Don, Hahn & Rosenberg – Hour 3: Looking Better

Date: November 17, 2025
Hosts: Don La Greca, Alan Hahn, Peter Rosenberg
Focus: New York sports talk with a primary focus on the Giants' head coaching situation, team direction, and some Knicks and pop culture banter.

Episode Overview

This episode centers on the New York Giants’ ongoing transition—including the firing of Brian Daboll and interim head coach Mike Kafka’s outlook. The hosts wade through debates about tanking versus building a winning culture, Kafka’s merits and potential, and what the Giants truly need next. Interspersed are signature bouts of banter about personal quirks, wrestling nostalgia, and a quick check-in on the Knicks' injury drama.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Tone: Banter & Big City Energy

• The hour opens with their trademark light, self-deprecating humor, joking about Don’s windblown hair and how he looks on YouTube.
  • "Look at my hair. My hair was perfect when I left the house. ...It's because of the damn wind in New York." —Don La Greca [01:27]
• Star Wars references abound, poking fun at Alan's nerd status, and riffing on the idea that being a Star Wars superfan might harm one's dating life.
  • "You don't volunteer to basically be a professional virgin. And that's what it is to be obsessed with Star Wars." —Peter Rosenberg [03:53]
  • "I could walk in as Jar Jar Binks and still take somebody home." —Alan Hahn [06:04]

2. Giants Coaching Debates: Mike Kafka’s Audition

a. Kafka’s First Impressions

• The hosts discuss how Kafka’s demeanor is a welcome change after Daboll’s dramatic, sometimes off-putting sideline antics.
  • "Everything's going to sound better and look better than Dable, right? ...You just have a better feel." —Alan Hahn [09:07]
  • "Literally, the sound of Kafka's voice sounds refreshing because I was so sick of hearing Dable." —Peter Rosenberg [09:17]

b. Staff Continuity and Head Coach Qualities

• Kafka confirms there are no immediate staff changes, signaling continuity for the Giants through the transition.
  • [Kafka clip] "I would say status quo. ...We're going to go and attack this week. I'm excited for this week of prep." [08:10]
• The guys question Kafka’s credentials—does he get interviews due to the Rooney rule, Kansas City pedigree, or actual leadership qualities?
  • "[Kafka's] gotten interviews for head coaching positions. ...Maybe there's something about him where they believe that he could actually make for a good head coach?" —Alan Hahn [14:53]
  • "What's the evidence? He's never been a head coach." —Don La Greca [15:01]

c. The Daboll Debacle

• Detailed critique of why Daboll failed in New York: rigid methods, poor handling of players, lack of composure, and failure to innovate on offense.
  • "He couldn't handle the players, he couldn't handle the media. He just didn't look the part..." —Alan Hahn [15:11]
  • "All of them [recent Giants coaches] never seem to have the sack to stand at the podium and make decisions that are based on football and what's best for the team." —Don La Greca [13:08]

d. Kafka’s Prospects & Giants’ Future

• Speculation that Kafka is being set up for a legitimate shot—favoring stability, possible internal promotion over another franchise reset.
  • "Kafka feels like ...the more simple way to go with the hope that with a coach who's just making decisions based on football, you could have won those games you lost." —Don La Greca [17:52]
  • "We can't ...under emphasize the importance at this point ...just keeping things simple." —Peter Rosenberg [17:53]

3. Tanking vs. Culture: The Eternal Debate

a. The Case Against Tanking

• The hosts share strong opinions favoring building a winning culture over losing for draft picks—a stance challenged by callers.

  • "I don't have any evidence other than talking to ...former players. ...Losing just corrodes an organization." —Alan Hahn [31:28]
  • "Tanking is just a sign of dysfunction and a disconnect between management and the team." —Caller Jimmy [47:57]

• Tanking narratives are dismissed as “lazy thinking.”

