09-12-24 Max Starks with KOA Sports

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Help us preview the Broncos and Steelers.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
We head out to the KIWI Common Spirit Health Hotline
right now and bring on Max Stark's former offensive lineman
also current Steelers radio network analyst.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Max, You're on with Alfred Williams and Ryan Edwards. How
are you, sir?

Speaker 3 (00:14):
I'm doing great, Guys. How are y'all doing?

Speaker 4 (00:17):
Man, We're doing wonderful. Max, appreciate you joining us.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
Man.

Speaker 4 (00:20):
We want to jump in and talk about this game
between the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers. But before
we before we do, I learned a lot about Mike
Tomlin going back and watching that film last week with
the Atlanta Falcons and the Steelers. It doesn't matter how
it looks as long as you win, is what I

(00:42):
took away from that game. Is that about right?

Speaker 3 (00:46):
That is exactly hitting the nail on the head, big al.
Mike Tomlin has been at this game for a long time,
as we all know, right, seventeen years in the game.
And you don't get there by accident. You don't get
there by worrying about staff points or about how it
looks optically. At the end of the day, it's a
results oriented business that matters and wins and losses, So

(01:09):
how many you can stack in the W column and
the least that you could keep away from that L
column is what guarantees longevity, and that was just a
prime example of that.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
How did you think Justin Field's played in his debut.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
I felt like I felt like he calmed down and
got better as the game progressed. I think there was
some early jitters in that game, obviously not being as
as involved in the in the in the process during
the week because Russell was still taking the one snaps.
He didn't really get one snaps until Friday, and we
all know that's that's walked through. That's that's shirts and

(01:43):
helmets and going at a fee that's just above a crawl.
So it's tough to get that timing. And I think
early on he was a little nervous, little jittery, and
he started to settle down after that first quarter going
into the end of the half, and then the second
half saw him start to really feel comfortable in the
offense with some sustainable drives, making some good throws. But

(02:06):
you know, I was really I was really happy to
see it because I felt like, if you could overcome it,
also sideline adjustments and everything. I thought they did a
really good job of adjusting on the fly because you
could tell that the game plan was originally planned for
Rust and not necessarily for Justin. And as they started
getting and instituting more stuff that Justin felt good with,
you saw the offense clicking a lot better.

Speaker 4 (02:29):
You know, Tara Austin is your defensive coordinator now in
the second season. Talk to me about what you believe
his strategy and his his style of defense is Matt.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
I think, I think it's attacked. Well, it has to
be attacking and aggressive, but that's just naturally how it is.
Like he doesn't want to blitz all the time. And
when you look at the front five that he has,
you don't have to do that. You know, when you've
got Cam Hayward at the front, when you've got TJ.
Watt on one edge, Alex Heismith on the other edge,

(03:04):
and then you've got some good young talent and Keanu
Binton and Larry Ogunjobi is a solid vet. It's very
easy to get into base rush. You don't really need
to add blitz as much as you'd like, so you
don't have to bring inside linebackers, your safeties in your
corners can play, can play a little bit looser, play

(03:25):
a little bit more zone because of that, but yet
still be able to go into man if you have
to get after a quarterback. They have ways of manufacturing it,
but it's not what he looks to do all the time.
So I mean this is a good mixture, you know,
being able to say I can rush my front five
or I can rush four out of my front five,
and we can still apply pressure. It's a good place

(03:45):
to be in if you're ta.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
How's the patience with the fan base right now for
the Steelers offense, because it's been a few years since
Ben Roethlisberger was there and he was one of the
best offenses in the league when Antonio Brown was there,
for example, and I again, still winning a lot of games.
I know a lot of teams in the NFL, including
the Broncos, would take that.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
But you see a game where six field goals wins.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
Are the fans starting to feel a little anxious about
the way the offense is lining up this season?

Speaker 3 (04:16):
Well, I mean our fans are never going to be happy,
you know, and until they have, you know, an offense
that's putting up forty points a game and doing all
of this high flying stuff. They're never going to be satisfied.
But the problem problem is when you've had, you know,
as long as they've had seventeen years of not having
to worry about that and really going back to about

(04:38):
two thousand and four, so about twenty years where you've
never known a losing season, Yeah, your expectations start to
get ey. It's almost like Alabama fans right with Nick Saban,
you know, they just they always expect a national championship
every year. You should be in the college football playoff.
Steeler fans feel like, hey, you guys should be doing
good every single year. And you don't see the flical

(05:00):
nature as much because we don't. We don't get top
ten picks in the draft year in and year out
where a lot of teams do. So you can see
a little bit more of the roller coaster, right of success, failure, success.
It's been kind of steady, and it's at a plateau
and they'll have a little bit of a peak, but
right back down to a plateau, uh and just even out.

