June 4, 2025 • 16 mins
Longtime voice of the Detroit Lions, Dan Miller, joins the show to talk all things Lions... from Frank Ragnow's retirement to the beauty of a challenging schedule.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I think it's twenty years. I think it's twenty could
be twenty one from my friend Dan Miller to be
the outstanding voice of Detroit Lions football. He joins us
here on Exus and Bros. Is it twenty or twenty one? Dan?
I thought it was two thousand and five.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Yeah, going into twenty one. It's been twenty behind us
and looking forward to twenty one ahead of a chef,
How you doing that?
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Yeah, buddy, I'm doing great, and I hope your wife
and your family are doing great too. So this the news, obviously,
Frank Rag. Now you've talked a lot about it with
a lot of different people, so we appreciate the insight
here on our show as well. How much of a
surprise was it to you and how much do you
think of it as a surprise to the Detroit Lions organization?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
To me, I was a little surprised Chef, I think
just because of the timing, But clearly I think he
wanted to give this as much room as he could
because it was something that was very important to him
to try to make the right decision and see how
far back his body could come. And I have not
spoken to him kind of reading the tea leaves here,
and I think further reading the tea leaves would be
(01:05):
part of his statement that said that the Lions have been,
you know, excellent throughout this process. I'm taking that to
mean that he has been in constant contact with them,
and all of a sudden, drafting two offensive linemen doesn't
seem to be, you know, such a head scratcher if
it was for anybody at all. Now it seems to
make a little more sense. So my guess is the
(01:26):
timing of it is what got me a little bit.
But I think it was just Frank being Frank and
trying to do the best he could to get back
out there because he loves being with that line, with
this team, you know, with his coaches, and just realized
he couldn't. And then I just like I said, the
part of his statemhere we talked about working with the team,
(01:46):
tells me that he's been in contact, and knowing Frank,
that would be the way I think he would handle it.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
It's easy to go out and buy a jersey with
number sixteen or fourteen, or ninety seven or number five
on it. Frank reregnow is my favorite player. I don't
think offensive lineman get nearly enough credit that they deserve.
But I do believe he was well respected and got
the proper notoriety in Detroit. And I think throughout the NFL,
(02:15):
what do you think they'll miss most about him in
the locker room and outside?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Man, you know, Chevy, you can do a lot on
Frank Rag Now. He's just one of the best guys
he'll ever meet. He really is. He's one of the
guys that you always enjoy sitting down with. He's a
good person, good family, comes from good stock. Everybody knows
the story about him and his dad and how he
has helped other children that have suffered loss, which tells
you a lot about Frank and how he wants to
(02:43):
do good things with his life to help others. But
just on the football field, a it can't be understated
how much he dealt with in terms of physical issues
and still went out there and played. And so much
of that conversations about that with TJ and lomis because man,
(03:03):
you know, if we see some guys who just have
injury after injury after injury, a lot of it is
just bad luck. A lot of it is just the
wrong step getting stepped on wrong, whatever it is, getting
caught at a bad angle, and it just seemed to
happen to Frank, But he kept battling through it and
played through a lot of things that I don't think
people would and to your point, played at an extremely
(03:26):
high level and was the centerpiece on what I considered
to be the face of this team. That offensive line.
That offensive line, to me, is what makes this team
believe when they walk on the field, they're gonna win
that game because they believe. I think that they're gonna
protect golf, they're gonna run the football, they're gonna control
the game, and I think they always feel, regardless of
(03:48):
the weather, the situation, that those guys are gonna be
able to set the tempo and he's the guy in
the middle making sure everybody's in the right place. So
great dude, great player, And yeah, easy to embrace just
because he stood and did all the right things.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
So true, especially about the offensive line. But you could
literally have three different players at three different positions. If
you move Graham Glasgow to center, you have to have
someone replace Kevin Zeitler, and then you would have to
replace Graham Glasgow. How unnerving can that be? Not just
for Dan Campbell and John Morton is new OC, but
(04:27):
Jared Goff and everybody else on the offense in general.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I think when you're trying to replace one of the
best players in the National Football League, it is unnerving. Now,
I think we've been around these guys long enough to
know that they don't blink. They just figure out what
the problem is and then they attack it. We know
what this looks like today. Is there a chance at
some point that somebody else gets brought in? Sure, but
if they don't, you know, Look, I can guess right
(04:55):
now that the veteran presence of Graham by in there
might mean something. Look, bram didn't have a great year
last year. He had some issues, so I think they
want to see that injury related, was that just an
off year, whatever it was. I think they want to
see Graham look like Graham And if he does, then
I think, and again I'm just spitballing here, that him
(05:16):
in the middle being able to call out the protections,
recognize what the defense is trying to do because he's experienced,
buys them a little more time before maybe Ratledge takes
over and maybe puts them in the best position they
can be right now going into a season, and then
you figure out the rest of it between Fraser Ratledge
(05:37):
and Mahogany with the guards and anybody else that may
jump into the mix here between now and the season.
