REShow: Bret Bielema/Jeff Saturday - Hour 3

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, a 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. It is Tom Pelissero in for Rich Eisen. We just talked to JJ McCarthy. Very interesting interview.

Let's bring it right now on the Mercedes-Benz Vans phone line. A guy whose team took JJ McCarthy in Michigan to the brink. He's now preparing for Mississippi State in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Brett Bielema is with us. Brett, thank you very much for coming on the show.

I want to talk to you about a lot of different stuff, but let's start with that. If you were advising TCU about how to get after JJ McCarthy in those Wolverines, what would you say? You know what? They're a very balanced offense. McCarthy's a great. I think the great thing about Michigan is they make you defend the run. They open up the play-action passing game.

Very reliable. Front seven, I think they were voted the Joe Moore award winners. A very capable group up front. I think the biggest thing that they present is they really can play ambidextrous. They can play with the run game, the passing game, and do a little bit of everything in between. You look at the Big Ten right now with a couple of teams in the playoff. It seems like this is perhaps a more competitive time in the Big Ten. And obviously at Illinois, you guys had some success this season as well. Yeah, you know, we went on a six-game run. We're feeling a position to try and win the Big Ten West. Got in a couple of tough games. We dropped one in Michigan State and Purdue.

Win eight and four. Those four games were all one-loss, one-score games, and unfortunately it wasn't enough to come through. The other teams, they were able to out-execute us, but to be a year removed from a year removed from being one game short of a bowl eligible to this year, banking a bowl eligible after seven games, we like the progress we've made and hopefully can take another big step forward next year. I was talking to a head coach in a different conference recently.

It was on signing day, and he was just talking about the state of college football, how much the environment has changed, and quite frankly, what a clown show in certain areas it is in terms of recruiting, in terms of retaining your own players, the NIL money that's out there. You know, going back to your first year at Wisconsin, I mean, obviously that's a long period of time, but how different is this, and how hard is it just for you to do your job and have some type of a lifestyle as a human being right now? It's a perspective, Tom, that's unprecedented in college football. I think, you know, I was at Wisconsin for nine years total, seven years a head coach. We were able to win three Big Ten championships on the way out the door. I went to Arkansas for five in the SEC, went to three straight bowl games and had some success, and obviously ducked out to the NFL for three years, and I think in those three years, the game just literally changed. When I got the job two years ago, I told her A.D., Josh Whitman, this is probably one of the most capable times in NTA history to try to flip a roster because you have the portal, you have now a moving 85 scholarship count, the NIL world has obviously changed the game in many different capacities. It's just, you know, I always make reference, you know, when we're little, you know, in that seventh grade science project, you're supposed to have one variable, right?

You're going to add fire, you're going to add coal, you're going to add oxygen, whatever it was, you're supposed to do one thing. We got about four different things in the hopper here in college football, so no one really knows what to fix, knows how to fix it, but maybe a step in the right direction is coming to us shortly. Well, just the fact that you can have, you know, a really good recruiting class, and then if those young players get on the field, suddenly they may have a variety of opportunities that are surfacing. You're almost re-recruiting for what, five months after the season, both after the regular season in January, but then also in after spring ball in May.

You know, Tom, it's a great point. We actually say in our program, you develop a relationship in every conversation you have, right? Like, whether it's hello in the hallway to buy out the door, a coaching moment on the field, a moment of instruction away from it in the team meeting room, whatever it is, you're building relationships every day, and in a sense, yeah, you're recruiting 365, but, you know, unfortunately for us, we just haven't had a lot of portals. We haven't lost a lot of guys that we didn't, you know, proceed coming.

Now, on the flip side, there's a lot of guys that have lost a lot of players. Can't speak to that on behalf, but we are excited about where we're going, what we're doing. I do think the NIL is a good thing. I really do, and there's probably some guardrails that need to be in place, but, you know, for players to be able to be afforded for their name, image, and likeness at a level, it's just everybody had to see this coming.

I mean, it was within reason, right? So, the things that are absurd now are some of the things that are being offered, taken that, you know, cause kids to leave within, you know, even rivalries, but within divisions, within college conferences. It's just, I think the one thing that really has to be brought to light, and we're not going to know the effect until probably three or four years from now, I just don't see how all these kids changing schools is going to help a degree, or a progression towards a degree that the NCAA has done such a good job of doing. I think the overall graduation rates are what's going to really suffer here in about two to three years, because they really don't take effect until three years after a kid leaves, that they compute the final graduation rate.

