The Kevin Sheehan Show - The Eric Bieniemy Show

Episode Date: February 20, 2023

Kevin opened today's show with his thoughts on Washington's hiring of Eric Bieniemy as the Commanders' new Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator. Jay Binkley/Chiefs' Radio was a guest talking Bieniemy. And then it was Steve Sands/NBC-Golf Channel jumping on with Kevin to talk Bieniemy and lots more on the Commanders and Snyder's sale. The guys also recapped Maryland's overtime loss at Nebraska last night while also talking Tiger, Jon Rahm, and the Caps as well.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 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 Chean Show. Here's Kevin. The challenge is just making sure that we're being accountable to one another. And so it's our job as a coach of staff to make sure that we're putting our guys in the right position so they can be at their best. But on top of that, we're going to put ownership on our guys making sure that they can go out there and effectively go out there and do what they need to do in order for us to get it done. So the accountability, guys understand their roles.

They understand that, hey, when we're playing against the best, we have to be at our best. The extra film study has to take place. Always tell them before you leave the building, make sure your heart, mind, body, and soul, make sure you get everything answered, every question that you need to address or anything that you need done in the weight room or training room, just to make sure that you're giving yourself the best opportunity to be at your best. on game day. So I think more than anything,

our guys really understand the importance of just being accountable to one another. Sign me up. That was your new assistant head coach and offensive coordinator, Eric Bienemy. Sounds convincing to me.

Did he really interview poorly? He seems like one hell of a communicator to me. That was him before the Super Bowl talking about facing a really good Philadelphia defense, a defense that ultimately, Chiefs shredded on their way to another Lombardi trophy. Happy Monday, everybody.

Happy President's Day. I was off of radio this morning. I didn't even know that I was off of radio until Saturday. I'm an idiot when it comes to work schedule management. I can handle minutes and seconds of a clock. I just apparently can't handle days on a calendar. But I'm ready to roll on the show today. This, I guess, considering the reaction for many of you since the announcement of the hiring of Eric B. Enemy, this is the Eric B. Enemy show. That's the name of the show today, the Eric B. Enemy show. I'm a little surprised at the total buy-in on this hire from so many of you without seemingly any reservations about it at all. But I'll get to that here in a few moments. I want to make sure, though, that we still.

have our priorities set. I think we're in agreement on this one thing, I would hope, and that is that none of this matters if Dan doesn't sell the team. That's the number one priority. You know, we've seen the good hires, we've seen the bad hires that we thought were good hires. They've all come and gone. The thing that's remained that's kept this nightmare ongoing for 24 years now that's produced zero playoff wins since the 2006 season. One playoff win this century. The one constant is ownership and until that changes 100 Eric B enemies aren't going to thrive. They're not going to turn this thing around. But anyway, on the list of things to turn around the franchise, after owner, after quarterback,

after maybe a few other things is they had an offensive coordinator vacancy, and they hired one. And they hired Eric Bienemy. By the way, on the ownership slash sale, there was a piece of news from over the weekend that another prospective buyer took a tour of the Ashburn facilities late last week. So that's two tours that we know about. Josh Harris reportedly was the first, and someone else maybe the mystery. bitter that the guy from the New York Post, Josh Cosman, told us about last week. Maybe that was the other one. Nobody's reported on who the recent tour was taken by. But we keep our fingers crossed

that the sale of the team moves forward and that it happens sometime soon. In the meantime, I get it. The hiring of offensive coordinator, the hiring of an offensive coordinator with a big name like Eric Bienemy is a big hire for Ron Rivera. The fact that they got a guy with such name recognition makes it more interesting, certainly more interesting than if they had hired Pat Schumer or elevated Ken Zampeze. This will be worth watching for sure. Will Eric Bienemy prove the rest of the league wrong? Will he be the hire that makes this organization look smart for the first time in 30 years?

I mean, this is kind of the crux of this hire, isn't it? It's Washington versus the rest of the league on Eric B. Enemy. I mean, not literally the rest of the league, but it's Washington versus 15 teams that said no to his 16 head coaching interviews and many others that didn't even feel he was worth the look. And then this offseason, you know, it's Washington versus at least six to seven teams that had legitimate offensive coordinator. openings that apparently didn't have any interest in him for that job, OC, either. It's exciting. You know, last year it was Washington versus the rest of the league on Carson Wentz.

This year, it's Washington versus the world on Eric B. Enemy. I mean, I guess you've got to give it up to Riverboat Ron. He's not afraid. He's not scared. He's not scurred. He may be average as a coach, but he gets to average. with a gambler's mentality. So a lot more coming up on this.

Two guests on the show today. Coming up in the next segment, Jay Binkley, Jay is the host of the Chiefs Radio Post-Game show. He'll join us and will get his perspective on Eric Bianney. And for those of you super convinced that Washington just hired one of the great offensive coordinators in the game,

you will love what Jay has to say. Steve Sands will jump on the show. show after that. We'll get his thoughts on Eric Bianamy. He's a huge Washington fan. We will recap the Terps painful loss, but not unexpected at Nebraska. We'll talk about Tiger Woods at Riviera. We'll talk about John Rom at Riviera. Steve will also weigh in on the caps who lost that Saturday night outdoor game at Carolina. And yeah, we'll have two guests on the show. Binkley and Sands. The show today is presented by My Booky. If you're wondering if the hiring of Eric B. Enemy did anything to Washington's Super Bowl odds for 2023, it did not.

Washington's still a major long shot at My Booky at plus $6,400. So that's 64 to 1 to win the Super Bowl. There's still the fourth choice, I'm sorry, the fourth to last choice to win the NFC title next year. only Atlanta, Arizona, and Chicago have longer odds than Washington to win the NFC championship next year. So not a lot being thought of Washington heading in to 2023. MyBooky, by the way, has a really good offering for my listeners. It's a unique deposit bonus that lets you cash in and cash out quickly. Here's how it works.

Go to my bookie.orgie.org. Use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. make your first deposit, whatever amount that is. Once you've wagered that amount, one time you're eligible to cash out. Very few books give you a chance to do this. MyBooky does. Go to mybooky.ag where you can bet anything, anytime, anywhere. MyBooky.orgie.ag, use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. So, let's get to Eric B. Enemy in more detail.

my thoughts on the hiring of him as the team's new assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. So I've talked to several people on this since late Friday, several of whom I would say are in the no to a certain degree. Remember, the show on Friday was recorded before the news broke that Washington was going to hire him for the job. Of course, it seemed imminent that it was going to happen going back really a week ago. But what I've learned about the hiring of Eric Bienemy is a few things. Number one is this. Eric Bienemy is getting a chance to be the chief, no pun intended, the chief offensive decision maker in this organization.

Ron Rivera is giving Bienemy total control, total autonomy when it comes to the offense. The elevated title, which I think I had last week, I think I mentioned to Tommy that I thought that if they did, hire Bienemy. He would get the assistant head coach title or an associate head coach title as well. But whatever that title means, the bottom line is this. The offense is his. The design of it, the staff, and of course he'll be the offensive play caller. He'll bring Andy Reed's West Coast offense with him. By the way, just as an aside, remember a few weeks ago, it was on radio, but many of you perhaps heard it. I had Phil Longo, the long time under Mass

Brown offensive coordinator at North Carolina. He's now with Luke Fickle at Wisconsin, but he was Sam Howell's offensive coordinator. And I asked Longo, what would be the best kind of offense for Sam Hal? And he said, West Coast. He said quick decisions, short routes, get the ball out quickly in timing. That fits what Sam does best. And Ron Rivera actually said something during Super Bowl week when he was doing those various interviews on Radio Row. He said, quick passing attack, we're looking for. So the Andy Reed system, that West Coast system, seemingly fits Sam Howell's strengths. So Eric B. Enemy will be bringing that as well. And by the way, we'd all love to see the creativity, you know, the imagination. Nobody's been more imaginative. Nobody's been more

creative, especially in the Red Zone than the Chiefs have. in recent years, that would be great if he brought that with him to Washington. But this is going to be Bianemi's show on offense. Rivera gave him the keys. Rivera gave Bianmi for the first time for him in the NFL the most amount of responsibility he's ever had and really the most responsibility that comes with an offensive coordinator job description. He's going to have some talent on offense at wide receiver, at running back, but we also know the offensive line needs major upgrades. The quarterback is currently an unknown.

