Hour 2 – College Football Needs a Commissioner, Bill Cowher

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

00:00:04
Speaker 2: It's our two on this Monday, Dan and the Dan It's Dan Patrick Show. Fritzy's here, fresh off the Broncos win last night, Dylan in for Seaton, Marvin Pauli Ers truly and the brg's football coming up tonight, the Giants getting seven and a half at the Patriots. Here. Bill Kauer will join us coming up in about twenty minutes from now. Your phone calls as always, especially in a Monday, Best and Worst of the weekend, What you liked you didn't like? Age seven to seven three DP Show operator Tyler is sitting by. Stat of the Day has always brought to you by Panini America, the official trading cards at the Dan Patrick Show. The calendars, get them while you can while supplies last. Great for holidays. Stocking stuff for autograph non autograph calendars available at Danpatrick dot com. Also check out the Tailgate store. You can see how you can get an autograph calendar with select Tailgate Moonshine purchases. Right, we have a poll question from hour one Dylan doined the honors, and then we'll get one for hour two.

00:01:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, so recapping Dan. If you're the ole miss ad, would you have let Lane kiff It coach the playoff seventy seven percent?

00:01:11
Speaker 2: Say no, yeah, and keep sing be more than that.

00:01:15
Speaker 3: It should be one hundred.

00:01:17
Speaker 2: Well, not a hundred. I get that, but I would say a good ninety percent. You don't know he can't coach. We don't. We're not gonna let you take a victory lap here. Hey, look at what I did. Now see, I'm gonna take some of these coaches in, some of these players. No, you don't. You don't think they can win a national championship. That's part of the reason why you're leaving. Go you go, What else do you have?

00:01:41
Speaker 3: Well, simply will lsu win a national title with Lane Kiffin at the helm?

00:01:46
Speaker 2: Yes?

00:01:46
Speaker 4: Or no?

00:01:49
Speaker 2: To make the story even juicier, I'm gonna say yes. They probably thought that was Brian Kelly too. I did not. I did not, not even a little bit. No, I did not. No, I'll leave it at that. I didn't have a good feeling when he was going there.

00:02:09
Speaker 3: What about pre fake Southern accent?

00:02:15
Speaker 2: Maybe I was more all in with before the fake accent than when I had the fake accent. I went, oh, my goodness, what are we doing here? Haven't Eve won all my games? Do you remember when we dismissed the Dolphins? They've won four or five? How about the Texans, they've won four in a row. Maybe the Niners with all those injuries, don't they have nine wins this season? How about the Cowboys? See this is what happens with hot takes where he loved to kick somebody the curb or you're going to make this proclamation this guy is this good or this team is this bad. That's what we do. We do that weekend and we count because we can't let something just percolate a little bit. Everything's on the front burner. Sometimes it should be on the back burner. It's going to take a little while before this is done. But the Texans have a great defense. Texans in Seattle, those defenses, man, are they great? Now? Can you get some offense? That's really the key. And you're seeing that Seattle has the second best Super Bowl odds right now, and I think that would surprise some people. But granted, they beat up on an undrafted free agent quarterback and Max Brosmer. He threw four interceptions, including a pick six, But Seattle is really good and in that ballpark, that stadium, they are dangerous, yes, Paul.

00:03:49
Speaker 5: And you can also I always do this at grade teams by point differential. The Seahawks have outscored their opponents by one hundred and thirty three points this season. Tampa Bay's in first place, there's seven to five. They've been out scored by twenty two points. The Bears had the same record as the Seahawks. They've only outscored the oppontents by six points. It's almost like not a strength to schedule, but almost like a power ranking with the point differential.

