December 5, 2024 • 39 mins
Ryan Leaf fills in for DP while Dan id filming his scenes for Happy Gilmore 2. Lions Radio analyst Lomas Brown discusses how HC Dan Campbell has changed the Lions culture. Chargers' Safety Derwin James Jr. explains the impact that Jim Harbaugh has made this season. And college football insider Andy Staples shares which college football head coaching jobs he thinks will open up this offseason.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox
Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Lomas Brown, seven time pro bowler, legend for the Lions,
he joins us now to talk about the Lions Packers matchup. Almost.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
How we doing today, Buddy, I'm doing great, Ryan, Ryan,
you look good.
Speaker 4 (00:18):
My good many slim. I'm like, wow, you look good, Ryan.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yeah, that'll happen when you had decided to have kids
in your in your fifties. Uh, well almost so do you.
I mean, I mean, what was your plane weight, man,
you were probably low three hundreds.
Speaker 5 (00:33):
Yeah, my first six years, I was three fifteen. My
last twelve years in the league with between two seventy
five and two eighties. So yeah, you're right about that.
Speaker 6 (00:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I mean it goes to show when you see a
lot of those uh former NFL offensive linement. I mean,
to keep that weight on, to stay that strong and
physical and be that you know, presence in the in
the trenches is huge.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
Yeah, it really is.
Speaker 5 (01:00):
And you see a lot of these guys, man, you
see Joe Thomas and all these guys now and they've
dropped all that weight.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
But like you say, Ryan, is just necessary.
Speaker 5 (01:10):
To carry that weight. Why you in the league once
you get out the league, man, let it go.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Let it go. If you're a big fellaw.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
I couldn't get over on. I was there Thursday in
Detroit calling the game for Westwood One, and I don't
know if it was just me, but the offensive line
for the Detroit Lions seemingly feels like they're giants. I mean,
they're just tall, athletic. They don't have like the dad
bought offensive lineman either. It's just it's rough and rugged.
(01:40):
Speaking of that Thursday game, hadn't won a Thanksgiving game
since twenty sixteen, was dominating first half kick field goals
rather than got touchdowns against the Bears team that is
very good in the red zone defensively, but then fell
apart in the stuff. What did you see from that game, Lomas,
terms of a you found a way to win it,
(02:02):
but that second half was a trend of what the
Lions have been around this time of year every year
for the last you know, since twenty sixteen.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
Yeah, no, you're right about that, and that's how it's
gonna be the rest of this season.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
And we got divisional games left, like you said, the
night with.
Speaker 5 (02:19):
Green Bay, and then we got Chicago coming again, and
we got Minnesota again.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
So all these games are gonna be this way. It
won't be. I don't think it's gonna be any more blowouts.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
I don't think you're gonna see us blowing teams out
like we did a few weeks back. I think all
these games gonna be tough, competitive games because we know
each other so well. And like you said, with that
Chicago game, man, it started off with us moving the
ball but not being able to put up seven points
when we need when we got in the red zone,
(02:52):
settling for three points and finding a way, like you said,
in the end, with some help from Matt Eberflutes. I said,
he gave us a little help, but we were able
to overcome that, not going to overtime and win that game.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
So again we can expect help like that from the
head coach.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
These are games we're gonna have to go on too
from the start, and we're going to have to be
able to finish these games.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
This football team has been transformed under Dan Campbell. Uh
and and thankful that the decision makers there in Detroit
didn't get, you know, an itchy trigger finger when things
weren't going right right away, and you played during the
time where you had, you know, the best running back
(03:36):
to maybe ever play and you just couldn't seem to
quite get over the top. And it was the Lions.
This is different. This this team is actually the highest
odds to make the Super Bowl in the NFC, first
time ever in NFL history. What's it like to have
seen that change there in Detroit with Dan Campbell at
the helm and everybody follows suit, maybe slowly but surely,
(03:59):
but the fan base is all the teams certainly had
to believe before anybody else.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Yeah, it's been great. It's been great to see it.
Speaker 5 (04:06):
And just think about the job that not only him,
but Brad Holmes and Sheila Hampford. Just think of the
job they had to do because Ryan, they had to
change the whole culture. It wasn't just a team and
an organization. They had to change the whole culture around
the Detroit Lions.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Because it was same old Lions.
Speaker 5 (04:25):
The fans expected us to lose tight games or to find.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
A way to lose a game.
Speaker 5 (04:30):
You know, it was always, yeah, they gonna get there,
but they're not gonna complete the job. Now it's so
different now with the influx of guys that we brought in.
This is a team now you have to be able
to fit being a Lion.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Now.
Speaker 5 (04:45):
It wasn't like that before anybody could play for the Lions.
It's not like that anymore. And to be honest with you,
who deserves it more are the fans, because the fans
have been suffering for so long. Ryan, it was thirty
something years years ago when I was here the last
time we went to in a you know, other than
the last year when we went to a NFC championship game.
(05:07):
We've never been to the super Bowl. We don't know
what that's like. So we've been suffering a long time.
And like I say, I feel so good for the
fans around here because they finally have something to really
really cheer about.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
We're speaking with Lomas Brown, seven time Pro bowler for
the Detroit Lions, and the analyst tonight's broadcast. This Packers
team a year ago on Thanksgiving, like this was the
same time about last year. They came in. No one
expected them. I think they were sizeable underdog, and Jordan
Love and this Lion or this Packers team found a
(05:41):
way and then they kind of went on a run
that got them into a position into the playoffs. What's
this game like? Uh, you know, after the last week,
a full week off since Thanksgiving? What do you think
the most important thing for Detroit to stop this? Lie
to this, this Packers team is going to be the.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Biggest thing for us tonight is for us to stop
their run game. Stop Josh Jacobs. That's the biggest thing
we're gonna have to do. Because they want to run
the ball. That's their identity, just like it's the identity
of the Detroit Lions. That's what we do. We establish
the run, Jared Golf and all the rest of the weapons,
(06:21):
then they can do what they need to do once
the run has been established. So us with us being
beat up on the D line, my goodness, run five
our D line that won't play tonight.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
So we're really really beat up.
Speaker 5 (06:35):
So if I'm Green Bay, that's where I'm trying to
attack the Detroit Lions with my inside run game and
see how we hold up against that. So, to me,
the biggest thing we're gonna have to do defensively stop
to run. The biggest thing offensively we're gonna have to
do is put up seven points when.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
We get in the red zone.
Speaker 5 (06:56):
We're gonna have to outscore the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Exactly right. I mean, you knew that the Bears weren't
going to score in the first half last week, it
just it was not in the cards. So three points
were okay. But this is going to be a different
story tonight. Lomas, thank you so good to see you.
Thanks for taking time today and being a part of
the show.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Ryan's goods. Then you thanks for having me man.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yes, sir Lomas Brown. Everybody seven time pro bowler for
the said Detroit Lions played against him when I was
with the Dallas Cowboys went up to Detroit playing against
Barry Sanders, who that was something special. But he's exactly right.
I Mean, there's like the idea around what do you
fear most? You know, do you fear the two teams
(07:38):
that are right behind you in the division or anybody
outside the division? Because the NFC West and the NFC
East or the NFC South, they're just they're just fighting
over each other at six and six or so to
get into the playoff and get a first round playoff game.
The Philadelphia Eagles they're a different story.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (07:57):
The Eagles are just won eighth straight. Yeah, and they
cooled off a lot at the end of last season
and a lot of people were down on them to
start this season. If you had to pick that game
today Eagles Lions, you.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Know, this would not have been the answer that I
would have given probably two or three weeks ago. But
after seeing the Eagles dismantle I don't care how close
that score was last week against the Baltimore Ravens, guys,
they dismantled Baltimore. That was a beatdown. That was an
early onslaught of just accepting what was happening and then
just putting your foot down on the gas and driving
through everything, you know. And I was I was very
(08:33):
critical of their head coach early on. I was like, hey,
you know, he seems to be Nick Sirianni. Seems to
be the liability on this football team with some of
the decisions. You recall the Jacksonville Jaguars game, like he
did everything in his power. I felt like to find
a way to lose that game, and the defense and
(08:54):
na Kobe Dean found a way to win it, you know,
And I was like, hey, do they really need him?
I mean, they got Kellen Moore, they got Vic Vangio,
you know, and the answers for most people were Howie Roseman,
it's his puppet, and so how he needs him there
to do what he needs is bidding for. But then
there's just this fight and this continuation being beat up,
(09:14):
injuries offensively, Davonte Smith being out, AJ Brown being out, Yeah,
Saquon Barkley, I mean a running back position. For whatever
it's worth, it depends on what team you're on. Dude's
been so special. He's been the difference in this football team.
He's allowed Jalen Hurts. There's so much off the plate
of Jalen Hurts this year. And then defensively, they've gotten better.
(09:35):
Those young guys that maybe struggled a little bit last
year trying to find in their way, they drafted well.
So I'm going to say it if I had to
pick a game right now for the NFC Championship to
get to the Super Bowl, the way the teams are
playing right now, and maybe Detroit can change my opinion
after the Knight's performance. Right now, it's the Philadelphia Eagles
that the performance against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday was
(09:57):
one of the most impressive performances I think I've seen
from a from a team that people were a little
skeptical of for a team that a lot of people
have a ton of confidence in, Holly, is.
Speaker 7 (10:07):
There a third best team? I mean there is, but
to you the third most threatening team in the NFC,
you know, I.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Would have said the Atlanta Falcons about five weeks ago.
Four weeks ago, and they've just absolutely turned tail and run.
I'd be a little fearful of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Speaker 7 (10:19):
Tampa Bay is six and six, they've won two in
a row, and they're the only team in the NFC
South that's outscored their opponents this year.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
They had a lot of close losses in the first
half of the season. Yeah, I mean, Baker Mayfield is
an absolute stud. I mean that team, that team would
that team would walk through traffic, like five o'clock traffic
in l A. They're walking through it for Baker Mayfield.
