Geoff Schwartz Is Smarter Than You - A Special Super Bowl Interview with Mitchell Schwartz

Episode Date: January 28, 2020

In what may be the first-ever dual-brother Super Bowl podcast, Mitchell Schwartz joins the show to tell Geoff everything going on — from Pat Mahomes' iconic scramble to Andy Reid's barbecue advice — in the lead-up to Super Bowl 54 in Miami. Mitchell Schwartz: (2:09) Playing with Pat Mahomes: (2:30) 49ers matchup: (7:36) Andy Reid: (8:39) 49ers matchup (2): (12:45) Advice for young linemen: (17:15) An embarrassing Geoff story: (19:10) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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The free stock program is subject to certain limitations. Annual percentage yield on uninvested cash is paid by program banks as variable. Robin Financial is not a bank. It's Tuesday, January 28th, and this is Jeff Schwartz is Smarter Than You. We have a fantastic episode for you guys today, a special episode. My brother, Mitchell Schwartz, the right tackle for the Chiefs, joins us. I just want to say it's been a joy to watch him through his journey. This is eighth year in the NFL up until about midway through the season. He'd never missed a snap in the NFL,

put 51 straight games at Cal four time, all pro. I'm so proud of him. So happy for him. It was an emotional day to see him get in the super bowl. I cannot wait to Sunday to be in the stadium. I got my Mitch Schwartz jersey. The only time that I will ever wear a jersey in a stadium that's not mine, really, is my brother's.

Can't wait to watch him this week and the Chiefs and what this means for Andy Reid, what it means, obviously, for my brother, the city of Kansas City, and everything that goes into this game. I hope you guys enjoy this interview. And here is my brother, the right tackle for the Chiefs, number 71, Mitch Schwartz. All right, now welcome in my brother, Mitch Schwartz, the Chiefs right tackle. All right, Mitch,

how much does it bother you that the name of my podcast is Jeff Schwartz is smarter than you when you clearly think you are smarter than me? Well, I mean, the title's full, so there's really no other way about it it's just the way it is all right buddy so you were in the super bowl obviously

congratulations and i feel like on on sunday the pat mahomes run helped you guys and obviously sealed it kind of felt like it changed the tie of the game you're standing there watching him run down the sidelines what kind of take like it changed the tide of the game. You're standing there watching him run down the sidelines. Kind of take me through the emotions of that play. Yeah, I mean, I was literally standing there watching because I thought he was going to be pushed out originally. And then I kind of figured he would just step out at some point too. So I probably got a one on the finish grade there.

But, you know, he made a guy mess. I mean, I didn't even realize he gave the head fake initially. I kind of just remembered him going towards the sideline and barely getting by the first time. He's obviously going down the sidelines, and I just figured he'd go out of bounds. We had a timeout or two, 15 or 18 seconds, so we had three or four shots at the end zone,

and we could run any play in the offense at that point. Pat being Pat, he's something that no one else can really see. He cuts it back. He's obviously a little more elusive than people give him credit for. I know they're tackling the ball more than him too.

Just kind of the straight up willpower and determination that we kind of see every day. The fans get to see it on those types of runs. kind of the straight up willpower and determination that, you know, we kind of see every day, but you know, the fans get to see it on those types of runs. I'm glad you mentioned that little head fake that he did, because it feels like he does little things like that better than other quarterbacks do. He's so self-aware. When did you realize that he had kind of this extra awareness that I think

most quarterbacks at least don't really show they might have it, but he shows it all the time where he's able to see things and you can clearly tell he's doing something that's that most quarterbacks don't do yeah you know i mean the first year he's on the team and you know the reports were oh he's lighting it up and he's doing all this stuff and it's like yeah it's a team i mean you can throw whatever pass you want and it doesn't really matter it doesn't matter if you throw a pick that's that's good for the defense They're going to feel good about themselves. You don't really know how that's going to translate directly to