00:04:12
Speaker 2: This is the first time in NFL history five division races either tied or within a half game through Week thirteen of a season. Also, this happens every single year. There are eight teams who are five hundred or better that missed the playoffs in the previous year. Patriots, Seahawks, Bears, Niners, Jags, Colts, Cowboys, and the Panthers. And the Panthers got my attention because I watched a lot of that game and I thought, all right, Matthew Stafford, you're going to add to those touchdown totals, and then all of a sudden, that's a pick six, and I thought, uh, oh, Carolina is not going to go quietly here and give them credit. And Bryce Young played really well, and yes, I know I might have to eat my words. I like Rice Young. I just don't know if he's a franchise quarterback. But when he needed to, he did it. Carolina is now seven and six, their best record through Week thirteen since twenty seventeen. Also, oh, and I was probably critiquing the trade itself because they gave up an awful lot to be able to draft him number one. And Caleb Williams has played well and a lot of times, you know, quarterbacks are measured against each other, especially if they're in the same draft. But you know these comebacks here, that's eleven that he's had. That's the most in NFL history for somebody his age, and going toe to tow against the Rams team that can win the Super Bowl, that's very, very impressive. All right, So we have a new poll question for hour two. Bill Cowher will join us more of your phone calls as well. Lane Kiffin being introduced today at LSU, and I spend a lot of time in the first hour talking about this situation. College football has an issue here and it feels like college football always has an issue. You know where the transfer portal and NIL coaches can go, they can go during the season. College football needs to have a commissioner. Greg Sank needs to say, let me oversee this so we don't continue to do stupid things. And that's really what's happening here. You got to have somebody in charge who's going to say, here's our transfer portal, here's the money with NIL, here's the collectives, here's when a coach can talk to another school. No coaches can leave during the season. I mean, these are things that need to be cleaned up. It's not just Lane Kiffin. He's just the latest, and there'll be somebody else, and then somebody else and somebody else. But college football. You want to expand the playoffs so that means more coaches who are maybe in the playoffs could be leaving for another school. North Texas is playing two Lane this next weekend. Both coaches already gone to new schools. Lane Kiffin was going to host a playoff game and he's going downsu crazy. And that's why when all I keep hearing about the last couple of years, all the kids are ruining. No they're not.

00:07:34
Speaker 5: No, they're not. The grown ups are ruining it. Yeah, and we've said this one hundred times. If there was a commissioner of college football, he wouldn't let Alabama play Wofford on November twelfth.

00:07:44
Speaker 6: It wouldn't happen. Those games.

00:07:46
Speaker 5: You know, they don't happen all the time, but that would never be allowed to happen. Scheduling person.

00:07:52
Speaker 2: So college football. You know, Texas may not make the playoffs, but Texas is on my short list if you don't want to play Texas, and this should be the goal of the college football Playoff Committee. I want the best teams that I can put in there. Now some are automatic qualifiers, but these other teams, the at large, Texas is really good right now, and I can't. Let's say they didn't play Ohio State to start the season. Let's say Texas had two losses. Do we look at Texas differently and the answer is yes, Oh, they got three losses. Nobody gets into the playoffs with three losses. Who are the better teams? Notre Dame don't want to play them, but they're going to get in. Virginia might get in. North Texas might get in. I know We love the participation trophies where when you won your conference, so come on in and you won your conference. I want you to be the best teams. And I don't know if we always get that, but I hope we're getting better at getting the right twelve teams in there because that's what we want. I mean, I love honoring somebody who had a really good season, but if we're playing for the national championship, I gotta have the twelve best teams. And do I think Texas is one of those teams? Yes? I do. Yeah.

00:09:21
Speaker 5: Pulling the Miami Notre Dame thing is really interesting. Miami's won four in a row. Their two losses are to SMU and Louisville. Those aren't great, but they only lost them by a total like eight points. It feels like Miami's gonna get host.

00:09:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I can't punish Notre Dame. They played Miami at Miami and they lost to A and M on a last second total down. That's a really good team. Now, granted they played Stanford, but that's a really good team.

00:09:51
Speaker 7: Yes, Marvin, this might be recncy mice because of how Miami's performed the past maybe fifteen years. If this was two thousand and one. Miami's not getting hosts, correct.

00:10:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're not. No, but they're not anywhere near that kind of team. Oh no, no, I know.

00:10:06
Speaker 7: I'm just talking about the reputation of the U in twenty twenty five as opposed to the late nineers or even early aughts.

00:10:13
Speaker 2: But Texas is a really good team and to beat A and M and Arch looked really good. He didn't look good started the year. He looked a little bit overwhelmed, but he has played extremely well. Did talk to an NFL source who said Arch Manning would be the number one pick in the draft if he was coming out now, I can't, but he would be the number one pick. Well, he can after this year, right, He would be junior eligible if you wanted to.

00:10:41
Speaker 6: Yeah.

00:10:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, So my source said, I think he would be the number one pick in the draft. Do I think he's a great quarterback?

00:10:49
Speaker 6: No? Do.

00:10:49
Speaker 2: I think the name and sort of the potential and there's no great quarterback in this draft when you think about it now, we thought it was. We thought that, oh man, this is a quarterback. Rich Mendoz is really good.

00:11:03
Speaker 6: But I didn't.

00:11:05
Speaker 2: My source said, there's nothing that jumps out at you. But that that's not a bad thing. It's that he doesn't have a weakness. He just may not have that. Oh my gosh, look how great he is. So uh but Archie will probably stay for another year. Yeah, Paul, it's so so tough.