You know, you know they're they're they're forced to go
(10:46):
to a bachelotte party on a on a Sunday and
in the fall. Uh, they're doing that for Baker Mayfield. Yeah, yeah, Yeah,
they're totally doing that. A kid's birthday party whatever the
atte party, kids birthday party doesn't matter, Like this, This
team would would bend over backwards for him. They're they're
willing to jump on the lawsuit to sue his dad too.
There's they're they're they're all in it. They're all in
(11:07):
it everybody. It has been uh that that's the team
in the NFC, the Packers of course, the Vikings. The
Vikings just find a ways to win. Kevin O'Connell, he's
got it down. He figures out ways to win. That
defense with Brian Flores, they do some fun thing. I mean,
I think the NFC is going to be very interesting
(11:28):
this year, very interesting AFC two. But the Detroit Lions
has been the best team. Jared Goff for me, was
the MVP for a long time. I think probably stepped
off that m VP bus when the five interception game happened.
Speaker 6 (11:40):
Though.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
They found a way to win, and then he came
back and turned around through like five touchdowns the next week,
So he knows how to overcome that's for sure. Ironically,
it would be completely unbelievable if what Sean mcvagh did
to exile him to Detroit, to bring in Matthew Stafford
to win a Super Bowl, to then watch Jared Goff
ultimately win a Super Bowl in Detroit where it's never
happened before, where Matthew Stafford couldn't do it. I mean,
(12:04):
I think that would be an incredible thirty for thirty
everybody marvith If the Lions win the Super Bowl, who
gets a statue? Dan Campbell or Jared Golf? Oh one statue?
Oh that's Dan Campbell. It's got to give it to
coach because he because he you know, he he referenced
biting kneecaps, and I think if you're in Detroit, Jared
(12:26):
hasn't said much. Jared is like, you know, very stoic
and just kind of goes about his business. And then
you go to Dan and Dan's like, yeah, I'm I'm
you know, I'm the waiter at Applebee's. I'm freaking biting kneecaps,
I'm doing all this stuff seating.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
It really feels like he is the identity of that team,
and everybody has bought in one hundred percent. You know,
there's no question who the figure ahead is there and
who the guy is.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
So I'm on the field last week pregame and I
walk up to Jared and I talked to Jared a
little bit and then I'm walking around and talk to
am and Ross Saint Brown, and then I see the
offensive lineman. I talked to Piney Sewell and I see
these giants. But guess what, there's even a bigger giant
standing right in the middle of them, walking around talking
each to one of them. It's Dan camp Does he
lift before the game? And he gets a pumped on me?
He looks like he might. It looks like he does,
(13:13):
but I think that he's I think that's just natural Dan.
I think it's natural Dan. Okay, you guys, talked to
you guys.
Speaker 7 (13:18):
I agree with you that if there is a statue
for the Lions, it's Dan Campbell. Any chance you could
have co statues like they did in Philadelphia, it's Doug
Peterson and Nick Foles together calling that Philly special play.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
That's the statue off the Super Bowl, Well, there would
have to be some sort of corroborating play or something
that existed between Dan and Jared. I think that that
would have to be the corroborating statue Otherwise, otherwise, right now,
it's Dan Campbell and Dan Campbell.
Speaker 7 (13:44):
Is there anything more weird in sports that Nick Foles
has a statue? Outside of stadium? Is that the weirdest
thing in sports? If I said it ten years ago.
Mike Foles, Well, I think as.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
A fan, yes, as a former quarterback and having watched
him from Arizona stuff, I'm like, I always always knew
he was capable of something like that, but the running,
so it's not and it's not it's not super foreign
for me. It's weird. Well, he he has the weirdest
pro career.
Speaker 7 (14:08):
All I love that twenty five touchdown, two interception season. Yeah,
then it didn't work out for a while. Then Carson
Wentz gets hurt and he leads him to a super
Bowl in the season they thought was over.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
I mean, the show just goes to show h You know,
any player who gets it to the NFL the quarterback
level is capable of doing that if they make a
run and they have a team behind him like they
had that year in Philly. And so I love it.
I absolutely love it. For Nick Foles. I recruited him
when I was coaching in college. Uh he you know,
initially went to Michigan State before he got went to Arizona.
(14:39):
And he's from a little on, not a little one.
He's from a very you know. Uh, he's from Austin
Westlake in uh In, Austin, Texas, where Drew Brees went
as well. Very quarterback heavy. All right, we got to
go because when we come back, we're gonna all right,
we're gonna jump into some I here, there's some random
football questions going to be coming my way, very random,
(15:00):
very random. All right, all right, we'll find out here.
Thanks for listening, everybody. You're listening to the Dan Patrick Shoan.
Rianley filling in will be right back.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan
Patrick Show week days at nine am Eastern six am
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio WAPP.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Derwin James All pro safety for my Los Angeles Chargers
joins us. Now, I was just telling everybody Derwin about
I lived in LA for the last seven years. Man,
I know what traffic. Traffic's like. You know, you get compipited.
Speaker 6 (15:31):
Man.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
How are you doing this morning?
Speaker 6 (15:32):
I'm doing good, man. How y'all doing?
Speaker 2 (15:34):
We're doing well. We're doing well. It's been a lot
of fun to watch you guys this year. Jesse mentor
you know, is just kind of untapped. A little bit
of it looks like you guys are having just so
much fun flying around young guys, guys that people really
don't know. And then you at the out there is
the kind of the stalwart on the back end. Just
talk about how much fun it's been this year to
(15:55):
play under this new defensive coordinator.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Man I can't stop smiling every day come into the building.
It's just deciding to come to work with these man
Not only did the coaches, but the players. It's just
every since Opa, we've been just working on butt off
just to go out there and compete. And we finally
found a few the results that we've been putting in
and we just want to keep going hard. And Coach Mentor,
man I can't say nothing but great things about him.
(16:18):
He's a man, one of a kind. Man I haven't
been around a coach like him and coach Harball.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
So you you you spoke incredibly eyely of jimbo Fisher,
You're head coach in college. I spent like five seasons
with him every fall football genius. I mean, when you
when you find guys that can flip that switch in you,
Jim Harbaugh shows up. There's a different mentality as a
former player. Jesse Mentor you see guys acting different. I mean,
(16:45):
I'm watching justin this year. There's like a little swagger
with him. He's throwing a touchdown, he's doing some things.
I mean, what's the locker It just it's allowed the
locker room to be a little freer, it feels, and
it comes across.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Yes, sir, everybody's playing free, nobody's playing up tight, and
we just create that family environment. Coach Harball, he's you
got the families that practice on Friday Saturdays. They's just
careting the family environment that I've never been around in
the NFL in my seven years. So man, it's just
been a lot of fun. And when you can make
it about family, man, you just want to go that
much harder for that person, and offense get along with offense.
(17:20):
Defense get along, and it's just the whole team coming together.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
It's it's incredibly different when you walk into an atmosphere
like that. I remember that with when I was in
Tampa with Tony Dungeye, Like you just go from a
coaching staff that's that's so welcoming in terms of what
makes things easion. You wonder why that hasn't always been
the case, because you want your guys to be the
most you know, relaxed going into football games. Talk to
me about the Atlanta game. I mean, these games this
(17:45):
year kind of fit the Harbaugh mold. Right. It's offense
trying to run the football, hold people back. But defense
really had to close out that game. Talk about that
kind of final play. They went empty. They brought Drake
London over the cross in the middle, he kind of
stumbles and you just you just knew they had to
get to a point. You stepped right in front of
an end of the game with that, with that interception.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
First of all, I feel like coach did a great
job all day calling great plays. I feel like we
was in position to make all the plays we.
Speaker 6 (18:12):
Needed to make.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
And like you said, I just seen seeing Drake London
in the plot and as soon as I see them
released the bar, just try to make a play on
it for my team. And like I said, Coach made
a great call. And all year long, keys just making
great calls. And as a defense, I feel like we
just coming that much closer than where we want to be.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Yeah, you get the goes up front, getting after the
quarterback Bosa. Uh that that crew, It's it's been fun
to watch as a former Charger to see that defense
kind of going back into Rodney Harrison Junior say out days,
that's that's some fun era of football. And we watched
the Alscheizier uh Alshire hit on on Trevor Lawrence. As
a defender, they've made it incredibly difficult on you guys
(18:52):
in terms of what the heck is the quarterback going
to do. Is you're trying to make a little move
to get a few more yards, to pick up a
first down, to extend a drive, to end a game
you got suspended earlier, and Coach Harbor was incredibly disappointed,
as was I think a lot of people that watch football,
realistic football, how tough is it to make decisions in
the moment they'll split seconds to make those tackles and
(19:13):
do the right thing. In the eyes of Park Avenue
in New York City.
Speaker 6 (19:19):
It's extremely hard.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Like you say, you're playing a game at a fast speed,
a fast tempo, and as a defender, you're going to
just try to get the guy down and sometimes the
angle can change. The guy can see you duck sometimes and.
Speaker 6 (19:31):
It's just like we got to adjust.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Like I said, they want to clean up the game man,
And like I said, I'm all for it, man, and
I'm trying to find new ways to get better myself.
I'm still working at it, and I just love to
play man honestly man. Like I say, it's definitely hard
on the defenders, I feel like, especially because you don't
know if he's gonna fly, you don't want to give
up the first down as a defender.
Speaker 6 (19:51):
So it's just tough.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Yeah, they put you in a tough spot. They put
you in an absolutely crazy tough spot in terms of
what you have to do. Speaking of co Charbaugh, so
I don't know if you know this. So Coach Arbaugh
was my backup in San Diego. He taught me. When
he taught me how to be a professional. You know,
(20:12):
it was that quarterback room was crazy. If he could
have been a player coach, I bet you we win
a ton more games if he had been able to
be a coach. What's it been like to have him again?
