NFL Stock Exchange: An NFL Draft Podcast - 2. Best fits for every NFL Head Coach & GM Vacancy

Episode Date: January 25, 2022

Hosts Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers go through each of the many head coach and general manager vacancies around the NFL as they give their best fits for each and how each team's immediate future could change based on their decision. 0:00-0:45 - Intro 0:45-11:15 - Giants 11:15-22:00 - Broncos 22:00-31:00 - Vikings 31:00-40:05 - Raiders 40:05-44:30 - Bears 44:30-52:15 - Dolphins 52:15-59:15 - Jaguars 59:15-1:09:55 - Texans

This episode is brought to you by our good friends at NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. I'm sure by now you've all gotten back into your Sunday routines, but they could be even better with NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV. You get the most live NFL games all in one place, every game, every Sunday. And you can even watch up to four different games at once with MultiView, one of my favorite inventions of this decade. It's exactly what you need to catch all the action. Make your Sundays more magical. And also, YouTube TV is great.

I got it this year. It's awesome. Sign up now at youtube.com slash BS, device and content restrictions apply. Local and national games on YouTube TV. NFL Sunday ticket for out-of-market games excludes digital only games. This is the NFL Stock Exchange.

And on this episode, we're taking a look at every single head coach vacancy currently in the NFL. Because of course, the NFL draft means the most to those that are actually doing the drafting. We're gonna look at every head coach opening as well as some GM openings as well around the league. We're going to talk about the head coaches that have been interviewed by all of these teams as well as give you our top three head coaching candidates

for every single vacancy. We're of course going to spin it to what this could mean for the draft for every single team. I'm Trevor Sycamore. With me as always is my co-host, Connor Rogers. Let's get after it. What's up, everybody? Welcome to the opening bell of the NFL Stock Exchange, episode two. Trevor Sycamore here with Connor Rogers. Glad you guys survived episode one and felt the need to click on episode two. I guess that means, Connor, we didn't do too bad. We didn't scare the people off too much, right? Yeah, it's a good sign that people are back if they're listening to this. We got the first one.

The first one's always the toughest one because it feels like we got to explain, like, hey, why we're here, how this came together. Also, it was the craziest playoffs we've ever seen over the weekend. Oh, yeah. And Trevor Rosen, you're mock trapped out. So it was like going into the wee hours of the night uh it was crazy it's awesome but now today we're going to be a little bit more focused and dialed in on what's going on with the gm and head coaching search around the league yeah right i mean now that now when you were saying that i was like you know we say that people tuned into the second

episode but i guess at this point we don't know if that's the case so maybe we're that hey if a tree falls in a forest you know if you just record a podcast there's nobody there to listen to it doesn't matter but uh we're here we're talking about it anyways if you guys missed it we did do a mock draft episode for episode one you can check that out uh really anywhere that you're listening to this podcast as well as you can see our faces reacting to all the picks and all the conversations that we had by going over to YouTube, PFF's YouTube. You could see that over there. So Connor, hit it right there. He told you guys that what the topic is today, head coach and GM vacancies. Because as much as we are going to get down to the nitty gritty of

breaking down these prospects and this 2022 NFL draft class. And we are, I promise you. I know it feels like we talked football games at the beginning of yesterday's podcast, and here we're not talking any prospects, really, like, in particular. This obviously matters. Who these teams are targeting for their head coaches, for their general managers,

is going to go a long way into what they're going to do in free agency and ultimately what their team needs are and team tendencies once the draft rolls around so we're going to give you guys kind of a summary at least to this point as we are recording the podcast which is monday afternoon so who knows news could break between when uh this podcast is recorded and when it drops but we're going to tell you all about which head coach vacancies are targeting, which guys, some GMs that might be into the mix. And then Connor and I are going to give our top two or three candidates,

at least all for head coach, for all these vacancies that we like that we would want to see moving forward. So Connor, I will leave it up to you. I'll give you the floor. I will give you the honor. What team do we want to start with first here today? And I'm not saying this just because I'm down the street,

essentially, at this point from their facility. But we start with the Giants because they have a GM, Trevor, right? It's one of the rare teams that it's like, OK, this is the only. Yeah, it's the only movement that we've seen now. Before we get started, I think a lot of people will notice this. It's no secret. And I've heard some buzz about this, that the NFL actually really wanted teams to slow down this process this year.

And it's not surprising as we sit here, you know, two weeks since a lot of guys were let go that there has not been hires. Usually by now, the hires happen, really come together quite quickly. And now we're looking at things and going, wow, it's already been a couple of weeks and we're sitting here staring and seeing a lot of second interview requests come in today, as you and I were getting ready to record. But some teams still need GMs, and some teams, like the Bears, are doing this dual process of second round head coaching interviews. But hey, we also still need to find a GM.

So there's a lot of mystery this year with the delayed process. But the bonus is that there is a lot of due diligence being done here. So with the Giants, let's start with the obvious, right? It's Joe Shane's brought in. He comes from Buffalo. It's easy to draw the conclusions that Brian Dable, the Bills offensive coordinator, known as the key developer of Josh Allen, is the head, you know, the favorite here, the safe favorite.

Dable was in the mix for jobs last year. A lot of people, including myself, thought he would get the Chargers job. It was a bit of a surprise when he didn't. Going from Allen to Herbert made a lot of sense. And I understand going from Allen to Jones and maybe quarterback of the future TBD might not be as enticing. But with Shane in place there for the Giants, Dable is the frontrunner for that job with the, to me, the runner-up because before Shane was hired, ownership and a lot of people

at the top really liked Brian Flores, a guy from Brooklyn. Brian Flores would like to be with the Giants is what I've heard, but right now, I would say Dable, this is his job to lose. Where is your head at with this franchise right now? Yeah, so I mean, I'm sort of in the same corner as you. And I mean, I'll just go down the list here and look at the names that they have completed interviews with for head coach. Lou Amaruno for the defensive coordinator from Cincinnati Bengals. Brian Dable, the offensive coordinator for the Bills.

Brian Flores, we see the former head coach of the Miami Dolphins, Leslie Frazier, who is the DC of the Buffalo Bills, Patrick Graham, who is the Giants defensive coordinator in a name that's really been floated around. And then the last one that I have here on the official list is Dan Quinn, the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys, but also used to be the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons too. I think we're in the same spot in Dable. It would be my number one for this. And I think even beyond what Dable has been able to do with Josh Allen, the continuity between head coach and GM is so important, right? You cannot sit here and have a divided staff, especially with the draft.

It just rarely works out. And it is wild to me, Connor, how common this is. I cannot believe how common it is that things like that happen. I mean, we hear stories about what happened in Las Vegas or Oakland to Las Vegas, where Gruden's basically making the first two picks in rounds one and two. And then Mike Mayock has day three, like what, what's like,

so you're telling me, so you're telling me that this team goes in with like two different big boards. You know, we've seen clips from, from last year's draft when, Oh, who was it?

It was, it was, it was Milton, right. That the Philadelphia Eagles drafted and they showed the footage out of of Howie Roseman like super pumped up about it trying to give like fist bumps to everybody and nobody was having it it's like Roseman was the only one who wanted that pick and the whole rest of the room was pissed I mean if there was context that I missed with that I'm sorry tweet at us and we'll learn the extra context. But I say all that to say I love Brian D'Abel as a coach.

