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term supply. Welcome

0:38

back to the Adams Shifter

0:40

podcast. Happy 2025 to everybody.

0:42

We are back after a

0:44

two-week hiatus and we are

0:46

back for the start of

0:48

the NFL post-season in every

0:50

way, shape, and form. And

0:52

that means the firing and

0:55

hiring of coaches, the start

0:57

of a post-season, and all

0:59

the drama that the NFL

1:01

constantly brings. and that is

1:03

why the NFL is the

1:06

greatest reality show that is

1:08

out there. And to kick off the new

1:10

year, we are going to be joined

1:12

by the former head coach of

1:14

the Houston Texans, the current

1:17

head coach of Boston College, a

1:19

man that knows New England well,

1:21

Bill O'Brien will be by to

1:24

discuss some of his NFL memories.

1:26

what it's like to coach in

1:28

college today, how Bill Bellicheck will

1:31

perform at North Carolina, and a

1:33

whole host of topics that we

1:35

hope you'll find interesting. But before

1:38

we get to the head coach of

1:40

Boston College, Bill O'Brien, of course

1:42

we first get to Ty Schmidt, one

1:44

of the hosts of the Pat McVee

1:46

show, and of course, the man that

1:49

leads us each week. on the weekly

1:51

six-pack. Brought to you by ego, the

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at ego power plus dot com. Happy

2:02

New Year Shefty, great to be back.

2:05

Feels like it's been a while since

2:07

we've done this and man you mentioned

2:09

it. I feel like we say this

2:12

every week but it rings true now.

2:14

Can you believe the playoffs are already

2:16

here? I mean it seems like week

2:19

one you know I was getting geared

2:21

up for Packers Eagles in Brazil and

2:23

now boom got a rematch in the

2:26

first round of the playoffs. It's just

2:28

it's crazy how quickly time flies. I

2:30

always said to this. people like this

2:32

is one of to me the craziest

2:35

times of the year because you've got

2:37

all the news all the happenings with

2:39

all the teams going on at the

2:42

same time that you've got playoff game

2:44

Saturday Sunday Monday so ESPN has pre-game

2:46

shows Sunday pre-game shows Monday we're used

2:49

to getting ready for one pre-game show

2:51

all season long and now it's three

2:53

this upcoming weekend in addition to all

2:56

the news that's going on so it's

2:58

always to me these two three weeks

3:00

that you need to get through where

3:02

there are playoff games on Saturday, Sunday,

3:05

now Monday. It always is one of

3:07

the absolute busiest times of the year,

3:09

but it's also one of the most

3:12

intriguing, dramatic, and fun times of the

3:14

year as well. Without a doubt. And

3:16

now with the college football playoff too,

3:19

squeezed in there, we got a hell

3:21

of a weekend on tap here. But

3:23

you mentioned it there, Shefty. Let's hop

3:26

into topic number one of the six

3:28

pack. Black Monday was yesterday. I feel

3:30

like it was a little more tame

3:32

than maybe we were expecting. I don't

3:35

know, maybe you think differently, but of

3:37

all the moves that were made yesterday,

3:39

what was the most surprising to you?

3:42

Well, let me just say this, Ty,

3:44

we are taping this at roughly 8.50

3:46

AM on Tuesday. I still think we're

3:49

going to get more action. Okay? I

3:51

think we're still waiting for clarity whenever

3:53

that comes in Las Vegas, Tennessee, and

3:56

Dallas. And I think... Anything is possible

3:58

in any of these places. So let's

4:00

just start there. But let's go back

4:03

to Monday and let's revisit the idea.

4:05

that there was not as much activity

4:07

as usual. And I would say to

4:09

me that the biggest headline on the

4:12

Monday after the end of the regular

4:14

season was all the people that teams

4:16

kept. The Giants kept head coach Brian

4:19

Deball and General Manager Joe Shane. The

4:21

Indianapolis Colts kept head coach Shane Steiken

4:23

and General Manager Chris Ballard. The Jacksonville

4:26

Jaguars kept their general manager Trent Balke.

4:28

And I think those were some of

4:30

the moves that created some noise and

4:33

ripples around the league. There were a

4:35

lot of people that were surprised that

4:37

Jacksonville kept Trent Balke at a time

4:39

where they got rid of Doug Peterson

4:42

because now you're trying to hire a

4:44

head coach who comes in who inherits

4:46

that general manager who's had the chance

4:49

to hire three head coaches. And... That

4:51

is not going to be for everybody.

4:53

It's going to raise questions that the

4:56

Jaguar's ownership is going to have to

4:58

address with each individual candidate moving forward.