And does he how active is he?
Speaker 6 (20:24):
Like?
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Is he out there slinging the ball around? Is he
catching the ball? I mean, how like? How physical is
he with you guys? In practice? Seems like a lot
of fun and it looks like he's doing it.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
I feel like coach Harball is all in man, honestly.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
Man.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Ever since ot As he's been pulling sleds man, honestly,
since he's been working out every fourth quarter drill no lie,
like he's he's over there doing manuals with us. Man,
he's really and he has his cleat on its cleek
game is crazy. He got all the different Jordan's, Man,
it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
So man, his his Jordan game from his time in Michigan.
That's what that said.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
Yeah, yeah, he had his cleats on, man and he
all in it man. Like you say here a player
coach manning every day i'scribed to be like, I'm like
a leader. Man. When it comes to that leader ability
to affect the whole room and the whole organization, I
feel like he's one of a cond when it come
to that.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Yeah, his track record, he goes places, you win, you
get a chance to win a championship, That is his
track record. It makes me laugh. You've been around Justin
for so long. I go and I go away and
play golf with Justin every summer, and you know he's
the kindest, most kind of under unassuming killers. That's a
really good way to put it. He's an unassuming killer.
(21:34):
He'll go out and rip your heart out with the
way he can throw the football and be a leader.
But did you see the video of when when coach
Harba did the pregame thing with the quarterbacks he likes
to do where he hits him on the shoulders and
they touched you like justin didn't know what was coming.
And he's trying to like be in it too, but
it looks so awkward. What's the strangest kind of pregame
thing that coaches kind of come over and batted you
(21:56):
up and gets you ready physically. What has he done
to get you fired up?
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Well, yeah, the same thing. Like I've been a time
where he just came and hit me on the bat.
Let's go, I need your best, let's go, let's go.
So he always just trying to get us ready to go, man,
Especially that pregame speech in the locker room.
Speaker 6 (22:10):
It's no speeches like hatball speeches. Man.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
He always got one of a con for you.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
You guys get to see the Chiefs again here soon
they're the team at the top. I've never felt like
the Chargers have ever in any way fear the Chiefs
to Narrowhead or whatever. What's it like going up against
Patrick Mahomes as an All Pro safety? And you know,
how important is it for your team? I think entering
the playoffs to defeat a very good AFC team, the
(22:36):
Ravens had a chance a week could go with you guys.
When you get a chance to the Chiefs and the
teams that you're probably gonna meet in the playoffs down
the stretch, how important is it you guys to show
up and play well.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
First of all, it's always a sighting to go against
the Chiefs. I feel like the games come down to
the end every time. And like you said, we have
to go in on the road and be able to
beat those type of teams because if you want to
go where we want to go in the playoffs far,
those are the type of teams you have to beat.
And I trust every man in his locker room, from offense,
(23:05):
defense to special teams, and I know we're preparing that
way and I can't wait till the game Funday night.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
The You know, you get to play a really cool
position because you go up against some of the greatest
players at the receiver position, in the tight end position,
catch us the running backs out of the backfield. But
is there a get you out of this with with
this question here?
Speaker 8 (23:24):
Is there an.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Underrated player that that people don't talk about that that
maybe like you know, when you go into a game
against someone like that or maybe even somebody on your
team when you're going up against him in practice, that
that that it's going to give you fits. He's going
to be a player that that not everybody's talking about
Anna Travis Kelsey, but this guy and and uh, I
think that's a that's a pretty cool thing when when
you know who you're going up against every single.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Week, I have to say probably a lat mccunkie. Uh,
just going against him from training camp, I feel like
his track where I speaking for himself, this season lead
all rookies in receiving yards, So man, I feel like
he's he's doing a great job and open man and
becoming that receiver one.
Speaker 6 (24:02):
And then Dayon.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Henley on defense, uh out there him a big pooning
in the middle. So just those three guys, I feel
like a lot of shout outs to those boys. They've
been making a lot of plays just under the radar.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Dayon Henley everybody, I don't know if you know this
or not, but he's a Washington State cougar. Make sure
you uh can give him a shout out for me
today when you see him. All right, yes, sir, all right,
Derwin James, everybody, thanks for joining us, buddy, appreciate it,
Thank you man.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Our next guest is gonna be uh college football analyst
and he covers college football for on three Sports as well.
Good friend of mine. I haven't talked to him. I
haven't spoken to him in years, it feels like. But
Andy Staples joins the show. Andy, what's going on?
Speaker 6 (24:52):
Buddy?
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Right? He never right?
Speaker 8 (24:55):
He never called.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Yeah, we do a tax occasionally though we do chat.
Speaker 6 (24:58):
Well.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Well, you usually pointed out to everybody that why are
we listening to Will Ferrell call a football game tonight?
Speaker 8 (25:04):
It happens to me sometimes, Yeah, where I am I
am in one of those multi box situations.
Speaker 6 (25:10):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
And of course unless.
Speaker 8 (25:12):
It's like the beginning of a quarter, they're not showing
your faces. And at first I'll be like, wait, wait,
what is where Farah, we're searching. Oh wait, it's Ryan,
that's right Ryan.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Well, Milk was a bad choice.
Speaker 6 (25:24):
I know that.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
You were at the Texas TEXTA A and M game.
I'm talking to the guys a little bit early Andy
about what college football is and for me, and this
can be, of course a projectionist point of mine, since
I called only really the Pac twelve games this year
for the cw SO, a conference that was kind of
left behind. I see it a little bit as the
minor leagues. I didn't follow it that much. Guys are
getting paid. I'd rather see if they're gonna getaid. I'd
(25:49):
rather see him be playing for the Lions or something
like that. But yet, there was one hundred and whatever
twenty thousand people in College Station last week to watch
Texas TEXTA am reknew that that rivalry. Where do you
see the game of college football? What was it like
being there and then watching the twelve team playoff kind
(26:09):
of you know, start to spin this new version of
college football in our eyes.
Speaker 8 (26:14):
It's really interesting how it changed our relationship with games.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
In November, I mean.
Speaker 8 (26:20):
We told the people who wanted to stick to four
and the people who wanted to stick to the BCS
that this would make the November Games more meaningful for
more teams, and they didn't believe us.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Well they believe us.
Speaker 8 (26:30):
Now, Like it really changed the dynamics of everything, because
we would not have been watching Miami Syracuse with nearly
as much interest as we were in the game. I
was at so Texas and Texas and m we're playing
for a spot in the SEC Championship game.
Speaker 6 (26:44):
Yep.
Speaker 8 (26:45):
I mean you got all the trappings of that rivalry,
the fact that they hadn't played since twenty eleven, and
then you add some stakes on top of that.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
It was a beautiful thing.
Speaker 8 (26:54):
Not a beautiful game. Not a beautiful game, but both
defenses much better than most, but then both offenses. But
we did. You to see arch Manning as like the
designated running running quarterback for Texas, which I did not
have arch Manning as the two thousand and six Tim
Tebow on my big o'card for the year.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
But I kind of love it. So don't forget he's
Cooper's kid. He's not Peyton or Eli's kid. Couper was
a receiver, it was a wide receiver. He's got he's
got some ability on that. Andy Staples here joining us
here on the Dan Patrick Show. The Biggest Gripe? What
team may have the biggest gripe so far of being
on the outside looking in and not knowing what this
(27:32):
weekend is going to bridget. But what we found out
here on Tuesday night, I think.
Speaker 8 (27:36):
Ole Miss, Miami, and South Carolina all have the same
gripe because they're not really any different from Alabama. Alabama
is the one they picked to be in that last spot. Now,
Alabama might not get that last spot. If Clemson were
to beat SMU in the a SEC Championship game, they
might leave Alabama there. They might only drop Simmutter there
and drop Alabama out. So we don't exactly know how
(27:58):
that's going to play out. And that has been the
argument raging in college football land all week is you know,
how dare they choose Alabama? This is so stupid. It's
always Alabama. I don't think it's always Alabama. I think
it's Alabama in this case. Is Alabama super deserving? No, No,
three loss team is super deserving. But they all have flaws,
(28:19):
and there's four that are kind of the same, and
they got to pick one, and so that's the one
they're picking.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
It seems like, yeah, is there a team that's most
likely this weekend? I mean, because we've had a conversation
on the show today about, you know, whether or not
these games should even be played. What's the purpose of
playing these games? You know you have I would argue
that Texas is the SEC champion. They have one loss
this season in the SEC that makes them the es.
Speaker 8 (28:43):
They lost to the team that they're going to play
it exactly so exactly.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
That's a big part of that. Is there a team
that you see in the title games tomorrow or on
Friday and Saturday that you see likely to be knocked
out if we're to get that loss.
Speaker 8 (28:58):
So Boise State will be knocked out if they lose
to UNLV on Friday night. That's that's pretty much a
predetermined conclusion. Whether it puts UNLV in or not is
another question. It might, but then if Army beats Tulane,
then there's a probably probably a conversation between you and
LV and Army. But this SMU part is really interesting.
We had RTT Lashley, the head coach from SMU, on
(29:19):
my show today and he said, look, if we all
got COVID and didn't play this game, we'd be in
the playoff. Yet you're saying if we lose to Clemson,
we might be out.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
How is that right?
Speaker 8 (29:31):
And my co host Ariy Wasserman asked him, Hey, if
that happens, if you would if you did lose and
got knocked out, do you think it would change the
way coaches approached these championship games? And reht Last is like, yeah,
I think coaches would do some crazy things at that point,
because if you're in the playoff and you've earned the
right to play an extra game, the thinking is it
(29:53):
shouldn't punish you. Yeah, but yeah, if I were a
coach and I saw that happen to somebody else, it
would make me rethink wanting to play in that game.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
I mean, there's a real argument to be had that,
you know, Ohio State losing may have had a little
bit of a benefit because now, listen, I'd take the
bye for me is a big deal. The bye is
a big deal for me? Is a yeah?
