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Now. On with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Austin down the middle of the guns to win the game! To win the game.
From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Vladi rocks the ball. It is gone again. Back-to-back bless in the first earlier on the show NFL network analyst Daniel Jeremiah. Coming up.
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning. Actor. Gabriel Luna. And now, it's Rich Eye Sen.
Well, welcome to hour number two of the Rich Eisen Show on the Air, Disney Plus ESPN app, ESPN Radio presented by Progressive Insurance. Listen, if you missed hour number one, Daniel Jeremiah was awesome. And you should definitely check it out either on our podcast or going to our YouTube channel, youtube.com/slash Rich Eisen Show, hitting the subscription button, as well as or the follow button, or there's our podcast, as I mentioned. Or you go to the Disney Plus page and you watch us back whenever you want once the show is completely over. Or, you know, very rare do I say this.
Um If you root for an NFL team in need for a quarterback in next year's draft, Maybe you skip the Daniel Jeremiah sign because you're just going to go deeper. into depression, into your darkness retreat. Um so but anyway, he just he just said he doesn't know what the first overall pick of the draft is and it's not You know. As Mookie Beth said last night, it's not because of a lack of effort. Good one.
You know what I mean? Um 844-204-Rich, number to dial. Big game tonight. I've been saying for a couple of weeks now. Don't count the Ravens out.
And then Snoop Huntley. Bless him, man. In a must-have at one and five. It's a minute. At one and five, he plays the game of.
of 2025. for him and for the Ravens. I mean, listen, the Ravens started off well and then blew it in the fourth quarter in Buffalo, and it has been just. Sideways since then. Injury-wise, execution-wise, Snoop Huntley and the team on defense started getting healthier.
And that was a massive win. for the Baltimore Ravens. last week against the Chicago Bears that it only won 0-4 in a row.
So now here comes Lamar back. And tonight they're in Miami. And what's at stake? The only thing I can just try and quantify it for you, because we all know you've just got to keep winning if you're the Baltimore Ravens. Um at one in five.
According to these numbers that I get from the NFL Network Research Department, the crack staff at NFL Network. The playoff percentages since 1990, again, this is when the playoffs began to expand and we know it's expanded even more. Since then, based on the season start, if you start one and five, you have a 2.3% chance of winning. When they beat the Bears last week to go 2-5, the Ravens improved their. Percentage by 4%.
It's now 6.3. A win tonight jacks that up to 10.4. A win the next week, because the Ravens will have. A mini buy. We shall call it a mini buy before going into.
Uh Minnesota. If they win that one, they go to four and five, which jacks it up to 17%. Not too shabby for a team that once upon a time. Was a 2.3% chance of winning. And then after that, they visit Cleveland, their home for the Jets.
And most importantly, The two teams. They will have to leapfrog. To win the division, because when you start two and five, unless you win the whole damn rest of your. Games You're not going to be a division winner. You're going to be a wild card team.
Most importantly, You have your division games left. I think the best chance to make the playoffs for these Ravens will wind up being the division, even though right now. The Jaguars are your seventh seat at four and three. The Chiefs. At five and three, though, they are sitting right there.
They're going to take that spot at some point unless they have. A division wi uh Leading record. And if that happens, just Another terrific team is going to be popped down. Dire straits right now. To try and make the playoffs if you're the Ravens as a wild card team.
Crazily enough, not so much. in division because at four and three You got a division leader, and you want to win the division. You want to go as a wild card, you want to host a game. And Cincinnati and Pittsburgh are the two teams you're going to have to leapfrog, and they have yet to play any of them. Yet to play any of them.
And again, the NFL network has The Jaguars in seven and the Chiefs at eight. That might be a. misprint because at five and three That's a half game better than the Jaguars, but they can't. They lost to the Jaguars anyway, which could be something that comes home to Roost. But bottom line is: win the division, they still can.
And I'm You asked me before, Chris, who am I taking tonight? I'm taking the Ravens. And I'm taking the Ravens. I don't know. The next time I might not take the Ravens unless they're significantly hurt.
The only time I might not take the Ravens. And it again, if they go on such a heater. Maybe I consider it week 16 against the Patriots at home. depending on how the Patriots have played. But at Green Bay, week 17, that one right there.
Because I I like them tonight. Unlike next week in Minnesota, I feel like Dr. Seuss, I like them in Cleveland. I like them against the Jets at home because they have three in a row at home. They have three in a row on the road starting tonight.
