NFL Head Coaching Carousel (Hour 3)

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You could ask yourself a question, do I feel lucky? Who will be coaching your team in 2023? Now I'm going to give you an opportunity to spin this wheel right here. Let's spin the wheel and get the coaching carousel underway. The Arizona Cardinals. The 2023 NFL coaching carousel is in session and our first stop is out in the desert with the Arizona Cardinals. We welcome in long-time Cardinals sideline reporter for 98.7 and that's Paul Calvisi. Paul, who do you think is going to be coaching the Cardinals in 2023?

That's a great question. We're still getting through the first round of interviews. But I'm going to go ahead and extrapolate what the new GM, Mani Austin-Fort, had to state in the media that the working relationship between the GM and the head coach is as important and valuable as any aspect of any organization. He needs a direct line of communication between the head coach and GM.

I'm going to go with a guy that he probably feels the most comfortable with after many years together with the Patriots and that's Brian Flores. And I know a lot of people might be surprised by that, but you have a team where the ownership feels like there wasn't enough accountability, where they didn't get the maximum amount of effort out of a locker room in a 4 and 13 campaign. So I think they tend to go the opposite, right?

That's the way these things go. When you hire a new head coach, he's usually quite different than the old head coach. Cliff Kingsbury is definitely a player's head coach. Brian Flores, more of a taskmaster, probably going to be more of a disciplinarian. Has that relationship with Mani Austin-Fort, the new GM. I think it's Brian Flores at the end of this process.

I would like to hire Brian Flores. My only concern is he did have four coordinators on the offensive side of the ball in three years when he was with the Miami Dolphins. I'd be curious how he would build his offensive staff because you know that relationship with their established quarterback who's already paid in Kyler Murray would be very important.

And I think that's the first question. Any candidate gets asked when he's in the interview process with the Cardinals right now, especially all the defensive coordinators who are on that list, right? Vance Joseph interviewing today, the existing Cardinals defensive coordinator. D'Amico Ryans, they've requested an interview. There's four different defensive coordinators who are on this list along with the request interview Sean Payton.

They completed reportedly an interview with Frank Reich. But when you're talking about the defensive coordinator, I totally agree with you that the first question that D.C. is OK, who's your offensive guy? What's the system?

What's the approach? Especially since you have two hundred thirty million invested in Kyler Murray. Last week from afar, Paul Calvisi, it seemed like there was a lot of momentum moving in the direction of Sean Payton landing with the Arizona Cardinals. And then we saw that they hired a general manager, Amont D'Asin, does that take them out of the running for Sean to be going to the Cardinals or is that still potentially in play? You know, I never quite believe the Sean Payton reports as much as everyone else.

And I'll give you three reasons. Number one, I don't see the Cardinals paying the big, big money to Sean Payton. Fifteen, twenty million a year. I don't see the Cardinals giving up significant assets to the New Orleans Saints. They have the number three pick in the draft this year. There's no way they're giving that to New Orleans in return for a head coach. And number three, I don't think they give Sean Payton the control that he would probably seek and desire.

And Amont D'Asin for hiring is evidence of that, I do believe. Otherwise, Sean Payton would have been hired first and they probably would have decided on a general manager second. So, to me, Sean Payton has been a long shot all along. Let's get to the next team. The Denver Broncos. So Brian Floor is off the board to the Arizona Cardinals. Our next stop is in Denver with the Broncos where Nathaniel Hackett was one and done.

And now joining us is Broncos insider for Denver 7. And that, of course, is Troy Rank. Troy, who do you think is going to be coaching the Denver Broncos coming up in 2023?

Yeah, it's a fluid situation. By predicting today, I would give the slight nod to Sean Payton. If it's not Payton, I would go Dan Quinn. But Payton is the most prized candidate. He has the best resume. He would be a huge upgrade over their previous three first-time head coaches. And Vance Joseph, Vic Fangio, and Nathaniel Hackett. Won a Super Bowl.

Won multiple division titles. But will he be comfortable with the ownership? And will ownership be comfortable giving him control and power?

I don't know the answer to that yet. So, I'd say Sean Payton. And if not him, Dan Quinn. When we talk about Sean potentially going to Denver, my first thought is the other Payton standing there as the general manager in George.

