The Kevin Sheehan Show - The Defensive Coordinator Dilemma

Episode Date: January 22, 2026

Kevin and Thom opened with the big weekend storm and then got to Washington's current dilemma in hiring their next defensive coordinator. The boys had a spirited conversation about Mike McDaniel vs. David Blough. Thom talked about his MLB Hall of Fame vote, both of the guys discussed Matt Stafford's HOF candidacy, and Thom picked the AFC and NFC Championship games. 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. He is Kevin. Tommy's here. I am here. The show's presenting sponsor is always,

Window Nation. 86690 Nation, Window Nation.com, if you need new windows. We are on Storm Alert, Storm Watch, Tommy, for the next couple of days. I did 20 minutes on radio today by myself on the storm.

I didn't say this on the air, but it was because the Powers that B thought that I should do that on the show today. And tomorrow I'll be doing it again, probably with Doug Camer, hopefully with Doug Camer on radio. But, yeah.

They didn't ask anybody else. Did they ask everybody else to do that? Well, I think everybody else has been talking about it in general, but they wanted me to go into sort of forecast mode, because they are aware. You put on your weather tape. I did. I did.

There's a lot going on with this storm. And the forecast, by the way, will change between now and the time it starts. I'll give everybody an update at the end of the podcast today. So stay tuned. But you're in a little bit of panic mode, aren't it? No, no, no, no, no. No, I'm never with these things in panic mode. Never.

Well, you know, it sounded like before the show. you're a little bit panic mode. I'm not panicked. My wife is a bit panicked, and she wants me to go to the store and get a bunch of things. Now, let me just tell you, I've never, ever once thought in any of these big storms, I'm going to be homebound for a week. I'm out driving around in it during it and after it. Now, with that said, this one is going to fall on a weekend.

There's football all day, Sunday, and this stuff will pile up, and we'll probably have a difficult time, you know, getting out of driveways and different things. And there's going to be some shoveling going on this weekend. Be careful, all of you of a certain age out there shoveling, especially if you end up with a lot of ice on top of the snow, which is very possible, because then it's really heavy. The all snow is what I'm really hoping for. I don't know if that's going to happen.

But I'll be out and about. I'll be walking the dog on Sunday five times in the snow just to be out in it. I like driving in it when there's nobody else on the road. Now, I am wondering whether or not if it's really bad Sunday, Sunday night into Monday morning, you know, the shoveling out after I've slept all Sunday night, it'll be a pain in the ass to get to work. But I think I'll make it to work on Monday. I think I'll make it to work. Isn't ice the bigger fear?

Well, freezing rain is the biggest fear, you know, when it get, you know, because that's what gets stuck to power lines, tree limbs, and you get power outages, you know, and freezing rain is a part of the, you know, mix here, literally and figuratively on Sunday afternoon, Sunday night, early Monday morning in this storm. It's, you know, especially if you live south and east. And nobody wants that. nobody wants power outages. Like if there's a power outage, I'm not going to be able to do the show. You know, well, that's not true. If I can get here, there's a generator here in the building. Do you have a generator?

You don't have a generator anywhere, right? You live in a townhouse. But are there generators there? No. No. Typically. Not generators there. You know, it's funny because I got my email today from the condo association.

that lets me know that our snow contractor will be working and rotating shifts throughout the weekend. There you go. Including overnight hours to manage snow accumulation. You know, I'm going to hang on to this email, and I'm going to read it five times a day every day this weekend. As you're watching rockets go up into the air in 75-degree weather. 75-degree weather. Yeah. You know, this is the first really big storm for me living in D.C. in a long time.

Because we moved back to D.C. in 21. And we did have a 7-inch storm last year, and I don't remember it being very disruptive. But, you know, there's always been a knock on D.C. snow removal. Whereas Montgomery County and Fairfax County in the surrounding, suburban, you know, counties have done a better job than D.C.'s done itself. And, you know, there's always been this thing about D.C. public schools being open when every other school system is closed. And yet D.C.'s had the biggest issue typically removing snow. So we'll see what it is with this one. I'm not that concerned about it.

I remember, I guess it was the 2016 storm that locked us in, locked up me in. That was a big one. When I finally was able to get to work, I remember Rockville Pike was a disaster. Yeah. And it was a disaster for a long time. Yeah. In fact, and Frederick, I remember, you know, 3.55 and Frederick is Urbana Pike. Right.

And it was, it's three, it's six lanes, three on each side, just like Rockville bike. Mm-hmm. And it's clear. It was clear. And I get down the Rockville and it'd be down the one lane. it was terrible so Montgomery County fell down on that I mean they were

that Rockville Pike was a mess for a while the storm that I remember being you know just a problem for a long period of time and it's because there was a second storm that came behind it was 96 96 out of all of the blizzards we've gotten is still my favorite

and you know we had just one unborn at that point. And he was two, not even two, when it hit. So he couldn't shovel, could he? He could not shovel. But we do have like a picture of him in a stroller with the snow banks on the sidewalk in

front of our house, you know, feet above him. But that one is, and it could be similar with this one in that, you know, first of all, we got 20 to 30 inches of snow. We got two feet plus. Some areas got three feet plus. And then we got five days later another 10 to 12 inches. And it was super cold. And I remember just for weeks, the snow banks and the roads being basically snow covered,

main roads being snow covered. You could get around. But this is what, you know, I was going to save this for the final segment. I might as well get to get to it now since we're talking about. it. That's going to be the thing about the next week, two weeks, maybe even three weeks, is that after this snowfall, it doesn't get above freezing for the foreseeable future. And at night, we're talking about single digits. Like, if you were at home right now, next week and Frederick might be a below zero temperature next week. And then there's another

storm or two in the long range. I mean, who knows if they'll come to fruition. But there's a pretty sizable storm on the maps for next weekend as well. So we're in the midst of like the beginning of a two, three, four week run of some really harsh winter. In fact, I just saw we have a cold weather advisory out for the area to go along with the winter storm watch that we have. you know, it's going to get bitterly cold. During this storm, the temperature is going to be in the teens and low 20s. And that's why if it ends up having, if we end up having freezing rain, you know, there's going to be no doubt.

