NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2023 Hot Butt Rankings

Episode Date: August 24, 2023

In a room full of heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, and Marc Sessler bring you the 2023 edition of ATN's Hot Butt Rankings. Before things heat up, the heroes make a major announcement about the show (04:40) and get caught up on the news including one of Dan's favorite things of the summer (12:20), an update on Jonathan Taylor and the Colts (18:06), an injury update for Cooper Kupp (23:56), and more! After the break, the heroes tell you which coaches they think are under the most pressure headed into the new season (26:48). Is Bill Belichick still safe (39:37)? Which coaches should feel more heat than the rest (53:15)?  Note: Time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast has been golfing but is decidedly not golfers. From the Chris Wrestling podcast studio, it's around the NFL. I am Dan Hansis. Heroes here, Greg Rosenthal, Mark Zessler. I don't know. Do we need to litigate the golfing? I don't know.

Somewalt has relocated. It's in Connecticut, and I think he's floating away from us. We're here. We're in a new season, a football season. I thank you to everybody for respecting my space. I needed that Wednesday after what happened with the Ravens. Just clear my head and really go for a walk, a long one. Well, it's tough for you, I guess, on a few fronts,

because I don't know if you remember on the show Monday, if you're going to bring it up right away. We should revisit something that you said. Oh, John Harbaugh does care. and it's a big round number, 25, there is zero chance. Oh. I mean, I won't say anything else if you want to, those desert folk, there is zero chance that the Ravens lose this game and don't lay,

any wood you lay out, chop it. They will chop that wood. That hurts. Well, you went on to suggest that you would issue an apology. Yeah, that was really, you gave incorrect advice. I was looking for it. You went that. Well, I won't go that far to actually keep my word.

But I'll just say it was really heartbreaking to see that end. But also, and also at the same time, conflicting, because that's a good job by you, Joey Sly, in a big spot. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. We did hit it at length already. Sure, you did.

But I just figured we had to revisit that. And good to know about this test of character. I'm not a desert guy. You won't be a man of your work. No. You said you would apologize. I will not. what i mean sure i don't know

what can we trust now right in reverse if we suggested that if we you know proclaim something right to the international and national audience and say if i'm wrong right i fail all of you right um that i'll apologize and now you're saying that's not an option it's a different standard for me and you guys okay well yes we're all three co-hosts of the show so

well maybe in your mind should be the same the people know the truth And the people know that in my heart, the Ravens will start another streak now. A losing streak. Maybe. But anyway, good to be back. We did, this is a big one.

And again, it has to be made clear, not a celebration, this segment. And I know there's this idea that once again, you know, the idea that I am showing, showing some character flaw by celebrating the idea that coaches could be fired. No, just a reality. Like, everybody wants to be, everybody in this business wants to be like, oh, these are people.

Yeah, they are people. And we understand that, but we also understand that there will be five to eight dismissals at the end of this year. And we're going to talk about not who we want to be fired or who we're predicting is going to get fired, just who's in the most danger in the head coach ranks of the NFL of losing their job during or after this. season. That's all it is. It's an exercise. And also settle down a little bit on the gravity. And I, again, I don't, no coach wants to get fired. It's a low career moment. But unlike a bricklayer,

um, if they're fired a year into their five year contract, they get paid the rest of that money. Right. You and, and a minute, many of them then take a year or two off and they, you know, go have this Mike McCarthy, like, come to Jesus thing where you actually look at other offenses around the league and have this, you know, evolution. But they get healthier. they're well-paid, nothing changes. It's like, this is not the common man trying to pound out a nine-to-five job who gets, you know, let go. Well, there's also, like, the handful who's their careers end right there

because they're an assistant-wide receivers coach and they don't have any good connections, and that's it. But we're not talking about those guys. I understand it's all connected. But, you know, there's some people out there that like to use stuff like this to show that they think differently. Right. It's virtue signaling, and it's ugly.

We're tired of it. We're just going to tell you what it's like for these coaches, the pressure they might be under that even if they're not going to share it with the media, they know. They know. These guys know that it's hard to hold an NFL head coach job and keep it. We're going to get into it. But first, we promised a big announcement.

A big announcement. A big old announcement, Eric. Huge. Massive announcement. He's only got nice. fingers we can't technically do we give him a little bit of grace on drops going forward like a i think you have to half second grace yeah well let's see he's missing part of the thumb we'll give him yeah five percent it's going to grow back though according to that one doctor is it is it possible

that if it grows back he could be better like quicker that's how the body works Call me, John? Yes, you are now Eric Rowengartner. Here's the big news. Around the NFL, which is this. It's a podcast. It's this. It's a podcast.

But it hasn't always been a podcast. We've had different things, iterations connected to the show, whether it's NFL network programming, for instance, which we've been on the network a bunch. This company has a new. streaming platform, new-ish, called NFL Plus that, listen, I'm not telling the tails out of school. It's a big deal for NFL media. They're putting a lot into this. And with that knowledge, it's good to know that they wanted around the NFL to be part of the NFL to be part of the NFL Plus rollout for 2023.

With that said, starting September 7th, you will get extra ATN goodness on that platform. you'll need an NFL plus subscription here in the States and with it you'll get all that plus has to offer which is plentiful it's a lot you get NFL Network

you get Red Zone you get games I mean that's the key thing to me you get your local and your primetime games exactly as well as now two new shows per week from around the NFL starting on September 7th on Mondays every Monday. I'm not sure if it will drop Tuesday, but we'll record every Monday our ATN game of the week

where we'll pick a game that we enjoyed the most from Sunday and then we kind of chop that up, a shortened version of that game and break it down and have some fun with it, share some hot takes, perhaps some special guests. We're figuring out the format, but excited about that. And then Thursdays, it's our kind of, look at it like a bonus show. It will feature some of your favorite ATN segments of the past and present, some new ones as well. For you community fans out there, remember the community sitcom on NBC? Yeah, sure.

I see it as ATN's Drematorium, the special play area that was in Troy and Abed's apartment, the second bedroom. you can go anywhere and have any type of adventure. That's the Thursday show. And it'll be quick, too. We'll get you in and out of there in like 20 minutes or something. It'll be a segment and that's it. And the key, I think, for our podcast listeners is we're not taking away any podcast content. In fact, we're adding to the amount of podcasts.

Give me one second because there's something we need to make sure because I know there are a lot of people listening right now are international listeners. And they're thinking, we don't have access to anyone. Phil plus this is bollocks that's how they all talk that's true or something like that and we have great news for you guys this new ATN content will be available with the same

dazon subscription that gives you access to the games which you probably are already getting anyway or a lot of you I would think no added charge mad for it you know what I mean so that's covered but that's not all and we didn't even mention game pass

what's the artist formerly known his game pass is part of all of watching the condensed games and everything it's all part of NFL plus. It's all like one thing. Beautiful. All under the same umbrella and as Greg said announcement horn number two. Oh.

It just doesn't have the same reach it once did. That's the... No, it's a it's a, you know, it's half a thumb. It's not that he's softer in mind. It's physically... The thumb doesn't have the reach. I mean, he's courageous, though. How the hell?

