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Now, on with the show. Bye-bye. Let's begin. Big in. This is the Rich Eisen Show.
What do you think we are? Gangsters? Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Can I interrupt? I'll address the Keon situation.
Earlier on the show. Five-time Pro Bowler Teron Armstead. Coming up. ESPN college football analyst Josh Pate. Senior writer for the MMQP, Albert Breer.
And now, it's Rich Eisen. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated is going to join us in an hour, right from this moment, to tell us what happened with the Bills in their press conference yesterday to lead to.
Some of the comments being said, a lot of the backstory there, as well as spinning it forward, when we might see other coaching jobs filled. What is going on with the Ravens gig? Is it close to Jesse Minner? Could the Chargers lose their defensive coordinator to the spot where Jim's brother? Left or was told to leave, pardon me.
It was Tomlin who left his gig willingly in Pittsburgh, the latest on all of that. Again, that's one hour from now. But we figured, let's bring Josh Pate back on this program now that the college football season is all done and have, I guess, a college football exit interview with the ESPN college football analyst. Josh Pate, good to see you, Josh. How are you, sir?
All right. I'm good. I got acupuncture for the first time in my life today.
So I'm laid out. This pertains to you, by the way. I'm not just running down my schedule so far today. Please.
So I'm sitting there. I've got needles all over my head and my ears. And my wife is there because anytime I do something for the first time, I take her with me.
Okay. And I'm floating in and out of consciousness. And she drops the hey, Rich Eisen wants to know if you want to come on a show. She had my phone in her hand.
Okay. Always safe. And I said, What must this be about? I mean, we're like 72 hours removed from the championship. But I told her without hesitation, yes.
Asking me if he can move it up an hour. Yes, I will do it.
So I'm happy to be here. I appreciate that, Josh. I didn't mean to interrupt anything because I also know having done acupuncture in my existence. Uh that the first time I did it You know, you're right. You're floating.
You're figuring like, oh God, this is a... This is pretty cool, but I'm a little bored with my own thoughts.
So, stupidly, I reached for my phone. Um but moved in a way that There was an electrical shock that shot me right down the entire body. And I thought to myself, that probably is. The spirit of my wife not there saying, put your damn phone down. You know, like that's, that's, that's my answer to your story, Josh.
I did it, I tensed up. Because I started to lean up, and whatever happened to me, I felt like I was at a 49ers practice. Whatever happened to me, pulsated through my entire body, and I laid right back down. I let her in.
Okay, very good. And I'm glad you are now here. No, the reason why I reached out, Josh, is because, yeah, I know we're 72 hours clear. But this is a football-loving nation in which we reside, and the portal's done. And that was an interesting part of our conversation last week, so I want to button that up.
Uh but let let me give you the floor on on what you think Indianas mean me when writ large means for the sport and for everything going on. Josh. All right, so I still think they're an outlier in a sense that if you just look at what it took for them to do what they did, I've never seen a team as efficient as them. It was like as close as we could get to AI football without it being AI football. That's how ruthlessly efficient they operated.
And so I still think that's a really, really fine needle to have to thread. I do think there was a little bit of a Roger Bannister type effect of, you know, it took forever for a human being to run a sub-four-minute mile. And then Roger Bannister does it. And then like a million people did it. And so you look at it and you say, well, was it always this easy?
Well, no, it was never easy, but it was possible. It just took someone showing you that it could be done. And likewise, Indiana could have a little bit of a Roger Bannister type effect on your Minnesotas or a Maryland or a UCLA, just Washington State, like programs that you never in your sane college football mind would have associated with championship contention. It could be that. I think in the aggregate, Rich, the big ripple effect it has.
Is on a recalibration of the hiring model. Because right now, anytime there's a job opening, we just had several of them. We had Penn State, at Auburn, LSU, like all these jobs open. And if you go look at the hotboards, it's like the same 10 names. It's a really, really incestuous, kind of pond water-esque feel to coaching searches.
And Indiana just wins a national championship with Kurt Signetti. And hey, Signetti was always there. Anyone could have gone and hired him. No one did. Indiana took a risk, a calculated risk, but a risk.
And so I just wonder whether it be an athletic director or maybe in the future, GMs are making the hires in college football, which is a whole separate hour of a show we could do. I just wonder how much it shakes up. The hiring process. Because to me, everything about this sport right now works downstream of the administrative groupthink that goes into hiring. Yeah.
