January 8, 2025 • 28 mins
The Guys discuss the recent head coach and GM firings around the NFL!
00:00 - Antonio Pierce is Fired
12:28 - What's Next for the Titans?
21:26 - Ideal Coach Pairings
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Featuring: Bobby Skinner and Dalton Feely
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Football Today, the Wednesday after the regular season,
and did I'm your host Bobby Skinner here with my
co host Dalton Feenie. Justin not here gotten a pretty
big car accident. He'll be out for a few weeks
but will be okay, supposedly, Dalton, how we doing. We're
gonna talk about the Titans from your you know your
Colt's division, talk about the Raiders firing Antonio Pierce, and
(00:23):
maybe even give up some matchups of you know where
we want to see guys go.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
You are the biggest gas lighter ever. I love it.
I'm doing good, Bobby, thank you for having me on.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
I hope Justin Tenneck's okay after that quote unquote car accident.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Can I tell you something. I don't know exactly what
gas lighting means, and I've even googled it and I
still just don't like get I can't. There's not enough
context clues for me to really understand what it means.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
And you know what, I think you're gaslighting me by
pretending to not know what gas lighting.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Is exactly exactly. It's just like people use it for
all different types of things. You know, usually I could
figure out what something means by the context clues, and
I feel like it's just used in way too many
is it? Basically? I don't I see again, I'm not
even gonna get into this.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I got you, No, But I am excited to talk
some ball.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
It's been a little bit since I've been on football
today last time was with you.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
I'm really excited to talk about some Raiders football. How
about it Antonio Pierce getting fired?
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Bobby, I did want to ask, do you think Antonio
Pierce got a fair shot as the Las Vegas Raiders
head coach?
Speaker 1 (01:21):
No, We're gonna spend ten minutes on the gas lighting
thing since we're on Dan Patrick. That's a great radio segment,
like what is gas lighting?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
No?
Speaker 1 (01:29):
And I understand if they wanted to fire Antonio Piers
because there is some huge things that he got wrong.
You know, he messed up the offensive coordinator hire badly, right,
so badly that they had to bring in you know
Northern Scott Turner off of the street, had really bad
game management. Was you know listening to Ted Nowinn, who
you know does some Raiders stuff for the athletic talking
(01:51):
about like I think maybe Matt Eberflus was only the
worst Outside of that, the one good thing he had
on his staff, Patrick Grin, the defensive coordinator, seems like
he was trying to get out of there right His
contract was up, so he was interviewing for other DC
jobs and he's even got some head coaching buzzy, even
though he probably won't get that in this cycle. But
(02:13):
this is why you didn't. You shouldn't have hired Antonio
Pierce because you put him in an unwinnable situation. So
you put this rookie head coach with very little experience
coming off of the five and four. You know, interim
head coach run when we see those are like fake
all the time, right, we always every time there's an
interim head coach that does like fairly well, NFL media
is like, oh, you got hired, you gotta give him
(02:34):
a chance. And then it never works out. It never
worked out. I think the best example of it working
out is Jason Garrett, and I think Dallas Cowboys and
fans will say that probably didn't work out. You know,
you had no quarterback plan. Really, I mean you had
a plan, but we everyone knew that it was a
bad plan, which is fine for year one of a
GM and head coach, if you're willing to just eat that.
(02:57):
You lost Josh Jacobs in that room was the worst
in the NFL. So you have no quarterback, no run
game to rely on. You had the trade Devonte Adams.
Your defense, which was your calling card, which already was
not a talented group but just a well coach group
got injured with Wilkins, Crosby, Malcolm Cons, Marcus Epps. Like
there's there was no chance for this team being good
(03:20):
this year. There there's again Jim Harbaugh, who I think
is the ultimate just come in here and will make
your first season highly exceed expectations. I don't think he
could have gotten this team to more than six or
seven wins.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Well, it's really funny that you bring up the interim
head coach, because, like you said, I feel like it
never works out. Since twenty nineteen, there have been six
interim head coaches promoted to become full time head coaches.
Freddie Kitchens in twenty nineteen, Lovey Smith and twenty two
Bowls in twenty two, Allen in twenty two, Gerard Mayo
twenty four in house like promotion like he wasn't an
interim but he was brought in from in house. Yeah,
(03:55):
and it pears. Of those guys, four of them have
been one and done. Dennis Allen just got fired this year.
The only remaining one is Todd Bowles. Right, So that's
a mix of the in house promotion slash interim head coaches.
It never works, It really never works. I really don't
think Antonio Pierce got a fair shake. But they had
the same operation with Rich Bisaccia in twenty one as
(04:16):
the interim.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
He does a great job.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
People are clamoring for him to get the job. They
don't go with him, they go with McDaniels. That doesn't
work out. Pierce becomes the interim they want him to say.
They're like, Okay, maybe we should have hired Bisacia, So
let's give Pierce a shot. And my thing with Antonio
Peers is, if you're going to promote him as the
head coach, right, give him a chance to win. The
quarterback position is just absolutely the most important thing in football.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
And he had no one there.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
I understand that hired GM, Tom Telesco brought in Gardner Minshew,
But if if you think Gardner Minshew is a long
term option in a division that has at the time,
Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert, You're absolutely insane.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
And the reality is O'Connell's better than was better than
Gardner Minshew too.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Right, Minshew had a struggles early on and he gets hurt.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
AOC comes in and he does, you know, not the
greatest thing, but he's you know, start a bull, which
is I guess a little bit of a stretch. And
then you have to have Desmond Ritder come in when
AOC gets hurt too. So the quarterback position was in
such a flux in the division that was arguably the
best division in the AFC this year. He didn't give
Antonio Pierce a chance. And I understand Telesco came in
(05:21):
with Pierce as the head coach, and you want to
hire your own guy. But the Raiders again making a
move off of a head coach, the last head coach
for the Las Vegas Raiders, Oakland Raiders Los Angeles Raiders.
To make it through five years with the team, you
got to go back to the eighties and nineties.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
With Art Shell, who they rehired because they couldn't fly,
they couldn't find, no one would take their job.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
It was awful.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
I think it was two thousand and six, Art Shell
comes in, it's like two and fourteen. But regardless they are,
it's just so much turmoil. They go back and forth
with these head coaches, five head coaches since twenty twenty nine,
since twenty eleven when Mark Davis took over his owner.
I feel really bad for Antonio Pierce, but the Raiders franchise. Man,
it's such a tough one to be the guy, right
and even like I guess the best head coach since
(06:03):
Artchell is John Gruden, who you know left the Raiders
to the Bucks. I think Antoni Pierrice didn't get a
shot and once again the Raiders' toxicness. If you will,
you have him go meet with the media before the
news of you know, making their decision.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
How do you not know?