5:00

The Giants, of course, will be under

5:03

a lot of pressure. And as I

5:05

think about it, it's just that to

5:07

me was the headline of Monday, is

5:09

that all these people kept their jobs

5:12

at a time where some of these

5:14

people were wondering and speculating that many

5:16

of them... would be dismissed. Like you

5:19

said, Shefti, I think the biggest news

5:21

of yesterday really was all these different

5:23

GMs and head coaches coming back. So

5:26

let's move on to topic number two.

5:28

What exactly does that mean? Is that,

5:30

you know, I mean, we talk a

5:33

lot now in the NFL with guys

5:35

getting one year and getting fired and

5:37

not being able to build a culture

5:39

or anything like that, but a couple

5:42

of these GMs and head coaches have

5:44

had multiple opportunities here, haven't been successful

5:46

and ownership is still, you know, kind

5:49

of sticking with them and bringing them

5:51

back. What does that mean moving forward?

5:53

Well. It's interesting because the fact that

5:56

there were so few moves on the

5:58

Monday after the regular season Instantly clicked

6:00

into my mind. Okay, all this means

6:03

is that 2025 is going to be

6:05

busier and messier and bloodier and bloodier

6:07

than 2024 the end of that season.

6:09

That's what I thought because all these

6:12

people that we've talked about and wondered

6:14

about their futures, whether it was in

6:16

New York, whether it was in Jacksonville

6:19

whether it was in Indianapolis whether it

6:21

was in Miami whether it was in

6:23

any of the places that have come

6:26

out and stood behind their people and

6:28

announced that they will be back all

6:30

those questions they now bleed into next

6:33

season that's all it is and all

6:35

these people that were on the hot

6:37

seat they're still on the hot seat

6:40

it's just another year that we're just

6:42

tracking them and inevitably when you do

6:44

this over time you see that if

6:46

there is a year in which there

6:49

are fewer firings than normal inevitably, inevitably.

6:51

The next year, there are more firings

6:53

than normal. So if this, when it

6:56

finishes up, after all the action, has

6:58

fewer moves, less action, not as many

7:00

firings as other years, I'm just telling

7:03

you right now, all that sets up

7:05

is a busier 2025 than normal. That's

7:07

what's gonna happen. Just pushing it down

7:10

the road to another time. But look,

7:12

I think it's something that should be

7:14

applauded, teams taking a patient route because

7:16

this is not a patient league. People

7:19

don't react like that. They usually fire

7:21

now and ask questions later and now

7:23

they're giving guys in certain places a

7:26

little bit more time to prove that

7:28

they can get the job done or

7:30

not or not. But just because they

7:33

were retained... doesn't mean that the fans

7:35

in New York or Jacksonville or Indianapolis

7:37

are happy right now and that okay

7:40

we're now back behind our guy. Let's

7:42

go full force into the 2025 season.

7:44

Yeah, and maybe it's because for all

7:46

those teams, it doesn't feel like, you

7:49

know, they were, they were this close

7:51

to making the playoffs. It doesn't seem

7:53

like they're all gonna come back and

7:56

all of a sudden you're gonna go

7:58

from, you know, three and 14 or

8:00

four and 13, you know, whatever the,

8:03

whatever the case is, you're not gonna

8:05

go from that to, hey, we're 10

8:07

and seven and we're gonna make the

8:10

playoffs this. Speaking of the hot seat

8:12

though, let's move on to topic number

8:14

three and a guy who was basically

8:16

on the hot seat all year was

8:19

kind of on the hot seat starting

8:21

at the end of last year. How

8:23

do you feel about the bears calling

8:26

Mike McCarthy? Well, I think this is

8:28

fascinating. And again, as we tape this

8:30

on Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. To

8:33

my knowledge, the bears still have not

8:35

gotten an answer from the cowboys about

8:37

whether or not permission would be granted

8:40

to interview Mike McCarthy. Now I guess

8:42

Dallas can just sit there and let

8:44

time waste this week and not have

8:47

to respond, but next week Mike McCarthy

8:49

would be free to go talk to

8:51

the Chicago Bears if that's what he

8:53

wanted. But Dallas has got this week

8:56

and we'll see how this one plays

8:58

out. But to me that provides a

9:00

little window into what Dallas is thinking.

