REShow: Scott Pioli/Jerry Stackhouse - Hour 2 (3-3-2023)

The 2023 NFL Scouting Combine presented by Noble. Where a dream that starts small can get big. Where a journey that starts quiet can get loud.

And where a name that's unknown can become the future. The 2023 NFL Scouting Combine presented by Noble. Where you can witness the future stars of the NFL. Next is here. March 2nd through 5th on NFL Network and NFL Plus. This is the Rich Eisen Show.

Are you ready? With guest host Bobby Bones. So I got to go and spend a whole day with Jerry Jones. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. And so I've been a massive life long Dallas Cowboys fan for like 4 months.

It was the most amazing experience. Earlier on the show, Sam Monson still to come. NFL Network analyst Scott Pioli. Vanderbilt men's basketball coach Jerry Stackhouse. Three time Pro Bowl running back Chris Johnson. Plus Rich checks in from the NFL Combine. Sitting in for Rich, it's Bobby Bones. I love experts.

I love experts that are friendly. And this is Scott Pioli, three time Super Bowl champ working in the front office of the Patriots. Sports Illustrated, NFL GM executive of the decade for the 2000s.

And the youngest to win the Sporting News NFL Executive of the Year. Oh boy, Scott Pioli. Scott what's up man? Hey Bobby, thanks for having me man. This is really cool. I got to tell you, I got so excited when I was asked to come on. So thank you so much for having me. Really appreciate it.

Same to be able to talk to you. And the question that I want to start with is, I know at the Combine we're talking draft and we're watching players and we're listening to their responses with the media. But are there a lot of deals not involving those specific players that are being discussed in Indie this weekend? Oh gosh, yeah. This is, you know, back in the day it was clandestine and quiet. I work for the league. Can I say the word tampering?

I'm going to say it anyway, Bobby. Conversations about potential free agents, potential trades. There's a lot of meetings that go on. There's agents that are out here that represent players not only that are free agents or teams maybe, you know, that are not happy with their situation and circumstance that are trying to get out of where they are. So they're meeting with with, you know, general managers and coaches from other teams trying to find ways to make things happen in the future or, you know, in the near future. So yeah, there's a lot. There's so much more that goes on out here. I mean, the league has competition committee meetings. There's so much that happens behind the scenes with teams, with the league office, with the future of the game while we're out here. Are there instances where it's not official, but maybe a GM or an assistant GM says to another team, hey, meet me at Starbucks at noon. Off the record, we got to talk about Lamar and see like where nobody else knows they're meeting. And then all of a sudden the deal is struck.

Absolutely. But here's what I'll tell you, Bobby. It's never Starbucks. Starbucks is too crowded and too popular. There's a couple of off the grid coffee spots that I can't name because then reporters will start hanging out and revealing those and secret meeting places. You know, sometimes it's just hotel rooms, you know, teams have specific they'll have rooms for the individual GM or head coach and then they have rooms that stay empty until they've got to meet with somebody.

But yeah, but it won't be at the Starbucks for sure. You know, as a former GM is one of the best to ever do it. Can you give us like a perspective on the inside of what's happening between Lamar and the Ravens and what that process is like inside? Yeah, Bobby, I do only from the sense that, you know, particularly when I was with the Patriots, we had a couple players who ended up representing themselves. And I'll never forget, one of the men ended up being Teddy Brusky. He had Brad Blank for most of his career as an agent.

Then near the end, he represented himself. And I'm talking about this situation, but it's very similar to Lamar. When there's no intermediary, you have to be very intentional and careful about your word selection. And it's interesting because sometimes in negotiations, everyone's trying to get to the same place, right? They have different things that they need covered from their perspective. The player wants to maximize the deal, maximize security, not only of money, but of their job security.

They don't want just the money. And then team wants to build a team and wants to make it work. And sometimes those negotiations, and Bob, you've been in negotiations and, you know, they sometimes become competitive, especially when it's between dudes, right?

Our testosterone gets going and it becomes this competition thing. And when there's an intermediary as an agent, sometimes you can say things in frustration that you cannot say in the moment when you're dealing directly with the player. I know there were times that thankfully Teddy and I had a close personal relationship too. So we were able to talk about things, but it is a very different dynamic because you have to get to a place that's going to be good for the team without ever unintentionally insulting the player. And I know Eric DaCosta is going through that right now. You know, it's funny, I was in their training camp last year and I met with both, you know, Lamar privately and I met with Eric privately and I really thought something was going to get done. I really did. And I've not asked Eric because, you know, being a former GM, you don't like to poke into other people's business too much, but it is an incredibly at times awkward dynamic, Bobby. You know, with this dynamic and at times I have not had an agent and I would represent myself and then I realized, I realized that the 10% that I would be paying to my agent and every percentage is different, but the 10% that I would be paying to my agent was worth it because they were going to make me 13% more than what I would have made. Right?

So there's a net gain of 3% here in my world. The best thing I did was find an agent and then fire that one and get another one. But when it comes to Lamar and you're not biased in this situation at all, like would you say Lamar, it really would be in your best interest to have somebody help you in this process. Or is Lamar just so such a different dude that like you get it and you understand what he's going for. Well, I understand it. I do.