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Yeah, you just should never put the like you can
wait a day and be like, hey, we're still discussing
these things, so here's forget now we get I think
sometimes in talking about this we get into like is
this fair? Right? Like is it fair with the pages
and the draw on may own? No, but they should
have done that, They should have fired him. Do you
think this is the right decision to keep te LESCo
and fire Antonio Pierce because I actually I'm usually like
(06:46):
we'll talk about with the Titans, like let's keep the
cycle same. But because Pierce was there before, probably didn't
want to bring back Pierce. But there was pressure from
guys like Max Crosby, who maybe someone should tell him
that you're not probably not the best GM and the NFL.
Mister mister Crosby, Uh, I actually agree with it. I
don't think Tom to Tom Tellsco his draft this year,
(07:09):
you know, not not not bad, right, You get Bowers,
you know, Jackson powers Johnson in the second round. DJ
Glaize started for them. Made some mistakes. I think letting
Jermaine Iluminor leave was a mistake. He could have still
drafted DJ Glaize and developed him as a as a
swing year. But they they clearly took a QB gap year,
and then you know, added Al Wilkins on the defensive side.
(07:30):
I know he got hurt, but that's I think was
a really good signing for them. I do agree with
them getting rid of Pierce because he wasn't He just
wasn't cut out for the job. And I don't think
Tom to LESCo has had this first year of being
a GM where it says this guy needs to be fired.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Yeah, I think he nailed it on the head because
I don't think it's fair, right, I think you said
it perfectly. It's not fair that Antonio Pierce got fired.
But it's understandable why he got fired. It's because of
a you know, game management issue. Is the results this
year were really bad. But b Tom Telesco now gets
to pick his own guy. It's and that's as it's
not fair. But Telesco, like you said, you're drafting Brock Powers,
(08:10):
who sets the receiving record as a rookie. You draft
Jackson Powers Johnson, who's a great interior offensive lineman out
of Oregon. The rest of the draft, like you said,
a little bit, we'll find out, not as much stock there.
But Telesco's had a great run with the Chargers, like
his decade plus run there.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
I don't think it's fair. The results were bad.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
We saw this year the defense take a step back too,
and that's something a calling card of Antonio Pierce getting
that defense playing because in twenty three when he took over,
they were number one in points per game, fourth in
a fifth and turnover margin. This year twenty fifth in
points per game allowed, thirtieth in turnover margin, So there
was a big discrepancy in defensive play from when he
took over in twenty three twenty four. You have the
(08:52):
game management issues. Yeah, I think that makes total sense.
Why you let go Pierce a back.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Point and the reason why it was very predictable that
because offensive coach can be more consistently keeping you afloat
defensively coaching like it matters. I love Patrick Graham, obviously.
I have ties back to him with with with the
Giants and talking Giants have met him before. Like, I
really like Patrick Gham. I think he's one of the
(09:16):
best minds of the game, but one he wants to
leave there. But they were so over reliant on coaching
this year, you know, like they brought in Christian Wilkins
on the defense and you have Max Crosby, but like
even Marcus Epps, who's really important for them. Marcus Epps
isn't some great player in the NFL. He's just a
great fit for what Patrick Graham wants to run and
got that defense in place. A lot of times they
(09:36):
were just they're a very untalented team. So it's just
that's why it didn't make sense to bring in someone
like Antonio Pierce and not have the patience to go
with him. But I think they all agree that they're
this is a long term thing for them. Also, I'll
say this, Dalton Antonio Pierce wanting Jayden Daniels is the
(09:58):
new Like, Okay, congrats, dude, you wanted the guy who
was taken second over in the second overall in the
NFL draft. You you are the greatest talent evaluator of
all time. Patrick Graham, No way, I think you know who.
You know what. I think the Giants wanted Jayden Daniels.
I think the Vikings would have taken Jayden. I think
a lot of teams probably wanted Jayden Daniels. But you
(10:20):
weren't picking second, so didn't That doesn't mean you're just
amazing And it was just like, yeah, they were at
Arizona State together. It's like, Okay, well that should be
more more reasoning than that.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
I mean, I guess the one other thing with that too,
is that I feel like there have been coaches after
the drafts have happened and we've seen these players play
where it's like, yeah, I wanted that player that was
but I was overruled at least.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Then.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Peiris's point is that he did say before or the
draft that he wanted Daniels to end. He wasn't number
one guy, but he absolutely played like the number one
quarterback as a rookie this year.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Yeah, absolutely, all right, Uh, don't won don't you talk
to us about something before we talk about the Titans.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Oh yes, I mean we're talking about Tom Telesco with drafting.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Speaking of drafty, cut that.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Try that again, No, don't cut that. If you cut
that corner. I will lose my mind.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Make them lose your mind. You know who you see
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Speaker 2 (12:08):
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Speaker 2 (12:25):
The crown is mine, Bobby's and yours.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
All right, let's talk about the Titans and talk about
their fuck ups.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
The Titans have fired GM ran Carthon after two years Dalton.
They keep Brian Callahan and really in reality, they are
just keeping and making the President of Football Operations Chad
Brinker the GM. And this is this is Tennessee has
got a lot of drama going on there and their
(12:53):
owner Amy Adams. It just seems like it's a mess
there that they don't know what they're doing, They have
no plan there. You know, they're you know, they're riding
by the you know, they're you know, living by the
you know, the pants, the seat of their pants. They're
just a mess over there. And I think that they
probably should have just reset after all this if they
wanted to make changes, but it's just so much. It
(13:17):
seems like it's just been a constant power struggle over
the last three years. Right, they fire Robinson after the
whole A J. Brown tobaccle. They bring in ran Carthon,
keep Mike Vrabel, which Mike Vrabel's I think is a
is a type of head coach that you can do
a GM search with. Right, most coaches you probably couldn't,
but he's someone that's like, all right, these two guys
are gonna be on the same page. Then they fired
(13:37):
Mike Rabel. You find out Mike Vrabel never wanted ran
Carthon and didn't think he was ready for the job.
So you hire Brian Callahan, Like, okay, Well, at least
ran Carthon hired his head coach. Now we're now at
least we're all on the same page. Even if this
doesn't work out well, it finds out that Chad Brinker,
the president of Football Operations, doesn't really like ran Carthon,
(13:58):
even like his work ethic. Uh, And so they fire
ran Carthon but still keep Brian Callahan. This is a mess.
And we can talk about ran Carthon and what he
if he deserves, if he's done a good job or not.
But what the Titans have done here has made them
a completely unattractive, uh, you know, spot for the job.
(14:19):
Because here's the thing they've already said that Chad Brinker,
the president Football Persons, he has all final say in
football matters, even the fifty three man roster. He has
final say on that. You know, he threw some shade
at ran Carthon's work ethic out the door like this,
you're basically being if you take this job, you're gonna
(14:40):
get any blame and lose your chance if it goes
bad at GM. But you're not actually gonna be the GM.