00:11:23
Speaker 5: I don't want to push the arch Manning narrative because there's been no information to say he's going out. The New Orleans Saints right now have the second pick of the draft. The Titans have the first pick, and you would think that they're not taking a quarterback. But man, can you image if Neworleans is sitting there at two unlikely?

00:11:43
Speaker 2: Well, you know, and he wouldn't beat out Shudoor Sanders with the Browns of course if he went there. Just joking, Yeah, I'm just joking. Just add a little levity there to the Shoudore Sanders situation. Uh, not a good not a good day for him or the Cleveland Browns. Yes, Paul, I want to go back to that. If arch Manning was eligible in this draft, the Tentacles he is. I'm sorry.

00:12:11
Speaker 5: If he was out for this draft, he was, he was including this draft. You got the Tennessee Titans who would love to have a Manning on their roster. You have the New Orleans Saints, which seems like destiny. Then the Giants right now have the third pick. I know they have Jackson Dart so they're not doing it, man, they would have wanted to. Then it goes Vegas Cleveland and the Jets have the seventh pick.

00:12:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, man, oh man, there's some teams that you know need quarterbacks there. But I don't know, you know, you're trying to figure all of this out and uh, but what you're seeing with Arch Manning is it's a nice little comeback for him. I think sometimes, you know, once again, we watched him in September and he didn't look good, and then all of a sudden you forget about him. And then all of a sudden you watch the A and M game and you go, okay, I mean got to acknowledge he wasn't going to you know, take the easy pass and you know, be in the hov lane right to the Heisman. But I think he is, he's done. He's done well in this comeback here. Yes, yes, Tom, But you always.

00:13:13
Speaker 4: Say in terms of the draft, you know you get don't get a quarterback, get your quarterback. If you're not in love with the guy. If that's not your guy, look at another position. Just to pick someone just to check the QB box as a detriment.

00:13:25
Speaker 2: Well, we have that every year. It feels like, you know, somebody will go all right, let's take that quarterback. Let's go up and get that quarterback. Now they are trying to get their quarterback. I just think sometimes you reach. The quarterback should be there that you can't pass up, you know, like Atlanta, I just didn't. It felt like a reach since you spent all that money on Kirk Cousins, and I don't Michael Pennix could turn out to be the next Steve Young. But I've seen too many teams take a quarterback because well we got to go get one, and you're right, some aren't. I mean, we thought Shudoor Sanders was a top three pick. Right in the draft. Dion was saying, hey, you know, I'm telling these teams DoD draft him a week before. It's like, oh, man shouldor it's gonna go first round, of course, and then all of a sudden, the scouts get to look at him, they do their interviews, they do their due diligence, and then but we created we the media, it's like, man, he's awesome, and then when he drops to the fifth round, we're like, what's wrong with him? Okay, we overinflated him because we got caught up in Shador Sanders in the name, and maybe he turns out to be a good quarterback. I'm glad that he's getting a couple of starts here because be fair to him and Dylan Gabriel, because if you move on and get another quarterback, at least you've given them the opportunity.

00:14:53
Speaker 7: Yes, Marvin, do you think Archman he might turn into a Shadoor situation from the fact of all right, we'll get him be because of the name and because of who's related to. But he might not be as good as we think he is. But he's a great story and he's gonna lead Sports Center in every other show.

00:15:10
Speaker 2: Well, I don't want that. I don't want a great story or a covered story because I do think that this will come back and hurt Shador Sanders, that he might be viewed as a Tim Tebow kind of quarterback that he's either starting or you can't have him on your roster because he's gonna get so much attention here.

00:15:28
Speaker 7: Yeah, Mark, But that happened with Quinn yours in Ars Manning. Well, is Arch gonna get in the game? So that might be the same situation because and it's not there for Well, it's not Arch's fault. Arch is just trying to be out there and be a good teammate and play. But because of his last name, the cam, the camera's gonna be on him no matter what.

00:15:47
Speaker 2: It's our fault. We're the ones who do this. Everybody clamoring for Shadoor Sanders, when's he gonna get in?

00:15:53
Speaker 6: Huh?

00:15:53
Speaker 2: Can I get is he gonna Does he get the game?

00:15:55
Speaker 6: Ball?

00:15:56
Speaker 2: I mean, why didn't you get the game? He didn't get the first first rount, first team raps? Like what's going on here? So we're the ones that create this, Yes, Paul, I.

