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- [00:00]
Bobby Senior
Welcome to football today. Wednesday, January 1, 2025. Welcome to the new year. Welcome to Football Today. I'm Bobby Senior. I'm here with Justin Pennock. And guess what we're going to do new year? We're going to talk about people who should be fired.
- [00:16]
Justin Pennock
Shoe. Geez, it's your NFL.
- [00:19]
Bobby Senior
I recommend you to be fired. I've already went to Jimmy O'Brien, otherwise known as John Boy, and I hope you get fired. How are you?
- [00:28]
Justin Pennock
This is our NFL Black Monday preview. Bobby Skinner and everybody listening. I hope you had a happy new Year. Yeah. So what we're going to do is we're going to break this down into a couple different categories. We're going to talk about the coaching and GM vacancies that are already open. So there's three of those. We're going to break it down also into four categories of. Of. There's going to be coaches and GMs that will probably be fired on Black Monday. Whose seat is red hot? How about whose seat is warm? Whose seat do we think is lukewarm? And then whose job is basically safe? Who is on the cool side of things? Out of all the coaches and possible GMs that could be fired, we're going to talk about almost all of them. I will say my one little caveat. I don't know the inner workings of every team's GM position, but most teams are more apt and willing to fire head coaches anyway, rather than GMs. And I think we have a pretty good idea of what head coaches and GMs may be going.
- [01:27]
Bobby Senior
Yeah, and I, you know, I have opinions on some of these GMs as well, too. So what. What do you want to start off with? The open. The open seats right now of the Bears, Saints and Jets?
- [01:37]
Justin Pennock
Yeah, let's. Let's do that. So the jets, they fired their head coach, Robert Saul. They fired Joe Douglas in the middle of the season. And I'll be honest, getting a little excited about Rex Ryan. I don't have, like, specific names or, or like a wish list for the jets, even though I don't think it's as. As terrible of a job as. As people maybe make it seem to.
- [01:59]
Bobby Senior
Think, but I don't know, man. I feel like dealing with Woody Johnson is like, the stuff that comes out. And I know jets fans will push back and say, oh, this didn't. Well, there's clearly very dysfunctional issues there. You're gonna have to make a decision on Aaron Rodgers. And even if you do decide to move on, what's Your answer at that position. To me, this, this is an undesirable spot. Despite the fact that that roster does have a good amount of talent and young talent on it. I do find this as an undesirable spot and I have no clue what direction they want to go. But they have, I mean, they have started interviewing people because they're, you know, open and available. You know, they had, you know, Jim Nagy of the Senior bowl, you know, the, the old Falcons gm, then, you know, head coaching Ron Rivera, you know, Rex Ryan rumors. So they, they haven't been able to start interviewing like the actual good candidates yet. But I just really have no clue where, which way this is going to go because Woody Johnson is very unpredictable.
- [03:01]
Justin Pennock
Yeah, the Woody Johnson side of it, I was mainly thinking of the roster because you have a, a possible future left tackle that they drafted last year and Olu, who's shown kind of flashes this year. You have Breeze hall, you have Braylon Allen, you have Garrett Wilson. Where if Aaron Rodgers has moved on from. I mean, this is the report that, you know, was put out there that if Aaron Rodgers stays, Garrett Wilson will request a trade. And if he's gone, then they could.
- [03:24]
Bobby Senior
Also just not trade him either.
- [03:25]
Justin Pennock
Yeah, that is true. You could be like, no, you're going, you're on the New York jets, you're going to play here, which I, I respect NFL teams kind of doing this past off season, like the Bengals and the 49ers. Devonte Adams and his contract is. He's still here. I don't think he's washed. So I mean, that's, that's even still.
- [03:41]
Bobby Senior
He's still there, but he's not part of the long term plan there.
- [03:43]
Justin Pennock
Right, right. But he's still there, you know, and of course you have Quinn Williams, who's one of the best interior defenders. You have Will McDonald that took a step up and he's actually getting sacks. He's actually, actually looking really good. You have one of the best linebacker groups in the NFL with like three good linebackers. And then you also have Sauce Gardner and a, and a solid secondary. And you know, guys that you're probably going to have to resign or bring back or negotiate with. But I mean, this, regardless of the owner, the owner is a huge part of if a GM or a coach should want to take a job for sure. But I don't know how you can look at that roster and not get a little excited about what if you're a coach and you're confident in your abilities or if You're a GM and you're confident in your abilities. How can you not maybe look at that, be like, I can maybe do something with it?
- [04:23]
Bobby Senior
Well, sure, but again, like, we're not talking about just typical bad ownership group. We're talking about Woody Johnson might be the worst owner.
- [04:30]
Justin Pennock
Yeah.
- [04:30]
Bobby Senior
The NFL. Right. The only one that could maybe argue with that is Dave Tepper. And it's not to mean there's, there's other bad owners. Right. There's, I think there's a bad owner in the same city as them, but there is a different level to the Woody Johnson part of this. And the quarterback. What's the, where's the quarterback answer coming for them? Because it's probably, it's not coming out of this draft because of that roster talent. You don't see them bottoming out. You know, what do you do with Aaron Rodgers? Like, there's just, to me, it's not a, it's not, it's not. If I had my choice of this, I'm not, I'm, that's what. Not where I'm picking. I also just, here's the other parts. I don't trust Woody Johnson to make the right decision either. Even if, even if he does have good candidates that are willing to go there.
- [05:12]
Justin Pennock
I want Rex Ryan back, which is.