And in three in a row at home. And the three-game Road trip at Miami, at Minnesota, at Cleveland. You know, this just in it. None of them are currently above 500.
So I like the Ravens to go on a heater right now, and it starts tonight. Of course, the Dolphins are sitting there saying, wait a minute, we just caught fire ourselves in Atlanta. And kudos to them. We'll find out if Atlanta is the up and down team that they are or going to put their foot in the ground with Penix and turn it around and start playing some winning football consistently. But the Dolphins just came up with a 24-point win, their largest.
In two years, They scored a season high in points. and recorded a season low in points allowed. And it was the first time They've been out-gained by a team by 100 or more yards and 10 or more first downs and won the turnover battle in a game since then. Mm. 70 to 20 win against Denver in week three.
That's the last time they've out-gained a team by 100 yards. Had 10 or more first downs and won the turnover battle in a single game since that one. They beat the Broncos by 50. And at that point in time, you're thinking, oh, I am absolutely. Buying the Mike McDaniel Dolphins and wondering a lot about those Sean Payton Broncos, yada, yada, yada.
How does that look today? Not so great.
So Miami's got their next two games at home. before they head off to Madrid to take a commanders team that's leaking. Oil right now. The problem for them Are the two home games are against The Ravens and the Bills.
So they better win this one tonight. Let's put it that way. Um There's a bye week and then a seemingly softer part of their schedule. Although a visit to the Jets You always throw records out when those two teams face one another, and that's going to be awfully cold weather games. You know, Jets at Pittsburgh on a Monday night under the lights?
Good lord. What could that weather be like in December 15th? And that's the whole conversation about him. Good news for them is their home. Against Cincinnati and then Tampa before they visit New England.
They got to win tonight. And I'm sure all the Really? Hardworking folks, honestly, they really are. in the NFL front office. working on these international series games.
And I've been looking so much forward to the Madrid game for various reasons. One, it's just an incredible location that. I can't wait to see what an NFL game looks like. And two. To be very honest, it's For those who spent an entire month in Ireland and The UK?
And then now are going to go back and have a double dip in Berlin and Madrid. I'm sure they want to go home and put their passports away. I hope for their sake that the Dolphins show up with more than one win. at that point, pardon me, more than two wins at that time. Or at least more than one win between now and then.
A 2-8 team in Madrid taking on. The Washington Commanders Who I don't know what they're going to have. That game right now, I'm genuinely concerned about the combined record of those teams. It'd still be a beautiful location. The fans are going to be lit, but.
That's what's at stake tonight. You know. I mean, if the Dolphins, I've got their numbers here too, in case you're wondering. Uh At one and six. You know the history since 1990 of how many one in six Teams made the playoffs.
It's a very simple answer. None. Zero. Zero. It's a 0% chance beating the Falcons.
Jack that up. all the way to 1.4%. We're still at milk. If they win tonight. At three and six, four point nine percent.
Is there um Are there odds?
So the Ravens have a better shot. And they have a shot at the division. The dolphins shot at the division. See you later. That's gone.
That's gone. most likely packed their cold weather gear. For the playoffs to go to either Pittsburgh or Kansas City or Denver, or maybe they'll be lucky and. Have to go to the Chargers. I don't know.
That'd be lucky. At least it's indoors. Could go to New England, could go. to Indianapolis if they advance. I think the Colts are going to wind up the one seed the way that they're playing right now.
But anyway, that's what's at stake. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial in the program.
So You know what we've been talking about here around these parts for the last couple of days? Um We call it getting mileage out of a segment unless you. Um You know. feel differently. About the subject matter, but I think it relates to everybody because it all started a couple of nights ago in game three.
Sitting there watching the game on Fox. They always will show the celebrity element that's there. In the crowd here in Los Angeles, and you see Jason Bateman sitting next to Sean Hayes, and we all know that. Two of them have a Superb podcast, The Smartless Podcast, with Will Arnett? And some people were just supposing that Sean Hayes got the invitation.
Over Will Arnett, because Will Arnett is Canadian and a Blue Jay fan. And Uh maybe Jason Bateman just doesn't want to give his plus one to the Friend of his who would be actively rooting against the team. That he's so dedicated to. I mean, I'm sure he's not living. paycheck to paycheck, but that's that's a chunk of change, those seats.