I hear you on that. But I'm just wondering why can't Signetti find the right quarterback again? Why can't he go ahead and replenish in the portal just like everyone else? Maybe he's already done it. you know, because these things are so crazy.
He's actually built the next roster or held on to his current one while going on this run in the college football playoffs. You know, uh it'll be tough. I mean, we had Fowler on the day after the game. But why not? I mean, the guy does seem to have a keen eye for talent and a keen eye of motivating him.
Josh. I fully expect them to be there. Like to me, I mean, I don't want to. Look, I'm not Kurt Signetti, so I can afford to take them for granted. I am, I'm so high in my respect.
For the sustainability of what they've built, I expect them to be there. You and I talked about this last time. We were talking about whether it's just kind of a one-and-done thing. I don't get that sense at all with them. This is not some rental car situation.
Like they bought, they're there. Josh Hoover is a name that you should get familiar with. That's the TCU quarterback. They've already got him. They already brought him in in the transfer portal.
He will be one of the talks of the sport next year. They were a very, very big destination for portal guys this past cycle.
So they're going to be stocked up. They're going to have the athletes to compete, maybe even more so than they just did. I think the million-dollar question becomes: will they ever have the kind of just overall team dynamic they just had? Because I don't, talent notwithstanding, like it takes a certain amount of it to compete. And they met that minimum baseline, but the team aspects.
Just the overall mortar between the bricks that makes a team. I've never seen anything like Indiana this year.
So I think they'll be in the dance or they'll be. Able to get in the dance for several years to come because I think their model is sustainable. But what we just saw right here is special. And I will never assume that anyone, including Kurt Signitti, could just boom, snap his fingers and easily replicate that. Josh Pate here on the Rich Eisen Show.
And again, another reason why I reached out is. Our conversation last week, where you said how many kids are still left in the portal with two days to go, 10,000, close to 4,000 in the FBS alone. You know, this is not just the sports world.
So many things happen in the real world that we just move on. Because we've got other distractions, other things going on. The portal's now closed. And I'm wondering how many kids were left in the portal when it closed, because nobody talks about that. Yeah.
What do you got for me? You know what it's kind of like? It's kind of like in the South, like when a big tornado outbreak happens, right? And the news focuses on it for 24, 48 hours, they move on. Community's still devastating, and you're like, where did the coverage go?
Kind of in the sports world to remove all the tragedy from it, to maintain some of the same elements. That's kind of how the portal is.
So I'm looking right here. I hit up my buddy over at On3, Pete Nakos, this morning, who just has a line to the portal. He himself is not in it, but he has a line to the portal.
Okay, so just FBS.
So we're just talking about the 136 FBS teams. 1,200 of them are still active. They are still in there.
So, to give everyone a little catch-up here, the portal closed last weekend. And the rule isn't you have to have signed by the time it closes. The rule is you have to be in by the time the portal closes.
Now, There's some very high-priced legal types out there that we could double-box me with right now, and they would say, This is all cosmetic, this is all a mirage, there is no window. The NCAA just puts some dates on a piece of paper and they're crossing their fingers, hoping everyone abides by it. But really, legally, there's nothing stopping anyone. As long as you can get enrolled in school, you can portal whenever you want. All right, with that caveat added, right now the portal is closed according to the NCAA, which means if you're not already in it, you can't transfer the rest of the year.
1,210 are still active in that portal, meaning they have not signed anywhere. And I'm just telling you, I mean, people can like it or not. It's a reality that several of those guys will never play football again. Several of those guys are in there. And then you notice when we put that clip out from your show last week, there was a mixed reaction in the comments.
And some of the comments were, oh, this is terrible. You know, because I pontificated that. Jackals posing as agents were giving really bad advice to kids. And that's not my opinion. That's fact.
But that wasn't the sentiment in the replies. The sentiment in the replies was largely: well, good, they deserve to learn these lessons, blah, blah, blah. And people are taking their distaste towards the overall climate of college football right now. And the only face that they can aim that vitriol at is the players. And to me, the players are probably acting no different in the current climate than any player at any point in history would have acted given these current parameters.
So, yeah, a lot of guys just ended their career by going in the portal, some of them by listening to adults who allegedly have their best interest at heart, and they never even knew they ended their career when they made that decision.
