Hall of Fame & 2024 Recap | Coach Podcast

Interactive Transcript

spk_0 It was a football player. It was tough.

spk_0 He made the plays in those games to win.

spk_0 Their impact on the game has been enormous.

spk_0 When you lose as badly as some of these teams

spk_0 have lost this year, it isn't just you have a bad coach.

spk_0 Any player we have to double team on every play.

spk_0 Yeah.

spk_0 That's Hall of Fame material on my book.

spk_0 Welcome to Coach. It's Week 18.

spk_0 I'm Matt Patricia, Michael Lombardi and Coach Bill Bellicic.

spk_0 It's been a great year.

spk_0 A lot of amazing games, players, a lot to talk about.

spk_0 We're going to kind of review the year a little bit.

spk_0 Talk about the growth of the league and where we started

spk_0 and where we are now.

spk_0 Yeah, it's been a heck of a year.

spk_0 You go back to the opening game between Kansas City

spk_0 and Baltimore.

spk_0 A toenail separated the winter looser in that game.

spk_0 And then we were in Brazil and we have the international games.

spk_0 Last week on Christmas, we had Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday,

spk_0 Sunday, Monday games.

spk_0 It was an amazing week and it's been an amazing year.

spk_0 We saw a new kickoff formation that I didn't think I would ever see

spk_0 in football.

spk_0 And so there were a lot of new things

spk_0 and certainly expansion of the league was a big theme this year.

spk_0 Yeah, it was.

spk_0 And I think also when we look back into this season

spk_0 and we look at who could go into the Hall of Fame,

spk_0 that's a discussion we all have to have

spk_0 because there's so many great players that are waiting

spk_0 for their goal jacket.

spk_0 And I think the process of going through the Hall of Fame

spk_0 is something that needs to be discussed.

spk_0 And we also need to remember some of the great players

spk_0 in the past that as these years have built on,

spk_0 and we've forgotten about how great they were, you know,

spk_0 that they would have been adaptive to this game today

spk_0 as we throw the ball much more than we used to run the ball, Matt.

spk_0 Well, we saw some great plays through this year.

spk_0 Let's take a look at some of those highlights.

spk_0 They throw a complete throw back to Richardson.

spk_0 It's going to be intercepted.

spk_0 He's never done this.

spk_0 No one's ever done this.

spk_0 Lateral to Alan and reaching for the pilot.

spk_0 Alvin makes the catch.

spk_0 Go, just a, just a.

spk_0 Love those highlights, the emotion of the game,

spk_0 the drama of football, the highs, the lows.

spk_0 I mean, it's why we all just love this game so much.

spk_0 I think the league has done a great job

spk_0 of really trying to just, they continue to expand the game.

spk_0 You know, coach, you mentioned at the beginning of the show,

spk_0 great Thursday opening game.

spk_0 We go to Brazil.

spk_0 We come back.

spk_0 We've added two Monday night games on some weeks.

spk_0 I think the league's just done a great job

spk_0 of continuing trying to just give our sport to everybody.

spk_0 Yeah, and certainly the viewership of the games

spk_0 has expanded to multiple platforms.

spk_0 There was a time when I couldn't watch the Thursday night games

spk_0 because I couldn't figure out how to stream it.

spk_0 I learned how to do that this year.

spk_0 So that was a big step for me.

spk_0 Yeah, and look, we're going to see this continually to grow.

spk_0 Whenever we talk about growth in the National Football,

spk_0 we talk about adding money to the salary cap,

spk_0 which adds money to the players.

spk_0 I mean, when we talk growth and we play a game in Munich

spk_0 or we go to Brazil, everybody thinks

spk_0 well, the owners are just trying to expand the game.

spk_0 No, it's for the players too,

spk_0 because they're partners in this league.

spk_0 And that really helps us.

spk_0 And I never thought what I first got in the league in 1984

spk_0 that this league could grow to the volume that it has now,

spk_0 where we're going to play all over the world.

spk_0 Next year, I think we're going to have games in Munich

spk_0 and go back with the London.

spk_0 So it's really remarkable the popularity of our sport.

spk_0 When you consider what they've been able to do,

spk_0 and as you said, the streaming service is a remarkable

spk_0 and once we can figure out how to help you use them.

spk_0 I have to.

spk_0 The International Games was a big part of this year.

spk_0 We talked about it previously during the season,

spk_0 but those are great Sundays.

spk_0 You get up, there's a game at 9 a.m.

spk_0 So you can tune right in.

spk_0 And it's just great to see the fan with the jerseys

spk_0 and we talked about it's like the UN of fans.

spk_0 When you look into the crowd, we love to grow the game.

spk_0 The International is a big part of it.

spk_0 That'll continue to expand.

