Mike Westhoff, Former Jets & Saints Special Teams Coordinator

I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch.

He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch.

He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split. I have one tattoo that covers my entire body.

Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. I am so scared of the Grinch. I am so scared of the Grinch. I am so scared of the Grinch. I am so scared of the Grinch.

Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. I am so scared of the Grinch. I got through it pretty well. I feel very good. I'm a big fan of Derek Carr. I think he's a heck of a football player. I think he persevered and excelled through some pretty tough times.

That Raider offensive line was really not very good, but yet he was always very good. So I'm a big fan of his and I would be very happy if he was with the New York Jets to tell the truth. What advice would you give him? Because you know how New York works and it's more than just playing football.

When you're the quarterback and you're going to be viewed as the guy that is going to get this team or try to get this team to the playoffs. What advice would you give him about all the other stuff like dealing with the New York media and all the spotlight being in New York? Be himself.

Be himself. Appreciate it. Don't try to fight it. I loved it. I wrote a book this past offseason that I wrote. I'm very proud of.

A book called Figure It Out. I went to a book signing the other day at the stadium when the Jets played Miami. It was a Jets booster club. Even though I coached at both places, I was kind of on their side this day.

When I sign my book, if it's a Jets fan, I'll put his name to whomever and I write Jets and I put best years of my life. I loved it. I absolutely loved it there. I think the talent, you couldn't find a better place to play. The fans are great. They appreciate it. They understand it. I think it's a knowledgeable fan base. You just have to be yourself and appreciate where you are.

That's kind of what I did. I loved my time there and I'm very happy and proud of it. It's very tough when you're in New York and you stumble to then bounce back and have it be a good ending. I don't know if Zach Wilson could go on to have a good career in this league. He's only two years in and just wrapped up his second season. But it seems like he lost that locker room in New York, Mike, and that situation is just not fixable here.

That was a tough thing to say. When they lost, he played very poorly and the defense played very well. They asked if he let them down and his answer was no. They let everybody down. He let himself down and everyone.

That's all you have to do. Be honest about some things and accept the mistakes that you made. I think Zach's an interesting conundrum. Is he an example, and I used this a lot in my career and with scouts in particular, and then coaches. Is he a good example of the difference between the game that they play on Saturday and the one that the grown men play on Sunday? And I'm not sure that he maybe falls short of that because he was a good enough college football player.

You have to be able to make a decision and decide, okay, but let's take it to the next level. Is he adapt to that? And I think that's an interesting question. And so far throughout his career, he's not looking like the same player that he was at BYU. I'll tell you that. The game they play on Saturday is not the one that the grown men play on Sunday.

It's not the same. So I'm sure that, and you're always big in the draft room, but I always, you know, you think you're getting someone and then you get someone in and I guess you don't really know who you're getting until you see them play and how they adapt. Is it easy to tell right away if a team made a mistake on a draft pick? I think it is, yes.

I always thought it was. I think there are certain things that really, that come to fruition that you see. You get in a certain training camp, all of a sudden I remember looking at a lineman, we'd be in a particular drill, and I used to think, oh my goodness gracious, this guy's not ready for this. Things like that.

So I think you can make that decision fairly quickly. One of the things with Zach that I found out, I did a little studying on him, because I was asked, I do a bunch of podcasts from my book, and I get asked these questions, so I did a little research. I had a friend that watched his Pro Day film and told me he had the number, I'm not sure it was 100%, so I won't use the percentage, but it was a very high percentage of the throws he made that day. And don't forget, the Pro Day is nothing, it's all about showing off the product. That's what it's about.

That's what everybody does it for. And the number of throws that he made that day outside the pocket were incredible. This is what he did most of the day, his Pro Day that day. And so I think sometimes when you, I learned this from Coach Shula a little bit, when you coach in the NFL, I always used to think of it in terms of that I was a chef in a restaurant.

And you've got to put something on that menu that they like and that they can do, because if they can't, you're stuck. And I thought that they never got him out of the pocket enough, not even close. I was going to throw up one game, I was watching, I was really into it, and it wasn't until the third quarter he finally ran a bootleg and got out and he completed the pass.

So I think there's lots of blame to go around, he deserves most of it, but we're going to find out pretty soon if he is a mistake or will he actually resurrect. Mike Westoff here with us. You know how tough it is once you're out of the game, you want to get back in the game. And you joined Sean Paden's staff back in 2017 after we thought you were done after the Jets in 2012, so there was some time in between. I guess it doesn't surprise you when Sean walked away last year that now it looks like he's trying to get back into the game.

No, Sean, sometimes you just run out of gas, you get tired. Sean was there 13 years, he did an incredible job, and you just get tired, you get beat up. I think Bill Walsh used to talk about his shelf life that coaches had. Sean's an excellent coach, I hope he goes back, I'm sure he will.

