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What The Football w/Suzy Shuster and Amy Trask: Albert Breer

The Rich Eisen Show / Rich Eisen
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January 14, 2025 6:52 pm

What The Football w/Suzy Shuster and Amy Trask: Albert Breer

The Rich Eisen Show / Rich Eisen

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January 14, 2025 6:52 pm

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Overreaction Monday: http://apple.co/overreactionmonday 

What the Football with Suzy Shuster and Amy Trask: http://apple.co/whatthefootball

The Jim Jackson Show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jim-jackson-show/id1770609432

No-Contest Wrestling with O'Shea Jackson Jr. and TJ Jefferson: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/no-contest-wrestling/id1771450708

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NFL Insider Albert Breer joins Suzy and Amy to discuss what’s next for the Steelers and Vikings as they head into the offseason after being eliminated on Wild Card Weekend. Does Albert think there’s a real possibility that Mike Tomlin’s tenure in Pittsburgh could be ending? If so, could Mike McCarthy be a home town hero to the Steelers rescue? The Vikings have a busy offseason ahead of them with extending Head Coach Kevin O’Connell’s contract and their big decision at the Quarterback position. Will it be Sam Darnold or JJ McCarthy? Also, Albert gives his thoughts on Jerry Jones, Deion Sanders, and the Dallas Cowboy’s head coach search. 

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Susie and Amy with you. We are thrilled to be with you in a very somber way. We will talk about what we've experienced this weekend.

In just a moment, Albert Breer from Monday Morning Quarterback, SI Prime, will be here with us to unpack what's happening in the National Football League. We really hope that for those of you who are with us on a weekly basis that we're going to give you a bit of a break, a bit of a respite from what's happening in Southern California and the devastation that we are seeing firsthand. But, Amy and I wanted to talk to you just for a couple minutes first about what's on our mind as we left you last week.

We left you and headed up the 405 into a Palisades world that we didn't know could ever possibly exist. And it has been heartbreaking to see the loss. We are both experiencing it.

Amy, of course, worried about her family's long-term home. We both have lost, have friends who've lost everything that they have. I know personally, I have found great solace throwing myself into volunteering and looking across the room and seeing my closest friends. My friend, Jenna Cooper, who owns a place called The Coop on Beverly, had turned her entire facility into the most beautiful drive you could ask for.

And I looked across the room and everywhere I saw were friends doing the exact same. But there are people hurting out here and really suffering. We're going to ask you to take a moment and if you have a couple bucks, throw them in the direction of anybody that you'd want to support. I think Best Friends Animal is doing incredible work transporting animals out of Southern California, getting big dogs out and trying to make room because the shelters are teeming, because people just cannot take care of their pets.

It is so saddening and horrific to watch that. Obviously, the Red Cross and the NFL is doing an incredible job with the Red Cross trying to deal with the donations, deal with the outpouring, deal with the absolute need that is everywhere here in Southern California. And Amy, I will say that I got to spend some time with the firefighters of Coldwater Canyon in Mulholland this weekend, as well as the guys at the bottom of our hill at the bottom of Coldwater. And I've been driving around handing out pies that our son, Xander, has been baking for these guys. He's been raising money. People are donating pies to the different fire stations, Amy, and the money's going towards gift cards for all these firefighters and for people who survive the fires.

You were incredibly generous to donate as well, but I want to throw it to you as you wear this beautiful pally sweatshirt about your thoughts on seeing your hometown like this. Well, I grew up in Los Angeles. I lived most all my life in Los Angeles and I have never seen anything like this. Yes, we've had fires in the past, nothing of this magnitude. You mentioned our show last week. I was in my car heading out and first thing I always do is call my husband and I said, I'm on my way.

Told him I was going up to that family home you referenced and he said, no, you're not. It's been evacuated. And I'm getting goosebumps as I'm talking to you. I got goosebumps as I was listening to you, because what we've seen in the wake of, as I've said, fires the likes of which I have never seen is a community coming together.

And, you know, there's the hashtag stronger together, but it's true. We really are. And what this is a great reminder of, Susie, is there are far, far, far more good people in this world than there are bad people. You've mentioned so much of what people are doing to contribute in any way they can, whether it's with time or effort or energy or contribution. Your son Xander, all your kids are doing tremendous things. There really are more good people in the world than bad.

But if you are someone who is using this moment in time, exploiting this moment for political gain, for personal gain, for any sort of gain at the expense of others, fuck you. Yeah, I love that. There were guys at the bottom of our street wearing fire jackets and they had D.O.T. on their trucks and they were spraying fire retardant.

And I sent it to our guys and said, you know, what does this total scam back off? And I just thought, how sick you have to be to either be out there looting or to be trying to profitize. But also, you're right. It's just there's no time for politics and there's no time for anything else other than trying to help out, as the great Fred Rogers said, look for the helpers and be one of them, be one of them, because what else is there to do right now than to be a helper? We are kind of thrilled that we get to talk about football, too. It's a great way to distract us as well. I mean, I can't even tell you how hard it was to juggle trying to watch games and try to take care of kids and try to actually be out there helping.

And I was I'm lucky I was able to do a semblance of it. But there's nothing quite like having the distraction of football to take yourself away from the in the immediate pain and suffering that we have around us right now. I'll make one note as relates to football. Look, I've spent my entire career in football. I love the game of football, but it's a game and there are things that are more important of far greater importance and magnitude. So credit to the NFL for moving the game out of Los Angeles. It was the right decision. And thank you to the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings, who did everything they could to help the Rams.

