The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 2: Harbaugh A Charger Amid Cheating Charges

Episode Date: January 25, 2024

Dan Campbell quotes and Rage Against the Machine are a match made in heaven. Keep your eyes and ears open for NFL tomfoolery to slide the Chiefs into another Super Bowl. Mina Kimes joins the show to discuss Conference Championship weekend, Jim Harbaugh being hired by the Chargers and Bill Belichick's coaching prospects, but most importantly Dave Canales' neck length. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to Giraffe Kings Network. It's how we made it more wild. This is the Don Lebator Show with the Stugatz Podcast. We're gonna kick you in the teeth, alright, and when you punch us back, we're gonna smile at you, and when you knock us down, we're gonna get up. And on the way up, we're gonna buy the kneecap off, alright, and we're gonna stand up, and then it's gonna take two more shots you knock us down we're gonna get up and on the way up we're gonna buy the kneecap off all right and we're gonna stand up and then it's gonna take two more shots to knock us down all right and on the way up we're gonna take your other kneecap and we're gonna get up and then it's gonna take three shots to get us down and when we do we're gonna take another hunk out of you before before long where they're gonna be the last one stand be the last one staying. When we have a game and we own that game, we finish that game.

There is no light at the end of the tunnel. There is no light. I was proud of them and I love the fight they have in them. And I love the fight they have in them and I love the grip. Just like a motor city, bro. Why don't you tell them to face the lines? Ain't got what it takes to waste a love party on a Super Bowl Sunday. No matter who they're playing, they're gonna give them hell. They don't matter who they're playing, they're gonna give them hell.

They don't care who they're playing, they're gonna give them hell. You better hold thing you don't play them, because they're gonna give them health. They've been a whole thing. You don't play them because they're going to give you health. Cavalry! Doesn't matter if you have one ass cheek or three toes, I will beat your ass. It means that, hopefully, I'm 100% and 85% man. That's all I need to be. It's our core foundation, man.

It's grit. And what does it mean? It's our core foundation, man. It's grit. And what does it mean? It's really, in a nutshell, I think it means this. We'll go a little bit longer. We'll push a little harder. And we'll think a little deeper and a little sharper. You just got to get a hold of them.

If you just get a hold of them, and you start dragging their ass out to the deep jar to the earth. You can drown him. So what did he say? Oh, it doesn't matter whether you have what or three toes he's going to kick. One ass cheek or three toes. Put it on the pole please, Judy. Which seems like an easy fight. That's a little bit too much down.

Does it matter whether you have one ass cheek or three toes? Is Dan Campbell still going to kiss, kick your ass? I think everybody when that for the introductory press conference happened, and he said, we're going to bite your kneecap off. And then on the way back up, we're going to bite your other kneecap. And that whole speech, we also, everybody made fun of it and was like, whoa, this guy's intense. I don't think we actually focused enough on the poetry of what he said.

That, that, the construction of what he said. That that the construction of that speech, it's spoken word poetry and I think we should give him a little more credit for his literary genius. Charlotte, maybe people know this on Oddball but I don't think the people here know you actually are a poetry expert. You studied poetry, you wanted the most difficult career path of all, I'm going to become a professional poet. Yeah, and then I was like, oh How do you do that and here I am so yeah, no I not to brag when the poetry prize my senior year of college, so Explains my career path. Well, you were the only contestant also,

because no one else would choose poetry as a career. Real quick, I wanna thank Darth Shredder for making that song. That's our first ever parody song that came with a music video. That's the way that content creator decided to make that song, so we appreciate the creativity

wanted to reward the effort. Don't you guys want that poet to hoist the Lombardi Trophy? I mean, seriously. I mean, watching that as much as I'm a college Shanahan guy, that'd be pretty gnarly making it to the Super Bowl too. I think we're guaranteed great storyline no matter what gets in there. I want to better understand those Stugatz's viewpoint,

because again, another segment ended and he stood over me. And he's right, because he wanted me to end the last segment. Like, he's like, you idiot. Like, I tossed you the ability to make fun of me because I've taken every possible position on the Kansas City Chiefs. And I didn't know what to do with it. And I limped into the break just on a terrible day. Just limped into the break. It's like, I love Lamar Jackson. Big surprise. Routing for Lamar Jackson. I'm sure that's actually surprising to me to anybody out there that

I want the guy to win who nobody thought was gonna be a quarterback I think Lamar Jackson loves point break So what is your take officially on the chiefs Stugatz because what we're headed toward in this game, right? If there's a controversial call that favors the chiefs Oh boy and gets them into the Super Bowl because the best possible result for the NFL is Jason Kelsey's drunk shirtless ass and Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey being in the Super Bowl and people in Baltimore are already saying this game's going to be fixed that it is it really behooves a league with an officiating problem that the Kansas City Chiefs make the Super Bowl.

