Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Football Today. January twenty second, twenty twenty five.
I'm your host Bobby Skinner here with my co host
Justin Pennock and producer Connor along for the ride on
the ones and two's and the a's and the g's
and the z's. Justin, we're talking about some coaches getting hired,
some coordinators being hired, and possibly some coaches to be hired.
(00:23):
How are you.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I'm good, Bobby Skinner. Happy birthday to you. Please everybody
please leave a comment saying happy birthday, Bobby Skinner.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Every birthday to Andrew Thomas.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
My happy birthday to Andrew Thomas.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
My favorite player in the NFL. We have the same birthday.
It's an honor.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
How do you like that?
Speaker 1 (00:38):
And he told us he was going to come to
my wedding, which is, you know, a month away. I
did think about sending out an invite and being like,
maybe he'll send you know, he makes a lot of
money and he'd give me some money. But I don't
think Andrew Thomas would do that. Let's talk about these coaches. Justin,
the Bears hired Ben Johnson, the Lions offensive coordinator. I
felt like this is where this was going. Uh. The
(01:01):
funny thing is is the Bears probably could have done
this last year. Uh, and I think they should have, right.
You know, Ben Johnson didn't leave last year. Uh, there
was rumors mid season that his eyes had always been
on Chicago and go and going into there with that situation.
But hey, they do it a year later, they get them.
(01:21):
I'll start with this. I'm glad the Bears took a
big swing. Right. We don't know exactly how Ben Johnson's
going to pan out. You know a lot of times
the most beloved coaching hires are the worst, and then
the ones that are maligned are the best.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
You know, look at Kevin O'Connell, that was the coaching
hire that was you know, made fun of Dan Quinn
last year. Right, they got there, you know they didn't
They they got passed. They Ben Johnson passed up on them.
And look at where they are now, game away from
the super Bowl. But I was worried the Bears were
gonna go safe and hire Mike McCarthy or just like
a kind of a cozy coach instead of taking a
(02:01):
big swing and looking to find that next McVeigh. You know, O'Connell, whoever,
you know Shanahan next great offensive mind to go with
Kayla Williams.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Do you think cayleb played an impact on that, because
I don't know if you saw the you know, when
he went on the Saint Brown podcast, I mean he
he basically said anything but I want Ben Johnson as
the head coach. I mean, I'm pretty sure even talked
about him specifically before he was hired. So do you
think they took that under invisement at all? I mean,
maybe I would, this is the right thing to do,
(02:32):
I think kind.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Of regardless, maybe a little bit. I don't think they
were operating that way. They interviewed like sixteen people. I don't.
I don't know. This is like the first coaching cycle
where people have been interviewed like this, Like the Jets
have been interviewed almost twenty people.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
It's like a celebrity apprentice. What the Jets are doing
at GMN coach?
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Yeah, Like I had the thought justin you know, we
do our like GM candidate and preview and head coach
and stuff for talking giants, Like imagine if we had
to do sixteen of those'd be just no stop, NonStop work. Uh.
I don't think so. I think Caleb talked about the
Ben Johnson thing because he got pranked where someone got
his phone number and said, hey, this is Ben Johnson
(03:10):
blah blah blah blah blah and then facetimed him. But yeah,
they they this is what they need to do. This
roster is talented. It's not the most talented or stacked
in the NFL. It's nowhere near what the Detroit Lions are.
They're gonna need to invest in the offensive line. That
is my biggest worry with Ben Johnson, as we talked
about him as this offensive mastermind, is hey, he has
(03:31):
done a hell of a job with Detroit. Uh, trick
plays are cool. I don't know if you can run
all the same trick plays with different you know, different
personnel when you don't have an a mon Ross Saint
Brown in the slot. Uh, you know, up to anyone. Yeah,
you know, one of the most athletic uh you know
offensive tackles in the NFL, if not the most athletic
(03:53):
in penne seol like. And the main thing being is
it's easy to call plays when you have protection for day.
