The Kevin Sheehan Show - Flores Not Happening Here

Episode Date: January 22, 2026

Kevin with the news that Brian Flores is signing a contract to stay in Minnesota if he doesn't get a head coaching job so the Commanders' search for a defensive coordinator continues. Brandon Aiyuk is officially available, does Kevin still want him? Mike Jones/The Athletic jumped on with Kevin to talk NFL Playoffs and reveal what the league opinion on David Blough is. Kevin finished with NFL Draft analyst Thor Nystrom's opinion on who Washington should take at #7 in the draft. Kevin also had a weekend storm update. For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Here's Kevin. The show's presenting sponsor is always Window Nation 86690 Nation, Window Nation.com if you need new windows. For those of you that think I know what the storm over the weekend is going to do,

I'll have an update in the final segment of the show today. Mike Jones, before that, Mike writes, for the athletic now. He'll join me in the next segment. We'll find out what he thought of the David Blow promotion and where they might go at defensive coordinator. News on a current commander's offensive assistant in a few minutes and in the final segment of the show, along with the storm update. Who should Washington take at number seven in the draft? Our first draft expert suggestion on who Washington should take of the offseason in the final segment. Some news as I am beginning this show. This just broke a little while ago, and it's disappointing.

From the NFL network's Tom Pellasaro, the Vikings have signed defensive coordinator Brian Flores to a new contract. Flores is still a candidate with the Steelers and Ravens for their head coaching job. but if he doesn't land one of those, he'll stay in Minnesota. That's too bad. He's really good. And there was some talk out of Minnesota the last few days that Flores might leave even if he doesn't get a head coaching job, that there was some other stuff going on and that it was possible that he could leave for another defensive coordinator opening.

Washington would have been a possibility. By the way, my conversation with Mike Jones, which you will hear in the next segment, was recorded before this news broke. So he does have some thoughts on Brian Flores and the head coaching possibilities for Brian Flores. And he did believe that there was a chance that Flores would leave Minnesota if he didn't get a head coaching job. But I didn't go back and edit it out because there was other stuff sort of in the middle of it that, made it a harder edit. So you'll hear my conversation with Mike in the next segment, understand that it was recorded before the Brian Flores news broke. This from Liam to get the show underway in earnest. Liam writes, Kevin, what a pathetic Josh Allen apologist you've become.

Four turnovers and you think he played a great game? How many turnovers would he have needed for you to get off his jock. Whoa, Liam. Five, five's the number. He had four. One more turnover, and I would have backed off. First of all, Liam, I didn't say he played a great game.

I did not say that. I said I didn't understand those that put the loss on him when they literally had no chance without him. I think he did play well. I do.

not like he did in Jacksonville because of the turnovers. He didn't have the turnovers against Jacksonville, and he had four of them against Denver. And really, as I mentioned, you know, on Monday's show and even with Tommy yesterday, I think the play that will make him sick to his stomach as he replays that game during the offseason more than any other. It wasn't a turnover. It was the miss to Knox on the play before the field goal that, tied the game at the end of regulation. I mean, that was a touchdown.

If he makes that throw, the turnovers are barely mentioned. It would have been an all-time ending. But look, Liam, he threw for nearly 300 yards. He rushed for 66 yards. I mentioned this yesterday for whatever it's worth, and I know it's not

worth a lot to all of you, but he had the fourth best offensive PFF grade in the game. The bills put up 30 points and 449 yards on a defense that hadn't given up anything close to that for like two and a half months. They did it on the road. They did it with two receivers down going into the game. They were 10 for 15 on third down against that Bronco defense. come on man you think they did that without Josh Allen he was responsible i went back and added it up

he was responsible for all 10 of the third down conversions six of them on runs uh which included the quarterback sneaks that he converted that very effectively um six on runs four of them on throws uh one of which was for a touchdown on a third down uh but in overtime from their own seven-yard line after Denver punted, third and five, he converted. From their own 22 or 24-yard line, third and seven, he converted. And then on third and 11, that was the deep shot that he took for Cooks. That was a perfectly thrown ball that Cooks apparently didn't catch and had intercepted. I mean, he did this against one of the best defenses in the league on the road,

with multiple receivers missing. I mean, he delivered positive results on so many more plays than he didn't. So, yeah, I think he played well. And of the four turnovers, one of them was that last controversial, you know, call. The Benito strip sack, he had no chance. on. They didn't block Benito. They whiffed. It wasn't like he was holding the ball too long. The protection broke down immediately and he got blindsided within two seconds. Now, the fumble at the end of the first half was costly and it was reckless and a bad play by

him. The deep shot, you know, that got picked off in the third quarter was not a great throw. And the missed a knocks was huge. But overall, so many big times. plays, throws, runs. I mean, he was responsible. I went back and added it up. He was responsible for 349 of the 449 yards. 349 out of the 449 yards against that defense, 30 points in Denver. How about the defense for Denver gets a couple of stops? I'm sorry, the defense for Buffalo. How about the defense for Buffalo gets a couple of stops? There was a third and 11 right at the two-minute warning with Buffalo up 2723. How about don't let Cortland Sutton get so wide open on third and 11? How about not committing several penalties

on the drive that Denver won the game on in overtime? Josh Allen played well. Sorry, Liam. This isn't, you know, me joccing Josh Allen. I've never been an apologist for. Josh Allen. I like Josh Allen. Now, this was Kirk Cousins, different story. He doesn't need anybody apologizing for him anyway. I mean, he right now is one of the top two quarterbacks in the sport with Mahomes, maybe number one. By the way, did you guys hear what Buffalo owner Terry Pogula said about why he fired Sean McDermott? He held a press conference earlier today. He said he never thought about firing McDermott until he walked into the locker room after the game and the loss against Denver. And he saw how distraught everybody was and how upset Josh Allen was.

