Local Hour: The Chargers Are In The Cuck Chair

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Episode: Local Hour: The Chargers Are In The Cuck Chair
Date: January 23, 2026
Hosts: Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, Chris Cody, Zaslow
Guest Contributors: Mina Kimes

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Overview

Broadcast from Miami’s Elser Hotel, this "Local Hour" episode blends irreverent South Florida sports chat, national football intrigue, and classic Le Batard Show absurdity. The crew dissects recent coaching drama around the Chargers and Dolphins, pokes fun at Miami sports’ perennial woes, explores the chaos of college football’s transfer portal era, and lingers on pop-culture tangents. Through it all, Le Batard and team keep listeners laughing with their distinctive blend of sharp sports analysis and comedic banter.

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Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. Greg Cody’s Shocking Prediction (00:00–02:31)

• Dan Le Batard jokes about Greg Cody’s reputation for “obvious” columns, but notes Cody’s bold Broncos-over-Patriots upset pick as a rare departure.
• Stugotz: “Balls.” (00:51)
• The group reminisces about the advent of texting, playfully debating whether texting is truly 20 years old.

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2. Chargers "Cuck Chair": The Mike McDaniel Coaching Saga (03:14–07:42)

• Le Batard frames the Chargers allowing new hire Mike McDaniel to openly court other teams as "unprecedented," likening it to “someone getting married and letting their spouse sleep around to see if they find anything better.” (03:22)
• Mina Kimes notes the odd transparency but argues similar situations occur privately during headhunting, especially for sought-after coaches.
• Stugotz: “He will take the Bills job.” (05:11)
• Mina: Reports Josh Allen is “heavily involved” in Buffalo’s coaching decision, making McDaniel-to-Bills both possible and intriguing.
• Dan: “Why would you not be scared of the pairing of McDaniel with Josh Allen?... He’s never had a player like the MVP of the league.” (06:38)
• Chris Cody and Mina reference supply/demand: offensive-minded head coaches are unusually scarce.

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3. Mario Cristobal and NFL Coaching Rumors (07:42–10:59)

• Dan Le Batard mocks Brian Baldinger’s report linking Miami’s Mario Cristobal with the Steelers’ job, calling it “reporting in that nonsense.”
• Mina Kimes: “Mario Cristobal is the most college and not NFL coach there is... It’s his life’s mission to win a championship for the University of Miami.” (09:46)
• The crew riffs on whether Baldinger “longs for the days when coaches denied football players water.” (09:05)
• Stugotz: “I don’t think Mario Cristobal is ever going to be a head coach anywhere else unless he gets fired.” (10:13)

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4. Transfer Portal & NIL: The Pringle Saga (11:03–15:07, 17:58–19:52)

• Le Batard spotlights Miami RB Jerad Pringle’s brief transfer-portal entry—a move interpreted as a play for more NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) money/playing time.
• Mina Kimes: “It’s posturing and it ended up working out...I do know [Pringle] was very frustrated by not featuring in the College Football Playoff.” (12:44)
• Dan explains how entering the portal can be a risky gamble: “80 to 85%, as high as 90%...These kids who go into the portal just leave college football because nobody wants them.” (11:03)
• The crew laments how “thousands of players are being ground up by this freedom” (11:03). Stugotz: “They’re just going in blind.” (19:52)
• Mina: “It is a rare occasion that you’re elite...Most Miami players that have left go on to just kind of fade away.” (18:57)

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5. Dolphins Press Conference & The Power of Sucker Sports Hope (21:27–26:13)

• The introduction of new Dolphins HC Jeff Hafley and GM John Eric Sullivan is mercilessly mocked for their “enormous foreheads.”
• Dan Le Batard: “The Miami Dolphins have been able to acquire the league lead in forehead.” (21:58)
• Chris Cody: Earnestly defends feeling hope: “Why would I hate that? He’s saying all the right things, Dan.” (23:23)
• Dan blasts the repetitive nature of Miami’s perpetual optimism desert: “It’s 25 years of them hiring the wrong guy...all present well in the interview.” (23:41)
• Stugotz: “There’s no juice to this Dolphins hire.” (25:09)
• A debate ensues: Is "forehead-shaming" or "height-shaming" worse? (26:01–26:13)

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6. Jimmy Butler’s Miami Exit: Fallout & Implications (27:00–31:09)

• The group reflects on Jimmy Butler’s ugly departure from the Heat, his $112M contract with the Warriors, and the Heat’s mixed fortunes since:
  • Dan: “Jimmy Butler got the guarantee he wanted...for an extra $112 million” (27:58)
  • Mina Kimes: “That is exactly the way that it was always going to happen.” (28:21)
• Zaslow: Breaks down the players the Heat received: “Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell, Norman Powell... Ultimately a win, but they wasted last season.” (29:51)
• Miami’s post-Butler struggles and Golden State’s steep decline are dissected.

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7. Draymond Green, Denials & NBA Antics (31:40–35:31)

• The crew recaps Draymond Green’s on-court antics and his claim: “Draymond not dirty. Draymond, you up. I’m not dirty. There’s not a player in the NBA that can tell you Draymond’s a dirty player.” (32:40)
• Dan: “He is more guilty of kicking people in the junk than any player in the history of the sport.” (34:11)
• Mina: “This is like Luis Suarez saying he doesn’t bite people.”
• Poll idea: “Is the Draymond Green show like the diary of an insane person?” (35:18)

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8. Michael Irvin, "White House" Podcast, and Sports’ Cocaine Reputations (35:41–41:12)