spk_0 But also, 17 games this year, at some point, we might have 18.

spk_0 And again, I think that extra game in the season,

spk_0 that's a big part of what I think the NFL is trying to get to.

spk_0 What are your thoughts on 18 games?

spk_0 I feel like 18 games, I think we should have a player count.

spk_0 Like I think of a player plays, X amount of plays over 16

spk_0 or 17 weeks.

spk_0 Then we should, that should be a ceiling for that,

spk_0 except the quarterback, because I think it's great to add another game.

spk_0 But really, we're talking about adding more plays.

spk_0 And then it puts the onus on the front office

spk_0 and the coaching staff to manage the players rep store in the season.

spk_0 And I think that actually would develop a lot more young players

spk_0 if you could have more rotation and limit the player count

spk_0 and then have the 18 games.

spk_0 I think that idea is, it would be hard to sell.

spk_0 You guys both being coaches because you want to play your best players

spk_0 all the time.

spk_0 To develop talent, I think having a play count,

spk_0 you know, this right gar can only play 1200 plays.

spk_0 So now you have to substitute.

spk_0 You pick up five plays a game, all of a sudden.

spk_0 We're playing 18 games, but it's really 17 on the number.

spk_0 That's a good idea.

spk_0 Mike, another way to do that would just be to limit the number of games.

spk_0 So you can only play in 16 games.

spk_0 Right.

spk_0 And that way, even a player's injured, that play that wouldn't count.

spk_0 But it gives other players an opportunity to play.

spk_0 So I don't want to say it evens out the injuries.

spk_0 But in a way, it would be, you can either hold a player

spk_0 up because of an injury or hold him out

spk_0 because he doesn't hit the game limit in order to spread it out a little bit.

spk_0 But 18 games is a long season.

spk_0 And then when you add the playoff games onto that

spk_0 and you do it for multiple years, like a team like Kansas City has been doing,

spk_0 there's just a lot of wear.

spk_0 Yeah.

spk_0 And top of that, maybe the extra buy.

spk_0 So, you know, possibly talking about 18 games with two buy weeks.

spk_0 So, you know, just to really get the season to 20 weeks

spk_0 to help manage the players and make sure that you have a healthy team.

spk_0 It definitely would change some of the markers as we look at the season.

spk_0 You know, we always talk about football season starts after Thanksgiving.

spk_0 Might not start till after Christmas.

spk_0 We might have to switch that a little bit.

spk_0 The sport is great.

spk_0 The fans love it.

spk_0 They want as much of it as they can get.

spk_0 Yeah.

spk_0 But we do have to do a good job of making sure that the player's safety still

spk_0 is the top of our concern so that we can have a good game, good product

spk_0 and keep everybody healthy.

spk_0 But we have to develop young players.

spk_0 We have to develop young quarterbacks.

spk_0 The league has its stars and they comes from the draft.

spk_0 But as we're seeing with college, when Bill and I started,

spk_0 it was always a senior draft because juniors couldn't come out.

spk_0 Now it can be a junior draft.

spk_0 But because of NIL, it's probably going to be mostly seniors

spk_0 unless it's the first couple rounds.

spk_0 So, we've got to develop some of these players.

spk_0 And the colleges are doing a better job of teaching the passing game

spk_0 than it was when I first started when it was wishbone and veer.

spk_0 But still, we're going to need to work on that.

spk_0 And I think that's part of, if we go to 18 games,

spk_0 we have to have a player development program

spk_0 to ensure there's a lot of good young players that increase the talent pool.

spk_0 Yeah, and I think to that point, one of the things that I think wasn't great

spk_0 this year was the number of non-competitive teams.

spk_0 Correct.

spk_0 By the middle of the season, basically, we had at least a third of the league

spk_0 that was realistically not even in contention for the playoffs.

spk_0 And so, this league is based on equality and...

spk_0 Any given Sunday.

spk_0 Yes.

spk_0 And that really wasn't the case this year.

spk_0 You know, the teams that didn't have good records basically only beat each other.

spk_0 And they had a hard time beating any of the, let's call it, upper echelon teams.

spk_0 And I think that's what you don't want is that spread between the good teams

spk_0 and the not-so-good teams.

spk_0 And it was always out of transition.

spk_0 And we saw a couple teams really bounce up this year at Washington.

spk_0 They were the second pick in the draft.

spk_0 And they've had a good year Denver's,

spk_0 another team that was down that's come back, the Chargers.

spk_0 So those teams have bounced back into the picture.

spk_0 But there are a lot of other teams that are just kind of seems like they're in the basement.

spk_0 And if it can't be a more competitive league than that,

spk_0 I don't think it's good for the game.

spk_0 I don't know how they could equalize it any more than the salary cap, the draft choices and all that.

