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Now, on with the show. Live from the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, it's the Rich Eisen Show. And those are ready to take the staff. Jeremiah Law. Touchdown Picked Off.
Sonny Styles. The Rich Eisen Show. In this hour. Steelers GM, Omar Khan. Titans head coach, Robert Sala.
Lions GM, Brad Holmes. Plus, latest news and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen.
So Our number two of our first day here at the NFL Scouting Combine in downtown Indianapolis is on the air. Robert Sala, the head coach of the Tennessee Titans, is making his way to our set. Same thing as the general manager of the Detroit Lions and Brad Holmes, but the GM of the Pittsburgh Steelers is helping us kick off our number two here on Disney Plus and ESPN Radio and ESPN Cable as well. Omar Khan, good to see you, sir. How are you, man?
Thanks for having me on. Good to see you. How's life in your neighborhood? Life's good, been busy. The last six, seven weeks has been busy.
I've noticed. It's been good. Yeah, it's been good. Is it weird to not have Tomlin here at the combine? You know what?
You haven't gone through too much yet, but maybe I'm wondering. It's definitely. I don't say it's different, but you know, we spent a long time. I was with Mike for 19 years, right? And he loved this process.
And so it was, I got some great memories. He was a great partner for a long time. And honestly, it was a privilege to work with Mike as long as I did.
Well, I mean, very few people in the organization. predate him, you do, right?
So you knew what it was like at the transition back then. And you know, so you've been with Mike for a long time. Were you surprised? Did you know, did you know when he walked into that meeting room after the loss of the Texans that he was about to tell everyone he's leaving? Yeah, well, that morning he came in.
You know, it was the day after the game, we lost a playoff game, and he came in and sat in my office. We talked for 90 minutes or close to two hours, probably, and he told me what he was going to do. You know, it just. You know, it was surprising, obviously. Reality set in after he told me that that was going to happen, and you know.
Been together with him for 19 years, and I got this job in 22. Did you try to talk him out of it? Of course. Yeah. Yeah.
And. You know, he made up his mind.
So So he made up, like, there was no, he showed up for work that day knowing this is my last day. Here is the 18th century. I don't know at what point you're going to have to ask him, but yeah. I'd love to. Yeah, he'll have to answer that.
But from your perspective, he was clearly adamant to making this decision. Were you in the locker room when he talked to the team? In the team meeting room? Yes, sir. Yeah, yeah.
He had the team meeting, and he told him I was in there. Yeah. It was quiet and. I think everybody was in disbelief. Yeah, I know, again, I know it's like Fight Club, and stuff got out, and I know that made it was very sensitive.
But what was it like from your perspective to watch it go through? You know, it was just, you know, it's one of those things, you know. you know, it's Mike Tomley.
Now he's a future Hall of Fame coach and You guys know how we felt about him in the building and how the players loved him. And he. I just remember it was quiet, and I turned around at one point, and I saw the rest of the guys, and I could just. There was disbelief. Um but um And afterwards, it was a lot of hogs, and he handled himself so good.
Mike's great. And so. Hey, he's Mike Tomlin. He's Mike Tomlin. I know that.
So now you've got Mike McCarthy. Yes. And. Walk me through the process that led to Mike McCarthy, because, you know. The general sense is that the Steelers were going to have the same result of every single Coach hiring.
Since Chuck Noll, which is to go with a defensive-minded guy in his mid-30s, late 30s, first crack at it.
So, how did we wind up with Mike McCarthy and Pittsburgh?
So, we were very open-minded. You know, we did cast a wide net interview to have some really great candidates. You know, I'm I'm confident in saying that most of those guys, if not all of them, will be head coaches at some point. But as we went through the process and we understood and evaluated where we wa are as an organization and You know, Mike was the right, Mike McCarthy was the right fit for us. And it's been great so far.
I mean, he's. You know, I've known Mike for 25, 26 years and You know, we've been grinding for the last month. It's been nonstop. It's been good. I feel good about it, and he loves Pittsburgh.
