The AFC Has The Star Power But The NFC Has The Intrigue

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. So sometimes star power
can only get you so far. Recognition of of names
and star power that will only get you so far.
That is playing out right now in the NFL more
so than any other year I can remember. I'll explain
here coming up in just a couple of minutes. It

(00:21):
is Jonas Knox in for Doug Gottlieb here on Fox
Sports Radio. Appreciate you joining us. Happy New Year at everybody.
I hope your hangovers aren't as bad as they've been
in years past. I do not have one. I've been working.
So I'm a broadcast professional, a broadcast professional here to
talk some NFL. We've got college football, the the the

(00:43):
main course in college football coming up later on. So
all sorts of fun stuff here. But we appreciate you
being part of the program on all of our great
Fox Sports Radio affiliates. It's gonna be a fun two
thousand eighteen UM. Alright, So I was thinking about this,
like star power is really important, like it it really
does matter. Like you know, if you ever go see

(01:03):
a movie, there's some people out there that they'll only
see movies with actors that they recognize, which is like
it's kind of you know, I mean that that's neat
and all. I mean, you know, you'll you'll flip through,
like which one do you want to watch? You'll go
and you'll base your decision on which movie you're gonna
walk into, Like if you're making a decision about, yeah,
let's go to the movies, You'll look through the list

(01:23):
of movies. Then you'll base your decision on whether or
not you recognize the actor or you recognize the cast,
and that's what you decide to go watch. And like
that that works. I mean, star power does work, but
it can only get you so far, right, I mean
it's not always enough. Like you ever seen that movie

(01:44):
The Expendables, Man, that movie's got a lot of star power.
I mean you name it, like think of a nineteen
eighties action star or an early nineties action star, and
they're all in that movie. I mean, let's Sylvester Stallone,
Dolph Lundgren, Bruce Willis, John Claude Van Damme, Jason Statham,

(02:08):
Arnold Schwarzenegger. That's just the name of you. I think
Stone Cold Steve Austin was in one of them. Like
that's The Expendables man. There's a lot of star power
in that movie. And guess what that movie stinks. It's brutal.
Anybody see The Expendables. That is an awful movie, absolutely awful,

(02:29):
But it's got a lot of star power. You look
down the cast and you go, oh, I recognize him, him, him, him, him.
Oh man, give me some of that. That's we're set.
Let's go watch the movie. And then forty five minutes
into it, you're thinking about leaving or going across the
street and getting a drink so you can tolerate the

(02:49):
back end of the movie with a little bit of
a buzz. Star Power can only get you so far.
Great cast, but the movie stunk. And I was looking
at the a f C and the NFC playoffs and
something stood out to me. The a f C, there's
a lot of star power. They're like, if you look
at the Tyler, you were to think about the most

(03:10):
decorated quarterbacks and franchises. They're in the a f C playoffs.
You got the Patriots and you've got the Steelers. The
Patriots have been doing it for years and years and years,
a full fledged dynasty, the likes that we have not
seen or may not ever see again in the NFL,
all the success in the world. Tom Brady, the greatest

(03:32):
quarterback of all time, five super Bowls. The resume goes
on and on and on, pages of credentials for Tom Brady.
Then you've got Ben Roethlisberger. That guy is gonna be
a Hall of Famer, a couple of Super Bowls. The
Pittsburgh Steeler franchise. You go to a Steeler road game

(03:53):
and that fan base follows like it's a reason why.
It doesn't matter what state you're in in the country,
you'll find a Steeler's bar. There'll be someplace that you
can go and get together and you can sit and
watch Steelers games with other Steeler fans, the devoted kind,

(04:14):
you know, the type that still have a Bubby Brister jersey,
that type of fan. So you look at the Patriots
and you look at the Steelers and it's like, man,
that's some that's some big time names. They're like, that's
that's that's a lot of star power. And then you
start watching through the rest of the movie and you go,
oh God, this movie's brutal because in the a f

(04:39):
C playoffs, you've got a lot of star power at
the top and there is nothing else compelling about it.
Let's just be honest, there's nothing compelling about the a
f C outside of the top two Superstars and the
top two Superstar franchise. You've got Jags Bills. All right,
Let's let's now, the Bufalo Bills are a great story.

(05:01):
We're gonna go Live to Buffalo in about fifteen minutes
from now, and we're going to hear about what a
great story that is. And it is a great story
because there's nothing I want to see more then people
dressed up in Steve Tasker Jersey's jumping off r vs
into flaming tables and missing like, there's nothing I want
to see more. So we're gonna get to that in

(05:21):
about fifteen minutes from row when we go Live to Buffalo.
But you got the Buffalo Bills great story. I mean
the way they get into the to the playoffs, the
you know, beating Miami and then waiting around in the
locker room to see what happens in Cincinnati and Baltimore
and the Ravens just gag away a gimme game at
home in week seventeen and Baltimore gets in players crying,

(05:44):
great story. You haven't been to the postseason since nineteen.
Great story, but what's compelling about it? I mean, well,
like when you're watching a Bills game, like, what are
you watching to? Where you go? God? I gotta, I
gotta this team got to see him and they're playing
the Jags, a team that just recently decided, you know what,

(06:09):
where's we're popular enough, let's go ahead and take the
tarps off some of the seats in the stadium. You know,
like like what, you know what, I got an idea.
We can't get anybody to go to our game. So
here's here's the move. Here's the trick. Let's put a
swimming pool in our stadium, you know, because that goes well.
It's like the San Diego Padres deciding, Man, we're really

(06:30):
having a hard time getting families to show up here.
I mean, like, you know, the team's not all that great.
There's much better things to do in San Diego. What
do you guys thinking? What should we do to kind
of make uh? What about we make a cheap beer
and now now we want to make some money at least,
Like so what do you guys think and we should
do to get some fans in here? I thought of it.
How about a sandbox in the outfield. Done, call the contractor,

(06:52):
let's get the sand in here and make sure we
get some of those plastic shovels. You can get him
at Walgreens there four bucks. Like, if you're doing that
to try and draw people in, you've got a problem here. Okay.
So that's matchup number one in the a f C Playoffs,
and then you go over to matchup number two. It's
the Kansas City Chiefs, a team that I went on

(07:13):
the air, and I don't have a personal rooting interest
in any of this because any team I rooted for
growing up, they stink. Okay, So I don't have a
personal rooting interest for any of this. But the Kansas
City Chiefs a team I cannot wait to not watch
in the postseason. There's nothing. It's the same story every
year with the Chiefs. They're gonna they're gonna probably win
their first game, They're gonna get to the divisional round.

(07:36):
They're gonna be down three touchdowns in the early third quarter,
and then it's gonna be check down Jesus Alex Smith,
who's gonna throw five yard dump offs to try and
get back in a game, and maybe they'll back door
cover for the gamblers out there. That's the Kansas City Chiefs.
Nobody wants to watch it, me included. And then you
get the Tennessee Titans, a team nobody can figure out,

(08:00):
seeming like they have a franchise quarterback. But what's really
compelling about the Tennessee Titans. So I'm looking at the
early matchups in a f C and I'm like, man,
this is awesome. Uh if you if you end up
getting Pittsburgh, New England, But outside of that, what do
we got? Meanwhile, over in the NFC, You've got compelling
matchups all across the board everywhere. It doesn't matter what

(08:23):
combination you roll out there, the NFC is going to
deliver a good game. You've got the Eagles and the
Vikings with a first round by Philadelphia looks looks wounded
obviously with Carson Wentz being out, but Philadelphia looks like
a team you can beat. But still Philadelphia has been
an exciting team. Uh, the celebrations that Philly fan base,

(08:45):
everybody's fired up about it. The Vikings are unbelievable. I
think they're the best team in the NFC. They've got,
you know, a backup quarterback at the Helm, but they're
looking to to go to the Super Bowl and play
a home game in the Super Bowl, which we haven't seen.
And then you've got, uh the l A. Ram which
are an exciting team. Sean McVeigh. The offense special teams
is good, the defense is good. That's a fun a

(09:06):
fun watch. You've got the New Orleans Saints, they've been
there before. Drew Brees, he's got some some pedigree to him.
Drew Brees has got a Super Bowl ring he's got
like that's compelling. You've got the Carolina Panthers and Cam Newton,
they were there a couple of years ago. They're always
an exciting watch when you when you're taking a look
at a game. And then you've got the defending NFC
champion Atlanta Falcons. Like you can make a case for

(09:28):
any one of those teams to make a run at
a Super Bowl. You can make a case for any
of them any one of those matchups. Try and pick
a winner, like you try and pick a winner, like
you could see any of those and any combination of
things happen in the NFC. But over in the a
f C, you've got top heavy, your top heavy and

(09:49):
star power and you're empty and substance. I mean, that's
just the reality. It's why I've been telling people the
a f C reminds me of the NBA Playoffs last year,
Like like that was always the complaint with everybody in
the NBA playoffs, Like, yeah, we know what we're gonna
get in the end, and it's gonna be awesome. Like

(10:10):
the a f C title game, we know what we're
gonna get in the end. It's gonna be awesome. It's
gonna be Pittsburgh and New England probably, and we're gonna
get Ben Roethlisberger versus Tom Brady and that's gonna be outstanding.
But what about up until then? It's like last year, man,
you know, these these NBA playoffs and in the finals
are gonna be great. You're gonna get Golden State in Cleveland.

(10:31):
It's it's round three. We finally get to see who
the best team of this era is and this is
gonna be wonderful. But up until then, god, what are
we watching? Like nobody cares. You're watching Boston and Washington
go seven games and you're thinking, man, this is so
much fun? What what what an interesting series? This is is? Oh?
You mean uh, the home team never lost a game

(10:53):
and majority of the games are blowouts, and oh oh yeah,
neither one of these teams are going to compete for
a title, So what's the point. So I'm looking at
the a f C and the NFC playoffs it and
and it just became so crystal clear as I'm taking
a look at every team involved, and it's like, Man,
the a f C, it's the expendables. Yeah, I recognize

(11:15):
like a lot of those stars. I recognized Tom Brady
and Ben Roethlisberger. But outside of that, that movie stinks. Man,
Like good luck selling that one, like like like good
luck trying to trying to make that compelling, get people
interested in it, Like star power can only get you
so far. And if I'm if I'm the a f
C and I'm looking around and I see sort of

(11:37):
what the matchups are early on, I'm thinking to myself, Man,
I don't I don't know what I'm into here. I
really don't know what I'm into. But over in the NFC,
you can make a case for any of those teams.
When the defending conference champion is your six seed, you've
got an interesting storyline all the way through. Jonas knox
In for Doug Gottlieb here Fox Sports Radio. Uh, do
you want to let you know? You can get me

(11:57):
on Twitter at the Jonah Snocks all sorts of NFL
stuff coming up, and then also coming up next here,
we are going to go live to Buffalo. Okay, we're
gonna go live to Buffalo. We're going to try and
get somebody to jump through a table on the air. Okay,
we're gonna hear what it sounds like. You've seen the videos,
but we're gonna hear what it sounds like. We're gonna
try that. I don't think it will work out well,
but we're gonna try that next here on Fox Sports Radio.

(12:20):
I do want to let you know though about True
Car because using true car, you can easily find the
car you want. With true Price from True Car, you
can avoid the confusion you encounter online by getting a
great price you can count on before you ever visit
a dealership. The true price includes all dealer fees and accessories.
True Car will show you what other people in your
area paid for the car you want. Now you know

(12:42):
what a fair price is, so you can feel confident,
and your certified dealers know this. So they set their
true price competitively so they can win your business. Over
three million cars have been sold to True Car users
by the True Car Certified Dealer network. They're over fifteen
thousand True Car certified dealers nationwide. True Car users save
on average of over three thousand dollars off M s

(13:05):
r P. When you're ready to buy a new ore
use car, visit True Car to enjoy a more confident
car buying experience. Some features not available in all states.
Jonas knocks in for Doug Gottlieb here on Fox Sports Radio.
Coming up here in just a couple of minutes, We're
going to try and get somebody to jump through a
table while wearing Bill's gear. We're going to try and

(13:26):
accomplish that on the air. I don't know if it's
ever been done in radio. We are going to try
and be the first. It's a new year, it's the
first day of the year, so why not break some
records immediately into the new year. So we will try
that here and just admitted on Fox Sports Radio. Uh,
do you want to let you know? We are brought
to you by True Car. Online car shopping can be confusing,
not anymore with True Price from True Car. Now you

(13:47):
can know the exact price you'll pay for your next car.
So visit True Car to enjoy more confident car buying experience.
Um So, one of the big stories yesterday, and I
gotta give credit to the NFL, because the NFL had
this plan, sort of this this master plan to where
they said, we're gonna put all these games in the
four eastern time slot and we're going to position all

(14:08):
these games at the same time, so that way it
has sort of a March Madness feel with all these
other you know, games and playoff implications and all this
stuff happening. And it worked out fantastically, and it worked
out fantastically for the Buffalo Bills. And joining us now
is Chris Brown. Uh. He is a Bills TV. He
works with the Bills TV and Radio network covers the

(14:30):
Buffalo Bills. Chris, thanks so much for the time, man,
We appreciate it. Um So, tell me what was the
mood like of the team right after they finished up
there in Miami. Was it immediately turn on a TV
and see what's happening? And how was that locker room
as the final moments in Baltimore were unveiling themselves. Yeah,
they actually closed the locker room down, I think, doing

(14:53):
part to the fact that any players or coach McDermot
addressed in the media until they knew what their fate was. Um,
you know, so they kind of they had the locker
room on lockdown, UM, certainly beyond you know what normally. Uh.
They closed the locker room down for cooling off period
um because they needed to know what their situation was,

(15:15):
and everybody else had to wait outside media and such,
and you could audibly hear the whooping after um. You know,
Cincinnati took care of business in the most improbable of ways,
you know, the fourth and twelve forty nine yard touchdowns, uh,
and then had to salt away the last forty four seconds.