If there is a call, Stu Gantz. That goes in these games that are decided by nothing. If there's a call against Baltimore that gets the Chiefs to the Super Bowl, conspiracy theories will be flying. I wanna know what your take is because when the playoffs began, you said, that's the team I want to see. It felt good at the time. And you also, that's the team I want to see. It felt good at the time.

And you also said that same week though, Patrick Mahomes, uh, controlling into your stadium. Anybody would be afraid of that. Your, your takes have been all over the place. All right. So let's, let's pin you down. The Kansas city chiefs, where are you on this? Please make some consistent word salad.

So we understand what your one position is on this Can I get back to you on Monday or see what happens? He's so slippery He's dripping in grease right now. You're trying to Billy help me You're trying to produce though my original take was this chief's team is down and this year You want the chiefs strolling into your stadium because they're not playing that well. But then I saw him against Buffalo. You do not want that guy strolling into your stadium, dad. I am telling you, unless you're Lamar Jackson, because he's so much better and they're so

much better than the chiefs. This is exactly what you want. You don't watch Josh Allen. Billy help me. So you do or you don't want Billy. I'm just Billy. I'm just going to take every position on this yeah Billy let me roll because I'm trying to confuse dance so he has no idea what my position is let

him cook Billy I'd like I'd like the room's position on this Jason Kelsey is saying on the number one podcast in America he is saying that his wife asked him at Sunday's game because they were meeting Taylor Swift for the first time To be on his best behavior He said to her when you met me I was blackout drunk. That is my best behavior Do you guys believe that all of that is so and does Taylor Swift like that the Kelsey's are relentlessly themselves even though it's a little dirty because she's been surrounded by yes people for her entire adult life?

Yeah, I absolutely believe that's his best behavior. He talked about it earlier on an episode of New Heights where when he met Kylie, his wife, the first time he met her, he was like blacked out drunk. So I really do believe that's his best behavior. In fairness, like she's meeting the Kelsey family. Like she should be the one. She should be on her best behavior. In fairness, like, she's meeting the Kelsey family. Like, she should be the one. She should be on her best behavior.

Absolutely right. Right, like this is what you're, if anything, this is a very honest representation of what you're in for. Like, can you hang or can you not? I also do believe that's Jason's best behavior. He behaved very, everybody was talking about him. She's courting too.

Behaving best. Taylor needs to go out there and subzero temperatures and do something similar. If you, well, if you, no. No, no. I said something similar. Yes, I think the exact same thing, something similar. I'd settle for her being on rhythm.

Oh, God damn. What, no, we're not, we're not. No, let's have finally, let's have this conversation. Cause I've been, people have made fun of my Caucasian delegation, the swag surf and the stealing of the swag surf. Is that about the ceiling of it? Like just you, you, you're a singer, you're a musician. How do you not know what rhythm is?

Oh, you meant dancing. Yes. Sorry, I thought you meant in her music. No, no, I meant like, She's already on, on rhythm. Sorry, dancing shirt, go ahead. Yeah. Like how is that possible though? It just doesn't make sense. It would be like, like, hey, sure, go ahead. Yeah, like how is that possible though? It just doesn't make sense.

It would be like, like, hey, what do you do? I'm an Olympic track and field athlete. Yeah, oh yeah, what do you do? Like run 100 meter, 200 meter? How are your times? Pretty good, really good. Like I've meddled a couple of times. All right, let me watch you run.

