The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 608 - Kliff Kingsbury, Peter Schrager, Brandon Staley, & AJ Hawk

Episode Date: March 3, 2022

Today's show is loaded with in person guests. First, joining Pat and AJ Hawk is the Head Coach of the Arizona Cardinals, the coolest looking dude on the planet, Kliff Kingsbury, in studio for the first time with Peter Schrager. They chat about this season with the Cardinals, if they're going to pay Kyler Murray, why he isn't on a yacht with Sean McVay, what he looks to gain from the combine this week, the differences he's noticed between coaching in the league and in college, and much more (0:00-31:42). Next, the Head Coach of the Los Angeles Chargers and friend of the progrum, Brandon Staley joins the show in studio to chat about the way last season ended for the Chargers, why he goes for it on 4th down so often, the progression of Justin Herbert, building an identity as a team in LA, and what he learned as a coach this past year (31:42-1:03:19). Make sure you subscribe to youtube.com/thepatmcafeeshow to watch the show and listen on Sirius XM Channel 82, Mad Dog Radio. We appreciate the hell out of all you. See you tomorrow, cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, beautiful people. It is Vince McMahon will be live in his studio Thursday, March 3rd, 2022. This sports show begins right now. Can't thank you enough for joining us here. This is a big time show. And obviously, you know, Vincent Kennedy McMahon, the chairman of the WWE, will be live in Indianapolis in this studio for the first time in 15 years. You will have a live interview held by us fucking Stooges.

Speaking of the Stooges, the Toxic Table at Ty Schmidt at Boston Corner. Tone Diggs is here. One half of the Hammer Down Cowboys. Hammer Down is a show that goes live 15 minutes after this show ends every single day. Giving out gambling picks all year round uh joining us in an attic in ohio a super bowl champion a covet survivor a college football national champion a rider cup champion ladies and gentlemen aj hawks here aj what's going on big handsome i see you got your steve job shit back how you doing pal

yep just trying to match you man i hear we have a couple special guests in studio today. Let's get right to it. Thanks for giving it away, ladies and gentlemen. Live in studio to start the show. One is Emmy-nominated. The other might be the coolest human I've ever seen in real life. Ladies and gentlemen, Pete Schrager and the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, Cliff Kingsbury. Gentlemen, how you doing? Doing good. Appreciate y'all having us. Hey, congrats on the deal, dude. Wow.

I just got rich, dude. Good for you. You deserve it. You absolutely deserve it. Let's dive right into it. Schrags, great to see you in person. I'm just going to hang. I'm going to watch this interview.

Let's go. No, no. Schrags, get some inside information. Yeah, yeah. Come on. I'm on going to hang. I'm going to watch this interview. Let's go. No, no. Shregs, get some inside information. I'm on with you guys all the time. And to actually be here in the funhouse. This is really cool for me. This is neat. Appreciate it. Funhouse? This is a funhouse. It is. Funhouse. We call it

the Thunderdome. Well, you're currently in the Thunderdome, you know, because all eyes are on you. Obviously, AJ's on the screen right there. He will definitely have questions. Let's go right into it. Cliff, congrats on the new deal. Because there was anonymous sources out there that I had heard from and everybody else had heard from that after the season ended, not how you want it, not how anybody want it,

there's only one Super Bowl champion, that there was a big explosion that happened afterwards between coach, GM, owner, and there was potentially maybe bonuses were being withheld and there was drama happening. Now you just re-upped alongside Steve Kime. Life must be good in Arizona for Cliff Kingsbury. Yeah, it's getting there. It's getting there.

It was a tough ending, there's no doubt. But a lot of that stuff you read, I mean, there is a WWE element to it, right? There's some drama, there's some stuff that we'll read and be like, that's absolutely incorrect. So we were upset, but patched it out. Everything's good. Excited about next year.

Do you think you're the coolest looking dude of all time? Because this is kind of our big take on you. Because every game, you look awesome. I mean, every single game. Look good, play good. Play good. You felt that too. Play good, pay good. Thank you.

Pay good, live good. Live good, die good. That's all we're trying to do. Shout out to Deion Sanders. Shout out to you. But seeing you walk in person here, you're from Texas. I learned that from a small town in between San Antonio and Austin. Obviously, you just got a new deal with Arizona. Whenever you were assigned to be the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, it was like, oh, this dude was offense coordinator

for USC, I think for a month and a half, just out of Texas Tech. A lot got thrown on your plate. I said, were you ready for it? Were you excited for it? And what have you learned through the time when you were first the head coach till now? Yeah, I don. And were you ready for it? Were you excited for it? And what have you learned through the time when you were first a head coach till now? Yeah, I don't think anybody's ready for it until you're in that seat. You know, I had been in college, but it's such a different beast than the college game. And I think the biggest thing for me is just consistency day in, day out. That's what guys want. These guys are superstars.

They got all this stuff going on. Millionaires dealing with money, families. You know, they have a bunch of issues they're dealing with so they need their coach to be consistent have a plan get them straightened out and uh give them a chance to be successful didn't they bury you because you were having cell phone breaks remember that yeah now it's like in vogue right it's in vogue you're a trailblazer i mean i like to think so no that was a real thing that happened everybody was like oh he's doing cell phone breaks this guy's out of college what does he even know well guys are on their phones in a

meeting so you were actually just designating a time hey if we get 15 20 minutes here you'll be able to do whatever you want that type of young head coaching mindset has kind of captivated i think a lot of owners now you are out here at the combine obviously uh mcveigh said i ain't fucking going he's on a yacht right now yeah Yeah. McVay's on a yacht. When you win the Super Bowl, you get that type of juice. Oh, yeah, yeah. He told us he's back watching film.

He can be much more productive than in Indy, and then we see him on the yacht. I mean, that's... Shanahan, though, he also did not come. Now, these are all people in your division. And then Bob Sala also didn't come from the Jets. And a lot of people were like, Rams just won the Super Bowl. Niners, they don't have any picks, I think.

But Bob Sala, he's not coming. They have four picks in the first 35 picks or whatever. What's that all about? Do you think as a coach, like the combine is more so a general manager scouting atmosphere environment? And why are you here if all your friends are not here, you think? Yeah, we have some say in the process, I think, at Arizona. I'm not sure how it's set up at most places, but it's good for me to get around and see the kids in person,

look them eye to eye, do the interview process. But I get the X's and O's part from a coaching perspective. You can be a lot more productive in the office when you're talking about your current team and trying to get better schematically. Yeah, but you love coming to Indy, huh? Love it. Absolutely.

I like this place. Yeah. I'll say that. Go ahead, AJ. Cliff, you mentioned there's a WWE element to some of the things that float around your guys' program. How do you know what to address and what to just let go? Some things you're going to have to shoot down.

Some things you're like, all right, whatever, man. That's so crazy. I'm not even going to mention it like how do you guys decide yeah that's a great point i i pretty much let most of it go i think if you if you address it sometimes you give it wings it almost looks like you're denying or worried about it um so we haven't had too much that that has gotten out of control but um when you see things like after the season like you're about to get fired had some huge you know blow up with the owner and it's just completely false you're like i don't know where they got that from but i didn't know you were gonna get fired was that something that was happening yeah i think that

was kind of how it was insinuating what did stragg report that yeah i just wanted to come and hang out with me so i'm like yes he's done he's gone hey for that type of money they're paying i'm ready we'll talk after this they didn't pay me that much in arizona i can assure you yeah i mean you go get away a couple wids there 20 million will always be there that's a new standard shout out to mcveigh by the way and troy and tony you know for all of us when we retire from what we're currently doing that's great news for everyone uh shregs whenever you're you know as tight as you are with cliff and all these other people and you're on tv every morning. How do you not just get yourself into shit every single time? It's tough.

I think I walk the line pretty well, and a lot of times Cliff won't tell me the football stuff, and it's by design to not put me in that position. And I also feel like with Sean and with some of these other coaches that I've publicly done things with media-wise, a part of it is trust that I'm never going to put you in a tough spot, you're never going to put me in a tough spot. But when there are things that are wrong, I like to address that.

