Fairway Rollin' - Ep. 26: Pebble Beach Pro-Am With Herm Edwards

Episode Date: February 8, 2017

Geoff Shackelford and Joe House analyze Tiger's painful performance at the Dubai Desert Classic (02:45), look at how CBS can fix the Pebble Beach Pro-Am (12:25), and name players to watch leading up to the Masters (21:05). Then they are joined by former NFL head coach Herm Edwards to discuss the Super Bowl (30:05), his first time golfing (35:10), and the trait that athletes from other sports most admire about golfers (39:10). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All right, my friends, Phil the thrill made his 28th appearance at the Waste Management Phoenix Open this weekend. Another top 20. And he did so with not one, not two, but three Callaway Epic Woods in his bag of driver in two fairway woods called Callaway's most intriguing driver in two decades. The Epic was in all the bags. We had Daniel Berger playing the Epic. Liliano Greenio playing the Epic. Ollie Schneider Jans playing the Epic.

All guys that completely bombed the ball. The key to Epic is its jailbreak technology. Two titanium rods inside the clubhead that changed the way the driver crown, soul, and face behave at impact. That translates to big league ball speed gains all over the face. Don't take my word for it, my friends. Oh no. Learn more at Calais.

golf.com, get out to your local golf shop, test one of those babies out today, and do not sleep on the red hot Fairway Woods, Henrik Stenson, that three wood in his bag right now. And that's the perfect way to walk us into the shack house. How's how you doing today? Jeff, it is warm here in the district of Columbia, the nation's capital. It's a real tease. I'm telling you, it feels like spring could be in the air. But, you know, I look at the calendar.

It says it's February the 7th. So I'm a little, you know, I'm just, I feel like I'm stealing days here. I'm biding my time. We got to get to mid-March here in the DMV before I can break out my own epic and go crazy. So it's still collecting dust. That's just so sad. Wow. Rude.

It's not collecting dust. I have it in a very cherished and prize position. It's sitting up high. It gives me something to look to. I genuflect every. every evening when I walk in the door from a hard day's work, one knee for the epic. Well, you have something in common with Rory McElroy

and Tiger Woods staring at their clubs right now, wondering when they're going to play again. What a wacky time in the game. So you have that, you got that going for you. So let's go ahead and talk about the state of Tiger. Yeah. Yeah, Rory, we know. He's just, he'll be back when he'll be back.

But Tiger, wow. Boy, that was a downer. So did you stay up for the, night golf action? I did. Last Wednesday evening, 11.15 p.m. And I actually enjoyed quite a bit the treatment by Golf Channel. They gave us a full of at least 45 minutes to an hour's worth of preview.

We watched them on the, we watched Tiger on the range. Yeah. They did a really nice job of interfacing with the Euro commentators kind of on the ground in Dubai and really set the stage quite well. I had a little bit of, I know that so far this season, and it goes all the way back to the end of last year. I'm so in the bag for Tiger. My appetite for seeing him is obviously over the top,

but it was very cool run-up to him on the first tee. And my favorite thing about that event that we were kind of deprived of with Tiger was they kept touting the possibility he was going to walk up to some walk-up music because the Euro tour is doing walk-up music, right? Yeah, yeah. But he teed off on 10, so it didn't seem like they had the music ready for 10. But I was sitting there with my Twitter. I was all ready to start throwing out ideas for what his walk-up music might be.

Wow. Yeah. You know, something about Tiger tells me he put the kibosh on that if he'd been off the first tee. I'm not sure. He's quite ready for that. I think he has enough on his mind right now as it is. Well, it was painful viewing. I think you'd agree, right?

The body language is the whole thing. Yeah, I mean, I think that's a perfectly appropriate word. It was painful. It was painful for him. And he, you know, the after round reports are that he was not feeling pain, but instead was grimacing at the quality of game that he arrived with that day. I don't know. You had a nice forum, I think it was on Saturday,

with Charlie Rimer and was John Feinstein? Brandel, Brandl. Brandel Shambly. Oh, is Brandel, that's right. Chairman of the Tiger Woods Marching and Chowder Society, Brandl Shambly. And you guys kind of went through all the ins and outs, but the footage that the golf channel was running while you guys were talking was slow-mo of tiger taking swings.

