The Big Suey: A Little Steam (feat. Dianna Russini)

Summary

Podcast Summary:

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz – The Big Suey: "A Little Steam" (feat. Dianna Russini)
Date: January 27, 2026
Main Theme:
From downtown Miami’s Elser Hotel, the crew delivers their signature brand of humorous, inside-out sports commentary, pop culture riffing, and personal musings. This episode’s Big Suey centers on the NFL’s wild coaching carousel—most notably, the saga of Mike McDaniel’s job search—plus a revealing, thoughtful interview with The Athletic’s Dianna Russini.

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1. Episode Overview

The show opens with playful banter about the similarities between their different podcast hours, rolls through sponsorship jokes, then pivots to a high-energy sports hour with Dianna Russini. The core is an unflinching discussion about NFL coaching hires: how the sausage is made, how media narratives are constructed, and what it really takes to be great at the top job, both on and off the field.

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2. Key Discussion Points & Insights

A. The Mike McDaniel Coaching Ordeal

• "Is this normal?": Dan asks Dianna for context on Mike McDaniel’s journey—signing as Chargers OC but keeping a foot in prospective head coaching doors elsewhere.

  • Dianna Russini (04:30): “It’s actually normal… it was smart of him to scope it out, figure out maybe he could get another head coaching gig after…the Miami Dolphins fired him.”
  • She elucidates that, by NFL rules, a coach can walk away from a coordinator job for a head coaching position without penalty, though it’s awkward and rarely done for fear of burning bridges.
  • Takeaway: The process gets “weird” when the job market is tight for offensive minds, and McDaniel’s strategy was about opportunity and self-preservation.

• On McDaniel’s Best Path Back Up:

  • Greg Cody (06:03): "It seems to me that coaching Justin Herbert...is the best possible path back to a head coaching job for Mike McDaniel. Do you agree?”
  • Dianna (06:16): "Yeah, I do...If Mike McDaniel can walk in here and maybe bring this offense alive, you absolutely can get back in...There is just such a drought for smart, offensive minded head coaches right now.”
  • The consensus is McDaniel has a prime “rehab” spot: Herbert’s untapped potential gives him a high ceiling.

• On the Rooney Rule & Minority Hiring Speculation:

  • Greg Cody (07:14): floats that McDaniel’s interview volume was due to him qualifying under the Rooney Rule.
  • Dan & crew react (07:25–07:47): “Come on…You’re reporting that?” Concerned this is not just speculation but an on-air report.
  • Dianna Russini (08:33): "In Mike’s case, I do not believe that to be true. ...all the Mike McDaniel interviews were because people believe that Mike McDaniel is a good coach.”
  • Notable quote: "Some of these situations, so many of these guys get fired and their stock goes up, right?” (08:11)
  • Insight: Despite rumors, teams were truly interested in McDaniel’s offensive pedigree.

B. The NFL Coaching Market & “Media Creation”

• Media Hype vs. Reality:

  • Dianna (13:50): “This is the time of year where...people call me right because they want me to come on your show…and be like, ‘you know who is a star?’...because it helps [their clients]. There is…a candidate that…is 1000% constructed by the media.”
  • Show banter (14:28–14:59): Playful guessing game on anonymous candidates.
  • Media shapes reality in the job market more than fans realize.

• The ‘Steam Level’ on Philip Rivers:

  • Dianna (14:46): “The Philip Rivers thing actually had a little steam at one point…I think I reported…”
  • Dan (14:59): “What’s a little steam? Like, a teapot?”
  • The crew jokes about the true odds of wild coaching ideas, giving insight into how rumors gain/immediately lose traction.

C. The Modern Head Coach’s Impossible Task

• Headset Chaos & Game Management:

  • Dan (16:10): asks Dianna to “take us inside the headset…25 seconds to get the play call right…with the substitutions…the other guy’s moving really fast, too.”
  • Dianna (16:33): "I've never had the headset on, but [my co-host] Chase Daniel has explained it...You have to have situational awareness...and the best game managers…have help."
  • Modern head coaching is impossibly complex; the best involve others and lean on probabilistic help when possible.

• Why Former QBs Become Coaches:

  • The trend is for former players—especially QBs—to get fast-tracked to head coaching interviews (23:58, 25:34). Owners feel more comfortable with players who “have been there,” even if playing doesn’t always translate to coaching skill.
  • Dianna (23:56): “That's the formula right now…That tends to be—I think that makes a lot of owners comfortable… yet I still don’t think it makes you completely ready.”

D. Existential Football Questions & the Role of Luck

• Winning vs. Being ‘Best’:

  • Dan (34:14): “Can we talk a little bit, though, about how dumb some of this is with our analysis…[Sean] McVay and Sean Payton…are the reasons their team is not playing in the Super Bowl.”
  • The crew reflects on how single plays, injuries, and noise often matter more than “who’s best.”
  • Dan (38:05): “I could take any one play from any one of those games this weekend and change the result entirely.”