Oftentimes, it's from not only his side, but I'll talk to the ownership side too. It's navigating a lot of different waters, but at the end of the day, these are real friendships that I have with these guys, and I'm never going to ruin that for a scoop or for something that I think is going to advance my own career. Good guy. Peter. That's a guy.

You guys have a handshake? No handshake? No. I thought there was going to be like a quarter of a handshake right there. Compton the one. No, but we think about this. Whenever you break something or have an information, we're like, okay, he's tight with, insert name of whoever your crew, this crew you're tight with.

Whenever Rossini breaks something, we're like, okay, she's dialed in at these places. So you kind of have to take like every single piece of information from whoever it is who do they know how do they know the entire thing ian rapaport told us though that it's not friends or sources so i think that is why he didn't walk in here with anybody at all it makes sense he's also boozed up all the time that guy's drunk he gets it in he's the man he's uh he's a colleague and i take a lot of uh i go to bed at like eight o'clock out here, and I saw Ian texting me. He's like, I'm so impressed that you're up at this hour.

I'm like, Ian gets it in, and he also gets a lot of information from doing it, but he's always ready to go when the lights come on. Yeah, it's good networking for Ian, and his liver pays quite a toll. Yeah. But, I mean, every job has its downfall or whatever. Speaking of downfall,fall drama you talk about it you guys gonna pay kyler murray 100 million dollars a year what's going on that whole thing is very interesting right is that you and steve the way you guys answered it was hey business is

going to be business that was a different form of business that the nfl hasn't seen especially with a guy who's like kyler who's as talented as kyler but that has to be something you have to balance i assume because you guys got the same agent he's your quarterback you're the play caller how is the relationship and what do you see it like going forward? Yeah, the relationship is great. And Steve and I literally banked our careers on him. When you take a guy number one and trade away a top ten pick from the year before that's never been done, I mean, you're all in.

And everybody understands that. And the business is the business, and we're just working through it right now. What do you think happened when DeHop got hurt? Because that guy's a fucking – Yeah, that dude, animal. He plays hard too, right? Yeah, yeah. That's the thing.

He is one of the most competitive humans I've ever been around, and he wants the ball every single play, and he's open every single play, just so you know. But when he went out, I think it just changes the way people play you. I probably should have done a better job adjusting the offense, but he is a weapon. Whether it's inside it's inside outside man he's a difference maker do you think uh play calling you've gotten better managing you've gotten better do you think every all aspects of coaching gotten better and what do you think you still need to kind of dial it in because you are still young in this game yeah i'd say all of it um you know you try and

get better every day but it the nfl game is drastically different just the schematics of it the size of the field, all these things. I'm still – Oh, size of field, hash marks. Yeah, hash marks, the way you can do things. And the tempo. Guys, you can get them going pretty fast, but the pros don't want to go as fast as college kids.

We're adults, dude. We're adults. Like 12-year pros trying to get them to line up in the ball. But, no, I think the biggest thing is just continuing to figure out how you can maximize each team each year. You know, you've got to just practice plans. You've got to do different things. How do you motivate them differently?

And each group is vastly different. Great accent. I mean, that's great. I mean, it is. So jealous. It used to be super heavy, super Texan. Did you have to get rid of that? No, I think it's just living everywhere.

What is super Texan? She's way down there. I mean, like, super country. I learned outside your dad's a Marine. Is he a Texan Marine? He is. Oh, my God. Double whammy.

Hardcore individual. That guy eats leather. He is ready to just battle it all day. Go ahead, AJ. Speaking of your dad, does he call and text you after games and try to give you some inside info or let you know what you did wrong? Yeah, he used to. When I first got the head coaching job at Texas Tech

and then that kind of blew up after a couple tough losses, I'm like, all right, we're good on that. It's all supportive. It's all, hey, hang in there, doing great, all those things. Love you. So he's my biggest fan. Great person. You get lonely at the top, right?

I feel like that coaching position does get a bit lonely because even if you hire people that you're friends with as assistant coaches, you're the one that's going to have to eat all of that. Is that something that your circle, the people you keep around you, you find very important? And obviously Schrags is probably one of those. But who do you lean on whenever shit's not going as well? Because there was a time, what, two years ago, you guys had flash. I'm counting the season just as it was last year.

Two years ago, there was flashes of that team being, okay, awesome. Inconsistency happened. Then this upcoming, it was last last year you bring in jj you bring in aj it sounds like everybody's going all in you guys are getting hot you're going then you guys hit a little bit of a rough patch there who do you lean on is it just you and yourself and your your dry erase board or how's that whole thing go on yeah i mean my dad um you know he's there for me more than anybody um and it's hard to share some of those you know insecurities you may have with

other coaches right you don't want to show weakness and so that that's tough guys that are actually in the the chair but my dad's always been kind of my biggest fan and um my biggest kind of support group hey that gets whenever the sky is fall everybody knows the nfl is week to week there's no doubt man no you i assume you experience a backup quarterback to this now like week to week you are either on the hot seat or you're the greatest coach of all time. There's no doubt. That's real. How do you avoid all that?

I think you just trust the process. You know, you just dive into the process. You work as hard as you can, and you don't come up and read all of it or look all of it. You just be consistent in what you do day in, day out. What's up with Schrag saying you should be fired after this? Yeah, what the hell is that about? Journalism, just, you know.

and you should be fired after this. Yeah, what the hell is that about? Journalism, just, you know. Cliff, I feel like one of the most unfair things that people bring up about you is that you had Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech, and then he obviously goes and does whatever with the Chiefs. But do you think he was the same guy then as he is now, or has he actually matured a bunch? Because I feel like any time you guys are struggling, there's some bullshit.

It's like, well, you know, this guy couldn't win with Patrick Mahomes. So how is he going to win now? Yeah, that's a great question. Patrick, just watching him year in, year out from when we got him at Texas Tech to where he is now, the leadership, the work, the preparation is unbelievable how it's developed. And that's the biggest thing I see. You watch those guys on his team and they die for him.

You know, the way they pick him up, if he's ever on the ground, the way they play for him. But, you know, when he was our quarterback, we did average about 45 points a game. We were still doing our thing. Don't get it twisted. But, yeah, he's fantastic, man. I'm, you know, every time I get a chance to watch them,

it's just you never know what you're going to see. Did you know he was that when you were recruiting him as a high school kid? Did you have an idea? Because I got to think that all the big schools, Texas, USC, all of them were probably after him, right? Yeah, they weren't. He was a big baseball player, and I think everybody thought he was going to go that direction.

Because his dad, right? Yeah, because his dad, and that's what everybody would say. He's going to play baseball. And he was real raw. He'd just get the ball and go out there and dominate. But it didn't look like maybe you'd want to look. It wasn't the tight three-step drops. You know, he'd drop it down and throw it here.

But I went to a game. When I knew, I was like, this is something special. I went to the game, and he had, I think, like six touchdowns in the first half. And I'm like, okay, we got to get a six-touch. And then, you know, after his junior year, this is great on me. After his junior year, they send the grades, and it comes back to like second or third round. I'm like, this is crazy. This is the best dynamic player I've ever seen, right?

second or third round. I'm like, this is crazy. This is the best dynamic player I've ever seen, right? So I fly down with our little entourage and have all these like spreadsheets and things to show him why he should come back to Texas Tech, right? And so like he entertained it. He entertained it, but I could tell the whole time, he's like, come on, coach.

And then he goes number 10 in the draft and is like the greatest player in the NFL, but I'm the one talking to him into coming back. So I look like the bad guy. I'm like, Patrick, I swear to God, they told me second or third round. And by the way, you've been an NFL quarterback before. You understand it. You actually talked there about something about Patrick Mahomes.