I will tell you from my years in the league, that's consistent with everything I saw. Teams compete on the field and their colleagues in all other respects. And what a game it was, too. It was an absolutely fun distraction to watch as well.

Yeah, we will we'll dive into a lot of the future of where people are going in and where the teams lie in just a few. But I have to say that you learn a lot about people, about who they are in times of crises. And you're an upstander, Amy. And you immediately got involved with Animal Rescue. And just so you all know, where did Amy go last week? She went to go evacuate horses after this. I mean, well, I should be clear. I didn't evacuate any. I just helped walk them.

Well, I mean, come on, Amy. Well, you know, there was a fire many years ago and my horse was evacuated and he was terrified. And there were people who went and helped and walked him around.

And the poor little guy just wanted to sit down and like he was terrified. So the more we can do to help and look, your apples didn't fall far from their tree. Yeah, well, we're grateful all around. This is a day of gratitude for all of us.

And we will talk about football, obviously, because that's not why you came here to get a lesson or a lecture from us. But we just want to take a moment to say thank you and to say hug your family and go get to know your local firefighters. Let's not make this about Christmas or Easter or Thanksgiving when everybody goes out and, you know, works in a soup kitchen and feels good about themselves. I'm telling you guys, go to your local firehouse, get to know their names, get to know the guys.

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ATM fees for cash advances are up to $1 at non-Navy Federal ATMs. And as promised, Albert Breer joins us now, senior reporter for SI and MMQB and Amazon Prime because he does a lot of things. You wear a lot of hats, Albert. So as busy as you are, thank you so much for taking the time to drop by WTF. Hey, thanks for having me, guys.

Always a pleasure. That's great. Let's start right away with Mike Tomlin and Pittsburgh. Has the end of the road come there?

It seems to be a lot of disgruntled people in Pittsburgh in terms of fan base. 18 years, but is it time? Do I think it'll happen? No.

Do I think it should? You know, I'm starting to think that maybe the time is there to think about it, which is usually a year or two before something actually happens. But, you know, it was interesting. I actually had somebody ask me this question, I think it was last week, like, what's the difference between Mike McCarthy and Mike Tomlin? And I actually thought about it and I was like, you know what? Like, if you actually think about the resumes, they're almost the same. So, yeah, I had a mailbag question about Tomlin's future and I did the blind resume thing. And I'm just telling you guys, it was really close.

You know what I mean? They both have coached 18 seasons. The win total, the regular season win total was close. Tomlin was a little ahead on that. The playoff win total, McCarthy was a little ahead on that.

I think it was 11 to 8. They both have won one Super Bowl. Tomlin's been to two, but then McCarthy's been to four conference title games and Tomlin's only been to three. So, you know, I think it's interesting because you think of the way those two are perceived. And, I mean, there have been times, you know, and I love Mike, but there have been times when people have, like, sort of tried to cast him as this bumbling idiot, you know? And it's very different from the perception of Mike. And I'm not saying that to denigrate Mike. I think Mike's fantastic, but, you know, I do think that there comes a point when, you know, you look at it and say, is it time to turn the page? And, you know, so much of it with Mike, I think, is, like, you have this coach and this program and everything else and you want to keep feeding it. And, like, you never want to tear it down.

You never want to go through a full tear down. So they've kept feeding the program and they've kept it competitive throughout. And I think it's really a credit to them, like, how long they've been able to keep it at least on level ground. You know, but if you are looking at it and saying, is it time that we actually go through a tear down and we actually, you know, move some of our valuable assets? And we get a lot younger across the board because they've never really done that since Mike's been there. If we're going to do that over the next year or two, is that when we turn the page?

And to me, like, I think that that would be part and parcel to any decision that they would make here, right? It's not just, are we changing coaches? It's, do we actually want to go through a full rebuild, which a lot of teams do and the Steelers almost never have? You know, it's a big picture question. I think after eight years of pretty consistently being in the playoffs, but never winning a playoff game, it's a question I think you have to ask if you're there. And again, if you're asking that question, I think it naturally flows into a question about Tomlin's future and whether or not it's right to have him, you know, captain that rebuild and whether or not he would want to captain that rebuild.

It's so funny because you actually stole Amy's favorite expression and do what? And I want to dive into this a little bit deeper and unpack this because we really try to go past the headlines on this podcast. You said something really interesting. Tomlin is looked at as this wise scribe and some people look at McCarthy like he's a bumbling idiot.

Why do you think that is? I think it's, you guys remember, was it the Kennedy-Nixon debate, right? Like where I think it was like people who listen on the radio. It was the sweating.

Right. And so like people who listened on the radio thought Nixon won, but then people who watched it on TV, and it wasn't that many people back then because not everybody had TV, like thought Kennedy overwhelmingly won, right? You know, I think that like I bring that up because I think a lot of times like how someone presents can affect perception in a natural way, you know? And so I do wonder, you know, if the way that Mike Tomlin presents strength and projects this aura about him and Mike doesn't really have that as much. And so you do wonder if a part of it's just based on our own perceptions, you know, and a part of it's based on, you know, when you look at Mike Tomlin, you see something and then you say, OK, like, well, that represents him in all ways.

