December 11, 2024 • 37 mins
Doug reacts to the report that the University of North Carolina is finalizing a deal with Bill Belichick to be their head football coach, and lays out what would be in store for the Hall Of Fame coach. Doug gives his take on an answer Caitlin Clark gave after accepting Time Magazine's Athlete Of The Year award. Doug welcomes Jim Rooney on to talk about his book about father Dan Rooney and the impact he had on the NFL. Plus, Dan Beyer takes Doug through a game of "For Better or Worse?".
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
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(00:22):
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buying should be welcome in. No, No, you're you're too kind.
You are too kinds. So we're gonna get to I
(00:50):
think what's the story of the day, but it is
not a finalized story today. Would you want to be
just very very cautious where it looks it feels like
Bill Belichick's can be the head coach of the North
Carolina tar Heels. And I'll tell you what I think
that means in just a moment. I do want to
personal update right that tonight, my Green Bay Phoenix returned
(01:14):
to the basketball floor in our home Arene. It's called
the Rest Center. It's a it's a dan Byer drive
from lambeau Field, and our arch rival UW Milwaukee travels
up I forty three to play us. Of course, if
you know anything about my personal history, my dad when
I was born was the head coach of the Panthers.
(01:35):
So a lot going on, and we're really focused. If
you want to watch the game tonight at six Central
time on ESPN Plus, and of course, if you're listening
to us on our new affiliate in Appleton, back up
the car, wear some green, you'll come see some good hoop.
All right, let's get to the story of the day.
Bill Belichick, who's the most successful head coach in the
(01:59):
history of the sport, is they're working on finalizing the
deal to become the head coach at North Carolina. And
there's a lot of things that it signifies. And I've
told you before that I occupy a chair once occupied
by the great Dick Bennett. Dick Bennett did this exact
(02:19):
same thing. He was the head coach of Wisconsin, they
went to the final four, he retired, and then he
came out of retirement to take over Washington State. So
that his son Tony could ultimately take over. That was
part of the plan, which is essentially what Belichick is doing.
So his son Steven, who's the defensive coordinator at the
University of Washington, can do the same thing. In North Carolina,
(02:42):
It's been done many times over and the success rate
it's about fifty to fifty, which is kind of about
the success rate of anybody, right. Pat Knight's a very
good friend of mine. He took over for his dad,
Bob Knight. It was sort of part of the plan,
but of course coach Knight retired mid season and it
wasn't as planned out, didn't work out well. Sean Sutton
took over for my coach, Eddie Sutton, but of course
(03:04):
he took over after coach Sutton at a DUI, so
it wasn't a smooth transition in a smooth handoff. But
for Dick and Tony Bennett, I mean, obviously that is
the that's the signature way of doing it. And while
Tom Izzo isn't the son of jud Heathcote, I remember
being recruited at a high school by Tom Izzo who was
(03:26):
the head coach designate, and my freshman year would have
coincided with his freshman year, So handing it off to
an assistant when it's all planned deal does work. Tom
Izzo is the perfect example. Tony Bennett's is a perfect example.
I don't know what works in North Carolina. We'll see,
but what it signifies to me. To me, what it
signifies is the professionalization of college football. I think that
(03:51):
if North Carolina pulls this thing off it again, it
doesn't guarantee success, but it does signify how dramatic the
change is in college sports. And yeah, okay, they're paying
players now. We talked about Ajdabansa, who's the number one
(04:12):
recruit in the class of twenty twenty five. The reports are,
I don't know if it's accurate, seven million dollars in
anil yes or yesterday. He committed to playing at BYU.
By the way, we're in talks to play BYU next year.
We'd love that. We'd love that. We'd love that, just
because again, I want my players to see what the
best of the best of the best look like. So
(04:39):
I think that what North Carolina understands is not just
the professionalization in terms of paying players, but how it
actually works is about evaluating based upon film, based upon background,
talking to coaches, talking to mentors, talking to people in
(05:01):
a program. In many ways, it is as much or
more like the NFL draft and the waiver wire than
it is anything else. Now, there are some things that
work against it, that work against Bill Belichick being a
quality head coach. It's that all of the players that
(05:21):
he's evaluating out of the portal, all he has is
that film, and he has to hire a staff that
can provide him all of the background on all of
these players and all the connections. Because the truth is
that you have to be able to evaluate, but you
also have to know what you're getting as a person.
(05:42):
Have to know what you're getting as a player, more
so than just what am I not seeing on tape.
North Carolina is a big time academic institution, and by
the way, Bill Belichick, you can brush off the idea
of academics in college football. You'd be fair to do so,
because academics don't play a part in so many of
these decisions. But it's always been important for Belichick and
(06:04):
the Patriot Way to get college graduates. Remember the Patriots
and then the Jets when they were coached by Eric Mangini,
had the highest percentage of college graduates on their roster.
Why they valued guys that valued education because they felt
like they had guys that had their lives together, guys
that are a little bit more intelligent, and guys that would
(06:25):
do the little things it took to get through school,
just like you'll do the little things it takes to
study up and get ready for a Sunday of football.
But it's really hard in short order to dive into
the portal. Yes, you can evaluate on tape, but there's
a lot of background details you need, much like when
you're in the NFL draft, right you need to know
(06:46):
everything about a kid. And I'll give you the example, Okay,
I got when I received this job, which is on
May fifteenth. My best player is Anthony Roy and obviously
I've been following the news. He's been in news a ton.
(07:06):
We've been in the news because I didn't play him
in Saturday's loss at home to Cleveland State. He leads
the country in scoring. He leads the country in effective
field goal percentage as well. But Anthony Roy, this is
his sixth school. Okay, so I had to make a
quick decision, but I had to fully educate myself and
(07:28):
if not for the fact that I know, I'm trying
to think of all of his coaches, right. I knew
his academic advisor in New Mexico State. I knew his head
coach at Langston, which was last year he was. He
was in Naia basketball. He's the best player in Anaia basketball.
(07:52):
Chris Wright does his name. I knew someone on every
one of the staffs that he had that he had
played for. You go back to San Francisco. Other people
who had recruited him as well. I talked to everybody
because I wanted to know what I'm getting, because scatter
reports on people, not just players, exist for a reason.
(08:13):
And you know what, Anthony Roy has been a slightly
better version of everything everybody told me. There have been
no surprises because I talked to people. I know people
in Oakland. I know a guy named Lou Richie. Lou
is a coach of BISHOPA. Dowd High School. Lou was
a star at Clemson. He was actually a walk on
(08:34):
at UCLA, beat out my brother at UCLA to make
the team as a walk on, then transferred to Clemson,
was their starting point guard on scholarship, and then he's
been a really talented head coach in Oakland. I've talked
to everybody because that's what you have to do for
the job. But remember, in college football, you're bringing in
eighty new guys, sixty new guys, fifty new guys. It
doesn't matter. You have to do that level of background.
(08:56):
And there just isn't the time if you don't already
have the connections. And while Bill Belichick knows everybody in
the NFL and everybody will take his call, does he
know the high school coaches, the other college assistants. And
by the way, that's probably not his job. He's got
to hire people who do that. But there's what this
(09:16):
hire signifies is not just the professionalization, but the reality
that college football is. It's not just about free agency.