- [05:15]
Bobby Senior
Again, that's like a, that's a horrible hire. Right. It's, it's going back to glory days of making, to the AFC Championships with Mark Sanchez. That, that again, I, I, people have tried to rule that out in jets land. I follow a lot of jets people and people I like, you know, Connor Hughes, the Badlands guys, some other ones they like, don't even want to entertain it. But I'm telling you that Woody Johnson will entertain that because that has been their most success. That has been their most successful. He's, you know, Rex Ryan has, you know, been on a little bit of a tour trying to get back in there. I expect it to be something like that. So I, I, I don't, I don't have a lot of faith in that organization as a whole. Let's talk about the Saints, though, because I actually think the Saints are fascinating. Mickey Loomis has been their GM since 2002. They've continuously just keep pushing the cap back and back and back and just been in the no man's land since Drew Brees left. Does this ownership group ever say, we're, we're done with this and, like, it's time, it's time to start afresh?
- [06:19]
Justin Pennock
At least not yet.
- [06:20]
Bobby Senior
Like what, what's the path for, what is the path forward for the New Orleans Saints?
- [06:26]
Justin Pennock
I don't know, like, at least with the jets, you know, I mentioned the roster and you know, I mentioned like, oh, you have Woody Johnson and the dynamic of the owner and like bringing in like a restaurant. I have no idea where they go and I have no idea where they want to go.
- [06:40]
Bobby Senior
I think the Saints don't have a terrible roster either. Right. The offensive line, you know, has had struggles at time, but you have young guys that you like on there. You know, Chris Olave is a really good piece. He's just been so super health, you know, a lot of health issues, concussions. Defensively, there's good talent, not a lot on the front there, even though you, you know, guy like Brian Brzee. But I don't think that roster is super far off. I think that defense is capable of being good in the here and now. And. But again, another quarterback, you know, dependent situation. What, like what are they going to do? And Mickey Loomis has shown that he's not going to go the right way about this. I mean, they paid Derek Carr a lot of money. Derek. They paid Derek Carr a lot of money to do. To do what? You know, exactly. There. You know, I think they lack depth at a lot of issues. It's just when will the Saints decide that. And this can be Mickey Loomis too, that we're going to stop putting pushing this stuff down the road and we're going to try and reset and put together like a four year plan here.
- [07:45]
Justin Pennock
They would need to be bad for like one or like, and I'm talking bad. Bad for like one or two years to fully get back into a healthy cap situation though.
- [07:53]
Bobby Senior
Yeah. Which I, I think they need to embrace at this point because they're stuck in the, they're stuck in. Not even. They're barely stuck in the middle. They're in the. Stuck in below average.
- [08:04]
Justin Pennock
So then you're going to hire a new head coach who you're going to be willingly understanding is going to be bad for his first two years. That's why I think they're just going to keep doing what they're doing, which isn't great, but that's why it's like what, you know, Chris Rose and I talked about who's the most boring NFL team even if they're not the worst. Right. The Saints are not the worst team in the NFL. But in terms of. And Bobby, I know you're not like a big storyline guy or Intrigue guy. But, like, really the Saints are the worst team in the NFL to try and like, pay attention to. Like, you have to convince me to want to pay attention to the Saints. And you did for the first three weeks of the season. Remember, they were like the best team ever.
- [08:47]
Bobby Senior
Yeah. They're averaging 45 points per game. I like that defense going into this year and I think if things didn't fall apart for them overall, that defense still would be good.
- [08:57]
Justin Pennock
Yeah.
- [08:58]
Bobby Senior
But, you know, the offense just became a mess with one having Derek Carr, the offensive line didn't perform the same way. The run game hasn't been great and. And then Chris Olave, Rashid Shahid get injured.
- [09:09]
Justin Pennock
Yeah. Talk about the Bears.
- [09:12]
Bobby Senior
Yeah, the Bears. So this is the one where usually I'd be kind of against this, but it seems like they're a. Everyone wants Ben Johnson. It seems like they're the team that might actually attract Ben Johnson and Ben Johnson wants to go there and work because they do have a good amount of talent on that roster. Not most talented. Usually I would be clear cut saying, like, fire Ryan Poles. It's been three years. You're firing the head coach that he came in with. This is not a great situation to try and attract a head coach. But it seems like there's real smoke with Ben Johnson there where I don't think Ryan Pulls has done a terrible job. I don't think he's done a very good job. I think he's had some big mistakes, but I think he's had some big wins too. That I am actually okay with them keeping Ryan Poles where I usually would be against this situation. But at the same time, Justin, they could also probably still get Ben Johnson and reset the new GM and get someone that's a little more on the same page. So to me, it's for the Bears. It should be like whoever their number one candidate is, and it's probably gonna be Ben Johnson. Like I think it should be Ben Johnson or Bus and they should work back channels to figure out is he. If he's willing to come here with Ryan polls, then. Then we'll stay with Ryan pulse. If not, if he has even any doubts about that, then I'm canning Ryan polls. And I'm not going to can Ryan polls, though.
- [10:32]
Justin Pennock
I was exactly going to ask you, are you Ben Johnson or bust or could you even buy into Ryan Poles and Brian Flores went to Boston College together. And Brian Flores could come over there from the other AFC NFC north team.
- [10:45]
Bobby Senior
If that's their number one candidate. Right. If they. If they identify as their number one candidate and Brian Flores is willing to do that, then yes, like they are. They. They should be. They should be the number one spot for a GM and head coach. Right. To me, they have the most attractive spot in all of these positions and less. The Dallas Cowboys open up.
- [11:11]
Justin Pennock
Yeah.