And the expression on his face, the grimace on his face, was not due to his disappointment with the quality of his swings. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, something, here's what I don't understand. So at Torrey Pines, we discussed pro-am. He went 30% on the front nine because it was like 48, 47 degrees. Then the back nine, when I walked with him, I saw him hit one kind of goofy shot. And even that one was not that horrible because it was a whole everybody who struggles

with the T shot on on the north course. And otherwise, he striped the ball. He looked good. He looked comfortable. He was talking with his pro-am partner, is his body. language was great. Then, you know, the first two rounds, the body looked a little stiff and the swing didn't look as free flowing. And so by all accounts, I spoke to a couple of the guys who went to Dubai, the writers, and same thing. Look good in the pro am. The footage we saw in the proam was

good. He gets on the first tee. He hits a snapper left. And he just looks dreadful physically. he was engaged with his playing partners later in the round. He got better as the round went on at the end. And so what I'm struggling with House is what is going on physically. Obviously mentally, he's got tension. He's nervous. He's pressing. There's a lot of pressure on him or he's putting it on himself.

So what is happening to his body that has it essentially go into this sort of freeze-up mode? it's an unusual thing i i don't i can't think of a situation where where we've seen this before but there's clearly it's some odd combination of the mental and the physical obviously not not being right and so i guess my point in that is that part of me thinks well that's actually kind of excitingly positive because this means this is just a matter of the nerves and getting the reps uh and kind of getting back in the flow and all that and there's going to be ups and down There's going to be bad days and good days with the body. Then another part of me says, how has he gotten to this point of the comeback

and still having that kind of an odd reaction with his body and inconsistency with his body? And so I feel like there's a couple of different ways you can look at it. And I'm probably leaning towards, obviously, it's not encouraging. But I'm hopeful that I'm wrong. I'm hopeful that it's just a matter of getting out and playing more. Yeah, well, let me try this out on you because I- By the way, we're ignoring the reason he was true, the back spasms. We're just assuming that, I assume, for argument's sake.

We'll take his word for it. But look, here's the challenge here is to not treat every single one of these early tournaments as a referendum on the rest of his golf career. I mean, there's a real temptation to do so, right? because folks like me at least are watching every sort of moment and wanting to know, okay, look, is this the point where he's turned the corner and we're going to see him another 10 or 12 times this season? You know, how is his progress?

Are we going to see the tiger that shot, you know, the 65 down in the Bahamas? You know, what are we going to get here? And the thing that I kind of wonder about as it relates specifically to this Dubai experience, I think there's a decent chance that he was slightly uncomfortable physically. He definitely knew he didn't have a, you know, a real competitive game. And they went to dinner after his round, you know, after his first round and took a look at the weather forecast for the next day and woke up the next morning and took some swings, took his treatment and everything and then just said, you know what, we got to pull the plug on this because

it doesn't make any sense for me to hang around here, to grind through a round that might take eight hours over the course of the day because of the crazy winds that are coming in here so that I can miss the cut and then lose another two days back in the U.S. towards proper rehab under the proper supervision and guidance of the folks, the professionals that he works with, and in the comforts of home. I think there's a decent chance he just pulled the parachute in the overnight. And I think that's a legitimate answer to the questions. The problem is, one, he was paid a lot of money to be there.

And he's somebody who, for a long time, prided himself in not missing cuts. and in grinding it out and finishing and being great and all that. And there's a certain pride for pro golfers in not withdrawing. And I guess I'd be worried that I feel like he's gotten into a situation where as soon as he doesn't feel comfortable or he feels like he's going to be embarrassed, he just withdraws. And that, I guess, would be the issue we're facing here because it's something that, it's something that, a lot of players do not like, they don't like when somebody withdraws and does it on them. Obviously, when somebody's hurt, they understand it. But when you're at that level and there's a sense that somebody's pulling out because of the wind forecast,

which I think was very legitimate, it was bleak. That still, to me, is odd in the sense that he's such a good wind player. And I guess I would just think the old tiger would have looked at that and said, well, this is going to be a chance actually for me to make the cut because it's going to be these ridiculous winds. and I'll hit my stinger all day and guide it around and shoot 72, while these young guys who aren't as smart and clever and creative and really don't hit low shots. I mean, really outside of all these Snyder Jans,

most of these guys just don't really like to hit a low ball or heavy or some of them don't even have the shot. And so somebody like him, that's an opportunity. And obviously, whatever's going on with the body, it just didn't feel like that opportunity was there. So we don't know what's going to happen with the, the Genesis Open coming up. The update today was that there is no update.

So we'll just kind of wait and see. Obviously, we're very hopeful that he plays in L.A. because it just would be a lot of fun. But you have some of the same issues there, too. Cold mornings, all that nonsense. We have rainy years. So far, the forecast looks superb. So we'll keep our fingers crossed.