And that's what that Detroit Lions offensive line allows you
to do. And it's not because of the way they're
coached up. I'm sure that has part, but it's because
they're an extremely talented, good across the board offensive line
and that allows you to scheme up. Think, right, if
you've ever you know, drew up plays, you know on
(04:16):
a whiteboard or on a piece of paper when you're bored,
you think about all the ways to get guys open,
and then you realize, like, yeah, this is gonna take
a while, this is going to take a while. We
need to protect against this. So that's my biggest worry
about Ben Johnson. But the Bears have some money can
invest in the offensive line, and you've got a young
quarterback with young receivers, a defense that is you know,
(04:37):
played well and has you know, got some young talent
that can grow too. We thought the Bears we would
be a lot better than what they were this last year,
and that was without having a lot of faith and
uh uh, Matt Eberflus.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Right, right, Yeah, the offensive line is the biggest question
I guess in you know, short and long term in
terms of what Ben Johnson could do as a head
coach in an offense. Caleb, Yeah, and Caleb, but still
like Caleb Williams is built in a lab like I
still think you trust some of the things that you
saw this year, and you trust the stuff that he
put on at college that he could still be a
(05:12):
really really good quarterback, if not possibly an elite guy
you just got to have, you know, I don't know
him having one on one meetings with Matt eberflus over
the you know, you saw that in Hard Knocks. You're
good for Matt eberflus On doing that, saw that on
Hard Knocks. I think those meetings are gonna get a
lot more efficient, a lot more better and productive now
that you have Ben Johnson in the building.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Right.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
But the only thing that you gotta think about for
Ben Johnson, and this is with any of the the
young offensive masterminds that come up in the NFL, right,
which Brian dabel hey left, you know, left hand up?
Where are we the commanders? You know, we'll put we're
the first to put our hands up as giants fans,
you know, even though Brian Dabele's not the young guy,
but he kind of came in as like the the
offensive genius a couple of years ago, had a pretty
(05:53):
successful year one. But then when kind of shit hit
the fan. Are you a leader of men? Can you
hold your players accountable? How can you hold your players accountable?
Can you communicate well with your staff and get along
well with your staff? All these kinds of things are
you know, may come up for Ben Johnson, especially if
you deal with adversity. If you win right away, then
it's like, oh, well, everybody's great. Morale's great when you're winning,
(06:15):
but you're gonna face some sort of adversity. How as
a coach and as a man, are you gonna deal
with that?
Speaker 1 (06:23):
You know?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
And as somebody who It's been reported a little bit
that Ben Johnson was a little bit of I'm gonna
shut my door as the offense score an entner and
just like Bobby said, be this mad scientist and design
these plays. That was reported a little bit with Ben Johnson.
That door has to be wide open as a head
coach for anybody to come in. So that's probably the
bigger question than I have about Ben Johnson, rather than
you know, rising above whatever the offensive line may or
(06:45):
may not be in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
And that's a bear's locker room that needs that as
well too. So like you said, there's a lot more
you know, predicting head coaches and GM's success without you know,
pass pass e x amples. It is hard to do.
But that's that's where I'm happy with the Chicago Bears
because I actually didn't think it was crazy to keep
(07:09):
Bryan Poles, even though most Bears fans would probably disagree.
But I think that's a talented team. You have Caleb
Williams and you take a big swing. I was. I
was very worried they were going to bring in Mike
McCarthy and how I even like Pete Carroll, right, I
think Pete Carroll's a great coach, but you know he's
he's old now, he's in his seventies to be the
oldest coach in the NFL. Was the oldest coach in
the NFL too, I think outside of Bill So happy
(07:32):
with what the Bears did, But I actually think the
biggest question mark is Caleb. Because Caleb did some really
nice things as a rookie. There was a lot of
bad Like, there was a lot of inaccuracy. They're there.
You're gonna have to figure out a way to you know,
get not get rid of the hero ball, but to
figure out when to play the hero ball because that
was an issue. You know, you can talk about all
(07:53):
the sacks the avoided, but a lot of that was,
you know, making four guys miss and that's special stuff.
But he's got to get better at some of that
quick game stuff, which I thought he did pretty damn
well at USC. You know, I think it just didn't
make the highlights. So getting getting the most out of
Kayleb Williams and figuring out a way to get him
more accurate, especially down the field, because no matter what
(08:13):
excuse you want to make for Caleb Williams, the deep
accuracy was a serious worry. And if that's not if
that's not fixed, Ben Johnson could call all the plays
and get all the guys open and it's not gonna matter. Right.