You're basically taking an assistant GM spot, you know, Like
this is what this is what Brinker said, This is
an attractive job for a lot of people, and particularly
for those who grew up in the industry in the
way that I have, who kind of cut their teeth
as a scout and projecting players from college to pro
(15:01):
and they just want to get up and focus on
building a roster and not have to worry about running
the video department or an analytics team, or the equipment
room or whatever. Just all they want to do is scout,
go on the road in the fall, and find football players.
Because we've got to get it right. We have to
have good football players in the building. We have to
get playmakers in the building, particularly at positions that influence
the outcomes of games. We've got to get to a
(15:22):
point where we have seven difference makers or impact players
on our team. Which is all fine and well, but
you're the one making the decisions. Be he will be
the final say on draft picks, on the roster, on
free agency signings. So it's just this is this is
dysfunction that you know. I think there's so many dysfunctional
teams right now in the NFL. Maybe it's I'm just
(15:44):
more aware of it than in years past. But man,
the Titans are going right towards the top of them,
and they fired every They fired people, you know, every
every year.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Now, I want to speak on the Titans organization, just
as you alluded to and were talking about. This is
as the sporadic of an owner you can have. Right now,
you talk to about the John Robinson drama. He talked
about Mike Verebel being fired, keeping Ryan Carthon, and now
you're firing Rand Carthon and you're promoting Brinker as your president,
right and he's gonna oversee your hiring your general manager.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
My biggest thing is ownership.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Right when you fired Mike Verbel, you have that seven
game losing Streek, you have your losing season.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
You have to look at that roster and realize, you
know what I understand.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
We play in the AFC South and that's a crapshoot
of a division, really bad division. But our roster might
not be there yet. There's questions at the quarterback position.
If this at some point you have to realize you
have to reset. Right, you go six and eleven and
twenty twenty three and Texans have CJ.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Strodden.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
His rookie year looks great, assuming that they were going
to have another pretty good season, which they did. The
Titans have to reset that roster, get the quarterback position right,
get the offensive line right.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
They've been doing the last two years.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
It's Karonsky and jac Latham as their top two picks,
but prior to that, that offensive line was one of
the worst in football. I think they brought back one
of their five starters on that offensive line. I know
we talk about trenches a lot because it's an important
part of the team, but quite frankly, this role is
so undesirable. When you are coming into a spot and
you're like, Okay, you're the general manager, but you're gonna
(17:10):
have ownership, could fire you at any moment, and then
and the president of football Operations has the final say
over ties or anything that's going on.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
It's something you don't want to work at. It's very sporadic.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Any any time, a type of team that has an
ownership that you don't know what they're gonna do, what
what their next move is is an organization you do
not want to join.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
I do want to say on one thing on Red
Carthon right.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
And we're going to talk terrible job, by the way,
I don't think so either.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
And I have some of his moves on here.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Like I would say the Calvin Ridley move is probably
the biggest kind of looking on what he's done in
terms of trades, drafting or signing, uh, signing guys because
that four for ninety two doesn't look great right now.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
But again, who's the quarterback? You draft Will Levis?
Speaker 3 (17:49):
And I don't know if you're drafting them thinking he's
the guy you use a Day two pick on him.
But let's be real, like we we knew Will Levis
you transfer from Penn State to Kentucky. We didn't think
that he should be his top tier prospects out.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
By the way, the whole building agreed on that too.
It'd be one thing if they threw him under the bus.
And the Will Levis everybody there agreed on the Will
Levis colection.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
So you're you are.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
You have the group think of liking Will Levis, right,
and that hasn't worked out.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
But then you signed Calvin Ridley. That does work.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
You signed Tony Pollard, that did work out. He had
a pretty good year on that the first year.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Of his deal. Hollard worked out. And here's the thing
with Calvin Ridley, even though I did not like that,
contract right now. And I though i've I've compared to
the average person, I've been lower on Calvin Ridley than most.
He's still got you a thousand yards, right, And if
you did have that quarterback, you wanted to bring in
something for him to at least like, let's get an idea,
(18:40):
like let's figure out what he is exactly this year,
and let's not have any let's not have excuses of
why we don't know what Will Levis is. And that's
what Calvin Ridley did for them. He was their number
one wide receiver. He's a good receiver. I agree giving
him that level of player that contract at that age
and some of the question marks about Calvin Ley is there,
but they like they at least if they do draft
(19:00):
a quarterback, Calvin Ridley being on that roster is good
for that quarterback.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
You brought in karth On to kind of right the
ship and have that reset, and then you didn't give
him the opportunity to actually have his vision go into place.
That's the thing that kind of frustrates me. Now, I'm
not going to say it's the right or wrong move,
because again, his drafts Scarronsky Lewis will shake ty Ja Spears, Okay,
you have some starters there, Latham Sweat, Okay, we're good
(19:25):
there on the top end.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
The back half of those drafts haven't been super great.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
A good player for them, but the other guys really
haven't played Gray Jackson the right.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
I I think if you're hiring a GM, you have
to give them a few years to get their their
their vision set.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
And they they did not want to hit the reset button.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Amy Adams Trunk got very pissed that they went three
and fourteen, second worst record in Titans franchise history since
they moved to Tennessee. And now hopefully I hope Amy
Adams Trunk's listening, so I know she will be. You
have to give Callahan, you have to give your a
new GM. You have to give uh Brinker some leeway here.
You're you have the number one pick for a reason.
Your roster is not good. Let's go, let's figure it out.
(20:08):
Start from pick one in twenty twenty five and build
your team. Trust the people in your building. You have
them there for a reason.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Which is what they won't do, which is the Titan
should have reset. I think they should have fired fired
uh Brinker fired, made callahana one and done and fired Carthon,
but especially not they have the number one overall pick.
I feel like that's a very important I think you
need everybody on the same page. Instead now you have.
(20:36):
Now you're basically hiring a GM to be the assistant GM,
which again makes you a very undesirable job, because it's
not even like every GM job is desirable in a
sense because like, hey, if because people believe in themselves, right, Like,
even if this isn't the best I believe in myself,
I'm gonna be the guy. I'll get two years at least,
I'm gonna make it work to where I'm not someone
that's getting fired. Well, now you don't even get to
(20:57):
have that confidence because you don't know who's you don't
know if you're gonna get the make the decisions that
you want to.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
I just think it's really funny that they promoted Rand Carthon,
they added the title the executive vice president to twenty
twenty four, and then all of a sudden one year later,
like what changed? Like what was like the big change?
Like that you were the worst team in football?
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Like was that it? If?
Speaker 3 (21:16):
So that also falls on Callahan said for being the
worst even football. I don't understand how you fire Carthon
and not Callahan. It's either both stay or both go.
And I just can't believe that the Tennessee Titans did it.
Oh wait, I actually can say have been doing it
the last two years.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Yeah, and the big the biggest reason for that was
Will Levis. Who was their decision? You know they all
I guess Callahan wasn't there for that, but like you know,
mister Chad Brinker agreed on that decision. So you got
anything else on the Titans?