• Michael Irvin, promoting his new podcast “White House,” laughs off rumors he’s high on cocaine during broadcasts:
  • “Coke don’t last five hours...but if you got some five-hour stuff, let me know.” (36:13)
• Dan: Recounts wild Michael Irvin anecdotes: “He’s always been a bit of a maniac when it comes to energy. Approaching 60 now...” (37:12)
• Michael Irvin’s and Diego Maradona’s legacies as “most associated with cocaine” in sports are debated.
  • Mina: “It’s Maradona. Huge gulf.”
  • Dan: Shares the jaw-dropping story of Maradona allegedly doing cocaine on the field during a match. (41:04)

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Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• Dan Le Batard (03:18): "It's like somebody getting married and allowing their spouse to run around and have sex with everybody else just to try stuff out."
• Mina Kimes (09:46): "It's his life's mission to win a championship for the University of Miami and bring them all the way back. I don't think there is a job on the planet he would leave for."
• Stugotz (19:52): "So what we're saying here is as opposed to these kids entering the portal because they're pretty sure there's a better opportunity, they're just going in blind."
• Chris Cody (23:23): “Why would I hate that? He's saying all the right things, Dan.”
• Dan Le Batard (23:41): "It's 25 years of them hiring the wrong guy. It's 25 years of them hiring this guy who presents well in the interview."
• Mina Kimes (28:21): “That is exactly the way that it was always going to happen.”
• Dan Le Batard (34:11): “He is more guilty of kicking people in the junk than any player in the history of the sport.”
• Mina Kimes (35:03): “This is like Luis Suarez saying he doesn’t bite people.”
• Michael Irvin (36:13): “Coke don't last five hours...but if you got some five-hour stuff, let me know.”
• Mina Kimes (40:13): “It's Maradona. Huge gulf.” (In reference to athletes associated with cocaine)

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Funniest or Most Memorable Moments

• Extended "forehead" jokes about the new Dolphins’ leadership team (21:27–26:13)
• Dan’s philosophical riff on sports fans as perpetual “suckers” for hope (24:27–25:43)
• Dan’s astonishment at a Maradona documentary scene: “That’s a stadium full of people...How is it possible that this is just happening?” (41:08)
• “Is the Draymond Green show like the diary of an insane person?” poll suggestion (35:18)
• Telestrator segment: drawing attention to the literal and figurative "gulf" between Dolphins brass’ foreheads—with a dangerously close, juvenile twist (43:29–43:56)

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Timestamps By Topic

| Timestamp | Topic | |-------------|----------------------------------------------| | 00:00–02:31 | Greg Cody’s Broncos prediction & texting | | 03:14–07:42 | Chargers, McDaniel, and NFL coach supply | | 07:42–10:59 | Mario Cristobal/Steelers rumors | | 11:03–15:07 | Miami football, Pringle’s portal episode | | 17:58–19:52 | Realities of the transfer portal | | 21:27–26:13 | Dolphins’ intro presser, sports hope | | 27:00–31:09 | Jimmy Butler trade fallout | | 31:40–35:31 | Draymond Green, NBA “dirty player” debate | | 35:41–41:12 | Michael Irvin, cocaine reputations, Maradona | | 41:13–44:03 | Dolphins’ helmet/forehead shaming humor |

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Tone and Style

The episode captures the playful, irreverent, yet insightful tone that is the hallmark of the Le Batard Show. Sarcasm, pop-culture references, and Miami sports self-deprecation abound, but there is also sharp commentary on the realities of college sports, ethical quandaries for coaches, and the cyclical nature of fan hope and institutional dysfunction.

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Summary prepared for listeners who want both the laughter and key information without wading through ads or intros.

Transcript

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm going to say that for more than two decades, close to a quarter century, Zaslow has been telling me that Greg Cody only writes the most obvious things. He only takes the positions of a columnist that are not controversial, that are just. Miami Heat should trade for Shaquille O' Neal or LeBron James or Miami Dolphins should get Patrick Mahomes. Just the most obvious things. But Greg Cody of the Miami Herald has predicted in print, which is still something the Miami Herald does for now in print, that the Denver Broncos will beat the Patriots at home as a five and a half point dog. And I do not hear a lot of people saying that.

[Stugotz]

Balls.

[Dan Le Batard]

Greg Cody has come out with the help of an imaginary bird that he consults called the upset bird, and it squawks and it tells him what to do. And he has picked the Denver Broncos in a game that I will only watch because I must because of work obligation.

[Stugotz]

Stick em. Stick em.

[Dan Le Batard]

Stick em is starting. I thought when you were hovering over a button, you were gonna hit the. Hello.

[Stugotz]

Stick em. Stick em.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'll get that too. Yeah, I just. I. That's what I thought you were gonna do because you were hovering over a button.

[Chris Cody]

So I went deeper.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah. Shocked you. Yeah, you did. You surprised me. Look at this. It is good that the Cody, the Cody prodigy has decided developed a little bit more unpredictability than his father says. So I don't. I'm not misrepresenting you when I say that it's been more than 20 years, that it can't be texting me more than 20 years, because I don't think texts are 20 years old. How old are texts?

[Stugotz]

I remember the first text I ever sent was my senior year of College, so that's 2004.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, so texts are 20 years old. All right, put it on. The Polat Lebatard show is teaching texting 20 years old? Because I would have thought most people would have guessed that it's not. So texting is about. At the advent of social media. It's the. Both of those things appeared at roughly the same time.

[Stugotz]

It wasn't. It wasn't a super common thing texting. It wasn't the preferred way of communicating via cell phone. But you did have text capability, and I definitely used it to text me.

[Dan Le Batard]

That Greg Cody had written an obvious column of some sort. I'm not misrepresenting you, correct.

[Stugotz]

No, no, no. Cody, take a chance once in a while. Say something provocative.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, he just did. Yeah. He's picking the Broncos is a five.

[Stugotz]

And a half point year, 20, 26.

