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Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Jets are crushing. They got some really good things. It's all Vegeta.
Oh, please. It has nothing to do with this year. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Earlier on the show. Country musician Kenny Chesney.
Coming up. Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur. Three-time Emmy Award-winning actor and comedian Ray Romano. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Hour number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air.
What a fun Tuesday we've got in store. We've got, still, we just had an in-studio chat with Kenny Chesney here on the program. Hour number three, Ray Romano, will be in our studio, and it's very rare to have an opportunity to somehow, someway, get off my chest a bone to pick that I have with Ray. Uh when he oh Heisted, snatched. The karaoke championship from my Sinatra microphone at the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe, Nevada last year.
Wow. Separate you guys. Oh, I mean. He's in running point this season. Does he know those brief?
I don't think so. One-way beef. It's a one-way beef. It's an overreaction Monday on a Tuesday. We'll do that in hour number three.
We were going to do it in the middle of the program, but Todd Bowles of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has accepted our invitation to zoom into today's program. Lovely. But joining us here now, off the top of our second hour here on this Tuesday show, fresh off of his first draft as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. Welcome to the Rich Eisen Show. Mike LaFleur, good to see you, Mike.
How are you? Coach. Good to see you, Rich. Thanks for having me, man. What's going on?
Nothing. Nothing. I saw that you had Kenny Chesney on today, and I'm a little jealous that I wasn't tuning in. You know what? There's YouTube, there's our Disney Plus page, but you're a Disney man.
I understand you don't need to be chasing that stuff down. I'll just tell you, it was awesome. But if you want to watch it back, please do. He's great. You're a Kenny Chesney fan?
I am a Kedney Chesney fan. I actually saw him. It's been a while, but he was at Lambo. shoot twelve years ago and uh a few of us ended up uh going there. That was way before Matt got that job.
Okay. Pretty cool.
Now you got your your gig, and uh how did you find your first draft room as the HC in that position? Mike. You know, when the clock started in that first eight minutes, it wasn't too long before we were picking.
So hopefully that doesn't happen anytime soon again. But no, it was a neat atmosphere. And, you know, it's again, the draft's fun and all that, but it's the lead up to the draft, right? It's all the work that Monty and the team and the scouting department put in. And then here we come in as coaches at the 11th hour saying this and that and giving our two cents.
But it was collaborative, communicative, and the conviction that Monty had was awesome. By the way, I love the suit, love the pocket square, love the whole thing, man. Look at you, suited and booted. In the draft room. You had that whole thing picked out, huh?
You know, there's a longer story with that suit and the suit process. Don't ask my wife on that one. What do you mean?
Well, she's not on the Zoom right now, so I can only ask you.
So, what's the process? What's that? Let's just say I really hadn't had a suit in a lot of years, and she'd been kind of forcing me to go get one. And we played Seattle late in the year on a Thursday, and that weekend I was a little grumpy on having to go get a suit, but thank God I got it for a few reasons. Your wife is always right, Mike.
She's right. You know what I mean? That's why I'm not the best dad ever. Oh, man, that is funny. That's a great line.
So, as for you being on the clock eight minutes, were you all locked up on let's take Jeremiah Love and wait to see if the phone rings with a godfather offer that Monty Austinford could not refuse? Is that what was going down in your draft room? And then that's fair to say it that way. I mean, we were very much all on the same page throughout this entire building. You know, and then once obviously we were on the clock, you're always going to, you know, keep it open initially, but I'll be honest with you.
I was hoping nobody called, and I really didn't care what the offer was because of how I feel about the guy that we got.
So, how do you feel about the guy that you got? I'll give you the floor. You know, I think we all see the talent. He's been very productive at Notre Dame for many years. What's unique about this guy is he is a man.
He is he's He walks in the room and he has this really good mix of confidence but humility, you know, and he is who he is. And I thought he had a great press conference on Friday, just kind of showing the Arizona Cardinal world, you know, who he is. Obviously, he's had eyes on him for a long time, but I just really appreciate the person even more than the player, and the player is pretty special.
Well, we met him at the Combine, Mike. We had him on our show live. And I felt the same thing. You know, when he sat down in the chair. And he also just wanted to know: do I look at the camera?
Do I look at you? What do I do? What should I do? He was humble. He had all sorts of humility.
And then he says, with a straight face, I want to be in the Hall of Fame. And it's just like, okay, I hear you. Like, you got to speak that sort of stuff into existence. And it didn't come across as bravado or false bravado. It's just a genuine passion.