I don't know what to recommend for him because it's funny. You mentioned your personal situation. I was in a different but similar situation. When I was a GM, I think I was the only GM in the league or head coach that didn't have an agent for all those years. Then when I got into the media business, I got an agent because of what I didn't know and for some of the same reasons that you're talking about. In the case of Lamar, each one of us makes decisions like this to have an agent or not have an agent based on our own personal history and maybe some of the ghosts chasing us in life or the lack of trust in relationships. Maybe he hasn't found someone that could be an agent that he trusts enough. And again, I'm just speculating. There's a million reasons why. And unless you're the individual person, I think as I've gotten older, Bobby, I've learned to make suggestions, but tap the brakes a little bit on advice when you don't know what a person's past in history has been. Because we all have different, I don't want to say ghosts chasing us, but there's a reason he's not doing it. And only he knows the reason he doesn't want an agent. I hope that makes sense.

Yeah, it does. I mean, we're all different. We all have a drone. We're marching. I mean, his March though is a little like, I would just be like, dude, you can make so much more money if you just paid a little bit of money. But I'm not Lamar in every way.

Like I'm not skilled, I'm not talented, I'm not athletic, all that. Scott Pioli is on with us, like one of the greatest general managers to ever do it. And I want to ask you one other question before we get into specifics about the combine, but it does involve the Pats. And can Bill O'Brien help Mac Jones get back on track? Can Mac Jones get back on track next year?

Absolutely. And, you know, I don't know what all the dynamics were that changed this year, because, you know, it's interesting. I worked as a consultant for the Alabama football program when Mac was there and Billy O was there as a coordinator. And, you know, I was really confident that Mac was going to be a good player in the NFL and he had that terrific, quirky year. I'm not sure, unless you were in there every single day, you're not sure what the dynamics were.

Was it Mac? We don't know what the dynamics were, where he, I don't know if it was digressing or if he just stayed the same, but it wasn't, you know, it wasn't, it could be better. Billy O'Brien is one heck of an offensive coordinator. He's one heck of a football coach, and he knows Mac.

They've spent time together. He knows his strengths. He knows his limitations. Most importantly, he knows how to communicate with him. And that's not saying that someone else at the Patriots didn't know how to communicate with him, but he knows exactly how to motivate him and communicate him. And the other thing is this, Bobby, I think when you're talking about quarterbacks, their comfort is important. And when, when any one of us has a comfort and feeling of security, we can perform better. And I think the fact is with Billy O being there, it's really going to help Mac out.

And I, and I also think this, you know, there's a lot of people that can coordinate and organize and be prepared. Billy can do all that and he's one heck of a play caller. Not, not all coordinators are great play callers.

Billy O'Brien can do both of those things or all of those things, I should say. I'm going to ask you about size and stature, and it's going to get to Bryce Young in just a second, but did you ever not draft or someone was on the fence and I don't, I'm not asking the player at all, but you're like, you know, they just didn't measure up to what we thought. So we're going to have to go with person B instead of person A. Yeah. And what, what, meaning did we not draft someone because of... Yeah, they were a little lighter, a little shorter, maybe didn't run quite as fast.

Yeah, I'll say this. I think I've swung in both directions and, and sometimes taken risks on players that maybe didn't fit the prototype of their specific position and it's worked out. And then it's been times when it didn't work out. Then there are times where I've said, you know, maybe this isn't the best, you know, idea because he's not the prototypical body or body type or size, whether that's height or weight.

So I've done things in both directions and been successful and then also done it and not been successful. That's why I don't think it's a true formula, why you can't look at Bryce Young and say, hey, you're not going to do this. It's not going to work out, you know, because he's, because of his physical stature.

So like I said, I've been in all of those places. And if Bryce measures in an inch or two inches shorter and 180, 185, you know, would that scare you away from him? And I think I hear your answer is no. And if you're a team looking to trade up, I mean, do you still, you know, pull the trigger and make that move for a Bryce Young?

Here's the answer to the first question. Would it deter me from picking him? Heck no. Again, because I've spent time around him. I've also spent time around getting to know his family so I know the total package of what you're getting. And I would love for that guy to lead my football team.

Absolutely love it. And will there be limitations? Heck yeah. Every quarterback has limitations. Every player in this league has limitations. And if you've got a good enough coaching staff that can not only develop the player, but put him in a position to succeed because they know his strengths and limitations, that's it. Believe it or not, early in Tom Brady's career, he had some limitations. Our coaching staff was, not only did a great job of helping him develop and he did an amazing job of developing himself, but they put him in situations and circumstances where he could do the best that he could do.

And I'll digress here for a second. Remember for the first couple of years of Brady's career, everyone's saying, well, all he does is dink and dunk. He can't throw the deep ball.

Well, that was intentional because he didn't have the arm strength at the time. So we had high percentage throws. We had the extended running game, what we call the short and intermediate balls. It allowed him to become competent and allow the team to be competent. There were short passes that kept the other team's offenses off the field. We had a strong defense.

It all made sense. You have a player like Bryce Young, you play to his strengths and you allow your team to do. Don't put him in harm's way because if he's got the body type that if it's under bolt, when he needs to be a smart player and not feed into the ego. And when people start saying, oh, he goes, oh, you know, he runs out of bounds or he goes down too soon.