So that's kind of my guess right now. But it
is Look, this is significant. You don't just lose a
Frank rag now and not have to regroup here and
figure out, Okay, how are we going to do this thing? Now?
(05:57):
It's a big loss there's football team, but it doesn't
mean it's insurmountable.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
How will they be able to adjust? Look, if you
have Frank wragnow, let's say it was somebody else for
your time, but Frank Gragnoll is still your center. He
could help each guard, right they work in unison now. Suddenly,
Graham Glasgow, as you mentioned, didn't have a great year.
I know he's played the position before, but he still
has an adjustment there as the full time starter and
you've got two for all intensive purposes rookie guards as
(06:27):
of right now. What's that adjustment going to be like
for him? Specifically for Graham? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Yeah, I mean, look, I think Graham has done it
and I think he is I don't know the exact
number of games that he started at center, but it's
it's pretty significant. I don't think that would be an
overwhelming thing for him. But I think your point is
a good one that if it was rat Leg in
the middle, then you're dealing with a little more of
the unknown because there's gonna be a lot of things
(06:59):
that he hasn't seen. And it's just it's such a
big step from pro to college and in particularly when
he hasn't done it. He hasn't played center, he hasn't
been the one recognizing defenses and calling out protections. That's
where I think Graham just provides you that extra layer of,
you know, comfort because he's been there. And also to
(07:19):
kind of expand what you talked about. Look, if you're
sticking Mahogany or Ratledge or Frasier at guard, well then
they're either going to be next to Finnay and Graham
or Taylor in Graham. So you've got young guys that
haven't seen a lot, but they're sandwich between veterans. If
you have the young guy in the middle, and maybe
(07:40):
they get a comfort level with it, and this is
what happens. But if you get a young guy in
the middle. Then you really got a young guy in
the middle, another young guy next to him, Graham next
to him, in all likelihood on the other side, but
it maybe exposes you a little bit more. And again,
this is just the kind of conversations we have. But
I'm sure too the kind of conversations that they have.
(08:01):
But I'm guessing, Matt, if my read on this is correct,
they've been having these discussions for quite some time now.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Dan, when training camp hits, what do you think the
biggest storyline, because it's been dominated by Aiden Hutchinson's health
and two new coordinators, how would you rank the storylines
so far for the summer for the Lions now?
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Well, I think the offensive line shoots to the top
because it has been the strength of this team. It
has been, you know, kind of the engine of everything
that they do on offense. Look, we've been here long
enough to know that until these guys got going, we
never saw a consistent ground game in Detroit since Barry
walked out the door. Now it's every week. These guys
(08:48):
are capable of churning up one hundred and fifty one
hundred eighty yards. I mean, there's something else and that's
important to the balance. That's important to Jared, So you
want to keep that thing going. This offense is been,
you know, at or top of the league for the
past three seasons, so you want to make sure that's good.
So to me, that now jumps to the first thing
(09:09):
I'm looking at when I get out there. How are
they doing this? Then? I think it's obviously hutch who's
one of the best players in the NFL, But you
want to know, you know, how far back has he come?
Is he ready to hit the ground running on day
one and not just running but running freely, feeling like
himself and back in the flow of the game. Then
it's that defensive line you're not gonna have Aleen McNeil,
(09:30):
and I think there are questions about what's going on
on the other side. Marcus Davenport. Look for a game
and a half last year, he looked like he was
the perfect guy to be on the other side of
Aden Hutchinson. But you can't discuss him without discussing injuries
because they have been such a big part of his career.
