REShow: Doug Pederson - Hour 1

This episode is sponsored by FX's Kindred, the original series only on Hulu. Based on Octavia E. Butler's best-selling novel, FX's Kindred centers on Dana James, a young Black woman and aspiring writer. Dana begins to settle into her new home in Los Angeles and is violently pulled back and forth in time.

She emerges at a 19th century plantation and is confronted with secrets she never knew ran through her blood. FX's Kindred, all episodes now streaming only on Hulu. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Rich Eisen Show. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. You look at the 49ers schedule from here on out and they have the Seattle Seahawks coming up. They win that thing and this thing's a wrap and the Brock Purdy legend grows.

Touchdown San Francisco! Today's guests, Jaguars head coach Doug Peterson, ESPN NFL analyst Louis Riddick, Chargers running back Austin Eckler and now it's Rich Eisen. Hey everybody, welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show here on a busy Tuesday in the month of December.

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YouTube.com slash Rich Eisen Show, at Rich Eisen Show on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. Bottom line is we're unavoidable and we like being so. Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. How are you, brother? Hey, Rich.

I'm doing great. What's up, man? You went one for two last night. One for two last night.

Patriots win, Celtics lose. It's all good. Don't worry about it. It's an NBA season. It's just won a third 82. You needed it more in football. I'm glad you got it.

Even though I don't really mean that because you supplanted the Jets. Good to see you over there, DJ Mikey D. How are you? I'm actually studying extra time rules right now.

Are you really? And stoppage time. Stoppage time.

I know I said it wrong again. Two hours away. Extra and stoppage. I'm for both. Stoppage time, Mike. Stoppage time. Which, by the way, in my ability to quickly introduce all three of you, this is technically stoppage time as well.

Yes. I just made you up stoppage time. Except I make it up. I'm moving on. Good to see you over there, TJ Jefferson. How are you?

What's up, Rich? I just want to say that Kawhi ball last night. He did. He didn't even go to the game and you fell asleep halfway through. What are you talking about? I didn't fall asleep. This is something to discuss later on. I said I missed the first three, five minutes of the game.

844-204, Rich is the number to dial here on the show to have a conversation with us. Let's start with Monday Night Football. Nothing more awful to see than an incredibly talented player go down in non-contact injury. Just the third snap of the game, Kyler Murray doing his thing on a first down run and he goes down and he's not contacted. And then Matthew Judon standing over him and is waving at the Arizona sideline and you just know this is a problem.

This is a major problem. When players are standing right over each other and they're immediately turning around and waving for the trainer to come out, you know it's serious. Especially when said player is then put on a cart and then said player is now surrounded by everybody who's on the field for your team and the opposition.

And then said player puts a towel over his head and then as he's about to leave takes the towel off to take in the scene one more time. And that was Kyler Murray last night. And that puts a period, an unfortunate period at the end of a very long, you know, I guess the word is fascinating season for Kyler Murray or calendar year for Kyler Murray.

I mean 2022 is a year in which he got generationally enriched where every Murray from here on out won't have to worry about dollars and cents and things of that nature. So that's the good thing. But in between all that was a ton of drama. That's why I have again this piece of paper on my desk. Still for some reason I just can't quit this piece of paper because it's just I always thought like this is not the end of the story.

This is not the end of the journey. It's just the beginning of a season in which Kyler Murray, a former first overall draft choice Heisman Trophy winner out of Oklahoma had his agent put out a statement saying the Arizona Cardinals are in danger of losing my services for long term and hey Cardinals fans don't blame me. And after that before that happened there was a scrubbing of his Instagram account right at the top of Super Bowl week here in Los Angeles that had him front and center on everybody's radar screens. Then you know he goes through his offseason, eventually signs his contract and just when you thought that was the end of that we find out part of his contract was some wild clause that demanded he make sure that he uses his screen time for good and not Fortnite I guess. And you know it was constructed in some legalese that made sure that he was studying his playbook and not on his iPad, no dual screen situation for him. It seemed like it was written by Susie and me for our children.

We even had a segment talking about how it's like Susie and I were going to use this as a contract with our children about their iPad screen time. It was so bizarre that the Cardinals then backed off because the question was is Kyler like mature enough to have this contract and be a leader of a team? In between all that we learned that his all worldwide receiver would miss the first six games of a season and this is the time when the Cardinals and the Cliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray era would get their wins.