• The Post-Football Void for Quarterbacks:

  • Former QBs rarely jump straight into coaching or front office roles because nothing in civilian life compares to the intensity, pressure, and purpose (31:34–32:03).

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3. Timestamps & Memorable Quotes

• [04:30] Dianna Russini: “It’s actually normal…a high profile head coach…offensive minded…can sign the papers…And if…the Buffalo Bills call him...he has every right to just take a head coaching job.”
• [06:16] Dianna: “If Mike McDaniel can walk in here and maybe bring this offense alive, you absolutely can get back in [as a head coach]...”
• [08:33] Dianna: "I do not believe [the Rooney Rule speculation] to be true...all the Mike McDaniel interviews were because people believe that Mike McDaniel is a good coach."
• [13:50] Dianna: “...There is a candidate...that is 1000% constructed by the media, because every team I’ve talked to was like, ‘oh my goodness...’”
• [16:33] Dianna: "I've never had the headset on, but Chase Daniel...explained it...You have to have situational awareness, ...the best...have help. They have somebody telling them in their ear what to do, when to go for it, what the odds are."
• [23:56] Dianna: "That's the formula right now... that's the trend. And you just painted a perfect picture of what every owner is looking at."
• [31:34] Dan: “They don’t wanna do it. They wanna stop. They wanna stop thinking…every 25 seconds you’re going to fire a missile at me, right?”
• [34:14] Dan: "Can we talk a little bit, though, about how dumb some of this is with our analysis...McVay and Sean Payton...are the reasons their team is not playing in the Super Bowl."

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4. Notable Moments & Tone

• Signature Silliness:
  • Opening with jokes about stealing fries (00:13), failed sponsor reads (“Let’s get rid of Zaz.” 00:48), and self-deprecation about the show’s formula.
• Running ‘Steam’ Gag:
  • Multiple callbacks to “little steam” when evaluating wild coaching rumors, especially Philip Rivers.
• Light Raillery:
  • Crew teases Greg Cody for reporting the Rooney Rule speculation as insider news, generating a cycle of incredulous reactions.
• Behind-the-Scenes Media Satire:
  • Dianna's admission that some coaching candidates are “1000% constructed by the media” (13:50) is a rare, candid acknowledgment of the built-in news cycle theater.

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5. Conclusion

This “Big Suey” delivers a signature blend: NFL shop-talk and meta-sports analysis, funny asides (and sponsor chaos, briefly), and a rare candid look at how the media, coaching industry, and football cultures intertwine. Dianna Russini’s insights bridge the inside info NFL fans crave with genuine skepticism about the charade of the hiring process—and the all-too-human failings that complicate both the games and the business of running a modern franchise.

Perfect Listen If:
You want to hear the NFL’s inner workings roasted, dissected, and ultimately humanized by a sports media A-team—without ever losing sight of how odd and fun all of it really is.

Transcript

[Dan Le Batard]

Welcome to the Big Sui, presented by DraftKings. Why are you listening to this show, the podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan LeBatard podcast?

[Greg Cody]

I'm sorry.

[Stugats]

I'm not going to apologize for that.

[Dan Le Batard]

In fact, the only difference seems to be this imaging. I have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries that if they're just there. That hasn't happened to you guys.

[Mike Ryan]

I've done it.

[Dan Le Batard]

And now here's the marching man to Nowhere, Fat Face and the Habitual Liar.

[Stugats]

This episode of the Dan Lebatard show is presented by DraftKings.

[Zas]

Oh, no.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh. Oh. Oh, no.

[Greg Cody]

Oh, boy.

[Dan Le Batard]

Zazlow.

[Stugats]

That big of a deal.

[Mike Ryan]

Professional.

[Greg Cody]

You need me to take over?

[Jeremy]

Mike, take out your notes.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah. Here, let's pull the goalie. Yes.

[Zas]

Here on a read.

[Dan Le Batard]

Let's get rid of Zaz.

[Stugats]

Let me keep going.

[Mike Ryan]

Go ahead.

[Zas]

And best presenting sponsor.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah. Zaz, I'm sorry to do this to you, but after feuding with with Greg Cody, that's a penalty of some sort.

[Mike Ryan]

Oh, no.

[Greg Cody]

I would think so.

[Dan Le Batard]

Minor penalty. 2 minutes delay a show.

[Zas]

He didn't even finish the read.

[Dan Le Batard]

Show us how it's done, Dan. Greg, show us how a professional broadcaster does it.

[Greg Cody]

This episode of the Dan Lebatard show is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings. The Crown is yours.

[Dan Le Batard]

That is the way to do it. That is why you're the legend.

[Greg Cody]

Thank you.