spk_0 But some of these organizations are just kind of holding the competitiveness down.

spk_0 Yeah, the league pushes for parity.

spk_0 And that's what we want.

spk_0 You know, we want a level playing field and competition every single week.

spk_0 But again, I just think the NFL has done a great job of, you know,

spk_0 expanding our game, expanding the brand, the shield.

spk_0 It's everywhere now.

spk_0 It's international.

spk_0 And that'll continue to grow.

spk_0 And we saw a lot of great games this year.

spk_0 You know, there's a lot of fun, a lot of exciting football.

spk_0 And we're all anticipating a lot more excitement coming into playoffs.

spk_0 No question about it.

spk_0 And I think to me, you can just feel that you played over in Germany last year.

spk_0 The excitement that the German people have for our game.

spk_0 We know what it's like in London.

spk_0 I mean, there's no telling that we're going to see in our lifetime.

spk_0 We're going to see for our ancestors over there.

spk_0 I think there's no question that as we expand this league,

spk_0 it's going to be expansion for teams.

spk_0 The NFL has done a great job.

spk_0 But another area we want to dive into when we come back.

spk_0 Mike, we're going to talk about the Hall of Fame.

spk_0 Yep.

spk_0 Can't wait to talk about it.

spk_0 Welcome back to Coach, one of my favorite subjects, the Hall of Fame.

spk_0 But first, I want to talk about a former player of yours, a former player,

spk_0 for the Oakland Raiders, who I traded for, Randy Moss, who's experienced some,

spk_0 some difficulties off the field.

spk_0 Well, we send our heartfelt prayers to him and his family, Coach.

spk_0 Randy Moss is a tremendous person in human being.

spk_0 He was a great player to coach, fun player to coach, and an extremely competitive

spk_0 and good football player.

spk_0 But he was so unselfish.

spk_0 He did so many things that he never got credit for, never wanted credit for,

spk_0 helping kids, spending money to give kids experiences.

spk_0 Ed is only expense, put them up in hotels, take them to games.

spk_0 Doing so many charitable things, and he was never about the credit.

spk_0 He just wanted to do it for the sake of doing it because he was such a good person.

spk_0 Randy, our thoughts and prayers are with you.

spk_0 Yeah, a guy that made everyone around him better, whether it was on the field or off the field.

spk_0 Wonderful, wonderful person just to have a sit and have a conversation with.

spk_0 So, we're just thinking about him every day and hoping his recovery is going great.

spk_0 So, we know Randy Hall of Fame player, Hall of Fame person.

spk_0 And as we talk about the Hall of Fame, we have the X Patriots that are up for the Hall of Fame that we want to talk about.

spk_0 You know, I'll start with Adam Beneterri.

spk_0 Best kicker in history of football.

spk_0 His ball was so straight, unlike my golf shots.

spk_0 His ball was so straight.

spk_0 And the kick he made in the snow to beat Oakland is, it would be him, it's the greatest kick of all time.

spk_0 But a couple of Super Bowl game winning kicks.

spk_0 And then after a great career with the Patriots, he went on to an even greater career.

spk_0 With the Colts and extended his career.

spk_0 And he had just a tremendous career.

spk_0 And you know, Adam's one of these guys too, that he was a kicker, but he worked out with the rest of the team.

spk_0 Yeah.

spk_0 He didn't act like a kicker.

spk_0 He was a football player.

spk_0 It was tough.

spk_0 He worked hard every day.

spk_0 And he was very, very dependable in the clutch.

spk_0 There's no player I would rather have out there kicking a game when in field gold than Adam Beneterri.

spk_0 Probably even today.

spk_0 I don't know if there's a leadership category in the Hall of Fame.

spk_0 No, but I think the players leadership and ability to make his teammates better around them.

spk_0 Is is a Hall of Fame characteristic or quality that you would like for those people to have.

spk_0 Don't you think great players make other players great.

spk_0 And that translates into winning.

spk_0 And you can't really see it, you know, because we give the quarterback so much credit for making the team better.

spk_0 You know, Tarell Suggs at Baltimore.

spk_0 You know, I know Ray Lewis gets a ton of credit and will deserve because there's nobody like Ray Lewis at Middleline backer.

spk_0 And I think that's a category that has to be put in the Hall of Fame because not a lot of players are playing in the field.

spk_0 And then when he got into the national football, they wanted to block him.

spk_0 He was physically tough.

spk_0 He played hard, every single play.

spk_0 And that Baltimore defense, the signature of that defense was built on Suggs' personality.

spk_0 And I think that that's a category that has to be put in the Hall of Fame because not a lot of players are playing in the field.

spk_0 have it. Some guys are just good players, but they don't let raise the level of other players.