  • "It's just. It's lazy thinking to always fall back to saying that losing and tanking for a high draft pick is better for a franchise." —Don La Greca [34:27]
  • "It's a tired argument... Where's Chase Young now? ...Now where's Daniel Jones now?" —Alan Hahn [36:26]

• "You lose because you're not good. You want to know that you've got good players on this roster that if coached properly, they can get you into the playoffs." —Alan Hahn [34:27]

b. The Other Side: Callers and Host Responses

• Callers argue winning late-season "culture games" hasn't propelled the Giants forward, and losing could land better draft assets.
  • "These culture wins that we have had in the past, they haven't done anything. ...We could have got Drake May. We could have had Jaden Daniels." —Caller Chris [27:19]
• The team evaluates tanking in light of actual roster needs (not needing signature positions that typically go top-5 in the draft).
  • "You're not taking a cornerback in the top five. ...You don't want a quarterback. You don't need an edge rusher." —Don La Greca [31:07]
  • "Isn't it possible that Jackson Dart might end up being the better quarterback?" —Alan Hahn [30:02]

4. Mike Kafka: Victim, Accomplice, or Unexplored Talent?

• Debate on whether Kafka’s hand was forced under Daboll or if he shares blame for the Giants’ offensive struggles.
  • "He was not just around a toxic environment. He was a part of it." —Caller Tessa [44:53]
  • "But is it possible that Kafka maybe had ideas of making the offense better because Dable was an offensive guy, he ended up winning those face offs?" —Alan Hahn [45:47]
  • "You can't be sure Kafka was in any way complicit in the vanilla offense. ...You could tell how happy [Daboll] was [after a win]. He was desperate for any win they could get." —Peter Rosenberg [46:11]

5. Quarterback Talk: Value of Draft Picks

• A rundown of top quarterbacks and where they were drafted, reinforcing the "draft pick" lottery argument.
  • "Stop me when I get to the guy who was the number one pick in the draft... Mahomes was taken 10th overall. That's the end of the argument. Done." —Alan Hahn [38:51 & 38:57]
  • "I'm with situation and system, fellas. That's what it is. But we get caught up in the number one pick thing..." —Don La Greca [39:24]

6. Knicks & Pop Culture Check-in

• Brief Knicks segment: team injuries, concern about depth (no timestamp, passes quickly).
• WWE and John Cena nostalgia: Rosenberg reflects on how Cena brought him back to wrestling.
  • "Tonight, he will step in MSG for the last time. ...This is what basically brought me back into wrestling 20 years ago..." —Peter Rosenberg [22:44]

7. Listener Interaction: Meat of the Show

Callers deliver passionate takes on whether Kafka deserves a shot, what the Giants should do next, and whether the only way out is a hard reset.

Notable Caller Quotes:

• "I'm tired of being tested with my loyalty every week. ...Drain the whole pool and put fresh water in it. ...He was putting trash on the field." —Caller Tessa [45:13]
• "Tanking is just a sign of dysfunction and a disconnect between management and the team." —Jimmy, Connecticut [47:57]

8. Miscellaneous Banter

• Alan signs Peter’s baseball cards.
• Runner-up: banter on the uniqueness of wearing a winter hat on a baseball card photo.
  • "Who wears a winter hat on a baseball card? It's a terrible choice." —Peter Rosenberg [26:50]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "It's like our whole pool has pee in it or whatever like that. Drain the whole pool and put fresh water in it." —Caller Tessa [45:13]
• "The improvements you're looking for are not your draft pick value right now. The improvements you're looking for are the cult[ure]." —Don La Greca [35:35]
• "Have we gotten so spoiled by all these games, we just throw them away for picks? Ask the Sixers how the process is going." —Alan Hahn [36:26]
• "In the moment, man, ...can I just sit there, enjoy my team trying to win a frigging game, for God's sakes?" —Alan Hahn [30:38]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Kafka’s press availability and philosophy: [08:10]
• Kafka’s coaching prospects and debate: [14:53 – 18:00]
• Tanking vs. Winning culture: [27:19 Caller Chris], [31:28 Losing culture effects], [34:27 Tanking rationale]
• Caller Tessa’s critique of Kafka: [44:53]
• Quarterback draft pick breakdown: [38:11 – 39:43]

Episode Tone

Conversational, snarky, passionate, and occasionally irreverent—classic New York sports radio. The tone is candid, frequently tongue-in-cheek, but the hosts’ deep knowledge and affection for the local teams (and their listeners) shines through.

TL;DR

Main takeaway:
The Giants’ coaching situation is up in the air, but the hosts lean toward maintaining stability and building a culture of winning. Tanking is roundly dismissed as harmful to organizational health. The debate over Mike Kafka centers on whether he’s part of the solution or tainted by the previous regime. Callers inject strong emotions—including calls for a hard reset—but the hosts stand firm on the value of competing and developing young talent.

Memorable thought:
Letting young players taste “winning” is worth more than draft wishcasting—even if it means sticking with an unproven coach. As Don puts it, "You're not winning a damn thing if your culture's bad." [35:35]