And they run like this. Audio, medium here as well. How is that possible? How is that possible? How is that possible? You don't think a good singer can be a bad dancer? Not bad, no. I'm not talking about like dance routines. Swag serving is literally just left, right,

left to the beat of the rhythm of the music that is very obvious. How is she missing this? How is she completely off rhythm? This is her job pretty much. Lucy is in agreement with this. You're careful with the Swifties here. Yeah, I mean, at this point,

who's not gonna be mad at me after today? She, when she would dance at award shows, that would always be sort of my thought. Like there would be like musicians playing, and I'd be like, that girl is off beat. Yes. Wow. When she's in the crowd, right? When she's in the crowd and like, live your life, dance freely,

do what you want, but Amine does have a point. Her rhythm is not there when it comes to dancing. But Amine is making the one point and I would say that our show has been crucified the last couple of weeks because we are not attacking the cultural appropriation of stealing that dance. Dude, swag serve was culturally appropriated like 10 years ago.

Like when you, the first time you walked into the NBA game, the heat do it every like third to fourth quarter transition. The moment you saw it at an NBA game, like as, and now everyone lets swag serve. It was done. She didn't appropriate that. It was long gone. Texas A&M does the side to side. Once that happened. Yeah, you were done. She didn't appropriate that. It was long gone Texas A&M does the side-to-side once that happened. Yeah, you were done kind of used to having things stolen from us You know, they stole woke. Yeah, that's true. They saw and then they changed the definition. Yeah

They changed the definition to you know the n-word basically. Yeah Yeah, I believe that we should transition right from there effortlessly into how our show swag serves as the critic of Taylor Swift and how she swag serves. Here you go. Here's the video of our show swag surfing. You tell me if we're doing it well. Do you square it for people? Yeah. Oh my gosh.

God, I've never felt wider. The wider. Oh God. Jesus. Fun I've never felt wider. Oh, wider. Oh God. Jesus. Oh, no, it is right. No, you don't find in others having joy. So guys, you did the right thing. What? No, then he's trying. Yeah. I just had. Oh,

Janice says he was surprised by the Griffin dismissal. The one was a pro comic. That's funny. I think Mike was just trying to get us off of the swag surfing and so he just did breaking news that wasn't NFL news. He didn't have anything. It's not even breaking news.

It's broken news. I like it though. Look at him. It saved me from the epilepsy of watching that video. It got us off of it. Well done, Mike. Save the show again, Mike. And you never get credit. No one ever says, Hey, Mike, thanks for saving the show. I'm saying it though. That's what the money's for. Don Lebatard. Yes. You can't talk about a double digit national title is one every single call of you winning the national title sounds like this oh there's there's nothing I'm running down this

island even if the audio yeah and there's a wall wall two veteran pitching into another white guy and he avoids another white guy oh my god not a name the fighting irish have done it again for the eighth time I'm a white people spook got chubby checker He's black He spells it differently Maybe you've been him incorrectly his name isuckas. It's an S at the end. That ends. I feel like that should be the largest of five.

Yeah, Chubby Chuckas. It sounds like a college football name. This is the Dan Levitar Show with the Stugats. ["The Stugats"] That mother-f***ing- asked me writing somehow 500 words for him for his book, leading up to the Super Bowl. He's asked Will Bonford, he's asked me for it, he's wandering around. This is what he's doing.

He's writing a book? No, he's not. He's outsourcing it to all these people. He's not writing a book. It's his personal record book that he will not have written a word of, but he's going to use every grift and every I mean let's talk about this for a second. Let's talk about it. Let's let's let's reveal this to the audience Well, it's not we're not yeah, we're running we're running

We're going now and I like when the off air stuff ends up on here Please tell me cuz two guys has just left with Billy to do something and he's always running some sort of grift He's asked me to ask willbon to write the foreword of his book. He's asked me to write the foreword of his book. And now I'm finding out, and I think Mike sure put this whole deal together, and I don't think he's gonna do any actual work. What has he asked you to do, Mina?

And he's insisted that you write it on this, the busiest time of your life? Yes, okay, so yes. Sue texted me, hey, I've got this book. Just asking some friends to pitch in a little bit. I actually thought, you know, maybe a blurb. Something I get asked to do every now and then, maybe a forward is a reasonable request

of an old friend like you. No, I get an email from Stanzik, who's helping him, the ESPN producer. He wanted me, and I imagine others, to write a rebuttal to one of his chapters. The chapter is not that long. And then he said the rebuttal could be, he's like, it could be 500, could be a thousand words.