- [11:12]
Bobby Senior
Like, they're going to have another top draft pick. They have young players. Caleb Williams, I'm sure a lot of teams, you know, guys still have belief in him. There's players that maybe not performing the way that you want this year that will be better down the road. I know DJ Moore has kind of become a little bit of a sour spot, but he's still a wide receiver, one, in my opinion. Romo Dunes, like. And. And the defense, I think, is a few nice pieces away from still being a top, top group.
- [11:40]
Justin Pennock
Yeah. Yeah.
- [11:42]
Bobby Senior
So. So I like the Bears. The Bears should be the most desired vacancy in the industry. So my. If I were the Bears, I would just. Let's make sure Ryan pulls is not taking that part away from us.
- [11:54]
Justin Pennock
Yeah. Unless there's like a surprise. Surprise opening. And I'm talking about, you know, like. Like a Kyle Shanahan or a Zach Taylor, which, you know, hey, we. We have four categories. Spoiler. I have. I have Zach Taylor and Kyle Shanahan under the cool category that I think they're very safe unless one of those jobs open up. The Bears, I think, is the most. Is the most desirable. It's the only. The only thing is, is that you have that. You have that gm, but I figured you're going to be given two years no matter what, maybe even three no matter what, because you have Caleb and you have.
- [12:28]
Bobby Senior
And they're very patient, too. So you're most likely going to get three.
- [12:31]
Justin Pennock
Yeah.
- [12:32]
Bobby Senior
The issue is you may have to hire a new GM one year in because of. They get off site, but they're not gonna.
- [12:38]
Justin Pennock
No, I don't think.
- [12:39]
Bobby Senior
I don't think they would do that to polls.
- [12:41]
Justin Pennock
No.
- [12:42]
Bobby Senior
All right, so let's get into the possible vacancies. Justin, what do we want to start with first?
- [12:46]
Justin Pennock
Let's go to the warm section. But before we do that, Bobby Skinner, I want to talk.
- [12:51]
Bobby Senior
We're passing over red Hot, yo.
- [12:53]
Justin Pennock
No, we're not. We are not passing over red hot. So let's talk about red hot, and then I'll talk about something red hot. I have two names. I have. For the Jacksonville Jaguars, I have Doug Peterson, and I have Trent Balky, the head coach of gm. I think it's obvious that they're out. And I have Giants head coach Brian Dabel. I think those are two names or two, you know, teams that. Those positions are absolutely red hot.
- [13:19]
Bobby Senior
Yeah, absolutely. Obviously, the Giants were a lot closer to. But the Jags, I mean, I think a lot of people are surprised that these guys haven't been fired yet.
- [13:29]
Justin Pennock
Correct.
- [13:29]
Bobby Senior
I mean, there was. There was rumors that, like, Doug Peterson's last game was going to be whatever. I can't remember what game it was.
- [13:35]
Justin Pennock
London game or one of the London games.
- [13:37]
Bobby Senior
Yeah. And, yeah, like. Yeah, I think it was like, after the first London game where it's like, yeah, they just. Maybe they're not firing him because they don't want to do it while they're in London. So they're going to wait till they come back to beautiful Jacksonville and do it.
- [13:50]
Justin Pennock
I just never did that.
- [13:51]
Bobby Senior
But I think we all agree there. But at the same time, I don't trust the cons. Like, they may keep Trent balky.
- [14:00]
Justin Pennock
Yeah, he's. He's been there since 2021. His overall record as GM is 25 and 42. But his T. He had two winning seasons.
- [14:08]
Bobby Senior
Two winning seasons and then two basically worse records in the NFL almost.
- [14:11]
Justin Pennock
Yeah. And he. And he's one and one in the playoffs. And that, you know, that year came in 2022, where that's the year that Trevor Lawrence obviously looked his best. That was the first year with Doug Peterson. You know, I don't know, man. I just. I don't like the. I don't like the roster that ball keys built, that the defense is solid and some of the draft picks have. Have kind of worked. But look at the offensive side of the ball and tell me, outside of the free agents that they've brought in and Brian Thomas Jr. Who have they drafted, that's like a true difference maker for them. I think everything has been, like, trades and free agent signings for them. I don't think he drafts very well.
- [14:51]
Bobby Senior
No, no, no. He got a great hit, like you said, on Brian Thomas Jr. Yeah, I don't either. And I kind of hate the way that they draft where they're just like, give me length, length and strength instead of just like finding good players now.
- [15:06]
Justin Pennock
It worked for Brian Thomas.
- [15:08]
Bobby Senior
Yeah, yeah. But at the same time, Brian Thomas had great fam. I thought he was just like one little thing away from becoming an elite player, too. I. I just still surprised that Brian Thomas fell that far. Even if there was some red flags. It's like, that's a good film. And he's 63 and runs really fucking fast. So, like, what, what's, what's, what's the hold up here? So, yeah, and then with Doug Peterson, I, I don't hate Doug. I just, I think some of the same issues in Philly are popping up where it's too many cooks in the kitchen. Is he a, Is he a leader of men? Like, it's just falling apart. And is. He's a. I think he's a solid offensive mind, but I don't think he's a great offensive mind. And I think he gets too stuck in some of the stuff that he's doing, like force feeding Evan Ingram or whatever, Whatever it could be, instead of trying to involve it. But I don't, I don't hate Peterson. I mean, the guy won a Super bowl, but it just feels like they have to start over there. But if they fight, if they fire Doug Peterson and not Balky, though Jacks fans should be. I rate.
- [16:11]
Justin Pennock
Yeah.