It's about being a waiver wire pickups. It's about evaluating
in short order and understanding what you're going to get
for just a one year plan. And there has never been, okay,
(09:38):
never been a coaching staff or an NFL team that's
done a better job on the waiver wire than Bill
Belichick's New England Patriots. They've whipped on draft picks, everybody has.
They obviously struggled to replace Tom Brady. But remember they
did find Tom Brady to begin with and made the
decision to stick with him when Drew Bledsoe came back. Obviously,
(10:03):
wide receivers was they were never able to draft wide receivers.
It's not flawless, but in this landscape, I actually think
it makes sense. And oh yeah, by the way, if
you keep trying to do the same thing the same way,
you're gonna have the same results. North Carolina tried to
go to the wayback machine and bring back Mac Brown,
(10:25):
who was their last incredibly successful head coach. That didn't work.
So they're trying something different and it just happens to
appears to be it's not finalized. It appears to be
Bill Belichick. And for people who say, well, the Belichick
handing off to his son won't work, I did give
you a couple of examples. There's a couple more.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Doug
Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
It's the Doug Gottlieb Show, It's Fox Sportd's Radio. So
these two things can be both true, right, Caitlin Clark
is Times Sportsperson of the Year, and in the United States,
I don't think there's even despite the fact that Shoey
(11:19):
O Tony is the first fifty to fifty player in
the history of Major League Baseball and they won the
World Series and he got the first seven hundred plus
million dollar contract, it's not really close, right. I Mean,
the perfect example is I've been doing this job for
over twenty one years on the national radio landscape, and
(11:41):
without any question, it is the first time ever, ever
that we have talked about women's basketball, with the exception
of well, last year, previous year and when you had
the I'm miss deal with Rutgers. And this is going
(12:02):
back I don't know fifteen sixteen years ago, and I
actually called the championship game on ESPN two. Was called
the Full Circle Broadcast. Carolyn Peck was my analyst and
I was like a host, sort of play by play
sort of thing. It was in Cleveland, Ohio. But even
that lasted three four days. Cayln Clark has completely changed
(12:26):
anyone's reasonable perception of women's college basketball, ceiling and the WNBA.
So she's the sports person of the Year. That said,
I I feel like She's been put in a situation
(12:46):
where there is no win and the only way to
survive is to fall on the sword for white people everywhere,
because that's the perception. The perception of women's basketball is
(13:10):
we only care about Caitlin Clark because she's a straight
white girl. And look, I'm not gonna sit here and
tell you that's not at least a factor. But you
you can't make people like something they don't like, right,
(13:33):
And the perfect example of it is who's the best
college women's player today? Iowa sam our, resident women's basketball
analyst and scout, who's the best women's college basketblayer? Truly
down to two players?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Right? Yeah? I would say one of them is probably
Juju Watkins of US.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Sir, yep. And the other one, let me think, let
me think.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
He oh of course, yeah, Page Beckers, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Page Beckers. As white as you know, yep?
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Is she anywhere near as popular as Kaitlyn Clark?
Speaker 3 (14:11):
I wouldn't.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
I would say no, But she's she's pretty popular, especially
on the Ukon community, but not as close as a Clark.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
It's not. She's not in the same solar system of popularity.
And before injury, you can make the case and she
still may be considered a better all around player like
Page Beckers. Is she's legit, she can really play. Kelsey
Plumb is someone whose records Caitlyn Clark broke. Is her
(14:42):
popularity or was her popularity anywhere near that of Caitlin Clark? No, no, yes,
it's a rhetorical question. Yes, Sabria Sabrina in sq same
thing sbri Escu was actually and her her shoe is
(15:04):
the I believe the number one selling shoe that Nike has.
Now part of it is Nike kind of dolls up
the numbers by making that their team shoe, meaning anybody
who's a Nike team automatically gets those shoes. And they're
really either the Kyrie I think they're actually the Kobe's.
They're planning to be Kobe's. Kobe tragically died, and those
same molds were used for Sabrinas. And why do I
(15:28):
bring it up that it's about skin color when I
don't think it actually is, Caitlin Clark said in the
Time magazine interview where she is the sports Person of
the Year. I want to say that I've earned every
single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege.
A lot of those players in the league have been
really good, but they've been black players. This league is
kind of built on them. The more we can appreciate
(15:49):
that highlight that talk about that, then continue to have
brands and companies invest in those players that have made
this league incredible. I think it's very important I continue
to try and change that. The more we elevate black women,
it's going to be a beautiful thing. Now. Look, I'm
not against the elevation of beautiful black women, white women,
straight women, gay women, I don't care. But what are
(16:15):
we actually talking about? Okay? What Elena de la Don
one of the greatest players ever by the way, she
walked away from basketball for a portion of time to
take care of her special needs sister. She's an amazing
story and an amazing human being. She's white. The league's
built on her incredible success. Go through it. It's about
(16:35):
fifty to fifty. But the social media pressure for Caitlin
Clark to feel bad about the attention that she's earned
and say that she has some sort of privilege is sad,
Like she can't even enjoy the fact that there is
no sportsperson in the United States and frankly out of
(16:58):
the United States that can reasonably compare to the year
that she had, and a response has to be it's great.
I want to say I earned it, but it's white
privilege and that's not really what this league is about.
I mean, what are we actually doing? And look, I
(17:22):
know her boyfriend is Patrick McCaffrey. I mean, see me,
Connor McCaffrey. Sorry, Patrick is the star at at Butler.
Connor is his brother who's on staff. Just full disclosure,
fran is one of my mentors. Friend is the head
coach at Iowa. He recruited me and signed me at
Notre Dame. Like I'm close to the family. They are,
(17:44):
they're you know, Franny's from Philadelphia and they are They
are real people. They are comfortable in their skin around
white people, black people. I would, you know, if you
want to label them like I would say that that
friand you'd label them as a fairly liberal person. But
we're making her basically apologize for her success and the
(18:06):
fandom of her success and saying it's only because she's white.
That's what we're doing. And that's embarrassing, that's humiliating. I
don't she's done nothing wrong. All she's done is go
out and hoop and hoop in a way, which most
(18:27):
people say, like, well, she's the closest thing to Steph Curry, right,
I don't know anybody goes, well, yeah, I like her,
but I like her only because she's white. Like, what
are we doing? We've had white basketball players, women's basketb
players that are great before, they haven't got this tension.
We've had black basketball players that are great before, they
(18:51):
haven't got this tension. Cheryl Miller to make a hole's claw,
I'd mentioned Elena Dela don like you kind of go
through it. It's like women's basketball. It's like a fifty
fifty split of white and black and who's a really
good player? And now we're like making her apologize, which
actually gives credence to what Jay stud tweeted when I
(19:16):
tweeted out, hey, there's no one even a close second
for her to be sports person in the year. Jay Stu,
what was your tweet?
Speaker 3 (19:22):
I said that.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
Angel Reese better be a close second. Yeah, yeah, better
be or else?
