REShow: Mike Florio - Hour 1

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We'll get to that a little bit in a second. Good to see you. However, first, Chris Brockman. Rich, what's up? D.J.

Mikey Diaz and Deez Nuts. You've been running around a lot pre show. Everything good? You're good. I'm fine.

I went in the back to make a little coffee. Very good. Not great.

Yeah. Good to see you over there, T.J. Jefferson. What's going on? Well, Rich, just like CM Punk, I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to make money.

So let's. Hey, I do. I do like that.

Well, because I'm assuming I'm getting a cut. Well, I mean, OK, very good. D.J. Jefferson, everybody. Thank you.

Very good. Twelve weeks in to the NFL campaign now with Monday night football in the books. And that's where I care to leave that game. But and you now know who is in the mix, who is not.

You also know who are the contenders. To use the Bill Parcells phrase, you are what you are. And after 12 weeks, as Bill would always say, this is where the season begins. This is when the weather gets colder, the stakes get higher, the throats get tighter.

And the other orifices also begin to pucker and it's time to win or go home. And that's what the NFL is all about. And in the same way, after 12 weeks, we also know what the league is. We also know what the trends are. We also know what to expect. And that's what today's show, I guess, if there is a theme about it, that's what today's show is about, because part of the running narrative about the league writ large involves officiating.

And I think you ask most NFL fans, they will tell you they think officiating is at a low point in terms of accuracy, in terms of consistency, in terms of understandability. And so in our number three, we've invited and he has accepted Fox rules analyst, former head of NFL refs. Dean Blandino will be here.

That's caught it. So we will talk to him about that. Well, not not what you're saying, but we'll talk to him about what I was saying when he joins us in our number three. And the other, I think, aspect about this league that we can talk about is defense is performing a little bit better than one would think that defense is ruling the day. And that's where, you know, offenses look mediocre to use Tom Brady's phraseology and later on in the show. And we delve a little bit deeper into the Monday night football game.

We'll talk about that. But one other aspect, I think, about this NFL campaign that's becoming stark, certainly since it's in relation to the last couple of years. Is coaching. And how the intensity and pressure placed on these coaches. Is maybe at an all time high and how these coaches are now viewed by ownership as commodities to swap out if the market is tanking. And it doesn't matter. I know the league at an owner's meeting, I think last year, because Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk is going to join us to have this conversation in short order.

He's first up. I do believe it in an owner's meeting. The owners were shown just how much dead money they're paying out. Just how much dead money they're paying out to. Coaches that they fired and staffs that go out with the coaches that they fire just to say to them, hey, you know, you're wondering about bottom lines and how much revenue we're squeezing out of Thursday night football and maybe new partners and Sunday ticket and things of that nature. And, you know, maybe the league office is like, you know, you're you're in our grill about this subject matter.

Well, why don't you take a look at your own books? And nobody in the NFL will be paying out more dead money, unless there's some offsets at the University of Nebraska, which I doubt. Or what Frank Reich is going to do next.

Nobody's paying out more dead money right now. And David Tepper, owner of the Carolina Panthers, who just 11 games into the new regime. In Carolina, of Frank Reich and the rest of his staff, and if you recall, we were all singing the praises of what staff Carolina had put together with Frank Reich and the young coordinators and people like Deuce Staley and Josh McCown and Jim Caldwell that he had there.

And just 11 weeks in, it's like, get out to McCown and Deuce and Frank. And now Caldwell has a special assistance role in Chris Tabor, the special teams coach. He is now the third interim head coach that David Tepper will be employing in his tenure as owner of the Panthers that began in 2018. He has as many interim head coaches as he does head coaches. And when he hires his next head coach, it will be a seventh.

That's crazy. Since 2018, four full-time, three interims. And 10 different starting quarterbacks and just a revolving door that he feels Bryce Young is going to stop, one would imagine. And I even said yesterday, good luck getting somebody who wants to uproot their family, come to Carolina and work for you if you're only going to give them 11 games.

David Tepper held a press conference this morning in Carolina, and it broke up just about an hour ago. This is what he had to say about potentially having difficulty hiring the next guy because of all the guillotine swings that have happened in Carolina. Every coach that we've had here has had contributions to this organization.

Frank has contributions to the organization, had had contributions to the organizations. And quite frankly, if I had my brothers, I'd like to have a coach here for 20 years. I do have patience.

I'm just not. My reputation away from this game is one for extreme patience. There's no reason why that doesn't come here too.

It does. Now, that patience comes with good performance and things that you want to see progress be made on different aspects. And as I said, I would like to have somebody here for 20, 30 years. I'd like to have somebody that would say eulogy at my funeral in 30 years. OK, maybe it's 40 years, I hope.