It's going to hit freeze to anything. It hits. But I'll just give everybody the updated because all the late morning, early afternoon models are out. And they're all in somewhat agreement that for DC and the immediate, at metro area, eight to 12 of snow before it mixes with and probably changes to Sleet. Now, if you're north and west, like where you live in Frederick, it's going to be all snow more likely than not. It could mix with Sleet, but it'll be more snow. So a foot plus, maybe 12 to 16,

somewhere in that general area before it mixes. And then south and east, less with sleet and maybe even freezing rain. I don't think we're going to get freezing rain city north and west. It'll just be sleet if it mixes or changes. But if it stays all snow and where it stays all snow, you know, 15 inches plus is a pretty good bet. That's a big storm for us. It's not the biggest that we've ever had. It'll come far, you know, top 10. It may not even make the top 10, but it'll be a big one. And then the point being is that for the next week, there's no temperature forecasted to even get into the 30s. It's like low to mid-20s every day. And then I think we warm up to like 28 or 29 at some point, mid-to-late week.

So it's going to be here for a while. There was a time where you looked upon these with eagerness. Eagerness? You still do that? Yeah, you were eager. You're welcome. Yeah, I'm into this. I'm into this one.

Really? Yeah, the big difference from... I thought you had grown up by now. No, no, I'm still a child. And the only difference now for me is that when it's over, I really just want it to melt and go away. And I don't want to deal with the aftermath. I didn't used to mind dealing with the aftermath, but now, you know, I don't feel like going out and starting my car and letting it warm up for 15 minutes and then, you know, and go inside.

I don't want to shovel. I don't want to... You don't have a button starter for your car? Yeah, I have a button starter. So you don't have to go out. Oh, you mean a button starter or a remote button starter? A remote? I don't actually from my car.

My wife's car does. Oh, okay. Yeah. I probably do. I just have never used it. I probably do, and I've never used it. Yeah, it's, for me, I would love to just, and it's perfect because it's going to be on the weekend. Probably it'll start sometimes Saturday night, you know, between 7 and 10, 11 o'clock.

And it'll be great to have football on Sunday. But then it would be really nice when it ends if it got to 60 and it melted and the streets were clear. and because, you know, snow doesn't age well. You know, it ends up becoming dark and dirty and the whole thing. And then we can, you know, gear up for the next one. I like the whole event and when it's happening in the buildup to it. But when it's over, no. You're going to stock up on booze?

We don't actually, my wife said, what do we need? Do we need beer? Do we need wine? No, we have so much left over just from the holidays. so that's in the house she does she does want me to make a run

I'm like okay but you know we're not going to starve to death that's not going to happen just with what we have in our refrigerator and freezer but I'm going to do it

because she'll feel better about it so there you go deal with it well good luck to everybody out there yeah good luck to me in the store today can you I can only imagine what the stores are like. I mean, she wants me to go to Whole Foods.

But don't you have, don't you get special access given your years in the business? No, I have no access because of my years in the business. No, I don't. All right. Eight to 12. You're not the Hall fame of grocery stores somewhere? You know what? We don't have, the best grocery stores are not on the East Coast.

Although, you know, they're not terrible. Giants okay. Wegmans is okay. Whole Foods is great. Whole Foods is fine. Where do you and Liz shop out in Frederick? Well, we go to a giant eagle. Oh, wow.

You've got a giant eagle in Frederick. There's two giant eagles in Frederick. Wow. I didn't realize that. You know, that's a Pittsburgh-based supermarket chain. Did you know that? No, I didn't know that. Okay.

I didn't know that. Yeah. Is that on your Hall fame plaque? No. It's not on my Hall of Fame plaque, but they were a client of ours and spent a lot of time up in, God, it was like, what was the town in Pennsylvania where Giant Eagle was based? It's Pittsburgh. It's a suburb. But, yeah.

So Giant Eagle started to expand to, you know, if you go out to Garrett County, there's Giant Eagles. If you go into other areas of Pennsylvania, Central PA, there's Giant Eagle. And now there's Giant Eagle down in Frederick. Is it a good supermarket? It was always a very good supermarket for Pittsburgh. Yes, it's a very good supermarket. Now, it's not the closest one. We have one much closer.

You can walk to it's a food line that we use as well. But if it's a big shopping trip, we go to Giant Eagle. Okay. You know, there was giant of, you know, the D.C. area. There was Giant Eagle in Pittsburgh. And then there was also a giant foods in Carlisle. They were based in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania, giant is a big.

Yeah, but it was a different chain, but they're all owned now. I think Ahold, the big Dutch supermarket company, I think purchased all the Giants. Giant Eagle, though, if my memory serves me correctly, was not part of that group. But Ahhold. I don't think so. Ah hold, the Dutch supermarket conglomerate, was the company that purchased my company. We went public. You know, those Dutch, they own everything.

