The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 1: The Gino Torretta Monologue (feat. Gino Torretta & Jessica Smetana)

Episode Date: January 14, 2026

"Are you in a good mood right now? Are you capable of seeing something that might upset you?" Greg Cote has brought in artifacts from his garage, and Zaslow is questioning Rich Paul's Lakers takes, but everything has to stop because HOLY **** GINO TORRETTA HAS US FIRED UP. Then, Jessica isn't sleeping on Mike Tomlin stepping down, and thank goodness she's not because she's a horrifyingly loud snorer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Folks, I'm getting hungry, and you know my favorite part of any meal, snack, or game day app? That's right. The goat, or should I say, the greatest of all time? Frank's Red Hot! It's got the perfect blend of flavor and heat that elevates all foods from wings to Buffalo chicken dip to even ice cream. That's right, I said ice cream. And with a roster of flavors from OG to sweet chili, you can put that shit on everything.

So make every dish the greatest and eat the goat. This is the Dan Levitart show with the Stucats podcast. This episode of the Dan Levitart show is presented by Draft Kings. Draft Kings. The crown is yours. The show is moving a little too fast. The week is moving a little too fast. Building up the entire week until next Monday, it is a company holiday.

It is a holiday around the country. But we're working two shows that day because we're going to be doing a live stream of the National Championship game. My friends feel bad for me, the friends who are going to the game, the friends who understand that I can't go to the game. Mike Ryan is, I'm assuming, going to the game. The tickets are really hard to get. They're crazy, crazy expensive. I have never been solicited this way by people that I haven't heard from in 20 years because of what this game is.

We haven't gotten to the Janus stuff yet. Janice was booing his own fans. That seems like something that Miami Heat fans would be interested in. I will be before the end of the show nude recreating the Don Bailey senior carpet pose at some point. I'm telling you guys. Thank you, Zaslo. Maybe for the Columbus hit. Thank you for the support.

We are getting into Columbus. Are we getting into Columbus? Tony is, like he said earlier, Tony is telling us for hour two he's going to be somewhere. I don't know where that will end up, but we're hoping to go to Tony an hour two. It was locked in, but then the last segment happened. The Bucks lost to the Kings at home this year, two losses to the win. Wizards, a 39-point loss to the Nets. They lost to the Nuggets who were missing four starters.

They've got a 33-point loss at home to the wolves without Edwards and Gobert. It's disintegrated there. He's available. He's booing his own fans. Yannis is available. It seems obvious. It's an interesting strategy from Janus. I mean, just making messy.

But he won't. But he just did. He just did. He keeps saying out loud, no matter what, I won't ask for a trade, I won't ask for a trade. That's messy. He claims that it's just because of the way that throughout the year on the road, this is what he does. When he's getting booed on the road, he'll flex and he'll boo the opposing crowd. But he knows the difference between home and away, right?

Yes, and it's a bit of a reflex. Big difference. And the biggest difference is that this was clearly like a premeditated feeling because the booing happened as they went in for the half and they were down 30 plus. And this happened on the first bucket of the second half. This is not like, oh, it was much later in the game or it was in the flow of the game. This is the first opportunity that he had to do something like this after being booed. Does he think it's inappropriate for the, like for the fan to boo the home team that's down by 30 to the Kings? Well, they reacted to it after the game.

Like an inappropriate thing for the fans to be upset about? Look, they had a really poor showing and they continue to struggle. amidst a moment like this one? What did the Kings trailing? Wouldn't the Bucks trailing in the Kings at home by 30 be like one of the top reasons to boo if you're a fan? Well, it was the Timberwolves, but it would be against the Kings too. Okay, Timberwolves, sorry. But it's the Timberwolves

without Edwards and Gobert. A good correction, Jeremy, just useless correction. Someone would say that team without Gobert and Edwards is the Kings. Yeah, that's what I was trying to say. The things that I need to get to, we need to keep this moving. Emmy winner, Jeremy, he put the Emmy and Jeremy is gaining confidence around here.