So, I think it's going to be too late in coming, but that's what I see the ultimate negative to this whole thing is graduation rates. I've heard all sorts of numbers, both in the incoming recruits as well as the potential transfers, everything from guys getting offered a half million dollars to transfer to, you know, five million in some cases to try to get a player. What's the, when you're out on the recruiting trail, what's the craziest thing you've heard somebody getting offered?

Probably a horse. Yeah, I think that's probably the furthest one out there that I've heard. I would say that, you know, everybody has their individual needs and everything goes into it. Fortunately for us, you know, the rules really do cater to, we don't want the players on campus and a part of your squad, then it is, you know, there are some guys in our program now that, you know, are looking at opportunities, whether they want to stay here or go to the NFL, and obviously if an NIL can sustain something that will allow them to stay in school for another year and get drafted higher and incorporate more money for them by just staying in school, that's what I think is the great part of NIL. But yeah, I think there's a little bit of it, the wild, wild west out there and for every school everybody's got a different angle and, you know, then the other factor is you hear things and you don't know if kids are making them up either, you know what I mean?

There's not a lot of people out there investigating it and as we all know, sometimes young men can fabricate some things to try and get more, so there's probably a little bit of truth and there's probably a little bit of reality, but there's also probably some falsehood as well. It's definitely the wild, wild west if you're getting offered a horse. I'm gonna need a little more context on this, Brett. A racehorse? Just a horse to ride?

What was the horse? You know, it was one that I wasn't involved in, so I'll just stay out of it, but I guess that was the wildest one, that was probably it. I think it's really, you know, for the part of us as a head coach, just, you know, give us the playbook, give us the rules, let us play. You're always going to have that banter back and forth, but I think the part that, you know, even this year in the NIL world, literally the rules changed right in the middle of the season and when that goes on, then you kind of are in this, you know, precarious moment of, okay, do we live in the moment we're in and plan for the future?

And then they put the rules on you a little bit, so it's just, it's kind of a little give and take. I'm hoping in the next year people can kind of calm the waters and sustain it and make the liberal real. Fortunately for us at Illinois, there is good NIL money out there. There's been some things happening for our guys, some people are reaching out for the right things.

We have two defensive tackles who I think could be two of the best in college football, and especially if they return for next year, and they simply, Newton and Randolph, they, I called them in the law firm one day at a press conference, and lo and behold, I got an NIL deal out of it, catapulted them into a partnership, and then true beneficiary of that is the Boys and Girls Club got $500 for every sack, and they had quite a few sacks this year as impressors, so it was a great way to use the NIL to better our community. Illinois coach Brett Bielema is our guest. Brett, I know you signed a contract extension a few days ago. Congratulations on that. You've also, you've been in the NFL. You came back to Illinois in 2021. Amidst this wild and crazy environment here, why stay in college football?

Why is that your path? You know, just kind of like on Wednesday, we signed a group of 21-year-old young men, or 21 men that were aged anywhere from 17 to probably 21. I love to, you know, be in their home.

I love to see the beginning phase of their development and see them watch them grow. That's how we set up our program. We do add some guys to the portal, kind of like the free agency market, but we really concentrate on the high school development and the building and the growth, and I love my time in the NFL.

Don't get me wrong. I was two years with the Pats, won a Super Bowl with the Giants for about a half a year before I got hired out of the Giants organization to Illinois, but you know, at that level, they're kind of already developed. It's a professional organization.

It really truly is a business-driven model. The college football, even with this NIL, to see the development, see the maturity. You know, we did a press conference the other day with two of my guys. They're leaving early with Sidney Brown and Devin Witherspoon, and to hear the emotion in their heart, to see it come out of them and talk about how as a group of coaches over the last two years, we've changed the direction of their lives, that makes a lot to me.

That's why I signed a long-term deal. I've got two beautiful young daughters here in Champaign. It's just an awesome environment, the Big Ten, in particular the Big Ten West. I really just enjoy and feel home here, so I think there's still a lot of good in college football, and hopefully that's going to be able to weather the storm or some of the bumps in the road we got, because it really is a great environment. It's a great game.

It's something that people fly to, and hopefully can continue to do that for years to come. Take me back to 2012. How close were you to being the Miami Dolphins head coach?

Man, that seems like a long time ago. Yeah, it was just kind of something that materialized in front of me. They called in early December, and I was actually in preparation for the Rose Bowl. I had Russell Wilson as my quarterback, and Jeff Ireland was the GM back in the day, and Stephen Ross flew down and met with them. I kind of had a coming-to-Jesus moment where we all agreed to go ahead, and then it kind of just... One of the things I heard from a couple coaches I was involved with in the NFL was, you know, it was obviously where you're at, but it was a lot about who you're around, and I just didn't know if that was the right environment. I think the NFL is an unbelievable organization.