You can't allow your ego to feed into that and put yourself in harm's way. You guys should listen up. This is Scott Pioli. Who was the Sports Illustrated GM executive of the decade for the 2000s? The decade.

Don't believe the hype. Take the notes. Take notes.

Take your pens out and listen to what he's saying. I want to talk about more analytics here. The 40 time. How valuable is that really? Value. I think you need to wait the value.

And when I say wait, w e i g h t, hopefully I spell that right. But you have to wait it because the speed is important. But that is a proactive running.

I talked about this on the network yesterday. When you're on defense, most of your speed needs to be reactionary speed and responsive speed. So there I remember there was a player who was one of the first legit for three guys and he was a safety.

I won't mention his name, but it's on the first legit for three guys. But because his body type was high hip and because he was stiff in his hips and his knees and his ankles as a defensive back, he had to be reactively fast. Right. Because when you're safety, you're seeing you're processing, you're dropping your hips, you're breaking on the ball and then you go. But if all of that takes too much time to see process, drop your hips, react and then run your four three, you may be running about four six. So I think it's an important part, Bobby, that you pay attention to, but you have to evaluate playing speed and you can see playing speed on tape. You can see playing speed in terms. You know, there's players who have faster playing speed. They played faster than what the time speed is.

Jerry Rice, because he knew when to cut, how to cut. And if there's this anticipatory skill that you can have and or just the overall anticipation to know when to make cuts, because this is not a straight line game. So is it important? Yes, it's important. But it's only a piece of the puzzle because I believe in analytics.

But I also believe that they need to be married with the game for it to be a full picture. Final three questions when it comes to the interview part of the combine. What is the most specific or one of the most specific questions you had to ask someone? Meaning you're not going to ask anybody else this question, but this person coming into the room, you know, maybe it's going to be funny or maybe it's going to be awkward or but it's a very specific question. What you have to ask? Well, I'm trying to think of this. I wish I would have had that question last night to think about.

But here's what I'll say. I think the most important questions are asking questions that are a little uncomfortable, but that you already know the answer to. Because asking someone a question about their past where there's maybe been a transgression and you know it's the truth and seeing how they handle that is a sign of maturity and also the fact that someone having grace for themselves. And I think sometimes asking questions that you already know the answer to and someone tells you the truth. It's a good way to start a relationship, even if it made that person uncomfortable.

And I think it allows both sides to to to start a relationship in a good place. I hope I articulated that well. Yeah. And I didn't have the question last night. I literally just came up with it now.

I'm pretty proud of myself. So what you hear now is me patting myself on the shoulder for a great question. Scott. OK. Two questions left. Which former players are excuse me. Yeah.

Let's do former. And even today, what you've seen over the last couple of days, like let's do one or two former players that you saw at the combine and they wowed. And you're just like, I cannot believe what I'm seeing. This is amazing. And then give me one or two from so far what you've seen at the combine that I've seen so far today or yesterday.

Yeah. I would say a wow moment yesterday was probably, you know, watching Nolan Smith. That was a wow moment for his size to run.

What was the sub four for forty? That was a wow moment again, because he he he here's a player who had part missed the season last year. Had something taken away from him. So all he could do was train mostly in one specific area. And that's because he couldn't lift because he tore his pack. And he could only control what he could control what he did yesterday. I mean, it was mind blowing. And again, I don't know if you saw the time just I did a record number of guys. But but Nolan Smith for him to do that, it told me so much about him, because that's the only you know, he had to he had to prepare for certain things. And he did it to the best of his ability.

Give me one old school, even like five, seven, ten years ago, same situation. You're there. We know them now as a great player. But you were like, no, you can't believe what I just saw. You know, I'm going to go with it was a combo kind of thing.

It was of what I saw and what I heard. It was when we met with Eric Berry at Kansas City before he dropped. Remember the safety?

I do. Eric Berry became a Pro Bowler. Honestly, I think had it not been for him having cancer, probably would have had a gold jacket. Still one of my absolute, complete, total favorite experiences, spending time and watching him interact with people, just because he's truly one of the one of the great NFL teammates. If there was a he should I can't call him a Hall of Famer.

If he had had a time, he was certainly a Hall of Fame teammate. Love and respect. And again, this experience here, I think it's not just about people get so focused because of what we put on TV at the NFL Network. But there's so much more to this that you can see.

You watch how they interact with the people that are serving them here on the sidelines in between drills at meals, people that open the doors and when you pay attention to see who they are as human beings. Bobby, again, we're building a team. We're not just looking for the biggest, fastest, strongest.

You're looking for the right people to have a championship team. Last question. What's the best Bill Bella? Oh, what did you say, Scott? You got to go? And after the last question, I need one more minute to say one other thing, but please go ahead. I thought you were going to give me an uncomfortable question to see if I was ready.

I thought I was getting tested for the combine right now. Okay, last question for me. What's the best Bill Belichick draft day story or most memorable that you have from your time in New England? Oh, man.

He's still family. I don't know if I can share that. Your most shareable. How about that?