Grocery stores, Greenland, they own it all. Those are the Danes that own Greenland. Not the Dutch. It's all the same Dutch, Danish, Norwegian. All Scandinavian. Right. So I had John Kime on the show today. And Brian Flores, in the news broke when I was doing the podcast yesterday,

yesterday. Brian Flores is going to head back to Minnesota if he does not get a head coaching job. And he interviewed for the Pittsburgh job, and I think he interviewed for the Vegas job as well. I think it was. And, you know, I said to John, this is right now in jeopardy of becoming what people actually believe happened with Dan Quinn, which it did not. People, you know, said, including people in the media who had no clue as to what they were talking about, said that Dan Quinn was like the fourth, fifth choice. Like they had all these other people that they wanted and Dan Quinn was way down the list. That was actually not true. But what may happen with the defensive coordinator search is they may end up with like their fourth or fifth choice. because Tommy, I mean, so many teams are in the market for a defensive coordinator. All of the head coaching jobs that have been filled and unfilled are going to need defensive

coordinators. And then you have teams like Dallas, they're looking for a defensive coordinator, Green Bay, because Halfley got the Miami job. Matt Lafleur is looking for one. The 49ers, because Salah got a job. looking for a defensive coordinator. And then all of the, you know, the Rams might be looking for a defensive coordinator because Chris Shula is apparently, you know, he's going to have an opportunity to get a head coaching job. The chargers may be in the market for a defensive coordinator if

Jesse Minter gets a job. And then you've got, you know, hard balls looking for one for the giants. The Steelers, when they hire a coach, they'll need a defensive coordinator. The Raiders are the same. I mean, it is going to be a big competition to land the best guys. And Washington, as an example, so if we go with, Brian Flores is out, and then Jeff Ulbrick is out because Stefansky kept him in Atlanta. And a lot of people thought that, you know, Ulbrook was certainly at or near the top of Quinn's list. They coached together in Atlanta, and now he's not available. Now Flores isn't available.

Well, let's say Rahim Morris doesn't get a head coaching job. There's no guarantee he's going to pick Dan Quinn because he's worked with Dan Quinn before, because you know why? He's also worked with Matt LaFleur before. They've got an opening. He's worked with Sean McVeigh. He was the defensive coordinator on the Rams Super Bowl team. So if Chris Schula leaves, he'll have L.A.

as an option. He may want to go to New York with John Harbaugh. He's going to have, and here's the other part of this, the John Gannons and the Rahim Morris's. Who wants to come here and coach this defense when Green Bay's defense and the Rams defense? You know, you've got players and teams out there with talent on defense. So. So you tell me they shouldn't have gotten rid of Joe Whit Jr.? No, I'm not telling you that. What I'm telling you is it's the worst possible year to be in the market for, you know, a coordinator,

perhaps a defensive coordinator more than any, because we're in this age of defense being back and defensive guys are going to get hired. I mean, of the jobs, Tommy, that have already been filled, you only have one offensive guy that's been hired, Stefansky in Atlanta. Halfley got the Miami job, defensive guy. Sala got the Tennessee job at Harbaugh, which, you know, he's neither offense or defense, got the giant job. We are really in an age right now of people searching out the best defensive minds.

It's kind of... It seems that way. Last year, there were more defensive head coaches hired. I'm pretty sure. You know, you can... I mean, you can trace this back to two years ago. if you want to trace it back to when Dan Quinn should have gotten it right. But the circumstances they're in now, it's not like Cliff Kingsbury,

where they fired a guy and didn't have an option. I mean, Joe Witt had to go. Right. So they needed a defensive coordinator, and they're caught in the circumstances at this point. It wasn't anything they particularly did unless you want to trace it. it back to when they hired Joe Whitney Jr. in the first place. Yeah, and I'm kind of forgetting who the possibilities were. But let me just throw this out as a possibility.

Rahim doesn't get a head coaching job. He goes and takes the gig in Green Bay or Los Angeles. Jonathan Gannon, he's sought after because he was a really good defensive coordinator, who was a recent head coach. He goes to a place like Green Bay or the Rams, wherever Rahim doesn't. because they've got really good defensive talent. Looking at Washington's interview list, you get, so Rahim is off.

Al Harris in Chicago gets an opportunity. A guy who's never done the job. He's never done the job before, but there are opportunities like, let's just say it's the Giants with a lot more defensive talent than Washington or the Chargers, if Jesse Minter lives, leaves with a lot more defensive talent. Now you're down...

It sounds like Jesse Minner's going to wind up in Baltimore. Perhaps. So now you're down to, you know, guys like they interviewed Patrick Graham, who's been a defensive coordinator recently in Vegas. You know, Cullen has been a defensive coordinator once for one year. Carl Scott, who Kimes said everybody's raving about right now is the next big thing. But are you going to go for two next big things with no experience ever being a He's in Seattle right now.

I would think that Washington's first choice would be Rahim worse. I think their first choice very... This is my guess. I think Jeff Ulbrook was their first choice. Okay? I know. It may have been then, but... But then I think Brian Flores was a possibility for sure.

And there was a lot of stuff going on in Minnesota. I had two different people from Minnesota. a church and my guy Thorneisstrom yesterday who both they both predicted that Flores wouldn't be back because there were there's a lot of stuff going on. He's apparently a very short shelf life guy. So Flores was probably number two. Number three might be Rahim and they may not get Reheme because Rahim will have if he doesn't get a head coaching job and at this point I don't think he will. He's going to have better options in terms of teams with. better talent. He just is.

But what you got to do then, if you're Josh Harris, you've got to pay him more. Okay. If that's the guy, if you feel that this is a pivotal year, not just for Dan Quinn, but for your

organization, you better open up your checkbook to get the defensive coordinator, at least make an effort for him to turn, make him an offer he can't refuse, so to speak. Right. If you think that guy is a big difference compared to what you might have to settle for.

Yeah, I hear you. But, you know, at this point, Raheem's already done very well as a head coach for a few years in Atlanta. And by the way, by the way they... Well, they're still paying him to be a head coach for the next couple of years. So, you know, just like when Kingsbury came here, money wasn't necessarily the driver. he was already making head coach money. So it may not be a driver for Rahim either. I mean, the options he would have where he could immediately coach up a talented defense in Green Bay with Micah Parsons coming back or in L.A. with VERS and, you know, that whole group.

