PMS 2.0 1494 - The Patriots and Seahawks are Going to the Super Bowl, Adam Schefter on the Coaching Carousel, Pete Thamel, & AJ Hawk

Summary

The Pat McAfee Show 2.0 #1494 - Podcast Summary

Date: January 26, 2026
Host: Pat McAfee
Regulars: AJ Hawk, Boston Connor, Tone Digs, Ty Schmidt, the Toxic Table, others
Headlining Guests: Adam Schefter (ESPN NFL Insider), Pete Thamel (ESPN College Insider)

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Overview: The Super Bowl is Set

Theme:
Pat and the gang dive headfirst into Super Bowl season after the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks clinch their spots in Super Bowl 60. The episode vibrates with reflection and analysis on the unlikely road of both teams, the latest coaching moves in the NFL, the head-spinning drama of the college football world’s tampering allegations, and engaging sidelights from other sports.

The conversational, jubilant tone remains true to the show’s DNA: unfiltered, comedic, and deeply knowledgeable. The episode is particularly rich in quarterback storylines, organizational culture, and the intersection of coaching leadership and player buy-in.

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Key Topics & Highlights

1. Patriots & Seahawks: The Road to Super Bowl 60

[00:00–15:00]

• Pat kicks off by celebrating how “football is the greatest” and marveling at the unlikely Super Bowl matchup: the underdog New England Patriots, led by rookie QB Drake May and first-year head coach Mike Vrabel, vs. the Seattle Seahawks, revitalized under first-year coach Mike Macdonald with Sam Darnold at QB.

• Seattle's road origin story:

  • Seahawks’ run as “absolute dogs on the road,” highlighted by their demolition of the Steelers (possibly contributing to Mike Tomlin's ouster).
  • Mike Macdonald lauded as a “football computer,” who rapidly created a winning culture in Seattle.

• The Patriots’ resurrection:

  • Vrabel’s journey: fired by Tennessee, briefly with Browns, then returning to Foxborough, restoring relevance and joy.
  • Drake May’s moxie, notably his “calling his own shot” for the clinching first down—“at 23!”

    “Calls his own shot at 23. Josh McDaniels, OC. Been there, done that with everything… literal opportunity to mold the next GOAT.” – Pat ([03:00])

• Culture, culture, culture:

  • Stefon Diggs’s emotional buy-in and the Patriots’ “culture of misfits.”
  • Overpaying free agents: “If you win the Super Bowl, that’s all that matters.” — Pat echoes Rams' all-in philosophy ([08:00]).

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2. Betting, Public Perception, and the Numbers

[11:57]

• Tone Digs breaks down betting lines: Seahawks opened as 4.5-point favorites, with massive public money on them (79%).
• Dissecting both teams' stats:
  • Seattle is a covering machine this year (14–5 against the spread).
  • Patriots offense faces scrutiny for low output, but weather played a role.
  • Patriots “Road Warriors” storyline: first team ever to win nine straight road games in a season.

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3. Conference Championship Takeaways

[13:48–15:46]

• Seattle-Rams and Patriots-Broncos:
  • Darnold’s composure under pressure—“Not the same Darnold.”

    “Could have showcased he wasn’t made for the moment. Instead, he delivered.” – Pat ([09:55])

  • Seattle defense’s unheralded dominance.
  • Patriots defense: always tightening, “boa constrictor” style.

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4. NFL Coaching Carousel & News

[19:10+]

• Pittsburgh Steelers:

  • Mike McCarthy named head coach. Pat and Tone dissect the fan base’s lack of excitement and lateral perception compared to Tomlin.

    “It’s hard not to judge, I think, a head coach signing Day 1, even though we have done it multiple times.” – Pat ([23:05])

• Green Bay updates:

  • Jonathan Gannon comes in as DC.

• Chargers:

  • Mike McDaniel as OC, paired with Jim Harbaugh (“supreme leader”).

• Dolphins:

  • Hire Bobby Slowik as OC.

• Coaching process quirks:

  • Browns’ notoriously complex interview process, requiring “homework, term papers,” and psychological profiles ([53:18]).

Notable Quotes

• “The standard is the standard in Pittsburgh.” – Adam Schefter ([55:12])
• “These teams are too similar: both overlooked all year, both built around culture and defense.” – Tone ([17:09])

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5. Super Bowl Matchup Storylines

[59:00+]

• Defense rules: first Super Bowl since 2018 with both head coaches defensive-minded.
• Statistical contrasts: “Patriots games have been lower [scoring], but also, weather has dictated that. Both defenses are peaking.”
• Key narrative: Sam Darnold’s comeback arc; Drake May’s rapid rise; “Road Warriors” Patriots; and Seahawks’ unflashy, overlooked but effective style.

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6. Adam Schefter Insider Segment – Coaching Search

[48:46–56:48]

• Head coach vacancies expected to be filled quickly (Buffalo, Raiders, Browns, others).
• Brian Daboll, Joe Brady, and Davis Webb circulating among Bills and Raiders.
• Browns likely down to Rams’ pass game coordinator Nate Shieldhouse or DC Jim Schwartz.
• Notable process quirk: Browns' “intensive” interview process.

Notable Quotes

• “I would trust his ass too.” — Pat on Mike McCarthy ([21:40])
• “Not hired because of Aaron Rodgers, but having that relationship is a bonus.” – Schefter on McCarthy ([55:12])

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7. College Football Tampering Scandal & NCAA “Impotence”

[76:16–101:45]

• Pete Thamel details Clemson HC Dabo Swinney calling out rampant tampering in college football; alleges head coaches are directly contacting players with “million dollar” offers.

• Dabo’s outcry is rare — “His backyard is clean enough he can call this out.”

• NCAA is “impotent” to enforce rules; 90 tampering cases processed last year but lack of high-profile discipline.

  “Tampering is par for the course, man. Tampering is first and ten.” – Pete Thamel ([76:36]) “The NCAA has castrated themselves. Dickless, ball-less bastards.” – Ty Schmidt ([101:59])

• College Basketball: Resurgence of top freshmen, electric weekend of games.

• College Football Playoff: 12 teams next year, auto-bids for champs of ACC, SEC, Big Ten, and Big 12. Notre Dame’s special access if top 12.

• Arthur Smith to Ohio State as OC: “Professionalization” of college jobs, less traditional recruiting required.

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8. Live Sports Sidelights

[43:32 & 107:45]

• Alex Honnold’s live skyscraper climb (“must-watch, sweatiest palms ever”).
• UFC: Justin Gaethje’s win; shout-outs to fighting heart and the thrill of combat sports.

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Timestamps of Key Segments

| Time | Segment | |-------------|-----------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00–15:00 | Super Bowl announcement, Patriots/Seahawks journeys | | 11:57 | Betting breakdown & public perception | | 19:10–24:28 | Steelers hire McCarthy; coaching news | | 48:46–56:48 | Adam Schefter: coaching carousel insight | | 59:00 | Super Bowl preview stats, storylines, over/under | | 76:16–101:45| College football tampering scandal, Pete Thamel segment | | 107:45 | UFC recap & live climb TV event reactions |

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Patriots:

  “The Patriots are the first team ever to beat three top five defenses in one playoff run.” – Toxic Table ([06:47])

• On Seattle & Darnold:

  “Sam Darnold could have folded... but instead, he has a three touchdown, 340+ yard night.” – Pat ([44:06])

• On culture:

  “Stefon Diggs... talked about coach Vrabel treating everybody the exact same and having the culture be established very quickly.” – Pat ([07:41])

• On success & expectations:

  “Vrabel's the one. We all kind of thought he's going to get the job done, but we didn’t know it would happen this quickly.” – Toxic Table ([67:06])

• On NCAA impotence:

  “He can't shoot a big load, so why should we listen to him?” – Ty Schmidt ([102:24])
  “Tampering is quite a competitive advantage. We all laugh. Yeah, but the point of it, that is cheating.” – Pat ([103:19])

• On the underdog narrative:

  “Both these teams are just so similar… of coaching, but also just the mindset: ‘Hey, we've been looked over.’” – Toxic Table ([17:09])

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Flow & Tone

The show flows freely between celebration, analysis, and humor, leveraging the first-person emotional investment of McAfee and his crew as lifelong fans. Insight is always tinged with self-aware jokes (Pat’s own struggles with Indiana snowstorms, Connor's jubilant New England ‘bias,’ Ty's deadpan NCAA rants). There are moments of sports nostalgia, wager talk, grief and celebration among fans, and rapid-fire back-and-forths about the Super Bowl storylines, coaching rumors, and hot-button NCAA issues.

Signature section headers and catches:

• “This is how you do that!” (on May’s clinching play—[43:32])
• “Impotence” as the ongoing theme of the NCAA in the college football segment.
• “Road warriors” as the Patriots’ defining motto.

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Summary Conclusion

This episode encapsulates the electricity and unpredictability of football headed into a Super Bowl with two “culture-first” teams. The show balances barstool satire with credible inside information, honors defensive football, and laughs at the recurring quirks and frustrations of the sports world (hello, NCAA and NFL owners!). If you missed it, you missed a raucous, deeply insightful, and very, very fun ride into the heart of football culture as only Pat McAfee and crew can deliver.

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Want more on Super Bowl week? Tune in for the daily coverage—where culture, comedy, and insider scoops converge!

Transcript

[A]

Hello, beautiful people, and welcome to our humble abode, the Thunderdome on this super bowl season overreaction. Monday, January 26, 2026 this sports program begins now. Football is the greatest, and we've certainly enjoyed the hell out of this football season that has been up and to the right for the numbers of people that have been enjoying the greatest sport on earth, which is football. And now we find out who the greatest team on earth is. It is officially super bowl season as the New England Patriots are back in the Super Bow as underdogs to the Seattle Seahawks. Congrats to both of these teams, franchises, cities, programs, humans, you name it. And it is now an exhilarating time of two weeks where most of the conversation will just be about how great these two teams are. Obviously, Seahawks fans, we hope you take it in. Obviously, there was not a lot of hope for your team to be the team that ends up representing the NFC in the Super Bowl. A lot of people didn't even think you were going to make it out of your division. That division is incredibly difficult. What you proved week in, week out was that you were absolute doves on the road. Blow out the Pittsburgh Steelers early. That's how you got on our radar, okay? We started talking about Seattle Seahawks immediately after that particular game. We go, wait a minute now. Hey, that's a long flight. That's an early game. That's a long flight. Early game. Tough place, tough state. Pounding. We're talking about absolute drumming. Took the soul of the Pittsburgh Steelers and their fan base maybe was a part of what led to the firing of Mike Tomlin. Actually, whenever you think about the entire reality of the situation that ended up being the Pittsburgh Steelers season, then you, you, you think about them being not only road warriors, but at home and then a. And McDonald's culture being a stupendous one. Him and Kurt Signetti have a lot in common. Whenever I hear them talk ball, obviously Signetti, overseer of things, McDonald defensive coordinator, calling the plays, reading everything that's going on. Him and McVay and Kyle Shanahan and whoever the hell the Cardinals hire are going to be an awesome thing to watch for the next 15, 20 years over there in the NFC West. But they have proven multiple times, just yesterday, yet again, that they're the best team in the NFC's Best NFC West. And now they're going to have to take on a team that's very comfortable with spotlight, team that very much understands the importance of the game is through the Super Bowl. It's where people around the World potentially lay their eyes on ball for the first time ever. Definitely the first game of the season. And who do they see? The New England Patriots with a brand new look. Drake May, 23 years old, calling his own shot for the first down to win the game. Calls his own shot at 23. Josh McDaniel's offense coordinator. Been there, done that with everything, has seen every single defense, literally getting a chance to mold a next goat. And then Mike Frable, the head coach fired from the Tennessee Titans just a couple of years ago, sits in Cleveland on the Brown staff for free. Basically, that's kind of Tennessee Titans still pay me. You're like, I'm just going to come up here, hang out my hometown. I love this place. Love the Browns. Would be cool if the Browns are good. You see him running in practice with Jameis on the offensive side, defensive side, fully invested, obviously going through so many lepers in that building while he's trying to make the Browns maybe worth a damn. He doesn't get that head coaching job. Obviously, they keep their head coach for one more season. He gets fired. Now he's down at the Atlanta Falcons. So the Cleveland Browns are maybe without a coach. This guy was in there building last year, he was kicked out of the Tennessee Titans building, and now he's going back to the place he's in, a ring of honor. Has made the team incredibly relevant yet again in his own way. Coach Kaur, friend of the program, Yinzer hall of Famer, actual NFL hall of Famer as well. He said he spoke to Mike Frabel and whenever he was talking to him, he said, you know, defensive coach, young quarterback, kind of Bill and Tom, kind of, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is different. This is different. It's a different area. Did not want the comparisons of the goat. I don't think Vrabel is scared of any of those expectations, scared of, you know, trying to build it in the same place. Because obviously he was a part of building it, but he also doesn't want to just be, hey, we're not Bill and Tom. This is a very different environment. We want people having fun whenever they come to work. We want these guys to come to work. And he's a part of the entire culture every single day in the locker room. It's a special story. A coach in his second year at a place. Coach in his first year at a place. There's so many storylines that we're going to have to talk about for the next two weeks because the super bowl was not this upcoming Sunday. Ace, the following one Which I think cuz Sunday is technically the first day of week.

[B]

That is correct.

[A]

Okay. So next Sunday would technically be this upcoming Sunday. So we could say it's super bowl is next next Sunday.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

But in reality it's not this upcoming one. It's the following one. Sounds a lot better than next next Sunday because for how long that is two teams getting talked about.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

And that's one of the benefits of making it to the super bowl if you're a fan, is that everybody on TV has to say we're wrong about this team or you know, I said earlier negative things. It's kind of like an answering of all of the opinions super bowl week in these fans, Seattle Seahawks fans, we're happy for them. New England Patriots fans, we're certainly happy for. Mostly because we have one amongst us. Ladies and gentlemen, let's go to the toxic table at Boston. Conrad. Ty Schmidt, Tyler. Conor's glowing. Yeah, he facetimed me immediately after that first down pickup. I was with baby girl Mackenzie, hanging out, having a good time, Huge laugh rating, I think just so, so joyful, so happy, so vibrant, so everything. Waving to Mackenzie. Hey, Patriots are back in the Super Bowl. All is right with the world. It does feel like that is kind of your guys take on this entire thing. And congrats for the next two weeks being a holy hell. The Patriots were able to do this thing that nobody else has been able to do twice. Somehow that is kind of what we're at the beginning of for.

[D]

Yeah, exactly. And what I've realized as I've kind of bounced around this building this morning is it's not fair. You know, it's not fair to you. It's not fair to you, Tony. It's not fair to you. All the guys in the back, it's.

[E]

Not fair to them.

[D]

It's not fair to anybody who's a fan of football. But hey, sorry, I don't make the rules, okay? Nobody does. The New England Patriots are once again the cream of the crop. And it's not one of those things where it's a, you know, this is just a one off. You know, maybe, maybe in the future, you know that Mahomes and these guys will be like, no, no, no. May's 23 rabels in his first year. It is the type of stuff that you envision in January, if you will, but also just throughout the offseason as what would be the perfect season. And this is exactly what you would write down as a New England Patriots fan. Now it's a Bummer. It really is Boat Knicks, who knows? You know, boat Knicks goes in there and blaze, who knows how that game goes? But we, we actually will never know. And it doesn't matter. The Patriots are back in the Super Bowl. The Broncos, unbelievable. Number two defense. You know, this is the first team ever in the history of the NFL, the New England Patriots, to win nine straight or. Yeah, nine straight and nine total road games in one season. Road Warriors.

[E]

Road Warriors.

[D]

Warriors. And what is that for? It's some movie.

[F]

I don't know.

[A]

Okay. I love it.

[D]

Allegedly. Yeah. Who cares? Also, Drake May. We hear about this schedule all the time. Drake May. And the Patriots are the first team ever to beat three top five defenses in one playoff run. I mean, granted, Seattle would be four, you know, and that is something that we'll look to. You know, we got a lot of time. We don't have to look to it today. We can look to it tomorrow or the day after or the day after, the day after or the day after or the day after till next Friday. Right now we can just kind of bask in the glory that the Patriots brought. I mean, it is awesome, especially the players and the storylines on this team. The kind of the stuff you mentioned it. Vrabel cast out by Tennessee, then unwanted in Cleveland. That's one thing. Drake May a guy who after his first year, people still didn't really know if he was good number three overall pick. Let's not act like he's out of nowhere, but nobody thought he was going to be MVP caliber. He is. Stefon Diggs washed up. He's not. He just.

[A]

That was cool. Watching him get emotional about that. Felt like he's really had a lot of buy in. He talked about coach Vrabel treating everybody the exact same and having the culture be established very quickly. And then there was a clip from a couple weeks ago where Vrabel actually tells Stefan to shut the fuck up right on the sideline and then talk shit to him immediately. Then Stefan Diggs talks shit back. It's like what a culture of, you know, I guess you could kind of have the same Indiana University thought of castaways, you know, misfits, whatever the case. Now they. They paid Milton. Oh, yeah, a lot of money. A ton of money. Reset the market changed, free agency frenzy. Because he was going to the Carolina thing about the Panthers with him maybe. Oh, oh, my gosh.

[B]

I'm sure they playing next week.

[A]

I'm sure they have thought about what that team would look like if they were able to land Milton Williams. Instead, the Patriots overpaid because they had a grotesque amount of money, because they were rebuilding entirely, basically around a rookie contract quarterback. So they overpay is what people say. Is there any overpay? And now that we're sitting here two weeks from the Super Bowl, Absolutely not. We got to remember that whenever we're judging in some of these offseason moves, that we have no idea how any of it's going to work out. And if you win the super bowl, it's the only thing that matters. People talk about the Los Angeles Rams whenever they traded away all their picks and everything like that one. All in, bring in Matthew Stafford. Pay people. Andrew Whitworth's coming in. Bang, bang, bang. We're doing all this stuff. We're paying, we're paying, we're paying. We're playing Jalen Ramsey, we're trading in. Boom, boom, boom. We're doing all that. They won a Super Bowl. Nothing else matters. Like, oh, you blew it for the next. No, well, we'll figure it out when we get there. We're going to win a Super bowl, which is exactly what they did. That is how you're judged as an organization. And the Seahawks getting back, too. Come on, now. Schneider pulls the trigger on Pete Carroll, kicks him out of the office. See ya. See ya.

[D]

Don't want you. Bye.

[A]

And I do believe that. Thank you. I felt pretty good about that one. I did. Because one leg there, not my plant leg. Better balance on my plant.

[G]

90 degrees.

[A]

Thank you so much. Schneider, though, does that to Pete Carroll, says, hey, we're moving on. Pete Carroll goes on a little bit of a media run where he's like, I wanted my job. They basically fired me. They kicked me out of here. Your immediate thought is, oh, this guy's a super genius. Okay? This guy's got the ownership on his side, so he's super genius. That was able to kick Pete Carroll out of here because something got stale. Passing a buck to. It's like, nope. This guy saw the writing on the wall, maybe that was happening in his building, and said, we need something fresh. Interviewed McDonald and said, well, this guy seems like he's perfect for the place. They build this in an entirely new way. And it's not just the Seattle Seahawks are doing it in a brand new way. So Sam. Donald, baby.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Hey. Sam goes for over 303 touchdowns in the NFC Championship Game in Week 18. Whenever they're playing for the number one overall seed, there was moments where Sam Darnold could have showcased that he was tight or wasn't made for the moment. Instead, he delivered. And I thought to myself, after the last game of the season, whenever they win the number one overall seed, I said, sam, hey, he made some plays in there that I think as a kicker, punter, a person that has been in a situations where make you feel a little tight. Like, there's certain moments that, like, you can't just get through if you are not made for the moment. And there was a couple things where he was just casual. It felt like it's like, wait, this might not be the same Darnold. This might be brand new, new Sam Darnold. And it looks like it. He's been empowered. Obviously, the play calling is helping him out. Kenneth Walker goes crazy behind him. Being able to run the ball is great. And then their weapons, I mean, Jackson Smith and Jigba, is he always open? And then Tom Brady on the call. Spectacular. Tom Brady is doing really good stuff in the booth. He is taking it very seriously. We appreciate the hell out of him for doing that. He was talking about Jackson Smith and Jigba's shoulder plane. He's like, what's so good about Jackson Smith and Jigba is his shoulder plane never changes. You never know. We're able to get a beat on whether it's a deep ball or if it's a short. If he's cutting out, he never changes his shoulder plane. Next play, Jackson Smith and Jigba wide open right here. Boom. Wide ass open in the back of the end zone. It's like, well, that's because he thought he was running out. He ends up running the post. That's because the whole thing, it was like perfect timing. Tom Brady breaking it down, but also understanding why he's so good is a cool thing. It's all those little tiny details that separate the great from the good. Now, if you're in the NFL, you're obviously good, but there's things that the greatest do that are just a little bit different. And it feels like Tom Brady's pointing those out. Feels like Tom Brady is pointing those things out, which we respect and appreciate. It was an incredible viewing experience. What a game for the NFC Championship. Let's go to one half of the hammer, dad. Cowboys AP Tone. Okay, so where do we sit with the numbers for the Goblin? Did we beat DraftKings this weekend? Did the public beat DraftKings? And what, as we project ahead to the Super Bowl. What are the numbers saying there, Tone?