But that's what I'd like to have. And it makes sense. I mean, he understands how continuity in this position is paramount because he was a minority owner of the Steelers. And when he hires his next coach, he will have had more head coaches in his tenure as full time owner of the Panthers since 2018 than the Steelers have had since the beginning of the Nixon administration. That's insane.

Since 1969, my year of my birth. Wow. So that makes sense that he would want that. And I guess with him spending all this dead money and Frank Wright could spend the next three plus years just ripping off all the dead presidents that he's going to be having of 30 million, I guess he's paying off. And Matt Ruhle, counting his money, I imagine whatever is offset or not, in Nebraska, while he's, you know, sitting at home lamenting how Michigan had his place without really saying it, even though he intimates it every time it's brought up. Like how you work that in. Oh, please. I'm really, as you know, I am settling all family business whenever I can. But you know, the aspect about the interview and the press conference that Tepper had today that makes no sense to me at all is the other aspect of what's going on in the NFL these days, which is the revolving door quarterback that everybody wants to stop with a top five draft choice if they're unfortunate to be up there or in their case, spending an insane amount of draft capital to get up in there.

And if you choose the wrong one, look out. Because, again. There were 68 different starting quarterbacks in 2022. And through the first 12 weeks of this season. 52. And if the Jets wind up starting Trevor Simeon, you know, I mean, it's just going to keep on going on and on and on.

And if the if the Browns start Flacco, that'd be 53. You know what I mean? Like, it's just going to keep going on and on. So you got to get this right. And so, of course, with Tepper speaking today, everybody bringing up the conversation that is everywhere that they did not all want Bryce Young and that some wanted C.J. Stroud. And Tepper said.

The following that kind of makes no sense. You know that essentially, I think this is what he's saying, you know, he would have agreed with any consensus because he's letting his people do their jobs while also taking responsibility of the fact that Bryce Young is one in 10 and C.J. Stroud is six and five. And Stroud is 100 percent the offensive rookie of the year right now.

And nobody's going to beat him out for that. And Young looks so undeveloped and raw. That the coach who apparently wanted him just got fired after 11 games.

I think this is what he's saying, because the details of it make zero sense. Here was his answer to the question about what was the decision making process between Young and Stroud back in the day. Now, it's been reported and we talked about it. Originally, we were going to go to the number two pick and we thought we'd get C.J. because we thought the Texans were going to pick Bryce. And listen, we preferred Bryce.

He was our number one pick. We had a lot of conviction. But, you know, in answer to your questions, it's just not the way the process was done. The process was done the way the process was done. And again, even though if there was a process with five people in the room and the way the votes came in, it was Frank was the first choice. I always could veto that choice.

And even if it was Bryce and the votes came in unanimously in this particular case, I could have vetoed that choice. In both cases, I supported both choices. OK, I'm just going to say that I supported both choices. I supported the coaches. I supported the scouts. They're unanimous opinion.

And I supported Frank Reich. So whatever's good, bad or indifferent is ultimately because the buck stops here. And I take full responsibility for everything. But that's the way the process runs.

And just one last thing and then we're going to go here. As far as Bryce Young is concerned, I cannot say this, you know, for myself. And I think everybody in this building would share this sentiment. We are totally confident in that pick. OK, I think the people that made that pick first, you know, would be totally confident that, you know, some of them you could ask. OK, and I think the and for me, I'm totally confident in agreeing with that pick. So here's the thing I don't understand.

A lot of words there. Well, again, like so they were thinking about trading up to get CJ Stroud. CJ Stroud at two because they thought the Texans were going to take Bryce Young at one. And at the combine, there was a pure consensus amongst virtually every scout and analyst that I came across that Bryce Young was number one overall in this draft.

I mean, that was the general thought about it. He didn't, as you know, throw at the combine. And that's what number one overall picks do, because there's they because they can. And trust me, we were talking about that quite a bit at NFL Network because we want everybody throwing, certainly if there's somebody is scrutinized and talked about as Bryce Young. But the Texans had the number two overall pick at that time.

Because. Lovey Smith spat his last breath as the Texans head coach. By winning a game in week 18 against the Colts, which was let me get that date January 8th. So on January 8th, we knew the Bears were picking first. And the Texans were picking second.

And Freik Reich was hired on January 26th. So who is having the conversations about let's go get CJ Stroud at two? Because the Bears weren't picking two. The Bears weren't picking two. As of the last day of the season. So were you having conversations about let's go get CJ Stroud at two? In between weeks 17 and 18, before Frank Reich joined and you had a whole new staff, that makes no sense at all.

The process dates don't compute. I don't get that. I don't get that either. So if Frank Reich was involved in having conversations about let's go get CJ Stroud too, because you think the Texans are taking Bryce Young at one, the Texans weren't at one.

After the season ended and well before you hired Frank Reich, what in the heck are we talking about? Am I wrong? Did he just misspeak? I don't know.

