Hour 2 - Bill Cowher

00:00:00
Speaker 1: You are listening to The Dan Patrick Show on Fox Sports Radio Our two.

00:00:05
Speaker 2: On this Tuesday, we'll talk to Bill Cower. He'll join us in twenty minutes from now. More of your phone calls eight seven seven to three. DP Show email address Dpadanpatrick dot com, Twitter handle the TP Show. Good morning. Those watching this program, you can do so by downloading the Peacock app. NBA on NBC and Peacock. Every Tuesday in primetime coast to coast Tuesday, it's the Spurs and Thunder, then it's the Blazers and Warriors. It starts at eight Eastern on NBC in Peacock. Reggie Miller part of the broadcast. He'll join us coming up next hour. We'll have a new poll question today and more of your phone calls as well. Once again, Bill Cower will stop by the Steelers exit stage left. But it's more than just that. It's the future of Aaron Rodgers, the future of Mike Tomlin, and we spend a lot of time in the first hour talking about Aaron Rodgers won't have options, He may not even have the option of coming back to Pittsburgh. Unrestricted free agent Mike Tomlin will have options He'll have a lot of options. Is Pittsburgh one of those options? And does he hold those cards that if he wants to come back he can coach again next year in Pittsburgh. If he wants to do TV, he will have ample opportunities to do that as well. I don't see him coaching another team next year, but I do see him coaching Pittsburgh again, And if not, then he'll be in TV. All right, Satan, pull question from our one. Let's clean up the results on that, and what are we going to go with our two?

00:01:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, we had two of them up there. Has Aaron Rodgers played his last game?

00:01:42
Speaker 4: Yes? Or no?

00:01:44
Speaker 3: Eighty two percent say yes? And has Mike Tomlin coached his last game with the Steelers? That's fifty to fifty fifty point ones say no.

00:01:55
Speaker 2: It's about as close as you can get. Okay, I hope he still coach. He's a great coach. And I say this all the time. When you want change, who were you bringing in? Remember when Steeler fans couldn't stand their offensive coordinator? You brought in another offensive coordinator. And you want to bring in another offensive coordinator. You can have change, but you have to have correct change. Yeah.

00:02:26
Speaker 3: You know how we say all the time, like not every coordinator is a head coach. Yes, and you know some people go up and're like, man, you're not. It's a totally different job. Where Mike Tomlin's a head coach. Yes, he's not a coordinator. It's like Mike McDonald is. Mike McDaniels is not a head coach. I thought he was an offensive coordinator. Yeah, he might be, And I could see him if he went to Detroit. That's that's the kind of offensive coordinator you want who's not getting another head coaching job.

00:02:51
Speaker 2: And there was a report that they were interviewing or willing to interview with Detroit. I think that would be a wonderful hire for the Lions because when you get these coordinators, they want to be a head coach. But not everybody should be a head coach because it takes away from what you did really well, you're really good at this. Now you've got to be really good at all, or at least you have to be good, not great, at all of this. When you become a head coach. You've got to be overseeing the defense, special teams, offense, salary, cap all of this stuff. Draft sometimes when you go, all I have to do is worry about the offense. And if that's what you said that Mike McDaniel was going to be doing, I think with Detroit would be awesome, Yes, Marvin, But.

00:03:37
Speaker 5: How do you know if somebody's not a head coach or not if you don't give them the opportunity.

00:03:42
Speaker 2: I have to know about your personality, right, Like there's certain guys that when they go in they command a room. Now it might not be fair, but you are. You're the CEO, you're the face of the franchise. When you're at these press conferences, you're meeting with the media, you're performing. And they're guys who like Charlie Weiss, I didn't think he was a head coach, Romeo Crenell, I didn't think he was a head coach. Josh McDaniels, I didn't think he was a head coach. But these are really like Hall of Fame worthy coordinators. But you know what, I never thought Bill Belichick was going to be a great coach because I didn't think he had the personality to be a great coach to connect with people. But he became the greatest NFL coach of all time. Nick Saban. The more I was around him, the more I understood why he became a great coach. Mike Krzyzewski, the more you're around him, the more you realize why you became a great coach. And you know you command a room, You're you know, talking, You got to connect with players. It's it's running a company. You got to meet with the media. You got to put up with us, big plays, big moments. Now it's on you to make the call. Hey, I put the offense in place, what is the call? Coach? It's just different. And I've seen this so many times where I want somebody to get that opportunity. I'd hate to be in a position where there's a glass ceiling and I didn't get that opportunity. It's I got him gaze. I didn't think he was a head coach, you know, Robert sala I thought was gonna be a good head coach. I did Liam Cohane. I don't know enough about don't know enough about his personality. I knew he did a great job in Tampa. But because you turned Baker Mayfield around doesn't mean you're gonna be a great coach.

