December 31, 2025 • 40 mins
Jason & Buck talk about Buck’s “uniform” choice while doing a live radio show, what’s up with the Pittsburgh Steelers, more on the AFC North showdown between the Steelers and the Ravens, the Steelers inability to find a QB after Ben Roethlisberger, a look at the short lifespan of NFL head coaches, and more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
That's right. It's a Buck and Fits takeover of the
Jason smithship with Mike Carmen hanging out with you on
Fox Sports Radio all night long. We have show controversy.
If you listen to this show every single Saturday, you know,
Buck and I are slightly different people, but we've been
friends for a long time. Despite our friendship and our
just ability to always be ourselves, I'm a little I'm
(00:26):
a little dumbfounded by what's happening right now. Bo producer Stort. Now,
I'm gonna need your opinion on this because let's peak
behind the curtain. Currently, Buck Rising is sitting in Nashville, Tennessee,
a city I lived in for over twenty years. But
I am sitting in Connecticut, where I've lived for the
majority of almost whatever seven eight years. Right, So we're
in different cities. So when we do radio, and this
(00:47):
is no big thing. Everybody's used to this now most
people aren't in the same city ever since COVID, that's
become the norm. So in order for us to be
able to communicate well while we do the show, we
always FaceTime. So we're on a FaceTime on a laptop
while we're on air. So Buck leaves during the last
commercial break to feed his cats. That's right, his cats,
(01:08):
which is already in and of itself a thing.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
I got one here, Leo.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I mean, okay, now he's lifting his cats up that
it's fine, but sits back down to get involved in
the second hour of the show, not only with a
cat in hand, and not only wearing hipster sunglasses, but
now he is added the hipster sunglasses.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
They're blue light glasses. I almost said a bad word
at you.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Okay, well I deserved it. But he has sat down, Bo.
This is where I need your expertise on this, because
I don't know. He has sat down in what looks
like a very fuzzy bathrobe with a crest on it
of some sort. Is it your initials on the crest?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Buck? Like?
Speaker 2 (01:47):
What do we okay, we're wearing a customized bathrobe while
we're on radio?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Is this? Bo? Is this norm? Like?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Do your other hosts show up for hour number two
in a bathrobe? Like there Will Ferrell and Wedding Craft.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
I mean, what do you think me, Alex and Steve
de Seger are wearing right now?
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Man? Yeah, yeah, that's right, that's right. You thought they
were against me.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Yeah, we're the last people in the building here. There's
there's no rules right now.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Hell yeah, let's go.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
You know, it's funny because I actually unlike unlike Buck Rising,
who has flat out refused Buck Rising, Indiana grad refusing
to go to the Rose Bowl because he just doesn't
feel like it. And when was pointed out that the
Fox Sports studios are in l A, I will I
will remind everybody, like I've been out in l A
doing Yahoo shows before, and I have I have made sure,
(02:42):
even if it was two in the morning, I have
made sure to come in and hang out in studio
with with the show staff. I think it's important, Like
everybody gets a chance to Barros.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Nobody wants to see you like that, get out of here.
Yea there in the morning and bothering people. When we
were doing the Fellows, I was in there two in
the more.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Right, nobody's wearing bathrooms bo I mean I'm not. I'm
just saying I didn't see it. Like it's got a
crest on it, he's got his initials on it, Like
who even owns a bathroom?
Speaker 3 (03:10):
It's with on it, my initials all right, want you
just sit down and take a lesson for a couple
of minutes, okay, cause I'm gonna tell you how I'm
gonna do radio if you and I are gonna do
radio in any former fashion for the foreseeable future, after
the hours of nine pm Central time. Okay, I'm in
my home at nine pm or I guess ten pm
(03:34):
Central time as it is right now ten oh four.
If you're hanging out with us across the country on
Fox Sports Radio. If I'm in my home past ten pm,
I'm gonna have my bathrobe on.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Okay. Now I'm not just wearing a bathrobe.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
I've got I've got my pajamas on under my bathrobe
at this point in time.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
And yes, I'm wearing blue.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Light glasses because I want to go to bed after
this at a reasonable hour. And if I sit there
and stare at you and let the blue light rays
just melt my brain for four hours, this isn't gonna
be good for anybody involved. So if I would like
to be refreshed, and I would like to be comfortable
as we do four hours of radio, if I would
like to be my best, then yet you're gonna have
to sit there on his FaceTime call and eat it
(04:14):
because I'm gonna wear my bathrobe. But it's not It's
not a custom monogram bathrobe. It is a bathrobe with
a monogram on it from the Congress Hall Hotel in
New Jersey, where I was so impressed with the bathrobes
that I went down to the gift store and I
bought one. Okay, that's all you need to know, Jason Fitzen.
I'm gonna do radio my bathroobe, no matter what I am.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
I am doing radio right now with some weird combination
of the dude from Big Lebowski and Will Ferrell from
Wedding Crashers. And I don't know how to feel about
any of this bo Have you ever gone into it?
Have you ever gone to a hotel and actually bought
the bathrobe? Like I mean, I'm so flumoxed by this.
Like I look at general rule. I stayed in a
(04:57):
lot of hotels in my life, touring music in a
lot of hotels, never touched bathrooms, like you go one
of two ways when when you're in a bunch of hotels.
I know several guys that toured with that were just
immediately in the slippers in the bathroom, and several guys
that toured with that were like me. They were like,
I'm not touching anything. I don't have to touch bo
are you a gift store bathroom? Hotel guy?
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Last hotel I stayed at was at Disneyland, so they
got enough of my money, so I can cannot say
that I would have bought a bathroom or whatever. Do
that myself personally?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
I mean, but that's it, man. I bet you the
Disney ones are nice. Though those are probably plushed, they
probably have like Mickey ears. I mean, they're probably like
three hundred bucks.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Am I gonna sound ignorant if because I've never I
mean I've never as an adult been to Disney World
like I've been as somebody has taken me as a
small child to Disney World before. But obviously I'm not
paying for that. Is Disney expensive?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Oh my god?
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Yes, incredibly can It's incredibly so. The only the only
reason I go to Disneyland is because my wife works
for Disney and we're lucky enough to get passes where
we don't have to pay for him. Otherwise I would
never go. But it's even at this point if you
want to avoid waiting in line for fifteen minutes. You
have to pay to skip the line, so they niicol
and dime as much as they can. It is very expensive.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
So one of the perks when I worked at ESPN,
one of the perks that everybody talks about is that
they're an ABC Disney company, so you get free park
tickets buck and you get fifty percent off of hotels
on Disney property. But I one of my bosses for
many years who had multiple kids, was he had five kids.
It has five kids. He was absolutely stunned when he
(06:34):
went because not only is the hotel so expensive, but
then if you have to pay, like you have to
pay for certain park like linehopper passes basically if you
even want to get into line for certain rides, and
then you have to pay for other passes when you
have to get into lines for other rides. You can
literally go to Disney for three days you and spend
as much money as it would take with all of
(06:55):
those discounts as it would cost to go to Mexico
for two weeks. It's that expensive. It is thousands of
dollars for a few days at Disney. If you're an adult,
like it's it's wild the cost of eating in the parks,
the cost of every ride that you like, you want
to go on, whatever the Star Wars ride is, you
got to pay an extra cost above and beyond everything
(07:16):
else just to get into that line at a certain time,
like it is its own.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Just you know, just I would tell you avoid it,
avoid it and avoided at all costs, because it sounds.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Like my nightmare. I mean, I wouldn't go. I don't
have kids, so it's not like I would. I would
go just to enjoy Disneyland as an adult. I mean,
I'm sure people do that, and I don't want to
disparage them. If that's what you're doing, what you want
to do with your favor, with your free time, that's
that's fine by me. But I just I can't think
of something that sounds less like something I'd want to do.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
I have a lot of friends that are adults that
like to go to that like to go to Epcot
in Florida and drink around the world because they have
all the different countries. So it's like it's it's become
a very adult thing. But it is wildly expensive. I mean,
when you're boogie enough that you sit around and do
radio in a comfy robe though. I don't think you.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Get my crown. I'll go get my crown too. We
can do this.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
I'll do the whole thing, all right, I don't this
is the first time I'm on I'm on camera for
four hours a day normally. All right, if I can
sit here in the peace and quiet of my own
home and as comfortable accommodations as humanly possible, Hell, I'll
get up and get my crown right now.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Look, do you really want to you really want to
try and convince America that you don't usually do things
like you're on camera for hours to day. Is that
such a high brow product that he is now literally
put on a crown. I did this, but bo I
did this to the entire show. I don't know what
we've accomplished in this segment. O, I've got a co
host with a crown and a robe on. I don't
(08:46):
I did this. I did this. We there.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Certainly there's some terrible radio because you're just describing something
nobody else can see.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
Yeah, I mean, if it makes you feel any better,
this is really the same exact thing that would be
happening in this timeslot normally.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
So now the joke's on on Buck though, because I
literally just took a picture of him laughing and I'm
not going to post it on social media in a
robe of a crown just so everybody can see it.
Not that he'll ever care. See, that's the thing. This
is more content for him. We love, this is this
is what?
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Who are we supposed to talk about it here?
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I don't know. I was so I was so dumbfounded
when you sat down on what looks like a very fuzzy,
fuzzy comfy robe and like, I just I'm a redneck.
They gotten, Uh, we should talk about something related to sports.
I think, you know, probably I was going to talk
about the meltdown of the Steelers. Do you want to
talk about the meltdown and the Steelers?