00:16:06
Speaker 5: Think that the NFL teams will look at Arch Manning not for his upside before his lack of downside, like he is a safe pick. It's hard to picture a Manning quarterback not working out to some level, almost like remember when Chris Long was the number one pick of the draft out of Virginia and that was a draft that didn't have an alpha dog, a clowny type player, and I think they took Chris long because of his family lineage, and they said, well, he'll be good for a long time, and it's a very safe pick.

00:16:32
Speaker 2: All right, let me take a break. I got Bill Kauer set to join us coming up. Yes, Marvin, don't make coach angry this time. I think he likes getting fired up.

00:16:45
Speaker 8: I do.

00:16:46
Speaker 2: Sorry for the cold, it still reom mains here, so trying to plow through this. All right, we'll take a break back after this.

00:16:54
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00:17:04
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00:17:34
Speaker 2: Eight seven to seven three DP show. Get some more phone calls coming up, best and worst of the weekend, which you saw that you liked, you didn't like, Giants getting seven and a half at the Patriots coming up tonight. Hall of Fame coach Bill Cower NFL Today on CBS Studio analyst. You grew up in the Pittsburgh area, But I was curious about the added pressure of coaching your team that you grew up with not wanting you know, so there's enough pressure there, but now you're going to coach the Steelers. How much added pressure was there with that job title?

00:18:10
Speaker 6: Well, I mean, I think when I first got the job, I told you, damn. I first thought when I went back to Kansas City after I was offered a job, and I laid in bed that first night and I said, Wow, if I don't screw this up, I can go back to my twentieth high school class reunion as the head coaching company. So my first goal was not to get fired in those first three years. The pointing back there through the course of that time and just seeing what Chuck had done with that team and how that the renaissance of the seventies uplifted that whole city. It was almost a responsibility I had, but it's also like a connection that you had with the people that were there. And you know, I identified with the heart, the lunch pale, hard working people, the blue collar element of it. I worked in steel mills. I always had a summertime job in Pittsburgh, so I understood what they were looking for. They're very passionate fans, very knowledgeable fans about football, and so through the course of time, it was more of a responsibility. I felt like I had to represent that city.

00:19:15
Speaker 2: What do you make of the fire Mike Tomlin chance that we heard yesterday towards the tail end of that performance.

00:19:21
Speaker 6: Well, I mean, like I said, they're very passionate fans, and you know, and I think it's you know, listen where they are right now. They're six and six. They've not played very good football these last you know what, two and five in the last seven games. So it's it's a scenario. But the fact of the matter is, we know, with five games ago, they still have a chance to win their division. They're not trending in the right way I thought, I think on either side of the ball, and going up against Baltimore Ravens, now they got them two more times, they got still played the Detroit Lions, the Cleveland Browns, and Elison still got played to Miami Dolphin. So we'll see what happens. Think again, you know, the results will speak for themselves. But I think from Mike's standpoint, I know one thing. He's not gonna let the outside noise influence or how he's going to change his approach to this next game. He knows it's a lot on stake. They're not playing great football right now. He's got to find a way to rally that group and get them to believe that they still have a chance to win this division.

00:20:21
Speaker 2: Did you get fire chance when you were there in Pittsburgh.

00:20:26
Speaker 6: Ilder, I got a fire chance, But I think that I was. You know, there were some people that when you when you had to lose a year and you walk past them, people start to whisper before they say, hey, coach, great to see him. When they start, when they start whispering, Dan, you know, it's probably not a good thing. So when you walk by and people are whispering, that's probably a good sign if things are not going that well. When they walk by and it's going well, they going hey coach, great job, good luck, Hey love what you're doing. Hey might want to throw the ball a little bit more. Okay, gotcha. You know you're right on. So I got to the point, actually, I said, you know, my point is when we won, I had no problems stopping the way home from gas getting gas. When we lost, I waited till I kept the night was dark. It was by ten thirty eleven. That was yes, And I didn't want to hear about it. Honestly, in the morning on the way to work, Like you know, I didn't want to hear about anyone because they would Everybody would pull up right next to me. They would be act like they're pulling up their their their gas tank was absolutely full. They wou't even put the nozzle in. They would stand there in front of their cars and tell me everything that I should be doing. We're not running the football enough. You're too conservative. You like we have nobody's rushing the quarterback, and like you need to make some changes on that team and even with their coaching staff. Now that we go yes, yes, yes, and yes, you're probably right, I need to reevaluate.

00:21:45
Speaker 2: What kind of job offers or feelers did you get when you were with the Steelers. How often does that happen on an NFL level.