game action. It was either his first or second preseason, I don't remember. He had a play where he was rolling out to the right. I think it was naked and it was designed, but they covered everything down. He just kind of kept drifting and drifting and drifting and then chucked it like 55 yards downfield off his back foot,

like perfect accuracy to the receiver, running like the longest deep cross of all time. And you're like, oh my God, he just did that. And it worked and the pass was perfect and everything was exactly the way it was supposed to be and it worked in a game situation against full speed guys. And so once you started seeing it in game action, it kind of became a thing that it's not just him messing around in practice or being able to do something that you

know it doesn't matter if it goes wrong in practice there's no real ramifications uh that's when it started solidifying do you find yourself having to change the way that you block and you might be the wrong person because you're pretty steady with the way you block but just you guys in general do you have to change the way that you have to block for pat because you know he can make the second and third window throws and kind of get out of the pocket and and you might have to block a little bit longer kind of chase him to make sure no one hits him late as he throws the ball yeah to me it's all the same i mean a lot of people ask that in cleveland with with johnny um you know johnziel runs around. Do you have to do anything different? To me, it's the same.

You're blocking for where you expect the quarterback to be. Obviously, if your defensive lineman starts running in the opposite direction, something different is probably happening, and you need to redirect. I think the underrated part, especially last year, everyone loved all the clips of Pat running around and making these incredible plays and the no look passes on the run but he was so good in the pocket and his rhythm and his timing and to go back to you know your earlier question about when did you know that uh he was going to

be the way he was it was because he was able to throw within the rhythm of coach's offense and you know this isn't an offense that you know teaches streetball and hey just go run around a guy will get open everything is as you know extremely precise detail oriented everything goes in rhythm and so um you know pat being able to do that is the base of the offense and so from the pass block perspective you kind of just trust that he's going to throw it on time in that kind of natural rhythm and then like you said as your guy starts going in another direction you just react from there i'm glad you mentioned his footworks i feel like as he was beat up this year that was kind of taken away from him and it feels now at least after the buy that his footwork and his

pocket precision and stepping up in the pocket that's all back to where it was last year i mean he felt like there was how tough is it to watch him kind of go through some of those injury issues and kind of not be the same guy even though he good, he wasn't the same guy for about eight weeks this year. Yeah, I mean, it was a combination of that a little bit, combined with left tackle went down. And I think for the first time the fans realized how important Fisher is. Yes. Tyreek was down for five weeks.

Sammy was down for a couple weeks. Running backs have been in and out all year. And so, yeah, I mean, a combination of kind of all those things, but I think it's kind of evident now to see how well he's moving and the things he's able to do that it just unlocks kind of that last dimension that makes him the best in the game.

Yeah, you mentioned Eric Fisher, and we'll get into more of your specific matchup this week, but I feel like the fans kind of don't understand that he's not the rookie that he used to be. Like, I feel like the people still look at him as 2013 guy, and he obviously has improved a lot, and you missed him while you guys were gone.

Yeah, I mean, you know, the old cliche, you know, you only have one chance at a first impression, and so that's kind of what sticks in people's mind. And, you know, it takes some kind ofworldly uh idea or thing that they see to really get them to change it and so you know the first time i mean he's been so steady since i've been here which is you know four years now um and he keeps getting better every year which which you point out pretty often and like you said the fans don't necessarily want to hear it just because they're so used to you know rookie fish and coming from a small school and he was underweight and

everything was just you just going too fast. Guys need time, especially at the O-line position. He's been great and I'm happy for him that his true worth is finally out there. Every single person loves Andy Reid. He is a fantastic human, obviously a coach who's progressive and innovative and he's done great things with a lot of teams. And it feels like everyone is rooting for Andy Reid to win the Super Bowl. Obviously, even non-Chiefs fans are rooting for him.

