January 15, 2026 • 47 mins
Mark is joined by John Steigerwald in his return to the show. Michel Therrien, ex Penguins coach, talks about his epic rant 20 years ago. ASK MARK ANYTHING!
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Yeah, I'm gonna keep in the family. Joining me now
in studio. One of the greatest personalities ever in Pittsburgh
sports media. A pleasure to welcome back after a stint
at another station doing his own thing. Oh yeah, he
is the king of old school John Steigerwaldstaggy. Was it
time for Mike Tomon to go after nine years without
(00:26):
a playoff win? Maybe was past due?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Uh yeah, I think he should have gone a couple
of years ago. At least. I said a while back
that he wasn't gonna get fired, he was gonna quit.
And I was right about that. I mean I said
it six seven, eight weeks ago, and you can't. There's
no way you can fire a guy if he wins
the division championship. There's not gonna fire him. They're just not.
(00:51):
So he won the division championship, he was not and
Art Rooney said it yesterday. He's not. He wasn't gonna
fire him. He was not leaving unless he left on
his own. He was smart to do it. Because here's
the thing. I don't hear too many people talking about.
This is huge. I think the draft is here, okay,
on nauseum, it's here, Okay, it's it's one of the
(01:11):
most overrated events in the history of the human race.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
And will even be more so here, more height, more
just unbearable. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
But here's the thing. The Steelers are going to be
so much in the focus, not just nationally but everything
for hum. I mean, they've already got a countdown going.
It's it's five months from now. Whatever it is that
they are, they are not. The last thing the Steelers
needed was to have a big controversy about the coach
(01:39):
where people going to be chanting fire Tomlin at the draft.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
They couldn't have that. He couldn't be here, right. You
know what they should chant now is tank for arch. Yah,
let's let's go. Let's go three and fourteen to get
Arch manning. No, no, I I agree with that, And
it was a unique situation. See, I know they couldn't,
but I still would have fired him and he'd not
quit because I know he just won the division, but
no playoff wins in nine years and getting double figured
(02:03):
in the last five playoff defeats. I mean, I know
what you would to mean, it would have not been
received well, no steps at great based on optics, but
you're right.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
They would have had a tough time justifying it, even
though you just justified it. You know, by everybody knows
the record in the playoffs, but you know Andy Reid.
People like to point to Andy Reid and say, you know,
he was with the Eagles and they got rid of him,
and they blah blah blahd he went on to Kansas City.
You know what, Andy Reid was his last year in Philadelphia,
four and twelve. Okay, then you can fire somebody, if
(02:35):
you know, it's kind of hard to fire somebody after
they go ten and seven and win the division. You
can make the case. But the Steelers weren't going to
make that case. Never gonna happen, John, I've been very blunt.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
I feel like Cammon won with Cowers players, leaders in culture,
and didn't do much once that faded. That's how I'll
remember him. But he's going to make the Hall of Fame,
whether I think he should or not.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yeah that I think that became more true as the
years went by.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Right right, No, when he won initially you know what
two years into his dollars, Yeah, yeah, I said, Okay,
whoever wins is whoever wins. Coward didn't win his last year,
so you know, he got the team over the top,
but you're right, the further away we got.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Yeah, and let's let's you have to give the guy credit.
You can say he took Cowers players if every player
he had was Coward's players. He went to the Super
Bowl and they won. They did win the game. Okay,
he got there with the players, but he won a
second one had Rashard Mendenhall not fumbled. And like, if
he wins two, then this is a totally different conversation. Absolutely,
(03:36):
And here's the thing. I keep hearing that about Rashard Mendonhall.
Just let me throw this in here. I went back
and looked at that game, the hideous fumble, no question
about it. They didn't. They were they I don't, I
don't have in fun of me here, But they were
not on the goal line when he fumbled. They were
like on the forty yard line. There was no It
wasn't like they were gonna go in and score a touchdown.
Nobody guaranteed that. And and they they they You think
they would have got points though, Yeah, maybe, but I
(03:58):
don't know. It's like the Renfro catch in the way
back in the seventies.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
I'll mean Blue. I just don't like Rashard Mendenhall, and
I prefer to blame it.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Well, then I'm go you on that.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Did you see what he said?
Speaker 1 (04:07):
He tweeted, you know in defensive coach Tomlin that Tomlin
got bad quarterback play in all but one of his
nineteen seasons.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Like, okay, want to do a shot at Ben. Just
take a shot at Ben?
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Bad quarterback play? Yeah yeah, I thought Ben did did
pretty good. How strong is Steelers ownership right now? Because
they intend to take the same path in hiring a coach,
you know, a young guy, a defensive minded guy. They
will do all the evaluating. I guess Danny's going to
sit in with Art and Omar Khan and I get it.
(04:42):
But I don't think these roonies are those Rooneyes. I
think the Steelers dynasty was built and maintained and rebuilt
with Ben by Dan and before that our junior.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
I don't trust these roonies like I did those.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
No, I'm well, there's no reason to dan Art Rooney
shown he's a he's a good guy. I was always
It's always been nice to me. I don't want to
trash him.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
No, no, been I've written that three times. Yeah, right,
he's not. And and like you see, I don't care
about the nice guy.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Thing doesn't matter if we're talking about this.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
I'm sure you read the Fabos story where he talked
about how the players were crying in the locker room.
They all love Tomlin, and I get that, and I
respect that from a from a team type of thing,
But like, I don't care that they.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Love each other, and why should anybody they.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
They didn't win enough under Mike Tomlin and well maybe
they loved them a little too much.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Is that possible?
Speaker 4 (05:33):
Well?
Speaker 1 (05:33):
See, I thought he loved them a little too like,
like for all the respect and in relationships he had,
you know what, he didn't have staggy control. No, look
at what DK did in Detroit. Lookd at what George
Pickens did, look a B and Leveon Bell the culture
eroded on Tom Win's watch.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Am I right? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (05:51):
They Who was the When was the video in the
locker room? Was it Leveon Bell? Who did the video
in the locker room? Ab on Facebook? Yeah? After a
playoff game? Yeah, come on that stuff? And then the coaches.
I think he stuck his face in there himself. He
was involved in it. No, but he didn't know no no.
To be fair that no, that was totally on ab as.
(06:11):
I saw one video with he was actually no no,
but ab just just.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Threw him in there. I mean, you know, and he
I don't think he knew. I'm sure any coach, I
mean his player friendly as Tomlin was. You know, that
was just downright stupid.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
What kind of coach should they hires Staggy because there's
obviously a blueprint, like I just said, dating back to
knowl yeah and like and again I get it, I
would hire Stefanski, especially with Art saying we want to
keep contending.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Yeah, well I don't. I don't know about Stefanskip. That
kind of caught me off guard when you were saying
that I haven't thought about him. Is this is not
going to happen because they're not going to hire the
Browns coach they'd be riding, and they're not going to
hire anybody with prior head coaching experience. And here's an
incredible fact. The last time they hired a former NFL
head coach was Buddy Parker. Yeah, in nineteen fifty seven.
(07:00):
And you know what, give me a little clue. I
remember that that's how old I am. But no, if
everybody thinks that, Okay, here's how it works. Okay, we're
gonna go get a defensive coordinator in his thirties and
he's gonna, you know, have win, go to a couple
of Super Bowls. Maybe he will, Yeah, yeah, but I
mean just because that's what happened the last three times.
(07:22):
Here's the other thing, Mark, This is the thing that
drives me crazy about Steelers fans and Steelers media for
that matter. This thing about the standard is the super Bowl.
It's not a success unless we win the super Bowl.
This goes for all the teams. People underestimate how ridiculously,
ridiculously rare championships are in every sport. Yeah, Steelers have won,
(07:46):
especially what would be over expansion of every league, not
least the NFL. Yeah, you know how many championships the
Steelers have won in the last forty seven years too,
that's two more than the Pirates, okay and the Penguins. Look,
and I think I was talking to Paul about this
the other day because I brought this up to him.
He said, people don't understand what to read just a
spectacular accomplishment it is for the Penguins to have won
(08:09):
three Cups with Sydney Crosby. It's just, you know, it's
not the Montreal Canadians. It's they're hard to come by.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
If but that was a six team league or a
twelve team lead, yeah yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yes did that?
So no, I totally agree. But getting back to the
blueprint the Steelers have to coach. I mean, I'm not
saying it won't work. I'm just saying they seem to
close their mind to a certain type of candidate in
their embrace of the other. And at this point, I
think it should be you know, all hands on deck,
look at everybody.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Now, maybe they'll do just that.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
But right now, unless I miss my con here, of
the seventh candidates they've asked permission to interview, six are
defensive coordinators.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Well they're gonna it's played defense and run the ball.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
And they couldn't do either for the last how many years?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
And if we put this in a time capsule and
somebody opens it up one hundred years from now when
they're looking for a coach, they'll be talking about playing
defense and running the ball. That's what we got to do,
no matter what's what's happening in the league. That's what
they're gonna do. That's the key thing.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Look, the league now is about I always say there's
three words that describe the league now, score more faster, yep.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
And and that's why I put up on X the
other day that the coach may not even be the
number one priority. It might be priority one A because
court quarterback. Yeah, they if they went out and got
if all of a sudden Mahomes decided he wanted to
come and play for the Steelers, whoever, the coaches would
become a lot less important, wouldn't it. But you know,
(09:34):
if the I don't care who they get the quarterbacks
they have here, that's not going to happen with them.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Well, and that's when I say tank for Art.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
You know, if you believe that Arch Manning is the
next Manning right all, you know, bold face underline of caps,
then you know, here's what I keep saying. I hear
Art say they want to contend every year, and maybe
he's just saying that. But when they went six and ten,
they got Ben When they went one and thirteen they
got Bradshaw.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Without those two, there's no Super Bowls, No, no, no,
doubt that that's the truth. And here's the thing, it's you.