Speaker 5 (09:40):
That?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Look, I will say over the weekend.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
The Sunday result that just still sticks in my head
that I think is absolutely inexcusable is watching the Steelers
lose to the Browns and be that inapt in the
with that much on the line, like we are in
this loser Leaves Town eighties wrestling sort of thing, like
whoever loses between the Steelers and Ravens this weekend is
(10:05):
going to be eliminated from this entire thing. And I'm
just sitting here saying what we saw Sunday was a
true reminder of what our takeaway should be for the
Steelers this year. They're not a good football team. I
really don't give a damn if they go to the playoffs.
They're not a good football team. And if you're a
Steelers fan, you know it. And I even think Steelers
fans are living their worst nightmare because you're gonna go
to the playoffs, which if you win, which is going
(10:28):
to justify yet again not really blowing everything up, and
you're gonna be frustrated as a Steelers fan because you
feel like you're stuck in mediocrity. But I'm going there
to tell you, I don't even think you're stuck in mediocrity.
I think you're just a slight level above suck. And
he got lucky with a bunch of teams that were
really bad in the division this year. I just don't
think the Steelers are any good and I think Sunday
they're reminded of that, that us of that.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Why is this year any different than the last couple
of years? Though?
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Because one of the weirdest anomalies. And I believe this
was pointed out on the broadcast. And forgive me, I
don't remember exact who was calling the game this past Sunday,
but the Steelers have lost at Cleveland four consecutive games
in Cleveland. I had to like double take on that.
I was like, surely that can't be right for a
(11:14):
franchise where for the period of time, where didn't Ben
Roethlisberger have some kind of insane statistic like he had
more wins as a starting quarterback at Cleveland brown Stadium
than any of the past like ten Cleveland Browns quarterbacks
or something ridiculous. I'm sure there's a more specific stat
that I'm failing to mention, but you understand my point.
(11:37):
Pittsburgh one they were at without DK Metcalf, for the
ridiculousness that is the DK Metcalf suspension. I'm sure there
are no there's no love lost being, no love being
lost in Baltimore over DK Metcalf being suspended for being
in some former fashion physical with a paying customer, which
is not the kind of thing that the NFL is
(11:58):
going to abide by. So they were clearly a different
offense without DK on the field. The other part of
this is, I don't know, how did you see the
shot that Miles Garrett took at them after the fact,
or Miles Garrett sits at twenty one sacks right now,
a half sack and he would tie the record. One
sack and he would break the all time single season
(12:19):
sack record.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Miles Garrett said.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
After the fact that he felt that the Steelers were
more focused on stopping him from getting to Aaron Rodgers
than they were outright winning the game, which to me
feels counterintuitive, because yes, in order to win the game,
your best chance to do so would be to try
and mitigate whatever it is that Miles Garrett is going
to try to do to you for sixty minutes of
football Steelers. Does the AFC North this year feel kind
(12:44):
of like the NFC South?
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Yeah, And the AFC North is pathetic and the AFC
North is bar.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Listen, I don't think they're pathetic. Do you just see
what Derek Henry did the other night?
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Like, I'm not putting anything that can do that, not
just because I'm biased and I enjoyed there and I
enjoyed covering him for eight years, but that.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Nothing about that performance was pathetic to make.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Look if the Ravens had been that week in and
week out, that might have been the exception. I stand
by the math that I did coming into the season
when I said that the Steelers would start hot and cold,
and then I've said I thought the Steelers would have
a losing record and miss the playoffs. I stand by
my math. What I didn't anticipate was that the Ravens
were gonna absolutely suck this year, right and they have
(13:27):
for much of the year. I didn't anticipate that, but
that's what it's how we get to where we are
right now. I want to keep breaking this down because
what do we do in a situation right now where
we've got two teams, two fan bases, the Ravens and
the Steelers, two of the most stable franchises in the
sport were both franchises, both fan bases are sitting here
saying we need change. What is a Saturday's matchup between
(13:50):
these two teams Sundays, I should say, matchup between these
two teams gonna do for the future of the Ravens
and the Steelers. We'll talk about it next these Buck
Rising I'm Jason fitzbucking fits it over on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 6 (14:01):
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Speaker 2 (14:14):
Hey, this is Jason McIntyre.
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Speaker 2 (14:46):
This is a Jason Smith show with Mike Harmon bucking
fits filling in. He's Buck rising on Jason Fitz. We're
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(15:09):
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(15:31):
dot com for your chance to win a thousand bucks.
I've got one buck with me. He's Buck Rising. I'm
Jason Fitz. I'm trying to figure out what to make
of the loser of the Steelers versus the Ravens matchup,
and I think there's two different sort of sides to
all of this buck because Steelers fans, I have many
that I'm friends with, all want Tomlin fire because they
(15:53):
can't win playoff games and they're tired of what they
perceive as mediocrity. I know some Ravens fans that feel
the exact same way about Baltimore, and it's kind of
stunning to me because I'm a fan of just the
worst type of football team, a perennially bad football team.
I'm a fan of a football team that's had what
our thirteen coaches in the last fifteen years. I'm a
(16:13):
fan of the worst boss.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
To get over by the way the games lost. Thing
that you gave me?
Speaker 3 (16:19):
What was that Saturday when we were on the air
about the Raiders being basically the healthiest team in football
and still being that god awful.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Yeah, thank you so much. Yes, they have lost the
fewest games to injury of anyone in the NFL this
year and got two wins. So look like for me,
I am the first to admit that my own sort
of process, my own damage as a Raiders fan, is
(16:46):
part of why. To me, it's just asinine when you
think of anybody turning around and saying, oh my god,
you need to turn around and fire your coach. I
just look around and I think, okay, well, I mean,
if you're just looking at the Raiders history over the
last several years, and I realize that that is the
worst of the worst, it doesn't get worse than what
the Raiders had put on the field. But you know,
(17:08):
if you just look at since twenty ten, the Raiders
have had Tom Cable, Hugh Jackson, Dennis Allen, Tony Sperano,
Jack de Rio, John Gruden, Rich Pasacia, Josh McDaniels, Antonio Pierce,
and Pete Carroll. That's your head coaches in the last
fifteen years.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
So but Pete Carroll, things sounded good but it didn't
turn out.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Well, oh yeah, yeah, I can keep going further back too,
because I mean, if you want to go all the
way to the two thousands, then I had another John Gruden,
Bill Callahan, North Turner, Art Shell, and Lane Kiffin all
to that. So you're talking about over twenty years whatever,
fifteen coaches. So when I hear a Steelers fan say
we got to make change, I'm the one that sits
here and says, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Man.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
You can wake up one day and have Bill Callahan
as your head coach. You can wake up one day
and have Dennis Allen is your head coach. These things
don't seem so good, but there's a very real chance
that whoever wins this game could make it. Smart people
keep telling me that there could be change coming. Are
you buying it?
Speaker 1 (18:02):
No?
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Okay, no, because they're not bad organizations. That is something
that bad football organizations would do. That would be something
that would be rash. It would be emotional, it would
be the behavior. And listen, I understand that in our
industry we are propped up by fans support, by fans
(18:25):
love of their favorite teams, by fans love of the
games that they watch on a regular basis, by fans
love of fantasy sports and sports gambling and all things
related to sports. Okay, so let me not sit here
and wag my finger at fans for fanning too hard.
But when ownership and organizations start to behave like their
fan bases do, that's when I feel you've lost the thread.
(18:49):
If Pittsburgh Steelers fans have been to the point, and
it has been for several years now, right Like I've
done games in Pittsburgh over the course of the last
ten years, and every time almost to a time that
I have gotten off the plane and gotten into my Uber.
No matter what the uber driver does or or starts
(19:11):
the conversation off by saying somehow, we always end up,
even without knowing that I work in sports, talking about
what a disappointment Mike Tomlin is with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
So this is an ongoing thing.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
And if you haven't won a playoff game since twenty
seventeen and you're the Pittsburgh Steelers, then yeah, that's below
your standard.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
You're allowed to be pissed about that.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Your standard is a higher standard than the vast majority
of other NFL organizations.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
But that's not the.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Way that I want their organ That's not the way
that ownership should react. I don't think that Steve Bashatti
and the Rooney family are gonna look at this and
be like, Eh, John Harbaugh couldn't get to Todd Munkin
fast enough to tell him to just run the damn
ball with the two hundred and fifty pound running back.
That guy, after what has been eighteen years for Harbaugh
and Baltimore.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
That guy's got to go. He's lost the threat.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
He doesn't know how to coach anymore, he doesn't know
how to lead anymore. He doesn't know how to win anymore.