What is it about Andy, maybe kind of off the field, that makes him a special coach? We know he can call plays and he can design them, and there's really no – he doesn't ever feel the pressure. But what is it kind of about the way he handles the meeting rooms and the facility that make guys really fall in love with him? I think it's the leadership aspect of, you know, he sets very clear expectations. You know, he doesn't have long team meetings. He doesn't stand up there and talk for 15 minutes every day about what he expects from everybody. You know, the leadership is set and it's just what's required, what's expected.

They bring in the right people. He doesn't need to have, like I said, those team meetings every single day to talk about, oh, this needs to happen, that needs to happen. So he's got a very clear focus. Like we talked about in terms of Pat and the rhythm of the offense, everything is detail-oriented. So that leads into not just the game planning, but the way he schedules meetings and practice and all those things.

And so, you know, you've got to keep on schedule. You've got to make sure you're doing what you're supposed to, but he's also going to treat you well. He's going to give you time off when you need it. And, you know, kind of that two-way street of I'm going to treat you like adults, and he also trusts us to act like adults on the back end he talks a lot about food the i had a conversation with him this is in 2013 uh memorial weekend at the airport he gave me um the best times that every barbecue place in

kansas city uh um uh had their uh their beef tips what are those called again i forgot uh burnt ends what time the burnt burnt ends were best to eat. What is your favorite Andy Reid food story? Because you like to cook too. You're a barbecuer. You're cooking all the time. I'm sure you and Andy have talked about food before. Yeah, he told me about a chili relleno burrito,

which I didn't know was a thing. But apparently there's a place back home for him that makes a pretty awesome version of it. So my understanding is that, you know, kind of a normal cheese, chili relleno situation. Get the pepper, stuff it with cheese, dredge it, fry it. And then you take that and that becomes the middle of the burrito. So you create a burrito out of that. That sounds amazing. I mean, I love myself a chili relleno. I love burrito. So you create a burrito out of that. That was amazing.

I mean, I love myself a chili reno. I love burritos. I think it sounded like you tried to get the guys at the facility to whip those up for them. But as you know, there's nothing like your favorite Mexican place back home. So nothing ever compares. If you win this Sunday, what are you going to eat first? You're back in the hotel, obviously.

You can order anything you want. What is your – and remember, you do like to go with a disgusting meal from time to time. What would be your Super Bowl winning meal? Man, I feel like we're going to be limited to hotel options. When I've heard the security is going to be a little bit much on campus there. It is. I don't know.

I mean, it's going to have to be the late night menu at the hotel, so that limits it even further. I feel like Mitch is probably going to involve fried foods and dipped in ranch would be my best guess. If you tweeted out, hey, Chiefs Nation, Chiefs Kingdom, I'm at the hotel and I want a Cuban sandwich. You'd have 27 Cuban sandwiches show up at the hotel. You can have whatever you want. No, I don't.

But they don't. So you have to be like on a list to even get in the lobby. So that's the problem. It's not that you couldn't get it. It's just that like at that point, there's no chance I'm leaving the hotel. And I'm going to be pretty exhausted regardless. So as little as I can leave my room, I have to walk around. And, I mean, you know how hotel lobbies,

you've got to imagine how it's going to be after the Super Bowl. So part of that is me avoiding people, and it's also me being fat. So it's a combination. Both of those. All right, a couple more questions here about this week and your opponent, the Niners. When you look at this defensive line, a lot's going to be made about their ability to rush the passer.

How do you guys go about doing that? Because I know people will say, hey, let's add a tight end in, let's add a running back. But when you add those pieces in the offense, they're no longer allowed to be kind of in the route concept and it actually makes it tougher to pass. So how do you guys handle having four guys on the Niners defensive line that can rush a passer really well?

Yeah, it comes down to just winning your one-on-ones. You know, it sounds simple and kind of hokey, but that's really what it comes down to. Like you said, I mean, you start adding tight ends and running backs. I mean, typically those guys are blocking edge defenders. So do you really want to block Nick Bosa with, you know, your third string tight end and with your third down running back? And so, you know, the onus is definitely on the O-line to get that done.