So it's possible that of those 1,200-plus. uh players still sitting in the portal that There'll be what a spring game injury, a training camp injury, and they'll be able to switch. Or find a spot because the other teams that. They Portaled away from, haven't taken them back or been told you're not welcome back here.
So they're just waiting for an opportunity similar to. A pro football player that doesn't get signed via free agency, got cut. Is that basically what their experience is going to be like over the next few weeks and months, Josh? I imagine some stories are going to be like that. You got to remember, as much as people chuckle under their breath when I say this, there is still an academic element attached to this where you can't just go sit at home or sit in the dorm.
Like there's this small matter of you needing to be in class, you needing to be enrolled somewhere.
So as long as you're enrolled in somewhere, I guess you remain in good academic standing. And yeah, there's no limit. You can indefinitely stay in the portal until you want to sign somewhere. You just got to get enrolled there. But again, and this is why I wanted to say what I said a couple of minutes ago.
This is all what's sort of just loosely written on the NCAA banner. They're flying behind the plane right now. Nobody knows if it stands up to legal scrutiny. In fact, we kind of know it doesn't. It's just.
It's a case-by-case thing as to which of these things have been torn to shreds in court and which ones haven't yet been torn to shreds in court.
So I think we're going to have one of the most ridiculously legally contentious offseasons in college football history because that's all you're going to hear about for the next six months, unless you just plug your ears, is a bunch of legal fights about what the NCAA can and can't enforce with the transfer portal. The only pushback or caveat I will give to what you just said about an academic A piece to this still existing. Is unless there's somebody in the portal that's already graduated. Right. And the thing that leapt out at me in the days leading up to the national championship game, Josh, was an exchange between Carson Beck and a reporter.
And I think the reporter must have, you know, have an angle or she had a story about the academic portion of all of this. Asked Carson Beck, was he in class like last week or the day before, or something like that. I'm paraphrasing, but that was the general justice asking him, Hey, you know, were you in class this past week? And he laughed and he goes, I graduated, I haven't been in class in two years, said the quarterback. of a play of a team that was playing in the national championship game.
And I'm like, wow. Like that's a professional quarterback. Like he does not go to class because he's already graduated and he's just being paid to play football, but it's for the University of Miami Hurricanes rather than the Miami Dolphins. That's a fact, Josh. That's that happened.
You know, and I I don't know. I just had to bring that up in response to you saying what you just said.
Well, you got to remember.
So, also, the. The life cycle of your modern-day high-level college football player is they enter high school knowing. I plan on playing college football.
So they get themselves in such a situation where they're ready to early enroll in college.
Some of them skip their senior year in high school. They rearrange their schedule academically where they meet the academic requirement to graduate high school. Ryan Williams did this at Alabama. And so he's enrolled as a 17-year-old freshman at Alabama. But they early enroll.
They're on campus all year.
So they're taking a year-round classload.
So, I mean, look, Carson Beck's not the best example of this, but a lot of these dudes are done. They already have degrees. And even if they're just a standard four-year guy, I mean, a lot of them are working on a master's by the time their second half of their junior season, just because they've already met the requirements.
So, before I let you go to your massage or whatever you're doing next. is uh Let's do this. Let's have a little bit of fun where your answer will not be remembered, or I won't bring it up. If it's wrong, but if it's right, You'll be like I called it on January 22nd. The Heisman Trophy winner for the upcoming season is who Josh Pakistan.
I need to write this down. Hold on a second. The upcoming season, I want you to call your shot. I don't know what the the uh the event is probably December 10th or whatever the the date is, right? This day is going to happen.
And it'll feel like it's December 11th by the time they announce it because you just sit there going, okay, can we just get the name, please? I got a boat riding on this. You do. I know. I got futures up to this.
Okay. No pressure. Make your call, Josh Pate. What do you got for me? It's silly to me to even ask, but I'm doing it.
No, it's not. No, it's not. This is Big J stuff right here. I want to go. I want to go Dante Moore at Oregon.
Whoa.
Okay. All right. Why? Yep. Why do you like that?
Oh, see, the why is that what I don't like? I don't like the why.
Okay. All right. I asked, I don't get a follow-up. I agree.
Okay, very good. I appreciate that. Does that make him the first overall pick in the draft, though? I think it's Arch Manning still. I mean, it's Arch Manning's the answer, obviously, but that's the one everyone's going to give.
That's boring.