It was this press conference today by Terry Pugula, the owner, whose daughter, Jessica Pugula, is what, number two or number three in the world, women's tennis. It was like, you know, borderline incoherent, rambling. I mean, he blamed the refs for the loss, and then he fired a guy that lost the game that he blamed the refs for the loss. For some reason, he was surprised at how distraught the team was after losing an overtime in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.

Weird. Sean McDermott, nine years in Buffett, nine years in Buffalo. I forget if we talked about this yesterday, but I'll do it again. He took over a team that hadn't been to the playoffs in 17 years. 17 years, no postseason. He takes over in 2017.

They go to the playoffs the first year with Tyrod Taylor at quarterback. Josh Allen hadn't been picked yet. He went 98 and 50 in the regular season. That's a 662 win percentage. That is ninth all time for coaches who have coached at least nine seasons in the NFL. He went to the playoffs eight out of the nine seasons. He was the head coach. And yeah, he went to the AFC championship game twice.

And we know about the heartbreaking losses in the postseason. and now we can add the Denver game to the list. By the way, the other part of Terry Pagula's press conference today, he defended the general manager, Brandon Bean, who by the way he promoted to president of football ops. He also keeps the GM title. But Brandon Bean selected Keon Coleman, or the thought was that is the general manager.

He selected Keon Coleman, the receiver from Florida State, as the first player picked in the second round of the 2024 draft, Keon Coleman has been not very good in his first two seasons. And the owner, Pagula today, said it was the coaching staff who pushed to draft Keon Coleman. He brought it up. No one asked him about it. He said, I'm not saying Brandon wouldn't have drafted him, but he wasn't his next choice.

Well, it sounds like you're saying that Brandon wouldn't have drafted him. drafted him. That was Brandon being a team player and taking advice of his coaching staff who felt strongly about the player. He's taken for some reason heat, heat over drafting Keon Coleman, but he hasn't said a word about it. So I'm here to tell you the true story. So the owner in defending the general manager, who by the way has only selected two Pro Bowl players in his time as general manager there. Josh Allen, pretty good one, and James Cook. They have not drafted well in Buffalo with Brandon Bean. But after firing the coach and elevating the GM, he must have been incredibly defensive. And he just brought up this Keon Coleman thing, which I guess is a thing among the fans.

Like, that's a terrible pick. And he blamed it on the coaching staff. But as he was doing that, he was throwing Keon Coleman under the bus. Like, you want to know who. really effed up the key on Coleman pick? It wasn't Brandon Bean. It was the coaching staff led by Sean McDermott. Weird press conference today. This from Trey, Trey writes, Kevin,

I heard you say that David Blow would have gotten a job as an offensive coordinator, even if Dan Quinn hadn't given him the job here. How do you know that? Reveal your sources on that, please. Yeah, Trey, that's not. not the way that works. But to be clear, I didn't report that David Blow would have gotten an OC job somewhere else

if he didn't get promoted here. I just guessed that he would have because if you've been paying attention and maybe you haven't, Trey, and I'm not knocking you for not paying attention, but for those of us that have been paying attention to the David Blow situation since he got hired here, last year three teams, three reached out to interview him and the team denied those requests. And this year, the Lions immediately when the regular season ended, reached out and asked for permission to interview David Blow for their OC opening and Washington denied that request as well. So, you know, if you've been following the Blow situation since he got hired here, you know that he's been talked

about as, you know, the next offensive thing as a coach that, you know, he's not long for, you know, assistant QB coach or QB coach, that he's going to be an OC quickly and eventually a head coach. And that's what Ben Johnson said to Nikki Javala over the weekend. You know, we've known that since they hired him. We know that three teams, three teams after one year being an assistant quarterback's coach, three teams reached out last year. the Lions wanted him to be their OC this year. And I do know that out in Ashburn, there was a consensus on promoting him from everybody,

not just Quinn. But if Quinn hadn't taken him off the market so quickly, I find it hard to believe that the Lions would have been the only team interested in David Blow. I mean, there are too many openings, first of all. You know, the head coaching carousel hasn't stopped yet. and those jobs, when they're all filled, there will be even more offensive coordinator openings. So I think Quinn taking them off the market, you know, avoided the potential loss of Blow to another team that would have offered him the O.C. position. Washington had to do that, I think, to avoid losing him, and I don't think they ever intended on losing him.

So, you know, look, I do think that David Blow would have been an offensive. offensive coordinator if Quinn didn't promote him to offensive coordinator here, because he would have been able to elevate to an OC from a position coach if Washington wasn't offering that. So they would not have been able to deny permission for very long if they didn't promote him themselves. So I didn't think it was much of a reach. It sounds like you did. You're entitled to your opinion. This from my guy, Chris. Chris writes, you didn't have Mike McDaniel to the Chargers in the smell test.