Speaker 6 (30:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (30:12):
That well?
Speaker 8 (30:13):
Also, the five seed is a big deal if you
lost the Big Ten championship game, if you're Ohio State, Yeah,
because the five seed plays the twelve which may not
necessarily be the number twelve team that may be a
conference champion.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
They got raised up to twelve.
Speaker 8 (30:25):
So not only that, who does the five play in.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
The second round and it's trying to play the four?
Speaker 8 (30:32):
The four which is probably not actually number four. It's
some conference champ that got raised, So.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Could be Clemson, I would argue, Yeah, I would argue
that that five seed is probably has an especially if
you didn't play in a conference championship game, has a
nicer path than the one seed, which gets a bye.
Speaker 8 (30:49):
But that eight nine winner is going to be somebody nasty.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
It could be one of those teams that we talked about.
It could be a Georgia, It could be an Old Miss,
could be an Alabama team that is a brutal beat
physical nature and everything like that. So yeah, first year
of playing out, there's going to be a ton of
discussion around what this looks like and where you go
with it and everything like that. National Signing Day when
(31:12):
we're talking with Andy Staples here, National Signing Day was yesterday,
and does it what does it mean now with the
portal opening, what does it mean to and is it
different for certain teams, Like if you are at the
very top of the heap, or if you're somewhere at
the bottom where you're gonna have to develop and maybe
know you're developing for let's say Alabama in a couple
of years.
Speaker 8 (31:32):
You know you're treating it if you're Alabama, Georgia, Ohio
State the same way you always did.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
You go get the best high school players.
Speaker 8 (31:40):
You try to make that the foundation of your program,
especially the big guys like you want to you know,
offensive defensive linemen for the most part, are not going
to come in ready to play, so you try to
stockpile them as best you can. That's not going to
be easy because of the transfer portal. Kids are smart,
you know, they see how this works. And I think
what has happened is those teams can't stockpile the way
(32:02):
they used to. Like Alabama's backups used to be better
than probably everybody ranked below number five, and that's just
not the case anymore. Those guys go, I can just
play somewhere else. I can become a first rounder at Arkansas.
I can become a first rounder at ol Miss. So
why why am I sitting here? And so it's made
the market a lot more efficient. So it's really more
where guys are going to start their careers, whether they
(32:24):
finish them, there is another story. And you know a
lot of ways, it's more fair to me because I'm
so used to covering the coaching carousel, so I'm used
to signing day happens and then oh we forgot, we're
firing the wide receivers coach. I'm sorry you wanted to
play for him.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Oh don't worry about that, but you're stuck here. Well
you're not stuck there anymore. Yeah, you don't have to
be hostage to some whims by adults that have no
real interest in necessarily what you're doing the coaching carousel.
You spoke of what maybe jobs are on the line
(33:01):
this weekend, what jobs are are are maybe opening that
that maybe people may not think are are ones that
could be open here soon.
Speaker 8 (33:10):
This is a weird year, Ryan, because normally there's a
lot more jobs open, and I think a lot of
the Power Conference schools have been afraid to fire their
coaches because you've got revenue sharing with the players coming
next year, so that you're going to have to devote
millions of dollars to that. You don't want to pay
these buys some of the buyots have gotten so ridiculous
that they're they're almost prohibitive. Like Kentucky and Mark Stoops
(33:31):
don't seem to be on the best terms right now,
but they would owe him forty four million dollars within
sixty days. Like, he ain't going anywhere if he doesn't
want to go somewhere right So, like the best jobs
open right now are North Carolina, Purdue, UCF in West Virginia,
and they're still looking for coaches. I think, you know
some of those some of those schools are considering coaches
who are coaching in championship games this weekend, So probably
(33:53):
get a little movement on that after the weekend. But
you know, I think everybody's looking at Columbus right now. Obviously,
Ryan Day's in the playoff. He's not going anywhere. I
don't think Ohio State is firing Ryan Day. But Ryan
Day has a Michigan problem, and he has to decide
what to do going forward once this season ends. About
that Michigan problem, I'm guessing that he just wants to
(34:15):
try to fix it. But you got to be careful
because he's varying very dangerously into John Cooper territory.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Right now. It's so strange. It's so strange how that
game transpired on Saturday. I mean I watched it in
a I covered I called the Oregon Michigan game earlier
in the year, and yeah, and they played pretty good
at times, but it didn't matter High State. I watched
the Ohio State Oregon game as well, and that's a
completely different football team in terms of mindset and coaching.
Speaker 8 (34:43):
What was shocking to me was Ohio State tried to
meet Michigan on its own terms. Like why meet Michigan
on Michigan's terms? Dictate the terms? Like you have Jeremiah Smith,
who is the best wide receiver in the country. He
might be, well, he's not yet, but in a few
years he will be the best wide receiver in the world.
Like within probably four years, year two in the NFL,
(35:06):
he will be the best wide receiver in the world.
They target him twice. Yeah, Like, do the things that
you're good at. Don't try to beat Michigan in its
own game.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
It just it's dumbfounding to me. I'd be remiss if
having you on you and I talking about our friend
Trevor Moat. Oh, yeah, you wrote or co wrote the
book with him, It Takes what It Takes and and
and you know how important Trevor was to me. But
(35:36):
but I think you would have a really unique voice
in the understanding of what transpired over the last couple
of years with Denver and Russell Wilson because you were
intrinsically taught this this neutral thinking because you had to
write about it, and so the understanding of that, and
I've tried to make it across that that Russell may
be the best of anybody who's ever done the neutral
(35:57):
thinking aspect of things of what him and Trevor tried to.
Speaker 8 (36:00):
So Trevor was Russell's mental coach, Yes, cognitive, but Russell
Russell kind of designed a lot of this and gave
a name to it. And you know, Trevor and I
wrote it Takes what It Takes. And then as as
Trevor was fighting cancer, we wrote getting to Neutral, which
we kind of wove in the pandemic and like how
because we saw a lot of people in the real
world trying to have to wrestle with the stuff that
(36:21):
that Trevor had to deal with with athletes at a
different level.
Speaker 2 (36:24):
Yep.
Speaker 8 (36:25):
And it was wild watching Russell in Denver, because it
was like, if I think if Trevor we're able to
talk to him and able to they were able to
talk about thinking neutrally and how to deal with these situations,
I think it would have gone better. But I do
feel like when I hear Russ talk when I see
(36:45):
him playing in Pittsburgh, that he's getting back to that now.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Well, and he tried it's trying to watch. Yeah, he
tried to compartmentalize, and I think a lot of times
when you are in that neutral thinking, because this is
also the logic that I used with with the way
Trevor worked with me. You know, once I walked out
of prison ten years ago, and I would be nowhere
I am today if it weren't for him and what
he did for me. But you know, Russell can come
(37:09):
off like a simulation sometimes and it's just because it's this,
it's it's this maintaining a certain thing, and he's the
best that that's done it. And I just thought that
would you know, I'm usually the one talking about it
when I come on and talk about Russell, And you
wrote the book with Trevor and you were perfectly situated
to talk about it.
Speaker 8 (37:26):
I am so glad you brought that up because it's
it's one of those things and I was going back
through it takes what it takes in getting your neutral
the other day because I think about Trevor a lot,
and that stuff has helped me so much in my
own life, just raising kids, you know, doing doing the
things you have to do to live life. And for
(37:47):
those who don't know, neutral thinking is a basically you know,
the power of positive thinking, very popular.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
Book motivational speaker. It's not positive. We just don't allow
negative thoughts ever to enter our right. It's basically you
you don't allow negative thoughts. You don't verbalize negative thoughts.
You just say, hey, here's what I know, here's what I.
Speaker 8 (38:07):
Can do, this is what I can You'd be yeah,
you'd be shocked how much easier it makes life.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
If that's how you're thinking, I don't. I mean, it's
it changed my life, bro. I mean, you've gotten to
know me. You know, you met me eight years ago,
nine years ago we covered the Clemson Alabama game together
down in uh in Uh Santa Clara. I just I don't.
I don't let anything negative creep into my mind. And
it's hard you know, especially with with the way the
(38:36):
way the world works and they want to uh talk
to you about your life, you know, and so and
for Russell to do that, and I think that that
got lost a little bit in Denver, and I think
we're just giving it given some context. You know, everybody
in Pittsburgh has seen and and what what it's come from.
But I just thought I would would put that out.
Speaker 8 (38:52):
It's fun to watch like that. Yeah, that whole situation
has been fascinating. The justin feels to Russ.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
And all look at that.
Speaker 8 (39:00):
So Russ, Russ, that's like a Jack Lambert Russell Wilson Jersey.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
So Russ sent me away and home Jersey this year
and I couldn't. I couldn't break him out until he
got healthy. And I was just like, I think I
might have been the only one that actually said that
this is a super Bowl team with a confident quarterback
at play. So we'll see, we'll see.
Speaker 8 (39:18):
Let's get George Pickens outder control first.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
But well, you know, George Pickens is the talent of
Antonio Brown in the eyes of Mike Tomlin. And if
I've talked to him before, and it's like, you know,
the talent. When it becomes an issue where it got
to with Antonio Brown and I had to ship him out,
That's that's when it Until that time, the talent is
so overwhelming for everybody. That's that's why they were putting
up with it.
Speaker 8 (39:39):
And Mike Tomlins the one guy you trust to get
that out of it.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
And I trust it and I trust it and because
I know that he knows when it's over, he'll pull
the pluck and he has and that's why he's still
the coach and why everybody trusts him and stuff like that.
So I could talk to you all day.