(15:36):
So the media people were all watching on tablets in
the bowels of hard Rock Stadium there in Florida, trying
to watch along. But apparently the TV feed that they
had in the locker room was a little better as
about seven seconds ahead. So yeah, I was gonna say
because I was actually watching, um coming in trying and
watching on my phone because I was doing a show
here at Fox Sports Radio. So I'm watching on the

(15:58):
phone and sort of monitoring what's happening with with the
coaches being fired and all this, and it's like, wait,
Cincinnati scored, Like when did this happen? Like it was
just craziness. And I give the NFL credit for putting
it all together, but was there a did you did
did you guys expect this in this season? Like, did
you expect a playoff run for this team this season? Well?

(16:21):
I don't think there were any expectations for this team
coming in and the main reason for that is because
of what people saw on paper. And you know, what
they saw on paper wasn't uh all that impressive to
look at. They completely remade their secondary, not a single
player from their top five players in their secondary. You know,

(16:44):
you're two starting corners or two safeties and your nickel
they were all gone. It was a complete turnover by
the time they got out of training camp. So you
had five new players back there. You only had one
returning linebacker, the rest were rookies and vetteran cast offs.
And your defensive line, you know, in terms of experience,
only had Kyle Williams and Jerry Hughes and most of

(17:06):
the balance there was new. So the defense wasn't expected
to stop anybody, and then the offense, you know, had
its limitations. Knowing Tyrod Taylor is a capable quarterback and
probably somewhere in the middle of the road among quarterbacks
in the league, but has some limitations in the passing game.
So once you've traded away Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods didn't return, Uh,

(17:28):
Marquis Goodwin didn't return, it was basically Charles Clay and
a cast of new characters at receivers. So pulling all
of that together in year one under coach McDermott. You know,
while he came in with fantastic credentials, I don't think
anybody saw that coming together in the fashion that it
did here down the stretch to qualify for the postseason
by any means. He is Chris brown Bill's TV and

(17:50):
radio network with us here on Fox Sports Radio, Jonas
knocks in for Doug gottlieb Um Lashawn McCoy. What do
we know about his status as as wild card weekend?
Is is now less in a week away? We know
he went down with the injury. What can you tell us, Well,
coach McDermot confirmed today that you know, they got a
little bit of good news and that's the fact that
the X rays were negative. He did confirm that, and

(18:12):
he said he's got a chance, got a chance to
play on Sunday. So it's an ankle injury. He obviously
wouldn't go into detail. Uh, the fact remains they need Lay.
I mean, the guy represents about their total offense. Uh.
He led the team in receiving, obviously led the team
and rushing. He is the number one weapon for them

(18:33):
on offense, and he really is the engine that runs
that thing. So for a team that is sixth and
rushing and thirty fee and passing, you don't have Lashawn McCoy. Uh,
it certainly becomes an uphill task. Uh. Let alone know
when you're going against one of the better run defenses
in football and you're playing at their place. Okay, So
the national perspective on the Buffalo Bills fan base, and

(18:55):
I'll be honest with you, I've been teasing that we're
going to try and get our next guest to jump
through a table wearing Bills gear. I don't anticipate that's
going to happen. But the national sort of opinion on
the Bills fan base is every time we see them,
they're either hammered or they're jumping off an RV through
a flaming table or both, and actually a lot of
the time it's both. What is that fan base? Like,

(19:17):
where did this tradition of jumping through tables start? And
have you ever done it? Yeah? I can't pretend to
know where that began. Um. I usually get to the
stadium long before those setups are organized. Okay, there are
some very unique I don't even want to call them traditions,
some very unique oddity that's a circus like atmosphere in

(19:38):
certain pockets of a very avid tailgating fan base. But
I think by and large the best word to describe
this fan base is loyalty. Yeah. Um, it's very tough
to beat. I mean I would compare them to the
Chicago Cubs fans. Um, you know teams like that in
pro sports that have endured, you know, countless number of

(19:59):
hard breaks and yet keep coming back and supporting their
team in droves. And the true essence of what these
fans are was seen last night at the airport because
we all get off the plane at about ten after
one in the morning on New Year's Day and there's
five hundred fans at the fence line cheering the players

(20:21):
off the plane for ending the playoff drought. Uh. There's
a guy with a forty foot poll with a Bill's
flag flying on top of it. Uh, so you could
see it clear over the fence. You've got kids like five, six,
seven years old bundled up in part. It's two degrees.
It's two degrees at one in the morning, and there's
five hundred people out there cheering this team. I mean

(20:42):
it just I think a lot of the players in
this locker room I knew that the team meant a
lot to this community, but I think they have a
full understanding, uh that this this city eats, lives, and
breathes it's pro football team. I mean a lot of
the players say it's kind of like a college football
atmosphe you're here, and it unquestionably is. Uh. They live

(21:03):
and die by this team, and even when they disappoint them,
they keep coming back for more. So. I know people
see the craziness on YouTube every weekend, but that is
a small percentage of the fan base Here. They are passionate,
they are loyal. Um, they've got your back. I mean
that's really what these players have come to learn very
quickly here. Last one for Chris Brown, Bill's TV and

(21:24):
radio network with us here on Fox Sports Radio. So
the NFL play, I mean, the NFL's you know, very
cutthroat business and and obviously being Black Monday and all that,
and and Bills fans are excited and they should be.
You're in the playoffs first time in a long time.
What's the future like though, because this could very easily
be a one and done scenario. What's the future of

(21:45):
Tyrod Taylor? And is their hope that this is not
just a one year thing in Buffalo and that this
can continue on moving forward? Yeah, I mean, I think
people are very encouraged about the future, not just because
you know, the playoff hiatus is over, but I think
more so because I think for the first time in
a long time, and there have been six head coaches
that have come through here who have been unable to

(22:08):
do what Sean McDermott was able to do in his
first year. And he not only has a vision for
this team, he has a plan to make that vision
a reality. I think it. You know, the the trajectory
of that plan is certainly been sped up with the
good fortune that the team experienced yesterday, But I think

(22:28):
by all means this is a team on the way up.
There may have to be some very hard and difficult
decisions in the offseason, Tyrod being one of them. Um,
But Sean McDermot and Jim Brandon Bean have said all along,
we're going to do what is best for the team.
And that was hard to understand at times, you know,
with the trade of Sammy Watkins, the trader Ronald Darby,

(22:50):
the trade of Marcel Dargius. So they're gonna see this weekend, um.
But the endgame was success and that's why fans now
are respecting the process, which is one of the many
mantras that coach McDermott says time and again. And his
process is working right now, and I think they believe
it will work even more going forward because you're one

(23:13):
is usually the toughest one uh to get through adversity
and and get a foundation effectively laid well. It's an
awesome story. We're happy for the city of Buffalo. The
fans have been through a lot. Um. You covering the team,
You've known the ups and downs of this franchise for
over the many years. So so congrats to the Buffalo
Bills on making it into the playoffs. Chris Brown Bills

(23:33):
TV Radio Network. You can follow him on Twitter at
Chris Brown Bills. Chris, Happy New Year. Thanks so much
for a few minutes your time. Yeah, and just one
last example of how good Bills fans are. They've got
over two fifty donations to Andy Dalton's charity as a
thank you. As a thank you, they went on his

(23:53):
charity foundation page and they've made donations in droves over
the last twenty four hours for helping the Bills get off.
That's a man. That's awesome. Thanks Chris, we appreciate it.
Jonas Knox in for Doug Gottlieb here on Fox Sports Radie.
They are passionate and listen. Um, you could do a
lot worse than playing in a playoff game in Jacksonville.

(24:16):
So I don't think that that's a shoe in for Jacksonville.
But if this is a one and done scenario, the
future of Tyrod Taylor is sort of interesting there in
Buffalo and what they decided to do moving forward. All right,
coming up next year on Fox Sports Radio, there is
one game, all right. It is one game that actually
should matter to you in college football because you will

(24:36):
be getting something from it. I'll tell you what that
is next here on Fox Sports Radio. But for all
the latest from around the world of sports, it's Ralph Urban.
Old Well did have a winning record in three of
his last four years, even receive a contract extension last season,
but not good enough even though he finished with a
winning record. Chicago released head coach John Fox was the

(24:56):
Bear's third consecutive last place finished in the a of
North Arizona's Bruce Arians retired today from coaching. He wants
to spend more time with his family now. Currently six
openings for NFL head coaches. Maybe a few more opening up,
but uh yeah, Hugh Jackson still coaching with a one
and thirty one record. That's great. Meanwhile, college football does continue.

(25:20):
Three bowl games going on right now. At the Outback Bowl,
South Carolina has opened up a twenty six to nineteen
lead over Michigan three thirty eight play in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile,
they are in the well at the end of the
third quarter and u CEF make any game of it.
At the Beach Bowl first out nights at the Auburn twelve,
trying to tie the ball game up play fake Mackenzie

(25:41):
back throws underneath pass cart Henderson ten five to the
two to the one yard line, the search to the
Enzo touchdown. Oh this Inderson from twelve yards out on
a p A t from tying it up. That's Mark
Daniels point nine, FM seven forty am the game. It's
a I Heeart affiliate and an fs are affiliate with

(26:03):
the call. It's twenty all number twelve. You cf a
number seven Auburn headed to the fourth quarter and at
this interest, Bowl number seventeen l s U with a
seven to six lead over number fourteen Notre Dame. That's
in the third quarter. So Jonas, you know, after starting
one in three the sec, now two and one in
today's bowl. Knock it off, Ralph, I know exactly what
you're doing. Jonas knocks in for Doug gottliep here on

(26:25):
Fox Sports Radio. I'm not I'm not taking a bait
on this crap, this conference pride stuff that you guys
that everybody is thrown out there all over social media,
like like you you Big ten fans that are bragging
about your record in bowl games they wanted. I'm sick
of it. I'm tired of it. Like nobody would ever
do you know what. You know, who didn't brag during

(26:45):
the NFL preseason, the a f C North, who had
the best winning percentage this preseason, Nobody went around and
bragged about how good they did an exhibition games. Yet
that's what everybody's doing in college football. You have been told,
and it's been a staff blished the college football has
let you know, there are three games that matter. Okay,
three games that matter, the semifinal games coming up later

(27:08):
on today and tonight, and then the national championship game
coming up next week. That's it. Nothing else matters. That's
why players are sitting out of these games. Nobody gives
a rip, swag bags all of that stuff. It does
not matter. Nobody cares. Yet for some reason, you've got
the Big Ten and their Big ten fan base and
national media who love to rip against the SEC because

(27:30):
it's the cool thing to do. Are are celebrating exhibition victories.
Who gives a rip their exhibition they don't count. Like
nobody in the a f C South went around in
Bragg during the preseason saying, ha ha, look at us here.
Everybody read them and weep, we're the best team in
the pre Like nobody does that. But for some reason

(27:53):
in college football it's the cool thing to do. I've
never understood it. Focus on your team and that's it.
Like it's it's insane to me. Like, if Michigan loses
this game to South Carolina, which, by the way, what
an embarrassment. If Michigan loses this game to South Carolina,
the Big Ten is gonna be what seven and one
in bowl games? Can you imagine like Michigan fans going, yeah,

(28:15):
we're playing the best conference. We were seven and one? Like,
nobody does that. If your neighbor buys a new car,
do you run around telling everybody, Hey, we got a
new car. No, that's his, he's driving it. You're not, like, No,
nobody celebrates anybody else's success. That isn't there's like college
football fans like, who cares? These are exhibition games. But

(28:39):
we'll say this about this Outback Bowl. If you are
a fan of blooming onions at out Back the Outback Steakhouse,
which by the most of their food stinks. But if
you're a fan of the blooming onion, you want South
Carolina to win because participating restaurants do this thing for
the Outback Bowl where they split if the SEC team wins,

(29:04):
they get a bloomin onion. You get you get a
free bloom and onion and participating outbacks. But if Michigan
wins the Big Ten team, you get coconut shrimp. So
if you're a blooming Onion fan, you are rooting for
South Carolina. Okay, this is one of the only Bowl
games that does anything for you. So maybe this is
the fourth game that actually matters. So we've got the
two semifinal games, you've got the National Championship Game, and

(29:27):
then you've got the Outback Bowl because you actually get
something from it. But everybody else jumping for joy, everybody
else celebrating their their conference. It is the most bizarre
thing I've ever seen in my life. Like I don't
understand it, and I keep thinking, all right, well, maybe
somebody will get the logic behind this and that it
doesn't make sense and we don't have to have this

(29:47):
conversation again. And every year it gets worse, it gets
worse and worse and worse. I don't get it. I
don't understand it. It doesn't make any sense to me. Like,
you know, you know who was isn't cheering for the
Dodgers in the world Series. Giants fans, they weren't cheering
for the Dodgers. You know who else wasn't cheering for

(30:08):
the Dodgers in the World Series? Probably Cubs fans, okay,
because they're not looking at it going let's go National League. Well,
if we can't win it, let's go Nashville. Let's go NL.
Like nobody was doing that, and Giants fans sure as
hell weren't doing that. Do you think Jets fans as
a consolation to not making the playoffs are going well?