Chris, Chris, you're right. We never mentioned the Chargers, mentioned the Lions, the Ravens, and the Eagles. And the Lions have already filled their position. But look, the Chargers are a good spot for Mike. McDaniel. Justin Herbert, good team, playoff team, excellent defense, weapons. They could use more. And the opportunity to help take Herbert to another level, you know, he's 0-N-3 in the playoffs. McDaniel's Owen, too, as a head coach in the playoffs. By the way, on McDaniel, for those of you that miss this on Friday's show, I've had many of you reach out to say, wow, that was something

what Jay Gruden said about Mike McDaniel. I asked Jay on the show what he thought of Mike McDaniel and would he have considered Mike McDaniel before David Blowell. This is what he said. No, no. I've never been a big Mike McDaniel fan, to be honest with you. You know, we can throw bubble screens anywhere. Anybody can put in 17 bubble streams. So no, I would not have.

I think I'd rather go with a young guy and hopefully that he has a bigger ceiling. I was surprised by Jay's answer. I really was. Clearly, I had never asked him about Mike McDaniel because I would have remembered that. And Jay's not a guy that bashes people. He's been very complimentary of, you know, different offensive guys around the league, including some Shanahan tree guys. By the way, some of those Shanahan tree guys are also Gruden tree guys,

both from his brother and from Jay. I mean, Sean McVeigh's first offensive coordinator position was under Jay Gruden. Kevin O'Connell's first offensive coordinator opportunity was under Jay Gruden. But one of the things I thought about when he said what he said, and we ended up talking after we recorded, and he mentioned a couple of other things. He said, you know, that Mike McDaniel in Miami had one of the fastest teams offensively ever assembled, and he didn't win anything, and he never, never was able to protect the quarterback. And I thought about, you know, sometimes fans, media have a perception or an opinion about a player or a coach.

And then inside the league, a lot of people are like, yeah, that's not how we feel. I don't know that Jay is, you know, has a lot of company on that opinion of Mike McDaniel. He might be an outlier. I mean, Mike McDaniel did not get a head coaching job, or at least he didn't accept one. and there were others that were interested in him in being an offensive coordinator. But I thought it was an interesting, very honest take from Jay. But yeah, Chargers never had that on the bingo card. I guess part of that is because I just didn't picture him and Jim Harbaugh together.

Strange combo, right? All right. I've got some Brandon Ayuk news. and also some news on a Washington position coach. I'll get to that next and then we'll get to Mike Jones shortly after that. After these words from a few of our sponsors. The big games almost here and there's no better way to cash in during America's biggest sporting event than with prize picks

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Advertised annual percentage yield with Chime Plus status only. Otherwise, 1.00% APY applies. No min balance required. Chime card on time payment history may have a positive impact on your credit score. Results may vary. See chime.com for details and Applicable. So Brandon Ayyuk is available for those who want him. And I was one of those who really wanted him back in the summer of 2024. This from my guy Yale, Yale writes Kevin, you loved Brandon Ayuk,

he's available now, do you still want him? So Yale's referring to 49ers GM John Lynch today saying as part of their season ending press conference, it was John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan up on the podium.

And Lynch said about Iyuk, quote, I think it's safe to say that he's played his last snap with the Niners, closed quote. Now, we've seen this coming. If you haven't been following this story, you know, you kind of have to go back to the summer or the off season of 2024 that extended into the summer as he was looking for a contract extension.

And the negotiations became very contentious, very public. He demanded a trade. Remember, that was the time in which that video of a watch. Washington practice got out there on his social media because his very good friend from Arizona State, Jaden Daniels, had shared some of it with him, looking for some advice and some help, and then he went public with it on social media. He, you know, asked to be traded and then, you know, things really got ugly. But then they finally got a deal done.

And it was a big deal. You know, IUC had a sensational 2023 season, and he got an extension worth $120 million with nearly 80 million guaranteed. But then the season came, the 2024 season. He didn't play that well to start the season, missed all of training camp, and then he tore his ACL and MCL in week six, I think it was. It was six games into the season. I don't know if they had their buy week, but it was six games. into the season, he was done for the year.

And as he rehabbed between the injury and then into this year, you know, all hell broke loose because there was a point in which he was skipping rehab sessions. The Niners were trying to contact him to find out why, and they couldn't reach him over and over again. He wasn't reachable. They couldn't get in touch. So they started to take some action. They voided $27 million in guarantees on his deal because essentially he was AWOL.

He had gone off the radar for them. They didn't know if he was rehabbing. They didn't know what was going on. Kyle Shanahan today was asked about Ayuk, after John Lynch said what he said and said about the last time he talked to him and he said, I officially stopped trying to reach him. because the last time I tried to get a hold of him, I couldn't, and then I tried a couple more times and still couldn't. And then that matched everybody else in the organization trying to get a hold of him to come in and nobody could get a hold of him.

And eventually there's not much of an explanation because it's really hard for anybody to understand what's going on. And that's why it's something, you know, I'm confused by. He said, I've never seen in 22 years of coaching this kind of situation. It's unfortunate and it's confusing because it's confusing for all of us, he said, but it eventually becomes it is what it is. And John Lynch made it very clear what it is, and that is he's played his last snap for the 49ers. In early December, the 49ers placed IUC on the reserve left team list,

which is used typically for players who retire. or temporarily step away from football. And that designation locked down Ayup for the rest of 2025. They knew they weren't going to get him back anyway. They didn't even know how his knee was doing. So, yeah, look, I don't think I want Brandon Ayuk anymore, Yale. No is the answer on IUC. He was so good in 2023, so good.