He called Zaz a dumbass earlier. That seemed out of Hallister. That was wild. A lot of names have been thrown around. Cody, again, it's Wednesday. Please find me a hurricane that will read what Mike Ryan. Just find me one. Get one in studio.

I want one in studio before the end of the show, a hurricane of some repute to read this quote to threaten Indiana from Mike Ryan. But in front of Greg Cody, he has fished something out. out of his garage. I believe they are the Dead Sea Scrolls. I'm looking at them right now,

and I don't know what this is. Can we take some guesses on what this is? We've asked Greg Cody to go through his garage, to find in his garage, just an assortment of things that haven't moved in 50 years, and he's got something Zazzle. Why don't you describe it to the audio audio? Yeah, I mean, it looks like part of the set of the movie National Treasure.

It looks like the thing Nicholas Cage is carrying around. A manifesto scrolls of some sort. Does anyone in the shipping container have any guesses as to what it is that Greg Cody has here that he is soon going to reveal for us? Is that like my first school project when I was like four years old? Is this a sports thing, Greg?

Can you give us some hints? Is this a sports thing from your garage? It is a sports thing. It's related to the Cody family legend PFPI. Is it the original column you wrote to trade Damarino? That is framed on the wall. next to Pat Riley over there. Roy, if you want to get that and hold that up for the people we have, okay, Jeremy will do it. This came about 20 years before that. All right, so do you want to unspool it?

We're not getting a lot of guesses here, but it looks like it's poster-sized. It's got a lot of stains on it. What are those stains? They look like coffee stains. What are those stains? Those are the stains of time. It's been in a plastic tub for decades. I had forgotten all about it, and then you asked me to bring in some artifacts. I brought in three. I brought in a 1967 Dolphins Media Guide. I brought in the first known photo of me when I think I was still a teenager on the job interviewing someone. And you brought the Bill of Rights.

And then I referred to it as the Magna Carta, but we're on the same wavelength there. The Bill of Wrongs. So go ahead and spread that out. I feel like I'm going to start coughing because of the amount of dust. in there because it looks like it looks dirty looks old and it really does look like something you would fish out of an Egyptian pyramid near a mummy that would be thousands of years old and it looks like a big giant birth certificate it is a certificate of appreciation this presentation is made to Commissioner Gregory

Paul Cody on this day December 27th 1971 an appreciation for a job well done while serving as Commissioner of professional football predictions Incorporated All members of the league wish to express their perf—what's that word? They're performed—profound. Oh, they're profound thanks. Well, the cursive is bad. They're writing in cursives. Their profound thanks and gratitude for his diligence and performance of the duties of the Office of Commissioner signed.

Dick's Rough Riders, Dad's Dynamics, and Greg's Lobos. So you signed it for yourself. You made that for yourself? It was cursive back then. Hey, kids, this is what cursive looks like. No, I believe my brother did this. I did not make this for myself. I cannot believe Uncle Dick would do that.

Well, we will ask. It seems like something you would write for yourself and then have the family sign. I didn't. I think I'm going to honor myself with an appreciation of... You do it once a year. There's a time during the PFBI gala where you go, now let's hear it for the commissioner, Greg Cody. Well, I also floated the idea of a PFPI Hall of Fame and that never got off the ground. But anyway, I hadn't seen this in decades. And I was thrilled that...

The color on the writing is held up. It has. Yeah, but the paper itself, I think when I went through that rat phase, you know, rats will eat anything. They'll eat cardboard. They'll eat cotton. They'll eat anything you put in front of them. And I think there may have been some rat involvement on that. I'm not sure. I just saw playing Domino's in the other room a credentialed and famous Miami Hurricane. And they work quickly over there to get us people when we need them to read Mike Ryan quotes from threads that he's. He didn't want red. Hesman TLSs deep.