Your most shareable that we would think was cool. There was a year that I'll just say we were talking about drafting an offensive lineman. Sometimes Bill is far funnier than people believe.

There were times where he would be hardline about something, but it was either a test or he would be doing it in a joking way for the humor element. And I remember we were in this meeting and we were talking about Logan Mankins. And Bill, I think for theater, which he doesn't do often, but he was being very funny about it because I knew he loved Logan Mankins too. And we had the 32nd pick that year in the draft. And there were a number of other players that we were hoping were going to be at 32. And he had said in the meeting previously in front of some of the scouts. And again, I think he did it somewhat for theater because he knew that I love fat linemen too much, offensive and defensive linemen. And he was a skilled position guy. And he had said in this meeting, he says, I don't care if that effing guy is John Hannah.

We ain't taking a guard in the first round. And he was, I knew he didn't mean it. And all the people in the meeting, there were people that shouldn't. They're like, oh gosh. And sure enough, days later when the first round of the draft, the couple of guys that we have that we would take ahead of Logan Mankins.

I mean, the board's picked cleaner than a two day old turkey after Thanksgiving. And there is Logan Mankins staring us in the face. And I wanted Logan so bad. And deep down inside, I know Bill did. And Bill just smiled at me like, F you, put the card in. And it was one of those moments because there were people that didn't, there were people in the draft room that had been in that other meeting.

And I know Bill wanted Logan Mankins too, just as much as I did. But it was a funny moment because I think, again, the theater of the day before or the two days before, there were a couple of scouts like, oh my gosh, if we're going to have to take Logan Mankins, Bill's going to be pissed. It was actually a very funny moment the way it unfolded. That's a great story.

If that's like the ninth story in the rankings of good, that's still a great story. I can't imagine the ones you can't tell, Scott. The floor is yours, Scott. Well, here's what I want to say to you, Bobby. And I mean this sincerely because I don't know you, but I follow you and I know about you. And I got to tell you, I just have enormous respect for you, your path, your history, your life and what you've overcome.

And I mean it sincerely. Just want to let you know that I really couldn't wait to be on the show for that reason because I have so much personal, even though I don't know you personally. I have this personal respect for you and your path and the way that you've done things and all that you overcame. And for folks that just listen to you and don't know your story, I hope they get to know you a little bit better. So kudos to you, my brother. Well, Scott, that is super kind. So thank you very much.

I'm a massive fan of you as well. And like I said, you were the GM of the decade. What else can you say? I've done nothing of the decade. I've done nothing.

I have no of the decades in my whole life. So, hey, Scott, thank you. I know you have a busy day today. So thank you for spending a few minutes with us and I hope it goes awesome.

The rest of the rest of the camp. All right. Thanks for having me.

I really appreciate it. That's it. That's what you wanted to know. You got it. Next up, Jerry Stackhouse. I mean, how can you be great at two different things? Pros and college. Jerry Stackhouse coming up next.

Bobby Bones in for Rich Eisen. Youth football is all about style and fun. And the NFL celebrates that through Play Football, an initiative aimed at creating positive experiences for players, coaches and parents with the goal of preserving and promoting the values of the game. On the football field, kids can continue to grow through teamwork and build trust as leaders. To learn more and to find a league near you, visit PlayFootball.com. The future of football is here.

You in? Youth football is all about style and fun and the NFL celebrates that through Play Football, an initiative aimed at creating positive experiences for players, coaches and parents with the goal of preserving and promoting the values of the game. On the football field, kids can continue to grow through teamwork and build trust as leaders. To learn more and to find a league near you, visit PlayFootball.com. The future of football is here. You in?

All right. All of this right now, Coach Jerry Stackhouse. Coach, let me ask you, how long does it take to come down from a huge win like you had the other night against Kentucky? Last second shot, big win and like big ending to the game.

How long can you remain on that high? I mean, obviously, it was a big win for us. We had, I think, probably three times in our program history that we've actually gone to rump and win. But again, we've been having some really good games with them since our time being here, both on the road and at home.

And to finally get over to home felt good. But I think when you look at our guys, we played at a number of close games, felt like we were battle tested. I think it was a testament to our guys even after the game. There wasn't a whole lot of celebration. Again, we have a bigger task at hand, and that's finishing well and trying to stack as many wins as we can to try to build our resume.

But that was definitely a big one. That team was playing well, ranked in the top 25. I mean, it's Kentucky. Kentucky has been the cream of the crop for the SEC for a long time. And we finally got a chance to chip away at them.

So it felt good. But again, we were locked in yesterday. Guys watched the film from the game, started to prepare for Mississippi State. And right now, in a couple hours, we're practicing, really lock in on them. And hopefully, we have a great closing to our season tomorrow night at home. You've won seven of your last eight. Do you believe your team deserves to be in the tournament?

We definitely deserve to play in the tournament. I think it's about finishing strong. We've had some missteps early in the season. But I think that's what early in the season is about, trying to figure out. We played a lot of players, played a lot of young guys.

We had a team last year that featured Scottie Pippen, who probably had the most usage, one of the highest usages in the country. And then from that, coming back to this team, trying to figure out some identities of who needs to come in different roles and different things like that. It took us a little while to adjust. But through that, we had some quality wins. We beat Pittsburgh, beat Temple. Before we got into our schedule, we had a really close game with NC State on a neutral court.