Whenever he's down, his teammates pick him up. Like that culture is such a big deal. We talked to Lovey Smith about it yesterday. I've talked to everybody about it because the combine, obviously, hey, this dude runs a four of this. He jumps this. He can do all this shit. That culture in the locker room, I dude runs a four this he jumps this he can do all this shit uh that culture in the locker room i think as a player you understand this but a lot of executives i don't think there was a time where nobody cared about that building a team is such a big deal you think that's why like jj was brought in like aj's brought in and how do you continue to

like kind of bring that entire locker room together you think yeah that that was the kind of thinking behind it we knew we had a really good young nucleus, but we needed to bring in Rodney Hudson at center, J.J. Watt, A.J. Green. I mean, guys in different position groups. Oh, yeah, that was at the Raiders, right? You guys traded that kid. I know he was cut, then he was traded. I remember that.

That's a whole other story we can't get into. But, yeah, bringing those guys in with some of the really young talent players we thought would be a good match, and it was. But the locker room was huge, man. If you got that and you got a group that can police that, you got a chance. Was JJ like just crazy? Is he just all the time working on that? It's literally like Captain America in the building.

It's like Mr. Incredible walks around, everybody straightens up when JJ's there. And I'm telling you, it was like a day after our playoff loss. He's in there crushing the weights. Like he's in the hot tub at 5.30 a.m. He stays till noon. It's insane. I mean, the drive is insane. Yeah, dude.

He had like a career ender. Then he came back to the playoffs. Nobody's ever done it. All the doctors are like, nobody's ever done this. What are you doing? But the shoulder like healed. I mean, they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Go ahead, AJ.

Cliff, when you're at the combine and you're talking to these guys in those little 15, 20-minute interviews, do you have a chance to tell, like, hey, would this guy fit in with the culture of our team in our locker room? Are you doing mini hoop basketball? I think we should. We should. See how they handle the pressure.

I think you get an initial impression of, you know, are they authentic? Are they kind of going by a script? I mean, obviously you get a little bit of knowledge of their X's and O's, but it's hard to tell in that short of a stint. So we try to bring the ones in on a 30 visit. You spend a few more days. What's a 30 visit? You have 30 guys that you can bring in pre-draft and spend the night,

go to dinner, things like that. And to me, in a comfortable setting like that is when you really get to kind of see who they are. Phoenix is awesome. So good. We love it. I love Phoenix. I'm telling you.

I put over Phoenix any time we get a chance to talk about the Cardinals. I go, and they're in the city. Yeah. Fifth largest in America and absolutely gorgeous. Did you know about Phoenix before you went there? And then when he got there, you're like, oh, shit. Oh, I'm in heaven and a desert. This is it.

I used to be a big fan of the Scottsdale W as a younger man. Still a fan, but just don't frequent it as much. But yeah, I would get to Scottsdale as much as possible. So when I had that opportunity, I mean, you know, there's only a few low cows in the NFL that are like prime living as well as the football. Indianapolis Phoenix. Yeah, no question. We'll throw India in there.

That drug lord ever come and ask for his house back yeah let's talk about the house i mean that's the coolest house of all time coolest dude of all time yeah i mean what a life yeah no problem you still living there yeah still living there how like what do you do i'm the man i have it pocket listed because the market's just gone insane so i'm like if somebody wants to pay me to move i'll move but they get they're gonna have to pay prime dollar. Oh, yeah? So prime dollar, yeah. Prices are going insane out there right now.

Well, before they get too crazy, I'd like to have a car. Because I have told you that I enjoy the hell out of laws. Wow. Look how fucking cool you look, Cliff. Yeah, look, there's like five phones I put out there. Like, I went super extra on the photo i was asking like our assistant give me your phone give me your phone then i i turn the fire on and it's like 4 p.m you can see and it's 100 degrees it's like

but i'm like all right we're gonna do this we're gonna do it right uh you look awesome uh the team has been great and obviously i learned through eric burkhardt's letter in which he spoke he spelled the word choose is wrong that you guys have game interesting another O in there

asked for a few hundred million dollars let's spell words right now granted he was in the middle of negotiating this guy's letter so he's a little bit busy but I did

learn through there you guys have won three more games each season basically what do you attribute that to why do you think you guys have

you know really taken a step because there's a lot of programs that hire a new coach get a new quarterback and they just go to the shits you know I guess ownership being all in bringing in more players has to help but what do you attribute it to like the growth in the team yeah I think you know when you get the first pick of the draft you know where you're starting and um you have a young quarterback and you just try and build it around him and make him as comfortable as possible and Kyler's gotten dramatically better each season and Steve's done a great job of bringing in pieces to really help him what made him better you know i think just the number of reps i think the game slowed down for him tremendously um watching him play and get through his progressions and find his

checkdowns understanding protections understanding the nfl defenses um the game's just really slowed down for him yeah he is electrifying. There was that one – what was that? That when I fall in love. He did that little stutter step in the open field with, I think, a safety. I don't think it was like a linebacker. He did a stutter step, and the guy didn't even touch him, and he did like this thing. I'm like, oh, there's only a few humans on earth that can do what he can do

right there. I assume it's tough for you whenever you have a human joystick at quarterback not to get insane. Is that something for you that you have a human joystick at quarterback not to get insane. Is that something for you that you have to remind yourself when you're calling plays? It is. It is. We know he's not the biggest guy, obviously.

It's not like Lamar that can take that pounding, you know, Josh Allen. So we pick our spots, and he does a great job of protecting himself. He's always been the smallest guy on the field, so there's been that self-preservation that he's learned when he's playing the game. Do you like the – Yeah, he's got some swag to him. He's got a whole market.

Face Clank! Face Clank! What's up, dude? You a part of Face Clank? You haven't been signed? I'm not. Fuck it. Clips a big game, dude.

I'm good. I support him, obviously, but yeah, I don't play games. Yeah, I made it. Whoa. Video games. Yeah, video games. Yeah, yeah. I'm good. I'm pretty good in other areas. That was one of the coolest things I've ever heard. I don't play games. Yeah, video games. I'm pretty good in other areas.

That was one of the coolest things I've ever heard there. I don't put it in. Yeah, Cliff, you were in New England as a player, and then you and Belichick had that exchange this year with the Coach of the Year thing. Do you and him talk often about coaching, and when you first got in, did you seek him out for advice or anything like that?

Not a ton, but he's always been great to me. I'll text him. I don't want to bother him. He's kind of like that dude that you're kind of nervous to text and bother. The evil empire. Yes, that guy. Not evil, but you get it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But he's kind. He's been great to me. I mean, anything I need, questions, any of that, he's been fantastic. And he's really like that with any of the young coaches. You know, they all have stories of how he's helped out. And what you see with the media on screen is a lot different than what we see. Ian, like, how do you not get intimidated by some of these coaches that have been around for so long,

especially when you're coming from Texas Tech to USC right in the – like, was there a time where you had to find yourself as what you were going to be as an NFL head coach? I'd assume that it was something that you had to figure out. It is, yeah. I think – and you're still kind of figuring it out, you know, just going into year four. You obviously show respect to all those coaches and the great things they've done. And at the end of the day, it's football and you do the best job you can.

Yeah, because everybody says whenever you become a head coach, you try to take from everybody that you were either under or a part of. But you're so fucking young. Like, you didn't get – the tree wasn't as long. But as a player, I assume, you took from a lot of guys. Is it like coaches that you played for that you try to replicate, or are you just kind of scooped from everybody? Yeah, played for. I tell everybody, you know, when I was going through and you're bouncing around teams,

you're like, why is this happening? I should be getting a break, you know, all that. But looking back, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It was like a PhD in football. I think I probably learned 10 different offenses from different places. Got around 10 different head coaches. How do they do different things? How do they operate? And the things you thought worked, you took.

And I've tried to kind of mesh those together. Are you still slinging or no? Yeah, I can still sling. Football, football, football. Well done. Well done. Well done. Two-parter. Not as much.