[G]

Yeah, so the public went one and one this weekend against Draftkings the Broncos did not win, but they did cover. And so that was a loss for the, the people there. But everyone was on the Seahawks. They were minus two and a half. They did win and cover. So they went one and one this weekend and then we opened up Seattle minus four and a half against the Patriots. I think that line makes sense and I think it makes sense that 79% of the public is on the Seahawks. They've watched what the Seahawks have done through this playoff run and people react to offense and they've. The Patriots defense has been incredible. They haven't scored a ton. So I think a lot of people reacting to, you know, Sam Darnold and how good he's looked and how good the Seattle team has looked, why 79% of it early is on Seattle.

[A]

And if you want to not believe in the Patriots offense, there are certainly stats that will justify that. I mean, in that game, Drake May only goes for 86 yards to the sky, 65 yards on the ground. I mean, obviously the weather was terrible, but if people wanted to buy into what you are potentially saying right there, certainly justifiable things on the other side for that entirety. Now you talk about the Seahawks, this team on a historic run for the betters. Seattle is 145 against the spread this season. The best record entering the super bowl since the 2016 Patriots who were 15 3. It's cover margin plus 148 and a half, which is the highest entering the super bowl since the 2015 Panthers who were plus 161. Now, obviously more games to keep tallying onto the COVID margin there, especially if you make it to the super bowl like the Panthers did in that particular season. That means nobody really thought you had a chance. No, that's what that means. That means the books and the betters thought you didn't have a chance. So if you're covering and beating like that, obviously you would assume next year maybe you're not going to come out of nowhere for folks. But I have a funny suspicion that as soon as this super bowl is over, whether or not the Seahawks win or not, they are not going to be the main topic of conversation.

[D]

No.

[A]

And the Seattle Seahawks fans know that. I think that's why they're basking in this particular week or two weeks of celebration, as they should, and so should that guy. Sam Darnold answered the call there.

[D]

Con man. Yeah, big time. And just watching him kind of outduel staff, you know, it wasn't as if the defense for Seattle showed up in a big way like, there were some huge mistakes from the Seattle defense and kind of Sam Darnold almost covered up for him, which is the opposite of what you're expecting, damn near, especially with how Darnold had played versus the Rams. But that shootout was one of the better conference title games that we've seen. I feel like in recent memory, like, it really did come down to the wire. And that fourth quarter was just basically two long, massive drives. One ending in a great stand by the Seattle defense and the other, you know, kind of giving the ball back to the Rams, but giving them a massive, you know, field to work with for their defense and make it impossible. Like this right here. That's the whole entire season in a nutshell for Seattle. Their defense basically winning them the game, getting the job done, and then Darnold taking care of the football. It was amazing.

[A]

Yeah, I. I think people are going to really enjoy learning about this Seahawks team over the next couple weeks. A lot of great storylines in there. And then the defense did a sit down interview and preview the game, and another one wanted to talk. Like, yeah, we're not doing a lot of talking. We're not doing a lot of talking. Because I think they feel very disrespected that they're not a topic of conversation in every NFL conversation, which they are not, by the way. I know until late there's been a lot of people saying, I didn't know, I didn't know. And a lot of people pushing off the Sam Darnold narrative, as you know, it was justified, which I guess it is, especially after what happened last year with the Minnesota Vikings. Whenever he is with the Minnesota Vikings and they can potentially get the number one overall seed and he plays his worst football, it's easy to throw it right down the pipe, say, hey, listen, this guy did it again. And then for him to show up in a way that he did. Happy for him. I'm so happy for him.

[D]

Bald out.

[A]

Good for Sam Darnold, man. Honestly, now you think about the Minnesota Vikings. I guess they're in the same boat as the Cleveland Browns, who had Mike Vrabel in their building and just kind of let him sit around, chew through a bunch of zins, and coach all over the place for free and then get the hell out. Then you fire your coach, boss six months later. Okay, that's an interesting thing. What about the Minnesota Vikings?

[B]

Yeah, not good, not good, not good.

[A]

Could they have paid Sam Donald? They could have, right?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

We kind of know Sam Donald's money, right? Because it was similar to the Geno Smith offered contract from the Seattle Seahawks that Geno Smith turned down. Sam Darnold took the opportunity to go up to Seattle. We don't know what all the guarantees were, but we think it was in the same vein. And now people are even talking about like, hey, Sam, Donald this offseason can definitely go to Schneider and say, hey, don't you think I deserve a bit of a raise here? So you wonder if the Minnesota Vikings were able to afford Sam Darnold and bring him back and try to get into contention for the number one overall seat again. Or did they just think they couldn't afford him? I think that's kind of where. Because they definitely could have afforded him, but then.

[G]

And they could have franchise him too, if I remember correctly.

[D]

Could have had kind of another year for JJ as well, because wasn't that the whole thing with his injury?

[A]

That's tough. Every. Every moment that passes gets tougher for that decision to be made. Because he was in the building.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And you experienced him and you. You. You rode the ride. And then whenever it comes time, you're like, I don't know if we can do that at a quarterback. And then some other place says, we got you. They take a bite and say, we believe in you. We think we can build. And that head coach is predicting all of this in his first ever team meeting. It's like, oh, Seattle Seahawks got a lot to be proud of, I think, over there, the way they're running.

[D]

Yeah, they're amazing. Not to mention, like, their defense having that kind of entire mindset and the Patriots defense having the same mindset. Both these teams are just so similar in the sense of coaching and stuff, but also just the mindset of the entire, like, hey, we've been looked over. People have basically made excuses for why we're good. Instead of just talking about the reasons that we're winning football games. It's more so about the other story. And, you know, it's the same thing today, this morning, you hear people talk about, like, did Sam Darnold prove it to you? Did the Seahawks prove that they can go and win the Super Bowl? It's like, what the hell are we even talking about? This is. We are in the super bowl now.

[B]

And.

[D]

And again, that's the same thing with New England. They're going to face that. You only score 10 points. May only has 140 total yards. Like, the conversations not being the actual team just feeds into what their entire mindset's all about.

[A]

It's kind of hilarious. To think that the expectation level of great is like a Hall of Fame expectation, like, how many Super Bowls they win? I didn't hear how many Super Bowls. It's like, what really good team, though. Like, really? This is a really. Yeah, but how did he win a Super Bowl? It's like NFC Championship game. He just played maybe his best ball. I don't know. Don't you think that's pretty big, the NFC Championship? Probably the most amount of pressure you could feel. Oh, yeah. If you haven't played in a Super Bowl. Right. That's the biggest game. How much more anxiety can you feel in your body because it's a Super bowl than it is the NFC Championship? So don't we think that that would prove that maybe he was able to handle it? Or is it just the super bowl is going to come and, oh, the big bright light's going to get. Sam Darnley just threw for 346 or whatever, three touchdowns in the NFC Championship against Los Angeles Rams defense, which is very good. Very good at home. Bang, boom, boom. Putting it in a bucket if he had to. Making decisions, checking shit out of it. Obviously had a running back in Walker who not only out of the backfield could also catch the ball. This guy's unbelievable.

[D]

So good.

[A]

He's so much fun to watch. Obviously, Charbonnet goes down, worry a little bit. Kenneth Walker, a couple years back, I remember him just scoring touchdowns all the time. And then you go back to Michigan State and it's like, oh, yeah, he carried. He carried that entire institution.

[F]

Absolute dog at Michigan State.

[A]

He's a beast. And you start thinking, it's like, wow, this Seattle Seahawks team special, man.

[D]

So good.

[A]

It is. And congrats to the Patriots as well.

[D]

Hell, yeah.

[A]

There's other NFL news that took place. And ladies and gentlemen, there's a new head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's a man who spent his whole life coaching. We're not having one. Ladies and gentlemen, Coach Michael.

[B]

He's not on.

[A]

Yeah, that would have been cool if we would have brought him on right there. Obviously, he's focused on turning around and doing what he has to do for his hometown of Pittsburgh. Now, I did potentially hear about this before it was announced publicly, and I would like to say that we are incredibly pumped for Coach McCarthy. We think he's been a joy to work with here. You know, we get a chance to work with a lot of people, a lot of chances to interact with a lot of people. And what Coach McCarthy did every single week for us was Stupendous. I mean, he was prepared ideas sending him in. He was going duck hunt with his ribbon winning dog and he's like, hey, I'll be up in a cabin up somewhere. We're going to make this work, though. Obviously we'd like to do a show. This is what I'm thinking. Watched every game, was very prepared, felt like he was dialed in. And this still quoted Galileo when he was talking to us that math is the language of the universe or something like that. He dropped that in. Just a casual conversation. I think what I learned from my experience with Big Mike McCarthy, it's hard because he has a Yinzer accent and he's from Pittsburgh and he's a big guy. It's hard not to get the immediate first impression of somebody else that, you know, that potentially looks like this person or acts like this person or is this person. It's hard not to just get past that first wall. And I'm gonna let you know, I've met 1,000 people that sound and look like Mike McCarthy in my life. Literally exactly from Pittsburgh. I know this human. I was blown away by how unique Mike McCarthy was whenever it came to speaking about things. I'm very, very appreciative of him joining our show this year. He came to the draft, had notes on the top hundred. He was even getting in the middle of reading. He saw him. All right, all right, you go, what? They're not good notes. I got good notes on these guys. Then he would have the reasoning behind things. He talked to us, he talked to me. I don't remember if it was on air or off air. I think it was on air about how windy days, you know, sometimes on third and long, have a conversation with quarterback, like, hey, if we call a shot and it's a bad weather, like, hey, arm punt's good here anyways, because punter with the wind probably going to be problematic anyways. He would go out with the kickers and punters in the, in the pregame to get the wind patterns. I mean, like the little attention to detail things. Because he's been around ball for so long and it seems like he's a very observant individual. It feels like. I think he sounds different because he's from Pittsburgh and still talks like a Yinzer as opposed to changing how he speaks. But he's now been the head coach of the Green Bay packers, the Dallas Cowboys and now the Pittsburgh Steelers. I mean, there's obviously something that those three organizations have done right over the long haul of the NFL and all three of them have said, this guy deserves to run our team and we put trust in this man to run our team. And I would say after our experience with him, I would trust his ass, too. Now, Yansers aren't happy about this.

[D]

No, they aren't.

[B]

No way.

[A]

There's a lot of Madians. Yeah. What are we doing here? They were saying some stuff. They were saying some stuff. Internet was doing its thing. Comparisons to past head coach, current head coach. Is this kind of a lot of those. What are we doing here? So we're just going from one mediocrity to the next. Sorry. Above mediocrity to the next above mediocrity. The injuries aren't even thinking this is an offensive guy. This guy has a little different mindset. This guy's been in a couple of different buildings. Maybe he'll be able to bring a fresh attitude. It seems like his teams do win now. The defense getting pounded in the playoffs a couple years back, whenever they had Dak in the best offensive season that he has ever had rolling down there in Dallas, people kind of forget about that. So you would assume in Pittsburgh going to have a good defense. What's the future look like? We don't know. But on the offensive side, going to have to get some pieces. Aaron Rodgers staying out because his relationship with Mike McCarthy. Is he sticking around? Is he retiring? What's going on there? What's the future look like? I don't know. But it's hard to judge. I think personally, a head coach signing day one, even though we have done it multiple times.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Duvall. So when there's manure, you put a seed in manure and it grows through the manure, and then a flower comes. And what we want to do is less thinky, more athlete. Take ovary. That's right. Tell you what, man, we're in nod kneecaps. Okay. And then we're going to get up and then you're going to knock us down. Then hell yeah. You got another patella over there. We're going to eat on that thing, too. So, like, day one hirings have certainly been something that we have judged heavily. But I do think every time we have done that, it has gone on to potentially go a different direction, strictly because we have no idea what's about to happen behind closed doors. We have no idea who they're going to sign. We have no idea who his staff is going to be. You have no clue any of these things. So I think it is hard in good faith, even though we do it all the time. To necessarily rule a hiring of a head coach as a bad hiring of a head coach. Signetti, worst hiring of all time. McDonald out there in Seattle, worst hiring of all time. Sirianni, worst hiring of all time. Dan Campbell, worst hiring of all time. Liam Cohen, worst hiring of all time. So it feels like it's hard to judge immediately, but, boy, it's fun too, because the things that were being said about Big Mike McCarthy, unless you're his family, obviously. Very impressive. Yeah, very impressive. And good Internet, I would say.

[G]

Yeah, the Internet was very, very active on Saturday afternoon. Yinzers and Steelers fan, you brought up a lot of good points on why you should like Mike McCarthy and the hire. We loved him on here this year. He was definitely more of a deep thinker than we thought he was going to be. He was always very, very prepared. Offensive guy, all that thing. Great quarterback developer. I think the reason why Yinzers and Steelers fans were so, so, so, so, so angry was for the point that you brought up, that the reason they've been angry for the last eight years is because it's, you know, win nine, 10, 11 games or whatever, go the playoffs and lose. And that's basically the MOS that Coach McCarthy has had recently. Very, very similar records to Coach Tomlin, very similar playoff results to Coach Tomlin. So they kind of thought of this as a lateral move, which is not what they wanted, including me. I mean, I wanted, when I, when they, when they first fired Tomlin, I was Shula and Shieldhas tweeting about it, making memes, stuff like that. Because when we made the change, the fan base wanted something new and exciting. And a lot of people were mad about the process that they only brought in three guys for in face interviews, for in person interviews, everything. Everyone else they did hire or they started, they did interview Shula and Shieldhouse and Clay Kubiak from the Niners, virtually. I heard from some sources that those guys, their interviews were underwhelming is what I was told. So that's potentially.

[A]

Well, that's because they were so bummed out about the facilities.

[B]

Maybe.

[G]

I mean, that could be.

[A]

I mean, no, that's what people on the Internet say. People on the Internet saying, well, the facilities are so ass that they just got to kind of take whoever they can get at this point, which is why they signed McCarthy. It's like, I mean, maybe somebody doesn't take the job because the case. Remember, we've seen head coaches agree to jobs, get on plane, fly to go to press conference. That has Been set up for job and then think. Remember that whole towel dumping situation?

[D]

Oh yeah, the disrespect.

[A]

Turn a player around. Y.

[D]

Allegedly that guy now.

[A]

So there has been. Yeah, he's back in a good spot. But there is, you know, like there is little things like that that anytime somebody is taking a job, that can certainly sway some things. So is that potentially go like, oh, I have a hamstring, like you're James Harden or whatever because you don't want to get the job. Maybe. Who knows? But it was interesting to hear that you heard. Not me. I'm not. Hey, correct goes in here, it goes out there. So I try to keep myself away from any information as whatever privy. You don't want it out, don't tell me. Okay. It's going to. I'm on this thing a lot, so I'm gonna allude to it at some point. It's not gonna be good. But you hearing that it was, you know, underwhelming or whatever. I do wonder what they're comparing to because all the fans are doing is comparing to Coach Tomlin. Coach Tomlin, like maybe one of the greatest speakers of all time, right?

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Coach Tomlin is like one of the greatest speakers to ever exist.

[G]

Yeah.

[A]

Which is why we think whenever he gets into TV, he's gonna be stupid. LaFleur is still the head coach of the Green Bay Packers.

[B]

Yes, he is.

[D]

Got a new DC though.

[A]

That's right. Who's that?

[B]

Jonathan Gannon, former head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. So let's just say I got a nice. A fresh fire in my gut this morning. Took would have taken the bus to work had the bus has been running today. But yeah, I mean, I know we're talking about Mike McCarthy. I think you could argue that this is this the smash hit home run hiring of this entire cycle. Yeah. Head coach, defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator, you name it.

[A]

As D.C. he had success.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Correct.

[A]

2021, 2022 Eagles D.C. 21.4 points per game, 11th in the NFL. That's top third. That's pretty good.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Now it's Cardinals different story.

[B]

Yeah, he was, you know, he wasn't calling place.

[A]

But was he a part of it, is the question. Or is he just eager to get back into the the headset to start dialing up and not having to worry about all the other stuff that comes alongside being a head coach, which we have certainly seen before. McDaniel, by the way, getting introduced with the Los Angeles Chargers. He looks cool.

[D]

Always.

[A]

He looks so cool. Think about the Los Angeles Chargers colors here and everything. McDaniel's got his glasses. He's got. Oh, so cool. Come on. I don't. I think we put this one together. There is. I think he did some sort of photo shoot for him as an introductory to the Los Angeles Chargers that they just posted. Chargers social team with McDaniel. I mean, we're talking about some real magic this offseason.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Oh, look how cool he looks.

[G]

She so happy to be in Cali.

[A]

Oh, my God. Think about the time he had down in Miami. Remember, he was heading down there. Super genius. This guy's future of the NFL. They hang 70 on this Denver Broncos defense that we just watched not too long ago. 70 of them. They pay Tyree Kill more money than anybody. That's why Tyreek Hill went down there. He was at the Chiefs, was looking for a bigger contract. Andy Reed and them said, we can't do it. We're so sorry. And he goes, all right, well, get me out of here. He goes to Miami, does the whole thing, gets paid more than anybody, resets the market. They are unstoppable. This guy's the guy. Cool shoes. Tags on them. Joggers. Sweet glasses. Funny. Swaggy. So swaggy. Supposed to be the future. It's the next one. Then just completely unravels at the Dolphins. They trade away all his good players. Okay. Seems to be tension that is brewed in the locker room. Is that his fault, or is that now he gets another shot to be an offensive coordinator of the other guy drafted in that particular draft class. And if he does well here, he's going to have multiple head coaching opportunities and people saying that it's justified. So whenever you think about McDaniel having a great situation in a setup here, I think Los Angeles Chargers are certainly that conversation die, Schmidt.

[B]

Yeah, without a doubt. And I think, you know, a lot of people, like, he's. He's obviously a brilliant offensive mind, but I think the big question kind of after they had that hot start and they were doing all the motions and their offense was just going gangbusters against everybody, it was like, does his demeanor really kind of lend to being the head coach of a team? How does that work in a locker room? Well, now there's. There's no questions about that, because guess what? You got Harbaugh, who is a supreme leader like you. That guy. I mean, yes, he's going to be handling the offensive room and everything like that, but not everybody is kind of marching to the beat of his drum. They're Me, they're marching to the beat of Harbaugh's drum. So maybe he will flourish in this situation.