Uh So, we don't know for sure, but we kind
of know for sure that the Jets are hiring the
other Lions coordinator and Aaron Glenn.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
One more thing on Johnson though, like it would be
a one final thing and we'll talk about this one
it's confirmed, but it would be a home run if
they get Dennis Allen's defense coordinator. I mean that that's
the first like check mark, like big home run for
Ben Johnson to have defense kind of handled. Now, you'd
still need to be a head coach and handle the defense, but.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
They might get Darren Rizzy as a special teams coach too.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Which again like that's that's awesome, That's that's that would
be a home run staff for a home run head
coach that guys have been talking about for the last
couple of years.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Yeah. Absolutely. Dennis Allen, I think is a is a
damn good defensive coach who did a really good job
in New Orleans until it got away from him. Uh
this this this past year. But I think he's done
a pretty damn good job and I think he's gonna
have similar talent level like Dennis Allen with Jalen Johnson
signed sign me up. Uh, you know, I think he'll
(09:28):
get the most out of a guy like Tyrek Stevens,
and he's done good a good job with corners who
may get beat every once in a while, but have
good ball skills like Tyreek does. Uh. Let's talk about
Aaron Glenn to the Jets. So this seems like a
done deal, even though it's not fully a done deal.
I don't love Aaron Glenn as a head coaching candidate,
(09:48):
I don't think. I don't watch lines defenses and be like, man,
this guy gives you a real deal advantage. And I
worry about trying to rep okay Dan Campbell, right, because
there's only one Dan Campbell, and the way he's able
to get his guys going and keep them engaged and
working their asses off and buying in, it's just it's
(10:11):
hard to replicate that. But I will say for a
Jets team that has a lot of defensive talent and
the offensive talent isn't terrible, I don't. I kind of
do like this higher, right because they need accountability and
that on that team. Right. They're a very very immature team,
(10:33):
and defensively they have a lot of talent. They can
be a top ten, top ten defense next year. Hell,
they've been. You know, they were a top five defense
for a couple of years and were this year until
they fired Robert Sala and then everything fell apart. This
is a team that needs accountability, and it's a very
different mindset from Robert Sala defensively, but has a lot
(10:54):
of talent. It kind of reminds me a bit of
you know, the Commander's hiring Dan Quinn last year, where
you're gonna bring that fourth down edge, You're gonna, you know,
challenge your guys, You're gonna find guys to fit your mold.
It kind of reminds me of Dan. It reminds me
of Dan Quinn to Washington last year. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Where if you look at Aaron Glenn and where his
defense ranks and EPA per place from twenty twenty one
to twenty twenty four, it's twenty eighth. Now you can
say the first two years there was a talent issue.
The Lions are still evolving, which there certainly was a
talent issue. In the last two years it's gone up
to twelfth and EP of per play. Like even last
year they weren't that good and then this year, you know,
(11:34):
they had a very good defense for the majority of
the year. At the end of the year they got hurt.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
I don't know if you're bringing in Aaron Glenn though,
to be like this defensive mastermind. I think you're bringing
him in to be a leader. I think you're bringing
him in as a guy that was a former player
that players can identify with. This guy has been there,
this guy has done that. You know, he's had success.
So that's why I kind of I don't really know
(11:59):
Aaron Glenn that well. And in terms of like his
overall track record, like you can't be like, oh, you know, man,
he's led these top three defenses for the last three
years and he and then that's why he got gets
to the job. No, I think he gets this job
because he's a dude that's going to be a leader.