You can't assume that the coach who comes in here
is going to do well with the quarterbacks they have
because you've just hired a really smart coach in this
league right now, if you don't have a quarterback and
I hate the word elite, but if you don't have
(10:21):
an elite quarterback whatever that is. When and when I
say elite, now you know what I mean. I mean
a guy who can run, like like Josh Allen yep,
he's Superman, yeah, or Mahomes or any of those guys.
You have to have a guy who can move around.
And there's a certain kind of quarterback that you have
to have to succeed in the league right now, and
(10:41):
they don't have them right now.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Yeah. I just think the best thing they could do
is go three and fourteen.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Well they could have. They should have done that a
while ago.
Speaker 5 (10:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Now you know about the Defebo story where he basically
reconstructed what was said in BLOCKA. JJ Watt just another
you know, like Howard Kossel called them the duck ocracy,
just another ex joct with a mic, and there's too
many of them.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
He says that should have stayed in the locker room.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
But you know what, Staggy, the more ex jocks we
get with Mikes, and there'll come a day when there's
none of us left right, And I mean that, no
career journalists and broadcasters that won't leak out ever. No,
to me, it's a great story. To me, jj Watt
should be happy that his brother came off as human
in that story, crying.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Yeah, yeah, Why is that a problem that it came
out on? In this world that we're living in now?
How anybody thinks anything is not gonna be leaked? I
don't care if it's the CIA, the Steelers, there's too many,
it's too easy to leak everything. It's just never gonna
You're never gonna contain it.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Now that that streak that Tomlin had, which like I said,
now has a chance to live in perpetuity if he
never coaches again, no losing seasons in nineteen years, Who
was more responsible for that? Mike Tomlin or Ben Roethlisberger
because it started before before Tomlin.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Yeah, that's a good quest question I would say. I
would say Ben Roethlisberger put it this way. If he
doesn't have Ben Roethlisberger. Uh, the year he went eight
and eight, he wouldn't be eight to eight.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
And I'm not I'm not dismissing Tomin's rolling it by
any means. I'm not dismissing anything he did. No, But
like you know, the quarterback's more important than the coach,
especially a quarterback like that. If you want to give
Tom Win credit for going eight to eight with Doc Hodges, okay,
I mean that was in there too.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Yeah yeah. And and but if if they would have
what happened when when Doc Hodges was the quarterback, that's
what happened. So it wasn't Ben Roethlisberger, so that that's when,
and he didn't have a losing season, you know, I'll
give you that. But if you go back way back
in the early part of his career, he had Dick Lebaux, right,
he doesn't have Dick Lebaux and Toy Paulamalo had Bruce Arians.
(12:50):
Yeah yeah, oh no.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Like I thought, the most valuable thing that Tom Win
inherited from Carr was his leaders Pullamalu Farrier like Farry
like just the legendary leader in that locker room, Aaron Smith,
Alan Fannica, I don't want to skip over any of
the names, but he had a ton of them, and
I don't think he ever replaced those developed those. I
think I think he let ab run wild. And the
(13:12):
culture has never been the same. No, it's it's it's
not the same. And I don't know if I don't
know if a new guy is going to change it.
I don't know what do you do to change it?
I mean, you have these players are going you'd have
to bursh to burn it down, and you couldn't sing
Kumbaya for a couple of years.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Yeah, right, Who was the better coach? Kwor or Tomlin
uh cower? For a while there, I was, I was
leaning toward Tomlin.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Oh, I would have said Tom until the last nine years,
which is a long time.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Yeah, yeah, I mean I was, I was. I I
think I've made the statement at one point that Tomlan
was the second best coach in Steelers history. But I wasn't.
I was wrong. Well that could regress, Yeah yeah, yeah,
like I'll be.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
He's going to get in the Hall of Fame. Yeah,
but I'm not sure he should. But but I don't
think it's possible. After the start, he had to coach
his way out of it.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
So yeah, see, And here's the thing about about Tomlin
and when you're comparing him with Kyler, one thing Tomlin
never had was a disaster season. Bill Cower had a
seven and nine and two six and tens.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
But one six and ten got Ben.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
And yeah, he gets criticized for losing a lot of
AFC Championship games, including one. I know we were both
at ninety four against the Chargers right when the Chargers
were what thirteen and a half point underdogs, and they
actually won handily, right, but at least he got there.
Speaker 6 (14:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Yeah, Well, and and the thing is with with uh.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
He got to a super Bowl with Neil O'Donnell.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but he he didn't want he didn't
want Ben Roethlisberger.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Well that's true too, That's true.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
He thought he thought it'd be nice to go in
with another year with Tommy Maddox. I thought that would
have been a good idea. That's that's what made me
Dan Rooney. Dan Rooney said, no, we're taking the quarterback, right,
And that that's when I when I judged Tom Kyleer
as a coach. He didn't heath and forget that he
didn't want Ben Roethlisberger. He thought Mike that Mark Tommy
(15:01):
Maddox was doing a nice job. He was six and ten.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
We thought he could get by with him and then
build on you see.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
But that, you know what really has hurt the Steelers.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
And to be fair, and I'm a Bill fan, and
it started with him when he won the power struggle
with Tom Donaho and the coach got autonomy.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
The worst thing.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
About the Cower excuse me, the Tomlin regime was he
had autonomy, like it was his decision to draft Kenny Pickett.
Every bad decision was made by him. Every good one too.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Yeah yeah, oh yeah, yeah. I just when when? When
when Mike or when the Bill Kauer decided that that
he was going to stick with Tommy Maddox and he
had to be forced to take Bill Cower. That's a
pretty big deal. Also, here's another thing people don't talk about.
You know who fell out of the sky for Bill Kauer.
(15:52):
Willie Parker. He was a free agent who played about
came out of nowhere. He played about twelve minutes in
his entire career at North Carolina and I don't know
where they found him, whoever found him. That's the kind
of thing that doesn't show up. That's that's not the coach,
whoever that scout was.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
He was.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
He led the NFL in rushing. He never he never
led a game in rushing in college. And so that's
a that was a big deal for them. You know,
he had a big run in the Super Bowl. He
was a pretty big deal for about four or five years. Now, Staggy,
you wrote a couple of books. Just watched the game
and just watched the game again. Yeah, and you're putting.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Them on audiobook. What's going on with that?
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Well, that's out there right now. I have a list here.
I don't know what these things are, but this Apple books,
audible audio books now, chirp books, ever End and Google Play.
I know you can get it there. I just it
was fifteen years ago, and.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
These are great books.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
It's it's basically your memoirs, but with the with the
really what's the word I'm looking for, like really accessible
bit like like just it's not like you frankly, you know,
like I made the sign for jerking off.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah yeah, No, here's the thing. It's a big book.
It's three hundred in some pages, the regular book, and
it's not you know, I was born in nineteen forty eight,
and it's stories. The longest the longest chapter might be
ten pages, right, and somebody.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Just story after story after story.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
I don't think I can use this word on the radio.
But one of the best compliments I got from people
on the street was that it's a great book for
the pooper. Only they didn't say pooper. You know what
I mean?
Speaker 3 (17:24):
No, I quite In fact, that might be where my
copies are.
Speaker 5 (17:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Yeah, it's because you could pick it up, you could
open it anywhere, and it's got great little stories that
What happened was my brother Bill and my brother Paul,
they told me that I should write a book. I said,
I what am I gonna write a book about? My brother?
Bill said, just sit down and do an outline what
you would put in a book if you wrote one.
I couldn't stop writing stories that I never was really
able to tell on TV and radio that I was
(17:50):
able to put into a book. And one of the best,
one of the most popular chapters is a page and
a half and it's called Pissing and Sinks, and it's
about It's about Bob Prince. That's all I'm gonna say.
But and people. I knew it was about Yeah, page
in half. That's all I'm gonna say. Stagging, great, thank
you for coming in. Let's do it again real soon anytime. Thanks.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
That's Don Stegerwald. Just watch the game. Just watch the
game Part two coming out in audiobook up next. We're
gonna replay that Michelle Terran interview. And then we got
the man himself on at the bottom of the hour
one oh five to nine tonight when you got a
young trophy white. Oh was funny to I can't even
quote the big o'bowski right, goodbye.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
D exit one o five Okay.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
We got Michelle Terryan on in just a couple of
minutes to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of his speech where
he said the Penguins were soft, which really was like
the Gettysburg Address of the Penguins franchise. But let's let's
hear that speech right now. It's tremendous. All these years later,
it still holds up. Michelle Terran from twenty years ago.
Speaker 7 (18:56):
Not impressed. It's a pathetic performance. After the team doesn't care.
You know, it's like, are we gonna be happy to
play eight minutes? I'm not gonna be happy to play
(19:17):
eight minutes. But those guys will say, if we take
forty percent of their salary because they only play, or
fifty percent of their salary because they only play for
fifty to fifty percent of the time, that's enough. That
defensive squad. I think their goal, I really start to
believe their goals is to be the worst defensive squad
(19:39):
in the league. And they're doing such a great job
to be the worst defensive squad in the league. There there,
they turn the puck over. You know, they have no vision,
They soft like I never see a bunch of defensemen
suff like this. So you know they put the two
combinations and they want to get their noses pay. There's
(20:05):
a lot of guy don't care. They pretend to care,
but I know they don't care.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
What's the solution.
Speaker 7 (20:18):
What's a solution? Then a fine solution.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Shows is this the first team like this that you've
uh that you hadn't worked with?
Speaker 7 (20:36):
But it's a game of emotion, it's a game of
hard work, it's a game of passion. You know they're
say the COVID tew what he did at the other day.