[Dan Le Batard]

Of our lawyer, but it's not. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised. Would you be surprised if that game was close? Because Denver's defense was great and they're playing at home and football is weird.

[Stugotz]

I don't think it's a crazy thing to say no.

[Dan Le Batard]

Would you assume that Sean Payton will be typically Sean Payton wacky the way that he was against the Colts in the super bowl when he onside kicked to start the second half, which is the single play that I associate with Sean Payton? Are you not assuming that Sean Payton will do some of what Kirby Smart did, where Kirby Smart realized in the Ole Miss game that he wasn't going to stop Ole Miss at all, and so he's doing double reverse fake punts from his own 20 yard line on 4th and long because he's like, I got to try some shit.

[Mina Kimes]

I'm just in the group chat, smiling at all these people willing Mike McDaniel to Buffalo into existence. Because, buddy, I am too.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's weird, the McDaniel thing. Well, let's just start the show because the McDaniel thing is unlike anything I've ever seen in coaching hires where, yeah, yeah, the Chargers are saying we'll take him, but go ahead, shop around. Shop around. It's like somebody getting married and allowing their spouse to run around and have sex with everybody else just to try stuff out. See if you see anything better out.

[Zaslow]

Like Zaz.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

This is the Dan Levatar show with.

[Dan Le Batard]

The Stu Guts podcast. Have any of you seen a comp for what Mike McDaniel is presently doing? And how are you feeling as Dolphin fans if you're in a situation where you fired a coach who's so coveted that he could just wander around from job opening to job opening, deciding whether he wants or can find anything better than the job he's already been given with the Chargers. We're in agreement we've never seen this before, right. Where the Chargers have hired Mike McDaniel pending him flirting around with other people in the league and including Buffalo to see if he finds something he likes better with the Raiders, with the Ravens or with the Bills, which I assume he would delight. I would assume that Dolphin fans would be terrible terrified of having Mike McDaniel at the top of the division with Josh Allen.

[Stugotz]

Okay, well, first, I would not be terrified.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah. I also don't think that this is super unprecedented. I just think, like, the, the transparent nature of this is what's kind of strange. But I think this is the general understanding Whenever a coach hits free the way that Mike McDaniel did, you're in honest conversations. Especially a coach that's in demand. Like, he really likes it here. He wants to be a head coach, though. So if that's available, like, please understand that he would take that over this.

[Stugotz]

He will take the bill's job.

[Dan Le Batard]

The public. This is unprecedented. It's something I have not seen before. Okay. Play out in public where the Chargers are good with someone they just hired to work with. Justin Herbert wandering around and seeing if he could find something better over the next few months and also not with a lot of precedent. Is a fired coach mocked in this market. Having the ability to do something like this, having the power to have this number of choices where you're like, yeah, this is interesting for now, but I'm going to go do some other interviews and then the team announcing, no, we're going to make this our offensive coordinator and we're going to put an asterisk on it.

[Mina Kimes]

Diana Rossini has reported that Josh Allen is heavily involved in this process. They will take into account what he has to say on the matter. You look at Josh McDaniel's record against Mike McDaniel, how Mike McDaniel's teams, I know he's not a defensive guy. Have game planned around Josh Allen. There have been some bad Josh Allen games there. Miami's probably punched above its weight class oftentimes against that opponent. And he's probably sat on the sidelines, admittedly impressed with what he's seen from Miami and Mike McDaniel's scheme, despite having players that most people don't think are super great into a helm in the position. So I think it would be a great fit. I'm rooting for it. I'm rooting to see what it does to Dolphins fans that are so cocksure that it won't work out.

[Dan Le Batard]

Why are they? Zaz is saying he's not terrified. Schefter's saying that the feeling around the league is that Tua has played his last game as a Miami Dolphin. Why would you not be scared of the pairing of McDaniel with Josh Allen? It seems to me that we can agree, whatever your complaints about Mike McDaniel, Daniel, are, they're not that he can't make offense out of stuff and he's never had a player to work with like the MVP of the league.

[Stugotz]

I am surprised. I'm surprised at the amount of tension that Mike McDaniel has gotten. And I don't think I'm out of line. To say, have the Dolphins ever fired a coach and that coach was in demand? I don't think this has ever happened before.

[Chris Cody]

I do agree with Mina, though, outside of Stefanski, like, I think this is a supply and demand thing.

[Mina Kimes]

Gase. Gase got a job right away.

[Chris Cody]

But, like, who. Who are the other offensive minds available right now? Stefanski was number one, clearly. And now it's McDaniel, I think. I'm not saying McDaniel's not a good offensive mind, but I do think there's some of that going on here. There's really no other good offensive.

[Dan Le Batard]

You say that, but Brian Baldinger begs to differ. He says there is a good offensive hire available if you need offensive line play. Not out here trying to play reporter or doing any of that nonsense, but I hear the Steelers are very interested in Mario Cristobal. I think Mario Cristobal actually would really translate to the NFL. I watched his practice in the spring. The way that Mario coached that team reminded me of what old school coaches used to do. And I think Mario could actually transfer to the NFL. Baldinger, you're doing that nonsense. You are doing that reporting in that nonsense.

[Stugotz]

Was that a report?

[Dan Le Batard]

That was a report.

[Zaslow]

Give it to me.

[Dan Le Batard]

That was a report from Brian Baldinger, who is not a reporter. That crystal ball is. Is somebody that he can see going to the Steelers. The sourcing is flimsy on that. It's just Balding or saying it with his crooked finger.

[Chris Cody]

Watch the practice.

[Stugotz]

I'm glad, Chris. I'm glad that Baldinger can see it because Mario Cristobal is the most college and not NFL coach there is. He's so college. There's no way that he would. First of all, I don't think there's any way he would lead the Hurricanes. And number two, I also don't think there's any way an NFL team would want him. He's so college.