So it's January. No one remembers this. Dante Moore's got a kid named Evan Stewart coming back. DeCorian Moore becomes a sophomore, second-year player.
So they'll be loaded at the wide receiver position. And also, is there a hungrier program in America right now than Oregon? They've been disposed of two times in a row. I mean, thoroughly disposed of in the postseason.
So new coordinator up there, but they hired from within.
So there's continuity in the system. I think Dante Moore is about to have himself a big year. Josh Pate, thank you for the time. I appreciate it. and look for my calls.
I'll just try and be less intrusive when I text. Yeah, I'll send you my acupuncture schedule if you could just if we could just work that out with you.
Well, dovetail it. I'm there for you. Thank you for the thank you for the time. Josh Pate's college football show on YouTube, and then, of course, on the ESPN family of networks. Do you have a Dante Moore card?
I don't. I think we're about to get it. I'm going on. They're buying on it right now. Don't.
This is you have this look of You're about to tell me the odds. I am. Yeah. Of course, that's. But how are there odds?
What do you mean? I just asked the stupid question. No, really. Mr. Heason, if he gets it right, if he gets it right, when is the Heisman Trophy ceremony?
Probably the first weekend of December of 2020.
Well, no, the first weekend of December is usually the. It's usually the conference championship games, which they've yet to do away. Hold on a minute. Rich, let me just tell you these odds while you look this up.
So, my man Josh Pate, beautiful bald brother, said Dante Moore of Oregon. He's 13 to 1 right now, which is a few backs, same odds as Sam Levitt and Gunnar Stockton. Julian Sahan, also a 13 to 1. Jeremiah Smith. 13-1.
They are behind the favorite, once again, second year in a row, the offseason favorite, TJ Jefferson. Arch Manning is eight to one. CJ Carr, 8 to 1, Josh Hoover, 11 to 1. Yeah, Josh Hoover, who again, we just mentioned is going to be the next quarterback at Indiana. And if you're curious, Malachi Toney, who we fell in love with during the college football playoffs.
Yes. Only 18 years old, 27 to 1. Did you mention Jeremiah Smith's name? I did, 13 to 1. He's the same odds as Dante Moore.
Yeah, the old Google machine here says it's likely December 12th or 19th. Got it.
So December 12th, so he just did it basically. 10 months and change in advance. Your guy, Rich Eisen, Bryce Underwood, 30 to 1. Lenora Sellers, also 30 to 1.
So, Dante Moore, if he says, I'm not going to the draft, I'm staying put, and he wins the Heisman Trophy, and he's part of an Oregon national championship team. Good decision. Boom. Because he's probably got some new sneakers to go along with it. Ha ha ha ha ha.
Remember FSU, the joke was to call him Free Shoes University? Free Shoes University. That was so disappointing. I think that's who Dante Moore. That was supposed to be an insult.
I know. That was so.
Now it's like that's who Dante Moore plays for. That's. You know? I was like, that's a crazy world we're living in now. Oh, yeah.
That was used to be the gag. Free Shoes University. Yeah, Florida State stood for Free Shoes University. That's right. Not anymore.
Yeah. Except what one time Deion gave me free shoes. See, you swear them, did you? Did I tell you that story? I didn't know.
I told you that story. I'll tell you this story. Yeah. All right, so Thursday night football. First season of Thursday Night Football, I think it was 2006.
We're on the road. And Dion noticed Mariuchi was wearing these worn out Shoes.
So you always joke that he's going to get Gucci's for my Moochie. I remember this. Have I ever told you this story? No? A long time.
I remember.
Okay. Gucci's, I have to get Gucci's for my Moochie, is what he said. And so, sure enough, Mooch shows up on a Thursday night with these new Gucci. And all of us kind of go to Dion, like, you know, what's the love? You know, the free shoes here.
Hell yeah from Florida State. You can run the house. Except for Rich. And so last game of the Thursday night football season was Giants in Washington. And we all go to our hotel rooms, and in the hotel room, in a shoebox, we're.
New Gucci loafers for everybody. He got it for the entire group. That's Ballard. That is Ballard. He got Gucci for a few collections.
He got Gucci for everybody. Let me tell you: if I hit the lottery brothers, all you guys are getting some Gucci. I'm looking at Gucci sneakers right now. And they weren't sneakers. They were dressed shoes and they were incredible.