There's no one guy's closed to do something. Maybe maximize,
(21:00):
but at the end, with one second left, it's about
fight for eight? Did did Did they think that? As
a coach that I got the feeling that team cared
for each other?
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Wow?
Speaker 7 (21:23):
You know, try to have a good ambience, you know
with the team yesterday?
Speaker 5 (21:30):
Y m hm.
Speaker 7 (21:33):
So I guess we're gonna have to come back with
the old recipe.
Speaker 5 (21:36):
You know.
Speaker 7 (21:37):
It's like they make my jum miserable. So it's a
give and take what can I do? And going on
the road, you know for three games that I'm so
(21:59):
dissipa about lots of guying, very disappointed because they don't care.
You take care, you know. Tonight it looks like man's
(22:19):
against boys.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Hey Mark Bardy flirt per former, so much better than
Mark Mark.
Speaker 7 (22:30):
You know, he's been good for us. Thank gun, thank you.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
I'm gonna say now what I said then, Yeah, Man's
against boys the man himself, but Seltarry next the one
O five nine?
Speaker 3 (22:48):
Find yourself needing a little post holiday cap? Did you
pay the gas bill? The X as your shot at
extra cat read so be it baby the X at
one twenty years ago?
Speaker 1 (22:59):
My guess right now, I gave the Pittsburgh Penguins equivalent
of the Gettysburg address. It will live forever. You heard it,
We just played it. Let's welcome to the program. Former
Penguins coach Michelle Terry and Mike, it's good to talk
to it. Only seems like yesterday you did that ramp.
But it's twenty years and.
Speaker 5 (23:17):
We all remember it.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
We all remember it. Are you surprised that the legend
lives on?
Speaker 5 (23:23):
Surprise? First of all, it's days talking to you. It's
been a long time. Surprise, Yes, and no, you know,
so it's almost like every year now it's twenty years ago.
So but I'll say, like the last five six years,
every time we get to that anniversary, you know, they
(23:47):
still put it on. So I can believe the times
go so fasted in twenty years. And it was a
tough night to be quite honest, But I'm glad. I'm
glad I did it honestly well.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
And to be clear, you knew exactly what you were
saying and doing. I didn't hear, but you said, watch
this like the Tom McMillan some of the Penguins pr
people right before, but.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
We didn't know that.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
More importantly, the players didn't know that there was a
definite message there.
Speaker 5 (24:18):
Correct, Oh, for sure, I was prepared for a week.
I you know what, Mark I was coming up from
the American League. We get in Wicksbury, We got quite
successfully there and we reached the final We established writer
with the culture of our team when I got there,
(24:40):
and I'm moving on to Pittsburgh, and I knew exactly
what's going on when me, your coach and the minors.
To be quite honest, you know what's happening with the
team with the team in the NHL, because there's some
called up and the guys are getting sitting down. So
every time they get sitting down, you get a meeting
(25:00):
with them and you kind of get the feeling with
what's happening with with with the big teams. So there
was some players was really honest with me, didn't liked
and they did not like the way that thing was going.
And honestly, I didn't like this what I saw because
(25:23):
I was watching him again that was part of this organization,
and I didn't like what I saw on TV. So
when I moved on to Pittsburgh, well, I try to
change things from the inside, try to change a system
that's not always easy. During the regular season, because a
(25:44):
lack of practice at time. And but I'm going to
tell you something, uh me and Mike you when we
came in, First of all, I didn't keep any assistant coaches.
One of the reason why I don't believe in that
because sometimes when you keep one or two, especially one guy, well,
(26:08):
the players who were there, they gotta go see that
all assistant coach and they're gonna complain to him about
what we try to do. So it was only me
and my heel and we worked extremely hard to prepare
the team and we have no results. And that fastremely
(26:33):
quite a lot about the effort that team was putting
on the ice and the lack of intensity, the lack
of emotion. They were just going through through motion and
win or lose. It did not affect them. It was like, Okay,
(26:53):
I showed up, I play my game, I move on
and we go to the next game. So, uh, I
try to be positive. Quite a few times, I did
my teaching. I tried to support them, and after that
I try and change my recipe. But from the inside,
people will not see what was going on behind the scene.
(27:17):
And I was waiting. I was prepared to that statement
about a week ago. I let the management know. I said,
we're going nowhere. I mean, if I keep going the
same way I did. I was. I was a young
coach at the time, you know, jail so so great.
Philosophy was pretty simple. I break it, fix it and
(27:40):
move let's let's move on. And I'm glad I did
it because I saw a result after the long result.
It's not when you're doing one of those things, it's
not a short result. But the next game, even if
we lost a few games in a row, but the
next game, I could tell the guy start to care
(28:01):
about each other. They were they were in a fight.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Well no, let me let me interrupt, Mike. You played
Columbus the next game and you lost. But there were
five fights in involving a lot of the younger guys,
and clearly the younger guys got the message and that's
who mostly was for.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
Correct Well, you know I tried to. They got five fight, yes,
But the purpose of everything it was I was attacking
the integrity. You know, It's like and this is the
(28:40):
respond right away. So it was not a matter of
win or losing. It was about, hey, I got to
show up that I please, that I care, and when
you have a group that start to care about each other,
and now you could start to build something when you don't.
When you have the group that they don't care about
(29:03):
each other, it's pretty damn hard to uh to build
something solid and to change the culture. And the next game,
right from the face off, we saw we saw I
think it was a ride along guy in a fight.
And after that next shift, I can't remember who Andre was,
(29:23):
and but I felt, I felt that they care about
each other. So that was that was the first step.
That was just the first step.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
We're talking about sel Terrrian, former Penguins coach here on
one O five ninety X Mike. One thing I loved
about about the rant And I was there in the
room and I didn't know what was coming.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
But you didn't yell, You didn't yell.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
It was very measured, and I thought that made it
all the more serious. I thought that gave it more impact.
Speaker 5 (29:53):
Yeah. Like I was walking down to the press conference
and I was with Tommy, Tommy, and and like Tommy
is doing such a great job to prepare me for
a present every time I met the media, and I
kind of know what direction that and they did, they
did the same thing in Montreality. He's preparing me. He's
(30:16):
going to receive that type of question. But you know,
so I said, tell me, I said, watch me. I
don't even remember the question. It was not about the question.
It was about my statement and especially that game against
a clienter. What could a chuck get to sid and
(30:39):
after his score, his corona power play. It's was the
reaction on the bench. It's not normal that nobody react
or it seems mad. It was like, okay, and we're
talking about Sidney Crosby. I don't care. It's eighteen years old.
He's tried to establish himself in the NH hell and uh,
(31:02):
but easier. He's the next it was he was, he
was the next Mariola new You know, when I came
in in Pittsburgh, one of the one of the first
move that I did, I want to I want to
bring some younger the some one of those young kids
to Pittsburgh. And uh, I gave a NIA on the
(31:24):
jersey to say because one of the first move that
I did, try to send the message to the team
that hey, we're building, we try to we try to
build something for the future. And h didn't get much
response from veteran players and and the young kids. You know,
they kind of just following up. You know, the pattern
(31:48):
of the guys are been established in the NHL. So
I got to do something because we were going right
to the wall, and I have nothing to lose. Mark
could be quite honest. I have nothing to lose because
if I didn't do nothing, my feeling was at the end,
(32:09):
I want to get fired. So they were going to
move on. So I said, well, I'm gonna do it
my way. We're going to find solution. And I was calm,
like you said, because I was prepaired. I was prepared
for a week. I was just waiting the right time
to doing it. And like I said, the question, don't
(32:33):
ask me. What was the question? I don't remember. The
question was not important. It wasn't My statement wasn't.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Hey, Mike, there was no question when Lincoln made the
Gettysburg address, but he still got the point across. And
just to clarify for those don't remember, Covile Chuck frent
Land had scored a power play goal with sitting in
the box and pointed at him after the goal and
the Penguins had no response for that. Now it's worth
noting that you guys lost thirteen of the next fourteen
(33:00):
after that, but things did get more positive. The team
did stick together and a lot of those guys went
on the bigger and better like like Stanley Cups, like
Flurry Gaunt, Shark Crosby.
Speaker 3 (33:10):
They won that team. Talbot Kolbe Armstrong was on that team.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
So the guys who needed to get the message I
think really did.
Speaker 5 (33:20):
Yeah, absolutely right, you know. And like I said, we
didn't sell the result on the eyes with win our losses,
but I saw the effort was better. I saw the intensity,
the care for each other a little bit better. And
(33:40):
close to the end of the year we have non
number the last one and gave me close almost thiight
or five hundred. So were established and with look mark
the first game there were nine thousand people in the stand.
So that was Dove Brad new. This is like it
wasn't about like three or four years that that team
was going to their wrong direction and it was just
(34:04):
like some time you could add at that season and
next year, okay, everything's going to be fine. This is
something was pretty soldid established in that organization. So I
needed to change. I needed to change the culture I
need to change a lot of things. And at the end,
by the end of the year, we were sold out
and the year and we established something for the upcoming season.
(34:30):
And the upcoming season, I think we got forty seven
wins and we reached we reached the playoffs. And two
years after with a really young team, I think again
we were close to fifty wins and we reached a
Study Cup final. So they got the message, you know,
(34:52):
because they they end up to be a group that
I love coaching, and they care about each other, and
they became winners, and that's the most important thing to
add a winning attitude. This is why, this is what
(35:13):
I tried to do with those with those guys.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
What was your favorite line of the rant? Looking back?
Speaker 1 (35:20):
Like you said soft a bunch of times, which people
kind of latched on too. But my favorite part was,
and I'm paraphrasing, they say they care, but I know
they don't. When you did that, I liked to hide
my face in the press conference because I almost cracked.