I mean, he's a toll taker there, man. He's from the area. This is a Pittsburgh guy through and through. He still sounds like he grew up there every single day.
So that is a fit. How is he a fit? for what you're trying to build right now. You know, I think his resume speaks for itself. You know, he's been a Super Bowl winning head coach, won a lot of football games.
And the reality is, he's had a lot of experience in developing young quarterbacks. And we are in an organization. We're still trying to identify who that next franchise quarterback is for us now. Is it Will Howard? We'll see.
But we're not there yet. We have to figure that out.
So So, what were your conversations about Will Howard with Mike McCarthy, if you don't mind sharing that? Yeah, you know, I'll tell you what I can. You know, Mike evaluated those quarterbacks last year. You know, he was out, but he did evaluate them, and he really liked Will. You know, Will's a winner.
There's a lot to like about Will. Oh, I'm aware he's a winner. Yeah, I'm aware of him. Very, very well aware. I don't know how much you've gotten to know Will at all, but.
He's uh You know, he's great. There's a lot to like, and Mike is really excited about working with him.
So.
So he's got a shot to be your starter as we're sitting here right now. I know months away. Yeah, there's a lot that can happen now and then, but the opportunity is going to be there, I think, and whether it's this year or at some point for him to show us what he's got. We wish we would have seen him play in a preseason and he got hurt. That was unfortunate.
But we spent a lot of time dissecting this practice film and what he's done. And I understand it's practice, but with Mike McCarthy and I, we've evaluated it and feel really good. We've seen the improvement week to week when he was out there, and it was just unfortunate he got hurt last year and we couldn't see him on the field.
Well, very rarely do I pat myself on the back, Omar Khan, but we're several minutes into this interview and I haven't even said the name Aaron Rodgers yet.
So I'm proud of myself. Be honest. Just the longest you've had an interview with being asked about it. Yes, yes, it is. Yes, it is.
I'm very proud of myself.
So now it's time. Thank you so much. Appreciate that. I appreciate the attaboy. Where are you right now on the process of maybe rehiring?
And bringing back Aaron Rodgers. You know, I've had conversations with Aaron. You know, we had a great experience with Aaron last year. I think we went into it last year. I think everybody just expected it to be a one-year thing.
You know, obviously, we didn't close the door on it being longer last year, but with where everything was, it was really a good experience. Aaron was great to have around. He was a great teammate. You learn a lot just talking to him and talking about ball and about life and non-football things, too. Teammates really liked them, and we'll see where it goes.
This isn't going to be like it was last year, the whole spring. I'd assume we'd have an answer sooner than later. What that means, I don't know if it's. It's just, it won't be like it was last year. No, last year was June.
Yeah, it will not be. I'm confident in saying it won't be that last year. How about new league years? What do you think? You know, I'm not putting a deadline on it, but it'll be sooner than later.
Okay.
So, but you have had conversations with him and are open to having him come back. And he and Mike McCarthy go back like a car seat, right?
So.
What if I had told you on that Super Sunday In Dallas, that Mike McCarthy was going to be Mike Tomlin's successor and potentially Aaron Rodgers, your quarterback, in 2026. What if I told you that on that day? I'm not sure I would have believed you at the time, man. It was, yeah, it's interesting how things work out in life. It's amazing.
Football is just like you can't make this stuff up. You can't make this stuff up.
So, which group are you most excited or intrigued in seeing here at this scouting combine? I feel like I say this every year around this time, but there's a lot of good players here, a lot of players that can help us. Uh you know the spring's gonna really dictate How we feel about the draft as a whole by the time we get to the drive. You know, we gotta go through all the medical stuff, all the security stuff, all the other stuff, and it'll, but. There's just some good players.
I mean, I'm excited about all of them. What position group?
Well, you know, there's a lot of, there's good receivers, there's some good quarterbacks, you know. I'm big on the guys in the trenches. There's some good old linemen, some good defensive linemen there. It's some corners. There's some exciting corners out there, too.
Okay.
Did you run your 40 yet? I have not, sir. I am running it in April. In April? Yes.