But obviously, the red flag is as dark or red as you can get. You know, I don't even know what the darkest red is. You know, what are shades of red? Not crimson, right? Burgundy, maybe. Maybe burgundy? Maybe ruby? I don't know.

But no. Brandon Ayuk, not for me anymore. This is way too much of, you know, a tell on the kind of human being he is. Now, if there's some sort of explanation that comes out that we don't know of and it somehow vindicates his actions, you know, maybe, but I don't think so. News today related to our team, Adam Schaefter reported earlier today that Skins running backs coach Anthony Lynn is going to interview for Buffalo's head coaching job. He interviewed for that job back in 2017 after he was let go by the Chargers as the Chargers head coach. Sean McDermott ended up getting the job. But Anthony Lynn interviewing for the Buffalo head coaching job.

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That's up to 30% off with code Sheean. After you purchase, they'll ask you where you heard about them. Please support this show and tell them that I sent you. If you get a chance and you haven't done it already, rate and review this podcast. It's huge for us. Apple and Spotify both give you a chance to rate this show up to five stars if you think this show deserves it. Apple gives you an opportunity to write a quick review as well. It's really important for us to get as many ratings and reviews as possible. It takes all of 30 to 60 seconds to do it.

And if you don't mind, it would be much appreciated. follow the show as well. Hit the plus button or the follow button on both Apple and Spotify, if you don't mind. Joining me right now is my friend Mike Jones. Of course, Mike covered the team, our team for many years at The Washington Post. He writes now covering the NFL for the athletic. You can follow Mike on X on Twitter at by Mike Jones. Mike was in Foxboro over the weekend for the Texans and the Patriots, and he's on his way to Denver for the AFC championship game Sunday afternoon. So let's start there. Jarrett Stidams, the starting quarterback for the Broncos, do you give Denver a chance?

I really don't see how they have a chance. I know Sean Peyton loves him from Sean Peyton, and he believes that he can coach anybody to a good result. I mean, he had Teddy Bridgewater who won a number of games as his backup there in New Orleans and James Winston won some games for him as his backup. But when you're looking at, Jared Stidham hasn't taken a snap, you know, hasn't thrown a path in three years,

and he's going against the defense that has racked up nine sacks in the postseason, which is the most tied with Houston. They also have held teams to the lowest amount of passing yards and lowest amount of rushing yards. So you would think, okay, help this quarterback that's not very experienced, by giving them a really strong rushing attack, well, nobody can run on the Patriots. And Denver does not really run the ball well.

They were 16th in the league in rushing this past regular season, and they only had 71 rushing guards for the entire game last week. So I don't see how Jared Stidham is going to have much chance of a success. You know, being there Sunday in Foxborough, I thought it was one of the more interesting games from this standpoint. In watching it, and I had been all over Houston all year long, like thinking that that defense had a chance to go to a Super Bowl. And it was lights out on Sunday in Fox Pro.

And I thought, man, if C.J. Stroud, if they just called a game for him, where he handed the ball off three times and punted, they would have had a better shot. He played horribly, but I also thought they didn't call a good game for him what did you think being there? I agree with you that I didn't really like the game plan. They did not work really hard to establish run. And then also, look, if your offensive line isn't great, you can't just have your guy dropping straight back and throwing.

You've got to move the pocket. You've got to have some zone read to freeze the guys on the edges a little bit, some play action passes. And they just did not do that. And so I know he wet the bed. And, you know, a lot of that's on him. But I totally agree with you. They did not position him for the success, especially when you didn't have Nico Collins.

So you knew you had to be creative with your offensive attack, and they didn't do it. So it was as astonishing the way that he really fizzled. You know, he had all the fumbles and the interception in the Pittsburgh game. And I thought, okay, well, he got those. jitters out of his system. He's going to bounce back and play pretty solid, just take care of the football. And he didn't do that because they came at this thing acting like they had to score 30 points to win. And really, if they could just taking care of the football, that defense, I mean, because look, as many times you turn the ball over, the Patriots only had seven points

off of those turnovers, and that was because of the pick six, all the other turnovers that they had, they didn't even get a single field goal out of it because of how good that defense was. what did you think of Drake May in that game? What have you thought of him in the Patriots all season long, and then what did you think of him in that game? I have been impressed with his progress throughout the season. You know, and look, early in the year, and throughout, you know, three-fourths of the season,

he still had not really put up prolific numbers, but he was just very consistent, very steady. Then we saw him down the stretch of the season in the last month, really start to take on, you know, a heavier passing load, put up some numbers. So I was curious how he was going to handle the pressure against the Texans. He was sacked five times, but he largely took care of the football and got the job done. He used his legs at times.

And so I thought he did a pretty decent job there. I mean, he fumbled four times and lost two of them. And the one that the Texans didn't get was that one early in the game when DeNeal Hunter tried to pick it up and score, and then New England ended up recovering it at like the two-yard line. That would have been, you know, a massive play for the Texans early in that game. Yeah, I think he makes a lot of plays, a lot of plays, but he's got to protect the ball because Denver's defense is good too. Right, and look, that offensive line is not very good.