Now, the forecast, I haven't looked at Pebble Beach, but I know I heard today it was grotesque. up there. I saw some little PR stunt. They had to move indoors. Everybody had had their spalding rain hat on the spalding Smales special, and they were all drenched. But how do you, I don't know if we discussed, how do you feel about the AT&T national pro-A. We're going to discuss it with our guests later on today. Herm Edwards, who's a Monterey native, and who loves pro-e. He loves playing pro-ams, which is cool in itself. Not everybody loves them. But where do you, Where do you fall on this event as helping the sport and being something you want to watch?

So very quick aside on the forecast, it's supposed to pour down rain Thursday, like buckets full. And then also rain Friday, but not as much. And I think clear out for the weekend. So as it relates to this tournament, we're in this mode now with CBS. And I hate to be so negative. But we have this sort of, you know, beyond a reasonable doubt history with the CBS golf broadcast at the end of January and through February, where they treat these events as something other than about the golf tournament. And this coming event is perhaps the most. widely derided by golf fans, by folks that are interested in watching competitive golf, mainly because

CBS historically has seems to have treated it as though it's just a venue, a forum, to have, you know, celebrities come, sit in the tent on 17, you know, make a few ha-haz. They happen to have a golf club in their hand. And it's a way to kind of pass the time on a Saturday after noon and maybe we'll get, you know, sort of 10 golf shots in an hour and a half worth of time. So I personally like watching golf for the golf, so I hate it. But I also sort of, you know, understand where we are in the season and understand the philosophy that CBS seems to have when it comes to showing these early season tournaments. What do you think?

You know, House, I have to defend CBS. on one front. There's two elements, I think, with the coverage. The one is, obviously, the question of covering the golf tournament versus the celebrities. And I'm, I guess I just watched it so long that I, and I preach variety on the PGA tour. And I just like that one day out the year, it's this kind of mass day for the celebrities. And it gets people maybe tuning in who wouldn't otherwise tune in to see somebody playing, see, take, you take, you know, take your pick, Chris O'Donnell, Clay Walker, you know, on and on. I actually, yeah, I like to watch Justin Timberlake.

He has gay. Yeah, and guess, and by the way, I mean, that's a, that's a huge draw. It's an amazing get, if you will, that he shows up there and is willing to embarrass himself because we know how cruel the game is. And I always admire that about the celebrities that they know their swings are not attractive and they put themselves on the line, and I think that's admirable. And there are a lot of people who love seeing that. They love seeing great athletes in that situation.

So I think that is great. I think the other issue, though, is the approach to the coverage and the style of the coverage. And this is where I think it just was so obvious last week at the Waste Management Open that CBS is very determined and they're very good at doing things the way they've done it for a very long time. I mean, literally I was watching that event thinking this is, they do this exactly the same way they did it 20 years ago, except there's high-deaf, better graphics, trackman, and some different announcers. But otherwise, down to the timing when the telecasts come on, the way the college basketball runs long, the things they say, it's very, very

stayed and stale. And it's their thing and they're proud of that. That's kind of the CBS sheen that they put on a lot of things. And it's just that when we talk about growing the game, we talk about getting new people into the sport or even retaining people, I feel things like the way the telecast is brought to you are so vital to that more than spring break 2K 16 and Grove First Tea and all these things. that other sports are getting more progressive than golf and the way they present things, the use of drones, the use of stats, the music.

I mean, geez, the music on the Phoenix Open House. My God, it's the biggest party of the year. And let's cue the yawning and go to commercial. It's just, I wanted to scream. Like, come on, one week a year, CBS, let's cue some different music. Now, they do at Pebble Beach. They usually do cue some of the music up. going to commercial of one of the artists that we're watching.

And in this case, some of them are fairly relevant still. So I think that's part of why people get so angered by it. When they see that kind of Pro Am Saturday and they feel like it's not respecting the goal. Of course, the other solution that our friend Jeff Newbarth has mentioned to us, it's very simple. You could also have an alternate broadcast. It's just the PGA Tour event. on CBS Sportsnet or Golf Channel or wherever.

But I guarantee you, my view is not that many people will watch. But it would at least get them in a place where they can't be criticized for ignoring the pros. I just, yeah, I don't know why people can't deal with one day a year saying goodbye to the pros and enjoying these celebrities and then getting back to the serious business on Sunday. So the only thing that I would say about the very good suggestion, by our pal in terms of having split broadcast and letting folks who are real golf fans catch the golf, a golf focus broadcast is we don't get to see these courses.