If we're talking about Sam Hal, he's played one game in the NFL. It's not Patrick Mahomes that he's inheriting here. But anyway, let's get to it because I am surprised at how many of you have bought into this hire with seemingly no hesitation. I mean, you're convinced that this is the greatest move the organization has made in a long time. I got that from so many of you. I'm going to read a few of these tweets and or emails.

This is from Waldorf. Waldorf wrote, they finally got something right. Best move Ron's made. Please don't dump on this, Kevin. Landing EB is a coup for this franchise. From JD. Kevin, you have to give Rivera some credit. I don't know how he pulled this off.

This hire is a game changer for the organization, and I think Ron just hired his replacement. Whoa, maybe. From Beth on Twitter, born leader with brains. You've said that the organization hasn't had people like that, and that's been part of their problem. I agree with you, but now they somehow convinced a guy with both of those things to come here. This is exciting. from Mambrie or Mambray. Nice job ripping Ron for playing golf in California.

What a waste of time. Yeah, that's funny. By the way, Mabry, that was not me. You've got me confused with somebody else. I said it was a total nothing burger, that it was a mountain out of a molehill. I didn't have any issue with Ron playing the Pebble Beach Pro Am. And being out there at Pebble Beach playing golf.

didn't have any problem with that whatsoever. Said that very clearly. Tom and I talked about that. So you've got me confused with somebody else. But it is kind of funny that anybody made a big deal out of that. And then he hires a guy that the fan base is going nuts over, or it seems that the fan base is going nuts over. But anyway, before I get specifically to what I think of the Eric B. Enemy hiring,

I want to address quickly some of the... these tweets and emails because I think they're incredibly flawed from the perspective of this. I don't think, by the way, that this has anything to do with Eric B.N. Me was a good hire or bad higher. I don't know, and I'll get to that in more detail. You know, whether or not he'll succeed or fail. Those are all kind of debatable things. But the notion that many of you have, Lots of you seem to have that JD in his tweet said, how did Ron Rivera pull this off? Waldorf said landing EB, Eric B. Enemy, was a coup for this franchise.

Beth said, how did they somehow convince him to come here? People, am I missing something here? Have you not been paying attention? What other options than returning to Kansas City did he have? They didn't beat out any competition for him. Washington was his only choice unless he wanted to go back to the chiefs. And even that seemed a bit tenuous. Come on.

Like it's a debate as to whether or not he's a good hire or bad hire, whether or not he's going to succeed or not succeed. That's the conversation. That's a reasonable debate. But, you know, whether or not, you know, he was like this. incredible heist of a hire. Stop it. I mean, that's not up for debate. Eric Bienemy was not a difficult guy to hire if they were interested in him. There wasn't any competition for him. I could be missing something, okay? I know Baltimore reached out, never interviewed him. They hired Todd Munkin instead. You know, there were other teams that had OC openings, including teams,

by the way, with defensive head coaches. But based on what I've seen, nobody else was interested in talking to him or interviewing him. I guess there's a chance, you know, he told others, I'm only interested in D.C., so the other teams backed off. But that's kind of a long shot, don't you think?

I mean, let's just stop with the lavishing of praise on the organization for landing the big one. There was nobody else on the pond fishing. They were the only ones with a line in the water. But look, I gave Ron credit earlier for sticking his head out there on the, you know, on the proverbial limb. You know, but that's because he's the only one on the limb. Not because he outsold or outpitched a bunch of others and closed the deal.

This wasn't a tough sell. If Eric B. Enemy was interested in a job with Toe you know, kind of autonomy. He apparently had one option, Washington. I think it would have been interesting if he didn't get the job offer here, or by the way, if he didn't want the job here, what would Kansas City have done? I think Andy Reid would have had to hire him back. You know, it's been reported in recent days by Albert Breer and others that Matt Nagy will take the enemy's place, and there's a feeling that this is what Reed's wanted to do. Breer reported, by the way, that Nagy is the successor in waiting for Reid when Reed decides to hang it up and retire.

That was never said about B-enemy. I mean, will it be said now? Will B-enemy actually be a successor to Andy Reed to come back to Kansas City when Reed hangs it up? It doesn't seem like that's the direction. That's a question for Kansas City. I'll ask Jay Binkley about that. But it would have been tough. Think about this.

If Washington didn't offer Eric Bianamy the job, you know, Andy Reed was not going to let him sit out there unemployed for a year. After pitching him the way he did publicly, you know, during the Super Bowl and after it, not to bring him back as the O.C. If he didn't get the Washington job would have looked really bad. And I don't think Reed would have done that to him. I'm not saying that Reed wouldn't have been thrilled to have him back. I'm not saying that at all. He may have been thrilled to have him back.

But in recent days, I think it's kind of clear that Matt Nagy's the guy they want in that position. But I will ask Jay Brinkley, Jay Binkley, not Brinkley, from Kansas City about that when we have him on the show in the next segment. But, you know, stop it with the, oh, my God, how did they get him? Well, they got him because they were the only option it would appear, other than, you know, going back to Kansas City. But here's my real take on all of this, because I think there are a few ways to look at this hiring. There is the optimistic view, and I believe that there are reasons you can come up with to be optimistic. There's the more skeptical view, and I think there are reasons for that point of view as well. Then I think there is kind of a realistic view, which I think I'm going to

try to espouse, and I'll get to that in a bit. But interestingly, it kind of involves both the optimistic view and the more skeptical view. I would say this, though, right now, I don't know that anybody can be wrong about this. I mean, you're dead wrong if you think that Washington pulled off like this major heist of a hire. That's just dead wrong. But with respect to whether or not it's a good hire or a bad hire, whether or not he'll succeed or not succeed, I mean, I think you can make the case both ways with justifiable reasons in the moment. You may look bad down the road, but right now I think it's kind of hard to be wrong about that. Because the optimist is totally justified in saying, well, he's been the offensive coordinator of the best offensive team in the league for the past five years.

a team that's won more games than any other, a team that's been to three Super Bowls and won two of them. He's learned from one of the best in Andy Reid, you know, and even if he didn't have all of the responsibilities that some offensive coordinators do because Andy Reid did a lot of it, and even though he was with Patrick Mahomes, the bottom line is you have to think that some of Andy Reid is rubbed off on him.

Andy Reid endorsed him. You know, these are, reasons to be optimistic. This was one of the great offenses during his time as an offensive coordinator we've ever seen. Again, Mahomes, Reed, but by osmosis, he had to learn enough to kind of be beyond where a lot of people are as a coordinator. If you're looking at this glass half full, by the way, I would also mention that Patrick Mahomes endorsed Bienemy, gave him credit for some of those second half touchdown throws in the Super Bowl last week. So there are totally justifiable reasons to be bullish about this hire.

You're not crazy to think that maybe everybody else got it wrong. But that's where the part where if you're skeptical about this hire, you have good reasons to feel that way too. You know, he's interviewed for a head coaching opportunity. He's interviewed for a head coaching opportunity 16 times with 15 teams over the last few years and wasn't offered by anybody. And by the way, when it became clear, as I was talking about a little while ago, that he might be willing to take an OC position perceived to be a lateral move,

Washington apparently was the only serious suitor. This is the reason why, you know, a team like Washington and the fans of the team should be skeptical. Much smarter franchises, much more successful franchises, said no over and over to a guy with a pretty damn impressive resume. You know, a damn impressive resume. So why has everybody said no? You know, there are lots of rumors out there as to why he doesn't interview well. He's black. Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes are the reasons for Kansas City's success, not be enemy. He didn't have anything to do with it. He's got, you know, this legal baggage that Cooley talked about

on the pod last week, but all of that is 20 to 30 years old now. I don't think that has anything to do with it. Why did every single team but Washington turn him down? I don't know. I don't even really have a guess. The race thing seems off on this one, just because some of those jobs he interviewed for ended up going to minority candidates. You know, on my day off, by the way, from radio this morning, I listened to Galdi's podcast. He does a great job with that podcast. And he mentioned something that I had not heard, but I thought was kind of interesting. Ryan Poles, do you know who Ryan Poles is? Most of you probably don't. He is the general manager of the Chicago Bears.