And I think that's exactly what the Jets need. Like
Salad was the good defensive mind where maybe you thought
(12:20):
that he was going to be a leader, but he
certainly was not where you're hoping that Aaron Glenn can
do that.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Yeah, And I again, I just think that's what the
Jets need right now. But here's the things with all
that I have not liked dan Quinn or sorry dan Quinn,
Aaron Glenn defenses right like early on, it was pitiful,
like not just bad like I remember, you know, remember
in twenty twenty two, justin earlier in that season, like
the Lions offense was lighting it up and they were
(12:44):
losing games like fifty two to forty nine, and I
know they got injured and you know at this season,
but there was no adjustments mate, like they got injured
and you were still calling plays like you had all
your starting corners out there, you know, where it's like, man,
maybe maybe change your defense a bit, like play a
little more safe, especially with the offense you had, right
(13:05):
if you had this offense that you didn't trust, and yeah,
you got to go out there being aggressive and look
to make plays, but man just could have tried to
keep things in front of them, and it just seemed
like Aaron Glenn was just kind of like, Nope, we're
gonna play, man. We're gonna blitz and we're gonna and
we're not gonna make it too exotic either. We're just
gonna come after you play after play after play, which
is nice when you have Aiden Hutchinson healthy and more importantly,
(13:26):
I think those corners healthy. But it just bit them
in the ass. So there's been some really bad Aaron
Glenn defenses. They've been really good at times. Right, they
stopped the run, So that's where we'll see. As much
as there is things I like about this higher, I
don't view Aaron Glenn as like, oh man, look at
this defensive mastermind they're bringing in.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Right, right, But like I said, I think you're bringing
him into be a leader, But there's certainly a lot
of data that suggests heading into this year. Like we
talked on the Lions TPP like Aaron Glenn like, I
know your identity is like blitzing, and we want to
bring pressure. We want to take the game on our
own terms. We're gonna play man coverage on the back end.
But there was plenty of numbers that showed that the
(14:05):
Lions when they rushed four were like a top pass
defense in the NFL, above average pass defense in the
NFL when they only blitzed four, and they were still
able to get decent pressure numbers because you have Aiden
Hutchinson and some other talented guys there too. So yeah,
we'll say but with this Jets roster though, Bobby like,
(14:26):
how do you not salivate, especially as a defensive coach.
How do you not salivate with the idea and the
possibility of working with these guys. Now, there's some work
that the Jets roster need to do. They need to
make a decision on DJ Reid. He's up for a
contract extension. What do you do with him? I would
continue to pair him with Sauce Gardner and then you
have one of the best one to two punches in
the NFL at cornerback, I think it's the best. Jamien
(14:50):
Sherwood and Quincy Williams, two linebackers that are also need
contract extensions. I think they're one of the best one
to two punches. At interior linebacker CJ. Mose he is
a guy that's coming off of injuries. He's the only
like starring linebacker that's like under contract, so he may
have to work something out with him. You have Quinn Williams,
you have an ascending pass rush pass rusher Will McDonald's.
(15:11):
So I mean that's just the defensive side of the ball.
And they made efforts to improve their offensive line, which
was their big bugaboo over the last couple of years,
which the offensive line was better for the Jets for
the Jets this year. So as a coach, even there's
a Woodie Johnson problem and his presence is bad. I
think he's the worst owner at all two and a
quarterback problem, the worst owner of all sports. But part
(15:31):
of why I think this is a really attractive job, Bobby,
what are the expectations for this Jets team? They need
to kind of start over, but you also don't need
to fully start over with the roster that they.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Have, right, No, they've got talent. They've got all pro
level players. You know, you have Soft Gardner, Quentin Williams,
Garrett Wilson. On the offensive side, Breese Hall didn't have
the year that he wanted, but we know this type
of player that he can be, you know, oulu fashion.
I'm like, you're really excited for his year or two
like they have. They have pieces, right, and that's that's
just naming a few. But what will be interesting to
(16:04):
see is this defensive mindset is very different than what
Robert Solid did. Right, So now you're probably gonna see
Sauce Gardner follow guys and play a lot more man coverage.
I know he had a down year for his expectations,
still better than almost almost every corner in the NFL.
The penalties were a little out of hand this year.
Uh but uh, it's it's gonna be different for the Jets.
(16:27):
It's gonna be a little bit of a culture shock.
But if there's anything that fucking needs a culture shock,
it's the Jets. What do you want to hit on next?
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(17:35):
The crown is yours too. Glad you did. Liam Cohen
denying the Jags, or Josh McDaniels going back to the
Patriots for a third time.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
I need Josh McDaniels going back to the Patriots. I
can't believe, and I'm leaving this off. I can't believe
that people are defending the process of what the New
England Patriots are doing. One I wasn't here for a
show where you talked about Mike Rabel. And I'm sure
you guys hit the nail on the head that only
(18:06):
interviewing one legitimate candidate. And I'm sorry, virtual interviews don't count.