And then you look at McCarthy and you think the same thing. I think that could definitely be part of it. I think the drama at the end in Green Bay, the fact that McCarthy's already been fired, you know, everything that goes with coaching in Dallas, like I think that's part of it, too, is the organizations they've been a part of, you know, where Pittsburgh is so buttoned up and Pittsburgh is so straight laced. And the same way you never heard like questions of it ever being a circus or anything like that being asked of Bill Cowher, you really don't hear those questions asked of Mike Tomlin.

So I think our own perception can kind of fuel some of that stuff sometimes. And I like both. I think both guys are excellent head coaches. I think both guys on balance over the last 20 years are among the top 10 guys to coach in the NFL. But, you know, perception certainly certainly is different on the two of them.

Well, Mike Tomlin was asked about this this morning as we tape this on a Tuesday, and this is what he had to say. You know, I have no response to that. I understand the nature of what it is that we do, the attention and criticism that comes with it. As a matter of fact, I I embrace it, to be quite honest with you. I enjoy the urgency that comes with what I do and what we do. I don't make excuses for failure. I own it, but I also feel like I'm capable. And so as long as I'm afforded an opportunity to do that, I will continue. But I certainly understand their frustrations.

And probably more importantly than that, I share it because that's how I'm wired. And so I'm not a big time comfort seeker. And particularly in circumstances such as this, I don't view myself as a comfort provider because there's, you know, words are hollow, to be quite honest with you. It's about what we do and less about what we say.

And so I've learned to say very little when things are going good and I've learned to say less when they aren't. Talman, of course, addressing the fan base there. And Amy, you had a thought on that. Well, I do. But before I jump into that, tremendous respect for you and Albert both for referencing a presidential debate when we're discussing a comparison of head coaches. Mad respect for that.

Look, you referenced, Susie, that I often say and do what? And the reason I say that right now is sometimes it feels like change may be warranted simply to make a change. And I wonder if the Rooney's are contemplating that, struggling with that. But if you're going to make a change, you better have a good answer in place because you two spoke of Tomlin's record. It's an impressive record. Might they need to shake it up?

Yeah, they might. But and do what? Do you have a better answer? I mean, who do you think's out there for that? Would it be McCarthy leaving Dallas and going to Pittsburgh and then swapping mics? I mean, that's all for him. I mean, he's from he's from Pittsburgh. And if anybody can handle the stage of Dallas, I'd say it's Mike Tomlin. Right. And I do think like listening to Tomlin, maybe another factor that I didn't take into account quite as much is that Tomlin has addressed this stuff head on and he's accountable for it.

You know what I mean? So that's probably a factor, too. You know, I think that I mean, you know, like just listening to you guys talk there, I sort of thought back to the end of of Andy Reid in Philly. And you could certainly think about like what Andy Reid's become in Kansas City and think, God, like even though they've had success, the Eagles made a huge mistake.

Right. And I don't think that's really it. Like because I was there a lot, like, you know, in Andy's last two years in Philly. And it was just very clear it was over, you know, like it was just and I'm not saying Tomlin and Pittsburgh are at that point. But I think Andy himself would say that, like just the everything that goes into being in that market, you know, like the way that they were building the team, the way that that Andy had it set up with the front office where Andy had so much control and the front office was working for him.

It had just sort of run its course, you know. And I think like at the end, when Jeffrey Lurie fired Andy, I think it was as much as anything, you know, Jeffrey basically felt like everyone needed a fresh start. And I think he believed that Andy was going to go win somewhere else. Now, maybe he didn't think he was going to go win three Super Bowls somewhere else and counting. But, you know, I think Jeffrey believed that Andy was going to go somewhere else and win. And I think Andy would tell you, like this organization in Philadelphia is still really well run and they'll probably still win.

And both things happen, you know. The Eagles won 10 games the next year with Chip Kelly as their coach, won 10 games two years in a row with Chip Kelly and then fired him. And their last two coaches since then have both made it to the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, we know what Reid's done in Kansas City. So, you know, I think getting to that point with a coach and Andy, I believe, had been in Philly for 14 years at that point, you know, takes a lot of honesty. And had he won a Super Bowl.

Huh? And had not won a Super Bowl. He had won a Super Bowl. So that's a little different. That's a difference. But I think it does take like a level of honesty in a relationship between the two parties, you know. So between the owner and the coach where it's able, you're able to sit down and have that conversation. And, you know, like know that, like, yeah, this is ending.

But, you know, really, like the idea here is that everybody's next step will be a good one, you know. And it's rare that you can be in that position where you've had that much success together and you come to that point. Like, I don't think that was the divorce in New England last year, for example, you know. But I do think it was that way in Philadelphia. And I think whenever it does happen with Tom and it'll probably look a little something like that.

And Amy, you know, we talked about it before and I asked you about your experience because you can have a coach that everyone thinks is amazing. You're worried that they're going to go elsewhere and win. But if you're 18 in and you're not winning and you're the owner, what's the point of getting to the conference championship game or even getting into the playoffs if you don't have the ring to follow? Well, and now you're channeling your inner Al Davis. Right.

That might scare you a little bit. I love it. Because that was Al's view. It's not enough to get to the playoffs. You've got to win it all. But I would counter that and say, but you can't win it all unless you get to the playoffs.

So I think there's two sides to that coin. Is the goal winning at all, as you just stated? Absolutely.

But if you don't at least get there, you don't have a chance to win at all. Albert, thoughts? Yeah. You know what? And I'm just like looking up the ages here. So T.J. Watt is going to turn 31 next season. Minka Fitzpatrick is going to turn 29 next season. You think about some of the key pieces on the team that was still of value to somebody else. And I think the equation for me that I do in my head, you asked that question, right, Amy?