Two-parter, you're obviously busy, so do you shop for yourself because you look incredible all the way from head to toe? Great question. And then secondly, big news today was Kenny Pickett, eight-and-a-half-inch hands for hand size. Obviously, you guys aren't really looking for a quarterback in the first round, but does that matter to you guys at all when you're looking at quarterbacks? Yeah, I think there's something you have to look at.

I had smaller hands when I played. And you get up there in New England, one of those places, it's tough. But that kid's a great player. He played in Pittsburgh, so he's probably used to it. Yeah, I shop for myself. That's awesome. But I'll do some custom shit. You look super cool. I appreciate that. No, I hope you don't. custom shit I appreciate that I think you do too you

got a great look no thank you wow hey you too dude here we go dude I do look cool yeah uh Shranks Pellicero just said they're suspending all COVID-19 stuff basically uh so we beat COVID shout out to us what does that mean what Did it again. Shout out to Shregs. What does that mean? What does that mean? There's just nothing else going on? No, I think that, you know, the doctor who runs it all, this guy named Dr. Alan Stills, he's great, actually.

He told Fotch, hey, we'll do football. No, but we did find a way to work within the CDC guidelines and also push it forward. So, I mean, we're at the combine. We've been wearing masks a lot and when we're on air,

we can take them off. And you even saw I came in here. I don't know how that's receptive in India. I was wearing a mask. And I'm like, because we're just trying to do what's best and what's right. But we're going to follow the science. And the NFL was, when baseball and other sports were like, let's pack it in.

It's not going to happen. NFL was like, let's try and let's see. And here we are. Two seasons, no missed games. We figured it out. Hey, by the way, you can wear a mask anywhere you want to. You do whatever the hell you want. People are shaming us.

The Santas is around. Yeah, well, the Santas is going to. Yeah, take that fucking thing off, Stryker. We were talking about you being in here in Indy.

Cliff just wanted to be like, yo, he's a huge wrestling fan. So he was like, I just want to talk wrestling with Pat. I was like,

that's amazing too. Well, I do appreciate that. I'm a big wrestling fan as well, so it tells me a lot about you immediately. By the way,

I think you can find out a lot about somebody if you know they're a wrestling fan. How they view life probably. How they understand like, hey, some bad shit might happen.

And you just got to kind of move along and be entertained. Have you always been a lifelong WWE fan? Because in that seat, in an hour and 30 minutes. That's crazy. That's VKM. Yes. Right here, dude. I know.

He doesn't come out like that. Ever. Ever. I'm pretty impressed and surprised that it's even happening. Once again, I have no idea if he's walking in here punching me in the face or not. come out like that ever ever i'm pretty impressed and surprised that it's even happening once again i have no idea if he's walking in here punching me in the face or not and until he's boots in the building i still don't think it's actually happening but have you always been a wrestling fan i have yeah i have an older brother and we would grow up watching it um and i told you

earlier we didn't have that much money my parents were both teachers so the pay-per-view wasn't an option but saturday night main event was it was back then they would wrestle a great guy versus like Barry Harwood. Yeah. Right. Just throw them out the ring and press them and shit. And then Saturday night main event actually had good matches. So that was like a big night in our house. We get to stay up late.

I'm so pumped that you're a wrestling fan. You're the coolest looking dude of all time. And it seems like you just got broken off. Everything is going good in your life right now. What's the next couple of months look seems like you just got broken off everything is going good in your life right now what's the next couple months look like obviously you got combine and everything do you take any time off for yourself or is that time already passed yeah it already passed right after the season uh coaches get a couple weeks and then we're back in a free agency and then it'll be draft prep what you do just like walk around that house it's hard it's honestly

hard to leave scott so that time of year because it's so nice, man. You can hang out, golf, go to the pool, all that stuff, but I just got out of town for a little while. Are you a good golfer? I used to be, and then when I got in coaching, I just don't have time to be good. McVay's out there on yachts. Why aren't you doing it? Yeah, he won the Super Bowl.

That's how that shit goes. It just came to me there was a hit like a multiple hit does anyone fly around like Buddha does no no he is an absolute animal

he does it at practice too I mean he flies around terrified walkers and everything yeah I mean terrified he's just gonna blow up a scout team receiver

every day because he plays that hard his preparation the work ethic it's insane but yeah the way he plays the game it inspires all of us nobody wants to leave that team I's insane. But, yeah, the way he plays the game, it inspires all of us.

Nobody wants to leave that team, I feel like. With the way Arizona is, the way the city is, the way the team's set up, it feels like everybody wants to be there from what we've talked to. Aside, obviously, business has to get handled. But it feels like a lot of people want to be in Arizona. Yeah, I hope so. I think we have a great nucleus, great place to live, and we feel like we're going to continue to build that thing.

Go ahead, AJ. Quiff, how nice is it to not have to recruit players anymore? I tell everybody, and I'm not just making this up, I would do anything before I went back to that. Like, I would do any job. Yeah, I'm in here. The fun house. I'll be in the fun house of y'all.

But it's just full time now with the social media, and you're either tweeting, calling, FaceTiming, and there's like this constant anxiety because if you're not doing it, the university down the street is, you know, and it's just never goes away. So this part, when you're done with the football,

you're done. You go live your life college. It just never goes away. See, and I, AJ and I have talked a lot about this. Like if some 17 year old tells me he's not coming, I don't care.

It's not like I'm going to like, Hey, you're you. Who the fuck knows what you were going to end up being. I do not care if you're not coming i don't care you know it's not like i'm gonna like hey you're you who the fuck knows what you were gonna end up being i do not care if you're not coming but that kid you gotta absolutely lie and you gotta you gotta like baby face the every one of these kids right you're gonna act like they're gonna be the next nfl great that's it and now they're paying them so i can't even imagine that dynamic when i was coaching you didn't have this in a nil stuff and how come you didn't do this how How come you didn't ever do this?

Yeah. You know what I mean? Oh, yes. Look at it right here. It's right in front of you. All the five stars. Like I said, I would do anything. Shregs, what's the rest of the week look like?

Should we look forward to more news breaking as the week unfolds here? Absolutely. NFL news for sure. But tonight, starting at 4 p.m. Eastern, the combine really starts. It's the quarterbacks, the wide receivers, and the tight ends. And I'm honored enough and excited I'll be on the calls. Oh! Hey, dude, play my player color. I'll be doing a little bit of color, a little analyst stuff.

So it's going to be Eisen, Daniel Jeremiah, Chris Rose, Charles Davis, myself up there in the concourse. So I'm excited. I've been doing a lot of work. I've been peppering guys all around the league. Like, what do you think of this guy? What do you think of this guy? And to actually see these kids kind of go and chase their dreams. I know it sounds a little bit Pollyanna, but I love this shit.

The draft is so cool. It's a kid that no one was talking about a week ago. Pais Piano. Could be, yeah, sure. Polly Piano. Could be the guy. And I love the opportunity

for these kids right now. Just real quick. We're very pumped for you. Yeah. We think you're going to crush it. You said a word in there. Pollyanna. Let me explain.

Pollyanna is like, do-do-do-do-do. like like i'm so in the clouds everything's so lovely oh it's almost like euphoric babe in the woods if you will aj said naive he's trying to make it negative you know i don't go there no you're happy by the way i hear him that's great yeah he's in the cloud he's our head actually uh We can't thank you guys enough. You both got great work. Thank you for stopping by. You're an incredibly cool dude. I appreciate that. Congrats on the success. Hey, the NFC beast over there.

Good luck. Hey, I mean, that's a great first place to have your first head coaching gig, I guess. Oh, three out of the four teams are just going to go, and then the Super Bowl champion is going to be here. That is a tough – I mean, that has to be something you think about on a very regular basis. It'd be great to be in another division. This year, Rams

49ers, NFC championship game and both whiz kid genius head coaches and then we made the playoffs. Seattle, they have one of the great coaches of all time. So it's like week in, week out. It is a battle, but it makes you better. Do you follow the Russell news and stuff like that to see what you're potentially having to square off against two times a year? Or do you think it's all bullshit?