spk_0 And that was a great thing about Sugs is, first of all, for me, any player we had to double

spk_0 team on every play. Yeah. That's Hall of Fame material on my book. And you couldn't single Sugs.

spk_0 He was so explosive, so powerful. And he was just a match-up nightmare. I have a ton of respect

spk_0 for him. You're right. He doesn't get enough credit for what he did on that Baltimore defense.

spk_0 Yeah, it gets lost. I didn't even get lost. It's like, you know, you want to talk about

spk_0 Luke Kekeley. I mean, that gets lost too. You know, when you look at what he was able to do for

spk_0 the Panthers and the way he rose that team's talent level, I know Cam Newton certainly did a

spk_0 tremendous amount. He deserves to be in the Hall of all those things, but Luke was sensational.

spk_0 Absolutely. Luke Kekeley's production numbers were just off the charts. I mean, he literally made

spk_0 every single tackle. It seemed like it was a very big force in past defense. He was long. He had

spk_0 great range instincts and was a fast player as well. So he was hard to throw the ball against.

spk_0 He was an excellent tackle. Very instinctive. This guy was very, very productive football player.

spk_0 And when you play middle linebacker, a lot of guys fall into one of two categories. He did

spk_0 good past defenders or good run players. Really Kekeley was both. And he was a good blitzer.

spk_0 Ran the defense. You know, great leadership, captain, all that. You know, it'd be hard to keep

spk_0 this guy out of Hall of Fame. He just did so much. Yeah. When you play that Tampa covers that they

spk_0 would play so much in that system with him, he ate up all of the space inside. He covered the

spk_0 middle reads and I took the check down. Yeah. Yeah. Tackle him from one yard and you're like,

spk_0 how did he do that? Another player that's up this year that certainly I have the almost respect for.

spk_0 I know you do two coach Eli Manning. I mean, I think he just deserves all of the accolades in

spk_0 the recognition for, you know, taking those Giants teams and the two Super Bowls that he won

spk_0 unfortunately against us. But he made the plays in those games to win. And you can't, you know,

spk_0 there's no bigger stage. Those throws, the plays that he was able to, you know, generate the

spk_0 production and lead his team to those championships. There's probably no one worse for us to play against.

spk_0 I think, you know, that was, you can't leave him off the list. We played against a ton of great

spk_0 quarterbacks, but he's the one guy. He just, you know, he just really knows how to win. He seemed like

spk_0 he always played his best against us in on the biggest stage. So I have a ton of respect for Eli Manning

spk_0 and what he did. And he was a tough competitor as much as I wish that we would have beaten. I mean,

spk_0 I wouldn't be saying this. The fact was he, he did more than that we did on those two days. And

spk_0 yeah, I've got to give him credit and not just for that, but he had a tremendous career. Not only the

spk_0 best player, but also the face of the franchise. Yeah. He was always really a model guy in terms of

spk_0 doing the right thing, saying the right thing and leading his team in tough as well as, you know,

spk_0 good situations, but, you know, he was there when it was going against the win too. And I have a

spk_0 lot of respect for Eli Manning. Yeah, another tough guy, you know, tough quarterback mentally, physically,

spk_0 just fits that giant's tough guy. Kind of runs in the family, right? And they haven't really, you

spk_0 know, they haven't replaced you. Right. And so that tells you a lot about how good he was. They

spk_0 haven't replaced him. When I wrote football done right, one of the main things I wanted to write

spk_0 about was Sterling Sharp, because I felt like having worked with him here at NFL Films, we did

spk_0 shows together, humble guy only played seven years in the league, but those were dynamic seven years.

spk_0 Unfortunately, he had the neck injury that kept him from putting up more numbers that would have put

spk_0 him in a category, but his numbers are above a lot of guys who are already in the hall of fame,

spk_0 but he doesn't get recognized. And he only had Brett Far for one year. I think the inconsistencies

spk_0 that bothered me about Sterling was, well, he only played seven years. Well, Thorel Davis only

spk_0 played six and he's in the hall of fame. Like we don't have a standard of level, which now everything

spk_0 becomes a debate. And I think Sterling belongs to the hall. I had him as one of the top 100 players

spk_0 of all time. I mean, he's got Don Magikowski throwing to him and he's making productions. He scored

spk_0 17 touchdowns in one season when we were in a throwing league. And if he had Mike Hombrand, who's

spk_0 also in this category, yes. You know, then if he would have had him for an extended time of his

spk_0 career, got only knows what would have happened. I've always said, and I think it's unfortunate

spk_0 that as you wrote that the hall of fame doesn't have a criteria for being in there. Whether it be

spk_0 players, coaches, contributors, whatever it happens to be. And if we want to let somebody select