I think that's why he's my number one, because one, he checks you the box of what you're looking for. He's been through head coaching carousels before. He interviewed, like you said, last year. I think he's ready for a head coach gig, especially what we've seen from the Bills now. Consistency with it over two straight seasons. And that chemistry between a head coach and a GM I think is paramount especially for a team like the Giants it's really an important part of the rebuild the other names that I had Brian Flores you know I have him on here as well I think that

a strong-minded head coach would be really important for where the Giants need to go I think that they definitely need that and then my other one that I'm throwing in here they didn't interview him but this is kind of just my top three Nathaniel Hackett the offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers and the more I learned about Hackett throughout this process I'm going to say his name a lot here in top threes because it seems like he's going to be a really good fit for a lot of teams guy who's gotten to work with Aaron Rodgers he's a football lifer his dad coached for 42 years in college in the NFL. He's had such a long career as a coach. And even though he's not the play caller in Green Bay, Matt LaFleur is, when it comes to the red zone,

the really important downs, getting seven instead of three, he often leans on Nathaniel Hackett for which plays and which packages to build for different teams when it comes to red zone week in and week out. and the Green Bay Packers have had a lot of success in the red zone and so that kind of tells me enough of where this guy's got a good enough idea of coming up with a game plan and even though he's not the one calling plays at this current stop in his career he would know how to do it he would know how to orchestrate the right offense and uh so he's another candidate I'd like to see in New York even though doesn't seem like that's happening because they have an interview but i like where you're going with the

thought of offensive mind because the giants have not been able to get offensive coordinator right lately obviously jason garrett was a bit of a disaster there and it makes you wonder as much as we like brian flores as a head coach overall Brian Flores' fatal flaw was the inability to hire the right offensive staff down in Miami. And that's what, you know, amongst many things led to the divide down there. So when you look at it, you know, if people could sit on the other side, and we'll said you get Brian Dable, Hackett, an offensive mind, your defense is already built in because you can keep Graham there as a defensive coordinator who has had success. They are coaching that defense is apparently well liked by the players on that

defense built in. So I think the pathway or the runway with hot, no matter what ownership and ownership, this is an ownership group that really needs to let go and let the guy they hired in Joe Shane build this the way that he sees fit. They kind of have to do this where they don't have to, but it makes more sense to bring in a guy like Dable that's an established play caller, that's an established quarterback developer right now, and say, hey, what can he get out of Daniel Jones? And I do think with his mobility, he would get more out of Daniel Jones, but even if you fail with him, let him draft his own guy, develop for the future, and just get more creative on the offensive side of the ball, while also maybe keeping that

continuity on defense. I think that's something that Giants fans would get behind, because if you're getting better offensive coaching, the decent defensive coaching you already have, but more importantly, a guy at the top in Shane that's going to build this right way, like your mock draft yesterday, Trevor, where you have, you know, getting pass rush help in KT, getting offensive line help in Linderbaum. The beef. Finally, you could see a foundation for the Giants for the first time in a long time.

So I would be surprised if this is not Dable. Now, we're going to go through some teams today on here that really do like him, but I think the Giants have enough pull in this situation where if he's their guy, you would think Shane would be able to land him. The one wild card in this, I do know they interviewed Dan Quinn,

who is from New Jersey. But Quinn has been like the darling of the market right now. It almost seems like he's going to have the job of his choice. I think... Okay, so are we doing the broncos next or are we go right into the broncos since we're you know segwaying with dan quinn okay so i'll read off the list of guys who have interviewed for the broncos uh head coaching position here obviously george payton they have a general manager he was hired last year and so he's not

going anywhere he's still he's a good one and and i i i do think that he's a good one i i think the fangio got screwed a little bit but again i i i do think that he's a good one i i think the fan geo got screwed a little bit but again you know i don't know how much of that is payton and i don't know i don't know exactly what's going on behind the scenes but i do think that he's a good gm i certainly think that their draft last year was fantastic if you take the quarterback element out of it uh for the players that they acquired they've all been pretty damn good so for the broncos who they have interviewed, Eric Bien-Ami, the Chiefs offensive coordinator under Andy Reid,

Brian Callahan, the Bengals offensive coordinator under Zach Taylor, Jonathan Gannon, the Eagles defensive coordinator, Luke Getzey, the Packers quarterback coach, and their pass game coordinator, Aaron Glenn. Yes, Aaron Glenn, for all you Madden heads out there who remember drafting Aaron Glenn in, you know, like Madden 2005, 2006. Now he is up for head coaching vacancies as the Lions defensive coordinator this year. Nathaniel Hackett is also in here.

Packers offensive coordinator, Jared Mayo. Another shout out to Madden players everywhere who not too long ago were drafting Jared Mayo to be a veteran inside linebacker for their three, four fantasy drafts. Now he is interviewing for head coaching positions, which, God, I'm old. Kellen Moore, the offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys. Kevin O'Connell, the offensive coordinator for the Rams. And the last name on this list is Dan Quinn, the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys.

Man, I'm not going to lie to you, Connor. I like Dan Quinn. I do. Good energy. And so many people out there are going to roll their eyes about it because of Dan. Well, the big one is Dan's failure to get the Super Bowl when they had that opportunity against the Patriots, right?

It's Dan Quinn's Atlanta Falcons that his, his defense played a big hand in them blowing that 28 to three historic lead. They have a good year the next year, but they're bounced out of the playoffs. And then after that, I think it was just like seven and nine, seven and nine, seven and nine. But the thing with Dan Quinn, where a lot of people can look at the negatives and he certainly had negatives.

And there's a reason why he's not the Falcons head coach anymore. Those Falcons teams started off really poor in the season. And does that have to do with Quinn? Yes, it does. But I felt like even in the years that they were struggling, those seven to nine seasons, he continued to get those guys to buy back in and play for him and finish strong all the time. I can't find a player who had a negative word to say about Dan Quinn, whether it was with the Atlanta Falcons or whether

it was with the Dallas Cowboys. He is a player's coach. Players love to play for him. He's got fantastic energy. Like you mentioned, he is a leader of a coach. He's got a lot of experience now of what worked, what didn't. He's reached almost the mountaintop of Everest and winning a Super Bowl, but not quite getting there. He's also experienced, obviously, being fired. That stuff teaches you. Dan Quinn, to me, is that coach that you mentioned earlier. You get a defensive coach, you've got to be able to get an offensive coordinator that's the key and if he can get a good offensive coordinator i'm telling you i'd like dan quinn not just in denver but in a lot of different spots because i think he's one hell of a leader of a coach and i

think players like to play for him well when you see like a luke getzey on that list that makes you wonder is that an interview for a reason right trevor when you see a quarterback coach on the head coach list ah yes you bring a guy in like that and say hey you're a quarterback coach now do you want to be i also just find it interesting that they interviewed the two guys that work hand in hand with aaron rogers that just interests me personally that they interviewed his offensive coordinator. I wonder why. I wonder why.