That would make the rebuttal as long as the chapter. So essentially, he is asking people, I believe, to co-author his book without of course any conversation. I don't think he's going to write any of it. I think- No he did. They sent me the chapter.

It's not long. It is not long. And- I don't think he wrote it is what I'm saying. Oh. I think either chat GBT or a ghost writer. I don't believe Stugatz has lifted a finger to a word processor to write anything, to a computer.

Is this, you know how MLM, multi-level marketing schemes work where you have to build your downline, and I feel like I'm in Stu's downline. You gotta recluse some of that. But he is somehow, and I left out the part, the grayest part. Oh, and by the way, if you can, can you just get this to us by February 9th?

Not like- It's deadline? I mean, this to us by February 9th? Not deadline. Yes, February 9th. Not any deadline. Not any deadline. Literally. Are you busy that week? What would you be doing that week, Mina? Why would you be busy? This freaking guy, man. Sounds like you need to get a jump on this.

It sounds like you had to work. You better get to work. You got a week and... I started it last night because that's who I am. I mean, a breaking news. Dave, Dallas is the head to the Carolina Panthers. Dave Tepper finally got someone to say yes to this job. He's interviewed a lot of people. Number one, handsome man. That's my main observation. I discovered him on a Monday night football. Didn't know he looked like that handsome guy. I'd follow him anywhere. Yeah. I think I don't have a number two. That's it. I mean, immediately did a good job with Baker. So to the top of

the handsome rankings, right? I mean, who's, who's giving him a run there? D'Amico, Kevin, like a bit of a long neck. Yeah. What are we going to do? We're just going to objectify this. I mean, there's some definite Mitchell-Trabisky vibes happening. I think the main question while breaking this down is, do you see Dave Canalis speaking at Dave Teppers funeral? This is, it feels a little bit out of left field. Dave Canalis was a first year offensive coordinator. He coached quarterbacks in Seattle before that.

It's a very rapid ascent, but I always suspected that Carolina job might be an out of left field hire because it was so undesirable, candidly, right? Like, because we're talking about probably right now, Arizona gives them a run for money, but one of the worst owners in the NFL in terms of like working for him,

we've heard a little it and you have reasons when it comes to tepid. We know he does have a lot of money, so I have to think, you know, it's got a pretty sizable contract for this, but this is quite the come up. And I think, you know, it's not easy, or not hard, pardon me,

to see why they went with him. The most important thing in Carolina is fixing the quarterback situation, helping Bryce Young develop, fixing the offense. And he did a great job in Tampa this year with Baker. I was really impressed by the play calling, the way he tailored it around Baker's skill set. The way Baker evolved as a quarterback with Canalis,

getting the ball out quickly, most notoriously taking fewer sacks. So both of those are things that Bryce Young desperately needs to do in Carolina. They obviously need to add a lot of talent on that side of the ball, but to that end, I do like the hire. I'd like to make a formal apology to Mitchell Trebisky.

I misspoke. I meant Mike Glennon. Mike Glennon. Long neck to Mike Glennon. Oh, you really ruined that. I ruined it. Go sit in the penalty box for two minutes. You've got to get Mike Glennon.

Mike Glennon's wife is a famous character on this show. Talking to his neck, you got to get that one right. Can I tell you a story quickly about Mike Glennon's wife is a famous character on this show talking to his neck. You got to get that one right. Can I tell you a story quickly about Mike Glennon? Yes. I think it was very early in my relationship with Orlovsky. I might be misread. I think this is what happened.

I was making fun of Mike Glennon's neck, making a lot of jokes. I mean, it is, look it up folks. It is, it is a dramatically, it is pretty noticeable. And Orlovsky looks at me and he goes, I was in Mike Glennon's wedding. I didn't know that's it like that. That's when you start it with like, do you know Mike Glennon?

And then they say yes and you're like, cool. And that's your story. So you have to do that actually with Dan Orlovsky. Anytime you're about to make fun of anyone at the NFL, because as a journeyman backup quarterback, he's been in a lot of weddings and is this, but is this the last spot that we're allowed to shame somebody's body? Uh, my fatness and his neck, like is the,

the neck is now a safe space to mock someone. The way someone looks or canalis because canalis is making the neck work. He is part of the reason Glennon's neck is so interesting is it raises the question of whether it helps you play quarterback, kind of like, you know, with all the trench warfare in front of you, is it like a periscope where you can kind of see over, you know, and he's very tall too. I think he's six, six or six, seven.