I'm on the East Coast. I don't get to see these courses, but the once a year. And I like very much, you know, getting the feel for what those places are all about each, each, on kind of an annual basis. really get a flavor for it, except for the Sunday broadcast when it's really focused on the golf. And so if I could get two days of pebble and then interspers it with a little bit of

Monterey Peninsula and spyglass and actually get a feel for what those layouts are about and how guys are strategizing and how they're playing it, that's appealing to me. But I understand your point. The big draw is Ray Romano and Bill Murray. and Justin Timberlake, and I get the point you're making on why that's a once a year. That makes some good sense. But see, I would say, then, what you just pointed out, again, gets back to a production question. And, you know, the use of drones. I mean, there's no place in the world more made for a drone flying in and out of Cypress trees

and giving you the scale of the cliffs and coming up from the cliffs. And by the way, CBS has some amazing drone footage. and you see like these little snippets going to commercial. You're like, no, no, no, I want more of that. Let's get into the golf course. Let's, let's, you know, and they used to have features with Bob Drum. You know, we hear about the parties at night, the camaraderie. And, you know, a live television interview, just it's tough for those people

that kind of capture some of the stuff that goes on. And maybe it's just impossible to do that. And there's also how, kind of the fine line where how much do people, really want to know about how much fun these rich guys are having at the lodge every night. Some of that could come off the wrong way. Like when Jim Nance used to refer to every CEO in the field as Mr. So-and-So, Mr. So-and-so. And then the athletes would be, oh, there's Bill Belichick or there's Herm Edwards. But, you know, it was for the CEOs, there was always Mr.

Like he was just too special, you know, Randall Stevenson, who was, you know, the host for the week as the AT&T. CEO, but it came off so poorly. I don't envy them because there are a lot of things that are tricky about the event, but I think that when you combine some of the feelings that some people just have for not wanting to see these celebrities, and then the production being just almost like following the playbook from the past, that it leads to this sort of tension. That said, and before we get to Herm Edwards, we have to cover one other thing. We have some, have some golfers who are playing pretty well going to the Masters. And I feel like this week, then Riviera, then the Honda, this three week stretch is vital to kind of our lead-up to

the Masters and seeing who is trending in the right direction. And I don't think there's really any doubt who is trending the best, by far in terms of Augusta National, and that's Hideki Matsuyama. Anybody else exciting you even close to on his list? level. I mean, I could make a case that Jordan Spieth is positioning himself very nicely and not peaking too early. But I don't know. There's also a kind of a, there's a, there's, I mean, you also don't know how much a golfer can really control how much they peak. It's a weird game that way. You beat me to the punch. Jordan Speeth was going to be the guy that I, uh, I mentioned. He hasn't finished outside the top 10 yet this season.

And I think we now have enough evidence when we see him. And I like him, by the way, for this week. He has four good performances in the years that he's participated in this event. But, you know, until demonstrated otherwise, you pick against Jordan Speeth at Augusta, at your own peril. But I like to think about the world in terms of capital allocation and risk. And so obviously Hedecki and Spieth are not going to be guys that I'm going to touch with a 10-foot pole because their odds stink.

Speeth right now is 8.5 to 1. Hedecki's 12 to 1. I'm down here in the 40-1 territory. That's where I think I'm going to start this year. I like John Rom quite a bit at 40 to 1 these early days here. He's been really relentless so far this season. I mean, we got to sing his praises after his Tory performance. I expect another great performance this week.

And I also, there's a guy who we haven't seen yet because he's been playing Euro events. But he made such an impression on me at the Ryder Cup last year. Thomas Peters at the moment, by the odds I'm looking at 60 to 1. Good. Yeah, I figured he'd start kind of shifting back in the other direction as people forgot about him. That's good. That's kind of interesting to me. Yeah.

No, he definitely has a chance to do what Willett did last year. And he's starting to, he looked like in Dubai, he's, you know, nobody senses he's had taken the offseason and messed around. Pete Cowan gave an interview recently to Golf Digest and just saying his praises again about what a player he sees him becoming and already is, frankly, after what he did last year. And that's a nice price on him. Sergio? Where's Sergio? Did you know?

I feel like Sergio is a quail hollow PGA championship type favorite. But if he starts kind of playing well and continuing. I'm just struggling with him on the greens at Augusta National. It's just the vision. I have too many visions of miss puts there and bad moments. That's because you've seen him struggle on those greens. Yeah, he's 45 to 1 for Sergio. It actually feels like a pretty decent price in view of the performance he had in Dubai.