It's really, truly my three years there, and to win a Super Bowl, it's an incredible environment. It's all football. You know, and then after football's done, then you drop it, and you kind of go to the draft. So in the NFL, though, you get to pick the ones you want. In college, they got to pick you, so there's a little reverse strategy there, but I just didn't feel it was the right time and place, and I'm glad I didn't, because there's no way I was prepared at that time to do what we need to do.

So I think the good Lord was looking out for me at that time. I went back to Wisconsin and won another Big Ten championship, and obviously all the things that have happened since then. I'm sure you've kept tabs on Russell Wilson through his career, obviously all the highs in Seattle and winning a Super Bowl. You see him now, and I don't know how much you've gotten a chance to watch. I know you're busy at this time of year, but obviously it's not been the same Russell Wilson in Denver. What, if anything, jumps out at you, and for lack of a better term, how would you fix Russ at this stage in his career? You know, I really don't get to see much.

I've seen bits and pieces. I know Russ is an incredible person. He's an incredible leader. He's got great skills, and I think not just Russ, but it's been amazing in my career to have the players play at the highest levels humanly possible, and on the same account, everybody gets those rough stretches, those tough moments, and my guess is whenever he returns, it's going to be back to full strength and gets himself in a position to be successful.

You know, he's a guy that's been in this league for a long time, done a lot of really good things, and I know it's still within him and a guy that I'm excited to hopefully see him come back and do what he does because when he's at his best, there's very few people that can compete with him. You mentioned you won that Super Bowl with the Patriots under Bill Belichick. Just tell me about that relationship and what spending two years in that building teaches you that you can apply as a coach moving forward.

You know what, Tom, it's truly football utopia. It's just you walked in the building, and I know they're going through some trouble now, but when I was there, I walked in, and I'd been around coach a long time. He had drafted several of my players. I think I walked in the building, and I believe there were six to eight former players of mine, both from Arkansas and Wisconsin, good players, good players that were in the organization, and just to see the daily challenge that was in there. There was a feeling, I think, in that coaching room that you were such pressure to be at your best because you didn't want to be the weak link.

You didn't want to be the reason that something fell down, right? It's truly awesome to be with coach Belichick and the culture he breeds. It was just something for me when I was there.

I literally walked out of there every night writing something in my journal about what I learned that day. He slowed the game down. He really made the game play at a pace that everybody could maximize. I enjoyed my sidebar conversations with him, just an incredibly intelligent man, an incredibly giving man that believes in people and the culture there that year to when we won our Super Bowl. It was my first year in the NFL, and holy cow, we just kept winning and winning and winning.

It wasn't an easy journey. We lost a miracle in Miami. They called it the last play of the game down in Miami to come back. That was the last game we lost that year. They kind of regrouped us and revitalized the room. Tom, obviously, was at his best in Kansas City. We had a really good defense.

Things just kind of unfolded. I was able to be with Brian Flores his first year as a defense coordinator and saw the way. He just got an incredible mind. He's got an incredible way of dealing with players. I know, however, it ended in Miami, but I do. That's a really good ball coach.

He's got great leadership traits. There's a lot to take out of it. It was an experience for me for two years. It was unprecedented, and it has a huge effect on my life right now.

Well, I really appreciate you coming on. I think the first time you and I spoke was probably about 15 years ago when I was working at the Green Bay Press Gazette. You guys, the Badgers coaches, were doing one of those bus tours around Wisconsin where you're popping in and seeing different fans.

Bo Ryan scared the hell out of me. You did not, and I will never forget that as a young reporter. We appreciate it, man. Great catching up with you. That's awesome. Have a great holiday. You too, Brett. That is Brett Bielema, head coach at Illinois.

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Unlock your potential inside a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. From one coach to another, Jeff Saturday, the Colts interim head coach, coming off of a bit of a rough one. Last Saturday in Minnesota, he joined Rich Eisen earlier via Zoom. We will talk to Jeff Saturday coming up right after this on the Rich Eisen Show. 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, a team of producers, and even his own family to try and get his points across.

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netsuite.com slash rich pod. I still can't get over Brett Bilema saying that somebody offered a player a horse in recruiting. That, of all the revelations over the past couple of days, I think that one is at the top of the list. I have so many questions. Did the player take the horse though? That's the question. Yeah, did he take him to the stable and show him the horse?

Details were scarce. Like is it a piece of a race horse? Is it just, oh you like horses?