You know, he maxed a lot of it by his ability to scramble and extend some plays. But, yes, you know, he did have. you know some fumbles there I think he had the one interception but when it really mattered you know in the second half you know he really started to you know look and they had a good game plan where they were like okay we're gonna run the football we're gonna you know get the ball over hands quickly and it worked and they really chewed up the clock and at the end yeah they're going to have to find a way you know we'll see I think more of the quick pass get out of his hands to beat this

Denver pass rush because they led the league league with, I think it was 68 sacks throughout the regular season. Now, again, I don't think they're going to have to score a ton to be able to win, but as long as he can just manage the game,

they will be in the Super Bowl. Rank the coaches 1 through 4 on championship Sunday. Best or worst? Okay, best is Sean McZe. You know, I think that

as far as a game planning and, you know, and he's not just an offensive guy. He's become more involved in the defense of the years as well, just as well-rounded as they come. I'm really curious to see what his game plan is because the two times he played the Seahawks, he had two entirely different game plans. So he's got to stay ahead of Mike McDonald's a third time.

We'll see what happens. So he's number one. Sean Payton, probably number two, although Mike Brable has done such a good job with that team there, probably put him three, and Mike McDonald's four. Now look, it's separated by hairs because, I mean, Mike McDonald is a defensive mastermind and he really, you know, throws some things at you that make it challenging.

But, you know, as far as a body of work goes, Sean Payton has more, Mike Vrable has more, you know, a body of work as well. But it's a really strong crop of coaches. You know, I think you could make a case for McVey-Pa-Pa-Pa-Tain or Vrable as the best. And Vrable is probably the best when it comes to managing the game, timeouts, clock, game situation stuff. I think he's the best out of the three. I mean, it's hard to put Mike McDonald into that group, you know, as of now. Vrabel's just been amazing in New England.

Real quickly, before we get to sort of the coaching carousel stuff, you like New England. What about Seattle and the Rams? I keep going back and forth with this one here. As of today, I'm going Rams. I think that when you look at Sam Darnold, he hasn't played great either time he played them. Now he had good resilience. He had the four interceptions against them the first time, and they still had a chance to win. They missed that field goal at the end of the game to lose it.

Second time, they were down by 14, and he came back through two touchdown passes to force overtime. Down 16. They were down 16, and they made those two-point conversions, remember the one that was just a completely wild play, yeah. Right, yeah. And so that in They and so then in the second half, I mean in overtime Matthew Stafford drives down and scores a touchdown So the pressure is really on you and he marches them down

Scores a touchdown so is a two-point conversion now He has not had a full game where he's played well against them So we'll see what happens this time You know but I think that this time Not only do they have Puka They have Devonte Adams which they didn't have the second time around And so I think think that Sean McVeigh is going to edge out, win this chess match between him and Mike

McDonald, and they'll win this game. Closely, though. Yeah. This has been a fun postseason to watch. I think when I had you on radio in mid-December, we talked about how, you know, it was as wide open, you know, at that point as we could have ever remembered it, and it's sort of played out that way. All right.

There's a lot going on with respect to the coaching carousel. you know, ultimately 10 openings. We've had several now filled. I just want to start with Sean McDermott because I talked about him in the open to the show after the Terry Pagula press conference today, the owner. I mean, that's a tough guy to fire with his record after nine years.

And then to say, Mike, that you really never thought about it until you walked into the locker room after a devastating overtime loss to the Broncos, which included a very controversial call, which Pagula himself said was a bad call. What happened there? I don't know.

Very, very stunning. You know, I was asking around, and a lot of people felt like, well, they beat Jacksonville, they got to the original round. They're not going to fire him. If they had lost an opening round, then maybe he was in trouble.

But a lot of people thought that he was okay. especially the way that the game ended. But just the bizarre thinking, if that truly was your decision that you made when you saw your quarterback crying, just such an emotional response out of an owner, that's a terrible leader. And then, look, when you look at this roster,

they had trash at wide receiver. Keon Coleman is terrible. They did not have anybody else really. I mean, it wasn't until they added Brandon Cook's late that they had kind of a deep threat guy, but he's up in eight. And then you've used Band-Aid after Band-Aid on the pass-rusting position. And so you can't really get to the quarterback. That is not Sean McDermott's fault that the roster was constructed that way.

So if you're going to fire him, you should have fired Brandon Bean as well, not promoted him to team president of football operations. So I really felt like, look, you hadn't made it to the playoffs in 17 years. guy came in here, changed the culture, built your contender. And look, you got to, you got to come down on Josh Allen for not taking care of the football, you know, with the interceptions, the fumbles in that game. So I didn't feel like Sean McDermott deserved to be fired. And then how are you going to, if you're going to fire him, you better make sure you have somebody really good in mind. And, you know, John Harbaugh is gone. And now you're thinking Brian Daibold, who couldn't,

do anything with, you know, a young Giants roster or Joe Brady, who was your offensive coordinator, and they were struggles, you know, with consistency on his watch. It's just really bizarre thinking to me. And, I mean, they're going to pay. You know, it would be very fitting

if Sean McDermott went to Baltimore, and then they wind up facing him in the playoffs and, you know, he knocks them out. But we'll see what happens. Is it possible Buffalo names Davis Webb, the new head coach? The guy who was there in Buffalo, you know, as a backup quarterback and has become Josh Allen's best friend. And is, you know, even before McDermott got fired, is considered to be one of those next guys and has interviewed for some of the available head coaching, you know, positions. I mean, what's your prediction?