Speaker 6 (39:51):
Man.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
I miss you, brother. It's good to see you. Thanks
for hopping on with us today. Thank you, Ryan, I
appreciate it. Yep, good to see you, Andy Staples.
Speaker 6 (39:58):
Everybody
You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox
Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Lomas Brown, seven time pro bowler, legend for the Lions,
he joins us now to talk about the Lions Packers matchup. Almost.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
How we doing today, Buddy, I'm doing great, Ryan, Ryan,
you look good.
Speaker 4 (00:18):
My good many slim. I'm like, wow, you look good, Ryan.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yeah, that'll happen when you had decided to have kids
in your in your fifties. Uh, well almost so do you.
I mean, I mean, what was your plane weight, man,
you were probably low three hundreds.
Speaker 5 (00:33):
Yeah, my first six years, I was three fifteen. My
last twelve years in the league with between two seventy
five and two eighties. So yeah, you're right about that.
Speaker 6 (00:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I mean it goes to show when you see a
lot of those uh former NFL offensive linement. I mean,
to keep that weight on, to stay that strong and
physical and be that you know, presence in the in
the trenches is huge.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
Yeah, it really is.
Speaker 5 (01:00):
And you see a lot of these guys, man, you
see Joe Thomas and all these guys now and they've
dropped all that weight.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
But like you say, Ryan, is just necessary.
Speaker 5 (01:10):
To carry that weight. Why you in the league once
you get out the league, man, let it go.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Let it go. If you're a big fellaw.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
I couldn't get over on. I was there Thursday in
Detroit calling the game for Westwood One, and I don't
know if it was just me, but the offensive line
for the Detroit Lions seemingly feels like they're giants. I mean,
they're just tall, athletic. They don't have like the dad
bought offensive lineman either. It's just it's rough and rugged.
(01:40):
Speaking of that Thursday game, hadn't won a Thanksgiving game
since twenty sixteen, was dominating first half kick field goals
rather than got touchdowns against the Bears team that is
very good in the red zone defensively, but then fell
apart in the stuff. What did you see from that game, Lomas,
terms of a you found a way to win it,
(02:02):
but that second half was a trend of what the
Lions have been around this time of year every year
for the last you know, since twenty sixteen.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
Yeah, no, you're right about that, and that's how it's
gonna be the rest of this season.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
And we got divisional games left, like you said, the
night with.
Speaker 5 (02:19):
Green Bay, and then we got Chicago coming again, and
we got Minnesota again.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
So all these games are gonna be this way. It
won't be. I don't think it's gonna be any more blowouts.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
I don't think you're gonna see us blowing teams out
like we did a few weeks back. I think all
these games gonna be tough, competitive games because we know
each other so well. And like you said, with that
Chicago game, man, it started off with us moving the
ball but not being able to put up seven points
when we need when we got in the red zone,
(02:52):
settling for three points and finding a way, like you said,
in the end, with some help from Matt Eberflutes. I said,
he gave us a little help, but we were able
to overcome that, not going to overtime and win that game.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
So again we can expect help like that from the
head coach.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
These are games we're gonna have to go on too
from the start, and we're going to have to be
able to finish these games.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
This football team has been transformed under Dan Campbell. Uh
and and thankful that the decision makers there in Detroit
didn't get, you know, an itchy trigger finger when things
weren't going right right away, and you played during the
time where you had, you know, the best running back
(03:36):
to maybe ever play and you just couldn't seem to
quite get over the top. And it was the Lions.
This is different. This this team is actually the highest
odds to make the Super Bowl in the NFC, first
time ever in NFL history. What's it like to have
seen that change there in Detroit with Dan Campbell at
the helm and everybody follows suit, maybe slowly but surely,
(03:59):
but the fan base is all the teams certainly had
to believe before anybody else.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Yeah, it's been great. It's been great to see it.
Speaker 5 (04:06):
And just think about the job that not only him,
but Brad Holmes and Sheila Hampford. Just think of the
job they had to do because Ryan, they had to
change the whole culture. It wasn't just a team and
an organization. They had to change the whole culture around
the Detroit Lions.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Because it was same old Lions.
Speaker 5 (04:25):
The fans expected us to lose tight games or to find.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
A way to lose a game.
Speaker 5 (04:30):
You know, it was always, yeah, they gonna get there,
but they're not gonna complete the job. Now it's so
different now with the influx of guys that we brought in.
This is a team now you have to be able
to fit being a Lion.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Now.
Speaker 5 (04:45):
It wasn't like that before anybody could play for the Lions.
It's not like that anymore. And to be honest with you,
who deserves it more are the fans, because the fans
have been suffering for so long. Ryan, it was thirty
something years years ago when I was here the last
time we went to in a you know, other than
the last year when we went to a NFC championship game.
(05:07):
We've never been to the super Bowl. We don't know
what that's like. So we've been suffering a long time.
And like I say, I feel so good for the
fans around here because they finally have something to really
really cheer about.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
We're speaking with Lomas Brown, seven time Pro bowler for
the Detroit Lions, and the analyst tonight's broadcast. This Packers
team a year ago on Thanksgiving, like this was the
same time about last year. They came in. No one
expected them. I think they were sizeable underdog, and Jordan
Love and this Lion or this Packers team found a
(05:41):
way and then they kind of went on a run
that got them into a position into the playoffs. What's
this game like? Uh, you know, after the last week,
a full week off since Thanksgiving? What do you think
the most important thing for Detroit to stop this? Lie
to this, this Packers team is going to be the.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Biggest thing for us tonight is for us to stop
their run game. Stop Josh Jacobs. That's the biggest thing
we're gonna have to do. Because they want to run
the ball. That's their identity, just like it's the identity
of the Detroit Lions. That's what we do. We establish
the run, Jared Golf and all the rest of the weapons,
(06:21):
then they can do what they need to do once
the run has been established. So us with us being
beat up on the D line, my goodness, run five
our D line that won't play tonight.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
So we're really really beat up.
Speaker 5 (06:35):
So if I'm Green Bay, that's where I'm trying to
attack the Detroit Lions with my inside run game and
see how we hold up against that. So, to me,
the biggest thing we're gonna have to do defensively stop
to run. The biggest thing offensively we're gonna have to
do is put up seven points when.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
We get in the red zone.
Speaker 5 (06:56):
We're gonna have to outscore the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Exactly right. I mean, you knew that the Bears weren't
going to score in the first half last week, it
just it was not in the cards. So three points
were okay. But this is going to be a different
story tonight. Lomas, thank you so good to see you.
Thanks for taking time today and being a part of
the show.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Ryan's goods. Then you thanks for having me man.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yes, sir Lomas Brown. Everybody seven time pro bowler for
the said Detroit Lions played against him when I was
with the Dallas Cowboys went up to Detroit playing against
Barry Sanders, who that was something special. But he's exactly right.
I Mean, there's like the idea around what do you
fear most? You know, do you fear the two teams
(07:38):
that are right behind you in the division or anybody
outside the division? Because the NFC West and the NFC
East or the NFC South, they're just they're just fighting
over each other at six and six or so to
get into the playoff and get a first round playoff game.
The Philadelphia Eagles they're a different story.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (07:57):
The Eagles are just won eighth straight. Yeah, and they
cooled off a lot at the end of last season
and a lot of people were down on them to
start this season. If you had to pick that game
today Eagles Lions, you.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Know, this would not have been the answer that I
would have given probably two or three weeks ago. But
after seeing the Eagles dismantle I don't care how close
that score was last week against the Baltimore Ravens, guys,
they dismantled Baltimore. That was a beatdown. That was an
early onslaught of just accepting what was happening and then
just putting your foot down on the gas and driving
through everything, you know. And I was I was very
(08:33):
critical of their head coach early on. I was like, hey,
you know, he seems to be Nick Sirianni. Seems to
be the liability on this football team with some of
the decisions. You recall the Jacksonville Jaguars game, like he
did everything in his power. I felt like to find
a way to lose that game, and the defense and
(08:54):
na Kobe Dean found a way to win it, you know,
And I was like, hey, do they really need him?
I mean, they got Kellen Moore, they got Vic Vangio,
you know, and the answers for most people were Howie Roseman,
it's his puppet, and so how he needs him there
to do what he needs is bidding for. But then
there's just this fight and this continuation being beat up,
(09:14):
injuries offensively, Davonte Smith being out, AJ Brown being out, Yeah,
Saquon Barkley, I mean a running back position. For whatever
it's worth, it depends on what team you're on. Dude's
been so special. He's been the difference in this football team.
He's allowed Jalen Hurts. There's so much off the plate
of Jalen Hurts this year. And then defensively, they've gotten better.
(09:35):
Those young guys that maybe struggled a little bit last
year trying to find in their way, they drafted well.
So I'm going to say it if I had to
pick a game right now for the NFC Championship to
get to the Super Bowl, the way the teams are
playing right now, and maybe Detroit can change my opinion
after the Knight's performance. Right now, it's the Philadelphia Eagles
that the performance against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday was
(09:57):
one of the most impressive performances I think I've seen
from a from a team that people were a little
skeptical of for a team that a lot of people
have a ton of confidence in, Holly, is.
Speaker 7 (10:07):
There a third best team? I mean there is, but
to you the third most threatening team in the NFC,
you know, I.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Would have said the Atlanta Falcons about five weeks ago.
Four weeks ago, and they've just absolutely turned tail and run.
I'd be a little fearful of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Speaker 7 (10:19):
Tampa Bay is six and six, they've won two in
a row, and they're the only team in the NFC
South that's outscored their opponents this year.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
They had a lot of close losses in the first
half of the season. Yeah, I mean, Baker Mayfield is
an absolute stud. I mean that team, that team would
that team would walk through traffic, like five o'clock traffic
in l A. They're walking through it for Baker Mayfield.