Like then what? Like, oh, you need to make the playoffs to make it this suitable. So the math in my head, if I were the Steelers right now, if I were having an honest conversation about my star players and what our plan would be going forward is, are we going to be good enough, fast enough to be in true contention for a Super Bowl, not where we are now, but in true contention and fighting the Chiefs and the Bills and the Bengals if they bounce back and the Ravens to get into the Super Bowl out of the AFC, are we going to get there quick enough where Watt and Fitzpatrick are still going to be in the prime of their careers? In other words, you know, maybe Watt has two, three, four more years left.

Same with Fitzpatrick based on the position he plays at the level that they're playing at. Are you going to be able to get there fast enough based on where you are a quarterback and other key spots in the team, or are you just in a spot now where it's like, we're not going to be able to get there fast enough? So maybe it is time to get younger and maybe it is time to go and try to stockpile draft picks for some of the most valuable players on our roster. It's just such an interesting spot they're in, because I think if you're a Steelers fan, the last thing you would want is to get to a point in those guys' career in Watt and Fitzpatrick where you're watching them get old and you still haven't won playoff games with them, and now they don't have any value left to another team. You know what I mean? So like, I think that part of it is really, I think it's an interesting spot to be in where you have to be, again, honest with yourself about where you are, and if it is time for the reset, then maybe you can go out and you can get something really valuable for guys like that. Maybe you look at it and you say, maybe we're going to be bad for a year, but maybe that'll put us in position to draft a quarterback over the next year or two. Or you flip it and you say, you know what? We're going to go all in next year or the year after that with the core we have, and we're going to go try to get Aaron Rodgers, you know? Oh, God, really?

There are different... Well, I'm just saying, I'm just saying, I don't want to trigger me. And then you bring in McCarthy and then you reunite him back with his Super Bowl winning quarterback, and then the Steelers pick 21st in the draft, and then they, I mean, Jesus Christ, okay, now you're really close. But that's the thing, Susie, is that's their option, right? Because it's not going to be Russell Wilson, right? I mean, what are we thinking?

No, I mean, I'd be surprised. I mean, I think where they are right now, there's a lot of frustration with the way Russ played towards the end of the year. And there's some stuff there where I just, I don't feel like, I don't feel like Russell Wilson will be back there next year. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think that he'll be back there next year. I think they want to keep working with Justin Fields. I just don't know that they're going to say, yes, Justin, you can be the starter next year. So if he has an opportunity to start somewhere else, obviously he'll probably take that.

So then he'd be gone too. So now where are you at quarterback? I mean, your options in free agency, in my mind, would probably be Kirk Cousins or Aaron Rogers, who'd be upgrades, but, you know, are clearly, you know, they're not just on the back nine, they're on 17 or 18 right now, right? So like, where's your path at quarterback? It's a really tough spot to be in. And, you know, I don't think there are answers, there are great answers in the draft this year, and you don't have that high a pick anyway. You're sort of stuck in this no man's land.

So, you know, I'd really consider looking at the idea of bottoming out. Like I looked at the quarterbacks in the divisional round, I think it was something like six of the eight quarterbacks left were drafted in the top 10. It's something like that. I have to look that up again. But, you know, it's great to think of the idea, yeah, we're going to go find Brock Purdy.

It's a lot harder to pull that off. You know, Albert, you mentioned quarterback, but flipping back to what you were saying about the analysis as to maximizing the capital you have on your roster right now, another factor in this, and Jerry Jones acknowledged this, is the age of the team's primary controlling owner and whether that owner is going to factor that in. So putting the Rooney's aside for one moment, putting Art Rooney aside for one moment and turning to Jerry, I'll just simply note that while everything you said is absolutely, you know, how did Mona Lisa Vito say it, dead on, balls accurate, a lot of owners will factor in their age.

How much longer do they have? Are they willing to make decisions now that may be better in the long term interest of the franchise, even if they're not the best answers in the short term interest? But these owners may say, and again, I'm not speaking for Art Rooney, Jerry Jones acknowledged this, so I'm not speaking for him.

He spoke for himself. You're going to look at long term versus short term a lot differently as you approach the waning years of your life. And I'm not wishing that on Jerry, but look, I experienced that with Al Davis during Al's last years with the team. Fans were very critical of decisions he was making saying, hey, those aren't in the long term interests of the team or the best long term interests.

And what I'm thinking of myself as I hear that is he knows he doesn't have a long term. Well, we talked about this last week with Stephen A. Smith on our podcast. And if you missed that, you can go find it on YouTube or wherever you find your podcast. But we talked about that exact thing, Albert, about the lack of people telling Jerry what time it is, whether they're afraid to do so, whether it's his family. Stephen actually spoke directly to his family through this very podcast.

And I'd love to hear your thoughts on that as Amy brought up that valid point. Yeah, I think Jerry's I mean, it's interesting because I think Jerry has some, I would say, competing priorities, you know, and one that like he's been sort of the leader of the pack in the idea that teams are spending too much on dead money on coaches contracts. Now that's a rabbit hole we can jump down. I guess the Panthers would be a good example, right? They're still paying Matt Ruhl and Frank Reich while they employ Dave Canales as their head coach. So like that's put them in this difficult spot where, you know, you're allowing for a coach's contract to run out. And I think if Mike McCarthy had say two years left on his deal, he'd probably still be there right now. But it's complicated doing a new completely new contract with a coach and it's put them in a spot now where it feels like they've got to start over a little bit. And so now Jerry looks at it and, you know, again, like he wants to go chase a championship badly, but, you know, his business principle there kind of, I think, put the team in a tough spot. And now you go from having an experienced Super Bowl winning coach and Mike McCarthy, who won 12 games three years in a row for you, and I think had a pretty representative effort from his team this year, even after the quarterback went down for the year.