Plus it's L.A., Kevin. Plus it's L.A., exactly. And so, yeah, I mean, what I'm getting at here is that legitimately the defensive coordinator search may produce the fourth, fifth, or sixth choice for the organization. And what they have to be aware of, not that I would suggest that they care about this at all. But if they go with another unproven guy, which I don't think Quinn wants, I think he wants a proven guy, but it's, if all the proven guys decide to go somewhere else, and you end up with, you know, a Carl Scott from Seattle, even though people think he is the next, you know,

defensive coordinator guy coming off, by the way, a very good defensive staff coach by Mike McDonald, the head coach, a defensive head coach. But if you go in that direction, or if you go with a lesser-known guy who has done it, you know what, Dinard Wilson, they interviewed him, he's in Tennessee right now. You know, Patrick Graham, he's done it for a long time.

I mean, it's going to feel like a letdown, I think. I don't think they should care about it, but I do think they should care that they're not getting their top choices. Because I think their top choices, Ulbrick, Flores, and Rahim are better, two of them are gone, and Rahim's probably a decent bet not to come here if he doesn't get a head coaching job because they're better teams.

Right, unless he loves Dan Quinn. You know, it didn't work with Mike McDaniel. They didn't even show any interest, at least publicly. If they're left with their fourth or fifth choice is the best choice, Dan Quinn. I asked John, like, is there anybody on the staff like Ken Norton Jr. has been a defensive coordinator multiple times. and John said he does not think anybody on the staff is an option. And I agree with that. And I also, to answer your question,

I don't think Quinn wants to be the defensive coordinator. Of course he doesn't want. Yeah. And I think he wants to hire somebody that's done it before. So he doesn't have, you know, a young up-and-comer on offense and on defense. You know, Ben suggested to me last week, and I've talked about this, that they could actually hire an experienced senior offensive consultant slash assistant like a Daryl Bevel. And I asked Kime, and Kime said they might do the same thing on defense if they end up hiring somebody that doesn't have a lot of experience.

Can you imagine if you go into this season with an offensive coordinator who's 30 years old, who's never done it, that you have to then hire Daryl Bevel to come in and oversee it. And you hired, let's just say it's the Carl Scott guy from Seattle, and you got to go hire sort of a defensive old fart to come in and oversee that. I mean, it's not ideal in terms of the optics. No. It might be ideal overall, I don't know, but it won't look great. They need to do what they have to do.

what they have to do in order to make sure they're in the most competitive position this year. This is a pivotal year. That's why Brian Flores would have been the absolute home run hire, because he's the one more than any other that is just consistently coached up teams that weren't necessarily loaded with talent. And this team's not going to be loaded with. talent more likely than not next year. I mean, hopefully they

add some really good pieces, new pieces, but it's going to be hard in one-off season to fix that defense. You need the coordinator to participate in the upgrading of the defensive football team next year. I think you do.

And that would have been Brian Flores, I think. I don't know. I'm not, I've ever been the biggest Rahim fan. I know that Rahim Morris is probably in the NFL in terms of coaches and players, one of the more popular figures of the last 15 years in the league. Everywhere Rahim goes, everybody loves him, and everywhere he doesn't go, people are upset that he didn't come. Remember, he gave Washington an ultimatum two years ago when he interviewed

here. He said, if you offer me the job right now, I will take it. I will come here. But they didn't want to do that because they wanted to go through the process, and I think they liked Quinn more than Rahim at that point. But Rahim's defenses, I looked this up earlier, he's only twice as a head coach, defensive head coach, or as a defensive coordinator. He's only two times had a defense rank in the top half of the league. That's not a great track record. Yeah. This was from Jeremy Fowler from ESPN, I guess, earlier today.

Rahim Morris is waiting out head coaching chances. He's involved in Arizona's search, but is expected to have multiple defensive coordinator looks should he not get the job per sources. Morris has close ties to Kyle Shanahan, Matt LaFleur, and Dan Quinn. He didn't mention Sean McVeigh. I don't know why he didn't mention Sean McVeigh. Oh, well, I guess it's because they don't technically have a defensive coordinator opening at this point.

But a lot of people think Chris Schula is, you know, the teams are waiting on him. So that's why. Yeah. So, okay. This isn't going to happen. It doesn't seem like very quickly, although maybe they have to act quickly, you know, like they did with Blow to a certain degree. So they didn't lose him. Like if they're, if they, can you imagine if we get Carl Scott is Washington's new defensive coordinator?

Again, when it comes to position coaches, none of us know anything, please. But, you know, two green as grass, never done it, you know, guys. Yeah. And we both, we don't know anything, but you can make reasonable judgments based on resumes and experience. Carl Scott's 40 years old. So he's 10 years older than the offensive coordinator if he gets the job. But he's been on a very good staff here for the last two seasons. He coached on Sabin's staff at Alabama.

God, it looks like he coached on Cliff Kingsbury's staff at Texas Tech. How about that? So, yeah. And he's already interested. So has Gannon. So is Graham. So is Cullen. So has, you know, DeNard Wilson and Al Harris apparently will interview for it. Defensive coordinator. Not an insignificant hire for this team given how bad that defense was and how I think we, you know, most of us believe it may not have been the sole reason for how bad the defense was. And it wasn't. But, you know, you know, most of us believe it may not have been the sole reason for how bad the defense was. And it wasn't. But, you know, you know, the coaching and all of the communication issues, it wasn't great.