[Dan Le Batard]

The legendary columnist Greg Cody, king of all media in South Florida, deserves more respect, but you should strip his hall of Fame vote. Okay, Jeremy, you want to. You want to. Please, before we get to Diana Rossini, just recap what it is that we did in that last hour.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, I just want to clarify a couple of things. So the new Curt Flood will be quarterbacking Miami in what will be the game of the century in November, throwing to the greatest white wide receiver in program history and maybe the city of Miami's history, who also happened to have a perfect SAT score. Definitely worth noting. He's big, he's athletic, he's fast. And Miami's defensive line will be better than the one that just had two first round picks on the edges for the first time in program history. Do I have all that right?

[Zas]

That about covers it.

[Greg Cody]

Cool.

[Dan Le Batard]

I don't have any regrets about the last hour. And we'll get to Diane, except. Except for one. I do have a regret if it appeared flippant to our audience in any way, that the Stugots thing is something that we're enjoying here privately. As you React and get annoyed. Please understand that I love Stugatz. I will always love Stugatz. I invited him to our watch party. I've been. We've been inviting him all month to be on the show and we want him around here. The door is wide open for him. He started his own projects 3 to 5pm daily on Fox Sports Radio. It's a giant thing. He's alive. Radio monster. He missed it. He's doing that three to five and Stu got some company in general is something that you should check out and he'll give you whatever information he wants about when he's coming back. We don't know. I'd love for him to be back.

[Zas]

You could call him the new Curt flood of radio.

[Dan Le Batard]

Just so you know though, I don't want anyone in our audience thinking that this is some flipping joke because there's stuff here that would be funny and I would love to make content out of, but I'm not going to out of respect to a relationship that I really value and will always value.

[Zas]

It's not the high road. If you have to tell people you're.

[Dan Le Batard]

Taking it mean to suggest that. I'm just telling people because they think we're being flippant here because of what Greg did there with New Gotz. And I don't want them to think that it's not something. I don't want our audience to think that. I'm enjoying the fact that Stugatz isn't around here and I don't want it to feel like that to anybody here included. Because I'd love to have him back. I want him back.

[Stugats]

Way to ruin the mood. Way to ruin the mood.

[Sponsor Voice]

Greg.

[Dan Le Batard]

You got to turn your microphone on. Turn on the mind. Minor penalty, two minutes delay a show.

[Diana Rossini]

Early.

[Zas]

This is if. If there was any validity to New Gods. Boy, did you nuke your chances.

[Dan Le Batard]

She's the senior NFL insider for the Athletic, the host of the Scoop City podcast. Diana, thank you for joining us. I'd like any fresh reported materials that you have for us on how weird this Mike McDaniel thing was where he's got a number of options. He signs with the Chargers, but it's pending if the Ravens job or Raiders job or Bill's job or Josh Allen become available. And now he's back with the Chargers. Like, was this normal to you? And welcome by the way.

[Diana Rossini]

Hi, guys. Yeah, you know what? It's actually. It's actually normal. Look, this is a high profile head coach who is offensive minded Head coach. Right. And that's Kind of a big need right now around the league. So it was smart of him to scope it out, figure out maybe he could get another head coaching gig after, after the Miami Dolphins fired him. So I don't think a lot of people realize this, but you can sign on as an offensive coordinat. You can sign the papers, you can do all of it. You can make the big announcement on social media. And if, let's just say, for example, right now the Buffalo Bills call him and say, hey, Mike, we want you to be the head coach of the Buffalo Bills and coach Josh Allen, he can do that. Like he has every right to just take a head coaching job because the rules state that if it's a higher position, you're able to do that. So a lot of people don't do that. Right. Because that's going to ruin relationships. Obviously, Jim Harbaugh is not going to like that. So if you were sensing some weirdness with it, it's because it was weird. I think Mike had desires to still be a head coach and wanted opportunity, but also realized if that didn't shake out, the best opportunity would be with the Chargers. And I don't think he really wanted to piss off Jim Harbaugh through this either. Right. Because he gave him his word. Hey, I'm going to be here, I'm going to be your coach. But he was still checking out all of his options. But, but for now it's official. He. I don't think he's going to back out, but he's not going to back out because I don't get the sense that any of these openings are going to in the next few hours here. And just a heads up, a lot of hiring is going to be going down over the next few hours.

[Greg Cody]

Diana, it seems to me that coaching Justin Herbert for that team is the best possible path back to a head coaching job for Mike McDaniel. Do you agree? And if so, why?