(30:30):
At least we got the number one seed in the
a f C and we got home field. You know what,
I think nobody see how bizarre that is. And for
some reason, like college fans are are are nuts. And
I don't know if it's that everybody's bombed. I don't
know if if it's just sort of in a rational
way to look at things or to kind of to
justify or have a rooting interest in something. But if

(30:52):
you need a rooting interest in games that you don't
have anything to do with, take up gambling. It's fun
for the whole family, and you can make some money
off it. Other than that, who cares whether or not
the six win team in your conference wins the cent
store Bowl. Who cares. Nobody gives a rip, but for

(31:15):
some reason, college fans do. It's just craziness to I don't.
I don't get it. And every year we're people get
sucked into this vortex every year. All right, Jonas Knox
in for Doug Gottlieb here Fox Sports Radio. I do
want to let you know that we are brought to
you by True Car because car shopping can be confusing.
I'm telling you, with terms like dealer price, list price

(31:37):
and in floy and invoice, it's all confusing. True Car
shows you what other people paid for the car you want,
so you can recognize a good price when you're ready
to buy a new or used Carve is a True
Car to enjoy a more confident car buying experience. Coming
up next, we're going to play a fun game. I mean,
this is this game is so much fun. It is
a ratings bonanza here on Fox Sports Radio. Find out
what we're talking about next on FSR. Joe the Knocks

(32:00):
in for Doug Gottlieb here Fox Sports Radio. So we
will have a very uh I mean, we're gonna play
some games here coming up in just a minute on
fs ARE, because we're gonna determine what the hell is
real and what the hell is fake? All right, so
we will get to that here coming up in just
a couple of minutes on fs ARE. UH, congratulations to
the South Carolina Gamecox who won their exhibition game, the

(32:22):
Outback Bowl, the South Carolina Game Cox. Uh. Now the
blemish is on the bowl record of the Big Ten. UM.
I want you to play a drinking game. You can
play a drinking game. It's New Year's but many of
you are off work, or maybe you're at work, maybe
your boss doesn't care. So many of you are are
getting ready for two thousand eighteen. You've made your resolutions.

(32:43):
You're going to be dieting, you're gonna be eating clean.
Maybe you'll give up the booze for an entire month.
But if you would like to play a fun drinking game, Okay,
do a shot. Every time you see someone reference the
Big Ten record in bowl games this year. Okay, do
a shot every time somebody references the Big Ten's record

(33:06):
in bowl games. Do a shot. You will be annihilated
in about fifteen minutes because it is the most overplayed
and over talked about exhibition celebration I've ever seen in
my life. But now they've got a blemish because it's
the South Carolina game Cox and I think that means
bloom and onions for everybody. So if you do go

(33:27):
to an outback and you order the bloom and onion
and they give it to you because South Carolina won
this game, tweet me and send me a photo at
the Jonas Knocks. I want proof of it at the
Jonas Knocks on Twitter, and we will break down that
compelling story coming up here on Fox Sports Radio. All right,

(33:47):
it's time though, for a little game that that we
do here on Fox Sports Radio. Doug Gottlieb does this
every single day on his show. It is a fun
little game. It's time sag. This is game time side
on the Doug Gottlieb Show. So for that, we turn

(34:08):
it over to Ralph Irvin, our National Update anchor, who
is going to play some games with us here. We
don't know yet what the game is. It's a it's
a nice little present. They do all different variations of this. Ralph,
what are we going to be playing today? We're going
to be playing real news fake news? Okay, all right,
I'm into that. Okay, real news and fake news. So

(34:29):
so I have to determine and the in the the
audience out there, the listeners have to determine whether or
not the story you give us is real or the
story is fake. Yes, sir, okay, let's do it. I'm
into it. Well, we were just talking about the Buffalo
Bills last segment or earlier in the hour, and about
all the contributions would have made to Andy Dalton's foundation.

(34:49):
But you may not be aware of this that the
Buffalo Bills were so thankful to the Cincinnati Bengals for
their win that the team promised to send many kegs
of Resurgence Brewing Company products to the Bengals team. Among
their current beers are Boys to the Yard I p
A and The Christmas Miracle Belgian Ale. Hold on all that.
What was the first beer Boys to the Yard I

(35:11):
p A. Boys to the Yard I p A. Um.
I want to say, that's fake news, Ralph, that is
fake news. They promised to send them Buffalo Ways. Oh
come on right, why do you Rob, Why do you
gotta stir the pot like that? By the way, is
that a real beer Boys to the Yard I p A?
That from the Resurgence Brewing comp No kidding? Is it
a double? I p a that? I don't know what

(35:31):
kind of what's your favorite beer, Ralph? You seem you
seem like the like a classy keystone light kind of guy.
I'm I'm more of a root beer. Okay, yeah, you're not.
You don't drink right, correct? When's the last time you
got hammered? Probably when I was doing some carpentry. Okay,
so you used to, yeah, because you gotta, you know,
your little sore. Afterwards you go get a picture of

(35:52):
beer because I had to put nails in the wood. Okay,
So so you used to drink, but you gave it
up a long time ago. Sure, Okay, it seems like
it seems like though if in the right situation, maybe
you'll dabble a little bit, maybe get your your beak
wet a little bit and some booze if you'd like
to say that. Okay, Like, what if somebody offered you
like a shot of mad Dog, would you go all in?

(36:15):
It depends on whether or not I want to do off. Okay, alright,
what else we got? Well, we have NFL coaching news.
It is Black Monday, and there are coaching availabilities out there.
With the success of Case Keenom this season, teams lining
up for Minnesota's offensive coordinator Pat Shermer to be their
head coach for the coming year. Among those that are

(36:35):
definitely interested would be the Texans and the Bengals. Uh,
that is part of that is real news, um, because
I don't they still haven't determined. They still haven't determined
what they're doing in Cincinnati or in Houston. I'm gonna
say that, I'll just go with real news. Then that's fine,

(36:56):
that is fake news. Both of those coaches are in place.
That would be the Lions and the Cardinals. Though very
interesting all right, now that the Houston Texans they're trying,
it seems like Bill O'Brien is gonna be safe because
Rick Smith is now is now tending to his wife
who is ill. Um. And then the Cincinnati Bengals are
not expected to make an announcement on Marvin Lewis. That's
the report I saw at least today. That's not going

(37:18):
to be an announcement that's made. But it is curious
that you know, a couple of weeks ago it came
out that he's gonna be stepping down. But all of
a sudden, No, no, no, no, no, that's not the case.
We have not decided anything yet. Um. But but Shermer
is gonna get some looks. Um He's like they do
look at and see what he's done with that offense.
And also when you look at the last when he
was a head coach, the Browns were nine and seven

(37:40):
and at the time, you're thinking, man, nobody wants mediocrity
like that. We've got to really improve the roster in
the franchise. Do you know what the Browns would give
to be nine and seven again? Do you know? Does
anybody have any idea what the Browns would give to
be nine and seven again? And now that you look
that he was actually a nine win coach in that
crummy organization, that's pretty impressive. I think Sherman's gonna get

(38:03):
definitely some looks, if not a job this this offseason.
Next up, there is going to be activity at the
Cleveland Browns Stadium on January of Yes, during the playoffs,
there will be activity at the stadium because the Browns
will have a parade around the stadium on January six,

(38:25):
celebrating Oh yeah, no, that's real news. And I was
so first of all, I'm gonna take a guess here.
That's real news. Row, Yes, the spectacular al right, God,
that's hot. Yes, um, that is real news because I
was pulling for this last year when this was when
this was put about, that the that a Browns fan

(38:45):
was trying to put together a parade to celebrate them
going winless and the Browns had to spoil it by
beating the Chargers last year. They were not able to
do that this year. So now we are going to
get this parade, and I'm telling you this is gonna
be a big deal brought to you. Yes, this is
gonna be a big deal. They've got sponsors, they're going

(39:06):
to be reporters out there. Like, I think this is awesome.
I actually want to go to this parade. I would
like to do a broadcast from this parade. I think
it'll be fun. And the route will go around the
stadium in the shape of zero. Now again, like we're
trying to have a positive show here on this is
this is the this is the parade route, this is

(39:26):
what they're promoting. That that's not Ralph, I have been
taking a shot at somebody again. No, this is this
is what their parade road. There's a reason they call
Ralph the most violent man in radio. Like don't like,
don't let the sobriety thing fool you. Ralph was a
violent human being and he wishes nothing but ill will
on everybody. Would you like to confirm or deny that Ralph?
I have no comment at this time. Well, I think

(39:48):
that my comments were real news. That's what I think.
But I can't blame it on the alcohol. So what
else route Alright? Jonas knocks in for Deay Gottlieb here
on Fox Sports Radio. Um. You can listen to the show,
by the way on the I Heart Radio app, and
you can get me on Twitter at the Jonas Knox

(40:09):
Um coming up next year on Fox Sports Radio. I've
noticed something about the NFL, and it is not a
good thing for one half of the league. I'll tell
you what that is next year on FSR. So, if
you watch the NFL and you've been paying close enough attention,
you've noticed something, all right. I don't know. I don't
know if you if you've actually been able to to

(40:30):
realize what we're getting here. But it's not exactly the
greatest thing in the world. And I'll explain what that
is coming up here in just a couple of minutes.
It is Jonas Knox in for Doug Gottlieb here on
Fox Sports Radio. You can listen to the show, by
the way, on the I Heart Radio app as well
and on all of our great Fox Sports Radio affiliates.
No matter where you are listening here on New Year's Day,
Happy New Year's to you and your family. I hope

(40:53):
you guys had a safe New Year's Eve. If you're hungover,
this is the place that heres hangovers, I think. Um So,
we're gonna have some fun here until xpm Eastern time
on Fox Sports Radio. Appreciate you spend it a few
minutes with us. Um So, I was thinking about this
on on the NFL front like and I was talking
about this earlier that the the a f C. Like

(41:13):
if you were to just to take a look at
the a f C and you were to just break
it down, or you were to take every team in
the NFL playoffs, you'll notice something and and it's and
it's very obvious early on that the star power, the
most decorated franchises, the most decorated quarterbacks are in the
a f C and it's New England and it's Pittsburgh.

(41:34):
And so if you were to split the a f
C and the NFC down the middle, it's it's fairly
obvious what we've got over in the NFC the NFC.
You can really make a case for any team in
the NFC, although I'll say this about Philadelphia. Philadelphia looks
like they're in trouble. Nick Foles played really well the
first game, but it seems like and I know, it's

(41:56):
week seventeen, and it's you know, it didn't really matter.
They had already locked up home field. Having home field
will definitely help. But that is a much different team now.
And I think that the feeling in Philadelphia was after
Carson Wentz. There was sort of hope, hopeful optimism there
that you know, they'll be fine. We still think they
can do some things in the playoffs. And I would

(42:17):
not be surprised at all if Philadelphia was one and done,
if they got one game and they were and they
were wiped out after that, I would not be surprised whatsoever.
And if things play out and the seating plays out,
if you're New Orleans, you gotta feel really good about
going into Philadelphia trying to win that game. Because if
everything plays out and it's one through four in the

(42:38):
divisional round of the playoffs, I think New Orleans has
got a real opportunity to go into Philadelphia, which is
rare for a New Orleans team. That when you think
about all these years, the knock on New Orleans was
they can't play outdoors. New Orleans is a dome team.
They've got all the all the advantages and a dome.
New Orleans they cannot play outdoors. Like, they don't carry

(42:59):
their offense outdoors. It's not something that works in that
sort of environment. And now all of a sudden, it's
no longer about Drew Brees throwing the ball sixty times
a game. They've got Alvin Kamara who's fantastic, They've got
marking or they like they can run the ball, and
that offense is designed to actually carry in the postseason
two weather conditions that are not ideal for what the

(43:22):
offense used to be. So I think New Orleans has
got to feel good about that if the seating plays out.
But even if the seating doesn't play out, in the NFC,
whatever combination you get, you're gonna be thrilled with So
if you get like Philadelphia and Minnesota have a first
round by Minnesota trying to get to the Super Bowl
and in what in essence will be a home game

(43:43):
in the super Bowl, that's a really fun story case.
Keenum has been fantastic. The defense is brilliant, and they've
built that roster through the draft, They've they've they've made
shrewd free agent signings like they've done a fantastic job
of Minnesota. So they're a dangerous team no matter who
they play. The Rams are compelling be as you've got
Sean McVeigh, you've got a brand new Jared goff that offense,

(44:04):
the defense, the special teams like all the way up
and down, and when you're six seed, is the defending
conference champions with with star power to to a certain
extent there on that roster like that to me looks
like a conference to where you go. Man, that is
either way we get it, things are gonna work out fine.

(44:24):
Whatever combination we get in the NFC title game, we're
gonna be happy with. But if you look over at
the a f C, it is so top heavy. I mean,
New England and Pittsburgh are great, but after New England
and Pittsburgh. What the hell do you got? I mean,
Jags Bills. I mean, come on, like, like, who really
looks at that game and goes, that's I can't miss.
I know it's a playoff game. And I say all
this with the understanding that I'm going to watch all

(44:46):
these games no matter what. But I mean, what's like,
you're looking around the a f C like, who's a threat?
We know what Kansas City does in the playoffs. It's
the same movie every time we see it, every time,
same story every single time, Like we know what we get.
So it's it's like I I look at the a
f C and I go, I understand what all this

(45:07):
is and and it's real top heavy. But over in
the NFC, it's interesting. It's like, have you ever seen
the show Diners, Drive Ins and Dives? So I think
that's what it's called Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. Like
you know what you never see on that show. You
never see guy Fiertti go to a Burger King or McDonald's.
Oh man, this is great, that's really good stuff here.

(45:28):
You know what he does. He goes around and he
finds these little hidden gems, like these little gems around
the country that make like, you know, sliders that are
out of this world good. Or or he or he
tries a new burrito at a there's like a gas
station in Baltimore one time that made burritos like Mexican
food that was really good. Like he finds sort of
these off the wall places that you don't really recognize.

