November 21, 2023 • 26 mins
Labs and Tom discuss Matt Canada being relieved of Offensive Coordinator duties before getting into this week's questions.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is asked and answered questions with Tom Upferman and
Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
It was a bad result for these Steelers against the
Browns on Sunday, and it resulted in offensive coordinator Matt
Canada being relieved of his duties this morning, Tuesday morning,
the week heading into Cincinnati Labs. I was pretty shocked
to find out the news. You were pretty shocked to
find out the news. I think everybody in Pittsburgh was
shocked to find out the news, simply because this is
something that Steelers rarely do.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Yeah, I mean very very rarely. In fact, it has
never happened since well going back before Chuck Nole was
even hired.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
And you know, the last time the Steelers got involved
in something even remotely resembling an interim coaching situation was
nineteen sixty five. That was, you know, that was during
the Buddy Parker era. And Buddy Parker was you know,
(01:09):
while the Steelers had some moderate success during his time
as the coach, you know, one of the things that
he was notorious for was trading away future draft picks
in bundles for veterans, many of whom were you know,
(01:29):
towards the end of their careers. And you know, in fact,
one of the picks that he traded away was used
to draft that middle linebacker that the Bears had. What
was his name, Oh yeah, Dick Budkins. So there was that.
(01:49):
And then the other thing was, you know, Buddy Parker
was known to fly into a rage after losses and
cut and trade people on whims. So what had happened,
you know, late in the nineteen fifties, in the early
nineteen sixties, Art Rooney Senior had turned to his oldest son,
(02:13):
Dan and kind of I won't say turned over football
operations to him, but gave him a much more significant
role in those in you know, managing the football operations
of the franchise. And Dan Rooney was getting tired of,
(02:34):
you know, losing all these draft picks. I mean, Buddy
Parker would trade draft picks. There were years when the
Steelers first pick in the draft was the eighth or
ninth round. So after talking to his dad, Dan Rooney
went to Buddy Parker and said, Okay, no more trading
away draft picks or trading or cutting players unless you
(02:54):
run it by us first. And Buddy Parker said something
to the effect, I can't work like that, and Dan
Rooney said, I accept your resignation. Boom, He's gone right
before the start of the nineteen sixty five season. So
the Steelers at the time elevated Mike Nixon, who was
(03:17):
an assistant coach on those Buddy Parker staffs, because you know,
you can't there was nobody to hire. I mean, you
know they're all under contract and you don't have time.
So anyway, they hire Mike Nixon. I think he went
two and twelve or something like that, and that was
his last season, and that was the last time that
(03:40):
the Steelers ever did anything like that, because Dan Rooney's
philosophy was you don't want to hire and fire someone
during the season or in a situation where you don't
have time to conduct the search and replace the person,
because you know it could work out bad as it
(04:01):
did in the Nixon situation. Or if the guy is good.
Let's say he gets lucky and wins. Say instead of
two and twelve, they went because there were fourteen game seasons,
and instead of two and twelve, say they went seven
and seven. Well, now you're under some pressure to keep
(04:21):
the guy because hey, look what he did and he
might not be the best person long term for that situation,
and then you're stuck with somebody that you wouldn't have
hired if you hadn't been backed into a corner. And
that's not the way you want to hire someone for
that kind of position. Okay, So that was the last
(04:44):
time that happened, and that also once Parker was done,
there was no more trading of number one picks until
Minka Fitzpatrick in twenty nineteen, Yes, twenty nineteen, because they
traded their twenty twenty first round pick to make and
I remember Art Rooney the second saying about that later
(05:07):
that that took a lot of thought and debate before
that was approved. So you know, the Steelers, you know,
they don't they don't do that. They don't hire interims,
and they don't trade future number one picks. Now, now
we have a situation where there has been an exception
(05:29):
to each one of those quote unquote rules. The first one,
the Minca thing, weren't that pretty good? You know, I'm
not saying that, you know, Mike Sullivan, excuse me, I
just had a brain cramp there. Mike Sullivan or Eddie
Faulkner is in line to be the offensive coordinator.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Those are taking over duties though while Canada's gone correct.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Yes, Mike Sullivan will be calling. This is according to
internet reports.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yes, Mike.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Rite, Yeah, Mike Tomlins, you mentioned we're doing this Tuesday morning.
Mike Tomlins news conference today will be in a couple
of hours, so I'm sure we'll learn a lot more
about it at that time. But internet reports are that
Mike Sullivan will call play from now on. He's the
quarterbacks coach. Eddie Faulkner is the running backs coach. He
(06:20):
will serve as the interim offensive coordinator and handle the
media responsibilities that come with that moving forward for the
rest of the season, and then I'm sure there's going
to be a pretty large search done after that to
find a replacement.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
But the news today, of course, Matt Canada relieved of
his duties. We'll see what the offense looks like Sunday
against the Bengals in their first time out. Post Matt Canada,
we got a ton of questions to get to today
and ask then answered, and we start with Jason Norton
from Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Our team slash players allowed to drive
to away games. I don't know how quickly an NFL
team can get in and out of an airport, but
(07:02):
for the average Steelers fan, it feels like driving would
be quicker. Has anyone tested that theory, You.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Know, it's a pretty pertinent question, being that the Steelers
played their annual game in Cleveland, you know, just last Sunday,
and that is the place where the Steelers do not fly.