And Dodger Stadium is not the car. You know what I mean? And so um I, you and I, Chris, were like, heck yeah. Yeah, we wouldn't invite somebody to do that, right? No.
And you. TJ said. That 100% Ashton Kutcher would let you be his plus one if the Bears and the Cowboys ever played a do-or-die contest against one another. Ashton backed that up by sending a video, correct? He said 1,000%.
And you were just so adamant in that fact, and you got backed up. And then when we mentioned, what if you were handing out the plus one for a Cowboy Eagle game, would you actually bring an Eagle fan? And you're like, hell no. I was joking about that, though. You would not take an Eagle fan.
I don't have any friends who are Eagles fans, though, either.
So. If I did, if one of my best friends was an Eagles fan, you would take that friend? If they were one of my best friends. Not like a tiered two. Best friends, one of your best friends.
Yes, and luckily, none of my best friends are Eagles. And you and I, Chris, pushed back vehemently on that, right? Correct. You felt that way. You and I would never invite the other for a Yankee Red Sox game ever.
Ever. I would never invite an Ohio State fan to sit next to me in the big house. Never. No matter how great a friend they are. Never.
It's just too emotional for me. And maybe that makes me less of a person. I'm shallow. I don't want them to be happy.
Okay. And you are somebody who takes friendship differently. You're better than us, TJ.
Okay. I'm not saying that. I'm just.
Well. Crazy, crazy world we live in. Because last night When I was At game five in Dodger Stadium, at one point, I'm just standing there. and who was standing to my right? But Jason Bateman.
No! And I said to him, We have been talking about you on our show for the last couple of days. And I laid it all out for him.
Okay. And I got the act. Yeah.
Okay. And he said That he 100% Would have invited Will Arnett, but he's on the East Coast. Yeah.
See? And that last year. At the World Series, he did in fact have Yankee fans. And is this plus one? And the reason why he said Okay.
It's because he was supremely confident that he was going to win anyway. There you go. Supremely confident in his team. and he wanted to have his friend there. And I know that's disappointing to you, Chris.
But it's just 100%. That's you guys thing, man. I don't. I don't know. I don't know either.
I also got Talks Yankees is just different. Here's a better argument. My old roommate, one of my best friends, Spider, he's called into the show. He's a dance to drink over to you? Spider.
Not that spider. Different spider. Remember, he called a Washington football team fan.
Okay. If the Cowboys and the Commanders. The Commanders, you mean the Commanders? If the Washington football team and the Cowboys were to have a championship game at their crib and I somehow got two tickets and he could get there from Pittsburgh, I would take him. That's my man's in it.
I would never. I would never, I don't know what's the matter. Although, I gotta be honest with you, being there last night. And being, there were a lot of Blue Jay fans there last year. There were, man.
Let me just tell you. It was kind of shocking, just were so loud. They were so nice. And they were bold. But they're Canadian.
Well, I'm just saying to you.
Okay. It really wasn't, it couldn't have been nicer. At one point, Cooper and I got up after the eighth inning because. Honestly. It's so funny.
Growing up in the New York City metropolitan area, as I did, or New York City, period, in Staten Island, New York, 5th, and Strawberry Borough, I always. Thought to myself, and I've said this before, I'll say it again, although, because now we are on ESPN. Uh 710 out here in Los Angeles.
So, this first time I'm saying this to a gathered Los Angeles crowd. I grew up in New York City thinking to myself, my brother as well.
Soft.
Soft.
Show up late. Yeah.
Show up late. So soft. Show up late. Leave early. And when you widen out, you know, when the NBC cameras widen out.
to show uh Kurt Gibson's home run. hitting the right field stands. in the World Series against the A's, and Vince Scully's on the call. You could see the red taillights of the cars leaving and I'm like, I would never Yeah. In a million years.
What is the matter with these people? And now I'm in Los Angeles and I totally get it. Totally get it. I've been here for 20-something years, and I honestly thought to myself. Pulling into the stadium last night with Cooper.
I swear to you, I thought to myself, More about how I was going to escape. How's the escape? Exit parking lot that I am burying my car in right now.
Okay, how am I going to escape this? What is the time going to be? I was thinking about that more than how game five was going to play out. I swear to you. I swear to you, I thought to myself, and and Honestly, we all get it.