Ryan Poles was in Kansas City for all of the Andy Reed and Eric Bienemy years. Ryan Poles took the GM job in Chicago last year, and his first task was to hire a new head coach. He hired Matt Eberflus, the defensive coordinator from the Colts. He had a young quarterback in Justin Fields, and yet Ryan Poles hired a defensive head coach. but much more importantly, and I learned this from Galdi this morning, did you know that he didn't even interview Eric Bienami for the job? A guy that he had been with in Kansas City for all of those years, watching the process,

watching and understanding that Eric Bianami was interviewing for job after job and getting turned down for job after job. A guy that presumably knew Bianami well, he didn't even interview him. And Ryan Poles, if you didn't know this, is black. I don't know why Eric Bianamy was turned down by what seems like a record number of teams for someone with his resume. I don't know. You're going to hear from Jay Binkley, when I have him on from Kansas City, you're going to hear him talk about how this was, you know, this is a travesty.

that he hasn't been hired. But he's also not going to offer up real specifics other than some of the rumors that we've heard. You know, I guess it's possible that everyone is wrong and Washington is right, but being skeptical about Washington being right about something and the rest of the league being wrong is eyes wide open. Because you know the last time Washington was right

and everybody else was wrong? Never is the answer. Now, where do I stand on this? Am I optimistic? Am I skeptical? Both are reasonable positions, as I just explained. I know that this job is supposed to be a job of taking a strong position on one side or the other as a talk show host and being really convinced about it. You guys know me. I'm not bashful when it comes to feeling strongly one way or the other about a topic that I legitimately. legitimately feel strongly about. But the only thing about this hire that I feel strongly about is that I don't have a clue. I feel good that there's enough out there in recent years about him in Kansas City, about him and his knowledge of the game that's never been an issue. He's been lauded about how sharp he is with X's and O's with design. I've read where many think that his strength is actually as a play designer,

and he's really good at that. Getting that would be great for Washington. But how much of the designing of plays or an offense has been executed at a high level because he's got one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time at the helm? You know, he doesn't have that here. Some of you think Sam Hal is the next Mahomes. Some of you do. But those with a bit more sense and sanity, you know, you don't have my homes here.

You know, nobody does. So there are positives about him. There are reasons to be skeptical, too. As I said earlier, I'm fine, and frankly, it's more exciting to take a shot on an Andy Reid protege than to hire Pat Schumer or Ken Zampeze for the job. but my position netting it all out is wait and see. I'm not comparing it to the way I felt about Wentz last year. I'm not. That one was a lot easier.

You know, that was not as complex. You know, that was a bad trade for a guy that two teams moved on from at great expense. And those two teams didn't say nice things about him on his way out. That one was easy unless you had blinders on. This one is tough. It's a mystery. No assistant coach has been discussed more over the past few years than Eric B. Enemy. The number of teams that have passed on him without a ton of public information as to why

has really made this the story it's become over the last few years. You rarely get this with an assistant head coach. But every coaching cycle, it's been like, why do people keep turning him down? And again, with this coaching cycle, why do people keep turning him down? And then as offensive coordinator became something he was willing to take, why isn't anybody interested? Why is just one team willing to hire him, to offer him a job for what is kind of a lateral move? I think it's a little bit more than a lateral move because clearly he's getting much more autonomy. I think Ron Rivera is part of the reason that he's here.

You know, there's a relationship that he has with Andy Reed and a respect that Ron has that some of you don't like to admit, but it's true that other coaches around the league have for Ron. They like Ron. They respect Ron. So, you know, that may have been one of the reasons that Washington and B. Enemy kind of got connected here for the O.C. position because he obviously wasn't going to be a head coach here in this particular offseason unless, unless Eric Biennamy went on some Super Bowl show and said, hey, I've talked to some of the prospective bidders for the Washington franchise, and they've told me that they might be interested in hiring me as a head coach like Sean Payton did, which I thought was kind of low rent.

Look, for Benamy, he's got a chance to prove all of those teams wrong. And I have to say that while many of you think that, you know, he shouldn't have to prove himself, you know, in a perceived lateral move. And again, I think it's more than a lateral move because of the responsibility, not really because of the title, but because of, you know, the opportunity to have an offense that is truly his. Some of you think that that shouldn't have been necessary, and that's fine. But I respect him for doing this. You know, he gets a bigger title and a lot more responsibility, and he should have never taken this job without that. as part of the deal. But I respect that he hasn't done what I think many might have done in the same

situation he's been in for the last few years, which is to kind of play the woes me card. I haven't seen any indication of that. He seems to be saying by taking this job, hey, you don't think I'm worthy of being a head coach? Fine. Watch what I do without Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes in a place that hasn't had a good offense in so. six years. Watch. So that's what we'll do. Watch. You know, I'm interested a little in the coaches he brings in from the outside. I'm interested to see if any Kansas City players, free agents, UFAs become possibilities for

Washington with BNAMI here. Orlando Brown is an unrestricted free agent. Now, the chiefs are going to more likely than not resign him after what they traded, Baltimore, to get them to Kansas City. Could a 31-year-old tight end, like Blake Bell, be a possibility here? Washington needs to target a tight end. I think they will. I've been told that tight end is certainly on the short list here in the off-season. Whether it's in free agency or more likely the draft, I think, maybe at 16.

What about Chad Henney? He just announced his retirement, but would he be willing to unretire and join Bianami here in D.C.? He's the perfect low-cost veteran backup and mentor for Hal, knows the system, knows the terminology. We'll see about coaches and players. If he just settles for what's here, does that tell us anything? I don't know. Look, it'd be a hell of a story if he went out there

and coached up this team to respectability on offense for the first time in seven years, six, seven years. You know, coached up a young fifth round quarterback into a bona fide NFL starter. Let's not go crazy. But let's just say that by the end of next year, it's obvious that Sam Hal is a starting quarterback in the NFL. That would be quite a feather in Eric B. Ename's cap.

You know, at that point, if he's got an offense that's better than anything we've had here in years and he's got a quarterback that looks like he's an NFL starter, then perhaps he'll get a shot to be a head coach. But for those of you only optimistic, about this higher? Bless your hearts. For those of you who are only skeptical about this higher, I get that position a bit more than the rose-colored glasses position,

but I think you should at least acknowledge that there's a chance that a very sharp football mind, and nobody has debated that this guy is a sharp football mind. There's a chance that all he's needed is the chance, to shine as a solo act. And maybe, you know, that's all he needs and maybe getting it here will turn out to be the best thing for him and the best thing for the organization. Wait and see for me.

That's my position on this. But it's also infinitely more interesting than some of the other names that they had interviewed. Who's to say, by the way, that Thomas Brown, who Washington interviewed, he was the guy that worked for Sean McVeigh in L.A. He just was hired by Carolina to be the O.C. for Frank Reich, for the Panthers. You know, would anybody actually be surprised if we were sitting here a year from now and we say, damn, they had a chance to get Thomas Brown? He's turned into the next great offensive coordinator. There was a lot of buzz about him, for sure.

You know, I think it was Galdi, who was on the show last week, that made the point. I think it was Galdi. And it was a really good point. We don't know anything about the coordinator hires. You know, we have more of a sense on head coaches because we can look at records and we can look at decisions in game and know that the coach had something to do with that.

When it comes to assistance, this is an inside information thing. Coaches know, owners know, front office executives know. We don't really know. Thomas Brown may be the next guy. It might not be Eric B. Enemy. But anyway, we certainly have something to watch in 2023. All right. I've talked to a few people in Kansas City the last few days. One person in particular was available to come on with me today.

And it turns out he is the most optimistic of the people I talk to about the Eric B. Enemy hire here in Washington. So if you're on the, they just pulled off a coup, they just pulled off a heist, you're going to love what Jay Brinkley, Jay Binkley, excuse me, Jay Binkley has to say. You'll hear from him next. Then it's Steve Sands right after a few messages from some of our sponsors. All right. Jumping on with us right now is the host of the Kansas City Chiefs postgame show on radio at 610 Sports Kansas City, our good friend Stephen Spector station. Jay Binkley is with us right now, and Jay, obviously the big news here in D.C. over the last 48 hours was the hiring of Eric B.