Whoever gets them, that's the smartest move they can make. Sean Paden is the best, and I wrote about this actually, and I was with some pretty good ones. But he was the best on the field teacher that I ever saw. The best, he's the best. I used to think I was pretty good, but he's the best. I would watch him on Wednesday and I would see the exact same thing verbatim happen on Sunday. So he's going to go back, I don't know where, whoever gets him is going to get a hell of a coach and a guy that they'll be very happy and proud to have. You hear a lot of rumors this time of year, and all throughout the year with Sean, the one that's the hottest recently has been Arizona. That's where I think he's going actually, coach.

That's interesting. I don't know, I mean I talked to him and I talked to him a couple weeks ago, and I will I'm sure, we'll talk about it and I'll know what he's going to do. I don't know that, I really don't know what he'll think of doing. I know he's very thorough, he'll take a good look at everything, he'll have a plan, he'll have a plan for everyone, he'll have a plan for that quarterback. You can bet on that one now.

He'll have a plan for him. I watched him with Drew Brees. Drew's a pretty good guy to work with, but believe me, I saw the interaction.

Every single day I watched it, and it was something to really be very proud of. So yeah, whether it's there or wherever, somebody's going to get a hell of a coach, that's for sure. There's been a lot of rumors throughout the entire year. We'll see what happens with the Cowboys. Does that job open up? I know he would love to charge a job, but I don't think that's going to open up.

Another rumor that's been floating out there, because teams are going to have to trade for him because he's still under contract for two more years with the Saints, is maybe he goes back to New Orleans and brings Tom Brady with him. Did you guys talk about that when you were having discussions? No, we really didn't. That was involved last year in the situation in Miami. Would that be a possibility? I don't know that, of course. I will know. I won't at some point in time.

He'll talk to me, believe me. We're pretty close. I have a lot of respect for him. It would be pretty hard. I don't know. It might be hard to say no to Sean Payton and Tom Brady.

I don't care where you are. That's a pretty good pair. I really don't know. I honestly can't comment.

I don't know. Are you done with coaching? If he asked you to be a part of the staff, would you join it? For a certain period of time, I might. Only with him. If I did it again, it wouldn't be forever. I just turned 75 the other day, so I'm no youngster. But I feel pretty good.

I'm doing pretty good. If I went back with anybody, I would consider him. It would be a short time to help him get started, to get going. He likes the way that I set a tempo in practice. He told me that I kind of changed a lot of the things that they did.

All of a sudden he watched me and he went like, holy hell. So I helped him. In that regard, we have a good relationship. I have tremendous respect for him. What I consider going with him for a short time, I probably would.

It would be a year or so to help him get started, get on his feet, get things going, and get things in the right direction. I would probably consider that. We have not talked about that at all, but absolutely not even one word. I'm like everybody. I read the rumors just like you.

That's all I do. I'm a fan. I'm a fan of his. I base a lot of that off of the good coaches, particularly with Don Shula, that I was with all those years. When I'm judging a coach, it's at a very, very high standard, and he meets it. He certainly meets it. One more that I'll ask you on, Sean, and then we'll move on to Wild Card Weekend. Mike Westoff here with us.

Let's say if he calls you and asks you for some advice. We know the five jobs that are open right now. Cults, Broncos, Panthers, Cardinals, and Texans.

Which one stands out to you the most out of those five jobs? That's really tough. This is hard for me, to be honest. I honestly can't say. I really don't know. I have a hard time putting that together. I really don't know. As far as it means, it means nothing to me. I couldn't be there that long anyway.

I think you have to look at everything. I don't know enough about what he'll be asked, who can give what, what they have, what their salary cap is. I don't have enough knowledge of that to really give you an honest and a real good answer like I used to try to do when I was working for ESPN. I tried to know these things. Right now, I'm sorry.

I think I'd give you a half-assed answer. It's all good. Mike Westoff here with us. Get into the games this weekend.

What stands out to you the most? I think the injuries are the big story right now. It looks like Lamar Jackson is not going to play against the Bengals.

Then for the Dolphins, it's already been announced that two is not going to get cleared, so he's going to be out once again. It's going to be tough to go up there without him. I watched him play the Jets last week and the young man played pretty well.

That's a tough environment. I think that Buffalo team is a very good football team. I'm a fan. I'm a fan of Allen. I went to school at Wyoming where he went.

I was there for a while. I really like him a lot. I think you bring a good point. I like to look at these games and see if I can pick the upset. I actually believe that the Giants have a chance to go into Minnesota and win that football game. I think that could be an upset.

I'm looking for that one. I think Tampa has a chance with Dallas. I think that's a possible upset that I think will be interesting.

I don't know if it's an upset or not, but I think Jacksonville could possibly beat the Chargers. Jacksonville is playing good football lately. They've really come to life.

Those are some things that I'm going to look for. I've been in this weekend as a coach a number of times. It's exciting.

It's fun. Everything's at stake. I think we'll see some things we don't expect.