They take buses to the game in Cleveland every season
during the early portion of the chuck Noll area, and
(07:30):
it was only for a short period of time the
Steelers did travel by airplane to Cleveland as well. Now,
Myron Cope, who was the radio color commentator at the time,
he always speculated that that decision to fly was made
because Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, which is where you would
(07:52):
fly into, is located west of the city, and chuck
Noll had a sister who lived close to that area,
and Noel would always arrange to have dinner with his
sister during their road trip to Cleveland, so that made
it easier for them to get together to do that. Now,
you know, I don't know whether that's actual fact or
(08:12):
just another entertaining Myron Cope story, but the Steelers rather
quickly went back to bus trips to Cleveland. The team.
That's how they got there. This past weekend. They boarded
buses at the end of the week for the game
that was the date was two days ago or three
days ago, the nineteenth. Now, let me just say that
(08:34):
there have been some modifications that have really helped the
bus trips. You know, some buses leave from the South
Side practice facility. Some buses then they catch up with
there are some other buses that pick up and drop
off in Cranberry for anyone who lives north of the city,
(08:55):
because if you're going to Cleveland on a turnpike, that's
where you would get on in cran So it's kind
of a one flow, you know thing. So it's easier,
you know, depending upon where you live. A lot of
coaches and players live north. They can take to go
to Cranberry, get on the buses there. It's a shorter
trip and then they're home quicker. Because back in the
(09:17):
old days, when it was just buses leaving from the
practice facility, you know, I would sit on the bus
and would go past, you know, you get off in Cranberry,
come down to seventy nine and I would look, look up,
and would pass my house, drive for another thirty five minutes,
(09:38):
and then get off the bus and then get in
my car and drive another thirty five minutes back to
my house. So you know it was it was nicer.
You know, it's more convenient. Let's say, once you know
the that additional little nuance was attached to the trip,
I'm sure you.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Had some jealousy, some nostalgia this and when you were
sitting at home and not boarding those buses the head
to Cleveland, did you missed it a lot?
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Yeah? Right, As I've said, the two best things I
can experience in a moving vehicle Cleveland in the rearview
mirror and Latrobe in the rearview mirror. Because as much
of it as I love training camp, after twenty one
days in the dorm, I'm ready to come home.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yeah, you love the ending just a little bit more?
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Jeff Bankovich from Elizabeth Township, Pennsylvania. I know the game
clock stops on an incomplete pass, penalty, injury, and time out.
When does the clock stop when the ball carrier runs
out of bounds?
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Okay, out of bounds stops the clock in the final
two minutes of the first half. In the final five
minutes of the fourth quarter, I would say second half,
but if the game goes into you know, overtime, that's
why I always say fourth quarter for the second half,
and then outside of those windows, clock may stop briefly
(11:00):
to give the officials time to spot the ball for
the next play, But then if it's outside of the
last two minutes of the first half, last five minutes
of the fourth quarter, then they wind it right away.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Dave Seblane from Silver Spring, Maryland. Where is the biggest
weakness along the offensive line? It sure looks like Kenny
Pickett is facing a collapsing pocket on every pass play
and that the running backs haven't had a lot of
holes through which to run. How can this offensive line
be improved now and in the offseason?
Speaker 1 (11:30):
As for now, I think the insertion of Broderick Jones
in it right tackle puts the five best offensive lineman
currently on the roster on the field to start the game.
Moving forward, you know, I'm not ripping Mason Cole, but
if you're the question is how could it be improved?
(11:53):
I think that if you look at the steel at
the franchise history, at that position center, you know you
have a couple of two of the greatest maybe centers
in modern era NFL to play, Mike Webster and Dermani Dawson,
both Hall of Famers. Marquise Pouncey maybe he has a
(12:13):
chance to be a Hall of Famer as well. Two teams.
He is a two time First Team All Pro, which
if you're voted first team All Pro at center, that
is a designation by definition as you're the best center
in the NFL because there's only one center on the
first team All Pro team. Ray Mansfield was another pretty
(12:36):
good center. He's in the Steelers' Hall of Honor as well.
And when you look at those guys, you know, Dawson, Pouncy,
they were athletic and strong, and they were able to
do things, you know, pulling out in front of running backs,
getting downfield on screens, and you know those kind of
things that a lot of centers are unable to do.
(12:58):
Plus they were strong enough to to hold the point
in the middle of the field against you know, the
big nose tackles Hellodi Nauda. You know those kind of
people that are in there too. So if you're asking
me where could they improve, I would look at that
position and see if that could be upgraded moving forward.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Jeff Mayer from Fort Myers, Florida. It seems now that
nearly every team that wins the toss defers and kicks off.