- [16:12]
Bobby Senior
Like, there, there should. There should be. I'll join you. I'm, I'm like, two hours south of you. I'll join you. Like, there needs to be mass protests outside. You know, rip that, you know, Jaguar statue down or something.
- [16:23]
Justin Pennock
Yeah, I, I, I put it as, as red hot thinking that they're, that they're both gone. But if there's a chance, if there's even a chance that Balky stays, that should not, that should not be the case. When you just extended. When you just extended Trevor Lawrence and you're coming off of a 4 and 12 season, and the AFC south, like, AFC south is nowhere near where we thought the AFC south could possibly be. The Titans were not a frisky team like we thought that they could be. The Colts were bad. You know, they, they just missed the playoffs. And the Texans are extremely vulnerable this year, even though they have a good record. So this was, this could have been a year where the Jaguars could have been like, all right, well, we're in the playoffs and we're here and we're doing something. And instead, it's the opposite.
- [17:06]
Bobby Senior
Also something that's come back to, like, you have the first overall pick, and you say you're gonna take Trayvon Walker. Oh, the traits, the traits. Bet on the traits. And whenever and when the film is clear, like, hey, Aiden Hutchinson is a lot better than this. You know, and then saucer Gardner and Stingley, you know, sauce was my number one corner in that draft. Stingley was there, but he had some issues I had worried about. Like, but we were just like, Trayvon Walker can't be the correct pick here like Aiden Hutchinson should be it. And you see, I know he got injured, but Aiden Hutchinson thriving and then Travyn Walker is just kind of the same thing he was at Georgia even though he does get some sacks.
- [17:41]
Justin Pennock
Yeah, he gets sacks but double digit tackles.
- [17:44]
Bobby Senior
That's, that's a, that's a huge whiff on their part in my opinion.
- [17:48]
Justin Pennock
But compared to the other guys, like it's, it's a miss.
- [17:52]
Bobby Senior
And then the Giant, the giants year three, they're three and 13 their own. You know, we, we broke down 30min on our most recent talking Giants podcast. But it seems like they're going to scapegoat Brian D. They want to keep Joe Shane because they like to give GMs a long leash and don't want to turn over everything that you have to turn over when you get a new gm. They should be firing Joe Shane. Justin. Joe Shane has done a terrible job building this roster, his resume after three years. If they do fire Brian Dable is going to be bad roster, no quarterback, failed head coach. That's a, that's as bad as and worst record in the NFL. That's as bad as a resume as there is if you get a quarterback. It's sick. But I don't know why people are just granting him that he's going to get this quarterback, especially when he gave, you know, $82 million guaranteed to Daniel Jones. So yeah, Joe Shane should be absolutely be fired. But it seems like Brian Dable is going to be the one to go. Dable, I think there's a chance he gets another opportunity in the NFL. I think there's a, he can be a good head coach. He won coach of the year a couple years ago. But with a bad roster, no quarterback, I think his issues rise to the top, right? Lack of attention to detail, you know, not being too much of a player's coach where, you know, there's a culture of letting shit slide there which I'm going to use with, you know, the Colts in a second but he's out.
- [19:13]
Justin Pennock
Yeah, listen to Giants.
- [19:16]
Bobby Senior
Let's get it. Yeah, let's get, let's get to warm because I think that's what the conversations are happening. Why don't you talk to us about something?
- [19:22]
Justin Pennock
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- [20:19]
Bobby Senior
You'll be glad you did. Let's talk about warm Justin, who we have in this category.
- [20:24]
Justin Pennock
Yeah. So I think this is where we start to get a little bit different. I have two names in my warm category. I'm confident in the first one. Not so confident the second one. I have Antonio Pierce's seat as warm and I also have the Patriots Gerard Mayo seat as warm.
- [20:42]
Bobby Senior
I also put the Colts in there and I want to talk about the Colts because that's where we differ.
- [20:46]
Justin Pennock
I have, I had and I have Shane Steichen and Chris Ballard as lukewarm.
- [20:51]
Bobby Senior
Agreed. And I think Chris Ballard is the key there. He's been there since 2017. They have a 61 and 69 record. Haven't made the playoffs since 2020. Has gotten an opportunity to draft a quarterback in Anthony Richardson, which has failed pretty, pretty miserably. Even though there's talent there where you still have, like a little bit of hope for him. I, I do want to talk about the Shane Steichen part of this. I think, I think they've got a clean house. I think they've messed this up. I think they need a total cultural, you know, shift there. Pat McAfee, you know, had a long post talking about it. It's time for a change in Indianapolis.
- [21:28]
Justin Pennock
I just don't think Jim Mercy, like, that's a tough decision for it for a team. And I think Shane Steichen through his first two years is going to finish 17 and 17 with borderline below average.
- [21:41]
Bobby Senior
And at times quarterback play, bad quarterback play. Here's the thing with Steichen, I think Steichen can be a really good coach in the NFL. The issue is, I think there's a culture of letting shit slide. You know, you saw that with some of the Pat McAfee stuff, mishandling of the quarterback spot. And here's the thing. We always got to remind ourselves with offensive coaches, there's more to the job than being an offensive play caller. There's a lot more to the job. And what was my big thing on why I didn't rank Shane Steichen high in the Our Coach rankings this offseason?
- [22:13]
Justin Pennock
Because he kept Gus Bradley.
- [22:14]
Bobby Senior
Keeping Gus Bradley is a sin. It's not a bad decision. It was a sin.
- [22:19]
Justin Pennock
And it was back to bite you in the ass against the Giants, where they dropped 45 on you and you.