It was the end of the season that's always been a problem, finishing 8-8 their first year, 11-6 their second year together but they were the last remaining undefeated team that year and blew the division to the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams who boat raced them out of the playoffs. Leading to everything that happened with Kyler Murray and his contract and then comes the season. You know it's kind of crazy as we're sitting here right now, week five the Cardinals lost to Jalen Hurts and the Eagles by three points to fall to two and three.

The Arizona Cardinals now exiting week 14 are eight games behind the Philadelphia Eagles, eight games behind the Philadelphia Eagles who are 12-1. The Cardinals are now 4-9 and Kyler Murray is done for the season and then for who knows how long. I think the MRI is just going to confirm what we all fear right now. So now the Cardinals are going to have to go into the offseason and Kyler rehabbing. That's the look you always see of somebody who's carted off that they know the next several months are going to be filled with heartache and pain and surgery and recovery and working out and getting back and believing in self.

Right up here you're tapping your temple over there TJ. It's about the mental aspect of trying to come back and now you're going to have to wonder when can he be back in week one. And next year we're going to be talking about how you know some ACLs are different than others and it takes a while to come back. And maybe at this point next year we're talking about Kyler's finally beginning to look like himself again and this is the state of the Arizona Cardinals. Who re-signed their coach and general manager and quarterback this offseason and now they are 4-9 entering week 15. This is a dreadful state of affairs.

There's just no other way to put it. And I feel for everybody in that organization obviously. I feel for Kyler. You know what I feel for too is JJ Watt who signed with this team thinking this is going to be his shot in his remaining window of opportunity to try and get a Super Bowl ring. He chose Arizona and now he's still now two years into his tenure there with no playoff wins there. And this year is just a lost season.

And this piece of paper is still on my desk and it's been around long enough that Suzy used it to blot her lipstick on it. Well Rich you kept it because like Chris says you can't tell the story of the season without that. I kind of felt that as it happened like when he signed his contract and then the whole iPad clause came out and then was put to rest.

I thought okay I can now take this off the desk and I thought to myself for some reason this is still a whole season long storyline arc. And of course I did not think it would end with Kyler Murray going down in a heap without being contacted and you look at his numbers for this year and they are in just 11 starts. He has almost as many passing yards. He finishes currently, it'll be worse, but he leaves currently 18th on the list in touchdowns. And with just 14 the same number as, well he's the only one with four, same number as Dak.

Interesting. And then in terms of passing yards, Kyler Murray in his 11 starts has as he leaves the field today as many passing yards in the league right now as Davis Mills. Not what the Cardinals were in on. Davis Mills with the same number of starts.

But obviously Murray missed some time too. So now that's the state of affairs of the Arizona Cardinals. And this is the Niners division. This is a Niners division right now to take and we're going to see that in two nights from now. As the Rams and the Cardinals are sitting down at the bottom you want to talk about the tale of two different 4-9 teams.

That's the Rams in week 15. The Niners and Seahawks start week 15 on Thursday, two nights from now. And the Niners could essentially wrap up this division. I think if I could just do the math in my head as the Rams, by the way, finish the week in Green Bay. That starts on a Thursday night where Niners at Seahawks ends on a Monday night Rams at Green Bay. That the Niners would be three up on San Francisco with three to play and a tie break in their back pocket. I think it's going to come out that the Niners, all they have to do is win Thursday night with Brock Purdy and they win the NFC West.

How about that? So that's the Arizona Cardinals season. We'll talk about the New England Patriots and what last night meant for them for the moment. They're currently your 7th seed in the AFC. The Chargers had a fleeting moment sitting there in the 7th spot. But the Patriots have a tie break over the Jets, knocked them out because they swept them. And the equally 7-6 Chargers don't have, what, as good an AFC record?

Is that what it is? Yeah, Patriots are 5-3 in conference. Chargers 5-4. So these things can change, but right now the Patriots are your 7th seed and their next game is against the Raiders and their final three are doozies.

So I would prefer to say they need to have a good weekend in the desert. We'll talk about that on this program. Lewis Riddick is going to be joining us from the worldwide leader in sports. The running back of the team, your Patriots just deposed from that 7th spot. Austin Eckler is going to be on this program. Mike Leach passed away at the age of 61.

