Roundtable time!!!

We should play the roundtable music anyway because it's fun. Camelot. Camelot. It's all about Monty Python. We bring in Vashti Hurtt, carolinablitz.com, at Keith Blitzen on Twitter, although I know she has additional Twitter handles.

And I believe has handles too from back in the day. Vashti, how you doing? Mike Felder will join us in a sec. I'm good. I'm just trying to process everything.

All right. We're back rolling here as far as a coach in Carolina. So, yeah.

Let's start with that because I know you've been on this beat. I'm curious, do I detect a level of disappointment in the outcome of this coaching search? For me personally? Yes. Yes, absolutely. It's kind of discouraging in general to see somebody do what Steve Wilks was able to do with that Carolina Panthers team and me having pretty much a front row view of where that team was pre-Steve Wilks and where they were at the end of the season. And for him to be passed over for the head coaching job, I think is a slap in the face, not only to him personally, but also you have to, in a larger perspective, it's a slap in the face, the black coaches from a professional and even a college level where they systematically get passed over for jobs, despite meeting certain performance standards.

So here's the thing. I agree 100 percent with what you said. We had Greg Doyle on earlier, is now the columnist for the Indianapolis Star. And he praised Frank Reich, thinks it's a great hire. But I asked him about actually he offered himself that Steve Wilks should have been the higher, that it really doesn't make logical sense. And I do think it is a fair question to ask. And really, it's a hypothetical and we'll never know, because, I mean, this it's just not the case. Were Steve Wilks white, the exact same situation, defensive coordinator, team played exactly the way they played, would he have gotten the job?

And to me, it's a character assassination of David Tepper to say, yes, it would have been it would have been a different outcome. So I can't so I can't even say that, but I think it's a fair thought exercise to have. Yeah, it's a fair thought exercise.

And of course, you know, we can't we can't say that would be the that would be the case with certainty. But, you know, I'm very interested and I know obviously this came down to what each coach's philosophy and and plans for the team would be offensively going forward, because in the last few drafts, the fans, this last one where they have drafted Icky, they've been going heavy on defense, solidifying that defense. So I don't know what the plans are and what the difference was in plans offensively going forward. It's just it's very discouraging that Wilks didn't get that job. I mean, even offensively, I know he probably hates being pigeonholed as a defensive slash offensive coach. I mean, they put up record numbers. They set a franchise record in an offensive yards in the game under his tenure and rushing yards in the game in his tenure. So during his tenure as interim coach. So it's just, you know, it is what it is at this point, unless I don't know if people know Wright's history, but he was the second choice for the Indianapolis Colts. They had originally hired McDaniel and McDaniel kind of shunned them and then they went with Frank. Kind of? Kind of shunned them?

They had the press conference all set. Josh just didn't get on the plane. It was wild, right? Completely left the Colts at the altar. And then they had to look, again, I think Frank Wright's good coach. Two things can be true. Frank Wright could be a good coach and it could be the wrong decision or an unfair decision.

So that's where I am there. Before bringing Mike Felder, I'm curious because you do, you spend enough time around these players. What do you think the sense is of the players in that locker room having spent 13 weeks under Steve Wilks? I don't think they're happy about it. Privately, they would never say that publicly. They're going to offer support publicly, but they were very vocal about wanting Steve Wilks to be their coach going forward. And that was something that they made sure to harp on in their closing interviews with us before they headed off to their break. And usually you don't see that.

I hadn't seen that with, not to the level with Matt Rule. So I'm sure privately or like, man, we played our butts off. We did what we felt like we needed to do to make sure that Steve Wilks remained our guy and it wasn't enough. That's Vashti Hurt. We bring in Mike Felder at In the Bleachers on Twitter from Stadium College Football. Just a football savant, if you will.

Oh, he's still connecting, so I can't even bring him in. I can't even ask him this question. It's a brilliant question, too.

So we're going to have to wait for the brilliant question. What's the sense that a guy like Shaq Thompson would have come back with Steve Wilks as the head coach, but now may be looking elsewhere? I think he would have.