[Dan Le Batard]

Baldinger, though, likes offensive line play and also likes. He longs for the days when guys had to practice and coaches denied them water. Put it on the poll at Lebatard show. Does Baldinger long for the days when coaches denied football players water?

[Mina Kimes]

Usually things like this are coordinated efforts to, you know, leverage an extension. I think Mario should get a raise regardless. I think he's proven that he's the guy. That's typically how these things go. I also don't think Mario's gonna leave until he gets the job done. And then once he gets the job done.

[Stugotz]

When you say leave, you mean retire, right?

[Mina Kimes]

Right. Like, I don't Well, I think he's looking to get the job done multiple times. Not. Not just the one.

[Stugotz]

Right. But when the time comes that he leaves, it's retirement.

[Mina Kimes]

It's his life's mission to win a championship for the University of Miami and bring them all the way back. I. I don't think there is a job on the planet he would leave for. Certainly not in college. I mean, if the NFL comes a knock and I guess you, you have to listen, your agent might force you to take that call. But I mean, look, it's. It's Brian Balding or on NFL Network at 11:00am you know, take that for what it's worth.

[Stugotz]

I'm. I will tell you, unless Mario Criswell would get four fired at some point from the University of Miami, I don't think Mario Cristobal is ever going to be a head coach anywhere else.

[Mina Kimes]

I would trust your read on that situation.

[Dan Le Batard]

I. I would be offended if I were balding her and if I were. 11:00am at what you just did. Where 10:00am better.

[Mina Kimes]

You all knew what I meant.

[Dan Le Batard]

I don't.

[Mina Kimes]

You all knew what I meant.

[Dan Le Batard]

I don't understand.

[Mina Kimes]

10:00Am is better. 10:00am is better. Midday, 11:00am okay.

[Stugotz]

I don't know what you're too close to.

[Zaslow]

Why we stopped alive at 11am you're too close.

[Chris Cody]

11 to.

[Dan Le Batard]

Okay, put it on. The poll at Lebatard show is reporting less impactful. If you're too close to lunch at Le Batard show.

[Mina Kimes]

NFL Network, 11am Gotta take that with a grain of salt.

[Dan Le Batard]

Give me some insight and take me inside. Mike, what just happened with the University of Miami and its quick freshman running back Jerad Pringle, for those of you who do not know, like, and I really feel like the audience does not know this, the way the portal's working, 80 to 85%. I've heard a number as high as 90%. These kids who go into the portal just leave college football because nobody wants them. Like, there are thousands of players being ground up by this freedom. And I don't think most people know that the going into the portal doesn't just mean that you actually end up with another scholarship at another school. So why do they do that? Well, because they're not happy with playing time because they're kids. And I think this is under reported as well. And it's dangerous. And it's especially dangerous when you've got these agents involved in these self interests, involved family members being upset about a kid's playing time when all of them think they should be playing as freshmen is just a giant problem in that sport. It's why I tell you that I would not want to for the money that they pay in college football. Have to be a college football coach that has to deal with all of the parents who are upset because their kid. Because two thirds of your roster isn't getting the playing time that the families want. So, Mike, take me inside the business of this where Pringle goes into the portal and evidently just renegotiates his deal and then ends up coming right back. What happened there?

[Mina Kimes]

Well, most of the time when you have a situation where someone is frustrated, either wants more money or more playing time or a combination of both, it never manifests with the player actually entering the portal. In this case it did, which is rare, especially with how Miami's collective operates. As soon as he hit the portal, usually you get some messaging like, yeah, that was in the works for a long time. Pringle did surprise. But it was also very quick that the University of Miami made it known to those in the know that they were looking to retain him. And it's a strange move because you don't really see it coming out of Miami all that much. It's posturing and it ended up working out with him. I do know that he was very frustrated. The player was very frustrated by not featuring in the College Football Playoff the way that he did to close the season. Pringle was a big part of this team and that late season surge to the cfp, he is a young player and they didn't trust his pass blocking. I think that was evident whenever he was on the field. And Mark Fletcher is one of the best passes blocking backs out there and they trust Marty Brown a little bit more.

[Stugotz]

You didn't get playoff time in your freshman year and that makes you want to leave.

[Mina Kimes]

I. I'm with you. I think if he sticks around, he's going to be a huge part of the team next year. And if the rumors are true about Mensah and Cooper park and now they just brought in Damon Wilson like this, this team is shaping up to be very good next year.

[Dan Le Batard]

Can you take us through though, what the amount of monies are we're talking about? I'm not talking about in this particular case, but if a kid goes into the portal, renegotiates his deal and then 24 hours later is back at the school, how much more money did he make himself as part of what that renegotiation is? Don't make it about this one kid. Just make it in general about how this stuff works.

[Mina Kimes]

I don't know. Like clearly if he if he went through the headache of entering the portal and then coming back, I do think that he probably got more. In this case, I don't know that to be true. I had not asked for specifics. I do admit that it is odd to see a kid go in the portal that Miami values because Miami really values you. You don't enter the portal. You have to understand everybody is a free agent. Year over year, you have to fight to retain everybody, teams, agents, all of it. It is a constant. It's not just during portal time and people are being renegotiated as the season goes on.

[Dan Le Batard]

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[Stugotz]

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[Stugotz]

My algorithm on Instagram, it's Dan. It's all boobs.

[Dan Le Batard]

Stugats.

[Stugotz]

It's a good algorithm.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Don Levatar show with the stugats. Zazlo do you think the average person listening to this understands, knows that thousands of kids are going into the portal and just getting chewed up?