Speaker 5 (35:33):
Up the truth. That was the truth. You know. It's
like a player, We're all going to say the right things,
you know, so, but I know you didn't care winning.
You're losing. You could tell by their aratitude actor a game.
(35:54):
You could tell there was a few guys care they
would but not enough. If I could count on my
fingers that every time we lose a game, it really
hurts me. When I was coaching, you know, your bread
and butter, it's if your team is gonna win the
game or not. You know, I'm a sour loser and
(36:16):
I hate to lose. So, uh, we're losing game, I'm
going back home and I'm freaking. Uh, I'm thinking about
what can I what can I do the next day?
What can I I'm still like the thinking, thinking thinking,
you know, it's like, uh, should we change this? Should
(36:37):
we do this? So it's like, uh, thank god, I
got a great assistant coach at the time, was a
young coach, Mikey always stood in the NHL. I got
a lot of respect for him, and uh, he had
the same attitude of me. You know, he hate he
hate losing, so so we both both of them. We
(36:58):
we worked ass off and uh to try to prepare.
And then it's so frustrating when you put so much
effort and you got like almost three quarters a team
that you feel that they don't care and I got
a pretty good feeling about who was caring about winning
(37:19):
and who was not. So that's why I needed a change,
just I needed to change your attitude about winning and losing.
I want them to have the winning attitude. And when
you get the winning attitude and you get passion, you're
always going to do the little extra you know, like
blocking a shot, take a hit, to make a play.
(37:44):
And when you don't care, you pretend to try to
block the shot. You know, but you you know, you
pretend to be first on pack, but don't you don't
do it yet. So there was a lot of tign
that's showing me that they didn't. It didn't really matter
because after the game, they go to the gym, they
(38:08):
do what they have to do and they have fun
the laughing, and we end up losing a game and
me and Mike Hill were in the office and we
were beating yourself because we just lost the game. And
I know, I know I'll be reacting in the gym
or the reaction in the dressing room. It's like summer hockey.
(38:31):
So we're going nowhere.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
So I have changed everything, Well, it did change everything. Mike.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
I'm glad to talk to you again. Great, great to
speak after all these years. Do you still drink White Russians?
Speaker 5 (38:46):
Oh, I don't drink. I don't drink anymore. You know.
I've never been a big drinker.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
No, I know.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
But if you remember, you would sometimes when you were
the interim coach, you were staying at the Marion, you
would see the media down at the steel Head afterwards.
Speaker 5 (39:01):
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah, and uh but yeah sometime I
was going and we talked to the people and stuff
like that. But uh, uh do you change?
Speaker 3 (39:15):
Do you miss coaching? You haven't coached in almost ten years?
Do you miss it?
Speaker 5 (39:19):
Yeah? You know what? I got the honored to represent
my country coaching team Canada. The Sprenger Cup Mont version
was a GM called me an Hva, I said, has
seen me? I want to be what that was this year? Yeah?
This year?
Speaker 3 (39:35):
Oh I didn't, Mike, forgive me. I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (39:37):
I know a lot of college kids represented the US.
But that's awesome. That must have been great.
Speaker 5 (39:41):
Yeah yeah, yeah, we beat them. But I'm telling you
we we beat them on our first game, and I
was impressed. I was really interested about the US team.
They were first of all, they were all from college
drafted like twenty one and twenty two years old, and
(40:04):
I'm sure some of those kids at the end of
their column season this year probably would end up in
the NHL, like if you are doing and maybe, like
I told Mark Berger, I had the time when I
were there, I said, geez, maybe half of those kale,
(40:25):
half of those players will have a decent career in
the NHL. So it was a great experience. It was
part of to be quite honest, Mark, it was part
of my bucket list and to go call the Spanda Cup.
It's a great tournament. It's a great experience and coaching
(40:45):
is always fun. But after I coach in Montreal, I
worked in the media for three years and I sent
a three year contract with TV Sports. I was at
four times, four times a week. Uh. I was on
TV or in the Montreal paper. So but I decided
(41:06):
to stop and UH and take it easy and enjoy
retirement a little bit. So and when that opportunity came
to coach Canteen Canada the Dexperiment Cup with Mark Version
remain that I had a lot of respect and uh,
well worked five years together in Montreal. So I jump
on it and we've got a great time, Mike.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
Great to speak with you again. Great to relive those memories.
I hope I talked to you again and thanks. It
was awesome to just to just look back.
Speaker 5 (41:36):
It was great, which was great, great talking to you. Yeah,
like always, that.
Speaker 1 (41:41):
Is the great Michelle Arian. He does care, and he
says he does. And it's time to ask Mark anything.
Eight three three four one two w xdx eight three
three four one two w xdx.
Speaker 3 (41:53):
It's the Mark Madden Show one O five to nine.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
It's the Woody Show, way better than NDR weekday mornings.
Speaker 7 (41:58):
At six on one of them.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
X hear from the lady called d X at one.
I'd a ass Mark anything eight three three four one
two wxdx, like I said right before we had Iron
mic on and boy was that great. I got a
little skirmish with JJ Watt on Twitter because he didn't
like that the Steelers locker room spilled for that great
(42:24):
story to Fabo wrote, I thought he said it shouldn't
have been written. He corrected me in condescending fashion and
said the player shouldn't have talked, and I went back
at him and equally condescending fashion, saying I didn't understand
what you said you work in the media, now do
better or words that effect always great to communicate with
with the Watt family. And if I'd have taken my time,
(42:47):
I would have got a gym teacher reference in there.
And of course so many of you think that anything
an athlete says should be worshiped. Shut up, fatso, You're like,
he acknowledged you, Fatso.
Speaker 3 (42:59):
You know what.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
I don't have a brother, but if I had a
fictional one, if I kind of fantasized about that, some
people have a pretend friend. My pretend brother would have
won the same amount of playoff games as JJ wats
real brother, and Jada didn't win enough either anyway. Down
now eight three three four one two w XDX. Let's
(43:20):
go to Blake in Chapel Hill. Blake, what's up?
Speaker 6 (43:25):
Good?
Speaker 3 (43:26):
I said, good day?
Speaker 5 (43:29):
Uh babe.
Speaker 6 (43:30):
Best condiments for hamburger?
Speaker 2 (43:34):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (43:38):
I use ketchup and onions, unless it's a cheeseburger, then
I like a one sauce or barbecue sauce.
Speaker 3 (43:48):
Heines.
Speaker 1 (43:49):
Of course, only only Hines, as our ad campaign says,
Hines is the only ketchup of record.
Speaker 5 (43:55):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (43:55):
If it's a blue cheese burger, that's even a little
bit different. If it's a bacon berger, that's even a
little bit different. But to go to really for anything,
but specifically just the regular old Hamburger, heinz ketchup and onions.
Let's go to Greg, Greg gask mark anything.
Speaker 4 (44:13):
Hey Mark, that was a really good interview with Michelle Darian.
This is really out there. Did you have you heard
this theory that he learned his coaching style playing for
the Sheerbrook Canadians and being coached by Pierre Kramer.
Speaker 1 (44:28):
Well, I mean I never heard that, and I wish
I'd known to ask him, although it would have been
kind of out of context what we were talking about.
But I was around when Kramer coached the Penguins. I
was around when Mike coach the Penguins. Mike was a
much better coach than Kramer. For that better, Mike was
a much better coach than Dan Bosma, who succeeded him
(44:49):
and won the Stanley Cup. But uh, but the players
just got tired of Mike. He had worn them out
as as was Mike style quite honestly. But Mike was
a really good coach and that was great to Rea
connect with him.
Speaker 3 (45:00):
Let's go to Buffalo Bill Buffalo Bill.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
You're on with double M one Mark.
Speaker 6 (45:06):
This isn't my question, but side question. Is it Michelle
Terran or Mike Terry?
Speaker 1 (45:11):
Well? I always called him Mike. Everybody called him Mike,
Iron Mike. But but yeah, his name is Michelle Terran,
but everybody called him.
Speaker 6 (45:17):
Mike because I think I've heard you say Michael Terry
and two the I thought it was Michelle.
Speaker 3 (45:22):
I don't know what I've said, but but but he's
Iron Mike to me.
Speaker 6 (45:25):
Okay, well, here's my question. Have you ever met Vince
McMahon in person?
Speaker 3 (45:29):
Yeah? I did business with him.
Speaker 1 (45:30):
I met, I had a meeting with him when I
agreed to rewrite Ric Flair's autobiography, which the original author
had badly mangled. That was a w project. So I
met with Vince, Rick and Triple H. And I'd interviewed
Vince a couple times before for the Post Gazette as well.
Speaker 6 (45:48):
Have you kept in contact with him since?
Speaker 3 (45:50):
No, Let's go to Mike. Yeah, Vince and I talk
all the time. We text, were buddies. Let's go to Mike. Mike.
What's up?
Speaker 5 (45:59):
What up?
Speaker 6 (46:00):
Mine?
Speaker 1 (46:02):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (46:02):
I mean, do you think whenever Rogers said, I'm sorry
I'm sorry that insinuated that maybe Tomlin was pushed out
a little bit.
Speaker 3 (46:10):
No, not at all, not at all.
Speaker 1 (46:12):
I think that Rogers was taking responsibility for his part
in the team losing the Houston and I don't know.
I mean, some could say they underachieved on the season.
I think given the roster, they finished about right where
could have been expected. But no, just sorry that Tomlin
was was quitting for whatever reason and maybe, you know,
(46:33):
showing a human side and taking his part in it,
taking some accountability.
Speaker 3 (46:38):
Thank you for the call.