I mean, he would have had to explore his options regardless. He's an aging linebacker. I think that that's an area where, in his position specifically, is where Scott Fitter said they would be looking to beat up during the offseason. So, you know, I mean, I don't, you know, at this point in Shaq Thompson's career, he wants a check and he's going to go where the money is. And if Carolina is going to offer him money, he's going to swallow that pride and he's going to be a friend right now.

I mean, that's just, that's what it is. Yeah, look, first of all, all of these guys, every single one of them should go wherever the money is biggest. They don't play long enough for that to not be the overriding factor. If I were a professional football player, if the New York Jets paid me the most money, I would go play for that dysfunctional franchise. Because for these guys who have an average career of, what, three years, four years, just get as much of it as you can.

That's the way I look at it. I think these guys should go out and get the most money. So where do you think they're going to ultimately end up in this draft? They have to end up in the draft. They have the ninth pick.

Based on what you've been able to glean from either talking to people or just your own reporting, are they going to trade up? I mean, I think that if they want to get the quarterback of their choice, they're going to have to be aggressive in the draft and trade up. It's just who or what they will, you know, give up to trade up to the position where they want to go and what quarterbacks they like. I mean, with a whole new staff coming in, we knew that Steve Wilks was a run-heavy guy.

He focused on running the ball. I mean, and looking at friends at his offenses in the past, you know, he's had a quarterback carousel. So what kind of quarterback does he like? He inherited Andrew Luck and then the next year he leaves and the record reflected that.

So I really don't know enough about him to know what his style is offensively. He did well with Carson Winston in Philadelphia. The first year it was bumpy. The second year was when they won the Super Bowl.

I just don't know. I don't know enough about him, but I think they have to get their guy in the draft. No more trading for washed up vets or trying to make a guy out of a guy who's not a guy.

Yeah. Well, Frank Reich did that the last couple of years, too. So although we don't know exactly who's responsible for all the decisions, I think Frank Reich really pushed to get Carson Winston Indianapolis.

It worked for a couple of weeks and then it didn't. And then the Matt Ryan experiment did not work out. Again, don't know if that was Frank Reich's doing or not, but we we know how the quarterback decisions have played out with the Carolina Panthers.

It's not pretty. Here's the thing. If they draft a quarterback at number nine and everybody thinks that Anthony Richardson is ultimately going to be the quarterback available to them at number nine, it's not like you can put Anthony Richardson on the field in year one and think it's not going to also be a disaster. So there's probably still needs to be a veteran. Do you get the sense that that might be Sam Darnold for a year?

Oh my gosh. Well, I mean, he certainly looked better toward the end of the season. I think that that will all come down to price. But I also feel like the Panthers have to be in a win now mode. And so whether that's Darnold and I think that he will be an option for them based on how he looked or somebody else or another veteran quarterback, they still need to get a guy who can win because the NFC South at this point is wide open. And whichever team makes the right decisions and whichever team positions themselves the best, this offseason, in my opinion, will be able to dominate that division for the next several years. Which is why I thought that this hire was so important.

It is absolutely ripe for the picking. We bring in Mike Felder now from Watch Stadium at In the Bleachers on Twitter. Maybe the smartest football mind I know. Let me ask you this, Mr. Felder, because you played, so you know about the relationship between coaches and players.

How do you think the decision to go to Frank Reich versus the guy that was already in that room? How do you think that plays out? I think there's going to be some guys that are upset, obviously. And then we're also going to see guys that are excited for a new opportunity, right? Like so everybody doesn't feel happy about where they are in the hierarchy thing. So I think at the end of the day, you're going to have some guys that were loyal to Wilkes and the other guys that are looking for a new opportunity, better opportunity or a guy that they think might be a better coach. So I'm looking forward to seeing what happens because this is a guy, obviously.

I mean, there's a. He's got a double life, right? This is a guy that did play for the Carolina Panthers, right? But also has kind of that Buffalo Bills like 10, what is he, 10 years with the Buffalo Bills. And then he becomes this assistant coach and everybody knows him from the Eagles. So and then obviously the Colts. So this is going to be interesting to see, you know, what he's able to do and what he's able to create here, because I think that with the Colts, he was trying to build on something.

But here I think he gets a clean slate. Does it matter to players? And maybe it does, depending on which part of the locker room you're in, but whether it's an offensive or a defensive coach at the head coaching position. Well, it matters who he hires.