What was that about right now? Yeah, did you wear them? I did. I wore them so much they fell apart.
Okay. Yeah, man. They're comfy, right? They've They were free. All right.
And I say that to you, Mike, because that's your language, sir.
So, Rich, if you want to buy Jordans for your Jefferson anytime, I'm a size 13.
Okay. Let me make a note. Gucci's for my Mucci. I remember.
Said Deion Sanders, and then you got all of us. 844-204-Rich is the number to dial right here on the program. Don't go anywhere, our higher registers still to come for championship weekend. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. O'Reilly Auto Parts can help take the guesswork out of your check engine ABS or maintenance light with O'Reilly Veriscan.
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Back here on The Rich Eisen Show, 844-204-Rich. Number to dial on our program. Let's go to Elliott in Kansas here on The Rich Eisen Show. What's up, Elliot? Hey, Rich, can you hear me?
Hey, do you recall my uh wind loss? Being with the F-1 before the year started? Hold on a minute. You're a little muffled, pal. I don't know if you're getting out of your car or you're on your Bluetooth or something.
For the Seahawks, huh? I have, hold on a minute. I've got the paperwork right here. Elliott and Kansas had them go 13-4. Oh, what was their final record?
One off. Just one off. One off. Nice.
Well done. Yeah, you had them 13 and 4. That's a boy. You had him losing the last game against the Niners. If you'd only gotten that one, you'd have nailed it.
You just stuck the landing.
Well, I didn't get any of the right losses, correct? But that's neither here nor there. Funny fact. No, you got hold on a second. I've got your paperwork here, sir.
You had them losing at the Rams. That's one of them.
Well, I think I had to move into the Commander on a Thursday night. Yes. And then maybe Carolina late. I think I did. Um no, you had them beating Carolina in Carolina.
You nailed most of them.
So but at any rate, what's your what's your what's on your mind? That and then uh Some of the Seahawks hype videos for the playoffs have Chris Brockman and TJ in it talking about them taking fourth in the division. Oh boy. Not true. Not true on my end, but.
Absolutely. All right. That's all I had for you. Thank you, Elliott and Kansas. Let me just think.
Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Elliott and Kansas bringing up, again, for those of us who have takes for a living. Um we're lucky that that's what we do for a living, right? That we we have takes and it's somewhere that can be disseminated and people will either take it in.
Or not, or get angry at you for having that opinion. Um it's it's Mana from heaven for those who want to play the you never believed in us card, you know. And so that's why I don't know if anybody notices on NFL Game Day Morning, whenever I lone wolf a team. And the camera zooms in on me howling with, you know, the silly. A silly lid, right?
I will always look right down the camera lens and give a smile. Because if I'm going to be clowned by somebody's social media team, I want it to be at least a good picture of me. Because sometimes, whenever I would do that and I'd be clowned by social media, like one eye would be open, it really wasn't very good. The screen grab wasn't flattering.
So if I'm going to at least be screen grabbed and aggregated against my will. And because of my lack of Proper prognosticating judgment, I want it to be a good picture of me. You know what I'm saying? And we're, you know, we're not going to, and that's why Kurt Warner is always like, really? You're going to make me predict the Super Bowl before snaps played?
Really? I mean, like, what's up with that?
Well, you never believed in us. People do put a lot in something that we come up with 10 minutes before, in particular, that thing, 10 minutes before the show started. Like, hey, give us your, you know, who you think is going to win this NFC West standing. Oh, you have no idea. I will be watching back some of these videos, holding my breath, saying, Oh, I hope I'm not going to appear here because I know I didn't pick this franchise to win that game.
Am I going to be in this mix? Am I going to be in that blender? Is it my time in the barrel for my opinion? You know? And then the Seahawks popped a video out today, and I'm like, uh-oh.
Even though I finished this the the power rankings finished with them being one and I fully believe they are. You had an overreaction Monday subject matter. Seahawks are going to win the Super Bowl. And I'm like, that is not an overreaction at all. Yeah, they're the betting favorite right now.
No, I totally get it. And here's the deal. I rode the Seahawks defense to a fantasy championship. You were the one that had them fourth in the division this year.
So there's that. And I realized after week three that that was not. I think I said their offense was boring or something or just not. Could be. I don't know.
Could be. I get a thanks. Never know. In August, yeah, it wasn't looking great.