Speaker 2 (21:44):
No?
Speaker 1 (21:45):
All right? So want to finish off with this because
I you know, it's it's too early to be like, ah,
where should this guy go? Where should this guy go?
What is like one head coaching a team pairing that
you're like wanting to happen As a general NFL fan.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
I have two answers I want to say, but I'll
keep them brief because I I don't want to go
too long on one of these. I think like a
realistic option, I think that's gonna happen. Is like Aaron
Glenn to the Saints. He's worked there. Gale Bentson liked
Aaron Glenn when he was there. He's really high regarded
in Detroit. When he's been in New Orleans with Dan
Camillore on that same staff with Sean Payton, I think
(22:24):
that's something that's gonna happen. Uh New Orleans. I don't
know if they need like a full on reset, but
they have to figure stuff out on both sides of
the ball. Uh there might they might not be in
as bad of a spot as say a Tennessee Titans
or Vegas Raiders. So I kind of think that's a
realistic option the one I really want to see, and
I don't. I don't know if this would work out.
But the NFL is quote unquote the no fun League, right.
(22:46):
We always make jokes saying about it, the no fun League.
Let's get a little entertainment, a little drama.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
No that I was thinking about it.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
You can say Rex Ryan to the Jets, Hell, yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Baby, Rex Ryan's to the Jets. Listen.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
I know bringing back a coach doesn't usually work, and
I get it. I'm not saying this as a Jets
fan saying bring back Rosryan. I think we're gonna win
the Super Bowl. I'm saying it as a football fan.
We saw the turmoil in the craziness that happen with
the New York Jets and Aaron Nodges this season. I think,
if you want to top it off, I think Rex
is a good coach, I really do.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
I know the time off will not help him.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
I think pairing Rex Ryan to the Jets again, the
most successful coach they've had over the last fifteen years,
brought him to the Championship Game twice.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
I don't know if he would do a good job.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
I think he might, but I'm saying I kind of
want to see it because I think that would make
the NFL more fun. Bring Sexy Rexy back to New York,
put him front and center, put his face right on
the New York Times and post.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
I think it'd be really electric.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
You know who I want to be the next head
coach of the Jets, Ryan Florenes, my landlord, and the
guy that's outside my window right now measuring my windows
because he's they're going to installing impact windows for hurricanes
and I'm looking him dead and the eye right now.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
All at least he could brace the storm.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
He's Italian. His name's den know he you know he could.
He could fit perfectly in New Jersey. So Rex Ryan.
I actually people are dismissing that. If you ask me,
out of all the people they've hired that I think
has the best, like has the best ads right now,
it's Rex Ryan. Like if I'm you know, now, if
I'm taking Rex Ryan of the field, I'm taking the field.
But I think Woody Johnson might actually freaking do that.
(24:24):
But it'd be a terrible mistake as a football fan,
and and you know, to just be like, I can't
believe they're doing it. It'd be amazing, it'd be a
terrible mistake. Here's what I still believe in Trevor Lawrence.
They've got a talent like Brian Thomas Junior there. Their
other rest of the receiving room has some talent you
haven't Evan Ingram there. I want to see Liam Cohen
go to the Jags. Now, the Jags are not going
(24:47):
to be desirable because for some reason they've kept Trent Balkey.
But and I think they could have been a very
desirable place if they did get rid of Trent Balky.
But coaching with that roster, I think Liam Cohen would
have them as a as a competing for that division
next year. Like I think that they might even they
(25:08):
might even go to my like my favorites for that division,
depending on how their off season goes. I would I
would love to see Liam Cohen uh there right, he
has some of the college you know roots, spend a
year with Todd Bowles, you know, so maybe you can
pull from that defensively with his mindset and you come
for the rams, you know, with Sean McVay. Like I
just I think Liam Cohen is probably, to me, is
(25:31):
probably the best head coaching candidate out there. I actually
think more so than Ben Johnson, because I think the
head coach is much more than just scheming up exits
and o's and here's with Ben. As much as I
love Ben Johnson, I still have question marks of like
you're allowed to do whatever you want with that Detroit
Lions offensive line, right, you know, like adult I'm sure
(25:52):
you're someone who's you know, drown up plays on on
you know, on a pen of paper when you're bored
and stuff, and it's all cool and nasty, and then
you realize like you have like five guys out and
it's like, how are you gonna protect against this?
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Right?
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Where the lines allow you, they give you that opportunity
to draw whatever you want. Uh So, I just would
I mean, that's the best quarterback of a team that
has a head coaching vacancy is Trevor Lawrence, right, I mean, Kayleb.
Williams can can be that. But I'm trying to think
like I think that's the best.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
It's I'll run it down for you.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
It's right now, Raiders, it's aoc Or Desmond Ridder, Jets,
it could be Rogers, probably not Jacksonville, Lawrence, Bears is,
Caleb Williams. Saints is probably moving off with Derek Carr,
so Jake Hayner questioned Mark Spencer Ratler, and the Pats
is Drake May, which is also another Yeah, so.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
You can make an argument that Drake May and Kyle
Williams are better situations right now, but Trevor Lawrence is
the best out of those guys right now. Yeah, And
you have a Brian Thomas junior who allows you to
do so much the way he takes the top off
of a defense and the size that he has. So
I just I would love to see the offensive mind
of Liam Cohen with Trevor Lawrence and Briant Tom.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
The only thing I would say to that is that one.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
It would be really funny if the Bucks oc gets
poached back to back years with Canalis and then now
Liam Cohen potentially uh two going back to the Sean
McVay tree of coaching, right, I feel like that's a
my favorite branch and root that you want to go
to because it's been working out. Uh see Kevin O'Connell.
Kevin O'Connell as the big example right now. But I
(27:24):
kind of don't want to see that. And I'm not
even saying that as a Colts fan. I like Liam Cohen,
uh Kentucky rams back to Kentucky now with the Bucks
I uh, I kind of want him to be successful.
And I really think with Balky as general manager, you know,
Balkey somehow, I don't know if it's blackmail or what
it is. He just survives situations. He did it with
the forty nine ers, He did it with Jim Harball.
(27:44):
If you're able to get Jim Harball, who is an
unbelievable coach, a winning coach at any at any spot
he's been in. Quite frankly, I don't want Liam Cohen
to be paired up with this guy because if they're
unsuccessful you know who's getting to blame and Balky's gonna
say it ain't me.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Yeah, and if if anything, they'll just clean house with
both of them. So I agree. So like I'm just
thinking of like just this next year, Like I'd love
to see Liam Collen with Trevor Lawrence and Brian Thomas
and some of the pieces they have there. All right,
that's an episode of Football Today. We all wish Justin well,
you know, I hope he's hope he's doing all right.
(28:20):
We will see you on Friday for a preview of
the wild card round. We'll see you then. Until then,
this is Football Today.