That was a pretty good performance, pretty impressive on the back nine. He put his foot on the pedal and kept it there. And Stenton did put some pressure on him. Stenson was within a stroke as they made the turn. But Sergio, it was either on 12 or 13. I don't remember the part three that he stuck it. And Stenson bogeied and that was the tournament. Yeah.

Well, I just love these next two weeks for two reasons. One, they're two of the best courses on the PGA tour, Pebble Beach and Riviera. And then, of course, they also play Monterey Shore and Spyglass in the AT&T. But I think that these two pieces of architecture, the strategy involved, and then the difficulty of the greens. It's a different kind of difficulty than Augusta, but they're quick enough. They're Poa, and so they're a little bumpier, and then the AT&T ProM, you've got amateurs walking on the greens, the hole stays in the same spot for three

days in a row, and they can get a little raw by that third day. But I think that the mental toughness, the nerve, whatever you want to call it, and dealing with those greens there, and then the poet Riviera, which is usually beautiful in the last few years, it's just been amazing, but they're quick. The combination of architecture, putting speed, all that kind of stuff, these two events are just so big for kind of telling you who's really, I think, to watch on the radar for the masters. And I think that's why Phil has added Riviera, I think he finally, which I wish he would have asked, I would have told him that going to play the Honda is not a place for him to go and get

confidence. He's a West Coast guy. he builds his confidence on the West Coast swing. And so he's added Riviera, and I love his chances at Riviera this year. I feel like his driver is the only thing holding him back, and it's really not even that important to his game compared to the short game. And he's got that dialed in. He's going to get the driver just the way he wants it by Augusta or maybe even sooner.

And I feel like he's going to be tough the next couple of weeks. And his spirits just seem like they're so good. and shout out to our friend Alan Shipnuck, who we're going to have on the show this year. He has a great pod with Phil. Alas, I don't know if you've listened to it, but a lot of interesting revelations about just Phil's career on Allen's new vertical, the knockdowns.

So worth checking out and worth watching Phil the next couple of weeks. Anything else you want to add before we get to Herm Edwards? Well, it's no coincidence that you would lay out your reverence for, these, these, these, the last two events here on the West Coast tour and West Coast Swing and, and you're the, you know, the beautiful architecture and all the rest of it. We, our own selves on the CallowayGolf.com website in that community, have a page, the Shackhouse Central page, and you and I are going back and forth. It will be up when this podcast drops.

I extoll the virtues of the Florida swing. and you do the best you can to tell folks why the West Coast Swing matters. Yeah. But everybody will get a chance to check it out. Go on to Callagoff.com slash community and you get to see the arguments that we make there. Yeah, yeah. It's tough to defend the West Coast swing. It's the best part of the year.

Anyway, we won't go there. So, all right. Before we get to Herm Edwards, just a quick break to talk about what else house, but the ball that changed the ball. You may not believe me, but there are still golfers out there that have never even tried Calloway's Chrome Soft. To those golfers, I say, what is wrong with you? Look at the price. Look at the softness.

The distance, the feel, the whole thing. The best players in the world are changing the Chrome Soft to get better. It's extremely fast, incredibly soft, unbelievably easy to control. And if you have trouble with this short game, get the true viz. The ball looks twice as big. It's the most amazing thing ever. You can get the Truvist, the ChromeSoft at your golf shop. It's awesome.

It's a ball that Phil Mickelson uses to hit that signature high softie. It's a ball Patrick Reed uses, the win rider cup matches. And it's a ball that Mr. 58, Jim Furrick, shot 58 with. Yeah. So the ChromeSoft and the new ChromeSoft decks are in stores now. Go to CallawayGolf.com to learn more. It's the ball that change the ball. And also don't forget that great Truvus, which I love and have got a,

That's all I got in the baghouse. So anyway, more importantly, let's get to our guest. He's a former NFL player and coach. He's been an analyst with ESPN since 2009. He had a 10-year career as a cornerback with the Eagles, Rams, and Falcons, followed by multiple coaching stints leading up to those head coaching jobs with the Chiefs and Jets. He's known for his game day terminology, the Hermisms House. I know you love those.

I know you love coach. Are we ready to team up and talk a little golf and maybe a little Super Bowl with him? What do you think, House? Yeah, I'm ready to play to win the games, Jeff Shackleford. All right. Let's get Herm Edwards on the phone and talk to the coach. We are very excited here on the Shack House. We have a fantastic guest for today.