spk_0 somebody that doesn't quite meet that criteria and say, okay, this is an exception because he was

spk_0 so great, but didn't quite meet this criteria. That's fine. I'm great with that. Let's just

spk_0 recognize how great that person wasn't overcame that. But some of the people that I feel bad for

spk_0 in this process are people who had great careers in the NFL, but not necessarily as a player or

spk_0 as a coach. Maybe they fall a little bit short in separately, either category, but when you combine

spk_0 the two together, their impact on the game has been enormous. People like Maxi Bonn, who's

spk_0 who's actually up on the senior, who is a great player, a great leader for the Rams and then

spk_0 the Redskins under George Allen, Dan Reeves, great player at Dallas, assistant coach,

spk_0 player coach, long career, 200 wins between Denver and the Giants, great career Marty Shottenheimer,

spk_0 good player, great assistant coach, lifetime coach, a lot of success in both Cleveland and Kansas

spk_0 City. You know, these guys are lifers. When you look at their accomplishments over their lifespan,

spk_0 like Dick Leboe and Dick Leboe probably be at the top of that list, but these guys have just done

spk_0 so much as players and coaches. I feel like there's got to be a way to a category of whatever it is

spk_0 where they should be recognized for their significant lifelong contributions. I mean,

spk_0 Marty Shottenheimer is one 200 games. There's only eight people on planet earth that have done that,

spk_0 and he's not in the Hall of Fame. You know, Dan Reeves, when you combine his playoff wins,

spk_0 one 200 games took Atlanta to a Super Bowl, took Denver to Super Bowl, didn't win one,

spk_0 but Bud Granson Hall of Fame and he didn't win one either, and Bud Gramp belongs in the Hall of

spk_0 Fame. So, I think that becomes a little bit of a problem, and I think the longer it goes,

spk_0 I'll give you a name, and we had this picture up in New England, Buckle Curoy, all decade player.

spk_0 You know, he invented a grading system for the Dallas Cowboys New England Patriots,

spk_0 a wonderful executive. His career span in a long time, and I think we lose sight of those guys,

spk_0 Matt, and I think to really honor our league the best we can, we can't forget those. I mean,

spk_0 how we could forget Ralph Hay? I don't know, because we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Ralph Hay.

spk_0 How about Clark's honesty? He invented the forward pass. We wouldn't be here without Clark's

spk_0 honesty. He's in the College Hall of Fame, but he's not in the Pro Hall of Fame. And this whole idea,

spk_0 we can only get one at a time. I think we need a correction to get these people in that belong in.

spk_0 Yeah, it's hard to think that their lifespan of being involved in the NFL didn't impact our game.

spk_0 You know, there's just too much time invested, too many things that they've impacted that players,

spk_0 other coaches, similar to Mike Hohmgren, who's also up, we talk about the West Coast office,

spk_0 talk about Bill Walsh, but Mike going to Green Bay, and all of the coaches that came out of Green Bay,

spk_0 that are now even still affecting the league and changing the league, and where we are now,

spk_0 that accounts for, and not only as a coach, but it also did it as a GM, when you look to your point

spk_0 coach of the, you know, longevity of these guys in the NFL and the amount of people they've

spk_0 impacted and how those people have impacted the game, we wouldn't be where we were if it wasn't for

spk_0 that. Well, I mean, look, Mike Shanahan, all the offices that Kyle's running, everybody's high on

spk_0 a Kyle guy, really, you're high on a Mike guy, because without Mike, you know, you know the league

spk_0 before Mike started the outside zone, there was no outside zone. That's right. I think to me,

spk_0 we have to recognize people that advanced the needle of this game and guys like Shanahan,

spk_0 as you mentioned, Hohmgren, Marty Shotinheimer, Dan Reeves, all those guys are great. If you can't

spk_0 get in, win in 200 games, I don't know how the hell you get in. Or two Super Bulls. Or two Super,

spk_0 I don't know how hard it's hard to win games in this league. Well, when Mike Shanahan wins two

spk_0 Super Bulls and then there are multiple other coaches in there that don't have any, again, it just

spk_0 goes back to the criteria, like what are we looking for? And I think that needs to be some kind of a

spk_0 benchmark for the start of the discussion. Yeah, and I think the commissioner really should look

spk_0 back on that. And I think some of the rules, yes, I think we should only have certain amount,

spk_0 but I think there's been some injustice to this league that we need to correct. And hopefully we'll

spk_0 do that moving forward. But when we come back here on coach, we're going to take a comprehensive

spk_0 look at the offseason, what entails the changes that are going to occur, whether it's coaching,

spk_0 whether it's general manager, how we're going to approach scouting in light of the new era in

spk_0 college football. There's so much to do and there's not a lot of time to do it, even though the

spk_0 draft is in April. Well, the offseason is going to start for every team other than 14. And that's a

spk_0 painful thing because you know you don't make the playoffs, but you have to get ready for it. You

spk_0 know, we've got the senior bowl, the east west shrine, we've got all the bowl games, then we have

spk_0 the combine and then we have offseason workouts. And of course, then we have free agency where every

spk_0 team learns about how much cap room they have to spend. But it all starts with one simple question

spk_0 in which you have to answer. Why did we have a bad season? Why did we win? Why did we lose? And I

spk_0 think that's the agenda for the offseason from a scouting perspective and from a front office.