00:21:53
Speaker 6: Oh, I I never even entertained. I don't think it doesn't. It doesn't happen at all. I think once you're with when you're with a team, like you're trying, you're just trying to win year to year. You know, my my, my fear of failure far exceeded my desire to win. I did not want to fail and get fired. I mean I that was always over top of my head. And I just knew results oriented business and if you didn't produce, you're gonna be asked to move on because that's just the nature of that profession. So I understood that getting into that profession. But you know, you never think about the next job, at least I didn't from my standpoint. I again, I've been in one place for a long period of time, Dan, I was in Pittsburgh for fifteen years. I've been in the CBS for nineteen years. I'm not the kind of guy that's looking for the grassby and greener. On the other side, I like to be appreciated. And if I appreciated you and get the very best of me, and you know what, I appreciate being able to go to work well. I am appreciated, but.

00:22:50
Speaker 2: It's standard procedure in college football. Now, why is.

00:22:53
Speaker 6: That, I don't know, I go back. I think it's I think it's the lack of structure that the NCAAA has right now in terms of these timetables, in terms of the pool, the transfer a portal that takes place, allowing coaches to leave before they're an end of their contracts to go to other places. It doesn't happen in the NFL. There's a very there's a very discipline structure that we have, there's a salary cap, there is a time from free agency that happens afterwards. You know, head coaches aren't going to be able to go from one team to another because you're not even talking to another team. Now, the biggest thing in the NFL to me, the problem that you have, if you indeed it is, and I didn't think it was, was your assistance because at the end of the season and you're in the playoffs, the assistants have an opportunity to talk to other teams. But I always looked at that as a feather in your cap. And I always thought to him because I know when I was getting an interviewed at times that you know what, my resume is being put on that table with that playoff game. So I was more inspired to do well in that playoff game as opposed to thinking about putting your staff together, thinking about you know what you're going to do and your mind isn't on the game. I don't think that's the case. So I don't think think we have that in the National Football League. I think the NCAA is really it's the wild, wild West. I've said that out there. I said it yesterday, went on a little bit of a rant. It's just a problem for me is that the people that get lost in this are the are the players and the message we're sending to them, the lack of trust that they're going to start having it in our institutions, in our systems, because you know what, that's what we're going to lose if you're telling them one thing and you're doing another thing. And any other part of that is the entitlement that we now are doing with young players. When a quarterback is making four million dollars a year and the alignments up there has got a four year scholarship is getting paid nothing. Okay, but because you know what one percent of the people in college are going to play pro teaching life lessons about what business is like, what going into the next level of life is about responsibility, having a job, working for someone and having the fs mAbs to a boss and work your way up the ladder. You know, sometimes you're not gonna get entitled to something because you think you decide a part of it. You may have to work for a long period of time to get that opportunity. There's nothing wrong with a good work ethic, a degree of saying, you know what, I'm going to compete for whatever I need to compete for, because you know what, that will serve you better in wife than being entitled and been handed something that really to me is they're too young to be given that kind of money.

00:25:21
Speaker 2: If you were the old miss athletic director and Lane Kiffin said to you, hey, I want to coach this team in the playoffs, you would have said.

00:25:30
Speaker 6: You decided to go to LSU, thank you and goodbye. What Let you come here. Let you come here for the next month and talk about how great LSU is over Mississippi. You kid me, seriously, to even ask for that question is like, that's an arrogance. You know, that's arrogance. I think what happened there is a disgrace to the coaching profession because I would just say this, the coaching professions by developing young men. It's not about chasing the green or grass somewhere else. It'd be an angulance chaser and go, oh, I can fix you, and then when you fix that, let me go here and fix that. It's about developing young men. It's about trying to create tradition, pageantry for the institution that you work for. We had robbery weekend. We just came off of what's a robbery anymore? What's the conference anymore? I'm telling you we're losing some of the very core fiber of things that we have grown up loving about college football, and we're watching it to tier right right before our eyes.

00:26:27
Speaker 2: Talking to Bill Cower, the Hall of Famer and Super Bowl champ with the Steelers. You know some of these teams we rode off back in September, maybe in October, like the Texans, the Dolphins, the Niners with their injuries.

00:26:43
Speaker 6: How about the Cowboys.

00:26:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, well, I mean they're dangerous. I don't know if they have enough time, but you know, you beat the Chiefs and the Eagles over a span of four days, you have to get everybody's attention there, coach, I would.

00:26:59
Speaker 6: Think so the job that Brian Shotenheimer has done through the course of everything that they've dealt with down there, you know, and hey, I would love to see the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs, okay, because I want to know for once and farm because they met once and it was a time who was right, Micah Parsons or Jerry Jones? So to get me into the playoffs where we can't end this thing in a time?

00:27:23
Speaker 2: Do you think they both won? I do?