[A]

I think it's a good match. I can't wait to hear HARBRAUGH Talk about McDaniel and vice versa. Can't wait for any of that. And on that note, Dolphins hired Bobby Slowik as their offense coordinator. He also interviewed for the Eagles OC job. Shout out to Schefter, who'll be joining us here in a few moments breaking that news. Eagles offense coordinator thing. Interesting situation. Now, Bobby Slowik a couple years back, CJ Stroud's rookie year where he took over and did something that we didn't think any rookie quarterback should be able to do at this stage of ball with how sophisticated defenses are and how hard it is to kind of adjust to NFL football, especially at the hardest position in the sport like quarterback. We all were taken back by Bobby Sloch, who's this super genius. Got some interviews, didn't take any head coaching jobs. Then he gets fired from the Houston Texans when it doesn't work out. Now he's back as an offensive coordinator for the Dolphins. Congrats to him. Felt like he. He was also one of the next super geniuses. There was a crown put on Bobby Slowik. Now he's down there in Miami. Obviously also had the Eagles offensive coordinator job available. So what's going on over there for the Eagles? What is going on over here?

[D]

It makes no sense.

[A]

Right, because McDaniel was potentially in it, but not in it. Right. It was his name ever mentioned? I don't recall.

[B]

I believe it was. Yeah. But I don't know if he ever.

[A]

Even took an interview and there's people like resending interview. I know McDaniel did that for the Cleveland Browns head coaching job, which a lot of people are doing, which is crazy. But the Eagles offense coordinator position feels like that's a good job in my. I guess you got to deal with the potential stuff from outside. You've been watching the last couple years where maybe it's just part of the culture. I. I don't know. That's an interesting thing over there in Philadelphia not having no seed.

[D]

Yeah. There feels like there's a couple jobs that would possibly be better than being a head coach at Cleveland. I mean basically any job there. But. But as far as OC for a team goes, Philly would be like, you got premier wide receivers, you got a superstar running back, you got a great O line and you have a Super Bowl MVP quarterback. Like where else would you possibly want to draw up your offense, like, especially for a guy like McDaniel who's, you know, very creative and things like that. Sure, you know, you might want to go and play with or go and coach a Herbert, but when you're just thinking about like a Slowik or really anybody who would hopefully want to get their first head coaching opportunity, Philly would be like one of the top five jobs that comes to mind when it comes to just complete offenses. So there has to be something very serious, but not like legally or anything but serious behind the scenes within the locker room that is wrong. Or, you know, not to put anything on Sirianni, but, like, why wouldn't. Would Sirianni be the reason why you wouldn't want to be a coordinator?

[A]

I don't know. Yeah, all these things are potential reasons. I mean, I wonder if they just haven't offered it. Like, I don't. What if they haven't found anybody they like? And this is a whole you didn't fire me, I quit type situation that is happening, you know, because Brian Flores signs an extension with the Minnesota Vikings to be their DC if no head coaching roles come. It feels like all the information and news to people is seemingly breaking in a weird manner this year. You know, like the signing, the extension as coordinator if no head coaching jobs come. That's strictly because if you don't get a head coaching job, you would also like to know you're okay and not completely out of the loop. Like Nagy.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Matt Nagy for. Formerly of Chiefs, then the Bears. He was head coach before then, I think the Chiefs, before he was with the Chicago Bears. His offensive coordinator role contract, I guess, just kind of ran out. Then it was announced that he's a potential candidate for head coaching roles. You know, he's getting head coaching opportunities here. And then now they. They replaced him in Kansas City. Right. Is that not what happened?

[B]

That is correct.

[A]

That's a series of events.

[G]

They just kind of like, yeah, go ahead.

[A]

So the contracts that are happening right now, are they indicators for who's going to get head coaching jobs? Who's not? Like, do we kind of know who's. Who's getting what now at this point? Does anybody have a clue? Because there's still a lot of jobs that are open right now.

[B]

Yeah, I think the, the most recent thing I've heard in terms of openings still is that they've. They've basically said that Clint Kubiak basically has the inside track in Las Vegas. And now it's kind of a formality they're just waiting until now after the super bowl to kind of bring him in and, and wrap that up. But like we heard the Browns this morning, like they have all these candidates coming in and very rarely does it seem like especially for first time head coaches, guys are with just withdrawing their names, like they're turning down second interviews because they don't want to be the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

[C]

My bad.

[D]

Sean McDermott, we got reported yesterday that he's, he's done for this year. Rap sheet said that he's going to take a year off. So he's not a candidate. I know Arizona was thinking about it, but it's weird.

[A]

I like that he's doing that. Congrats, dude. Yeah, congrats. Take a year, man. Yeah, and just kind of take it in because I mean, Coach Pagano McCarthy, you can have calls with the leagues each week, with the league each week. They have representatives that do that, keep you updated on what the rules are, what, what the officiatings happen, maybe statistics of what's being run, why things are being run. Like I think the league takes care of the old coaches or like the.

[B]

Doug Peterson thing where you kind of just bounce around to buddies you have in the league and you're, you know, in Cleveland for a week and then you're in Jacksonville for a week. Just that kind of stuff.

[A]

Yeah. You have updates on jobs.

[G]

There's just like kind of tea leaves of kind of where guys have been rumored like the Cards, if the Fields. Like Anthony Campanile is kind of the leader in the clubhouse. He's the DC for the Jaguars.

[A]

He's. He's Paison, one of the Jersey Python.

[G]

Yeah, Paison, genius. He talks like it as well. Todd talked about Raiders and Kubiak and then Browns. It was reported this morning that they're meeting with Shieldhouse today, I believe in la. So that's kind of where the tea leaves are right now. And then the Bills one. Who knows? Who knows what's going to go down.

[A]

Phil Rivers has withdrawn his name.

[D]

Okay, what is he doing?

[A]

He said not this year. Maybe he want to take it up. Maybe he wants to go bounce around different training camps, kind of see how people are doing. Just like we're talking about. Garfallo of the Insiders on NFL Network says Philip Rivers has withdrawn from the Bills coaching search after his interview. Say, you know, I don't think that's for me actually, dad Gummet, not enough.

[D]

Room for two 17s I guess in Buffalo.

[A]

Well, you think that was A little bit of the issue maybe sitting in on the interview.

[D]

There was some belly to belly maybe.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

You know, got in each other's face a little bit.

[A]

Hey, when 17's talked about around here, guess who it's gonna be? Hmm. Me. Josh Allen says, look at his hand size, brother. And also guess what I can do. Move. You ever done it?

[G]

You think they fought in the interview.

[A]

And info Rivers said something so, so mean, but without any swear.

[B]

Yeah. Likes with a couple dad gums.

[A]

Yeah. And just sawed him down. And Josh Allen won right back because remember, he was voted.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Best trash talker. Most trash talker. Josh Allen was voted by the players. Phil Rivers. I assume they weren't doing a vote back then. I think he would have probably been. Imagine if it did just turn into them right in front of being in the entire operation. Terry Pigoula's in there like trying to get a word in and they're just sawing each other down the entire time. And that's kind of turned.

[D]

Let's go settle this on the field. And Phil Rivers out through.

[A]

Did he really?

[D]

Yeah, I guess. Phil Rivers threw the football like 95 yards.

[A]

Phil said, I can't with this team unless I play.

[D]

Yeah. He was like, they, you know, they brought in Riley Leonard to throw the hail Mary for me against Seattle. But in reality, watch this, watch this. Josh 90.

[A]

Phil, good luck in any future endeavors, even if it's high school coaching or NFL coaching and your new, your family. I believe there's like good luck with everything. We appreciate the hell out of you, Phil. Okay. All these headlines are obviously awesome out of the weekend, but we felt that there's top five headlines that need to be talked about separately. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to continue a segment that we started this year. Top five driven by Ram. Now, whenever you hit the gas pedal in a Ram truck, it's going to be big, it's going to be powerful, and it's going to sound like this. They're getting back into the truck race.

[B]

They are.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

And they've signed the dominate driver already. Who Smoke Stewart. Dominant. Never heard of him.

[A]

Yeah, Tone.

[B]

Yeah, exactly.

[A]

I've heard of Tone Stewart.

[B]

Bingo.

[A]

He was just racing the.

[D]

He was racing these dragmobiles. The drag race mobiles.

[G]

Funny cars.

[D]

The funny cars.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

And nothing funny about this speed.

[A]

No, there ain't nothing over here in eastern Indianapolis. There's actually a track that I used to live by. They used to get after it over there. That's where Tone was. Tone was burning rubber over there. Going real fast. Quarter mile. How you doing? He's got wheels.

[G]

He's driving it.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. He's racing it. He's not scared. Even jet skis, too. I think he said, I'll do the water.

[D]

What?

[A]

Yeah, he's gonna be in that Dodge truck. I think it's a good idea to have smoke in there.

[B]

I think so, too.

[A]

All right, let's get to the top five headlines. Number five, weather is happening. Did we know that the snow was gonna be coming sideways over there in Denver? I think Fight told us there's a chance of a little precinct maybe over there in Denver. He said, I haven't looked. And it seems like that is covering. There's a graphic covering Denver on the map in the forecast. But, boy, this became one of those snow globe games. This became one of those games that will be remembered forever. This becomes one of those games that Adam Vinantieri kicked a field goal in. This is. This is eerily reminiscent of that Raiders game where there was a tuck or a no tuck. And I don't know if either coach had any idea at the beginning of the game. You know, a lot of people talking about Sean Payton going for it on fourth down with a backup quarterback who came out like gangbusters. I mean, it was staddy city there for a little bit. I mean, he's calling things, he's checking out, he's doing everything. He's calling a tunnel screen, motioning people out. He'd been there, done that a thousand times. Hits a deep shot. Wow. Holy hell. I get a FaceTime from AQ Shipley. I got a FaceTime. AQ says. I said he was Joe Montana. I said he was Joe Montana. AQ was all jacked up. He thought he had a. That was literally because he FaceTimed me and told me this whole thing. Then on a fourth down, they go for it. They don't pick it up, they don't kick the field goal. Now, granted, kicking it was going to be a problem for both teams this entire evening. A lot of people were asking, did Sean Payton know what it was going to become, which was an absolute blizzard and snowstorm at Mile High. I assume it was windy as shit. Did Sean have any inclination that the rest of the game was going to be very difficult to score, or did he have any inclination that the two best defenses. Well, I guess you got to add Seattle in there. So I can't just say that both these defenses are the reason why your teams are here. Points are going to be at a premium I think that question can certainly be asked, but as a whole, I don't think we knew that's what that weather was going to be. That was awesome to watch. There's people that hate it though. Gone there.

[D]

Yeah, of course. And people are always going to hate it, especially if the Patriots are winning. But I didn't think we were going to going to get this much pre sip nflweather.com right before the game I checked it at 2:45 Eastern and it said there was going to be snow every single quarter. So when the first half happened and there was no snow, I damn near thought, oh no precip. Fike just lied to us like a jack wagon. There is not going to be any precip. This is going to be a cold game. Maybe a little bit of wind that third quarter. I don't think anybody expected it to be like that.

[A]

Sideways in Sean Payton's eyes. Obviously kicking being very difficult, which why Adam Vinatieri's kick back in the day even more so I think we should think about. He also has a kick against Buffalo a couple of years back that moved a full upright in the middle of the snow. Talk about just being locked in laser focused and him being there for all this to happen as they block a kick as well. I mean special teams defense not turning the ball over and huge plays by your quarterback and whenever you need it feels like we're back to the good old days with the Patriots. And that leads to number four headline what's the play? Drake May oh, his bootleg box. The Broncos out of the tournament. Drake May called this himself. Nobody else on the field had any idea that he was going to keep this thing himself. Everybody thought it was a run to the right. Drake May says, actually I'm going to keep that thing and I Drake May, who led the North Carolina Tar Heels in rushing and passing, am going to do my thing to get a first down to win this game. He was mic'd up. NFL Films has Inside the Inside the NFL on X and they're doing it right. Okay, Inside the NFL for NFL Films has been a legendary show for NFL Films for a long time. They have realized what the world is and what they need to be. They've moved strictly to Clips on X and we get this beautiful clip of Drake May miked up for the entirety of the game winning bootleg out to the left for the first down in a trip to the Super Bowl. That's how you do that. That's how you do that. That's how you do that. That's how you do that. All right, all right. Calm down, calm down. Yep, we did it. Yeah. I mean, what a moment for him. Now granted, how many people did not know that that was coming? How many people did know that was coming? Whatever the case, Drake May showcases something that they don't rely upon heavily with which is his legs and sen Super Bowl. What a moment for you Patriots con man.

[D]

Yeah, that's how you do that. That's one of those plays that will live on in Patriot lore. You know, hopefully we complete the mission next Sunday and go on to win a Super Bowl. When you talk about moments, this is the first playoff win in Denver for the New England Patriots. Like when you think about games in the future because Drake may bo Nick's both very young, should have many battles in the future. This is one of those plays that will kind of stamp Drake May's not legacy as a whole. But when you think about super bowl appearances. Yeah, you're going to go back and remember Drake May calling his own number and keeping the ball for the first time to win it all.

[A]

Unbelievable performance. Can't wait to see the 23 year old in his Super Bowl. Not this upcoming Sunday. The following one he'll be taking on number three headline. Not the same Darnold. We talked about this ad nauseum already. Sam Darnold could have folded in the NFC championship and everybody would have been dancing on his grave. Everybody would have been saying we've been waiting for the pumpkin. We've been waiting for water to find its level. This is who you actually are. But Instead he has a three touchdown 340 plus yard night where he's spinning it all over the place. Jackson Smith and Jigba obviously outrageous. Cooper cup does his thing. Kenneth Walker, more like Kenneth Runner over everything. They're unbelievable. They're fun. Sam Darnold, congrats to you buddy. That's a huge monkey. You get off your back. Number two headline coming out of the weekend. Listen, Alex Honnold is muscle watch. Okay, this is not in championship Sunday. This was on Saturday at 8pm Eastern. It was supposed to be on Friday, 8pm Eastern. Had some rain. Can't do obviously the precip. Whenever you're talking about climbing glass and buildings, they move it to Saturday. It was windy but no precip. And my man Alex Honnold of Free Solo fame which obviously won an Oscar and changed all of our lives and how we view everything. After watching Free Solo we were mesmerized by the fact that this is how Some people, this man being the goat of it, spend their full lives committed to this. Working out, training, traveling, climbing. Things that are seemingly impossible. With no rope, with a chance of death at every single movement. I watched for an hour. They said hour 35. I saw hour 31. Whenever he got to the tip of this thing. I watched every single moment of it. I just put baby girl down to bed. Perfect timing to sit down and kind of settle in. And I watched this dude scale this. That was the most tense, intense viewing experience that I've had. That's what it's supposed to be when people are doing death defying stunts. I appreciate the hell out of Honl doing this. There's a couple obstacles. This is dragon. I think there was another one. Music note or something. I forget what they were calling it that he had to get past. Could have just went around it. Could have just went around it any given time. Could have went around it instead. Says, I gotta conquer this thing. Climbs up these things that are on the corner of this building. Leaps a couple different times. Does incredible upside down shit on the edge of this building, hangs off it with no arms. Yeah, just go ahead and lock my legs up here at the top. 1,667ft. This is how high this thing is. He's doing this live in real time. I saw a lot of people, you know, trying to downplay a little bit like watch free solo all capitan's the real deal. And it's like, of course it is. And I was very impressed. Then my palms were sweaty whenever I watched it. I loved everything about it. This is live in real time. The other option is death. This guy potentially gonna die. He gets to the top of the mountain just like he does every time. Takes a selfie. There's people with cameras in his face in the building. Did he know that was gonna happen? Him going, wow, there's people right here. Hey, how you doing? I tried to give a high five to about 1500ft in this guy. I tried to give a high five this guy, but he wouldn't put his phone down. You know kids with his phones. This is what this dude's saying while he's doing this. Not a care in the world seemingly. And what they were saying is because how prepared he is, how much he works out. He's got a 10 pack, saw his house, he's got little training things he does. This was must watch. This was a very different experience than I've ever had watching anything. And I'm grateful for Honda and Netflix. Good idea with that entire thing. Now, I'm not sure they knew it was going to be like super tense, you know, I think they might have misread like the vibe that it was going to be whenever he was that high. But on that note, congrats to Netflix on a definite successful live event here on Saturday. I loved it. I loved every moment of. I couldn't turn away, I could not turn away from this man scaling like fucking spider man. The Taipei 101.

[B]

Yeah. And we talked about like when they did the stuff with the Wallendos, how that kind of felt flat because there was no, there's no stake in it really. It's like, hey, nothing is gonna happen. And while it is highly unlikely that Netflix was gonna broadcast him fall to his death, like that is still very much possible. Like you, I mean, when he is on the very top of this thing, an extra strong wing wind gust comes and guess what? It blows him off the top and he's dead. Every time he's hanging on that and he would put, take one of his hands off to get a little chalk. Like, like I, I, I just did it here. Like I had to look away. It just, it really is, man. I, I, you'd be hard pressed to find something more tense to watch than this.

[A]

It was awesome. I'm very appreciative that that was happening this weekend. We appreciate that. And the number one headline coming out of the weekend, ladies and gentlemen, happy super bowl season. By far, number one headline. To talk more about it being super bowl season is senior NFL Insider for ESPN friend of the program, Michigan man. Ladies and gentlemen, happy Super Bowl Season 2, Adam Schefter.

[H]

Happy super bowl season.

[A]

Happy super bowl season to you. What does this mean? Obviously McCarthy gets the Steelers job. We got some jobs going around. Arthur Smith goes back to Ohio State. You got some OCs getting filled. What is super bowl season for you and Tail as we only have one game left of this magical NFL season?

[H]

Well, Pat, we got one game and four head coach openings, so there's more of an emphasis on the fourth, more head coach openings right now than the one game that's 13 days away. And obviously it's the biggest game of the year and there'll be plenty of time to that. But I would think that we would have all these head coaching jobs filled this week, probably sooner rather than later. I wouldn't be surprised if by Wednesday there are no openings left at this point in time.

[A]

Okay, so that's every all four jobs. Is there one domino piece that kind of sets it all off for all these acting individuals.

[H]

No, I think, I think the candidates on the Raiders and the Bills radar are pretty similar. We have essentially the Bills feel like they're going to go offense. They feel like they're going to go offense. And it feels like Davis Webb, Brian Dabel, Joe Brady, Grant Yudinsky. That's what it feels like to me in Buffalo right now. The Raiders, it looks like it could be Davis Webb, Joe Brady is there today, Brian Dable, like the same names in both places. Now, I would think that obviously Josh Allen is going to be more of a drawing card than the Raiders situation, but if you love Fernando Mendoza, then go take the Raiders job and spend the next decade with him. Like that's certainly viable.

[A]

Rookie quarterback contract. Hold on. Shifter. Let me. Can I expand on the Bills and Raiders a little bit here? Rookie quarterback contract as well for at least the next four years, maybe five years. Let's assume Fernando works out. We think he's going to be generational. Do these two teams know that they're talking to the same people? Or when you say this on this show or tweet this, that's when they find that out.

[H]

I think everybody has a pretty good idea what other people are doing. Like, you know, Joe Brady's there today. He was with Buffalo over the weekend. Brian Dabel interviewed with the Raiders on Saturday. He's been with the Bills. Both sides are talking to Davis Webb, the Broncos past game coordinator and quarterback coach today, today. And I just think that they both know that they're in play on basically similar guys. Buffalo has a former MVP to offer. The Raiders do not. They have the number one pick to offer. So again, Buffalo would appear to be closer to having a Super bowl caliber roster right now. So that's kind of those two teams. Cleveland, I think when you look at it right now, Grant Yudinsky pulled out on the Browns this morning. They've got four candidates left. The commander's run game coordinator, Anthony Lynn, the former Ravens offense coordinator Todd Monkin and the guys, the two guys that I believe this job is coming down to, which are the Rams passing game coordinator Nate Shieldhouse. Oh, hold on a second. Oh, hold on a second.

[A]

Hold on. Bills might be making a hiring. Actually they have an MVP candidate. You can mute him. We muted you. We muted you.

[H]

So I think the Browns job, in my mind, they've got four candidates left. And I think it comes down to in the end, the two guys out front are the Rams pass game coordinator Nate Shieldhouse and their own defensive coordinator, Jim Schwartz. I think those are the two choices.