Welcome to Football Today, the Wednesday after the regular season,
and did I'm your host Bobby Skinner here with my
co host Dalton Feenie. Justin not here gotten a pretty
big car accident. He'll be out for a few weeks
but will be okay, supposedly, Dalton, how we doing. We're
gonna talk about the Titans from your you know your
Colt's division, talk about the Raiders firing Antonio Pierce, and
(00:23):
maybe even give up some matchups of you know where
we want to see guys go.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
You are the biggest gas lighter ever. I love it.
I'm doing good, Bobby, thank you for having me on.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
I hope Justin Tenneck's okay after that quote unquote car accident.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Can I tell you something. I don't know exactly what
gas lighting means, and I've even googled it and I
still just don't like get I can't. There's not enough
context clues for me to really understand what it means.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
And you know what, I think you're gaslighting me by
pretending to not know what gas lighting.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Is exactly exactly. It's just like people use it for
all different types of things. You know, usually I could
figure out what something means by the context clues, and
I feel like it's just used in way too many
is it? Basically? I don't I see again, I'm not
even gonna get into this.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I got you, No, But I am excited to talk
some ball.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
It's been a little bit since I've been on football
today last time was with you.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
I'm really excited to talk about some Raiders football. How
about it Antonio Pierce getting fired?
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Bobby, I did want to ask, do you think Antonio
Pierce got a fair shot as the Las Vegas Raiders
head coach?
Speaker 1 (01:21):
No, We're gonna spend ten minutes on the gas lighting
thing since we're on Dan Patrick. That's a great radio segment,
like what is gas lighting?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
No?
Speaker 1 (01:29):
And I understand if they wanted to fire Antonio Piers
because there is some huge things that he got wrong.
You know, he messed up the offensive coordinator hire badly, right,
so badly that they had to bring in you know
Northern Scott Turner off of the street, had really bad
game management. Was you know listening to Ted Nowinn, who
you know does some Raiders stuff for the athletic talking
(01:51):
about like I think maybe Matt Eberflus was only the
worst Outside of that, the one good thing he had
on his staff, Patrick Grin, the defensive coordinator, seems like
he was trying to get out of there right His
contract was up, so he was interviewing for other DC
jobs and he's even got some head coaching buzzy, even
though he probably won't get that in this cycle. But
(02:13):
this is why you didn't. You shouldn't have hired Antonio
Pierce because you put him in an unwinnable situation. So
you put this rookie head coach with very little experience
coming off of the five and four. You know, interim
head coach run when we see those are like fake
all the time, right, we always every time there's an
interim head coach that does like fairly well, NFL media
is like, oh, you got hired, you gotta give him
(02:34):
a chance. And then it never works out. It never
worked out. I think the best example of it working
out is Jason Garrett, and I think Dallas Cowboys and
fans will say that probably didn't work out. You know,
you had no quarterback plan. Really, I mean you had
a plan, but we everyone knew that it was a
bad plan, which is fine for year one of a
GM and head coach, if you're willing to just eat that.
(02:57):
You lost Josh Jacobs in that room was the worst
in the NFL. So you have no quarterback, no run
game to rely on. You had the trade Devonte Adams.
Your defense, which was your calling card, which already was
not a talented group but just a well coach group
got injured with Wilkins, Crosby, Malcolm Cons, Marcus Epps. Like
there's there was no chance for this team being good
(03:20):
this year. There there's again Jim Harbaugh, who I think
is the ultimate just come in here and will make
your first season highly exceed expectations. I don't think he
could have gotten this team to more than six or
seven wins.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Well, it's really funny that you bring up the interim
head coach, because, like you said, I feel like it
never works out. Since twenty nineteen, there have been six
interim head coaches promoted to become full time head coaches.
Freddie Kitchens in twenty nineteen, Lovey Smith and twenty two
Bowls in twenty two, Allen in twenty two, Gerard Mayo
twenty four in house like promotion like he wasn't an
interim but he was brought in from in house. Yeah,
(03:55):
and it pears. Of those guys, four of them have
been one and done. Dennis Allen just got fired this year.
The only remaining one is Todd Bowles. Right, So that's
a mix of the in house promotion slash interim head coaches.
It never works, It really never works. I really don't
think Antonio Pierce got a fair shake. But they had
the same operation with Rich Bisaccia in twenty one as
(04:16):
the interim.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
He does a great job.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
People are clamoring for him to get the job. They
don't go with him, they go with McDaniels. That doesn't
work out. Pierce becomes the interim they want him to say.
They're like, Okay, maybe we should have hired Bisacia, So
let's give Pierce a shot. And my thing with Antonio
Peers is, if you're going to promote him as the
head coach, right, give him a chance to win. The
quarterback position is just absolutely the most important thing in football.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
And he had no one there.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
I understand that hired GM, Tom Telesco brought in Gardner Minshew,
But if if you think Gardner Minshew is a long
term option in a division that has at the time,
Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert, You're absolutely insane.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
And the reality is O'Connell's better than was better than
Gardner Minshew too.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Right, Minshew had a struggles early on and he gets hurt.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
AOC comes in and he does, you know, not the
greatest thing, but he's you know, start a bull, which
is I guess a little bit of a stretch. And
then you have to have Desmond Ritder come in when
AOC gets hurt too. So the quarterback position was in
such a flux in the division that was arguably the
best division in the AFC this year. He didn't give
Antonio Pierce a chance. And I understand Telesco came in
(05:21):
with Pierce as the head coach, and you want to
hire your own guy. But the Raiders again making a
move off of a head coach, the last head coach
for the Las Vegas Raiders, Oakland Raiders Los Angeles Raiders.
To make it through five years with the team, you
got to go back to the eighties and nineties.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
With Art Shell, who they rehired because they couldn't fly,
they couldn't find, no one would take their job.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
It was awful.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
I think it was two thousand and six, Art Shell
comes in, it's like two and fourteen. But regardless they are,
it's just so much turmoil. They go back and forth
with these head coaches, five head coaches since twenty twenty nine,
since twenty eleven when Mark Davis took over his owner.
I feel really bad for Antonio Pierce, but the Raiders franchise. Man,
it's such a tough one to be the guy, right
and even like I guess the best head coach since
(06:03):
Artchell is John Gruden, who you know left the Raiders
to the Bucks. I think Antoni Pierrice didn't get a
shot and once again the Raiders' toxicness. If you will,
you have him go meet with the media before the
news of you know, making their decision.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
How do you not know?
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Yeah, you just should never put the like you can
wait a day and be like, hey, we're still discussing
these things, so here's forget now we get I think
sometimes in talking about this we get into like is
this fair? Right? Like is it fair with the pages
and the draw on may own? No, but they should
have done that, They should have fired him. Do you
think this is the right decision to keep te LESCo
and fire Antonio Pierce because I actually I'm usually like
(06:46):
we'll talk about with the Titans, like let's keep the
cycle same. But because Pierce was there before, probably didn't
want to bring back Pierce. But there was pressure from
guys like Max Crosby, who maybe someone should tell him
that you're not probably not the best GM and the NFL.