00:27:27
Speaker 6: I do? I think? You know, we sat there and criticized Jerry all this time for what he did, but I think going on getting Quentinn Williams, Overshawn came back, you know, and and Wilson came in, and all of a sudden, now these last three games, this defense has taken on a different identity. Matt Eberflus say, Jerry stayed with him, Brian has stayed with him. I think Brian has called an amazing offensive games weekend and week out. The offense is playing at a very high level. I think they're playing with a lot of confidence. And I think the question is, as you stated, Dan, is that today dig themselves too big of a hole. I don't know, but I know there's still five games left for these guys and anything can happen, because I think that it's really shrunk right now. The National Football League, their parody has never been greater. Every team that you think is on top. We saw the Rams get beat by Carolina. We saw last night the Denver Broncos get taken to overtime by the Washington Commanders, and who knows what's gonna happen to night with New England and the New York Giants. So I think the NFL was in a tremendous place from the standpoint that it's going to go down to the final weeks, and I think for the first time we may have a seventh seed and maybe two seven seeds that could win in the wildcard round.

00:28:39
Speaker 2: Was it tough as a coach tougher to understand your quarterback or the wide receivers that you.

00:28:44
Speaker 6: Had, they go, they go hand in hand. I think the wide receivers, you know, I think the quarterback is going to touch the ball every game, every play. The wide receivers you got kind of like you got to massage them a little bit because you want them to block for you, You want them to do the dirty work, but you better give them the ball a little bit too. So like trying to be able to keep people happy is like the job that I think of a coordinator to duke and the guy involved early for the quarterback to do to make sure he can massage all the egos that's in there in that huddle that he's got because a lot everybody wants to have the ball at the end of the game, and really the only one that's gonna have the ball to begin every play is going to be that is going to be that uh that that quarterback. So I just think the quarterback is becomes a reflection of the head coach at some point, and I.

00:29:31
Speaker 2: Think, Ben, are your wide receivers, Well.

00:29:37
Speaker 6: I didn't let the wide receiver they didn't bother. Ben drove me crazier because I hated me because he had to be a reflection of me. Dan. So that's what I'm saying. I didn't worry about I didn't worry about the wide receivers like they're gonna they're gonna be mad, they're gonna they're gonna say all these things. That's fine, I get it. They know they want the ball, they want it for all the right reasons. But the quarterback like, you guys, you gotta think like me, that like and so it's like that's the one and at times I gotta let them be them too. So I said to a fine line, a give and take, you know, And that's so, that's that's the guy that's gotta be reflecting you. I think there's no great example that. And you're seeing bow Nicks and Sean Payton. I think they they are working hand in hand, and Sean appreciates bo and but I'm sure Sean wants to stay on bow to try to get him to be able to be that you know, toughling guy that's gonna be really good in the tough situations. And so it's, uh, it's kind of fun to watch these young quarterbacks evolve with these with the with their coaches.

00:30:35
Speaker 2: I thought it was funny you told the story where Ben acted look like he couldn't hear you when you were calling you.

00:30:40
Speaker 6: Play Yeah, yeah, yeah. He starts bounding, he starts and I'm thinking, you know, I know he can hear it. I know he can hear us. So I said, grab that, and he goes. I said grab that helmets soon as he comes off that field, and they grab. He says if they go, it's working now. And I go, Ben, it's working. He goes, I must have just back on.

00:31:04
Speaker 2: Well, he was good enough that he could still do that.

00:31:08
Speaker 6: Yeah, yes, he would like he would. We would have the banter back and forth, and it was respectful banters. He'd always knew where I stood, and I always appreciated where he was at. Didn't always agree with it at times, but you know what, you earned the right to have that ability, to have that input, to have that respect. The one thing I knew about Ben Roethlisberger that when the game was on the line and it was in the fourth quarter, he wanted to bow in his hands. And you know what, there was probably no other player that I would have wanted to have the ball in hands than him.

00:31:39
Speaker 2: When was the last time you didn't have a mustache? Ah?

00:31:43
Speaker 6: Good question, You know I shaved it. I ship went down the boat Head Island one time, like my fourth year, and I said, you know what, everyone's recognizing me down here. So I shaved it, and I'm telling you, it was the best thing in the world. I'd be walking by and they're like, you know, I mean hey, like you go, hey, hey, you know the coach cowers on this on this on this island. I go, really, where's he at? So it was, you know, So it was. It was. It's been a while, it's been a while. It's not a good looks it's for me right now. It's just it's not a good look.

00:32:18
Speaker 2: But did you did you have bust approval for the Hall of Fame for your mustache?