How do you think that relationship would work out? And is George's job definitely safe for this year if they do hire Sean? I would not say that. I'm not sure how it would work.

I was just on New Orleans radio last night. And they talked about how they thought Payton would, if he chose Denver, would bring either Ryan Pace or Jeff Ireland with him. So, if he were to do that, then obviously that would cast serious doubt on what George Payton's role would be, if any. Moving forward, would he be there through the draft? And then they would have to make a move.

But that's the situation with Sean Payton. He has all the leverage. He has the leverage of Fox. He's going to want control.

He's going to want power. And if part of his plan is to bring in one of his guys to be a GM, then obviously George Payton would not be there. And it also creates an odd search with Greg Penner, Condoleezza Rice, and George Payton. How would you expect George Payton to recommend Sean Payton, knowing that he would immediately put his own job in jeopardy?

So, it makes for kind of a weird search in that regard. What happened with Jim Harbaugh, as it looks like Harbaugh from everything he's been saying the last few days is going back to Michigan? Yeah, and listen, they liked Harbaugh. Greg Penner and Condoleezza Rice have known Harbaugh since he was at Stanford.

They liked him. It was only a couple hours Zoom interview. You know, if it was really serious, you know, what Harbaugh should have interviewed in person, probably. I've heard multiple things on Harbaugh that he wanted power and he wanted this process to play out more quickly.

It was going to take a little bit, maybe a week and a half, two weeks. And that's, it's a tough time in college because of the recruiting. And also, you know, he could use them as leverage to get more money. I think eventually he will get a new deal in Michigan. So maybe, ultimately, he became a little impatient and wasn't sure he was going to get the job.

And it's bad optics if he stayed in it and didn't get it. So, if he felt like, I'm happy at Michigan, I'm going to get a raise, I'm going to go ahead and pull my name from consideration because I don't know for the 100% certainty I'm going to get this. So, in a way, he played it perfectly if his ultimate desire was to stay at Michigan because he used the Broncos as leverage. So, I think he'll eventually get a new deal and then he doesn't have to say, I didn't get the Broncos job. Because that happened to him last year in Minnesota. He interviewed and did not get that job.

He did not pull his name out of consideration. Troy, what is your view right now of Russell Wilson because that really determines how a coach could view how attractive or unattractive this job is? I think he can rebound. My expectations for him have certainly lowered from last March when they acquired him when I thought he could still be a top 10 quarterback. I do believe he could be a top 15 quarterback in a system that really goes back to what he did in Seattle, which is moving the pocket, bootleg, play action, a run heavy offense.

That needs to be the identity. Physical offense, win at the line of scrimmage, and then Russell makes big plays in the passing game off that and with his feet. And we saw that version of Russell Wilson against the Chiefs in two games and against the Chargers in the last game of the season.

So, it's not just pure faith blindly believing in something. We saw what it could look like in three games specifically. There are a few other halves he played well this season, but the next coach needs to be able to tell him, hey, it's got to be about us, not about Russ. He's got to be a complimentary piece, a very good one, but they can't go to him and say, oh yeah, carry us, Russ. It's on you. They tried that this past year.

It did not work. Go back to what Russ did well in Seattle and go from there. And I think that's why I believe he can rebound. Two down, three to go on the Zach Gelb Show coaching carousel. Let's spin the wheel and get to the next team. The Houston Texans. So Brian Flores and Sean Payton off the board going to Arizona and Denver. Now we go to Houston and we welcome in from Sports Radio 610, their morning host in Sean Pendergast. Sean, who do you think will be coaching the Houston Texans coming up in 2023? Well, with Sean Payton off the board now at two, he's been the talk of the town for the last two days with some of the quotes he's been dishing out. But I am going to go with former Houston Texan and current San Francisco 49er defensive coordinator, D'Amico Ryan. The big question is, if Sean Payton was available, how likely do you think it is, and I know in this exercise he's not because he just went to Denver, how likely do you actually believe this hype about Sean may be going to Houston? I don't know that I'm buying into it completely. I thought he had a lot of great things to say about the job in his quotes earlier this week.