Yeah. And let's be real. The hottest buzz to get this job has been Dan Quinn for 10 days now. So are they trying to already set this up? I don't know, but it makes a lot of sense because I agree with everything you said about Quinn. And I think the variable for me is less is more. So does he have the offensive staff to come with him to get this right because if he

doesn't then none of it matters he won't be good enough there he'll just be the same not the same as Fangio but not not different enough so also when you hear all that doesn't it make you kind of wonder why the Cowboys don't just elevate Quinn to head coach, run it back with more as offensive coordinator. And McCarthy is just, it just feels like this is going one year too long. And they might look back at that and go, man, maybe we had the guy here without having to shift the rest of our staff. I know that's more difficult to do, uh, than how I'm presenting it, but it just makes you wonder. So when I look at this list, I think it's Quinn's job to lose. He's the number one on there. The guy that I think is a sleeper in this is Kevin O'Connell,

the Rams offensive coordinator for the last two years. And yeah, everybody can laugh and say, oh, another friend of Sean McVay, right? When you look at it, that we did this with Zach Taylor. I mean, it really is this all over again. I'm waiting. Like, when is Sean McVay's hairstylist going to get a head coach interview? Like a legit gig. You know what I'm saying? When is his chef going to get an offensive coordinator interview? That's

what I want to know when we get to that level of Sean McVay. So Kevin O'Connell, to me, has like the superhero resume of friends with young offensive studs in the NFL. Not only has he been McVay's offensive coordinator for two years, but he's also, you know, he's obviously I think he's crossed paths with Shanahan before as well. So you're looking at just a total, you know, from that tree kind of guy. Totally. And I think I look at the Broncos here. Now, I don't know if O'Connell possesses the qualities yet that you mentioned with Quinn,

where you know he's going to come in. Players love the guy. They don't quit on the guy. They play for the guy. He's going to have the respect of the room, and people are going to believe. And Denver's roster is good enough where you would think they could win,

assuming they could figure out the whole quarterback dilemma. O'Connell, I don't know if he has those qualities yet. I truly don't. But I do know he can coach an offensive game plan at this point. He's very qualified to come in and elevate an offense. So to me, he's the far away runner up out of this very long list that I go, you know what? O'Connell's got a couple interviews this year. Not quite positive he gets one this year, but could be one of the hottest names in 2023. Man, O'Connell is one of a handful of these coaches that is young, man. I mean, D'Amico Ryans is somebody

that we haven't brought up yet that I know we're going to bring up. He's 37. O'Connell's 36. Mayo is 35. Like, these guys are young. The NFL is trying to dip into and you know what i was thinking about it because in my in my top three list for a lot of these teams i didn't go with

a lot of these young guys as in my top three you know you can throw kellen more in there as well he's in a couple of them and we'll get to that but i wasn't super heavy on some of these younger guys because i'm like man they're so green like like even even if you think they have a really a couple of them and we'll get to that. But I wasn't super heavy on some of these younger guys because I'm like, man, they're so green. Like, like even, even if you think they have a really bright future and look, if you think they're the best for the job, we're not the ones interviewing them here on this podcast. If those who did the interviews were blown away, think that we're very prepared, understand the game the way they need to can be a leader of men, if you will, in that locker room. And when things go well, when things don don't how they can be in the front with their hand in the front

office as well as their hand on the practice field like if you believe is that guy go do it but man it's just experience uh and serving your time definitely has a place and is definitely a teacher and it's hard to replicate that so you really have to be a special kind of ahead of the curve coach for you to be that young, or at least be as inexperienced as a lot of these guys are for even the success that they've had and turn that into a successful head coaching tenure right away. So man, I just, I looked at a lot of these younger guys and hey, hatched off to the NFL, I suppose, for not just retreading some of the coaches that didn't really work.

You know, they are doing what a lot of us ask them to do, and that's take a chance on some of these up-and-coming guys. And at least they're getting interviews, right? And so I think that that's a decent thing to remember here is that while even people, you know, like me, could look at some of these guys and be like, man, they're too young. No way they could succeed as a head coach.

Teams are doing their due diligence, interviewing guys that are older and experienced, and even taking a chance looking at some of these younger guys, which I do like. My three for the Broncos just before we moved on, just so everybody had it. I've got Dan Quinn on here. I also have Nathaniel Hackett on here.

And then Jim Caldwell. Jim Caldwell is another one that I really like here. I think that he got screwed kind of last time that he was a head coach, had a successful tenure with the Lions. And yeah, he couldn't get over the hump, but for him to really not have any kind of head coaching career after that is pretty crazy. And I think that he would be a good head coach for them.

And I like Jim Caldwell for a lot of the reach that he has around the NFL. He's been in the NFL a long time. He knows a lot of people. And I think Jim Caldwell gives you an experienced guy at head coach for a roster that's already pretty dang good. And he might be able to get some dang good coordinators underneath him to really whatever quarterback is coming next in Denver, that be the kickstart to this team, making the playoffs,

really competing, things like that. I still believe that their best plan of attack is kind of what you said that dream of maybe dan quinn is head coach uh maybe you're getting getsy or heck maybe even you get nathaniel hackett baron rogers maybe you even get nathaniel hackett to come over and you say hey man you can call plays like i know you're offensive coordinator with the packers right now but but you don't call plays. You can come over to Denver. You can call plays. And that is a little bit of a promotion.

And, of course, Aaron Rodgers really likes Nathaniel Hackett. He speaks very highly of him. That might go into the Lauren Amin, Baten, Aaron Rodgers to maybe leave Green Bay. So I still think that's the pipe dream, but those are the quarterbacks I like. Let me get your three officially before we kind of move on here. Yeah, so for the Broncos, I'm with you, Quintin's at pipe dream. But those are the quarterbacks I like, which which or let me get let me get your three officially before we kind of move on here. Yeah.

So for the Broncos, I'm with you, Quentin's at the top. And then I would go with Kevin O'Connell as the runner up. OK, and, you know, like you said, it kind of becomes a little bit of an open world after that where, you know, there's a lot of different names. I don't think those Packers guys are ready to be head coaches yet. So I would lean with a young guy like Mayo that has a lot of promise. But once again, him and him and O'Connell, different sides of the ball are very far runner ups compared to where Quinn is

at in the process right now. All right. What team are we talking next? Let's get to one more before we hit it. Yeah. We're going to go Minnesota Vikings here who don't have a GM as you and I sit here and record this pod, but they have been, it looks like they've narrowed their GM search down.

We know there are two finalists right now. It would be Ryan Poles from the Chiefs, who has had plenty of interviews and is another young guy, I believe he's 37 years old, and Quezi Adafo Mensah, the Browns, you know, VP, who originally an analytical background, but he's had his hands in everything on the roster. So another really promising candidate. So those are an exciting duo of finalists for the Vikings at GM. But let's get into the head coaching search here as well. Now, since the beginning of this process, I think I even texted you, Trevor.

I have heard Todd Bowles has been a big time name involved in this process and somebody that Minnesota's obviously you have ownership handling a lot of this interview process without the GM being in place yet. And they do like Todd Bowles. Now, Mike Garofalo from the NFL Network has now updated very recently and said Bowles is firmly in the running since that first interview.

So before the first interview, heard they liked him a lot. That went really well. Now Garofalo from the NFL Network saying he's right in the mix. D'Amico Ryan's interviewed there that's one I'd really like because you're almost going for the the young version right you're getting a young defensive guy big time energy I think D'Amico Ryan's to me that

he has a big time ceiling he's the type of guy that could be there for a very long time and establish uh the identity of your program going forward, the only question I have there is Poles and Adafo Mensah are very young guys. Do you want to pair the decision maker, the very young decision maker with a guy with experience? Is that going to get Bowles over the hump compared to a D'Amico Ryans? That was kind of my thought process or my questioning here. And then to close it out, to give you a a third one because we are doing this in threes i think raheem morris right if you're going with these defensive minds it's almost disappointing that raheem morris hasn't had that other shot yet and i'm very curious to see what he can do when he gets it so to continue with the defensive theme the theme of a leader i look at raheem morris as well yeah so the vikings have interviewed all of

those guys obviously the ones that you mentioned there. Todd Bowles, they completed an interview with. Jonathan Gannon, again, the Eagles defensive coordinator. Nathaniel Hackett, once again, on this list. Raheem Morris, they have interviewed. Kellen Moore, they've also interviewed. Kevin O'Connell, Dan Quinn, and then D'Amico Ryans. That's the list as I have it in front of me here.