I felt the same thing. Yeah, no, he's, yeah, totally. I mean, he's like you said, I mean, he's got the confidence and all that. But his approach is just one day at a time going to work. And again, just the culture they had at Notre Dame and what they instilled in him.
And then on top of what his family instilled in him, I mean, his story is pretty special. His parents are awesome. He's got an incredible support system.
Well, obviously, he's going to need some touches here. And we saw James Conner make an announcement there in his home area of Pittsburgh on behalf of the Cardinals. I believe he was the one who announced Chase Pasantis is now on your team. Chase Bezantis is now on your team. And so, and Tyler Algier, I imagine, signed thinking he was going to get a whole bunch of touches.
How do you, as the head coach. And split this up, Mike. I'll never be upset with having too many good NFL players at a position, you know. And the two guys that you mentioned, Tyler and James, they've played a lot of productive football in this league. And as you know, I mean, I'll date back to 2019 in San Francisco.
We had four backs that contributed that year, you know, sometimes by injury, sometimes by the hot hand. But there were four NFL backs on that roster that all contributed in different ways. And so, unfortunately, that's what happens, particularly at the running back position, amongst other positions. This game's violent. Guys go down.
But at that position, the wear and tear that they take through a 17-game season. Again, never going to apologize having too many good players at one position. And so, how do you plan to use them? Not to have your playbook out there for the rest of the league to see, but what might have all three on there at once. We might have zero out there, you know.
But no, I mean, it's right now we're such in the early stages of this. You know, I mean, we're only a few weeks in. Just started phase two basically this week. We had the two weeks of phase one. We had the voluntary mini camp.
So, I mean, the guys are here in the offense for the, you know, just the fourth week right now. Obviously, with the guy that we have coming in, you know, there might be a wrinkle or two, but I truly think right now you just give them the foundations of what's going on. You give them the foundations through August. You try to get good at something. You try to get good at your foundational aspects of running blocking, catching, throwing, all those kinds of things.
And then organically, once the season starts, the best offenses I've been a part of, like we had no intention of being a 13-personnel team last year in L.A., and it just organically happened for a lot of different reasons, you know, but we didn't force that. It just kind of went and it was working, so we kept rolling with it.
So we'll see where this Arizona Cardinals offense goes. But again, right now, just in the early stages.
Well, lastly on, Jeremiah Love, he ended the interview with us coach in Indianapolis by saying that he also wants to play special teams for his new team. I told him that probably wasn't going to happen now that I have his first and new head coach on the air here. Special teams? For John. I don't think he's going to get too many gunner reps, if you will.
But I'll tell you what, though. I mean, I'll tell you what. There's something to be said about that kick return right now, though. And so, yeah, I'm never going to say never in terms of those situations because those are, as we all know, those are massive plays. No doubt about it.
Mike LaFleur, Arizona Cardinals head coach here on The Rich Eisen Show. What do you like about Carson Beck? Mike? Um And I think we all kind of see that, just the size and the natural throwing ability. I think he's tough in the pocket, but there's two things that really stuck out to you know all of us in this building: it's the experience that he's played, uh, and not just you know the amount of games of 43 is 37 and 6 as a starter, but we're he did it in the SEC and then he did it down at Miami.
And you know, you think about the run that they made at Miami. I mean, it was, you know, are they going to get in or are they not? And they have to go on the road to Texas AM and then win a few more games to have the opportunity to play Indiana in the national championship. And he helped lead that team get there.
So, you know, he's won a lot of games at a high level. And, like I said, kind of Thursday night, it hasn't been smooth sailing for him. You know, there's some armor throughout his career. And I love that because it's not like it was all easy and the number one pick or whatever it is. He's already been through some stuff.
And so when he gets to the league, it's only going to get harder, no doubt. And the storms are only going to get more, but he's been through some. Yeah, I mean, he's been at it a while, for sure. He was in Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud's recruiting class, you know, and now here he is your.
Third round drafted rookie. What are your plans? Is he going to be in a competition? We also know what Jacoby Brissette. Has been reported to be wanting contractually.
How do you plan to hit the quarterback for? It's kind of honestly, and I truly mean this, it's the same thing in terms of what I was just saying with our entire offense and really our team in general. Of, you know, just given the foundational aspects, like we just want to teach him the playbook. You know, yesterday we started with the cadence and formations with them.