Enemy. What did Washington get in Eric B. Enemy as its O.C.? Oh, I think Washington's getting an absolutely great offensive coordinators. As a matter of fact, I think it's not. standing hired. To be honestly, I think the best higher in the off season, to be honest with you. This guy does football inside and out. He always has. I mean, there's just certain guys that scream football and knowledge, and he's one of them. I'll never forget in 2013 in training camp.

I remember sitting out there with my co-host at time when I was doing an attend the two show, and you can hear Eric B. enemy bark. Of course, we knew Eric B. enemy is, you know, the college running back, of course running back in the NFL that he even played the Super Bowl with the Chargers. But he was just coaching. I was like, man, this guy screams NFL head coach to me. Eventually, it never happened at this point for Eric B.

enemy. He's also responsible for the chiefs left two Super Bowl on the Eagles, where they caught him in the flats, where they put him in motion, and they stop and go the other direction. That is something Eric B. Enemy saw on film against the Eagles, believe it or not against Jacksonville Jaguars earlier in the season.

But the guy just knows football. He was instrumental on Jerk McKinnon sliding down at the end of the game to save time. It's something Eric B. and me worked on in practice all the time with the players. Even Patrick Mahomes said so that he would always work on this. They wondered when they'd ever use it. Well, he said there's always a time where it ended up being a play that you use. But the guy is an extremely smart football guy.

So, Jay, you're obviously a huge fan of Eric B. Enemy. So why did it take this long for somebody other than the Chiefs to offer him a job? It doesn't make sense to me. He should have had it years ago. I really was expecting to get a job three years ago. It never happened. You'd think, okay, well, maybe next year is the year for Eric. It didn't happen then.

It didn't happen last year. You started worrying, okay, what's going on? then you hear that he hasn't interviewed well and all that. And I think that's all baloney, to be honest with you, because the bottom line is this. The NFL, they want to win games, whether you interview well or not or whatever. Can you win football games? That's the important thing in the National Football League, and he can.

He has been personally endorsed by Andy Reid, personally endorsed by Patrick Mahomes. What two guys have a higher, you know, named cachet in the National Football League right now, than those two guys. He's won two Super Bowls in the last four years and been the three. He's been with Andy Reid every single day he's been in Kansas City. The full 10 years that Andy Reid has been here. He's gone from running backs coached, did outstanding job,

Jamal Charles, five straight years over 1,000 yards, Kareem Hunt. He coached him to a rushing title in the National Football League. He's got a photographic memory. He memorizes the game plan with Andy Reed. He helps install the game plan with, Andy Reid. I don't know. I don't know. It doesn't make any, it's one of those mysteries in the NFL that I just don't understand because in the NFL I thought they wanted to win games. And you see a lot of coaches that are hired that are simply not the right guy here at me and he is. Does he actually have a photographic memory? It seems like it. I mean, I don't know if he actually does or not, but he does memorize what Andy Reid puts out there at a play sheet. He's even said he like, you go home a night and memorize this stuff. I don't know if he actually does.

if you classify it as photograph. It seems like it to me because he remembers exactly pretty much everything that comes from Andy Reed. So I would put it pretty close. If it's not photograph of memory, it's very, very close. I shouldn't say as photographic memory, because I don't know, I don't know for sure if you call photographic memory.

In my opinion, the guy does, but I don't know medically. Yeah, that's fine. No, that's fine. No, I'm just curious with the way you said it, it was like that it was something that was known about him that I hadn't heard before. But anyway, let's move on. Tell me about the play-calling thing with him. That's been one of the knocks against Eric B. Enemy that he never really had play-calling responsibilities.

Did he ever call plays? You know what? We never really know. I remember back in 2017, Andy Reid had let Eric, or Matt Nagy call the plays against the Bronon. Sometimes we're Doug Peterson. They said calls played in the second half when he was golf as coordinator in Kansas City in the second half. I can't definitively say if he did or not. It's known that the Andy Reid is the one that calls the plays.

But I will see this. Eric Beenemy helps put the plays in. He and Andy Reid sit together during the week. That's what we've been told. We don't know. I mean, they're very tight with that information on who calls the plays or not. Andy Reid, for the most part, is the guy calling the plays. But Eric B. Enemy knows them inside and out because, well, he helps put the game

planned in. And he's the one that they've credited for those. last two touchdowns against the Eagles because he noticed something on film that they did. This guy knows football, and he knows players. They respect him. He was a player in the league, played in the Super Bowl. I think teams have made a huge mistake by not hiring him. I'm shocked, to be honest, with you, the Chargers.

When they went Brandon Staley, who was a one-year defensive coordinator in L.A. at that point, with the Rams, and you didn't get the enemy. Here was a guy that played for the Chargers in a Super Bowl. there was a guy in the AFC West where the chiefs are, what, 42 and 6 since 2017, or 2015, excuse me, in this division. Why wouldn't you take a guy that knows every inner workings of Andy Reid and been here every step of the way with Patrick Mahomes? Why wouldn't you hire him when you're trying to beat the chiefs in the division? It didn't make any sense to me. I'll take you this much.

He's been on a series of one-year contracts here in Kansas City. I think Washington's made a tremendous hire, and I would not be shocked if he's not to be. that said coach in Washington. So you also said that, you know, he had Jericho McKinnon get down. I mean, I think everybody kind of knew once the penalty was called, that they had a walk-off field goal opportunity. Sure. But, you know, one of the things that Andy Reid was criticized for years ago

was kind of his clock management, game management at the end of games. Obviously, two Super Bowls later and, you know, three Super Bowl visits, people have kind of forgotten it about that. But were you suggesting in any way that maybe Eric B. enemy's been that guy, the clock management guy, or the guy responsible for some of that stuff for Andy Reed or not? You know, who knows? I think a lot of that comes from upstairs in the booth as far as game situations,

when the challenge, when not the challenge, the time and distance, what you need to do. I think a lot of that comes from upstairs instead of on the field where it being in a is. I don't know. I know the guy is extremely, extremely smart in the game of football. It knows it inside and out. So I don't know necessarily if he's the guy.

He is the guy. If you go back to the Super Bowl win with the Chief, the one right before this, against the 49ers, it was where Patrick Mahomes goes over to Eric P. Enemy and says, do we have time to run Wast? And that's been a Jet Chip Wasp, which has been, you know, lives in infamy in Kansas City, that in the 65 toss-power traffic. in Super Bowl 4. People, yeah, people remember that.

And he, Holmes, you can watch an NFL films, everything else. He walks right over to Eric B. the United and says, do we have time to run and watch? And he says, do we have time to run Wast? And talks to whoever and says, do we have time to run Wast? So he was involved in that play, and that's one of the most famous play in Kansas City history. So I will just say this. I think that he's had the opportunities.

He could have been. I thought he could have been a college coach. That's initially what I thought he would be because I could see him going into a living room and being able to recruit players like crazy. But obviously the NFL is the game that he loves, the game that he wants to do. I just think when you look at all the some of the coaches that were high-ed,

you know, the Eagles losing their offense and defensive coordinator, I look at a guy like Eric D.M. Ever much more qualified than those candidates. I think it was a tremendous hire by Washington. Kansas City is going to be fine. They brought in Matt Nagy, you know, former head coach of the Bears who came back to Kansas City last year at the quarterback's coach. There'll be a seamless transition with Andy Reid, you know, still head of the show here in Kansas City. But this is a good opportunity for Egg being in me.

Let me tell you this much. He's extremely motivated. He's extremely motivated. You know, he gets kind of out of the wings of Mahomes and Reed and all this. And he has a chance to really prove himself. And we've seen guys bet on themselves in sports. I mean, Aaron Judge did that when the Yankees offered him that big contract. last year. He decided not to take it and bet on himself. And he goes out there and has a season

like he did last year. In my opinion, Eric Bainty, he's kind of betting on himself. I mean, if he takes this, we know Washington play defense, but if he turns this offense around in any way working with what he has and Sam, how, look out because Eric the enemy will be a hot commodity. Any NFL's head coach in my opinion, unless this direction of Washington ends up going down the line. Jay, what would have happened had Washington not offered him the position? He was in back in Kansas, he's offensive coordinator. I think that Andy Reid takes care of his guys. And I could see him back here.