It's nonsense. Mike Tomlin has held so much, so many
worst rosters together with basically toothpicks and thread to get
to the Steelers to the playoffs on a regular basis,
And right now he's doing it with a forty two
year old quarterback that has some level of limitations, and
(20:20):
he's doing it without his star receiver. And yeah, they
slipped up against the Pittsburgh or excuse me, against the
Cleveland Browns over the weekend, and now the division is
up for grabs at the end. But this is the
way that the AFC North always feels, whether they're good
and they're the best division in football, or whether they're
one of the worst, as they are this year. Firing
or getting anywhere close to the idea of firing Mike
(20:41):
Tomlin and John Harball would be some of the most
short sighted nonsense you'd ever seen an NFL organization consider,
And I don't even think it's a thought for them.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
And I think so much of the Steelers. Look, I
guess just comes down to quarterbacks, right, because there's this
spot for me where look Roethlisberger about out in January
of twenty twenty two. Okay, so if you look at
January twenty twenty two is when Roethlisberger retired according to AI,
(21:14):
so we're talking about after the twenty one season. I
just looked it back up. So if you look at
twenty twenty two, that year the Steelers drafted Kenny Pickett, right,
he was the first quarterback selected that year. There wasn't
a quarterback worth a damn that year. So the following year,
there wasn't a quarterback that was going to be available
to them anyway. There wasn't a quarterback that they were
anywhere in range of drafting. In twenty twenty four, there
(21:37):
wasn't a quarterback that was going to be available to
them at all in range of drafting. And frankly, as
has been well covered, Caleb, Jayden, Drake, the three Stars
in that there was nothing anybody could do to move
up to those top three. They were going to be there.
So really weirdly, this entire Pittsburgh Steelers conversation of underperforming
comes down to the quarterback. For me, they don't have
(21:58):
a permanent answer at the quarterbacks position. So this all
comes down to Jackson Dart. And I mean that because
Jackson Dart is the only quarterback that has been available
for the Pittsburgh Steelers to draft over the course of
the last three years that they passed on that may
look like he's okay. So I guess if you're a
Steelers fan and you look at it and say, well,
(22:19):
Jackson Dart, Tyler Shuck last year were available, they should
have drafted one of those guys, all right, does that
change the fortunes of the entire organization? Like, because what
I hear guys on first Take tell me all the
time is to get you know, Tomlin needs go get
a quarterback, Go get a quarterback. Well, how instead of
telling me go get a quarterback, tell me specifically what
(22:39):
quarterback was available to them that they missed on or
what quarterback was traded for that they could have traded
equal equity for. Like we sit here with this straw
man argument about quarterbacks without acknowledging that it's not like
a quarterback is just there to be selected all the time.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
Hey, you know what organization does that for all the
good it's done him?
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Think about this, FITZI, And I'll give you one guess,
because I don't want to spend too much time spinner
of wheels here, and I know we have a sports
update to get to, But think about the one organization
that just goes and gets a quarterback. It seems, almost
on an annual basis to try and duct tape their
way through an NFL regular season.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
I'll give you a hint, and it's an AFC team.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
The Colts.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
It's the Colts for all the good the Colts have
done with Matt Ryan and Nick Falls and listen COVID
Philip Rivers and even this Philip Rivers at forty four
years old, like, you could do a lot worse. I
get what you're saying, But Anthony Richards and Daniel Jones,
I mean, the list goes on and on and on
and on. Chris Ballard has one playoff win as the
general manager of the Indianapolis Colts, and I think nine
(23:42):
seasons that he's been there. Going and getting a quarterback
just for the sake of going and getting a quarterback
is not a solution. It's not a plan, it's not
a strategy, it's not go indicative of long term success.
What Mike Tomlin brings is an adult in the room
stability that allows you to navigate so many different complicated
situations while still being highly competitive. Even if you're not
(24:06):
winning the championship year in and year out. At least
he's giving you an opportunity to be in the dance.
I just I get why Steelers fans won't accept it
as an argument. I like that Steelers fans won't accept
it as an argument because I like a fan base
with high standard, But it is. At the end of
the day, you have to be realistic about everything else
that's out there, and it's not nearly as good.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
What if the Steelers have the coaching equivalent of Roethlisberger
and they're about to get hit by it. I'll explain
what I mean, but first Steve Desager has to give
us the update. What's going on the scoreboard right now?
Speaker 7 (24:36):
Steve, it's including the Alamo Bowl going on and USC
starts the fourth quarter with the lead against TCU twenty
one fourteen. Illinois edge Tennessee thirty to twenty eight on
a short field goal final play to win the Music
City Bowl. Today in Shreveport, Louisiana, Tech took the Independence
Bowl over Coastal Carolina twenty three to fourteen. Plenty more
(24:57):
games tomorrow and Miami will play number two Ohio State
on New Year's Eve at the Cotton Bowl quarterfinal. Texas
Tech quarterback Baron Morton has practiced fully this month. He's
out of a walking boot. He'd injured his leg two
and a half months ago. Texas Tech faces Oregon in
the Orange Bowl quarterfinal on New Year's Day. Alabama sophomore
wide receiver Ryan Williams does plan to return to the
(25:18):
team next season. He turns nineteen in February. Northwestern's new
offensive coordinator is Chip Kelly, and the new defensive coordinator
at Boston College is Ted Rufe. The Dallas Cowboys cut
veteran defensive back Trayvon Diggs. He's battled knee injuries the
past two years. Patriots wide receiver Stefan Diggs faces a
felony strangulation charge after an incident earlier this month. He's
(25:41):
also charged with misdemeanor assault. The Steelers are optimistic the
pass rusher TJ. Watt can play in Sunday Nights Finale.
Pittsburgh tight end Darnell Washington had surgery on his broken arm.
Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield was limited at practice shoulder
and knee injuries. The problem missing forty nine Ers practice today,
where Christian McCay, Affrey, Kyle Uschek, and Trent Williams each
(26:03):
due to injuries. Drew Brees and Eli Manning are among
the fifteen Hall of Fame finalists. Also on the list
Frank Gore, Larry Fitzgerald, Adam Vinatieri, also Jason Witton, Reggie,
Wayne Luke, Keikley and others are finalists in the NBA
just four games. Tonight, Philadelphia in overtime one at Memphis
one thirty nine, one thirty six despite forty points from
(26:25):
John Morant thirty point thirty four points each and victory
for Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxiwalls, who had twelve assists
no turnovers. Boston is now twenty and twelve after a
victory at you to one twenty nine, one to nineteen
Keyante George of the Jazz thirty seven points. Currently two
games going on in LA. Pistons lead the Lakers mid
(26:48):
second quarter fifty one forty two. Detroit still shooting sixty
eight percent from the floor late first quarter at the
Clippers Arena clips twenty eight eighteen over a Sacramento team.
It is eight and twenty four this year. Denver Nuggets
starred Nicola Jokic will miss at least a month with
a hyper extended knee, and men's basketball number twelve. North
Carolina won its conference opener against Florida State seventy nine
(27:12):
to sixty six final second seventh rank. Gonzaga holding on
at San Diego ninety eight to ninety three, thirteenth rank
Nebraska was only up three at the half, but then
put away New Hampshire eighty six fifty five sixteenth raight
Louisville when it's acc opener at Cal ninety to seventy.
In the NHL, Montreal at overtime winner at Florida three two.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Back to you, he's bug rising on Jason Fitz for
hanging out tonight with you on Fox Sports Radio. If
you missed any of today's show, got to catch the pod.
Just search Jason Smith and Mike Harmon, who were in
for wherever he gets your podcast. Right after the show,
today's pot will be posted. Be sure to follow it
rate five stars. You can even give us a review. Again.
Just search Jason Smith and Mike Harmon wherever you get
(27:53):
your pods and you'll find today's full show and a
best of version posted right after the end of the show.
Hear me out. I think a lot of fans look
at organizations like the Packers that just find a quarterback
every single time, and everything is always coming up roses
and it's going to be great, right, And that's just
what you presume is going to happen. You're just going
to find another quarterback, and that's the way the Steelers
(28:14):
have been with the head coach for a long time
because they've replaced a Hall of Famer with the Hall
of Famer with the Hall of Famer. So the concept
is we're always just going to be able to find
another coach. But I mean, we got to go back.
And this is where Steelers fans talk about the fact
that they only won one super Bowl with Big Ben
and how is it possible that with those stars they
only won one super Bowl without acknowledging that, Like you
(28:35):
were up against Brady and Belichick, Like, you know, your
your moment was just a little overshadowed by a moment
that was just better. Sometimes there's a better dynastic team
out there, even.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
If you were raining sprinkled in between.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
One hundred percent. So like, you know, Big Ben went
out and had this amazing career. At the same time,
it's like we're going to always have to couch the
conversation of greatness with Lamar and Josh Allen and Joe
Burrow and all those guys and what they do against
Patrick Mahomes, Like sometimes it's just different. So my concern
that I don't think Steelers fans are acknowledging is that
(29:09):
just like they found out, it's almost impossible in the
modern NFL to just find another quarterback. I mean, think
about it. The Steelers. The Steelers fan base was certain
when Kenny Pickett was drafted Pittsburgh kid, same thing, It's
all gonna be fine. Look at this, we found our guy.
This is what every fanbase does. And what if they
get Rothlessburger at the head coach position, like you get
(29:34):
rid of Tomlin and you suddenly find out, Wow, it's
not that easy to replace a Tomlin. And this is
where everybody will say, well, we just need to suck
for a minute, and if we suck, then we'll get
a quarterback and everything will be okay. And I keep
screaming at the top of my lungs, like history doesn't
show that anything helps you rebound quickly when you are
that bad. So I think everyone's sort of lost perspective
(29:55):
on what happens if you don't have that next coach
in waiting to come and is a Mike Tomlin. And
in the modern NFL, man more new hires are wrong
than right. It's you. You just covered Brian Callahan, who
lasted a year with the Titans, a year with the Titans,
and you got it. In that situation, you had a
(30:16):
coach that people seem to like the hire of with
the first pick overall in the draft, and what did
the Titans have to show for it? Nothing? Nothing. And
so like I think Steelers fans don't realize that, just
like Roethlisberger was impossible to replace, maybe Tomlin is too.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Oh. It's one of those things where.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
I think that there is just such a lot of
bad coaching relative to the guys who are actually capable
of doing the job. So let's just say, let's take
this year's cycle, for example, and we don't know where
I'm I'm assuming.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
That the Raiders are going to be a job that's
open fitsy.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
I don't know, Yeah, I think, I think. I think
Pete Carroll's gone. Everything I've heard from people in the no,
Pee Carroll's gone.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
So we'll see what ends up happening in Vegas. But
right now, let's just assume that there's three jobs that
are available to be had if everybody else decides. Now,
Zach Taylor, you can stay, and Mike McDaniel you can stay.