He's clearly been thinking about it because he listed them bullet point style very, very easily. But I think at the end of the day, I just don't know that it's a fit for him just top to bottom, you know, from ownership to, I know he mentioned Nick Caserio in a positive light, but Nick wields a lot of power in the building, so that would be something that would have to be hashed out. I just think there's probably a lot more moving parts and a lot more complexities that come with Sean Payton, and D'Amico Ryan would be an extremely popular choice here in Houston. Yeah, I'm a big fan of Mufasa, but we've seen a lot of times guys be great defensive coordinators or offensive coordinators, and when they get to the big chair, they do fail. What gives you the confidence that D'Amico Ryan, someone I like, could be a really good head coach in this league? We had a chance to cover him when he was a player here for the first six years of his career. He was in Houston, and he made impressions right away, like immediately in his rookie year with what kind of leader he was. He was a captain almost immediately his rookie year. My co-host Seth Payne, his last year in the NFL, he was a defensive tackle for the Texans, and his last year in the NFL was D'Amico's rookie year in the NFL, and he tells the story all the time that any time a rookie, especially that's in a leadership position on defense, kind of comes into the huddle in training camp, a lot of guys just roll their eyes right away.

You know, it's part of the process. He said within like two or three plays, he's going, yes sir, to D'Amico, because of just what kind of presence D'Amico had. So I just think the guy's a great communicator, a great leader, he's very, very smart, and I think too he would bring probably somebody off that Shanahan tree to coach whoever the quarterback is that they wind up taking. Sean Pendergast, do you believe that Nick Casario, I know he's getting this opportunity, but he should be getting this opportunity to now hire a third coach?

I do, I do. I think there's a lot of complex things going on with the first couple hires. I don't think this was an attractive job at all. I think it's a much more attractive job this time around.

I don't think it was an attractive job at all when David Cully took the job, nor when Lovey Smith took the job last year. The Lovey thing got super complex because of the Brian Flores lawsuit that got filed at the 11th hour right before that hire, and I think Nick inherited just an unprecedentedly bad situation here in Houston with the damage that Bill O'Brien and Jack Easterby had done to the roster, the draft capital, the salary cap. You know, Nick's first two years has largely been trying to clean up the mistakes of the past. He hasn't been perfect by any means, he's made some moves that have been some head scratchers, but I think he did a pretty good job with this rookie class he just drafted, and I think the hardest thing he did was navigate the Deshaun Watson situation and come away with three first round picks. I think he should get the opportunity to use at least two of the three first round picks he got for Deshaun.

So for most of the year, you know this better than anyone, Sean Pendergast. It looked like the Texans were going to have the number one overall pick. Now with them falling back to two, what do you kind of sense with probably the Bears falling back? I guess the Texans could move up if they want, but what's your early read on who's going to be the Texans' rookie draft pick at the quarterback position this year? I still think, Zach, that they find a way to get Bryce Young, whether it's the Bears falling in love with somebody like Will Anderson at once and picking him, because I don't think the Bears are going to take a quarterback in all likelihood. You know, so whether it's the Bears falling in love with somebody they think that they wouldn't be able to get if they were to move back with, say, Indianapolis or Carolina or one of those teams, then Bryce Young will be sitting there. I don't know that Nick is going to dish out the draft capital to move up one spot to get Bryce Young, especially with C.J. Stroud now in this draft, but I think at the end of the day, I think they find a way to get Bryce Young on this football team.

So three down, two more to go. When we come on back, we'll take stops in Carolina and also Indianapolis just to reset right now. Paul Calvisi with the Arizona Cardinals did go with Brian Flores. The Denver Broncos being represented by Troy Rank do select Sean Paden. And then you just heard a few moments ago from our guy Sean Pendergast down in Houston going with D'Amico Ryans coming back home to be the head coach of the Texans.

Let's see what Carolina Indianapolis will do when the Zach Gelb show coaching carousel does continue in five minutes right here on CBS Sports Radio. 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 twenty five 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'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. I am so scared of the Grinch. 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. I am so scared of the Grinch.

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. I am so scared of the Grinch.

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