00:32:23
Speaker 6: Yeah? I wow. That wasn't even an option. I mean, it had had had to be that, because how would.

00:32:29
Speaker 2: You even take show it to you before?

00:32:32
Speaker 6: Yes, there was that, and then they kind of excepted, you know. I think they sentuated the chin a little bit. I don't think it's that bad, but they.

00:32:41
Speaker 8: Which was.

00:32:42
Speaker 6: I don't know if I agree with that that portrait of it, but that's fine.

00:32:47
Speaker 2: Did your wife have a say in this?

00:32:51
Speaker 6: Yeah? I think when I shaved it, the first thing she said, please don't shave again. So so, in other words, how long is it going to take the grow back? So I think that got That was my first sign that you know what, Okay, maybe it's not a good luck.

00:33:04
Speaker 2: It's not leaving, not leaving great to talk to you. And we played nice today at that.

00:33:10
Speaker 6: I know, I know you know, well, you know what I think coming off coming off the what happened yesterday. But let me ask you, did you have a nice Thanksgiving?

00:33:19
Speaker 2: It's still going on, coach, It's not a day. It's really a spirit that I have.

00:33:23
Speaker 6: Yeah. Well, so let me ask you what do you think was the best game? What do you think was the best game with Thanksgiving weekend? With with the NFL Green Bay, Detroit, Dallas, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Joe Burrow, Baltimore or Eagles and Bears.

00:33:40
Speaker 2: I would say Dallas and Kansas City because that's that that's a heavyweight fight and you know the hype involved with that and it lived up to it, and Dallas winning that game I thought made for great content. I think Joe Burrow coming back and doing what he did against the Ravens, that's pretty big. And now you got Steelers and the Ravens coming up this next weekend.

00:34:03
Speaker 6: Can you imagine if the four and eight Bengals get Joe burrowed back. They can still win the division. They really can't. Yeah, now you got to go to Buffalo this next week, so we'll see. The NFL has never been so much intrigued, so many storylines. It's never been better. So let's let's talk again in about a month and see who's doing it.

00:34:26
Speaker 2: Okay, Yeah, I'll make it a date.

00:34:28
Speaker 6: Okay, that sounds good. Well, I'm glad you keep the spirit going because you were really good today. You didn't even like you're even like you were actually trying to get me, asked some really good questions. It was really good. Yeah.

00:34:39
Speaker 2: I wasn't gonna do that. I was gonna be nice. I was gonna play nice. But I can't guarantee in a month from now.

00:34:44
Speaker 6: No, I expect that I never come on with the expectation of you being nice. I prepare myself in the mornings.

00:34:54
Speaker 2: I'll bet you do. You psych yourself up to come on. Stare at yourself in the mirror.

00:35:00
Speaker 6: I look like I look at you like like like a like a divisional opponent. I make it personal.

00:35:05
Speaker 2: Would you want to hit me, like tackle me?

00:35:08
Speaker 6: No? No, I respect.

00:35:10
Speaker 2: You, No, I got a arm shiver.

00:35:13
Speaker 6: Oh no, just I would probably bump you if I passed you, Okay, yeah, if you got like if like we were walking down the same one, would you turn? Would you would you like be the one that gets out of the way for coming down the same path like I I most of the time, I would. I think I would get out of the way of you because I respect you. But if you mumbled something on the way past me, if you start whispering, because I know if you're whispering.

00:35:38
Speaker 2: You're saying something, thank you, coach, all right, thanks Dan, thank you. That's Bill Cower. Bill, it's Bill Cower by the way right there, that's him.

00:35:51
Speaker 6: That's the guy.

00:35:53
Speaker 2: Uh yeah, you know, Marvin, So you're gonna play nice with coach Coward. Yeah, I mean if we're in the same room. Maybe not now, I would definitely be on my best behavior. He looks like he would like to pop you once. That's all like just a like a forearm. I'd be okay with that, you know, I would content there he is smiling. All right, We'll take a break. Our best and worst of the weekend after this.

00:36:18
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 live.

00:36:30
Speaker 2: Let's go around the room, Fretzy, Best and Worst of the weekend.

00:36:33
Speaker 4: Best of the weekend Quintravion Wisner rushes for one hundred and fifty five yards. On Friday, the Texas Longhord score twenty four second half points to beat Texas A and M twenty seven to seventeen.

00:36:42
Speaker 6: That was impressive.

00:36:43
Speaker 4: Worst at home in the Big House on Saturday, Michigan can only muster three field goals in the first half, came up completely empty in the second half, losing to rival Ohio State twenty seven to nine.