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah, I do. Because we still have yet to see Justin take off. Right. I think we've talked about this on the show, how good he is. I think most people that cover and follow football believe that Justin Herbert is a very talented quarterback, but he can't get over the hump. So if Mike McDaniel can walk in here and maybe bring this offense alive, you absolutely can get back in. And I think that's the way a lot of these guys are approaching it. If you can just have one good year and get a young quarterback functioning, you become the hottest head coach candidate. I mean, Cliff Kingsbury was fired and he got head coaching jobs after this Washington commander's year that wasn't even that good. There is just such a drought for smart, offensive minded head coaches right now. And that's really the problem that you're seeing with this cycle. I think the leader of men, we'll call it, that, that description. I think there's a good amount of them, I think more specific to offensive minded. There's not as many.

[Greg Cody]

Quick follow up on Mike McDaniel, a source of mine with the Dolphins told me that the reason he got so much interest is that he qualified under the Rooney Rule.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, come on.

[Greg Cody]

Is that true?

[Dan Le Batard]

Come on.

[Greg Cody]

Do you believe that's true?

[Dan Le Batard]

Come on.

[Diana Rossini]

No, but.

[Dan Le Batard]

Excuse me, Diane, I just want to know, is that original? Know you just said a source. You never do that. Forgive me, Diana, but you, you just reported. Are you reporting that a source with the Dolphins said to you that he got so many interviews because he's a black candidate?

[Greg Cody]

I think that's, that's part of the reason why. And I'm wondering, and I'm wondering if Diana believes that's true or if she thinks he got that many interviews based solely on, on, on merit. I'm just curious. And I was told that the night of the national championship game Monday night by. You don't have.

[Dan Le Batard]

We're not questioning you. We're just saying you're reporting that because that's going to be national news.

[Zas]

That's a tough look for the Dolphins.

[Dan Le Batard]

I mean, it's so ridiculous what you're saying that that's going to become national news.

[Greg Cody]

All I'm saying is, and I don't know the exact number, if Mike McDaniel was interviewed by five or six teams, let's say, for a head coaching job, does Diana think that part of the reason might have been that that higher qualified, that that interview qualified under the Rooney Rule?

[Diana Rossini]

That's all I do in, in Mike's case, I do not believe that to be true. I am not questioning that somebody told you that. I believe that someone maybe shared that with you, but obviously that's just their opinion. They don't know whether or not the Bills were really serious about Mike. The Brown. I know and they were serious. And it has everything to do with what we just talked about in terms of, of his offensive mind. And look, I know it wasn't spectacular there in Miami, but some of these situations, and we talked about this last week, so many of these guys get fired and their stock goes up, right? Mike went from being just the bizarre coach that has genius moments, but no one's really sure what he's about to. Every team that was looking for a head coach had shown interest, reached out to his camp, because I do think there's some untapped talent there. And if he can be linked to the right quarterback with a good ownership group, I do think he could have success. So I feel very comfortable saying all the Mike McDaniel interviews were because people believe that Mike McDaniel is a good coach.

[Zas]

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[Stugats]

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[Dan Le Batard]

Don LeBatard, are you on the fan right now?

[Diana Rossini]

Did Mike Greenberg call you yet? Are you ever gonna go back to espn? People think it's so weird you're a writer now. All those years on tv. All those years, and now you write. Who reads that?

[Zas]

Stugats.

[Diana Rossini]

Why did he take a job at the Atlantic? Mom, I work at the Athletic.

[Greg Cody]

What?

[Diana Rossini]

You.

[Dan Le Batard]

On YouTube, this is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats.

[Zas]

You mentioned that it's not all that uncommon for a coach to have a coordinator position locked up and still take interviews. But this interview process, at least publicly, seemed a little erratic. He seemed interested in jobs and then decided to pull himself out of certain interviews, maybe read some writing on the wall. Or did he just value the LA spot?

[Dan Le Batard]

What I assumed, Diana, was that his agent was leveraging. Hey, look, I wanted. My guy is one of you want to make him a head coach, right?

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah, I think there's a lot of that, right? There's There's. This is the time of year where we become. And when I say we, us media members, become one of the most important parts of this, I don't call that many people right now. People call me right because they want me to come on your show right now and be like, you know, who is a star? You know, and whatever name that is, because it helps. There is. I'm not gonna reveal who it is, but there is a candidate that went through this cycle now that is 1000% constructed by the media, because every team I've talked to was like, oh, my goodness, that.

[Stugats]

Let's guess how.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, go ahead.

[Sponsor Voice]

Philip Rivers.

[Jeremy]

Philip Rivers for sure.

[Dan Le Batard]

Let's go ahead and guess.

[Diana Rossini]

Like, no, no, no. The Philip Rivers thing actually had a little steam at one point. I assume that was a. Let's just be creative. Think outside the box. Try something different. You know, his agent is the same agent as Josh Allen. Maybe that was just like a favor.

[Sponsor Voice]

You say a little steam. What's the steam level here?

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, give us a steam level. Like a little steam. What's a little. Seem like a little teapot. How much steam are we talking about? Radiator? A little teapot. Like just some hot, hot steam off of your latte.

[Jeremy]

Coffee on a cold day.