We're not just excited. We are fired up. None other than Coach Herm Edwards joining the Shack House. Hello, Coach. How you doing? Well, we had a good, into our season, obviously in the Super Bowl. You always want that game to be competitive and compelling.

It was all that and some. So our season ended on a good note, whether you were a Captain America fan or not. It was a great game to watch. So that's the perfect lead-in for my first question, coach. You have met Calloway's own Harry Arnett, and you know Harry is an enormous Falcons fan. So I'm going to be very gentle here.

I don't want a second guess anything that's going on. But I want your coach's perspective on a crucial juncture in the game. So Julio Jones makes that catch. We got about four and a half minutes left. That Falcons have the ball at the New England 23-yard line. And we know what happened. They moved backwards and put themselves out of field goal range. but I'm interested in your perspective, your coach's perspective,

on what was going through the minds of Coach Quinn and Coach Shanahan, their thought process at that moment of the game. Well, obviously, that might like to play football. Somewhere along the line, though, this is where, obviously the coach steps in and lets them know the situation of the game, knowing that the clock, we're playing against the clock now because we are leading into football. And, you know, you have suggestions.

and for range, I'd like to get it a little closer. If we're going to pass to be the way we go about it, I want a quick pass. I want three-step drop. I don't want anything with a quarterback now. They won't have enough possessions to catch us. But, you know, we're all going back to that, to that one play, you know,

and I get it that one series of plays, but it was bigger than that. This game was way bigger than that. It really is. And all we said in football games, more teams lose games than they win. Think about the dynamics of this game. For me, it started at halftime.

The numbers, and I get it. Two of their scores actually came off turnovers. So if I'm Bill Belichick, and I walk into the locker room, I'm telling the defense, guys, you guys play's great. You basically gave up one touchdown. Other than that, offensively, we're moving the ball. We just got to get some points on the board. So with that being said, I think the turning point for me

this game minutes left. It was a fourth and three. And they decided Atlanta to rush three guys. And they were going to double, Edel double, obviously, white running back, because that's where the passes were going.

Well, as you know, Amandola catches the ball. And from that point, I had possessions and scored. When you look at this game, we can break it down a lot of different way. This game reminds me the National Championship game, to be quite honest. in that game,

Clemson had over 96, had 93 plays of all fans. Atlanta Falcons had 46. Captain America, 93 plays. Guess what? You're not going to beat him. All right, coach. Now, that's a wonderful bit of analysis,

but this is a golf podcast. We got you on to talk some golf. We thank you so much for that. You guys, are you guys at Tebel right now? No, we're not. We're all over the place. So now the question is, Are you getting back to Pebble?

No, I'm not getting back to Pebble because I'm generally I plan this deal with daily. Right. But I'm in studio this week. So I talked to my wife today and obviously she's saying it's raining and I'm saying that's never good. It's raining. But this AT&T deal, a good friend of mine is on, you know, runs it as Steve John. So hopefully this rain will clear up and these guys will get to play some good golf. So tell us a little bit.

I think people would be curious to know how. how you got into golf because you're a Monterey resident, and yet you didn't really play. You used to, is that correct? You used to run on the golf courses and kind of work out. And that's kind of, but you didn't get tempted by the game doing that, did you? No, I was, you know, I grew up in Seaside, and the only thing I knew about it was golf course,

they were nice to run on because I was always a level ground. And I was fortunate enough growing up highly, probably when I was, I don't know, I think when I was with the Eagles, actually, and it was the AT&T, and I think you know what you're doing. You said, yeah, I played golf and never took a round. I mean, never took a practice round playing golf. Didn't even have any golf club, by the way. And so my first experience was playing in the AT&T,

and this is way back, excuse me, the Crosby, and this is way back when they actually used to play a Cypress point, you know, pebble and the spyglass. guess who I was paired with the first time I ever played in the golf tournament and he was just coming on the tour as a rookie first tee at Cyprus and you know a guy gave

I had some guy went and got some clubs I can remember he had got golf clubs and all I had was irons in my bag you know because I was pretty strong lad and I could hit iron so I just used irons and did that nice par four then we got to the par we got to the par five it kind of twist along it and a little par three

then we get to the next part four you know and the first thing I realized about this golf thing, I said, boy, you wait a lot of it. You wait a long time. You get the ball. I said, that's not good. You know, I'm a defensive back, man. Things happen within three seconds, and you've got to go, you know, then you got to play again.