And you're back kind of in the wilderness looking for one. So, you know, how do you find a coach who's ready to go? Is that Kellen Moore? Is that Deion Sanders?

Is that Steve Sarkeesian at Texas? I don't think they know right now. And it's an interesting spot to be in because they're so deeply invested in Dak. They're so deeply invested in CeeDee Lamb. Micah Parsons is not going to come cheap.

I mean, I'm telling you right now, I think he's going to want $40 million a year. So you're really kind of invested in a small group of players. You got an older owner, and yet the coaching situation is in flux because of this business principle.

It's a really weird spot that they're in. You know, the one thing I'll note, and the reason I'm noting this, so I'd love to hear your opinion, Suzy and Albert, a lot of times there's focus on assistant coaches around the league, assistants, coordinators. I just remember an incident with Joe Bugle. Al decided to fire Joe, and I went and sought Joe out in the building the morning he was going to be fired. And I said, I'm sorry, it didn't work out. And Joe looked at me and said, Amy, it didn't work out because I'm not a good head coach. And he looked at me and he went on and he said, I'm a very good coach. I know I'm a very good head coach. I'm not a good head coach, and I'm at peace with this decision that Al's made. So my question to you both is, how much do you believe owners should weigh in to this analysis? Not all assistant coaches or coordinators make good head coaches.

I think it's really important. I always tell people, I'm like, the job, so let's take Chicago and New England, right? So they both have young quarterbacks, they both have job openings. And I think both those organizations over the last couple of years have been pretty dysfunctional with some of the things that have gone on there. With some of the things that have gone on there, if you have that problem and you need somebody to come in and change, to use the cliche, change the culture, right? Somebody to come in and create a hard reset for the entire football operation and be the leader of that. Why would you be so focused on getting somebody to coach one guy, especially when that one guy could get pulled in the wrong direction if he's in the wrong environment?

You know what I mean? If things are bad around him, his career could be really affected by that. And that's one reason why, I think the Patriots process sucked, but I think they wound up with the right guy because I think he's a guy who's going to come in and he's going to be in charge and he's going to set the culture and it's going to be a good environment in there, a winning environment in there. And it's not about just coaching one guy, it's about coaching all of them. You know, I think, you know, like you look at Dan Campbell in Detroit, like he didn't call a play in New Orleans.

He was never, that was never who he was, but he was an elite leader. I mean, I remember talking to Jared Goff about this. I said, like, I remember I asked Jared over the summer, like, it seems like, you know, Dan's got pretty good emotional intelligence and Jared stopped and looked at me and goes, he's got the best I've ever been around. And this is a guy who was coached by Sean McVay, who I'd say is pretty good in that department too, right? So, you know, like it's, I think we look at this so much of what we look at when we judge these guys is just what we see on TV, right? It's does the guy have a play sheet on his mouth, covering his mouth? Does he, does he, is he interacting with the quarterback?

Does the quarterback look good or are there all kinds of bells and whistles on the offense and the way that everything's moving and everything else? Like, does, do I have a lot of eye candy up there when I'm watching on TV? And the reality is there's so much of the job that never shows up on TV, that we never see, that's behind closed doors, that's getting the most out of people. That's, you know, creating the right environment for people to work in every day to get the most out of them.

It doesn't mean the happiest environment, but the right environment for them to be in. I've learned over 20 years covering the league that like, that's to me, like, I think that's the most important thing. I think that's your baseline. In fact, I think people at the Rams would tell you, and you guys may know this, but um, I think people at the Rams would tell you that Sean, as a, and I've known Sean a long time, like Sean, as a quarterbacks coach, as a play caller, right? Like as far as his qualities, those would probably be like kind of far down the list, as far as what he does well, you know what I mean? Like just, I mean, who he is as a leader, who he is in connecting with people, who he is in building relationships, those are his biggest strengths. And yes, he's really good at coaching the quarterback and yes, he's really good at calling an offense, but like he has all the other stuff too, you know? And so I, I think it's something that's overlooked because it's something we can't put a statistic on. It's something that PFF can't, can't tell you how good a guy is at, you know? I, I think it's, it's the most important thing. It's the baseline to me of, of building, build, building a winner.

I think if you don't have it, you, you don't have anything. Well, for anybody who watches the bear, they know that there's a guy who's going to run the kitchen, there's going to be somebody else who makes the sauce and another person who makes the pastry. I mean, that's really what it boils down to.

There are so many different people. You're talking about a cooking show and I'm thinking the bear, the bears, we're not talking about the bear. No, no, no, not the bears, not the bears, but the bear. It took me a minute. No, because you know, I'm listening to this and thinking about all these interviews that are going on with all these coordinators for teams that are heading into the playoffs and just how distracting it is to be interviewed for a potential job while you're trying to win the next game.

You are singing to the choir. I mean, can you imagine like having like, all right, like we're going to put everything into this week. And I think like, sometimes you forget like during the season, like what a, what an absolute like just, I mean, 12 car pileup at playoff game can be for, for an organization, you know, like you look at an organization one way for, for a game that's going to be four months and then it does, it can do a complete 180 in three hours.