We'll give you one. Right. Is it a horse endorsement? Was it American horse? And then horseman? Is it a working horse? Are we talking about a ranch or a farm situation?

Because that would make the difference. If I'm the recruit, I want to know what this horse is going to do. What's the bloodline?

What are we talking about? It's a race horse. Is it a triple crown winner?

Wins one race. You put him out the stud. Was his mother a mother for life? Was his father a mother? Like, you know, his mother was a mother. His mother was a mother.

You know, things you got to know. Born in the slop. Born in the slop. If the player rode the horse, that doesn't seem as good.

I think it has to be a prize-winning horse, right? Oh, this baby loves the slop. Loves it. Eats it up. Thank you, Mike.

We'll further unpack that. What colors the horse? Good mane? Rough mane?

Does it speak like Mr. Ed? Is it an outdoor horse? What's the six of the horses? Is it the male horse? A female?

Did they have photos? Choose your horse. It's like Tinder, but for horses. Swipe left. Swipe left.

Swipe left. That's my horse right there. That's the one I wanted.

I went to Iceland a few years ago. The horses there are just built different. They're built to withstand the cold. So their fur and their hair is like real rough and coarse. Is it one of those horses? Try to bite me. Oh, good question. Try to bite me.

Try to bite Brockman. I'll post the video. Oh, you have video of it? Yeah. I'm just saying, what type of horse is it? I have a lot of questions.

I need answers. Maybe somebody could tweet us somewhere out there. Because if somebody could tweet a variety of recruits, maybe one of them answers. Maybe there's a school that's offering everybody a horse. Oh, you thought you were special.

Yeah. You thought you were the five-star. No, we're horses for all.

Next thing you know, Oprah's giving horses. You've got to guess the school. Wyoming. Boise State. Wyoming.

What's this? I'm looking for Broncos in their name. No, I'm not choosing Wyoming. No. I'm not doing anything here. We're not saying we're just singing.

We're not saying we're just singing. Or was it Bronco Nagurski? That's the horse's name. Bronco Nagurski. Bronco Nagurski.

That's him. Probably the horse I'd have to name him. Would you get a horse?

What would you name it? Now I'm thinking Bronco Nagurski. I don't strike you as a horse. That's great. No. That's a good one. You're not getting me on a horse. You're not getting me on a rollercoaster.

Really anything. We rode horses at the last Arizona Super Bowl, Mike. Yeah, these guys went out.

I didn't know that. Our set was like the old west, TJ. You remember this.

I remember it, yeah. And they brought in horses one day. Me and Rich. I think Melissa Stark got on a horse. Yeah, you guys all got on a horse. We were riding horses around.

Touch and go. All right. We had another coach who joined Rich. Good transition. I don't know if Jeff Saturday has at any point... He looks like a horse guy. He does.

He's got a long flowing mane himself there. He spoke with our guy Rich Eisen who's out in Pittsburgh, but he's zooming all over the place. He talked with Jeff Saturday.

Let's roll that. Joining me now here on Westwood One's coverage of Monday Night Football is the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, Jeff Saturday. How you doing, Jeff? I'm doing good. How are you? I'm doing well, man. You've got a big Monday night game.

Obviously, every game's big for you. How are you, I guess, for the lack of a better phrase, holding up? How are you doing? I'm doing okay. Obviously, losing sucks.

I'm not accustomed to losing games. That part has been hard, but from a growth and perspective from the team, I've been very proud of how these guys have worked. When I got here and just the things that I made a priority and tried to push with these guys, they've really met the challenge.

Again, Melissa, you're coming in eight weeks in, nine weeks in, whatever it is. I have half the offensive staff that was here before and the three basic major portions of the the offensive passing scheme are gone. Asking the other coaches to step in and do that, it has been all hands on deck. Offensively asking guys to do things they've never done. You have Parks who had never called plays, he's calling. Then just the different roles and responsibilities. I don't think people understand how much you're asking of guys to do another coach's job.

When they haven't been doing it, trying to get accustomed to doing it, and then throwing everything else in the mix. It's definitely had its challenges, but at the end of it, no one's complained. No one's made excuses.

Everybody's stepped in and done their part. Unfortunately, we haven't closed out games. We've given ourselves opportunities, just haven't found a way to close them out. You almost handed Philadelphia a second consecutive loss. You're down just 21-19 in the fourth quarter in Dallas.

Obviously up 33- nothing against the Minnesota Vikings. For a lack of a better question, I'll just come through the front door. I've known you for a very long time. Knowing the way that these things have all worked out, would you have taken the job if you had known all of what was about to ensue? Jeff, you're used to this sort of stuff.