So before there's even a rep to be had on the field, we got to teach these guys not just him, but Gardner and Jacoby as well. And, you know, there'll be plenty of reps to be had throughout.
Now, and I know you're happy with Carson Beck, and for me to bring up Ty Simpson, I don't want to put you in any position, but when we were in. You know, in the world of the media leading to the draft, we were all having a conversation about Arizona is going to have to maybe beat the Jets to the punch. For Ty Simpson, and instead it was the Rams at 13, your former team to beat at the punch.
So I'm. You know, I'll ask you, were you surprised about that choice for the Rams, knowing the organization as well as you do? Mike. I was surprised at Mr. Grumpy that night because I know how.
I know how excited he is about that quarterback. He always really liked that quarterback. And, you know, the one thing that we can say as coaches is, you know, you don't really get the evaluation process until you're done with the season. And obviously, in L.A., we went to the NFC Championship, so you kind of were a week or two behind or whatnot. But there was a lot of love for Ty Simpson in that building.
So. You know, I obviously was in that building, so that wasn't shocking to me at all. You know, how it got to that point where they were all in lockstep for the 13th pick. Obviously, I wasn't there for those conversations, but the beginning of it, I know, you know, Les, Sean, and the rest of them all were really excited about him. Mr.
Grumpy, let me write that one down. That's my that's that's from his words, not mine. That's that's true, that's true. That's that's true. Um, so you liked him too, I'd imagine, Ty Simpson.
A ton of respect for him. Obviously, he doesn't have the amount of, I think it was 15 games or whatnot, but what he did do was play at a high level in big-time competition. And very similar to, like, I was saying about Jeremiah, you talk about a guy that just is very confident in himself and his ability. He's a coach's kid. He's from a small town.
He's got just a great foundation underneath him. And I think for him, what a great situation. Like, I can't imagine. Any better situation than being behind Matthew Stafford because you get to watch a guy do it at the highest level. On top of it, Matthew, I can't imagine a better person out there to be working with.
My love for Matthew's out there, I can't say enough about him.
So for Ty to be able to be behind him, that's cool.
Well, I'm excited for you, Mike LaFleur. I mean, you're an NFL head coach for the first time. You're in a very deep end of the pool, but highly competitive there in the NFC West, which is something that you're always, as a head coach, seeking. What was it like sitting next to your bro for the coach's photo at this year's coaches at this year's owners meeting my i hope there's some like some raw video from behind because i tried being like six seats away and then naturally like how did you how did we how did you wind up how did you so seriously is that what happened is that you can ask him on that but uh you know hey we got next to the the coolest uh brother tandem out there in the in the harbaws and and i generally mean that I love both those guys.
So that was neat. I can't, you know, to all kidding aside, really neat experience just to be there. And it's ironic that in our main kind of meetings throughout the day, The person I had direct Cross for me was Green Bay.
So I'm looking at him the whole time, and it's, you know, we're kind of making faces at each other and whatnot, trying to listen. Figure the next thing out. That's pretty cool. That's great. And then I couldn't help but notice.
So this was just thrown together. You just all had to find your own seats. Nobody would like, no photographers, like, I want the Harbaughs here and I want the LaFleurs there. It was just completely organic. Is what you're saying?
It was very much, well, I mean, I can't say it was totally random, but no one told us to go anywhere. I mean, you put all 32 of us in a plate. I mean, we're going to mess stuff up. Wild, everyone sit down and people were missing. I'm not going to mention someone's getting a haircut.
Sean wasn't there because I think he was a figure. I mean, it's just that's so funny, man. And then I couldn't help but notice what Joe Brady and you, Joe Brady and Kevin Stefansky, were looked like human shields between the head coach of the Bears and the head coach of the Packers. Was that? Completely random, too?
Yeah, I'm not going to mention on that one. I have no idea what you're even talking about. But I will say this: I will say that I've known Joe. He's grown like three inches since he got the buffalo job. I didn't mind sitting next to Matt.
I didn't want Joe because I look like his little cousin. Right. I love it. Yeah, I know Joe's getting ready for his first shot and your first shot too. Listen, I was going to ask Mike to Mike.
I was going to ask Matt, your brother, to join us, but he's not available. And I don't usually. Ask coaches to comment on other coaches' first-round selections, but he's too busy with his first-round selection in Green Bay hydration. I don't know if you're aware that he chose hydration first. And the Green Bay Packers.