Honestly, the satisfaction I get from leaving the Dodger Stadium parking lot sometimes early enough to get right on the freeway is sometimes more satisfying than the actual win by my team. Yeah, euphoric. It's turned into that now. Oh, yeah. For real.
Yeah, people don't know unless they're here, man. And I should know this too, because it was the same way back in the day: Giants Stadium, leaving the old Giants Stadium parking lot, so bad that one of my favorite lines I ever said on Sports Center, I don't mind saying, I don't know what was the circumstances that led me to say it. I said, on a lead-in about Giants home game. I mentioned how Giants Stadium is so terrible. leaving there, getting out for traffic.
It's the only place Where you're jealous about Jimmy Hoffa because he's already home. I said that on Sports Center once. I'm very proud of that. Good line. And then I made a Jimmy Hoffa joke as.
I uh MC'd the First shovel turn of the new Met Life Stadium for both Giants owners and all of the. gathered dignitaries including The uh Commissioner and the governor, all of them were all there, and I made it, Jimmy Hoffa joke. Like, when you shovel the dirt, can you look for Jimmy? They didn't laugh. At any rate, my point is this.
My point is this, as we were getting up to leave in the eighth inning. after the eighth was over. A Blue Jay fan looked at Cooper and looked at me. didn't know who I was at all. Just says, Safe drive home.
That was his way of trolling me, thinking I was a Dodger fan. Safe drive home. And I thought to myself, in New York, It would have been a lot more blue for the than this blue J fan was not working blue. Safe drive home. Drive home safely.
And I just turn to him like, I'm not a Dodger fan. Which made me feel better. I don't know why I need to identify myself as such. But you said that. Didn't you say I'm on your side or something?
I didn't want to say that. No, I didn't say that. You should have. Although one I have one more story to tell from that, but I got to take a break because we can't leave Dan Lanning. And I've a question from the beginning of the show that I do want to ask you guys about this.
We've got all of that coming up. 844-204-Rich, number to dollar. We've never had the coach of Oregon on. That's about the change with Dan Lanning. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.
Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, we're here on Disney Plus ESPN, the app, and ESPN Radio, presented by Progressive Insurance. This man has not joined us. Before, and I'm excited to chat with him, even though he made my alma mater miserable a particular Saturday last year. His sixth-ranked Oregon Ducks are on a bye week, but joining us right now is Dan Lanning on the Rich Hazachar. He's coach.
Doing great, Mitch. Thanks for having me. You got it. I just want to jump right into it because your story fascinates me and absolutely fascinates me. Is it true you were a high school coach?
that drove half a day to Try and get a gig with the University of Pittsburgh back in the day. Is that a true story? Yeah, drove through the night. I went and taught elementary PE that morning, did weights after school, and then got in my car and drove to Pittsburgh.
So. worked out. You're an elementary Physical education teacher. Great gig, by the way. Great gig.
I loved it. It was all, it's like me and the janitor were like the two guys, the principal, were like the three guys in the building. It was fun. I loved it, but I had a passion to coach at a higher level. And I'd really been trying for a long time to get, you know, try to work my way into college, and I didn't have a lot of success.
And I'd gotten a phone call from. From a coach that had just gotten to Pitt, Keith Patterson. He said, hey, we might have something. And then I really didn't hear back. I told my wife, this is the closest I've ever been.
I'm going to drive to Pittsburgh tomorrow.
So that's kind of how it got started. What goes through your mind on a 12-hour drive? Because this is from Kansas City, right around the Kansas City area from what that's kind of your home. That's your hometown, right? Yeah.
That's my spot. A lot of things, you know. But the biggest thing for me, the whole drive, was I'm not going to regret that I took this chance. To see if maybe something could work, right? And I just didn't, I kind of kind of kept picturing myself.
I come home every night and I'd sit on my recliner and I would pull up every college staff in the nation. I'd email coaches or write letters. Um and I just felt like if If I didn't make that drive, I'd be sitting there 10 years later, kind of doing the same thing, right? Sitting here saying, man, what if I would have? Right.
Do you ever tell that to your kids? In your actions. We don't talk about it very much. Seriously? Yeah, we don't talk about it much anymore.
But yeah, I mean, I've certainly mentioned it. I'm big. I'm a big goal setter. I've always written my goals in my mirror, you know, and I have goals in my mirror right now. You know, so I'm big on brushing my teeth every day, looking at my goals and saying what I want to accomplish.