You know, they have a pretty good third down package on, you know, with 54 in there. And so it kind of gets to those barrier fronts and that, you know, kind of guarantees that they're going to get the five one-on-ones and be able to run the twists in the games and really isolates all of us. And, yeah, it's a challenge. I mean, most teams have one or two guys that are pretty good pass rushers.

And, you know, so it requires one or two guys to have a pretty good game. And the rest of the guys, you know, aren't going up against world beaters. But, you know, all five guys are going to have to pretty good game and the rest of the guys, you know, aren't going up against world beaters, but you know, all five guys are going to have to play good games against these guys. Cause you know, they've got pretty much every size and athletic, you know, kind of skill set that you could have. I mean, D4, you know,

kind of smaller, quicker, you know, both is kind of in the middle in terms of the blend of, of the speed and the power. And then obviously the six,7", 6'8", Oregon guys who are, you know, humongous but also have good quicks. And so you also got to know who you're blocking because, like I said, I mean, they're different body types. And, yeah, it's a challenge. Yeah, and, you know, looking at their ability to kind of be so multiple,

obviously will put a lot on Pat. You know, this is the first time you've had this week of prep in your life, right? You've never been past the AFC Championship game. What was the most challenging part of last week, kind of getting everything organized, practicing, and getting down to Miami? Well, I think it's, you know, you've got a week off, and, like, you know that you're not playing that week, but you still want to prepare as though you're playing.

So kind of toeing that fine line between playing that week, but you still want to prepare as though you're playing. And so kind of toeing that fine line between not exhausting yourself with going all out in terms of preparation, but you do want to get as much of that done as you can. Because like you said, you get to Miami and then everything kicks up and there's media every day and there's distractions and people want to see you. And so as much of the preparation as you can get done that first week, you want to do that. So I think that's the biggest thing is trying to lock in like it is a game week, just knowing you're not actually preparing for the game.

Yeah. Normally in a bye week, you don't do anything. You just kind of hang out during bye weeks. This is a week where you have to prepare. Look at your defense real quick. A lot of improvement throughout the year. Where have you noticed the pickup in defense?

The run defense has been better. The pass defense has been better. When did you realize that the defense had kind of gelled and come together? It seemed like around the midpoint part of the year. We had a couple games we didn't play well as a team. Really kind of games, I guess you

would say five through ten there. And so usually at that point the focus kind of turns to the mental side of things. I mean, I think we're obviously sitting here about to play a Super Bowl game, so we've got all the physical tools that we could want. And it kind of comes down to how you're preparing, your attitude, especially defensively. I mean, defense is such a kind of passion and attitude-driven side of the ball. And so injuries there as well, obviously Christmas sometime. Frank's had some things he's battled through,

and there's always guys beat up and defensive ends and new guys. But it's also a new system, as you like to talk about. With a new offense, it takes, you know, six to up to 12 weeks to really get the feel of what the coordinator wants, what he's looking for, how things are going to be played. And I'd imagine it's similar on the defensive side where, you know, Spag is sitting there and he's got all these kind of puzzle pieces and where do we play, you know, Tyron

and how do I deploy my rushers the best way. And so kind of a gelling of those guys just bringing it, you know, every single day, especially on game day. And then the defensive coordinator getting the feel for what his guys can do best. Kind of a big picker question here. I get asked a lot about offensive line play, obviously. And I get asked a ton by people, what should they do when you're a young player? How would you tell people to prepare to play offensive line, you know,

high school, middle school? Because I think we both agree on how to do this, but I think your answer carries a little bit more weight than mine. Well, you want to see if you're athletic enough to play D-line first, and then if you just absolutely cannot do that, it's way less money to do a much harder job than you go and play offensive line. No, you know, I think the biggest thing, I mean, there's so many techniques. I mean, you go to the, you know,

Duke's O-line masterminds in Texas, and I think the biggest takeaway is that everybody does it different. You know, who does it different than Lane? Who does it different than Ramchick? Who does it different than Teron, who's on his own team? You know, so everyone has to find

what they do best. You know, there's a lot of times where you want to say, oh, that guy did that and that looks really good and I like his technique. But you have to figure out what works for you. And so there's, you know, definitely a time and a place to try new things, you know, practice especially. The biggest thing with practice is that is the time to try new things.