spk_0 Now before they get there, there's a lot of changes that are going on. We know the jets are

spk_0 looking for a general manager, how they're going to handle their structure from before. We know

spk_0 their owners heavily involved in a lot of their decisions. So, yeah, I'll be answering to see whether

spk_0 Woody stays involved like he has been. Right. Whether they hire somebody else and he becomes involved.

spk_0 I don't know. Right. And so that's what really we're looking at is how do you want to set up the

spk_0 organization? Because when you lose as badly as some of these teams have lost this year, it isn't

spk_0 just you have a bad coach. No, and I think you can't solve a problem until you identify what the

spk_0 problem is. Right. What do we have to do? And in some cases, the organizations have already made

spk_0 a decision about the coach. And that might be part of it, but also there's more to it than that.

spk_0 Players, overall structure and just how it all fits together. What their model is in free agency.

spk_0 We've also seen a couple of interesting moves at the end of the year. For example, Atlanta

spk_0 Bench & Kurt Cousins for Michael Penix. That's a great point, Matt. I think that's really,

spk_0 you know, everybody wants to say we didn't win because of the quarterback, but as Atlanta noted,

spk_0 maybe it wasn't all just because of the quarterback. Maybe they have some other issues. And I think

spk_0 that's part of what you have to solve. Yeah, change is the one constant in the NFL. It's going to

spk_0 happen every single year. Coaches, players from office. You know, the main point for everybody now

spk_0 is how do we get ahead on the change for next year if you're not in the playoffs? You know, those

spk_0 teams as we've felt before those years where we went deep into the playoffs, we always felt behind.

spk_0 Think teams really can get ahead start on next year. What it looks like evaluates your own team first,

spk_0 your own process. That's a big part of it too. Take that 360. Really getting on top of that as

spk_0 fast as you can. One of the big changes this year, which actually is a change, is that the NFL

spk_0 teams now can't interview and hire coaches who were in the playoffs. Right. So we had situations

spk_0 where teams were higher and other other playoff teams coaches and when you, they're going to be a

spk_0 head coach midway through the playoffs while they were still playing. Yeah. Now that's been pushed back.

spk_0 So just another part of the, let's call it possible delay that if you want to interview a playoff

spk_0 coaches that you're going to have to wait now, which is the way it was back when I took the Cleveland

spk_0 job. I did interview for that job until after Super Bowl 25 when we beat Buffalo in Tampa and then

spk_0 interviewing and came in there. So it was in the middle of February really before I ended up

spk_0 taking the job. Like a lot of things, it's just a different structure and a different timing

spk_0 the word spent in the past, which of course the ripple effect is the assistant coaches. Right.

spk_0 And then the hiring process for the assistant coaches gets pushed back. It's just another

spk_0 difference here. And again, some teams have some big decisions to make on what direction they're

spk_0 actually going to go to solve some of their problems. What, what's it really comes down to the

spk_0 owner really? I think that's one of the things that doesn't you talk enough about is the owner

spk_0 answering the fundamental question, who do we want to become? What, what kind of organization do we

spk_0 want to be? And then hiring the people that fit that, then I think you can come up with the

spk_0 solutions like this would be the perfect guy for General Manager. This would be the perfect guy

spk_0 for the head coach. Yeah. What's the mission statement from the top? What does that look like? And

spk_0 then building your team with the people and leadership that represent what you, what you're looking

spk_0 for. The other real difficult situation for the head coaches that get hired later in after

spk_0 the playoff says it is now is the assistant coaches. If you have a good assistant coach on your

spk_0 staff and you're currently the head coach of a team, you're trying to get him under contract if

spk_0 his contract is running out because you don't want to have him in the situation where he can leave

spk_0 and go someplace else. So now the assistant coaches, it becomes harder for the new head coaches to

spk_0 get maybe the right guys to fit what he's trying to do. And that's a process in them but

spk_0 itself as you're trying to grow an organization or build a team someplace is just getting all the

spk_0 pieces that first year. It's really hard. When I became a head coach and Cleveland,

spk_0 the first thing I learned was all the things I did as an assistant coach don't really carry over