That was very weird. Because why would you think that Stroud's definitely going two? Maybe he meant to say Bears. Meaning what? Meaning he thought the Bears were going to take Bryce Young first.

Okay. And so then you go to the Texans and say, right. So that's the way that that squares is that that kind of makes sense. He just meant to say Bears instead of Texans. Why would he think the Bears were taking? Maybe he had heard they weren't happy with Fields and they were going to call their friends in Houston to say, we'll trade.

We'll move up to two. So he just kind of conflated those in exo facto. But the bottom line is there were some people who thought CJ Stroud was the right guy.

And he could have vetoed it. I think that's the bigger takeaway. I mean, all of this makes very little sense. Is it fixable?

A million percent. It's fixable. You got to hit on whatever draft picks you have left. You've got to find the right coach who can connect in a way that clearly Reich wasn't. Because you got to make this kid work. Boy, do you have to.

Unbelievably, the Panthers lone win of the season came against CJ Stroud. Can't make it up. Can't make it up. Is that worse? Better?

Whatever word you want to choose. Then the Eagles only lost being Zach Wilson. Yeah, it's on par. Yeah, but, you know, this made no sense when I heard it. Like I had to listen to that sound bite over and over again and over again, because at the time of Reich's hiring and before the combine, you know, it was possible we had Justin Fields at the Super Bowl and talked with him about, hey, are you concerned about being traded away by Chicago? Because they might take Bryce Young. Right.

So that makes sense. But that means they'd have to trade up to two. And then you're trading up to two without knowing somebody could trade up and take CJ Stroud anyway. Wasn't a given.

That's like 20-20 hindsight. Trust me on that, as the Jets are still dealing with Zach Wilson being second overall. And the Niners had, you know, pretty much an idea that it was Trevor Lawrence and Zach.

Wow, 844-204 Rich number to dial. Let's take a break. Mike Florio, maybe he'll make heads or tails of that, because again, he had to have misspoken to say that we thought the Bears were taking number one overall. Had to have, because the rest of it made no sense. Because if he's thinking we want to trade into Texans, that's why he said it. No sense. I want to give him that. Norda is paying $70 million in dead money to two coaches. Well, that's not smart.

844-204 Rich number to dial. Florio, connoisseur, author, information man coming up. All right, folks, let's talk about game time and let's talk about buying tickets to big time events, because it can be worrisome. It can be time consuming and it can be expensive. So game time is the fast and easy way to buy tickets for all the sports, music, comedy and theater events near you. You can see the view from your seat before you buy, so you know exactly what to expect when you arrive. They have all-in prices that show you your total upfront, so you know you're getting a great deal without hidden fees.

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844-204 Rich is the number to dial here on the show. Yeah, I think that covers it. You know, CJ Stroud, we were interested in him too.

It's a nice little like play the result. So I don't know, they could have been interested in him. Like they literally could have been a full on conversation. They had to have. Dude, I'm telling you, you know, it's crazy. I had an idea for a search engine, you know?

And I just like couldn't get it off the ground. No, no, no, no. I know what you're saying, man. No, no, no.

Dude, come on. Jim Mora Sr. has told me multiple times. He said it on this show. He said it on NFL Network. They were grinding tape on Ryan Leaf and Peyton Manning to the very end. These decisions are grinded and grinded and grinded down. You know, and so there's no doubt in my mind. You know, you heard San Francisco chose landed on Lance draft week.

You heard that they were they made their decision way before. Way before I was going to call my computer company pair. Nice.

Like it just nice. Right. I mean, I different so late. Were you thinking about different like what would be the funniest produce item for your gag while you were listening to what I was saying? You're waiting till I was done. So you could you could you could do a callback. I didn't want to do.

I don't mean to call your process. Strawberry because it's a little too long. Yeah, we were buried too long. I went with pear pear. Yeah, because, well, I mean, it's apples and pears are kind of, you know, they go together hand in hand. Similar. Yeah, very similar.

It tastes the same. Yeah. OK, yeah. And so Bryce Young would be the pear. Right.

And Cesar Stroud would be the apple. Yes. Thank you. Yeah, I get it.

Yeah, thanks. Back here in the Rich Eisen show. Sitting at the Rich Eisen show, Defs Furnished by Grainger. Now we should stop with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call click Grainger dot com or just stop by. Guys, I have a book. Do you have a book? I have a book. You have a book. TJ, do you have a book over there? Look at us all having a copy of On Our Way Home by Mike Florio just in time for the holidays. You should get it, too, and the author of this, as well as the creator of Pro Football Talk rejoins us here on the Rich Eisen show. How are you, Mike?

I'm doing great. And I also have mine. If you recall last time, I was not wearing pants. And I've got to say this. I got to give you credit.