(45:51):
And that's sort of what I look at in the NFC.
Like over in the a f C, you've got McDonald's
and Burger King and we all know that. I mean
we've seen it before, and Brady and and Athlisberger. Over
in the NFC, you've got all these sort of hidden gems,
like a lot of these players who don't really know
that well. You know, like you've got your top two
seeds are playing backup quarterbacks. But if you've seen case

(46:11):
keenum and you've seen that offense work, and you've seen
the way they play, like that's a really good football team.
And the thing about Minnesota, they did it differently than anybody,
Like you saw that play out in their game against
the Green Bay Packers, Like when Minnesota was playing Green
Bay a week ago, you saw it play out. How

(46:33):
two different organizations we're doing two different things, like like
Green Bay totally relied on Aaron Rodgers and totally put
all their stock into this one guy, and Minnesota said, yeah,
that's neat and all, but let's build our roster just
in case. And in back to back years they lose
their number one quarterback and here they are with a

(46:55):
first round by and could be playing a home game
in the Super Ball. Like that's I mean, that's how
that's how you put together a roster. I mean that
that's how it's systematic. Let's build foundation and then they
retain all their guys, they don't let him hit free agency,
Like that's how that roster should be put together. So

(47:16):
it's like I see all those stories around the NFC
and they're just more interesting, and I think the football
is gonna be better. You know, it's like those like
you know what you get over there? You like you
you've you've seen it before, You've you've seen all that
stuff and even the stuff you haven't seen, like Tennessee
in the playoffs. Is anybody really that excited for it?
I just I just don't think anybody's fired up to

(47:37):
see Marcus Mariota, which is which is bizarre because he's
you know, a number two pick and and he seems
like he should be a really good player, but you
kind of look at it and you go, I was
expecting more at this point, like I was expecting there
to be more from him. And I don't know if
that's that's offense. I don't know if that's play design.
I'm not really sure. But there's just sort of kind

(47:58):
of a men vie when you look over at the
a f C. So it's like they've got this star power,
but what else they got? I mean outside of that,
if it's not Pittsburgh and New England and what if Jacksonville,
you know, advances, and what if Jacksonville beats Pittsburgh again,
then what are we talking about? Patriots Jags in the

(48:18):
a f C title game? I mean, how do you
think that's going to turn out? I know that defense
is outstanding, but Blake Bortles cannot be trusted, Like the
guy cannot be trusted. It's why I talked to to
somebody who actually works in professional sports betting, does NFL
analyst work, And he told me weeks ago, weeks ago

(48:39):
that there were some professional betters that were putting side
money on the Jaguars, but they wouldn't put everything on
the Jaguars. They wouldn't go all in and take the
chance one because well, the odds were really good. It
was a good payout for them. They really liked everything
about that defense, and they like the idea of Jacksonville
being able to run the ball, play defense and being

(49:01):
able to do that in the postseason. But they couldn't
put money on Blake Bortles like they couldn't do it.
So it's like, I'm looking around both conferences and I'm thinking, man,
which one do you want to watch? You know, like
like do you want to go get a burger at
McDonald's or do you want to go find some spot
that that maybe you've never tried before that you hear
the food is outstanding and you go in there you're like, damn,

(49:23):
this is really good. Like that's I just I look
at these two conferences and it was so obvious in
breaking down how things could play out. If you're doing
like an n C a tournament type bracket, you look
at this and you go, there's really one way the
f C is gonna go. And you look over in
the NFC and you're like, man, there's a lot of
ways this conference could go, and I think that's just

(49:45):
gonna be a more exciting brand of football, and I
think it's gonna be a lot of fun. The NFC playoffs.
I think you're gonna be fantastic. Jonas snocks in for
Doug Gottlieb here Fox Sports Radio. Um, you can listen
to the show, as I mentioned on the I Heart
Radio app. You can get me on Twitter at the
Jonas Knocks. Coming up next, we're gonna find out the
very latest from around the NFL in regards to the

(50:07):
coaching carousel. Already some surprise moves and we could see
a surprise higher in the next couple of days. So
that's coming up next here on Fox Sports Radio. But
I do need to tell you about M Drive. Alright, guys,
I am here to tell you about this supplement. I
take it every day. Okay, It's called M Drive. Now,
if your new year's resolution includes increasing your overall performance

(50:30):
including strength, stamina, endurance, energy, vitality, or you just want
to get off that couch and start a new routine,
M Drive has a product formulated just for you. This
stuff is fantastic. I'm telling you. If you exercise hard
every day. M Drive Elite with five clinically tested ingredients
is for you. If you need to shed those extra pounds,

(50:51):
There's M drive Boost and Burn. For the weekend warrior,
there's M Drive Classic. If you are just looking to
get started, there's M drive Prime. And if you need
sustain energy to get you throughout your day and your
busy work day, M Drive Workforce is the product for you.
Purchase M Drive at Walgreen's Dwayne Reid Vitamin Shop Sprouts Sprouts,

(51:13):
I love Sprouts and g m C. But for my
listeners only, go to M drive now dot com. Okay,
type in the promo code Doug. That is d O
U G and you receive off your M drive purchase today.
That's m drive now dot Com promo code Doug. Make
this year the year for you when you refined your

(51:35):
prime with M drive again, entering Doug for the code
and get off. Jonas knocks in for Doug Gottlieb. Here
Fox Sports Radio, we're gonna find out the very latest
on the NFL coaching carosel. Obviously, being black Monday not
a good day for a lot of a lot of
long time UH and big name football coaches. Around the league.
So we will get the very latest on that, uh

(51:57):
coming up here in just a minute. Um. It's very
obvious that the Big ten fans are are upset with
me because I'm not bragging about their conference record in
bowl games. Uh. I will start bragging about conference records
in bowl games as soon as the a f C
South starts bragging about how they had the best winning
percentage in the preseason so or the f C North rather,

(52:17):
excuse me the a f C North. I gotta get
my preseason games correct. Come on, man, these are exhibition games,
all right. Let's let's not let's not read so much
into these bowl games right now. Frank Schwab, Yahoo's Sports
NFL writers with us here on Fox Sports Radio. Frank,
thanks so much for the time, appreciate it. What's going on? Um?
So tell me we we know that the coaches that

(52:38):
have been let go thus far, is there what what
can we expect next? Like, what's the next move in
the NFL as far as the head coach or is
this it for the firings in the league this offseason? Well,
I think we gotta figure out what's going on with Cincinnati.
This is so weird, But you know, there was a
story that Marvin was done. Now he doesn't know and

(52:59):
the goals don't know. I still have no idea what's
even going on there. I mean, could they really bringing
back Marvin Lewis again like that? It would be unbelievable.
You can't can't get rid of this guy if you're
a Bengals fan. He's just rising out of his uh,
rising out of his graves basically. So that's next. I
think that's the one that's really up in the air.

(53:20):
You know, every once in a while we'll get one
that's a little surprising a couple of days late. That
doesn't always happen, but I remember Tennessee doing that a
few years ago, and they fired that somebody this week
after the season. I think it was maybe Whizz and
Hunt Um. So, you know, maybe another one happens. But
I think we're pretty good except for Cincinnati. And then
it just comes down to everybody watching ESPN to see
if John Gruden comes out of the booth. Do you

(53:42):
buy the John Absolutely? Yeah, I mean this is look,
I mean this one, this one. Yeah. I can't imagine
that they would report on their own employees. I haven't
be wrong, So but but I do think there's a
path at least where John Grooton change in his mind.
It just doesn't want to do the Raiders deal or

(54:02):
what was you know, it's just not done with Jock
Gurdon until done. I don't think that would necessarily mean
that that this isn't true. It's just it's just not
done until Penny's paper. I guess he is a Frank
Schouab Yahoo Sports NFL writer with this here on fs
are what's the situation in Houston with Bill O'Brien, because
that's also a strange one as well too, because we
hear the initial report comes out with like, you know,

(54:25):
three days ago or over the weekend, that the relationship
between Rick Smith and Bill O'Brien is toxic. And then
another report comes out Sunday early on that Bill O'Brien
sort of going to give an ultimatum either he goes
or I go. And then it comes out that Rick
Smith is taking a leave of absence to treat his
wife who is sick. Like, what, like, what is happening
in Houston and is there real dysfunction between the front

(54:48):
office and Bill O'Brien head coach? You know, I can
see it. I mean, Brian is a very headstrong guy.
And you know, although we we had heard that those
guys got along pretty well. You know, Rick Smith how
done that well as Jim. I really like he He
nailed the J. J. Watt pick, and I guess you've
even credit for Shawn Watson too, but a lot of
his picks haven't worked out. That's not a great roster.

(55:10):
I don't know. I mean it's it's and then maybe
it's just all you know. Unfortunately, I guess worked itself
out with where Smith having to take a sleeve of absence.
And I hope everything's okay with his family obviously, but
you know, you can see a situation where Bill O'Brien
would a lot more control. I mean, maybe not necessarily
that he's earned it, but I could see it. And
I think if they have to pick one or the other,

(55:31):
they're probably picking Bill brand But I have no idea either.
Just what do you even make a Bill O'Brien as
a head coach right now? I don't know. I I
you can look at it. You can really pay two
different pictures. You can say, on one hand, he's had
nobody at quarterback his first three years and still the
nine and seven every year, and this year he had
his quarterback and he got hurt, and you know, Shawn
Watson will be back back year. It'll be fine. On
the other hand, do you look at it and say,

(55:53):
how much is Bill O'Brien played into the quarterback problems?
Why can't you develop anybody? And let's not forget that
Week one of the NFL season this year, Bill O'Brian
thought Tom Savage was a better starting option than right
and he kind of got I mean, that's inexcusable to
me that you can watch those guys for months and say, yeah,
Tom Savage, my guy, I'm not starting. So I don't

(56:13):
know what to make of Bill O'Brien's head coach. I
don't know if he's good. I don't know if he's terrible.
I have no clue right now. Ah he is. Frank Schoave,
Yahoo Sports NFL writer with this yere on Fox Sports Radio,
Jonas knocks him for Doug Gottlieb. You're in the Denver
area and Vance Joseph, that whole thing went. I turned
to complete one eighty and then another one that was
craziness as well. To Vance Joseph the reports were out

(56:35):
that he's you know, in trouble, and then uh, you know,
Denver plays, and then afterwards we still don't know. And
then this morning John Elway announces that they're gonna work
together and they're gonna try and get this thing turned around.
What's happening in Denver? You know, it's I think I'll
say this. I do think I'llway mismanaged basically how this
story played out. Oh he's got I did just give

(56:59):
Vans Joseph the you know, I mean three weeks ago,
say no, he's my guy, like, and then you know,
I think he brought undue pressure onto Joseph because now
vance Joseph goes into two thousand eighteen seasons, everybody knows
he barely survived. I mean everybody that like, and I'll
tell you this being here, and maybe this is just
a vocal minority, but I don't think so. A lot

(57:19):
of broadcast fans one fanciers have gone right now, and
that's kind of there's something about the Broncos culture. I
don't know if the culture is right word, but the
expectations are huge. Vans Joseph really didn't have much of
a chance here. He's a rookie head coach, only one
year as a coordinator, and he's being asked to take
over a team that once fired John Fox after four
straight division titles and they want a super Bowl. Two

(57:40):
years ago this was and he gave him nobody a quarterback.
So this was not something where this was a tough
situation for Vance Joseph. And now it gets even tougher
because he had the bad year. The expectations are still
sky high, and Elway left him twisting in the wind
until basically like three or four hours ago. So I
it's I don't think Elway managed as well. I'm not
one of these people is doubt on John Elwa. I

(58:00):
think he's a fantastic GM, but I I just think
that this was mismanaged. You could have been played out
a lot different. Well. I like having you on, Frank
because you'll be honest about it. You're not so tied
to the organization and because of the Broncos and they
have a loyal fan base. I'm telling you, like I
do weekend overnights here at Fox Sports Radio, and if
I'm even the slightest bit critical of the Denver Broncos,
they come out and droves the fan base is crazy,

(58:22):
like they do not like anybody's saying anything bad about
their franchise, but you're gonna be honest about it. How
much of this, and this is sort of a general
analysis of things. You mentioned John Fox being fired, you
mentioned Vance Joseph is going to be sticking around. How
much of John Elway's ego factors into the decisions that
are made there. Oh, it's a huge I think there's

(58:43):
no doubt about it. But I do believe you take
the good and the bad with John elways ego, Like
I don't think they went a Super Bowl and they
were as good as they were without his ego. The
free agency brought in Peyton Manning wanting to come play
for him. I think that's part of the John Elway aura.
I I think you have to factor that in too,
that maybe at Ted Thompson just throwing a name. I
should throw Ted Thompson out under the bus. But maybe

(59:05):
Ted Thompson doesn't sign Peyton Manning back then right like
you could you can see John Elway going in and saying,
come play for me. We're gonna win a championship. And
then you know a great Paton man and being swept
up in that. I can see that. I can see
free agents from everywhere wanting to come play for him
because he's the duke. He's John Elway, and so I
think you take the good. The bad was that. I
think you know, Elway has not had a good drafts offensively,

(59:28):
especially his last The last skill position draft guy he
hit on was Julius Thomas. That was two thousand eleven.
They hadn't been a long time since maybe two twelve.
It's not a long times Alway really nailed an offensive
draftic he needs to get better at that, but you know,
it's a guy who two years ago built a super
Bowl winning team. So I don't think John always necessarily
a problem. I don't think he's in trouble at all,

(59:50):
I mean, especially here. But yeah, he's there's some things
he can do better, but let's offer it. But this
is first time doing this job, too, so you know
that he's allowed to from every look. I cover around
Wolfs with the Packers, and he drafted Tromal Reynolds with
his last first round pick, and Tamal Reynolds never started
a game for the Packers. So every even hall of
same guys make mistakes. And John always making his right now.