I think we've shown that we're capable of beating anybody. So now that we're playing out the best basketball, we lost one game in February. And that was probably a game that a lot of people felt that we shouldn't on the road at LSU. Again, this is tough to win in the SEC on the road. And then we're starting off March with the big win in Kentucky. And hopefully that can be our resume going into the tournament. We had one loss in February and March going into the tournament. So hopefully that's enough for us.

But either way, we can only control what we can control. And that's going out and trying to win games and hopefully continue to build the resume that's needed. I've been to a Vanderbilt game a year for the last few years. And living in Nashville, I have noticed even at the games, the crowd's louder, the crowd's more involved, even from before the game. And Vanderbilt, not always known as a school that would have people just, you know, like tenacious, like fans that just don't stop. But this year, it has gotten to a point.

We heard about the Memorial Magic, man. We're starting to finally see it and come to fruition for us again. It's part of the byproduct of winning, man. A lot of excitement. These kids, this four-year class here enjoying this season, they've gone through a tough year. These kids came in, you know, COVID was a big part of their story. And now to have some of these great storylines of beating Tennessee at home and beating Kentucky in that year, they're enjoying it. And they've been coming in there, raising a lot of hell in Memorial Gym.

It's a lot of fun. And then just kind of, you know, the growth of our city, the growth of Nashville, man. So many people moving here. We're trying to tap into a lot of transients, you know, let them know that we're playing a great brand of basketball. If you're looking for, you know, a team, come on. We're excited to have you fans. I mean, we're doing a lot of things to try to continue to generate excitement.

But at the same time, you know, nurture our relationships with our fans that have been, you know, long-standing fans for a long time. You ever think about changing that court? Because it is weird.

Never, never, never. I mean, it's weird, Coach. It's hard. It's weird. That's our advantage, man.

It took a little to get used to when I first got here, but I like it. You know, it kind of sits up, you know, with the theater seat, man, it has its own mystique and it provides a nice home court advantage for us. So I think it's a great part of college basketball. Coach, Jerry Stackhouse on with us. Head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores. When you look at coaching and how you do it, what former coach do you feel like you've taken a lot of lessons from by watching how they did it? Well, I mean, I had a number of coaches, man. I probably had probably more coaches than anybody in the history of basketball as far as a player. But I think probably more so than anything, still Coach Smith, what I learned from him at UNC, just his identity and how he approached the game and sharing, you know, sharing and being selfless, having it always been about the team. And I think those are things that I've learned from, you know, the coaches I've played for, whether it was Rick Carlisle or Avery Johnson is a guy that, you know, stared out. I think Dwayne Casey is a guy that I worked for when I was working with the Raptors.

Just learning, I mean, Rick Scott-Skiles. I mean, I've played for a number of different coaches that I've taken a little bit from and kind of find a way to incorporate it into my own philosophy and identity. But now it's a lot of mentors, a lot of people that, you know, the things that we do and the success that we've had has come from things that I've learned from them and tried to devise a good plan myself. My final three questions for Coach Jerry Stackhouse. Number one, when you look at the NBA now, and I'm sure you don't have a lot of time to watch a lot of NBA because you're completely involved, but who's a player that you see as like a pretty good comp to you and how you played and how you were built back in the day?

Oh, man, that's a tough one. I do watch a lot of NBA games. I mean, I see Brandon Ingram is still one of my kids that I coached from my hometown. You know, so I catch a lot of Pelicans games whenever I can.

I think, you know, just kind of his heart. I mean, he's a much better overall ball handler than I did. But I think downhill and being able to post and some of the things I try to work with him on, he embodies a lot of the things that I did on the court. But, man, it's a different game, man. A lot of people play in that mid-range area, you know, with wings, posting up.

I did a lot of posting up as well. And then, you remember, those games were just kind of grounded out games in those 90s and 2000s. You know, and now they're averaging 120 points a game.

We were lucky to get 85. It's just a different era, man. But I definitely enjoyed still watching and watching the talent. I mean, I know there's always an argument about the old schools and what's going on now.

But I still think it's great basketball and just different eras. All right. Two questions left. Right now, at your age, we're about the same age here, could you take every player on your team one-on-one? Yeah, in half court. As long as I'm around the basket five, just spots to five, man, that's still like my chance.

Could you take them off the dribble right now? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Again, I'm smart. I ain't going to do that. I'm going to back them down. I'm going to use this old man's strength on them. I've earned this 48 years of strength.

I'm going to take advantage of what I have. Last question for coach Jerry Stackhouse. You know, this being a national radio show, a show that's on TV, a show that's podcasted millions of people. You know, maybe there are a few folks listening right now that are making that decision on who's getting into the tournament. What would you like to say to those folks, if you could, about Vanderbilt?

No, that's the facts, man. Just looking at our strength of schedule, what we've been able to do there. I think right now we're probably ranked like 17th in the country. Strength of schedule, third toughest schedule in our conference. We played 18 quads, won two games, you know, eight and ten in those games. You know, obviously our net, that's not the one to look at for us.

But I think the other metrics show us in favor. So give us an opportunity. Our kids are playing.