And no, I don't know, Jonathan Gannon, maybe you go,
Maybe you stay. Whatever Arizona. Maybe if the Steelers decide, okay,
(31:22):
let's move.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
On from Mike Tomlin.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
Are Steelers fans going to be so much more excited
about the idea of hiring I don't know who's the
best candidate to be hired right now? Is it Matt Naggy,
the Chiefs offensive coordinator who doesn't call plays? Is it
Robert Salah, the failed coach of the New York Jets,
who's yeah? I mean maybe you say, well, you had
Zach Wilson and Petulan Aaron Rodgers. Okay, what's he going
(31:47):
to do in Pittsburgh without a corner pack?
Speaker 1 (31:49):
And in a.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Similar situation, is it Clint Kobiak, who as a Seahawks
offensive coordinator may end up being you know what, like
that's just Brian had two point zero to me in
the sense of not that he'd be a flame out
as a as an NFL head coach. I have no idea,
But it's an offensive minded guy whose family has been
in football their entire existence, who he himself is a
(32:12):
football lifer.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
And yes, maybe he.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
Is going to be good at doing the kind of
things that his dad did, for example, right because Gary
Kubiak was a good NFL head coach for a period
of time in multiple different places, but it doesn't guarantee
that Clint will be able to handle all the different
ins and outs of what that job is, especially if
he wants to call plays on top of it. In
year one, if the Steelers fire Mike Tomlin, who the
(32:38):
hell are you going to hire? And not even just generally,
but this year specifically, how much better can you really do?
Speaker 2 (32:48):
There is also this element of how desira I'm sorry,
Steelers fans, I'm not picking on you, it sounds like
I am if you are one of those jobs that
you just mentioned, how desirable is the job knowing that
you have no clear path to a quarterback? I just
we come back to the oversimplification last year that Ben
Johnson looked around the entire landscape of the NFL and
(33:10):
everybody wanted to talk to Ben Johnson. And what did
Ben Johnson do? He picked a job with a quarterback.
Glory be to God that suddenly worked out. Mike Vrabel
is getting all sorts of love from being Coach of
the Year, but look, I mean, at the end of
the day, he also took a job that had a
quarterback that was easy to believe in, that was young,
that was there. Liam Cohen is doing a really good
(33:32):
job in Jacksonville. And I don't know that Trevor Lawrence
is truly elite, but I do know that there are
a lot of people around the league that love him,
think he's a very good quarterback. Harbaugh has had success
with the Chargers. What do you know had a quarterback?
If you are Robert Salah, if you are Clint Koobiak,
if you are anybody that's had a job before. By
the way, like we'll go with the solas of this,
(33:54):
the second time head coaches, you rarely get a third shot.
Why the hell would you take a job that has
a forty two year old quarterback that you have no
idea what the future path is to getting that position handled.
I don't care about the legacy and the brand of
the Steelers. I don't care about the stability of the organization.
If I'm a coach and I can pick all of
my jobs, why am I picking the one that doesn't
(34:15):
have a quarterback. I just I don't think that people
put enough weight into what that means for people that
are looking at the job.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
It's almost a crazy thing to say, but I don't know.
I don't know if it's not true. Would the Steelers
be the worst spot for a coach if it was
to come up, I mean no, it would be the Raiders.
The Raiders are with all due respect to your beloved
Las Vegas Raiders, FITZI, I mean, I don't even know
where to start there, other than pray to God that
(34:46):
you don't play yourself out of the number one overall
draft pick, and Fernando Mendoza, here we go.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
I hear you, and you are right that the Raiders
are not particularly desirable for a lot of reasons. They
do have the second most cap space at one hundred
and ten million dollars, will have the first pick in
the draft. So if you love it, like, if the
Raiders don't get the first pick in the draft, they
are the least desirable job. If they get the first
pick in the draft and somebody loves one of these quarterbacks,
then suddenly it looks much different. I want to keep
(35:14):
going here because I think your point about who's available
is important. Because also history shows you that the hiring
cycles are mostly bad. I'll tell you why when we
come back, Buck Rising, Jason Fitz Buckingfits hanging out with
you on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 6 (35:29):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
So Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon on Fox Sports Radio.
So bucking Fits takeover. Though he's Buck Rising, I'm Jason Fitz.
Here's the thing. Everybody wants their coach fired. And I
do mean everybody, Like I know Bills fans that want
their coaches fired. I know Colts fans that want Shane
Steike and fired. I know Steelers fans and we've been
talking about Ravens fans want their coach fired. Like you
(35:57):
just go up and down the list. Everybody that's not
winning the Super Bowl is at some level it feels
like convinced that their coach needs to go. And that's
the problem. So I did this little exercise, buck all right.
I took a look at some of the rankings because
I love it when we rank, and we're gonna do
this this year. It's the most asinine thing that we do.
I don't know, draft grades might be the most ASONI
because who knows, but ranking the head coaching hires in
(36:18):
twenty twenty two just a few short years ago.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
Right.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
If you look at the ranking of the coaching hires,
Number one was Mike McDaniel, who, by the way, hasn't
won anything at a level that would prevent him from
being fired if the line in the sand for the
Steelers remains where it is and is on the hot seat.
Number two Kevin O'Connell. I think we can agree he's
done a good job. Number three was Brian Dable, already fired,
then Doug Peterson already fired, Todd Bowles hot seat, Josh
(36:42):
McDaniel's already fired, Matt Eberflus already fired, Dennis Allen already fired,
Lovey Smith already fired, and Nathaniel Hackett already fired. Maybe
you're saying twenty two was just a weird year. Well,
how about the rankings of the twenty three head coaching hires,
where I tell you Shane Steichen was number one. He's
done a pretty good job considering theation. Tamiko Ryan's number two,
He's done a very good job. Frank Reich already fired,
(37:05):
Jonathan Gannon likely to be fired after that.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
He didn't even make it through his first season there.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
One hundred Sean Payton also done a very good job,
So that's not bad.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Well, let's let's just get.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
One morning here here, tie breaking year every head coach
hired in twenty twenty four, Dan Quinn. Let's see how
that goes. You could argue, hot seat, Brian Callahan already fired,
Jrod Mayo, already fired, Raheem Morris, hot seat, Antonio Pierce
already fired. Harbaugh done a very good job with the Chargers,
of course, Mike McDonald's done a good job with the Seahawks,
(37:40):
and Dave Canal is doing a good job with the Panthers.
You look across the board, most of these guys get
canned within like two years. They get canned. It's wild, like,
That's why to me, when you look at coaches that
have been there for six years, eight years, ten years,
eighteen years, that means something to me because once you
start the revolving door, you never know where it ends.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
Oh my god, I mean, I'm witnessing it in real time.
With Tennessee, this is this may be the most important
decision that they make since the Titans moved from Houston
and became the Titans formerly the Houston Oilers. This head
coaching higher because of all the implications around it, because
of cam Ward's future, because of the direction that the
franchises has taken from perpetual I mean there are perpetual
(38:27):
playoff contenders. Certainly, they were the best. They were one
of the best four AFC teams for a period of
time under Mike Vrabel and John Robinson and Ryan Tanneill
and Dereck Henry, like all these different things. And then
their owner makes a bunch of bad decisions and craters
them in a way that they just simply can't get
out from under. And the only I mean one of
the more egregious things, FITZI that I have seen of
(38:49):
late is this idea. And we may have talked about
this before on the National Show. I can't remember, but
it's it's worth bringing back here now the idea that
and I'll just take it to the to the team
that I cover here in Nashville, the Titans. They screwed
this thing up royally from the jump in twenty twenty
five when they fired Ran karth On the general manager
(39:10):
and brought back Brian Callahan as the head coach and
then brought in Mike Borganzi as a general manager to
kind of go through this wait and see type of
process with Brian Callahan, despite having the number one overall
pike at quarterback, which is the reason that you got
Mike Morganzi to take the job in the first place.
You just set cam Ward back because all of a sudden,
(39:31):
through six games, you're like this, this Callahan guy, Man,
I don't think he's getting the job done.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
He just lost to the Raiders.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
Nobody loses to the Raiders, but the Tennessee Titans lost
head to head in Las Vegas to the Raiders after
getting their only win of the season to that point
a fluke in Arizona. They set cam Ward back by
keeping that coach and then not really being in on
that coach so much so that they were comfortable firing
him six games into the season.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
And by the way, they were right.
Speaker 3 (39:58):
Mike McCoy is a better head coach than Brian Callahan is,
which is crazy. They have the ability to creator these
things so quickly with some of these decisions, and I
just don't know how they can't see that well.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
And that's I mean, the Bears were on the verge
of trying to creator Caleb. It wasn't that long ago
that nobody was really sure if Caleb Williams was going
to live up to the hype of Caleb Williams. And
then what do you know, You get Ben Johnson. The
problem is, in this hiring cycle, there isn't somebody as
sure as Ben Johnson, so suddenly all of this looks chaotic.