I'm in training. I don't know if you can tell right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, by sitting on my ass talking to you. How close are you to being ready?
Not at all. Not at all? Not at all. But yeah, you'll just. What I'll do is I'll go through my training, I'll reach out to you, and I'll ask you where I am on your draft board.
All right, perfect. Since we're coming to your town. Perfect. You're ready to be. You're ready to stay.
I can't wait to see you thing, man. Oh, I can't wait. It's long overdue. Pittsburgh's the perfect. City to be hosting this event.
It is great. You know, it's a great sports town, as everybody knows. There's the city of Pittsburgh and the Western PA have so much to offer. And I can't, you know, I've been there now since, what, 2001, and I love it. Like, the city has, the region has so much to offer, and I can't wait for all you guys to kind of.
I can't wait either. It's such a beautiful city. It's going to be lit up on the first night, second night. Very few cities glimmer like Pittsburgh when it's nighttime. It is great.
And it's going to be a spectacle to say the least. And as you know, when the draft travels, there's different fan bases that get a sense to show their civic pride and boo another team that's on the clock. For instance, the Bears got booed heavily last year in Green Bay, whereas when the draft was in Chicago, Green Bay got booed and things. Which team would you predict is going to get booed the loudest at the Pittsburgh draft? That is a tough question.
But I only ask those, I need an answer. What's your prediction for the decibel meter? The AFC North is pretty special and unique. If I had to guess, you know, I think it's going to be equally divided amongst the other three AFC North. You can't do it.
Give me the one team in the AFC North that you think is going to get booed the loudest. Oh man, you're putting me on the spot. Come on, it's all good. You know, we have a mutual respect with all three teams. It's just.
You got it. I know which one it is. I mean, it's going to be, I would say, you know, probably when Cleveland's up on the clock. Cleveland, okay. I would think Baltimore, because Baltimore's like every single year that you kind of stand in each other's way.
You know, it's a great rivalry, though. But the Browns, that's it? The Browns. Yeah, I mean, you're putting me on the spot here. I mean, it's going to be pretty confusing.
I know it's going to be. We're not going to really have a decibel meter on it.
So, your message to Steeler fans who you've heard it. I mean, Tomlin heard it all the time. And the fact that this team is not one to play off game in a In a time that you're used to having him. What's your message right now? Mike McCarthy's coming in, don't know where the quarterback is.
There are some lion-hearted veterans on this team. Cam Hayward's one of my favorites. I'm assuming you're having conversations with him about coming back. Cam, yeah, I met with Cam right after the season. You know, it was obviously emotional because Mike had just stepped down and we agreed to speak in a few weeks.
And that's coming up, but he's a Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame uh player and So he's still on your radar screen to return as well.
Okay, so what's your message to Steeler fans, Omar Kahn? Just trust that, you know, we're looking to win Super Bowls here. And that's what we work towards every single year. And we understand that what's happened in the last few years is unacceptable. And just like every year, we're evaluating everything in the organization and seeing where we can improve.
But I assure you, our goal is to win a Super Bowl. All right, and before I let you go. the one guy in your tenure. with Pittsburgh or doing any of this business in the NFL, that you saw at the Combine. and that you and the rest of the brass identified at the combine and we're like, okay.
We're going to draft this kid, and he turned out to be exactly who you hoped. Was there one person like that? Omar? That's a tough one, man. These are some tough questions.
That's what happens when you show up on the Rich Isen Show. Yeah, that's good. Which I appreciate, by the way. Yeah, no, thanks for having me on.
So, man, that's. Yeah. Saw him at the combine. you know, tested well, checked every box. Grease board.
By the way, I've been in that Steeler room with Tom on years ago. He let me in there on a greaseboard, sitting in the back. I was scared. I remember you. And I wasn't on the greaseboard.
You know, but serious business. I remember all that. Look, it's hard to pick just one, but, you know, just. And this goes way back since I started. Obviously.
Ben Roffelsberger and Troy Palomalu. There's been some great players.
So Ben obviously he did test, you know, those in the old RCA dome. That was one of our first convers. That was, in fact, I believe our first conference. That was your NFL Network. Yeah.