Before this became an option, it seemed to me almost
everyone chose to go on offense first. Why the shift
in philosophy.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
I'll give you my theory. I mean, I don't know
this to be a fact, but this is my theory.
It's kind of a reflection about how the NFL game
is now. I mean, the games are so close. Often
the outcome comes down to a couple of plays, a
few plays over the course of a game, and a
lot of times those plays happen in the second half.
(13:57):
So if you defer instead of taking the ball first,
you then get the opportunity to receive the second half kickoff.
And I just think deferring early allows the coach or
the team to maybe steal a possession in the second half,
(14:18):
which is when so many of the games are won.
And so I think that's kind of behind that decision.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Rick Jones from Cabot, Arkansas. How are players nominated for
inclusion in the Pro Football Hall of Fame? I was
looking at the long list of names and came across
Joey Porter, James Ferrier, and James Harrison. Certainly all three
men are amongst the are among the greatest Steelers linebackers
of all time in my opinion. So I wondered, first,
what criteria is used to nominate someone, and who does
(14:47):
the nominating and who does the voting to whittle that
number down to the final inductees.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Okay, I'm going to try and condense this as much
as possible to answer Rick's question. Deal with the nominations
first and I and I got this right off the
Pro Football Hall of Fame website. Any any fan can
nominate any player, coach, or contributor who has been connected
(15:15):
with pro football, and all they have to do is
write to the Pro Football Hall of Fame at twenty
one twenty one. George Hollis Drive Northwest can'ton Ohio four
four seven oh two. Okay. The only restrictions involved in
these nominations is that a player or and or coach
has to be retired at least five years before he
(15:35):
can be can be considered. So you know, if I
don't know, if you want to nominate Willie Parker, if
you want to nominate whoever.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
You I might write you in this summer.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
No, I'm not.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
I'm not a you're not a contributor. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Yes, I don't know either. So anyway, that's how nominations
have happened. Anybody, any fan can nominate anybody simply by
sending it in to the address I just gave. Now, okay,
the selection process. The Hall of Fame has a fifty
individual selection committee. Okay. That's made up of one media
(16:22):
representative from each pro football city. There's two from New
York and two from Los Angeles because those cities have
two teams. So that's thirty two people. Then there's seventeen
at large selections. They're active members of the media or
individuals intricately involved in professional football. So that's forty nine.
(16:45):
And then the fiftieth person is the president of the
Pro Football Writers of America. That's fifty. That is the
Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Selectors. Okay. Now
they also referred to as the Selection committee. Those fifty people. Okay, Now,
what happens is the Selection committee gets an initial list
(17:09):
of nominations by March first. Then they get another list
of nominations in July, and a third list of nominations
is sent in September. Okay, that compiles all of the eligibles,
because you know, there could be some people nominated who
may not have been out for five years yet. You know,
(17:30):
people may not understand, you know, the nomination thing. So
that the Hall of Fame whittles down all of the
people who are actually eligible, and then they send it
along to the committee. Okay. Then the committee whittles them down.
So the first list, they take all of the nominations
(17:54):
and they narrow it down to the top twenty five
plus ties. Okay. Then that top twenty five plus ties
is willed down to the top fifteen in November, and
then the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth finalists are the
candidates and the coach contributors Senior committees. Those are separate committees,
(18:17):
and those people nominate their finalists based on the rotation
of whether it's a year for them or those categories
are not. Okay. Then the vote reduces fifteen to ten,
then another vote reduces ten to five, and then it's
thumbs up thumbs down situation to determine that year's class
(18:40):
for induction.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Roger Shaffer from Plump, Pennsylvania asks what is the role
of the practice squad during the week and who are
their coaches?
Speaker 1 (18:50):
The practice squad role those guys do whatever everybody else
does all the other players. They go to the meetings,
they go to practice. They the same cafeteria, the same food.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Uh, there's no practice squad menu.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
There's no practice squad menu. Same food in the cafeteria,
same weight room, access and or requirements, you know, the
training staff, rehab, any of that stuff. You know. When
I mean rehab, I'm not talking about you know, injuries
so much as I'm talking about body maintenance. You know,
(19:26):
if you want to get in the hot pool or
the cold tub, or you know, any of those things
that players do to maintain their bodies. All of that
that is available to the fifty three man roster is available, uh,
to the guys on the practice squad. And the coaches
are the coaches. I mean, if you're a offensive lineman
(19:48):
on the practice squad, the person's coaching you is Pat Meyer,
the same guy who's coaching the starters. So yeah, there's
no difference. So yeah, that's why I think that when
the Steelers are looking to replace someone who's injured, you know,
or make a change or any of those in season
(20:08):
kind of things. They always look at their practice squad first,
because those guys have been around, they practice with the team,
they meet with the team, so they're familiar with how
things operate, the offense, the defense, whatever they might be
special teams, and not only are they familiar with the team,
(20:29):
but the team is familiar with them. And so that's
why on this particular for this particular franchise, when Cole
Holcom and Kwan Alexander as two recent examples, guys who
get injured and lost for the year, the first thing
the Steelers did was look to the practice squad. And
when they sign people from the outside at that point,
(20:52):
usually they are signed to the practice squad, so that
then you get a little chance to see what kind
of shape they're in. They get to relearn whatever it
might be new. Like in the case of Miles Jack,
he's going to say that to the practice squad yesterday.