They deserve it. I think just our guys, the ones that's been here four years and seen what we've done. We took over programs from 0 and 18 and now we're right here on the bubble of being a tournament team. We love to get there and hopefully these kids get a chance to showcase that and experience that.

The definition of building a program, I've seen it with my own eyeballs at close range. Coach Stackhouse, appreciate your time and good luck. Thank you, man. I appreciate you guys having me on. Thanks. Think about the pressure it was.

And maybe it wasn't pressure. I don't know, when they called him the next Jordan coming out of college. I mean, he's from North Carolina, same size. Right.

Shaved head. Yeah, it's like he's the next Jordan. Like, you either have to fully embrace it or be like, I hate this.

There's really no middle ground to that. And he has built, like there's something, there's some Nashville love that's been happening. And Nashville is a town, which is not my hometown, but I live there now.

Nashville is a town that, it's mostly people from everywhere. It's like L.A. a bit where you can come in and be a fan of a new team. Like the Titans, the Titans fans from everywhere. The Preds, they ain't even been a team that long. So nobody hates on them for jumping on because everybody's a bandwagon fan for the Preds.

Because they haven't been around long enough to have generational fans. But it's, Vanderbilt's bubbling in town where people are starting to be like, alright, let's check it out. So good luck to Coach Stackhouse in the, I guess two, maybe one game left in the SEC tournament against everybody but Arkansas. There you go.

I didn't say that to him though. They did let me use the court though for some pickup. Took all my friends out, played at Vanderbilt court. It was awesome.

It's the coolest, I hate how the seating is because the court is flat and then off the sides is where the team sits. Yeah, I'm not into that either, but. I tried to get him to change it right there.

That didn't work. You were very good to your friends. I'm picking up on this. That's one thing about you. We need to get into this inner circle, TJ. I think that's how it is.

He really is. I feel like, like my friends that have been running with me forever. Like my radio show now in the morning called the Bobby Bones show. It is me and all my friends, they've never worked in radio. We've been together for like 15, 16, we were just doing it on one station. And so I just found my friends because they made me feel the best.

So with that I could perform the best. And so all my main people are just my friends who had never worked in radio. And so I also have big trust issues, you know, so I won't bring anybody in. I don't even trust you guys even.

I understand that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're going to come back. I do want to get to you guys and your top media personalities of your lifetime. I'll quickly reset mine.

I want to know who that is. We'll do that. And then a shoulder injury that I'm dealing with. Oh.

Yeah, it's pretty tough. I'm here. The fact that I'm here doing this show should be a Disney movie. I'll let you guys know. And we'll talk to Rich Eisen coming up in just a little bit. Bobby Bones in for Rich.

Rolling Stone Music Now, wherever you listen. That's the most boring option of all the options that he can go. So let's go Rogers first. Is there anybody that doesn't think that's the most boring solution? Yeah, and you're not going to like my answer, Bobby. I think the most boring place he can go is... Don't do it.

Don't do it. Honestly, and I know he's building a house there. But the most boring place Aaron Rodgers can go is the Tennessee Titans. Why do you say that? Who is on the team with Trey Lombergs?

Who is that again? Exactly. Did he finish the season? They have Derrick Henry.

Awesome. But is it... What's more boring than acquiring Aaron Rodgers than having Aaron Rodgers hand the ball off? But he wouldn't. Who is he throwing to? Trey Lombergs.

Him? He's just going to throw it to Trey Lombergs 45 times a game. That's all he needs. That's all he needs. That's it. Okay.

That's fair. What do you think, TJ? The most boring?

Yeah, for Aaron Rodgers. You would hate to see him go where it gets like, who cares? It's boring. Same old thing. I don't care. Period.

But... That works too? I tell you where it wouldn't be the most boring is New York. To just see that confrontation with those media folks. But I kind of agree with Brockman on that. No offense to Tennessee.

What's wrong with you guys? It's more boring for him to go to the Titans and back to the Packers? Yeah, because at least with the Packers, you've got some young, talented wide receivers. I'm interested to see what Christian Watson can do. You know, I had him in fantasy this year, and he had about a four game stretch where you were like, okay, this kid's got it. So there's, you know, I'd like to see, again, it doesn't matter to me, but it would be kind of interesting to see him work with those receivers and see how year two, year three could go.

So I think, yeah, the most boring would be... Yeah, exactly. Year two with all these young guys, whether or not Aaron Jones comes back, but they still have A.G. Dillon. Aaron Jones is coming back, right? Did he restructure? Yeah, well, there were some rumors that he might get caught or anything for a cap casualty, but yeah. I just hear haters in the house. We'll move on to the next one.

That's fine. Most boring place Derek Carr could go. Not hatin', just faxed eatin'. I'm gonna go Saints because I get why he would go there. We talked about it with Scott Pioli. Like, he'd go to that division, be the best quarterback there. They could actually do it. But I'm gonna go Saints. I'd love to see him with the Jets. I'd love to see him with the Raiders. I'd love to see him in a place where he could be dynamic.

But he already was with the Raiders. I'd love for them to sign him back. That'd be awesome. Just be like, oops, our bad, come back. Like, let's go back.