[Stugotz]

I'll be honest with you. I didn't know up until like a few days ago that the T and it's probably because of Mensa. I didn't know until a few days ago that the team, the school has to put you in the portal. I thought the player can just say, you know, I'm in the portal now. I know the team actually has to help you with that transaction.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah, there was, there was one instance that I know of last year where the team was not going to cooperate.

[Stugotz]

Yeah, I didn't know. I didn't know that that's the way it worked. I think there's so much out there, so much minutiae that by the way, I don't think the sportsman cares about either.

[Mina Kimes]

I Dan's math on it does make sense. I follow pretty much. If you were ever a University Miami player, I follow you on Instagram. And like every offseason I'm like, who is this guy? Like, where is this person? A lot of them don't pan out unless they go to smu. That kind of worked out for those guys. But a lot of these guys end up going to much lower ranks and they kind of fall off the face of the earth. I don't want to throw a blanket over it. But if you're entering the portal, it is a rare occasion that you're elite, that you're a big time difference maker. I think that we probably tend to add this perception to it because they make a big deal when you get a transfer that works out. And Miami has had a lot of luck, especially at the quarterback position. But I think that's an outsized understanding of what this actually looks like. Most of the Miami players that have left go on to just kind of fade away. And that is the truth for pretty much every program.

[Stugotz]

So what we're saying here is as opposed to these kids entering the portal because they're pretty sure there's a better opportunity on the other side waiting for them, they're just going in blind. They're going in blind.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, but they're not going in just blind. They're also going in with a lack of self awareness and a bit of delusion. But I understand how they arrive at it. I thought Prankel was really good. He obviously gives them something that they do not have. Speed and quickness at the position of that kind, they do not have. So I understand in his limited playing time why he and his family would both arrive at thinking he should have played more. And I do understand also why so many of these players think that it's politics or something else that's keeping them from being great. Let's put up the photo. Yesterday here, I heard people here murmuring. They were all excited because still after all of these years, the Dolphins have hired eight coaches with no experience. And every damn time somebody gives a press conference, these fans get duped. Like the sports fan filled with hope. I wish that I were a salesman who always had that as my audience. Because the sports fan filled with hope can get suckered by Halfley giving a good interview to the Big Dog. But they introduced yesterday Halfley to the media. And Steven Ross is here. And I simply cannot believe how quickly the Miami Dolphins have been able to acquire the league lead in forehead. This is an enormous amount of forehead that the Dolphins are unveiling.

[Mina Kimes]

I can put as are two different guys.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah, it looks like a family portrait.

[Stugotz]

I don't like that Stephen Wallace is taller than them.

[Mina Kimes]

From what I understand, that's not very difficult. Someone in our universe said that Hafley looks like both Beavis and Butthead.

[Zaslow]

He's also a sweetie pie.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's a lot of forehead you guys can admit though, looking at this. And Chris Cody, you're another one of these. Sucker. The Big Dog interview. Gotcha. You love listening to the Big Dog on the way in.

[Chris Cody]

What am I supposed to.

[Dan Le Batard]

Like that's good.

[Chris Cody]

What am I supposed to do? Like he's saying all the right like, how? I'm not gonna. Like. He's not saying anything wrong yet.

[Stugotz]

I think I got him tonight on espn.

[Mina Kimes]

Halfway.

[Stugotz]

I think I have him.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah, right. So.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

All right.

[Mina Kimes]

I'm not a Dolphin fan. I do follow college football very, very closely. That guy stunk at BC. He was a bad coach.

[Dan Le Batard]

Good at BC. 22 and 26 was his record at BC.

[Mina Kimes]

That's a great question, right? Who's. Bill O' Brien had some success in the NFL, and this was a bad year at BC. Sup, Trevor? But I remember him as a guy that was pretty bad at Boston College. And Chris absolutely applied the right context to it. And also around the league, the reputation of that Green Bay packers staff, everyone throws heaps of praise on all the coaches that were on that staff, and Athlee is a big part of that. But I can't quite shake what I've seen him do as a head coach on the college level. It's rare that a bad college football head coach ends up working out in the pros. And it's interesting. Are there any examples like this guy had. What was the success that he had as a head man before? I just can't quite shake that. And there is a, you know, a Venn diagram of people that are Dolphins fans and Miami Hurricanes fans that should be familiar with that failure. And the ones that I know are a little bit more apprehensive about it. The ones that recall what he did at bc.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah, but guys, Big Dog asked him, he said, hey, around here, we've had some issues. Guys showing up on time.

[Mina Kimes]

All right.

[Chris Cody]

Structure, discipline. You know what he said? Not gonna be a problem here. Guys are showing up on time, and if they don't, I'm gonna hold him accountable. Checks out. Why would I hate that? He's saying all the right things, Dan.

[Dan Le Batard]

Because anybody they hire can say all the right things. It's fundamentally irrelevant.

[Chris Cody]

Right. But it could go either way.

[Dan Le Batard]

The thing that I was watching yesterday, okay, when I came in here and we started the show is on the television. The question was, because it's a slow Ken Harbaugh turn the Giants around in year one. It's a question you can't even begin to answer for several months. Like, it's a. You can't even. You can't even try to answer it until you've seen them do something. But we will apply a hope, and all previous failures will be ignored. It's 25 years of them hiring the wrong guy. It's 25 years of them hiring this guy. The Guy who presents well in the interview. Aren't you?

[Mina Kimes]

Except for Mike McDaniel.

[Dan Le Batard]

Aren't you? Of the assumption that they all present well in the interview. And I asked you a substant question, subsequent question. Do you think Andy Reid presented well in the interview? Santa Claus comes into your room. So starts mumbling from under a dirty mustache.