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah, coffee on a cold day.

[Sponsor Voice]

That's little.

[Dan Le Batard]

That is. That's nothing.

[Sponsor Voice]

Sad amount of steam, I would argue.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, that's.

[Jeremy]

But.

[Diana Rossini]

But remember, too, he met on Friday, and then one little. I think I reported set. No, I just reported yesterday. I don't know what day I reported, but it was pretty quick. It was like in and out. He met. He pulled out, which I know everybody makes him. I know the same joke about Phil Rivers, right? Pulling out.

[Zas]

Doesn't pull out.

[Dan Le Batard]

First time he ever. Well, the. The Philip Rivers thing I thought was just an absence of offensive mind. It is funny to me to think of the idea that they're like the four guys in the league and I got to go get Philip rivers because otherwise McCarthy's not going to. You know, he's a. Every other offensive guy McCarthy can handle, but not these whiz kids.

[Diana Rossini]

Well, look, these whiz kids, what. We're seeing a little bit of a trend right now. These great play callers, not very good game managers. Right? Like, look at these playoffs. I think Sean McVay would have loved to have had a little extra help with someone in his ear, giving him some guidance. The same guy who's in Mike Vrabel's ear in New England. His name's John Stryker. They call him Stretch. He was with McVeigh last year and left and now joined Vrabel again. They were together.

[Dan Le Batard]

Diana, take us inside of that. For people who don't understand the sophistications that we're talking about, it's fundamentally unreasonable to ask these people in these pressurized situations in 25 seconds to get the play call right from the booth every time with the substitutions because the other guy's moving really fast, too. Like, it's a really hard job. So hard. Take us into the headset of where even McVeigh can't keep up with everything.

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah. I mean, I've never had the headset on, but Chase Daniel, my co host on Scoop City, has done this for me because I've been interested just the way you are. Like, what does it sound like, what does it look like? And I don't understand how people are able to comprehend it because not only do you have to have situational awareness, you have to think about the play ahead. Also be cognizant of time, timeouts. And the best game managers that I've covered have help. They have somebody telling them in their ear what to do, when to go for it, what the odds are. And then you mix that with gut and feel for the game. And look, even some of the coaches that I respect at the highest level, Sean Payton on Sunday, still makes mistakes, especially if you're a play caller. And I do think that that is something to. To keep in mind when we're watching some of these organizations that have success. Are they the play callers? Because to call plays and be the head coach, I'm always going to say that's really hard. And keep that in mind, too. In this coaching cycle, those. These are questions being asked. Are you going to call plays or not? And most teams don't really want their head coach being involved in play calls because of this situation. It costs games and it costs the Broncos a game.

[Dan Le Batard]

Diana, this part's fashion fascinating to me. Okay. The specialization of these things. Okay. Mike McDaniel is obviously someone who is very good at coaching offense.

[Diana Rossini]

Yes.

[Dan Le Batard]

Period. Like, you don't need to tell me anything else. He's one of these people who's obviously very good at coaching offense. The idea that even McVeigh's in the pace Satans of the world would be like, I got this. And then do stupid things because they're not willing to have a staff of 10 and be Eagle less enough for Vrabel to be like, what? I got a 54% chance on fourth down here. If I go for it, I want to play probabilities here. Like, it seems really ego filled for guys like McVeigh and Peyton to have to handle everything.

[Diana Rossini]

It does, but think there is so much on the desk of a head coach in terms of what they only have so much time in the day, so what are they going to invest in? And so from what I understand, and even from covering Rabel in Tennessee as much as I did, they put significant amount of time in obsessing over game situations. And even the officials, like they study the officials and are a little over the top with the details of that. I'd be curious to see how many head coaches are doing it at that level because you see it in the game there, there's. They practice it and then it reveals itself when the pressure's on. And they don't make a lot of mistakes. I don't want to jinx them for the super bowl here, but they're usually making decisions because they're prepared for it. And, and I do think there is an obsessive factor there that helps and it doesn't. It makes sense, right? Because think about where this, a lot of this staff comes from. It's the Belichick way. And there's. There's not a lot of similarities between Bill Belichick and Mike Vrabel. But when it comes to that stuff, the details, the game management, I mean, I think they're the same person.

[Dan Le Batard]

So walk me through some of this part of it though, right? So McDaniel is viewed as a clown because the media is loud when he's not a clown. He's obviously very good at this specialty. Now Vrabel, if Vrabel is someone who's going to know this official, I need to throw deep more because he calls pass interference 16% more time does variable then have to know that I can't wear the white uniforms because in the second half the snow is coming and nobody's going to be able to see anything. And I've got a game plan for a second half that's going to be ridiculous weather. Like if. What if you know what the referee's tendencies are, don't you need to know what the weather is in the second half?