00:05:41
Speaker 5: Yes, Marv, but Robert Salad was the coach of the Jets. That's a moch You got to give him another shot. Vince Lombardi could have taken over that Jets team. It would have been gone in two years.

00:05:50
Speaker 2: Sala look like a head coach, Yes, okay, there's certain guys that look like a head coach. He got a great skull, you know, he just he had everything. He still head coachy. He still had Coachy for sure, head coachy. He said, coachy. Yeah, all right, we'll get phone calls coming up. Of course, the situation with the Steelers is fluid. As they like to say, when when do you need answers from h Well, you start with Mike Tomlin. Then do they know what their answer already is? On Aaron Rodgers and I you know, there was there was a fumble and Aaron Rodgers was down on the ground and then he's kind of getting back up, and it just felt like in that moment, if I had a thought, Bubble Rogers would be like, why am I doing this? What I mean, I wake up after a nap and have more energy getting up than Aaron Rodgers. It was just like, oh my god, I get older and they get younger. Was that dazed and confused. Every year I get older, they stayed the same as. Yes, that's Aaron Rodgers. These young guys coming in, man, and they are coming at you. He just not the guy that he used to be. And you know we can't expect him to be that. All right, we'll get phone calls coming up. By the way, there was a report yesterday on the mother Ship and it had to do with the college football playoff situation. And are we now it's a week from this Friday that they're going to be deciding if they're moving to sixteen games. Now, I told you six weeks ago, you know what they were. There were strong consideration for going to sixteen. I did say there's a caveat of the Big Ten wants to go to twenty four teams. So I told that to you six weeks ago. Nothing has changed. The Big Ten's push to go to twenty four remains the sole stumbling block for all of this. If the now this is from my source, if the SEC and Big Ten can't agree, we will stay at twelve teams next year. And nobody has any interest in that result, which means, in the world of college athletics, it's possible they stay at twelve and then he adds college athletics the prow Daily Study of dysfunction. Here was something that happened with Mike McDaniel. He's in the middle of talking to players, so this was when he was coaching the Dolphins at the end of the season. He's doing exit interviews with players. This is last Thursday. The owner interrupted the interview with this player or players to fire him. Wow, well that seems like John Harball's available. You're fired, Like, can't you wait till the end of the day. Maybe he is going to interview another player. Hey, Mike, you don't need to interview players anymore. Okay, you're you're You're fired. So I just got this information. Mike McDaniel was in the middle of a player exit interview last Thursday when owner Steven Ross interrupted him to fire him.

00:09:21
Speaker 4: Yes, Paul, imagine you're the middle linebacker in the room, you have twenty five and and the guy walks in. The owner goes, you don't have to call him coach anymore.

00:09:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, just call him. Mike called Michael just yes, Marmay, sorry to interrupt, not sorry to interrupt. Yeah, I'm not sorry to interrupt. I get your swipe card.

00:09:39
Speaker 3: Mike, Hey, uh, sorry interrupt fellas. Uh can I get you for a second?

00:09:45
Speaker 2: Uh, I'd like to be referred to as coach. Oh not anymore? Not anymore? Is that how you talk? Kind of like it does. There's a little bit of that Napoleon dynamite kind of and Steve Nash that I don't like life on Mars.

00:10:01
Speaker 4: I don't know. I think, yes, Marvin.

00:10:06
Speaker 5: This is a prime example why the Dolphins need to be in the same category as the Jets and the Browns as terrible dysfunctional franchises.

00:10:14
Speaker 6: Yeah, y, couldn't he do a little suggestion box then just slip a note under his door and fire and remove the awkwardness of it, And then when he gets around to bending down and seeing there's a note by the door, then he.

00:10:24
Speaker 2: Knows you're the king of the suggestion box. Though I think that would still.

00:10:27
Speaker 6: Be better, as awkward as that is.

00:10:29
Speaker 2: Then, in the middle of an intervieous PAULI, he imagine he walks in the room and says, bring your playbook.

00:10:34
Speaker 4: Not you?

00:10:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, not you. Wow, that's rough.

00:10:38
Speaker 3: We waited like twelve seconds after hearing that story from you before he started popping jokes.

00:10:42
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, hey, you know what, hope Mike gets the last laugh ends up with Detroit. We did invite him on. He's always been a good guest. So all right, a couple of phone calls in here, uh Bill in Houston. By the way, Fritzie has his Houston Astros jersey. You got sweat bands on, have.