He had a massive heart attack over the weekend. One of the larger than life characters in the world of college athletics and college football passing away at the age again of 61. The Mississippi State head coach and his career was long and legendary and controversial and hilarious and just one of one Mike Leach.

Yeah, for sure. And we will talk about it with Lewis Riddick who called the Egg Bowl in November between Mississippi State and Ole Miss. And our first guest, I imagine, has crossed paths with Mike Leach, one would think. Certainly since I would imagine he would have had to have reached out to Mike Leach before he acquired Gardner Minshew. You just never know how coaches cross paths. I just assume they all know each other. Professional head coaches will always know college head coaches because of paths always cross when you're checking on prospects or you're at the Senior Bowl.

You just always know each other. And certainly Mike Leach having a huge coaching tree with Lincoln Riley sitting at the top. Now USC's Lincoln Riley. And Cliff Kingsbury, the Arizona Cardinals head coach is on the street because Kingsbury was his quarterback at Texas Tech when the air raid offense was just really beginning to take hold for Mike Leach as a head coach in college football. But at any rate, Doug Peterson is going to be on this program. And the Jacksonville Jaguars are suddenly an it team of the moment because they just boat raced, to use a phrase I've used already in this show, the Tennessee Titans earlier this week. And an early window game. When the Dallas Cowboys play in an early window game, that means shows like mine, Game Day Morning and whatever show that Del Tufo says he makes better by mixing it on Baby Fox.

And I'm sorry, you were saying something Mike? It's on regular Fox. You're the one who calls it one thing Baby Fox and Big Fox.

I do both. I can't imagine how the people who do it on so-called Baby Fox feel being referred to as such. I wouldn't like it. I don't care.

Just trying to like stir a pot over Pico Boulevard. But at any rate, when the Cowboys are in an early window, trust me, we're going to be all over that on NFL Game Day Morning and I imagine Cowboys at Jaguars with the Jaguars doing what they just did and Doug Peterson taking on the Cowboys like the old days in Philadelphia. And Trevor Lawrence is just looking fantastic because he's Trevor Lawrence and Doug Peterson is not Urban Meyer. It'll be a fascinating conversation with him in just a few minutes time.

I have got a fun top five list. Jerry Jones has chimed in on signing a free agent wide receiver with initials. It's not OBJ.

It's TY. So Jerry has chimed in. We have a Bill Belichick press conference moment. Love that. So that's how we're rolling here. That's how we're rolling here on this edition of the Rich Eisen Show.

844-204-rich is the number to dial. We'd love to talk with you when we come back. Doug Peterson, the HC of JAX when we come back on the R.E.S. What's right with Nick Wright is a rapidly growing podcast from the Fox Sports Podcast Network. You may know Nick Wright from co-hosting FS1's First Things First. This podcast gives Nick a chance to develop, deep dive and defend his sharpest opinions.

During the show, Nick faces off against a ticking clock team of producers and even his own family to try and get his points across. New episodes drop Monday, Thursday and Friday, wherever you get your podcasts. Something amazing happened to me when I was shopping at Total Wine and More the other day. Not only did I find a new favorite cabernet, but I also found the perfect gifts for everyone on my list. Thanks to Dave, one of their super helpful guides. I'll definitely be visiting my Total Wine and More again soon so I can pick up more great bottles for my holiday party and all for the lowest price. This holiday, you'll love what you find only at Total Wine and More. Curbside pickup and delivery where available. Drink responsibly.

Be 21. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show 844-204-rich, number to dial. This man's Jacksonville, this coach's Jacksonville Jaguars just had a terrific win in Tennessee and their path to win the division is real. It's there because they take on the Titans again and they have more games left to win outside of division. And their quarterback has just lightened it up. He looks terrific.

And that's Trevor Lawrence, quarterback of the Jacksonville Jaguars, whose coach is on the Mercedes-Benz Vans phone line. It's a pleasure to chat with Doug Peterson right here on the Rich Eisen Show. How are you doing, coach? Hey Rich, I'm doing extremely well. How about you guys?

I am doing fine. What was that like in the locker room after that big win in Tennessee? Yeah, it was exciting.

You know, the Jaguars haven't won up in Nashville in some time. And so, you know, it was exciting for our ownership and, you know, for the team to go up there and face a really good football team. They're well coached. We got a great relationship with Coach Rabel and he does a great job there and a very disciplined group. But it was exciting. Guys were pumped and jacked up as they should be after a big win. Rob, be honest with you, coach. Well, you know, you were coaching there in Philadelphia all those years when Derrick Henry would come out with a 100-yard first half against Jacksonville.