Speaker 1 (19:29):
How why are we still doing this? Why are we
still doing this? We're like, basically that's what she's doing. Like, hey,
I'm Great mentioned it. I gotta mention Angel Reaes because
Angel Reese isn't close. Why are we doing this? Why
are we All this does is make people who do
(19:53):
have negative thoughts about other races feel more empowered. And
I understand that all Kaitlyn Clarkson do is like, look,
I just want a hoop And what's the best way
to hope? Oh, talk about elevating black women? Great? How
about just elevating all women? Hey, I want to use
this incredible platform to honor all the women that came
(20:16):
before me, all the women that came after me. Gay, straight, white, black,
mixed race, American or foreign, doesn't matter to me. Doesn't
that sound better? Isn't that more real? So I'm not
being critical of Caitlin because she wouldn't do this, as
she's tried to take the political neutral Switzerland high road
(20:38):
throughout the entire last two years. I would be critical
of whomever is her advisor telling her to say these
things that, well, this will make all of those girls
like you like hmm, here's the thing. They still don't
like you. They don't like anybody. They don't even realize
that you are the golden goose. They're trying to the
(21:00):
Golden Goose, and they're trying to make their league. They're
trying to make their league so incredibly woke that you're
going to push away many of the fans that have
now come to enjoy the sport. Like, I don't know
how to tell you this, but people are worn out
by politics. Worn out. They're worn out by by people
(21:24):
making everything into something racial or something political. We're done,
We're cooked. These last three elections have completely beaten the
politics out of me. You know, it just is and
(21:45):
making something political, which is just really a tip of
the cap to an incredible year. I mean, think about it, right,
she played great, they get to a championship game, they lose.
She's number one draft pick, she struggles early on, she
doesn't get selected to Olympic team. And what does she do.
She leads her team to a complete seasonal turnaround and
leads them to the playoffs or ultimately they lose, right,
(22:07):
and the popularity drops off as soon as they lose.
And she handles just about everything with a supreme amount
of class and dignity, representing all women, her sport and
other women's sports, as well as anyone could possibly hope
and her award is Sports Person of the Year. But
(22:28):
you got to make sure you say you're privileged and
the only reason you're getting this attention is because you're white.
Sad state of affairs, stuck Gottlieb Show. You're on Fox
Sports Radio And there's a book written in twenty nineteen
which is fascinating and there's a new audio version of
it which includes some of the biggest names in all
(22:49):
of the National Football League, names like Roger Goodell and
Franco Harris and Paul Tagliabu. Even the great Bill Kauer
is on there. The book is authored by Jim. He
takes listeners and share stories of his father Dan. Of course,
Dan's life and accomplishments are amazing inside outside the world
of the National Football League, and Jim's kind of to
(23:10):
spend some time of this year on the Doug Gottlieb
Show on Fox Sports Radio. Jim, how are you, Doug.
Speaker 5 (23:15):
It's great to be with you. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Why this book to tell me what was the impetus
behind writing this book.
Speaker 5 (23:23):
Yeah, so we actually started the book while my father
was still alive and then he passes, and we were
originally going to do a sort of a journal article
for the Harvard Business Review about the Rooney Rule, the
NFL's diversity hiring policy, and when he passed. Commissioner Tagliaboo
is actually the one who said to me, you know,
(23:43):
we have so much good material here, we should turn
this into a book. And we did that, and we
talked about the Rooney Rule, We talked about my father's
work in the NFL with labor, with TV and then
obviously with the Steelers. So we thought we'd put together
a good story about you know, management and leadership that
had a lot of fun, fun aspects than rather than
(24:05):
some of the textbooks you get on some of those subjects.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Well, well, here we are again, and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Of course, your father's team is you know, no one
been coached by three coaches, and Mike Tomlin continues to
amaze with his consistency. Take me through your dad and
what he saw in Mike Tomlin so many years ago
that has found such an incredible leader for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 5 (24:29):
Yeah, my dad. You know, as you know, Doug, he
hired coach Noel in sixty eight, he hired Bill Kower
in ninety two, and then Mike in two thousand and
eight and no other coaches in his lifetime. His father
hired all the ones before that, and you know, I
think in each of them he was looking for people
who were authentic. Each of them are very different in
(24:50):
terms of personality. They're all great with x's and o's,
but they're also original. They relate to people in a
way that is, you know, for lack of a better
we're real. And I think when you look at our
players today, you know there's a connection that Mike Commins
able to make with them because he's so genuine, because
he's so straightforward, because he's you know, has such a
(25:12):
strong character and personality that it gets guys to do
things that you know, I think, I think go above
and beyond maybe what some others can do.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
The any rule. Obviously you look at the numbers and
we're not where I think your father intended us to be.
What was the intent? Give me the sense of the
true intent of the rule?
Speaker 5 (25:37):
Yep? And you know this so so in well you
may not have the exact date, but in sixty eight
we heard Bill no He was the third black scout
in the NFL history, and from that point to nineteen
eighty the Steelers draft more players from the HBCUs than
any other team historically black colleges, any other team in
the NFL, and you know, you know the record in
(25:59):
the seventies, they go on to just dominate. And from
that point on, my father really understood that you know, diversity,
you know, giving people opportunities who weren't otherwise getting them
not only was the right thing to do, which I
think and his hardy really believed it was the right thing,
but it was also a business advantage. And he always
made that argument to the NFL that this is, this
(26:21):
is not only we're doing something wrong by not providing
these opportunities, but we're doing something stupid. You know, why
would we not create more opportunities with folks that have
a chance to make us more successful. So that was
the spirit of the Rooney rule. In terms of the mechanisms,
you know, I think there's a whole bunch of issues
in the early days that had had more to do
(26:43):
with the pipeline, you know, than than you know, you know,
there's there were only so many candidates because so many
folks weren't getting chances to be coordinators, et cetera. And
so I think you had that problem. You still have
that problem frankly with the offensive coordinator, which which is
something that needs to be a dressed. But but I
think we're moving forward, you know, this past season, as
(27:04):
you know, we started the season with with nine minority coaches,
and I hope folks see you know that that you
know it is a pathway to success, and then we
provide opportunities to cook who have achieved.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
What what is the what is the most surprising thing
a reader or a listener in the audiobook, we'll find
out about your father.
Speaker 5 (27:26):
Well, I really think that, you know, there was just
this care between he and his players that you know,
kind of went beyond the ordinary.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
You know.
Speaker 5 (27:36):
I have a conversation with Rocky Blyyer and as you know,
Rocky was a was in Vietnam and came back wounded
and actually gets cut by the Steelers because he, you know,
he didn't perform well his first camp. And my father
was in New York that day, I think, at an
NFL meeting, a league meeting, and he comes back and says, wait, wait,
wait a minute, we're not cutting Rocky. We're going to
put him on injured reserve, and we put him on
(27:56):
I R. And you know comes back and you know,
becomes one of the greatest players of Steeler history. Is
our player rep during some of the early strikes, and
you know, over and over again, Rocky talked about this
intimate connection he had with my father, who looked out
for him, who really tried to make a difference in
his life. And even when he was on the other
(28:17):
side of the table in player you owner negotiations, my
father was always willing to listen to the other point
of view. And I think you get some real deep
and intimate stories from players and from Commissioner Goodell, from
other folks as well, about how this man was able
to manage successfully but also you know, kind of be
(28:40):
genuine and authentic in his care for them.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
You have all these incredible names of people now on
this newly produced produced audiobook. And remember, for people who
don't know that the book was written in twenty nineteen,
obviously COVID changed so many things, but this is new.