spk_0 to being a head coach. You're involved in now hiring a staff, you're involved in personnel

spk_0 structure and working with the scouting department in terms of team building. You're more involved in

spk_0 the salary cap and how that money gets spent and not only the amount of money but the length of time

spk_0 that you're committed to a player. You're also responsible for a lot of staffing that goes to support

spk_0 the team and now you're involved in medical this medical side of things which as an assistant coach

spk_0 you typically aren't. And so you become a head coach and all of a sudden you have a playful

spk_0 of things that you have to deal with and you don't even touch the, well here's the defense we're

spk_0 going to play, here's the offense we're going to run, here's how we're going to run this play and

spk_0 your responsibility is so much different than that. And there's really no training for it because

spk_0 when you're not the head coach you just don't get to do those things and you know we both experience

spk_0 that and it's a it's a big challenge for any head coach that has not been in that seat before

spk_0 and you always have to be there at one time to start to learn it but it's still it's a big jump

spk_0 when you when you make that first step. And you know you feel so in a rush to get all the other

spk_0 pieces right sometimes it's the football that falls behind and that's the most important thing is

spk_0 you got to make sure the football is right and balancing that and trying to figure all that out

spk_0 you're truly drinking from the fire hose as you're going through February and March and

spk_0 everything else is building the combine the draft and all of it's coming at you really fast so

spk_0 that first head coaching experience you are learning on the fly there's no book for that whatsoever.

spk_0 And when things are involved like facilities if you're building a new practice facility or new

spk_0 weight room or a new changing or meeting rooms around or whatever else it is again as a head coach

spk_0 you end up getting involved in those things as well and the pile can get high in a hurry while

spk_0 you're thinking well I'm just going to you know coach the team and I'm going to run the defense

spk_0 or run the offense and we're going to hire another coach to you know run the other side of the ball

spk_0 but it's hard to find time to get to that if the other pile is just stacked too high.

spk_0 Yeah and I think it's the same thing for a general manager you come in there and you have all

spk_0 these scouts that have been scouting one way and you have a grading system that you want to

spk_0 introduce to build the team and the vision of the head coach and yourself and meanwhile these

spk_0 scouts have been grading for another coach and another organization so now you've got to try to change

spk_0 all that and you may lose some players I always feel like the first draft whenever you come

spk_0 into an organization is probably going to be your worst draft because you're behind you're dealing

spk_0 with a lot of information that you don't know about and that becomes a real challenge and you

spk_0 really don't understand what are the true problems of your team you know you don't have a sense of

spk_0 your locker room or you're taking information from a lot of different people and it may not be

spk_0 the right information. Yeah everybody's got a different perspective on that just in general that

spk_0 whole process is it's a lot it's a lot and so for the teams that are going through that with

spk_0 a be coach general manager could be both or not and say okay well we're going to keep the people we

spk_0 have but we have to do these things differently in order to get better that's that's a big decision

spk_0 as well is how is that going to move forward inevitably those situations are probably really one

spk_0 year deals yeah if it doesn't get fixed that year then kind of know what's what's going to happen

spk_0 that actually it's not like Tom Landry yeah you know at Dallas where you know he had a lot of time

spk_0 it just doesn't happen that way right there's too many elements coming at you at all time I got to

spk_0 go on the road get the senior bowl I got to do this and like with Matt said I think and you said

spk_0 this too if you don't handle what's urgent and what's important and you get caught up and I've got

spk_0 a higher running back coach or I've got a higher an offense aligned. Oh we got to do a lot of

spk_0 media interviews with every newspaper radio station in town and we have to hit those to snap

spk_0 and one of your own you can't miss those two right I mean the media requests are overwhelming

spk_0 not just the local media but now with the way the NFL is I mean you have a lot of national

spk_0 right people as well that want to do future stories and so forth and it's really the volume is

spk_0 it's a lot and you're right I think part of the biggest challenge is you know and I know

spk_0 and coach knows is you're not really prepared when you get the job you have this notebook that you've

spk_0 been working out of but it's all practical it's not reality and so now you're thrown into this

spk_0 and people are coming at you and saying knows a good thing because there's too much on your plate

spk_0 yeah the one of the toughest things that you can hear is a head coach is like hey do you got a second

spk_0 because you know that's not going to be a second but that person's coming to you with whatever's

spk_0 the most important to them at that time and you want to make sure you give them all the attention

spk_0 you can but those hours that those minutes they all stack and hey it's part of what the deal is as

spk_0 far as taking over or you know new head coach new GM it'll be interesting to say how you know

spk_0 the guy's transition that were first time head coaches and GM's last year into year two to the

spk_0 ones that'll be you know new head coaches or new GM's this year and how that all that unfolds in