Well, plus, you know, Sam Darnold, the way he finished. Yeah. That was the thing. That's the way people will then ascribe to the way he will perform in Seattle. And so far, that is far afield.
Um But this one was a video of when Mike McDonald spoke to the team for the first time. Everyone should seek it out, it's on the Seahawks. uh social media sites. And he is addressing the team. In a very calm demeanor, not like one of those peeling the paint off the wall type.
Voices raised. Just a real chill guy talking about having a plan for everyone in the room. And then he said, I just want to take you. On a Yeah. For a moment.
Stick with me here. And he says Like, I want to take you to the NFC championship game in Seattle in a cold sun. You know, it's 30 degrees. The twelves are out there. And he starts mapping out what that day is going to be like: that an opponent's going to come in.
and they're going to know that we have just spent nine months stacking opportunities. And that we're going to be, and he laid out exactly the type of team that the Seahawks are currently right now. He laid out a vision for him. And the vision was: imagine the NFC Championship Game.
Now, it wasn't that year, it's now the following year. But nothing's more powerful. I said this to Chris when I showed him the video before the. The show nothing is more powerful than a coach laying out a vision and it happening. I mean, they will be like, tell us more of what you think is going to happen, coach, if we do what you say we should do.
Like, okay. You told us and it's happening. And it's unbelievable. Nothing's more powerful than that. And in terms of, you know, being clowned by social media for being wrong, At this time, I believe I was on the show.
saying what's Mike McDonald doing taking down all the photographs On the walls there in that facility. That was the story that he came in and he started removing pictures off the wall of the Pete Carroll era, like erasing it. And then pushback came from the The facility in the Pacific Northwest saying he didn't remove it completely. It's just in, you know, on one screen on a, you know. one of those digital frames Of all it's it's not removed, it's just not Omnipresent.
And that Mike McDonald was saying essentially that's in the past. This is now our current vision for you. And The way you laid it out. Saying the NFC Championship game, let me tell you, like, everyone should look for it on social. This is the way it's going to be in Seattle.
It's going to be 30. I don't know what's the temperature going to be. Did he. You know, Mike Mac the mentalist this too? Did he foresee this?
You know, it's going to be in the 30s.
Okay, that's what he's saying. Is it going to be wet? I mean, by the way, sitting there saying it's going to be a cold, wet day in January in Seattle is not like, you know, it's not like he's the farmer and that's the almanac. No, actually, it's going to be partly cloudy. Not a lot of precipitation.
Okay, well, in any rate, it's pretty cool. It's pretty cool. And Mike McDonald had this to say about the challenge of facing the Rams for a third time, right? Is that the setup here for this? About getting Sam Darnold ready.
Very good for this. NFC Championship game coming off of a win in which he didn't have to do much because everybody else did what they needed to do from Rashid Shaheed returning the opening kickoff thirteen seconds in and then the defense being all over Brock Purdy and everybody else who's remaining healthy for the Niners. Sam continues to get better. You know, it's not going to be a full go the whole week, so we have a plan, we're going to work through it. See how the day goes, and then we'll kind of take it day by day and then take it to tomorrow.
He won't be like throwing every ball, every play for the whole week, no. Yeah. Just Not like going full Sean Payton and admitting my guy's still a little bit banged up, but I mean, that's your answer right there. Um You know, and and just again, his um His demeanor Yeah. You'd think like what a defensive minded head coach is going to be Super intense.
Right, yeah. That gruff guy. But he's intense. And in the same way, I think, you know, I was saying that the Ben Johnson effect of the current. Coaching hiring cycle.
is out there. You know, Jeff Hafley in Miami. You're hearing it's a defensive-minded head coach again in Pittsburgh because that's what they do. The Ravens, I think, are going to go because that's where Mike McDonald was, and he wasn't going to be the new head coach there. Because the timing didn't work out.
In terms of John Harbaugh took the team to the AFC championship game in the year that Mike McDonald was the. Defensive coordinator, and he left to go to Seattle. But, you know, I think. Jesse Minter getting the gig there. That's who I was pegging from the beginning.
you know, another Harbaugh guy. From the defensive side of the ball, that can get this. the scene right Um I think Mike McDonald's success in Seattle right now. Is part and parcel of you're seeing a lot of defensive candidates getting out there, CEO defensive candidates out there for a head coaching gig. You know, that's on a day that Mike McDonald was named as a nominee for Coach of the Year.