Kid from Miami, Ohio. Yeah. And you saw, everybody saw that he was. Yeah, and it was the three quarterbacks that year, right? Everybody was trying to sort out who's going to go where.
And, yeah, he was good. You know, Troy Palomalu, I mean, there's been so many great players, Steelers. Like, I just, it's hard to pick just one. You know, Cam. You know, there's just so many guys.
Yeah. Good to have you here. Great to be on. I hope to see you in Pittsburgh. I will be there.
You'll be there? Yeah, man. From pick one to pick last. I'm the only one who does that on TV, man.
So many other people tap out after one day, after two days. I'm there to mr. Irrelevant. It's going to be great. Any advice where to go?
Well, I'm going to get my fries on my sandwich, if that makes any sense to you. And on the salads. And on the salads. Thank you for that heads. Up.
Omar Kahn here on the Rich Eisen Show. By the way, the Folically Challenged Hour continues with Robert Sala next, right here on the Rich Eisen Show from Indianapolis, Indiana, at the Scouting Combine. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. If you're ready for an oil change, trust the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts to recommend the best products for your vehicle. Right now, get five quarts of Valvoline full synthetic motor oil and a Wix filter for $35.99 and receive a $15 O'Reilly gift card after rebate.
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after you know Uh Your time with the Jets, and you had some time to sit here and think, I get another head coach and gig. I am not gonna do this or I will not. allow that to be set up in a way that I don't want it. How have you brought that to Tennessee right now? Yeah, that's a fair question.
And we could say it for a couple of hours and go through all of it. But you know, I've The one thing I keep repeating myself on is that there's really no first year, there's no handbook for a first time at anything you do. Like, there's no handbook for a first-time owner, no handbook for a first-time host, there's no handbook for a first-time head coach. And I think we could all agree that if we look back at our first day, we'd all agree that we're more prepared for our moments than we were back then. And there were a lot of things that I learned throughout that process.
That I'm taking with me. There's a lot of things that I'm leaving behind, and there's still a lot of room for me to grow, also. And, you know, so, like I've said, I'm grateful for the opportunity I had in New York. I'm more prepared now than I ever was, and just really looking forward to this one. I'm with you, Robert.
I mean, we'll sometimes show. Video of moments from 10 years ago on the show. And it's tough for me to watch that stuff. Honestly, because I think I'm better at what I do now than I was then. I also am watching some interviews where I know I'm kind of struggling for the next question with this interview subject.
I just know what's going on in my head watching it back, and it's tough for me to do.
So I'm wondering: what are you doing differently? What are you going to do differently? Like, you got a specific one that you do. You know, there's always pushing the envelope with what I'm going to do, like from an evolution standpoint, but. Um the m the more superficial one just just uh One of the things that I feel is my strength is my connection to the players.
And I felt not calling plays, for example, in New York kept me from being able to connect to the players the way I feel like I need to to be able to build the relationships that are needed to have success.
So it is one thing that I am adamant about doing just to help me stay connected to the guys and to the team for that matter. But that's probably the most superficial one. But there's certain things within the office, how we're scheduling, how we're meeting. You know, my time in Green Bay with Matt LaFleur, I thought some things that he did was really cool, and not that we're doing things exactly, but just to cherry-pick one or two things here or there, and then going back to San Francisco and piecing the puzzle back together. There's you're always kind of evolving and you're always growing, and not being closed-minded.
You know, there's. There's always two ways to approach things that when you don't have success, you can, either from an egotistical standpoint, you can point the finger and say, well, you know, you kind of got screwed in the process, or you can look inward and just try to find the ways to get better and find your weak spots and try to make them strengths. And that's kind of what I've been doing for the last year and a half. You know, it's kind of crazy how things work in the NFL. I mean, once upon a time, you're the head coach of the Jets, your offensive coordinator's head coach of the Giants, and that live stadium at the same time, right?