And I think, you know, for me at least, I've been really lucky to be able to hit a lot of those goals and always been kind of a dreamer. It's worked out with hard work. No, again, you know, obviously you've graduated professionally from moments like that, clearly at the top of the game right now. But the only reason why I ask that is it is a story about taking chances, taking risks, belief in self. It's the exact sort of stuff.
That you want to instill in players to win a championship. That's why I asked, you know? For sure. But, um You know, my story's been told. I want these guys to tell their own story, right?
And I think they recognize that hard work works. They see examples of that on our team, but I don't need to spend too much time talking about myself. Even though there is an eye in Lanning, I totally get it.
So, then, what are the goals that are currently on that mirror as you brush your teeth right now? Yeah, it's changed. The number one goal in my mirror is to help my people reach their dreams and goals. Like I wake up every morning, I pinch myself that I get to be the head coach at Oregon. And now the way that I feel like I can pay that forward is to help a guy get to the NFL, help a coach get a head coaching job.
You know, grow somebody from a GA position to a full-time coaching position.
So that's the number one goal on my board. There's a lot of other stuff up there. You know, one of them is growing Caden Niles and Titan into men. You know, I really want to be. Great father, not just a great coach, and uh, that's really important to me.
I have unbelievable kids. My wife does a Showtime job. And I'm really proud of where they're at. And then I want to win some games, man. There's, you know, Mike Velotti's won 116 games here at Oregon.
I hope that I can pass that up someday. We're a long ways away. But there's just a lot of things up on that on that. Mirror that I look at each morning and say, okay, this is a priority for me. How do you stay in touch with your kids and know, you know, what.
take a pulse check and and know how to I guess Come up with ways to communicate with kids who have a lot on their plate, and obviously, other things. that can take their attention. How do you do that, Dan? My kids personally, or are the kids on our team? I like it.
I guess I should, I should, you're players. In that respect. Yeah, I think there one, there has to be really open dialect. You know, healthy organizations have conversational turn-taking. They have people that are engaged.
So you got to give them the floor. You got to give them the stage at times. We just, for bye week, I had a meeting with several of our guys. Just to get a post of where they're at and then talk about the common realities of things that'll get in the way of us accomplishing what we want to accomplish. You know, everybody deals with distractions, you know, players, coaches.
teams.
So how do we manage distractions? And you just put it out there in the forefront and have You know, conversations where you feel like you can be open and honest with each other, I think that's where it starts. For sure. And then come up with ideas on how to motivate. I mean, again, I'll just go back to what I saw.
When you are talking to your players prior to going to the big house. Because again, that's my alma mater, as I'm sure you know. And you were just basically said something along the lines of. You know, in the second half, we're going to look up and we're going to see some empty seats and people are going. uh home because of the way we're playing And you then stopped the players in the middle of the game and said, take a look, this is what we talked about.
How do you come up with stuff like that? I mean, I think you try to pull motivation from anywhere, but that comes, you know, specifically from Coach K talking about playing in a road environment. And he talks about that feeling. He talked about calling timeouts and moments and looking around and saying, see, I told you. And that one just kind of played out.
But that was definitely from a Coach K talk to his team. And what that played out like for us, and we try to find moments in every game, uh, try to find Things that'll relate to our players in every situation and try to predict a little bit of what the story might play out to look like. Dan Lanning, Oregon head football coach here on the Rich Eisen Show. And again, I know you've only been there a handful of seasons, but. This sport is changing.
It seems like every week. It seems like every hour and every minute. How has your job changed from the first second you took it to this moment? Yeah, I said early on, I think it's more true now than ever, that being able to adapt is the most important trait of any coach. And then having some emotional intelligence and awareness of.
the people around you and what direction you want to move. Um, but but it's changed a lot, and it'll continue to change. And you have to be nimble and able to adjust. And then you got to recognize when you got something really special, a really special staff, really special players, like lean in on that and make that a strength when a lot of people, you know, that becomes a weakness because of everything that's going on in this profession.
Well, because I'm sure, you know, nonstop, you're looking at portals and people are looking at your players. And there's the NIL and there's, you know, collectives, and then there's. Things like job openings as well. What is your Thought on seeing Penn State's job open and Florida's job open. and you know LSUs and some coaches who are Uh as big a name as yours getting fired when Things just start to go south.