You could say, uh-oh, 200 is right around the corner. And that did not happen. Two yards after halftime.

What was your adjustment? What did you do in that? Well, just like you said, uh-oh, I was saying, uh-oh, myself on the sideline. Right.

Kind of like, here we go. But, you know, honestly, defense did a great job of just, you know, we added an extra D lineman there in the beginning of the third quarter when they wanted to get into their big personnel, people on offense. And really, really helped us kind of control the line of scrimmage. You know, and when you're playing a guy like Derrick Henry, it takes all 11 on defense to really buy into the fact that it's going to be a physical football game. And I thought that's what our guys did. They did a really nice job after those first really two, three possessions of the football game.

Settled in, controlled their gaps and really just kind of bought into, you know, the nature of being a physical football game and, you know, got the job done. Well, also, you know, I mean, we're, all of us, it's a quarterback driven league and we're focused on your, I guess, second to last first overall selection there when you weren't there and Trevor Lawrence, we'll get to him in a second. But Trevon Walker had a big moment in this game with a sack force fumble that I think got the momentum going in your direction and stopped Tennessee's ability to continue to just maybe focus on Derrick Henry. What about his development this year?

You can tell me about Walker. Yeah, you know, he's gotten, he's gotten, you know, incrementally better each week. You know, some of the things that we did and probably what teams saw or what we saw, maybe what you saw too in this game is we moved him, we moved him inside a little bit, played that three technique, put his hand in the ground, used his length and athleticism, some explosion coming off the ball.

We did a great job on that, you know, on that sack fumble right there to really, I mean, slow them down because we hadn't really stopped him up to that point and then the offense was able to capitalize and put the ball in the end zone on that drive. And, you know, he's just developing and maturing. He's getting better each week. He's, you know, working on different moves and, you know, coming out of a three-point stance versus a two-point stance, just working on his game, working on his craft. Great kid, humble kid, very quiet kid, but, you know, you put him out on the football field and you see his personality show and he had a tremendous game on Sunday. Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Peterson here on the Rich Isaac Show. Let's get to your quarterback. What a game he had, man.

I mean, when you see him play like that, certainly he was hurt the week before. What goes through your brain knowing that this is what you wanted? You wanted this. You want to see this development and you need to see this development and now you are. What is going through your head coach? Yeah, you know, Rich, for him not to practice twice on Wednesday and Thursday last week and really get all the mental reps and to come out and perform the way he did. For a second-year player and really a first-year player for us, obviously, is a tremendous feat and this guy, I mean, he just wants to be coached. He wants to improve.

He wants to learn. He wants to grow as a quarterback and, you know, I think the one thing that I appreciate, you know, with him right now is he's taking care of the football. He's running the system, running the offense, dispersing the ball where it needs to go, whether it's to Zay Jones a couple weeks ago or Christian Kirk and then, of course, Evan Ingram on Sunday.

You know, it doesn't really matter. I mean, he's a sharp guy and obviously played through and is going to continue to play through injury each week, especially in his foot, but just a great performance for him and his development. It's sort of a step in the right direction, obviously, but very impressed with how he handled his week of preparation and it showed on Sunday. Well, I mean, like if I had spoke, I think I spoke to you at the very outset of the season, if I had shown you his stat line, like off air, hey, week 14, this is what he's going to do and this is how he's going to look and this is how he's going to play. You decide for it, right? I mean, like this is what you're hoping for and we're in this league where we want it now, we want it yesterday, we should have had it yesterday and now we're seeing it with him.

So I asked this question, that's my long windup for this pitch. Is he there? Would you say he's there? Is he there, coach?

He's on his way to there. I would say he still has some room to grow and get better, but he's definitely taken steps in the right direction. You go back and look at the beginning of our season and we were a little bit careless with the football and situational ball wasn't quite there yet. Just understanding details of the game and understanding situations of the game and this is where his growth has come and honestly, Rich, I think and I believe that that interception he threw on the goal line at Denver when we played in London several weeks ago. I think was a little bit of a wake up call or a bell that rung in his head that says, listen, I've got to do a better job of protecting the football.