(01:00:11):
Ah he is Frank schwab Yah, who Sports NFL writer
with this year on Fox Sports Radio. UM, last one
for you, Frank, I was talking about this earlier that
I'm looking at if you were to split the A
f the the NFL, and you will go a f
C NFC, which is the more compelling conference heading into
the playoffs. It's like, I know what I got in
the A f C, and it's sort of like the
NBA playoffs. We all acknowledged who the two best teams

(01:00:33):
were and the other thing. Everything else was a formality.
I have no idea how the NFC is gonna play out.
There are so many unknowns, and I think it's a
more compelling playoff picture in the NFC because anything can happen,
and I think it just comes down to personal preference
at that point. Do you like the wide open any
of these six teams can can win? I even think
you got to Atlanta and there's they're not they I

(01:00:55):
wouldn't pick them, but they're not. You know, they made
it last year, they can make it this year. Or
do you just the superpower We're getting to Gold and
Stay Warriors and camps I think that's a great comparison
by you right there. Do you what do you prefer?
Do you prefer, Hey, we're having a showdown for the
ages and the championship game, or we have bestually no
idea which of these six teams is gonna come come
through this conference. I think you're bold and really really

(01:01:15):
like Um, I love the NFC. I'm so interested in
every one of those five NFC games are gonna be great.
I think they're all gonna be very, very competitive among
good teams. You can make an argument for any of
the teams, and it's just I think that's gonna be fascinating.
And I picked the NFC. But of hey, if you
if you said I'm more ready to watch the AFC
at this big championship GAMEY, very good for you. I

(01:01:38):
get that too. Yeah. No, it's it's gonna be interesting
to watch how this all plays out. He is Frank Schwab,
Yahoo Sports NFL writer. You can get him on Twitter
at Frank Schwab. Frank, Happy New Year man, Thanks so much.
Always appreciate you popping on. Yeah, absolutely, thank you. Jonas
Knox in for Doug Gottlieb here on Fox Sports Radio. Um,
coming up next though, and you can get me on Twitter.
By the way, at the Jonas Knox there's a lot

(01:01:59):
of Big Ten fans that are upset with me because
I said their Bowl record doesn't matter, because it doesn't.
It absolutely does not. Coming up next though, there is
uh you've there's somebody in the NFL that's in trouble. Okay,
there's somebody in the NFL that's in trouble. You may
not want to hear this, but it's the truth. I'll
explain what that is next year on fs ARE. But
for all the latest from around the world of sports,
it's Ralph Urban. Well, thank you very much, Jonas. And

(01:02:21):
it is a final at the Peach Bowl. Chris Fink
gets his first throw of the day, and they'll be
more coming his way. Here's a downfield throw. Honor Dame
gets another one Conor run. Honor Day might take it in.
Miles Bacon is there in the end zone the back.
That's the Notre Dame. I MG Sports Network with the
call as number fourteen. Notre Dame finishes off number seventeen

(01:02:45):
l s U seventeen. Earlier, South Carolina took out Michigan
nineteen in the Outback Bowl. Meanwhile, u c F still
making plays. Stidham play fake looks, throws past step d
p get Bony do to the house. He's gone touchdown

(01:03:06):
Chicogna pick six boom point nine FM seven forty AM
the game with the call as it is thirty four
number twelve u CF over number seven Auburn one oh
four to play. Auburn has the ball looking to drive
down the field. Coming up at the top of the hour.

(01:03:27):
It will be number two Oklahoma versus number three Georgia
in the Rose Bowl. Of course, it is Black Monday,
the day after the NFL season wrapped up, and there
have been a couple of terminations. Detroit firing head coach
Jim Caldwell after four seasons despite him having a winning record.
Chicago released John Fox after the bears third consecutive last

(01:03:47):
place finish in the NFC North. And Arizona's Bruce Arians
retired from coaching today, saying he wants to spend more
time with his family. Currently six openings for NFL head coaches.
That's because Vance Joseph of Denver, as was discussed last segment.
We'll return to the Broncos sidelines in and Jonas one

(01:04:11):
in thirty two one. Well that's good enough for the
Cleveland Browns. Right again the negativity from Ralph Irvan, I
just I don't know why we have to go down
that road. We're doing a holiday. I didn't write thirty
one losses. That's the fact there. It is so a
a staunch supporter of Hugh Jackson. Ralph Irvan thanks, Ralph
Jonas knocks him for Doug Gottlie here on Fox Sports Radio.

(01:04:34):
Yeah yeah, you are racist. Yeah yeah, I hate every
single loss on a team's record. You're right. And by
the way, but I'd also like to thank everybody who's, uh,
who's offended by the term black Monday. I would like
to just to to to apologize. Um, if you are
angry angry about that term, I would like to apologize. Um.
Ralph Irvan came up with that term. By the way,

(01:04:56):
that is a Ralph Urban term. Um. All right, So
I was think about this and we've been talking about
just sort of and we finished up with Frank Schwab,
a Yahoo Sports NFL reporter and writer, just talking about
sort of what's your preference, you know, in the a
f C, the NFC, And so you're getting like, uh,
the top heavy star power in the a f C,
and then over in the NFC, it's sort of wide open.

(01:05:17):
If you were to look just at the future of
the NFC, you see a lot of young franchises, um
or young rosters, young quarterbacks, and teams that look like
they could be good for a long time. And then
you can look over at the a f C and
you go, yeah, we we we sort of know what
we've got at the top, where you've got Tom Brady
and you've got Ben Roethlisberg, and they've been the two

(01:05:38):
best teams what feels like for a little while now.
But beyond that, what else is there? And I was
thinking about this also, So Peyton Manning retired and he
left and he played all his career in the a
f C. And so now, what do we know is
that's certain about the a f C and about the
top two teams in the a f C that they're

(01:06:00):
best players and the faces of the organization are both
their quarterbacks, clearly, and it's two Hall of famers in
Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger. What else do we know
that certain about those situations? We know that Tom Brady
is going to be forty one this offseason later on

(01:06:22):
this year, and we know that Ben Roethlisberger as already
on multiple occasions thrown out the possibility of retirement. Okay, now,
is it? Was it in actual he retired and then
decided to come back. I don't. I don't really think so.
I think sometimes he says things and can be a
little bit over dramatic with some of the things that

(01:06:42):
he says. But the idea is if you're already thinking
about it, or you're already speaking about it, usually that's
an indicator. It's why I was I was worried about
when J. J. Watt started talking about retirement last offseason.
He did this conversation and he was with Peter King
of More It's Illustrated, and he talked about, you know,
I don't know how long I'm gonna play, mentioned the

(01:07:04):
injuries sort of the surgeries, everything sort of stacking up.
Like my whole take back from that was, I mean, man,
the guy's already kind of hinting at it. He's already
mentioning the surgeries, the injuries, how they're piling up. Mentally,
it's at least crossed his mind that the end is
near and that was before suffering yet another injury that

(01:07:26):
ended his season earlier this year in j J. Watt.
So I was concerned just from that standpoint of him
even talking about it. It gets brought up like you
don't you don't mention breaking up or you don't mention
divorce unless you've already done the math in your head
and you've already sort of done the pros and cons
and wade things out by the time you actually speak
about it, you've been thinking about it for a long time.

(01:07:48):
So Roethlisberger has done that. He's at least spoken spoken
about retirement because he's been thinking about it at least
more than once. So we know that. So if that's
the case, and we know tom Brady's entering, uh, you know,
sort of and I don't I don't know if era
is the right word, or sort of entering a category

(01:08:09):
of quarterback play at his age that we've not ever
seen before, Like it's hard to find quarterbacks who have
ever played as well as he has period, let alone
at forty one years old. If that's the case, if
you were to take away Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger
from the a f C, and the end is near

(01:08:30):
for both despite what you're hearing about Tom Brady's uh
kale hair gel that he uses or whatever the hell
that guy eats. Like, what what is the a f
C after that? Honestly think about, like what is the
a f C after that? Because those like could you
imagine the a f C playoffs without Brady and Roethlisberger.

(01:08:54):
I mean, like we're we've got to like there is serious.
Like if you if the a f C were a
compu and it was dictated by one commissioner, like the
Pack twelve commissioner or something like that, and the f
C had a commissioner just for that conference, if I
was that commissioner, I'd be looking down the road going,
oh God, I hope something happens with with with John

(01:09:15):
Gruden and Derek Carr. We need something here because we're
in trouble, Like there's there's not a whole lot we
can hang our hat on because outside of Brady and Roethlisberger,
And again, the end is near for both of those
guys obviously, so what's the what's the plan afterwards? But
over in the NFC, it just feels like everything is
set up for the future, Like it feels like the

(01:09:37):
forty Niners know their future. They're not good right now,
but they know their future. It feels like if you
look over at the Rams, kind of a home run
higher with their head coach moving forward, the future is
bright for the l A Rams, like the Dallas Cowboys.
You can you can try and give me the whole
Dallas is a disappointment and they had they had a

(01:09:59):
tough season and in a disappointing season to some people.
And you can try and tell me, oh man, Dallas
is in trouble. Dallas is in trouble. You if you
pull aside thirty two general managers in the NFL, pull
every general manager aside and said, all right, I'm gonna
give you a franchise you can take over today, and

(01:10:20):
the first two building blocks I'm going to give you
are Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott for the next decade.
They would all sign on the dotted line before you
finished your statement, all of them like it's like Dallas
is gonna be fine, their future is fine, you know,
Kirk Cousins Washington or whatever, like the Giants like moving forward.

(01:10:43):
That just feels like an organization that's going to figure
it out. They're not. They're not the Browns. They've had
a rough year, They've made some some bad decisions, but
that's an organization that has proven over time that they
can that they can figure this thing out, that they're
run by smart people, at least smart enough to know
when when to make certain moves, when to bring in
certain guys. The Vikings are built to last. The Lions

(01:11:05):
at least have a franchise quarterback, like like the Packers
have Aaron Rodgers and and and You're gonna see a
different offseason for the Green Bay Packers to where they're
going to, you know, retain guys at Aaron Rodgers. Once
they're they're gonna pursue free agents more heavily. I think
they're gonna have to be smarter in the draft, but
at least they've got a future. The Bears have a quarterback.
Like if you were to look in the NFC, it

(01:11:26):
seems like, okay, even the teams with aging quarterbacks or
quarterbacks on the back side of their career, like Green
Bay and New Orleans, they've built, especially in New Orleans,
talent around them to where all right Breeze retires, you
bring a quarterback in there's some really good pieces Michael
Thomas Kamara Ingram the defense is getting better. But over

(01:11:48):
in the a f C, Like, could you pull Tom
Brady and and Ben Roethlisberger away from that conference and
really sell anybody on the idea of the futures Bright,
I don't think so like it. It's it's very bizarre.
Like Peyton Manning left and you're looking around and you're going, Okay,
we've got Brady, he's forty one. We've got Roethlisberger late thirties,

(01:12:10):
approaching late thirties, and he's already hinted at retirement a
couple of times. I don't know what the a f
C is after those two guys. Jonas knocks in for
Doug Gottlieb here Fox Sports Radio. Um, you can get
me on Twitter at the Jonas Knocks coming up next though,
there's uh, there's a story that's out in the NFL.
It's a big rumor and I totally buy into it

(01:12:32):
because it will give someone the opportunity to have something
they've never had before. Find out what we're talking about
next on fs ARE, Jonas Knocks Fox Sports Radio coming
to live here on New Year's Day. Here at fs
ARE so I'm gonna tell you about there's a big
rumor in the NFL. I totally buy into it, gonna

(01:12:53):
it's gonna give somebody the opportunity they've never had before.
So we're gonna get to that here in just a
couple of minutes. There is something that's pretty cool about
getting to do this job. I this is my dream job.
Wanted to do it since I was a little kid.
So I'm always really lucky to even get to fill
in or to even have my own show on the weekends.
Like I always am really grateful. It's why I will
work whatever and I refuse to call in sick. I

(01:13:16):
just I love doing it, Like I really like my job.
And one of the cool things is when you when
you do radio and you start out, you've got to
start at like spot different spots around the country. Is
sort of you grow and and and you meet people
along the way, and you don't realize the people that
you meet or the people that you make friends with
and sort of how they'll come you know, everything comes

(01:13:38):
back around to you. And one of the cool things
that I got to do is early on, years and
years ago, I got to work in South Carolina, so
I went to this startup station, this small little station
in South Carolina and did morning show. And you've got
to kind of be a jack of all trades. You
do your work updates, you got to work the board,

(01:13:59):
you can produce, you uh, put together commercials like but
it was you don't realize when you're doing all that
that it's gonna lead to other things, and that it
makes you more efficient and it makes you better at
what your job is in totality because of all the
little things you had to do to get to that point.
And so you meet people along the way. And we

(01:14:19):
went to a bowl game. So we went to a
bowl game in South Carolina and it was New Year's
Day and it was the Papa John's Bowl and it
was South Carolina and it was Connecticut. And I remember
going to this bowl game thinking, all right, it's at
Legion Field in Birmingham. What a dump. We paid somebody

(01:14:45):
twenty bucks for parking. I don't even know if they're
an actual parking attendant. They just took our money and
said we could park over next to a liquor store.
Have no idea if it was legal. It's it's freezing cold,
and we walk over and we see all these tailgating,
and so we start making conversation with a couple of
the tailgators, like, oh, we listen to your show, and