You know, you know they're they're they're forced to go
(10:46):
to a bachelotte party on a on a Sunday and
in the fall. Uh, they're doing that for Baker Mayfield. Yeah, yeah, Yeah,
they're totally doing that. A kid's birthday party whatever the
atte party, kids birthday party doesn't matter, Like this, This
team would would bend over backwards for him. They're they're
willing to jump on the lawsuit to sue his dad too.
There's they're they're they're all in it. They're all in
(11:07):
it everybody. It has been uh that that's the team
in the NFC, the Packers of course, the Vikings. The
Vikings just find a ways to win. Kevin O'Connell, he's
got it down. He figures out ways to win. That
defense with Brian Flores, they do some fun thing. I mean,
I think the NFC is going to be very interesting
(11:28):
this year, very interesting AFC two. But the Detroit Lions
has been the best team. Jared Goff for me, was
the MVP for a long time. I think probably stepped
off that m VP bus when the five interception game happened.
Speaker 6 (11:40):
Though.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
They found a way to win, and then he came
back and turned around through like five touchdowns the next week,
So he knows how to overcome that's for sure. Ironically,
it would be completely unbelievable if what Sean mcvagh did
to exile him to Detroit, to bring in Matthew Stafford
to win a Super Bowl, to then watch Jared Goff
ultimately win a Super Bowl in Detroit where it's never
happened before, where Matthew Stafford couldn't do it. I mean,
(12:04):
I think that would be an incredible thirty for thirty
everybody marvith If the Lions win the Super Bowl, who
gets a statue? Dan Campbell or Jared Golf? Oh one statue?
Oh that's Dan Campbell. It's got to give it to
coach because he because he you know, he he referenced
biting kneecaps, and I think if you're in Detroit, Jared
(12:26):
hasn't said much. Jared is like, you know, very stoic
and just kind of goes about his business. And then
you go to Dan and Dan's like, yeah, I'm I'm
you know, I'm the waiter at Applebee's. I'm freaking biting kneecaps,
I'm doing all this stuff seating.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
It really feels like he is the identity of that team,
and everybody has bought in one hundred percent. You know,
there's no question who the figure ahead is there and
who the guy is.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
So I'm on the field last week pregame and I
walk up to Jared and I talked to Jared a
little bit and then I'm walking around and talk to
am and Ross Saint Brown, and then I see the
offensive lineman. I talked to Piney Sewell and I see
these giants. But guess what, there's even a bigger giant
standing right in the middle of them, walking around talking
each to one of them. It's Dan camp Does he
lift before the game? And he gets a pumped on me?
He looks like he might. It looks like he does,
(13:13):
but I think that he's I think that's just natural Dan.
I think it's natural Dan. Okay, you guys, talked to
you guys.
Speaker 7 (13:18):
I agree with you that if there is a statue
for the Lions, it's Dan Campbell. Any chance you could
have co statues like they did in Philadelphia, it's Doug
Peterson and Nick Foles together calling that Philly special play.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
That's the statue off the Super Bowl, Well, there would
have to be some sort of corroborating play or something
that existed between Dan and Jared. I think that that
would have to be the corroborating statue Otherwise, otherwise, right now,
it's Dan Campbell and Dan Campbell.
Speaker 7 (13:44):
Is there anything more weird in sports that Nick Foles
has a statue? Outside of stadium? Is that the weirdest
thing in sports? If I said it ten years ago.
Mike Foles, Well, I think as.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
A fan, yes, as a former quarterback and having watched
him from Arizona stuff, I'm like, I always always knew
he was capable of something like that, but the running,
so it's not and it's not it's not super foreign
for me. It's weird. Well, he he has the weirdest
pro career.
Speaker 7 (14:08):
All I love that twenty five touchdown, two interception season. Yeah,
then it didn't work out for a while. Then Carson
Wentz gets hurt and he leads him to a super
Bowl in the season they thought was over.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
I mean, the show just goes to show h You know,
any player who gets it to the NFL the quarterback
level is capable of doing that if they make a
run and they have a team behind him like they
had that year in Philly. And so I love it.
I absolutely love it. For Nick Foles. I recruited him
when I was coaching in college. Uh he you know,
initially went to Michigan State before he got went to Arizona.
(14:39):
And he's from a little on, not a little one.
He's from a very you know. Uh, he's from Austin
Westlake in uh In, Austin, Texas, where Drew Brees went
as well. Very quarterback heavy. All right, we got to
go because when we come back, we're gonna all right,
we're gonna jump into some I here, there's some random
football questions going to be coming my way, very random,
(15:00):
very random. All right, all right, we'll find out here.
Thanks for listening, everybody. You're listening to the Dan Patrick Shoan.
Rianley filling in will be right back.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan
Patrick Show week days at nine am Eastern six am
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio WAPP.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Derwin James All pro safety for my Los Angeles Chargers
joins us. Now, I was just telling everybody Derwin about
I lived in LA for the last seven years. Man,
I know what traffic. Traffic's like. You know, you get compipited.
Speaker 6 (15:31):
Man.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
How are you doing this morning?
Speaker 6 (15:32):
I'm doing good, man. How y'all doing?
Speaker 2 (15:34):
We're doing well. We're doing well. It's been a lot
of fun to watch you guys this year. Jesse mentor
you know, is just kind of untapped. A little bit
of it looks like you guys are having just so
much fun flying around young guys, guys that people really
don't know. And then you at the out there is
the kind of the stalwart on the back end. Just
talk about how much fun it's been this year to
(15:55):
play under this new defensive coordinator.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Man I can't stop smiling every day come into the building.
It's just deciding to come to work with these man
Not only did the coaches, but the players. It's just
every since Opa, we've been just working on butt off
just to go out there and compete. And we finally
found a few the results that we've been putting in
and we just want to keep going hard. And Coach Mentor,
man I can't say nothing but great things about him.
(16:18):
He's a man, one of a kind. Man I haven't
been around a coach like him and coach Harball.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
So you you you spoke incredibly eyely of jimbo Fisher,
You're head coach in college. I spent like five seasons
with him every fall football genius. I mean, when you
when you find guys that can flip that switch in you,
Jim Harbaugh shows up. There's a different mentality as a
former player. Jesse Mentor you see guys acting different. I mean,
(16:45):
I'm watching justin this year. There's like a little swagger
with him. He's throwing a touchdown, he's doing some things.
I mean, what's the locker It just it's allowed the
locker room to be a little freer, it feels, and
it comes across.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Yes, sir, everybody's playing free, nobody's playing up tight, and
we just create that family environment. Coach Harball, he's you
got the families that practice on Friday Saturdays. They's just
careting the family environment that I've never been around in
the NFL in my seven years. So man, it's just
been a lot of fun. And when you can make
it about family, man, you just want to go that
much harder for that person, and offense get along with offense.
(17:20):
Defense get along, and it's just the whole team coming together.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
It's it's incredibly different when you walk into an atmosphere
like that. I remember that with when I was in
Tampa with Tony Dungeye, Like you just go from a
coaching staff that's that's so welcoming in terms of what
makes things easion. You wonder why that hasn't always been
the case, because you want your guys to be the
most you know, relaxed going into football games. Talk to
me about the Atlanta game. I mean, these games this
(17:45):
year kind of fit the Harbaugh mold. Right. It's offense
trying to run the football, hold people back. But defense
really had to close out that game. Talk about that
kind of final play. They went empty. They brought Drake
London over the cross in the middle, he kind of
stumbles and you just you just knew they had to
get to a point. You stepped right in front of
an end of the game with that, with that interception.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
First of all, I feel like coach did a great
job all day calling great plays. I feel like we
was in position to make all the plays we.
Speaker 6 (18:12):
Needed to make.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
And like you said, I just seen seeing Drake London
in the plot and as soon as I see them
released the bar, just try to make a play on
it for my team. And like I said, Coach made
a great call. And all year long, keys just making
great calls. And as a defense, I feel like we
just coming that much closer than where we want to be.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Yeah, you get the goes up front, getting after the
quarterback Bosa. Uh that that crew, It's it's been fun
to watch as a former Charger to see that defense
kind of going back into Rodney Harrison Junior say out days,
that's that's some fun era of football. And we watched
the Alscheizier uh Alshire hit on on Trevor Lawrence. As
a defender, they've made it incredibly difficult on you guys
(18:52):
in terms of what the heck is the quarterback going
to do. Is you're trying to make a little move
to get a few more yards, to pick up a
first down, to extend a drive, to end a game
you got suspended earlier, and Coach Harbor was incredibly disappointed,
as was I think a lot of people that watch football,
realistic football, how tough is it to make decisions in
the moment they'll split seconds to make those tackles and
(19:13):
do the right thing. In the eyes of Park Avenue
in New York City.
Speaker 6 (19:19):
It's extremely hard.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Like you say, you're playing a game at a fast speed,
a fast tempo, and as a defender, you're going to
just try to get the guy down and sometimes the
angle can change. The guy can see you duck sometimes and.
Speaker 6 (19:31):
It's just like we got to adjust.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Like I said, they want to clean up the game man,
And like I said, I'm all for it, man, and
I'm trying to find new ways to get better myself.
I'm still working at it, and I just love to
play man honestly man. Like I say, it's definitely hard
on the defenders, I feel like, especially because you don't
know if he's gonna fly, you don't want to give
up the first down as a defender.
Speaker 6 (19:51):
So it's just tough.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Yeah, they put you in a tough spot. They put
you in an absolutely crazy tough spot in terms of
what you have to do. Speaking of co Charbaugh, so
I don't know if you know this. So Coach Arbaugh
was my backup in San Diego. He taught me. When
he taught me how to be a professional. You know,
(20:12):
it was that quarterback room was crazy. If he could
have been a player coach, I bet you we win
a ton more games if he had been able to
be a coach. What's it been like to have him again?
And does he how active is he?
Speaker 6 (20:24):
Like?