Do you have any comment about? About Matt's first-round pick hydration. Yeah, not too much. Not too much of a comment there, but I'll tell you what, his commercials on YouTube with that Bell and Health or whatever are great. We got to get you.
I don't know. What's the opposite of what we got to get you? I mean, listen, let's be honest. Arizona's a desert. Hydration seems to be more crucial to life there than Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Mike. You know what I mean? It it it seems that way, but you know, again, I'm not the one picking the uh the commercials there in Wisconsin. I'm excited for you, Mike. I really am.
And I can't wait to see what you're cooking up there. And I know you've been waiting a while for this opportunity and the Bidwell's giving it to you. Um and the whole crew there. Um I'm looking forward to seeing what you're you're cooking up. Thanks, Rich.
Appreciate you having me on. I appreciate your time, too. That's Mike LaFleur, the new head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, hopefully the first of many appearances right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Hydrations. First thing I saw when I landed in Green Bay.
Matt LaFour smiling with hydration. It probably needs like sunscreen.
Well, he needs it when he drinks the red wine. You need to hydrate because you know those. Dries you out. It dries you out. You know?
But Jeremiah Love, man, remember when he said I'm playing special teams and I'm like special teams, not going to come off the field. But obviously, though, him as a returner, you got to get him to football. That's it. Yeah. And I love his answer there: that hey, You know, um Can't have too many good football players at the same position.
All right, let's take a break because Todd Bowles is going to be next, and coaches are always on time. That's next. This is the Rich Eisen Show from the Cardinals to the Bucs coming up. Mm. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.
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Alrighty. Auto parts. For some of us, personal finances aren't just personal. They include a lot more people than ourselves. Loved ones, neighbors, the communities we call home, and the causes we hold in our hearts.
At Thrive Ent, we help plan your financial picture with the bigger picture in mind. Because even though our business is helping guide your finances, our ambition is to make it mean so much more. Thriveant, where money means more. Connect with us at ThriveInt.com. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, head coach Todd Bowles, back on the Rich Eisen Show.
What happens now? What's on your to-do list with the draft over?
Well, right now, we're just meeting with the vets in the morning. You know, the guys that are here, we're in phase one right now as they're working out, meeting with them, getting accustomed to the scheme again, changing a few things. Obviously, with a new offensive coordinator, it'll be new to them. Terminology and all. Then we have the rookies coming in next weekend for minicamp on Mother's Day weekend.
And then they get acclimated through camp, and then they get to stay after that with the veterans. And they will continue to get on the field activities and get them caught up.
So by training camp, you know, they'll be playing fast and hopefully know everything.
So when you and the Buccaneers were gaming out, mocking the draft and figuring out scenarios and how to plan, because it's not easy to pick at 15, you know, obviously. Picking higher is better for a prospect, but it's also not great for your prospects with a regular season record. And picking lower obviously means you've done well. Sitting there right in the middle is you've done well enough, but. It is also a tough spot for you to game out and mock.
How many times did you have Ruben Bain dropping to you? Coach We didn't have him drop him to us at one time in the draft, but we said if he's one of the guys that we knew if we fell, we would take him automatically, no questions asked. And he was one of he was the one that fell.
So You know, we were more than happy to get him. Extremely surprised to get him, but extremely happy to get him.
Well, I mean, his tape is off the charts, and I'm sure you're aware of the conversation about his arm length and all that business. What's your opinion of that and how it translates to his success at the next level?
Well, Mike Tyson has short arms, and he fared out pretty good for us. The biggest thing with a pass rusher and somebody of that nature, he plays the game with the right demeanor. But even with the arms being short, you never see him rushing down the middle of an offensive lineman. He has a very good array of Pass rush moves, and he's really good with his hands understanding when to shoot them and when not to shoot him and go around that way from a pass-rushing standpoint. We felt really good about that.
Well, I mean, speaking of demeanor, he looked pissed. Not about going to you, but just about sitting in the green room for as long as he did. Did you get that sense? From him? I don't know if he was pissed.
He's just a very confident guy and he's a very. High-strung type of player that likes to show his emotions on his sleeve and let you know where he's coming from.
So I think he was just ready to get to work and he was excited to get to work.
Well, that's a fire that I'm sure you can stoke. Right? Love it. Love it to death. I hope it spreads.