(01:15:06):
you know, we end up becoming friends with with the
people that are that are tailgating, and you know, have
these and you know, so the bowl game environment, although
I look at his an exhibition game, it's a fun
environment because it's the last chance for a lot of
these people to see their team play. And so I
end up making friends with with a couple there, and
then you know, maintain those friendships, and then years and

(01:15:26):
years later, I go back to a South Carolina game
again between South Carolina and Georgia, and I hang out
with the same people, the same couple, Renee and Chuck,
and they're in South Carolina and they're tailgating their season
ticket holders, big big South Carolina gamecock fans, and so
my girlfriend and at the time go there. We get
to hang out. But this time I'm not at work

(01:15:47):
and I get to just hang out with my friends.
And so I get a tweet just a few minutes ago,
and the same people, Renee and Chuck are listening leaving
the Outback Bowl. All these years later, that I first
met them at the Papa John's Bowl, going to a
South Carolina game, and all these years later, they happen
to be listening to the radio and we get to

(01:16:09):
connect again, and that just happened a few minutes ago,
and it's pretty cool. So that's the one thing I'll
say about Bowl games, like and and the one thing
I'll say about like getting to do this. You meet
a lot of really cool people and you have a
lot of fun, and it's a really really enjoyable job
and sometimes you don't even realize how cool it is
in the moment. And all these years later to get
to reconnect with them over a Bowl game after I

(01:16:31):
just did an entire segment ripping bowl games. Now I
look like an a hole because now I have to
apologize because bowl games actually had a bigger impact on
me than I realized. And so get to reconnect with
them on Twitter as they happen to be listening to me.
That's pretty fun. So, so, Renee and Chuck, if you
want to tailgate with some people that really know how
to do it right, and by do it right, I

(01:16:52):
mean get you hammered and refuse to let you pay
for a single thing, find them somehow, some way, find
them and they'll take care of that for you. All right.
So I do want to say we are brought to
you by auto Zone. Get in your zone with great
value offers and free services that help your vehicle deliver
its best performance. Auto Zone is everything to get you
what you need. Get in the zone. Auto Zone, Jonahs

(01:17:14):
Socks and for Doug gottlie Beer Fox Sports Radio. So
the big rumor that's out there in the NFL, John
Gruden is and you're hearing stuff out there like, oh,
it's that John Gruden's gonna take the Oakland Raider job,
or it's uh, you know, like people are putting percentages
on it. So all that stuff was going into the
Raiders final game as they played in Carson at the

(01:17:38):
stub Hub Supercenter with the StubHub Superchargers on Sunday, And
we didn't know really Jack del Rio's fate and all
of this until after the game. Here was Raiders then
head coach Jack del Rio. Uh spoke with Mark Davis
after the game, and Mark let me know that he's
not going to be bringing me back. He told me
loved me and appreciate it all that I did. To to,

(01:18:00):
you know, to kind of get this program going the
right direction, but that he felt the need to change.
I told him how much I appreciate the opportunity he
gave me and U, I mean that very grateful my
childhood team. But it's a results business. I understand that.
So that was that Jack del Rio very emotional after

(01:18:22):
the game, and so that you know, you know, a
day after, the reports starts circulating that John Gruden might
seriously be a candidate for the Raider's head coaching gig.
And so when you look at the job, it's got
to make sense, right. You hear all these rumors about
Jon Gruden, and it's like he's the white whale that's
out there. Everybody assumes that Gruden's like now is going

(01:18:43):
to be the time he jumps? And and when is
it going to happen now? And so sometimes like you'll
hear these rumors and you just know immediately it's all
it's all b s, it's all a bunch of crap.
But then when you hear it from somebody that works
at his comp any who feels confident enough to report
on the story and include details like ownership, and they

(01:19:09):
also point out that John Gruden's agent is the same
agent as Jack del Rio. They wouldn't go with that
and report on that. Adam Schefter and Chris Mortenson about
a co worker the night before the final game of
the current coach who shares an agent with the coach
being rumored unless they were pretty confident that it was
going to happen. Like there there there was, there was,

(01:19:31):
There was legs to this story even before del Rio
announced after the game that you just heard that he
was not going to be back as Raiders coach. Now,
the ownership thing, I do a show here with Brady
Quentitt Fox Sports Radio, and Brady had a conversation with
an NFL owner, all right, and the NFL owner said, um, yeah,

(01:19:52):
we're not too sure about that whole ownership portion of
the story, Like it's got to be approved, it's got
to and and the and the thinking is ownership is
not going to approve something like that because they feel
like it would set a bad precedent, like like now
a coach will start negotiating ownership stakes to try and
get head coaching gigs, you know what I mean. Like

(01:20:12):
so that that seems far fetched and very doubtful that
that happens. But what do we know about John Gruden?
All right? What do we know? Guy loves coaching quarterbacks.
It's why I was saying, you know, Gruden never does
a wide receiver camp, or Gruden's offensive tackle camp, or
Gruden's middle linebacker camp, or Gruden's kicker camp. It's Gruden's

(01:20:35):
QB camp. That's his big thing. He does every offseason
on ESPN. Never in his career has he really had
that franchise quarterback. Because he's had Brad Johnson who won
him a Super Bowl. He had rich Gannon who had
really good years late in his career, but he never
had that franchise quarterback. That's what he's getting in Derek Carr.

(01:20:57):
I think it makes all the sense in the world.
I told get the move. Plus, you start fresh in Vegas.
There's nobody better to take that gig right now than
Jon Gruten. More next on fs are So there's something
we all expect in the NFL, and believe it or not,
there is a method to doing it the complete opposite
way you expect. I'll explain coming up here in just

(01:21:17):
a couple of minutes. Jonas stocks in for Doug Gottlieb
here on Fox Sports Radio. You can listen to the
show also on the I Heart Radio app wherever you
are right now. We appreciate you being part of the program.
New Year's Day, first day of the brand new year.
I hope everybody had a safe and happy New Year. Um,
and on all of our great Fox Sports Radio affiliates,
thanks for hanging out. So we'll be taking you up
until six pm Eastern time here on Fox Sports Radio.

(01:21:41):
So black Monday comes around in the NFL, no offense.
Black Monday comes around in the NFL, and everyone that's enough,
and everybody just assumes that there's going to be mass
firings around the league. And so some of the coaches
that you look that have already been let go. Um,

(01:22:02):
John Fox of the Chicago Bears was let go. We
know about Ben McAdoo during the season. We know about
Chuck Pogano. Jim Caldwell's gone. Jack del Rio gets fired,
like Bruce. Bruce arians announces his retirement walking away from
the game. Like the none of it surprises us, Like
like we're not surprised by any of it. The part

(01:22:25):
that surprises us is when coaches are retained. And I
don't know if that's if there's something to that where
sort of a negative angle on this stuff. But I
do think that there is a method to why certain
things are done around the league. So everyone looks at
just the bottom line. They look at Hugh Jackson, and

(01:22:46):
they look at Hugh Jackson's situation in Cleveland and they go,
good god, man, this guy won one game in two years. Now,
everything you're hearing out of Cleveland is that Hugh Jackson
is safe. The owner, Jimmy haslum Is said he safe.
John Dorsey, the brand new general manager, he has come
out and said, oh no, don't worry about it. Hugh
Jackson is safe. So everything we're hearing is alright, Uh,

(01:23:10):
you know, Hugh Jackson is gonna be around. We're gonna
fix this thing together. It's gonna be Hugh Jackson moving forward.
And so I see all that, and I'm like, all right,
if you just were to look at bottom lines, you'd go, man,
that doesn't make a lot of sense. I mean, I
know it's it's a struggling roster and you're trying to
figure this thing up. Oh my god, you've won one
game in in thirty two tries. Owen just finishing an

(01:23:34):
o n sixteen season, it's it's a total mess. But
the Browns look at it and go, all right, but
we want to start building something here. Okay, we want
to really start building something here. Like if you were
to just look and if you were to bottom line
it with the Jets and Todd Bowls, you could look
at the Jets and Todd Bowls and you could say, okay, well,
the bottom line is, we're justified in believing that we

(01:23:59):
have enough here to know that Todd Bowls isn't our coach.
So if they were to just look at it bottom
line wise, similar if Cleveland just looked at the bottom
line with Hugh Jackson, the Jets could say, yeah, we're
gonna get rid of Todd Bowls. Because the reality on
Todd Bowls is he's coming off back to back eleven
last seasons, he's eight games under five hundred and a

(01:24:19):
three year stentis Jets said coach, and they've never made
the playoffs. All of those things are justifiable and why
you would fire a guy, And teams around the NFL
have fired guys that have been better coaches than Todd Bowls,
that have been better coaches than Hugh Jackson, Mike McCoy

(01:24:42):
and San Diego. Everybody looks at Mike McCoy and San Diego,
and if you just base it on a bottom line scenario,
Mike McCoy's win winning percentage is almost identical to what
Todd Bowls is in San Diego. He want to playoff
game in San Diego. Had back to back losing seasons

(01:25:08):
just like Todd Bowls, and back to back double digit
loss seasons to end his time in his final two years,
just like Todd Bowles has had as well too. And
he did all that with the knowing that this team
may not even be in San Diego another year, maybe
we're moving one year, maybe we're like all of that chaos, relocation,

(01:25:31):
all of that, and the Chargers still said, bottom line,
don't have enough wins, You're gone, all right. They put
no no context to it, no nothing, straight up bottom lines,
wins and losses, didn't do enough, You're out of here.
Look at the Eagles and Chip Kelly. At the time
of his firing in Philadelphia, Chip Kelly was five games

(01:25:53):
over five hundred. He took over a four win team
one in division went twenty and twelve. Is first seasons
made bad personnel decisions before year three struggled in Year
three was six and nine and they didn't even let
him see the end of the season before they fired him.
Like so they're like, we do have evidence that around

(01:26:15):
the NFL. If you look around the league, most teams
base their evaluation on bottom lines. There's believe it or not,
other teams who say, no, we're gonna put some context
to it. You know, we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna
look deeper into this. We're not going to just make

(01:26:38):
a you know, in a rational movement. We're actually just
we're we're going to look in this situation. We're going
to see what we have given you to work with.
We're gonna see what you've had to deal with since
your time here, and then we're going to judge whether
or not you're gone. And that's what's happening in Cleveland.
Frank Schwab, Yahoo Sports NFL reporter also talked about another

(01:26:59):
interesting situation earlier today in the same division as the
Cleveland Browns. This is so weird, but you know, there
was a story that Marvin was done. Now he doesn't
know and the Bengals don't know. I still have no
idea what's even going on there. I mean, could they
really bringing back Marvin Lewis again? Like that would be unbelievable.

(01:27:21):
You can't can't get rid of this guy if you're
a Bengals fan. He's just rising out of his uh,
rising out of his graves basically. So I I that's next.
I think that's the one that's really up in the air.
You know, every once in a while we'll get one
that's a little surprising a couple of days late. That
doesn't always happen, but I remember Tennessee doing that a
few years ago and they fired somebody of his week

(01:27:41):
after the season. I think it was maybe Wissen hunt Um. So,
you know, maybe another one happens. But I think we're
pretty good except for Cincinnati, and then it just comes
down to everybody watching ESPN to see if John Gruman
comes out of the boat. So the Marvin Lewis situation
in Cincinnati, this is another one where an organization is
put in context to it. So we we heard reports,

(01:28:03):
you know, a couple of weeks ago that right before
a game, Marvin Lewis is going to be stepping away
at the end of the season. Then Marvin Lewis turns
down the reports and then he, uh, you know, a
former PR guy for the Cincinnati Bengals rips Marvin Lewis
unreate and then so this whole back and forth going
on in Cincinnati. But that's another organization that has always

(01:28:24):
done it and put things into context. You know what
you've been hearing for years and years. Man, if Marvin
Lewis were in any other situation where he never won
a playoff game this many times in a row, he
would be fired. And you are probably correct, but you
know how the Bengals look at things in Cincinnati. The

(01:28:44):
Bengals look at things and go, yeah, we know we're
usually nine and seven, and we know we usually make
the playoffs, and we know we always don't win a
playoff game. But that's sure is better than being the
laughing stock of the league. Because before the Cleveland Browns
were the Cleveland Browns, the Cincinnati Bengals were the Cleveland Browns.

(01:29:05):
And that's another organization that looks at it not like
a bottom line. They put things into context when you
consider where you were before and where you are now.
That's where the conversation changes to most of us, though,
we look at bottom lines and we're a lot like
NFL teams were a lot like NFL franchises like John

(01:29:27):
Fox in Chicago. Bears fans won't want to hear this,
but the goal of a coach, outside of winning, is
to leave the organization in a better place than when
you arrived. Like, outside of winning Super Bowls and championships,
the least you could do is leave the organization in
a better place than when you arrived. Guess what John

(01:29:50):
Fox has done that and they still stink, which means
they were that bad before he got there. And you
can just look at wins and losses, but if you
dig deeper into the personnel issues and what happened in
the Mark Trustman era, you understand, Yeah, they're in a
much better place than they are. This was a full rebuild.
Don't let anybody kids you. And it's still going on.