He had been around the team, certainly, but I'm sure
there have been differences or changes to some degree to
(21:15):
maybe his position the defense overall, so they can gauge,
you know, he can relearn what he or relearn or
learn for the first time, whatever he needs to know.
They can see what kind of shape he's in before you,
you know, add him to the actual fifty three meter roster.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Red Mahoney from Roosevelt, New York, Jalen Warren looks extremely
fast on the football field. What was his forty time
slash shuttle time prior to the NFL draft and why
wasn't he drafted?
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Jalen Warren was timed at four five five in the
forty yard dash. This is during his you know measurables
or his testing leading up to that draft. So he
ran a four five five And I don't know how
much Red needs to know this, but he asked, so
I'll tell him. He posted a thirty four point zero
(22:07):
in the vertical, a one sixteen in the broad jump.
You know it's inches, not feet. He didn't jump thirty
four feet near one sixteen in the broad jump, a
four to four to two time in the shuttle, and
a seven point one to three time in the three
cone drill. Okay, if you're asking me why he wasn't drafted, again,
I'm speculating here some of the things that I believe
(22:29):
were working against Jalen Warnworth's size physical size five foot eight,
two fifteen and he only played one season at Oklahoma State.
You know, he started out at Utah State, and you know,
Utah State doesn't get a lot of attention pub they're
not playing a top schedule, so he was probably under
(22:51):
the radar a little bit there. He had won his
one year at Oklahoma State. He did pretty good there,
but it was one year. And then I read some
of the pre draft scouting reports from around the league
and he was characterized as I'm gonna quote here, a
one speed runner who lacked an extra gear with marginal elusiveness.
(23:13):
He's a strong momentum runner, but he needs the hole
to be there to hit top speed running downhill. So
in other words, what they're saying was, he's just a guy.
I'm translating. The Steelers, though they saw things in Jalen
Warren that they liked. They aggressively pursued him as an
undrafted free agent right after the draft. So, you know,
(23:34):
good for the Steelers scouts and the guys who did
the reports, and you know, for convincing Jalen Warren to
sign unrestricted free agent contract with them. The Steelers are
known around the league as giving those kinds of guys
opportunity and have for a long time since Chuck Nole
was hired. And you know, I think you could say
(23:58):
they were right about going after Jalen Warren at this point.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
And our final question today comes from Tom Aframan, the
co host of the Ass and Answer podcast, and he
wants to know on the Labriola dinner table for Thanksgiving,
does Bob Labriola mix corn in with his mashed potatoes
or is that considered blasphemy?
Speaker 1 (24:17):
There is no corn.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
There's no corn, No there is. What kind of greens
do we have? Are we just all greens into the
into the dumpster?
Speaker 1 (24:30):
There's usually some sort of broccoli, Okay, but no, there's
there's not there's no mixing with the mashed potatoes. There.
Here's another thing that's and me and Mike Pursuit always
would argue about this.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Okay, no ham, Yeah, no ham either?
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Yeah, I mean, and here's another thing. Thanksgiving is one
of only two meals holiday meals that include no pasta.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
What's the other that's the other holiday?
Speaker 1 (25:06):
New Year's Day?
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Okay, porkinsawur crap? You know? Is New Year's Day?
Speaker 2 (25:12):
I never thought of it like that, But you're right.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
But everything else, you know, Christmas Day, Easter, Christmas Eve
all have some kind of pasta involved. And you know,
I can honestly say that, you know, I am in
favor of that, but I like no, But I mean
I enjoy the you know, the pasta free holidays as well,
(25:38):
But no, there's no mixing corn in with the with
the mashed potatoes. My mother, God rest her soul, would
have smacked me with a wooden spoon over the head
if I tried any.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Of that, so it would be considered blasphemy. And then pie,
I mean, are you choosing one over the other or
is it an all of the above kind of thing?
Speaker 1 (25:58):
My I all always pick one and I go big.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
I like the way you think.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
But there's the thing that there's three choices. There's pecan, pumpkin,
and apple.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
That's it, man, I mean we're simpatico. We're in step
as far as it comes with Thanksgiving, except for the
corn and the potatoes. I don't know what it is
about it. I just like a little corn in my
mashed potatoes. Maybe your mother can come from beyond the
grave and smack me in the back of the head
with her.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
I pay to see that.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Everybody enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, enjoy Steelers in bangles at
one o'clock on Sunday. Our coverage starts locally at nine
am for that game. For Bob Labrielle, I'm Tom Opferman.
