Chad Brown, 3x Pro Bowler

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A Peanut Butter M&M's Production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners-up get nothing, one retired cop returns. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter, but you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort, coming soon to a Super Bowl new you. And we welcome in a former NFL linebacker, was a three-time Pro Bowler, a two-time First Team All-Pro, played for the Steelers, the Seahawks, and the Patriots, and that's Chad Brown, kind enough to join us. Chad, always appreciate you jumping on board. Thanks so much for doing this. How are you? I'm fantastic. Thanks for having me on.

Well, thanks so much for coming on. Let me get your instant reaction. McDonald's going to be the new head coach of the Seahawks. Pete Carroll, no longer the HC. Your first thought was what with Mike McDonald?

Wow. They flipped the script incredibly. They went from the oldest coach in the league to now the youngest coach in the league. You know, I think if you're an owner trying to balance out the experience versus youth factor, obviously the younger the coach is, the more connected he can be to the players most likely versus, you know, the experienced coach who's going to have seen it all, but may not be able or may not be as relatable to the players. In Seattle, they got a guy who was both. Pete Carroll has been through many wars, ups and downs, battles, success, lots of different places, lots of different ways. But Pete Carroll was about as connected to his players as any coach I've ever been around. I did a coaching internship out there in Seattle the year after they lost that Super Bowl to the New England Patriots. And it was an amazing experience to do the entire preseason program with them as a coaching intern. And Pete had created the most player friendly, the most positive environment I had ever been around, not just as a coach, but in any professional setting I had ever been around.

So now Mike McDonald's got a very tough situation in front of him trying to replicate that culture in some ways. I think his experience, his success from an X's and O's standpoint seems pretty clear, whether it's University of Michigan or in Baltimore. But now he's got to prove himself as the head coach, the leader of an entire organization.

I think something you brought up was pretty big. And it's a credit to Pete Carroll that he was able to realize that years and years before many other coaches is the player coach kind of mentality now. Because I don't think a My Way or the Highway coach works anymore in the NFL. But there's a fine line, as you've seen, you've got to be a player's coach, but you can't be a doormat. And I think Pete did that better in Seattle than pretty much anybody where he was a player's coach, but ultimately had the great respect of those players in the locker room. Yes, I think it's a difficult combination when you're asking to be a player's coach, but yet still be demanding and try to pull the best out of everyone, because not everyone shows up and gives their best.

A lot of people that needs to be pulled out, you got to extract that from people. And it takes a tough-minded coach, which Pete certainly was, to do that and demand that every single day, yet and still keep the atmosphere very positive. The Seahawks had a DJ at practice every day during training camp, which makes you think it's going to be some very loose laissez-faire kind of thing, yet and still there were some of the more physical practices I had ever been around as an interim coach.

So how you do that, I think, takes a very special person to pull it out. Pete was clearly that guy. We'll see if Mike is able to replicate that. There's a lot of surprising moves from this hiring cycle, like Pete's not going to have a head coaching job next year. Bill Belichick's not going to have a coaching job. And when you look at Seattle, I never thought they'd be players for Belichick, because you were just moving on from an older coach. I didn't think you're going to bring in another older coach. But I look at a guy like Mike Rabel, I thought that would have been the ideal hire for the Seattle Seahawks, because he has that mix of, yes, being a defensive-minded coach, could be a player's coach but isn't a doormat, and also being that former player and being a younger guy.

I thought it would have been the best of all worlds for the Seahawks. I know you know Mike, but how about that idea? Well, for Mike, for Pete, and for Bill Belichick, I thought all three of those guys would find homes pretty quickly, considering how experienced they are, how much success they have had, and who they are as people. Their ability to navigate the difficulties of building a culture, their ability to bring players together and bring the best out of people kind of thing. All three of those guys, I think, have done that and shown that in their careers. So it's interesting that all three are going to be not the least seemingly, at this point, I know the commanders still have to hire to go, but it doesn't seem like it's going in those three guys' direction, won't be a part of an NFL coaching room this year. Mike, certainly the younger of those three guys, and to your point, yes, I played with Mike. He was a coach back then when I was a New England Patriot. He was definitely the smartest guy in the room outside of Bill Belichick, but that's actually, I think, one of the reasons why he hasn't necessarily been hired just yet, because Mike does wear that smartest guy on the room thing when he walks into a room and he meets people. My uncle literally had a 10-second conversation with Mike Vrabel when we both were Patriots, and when Mike walked away, my uncle said, he's the smartest guy in the room, huh? I said, yeah, he is, which is great because he is the smartest guy in the room, but I don't think everybody needs to know that all the time, every time.