You know, like I was, I was reading something, I was like, I think it was a pro football talk headline, but it was something about the Packers future and how like, this is a problem or that, I mean, like, Oh my God, like the way we're talking about this team after one bad afternoon when they had a bunch of injuries, you know what I mean? Like it's, so you think about like everything that's how so much of the way they're going to be perceived for the seven months after the season ends is going to be based on how these single afternoons go and then everything you have to do to prepare, prepare for those afternoons. And Oh, by the way, like here are the biggest job interviews you'll ever have like shoehorned in there. I'd imagine, I don't know, you know, obviously, but I'd imagine that's a pretty tough thing to manage. Albert, this is something I've been saying since my years in the league, the league should absolutely limit, prohibit, not allow whatever you want to say, no coaching interviews whatsoever until after the super bowl, no coaching interviews of, of anybody whatsoever. Whether the people you want to interview are in the college NFL, whether the NFL team is in the playoffs or not, whether the college team is in the bowl game or not, no interviews that prohibited until after the super bowl. And to people who say, but, but, but free agency, but, but, but the draft, well, you know what?

Those can be pushed back as well. And before I turn to my ski trip, that would really screw up my ski trip. Well, you know what?

Well, we'll find you snow somewhere else. The other thing is you mentioned Dan Campbell and what a great, great point for us to make with people about not judging people based on a first impression. We all remember the knee biting comments and what, oh my gosh, the opprobrium he took. Well, guess what? Look at him now.

That's just such a good lesson to not judge people at the first moment. Nick Sirianni is another one, right? Like you remember his opening press conference is like, oh my God, this guy's going to be eaten alive in Philadelphia and look at where he is now. I mean, he's withstood so much, you know what I mean? Like in, I mean, his record, it's almost like comical that like the guy's been on the hot seat. I mean, three years and his first three years during the playoffs, he took over a four win team that was going through a quarterback change, right? Going from Carson Wentz to Jalen Hurts and got off to a really rough start that first year. He makes the playoffs the first year, gets to the super bowl the second year, makes the playoffs the third year. Now the third year they fell off a cliff a little bit that puts them on the hot seat.

And now he's back there again as the number two seed in the NFC. It's, you know, but so much of it, I think it's just kind of like how he started in our perception of him. First impressions are not always correct impressions. Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first. Like you should know you should check your draft stats first before you put them on your fantasy team, or you should definitely check the expiration date on that can of bean dip you picked up at the gas station first before you dive in.

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I don't get it. It's not April. Why am I thinking about my taxes now?

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Get an expert now on TurboTax.com. I'm going to turn in a different direction and that is to Minnesota. What a whole lot of questions they have to answer right now. Are they going to extend their coach who just made himself a lot of money? Are they going to keep this quarterback who up until two weeks ago was making himself some money and now people are saying it's plummeting? So many decisions to be made there.

Where do you see them going? Well, they don't have any choice on O'Connell. Like, they got to give Kevin what he wants.

And he's young and he's valuable. I mean, he's in a perfect position. There's just no, yeah. I mean, like they waited a year too long, right? Like they should have done it last year. They only gave him four years when they hired him, which is probably a mistake. They probably should have given him five. And then they passed on the chance to redo him after two, which you'll note is what Miami did. Miami had a four-year deal with Mike McDaniel and redid him last year. So this is the position they put themselves in by not giving him the longer deal in the beginning and by not taking care of him two years ahead of time. So now Kevin holds all the cards. And it's like one of those contract negotiations where I think they just got to say, just don't make it hurt too much.

But I think they recognize that they're going to have to do whatever it takes to make sure that he's going to be there for a long time. The quarterback thing is way more complicated. The quarterback thing to me, so like there's an analogy here.

And it was 2005 where the Chargers drafted Phillip Rivers in 04. At that point, they thought they were out on Drew Brees. And they thought Rivers would beat out Drew Brees in camp. Then Brees comes back pissed off, wins the job in camp, has a dynamite year. They win 12 games.

Oh God, what do we do? And then the Chargers decide, OK, we're going to tag Brees and basically kick the can down the road for a year. So the next year, Brees gets hurt. They go to Rivers.

And I think everything sort of worked out for everybody from there. That's an option for the Vikings now. It's just way more expensive to tag a quarterback than it used to be. And do you want to do that at $40 million? Because it's a big lump sum.

I mean, Amy, as you know, carrying a number like that can be pretty onerous on your cap. You know, so it's going to be between $40 and $45 million. On the flip side, they could say, OK, like, we're going to walk away from Sam now. We're going to go to JJ. We love what we saw him in camp, what we saw from him in camp. But the problem is, one, is he going to be healthy? He's been through two knee surgeries now. Is he going to be there for any of OTAs? Is he going to be there from any camp?

You know, and what's the cost going to be? Because you don't know right now of losing four months of a development. Because, you know, you love what you saw in July and August. But you still have lost a full season of development behind the scenes that he would have gotten. And, you know, you've got other players in that locker room to serve. You've got a veteran team that now won, you know, 13 games two years ago and 14 games this year. So, you know, for your, you know, Justin Jeffersons, your Jordan Addisons, your TJ Hawkinsons, your Jonathan Granards, like, they don't want to be part of an experiment.

You know what I mean? Like, so if you're going to roll the dice on JJ McCarthy, you better be right. And I think the world is JJ. I think JJ's got a really bright future.