Do that take so long? That's not all. Greg, tell the people about changes to our ATN podcast schedule this year. Okay, so we got the Sunday night recap show. Same. The flagship show. Always a classic. You love it.

It's there. It's going up Sunday night, Monday morning in London. By the way, a program which when we started it, they didn't really exist, and now it's everywhere. It's everywhere. Everyone's doing a Sunday night. We were the exclusive. That's why it's called the flagship. has the sound. No one has it all. No one has, no one has us, frankly. Monday podcast, we're adding

kind of a news recap show on Monday because that's the biggest news day of the week. So we're going to get that out to you Monday afternoon. So that is a new show for us. And on top of that, we're doing a Monday night recap podcast where I know that first night it's going to be all three of us. And we might rotate in and out, whatever it is, but we'll have that Monday night recap. So that was me last year with a special guest, but this year we'll all be involved with it. Tuesday, we're dark. Got to rest a little. Get ready

for the rest of the week. Studying tape is what we're doing. I thought we were dark the rest of the week. No, no, no, no, no. That's it. That's it. I mean, we added the extra show Monday. We got three shows between Sunday and Monday, so we've got to give them a day to catch up, but we are adding a Wednesday show. I hope we're getting Colleen involved with that show. Colleen will

be on our Wednesday show every week. That'll be fun. We might start throwing in some game previews into that Wednesday show. We got our Thursday show, as always, previewing the games of the week. And that's it. Are we doing Thursday night? Thursday night. And a Thursday night recap.

Yep. Then on Friday, don't even try to find us on Friday. Don't even, you're not going to locate us on Friday. There's so much to go over. But yes, we are doing a Thursday night recap. For a second, we've had so many different plannings and different iterations of this. I was like, where did that one leave it? But yes, we're going to be putting that game up right away Thursday nights.

Mark, will you be involved with these projects? Absolutely. I mean, there's a lot riding on the fact that the employment continues. That's true. You know, if you do sign up for NFL Plus, and look, I hear if you guys are all skeptical and you'll see how it goes, whatever. But if and when you do sign up, you're going to get your money's worth, even if we weren't there.

But especially if you're coming to see us, like, I don't even know how it works. Just let NFL Plus knows. No, we sent you because we want to stay employed at this company. And it might not happen. If we don't get enough people saying that we sent you to NFL. Plus, we might just get pushed outside of the building. That's what they do. Excited about this.

This isn't just like stuff we're going to be knocking out. There's a reason why we're writing less on the site. It was to give more time to do this project, which we're all serious about. And as I've said before, if it's not bull-f for us, it's not going to be bull-b-froof. for you. That's the truth. Let's do some news. A little easy on that, buddy,

because I think we're pretty tough-minded people, and if we need to get scrappy, we can get scrappy too. Just saying. It's two of. Clapping back, as they say, on ESPN analyst Ryan Clark, who, and I can't, this isn't me for,

comedic effect or whatever sugar-coating this or trying to add a little juice to it. He literally on ESPN, Ryan Clark, called Tua a fat stripper. That was the parallel. Absolutely. And I know

Dolphins fans can be sensitive and about Tua especially, and I understand it because Tua has shown how much of a playmaker or a high-end quarterback he could be when he's healthy, but he has been healthy a lot and there's this big question around the team whether he's the guy

but even me as a jet fan I understand why dolphins fans were super annoyed with Ryan Clark who again called their quarterback an overweight dancer exotic dancer Ryan Clark gets killed gets killed as you would imagine all over the place for this comment and one of my favorite things of this summer had a very serious apology, kind of apology on Twitter. Yesterday, Tua talking about Lowe, I had to answer questions

about something I said on Monday, something that I truly just felt like was a joke to me, that I've realized, as the week has going on, if this man has to answer questions about it, if so many Miami Dolphins fans are offended by it, then people ain't taking it as a joke. so let me be very clear

if I've offended you to or if I've hurt you if I've disrespected you if anybody that supports and loves you feels some sort of way because of what I said I truly apologize but only if that if not I'm fine with it well it's even

worse than that actually because this is so this drives me crazy when I see quote unquote apologies like this because it's not even it's disingenuous Ryan Clark saying it was a joke no the joke joke was he looks like a dancer from Atlanta, a local

strip club in Atlanta. That was a joke. But he also said that he physically thought that Tua looks soft and essentially out of shape. And that wasn't a joke. No. And now he's making it all seem like it was the comment. Here's the last part of his very serious-minded apology.

I've reached out. I hope to talk to you soon, brother. But just no. I wasn't questioning the way you work. I wasn't questioning how much it mattered to you. Yes, you were. It was what I can consider now a bad joke. But for me, it's been a lesson. I'll be better.

Thank you. Ryan Clark's usually pretty great, so I'm going to give him a slight pass. I didn't need it because immediately after, when people started getting on him, his immediate response for 24 hours was just like, please, stop being soft. I'm joking. And then as it continued to be a story and Tua had to answer for it, then it's like day later, he's like, I got to nip this thing in the butt. I'm an Emmy winner.

Also, he won the Emmy last year. I think that's totally fair if Clark his body of work suggests it's okay to give him a pass. And I do, too. Whatever. It's not the end of the world. But then I saw a bunch of people saying, this was so big of you, Ryan. Amazing. Like, you're what it's all about.

Like, whoa. But this is sort of like, my angle is less about Ryan Clark. There's just there's so much needless content occurring everywhere. And then there's this endless conversation between people on X or whatever you want to call it, going back and forth. It's just like, drop a nuclear bomb on the entire thing.

Well, then we, that apology. How are you paying for your kids, you know, college? No, I mean, like, the back and forth on TV is absolutely, like, unnecessary to me. And, like, demoralizing and this is not like his, the first part of his apology, I'm cool with. Like, the second part, we didn't need that. You just, I didn't need the second part. I just thought. I own the fact that you essentially body shamed an NFL quarterback.

Right, and to say that it was to catch it all as a joke when it wasn't. Like it was actual criticism. Maybe it wasn't well researched or thought out, but it was. And then you made the joke at the end. I mean, the funny thing is, as Tua pointed out, and what came right before that quote we heard on our show was like, look, I'm Samoan. So he basically was like, don't mess with the Samoans. He also pointed out like, you think I just put on all this muscle by mistake? It's funny because I think Tua has a certain.