Yeah, I mean, like getting a veteran voice in there with todd bulls does make a lot of sense it is interesting the dynamic of having a young gm whoever they settle on and maybe a older more veteran head coach and certainly that can work out well and maybe even complement each other exactly the way that you want it to if things all go well right if egos don't get super involved but as we know in the nfl that is a big if a lot of times you have these egos that are clashing against each other and uh sometimes it forms this well okay well i mean this gm is is super analytical driven and you know that he And he's all into different numbers of positional value. And I want the football players that I think are really good.

And I've been coaching this game a long time. And I'm not trying to impersonate Todd Bowles or impersonate anybody there. I'm just saying this has a possibility to exist if you have a veteran head coach who maybe has been around for a while and then a really inexperienced, maybe first time general manager who's learning the ropes for the first

time, especially if they're very, if they're really cutting edge kind of a GM, sometimes as we've seen that might rub certain coaches the wrong way. And you're hoping that you're, you're not making the wrong hires in that regard. Again, going back to what we were talking about with giants continuity, very important, not to cut you off off but i have the perfect story about exactly what you're saying and something i think bowls probably learned from his go around when bowls

was here with the jets you know there was a lot of trust loss between him and mike mccagnan because bowls was a guy that really pushed hard for darren lee as a first round pick and and that was a total miss for the jets and mccagnagan missed on a lot of other picks, especially on day two for the Jets in key spots like Christian Hackenberg that put Bowles in a really bad spot, having to speak for a guy they took in the top 60 and couldn't even see the field, could never get on the field.

So what you're saying is spot on. Once you lose that trust from, well, you wanted this and you were wrong. And then the other guy goes, well, you wanted this and you were wrong. And then they don't speak to each other. And the drafts speak for themselves in the McKagan and Bowles era. Hopefully that's something Todd learned from, you know, and it's a lot of it is not his fault, obviously, but of course, some of it is, those are very real things in the NFL that you just spoke to.

I mean, it would be funny if let's say Ryan Poles gets the GM job and D'Amico Ryans gets the head coach job. You got a 36 year old general manager. You got a 37 year old head coach and Kirk Cousins is 33 about to be 34. So it's like the guy who's playing quarterback for you is basically the same age. Like you basically were in the same like high school group. It could have been like a freshman and a junior and a sophomore. So it is kind of crazy when you put it in those terms but my three for the vikings i think you kind of have to have bowls in there you know as somebody who watches a lot of tamil bay buccaneers

football i love what bowls has done i think that he is a he can be a defensive guru he's so smart with defensive things but then you know you see we saw this past weekend against rams where it was like hey man all you gotta all you gotta do is not blitz that's all you gotta do especially on the last drive just don't call a blitz and bulls like nope that's what i do and so that that that worries me about todd bulls i am not opposed to todd bulls getting another shot at head coach. And I'm also not opposed to Raheem Morris. Speaking of Buccaneers defensive guys, Raheem Morris got the job back in Tampa Bay in 2009. He got the job back in, I think it was 2009.

We were in high school. Now I got to look it up here just to make sure I have the dates correct. Because Raheem Morris is only 45 years old right now he got the Bucks head coach job in 2009 right so that's 13 years ago the dude was like 32 33 years old and the reason is because they were coming off John Gruden and the ownership basically wanted a scapegoat head coach and they said will you do you do whatever we want to do? And Raheem Morris was like, this is my chance to be a head coach in the NFL. Sure. Yeah, I'll do it. I'll take the job. I'll do whatever I can.

They overachieved with a terrible roster going 10 and six and then ownership and the general manager told him, I, I remember this story cause I wasn't covering the bucks at the time, but I remember somebody telling it to me. Raheem went to the general manager at the time. Oh my gosh, his name is completely slipping my memory. I can't remember. I'll remember at some point. They go to the general manager and they go to the owners and he says, we went 10 and six and it was an absolute act of God that we went 10 and six. I cannot replicate that again with this roster. You have to give me funds. And they said, Nope.

And then the bucks tanked the next two years and Raheem Morris was out. And then they hired Greg Shiano and then he was out and then they hired Lovey Smith and then he was out and then they hired Dirk Cutter and he was out. And then, you know, like, it was just a terrible process the entire time. And think raheem morris got screwed i really do at that point he was no older than some of the oldest veterans on the team they put him in a terrible spot and ultimately like i would love to see raheem get another chance now is it going to be this stop who knows but i would love to at some point all that to say that was mark dominic by the way mark dominicick, thank you.

Thank you. That was going to drive me insane. Bucs fans are screaming at me on the other side of this podcast. Forgettable era. I've tried. I've tried to repress my guy. You've had a much better time. So I think Todd Bowles has to be in this mix.

I also think that if Todd Bowles is in this mix, Dan Quinn's got to be in this mix. Both these guys were interviewed. I think this is a spot that does make some sense for D'Amico Ryans, especially if you want to go youth movement in the front office. I think that has a chance to really slingshot. Now, could it crash and burn? Maybe so, but for as highly as a lot of these guys, even these younger guys are spoken of, I like the young connection there. I might like that the most, man. most man pairing one of those young gms with a really young head coaching to miko bryant's let the youth movement thrive in minnesota it could be totally different than what it's been and then of course um common theme here

i'm throwing nathaniel haggis name into it because i i would because it's obviously it's huge you've got to get the most out of kirk cousins you've got that contract right now you can't get out of it certainly for the short term so why not try to bring a guy in there who knows what he's doing with quarterbacks and you know he knows kirk well i know he's not sitting there studying him like a defensive coordinator but vikings packers i mean he see kirk he knows kirk he's he knows all that so uh before we get into the other teams gotta remind you guys out there that right now you can get 25 off any pff subscription if you use the promo code nflse that's the acronyms for this show, NFLSE. What do you get with the PFF subscription? I'm glad you asked.

You get all of PFF's locked content. You get the betting dashboard for the playoffs. You get the player props. You get the NFL Greenline tool, which is all sorts of betting things as well. You get the NFL draft guide. You get the fantasy draft guide and so much more. Support this pod by using the promo code NFLSE

for $25 off any sub, either an edge or an elite over at pff.com. Also new year's here. And because the NFL stock exchange, we know has the best listeners of all of the PFF podcast. We want your help to create a list of what PFF should build for you. That's what we're trying to do here. Email us at contact at PFF.

That's contact at PFF with the question with the answers to these two questions you listen what feature do you love most about pff whether it's green line whether it's the mock draft machine whether it's uh the fantasy guide whatever what do you love the most about pff and then what do you want to see from us what what are we not doing that you would love to see or just a little improvement on something that you're already taking note of we would love to hear from you tell us which podcast sent you when you email them uh let them know the nflsc sent you that would really help us out but like i said before you don't have a if you don't have a subscription yet use the promo code nflse you'll get 25 off and it would really help out this podcast where

are we going to read ad read was so good that it makes me want to buy a subscription and i don't have to you're right i technically work here now that's how that's how promising it was let's go to las vegas baby wait they give you wait hold on wait wait they give you free subscription oh boy i just let the cat out of the bag trevor's been there for trevor's been there for four months and they they're like oh uh guess what now we're just playing but for real all right the. The Raiders here, Trevor. The rundown of their GM search, which definitely came as a little bit of a surprise. I think things went down a little oddly the way Mike Mayock was let go. There's a lot of conversation that Mayock wasn't responsible for a lot of Gruden's bad picks.

However you want to view it, it's a new era in Las Vegas. They have on their GM search list Dave Ziegler from the Patriots, their director of player personnel. Trey Brown, Bengals scout. Don't forget the Bengals don't exactly have the biggest scouting department. Right. Champ Kelly. Basically the smallest.

