowboys team. And I know he's
done a great job with the San Francisco forty Niners defense,
but that roster and that defensive line in particular is
just the best unit in the NFL probably, so they're
not He's not gonna have that in Dallas if he
decides to go that route. But as far as Josh

(57:05):
McDaniels go, I'm not. I'm not really surprised that he
is the betting favorite at this time. I just kind
of am surprised a little bit because it seems that
Josh McDaniels higher would be a totally normal and expected higher.
And I don't mean that in a negative way. I
just mean that there's been so much build up to
this idea that Jason Garrett is going to get fired.

(57:27):
It feels very NFL to go hire a guy who's
already been a failure as an NFL coach and plug
him in as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
That's why I was saying that you need a home run,
because that feels like a double, right, I don't even
feel like it. No, you don't feel like a double
to me, like an infield single butt. I mean it
feels like hit by pitch. If you got yeah, hit

(57:49):
by pitch. If you go hire a guy who's already
been fired because he's not good enough in the NFL,
and you go hire another one of these Belichick rhodejay's,
it just seems like the most conventional possible higher for
a guy like Jerry Jones, who typically has made unconventional moves.

(58:10):
I mean again, if you go higher Josh McDaniels. We
can run through the list of former Bill Belichick assistance,
but most of them haven't done very well, right Romeo Cornell,
Matt Patricia. Bill O'Brien is probably the most successful Belichick
NFL associate who's become a head coach in the NFL.

(58:32):
And there's a lot of Houston Texan fans right now
rolling their eyes because they're not that happy about Bill O'Brien.
Will wait and see what happens tomorrow with their game
against the Bills. If you win a playoff game, everybody
who loves you, but they're just And I know Brian
Flores had a decent amount of success. He went five
and four down the stretches, too soon to judge him
in year one. Yeah, Vrabel's not really Yeah, I guess

(58:57):
Varibel doesn't feel as much like a Patriot it guy.
Maybe that's a little bit wacky because he played there,
but he doesn't feel like, you know, the offensive or
defensive coordinator who comes completely out of the Belichick tree.
I guess you could argue that Belichick helps Vrabel in
some way get his job, But I don't really see
Belichick is coming out of the uh out of the

(59:19):
I mean, sorry, I don't see Vrabel is coming out
of the Belichick tree. But we'll see how he does tomorrow.
I mean, if he goes on the road and he
wins against the Patriots, everybody's gonna be ecstatic. But this,
just if Josh McDaniels is the higher, it feels like
a very conventional higher in a space where the expectation was, oh,
the Cowboys are gonna fundamentally reinvent their team and change everything,

(59:45):
going and hiring a guy who's already been an NFL
head coach and already been fired and is currently a
Bill Belichick assistant. Is literally the most conventional, possible higher
you could make, and I just felt like Jerry Jones
wanted to create a stir in going out and making
what might be the final coaching hire of his ownership

(01:00:05):
career with the Dallas Cowboys. It seems very, very risk
averse to go with Josh McDaniels. Doesn't mean that Josh
McDaniels is not going to be successful, but just compared
to the amount of attention you would get from a
Lincoln Riley or Dan Mullen or Matt Rule or a
Urban Meyer if you went to college route, that seems

(01:00:28):
a little bit surprising to me. Fox Sports Radio has
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