No, but listen, it's funny. The way that the world perceives it and the way that the reality of it are two totally different things. I understand. I've been in locker rooms for a long time. I've been around the game for a long time. There are things that we have done to ourselves that are self-inflicted wounds and we keep making those mistakes. Listen, that started long before I got here. I would have never gotten here to begin with.

I didn't think that they would instantly change because someone else comes in. There's a lot of habits and there's a lot of culture that needs to be framed up in a way that I would do it a little differently. Listen, I make no excuses about it. In Philadelphia, again, we make errors late in the game. Don't complete a drive. Miss a field goal and give them an opportunity to stay in it. No different than in Minnesota. As bad as they played in the first half and gave us an opportunity to score 33, we should have scored 50 and we didn't.

Right? We kick a lot of field goals instead of converting in the red zone. Our offense didn't change in Minnesota what we have been doing. We've had the same issues since I've been here and you have to find ways to make plays. We fast forward to the second half. We make all the errors in the second half they made in the first half and they take advantage of it. Ultimately, it gets down to a point where we have to make plays and we don't make plays offensively and give up explosive plays defensively. Like I told the guys, we earned it. We did everything we could do to keep them in the game. When I look at it, that doesn't deter me from do I want to do this or do I like what I'm doing or do I feel fully capable of doing it.

I'm not deterred at all. I understand. Listen, I've been in games when we lost 41-0 in a playoff game. I've got five hall of famers on that team. I've lost some really tough games that you live on for seven months until the season starts again.

I know what a painful loss feels like and this is pain. Like I told the guys, the great part about this is we get to go play next Monday and get rid of this. The way the NFL works is you have another opportunity to go out there. Don't miss that. Disappointed, not dissuaded.

As far as like changing my mind, absolutely not. Jeff Saturday, Colts coach here on the Rich Eisen Show as well as Westwood One's coverage of Monday Night Football. So let's get to the here and now. Why Nick Foles? Why turn to him now? Listen, we were not making enough plays offensively.

I've told everybody this. This is not just a Matt Ryan issue. But again, we have to find a way to make those plays and whether that's pushing the ball down the field more because you're having safeties play at seven and eight yards and it affects the way you can run it. We've done a good job of establishing the run, being able to do that. But you and I both know without explosive plays in the NFL, you're not beating many teams. It's hard to have sustained drives, drive after drive and a defense just playing bend but don't break knowing that at some point you're going to make a mistake. That's just the way the NFL goes. I told Nick, he comes in, give us something down the field or give us a spark and finding a way to get these guys motivated to make those types of plays.

I felt like Nick had done a good job. This is as I'm watching him get the scout team, made some really good throws down the field and so we had that conversation and that's why I made the move. Okay, so how tough was that conversation with Matt Ryan? Oh, it's tough.

You and I have known each other for a long time. I love this game. Matt Ryan is a fantastic football player and unfortunately this season has not gone any way that he would have wanted it to go and this was even well before I got here and it's documented. You know what happened when they benched him and did those things but Matt works his tail off and he shows up every day and does exactly what he's asked to do. He leads like a true pro even since he and I had that discussion. He was such a pro. I sat down and I told him exactly why and he was a coach. I get it.