[A]

Okay. For the Browns. What's this deal with homework and a quiz and all this stuff? What is going on? There's been reports of their hiring process maybe being a little bit different. Sleeper NFL is all over it. We do not know how accurate it is. Which is why we ask you this question. Is there anything different going on at, like, maybe the Browns kind of interview process than anywhere else or just people don't want to go to the Browns. Maybe me.

[H]

Well, Tone, Connor, Ty, they told me that they had to take tests to come on your show before they could be hired full time.

[A]

Yeah.

[H]

I mean, that point is, word on the street with your show, Pat, that you got to pass a quiz. I know I failed the quiz, but you were kind enough to grant me immunity to put me back on the show.

[A]

I'll tell you what, I feel like that was a situational failure there. More so. And you were just a part of that. You know, if I had kind of described the situation more accurately, I would say that, but yes. So the test. You're potentially saying this. Let me tell you.

[H]

A lot of teams do a lot of different testing now. I think the Browns has been a bit more intensive this cycle. You know, whether you have homework, you know, term papers. I don't know about all that stuff, but it certainly seems like they are taking it to an extreme. There are teams that do psychological proof, psychological testing, profiles. They do all kinds of things on these guys.

[D]

Hell, yeah.

[H]

But it does sound like. It does sound like the Browns have kind of gone next level on it. It does sound like it.

[A]

Sit down.

[D]

Exactly.

[A]

Worst thing that's ever happened to you. Think about it. Oh, you're already thinking about it. I already ruined your day, didn't I? How are you going to come back from that? Got a meeting right now. Let me see it. Oh, man. That was a bad day. Yeah. But we need you to bounce back on the other side. Is that what the Pittsburgh Steelers did? Tone has a question for you. Shefty.

[C]

Yeah, Chef.

[G]

I don't know if you've seen on the Internet, but Yinzers and Steelers fans aren't exactly thrilled about the coach McCarthy hire.

[C]

They.

[G]

They kind of said it's a collateral coaching hire, but the big part of the reason is they're mad is because they only brought in three in face interviews.

[B]

Can you.

[G]

Do you have any insight into their hiring process and, you know, potentially how it shook out?

[B]

Yeah.

[H]

The other two finalists were Anthony Weaver and Brian Flores. All three, including McCarthy, were brought to Pittsburgh for interviews. And I think if we go back to Art Rooney's press conference when Mike Tomlin had stepped down and he talked about the fact that he didn't want to rebuild and they've got a veteran team and this is a team that won the division this past year. They won the division. They're not ready to shut it down and rebuild. And so they felt like a guy like Mike McCarthy, who's got the experience he does, who's familiar with grooming quarterbacks, could be helpful either growing Mason Rudolph and Will Howard.

[D]

Sure.

[H]

Or whoever they draft or potentially even helping to lure back Aaron Rodgers. Now, they didn't hire him. They did not hire him to bring back Aaron Rodgers. But I guarantee on their checklist of things like, well, this is one little bonus. He's got a relationship with Aaron Rodgers and. And if Aaron decides that he wants to play again, he'll know the coach, he'll know the offensive system, and maybe that will help make Aaron's decision. But they didn't hire Mike McCarthy to bring back Aaron Rodgers. That did not happen. They just felt like, here's a team that won the division last year. We want to maintain our standard. The standard is the standard in Pittsburgh. Right. And they were trying to achieve that standard by going and hiring the oldest coach they've ever had. The oldest. Like there's. They've never had a sitting coach older than Mike McCarthy is right now.

[A]

Yeah. And they hire in the 30s. That has kind of been the move of the past since 1979 or 69. 69. So, you know, the organization has hired good coaches for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the past. We assume that coach Mike McCarthy will do great things because we agree with him. Pittsburgh Steelers fans are going to have to see it. They're going to have to see it just like everywhere. You're going to have to earn it. And Mike McCarthy knows that more than anybody. He's from the city, so I think he's excited for the opportunity. I'm excited to see that veteran crew continue to run it back. And we'll follow along on your Twitter account for any breaking news over the next couple days for these head coaching vacancies. We appreciate it's going to be a busy. What day, Peter?

[H]

I'm sure there'll be some things today, but I again, like, again, by Wednesday, I believe the majority of those jobs, if not all of them, will be filled.

[A]

Big day tomorrow. Ladies and gentlemen, that's Adam Schefter. This is Marshawn B. Smo lynch with prize picks the big game is almost here and there's no better way to cash in during America's biggest sporting event than Prize Picks. That also means it's your last chance to get in on football action before the season is over with Prize picks by getting $50 instantly in lineups. When you play your first $5, it's simple to play. Pick at least two players, pick more or less on their stats, and submit your lineup. Lineup Prize Picks also has early payouts. If your lineup get off to a hot start, you have the option to cash out those winners before the game even finished. So don't miss any other action this season with prizepix Where It's Good to Be Right prizepix is the most fan friendly daily fantasy app. Download the prizepix app today and use code TPMS and get $50 instantly in site credits when you play $5. That's code TPMS on prizepix to get $50 instantly in site credits when you play $5. Win or lose, you'll get 50 bucks in site credits for just playing. Guaranteed Prize Pick Picks it's good to.

[F]

Be Right Must be present in certain states.

[A]

Visit prizepix.com for restrictions and details. Welcome back to oh yeah, that's a pepper Thing. First up, we've got Harrison wrapping his.

[I]

Dr. Pepper in a tiny quilt so.

[A]

It feels at home.

[G]

Oh how tender.

[D]

That's a pepper thing.

[A]

And over to Becca who's whispering affirmations to her can. You're sweet, you're unique, you're the best thing I ever poured over ice. She swears it makes it taste better. It's not a science thing, but it's a pepper thing. Why do they all do it all for that sweet, delicious, truly one of a kind taste of Dr. Pepper. It's a pepper thing. Football is the greatest and we are officially in super bowl season. Congratulations and we hope you have an incredibly happy one. The toxic table's here at Boston Conner and at Ty Schmidt. One half of the hammer done. Cowboys AP Tonys are done. Feels like we're going to have a defensive struggle potentially in that Super Bowl. What's the over under projected for the super bowl right now as we sit 13 days away? It's not this following Sunday, it's the next one 46 and a half. That mean 2423 for that thing to cover.

[G]

It's a bit high the way that the Patriots games have been going. Those have been lower but they've also been in snow in Denver, in snow in New England and then they scored enough and just dominated the Chargers in the first one. The Patriots defense has been unbelievable. So has the Seahawks. But I mean, you never know how these. I am very, very eager because you talked about it earlier about weather and like I love seeing the weather in the AFC and NFC championships. One place where we don't love seeing weather is in the Super Bowl. Like that's the one place where it should be on an even playing field. We need to watch that in San Francisco because that could be a slippy track out there if we get some moisture, some precincts.

[A]

Yeah, who knows what the weather is going to be out there, I guess, because easy come, easy go, we assume it'll be a great vibe, great electric kind of atmosphere out there as the Seahawks take it to Cali, you know, and when you think about the Patriots traveling out there, it's so crazy that this is 2026. Yeah, it's so crazy. Seahawks and Patriots are back. Legion of Boom. Dynasty. Bill Tom Ross, Sherm.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is a guy who's going to have the utmost amount of respect for the defenses that are about to play in this Super Bowl. And does the defense actually win the super bowl this year? Potentially. Sam Darnold balls out. Drake May might win the mvp, but across the board it's been a lot heavier hitting on the defensive side. Joining us now is the all time leading tackler for the Green Bay Packers. He's a college football national champion, super bowl champion Rocket cup winner. Ladies and gentlemen, AJ Hawke Hawker Seahawks defense. Obviously Matthew Stafford is going to be able to do some things. Parkinson six, seven too. Did we know that that guy is six foot seven? What a monster he is, let alone all the other weapons. Devonte Adams still doing at Puka showed up looking incredibly cool. Always does Puka stuff. And I guess you could. Seahawks defense is going to get the Seahawks defense, Patriots defense. This is strength, strength, strength of these teams. A.J. hawk.

[E]

Oh, absolutely. I mean you, you can watch these games. Obviously very different games because of the conditions that they were played under. But yeah, what a, what a fun game. I mean both these games were awesome to watch and Stafford and Darnold kind of going back and forth was, was cool to see and anyone that's not a Sam Darnold fan, you would have to feel pretty good for what this guy has done. His career and he has kind of revitalized everything and changed things in Seattle. But yeah, we're showing these defensive clips. You got to be kidding me. They have so many studs at all three levels. When it comes to Seattle and then, of course, New England, we know that they can do defensively, but they just kept coming, man. Like the, The. The Rams had many different opportunities, I guess, to find a way to. To win that game. And Seattle's defense just said, no, it's not going to happen tonight. Not in our house.

[A]

I appreciate what you said there about Sam Darnold, though. I mean, he's still got his haters. Oh, yeah. He's still got his people that are still waiting. Waiting and seeing is what they're saying until the season is over. I guess that's actually a pretty good angle. You know, I learned that that was one against Dak Prescott. Yeah, we'll see, we'll see, we'll see, we'll see. So you just pawn off the debate for 15, 16, 17 weeks. You say, well, my entire angle is whenever the lights get pulled, well, it's like, well, what are we going to do? Until in your eyes, it's an NFL game, A lot of people watching, light's pretty bright. I think it just standard NFL game. Is it for number one seed? NFL game? Is it for playoffs? Is it for NFC championship? What is the thing? I guess you could just kind of pawn it off and only one person could really win each season. So it's not bad, but it's like for the number one overall seed. I thought that was a big night. Made some plays for the NFC Championship. A huge night. He goes for over 300 points plus with three touchdowns. It's like, I'm happy for Sam Darnold. Come in. I am happy. And also Drake May. Drake May. With how young he is, can he do it in a big game? I want to see him do it in a big game. That was an argument against Drake May. This year he's having an MVP year. We'll see. We'll see. When will we see playoffs? Well, what about what he's doing right now? We'll see. It's like, well, he's obviously able to do it, especially with we're hearing that he calls his own shot for the first down. It's like great storylines coming out of both these quarterbacks.

[D]

Yeah. And Drake will still deal with it. I feel like, you know, the schedule thing was one thing. And then every single game, basically throughout the playoffs, it hasn't been about, you know, him taking care of the football and just getting the job done and winning the game and getting the hell out of there. It's more so been about, you know, no Bo, Nick, C.J. stroud stinks. And Justin Herbert doesn't have an offensive line. So no matter what, that's going to happen. But when you talk about Sam Darnold, is Sam Darnold like the greatest comeback story in the history of the NFL? Of course. Kurt Warner, American underdog, that is one thing. But Sam Darnold as a top three pick to go from the New York Football jets to this guy seeing Ghost, absolutely stinks. To backup quarterback with the Panthers, to getting benched with the Panthers, to then back up again, then to Minnesota, getting run out of Minnesota, and now in Seattle to, you know, go into the Super Bowl. It's remarkable, his career arc.

[A]

Yeah. And him being chosen by the Seahawks team. Okay, this is McDonald saying, hey, we need you. Here's McDonald immediately afterwards, about same day. Can't talk about the game without talking about our quarterback. I mean, he just shut a lot.

[G]

Of people up tonight.

[A]

So I'm really happy for him.

[C]

What.

[D]

What do you think got you in this? If you could key out tonight what.

[A]

It took to win, that's like. I don't know if anybody can hear.

[C]

Me afterward, but I just.

[A]

The power of 12 is 1 is real. You know, just synergy, people buying in, doing it together. I love the way this guy has come in there and got the entire. Because, remember. And I hate that we have to bring this up, but we have to. It wasn't long ago other teams were coming into their stadium. AJ they didn't believe in the turnaround, you know, And I think 12s will say we believed. We just. There was a price for these tickets. Now, you know, and you know how the economy and everything like that. We just let the Buffalo Bills come in and take over Lumen Field, which has never happened. I mean, the 12s are like historic and legendary. We thought maybe they had lost their fan base. Instead, it feels like they rekindled a relationship with their fan base about how you, you will love this team. This team works hard. This team doesn't talk shit. And our quarterback is an incredible underdog story. And our coach is a football computer. I'm listening to him talk. He has a lot of signetti in him. He is a football computer. AJ Hawk.

[D]

Yeah, he is.

[E]

If you remember when he first got hired, like, a lot of people weren't really sure who the Seahawks head coach was after Pete Carroll. McDonald was almost not a. Not in Seattle, obviously, and not in coaching circles. But for the casual fan, he was like an afterthought. They weren't really sure who this guy was. So that's the thing when it comes to hiring coaches, we don't. You don't know when you hire a coach if he's a good hire or not. You need to wait a couple years.

[A]

Shitty for them. Just right for us is what he said in that first team meeting. And it's like he built a team built on that vision. They got a real culture out there of dogs already. And being able to establish it this early in your head coaching, what a run. Vrabel is able to do it in his first year up there in New England. Isn't that crazy?

[E]

I mean if you think about it, it's really not with the success that he had in Tennessee early on, the success he had as a player. This guy wins wherever he goes. He's the guy that knows how to. How to build a team and to get them all going the right direction. Also having McDaniels there as the OC that guy is an absolute mastermind when it comes to offensive football too.

[A]

Yeah, I vrabes what a perfect like football coach sounds like from the way I appreciate accountability. Very high. But he's going to be all in. He's all in. He's in the locker room and he's the chief commander of the locker room.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

He's talking to the boys as if he's a guy. But everybody in there understands his resume. Everybody understands what he's been through. And I assume he says things that legitimize him as somebody that can make them be the best version of themselves. Which is what every coach has to prove to a player for a player to buy in. That entire locker room has bought into Mike Vrabel and him screaming war. Yes. What is that? You. You explained to me earlier and it was part of Matt.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Mac came in with glass bottles on his fingies and obviously he was barefoot for his return to the action. He made a couple massive plays. Congrats to Mac Hollins doing everything he's doing up there in New England. And so he showed up with these on his fingers. I would be worried they'd be stuck forever, you know, because have gotten a finger stuck maybe in a ball before. You. You never know what's going to happen. I gotta bust this thing off of me. He didn't worry about any of that. And then I heard this warriors thing said bunch, what is. What is the.

[D]

So I'm not sure exactly what the movie references. The movie is some post apocalyptic scenario.

[B]

Classic film from the 70s called Warriors Call warriors.

[D]

And that is one of the main characters they have bottles on their fingers. And they're young warriors. I know their thing all year was road warriors. He yells it right here. I don't know. Yeah, come out and play. That's like from the movie itself. So I know road wars has been their thing. And that kind of maybe less led to the movie warriors itself. When you talk about Vrabel, though, is he one of the one most obvious things that was going to happen? Not. Not Super Bowl. But I think we all kind of thought even before Vrabel got hired, like, hey, wherever this guy goes, they're going to win in the team meetings are incredible to watch too. And Bob Kraft kind of at the end here gives him a game ball and just gives it over him giving basically the team to Vrabel in the off season was amazing. But don't you. Don't you guys kind of think while we're doing the hiring now, especially, especially with the news cycle, like, Vrabel was the one. We all kind of thought he's going to get the job done.

[A]

Ben Johnson was expected.

[D]

Yeah, sure.

[A]

Okay. A New England Vrabel. I don't know how quickly everybody thought it was going to happen. We had high, high hopes because I think. We think we know him a little better because of your relationship with him. There was no chance he failed up there. Hi age. That kind of feels like variable football nutshell.

[C]

Yeah.

[E]

I didn't think there was a chance that he would fail. I just. We didn't know it would happen this quickly. I guess that, hey, he takes these guys to the super bowl year one and has them all by and it just seems to have like, yeah, we're looking at another Patriots dynasty run, it feels like.

[A]

Yeah. Congratulations to the Mass holes who are certainly enjoying it all. Certainly enjoying it all.

[D]

Thank you. And I will pass that on as well to everyone else.

[A]

I saw Portnoy just laughing at his phone. It's like, this is where we got to live now. This is it. This is what it is.

[D]

Whole new generation, too. Like, I. I think a lot of people were worried about the. The one to seven year olds in New England as far as fandom goes when it comes to football.

[E]

We've a lot of people.

[D]

We won an NBA championship just two years ago. It's not. It hasn't been that long.

[A]

I. I just got a text. We had some breaking news. What? Yeah. This is in the vein of things that we would break, I think.

[D]

Okay.

[G]

Definitely is. I could tell already.

[A]

It's very different than what we were just talking about.

[G]

It's in the vein.

[A]

It's breaking news journalism. Breaking news. For the first time in two decades, ESPN will carry live coverage of the PGA Tour on its flagship linear channel during the Farmers Insurance Open from noon to 3 on Thursday, January 29, and Friday, January 30, with the opening round broadcast coinciding with Brooks Kepka's return to the PGA Tour. Brooks. Brooksy, baby.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Bringing golf to ESPN on Thursday and Friday. Now that means we're getting booted.

[D]

I was just going to say.

[A]

Okay, so we're getting booted over to ESPN too. For good reason, though. Brooks Koepka back in the pga. We are pumped about. We are, we are excited about. We think it's good for golf. We think it's great for golf. And I'll tell you what, if Scotty Scheffler is just going to continue to win every single tournament.

[G]

Yeah, Scotty's just going to.

[A]

This guy's a machine. Yeah. And then we got Blades Brown. Now look out. Oh, Blades Brown is about to be a real weapon. This guy's rock, paper, scissoring people. On his way down to the green to make a 35 foot putt. This guy's 18 years old, graduated high school, goes to a corn ferry thing, goes to Bahamas thing, comes over here, drives over this place, goes ahead and shoots a 60. Should have shot a 59, missed a putt by about an eighth of an inch or whatever. Blades is the future golf. And his name is Blades. I mean, what are we talking about? Is this the, is this the one?

[D]

Could be.

[A]

Is it? Scotty Scheffler is obviously. We got the one.

[D]

Yeah, we're seeing.

[B]

Because I, I, I was kind of thinking the same thing. And then all the stats are coming out and you, we tend to forget sky scheffler's not even 30 years old. He, yet. So he's got, he's got quite the, the Runway left. So, I mean, we'll see. It was pretty sweet seeing what Blades Brown did, but did anyone go into Sunday thinking, oh, my God, Blades Brown is going to.

[A]

He's 18. Hold on.

[C]

Excuse me.

[A]

We're not attacking Scotty Sheffield.

[B]

I know, I know. I'm just saying we got the one. We do got the one. His name's Scotty Sheffler.

[A]

You're right. And we are very thankful that we are alive and on microphones during the Scotty Scheffler era. We are very, very thankful for that. We think he is awesome for sport. He is awesome for golf. He's also getting a Lot more comfortable on a microphone. We think we have noticed over, like, the last year or so developing into his own superstar and how he wants to handle being the greatest golfer on earth. But, yeah, no, as soon as Scotty's name is even on the board, yeah.

[D]

Oh, he's winning.

[A]

Oh, that's so sick that Scotty's blessing that golf course. That's what I think.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh, Scotty's playing this weekend. Good for this tournament. They must have some real. They must have some real people running this tournament. They got Scotty. That's how I view it. And it's like when he's on there and out there, which I think he's out there every week, weekend, he's winning. He's unbelievable. Brooks coming back, though, is good for the Scotty Scheffler legacy because they were starting to have that conversation about, like, well, Scotty, he's not playing against all the best players like the guys in the past half. You know, I'm saying the negative people have been saying that Brooks comes back, potential D Shambro return, right?

[D]

Yep.

[A]

There's a potential couple others that might come back from live to the pga, which Brian Rolap, new head of the pga, kind of extended an olive branch, saying, hey, you have this amount of time, if you did this, you can come back to pga, but you won't get. Get any equity in the PGA over the next few years. So there is a penalty, financial penalty for everything. So I'm thinking Scotty Sheffler's air is awesome. And Brooks Kepka going back to pga. Great. Starts on Thursday.