Obviously, you know, Matt Nagy at some point wants to be offensive coordinator, I'm sure. Still didn't have the job yet because they have to go through the interview process. But this is the way it is. I mean, the job was already filled when he came to. Kansas City. There was thoughts that Eric B. He would get the head searching job last year. It never materialized. In my opinion, he'd be back with the Kansas City Chiefs. So some of the reporting out there that Matt Nagy eventually will be Andy Reed's successor, do you agree with that or not? I do. I think the guy certainly like him. I know he has a really, really good report with Patrick Mahomes

and through his development. And a big part of that transition before he went off. to Chicago when Petrauma Holmes was kind of registered with the Kansas City Chiefs but he was quarterback's coach

from working with Patrick Mahon and Amy Reid he knows Andy Reid inside and out he knows the general manager

extremely well with the chiefs I assume that and here's the thing with him Nagy he made the playoffs two of three years

in Chicago he was an NFL coach of the year he won at one time Andy Reid he won at one time which is funny to think that

Andy Reid second all time time fifth all time and it's all of a victory. He has one coach of the year, the same as Matt Nagee. But he did it with Mitch Trubisky. He did it with Mitch Trubisky. I mean, that's a little something.

It's a little aster come aside of it. I wouldn't do it with that. Jay, thanks. Really appreciate it. Jay hosts the Chiefs Postgame Show and Chiefs Radio. That must be a fun gig. Really appreciate the time. Take care.

Jay? I think we lost Jay there at the end. but Jay was super positive about Eric Bienemy. That is for sure. All right, when we come back, Steve Sands is going to jump on the show. We'll get his thoughts on BNami. We'll get his thoughts on Tiger's performance this week out at the Genesis at Riviera. We'll talk some Terps hoops, including that painful loss last night at Nebraska.

We'll get to all of that and more to finish up the show next with our good friend Steve Sands. right after these words from a few of our sponsors. This final segment of the show with our good friend Steve Sands is presented by Windonation. Go to Windonation.com, call them at 86690 Nation. Mention my name. Free estimate right now. No money down, no payments, no interest for two full years. Plus, for every two windows you purchase, you get two free, so you're paying half price on the windows.

I've been working with them for 14 years now. If you're in the market for new windows, give them a shot. Again, free estimate so you've got nothing to risk. Again, 86690 Nation or Windonation.com. Steve Sands jumps on the show. I was thinking about you last week. I mean, I think about you all the time because we text back and forth all the time, usually about gambling-related topics.

By the way, I think we were both right about Maryland Purdue, and we were both right about Maryland and Nebraska last night. Unfortunately, we were right about Maryland and Nebraska. Before we get to that, and I do want to talk about Tiger and the Golf and John Rom, what is your reaction to the hiring of Eric B. Enamey? Steve, for many of you, you know this. He is a massive DC sports fan, massive Washington Commanders fan, and is from here, which is why he's a fan of all the teams.

So what was your reaction to be enemy to Washington? Same thing that you and Zabe talked about last week. Why hasn't he ever been hired? I'm sure he's a good coach. And I know he's a tough communicator on players at times. He's never called the plays per se in Kansas City while Andy Reid has been there, or at least not in a regular basis. He's interviewed a ton of times for head coaching jobs,

other big jobs in the NFL, and has never gotten it. I think it's totally fair, like you and Steve talked about last week, to wonder why he has never gotten a job until now. And also, were the skins or the commander, excuse me, were they competing against any other team in the league to try to hire Eric the enemy? Having said that, I think that when you recommend them, my father used to say this to me all the time, you don't recommend somebody, Kevin, unless you can go to the mat for them. and I think Andy Reid went out of his way for the couple of weeks leading up to the Super Bowl and also after the Super Bowl when they beat the Eagles, thankfully, by the way, for those of us who are Washington fans, and also had a couple of dollars on Canton City. But he went out of his way to praise Eric B.

Aniombe. Patrick Mahomes has been praising Eric B. So that's got to be good enough for Washington fans. It's good enough for me, but I do wonder why he never was actually offered any of the those other jobs and why he never got him to a job until this point. Yeah, I mean, I opened the show with just saying, look, there are reasons, justifiable reasons if you're optimistic, and there are totally justifiable reasons if you're skeptical. I mean, the bottom line is, when has Washington ever been right when the

rest of the league has been wrong? And I say the rest of the league, and clearly that, you know, that Andy Reid is a big fan and was a big endorsement. of Bianmi and employed him for all of these years. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had Bianami not been offered the job in Washington because he was not under contract in Kansas City. But when has Washington ever been right and the rest of the league been wrong? The answer is never. That's the answer.

Yeah, it's been a while. It's been a while. I think it's a good hire because I think that while we are all in flux with the ownership situation. Somebody's got to be in the OC, and this team's good. If you have a quarterback at all, like you have said numerous times,

with Aaron Rogers or anybody else, an 11-12-win team, and they make a push towards that NFC championship team. I don't think there's any question about that. The roster's good. I just think that they're, I'm optimistic as far as the higher, because I think

Eric BNM is going to bring a lot of innovation to that offensive. I was actually a Scott Turner fan like you. I wasn't as down on him as other fans. I think that a lot of factors go into success as far as an offensive coordinator position in the NFL. And I think that Eric Bienamee has a chance to succeed in Washington. It's going to be interesting to see how the next six, seven weeks play out

before those March owners meetings, because if there's a new owner and they decide to just flip it and make changes, then what happens to guys like Eric Mianmi and all the rest of the staff? that he's potentially bringing over. Yeah, I mean, I'm starting to think that late March is too late to do anything for 2023. Obviously, Sean Payton, you know, went public during Super Bowl week that some of the prospective owners were interested in him, which I, by the way, thought was Bush League for him to

kind of come out with that. That's essentially telling Ron Rivera, who's under contract, you're lucky I took the job in Denver. But whatever. That aside, I think it's probably too late for them to do anything. I think we've got Rivera, we've got B'Anne, we've got Del Rio, we've got this staff, and we've got one year of, you know, Ron and staff in players trying to kill it to keep their jobs for 2024. That's kind of the way I view it now. I guess it's possible that somebody could have a group lined up, but it seems like more of a long shot.

I think we're going to see the whole Rivera thing played back for one more year. Yeah, I agree. And then they all have, you notice the enemy had a two-year contract. Ron Rivera has two years left on his deal. It's almost as if this is kind of the order in which it's supposed to happen. You've got a lame duck coach. You have an extra year on your deal. But with a new owner coming in, who knows?

If it's Bezos, and he's got all the money in the world, he doesn't really care as far as spending goes, like you have said numerous times, outside of the salary cap, whether it's coach's salaries like Sean Payton's salary is just, you know, recalibrated the market, you know, in Denver with the Walton family. And Bezos could do something like that. But I agree with you. You get into late March, you're talking about scheduling and free agency and OTAs coming up quickly. And I just don't know if you're going to, you know, take a veteran coach like Ron Rivera

and put them aside and try to hire some, you know, sports. flashy new guy coming in beginning in April, unless that's already set in place with how they're doing their negotiations now, and it's not announced until the owner's meetings. But I'm with you on what Peyton said. I think when someone's under contract, you shouldn't speak like that outwardly. And I just can't imagine that they're going to start fresh, you know, the beginning of April with a brand new general manager in front office and scouting department and also a new coaching staff. I think that would be a mistake. You know, in the world of golf, which Steve, works in and hangs out in.

I'm wondering, because I don't think I've asked you this, have you heard anything with respect to ownership? There are a lot of people that you have relationships with that tend to run in those kinds of circles. Have you heard anything about what's going to happen here with Snyder's sale? Forgive me. I forget the guy's name from New York, who you had on, who had the gross great pipes you talked about.

Yeah, right. He talked about the fail meeting. I'm going so smoothly. Yeah. Well, I forget his name. His name was Josh Cosman from the New York Post, yeah. Right. It was very good.