Thanks as always for listening to ask and answered
This is asked and answered questions with Tom Upferman and
Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
It was a bad result for these Steelers against the
Browns on Sunday, and it resulted in offensive coordinator Matt
Canada being relieved of his duties this morning, Tuesday morning,
the week heading into Cincinnati Labs. I was pretty shocked
to find out the news. You were pretty shocked to
find out the news. I think everybody in Pittsburgh was
shocked to find out the news, simply because this is
something that Steelers rarely do.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Yeah, I mean very very rarely. In fact, it has
never happened since well going back before Chuck Nole was
even hired.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
And you know, the last time the Steelers got involved
in something even remotely resembling an interim coaching situation was
nineteen sixty five. That was, you know, that was during
the Buddy Parker era. And Buddy Parker was you know,
(01:09):
while the Steelers had some moderate success during his time
as the coach, you know, one of the things that
he was notorious for was trading away future draft picks
in bundles for veterans, many of whom were you know,
(01:29):
towards the end of their careers. And you know, in fact,
one of the picks that he traded away was used
to draft that middle linebacker that the Bears had. What
was his name, Oh yeah, Dick Budkins. So there was that.
(01:49):
And then the other thing was, you know, Buddy Parker
was known to fly into a rage after losses and
cut and trade people on whims. So what had happened,
you know, late in the nineteen fifties, in the early
nineteen sixties, Art Rooney Senior had turned to his oldest son,
(02:13):
Dan and kind of I won't say turned over football
operations to him, but gave him a much more significant
role in those in you know, managing the football operations
of the franchise. And Dan Rooney was getting tired of,
(02:34):
you know, losing all these draft picks. I mean, Buddy
Parker would trade draft picks. There were years when the
Steelers first pick in the draft was the eighth or
ninth round. So after talking to his dad, Dan Rooney
went to Buddy Parker and said, Okay, no more trading
away draft picks or trading or cutting players unless you
(02:54):
run it by us first. And Buddy Parker said something
to the effect, I can't work like that, and Dan
Rooney said, I accept your resignation. Boom, He's gone right
before the start of the nineteen sixty five season. So
the Steelers at the time elevated Mike Nixon, who was
(03:17):
an assistant coach on those Buddy Parker staffs, because you know,
you can't there was nobody to hire. I mean, you
know they're all under contract and you don't have time.
So anyway, they hire Mike Nixon. I think he went
two and twelve or something like that, and that was
his last season, and that was the last time that
(03:40):
the Steelers ever did anything like that, because Dan Rooney's
philosophy was you don't want to hire and fire someone
during the season or in a situation where you don't
have time to conduct the search and replace the person,
because you know it could work out bad as it
(04:01):
did in the Nixon situation. Or if the guy is good.
Let's say he gets lucky and wins. Say instead of
two and twelve, they went because there were fourteen game seasons,
and instead of two and twelve, say they went seven
and seven. Well, now you're under some pressure to keep
(04:21):
the guy because hey, look what he did and he
might not be the best person long term for that situation,
and then you're stuck with somebody that you wouldn't have
hired if you hadn't been backed into a corner. And
that's not the way you want to hire someone for
that kind of position. Okay, So that was the last
(04:44):
time that happened, and that also once Parker was done,
there was no more trading of number one picks until
Minka Fitzpatrick in twenty nineteen, Yes, twenty nineteen, because they
traded their twenty twenty first round pick to make and
I remember Art Rooney the second saying about that later
(05:07):
that that took a lot of thought and debate before
that was approved. So you know, the Steelers, you know,
they don't they don't do that. They don't hire interims,
and they don't trade future number one picks. Now, now
we have a situation where there has been an exception
(05:29):
to each one of those quote unquote rules. The first one,
the Minca thing, weren't that pretty good? You know, I'm
not saying that, you know, Mike Sullivan, excuse me, I
just had a brain cramp there. Mike Sullivan or Eddie
Faulkner is in line to be the offensive coordinator.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Those are taking over duties though while Canada's gone correct.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Yes, Mike Sullivan will be calling. This is according to
internet reports.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yes, Mike.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Rite, Yeah, Mike Tomlins, you mentioned we're doing this Tuesday morning.
Mike Tomlins news conference today will be in a couple
of hours, so I'm sure we'll learn a lot more
about it at that time. But internet reports are that
Mike Sullivan will call play from now on. He's the
quarterbacks coach. Eddie Faulkner is the running backs coach. He
(06:20):
will serve as the interim offensive coordinator and handle the
media responsibilities that come with that moving forward for the
rest of the season, and then I'm sure there's going
to be a pretty large search done after that to
find a replacement.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
But the news today, of course, Matt Canada relieved of
his duties. We'll see what the offense looks like Sunday
against the Bengals in their first time out. Post Matt Canada,
we got a ton of questions to get to today
and ask then answered, and we start with Jason Norton
from Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Our team slash players allowed to drive
to away games. I don't know how quickly an NFL
team can get in and out of an airport, but
(07:02):
for the average Steelers fan, it feels like driving would
be quicker. Has anyone tested that theory, You.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Know, it's a pretty pertinent question, being that the Steelers
played their annual game in Cleveland, you know, just last Sunday,
and that is the place where the Steelers do not fly.