This is more voices. Who's the one that you're most
honored to have on this audiobook?
Speaker 5 (29:04):
So you know, that's unfair. It was great of all
of them, but we got Franco before he passed and obviously,
we had no idea he was going to pass away,
and Franco ends up sort of interviewing me and talking
to me about what it was like for my family
during the amacat or right after the ammaculate reception, and
to get to share with him just the smiles and
(29:26):
the joy and you know, the Steelers were a bad
team before that play, and you know, since then we've
we've been pretty successful. And we always talk about that
as this transformational point and for me to be sort
of it was over zoom. You know, it was during
COVID when we did this interview, but for me to
sort of be able to tell these stories to Franco
and just see the smile on his face and the
(29:48):
way he was kind of touched by how how important
that moment was, not just for all of the Steeler fans,
but but you know, for folks in my family had
been involved for the team since its beginning. Was really special.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
If your father were alive today, and this Steelers team
is kind of amazing, right. So many questions about quarterbacks
Russell Wilson hurt to start the year, A lot of questions.
I'll just be honest, I didn't know if he still
had it in him to see what they've evolved into.
What would he think of this current group of men
of Steel.
Speaker 5 (30:19):
Well, you know, I think he'd be really proud of
of Mike and you know Mike, Tomlin, Omar Kahn or
GM my brother, Frankly Art the president. I think he
would feel that, you know, they they stuck to the process.
You know, the Steelers don't make rash decisions hopefully in
our best when we do things best, they take their time,
they think things through and and you know, they evaluate
(30:40):
on on you know, qualities that they they really see
in practice and have a faith that someone's going to
be able to perform. And I think a lot of
people felt that way about Russ and it's it's really
fun to watch him, you know, uh show that the
show that he has a lot more left in the tank.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
It's called a Different Way to Win. It's available on
audiobooks and it is absolutely fabulous. Jim Rooney, of course,
the author is joining us here on the Doug Gottlieb
Show on Fox Sports Trading share stories of Dan Rooney's
life and achievements, and there are so many of them. Jim,
thank you so much for taking some time and joining
us on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 5 (31:17):
Doug, I really appreciate the time. Have a great day.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Doug
Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon Pacific.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
Doug Gottlieb Show, Fox Sports Radio every day at the
time we turn over to Dan Buyer and play a game.
Denny play.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
This is game time on the Doug Gottlieb Show.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
Doug. The game today is.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
For better or worse?
Speaker 3 (31:52):
For better or worse? NFL game on Sunday and Week fifteen,
Bill's at Lions or Steve at Eagles. What's better or
what's worse?
Speaker 1 (32:05):
It's a hard call. I'm gonna go with Bill's Eagles,
I mean Bill's Lions. I'm gonna go Bills Lions. I
just think there's so much more at stake there. I
know there's a lot of steak in both of them.
But you got the Lions coming off of yet a
(32:25):
second great escape. You got the Bills who just lost
the game. That look again, the game management wasn't good,
that's not as you pointed out, that's not the reason
that they lost. But I'm gonna go Bill's Lions. Those
the Battle of Pennsylvania Eagles are a five point favorite.
(32:48):
Lions are two and a half point favorite. Again, I'm
gonna go, Yeah, I'm gonna go. Bills Lions final answer.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
What is also interesting about this is because the Lions
in Bills game from Detroit is on CBA. Yes, that's
a Jim Nance Tony Romo. Fox's top broadcast crew of
Kevin Burkhart and Tom Brady will be at Steelers Eagles.
So you actually have the top duos of the broadcasting
duos going head to head in that late window. All right,
(33:17):
Doug for better or worse NCAA Tournament field, It's kind
of a three part exercise. Sixty four schools versus sixty
eight schools? What's better? What's worse?
Speaker 1 (33:39):
I'm gonna say sixty eight schools is better. Yeah. I
actually like the first four mostly because I do think
it gets us ready for the madness, right, Like, people
don't consider that part of the bracket, and there's a
lot of discussion about the teams that win do they
feel like though teams that lose they feel like they're
(33:59):
really in the nca tournament. But like, look, it's basketball
on TV, and it it kind of gets you ready
for where Thursday still hits you like a sledgehammer, but
it feels like a little bit of a lead up.
So I'm gonna go sixty.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
Eight for better or Worse NCAA tournament field forty eight
schools versus seventy six schools forty eight in old format, yeah,
and seventy six, which could be the new format seventy six.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
I don't love seventy six, but seventy.
Speaker 3 (34:30):
Better for what better than forty eight?
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Yeah? All right, especially now you got three hundred and
sixty four teams, like when we had forty eight, there
was like less than two hundred teams.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
Yeah, all right, So then you pick sixty eight and
you pick seventy six. So that's our championship match. You're
in for better or worse, for better or worse, DOUG
sixty eight schools versus seventy six schools.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
Sixty eight schools versus seventy six schools sixty eight better
than There has to be some sort of selectivity, because
if we're honest with ourselves, right, I would say, of
those spots, all but maybe one are going to go
to the Power four plus Big East. So yeah, and
(35:16):
again we're gonna be supporting mediocrity. That's where we are.
It's an elite group that make the NCA tournament, and
we're gonna make it less elite. I like sixty eight
plus seventy six.
Speaker 4 (35:26):
I need to point this out because Dan won't. I
don't know if it was a little too nuanced for
the listeners, but Dan just asked you three straight questions
about a bracket in bracket form. He took the winners
of the previous two and he included it in the three.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
Oh very nuanced. Oh thank you, thank you. I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
To see that. She she.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
Uh in the East Region sixty four schools. No for
better or worse, Doug, This is about Juan Soto in
a Met's uniform versus in a Yankees uniform.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
Yankee Mets uniform. He was only one, He's only in
the Mets is Yankee' uniform is worse?
Speaker 3 (36:09):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Yankee niform is worse?
Speaker 3 (36:12):
All right? For better or worse? Doug. Instant replay in
the NFL, Reviewing face masks versus reviewing past interference.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
Reviewing face masks are worse? Ah wait, let me, can
I change my head?
Speaker 3 (36:27):
You can?
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Reviewing face masks is better because the face mask is
it either happened or it didn't happen. Pass in appearance
is very subjective.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
It is my I have been standing on this for
years about face masks.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
And try have you been standing on your business?
Speaker 3 (36:42):
That has been my business. And Troy Vincent saying today
that the Competition Committee will look at reviewing face masks.
All right, Finally, Doug, I don't know if we have
enough time for better or worse the rivalry green Bay
and Milwaukee versus Bedlam and green Bay is gonna have
a good team this year.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
I mean, Potus says green Bay is gonna have a
good team this year. Better I forty three showdown. Some
people call it the the Bruce State Battle. I don't know.
That was when my players kind of came up with
that Better. It's Doug Gottlieb Show here on Fox Sports Radio.