(01:30:12):
But NFL teams around the league. When you wonder why
maybe Hugh Jackson is retained as head coach in Cleveland,
or you wonder why Marvin Lewis has stayed on for
so long in Cincinnati, or you wonder why Todd Bowles
is still the coach of the New York Jets, because
there are organizations around the league who look at this

(01:30:34):
and go, man, we have not exactly put them in
the best position to succeed. We have not given them
the greatest opportunity to be successful. So why make them
the scapegoat? Why make those guys the scapegoat when we
believe that if we give them better talent or we
can do something around him. We we think we can
help their cause. Like they like, there is deeper conversations

(01:30:54):
to be had here, but so many of us just
want to do just bottom lines. You know, let's just
let's stay to look wins, like, yeah, we're gonna go
with that wins and losses. You know, We're gonna look
at the just wins and losses, and that's how we're
gonna make our determination whether or not you should be
brought back as coach. It doesn't work that way. Like
for NFL teams out there, they also look at the
idea of are there enough qualified candidates with this many openings,

(01:31:18):
are we going to be able to find anybody better?
Bruce Arians retired in Arizona. Had the Jets fired Todd Bowles,
guess who's getting that Arizona job? Todd Bowles. He was
an assistant there for a long time. They'd love him
like they hated seeing him leave. Todd Bowles would get
that job in a heartbeat. And I think the Jets

(01:31:40):
put context into the into their head coaching evaluation. I
think the Cleveland Browns are doing it, and I think
the Cincinnati Bengals have done it for years. Like that's
where there are two different conversation. That's where the conversation
splits in regards to head coaching and head coaching evaluating
evaluations that are done in the NFL. Jonas knocks in
for Doug Gottlieb here Fox Sports Radio. I do want

(01:32:02):
to tell you, by the way, about auto zone because
this season make tough jobs easier with the free Loana
tool program from auto Zone, from a C and engine
repair to exhaust and break jobs. There are over a
hundred specialty tools to help you get the job done right.
Deposit required getting the zone auto zone coming up next,

(01:32:25):
you are going to hear we're actually we're gonna we're
gonna tell a story here, okay, because there was there
were two NFL games that went on in the NFL, right,
two NFL games that went on in the NFL at
the same time, and blatant homerism went on for both games.
I have got actual evidence of this. Find out what

(01:32:47):
I'm talking about next year, NFSR Jonah stocks in for
Doug gottlieb here Fox Sports Radio. But I'd like to
point out for the record, and I will I will
tell you about a homer situation going on in the NFL.
It was no more evident than two games that happened
simultaneously on Sunday. So we'll get to that here in
a couple of minutes. Um I am. I am proud

(01:33:11):
to be filling in for Doug gottlie I'm proud with
whatever opportunities I get here at Fox Sports Radio. And
apparently there's some very angry, miserable, bitter human beings listening
to the radio. I don't know what happened at New
Year's I don't know if at midnight you leaned in
and realized she was a he. I have no idea.

(01:33:33):
I'm not here to judge anybody. I am not here
to poke fun in anybody. I'm here to talk about sports,
have a good time, and make you forget about whatever
the hell's bothering you. So for the angry people that
are tweeting in um mocking me for being a holiday
fill in radio host. I'm good with that. I'm good

(01:33:55):
with it. I love the job, so I'm I'm honored
to get to do this. So I appreciate uh Doug
letting me fill in, and appreciate all the other great
opportunities I get here at Fox Sports Radio. So I'm fortunate.
So I I don't know what is angered people, whether
it's the Big Ten bragging about exhibition games or whatnot.
But come on, look, enjoy yourselves. You know, forget about it.

(01:34:18):
There's there will be another New Year's. If you struck
out last night, you know you got another one to
figure it out. You got you got three sixty four
days to figure out a better game plan for next
New Year's. Right, it's not all that bad. I'm telling you,
it's not all that bad. Speaking of filling in, I
will be in for Ben Maller as well too, So
if you, uh, if you are a big fan of
the Ben Mallor show coming up later on a Fox

(01:34:39):
Sports Radio two am Eastern Time, eleven pm Pacific, I
will be in for Big Ben Mallor coming up later
on here at fs are. So I made this big
mistake one time. I do UH show here on Fox
Sports Radio on Saturday nights, and UM used to be
from eleven pm Pacific time to three am, UH Pacific
time on Saturday overnights. Now it's midnight to three am

(01:35:01):
specific time. And usually during non NFL discussions or when
it's the off season, you can kind of talk about
some other things. The NFL is king, that's really what
we focus on. That's really what you think about, uh,
and when the NFL is going on that when the
playoffs are happening during the season, especially on you know,

(01:35:23):
like right after stuff goes down on a Monday, that's
always the best time to do sports stock radio because
there's so much to talk about. There's almost not enough time.
And so in the off season you can kind of
venture into other waters. You know, the NBA has become
a year round sport. UM. You know, baseball at times
can have some interesting storylines, but really you can you
can sort of dig into some other stuff. And I

(01:35:44):
made this huge mistake one time, and I didn't realize
it until after I was done. So I went on
the air on Fox Sports Radio on a Saturday night
and it was right after there was a big m
m A event, a big UFC event. And I'm a
big UFC boxing fan, okay, and I grew up with
the sports. I grew up boxing, I grew up UFC.

(01:36:08):
Have been a fortunate enough to cover a lot of
the events here at Fox Sports Radio, any of the
big events. I was really lucky to get to be
at Mayweather McGregor um, not the actual fight because I
believe tickets were one point two million apiece, but I
was able to do a show there from Vegas, the
media center for Maywether McGregor. So I've been really lucky
to get to do a lot of these things that

(01:36:29):
the Fox does with the UFC or even sometimes with boxing,
and so I grew up on it. I got to
cover the sport. So I'm a big boxing UFC fanboy,
I really am. But I'm the first to acknowledge that
nobody else, okay, majority you don't really care about boxing
or UFC. So I made this huge mistake one time

(01:36:52):
to where after a UFC pay per view, I went
on the air, it wasn't NFL season, and I opened
the show talking about a UFC event. It might have
been a Rhonda Rousey loss or something. It was a
huge event, a big time event so UFC, and because
it was non football and it was in the football
off season, I thought, Okay, I can kind of venture

(01:37:14):
out into some other waters. So I went on the
air in that first segment and I fan boided up, Oh, man,
I'm talking UFC terms, boxing terms, making references to guys
and other weight classes and what matchups would make sense,
and wham bam finished the segment go to break. And
it wasn't until driving home from work later on after

(01:37:37):
the show was over, in the middle of the night,
and for some reason, there's still effing traffic on the
one on one freeway here even at that time here
in southern California, in the middle of the night. I'm
thinking back, and I realized, oh god, that first segment
was brutal because I fan boided up. I totally programmed

(01:37:58):
my show based on my interests and my likes. And
I don't even know what the ratings were for that show,
but I can almost guarantee you it was like a
good r A. That first segment awful, absolutely awful. Like
I look back and said, man, I totally did this wrong.
I I formatted the open to my show based on

(01:38:20):
what I really like. Okay, total home remove, and I
promised myself I would never do it again. Unfortunately I'm
alone in that category. I am alone and not wanting
to program my show to my own interests. And uh,
there is no better example than what Eric Roberts, our

(01:38:40):
executive producer, put together for this show here on Fox
Sports Radio. Eric Roberts is a die hard Buffalo Bill fan.
Your your longtime Buffalo Bill fan, fired up Bill shirt,
Bill's had loved legitimate Buffalo Bills fan here out here
in southern California. And uh, who is the first guest

(01:39:01):
we booked on Black Monday following a busy NFL weekend?
Playoffs are set Black Monday, everything going on in the NFL,
plus we've got big time college football ball games. Who
was the first guest you book? The Buffalo Bills inside
It's like literally the most Homer pick that he could
book anywhere, and you were probably so excited to do it.

(01:39:23):
I was, you know what, that's the first actually had
We have the little media guide and I had always
just scrolled past the Buffalo Bills section. He went from
you went from Atlanta Fomkon. I would jump like, okay,
the Pats the Steelers section, and I'm like, oh, there's
a section that it's like pages forty through sixty of
this book that talks about the Bills. So so when
when I saw that and it was okay, who are
gonna have on? It was like, well, of course, of course,

(01:39:45):
and again the Bills are it's a timely story. Um,
the Bills make the playoffs for the first time since.
So it's not as it's not as much of a
home or move as my going all fanboy UFC boxing
breakdown following a uf SEE pay per view totally alienating
the audience. Okay, so it's it's not that bad. It's

(01:40:07):
also not as bad as what I heard courtesy of
the Ravens Radio Network after the Cincinnati Bengals scored the
go ahead touchdown, which in essence clinched a playoff spot
for those Buffalo Bills. This is from the Ravens Radio
Network and the Dalton takes the snap, steps up, fires

(01:40:27):
down the middle complete a five touchdown. Cincinnati Tyler Boyd
with a touchdown, no flags on the play, and disbelief
has shroud at the stadium. Oh my gosh, it's sen I.

(01:40:47):
I pride myself on on toothing. I'm terrible at a lot. Okay,
I'll just be honestly awful. I can't cook to save
my life. Right. I almost screwed up a an oven
bake lasagna last night. True story. Okay, So I can't
to save my life. I'm terrible at a lot of things,
and most of those things you can figure out if
you just think hard enough. All right, But I will
say this, there's one thing I'm good at. I can

(01:41:09):
spot an off duty stripper. I can tell you whether
or not. And that's not I'm not kidding. This is
this is the true story. I can spot an off
duty stripper, Okay. And I can tell when somebody had
money on a game or they're a fanboy. And whoever
is doing the color commentary for the Baltimore Ravens, that

(01:41:31):
dude either had money on the game or he's a
total Homer fanboy. Because he you can hear him throw
his headset, like if you listen closely to the call again,
this courtesy of the Ravens Radio Network. Listen to when
he throws the headset, it sounds like a like a
wide receiver going over the middle and getting lit up
by a safety and they don't takes the snap, steps up,

(01:41:54):
fires down the middle, five touchdowns, s Tyler too. No
flags on the plane, just belief has shroud at the stadio?
Can we please, can we please find out who the
color commentator is for me, because it used to be

(01:42:16):
Cadre Ishmael. It used to be Cadre Ishmael. He actually
was made a couple of appearances here on Fox Sports
Radio years ago. It used to be Cadre Ishmael. But
whoever that was owes the Baltimore Ravens Radio network a
new headset and probably a new mic like that. They
probably owe the Baltimore Ravens uh the telecast. They own

(01:42:37):
the radio broadcast some new equipment because they totally destroyed
whatever the hell he decided to throw. Like that's that
is Homeroism at his best. Um. I like the part
if you hear, you can hear like you can pretty
much peg when the pass is caught because you can
hear the oh yes. And that's why listen when John
Harbaugh comes out earlier in the week and says, man,

(01:42:59):
I feel so bad for Ravens fans who had to
move their New Year's Eve plans back. No, you didn't.
Why don't you just come clean, bro, Why don't you
just say I knew this was going to be an
issue because my guys were going to be scoreboard watching
and they weren't going to be focused on our game.
That's why he was pissed, Like, that's why he didn't
want to. You think John Harbaugh gives a rip whether

(01:43:19):
or not fans go out on New Year's Eve or not.
Neither He cared. He could not care less about your
New Year's Eve plans. He's full of it. He didn't
want his team being mixed in with a bunch of
other games going on because he was going He knew
that his guys were going to be scoreboard watching. First
of all, that game shouldn't have been that close. Cincinnati
was winning the entire time, and then in the second

(01:43:41):
half Baltimore made a run and had the lead, and
I was like, Oh, they finally came out of their rut.
You know, now they're not so much scoreboard watching, they're
just focusing on their game. And then they still lose.
But whoever the color commentator is there for the Ravens
Radio Network he owes them. He owes them a new
some new equipment. So who do we have Air Roberts.
Stan White is from the one of the last press

(01:44:02):
releases from Stan White, and yeah, his picture it kind
of makes it a little more, a little funnier putting
a face to like the sound. Now, yeah, he looks
like a guy who would probably throw his headset. It
didn't It didn't sound like Cadrea Ishmael. It used to
be Cadrea Ishmael, but it did not sound again. But
whoever that is, you owe them some money. Alright, Jonas
knocks in for Doug Gottliebier Fox Sports Radio. Coming up next,
we are going to do one of the more popular

(01:44:24):
segments of Doug Show all week long, right, so that
is coming up next. Some pressing issues we've got to
get to in the world of sports. But for all
the latest from around the world of sports, it's Ralph Urban. Well,
thank you very much, Jonas, and we begin with the
Rose Bowl where Baker Mayfield started off strong pistol formation.
Baker sticks at the belly of Anderson, who throws late,
and so call it's a touchdown Hollywood in Hollywood in

(01:44:50):
the Suitors Chop on top in the Rose Bowl to
be rolling from lear Field with the call. However, Georgia
responds coming back with a Nick Chubb touchdown exception and
it is seven all in the first quarter in Pasadena. Earlier,
number twelve UCF took out number seven Auburn thirty in

(01:45:11):
the Peach Bowl. The Golden Nights finished the entire season
at thirteen and know they'll be the only undefeated team
at the FBS level number fourteen Notre Dame. They beat
number seventeen l s U and the Citrus Bowl and
South Carolina a nineteen win over Michigan that in the
Outback Bowl. It is Black Friday and the NFL coaching front.