You're hurting the football team and putting the team in harm's way like that. I just think that was a play that, one, he would like to have back, but I really think it put him on a trajectory or path that he's on right now and sometimes it takes a play like that or a moment like that for young players to understand just how to play this game. Since that point, he's really done an outstanding job of just taking care of the ball, executing the offense and really dispersing the football where it needs to be. And then what about locker room, film room, you got a good story where you're like, okay, check those boxes.

What do you got for me on that front? I think with a lot of young players in this league, teaching them how to watch tape is important and as coaches, we got to show guys how to watch tape and having a guy like CJ Beathard as a backup, a veteran quarterback has been a huge help to Trevor in that regard. So you're seeing him get with Luke Fortner in the offensive line, watch tape. You're seeing him get with the quarterbacks and watch tape. Getting with the skilled position players during the week and watching tape on their own outside of the coaches' meetings. And then he and I getting together on Thursday evenings or him getting with Pres Taylor, offensive coordinator, during the week and just kind of pouring over the game plan and getting his thoughts and ideas. And it's just the maturity level that for a young quarterback to show us tells us that we have the right guy.

And the effort and the amount of time that he puts into his study and preparation and the communication that we have during the week and during games is just second to none to where he's been and obviously where he's come from. Doug Peterson, Jacksonville Jaguars head coach here on the Rich Eisen Show. And again, I know I asked you about your predecessor last time we spoke and pages have been turned, but I haven't spoken to you since Andrew Wingard, safety on your team mentioned your predecessor's name and how with what happened last year, it was as if Trevor Lawrence did not have a rookie year and then mentioned about you saying that he would die. Andrew Wingard, quote, I would die for Doug Peterson.

I swear I would run into battle for Doug Peterson. I understand. I love the guy who talked about how the locker room was awesome. What did I assume you heard that and me paraphrasing isn't the first time you've heard it.

What do you think of when you hear that? I mean, just listen, you know, I love it when guys talk that way. I feel like that they've bought in, you know, to me and to the staff and what I've brought here. And, you know, I love mixing it up with the players and being in there showing that I'm equal.

I'm not any bigger or greater than they are. And, you know, show that enthusiasm, show that I care about the player. And really, I think having been a player myself, you kind of understand how to deal with these guys.

It's definitely a different day and age now. But I think understanding and sort of changing my ways, my philosophies maybe with the way I practice or meet or whatever it might be that these guys are buying into that. And, you know, really, really, I think just these guys just want to be coached. They want some honesty. They want some transparency.

And they don't want a lot of fluff. And I've been able to sort of bring that to them. And, you know, a guy like Dewey, as we call him, to say that just tells me that these guys have bought in. They trust me.

I trust them. And, you know, we go play games. And has it been perfect?

No, it hasn't, you know, Rich. But I do believe that this team is heading in the right direction. And, you know, we've got four games remaining this season.

And we'll see what happens. Got me if you've heard this one before, Doug Peterson. You're coaching a team against the Dallas Cowboys in a big game in December. You know what?

We haven't heard it much around here lately. But for you personally, though, I mean, it's amazing how the football gods work, right? I mean, you have just came with a big win.

You want to build on it. You got a shot. You never know in your division. And there's the Dallas friggin' Cowboys, man. That's pretty wild if you think about it. It is.

It's crazy. You know, and this is what I'm teaching our football team here is how to win and how to have meaningful games in December and January. And we've put ourselves in a position to do just that.

And, you know, I've challenged the team that way. And, you know, we're playing a great football team this weekend. They're 10-3. They're doing a great job, obviously, in the NFC East. And they're chasing the Eagles. And, you know, this team is explosive on offense, as we know. I owe too close probably to this team than most, but, you know, we've got our work cut out for us.

Fortunately for us, it's here in Duval County and right here in Jacksonville this weekend. And we're looking forward to, you know, to the opportunity. Well, I mean, if you beat the Cowboys, Doug, you know, and help Philadelphia in that regard, maybe they'll build another statue, call it the Jacksonville Special or something like that outside the stadium. I might be overstating it. Wouldn't that be special, right?

Wouldn't that be special? No, I mean, listen, our guys are, they're excited for the opportunity. And, again, like I said, it's meaningful football games in December.

And I think everybody wants to be there. And, you know, we just got to have a great week of preparation. You know, I know, you know, McCarthy came, if I'm not mistaken, I'm trying to go in my head, just as you were departing or I don't know if you coached against him, Philly, in Dallas.