The Midway is next. Who's gonna be the first one
(37:19):
billion dollar player? That's text with the Doug Gotleib Show.
Thanks for listening to the Doug Gottlieb Show podcast. Be
sure to catch us live every weekday three to five,
twelve two Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local
station for the Doug Gottlieb Show at Foxsports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app
by searching apps Up America. Doug Gottlieb Show, Fox Sports
(00:22):
Radio coming to you from the tyrat dot com studios.
Ty rat dot com. Let you get there. Unmatched selection,
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buying should be welcome in. No, No, you're you're too kind.
You are too kinds. So we're gonna get to I
(00:50):
think what's the story of the day, but it is
not a finalized story today. Would you want to be
just very very cautious where it looks it feels like
Bill Belichick's can be the head coach of the North
Carolina tar Heels. And I'll tell you what I think
that means in just a moment. I do want to
personal update right that tonight, my Green Bay Phoenix returned
(01:14):
to the basketball floor in our home Arene. It's called
the Rest Center. It's a it's a dan Byer drive
from lambeau Field, and our arch rival UW Milwaukee travels
up I forty three to play us. Of course, if
you know anything about my personal history, my dad when
I was born was the head coach of the Panthers.
(01:35):
So a lot going on, and we're really focused. If
you want to watch the game tonight at six Central
time on ESPN Plus, and of course, if you're listening
to us on our new affiliate in Appleton, back up
the car, wear some green, you'll come see some good hoop.
All right, let's get to the story of the day.
Bill Belichick, who's the most successful head coach in the
(01:59):
history of the sport, is they're working on finalizing the
deal to become the head coach at North Carolina. And
there's a lot of things that it signifies. And I've
told you before that I occupy a chair once occupied
by the great Dick Bennett. Dick Bennett did this exact
(02:19):
same thing. He was the head coach of Wisconsin, they
went to the final four, he retired, and then he
came out of retirement to take over Washington State. So
that his son Tony could ultimately take over. That was
part of the plan, which is essentially what Belichick is doing.
So his son Steven, who's the defensive coordinator at the
University of Washington, can do the same thing. In North Carolina,
(02:42):
It's been done many times over and the success rate
it's about fifty to fifty, which is kind of about
the success rate of anybody, right. Pat Knight's a very
good friend of mine. He took over for his dad,
Bob Knight. It was sort of part of the plan,
but of course coach Knight retired mid season and it
wasn't as planned out, didn't work out well. Sean Sutton
took over for my coach, Eddie Sutton, but of course
(03:04):
he took over after coach Sutton at a DUI, so
it wasn't a smooth transition in a smooth handoff. But
for Dick and Tony Bennett, I mean, obviously that is
the that's the signature way of doing it. And while
Tom Izzo isn't the son of jud Heathcote, I remember
being recruited at a high school by Tom Izzo who was
(03:26):
the head coach designate, and my freshman year would have
coincided with his freshman year, So handing it off to
an assistant when it's all planned deal does work. Tom
Izzo is the perfect example. Tony Bennett's is a perfect example.
I don't know what works in North Carolina. We'll see,
but what it signifies to me. To me, what it
signifies is the professionalization of college football. I think that
(03:51):
if North Carolina pulls this thing off it again, it
doesn't guarantee success, but it does signify how dramatic the
change is in college sports. And yeah, okay, they're paying
players now. We talked about Ajdabansa, who's the number one
(04:12):
recruit in the class of twenty twenty five. The reports are,
I don't know if it's accurate, seven million dollars in
anil yes or yesterday. He committed to playing at BYU.
By the way, we're in talks to play BYU next year.
We'd love that. We'd love that. We'd love that, just
because again, I want my players to see what the
best of the best of the best look like. So
(04:39):
I think that what North Carolina understands is not just
the professionalization in terms of paying players, but how it
actually works is about evaluating based upon film, based upon background,
talking to coaches, talking to mentors, talking to people in
(05:01):
a program. In many ways, it is as much or
more like the NFL draft and the waiver wire than
it is anything else. Now, there are some things that
work against it, that work against Bill Belichick being a
quality head coach. It's that all of the players that
(05:21):
he's evaluating out of the portal, all he has is
that film, and he has to hire a staff that
can provide him all of the background on all of
these players and all the connections. Because the truth is
that you have to be able to evaluate, but you
also have to know what you're getting as a person.
(05:42):
Have to know what you're getting as a player, more
so than just what am I not seeing on tape.
North Carolina is a big time academic institution, and by
the way, Bill Belichick, you can brush off the idea
of academics in college football. You'd be fair to do so,
because academics don't play a part in so many of
these decisions. But it's always been important for Belichick and
(06:04):
the Patriot Way to get college graduates. Remember the Patriots
and then the Jets when they were coached by Eric Mangini,
had the highest percentage of college graduates on their roster.
Why they valued guys that valued education because they felt
like they had guys that had their lives together, guys
that are a little bit more intelligent, and guys that would
(06:25):
do the little things it took to get through school,
just like you'll do the little things it takes to
study up and get ready for a Sunday of football.
But it's really hard in short order to dive into
the portal. Yes, you can evaluate on tape, but there's
a lot of background details you need, much like when
you're in the NFL draft, right you need to know
(06:46):
everything about a kid. And I'll give you the example, Okay,
I got when I received this job, which is on
May fifteenth. My best player is Anthony Roy and obviously
I've been following the news. He's been in news a ton.
(07:06):
We've been in the news because I didn't play him
in Saturday's loss at home to Cleveland State. He leads
the country in scoring. He leads the country in effective
field goal percentage as well. But Anthony Roy, this is
his sixth school. Okay, so I had to make a
quick decision, but I had to fully educate myself and
(07:28):
if not for the fact that I know, I'm trying
to think of all of his coaches, right. I knew
his academic advisor in New Mexico State. I knew his head
coach at Langston, which was last year he was. He
was in Naia basketball. He's the best player in Anaia basketball.
(07:52):
Chris Wright does his name. I knew someone on every
one of the staffs that he had that he had
played for. You go back to San Francisco. Other people
who had recruited him as well. I talked to everybody
because I wanted to know what I'm getting, because scatter
reports on people, not just players, exist for a reason.
(08:13):
And you know what, Anthony Roy has been a slightly
better version of everything everybody told me. There have been
no surprises because I talked to people. I know people
in Oakland. I know a guy named Lou Richie. Lou
is a coach of BISHOPA. Dowd High School. Lou was
a star at Clemson. He was actually a walk on
(08:34):
at UCLA, beat out my brother at UCLA to make
the team as a walk on, then transferred to Clemson,
was their starting point guard on scholarship, and then he's
been a really talented head coach in Oakland. I've talked
to everybody because that's what you have to do for
the job. But remember, in college football, you're bringing in
eighty new guys, sixty new guys, fifty new guys. It
doesn't matter. You have to do that level of background.
(08:56):
And there just isn't the time if you don't already
have the connections. And while Bill Belichick knows everybody in
the NFL and everybody will take his call, does he
know the high school coaches, the other college assistants. And
by the way, that's probably not his job. He's got
to hire people who do that. But there's what this
(09:16):
hire signifies is not just the professionalization, but the reality
that college football is. It's not just about free agency.