Yes, sir. Credit where it's due. I offered to send you a handful of copies, but you insisted, insisted on making the purchase to support the local animal shelter here that we're giving every penny that I get to. So I appreciate you for doing that. No, Mike, I appreciate you for doing that as well.

And also, again, I'm not the guy, you know, after having written a book back in the day in 2007, I'm truly and always impressed whenever anybody actually takes the time to write something, let alone also having other things in their lives. It ain't easy. So supporting that venture is also very important. I appreciate it very much. It's fun. It gives me balance. It balances out my life. I make some time. It's a little harder. I'm learning during football season when I travel every single weekend.

But still, it's a nice balance to what I do every day. And do you do Lego for that as well? Because I think I saw in your background over your right shoulder. What do we have? What is that Lego that you have behind you there? That's the Ghostbusters firehouse. And I think the Saturn five rocket is back there.

That was part of the pandemic. Let's find a way to not lose our freaking minds project. Oh, dude. And Lego is very good for that. Lego is very good for Serenity Now.

Frankenstein is what was Serenity Now. I think Lego would have worked better for Lloyd Braun. Mike Florio with three children younger than yours in my house during the pandemic, we now currently have in our house the Roman Coliseum, the Eiffel Tower, I believe the Sydney Opera House.

You have a lot of my house. About four cars. I mean, a roller coaster, an entire amusement park, a merry-go-round. That's that's what we did. That's what we did. So I'm with you.

And you haven't lived until you step on one of those blocks. Nope. All right. Let's jump into the news of the day. What did you make of David Tepper's press conference? I was confused when he said that the they were thinking of trading up to two because they thought the Texans were going to go one for for young. And they thought they were thinking of going to get Stroud.

Sus that one out for me. I got confused by by that, Mike. I was at first, too, and then I got to thinking and remembering some of the reporting that happened at the time. And our friend Jay Glazer had reported at the time that initially the Bears were talking about a flip flop with the Texans so the Texans could get number one and then Panthers Bears two and nine. So it would have been end result Texans Panthers one, two. That may be what Tepper was referring to in a roundabout way without providing the background and potentially confusing people who are like, wait a minute, how do the Texans end up drafting before you?

That's how one to flip flop and then to nine trade. I appreciate that. So what did you make of of him saying, you know, hey, it's been reported. Let's talk about it.

Yeah, we were thinking about CJ Stroud, but we love Bryce Young. What you make of that? Well, there are two important facts that I am going to try to confirm or debunk.

And the problem is people aren't going to be willing to say anything on the record. The folks who have been fired have buyouts that hinge on keeping your mouth shut about anything regarding the team or you jeopardize the ongoing payments. But Tepper said two things.

One, it was unanimous among the coaches and the scouts that Young was the guy. And two, he didn't chime in, the owner didn't chime in until the very end of the process, until everybody else had weighed in on what they wanted to do. That to me is critical if it's true. And I tend to think it is one of the metaphors I'll use or similarly, as the case may be for somebody who's really rich and very powerful.

And it's a twist on the old Steinbrenner calzone thing. Like if you walk in the front door of the building and the receptionist has a bowl of Kit Kats and the owner has never seen a Kit Kat before and pops one open and eats it and says, that's the best candy I've ever had in my life. That's all he has to say. Everywhere you look from that day forward, every drawer you open, every cabinet that you pull in your direction, Kit Kats are going to be falling out everywhere. That's the power and influence implicit in being a multi-billionaire. You never have to say, go buy Kit Kats.

All you have to say in the presence of someone who works for you, I really like that Kit Kat. So that's what I want to know. Did Bryce Young get any sort of direct, indirect, subtle, explicit, whatever comment from David Tepper that caused people to think, well, we know where the boss is going to be at the end of the day.

So let's just get there on our own. So the question I have is, because, you know, Tepper's like, I'd love to have a coach here for 20, 30 years, you know, even saying, speaking at my eulogy. And that does compute, certainly if he is at all drawing from his previous ownership experience coming from the Pittsburgh Steelers, who will have one fewer coach since 1969 than Tepper's had as Carolina owner when he hires his next coach.

So I guess my question for you is, is this an outlier along with Mark Davis? Now that we've had two guys bounced in the middle of the season, Frank Reich is now the first coach in the Super Bowl era to get bounced in back to back seasons by two different teams. Are we seeing a new impetuousness of NFL owners right now? Mike, what do you think?

Well, I think we are and I think we aren't, because this isn't a new trend. And Jim Irsay was willing to fire Frank Reich last year during the season, I think because Irsay was hell bent on giving Jeff Saturday a test drive and we saw how that went after the first game that was a win over the Raiders every game after that was a loss. But you've got so much money. Number one, there's no salary cap for coaches. So the coaching pay over the last 50 years hasn't risen at the same rate player pay has.