Mister mister Crosby, Uh, I actually agree with it. I
don't think Tom to Tom Tellsco his draft this year,
(07:09):
you know, not not not bad, right, You get Bowers,
you know, Jackson powers Johnson in the second round. DJ
Glaize started for them. Made some mistakes. I think letting
Jermaine Iluminor leave was a mistake. He could have still
drafted DJ Glaize and developed him as a as a
swing year. But they they clearly took a QB gap year,
and then you know, added Al Wilkins on the defensive side.
(07:30):
I know he got hurt, but that's I think was
a really good signing for them. I do agree with
them getting rid of Pierce because he wasn't He just
wasn't cut out for the job. And I don't think
Tom to LESCo has had this first year of being
a GM where it says this guy needs to be fired.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Yeah, I think he nailed it on the head because
I don't think it's fair, right, I think you said
it perfectly. It's not fair that Antonio Pierce got fired.
But it's understandable why he got fired. It's because of
a you know, game management issue. Is the results this
year were really bad. But b Tom Telesco now gets
to pick his own guy. It's and that's as it's
not fair. But Telesco, like you said, you're drafting Brock Powers,
(08:10):
who sets the receiving record as a rookie. You draft
Jackson Powers Johnson, who's a great interior offensive lineman out
of Oregon. The rest of the draft, like you said,
a little bit, we'll find out, not as much stock there.
But Telesco's had a great run with the Chargers, like
his decade plus run there.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
I don't think it's fair. The results were bad.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
We saw this year the defense take a step back too,
and that's something a calling card of Antonio Pierce getting
that defense playing because in twenty three when he took over,
they were number one in points per game, fourth in
a fifth and turnover margin. This year twenty fifth in
points per game allowed, thirtieth in turnover margin, So there
was a big discrepancy in defensive play from when he
took over in twenty three twenty four. You have the
(08:52):
game management issues. Yeah, I think that makes total sense.
Why you let go Pierce a back.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Point and the reason why it was very predictable that
because offensive coach can be more consistently keeping you afloat
defensively coaching like it matters. I love Patrick Graham, obviously.
I have ties back to him with with with the
Giants and talking Giants have met him before. Like, I
really like Patrick Gham. I think he's one of the
(09:16):
best minds of the game, but one he wants to
leave there. But they were so over reliant on coaching
this year, you know, like they brought in Christian Wilkins
on the defense and you have Max Crosby, but like
even Marcus Epps, who's really important for them. Marcus Epps
isn't some great player in the NFL. He's just a
great fit for what Patrick Graham wants to run and
got that defense in place. A lot of times they
(09:36):
were just they're a very untalented team. So it's just
that's why it didn't make sense to bring in someone
like Antonio Pierce and not have the patience to go
with him. But I think they all agree that they're
this is a long term thing for them. Also, I'll
say this, Dalton Antonio Pierce wanting Jayden Daniels is the
(09:58):
new Like, Okay, congrats, dude, you wanted the guy who
was taken second over in the second overall in the
NFL draft. You you are the greatest talent evaluator of
all time. Patrick Graham, No way, I think you know who.
You know what. I think the Giants wanted Jayden Daniels.
I think the Vikings would have taken Jayden. I think
a lot of teams probably wanted Jayden Daniels. But you
(10:20):
weren't picking second, so didn't That doesn't mean you're just
amazing And it was just like, yeah, they were at
Arizona State together. It's like, Okay, well that should be
more more reasoning than that.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
I mean, I guess the one other thing with that too,
is that I feel like there have been coaches after
the drafts have happened and we've seen these players play
where it's like, yeah, I wanted that player that was
but I was overruled at least.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Then.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Peiris's point is that he did say before or the
draft that he wanted Daniels to end. He wasn't number
one guy, but he absolutely played like the number one
quarterback as a rookie this year.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Yeah, absolutely, all right, Uh, don't won don't you talk
to us about something before we talk about the Titans.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Oh yes, I mean we're talking about Tom Telesco with drafting.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Speaking of drafty, cut that.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Try that again, No, don't cut that. If you cut
that corner. I will lose my mind.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Make them lose your mind. You know who you see
in the office. Speaking of drafting, definitely bigger. Speaking of drafting,
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Speaker 2 (12:08):
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Speaker 2 (12:25):
The crown is mine, Bobby's and yours.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
All right, let's talk about the Titans and talk about
their fuck ups.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
The Titans have fired GM ran Carthon after two years Dalton.
They keep Brian Callahan and really in reality, they are
just keeping and making the President of Football Operations Chad
Brinker the GM. And this is this is Tennessee has
got a lot of drama going on there and their
(12:53):
owner Amy Adams. It just seems like it's a mess
there that they don't know what they're doing, They have
no plan there. You know, they're you know, they're riding
by the you know, they're you know, living by the
you know, the pants, the seat of their pants. They're
just a mess over there. And I think that they
probably should have just reset after all this if they
wanted to make changes, but it's just so much. It
(13:17):
seems like it's just been a constant power struggle over
the last three years. Right, they fire Robinson after the
whole A J. Brown tobaccle. They bring in ran Carthon,
keep Mike Vrabel, which Mike Vrabel's I think is a
is a type of head coach that you can do
a GM search with. Right, most coaches you probably couldn't,
but he's someone that's like, all right, these two guys
are gonna be on the same page. Then they fired
(13:37):
Mike Rabel. You find out Mike Vrabel never wanted ran
Carthon and didn't think he was ready for the job.
So you hire Brian Callahan, Like, okay, Well, at least
ran Carthon hired his head coach. Now we're now at
least we're all on the same page. Even if this
doesn't work out well, it finds out that Chad Brinker,
the president of Football Operations, doesn't really like ran Carthon,
(13:58):
even like his work ethic. Uh, And so they fire
ran Carthon but still keep Brian Callahan. This is a mess.
And we can talk about ran Carthon and what he
if he deserves, if he's done a good job or not.
But what the Titans have done here has made them
a completely unattractive, uh, you know, spot for the job.
(14:19):
Because here's the thing they've already said that Chad Brinker,
the president Football Persons, he has all final say in
football matters, even the fifty three man roster. He has
final say on that. You know, he threw some shade
at ran Carthon's work ethic out the door like this,
you're basically being if you take this job, you're gonna
(14:40):
get any blame and lose your chance if it goes
bad at GM. But you're not actually gonna be the GM.
You're basically taking an assistant GM spot, you know, Like
this is what this is what Brinker said, This is
an attractive job for a lot of people, and particularly
for those who grew up in the industry in the
way that I have, who kind of cut their teeth
as a scout and projecting players from college to pro
(15:01):
and they just want to get up and focus on
building a roster and not have to worry about running
the video department or an analytics team, or the equipment
room or whatever. Just all they want to do is scout,
go on the road in the fall, and find football players.