It was a very good segment. I love listening. I mean, I listen to your show every day, but that was a really, really cool segment to listen to. You know, some of the guys who we run across in golf certainly are in that stratosphere. I've spoken to a couple of guys in the last two months. Also, I'm not a name dropper by any means, but I know I'm good friends with a guy who is an owner. in the NFL. And he, the sales,

is the sale's going to happen. Snyder's going to get rid of the team one way or the other. Whether he's forced to quietly or forced to publicly, the league doesn't want to go through a vote like that. He knows that. He's going to happen. The question is who. And everybody knows that is Josh Harris,

the one from Chevy Chase, who owns the Devils and the Sixers. But he doesn't quite have the Capitol yet, unless he decides to sell the Sixers and the Devils, or most notably the Sixers coming off that sunsale of $4 billion. But Bezos is the one who everybody is pointing to. It's just a question of whether he wants to be patient and wait for the Seahawks in a year or two when that trust decides to figure it out as to what it's going to do.

Kind of like what the Broncos did after Pat Bowlin passed away, when Paul Allen passed away, same thing, the Seahawks trying to trust. Or does he want to, you know, jump on a market that is so great. And by the way, is so ready to explode with a new stadium and a new fan base, it's very similar to getting an expansion team if you buy this team. To me, anyway, and I think that might be exciting for a guy like Jeff Bezos to bring back one of the pillars of the league with its fan base and the scheduling and bring the money back to the NFCE and the way that that means to the NFL.

Well, to me, it sounds like Bezos kind of waiting in the wings, just waiting his turn to make his final bid. And some of the people we've spoken to in the golf circles who have been around that stratosphere, they're not a lot of them. They feel as that Bezos is ready to jump in as well. But you never know. The numbers have got to be correct. So when you hear a guy like Josh Cosman lean in the direction of Snyder's not going to get his number and he's going to fight to keep the team, you don't think that that's true. You think he, I, by the way, I agree with you. I think that he's moving forward with this sale.

That's kind of what I've heard. And really, there are a lot of reasons, and I've enumerated them in the past. But that's where you are, right, that he's selling the team. Yeah, I'm not refuting what Josh was reporting. He's an excellent reporter. He was very good on your show. I'm not saying that it's going so smoothly. Right.

What I think is, from what I understand, from what I've been told, about people who would know. And again, I'm not reporting that. I'm not a reporter. I'm not reporting this. But talking to some people who actually kind of are in the weeds on those kinds of things, really in the weeds, I think that originally people thought the sale price was going to be much larger than it actually will be. And I think maybe that's what the pause might be that Josh was reporting. But I think at the end of the day, I think Snyder's going to sell the team again, whether it's because he just needs to, because he's just such a buffoon, or, or worse words that I wouldn't use on your podcast, or he's being forced to quietly by the other owners, or last case scenario is that they actually have to vote and get those 24 votes on the record.

And I don't think the NFL wants that. I don't think Snyder wants that. A different scenario in the NBA and the NFL. has never done something like that. They did it in the NBA with Sterling and Starver out in Phoenix. And I think that the NFL does its business differently. And I just think Snyder kind of needs to go away. And I think he kind of wants to at this point.

It's so messy, Kevin, as you know, it's just not getting the number that he originally thought he was going to get. But he's going to get a big number. He's going to walk away. Maybe kicking and streaming, but I think he is going to sell the team. Yeah, I think the whole voting amount, I just, I don't see that happening. Now, you know, if the investigation, if the Mary Joe White investigation actually produced a bombshell or there was another bombshell that we don't know about coming from somewhere, that's always

possible. But what worries me, as you know, is just the idea that the Mary Joe White investigation produces nothing but he said, she said. because for him that would be total exoneration and, you know, would be a dig your heels in further possibility. But anyway, let's move on from that. I agree. I agree with all that, Kevin, except for the fact that the situation still remains the same. Yeah, no, you're right. He still remains ostracized by other owners. He still remains with the worst, not the worst, but one of the worst stadium situations in the NFL, a fan base that truly doesn't care anymore.

about his product, even with some winning games, even with winning some games. And I just think he's out. I just think it's, you know, I just think he's had enough. Believe it or not, it's amazing at this point. But I think he's out, and I think it's going to happen. I think it's going to be announced at the owners' meetings next month. What would your off-season quarterback plan be? Yours. Oh, man.

And by the way, by the way, Cousins is not available. He's not available. He's still got another year on his contract in Minnesota. I mean, I love you to debt, Kevin. I love you to get. This is inside, so we won't go there. Yeah, I know. It's not inside. You're on your show every day. I know, but you and I, it's inside. The back and forth between you and me is inside. Just what would your plan be?

I want your audience. I want your audience to know something. Yeah. I love Kevin Adet. He's a wonderful guy. but his everybody everybody in life has a blind spot personally or professionally or both your blind spot is number eight guy will never ever produce a big win now he might play well and have good stats but he's never going to produce a big win sorry so if i were if i were in one oh good god okay yeah okay set the record for most comebacks in one season in NFL history uh but go ahead what's your quarterback What's your quarterback plan?

What's your quarterback plan? I've got to win at some point. I would make a run of Aaron Rogers. I know he's not going to come to Washington. No. But make a run at him because I agree with you. If you put Aaron Rogers in Burgundy and Gold with this roster, they're going to go from eight wins to 11 or 12,

and they're going to make a run at the title. That's not going to happen because Aaron's not going to come to a situation that's so fluid right now with the ownership situation. But you never know. Remember what Sean Peyton was saying that we thought was so bad saying it outwardly? Maybe there's Jeff Bezos saying to Aaron Rogers, hey, go to your darkness retreat. I'm going to buy the skins when you come back, and we're going to trade for you, and we're going to build a new stadium, and you're going to be known as the guy who saved the Washington franchise and the market,

and also like Peyton Manning got the building built, the Lucas Oil in Indianapolis. That's going to be the house that Aaron Rogers built. I think there's a chance that perhaps that happens. It's a slim chance, but you never know in those circles. That's the first thing. I would not go after Derek Carr. Derek Carr doesn't do much for me. Me neither.

I think Derek Carr is like a Kirk Cousin. He's a very good quarterback, but he's really never won anything in particular. And I just think he's a second-tier guy. So, having said that, I would either look at the options of perhaps getting Justin Field, if you want to go that round, or I would see what's left at 16, which there won't be anything. I would get Sam Howell a chance and see what he's got. You've got to see what he's got. Well, you got to Sam Howe there at the end. Are you just getting to Sam Hal as if all else fails, you know, he's intriguing enough. Let's just roll with him and see what happens.

No, I think if they think he's good, and I think they do think he's good, then I think you have to give him a chance. you happen to have an opportunity to get somebody like Aaron Rogers, then sorry, Sam, you're not going to get your chance or it's going to be another two or three years, because we're going to have to try to get number 12 in Burgundy and gold. I do think that that is an option that they have to explore as slim a chance as there is. But yeah, I'm okay with Sam Hal getting a chance. I think that he has some limitations.

Clearly, his size isn't exactly what he'd want, and, you know, let's wait and see what he does. But I think, you know, it's worth a chance. I just think that the roster is good enough if they get adequate quarterback play to above-average quarterback play. I think they have double-digit wins. That roster is pretty darn good. A friend of mine over the weekend said, I've agreed with your take on the roster recently, but you keep missing a big point, which is everybody else in the division is still better and has a better roster.

And in recent years, we've said, if we could just improve enough, the division is there for the taking. That's true. Like, Philly clearly has not only the best roster in the division, they may have the best roster in the NFL. Dallas has a really good roster. The Giants have a roster that was better than we thought

and has a real chance in the offseason to improve. And I think Brian Dable is going to attract people. I think he's the real deal there. They've got to get Daniel Jones re-signed, which I think they will do. But it's all of the sudden, and I know we can't predict year to year, at least that's always been my feeling, and I know yours as well, you know, on paper, the division's really tough all of the sudden. Oh, the NFC East is certainly back.