body type maybe it's like the muscles aren't popping but he's way bigger this seat off season by accident so it it i mean i mean not by accident like he is a stronger looking individual and he he put on 15 pounds this off season on purpose now that i could buy in like the i was having some fun earlier this week about the jiu jitsu thing and that helping him land without hitting his head beefing up and becoming kind of build yourself like a tank to maybe protect yourself a little better that's that i can buy into and that's obviously what he's done anyway silliness and i just when there's silliness and then there's self-seriousness yes yeah it's couched in kind of disingenuousness it's like

i kind of love it actually but we had to hit on it all right let's get to it it's very michael scott ish somehow like that apology uh it was cringy it was scott's level cringy um update on jonathan Taylor, the former All-Pro running back, who is obviously desperate to get out of Indianapolis, the Colts finally after initially saying they wouldn't either A, give Taylor an extension that he wanted or betrayed him, have now allowed him to be moved for the right cost. And here's the latest. NFL network's Cameron Wolfe, so the Dolphins have some interest in acquiring Jonathan Taylor, but only up to a certain price. We've also heard there. There are multiple teams that have submitted offers for Taylor

and that the cults have given Taylor's people Tuesday as the deadline for the trade. Is there any reason why Tuesday is the deadline? Well, it's cut down day on Tuesday, and that might have to do with getting your salary cap books in order, wanting to know basically how you're moving forward with the season. If you're going to have to replace Jonathan Taylor, you would want to be able to know to replace him, I guess, on Tuesday

because they might have to bring in other running backs. And we talked about this at length. Did you mention the Pup List side of it? No. Because that's the deadline. He'll be required to miss the first four games of the regular season if they don't remove him from that list by Tuesday. And he can't do a thing where he pulls the,

I'm sitting out for a big chunk of the season because he has to accrue at least six games to have it become his fourth NFL season and become an unrestricted free season. agent. So I think he's in a tough spot here. I mean, the dolphins also, they're not just heat-seeking Taylor. They've apparently inquired about Josh Jacobs

but they're not going to, no one is going to give the cults a first-round pick for a one-year rental running back. I mean, I think the cults are kind of doing the thing where you could, I've seen a parallel drawn to some degree to like what the Ravens did with Lamar Jackson. Yes. Sure.

Here's your chance. You go find out how much real interest there is in you. We're not going to give you away, but like the cults are kind of done with like, we're going to suppress your career. Go try. We hit this one pretty hard on Wednesday, so I won't belabor it. But a couple of things that are interesting, that they are getting offers and that the Tuesday deadline thing happened makes me think, this could happen. If they really do just want to get rid of them, like they could probably get a third

round pick for him or maybe a third that turns into a second or a couple of mid-round picks. And I'm glad you brought up the pup thing because he's due to make 4.3. million dollars this year and you think like okay maybe he could sit out some games and miss that that's more than he's made in his entire career if you add up his first three years so that's a it's a 300% raise he's getting this year off of anything he's made before I think he's going to want to show up for that even if that's not as much as he wants to make it's it's pretty significant I think it's like it's your avenue to get into free agency it's like I don't think it is wise I mean we don't know how much money he wants we don't know exactly what he wants asking the cults for I mean

I think all that is like kind of a hazardous trade scenario. It was 10 years ago this year that a team actually gave a first round pick for a running back. And it was Trent Richardson. Oh, my God. And it was the cults. That was a great move by them. In other news, Isaiah Simmons' time with the Cardinals is over. Well, do we have the clip of this for a Monday show?

Yeah, we've predicted it. Isaiah Simmons, they're moving them to safety, the Cardinals. it's not working out according to reports. And then he gets moved. And I had mentioned he could make, it seems like a guy that would make sense. Fresh start, it's not working, late round pick. It's exactly what happens.

Schefter reported that the Cardinals agreed to a trade of the 2012-first round pick to the Giants. The Johnson was sending a 2024-seventh-round pick back to Arizona in exchange for Simmons. So there you go, Mark. This is a guy that was seen as this versatile, big-time playmaker out of Clemson. He was there.

Cardinals kind of couldn't figure out how to make him go as a pro and now the Giants are taking a shot. Yeah, I jumped on your comment from Monday saying that it's the kind of situation where he's going to wind up somewhere else where he's used better and he's going to tell tales about how he was not used

in Arizona. I mean, they put him in a terrible position. He was flailing as a safety. I think the Giants are a good match. You know, we'll see if he can still play. But Wink Mark Martindale, their defensive coordinator, I think he's someone that is interested in taking Simmons, using him in different ways.

Dayball called him explosive, athletic, and said there was a multiple role potential. We got to see it, but it's like this team is wanting to put him back where he belongs. If any team, any coach I think could use his creativity, well, it would be Wink Martindale. I think he'll play some linebacker. Reminds me a little of our friend Wes, his infatuation with Deionne Buchanan, a very similar player, also drafted by the Cardinals who could play multiple positions. Did it a little better off the top than Isaiah Simmons? The Cardinals, so they traded their first pick in 2020 on Wednesday.

Also, their second pick in 2020. He was a third rounder, Josh Jones, offensive lineman, started 11 games for the Cardinals last season. He was moved to the Texans. He's in the final year of his rookie deal. So maybe a depth piece there for Houston and Arizona continues to kind of just turn things over in real time. That was weird. Like PFF Adam graded very highly last year And yet they re-signed a couple older tackles in Arizona

That was a nice move for Arizona It's hard to find tackles What's the value? Like what do the Cardinals get back in this trade? We haven't it hasn't been reported I'm guessing it's not very a starting tackle Well they have two starting tackles Unless they move Titus Howard inside

He's coming off of an injury So right now Josh Jones is probably replacing him But he played well as a replacement tackle last year You know, who else is coming off injury? Cooper Cup, the all-pro wide receiver who won the triple crown for wide receiver, 2021 when the Rams won the Super Bowl. God, that feels like a long time ago. He was back on the practice field today, Wednesday, for the first time since suffering

a hamstring injury three weeks back, and apparently it looked very good, Mark. Here is Matthew Stafford's quote, I thought Coop looked great, just happy to see him running around, smiling, having fun. playing ball again. And on the flip side of this, the Broncos who, man, they can't seem to catch a break this summer.

They are banged. Their top wide receiver, Jerry Judy, who we've been waiting for him to go for a while now. And this, a lot of, with a lot of reasons to believe with Sean Peyton there

and Russell Wilson potentially rejuvenated. This would be the year. Well, he was carted off the field on Wednesday with a right hamstring injury. Heard it during 11 on 11s against the Rams and a joint practice. Peyton said after practice that Judy will undergo an MRI.

And we are at August 24th, Mark. We're about two weeks plus out from week one. Not good timing. No, I mean, you get these teams every year where it's like the injury bug ravages a position group. And Tim Patrick out with an Achilles. Tim Patrick might have been their best wide receiver. K.J. Hamler, waived, non-football illness, heart condition situation. Jalen Virgil is on season ending IR.

you're leaning on Cortland Sutton and Marvin Mims at this point to take you there. And it's like this is such a huge season for Russell Wilson. And all of this happened essentially after Sean Payton flamed everyone on earth with his verbal comments. And it's like all this, I'm not seeing it's connected. It's just like now you're going to be. I like it's challenged to be Sean Payton. Although, I don't know, it's, I'm not saying it's common. You mentioned like a position group.

Momentum gets destroyed. I don't know. I don't know. I don't understand what momentum is anymore. I mean, there's momentum of this position group. This happens every year. It's the same players. Train going off a mountainside.

Unfortunately, the wide receiver group for the Broncos seems cursed. And my son who for some reason won't prepare for the fantasy draft that he's doing next month. I like that. Just feel in there. He does this other thing where he's doing like an all NFL draft where he's pretending to start the franchises over and like drafting players to different teams. And he had Jerry Judy as a top 20 pick in the entire NFL. What have you done to that? And I was just saying like, that's too high for you.