I bet. You know, and some of the things that we were talking about, too, about Bain during the draft and his arm length is, you know, Shaq Barrett. being on on the bucks. Um a similar Situation, but he was dominant in your defense while he was there. Is that something also that you're?
Your m It's gaming out right there with Ruben Bain. Coach? Yeah, hopefully, you know, he has very good hands, just like Shaq has. Shaq had very good hands and a knack for rushing a pass and knowing what to do. I think Bain has the same type of hands, probably uses them differently.
He's probably a little more violent with his hands than Shaq was, but Shaq was a superb pass rusher. And we like everything Ruben's done on film. And, you know, he's playing against five stars and all Americans every day.
So we think it'll translate. Todd Bowles here on The Rich Eisen Show. When was the first time you met Jeremiah Trotter? Coach. I met Jeremiah Trotter about Five years ago, four or five years ago.
You never crossed paths at all. I know your playing days were before his, and your coaching days were. Oh, I'm thinking of just quite a few years ago. I bet. I've been known for a little while.
So I've met him a few years ago. And then both of our kids, probably about five years ago, were at a workout a college day at Clemson. They were both juniors in high school. It was Josiah, and it was my son. And they were at a workout and I ran in Jeremiah right there too as well.
And it it's ironic that we ended up with Josiah right now. Isn't it amazing how football life works, right? That you draft that kid from that day that you met five years ago? It really is unbelievable. I mean, so um Is Jeremiah a helicopter dad?
What like what what type of uh dad is he going to be with his kid on your team, do you think? Coach? I think it'd be great. I mean, he still has one on the Eagles as well.
So I think he'll be flying back and forth, and he'll see them both. I think he's very proud of him. And you can tell by the way he plays that he learned a lot from his father. What do you make of Josiah and how you can work him into your defense? I mean, you got Bain and you got Josiah Trotter here.
In your first two picks, and we see the whole draft up there. I'll give you the floor on him and anybody else you want to highlight that's on the screen right there from your draft. Coach. Well, he plays with the same demeanor that Bain plays with. He's a very thick physical linebacker that can run.
He's a heck of a blitzer, so we'll utilize him that way as well. But people underestimate his coverage skills. Really love where he's at. I'm really excited to see Ted Hurst play. I think he did some great things at Georgia State.
I think he's really a hidden project right there that can really help us. And he's a very talented guy, so I was excited to have him. Obviously, Keontae Scott, we thought he'd be gone as well. Love the way he plays with the energy and the passion he plays with. He's a heck of a blitzer.
He's a cover guy, he can tackle, he's not afraid of anything.
So I'm very excited to have him, get him worked in. He can do a lot of things for us. He plays anywhere from nickel to corner to safety to linebacker.
So, you know, he'll be a great piece to have going forward. And then K-part, who's a big body four-technique that can play across the line, really ran well, like a 4-8 something, very strong hands.
So we understand that as well. And then we got Shraw from Notre Dame. I think he's a very good guard. He's tough, he's physical. He can play And our two guards got hurt last year, so he adds some depth to us.
And Bower Sharp is a very talented, athletic tight end that we think we can develop. And he's very good down the field, and he's a willing blocker. He sticks his face in there, and we just think he'll get better with time. Isn't it great that you don't have to choose a quarterback? I mean, what a in a draft.
You know what I mean? We don't. I'm sure. You know what I mean? Like, it it is where you don't, you go in a draft room, it's just like, okay.
That that's fine. Everyone else you can choose when you got yours. Right. I'm very happy to have Maker, believe me. What have you learned about him?
that you didn't know over the couple of years that you've had him as your QB. Coach. You know, you didn't know exactly the leadership qualities off the field and. Not just from the offense. I think he helps the defense just as much as he helps the offense.
He runs sprints with the linebackers. He sits down at the cafeteria with these guys. He relates to these guys off the field. And whether it's trash talking, just being funny, or just understanding the game and trying to help guys out, I did not know that before we got him. And I think that's a great quality to have.
And he understands, he can read a room probably better than anybody. Yeah, he's one to root for. I met a young man at St. Jude. In Memphis, when I went there for my run.
And don't worry, I'm not going to be on your draft board any time soon with my run. And he's a kid from Oklahoma. And uh 11-year-old And he was wearing a Baker Mayfield Bucks jersey. Because he's been a Baker fan forever. And he's one to root for.