In the case of James Franklin, he was in the college football playoffs last year in a three-game losing streak. See you later. What's your thoughts on seeing that happen in your profession? You know, probably more than anything, it makes me grateful for where I'm at and recognizing how fragile and special it is. And it motivates you to keep working hard because you realize how temporary things can be if you're not moving in the right direction.
No, but on the same note, I I always think a little bit more about everybody else involved in that. You know, the assistant coach, the graduate assistant, the player. that signed up to play for somebody and just how quickly your world can change. Um you know continuity Stability, I think, is super important, and it's hard to have. And when you have it, I think you gotta make sure you recognize it and take advantage of it.
And so, your interest level in leaving Oregon is less than because of that. Zero. Yeah, I'm not leaving Oregon. Yeah, as long as I win. That's what I always tell my kids, right?
If your dad wins, we'll be at Oregon.
So I got to win, right? That's how it changes. That's how it works. I've got this question I'm always interested in. Whenever I see you on the sideline and I see the 15th different uniform that you guys are wearing, what is a meeting with Phil Knight?
Like Damn. You know, at first you're just kind of in awe. You know, you realize the effect this man has had on sports, on the world, the changes that he's been able to create, the, Um there's a lot of admiration, you know, for a guy that, you know, pushed against. Always found a way, regardless of circumstance. The shoe dog's one of my favorite books, and I read it before I ever got here.
But just the resiliency that he showed to create something out of nothing is. Unbelievable. The ability for him to say, Okay, I'm gonna hire unbelievable people in this organization. I'm gonna be really excited and happy and surprised with the results. You know, give them some direction, but see what they're able to come up with.
And any opportunity you get to be around Phil, you realize how much he loves. Um he loves Oregon, how much he loves football. How much he cares about this place and how much he just wants to share, you know, in that with other people. Which is really cool.
Well, I mean, let me, if you don't mind, share with you the way I see it. Is it like in an office? I think it's just an office that is the most incredibly decorated office. There's shoes everywhere, right? There's like a Jordan.
Photograph that's autographed there. There's, I don't know, like some sort of music, like you're waiting for your spa treatment that's playing in the background. You know, is that, is that, am I anywhere, anywhere near? This sort of thing. Like it's mystical.
Unfortunately, no. You know, most of my memes. Yeah, most of the times that I've linked up with Phil, it's very um It's very casual. It's in the locker room post-game. It's in my office.
It might be at my house, or it might be. at Nike's campus, but it's been a lot of different places. I mean, it's a phone conversation. He's very No, it He is He is genuinely who he is, and it's not flash and flare with him. Even though Nike, obviously, in our jerseys and everything we have, I mean, he's wearing the same outfit each day.
The conversation's very similar, but it doesn't take a lot of pizzazz for him. It's just the opportunity to be able to talk to somebody that's accomplished so much. Dan Lanning, a few minutes left with the Oregon head coach here on the Rich Eisen Show.
So you're from Kansas City.
So is it safe to assume, for lack of a better phrase, that when you're not. You know, in the college world and you're popping on an NFL game, you're rooting for the Chiefs. Is that what I'm saying? I'm a big Chiefs fan, a big Andy Reid fan, big Patrick Mahomes fan. Yeah, absolutely.
Okay, so what does it mean then that the person that could be standing in their way is Bo Nicks? And Troy Franklin, man. Like, what do you think of... I didn't have to put you on the spot here, but this is an interesting situation here, you know? Blood's thicker than water, and those guys are blood.
And those guys, they've been in our locker room, they've swayed with me, but you know what? You always hope that I love seeing the Chiefs win. I'll always be a big Chiefs fan. My guys know that. I got Jeff Bossa that's playing for the Chiefs now.
We got some guys that are with the Chiefs.
So I can pull for them, but I wanna see Bo and Troy. You know, Herbert, Mariota, all the guys who tear it up. We got some guys with the Chargers too, you know, Caldwell. Um, so I want to see all of our guys go have success, and I'm always going to be cheering for their success over you know my personal hopes. And the Chiefs, we've had some Super Bowls, you know, so maybe it's time to share some of those with some other guys.