Because we've got to get it right. We have to
have good football players in the building. We have to
get playmakers in the building, particularly at positions that influence
the outcomes of games. We've got to get to a
(15:22):
point where we have seven difference makers or impact players
on our team. Which is all fine and well, but
you're the one making the decisions. Be he will be
the final say on draft picks, on the roster, on
free agency signings. So it's just this is this is
dysfunction that you know. I think there's so many dysfunctional
teams right now in the NFL. Maybe it's I'm just
(15:44):
more aware of it than in years past. But man,
the Titans are going right towards the top of them,
and they fired every They fired people, you know, every
every year.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Now, I want to speak on the Titans organization, just
as you alluded to and were talking about. This is
as the sporadic of an owner you can have. Right now,
you talk to about the John Robinson drama. He talked
about Mike Verebel being fired, keeping Ryan Carthon, and now
you're firing Rand Carthon and you're promoting Brinker as your president,
right and he's gonna oversee your hiring your general manager.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
My biggest thing is ownership.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Right when you fired Mike Verbel, you have that seven
game losing Streek, you have your losing season.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
You have to look at that roster and realize, you
know what I understand.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
We play in the AFC South and that's a crapshoot
of a division, really bad division. But our roster might
not be there yet. There's questions at the quarterback position.
If this at some point you have to realize you
have to reset. Right, you go six and eleven and
twenty twenty three and Texans have CJ.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Strodden.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
His rookie year looks great, assuming that they were going
to have another pretty good season, which they did. The
Titans have to reset that roster, get the quarterback position right,
get the offensive line right.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
They've been doing the last two years.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
It's Karonsky and jac Latham as their top two picks,
but prior to that, that offensive line was one of
the worst in football. I think they brought back one
of their five starters on that offensive line. I know
we talk about trenches a lot because it's an important
part of the team, but quite frankly, this role is
so undesirable. When you are coming into a spot and
you're like, Okay, you're the general manager, but you're gonna
(17:10):
have ownership, could fire you at any moment, and then
and the president of football Operations has the final say
over ties or anything that's going on.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
It's something you don't want to work at. It's very sporadic.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Any any time, a type of team that has an
ownership that you don't know what they're gonna do, what
what their next move is is an organization you do
not want to join.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
I do want to say on one thing on Red
Carthon right.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
And we're going to talk terrible job, by the way,
I don't think so either.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
And I have some of his moves on here.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Like I would say the Calvin Ridley move is probably
the biggest kind of looking on what he's done in
terms of trades, drafting or signing, uh, signing guys because
that four for ninety two doesn't look great right now.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
But again, who's the quarterback? You draft Will Levis?
Speaker 3 (17:49):
And I don't know if you're drafting them thinking he's
the guy you use a Day two pick on him.
But let's be real, like we we knew Will Levis
you transfer from Penn State to Kentucky. We didn't think
that he should be his top tier prospects out.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
By the way, the whole building agreed on that too.
It'd be one thing if they threw him under the bus.
And the Will Levis everybody there agreed on the Will
Levis colection.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
So you're you are.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
You have the group think of liking Will Levis, right,
and that hasn't worked out.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
But then you signed Calvin Ridley. That does work.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
You signed Tony Pollard, that did work out. He had
a pretty good year on that the first year.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Of his deal. Hollard worked out. And here's the thing
with Calvin Ridley, even though I did not like that,
contract right now. And I though i've I've compared to
the average person, I've been lower on Calvin Ridley than most.
He's still got you a thousand yards, right, And if
you did have that quarterback, you wanted to bring in
something for him to at least like, let's get an idea,
(18:40):
like let's figure out what he is exactly this year,
and let's not have any let's not have excuses of
why we don't know what Will Levis is. And that's
what Calvin Ridley did for them. He was their number
one wide receiver. He's a good receiver. I agree giving
him that level of player that contract at that age
and some of the question marks about Calvin Ley is there,
but they like they at least if they do draft
(19:00):
a quarterback, Calvin Ridley being on that roster is good
for that quarterback.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
You brought in karth On to kind of right the
ship and have that reset, and then you didn't give
him the opportunity to actually have his vision go into place.
That's the thing that kind of frustrates me. Now, I'm
not going to say it's the right or wrong move,
because again, his drafts Scarronsky Lewis will shake ty Ja Spears, Okay,
you have some starters there, Latham Sweat, Okay, we're good
(19:25):
there on the top end.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
The back half of those drafts haven't been super great.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
A good player for them, but the other guys really
haven't played Gray Jackson the right.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
I I think if you're hiring a GM, you have
to give them a few years to get their their
their vision set.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
And they they did not want to hit the reset button.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Amy Adams Trunk got very pissed that they went three
and fourteen, second worst record in Titans franchise history since
they moved to Tennessee. And now hopefully I hope Amy
Adams Trunk's listening, so I know she will be. You
have to give Callahan, you have to give your a
new GM. You have to give uh Brinker some leeway here.
You're you have the number one pick for a reason.
Your roster is not good. Let's go, let's figure it out.
(20:08):
Start from pick one in twenty twenty five and build
your team. Trust the people in your building. You have
them there for a reason.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Which is what they won't do, which is the Titan
should have reset. I think they should have fired fired
uh Brinker fired, made callahana one and done and fired Carthon,
but especially not they have the number one overall pick.
I feel like that's a very important I think you
need everybody on the same page. Instead now you have.
(20:36):
Now you're basically hiring a GM to be the assistant GM,
which again makes you a very undesirable job, because it's
not even like every GM job is desirable in a
sense because like, hey, if because people believe in themselves, right, Like,
even if this isn't the best I believe in myself,
I'm gonna be the guy. I'll get two years at least,
I'm gonna make it work to where I'm not someone
that's getting fired. Well, now you don't even get to
(20:57):
have that confidence because you don't know who's you don't
know if you're gonna get the make the decisions that
you want to.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
I just think it's really funny that they promoted Rand Carthon,
they added the title the executive vice president to twenty
twenty four, and then all of a sudden one year later,
like what changed? Like what was like the big change?
Like that you were the worst team in football?
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Like was that it? If?
Speaker 3 (21:16):
So that also falls on Callahan said for being the
worst even football. I don't understand how you fire Carthon
and not Callahan. It's either both stay or both go.
And I just can't believe that the Tennessee Titans did it.
Oh wait, I actually can say have been doing it
the last two years.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Yeah, and the big the biggest reason for that was
Will Levis. Who was their decision? You know they all
I guess Callahan wasn't there for that, but like you know,
mister Chad Brinker agreed on that decision. So you got
anything else on the Titans?
Speaker 2 (21:44):
No?