- [22:23]
Bobby Senior
Pointed to the playoffs and to the Chris Ballard point. Keeping Gus Bradley with this defense, this defensive talent is terrible. It's terrible. You've drafted guys who are athletes who have bad football instincts. You know, if I have to, I can't believe Nick Cross is still playing for that team. He's the worst instincts I've ever seen for NFL safety, but, boy, is he athletic. I think you. You have to let go of Chris Ballard and you can't keep Shane Steichen. But here's what I'll say. I think Shane Steichen becomes one of the. Becomes a head coach for another team next year if they do clean house here. And I think that's the reason why they may not do this, is because they don't want to lose Shane Steichen. But I think Shane Steichen kind of, if you get the right quarterback in here, nice. But I. I think Shane Steichen himself may need a quick reset and learn from his mistakes and not have a GM who's forcing him to keep a defensive coordinate. And again, Shane Steichen inherited Gus Bradley, so that was something from the organization to keep him. And then you have a bad year and he doesn't fire him. Like, I don't care what you're. I want. I think Shane Steichen probably would be better off in a different situation. And that's why the Jags or the Colts may stay the course here. But it seems like there's. It's really a time for change in Indianapolis.
- [23:39]
Justin Pennock
Like, there's been times our guy Dalton Philly is a Colts fan. You know, he put out a long tweet after, you know, he was there for that loss. He sat with me in my seats. He was there for that loss against the Giants. And there are certain moves that he's like even for going back at the quarterback position that Chris Ballard has made where he kind of attributed to like the Carson Wentz trade kind of attributed that. That was like a, that was like a Jim Ursay move. And the Matt Ryan trade, well, that was a Chris Ballard move. And hey, that's familiar for me and I think it's familiar if you're a fan of a specific team. I don't think that's a foreign concept where if you have an owner stepping in that maybe wants to make a move or wants you to be aggressive in a GM is more hesitant or you have a GM that is more aggressive with a certain move. So you know there's, there's imbalance there where there are some moves that it's a Jim or say move or it's a Frank Reich move. And then you have other things that are Chris Ballard moves and Chris Ballard decisions and, and things like that. So there seems to be imbalance there. I don't know, man. Like, I look at this offensive line and I say this is. It's still a damn good offensive line. And we know that Ballard can get guys in here and like these are guys that are drafted in the second, third and day three of the draft that can start and can play for you. It's a pass rush that is decent. It's not great, it's not good. I don't think there's any above average players, but it's a good to solid pass rush in the, in the NFL today. So I look at it as you get, you get Gus Bradley out of. You have to fire Gus Bradley, you have to get Gus Bradley out, you get a different defensive coordinator in there. I think the moves that Anthony Richardson made towards the second half of the season is somewhat promising where he could be your quarterback week one. It just sucks that he gets injured and like that. But I think that they run it back with what they got and I.
- [25:30]
Bobby Senior
Think they end up. What this ends up ends up being is they just push everything back a year and, and that we're in the same situ. I think they're in the same exact situation next year.
- [25:39]
Justin Pennock
Yeah, I would just find it would just be a shame that this coach that's 17 and 17 after two years with awful quarterback play. I would say at times it's been average. But more, more or less awful quarterback play with a defensive coordinator that seems like it was forced upon him. It would be a shame if that coach is fired after two years.
- [26:00]
Bobby Senior
I agree. Listen, I, I agree with that porn of it but it's time, it's time for a reset because what they're doing is they're just pushing this back a year. Yeah like they're not again Chris Ballard I don't think is done a horrible job but he certainly isn't this team that's brimming with talent and it's just oh my God it needs to be harnessed or we need to get the quarterback. I think it's a really good offensive play caller with some good offensive talent no quarterback and a defense with a to me which is LA is clearly lacking a lot of talent. I also think they made he made a horrible decision by taking Law to as the first defensive player off the board in this most recent draft when I thought Jared Verse was a clearly better player. They could have added Kenyon Mitchell if they wanted to go DB and they went for the older, you know, injury prone cross chop edge who could be a solid player and I think will be but not going to be the impact that those guys are. So I think it's time for a change there. The other warm the Patriots and Raiders both would be one and dones with Gerard Mayo and Antonio Pierce. And I'll say this with Antonio Pierce he's 412 this year. 5 and 4 as an interim head coach last year. I think he's had missteps along the way and we had to fire basically his entire offensive staff middle of the year and then bring in the Turner Norvin Scott Turner. I'm not pulling the plug on this yet. I think if you hired this guy this, this team lacks so much talent. We said it last year. It's like they are relying so much on defensive coaching that that's just hard to do and then offensively like they just, they have a terrible quarterback situation. I, I'm not pulling the plug on this. I'd. I'd at least, at least like to see him. Maybe you keep the Turners here for next year. Figure out what you're going to do at quarterback and you know and just continue to add talent. Right. You added Brock Bowers last year. You went best best player available. A lot of people probably mocked that and guess what you've got to me the best rookie performance of of the year. So continue to attack the draft with the best player available mindset and you give Antonio Pearson this staff another year. I, I think it'd be a shame for the a roster with this talent to pull the plug on the head coach because I don't think there's I don't think there's many head coaches who get this team more than five, six wins.
- [28:19]
Justin Pennock
Yeah, there are some pros and cons of Antonio Pierce. I think the biggest con is that there just may be better upgrades out there. There may be better upgrades that want to come to the Las Vegas Raiders.
- [28:31]
Bobby Senior
I agree. But then you shouldn't have, you shouldn't have bought into the interim head coach hiring last year, which again, I don't think they should have. But if you did, you need to at least stick through this through two years.