(05:23):
And I think you know, fans want to see Super Bowl.
They want to they want to see deep playoff runs,
and they deserve that. I mean, every fan base deserves that.
But I think the patience that they have starts to
get a little bit unrealistic after a while, and that
you do have to rebuild. It's just our rebuilds have
not been Titanic drop off the face of the Earth
type of rebuilds. And that's where they kind of get

(05:45):
a little disillusioned with, well, why why don't we have
the next Ben Roethlisberg. I think Ben Roethlisberger was a
number eleven draft pick after a year where the team
went six and ten. I was like, you haven't seen
six and tens in two thousand and three, and and
that's what it took to get a Ben Roethlisberg. And
right now we look at the quarterbacks, right, you have
to be in that top ten, eleven, twelve to get

(06:07):
the young studs right, to get you know, guys like
a Bownecks, for guys like a Jayden Daniels, a Caleb Williams,
And it's just we're not willing to mortgage the farm
to get up there to get that guy that may
or may not work out. You would rather build through
through your draft process and let guys build organically. I mean,
we did take a chance getting Kenny Pickett that didn't
work out, and now we went and got two guys,

(06:29):
and I'd say we have the cheapest quarterback room in
the league with a brand new offensive coordinator. So I
think the fans are want to see touchdowns. But I
think that's something that's going to take time because the
approach to Arthur Smith is taking. It takes time for
everybody to buy in, everybody to get comfortable with and
you have to play games to get more comfortable with
the system. But I think they'll be okay. They'll be

(06:50):
okay over time. You know, I deal with it on
my show every day with Craig Wolfley. You know, we'll
always get those calls in, but you know, we try
and keep all those expectations in real and real.

Speaker 1 (07:01):
You know.

Speaker 4 (07:02):
One of the things that we've been talking around here
match is, uh, the way that the Steals travel and
last week was it was an embarrassing day for the
Atlanta Falcons to see you guys as a fan base
going there and take over the stadium. You were there,
you understand what that was liked. Did it really come
to a point where third downs were really loud for

(07:24):
the Atlanta Falcons at home.

Speaker 3 (07:27):
Yes, they went into a silent snapcout big al and
you'll notice that because you'll you'll you will see the
center do the head bob to get the ball to
Kirk Cousins in the shotgun. It was one of those
things that it was awesome to see. We stayed at
that Atlanta just well, I should say this. Yeah, the
city of Atlanta just putting a new Signia hotel that's

(07:49):
literally right across the lot from the stadium, like you
can see it out your window, and that hotel was
bursting at the scenes with Steeler fans. I went out
with my fan and my friends while I was in Atlanta,
and everywhere I went there was a gaggle of Steeler
fans at every place that I went, whether it was
a restaurants, whether it was the lounge, you know, going

(08:13):
I had had to go to the mall for to
pick up something where it was full in the city.
And the Steelers travel well traditionally, especially in the southeastern
part of the country, they're especially well and so it
is always great to see Steelers Nation out and about.
But yeah, our fan base travels well and has a

(08:34):
has a wide reach. So we're happy to have those
type of advantages and opportunities where we get them at
certain stadiums to be able to do that. I think
you know another stadium that's well known, Jacksonville. When we
go down to Jacksonville, Carolina is another one where we
have a lot of success on the road, Arizona for
the Cardinals stadium. So there's a couple of states where
you know the Steeler fans are going to be competing

(08:54):
with the home crowd and trying to make them uncomfortable.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
Just seeing a report now, Max that the airports have
been shut down to anybody.

Speaker 1 (09:02):
Coming from the Pittsburgh area.

Speaker 2 (09:03):
I apologize this breaking news is coming across my desk. No,
I'm kidding about that, But listen, man, I it's gonna
be a wild game.

Speaker 1 (09:12):
Last one I have for you, Max Starks joining us here.

Speaker 2 (09:14):
I just want to get a sense of what do
Steelers fans, as far as you understand, what do they
think about what the Broncos are trying to do out here.
I mean, again, it's a rookie quarterback, Sean Payton is
second year. There's an opinion about Sean Payton generally speaking,
but Steelers fans, I mean, I don't know, are you
feeling they're feeling really confident because they just won, or
are they looking at this as maybe a bit of
a tough matchup.

Speaker 3 (09:36):
Well, I think Steeler fans, and this is what I
tryed to educate our fan base on. The Steelers don't
have a winning record against the Denver Broncos historically, and
they don't especially don't have one they're in Denver, So
it's like you have to keep things in perspective. We're
three to nine and one out in Denver and last
time we've gone out there was twenty eighteen, so you know,

(09:59):
for passing, Oh man, we're just gonna run in here
and win. I'm like, who whoa, whoa, whoa, pump your brakes. Historically,
this place does not have we don't have a lot
of success. And I was there for two of the
victories during my tenure. So it's like you have to
you have to understand that when you go to mile High,
like you're competing with not only the team that's across
from you, you're competing with the altitude as well, because

(10:21):
if you're not adjusted or acclimated to that altitude, it
will sneak up and bite you in the butt, so
you can't be all right, ryn Over, I was making
a joke. I was like, I remember the first time
I went there was for the two thousand and five
ASC Championship game, and I remember going to do my
normal warm up big al and I was feeling good
about myself. I was like, man, I'm about to go