9:03

And I think Jerry Jones absolutely is

9:05

interested in having Mike McCarthy back. I'm

9:07

not sure that everybody in the organization

9:10

is convinced. If they were, the deal

9:12

would be done. It wouldn't be dragging

9:14

out as long. But we've seen that

9:17

Dallas has a tendency to let these

9:19

deals linger for a long time. It

9:21

took them a long time to get

9:23

the Dak Prescott deal done. It didn't

9:26

get done until the first day of

9:28

the regular season. We saw the CD

9:30

Lamb deal take a long time. It

9:33

didn't get done until the first day

9:35

of the regular season. We saw the

9:37

CD Lamb deal take a long time,

9:40

this past year. And it's more attention

9:42

on the cowboys right now, but the

9:44

bears request. To me, as the week

9:47

unfolds, provides a little window into what

9:49

the cowboys may or may not be

9:51

thinking about Mike McCarthy as we move

9:53

forward. So that to me is very

9:56

interesting and it doesn't mean he's gonna

9:58

be back or not be back. That's

10:00

still one of the places that's still

10:03

up in the air. As we record

10:05

this, there are five teams that have

10:07

changed eight coaches. Dallas very well could

10:10

be to come to six. We'll wait

10:12

and see. But that one still. needs

10:14

to be resolved here in the coming

10:17

days. Dallas is a very puzzling situation

10:19

too because I think we rushed a

10:21

judgment, you know, asking hey is McCarthy

10:23

going to get fired even though he's

10:26

coming off, you know, multiple 12 win

10:28

seasons in a row. And then you

10:30

look at how long Jason Garrett was

10:33

around, you know, Jerry, he's not really

10:35

the kind of guy who is going

10:37

to cut bait very quickly. And also

10:40

it obviously takes a very special kind

10:42

of person and coach to coach in

10:44

Dallas. And Jerry likes things on his

10:47

terms. He likes it on his terms.

10:49

Mike McCarthy understands those terms. So if

10:51

there's a meeting on common ground where

10:54

Jerry's terms are met and Mike can

10:56

live with that, then I think that

10:58

they can figure out a way to

11:00

get a deal done. And if they

11:03

can't, then if they can figure out

11:05

a way to get a deal done.

11:07

And if they can't, then Mike moves

11:10

on and Dallas moves on. And on

11:12

the flip side for Chicago, I think

11:14

part of me would, you know, you

11:17

know, die a little bit with McCarthy,

11:19

with McCarthy, with McCarthy, winning a little

11:21

bit with McCarthy, winning a little bit

11:24

with McCarthy, winning a Super Bowl winning

11:26

a Super Bowl winning a Super Bowl,

11:28

winning a Super Bowl, winning a Super

11:30

Bowl, winning a Super Bowl, winning a

11:33

Super Bowl, winning a Super Bowl, winning

11:35

a Super Bowl, winning a Super Bowl,

11:37

winning a Super Bowl, winning a Super

11:40

Bowl, winning a Super Bowl, winning, winning,

11:42

winning, winning, winning, winning, winning, winning, winning,

11:44

winning The Bears are also a very

11:47

puzzling situation. It seems like they've, you

11:49

know, reached out for wanting to interview

11:51

damn near everyone who's available right now

11:54

because obviously they need to get that

11:56

right. Speaking of reaching out for interviews

11:58

and doing all that kind of stuff,

12:00

let's move on to topic number four.

12:03

We touched on this yesterday on Pat

12:05

show with you Shefti. What do you

12:07

think of the current interview rules and

12:10

the whole process that involves and how

12:12

it's kind of, I mean. It really

12:14

is a little ass backwards the way

12:17

that they make these guys interview for

12:19

head coaching jobs. It's changed the dynamics

12:21

of the way. coaches are interviewed and

12:24

hired. I've covered the NFL since 1990.

12:26

This is 35 years or so covering

12:28

this league and I'm just telling you

12:30

during all the coaching searches that I've

12:33

ever covered most jobs in the past

12:35

usually typically have been filled by the

12:37

divisional playoff rounds. So two weeks from

12:40

now I always remember going into the

12:42

pre game shows on Saturday and Sunday

12:44

and we'd have 75% of the jobs.

12:47

filled. There'll be another opening or two.