I'm with you. I understand and as much as you don't like it as a player, he's like I'll do whatever I got to do to help this team win and so you give me my role and I'm going to play it and I'm so grateful for it and listen he's been great for Nick and Sam even this week about encouraging those guys and so I'm grateful to him. Those conversations are never easy because you feel for him as a player and you feel for him as a man right because it's not just the football and I would love to say that it's just that but you and I both know there's so much more to it from the outside. The way people talk about you and you know demean what you've done all the day they're always going to take shots and I told him I said man you got you know your head held high. You've had an incredible career that many would dream to have and I just hate that this is happening to them right now. All right in a couple minutes I have left with you Jeff Saturday who's your inner circle? Who have you been leaning on over the last several weeks as you've undertaken this endeavor? You know what it's funny Rich I won't get into all the names but I will say this I have had more people reach out to me former head coaches head coaches active head coaches and have been it's been so refreshing you know because I you know all I heard was every coach is going to hate you right I mean you know when you come in everybody's going to you know sling mud nobody's going to respect I'm telling you you know whatever but I've had a I've had an enormous amount of people call me and tell me you know Saturday you keep I see a difference right I'm watching the tape I see you're doing what needs to be done nothing is fast in the NFL understand I've had more guys call me and go I was three and 13 in my first year I won one game I was one and eight my first season right I had one who's active now is like they were trying to fire me a month ago and now and now everybody in my city loves me you know so I have really appreciated how many people have reached out to me uh and just said sat man like this is this is part of it and this is part of the process and it has nothing to do with your quote experience or inexperience this is this is what the NFL is going to look like and and just be prepared but but but do not be uh deterred for anything that's being said because it's all you know we we get it each and every week so I've been grateful for that well I'm sure Peyton is one of them right Peyton or Deji or right called you up text you or something yeah yeah not no it's you know these are like these are these are these are the former head coaches that I got that I'm referring to yeah a ton of players obviously but that that's always been a good circle but the uh the coaches themselves have been it's been a really nice uh addition to my to my uh to my group of friends all right last one for you so do you want the gig full-time you want it yeah absolutely yeah I said a few weeks ago and um I feel I mean obviously there's you know you want to be armed with a with a you know with the ability to do things your way and you can't do that midway through a season but absolutely I I love my opportunity I love what I'm getting a chance to do and learning growing and uh having fun doing it just got to get more wins than losses because that that's the that's that's that's that's the bearer of this thing those losses weigh a lot heavier as a coach than they did a player I can assure you and I bet so Jeff Saturday thanks so much have a have a Merry Christmas with you and your family and let's keep in touch brother happy holidays my friend be well you got that's Jeff Saturday Colts head coach prior to Monday night football against the Chargers I remember the last time I was hosting this show was right after Jeff Saturday had been hired as the interim coach and you want to talk about the roller coaster since then getting the initial win over the Raiders then having a couple games get away from them having that 33 point second half allowed against the Cowboys then obviously what happened to him in Minnesota we talked about this yesterday I I didn't watching the game on field level Matt Ryan was way down the list of things that I was watching there like I understand you're trying to do something else you're just trying to find a way there's some contractual things here too because Matt Ryan has injury guarantees if he gets hurt that puts you in a more precarious position if you're going to move on from him it's just you can tell that he's trying anything right now and when you don't have a foundation and a background in being in coaching it's that much more difficult to to navigate all these things so we appreciate Jeff coming on the show trying to explain what's going on to Rich there Rich in Pittsburgh going to call that game Steelers and Raiders tomorrow night on NFL network we got a full slate action though here boys Saturday yes it's Saturday NFL football all day uh coming up after this we got some sneaky good games right Brockman get into a few of those as well as I didn't even get to my grievances because Brockman went so nuts on the fire everybody I got a few that I want to get to coming up right after this it is Tom Pelissero in for Rich on the Rich Eisen Show you're hanging out with some friends and putting back a few drinks a few becomes a few too many as the evening comes to an end and people start to head out you think of calling for a ride ah you live nearby you can make it home okay it's no big deal what are the odds you'll get pulled over anyway and even so what's the worst that could happen your insurance goes up you lose your license you lose your job you total your car you kill someone everyone knows about the risks of driving drunk the results are tragic and often deadly however that still doesn't stop everyone from getting behind the wheel while under the influence that's why police officers are out there right now looking for impaired drivers on our roads to save lives so if you think you're okay to drive after a few drinks think again play it safe and plan ahead to get a ride it only takes one mistake to change your life or someone else's forever drive sober or get pulled over paid for by NHTSA you can listen to the NFL and the NFL app on the Odyssey app on westwoodonesports.com via Westwood One Station streams or by asking Alexa to open Westwood One Sports sponsored by AutoZone what makes AutoZone America's number one battery destination because they offer free battery testing and charging and reliable replacement batteries and they've always got your battery solution get in the zone AutoZone thank you TJ yeah buddy you guys heard some of your grievances here on Festivus earlier in the show Brockman went on for so