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Is he out there slinging the ball around? Is he
catching the ball? I mean, how like? How physical is
he with you guys? In practice? Seems like a lot
of fun and it looks like he's doing it.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
I feel like coach Harball is all in man, honestly.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
Man.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Ever since ot As he's been pulling sleds man, honestly,
since he's been working out every fourth quarter drill no lie,
like he's he's over there doing manuals with us. Man,
he's really and he has his cleat on its cleek
game is crazy. He got all the different Jordan's, Man,
it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
So man, his his Jordan game from his time in Michigan.
That's what that said.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
Yeah, yeah, he had his cleats on, man and he
all in it man. Like you say here a player
coach manning every day i'scribed to be like, I'm like
a leader. Man. When it comes to that leader ability
to affect the whole room and the whole organization, I
feel like he's one of a cond when it come
to that.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Yeah, his track record, he goes places, you win, you
get a chance to win a championship, That is his
track record. It makes me laugh. You've been around Justin
for so long. I go and I go away and
play golf with Justin every summer, and you know he's
the kindest, most kind of under unassuming killers. That's a
really good way to put it. He's an unassuming killer.
(21:34):
He'll go out and rip your heart out with the
way he can throw the football and be a leader.
But did you see the video of when when coach
Harba did the pregame thing with the quarterbacks he likes
to do where he hits him on the shoulders and
they touched you like justin didn't know what was coming.
And he's trying to like be in it too, but
it looks so awkward. What's the strangest kind of pregame
thing that coaches kind of come over and batted you
(21:56):
up and gets you ready physically. What has he done
to get you fired up?
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Well, yeah, the same thing. Like I've been a time
where he just came and hit me on the bat.
Let's go, I need your best, let's go, let's go.
So he always just trying to get us ready to go, man,
Especially that pregame speech in the locker room.
Speaker 6 (22:10):
It's no speeches like hatball speeches. Man.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
He always got one of a con for you.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
You guys get to see the Chiefs again here soon
they're the team at the top. I've never felt like
the Chargers have ever in any way fear the Chiefs
to Narrowhead or whatever. What's it like going up against
Patrick Mahomes as an All Pro safety? And you know,
how important is it for your team? I think entering
the playoffs to defeat a very good AFC team, the
(22:36):
Ravens had a chance a week could go with you guys.
When you get a chance to the Chiefs and the
teams that you're probably gonna meet in the playoffs down
the stretch, how important is it you guys to show
up and play well.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
First of all, it's always a sighting to go against
the Chiefs. I feel like the games come down to
the end every time. And like you said, we have
to go in on the road and be able to
beat those type of teams because if you want to
go where we want to go in the playoffs far,
those are the type of teams you have to beat.
And I trust every man in his locker room, from offense,
(23:05):
defense to special teams, and I know we're preparing that
way and I can't wait till the game Funday night.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
The You know, you get to play a really cool
position because you go up against some of the greatest
players at the receiver position, in the tight end position,
catch us the running backs out of the backfield. But
is there a get you out of this with with
this question here?
Speaker 8 (23:24):
Is there an.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Underrated player that that people don't talk about that that
maybe like you know, when you go into a game
against someone like that or maybe even somebody on your
team when you're going up against him in practice, that
that that it's going to give you fits. He's going
to be a player that that not everybody's talking about
Anna Travis Kelsey, but this guy and and uh, I
think that's a that's a pretty cool thing when when
you know who you're going up against every single.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Week, I have to say probably a lat mccunkie. Uh,
just going against him from training camp, I feel like
his track where I speaking for himself, this season lead
all rookies in receiving yards, So man, I feel like
he's he's doing a great job and open man and
becoming that receiver one.
Speaker 6 (24:02):
And then Dayon.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Henley on defense, uh out there him a big pooning
in the middle. So just those three guys, I feel
like a lot of shout outs to those boys. They've
been making a lot of plays just under the radar.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Dayon Henley everybody, I don't know if you know this
or not, but he's a Washington State cougar. Make sure
you uh can give him a shout out for me
today when you see him. All right, yes, sir, all right,
Derwin James, everybody, thanks for joining us, buddy, appreciate it,
Thank you man.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Our next guest is gonna be uh college football analyst
and he covers college football for on three Sports as well.
Good friend of mine. I haven't talked to him. I
haven't spoken to him in years, it feels like. But
Andy Staples joins the show. Andy, what's going on?
Speaker 6 (24:52):
Buddy?
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Right? He never right?
Speaker 8 (24:55):
He never called.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Yeah, we do a tax occasionally though we do chat.
Speaker 6 (24:58):
Well.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Well, you usually pointed out to everybody that why are
we listening to Will Ferrell call a football game tonight?
Speaker 8 (25:04):
It happens to me sometimes, Yeah, where I am I
am in one of those multi box situations.
Speaker 6 (25:10):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
And of course unless.
Speaker 8 (25:12):
It's like the beginning of a quarter, they're not showing
your faces. And at first I'll be like, wait, wait,
what is where Farah, we're searching. Oh wait, it's Ryan,
that's right Ryan.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Well, Milk was a bad choice.
Speaker 6 (25:24):
I know that.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
You were at the Texas TEXTA A and M game.
I'm talking to the guys a little bit early Andy
about what college football is and for me, and this
can be, of course a projectionist point of mine, since
I called only really the Pac twelve games this year
for the cw SO, a conference that was kind of
left behind. I see it a little bit as the
minor leagues. I didn't follow it that much. Guys are
getting paid. I'd rather see if they're gonna getaid. I'd
(25:49):
rather see him be playing for the Lions or something
like that. But yet, there was one hundred and whatever
twenty thousand people in College Station last week to watch
Texas TEXTA am reknew that that rivalry. Where do you
see the game of college football? What was it like
being there and then watching the twelve team playoff kind
(26:09):
of you know, start to spin this new version of
college football in our eyes.
Speaker 8 (26:14):
It's really interesting how it changed our relationship with games.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
In November, I mean.
Speaker 8 (26:20):
We told the people who wanted to stick to four
and the people who wanted to stick to the BCS
that this would make the November Games more meaningful for
more teams, and they didn't believe us.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Well they believe us.
Speaker 8 (26:30):
Now, Like it really changed the dynamics of everything, because
we would not have been watching Miami Syracuse with nearly
as much interest as we were in the game. I
was at so Texas and Texas and m we're playing
for a spot in the SEC Championship game.
Speaker 6 (26:44):
Yep.
Speaker 8 (26:45):
I mean you got all the trappings of that rivalry,
the fact that they hadn't played since twenty eleven, and
then you add some stakes on top of that.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
It was a beautiful thing.
Speaker 8 (26:54):
Not a beautiful game. Not a beautiful game, but both
defenses much better than most, but then both offenses. But
we did. You to see arch Manning as like the
designated running running quarterback for Texas, which I did not
have arch Manning as the two thousand and six Tim
Tebow on my big o'card for the year.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
But I kind of love it. So don't forget he's
Cooper's kid. He's not Peyton or Eli's kid. Couper was
a receiver, it was a wide receiver. He's got he's
got some ability on that. Andy Staples here joining us
here on the Dan Patrick Show. The Biggest Gripe? What
team may have the biggest gripe so far of being
on the outside looking in and not knowing what this
(27:32):
weekend is going to bridget. But what we found out
here on Tuesday night, I think.
Speaker 8 (27:36):
Ole Miss, Miami, and South Carolina all have the same
gripe because they're not really any different from Alabama. Alabama
is the one they picked to be in that last spot. Now,
Alabama might not get that last spot. If Clemson were
to beat SMU in the a SEC Championship game, they
might leave Alabama there. They might only drop Simmutter there
and drop Alabama out. So we don't exactly know how
(27:58):
that's going to play out. And that has been the
argument raging in college football land all week is you know,
how dare they choose Alabama? This is so stupid. It's
always Alabama. I don't think it's always Alabama. I think
it's Alabama in this case. Is Alabama super deserving? No, No,
three loss team is super deserving. But they all have flaws,
(28:19):
and there's four that are kind of the same, and
they got to pick one, and so that's the one
they're picking.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
It seems like, yeah, is there a team that's most
likely this weekend? I mean, because we've had a conversation
on the show today about, you know, whether or not
these games should even be played. What's the purpose of
playing these games? You know you have I would argue
that Texas is the SEC champion. They have one loss
this season in the SEC that makes them the es.
Speaker 8 (28:43):
They lost to the team that they're going to play
it exactly so exactly.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
That's a big part of that. Is there a team
that you see in the title games tomorrow or on
Friday and Saturday that you see likely to be knocked
out if we're to get that loss.
Speaker 8 (28:58):
So Boise State will be knocked out if they lose
to UNLV on Friday night. That's that's pretty much a
predetermined conclusion. Whether it puts UNLV in or not is
another question. It might, but then if Army beats Tulane,
then there's a probably probably a conversation between you and
LV and Army. But this SMU part is really interesting.
We had RTT Lashley, the head coach from SMU, on
(29:19):
my show today and he said, look, if we all
got COVID and didn't play this game, we'd be in
the playoff. Yet you're saying if we lose to Clemson,
we might be out.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
How is that right?
Speaker 8 (29:31):
And my co host Ariy Wasserman asked him, Hey, if
that happens, if you would if you did lose and
got knocked out, do you think it would change the
way coaches approached these championship games? And reht Last is like, yeah,
I think coaches would do some crazy things at that point,
because if you're in the playoff and you've earned the
right to play an extra game, the thinking is it
(29:53):
shouldn't punish you. Yeah, but yeah, if I were a
coach and I saw that happen to somebody else, it
would make me rethink wanting to play in that game.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
I mean, there's a real argument to be had that,
you know, Ohio State losing may have had a little
bit of a benefit because now, listen, I'd take the
bye for me is a big deal. The bye is
a big deal for me? Is a yeah?