So how does that other side look? Is it? You know,
Derek Barnes over there, do they kicked Levi outside at times?
(09:54):
But that defensive line I do think has some questions
just because of the injuries that we know won't be
there and how they can mix and match some of
the other players. But I mean to me, those are
kind of the things that jump out right now. And
then it's the coordinators. Look, there's a familiarity with John
(10:14):
Morton that I think takes a lot of the unknowns
out of the equation. He was here in twenty two,
he was here when they installed this offense. He's got
a relationship with Jared Goff. Take those things off the table.
Those things are fine, but calling a game is where
it becomes different. He's not you know, he's done it before,
but he hasn't done it with this group. And there's
(10:34):
a flow to that between him and the quarterback that's
got to be there and that's got to be developed.
And then again, Shep has been here, players love him.
Aaron Glenn did him such a huge, solid and career advancing,
you know, favored by not just having him with the linebackers,
but making sure he was exposed to all the groups.
(10:54):
Now that comes into play. But again, calling the game,
designing the game plan, all those things, I think those
are questions that have to be answered to.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Do you think people have made too much of the
two new coordinators. I saw it a report not too
long ago. It's like no team has won the Super
Bowl when they had two new coordinators. I said, that's
bull craft. Philadelphia did. They brought in two new coordinators
last year and won the Super Bowl, Kellen Moore and
Vik Fazio. So I think that's completely wrong. And like
(11:23):
you said, because of their lineage within the organization, that's
got to be a plus. What do you how smoothly
do you think that transition can go with both men
in your mind?
Speaker 2 (11:36):
I think it can go very smoothly, because again I
do think that's the mayority means everything. Look, in any business,
you can hire somebody and think you know what you're getting,
but until they're in there and doing the job and
working in the office and working with people and having relationships,
you don't really know what you're getting. But if you've
(11:56):
got experience with them and they've worked with and for
you before, I think that's significant because again it's in
my mind, it takes a lot of those unknowns of
the off the table. So I think it can go
very smoothly. Look, I think it's fair to question because
it is very significant that you've changed, you know, two
(12:16):
key guys that in terms of your game day experience
with the guys firing the plays in there and then
designing the defenses and making the adjustments. So it's fair
to say, Okay, how are these guys going to do?
But it's also very easy to have a doomsday attitude
about it, and it probably gets people clicks and that's
probably the reason they do it.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Last thing for you, and I appreciate the time. Have
you ever seen a schedule, especially on the road, this
daunting for any team? Seriously, first you're going into twenty
one years, You've got to go to Green Bay, Baltimore, Cincinnati,
Kansas City back to back weeks, by the way, Washington, Philadelphia,
(12:58):
Los Angeles, Minnesota, Chicago. You ever seen a road schedule
like that for any team in all the years you've
covered football.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
It's certainly different and based on what they did last year,
and that's not always that's not always an exact tell
for what you're going to get this year because you
just never know how things are going to shake out.
But look, on paper, it is seven out of the
nine teams or playoff teams. You know, I think they
played three outdoor games last year. This is going to
be significantly different than that, which can impact the football team.
(13:31):
Which goes back to that offensive line and one of
the reasons they built that thing they want to be
ready for anything. But it's also chep It's the way
the games are on the schedule. It's the four to
twenty fives, it's the Sunday nights, it's the Thursdays, it's
the Monday night. You know, it's not like you're playing
every seven days. One of the beautiful things about this
(13:52):
game that I love is the rhythm to it. You know,
when you have seven days in between every game, you
know where you are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Maybe
you travel Saturday and maybe you don't. Then you play
Sunday and then you start it all over on Monday.
That rhythm is going to be hard to come by
for this team, just because some of the travel, some
of the different times for the games, some of the
different days for the games. So there's a challenge in
(14:13):
that for the coaches to keep the players on schedule. Look,
there were years when I looked at that schedule, and
we had fifteen one o'clock games on Sunday. We don't
have one one o'clock road game on a Sunday all year.
We played at four to twenty five in LA. That's
the closest. So it's it's what happens when you're good.