It's about being a waiver wire pickups. It's about evaluating
in short order and understanding what you're going to get
for just a one year plan. And there has never been, okay,
(09:38):
never been a coaching staff or an NFL team that's
done a better job on the waiver wire than Bill
Belichick's New England Patriots. They've whipped on draft picks, everybody has.
They obviously struggled to replace Tom Brady. But remember they
did find Tom Brady to begin with and made the
decision to stick with him when Drew Bledsoe came back. Obviously,
(10:03):
wide receivers was they were never able to draft wide receivers.
It's not flawless, but in this landscape, I actually think
it makes sense. And oh yeah, by the way, if
you keep trying to do the same thing the same way,
you're gonna have the same results. North Carolina tried to
go to the wayback machine and bring back Mac Brown,
(10:25):
who was their last incredibly successful head coach. That didn't work.
So they're trying something different and it just happens to
appears to be it's not finalized. It appears to be
Bill Belichick. And for people who say, well, the Belichick
handing off to his son won't work, I did give
you a couple of examples. There's a couple more.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Doug
Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
It's the Doug Gottlieb Show, It's Fox Sportd's Radio. So
these two things can be both true, right, Caitlin Clark
is Times Sportsperson of the Year, and in the United States,
I don't think there's even despite the fact that Shoey
(11:19):
O Tony is the first fifty to fifty player in
the history of Major League Baseball and they won the
World Series and he got the first seven hundred plus
million dollar contract, it's not really close, right. I Mean,
the perfect example is I've been doing this job for
over twenty one years on the national radio landscape, and
(11:41):
without any question, it is the first time ever, ever
that we have talked about women's basketball, with the exception
of well, last year, previous year and when you had
the I'm miss deal with Rutgers. And this is going
(12:02):
back I don't know fifteen sixteen years ago, and I
actually called the championship game on ESPN two. Was called
the Full Circle Broadcast. Carolyn Peck was my analyst and
I was like a host, sort of play by play
sort of thing. It was in Cleveland, Ohio. But even
that lasted three four days. Cayln Clark has completely changed
(12:26):
anyone's reasonable perception of women's college basketball, ceiling and the WNBA.
So she's the sports person of the Year. That said,
I I feel like She's been put in a situation
(12:46):
where there is no win and the only way to
survive is to fall on the sword for white people everywhere,
because that's the perception. The perception of women's basketball is
(13:10):
we only care about Caitlin Clark because she's a straight
white girl. And look, I'm not gonna sit here and
tell you that's not at least a factor. But you
you can't make people like something they don't like, right,
(13:33):
And the perfect example of it is who's the best
college women's player today? Iowa sam our, resident women's basketball
analyst and scout, who's the best women's college basketblayer? Truly
down to two players?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Right? Yeah? I would say one of them is probably
Juju Watkins of US.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Sir, yep. And the other one, let me think, let
me think.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
He oh of course, yeah, Page Beckers, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Page Beckers. As white as you know, yep?
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Is she anywhere near as popular as Kaitlyn Clark?
Speaker 3 (14:11):
I wouldn't.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
I would say no, But she's she's pretty popular, especially
on the Ukon community, but not as close as a Clark.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
It's not. She's not in the same solar system of popularity.
And before injury, you can make the case and she
still may be considered a better all around player like
Page Beckers. Is she's legit, she can really play. Kelsey
Plumb is someone whose records Caitlyn Clark broke. Is her
(14:42):
popularity or was her popularity anywhere near that of Caitlin Clark? No, no, yes,
it's a rhetorical question. Yes, Sabria Sabrina in sq same
thing sbri Escu was actually and her her shoe is
(15:04):
the I believe the number one selling shoe that Nike has.
Now part of it is Nike kind of dolls up
the numbers by making that their team shoe, meaning anybody
who's a Nike team automatically gets those shoes. And they're
really either the Kyrie I think they're actually the Kobe's.
They're planning to be Kobe's. Kobe tragically died, and those
same molds were used for Sabrinas. And why do I
(15:28):
bring it up that it's about skin color when I
don't think it actually is, Caitlin Clark said in the
Time magazine interview where she is the sports Person of
the Year. I want to say that I've earned every
single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege.
A lot of those players in the league have been
really good, but they've been black players. This league is
kind of built on them. The more we can appreciate
(15:49):
that highlight that talk about that, then continue to have
brands and companies invest in those players that have made
this league incredible. I think it's very important I continue
to try and change that. The more we elevate black women,
it's going to be a beautiful thing. Now. Look, I'm
not against the elevation of beautiful black women, white women,
straight women, gay women, I don't care. But what are
(16:15):
we actually talking about? Okay? What Elena de la Don
one of the greatest players ever by the way, she
walked away from basketball for a portion of time to
take care of her special needs sister. She's an amazing
story and an amazing human being. She's white. The league's
built on her incredible success. Go through it. It's about
(16:35):
fifty to fifty. But the social media pressure for Caitlin
Clark to feel bad about the attention that she's earned
and say that she has some sort of privilege is sad,
Like she can't even enjoy the fact that there is
no sportsperson in the United States and frankly out of
(16:58):
the United States that can reasonably compare to the year
that she had, and a response has to be it's great.
I want to say I earned it, but it's white
privilege and that's not really what this league is about.
I mean, what are we actually doing? And look, I
(17:22):
know her boyfriend is Patrick McCaffrey. I mean, see me,
Connor McCaffrey. Sorry, Patrick is the star at at Butler.
Connor is his brother who's on staff. Just full disclosure,
fran is one of my mentors. Friend is the head
coach at Iowa. He recruited me and signed me at
Notre Dame. Like I'm close to the family. They are,
(17:44):
they're you know, Franny's from Philadelphia and they are They
are real people. They are comfortable in their skin around
white people, black people. I would, you know, if you
want to label them like I would say that that
friand you'd label them as a fairly liberal person. But
we're making her basically apologize for her success and the
(18:06):
fandom of her success and saying it's only because she's white.
That's what we're doing. And that's embarrassing, that's humiliating. I
don't she's done nothing wrong. All she's done is go
out and hoop and hoop in a way, which most
(18:27):
people say, like, well, she's the closest thing to Steph Curry, right,
I don't know anybody goes, well, yeah, I like her,
but I like her only because she's white. Like, what
are we doing? We've had white basketball players, women's basketb
players that are great before, they haven't got this tension.
We've had black basketball players that are great before, they
(18:51):
haven't got this tension. Cheryl Miller to make a hole's claw,
I'd mentioned Elena Dela don like you kind of go
through it. It's like women's basketball. It's like a fifty
fifty split of white and black and who's a really
good player? And now we're like making her apologize, which
actually gives credence to what Jay stud tweeted when I
(19:16):
tweeted out, hey, there's no one even a close second
for her to be sports person in the year. Jay Stu,
what was your tweet?
Speaker 3 (19:22):
I said that.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
Angel Reese better be a close second. Yeah, yeah, better
be or else?