- [28:42]
Justin Pennock
Another con is that even though after he fired the offense coordinated the quarterback coach and the offensive line coach, the offense did get better. Scott Turner as offense coordinator, a pseudo worked. I mean, you know, you with, with, with the quarterback play, with the offensive line play, the run game has been horrible to kind of start the year. It's gotten a little bit better with the mirror. Abdullah out of all people, shout out Nebraska. You know, so I guess you could say, well, it's good consolation that the kind of people that he brought in in the second half got a little bit better. But also now those are three very important positions that he now needs to find. And you know, getting a staff together as a head coach is a very important thing. But the pros for Antonio Pierce, I think Mark Davis may be tired of the constant turnover ton of head coaches in a span of a decade. There were 13 players on IR and a good amount of them were contributors, especially on the defensive side of the ball. So that's. I, I think he stays. I would put his seat as warm. Players have kind of showed up for him and played well. And I do think, I just think that, I do think that by this time next year, Antonio Pierce is going to be fired. That's kind of why I would just kind of do it now. But you did kind of make your bed. They may lie in it, but I.
- [29:56]
Bobby Senior
I think Antonio Pierce can work as an NFL head coach. This isn't someone who I think is totally. He's made mistakes along the way. Right. Some immaturity early in the season with the whole Devonte Adams part of this. But I think he is trying to build a culture there. And like you, you can't give him a, a Ross that's just not talented. And then like, well, why didn't you do more than this? Like if they had won 12 games, which this roster was capable of winning 12 games, then maybe, maybe you're there. But I'm giving Antonio Pierce another year now. Another guy Who I'm not going to give another year is the Patriots and Gerard Mayo. Worst record in the NFL, 3 and 13. The other part of this is that they don't have a true gm, even though Elliott Wolf is their de facto gm. But this organization needs a reset, okay? They are too reliant on the crafts. The crafts are smelling themselves and they have hired puppets for them. You know, Gerard Mayo has clearly been that for them. You know, they didn't do a coaching search. They just hired him, you know, the day or whatever after they. Bill Belichick was gone. I hate one and done. But this defense has fallen off without Bill, which was something that people tried to just write in like, well, the Patriots had a good defense. Well, they're also losing the greatest defensive mind the NFL has ever seen, the best head coach of all time. And Bill Belichick, he doesn't handle the day to day stuff well at all. I think he hasn't built a good culture. I think he's thrown people under the bus. And when you have a guy like Drake May you need the offensive coach to go with them. I'm out on Gerard Mayo. I think he should be a one and done. And you talk about Antonio Pierce, maybe not should be the hired last year. Fine, but at least you had something to go off with, right? Gerard Mayo was. We didn't, we didn't even look at other candidates. We just, we just hired him and didn't even think about hiring anybody else because we thought this was a, you know, plan and waiting type thing. So yeah, I want Gerard Mayo out there. I think New England deserves a lot better. But I also think the crafts need to stop smelling themselves and realize they're not the reason for all those championships and they need to put someone in place who's going to run, run everything.
- [32:00]
Justin Pennock
There vibes are weird there, you know, with the whole. Then this is the second time where this has happened this year where there's pregame reports of. And I think the first time this happened, it was the Dolphins game where the Patriots were home playing the Dolphins. Ramadre Stevenson is being benched for Antonio Gibson. Okay, Ramadri Stevenson then goes out against the Dolphins and has a great game and has more carries and more touches. We hear on NFL Network this past Sunday, we're with our own very, very own Chris Rose. Antonio Gibson's going to get the start. First couple plays of the game. Ramadre Stevenson's getting the ball. What's going on? What's going on? Gerard Mayo after the game is asked about it coach's decision, bro. You're the coach, man. Like, you're. You're the coach. I was at a. What? That's your explanation? Coach's decision? And, like, you're the coach. You don't. You don't have anything to say on it. We were there in training camp, too, Bobby, and I kind of hate to use this. Practices were horrible. They. They got very little accomplished. There was a lot of standing around, and we were literally able to compare it because they were having a joint practice with the Eagles. So it's not like, okay, this is just what NFL teams do, you know, nflpa, the rules, blah, blah, blah. We're watching one team, the Philadelphia Eagles, a good football team. Practice, be active. They're talking, they're communicating. They're. They're constantly drilling. There's constant coaching going on with their coaches and players and blah, blah, blah. And then we see the Patriots on the other side, and they're standing around. They're standing around. And compare that to our Giants, which we see every year. We think Brian Dable. If Brian Dable runs a country club practice, I don't know what Gerard Mayo runs. And then whenever they make a mistake, he has them running laps for 15 minutes, which takes away from the practice time that you only get an hour and a half every day anyway. So, yeah, the vibes are weird there. Obviously, if you're. Hey, if you're gonna say the talent's not good for the. For the Las Vegas Raiders, the talent is certainly not good, but it's better.
- [33:55]
Bobby Senior
And they've resigned. A lot of those defensive players, they've resigned.
- [33:58]
Justin Pennock
You know, we're not the talents better defensively.
- [34:00]
Bobby Senior
Maybe in New England, it is better. And again, it's guys that they resign. We're not talking about guys who are maybe a little better, but they're here. Like, they resign half that defense before the season. I know they lost Barrymore and. But, you know, they. Yeah, they traded Judon, but they got Gonzalez back, who's a real deal corner like that. That team is a better team with Belichick and. And having May.