You know what I mean? Like it is pretty cool. Just to see Baker's reach at this point of his career. You know, when you get to know him as a person, You really root for him as a player, more than just seeing him being an underdog on the field. Once you know the guy off the field, he's really down to earth, easy to talk to, very bright, helps out anybody no matter what.
Doesn't look for credit, doesn't look to standout. He's really a heck of a guy and a heck of a person off the field, which really makes you root for him on the field. No doubt about it. Losing Mike Evans, coach, I was stunned. I'm wondering from your perspective.
Um, how how you took Mike Evans going to San Francisco and no longer being a buccaneer? I mean, it was a huge loss. Everybody felt it. You know, somebody that's been with your organization forever and holds all the records offensively, and the presence he had on and off the field to all the guys on the team was a big blow from that standpoint. But we understand he's.
Got himself in a position to make that type of decision, and we had to respect that as well. And we all love Mike here, he knows how he feels about him. We'll always feel that way about him. But we do have to turn the page, and we do have a lot of receivers in that room that are eager to prove themselves. And some are already proven, and we can only get better from there.
And we're going to tweak some things and we're going to go forward that way. Yeah, and we had Levante David in our guest chair just a few weeks ago talking about his decision to finally retire and no longer play football.
So, your challenge finding the leadership. Void to be filled is what? What is the plan that you have, and the people that you might try to coach up or lean on? whose job it is now to fill such a massive amount of Leadership shoes like Mike Evans being in San Francisco and Levante being a retiree. It's already taken place defensively.
I think with the additions of Aisha Robinson, he's already stepped up and speaking. And Nacho, Rakeem Nunez, Roaches have stepped up, obviously, as well. We have Vita, and we have Cancey and Yaya speaking up, as well as Winfield, and as well as Tyke Smith.
So we have a lot of guys defensively that's stepping up. And then Baker on offense, along with Godwin, along with Worth, and along with Graham Barton and Bredison, those guys have really stepped up and started speaking. It won't be the same type of leadership, but you need different leadership as you go along in this ball game and different guys stepping forward. And it's a great challenge for them. Two other things for you, Todd Bowles, before I let you go on with your Tuesday.
You were the first head coach for Sam Darnold. What did you think of on Super Sunday watching him? lift that trophy for the Seahawks. I was so happy for him, so proud of him. The journey he took and the way he went about it and the class he went about it with, and never deterred from who he was and who he was trying to be.
And he stuck with it and he got some experience and he bounced around a few places and he really found the home there. He did a great job in Minnesota the year before. And then going to Seattle and winning the Super Bowl, you know, it came full circle for him. And just seeing the journey that he took. You know, I appreciate it more than anything, and I'm very happy for it.
Yeah, as a coach, to see somebody resilient, right, and take. Take moments that weren't going his way and to somehow find the reserve and. Keep on chugging. I imagine that's a coaching point for others. Do you think?
It is in the business, in the business where people make. Their mind's up for you when you listen and you don't stick to your guns. You don't fare too well, but he stuck to his guns and he stuck to who he was and he did it his way. And he had the same class and respect when he won as he did when he was going through his journey of rough times. I can appreciate that, and I really have a lot of respect for him that way.
What's the Buccaneers Coaching Academy that got announced this morning? Todd Bolton. Oh, the Glazer family has come up with this. We're going on our third year in a row now of the Coaching Academy, just trying to get. People into the NFL getting NFL experience coaching that probably would never get a shot otherwise because you have to climb a ladder in such ways.
So we bring in people from all over the country and we have we narrow it down to 25 people that come in during mini camp, then we narrow it down to five people going into training camp and we give them the opportunity to coach NFL ball. It gives us as coaches a chance to see Them and teach and learn from them. It gives them a chance to learn and get NFL experience and really see what it takes to coach and get better that way. And, you know, when you have changes every year, sometimes those people come about and you never forget them. But it really gives them a chance to do some coaching.
It's a different avenue of just going through the process of trying to hire coaches on the outside. And the Glazers family does a great job trying to bring people in and fresh new faces that nobody knows to get to know and learn from and see if they can cut the mustard in the NFL. I'm just curious: who enters a program like this? High school level, Pop Warner, somebody who's just high school, Pop Warner, some UFL coaches, college coaches. It comes from everywhere.
It comes from everywhere. Overseas, we've had a lot of foreigners from overseas as well.