I mean, like, you're sharing a stadium together, now you're sharing a team together, right? Where you're the head coach of the Tennessee Titans calling the defensive plays, and you have handed off a very important gig. To Brian Dayball as the OC and the guy who's like, you're going to connect at the hip to Cam Ward, and that's the success. You can handle your end of the business on the defensive side of the ball while also being the CEO of the operation. But the very crucial aspect of what you have delegated.
to Brian Dayball is pretty huge, and I'm wondering what you can. Share with us about how you envision that partnership. Yeah, you know, it's ultimately a partnership, really in all three phases. And, like I said, super, like, really, really excited about the staff that we were able to put together, especially when you consider all the competition. I think there's 18 core OC jobs open this year, there's 10 head coaching jobs, and there was a lot of movement, more movement than normal in our league.
And there was a lot of competition for Gus Bradley. There's a lot of phone calls to get bones out from his role. There was a lot of competition for Dayball, and for them to choose us amongst all the offers that they were given, I think it's a testament to what we have going on over here. And to speak on Dayball, You know, there's a lot of empathy between he and I and just an understanding of of uh Of how to handle things. You know, we've been through the same, we bounced ideas off each other when we were both in New York, and I'll continue to do the same thing here along with Gus and Bones.
And, you know, so from a staff standpoint and building it, You know, you talk about what's different. The staff is much more experienced than my first staff in New York, you know, so just taking a different approach and Leaning into guys that have done it before, who have had a lot of success in this league before, and who have constantly evolved who they are in this league. You know, so it's. It's exciting to have all three of them.
Well, obviously, and again, Dayball in particular, you just asked Josh Allen about how important Dayball was in his growth. Obviously, Jackson Dart last year is another one. Daniel Jones, the year that Dayball won Coach of the Year, was spectacular in that role.
So, what do you. What's the growth you're looking to see from Cam Ward with Dayball at the controls? The expectations are going to be the same, you know, and it's why I was so attracted to Dayball. And, like I said, with the experience aspect, he's done it before, he's done it not once, but multiple times. He's a guy that we've had to go against several times.
We've practiced against him. I just love the way he operates. I love his mindset. I love the way he speaks to his players. I love the confidence that he injects into his players, along with the accountability and the standard that he holds them to.
He is a no-nonsense coach, but he does it in a way that still shows the love that these players need. And so when you're looking at a guy like Dabes, He's not going to be here long. We're going to have success. We're going to win a lot of football games. He's going to get another opportunity also.
Fourth overall pick. Obviously, you're not going to reveal anything just yet. It's still also being formulated right now. What's your approach for this crucial first? Selection for you as the HC of the Tennessee Titans?
You know, there's a lot of things that still got to take place. There's, obviously, this is the first one. This one gets the most attention, but there's so many Zoom meetings, there's informals that are happening, there's pro days that are happening, there's private visits that are happening, the 30 visits that are happening. And so this is just scratching the surface with regards to the information that we're gathering. And I think when you're drafting fourth overall, we're in a position where we can draft the best player on the board.
And whoever that is, when we're done with the evaluation process, this is going to be the big winner. But how, I mean, again, just to revisit the fact that your quarterback's in place, you know what I mean? Like, you took the job and you know. What Cam Ward has done, you've already seen what he did last year, you're able to have that handled. What about the rest of this team?
that you're ready to get your hands on here specifically that there's mention here. Everything that we do is always going to involve the quarterback in terms of helping him develop. And so building a football team that can support him. I think, especially when you're a young quarterback, asking a young quarterback to carry a team 60 plays a game is a little unrealistic.
So, for all of us, as we go through this process, just being mindful of what actually helps the quarterback just be a quarterback and just be a piece of the puzzle, there's going to be a time when Cam puts his team on his back. And it could be this year, depending on how he develops as a player. But asking him to do that and expecting him to do that, I do think is unrealistic.
So, everything that we do. All our meetings, everything that we do is going to be about the quarterback and his development, along obviously with the rest of the roster. And Jeffrey Simmons might season him up a little bit more. Oh, yeah, I mean, you got it.
Well, the two of them went at it last summer. I don't know if you're aware of that from your position in San Francisco. The two of them would go at it. Cam Ward and Simmons. Cam's not going to back down from anyone.