That is too many hints. When I say four, I was eight. Too many hints. When you say eight, it was 12th. That makes it two people, Greg. I was trying to be cryptic to the audio audience so that it can. Pretty obvious, though, no? Audio audience.

The audio audience, Greg. No, I misspoke. It's not a hymnsmit trophy. Misspoke. You know what? I was just kidding. Minor penalty, two minutes. Sport came out of your mouth.

Just get out of here, Greg, for two minutes. You've been on fire today. We'll get to the Heisman trophy winner, Gino Toretta, in a second. Mike, print out that quote you didn't want anyone to see so that he can read it right next to you, please. All right, kicking things off with Smearnoff, the official vodka sponsor of the NFL and the number of vodka in the world. Chris, Cody, you're here. Smear enough. Wow, you're on the money with Smeared off.

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Don Lebertard. He for some reason would do a Gary Stevens impersonation of the offensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins and the University of Miami. Go ahead. Do you want to do that for the people? Your Gary Stevens impersonation. You want to give people some of that 30 years in the making. Stugats.

What? Who needs me? Oh, that? What? You're going to go to Buffalo and win with Bernie Pommily? Who needs me? This is the Dan Levitar show with the Stugats. Jessica's going to join us here in a little bit.

But Zazel, I've been remiss and not getting to this. LeBron James, this is interesting when he's going to fight his way out with the Lakers, and he's going to continue to try and change the paradigm in a number of different ways. Rich Paul is doing a podcast and has been doing a podcast here for a little while, and if you thought Max Kellerman was going to come back into this game quietly, he is not. So this is all very purposeful. Max Kellerman getting back in at the top of the media game is doing, he could have chosen

anything. Max Kellerman really could have chosen anything. He chose to do this podcast with Rich Paul, who was interested in changing the way all of this is done. Rich Paul is an agent. Rich Paul as the agent for LeBron has an uncommon amount of power, and he's just sitting there on a podcast pissing off Laker management by doing things like this with Max Kellerman.

The Lakers have options. If I was the Lakers, I would probably be targeting the Memphis Grizzlies as a trade partner. For Jaron Jackson. Yeah, that would be a great fit. I would, I would, I would, for whom? Well, that's the thing. The package just goes out is what you have to decide. Because if you, if you're, if you're able to trade out expirings and give up the last first round pick you got, that could be one scenario, right?

Or you can say, let me withhold that. But this comes with a, this comes with a very unemotional attachment. because Austin is beloved, which he should be. But he's about to get paid. He's an underdog. And here's the thing. If you really, if there's a world where you can do what's best for your team and do what's best for Austin because Austin deserves to get paid.

That is fairly uncommon what we just witnessed there. And LeBron is flexing through his agent, but LeBron is distancing himself from all of that by saying, oh, no, no, no, Rich Paul's his own man, his own man, his own man. fascinating to me all of it because if the Lakers think they're bigger than LeBron James, and I understand why they would, the last 15 years have emboldened LeBron James to do things the way that he wants. And he's got out here a mouthpiece for him who is his own man, but is developing his own media persona and is going out on, what an interesting choice for Rich Paul to be able to do this with anybody and for Max Kellerman to be able to do this with anybody and they chose to do it with each other.

And for Rich Paul to do it, you know, when we're in the peak of NBA trade season. You know, we're a month away from the trade deadline. And so LeBron got asked about it last night, and LeBron's trying to distance himself from him, like you said, Rich is his own man. I think every, I hope people know that, and if they're not sensible to that, that I don't know what to tell them. I think it lacks a little bit of self-awareness there, where LeBron seems, he, he doesn't

understand why anyone would try and connect the dots there that the most powerful agent in the game, who's the most powerful agent in the game because he represents. LeBron James is trading players to and from LeBron's current team, and people are thinking, wow, I wonder if that's passive-aggressive LeBron, who's kind of putting the words in Rich Paul's mouth there. So it's a little bit of a lack of self-awareness there. But I also don't understand that's like that's a move from Rich Paul where he's just, he's getting up there and trading someone else's clients.