So you have to figure out, you know, like I said, what works for you, what doesn't. And then just, I mean, general hard work, it sounds stupid, but, you know, if you're able to kind of work hard at what you're doing, you know, I wouldn't say I got in the Twitter battle with someone, but someone, you know, asked for what's one, you know, major thing for high school kids to, you know, have a good season or prepare, and I i just said stay in shape uh it sounds stupid but if you get out of shape that's the number one risk factor in terms of

injuries in terms of poor play performance um if you're not in shape you're gonna like i said you're gonna get hurt you're gonna be tired you're not gonna be able to you know stay in the right body position for what the offense line position requires and so um you're in good shape you're working hard you know you're doing what your're working hard, you know, you're doing what your coaches are teaching. Um, you know, that's the best chance for success on a, you know, a very generic level. All right. I'll put you on the spot here. Last question. What's your most embarrassing Jeff Schwartz story that you're willing to tell about our childhood together? And you can go any way you want, buddy. Cause I don't, I, nothing will

embarrass me. So whatever off top of your head your favorite jeff schwartz embarrassing story it has to be truthful no no nothing like no making up stories here um well the jimmy v the was this before after he died uh that's pretty bad we're we're watching um tv and it's um you know the jimmy val Valvano kind of week and celebrating him and his life. Jeff and I haven't seen his speech yet and our dad comes in and says, hey, you guys are going to want to check this out. This is a really good speech. So we sit down and we all watch it together. And then after it's over, Jeff goes, hey, was that before or after he died? And we just kind of look at each other like, really, just say that? Like, honestly, you know, what he meant was, was there air before or after he died?

Because our dad told us, you know, he passed close after that. And that was, you know, kind of towards the end for him. So what came out was asking, did he gave a speech before or after he was dead, but the intent was a little bit better than that. It was not great. All right, Mitch, we appreciate you joining us today, and good luck this week. And, man, it's awesome.

In the Super Bowl, are you going to be able to enjoy this? I know it's a lot of kind of stress involved in this week, and there's a lot of happenings, and you're in a different place for a week. Do you think it would be tough to enjoy it? I think I'll enjoy the majority of the week. It kind of sucks watching the line ever and knowing you've got to face them

in a few days. So that's the part that it would be great if you could face a team that wasn't so good, but of course it is a Super Bowl, so you're going to face the best. But I think I'll be able to enjoy it. Good. Good, buddy. All right. Take care, my man, and I'll see you this week. All right. That has been my brother, Mitch Schwartz.

Glad to be able to get him on. I'm glad he took a couple minutes. Very busy right now. There's a lot happening, folks. He's got to deal with tickets and hotels and people hitting him up for things that they want this week. And obviously preparing for the 49ers and going down to Miami and just being away from home for a week. And knowing that there's so much at stake. It's got to be a pretty stressful time.

But glad he was able to join us and get him on and obviously very intelligent. And by the way, he gave a very mild answer. The show title really does bother him, folks. It has to bother him very much because most of you guys think you're smarter than me, but Mitch really believes he's smarter than me. So I was hoping to catch him there with a little bit of off guard. I don't know if he was ready for that. But again, we really appreciate you or I really appreciate you joining me today. You can find me at Twitter at Jeff Schwartz. We'll be back Thursday with our episode for athletic subscribers only. That'll be our preview. We'll have a bunch of fun prop bets and we'll talk

about my time in Miami. I've been here. Um, well, by that time I'll have been there since it's Monday. So, uh, I'll been here a long time and, uh, all right guys. Talk to you later.