Speaker 6 (30:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (30:12):
That well?
Speaker 8 (30:13):
Also, the five seed is a big deal if you
lost the Big Ten championship game, if you're Ohio State, Yeah,
because the five seed plays the twelve which may not
necessarily be the number twelve team that may be a
conference champion.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
They got raised up to twelve.
Speaker 8 (30:25):
So not only that, who does the five play in.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
The second round and it's trying to play the four?
Speaker 8 (30:32):
The four which is probably not actually number four. It's
some conference champ that got raised, So.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Could be Clemson, I would argue, Yeah, I would argue
that that five seed is probably has an especially if
you didn't play in a conference championship game, has a
nicer path than the one seed, which gets a bye.
Speaker 8 (30:49):
But that eight nine winner is going to be somebody nasty.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
It could be one of those teams that we talked about.
It could be a Georgia, It could be an Old Miss,
could be an Alabama team that is a brutal beat
physical nature and everything like that. So yeah, first year
of playing out, there's going to be a ton of
discussion around what this looks like and where you go
with it and everything like that. National Signing Day when
(31:12):
we're talking with Andy Staples here, National Signing Day was yesterday,
and does it what does it mean now with the
portal opening, what does it mean to and is it
different for certain teams, Like if you are at the
very top of the heap, or if you're somewhere at
the bottom where you're gonna have to develop and maybe
know you're developing for let's say Alabama in a couple
of years.
Speaker 8 (31:32):
You know you're treating it if you're Alabama, Georgia, Ohio
State the same way you always did.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
You go get the best high school players.
Speaker 8 (31:40):
You try to make that the foundation of your program,
especially the big guys like you want to you know,
offensive defensive linemen for the most part, are not going
to come in ready to play, so you try to
stockpile them as best you can. That's not going to
be easy because of the transfer portal. Kids are smart,
you know, they see how this works. And I think
what has happened is those teams can't stockpile the way
(32:02):
they used to. Like Alabama's backups used to be better
than probably everybody ranked below number five, and that's just
not the case anymore. Those guys go, I can just
play somewhere else. I can become a first rounder at Arkansas.
I can become a first rounder at ol Miss. So
why why am I sitting here? And so it's made
the market a lot more efficient. So it's really more
where guys are going to start their careers, whether they
(32:24):
finish them, there is another story. And you know a
lot of ways, it's more fair to me because I'm
so used to covering the coaching carousel, so I'm used
to signing day happens and then oh we forgot, we're
firing the wide receivers coach. I'm sorry you wanted to
play for him.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Oh don't worry about that, but you're stuck here. Well
you're not stuck there anymore. Yeah, you don't have to
be hostage to some whims by adults that have no
real interest in necessarily what you're doing the coaching carousel.
You spoke of what maybe jobs are on the line
(33:01):
this weekend, what jobs are are are maybe opening that
that maybe people may not think are are ones that
could be open here soon.
Speaker 8 (33:10):
This is a weird year, Ryan, because normally there's a
lot more jobs open, and I think a lot of
the Power Conference schools have been afraid to fire their
coaches because you've got revenue sharing with the players coming
next year, so that you're going to have to devote
millions of dollars to that. You don't want to pay
these buys some of the buyots have gotten so ridiculous
that they're they're almost prohibitive. Like Kentucky and Mark Stoops
(33:31):
don't seem to be on the best terms right now,
but they would owe him forty four million dollars within
sixty days. Like, he ain't going anywhere if he doesn't
want to go somewhere right So, like the best jobs
open right now are North Carolina, Purdue, UCF in West Virginia,
and they're still looking for coaches. I think, you know
some of those some of those schools are considering coaches
who are coaching in championship games this weekend, So probably
(33:53):
get a little movement on that after the weekend. But
you know, I think everybody's looking at Columbus right now. Obviously,
Ryan Day's in the playoff. He's not going anywhere. I
don't think Ohio State is firing Ryan Day. But Ryan
Day has a Michigan problem, and he has to decide
what to do going forward once this season ends. About
that Michigan problem, I'm guessing that he just wants to
(34:15):
try to fix it. But you got to be careful
because he's varying very dangerously into John Cooper territory.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Right now. It's so strange. It's so strange how that
game transpired on Saturday. I mean I watched it in
a I covered I called the Oregon Michigan game earlier
in the year, and yeah, and they played pretty good
at times, but it didn't matter High State. I watched
the Ohio State Oregon game as well, and that's a
completely different football team in terms of mindset and coaching.
Speaker 8 (34:43):
What was shocking to me was Ohio State tried to
meet Michigan on its own terms. Like why meet Michigan
on Michigan's terms? Dictate the terms? Like you have Jeremiah Smith,
who is the best wide receiver in the country. He
might be, well, he's not yet, but in a few
years he will be the best wide receiver in the world.
Like within probably four years, year two in the NFL,
(35:06):
he will be the best wide receiver in the world.
They target him twice. Yeah, Like, do the things that
you're good at. Don't try to beat Michigan in its
own game.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
It just it's dumbfounding to me. I'd be remiss if
having you on you and I talking about our friend
Trevor Moat. Oh, yeah, you wrote or co wrote the
book with him, It Takes what It Takes and and
and you know how important Trevor was to me. But
(35:36):
but I think you would have a really unique voice
in the understanding of what transpired over the last couple
of years with Denver and Russell Wilson because you were
intrinsically taught this this neutral thinking because you had to
write about it, and so the understanding of that, and
I've tried to make it across that that Russell may
be the best of anybody who's ever done the neutral
(35:57):
thinking aspect of things of what him and Trevor tried to.
Speaker 8 (36:00):
So Trevor was Russell's mental coach, Yes, cognitive, but Russell
Russell kind of designed a lot of this and gave
a name to it. And you know, Trevor and I
wrote it Takes what It Takes. And then as as
Trevor was fighting cancer, we wrote getting to Neutral, which
we kind of wove in the pandemic and like how
because we saw a lot of people in the real
world trying to have to wrestle with the stuff that
(36:21):
that Trevor had to deal with with athletes at a
different level.
Speaker 2 (36:24):
Yep.
Speaker 8 (36:25):
And it was wild watching Russell in Denver, because it
was like, if I think if Trevor we're able to
talk to him and able to they were able to
talk about thinking neutrally and how to deal with these situations,
I think it would have gone better. But I do
feel like when I hear Russ talk when I see
(36:45):
him playing in Pittsburgh, that he's getting back to that now.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Well, and he tried it's trying to watch. Yeah, he
tried to compartmentalize, and I think a lot of times
when you are in that neutral thinking, because this is
also the logic that I used with with the way
Trevor worked with me. You know, once I walked out
of prison ten years ago, and I would be nowhere
I am today if it weren't for him and what
he did for me. But you know, Russell can come
(37:09):
off like a simulation sometimes and it's just because it's this,
it's it's this maintaining a certain thing, and he's the
best that that's done it. And I just thought that
would you know, I'm usually the one talking about it
when I come on and talk about Russell, And you
wrote the book with Trevor and you were perfectly situated
to talk about it.
Speaker 8 (37:26):
I am so glad you brought that up because it's
it's one of those things and I was going back
through it takes what it takes in getting your neutral
the other day because I think about Trevor a lot,
and that stuff has helped me so much in my
own life, just raising kids, you know, doing doing the
things you have to do to live life. And for
(37:47):
those who don't know, neutral thinking is a basically you know,
the power of positive thinking, very popular.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
Book motivational speaker. It's not positive. We just don't allow
negative thoughts ever to enter our right. It's basically you
you don't allow negative thoughts. You don't verbalize negative thoughts.
You just say, hey, here's what I know, here's what I.
Speaker 8 (38:07):
Can do, this is what I can You'd be yeah,
you'd be shocked how much easier it makes life.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
If that's how you're thinking, I don't. I mean, it's
it changed my life, bro. I mean, you've gotten to
know me. You know, you met me eight years ago,
nine years ago we covered the Clemson Alabama game together
down in uh in Uh Santa Clara. I just I don't.
I don't let anything negative creep into my mind. And
it's hard you know, especially with with the way the
(38:36):
way the world works and they want to uh talk
to you about your life, you know, and so and
for Russell to do that, and I think that that
got lost a little bit in Denver, and I think
we're just giving it given some context. You know, everybody
in Pittsburgh has seen and and what what it's come from.
But I just thought I would would put that out.
Speaker 8 (38:52):
It's fun to watch like that. Yeah, that whole situation
has been fascinating. The justin feels to Russ.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
And all look at that.
Speaker 8 (39:00):
So Russ, Russ, that's like a Jack Lambert Russell Wilson Jersey.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
So Russ sent me away and home Jersey this year
and I couldn't. I couldn't break him out until he
got healthy. And I was just like, I think I
might have been the only one that actually said that
this is a super Bowl team with a confident quarterback
at play. So we'll see, we'll see.
Speaker 8 (39:18):
Let's get George Pickens outder control first.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
But well, you know, George Pickens is the talent of
Antonio Brown in the eyes of Mike Tomlin. And if
I've talked to him before, and it's like, you know,
the talent. When it becomes an issue where it got
to with Antonio Brown and I had to ship him out,
That's that's when it Until that time, the talent is
so overwhelming for everybody. That's that's why they were putting
up with it.
Speaker 8 (39:39):
And Mike Tomlins the one guy you trust to get
that out of it.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
And I trust it and I trust it and because
I know that he knows when it's over, he'll pull
the pluck and he has and that's why he's still
the coach and why everybody trusts him and stuff like that.
So I could talk to you all day.
Speaker 6 (39:51):
Man.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
I miss you, brother. It's good to see you. Thanks
for hopping on with us today. Thank you, Ryan, I
appreciate it. Yep, good to see you, Andy Staples.
Speaker 6 (39:58):
Everybody
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