And so we're creating on the fourth hole. And there's this guy in front of us. I don't know who he is. And he's walking back and forth like he's walking up and taking measurements. And I asked Peter, I said, maybe hit one down on this guy and tell him to hurry up. And he said, no, no, don't do that. It's just firm.

you can't do that. I'm going, really? And I said, who is that guy? Bernard Langer. Bernard Langer. We know this story, right? Oh, my gosh. Yeah, so it was, I had a great time with him, and, you know,

and he was a rookie on the tour, and I remember he was from Australia, and I saw him again have the senior thing there with the kids. Right. First T-open, yeah. At Pable Beach, yeah. And the first T-O-O-Bee-O-P. and he was playing with a group, and I had kept up with him, and I was wondering if he remembered me, and sure enough, he runs over there, I still got your picture.

I've been watching you, Coach. And we had a great conversation, and I haven't seen him on. That's great. So, Coach, you're kind of an old vet when it comes to these proams. I was going to ask you, you know, you're an NFL player, NFL coach, you're on TV, and you're standing on the first tee at one of these proam events. Which of all of those pursuits is the most nerve-wracking for you? Oh, ain't no doubt.

I fix that right away. When I get on the first tee, you know, they announce your name. I tell them folks, hey, let's make some noise. I want to hear it. And as they start hollering, I hit it just as I can to get off that first seat, man. Coach, you know, on that topic, a lot of athletes admire golfers. And I've always wondered what it is that they're drawn to, what attributes about golf. Obviously, forget the recreational part, but just the admiration they have for pro golfers.

Is it because it's so different from what they do that they admire that they're able to deal with all these things? Because it's slow, because you have so much time to think about what could go wrong. Is that, I mean, what is it that athletes love about golfers? In common, there's this mental toughness you have. and the thing we're very cordial that's the first thing I've learned about they've seen more bad shots than the history of golf than anybody

they're very they're very gracious you know there's great sports with competing against each other and you know when you when you want you know we all think we know athletes always say well I can play golf

I say what right the part of the game I ever try to try to play and I've always said this you know and it's the game but when I'm playing with the guys. Before I hit him, I said, look. Now, if you want to run off and go jump in the water or get lost,

I got to put him in the game next. And how's that working for you? Yeah, how's he listened? It works pretty good because sometimes the ball listens says, no, I'm going to listen to you. I don't want to play with you for a while. As soon as he gets lost somewhere, I put that underwood in play and say, come on, man, you can play this one.

Coach, you have two daughters, I believe. Is that right? Yes, I do. Yeah. And are they golfers? Well, yeah, I got them playing a little bit. They kind of do everything. They're swimmers or golfers.

They actually play with a couple girls that are really good golfers. I mean, really good. One of them actually is helping out at the AT&T this week. Oh, very cool. Yeah, and she's really a good guy. I mean, she's going to go to probably get a scholarship. I mean, she's going to be that good. I think she's only 11 years old right now, but she can just kind of tell.

You know, she's going to good. She's way above my daughters. I mean, golfers are her mission and, life and she's focused on and she plays golf. I mean, well, my daughters play around with her and, uh, what age did you start your girls, uh, put the clubs in their hands? You know, now, you know, they're not consistent with it, but they like it. And it's a way, you know, we live out in California, we live out in Carmel.

And, uh, we live in, we live in Tahin, we're Clint's. There's a nice golf course there that we're members of and I'll take them up there, boy, and it's a hoot. I started golf and the only reason they wanted to golf, they want to drive the golf cart, you know. You know, kid, they want to drive the car. No, no, no, no. You can't drive the cars. You have to hit the ball first.

So I made him a deal. I said, if you can tee off and hit the ball, you get to drive the car for a little while. So that was kind of my situation with him. When you start hitting the ball, but the game, it's going to get out. And golf is one of those games. You have to practice.

Now, you mentioned Tahama. Clint Eastwood developed that. Do you see him there a lot? Have you played much golf with him there? because he's still obviously very involved in the pro-am too this week. Yeah, yeah. Well, yes, and I see him when I've come home, you know, every once in a while. I'm in and out so much, but I see him.

You always have a nice conversation. I met Clinton in 198, and he's an avid golfer, obviously. He has some guys he plays golf with all the time. He's a big football fans who always wants to know what's going on in football. He was a Raider fan, obviously, but he developed quite a place up there. It's a wonderful place. is he fun to play golf with oh yeah i mean you know yeah i mean he's fast

he plays fast he don't mess around he hits it and go man he don't he don't mess he doesn't mess he's not one of those guys wants to hang out of him so speaking of playing with celebrities we know you're a veteran of these these proams is there anybody out there that uh you haven't yet played with that you wish you you get a chance to play with i couldn't as i was working so him and marcus played out there in Arizona, obviously, it just played last week.