00:11:04
Speaker 4: My Navy blue wrist bands. I figured why not?

00:11:06
Speaker 6: You know, the Texans won a big game, and I'm not a Texans fan, but for the city of h town, for a huge town, as I like to call them. Yeah, I get a little love to the city of Houston, not so much the Texans themselves.

00:11:15
Speaker 2: Okay, so you're adjacent, shout out to.

00:11:20
Speaker 6: Have anything Houston related. I always like to try to come up with a themed little outfits.

00:11:24
Speaker 5: That's what I try.

00:11:24
Speaker 2: Billain Houston h town, huge town is Fritzy likes to say.

00:11:29
Speaker 7: So there's irony that you just mentioned Fritzy because I was going to give a belated congratulations for his MVD LVD Awards at the end of the year. Well, my question to you, Dan is Fritzy the Mike Tomlin of the dan Ats good enough to win, but not good enough to win acquiring minds want to know.

00:11:52
Speaker 2: No, because he is super Bowl caliber at times, but then he's Cleveland Browns at times, so he he can win it all, but he can lose it all as well. Yes, Dodd, that seems very reasonable.

00:12:07
Speaker 4: It's a good assessment.

00:12:08
Speaker 6: It's quite the roller coaster ride it's been.

00:12:10
Speaker 3: Yeah sometime, Caleb Williams ish just not quite the age right where there's moments of like, nahin't it.

00:12:16
Speaker 2: Whoa that was unbelieva. You see what he just did? That was great, and then a bunch of I don't know, he's a home runner strikeout.

00:12:23
Speaker 6: When you want to pat me on the back, it turns into a fist.

00:12:26
Speaker 2: Or I've got a knife in yeah. Oh wow, Yeah, I'm gonna patch you on the back with a knife in my hand. Tony and Ohio, Hi Tony, what's on your mind?

00:12:35
Speaker 4: Hey Dan? How you doing good?

00:12:37
Speaker 2: Good? Good guy?

00:12:37
Speaker 8: I just got something real quick. I don't think Tomlin should be on the hot seat, you know, since the last two years of Roethlisberger. I mean, the Steelers actually didn't have a quarterback.

00:12:48
Speaker 4: They stink.

00:12:49
Speaker 8: If Tomlin had Lamar, you know, they might be playing for Super Bowls.

00:12:53
Speaker 2: Well, I don't think he's on the hot seat. I think if he wants to coach, he'll get to coach, and if he doesn't want to then he'll do something else. John Harball turns out was on the hot seat. I mean he got fired. I don't think Mike's getting fired. It might be hey, what do you want to do? And then hopefully Mike Tomlin says to the Steelers this is what I would like to do. This is what I think is best for everybody, This is best for me. So I don't view it as a hot seat. I think people, because we're talking about the Steelers need to move on from Mike, or there's been that narrative, then it kind of is viewed as is he on the hot seat. I just think that you know, you haven't won a playoff game in ten years, and less you're coaching for the Cincinnati Bengals. Most coaches get fired if you have that long of a drought. Congratulations we got into the playoffs. We have some nice consolation prizes. That's what it's been the last ten years.

00:14:00
Speaker 6: Yes, tom what do you want to do is a lot different than we want you back. If I'm in a place of employment. I want to hear you know what, we want you back. We still believe in you. I know there's been a lot of bumps in the road and not exactly where we want to be yet. But anything other than that feels like they're waiting for you, hopefully to say. They want you to say, like, yeah, maybe we part ways. They're giving you that opportunity to say yeah, maybe that's the end of it.

00:14:21
Speaker 2: Well, you could say it in a different way. You could say, we want you back. What do you want to do? Absolutely? Okay? Is that better?

00:14:28
Speaker 4: Yes?

00:14:29
Speaker 2: All right, mister sensitivity, And.

00:14:30
Speaker 6: It's just what do you want to do. It's like, you know, we leave okay, but you want to say I guess.

00:14:34
Speaker 2: But that happened to me at the Mothership when my former boss said all right, take it or leave it. And it bothered me that he said take it or leave it, because I'm like, man, I spent eighteen years here and you're saying take it or leave it. All right, I'm going to leave it, yes, Paulie.

00:14:52
Speaker 5: The other thing about the Tomas situation, it's gonna be interesting whatever decisions made the national coverage.

00:14:57
Speaker 2: Versus the local coverage. I think it's gonna be the opp Oh yeah. Locally, I'm sure they want to move on from Mike Tomlin, but he's got so many friends in the media and so many former players in so much respect that people don't want to come down hard on him. And I do think they overachieved this year. I didn't think they were that good. And I think I said, first team to nine wins is going to make the playoffs. All right, We'll take a break. Bill Cower, CBS analyst, former Steeler head coach. What does he think about the situation? Find out next.