I think, I mean, the dude's phenomenal. So I think they'll do anything they can to keep him there. I mean, you never know what's behind door too. But you would be pumped if he is. I pray for it. Yeah, that guy is phenomenal. Yeah, he's very good at the football. Real quick, last question. I wasn't planning on asking this because I know you guys have to go and you have actual work to do. You said two whiz kid guys.

What is it about you young guys you think that is offensive, make you guys wizards? Is it because you're not stubborn? Is it because you're not stubborn? What do you think it is? Is it just growing up in the game? What do you think it is why you guys, Zach Taylor, I guess, is getting thrown in there as well, that young offensive crew. What makes you guys different, you think it is it just growing up in the game what do you think it is why you guys zach taylor i guess is getting thrown in there as well that like a young offensive crew why what makes you

guys different you think yeah just watching kyle and sean from afar um zach as well just they kind of take what they learn and they're always evolving and innovating and then more than anything maximizing the person i mean the stuff the cops did with um debo was unbelievable you know he turns into running into fucking chad williams yeah i mean all that stuff that they with Debo was unbelievable. How about him bringing the cousin to fucking Williams in motion? I mean, all that stuff. Week in, week out, just following their stuff. It's phenomenal. I just think that's it. They have open minds and they're not afraid to be innovative.

Well, I can't wait to watch what you do, man. And the fact that you think I'm the most fashionable person on earth. Pretty good. Sweet little day here to start this Thursday. We appreciate you both so much. an incredible combine week cliff honor to meet you shranks great to see you in person ladies and gentlemen we'll get to a break on the other side we'll be back without

cliff kingsbury and peter schreiber joining us right now friend of the program first time we meet face-to-face. I assume looking for somebody that's going to make their team better. Head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, Brandon Staley. Hey, you look cool, dude. I want to let you know, you look super cool. Thank you. Thanks for having me on the program.

Hey, you caught on to that quick. I caught on to that quick. I got that drift, and I'm going to play into that. Yeah, well, I appreciate that. Wait, we'll add some more in here. There will be some what's that are yelling, and there will be an entire situation. But you're smart.

You're super smart. You'll pick up on it. Thank you for coming in. It feels like, and we're just talking as we were walking in here, it feels like we were just talking before the season after you got hired, and then bang, now we're here. For us, we get to talk all day about everything going on. For you, you have to focus on the chargers and chargers football first year if you're to kind of phrase

it what would you think about what has just happened in the last 17 games of your life i think that i went by fast and i think that it was really impactful i know how much better i am you know when i compare last year to this year, just where my game is, uh, so much different space. Um, and I think that really proud of what we accomplished as a team. I think you go into a team and you have this vision for what you want to accomplish and like, Hey, big picture. Did you get that done in year one?

Like, did you, did you, did you make an impact on a team? And I think I was able to do that. Um, I think that, I think we were able to create a team, you know, a brand, to borrow a term of yours. And for the brand. You know, and I think that, you know, I just think our players, our coaches, the people within our team, our fans, I think we've built something. And that's really hard to do in pro sports is to establish something. And, you know, the players, you know, that was my big mission statement becoming the coach, is being everything I could be for them. And I feel like we came together and got off to a great start.

The year went by fast, but I think we accomplished a lot. Didn't go down the way I think that we had hoped, but that's part of the league. And that's what I told our guys. But I think the impression that we left on the league, the impression that we left on one another, is something that we can really build for this the impression that we left on one another, is something that we can really build for this offseason. I'm excited to do the work. That's awesome to hear, by the way. And every time we talk to you, every answer you give to us is like a –

it's like at the end, you know, like you literally are just naturally coach, like natural coach rhythms, which is why I think you have, you know, so quickly rose, raised, risen, risen, risen through the ranks. So now you're a head coach in the NFL. And whenever you think about life, right, experiences bring maturity and everything. So in your life and whatever business for you for coaching, it sounds like how you said, I feel like I'm much better now than I was a year ago. What experiences do you think got you to a point where you feel much more confident in the position you're in now than maybe whenever you were hired and had no idea potentially what was coming down the plate?

Yeah, I think the way I try to explain it to people is, you know, this past year, you're doing everything for the first time all the time. And, you know, and so now that you're going through a second go round, there's just so much more confidence that comes with that. There's an energy that comes with that. And I think by doing everything for the first time all the time, it really requires a lot of you, brings out the best in you. And I think everyone talks like as a player that jump from year one to year two.

People talk about that all the time with players, but I think with coaches it's that way too. And I feel like my own game, you know, how much better I am. And I think that, you know, every day since I got hired, just how much improvement you have to make to be as good as you can be for your players, for your staff, for your organization. That brought out the best in me. And I know how much, you know, better I'm going to be this season.

So let's talk about it. What's your deal, dude? What's your deal? Why don't you like field goal kickers, man? What is your deal? I could have anticipated this. You said earlier, you said, you know, brand, you know, for the brand. And you have become the brand of the stats and analytics people on the internet.

I don't know if you know this, but you are, hey, this guy's actually making statistically the right decisions. And we have obviously had to talk about it because you're not the only one there's a lot of this is a massive conversation piece right now the aggression the success the failures whenever it works genius when it doesn't work this what is this even happening here do you think about like whatever you're making decisions is it strictly like what everybody says like you're just looking at the numbers like hey we have a 67 chance to make this as opposed to a 80 chance to make the kick that's only a 13 difference what is the upside to this 67 and what's the upside of the is that the type of shit that's happening whenever you're making these decisions

we don't have that type of time to process so process like i tell the players all the time there's no pause during the game we have pause you know monday after the game hindsight we do that no pause we do a lot no rewind no fast forward so um i think that you go into the games with with some modeling you know taking into consideration hey who we have our players their stadium, all that, the matchup. You know, it's really about the matchup, right, in big picture. But I think for us, it's just maximizing scoring. And then, you know, hey, like what makes sense for us in this moment? And I think what I tried to tell our players was each of these decisions has a life of their own.

And you don't go into one and say, hey, because it went well, I'm playing with house money. This isn't Vegas. And just because it didn't go down doesn't mean that, hey, because it went well, I'm playing with house money. This isn't Vegas. And just because it didn't go down doesn't mean that, hey, all of a sudden I'm going to play safe. So you're not a stats guy at all? No. Like I try to tell people, I'm from the Bruce and Linda Staley coaching tree. Like I'm looking over to the other side. Hey, I know who we have.

I know what's over there. And I also know how we want to play. Man, that is awesome. So you literally are like, yeah, I think my guys are better than your guys. We got to get six yards. Nah, all right, let's go for it. That is literally what it's coming from.

It's not like you're the super... There's just, hey, you go in with some modeling, you know, that's going to tell you, that's going to give you like a, hey, you know, kind of a model of, hey, is this good to go or not? Hey, that's a factor in it.

But it's also, hey, my matchups versus your matchups. And then the response, hey, if it doesn't go down, am I living with that? Because you're making decisions for the whole team, not just your offense. It's not just for Justin Herbert. It's for our whole team. And that's what I try to tell the guys. And I think that if you talk to our players, we're very transparent about how we do things and taking full ownership. When it doesn't go down, hey, guys, this is what I was thinking and this is why I made the decision that I was making and then that way you can live with it one way or the other and and I think but what I wanted to do um was show our players the

belief that I have in them and then put the pressure on the other side um to create more opportunities for us and it's not like every one of these things is going to go down I just think this year based on who we had um and all three phases you know this is the way that we felt like was best for us to play um but i do know this putting the ball in justin herbert's hands is a really good strategy whether we run it or we throw it um but i think it has so much more to do than just with him and keenan mike austin all these guys you know know X, a great friend of the program, but you know, it's all about, it's about Derwin James, Joey Bosa, our, our defense too, the confidence that I have in them as well. So, you know, it's, it's the way that I believe in, you know, playing. And I think that we're going to get better at,

as we go. Justin Herbert and Josh Allen, right? Very similar. Is that in, do you, do you look at what they're doing with Josh and add more to your playbook? Or do you look around the league to add anything to it? Because you're from the Bruce and Linda Staley coaching tree. Who do you find? Yeah, I did. It's the truth. Shout out to Bruce, by the way, and Linda.