It's got to be better. Big hire for Quinn. I know you wanted to react to Mike McDaniel getting the gig in L.A. with the Chargers, because that happened after we recorded the podcast on Tuesday. So we'll get to that. Tommy will talk about the Hall of Fame baseball vote and who he voted for.

And we've got, you know, more. We just haven't figured it out yet, but we will. During this break, we're the next. Back 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 where it always feels good to be right. And since the big games right around the corner, that also means it's your last chance to get into the football action before next season.

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One day or less windows installed. Buy four, get for free, pay nothing for two years. 86690 Nation, window nation. Window Nation. So, as our friend Chris suggested in our group text the other day, we did not have, I did not have Mike McDaniel to the Chargers in the smell test. I did not have that the other day. But, you know, that one makes sense, too. The only reason it's a bit strange is just, you know, Mike McDaniel, who's, you know, a little bit, he's certainly out there to a certain degree.

He's interesting, but he's different. And then on the other end of different is Jim Harbaugh. So the match doesn't seem like a natural one, but the opportunity is a good one. It's Justin Herbert. It is a team with a really good defense. They're going to get plenty of opportunities on offense. And it's a good team. They've been to the playoffs the last couple of years.

And Justin Herbert hasn't won a playoff game. And again, it's L.A. It's L.A. Where Mike McDaniel's wife is from. Yes, I did read that this morning. Yes. So you know, so you wanted to say what about it? Well, again, we don't know what happened behind the scenes.

But based on the limited information we have, I think it was foolish for the commanders not to try to bring Mike McDaniel to Washington. You know, I mean, we don't know if they made any overtures. but I can't fathom Mike McDaniel would say would not pick up the phone for Dan Quinn you know who he has professed his love for

and if this whole panic over losing David Blow I think was an overreaction I mean people say well Mike McDaniel would be here a year and if he's successful he'll be a head coach I say if David Blow is successful he's going to be a head coach

probably in a year So I just think that they did I don't understand I'm sure we'll find out At some point somebody will dig it out Certainly not me But somebody else will dig out If there was any consideration

If there were any roadblocks To that happening But it just can't be We don't want him We didn't want him That can't possibly be the answer I don't know what the answer Is

I do believe the following to be true. They wanted David Blow to be their offensive coordinator, and they had plans for David Blow to be the offensive coordinator when they hired him. Now, they thought that... But they didn't know Mike McDaniel would be available. Okay, I'm going to get to that in a moment. Now, they didn't think that David Blow would become the offensive coordinator because they became somewhat disenchanted with the way

Cliff Kingsbury ran his offense. They thought it would be because Cliff Kingsbury, after two years, got a big time head coaching job again, whether it was college or pro. By the way, I'll just mention Kingsbury is still out there right now, but there's still a lot of O.C. positions to be filled and head coaching positions. And head coaching jobs. Yeah. So I think number one is, Blow's always been on the menu. Number two is that it is possible, certainly, Tom, because of their relationship, that because he became available, that Quinn said, hold on for a second. I do want to see what kind of process Mike's going to go through.

And Mike said, I'm going to try to be a head coach here. It's going to take a couple of weeks before I know for sure. And at that point, there is some risk in losing blouse. You know, you can't stop him. You know, if you're not going to offer him the offensive. coordinator position, you can't stop him from interviewing and then moving up. You know, you can't, you can't, you can stop him from moving laterally, but not moving up. And, you know, and McDaniel could have said it's, you got to give me some time.

He also could have said, Dan, you know, I love you. And I would love the opportunity to work with you again and work with Jaden Daniels. But if I don't get a head coaching job, I'm going to L.A. My wife is from L.A. We want to go back to the West Coast. She wants to live on the West Coast. And I've already talked to the Chargers or they've already expressed significant interest if I don't get a head coaching job.

And, you know, the other opportunities that existed as well. I mean, I'm not going to say that, you know, Baltimore is a better place to live or that the Lamar Jackson situation is so much better. But, yeah, I, that it's possible that Quinn and, and McDaniel talked, and that they just assessed the situation and said, there's a decent chance that he gets a head coaching job, and even if he doesn't, there's a decent chance that he wouldn't come here. And we love this guy, and if we don't move now, we risk losing this guy.

I don't think there was that much of a weight between the blow uncertainty and the hiring of McDaniel. Well, it's been 11 days, 12 days, right? No, A. It's been... I don't think it's been that. What, since McDaniel was fired? Yeah, since McDaniel was fired, Blow was elevated,

and McDaniel just got this job. Because Blow got elevated a week ago Friday, right? 11 or 12 days ago, a week ago. Right. And that's less than a week. Right. Oh, you're right. I don't know why I thought it was the weekend already.

No. So, I mean, it wasn't that long of a wait. And I can't believe that, you know, if Dan Quinn wanted Mike McDaniel, he'd say, Mike, you hold me. You've already said that. Yeah, I don't think Quinn would say that. I know that. He wouldn't have to say it.

It would be implied. Yeah, but, I mean, that sounds great, but it's Mike McDaniel's profession in life, too. I mean, if there's a best, better opportunity he feels for himself than his family, etc. It's not going to change the relationship he has with Dan Quinn. It's not going to change the gratitude he has for him. Isn't coaching Jane Daniels?

This is good an opportunity? It's a good one. It's a good one. But there's a lot that goes into these things. Look, is it possible that, and I think it is, is it possible that Quinn didn't even consider Mike McDaniel because they like Blow so much? Why?

Can't be. Why? Because that would be, he ain't that stupid. Okay, I didn't say, is it smarter stupid? I said, is it possible? I think... No, I don't think it is. I think based on what I think I know about how much they like Blow,

I just think that that was their guy all along. I think he made it possible to move on from Kingsbury. I just think it's insane. They may not regret it. Blow may be a superstar, you know? But again, I mean, I think you said a couple of times that the idea that Quinn's job rides on the offensive coordinator hire is a reach, and I don't think it is.