We'll keep breaking this down, plus what to expect from
(40:31):
a week full of college football coming next on Fox
Sports Radio.
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
That's right. It's a Buck and Fits takeover of the
Jason smithship with Mike Carmen hanging out with you on
Fox Sports Radio all night long. We have show controversy.
If you listen to this show every single Saturday, you know,
Buck and I are slightly different people, but we've been
friends for a long time. Despite our friendship and our
just ability to always be ourselves, I'm a little I'm
(00:26):
a little dumbfounded by what's happening right now. Bo producer Stort. Now,
I'm gonna need your opinion on this because let's peak
behind the curtain. Currently, Buck Rising is sitting in Nashville, Tennessee,
a city I lived in for over twenty years. But
I am sitting in Connecticut, where I've lived for the
majority of almost whatever seven eight years. Right, So we're
in different cities. So when we do radio, and this
(00:47):
is no big thing. Everybody's used to this now most
people aren't in the same city ever since COVID, that's
become the norm. So in order for us to be
able to communicate well while we do the show, we
always FaceTime. So we're on a FaceTime on a laptop
while we're on air. So Buck leaves during the last
commercial break to feed his cats. That's right, his cats,
(01:08):
which is already in and of itself a thing.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
I got one here, Leo.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I mean, okay, now he's lifting his cats up that
it's fine, but sits back down to get involved in
the second hour of the show, not only with a
cat in hand, and not only wearing hipster sunglasses, but
now he is added the hipster sunglasses.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
They're blue light glasses. I almost said a bad word
at you.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Okay, well I deserved it. But he has sat down, Bo.
This is where I need your expertise on this, because
I don't know. He has sat down in what looks
like a very fuzzy bathrobe with a crest on it
of some sort. Is it your initials on the crest?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Buck? Like?
Speaker 2 (01:47):
What do we okay, we're wearing a customized bathrobe while
we're on radio?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Is this? Bo? Is this norm? Like?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Do your other hosts show up for hour number two
in a bathrobe? Like there Will Ferrell and Wedding Craft.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
I mean, what do you think me, Alex and Steve
de Seger are wearing right now?
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Man? Yeah, yeah, that's right, that's right. You thought they
were against me.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Yeah, we're the last people in the building here. There's
there's no rules right now.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Hell yeah, let's go.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
You know, it's funny because I actually unlike unlike Buck Rising,
who has flat out refused Buck Rising, Indiana grad refusing
to go to the Rose Bowl because he just doesn't
feel like it. And when was pointed out that the
Fox Sports studios are in l A, I will I
will remind everybody, like I've been out in l A
doing Yahoo shows before, and I have I have made sure,
(02:42):
even if it was two in the morning, I have
made sure to come in and hang out in studio
with with the show staff. I think it's important, Like
everybody gets a chance to Barros.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Nobody wants to see you like that, get out of here.
Yea there in the morning and bothering people. When we
were doing the Fellows, I was in there two in
the more.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Right, nobody's wearing bathrooms bo I mean I'm not. I'm
just saying I didn't see it. Like it's got a
crest on it, he's got his initials on it, Like
who even owns a bathroom?
Speaker 3 (03:10):
It's with on it, my initials all right, want you
just sit down and take a lesson for a couple
of minutes, okay, cause I'm gonna tell you how I'm
gonna do radio if you and I are gonna do
radio in any former fashion for the foreseeable future, after
the hours of nine pm Central time. Okay, I'm in
my home at nine pm or I guess ten pm
(03:34):
Central time as it is right now ten oh four.
If you're hanging out with us across the country on
Fox Sports Radio. If I'm in my home past ten pm,
I'm gonna have my bathrobe on.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Okay. Now I'm not just wearing a bathrobe.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
I've got I've got my pajamas on under my bathrobe
at this point in time.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
And yes, I'm wearing blue.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Light glasses because I want to go to bed after
this at a reasonable hour. And if I sit there
and stare at you and let the blue light rays
just melt my brain for four hours, this isn't gonna
be good for anybody involved. So if I would like
to be refreshed, and I would like to be comfortable
as we do four hours of radio, if I would
like to be my best, then yet you're gonna have
to sit there on his FaceTime call and eat it
(04:14):
because I'm gonna wear my bathrobe. But it's not It's
not a custom monogram bathrobe. It is a bathrobe with
a monogram on it from the Congress Hall Hotel in
New Jersey, where I was so impressed with the bathrobes
that I went down to the gift store and I
bought one. Okay, that's all you need to know, Jason Fitzen.
I'm gonna do radio my bathroobe, no matter what I am.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
I am doing radio right now with some weird combination
of the dude from Big Lebowski and Will Ferrell from
Wedding Crashers. And I don't know how to feel about
any of this bo Have you ever gone into it?
Have you ever gone to a hotel and actually bought
the bathrobe? Like I mean, I'm so flumoxed by this.
Like I look at general rule. I stayed in a
(04:57):
lot of hotels in my life, touring music in a
lot of hotels, never touched bathrooms, like you go one
of two ways when when you're in a bunch of hotels.
I know several guys that toured with that were just
immediately in the slippers in the bathroom, and several guys
that toured with that were like me. They were like,
I'm not touching anything. I don't have to touch bo
are you a gift store bathroom? Hotel guy?
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Last hotel I stayed at was at Disneyland, so they
got enough of my money, so I can cannot say
that I would have bought a bathroom or whatever. Do
that myself personally?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
I mean, but that's it, man. I bet you the
Disney ones are nice. Though those are probably plushed, they
probably have like Mickey ears. I mean, they're probably like
three hundred bucks.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Am I gonna sound ignorant if because I've never I
mean I've never as an adult been to Disney World
like I've been as somebody has taken me as a
small child to Disney World before. But obviously I'm not
paying for that. Is Disney expensive?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Oh my god?
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Yes, incredibly can It's incredibly so. The only the only
reason I go to Disneyland is because my wife works
for Disney and we're lucky enough to get passes where
we don't have to pay for him. Otherwise I would
never go. But it's even at this point if you
want to avoid waiting in line for fifteen minutes. You
have to pay to skip the line, so they niicol
and dime as much as they can. It is very expensive.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
So one of the perks when I worked at ESPN,
one of the perks that everybody talks about is that
they're an ABC Disney company, so you get free park
tickets buck and you get fifty percent off of hotels
on Disney property. But I one of my bosses for
many years who had multiple kids, was he had five kids.
It has five kids. He was absolutely stunned when he
(06:34):
went because not only is the hotel so expensive, but
then if you have to pay, like you have to
pay for certain park like linehopper passes basically if you
even want to get into line for certain rides, and
then you have to pay for other passes when you
have to get into lines for other rides. You can
literally go to Disney for three days you and spend
as much money as it would take with all of
(06:55):
those discounts as it would cost to go to Mexico
for two weeks. It's that expensive. It is thousands of
dollars for a few days at Disney. If you're an adult,
like it's it's wild the cost of eating in the parks,
the cost of every ride that you like, you want
to go on, whatever the Star Wars ride is, you
got to pay an extra cost above and beyond everything
(07:16):
else just to get into that line at a certain time,
like it is its own.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Just you know, just I would tell you avoid it,
avoid it and avoided at all costs, because it sounds.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Like my nightmare. I mean, I wouldn't go. I don't
have kids, so it's not like I would. I would
go just to enjoy Disneyland as an adult. I mean,
I'm sure people do that, and I don't want to
disparage them. If that's what you're doing, what you want
to do with your favor, with your free time, that's
that's fine by me. But I just I can't think
of something that sounds less like something I'd want to do.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
I have a lot of friends that are adults that
like to go to that like to go to Epcot
in Florida and drink around the world because they have
all the different countries. So it's like it's it's become
a very adult thing. But it is wildly expensive. I mean,
when you're boogie enough that you sit around and do
radio in a comfy robe though. I don't think you.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Get my crown. I'll go get my crown too. We
can do this.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
I'll do the whole thing, all right, I don't this
is the first time I'm on I'm on camera for
four hours a day normally. All right, if I can
sit here in the peace and quiet of my own
home and as comfortable accommodations as humanly possible, Hell, I'll
get up and get my crown right now.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Look, do you really want to you really want to
try and convince America that you don't usually do things
like you're on camera for hours to day. Is that
such a high brow product that he is now literally
put on a crown. I did this, but bo I
did this to the entire show. I don't know what
we've accomplished in this segment. O, I've got a co
host with a crown and a robe on. I don't
(08:46):
I did this. I did this. We there.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Certainly there's some terrible radio because you're just describing something
nobody else can see.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
Yeah, I mean, if it makes you feel any better,
this is really the same exact thing that would be
happening in this timeslot normally.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
So now the joke's on on Buck though, because I
literally just took a picture of him laughing and I'm
not going to post it on social media in a
robe of a crown just so everybody can see it.
Not that he'll ever care. See, that's the thing. This
is more content for him. We love, this is this
is what?
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Who are we supposed to talk about it here?
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I don't know. I was so I was so dumbfounded
when you sat down on what looks like a very fuzzy,
fuzzy comfy robe and like, I just I'm a redneck.
They gotten, Uh, we should talk about something related to sports.
I think, you know, probably I was going to talk
about the meltdown of the Steelers. Do you want to
talk about the meltdown and the Steelers?