I guess I should have professionally buttoned that up before even having a conversation with you. But is there any experience coaching against Dallas, Dak, Zeke, those guys that you can bring to bear this week for your team? Yeah, you know, just kind of knowing them and knowing their personnel a little bit. I mean, you know, obviously, you know, Micah Parsons is kind of new since I've coached last. But, you know, on offense, it's, you still got to stop the run. You still got to, Zeke and Pollard and these guys, I mean, you still got to stop the run.

And then, you know, if you can't get a handle on that, you know, you got the play-action pass and the movement. Dak can beat you with his legs and his arms. So, you know, it takes a full effort, again, on offense. And then, you know, defensively, I mean, this is a good group. This is one of the top defenses in the National Football League right now. And, you know, they're leading, I think, if not leading or one of the top teams with sacks in the league. And Micah Parsons is a special athlete and a special player.

And, you know, even number 90 over there is a great player and he can get after the passer. So, work's cut out for us. Great opportunity.

But, again, if you want to be in the playoffs, you got to be able to play teams like this and, you know, see what happens. Well, Coach, before I let you go, I know this is out of your bailiwick and your purview, but I'm going to mention it anyway because, I mean, you do represent the Jacksonville Jaguars here. And I've been around those parts for quite a bit. I know about the pool.

I know about the old Jacksonville. I don't know what's going on with the new version of the mascot in Spandex and a thong. I don't know what is happening. Do you?

Do you know what's going on right now? No, I thought when we played Baltimore the other day, that might have been a distraction for them a little bit as he ran around the Inter Bowl. Yes. Yes. I mean, it worked. It did.

I guess, you know, whatever advantage you can have. Did you at any point during the game? Or the guys just turn around and go, what's happening? I need to make a note of this and talk to the department. What is it? Game operations? I don't know who's in charge of this. Well, I'm not in charge of that department, but there were a couple of photographs of our players in the end zone with him in the background. So we got some really good special effects going on with some of these pictures. I don't know what's going on.

It was definitely distracting to me watching it. So just, I guess whoever, just find whoever in the flowchart there, just say what's up for me and what, why. Those are the questions I have is what's up and why. Exactly right. Exactly right. Okay.

And then last one for you. I mean, you string some wins together here. Obviously, you got Dallas, and I know this, I'm talking to one game at a time type individual. But you got a quick turnaround Thursday night against the Jets.

What a fascinating game that is. And then two division games at Houston and home for Tennessee. Do you openly talk to your guys if we string these three together that last game? We talked about meaningful games in January. That last game against Tennessee can be for something particularly significant. Do you openly say something like this, Coach?

I think at this part of the season, Rich, I think you have to have those conversations. You know, part of my job, too, is to keep our goals out in front of us. I think every team in this situation is doing the same thing, coaches are saying, hey, listen, guys, our goals are right here in front of us. And, you know, we just got to do our part and take care of business and, you know, focus on us one game at a time, just like you mentioned. But, yeah, I think it is something that the team needs to understand. And I think, quite frankly, here in Jacksonville, it's also part of our culture and trying to get things turned around and try to have a winning culture. If you're not talking about winning, then how do you win, you know?

And so I feel like I've got to continue to put that out in front of our football team and see what happens here in this last month of the season. I'd be remiss if I didn't, before letting you go, ask you about Mike Leach. I assume you've crossed paths with him. You know him or anything of that nature in his passing at the age of 61.

Do you got a good story on that? Yeah, I don't know him personally, but our paths did cross at a clinic, actually, and had a chance to just kind of shake his hand. And obviously my, you know, my thoughts, prayers to the family and what a tragic, you know, a tragic loss to not only to the football world, but, you know, to the people close to him and around him. And just, again, my thoughts and prayers are with his family.

Yeah, all of us. Thanks for the time, coach. Greatly appreciate it. Have fun. It doesn't look like you need me to say that. It does look like you're having fun, man.

It really does. I am. I'm having a great time. You know, this is a young football team and they're keeping me young, so that's a good thing. Very good.

Take care of yourself, coach. We'll chat again soon. Thanks again. All right. Thanks, Rich.

Always a pleasure. That's the one and only Doug Peterson of the Jacksonville Jaguars here on The Rich Eisen Show. I love it. Got to talk about winning if you want to win.