And by the way. Well, Max Kellerman is the one who inserted the name by name. Austin Reeves there. That's not something that, that's not what Rich said, but then he followed him down the path. And Austin Reeves' agent confronted Rich Paul last night at the game. They apparently had

a conversation, courtside, for a few minutes. I mean, you don't want another agent, the biggest agent, trading your client? It's kind of inappropriate. I want to get back to this, but we have royalty in the house,

and at the risk of making things awkward as I always do, Mike, would you like to hold Gino Toretta right now? Because I really do feel like, I feel like that's what I didn't take long. Danny got mad at me because I said Warren Moon when I saw his jersey. He said nice, Warren, Jersey. No, that's Camp Warren. I'm like, you know, I just showed my age. It's Warren Moon. And that's an Oilers jersey, right? That does look like old Oilers. Yeah.

I've seen, I've seen Gino once in the last, I don't know how many years. It's been a long time, but it was in an airport. and it was basically just the both of us going, Cam Ward, huh? L-A-X. Cam Warren's pretty good, huh? At the position, he didn't win a Heisman, but you did, Gino.

You did. Where is that Hizeman right now? It is on the bookcase at home. Weird, you don't bring your trophies with you to work. That's strange. What a highly conventional place for it. They're a little heavy. This one's a little heavy and large.

Do we want to give Gino the Telestrator? Well, I want to give him the Telestradistrator. and I want to give him the Mike Ryan speech to make it. Is he willing to do this? I haven't prepped him for any of this and I haven't seen him for a while, so I don't know how playful he wants to be with this. You know, the only time I get invites on this show is when Dan wasn't in and Stu Gatswood invited me.

Whoa. I don't know where that is. I don't know why, Mike. I, you know, I mean, we got ties. Yeah. Well, I appreciate you. You're a Heisman trophy winner and a legend. You don't have to do what Dan is going to ask you to do right now.

All right. I just learned how to play Domino's first time's the charm. Let me preface this by saying this was about 12 tequila soda limes deep. This is a tweet from Mike Ryan, the guy wearing... It wasn't a tweet. It was a thread. Because he was hiding from the niche. So we need this to be more intimidating than the way Mike Ryan did it, where he's basically threatening Indiana, but it's a mild threat. And we don't think that coming from him, it's as strong as it would be coming from a voice,

sound face of college football and the hurricanes. And I don't think it's too dangerous for you to say. So, Chris, can you give Gino Toretta some music here of some sort? And I'm just reading this? Yeah, but you've got to go summon your... I'm going voice. He's a broadcasting legend, too. So Gino knows how to find this.

But also the soul of Hurricane Fire. Yeah, Ray Lewis is what we want. Indiana's coming to town. They're playing a big game, Gino, in Miami. Miami doesn't lose the big games. Miami Gardens, Dan. In Miami. Do you know how to summon the soul of hurricane fire, as Dan put it?

Sure. Would you like to threaten... All right, we got some music. Yeah. We ready? Yeah. You haven't been tested. Our minds, bodies, and spirits have been in hell since Halloween.

You're walking into an asylum. The same folks picking you have been pouring dirt on our grave for two and a half months or 20-some years. We're still standing. We're forged in fire, been fighting for our lives longer and then you've mattered. See you in a week. Spot the goddamn ball. Yeah. That's what talking about.

I'm ready. I'm ready. Let's go. What's what I'm talking about. Perry's a lot more weight when it's a Heisman trophy winner saying it. Now do it with Mike holding you. Gino, how hard is it to get into that stadium and be around that game? You have some power, but I imagine you're getting inundated with people who think you could get them tickets.