[Chris Cody]

I just don't understand. I just don't understand what we want here. So you'd be more, you'd be more impressed with the dolphins if it was me up there? Like wow, that's really unimpressive.

[Stugotz]

No, I think.

[Chris Cody]

No, I want the impressive guy.

[Stugotz]

No, I think the pushback is they're always impressive and it doesn't mean shit.

[Mina Kimes]

Right.

[Chris Cody]

So like. So we should just sit in the middle here. The fact that you guys are.

[Stugotz]

No, you shouldn't get excited about it.

[Chris Cody]

Okay, then you. But you shouldn't be upset about it.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm not upset.

[Chris Cody]

We should all just, you know, I've seen you. You've been saying all week nothing. This guy's not impressive.

[Stugotz]

No, I've just. I've just been saying there's no juice to this. Dolphins higher.

[Chris Cody]

None of us should have an opinion. We should have no opinions. We should all just sit in the middle.

[Dan Le Batard]

All I'm saying is that hopefully hope is inherently biased and it's really hard to conquer. And the customer in this case is a sucker and has been a sucker for 25 years because hope is that kind of bias. So they introduce a couple of foreheads that even with those foreheads are still shorter than the 80 year old owner of the Dolphins. I don't like that even with those foreheads.

[Chris Cody]

Steven Ross here.

[Dan Le Batard]

Can we look this up?

[Stugotz]

He can't be taller than five nine.

[Dan Le Batard]

You think he's a giant. You think Steve.

[Chris Cody]

No, I've heard. My sources are telling me not both the dolphin guys they hired not tall.

[Dan Le Batard]

Okay, I don't want to do that. I don't want to shame them before heads are good with the height. That's correct. That is where the line is for me. That is right.

[Chris Cody]

I think that forehead shaming is worse than height shaming.

[Dan Le Batard]

Is it? All right, put on the poll at Lebiton show which is worse, forehead shaming or height shame?

[Mina Kimes]

There are short kings.

[Zaslow]

There aren't five head kings.

[Dan Le Batard]

Did you find yet the height of Steven Ross? Because I'm assuming the Internet specific information available. I think the Internet's going to be make that hard to find.

[Stugotz]

I got John Eric Sullivan, the new GM listed as 5 9.

[Dan Le Batard]

No chance when Stephen Ross came into our studios one time and he did do that one time, I don't remember him being particularly tall or short, average height. And I imagine with age you do shrink some, right? So once you get into your 80s, you get a little bit crooked and you get less tall. I understand what Zs is doing when he doesn't like that the leadership of the Dolphins, both the GM and the coach, are shorter than the 80 year old owner.

[Stugotz]

Everybody knows old people shrink too, so I don't like that. Jeff Hafley, it says here he's listed as 5 foot 10. You're trying to tell me Stephen Ross is 6ft tall?

[Dan Le Batard]

No. Very strong opinion from Zaslow there. Let me get to a couple of other things that I want to get to here. I wanted to ask you guys because we skipped past this and I was a bit embarrassed by the way that we covered it because there was a little too much glee about Jimmy Butler being injured when that's not what I felt at all. But one of the things that I didn't comment on and the, the warriors have now lost five straight games when Steph Curry scores 35 or more points. I don't know how that's going to end with the warriors, but it's over. Like everything happening there is done and it finishes when Jimmy Butler goes down. But you guys did realize right when that happened that Jimmy Butler got the guarantee he wanted in the event that that happened by getting the two year, $112 million contract from Golden State that runs through the Heat, were never going to give him. And so Jimmy Butler for himself and however dirty it was, got the extra 112 million guaranteed and is now signed through next year. And whatever he makes after 27 isn't going to be very much so. He did get to cash in by making that last mess for an extra $112 million that the Heat absolutely were not going to give him.

[Mina Kimes]

I saw that unfold and that was exactly the way that most people had it. Jimmy's body breaking down, him making a big stink. Because privately in his heart of hearts, even though he's a psycho, would admit that he was also worried about that too, which is why he wanted the contract that he got and Miami didn't meet him there because they were worried about that. That is exactly the way that it was always going to happen.

[Stugotz]

Can you imagine the reaction if this happened and he was still in a Heat uniform? Like Pat Riley was right. He was right. It was ugly, but he was right.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, I guess they both Were if you're gonna say they're. If you're gonna say both were.

[Mina Kimes]

Because he got his money, he got what he wanted and he got sent to a glamour franchise too. Everybody got what they wanted. It was just an ugly way to get there.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, but everyone got what they wanted. But is now worse for it because all of these entities were better before any of this happened. The Golden State warriors are now finished like that. What I just said to you, I'm gonna give you. Because it's problematic. They've lost the last five games where Steph Curry has gone for 35 plus. I don't know how that's going to end. And I don't know how it's going to end for LeBron with the Lakers. But it's over.

[Mina Kimes]

And Miami is better for it right now. I just don't know how to quantify what that whole headache was last year. Because it was a wasted season.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, that's what I'm saying when I say they're worse for it.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah. Because we threw in a better space.

[Zaslow]

Now like the move that they made and, and what they acquired back for Jimmy was really solid because what they ultimately got out of it was a 19 year old rookie point guard. Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell and Norman Powell. Once they moved Kyle Anderson, that ends up being a win. But they wasted last season by not preemptively making that move ahead of the sabotage that came during the season. But Dan, the way that it ends potentially is take that Jimmy Butler contract and move it like he's got 50 something guaranteed next year. We know how this league feels about expiring contracts. If you're some franchise that is willing to take money into that space. Like there have been rumors already that DeMar DeRozan is the type of guy they could look to to at least create the similar downhill motion in their offense that Jimmy creates.

[Dan Le Batard]

Not.

[Zaslow]

It's not the same replacement.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's not 50, it's $61 million a season is what Jimmy Butler ended up getting.