Who gets that gig? I mean, that's a possibility, but I think Brian Dable would be more of the guy. He's been a head coach before and also has a great relationship with Josh Allen, really was instrumental in his ascension. So I think that he would have a better chance, but also, who knows, like just crazy to Fire Sean McDermott, and then also the way he was throwing him under the bus, blaming him for the drafting of Keon Coleman. Nothing is rational with Terry Bagula, so maybe they do do something like that. And I don't know.

I would really have my reservations about that hire, but, you know. All right. Let's go to Pittsburgh, where Brian Flores has interviewed for that available job after Mike Tomlin departed. So who gets that job? And if you don't think it's floor is there, do you think Flores there? or do you think Flores gets a head coaching job anywhere? Um, I don't know.

Uh, I kind of wondered just how genuine these owners were and as they interview him, you know, is it all forgiven that he has a lawsuit against the league, um, you know, and,

you know, these guys are vindictive. Um, and so it's kind of surprising, uh, but at the same time, he is a good, coach. He does have a great body of work.

If he doesn't get the Pittsburgh job, I think Baltimore is a possibility. I think he would be good for Lamar Jackson kind of help him, you know, grow up a little bit more and have a little more of an edge to him. If it's not, Brian Floreson, Pittsburgh,

maybe Mike McCarthy, who is from Pittsburgh and, you know, has, you know, a body of work. I think that his team's kind of underachieved as the year's one in Green Bay. in Dallas, obviously, but, you know, he is an established guy, and it would be different for Pittsburgh because they had defensive guys, you know, as their head coaches, you know, from

Cowher and Tomlin and going with Flores, it would kind of make sense, but at the same time, you know, maybe it is McCarthy who loves Pittsburgh, you know, being from there. That would be an interesting hire for Pittsburgh, considering that the last three over, you know, a 50-something year period. They've all been defensive guys and very young guys. You know, the Brian Flores thing is interesting to us because he interviewed here for the defensive coordinator spot. And there is some talk, and I had somebody on from Minneapolis on the radio show today.

There's been a lot of, you know, talk in Minnesota among the people that cover that team that they think even if Flores doesn't get a head coaching job, he may not be headed back to Minnesota. What do you think about that? And if you agree with that, does Washington have a chance? I guess we'll see. The only other possibility as far as maybe Phoenix or Arizona, the Cardinals, would be a possible.

As a head coach? As a head coach, as a head coach, possibly. but, you know, it would be interesting. I think it would be a great hire for Washington. You know, I think that he would definitely supercharge that defense there. Obviously, you still got to get him some pieces. But I'm not surprised about that he wouldn't be back in Minnesota. Look, he's an intense guy.

I know people who have worked with him, and they say it's a lot, he's a lot to deal with. and there were some guys that I know when he was going to be a head coach that had called certain guys who were hoping to become general managers and they were like, yeah, I appreciate it, but no, just because he's difficult to deal with, you know, and so, you know, I'm not surprised that he kind of wore things thin there in Minnesota,

but, I mean, he should be a head coach. He's deserving talented enough as well. I mean, if Washington does, doesn't get Brian Flores if he gets a head coaching job or he goes somewhere else. Is it Rahim? Because it doesn't look like Rahim's going to get a head coaching job, right? Yeah, it doesn't look like it. You know, he's been on interviews, but then, like, everything has gone kind of quiet.

Yeah. We haven't really heard, you know. And so with Robert Salah coming off the board, that's a defensive minor head coach there, and then Halfley, you know, and so Rahim, does have ties, obviously, to Quinn. And I think that he would be good as a defense coordinator. I mean, he, you know, led a Super Bowl winning defense with the Rams. And so we'll see.

But it does seem like as a head coach, he's not getting a shot this time. Baltimore, where do they go? I would go Flores if I were them and then, you know, get the best offensive of mine you could possibly get. I was curious about Mike McDonnell, but he is now gone to be the O.C. with the Chargers, which was very interesting that he was pulling his name out of head coaching considerations, but I was asking around wondering if he knew he wasn't going to get those jobs into safe face. He pulled out.

But I think Florida would be good for Baltimore, although, you know, Joe Brady is somebody that they have had some interest in as well. but, you know, if it's not them, then, again, Sean McDermott would be great theater. And also, you know, a very, you know, a successful guy. You know, it's another, he's a defensive-minded guy, which their defense needs some help. You go from more of a CEO type of guy from a former special teams coordinator in Harbaal who had a lot of success, and then maybe a defensive-minded guy with McDermott. It would be interesting to see who he brings along is his offensive guy. So if he brings Brady, then, you know, a lot of creativity.

It would be interesting to see what they could do with Lamar Jackson and help him take his game, you know, even further. Yeah, I mean, Flores or McDermott or Jesse Minter still means they've got to get the O.C. higher right. Right. Where does Baltimore go for O.C.? Now that McDaniel's off, Stefansky's off. You know, there are obviously, there's, Cubiac has a chance to get.

get a head coaching job, I would assume, when this run is over. Cliff is out there, Kingsbury's out there, and that actually might be a good fit. Where does Baltimore go for O.C.? Well, okay, if it's McDermott, then maybe Joe Brady, if he doesn't get a head coaching job. If it is Flores, then I did hear that Cliff Kingsbury has a lot of interest in being in Baltimore and working with Lamar Jackson, and so maybe that would be the good fit there. And, you know, he's got head coaching experience, you know, probably would be a lot of trust as far as Flores. You know, and also both of them, you know, spent time in New England, Cliff Kingsbury was, you know, as a backup quarterback of a Flores as, you know, a scout and then a coach.