spk_0 is I mean number one you're not relocating you're not bringing your whole family and process into a new

spk_0 environment find a house place to live figure out you know where you're going and what you're doing

spk_0 that's just another component of it but I think that one of the things that's going to be really

spk_0 interesting for several organizations is and it's the top of the media checklist is what's going

spk_0 on quarterback right and some of these quarterbacks there's much on the hot seat as the coaches

spk_0 right you know and so what's going to happen there and some of them will end up at other

spk_0 other places you know we already saw that really with Daniel Jones and you know he's changed team

spk_0 but might change again I don't know but those are the kind of things that are coach general manager

spk_0 starting quarterback right those are all really you know big decisions for the organization and

spk_0 probably nothing more in the spotlight than the quarterback right and most teams think if we

spk_0 fix the quarterback we'll fix the team when the approach should be how we best fix the team yeah

spk_0 because even if you fix the quarterback you might not have a good team and I think that's really where

spk_0 it comes back down to what we started this whole conversation with is identifying what is really

spk_0 the problem while you're winning you didn't get that job because everybody was bad there's a specific

spk_0 reason why you're in this new job and when we come back we're going to wrap up here on coach with

spk_0 some final thoughts well it's been a great season here on coach we've had a lot of great memories

spk_0 I know being in your office here coach experience and all the things that we've talked about building

spk_0 the team of coach with all the support staff that we've had here it's been a wonderful year breaking

spk_0 down the tape it really feels like we're we're back in the league altogether again yeah it really

spk_0 does the breaking down the college film Mike you took us through a lot of examples of that Matt we

spk_0 broke down some film we cut it up we I mean that took me back years and years and years with the

spk_0 projector get the splacer out again yeah I got the splacer the glue I mean the whole works and

spk_0 new rock ne'otograph randomly in a book is a highlight by far for me I mean that came out of nowhere

spk_0 we saw some zone blitzes we kind of got a good walk around the whole room here and covered a lot

spk_0 of ground it was really a lot of fun with the different topics that we hit yeah I mean so much fun

spk_0 just to kind of be together and know every week we're going to come in and be able to talk football

spk_0 you know our navy shout outs we actually predicted that one pretty good yeah so that one turned out

spk_0 the right way but all of the library stuff and the storytelling and honestly even the stuff off camera

spk_0 reminisce and talk about players and games you know that's so much fun for us just can't express

spk_0 the gratitude that I have you know coach for you for getting us together and allowing us to do

spk_0 this and watch and run tape and and just breaking down film and talking football and all the different

spk_0 kind of looks that we've had this year man just love this game and and love being able to do that

spk_0 with you that's it's been amazing you know and doing it here coach as you know this is a special

spk_0 place NFL films and we should honor the sable family because when you walk around this building the

spk_0 NFL would not be what it is without the Steve sable family and his dad and what they started over

spk_0 there at Franklin Field with a little 8 millimeter projector and what it has turned into this is a

spk_0 magical place and when you walk and see the pictures of the history of this game and the way they've

spk_0 honored the game and the way they've really taken great care of the game it's really remarkable

spk_0 and everybody that works here has such a great sense of pride for what they do and you can't say

spk_0 enough about the people that have helped us here yes Cody Dave Jordan and the crew here the crew

spk_0 NFL films has been fantastic and the access that they have they feed us they take good care of us

spk_0 it's really remarkable and we're like we're back in the league yeah we're getting films from 1930 and

spk_0 it's just a wonderful place to work and can't thank the NFL films crew enough for all that they did

spk_0 and the people that have helped us navigate this but it was it was fine I can't thank you guys

spk_0 enough for all the time that you gave us and in the insight that you've shared with with the

spk_0 viewers from you know your perspective it's it's certainly a look behind the scenes and a look

spk_0 into the into the type of things that we would discuss as a general manager as a as a head coach

spk_0 in our interactions and all and it was I know the fans enjoyed I've gotten a lot of feedback and

spk_0 I know they appreciate you know they love it they love it you're on snapchat and all that so I

spk_0 think that's all the good thing right yeah that's been that's been a new experience for me too so

spk_0 looking forward to the playoff games and you know the way this season's going to come out there's

spk_0 some good teams that are going to be banging against each other yeah and we'll we'll see how that goes

spk_0 thank you so much for being with us here on coach from map Patricia Bill Bellicek I'm Michael

spk_0 Lombardi we're going to enjoy the playoffs as we know you will

Hall of Fame & 2024 Recap | Coach Podcast

Interactive Transcript

Topics Covered

Related Episodes

Europa Universalis 5 Review

Happy Hour 562- She don't know who I is.

Hour 2: Friday Football Forecast

Game Scoop! 832: Our Favorite PS5 & Xbox Games

Share Episode