[Diana Rossini]

You do. And I'm actually surprised that Sean Payton didn't have some type of preparation for this. This is the same man who had a player on the Saints wear cleats that blended with the white hashes and had him lay down in the end zone to run a trick play. I mean, and they called it chameleon the play. Like he has all these incredible. I mean, he meets with the football ops people to talk about the amount of smoke that came out of the Superdome when the players would run out. And he is not somebody that is lazy when it comes to the small stuff. So I am a little surprised. I am not surprised that the Patriots were prepared for the snow at all and purposely did that. Like that is. That's without a doubt. They. Everything they do is intentional. I just don't think they talk about it as much.

[Stugats]

Diana, you said that the Philip Rivers Buffalo thing was definitely for real. How is that little steam?

[Dan Le Batard]

Little steam.

[Diana Rossini]

I mean, let's talk about it. I mean, he's proven to be a very good quarterback himself. Some people believe that he's been a good coach on the high school level, that he can, he understands the position. Maybe there's things that Josh Allen needs as the leader of the team that Philip Rivers could understand and he can lean into that Josh Allen sitting in on every single meeting for a reason. They value his opinion. They value what he needs, what he wants and perhaps what. What hasn't been given to him. So look, I think there are. The Buffalo Bills made a firing knowing that it could happen. But I still think you'd be surprised how many teams don't have a lot of preparation for this stuff. It's not like they have a long list sitting in their desk. I mean, some, some GMs do, but we're like, okay, if I'm going to fire this guy, this is the answer. Look at the Browns right now. You fire Kevin Stefanski and we're waiting right now. I think they're going to make a hire in the next few hours here. Who are they going to hire that's going to make you guys believe that the Cleveland Browns are going to be competitive?

[Dan Le Batard]

They have a Pro bowl quarterback.

[Zas]

I, I understand the skepticism. He's never been a head coach beyond the high school level. But I think Philip Rivers just did kind of prove that he's largely in tune with today's game. And he's got. Josh McCown had some of this too, where everyone just acknowledges that guy would make a great coach, seem to be able to rally the troops, be a good vibes guy. And what he did just this past season was incredibly impressive, I wouldn't doubt.

[Stugats]

I guess. Diana, before you answer that, we just went through a whole conversation about how hard being the head coaches and how fast everything moves. And yes, I get it. He's been a head coach in high school. But it's not like some 30 year legendary high school coach wants me to go for two.

[Dan Le Batard]

But the funny part, the funny part about this Diana, like it is really funny. Like we just talked about how hard it is for it to be the coach now. Make it the quarterback who's got two guys coming off the edges who are 300 pounds and he's got to think fast too. So you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to put Matt Ryan in charge of my franchi, going to hire Troy Aikman and ask for all his advice and I'm going to get all these guys who process quickly and see if they can be better decision makers than the ones that I have. Like Philip Rivers. You're going to, you've got to assign sort of, especially given his skill set, he wasn't physically that good. Like you have to assign the fact that Philip Rivers has some sort of genius when it comes to football in his head now, I don't think it translates. I don't think he could teach it to others. I think it's silly to make these guys go to the front of the line and give them all of the power in your organization and say, hey, are you all so good at management? When somebody's like shitty employee and you're running.

[Diana Rossini]

That's the formula right now.

[Zas]

Right?

[Diana Rossini]

That's obviously the trend. And you just painted a perfect picture of what every owner is looking at. They're going. John lynch has had success with Kyle Shanahan out in San Francisco. D' Amico Ryan's has been a great leader for Houston, makes them competitive. And as you mentioned, Matt Ryan, Mike Vrabel, former player Anthony Weaver is getting tons of opportunity right now. Former player that, that tends to be. I think that makes a lot of owners comfortable because they think that that's the best way to, to rally these guys because they've done it before. Yet I still don't think it makes you completely ready. Right. Just because you play the game, as we've all seen before, just because you played it doesn't mean you can teach it. It certainly takes a certain type of leader and gain. And manager like, like you met, you mentioned people manager. That is such a big part of this. And anytime I've spoken to general managers after they fire head coaches, that's usually what it comes down to. Their coaches are bad managers, the ones that get fired. So I think that guidance is making owners feel good. Like Matt Ryan must know. He'll know if this guy is for real if this coach is really good. Because at the end of the day, I still don't truly believe that those that are hiring these coaches know exactly what it is that they want and it's not an easy process. I think that's the other part of this. It is very difficult to find the right coach. We can laugh and joke about the hirings and the firings and the owners that have moved on from some coaches and stayed too long with the others. I just think it's a really hard position to figure out.

[Dan Le Batard]

Subscribe to the Athletic Scoop City podcast with Diana Rossini. Thank you. Diana didn't didn't get to the Eagles coordinator stuff that probably enrages her husband at the moment. Next time. More coordinator talk next time.