Virtual interviews don't count. Interviewing only one legitimate candidate for
head coach is already asked nine enough when the Patriots
are are this backwards right now, when they seem to
be lost right, you know the Rooney rule, like they
spit in the face of it, A Byron Leftwige and
(18:26):
Pep Hamilton, what have they been doing? They were not
serious candidates, Mike Rabel. They had their ey set on me,
and hey, good for them that they got their guy right.
But I all right, so you could say that this
process won them six Super Bowls. That's the replies that
I've been getting, Like, I like, this organization is so
stuck in their ways, and I'm a Giants fans, like
they're so stuck in their ways. It's even more than
(18:47):
what the Giants are And that's an organization that's very
stuck in their ways too. But they won six Super
Bowls with it all? Right, you know what's fucking missing
Bill Belichick and Tom Brady the greatest coach and the
greatest quarterback of all time, that's what's missing here.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
I agree with you. I think their process is ridiculous,
right where when you move off Bill Belichick, you don't
try and well, let's recapture Bill Belichick. No, you could
have just kept Bill Belichick, you know, if if that's
really what you know, Josh McDaniels was available last offseason.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
That's the thing.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
And it's funny that since they fired Bill Belichick, they
have hired to Bill Belichick linebackers to be their head coaches.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Why not just keep them? You're you're so right, why
not keep them?
Speaker 1 (19:38):
The process is ridiculous, But I kind of like the
results though.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Oh what's yes? Six Super Bowls. Is that we're talking.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
No, No, I'm talking about Mike Rabel and Josh McDaniels.
H Yeah, like Mike, Mike Rabel, I don't think is
this great head coaching. It's the whole, you know, it's
the you know, you take a step back or you know,
a toothpick makes everyone look better. Like it's just anytime
you take a year off your your your your reputation rises.
(20:08):
It's just it's just like an NFL. I know he
was with the Browns, but took a year off, your
reputation rises. So Mike Rabel last year wasn't even hired
for a head coaching job. This year he's you know,
the top candidate or a top two candidate between him
and Ben Johnson. But I do like Mike Frable. I
think he's gonna bring a lot there. I think he's
gonna be like you know what they wanted girod Mayo too,
(20:30):
uh and Josh McDaniels, as much as I hate him
as a head coaching candidate, right, the idea that the
Raiders like, ah, you know what this guy's been, you know,
a horrible leader of men and bad head coach and
literally spurned the Colts and unbelievable move and everything ended
horribly in Denver, and we haven't seen Patriots coaches Bill
(20:52):
Belichick disciples pan out. Uh, he has been a good
offensive coordinator if you and you get him with Drake
may right, I actually think it can work. So yeah,
I agree that the process and all that is bullshit.
It's so fucking dumb for like Robert Kraft is smelling
himself too much and just like, ah, well, you know what,
let's just try and recapture glory days. You should not
(21:14):
do that, right. It's I told I said about I
said this about it before, where it seems like the
college who was dominant and then fell off, and then
they go and hire you know, the guy who was
the defensive coordinator for one of those teams, or you
know the star you know, linebacker, offensive lineman, Like, well,
we got to get someone that's from the from the
(21:35):
program to fix us and bring us back to those
glory days. But I just I do like the results
of them getting Mike Raybull and Josh McDaniel to be
the head coach and offensive coordinator for that team.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Hey, the only time that Mac Jones looked like a
capable NFL quarterback was his rookie year, and that was
when Josh McDaniels was his offense coordinator. You talk about
that all the time.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah, and listen, if they had if they didn't have Drake,
I would be shitting on this because I don't think
Josh mcdaiels is the guy who takes a bad or
average quarterback and it's gonna make it easy and look better.