Yeah, they outsource a lot of scouting. That is very real. Champ Kelly, the Bears assistant director of player personnel. And Ed Dodds, one of the hottest names in the scouting world for the last two years, the Colts assistant GM. Does Dodds want to leave? So, I think we should get into this. Yeah, it doesn't feel like Dodds wants to leave.

It feels like we're just going to bring his name up all the time. What do you think? What do you hear? Yeah, is this a bit that Ed Dodds? Yeah, right. Like, I don't know. He's been on like names to know for me since i launched stick to football and now i'm doing an entirely new draft pod half

a decade later we're still talking about still on the names to know so all right so dodds uh huge hand in a lot of the master class drafting in Seattle obviously goes to be Ballard's right-hand man with the Colts. We've seen how they've turned around that roster. And now, once again, he pulled out of the Bears' search, which, you know, maybe he just said, maybe he didn't like what he heard from owners. Maybe he felt like he wasn't getting the job. Who knows?

I think, and this is dangerous, what I'm about to say. I think this one's different. I think there is something here that you cannot inherit or just naturally go develop somewhere else, and that is the nostalgic part that Dodds started as an intern with the Raiders organization and knows the ownership group obviously really well. How awesome would that be awesome how awesome would that be

how sick would that be yeah you started your football journey as an intern for one team you oh man and then you're the GM that's fantastic that's it's amazing it's amazing so I look at this one I think honestly Trevor the Raiders really go two ways right here. If they go with Dodds, who I consider the favorite, and I really think this one is real, even though he's been running this bit for a long time where he goes, I'll interview. Just kidding.

I'm not going there. It's like when a college coach is like, yeah, I mean, maybe. I mean, like, maybe I'll jump to the NFL. You know, maybe. And then the boosters are like, fine, here's an extension. Yeah, and everybody's like, why did you extend this guy? You just gave him an extension last year, and he's got like 14 years left on his contract.

Master ploy. So if they go with Dodds, who I personally consider the favorite, there's a lot of questions. Like, does Ibrafluse, who's with Dodds, with the Colts come into this conversation? Do they go splash with Harbaugh? Maybe. Who knows?

The other route, it's really just like a fork in the road map here for the Raiders, in my opinion, is Ziegler, the Patriots way, where then you go into the Mayo or McDaniels conversation. I think that's the only two roads here for the Raiders, and I'm really excited to see how it plays out. Well, I think those are my three candidates, by the way, I guess, or four, Ibraflues, Harbaugh, Mayo, McDaniels. Well, I think they've only interviewed two candidates, right?

Or at least, I mean, I know they've interviewed Basaccia, but I think it was reported that they're going to interview Mayo, but that's it. I mean, they seem to be like, hey, we're going to interview Mayo, but that's it. I mean, they seem to be like, Hey, we're going to hire the general manager first, which I like.

I mean, I like doing that. You might need to, you might need to, you might need to pick up the pace here and get the GM because you only have one guy that you've interviewed and he's the guy in your own building. So I think they might need to pick up the pace here,

but I do like the operations or the order of operations in which you're doing this. I like Jim Harbaugh for the shop. I really do. I don't know if he's going to make the jump. But Jim Harbaugh was obviously a really great coach for the 49ers. He brought them a ton of success. They almost won a super bowl, right? I mean, like he was on the forefront of a lot of stuff that we see now in today's NFL. Like, I just think he's an NFL coach.

I think he's an NFL coach more than he is a college coach. He had his success at Michigan this past year. Now I think is probably the right time for him to make the jump there. And this, this spot and the bear spot are the only two where you really see hard balls name come up. I think it also did from Miami, but I think he just said no to Miami.

I think he flat out kind of just said, no, I'm not really interested. At least if I'm remembering that correctly. Raiders feels like it makes the most sense. And even if you're hiring a guy like Dodds to be the general manager, Harbaugh had a big hand in what went on in San Francisco, I think, anyways, just top to bottom. I think he liked to be involved in everything that was going on. And I think that would actually be a pretty good pairing.

Like Dodds is scouting. I going along with how the experience of Harbaugh as a coach. And I think that could work really, really well. Now, like I said, like ego is involved and things like that. But I think that could be the pairing if they go with Dodds and they bring in Harbaugh. The other names are the other names that I'm bringing to the table, Doug Peterson is actually one of them. He has not interviewed for this job. I don't know if he's going to interview for this job, but Doug Peterson is an experienced head coach, knows what it takes to win.

I think got screwed over a little bit when he was in Philadelphia, and I think he would be good at whatever in in a handful of spots I think this is one of them so I think that he should be a candidate here and then honestly man if they're not making too big of a change I don't hate bringing Rich Passaccia back and and that's almost out of just straight up respect for how much of a nightmare this year has been for the Raiders, whether it was the Gruden thing or the Henry Ruggs thing, moving on from Damon Arnett or like whatever it was, the Raiders just could not stop being in the headlines for the wrong reasons this year. And Bisacci was still able to get that team. I know it wasn't the most impressive wins down the stretch, but it was wins down the stretch into playoff contention.

And so I think that you've got to give him a fair shot. I don't think it's just this. He was the interim. We're giving him an interview. Thanks for everything that you've done. We're moving on. I really do believe that if you are not changing much in the building or in the roster, you can bring him back and maybe feel pretty good about it. So those are my three. Those are my three that I have for

the Raiders. But it is generally a big unknown. It is. And like I said, really two roads that I see for them right now. And it would be kind of crazy going back to Dodds being an intern there. When he was an intern there, Harbaugh was their quarterbacks coach it's just crazy it's crazy so it'd be both of them coming back to the Raiders totally different guys totally established in each of their own careers so it's something to keep an eye on but with that being said moving on to the Chicago Bears who I find to have had maybe the most interesting process or yeah not the most interesting process or not the most interesting but a questionable one in a sense that they are some teams are like this as well like we said with the Vikings but they're in this deep part of their coaching search process but they also don't have a GM right so I don't really

know the structure of how things are going there but but I'll keep this pretty simple for me here, Trevor. I think this is the one for Jim Caldwell because that should be the guy that makes a lot of sense for Justin Fields and has also coached a team, right? Like it's not as much of a dart throw as, you know, Kevin O'Connell, guys like that. So I look at Caldwell. I get people may not be inspired by that hire,

but I think you have to do what's right here for Justin Fields. And that's where I start with this. And he's getting a second interview. Eber Flus is getting a second interview. Dan Quinn, who's got to be the busiest man on Zoom. Like he's keeping the lights on at zoom right now dan quinn so so the man the man bought zoom stock before the head coach cycle and then just started saying yes to every single every single invite that he got diamond i don't even know if that's a real thing but it's the most premium subscription of zoom

where you just you have unlimited minutes it's like a second cell phone bill that's a real thing but it's the most premium subscription of zoom where you just you have unlimited minutes it's like a second cell phone bill that's what dan quinn has so i mean ibra flus is qualified to be a head coach he's he's second on this list for me i know leslie frazier was a hot name to get this job i don't we haven't seen him get a second one yet but i'll say with what they've done so far caldwell makes no sense yeah so everybody that they've interviewed here dennis allen defense coordinator for the saints they've interviewed todd bowles as well jim caldwell brian dable matt abreflus brian flores leslie frazier nathaniel hackett byron left which is well the other the other coordinator for the buccaneers

doug peterson um and then dan quinn so those dug there by the way, that's, that is the name that I was going to add, because just like you said with, with Jim Caldwell, having that head could that past head coach success. When you look at Doug Peterson, this is also another offensive guy and experienced head coach has made it to and won a super bowl. And he's a former quarterback and a former quarterbacks coach.