(10:42):
out here, but I take a lap around the field
and I started doing my dynamic warm up. Man, I
got to the forty yard line after coming out of
the tunnel, I was like, whoa, whoa, wait a second,
I can't the lug what's going on here? You know
that mile altitude will get to guys, so understanding how

(11:04):
to pace yourself in a game like that where you
know that altitude is going to be a factor, and
that when you're not used to playing at altitude or
you haven't trained at altitude, it's a significant advantage. The
ball flies a little bit further in Denver, so for quarterbacks,
like understanding your throws and your timing, like you need

(11:25):
to take extra time to understand your velocities because the
ball could sail on you real quick. You think you're
throwing a ten yard out and that ball goes about
fifteen yards and about ten feet over the guy's head,
and you threw it at the same velocity that you
normally would. So those are the things that can kind
of take you by surprise. And I think that's where
we should have to be rooted in. Hey, we have
to be on our p's and q's. You cannot take

(11:46):
anything for granted. Don't look at a score or look
at a performance and think, oh, man, just because bo
Nick's had a bad day for his first game, that
he can't he can't hurt you with his legs, and
that run game can't get after you. You need to
be very, very cautious and very aware of your of
your surroundings, your environment because it is a different environment.

Speaker 4 (12:04):
Indeed, Max, the last thing I have for you, man,
is that I'm watching this game, and of course we
we have a treeover of running backs that we played
last weekend, but nobody really featured. Have you uh ever
played on a team where a running back wasn't really featured?
You know that that you know it's kind of split

(12:26):
the carries up and and and there's an offensive lineman.
Does it matter?

Speaker 3 (12:34):
You know? I I think for well, I a to
answer your question, No, we've always had a featured back
in my in my ten years in the NFL, we
always had a feature back. My first couple of years,
Jerome Bettis was our featured back, along with Duce Staley
taking over like a year two and Jerome taking kind
of the secondary role. And then from that point forward,

(12:55):
Willie Parker was our guys than Rashard Mitum was our guy.
So you always had the guy who's gonna get the
lion's share of the carries, and then the secondary guy
usually your third down guy, your screen guy, guy who
has soft hands, was very physical in the backfield is
usually your number two and your number three guys. They're
guys in a pinch that you can put in there.

(13:15):
I think, what you know, what is trying to be
a compt out there in Denver? I think is Sean
Payton's trying to figure out who is the lead back,
because right you don't have that traditional five foot ten,
two hundred and thirty five pounds bowling ball fact there.
You have more shittier guys, smaller guys that can do
some different things, but nobody's really the one that's going

(13:37):
to say, hey, I'm ready to tote the rock twenty
five times a game, seventeen games a year and get
four hundred plus touches in the season without taking some
physical damage. That is just not how it is. But
I think also the offense of Sean Payton wants the
institute doesn't necessarily dictate that. You know, you think about
duce Mcallis during his time at the New Orleans Saints,
but then when Drew was really in his bags was

(14:00):
the end of his career. You were waiting for that
Alvin Kamara type. And even al Kamar is not your
traditional running back. So I think he's still trying to
figure out and shape this roster the way that he is.
This isn't like college right where you could pull it's
it's your Colorado alum, right. You know, you can't go
into the transfer portal and swap out the whole roster
in one year. Like there's contracts, there's other guarantees that

(14:23):
are in place, and you have to kind of churn
your roster over about a three year span until Sean
Payton really gets what he wants. As far as the team,
you're kind of getting rid of some of the dead
cap money so that you can actually go out there
and really create your own squad. So I think for now,
he's trying to feel out and hopefully, you know, by
week four, week five, I think you guys get some
solidarity on who the main guy's gonna be, whether it's

(14:45):
gonna be a Javonte Williams or whether it's gonna be elsewhere.
But for right now, I mean, you do kind of
have some guys that can do a lot of different things,
so it's really about what the matchup for the week is.
I think that really dictates that for you guys right now.
I hate that.

Speaker 4 (15:00):
Hate you hate that.

Speaker 3 (15:01):
I do too. I don't endy your position right now.
By the way that.

Speaker 4 (15:07):
Max Man, we appreciate you joining us, Man, I mean
this is uh, you know, I know you're not going
to give us the latest on Russ. I think that
he wants to play in this game. But I mean
it would be really really cool if Russell Wilson ran
out and actually played for the Stellers this weekend, but uh,
we'll find that out on game day.

Speaker 3 (15:28):
Yeah. Well, well trust me, I hope I'm hopeful I'm
in the same boat as you. I would love for
Russ to get that opportunity. I know for myself when
I left Pittsburgh, I never got that opportunity to play
against the Steelers after I left, So I understand how
big of a moment that can be for a player,
especially when you know you you lead, not necessarily under
your own will. So it's always cool you can come

(15:50):
back to a community that you know, you, you, you
gave time to and that you serve. So hopefully we'll
stay hopeful about it, but yeah, we won't know. Coach
down will keep that close to the best until Sunday
Game Day.

Speaker 1 (16:02):
Appreciate the time, Max, thanks so much for the insight.

Speaker 3 (16:05):
Hey, my pleasure. Guys. I'll take care, have a great day.