Does that make, does that make sense? Like, like it's one thing for, you know, a defensive guy to just suffocate the defense. And this is something that, listen, I'll go back to college, but Kirby smart hired some, he hired some offensive guys.

And then all of a sudden he just kind of suffocated them until he finally cut them loose in the last two seasons. And that's big deal. We just saw Mario crystal ball, who's technically an offensive guy. Cause he's an offensive line coach, but he just, he's fired us guys.

Right. And Nick Saban, who's a defensive guy. We saw him throttle down that office until he realized, Oh, I might have to score 45 points in a game to beat Johnny Manziel or to beat, you know, Deshaun Watson or to be at this point now to beat Georgia.

So I do think, I think it's about the small relationships more than the big relationships. Like everybody's not going to be friends with the head coach. You're not, you're not, here's the thing. If you're in the NFL, you know who you're not. You're not somebody. Okay. So the coach doesn't really care about you. You are what's in the words of Beyonce.

Like I can have another you in a minute. And that's the way the NFL traffics not for long is what NFL stands for. And so we'll see who he hires. And that's the part that's going to build, be the building blocks for success, but let's not forget.

The Panthers have been trying to build like the Steelers to no avail. Right. And that's going to be the interesting part for me.

I could have another you in a minute. That is a great line. Mike, listen, I, you get so irreplaceable.

Come on, Michael. This is what you're doing to me today. Men love that Beyonce song irreplaceable. So shout out to you for that. Why would a man love that song? It's Beyonce. Yeah, no, no, but, but it is about, it is telling, it is telling a guy like there's a billion of you. There is a billion of you and I, I don't need you. That, that, that's, that's the way I read.

I could be processing it incorrectly, but that does, that does appear to the left, to the left. I can have another you in a minute, matter of fact. And what does she say in a matter of fact, he'll be here in a minute. I can't, I can't even argue that.

I'm sure she's a hundred percent correct on that. All right. So we were, before you, you jumped on with this, Mike, we were talking about the potential for the, who the quarterback might be.

So I keep, I keep seeing Anthony Richardson and let's. Oh, okay. When did they pick? When did they pick? Ninth.

Oh, good grief. So the top four are Young, Stroud, Levis, Richardson probably. You don't seem, you don't seem excited about any of them.

I like, I like Young. No, no, no. There's a top two. There's a top two without a doubt. There's a top two Stroud and Young. Okay. Young one Stroud too.

But then after that, like, hopefully you think we'll Levis turns into what? Josh, Josh Allen. Right.

Hopefully, hopefully Anthony Richardson is like a, like he's, it's, he's like a uncarved on marble, like unlike on Sandy, like he's so raw. He's got all the measurables of what cam Newton. Right.

But hasn't done any of the stuff that cam did in college. Right. So what do you want? You want like those, like, I just think we're going to see somebody get overdrafted and yes, well, it's good. And then we're going to have to look at them as you're the problem. And it's like, no, no, you're the problem.

You shouldn't have picked them here. And that's what, that's how GMs get fired or that's how GMs should get fired. So for me, it just, I think we do have to enter in all these other pieces. Like, what are you going to do? Like, do you feel like you're going to go safe? Are you going to be more wait until the second round?

What are you going to like? There's no way that those four guys should get picked in the top 10. There's absolutely no way. There's no way they should all get picked in the top 10. But we agree. Bryce young is the best.

What is the one, the, what is the best quality of Bryce young? Um, leadership. Okay. I know that's, I know that's unquantifiable.

You know, actually, you know what? Screw that decision-making because I don't want to talk about unquantifiable things. Let's talk about decision-making at the end of Alabama's games, when they were losing, when they needed a drive, you know what Nick Saban did. And this is the difference between CJ shroud and Bryce on the line.

I have Bryce young above CJ shroud at the end of those games, when they needed a win, when they needed something to happen, Alabama cut them loose. They said, you call the play. You make it happen.