So we kind of span the globe on this thing. It's not just in the U.S. Yeah, I love that. Buccaneers Coaching Academy that was announced this morning. Just make sure.
If you join that Do not sit in the front right seat of the bus. Don't do that. That's the first order of business. Yeah, that's the problem. Love chatting with you, Todd Bowles.
Thanks for joining. I appreciate it. Appreciate it, Rich. You got it. That's the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, one of our favorites.
Todd Bowles, right there on the program. Love that. Hey. Superstitious just like us. By the way.
What's your superstition? Nestle's crunch. Yeah. That's yours?
Well, I mean, you add you add the uh Mooch would throw the Snickers on the set.
Well, Mooch would do that 'cause he would think that I had a short temper about things. You never. No. Stop it. Stop it.
No. Stop it. I speak up about certain things for which and about which I um Feel the need to take a stand on. Does that make sense? I don't know if I've written out exactly what I said, makes complete sense, but.
Yeah. So for some sweet people from The upper peninsula of Michigan, my New York way of standing up.
Sounds angry. A little. You know what I mean? I get it. Mike, you're from New Jersey, living out here in Southern California long enough that you're passing off the fact that you're a Dodger fan for real, right?
But you've been here long enough. You've been here long enough. To know that when you talk in a demonstrative way, Southern California people think you're angry. Yeah, right, that happens. Crazy.
Correct. And that's the way we just talk. You're from. I get it. The New England area, you must have that too, right?
You're from the East Coast town of Altoona. When I talk, my voice naturally goes up, so everyone thinks I'm arguing. It's just the way I talk. It's just the way I talk. When I'm mad, I probably go silent.
It also comes in handy like the way I got here today. Everybody here in Southern California lines up very nicely in the right lane to try and exit somewhere. I'll sneak right in. Every day. That's the East Coast way of working out here.
And I can't believe I'm saying this into a microphone. Everybody's listening on ESPN 710LA. They're like, I'm not letting you in anymore. Hey, Rich, too bad. Real quick, you mentioned your 40 time, right?
Yeah. I think we're all at the point now where we realize, man, especially after watching that video, your time does not matter. Thank you. That video, what goes on, nah, man, but for real. Like, what they do, what it means.
Like, your time is the most insignificant thing that happens on that week. Thank you for saying that. Yeah. So if you run a seven, who cares? And I appreciate you saying that.
I don't want to run a seven. A seven was unfortunately one of the numbers. You know, if this was the price is right, I'd want that seven to appear in the third spot. I get that. Not the second spot, certainly not the first.
All things considered. But I appreciate you saying that it was a beautiful day at C2 Children's Research Hospital. The piece put together by a gentleman named Jim Fabio and his incredible crew, and Dallas Hitchcock, who. is the The one guy with the most Emmys on NFL Network's staff, the two of them together put their heart and soul and their entire teams into putting that piece together. And everybody at St.
Jude Children's Research Hospital with Kevin Nienhaus running the show for all of this, the fundraising aspect of it. It was a beautiful day. Yeah. And that kid Reid. um who I met from Oklahoma.
you know, you could see through his white Tampa Bay Buccaneers jersey was wearing an OU shirt underneath it.
So he's like Baker through and through. I was real with it. And so he was a sweetheart, and so was everybody else. And I appreciate you saying what you said. And I should bring the cleats in.
I have them at home. Yeah, those are we should put that up for auction. I love that. Absolutely. You know?
I'll sign him because they say he must be butter on one shoe because he's on a roll for the other. I had no idea because they always put the shoes together for me. And I had no idea what the design was. And I opened the box. They had one of the.
children from St. Jude hand me the box. I open it and I see Stewart's you know, phrase on there. I was a mess. I was a mess.
You know, and there was also a kid there named Bailey. Who I met at the run, I can't remember how long ago. Um years ago in Indianapolis. And he shows up with a mustache, a grown-ass man in college. Wow.
You know? The most simple. And that's what it's all about, right? Right, years ago, correct. Years ago.
And he's still dealing with some stuff. Um And, you know, I appreciate you saying what you said. Saint Jude.org/slash run rich run. We're still fundraising. The fundraiser, you know, is still going on.
And any dollar, any penny you can give is great. But you're right, I need to get faster. You know, you and Susie lead the charge on that. I'm glad I haven't heard from Dion yet. I disappoint him annually.
But yeah, like You're doing great. No, you're not saying that for real. I appreciate that. You are. Thank you.