Speaker 1 (46:40):
Okay, keep getting your calls in at eight three three
four one two WSDX. Right now, I'd like to say
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Yeah, I'm gonna keep in the family. Joining me now
in studio. One of the greatest personalities ever in Pittsburgh
sports media. A pleasure to welcome back after a stint
at another station doing his own thing. Oh yeah, he
is the king of old school John Steigerwaldstaggy. Was it
time for Mike Tomon to go after nine years without
(00:26):
a playoff win? Maybe was past due?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Uh yeah, I think he should have gone a couple
of years ago. At least. I said a while back
that he wasn't gonna get fired, he was gonna quit.
And I was right about that. I mean I said
it six seven, eight weeks ago, and you can't. There's
no way you can fire a guy if he wins
the division championship. There's not gonna fire him. They're just not.
(00:51):
So he won the division championship, he was not and
Art Rooney said it yesterday. He's not. He wasn't gonna
fire him. He was not leaving unless he left on
his own. He was smart to do it. Because here's
the thing. I don't hear too many people talking about.
This is huge. I think the draft is here, okay,
on nauseum, it's here, Okay, it's it's one of the
(01:11):
most overrated events in the history of the human race.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
And will even be more so here, more height, more
just unbearable. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
But here's the thing. The Steelers are going to be
so much in the focus, not just nationally but everything
for hum. I mean, they've already got a countdown going.
It's it's five months from now. Whatever it is that
they are, they are not. The last thing the Steelers
needed was to have a big controversy about the coach
(01:39):
where people going to be chanting fire Tomlin at the draft.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
They couldn't have that. He couldn't be here, right. You
know what they should chant now is tank for arch. Yah,
let's let's go. Let's go three and fourteen to get
Arch manning. No, no, I I agree with that, And
it was a unique situation. See, I know they couldn't,
but I still would have fired him and he'd not
quit because I know he just won the division, but
no playoff wins in nine years and getting double figured
(02:03):
in the last five playoff defeats. I mean, I know
what you would to mean, it would have not been
received well, no steps at great based on optics, but
you're right.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
They would have had a tough time justifying it, even
though you just justified it. You know, by everybody knows
the record in the playoffs, but you know Andy Reid.
People like to point to Andy Reid and say, you know,
he was with the Eagles and they got rid of him,
and they blah blah blahd he went on to Kansas City.
You know what, Andy Reid was his last year in Philadelphia,
four and twelve. Okay, then you can fire somebody, if
(02:35):
you know, it's kind of hard to fire somebody after
they go ten and seven and win the division. You
can make the case. But the Steelers weren't going to
make that case. Never gonna happen, John, I've been very blunt.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
I feel like Cammon won with Cowers players, leaders in culture,
and didn't do much once that faded. That's how I'll
remember him. But he's going to make the Hall of Fame,
whether I think he should or not.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yeah that I think that became more true as the
years went by.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Right right, No, when he won initially you know what
two years into his dollars, Yeah, yeah, I said, Okay,
whoever wins is whoever wins. Coward didn't win his last year,
so you know, he got the team over the top,
but you're right, the further away we got.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Yeah, and let's let's you have to give the guy credit.
You can say he took Cowers players if every player
he had was Coward's players. He went to the Super
Bowl and they won. They did win the game. Okay,
he got there with the players, but he won a
second one had Rashard Mendenhall not fumbled. And like, if
he wins two, then this is a totally different conversation. Absolutely,
(03:36):
And here's the thing. I keep hearing that about Rashard Mendonhall.
Just let me throw this in here. I went back
and looked at that game, the hideous fumble, no question
about it. They didn't. They were they I don't, I
don't have in fun of me here, But they were
not on the goal line when he fumbled. They were
like on the forty yard line. There was no It
wasn't like they were gonna go in and score a touchdown.
Nobody guaranteed that. And and they they they You think
they would have got points though, Yeah, maybe, but I
(03:58):
don't know. It's like the Renfro catch in the way
back in the seventies.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
I'll mean Blue. I just don't like Rashard Mendenhall, and
I prefer to blame it.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Well, then I'm go you on that.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Did you see what he said?
Speaker 1 (04:07):
He tweeted, you know in defensive coach Tomlin that Tomlin
got bad quarterback play in all but one of his
nineteen seasons.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Like, okay, want to do a shot at Ben. Just
take a shot at Ben?
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Bad quarterback play? Yeah yeah, I thought Ben did did
pretty good. How strong is Steelers ownership right now? Because
they intend to take the same path in hiring a coach,
you know, a young guy, a defensive minded guy. They
will do all the evaluating. I guess Danny's going to
sit in with Art and Omar Khan and I get it.
(04:42):
But I don't think these roonies are those Rooneyes. I
think the Steelers dynasty was built and maintained and rebuilt
with Ben by Dan and before that our junior.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
I don't trust these roonies like I did those.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
No, I'm well, there's no reason to dan Art Rooney
shown he's a he's a good guy. I was always
It's always been nice to me. I don't want to
trash him.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
No, no, been I've written that three times. Yeah, right,
he's not. And and like you see, I don't care
about the nice guy.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Thing doesn't matter if we're talking about this.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
I'm sure you read the Fabos story where he talked
about how the players were crying in the locker room.
They all love Tomlin, and I get that, and I
respect that from a from a team type of thing,
But like, I don't care that they.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Love each other, and why should anybody they.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
They didn't win enough under Mike Tomlin and well maybe
they loved them a little too much.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Is that possible?
Speaker 4 (05:33):
Well?
Speaker 1 (05:33):
See, I thought he loved them a little too like,
like for all the respect and in relationships he had,
you know what, he didn't have staggy control. No, look
at what DK did in Detroit. Lookd at what George
Pickens did, look a B and Leveon Bell the culture
eroded on Tom Win's watch.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Am I right? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (05:51):
They Who was the When was the video in the
locker room? Was it Leveon Bell? Who did the video
in the locker room? Ab on Facebook? Yeah? After a
playoff game? Yeah, come on that stuff? And then the coaches.
I think he stuck his face in there himself. He
was involved in it. No, but he didn't know no no.
To be fair that no, that was totally on ab as.
(06:11):
I saw one video with he was actually no no,
but ab just just.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Threw him in there. I mean, you know, and he
I don't think he knew. I'm sure any coach, I
mean his player friendly as Tomlin was. You know, that
was just downright stupid.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
What kind of coach should they hires Staggy because there's
obviously a blueprint, like I just said, dating back to
knowl yeah and like and again I get it, I
would hire Stefanski, especially with Art saying we want to
keep contending.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Yeah, well I don't. I don't know about Stefanskip. That
kind of caught me off guard when you were saying
that I haven't thought about him. Is this is not
going to happen because they're not going to hire the
Browns coach they'd be riding, and they're not going to
hire anybody with prior head coaching experience. And here's an
incredible fact. The last time they hired a former NFL
head coach was Buddy Parker. Yeah, in nineteen fifty seven.
(07:00):
And you know what, give me a little clue. I
remember that that's how old I am. But no, if
everybody thinks that, Okay, here's how it works. Okay, we're
gonna go get a defensive coordinator in his thirties and
he's gonna, you know, have win, go to a couple
of Super Bowls. Maybe he will, Yeah, yeah, but I
mean just because that's what happened the last three times.
(07:22):
Here's the other thing, Mark, This is the thing that
drives me crazy about Steelers fans and Steelers media for
that matter. This thing about the standard is the super Bowl.
It's not a success unless we win the super Bowl.
This goes for all the teams. People underestimate how ridiculously,
ridiculously rare championships are in every sport. Yeah, Steelers have won,
(07:46):
especially what would be over expansion of every league, not
least the NFL. Yeah, you know how many championships the
Steelers have won in the last forty seven years too,
that's two more than the Pirates, okay and the Penguins. Look,
and I think I was talking to Paul about this
the other day because I brought this up to him.
He said, people don't understand what to read just a
spectacular accomplishment it is for the Penguins to have won
(08:09):
three Cups with Sydney Crosby. It's just, you know, it's
not the Montreal Canadians. It's they're hard to come by.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
If but that was a six team league or a
twelve team lead, yeah yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yes did that?
So no, I totally agree. But getting back to the
blueprint the Steelers have to coach. I mean, I'm not
saying it won't work. I'm just saying they seem to
close their mind to a certain type of candidate in
their embrace of the other. And at this point, I
think it should be you know, all hands on deck,
look at everybody.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Now, maybe they'll do just that.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
But right now, unless I miss my con here, of
the seventh candidates they've asked permission to interview, six are
defensive coordinators.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Well they're gonna it's played defense and run the ball.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
And they couldn't do either for the last how many years?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
And if we put this in a time capsule and
somebody opens it up one hundred years from now when
they're looking for a coach, they'll be talking about playing
defense and running the ball. That's what we got to do,
no matter what's what's happening in the league. That's what
they're gonna do. That's the key thing.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Look, the league now is about I always say there's
three words that describe the league now, score more faster, yep.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
And and that's why I put up on X the
other day that the coach may not even be the
number one priority. It might be priority one A because
court quarterback. Yeah, they if they went out and got
if all of a sudden Mahomes decided he wanted to
come and play for the Steelers, whoever, the coaches would
become a lot less important, wouldn't it. But you know,
(09:34):
if the I don't care who they get the quarterbacks
they have here, that's not going to happen with them.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Well, and that's when I say tank for Art.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
You know, if you believe that Arch Manning is the
next Manning right all, you know, bold face underline of caps,
then you know, here's what I keep saying. I hear
Art say they want to contend every year, and maybe
he's just saying that. But when they went six and ten,
they got Ben When they went one and thirteen they
got Bradshaw.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Without those two, there's no Super Bowls, No, no, no,
doubt that that's the truth. And here's the thing, it's you.