They take buses to the game in Cleveland every season
during the early portion of the chuck Noll area, and
(07:30):
it was only for a short period of time the
Steelers did travel by airplane to Cleveland as well. Now,
Myron Cope, who was the radio color commentator at the time,
he always speculated that that decision to fly was made
because Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, which is where you would
(07:52):
fly into, is located west of the city, and chuck
Noll had a sister who lived close to that area,
and Noel would always arrange to have dinner with his
sister during their road trip to Cleveland, so that made
it easier for them to get together to do that. Now,
you know, I don't know whether that's actual fact or
(08:12):
just another entertaining Myron Cope story, but the Steelers rather
quickly went back to bus trips to Cleveland. The team.
That's how they got there. This past weekend. They boarded
buses at the end of the week for the game
that was the date was two days ago or three
days ago, the nineteenth. Now, let me just say that
(08:34):
there have been some modifications that have really helped the
bus trips. You know, some buses leave from the South
Side practice facility. Some buses then they catch up with
there are some other buses that pick up and drop
off in Cranberry for anyone who lives north of the city,
(08:55):
because if you're going to Cleveland on a turnpike, that's
where you would get on in cran So it's kind
of a one flow, you know thing. So it's easier,
you know, depending upon where you live. A lot of
coaches and players live north. They can take to go
to Cranberry, get on the buses there. It's a shorter
trip and then they're home quicker. Because back in the
(09:17):
old days, when it was just buses leaving from the
practice facility, you know, I would sit on the bus
and would go past, you know, you get off in Cranberry,
come down to seventy nine and I would look, look up,
and would pass my house, drive for another thirty five minutes,
(09:38):
and then get off the bus and then get in
my car and drive another thirty five minutes back to
my house. So you know it was it was nicer.
You know, it's more convenient. Let's say, once you know
the that additional little nuance was attached to the trip,
I'm sure you.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Had some jealousy, some nostalgia this and when you were
sitting at home and not boarding those buses the head
to Cleveland, did you missed it a lot?
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Yeah? Right, As I've said, the two best things I
can experience in a moving vehicle Cleveland in the rearview
mirror and Latrobe in the rearview mirror. Because as much
of it as I love training camp, after twenty one
days in the dorm, I'm ready to come home.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yeah, you love the ending just a little bit more?
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Jeff Bankovich from Elizabeth Township, Pennsylvania. I know the game
clock stops on an incomplete pass, penalty, injury, and time out.
When does the clock stop when the ball carrier runs
out of bounds?
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Okay, out of bounds stops the clock in the final
two minutes of the first half. In the final five
minutes of the fourth quarter, I would say second half,
but if the game goes into you know, overtime, that's
why I always say fourth quarter for the second half,
and then outside of those windows, clock may stop briefly
(11:00):
to give the officials time to spot the ball for
the next play, But then if it's outside of the
last two minutes of the first half, last five minutes
of the fourth quarter, then they wind it right away.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Dave Seblane from Silver Spring, Maryland. Where is the biggest
weakness along the offensive line? It sure looks like Kenny
Pickett is facing a collapsing pocket on every pass play
and that the running backs haven't had a lot of
holes through which to run. How can this offensive line
be improved now and in the offseason?
Speaker 1 (11:30):
As for now, I think the insertion of Broderick Jones
in it right tackle puts the five best offensive lineman
currently on the roster on the field to start the game.
Moving forward, you know, I'm not ripping Mason Cole, but
if you're the question is how could it be improved?
(11:53):
I think that if you look at the steel at
the franchise history, at that position center, you know you
have a couple of two of the greatest maybe centers
in modern era NFL to play, Mike Webster and Dermani Dawson,
both Hall of Famers. Marquise Pouncey maybe he has a
(12:13):
chance to be a Hall of Famer as well. Two teams.
He is a two time First Team All Pro, which
if you're voted first team All Pro at center, that
is a designation by definition as you're the best center
in the NFL because there's only one center on the
first team All Pro team. Ray Mansfield was another pretty
(12:36):
good center. He's in the Steelers' Hall of Honor as well.
And when you look at those guys, you know, Dawson, Pouncy,
they were athletic and strong, and they were able to
do things, you know, pulling out in front of running backs,
getting downfield on screens, and you know those kind of
things that a lot of centers are unable to do.
(12:58):
Plus they were strong enough to to hold the point
in the middle of the field against you know, the
big nose tackles Hellodi Nauda. You know those kind of
people that are in there too. So if you're asking
me where could they improve, I would look at that
position and see if that could be upgraded moving forward.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Jeff Mayer from Fort Myers, Florida. It seems now that
nearly every team that wins the toss defers and kicks off.