That would be fun for me. Like, him and now Josh McDaniels are buddies all of a sudden. Carolina seems like kind of a boring spot for Derek Carr. While it's a fit, they got some young players.

They got rid of their best player. So, I don't know how that meshes when you bring in a guy like Derek who's had a lot of success in this league. Yeah, it's much more exciting if Derek goes to the Jets just because it seems like they're ready to win now and only a quarterback away as we saw last year. But Derek Carr isn't, he in a weird way is kind of a boring player. I don't think so. I think he's only boring because the Raiders sucked on defense and he never had a shot.

That might be true too. I think, again, when you look at all the stats and how the Raiders had the worst defense for every year that he was, I don't think he was given a fair... I like Derek Carr. If you cry at a press conference, I'm in. I don't care how good you are. No, I'm totally with you there. Exciting to me.

Alright, next one up. Lamar. Him resigning in Baltimore is pretty boring. If he goes to the commanders for some weird reason, and the only reason I say commanders is because he could still stay in the same house. That's true.

He could drive there. Yeah, I mean, that's what I... Like, if I'm going to leave Baltimore and another team is going to bid and it's... Like Russell Westbrook. Yeah, it's like staying with a club. Same thing.

Like, I want to stay in my house and I already got my soap there, got my pillows. You know, he'll end up in Baltimore, obviously. They'll tag him unless somebody comes along and offers some. But, Lamar, Baltimore's pretty boring, but that's it. They think Baltimore's pretty boring because they have a boring offense, you know, outside of the cool things that Lamar does when the ball's in his hand. You know, but they have a new offensive coordinator now. The wide receiver's taking shots at the GM because the GM's taking shots at the wide receivers. They get some more kind of TJ dynamic players on the outside for Lamar Jackson.

Suddenly that's a really kind of fun and interesting offense. Talk about a fun, sexy place for Lamar to go. How about Atlanta? That's my pick. I'd love for him to go to Atlanta. That'd be amazing. Man, that would be really fun.

Drink London and Kyle Pitts. Like, suddenly now you got the fast, you got kind of a Michael Vick 2.0 vibe. You know, with that MVP, you know, resume.

It could be fun. And you see what Lamar's done with Mark Andrews, and we've all kind of been waiting on Kyle Pitts. Because we all saw the type of talent he has, but he hasn't kind of lived up to it in the league yet. So now you can see, well, what if Lamar can work that Mark Andrews magic with Pitts? Kind of help him get to where everyone thought he should be at this point in his career. It's hard for us to think of these players as real-life human beings, right, with like real-life emotions. We see them as superstar athletes on a pedestal that we don't think about. If you're Lamar, do you think a factor to keep you from going to Atlanta, if you were going to go, would be you don't want to be compared to Mike Vick every single day?

Because that's going to be the story. Here he is. He's a lot like Mike Vick, even though they run fast, but they don't play the same way. But I think that would just be constant with him. Yeah, and in another weird way, too, Aaron Rodgers and the Jets talk. Like suddenly he's just like Brett Thorne. You know, his career is kind of playing out the same way, which is a little strange.

So yeah, totally hear you on the Lamar stuff. If Jimmy G goes to the Texans, that's still boring to me. I'm good. I'm out. I was never in, but I'm out. I'm out. Yeah, I would hate for Jimmy.

That to me is boring. It just seems like whoever the Texans take in the draft, they're going to be the starter week one, whether it's Stroud or Levis or Bryce Young or whoever. Baker, worry about Mayfield.

Where would you even like to see him? Because I felt like the guy deserves a shot. I think he played well enough for the Rams coming in, not knowing really anything.

Week one, come from behind, big victory, didn't have his weapons, really? Do you think Baker Mayfield, who would you have, Baker or Matt Ryan? You had to pick one of them to start. It's Baker. Yeah, it's probably Baker.

You know, TJ, we bring it up a lot. You know who would be fun with Baker Mayfield is the Bucks. They got some weapons down there for him. It seems like it's Rashad White season next year with Bournette seemingly going to get cut in a couple weeks. And as we said a few days ago, the fact that they've got those two weapons in Evans and Godwin, no one's really talking about who the quarterback is. It seems like no one's talking about someone going there to replace Brady. What about the Raiders? What about Baker to the Raiders?

I don't see it. I just see them going in kind of a fresh start, new young player, let's bring him in, grow our own guy, develop, coach him up. No Jimmy G though, huh?

I don't know. I mean, obviously the McDaniels connection for Jimmy G there, but maybe he's a placeholder until whoever they draft is ready to go. Maybe they take, maybe the Raiders take a shot on Anthony Richardson who has, you know, kind of the, maybe the most talent, raw, raw, untapped. You take Baker too if you take Richardson. You don't think Richard's going to play his first year, right? Yeah, it seems like that's a home situation where you let him sit and learn for a year, maybe give him some garbage time in the last couple weeks if you're out of it. So Matt Ryan? See what happens.

Matt Ryan and Richardson? Oh man. Okay, so earlier I mentioned the top five media personalities in my life. Jim Rome, John Madden, Harry Carey, Bill Simmons, and then the Rich and Dan Patrick and Craig Kilbourne, Robin Roberts squad there. Like as my life goes, those were the most impactful to me.