You've got to be dialed in and really on the
same page on a lot of things. But I think
Drake May is that type of quarterback and that's why
it'll work.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Yeah. So I think earlier it's like, all right, well,
justin do you do hate Mike Rabel. It's like, no,
that's that's not necessarily case. I just hate the way
that the Patriots went about hiring Mike Rabel. I didn't
think there was this big rush. There's only been two
coaches that have been hired this cycle so far, and
the Patriots hired what Mike Rabel this point a week ago,
a week and a half ago, So I really don't
(22:42):
think there was this huge, huge rush. But my also
problem with the Patriots is that they're a horrible team
like this is not a good team. And you just
mentioned that Josh McDaniel, like Drake May is gonna need
to be locked in with who. You know, Pop Douglas
is the best guy that he's throwing on the ball,
that's throwing the ball. I didn't get what they I think.
I'm pretty sure Elliott Wolf went on records saying that
(23:05):
we didn't get what we thought that we were going
to get out of out of Jalen Polk and some
of the other young receivers.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Yeah, that's the issue keeping Jelliot Wolf. They should have
fired il A Wolf and got a real GM. That's
my worry with the Patriots because they have not done
a good job of bringing in talent through the draft.
Obviously there's there's some hits in there, like Christian Gonzalez,
and you can blame Bill for all that. But Ela
Wolf's draft last year was we you know, you have
to wait the judge draft classes, but that was one
(23:30):
that's in the moment, like Hill, what are we Hayden
Wos Jalen spoke this early. I like Javon Baker, but
there's also you know, there's character questions with him, and
I just didn't like their draft in the moment. That's
that's my worry. But here's the thing is, they do
have the most cap space in the NFL one hundred
(23:51):
and twenty million or one hundred and ten million or whatever. Like.
If there's one team that I think should go pay
big money the t Higgins, it's the Patriots, right, and
then you know, maybe you get a Mecca Buca uh
you know in the early second or whatever wide receiver
in the second round to bring in those they were.
The offensive line is what they really need to get.
I think they'll probably be the team that drafts Will
(24:11):
Campbell uh in the first Smith. You know, maybe they
go spend money on Trey Smith, right, make the you know,
fix the Joe Thuni mistake. So if there's one team
that I'm like, hey, go pay a wide receiver and
an offensive lineman top of the market, it is the
New England Patriots. So I don't think it's I don't
think it's too far away from being turned around. I
think that defenses can be better than what it was
(24:32):
last year. Under drawd Mayo as well.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Wouldn't you love to see a dull Carter?
Speaker 1 (24:37):
I would, I really would. But and this goes against
some of my philosophies. You gotta protect Drake.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
May at this point. I mean again, I'm asking this
question because I don't know at this point, is there
is there a tackle that's worthy of taking over a
duel carter.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
For the Patriots? Maybe Will Campbell.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
From Okay, And we'll talk about that as the months
go on.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Yeah, we'll talk about that as the months go on. Uh,
justin this next conversation, we're not going to add much
more than what everyone's saying. But it's because it's so
fucking obvious. Liam Cohen is staying with the Bucks. He's
turned down the Jacks to be their head coach after
interviewing with him a couple of times. And the Jags
thought that they were going to get and he turns
them down to stay in Tampa Bay. Everything that everybody
(25:27):
predicted was right. You had a a somewhat desirable position
right in Florida. Trevor Lawrence is your quarterback, but you
fucking made it undesirable by keeping Trent Balkey, who's fired
five coaches in seven years, has done a terrible job drafting,
terrible top terrible job team building, and and and you
(25:48):
ruined it. You ruined it by keeping Trent Balky. Why
does this, why does Shad Khan feel this? Like loyalty
to Balky is unbelievable to me. As how yeah, with
how bad that he's been as the forty nine Ers
and the Jags gam again firing five coaches in seven years,
it's just it's shocking to me that they didn't fire Ball.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
And Schefter gave an up date. Jacksonville was in the
midst of conducting second in person head coach interviews this
week with Liam Cohen, who's now out, as well as
former Raiders defense coordinator Patrick Graham and Jets head coach
Robert Salah. So I think they're out too, So who's in?
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Wait, they're out?
Speaker 2 (26:27):
I mean, if I'm reading this tweet correctly, and Connor
like you even let me know too, I'm gonna find it.