Yeah, so heads above the crowd. Is that a saying? That is the same one. It might be a compliment is what I'm saying. six or six seven. Yeah, no, heads above the crowd. Is that a saying? It might be a compliment is what I'm saying. Well, not only that, this is what I would ask you. You know how serious these draft rooms are about measuring quarterbacks. Are you telling me that you believe in a draft room somewhere? The people decide whether Mike Glennon was a first round pick made the separator look at his neck. He's got a longer

neck than someone else. I believe like a periscope he can see over his offensive line. I would bet Nino's 529 that at the combine or whatever at some point in the draft process, a coach said, look at the neck on that guy. Vision. Vision. I think though that something important about Mike Lennon is his neck isn't necessarily longer than some other people's necks. His head is just narrow. So it makes the neck look more of a part. No, it's longer.

No, Charlie, it's longer. Put it up. Okay, that's great. Wait a minute, this isn't real. This what's on the screen, that's not real. Why is he smoking a cigarette? That is photo shot. That's the only fake thing. Someone has to say.

Yeah, I do have questions about coaching. We'll get to the gym, Harbaugh in a second, but not that Bill Belichick was ever in play for Carolina. Bill Belichick has only been really linked to one team and they continue to interview candidates. Are we really looking at a scenario where Bill Belichick's gonna be, I think 15 wins away from Don Shula's wins record and he's not gonna have a job this year.

Yeah, we're down to the Seahawks Commanders and Falcons now. The game of musical chairs is rapidly shrinking. I think it's a real possibility. Like at first it felt like Falcons was preordained, it was a done deal. But I think as some of these coaches go off the board, you're seeing other coaches like Ben Johnson, like Mike McDonald, like Mike Vrable, who are very desirable candidates still available. And suddenly, all Bill has some pretty serious competition for that job. I think what is possible, Mike,

if Bill doesn't go to the Falcons is he just takes one year off, comes back. I don't think he's done coaching, but I could see him taking a year off and coming back for whatever openings are. Oh, but Mina, this is a bit of a stunner, okay? Can we just stop for a second here? Are you suggesting that Bill Belichick

is gonna take a forced year off because not even Atlanta wants him after two interviews and the options are drying up? Like what world am I living? But a lot of this has to be Bill Belichick being judicious too. I can't imagine a world where Dave Tepper would prefer to have a canalist over Bill Belichick.

Maybe that is Dave Tepper's world, but he's also not shown interest. Jerry Jones' world, evidently, is it not? I gotta believe he kicked the tires on it, man. I mean, if Bill Belichick doesn't get a job or sits a year out and like the entire year, you are going to see photo, every time the Cowboys lose,

you're going to see a giant Photoshop of Bill Belichick wearing Cowboys gear. They might even just, you know, like that'll be a first take topic. Like, is it time to bring in Bill Belichick midway through the season? One thought on Bill though, and as far as like, why is he not like the top candidate for all these jobs, you're trying with the greatest coach in NFL history. A lot comes with Bill. Couple things.

He might not explicitly want the GM title, but if you bring him in, you are bringing him to run the organization, which by the way, it looks like might be the deal that Harbaugh got in LA. We'll see what they do because they fire their GM as well. But some teams don't want that. Some teams already have GMs. A team like the commanders clearly wanted to bring in Adam Peters from the 49ers. So that actually limits the openings, I think, because different,

some teams are just not interested in that sort of package deal. And then speaking of package deals, there's also a good chance he's going to bring some of his boys with him. Matt Patricia, Bill O'Brien, maybe, I don't know, Josh McDaniels. So again, there might be teams that aren't interested in the coaches that Bill would want to hire. And if that's the case, then yeah, there might not be the perfect choice for him. Meena, we have not talked about this enough today, and I want to get as many unspoiled