[E]

Oh, it's huge. Can you imagine a final pairing, Scotty and Brooks, like, 18 holes? Like, say they both are. Yeah, that would be. That's going to be amazing. Yeah. Blades. I don't know what. Maybe he can. Maybe he can continue. I mean, the guy is hot. We know that. He is absolutely hot. And I think it's great.

[B]

He.

[E]

Can you imagine being 18 out there competing with these dudes, like, threatening to win a tournament?

[A]

He doesn't even know what it feels like. No, this guy's got no idea. He's just bopping around a golf course making incredible shots. It's unbelievable. He's at, like, the you don't know what you don't know stage of golf, it appears. But also, do you ever know what you don't know? Like, this could just be who Blades Brown is, and we might be getting introduced to a new one. That was fun to follow him this weekend.

[G]

Yeah, exactly. I mean, because you, I mean, you know, Scotty's gonna be up there, but like having it nice, fun, exciting. Almost 59 coming out of an 18 year old is insane. Brooks playing in this week's tournament. Scotty is not. So the first time that they have a chance to be paired together is AQ's tournament that he hosts, the Waste Management Open next week, super bowl weekend. They'll be in that tournament together, I believe.

[A]

Okay, so Scotty's not golfing this weekend? No, Brooks golfing though. Yeah. Okay. Good News.

[D]

Is Rory in 80s BCGC tonight? Actually, TGL need him to come through. I. I know. Boston. Excuse me? Bcgc. Boston Common Golf Golf Club. They're going up tonight for tgl. Yeah. So I don't know if Rory is as focused with TGL going on.

[A]

Okay. TGL certainly taking the world by storm. It is worthy of a watch. I think you will be entertained. There's chips, there's putts, there's things that happen in there that are good golf. And obviously getting a chance to watch them just absolutely nuke one into a screen is a good time. Golf's always going to have that. Let's go to college football, A.J. you know, there's some drama, you know, some drama.

[D]

I have.

[E]

I have seen some clips. Yes, there definitely seems to be some drama.

[A]

So that boy, Dabo Sweeney, head coach of the Clemson Tigers down there, he is a guy who I think has been known as a great football coach, but somebody that wasn't the most pumped for this modern era of college football, the nil era, the transfer portal era. He very rarely, at the beginning of it all, used it at all. A lot of people were saying, dabo's got no idea what he's. He can't coach in this era. He refuses to coach in this era. Which is why the Clemson Tigers have kind of fallen out of relevance. Then he dabbles with the transfer portal a little bit, kind of does his thing, understands the business, evolves. I think Dabo is just kind of late to the party. But I do think Dabo is a great football coach, so I think he'll figure it out once he's all in. I just think he was being a bit stubborn about something that was happening around him. Now, on that note, he was being stubborn because he feels like it's not good for the sport. I think he was trying to hold out in hopes that maybe others would. They are not. And even more so, they're going above and beyond. And Dabo swinging laid it all out to us. Dabo said, let me tell you what's going on in this college football that we're in right now. Everybody wants me to evolve to this college football. I don't want to do this college football. I want to do the previous college football. Because this college football has this stuff going on. Guy commits transfer portals over, signs contract, head coach of another team. He sent him pictures of a million dollars. Ask him how much a buyout is is how is this not tampering? Who should enforce this? How does this go? And then the coach is being accused of it, hears about it all goes to his ex account. Just post a Shark, baby. Obviously Ole Miss has the sharks. I do believe that is a part of their entire branding and everything. But a Shark would also be sending text messages to other guys, players with pictures of a million bucks saying, hey, what's the buyout to get you out of there? How ironclad is that contract that you just announced that you signed and everybody thought was all over? Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who's going to get to the bottom of it. How normal is this? What are the rules? Who would be enforcing the rules if there was rules to enforce them in college football? Ladies and gentlemen, the authority, Pete Thammel. Yay, Pete, you look awesome. Thank you for joining us. Did I accurately lay out everything that kind of happened there? And can you give us a a bit more detail and kind of where we go from here in this situation?

[C]

Yeah, absolutely, Pat. Thanks for having me. So I think the most important part of Dabo Sweeney's direct calling out of Ole Miss and Pete Golding is just how rare it is in the modern landscape. A you don't hear sitting head coaches, especially those who've won two national titles. I think he's one of two guys who's won two natties that's active right now. Just get in front of a microphone and lay out out, you know, piece by piece, allegations of tampering. Giving specific examples of evidence in how the tampering went. That is like the wow in all this. That just does not happen in an environment in college football right now where tampering is par for the course. Man. Tampering is first in ten. It is rampant. It is out there. And one of the reasons why it's so rare that coaches call it out is a vast majority of them or their staffs are doing the same thing. Dabo is one of the few coaches whose backyard is clean enough that he can come come and say, hey, look like this is happening. This should not be happening. Have you Talked to Group 5 coaches, FCS coaches, people like that? I mean, they could, they could give you examples. And what's happened is generally on the landscape, Pat, coaches have become cavalier about this. They, they have not been careful. Like they used to use burner phones. They used to kind of be, they used to be, you know, McDonald's bags. Yeah, yeah, yeah, there we go. There we go. And yeah, now, now it's just as Dabo alleges, you know, pretty blatant. The head coach is texting allegedly the, the linebacker, who's very good by the way, in, in sociology class to say, hey, come here and here's what we'll do and here's how this will, here's how this will go. So around the industry, Dabo's move was like wildly applauded because in general people want rules, right? Like in general people want paradigms, guardrails, however you want to say it. Like people want, people want rules, they want them to be followed. But college football as we know and college athletics in general have a rich history of rules being made and people finding ways around the rules. And it is the least surprising development in the history of college athletics that this iteration we're in right now has followed along with that with the, now the CSC and the nc. You know, in the ncaa, like people thought it was the NCAA that couldn't enforce the rules. But the reality that we're learning is nobody wanted to follow the rules. So they're not going to until someone forces them to do it. So this specific case, Pat, is going to come to the ncaa. I was told by NCAA officials on Friday that they process 90 tampering cases in the last year. Now that could include tennis or ping pong or whatever else there have been in the last, since the NIL era started. I would say there has been a distinct lack of high profile tampering cases considering how rampant it is in the, in the environment. Seton hall bas basketball had a case where Kevin Willard, their former head coach, was suspended and Shaheen Holloway, who's now the head coach there, who's at St. Peter's at the time, they had to serve a couple games suspension each that do something. But you know that that is the one example where I can recall a sitting head coach in a prominent sport actually serving time for tampering because they were caught that red handed. So this is going to be a fascinating test case going forward. But let's be real, Pat, say Pete Golding gets caught here, say he did what he's alleged and the NCAA finds evidence to charge him, is that going to stop an environment where I would estimate 90% of the schools are doing some kind of tampering? My guess would be no. So it ideally what Dabo did, people were applauding and they were behind and, you know, there was a. There was a. There was a wave of enthusiasm for that. But until that changes the reality, I don't know how much of an impact it's going to have.

[A]

Thank you for the breakdown. So Dabo Swinney is a fish trying to swim up a waterfall right now. Is what you're saying in the entire. Certainly morally correct and potentially has the right angle from the entire industry side, but it's going to be tough to change anything with just this one particular case. So sociology actually a pretty good class to take for studying how this all kind of turns out. Anyways, shout to Professor Feather. I appreciate the hell out of you. Sociology was a fantastic class. So you're saying 90% of the people aren't really pressing this type of vision issue because they got skeletons in their closet doing the exact same thing. So how would it stop? And are they going to go back and punish people once rules are made? Like, if there's a harsh punishment to Golding here, who I don't think. Does he even know that he did something wrong? He's very new head coach. This is the world that he was kind of raised in. Him just putting a shark tweet out there like, yeah, so what? So what? So be it. I'm gonna go ahead and do that. Like, he doesn't know what the punishment kind of move. What is the punishment that could happen to Coach Golding? And is the punishment going to be strong enough that it stops everybody from doing it or how do you stop? Like, what is the right answer here to stop all of it.

[C]

So it is not all going to be stopped. I have convicted. I am convicted on that. I do think if there is a punishment to beat Golding for these allegations, and again, they are just allegations, it could curb or maybe change behavior or incentivize that kind of behavior, or they could have third parties do it, etc. Etc. The rare part of this is the allegations or far that the head coach was, you know, this direct in the tampering allegations. Now look, Dabo laid out pretty clear these things. What we don't know is do they have copies of the text messages or were those just verbally articulated? Is there actual hard evidence of this? And that's ultimately what it's going to come down to, from an NCAA standpoint. You know, can the NCAA go interview Luke Forelli and say, hey, did this actually happen? You know, it, it, it is certainly going to be uncomfortable for Ole Miss and Pete Golding going forward. That is, that is certain. But can, can I sit here watching the impotence of NCAA enforcement for the last, you know, quarter century that I've done this and say, oh, they'll get this, you know, they'll just hammer them to the wall here? No, of course not. It just simply hasn't operated that way at any point. So I don't know why we would think this would, you know, be a, be a paradigm shift or paradigm changer. I think there's optimism in the industry it could curb some behavior or maybe alter some behavior, but I don't, I don't, I don't know that we're this deep in this path where it's just, you know, everything's going to go full stop.

[A]

Okay, thank you for that update. Sounds very positive. AJ Has a question for you.

[E]

Yeah, Pete, do you think we will see more coaches possibly doing this, especially if the NCAA does not come down hard on Pete Golding and what they have done? You think other coaches might feel comfortable calling other teams out for tampering?

[C]

Well, I think that was the point of Dabo doing this is to basically say, and he even said it, you know, on, on the record in this. He just said, hey, look like we need to do this to save our industry. We need to do, we need to call out this type of behavior. Usually what happens in these cases, AJ Is a coach finds out that some assistant recruiting director is tampering and that coach calls the head coach and says, hey, cut it out. And typically they cut it out. That, I mean, I've heard countless, countless examples of, of, of, of that happening. But look, if you stop tampering, you lose a, a considerable competitive advantage. And to have 100, 100, 136 of these schools, you know, let's say 120 of them are doing it right. Do you think all 120 are going to give up their competitive advantage or they're going to find another way to create the competitive advantage? Now, I, like, certainly appreciate Dabo doing this. I mean, it's from a content perspective and from an idealism perspective. It is, it is absolutely rare. It is honorable what he's doing, and I think it comes from, from the, from the right place. But again, you cover this industry long enough, cynicism develops. So I Can't, I can't come on and promise this is going to be the, the tipping point that changes, that changes everything. But it is a fascinating snapshot, fascinating moment in time and will be very interesting to track. The thing I would caution here, Pat, is right now in the middle of January, everyone's hot and heavy on this story. We do know that the NCAA process for enforcement is reputationally, historically really slow. So. So could the NCAA process this case with appeals by opening day, you know, September, whatever this year? Historically, zero chance. Maybe they can change, maybe they can expedite it to make an example, maybe they can do anything but. Well, remember when Connor Stallions happened? Ty's favorite case, like it broke November of that year. And people were like, well, they'll adjudicate this by the end of the, you know, 23 season. It really didn't get solved until what, three, three months before the 25 season. Right. That was, it was June maybe when that came out.

[A]

You tell us, Pete. Sounds like you were on top.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Right around Buckeye Pete, if you do recall. Yeah, you were. Greasy Pete.

[B]

Greasy Pete.

[A]

Greasy Buckeye Pete. You were an informant for Ohio State reporting all the terrible news about Michigan as it was unfolding in real time. The block got hot for you, Pete. Block got hot for Pete Thamel. I remember that as you're doing your journalism. But yes, your point is, is certainly made. The NCAA takes forever to kind of rule on things. Normally a lot of impotences. Usually a lot of impotences. Impotence. The effective resistance of an electric circuit or component to alternating current arising from the combined effects of ohmic resistance and reactance. That's a good one out of you. That was a good one out of you.

[C]

Of course it was more impotent.

[A]

Impotence. Oh, like. Like you're not pot is what you're saying, which is a lack of your swimmers don't work.

[B]

Bingo. Impotent.

[A]

So you're saying their brain is like the seed of men.

[D]

That's right.

[A]

Is what you're saying.

[D]

Suck.

[A]

Got it. Not able to forecast a conclusion.

[D]

Bring it home.

[A]

Well, Pete, I love the way you're talking about it. I appreciate the hell out of that. And hopefully the impotence of the NCAA is no longer. Although it appears as if the accountability remains the same as they all just kind of point to other people having to do this. The government's got to take care of this, actually. Cuz that's gotta be some sort of law that they're breaking there just texting Millions of dollars is IRS on top of this. That's what they will say. They will say cuz they're all scared to get sued. Right. Because if you suspend anybody then you're taking away employment opportunities for these people now. So now the NCAA is scared to death to really do anything because they don't want to get sued by every single single person that they do anything to.

[C]

Right.

[A]

And that kind of a part of it.

[C]

Yeah. It's fair to cast this pat as a giant spider man gif.

[A]

Oh.

[D]

Point at each other.

[C]

Yes. I mean it was telling that last week in the Charles Beaco Alabama basketball case that the NCAA said, yep, this is why we need Congress's help. That was kind of what, what this, what this, what the statement. What, what the statement said. So they, they don't have a lot of faith in enforcing their own rules. And in that case, quite frankly, the NCAA said no, you cannot play. And then they just went and found a judge to say something different.

[A]

On that note, Connor has a question for you about college basketball.

[D]

Yeah, Pete, can you take us into the nebula of college basketball a little bit here? What is kind of the big storyline? Is it the G Leaguers coming in and kind of playing in college again now? I saw Tennessee's X account actually added the G League's team that that player was, was formerly of. Is that kind of the biggest thing right now? And do you see college basketball being hindered by any of this at all? Similar to what Dabo is saying?

[C]

Well, Connor, it's nice to be coming to you from the city of champions today. 18 and a half inches of confetti falling outside my window here.

[D]

None of it's orange. They left those in the can, didn't they?

[A]

Yes. It's great to have you guys back.

[C]

It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. As for college basketball, Connor, great question. Saturday was one of the best days of college basketball I think the sports had in recent years. There was just a flurry of electric, electric performances by freshmen all around the country. And it really, as the focus of the nation starts to shift off of college football to college basketball. And eventually after the Super bowl bowl, it'll be in full force. We're really bracing for an electric college basketball season. You know, this weekend game day is going to be at Kansas, byu. We have AJ Debance, a pride of Brockton, Mass. I'm sure he's Patriots as well. He's byu, likely number one pick in the draft. Obviously Darren Peterson for Kansas is in the thicket of that Conversation. They're going to play each other in, in Lawrence. But there are seven or eight freshmen all around the country that have just, just delivered and redelivered, you know, scintillating performances. There was one after another. It was, it was almost like an accordion on, on, on Saturday afternoon. So I do think while Betty Ako situation took up a lot of the headlines and kind of became a cause celeb for a lot of the modern issues, the sport itself is in a pretty healthy place in terms of on the on the floor product right now. And I'm really excited to see how this is going to push forward and conclude here.

[A]

Cause Select. That was good. That was good. Tie in. Hey, it's a big storyline that everybody thinks is a great depiction of the world we're living in currently. Let's go ahead and talk about it. That's a cause celeb. I think I just pieced together the context clues there. KOA Pete. One of those guys going crazy, right?

[C]

Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Arizona has been a juggernaut's been, you know, electric. Arizona, you know, could have three or four players drafted. They kind of remind you of like an old school, 90s, 90s basketball superpower. Michigan's a wagon. They're. They are excellent. Dusty May really has has them playing at an extremely high level there. There are, you know, there are eight teams where you could really easily say you'd make a, make a compelling national title case. Texas Tech. Our friends in Lubbock, Buddy beach and company Pat were were fired up for Houston coming into town on Saturday. Was there and did you go get.

[A]

Some meat from Buddy Beach? Did you go get some meat from Buddy Beach?

[C]

I did not go to Lubbock this weekend. I did. I did. Set. I don't travel for game day to start the season. I will will in the future, but I would have gone to Las Brisas, Lubbock's finest steakhouse if I was there. The weather was actually so bad that our crew, Reese and everybody were planning to go, but they couldn't go. Lubbock got shut down on Saturday. I think some of our crew is actually still in lck from, from, from Saturday night. The weather is crazy.

[A]

I forgot that you guys get right into college basketball game day. I did see the Texas Tech signs and stuff from their basketball setup. I love that Buddy beach and the boys are still down there doing it for that area. That place loves sports and obviously they come together behind Texas Tech. It looks like they're in it for the long haul. Speaking of the Long haul, not a lot of changes were made, but one big one was made to the College Football Playoff. Last question for you here, Pete. Go ahead, Tone.

[G]

Yeah, Pete, last week we found out that there will be no changes to the amount, amount of teams going at least for this next year. For 2026, 12 teams will be the College Football Playoff format, but some changes as far as who gets in. So now if you win the SEC, the ACC, the Big 12 or the Big Ten, you are automatically in the playoff field. For those that don't know, Duke won the ACC this year, so they would have been in the tournament. And then if Notre Dame is in the top 12 because they are not in a conference, they worked out a team deal and I believe all the commissioners and ADs agreed on it, that they would also be in the playoff if they were in the top 12 rankings for the CFP committee. Is there anything else that I left out and how did that all come to do?

[C]

Tone Good points. I think that the, the simplest way to synthesize that is that both Duke and Notre Dame would have been in this field and Miami would not have been in this field if these current rules were in for 25 as they're going to be for, for, for 2026. As for the the macro for the sport and for potential playoff expansion, it's a bit of a quagmire, Pat, to use one of your favorite, one of your favorite words. You know, the SEC and the Big Ten essentially have control of the, of the CFP. The SEC is open to moving to 16. The Big Ten is only open to moving to 16 if there is a ladder within two or three years to move to 24. Both sides were convicted of and neither really moved and there was never really any significant discussion pushing forward because neither would move off those off those stances. So it will be interesting to see going forward. One of the Big Ten's big criticisms, guys, is the CFP committee and giving too much to the CFP committee. So how will they handle the SEC now that the SEC has nine conference games is one of the big things in the weeds here that people are going to be, people are going to be looking at pushing for forward. So the drumbeat of this conversation will continue. It will likely continue through next season and come December, we'll be in some beautiful CFP location and we'll be talking about this on game day again.

[A]

Pat yes, we certainly will. And it feels like dog chase tale for college football. There's always going to be some ripple effect of a problem that's going to come from some other decision that is made. Let's keep it at 12. So they both agree they want to get to 16 right now, but Big Ten wants 24 at least and next couple years SEC says 16 is good enough. Okay, shut up. Come on, you two, you're both at se. We're way too early in this process to be making back end guarantees on a deal. If you both want 16 right now, we're still evolving. Let's go ahead and get there and then figure out the 24 later. My personal opinion, not that anybody needs to listen. This is just a take on the situation. We are what, three years into this, this version of the cfp, we're about.

[D]

To be the awesome.