Right. So that would seem to make a lot of sense there. Yeah, I mean, it might make sense in a place like Vegas, too. So what I'm trying to think of the openings, Cleveland and Vegas. or the two. So do you have guesses on those two? In Arizona. In Arizona as well. Yeah.

Yeah. I don't know. Kubiak is a name that has been tied to, that has been mentioned for the Raiders. You know, some of those young guys like Mentor was also mentioned for the Browns, but also Jim Schwartz, their defense coordinator has as well. we'll see what happens there. Obviously, he had a lot of success with their defense. Their offense needs help, but you don't know who their quarterback is either.

So we'll see. But those three last ones, it's going to, there's not, outside of the number one pick, there's not a lot that's attractive about Las Vegas right now because they have so many needs and they don't spend money. I talked to somebody who had been there. And it was like, man, like we had 90 million in cap space and we didn't use it. And they really could have used that. So we'll see.

You know, but the most attractive jobs are gone now and, you know, they're going to have to settle. And, you know, it depends on how desperate somebody is for that first opportunity as a head coach or, you know, a rebound job. Yeah, you know, I think about Cleveland and it's Washington from back in the day where you're going to get a coach who has a, been a head coach before and can't turn down that opportunity. Jay Gruden hadn't been a head coach. They weren't going to be able to attract, you know, people. The Rivera thing, you know, Dan had to give them all the control, you know, and give him the GM job to get him in. And Cleveland's kind of that franchise now, right? They've kind of replaced Washington as the place that it's hard to get anybody of high quality or anybody with a resume to take the gig. Yeah, because

of just the way that ownership is. Now, it's not Dan Snyder type of bad, but, you know, still the meddling. I think that they've got a smart GM in their front office. They are talented guys there, but, you know, the ownership, you know, has a lot of influence

and, you know, kind of derails some things. Now, I did think that Kevin Stefansky kind of underachieved and really, there was his recommendations, he didn't want Baker, and, you know, he wasn't able to help Sean Watson, get right and then Sean Watson kept getting hurt. And then this year, you know, he said Joe Flacco was done,

and Joe Flacco goes and starts lighting it up in Cincinnati. So a lot of them, you know, those transgressions were on Stefansky, but there's not a whole lot of selling when you look at the offensive side of the ball there that would attract a guy that has a resume. You know, he would rather probably sit out a year and wait for something more stable than a place that is such a roller coaster like Cleveland. You talked to people around the league. What did you make of Washington elevating David Blow to the O.C. position?

Everything I hear in talking to people who he is either played for or worked with, he's super smart, has a great foundation, having been around Kevin O'Connell, Ben Johnson, and now Kingsbury, but that it's going to take some time and that, you know, they need to fully commit to him and be patient. Problem is, is Dan Quinn doesn't have a lot of time to be patient. but, you know, it's interesting that he would go with a guy who's so improved. And also interesting, he leapfrogged Brian Johnson. He was, you know, what's your past game coordinator,

and he only has, like, two years of experience of coaching and not even a full season as a quarterback's coach, and now he's going to be your offensive coordinator and play caller. You know, they say he's super smart, super creative, so we'll find out it'll be interesting. but I do like the fact that Jaden Daniels doesn't have to start all the way over. You know, maybe some of the terminology will be different. There'll be different wrinkles and everything.

But he's not having to fully completely learn an entire new language. So hopefully that helps his continued development. Thanks for doing this. Have a good trip out to Denver. All right. Thanks, man. Good talking to you as always. Mike Jones, everybody.

And again, when I recorded what you just heard with Mike, it was before the Brian Flores news broke that he is going to stay in Minnesota if he doesn't get a head coaching job. And the only reason I didn't cut it out or edited out is because there were some thoughts in there about other head coaching opportunities for Flores. And then it kind of got into the Rahim Morris conversation. So with that said, one more segment to go. I'll give you a storm update and you'll hear somebody who I really like a lot when it comes to the NFL draft give you who he thinks Washington should take at number seven. That's next after these words from a few of our sponsors. This segment of the show brought to you by My Booky if you

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All right, I do have a storm update coming up. It'll be brief, but I'll give you my thoughts here on Wednesday night for the storm that starts on Saturday night or early Sunday morning. But before I get to that, I wanted to play something for you from the radio. show today. I had Thorneisd Nystrom on the show. Thor's been on the podcast many times over the last several years. He's a draft expert. He's the guy that has the big board that

is 500 deep. He's got a top 500 big board and he gives you an NFL comparable player to the prospect for all 500. Thor's a really good guest. He's based out of Minneapolis. I like Thor a lot and

I just figured it's never too early to start talking NFL draft, especially when your team isn't playing in the postseason. So I asked Thor with Washington picking at seven, if they had the choice of the following four players, who would he take? And the four players were Miami defensive end, Rubin Bain, who played so well on Monday night, Texas Tech Edge pass rusher, David Bailey, Jeremiah Love, running back Notre Dame, and Caleb Downs Safety, Ohio State. Here's what he said. I would take Ruben Bain if I was Washington, because Washington, not only if they needed

the edge rusher now for years, and not only has it culminated in taking the seasons down the last couple years of that position, but also you need a two-a-one, right? You want the guy that can run to fund in addition to getting after the quarterback. that's Ruben Bain. You know, and you have a shot at getting access to him potentially because of the shorter arms thing, right? Like, in my opinion, that guy should be a top three pick. But there is that possibility that he falls out of the top five just because of the short arms. But I've seen him destroy offensive tackles, NFL offensive tackles over and over and over again throughout his career.