- [34:23]
Justin Pennock
But again, their problems also extend way past Gerard Mayo, because this year's draft, they showed this year's draft class, like, side by side with the Chargers draft class. And, you know, think of how barren that Chargers roster was. And they even showed that trade where the. The lad McConkey trade where it's like, oh, my God. And it was. They did the trade with the Patriots where it was like, oh, my God, like, this is this was a horrible, horrible draft class that you just produced outside of Drake. May horrible.
- [34:51]
Bobby Senior
Yeah. And just a horrible planet offensive line going into the season. Now I, I think the Patriots are a team that should be trying to make a run at Ben Johnson as well too.
- [35:00]
Justin Pennock
No way he would want to know.
- [35:02]
Bobby Senior
Why not. Why not come in there with a new GM again they, they're not going.
- [35:06]
Justin Pennock
To get a new gm but then.
- [35:09]
Bobby Senior
I think that's a mistake on their, on their part.
- [35:11]
Justin Pennock
They're not because.
- [35:11]
Bobby Senior
Because I think they have enough to. They're going to have the. There's the most likely of the first overall pick that they could. They could have Drake may maybe either the best player in the draft or you know, multiple picks. I think that's a spot that I could get them. So any. So we, we hit warm lukewarm. I got the Browns and Cowboys. Who do you got?
- [35:35]
Justin Pennock
Yeah so I again I put lukewarm as Shane Steichen and Chris Ballard. I only had two, I only had two names as my warm which was the Raiders and the Pats. So my lukewarm. I have three more people. I have Mike McCarthy, I have Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry. Kind of like that package deal in Cleveland. The head coach and GM and I also have Todd Bowles and we'll talk about that. But where do you want to start?
- [36:03]
Bobby Senior
I want to talk about the Cowboys. They shouldn't fire Mike McCarthy. Correct. I mean you went seven, nine this year missing Dak. You didn't add any talent this off season. You went 12 and five three years in a row. You didn't fire him after last year's playoff debacle. You lost Dan Quinn. The defense was injured all year. I think he's done a pretty bang up job with that. What he was dealt with this year.
- [36:29]
Justin Pennock
I want to check where they are defensively in EPA per play because, because Ron Rivera seems like a decent hire. They're. They're 28th but they're. Yeah, they're, they're, they're so bad personnel wise. Oh, what did I say? Ron. Mike. Mike Zimmer. That's what I meant. I'm sorry. Excuse me. Yeah. 28th in EPA per play. But they're all. Their past defense is actually decent, above average. They're just so bad run defense wise. But I think that's a personnel issue. I don't know. I'm not necessarily going to really put all of that on Miximmer. They're just so bad Interior. You know, they lost Micah Parsons for a good amount of the year. Their interior defensive line is horrible. Mozzie Smith is a complete bust. Their linebacker situation has not been great. I think they lost to Marvyon Overshone to another season ending injury when he was having a solid year. So yeah, that personnel is just really, really bad. So the only, the only case, the only case in which I see Mike McCarthy maybe leaving and you brought this up, but I don't think. I think Jerry Jones is loyal and sometimes loyal to a fault. Right. The only case in which Mike McCarthy leaves is if there is another sexy name that comes in and you've talked about this. Bobby.
- [37:37]
Bobby Senior
I thought they were going to be the Bill spot. I wanted Bill. I wanted Bill there. Once Bill went off the market, I said good. Dallas Cowboys.
- [37:43]
Justin Pennock
Bill's not off the market. Bill Belichick is not off the market.
- [37:47]
Bobby Senior
He has $8 million buyout.
- [37:49]
Justin Pennock
He doesn't want to be in UNC. He wants his son to get that UNC job. That's what he wants. Bill Belichick wants to be in the NFL. I cannot see Bill Belichick sitting in a 17 and 18 year old's house and doing this a lot.
- [38:03]
Bobby Senior
I don't know why everyone says that. Acts like Bill Belichick doesn't like the grimy parts of the jobs. The guy in his off year took 10 media jobs and the guy had no interest in doing media media when he was a coach.
- [38:13]
Justin Pennock
Okay, but that's different.
- [38:13]
Bobby Senior
That's the thing is let Bill go. You. And that's. I think it's another reason why to keep McCarthy go again next year. If Bill wants, if you want to buy out Bill at that point, then you can move off of McCarthy. But unless you know that they're. What. What else did you want Mike McCarthy to do with all the circumstances he was dealt with this year?
- [38:34]
Justin Pennock
And they fought and they didn't, you know, they, they fought and Dak went down and they started winning more games and started getting CD Lamb is still banged up and the running back situation is terrible. Yeah. So I, that, that's why I put him as, as lukewarm. We're originally a couple weeks ago or even early earlier in the season. He's warm or even red hot, but now he's down to, to lukewarm. I just don't think there's enough buzz. I know his contracts up, so they need to negotiate a contract no matter what. But I think that's going to be more or less on. Does Mike McCarthy want to come back? Because I think Jerry Jones would want him to come Back.
- [39:07]
Bobby Senior
Right.
- [39:07]
Justin Pennock
And if you're Mike McCarthy, where else do you want to go?
- [39:10]
Bobby Senior
No, Mike McCarthy's not gonna. It's either Mike McCarthy gets fired or.
- [39:15]
Justin Pennock
Really, like, he retires. He's not gonna retire.
- [39:17]
Bobby Senior
Yeah, not fired, but, like, intentionally. The Cowboys just said, all right, go away.
- [39:20]
Justin Pennock
Yeah.
- [39:21]
Bobby Senior
All right, let's see what else the Browns. Here's the thing with the Browns. Stefanski has been 40 and 43 as a head coach. Two winning seasons in a playoff win that goes a long way in Cleveland. The DeSean Watson contract and acquisition is the worst decision ever made in NFL history.