(14:33):
It's what happens when you're good. Oh, and we've lived
the other life. It's not very fun.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
This is.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
This is because this team is. This team is fun
to watch. They've become really good television. They want to
put them on TV, and for a long time that
that wasn't the case. So I think I'll nod to
it and say, yeah, this certainly could be difficult, but
it's also what you want because you're doing things the
(15:03):
right way.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
That's a great point. Only five one o'clock games all
season long. The thing that bothers me, and I don't
know why it does. It shouldn't, but it's two straight
years where the NFL has put the Lions on Thanksgiving
on a Thursday, of course, and then the following week
they're playing on Thursday as well, And I think that's
bull crap. I don't think you'd do that to teams.
(15:24):
I think it's wrong period.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
It gives you kind of a mini buy the week after,
and normally they kind of got that the week after Thanksgiving.
Did you get ten days until your next game? Now
it kind of comes the next week when you're coming
off that Thursday game. So I would say that the
silver lining there at least is you do get that,
and maybe it's nicer to have it a week down
(15:49):
the line, but at least there is those seven days
between Thursday to Thursday. But I will tell you that
Sunday to Thursday in the middle of the season, that's tough, man.
And we've seen, you know, the toll that it takes
on teams, not just playing on Thursday Night football, but
on Thanksgiving two. That's a quick turnaround for these guys
for big games.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Yeah, I'm not going to complain about the Thanksgiving tradition,
nor are you. I just think it's a joke that
they don't give him that extra couple of days when
it's been a short week the week before. I think
it's wrong. And when you start to tell me that
it's all about player safety, you're basically, well, you know
what you're doing in the rain to me when you're
saying that because I think it's flat out wrong. Great stuff, Dan,
I appreciate it as always. I know your time is valuable,
(16:29):
a lot of people tugging at you, especially with news
like this. Keep up the great work, my friend. All
the best of your family.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Okay, thanks, she I appreciate you always. Good catching up?
Speaker 1 (16:39):
All right, Thanks buddy. That's Dan Miller, the voice of
Detroit Lions football man. Twenty one years now, he has
been on the mic and now doing it again this
year with Lomas Brown and TJ. Lang. Really looking forward
to Lions football for sure,
I think it's twenty years. I think it's twenty could
be twenty one from my friend Dan Miller to be
the outstanding voice of Detroit Lions football. He joins us
here on Exus and Bros. Is it twenty or twenty one? Dan?
I thought it was two thousand and five.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Yeah, going into twenty one. It's been twenty behind us
and looking forward to twenty one ahead of a chef,
How you doing that?
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Yeah, buddy, I'm doing great, and I hope your wife
and your family are doing great too. So this the news, obviously,
Frank Rag. Now you've talked a lot about it with
a lot of different people, so we appreciate the insight
here on our show as well. How much of a
surprise was it to you and how much do you
think of it as a surprise to the Detroit Lions organization?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
To me, I was a little surprised Chef, I think
just because of the timing, But clearly I think he
wanted to give this as much room as he could
because it was something that was very important to him
to try to make the right decision and see how
far back his body could come. And I have not
spoken to him kind of reading the tea leaves here,
and I think further reading the tea leaves would be
(01:05):
part of his statement that said that the Lions have been,
you know, excellent throughout this process. I'm taking that to
mean that he has been in constant contact with them,
and all of a sudden, drafting two offensive linemen doesn't
seem to be, you know, such a head scratcher if
it was for anybody at all. Now it seems to
make a little more sense. So my guess is the
(01:26):
timing of it is what got me a little bit.
But I think it was just Frank being Frank and
trying to do the best he could to get back
out there because he loves being with that line, with
this team, you know, with his coaches, and just realized
he couldn't. And then I just like I said, the
part of his statemhere we talked about working with the team,
(01:46):
tells me that he's been in contact, and knowing Frank,
that would be the way I think he would handle it.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
It's easy to go out and buy a jersey with
number sixteen or fourteen, or ninety seven or number five
on it. Frank reregnow is my favorite player. I don't
think offensive lineman get nearly enough credit that they deserve.