Adam Schefter quote tweeted himself an hour ago and said
that Liam Colwin, who's now out as well as is So,
is that Adam Schefter saying that they're still in the mix.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
No, he's saying those guys are those two guys are
still in the mix.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
All right, They're in the mix. Okay, Okay, that's how
you interpret it too, Connor, Yeah, I get it as
that uh Liam Coheney is out, but Graham and Solar
are both in and they are doing in personator.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
All right. Yeah, that's not interpreted, that's just what it's saying.
All right. So I guess you know, it's either gonna
be our guy, Patrick Graham, which I love Patrick Graham.
I don't want his I don't want that to be
his first head coaching job. Yeah, which with defensive coordinator,
it's harder than to get a second head coaching job.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
You're also there's also inevitably going to be a power struggle,
and that's why the job is so undesirable. It's like
that number one, it's not only you have the lame
duck GM and Trent Balky, but number two, it's like
you when shit goes wrong, who is going to be
the one to throw who under the bus? And who's
going to have the owner's ear? It's going to be
the GM.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Yeah, and then there's this whole like, oh, well the
head coach is going to you know, report directly to
the owner. It's just it's just stupid. It's it's fucking
looney town on Jacksonville. I don't know why the hell
that they It just doesn't make sense, you know. And
this is why sometimes these NFL teams and you grow
up and they're like, oh, these are the best of
the best, and these owners and these gms and stuff,
(27:54):
and then you're like, you know what, they're stupid people
in the world, and sometimes they get into these easy spots,
and I think I feel like that's where the Jags are,
where they have someone who is just not fit to
be their owner because I get I don't know if
they have this great relationship with Bulkey and they're best
friends or what, but the loyalty to him makes absolutely
(28:16):
no sense. He hasn't he hasn't had uh, you know,
coach to double He hasn't been the GM of a
double digit win team I think in like ten years
or whatever. So just a fucking mess. And and Jacksonville
and I feel bad for that fan base.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Yeah, I mean, even even if I'm Robert Sala, Robert
Sala could go somewhere be a good defensive coordinator for
a year or two. And I think now once again
he's somewhat of a hot candidate, like, oh, can can
we make him a Dan Quinn or even like a
you know, Mike McCarthy, except on the defense side of
what you know, it takes like a year, a year
or two off from being a head coach, go somewhere,
(28:51):
dominate and kill it being a defense coordinator. But I
think if you if you take this job and it fails,
then you're almost never going to be a coach ever again.
So wouldn't you rather do that even if you're Robert Sala.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Well, I think Robert Sala could do the one year
off thing and then all of a sudden he's a
hot candidate there.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
But he will he somebody will want him as a
defense coordinator.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Absolutely absolutely, Oh yeah, Like I think San Francisco would
hire defense coordinator. So I think I think Robert Sala
can get back into the into the limelight head coaching job.
But I can, Like, if you're a Jags fan, you're
think sitting here thinking about, like we just have the
we have. We could have been very desirable, Like you
(29:35):
could have made a case that they could have gotten
Ben Johnson if they fired Trent Balky. Instead they keep
Trent Balk And you have Trevor Lawrence, and you have
Brian Thomas, and you have you know, you know some
some guys on defense you gotta pass Rusher and Josh Allen,
and you're just a very undesirable location. Yeah, unfortunately for
the beautiful city of Jacksonville. Just kidding. I hate the
(29:57):
city at jackson I hate whenever I'm in there. Have
you got anything else?
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Justin I have one more small thing? Connor, how long
have we been going?
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Thirty minutes and thirty six seconds?
Speaker 2 (30:07):
All right, We're all right? Is Brian Schottenheimer really gonna
be the next Dallas Cowboys head coach?
Speaker 1 (30:13):
It wouldn't surprise me, that would that.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Man, If you want to talk about the last year
or so in terms of the Cowboys building their team
and trying to improve their team, if you want to
describe that as meh and not even meh but bad,
I mean, wouldn't that be just the cherry on top?
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Man?
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Like? What this is America's team, the Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Hey mart Hey, Marty Schottenheimer's son. It's a it's a
football it's a football family story. Yeah, that could happen.
I still think they're getting deon, Like I think that's
I think that's real. I know we haven't heard anything
of it since they fired Mike McCarthy, but I think
there's still I think Jerry's doing whatever he can and
get Dian as the head coach. But if if he can't,
(31:02):
then it's gonna be shot him probably What a mess.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
What a mess? I also did. I'll shot this out
too as we wrap up a I did a tear
maker video, and Connor, if you want to put that
link to that video in the description, I would appreciate that.