12:49

And by conference championship Sunday, they were

12:51

all filled. All of them. Now, you

12:54

cannot even conduct an in-person interview with

12:56

a coach and another staff, i.e. Ben

12:58

Johnson, Aaron Glenn, Brian Flores, until after

13:00

the divisional playoff round. So, the hires

13:03

that used to be done by then

13:05

can't be done by now because of

13:07

the timing. And it creates a whole

13:10

convoluted system. Now it wasn't great before

13:12

either where Aaron Glenn or Ben Johnson

13:14

or Brian Flores to use those three

13:17

examples would be in the playoffs and

13:19

here they were bramming for the biggest

13:21

week of their team season. At the

13:24

same time they're hosting owners and executives

13:26

from other NFL teams trying to prepare

13:28

for the interview of their life that

13:31

they've spent their career getting ready for

13:33

and you have this meeting of two

13:35

of the most significant moments. for a

13:37

team and an individual all at once

13:40

and that's not fair to the guy

13:42

either. But this slows it down so

13:44

much and I guess that's what the

13:47

league wanted because the league wants teams

13:49

to take a long thorough look at

13:51

all candidates abide by the Rooney rule,

13:54

do the right thing, give everybody fair

13:56

and equal consideration and I think that's

13:58

admirable but the process is clunky. It's

14:01

just clunky. It's prolonged, it's inevitable, it's

14:03

inevitable. It's something that I think there's

14:05

no easy solution, but I just know

14:07

that people who are waiting for their

14:10

teams to hire coaches or their teams

14:12

to lose a coach, we're going to

14:14

be waiting until the end of January.

14:17

And some of these hireings may go

14:19

into say Super Bowl week or right

14:21

after. And this used to be a

14:24

quick process. It no longer is. So

14:26

again, I think it's another thing that

14:28

it felt like because all it does

14:31

is it creates more conversation around which

14:33

team is going to hire, which guy

14:35

for a longer period of time. So

14:37

while we're talking about the upcoming wild

14:40

card games and then the divisional playoff

14:42

games and then the conference championship games,

14:44

there's also the conversation about which team

14:47

is going to hire, which coach to

14:49

take over as the head coach or

14:51

their particular franchise. So I guess the

14:54

league wins, but selfishly, personally, just one

14:56

more thing that just hangs over me

14:58

for a longer period of time. Yeah,

15:01

extends your work window a couple months,

15:03

I guess, but like you mentioned, I'm

15:05

sure the league, if you do it

15:07

that way, it extends it right after

15:10

the Super Bowl, right into draft conversation.

15:12

Right into the combine, right into free

15:14

agency, right into the draft, right into

15:17

mini camps, right into throwing camps, right

15:19

into the starter training camp. The league

15:21

wants nobody to ever get a break.

15:24

That's how the league likes it. Exactly,

15:26

but I do appreciate the fact that.

15:28

Because in a lot of these situations,

15:31

we're going to get coordinators from teams

15:33

in the, you know, conference championships or

15:35

in the Super Bowl. And it never,

15:38

it just, it never sat right with

15:40

me that the only way these guys

15:42

could potentially get a job was, you

15:44

know, you sit on a zoom interview

15:47

for two hours, maybe multiple times a

15:49

week, the week of the conference championship

15:51

and. you know I mean sometimes hey

15:54

maybe you're an in-person interview and that's

15:56

how your personality shines through and you

15:58

know you just you have a better

16:01

opportunity once you can actually put the

16:03

previous season to rest and go have

16:05

an opportunity to get a job but

16:08

I mean, who knows? Is this the

16:10

kind of thing like, how many times

16:12

do you think this is going to

16:14

change over the next few years? Like,

16:17

will they just kind of keep shifting

16:19

the dates around for when this happens?

16:21

They're always refining it to what they

16:24

think is better. So what they have

16:26

this year, probably will be tweaked next

16:28

year and tweaked the year. It's always

16:31

a process in motion. It's always being

16:33

adjusted. The league is always trying to

16:35

make it better. It's never just, this

16:38

is it, and this is how we're

16:40

going to do it. Not with the

16:42

NFL. Yeah, I mean, it's kind of

16:44

hyperbole to say, but it's also incredibly

16:47

true. The NFL never sleeps. I mean,

16:49

we talk about it year-round. There's always

16:51

something to talk about. You mentioned the

16:54

draft there, Shefty. Let's move on to

16:56

topic number five. The Titans are on

16:58

the clock, officially. Kind of crazy, you

17:01

know, I feel like more so this

17:03

year than in years past, there was

17:05

so much movement the last week of

17:08

the season. So if you were one

17:10

of those bottom, you know, bottom tier

17:12

teams, you actually were quite invested in

17:14

multiple teams on that last Sunday. What

17:17

are your thoughts on the Titans having

17:19

the number one pick then being on

17:21

the clock and what they'll eventually do

17:24

with it. Amazing, right? The Giants had

17:26

the number one pick and the Titans

17:28

finished. with the number one pick and

17:31

Tennessee with the top pick this year.