But I do believe he was well respected and got
the proper notoriety in Detroit. And I think throughout the NFL,
(02:15):
what do you think they'll miss most about him in
the locker room and outside?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Man, you know, Chevy, you can do a lot on
Frank Rag Now. He's just one of the best guys
he'll ever meet. He really is. He's one of the
guys that you always enjoy sitting down with. He's a
good person, good family, comes from good stock. Everybody knows
the story about him and his dad and how he
has helped other children that have suffered loss, which tells
you a lot about Frank and how he wants to
(02:43):
do good things with his life to help others. But
just on the football field, a it can't be understated
how much he dealt with in terms of physical issues
and still went out there and played. And so much
of that conversations about that with TJ and lomis because man,
(03:03):
you know, if we see some guys who just have
injury after injury after injury, a lot of it is
just bad luck. A lot of it is just the
wrong step getting stepped on wrong, whatever it is, getting
caught at a bad angle, and it just seemed to
happen to Frank, But he kept battling through it and
played through a lot of things that I don't think
people would and to your point, played at an extremely
(03:26):
high level and was the centerpiece on what I considered
to be the face of this team. That offensive line.
That offensive line, to me, is what makes this team
believe when they walk on the field, they're gonna win
that game because they believe. I think that they're gonna
protect golf, they're gonna run the football, they're gonna control
the game, and I think they always feel, regardless of
(03:48):
the weather, the situation, that those guys are gonna be
able to set the tempo and he's the guy in
the middle making sure everybody's in the right place. So
great dude, great player, And yeah, easy to embrace just
because he stood and did all the right things.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
So true, especially about the offensive line. But you could
literally have three different players at three different positions. If
you move Graham Glasgow to center, you have to have
someone replace Kevin Zeitler, and then you would have to
replace Graham Glasgow. How unnerving can that be? Not just
for Dan Campbell and John Morton is new OC, but
(04:27):
Jared Goff and everybody else on the offense in general.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I think when you're trying to replace one of the
best players in the National Football League, it is unnerving. Now,
I think we've been around these guys long enough to
know that they don't blink. They just figure out what
the problem is and then they attack it. We know
what this looks like today. Is there a chance at
some point that somebody else gets brought in? Sure, but
if they don't, you know, Look, I can guess right
(04:55):
now that the veteran presence of Graham by in there
might mean something. Look, bram didn't have a great year
last year. He had some issues, so I think they
want to see that injury related, was that just an
off year, whatever it was. I think they want to
see Graham look like Graham And if he does, then
I think, and again I'm just spitballing here, that him
(05:16):
in the middle being able to call out the protections,
recognize what the defense is trying to do because he's experienced,
buys them a little more time before maybe Ratledge takes
over and maybe puts them in the best position they
can be right now going into a season, and then
you figure out the rest of it between Fraser Ratledge
(05:37):
and Mahogany with the guards and anybody else that may
jump into the mix here between now and the season.
So that's kind of my guess right now. But it
is Look, this is significant. You don't just lose a
Frank rag now and not have to regroup here and
figure out, Okay, how are we going to do this thing? Now?
(05:57):
It's a big loss there's football team, but it doesn't
mean it's insurmountable.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
How will they be able to adjust? Look, if you
have Frank wragnow, let's say it was somebody else for
your time, but Frank Gragnoll is still your center. He
could help each guard, right they work in unison now. Suddenly,
Graham Glasgow, as you mentioned, didn't have a great year.
I know he's played the position before, but he still
has an adjustment there as the full time starter and
you've got two for all intensive purposes rookie guards as
(06:27):
of right now. What's that adjustment going to be like
for him? Specifically for Graham? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Yeah, I mean, look, I think Graham has done it
and I think he is I don't know the exact
number of games that he started at center, but it's
it's pretty significant. I don't think that would be an
overwhelming thing for him. But I think your point is
a good one that if it was rat Leg in
the middle, then you're dealing with a little more of
the unknown because there's gonna be a lot of things
(06:59):
that he hasn't seen. And it's just it's such a
big step from pro to college and in particularly when
he hasn't done it. He hasn't played center, he hasn't
been the one recognizing defenses and calling out protections. That's
where I think Graham just provides you that extra layer of,
you know, comfort because he's been there. And also to
(07:19):
kind of expand what you talked about. Look, if you're
sticking Mahogany or Ratledge or Frasier at guard, well then
they're either going to be next to Finnay and Graham
or Taylor in Graham. So you've got young guys that
haven't seen a lot, but they're sandwich between veterans. If
you have the young guy in the middle, and maybe
(07:40):
they get a comfort level with it, and this is
what happens. But if you get a young guy in
the middle. Then you really got a young guy in
the middle, another young guy next to him, Graham next
to him, in all likelihood on the other side, but
it maybe exposes you a little bit more. And again,
this is just the kind of conversations we have. But
I'm sure too the kind of conversations that they have.