Before this became an option, it seemed to me almost
everyone chose to go on offense first. Why the shift
in philosophy.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
I'll give you my theory. I mean, I don't know
this to be a fact, but this is my theory.
It's kind of a reflection about how the NFL game
is now. I mean, the games are so close. Often
the outcome comes down to a couple of plays, a
few plays over the course of a game, and a
lot of times those plays happen in the second half.
(13:57):
So if you defer instead of taking the ball first,
you then get the opportunity to receive the second half kickoff.
And I just think deferring early allows the coach or
the team to maybe steal a possession in the second half,
(14:18):
which is when so many of the games are won.
And so I think that's kind of behind that decision.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Rick Jones from Cabot, Arkansas. How are players nominated for
inclusion in the Pro Football Hall of Fame? I was
looking at the long list of names and came across
Joey Porter, James Ferrier, and James Harrison. Certainly all three
men are amongst the are among the greatest Steelers linebackers
of all time in my opinion. So I wondered, first,
what criteria is used to nominate someone, and who does
(14:47):
the nominating and who does the voting to whittle that
number down to the final inductees.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Okay, I'm going to try and condense this as much
as possible to answer Rick's question. Deal with the nominations
first and I and I got this right off the
Pro Football Hall of Fame website. Any any fan can
nominate any player, coach, or contributor who has been connected
(15:15):
with pro football, and all they have to do is
write to the Pro Football Hall of Fame at twenty
one twenty one. George Hollis Drive Northwest can'ton Ohio four
four seven oh two. Okay. The only restrictions involved in
these nominations is that a player or and or coach
has to be retired at least five years before he
(15:35):
can be can be considered. So you know, if I
don't know, if you want to nominate Willie Parker, if
you want to nominate whoever.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
You I might write you in this summer.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
No, I'm not.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
I'm not a you're not a contributor. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Yes, I don't know either. So anyway, that's how nominations
have happened. Anybody, any fan can nominate anybody simply by
sending it in to the address I just gave. Now, okay,
the selection process. The Hall of Fame has a fifty
individual selection committee. Okay. That's made up of one media
(16:22):
representative from each pro football city. There's two from New
York and two from Los Angeles because those cities have
two teams. So that's thirty two people. Then there's seventeen
at large selections. They're active members of the media or
individuals intricately involved in professional football. So that's forty nine.
(16:45):
And then the fiftieth person is the president of the
Pro Football Writers of America. That's fifty. That is the
Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Selectors. Okay. Now
they also referred to as the Selection committee. Those fifty people. Okay, Now,
what happens is the Selection committee gets an initial list
(17:09):
of nominations by March first. Then they get another list
of nominations in July, and a third list of nominations
is sent in September. Okay, that compiles all of the eligibles,
because you know, there could be some people nominated who
may not have been out for five years yet. You know,
(17:30):
people may not understand, you know, the nomination thing. So
that the Hall of Fame whittles down all of the
people who are actually eligible, and then they send it
along to the committee. Okay. Then the committee whittles them down.
So the first list, they take all of the nominations
(17:54):
and they narrow it down to the top twenty five
plus ties. Okay. Then that top twenty five plus ties
is willed down to the top fifteen in November, and
then the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth finalists are the
candidates and the coach contributors Senior committees. Those are separate committees,
(18:17):
and those people nominate their finalists based on the rotation
of whether it's a year for them or those categories
are not. Okay. Then the vote reduces fifteen to ten,
then another vote reduces ten to five, and then it's
thumbs up thumbs down situation to determine that year's class
(18:40):
for induction.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Roger Shaffer from Plump, Pennsylvania asks what is the role
of the practice squad during the week and who are
their coaches?
Speaker 1 (18:50):
The practice squad role those guys do whatever everybody else
does all the other players. They go to the meetings,
they go to practice. They the same cafeteria, the same food.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Uh, there's no practice squad menu.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
There's no practice squad menu. Same food in the cafeteria,
same weight room, access and or requirements, you know, the
training staff, rehab, any of that stuff. You know. When
I mean rehab, I'm not talking about you know, injuries
so much as I'm talking about body maintenance. You know,
(19:26):
if you want to get in the hot pool or
the cold tub, or you know, any of those things
that players do to maintain their bodies. All of that
that is available to the fifty three man roster is available, uh,
to the guys on the practice squad. And the coaches
are the coaches. I mean, if you're a offensive lineman
(19:48):
on the practice squad, the person's coaching you is Pat Meyer,
the same guy who's coaching the starters. So yeah, there's
no difference. So yeah, that's why I think that when
the Steelers are looking to replace someone who's injured, you know,
or make a change or any of those in season
(20:08):
kind of things. They always look at their practice squad first,
because those guys have been around, they practice with the team,
they meet with the team, so they're familiar with how
things operate, the offense, the defense, whatever they might be
special teams, and not only are they familiar with the team,
(20:29):
but the team is familiar with them. And so that's
why on this particular for this particular franchise, when Cole
Holcom and Kwan Alexander as two recent examples, guys who
get injured and lost for the year, the first thing
the Steelers did was look to the practice squad. And
when they sign people from the outside at that point,
(20:52):
usually they are signed to the practice squad, so that
then you get a little chance to see what kind
of shape they're in. They get to relearn whatever it
might be new. Like in the case of Miles Jack,
he's going to say that to the practice squad yesterday.