[A]

We don't, we don't need back end deals being made for progress to be made on something that is still evolving into what it is. That's me and I love Petiti. I'm sure he has a reason for that. And Sankey, I'm sure he has a reason for that. But it's like, come on, we're not. If this was 30 years old and we're trying to lock in something else, like let's do that. But evolution to make it however they think is better. Not that 16 is the right answer, but if you both want to get to 16, let's not let something that might be five years down the road road affect something that could change right now and make it much better than it already is. Potentially 16 games would be sick. Would that add a champion to the mix? Miami not being in this year would have been crazy. Would have changed the outcome of a lot of different things. So hopefully we're able to get it right. The Notre Dame situation. Let's talk about it. Pete. My name is Patrick McAfee. Okay, sure, I am Irish. My father Catholic. We did not practice growing up, but you know, obviously Irish Catholic in Pittsburgh is a thing that certainly exists. I understand that what Notre Dame's been able to do as an independent is certainly incredible. I think you have to remain relevant. You have to obviously remain good. You have to be able to be your own entity and not rely on the rest of your conference pals to get deals done and stuff like that. Now them just automatically getting a bid if they're ranked in the top 12 of the college Football Playoff committee is certainly a attackable for like, yeah, right. Why do we continue to change and bend the rules for this team and university that wants to do something different than literally everybody else? If they want to do what we're doing. Tell them to do what we're doing. If they want to make it, they have to join a conference is what some people are saying. Why are we better? On the flip side, Notre Dame says top 12 is like our auto bid because you guys are giving conference champions auto bid. So if we're top 12, that's our automatic bid, even though we're not in a conference. And then people say, well, get in a conference if you want automatic bid. Like, that's how you have to work if you want to earn in that large bid. I think if it is going to all come down to how they're ranked, don't you think they're going to have to rank them properly? Like, if they beat an ass team by 15, it's like, all right, you're 16th in the country. Because I think the biggest deal with Notre Dame this past year was they were ranked, what, 10th or 9th or something early, and then all of a sudden, for the last one, it gets flipped on its head, and then all of a sudden they're like, we've been ranked above Miami this whole time. We've basically been competing with Alabama for this entire thing. And then you flip us for the last time. I think the College Football Playoff committee and everybody else is going to have to rank them for what they actually are against the actual teams that they're playing. I think it has to be a little stricter ranking. Do you not agree with that, or do you think that is the only answer? And how do we kind of get through this entire Notre Dame thing without it looking like everybody is just changing everything for one particular institution?

[C]

Sure. So from the macro, Pat, like, Notre Dame as a brand is really a juggernaut. And. And they have existed sort of in this unique space for more than a century, and until they are, like, clubbed to the wall and forced out of it, which would basically have to be by no one scheduling them. They are going to. They've made it very clear they want to exist in that space. I do think there will be an additional layer of scrutiny on their schedule. Now, look, sitting here in January, it's always hard to say, we just don't know who's going to be good and who's not, especially in modern college football. How it. You know, Know how much. How much changes in the. In. In the off season right now. Right. But, yes. Is there a. Oh, my God, that's a top five matchup on their schedule? Probably not. I mean, the Miami game obviously looks good, and I'm scanning This, I haven't studied this, but I'm scanning it now. Like, they have some very good games and how Wisconsin and Michigan State and Carolina ultimately end up looking. And byu, I guess, are probably, you know, is going to determine whether that's going to schedule is tough or not. They do always play a lot of power conference schools. It's funny because Notre Dame for years almost was criticized for playing too difficult of a, of a schedule because they would come out and play Michigan. And the world has changed and evolved a little bit. So I, I mean, they, you know, no one's forcing the CFP to do this. But look, the CFP understands the unique role of Notre Dame. They are ratings juggernaut. That's a big part of this, right? People care. We're sitting here talking about Notre Dame's 2026 schedule on January, whatever it is. Like, they are, are. They are part of the star system in the sport. And like nobody, nobody came in and said, hey, you need to include them. They're including them because they consider them a vibrant part of the landscape. And the TV partners obviously want Notre Dame in there.

[A]

That'd be hard to argue that entire narrative. Notre Dame obviously a part of the college football season. Everybody's college football season. Notre Dame is a part of it. If they want to remain independent, I guess in their eyes, they had a good enough argument to say, hey, we should still get an autobiography. If we perform well, I think it makes sense. If they're ranked in the top 10, they should get in there anyways. Like, that's how we should be doing the, the make it thing anyways.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Now there's one at large, so hopefully they'll just do real ranking through it all. Now, AJ has last, last question for you, because there's a big move happening in Big Ten. Yeah.

[E]

Pete Arthur Smith, Ohio State Buckeyes. Ryan Day is bringing him in as the offensive coordinator. Is this something, I guess that had been in the works. Did you think this was not like, a possibility? And how do you think this is going to play. Play out?

[C]

I was a little surprised at this to, to be honest, A.J. he's not a guy who. He was linked to the North Carolina job last year, and he had some time early in his career at Ole Miss, but he's really not a college guy per se. Arthur Smith has always kind of come up through the pro ranks. I think this can be looked at as part of the trend of the professionalization of college sports where taking these college jobs now have a little bit less of A stigma than it used to because the recruiting demands aren't what they once were. Were. And if you're going to coach at a place like Ohio State, you are going to have superior talent to a, you know, overwhelming majority of your schedule. So he can come in, he can coach Julian saying he can coach Jeremiah Smith, you know, and Ohio State's gonna return a really good offensive line. They're gonna, they're going to be very good. So you put yourself in a position to succeed, much like you watch Matt Patricia go and I think completely overhaul his on field coaching reputation after what happened at the Lions by coming in, in and leading what was for a vast majority of the season the number one defense in college football was historically good, you know, up until the, up until the end of the year. So I do think some of these high, high end college jobs where you're not hauling around for a month, you know, kissing, kissing up to some 16 year old lineman and really, you know, going through the grind of recruiting, if you can kind of have these jobs where you're going to, you're going to sit back, you're going to be the play call baller, you're going to run the offense and the, the everything else can go work around and AJ I think this comes to pass because recruiting now is tied to buying players. Right. There's really no other way to say it. The facilities don't matter as much. Everything that like the players come and they say how much are you going to pay me? And so that necessitates a lot less text messages, phone calls. A lot of the performative parts are.

[A]

Yeah. Voice memos. Baby, baby, baby. Oh, you remember that? Oh yeah. That was on my eyes were.

[E]

Yeah. Jump in pools too. Remember you got jump in a pool with the recruit.

[D]

Oh yeah.

[A]

Jump in pools.

[C]

That guy.

[E]

You don't even get them.

[A]

Yeah. Let alone flying three hours out of your way in a helicopter. Not that that's a bad life. I'm just saying, taking your entire life, going down, doing a full parade for this kid, doing a whole thing, song and dance, photo shoots. Yeah. All the money. And then them going to your rival, literally, literally saying, thanks but no thanks. We're gonna move on. Turns out you don't have to do that much anymore. How much money you gonna pay me? You like me more than a rival. Yeah, I do. Show me this is what we're gonna pay you. And some sharks out there will say it don't matter how much they paid you yesterday. How much can I pay you today? Ladies and gentlemen, it's Pete Dammit. We appreciate you, buddy. Thank you, Pete.

[C]

Go Pat's Connor.

[D]

Go Pats Pete. Pete gets it, man. That guy's the goat.

[A]

I'm really happy, happy for you guys. Honestly, getting to experience that sounds like there's not a lot of optimism though, for a couple of the parts of the conversation. Ty, what was your big takeaway there?

[B]

Yeah, essentially the NCAA is never going to fucking figure it out. You heard Pete say it. They're impotent, they're shooting blanks. They've essentially castrated themselves. They've sliced their testicles right off because they take so much goddamn time, you know, so institutions don't believe in them. All these college football coaches are essentially looking at them and Shane, look at this dicklish, ballish bastard. We don't have to listen to this guy, you know, he's imp.

[A]

Impotent. He.

[B]

He can't shoot a big load, so why should we listen to him?

[A]

That does feel like what he basically said about that at the beginning, because it is like all these NCAA problems. Davos Sweeney, eight and a half minutes, talks about the entire situation, calling it out big time.

[D]

Crazy.

[A]

Is this thing on? I have some stuff to say.

[D]

Good run. Really?

[C]

Really?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Sits down. Let me lay out my case here, okay. As if we are the jury, the people that he is speaking to, and we all watch and go, yeah, that's fine. That sounds like. That's not how it should go. But hey, Dabo's laying out a pretty good argument here for some scumbaggy behavior. And then Pete Tam was like, all the other people are doing it too, basically, is what he said. They're not the only ones. It'd be 90%. Is that what he said?

[B]

Yeah, about 90%. I'm what, 120 of 134 institutions? You're going to give up that competitive advantage?

[A]

I don't think so. Tampering is quite a competitive advantage. We all laugh. Yes. Yeah, yeah. The point of it, that is cheating.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Cheating normally is a competitive advantage, which is why it's deemed cheating and not allowed to do it. And it's like, well, everybody's just tampering now. So everybody's cheating, Is that what you're saying? Not Dabo. Dabo said, there's a window, there's a window. I get it. There's a negotiation. I don't like that I even have to do that now.

[D]

Correct.

[A]

Okay. But when that thing's done, signed, sealed, delivered, okay, we're ours. That is how this thing goes now we got guys, head coaches, might I add you head coaches sending pictures. A million dollars in Brinks trucks coming your way. Hey. Coming your way. Coming your way.

[D]

You like this?

[A]

It'll be yours. Think about some of these college coaches just going, how fucking bored are you at that school? Sending pictures of downtown, sending pictures of team meeting, all that stuff. Just constantly working it. Burner phones he brought. So golden. Just doing it from his main phone.

[B]

Love it.

[G]

Don't need burners anymore.

[E]

They don't care. They're not scared.

[D]

Yeah, that's what's stupid, though.

[A]

Put my name on it.

[D]

NFL has the blueprint. Why are. Why are we screwing around by not just having a legal tampering period like you've brought up a couple times.

[A]

Couple big things have gone on, you know, with the Super Bowl. Super bowl contenders being named. Congrats to the Broncos. Congrats. Or congrats to the Patriots. Sorry.

[D]

And the Broncos for making it that far.

[A]

Congratulations. AFC champions championship and sucks bow Knicks got hurt like that.

[D]

I wish I could have found out.

[A]

Congratulations to the Broncos. And then the Seattle Seahawks getting a huge win. Also congratulations because I was lost in the hond sauce on Saturday. Gaethje.

[D]

Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

Holy.

[A]

Interim lightweight champ against Patty the baddie. And they. I mean, they're pounding each other. Patty's face.

[H]

Yeah.

[A]

Gaethje walking out of that octagon. Fascinating. Dude. It's insane. Aj, it was a hell of a fight. Hell of a night. He's interim lightweight champ again. Again. And what a beast. He's never had a bad fight on tv, I believe.

[E]

No. If you want to watch fight. If you want to see people fight. I mean, we see that right there. Little I poke. But if you want to see people fight, you want to watch Justin Gaethje fight anybody. Because he.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Either he's.

[E]

He's going to kill somebody or he's going to get killed pretty much every fight he's in.

[A]

And Patty said, I'm a Scouser. We don't get knocked out. That was tested. Turns out that was true. Yeah, it turns out that was absolutely true. Sat in there and banged with gaii. I guess this is the second time Gaethji has been right on the jaw there. And Patty just looks right back at him. What's going on? I think good night for Patty all the way from the entrance to the entire war that they go through in there. Gaii, though, second time he's interim champ. I guess the first time he wasn't really impressed with it, you know, like the Classic. You win the AFC championship, you win the NFC championship. I appreciate if Raybon not just throwing that thing like we've seen in the past, like still a good thing, I guess. Gaethje, first time he wins the interim title, he's like, I want to win this. I want to win a real one. Loses, doesn't actually enjoy it. I guess now, you know, enjoy the hell out of it. 37 year old and on the way out, as he was walking down the tunnel back to his locker room, he said, I wish you didn't have to feel this way to feel that way, but it's part of the job or whatever. It's like him describing what it's like to be in the middle of the arena, literally man in the arena, fighting in a cage. That dragon that I assume they're all chasing to walk into the octagon, the standing and banging, proving your toughness in the middle of it, imposing your will on another dude who is trained. It's like what a feeling for these guys. I don't have that, you know, want or urge, but I think the guys who do, I appreciate the hell out of them. And Gaethje's willing to. It does feel like Gaethje is willing to die in there, you know, it does feel like that is the case. So certainly worthy champion for the ufc. Can't wait to see what Patty does next. And congrats to Sugar Sean and a huge win back in the limelight, obviously. First fight on Paramount. I don't know if I figured it out yet or if they figured it out yet, but they certainly will. And if these fights are going to continue to go the way that these two fights went. And also big Derek gets big Derek Lewis, I mean, knee right to the mouth. Song Yadong stood in there, took him down a couple times too. Thought there was a chance that you dong was getting that win. Sugar Sean gets a dub happy for him. Big Derek Lewis y loses and it looked like he got his face like kind of washed, like just like a quick little slow shot actually lands clean. Whenever they show the slow motion, UFC provides a slow motion shots of faces moving more than anything else. The best I, I think they do. So I thought it was a good fight. After Alex Honnold dangled from 1700ft.

[E]

AJ, I know the Alex Honda thing. I didn't see it live. I watched the next day so I knew he didn't die, but it was still unbelievable to watch. Like I still, I sat there and watched it with my kids. They had 5 trillion questions and I didn't have any answers. Like, why aren't you using ropes? I don't know. Because he's awesome and he doesn't need them.

[A]

That's his thing. That's his entire thing.

[B]

The little rope.

[E]

The little rope chalk holder is hilarious. Like, you could easily get, like, a little thing with a little clip probably too. He's got the little tied rope around.

[A]

His voice, and watching him, like, tighten it, too, is cool.

[B]

Cool.

[A]

You know, like, I've seen, you know.

[E]

I said to pull his shirt out from under it too. Every time he would stop and he'd had pull his shirt back down, I'm like, man, this is so uncomfortable.

[A]

It seems like he's probably been doing it since he was a boy with this exact chalk holder.

[B]

Awesome.

[A]

Comfortable out there. Obviously. Can't have much that weighs there. There was a. A guy that knew rock climbing that called, like, a smear technique he used. And then their canvassing he did at one point of it. And then, you know, just watching it live, I, I. It was. Must watch foxy, you and I, I think, watched it live. I don't know any. I watched all hour and 31 minutes. It was immediately after Kenzie goes down for bed. I go downstairs. I'm just sitting down, basically, and it starts immediately upon me sitting down. I'm like, all right, let's see what this is about. I couldn't look away. I couldn't. This guy's dangling off of a building. And then, you know, obviously we get a chance to hear from him every once in a while. Was the time where he was talking? Multiple times. Times where he was talking. They had other people's voices talking.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Can't be doing that. You know, we can't be doing that. We had him in a small screen. He's dangling from a building. Okay. That's the. That's what we're here for. Okay. Let's make sure we. We do that. Don't want to judge other people, but there was multiple things that were happening in there where I'm like, oh, I don't think you guys are understanding what we're feeling at home right now. Like, what we're feeling at home right now is like sweaty palms. I was feeling sweaty palms yet again when they were shooting down the building. Oh, yeah, okay. Shooting down the building. It's the same thing as when I watch Free Solo. It's like, oh, my God, this guy's for real. One cramp. What if his finger just cramps? Sneeze.

[B]

He's dead.

[A]

Sneeze anything you talk about, anything that could happen that is out of normal and it's over. Actually over. It's like, what a. What a thing.

[F]

Am I crazy to say it was the most unique live event in our lifetime? Am I being dramatic by saying, how old is you? I'm 31 years old.

[A]

Okay. So I don't know when the really crazy stuff was happening. Like, Jim Cantor mentioned the guy walking the Grand Canyon. I think that was without a thing. I think. I don't know how long.

[D]

On a wire.

[A]

Yeah, Yeah, I think he was walking on a wire, but I think he was without a. Yeah, I, I think he didn't have.

[G]

There was something underneath.

[A]

Yeah. But I think it was a long time ago. You're talking 20 years. I think, like, I, I think long time ago.

[F]

That was my biggest takeaway. My biggest surprise is that Netflix did this. They allowed this legally and all of that stuff.

[A]

I just couldn't believe. Believe it.

[F]

That's why I was so mind blown the entire time watching this absolute animal. And I didn't watch the documentary, so I had no idea what to expect. And this guy made this look so easy. That was the huge takeaway, and that's what.

[A]

And he was casual throughout it. Yes. I mean, he was just casual waving at people in the bill. Oh, man, they got their cameras out. Good to see you guys. I'm kind of getting tired. He said at one point.

[E]

I mean, this part, he kept doing this. I'm like, that's not a flat surface. That's a little like.

[A]

Yeah.

[E]

I mean, that thing when he was doing this part, that's what made me the most nervous, honestly, when he's standing up here at the end and the.

[A]

Guy that's filming for him, shout out the legend. Brett Lau or Lowell. Awesome. This guy is one of his, like, closest friends, obviously. Longtime climbing partner. A member of Yosemite crew is what we learned. I guess there's a Yosemite crew that does a lot of climbing together. He was also a massive piece of the free solo filming. I assume you also have to be of the same ilk to be the film crew. Crew, which also shout out to the funicular goats. Funicular is the cable, I guess, that kind of goes up or the, or the, the cord or what are the ropes or whatever it is. So they're the funicular goats as they're bouncing around on cables to get us all the insane shots that there were. That was a, that was a good piece of business. I, I, that's a good name Obviously. Great name, obviously. I had to Google what funicular was. I had no idea. I thought they were like.

[G]

Makes sense, though, because goats are really good at climbing. Mountain ponds.

[A]

They are. And walls, which is what this guy climbs up. Now. There was a couple times you think to yourself, okay, if he falls here, because he just hit another landing, maybe he doesn't die.

[F]

Right.

[D]

Hopefully.

[A]

So you get it. But he breaks a leg, though, for sure. Like, there's certainly a. There's certainly a bad thing that's gonna happen if he slips here. And that's kind of the conversation you're having a little bit, and then you get back into it. And the former NASA scientist is doing a Q A with somebody I've never heard of while old buddy's talking to me about not diet.

[F]

I can't wait to see how many people watched it, and I hope they do it again. I don't care what he climbs. He can climb the Eiffel Tower and that might be so easy to him, but I would love to watch it.

[A]

Yeah, that number is going to be gigantic. They have to be. If people knew about it. You real time worth a watch. I don't want to sell something that, you know, we have no affiliation to, and I think, you know, could certainly maybe second time around. You know, things like that. But. But like the. The experience was awesome.

[F]

It was great.

[A]

It was absolutely incredible. I'm. I'm very happy they did that. To your point. I can't believe it got approved. Can't believe it got approved. Let's see. Anything we miss so far? No, I don't think so. Last message. What I wanted to say, obviously, on this particular Monday, we're celebrating two champions, the AFC champion and the NFC champion, who are headed to the Super Bowl. Obviously, Alex Honnold conquering a feat that is insane. UFC champions happening. But what we really want to do, and as a sports show and as a program, is bring people together. You know, that's kind of our goal. And I know we don't always, you know, get it right. I certainly understand that my mentions, my DMs and things like that. I think everybody kind of feels that. But we believe that sports are the greatest because it brings us all together, and we're excited to celebrate the hell out of that. We hope that the world can emulate what sports are, what sports buildings are, what sports facilities are, what sports stadiums are, and we hope to see more of that in the world as opposed to everything else that is certainly going on. We love sports. We're Very lucky to talk about sports. We appreciate the hell out of them. And we hope you, no matter how you view the world, feel welcome and comfortable in our world. The world needs more sports, less division. Let's go ahead and celebrate the shit out of what sports bring us all. We're lucky to do this. We're thankful to do this. And if you'll join us tomorrow, we will be back. It should be a good week of celebrating all the sports happening. The NBA is happening.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The NHO is happening. Yes, it is. College basketball is happening. The WNBA is happening. TGL is happening. In a Super Bowl. It's just 13 days away.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

We are so incredibly thankful we get to do this. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change your life. We're in this thing together. Let's never forget it, no matter where you're at. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three. Team. Have a good one. We'll see you tomorrow, espn. Goodbye. All right, let's take a break. Break on the other side. We'll come back and we'll cover everything that we haven't dove into enough. And then maybe we'll try to get home in the ice and snow that is currently sitting outside and will be for the next week because it's negative degrees for the next foreseeable future.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

It's crazy age.

[E]

A lot of snow. I don't remember seeing this much snow. Honestly, I really don't.

[A]

I understand. We talked to Fike and we talked to Jim Cantor. I was not paying attention. And enough. I learned to the. To the local. To the local weather.

[D]

Sure.

[A]

I apparently missed. And it's 100% on me. Don't be like me. Everybody's saying, don't go out, don't go out. Sunday morning before championship, you know, Sunday, don't go out, don't go out. Everybody was reporting that. I didn't see it. I missed it 100% on me. I went out. I want to try to get a cake pop for my daughter. She wanted a cake pop. Okay. Yeah, I went out there. There was nobody out there.