Let's take a break. 844-204-RICH, number to dial. In a world in need of a hero, one man rises to the challenge in style. He is just driving the kids to soccer practice. You can make every day feel epic in the all-new Hyundai Palisade Hybrid with up to an EPA estimated.
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Ray Romano in studio. All still to come here on this show. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Rich Eisen here. PayPal is now the official peer-to-peer payments sponsor of the NFL, which means all the money moments that fandom creates, whether splitting tailgate costs or chipping in on tickets and game day food between friends, are covered.
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Loans originated by SoFi Bank NA, member FDIC, Terms and Conditions Apply, and NMLS six nine six eight 9-1. Let's go to where are we going? Lee Jay in Oklahoma City, where we have one team already advancing. What's up, Lee Jay? What's going on?
I got a bit of a I guess you could call it an overreaction Monday on a Tuesday calling it. But after the thunder swept the suns last night, I'm pretty ecstatic today. They're looking pretty awesome. winning the championship last year was amazing. They're really Just such a great team to watch.
They're so fun. They're really unselfish. I love the way they play.
So my again, you be the judge if it's an overreaction. I think they have the best team chemistry in all of sports. Cool.
Well, I mean it's interesting. They they are connected, man. They are absolutely connected, and they're only going to get better because they have a million draft choices that are coming from other teams because of how they built their team. I can't remember a team that won the championship and then the next year brought back 13 guys, like the top 13 guys. Like, they're all champions.
Well, I worked don't play like it. They're still so selfless, I guess. I think it's because Shea is so great, but he's so humble. I don't know. I love the way they do the interviews together, just everything about him.
I can't think of another team, honestly, that has it together like that. No, yeah, listen. I'm excited for you that you are excited. You do realize the rest of the country thinks that if he gets breathed on, it's an and one, right? Yeah.
I've watched every single game for the past four years. And it's just a lot of this narrative has just seemed kind of made up because they're so good. You know what it also means? I think there is some legitimacy to it. You're seeing some moments where you're like, he was not fouled and he's getting a call, but you're hearing the more of the hue and the cry of it because your team is beating the crap out of everybody.
And that is also something you should wear as a badge, right? Yeah, I mean They're so young still, you know what I mean? Like, they're just all they come together, they play the right way. I mean, I really got out of basketball for a while until I moved here to Oklahoma. And started watching them.
And I just I love the way they play so selflessly. They literally beat everybody because they out-hustle them. You know what I mean? They play defense on a string and just play the right way. And I just I love watching them.
Yeah. And I'm happy that we're on another run here and so happy that we got our Like three years in a row now, we've swept the first round.
So, yeah, I'm doing pretty well. Enjoy it. Thanks for calling. Call back throughout the playoffs because I'm sure you're going to advance pretty deep. They're so good perimeter defensively.
They're just, they just. They close out. They've got Homern in the middle. They've got Hartenstein on top of it. And SGA playing his head off and getting all the calls.
It's the truth. They're going to be very, very difficult to beat. I'll be honest, Chris, I said this before. I'll say it again. Certainly, with the magic now up, three games to one.
Are the Pistons wild? And the Magic are doing. It's not like the Pistons. Stink Uh the magic have them completely out of sync. They are they are they are playing really, really well.
That Cain Posterization of Durin last night is one of the best playoff dunks you'll ever see. It's still reverberating right now, right? But there is no way on planet Earth. And if the Knicks somehow survived the Hawks over their two out of three that it now has been boiled down to, there is no reason why the Knicks and the Celtics should play next. They should the Celtics will have earned the right To play the eighth seed, and I do not know why the NBA must treat their bracket like it is the NCAA tournament.
Resede like the NBA. You can do it, like the NFL. You can do it. I don't understand it. There's no reason why the Celtics should play the third-seeded team just because it's the way the bracket.
Lays out. If the eight seed advance, the top seed should get him. That's it. That's it. I wonder if it has to do with travel or the schedule.
Or does it have to travel? What's the big deal? What's the big deal? TV schedules? But the Cavaliers with the fourth seed, if they survive the Raptors, or the Raptors with the fifth seed, they should get the eighth seed, and two versus three should have at it.
Get out of here with that, man. Yeah, you're not going to be able to do that. That is not right. And the NBA is smart enough to realize just reseed it on that front. But obviously, there's still more basketball to be played.
Ray Romano coming up in our number three of this program. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