He had been around the team, certainly, but I'm sure
there have been differences or changes to some degree to
(21:15):
maybe his position the defense overall, so they can gauge,
you know, he can relearn what he or relearn or
learn for the first time, whatever he needs to know.
They can see what kind of shape he's in before you,
you know, add him to the actual fifty three meter roster.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Red Mahoney from Roosevelt, New York, Jalen Warren looks extremely
fast on the football field. What was his forty time
slash shuttle time prior to the NFL draft and why
wasn't he drafted?
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Jalen Warren was timed at four five five in the
forty yard dash. This is during his you know measurables
or his testing leading up to that draft. So he
ran a four five five And I don't know how
much Red needs to know this, but he asked, so
I'll tell him. He posted a thirty four point zero
(22:07):
in the vertical, a one sixteen in the broad jump.
You know it's inches, not feet. He didn't jump thirty
four feet near one sixteen in the broad jump, a
four to four to two time in the shuttle, and
a seven point one to three time in the three
cone drill. Okay, if you're asking me why he wasn't drafted, again,
I'm speculating here some of the things that I believe
(22:29):
were working against Jalen Warnworth's size physical size five foot eight,
two fifteen and he only played one season at Oklahoma State.
You know, he started out at Utah State, and you know,
Utah State doesn't get a lot of attention pub they're
not playing a top schedule, so he was probably under
(22:51):
the radar a little bit there. He had won his
one year at Oklahoma State. He did pretty good there,
but it was one year. And then I read some
of the pre draft scouting reports from around the league
and he was characterized as I'm gonna quote here, a
one speed runner who lacked an extra gear with marginal elusiveness.
(23:13):
He's a strong momentum runner, but he needs the hole
to be there to hit top speed running downhill. So
in other words, what they're saying was, he's just a guy.
I'm translating. The Steelers, though they saw things in Jalen
Warren that they liked. They aggressively pursued him as an
undrafted free agent right after the draft. So, you know,
(23:34):
good for the Steelers scouts and the guys who did
the reports, and you know, for convincing Jalen Warren to
sign unrestricted free agent contract with them. The Steelers are
known around the league as giving those kinds of guys
opportunity and have for a long time since Chuck Nole
was hired. And you know, I think you could say
(23:58):
they were right about going after Jalen Warren at this point.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
And our final question today comes from Tom Aframan, the
co host of the Ass and Answer podcast, and he
wants to know on the Labriola dinner table for Thanksgiving,
does Bob Labriola mix corn in with his mashed potatoes
or is that considered blasphemy?
Speaker 1 (24:17):
There is no corn.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
There's no corn, No there is. What kind of greens
do we have? Are we just all greens into the
into the dumpster?
Speaker 1 (24:30):
There's usually some sort of broccoli, Okay, but no, there's
there's not there's no mixing with the mashed potatoes. There.
Here's another thing that's and me and Mike Pursuit always
would argue about this.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Okay, no ham, Yeah, no ham either?
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Yeah, I mean, and here's another thing. Thanksgiving is one
of only two meals holiday meals that include no pasta.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
What's the other that's the other holiday?
Speaker 1 (25:06):
New Year's Day?
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Okay, porkinsawur crap? You know? Is New Year's Day?
Speaker 2 (25:12):
I never thought of it like that, But you're right.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
But everything else, you know, Christmas Day, Easter, Christmas Eve
all have some kind of pasta involved. And you know,
I can honestly say that, you know, I am in
favor of that, but I like no, But I mean
I enjoy the you know, the pasta free holidays as well,
(25:38):
But no, there's no mixing corn in with the with
the mashed potatoes. My mother, God rest her soul, would
have smacked me with a wooden spoon over the head
if I tried any.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Of that, so it would be considered blasphemy. And then pie,
I mean, are you choosing one over the other or
is it an all of the above kind of thing?
Speaker 1 (25:58):
My I all always pick one and I go big.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
I like the way you think.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
But there's the thing that there's three choices. There's pecan, pumpkin,
and apple.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
That's it, man, I mean we're simpatico. We're in step
as far as it comes with Thanksgiving, except for the
corn and the potatoes. I don't know what it is
about it. I just like a little corn in my
mashed potatoes. Maybe your mother can come from beyond the
grave and smack me in the back of the head
with her.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
I pay to see that.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Everybody enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, enjoy Steelers in bangles at
one o'clock on Sunday. Our coverage starts locally at nine
am for that game. For Bob Labrielle, I'm Tom Opferman.
Thanks as always for listening to ask and answered
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