Yes, yes, yes. Calls from people I haven't seen or heard from in 35 years when I left. Make some balls to be that person. Did you have any people do the thing where a week early? They just do the, hey, check it in. How you been just setting up for the week later where they're like, hey, we caught up last week. Oh, no, I got it after the Fiesta Bowl. I think my first text was, let's see, I was woke up in Phoenix.

It was probably five something in the morning and I got a text. And it was like, hey, do you know how we get tickets? I'm like, no. How is Stugat's doing? What percentage of people, like if one to 100% are you going to be able to actually get tickets and how many are going to be dis-zero? I'm in the same boat. So basically the alumni, we can put in a request for two tickets and we have to use one of them. And I don't know how they're going to decide.

We did that yesterday. Thursday they're going to tell us. I've been asked by series to do some pregame, so I'm going to get a credential. but my wife wants to go to the game. Not saying no to Gino. How do they decide which players? Gino, you've got to be at the very top of the list. I don't know.

I mean, you know, Sapp's like, hey, I need a parking pass. I'm like, dude, there are thousand bucks online. I don't know. I mean, the bad thing is I'm on the Orange Bowl committee. Normally I get to buy my same tickets that I have for the Orange Bowl for the championship game. But this year, my 14 seats are corporate. Mike Ryan, how many parking passes have you gotten? How many tickets have you?

you got 12. See, but he's probably like a big booster and a donor and all that stuff. I didn't win a Heisman, but. Well, if I wear a 26 jersey, I think there's some guys on the sidelines. I don't know how they get down there the last few games. As someone who knows, really knows college football, still modern college football as well, can you separate your emotion from your analysis on this game? Like, what do you believe is going to happen? But answer my first question first. Can you separate your emotion from your analysis? Yes. I would say this. Emotionally, personally, I'm rooting for Mendoza because he's a stud. He's a local kid. Met him in New York at the Heisman. And great story. And I can remember doing a game Cal and USC. And they lost 50 to 49. And I remember

Dan looking at my boards going, who the hell is this kid from Miami? And why isn't he at Miami? Because he was accurate as hell with the ball throwing. And he's gotten better for. from there. So I think individually, I guess all of us kind of root for guys individually. Obviously, Miami, they have the talent skill up front. They have mass on the offensive line, a little different than, you know, when we were in school, it was all speed and using the skill guys on the outside. I think there are some guys on Miami's team that remind me guys I play with.

I think Fletcher's a guy just give me the damn ball. I'm not going to let us lose. I think Malachi's the same way. He's just been dynamic. unbelievable Bain. I think as far as when you look at the matchup, Indiana may not have the superstar power, I guess, that we have outside of Mendoza, but they play arguably the best team football of anybody in college football.

Now, the bad thing is everybody's blowing smoke up there, you know what, and saying they're the best teams since the LSU, you know, Joe Burrough teams. That's a rap poison. But if they win this game, do you? You know, they will be regarded as such. If they win this game, they will have to be considered one of the best teams of all time. I think they will be considered to have one of the best seasons. You know, LSU, you got to go back.

Add in the fact of, look at the picks on their team. The pros. I don't think that Indiana is going to have that type of draft day success. I would say if they won, Mendoza will have had the best by far playoff. bowl performance of anybody in the history of college football. I think that what he's done, he's gotten better every week. He's, I mean, it's just, it's amazing. The accuracy he has, the precision he has, and nobody's been able to get him off platform.

Even when Ohio State lit him up in the first play, even, you know, even the first series last game, they didn't look great. He makes adjustments, and he's been pretty impressive. Well, I agree. They certainly don't have the talent and the NFL draft talent that that LSU team did. I think people do this thing where they see the eight blue chippers, you know, the five and four stars, and they say, wow, this team is really maximizing on their talent. They're plenty talented. I think they're, when it's all of a sudden done, they probably have four first rounders on that offense when you have Mendoza, the center, Surratt. And I know that Charlie Becker is not eligible for the draft, but he's looking like a player. I think he's PFF's highest rated wide receiver. week 11. He's really come on. So they got a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball. Yeah, not Justin Jefferson, the guys that are like the best in the NFL.