Judy, he just was like, I like Jerry Judy. So that, it was not a good pick. I got to say, if you're starting the NFL from scratch, he's not one of your top 20 players. In his reality, Jerry Judy injured, or is he healthy? Well, this is before this injury. I don't know. I don't think he's aware of his injury history.

All right. That's what's happening in the news. We'll take a break, and then it's hot butt time. Hey, this Matt Jones. Now, I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective

a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player

development to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups. and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day.

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Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right. Welcome back. It is time to talk about it. The data backs it up. The data is the data. You know, we could be happy and smiles and pretend like this isn't happening,

but it's a results-oriented business and head coaches will lose jobs. A couple of them lost them in the middle of the season last year, right? We had both Matt Rule and Nathaniel Hackett. mid-season. Frank Reich, too. And Frank Reich. Hackett was a first-year coach. That was...

Which is almost unheard of. It's happened very few times. It only happened twice, in fact. He was the earliest that any first-year coach had ever been fired. It happened twice, two years in a row in Houston. And this... That did inform somewhat... These one-and-done coaches are not as rare as things to him.

I just want to fly around like a butterfly. It did. Some guys, they find where they should be, and then they get that one promotion, and then they to come back down. That's Nate Hackett. Now, it did inform me when I was putting together, and we all did this of the 32 coaches, four different tiers.

Safe, first degree, butt burn, second degree, butt burn, third degree, butt burn. Last year, and in past years, I think I pretty much put every head coach, save for one last year, for instance. All the rookies are safe to me. I'm thinking differently a little bit of this year.

I have a couple guys. So let's do it this way. I'm going to go down an alphabetical order my list of safe quarterbacks. If you have a guy that is not safe, raise your head. And we're going to talk about that player. Okay, so here's the Zusser's list of guys. That coach. Head coaches.

Can I speak too? Because the audio listers. Okay. As much as you want. Oh, you mean like raise your hand and say me, me, me, me? Well, no, no. I just mean if I'm raising my hand, no one's going to. Well, because I will address you immediately.

Okay. This is good. It's not like Eric trying to use that left thumb to hit the button. When we diverge from your list. Yeah. Poor guy. Just give a heads up. In terms of safety, yeah.

I've never had more safe guys than this. I am with you. It's beefy. All right, here we go. And if you disagree, raise your hand or yell me, me, me. Dan Campbell, Pete Carroll, Brian Daibald, John Harbaugh, Matt LaFleur. Pause in

Okay Mike McDaniel Pause in Okay I thought about that one Sean McDermott Sean McVey Kevin O'Connell

Sean Peyton Shane Steichen Doug Peterson Frank Reich Andy Reid Kyle Shanahan Nick Siriani Zach Taylor

Mike Tomlin Mike Vrable. Those are all my safe guys. Every one of them. Yeah, I had every one of them. Shout out to Zach Taylor, because I believe in this exercise a couple years back I had him

as like a second or third degree type of coach. So you can get off that list. All you got to do is make the Super Bowl and then the AFC championship. Is there anyone that I did not mention that is on your safe list? Did you mention Domech O'Brien's? I did not.

So that's my thing. is, like, I think, like, that team could be, they could struggle. I think he is, he's on a safe list for me because I cannot fathom a reality where the Texans fire a first year coach three years in a row. All right. Let's move to first degree, okay? Yeah, I also had Ryan's, and I feel strong on that one, too. I think they would give him, he's as safe to me as a first year coach almost could be because of that situation. And because I think they're really putting a lot into who he is.

They love it. He could go one in 16, and I think it'd be safe. You know why? everything you guys say I agree with and I think across the league people are very high on Ryan's chances here to be a good head coach this is organizationally

if you fire a head coach a rookie head coach two years in a row I just don't give you the benefit of the doubt sure the people that are making decisions to make the right one and give this guy the road because the last two guys deserved more rope too fair enough but he's a very different hire both of those hires

felt like guys that weren't going to be there that long on day one, whereas DeMiko Ryan feels like they want him to be there forever. You know, they were different. It was different than hiring Lovie Smith, the third time. I see what you mean, but like he has like Texans ties. Like I do honestly think he's going to be a coach that like we saw in San Francisco

connects with the entire locker room. He's a new age type of coach. It's not about him for me. I know, I know. It's fair to say you don't trust the Texans. But like they literally are in a psychotic mode of fire a third straight coach after I think it is kind of psychotic. They fire two in a row.

That's why they're already off the reservation. We talked to Lovie Smith as a good guy and everything, but that always felt like a placeholder hire. And this just does not to me. But we'll see. All right, first degree. First degree. Here we go.

Oh. Ah. Really when you're pushing back. Oh. Hey. Oh. Oh. Ah.

Ah. Wow. So it doesn't, not painful, but, don't know, I mean, this whole, this whole, like, straw man thing at the beginning where it's like, oh, what's that? We got to respect, like, you know, coaches where you're pushing back against people that you think are coming at. The ponies out there? You're just me. You're coming after me because, like, eight years ago on this exercise, I dained to, like, take issue with some of the burn victim stuff. How did you find, like, at two of them?

People. Where did you, like, a two-minute long, semi-burned sound bite like this? That's homemade, baby. Yeah, that's Zemol. Come on. Come on, bro. You got to recognize. I was just so lost in the performance.

You've never hung out with Zumel while you're just, like, burning him slightly. That's exactly what he sounds like. First degree for me. Here we go. Raise your hand if you disagree. Or if there's someone that I, because I have four names on here. I have five. I got four.

Bill Belichick. You have them deeper than first? I have deeper. Ooh, interesting. Okay. Jonathan Gannon. Yes, I have that. Oh, wow.

I guess I had him safe. I just forgot. Like a lot of people, that Jonathan Gannon is a head coach. He was on my list. He's on my safe list. Like, I don't trust the Cardinals for the same way you're coming up with the Texans. I think things could go poorly enough where they are in a reboot. I like what they did to set up next year's draft.

They're trying to get that. the one pick. They can't fire him for getting the one pick, I feel like. I don't know. Hey, they fired a quarterback they took in the top 10. The next year to take a quarterback in the top 10. And the coach that didn't want to draft them necessarily. That feels chaotic there. This too. I got that's

a little on my radar. There's a little bit of is a Hackett situation maybe? Okay. You guys have kind of convinced me into this. The reason I didn't was because Monty Austin Ford, the GM is also new and you're right. I'm willing to put him into first degree. I'm going to move him. You've

convince me. Okay. I had D'Amico Ryan's. You guys have him safe. And then I have Brandon Staley, first degree. Wow, I have Staley somewhere else. Okay. Do you got anybody else have first degree? Yeah, I do. We could talk Staley because I have

him there. I think even though the outside wants Staley to be under a lot of pressure and on the hot seat, I don't think inside that building, the way the chargers run things, that is. He's had two winning records. It's kind of, I mean, overlooked a little bit. They've won

back-to-back years. He's on a four or five-year contract. I think they really like him. And I also think Telesco, their GM's been there so long. It's all about like everyone keeping their jobs together. So to me, he's only first degree because I think he could have another year very similar or even like a nine and eight type of year. And I think he would survive. I think there have been some especially bad optics around. this daily experience. I think it's a good coach, but it's like the way last year ended,

some of the fourth down stuff, which we all super agree with analytically, but there are a lot of people out that they don't agree with a lot of his decisions, and I think it really matters that the Chargers have a different type of ending to this season. It's been two bad endings, two years in a row. You've got Justin Herbert.