So maybe that rubbed some of the ownership groups the wrong way. I don't know, but if you hire Mike Vrabel, you're going to get an amazingly-minded head coach who is incredibly smart, who knows the X's and O's, who can relate to players. So whoever hires him is going to get a winner in that head coaching position. Talking to Chad Brown right now, do you think Belichick will coach again? Do you think he'll be a head coach again in the NFL?

I certainly hope so. I think he's still got his fireball. Now, the thing with older coaches is, excuse me, is I don't believe they lose their ability to stay up with football. They don't lose their ability to relate to the current X's and O's and whatever the play of the year is. You know, a couple of years ago it was the jet sweep and it was the zone reaped the quarterback.

Every year there's some kind of new play that defenses have to figure out and crack. So I don't think Bill Belichick is ever going to not be able to pull that off, but every year you get older and every year the players in the room stay the same age. And I've been around older coaches who have lost their ability to relate to players, have lost their ability to connect to players. And Bill is certainly kind of old school with his approach.

And you talked earlier about, you know, that approach doesn't really work so much in today's college football environments, and definitely not in the NFL either. So can Bill bend his approach a little bit to meet today's players and still be relatable? Because I think that's the biggest hurdle for him from a locker room standpoint. I think from an ownership standpoint, is Bill going to be willing to give up control?

Those are two things that certainly worked against him, I think, in this hiring cycle. Talking to Chad Brown right now, I also will make a prediction. I just heard that Jerry Jones was already talking about Bill Belichick and how they think they could work well together.

That seems like it's him rolling out the red carpet when the Cowboys choke again in the playoffs and McCarthy's on the final year of his deal this year to just go make... The sultan of sizzle, the titan of toastiness, the kingpin of kindling. These are the admired ones, those who've created the prime place together. They don't just have a backyard, they have the backyard. Because they know a Solo Stove fire pit is more than just the ultimate smokeless fire pit. It's a place where friendships are forged, football is revered, and food is enjoyed. Solo Stove, the perfect flame for the big game.

A peanut butter M&M's production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners-up get nothing, one retired cop returns... That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter, but you're on a roll.

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Offer valid for a limited time, $10 minimum per order. Additional terms apply. The jump next year for Bill Belichick. I thought that was a possibility this year, and even after being Buffalo, Bill was lost. I thought that was a possibility as well, because Bill has already shown, shown a number of times, as evidenced by the Lombardi trophies occupying the trophy case out there in New England, that he knows how to take a team all the way to the end. So for Mike McCarthy, for Sean McDermott, they've made those teams into what they are. Very, very good football teams.

Well, for whatever reason, they're unable to get over the hump. Well, here's a guy who's available, who has proven he can get over the hump, and for both those teams, they are still in a smaller Super Bowl window with Dak Prescott in Dallas, with Josh Allen in Buffalo. So here's a guy who's probably not going to do it for 10 more years. You'd be lucky if you got three years and four years out of Bill Belichick. So why not jump on him now and get those teams over the hump while they still have these players under contract and while they're still in that Super Bowl window?

So maybe that can't kick down the road until next year, but I don't think any football fans should think that that's not a strong possibility for the end of next season. Wrapping up with Chad Brown, is it just as simple as this with Seattle's decision to move on from Pete Cowell as the head coach? They never thought this team that he currently had in the next few years was going to be a Super Bowl contender, and they could just be stuck on being a fringe playoff team, so that's why they elected to reset.

Is it just as simple as that when you look back at the decision? I think so, and if you've been around any NFL coach for a long period of time, their number of clichés don't grow as the years go along. They come in with their stockpile of clichés, and then they stick with them. And so if a coach is in one place for a long period of time, everyone in the building has heard his stories and his clichés, and at some point it starts to wear out.

Even a guy as positive as Pete, that starts to wear down. I was in Pittsburgh for Bill Cowell's second season as the head coach. I also went back and played in year 14 of my career in his last season as a head coach. He was telling the same stories.

He was doing the same things. So at some point that begins to get old and get a little bit stale, so I think Pete's going to be a tremendous hire if he chooses to coach against some other place, but I think in Seattle the message had worn a little bit thin, and they needed some fresh blood to keep that thing going. And also to your point, a little bit of a rebuild needed to happen anyway, so why not do that with a young coach who may not be firing all cylinders in year one, but you're not really a deep playoff team in year one anyway, and then have him grow as a team grows so year three and four they can really be contenders. Since we're talking about coaches, and you bring up that right, you used to play for the Steelers, Mike Tomlin is someone that is a really good coach. They never finished below.500, but they haven't won a playoff game in Pittsburgh since 2016.

Do you think his message is starting to wear thin a little bit, and they maybe need to reset in that organization? Well, in that organization they're incredibly patient. They've had three head coaches since 1969, which is absolutely amazing. There's some teams have had three coaches in the last five years. Or for the Panthers, three years. Right. True. The track record of patience for the Rooney family is clear.