Speaker 1 (19:29):
How why are we still doing this? Why are we
still doing this? We're like, basically that's what she's doing. Like, hey,
I'm Great mentioned it. I gotta mention Angel Reaes because
Angel Reese isn't close. Why are we doing this? Why
are we All this does is make people who do
(19:53):
have negative thoughts about other races feel more empowered. And
I understand that all Kaitlyn Clarkson do is like, look,
I just want a hoop And what's the best way
to hope? Oh, talk about elevating black women? Great? How
about just elevating all women? Hey, I want to use
this incredible platform to honor all the women that came
(20:16):
before me, all the women that came after me. Gay, straight, white, black,
mixed race, American or foreign, doesn't matter to me. Doesn't
that sound better? Isn't that more real? So I'm not
being critical of Caitlin because she wouldn't do this, as
she's tried to take the political neutral Switzerland high road
(20:38):
throughout the entire last two years. I would be critical
of whomever is her advisor telling her to say these
things that, well, this will make all of those girls
like you like hmm, here's the thing. They still don't
like you. They don't like anybody. They don't even realize
that you are the golden goose. They're trying to the
(21:00):
Golden Goose, and they're trying to make their league. They're
trying to make their league so incredibly woke that you're
going to push away many of the fans that have
now come to enjoy the sport. Like, I don't know
how to tell you this, but people are worn out
by politics. Worn out. They're worn out by by people
(21:24):
making everything into something racial or something political. We're done,
We're cooked. These last three elections have completely beaten the
politics out of me. You know, it just is and
(21:45):
making something political, which is just really a tip of
the cap to an incredible year. I mean, think about it, right,
she played great, they get to a championship game, they lose.
She's number one draft pick, she struggles early on, she
doesn't get selected to Olympic team. And what does she do.
She leads her team to a complete seasonal turnaround and
leads them to the playoffs or ultimately they lose, right,
(22:07):
and the popularity drops off as soon as they lose.
And she handles just about everything with a supreme amount
of class and dignity, representing all women, her sport and
other women's sports, as well as anyone could possibly hope
and her award is Sports Person of the Year. But
(22:28):
you got to make sure you say you're privileged and
the only reason you're getting this attention is because you're white.
Sad state of affairs, stuck Gottlieb Show. You're on Fox
Sports Radio And there's a book written in twenty nineteen
which is fascinating and there's a new audio version of
it which includes some of the biggest names in all
(22:49):
of the National Football League, names like Roger Goodell and
Franco Harris and Paul Tagliabu. Even the great Bill Kauer
is on there. The book is authored by Jim. He
takes listeners and share stories of his father Dan. Of course,
Dan's life and accomplishments are amazing inside outside the world
of the National Football League, and Jim's kind of to
(23:10):
spend some time of this year on the Doug Gottlieb
Show on Fox Sports Radio. Jim, how are you, Doug.
Speaker 5 (23:15):
It's great to be with you. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Why this book to tell me what was the impetus
behind writing this book.
Speaker 5 (23:23):
Yeah, so we actually started the book while my father
was still alive and then he passes, and we were
originally going to do a sort of a journal article
for the Harvard Business Review about the Rooney Rule, the
NFL's diversity hiring policy, and when he passed. Commissioner Tagliaboo
is actually the one who said to me, you know,
(23:43):
we have so much good material here, we should turn
this into a book. And we did that, and we
talked about the Rooney Rule, We talked about my father's
work in the NFL with labor, with TV and then
obviously with the Steelers. So we thought we'd put together
a good story about you know, management and leadership that
had a lot of fun, fun aspects than rather than
(24:05):
some of the textbooks you get on some of those subjects.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Well, well, here we are again, and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Of course, your father's team is you know, no one
been coached by three coaches, and Mike Tomlin continues to
amaze with his consistency. Take me through your dad and
what he saw in Mike Tomlin so many years ago
that has found such an incredible leader for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 5 (24:29):
Yeah, my dad. You know, as you know, Doug, he
hired coach Noel in sixty eight, he hired Bill Kower
in ninety two, and then Mike in two thousand and
eight and no other coaches in his lifetime. His father
hired all the ones before that, and you know, I
think in each of them he was looking for people
who were authentic. Each of them are very different in
(24:50):
terms of personality. They're all great with x's and o's,
but they're also original. They relate to people in a
way that is, you know, for lack of a better
we're real. And I think when you look at our
players today, you know there's a connection that Mike Commins
able to make with them because he's so genuine, because
he's so straightforward, because he's you know, has such a
(25:12):
strong character and personality that it gets guys to do
things that you know, I think, I think go above
and beyond maybe what some others can do.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
The any rule. Obviously you look at the numbers and
we're not where I think your father intended us to be.
What was the intent? Give me the sense of the
true intent of the rule?
Speaker 5 (25:37):
Yep? And you know this so so in well you
may not have the exact date, but in sixty eight
we heard Bill no He was the third black scout
in the NFL history, and from that point to nineteen
eighty the Steelers draft more players from the HBCUs than
any other team historically black colleges, any other team in
the NFL, and you know, you know the record in
(25:59):
the seventies, they go on to just dominate. And from
that point on, my father really understood that you know, diversity,
you know, giving people opportunities who weren't otherwise getting them
not only was the right thing to do, which I
think and his hardy really believed it was the right thing,
but it was also a business advantage. And he always
made that argument to the NFL that this is, this
(26:21):
is not only we're doing something wrong by not providing
these opportunities, but we're doing something stupid. You know, why
would we not create more opportunities with folks that have
a chance to make us more successful. So that was
the spirit of the Rooney rule. In terms of the mechanisms,
you know, I think there's a whole bunch of issues
in the early days that had had more to do
(26:43):
with the pipeline, you know, than than you know, you know,
there's there were only so many candidates because so many
folks weren't getting chances to be coordinators, et cetera. And
so I think you had that problem. You still have
that problem frankly with the offensive coordinator, which which is
something that needs to be a dressed. But but I
think we're moving forward, you know, this past season, as
(27:04):
you know, we started the season with with nine minority coaches,
and I hope folks see you know that that you
know it is a pathway to success, and then we
provide opportunities to cook who have achieved.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
What what is the what is the most surprising thing
a reader or a listener in the audiobook, we'll find
out about your father.
Speaker 5 (27:26):
Well, I really think that, you know, there was just
this care between he and his players that you know,
kind of went beyond the ordinary.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
You know.
Speaker 5 (27:36):
I have a conversation with Rocky Blyyer and as you know,
Rocky was a was in Vietnam and came back wounded
and actually gets cut by the Steelers because he, you know,
he didn't perform well his first camp. And my father
was in New York that day, I think, at an
NFL meeting, a league meeting, and he comes back and says, wait, wait,
wait a minute, we're not cutting Rocky. We're going to
put him on injured reserve, and we put him on
(27:56):
I R. And you know comes back and you know,
becomes one of the greatest players of Steeler history. Is
our player rep during some of the early strikes, and
you know, over and over again, Rocky talked about this
intimate connection he had with my father, who looked out
for him, who really tried to make a difference in
his life. And even when he was on the other
(28:17):
side of the table in player you owner negotiations, my
father was always willing to listen to the other point
of view. And I think you get some real deep
and intimate stories from players and from Commissioner Goodell, from
other folks as well, about how this man was able
to manage successfully but also you know, kind of be
(28:40):
genuine and authentic in his care for them.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
You have all these incredible names of people now on
this newly produced produced audiobook. And remember, for people who
don't know that the book was written in twenty nineteen,
obviously COVID changed so many things, but this is new.