He's an ultra-competitor. That's, again, that's why I'm driven to him. He's uh and he's not fake either, you know, just He's been in the building every day just going through his workouts and all that stuff, and I don't think there's a day that goes by where he doesn't go through the entire building to say hello to people. And I just find it so impressive that a young man, and especially in this day and age, just I think he knows every single person in the building, their name, and what they do. And for him to be just as a rookie with all the stuff that's happening, to be conscientious enough to go through and just learn everybody, I think that it says a lot about who he is.
You know, the young man wants to win just like we all do. Simmons is nasty. And Simmons. You can do some things too. Oh, man.
When you talk about Jeffrey, we've had some good ones in our system from Buckner to Armstead. I mean, Quinn and Williams is pretty damn good, but Jeffrey is up there with all of them. I'm really excited for him and his opportunity, and really excited for us to get our hands on him and cut him loose and see him operate in our system. Yeah, last thing for you here. I had Kyle Van Neu on the show last week.
You're the perfect person to ask about this. He thinks defensive tackle is now becoming more of an elite position than edge rushers. Because the edge rushers, because the quarterbacks get the rear of the ball so fast, and offenses are getting faster like that, that getting the pressure up the middle. is now the new edge. Position, would you agree?
You know what? Anywhere you can generate pressure, but offenses have gotten very, very good with regards to protection. They know exactly where to slide, who to chip. They're finding ways to get four hands on at least three of your players. And most of the time, it's two edge rushers and one of the interior guys.
So most of the time, it's one of your inside guys that is going to get the one-on-one. And so, yeah, if you have a guy like Jeffrey Simmons, you've got a chance to win more one-on-ones. You're going to force the slide. You can force protection to go the way that you want, so you can kind of manipulate it the way you need to. But so, yeah, it's, I guess, I mean.
Miles Garrett, I think, would have something to say about that.
Well, Miles can also wind up lining up there anyway. Miles can go anywhere, but right, sure. But the edge rusher is always going to be the high sack guy. But to be able to get that pocket push, especially with these young men, when, like you said, the ball's getting out pretty quick. The fastest way to get pressure into his lap to make him flinch is through the middle of the defense.
And if you can do that, it's always beneficial. Yeah, and those are the first guys that are out there on the field on Thursday. Congrats on getting a well-deserved second crack at this, man. Appreciate you. I'm very excited for you.
And thanks again on behalf of. All of us follow challenged people to do what you've done to put this staff together. I can't get enough of it. And just to show you, I'm all about it as well. You know, Omar Khan was sitting there before you.
And Brad Holmes is coming here next. Nobody with hair is allowed to appear on this show in this hour. You know what I mean? I'm all about it, man. I appreciate you, brother.
Good to see you. That's Robert Zala, head coach of the Tennessee Titans. When we come back, Brad Holmes, the man who shops for the Detroit groceries here in Indianapolis. Awesome. The Rich Heisen Show, the podcast.
Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Detroit Lions, Brad Holmes is here. Our radio audience has returned. The conversation surrounding Jeremiah Love out of Notre Dame. and where he should get drafted and how high he should be drafted. I think, based on the conversations that I have, are 100% seen through the prism of you and your team selecting Jameer Gibbs a couple years ago.
And a lot of people saying, why are they doing it? It's a reach, it's too high, it's a running back spot. And then now a few years later, it's like, oh, yeah.
Now we get it. Yeah. What went into the what was that process behind drafting Jameer Gibbs and By the way, beating a lot of other teams to the punch behind the scenes. I mean, really, it's just looking at the. We didn't really look at it as just like he plays running back or a certain position.
We just looked at the player in general. And so when we looked at it, we're like, okay. His just overall ability as a football player in comparison to all the other players in the draft was just so high. That it just was pretty obvious. It was like, well, he's an elite football player.
It's not about what position that he played. And, you know, I unfortunately had the luxury of kind of going through something very similar back with the Rams with Todd Gurley. Right. It's just that. That was the issue with him.