You can easily justify in your budget buying out a coach if you want to move on. And I think there's so much pressure and reaction and social media. There's less patience across the board in the NFL, there's less patience with the players, there's less patience with the coaches. And when somebody comes in right away, look at what Tamiko Ryans did this year and what he's doing in Houston, that gets guys fired because owners think all I have to do is make the right hire, if I make the right hire, the right guy at the right time, we're set. And if we get the right quarterback at the right time, we're set. And everybody wants to have that dynasty. Everyone wants everyone wants to stand out among the other billionaires as the the next Robert Kraft figure, the one who can say, look at all these rings we've amassed. So I do think there's there's less patience than there was because there's plenty of money to finance this ricocheting from coach to coach to coach. So where where do you place the over underline of number of vacancies we're going to have about, what would you say, five weeks from now, Mike?

Well, I was running through it yesterday. Belichick, it's almost a given that he's not going to be back. That would be the biggest shocker at this point is if he just comes back and it's like nothing ever happened. Brandon Staley seems to be in grave danger.

Is there another kind? Ron Rivera seems to be coaching out the string in Washington before major changes are made by new ownership there. And then there are others that kind of fall into the who knows what's going to happen. Let's see how it plays out, how they do down the stretch could be a factor.

Matt Eber flew since Chicago last night's win surely helps Dennis Allen in New Orleans. There's some unrest among the fans as to what's going to happen going forward. But, you know, we see every year it's somewhere between four and eight. And a lot of it just depends upon how the season ends. And that's why the two extra playoff spots have been very helpful, because for a lot of coaches, the mandate is get to the playoffs or else. Well, OK, we've got 14 spots now instead of 12.

That's two coaches every year potentially who otherwise would have been out who get saved. What about Buffalo? You didn't mention Buffalo. You didn't mention even the Jets.

You know, I think it would be unfair, quite frankly, if Salah eats it because, you know, the Achilles popped. And even if he was part of the process that says don't bring in another quarterback in here, we got the room right. The offensive line, he didn't go and knock Verituck out for the year.

Again, that's just me caping for him right now. But what do you think about others? Because right now, the two vacancies you have now, you mentioned two others that we'll see down the stretch, guys, and three that you think's out.

That's seven right there, Mike. Well, and I inadvertently omitted Sean McDermott because I believe that the Bills don't make the playoffs. There will be major changes in Buffalo, either GM or head coach or both to get somebody who has an offensive background to get the most out of Josh Allen and the talent around him. But they have a limited window of years that Josh Allen is going to be the quarterback of the Bills. They've got to get what they can while they can out of Josh Allen.

As to Salah, I'm with you. They sold their souls for Aaron Rodgers and the devil collected before they could even get a single drive out of it. This is all about next year. And I think the sooner that Woody Johnson comes out and says it. And I think before that, Aaron Rodgers needs to come out and say, I'm definitely coming back next year. And I think, you know, Rodgers maybe dangles that to get what he wants, like, hey, I want to come back and play a few games this year, even though it makes no sense.

I just want to do it. Oh, and by the way, I haven't announced with 100% certainty that I'm coming back next year. I think Rodgers needs to use his weekly platform, which is going to happen at some point this afternoon and say at some point, I am definitely coming back next year. And then after he does it, that's when Woody Johnson needs to say, we're bringing everybody back. We're going to do next year what we were going to do this year if Aaron Rodgers had been healthy. So I think everybody should get a pass because how do you get the most out of Aaron Rodgers if you bring in a new head coach and there's no buddy of Aaron Rodgers out there that is just lurking to come be the head coach of the Jets. He loves the fact that Saul is a defensive head coach and that the defense is good and he can work with his buddy Nathaniel Hackett to take care of the offense. So I don't think you change anything in New York as long as Rodgers is coming back. What do you think of the I'll do it because again, they're down right now in Columbus, Ohio.

I'll throw him a little bouquet here. Vrabel's not going to lose his gig in Tennessee, is he? I mean, they'd be nuts to do that. But like every Ohio State fan, that's that's their dream right now is that Vrabel becomes free and they somehow make that move and swing that axe.

Collegiate. I think the real question, Rich, with the Titans isn't whether the Titans should be thinking about moving on from Vrabel. It's whether Vrabel should be thinking about moving on from the Titans. And I go back to 2022 draft when he does the neck thing when they traded AJ Brown to the Eagles. And I know he won the power struggle with John Robinson, but there are still maybe some organizational things he's not thrilled about earlier this year before the trade deadline when there was talk about maybe moving a Derrick Henry or DeAndre Hopkins. Vrabel didn't want to have anything to do with a rebuild or a reset.