I think it's more of a reach than the defensive coordinator. because everybody's on board with the defensive coordinator. But the defense has been a disaster and looking for one now has become problematic. But the reason for that is that Quinn's not out on a limb organizationally on his own on Blow. Everybody's in on this. They all see what and believe what Blow is going to become, as does a lot of the league. So this isn't, I know that some would view it. as a high risk higher.

People in the league and people in that organization, I don't think view it the same way. So that's why I don't think his necks on the line as much for Blow as it will be for just fixing the defense. Part of that is the coordinator. Part of that is relying on, you know, AP to cook in the offseason. But if he has, if their defense costs them a chance to be a winning team and a playoff team in 2026, that's a much bigger risk to him than Blow not working out.

Because I think everybody is on the same page as it relates to Blow. No one wanted to lose him. Okay. That means if it doesn't work out, then everybody would have been wrong. Look, I understand what you're saying, but there's no more important person on that field than your question. quarterback and to not get it right for the guy. The quarterback, I think is, I think the quarterback's on the same page. I think the quarterback wants blow.

I know that. I know, but what, but, but if it's wrong, what if it's wrong? It might be. The defense has stunk since he's been here. Yeah. The offense hasn't. That's, I think, again, for me, it would be like, just try to put yourself into Harris's shoes. You know, and when it first, you know, when they first hired Blow and Harris has been hearing

Blow's the next thing, he's going to end up replacing Kingsbury. Whatever we do, we cannot let this dude leave the organization. You know, three teams last year reached out to try to interview him. He would have already gotten the OC job somewhere else had Quinn not moved quickly. Detroit wanted him before they moved onto somebody else. And if Quinn hadn't moved quickly, there would have been four or five teams already having interviewed him, and there'd be some, I believe, you know, he'd have offers at this point to consider. So they knew about Blow. Everybody's on the same page with Blow.

You're a defensive head coach. If you go three straight years having a terrible defense and you hired an unknown, not an unknown, but an inexperienced defensive coordinator, and then you didn't get any of your top guys when you got rid of the experienced guy, inexperienced guy, and you hired somebody else and you ended up having a bad defense and it cost you a winning season in the postseason, yeah, I think that would be the much bigger issue for Quinn. I mean, I think ultimately winning versus losing, no matter how it plays out, is really what will determine Quinn's future.

But I think he's in much bigger, much hotter water, if the defense stinks again. Because everybody believes that they've made the right call on Blow. I've been a boss. Not like you've been a boss, but I was an editor in charge of a staff of reporters. And you were a boss running a company. How unusual, if it's maybe a stupid question, okay, but I'm going to put it out there anyway. How unusual is it?

for the boss's future to rely on the people that he has to hire to basically save his job. Yeah, but there's also, you know, a scenario in which you don't hire great people consistently over and over again, and you have some misses, but the business still works. I mean, this particular business, there is a player on the field that's more important than any other and really has the largest impact. So, I mean, even if Blow is kind of, you know, finding his way in this first year, if the offense is healthy and they add another receiver to the mix, let's just say, they could still be a really good offensive team and because of it be a good team.

You know, and so they could. So they're, it's just. They could be good in spite of, in spite of any struggles that the offensive coordinator may have. I'll tell you, they're not going to be a good football team next year if, A, they have the same level of health that they had this year. But B, if their defense is as bad as it was this year. And as bad as it was in the first year, it's got to improve. Sure, Jaden Daniels could do what he did in 2024. But, man, that is not likely with a bad defense.

Look at what we're looking at here this weekend, last weekend. It's getting harder to win it all or to contend deep into the postseason with a shitty defense. Washington did it last year. But, you know, there was a lot of good fortune that went into it. And one phenomenal player in the season he had. Quinn's got to fix this defense. If I'm the owner, I'm looking at him going, I believe in Jaden, I believe in the offense, and I believe what every, you know, you know, you know, everybody in the front office says about blow. I'm on board with that. We can't have other teams come in here and play seven on seven against our defense with, you know, three guys running around like, you know, chickens with their heads cut off, not knowing what to do. I can't watch that again because it'll probably cost them a playoff spot.

I have maybe a solution to the defensive coordinator situation. Maybe they need to get the band back together again. Bring the hiring committee back. Oh, God. And let them look for... Bob Myers will find it. Rick Spielman. Yes.

Yeah. Yes. And you know what? They'll work 16 hours a day to do it, too. Yeah. They will. All right. Well, um...

You know, Mike McDaniel, a combination of Mike McDaniel and Brian Flores would have been a home run off season from a perception standpoint. And you know what? Probably would have worked too. But Brian Flores, not available, it would appear. And Mike McDaniel may not have been available, which is a possibility. On offense, they had a number one. And maybe when McDaniel became available, it was 1-1A.

But they were happy with however it went. You know, there are some owners who the words not available don't exist. We had one of those owners for like the first 10 years until, you know, CFO Bruce moved into the building and said, no, we're not spending that. We're spending much less, so much less that we're not going to get anybody good. All right, I know you wanted to talk baseball Hall of Fame. I want to get your picks on the championship games since this is the last day you're on with me. And I've got something else that I want to talk about.

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That's up to 30% off with code Sheehan. After you purchase, they'll ask you where you heard about them. Please support this show and tell them that I sent you. All right, Tommy, tell us about Shelley. Okay, well, it is Championship Sunday coming up. The last great weekend of football before the Super Bowl. Custom blended. Yes.