(08:01):
But I'm guessing, Matt, if my read on this is correct,
they've been having these discussions for quite some time now.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Dan, when training camp hits, what do you think the
biggest storyline, because it's been dominated by Aiden Hutchinson's health
and two new coordinators, how would you rank the storylines
so far for the summer for the Lions now?
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Well, I think the offensive line shoots to the top
because it has been the strength of this team. It
has been, you know, kind of the engine of everything
that they do on offense. Look, we've been here long
enough to know that until these guys got going, we
never saw a consistent ground game in Detroit since Barry
walked out the door. Now it's every week. These guys
(08:48):
are capable of churning up one hundred and fifty one
hundred eighty yards. I mean, there's something else and that's
important to the balance. That's important to Jared, So you
want to keep that thing going. This offense is been,
you know, at or top of the league for the
past three seasons, so you want to make sure that's good.
So to me, that now jumps to the first thing
(09:09):
I'm looking at when I get out there. How are
they doing this? Then? I think it's obviously hutch who's
one of the best players in the NFL, But you
want to know, you know, how far back has he come?
Is he ready to hit the ground running on day
one and not just running but running freely, feeling like
himself and back in the flow of the game. Then
it's that defensive line you're not gonna have Aleen McNeil,
(09:30):
and I think there are questions about what's going on
on the other side. Marcus Davenport. Look for a game
and a half last year, he looked like he was
the perfect guy to be on the other side of
Aden Hutchinson. But you can't discuss him without discussing injuries
because they have been such a big part of his career.
So how does that other side look? Is it? You know,
Derek Barnes over there, do they kicked Levi outside at times?
(09:54):
But that defensive line I do think has some questions
just because of the injuries that we know won't be
there and how they can mix and match some of
the other players. But I mean to me, those are
kind of the things that jump out right now. And
then it's the coordinators. Look, there's a familiarity with John
(10:14):
Morton that I think takes a lot of the unknowns
out of the equation. He was here in twenty two,
he was here when they installed this offense. He's got
a relationship with Jared Goff. Take those things off the table.
Those things are fine, but calling a game is where
it becomes different. He's not you know, he's done it before,
but he hasn't done it with this group. And there's
(10:34):
a flow to that between him and the quarterback that's
got to be there and that's got to be developed.
And then again, Shep has been here, players love him.
Aaron Glenn did him such a huge, solid and career advancing,
you know, favored by not just having him with the linebackers,
but making sure he was exposed to all the groups.
(10:54):
Now that comes into play. But again, calling the game,
designing the game plan, all those things, I think those
are questions that have to be answered to.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Do you think people have made too much of the
two new coordinators. I saw it a report not too
long ago. It's like no team has won the Super
Bowl when they had two new coordinators. I said, that's
bull craft. Philadelphia did. They brought in two new coordinators
last year and won the Super Bowl, Kellen Moore and
Vik Fazio. So I think that's completely wrong. And like
(11:23):
you said, because of their lineage within the organization, that's
got to be a plus. What do you how smoothly
do you think that transition can go with both men
in your mind?
Speaker 2 (11:36):
I think it can go very smoothly, because again I
do think that's the mayority means everything. Look, in any business,
you can hire somebody and think you know what you're getting,
but until they're in there and doing the job and
working in the office and working with people and having relationships,
you don't really know what you're getting. But if you've
(11:56):
got experience with them and they've worked with and for
you before, I think that's significant because again it's in
my mind, it takes a lot of those unknowns of
the off the table. So I think it can go
very smoothly. Look, I think it's fair to question because
it is very significant that you've changed, you know, two
(12:16):
key guys that in terms of your game day experience
with the guys firing the plays in there and then
designing the defenses and making the adjustments. So it's fair
to say, Okay, how are these guys going to do?