Most recently, we saw it on Monday night. He was against Carter Smith, the Indiana tackle. Carter Smith's going to go in the top 75. And he had no chance. none against Ruben Bain. So as far as addressing the commanders need at the right value, for me it would be Ruben Bain. Ruben Bain is a really, really good player. David Bailey from Texas Tech has that quick twitch off the edge.

He's more, you know, as they say twitchy and more explosive as an edge rusher. But really good stuff from Thor today on the radio show. a lot more on all of the players that I just mentioned and more. So if you want to listen to that, you can go to the team 980.com, click on my show, and he was on with me in the final hour, the third hour of the show today. All right, we're going to finish up the show with a storm update. Everybody's talking about this storm this weekend. You'd have to have been in a cave for the last two or three days, not to know it's coming.

And some of you actually think I know something about the weather and I might have information on this storm. All of the information I have is readily available to all of you. I really enjoy following this stuff, especially when it's a big storm. And it's been a while. We haven't had a big, big one since 2016 when we had, you know, 20 to 30 inches pretty much across the area. In 2019, we had a double-digit storm. And then last year, we had seven inches in early January, and it stuck around for about a month.

Remember how cold it was in January into February last year. By the way, that may be the second big story after the storm, and it could last a while. The cold air looks like it's going to be with us for weeks. I mean, whatever we get this weekend isn't going anywhere and there are going to be other opportunities in the long range for more snow and potentially ice. All right. So this is a storm that's going to affect tens of millions of people, if not more than that, you know, maybe 100 million plus when you think about the population

centers that this is going to hit every bit of 100 million plus now that I think about it. but it is going to stretch from Texas, potentially all the way through New England, starting, you know, kind of Thursday, Friday, and Texas and ending sometime Monday, Tuesday, in the Northeast or up in New England.

For us, it is a late Saturday night, very early Sunday morning start. Some models have hinted at an earlier start, maybe Saturday evening, 7 o'clockish. it's going to be a massive storm. There are going to be big snow totals for pretty much everybody in the DMV. The thing that got introduced more so today than it was yesterday, and I would caution everybody,

this forecast can change a lot between now and Saturday. But one thing appears to be a given. It's going to be a huge storm. we're going to get a healthy amount of snow. But what got introduced into the forecast today with several models is ice, you know, that the tail end of the storm, we could see the snow mix with and then change to sleet and even freezing rain. We don't want that.

You know, it would be freezing rain with temperatures in the 20s. That's power outage. freezing rain. You don't want that. We'd much rather have it be all snow. But the way it looks now, it looks like, you know, certainly somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 inches plus is a good bet for everybody. And then a lot more if it stays all snow. But for those that end up having sleet and freezing rain mix in, you know, that'll keep the snow totals down. But it'll also make it a bigger mess on the back end. And typically, you know, when we get these big storms, the areas in which we get the mix

are south and east of the city. That kind of looks like the best bet right now. But it's possible that sleep, you know, ends up being a part of the storm for everybody. But again, it's dynamic right now. And it's ever changing. and the forecast right now could be completely different by midnight tonight when all of the what we call the zero Z runs come out. And those are the big runs that kind of kick off the next day right around,

you know, between 1030 and midnight, actually. Tonight where we get the new American model run, the GFS. We get the Euro model run. Get the Canadian. get the UK run. So we'll get a lot, or we get the Canadian tonight. And now, because it's more of a shorter range model, the NAM becomes a model that the weather forecasters will pay attention to,

because it's a shorter range. And now that we're here Wednesday night, we're going to start to see what the NAM is doing with the storm looking out to Saturday. But it looks like it's a massive storm. At this point, it would be shocking. if we, you know, whiffed on this one. For us, there are places in the southeast

that have been getting all hyped up for, you know, snow or ice, and it could ultimately be just rain. But for us, it's going to be so cold. And even if it does end up changing to freezing rain, it's going to be freezing rain with temperatures at the surface in the 20s. I mean, it's possible that for a big portion of the storm, it's going to be in the upper teens and low 20s. So it's a cold storm. You want it to be all snow.

You don't want the freezing rain. Sleet's fine. Sleet doesn't stick to power lines or bring down trees. But, yeah, it should be fun. And like I said, this is going to stick around. It is going to be very cold, well into February. That's what all the long range models show. there's another storm for some of the models for next weekend.

But it'll be fun this weekend. I'll tell you what, when it's over, I wouldn't mind a few days in Cocoa Beach because I heard the rocket launches down there are, you know, a blast. Literally, literally a blast to watch. So maybe I'll get down there and hang out with Tommy and watch him karaoke a little bit. I don't think so.

Enjoy the evening back tomorrow with Tommy from Cocoa Beach.