And I do think that he gets it there. I think that Harbaugh also makes sense to be in this conversation here for that very reason a very successful head coach a couple of years ago in the nfl knows how to get his hands on quarterbacks and make them perform very well um also like brian dable here certainly what he has done with josh allen over the past two years absolutely give me that guy getting his hands on Justin Fields because that's what this entire job is about to me Nathaniel Hackett's the other candidate that I have there and that was more I think like five names that I just named instead of three but it is just to me all about Justin Fields what head coach can you get that is going

to get the most out of Fields because the Bears are lucky that the draft fell the way that it did. And there were some quarterback needy teams that did not take Justin Fields. They were able to capitalize on it by trading all the way up when everything looked hopeless for the bears before the draft last year, they were able to make a massive move, a massive splash to one of the most talented young quarterbacks in the NFL. Take the next step, get the quarterback. That's going to be able to work with your, or Get the quarterback that's going to be able to work with your, or get the head coach that's going to be able to work with your quarterback the most. I think it's either Brian Dable, Nathaniel Hackett, Doug Peterson, Jim Harbaugh, or maybe Jim Caldwell as well.

You've got to make sure that you nail this next hire for Justin Fields' sake. This is one of the biggest hires that the Bears can make in recent memory of their entire franchise. So, yeah, I'm with you there. Dable would be at the top of my list for them. I just don't, and I don't really understand this, but I don't see him going there. And that surprises me when you hear him connected to the Giants,

not as exciting of a quarterback situation. You hear him connected to the Dolphins, not as exciting of a quarterback situation. And he would make sense to me going to Chicago, working with Justin Fields, obviously all the physical tools in the world, but just doesn't seem like I haven't heard that that one is realistic. But I think that that would make a lot of sense.

And speaking of Brian Dable, this is where his name is going to come back into the cycle as we start with the Miami Dolphins. I have heard that he's their favorite. It's been that for a while. I don't know if they are going to win the battle to get him against the Giants or maybe a surprise team we just said the Bears I think Dable makes sense for the Dolphins in a in a way that you're committing to Tua you're looking for a guy that can get the most out of the quarterback position you're going an entirely different route

than what you just did with Flores which was a bold firing in the first place. Now, if they can't get Dable, it becomes really interesting. Albert Breer of SI said Vance Joseph is in the mix with his history there. If Dable went to the Giants, Vance is in the mix. I don't really like the idea of firing Brian Flores to hire a defensive guy that is a good coach but is also friend you know has a good relationship with the front office and i that's good but is that blinding them to the reason why you're hiring them i don't understand the process right right right right so here's who i like trevor we went through table we went through vance obviously respectable candidates candidates. I like Mike McDaniel the best for them. And that is a name that has not interviewed anywhere else.

He is someone who is the orchestrator of their 49ers run game right now. He is a very, very bright guy. A very bright young guy. Players love him. He is known as one of the smartest people in the entire NFL. And if you made this bold decision to go fire Brian Flores, then you have to go the other way. You fired Flores because it feels like there was a divide there on Tua.

And we know Tua does have limitations. So you need to go hire someone that can get the most out of your offense, despite the limitations they're working with. And if Dable is off the table, if he goes to the giants or somewhere else, then that should be Mike McDaniel in my eyes, somebody that can rebuild your run game that has been absent, make a friendly offense for the quarterback and brings a totally different

vibe into the building since you didn't like the last vibe apparently right so for me Eileen McDaniel in that way it's an absolute swing for the fences it's a risky hire uh but that would be my thought process if I was the Dolphins and they obviously have interviewed him already yeah uh Mike McDaniel has been with Kyle Shanahan the last 10 years of his career well I mean I mean, yeah, basically his entire NFL career. He was an offensive assistant for the Houston Texans back from 2006 to 2008. But he was with the Washington football team, which used to be named something stupid previously.

But he was with Washington when Kyle Shanahan went to be the offensive coordinator there. He was the wide receivers coach when Kyle Shanahan went to Cleveland. He was the Atlanta Falcons offensive assistant when Kyle Shanahan went to the offensive coordinator there. He was the wide receivers coach when Kyle Shanahan went to Cleveland. He was the Atlanta Falcons offensive assistant when Kyle Shanahan went to Atlanta. And then he's been in San Francisco ever since Kyle Shanahan has been there. So every single place that Kyle Shanahan has got promoted, he has brought Mike McDaniel with him. He has brought this guy with him.

And so I think that that's obviously a lot of great knowledge that he's been able to have working in Shanahan's working with Shanahan hand in hand and so not just the run game I think he's probably got well-rounded views on offense in general this would be a this would be a massive jump for him though obviously you know going from the run game coordinator and working under Shanahan for 10 years to then jumping up to being a head coach this is another situation where I would be wary of is this can this guy make this big of a jump because that is a huge jump you go from you go from being worried about one aspect of offense not that he like i said like not that he doesn't have knowledge on all

of offense but like you go on now working on. Yeah. Yeah. He is the offensive coordinator. You're right. Just new. Let's be fair. That's new. You go from working on like one part of a detail because he was a wide receivers coach and then an offensive assistant and a run game coordinator before he was the offensive coordinator this year. And you're so detailed in what you do to now being in charge of like a whole staff of all the guys of every roster decision of a big board of a free agency board of a everything like that that's just a huge jump it's a big ask i'm not saying that he can do it he can't do it but it is a really big ask the dolphins are very confusing for me because they should not be on this list plain and simple we should not be talking about

the dolphin scene to your head coach they fire brian flores and it sure sounds like the the reason why they fired Brian Flores isn't because of results on the field it sure ain't because they went eight and one in their last nine games it's because he didn't gel with Greer it feels and the ownership and the Miami Dolphins and it seems like they were and Tua, obviously, but yeah, I mean, Tua is just, yeah, Tua is just an entire other bag to open up. Because like if Tua doesn't pan out, everybody's gone anyways. It doesn't matter. Like the whole thing's going to, if Tua is awful next year, they're just, hire? The dolphins are such a mess, man. I don't,

I don't, I don't really know what to do. Dayball was obviously a fantastic head coaching candidate. So if they get him fantastic, I think hack it, you get hack it in with Tua and maybe he can save him. I think that you maybe have some faith in that. The other name that I have on this list above McDaniel is I have

Kellen Moore. You look at Kellen Moore and what he's done with Dallas Cowboys. Now, there are some things that he didn't do great this year when it came to just overall game plans, but he's clearly, he knows how to think against the grain. He knows how to be progressive. He's had a top six DVOA offense in two of his three seasons of being the OC there in Dallas. So he's obviously played super well with Dak.

He's gotten a ton out of Dak Prescott. I think he can work with two of them ofavailoa and play things really, really well. So that's why he's my, that's ultimately why he's my third. But I just, when you look at that Dolphins situation, it's so hard to have a lot of faith in whatever's about to happen

because it's tough to have faith in the guys who are making the decision to hire this head coach, really. So, yeah, it's tough. You're right. What they have to do essentially is if they're not going to go if they go the defensive route i just i have thrown my hands up and i'd give up if they go the young offensive guy the mcdaniel hackett kellen moores of the world

you have to do what the rams did a couple years ago when mcveigh was considered a wild dart throw at the time, but he had Wade Phillips with him who he said, Wade's going to control the defense and let me worry about the offensive side of the ball. And he's a great presence for the locker room. You need a Fangio or a Zimmer or a real deal DC that walks into the room and everyone looks at him as the head coach of the defense or a Basaccia for special

teams that he's got the assistant coach vibe i can handle the locker room i can show you the way on your shortcomings while you're dealing with building this offense and getting the most out of tua so i don't know if that's the situation you always want to find yourself in but they put themselves in that so now you have to go down that road in my opinion tough tough times in my tough tough times in miami it's just it's just a lot to take in with what's going on there and how much they believe into it and how much they have to believe into it maybe how much they wish they didn't have to believe into it uh there's a lot of things that are going on there that offensive line's just absolutely terrible so like even if you get a better head coach who gets his hands onto it and makes him a little bit better how much is it doesn't matter

behind that offensive line how many years are we away from that does the GM and the head coach and even Tua himself survive that offensive line and what we're seeing in Miami right now it's tough man that's it that's gonna be a really really tough gig whoever gets that one they have definitely got their work cut out for them. Well, in case you guys missed it yesterday, I got to repeat this beautiful manscape dad. And if you're watching on YouTube, you can just watch Connor safe the whole time because probably going to be cold.