But how good is he going to be in that first year for those veterans that are looking to try to chase a championship right now? Again, it's just a really complicated question that doesn't have an easy answer. You know, you either pay the piper, you know, you pay the piper, you pay the piper. You know, and do the franchise tag now. You could let them go to the market and say, hey, come back to us with whatever you're offered and we may be willing to match or you move on to JJ. In any case, you know, there's going to be, I think, some risk involved. And it's a champagne problem because too many quarterbacks, it's a champagne problem. But it's one that I know is going to be a really difficult one for them. Do you think Tomlin would even work in Dallas? Yeah, I think so. I mean, I covered that team.

I was on that beat. It's a unique place to say the least. I think it just takes a certain type of individual to handle being there. You know, I think he would be able to handle it. You know, now the interaction with ownership would be interesting, you know.

But I would say this, like, it's different. But Mike Tomlin has worked in a building in the last 18 years where the owners are there day to day. You know, like the Rooney's is their family business. They're in the office day to day. So having the owners around wouldn't really be new for Mike. Yeah, I think it would work.

I think I could certainly see where Mike Tomlin would be a really good fit in Dallas. Unless, of course, Dion comes to town. So let's just unwrap that one before we got one more question for you going out the door. But I mean, that would be the big, shiny, you know, Bentley driving in the front driveway. Well, we know how Jerry loves headlines, right?

No, wait, really? That would be a heck of a headline, yeah. What was the line from the trailer for the Netflix series, which I've heard is going to be unbelievable. But I think he said in that trailer it's bigger than football. This is a way to make it bigger than football. Yeah, he views the NFL as a big soap opera. And that would certainly be, he'd be creating, you know, quite an episode for that soap opera by bringing Dion in. Would it work?

I don't know. I mean, I think with somebody like Dion, you probably have to support him with staff. But, you know, what Dion just pulled off at Colorado, it's pretty unbelievable. You know, like, to be able to do what he did and turn it as quickly as he did and get the guys to buy in the way he did. And, you know, I think one thing that people miss about Dion is, just as far as I've heard it, is that's a very old school program.

It's a demanding program. And, you know, I think, like, part of the magic of Dan Campbell, because we used his name earlier, is that, you know, as much as he loves his guys, he asks a ton of them. And there's a ton of Parcells in him.

And so, like, playing there isn't for everybody. And they've looked for a certain type of player who fits, you know, what they're looking, who fits their mold, and who can handle playing for Dan. And I think it would become the same thing with Dion, where I think Dion, for all the bells and whistles, is actually really old school in his approach and what he wants out of his team and what he wants his team to look like. So, I think Dion could definitely motivate. He could definitely reach players. And I think he could absolutely lead and create a vision. I just think, you know, at the NFL level, he would probably need some infrastructure around him to make that vision come to life.

And he's, of course, said that he wants to coach somewhere where he could coach both of his sons, but the Cowboys have a quarterback on the contract. So that's a different, you know... I've heard people say that.

That is so ridiculous. Like, look where they're drafting. Okay, if Chidora goes in the top five, you would be giving up so much capital to go up there and get him, number one.

Right? And then number two, you'd be doing that with like a contract that you... I don't think you can move Dak's contract. Well, that's my point. That, you know, you've got a quarterback in Dallas, so would Dion go there?

Yeah, this is not Rob Polinka building a team for LeBron, you know what I mean? Right. So the question is, would he go there without his son? Yeah. Right. It makes no sense. So, I mean, I think they could get Shiloh. Way to go out on a limb. Yeah.

I think they could land Shiloh, but the idea of getting Chidora, it wouldn't make any football sense to move up and go and get him and give up the kind of capital it would take to go get them, then take on the cap damage that it would take to move Dak off the roster, which would completely negate the advantage that you have having a quarterback on a rookie contract. It just makes sense on zero levels. Well, and that was my question. And that was my question. My assumption was if they even look, we're all dreaming and hypothesizing and all of that, but even were they to sign Dion, would he be willing to go where they can't have his son? Yeah.

And I think that's a fair question. You know, I think obviously, like, you know, anybody who has kids knows like how meaningful, you know, it is to be around them in any sort of forum and work with them and be able to teach them and hand something down to them. So I wouldn't in any way, like poke fun at Dion's relationship with his kids, obviously is awesome. You know what I mean?

Like what he's been able to do the last four years in two different places while creating all like these unbelievable opportunities for a lot of other kids, you know, but like the NFL is a different cat and I think he knows that. You know what I mean? Like, so. You're going to make me bring up the Landman episode again with Jerry talking about his soliloquy about working with his kids, Albert.

And now I'm on another TV show. Yeah. Well, I think Jerry was playing himself in that, wasn't he? Like that was, I mean, everybody talked about what a great actor he is and it was a really good clip, but like, I, I mean, I don't know, like it just sort of like seemed like, all right, I'm just going to be myself.

And that, and that, by the way, Jerry just as himself is really entertaining. So, so I don't blame people for really liking what they saw there. No, it was pretty intense. It was pretty great. Um, Albert, uh, last time I saw Rich leaving the studio, he was going to big five to go get a Notre Dame sweatshirt.

Oh, do I need to pull it off the shelf? I mean, maybe he wasn't, but I, uh, I think he's become a golden domer for the weekend. Yeah. It's just like, I was a Washington Husky last year. Yeah. So how'd that work out? Yeah, I actually have, I actually have, I hate admitting this.