long about firing everyone ever associated with the Patriots we didn't we didn't get to mine I've had a few that I've been sitting on here just throughout the course of the season in terms of just things that you see regularly within NFL games and every time I see it it just it drives me nuts let's start with congratulating the kicker who just missed the kick I understand okay it's a it's a different type of position but imagine if every time last night that Zach Wilson right throws the ball up into double coverage and it gets batted down if every one of his offensive line would kill it to him hey you know like the little head taps okay good job good job high fives I know what happens in the NBA right I get it under miss free throw also silly in my mind but like this is your job we're all judged based upon how well how well do you do your job kicker misses a kick and I know that you know Justin Tucker or somebody's going to reach out here and have a comment about this but just we don't need to congratulate just you know whatever slap on the butt but like the whole the you know you know the like the helmet tap thing like all right we're gonna everybody yeah good job good job good job well what are we doing what do we need to do that every single time trying to keep them up Tom it's just there's how many plays how many plays a kicker involved in a game about 10 to 15 depending what type of game it is extra points field goals kickoffs all right yeah if you've took that same percentage and then now it's every single time beating coverage hey every single time the whole game they're calling for holding it just yeah right call it for holding hey good job good job good job we'll get them next time yep way to go way to go miss the block I just got blown up hey good job man and the kicker initiates it too that's the other thing it's not like it's a conciliatory thing until you see the kicker will like come up like hey guys all right yep my bad my bad miss that kick all right we're not going to the playoffs anymore good job every single time all right so that that's one of my grievances i also got this one for you what you got the mascots who celebrate like they're actually on the team oh you want to be the jaguars mascot and speedo dancer i'm good i'm good with that that's ripped the weird you know the the weird chiefs mascot who's always doing his thing like i'm cool with all that what i mean is player gets in the end zone he works 365 days a year to find his way into the end zone you're lifting those weights you're putting in the time you're in every meeting it's a it's a haul right through an nfl season practice preparation travel and all you try to do is get in the end zone you do it a couple of your teammates come over it's a big moment and then who joins in the guy in the mask kc jumping in the pile and hugging them give me a high five no i will not give you a high five you had nothing to do with this why are you on the field it's fine if you're beyond the end line right if you're out of it you're going back whatever fine on the field just stay away you you didn't put it any other time all right you're i understand this might be hot in the suit okay you you had to go to a bunch of you had to go to a bunch of community events and dance around yeah you had to kiss babies and take pictures you put in work right all right so at those events go up and high five the players didn't i do great i made all these kids excited today celebrate that you don't need to be celebrating with the players on the field my only pushback on that tom is the mascot is kind of like the embodiment of the fan right so all 50 000 in in attendance can't jump into the pile but that mascot represents all of them so maybe that's just a mascot's way of bringing the fan into the huddle in the pile in the celebration no i think they're better than everybody they go wherever they want they do well they can though that they don't need they don't need unlike everybody else they don't need a little no they don't need badges because they don't have belts they don't need no stinking badges roll out there and they're like oh yeah no that guy in the that guy in the donkey costume yeah he belongs out there but he's everywhere it's college football too it's it's every sport you've never seen a player deny a mascot a high five though they they're into occasionally there's definitely some where it's like yeah okay whatever like no no i don't i don't need you i need you in the pile i don't know if jackson deville comes over and tries a high five t law i think he's got a high five him i mean he's wearing a speedo i wouldn't mess with that guy either look at that that head is up there a little he's wearing slides this is my freshman year dorm where you had the community bathroom that's every guy going to get in the shower right there with the slides yep it's just their underwear roll it in all right i got one more let's see one more for it's my daughter's birthday hey you're gonna be it's her birthday on not today monday but close enough that had her birthday party recently i actually went after that ridiculous vikings colts game last weekend i was the guy in charge of picking up the pizzas for the party it was a four-hour game so i rolled in full suit to dominos grabbed the pizza showed up to the party at like the indoor play place delivered dad took care of it perfect so the next or was it no it's the next day right so sunday i'm at home because i had a saturday game so i'm watching the games right and like my daughters love it tegan's eight family's almost six and like they'll shouldn't say they love it they tolerate it the fact that dad is so involved with watching the games like i get a few of those finley last weekend too was just like what all you ever do is sit downstairs and work like well the games are on what do you want me to do but so she's like whatever they're like they have a project your bedroom whatever they decide like they're gonna do something with me i just i've kind of i just go along now right a few weeks ago they painted my face repeatedly like they'd paint like a whole it's like you're santa now daddy and i look at it it's like a horror movie just red streaks everywhere so this past weekend finley comes down she's being very sweet and she goes daddy i'm gonna do your hair and i see and she's got like two brushes and she's got a couple of squirt bottles you know like you're going to the salon so i'm like okay it's like lay down so i lay down on the sofa i'm watching the games right and i can you know feel like she's just spraying way too much stuff like okay just take it easy and it's like detangler spray or something but like i can just smell it there's so much good in there too much