I did a tear maker video of like all the
head coaching jobs that were available, including the Pats and
the Bears, and I put it like in a tear maker,
have got to have it. Definitely intrigued, but I have
some questions. First, I put the Saints in their own
(31:27):
category because they're in cap hell and I don't know
what their plan is. Intriguing, but your owner is nuts.
And then wouldn't want to touch. I put the Jaguars
and the Cowboys in the wouldn't want to touch category
because I Bobby, I think that roster is bad and
it has guys that they're paying a lot of money.
Ceede Lamb. They're paying a lot of money too, and
they are they're overpaying them because they wait till the
(31:49):
eleventh hour to extend all these guys. They waited till
the eleventh hour, probably, you know, a year too late
to extend Dak Prescott. You possibly could have extended Dak
Prescott before guys like Tua and Trevor Lawrence get extended.
So instead of instead of paying him money in the fifties,
you're paying him money in the sixties, sixty million dollars
a year. Michaeh Parsons is he's gonna be looking for
(32:09):
a new contract this summer. So what is he gonna be?
Another guy that's gonna miss training camp Lake Ceedee Lamb
and then get off to a slow start of the year.
That's not what you want out of one of your superstars.
DeMarcus Lawrence's contract is up on a defense that they
had a very hard time stopping the run? Are they
gonna want to pay him? What's his contractor to look like?
At age thirty two? Osa Diggi zuwa interior, he's like
(32:29):
one of the only good interior defensive lignement that they had,
but more of a pass rusher. Are they gonna buckle
up and pay him? What presence do they have an
interior linebacker or demarve On Overshown second season ending injury
in the last three years for him, but they have
no other talent on an interior linebacker. What's the offensive
line going to look like? Zach Martins has a void
year coming up. Like this is a roster that is
(32:51):
that has stars and they will be decent with those stars,
but they are not good and what are they gonna do?
They don't want to spend any money.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
There's here's the thing. They went seven to ten with
Dak injured. They have Dak Prescott's CD LAMB, Micah Parsons,
Trevon Diggs, Deren Bland. They're also line is the second
year guy and Tyler Guy and Tyler Smith and All
Pro Cooper b Bbe who had a good rookie year.
Zach Martin probably will stick around. Who's an All Pro.
(33:19):
So you know, even Terrence Steele's you know, not a
bad right tackle and they draft well.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Yeah, they're America's team in the and they draft well.
But there are just certain decisions, especially when it comes
to extending their guys and how they approach free agency.
Were like the biggest addition that they added last year
was Eric Kendricks. Are you kidding me, man?
Speaker 1 (33:41):
Yeah, but they kind of took a gap year last
year with with the way they spend it. I don't
think they're as far as like, if Bill Belichick took
this job, I'd say they're Super Bowl contenders.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Yeah, because that's Bill, that's Bill Belichick, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
But they but like they have the offensive talent to
you know, be a top five scoring offense in the NFL.
They number one just a year ago. And then defensively,
do they have holes? Sure, but they also have fucking
Micah Parsons. They have cornerbacks who who intercept the football,
and you know, you can kind of plug some of
those holes fairly quickly if you can get a couple
(34:24):
of draft hits right and some bargain free agents.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
Still some major questions though, like all those guys like
Lawrence Zach martin Osa, Diggie zoo Wa, no interior linebacker
talent like those are like some legit questions. Tyler Giton
was on and off injured last year and they would
pull them at times. Is it because of injuries because
of performance? You know? No wide receiver too, no running
back like there there's a lot of things that the
(34:48):
Cowboys need to work on roster wise, and you know,
like it's they're gonna have to pay Micah. So that's
gonna that's gonna be at least over thirty million dollars
thirty five million dollars per year. He's gonna get Are
they going to buckle up and pay these guys? And
how are they? They really have to knock the draft
out of the park. That's what they have to do.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Yep, absolutely, all right, that's an episode. We will see
you on Friday for a preview of the conference championship.
We'll see you then. Until then, this is football today.