So I don't burst out laughing. Roses are red. Files are blue. Here we go. Don't let a wild pew wreck you. This Valentine's day is just around the corner. Our sponsor manscape. They're here to get you ready for it. They're here to make sure that your balls are ready for this special occasion.

This Valentine's Day, it's time to join the 4 million men worldwide who trust Manscaped, the leader in below-the-waist grooming, with our exclusive offer. Go to manscaped.com, use the promo code EFF, and you'll get 20% off plus free shipping. The holidays went by so quickly. Did you remember to take care of your package? That's a big question. With the best tools for the job, the performance package 4.0 from Manscaped is just the thing that every guy needs in their life to make every day just a little more special. Get 20% off and free shipping with the promo code

PFF at manscaped.com. That is 20% off with free shipping at manscaped.com free shipping with the promo code pff at manscape.com that is 20 off with free shipping at manscape.com when you use the promo code pff join cupid and shoot your arrow with manscape this valentine's day boy we just nailed it again we've got two more teams that we're talking about speaking of making matches here speaking of cupid making some matches jacksonville jaguars is the next team that I want to talk about. Obviously, when you have Trevor Lawrence right there, that is such an alluring piece of the puzzle. Now, the Jaguars have a lot of other things that they need to pick up.

The pieces of the puzzle that I feel like Urban Meyer threw over the table in a temper tantrum as he left the Jaguars high and dry in a lot of ways. Here's who they've interviewed so far. We got Daryl Bevel, who was the interim head coach after Urban Meyer was gone. Todd Bowles, Jim Caldwell, Ibra Floos,

Nathaniel Hackett, Byron Leftwich. And I think that's a guy who seems to be a front runner, at least among fans. Kellen Moore, Bill O'Brien, who was a former Houston Texans head coach who was in the offensive coordinator of the Alabama Crimson Tide.

We've got Doug Peterson and Dan Quinn on this list as well as well connor who do you like and what do you think about the jaguars this is really a two-man show for me and it's both assistants in tampa it's not i'm not even gonna give you three i think it's left which makes the most sense i think you need a younger offensive guy that can get trevor lawrence going on the right path i think this need a younger offensive guy that can get Trevor Lawrence going on the right path. I think this is a franchise that in a vital way, I don't make hires based on this thought, but this is real right now with them. They got to win their fans back, man. It's for lack of a better term.

It's a clown show. I mean, legitimately, just log on to Twitter dot com and look at all the abbies of the clowns. They are. legitimately just log on to twitter.com and look at all the abbies of the clowns they are dude that the clown army change for a week what was it 18 18 now we're 18 weeks for week 18 was truly a work of art it reminded me of when you remember when seahawks fans did the russ like baby yoda thing do you remember this so? So that's what it reminded me of, of when they just like took, yeah, took people coming together to hate the Jags current product. It was beautiful.

It was a beautiful sight. You Jags fans, I love you all out there. That was wonderful. You guys are fantastic. It is wild to me, Trevor, that a year after they had a number one pick of an incredible quarterback prospect and a lot of room to make decisions that they are in this this place right now where I don't know how desirable of a job this really is.

And it's not going to be a Bill O'Brien. So at least you can exhale Jags fans. I think left, which at least reinvigorates a little bit of the energy down there. And most importantly, works hand in hand with the guy that is going to make or break the franchise going forward. And Trevor Lawrence, if they really want a more experienced guy, then Bowles comes into play. I don't think that's a good job for him personally. So this is kind of a one man show for me in Leftwich.

Where are you at? The name that I actually like the most for the Jaguars is Doug Peterson. And it gives you that head coach, former head coach, I think security blanket where you go, okay, this guy's done it before. He's not going to come in and just run a total shit show, or we're not going to have any idea how he's going to perform as a head coach. He has done it before. And I mean, depending if Trent Baalke stays at the gm or what happens gm he could

be a lot more fluid and i guess in control in that way too if he's able to kind of hand pick his gm i would kind of like that situation even better than it then it doesn't have to right then it doesn't have to be doug peterson clashing with anyone the way that he did in philadelphia and i think they're like that that's that's a really good scenario i know i know people like the flashier, hit a home run on Byron left, which, you know, the old Jags quarterback coming home to be the head coach. And a lot of risk there. But there is a lot of risk there.

And as somebody who has followed Byron's time as offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay since it began, man, I remember the stories of Byron didn't like want to really get into coaching. I remember Bruce Arians joking about us telling these stories, how like he had to beg and almost drag Byron left, which off the golf course in retirement, which he was enjoying just to come be on his Arizona offensive staff.

Now, obviously he's not being held against his will. So he is there because he obviously continues to like coaching and getting to coach with Tom Brady has probably only done wonders for Leftwich as a coordinator and potentially a head coach. And so it's all been good things for him. But it's not like Leftwich was this guy who was digging to get into coaching, like couldn't wait to do it. Maybe his mindset after the last couple of years

is different. Maybe he is all in on this career now. Maybe this is something, a new challenge that he wants to be a head coach, to be in charge of both sides of the ball. But it didn't start out that way. And so for people who are like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, go get left,

which the offense has been good. He's obviously worked with Brady. He's going to bring that to Trevor Lawrence. All of those things could exist, but there is also an element of, I don't know. And I'm not 100% sold that, that left, which just wants to be a head coach or just has this burning desire because dude, being head coach is stressful. And I'm not saying the offensive coordinator isn't stressful, but you've got to worry about every single man on the roster you got to worry about all the coaches that you have under your staff you got to worry about relations with the owners with the gms what you're like it's it's a lot and you've got to really want it or it'll totally burn you out and if byron is all

for that great make him a candidate and and they a candidate. And they would be able to tell that in the interview process. But that's really my only kind of reservation with Byron when a lot of people are very gung-ho. And I understand the positives. Just it's not like the perfect no-brainer situation. I actually like Doug Peterson a little bit more, but I understand why people like Byron for this job. Let's talk about the Houston Texans before we get out of here.

We saved the best for last. Because if we thought the Miami Dolphins didn't make any sense, mother of God, I don't understand what Easterby and Casario are doing with the Houston Texans right now. Here's the guys that they have interviewed, okay? Brian Flores. All right, good, right? Respected man.

He deserves better. Former head coach. Good, that's good. He deserves better. Former head coach. Good. That's good. That's good. We like that. Jonathan Gannon, defense coordinator for the Eagles. Okay.