Yeah, he was coming off an injury, but it was just like, look. He's so good, like just in totality of the entire draft.
So we kind of took the same approach with Jameer.
So I can, if someone, if a team views love in that same scope, you know, if you have the conviction. You know, I don't think it matters where you picked them at. Right, I mean, the concept of a running back. You don't choose a running back that high. And I think Love would definitely be drafted sooner than when you drafted Gibbs.
It doesn't make any sense to me because the number of times that this Player touches the football and can affect the score. and can also potentially, if you get the right one, run the clock out for you. You know? Like it's. And I sold that, not to cape for running backs here to a general manager, but I kind of do, and you're going to be in a position where you.
If you don't mind, I'm not putting anything out there that people don't know. You might have a market-setting contract that you have to sign, Jimmy or Gibbs, too, in the next couple of weeks. Yeah, and I think it goes back to a little bit like what you just said. I think if you talk to any offensive coordinator Yeah. What do they want to do on offense?
Scoring football. They'll score points, but they want to be able to run football. You can kind of control the game a little bit better. You can dictate a lot of different things if you have the ability to run the football.
Well, You've been hearing that for decades now. What I didn't understand is, well Everybody wants to run the football. But you don't want to invest in a running back. And I understand the obvious of where he gets a lot of carries and a lot of hits and this and that, but When you can't identify a special one, you know, especially he's a game break and he can hit the home run, you know, I think it'd be hard to look past. And again, you know.
Yeah. I'm a I I do cape for running backs because it is. Wide receivers get paid more than running backs. at the top of at the top end and pretty much almost in every Yeah. It's much easier to hand the ball to somebody.
You know what I'm saying? Like, the defense can stop the runner after the ball's been put in his belly. Sure. But a defense can prevent you from getting the ball to a top-notch wide receiver. Yes.
That's the difference for me.
So, why is the running back market the way it is? And again, I ask you this with my follow-up about Jameer Gibbs needing a new contract or being in line for one. Yeah, I think you got, I think it's a lot to that.
Now, look. When I was with the Rams, uh We had Aaron Donald and He was probably the only one that may be able to stop. the quarterback from handing the ball to the running back. He could intercept. But no, I totally see it.
But I think, especially when you get into the guys that can do both in terms of running and passing. You know, now I think you're kind of entering a territory where if he's able to not only, yeah, take the handoff, but able to run routes and make things happen in the passing game. And then I think the other thing that's very probably undervalued, maybe from the outside, is the protection aspect. You know, because even if you have a running back that can make plays in the passing game in terms of catching and running routes, you know, when that guy's in the game and you don't know if he's going out on a route or not, he'll stay in and protect, step up in protection. Sure.
That's even more of an added bonus.
So once you start getting into that territory, which is not a lot of guys that can do that, then, you know, Those guys earn their worth.
So let me stop dancing around and ask you directly: are you in a contract conversation with Jameer Gibbs right now? Look, not active right now. I know that we'll speak with his agent as early as this week and kind of see kind of what that timeline looks like. But Jameer Gibbs, he's one that. He's a part of our nucleus.
He's a core piece on our football team. We want to keep him around for a long time.
So we're already in alignment on that. We just got to figure out, you know, more dialogue is going to kind of get a better sense of what that timeline looks like.
Okay, and no, which position group are you eager to see? that you think can help you guys certainly. When you're on the clock. In April. You know what?
Look, I think we're in a position now where we have to really. Look at everything in terms of both sides of the ball. You can never have enough depth. Rather, even if it's not starting front-level guys, the way this league is going, you're going to be, unfortunately, attrition comes, you're going to start tapping into your depth. That's something pretty early.
I've noticed that certainly on the back end of your defense couple years. Yeah, so I just don't think there's a position that we really are going to be looking at everything at every single position. And I think that that's the beauty of it. And we've always kind of approached the draft from a best player available approach, anyways.
So I think that's even more relevant now.