Speaker 5 (09:40):
That?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Look, I will say over the weekend.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
The Sunday result that just still sticks in my head
that I think is absolutely inexcusable is watching the Steelers
lose to the Browns and be that inapt in the
with that much on the line, like we are in
this loser Leaves Town eighties wrestling sort of thing, like
whoever loses between the Steelers and Ravens this weekend is
(10:05):
going to be eliminated from this entire thing. And I'm
just sitting here saying what we saw Sunday was a
true reminder of what our takeaway should be for the
Steelers this year. They're not a good football team. I
really don't give a damn if they go to the playoffs.
They're not a good football team. And if you're a
Steelers fan, you know it. And I even think Steelers
fans are living their worst nightmare because you're gonna go
to the playoffs, which if you win, which is going
(10:28):
to justify yet again not really blowing everything up, and
you're gonna be frustrated as a Steelers fan because you
feel like you're stuck in mediocrity. But I'm going there
to tell you, I don't even think you're stuck in mediocrity.
I think you're just a slight level above suck. And
he got lucky with a bunch of teams that were
really bad in the division this year. I just don't
think the Steelers are any good and I think Sunday
they're reminded of that, that us of that.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Why is this year any different than the last couple
of years? Though?
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Because one of the weirdest anomalies. And I believe this
was pointed out on the broadcast. And forgive me, I
don't remember exact who was calling the game this past Sunday,
but the Steelers have lost at Cleveland four consecutive games
in Cleveland. I had to like double take on that.
I was like, surely that can't be right for a
(11:14):
franchise where for the period of time, where didn't Ben
Roethlisberger have some kind of insane statistic like he had
more wins as a starting quarterback at Cleveland brown Stadium
than any of the past like ten Cleveland Browns quarterbacks
or something ridiculous. I'm sure there's a more specific stat
that I'm failing to mention, but you understand my point.
(11:37):
Pittsburgh one they were at without DK Metcalf, for the
ridiculousness that is the DK Metcalf suspension. I'm sure there
are no there's no love lost being, no love being
lost in Baltimore over DK Metcalf being suspended for being
in some former fashion physical with a paying customer, which
is not the kind of thing that the NFL is
(11:58):
going to abide by. So they were clearly a different
offense without DK on the field. The other part of
this is, I don't know, how did you see the
shot that Miles Garrett took at them after the fact,
or Miles Garrett sits at twenty one sacks right now,
a half sack and he would tie the record. One
sack and he would break the all time single season
(12:19):
sack record.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Miles Garrett said.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
After the fact that he felt that the Steelers were
more focused on stopping him from getting to Aaron Rodgers
than they were outright winning the game, which to me
feels counterintuitive, because yes, in order to win the game,
your best chance to do so would be to try
and mitigate whatever it is that Miles Garrett is going
to try to do to you for sixty minutes of
football Steelers. Does the AFC North this year feel kind
(12:44):
of like the NFC South?
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Yeah, And the AFC North is pathetic and the AFC
North is bar.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Listen, I don't think they're pathetic. Do you just see
what Derek Henry did the other night?
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Like, I'm not putting anything that can do that, not
just because I'm biased and I enjoyed there and I
enjoyed covering him for eight years, but that.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Nothing about that performance was pathetic to make.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Look if the Ravens had been that week in and
week out, that might have been the exception. I stand
by the math that I did coming into the season
when I said that the Steelers would start hot and cold,
and then I've said I thought the Steelers would have
a losing record and miss the playoffs. I stand by
my math. What I didn't anticipate was that the Ravens
were gonna absolutely suck this year, right and they have
(13:27):
for much of the year. I didn't anticipate that, but
that's what it's how we get to where we are
right now. I want to keep breaking this down because
what do we do in a situation right now where
we've got two teams, two fan bases, the Ravens and
the Steelers, two of the most stable franchises in the
sport were both franchises, both fan bases are sitting here
saying we need change. What is a Saturday's matchup between
(13:50):
these two teams Sundays, I should say, matchup between these
two teams gonna do for the future of the Ravens
and the Steelers. We'll talk about it next these Buck
Rising I'm Jason fitzbucking fits it over on Fox Sports Radio.
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Speaker 2 (14:46):
This is a Jason Smith show with Mike Harmon bucking
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(15:09):
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(15:31):
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I've got one buck with me. He's Buck Rising. I'm
Jason Fitz. I'm trying to figure out what to make
of the loser of the Steelers versus the Ravens matchup,
and I think there's two different sort of sides to
all of this buck because Steelers fans, I have many
that I'm friends with, all want Tomlin fire because they
(15:53):
can't win playoff games and they're tired of what they
perceive as mediocrity. I know some Ravens fans that feel
the exact same way about Baltimore, and it's kind of
stunning to me because I'm a fan of just the
worst type of football team, a perennially bad football team.
I'm a fan of a football team that's had what
our thirteen coaches in the last fifteen years. I'm a
(16:13):
fan of the worst boss.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
To get over by the way the games lost. Thing
that you gave me?
Speaker 3 (16:19):
What was that Saturday when we were on the air
about the Raiders being basically the healthiest team in football
and still being that god awful.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Yeah, thank you so much. Yes, they have lost the
fewest games to injury of anyone in the NFL this
year and got two wins. So look like for me,
I am the first to admit that my own sort
of process, my own damage as a Raiders fan, is
(16:46):
part of why. To me, it's just asinine when you
think of anybody turning around and saying, oh my god,
you need to turn around and fire your coach. I
just look around and I think, okay, well, I mean,
if you're just looking at the Raiders history over the
last several years, and I realize that that is the
worst of the worst, it doesn't get worse than what
the Raiders had put on the field. But you know,
(17:08):
if you just look at since twenty ten, the Raiders
have had Tom Cable, Hugh Jackson, Dennis Allen, Tony Sperano,
Jack de Rio, John Gruden, Rich Pasacia, Josh McDaniels, Antonio Pierce,
and Pete Carroll. That's your head coaches in the last
fifteen years.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
So but Pete Carroll, things sounded good but it didn't
turn out.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Well, oh yeah, yeah, I can keep going further back too,
because I mean, if you want to go all the
way to the two thousands, then I had another John Gruden,
Bill Callahan, North Turner, Art Shell, and Lane Kiffin all
to that. So you're talking about over twenty years whatever,
fifteen coaches. So when I hear a Steelers fan say
we got to make change, I'm the one that sits
here and says, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Man.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
You can wake up one day and have Bill Callahan
as your head coach. You can wake up one day
and have Dennis Allen is your head coach. These things
don't seem so good, but there's a very real chance
that whoever wins this game could make it. Smart people
keep telling me that there could be change coming. Are
you buying it?
Speaker 1 (18:02):
No?
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Okay, no, because they're not bad organizations. That is something
that bad football organizations would do. That would be something
that would be rash. It would be emotional, it would
be the behavior. And listen, I understand that in our
industry we are propped up by fans support, by fans
(18:25):
love of their favorite teams, by fans love of the
games that they watch on a regular basis, by fans
love of fantasy sports and sports gambling and all things
related to sports. Okay, so let me not sit here
and wag my finger at fans for fanning too hard.
But when ownership and organizations start to behave like their
fan bases do, that's when I feel you've lost the thread.
(18:49):
If Pittsburgh Steelers fans have been to the point, and
it has been for several years now, right Like I've
done games in Pittsburgh over the course of the last
ten years, and every time almost to a time that
I have gotten off the plane and gotten into my Uber.
No matter what the uber driver does or or starts
(19:11):
the conversation off by saying somehow, we always end up,
even without knowing that I work in sports, talking about
what a disappointment Mike Tomlin is with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
So this is an ongoing thing.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
And if you haven't won a playoff game since twenty
seventeen and you're the Pittsburgh Steelers, then yeah, that's below
your standard.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
You're allowed to be pissed about that.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Your standard is a higher standard than the vast majority
of other NFL organizations.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
But that's not the.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Way that I want their organ That's not the way
that ownership should react. I don't think that Steve Bashatti
and the Rooney family are gonna look at this and
be like, Eh, John Harbaugh couldn't get to Todd Munkin
fast enough to tell him to just run the damn
ball with the two hundred and fifty pound running back.
That guy, after what has been eighteen years for Harbaugh
and Baltimore.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
That guy's got to go. He's lost the threat.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
He doesn't know how to coach anymore, he doesn't know
how to lead anymore. He doesn't know how to win anymore.
It's nonsense. Mike Tomlin has held so much, so many
worst rosters together with basically toothpicks and thread to get
to the Steelers to the playoffs on a regular basis,
And right now he's doing it with a forty two
year old quarterback that has some level of limitations, and
(20:20):
he's doing it without his star receiver. And yeah, they
slipped up against the Pittsburgh or excuse me, against the
Cleveland Browns over the weekend, and now the division is
up for grabs at the end. But this is the
way that the AFC North always feels, whether they're good
and they're the best division in football, or whether they're
one of the worst, as they are this year. Firing
or getting anywhere close to the idea of firing Mike
(20:41):
Tomlin and John Harball would be some of the most
short sighted nonsense you'd ever seen an NFL organization consider,
And I don't even think it's a thought for them.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
And I think so much of the Steelers. Look, I
guess just comes down to quarterbacks, right, because there's this
spot for me where look Roethlisberger about out in January
of twenty twenty two. Okay, so if you look at
January twenty twenty two is when Roethlisberger retired according to AI,
(21:14):
so we're talking about after the twenty one season. I
just looked it back up. So if you look at
twenty twenty two, that year the Steelers drafted Kenny Pickett, right,
he was the first quarterback selected that year. There wasn't
a quarterback worth a damn that year. So the following year,
there wasn't a quarterback that was going to be available
to them anyway. There wasn't a quarterback that they were
anywhere in range of drafting. In twenty twenty four, there
(21:37):
wasn't a quarterback that was going to be available to
them at all in range of drafting. And frankly, as
has been well covered, Caleb, Jayden, Drake, the three Stars
in that there was nothing anybody could do to move
up to those top three. They were going to be there.