I just wonder whether he decides on his own I'd like to go somewhere else. And somebody told me on July 4, somebody I know, somebody I trust, somebody who's been around the NFL for a long time, said, I have no information to back this up, but keep an eye on the possibility of the Patriots trying to get Mike Vrabel to be the successor to Bill Belichick. Now everybody thinks Gerard Mayo is already signed, sealed and delivered, but they put Vrabel in their hall of fame this year. So if there's going to be any sentimental pull for him, whether it's halfway between Columbus and halfway between Foxboro, I think that a great potential offseason story is the Patriots trade as a practical matter Bill Belichick and whatever they get for Belichick they use to go get Mike Vrabel to come back to New England and be the successor to Belichick there. That is all speculation.

That is all just throwing darts. But I think the question of whether the Titans are fed up with Vrabel is the wrong question. It's whether Vrabel is fed up with the Titans. Well, Belichick said on his local radio appearance on Monday that it was quote unquote ridiculous that he already knows where his next destination is.

What do you think? Well, I think if he'd already know right now, yeah, it probably is premature. But even if he already knows, he's not going to say it out loud, right?

You're not going to come out and say, you know what? We've worked a secret deal already where the Patriots are going to trade me to the Chargers. And here's what the Chargers are going to pay me. I think when you guys reported on the game day show a couple of weeks ago, the context of the new Belichick contract, 2023, 2024, and Ian Rappaport mentioned the Patriots aren't inclined to fire him during the season because they'd like to get value for him after the season, that was the message to everybody out there that's going to be looking for a coach. You got to deal with us if you want Bill Belichick. You don't just make your wish list and activate it the day after the season ends. We're not going to fire this guy on Black Monday or on Black Sunday as it's become in recent years.

Yes, you have to deal with us. So all that happens behind the scenes. The dominoes get lined up now and then at the right time, the first one gets flicked. And the last thing Belichick would ever admit to is that the wheels are already in motion. This is exactly what the Dolphins were trying to do with Sean Payton and Don Brady a couple of years ago. Line it up ahead of time and then activate it at the right time.

It's not the right time to activate. So then one last guess that I'll ask from you. Normally when teams fire coaches early or during the season, it's because they want to get a head start or there's somebody out there that they want to contact or under the radar, all of that stuff. Who might that be? Could it be my guy in college too, Mike, with all that speculation?

What do you think? Well, another glazer nugget from not that long ago, the idea that the teams in the NFL have looked into the Connor Stallion situation and they're not uncomfortable with the notion of bringing Jim Harbaugh back to the NFL if that's how it plays out. But there was still that report.

Again, the NFL Network, the idea that the league is considering some sort of suspension that would be crazy talk that's crazy. I know. But hey, Rich, they do what they want. They do what they want. And I can say this.

You can't. I can say this. Here's what they do. They figure out what they want to be and they work backward to justify it. So we want to pander to the organization that's in charge of our free and farm system. We don't want to piss them off any more than we already do by luring their players here. So we're going to respect the Jim Harbaugh suspension.

Let's find a way to do it. They did the Jim Trestle. They did it the trial prior. They came up with a rule that somehow was violated and they suspended these guys as an olive branch to the NCAA. So I thought that wasn't a mistake that it came out when it did because it's a warning to anyone who's thinking about hiring Jim Harbaugh. Hey, if he gets suspended X number of games by the NCAA, you're not going to have him. I think it would be wrong.

It would be a violation of whatever rules are on the books. But at the end of the day, they do what they want to do and they make it up as they go. Again, I can say that. I say it all the time. They haven't gotten me fired yet, so I'll keep saying it. They make it up as they go. They do what they want, just like Cartman.

I do what I want and they don't care about the consequences. So do you have a name? Anybody else then? Outside of Harbaugh? Anybody that you're hearing that is the hot candidate that everyone's going to be all over?

What do you got from college or just anywhere? What do you think? Because this is all coming. You gave me seven. It could be 10 openings.

You know what I mean? And look, there's the usual suspects every year, the hot coordinators from the teams that have done really well. Ben Johnson last year removed his name from consideration. I'm always suspicious when someone does that.

They often do it because they find out they're not going to get the job anyway. But Ben Johnson is the name that's been kicked around all year. Creative offense.

People are already saying Carolina. Again, I think anybody who's got options is going to opt to go somewhere other than to work for David Tepper. And there's going to be plenty of coaches who don't want to work with a 5 foot 10 inch quarterback. I'd say up to two thirds of the league would say, no, we want a guy who's north of six foot. We don't want to work with a quarterback who's that short. So it's going to be hard for the Panthers, I think, to find a guy who's got choices. Ben Johnson may be the guy who has choices. And the job that's going to be the most attractive if you're talking about choices is the job that has the best quarterback built in.