00:15:34
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00:16:08
Speaker 2: Sports Radio on.

00:16:09
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00:16:14
Speaker 2: More of your phone calls coming up. Reggie Miller will join us. Coming up next hour, We make way for the Hall of Famer Bill kuer NFL Today on CBN's studio analyst Coach, Good to see you again. If I didn't see the game last night, how would you describe it to me?

00:16:32
Speaker 4: A tail of two halves. I think missed opportunities by the Pittsburgh football team in the first half. Two turnovers, they had taken away twice, and yet they were still losing at halftime. So I think it was kind of what we thought going in. There was going to be a defensive battle. This duo had the hardest team in football in Houston, Texans coming in with the nine game winning streak, arguably maybe the best defense as well. And as we talked about the team, no one really wanted to play. They lived up to that billing last night.

00:17:02
Speaker 2: What's the one question, the main question you would want answered today in regards to the Steelers.

00:17:09
Speaker 4: Oh, I mean, I think we have to sit back and assess where are we going from here? What is the plan moving forward? There was a lot of things I think we try to piece this football team together the last couple of years in terms of some of these free agents we brought in, which I understand, but I think now we have to have kind of a long term plan in place as to what we want to do. And it doesn't mean that you're going to lose a lot of these pieces. I think there was a lot of things that build on, but I think you need some kind of consistency on the offensive side of the ball that you can kind of take over to the next year. Now they can spare it to Arthur Smith to sit there and take the whole quarterback room and change it, the whole receiving room and change it and expect you just to pick up where you left off. And I think we try to piece this together. I think we have to philosophically go into this next year with the plan in place as of how we want to do this and if changes need to need to be made, and we didn't need to do that.

00:18:00
Speaker 2: If Rogers wanted to come back, what would you do if you were still the head coach?

00:18:05
Speaker 4: Uh D If everything I've heard and talk to people that are in that building, he's been exemplanatory. I mean he's he's been a tremendous leader, holding people accountable, playing at a high level. I think it's some of you have to kind of make sure that he's all in and one thing I would say, you could give him his time, but to be able to have a backup playing in place in terms of the development of the next person, and if you can bridge it with him for one more year, I think that would be ideal.

00:18:30
Speaker 2: What question would you have for the Steelers with Mike Tomlin?

00:18:35
Speaker 4: All of the those questions will be talked about. I think you can't be impulsive. I think you can't take nineteen years of being together and make a decision in nineteen hours. I think you got to make sure we sit back, take some time off, come together and again. You know, this will be something with art Omar and Mike will sitting in a room. They'll talk and what they see, I mean, they know it better than I know it from the outside looking in, and try to put in place a player moving forward. And if they can do this together, they'll do it together. And if they can't, they won't. So I mean, I think there's a lot of soul searching it needs to be done at this point. But I think Mike's earned the right to do that, and I think from a standboun standpoint, also Art and Omar have a chance also to talk about what's the direction that we have, So those conversations will be had. It's a long standing relationship. There's a lot of respect there. But Leslie saw in Baltimore sometimes these things have a life cycle when they come to an end.

00:19:28
Speaker 2: Well, that's what I was going to bring up. You know, they're parallels here, these guys, you know, kind of in the same position for the same number of years. Both have a Super Bowl win, but that was a long time ago. Not sustain success in the postseason. Baltimore moves on. Could you see a scenario where Pittsburgh does as well.

00:19:47
Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't think it's just been John Harball. I mean we talked about Pete Carroll there for fourteen years and he won a Super Bowl. You talk about Bill Belichick been there for twenty four years and they moved on. So you know, again there is a life cycle with everything. Again, I think there's a lot of respect and I think the people that have been there have the right to sit down and talk about what they want to do and so sometimes it becomes a partying of the ways, and sometimes it's in the best interest of everybody. So but again, those are things that I think you need to be able to sit down and make sure you put some thought into it and get a period of time where you can get away from it reflect objectively, not subjectively, and emotionally with what you're going through. I mean, listen, that was a that was a gut wrenching the loss that they went through. If they get there the week before the epitome of the highs that they had went in division. And also you sit there and it's seven days or eight days later, you sit there and you're eliminated and you're losing playoff games. It's like it's it's like a crash. Dan, You're going sixty five miles an hour. You're in this adrenaline rush and it's like hitting the wall and all of a sudden it comes to an end. So I think that's why it's really good to kind of back away and let the emotions of the moment seep into something and saying something or doing something that you may not give enough really thought into.