I like with some ducks. Listen, I saw Bo Nick's over in London, you know, and I got a chance to meet with him and talk with him and you know, and get to know him just a slight little bit as one would just in a few minutes when you're interviewing them or seeing them on the sideline. And there's just some it factor about him, and obviously, I think part of his success. Is the number of reps and snaps and games that he played at the collegiate level, and obviously, a lot there. In Oregon, and you've got Dante Moore that you're trying to send to the next level right now.
What is your philosophy on? Quarterbacks and how they can get ready for the next level, and how long they should get it in the professional level till we can see somebody fully bloom like Bo Nick's right now. Coach. I think everybody's different, you know. And Bo is an unbelievable example of somebody that needed an opportunity in a place where somebody could identify their strengths and let them go flourish.
And he got better and better every single year here. I think you're seeing it now in his NFL career. I always felt like I had a coach on the field, you know, with Bo, and his intelligence was second to none. And there's some things that he did really well, and he certainly flourished here at Oregon. But quarterbacks have played really well here for us, regardless, whether it's Dylan Gabriel or Dante or Bo.
I think this is a great. A great system for quarterbacks to be able to come and play and lean into their strengths.
So, what it looks like at the next level, that's harder for me to say. I haven't spent any time there. But when you have good people that work really hard, there's an opportunity for guys to have success. Do you speak to Dylan Gabriel, say, throughout this process before he got his start, by the way, in London of all places? Like, what are your conversations with him like?
These days. Yeah, we've talked. And, you know, what's really cool about all these guys is they still pay attention to us too. And I think that speaks a little bit to what Oregon is. But Dylan and I have caught up, and a lot of times it's more small talk than it is us talking about football.
It's more about the relationship. He still follows our guys. He still talks to Dante. They talk to guys on our roster. But I'm really, you know, thrilled with what these guys are doing at the next level and what kind of people they are.
More than just what they're able to accomplish on the field. Please tell me you saw Tez Johnson's soundbite about when he heard Buccaneers fans chanting MVP. He thought it was for him. Unbelievable. Unbelievable.
You saw that. Yeah, it stopped. It was a nice take back to me remembering moments with Tez. That was so cool.
So that's on brand? Is that what you're saying? On brand. On brand, for sure. You got a good story about Tez and Bo, and obviously their relationship that you saw firsthand, and we all know.
you know, how they're part of the same family. Right. You know, Bo obviously was one really pushing for Tez whenever he first hopped in the portal. He's walked into our office and he's like, Coach, you have to take this guy. And then you.
You pull it up and you're like, he's 145 pounds. Like, what are you talking about? And then you watch the film and he's special. But Tez, you know, he is a ball of energy. He brought juice every single day.
I love seeing what he's able to do right now for the Bucs. And I think he's got a great, bright future ahead of him. But his energy is what's special. His mindset, he loves people. He's a pleasure to be around.
Super competitive.
So, yeah, I'm really thrilled for his success. Yeah, man, you got Bucky Irving there, too. They might be standing in the Chiefs' way. Also, Christian Gonzalez, the Patriots are going crazy right now. You got some ducks in a row, if you will, right now in the NFL.
And then, you know, your time with Georgia as well, which means. You know, the Eagles are standing in the way, also. You know, because it's kind of almost synonymous.
So, in the few minutes I have left with you here, how do you now get ready for a college football playoff? You know what's ahead now, and obviously, the world has changed in college football. You're gearing, obviously, in a week-to-week situation. That is a clear thing. But you're also gearing for the ultimate, which is four games in December and January.
Uh does that change the way that you prepare and or build the roster or play people right now? Coach?
Well, I think one of the great things about this team we have right now is we talk about strength and numbers. And we have a lot of guys that can play winning football. We've had. You know, probably every game this season, we've had well over 50 people play and contribute in the game. Several games where we've had over 70 guys on the field for us.
So I think building some depth is really tough in today's world. When you can find players that are good enough, finding ways to create roles for them is huge. How we've approached bye week this week is probably a little bit different than I've done in the past. You know, seeing the end in sight a little bit, how it can be a little longer and making sure our guys are fresh when we get there to the end of the season. But that part's still a long ways away.
Right now, we're pretty focused on us and growth for us this week and then Iowa as we go into the next week. Yeah, I know that's coach for week to week stuff, but I'm just saying, like, I'll take another stab at it. The way things went last year and finished up, do you have a situation? It didn't go so hot.