Hey, shout out to the Staley's. Hey, shout out to Staley's. Shout out to Staley's. They've got a coaching tree in the NFL. I know it's right. Nobody does.aley's. They've got a coaching tree in the NFL. I don't know. Nobody does. They do. Who do you look at?

Do you look at other plays? How do you innovate? How do you continue to grow? Well, I think he's one of one. Yeah, he's one of one. But you're definitely looking around the league. And I think being with him a full season, you have a much stronger sense of how he operates

and then how our skill players operate. Great on fourth down, by the way, Herbert. And then, you know, like our line, you season, you have a much stronger sense of how he operates and then how our skill players. Great on fourth down, by the way, Herbert. And then, you know, like our line,

you know, you on board, you know, everyone talks about Justin and they should, and we'll talk a lot about him, but like Corey Linsley, you know, Odey Abushi,

Matt Filer, Rashawn Slater, like all these guys that are giving him the ops to be who he is. You're, you have a team on offense, you know? And so what we're trying to do is create that identity that features Justin's play style for sure. But then, you know, and so what we're trying to do is create that identity that features Justin's play style for sure.

But then, you know, our team around him. And I think that that was what we were able to do successfully year one. You know, last year when you guys were interviewing me, it's like, hey, what are you going to do for this guy? And hey, he's the rookie of the year. And what's this defensive coach going to do? And now those questions are different. And I think that where we can go with justin is just continue to get him in that comfort zone where he can just go be himself and i think we've all seen um what he's capable of he's so good he's just and he's just at the beginning and um and i think that uh like i said it's going to be exciting to have a full off season together and our offense and uh take it you know even further you happy he has his hair back yet? Yeah, happy.

It's a huge move for him. And you have no idea, I mean, how important that is. I mean, it's a game changer. When he cut that hair, I mean, the response to that, and he's like, hey, this is kind of how I wore my hair all growing up, and then I cut it. I was like, hey, man, there's something about this hair that people respond to. I was like, you know, you've got to kind of stay with that, I think, a little bit. So God bless him with great hair.

I kind of tell him, like, you got movie star hair, man. You got to kind of lean into that. In the city of stars. Go ahead, AJ. Coach, was there anything that, like, game day, like, operations that took you by surprise? Or, like, how day like operations that took you by surprise or like how was that navigating that I would imagine as the head coach you already have a million things on your plate trying to think ahead of possible scenarios coming up like how did your how did you get more comfortable I

guess as the season went with all of that can you repeat that one more time just game day mechanics game day operations oh yeah yeah you know AJ I think that was really important was to surround myself um you know with a lot of experience you know in all three phases, yeah, you know, AJ, I think that it was really important was to surround myself, you know, with a lot of experience, you know, in all three phases of the game. You know, you take a look at our offensive coordinator, Joe Lombardi, with Drew for all those years in New Orleans, Sean Payton, you know, Ronaldo Hill, who I know you know, AJ, playing, you know, kind of around the same time when you were coming, a young guy coming in the league, now he played 10 years in the league, is my defensive coordinator. I think surrounding yourself with a really good team of teams that can really help you manage it. Because you know, like as the head coach,

you can't do it alone. Things are moving fast and you need to make sure that people around you can really support you in that way and make sure you go into the games, you know, connected and on the same page. And so I think that that's what happened year one for me as I was, you know, we have a great staff and, you know, a great analytics team, Adithya Krishnan, you know, Alex Stern, Dan Smash, those guys did so well for me. And I thought that we were able to, you know, as a first-time head coach, AJ, as you know, like, hey, all those end-of-game, end-of-half timeouts, you know, four downs, I think we were able to manage that well.

And I hope to keep making improvements as we go. Yeah, we can kick phil goes a little bit but get through it we can yeah d hop came in and did a great job great hey by the way i know maddie oh you know told you i mean hopkins coming in did did such a good job for us and that was big getting that you know as you know the professionalism guy that's lived it that's been through it and dustin did such a good job for us then we got andre roberts you know the the all pro returner um at a bunch of different places those guys we kind of onboarded them and and they really helped us you know uh last season no yeah i'm obviously just you know on the internet you were made out to be the guy that hates kickers i just want to

let you know that hey hey am i lying no we saw a lot lying? Am I lying? Is this guy a stats guy? He'd rather get zero or six. Hates the three. Extra points. Hates the three. That's right by the sense. Well, yeah. Yeah, I mean, there's.

Extra points. Yeah, that's what you're looking for. Yeah, just those 33 yarders. Let's go ahead and do that. DeHop, he came out of Florida State massive leg. And he's been around a long time. He bombs the ball. Matt Overton, obviously, I was very lucky to be with him in indianapolis and your return game was electrifying and i don't mean to

take this strictly into the kickers thing but whenever you talk about the game day operations you know tom telesco i'm into tom telesco tree as well he's the reason why i got drafted to the colts i'm very thankful for him you're obviously working alongside him is there things that his team handles that you don't have to handle or is there stuff that kind of popped up through the season that you didn't expect to be a part of or didn't know was maybe coming down like a part of your job description? I think what was great about being with Tom is all the experience. And I think one of the reasons why I was so excited to team up with Tom

is that he came up with Marv Levy and Tony Dungy, Jim Caldwell, all these amazing coaches, being with the Hall of Fame general manager and Bill Pullian. You knew that he was going to be able to support you, you know, through your first year and give you, you know, really valuable insight. And I thought that he was, as you know, Tom's got that calm, that really steady presence. So cool. And I think that that really benefited me. And I know that our relationship has and i know that uh our relationship has only grown uh now that we truly kind of know you know you have a year's worth of inventory

together so um you know really thankful for him and the spanos family uh as a head coach you know that you can't do this by yourself it's it's it's you you know the nfl is such a big operation and it's not about one person in the league and and and i think um that's what we've tried to do is create that team of teams. And Tom's certainly been big for me. Team of teams. That's good. Hey.

That's a good one. That's what you've got going on here at the Pat McAfee Show. Hey, okay. I do. Great team here. Hey, I walk in. I mean, you know, there's a lot of people making this thing go, man. Yeah, we've got a good team over here.

And by the way, thank you for coming by. We're very lucky to have you in here. If people really, like, discovered this spot, I mean, there'd be a line out the door waiting. No, no, no. You'd have to charge like an entry pier. No, don't you worry about that. Go ahead, Ty. Coach, you talk about building a brand and everything.

And I know we talked about this before you had actually coached a game. But you're in a good spot. You have Justin Herbert. He's obviously going to be a superstar, and he's got a lot of years left. And there's always going to be pressure no matter what. If you don't win, obviously you're not going to be a superstar and he's got a lot of years left but and there's always going to be pressure no matter what if you don't win obviously you're not going to be there but do you is there like any sense of external pressure when you look at the Rams they just won a Super Bowl they're in the same city you guys are kind of you know fighting for LA still like is there any of that or is that one of those things where you you can't pay any

attention to that no I just I really I think as a competitor you can't be engineered that way i think that really if anything their success only strengthens what we believe in within our team you know because we know where we're going we know who we have um we know what we're gonna have um and i think that as a competitor you know it's just it's really about our team and i and i think that that's what i wanted to establish this season and i know that we did that and if you talk about like tangible evidence, you know, the way we competed this season, I think that the way people view us is much differently than a year ago. And I think that that's important. And then I also think our guys know now the expectations, the standards that we have for

performance and that it is about our team and making it as good as we can be. And I know that, you know, in year two, as good as we can be. And I know that, you know, in year two, building a new team for this season, I know that we're starting off at a much different place. And I know that really the end game, like we know that we got to go nose to nose against the entire league. And we know that we're ready for that. And I think we proved that this season. And now it's just strengthening our team so that we can go, you know, make a run and be able to go through 17 games and then three or four more and finish it. And so I know that we'll be capable of that. And if you win, fans, I mean, that is the easiest way to gain a brand,

a fan base, anything, just have success. And that is a great way to get, you know, recognizing the NFL is tough, though, with the parody. What are you looking for whenever you're here at the Combine? what is it that the Chargers team is looking for from a coach perspective well I think this is just the beginning of the process you know at the combine there's a lot of football business happening it's kind of the beginning of free agency the tag window a lot of tampering by others by others oh yeah for sure yeah just a lot of conversation yeah yeah dinner you know sort of text messages or random, you know, random visits.