- [39:38]
Justin Pennock
Yes.
- [39:39]
Bobby Senior
But here's. The issue is I'm actually making them live with it for a little bit because you. You have to deal with this for the next two years. So, like, that's what's going to be sexy about this job to come and deal with it. Well, you got to deal with this. Deshaun Watson contract for two years.
- [39:56]
Justin Pennock
Can you imagine covering the Browns knowing that?
- [39:58]
Bobby Senior
Oh, I thought knowing that, yeah, it'd be terrible. So I'm. I'm just keeping them for another year. Just because it's like, I'm making you. You two live with this.
- [40:06]
Justin Pennock
That sucks, man. That, like, if I, If I'm a Browns fan and like, and I feel like as just an NFL fan, anybody that had anything to do with that deshaun Watson decision needs to be fired. Because I don't care. I don't care the roster that you've built. I don't care what your past success is. I'm even mad at Kevin Stefanski from going away from his identity as a head coach where he used to be. We're going to, you know, he used to be almost like 49ers and Baltimore Ravens. If we're going to run the damn ball and we're going to be aggressive and that's. That's our identity. And then they trade for Watson and it's like, all right, well, now we're. Now we're an 11 personnel team, and we're going to take away any. Any kind of foundational identity that we had as a team. We're taking it away now all for this guy who sucks. So I want anybody who was associated with that decision, I want them fired.
- [40:50]
Bobby Senior
But me too. But like I said, I'm kind of punishing them by making them live with that.
- [40:54]
Justin Pennock
Yeah. Unless you guy gonna do. What is a new guy gonna come in and do? Yeah, you gotta live with it for another year.
- [41:00]
Bobby Senior
Unless you do it like what the Texans did, where you get a gm, like, hey, this is a five year plan. Let's get a David Coley, Lovey Smith type head coach to deal with this for two years. And then, well, if it's. If he surprises us sick. If not, we'll fire him and then you'll get a head coaching hiring there. But even then, like, I'm just kind of making them live with this. Cool. What? I didn't put any.
- [41:21]
Justin Pennock
Whoa, whoa.
- [41:22]
Bobby Senior
Go ahead.
- [41:23]
Justin Pennock
We got to talk about Todd Bowles. And it's very simple for me. I like Todd Bowles. I think he's actually done a very good job of. Even when Dave Canales left this past.
- [41:34]
Bobby Senior
Year, I think he's better than Dave Canales.
- [41:36]
Justin Pennock
Hired an offensive coordinator who I. Liam Cohen, who I view as better than Dave Canalis, even though Canals is doing a good job in Carolina, but a guy that's better than Dave Canals because he has a run game that's better and, you know, helping out Baker Mayfield on early downs. And Liam Cohen's done a really good job of dealing with adversity when it comes to injuries on his offense. And Baker continues to look good. So if you don't want to lose Liam Cohen, which I, you know, maybe you could trust Todd Bowles and, you know, you were mentioned to me before the show that Bruce Arians is still like, in that front office.
- [42:03]
Bobby Senior
Yeah, they're not, they're not doing that if Bruce Arians is still working there.
- [42:07]
Justin Pennock
But, you know, just plucking these. You can't. Offensive coordinators like this don't necessarily just grow on trees, do they? Make the decision to let Todd Bowles go because you don't want to lose Liam Cohen.
- [42:19]
Bobby Senior
They did that. This same GM did that Jason Lake with fired Lovey Smith and kept Dirt Cotter and upgraded him after James's rookie year. I don't think it's the worst thing in the world, but it's just. It's just not gonna happen. It's not gonna happen with Bruce Arians being a part of that organization. And if they don't collapse this week, they're going to be in the playoffs. And I think they're a team that can be free and they're just not gonna. They're not gonna do.
- [42:45]
Justin Pennock
If they have a first round exit from the playoffs.
- [42:49]
Bobby Senior
No, I don't think so.
- [42:50]
Justin Pennock
And their defense gives up 35 points and they score 32 points against the Vikings or the Lions or what, whatever team. Well, they're, They're. They would be a division winner. So they're playing a wild Card team.
- [43:00]
Bobby Senior
Not happening with Bruce Arians in that building.
- [43:03]
Justin Pennock
Okay. We'll say that that's the, the really the only name on this list out of everybody that we're talking about. Like, everybody, everybody expected us to talk about Shane ste and Mike McCarthy, Gerard Mayo and, you know, Doug Peterson. Out of all, like, I think that's the, that's the most interesting name. Like, oh, I never thought of that. That out of all the names that we talked about. So. All right, cool. I'm going to be quick about this. Like, I think I already mentioned this. I think Zach Taylor, Kyle Shanahan, and I'm also putting Brian Callahan's name in this. I think their jobs are safe. I don't think Callahan's going to be a one and done. I really don't. I don't buy into Kyle Shanahan, his job being in jeopardy in San Fran, even if there is some discontent there. I think him and John lynch were just worked together too well. And then Zach Taylor. I don't know what they're going to do. Like, I, I was. I have some Bengals fans in my replies, which I was surprised to see that I have Bengals fans in my replies saying that Zach Taylor doesn't want to get rid of Luanna Rumo. I think you kind of have to at this point. So. But I think there's. Their jobs are safe.
- [44:09]
Bobby Senior
All right, that's an episode. That was football. We'll see you on Friday for a little bit of. A little bit of preview show. Thank you all for listening. Hope you have a happy New Year. We'll see you then. Until then, this is Football Today.