You've two new coordinators. You're always on thin ice. I think when that's a situation, if those work out, that's positive. You have a second degree? I got them in third. Whoa. Yep.

See, to me, they're an organization that's like happy winning 10 games a year. Wow. So that they won 10 games and I know 27 nothing and all that, but this was a playoff team. So maybe I'd be willing to rethink it a little bit, but just like part of me was like, someone's got to be in third degree

and he's in that category where I think he's under a lot of pressure. Interesting. Wow. Well, I've got a few other names in first degree. Go ahead. Four extra names. Go ahead. You haven't mentioned.

Well, number one, was he on your safe list or is he deeper? Robert Salah. I have him the next tier down. Wow. Well, I've solid in first degree. Really, you think they would, like, I feel if anything like Hard Knocks has done him as service. He's a little bit, a little bit too many models coming out.

All that will be forgotten if this season goes to hell. But he's, I don't feel like he's the problem, that's all. But that doesn't necessarily mean, again, it's not necessarily about the coach. It's not predicting who's going to get fired. It's about the organization. And how would Woody Johnson react if this season, instead of being 11 and six is six and eleven yeah i think what he's gone is a huge factor there

i think if sala i think it's a fair point and maybe i should put him in second degree because i think they believe in him i think he is a good coach he showed that progress in terms of the defensive side that he's only first degree going into the year but you're right if they go eight and nine the odds are he's gone

so maybe that's a second three is his third year if this is a and i mean Woody johnson just showed up on hard knocks with a a necklace, like a $2 million necklace. Well, that was absurd. With Woody and Let's Go Jets on it. And, you know, they're leaning into the hard knocks

and having the celebrities come in and Aaron Rogers is here and all this and then Dalvin Cook. This ownership is all the way in on this season. And I just do not know how they would react if this doesn't go the way that I and Jets fans. Would you see in that scenario, Joe Douglas hits the road too? I think he would be safer. I think that the general thought with Douglas is that other than a few high-profile misses,

a couple high-profile misses, Wilson being one of them, obviously. He's been very good for the organization. And I would think he would survive, but the coach would go if they have a bad year. So, Zach Wilson, obviously, the miss you're referring to, if the Aaron Rogers experience turns into a flop or a massive disaster, then I think Joe Douglas has, he's got problems because you're missing on quarterback after quarterback. at that point. Right. And I also,

we should say Aaron Rogers is going to have a major voice in this too. If he likes Robert Salah, even if the season goes sobri, I'd say he pulls a calf and misses six weeks and they go down the tubes.

But if Rogers likes solid, he can protect him. He has that much sway in that organization. Maybe I'm just getting, you know, nicer as they get older, but I just feel like they just like Robert Salas so much. That's why I only put him in first degree.

I get that feel too, but that's now. That's in August. I put I put Iber flus in first degree, so I guess you guys must have had them harder. a second year coach with an ownership group that isn't known for making overly quick changes, although they've had to at some points. And so he set the bar so low that I actually think that sometimes helps the guy. If they win six games this year, I think he's back.

So I'm only putting him first degree, Matt Eberford. I have him deeper down. I think it's kind of like Zach Taylor a couple years ago. What is it that you do that's special? And if you have this massive rebuild going and there's a. coach that becomes available that is a much sexier proposition. Matt Iberfluse, I think, is under pressure to prove to Bears fans and people like us. Like, what difference do you make? I mean, we just don't see it. It's not a lot of idea of who Mattie. In the coach's photo,

it's like he's the one guy, no one can figure out who he was. Well, part, yeah, a lot of it is the organization for me. The ownership, CEO, GM. I just, I don't think they're going to be wanting to restart the machine again unless they had the number one overall picker. Can I mention who else I have in this one? I have Belichick in this one. Okay. Let's talk about it. Well, I just think that it's never in this exercise would he have been anywhere but safe. But it just feels like this season is very important for Bill Belichick to not go six and 10 or six and 11 or win seven games and have the whole thing just not

look good. The owner has talked with so much praise about Jared Mayo that I just wonder if Like, whether it's Bill or whether it's craft, that maybe things hit divorce period. But he's only in first. I just think there's more pressure on the Bill Belichick experience than there's ever been before. Well, the fact that all three of us have him out of safe for the first time this year,

what do you have him second? I have him second because I don't think there's many guys where there's been public back and forth, for lack of a better word, between ownership and coaching, almost a gauntlet being thrown down and even some very passive aggressive sniping between the coach. And, yeah, I think they would, like, have him, like, step away or who even knows.

But if they have, like you said, I kind of thought about it. Like, if these teams go, let's say, seven and ten, are they back or not? Right. If they went seven and ten, I'm not sure. That's why I put it second degree, not third. But I think there's a good chance he's gone if they go seven and ten. The other guy I have in first degree is Arthur Smith. Okay, hold that thought.

Oh, okay, you both have them. Let me just say one more thing on Belichick that the one thing that, the one thing that, I push back on that is, let's say they go seven and ten. What rank them in the AFC East right now? Does anybody have them anywhere other than the fourth? Nobody seems like Connor or I believe might even have them winning the division, which I, you know, I love you, Connor. You're a crazy, he's like banging the drum that they're like.

Conner's takes are getting bigger as he ages. I enjoy it. They're like got to make the AFC championship. There is a little Patriot fan inside of me that, could see it, that has some optimism. But that's only because they do well on years where they're not a lot of expectations. Right, but I guess

my point is there's like so much talent AFCs this year that to can now, you could say the fact that they are the team that has the least talent in this division that's against Belchuk, too, because he's the de facto GM. I see that. I think it would have to really, it would have to be a double digital loss season and more like

bad blood. And the relationship falling apart between Well, that's it. That's why I put him second degree because I feel like there's a little Jerry Jones, Jimmy Johnson vibe, just in terms of egos and credit and Kraft wants to get into the Hall of Fame and there's just like a lot of stuff.

All right, let's move to second degree. One item first. Yes. This is my list, and so I had to create a category because this person to me just belongs in their own world. It's Zaddy degree.

I think Mike McCarthy is just out there in his own little place in between first and second because I think second is a little hot for him because I think it's going on the fence basically with your analysis. I think he's just created his own world, Zaddy degree. And he's just, he sits there and there is a lot of, you're the play caller now. You moved on from the coordinator.

Jerry Jones is impatient. The Cowboys are always this cauldron of expectations. And Mike McCarthy cannot go and lose another ugly playoff game. Which is why I believe he is in. Zaddy, stop it. second degree. Ha! Oh,

ooh, ooh, oh, oh, it's bad. It's bad. It's bad. Oh, oh, it's going to blister.