Well, I wanted to say it. Like, I know what your goal is, and I know I probably know what one of the things are that's on your mirror that you're looking at as you brush your teeth. Anything that from last year informed the way that you might do something else this year? At all, yeah, I think strategically, how we utilize some of that downtime in between, I think is really important. We probably pushed.
In different ways last year, a little bit more than I want to. I want to make sure when we get to that moment, we're fresh and clean. And there's a benefit to playing. You know, it's almost like you got to keep playing Saturdays, even if you don't have a game. And whether that's us creating a mock game on every Saturday until we get to that point, but we got to be able to utilize that time better.
And there's certainly some stuff that we're, if we get to that point, right? And when we take care of business like we're supposed to, then we'll do some adapting to what we did last year for sure.
Well, Coach, I know one of the things that we both have on the mirror that would align is beating Ohio State.
So should that opportunity happen again for you? Consider me a duck on that day.
Okay, sir? Fair enough. Fair enough. Hey, thanks for the time. Greatly appreciate this chat.
And I look forward to the next time. Whenever you're free, I'm always happy to have you on the program. I appreciate it, Rich. Thank you so much. You got that as Dan Lanning, the head coach of Oregon football, right here on the Rich Eisen Show.
And as he just said, he's not going anywhere either. Nope. All right, we'll take a break. Phone calls: 844-204-Rich. Phone calls.
They're all lit. That delights me. The Rich Eisen Show. podcast. Here on ESPN Radio on the Rich Eisen Show, presented by Progressive Insurance, the Hyundai.
Hope on Wheels campaign. As you know, I run. to make pediatric cancer research and awareness even more to the forefront of your daily lives. That's why I love talking about Hyundai Hope on Wheels. I don't know if you knew this, but for the last 27 years, over 27 years, every Hyundai sold has helped fund life-saving pediatric cancer research.
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What's up, Liv? Hello, Lip. You there? Yes. Yeah, you get it's rich.
You there? Yeah yeah.
Okay, mister uh Recharge EIs have been called. That's right. Thank you for taking it. I just wanted to comment on how you guys were uh talking about like having a seat, you know, like for the game. And then you had to take your best friend who was the opp you know, the opposite thing.
I see Brockman, totally not. You're not. TJ is like pretty cool about it. I'm a diehard Cowboy fan way down here in South Jersey, which everybody's Eagles. And my My my daughter's Boyfriend is a die-hard.
Eagle fan that had two tickets. And he and he took and he wanted to take me twice, so we went to the game and it was like 15 rows down. And you know. enemy territory, there is nobody around. That was a Cowboy fan, except for me and my friend, who we went with the Eagle fan.
And and everybody started to get a little irrate. But he was actually I don't think he wanted to take me to embarrass me or try to look. Like like these guys are talking about like TJ and I I you know, I see like, yeah, he was the only one, but I didn't think that n and then in the opposite, if if If I had tickets into the cowboy game and Uh you know sheets I would have taken my friend who was actually an Eagle fan.
So now that would have been a little controversial too. But then again, the cowboy fans are a little not as bad as the Eagle fans, I would say. Oh, my word.
Okay. So, bottom line would you would you would take somebody That's rooting actively against your team to a game on a ticket you have purchased. They would do that, absolutely, okay, yeah, because of friendship, okay, like it's only it's only a game, but. I mean, after a while it's We still work together and every day it's the same thing.
So I just wanted to get your opinion. Why? And I just told you, I just don't, I don't need it. I don't want it. I don't need it.
You're a human being, Liv. I like that. I just don't, that's why. I just don't, I don't, I don't know. I don't need it.
I'll call you after the game. I don't need to. I don't. I don't. That said, I'll call you after the game.
I just don't need it actively. You know what I mean? Yep. But that t that takes the that takes the fun out of the the sport, don't you think? I don't know.
Last night, Coop again, I keep talking about Coop and his best friend Ryan. Ryan's a Dodger fan. Coop, as you know, is not. And after the first two home runs into the game, I told him, text him, early welfare check. You know, I'm trying to stir it up.
And it's running, Ryan writes back, you know, like, I don't, you know, this is ruining the experience for me, is what he wrote back to his friend. And I'm like, uh-oh, I'm like, so you texted back, I'll just leave you alone.
So I I get it. You know what I mean? But thanks to the call. Live in New Jersey, South Jersey, by the way, right here on the Rich Eisen Show, hour two in the books. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.
Mm-hmm.