thoughts from you as I can because we've neglected it today and we shouldn't have. Jim Harbaugh, ruling all of sport in a way that gets him that job with that power out of a cheating scandal as an undefeated champion. Holy shit, what an amazing story that he wins in every way and that he and his brother are just conquerors of that sport on the pro level and on the collegiate level. Yeah. I mean, he's kind of the case study for winning solves everything, right? Because if he hadn't won with Michigan,

such a different narrative today. The way we think about him leaving, I would say like we're barely talking about, you know, the potential punishments and all of that. It's like whatever he won, it's fine. They got their, you know, it's over. It's whatever. And he's a big winner. If he hadn't won, I think that would be a pretty,

that would, and he still took the Charter's job. I think that would dominate the conversation today around it, Jim Harbaugh, fleeing college football, just as the hammer's about to come down or whatever. I personally don't care. I'm just saying that, you know, his record as a winner, the fact that he's turned around so many organizations, that is now the story of his career. And I personally think he'll probably have a lot of success. We'll see something similar in Los Angeles. Uh, Mina, but this is why I think the cosmos are laughing at me and how cutthroat that

sport is. Bella check can't get a job in Harbaugh. Just got a great one with all of the power after cheating. Uh, that's unbelievable. Like I understand. I watched it happen. So I understand, but you can understand how a lifelong journalist would be confused by Belichick. Can't has to has to grovel before the Falcons with two interviews and they don't necessarily want him, but Harbaugh gets all the power. Bill Belichick is coming off of two disastrous seasons. One of which was largely his doing in making those horrible offensive coordinator hires. So that is fresh in everyone's mind. Jim Harbaugh is coming off of turning a program around winning a national championship.

It's a, what have you done for me lately league? So I actually don't find this that surprising, frankly. The other thing I'll say about Harbaugh is he has been very good at identifying coaching talent underneath him. I mean, the guy in Baltimore, Mike McDonald, uh, in Michigan, Jesse Minter. So if I'm the owner, I'm looking at him and I'm like, this guy is very good at hiring Bill Belichick.

That's so much. Well, not only that, you just gave the real reason when you said that list of names that comes with Belichick, all of us recoiled at all of those. Suicide squad. Oh my God. The brain and the suicide squad. Oh my God. we all recoiled at how shitty his coaching tree is. Don Lebatard. I feel like we need to normalize saying

these scientific terms for organs on the air. Like if someone, yes. You know what, if someone takes a foul ball to the penis, we should just say he took a foul ball to the penis. Say it. Stugats. That freak can't get him right in the cockadoodle-doo. This is the Don Lebatar Show with the Stugats.

["Sanford Relevant"] Jim Horbaugh as Mina outlined has had success everywhere he's gone. He made Stanford relevant prior to that. When he was in college with San Diego, he turned them around. He gets to the Niners turns them around. Then he got to Michigan. And while he did turn them around, it wasn't without its bumps in the road. In fact, if Rutgers doesn't miss a field goal kick, he might get fired if they actually play against Ohio, say it in that COVID short and gear, he might get fired,

but he pulled out a win with his experience over at Michigan. Now he's back in the NFL, but one thing changed with Jim Harbaugh that I want to talk to you about, he was a great head coach for the Niners. His, his team loved him. When he went to Michigan, he really leaned into these weird eccentricities and he's considered more of a goofball. And I don't know if that'll, if that Jim Harbaugh plays in the NFL.

He was a stone cold weirdo in the NFL too. That's not, there's no revisionist history is happening on my watch. That dude is a truly authentically strange human being and always has been. There are so many examples from his time with the San Francisco 49ers of oddball behavior. My favorite was when he tucked in every piece of clothing into his khakis for one cold weather game.

That is one of my favorite. It's an indelible image to me. He had weird beefs. You remember what's your deal with, by the way, my favorite thing of all is that he ended up in the AFC West because he's going against the ultimate weird beef coach, Sean Payton, the post game interactions are going to be absolutely legendary between those two.

He is probably the strangest coach we've got. And I'm so glad he's back in the NFL because of it, because I don't want these like anodyne, pretty boy, McVeigh, they're just normal and only live and breathe football and never say anything interesting coaches. I want a guy who makes weird allusions to Catholicism and like texts, real like history stuff that doesn't make any sense. I want a guy who looks like he's about to have an aneurysm every time the ref makes a mistake. I want a guy who tucks all of his clothing in at once. I am so glad Jim Harbaugh is back in the NFL. Put it on the poll please, Juju, at LeBertage Show.