I mean, the worst team in the division went 500. The command is went 8 and 1. Yeah. So you're talking about a really strong division. Now, it's also the same division that hasn't produced a back-to-back division winner. It's a decade and a half, right? Eagles in 0405, I think, yeah. Okay, so that's 17, 18 years ago.

I think that, you know, it is not out of the realm of possibility that Philly takes just a hair of a step back and isn't as great as they were after they have to sign German Hertz. to a big deal. They're going to lose two, three, maybe four players. That's the first. Now, they do have two number one picks, but they'll be rookies. And I also think the Giants, you know, they had a lot of fortunate things happen for the Giants to get to where they got to this year.

And I'm not necessarily sold on the Giants. I think Dave was a very good coach. I think I deserve coach the year. But I'm not, you know, overly enthusiastic about Daniel Jones and the New York Giants right now. And I think the Cowboys, you never know with the Cowboys. but it wouldn't shock me at all if somebody else other than Philly won the division next year. By the way, the last time was the Eagles in 2003, 2004, and that was a run of four straight division titles with Andy Reed as the coach,

and five division titles in six years. That was the last time we had a – that's really amazing when you think about it because there's been so many runs for all of the other divisions with some dominance by one team in the division. All right, let's shift subjects. We saw last night coming. I don't want to break our arms, patting ourselves on the back, but this is gambling 101. When you have a win like Maryland had on Thursday night

with the intensity, with the environment, and then you go on the road against a team that you're supposed to be, although Nebraska had been playing well, and that factored into our belief that last night was dangerous. I said to Kevin Willard on the radio show, I had him on Friday. I said, you do know that Sunday is a trap game. And he just laughed.

He said, I think every game's a trap game because every opponent we have to take seriously in this league. It's a brutal league. But, you know, it is amazing, right? I mean, we both saw the points spread at five, five and a half. It dropped to four and a half by game time, four in some spots as, you know, better than what we thought it was going to be, which was like minus two. What pissed me off mostly about last night is I thought that it was going to be a problem game for them. And yet, once again, they defended their ass off, they rebounded, they competed, and they had, you know, they had an eight-point lead in the second half. They came back from nine-point leads and took the lead and they seemingly were in control at times and yet they let it get away.

that was what was frustrating for me last night. I've got more on this game because I haven't talked about it and I'll do it with you, but what were your impressions? 100% agree. It was a trap game. Didn't love the number. Didn't love the number going down in Nebraska. Knew where the short money was going to be in that game.

That's betting 101. As far as the game goes, you know, look, they got off to another slow start, another slow start on the road. Those are very difficult to come back from. but they came back twice. All right? They came back from it twice. And all of a sudden, at halftime, we're down seven.

Like, wait a second. We're just winning the game. And all of a sudden we're down seven. And now we're in a hole in the second half and going to crazy 17 to two run. And the game is in hand up eight, up seven late, up five of the minute 40. Yeah. Should have won that game in regulation. And then in overtime, went down early.

And then at a three-point lead. And a team hall. And Akeem Hart, you know, decided to be Keith Gatlin, you know, with that inbound pass. And, you know, you can't. Real quickly, real quickly, who caught it and dunked it on the other end for Georgia Tech? I don't want to know. I don't care. Dwayne Farrell.

I know that play. Dwayne Farrell. If you're a Maryland fan, you know that play very, very well. But I look, I'm not putting, I'm not pitting the loss on a key part. I'm not paying the loss on anybody in particular. And we all knew it was a track. You're coming off of a massive monster win where Expendity is exploding, and all of a sudden you've got to go on the road to, by the way, a place that's always packed.

Always packed. That has a very good coach in Fred Hoyberg. They have undersized guys. Maryland should have won that game. Everybody knows that, especially with the lead twice. Late, they were up, eight, seven, and five, and then in overtime, up three. You can't lose that game. That's a tough game.

seating-wise. I actually went to look at the schedule for the rest of the season, you know, after that. You win that game. You're going to play Minnesota this week at home. That Minnesota is terrible. Northwestern's very good, but it's a home game at Xfinity. And, you know, then you're going to Penn, Ohio State's really at Ohio State, and then you're going to Penn State, which, you know, Maryland to be able to handle Penn State. That won't be easy. I know, yeah. It won't be easy. None of them are easy. I agree with Kevin Will. love Kevin Willard. He's become a friend, and I think he's a terrific fit. And by the way,

enough with the turgeon bashing. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. In the top five. Jesus. You want a lot of games other than Tainer and Izzo. Enough. Enough. Just be happy that Willard's the coach. He's a great coach. They're doing well. I can't stand these people that make it about turgeon with just making shit up about him. But your point, your point is, He didn't win in March and he also won. That's right.

Exactly. The mic drop is, didn't win enough in March. Thank you. That's all we need. Maybe you didn't like him stylistically. That's fine too. To say that he wasn't a good coach and that he didn't win and somehow we were Louisville of this year is just ridiculous. But your points are good one.

If they had pulled off last night, they were headed towards perhaps a second place finish in the Big Ten. now, you know, they've got a bit of a fight to finish in the top four, but the schedule is favorable. You know, I see definitely a chance for them to win three of their final four to end up 12 and six in the – 12 and 8 in the league, which would be a hell of a season, considering they were picked 10th. Yeah, I totally agree. Can we talk about Dante Scott for just a quick moment? I like Dante Scott. I like him as – I think he – without –

him, they're not nearly the rebounding team that they've been. I think Dante actually, of all the strokes in terms of the shooting form, I always feel like Dante's got a really good stroke, but my God, do the numbers not back that up at all? Dante Scott is having a horrific season shooting the basketball. He was two for 16 last night. If you want to look at one reason for their loss last night. And there wasn't just one, but if you were to single in on one, it would be Dante Scott, two for 16 from the floor, one for eight from behind the arc. That means eight of his shots weren't threes, and most of those were right at the rim. I mean, Maryland missed so many shots last night, right at the rim.

I think right now he's the target of a lot of the ire in the fan base, but I don't think you can move away from him. you don't have anything to replace him. He's still one of your best rebounders, and I think he's still capable of going off on some nights. But, man, has it been brutal recently with his shooting? Yeah, it's been wrong. Two for 16, and it was an overtime game.

I mean, if he has any type of regular game, Maryland wins the game by maybe double-digit- Yeah, he just has a bad shooting night, right. Right. It's very similar to the Michigan state loss in East Lansing a little while ago. three for 22 from three, and it was a one-possession game with less than a minute left. I mean, if you have a normal shooting outing, then you're going to win both of those games. The thing about Dante, it's kind of frustrating sometimes to watch Julian Reese, you know, at times.

It's the same thing with Dante. I know it's in there. Al Carey is also really been disappointed shooting. You know he can shoot the ball, but it's a situation with him. And with Dante, it's the same thing. You know he's got it in him. He just needs to see the – it's almost like you need to see the ball go through the hole and kind of free you up a little bit.

It's almost like if his first shot goes in, kind of like when Rory McElroy makes – Well, he made his first shot last night. He was going to play down. I know he did. He made that step back three, and I thought, oh, this is going to be good. Right. And it's just, yeah, he really did not look good last night. But you have to have him.

He's an excellent rebounder. He's one of the leaders of the team. Look, they're going to go as far as Reef, Young, and Scott allow them. The other guys are nice pieces. I know Keem Hart's starting to shoot the ball a little bit better. Love him. Every time he throws that ball up, though, that – I love him. But that stroke may – it's like watching Jamal Wilk.

Yeah, it's not pretty. Oh, my gosh. It's weird. It's not pretty, but I love him. And I think that Scott, you know, if he can just find a little bit of form, just a little bit of his natural form. I'm with you. I think Scott is a must piece, but right now, especially last night, he hurt them last night.

He is not the reason they lost, but he did hurt him last night. Man, I thought if they pulled it off, I was going to be in here just saying, wow, Kevin Willard pulled off. This was the ultimate game in which they really, if you, you know, view it the way we do, this was a game you were kind of almost supposed to lose, and you got through it. And by the way, he played players like Jihari Long played significant minutes. He had I cornish in there. He understood the exhaustion from the other night.