I have like an Alabama sweatshirt upstairs last from, uh, from last year's Rose Bowl that somebody sent to me. So, um, so yeah. Yeah.

I'm trying to figure out how both teams can lose. Right. Albert, how are you feeling?

Yeah. Tell Rich what, babe? Tell, tell, tell, tell Rich that I, that I hope he has a really miserable, um, Monday night. You want to make a wager? And me and me and our mutual friend, Don, we will send him a bunch of texts from Atlanta.

Fantastic. Any wager? You want to make any wager?

Like a trading place is one dollar. I'd be happy to. I mean, like I think for Michigan, I think for Michigan people though, this is, this is miserable. Cause I used to be a Michigan people. I don't know if we're just a Michigan person. I don't know if we're just told you this, but I'm, I'm a triple legacy at Michigan. I grew up rooting for Michigan.

Um, I didn't get in, so I wound up, uh, I wound up going the other way. Um, but I grew up like Michigan people hate Notre Dame, hate Notre Dame. So this has gotta be a, there's gotta be a really horrible predicament for, for Rich. I really feel for him. Oh, you know, he thinks Rudy cheated. I mean, like his whole life has been about hating the movie Rudy. I wanted to watch it with the kids and he's like, you can't watch Rudy. It's a farce. He cheated. I'm like, oh Jesus, go in the, go in the kitchen. I think we've all heard the rumors that Rudy's actually an a-hole, right? Well, how do you feel about this game before I let you go?

And thanks again for your time. Um, pretty good. Pretty good.

I think Ryan Day, I think we've seen, I, you know, Richard loved this. Like I think the Michigan game wound up being a blessing in disguise. And, um, I think that their hiccup game where they made a bunch of mistakes was actually the last one against Texas. It looked like they were going to run away with it.

Um, so I don't want to jinx anything or make any predictions, but I, I feel pretty good about, about Monday. The one thing that scares me is that, um, Marcus Freeman, who was a captain at Ohio state has a team that looks like a trestle team, um, which, you know, that the connection there is obvious. That was his head coach. And I just know trestle teams are always capable of taking games into dark alleys and turning them into street fights. And that's how he beat Miami in 02.

So that scares me a little bit. Marcus has done a fantastic job there. Made it much harder for me to hate Notre Dame. Um, but, uh, but I feel pretty good about Monday.

Albert as always. Thanks again for your time. Really appreciate it. Very much. Awesome. Anytime guys. I appreciate you having me. Thank you, Albert. And it will be interesting as well to see whether or not Ohio state will need a new coach.

If Ryan Day does in fact lose that game as well. Interesting. He also always looks like he's going heavy on the just for men in the beard.

So I always find it distracting when he goes on camera, he's got that super dark black beard and, and, and the hair and come on, you have to be a little petty here, but you're not going petty with me. Fine. Um, let me tell you a funny story about Jim trestle. I was doing a game and Mike Torico and Tim Brandt and Terry Bowden. I pulled in. We went to go do all of our interviews at the shoe and trestle says to me, I think we're related. And I was like, how do you figure coach? He says, I'm into genealogy.

And he had this, he takes me in the back of his office. He pulls out this book of genealogy and it's years and years of trestles. And then he says, look, look at all these Schuster. So I'm like, Oh my God.

You're right. And there's years and years of Schuster's and trestles. Now, of course there was a C in the, in the Schuster. I didn't have the heart to tell him like, Hey Jim, I'm not sure those are Jews or not, but like we dropped the C. So like he's went on, he's hugging me.

He's still to this day. We'll say like, it's my cousin. It's Susie. I'm like, that's, that's me. That's you and me, Jim.

We're tight, we're tight like that. But I think you just spilled the beans. I know. But if you're watching out there cousin Jim, I still love you and have did nothing but the best of times working with him.

He was actually hysterical to deal with. I don't do that genealogy thing. No. I don't, I don't know. I'm not giving anyone my DNA.

No, it's too crazy. Let's leave you where we found you and just say thanks again to all of you who are out there fighting these fires, putting yourselves in harm's way and working so hard to preserve this incredible community that we have here in Southern California. Amy and I feel so grateful to be a part of it. And we want to thank each and every one of you for listening to this. If any of you are out there fighting these fires and then speaking to so many of the firefighters that I referenced to begin this podcast, a lot of you who do listen to this podcast, I want to say thank you again.

And I hope that this was a nice distraction, a respite from all of the incredibly hard work that you are doing. So we just want to say thank you again. And how much we appreciate being a part of this greater community.

Amy? It's beautiful to see the community coming together the way it has, as I referenced when we opened. We learn at moments like this that there are far, far, far more good people in the world than bad people in the world. And I addressed the bad people earlier.

Yeah. And like we said as well, please don't forget to put your time in. And if you can get away from work and go volunteer, it makes you feel so much better, so much more hopeful to look around the room and see other people pitching in the way you do. Best Friends Animal is doing incredible work, trying to get money and food and support, transporting animals out of Southern California and around. If it even means going to Pierce College and bringing some apples and carrots to the horses there, that's pretty great too. The Red Cross is doing incredible work. And then look within your own community. It seems to me that almost every school is putting together some kind of fundraiser or drive. So however you can get involved, as we said, to start the show, look for the helpers and make yourself one of those as well. Thanks for taking in this edition of What the Football. Come react or overreact with us.
Whisper: medium.en / 2025-01-14 20:08:01 / 2025-01-14 20:33:01 / 25

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