Chris, I'm coming to you. When you look back in your life, top media personalities that you loved or that have affected you? I think number one, it's Chris Berman. When I was a young kid, really getting into the sports and that was my thing, late 80s, Berman was a guy. Sunday prime time, sports centers, he was calling baseball games at West Coast, Hotel California, like that was, I loved it. Loved the nicknames. The nicknames as a kid, I thought it was hilarious. Yeah, when I'm 10 years old, it was the coolest thing in the world and like I wanted to be Chris Berman in the worst way. We had the same initials I thought was awesome. Chris, I thought was great. Oh, a guy named Chris can be a broadcaster.

Like I thought it was cool. Man, that was the guy. He was my number one for me. Anybody locally that you would hear? You know, locally when we moved to Maine when I was 12, there was a guy on channel six. He's no longer with us. Bruce Glazier was like kind of the local guy. Just like a little short dude and he was out there.

We'd see him at all the games. He was around on the sidelines when I played high school football and basketball and baseball and like he was always there. And my mom used to work at a hardware store and he came through her line once and she got him to autograph her pay stub to Chris. Bruce Glazier, I thought it was the coolest thing ever when I was 13 and 14 years old.

And so I had it like on my dresser at home. So, yeah, yeah, he was the kind of the local guy for me. TJ, when you look back at these in your life, who was who was it for you? Well, I got to give you a shout out, I guess, to a couple of guys who wrote for the Altoona Mirror where I'm from in Altoona, Pennsylvania. There was Jim Lane and Neil Rudell. And they were kind of the guys who I just every day read because it's like I said, hometown guys, hometown paper. Then, you know, the SportsCenter era started some with Brockman, like you have your Chris Bermans. But even, you know, around that same time, there was Nick Charles and Fred Hickman.

You know, they did CNN and, you know, Van Orle Wright. He's a he's a favorite of ours, you know, and then locally, you know, where I'm from, we had Bob Prince doing Pirates radio. So I spent a lot of time listening to Bob Prince on the radio. We also got a lot of Braves games for WTBS. So that was Skip Carey. So that was a voice that I heard a lot along with, you know, I'm a Mets fan.

So Ralph Kiner, Tim McCarver, Steve Zabriskie. You claim like 32 teams. What's happening? Like every segment he's got a new team that he loves. There's only two.

I've only there's two. Sure. But you're like Pittsburgh. All the teams there. I never said I'd like the Steelers. The Mets.

I like the Mets. Yes. The Cowboys.

The Cowboys. I mean, it just feels like a college basketball. Yeah. Yeah. Who's your college basketball team?

How many? I've got like three. OK, so you can't. That's the thing. I mean, this is this is what's wrong. If you look at the graphic here, it's not every team behind him. He's a fan of Florida State, Penn State. Let's go big ones.

Dude, Clippers. As I've said many times, there's a reason behind everyone. You want to attach yourself to a winner. Yeah. You can have to win. The Mets have really done a lot.

The Cowboys have really done a lot lately. No. First of all, I don't count college. There's one hundred and fifty, one hundred seventy D1 schools. So liking more than one doesn't seem like that big of a deal.

It does. Like one football team. We're coming back with Rich from the Combine. I'm Bobby Bones.

Thank you guys for hanging out with us today. Rich is next. That picture of you with all the teams. That's everything wrong with sports. That's you that can claim because you're like somebody who has three fantasy football teams. OK. Or six brackets that you fill out differently because you just attach yourself to whichever one was the best. And the other ones you don't talk about probably.

No, that is 1000 percent not true. So you don't know the story. Like I said, there's a story behind every one of those. And when we talk professional teams, I like one baseball team and then major league team. I like the one NFL team.

I have two pro teams. But the reason being, I grew up in Pennsylvania, lifelong Sixers fan, moved here in ninety nine, did not want to root for the Lakers. So I attached myself to the Clippers. So for 20 years, I've been going to Clippers game season ticket holder. So those that you attach yourself to a team just simply out of spite of the other team. Yeah.

OK, for sure. If you had to eliminate one from your life, would it be the clips? You know, Rich asked me that. He was like, if which team would you rather have win the Sixers or the Clippers? And that's tough. I'd like the Sixers longer, but I'd live in L.A., you know, so it's kind of the weird thing.

That's not a weird thing. You should pick the Sixers. You know, you consider yourself a loyal guy in general. Yeah, of course. I've been loyal enough that I've stuck with these teams who've stunk for years. The Sixers haven't won. You have some. They're good. I mean, way to up there.

Who? You have 42 teams behind you. There's only there's only eight. All right, look, we're going to come back. Rich is coming up and then we'll talk to Chris Johnson. Fastest guy as being a kid.

Chris Johnson and I want everybody will come back with them coming up. Bobby Bones here for Rich Eisen. Youth football is all about style and fun, and the NFL celebrates that through Play Football, an initiative aimed at creating positive experiences for players, coaches and parents with the goal of preserving and promoting the values of the game. On the football field, kids can continue to grow through teamwork and build trust as leaders. To learn more and to find a league near you, visit PlayFootball.com. The future of football is here. You in?