This is more voices. Who's the one that you're most
honored to have on this audiobook?
Speaker 5 (29:04):
So you know, that's unfair. It was great of all
of them, but we got Franco before he passed and obviously,
we had no idea he was going to pass away,
and Franco ends up sort of interviewing me and talking
to me about what it was like for my family
during the amacat or right after the ammaculate reception, and
to get to share with him just the smiles and
(29:26):
the joy and you know, the Steelers were a bad
team before that play, and you know, since then we've
we've been pretty successful. And we always talk about that
as this transformational point and for me to be sort
of it was over zoom. You know, it was during
COVID when we did this interview, but for me to
sort of be able to tell these stories to Franco
and just see the smile on his face and the
(29:48):
way he was kind of touched by how how important
that moment was, not just for all of the Steeler fans,
but but you know, for folks in my family had
been involved for the team since its beginning. Was really special.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
If your father were alive today, and this Steelers team
is kind of amazing, right. So many questions about quarterbacks
Russell Wilson hurt to start the year, A lot of questions.
I'll just be honest, I didn't know if he still
had it in him to see what they've evolved into.
What would he think of this current group of men
of Steel.
Speaker 5 (30:19):
Well, you know, I think he'd be really proud of
of Mike and you know Mike, Tomlin, Omar Kahn or
GM my brother, Frankly Art the president. I think he
would feel that, you know, they they stuck to the process.
You know, the Steelers don't make rash decisions hopefully in
our best when we do things best, they take their time,
they think things through and and you know, they evaluate
(30:40):
on on you know, qualities that they they really see
in practice and have a faith that someone's going to
be able to perform. And I think a lot of
people felt that way about Russ and it's it's really
fun to watch him, you know, uh show that the
show that he has a lot more left in the tank.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
It's called a Different Way to Win. It's available on
audiobooks and it is absolutely fabulous. Jim Rooney, of course,
the author is joining us here on the Doug Gottlieb
Show on Fox Sports Trading share stories of Dan Rooney's
life and achievements, and there are so many of them. Jim,
thank you so much for taking some time and joining
us on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 5 (31:17):
Doug, I really appreciate the time. Have a great day.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Doug
Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon Pacific.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
Doug Gottlieb Show, Fox Sports Radio every day at the
time we turn over to Dan Buyer and play a game.
Denny play.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
This is game time on the Doug Gottlieb Show.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
Doug. The game today is.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
For better or worse?
Speaker 3 (31:52):
For better or worse? NFL game on Sunday and Week fifteen,
Bill's at Lions or Steve at Eagles. What's better or
what's worse?
Speaker 1 (32:05):
It's a hard call. I'm gonna go with Bill's Eagles,
I mean Bill's Lions. I'm gonna go Bills Lions. I
just think there's so much more at stake there. I
know there's a lot of steak in both of them.
But you got the Lions coming off of yet a
(32:25):
second great escape. You got the Bills who just lost
the game. That look again, the game management wasn't good,
that's not as you pointed out, that's not the reason
that they lost. But I'm gonna go Bill's Lions. Those
the Battle of Pennsylvania Eagles are a five point favorite.
(32:48):
Lions are two and a half point favorite. Again, I'm
gonna go, Yeah, I'm gonna go. Bills Lions final answer.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
What is also interesting about this is because the Lions
in Bills game from Detroit is on CBA. Yes, that's
a Jim Nance Tony Romo. Fox's top broadcast crew of
Kevin Burkhart and Tom Brady will be at Steelers Eagles.
So you actually have the top duos of the broadcasting
duos going head to head in that late window. All right,
(33:17):
Doug for better or worse NCAA Tournament field, It's kind
of a three part exercise. Sixty four schools versus sixty
eight schools? What's better? What's worse?
Speaker 1 (33:39):
I'm gonna say sixty eight schools is better. Yeah. I
actually like the first four mostly because I do think
it gets us ready for the madness, right, Like, people
don't consider that part of the bracket, and there's a
lot of discussion about the teams that win do they
feel like though teams that lose they feel like they're
(33:59):
really in the nca tournament. But like, look, it's basketball
on TV, and it it kind of gets you ready
for where Thursday still hits you like a sledgehammer, but
it feels like a little bit of a lead up.
So I'm gonna go sixty.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
Eight for better or Worse NCAA tournament field forty eight
schools versus seventy six schools forty eight in old format, yeah,
and seventy six, which could be the new format seventy six.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
I don't love seventy six, but seventy.
Speaker 3 (34:30):
Better for what better than forty eight?
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Yeah? All right, especially now you got three hundred and
sixty four teams, like when we had forty eight, there
was like less than two hundred teams.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
Yeah, all right, So then you pick sixty eight and
you pick seventy six. So that's our championship match. You're
in for better or worse, for better or worse, DOUG
sixty eight schools versus seventy six schools.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
Sixty eight schools versus seventy six schools sixty eight better
than There has to be some sort of selectivity, because
if we're honest with ourselves, right, I would say, of
those spots, all but maybe one are going to go
to the Power four plus Big East. So yeah, and
(35:16):
again we're gonna be supporting mediocrity. That's where we are.
It's an elite group that make the NCA tournament, and
we're gonna make it less elite. I like sixty eight
plus seventy six.
Speaker 4 (35:26):
I need to point this out because Dan won't. I
don't know if it was a little too nuanced for
the listeners, but Dan just asked you three straight questions
about a bracket in bracket form. He took the winners
of the previous two and he included it in the three.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
Oh very nuanced. Oh thank you, thank you. I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
To see that. She she.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
Uh in the East Region sixty four schools. No for
better or worse, Doug, This is about Juan Soto in
a Met's uniform versus in a Yankees uniform.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
Yankee Mets uniform. He was only one, He's only in
the Mets is Yankee' uniform is worse?
Speaker 3 (36:09):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Yankee niform is worse?
Speaker 3 (36:12):
All right? For better or worse? Doug. Instant replay in
the NFL, Reviewing face masks versus reviewing past interference.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
Reviewing face masks are worse? Ah wait, let me, can
I change my head?
Speaker 3 (36:27):
You can?
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Reviewing face masks is better because the face mask is
it either happened or it didn't happen. Pass in appearance
is very subjective.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
It is my I have been standing on this for
years about face masks.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
And try have you been standing on your business?
Speaker 3 (36:42):
That has been my business. And Troy Vincent saying today
that the Competition Committee will look at reviewing face masks.
All right, Finally, Doug, I don't know if we have
enough time for better or worse the rivalry green Bay
and Milwaukee versus Bedlam and green Bay is gonna have
a good team this year.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
I mean, Potus says green Bay is gonna have a
good team this year. Better I forty three showdown. Some
people call it the the Bruce State Battle. I don't know.
That was when my players kind of came up with
that Better. It's Doug Gottlieb Show here on Fox Sports Radio.
The Midway is next. Who's gonna be the first one
(37:19):
billion dollar player? That's text with the Doug Gotleib Show.
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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