[Mike Ryan]

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[Diana Rossini]

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[Jeremy]

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Dan Le Batard]

Don LeBatard Quiet, man. Yes.

[Greg Cody]

You know, I'm a married man. I don't cheat on my wife. Despite that gratuitous line in Back in Stugats. I wish you were here. My wife, I really miss her. No, I don't. That's the thing about being married, you know, you're not allowed to say, I don't miss my wife. I've been gone two days. I haven't been gone long enough to miss my wife. I'm sorry. I call her. I'm on the phone with her. 30 seconds. You know, what am I? Hello? All right, all right, we'll see you. All right. And then, you know, I'm going to see her in two days. How's jumping, Charlie?

[Dan Le Batard]

Good. This is the D? Ler show with the st. I want to examine with you guys before Pablo Torre comes on here with his his latest bombshell. NBA related. That is part of the shared reporting that he is doing in a very difficult media time. For those of you who do not understand what's happening in the media, it is not dying, it is dead. The mainstream media cannot keep up with some of the things that it needs to keep up with in order to hold truth to power these days. And so Pablo Torre is coordinating here, and he's done this a couple of times. He did it with Matt Ishbia and Dan Gilbert. A story that it was complicated and involves, you know, mortgage details and business details that explain to you how it is that billionaires get into power. But he is teaming up with Hunter Brook to tell you that the Memphis Grizzlies owner Hunter Brook is reporting there are some ties to the Russian you might find interesting. Even though people. The news is getting complicated, Zas, and journalism is getting complicated. So these stories are hard to get in front of people because it's just much easier to talk about. Who do you think the next offensive coordinator is going to be? But getting back to what it is Diana was saying, Pablo will join us in about 10 minutes. So it's not just Matt Ryan. Here's the keys to the Falcons. You go right to the front of the line. Or Philip Rivers, come teach us your genius. It's also Tom Brady. You can have every job that you want in football. You can. You can break all the barriers. You can be a great broadcaster. And also you can run the Raiders if you want. Because these people are air traffic control for the chaos of stress management in America on Sundays. So you think Sean Payton and Sean McVeigh's got a lot to think about? No, they're just on the sidelines of this nonsense. The whole thing runs through the quarterback. He's the economy. He's the epicenter of all of it. Sam Darnold better be better than staff. And that's verse on the corner coming after him. Like all of this stuff moves impossibly fast. We watch on Sundays and have no earthly idea the skill set required to be air traffic control at the center of that chaos, where the next guy's gonna hurt your brain. It's nuts what those people do for a living. But it doesn't mean he can run the Falcons and it doesn't mean that Brady's gonna fix the Raiders.

[Zas]

I'm surprised we don't see more former high level quarterbacks in these roles.

[Dan Le Batard]

They don't wanna do it. They wanna stop. They wanna stop thinking when their care every 25 seconds you're going to fire a missile at me, right?

[Zas]

I mean, these people, I think everybody would say they're high achievers. And I can understand how someone looks at Matt Ryan and says, this guy probably will be good at anything I make him do.

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[Dan Le Batard]

You know what I mean?

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[Zas]

That's right.

[Sponsor Voice]

Oh, I get to go to all the games. I get to still be Dan Marino. But I don't have any of the pressure.

[Dan Le Batard]

Most of them don't even want to go into broadcasting, though. It's such a high stress job. And it physically hurts so much that many of them don't want to be Elway and start running. The Broncos like they just have a hard time finding anything after football that, like, can you imagine? Think about this for a second. I mean, this. I don't know if it's trauma, but, like, my guess is their body has to store some trauma over 15 years. Every 40 seconds while I'm out on a field, somebody's gonna try and hurt me. And I've gotta make these decisions really, really fast. I gotta do it with a clock on me every few seconds. Seconds. Do you think that that person, after retiring, finds anything in the real world that will ever feel to them the way that felt? The power of that, the strength of it. I'm the center of my city. Everyone in my city is watching me right now and is gonna get mad or happy with the consequence of every decision I make for 25 seconds. And it's just totally insane around me at all times. I'm the one who's always in charge. There's no filling that void after you retire. Like, it's hard for some athletes to retire because you lose your identity at 35 years old. It's hardest for the quarterbacks because where the hell are you going to get. I'm the greatest gladiator every weekend. I get to be either Baker Mayfield or I get to be Sam Darnold last Sunday with whatever I leave with, because I've got, in the trophy case, I got the MVP's head in my hand.

[Jeremy]

It's why I can understand why a quarterback would want to be a head coach. I don't really understand why they'd want to run an organization, do you? With the finances and the player personnel moves and all the things that come with that. But the leadership of being a quarterback should translate to the leadership of being a head coach, because you're used to running that group of men in a different way. You're just running an offense. You're not running the defensive side as well. But there's also the challenge of working on the schematic side of it. If you're somebody like Philip Rivers that played for as long as he did, he watched eras of offense change over time. And he actually was on an offense in the Chargers that was part of ushering in an new era. Going to the running back more. He. He might enjoy the challenge of Trying to continue to update offense and get a quarterback to a new place.