But it's also very easy to have a doomsday attitude
about it, and it probably gets people clicks and that's
probably the reason they do it.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Last thing for you, and I appreciate the time. Have
you ever seen a schedule, especially on the road, this
daunting for any team? Seriously, first you're going into twenty
one years, You've got to go to Green Bay, Baltimore, Cincinnati,
Kansas City back to back weeks, by the way, Washington, Philadelphia,
(12:58):
Los Angeles, Minnesota, Chicago. You ever seen a road schedule
like that for any team in all the years you've
covered football.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
It's certainly different and based on what they did last year,
and that's not always that's not always an exact tell
for what you're going to get this year because you
just never know how things are going to shake out.
But look, on paper, it is seven out of the
nine teams or playoff teams. You know, I think they
played three outdoor games last year. This is going to
be significantly different than that, which can impact the football team.
(13:31):
Which goes back to that offensive line and one of
the reasons they built that thing they want to be
ready for anything. But it's also chep It's the way
the games are on the schedule. It's the four to
twenty fives, it's the Sunday nights, it's the Thursdays, it's
the Monday night. You know, it's not like you're playing
every seven days. One of the beautiful things about this
(13:52):
game that I love is the rhythm to it. You know,
when you have seven days in between every game, you
know where you are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Maybe
you travel Saturday and maybe you don't. Then you play
Sunday and then you start it all over on Monday.
That rhythm is going to be hard to come by
for this team, just because some of the travel, some
of the different times for the games, some of the
different days for the games. So there's a challenge in
(14:13):
that for the coaches to keep the players on schedule. Look,
there were years when I looked at that schedule, and
we had fifteen one o'clock games on Sunday. We don't
have one one o'clock road game on a Sunday all year.
We played at four to twenty five in LA. That's
the closest. So it's it's what happens when you're good.
(14:33):
It's what happens when you're good. Oh, and we've lived
the other life. It's not very fun.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
This is.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
This is because this team is. This team is fun
to watch. They've become really good television. They want to
put them on TV, and for a long time that
that wasn't the case. So I think I'll nod to
it and say, yeah, this certainly could be difficult, but
it's also what you want because you're doing things the
(15:03):
right way.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
That's a great point. Only five one o'clock games all
season long. The thing that bothers me, and I don't
know why it does. It shouldn't, but it's two straight
years where the NFL has put the Lions on Thanksgiving
on a Thursday, of course, and then the following week
they're playing on Thursday as well, And I think that's
bull crap. I don't think you'd do that to teams.
(15:24):
I think it's wrong period.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
It gives you kind of a mini buy the week after,
and normally they kind of got that the week after Thanksgiving.
Did you get ten days until your next game? Now
it kind of comes the next week when you're coming
off that Thursday game. So I would say that the
silver lining there at least is you do get that,
and maybe it's nicer to have it a week down
(15:49):
the line, but at least there is those seven days
between Thursday to Thursday. But I will tell you that
Sunday to Thursday in the middle of the season, that's tough, man.
And we've seen, you know, the toll that it takes
on teams, not just playing on Thursday Night football, but
on Thanksgiving two. That's a quick turnaround for these guys
for big games.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Yeah, I'm not going to complain about the Thanksgiving tradition,
nor are you. I just think it's a joke that
they don't give him that extra couple of days when
it's been a short week the week before. I think
it's wrong. And when you start to tell me that
it's all about player safety, you're basically, well, you know
what you're doing in the rain to me when you're
saying that because I think it's flat out wrong. Great stuff, Dan,
I appreciate it as always. I know your time is valuable,
(16:29):
a lot of people tugging at you, especially with news
like this. Keep up the great work, my friend. All
the best of your family.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Okay, thanks, she I appreciate you always. Good catching up?
Speaker 1 (16:39):
All right, Thanks buddy. That's Dan Miller, the voice of
Detroit Lions football man. Twenty one years now, he has
been on the mic and now doing it again this
year with Lomas Brown and TJ. Lang. Really looking forward
to Lions football for sure,
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