This is the place to do it. At Custom Blended, Shelly's Backroom at 1331F Street Northwest. Because in addition to the custom blend burgers and all the other great stuff they have on their menu, you can enjoy a good cigar. The best cigars you can buy while you're watching these games. And you watch it in a great. atmosphere. I'm going to let Shelly's do the speaking for me here. On their website, our casual but elegant space features soft lighting, cozy chastas, and overstuffed chairs.

Yeah, they're comfortable. And they also have eight high-definition TVs all throughout the bar to enjoy yourself. So, look, I know you may think go into a sports bar is cool. You've probably outgrown the sports bars. You're an adult now. It's time to do an adult thing. Go have a smoke, a drink, and enjoy the games at Shelley's Backroom. You can find out more

at shelley's backroom.com. Yeah, I don't mind hanging out in bars with friends but not for the big games. No thank you. I like it. I'll probably watch the first game at the sandbar right down

And since 75 degree weather. Yeah. Yeah, we'll have a roaring fire going and watching ice pound down on our home at that point when those games start. You know, if New England, if Buffalo had won at Denver, and I still think that they should have, they would have been playing at New England in a raging snowstorm Sunday. That would have been, I mean, we've seen great snow games. have been the all-time snow game. It would have been like almost borderline unplayable. All right. Who do you like in the games Sunday?

It's hard not to pick the Patriots. As much as we may think that the Denver defense can pull it off. Mike Brable seems to be touched with championship fever this year. So I'm going with the Patriots to move on. And I know at the beginning, getting into playoffs, I said the Seahawks will be my Super Bowl champ, and I'm going to stick with that. T-Hawks over the Rams. Wait, you said that the Seahawks were going to be the Super Bowl champs before the season started? No, before the playoffs. Oh, before the playoffs started.

Yeah, yeah. You asked me before the season started. I had the commanders versus the Ravens in the Super Bowl. Yeah, I had Washington getting ready to play, I think it was San Francisco, for the the NFC championship this weekend. And then Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, I think. I'll tell you what is kind of just interesting,

is just that here we are not that far removed from, you know, the dynasty of the Patriots. It didn't take them long, really. They're just, they're going to have, I don't know if it's going to be a championship run or not, but they're going to be good. Vrabel's good. They've got a quarterback, right.

got a quarterback. They got the quarterback right. Man, here we are in Championship Weekend, and it's the Patriots again. It's a different iteration. Still the Patriots. And the Jets are still the Jets. The Jets are still the Jets. So real quickly, before you get to some of the Hall of Fame stuff, I was reading something

this morning where they were debating Matt Stafford's Hall of Fame worthiness, and they said he needs another Super Bowl. One guy said he needs another Super Bowl. Matt Stafford is already in the Hall of Fame, people. I really believe that. I absolutely believe that

and would it absolutely solidify? For sure, but I think he's going to be in the Hall of Fame anyway. And yeah. You know, pro football reference does this

Hall of Fame monitor thing that sort of indicates the Hall of Fame worthiness of players. And I'm looking up Matt Stafford's thing right now because I think he's in good shape. Yeah, his Hall of Fame monitor score, which indicates players' chance of election to Pro Football Hall of Fame for career started after 1955. A hundred is an average Hall of Famer. Okay, so that's an average. But there are plenty of players under 100 who are in the Hall of Fame. Matt Stafford's at 95.61 right now. Ahead of Roger Staubach, Hall of Fame, Dan Fouts Hall of Fame, Kurt Warner, Hall of Fame.

Stabler, Sunny, Greasy, Moon, Namath, Dawson, Aikman, Kelly, all of those guys he's ahead of on this Hall of monitor that pro football reference does. You can take their monitor, and I don't care. You know, that's fine. You want to do that. No, I just, I need to do that because there will be significant pushback to he's a Locke Hall of Famer from some people that are listening, and I'm just telling you that these are the players that he's in front of that are already into the Hall of Fame based on his overall Hall of Fame score.

But go ahead. The eye test tells you he's in. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. The bozos who would push that would probably tell you half the guys you mentioned shouldn't be in the hall thing. Yeah. Yeah.

No, he's a Hall of Favor. I think he's a Hall of Famer, but you want to hear some... He had 46 touchdowns this year. I know that. But here's some interesting things about his career. So, you know, during his career, he just made his third Pro Bowl. That's it. 17 years, third pro bowl.

He just played for such a lousy franchise. And yes, true. And there were some really good quarterbacks in the NFC. It's his first all-pro first team award this year. It will be, and I think he's going to win the MVP over Drake May. It'll be his first MVP. In fact, he's only been in the top eight voting of MVP. twice this year and back in

2023 with the Rams. So, you know, when people look at that stuff and, you know, his career record, and I do not hold, you know, starting records for quarterbacks as a big deal at all for me. But he's two games over 500 career. You know, in the playoffs as a playoff quarterback, he is seven and five, you know,

as a in the postseason. You know, what he's done with the Rams in the twilight of his career really should be a measure of what he could have done if he had been with a good team

all those years. He elevated Detroit to three playoff trips when they were the dregs of the league. Yes. Yeah. I mean,

this shows you, what he's done in L.A. shows you how good he was. at his prime what he could have done on a different team. I agree with you. I think I've always been a Matt Stafford fan. Remember when there was talk of him potentially being available? Remember, when he got traded to the Rams,

the Redskins made an offer to Detroit. And it was a very attractive offer. But he wanted to go to L.A. He wanted to go. Can't blame him. Yeah, I mean, how? How nuts was he to choose the Rams over the skins at that point? What a dummy.

But yeah, I mean, those were the off-seasons where I was all in on Deshaun Watson that would not have worked out well. I wanted Russell Wilson, would not have worked out well. But I also really wanted Matt Stafford. I was always a fan of his and always felt like he was a great quarterback. He's sixth all-time in career passing yards. And then for touchdowns, let's see where he is on passing touchdowns career. 423 touchdowns.