00:36:53
Speaker 2: Were you able to watch sports when you were in Amsterdam?

00:36:56
Speaker 4: I was not. We were doing a lot of sight seeing stuff. In the time difference was all wacky because games were being played like all hours of the night, middle of the night. So I was following it, you know, through stories and columns and websites. I did watch the Bronco game from the Philadelphia airports and on the plane.

00:37:12
Speaker 2: Okay, what was the highlight of Copenhagen.

00:37:15
Speaker 4: The highlight of Copenhagen was the Rix Museum. If I'm pronouncing that right, It's like I'm not actually in Amsterdam.

00:37:22
Speaker 6: It was the Rix Museum. We went to the Anne Frank House.

00:37:25
Speaker 4: So we went to this adorable little town that had a bunch of windmills that you can climb in and look how they make wooden shoes.

00:37:32
Speaker 6: Took a quick peek at.

00:37:33
Speaker 4: The red light district, but I was with my wife and daughter, so I was very very quick.

00:37:37
Speaker 6: Awkward peak.

00:37:37
Speaker 4: So we just kept the line moving just to check the box that we saw the red light district and did you wave?

00:37:43
Speaker 2: Did you wave to anybody?

00:37:45
Speaker 4: I took an extended glance, and then I got pulled by my daughter saying that that's not nice what you're doing with your wife. My mom's standing here. And then we just went about our business. But nice dinners. The hard Rock Cafe had a Thanksgiving dinner thing, so.

00:37:58
Speaker 1: That's what we spent.

00:37:59
Speaker 5: That was only's the most fritzy thing ever, hard Rocket awesome.

00:38:05
Speaker 2: And it was it was really quickly.

00:38:07
Speaker 4: We went on a boat ride down the canals and uh, just a lot of wonderful sight, saying, very interesting, quaint town, very.

00:38:13
Speaker 2: Cute, all right, Dylan Best and worst of the weekend, all right.

00:38:17
Speaker 3: Dan Best, Our unlv rebels making the Mountain West Championship against Boise State because of a compiling of different multiple national metrics to put them over New Mexico and San Diego State. They're all six and two, and all four of those teams didn't meet this year, so they left it up to the nerds.

00:38:36
Speaker 2: To figure out. Okay, uh and my worst.

00:38:39
Speaker 3: Then Thanksgiving Day Underdogs go three and oh outright, that was a personal worst. And it's the first time that all three Thanksgiving Dogs have won since two thousand and six because that's when they added.

00:38:50
Speaker 2: A third game uh UNLV at Boise State. Boise State favored by three and a half Mountain West.

00:38:57
Speaker 7: All right, Marvin I got two first best, Josh Allen says to all time record for rushing teas by a quarterback with seventy six passing Cam Newton. He's probably gonna hit one hundred other best. I know they lost, but Davante Adams two touchdown receptions. He leads the NFL in touchdown receptions with fourteen the season.

00:39:18
Speaker 5: Paulie Best and worst Best Joe Burrow playing and winning for the Bengals on Thanksgiving Night. I just I think that's why he's such a popular player. Is that he didn't have to play. There's not a lot to play for, and just it's great for him, It's great for his team and his image. The other best of the weekend, You know what, Dan, I love the FCS playoffs. My Yale Bulldogs were down big at halftime thirty five seven to Youngstown State. Then the Penguins park it up a little bit. Yale scores forty three forty two.

00:39:47
Speaker 2: To win it at basically at the buzzer Johnny and Pittsburgh, Hey Johnny, thanks for holding best and worst of the weekend.

00:39:55
Speaker 8: Hey fellows sixty three, Huskier took sixty three. First of all, Coward, what a dude's dude. I just love his interviews.

00:40:07
Speaker 9: I love his takes and my best and the worst Bill's winning this weekend, and the worst and the worst are is obviously the lin kiff and saga and the dichotomy of that with what I witnessed at the game last night in Pittsburgh. My wife on Bills fan, But I'm kind of ambivalent towards the Steelers, but it really is sad where it's gone here and hearing that chant, you know, whether Sam that's or infamous, we all know owners in the NFL. One name that is off the lips of everybody out of respect is the Ruoneys. And when you start hearing this town with the fire time with chance and then questioning the Rooneys, you know, I just it's it's it's a sad site for even a Bill santasy.

00:40:52
Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't know if it personal, it's just they want a winner, they want a playoff team. They're so used to this. Yeah, I want something new, as if you know, somebody else coming in is going to change the fortunes of the Steelers. But local narrative, national narrative feel different with Mike Tomlin. But those chants yesterday, Wow, more phone calls coming up final hour right after this