[Dan Le Batard]

Can we talk a little bit, though, about how dumb some of this is with our analysis, given what I'm about to say? Everyone listening to this knows that McVay and Sean Payton are good at their jobs and those two coaches are responsible for their teams with decisions they made, not being in the super bowl and ending the seasons of their team because. Because they did the incorrect thing. Not worse than Vrabel. You will not convince, you will not convince me that Sean Payton is worth the variable because this is how we're measuring play 17 games, all 17. In the end, you're just doing it to get home field advantage because those three points matter. And you want to be at home in that game because being at home in that game, oh, our quarterbacks hurt. Never mind about the measurements. Never mind we played 17 games to get that advantage and then it all goes away. If it were actually about picking the best team and not making sure you get the televised game dollars on Sunday, they'd wait eight months to bo Knicks is healthy and then let the teams play. If it was actually about who's best, because the Patriots did not beat the Broncos best team. They just beat the one that had a shitty quarterback like that. That's asinine. And Peyton lost them the game with the shitty quarterback. And instead of being celebrated, he's killed today because he went for it on 4th and 1 with the shitty quarterback.

[Zas]

Are you having like an existential thing when it comes to, like football? Because it's never about who's best, it's about who wins who, and who wins gets a call themselves the best. You're applying like a Give me an 82 fixture type of season logic to a sport that's never been.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm just telling you that McVay and Peyton are considered routinely the best and they are the reasons their team is not playing in the Super Bowl. Yeah, but why?

[Stugats]

Why is that any different from when, you know, like this weekend where Darnold was better than Stafford this past Sunday, but no one believes that Donald's actually better than Stafford. Like the coach can have a better day than that coach, even though we know he's not.

[Dan Le Batard]

It was announced yesterday by Jeremy that the Seahawks are clearly better than the Rams. So if you're telling me the Seahawks are clearly better than the Rams and I just saw Darnold clearly be better than Stafford on Sunday, on third down when it matters most, then what's the big leap to saying that Darnold if he's better on Sunday like Seattle was, he gets to be better for that day forever. The way that the Seahawks are.

[Stugats]

Well, I think you're putting a little too much. I don't know if value is the right word, but it's not all on the quarterback like, there are other players on the team. And Seattle is definitely a better team, even if their quarterback is not as.

[Greg Cody]

Good as the Rams because their defense is clearly better than lan. It matters. That's why I thought Denver had a great chance to beat New England is because of their defense. You know, despite Jared Stidham. They didn't. But they had a chance to because of beat.

[Dan Le Batard]

But we talked about offense and Philip Rivers and Mike McDaniels. Like, the thing about this stuff that's noisy and dumb is you will not convince me that McDaniels is not good at producing offense. It's a hugely valuable thing to have, and if you give it to me, I'll be fine with that. As my head coach, I don't need a lot else because McVay and Payton are good at offense, too, and it's their defenses. Like, Peyton got there because of his defense. McVay was betrayed by his. For all his offense, McVay couldn't beat the number one defense in the league, which collapsed at the finish line. Like, the Seahawks showed you nothing in that football game that suggested they were the number one defense in the league. They didn't show you what Houston did in the playoffs. They didn't show you what Denver did in the playoffs. Defensively, what proof do you have in that last game that Seattle's good at defense? They help. They held the Rams and Stafford on third down. They also allowed Stafford to have a game of his life type of performance.

[Stugats]

Yeah, I don't necessarily agree with that. I mean, you know, you could be the great defense. They still gave up, what was it, 27 points of the Rams and in the biggest spot of the game on fourth down, like, they came up with the stop in the end zone like that.

[Mike Ryan]

It matters.

[Zas]

I don't think that's a bad battle between the top offense and top defense. For the Rams.

[Dan Le Batard]

Drop the touchdown pass, the two plays before that, that would have not resulted in that fourth down. It doesn't matter is what I'm saying. I could take any one play from any one of those games this weekend and change the result entirely. Right?

[Zas]

But I watched that game on Sunday. I'm like, yeah, that's how that plays out. Top offense versus top defense. Like the top offense is going to get there as occasionally. And what can the defense do in the crucial moments? Can the offense break down the defense? So I do think at times, yeah, it looked like the Rams were having their way and had the better of a familiar opponent. Remember, these are division rivals. Sean McVay knows how to attack this defense probably better than anybody else, but that's the top dogs in their respective areas and I thought it played out the way that it was hyped up to be.

[Jeremy]

Dan, I don't know how many times we have to tell you. All that matters is head to head.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's right. All that matters is winning Big tax.

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[Dan Le Batard]

Com.