Here's Sam Darnold. You know, whatever happens throughout the game, whether I take a hit or not, like, you know, it's. whatever happens, happens. You know, if I Some You know, tragic happens and I, you know, go down and, you know, can't get up or, you know, uh, then it is what it is. And Drew, Jalen, they're ready to go.
But obviously, hopefully that doesn't happen. But yeah, I'm ready to attack everything and be ready for anything. Jalen Millro, that's right. Wasn't there supposed to be Millro packages this year?
Well, we heard that after the draft. Didn't see a lot of those. The same way there were supposed to be trade lands packages back in the day? Yeah, uh-huh. Uh-huh.
Same. Darnold. When not pressured in 2025, according to NextGen stats, 9.2 yards per. Attempt in the air. That is tops slightly better than Drake May.
That could be your Super Bowl matchup, obviously. Deep pass yards. 853 of those. That's fourth in the NFL. Its completion percentage on deep pass is 52.3%.
That's tops in the NFL. It's like a handoff. The Rams right in the middle of the pack on allowing deep attempts. Listen, I could go on and on about the next-gen stats. We saw this matchup.
On a Thursday night. And if that game plays out on Sunday... Same type of game. We'll be talking about it for years. Sign me up.
Right. Okay. And, you know, I got this number two. I think it's going around. Let me get this for you.
Um 'cause I I saw it this very morning Um In the history of the Rams, and yeah, the NFL popped this one out. Did you see this on Instagram? Fifty seven matchups. The Seahawks twenty nine wins, Rams, twenty eight wins. In those games, Seattle has scored 1,223 points.
The Rams have scored 1,222 points. Oh wow.
So forget about them being evenly matched this year. Every year. Through all the year. All the time. Yeah.
NFC Championship game, baby. 844-204-Rich, number to doll, right here on the show. We're getting ready for Albert Breer, top of our number three, coaching carousel, quarterback carousel, all sorts of carousels. That's coming up here on this very busy Thursday. Um The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.
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That's pella.com. Slash Eisen. Pella, Pella. Um All right. I'm trying to get the name of the person.
Is it Annie Carter? Just Carter.
Okay, Carter in Columbia, Missouri. What's up? Hey, Rich, first-time caller. Thanks for taking my call. What's up, Carter?
I know I might be a little late to the game, but I just want to say I knew, like, it was last week, a couple weeks ago, you said we're going to miss the Chiefs in the playoffs.
Okay. I'm a Chiefs fan, and I'm going to tell you right now, last Saturday, I got my wife out on a date, and I got her involved on that game while we were eating. She was so excited.
So I am not missing the Chiefs this year. I enjoyed the playoff football so far, and I'm satisfied with who's in there right now and what's going on. And then I also want to throw in, you're talking about John Candy, my favorite John Candy movie, Uncle Buck. That's a good one. Carter, has anyone told you you sound like Mahomes a little bit?
No one has ever told me that. My sisters tell me I look like Travis Kelsey, though. Oh, listen. Google me, Carter Moran. Camp, Missouri high jumper.
Google me. Do you win? Do you win? Is it that simple? Oh, there he goes.
Wharp is doing this to me. They're just hanging up. And it's not my fault. Carter Moran? Let's see.
Still having the phone. High jumper. Hold on. Oh, yeah. High jumper.
Yeah, here we go.
Okay. Did he win? Yep, he won. Is that to drop down just like the Signeti googling right now? Again, we did it on the TV only for the radio audience that's since rejoined us.
If you Google Kurt Signetti now, Somebody at Google decided to come up with the way of dropping down From the More tables. Yep, he won. I mean that is That is awesome. But at any rate, let me just say this, okay. I just did an entire segment about how I have takes, and people remember them if they don't get them right.
I don't, again, I am not afraid of freezing cold takes. I'm just not. You don't care. I do this for a living. I'm thrilled to be able to do this.
I'm thrilled that doing this for a living led to a reunion with ESPN and Disney. There's so many great things about. The opportunity I have every day here. To lament the fact that I get things wrong, and people will call up and say, You got it wrong. And this Chiefs fan is just like, you know what?
I was sitting there with my wife and watching these games. They're nail biters. I don't miss my team in the playoffs. You've got to be kidding me, Carter. I want to hear from another Chiefs fan that is looking at these playoffs.