00:20:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, but Pittsburgh has been good enough to not be bad enough to get in a position to get somebody like a quarterback, a franchise quarterback they've been searching for a long time, and they get Aaron Rodgers on the tail end of his career, Russell Wilson on the tail end of his career. Like, there's no, it's not sustainable if you keep having musical chairs at that position.

00:21:23
Speaker 4: Well, I think the attempt was made with Kenny Pickett to do that. I think Mason rudolph attempt was to do that. And I think again, you're looking at also maybe looking at a roster where you were trying to kind of expedite that process because of you Cam Hayward, because of TJ. Watt, trying to make sure that they're in the prime of their careers and later part of their careers, and so you know. So I think there was an attempt to kind of have that sense of urgency. But also I don't think that they'd not because listen, they've got some young offensive lineman, they've got some young defensive linemen. I think Joey Porter Junior stepped up to be a very good defensive back. You got DK Metcalf now moving forward, so there's a lot of pieces in place right there. I think what you've kind of tried to do, I think again, was piece this thing together these last couple of years. And I think again that we've seen it before. There's been a lot of four win teams, and you know, everyone's looking for the quarterback. There's there's not like there's thirty two of them in the National Football League. There are still some guys even trying to prove themselves now in these playoffs, and these young guys. So you've got to be able to build a team around you that allows you to win and get into the playoffs, and you create that culture, create that expectation, and when that guy does come along, you don't build it around him. You insert him into that team. And that's how to me, that's what we were able to do with Ben Roethlisberger. And you know for many years, we won a playoff game with Neil donnod. We want a playoff game with Mike Thomas that we're going to a playoff game with Cordell Stewart, won a playoff game with Tommy Maddox. Do we get eliminated, Yeah we did, but we won a championship because we had a special quarterback that came in and got us over the hump. Defenses will get you into the playoffs. Quarterbacks will win your championships.

00:22:54
Speaker 2: So I got a Bill Coward the Hall of Famer. You stepped away from football? What were you forty nine or forty nine or fifty nine when you stepped.

00:23:02
Speaker 4: You're not going down You're not going down this path again, you know.

00:23:05
Speaker 2: I'm just I want to know what you thought as far as your coaching future when you stepped away from the Steelers. Like that week, if I would have asked you, what is your coaching future, what would you have said?

00:23:18
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, I love coaching. Into this day, I've got too much respect for it. My mind was a lot more involved with that Dan. It wasn't justifyed coaching. I made a decision that I prioritized my family and particularly my wife at the time, who needed me to be there. And it was a very It was a time where we moved to Raleigh. My my youngest daughter was going to tenth grade, and we made a commitment for three years with whatever we were going to do with our kids, because coaching could be one of those professions that I didn't want my kid going from three different high schools in their tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade. So they went down and so I coached that last year in Pittsburgh, and I sat back at the very end, and I think it was a case that did I love that team? Yeah? And it was a team. We didn't go to playoffs. Ben also had the off season injury, they had the accident, and we finished out six and two, and I knew it was a good team, was a good staff. But I had to sit down and prioritize my life from when I thought was important. And I had no regrets to this day having walked away. Did I think I would probably come back? I did, But the more I got involved with this life I'm living right now, the normalcy that was involved with my wife, who I had met and had been there before. I've enjoyed this platform and been on now at CBS for nineteen years because I do have normalcy. I do have an off season and I still love the game though, and I did miss coaching, and I still to this day at times I missed the strategizing of it. I talked to a lot of coaches around there. There's nothing better than the scheme up of blitz when you get a guy running free, you know, or buckets friends. And also we were going five wives when nobody was doing five wives in the Super Bowl against the Dallas Conboys because we're supposed to be a running team. I love to do what you didn't expect that the illusion of one thing and doing something else. That to me, with football is all about it's ess t day will miss that part of it. That's why I think it's what it's the greatest game that's out there. And so that being said, I love my life and I understand and respect the hours that these coaches put in the sacrifices that their families make as well, because it's more than just you, it's your family. Because I think your family during the football season becomes those guys that you're seeing every day you walk in there, and you're asking them to make the sacrifice and the commitment to what we're asking them to do. So it's those wives that are at home, they're right raising their families, and all of sudden, you have to bud back into that normalty degree of normalcy and in off season, even though there's not much of an off season these days for coaches, so it's a very demanding job. It's a very absorbing job. I respect that, understand that, and at the same time, it's the performance related job, and we all know the consequences that go with that.

00:25:47
Speaker 2: There's an opening on the NFL Today Scent. Could you see Mike Tomlin joining you on the set next year?