Well, even, you know, in terms of self-scouting, when you look at the, everyone's got injuries, right? And injury bug certainly hits some teams more than most. Your team, I've lost track on the number of times you're down to a defensive back. Who is deep on your depth chart as a starter? Do you look at, do you chonk this up to bad luck, or is there something going on that you're self-scouting in your organization to figure anything out?
Yeah, that's a good question, and that's something that we're constantly trying to look at. We constantly are looking at and trying to figure out: okay, what is the solution? And yes, you want to say it's bad luck, it's bad luck, but if you feel like you keep having bad luck all the time, then you obviously have to make sure that you're looking at every single thing that you're doing. And sometimes it is bad luck, sometimes it is luck, but it could be other variables that we just got to make sure that we're paying attention to and make sure that we are aware of. Because, look, player availability, you know that attrition happens, but you know, Those are key players that they're part of us because they help us win games.
If they're not available, it can be a little hard sometimes. Can you let me in on the conversations, internal conversations you have about analytics and going forward on fourth downs that you have with your head coach? Um you know You know, Dan, uh I would say Dan is, I've always felt he's an aggressive person by nature. He's not scared. Of anything, but I've always felt that he's very calculated as well.
So I don't, you know, so I know that he looks at all of it. He looks at all the analytics and he looks at the management and the statistics and all the situations.
So he's not just, you know, feel like when he decides, at least from our conversation, when he decides to actually go for it, you know, there is a reason he feels game flow, he feels how the game is going, he feels the situation, and that's when he usually pulls the trigger on it. What do you say? Because I'm in the narrative business, Brad Holmes. What do you say to the narrative that the lion's window. is closing and that the ceiling was half time of the NFC Championship game a couple of years ago.
What do you say to that? You know what? I would push back on that just because Even with the dilemma that we're facing now, is that we have a lot of young ascending players that are eligible for extensions. You know, even look back at this past season, you know. I want to say we had six Pro Bowl players, um And We had three all-procaliber players that weren't even available.
That could have been more.
So, I think what we've been doing in the draft, in terms of having these ascending young players, I do think that that's given us an opportunity to keep our window open. And then also, our quarterback that, you know, I think he's in his prime, he's playing at a high level.
So, I think just those alone. Keeps that window open.
So, but I understand. I understand the situations like, yeah, you get that close to making it to the big game, and then you don't make it that close again.
Okay, the easy narrative is: okay, it's closing because you missed your shot, but that's not what we believe. We still believe that our windows open, and really the way we operate is we want to avoid Windows. And so I like that. Look at that. That's a good line.
We actually do the best that we can to avoid Windows. Right. And, you know. Drew Petsing's now in here, right? You like the hire, clearly.
You're the general manager here. Yeah. Is he going to bring something similar to what Lions fans are used to? Yeah, I mean, look, I think. Our fans are used to our offense.
Scoring a lot of points and being explosive. And I think Drew Petsing, he checks all those boxes. Look, what was impressive about him is not only his intelligence, his command, you know, his attention to detail, but his knowledge of every single component on the offensive side of the ball.
So it's not just like the formation that you design or the play that you design. It's understanding protections and understanding every minute detail of a running back track or any like he understands all that.
So he just checked those boxes and it was an exhaustive, long search that we did, very extensive search with a lot of great candidates. And he was one of the earlier ones that we had interviewed. And so the mere fact that he kept staying afloat and we kept going back to him, I thought spoke volumes.
Well, say hi to your coach for me. When I see him here, I'm going to, he does have a kid who goes to Michigan State, right? Doesn't he? Yeah. Because he drew.
Dan? Yeah, yes.
Okay.
Because he showed up to the Michigan State game dressed like he was Magic Johnson. You know, in 1979. Oh, you know, it's okay. It's all right. I mean, you're not going to be overreaching.
No, no, no, I just want to make sure that he's. No, if he's got, if he's got. you know, that connection, I'm cool with it.
So.
Good to have you here, Brad. Thanks for the time. Thanks for having me. You got it. For small businesses, every hire counts, and so does your time.
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That's linkedin.com/slash Eisen. Terms and conditions apply. Todd Bowles is about to join us here to. The Ridge Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