So really weirdly, this entire Pittsburgh Steelers conversation of underperforming
comes down to the quarterback. For me, they don't have
(21:58):
a permanent answer at the quarterbacks position. So this all
comes down to Jackson Dart. And I mean that because
Jackson Dart is the only quarterback that has been available
for the Pittsburgh Steelers to draft over the course of
the last three years that they passed on that may
look like he's okay. So I guess if you're a
Steelers fan and you look at it and say, well,
(22:19):
Jackson Dart, Tyler Shuck last year were available, they should
have drafted one of those guys, all right, does that
change the fortunes of the entire organization? Like, because what
I hear guys on first Take tell me all the
time is to get you know, Tomlin needs go get
a quarterback, Go get a quarterback. Well, how instead of
telling me go get a quarterback, tell me specifically what
(22:39):
quarterback was available to them that they missed on or
what quarterback was traded for that they could have traded
equal equity for. Like we sit here with this straw
man argument about quarterbacks without acknowledging that it's not like
a quarterback is just there to be selected all the time.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
Hey, you know what organization does that for all the
good it's done him?
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Think about this, FITZI, And I'll give you one guess,
because I don't want to spend too much time spinner
of wheels here, and I know we have a sports
update to get to, But think about the one organization
that just goes and gets a quarterback. It seems, almost
on an annual basis to try and duct tape their
way through an NFL regular season.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
I'll give you a hint, and it's an AFC team.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
The Colts.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
It's the Colts for all the good the Colts have
done with Matt Ryan and Nick Falls and listen COVID
Philip Rivers and even this Philip Rivers at forty four
years old, like, you could do a lot worse. I
get what you're saying, But Anthony Richards and Daniel Jones,
I mean, the list goes on and on and on
and on. Chris Ballard has one playoff win as the
general manager of the Indianapolis Colts, and I think nine
(23:42):
seasons that he's been there. Going and getting a quarterback
just for the sake of going and getting a quarterback
is not a solution. It's not a plan, it's not
a strategy, it's not go indicative of long term success.
What Mike Tomlin brings is an adult in the room
stability that allows you to navigate so many different complicated
situations while still being highly competitive. Even if you're not
(24:06):
winning the championship year in and year out. At least
he's giving you an opportunity to be in the dance.
I just I get why Steelers fans won't accept it
as an argument. I like that Steelers fans won't accept
it as an argument because I like a fan base
with high standard, But it is. At the end of
the day, you have to be realistic about everything else
that's out there, and it's not nearly as good.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
What if the Steelers have the coaching equivalent of Roethlisberger
and they're about to get hit by it. I'll explain
what I mean, but first Steve Desager has to give
us the update. What's going on the scoreboard right now?
Speaker 7 (24:36):
Steve, it's including the Alamo Bowl going on and USC
starts the fourth quarter with the lead against TCU twenty
one fourteen. Illinois edge Tennessee thirty to twenty eight on
a short field goal final play to win the Music
City Bowl. Today in Shreveport, Louisiana, Tech took the Independence
Bowl over Coastal Carolina twenty three to fourteen. Plenty more
(24:57):
games tomorrow and Miami will play number two Ohio State
on New Year's Eve at the Cotton Bowl quarterfinal. Texas
Tech quarterback Baron Morton has practiced fully this month. He's
out of a walking boot. He'd injured his leg two
and a half months ago. Texas Tech faces Oregon in
the Orange Bowl quarterfinal on New Year's Day. Alabama sophomore
wide receiver Ryan Williams does plan to return to the
(25:18):
team next season. He turns nineteen in February. Northwestern's new
offensive coordinator is Chip Kelly, and the new defensive coordinator
at Boston College is Ted Rufe. The Dallas Cowboys cut
veteran defensive back Trayvon Diggs. He's battled knee injuries the
past two years. Patriots wide receiver Stefan Diggs faces a
felony strangulation charge after an incident earlier this month. He's
(25:41):
also charged with misdemeanor assault. The Steelers are optimistic the
pass rusher TJ. Watt can play in Sunday Nights Finale.
Pittsburgh tight end Darnell Washington had surgery on his broken arm.
Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield was limited at practice shoulder
and knee injuries. The problem missing forty nine Ers practice today,
where Christian McCay, Affrey, Kyle Uschek, and Trent Williams each
(26:03):
due to injuries. Drew Brees and Eli Manning are among
the fifteen Hall of Fame finalists. Also on the list
Frank Gore, Larry Fitzgerald, Adam Vinatieri, also Jason Witton, Reggie,
Wayne Luke, Keikley and others are finalists in the NBA
just four games. Tonight, Philadelphia in overtime one at Memphis
one thirty nine, one thirty six despite forty points from
(26:25):
John Morant thirty point thirty four points each and victory
for Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxiwalls, who had twelve assists
no turnovers. Boston is now twenty and twelve after a
victory at you to one twenty nine, one to nineteen
Keyante George of the Jazz thirty seven points. Currently two
games going on in LA. Pistons lead the Lakers mid
(26:48):
second quarter fifty one forty two. Detroit still shooting sixty
eight percent from the floor late first quarter at the
Clippers Arena clips twenty eight eighteen over a Sacramento team.
It is eight and twenty four this year. Denver Nuggets
starred Nicola Jokic will miss at least a month with
a hyper extended knee, and men's basketball number twelve. North
Carolina won its conference opener against Florida State seventy nine
(27:12):
to sixty six final second seventh rank. Gonzaga holding on
at San Diego ninety eight to ninety three, thirteenth rank
Nebraska was only up three at the half, but then
put away New Hampshire eighty six fifty five sixteenth raight
Louisville when it's acc opener at Cal ninety to seventy.
In the NHL, Montreal at overtime winner at Florida three two.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Back to you, he's bug rising on Jason Fitz for
hanging out tonight with you on Fox Sports Radio. If
you missed any of today's show, got to catch the pod.
Just search Jason Smith and Mike Harmon, who were in
for wherever he gets your podcast. Right after the show,
today's pot will be posted. Be sure to follow it
rate five stars. You can even give us a review. Again.
Just search Jason Smith and Mike Harmon wherever you get
(27:53):
your pods and you'll find today's full show and a
best of version posted right after the end of the show.
Hear me out. I think a lot of fans look
at organizations like the Packers that just find a quarterback
every single time, and everything is always coming up roses
and it's going to be great, right, And that's just
what you presume is going to happen. You're just going
to find another quarterback, and that's the way the Steelers
(28:14):
have been with the head coach for a long time
because they've replaced a Hall of Famer with the Hall
of Famer with the Hall of Famer. So the concept
is we're always just going to be able to find
another coach. But I mean, we got to go back.
And this is where Steelers fans talk about the fact
that they only won one super Bowl with Big Ben
and how is it possible that with those stars they
only won one super Bowl without acknowledging that, Like you
(28:35):
were up against Brady and Belichick, Like, you know, your
your moment was just a little overshadowed by a moment
that was just better. Sometimes there's a better dynastic team
out there, even.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
If you were raining sprinkled in between.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
One hundred percent. So like, you know, Big Ben went
out and had this amazing career. At the same time,
it's like we're going to always have to couch the
conversation of greatness with Lamar and Josh Allen and Joe
Burrow and all those guys and what they do against
Patrick Mahomes, Like sometimes it's just different. So my concern
that I don't think Steelers fans are acknowledging is that
(29:09):
just like they found out, it's almost impossible in the
modern NFL to just find another quarterback. I mean, think
about it. The Steelers. The Steelers fan base was certain
when Kenny Pickett was drafted Pittsburgh kid, same thing, It's
all gonna be fine. Look at this, we found our guy.
This is what every fanbase does. And what if they
get Rothlessburger at the head coach position, like you get
(29:34):
rid of Tomlin and you suddenly find out, Wow, it's
not that easy to replace a Tomlin. And this is
where everybody will say, well, we just need to suck
for a minute, and if we suck, then we'll get
a quarterback and everything will be okay. And I keep
screaming at the top of my lungs, like history doesn't
show that anything helps you rebound quickly when you are
that bad. So I think everyone's sort of lost perspective
(29:55):
on what happens if you don't have that next coach
in waiting to come and is a Mike Tomlin. And
in the modern NFL, man more new hires are wrong
than right. It's you. You just covered Brian Callahan, who
lasted a year with the Titans, a year with the Titans,
and you got it. In that situation, you had a
(30:16):
coach that people seem to like the hire of with
the first pick overall in the draft, and what did
the Titans have to show for it? Nothing? Nothing. And
so like I think Steelers fans don't realize that, just
like Roethlisberger was impossible to replace, maybe Tomlin is too.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Oh. It's one of those things where.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
I think that there is just such a lot of
bad coaching relative to the guys who are actually capable
of doing the job. So let's just say, let's take
this year's cycle, for example, and we don't know where
I'm I'm assuming.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
That the Raiders are going to be a job that's
open fitsy.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
I don't know, Yeah, I think, I think. I think
Pete Carroll's gone. Everything I've heard from people in the no,
Pee Carroll's gone.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
So we'll see what ends up happening in Vegas. But
right now, let's just assume that there's three jobs that
are available to be had if everybody else decides. Now,
Zach Taylor, you can stay, and Mike McDaniel you can stay.