Fair enough. That's all I was saying. I just, what's impressive when you watch their defense, you know, they are sound in their assignments. Like they don't miss gaps. They don't let somebody cut back and just gash them. Everyone's had a 50 pound advantage on their defensive line. Like everyone has that advantage. I mean, they lost arguably their best rush. sure to a freak knee injury after the Big Ten championship game. And that, they have just not missed a beat. So, yeah, it's been impressive. Their sound, they don't beat themselves.

And, you know, at some point in time, you know, everybody's like, get to the quarterback. Yeah, get to the quarterback. A little easier said than dumb because it seems like Mendoza, if you rush him, he gets rid of it quick. Or, you know, he's been athletic enough to make some plays. Gino, I can't stop watching the Carson Beck touchdown. Can you take us what you are feeling, that play and all the emotion? Well, one, obviously, I thought that being there, I was like, man, does LSU or Ole Miss have the magic at the end, and we're not having enough time? And then we march down and get in that range.

I just remember watching the play. And, I mean, obviously, we're trying to throw to Malachi. He gets doubled, and Carson looks right. and I watched the D tackle for Ole Miss like fall down and he's just gassed. I mean the guy can't even like get up at that point. People were upset at him. Like Ole Miss Rand's like he quit. People were upset.

How many plays had he played at that point? I mean like guys got no gas at that point. And when he turned back around, he didn't even run. I go touchdown. And my buddy in the box goes, what do you mean touchdown? I go, there's nobody over there. All he's got to do is he, hell, at 55, I could run for a touchdown at that point in time. But that's a visual manifestation of.

a team getting worn down though. That's what Miami's offensive line will do to you. It'll make you stay on the ground. You know what I mean? I still work out at the Wellness Center on campus. You see that Mark L. Bell and it's just like if you walk next to him, it's like a shadow. The weird part about that is Miami's never had the great offensive line. I know McKinney was drafted high. This guy's bigger than McKinney.

That's what I like, Dan, his size, it's just like you look at these guys. You're like, he's enormous. And then they figured out, I don't know, the push, the pile pushes. are, I don't know how they're legal in football, because I don't think they were when I play. They shouldn't be. But man, they get kind of stopped, and it's just like, push the whole pile, eight, 12 yards. I pop for that. I love it. Gina, we'll get back to you in a second, but out there, they're summoning you to Domino's because somebody, I think it was Robert, the IT guy said he wanted to kick your Heisman ass.

We'll come back and get you. Let me put it to you this way. I ended with the most, whatever you call them, cards. Yeah, you know, I was calling, I was saying this is like Uno, but my partner dropped them in, and we won. So I don't know what that means. Features. Go ahead and get out there. We'll come back to you because we've got Jessica coming in here.

We'll come back to you in a second. We also have to go back out to Tony at Columbus. Also, I'm going to be nude later in the show laying on the carpet. Yeah. And we've got a lot going on. At Medcan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health, from the big milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led, full-body checkup

that provides a clear picture of your health today. and may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer. The healthier you means more moments to cherish. Take control of your well-being and book an assessment today. Medcan. Live well for life. Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. Don Lebertard. You can't talk about double-digit national titles when every single call of you winning the national title.

Sounds like this. Oh, there's Stubby Jacker running down the island. That's not true. Yeah, and there's a World War II veteran pitching it to another white guy, and he avoids another white guy. Oh my God, Notre Dame, the fighting Irish have done it again for the eighth time. All we're paying white people. Spoo Gats. Chubby Checker.

I'm sorry. He's black. He's black, and I was really guilty. He was a white name Chubby Cheever. I think of like, I'm sorry, man. I'm improv in here. It was a pretty cool riff. He spells it differently.