Is Jim Harbaugh the truly authent, genuinely strangest person in the universe. Uh, because Mina, you're excited about this. The part I'm excited about all these whiz kids losing to Harbaugh and Dan Campbell is funny. All the, all the whiz kids who are, who are, who are, who are bringing the new football to people and have Harbaugh and Dan Campbell, like club them over the head because they're just strange and tough and they'll punch in the face. Well, the brilliance of Harbaugh and Campbell is they got WizKids working underneath them though, Dan, I mean Dan Campbell's lions, first of all, both of those coaches, Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson, I think are extraordinary. And

but Ben Johnson is the definition of a whiz kid offensive coordinator and is a huge reason why. And again, that's a credit to Campbell that he, you know, he comes in as an offensive guy and he makes that right hire and he delegates correctly and he's an amazing leader. And I love him as a coach, but it's not like, you know, old school traditional football. I mean, Dan Campbell is like the most aggressive coach in the NFL right now when it comes to going for it, for example, which I think will be a big factor in this weekend's game.

Same thing with Harbaugh, I think, I talked about some of the coordinators, the coaches at Michigan, that guy who calls a defense is fricking amazing over there. And that's what, as we consider, like again, Bill Belichick's possible undesirability, that's what you need out of a head coach. It's not just about like, let's bring in the best play card. Can we bring

in the guy who identifies the best play card, who nurtures these young coaches and those two guys have been very successful at doing so. I was mocking earlier, Mina, that most people talking about football publicly can't actually explain to us very well why it is a coordinator is or isn't good, although some of you have gotten better and you are someone who is consistently good at this. So explain to me what just happened with Fangio and what it means that he would leave Miami for Philadelphia when I think a lot of people don't understand that Fangio while he was here was undone by injuries, but didn't ever in his career have any answers for Josh Allen.

Whatever it is the dolphins were trying to do there, they didn't get a defensive coordinator who could actually have any ideas about heat, how to beat the best quarterback in their division. Well, I think it's unfair to Fangio because if he had had a healthy defense, we would have actually seen whether or not they would have been able to play Josh Allen.

And I'll say this, I thought he did a hell of a job calling a game against Josh Allen, given all of the injuries that they had. I'm glad you called them out, Meena on that, because that Sunday night, or they got a lucky punt return that actually ended up taking out another back defender. I'm just saying historically,

Fangio's numbers against Josh Allen has giant games. I'm not taking away credit. You're just figuring this guy out. I'm asking you what it means that he left Miami for Philadelphia. I don't think it was. So I haven't talked to anyone who knows him or or knows what happened in Miami. My suspicion though is it wasn't like a pure, like this wasn't like, oh, he failed. Right. Um, because I actually thought he did a pretty good job this season given all of the injuries on defense, especially in the second half of the season once guys started to get healthy,

you saw this defense finally peaking, it's a complicated defense, and then just unbelievable attrition defensively. I don't think you can pin any struggles at the end on Fangio. It's certainly not why, by the way, they lost and got knocked out. That was more about the offense. I think, you know, it's, I'm speculating here, it sounds to me more like just kind of a personal thing, an interpersonal thing potentially. Maybe there's another guy that they've got their eye on. I don't know, but this is not for me.

And it might be a philosophical thing too. Maybe Mike McDaniel wants a different kind of defense to pair with his offense, but I don't think Fangio failed as a defensive coordinator. I really don't. Do you have a favorite storyline this weekend, whether it's dorky football storyline or just fun emotional storyline?

I mean, it's dorky football. This Chiefs Ravens game is insane. Like I just from a matchup perspective, this Ravens defense, you talk to me about the impact of coordinators. It's such an incredible marriage of coaching and talent. Because in some ways, like what they do, it's very old school football.