I kind of dig that. So many coaches are like, we got to go one at a time. You know, so many coaches are one at a time.

Don't want to talk. We got to do this week is this week. That's it. This day is this day. This practice is this practice. And I always wonder, like, is that the way it is within the locker room too?

I don't know. You know, obviously Belichick, you would point to him as being, we're just talking about this week. We're talking about this snap. We're talking about this play. We're talking about your job. You do your job. Your whole do your job mentality is to break things down in such a granular way that you win every snap based on the advantage that you already know you have going into that snap and what advantage you can exact going into that snap.

And then you string snaps together and then all of a sudden you string wins together and you string titles together. Like that's the general sense of it. I think so.

But he's not turning around a program there. I'm just wondering here, you know, or Belichick could say that behind the scenes, Hey guys, we win the next four we're in. Like, let's go win them.

I don't know. I just love hearing that. It sounds so simple, right? I just love it. How can we win if we're not talking about winning?

And let's talk about it, folks. Because if the Jacksonville Jaguars win the next four in a row, okay, let's just say they win their next four in a row and they finish nine and eight. The Tennessee Titans are the team that they can go get because the Titans have left the door open with their recent swoon losing home against Cincinnati at Philadelphia and then Jacksonville. And they're at the Chargers this week.

That's a big dub, isn't it? What a big win that would be for both of these teams with the Chargers now deposed from the seven seed after having it for a night and Tennessee needing to just snuff out all of this Jaguars talk and they'll know going into kickoff here in Los Angeles, whether the Jaguars pulled off the upset of the Dallas Cowboys and then Tennessee's final games are home against Houston. How about Dallas having a role in all this Dallas? That is a Thursday night football. That's the final Thursday night game of the year on Amazon, Tennessee hosting Dallas. And then they're at Jacksonville. So if they win just one of those three and what if they're eight and eight? What if Tennessee and Jacksonville are eight and eight going to that final game?

You know what that would be? That might be the last game of the year. We might be seeing that as the last game of the year. And that would be, as we know, in Jacksonville. Could you imagine somebody telling you at the beginning of this year where you can't make it up?

Brock Purdy has a shot to win rookie of the year because he's taking over the reins of the San Francisco 49ers in week 14, beating Tom Brady and oh, by the way, Jacksonville would host the final game of the year for the right to win the division. Is this out of the realm? Am I crazy?

Not crazy, but higher register. Yeah, you never know. You never know. Seems unlikely, but stranger things have happened.

You tapped out over there? You just don't want to talk about your Cowboys showing up in Jacksonville thinking that they're just going to win because they already have 10 wins. They better not show up there with the mentality that they clearly took into Houston.

I would counsel Dallas to utilize the Houston wipe of the brow to go into Jacksonville and show everybody what's what. Sometimes you play to the level of your competition. I know. That happens. That happens.

Rich number to dial when we come back, we'll talk about Mike Leach when we return here on this program, eight four four tool for rich number to dial. This is it. The putt to win the tournament.

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What about you? For the new year, NetSuite has a new financing program for those ready to upgrade at NetSuite dot com slash rich radio. Go to NetSuite dot com slash rich radio for this special one of a kind financing offer on the number one financial system for growing businesses, NetSuite dot com slash rich radio. So you heard over the weekend that Mike Leach was ill and hospitalized and as it turns out a fatal trip to the hospital. He passed away at age sixty one, sixty one years old man. I mean talk about being cut down and anybody who knows college football, has been following college football, has seen Mike Leach or heard Mike Leach. Anybody who works in college football knows about Mike Leach because they're either on his coaching tree or his air raid offense that he took from Lavelle Edwards in his time at BYU where he was a rugby player, wasn't a football player, but he spent time in the film room with Lavelle Edwards and Norm Chow was the offensive coordinator there at the time and he took that offense and for the lack of a better phrase kind of perfected it. You know four wide, one running back, he put the tight end in unique places and talk about unique places where did he use his laboratory for the air raid offense as a coach himself.