He was out there, and ESPN was covering it, and I actually walked with, you know, played together that round. And it was just fun walking inside the ropes, watching those guys hit golf ball. It was just, like, unbelievable how far they could hit it. So these guys were really good. All right, coach, last question.

We like to be sort of a matchmaking service, potentially, depending on the answer. But is there one golf course on your bucket list that you have not played that you, want to play? You know what? I'm one of those guys where I've been very fortunate in my lifetime through the people I've met.

They've been very kind to me, and I've been invited to some places where I thought in my lifetime I would never be here to play. So I've, you know, I've gotten all of them pretty good now. I've been around. Wow. I get my opportunities. I get my opportunities. and when I go and I'm invited, I show up, you know.

It's been a lot of fun. And, you know, it's like, I don't start really playing golf until now. You know, I got to lie about a three-month window, four-month window. And then I shut it down. You know, like my first event will probably be now, the one that I'll play in. Not this year in AT&T because I'm working, but I'm playing in the Houston Open. I played in that one. That's always a fun one to play in.

Nice one. A great job as well. Tournaments I generally play in every. year, you know, AT&T kind of, they don't want to talk about. They don't want to talk football. Two years ago when, yeah, two years ago, so you'll appreciate this and I'll let you go. So we're, it was me and, and Daly and, and Chris Berman is playing. Get his name now, but and filling those guys and it was the rain, it rained on us.

So we got one hole in. So we had Monterey for the country club. And so we pull off into the shop, you know, we go into the, uh, to the restaurant there. I mean to myself, and we sit down and we start talking football. And we're telling us. all the guys around the table, and we are just telling stories, and them guys are asked questions, and it's almost just like an interview session.

The guy comes in and says, okay, we go back out and all the polls, said, no, we want to sit here and listen to more stories. Well, that's awesome. Coach, thanks so much. Our condolences to you for not being able to play in the Pebble Beach Pro Am, but at least you got an awesome Super Bowl to analyze and talk about, and we wish you the best of the luck with your golf in the coming months. Okay, and can you guys need me?

let me know because I'm always around. Love you, Coach. Thank you. Thanks, Coach. Okay, guys. Thank you. Okay. All right. Well, we thank Coach again for taking a little time away from the post-super Super Bowl analysis and joining us. And we do sympathize with his flight getting to miss a pro-am in his hometown this year. But you'll get to see him at a pro-am near you, it sounds like how.

I know. He doesn't miss him. A man loves playing pro-ams. I just love that. That's awesome. Hey, last word from our good, good friend. at Odyssey, the number one putter in golf. I don't know if you've been hearing about it, but you know when it comes to putting, the best players in the world generate top spin at impact, and that is the big differentiator between pros and amateur golfers on the green.

So unlike a tour pro who has all day to perfect their putting strokes, regular guys like us don't have all day to work on our putting or go hang out at the store and try to find the absolute perfect butter. So, of course, Odyssey is here to help us compensate for that lack of forward role with their new O-Works putters featuring, the micro hinge insert that dynamically generates a media topspinid and impact regardless of how terrible your putting stroke is. And I got to tell you, it is the softest feeling butter I have ever tried. It is so incredible. And everybody I've been sharing mine with who try comes away

feeling the same thing. I heard the same thing too. They had them at the PGA show and people went nuts. At least the people I know who were there. Of course, Phil Mickelson was the one who brought it out at the Ryder Cup. And now it's spreading like wildfire on the PGR. the new Oworks microhinge insert from Odyssey. It's now available for pre-sail in-house. February 17th, they finally get into the stores for people to try them. And I know the minute they try them, they're going to like them. Because if you like a soft face on your putter, you will be in heaven.

We thank our guests, Herm Edwards again today, House. We got hopefully decent weather for most of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am. And it should be a good week of PGA Tour golf. and other fun stuff going on in the golf world that we're tracking. Anything else you want to add? I'm psyched for a week off for Tiger. That's the thing I'm most excited about this week. He's taking the week off.

He's getting his body right, his mind right. And when we connect next week for the next week's Shuckahoo! We'll be talking about another Tiger preview at Riviera, which is going to be really cool. All right. We'll talk to you next week.