[Zaslow]

56.8 is what I've got here for next year.

[Dan Le Batard]

Two years. One million is the deal that he signed. And the Heat are now 9 and 15 over their last 24. They lose last night to Portland because they went 9 of 45 from 3.

[Stugotz]

And no one ever plays no where. No hero like no one ever plays.

[Mina Kimes]

I'm reading into the wear thing a.

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[Dan Le Batard]

Libertard and then that Stafford through him 25 and 2. Oh, there's a brand new kid in town out of BYU Stugats. They call him Puka. His quarterback is not named Tua Nakua. This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats. The warriors are the worst three point shooting team in the league and they went 20 for 50. Blazers three. I'm sorry. Yes, I'm sorry. The Blazers and they, they dragged the heat last night and I want to play for you. Since we were talking about the the warriors, something I did not have happening, I've got Draymond Green saying both that Pella Larson is a dirty player. I'm. I'm really surprised that he knows who he is. I'm surprised that he knows his name. But then Draymond Green is also saying, and everyone knows I'm not a dirty player.

[Draymond Green]

I've played a bunch of Europeans. They do little dirty stuff. It's a different. See, people get mad at me and be like, oh, Draymond dirty. I told y', all, Draymond not dirty. Draymond, you up. I'm not dirty. I don't do dirty things. I play for Tom is on. If you did dirty things, it doesn't work. I don't do dirty things. There's not a player in the NBA that can tell you Draymond's a dirty player. Don't do it. And Europeans, though, there's a lot of Europeans that play, they, they do dirty stuff on a basketball court. And for Deep Book and Demar to get mad like that, he's doing something that we ain't see to his credit, you got a tech on D Book, you got Demar thrown out. But if you gonna keep doing that, you gotta stay on that because people gonna then start going at you. And that comes with a reputation and that's a whole different thing. So I don't know Pele Larson to be that guy. However, I don't know much about Pele Larson. If that's who he's gonna be, commit to it and stay there because God's going to start going at you like that.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's just what comes I Stand corrected. He doesn't know Pella Larson's name. He's calling him Pele. But then last night during the game against Dallas, which the warriors lost, here's Draymond being dirty.

[Zaslow]

Just actively throwing a chicken wing.

[Dan Le Batard]

That is a. That is a good chicken wing. And then going after the ref, that is a good chicken wing. The idea that Draymond would say with a straight face, everyone knows I'm not dirty. And total believes it.

[Stugotz]

Like, there's no player in the league who would say Draymond's dirty.

[Dan Le Batard]

I mean, he is more guilty of kicking people in the junk than any player in the history of the sport.

[Zaslow]

The man got suspended from the finals for smacking someone in the junk and lost his team a championship as a result of it.

[Draymond Green]

He's.

[Zaslow]

And the only reason he was suspended is because he was doing it so often.

[Stugotz]

He's quite possibly the dirtiest player in the history of the league.

[Dan Le Batard]

There is no other player that has as. As many I kicked you in the junk controversies as Draymond. I remember there was a two and a half year period where I was examining on television pretty consistently. Well, maybe he's got sort of a reflex problem with his leg where he just can't control the fact that he keeps kicking people in the junk. That there's. That there's. That there's some sort of issue that he has, that how is he the one who's always guilty of this?

[Mina Kimes]

This is like Luis Suarez saying it.

[Dan Le Batard]

Luis Suarez saying that he doesn't bite people.

[Mina Kimes]

You won't find a single person that'll say I'm a dirty guy.

[Dan Le Batard]

You won't find anyone who will say that I spit on people and bite them.

[Stugotz]

It's like the Draymond Green Show. It's. It's like the diary of an insane person.

[Dan Le Batard]

Put it on the poll at Lebatard show. Is the Draymond Green show like the diary of an insane person?

[Mina Kimes]

There was a time where it was statistically more possible for a soccer player to be bitten by Luis Suarez than a shark.

[Chris Cody]

I saw that.

[Mina Kimes]

It's true.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

I don't know.

[Mina Kimes]

He did too. And like, back to back, it was like over, like a year and a half span. Did it at the World Cup.

[Dan Le Batard]

I told you guys yesterday that Michael Irvin has a new podcast on Netflix. I can't believe he's calling it White House. The White House. For those of you who do not know or what the champion Dallas Cowboys used as a home that their wives did not know about to have sex with People who were not their wives during their championship heyday. Guest is called White House. Here they're talking about cocaine, a different kind of white. And Michael Irvin seems to be pissed off that people think he can only have five hours of energy if he's snorting coke.

[Michael Irvin]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. First, first of all, y' all know damn well Coke don't last five hours. Y' all know damn well Coke don't last five hours. And I had, I had partake thinking in 20 years, but if you got some five hour stuff, let me know. That's just what I'm saying, man. Like, stop it. Like, stop saying this stuff. You know what I mean? You, you've been looking at me for the last five hours. There's no way I could do something on this sideline. But, but they're not doing it out of reality. They're doing it to get to you. You know what I'm saying? Date the reality. And nothing I want to say. You know what? When I used to get high, that's exactly what I would say, no matter who I saw. Oh, he high too, because you high. That's the way you, you want everybody to be high because you high.

[Chris Cody]

I'm like, so the first hour, you nailed it. Hour five, it's done then.

[Mina Kimes]

I love, I love that still of Michael Beasley. When you consider what Michael Irvin just said.