I think that's going to happen. I have a hard time not really being enamored with San Francisco. I think they are a really good football team. I think they've done a great job with that quarterback, but that's a very quarterback-friendly coach and offense. I think you have to give them a lot of credit. I think coaching, obviously, you've seen the difference this year with some of these new coaches that come in.

You brought up two of those teams just right off the top of the head with the Giants, even though they're going up against a new coach, Kevin O'Connell. Dayball has done a great job and Peterson, we all know, has won a Super Bowl. What a job he's done and really just a breath of fresh air from what happened with Urban Meyer to really get Trevor Lawrence going in the right direction.

He's done a great job. He played for me down in Miami. He was a quarterback when I was there.

I was coaching offense then and was a part of that. He was my holder. He held for Peach Dejanovich when he was a kicker. He did a great job. He was really good and a great player.

Brian Dayball, he was with us when I was with the Jets. I teased him when I talked to him and I gave him his first job. I'll tell you a real quick story. When Eric Mangini was coaching, we had these three scrimmages that we had during training camp. Eric practiced everybody too hard.

That was one of the mistakes he made. You have to read my book. I'll tell you the whole story. Anyway, we divided the team up. I was the head coach for one team and Jimmy Ray was the head coach for the other. I really didn't like him very well, to tell you the truth.

I would just as soon beat him and maybe go to heaven. I didn't like him. I'm just telling you the truth.

It really meant a lot to me. I was supposed to pick my staff. I picked Brian Dayball as my coordinator. Eric was saying, you've got to get Brian Schottenheimer.

I said, I don't care. I want this young kid. I took him as my coordinator. I gave him his first coordinator job. We won every single game.

We won every time. I was pretty happy. I like him a lot. I think he's done a hell of a job. I'm a fan. Before we let you run, what are your thoughts of Robert Salah? I was impressed.

I only met him one time and I liked him. I thought he matured a lot this year. I'm a little disappointed that he didn't put a little more pressure on that offense to be more diverse.

I think they were kind of generic, to be honest with you. I was not very impressed. I kind of hope he keeps going. I wanted to get another year.

I want to see him make a few changes. When you've got a defense that's playoff caliber performance, then the rest of that team has to catch up. That defense deserves to be in the playoffs. They're good. I think those two defensive tackles and those two corners are as good as you can get. I really like those guys. That pair, both of them, are tremendous to me.

I'm impressed. They've got to catch up. They've got to build their offensive line. They've got to take care of that quarterback situation. I think he matured as a coach from his first year.

I really do. I hope he gets the chance to give it another shot. I also like the way he handled the Wilson situation when the time came. I thought he handled that with a lot of class.

I don't know him that well, but I'm on his side. If they had Carr, I know you said you liked Carr. Do you think this team would be playing on Wild Card weekend? Absolutely. Absolutely.

No question in my mind. I like Carr. I'm just a fan. I went out there last year to a game.

I watched them play Denver out at the stadium in Las Vegas. I'm just impressed with the guy. I've always been a fan. I think he handles himself well. I think he's a grown man. I like the way he's mature and the way he stands up to things. I think he's a good teammate from what I understand. I think that's important. I believe he wins that locker room over. I believe absolutely they're playing this weekend if he's the quarterback.

Absolutely. I bet on him. Real quickly before we let you run Mike Westoff, because I remember back in 2019 when I was at the PGA Championship, we were talking via the phone and you told me about the book. Tell the listening audience how they could get the book and then also what it's about. Yeah, the book's called Figure It Out. It took me two years to write.

I wrote every word. It's really an interesting story. You can get it on Amazon. You can get it at Barnes & Noble. You have to get it online. When you're small like me, you just can't walk into Barnes & Noble and they've got 50 Mike Westoff books.

That's impossible. I've sold quite a few. We've done very well.

I have 80-some percent five-star reviews. I'm very proud of it. I like the fact that I wrote it, but then a lot of the players were interviewed by Barry Wilner, did a great job interviewing them for me. And as you're hearing me tell the story, and then you're hearing Leon Washington tell the story, or Zach Thomas tell the story, or Sean Payton. And I think that's very different. It's a story. It's my story. There's a lot of medical things in it. It's not just football, growing up a little bit, but it's mostly the National Football League, about a part of the game that when I came into was nondescript.

And I mean nondescript. It went up to its all-time prominence, and I think I had a lot to do with getting it there. It had never been that high, and it'll never be there again because the rules have changed so much.

You just don't have the plays. So a part of the game that really, really, really established itself and will never get there again. It's all about that, and I think it's a great story. And I think people that read it, they'll enjoy it. And if they don't enjoy it, they call me. I give them money back.

That's how much I believe in it. Well, Mike Westhoff, we do appreciate the time. Hope the house is all right. Happy belated birthday, and we'll connect with you again soon. Thank you. Well, thanks, guys. I appreciate it. It's an honor to come on. You guys do a great job.

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