Yeah, he's seventh. He's two behind Rivers, so he can pass Rivers on the all-time touchdown list. Rivers probably passed him at some point during this year at the very end of the year. So Matt Stafford does not need to win the Super Bowl, in my opinion. But, all right, so you've got New England. and Seattle. And that would be a rematch of the 2014 Super Bowl when Seattle was trying to go back to back.

All right, tell me about the Hall of Fame voting, who you voted for. Did you vote for Beltran and Jones? Yes, I did. Okay, who else? I voted for Beltran and Jones. I voted for also Chase Sutley, who has been moving up in recent years

and will probably maybe get in next year. You know, his vote total keeps going up and up, and he seems to be on track to get in next year. And I voted for one other guy, Francisco Rodriguez, who really isn't getting any love. No. I think he had like 19%. 11.8%.

I mean, this guy was, this guy still holds the single season save record. 62 saves in one year. He did it like, what, 15 years ago with, with the angels. He's got over 400 career saved. He's got an ERA of under three.

He was a six-time All-Star as a reliever. I don't understand why this guy doesn't get more love. So he was the fourth guy I voted for, but it doesn't look but I'm going to keep voting for him. And look, I voted for

Andrew Jones for the first, for the second time. I voted for last year. But I had come around on Andrew Jones. Tell me, how do you come around on Andrew Jones? Do you get pitched? Do you get sold by people trying to push for Andrew Jones as a Hall of Fame voter? There's always, there's always that.

How does that happen? Do you just get sent a lot of stuff? Do people call you? Yeah, you get sent. stuff like the teams will usually, you know, the brave, somebody with the Braves will do that. But I don't really pay much attention to that. I mean, I just, you know, reexamine their careers again and maybe are not quite as harsh on their lesser accomplishments. Like Andrew Jones had like a 260 batting average or something like that for his career.

You know, didn't have over 500 home runs had four. 430-something, I think. But he was like a 10-time or 11-time gold glove winner. He was tremendous on defense, right? Yes. So I came around, and I'm not a big, huge ballot guy, particularly at this point of my life. I don't, you can vote for up to 10 guys.

And when you first get the ballot, man, you can't wait to vote for 10 guys, you know. But now I'm much more selective. You know, I only voted for four. this time. Mani Ramirez was his 10th and final year. Didn't come close.

Another steroid guy who's going to be shut out. A-Rod only got 40%. He'll continue, I think, to be shut out unless his publicity campaign winds up changing minds and I don't think it will. Next year will be interesting because Buster Posey

will be on the ballot next year. Mm-hmm. And Buster Posey, sort of like Chase Utley. There's been a change maybe in the Hall of Fame in judging players, not necessarily by large cumulative numbers, but more by a span of excellence. Like if they had a five or six-year run where they were like the best in their league, but don't have 500 career home runs. or didn't hit 300 or didn't win 200 games as a pitcher

but for a span of time they were among the best okay and Buster Posey certainly falls into that category he only played 12 years in the league he only has like 15 he only has like 1500 career hits

if he gets elected I think that might be the lowest amount of any career hit record for a Hall of Famer. But he won three world championships. He has a batting average over 300, and he was a National League MVP for a catcher. Okay, so Buster Posey to me will be a first ballot

Hall of Famer next year. Had a hell of a series in that series against Washington with that 18 inning game that year. Yeah, and there's also next year, Ryan Zimmerman will be on the ballot. He's not a Hall of Fame. No. If he hadn't gotten hurt,

okay. I think he would have been a Hall of Famer. Really? Yes. I think he would have been every bit a Hallfamer like Scott were rolling what was a hallfamer. I think Ryan Zimmerman, if he hadn't been healthy, he might have been around 400 home runs for his career.

Might have had more than just, I think, one goal glove. you might have had like two all-star games that's two all-stars that's it yeah I think he would have had more but he was and look you know what's interesting

Dan Conley who used to be a baseball writer in Baltimore he voted for Nick Markechis on this year's ballot okay he admitted that Nick Markekechus

probably is not a Hall of Famer. He had a very good career. I mean, he had like 500 career doubles. Maybe the best right fielder in the American League. What are you leading to? This is something you might do for Ryan Zimmerman? No, I'm not. Okay. I'm not going to do that. But this is what Dan Connolly did. He voted for him because he felt

that somebody should speak up for Nick Marquakis with at least one vote. So he made a statement on that vote that really had nothing to do with picking him for the Hall of Fame and he's taken a lot of grief for that. I don't have a problem with what he did. That would be if I'm going to vote for Ryan Zimmerman next year, and I don't have to make that decision until next year, that would be the reason to do it.

I think you should do it. Not because he's a hall favor. Yeah, there's already been a precedent set for that. voting for somebody who's not a Hall of Famer. But that's not really the purpose of the ballot. Yeah, I know. But you're getting to that point where who cares? I mean, why not?

You like Ryan Zimmerman. And you just say, you know what? If he'd stayed healthy, he'd be on this ballot. Yeah. Yeah. It's my, it's my, you've already made a bunch of statements when it comes to voting. Oh, yes, I have. For a Hall of Fame players.

So they're used to your statements. All right. Anything else? I got nothing else for you today, boss. Everyone hunkered down. Yes. You know, I wish you're not really all homebound too long. I'll really be thinking good thoughts about all of you.

I'm sure you will. Yeah, enjoy. Look, it's going to be cold all over the country, and I think you're going to get down into the, you know, low to mid-70s, but the feels like temperature will be like 68. So bundle up. Yes, I think so. All right.

I'll talk to on Tuesday. Okay, boss. I'll be back tomorrow. Jay Gruden previews of the two games, and I'll have smell test picks as well.