He spells it differently. All right. His name is Chubby. Maybe you didn't hear me correctly. His name is Chubby Chakas. There's an S at the end. I feel like that should be the largest of fun. It sounds like a college football name.

This is the Dan Levertar show with the Stucats. So Jessica's here and I was fairly shocked to learn this. I feel like this was her man betraying her. But during the Steelers game, during a Steelers loss, we've got this is not made up, it is not altered. This is Jessica has released this to the public. She had fallen asleep, and this was the sound that was coming out of her face. You can hear Al Michaels in the background.

People are going to think that's altered, Jessica. What happened here? Hi, Dan. It's nice to see you, too. Thanks for setting it up that way. This was actually during the Bears game Saturday night, and the setup is I got really cozy and comfy in my jammies. And I thought there's no way the Bears are going to cut. My Chicago Bears are going to come back in this game.

So I got a little cozy and I closed my eyes and then the next morning Lehman showed me this on his phone. It's fairly startling. Was it a betrayal? Did Lehman just betray you? Yes. He said, are you in a good mood right now? And I said, why would you ask me that? He's like, are you capable of seeing something that may upset you?

And I said, I mean, yeah, sure. I thought it was going to be like something terrible about like a sports team that I follow. and instead he pulled up his voice recordings and played that for me. I still think it may have been the dog. This sounds like some milligrams here. How many? We think 10, 20. It sounds like a lumberjack.

It does. After just an exhausting day in the forest. Yeah, I mean, it was a long set. I got a lot of fresh air on Saturday. What's a gal to do, Dan? I was sleepy. It was late. I belong in the central time zone.

No one should be on the East Coast to watch. primetime football games. You do understand no one's going to believe that that is actually you. They're going to think that we altered that. Why not? I mean, it kind of fits my whole thing. I sneeze loud. I snore loud.

I was with a baby yesterday, like a six-week-old baby who was, she's having a tough time sleeping at night, Dan, and she finally fell asleep in her mother's arms. And then I had to sneeze really bad. And I let it rip, and I woke the baby up, and I felt so bad about it. but sometimes there's just nothing you can do. A week ago, you were drinking fake alcohol on here, celebrating these Steelers. Who was drinking for alcohol? Not me.

Tomlin has now been fired, or he's stepped down, excuse me. How do you feel about this today? Thank you. Thank you. I think, I mean, I think I have mixed feelings. I'm not celebrating that he stepped down, but I also think it kind of feels like it was time. Like 19 years is a really long time.

It had been sort of the same story for the last few seasons where the team is, you know, closets way into the playoffs. And then I have to watch a brutally embarrassing wildcard weekend playoff loss to Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes or, you know, the Houston Texans defense. And so I get why he would want to move on. It doesn't sound like a decision that he made after Monday night. It sounds like something he had been thinking about for most of the season based off of Jeremy Fowler's reporting. so I kind of get it. It makes sense. And, you know, I'm sad. I'm going to miss him.

But, you know, 20 years is a long time. Jess, better chance for the Steelers next year. They're in the playoffs again, or they have the number one overall pick? Probably the latter, if I had to guess. I think it's a tough spot for any new coach to come in because the quarterback situation is obviously very unsettled. I think the bright side for me is it sounds like Aaron Rogers' return is. is extremely unlikely now. So that's great. Didn't want to run that one back next year. But yeah, I mean, if you look at the available jobs, like in your same division, you've got a job in Baltimore

with a MVP caliber quarterback. And then you've got the Steelers who have a decent roster, but some flawed expensive contracts on older players. But at the same time, like, there's some nice younger players, like they've drafted well in the interior of the lines. I have some nice younger players there. But with the quarterback situation, being what it is, yeah, I think that that's going to be tough for whoever takes that job. Jess, what do you think Tomlin's legacy is? Because despite the relentless winning seasons, one Super Bowl win, a bad finish, I think it's fair to say, with the playoff wind drought. How do you, what do you see his legacy in the bigger picture?