00:25:55
Speaker 4: I don't know. Hey, listen, He's welcome. Mike and I we could share a lot of worries, Like I have a lot of questions for him through his nineteen years bearly and talk that often. So I did. I actually left him a beer and the refrigerator, so I don't know if he does leave he's got I wonder if that beer is still there. I mean, might he might even still be. It's probably skunk by now. I'll just tell the next guy you might not want to open it. It's kind of like a just a memorable thing. Just leave it there.

00:26:20
Speaker 2: It might have been an Iron City.

00:26:23
Speaker 4: It was an Iron City. Yeah, actually I got I got now, I actually got a commemorative can I have to send you one. It's kind of my face on it, so you know, So, I actually I really feel like I made it in life. I got an Iron City beer. Can with my commemorative can, with my face on a beer can. What else can you do in life?

00:26:40
Speaker 2: Man? That's really appealing to be drinking a beer with your face staring right at me.

00:26:44
Speaker 4: Coach only, I'm gonna send you a six pack.

00:26:46
Speaker 2: So, uh, if you're John Harbaugh, what's the best place?

00:26:56
Speaker 4: I don't know if it was the best place. And there's a lot of openings right now. I think for John, he's going to go through it, and I think he has to sit down to see where he's most comfortable working with. You know, I look at the players. You can look at quarterbacks, well, who has a quarterback and who doesn't have a quarterback? But I look at John like you've done this with multiple quarterbacks. It's more about developing the team and building something that's got like you're talking about longevity, that's got sustainability, and that to me is being able to get with the front office that you can work with, that you feel comfortable with. There's transparency, there's also collaboration. There's also creativity and what you're trying to do in terms of what you have on your roster, who you want to bring in and a manner with which you want to do it, So I'm sure he'll have a choice of many just like Kevin Stefanski, I would think would have the choice of places to go as well. These are very successful coaches that had success in the National Football League. They're not like the first time head coaches. But there are a lot of really good first time head coaches as well out there. So listen, there's eight openings right now, and it's kind of like them. What it's usually is, it's it's you know, I love seeing young guys get getting opportunities for the first time, not just have to be offensive coordinators. A matter of fact, these eight teams now, Dan for these head coaches have defensive backgrounds. Okay, so just make sure leave the fact we're I'm looking for the offensive guru time. So sometimes developing a young quarterback to Bess and you do is have a very stout defense and a good running game and let them come along and a very nice posture with which you can develop them along the way and not ask me to do too much too early.

00:28:27
Speaker 2: You talked about raising two daughters. What were you like when guys were three daughter? Oh three daughters?

00:28:34
Speaker 4: Yeah, what were you.

00:28:35
Speaker 2: Like when guys came over to date your daughters.

00:28:40
Speaker 4: Well, I told them the same thing that I told my daughters and as I told my guys at the work, because I actually had the same theory three things, choices and consequences. So you got my daughter, choices and consequences. Just remember that. Okay. That's first and foremost the people you surround yourself with so I don't know, we're sure where you guys are going tonight is the people you surround yourself understand and recognize what you're walking into. Same thing with players, same thing with coaches. And the last thing and most important thing is understand something Nothing good happens after midnight, and I expect her back here by midnight. So there you go those three things.

00:29:21
Speaker 2: You treated these guys like they were your players in Pittsburgh.

00:29:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, because I like my I always said I had three daughters at home, I had fifty three boys at the work.

00:29:33
Speaker 2: Did you write it on a chalkboard? Did you diagram anything?

00:29:37
Speaker 1: No?

00:29:37
Speaker 4: I just I was always very good with my expression, so they knew. And I was not happy about the face because you knew. I wore my emotions on my sleeve, so that was never a problem.

00:29:48
Speaker 2: I remember asking Charles Barkley about that. You know, when somebody was going to come by, and he said, if I shoot the first, one word will get around. Don't come over here anymore. Not the greatest philosophy, but that's Barkley's approach to this.

00:30:03
Speaker 4: I think we get the idea.

00:30:06
Speaker 2: Give me who you like in the NFC, who you like in the AMC.