Some of it was, you know, some foul trouble. Boy, Kerry, if he misses his first shot or two, he's on the bench. And I actually think he, I actually think he defends pretty well. But they've got, you know, this is going to be fun down the stretch. Last night's a bit of a letdown. But I'd trade last night for Thursday night in a heartbeat, you know, because Thursday night was truly special. No question.

Yeah. 100%. The thing about someone once told me this, really good teams lose games. There's no question. But really good teams also,

they sneak out of Lincoln with that victory. You got to sneak out of there with a victory. It was a loss going in. We both knew that. We all knew that. But then the way the game played out,

we're up eight, seven, five late, up three in overtime, have a chance with the ball, down one before the unfortunate in-bounds pass. You got to sneak out of there with a win because, as I was talking to what it, we have my oldest son is graduating in May from Maryland to die-hard.

Our youngest son, Eric, is going to Maryland in August as a freshman. And we're watching the game last night, and we're looking at the seedings. Remember, we live near Orlando, Florida, and Orlando was a first-round site. So we were thinking, wow, Maryland might have a chance to come here, so we're looking at the seedings and looking at the number. Last time, Maryland, last time Orlando hosted a first round. and second round, or Maryland played in it. Turchin came down here.

We lost his savior, but at least we had Maryland in town, which was fantastic to be able to go to that Thursday game. So anyway, so we're looking at the seating last night, and you know, I'm like, Eric, if we win this game, looking at the schedule, we win three

of the next four, which we should, could run the table, but should win three of the four, you're looking at a three or four seed if they win a game or doing a Big Ten tournament. Now I think, it looks like a six seat. Now, that's not a huge deal between three and six because you're playing each other anyway. But it would have been a really nice momentum win. Yeah. A really plus you would have been ranked. You would have been ranked today too. Yeah, it would have gotten

ranked. It would have sneaked out with a win. It would have been a really good one. But again, it's not a killer loss. It just sucks that we lost. Right. By the way, Georgetown won at Butler. That was the game on before Maryland yesterday on FS1. And it was their first road win in two seasons. 22 games in a road they lost on the road. I can't believe what's happened to that program. All right. Two things.

One thing really quick, one thing really quick, growing up a year, we're around the same age. You know, you grow up as a Maryland fan, you naturally hated Georgetown, but, man, you respected the way they played. You respected Coach Thompson. and then the two of us, you more so to me. As an adult, you got to know John Thompson, grew to love the man as opposed to hating him when he wouldn't play lefty, all that kind of nonsense. But to me, as a D.C. sports fan,

it's more fun when Georgetown's good. It's a shame what's happened to that program. That program is on life support right now, and it's not good for college basketball in the area. It's much better when Maryland's as good as they are, as Maryland as Maryland is, it's better when Georgetown is all so good. It's a shame what's happened to that program. I'm hearing Chris Collins as a possibility from Northwestern to Georgetown. I don't know. I mean, I guess it would be easier in the Big East than it is in the big

tent at Northwestern if you built it up at Georgetown. But I don't know. All right. I don't know. Real quickly. I think, I think Turgent would be perfect for that job. Turgent would be great for that job. All right, two things real quickly to finish up. Number one, are the caps going to make the playoffs? Oh, man. You know, you can't stand the fact that Alexander Ovechkin lost his father, how close they were. Anybody who's ever lost a parent can understand that. The timing of him leaving right now is so unfortunate on a hockey sense, but on a life sense, it doesn't matter.

But in a hockey sense, it's a killer. I think Ovechkin's going to come back, and he's going to come back with a vengeance, and the team's going to pick it up. But right now they're in a massive low, and it's going to be a real dog fight to get into the playoffs. They're behind the eight ball right now. But I do think they can get out of it once Ovechkin comes back after he deals with that terrible family matter back home in Russia. Before we get to Tiger, just talk about John Rom and the run he's on after winning the Genesis yesterday. You know, you mentioned Tiger, and there are very few people who have won as prolific.

as John Rom has been winning lately, other than Tiger, you know, in the last three decades in this sport. It's really, really hard to win in any sport. Everybody knows that. But in golf, you just don't rip off a win on Maui, take a week off, and then win in your second start in a row at the American Express, and then win again so quickly on the West Coast. Ed Riviera, he's back to number one. He's the best player in the world. He has the distance. He has the feel. He can put. He can chip and pitch. What he's done recently, this is not some of it. There's a big difference in sports, Kevin, as you know.

And we talk about this all the time. There's a big difference in sports between getting hot and being great. He's hot. There's no question. But he is great. And he is on his way to looking like he's becoming all-time great. He is winning at a ridiculous pace. And he is right now, I think, by far,

the best player on the planet, and has reached that status in this sport, Kevin, which is rarefied air. When he gets on a leaderboard, the other guys know it, and they can feel it, and not a lot of guys in the last few decades can say that. As great as all these players are, when someone reaches to this level, they know their surroundings when they see them on the first page of a leaderboard. It's almost as if everybody on the weekend knew that John Rom was going to win, just because he was up there. Even though Homer's so comfortable on that golf course,

Patrick Cantley's a FedEx Cup champion. You're great players all around. But John Rahm, man, he is absolutely fabulous. All right. Tiger Woods had the best round he's had since 2020. On Saturday, he shot 67. It could have been better. And had a really good weekend.

I think much better than most people thought he would have. A, talk about the weekend that he had. And, B, what's next? Is he going to play Bay Hill or not? I don't know if he's going to play Bay Hill. I feel like Liv Golf has energized some of these guys. It's energized Rory McElroy. I think it's motivated and energized Tiger Woods as well.

And I think that he came back last week because he wants to play before the Masters. It's his own tournament where the money and the proceeds go towards the TGR Foundation, his foundation that he founded with his father in the mid-90s. I think that he ran out of gas, Kevin. I think four days in a row was a lot to ask from him or for him right now. And you saw that yesterday. He had five bogeys. I think he needs to play one more time before Augusta,

because I just don't think you can go into these majors. Rusty, and I think he'll – I don't think he'll play Bay Hill. I don't know why I think that. Will he play the players? That's what I was getting at. I think with him carrying the PGA Tour flag in all this stuff that's gone on back and forth with Live Golf in the last 12 months, Tiger's been very outspoken like Rory has, and Tiger still owns the game is still the man, and I think it would make a statement if he went to the PGA Tour's

flagship event, which he's won twice, flagship event at the players, and that's where he knocked a little bit more of the rust off before preparing for Augusta. I feel like he's going to play the players before he plays Bay Hill, even though Bay Hill is next week. It's the week before the player's championship. But I think he's going to skip that, and I think he's going to play the players. But I have no intel on that. That's just a pure guess just based on, you know, how he has spoken and what he looks like. And I think four days are a lot to ask right now. Can he put himself in contention? Maybe. Can he win? I don't think so right now. I think he needs to knock some more of that rust off, and we need to be able to see him go 72 old.

over four days and not lose a little bit of that juice or stamina that he brought to the first three days of the event at Riviera. But it was great to see him out there, Kevin. It was great to see him competing. The ratings are going to be monster. Oh, my God. The crowd was going crazy. The ESPN Plus ratings are good.

It's still good. The ESPN plus ratings for, you know, that follow his rounds are going to be off the charts. What's your next event? When can we watch you and listen to you, call an event next. Well, nobody cares about that, but I start nine in a row this week at the Honda Classic. I'm doing nine in a row from here all the way through the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. I'm sure we'll catch up again on texting every day, but on the phone, we'll catch up at Augusta.

But starting this week, the Honda Classic, Bay Hill, the players, Valspar, the matchplay, Valero, Augusta, Hilton Head, and Zurich, of New Orleans. you'll get plenty of me over the course of the next time. You'll be bored to tears. That Honda Classic's not easy. That's a tough, that's a tough track. Oh my gosh, it's hard. It's hard. Really hard.

All right. Thanks for doing this as always. I appreciate it. My pleasure, Kevin. Any time. Keep up the great work. Love listening to you. That's it for the day back tomorrow with Tommy.

Everything answered, every question that you know. need a dress or anything that you need done in the weight room or training room, just to make sure that you're giving yourself the best opportunity to be at your best on game day. So I think more than anything, our guys really understand the importance of just being accountable to one another.