[C]

It's great.

[E]

It's really nice going out with no one out there.

[A]

I love it. You got truck 8, 9 inches of snow on the road in the back roads of Indiana. It wasn't until about four or five minutes in where I realized, man, there's no way I'm supposed to be out here right now. And at that point, I was pocketing committed. Am I closer to the cake pop for my daughter, who she definitely wants A cake pop. Definitely earned a cake pop.

[G]

They always do.

[A]

Disney on ice was incredible. The day before. She was awesome. Going to bed, waking up. She was a sweetheart. She deserves. Doordash obviously shut down. That should have been. That should have been the clue. I'll go. Hey, cake bop this Dasher. Don't want to go get it. I'll do it. I should have went out there. I should not have been out there. It was.

[D]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Got stuck. Got stuck out there. It wasn't in my truck. I was in wife's car. But truck. Truck I think would have been stuck too. This was. I mean, it was the most snow that Indianapolis had one day since like 1970 something.

[D]

Yeah. A long time.

[A]

It was insane, man. If you didn't have a. Some sort of large vehicle, you had no shot of getting through it, you know. And I was just out there. Just out there. Then I got the Starbucks. They're closed.

[D]

Oh, geez.

[A]

Weather's too bad. No. No cake pops. Yeah, no cake pops all the way out there.

[D]

Damn.

[A]

That's a real conversation with myself, you idiot. You gotta be the dumbest now I gotta get back. Then the roads are gonna be worse than they were coming out here. Don't be like me. Pay attention to your. Okay, that was bad idea. I'm happy I got back. Happy. Car's all right. Listen, I mean, you couldn't even. I mean, there was a couple. Drop that thing into neutral, obviously, so we don't have power going to the wheels. Oh, it does not matter.

[D]

Nope.

[A]

It's really frozen out here. Oh, we're on top of ice. There's no. There's not, papa. We're ice skiing with a car right now. On top of this. Oh, oh, a couple of those. Then like a slowdown. Holy man. How we getting back? We got to get back now. I saw a couple spots of road that got me on the way out to the closed Starbucks. Coming back, I had a forethought. I had a vision. Not going to let him beat me again. So I went a different way. Got me again, the same spots. Seems like they had me out all.

[G]

Those years of training. And on those hills of Pittsburgh, they got. They got you home.

[A]

Exactly. I did feel like Indiana is much easier to drive than anywhere else I've ever lived.

[D]

No, Dutch.

[A]

But whenever it's icy snow. Yeah. And you're just on top of it. Of it. That's a crazy. You're ice skating with a car and.

[G]

It'S not going anywhere for the long haul.

[A]

Everybody be safe out there. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. Might change their life. Here's me being a friend to you guys. If they say don't go out there, don't go out there.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

I didn't know they said that.

[E]

Especially in like a Toyota Corolla. Don't be going out there.

[A]

No, definitely. Door dashers are in tough spot right now. All their cars not built for this. But we appreciate what they do. And this weekend I tried to be like them. It was scary and the place was fucking close. I would get no stars. Yeah, that's what Mackenzie would have given me. I went to my, my dad and mom's house. On the way I stopped over there, grabbed cookies from them. Oh, brought it back.

[G]

Consolation.

[D]

Good pivot.

[A]

Made sure pap pap got this and grandma got you. Yeah, I didn't want to Stolen valor. But on that note, it was a smile and that's all we needed. Dad almost died trying to get you a cake. Got cookies instead.

[I]

It's the last call for football on FanDuel. One final Sunday, one last kickoff, the final chance to place your Bets before the NFL season closes its tab. This is Super Bowl 60, and FanDuel is making sure you're in on it. If you're a new customer, bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets if you win. So whether you're backing the favorite, riding with the underdog, or building one last same game parlor, make it count. Because after the super bowl, the season's over and football is officially done. Last call for football on FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of Super Bowl 60. Visit FanDuel.com podcast to get started. Restrictions apply. See [e-mail] gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rghelp.com call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPENY or text hopeny in New York. As you know, managing maintenance, repair and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is Always a priority. They're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-granger click grainger.com or just stop by.

[D]

Football.

[A]

He's the greatest. That's A.J. jayhawk. He's a champion at all levels of football. Wow. Even you go all the way back to peewee football.

[C]

That's right.

[A]

This guy had a bigger and thicker cranium than all the little kids, little lads that were running around on the peewee football fields over there in Centerville, Ohio. He utilized his jaw on his forehead as a weapon and wanted Pee Wee. He wanted super Pee Wee. He wanted junior high, high school, college football national champion and super bowl champion. This brain, this skull. They win at football. Does it. You know, we're at super bowl week now. Bring back any memories of you being a champion, AJ Hawk, any championship mentality that kind of rekindles in your heart and in your mind as we look ahead to crowning the world's best here in just 13 days. Like you were crowned once before, A.J.

[E]

Yeah, I was lucky enough to be a part of a Super bowl and win it back in the day against the Steelers. But I guess when, when we do finally get the final two teams that are going to be squaring off in the super bowl, it makes me realize, damn, it's really tough, long road to get to the Super Bowl. These guys have done a lot and things have gone the right way and they've. They've done all that you need to do and now here you go.

[D]

Let's.

[E]

Let's see who can finally win it. But man, think about, like how starting your offseason workouts and then to now how much has happened and what you have to do and what has to go right for. Yeah, just football's the best. We know that.

[A]

You mentioned beating the Steelers there. Obviously we have to ask. Ask. Big Mike McCarthy is going to be the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. From Pittsburgh. Obviously has a lot of pride in Pittsburgh. Never changed the way he spoke. From your stories and others that were in Green Bay, I assume Dallas would say the same. He has a lot of Pittsburgh references and Pittsburgh memorabilia around his office. In a way, he's built. Has always felt a great sense of pride being a yinzer. Your thoughts on him getting the head coaching job job. And how do you think he goes about doing his business over there?

[E]

I think it's awesome. I know he was super, super excited about the possibility of becoming the Steelers head coach. I mean, it's something didn't we joke about this last year, like a year or so ago, like hey, if for some reason Tom was out of there like you, you could come be, you can be the next guy. Now that's actual reality. Now the fact that he is the coaches, I think it's awesome and I think for people, if people are pissed, if they're not pissed, whatever, Steelers face fans like, I don't know, give the dude a chance. We don't really know. We never know. A lot of times the head coach gets hired and a lot of people don't know who the hell the guy is. They don't know a whole lot about him. Well, we do know a decent amount amount about Mike McArthur. We know he wins, he develops quarterbacks. So let's give him a chance.

[A]

I, I'm excited to see how he does. There's now if you listen to the way Schefter was talking, basically they feel like they got a veteran culture, a veteran roster. So they don't need a full rebuild with a young guy that's going to talk to a younger generation with the X's and O's. So I'm intrigued to see how long this is for. Is it a four or five year deal? How many of the same players are going to be there? Are they going to retool, rebuild? I think there's a lot of things that still need to be figured out from my perspective as fan outside looking in on how we can judge what it's going to be. But ultimately if he wins, he'll be loved. If he loses, he'll be booed out of the city again. Like that's basically how it'll go for Mike McCarthy and Pittsburgh as a yinzer as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

[G]

Yeah, I agree with AJ when he said, you know, maybe give him a chance, that was kind of my sentiment this weekend was like, you know, this organization has only hired three coaches in the last 50 years. Maybe we, we trust them on their decision making as far as the coach is going. But to your point there, I think and a lot of people said this, it is hard to ask a first time head coach to come into an organization with a lot of older players, players. Oh, and you don't have a quarterback. Like when you're a young first time coach, it's a lot easier when you have an established quarterback and you don't have to worry about that. So maybe in this situation it's, it's a better hire when you have someone who's running.

[A]

Are you fighting to get these words out. Are you. What do you mean? Are you trying to sell yourself on this right now?

[G]

No, I'm just making sure I say the right thing. Because earlier, you know, we. I said that Mike Thomas was fired. He wasn't. He resigned or whatever. So I'm just making sure the words come out of my.

[A]

Are you making sure. Attack for that, I assume. No, no, just. You felt bad that. That it happened because he was not fired.

[G]

Correct.

[A]

And he stepped down. Now, granted, you know, how do we.

[G]

Get to that answer?

[A]

Certainly a part of it, but you heard Ryan Clark talk about it, obviously. Ryan Clark, part of that Pittsburgh Steelers organization. Winner for the Pittsburgh Steelers organization. He said, you know, whenever Tomlin leaves, you get a lot of people very bummed out. They're talking about people crying in a meeting, you know, people crying around the building. So you bring in Mike McCarthy. It's a fascinating move to bring in an older, already established coach in there as opposed to a new coach that might try to prove himself to the building. I think McCarthy, being a Yinzer, he understands completely why and how Pittsburgh people are going to react to his hiring. All he's worrying about now is winning ball games, and that's going to be his message to the locker room. Right, A.J. for sure.

[E]

I mean, so, like, you talk about not knowing a coach.

[A]

I, I.

[E]

When I got to Green Bay, I got drafted in Green Bay. It was Mike. He got hired a month or two before that. So not a whole lot of people knew who Mike McCarthy was. And I think I knew from the very first team meeting, like, this guy's a dude. Like, he has a presence about him. And then from probably within 15 minutes of meeting him and hearing him speak, I was like, this dude loves Pittsburgh as well. He has referenced it nine times in his team meeting, so. And that continued throughout my nine years in Green Bay. So, yeah, dude loves Pittsburgh, loves ball. Let's see what happens.

[A]

I. I don't know what all I'm allowed to talk about from my conversation with Coach McCarthy immediately after he finds out he's getting the gig or whatever, but he's. He's chasing, holding that Lombardi 7 for Pittsburgh, that is.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

His Christmas wish was that his mom and his family could experience a Pittsburgh Steelers super bowl because it took him back to the glory days. Whenever he was growing up, it was. It was like his actual wish was to see his family and his friends back in Pittsburgh, see the Steelers win again. And so much so that I think he's like, all right, I gotta go do this for him. I gotta go. I would like to be the person that does that. That's an incredible story. If it ends up coming true, you know, if it ends up coming true, it's a phenomenal story. If it doesn't work out, though, the Innzers are gonna do it. I mean, they've already been doing it. They're expecting it not to work. All right? And I think I have faith in McCarthy because we know him. But winning in the NFL is hard, man. It is very hard. Even though they're already the AFC north champ still.

[D]

Yeah, very hard. But also, you know, as much as the Lombardi is a massive deal, and that is, of course, what you are trying to do. Like Pittsburgh Tony. And you can let me know if I'm wrong, but, like, you guys are just looking for wins in the playoffs. Yeah. Like, even if he goes and they win, you know, a wild card game year one or two and then a divisional. Yeah. And then you make a conference tackle, like, even that is a victory. And when you think about Dallas before Big Mike got there, it's kind of similar. Like, Dallas was just kind of stagnant with Jason Garrett, the Clapper. They weren't, you know, terrible, but they also weren't great. I don't think they made the playoffs in Garrett's last couple years. So definitely different there because the Steelers have. But, like, he is kind of used to taking a team that isn't too different than what he is, you know, going to do and then just making them better and winning 12 games.

[A]

Green Bay, Dallas, Pittsburgh, three legendary cities. Ty Schmidt to coach.

[B]

Yeah, arguably the three. I mean, maybe the 49ers when you talk about the, you know, totality of the NFL, but that's arguably the three most famous franchises from the inception of the NFL. Obviously, the Patriots come along and do what they do, but that's the other thing is, like, he understands the expectations. Yeah. The people in Pittsburgh maybe go about it a little bit differently and how they would, you know, know, voice their frustrations, but, like, he underst. He understood the stakes when he took the packers job. Like, Brett Favre was. Had already won three MVPs when he got there. It's like, hey, you need to. You need to go win Super Bowls with this guy. And then obviously, Rogers and then Cowboys, same deal. It's like, we all know what happens if you don't win. With the Cowboys, the expectation is that they win a Super bowl every single year. So, yeah, this Steelers team, like, the roster might be a little bit different. And they might not be in the same spot, but. But like he is. He is fully aware of what happens when you take a job like this with a franchise like this. And if things don't go well, the.

[G]

One thing that the injuries were happy to hear is that he is intrigued and high on Will Howard. So because everyone wants he. Listen, I love Will Howard. We saw him firsthand. We thought he was really, really good in the playoffs. He's a six round draft pick, so a lot of those times those guys don't get shots. But the. The Yinzer fan base, the Steelers fan base has wanted to see him get a shot.

[A]

5Th round pick just made Pro Bowl.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[G]

Right, Exactly.

[D]

Bang.

[G]

So Stefan got. He got fired for having a Pro bowl quarterback.

[D]

Yeah. How's that work? Guy got Guy.

[A]

Basically, guy had a rookie get to the Pro bowl as a quarterback. Fifth rounder. This is kind of like the Browns M.O. they win a playoff game. Get the quarterback out of here. Coach gets a fifth round rookie quarterback to the Pro Bowl. Get him out of here. Yeah.

[D]

Oh, reverse the curse, perhaps is the first time it kind of.

[A]

Oh, so this is like a. Yeah.

[D]

Double hijink.

[A]

Like a get back. Yeah, I understand what you're saying.

[D]

Like a, like the sacrifice. The Baker started a curse and this would be a sacrifice to make that right.

[A]

Do we think the Lions did their sacrifice in that. With that Bobby Lane?

[D]

Yeah, yeah, Yeah.

[F]

I also think trading Matthew Stafford, which he asked for, helped all the good mojo in that building, which he asked for.

[A]

You hear him drop that?

[F]

Just need to make that clear.

[A]

He wanted to leave. We didn't want it. Now that we know what we know.

[F]

About Matthew Stafford at the Rams, think about how bad the lions were for 12 years that they couldn't win with that guy. They were cursed.

[B]

And Calvin Johnson.

[F]

Yes.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, Barry wouldn't go all the way back. You guys ever won a Super Bowl?

[F]

Yeah, we'll win one eventually.

[D]

You think?

[F]

Yeah, we will.

[A]

Oh, how many teams have not won a Super Bowl?

[F]

So I don't know that, but I know there are only four teams that have never made a Super Bowl. And I know the Lions are one.

[D]

Of those Vikings never made a.

[G]

Bills haven't won one either.

[F]

Chef reminded me that this weekend in one of his tweets.

[A]

Okay, so you guys just haven't even had the opportunity to have this 13 day period of everybody celebrating your team, talking about your city?

[F]

That's correct.

[A]

In your entire franchise's history?

[F]

Yeah, that's correct. So we've won A bunch of championships. And then when they went to the super bowl era. Yeah, they've stunk ever since.

[D]

Don't say championship.

[A]

So it sounds like the Red Wings a little bit. No, no, no, no.

[F]

Hockey town's fine. Pistons, they've won as well. Tigers, they haven't won a World Series for a while, but they've been there twice in my lifetime. So the Lions. Yeah, we stink.

[A]

Never made it to the Super Bowl.

[D]

24 7.

[F]

That's why you go back two years ago when it's the NFC championship and we're kicking ass in the first half. I believe it was 24 3. And then we had the worst third quarter collapse in the history of the sport. That was a bummer. That was definitely a bummer.

[A]

Yeah. Cause it was right there.

[D]

You had it.

[F]

And then last year we go 15 and 2. We'll probably never go 15, 19 and 2 in the franchise's history ever again. And we have all of those injuries. We get the bye week, by the way, and then we lose to the Commanders. And then this year we don't make the playoffs. So, yeah, it's definitely a bummer. And it just shows how fucking difficult it is to make it to that goddamn Super Bowl.

[D]

Oh, yeah, they had like 90 active players last year. 90.

[A]

Connor. Back for another dynasty run. There was a time for 20 years where it was every. Every other year they were in the super bowl, and then every other other year they were winning the Super Bowl. It's like what the patriots accomplished for 20 years. This guy's life, parades. He's going to him. He has hope for these 13 days, basically his entire life. They fall off the face of the earth. They're back already. You have her one time, and then Conor's like, these guys, check this guy out.

[D]

Yeah. I mean, that's why I said it's not fair. That's what I said right away. It isn't fair. What I get is not fair. I wish I could actually. I don't wish I could split it because I want it, but I wish you guys could just feel it. I wish that there was a. Like a junior league. And maybe that's what the Lions should do. They should. They should stop playing like an nit. Exactly. They should stop playing in the NFL and they should say, hey, guess what, guys? We're doing this other tournament. It's for the teams that are shit and that have never ex. Ufo. Yeah, sure. Xufl.

[A]

Xnf. Xnfxfl.

[D]

Nffl. Maybe the National Fund Football League, where it's all about fun and, you know, ribbons and holding hands, and the Lions can do that, and then maybe they can win.

[A]

Jeez. This is what comes with it. Foxy. You've never got a chance to experience what he is doing right now.

[F]

Watch your mouth, Connor. First and foremost. But this is why all those years I said 10 and 6 in a playoff win because I had never seen a playoff win. I didn't even know what that was like. And then two years ago, they won two playoff games. In my entire life, they have won two playoff games. I. I don't even think Connor can count how many playoff games he's won in his lifetime.

[A]

40.

[D]

Not in my lifetime, but we actually just bec. The first NFL franchise in the history of the NFL.

[A]

Fun fact you just brought up right there.

[D]

Yeah. To reach 40 wins.

[E]

We.

[D]

We have. We have officially won 40. I think that was my 37th.

[A]

This. This little fun bonus game thing we call the playoffs. Yeah. We've won the most in the history with 40. There's actually been 12 teams that have never won a Super Bowl. Beals, Vikings, Bengals, Falcons, Panthers, Cardinals, Titans, Chargers, Brons, Lions, Jaguars and Texans. Now, Lions haven't even made it to the Super Bowl. One of only four teams, but, boy, AC south there.

[F]

Yeah.

[A]

Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans. Colts haven't won a division in 11 years. 12 years.

[D]

They got one of them Bulls, though.

[A]

We do. But I'll tell you what. 12 teams not being able to enjoy this ever. Oh, that's tough. And then these guys, dude. I mean, and the Seahawks being back, too. Let's talk about that. I mean, the Legion of Boom had a little run there with it. We were still seeing them in a big one a lot. Yeah. Them being back is crazy. And there's just some franchises, I guess, that will never get to experience it. AJ Ever. What's that all about?

[E]

I mean, imagine being an owner. Imagine being like an owner for 20, 30, 40 years and not ever getting there.

[D]

No wonder the Pulas. You know, no wonder Terry Pula goes up there and he's like the. Do you want me to do here? Trying. Trying to get to the big one. I can't get to the big one with the guy. I got to make some change right now.

[A]

We're holding my golf partner here. Yeah, this guy's good. Brandon Bain.

[D]

I like this. Listen to him talk. He's got a cool accent. Sean McDermott. He's got nothing. And I don't get his pregame speeches. Nobody does.

[A]

That's like Mara when he Came out a couple years ago. I'm sick of telling my friends why we lose all the time.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

Those 12 teams got to go to those owners meetings. How's this going up here? We vote, but does our vote even matter?

[C]

Yeah.

[G]

Do you think they said their own table?

[A]

Like a.

[D]

No, like a kid.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[E]

Like a kid table. That has never got there, I hope.

[A]

Just go ahead, please, please.

[D]

Plates only. No bowls.

[A]

And then it's not she. The Ford ham's fault, obviously. Potentially plastic. She. She and three others are at a different table.

[G]

Oh, yeah, that's even worse.

[D]

And Craft is just walking around, no pants, dick out.

[E]

Yeah, for sure.

[D]

What's up? Shirt pocket.

[B]

You also can't do that because then know you got Mark Davis, who's sitting at the big boy table in a booster seat, you know, in a high chair, pretty much like because of what happened in the past, because of his dad.

[A]

But that, hey, that's just. That's a lucky, lucky, lucky the way.