00:30:09
Speaker 4: Now, you know, it's so funny. I always go back to our run in two thousand and five and you start to look at some of the teams and I'm seeing two sixth seeds again. We were sixth seed, and I look at the Denver Brough Buffalo Bills. They played the third seed Jacksonville. We beat the third ce Seattle or Cincinnati. Our first round, the visional round, we had to play a net best team in the AFC. That was in Indanapolis COLTSU were fourteen and two. They're playing the best team in the AFC and Denver, and then we went on to play Denver in the championship game and if they weren't that we would have to go play in the Denver two seed. Who we did play to that would be New England. So in San Francisco, kind of same thing. I think these two teams, these wild card teams, I can think arguably you could say I think every one of them. You could look at and say Buffalo Josh Allen maybe put this cape on San Francisco. Right now, you're looking at a team that they're going against the Seattle Seahawks the third time they meet divisional game, so they know each other very very well. And Kyle Shanahan's got them playing very well. Last week. Robert Saali is taking this no name defense and they're playing the highest of levels. And then you look at houston best defense maybe left in the in the de and the team going up against the New England Patriots, and all of a sudden, you got Drake may is only a second playoff game. Then you may have the MVP staff for going into Chicago. So again, I think this weekend could match what I thought was one of the most exciting wildcard weekends last weekend. I think this league could be just as much even more so.

00:31:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, aside from the Chargers Patriots, everything else was crazy great.

00:31:51
Speaker 4: Yeah, and last night, and I think last night was another game that kind of got away in the second half. So but I think like you said, you had four game winning drives. You sat there and watch Caleb Williams do it. Then we saw Matthew Stafford do it. Then we saw Josh Allen do it. Then we saw Brock Purty do it. Four fourth quarter game winning drives. The lead change that went back and forth in the course of these games. That's what I'm saying this. The margin in the National Footbleague this year in the playoffs is more here. We've been first seed, sixth seed, seventh seed, they all right there, they're right there. I think any crew one of these teams could get on a run. As we can see right now, it can beat anybody on any given Sunday.

00:32:27
Speaker 2: Before I let you go, you saw the sort of handshake between Ben Johnson and Matt Lafleur, and you know he's embracing the rivalry. Did you have one of those moments with another coach that you know you just didn't? You did sort of a drive by with the handshake.

00:32:45
Speaker 4: Do you ever see our Baltimore games?

00:32:48
Speaker 2: So you wouldn't.

00:32:51
Speaker 4: You and Billick, like I said, watch our Baltimore games?

00:32:56
Speaker 2: But did you not like him or you didn't like the Ravens?

00:33:02
Speaker 4: They were all the same to me, Dan, they were all the same. One guy's leading, um, so I probably didn't like him because he was leading them. Okay, So I embraced robberies. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I hope right now that Matt stays there, Ben stays there, and it's cold and it's mad, and they don't even shake next time. They just wave and salute each other. And that's the way it should be. That's how robberies are made, because you know what, when you're two good teams fighting for that division, that makes those games special.

00:33:31
Speaker 2: But are you okay with Billick today? If you ran into Billick?

00:33:34
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, you know, we're great today.

00:33:36
Speaker 2: Okay.

00:33:37
Speaker 4: I was pray with him in the off season.

00:33:39
Speaker 2: On that particular day.

00:33:43
Speaker 4: I didn't like anybody even over there. I knew Kevin Byrd was a pr guy. He was a good friend of mine from Cleveland. On that particular day, stay on your side of field.

00:33:56
Speaker 2: You're fired up again, I got you.

00:33:58
Speaker 4: I know, yeah, thank you. I appreciate that. Robbers, there's nothing wrong with it. San Francisco, Seattle, watch that game this week, Kyle and Mike McDonald. Let's let's say we'll see it. They shall they shake after this game?

00:34:12
Speaker 2: All right, what are you gonna do the rest of the day.

00:34:16
Speaker 4: I don't know. Bobby watching tape up give up a blitzer too, somewhere along the way. I love this time of year. I'm gonna probably watch some of these games. I'll watch Pittsburgh, see what happened last night. But you know, but I I love it. I think this is the greatest time of the year for playoffs. You put all the hard work in, there's finality to it. One last thing to just leave you this. I do this, pet Peete. The fourth downs. Okay, I think the one thing we talk about it. I'm okay with analytics, but fourth domes when you don't go for it, and you you go for it early in the game and you don't make it, you lose momentum. And momentum is one of those metrics that you can't quantify. Momentum creates pressure. Okay, you create momentum. You put the pressure on them every time. That's what momentum does. It creates pressure. And trust me, playoff pressure is greater than regular season pressure. So anytime I have a chance to take the points, pin them down in there and make them go ninety yards and punt the ball. I'm putting the pressure back on you. So I think, to me, we stay focused, cold, calm, and collect. Trust our special teams, trust our defense, trust our offense, trust our kicker. Any chance I have to put pressure on you, which is take momentum. Control the momentum because I just scored or I pined you, I'm going to see I'm gonna seize it. And so that to me is one of those things. Never lose a feel for the game. I get the regular season because there's always next week, and these things tend to even out. They don't even out in the playoffs. There's finality. And to me, the biggest thing is that momentum is one of those metrics you can't quantify, and playoff momentum is greater than regular season momentum.