It's established. So maybe that's going to happen here in the future. I know Coach Tomlin is looking forward to an extension this offseason. We'll see how all that plays out.

And maybe they're able to come to a meeting of the minds and say, hey, you know what? Three more years. That takes you to year 20. That's a great run, Mike. And then after that, we should probably start looking to move on.

And maybe you should start looking to move on as well. Because the Rooney family are that kind of classy organization. I don't think they're going to do anything rash at the end of the season. It's going to be an extended conversation in the offseason where they both can meet together and decide the future of the Steelers. I don't believe in Kenny Pickett. I don't believe in Mason Rudolph. There's all this speculation, right, that the Bears are going to take Caleb Williams at one and then trade Justin Fields. Do you think the Steelers should get it on Justin Fields and try to trade for him? Well, first off, I think that'd be really smart for the Chicago Bears to do that.

Justin Fields, there's still some question marks about him. The fifth year option is coming up, which would then guarantee $22 million in salary. So why not just get some draft picks back or some trade capital back when you move on from Justin Simmons. And take Caleb Williams with the number one pick in the draft. That way you've got contract stability, at least for the next four years.

Possibly three if he lights it up, they can give him extension after that. But that gives you that stability at that position, that salary cap firm number when you don't have to worry about what we're going to do in this offseason. Now, for other teams like the Steelers who are in need of a quarterback, I think Justin Fields would fit them if they are willing to make their offense around him like the Baltimore Ravens had done with Lamar Jackson. Even the backup quarterback has to reflect that style of play because if you go with a more traditional pocket passer and he's behind Justin Fields, now suddenly if Justin gets nicked up, you've got a pocket passer, your playbook is now very different and you're limited with the things you can do. So it's got to be a whole organizational buy-in if somebody wants to go with Justin Fields in my mind. Where do you think by the way Russell Wilson is playing next year, Chad Brown?

I've heard rumors about the Pittsburgh Steelers and I've also heard rumors about every team that needs a quarterback. And again, I think that's going to be one of those situations where the head coach, the offensive coordinator, the play caller all have to buy in on Russell Wilson. It didn't work out for Sean Payton and Russell Wilson because Sean Payton is the kind of guy who wants to stack plays as a play caller. And what I mean, he's going to call a play in the first quarter and then in the second quarter to set up something in the third quarter. But that home run play in the third quarter can't happen unless that play in the first quarter and second quarter are run correctly to set the defense up. Far too often, Sean Payton was calling a set-up play but then Russell Wilson would go schoolyard on it. So he was disarming Sean Payton of all his weapons and his ability to be a play caller and stack those plays. So whoever becomes the head coach of Russell Wilson this next season has got to understand that's the kind of guy you're going to get. And the play caller needs to know that as well. So their offense is going to have to be schemed in a way where they're not going to be crushingly disappointed that I've been working for three quarters to set up this play.

And now this guy bails out at the line of scrimmage or decides not to go to his first progression because the pass rush has given him a little bit of pressure as we saw too often with Russell Wilson this year in Denver. Last thing I'll ask you, Chad Brown, early feel, early thought on this Super Bowl between Kansas City and the 49ers? I always go for the champion. That's just my mindset because I know how hard it is to be champion.

I know how hard it is to repeat as champion. When every team on the schedule is gunning for you, when every team on the schedule has circled your team on the schedule and they do extra lifts that week and the coaches watch extra tape. That's what the Chiefs have been for a long period of time as evidenced by six consecutive AFC Championship games. Now they find themselves in the second Super Bowl in a row. I know the Niners are a good football team.

I know they've got a lot of weapons. But I think there's something to be said about the hearts and the mind of a champion that right now, I know it's pretty early, but right now I think that gives the Chiefs a little bit of an edge in what I think is going to be a very, very close ballgame. You were a teammate of Tom Brady. I know Mahomes is phenomenal. He's going to go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks ever, but isn't it a little bit too premature by some to say that he's already the greatest quarterback of all time?

That is certainly premature. It may be unfair to the Dan Marino's of the world, the Jim Kellers of the world, but we judge quarterbacks by how many Lombardi trophies they hoist. And Tom's obviously got way more than Patrick has. We'll see Patrick can give there. He's certainly on an amazing track. I think as long as he and Andy Reid are together, the Chiefs team has to be considered a Super Bowl contender every single year. But yeah, pump your brakes.

If that's where you're at in that conversation, give them some time to see if you can get there. He is Chad Brown. Chad, appreciate the time as always. Thanks so much for jumping on board with us. This was a blast. Thanks for having me on. There you go. Chad Brown joining us right here on the Zach Gelb show.

A peanut butter M&M's production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners up get nothing. One retired cop returns. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter.

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