In the big picture, I think Hall of Fame head coach that won a Super Bowl in Pittsburgh that had a record of winning, not losing seasons, winning seasons that, I don't think anyone's ever going to break, Greg, honestly. I think, like, if you look at the last few years, yeah, it's been disappointing, but it's still been better than a lot of other teams. And so you give him credit for what he's done with imperfect rosters and without a franchise quarterback. But over the span of 19 years, I think, without a doubt, a Hall of Famer and one of the best ever do it. Dan, you think he's going to go Hall of Fame?

Yes. Yeah. Is that up for dispute? There's a lot of coaches who've won ass Super Bowl. That's not in all of fame. as 100% he'll be a Hall of Fame. Every coach who wins a Super Bowl is in the Hall of Fame? 100% is going to me.

No one said that. You're changing the argument. It's not every coach. It's the one who has 19 straight winning seasons and the Super Bowl. Dan, don't fall for it. That's a straw man argument. No one said every coach that wins a Super Bowl makes the Hall of Fans as. Strowman. We're talking about one specific coach.

He's a really good coach. It's a really good coach. Never had a losing season. Nine and eight's not that great. All right. I mean, I agree. with you. I think it's been imperfect the last... The better question to me

is, is Antonio Brown a Hall of Famer? Because Antonio Brown's statistics, like, there are a good deal better than the wide receivers that you guys are talking about that have been snubbed. This isn't Torrey Holt. Antonio Brown was the best receiver in football for five straight season. I mean, he might be a Hall of Famer, but they

will not vote him in. Okay, but I think it's a better... There are character clause? I think it's a better question than is Mike Tomlin going to be a Hall of Famer? Because I think Mike Tomlins is obvious and there's nothing bad to put there. There's nothing bad to put next to Mike Tomlin's resume. Like you could say no playoff victories, but winning seasons every year, she's talking about a record that's not going to be broken.

There's a little stigma about one Super Bowl, and I think it applies to Aaron Rogers as well. And it may be unfair, but if you have a great career and win only one Super Bowl, that's a stigma. Greg, do you think Aaron Rogers should be in the Hall of Fame? Yeah, without question. So obviously there's exceptions that, even though there may be a stigma to one Super Bowl.

And I think Tomlin will be in the Hall of Fame, but I don't think it's unfair to ask whether or not he will be. I don't know that it's just an absolute no-brainer. She's got a weekly podcast, Notre Dame podcast, the Echoes with Mike Golick Jr. Before this game that's being played, I don't know if you're going to be a part of our live stream on Monday. I hope so.

It might be too late for you. you might be snoring. Do you have both a rooting interest and a thought on the way that that game is going to go? I don't really have a rooting. I've gone back and forth on this. I don't really have a rooting interest, Dan. My best friend Priya went to Indiana and has been following along on their postseason journey. So I'm probably going to be with her this weekend,

and I'll probably have to cheer for Indiana. But I don't really have a dog in the fight. So I'm rooting for a good game. How about your analysis as someone who loves college football and loves the minutia of breaking down games? What are your thoughts about Mendoza's precision against Miami's physical strength? Yeah, I think it's going to be a better game than people are giving it credit for. I think that having the Oregon-Indiana game be so recent in people's minds, which was a total Dan landing disaster class is kind of making people think that like, oh man, Miami's got no shot.

But I do think it's going to be a good battle in the trenches. I think Mendoza has obviously been really excellent. I think if Indiana plays their A-plus game, they're probably going to win the game. But I think it's more of a game than maybe the spread is giving it credit for. Thank you, Jess. Folks, listen up. Draft King's Sportsbook, the number one sportsbook for live betting is turning up the stakes this NFL playoffs. Each Sunday, every Draft King's customer has a shot at over $2.5 million in prizes.

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