Speaker 1 (21:45):
All right? So want to finish off with this because
I you know, it's it's too early to be like, ah,
where should this guy go? Where should this guy go?
What is like one head coaching a team pairing that
you're like wanting to happen As a general NFL fan.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
I have two answers I want to say, but I'll
keep them brief because I I don't want to go
too long on one of these. I think like a
realistic option, I think that's gonna happen. Is like Aaron
Glenn to the Saints. He's worked there. Gale Bentson liked
Aaron Glenn when he was there. He's really high regarded
in Detroit. When he's been in New Orleans with Dan
Camillore on that same staff with Sean Payton, I think
(22:24):
that's something that's gonna happen. Uh New Orleans. I don't
know if they need like a full on reset, but
they have to figure stuff out on both sides of
the ball. Uh there might they might not be in
as bad of a spot as say a Tennessee Titans
or Vegas Raiders. So I kind of think that's a
realistic option the one I really want to see, and
I don't. I don't know if this would work out.
But the NFL is quote unquote the no fun League, right.
(22:46):
We always make jokes saying about it, the no fun League.
Let's get a little entertainment, a little drama.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
No that I was thinking about it.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
You can say Rex Ryan to the Jets, Hell, yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Baby, Rex Ryan's to the Jets. Listen.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
I know bringing back a coach doesn't usually work, and
I get it. I'm not saying this as a Jets
fan saying bring back Rosryan. I think we're gonna win
the Super Bowl. I'm saying it as a football fan.
We saw the turmoil in the craziness that happen with
the New York Jets and Aaron Nodges this season. I think,
if you want to top it off, I think Rex
is a good coach, I really do.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
I know the time off will not help him.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
I think pairing Rex Ryan to the Jets again, the
most successful coach they've had over the last fifteen years,
brought him to the Championship Game twice.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
I don't know if he would do a good job.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
I think he might, but I'm saying I kind of
want to see it because I think that would make
the NFL more fun. Bring Sexy Rexy back to New York,
put him front and center, put his face right on
the New York Times and post.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
I think it'd be really electric.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
You know who I want to be the next head
coach of the Jets, Ryan Florenes, my landlord, and the
guy that's outside my window right now measuring my windows
because he's they're going to installing impact windows for hurricanes
and I'm looking him dead and the eye right now.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
All at least he could brace the storm.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
He's Italian. His name's den know he you know he could.
He could fit perfectly in New Jersey. So Rex Ryan.
I actually people are dismissing that. If you ask me,
out of all the people they've hired that I think
has the best, like has the best ads right now,
it's Rex Ryan. Like if I'm you know, now, if
I'm taking Rex Ryan of the field, I'm taking the field.
But I think Woody Johnson might actually freaking do that.
(24:24):
But it'd be a terrible mistake as a football fan,
and and you know, to just be like, I can't
believe they're doing it. It'd be amazing, it'd be a
terrible mistake. Here's what I still believe in Trevor Lawrence.
They've got a talent like Brian Thomas Junior there. Their
other rest of the receiving room has some talent you
haven't Evan Ingram there. I want to see Liam Cohen
go to the Jags. Now, the Jags are not going
(24:47):
to be desirable because for some reason they've kept Trent Balkey.
But and I think they could have been a very
desirable place if they did get rid of Trent Balky.
But coaching with that roster, I think Liam Cohen would
have them as a as a competing for that division
next year. Like I think that they might even they
(25:08):
might even go to my like my favorites for that division,
depending on how their off season goes. I would I
would love to see Liam Cohen uh there right, he
has some of the college you know roots, spend a
year with Todd Bowles, you know, so maybe you can
pull from that defensively with his mindset and you come
for the rams, you know, with Sean McVay. Like I
just I think Liam Cohen is probably, to me, is
(25:31):
probably the best head coaching candidate out there. I actually
think more so than Ben Johnson, because I think the
head coach is much more than just scheming up exits
and o's and here's with Ben. As much as I
love Ben Johnson, I still have question marks of like
you're allowed to do whatever you want with that Detroit
Lions offensive line, right, you know, like adult I'm sure
(25:52):
you're someone who's you know, drown up plays on on
you know, on a pen of paper when you're bored
and stuff, and it's all cool and nasty, and then
you realize like you have like five guys out and
it's like, how are you gonna protect against this?
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Right?
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Where the lines allow you, they give you that opportunity
to draw whatever you want. Uh So, I just would
I mean, that's the best quarterback of a team that
has a head coaching vacancy is Trevor Lawrence, right, I mean, Kayleb.
Williams can can be that. But I'm trying to think
like I think that's the best.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
It's I'll run it down for you.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
It's right now, Raiders, it's aoc Or Desmond Ridder, Jets,
it could be Rogers, probably not Jacksonville, Lawrence, Bears is,
Caleb Williams. Saints is probably moving off with Derek Carr,
so Jake Hayner questioned Mark Spencer Ratler, and the Pats
is Drake May, which is also another Yeah, so.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
You can make an argument that Drake May and Kyle
Williams are better situations right now, but Trevor Lawrence is
the best out of those guys right now. Yeah, And
you have a Brian Thomas junior who allows you to
do so much the way he takes the top off
of a defense and the size that he has. So
I just I would love to see the offensive mind
of Liam Cohen with Trevor Lawrence and Briant Tom.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
The only thing I would say to that is that one.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
It would be really funny if the Bucks oc gets
poached back to back years with Canalis and then now
Liam Cohen potentially uh two going back to the Sean
McVay tree of coaching, right, I feel like that's a
my favorite branch and root that you want to go
to because it's been working out. Uh see Kevin O'Connell.
Kevin O'Connell as the big example right now. But I
(27:24):
kind of don't want to see that. And I'm not
even saying that as a Colts fan. I like Liam Cohen,
uh Kentucky rams back to Kentucky now with the Bucks
I uh, I kind of want him to be successful.
And I really think with Balky as general manager, you know,
Balkey somehow, I don't know if it's blackmail or what
it is. He just survives situations. He did it with
the forty nine ers, He did it with Jim Harball.
(27:44):
If you're able to get Jim Harball, who is an
unbelievable coach, a winning coach at any at any spot
he's been in. Quite frankly, I don't want Liam Cohen
to be paired up with this guy because if they're
unsuccessful you know who's getting to blame and Balky's gonna
say it ain't me.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Yeah, and if if anything, they'll just clean house with
both of them. So I agree. So like I'm just
thinking of like just this next year, Like I'd love
to see Liam Collen with Trevor Lawrence and Brian Thomas
and some of the pieces they have there. All right,
that's an episode of Football Today. We all wish Justin well,
you know, I hope he's hope he's doing all right.
(28:20):
We will see you on Friday for a preview of
the wild card round. We'll see you then. Until then,
this is Football Today.
Hosts And Creators
Todd "Fritzy" Fritz
Dan Patrick
Patrick "Seton" O'Connor
Paul Pabst
Marvin Prince
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