No, you know, you're at the beginning of the free agency, the tag window. And then this is the first kind of, I think, initial evaluation process with the draft eligible guys. And so but I think coming to the combine, you see 31 other teams and, you know, the competition. I think that's that's one of the things I like about the combine is it's the start of the new season and you know what you're up against. And so this is just a, you know, component in the process, you know, and as you know, being a former player, it's just, it's a part of the evaluation. We still got two or three months, you know, for more detail and inventory on these guys. And so, you know, I think it just gets you closer to knowing that, hey, you know, you're going to onboard a bunch of people. They're going to impact your team. Yeah. I would hate being at this if I was a coach.

And I'm probably not supposed to say this because I'm from Indianapolis. I'm from Indy. You know, so like I love that the Combine's here. I think Indy does a great job with it. I understand how much our local businesses benefit from all the meetings and dinners that are not happening that are definitely happening all around town and this nfl spring break is kind of how it's described almost off the field but for a coach like you said this is just the beginning and i think cliff said that as well and somebody else said it was a first date i forget that with how many pro days there are and i guess you get to 30 visits and everything that is really where the coaches probably find more because there's more time yeah because now these staged interviews

right like sirianni talked about the basketball thing like how do you is it is now a time to try to learn about somebody or do you think like that that can only happen in a different setting well i think uh if you believe that time you know like is sort of how you uh invest in people 18 minutes in a formal interview certainly isn't a big window to make a billion dollar decision on someone. So I think, again, it's just a part of the process and it's an important part of the process, but there's a lot more that's going to go into it these next two or three months from a coaching standpoint. And you know that, you know, as AJ and you and all you guys know, the most important component of the process is these guys playing football, shoulder pads and helmets with 80,000 people in the stadium with 22 guys on the field with a lot of pressure on them.

You know, that's when you can make the purest evaluation of whether they can do it or not. And so that's always going to be the part of the process that matters the most. And it's going to be exciting to undertake it. Remind me of this. You were just football from birth, right? Yeah, quarterback who was defense coordinator, so you're a defensive guy who has seized the game to the eyes of a quarterback. But you were supposed to be a coach your entire life, right? I think is what you told us one time.

Everybody kind of knew this was going to happen. Yeah. Yeah, like very young, right? No backup plan. You're from Ohio, right? You're from Ohio? Yeah, Cleveland. Okay, so, you know, you Ohio dudes. Oh, no. My twin brother Ohio? Yeah, Cleveland. Okay, so you Ohio dudes.

Oh, no. My twin brother's in Pittsburgh, though. I told you that. He's living in Pittsburgh, your neck of the woods. Okay, so Pittsburgh, pretty similar to Ohio people. But since we're not Ohio people, we can say Ohio people. Ohio people. But football, your entire life, that is living an absolute dream right now,

being the head coach of the Chargers? Coaching was an absolute dream of mine. I grew up loving all the sports. I mean, we, as a family, it was all the sports, basketball, tennis, baseball, football, you name it, we did it. So my mom and dad just wanted us out there competing. And so I was just around sports my whole life. I'm the son of a teacher and a coach. So that's kind of how we got off the ground.

And I started drinking coffee in the first grade, reading the sports page. I wanted to be like my dad, you know? It's like, hey, if you want to be like your dad, this is what he does. So, you know, that's what I started doing. That's why I fell in love with the game. And, you know, and I think, you know, as I got, you know, older, I got better at football. I played a lot more basketball than football, but then, you know, when, you know, football kind of expressed itself like, Hey, that was going to be my thing. Um, you know, I fell in love with it and there's just so much of the football that I think fits me, that brings out the best in me. And, um, you know, I, I love my path. Like I think that it's been, uh, it's really fit me well.

And I feel like my whole goal was to be a complete coach. And so I think being an offensive player, you know, turned defensive coach, coached think being an offensive player, you know, turned defensive coach, coached all the positions on defense, you know, been very involved in the kicking game. Come on, it sounds like you always bring it up. Which is also really, really, really important. Stats will say that. I held in college, you know, I was a holder. How about that?

So you got a very, you know, a very like. Righty kicker or lefty kicker? Both. Lefty kicker in high school, Todd Kapustashi. Oh, no. And then righty kicker in college. Oh, how's the family with Kapustashi? So, you know, and what's interesting is you can attest I was a holder for a lefty,

so holding it with your right hand and then had to switch to my left. Look at you. It was hard for me to switch. And that's a tough switch. Yeah, it was hard for me. I mean, you can appreciate that. Yeah, absolutely, man. You're a freak athlete.

You said basketball was your sport. You still go to Jay? You're still pretty athletic? You're on the field running around shaking people it's over it's over i'm just trying to stay in good shape you know and you know i think tennis will probably be my thing because i'm a huge tennis guy you know nadal remember my love for nadal oh yeah i'm going to indian wells on two weeks he's going to be there with jokovic so i'm pumped about that here we go man i'm assuming he like chargers head coach you could probably get a pretty good.

You met him before? I haven't, no, but I'm hopeful. Oh, yeah. Hey, listen. I think it's going to happen. He wants to meet you. He wants to meet you. Well, I'm bringing DJ.

Derwin's coming, so it's going to be good. DJ and? Derwin James. Oh, okay. Oh, Derwin James, by the way. Oh, he's good on this. He could be a professional Madden player, I think. This guy's a competitor.

He's good at it. I don't know where he got these skills, but he's a real issue to deal's a professional Madden player. This guy's a competitor. He's good at it. I don't know where he got these skills, but he's a real issue to deal with in that Madden. Toss bags, dude. It was funny because when I coached Ramsey at the Rams, he kind of told me about this with Derwin. How did he explain to you? He's like, hey, coach, listen, don't fuck with Derwin.

This guy's like a gamer, literally a gamer. He's one of the best defensive players in the league, but then he's one of these best video game guys in the world. So I was like, wow. And then you meet him, and then it's real. No, it's real. This guy's a competitor. He's a great cornhole player.

Oh, yeah. Great on the field. He seems like one of the most interesting guys of all time, one of the most competitive guys. That's kind of like how Keenan is, too. Keenan can do everything. Keenan can do everything. Keenan does everything well. Guys like them, whatever they decide to do, they do it well.

I'm just making it easy. They're just so skilled. It's like Keenan playing golf or shooting a basketball. Ping pong if they want to. They can do it all. Yeah, if they want to. Go ahead, Connor. Yeah, Coach.

I forget if it was Eckler or maybe Herbert, but they were saying how you have meetings with the entire team to explain the defensive plan, the offensive plan, the special teams plan. Why do you do that, and is that just something that you've always wanted to do as a head coach once you got there? Yeah, I think any time you want to bring people together and really have belief in a plan, it can't just be like, hey, the offense is doing this, the defense is doing this,

and you have these independent worlds happening. We're going to win this game as a team and what I want to do is have everybody understand what our approach is and what that plan to win is and why it's that way and show them why we think that we need to play the game this way and I think it brings people together and I think there's real transparency you know in the organization when we play this game hey there's an accountability that comes with it. And I think that that's what you're after as a player. That's all they want is to have the ownership of, hey, whether it goes up for you, you know, if it doesn't go down, like, hey, this is what happened. This is what our plan was. And hey, let's see if we can go

execute it. But I think it gives people a lot more purpose going into the game. And it feels, you know, like, hey, now on defense, hey, we know what our offensive thought process is, and we're ready for it, and vice versa, and in the kicking game. And so you bring everybody together, and there's no important part of the week than that meeting for me. That's one of my favorite parts of the week is bringing that to life. And I thought it was a winning edge for us, and I'm hoping it continues to be a big part of our team. I think it's great for the team. I don't think Jim Caldwell did it. I don't think so I don't know if that was something that was

happening I don't know if it was because information or what was going I don't recall maybe he was doing that we didn't do it in college or whatever but Chuck was big on that like hey we want everybody to know what everybody's doing so then like me as somebody who just has a front row seat to all this if I see somebody doing something, I at least, like, well, we were trying to stop. Like, that was literally, you know, that was exactly what we were trying to stop. Like, it made me a much, I think, better football person.