And by all appearances, that's the Chargers if Brandon Staley ends up being out in L.A. Mike, thanks again. On our way home, you can get it where all books are are sold. Amazon, for sure. Go to Amazon exclusively at Amazon. Three ninety nine for the e-book. Nine ninety nine for the print edition. Everything I get goes to the Humane Society of Harrison County. And thanks again, Rich, for supporting the boy.

Well done, Mike. So it's exclusive to Amazon. Go to Amazon dot com and and put in on our way home. It's for a great cause. It's a fun stocking stuffer, if you will.

Mike, thanks again. You can curl it up and it'll fit. I hadn't thought of that.

It curls up and you just take the Jewish guy to think about that. There you go. What is nine ninety nine?

You can get a bunch of gifts for people for nine ninety nine. So simple. Take care of yourself, Mike. You be well. Thanks. That's Mike Florio, everybody right here in the Rich Eisen Show.

When we come back, a door has opened for not one, but two teams in the NFC to make a run. What do I mean by that? Yeah, what do you mean by that? Ah, that's next.

This is the Rich Eisen Show. It was rhetorical, but I appreciate the time. With so take two for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, you could show off your skin again. And you know what that means each day as a tick to inhibitor. So tick two is the only once daily pill of its kind for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Ask your dermatologist about so tick to today and learn more at so clearly you dot com.

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It's unknown if so take two has the same risks as jack inhibitors. Call 1-888-SOTYKTU to learn more. Hi, I'm Kelsey Grammer. Wounded Warrior Project supports injured veterans by connecting them with fellow warriors by serving them through mental health and wellness programs and by empowering them to live on their own terms. No one should face a battle alone. Join us at woundedwarriorproject.org. Podcast wherever you listen. This is a letter written in March of 1998. Two Colts owner Jim or say what at the time a month away in the draft the decision between you and Peyton Manning, right?

It's from Hunter S. Thompson. Dear James. Dear James. Dear James, in response to your addled request for a quick $30 million loan to secure the services of the Manning kid, I have to say no at this time, but the leaf boy is another matter. He looks strong and Manning doesn't or at least not strong enough to handle that. Welcome to the NFL business for two years without a world class offensive line.

How are you fixed at left OT for the next few years? James, think about it. You don't want to China doll back there when that freak sap comes crashing in. Okay, let me know if you need some money for leaf. I expect to be very rich when this depth movie comes out. Your faithful consultant, Hunter, and it's signed HST. The absurdity of the fact that a Hunter S. Thompson knew who I was and be that he was he was trying to persuade Mr. Orsay to draft me instead was just comical and not to see it for 20 years. How does it?

It just it's just nowhere to be found to be found, right? I called John Walsh of ESPN. It's 1000% real. Wow. And Hunter S. Thompson was a huge NFL fan and obviously an opinion on the 1998 draft.

Well, I think now that we know that a lot of people had an opinion on the 1998 NFL draft. This is amazing. Isn't that amazing? I love that line. Is that you don't want to China doll back there when that freak sap comes crashing in.

The irony of all this, the irony of this, he would go on and play start the most consecutive games of anybody and I would be injured going into year two and missed the entire season. So we're just just reminding people strong underlined. Yeah, strong. Congratulations to Ryan Leaf and his wife Anna on the birth of their daughter. Yeah, back here on The Rich Eisen Show. 33 million people watched the opener of Thanksgiving.

Thursday's triple header. 33 million individuals. Unbelievable. A lot of turkey legs and what they saw. Well, somebody didn't get a turkey leg.

I know. I'd love to know the tick tock of that decision. That somebody in the Fox World or I don't know who it was.

Was it the pack? It wasn't available to give Jordan Love a turkey leg. But Jordan Love and Rashan Gary, if John Madden was alive. I was going to tweet that out.

That's who would have gotten the turkey legs there. Oh, yeah. Sean Gary with three sacks. Yep. And Jordan Love. A folks member late October Packers are two and four.

They lose to Denver. And I'm like. Hey, folks.

Patience. Arielle Ax. I actually said that into this microphone. Anybody out there is like Jordan Love stinks. We can already you can already evaluate it.

Six games and he stinks. And I'm basically like, you know, welcome to the rest of us. You're going to have guys going up. You're going to go down. You know, can he be a Hall of Famer just like his two predecessors?

Sure, why not? But right now at two and four, somebody coming straight out of the box after sitting there for three years, it's going to be a roller coaster. Well, look at him now. From two and four to five and six. And guess who helped open the door for Green Bay last night?

A little wider. The team that they own the Chicago Bears did him a big, huge favor last night and over, I guess, the last two weeks, the Bears or last two games, the Bears had a significant role in what's going on in the in the NFC North, where they couldn't close the deal against Detroit, but close the deal against Minnesota. And that now gives the Lions a two game lead in that division, eight and three over the now six and six Vikings.