You make the checks. And what did he do every time he got it done? CJ shroud and saving having with Justin Fields, Ryan day is trying to call perfect plays from the sideline. You're working tempo, my man. You know what slows down tempo, your quarterback, having to look at you to signal in a play and then him trying to get them lined up. But Bryce, Oh, Hey, we're going to work out of the same formation the whole time. We're going to do tight bunch and we're going to run an angle route. We're going to run a tight, a speed out. We're going to go to the one receiver side.

We're going to do all those things. And that's the part to me that puts Bryce on over the top. And I understand he's smaller. Yeah. You can think he's small.

That's fine. What do they do in the NFL? Right? Protect the quarterback.

Let's go. Yeah. I'm that's my only fear about Bryce young is that I'm afraid it's not just small, but like not thick. Like Russell Wilson is small, but he's thick.

Like how many times has he been hit in college? Uh, probably not a lot, but it's a different game. Uh, that's, but that's my only fear.

It's Adam. It's a different game. Yeah. I think it's a completely different game.

They let you hit less than the NFL. Well, that is true. I, now I understand your point. Uh, Mike, Mike, Mike Felder. All right. I have, I have two things we have. We only have a couple more minutes here. I appreciate both of your time.

You guys are both awesome. Um, the NFL is considering, they may deny it, but they are definitely considering, uh, going to neutral sites for the conference championship games. Tell me Vashti why that wouldn't be an awful decision. Why it wouldn't be an awful decision?

I think it would be tragically bad. So why do you want me to argue and for it? I mean, I think that's terrible.

I don't know. What are you, what are you playing for in the regular season? If you don't have home field advantage when it really, um, but money.

Yeah. But you know, I guess so money for the end of, they said it's going to allow them to vet future sites, I think for Superbowl and, and, oh, who cares about that? I mean, the Superbowl is going to attract, it's the Superbowl. So no matter where you're going to put, where you put it, it's going to jump off.

You can't, what are you telling these guys who fight for home field advantage during the season? Oh, it doesn't matter what it matters most. I just think it's a terrible idea. I guess, I guess we're going to agree on that.

Uh, but, but, but it's good for money. The play and Mike, won't the players get all that money? No, they won't.

We all know that they won't get that money. Oh, yeah, I know it's, it's a terrible, it's an awful decision. Who you got, who you got this week, Mike? I don't know who's playing. I love my college football friend, uh, Vashti, who's one of these two games. And I'm going to ask Mike a better question anyway.

All right. I want the Eagles to, I do this at this point, you know, I don't know much. I watched these teams, but it really doesn't matter who wins, but I go off of fan bases. 49ers fans are way, their heads are too big. So I'm going for Eagles and then, um, that chief bingles are tough, but I like the swag of the bingles. So I'm, I want to see Eagles bingles in the Superbowl.

All right. Now, uh, Mike, what's, uh, what are you making for halftime of the Superbowl? Uh, man, I have no idea what we're doing for the Superbowl. We got invited to a party, but it is, uh, 75 minutes away.

And so we're definitely not going to that. Um, we'll be at that. We'll be at the house or we'll be at my brother's house, but I am, I mean, listen, I'm going to make my mom's dip.

It's a classic, like, you know, ground beef dip. I will say this. My wife loves Jober. Okay. So I I'm, I'm a bingles guy all the way.

All right then. She loves him. She's like, I think she likes how like kind of my wife just recently got into Jordan's and I think she kind of likes his like swag, like swag on a guy that you don't expect to have that swag. Does that make sense?

No, it makes perfect sense. He does. He, he is, he is a heart. He oozes cool. I don't even, I it's nobody. Trevor Lawrence doesn't have this kind of cool.

Joe burrows. Hang on. Hey, Hey, Hey, let me tell you something.

Trevor, Trevor is dope dog. Okay. All right. All right.

We're going to have another conversation about this. Yeah. Mike Felder at in the bleachers on Twitter, vast die hurt at keep blitzing and other Twitter handles as well.

Carolina blitz.com Mike from watch. Oh, wow. I didn't even realize that we know each other via Twitter. Oh my gosh. We're connecting people. This is what I feel like. I feel like the harmony guy, but obviously not because you know, Mike's married and all that best. I Mike, I thank you so much. All right. They can have a conversation now about, about, you know, how they know each other from Twitter. Sure.