00:35:56
Speaker 2: You take a laugh.

00:35:58
Speaker 4: Okay, yeah, I'm gonna watch them Tames, go.

00:36:00
Speaker 2: Take a long. Thank you, coach, thank you, thank you, thank.

00:36:03
Speaker 4: You, thank you for loving, thank you, thank you for leading event. Thank you.

00:36:06
Speaker 2: You're welcome. You're welcome. I'm here. I'm here for you, a therapist. Let's Bill Kaller, All of Famer. I'm always ready to play whenever he comes on, like I'm ready. I can't play, but i'd be ready to play. We'll take a break here, your phone calls coming up, and an interesting situation with at least one player on the live tour. Coming back to the PGA Tour, Reggie Miller in about forty five minutes from now. Take a break. We're back after this.

00:36:34
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen.

00:36:45
Speaker 2: Live stat of the Day brought to you by Panini America The Official Trading Cards of the Dan Patrick Show. Actually, we just got a package, a shipment from Panini America Trading Cards Draft Picks. I got a Dan Marino the University of Hitsburg card gorgeous, so you can check out all the great stuff from Panini The Official Trading Cards of the Dan Patrick Show.

00:37:09
Speaker 3: Yes, I just I'm sorry. I never thought I would see the day, but you fired Paul in the middle of the show. I didn't have to comment on this. It was just I feel it's out of line, Dan, and I'm sticking.

00:37:18
Speaker 2: Up for Paul. I'm walking off. No, paul Paul's under the weathered show did not. I'm treating him the way I would treat Mike Tomlin with respect, and he decides what he wants to do. Paulie said that he was under the weather and he said that he had to tap out. You know, I've known Paulie for over twenty years. I don't think he's ever called in sick. I don't I don't remember any time that he didn't go the distance. But this morning he said, hey, I'm not doing well, can't keep anything down. And I said, all right, well, this show's not going to help your digestion, certainly with Fritzy, and so he said, I'm going to try to get two hours in. And so if you're watching, Paulie is not in his seat, and uh, hopefully he'll be back. He'll be back tomorrow. Knowing paul I saw her Brooks Koepka coming back to the PGA tour. How about that, eh. Now, there's some things that he has to do. He has to make a five million dollar charitable donation ineligible for the FedEx bonus payout, no sponsor exemptions for these signature events. So John Rahm Rice and d Shambo and Cameron Smith are the only other live players who were eligible to come back to the PGA Tour. And I think what they the announcement was it's a one time only And there had been reports that Brooks Koepka was hoping to come back. I can't see Deshambo doing that. Rom I thought that he might come back. Cameron Smith, I don't see him coming back. These guys, you know, you got to travel the world. And before you say wow, you get to travel the world, you still travel the world as opposed to pretty much just the United States for these these guys who play on the PGA Tour. But I don't know where we're headed with this. You know, it's I don't think you can have both of these and continue to have both of these. But you know, they're changing the format for live. I mean the format was silly. Now, Hey, we get to wear shorts and we play loud music and we you know, play three rounds not four rounds. Like that doesn't mean I want to watch you. I want to watch the best golfers go against each other. I want to have them play in the big events. I don't care about an event in Singapore or Sri Lanka or any of that. Do you want to make your money, make your money, and if you get the opportunity to play in majors, then you get the best of both worlds. But Brooks Koepka, you know, and he hasn't been healthy, he's had knee issues, but still he's a great player. Yeah, Seaton, it's not a bad return on investment though. Perhaps No.

00:40:06
Speaker 3: If you you step away for a couple of years, bank a quick like one hundred and seventy five million and then come back, I guess.

00:40:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, I sign up for that. That's pretty good. The colonel in Tampa, Ey, Colonel.

00:40:19
Speaker 9: Dan and Dannis have another year? Hey, Dan, I know nothing about sports. So just two uninformed, ignorant questions. One, why not let Aaron and Mike Kim Steelers have another year, especially if they do have a thirty three million dollar cap space and Dan, that's one more year to develop Mason Rudolph.

00:40:40
Speaker 2: Win win, all right, Colonel Uh, I don't know. I don't think Mason Rudolph's the future. I don't think so. If Mike Tomlin wants to come back, great, right, that's between him and the Steeler organization. They built up. You know that trust. You know you got to do right for both the franchise and the coach. Do I think Mike Tomlin if he coaches, is coming back, Yes I do. Would I be shocked if he did TV, I would not. Reggie Miller will join us. More of your phone calls as well. Final Hour this Tuesday. Right after this