It's going to blister. Oh. Now it's uncomfortable. Is this year more uncomfortable? This is actually less uncomfortable than the old ones used to be. Because it's some well, it's funny. Whatever we're paying him,

it's not enough. It's well performed. Second degree, alphabetical order for me. Dennis Allen of the Saints, Matt Iber Flus, who we discussed of the Bears. And my comment on Iber Fluse, you guys had talked about him, this will be his second full year with Justin Fields. They're obviously still very, very much invested in Fields. If he plateaus or doesn't show growth, I could see them being like, shoot, he's entering year four of his rookie deal next year. If this isn't working, we don't feel good.

let's get him out of there. I'm not saying that's what I think's going to happen. I'm just saying when you look at like the outcomes potentially for the season, that's why. In my scenario, like, you're right. It's an O.C. getting fired. It's Luke Getsy getting fired. Okay.

That makes sense, too. I have Zaddy, Mike McCarthy here in second degree. You mentioned the reasons why, Mark. I just think they're reaching a stage maybe where he needs to take that next step. And Jerry Jones is not getting any younger. I just think this is a big year for Dallas. I'm with you on second. Second.

I got Josh McDaniel's second degree. Hmm, I got him somewhere else. Okay, hold that thought. I mentioned... Unless it's McDaniels degree. Yeah, I created him on another, you know... Robert Sala, I had second degree. We talked about that.

Arthur Smith, let's talk about Arthur Smith, because I know everyone loves Arthur Smith and the Falcons in this room. But for the same reason I have Robert Sala in this tier, you do not get a fourth year in the NFL if you don't get to the playoffs in the first three. And this is his third season, and they have yet to make the playoffs or have a winning record.

I think, like, that was one where I looked at the organization and Arthur Blank, patient. I think he's shown patience. I think, number one, you could say that where they were two years ago, identity free, mostly a disaster. They have an identity now. It's got to go translate on the field. But this is Arthur Smith's identity. And it's like, I kind of like when a coach in the course of two seasons can create a roster in a type of offense, which is his specialty, that looks a lot like what he was able to do in Tennessee.

And it's like you're working well with the general manager. It has to, they can't go to have the same record as last year. But he doesn't feel like, it doesn't, it feels like low drama in Atlanta. So I think a lot would need to change over the next five or six months. I think he took the job in a true rebuilding situation and they knew it. They pressed like the explode button in terms of their salary cap issues. They sort of took a year or two off. they love them.

But you're right, Mark. I mean, Dan, it's extremely rare to get a fourth year without a playoff spot. Because the guys. It almost doesn't happen. Ron Rivera technically made the playoffs as commander's head coach. But he, you know, I don't think he has a winning record yet. But it almost never happens. Happens once in a while.

I think Arthur Smith could be a rare case. Actually, he would get a fourth year. But you're right. He probably has to win eight or nine games. And if he went seven and ten using my own test, that's 50-50 at best, whether he gets a fourth. So second tier, you've actually convinced me, again, I think I was too nice putting him in first year.

I think second tier makes sense. When you bang the demolition button on your organization, you reboot and that includes hiring a young head coach or whatever, I think it is two years. That means that guy gets a two-year grace period unless he's terrible in the eyes of the team. And then that third year, it's go time. So that's a, I think, and there's very, it's not a big time division that they're in. We like a lot of elements of their roster.

There's a lot of reasons why, put it this way, there's no excuses for them not to be a above 500 team this year. And I think Arthur Blank would struggle with that if we're looking at the same seven, eight win team for a third straight year with the same head coach. Yeah, I think like anything, you know, if you project out, you know, four months and they've won six games, like the feeling around the team

is going to be completely different than it is right now. Right. Ownership and GM situation is such a big part of this. You mentioned McDaniels and Alan, who to me are very different second year coaches. I had them both in this category as well. So I agree. McDaniels has a owner who's a little more capricious,

a little more emotional. You could see him getting booted out of there. I think if the vibes, it's not just win-loss, too. It's like, what's going on around the team? Does the quarterback situation look any better? I think they could go 7 and 10 and he could keep the job as long as it's not like drama-filled, as long as it's not embarrassing,

as long as what he is supposed to be good at offense is on tap. But I think he's in a tough ownership situation, whereas Dennis Allen, I feel like they're looking for a reason to keep Dennis Allen. And I have him second degree. I thought about first degree. I feel like the bar is very low for Dennis Allen because he had a terrible first year as a head coach. They underachieved, and it didn't seem like much buzz at all about him losing his job.

Wait, so did you already list your second degrees? Do you have more? He did. I just did. Okay, so I threw Ron Rivera in here, although if I could revise that, I think he belongs in third, new ownership, all sorts of stuff going on there. Kevin Stefansky in second. You could argue for him being in third, too, but I think Stafansky is a good football coach.

And, like, I think if they succeed, he'd have to really be the reason that someone like Deshaun Watson fails. It has to be not Deshaun Watson, it has to be Stefanski. How can you separate that? Deshaun Watson fails, Safansky fails. Well, I would say that, like, first of all, he'd lose the power, obviously the power, you know, situation with Deshaun. But I think Stafansky last year with Jacoby Reset proved that he's a very good offensive coach.

So I, he's just going to lose the power battle to Deshawn, but I don't think it would be Stephansky's fault necessarily. Well, but that's not what we're debating. To me, he has the hottest seat in the league. He's the number of. Really? I think he's the most. See, I go Josh McDaniels for that.

Really? So he's a second year. He's the hot, all right. Has McDaniels, like, has lost portions of his locker room already. Let's hold that then. So if you think he's the hottest, hold that for a second. I just want to circle back to the Raiders and you say that there's some capricious ownership there. Is that?

I know his dad was. But I'm looking at, like, the Mark Davis era. So Dennis Allen got two and a half years. Jack Del Rio got three years. John Gruden got three and a half years before he got fired. Even just signing John Gruden to a 10-year contract, like, that's just kind of crazy. You know, like, that was, I don't know if Capricious is even the right word, but just like. I think he's not predictable.

That was, like, surprising and unpredictable. And those coaching tenures, you mentioned, line up with year. Right. It's not working. I know now it does because Gruden is a blackballed from the league, but like, or not really, but like the fact that. No, I think you might be on that St. Steph. I really have a feeling. As I was saying, I was like, actually, he's working with a team closely.

But when the tenure, it made sense. Yes, it was a lot of money, but he was a kind of a Raiders hero, a previous generation and all that. Like, I don't know, he just hasn't had one of those like one and done firings yet or two and done even. So we'll see. That's why I put him in second degree. I agree with you, Dan. But McDaniels has been, he was so bad in Denver the way that end. and if this, there's no results here,

you know who remembers him being bad in Denver. I would think Mark Davis. It's like, we made a mistake here. We got to get out of this. They also like hired, you know, his handpicked GM so they'd have to probably get rid of the whole operation. You're right. If Devante Adams, like, starts being upset and stuff like that,

that's fair. But I actually think Davis is like, okay, do it with your guys. You can get rid of Derek Carr. I don't think he ever loved Derek Carr anyways. But like this, he had to take. a year to get rid of some guys he didn't want. They might be the third or fourth worst team in the AFC. And, like, I don't think they're going to win a lot of games.