(01:45:35):
Detroit firing head coach Jim Caldwell despite four winning seasons
with the Lions, I should say four seasons where he
had a winning record. Chicago fired John Fox after the
Bears third consecutive last place finished in the NFC North Level.
More on Chicago coming up in the press, and Arizona's
Bruce Arians retired today not just from the Cardinals but

(01:45:57):
from coaching in general. On the flip side, den for
a coach vance, Joseph given the Well I guess the
seal of approval, at least seal of approval. For now,
he will return to the Broncos sideline in Meanwhile, there
is one game on the Top College Basketball scoreboard and

(01:46:17):
that is in Manhattan, Kansas, the Little Apple where number
six West Virginia has a nineteen lead midway through the
first half. Thanks Ralph Jonas Knox in for Doug Gottlieb
here Fox Sports Radio. Um, appreciate everybody be taking part
in the program. Everybody listening. Hope everybody's having a happy

(01:46:38):
new year out there. Many of you on social media
sounds like you're not so My apologies, but but we
do have all sorts of college football NFL storylines going
on in the NFL, a lot of pressing issues here
on Fox Sports Radio, and there's no better man to
get to all of that than this guy the press,

(01:47:01):
Ralph Irman, back at it again. What the hell do
we need to get to? Mr Irvin Well. I mentioned
the Chicago Bears firing John Fox today, but they also
extended the contract of GM Ryan Pace through one m Basically,
they decided that they liked the vision that he has

(01:47:23):
and this gives him essentially four seasons with a new
head coach for the new partner on making it a
better organization. Well, let's listen to contracts. One. Ryan Pace
is directly tied to Mitch Robinsky. That that's how this
is gonna go. That's that's the quarterback he believed in.
That's the quarterback he kept secret from everybody as far
as his evaluation. They took a secret meeting with him, like,

(01:47:45):
this is his guy, So he's gonna go as long
as Mitch Robinsky goes with that organization. Well, it's funny
you mentioned that because he did intimate that Trabinsky may
have some suggestion and some opinion sharing in the hiring
of the head coach. Oh, I mean that that worked
out the last time they did that in Chicago when
Jay Cutler sat down with the two final candidates when

(01:48:08):
they were looking to make a head coaching change. So
they fired Lovey Smith and Jay Cutler sat down with
these two candidates and it was Jay Cutler who recommended
that they hire Mark Trustman over Bruce Arians. Well there
was great there was great cup success coming in with
like like and Bruce Arians really wanted the job to

(01:48:28):
Bruce Arians wanted that gig so bad and it was
Jay Cutler that got to sit down and meet with
all him and he really liked Bruce Arians but he said, yeah,
I don't know. There's something about this trustman guy. Yeah,
you know what it is. He stinks that's what it is. Interestingly,
Pace came in alongside John Fox in a hiring process
done with an agency. You know that that helped suggest, Yeah,

(01:48:50):
this is who you should hire. So this will be
his first head coaching hire. Can I throw out a
just sort of his speculation first of all? And I
want to be honest until the truth about this. I
did this off air during the show last night and
was laughed at it. This idea by Brady Quinn. Okay,
So I want to I want to make that clear
that at least somebody who knows a lot more than
I do about football thinks this is embarrassing. But let's

(01:49:14):
tie some things together. You want to tie some things
together here, Ralph, all right, pull up a seat, have
a drink. Let's tie some things together here on Fox
Sports Trading. Here we go. So Ryan Pace came from
what organization? The New Orleans Saints. Okay, Ryan paid? I
I asked that question is if you would know that
off the top of your head. So, Ryan Pace, I've

(01:49:35):
already worked this out. I'm more preparing. Ryan Pace came
from the New Orleans Saints organization, right, he is used
from the Saints. And one of the things that New
Orleans does really well and that they've done really well
this season is incorporate their two running backs, Alvin Kamara

(01:49:59):
and mark Ingram in their offense. And one of the
things that the Bears have, and they are very fortunate
to have, is one of the best running back duo's
in the NFL in Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohne. Well,
the offensive coordinator who puts together all of this is

(01:50:22):
Pete Carmichael in New Orleans. Pete Carmichael knows Ryan Pace
from Ryan Paces time in New Orleans. You see what
I'm getting at here. So wouldn't Pete Carmichael be a
guy who could maximize both those running backs because he's
already doing it in New Orleans. Wouldn't that make some
sense thereof it would make some sense now when it

(01:50:42):
doesn't happen. I would like this to be removed from
the podcast. If we could remove this audio from the podcast,
because I don't want to feel like more of a
horse's bleep for for mentioning this on the air after
I was laughed at off the air when I brought
this up to Brady Quinn and edit. Now what else
we got? Ralph Well? Speaking of the NFC North, the
Green Bay Packers fired their defensive coordinator Dom Capers. There's

(01:51:04):
a guy obviously long, long, long career in the NFL,
had been in Green Bay for nine seasons. He's number
one defense helped carry the pack to a Super Bowl
crown in two thousand nine, but by two thou eleven,
they were dead last in the NFL. In fact, they
were in the bottom third of total defense four times
in the last seven years. God, is there anything good there? Yeah?

(01:51:30):
He's gone. Okay, I mean, but like, is there any
like like like what what's there? Like? How desirable is
that gig? I think that it's desirable because it's become
known as a place that players are happy to go play.
If you can go get somebody with with with an
actual scheme and in a direction you want to work in. Okay,
who would makes sense there? I think first they got

(01:51:53):
to decide on their personnel who they want to work with. Yeah,
I just I don't know. There's like I'm looking around,
like like football a weird man. I don't know why
anybody would want to be a coach like I really,
I don't know anymore. Like I think I'd rather be
a coach in college and I would the NFL. Like
I I'd rather be a coaching college in the NFL,
just based on it's not a bad gig. You make
a ton of money. And if you don't like your

(01:52:15):
current cropper players, they're not tied to a contract, They're
gone in four years. You just, you know, move on,
Like you get to really pick and choose who you
want to work with, and then you get to yeah
but I mean yeah, but but you don't have to.
And also I wonder if it's less work. I know
recruitings are grind, but you know, because the n c
A regulations, they don't allow you a certain practice time.

(01:52:35):
So I wonder I think it's probably less work, less
of a grind. Harpus seems happier in college than he
does in the NFL. Well, it's one of those things
that you can make it work for you in college
football because you really do pull all the strings, whereas
the NFL does set the table of what you can
and can't do, and then you work within the confines
of their restrictions. Yeah. No, I I just if I

(01:52:56):
had my if I had my choice, and again I
wouldn't because I don't know how to coach. But if
I had choice, I would choose coaching in college. It
just seems seems like a like a better gig overall,
just for for peace of mind purposes. Well, there is
one thing with coaching in collegees you deal with some
interesting characters like the Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield. Yeah,
he walked into the stadium today carrying a sign that

(01:53:18):
he had made saying pretenders on it as a direct
jab at Lee Corso for using that dismissive word to
describe the Sooners earlier this year, old red ass Baker Mayfield. Man,
see he really this is the difference between Baker Mayfield
of a couple of months ago and Baker Mayfield. Now.
You know, he would have grabbed his crotch if he

(01:53:40):
didn't get so much blowback, which is probably not the
best term to use when you describe somebody grabbing their crotch.
But if he didn't get so much blowback from people
because he grabbed his crotch and yelled f you during
that game. Then he could say it not have to
carry a sign and grab his crotch at the same time.
It's a little double barrel act in there from Baker Mayfio.

(01:54:01):
One could argue that headed into this Rose Bowl, his
troll game flew in under the radar. Wow, that is
Look at that Ralph Irvian with just sticking the landing
here on Fox Sports Radio. All right, thanks Rol, thank you,
get out there and pressed. That was the press. Jonas
Knox in for Doug Gottlief here Fox Sports Radio. Um,
wouldn't you love a bigger tax refund? Who wouldn't love that? Serious? Like,

(01:54:24):
who would not love to get more money back for taxes? Well,
tax Slayer was recently rated number one for maximum refund,
So you have more cash to spend on whatever the
heck you want this tax season. Go out and slay it.
Max your refund at tax layer dot com. You can
get me on Twitter at the Jonas Knox up. Next, though,

(01:54:45):
there is something going on in the world of sports
that is that is a rarity. This almost never happens,
but it is happening today. Find out what I'm talking
about next year on FSR Jonas Knox him for Doug
Gottlieb here Fox Sports Radio. UM, so I will be
back on the air here on a Fox Sports Radio
coming up at at eleven pm Pacific time. That's two

(01:55:06):
am Eastern time. And for those of you are listening, UM,
I don't know in uh in Bangladesh, I know what
the time is on my weekend overnights, I don't know
the time it is there at that point, but whatever.
So I'll be back here on the ARA Fox Sports
Radio coming up eleven pm Pacific time, UH, to break
down everything that went on obviously with the college football
playoff games that are going on. You've got Georgia Oklahoma.

(01:55:30):
Oklahoma with a lead already at the Rose Bowl. There's
been twenty one point scored and we're not yet through
with the first quarter. So this looks like it's gonna
be a barn burner at at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. UH.
And then coming up later on you've got Alabama Clemson
Part three, so that'll be UH, that'll be a lot
of fun as well. UM. I was thinking about this
and just kind of open the show talking about what

(01:55:53):
is like when you're looking at the at the NFL
and you're just breaking down the playoffs, like you look
over at the a f C and you look over
at the NFC, and it's very obvious, and it's very
clear that the NFC has the more compelling matchups because
the NFC could go anyway like it could, you could.
You couldn't make an argument for Atlanta being the sixth
seed getting back to a super Bowl. I don't think

(01:56:14):
it's gonna happen. I've I've not been impressed whatsoever with
Atlanta all year long, so I don't think that will
be the case. But you can make that argument that
maybe Atlanta could make a run, get hot, rely on experience,
obviously very talented, and make a run in the in
the playoffs because Philadelphia is a very flawed and wounded

(01:56:38):
number one seed, So that feels like a vulnerable spot
to be in uh and and it's what should give
everybody else hope in the NFC that regardless of having
to go to Philadelphia or not, you feel confident that
you could make a run there. And then you go
to the a f C and it's so top heavy.
You've got New England, you've got Pittsburgh. But what else
you got? I mean Jack's bills. That's neat. No, it's

(01:57:00):
something we haven't seen before. But I don't think anybody's
really clamoring for clamoring for that matchup. And then you've
got Titans and Chiefs, and nobody's clamoring to see the
Chiefs again. We know what they are in the postseason.
They're the same thing there are every postseason. They'll win
a home game, they'll get to the divisional round, they'll
lose by fourteen or seventeen, and Alex Smith will check
the ball down for the entire second half like this.

(01:57:23):
Every year. We get it, the same thing every year.
And Tennessee. I have no idea what the hell they are,
no idea. There's something not right about Tennessee. I can't
put my finger on it, but it doesn't make a
lot of sense to me that Marcus Mariota isn't better then,
and maybe that's just an offensive thing to where he's
got to get a you know, a better coach. I
have no idea, But Tennessee is a very confusing, confusing situation.

(01:57:45):
So the NFC is sort of a rare thing like
to where no matter what you're gonna get something interesting
to happen. UM. I talked about this months ago in
August after the may Weather McGregor fight, when everyone was
trying to break down what was so great about Maywether
McGregor and and I was pointing out at the time

(01:58:07):
that it's one of those rare moments in sports where
everybody won, like everybody benefited. I mean, if you were
to go just break it down person by person, everybody benefited.
You had Floyd Mayweather win because he won the fight

(01:58:28):
and stayed perfect. You had Connor McGregor win because he
made a bunch of money. Even though he lost, he
made a bunch of money and looked a lot better
than anybody expected. Boxing one because their sport won the
battle of UFC verus boxing, and so they were thrilled
to see their guy win. H Floyd's promoters, Floyd's business partners,

(01:58:52):
they all won because they all got paid. Uh. The
UFC looked good because they had their guy hang with
the with the one of the greats all time and
go that long in the fight with no previous experience
and represented the sport well. Uh. And then also the
fans one because fans were looking for an exciting fight,
and it actually delivered way more than what anybody thought.

(01:59:13):
So it was one of those rare moments in sports
to where you had the everybody win in a big
sporting event. And now if you look at the NFC,
it's kind of like that to where and no matter what,
we're going to get a good a good result because
it's always interesting all the way through, Like this could
be a playoff run in the NFC to where everybody's
happy about it, and then I'm thinking about it and

(01:59:36):
I'm like, actually, that's kind of what we have going
on in college football right now. Because if you spin
or you spin a wheel, throw some dice, uh, you know,
do an anonymous draw out of a hat, regardless of
what combination we get in the national championship game, it's
going to be fantastic. Like college football has positioned themselves.

(01:59:58):
You could say whatever you want about the college so
ball playoff and you don't like it, and you think
it should be eight teams and the right teams didn't
get in and you've got to win your conference, blah
blah blah blah blah, like all that other discussion. Set
all of that aside. Tell me what's wrong with these
four teams in college football? Like Georgia Oklahoma is already

(02:00:18):
a shootout. Okay, like they're already a shoot out of
the Rose Bowl, right, like the street lights don't go
on in Pasadena for like another three hours, and Oklahoma
and Georgia is already a shootout. And then you're gonna
get Clemson Alabama Part three coming up later on. Regardless
of whatever combination we get in the national title Game,

(02:00:40):
I think it's gonna be great now ideally, and this
is just personal preference. Okay, My personal preference would be
Oklahoma Alabama. Okay, that would be preference number one. Baker
Mayfield and the and the thought or the the just
the off chance that he grabs his crotch, but this
time he'd exited Nick Saban. Then I want to see

(02:01:02):
the reaction from Nick Saban. Okay. So that's that's result
number one that I would love to see happen. Result
number two because it will piss more people off. What
if we get an all SEC national championship game, then
all you Big ten fanboys would be crying in your
old Milwaukee beers. Okay, just thinking about, oh man, all

(02:01:23):
the trash we talked about our exhibition games, and it's
the SEC in the National Championship Games. So again, there's
a lot that could happen, but I think it's gonna
benefit everybody. I want to thank Ralph, I want to
thank Ryan. Thanks to Eric Roberts, has been fun filling
in for Doug Jonas knocks. This is Fox Sports Radio.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Host

Doug Gottlieb

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}The AFC Has The Star Power But The NFC Has The Intrigue