Been a hot head coaching name. Not exactly sure why, but at least, you know, okay, I get that one. That makes sense. Joe Lombardi, the guy that Chargers fans wanted to run out of town for the first half of the season for wasting justin herbert's talent okay all right that's a bit interesting heinz ward the special the special assistant to the head coach at fau and obviously former pittsburgh steelers wide receiver. And then Josh McCown. Yes, the quarterback that probably played for your favorite team

for a short period of time. Oh, yeah. Josh McCown. Not just your team. I'm not just talking to Connor here. I'm talking to everybody listening. He probably played for your favorite NFL team. So he probably has some sort of allegiance to you at this point he is also not just a head

coaching candidate they've interviewed a front runner this guy's never coached before what so yeah that's the houston texans well all right wish like that, you know, they do titles for these guys and you did a really good job reading them like chargers, offensive coordinator, Joe Lombardi and Heinz Ward, like the wide receiver coach at FAU. I wish Josh McCown's instead of former NFL quarterback was like current dad, like current stay at home dad, Josh McCown. You know, I've been doing a mix year on today's show. Guys I think will get the job, and then guys I want to get the job. I think Lefkowitz gets the Jaguars job.

I think there are... He's far from a home run candidate, is what you would call it, right? And then there's guys like Mike McDaniel. I'm not sure where he stands with Miami, but I would like him to get that job. When you look at their list, okay? When you look at their list, and I like your point about Doug with Jacksonville. With the Texans,

I don't even know if it's worth playing that game. I think it's just this job is down to McCown and then maybe a little bit of a runner up in Gerard Mayo with his New England connections to Casario. I'm just going to be honest with you, Trevor, and I don't think Brian Flores should go there, first off. Like, that's why I'm kind of... I thought about Eric Biennemi for this, too,

and then I was like, dude, he don't deserve that. No. He does not deserve it. Right, right. Win Super Bowls. Yes. No. Yeah.

I mean, really, like, make an offensive coordinator's salary a higher-end salary and win Super Bowls and get that playoff bonus money every year rather than being fired in three years from a horrible situation, three years being kind, and then being out of the league. So I think they hire McCown. I think Mayo will be in the mix with the New England situation. And this is a, I'm sorry, Texans fans, and I think you all agree, this is a sad state this franchise is in. And this search to me, it all starts at the top. Easterby still being in the building is an absolute joke, an absolute laughable joke. And I loved Josh McCown when he was with the Jets, and he seems like a great dude.

But McCown getting this job, Trevor, is just that Easterby and the owner are running things just as much as the guy they gave a five-year deal in Casario. So what do you want to say about them anymore? Like, I'd love to sit here and tell you, I'd love to see Doug Peterson or Brian Flores actually turn this into a serious franchise. I would be shocked if that happens. You know what would be funny is Josh McCown getting this job job and he's older than demico ryan's he's older than gerard mayo he is older than um who's that uh kevin o'connell he's older than all this he's 42 but you know what's funny he was on the texans team last year he was on the texans team in 2020. He was playing football.

It's weird, man. You know what it's like? It's weird. It's weird. It's like if we're doing this podcast, and then next week you heard that I interviewed to be the CEO of Pro Football Focus. And you're like, Connor's been here for a couple shows.

Damn, man. As co-host. Maybe you could get me a premium subscription finally. Maybe you can help me out. I'm kidding. They've given me one. Everybody calm down. Yeah, you could have a lot of serious, angry- But that's a really good analogy. You've been here for like two weeks, and then yeah, Collinsworth calls you up and he goes, hey, Connor, that was a really great episode one one do you want to come run the company and

mccown might end up being a good coach but it's an awful process it's an awful process it makes a mockery of the process of hiring in the nfl it does you know and yeah you you don't want to see you don't want to sit here and be like oh you got to pay your dues because like i i don't think like that's true either but i agree you're good you're good okay there are 32 of these jobs in the world right and it seems like they're not really treating that with very much respect at all and i I don't, I guess they probably think they really are. I think they think that they're, they're probably really outside the box that they're progressive, that they're, they're going out to get the guy that no one's even considering

that makes them look like geniuses. Maybe you will, but from the outside looking in, especially the things that we have seen from the Houston Texans over the last two, three seasons, why believe it's from the Houston Texans over the last two, three seasons. Why believe it's hard to believe that that's the right move. It's hard to believe that they're going about this the right way and, and not the other way around, which is you're interviewing Hugh, who you sure you should have the power to be able to do this.

We'll see. We'll see how it plays out. There's a, there's a lot of head coaching vacancies that are going to get filled over the next couple of weeks that we're obviously going to cover here on this podcast, and we're going to be able to spin a lot of this more towards a draft angle because I think we spoke a little bit about guys' backgrounds, where they're coming from, some of what they do best, whether they're offensive,

defensive coordinators, what we think the focus of each team would be if those guys got those head coach jobs. But as we see these things come official over the next couple of weeks, we're really going to dive into, okay, Matty Berflus is the head coach here. This is what this means. This is the defense that he's been running the last couple of years.

These are the players that I think are really going to be strong on the current roster. Here's some areas that I think they're going to attack. We're going to be able to do that with, with all the head coaching hires that we see over those next couple of weeks. Guys, if you listen to this podcast and you didn't check it out on YouTube,

please go check it out on YouTube. For everybody who watched episode one on YouTube, I absolutely love you. Thank you so much for that. It was a mock draft episode. So the comment section was obviously popping as it is with all mock draft content. But we really appreciate you guys listening to this podcast here on audio format

as well as watching it on video. If you haven't yet, go to Pro Football Focus YouTube. Smash that subscribe button just like you did for the podcast. We would really appreciate that. On Thursday's episode of the show, because we're taking a little break. The format here is Monday pod, Tuesday pod, and a little break on Wednesday. And then we get you a Thursday pod.

We're going to be doing a positional preview. So Connor and I wanted to do these for all of the positions. Wide receiver, quarterback, running back, tight end, edge rusher, interior defensive lineman. And what Connor and I are going to do is we are going to really get into that scouting portion of what this show is all about. We're going to give you our top five as it stands today for each position. This week, we are starting with wide receiver.

So Connor and I are going to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the class, how strong we believe wide receiver is going into the 2022 NFL draft. Some guys that we really like, some guys that maybe are just outside of our top 10, how deep we believe it is. And then we're going to give you our top five wide receivers. And we're going to use that as a base moving forward to when we have these all-star tours, right? Like Shrine and Senior Bowl, when we get the combine results,

when the Pro Day circuit comes out, when we just have time to watch even more tape on these guys, we're going to be able to tell you, hey, I had this guy number four in my ranking. I didn't love how he performed at the combine. He's a little stocked down for me. He's outside the top five now, or we're going to be saying like, Hey, I had this guy is like wide receiver 12. Love the tape. The more I dug into it, loved how he tested the combine. This guy's a stock up player. He's now in my top five. And

yeah, like I said, Connor, we're starting with a, with wide receiver for the positional previews on Thursday. What better position group to start with? I mean, it's a pretty loaded group. Again, maybe it doesn't have a Jamar Chase, but it has a lot of first round talent. And then it's really hard to divide these guys up, especially when you get into the day two kind of receivers and varying how you separate them. So I think it's the perfect position group to start with. Obviously, Thursday show will be much more hardcore draft, right? I think we did that on Monday to debut. I think today we looked at the NFL offseason, and that's all going to heavily impact the draft. So that's something Trevor and I are always going to cover. We're going to look at GM and head coaching hires. We're going to look at free agency signings. We're always going to tie that into the show with the wide lens. But Thursday, super hardcore draft.

What better position group to start with? It's deep. It's got star talent at the top, and I guarantee 90% of your favorite teams should be looking at these wide receivers. You're not set at wide receiver. I'm pumped, man. It's going to be an awesome show. Rarely am I ever going to look

at any team in the NFL and say, yep, they're totally set at wide receiver. This is the aerial age. Go score points. Go get these playmakers. We're going to be telling you everything you need to know about the 2022 wide receiver class.

I'm Trevor Sikma. That's Connor Rogers. Thank you guys so much for listening. We'll see you on Thursday. Thank you.