You can't assume that the coach who comes in here
is going to do well with the quarterbacks they have
because you've just hired a really smart coach in this
league right now, if you don't have a quarterback and
I hate the word elite, but if you don't have
(10:21):
an elite quarterback whatever that is. When and when I
say elite, now you know what I mean. I mean
a guy who can run, like like Josh Allen yep,
he's Superman, yeah, or Mahomes or any of those guys.
You have to have a guy who can move around.
And there's a certain kind of quarterback that you have
to have to succeed in the league right now, and
(10:41):
they don't have them right now.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Yeah. I just think the best thing they could do
is go three and fourteen.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Well they could have. They should have done that a
while ago.
Speaker 5 (10:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Now you know about the Defebo story where he basically
reconstructed what was said in BLOCKA. JJ Watt just another
you know, like Howard Kossel called them the duck ocracy,
just another ex joct with a mic, and there's too
many of them.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
He says that should have stayed in the locker room.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
But you know what, Staggy, the more ex jocks we
get with Mikes, and there'll come a day when there's
none of us left right, And I mean that, no
career journalists and broadcasters that won't leak out ever. No,
to me, it's a great story. To me, jj Watt
should be happy that his brother came off as human
in that story, crying.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Yeah, yeah, Why is that a problem that it came
out on? In this world that we're living in now?
How anybody thinks anything is not gonna be leaked? I
don't care if it's the CIA, the Steelers, there's too many,
it's too easy to leak everything. It's just never gonna
You're never gonna contain it.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Now that that streak that Tomlin had, which like I said,
now has a chance to live in perpetuity if he
never coaches again, no losing seasons in nineteen years, Who
was more responsible for that? Mike Tomlin or Ben Roethlisberger
because it started before before Tomlin.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Yeah, that's a good quest question I would say. I
would say Ben Roethlisberger put it this way. If he
doesn't have Ben Roethlisberger. Uh, the year he went eight
and eight, he wouldn't be eight to eight.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
And I'm not I'm not dismissing Tomin's rolling it by
any means. I'm not dismissing anything he did. No, But
like you know, the quarterback's more important than the coach,
especially a quarterback like that. If you want to give
Tom Win credit for going eight to eight with Doc Hodges, okay,
I mean that was in there too.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Yeah yeah. And and but if if they would have
what happened when when Doc Hodges was the quarterback, that's
what happened. So it wasn't Ben Roethlisberger, so that that's when,
and he didn't have a losing season, you know, I'll
give you that. But if you go back way back
in the early part of his career, he had Dick Lebaux, right,
he doesn't have Dick Lebaux and Toy Paulamalo had Bruce Arians.
(12:50):
Yeah yeah, oh no.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Like I thought, the most valuable thing that Tom Win
inherited from Carr was his leaders Pullamalu Farrier like Farry
like just the legendary leader in that locker room, Aaron Smith,
Alan Fannica, I don't want to skip over any of
the names, but he had a ton of them, and
I don't think he ever replaced those developed those. I
think I think he let ab run wild. And the
(13:12):
culture has never been the same. No, it's it's it's
not the same. And I don't know if I don't
know if a new guy is going to change it.
I don't know what do you do to change it?
I mean, you have these players are going you'd have
to bursh to burn it down, and you couldn't sing
Kumbaya for a couple of years.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Yeah, right, Who was the better coach? Kwor or Tomlin
uh cower? For a while there, I was, I was
leaning toward Tomlin.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Oh, I would have said Tom until the last nine years,
which is a long time.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Yeah, yeah, I mean I was, I was. I I
think I've made the statement at one point that Tomlan
was the second best coach in Steelers history. But I wasn't.
I was wrong. Well that could regress, Yeah yeah, yeah,
like I'll be.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
He's going to get in the Hall of Fame. Yeah,
but I'm not sure he should. But but I don't
think it's possible. After the start, he had to coach
his way out of it.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
So yeah, see, And here's the thing about about Tomlin
and when you're comparing him with Kyler, one thing Tomlin
never had was a disaster season. Bill Cower had a
seven and nine and two six and tens.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
But one six and ten got Ben.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
And yeah, he gets criticized for losing a lot of
AFC Championship games, including one. I know we were both
at ninety four against the Chargers right when the Chargers
were what thirteen and a half point underdogs, and they
actually won handily, right, but at least he got there.
Speaker 6 (14:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Yeah, Well, and and the thing is with with uh.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
He got to a super Bowl with Neil O'Donnell.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but he he didn't want he didn't
want Ben Roethlisberger.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Well that's true too, That's true.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
He thought he thought it'd be nice to go in
with another year with Tommy Maddox. I thought that would
have been a good idea. That's that's what made me
Dan Rooney. Dan Rooney said, no, we're taking the quarterback, right,
And that that's when I when I judged Tom Kyleer
as a coach. He didn't heath and forget that he
didn't want Ben Roethlisberger. He thought Mike that Mark Tommy
(15:01):
Maddox was doing a nice job. He was six and ten.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
We thought he could get by with him and then
build on you see.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
But that, you know what really has hurt the Steelers.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
And to be fair, and I'm a Bill fan, and
it started with him when he won the power struggle
with Tom Donaho and the coach got autonomy.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
The worst thing.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
About the Cower excuse me, the Tomlin regime was he
had autonomy, like it was his decision to draft Kenny Pickett.
Every bad decision was made by him. Every good one too.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Yeah yeah, oh yeah, yeah. I just when when? When
when Mike or when the Bill Kauer decided that that
he was going to stick with Tommy Maddox and he
had to be forced to take Bill Cower. That's a
pretty big deal. Also, here's another thing people don't talk about.
You know who fell out of the sky for Bill Kauer.
(15:52):
Willie Parker. He was a free agent who played about
came out of nowhere. He played about twelve minutes in
his entire career at North Carolina and I don't know
where they found him, whoever found him. That's the kind
of thing that doesn't show up. That's that's not the coach,
whoever that scout was.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
He was.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
He led the NFL in rushing. He never he never
led a game in rushing in college. And so that's
a that was a big deal for them. You know,
he had a big run in the Super Bowl. He
was a pretty big deal for about four or five years. Now, Staggy,
you wrote a couple of books. Just watched the game
and just watched the game again. Yeah, and you're putting.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Them on audiobook. What's going on with that?
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Well, that's out there right now. I have a list here.
I don't know what these things are, but this Apple books,
audible audio books now, chirp books, ever End and Google Play.
I know you can get it there. I just it
was fifteen years ago, and.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
These are great books.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
It's it's basically your memoirs, but with the with the
really what's the word I'm looking for, like really accessible
bit like like just it's not like you frankly, you know,
like I made the sign for jerking off.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah yeah, No, here's the thing. It's a big book.
It's three hundred in some pages, the regular book, and
it's not you know, I was born in nineteen forty eight,
and it's stories. The longest the longest chapter might be
ten pages, right, and somebody.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Just story after story after story.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
I don't think I can use this word on the radio.
But one of the best compliments I got from people
on the street was that it's a great book for
the pooper. Only they didn't say pooper. You know what
I mean?
Speaker 3 (17:24):
No, I quite In fact, that might be where my
copies are.
Speaker 5 (17:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Yeah, it's because you could pick it up, you could
open it anywhere, and it's got great little stories that
What happened was my brother Bill and my brother Paul,
they told me that I should write a book. I said,
I what am I gonna write a book about? My brother?
Bill said, just sit down and do an outline what
you would put in a book if you wrote one.
I couldn't stop writing stories that I never was really
able to tell on TV and radio that I was
(17:50):
able to put into a book. And one of the best,
one of the most popular chapters is a page and
a half and it's called Pissing and Sinks, and it's
about It's about Bob Prince. That's all I'm gonna say.
But and people. I knew it was about Yeah, page
in half. That's all I'm gonna say. Stagging, great, thank
you for coming in. Let's do it again real soon anytime. Thanks.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
That's Don Stegerwald. Just watch the game. Just watch the
game Part two coming out in audiobook up next. We're
gonna replay that Michelle Terran interview. And then we got
the man himself on at the bottom of the hour
one oh five to nine tonight when you got a
young trophy white. Oh was funny to I can't even
quote the big o'bowski right, goodbye.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
D exit one o five Okay.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
We got Michelle Terryan on in just a couple of
minutes to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of his speech where
he said the Penguins were soft, which really was like
the Gettysburg Address of the Penguins franchise. But let's let's
hear that speech right now. It's tremendous. All these years later,
it still holds up. Michelle Terran from twenty years ago.
Speaker 7 (18:56):
Not impressed. It's a pathetic performance. After the team doesn't care.
You know, it's like, are we gonna be happy to
play eight minutes? I'm not gonna be happy to play
(19:17):
eight minutes. But those guys will say, if we take
forty percent of their salary because they only play, or
fifty percent of their salary because they only play for
fifty to fifty percent of the time, that's enough. That
defensive squad. I think their goal, I really start to
believe their goals is to be the worst defensive squad
(19:39):
in the league. And they're doing such a great job
to be the worst defensive squad in the league. There there,
they turn the puck over. You know, they have no vision,
They soft like I never see a bunch of defensemen
suff like this. So you know they put the two
combinations and they want to get their noses pay. There's
(20:05):
a lot of guy don't care. They pretend to care,
but I know they don't care.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
What's the solution.
Speaker 7 (20:18):
What's a solution? Then a fine solution.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Shows is this the first team like this that you've
uh that you hadn't worked with?
Speaker 7 (20:36):
But it's a game of emotion, it's a game of
hard work, it's a game of passion. You know they're
say the COVID tew what he did at the other day.