And also, it was also a good conversation amongst teammates. Like, I was understanding what was going on in convos. And, like, it was very easy to see why things were being accomplished. I think it's a brilliant idea. And I think transparency builds trust, i think for sure and because like a lot of people point when it does go down for you and like oh well look at that brilliant plan well if it doesn't maybe that was a good plan too you know at least you know like hey like it was a good plan like in theory this thing in theory uh and then and then if it if it if it was like hey that was a

bad idea you take full ownership. Because what I try to do is create it like we're in this together. It's not coaches versus players, players versus coaches, offense versus defense. It's like, hey, we're all in this together. And so if it doesn't go well for us, no one's trying to make a mistake. And if it doesn't go down, hey, let's learn from it and let's keep it moving. That's the way the NFL is. You can't ride this wave.

You've got to, hey, if it doesn't go down, you keep it moving, you're on to the next thing. And I think we did a good job of that this year. And people won't, they'll say that whenever you say, hey, we're all on the same page, people will just assume that's normal. Like there is a lot of instances that I've heard about, I've never been a part of, where the defense is its own team and the offense is its own team. And you can see how that could happen to somebody that didn't grow up in the football culture

because literally the offense is practicing on this field, the defense is practicing on this field. Then they come together, and it's not ones-on-ones. It's normally ones-on-twos. It's like they meet differently. There's just an entire different operation. Now, obviously, if you're a winning program, you're going to have everybody together, but that doesn't always happen. And I think that is a

a great move by you i've i've enjoyed listening to the whys behind what you do by the way just as somebody that watched you here this first year it feels like you just are like uh hey my dudes are gonna fucking beat you yeah like i love that it's like it's guys like ek who you know you guys have you guys know him and herb and all the guys that you have on the show is like you know they're the ones that are connecting your message to the rest of the guys, you know, and it's, you get those key guys to really be the mouthpiece for your team. And, you know, those are the best teams is when your players are driving, you know, driving the, you know, they're the engine behind your team. And so that's what I've tried to do is create that

ownership within the players. And, you know, and I think that it's only going to get stronger with time. Go ahead, Tom. Coach, the salary cap is what it is, and I think that it's only going to get stronger with time. Go ahead, Tom. Coach, the salary cap is what it is. But when you look at the websites, which is nothing, by the way, when you look at the websites to track it, you guys are in like the top two or three as far as available salary cap space, like during the draft process and free agency process. Do you go to Tom Telesco with a wish list of maybe positions that you think may be knee upgraded or players or anything like that? Or is that just that side of the building? It's a great question. Um, it's, it's really, it's coaching and personnel coming together. Uh, and I think that that's something that, um, again, like Pat said, it's, it's, it's probably more uncommon than not to just truly,

like truly be able to see things through the same lens and Hey, this is why, um, you know, we assess this a certain way. Um, free agency to about value because just because you have the money doesn't mean that you should use it. Or if you do use it, like how you spend it, how you allocate that money. And so I think last year our first go around would be the evidence that I have, you know, to prove like what we're about. I thought we got great value last year going to get Corey Lindsley, you know, who we felt was one of the top centers in football. You know, you pay him at the top of the market, and he was worth every cent. What he was able to do for Herbert and Justin, that's one of those storylines that not a lot of people know about, but Corey Lindsley's a G. That's why Justin Herbert is playing at that type of level,

because he doesn't have to worry about some things that you'd have to worry about if Corey Lindsley wasn't your center. You go get Matt Filer from the Steelers, who had a lot of flexibility, right tackle, guard. He was such a stud for us. Odea Bushi from the Detroit Lions. We were able to get a veteran like Jared Cook. And so I think we spent wisely last year, and that's really what it's about.

And you can't do that if you're not on the same page. Like me and Tom, our staff's being on the same page. Like, hey, this is the value that we see this player. Hey, if it exceeds the value, then we got to move on. You know, and that's really what it's about for me is spending that money wisely. And I think that we got off to a good start last year. That Chargers-Raiders game. No.

Which one? Well, you know, the end one there. The end one. Yeah. The The end one. Yeah. The potential tie one. So was there thought before the game, hey, let's kneel this entire thing out, okay, just for four straight quarters? Okay, this is the NFL's fault.

Listen, if you don't want to put it on TV, don't put it on TV. Okay, this is what we're doing. Good luck. It's kind of a process. But then the game happens. Then it happens. Then there's an what we're doing. Good luck. We, it's kind of a process, but then the game happens and it happens and there's an opportunity for it to potentially take place. And then all of a sudden you make a decision, change it for you. Like what is your thought process in that entire game? And did you hate people even broaching the subject of taking a knee for four quarters

to advance your team into the playoffs? Yeah, it was, it was definitely an interesting topic to be tackling the last week of the season, just because like you knew how many circumstances needed to happen the stars had to perfectly align for this to even yes be a possibility and all those stars aligned yeah you know and i think uh you know it was uh it was you know the the lead up to that game i i you know wanted to focus on the raiders you know they, they're, they're a big, you know, good enough team to deal with. And then you've got this other stuff. And, um, I think that environment, if, if you were there, um, you know, that was such a electric environment. Yeah. Um, you know, and then there was the John Madden, you know, tribute and there was just, I mean, it was a, an electric night. Um, it was a playoff game. I mean, there's no,

there's no doubt about it. And, um, so there was all these circumstances before the ball was even turned over. Um, and then when the ball turned over, it was, uh, it was one of those games that it was a playoff game. The way that game unfolded, that's how playoff games happen. There's that, there's that urgency, there's that desperation, there's those circumstances all that that high drama which makes the league so special and um it was an unbelievable game and um you almost felt like you'd be doing it a disservice almost it sounds like yeah there's no way i was going i mean that all those scenarios was like okay like that's that's that's awesome but then i think you know what was interesting was when we came back um and tied it, you know, and go into overtime, you realize that like, hey, tying is a possibility. Like here we are at overtime. And then now, all right. Hey, you know, all these crazy scenarios.

Guess what, guys? This is a legit scenario now. It wasn't. But now it is. You know, and so that's kind of what overtime was about. And as you guys know, it didn't go down for us. We kind of had to you know we we experienced the tough side of things you know and i said that to the guys in the locker room the day after the game and every day day since but um that's part of the league when you sign up for the league you sign up for all of it the good of it and the and the tough side of it and um but i know that we're going to come back in a big way and i know that that's going to really drive us moving forward and i love the fact that you're saying like that was a playoff game for us so our kid a young team might got a chance to experience

that yourself included like you got a chance to experience what the environment probably would be and it actually is because you win and you move on if not you go home that's a playoff game in division I mean it's just I'm excited to see what your team does next year boss thank you so much for stopping by thanks so much for having me guys no problem man I can't wait to see you one year from now yeah yeah no no it'll be I can't wait to see you one year from now. Yeah. No, it'll be, I mean, like I said, there'll probably be

a line out. Nah, nah, nah. Ladies and gentlemen, head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, Brandon Staley. Thank you for your time. Yeah!

We'll see you tomorrow, 11 a.m. Cheers. We'll see you tomorrow, 11am Cheers Thank you. Thank you. Bye.