Michael Lombardi, Author of "Football Done Right"

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Instacart for the win. Michael, how are you? I'm doing great. Thank you. How are you? Most certainly. I'm good, man.

Thank you for taking the time to hop on. There's so many different areas that your career has taken you, whether it be working with Belichick or Bill Walsh or Al Davis. We're going to get into all of that. What is your initial thoughts and perspective on what we're going to see on Sunday?

How you feeling? Oh, I think it'll be a great game. I think, you know, look, I think Kansas City has played a certain style that's afforded them to win three playoff games and kind of change the narrative of their season. And they've done a great job. And I think, look, San Francisco hasn't played their best game yet. And they got to the Final Four.

They got to the final game. So I think it's going to be a great game and two great coaches and two quarterbacks that can play at a very high level. To the shock of no one, last night, NFL opening night, the media asked Brock Purdy about being the underdog and being the dude that people don't necessarily look at.

What are your thoughts? You have an extensive history as a scout. When you see Brock Purdy, what do you think? I think he's a really good player. I learned under Coach Walsh, degrade what you see, don't grade where they get drafted. You know, players are about, it's not about where they get picked. It's about how they play. And this kid plays really well. And if you know anything about the quarterback position, you know he does it really, really well. And so I think to me, it's just a media kind of conversation that really has no merit.

It has no really understanding. The guy is a really good player. When you average almost 10 yards per attempt, 10 yards per attempt, Patrick Mahomes is averaging 7 yards per attempt this year. When you average 10 yards per attempt, it's not because you're just managing the offense.

It's because you're really good. Michael Lombardi here with us, the JR Sport re-show on CBS Sports Radio. You mentioned your time scouting under Coach Bill Walsh at the time. What were some of those other values that you picked up along the way that kind of helped set the trail for the rest of your career? Well, we don't have enough time to go over it, but I would say the thing that always resonated with me is that we're all thinking alike, no one's thinking. And I think that he forced me to think differently.

He forced me to read books about leadership, understand who Tom Peters was, understand that the job, the profession of coaching in the NFL or being an executive in the NFL was one about leadership, not always about tactics. It's always about the strategy. How do you improve your strategy? How do you see things? Can you figure out why you win, why you lose? And solve problems and think differently like he did when he developed the West Coast offense. Divergent thinking is the most important criteria of any successful executive.

So I think that's one of the many lessons I learned. A former executive and scout Michael Lombardi is here with us, the JR Sport re-show on CBS Sports Radio. You've been through this process of Super Bowl week before, obviously not in Vegas. What are some of the concerns and how do you, quote unquote, keep a tight ship moving into the most important game of the season? Well, I mean, they got the players and everybody out at Lake Las Vegas, so that's not going to be a problem. But the hard part is to say, look, we've got to stay on course that this is just like a regular game. There's nothing there's no difference between this game and another game when we all know that's not true.

Right? This is the biggest game on the biggest stage. So I think ultimately you've got to try to get players to stay in the moment, stay focused on the task at hand. And that's a big challenge. You know, that's what you have to do and it becomes really hard.

I think moving forward, you work with someone that is very familiar with this. This is Coach Bill Belichick, who's very complimentary of you. Do you think that we are going to see this man back on the sidelines sooner than later? Oh, I think we will. I mean, look, at some point a team's going to realize that one of the greatest coach of all time is available and I better go hire him. And I think they will. And I think that's really going to be what brings them back. He's a great coach. He's got a great ability to lead and the time hasn't passed him by.

So everything is really good. Do you believe at this point, given all the recent hires, we know that the college game is changing, the draft process is changing. Do you think that that experience is being overlooked? It's like everybody is young, they get hired, they stick around for a year, two years and they get fired.

Yeah. You know, that's the thing to me that I just don't understand. I mean, I think it's really important that we have more diversity in the hiring process. I think it's more, it's really important to have the ability to let minority candidates be successful. But to me, it's not about hiring. It's about being successful. And I think that's really where the things have to change. It's one thing, you know, to sit there and say, well, we, you know, we diversified our head coaching portfolio, but are they going to be successful? Are they going to be able to do the things they have to do to win? And I think that comes with experience and I would spend a lot more time on the educational process for young coaches than I would for, you know, any coach who, you know, who gets his first job. Nobody's ready for their first job. Nobody's ready for their first home they buy, right? You all don't think it can happen.

So I think to me, that's where I think it's got to change. Michael Lombardi here with us. CBS Sports Radio. Well, there is a coach, he got a lot of experience, he continues to climb up the ranks as Andy Reid. You've been through, seen him have success, AFC, NFC. What makes him special as a head coach that obviously Patrick Mahomes helps, but you don't have this much time with this much success if you're a schlep? Well, no, and I think he's partly from the Walsh School of how do I think differently?

What do I have to do? You know, Andy gets portrayed as kind of a soft guy, you know, kind of a Pillsbury Doughboy type of guy, but he's really a tough minded coach. And his teams are tough, they're well schooled, they're fundamentally sound. All the great things, the reasons why teams win is why Andy's teams win. He really spends a lot of time on the things that it takes to be successful.

And I think that's why he's always been successful everywhere he's been. Well, for all of your experiences, I had mentioned your book, Football Done Right, setting the record straight on the coaches, players and history of the NFL. Why did you decide to put this book together and what message do you want to convey about the game?

You know, I think the best example of why I wanted to write the book happened in Detroit championship weekend. See, 30,000 people come out to fourth field to sit in uncomfortable chairs and watch a game that they could have watched on television. Pay $20 for a beer when they could have easily stayed at home and got a case for $20, right? But they wanted to be around Lions fans. They wanted to share in the moment with other Lions fans. That history of the Lions team, the Honolulu Blue and the Silver, right?

They wanted to enjoy it and their history is why they were there. And I think we tend to overlook the history of the league a little bit. I think we tend to overlook the past players, the past coaches. You know, Buddy Parker was one of the great coaches in our league.

He's up for the Hall of Fame this year. He started the nickel offense. He started the nickel defense.

He started two minute offense. And so when Fox showed you that picture of them there, they should have mentioned Buddy Parker. They should have honored those who come before us.

And I think this book is about that. Well, Michael, we certainly know that the NFL is forward thinking, not necessarily is going backwards. Roger Goodell asked about streaming. We have a game coming up in Brazil. There's so much going on in the evolution of the game. Where do you think we are, first of all, on the field?

And I don't know, 10, 20 years from now, are we going to see a two-hand touch? What do you think about how the game has changed and what it continues to be? Oh, I think we're going to still see football. I think we're still going to work hard to protect the players and have players' safety.

I think that's going to be really important. But I also think that, you know, the game, the technology of the sport is so advanced like it is everywhere, right? I mean, look, there's a reason why we have quarterbacks that get the information in their ears. Paul Brown started that with a pulling guard.

He changed guards to get the quarterback plays. So as technology advances, so will the game. Well, certainly. Well, Michael, thank you so much for lending your perspective and your expertise. Thank you for letting people follow you.

And of course, go ahead and pick up the book. I am on Twitter, Ed Lombardi NFL, or Instagram, Ed Lombardi NFL. I do a daily show on Beeson called The Lombardi Line. My podcast is The GM Shuffle, and my books are available anywhere you get your books online, bookstores, all across the country. Well, thank you, Mike, for taking the time to join us. I look forward to catching you down the line. Have a good time, okay?

Thank you so much. A Peanut Butter M&M's production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners up get nothing. One retired cop returns. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter, but you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort, coming soon to a Super Bowl new you.

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