There's no one guy's closed to do something. Maybe maximize,
(21:00):
but at the end, with one second left, it's about
fight for eight? Did did Did they think that? As
a coach that I got the feeling that team cared
for each other?
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Wow?
Speaker 7 (21:23):
You know, try to have a good ambience, you know
with the team yesterday?
Speaker 5 (21:30):
Y m hm.
Speaker 7 (21:33):
So I guess we're gonna have to come back with
the old recipe.
Speaker 5 (21:36):
You know.
Speaker 7 (21:37):
It's like they make my jum miserable. So it's a
give and take what can I do? And going on
the road, you know for three games that I'm so
(21:59):
dissipa about lots of guying, very disappointed because they don't care.
You take care, you know. Tonight it looks like man's
(22:19):
against boys.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Hey Mark Bardy flirt per former, so much better than
Mark Mark.
Speaker 7 (22:30):
You know, he's been good for us. Thank gun, thank you.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
I'm gonna say now what I said then, Yeah, Man's
against boys the man himself, but Seltarry next the one
O five nine?
Speaker 3 (22:48):
Find yourself needing a little post holiday cap? Did you
pay the gas bill? The X as your shot at
extra cat read so be it baby the X at
one twenty years ago?
Speaker 1 (22:59):
My guess right now, I gave the Pittsburgh Penguins equivalent
of the Gettysburg address. It will live forever. You heard it,
We just played it. Let's welcome to the program. Former
Penguins coach Michelle Terry and Mike, it's good to talk
to it. Only seems like yesterday you did that ramp.
But it's twenty years and.
Speaker 5 (23:17):
We all remember it.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
We all remember it. Are you surprised that the legend
lives on?
Speaker 5 (23:23):
Surprise? First of all, it's days talking to you. It's
been a long time. Surprise, Yes, and no, you know,
so it's almost like every year now it's twenty years ago.
So but I'll say, like the last five six years,
every time we get to that anniversary, you know, they
(23:47):
still put it on. So I can believe the times
go so fasted in twenty years. And it was a
tough night to be quite honest, But I'm glad. I'm
glad I did it honestly well.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
And to be clear, you knew exactly what you were
saying and doing. I didn't hear, but you said, watch
this like the Tom McMillan some of the Penguins pr
people right before, but.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
We didn't know that.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
More importantly, the players didn't know that there was a
definite message there.
Speaker 5 (24:18):
Correct, Oh, for sure, I was prepared for a week.
I you know what, Mark I was coming up from
the American League. We get in Wicksbury, We got quite
successfully there and we reached the final We established writer
with the culture of our team when I got there,
(24:40):
and I'm moving on to Pittsburgh, and I knew exactly
what's going on when me, your coach and the minors.
To be quite honest, you know what's happening with the
team with the team in the NHL, because there's some
called up and the guys are getting sitting down. So
every time they get sitting down, you get a meeting
(25:00):
with them and you kind of get the feeling with
what's happening with with with the big teams. So there
was some players was really honest with me, didn't liked
and they did not like the way that thing was going.
And honestly, I didn't like this what I saw because
(25:23):
I was watching him again that was part of this organization,
and I didn't like what I saw on TV. So
when I moved on to Pittsburgh, well, I try to
change things from the inside, try to change a system
that's not always easy. During the regular season, because a
(25:44):
lack of practice at time. And but I'm going to
tell you something, uh me and Mike you when we
came in, First of all, I didn't keep any assistant coaches.
One of the reason why I don't believe in that
because sometimes when you keep one or two, especially one guy, well,
(26:08):
the players who were there, they gotta go see that
all assistant coach and they're gonna complain to him about
what we try to do. So it was only me
and my heel and we worked extremely hard to prepare
the team and we have no results. And that fastremely
(26:33):
quite a lot about the effort that team was putting
on the ice and the lack of intensity, the lack
of emotion. They were just going through through motion and
win or lose. It did not affect them. It was like, Okay,
(26:53):
I showed up, I play my game, I move on
and we go to the next game. So, uh, I
try to be positive. Quite a few times, I did
my teaching. I tried to support them, and after that
I try and change my recipe. But from the inside,
people will not see what was going on behind the scene.
(27:17):
And I was waiting. I was prepared to that statement
about a week ago. I let the management know. I said,
we're going nowhere. I mean, if I keep going the
same way I did. I was. I was a young
coach at the time, you know, jail so so great.
Philosophy was pretty simple. I break it, fix it and
(27:40):
move let's let's move on. And I'm glad I did
it because I saw a result after the long result.
It's not when you're doing one of those things, it's
not a short result. But the next game, even if
we lost a few games in a row, but the
next game, I could tell the guy start to care
(28:01):
about each other. They were they were in a fight.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Well no, let me let me interrupt, Mike. You played
Columbus the next game and you lost. But there were
five fights in involving a lot of the younger guys,
and clearly the younger guys got the message and that's
who mostly was for.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
Correct Well, you know I tried to. They got five fight, yes,
But the purpose of everything it was I was attacking
the integrity. You know, It's like and this is the
(28:40):
respond right away. So it was not a matter of
win or losing. It was about, hey, I got to
show up that I please, that I care, and when
you have a group that start to care about each other,
and now you could start to build something when you don't.
When you have the group that they don't care about
(29:03):
each other, it's pretty damn hard to uh to build
something solid and to change the culture. And the next game,
right from the face off, we saw we saw I
think it was a ride along guy in a fight.
And after that next shift, I can't remember who Andre was,
(29:23):
and but I felt, I felt that they care about
each other. So that was that was the first step.
That was just the first step.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
We're talking about sel Terrrian, former Penguins coach here on
one O five ninety X Mike. One thing I loved
about about the rant And I was there in the
room and I didn't know what was coming.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
But you didn't yell, You didn't yell.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
It was very measured, and I thought that made it
all the more serious. I thought that gave it more impact.
Speaker 5 (29:53):
Yeah. Like I was walking down to the press conference
and I was with Tommy, Tommy, and and like Tommy
is doing such a great job to prepare me for
a present every time I met the media, and I
kind of know what direction that and they did, they
did the same thing in Montreality. He's preparing me. He's
(30:16):
going to receive that type of question. But you know,
so I said, tell me, I said, watch me. I
don't even remember the question. It was not about the question.
It was about my statement and especially that game against
a clienter. What could a chuck get to sid and
(30:39):
after his score, his corona power play. It's was the
reaction on the bench. It's not normal that nobody react
or it seems mad. It was like, okay, and we're
talking about Sidney Crosby. I don't care. It's eighteen years old.
He's tried to establish himself in the NH hell and uh,
(31:02):
but easier. He's the next it was he was, he
was the next Mariola new You know, when I came
in in Pittsburgh, one of the one of the first
move that I did, I want to I want to
bring some younger the some one of those young kids
to Pittsburgh. And uh, I gave a NIA on the
(31:24):
jersey to say because one of the first move that
I did, try to send the message to the team
that hey, we're building, we try to we try to
build something for the future. And h didn't get much
response from veteran players and and the young kids. You know,
they kind of just following up. You know, the pattern
(31:48):
of the guys are been established in the NHL. So
I got to do something because we were going right
to the wall, and I have nothing to lose. Mark
could be quite honest. I have nothing to lose because
if I didn't do nothing, my feeling was at the end,
(32:09):
I want to get fired. So they were going to
move on. So I said, well, I'm gonna do it
my way. We're going to find solution. And I was calm,
like you said, because I was prepaired. I was prepared
for a week. I was just waiting the right time
to doing it. And like I said, the question, don't
(32:33):
ask me. What was the question? I don't remember. The
question was not important. It wasn't My statement wasn't.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Hey, Mike, there was no question when Lincoln made the
Gettysburg address, but he still got the point across. And
just to clarify for those don't remember, Covile Chuck frent
Land had scored a power play goal with sitting in
the box and pointed at him after the goal and
the Penguins had no response for that. Now it's worth
noting that you guys lost thirteen of the next fourteen
(33:00):
after that, but things did get more positive. The team
did stick together and a lot of those guys went
on the bigger and better like like Stanley Cups, like
Flurry Gaunt, Shark Crosby.
Speaker 3 (33:10):
They won that team. Talbot Kolbe Armstrong was on that team.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
So the guys who needed to get the message I
think really did.
Speaker 5 (33:20):
Yeah, absolutely right, you know. And like I said, we
didn't sell the result on the eyes with win our losses,
but I saw the effort was better. I saw the intensity,
the care for each other a little bit better. And
(33:40):
close to the end of the year we have non
number the last one and gave me close almost thiight
or five hundred. So were established and with look mark
the first game there were nine thousand people in the stand.
So that was Dove Brad new. This is like it
wasn't about like three or four years that that team
was going to their wrong direction and it was just
(34:04):
like some time you could add at that season and
next year, okay, everything's going to be fine. This is
something was pretty soldid established in that organization. So I
needed to change. I needed to change the culture I
need to change a lot of things. And at the end,
by the end of the year, we were sold out
and the year and we established something for the upcoming season.
(34:30):
And the upcoming season, I think we got forty seven
wins and we reached we reached the playoffs. And two
years after with a really young team, I think again
we were close to fifty wins and we reached a
Study Cup final. So they got the message, you know,
(34:52):
because they they end up to be a group that
I love coaching, and they care about each other, and
they became winners, and that's the most important thing to
add a winning attitude. This is why, this is what
(35:13):
I tried to do with those with those guys.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
What was your favorite line of the rant? Looking back?
Speaker 1 (35:20):
Like you said soft a bunch of times, which people
kind of latched on too. But my favorite part was,
and I'm paraphrasing, they say they care, but I know
they don't. When you did that, I liked to hide
my face in the press conference because I almost cracked.