[B]

It works, baby club.

[G]

I saw him scouting his future quarterback. He was doubting.

[B]

You did. And I.

[D]

He.

[B]

He did say, just win, baby, to someone. The Bruce. Yeah, Bruce.

[D]

Bruce.

[A]

It was awesome. What you say, Bruce? I said, go, Raiders.

[D]

And he just immediately, without skipping a.

[A]

Beat, just win, baby.

[B]

It was perfect.

[A]

Did you fist bump or anything? Or just keep walking?

[F]

Just that.

[D]

Just.

[A]

Just the.

[E]

Just win, baby.

[A]

Did he look at you or just say it while looking straight?

[D]

He maybe, like, turned a little bit and just win, baby.

[A]

And then just kept going to go watch. Fernando, man, you could have got a fist bump right there. I think you could have stole one.

[D]

And you might have grabbed your hand, too, like turkey.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Gotcha. Oh, my God. What a moment.

[D]

A dream.

[A]

All right, next time, let's remember that. Yeah, that's what we say.

[D]

Remember you got a fistball.

[A]

Yeah. All right. Speaking of, gotta get. Let's get to the thoughts around X this morning. You know, normally it's an overreaction Monday, but feels like the overreactions have kind of simmered down because not as many teams are active in the NFL season. So we wanted to celebrate the super bowl season, so I put out a tweet that basically said, hey, use hashtag pms, super bowl season, and let us know your thoughts on the Super bowl being 13 days away. Just one game left, A.J. we're already here. We're here.

[E]

I guess we need to enjoy it, right?

[D]

Yeah.

[E]

I mean, obviously we're going to enjoy Connor's time leading up to this game, but, yeah, we all need to enjoy it as well.

[A]

Yeah, Connor's going to have a good time, man. Can have a good time these next 13 days. Let's get to a couple that Ty Schmidt picked that need to be read. First one here from Braden at B. Howard 11 Patriots won on historically the hardest playoff run in terms of defenses play. In her second still being dotted. We got the mvp, the coach of the year and the assistant coach of the year. Keep the dots coming. Pats by a million. The Pats are back. PMS super bowl season. There's no doubt about that. Braden, Congratulations and we're all pumped for you. Ain't that right, Connor?

[D]

Yeah, we are. But look, this is the last fun season, quote unquote, you know, expectations going forward. We talk about this all the time you in football games. Expectations change. This year it was, hey, let's get better. Granted, our getting better is going all the way to the bowl. Good, better, best, you know, and we're. And we're probably. We're good right now. You know, going forward, we'll get better. I cannot wait for these next 13 days. And it really is a miracle that the MVP, this guy who's at the helm is only 23 fricking years old, man.

[A]

Congrats to you and to Braden. Let's get to Todd Villarreal. Mr. Villarreal, 32, hashtag PMS, Super bowl season. What a shitty super bowl this is going to be. Sorry, Connor, but your Patriots don't stand a chance against the Seahawks. The Patriots walk the yellow brick road to the super bowl and are going to get blown out. Seahawks by 30. Hope the commercials are good. That's a good call there by Todd. I forgot about that. Ty, how many people were saying this about the super bowl, that it was going to be a blowout?

[B]

I did not expect that a decent amount. I think a lot of Seahawks fans pretty much, they watched the AFC championship, saw 10 to 7, you know, maybe not the, the most explosive offense. And then they saw Sam Darnold, you know, throwing for 370 yards and three touchdowns and thought, why are we even playing this game? We're gonna beat the shit out of this team. So in terms of confidence, it seems like Seattle fans and Seahawks fans and really kind of just everyone who doesn't want to see the Patriots win, they're kind of on that side of the coin.

[A]

And the commercials being good. I forgot about those being a thing. There is one commercial for the last few weeks that has been tough. I don't know if it's one over anybody. But I do appreciate that they continue to run it. The food one. All right, let's move along to the next one. Let's go to Zane Leslie here at Zayn Leslie 2PMS Super bowl season. It's time to bench the narrative surrounding Darnold and big games. Hell yeah. That conversation is over. Sammy D. Slammed that door shut last night. Seahawks taking their revenge now 11 years in the making thanks to Donald contract looking better and better. Better every day. They're not paying Darnold a lot of money, AJ they got him on a great deal going forward. I guess Sam Darnold could say I want a little bit more cash Ola for what has happened here, but congrats to him taking a shot on the Seattle Seahawks and them in return doing the same. Especially how the Vikings tenure ended.

[E]

AJ yeah. And they win this game. They get to the Super Bowl. Not like in spite of Sam Darnold. They, they win because of Sam Darnold. He's a huge reason why they're getting. That's why it's.

[A]

Yeah.

[E]

I mean it has to for him. Yeah, he's not like he's not satisfied, but he has to be a little bit relieved that he played so well the team. He does this at home and beats a great Rams defense and just yeah. Goes head to head against Matthew Stafford and finds a way in. You know, the biggest game of his life leading up until the Super Bowl. That will be the next. That will be the biggest once he plays in that. But imagine if he comes out on fire and completes a deep ball like early in the super bowl as well. Like how this, this Seattle fan base is going to go crazy.

[A]

I think he will. I have a lot of faith in Sam Darnold. I think he's bought. I also think, I think Jackson, Smith and Jigba is incredible at football. I think their offense is fun and I think they got a great running game and I love what's around them now. On that note, the entire culture seems to be in a great spot as well. Let's go to the next overreaction. This is from Jell o Christ, Ellochrist or Chris depending upon how it's pronunciated there by Mr. Jello with a great mustache. PMSUPO season erect the statue of Mike McDonald in the middle of Pike's Place market. His hire will go down down as one of the best in Seahawks history. His Seahawks defense is going to make Drake may feel like my mother after her second divorce. Hopeless. Go Hawks. Hope your mom finds some Hope, obviously that's a tough run. Pike's place where they throw to fish. It does feel like if he's able to turn this thing around this quickly for Seattle, they can't help but fall in love with this guy. He's special. He is a football computer. I think AJ and the boys obviously believe in what he's pitching.

[E]

Yeah, he is. I think it's good to see we got two defensive minded coaches in the Super Bowl. That's something that, you know, I think they, those guys have almost been devalued over the last few years. So here we go. We got two defensive guys.

[A]

There's a stat on that because two defensive head coaches, remember normally offensive coordinator, offensive type wizards are in the spotlight during these coaching hiring cycles. Two defensive coaches in the current super bowl and that is.

[D]

It was the last time since Patriots Falcons when Dan Quinn was with Atlanta where both coaches were defensive. I thought there was another one Bruce might have had, but I, I know that was the one we went back to.

[B]

Yup.

[E]

A defensive head coach has not won the Super bowl since 2018 when Bill.

[A]

Belichick beat Sean McVeigh.

[E]

That 2016 was the last time that.

[A]

Both teams had defensive head coaches. All of the coaching cycle hiring became offensive guru. Offensive guru, Offensive guru. Feels like we're getting some tough culture football back. And you know, last year with the Philadelphia Eagles, obviously we saw run game and we saw defense coming of take the way and carry the load for that particular team. Now you're starting to see a little bit more tough football now. Not only Sirianni is in this thing now you got two alphas in there leading the squad. McDonald's still calls the defense though, so I don't know if you know, play caller, non play caller conversation still exists strictly because he's not on the offensive side, but he leads that defense. That's unbelievable.

[D]

Yeah. Now that we're saying this as well, is 2018 the last time one of the head coaches was a defensive head coach in the Super Bowl? Because it was basically after that every single year. It was Mahomes and Andy Reid in the AFC or Zach Taylor with Burrow and then it was, you know, Brady McVeigh or Bruce Arians. But yeah, same McVeigh, Sirianni, Shanahan. Like I don't know if there's been a defensive head coach since Belichick.

[A]

The boys are back. Congrats to them doing that for that side of the ball. Congrats to you guys, A.J. congrats to defense. Hey.

[E]

Couple you couple A solid offense with a great defense. You got a chance to win it all and you can. You have great offense and great defense.

[D]

Good luck.

[E]

That's the super bowl we're going to watch.

[A]

That's what we're looking for and normally only a few teams have it. This year a lot more good defense. Feels like we're coming around to some big old good deed the next couple years. Ain't that right A.J.

[E]

That'S right. I can't wait for for Darius to break it down for us.

[A]

What are you talking. What do you mean what Shaq?

[E]

Whenever he does the good D bad D segment, I know right now he's not going to do that today. I assume that he snowed in and it's the Florida getting snow where he's now he's South Florida. But didn't I heard the Panhandle got snow.

[A]

He was snowed out actually. So flights in the Midwest where all the snow is obviously it's going to be tough for people to travel in and out. There's been delays, cancellations, movement, everything like that Debug got canceled last night, canceled. This morning, canceled again. So he's actually snowed out of Indianapolis. I believe he's in route but safe travels to everybody out there. The storm has obviously affected a lot.

[G]

I saw there was definitely a line of demarcation. I think Baton rouge was like 25 degree and then nor New Orleans was 70. So there was definitely like a line where it's like hey, cold front normal and then shite.

[A]

Hey, that's we saw. Well they took the hurricane plans out there. They actually got the systems aligned then I think moved north a little bit.

[D]

Drop those planes.

[G]

Lot of ice down there.

[A]

I'm talking to Jim Cantor about about what's going to be on the ground and I just get out of my car and just go. It was a bad idea. We had weather people on the show. That's how bad the weather was going to be. We wouldn't have the weather people on if it wasn't so bad. So I should have just been paying attention. So one thing leads to another. She wants to cake pop and get out there.

[D]

They lied about Denver. Okay, well I mean they did not.

[A]

Tell us fight said pre but the wind is.

[G]

Cantor did say there might be some second half snow.

[D]

Yeah, but. But not pretty like that might be some second half snow versus hey, it's going to be blowing buckets.

[G]

That's my baby.

[A]

Hey, on that note about the AFC championship and the offensive performances there, great defenses obviously across the Board everywhere, but certainly in that AFC Championship game as well. This is like when Texas A and M played Miami down there, and the wind was like 30 miles an hour. People that weren't there couldn't feel the wind.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

Like, you can't play football in this. It almost feels like yesterday, especially whenever that shit was going sideways. That feels like a tough environment to play football in. Not that it was great before the snow was coming, which was later in the game. I'm just saying I don't think we should necessarily be judging everything that happened late in that game, because I think it would have been tough to play football regardless, with the weather.

[D]

Yeah. And clearly the Patriots changed everything they were doing on offense. Like, I think they threw the ball maybe twice from the start of the snow till the end of the game, one of them being a flea flight. And I think a lot of people's lives flashed before them when they did that, but you could tell that they were just, all right, we're going to hold on to the ball, run it, and just hope Jared Stidham doesn't drive down the football field, which he didn't.

[A]

All right, the Patriots are back. Here's from Austin. Sports Ball.

[D]

Oh, hell yeah.

[A]

Boston Sports Guy. Hashtag pms. Super bowl season. After years of agony, the New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl. Mike Vrabel walked in, built a team, built a culture, and did it in one year to show the entire NFL that it can be done quickly. Patriots reign supreme over the AFC again. We're back with a dab down there from Vrabes. You guys are back. Okay. You are back. And expectations are going to be crazy. I think J.J. watt talked about how Signetti. He's only been in Indiana for a couple years. McDonald's only been in Seattle for two years. Vrabel has only been there for one year. Expectations of quick turnarounds are certainly going to only increase with this massive success that everybody's having. Vraybo in year one. Outrageous. AJ up there in New England.

[E]

Yeah, Just absolutely outrageous. What he's able to do. We've. We've documented on the show today, like, how tough it is to get to the super bowl, especially your first year in the building as the head coach. But is this going to cause other owners here in the near future to fire guys even quicker than we have in the past?

[A]

I'm not sure. We got a lot of consistency over here in Indianapolis. We like our 10 years. We like our guys.

[D]

You should.

[A]

It's hard, though, to keep the faith after years and years and years of not having success, and then you watch another place build it twice within the time in which you haven't had it. That's difficult. Especially when New England was like the clear cut kings of the NFL for a long time. Like clear cut. Conspiracies being made about them, actual rules being exposed, different gates. The entire world hated them. I mean, it was like, clear cut. The New England Patriots are the king of the NFL. Like, that was a long time. Everybody knew that. That's why everybody hated them, because people throw rocks at things that shine. Taylor Swift said that Chiefs were starting a little bit, but literally the Patriots were known as that. So to watch them get back to potentially being that again after having to rebuild and lose everything. Lose everything? Yeah, lose everything.

[D]

All of it.

[A]

And then you watch them build it back, it's like, what the fuck is my team doing? I assume the Lions and the three other teams that have never made it to the super bowl are certainly questioning that on a regular basis.

[F]

I'm starting to think, does any of it matter? Because the Lions aren't going to get there and the Patriots are just going to get back there anyway, so it doesn't matter.

[A]

Well, when you talk about mattering, it's like in the NFL knows the script. Anyway. It was September. Put that graphic. You're right.

[D]

Yeah. Week one, all scripted.

[A]

Do you see that age? Oh, isn't that convenient? Yeah.

[E]

And so we're always gonna have this, right? I mean, with the Internet, we're always gonna zoom in.

[A]

Please.

[F]

I wish I could. I realized that that was a big shitty on me right there.

[A]

Okay.

[E]

So sorry.

[A]

Foxy, immediately upon putting it on screen, realizes that there's no way for us to zoom in. Just know up in the front there.

[D]

Who's there?

[A]

Drake and Darnold. Oh, is that right up in the front? Yeah. First two, basically, if you were to count it in a certain line formation. That was in September. So. So. Okay. And then Saquon Barkley and the Eagles obviously have the year they have. Oh, man. Who.

[E]

Who's controlling all this?

[A]

You tell me. Age? You're probably in on number five overall pick in the past. Super bowl champion. Did. Certainly benefited. You as in whoever's controlling his. Isn't it?

[E]

This goes way above me.

[G]

Did RA With a hat on throw anyone else off? Didn't even look like him.

[D]

In my opinion, that's like Prison Mike from the office. Like, when he puts a hat on, he just turns into more of like a jovial guy. If he's not in a good mood or getting a trophy. Don't even try to put a hat on that head.

[G]

It.

[D]

It is too big.

[A]

How did you see his back pocket?

[D]

Yeah.

[G]

Was there a circle?

[A]

Maybe the most defined one.

[D]

It looked like a pint.

[A]

His head is. He does that. Does. He's got an Ohio head there. Just a gigantic cranium. Not supposed to have hats on. It's a flat bill nonetheless. But radar, this there across the top, it says champions.

[G]

Has he been clean shaving all year, too?

[D]

No, he had the Movember run where we went five and defeated with the stash. But clearly this yesterday morning he took a clean race.

[A]

Their home's Gillette Stadium.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm going to assume he's got a clean.

[G]

The best razor.

[A]

I assume he's got a clean face if he's upper. A lot of clean faces up in New England. Lot of clean faces.

[D]

Lot of young faces. Clean. Just beautiful, really. Just beautiful man faces.

[A]

I mean, just championship quality. Yeah, look, that just.

[D]

It is what it is.

[A]

Let's get to the next one, please. This is from Evan Trazaz.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

At Trezazis 14, his favorite number. I remember when they said the Broncos O line was so good it would allow city to thrive. Why don't we give the Patriots defense credit for causing absolute chaos on opposing Q PMS super bowl season? I think we have now. We're going to have to for the next two weeks. Let's get to the next one. Shall we shout out to Evan if this is all Derek Miller here. PMS super bowl season. Beating the Rams is always going to be harder than winning a Super Bowl. Hawks by a million. Geez Louise. The NFC was favored in any matchup that this super bowl generated with the Denver Broncos or the Patriots heading to the Super Bowl. The NFC was the favorite regardless. And I'll tell you you what a lot of people thinking. The Seahawks are just going to handle the New England Patriots. And with the way it started yesterday was steady, I thought maybe the Patriots have finally run into the day in which they won't be in a game in which they won't be able to make it ugly, in which they won't be able to keep up. And then all of a sudden those clamps came done from that defense. And the weather then starts to change. Everything starts happening. It's like, oh, no. Yeah, maybe they did a little something in that first series that they weren't expecting. And maybe they didn't know he was going to be able to do this. Or maybe they made it too easy for Staddy at the beginning. Then they just dialed it up. And then all of a sudden we got guys shot putting the ball backwards while trying to throw it forward because they're getting tackled backwards so much. So, you know, like, that's Patriot football, basically. And then Drake May just runs it in. It's like they're just like a boa constrictor. It's just always applying pressure. It's just tightening up. And I thought Steady City was coming. I thought, for real. I thought he was the mayor. I was like, holy shit, this guy's going to get paid $40 million a year going forward as a starter. So somewhere, maybe earn his way. And then as the Patriots d lockdown, obviously kicking was difficult for both teams. And then Drake May and the New England Patriots offense is able to get enough done and not turn the rock over and have explosives whenever you need. It's like, that's Patriots football in a nutshell. And they're all the way back.

[D]

They're all the way back, all the way back. And there's in.

[A]

It's locking kicks. I mean, everything.

[D]

Yeah, everything going the way that they needed it. And again, it's his first year, dude. Like, it's Mike Frable's first year in Drake May's second year. Like, this really is something. Everyone needs to stare down the tube.

[A]

For a long time now. They missed a couple kicks, you know, which might have led to a couple of decisions that were made earlier. Here's the last super bowl season thought from Jake at J Dog. He's out of Texas, number four, hashtag pms, super bowl season. This is a bit of advice for both teams to get to play one more time for the season. If you're in field goal range and you got fourth and short don't matter, take the fucking points. Sean Payton's certainly going to be thinking about that all offseason. He's not the only one. There's a lot of games that were decided by a mismanagement of a situation, and obviously, if you pick that up there, you're a superhero. You're the smartest person on earth. You miss it, you're the dumbest person on earth. That's always going to be ball. That's always going to be the beauty of hindsight. But on that note, he should have known that it was probably going to be a cagey affair with both those defenses. Will Lutz, veteran KICKER I know he got one blocked and he missed another one yesterday, but you think he probably knocks those through 10, 7 early. Wait a minute. Does everything change? We'll never know. What we do know is we'll be back tomorrow. Hell, yeah. You guys are the greatest on earth, A.J. you're the man, buddy. Thank you for joining us.

[E]

Thank you, guys. Hell of a play by the Patriots d on that 4th and 1. Obviously you can question kicking or not, which I would have loved to kick it if I was the Broncos, but, man, Patriots D stepped up huge with when needed.

[A]

Yeah. And they brought it there, huh?

[E]

Look at that. Yeah. No chance. Nobody didn't matter like, they had.

[A]

No.

[E]

The Broncos had no chance. Like, sorry, pal.

[D]

We got you that guy right there, too. Who makes the pass breakup. Craig Woodson, rookie. He has been so good all year. He's the reason Kyle Duggar and Jabril Peppers aren't New England Patriots anymore. At rookie out of Cal. He doesn't get as many, you know, headlines as the defense just hasn't in general. But he is someone who will be very good for a long time.

[A]

Such good defense. And then obviously, Seahawks defense, outrageous. Sam, Darnell, ball and Drake, May 2nd year, 23 year old in the Super Bowl. So many storylines. We're going to talk about them for the next two weeks. Yes. So awesome.

[E]

Got to get a Braves tattoo on the other tricep.

[D]

I think we might be able to cover this one up. We'll see. We'll see.

[A]

Let's go get one.

[D]

Let's go get one done, huh? Let's not celebrate too soon. Start thinking about tattoos.

[G]

You're covering up six Super Bowls.

[D]

Cover that up. Just joking.

[A]

Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. You might change your life. We're in this thing together. Be safe out there with the weather. And let's remember, we're in this thing together.

[E]

Yeah.

[A]

I don't like us battling each other. It's not good. Sports will bring us together.

[G]

Hell, yeah.

[A]

And we're thankful for that. All right, team on me. Team on three. One, two, three. Team. Goodbye.