And no, I don't know, Jonathan Gannon, maybe you go,
Maybe you stay. Whatever Arizona. Maybe if the Steelers decide, okay,
(31:22):
let's move.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
On from Mike Tomlin.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
Are Steelers fans going to be so much more excited
about the idea of hiring I don't know who's the
best candidate to be hired right now? Is it Matt Naggy,
the Chiefs offensive coordinator who doesn't call plays? Is it
Robert Salah, the failed coach of the New York Jets,
who's yeah? I mean maybe you say, well, you had
Zach Wilson and Petulan Aaron Rodgers. Okay, what's he going
(31:47):
to do in Pittsburgh without a corner pack?
Speaker 1 (31:49):
And in a.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Similar situation, is it Clint Kobiak, who as a Seahawks
offensive coordinator may end up being you know what, like
that's just Brian had two point zero to me in
the sense of not that he'd be a flame out
as a as an NFL head coach. I have no idea,
But it's an offensive minded guy whose family has been
in football their entire existence, who he himself is a
(32:12):
football lifer.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
And yes, maybe he.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
Is going to be good at doing the kind of
things that his dad did, for example, right because Gary
Kubiak was a good NFL head coach for a period
of time in multiple different places, but it doesn't guarantee
that Clint will be able to handle all the different
ins and outs of what that job is, especially if
he wants to call plays on top of it. In
year one, if the Steelers fire Mike Tomlin, who the
(32:38):
hell are you going to hire? And not even just generally,
but this year specifically, how much better can you really do?
Speaker 2 (32:48):
There is also this element of how desira I'm sorry,
Steelers fans, I'm not picking on you, it sounds like
I am if you are one of those jobs that
you just mentioned, how desirable is the job knowing that
you have no clear path to a quarterback? I just
we come back to the oversimplification last year that Ben
Johnson looked around the entire landscape of the NFL and
(33:10):
everybody wanted to talk to Ben Johnson. And what did
Ben Johnson do? He picked a job with a quarterback.
Glory be to God that suddenly worked out. Mike Vrabel
is getting all sorts of love from being Coach of
the Year, but look, I mean, at the end of
the day, he also took a job that had a
quarterback that was easy to believe in, that was young,
that was there. Liam Cohen is doing a really good
(33:32):
job in Jacksonville. And I don't know that Trevor Lawrence
is truly elite, but I do know that there are
a lot of people around the league that love him,
think he's a very good quarterback. Harbaugh has had success
with the Chargers. What do you know had a quarterback?
If you are Robert Salah, if you are Clint Koobiak,
if you are anybody that's had a job before. By
the way, like we'll go with the solas of this,
(33:54):
the second time head coaches, you rarely get a third shot.
Why the hell would you take a job that has
a forty two year old quarterback that you have no
idea what the future path is to getting that position handled.
I don't care about the legacy and the brand of
the Steelers. I don't care about the stability of the organization.
If I'm a coach and I can pick all of
my jobs, why am I picking the one that doesn't
(34:15):
have a quarterback. I just I don't think that people
put enough weight into what that means for people that
are looking at the job.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
It's almost a crazy thing to say, but I don't know.
I don't know if it's not true. Would the Steelers
be the worst spot for a coach if it was
to come up, I mean no, it would be the Raiders.
The Raiders are with all due respect to your beloved
Las Vegas Raiders, FITZI, I mean, I don't even know
where to start there, other than pray to God that
(34:46):
you don't play yourself out of the number one overall
draft pick, and Fernando Mendoza, here we go.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
I hear you, and you are right that the Raiders
are not particularly desirable for a lot of reasons. They
do have the second most cap space at one hundred
and ten million dollars, will have the first pick in
the draft. So if you love it, like, if the
Raiders don't get the first pick in the draft, they
are the least desirable job. If they get the first
pick in the draft and somebody loves one of these quarterbacks,
then suddenly it looks much different. I want to keep
(35:14):
going here because I think your point about who's available
is important. Because also history shows you that the hiring
cycles are mostly bad. I'll tell you why when we
come back, Buck Rising, Jason Fitz Buckingfits hanging out with
you on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 6 (35:29):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
So Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon on Fox Sports Radio.
So bucking Fits takeover. Though he's Buck Rising, I'm Jason Fitz.
Here's the thing. Everybody wants their coach fired. And I
do mean everybody, Like I know Bills fans that want
their coaches fired. I know Colts fans that want Shane
Steike and fired. I know Steelers fans and we've been
talking about Ravens fans want their coach fired. Like you
(35:57):
just go up and down the list. Everybody that's not
winning the Super Bowl is at some level it feels
like convinced that their coach needs to go. And that's
the problem. So I did this little exercise, buck all right.
I took a look at some of the rankings because
I love it when we rank, and we're gonna do
this this year. It's the most asinine thing that we do.
I don't know, draft grades might be the most ASONI
because who knows, but ranking the head coaching hires in
(36:18):
twenty twenty two just a few short years ago.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
Right.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
If you look at the ranking of the coaching hires,
Number one was Mike McDaniel, who, by the way, hasn't
won anything at a level that would prevent him from
being fired if the line in the sand for the
Steelers remains where it is and is on the hot seat.
Number two Kevin O'Connell. I think we can agree he's
done a good job. Number three was Brian Dable, already fired,
then Doug Peterson already fired, Todd Bowles hot seat, Josh
(36:42):
McDaniel's already fired, Matt Eberflus already fired, Dennis Allen already fired,
Lovey Smith already fired, and Nathaniel Hackett already fired. Maybe
you're saying twenty two was just a weird year. Well,
how about the rankings of the twenty three head coaching hires,
where I tell you Shane Steichen was number one. He's
done a pretty good job considering theation. Tamiko Ryan's number two,
He's done a very good job. Frank Reich already fired,
(37:05):
Jonathan Gannon likely to be fired after that.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
He didn't even make it through his first season there.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
One hundred Sean Payton also done a very good job,
So that's not bad.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Well, let's let's just get.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
One morning here here, tie breaking year every head coach
hired in twenty twenty four, Dan Quinn. Let's see how
that goes. You could argue, hot seat, Brian Callahan already fired,
Jrod Mayo, already fired, Raheem Morris, hot seat, Antonio Pierce
already fired. Harbaugh done a very good job with the Chargers,
of course, Mike McDonald's done a good job with the Seahawks,
(37:40):
and Dave Canal is doing a good job with the Panthers.
You look across the board, most of these guys get
canned within like two years. They get canned. It's wild, like,
That's why to me, when you look at coaches that
have been there for six years, eight years, ten years,
eighteen years, that means something to me because once you
start the revolving door, you never know where it ends.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
Oh my god, I mean, I'm witnessing it in real time.
With Tennessee, this is this may be the most important
decision that they make since the Titans moved from Houston
and became the Titans formerly the Houston Oilers. This head
coaching higher because of all the implications around it, because
of cam Ward's future, because of the direction that the
franchises has taken from perpetual I mean there are perpetual
(38:27):
playoff contenders. Certainly, they were the best. They were one
of the best four AFC teams for a period of
time under Mike Vrabel and John Robinson and Ryan Tanneill
and Dereck Henry, like all these different things. And then
their owner makes a bunch of bad decisions and craters
them in a way that they just simply can't get
out from under. And the only I mean one of
the more egregious things, FITZI that I have seen of
(38:49):
late is this idea. And we may have talked about
this before on the National Show. I can't remember, but
it's it's worth bringing back here now the idea that
and I'll just take it to the to the team
that I cover here in Nashville, the Titans. They screwed
this thing up royally from the jump in twenty twenty
five when they fired Ran karth On the general manager
(39:10):
and brought back Brian Callahan as the head coach and
then brought in Mike Borganzi as a general manager to
kind of go through this wait and see type of
process with Brian Callahan, despite having the number one overall
pike at quarterback, which is the reason that you got
Mike Morganzi to take the job in the first place.
You just set cam Ward back because all of a sudden,
(39:31):
through six games, you're like this, this Callahan guy, Man,
I don't think he's getting the job done.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
He just lost to the Raiders.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
Nobody loses to the Raiders, but the Tennessee Titans lost
head to head in Las Vegas to the Raiders after
getting their only win of the season to that point
a fluke in Arizona. They set cam Ward back by
keeping that coach and then not really being in on
that coach so much so that they were comfortable firing
him six games into the season.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
And by the way, they were right.
Speaker 3 (39:58):
Mike McCoy is a better head coach than Brian Callahan is,
which is crazy. They have the ability to creator these
things so quickly with some of these decisions, and I
just don't know how they can't see that well.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
And that's I mean, the Bears were on the verge
of trying to creator Caleb. It wasn't that long ago
that nobody was really sure if Caleb Williams was going
to live up to the hype of Caleb Williams. And
then what do you know, You get Ben Johnson. The
problem is, in this hiring cycle, there isn't somebody as
sure as Ben Johnson, so suddenly all of this looks chaotic.
We'll keep breaking this down, plus what to expect from
(40:31):
a week full of college football coming next on Fox
Sports Radio.
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Mike Harmon
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