she's combing and then all of a sudden i just hear oh and i go philly did you just cut my hair she goes no i'm like i heard you did and she's holding the scissors and there's just hair in the teeth of the scissors i'm like you just cut my hair and then she just starts balling runs away and you felt terrible because i'm laying down i go where did she cut it from luckily she had the good sense to cut it from the back well done it was somewhere up in this general region i don't know if you can see a spot in there it's well covered but i'm just like i'm literally on tv for a living i can't like have this is the moneymaker for the front of it out so just for finley i told her i'm just like honey it's it's okay she's like i cut zero zero hair so i'm like okay you did but like i'll just don't buy it but just we can do whatever you can't cut your hair or my hair or anyone else's hair one rule in this house moving forward so i do i do have a grievance with finley but she turns six soon i'm sure it's all going to turn around happy birthday tremendous that's my list brockman do we got some uh some sneaky good games here before we go games let's go here's chris brockman with sneaky good games contests likely to surprise you with their heretofore undisclosed competitive value mike we're struggling oh you're doing bad i'm in a slide you know i'm like the miami i'm like the miami dolphins i started out the season so hot he's on fire everyone thought i was in the mvp race sure salty brockman and the last three weeks we're one and three the last three weeks it's not good let's go pick it up we're still we're still good overall like we're still a playoff team like the dolphins you're still 29 23 and 2 in the year okay coming into this week we're betting we're betting against the the winter storm the arctic vortex what's the bomb cyclone the bomb cyclone that's what they call them baggies give me the browns minus three saints are bad okay nick chubb's back they're gonna get the browns i have confidence in two offensive touchdowns we saw one last week we're going to this week and that's probably all they really need to beat the saints and then i'm going the unders in these games look it's going to be terrible in new england it's going to be 18 degrees windy patriots stink i fire everyone so they have no coaches they have no players left can't even get a hot dog cincinnati literally might win this game 38 to 3 but if that's the case that's still under 41 and a half kc same deal 10 degrees freezing ass cold seven touchdowns in this game seems unlikely i don't know about that one brock and i'll tell you what you know what i'm not doing tj i have one rule what's your rule brother when an all-time legendary player passes away the week that he's about to be honored for one of the most greatest iconic plays the greatest an iconic play in nfl history yeah i take the team that he made the play for makes sense minus two there is no way the steelers are losing this game to the raiders 0.0 0.0 lay it all on the steelers saturday night if not for franco harris is passing which way would you have leaned on this game i wouldn't have taken it whatsoever you just would have completely either way talent wise the raiders have more talent but there's going to be other things at work here on saturday night yeah so i'm taking the steelers betting the under on any chiefs game i feel like it's a bold move too this is not a really great seahawks defense that's going in there and the chiefs they have confidence in the seahawks to really get it going they're going to have to throw the ball ken walker's probably not playing i mean that that's the biggest factor is no locket we'll see on walker he's listed as questionable he's been dealing with that ankle thing pete carroll said he thinks he's going to play how much he plays pete thinks everyone's remains to be seen pete pete's one of the good ones he's very positive in terms of he is he's a very positive individual but usually he's relatively straightforward on injuries which we appreciate of course when you list someone's questionable but you go yeah he's probably playing i i like that i'd much prefer that than just the we'll see not gonna talk about it it actually is it actually is greatly appreciated we need a winning week mike that's all i'm asking for you know we gotta end the slide that brown that brown saints game too i mean two teams that are in it right the browns are six and eight they've still got a path right forward to potentially make the playoffs they need a lot of help and then the saints who again it's a bad division but if you're just stacking up the rosters right now you'd say the saints should have a chance right marcia atlanta more hasn't played since he tore up his kidney you've got cam jordan he's been back they're obviously they've been short-handed on wide receivers the entire season because no michael thomas and then the quarterback thing has been weird but like they can roll out taysom hill they can challenge you with some things that they do the browns defense has not been very good they played better of late but they've not been very good over the course of the season here that can be one of those again i'm not giving you betting advice here brockman but this could be one of those games where there's more points scored than you think even in those conditions even with it being cold nick chubb is fine it sounds like i don't even know if his his workload is going to be going to be limited here so expect him to go despite the foot injury it's a brown's offense that they have gotten incrementally better they can take a huge leap in this weather probably not you'd say but dashaun watson has shown improvement since he returned into the lineup game over game here and maybe this is a week we're having the running quarterback to just kind of make things happen on his own maybe it's heavy run maybe it's the combination of chubb and designed runs for dashaun watson the saints ain't doing that with andy dalton they might do it with taysom hill so again this is one of those weird games because you don't entirely know what the weather do just like i didn't know until about 15 minutes ago that my flight was canceled on a new one we're going to hustle straight off of this hey happy new year thank you guys thank you thank you thank you on the rich eizen show thanks to everybody who joined as well 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'd 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 more and they're not everybody's gradually losing audience i think people will say well but aew is 15 ahead of where they were last year but there's variables there let's see where we're at year from now 83 weeks on youtube or wherever you listen