How does the College of the Desert sound to you? College of the Desert, a community college in Palm Desert, that's where he spent some time at the beginning part of his coaching career after spending time at Cal Poly. He then went to Finland. He coached the Puri Bears in Finland for the American Football Association of Finland. Bounced around at Iowa, Wesleyan, Valdosta State until he wound up at Kentucky as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Kentucky and went there. Tim Couch wound up being so damn good he was the first overall pick of the draft for the Cleveland Browns when they came back into being and that's when Bob Stoops said okay we'll check you out. And we all know he spent some time at Texas Tech as the head coach there and wound up getting fired. There was a lot of controversy in his time, remember it was Craig James' son that he thought didn't have a concussion and he wound up getting fired over his treatment of Craig James' son and led to some lawsuits about his firing, wrongful termination and things of that nature but he was incredibly successful at Texas Tech. Cliff Kingsbury was his quarterback there. Washington State, that's where Gardner Minshew became a sensation.

His offense really churned out some big numbers, big quarterbacks, wound up at Mississippi State, I mean Big 12, Pac-12, SEC where he was the coach at Mississippi State when he passed away and then just you know his press conferences, there's something else. For instance this is him giving marriage advice to a reporter who asked for it. Well it's so it's too late to rescue you. The best wisdom that I can possibly give, the best wisdom I can possibly give on that subject nine days and it's a little late, you should have come to me sooner, my wisdom would be you have to stay out of the way and I wish you a very happy marriage and I'm sure you'll have one but I'm just telling you when it comes to marriages the women lose their mind. Your fiance is going to lose her mind, your mother-in-law is going to lose her mind, your mom is going to lose her mind, several of your sisters and female relatives are going to lose their mind and they're going to barrage you with constant questions, what should we wear and then which of course my answer was I don't care and then what color should the invitations be, I don't care, what should we have for dessert, I don't care, should we seat this this way or that that way, I don't care but see I don't care is not satisfactory at all and you're going to get caught in a catch-22 and I'm certain that you already have and that catch-22 is well I want you to be a part of this too so what color invitations, alright the blue ones, well I kind of like the tan ones, okay the tan ones then, oh you're just saying that because you want this over with, you're not even thinking about it which is of course true and then well what do you want for dessert, I was thinking of strawberry shortcake, oh okay, yeah strawberry shortcake would be good, well what about the blueberry pie, well I like the blueberry pie, we could have the blueberry pie, well I thought you said you wanted the strawberry shortcake and it's just going to go back and forth and they're going to play keep away from you until after you're married so what you need to do is you need to work late hours, work late, be very nice and supportive and but they're going to play keep away from you and there's no answer you can give that is going to be satisfactory or correct and if you successfully please a few of them, the others will still be, oh I just don't feel like he's that interesting, yeah okay so you need to work late, go in the back room and read a lot of books, you know you have to go take the groomsmen out so you make sure that they march in just right and they know exactly you know these swell outfits that you picked out or whatever however you're doing it and in the end you'll wish you eloped but nevertheless you need to find, you need to find excuses that they'll buy to be as far out of harm's way as you possibly can and but take comfort in knowing that once the ceremony's over that you know life will get progressively better from there even though there's some adjustment. Rest in peace Mike Leach, one of one, Mike Leach.

That is all time man, work late hours, that is all time. I mean he also was asked in postgame on the field by the on-field reporter about I guess after Mississippi State boat raced somebody about his favorite Halloween candy, I mean he came on, he gave you advice for being a new found dad right, he said that once the kid is housebroken. I think he meant potty training, he also said cavemen have been doing it for thousands of years so it's really not that big a deal. 60 Minutes did a profile and called him the mad scientist of football, he was a bestseller of books, he had a law degree from Pepperdine, again coached in Finland, he was a rugby player, I mean he was the all-around unicorn. Talk about swinging your sword, you have to swing your sword if you're a pirate, he had a dynamite cameo on Friday Night Lights that he told coach Taylor that he wasn't swinging his sword properly as a pirate, I mean good lord, I mean obviously his career was not without its bumps and its bruises and obviously controversies, but Mike Leach was a brilliant administrator of offense in college football that's going to leave, left its mark on football, professional and collegiately.

Rest in peace Mike Leach, keep swinging your sword sir. How wrestling really works and how you get the ratings. Eric Bischoff and Conrad Thompson explain on 83 weeks.

You're either growing or you're dying. I think it would be hard to recreate the kind of growth that WCW experienced between 95 and 98. This audience should be growing, the characters should be coming working and they're not. Everybody's gradually losing audience, people will say well but AEW is 15 percent ahead of where they were last year, but there's variables there, let's see where we're at a year from now. 83 weeks on YouTube or wherever you listen.