Okay, where C. J. Stroud, who the Chiefs knocked out, throwing hand grenades up to the Patriots. All right. Okay.
I want to see them also watching Josh Allen. Turn it over four times. only to get Bounced by a Broncos team that he put 30 up on anyway. The AFC Championship game features not Joe Burrow. You know, But Jared Stid 'em.
Noel Lamar also. You don't think Chiefs fans are sitting at home or the Chiefs are sitting at home going, damn it. Of all the years for this thing to fall apart, it's this year. It got nine. They had a nine-year run.
It doesn't matter. It's like the answer is: honestly, how many yachts could you water ski behind? The famous Wall Street line? You know what I mean? Like.
Greed, for the lack of a better word, is good. when it comes to this sort of thing. Seriously. I want to hear from you, Chiefs, fans. React.
React to me.
Well, you're friends with enough Chief Sanders. I know. And I know one in particular that's sitting there, you know. loving watching these games because they are awesome. Oh, yeah.
I was sitting here saying. We'll miss the Chiefs because the games won't be as compelling, and I'm way off, clearly. On that. But Chiefs fans saying, I don't miss my own team being in, get out of here with that. Yeah, of course, if I may.
Sounds like not a real Chiefs fans. You know what I mean? Like, Chiefs fans have got to be sitting here all the years. We could have done it again. Or Carter was a guy who this was the first January that he's been able to go out on a date with the Mississippi.
You don't know what you're doing. There's 11 other months for dates. Yeah, but it's one year. Like, if you're in year three and you don't do it, fine. I think those are the first time.
Where's the panic Chiefs fan that they're afraid it's over? They're out there. See? They're out there. Right.
And they're wondering, they're crazy. What if any of the last years of Mahomes' teams, including the ones that didn't win at all, if they were in this tournament? They'd be ready to tear apart anybody else. Yep. That's another opinion.
Again, I don't mean to denigrate a fan's love of football. No. As a whole. But for me to say, I don't miss my own team in it. I mean, my goodness.
All right, here's Gary in San Antonio. I love it. I asked if there was a phone line open. Here he is. What's up, Gary?
Hey Rich, thanks for taking my call. I am a die-hard Chiefs fan. Yep. And yes, I miss my Chiefs in the playoffs. I'm glad that the Patriots are back.
because all of those fans that hated on the Patriots You know, and hated on the Chiefs when we were winning.
Now you get to see what the alternative is. It's us being back. Nobody wants that, Gary. You know, and nobody's going to want. Hey, Gary, and if the Chiefs pull off the 2.0.
That Brady pulled off in the middle of his career. If the Chiefs pull that off with Mahomes, You know, all the chiefs' fatigues can come right back, too. And it helps that we get the enemy back. That's a good idea. Yeah, thank you for the call, Gary.
I appreciate that. Yeah, as you know, Gary Bienemi is the OC, and that was a conversation of. you know, it w were they missing his, um Red assness. Yeah. And and were they missing his Not just His um Spirit His coaching spirit, his spiritedness but is two cents.
You know, run that back. But yeah, man, I was the games have been incredibly compelling. And I know you're like, who wants to see Jared Siddharm in the Super Bowl? If he does make the Super Bowl, It will be a story that so many people will be paying attention to. Who is this kid?
What can he do? Where did he come from? Gives just, again, 100%. I know Patriots fans don't want to hear this, but it does give. Credence to anybody in their job that's wondering if they're going to ever get ahead or they're.
You know, how do you have to s you know, to Stay ready, got to be ready. That whole business, that somebody has that actual storyline and he's an avatar for that sensibility and that storyline, everyone's going to lose their minds. Certainly the casual fan that doesn't really Know much about Jared Stidham. But And I think that would be the majority of I know that. And that's what people are like, I don't miss the Chiefs again.
Do we need them for a fourth straight Super Bowl? No. I'd rather have Jared Stidham in his story or Drake May in his story or Mayor Stafford again. And here's Sam Darnold in the Seahawks. Bottom line is, well, I guess it won't matter.
I was about to say the viewers, but it doesn't matter who's playing. Yeah. I don't know. The only person who maybe missed the Chiefs is, what, Jake from State Farm? I don't see him very much.
Is there anybody on these teams hooked up with Jake in the way that Pat is? Good question. I was wondering. I don't know. All right.
Next year. Robert Breer coming up in hour three. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