You've got players all over the place. Like Josh Jacobs, what happened with Derrick Carr a year ago? Devante Adams, that situation just feels slightly TNT-ish. Just certainly back to Zaddy real quick. This is his fourth year with the Cowboys. Six and ten in year one. 12 and 5, year 2. 12 and 5 year 3

pretty damn good especially for the seasons ended poorly in an almost embarrassing fashion of course but there are not too many look at the recent history of the Cowboys back to back 12 win seasons and he's that been the head coach of those

well there's none they'd have to go back to when they won the Super Bowl yeah the good old days that was basically their trademark even under Jason Garrett who was more successful as one good year one bad year they would have to really I think maybe I'm even now talking myself him back down to one

maybe you're exactly right Mark like he's a really tough one a bubble guy because it's almost like the Cowboys have to go like 5 and 12 with no injuries wrecking their season for Jared to be like I don't like Michael McCarthy yeah I think he's like a tough person to place easily in first or second for me

and like that's why I did what I did but I also feel like if they don't make the NFC title game there could be problems it's like I don't know like if they have another He loves having Jerry Jones. He controls him. He's like the perfect Cowboys coach. We saw it there when we were at the camp.

Like he's so comfortable there. I think him and Jera obviously get along well, both like longtime football guys. What if they have another like ugly meltdown to exit the playoffs? If they were in the playoffs, I don't know. It would have to be pretty ugly. I think they'd have to have a losing record. If they had a losing record, all bets are off.

And that's why first or second works. All right. Third degree. Oh, no. Oh, God. Oh, Greg. No, no. Oh, oh, oh, yeah.

This is just... I mean, he's still alive. Apparently. He sounds like Kirk Cousins on the quarterback show, you know, getting off the field. I wish we had a video of Zumwald recording this. That's a good call. Next year.

I only had two guys. I withheld one of the... the names because I figured Yeah, I have two guys also. I have Todd Bowles and Ron Rivera. I have Ron Rivera and Kevin Stafansky. Stavansky would be my pick. And again, it's not projecting how the team goes.

But like if I had to say every team in the NFL starts 0 and 4, or like if you just pretend that, I think he's the most likely to get fired like at that point in the season or whatever it is, one and seven. I think Rivera is close. And that's why they were my two, the two hottest ones for me. In Bowls, you could talk me into. I only put him second degree.

But, but Stefansky, to me, he's been there a long time. They've made their bed with Deshaun Watson. And I just think if it goes sideways, that Jim Schwartz is there also. Like, I just don't think there's any leeway. I think he's a playoffs. Yeah, you got to get Jim Schwartz in there at the interim code. Yeah, I'm just saying he's playoffs or bust to me for a team that on paper is third or fourth in that division. even if they're a very talented roster.

I totally agree that he's in a tough spot. I think it's easy to just look at the ownership and say, oh, it's been a while since they've done something, you know, jaw-droppingly insane. I do think they've changed a little bit. I just think that they've calmed down a little bit. They've got a good general manager. But you're right, he's under a ton of pressure.

And I think I don't like the situation because I don't think we know who Deshaun Watson is right now. Right, but it wouldn't be insane either. If Deshaun Watson plays poorly, this combo is not working. And that's basically his job. I hope there could be some, we don't, you know, I don't want to go down to a Watson conversation, but it's like if he's not a good quarterback anymore,

like he's a Russell Wilson situation, then it's like, I, it's, I, but in that case, Nathaniel Hackett got shot out into the universe. If it's that case, though, Jimmy Haslam is just looking for a coach that can prove him right. He's the one that wanted to shot him. Right. I mean, you look at, see, I have him,

I have him firmly, Stefansky and, and two second degree. Just because his first year is a major boom season for the organization. They win 11 games. They win a playoff game against Pittsburgh. And then the next year was a big disappointment. But I think time is kind of revealed like that wasn't a Stefanski. They tied themselves to the wrong horse and Baker.

And that kind of shipwrecked their season in a lot of ways. And then they moved away from Baker. And I don't care. Obviously, Deshaun Watson last year, they punted on 2022 for Watson in terms of the money and the deal looking ahead to this season and beyond and you've got to say the same thing

for the whole team and it was a very strange time I would imagine to be a Cleveland football fan because you knew once they signed that deal and they knew that suspension was going to be hardcore and then Watson missing two years or whatever there was going to be potential growing pains as he re-entered the lineup

I don't hold anything against Stephansky I don't either. None of this I think. I guess what I'm saying is like I think Stephansky it's unless there's some you know capricious decision making that can go on to Cleveland which is certainly possible I think he gets kind of a fresh start here with the Sean Watson

and I think he could get multiple years, two years even if this season doesn't go beautifully which is why you have him in second degree. I think there's a lot of pressure on him to make things go this year but I don't think it's like winner else. I just think there's something very specific. I think it's pretty much winner else.

And I also think it's if Deshawn Watson is not a top 12, 14 quarterback, you know, in the NFL, then you lose your job. That could be tough. We'll see. Where do you guys? I had Todd Bowles.

I had them in second. But I, like, if that goes really poorly, like Todd Bowles is in hot water, you still have Aryans there and stuff. So it's like. Do they, though? Yeah.

They really have to, I mean, technically he's in the complex. He's in the cafeteria on a daily basis. I think I've hit on this before, so I don't want to dwell on it. But I think this is a transition year for that organization after they sold out in the Brady years. I think you see it in the way they're handling their quarterbacks this year with Baker and Trask. I think unless they really surprise people, which I don't think they're going to, I think they're going to be a very middle of the road or worse team this season, that this is going to be a reset after the season.

and he will be swept out, and he will be very hotly contested out there to be somebody's D.C., but I think this could be the end of the road for Todd Bowles. I think you're right. I'm going to move him. I'm moving them into my third tier. I don't know why I'm so...

I like it. I mean, I don't like it. I'm just thinking about it. He's right that Bowles underachieved a year ago. I think that's probably the key part of it. Yes, they made the playoffs, but they should have won more games than they did. They were a mess.

They were disappointing on both sides of the ball, and I think Bowles is a good defensive coach, but that's what it is. And he's one of the worst in-game decision makers in the league. I mean, that division's a disaster between him and Dennis Allen. I like Arthur Smith fine, but it's like in Reich, but like those two guys in a game that they're low on my list of who I want, like making any sort of like decision on the floor.

I think it goes back to the fact that like the Aryan stepped away. Todd Bowles made sense to come in as like a, like someone that I think could they knew the organization, knew the players, they knew him, and it was a smooth transition. But did they really go pick Todd Bowles as their number one guy? I mean, is that how they see him? You're my number one guy. Well, I think they were just trying to, you know, Ariens had some sway,

and they were trying to keep it going. Jason Light, who I think's done a good job overall in terms of player personnel, they're all close. They won a Super Bowl together. And they wanted, they basically wanted to extend that, uh, that, that entire era. I'm a little, we all have Rivera here.