Man, that one is going to leave a mark for Minnesota. And, you know, the Packers are now three back in the north, but I think the division is gone for Green Bay. But you take a look at the wild card race, and if they are getting after the quarterback like they have been and the quarterback is playing really well, lights out young receivers that last year were just too green for Green Bay and their quarterback. They are connected in the pass game right now, and look at who's eight and the Seahawks are potentially two games away from being six and six themselves. They're in Dallas with the way Dallas is playing, especially in that building. Yeah, Dallas at home is unbeatable. Green Bay, unfortunately for Green Bay, have the Chiefs coming up. Have the Chiefs coming up, but who the hell knows?

Yeah, Rich, we talked about that on the overreaction Monday pod yesterday. The schedule is very favorable after week 13 for Green Bay Giants, Bucks, Panthers, Vikings, Bears, all winnable. No doubt, no doubt. So even if they're five and seven, they can go on a nice run, finish nine and eight, which could be a wild card record in the NFC right now for sure. Absolutely. Ten and seven if they make a huge run. Would the floor get coach of the year then?

No. OK, it would be impressive. It would be impressive.

And it's possible this is not out of the realm right now. So what they got to do, you know, is finish up strong or even shock the world on Sunday night. First things first is you tell them the homes love you guy.

You're awesome. But your family is sitting in the Upper Peninsula of Wisconsin, because that's what you did to our guy and his family when he played in the building. And so we're out of time.

Put him in the last room. Different is my homes can afford to pay better tickets. Yeah.

secondary market. Maybe so true. There's a there's an out half ability.

You'll figure it out. You know, true. So there's that. And then another team door open for the Los Angeles Rams, too, because they have the tie break over Seattle. I think you're right about that, man. They've swept Seattle in the first order of business.

When you are breaking ties is division first. And the Rams have a chance here. Their issue is they've got to go to Baltimore in one of these games. That's kind of like the the Chiefs game potentially for Green Bay. They've got Cleveland coming in. Is it possible Donald is going to be chasing down Joe Flacco in this game? And then Washington and New Orleans here in Los Angeles, that last game at San Francisco, maybe San Francisco, seven people.

I don't know. Exactly. Resting the Rams now had five of six a door open.

Yeah, 100 percent. Because look, Karen Williams looked if they beat Cleveland this week and the Seahawks lose in Dallas. And the Vikings are sitting on their by at six and six. The Rams could truly enter week 14 in a playoff spot. That can happen. So the NFC seven seed is like a sudden turnstile, possibly. And last week, the Vikings and Seahawks had two game leads on these teams.

Not anymore. Things are tightening up as we hit December. Yeah, and we're hitting our second hour right here on the Rich Eisen show.

Don't go anywhere. Omar Dorsey of the new show, Bookie, is in studio hour two. Sebastian Maniscalco currently on Good Morning Football as well.

I saw the clips of him in here, too. Nick Picard, the showrunner. Fantastic of Bookie, longtime friend.

We're all in. Now, Rich, when you say Bookie, I don't understand what that means. What does that mean? We don't we don't get when you say Bookie, it's what I call somebody has books, a book. Oh, okay.

Yeah, for my children. Got it. Bookie, I know you do. I know I'm the unfrozen caveman NFL fan. I know I'm the unfrozen caveman NFL host. What do you mean by that over and the under?

I don't understand it. But now I'm you know, we're talking about three team parlays on Good Game Day morning. So yeah, we are back.

Good times are rolling for most. By the way, your boy took a bath last night. Who's my boy? Me. What what bath did you take the first time? My boy, you didn't take the over. Why? I put the over down to thirty six. I was like, come on, what are we doing here? How'd that look for you?

He's a three three at the half. It didn't. It did. Dude, I needed 10 more Hockinson yards. Can I say that that game for a big one?

Can I just tell you something? That game was not good yesterday. Not good? No, I've watched the Patriots 11 times this year. That was the worst game I've ever seen. I mean, it was so bad, gents.

Every time I looked up, there was a turnover. Kevin Clark had the best tweet of the night. What did he say? We will be missing this game in May, and he ain't wrong.

No, absolutely not. You know what? That's going on the pole. You're sweating on the sweat over Hockinson yards. You'll be missing that in May. No way.

As we're sitting on the one of the many off days of the NBA playoffs. For decades, Rolling Stone has set the bar for entertainment publications. Today, Rolling Stone Music Now takes over in podcast form. We have Michael Azerrad, who was Nirvana's very first biographer. I'm not sure how many people realize how many of the best songs on In Utero were written way beforehand. To be fair to Kurt, he was also a new father. There was a lot of stuff distracting him. It wasn't just drugs, although that was certainly a major factor. Rolling Stone Music Now, wherever you listen.