They play fast. They play physical. They hit hard. And then on the other hand though, like what they do, it's very old school football. They play fast. They play physical. They hit hard. And then on the other hand though, when you watch them and if you wanna watch them and really try to understand what makes this defense unique, just watch the fronts. Watch how many guys are lined up on the line of scrimmage

at the start of every play and then watch what happens as they scatter like cockroaches and drop into coverage and someone's coming and someone's going and no one seems to know what's happening at any time. They have solved all of these Shanahan offenses, the Niners, the Dolphins, the Texans. I want to see if the greatest quarterback,

I believe in the history, the most talented quarterback I've ever seen can solve that. You're talking about a defense that has the best linebacker duo in the NFL, the best safety duo group in the NFL. They have answers for the Chiefs pass catchers. Patrick Mahomes, in my opinion, is going to have to go absolutely nuclear to win this game, which we of course know he's capable of. Help me with this part though, because I don't understand how it is that it went from CJ Stroud looking like he did against

what I know to be a championship caliber defense in Cleveland and then the next week totally neutered by the Baltimore defense. Is that matchups or is it that Baltimore's defense can be considered better than Cleveland's, which I thought was championship ready? They're very different defenses and i think you really saw that play out in these two games back to back cleveland's defense under jim schwarz play a lot of man coverage warm and rush we do what we do we're going to win based on talent you can

scheme against that kind of defense and bobby slowick did a masterful job of doing so raven's defense on the other hand, I alluded to this, all of the confusion up front, the simulated pressures, they're showing you one look before they're changing it after the snap. And what they're so good at, and this is I think a big part of the reason why Houston didn't have success, they take away the middle of the field, they take away those in breaking routes. This is what they did to Miami, of course, you know, to a luster feast on the middle of the field. So did CJ Stroud, wasn't there for him in this game. And he's

throw on top of that. Texans can't run the ball for crap. And suddenly it was a bad matchup for him and a dominant performance from that defense. If I'd asked you two weeks ago, hey, we're going to watch Patrick Mahomes go nuclear against the Baltimore defense. You would have said no way, right? Three weeks ago, four weeks ago, there he is. No, just because he has it. They're offense, Mina, they're offense this year. On this show. Mina, their offense has been worthy of the doubt

we've given that offense. Who's given? I'm sorry, did I not go on this program? You asked me to give a hot take. What, when was this after? Yes, you did. Yes, you did. Yes, okay, fine.

Victory lap, I told you so. Your cornhizer, your will bond. Make that your career the next 20 years. I believe the country at large was doubting this chief's team and doubting the greatness of Patrick Mahomes. If he does it against Baltimore, you won't be surprised? No, I'll be surprised not because of Patrick Mahomes, uh, if he does it against Baltimore, you won't be surprised. No, I'll be surprised not because of Patrick Mahomes, but because it means that, uh, one of his receivers has to really go off.

And I think that's going to be very challenging. I like Rishi Rice a lot. We got this like what randomly great MBS game that would probably have to happen again. And that would be genuinely shocking to me. When Mahomes, it was the first e-ball, the sloth, when he threw that, no part of my body thought MBS would catch that football. When we saw it so arching, so perfectly down the right sideline, and he's sort of like, no, no, no think that's likely to happen twice. So that would probably have to happen for them to be the Ravens, somebody other than those two guys who have to make play.

It's less than a minute here, but it's not the only thing that has to happen. We're not talking about you being right or Mahomes being nuclear guy. If Josh Allen connects on that 80 yard throw and we're not talking about it. And he wouldn't have beaten Buffalo. If, if Stefan digs holds a perfect throw, one of the best throws you'll ever see in your life. Yeah, but it did happen. So that's right. That's where I always, yes, that's where I always lose, but it did happen. Who's playing in the Super Bowl. Yeah. Oh, there it is. Ravens Niners.

I'd say, no, it's boring. Raven Nine. Oh, that's not boring. No, I mean, we only got like a great game. I only got like three days of warming up to the race war between those two teams. Give me two weeks of that hype. Mina. Come on. It's both the memes alone will feed the generation. There's going to be a bad call that allows the Kansas city chiefs to get to the super bowl. Don't do this. Don't do it. No, we're not. No, I, we're not doing that. We're not doing this. You seen those home splits for that crew? Oh boy. I saw, I saw also saw a great thread pointing out that the splits are basically identical

to road. This is, I don't do, you did, did I not say I don't like conspiracy theories? We're not doing rough conspiracy. I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it. I reject the premise. We'll talk to you next week. Looking forward to seeing you in Las Vegas. A thousand words by February 9th for Stugac's book that he's not going to write. Okay. That freaking guy.