That was the one one we agreed on. Yeah. Or no. I had Rivera in second. Whoa. Because to me, he,

just because of the new ownership, it's, I'm optimistic that they could be a surprise team, but they're going to have to be. You know, he can't, using my 7 and 10 method, I think he's gone with the 7 and 10.

Yeah, he's completely at the mercy of things that have nothing. Didn't you have something about Washington winning the division? Right, but we're not, I thought this exercise is not us, what we think. think they're going to do.

You know, I'm not looking at what I think. I'm looking like if this season is a disappointment, is he gone? He's right there, maybe number one on the list. Whenever there's a new owner, I hear that. But I also think Ron Rivera has a special quality to seem to win these people over and stick around when I could have, you can got rid of Ron Rivera two years ago. I wouldn't have had to help that. David Tepper got rid of him pretty quick.

I mean, he let him do one year and he got rid of it. I think that's what's happening here. I think Ron knows it too. He's a smart guy, has been around forever. He's kind of said it actually out loud. that he knows how much this year. Yeah, like, so he's, his, he needs a bit of a Hail Mary completion. And I think maybe Sam Howell can play the guitar and they hang around in that division and maybe that's enough.

But you would think this ownership group, did you guys talk about the handshake, by the way? We did not talk about the handshake. We spent about 15 minutes on that game and yet that was rough hit the handshake. I think the best part was Troy Aikvin kind of like had a little wry smile after he's. saw what happened, you know. Oh, my God. That guy is, you know, he's dying to make a stamp on the organization. And I think that stamp next year is very likely to be new head coach, new quarterback.

Yeah. What if they win 10 games? Then he's good. He's great. God bless you, Ron Rivera. Yeah, and he's good. Because I think they've even asked him, and Josh Harris has said, look, we're evaluated and everything, but, you know, we've talked with Ron.

He knows how important this year is. They've all, they're all on the same page. They're all adults, which I like. You know, it's interesting, this year, and this is good, because I talked about it last year. Nobody wants to be entering a season. This job is hard enough. Nobody wants to be Matt Rule. Nobody wants to be Adam Gase.

You never want to be the guy that it feels like you're a dead man walking. And then, sure enough, it almost always plays out. That guy rarely even makes it through the season. I don't think we have that guy. Could, like for me, Bowles or Rivera, could they get let go during the season and things go terribly? Sure. but I don't see a coach out of the 32 who feels truly doomed entering the season

and usually I feel like there's at least one. I'm with you and I don't know if I've ever had so many in the save category. Same. I thought the same thing. It's a lot of, because there's a lot of first year coaches and there's a lot of coaches who have had nice recent rebounds. Like Pete Carroll was in my first or second tier a couple years ago and now like I was thinking

like he actually could survive, I think, a bad year. He would be fine. Yep. There's a lot of coaches like that. Like, I can't, Brable, even though he's coming off a bad year, like, he's earned it. Like, it's good. Maybe we won't have as many firings this year. Dan, I think it could be a light year.

I hope so. I think it could be like, a light year is like four. I want to apologize to Eric and Randy behind the glass. I had them build out boards that we could show. But you guys have been changing all your tiers. I haven't changed a single thing. Oh, you haven't? We can show them.

We could show it. It doesn't matter. Greg, put up the boards. It makes more sense how you guys doing it. Like, kind of go coach by coach instead of cross-refting. Cross-refting. reading yeah flash them up here let's go you got it for the YouTube audience you know like the YouTube audience is growing they're going to be joining do it get that plug in Greg yeah I love it

NFL plus audience forget about it and you have uh I want to make sure we hit this you have Brandon Staley third degree mark so yep that is that's pretty hardcore third degree he's in just as much danger as Todd Bowles and Ron Rivera it's interesting we all have in my world more than Todd Bulls or Ron Rivera so I don't know maybe I was on Who was in your third? He had McDaniels as his second and third degree. So a lot of disagreement among us, which I think, to Dan's point, there's no one that feels totally doomed.

There's room for disagreement on almost all these guys. Look at his board. Great job behind the glass. Sala, Sala on the second tier, Danny. Hey, listen, this is a boomer bust. There's never been a boomer bust team like this in memory for me as a fan. This, the safe one was definitely one where I was like, this probably wouldn't play too.

We don't really need a save. We had the safe one. Too many names. Too many names. All right. Whoa. That is insane. That is an eye store.

Not because of you guys. You know, that's called copy diarrhea. Yeah, if you want to, if you want to see. I was trying to figure out how we could, like, digest this. And it's like, you guys send me 20 names on the safe board. I'm like, oh, crap. We could, if you were listening to this on audio, don't check this out. Or we could turn it into a T-shirt.

And all the, you know, wear it. You know, like Sean McVeigh-Bay style. It would be great. And now... We should make T-shirts out of this. That shirt, the safety shirt. Yes, I love it. Let's do it and just wear it around town.

We've been talking about merge for a long time. Yeah, this is... Maybe this is it. Turn that key. And now, just to cover my bases, I hope all 32 survive. I hope they all go 12 and 5. Yeah, but from that angle,

you're telling us that there are so many other talented human beings that would not get this chance to do this job. You don't want those people. In my heart, I can't imagine these men losing their employment. So even if there is a butterfly effect that hurts other men, and you know what,

Mark, women? Sure. Of course. I don't doubt that, but I don't buy... Good luck to everyone. I don't buy a word of what you're saying. So I think I think... I want everybody to live! No, you don't. No. Everybody. All right. If they make more money than you,

they just don't have feelings, you know? That's not true. I hate to break it to you, Dan. Common man rang guys, but I think we make a lot more than a lot of those assistants out there. How about that? How about that? I don't know.

What do you mean? You don't know that for a fact. Why are we going down this? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know why we're even. What is this? What are you saying?

Just saying, you're not worried about, yeah, these assistants, they're out there. They're not all, they're not all. They're not all fat cats moving around every year. All right, Greg, you're right. You've done it again, Greg. Mark, any final words before we say goodbye? No, I just really want that T-shirt.

I'm not kidding about that. It's a great job. Were his kids hearing this from another room? That's definitely, you've got to wait for them. Part of his contract agreement to be the voice of God is he had to leave his family. He lives in a bunker in Connecticut now, where he just does sound jobs for us periodically. That's why he moved. Yeah.

That's sad. Yeah. I liked his family, I mean, from what I knew of them. You put it in the past tense, and that was the Bible. I thought it was important that he focused on the job. And he said yes, pretty quickly, actually. Tough sets for the family. Eat the call.

Um, more warm. Oh, ah, geez, geez, a little, I think it's a little warm.

Yeah. God, golly. Ooh, geez. Well, all right. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Wow. Uh, I'm a little, um, I'm a little concerned. Uh, can, uh, just turn it, turn it down. A little, ah. Yeah, it's, it's, it's, it hurts. It physically hurts my butt. Okay. Just a little bit. Yeah, it's definitely gonna be a first degree burn. You son of a bitch.

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