Speaker 5 (35:33):
Up the truth. That was the truth. You know. It's
like a player, We're all going to say the right things,
you know, so, but I know you didn't care winning.
You're losing. You could tell by their aratitude actor a game.
(35:54):
You could tell there was a few guys care they
would but not enough. If I could count on my
fingers that every time we lose a game, it really
hurts me. When I was coaching, you know, your bread
and butter, it's if your team is gonna win the
game or not. You know, I'm a sour loser and
(36:16):
I hate to lose. So, uh, we're losing game, I'm
going back home and I'm freaking. Uh, I'm thinking about
what can I what can I do the next day?
What can I I'm still like the thinking, thinking thinking,
you know, it's like, uh, should we change this? Should
(36:37):
we do this? So it's like, uh, thank god, I
got a great assistant coach at the time, was a
young coach, Mikey always stood in the NHL. I got
a lot of respect for him, and uh, he had
the same attitude of me. You know, he hate he
hate losing, so so we both both of them. We
(36:58):
we worked ass off and uh to try to prepare.
And then it's so frustrating when you put so much
effort and you got like almost three quarters a team
that you feel that they don't care and I got
a pretty good feeling about who was caring about winning
(37:19):
and who was not. So that's why I needed a change,
just I needed to change your attitude about winning and losing.
I want them to have the winning attitude. And when
you get the winning attitude and you get passion, you're
always going to do the little extra you know, like
blocking a shot, take a hit, to make a play.
(37:44):
And when you don't care, you pretend to try to
block the shot. You know, but you you know, you
pretend to be first on pack, but don't you don't
do it yet. So there was a lot of tign
that's showing me that they didn't. It didn't really matter
because after the game, they go to the gym, they
(38:08):
do what they have to do and they have fun
the laughing, and we end up losing a game and
me and Mike Hill were in the office and we
were beating yourself because we just lost the game. And
I know, I know I'll be reacting in the gym
or the reaction in the dressing room. It's like summer hockey.
(38:31):
So we're going nowhere.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
So I have changed everything, Well, it did change everything. Mike.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
I'm glad to talk to you again. Great, great to
speak after all these years. Do you still drink White Russians?
Speaker 5 (38:46):
Oh, I don't drink. I don't drink anymore. You know.
I've never been a big drinker.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
No, I know.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
But if you remember, you would sometimes when you were
the interim coach, you were staying at the Marion, you
would see the media down at the steel Head afterwards.
Speaker 5 (39:01):
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah, and uh but yeah sometime I
was going and we talked to the people and stuff
like that. But uh, uh do you change?
Speaker 3 (39:15):
Do you miss coaching? You haven't coached in almost ten years?
Do you miss it?
Speaker 5 (39:19):
Yeah? You know what? I got the honored to represent
my country coaching team Canada. The Sprenger Cup Mont version
was a GM called me an Hva, I said, has
seen me? I want to be what that was this year? Yeah?
This year?
Speaker 3 (39:35):
Oh I didn't, Mike, forgive me. I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (39:37):
I know a lot of college kids represented the US.
But that's awesome. That must have been great.
Speaker 5 (39:41):
Yeah yeah, yeah, we beat them. But I'm telling you
we we beat them on our first game, and I
was impressed. I was really interested about the US team.
They were first of all, they were all from college
drafted like twenty one and twenty two years old, and
(40:04):
I'm sure some of those kids at the end of
their column season this year probably would end up in
the NHL, like if you are doing and maybe, like
I told Mark Berger, I had the time when I
were there, I said, geez, maybe half of those kale,
(40:25):
half of those players will have a decent career in
the NHL. So it was a great experience. It was
part of to be quite honest, Mark, it was part
of my bucket list and to go call the Spanda Cup.
It's a great tournament. It's a great experience and coaching
(40:45):
is always fun. But after I coach in Montreal, I
worked in the media for three years and I sent
a three year contract with TV Sports. I was at
four times, four times a week. Uh. I was on
TV or in the Montreal paper. So but I decided
(41:06):
to stop and UH and take it easy and enjoy
retirement a little bit. So and when that opportunity came
to coach Canteen Canada the Dexperiment Cup with Mark Version
remain that I had a lot of respect and uh,
well worked five years together in Montreal. So I jump
on it and we've got a great time, Mike.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
Great to speak with you again. Great to relive those memories.
I hope I talked to you again and thanks. It
was awesome to just to just look back.
Speaker 5 (41:36):
It was great, which was great, great talking to you. Yeah,
like always, that.
Speaker 1 (41:41):
Is the great Michelle Arian. He does care, and he
says he does. And it's time to ask Mark anything.
Eight three three four one two w xdx eight three
three four one two w xdx.
Speaker 3 (41:53):
It's the Mark Madden Show one O five to nine.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
It's the Woody Show, way better than NDR weekday mornings.
Speaker 7 (41:58):
At six on one of them.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
X hear from the lady called d X at one.
I'd a ass Mark anything eight three three four one
two wxdx, like I said right before we had Iron
mic on and boy was that great. I got a
little skirmish with JJ Watt on Twitter because he didn't
like that the Steelers locker room spilled for that great
(42:24):
story to Fabo wrote, I thought he said it shouldn't
have been written. He corrected me in condescending fashion and
said the player shouldn't have talked, and I went back
at him and equally condescending fashion, saying I didn't understand
what you said you work in the media, now do
better or words that effect always great to communicate with
with the Watt family. And if I'd have taken my time,
(42:47):
I would have got a gym teacher reference in there.
And of course so many of you think that anything
an athlete says should be worshiped. Shut up, fatso, You're like,
he acknowledged you, Fatso.
Speaker 3 (42:59):
You know what.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
I don't have a brother, but if I had a
fictional one, if I kind of fantasized about that, some
people have a pretend friend. My pretend brother would have
won the same amount of playoff games as JJ wats
real brother, and Jada didn't win enough either anyway. Down
now eight three three four one two w XDX. Let's
(43:20):
go to Blake in Chapel Hill. Blake, what's up?
Speaker 6 (43:25):
Good?
Speaker 3 (43:26):
I said, good day?
Speaker 5 (43:29):
Uh babe.
Speaker 6 (43:30):
Best condiments for hamburger?
Speaker 2 (43:34):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (43:38):
I use ketchup and onions, unless it's a cheeseburger, then
I like a one sauce or barbecue sauce.
Speaker 3 (43:48):
Heines.
Speaker 1 (43:49):
Of course, only only Hines, as our ad campaign says,
Hines is the only ketchup of record.
Speaker 5 (43:55):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (43:55):
If it's a blue cheese burger, that's even a little
bit different. If it's a bacon berger, that's even a
little bit different. But to go to really for anything,
but specifically just the regular old Hamburger, heinz ketchup and onions.
Let's go to Greg, Greg gask mark anything.
Speaker 4 (44:13):
Hey Mark, that was a really good interview with Michelle Darian.
This is really out there. Did you have you heard
this theory that he learned his coaching style playing for
the Sheerbrook Canadians and being coached by Pierre Kramer.
Speaker 1 (44:28):
Well, I mean I never heard that, and I wish
I'd known to ask him, although it would have been
kind of out of context what we were talking about.
But I was around when Kramer coached the Penguins. I
was around when Mike coach the Penguins. Mike was a
much better coach than Kramer. For that better, Mike was
a much better coach than Dan Bosma, who succeeded him
(44:49):
and won the Stanley Cup. But uh, but the players
just got tired of Mike. He had worn them out
as as was Mike style quite honestly. But Mike was
a really good coach and that was great to Rea
connect with him.
Speaker 3 (45:00):
Let's go to Buffalo Bill Buffalo Bill.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
You're on with double M one Mark.
Speaker 6 (45:06):
This isn't my question, but side question. Is it Michelle
Terran or Mike Terry?
Speaker 1 (45:11):
Well? I always called him Mike. Everybody called him Mike,
Iron Mike. But but yeah, his name is Michelle Terran,
but everybody called him.
Speaker 6 (45:17):
Mike because I think I've heard you say Michael Terry
and two the I thought it was Michelle.
Speaker 3 (45:22):
I don't know what I've said, but but but he's
Iron Mike to me.
Speaker 6 (45:25):
Okay, well, here's my question. Have you ever met Vince
McMahon in person?
Speaker 3 (45:29):
Yeah? I did business with him.
Speaker 1 (45:30):
I met, I had a meeting with him when I
agreed to rewrite Ric Flair's autobiography, which the original author
had badly mangled. That was a w project. So I
met with Vince, Rick and Triple H. And I'd interviewed
Vince a couple times before for the Post Gazette as well.
Speaker 6 (45:48):
Have you kept in contact with him since?
Speaker 3 (45:50):
No, Let's go to Mike. Yeah, Vince and I talk
all the time. We text, were buddies. Let's go to Mike. Mike.
What's up?
Speaker 5 (45:59):
What up?
Speaker 6 (46:00):
Mine?
Speaker 1 (46:02):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (46:02):
I mean, do you think whenever Rogers said, I'm sorry
I'm sorry that insinuated that maybe Tomlin was pushed out
a little bit.
Speaker 3 (46:10):
No, not at all, not at all.
Speaker 1 (46:12):
I think that Rogers was taking responsibility for his part
in the team losing the Houston and I don't know.
I mean, some could say they underachieved on the season.
I think given the roster, they finished about right where
could have been expected. But no, just sorry that Tomlin
was was quitting for whatever reason and maybe, you know,
(46:33):
showing a human side and taking his part in it,
taking some accountability.
Speaker 3 (46:38):
Thank you for the call.
Speaker 1 (46:40):
Okay, keep getting your calls in at eight three three
four one two WSDX. Right now, I'd like to say
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