[Dan Le Batard]

How high does Michael Beasley look there? And how high was he when he went into the closet to fetch both that hat and the pants that you'd see normally on a Sherpa while climbing Everest because of the amount of fur that he has on his lower body? That's Brandon Marshall, Michael Beasley and Michael Irvin. And people do wonder and have wondered for a long time where Michael Irvin gets the energy. I told you before that Michael Irvin's workouts when he was with the champion Cowboys wouldn't end until he threw up for the second time? So like, he's always been a bit of a maniac when it comes to energy. I, he's, he's approaching 60 now. So the idea that he still has the energy for five hours of that sideline stuff. There aren't a whole lot of 60 year olds I'm seeing with that kind of energy.

[Stugotz]

I get it that he feels that way. I wouldn't want especially like if it's true that he hasn't done cocaine in over 20 years. You don't want people, every time that you're excited about your football team to say that you're high on cocaine.

[Dan Le Batard]

I get it, all right? But the past includes what I'm about to tell you, which is I was one time at his mother's home when the newspaper lands on the lawn that a police officer in Dallas is being arrested for trying to have Michael Irvin killed because his girlfriend was in a motel room doing God knows what with Michael Irvin. This has been a long time that he has this reputation. It has been earned.

[Stugotz]

Earned, not given.

[Dan Le Batard]

And he's also somebody who, at the height of the Dallas Cowboys are the biggest thing in America. He's got criminal charges and is walking through the courtroom with a fur and a fedora because he's like, I'm playing to my constituency. Like, he's. I don't know who he would have to blame for this reputation other than himself.

[Stugotz]

He was the poster child for those crazy Dallas Cowboys mid-90s teams.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yes, but Andy's the poster child for two things, because he's the poster child for those crazy Miami teams too, as well. And he's a. And he was a first round pick. And he's been relevant for 30 years, at least in part because his charisma is something that is weird. It's unusual to have that much charisma there. You can make the argument that in sports, honest to God, that no one has made better television for the last 30 years than Michael Irvin. It's a. It's a good argument that you can make on his behalf.

[Mina Kimes]

Right. And he's suffering from a reputation which, as you could also fairly say, no one has ever been more associated with cocaine in sports.

[Dan Le Batard]

Do we have.

[Mina Kimes]

That's why. That's why that's hanging over him. I understand. And I understand if he's indeed clean, why that would be offensive to the man. I truly get it. But, you know, the reputation is there for a reason.

[Dan Le Batard]

Let's think about this for a second, though. If I tell you sports only category, sports only category. Who do you associate most with cocaine?

[Mina Kimes]

It's Maradona.

[Zaslow]

Immediately.

[Mina Kimes]

Wide golf, huge golf, mean intergalactic golf.

[Chris Cody]

Chris Forrester?

[Dan Le Batard]

I don't know.

[Mina Kimes]

I cannot. I cannot fairly articulate how wide this gulf is between Diego Maradona and everybody else. But then you start getting into the Irvine territory.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Maradona did cocaine on the field that.

[Dan Le Batard]

I saw in a documentary and was really shocked by that. That a trainer.

[Chris Cody]

Well, that shocked you.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Did you.

[Mina Kimes]

In a game, Chris? In a game?

[Chris Cody]

No, I'm making like in a game. It's the most shocking thing you could.

[Dan Le Batard]

Ever see after a Goal. After a goal, a trainer came on the field. Yes. I'm watching a documentary. I thought I was familiar with Maradona's cocaine use. Yeah.

[Stugotz]

How did he do it?

[Dan Le Batard]

They just came out and gave it to him, and he just. He just did it right there on the field.

[Stugotz]

Like, they bring out a mirror after a goal.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah, it's baggy.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yes. They brought out a Lead Zeppelin mirror that you buy at the carnival. Nobody brought out a. I want to know how this was accomplished. The footage, I don't remember. The documentary that I was watching was obviously a Maradona documentary, but I'm watching the footage of a trainer run on the field, and they're like, yep, he's just giving him cocaine. I'm like, wait a minute. That's a stadium full of people. That's a fairly famous person at the center of it. You know, all eyes are. Are on you. How is this not something that is being done? More discreet. How is it possible. How is it possible that this is just happening and that's a performance enhancer?

[Stugotz]

The referee didn't care.

[Dan Le Batard]

It didn't seem like anybody cared. It just seemed like that. That this person had a habit, and this is how you fed the habit. And everyone sort of understood that. This is how you keep Maradona continuing to play soccer for you.

[Stugotz]

It's got to at least be a yellow.

[Dan Le Batard]

Just a yellow card. Put it on the poll at Lebatard show. If you do cocaine on a soccer field, as a player, should you get a yellow card? Yes or no? And I want to go back a second, because I want to go to this photo again. Get the telestrator, please. Get Zaslow the telestrator so that we can just sort of enjoy how Giant the Gulf is as big as Maradona and the second biggest cocaine user in soccer between the Dolphins leading the league now in leadership forehead and every other team in the league. Because I believe that what the Dolphins unveiled yesterday is. I thought. I thought that one of those guys, when I saw him, man, that's a lot of force. Forehead. But then I see the three of them, and I'm like, they're competing for maximum forehead here. And it's a ton. And thank you, Zaslo. That's the biggest one. That's the biggest distance between nose and top of the head. That there. Is there that. Yes. Also big over there. Yes. Thank you.

[Chris Cody]

Getting really close to drawing a dick.

[Dan Le Batard]

You could.

[Mina Kimes]

I could see it on your face.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's in the middle. That's perfect. Steven Ross is in in this photo. I know you want the penis is.

[Mina Kimes]

Where is Stephen Ross? I can't find him.

[Chris Cody]

His body is.

[Dan Le Batard]

We did it. Really, really impressive.

[Mina Kimes]

It's irresistible in this. I don't know how these NFL guys do it. I'd be drawing dongs everywhere, man.

[Dan Le Batard]

Chris Cody came in shaking his fist because Halfley won the big. The big dog interview.