17:33

That'll mark the seventh time since 2002

17:35

that an AFC South team is going

17:38

to have the first overall pick. Seven

17:40

times in the last 23 years, the

17:42

number one overall pick has come from

17:45

the AFC South. We could probably think

17:47

of some of those former number one

17:49

overall picks off the top of our

17:51

head. Mario. Williams comes to mind right

17:54

away Trevor Lawrence comes to mind Trevon

17:56

Walker comes to mind Andrew luck comes

17:58

to mind There have been a lot

18:01

of one a lot of ones going

18:03

to that division. There's gonna be another

18:05

one. My guess is Shador Sanders is

18:08

the likely number one overall pick right

18:10

now Tennessee needs a quarterback. Tennessee's going

18:12

to be in that market. It's got

18:15

its chance to take whoever they want

18:17

at the top of the draft. Obviously,

18:19

Will Levis did not work out this

18:21

year the way that they would have

18:24

wanted. So the Titans are on the

18:26

clock and there's going to be a

18:28

lot of speculation about that team and

18:31

who it's going to pick. But as

18:33

we mentioned before, as we taped this

18:35

Tuesday morning, we're still are waiting to

18:38

see how this is going to work

18:40

in Tennessee. We need clarity before we

18:42

know what Tennessee is doing there and

18:45

we don't have that with Tennessee just

18:47

yet. And there's obviously going to be

18:49

a lot of conjecture leading up to

18:51

the draft on shadur and you know

18:54

the picture of him wearing the Giants

18:56

cleats before the bowl game or wanting

18:58

to go to the Raiders etc etc

19:01

etc. Do you think there's any way

19:03

that we have an Eli Manning situation?

19:05

I mean Dion has basically come out

19:08

and said like We know where we're

19:10

going. I mean, maybe he doesn't care

19:12

as long as he goes one overall,

19:15

but do you think there's a world

19:17

where Shidor basically orchestrates, uh, you know,

19:19

what Eli Manning did in order to

19:21

not go to Tennessee? It's hard to

19:24

do that. It is very hard to

19:26

do that. You've got to have a

19:28

huge stomach and a huge aversion to

19:31

going to a Turn off the Sanders

19:33

family that much that we could get

19:35

that type of instance. I'm not expecting

19:38

that that doesn't mean they can't do

19:40

it I don't think they'll do that

19:42

I think you look at it and

19:45

you say okay. Here's a Organization that's

19:47

had a little bit instability recently But

19:49

they're going to be building a new

19:51

stadium that they're opening they are in

19:54

a no-tax state and Dionne above anything

19:56

else is a businessman. So he knows

19:58

that Shador's money is worth at least

20:01

10% more in Tennessee so No, I

20:03

don't see them doing anything like that.

20:05

If that's the pick that the Titans

20:08

are planning to make and I think

20:10

Dion will be fine with that, no

20:12

issues. We'll see how it plays out,

20:15

but the Titans, as you mentioned, are

20:17

on the clock. I suppose if you

20:19

want to win, go into a division

20:22

where there have been seven number one

20:24

picks in the last 20 or so

20:26

years, that's not the worst situation to

20:28

end up in. You mentioned another team

20:31

there, Shefty, who would have been on

20:33

the clock, if not for winning on

20:35

Sunday. Let's move to the sixth and

20:38

final topic of this week's six pack.

20:40

Not just with the draft process, but

20:42

head coach as well. What are the

20:45

patriots do next? Well, it is fascinating,

20:47

right? Because everybody just assumes that Mike

20:49

Rable is going to be the head

20:52

coach. And I think that that makes

20:54

a lot of sense. But Mike Rable

20:56

is going to be interviewing with the

20:58

Bears this week. The Saints are going

21:01

to want to talk to him. He's

21:03

already talked to the Jets. I think

21:05

every place that has an opening is

21:08

going to want to talk to Mike

21:10

Rable basically. So he's going to have

21:12

a lot of a lot of options.

21:15

And New England's never been through the

21:17

head coach hiring process. It had Bill

21:19

Bellicheck, it appointed Girard Mayo. So this

21:22

is an opportunity for Robert Kraft to

21:24

sit down to get to talk to

21:26

some candidates. We don't know if he's

21:28

going to fall in love with some

21:31

candidates. We don't know if he's going

21:33

to fall in love with some guy.

21:35

We don't know if somebody's going to

21:38

say something that's going to say something

21:40

that's going to make him. Drake made,

21:42

does he like the quarterback situation or

21:45

the ownership group in New Orleans more

21:47

than he does New England? What does

21:49

he think of New York with the

21:52

Jets where he could basically run the

21:54

entire organization and have nobody to answer

21:56

to and have free reign? Like what

21:58

appeals to him? What is most desirable

22:01

to him? And is there going to

22:03

be a team that steps up for

22:05

him in a way that maybe New

22:08

England doesn't? These are questions that are

22:10

going to unfold over time. And a

22:12

lot of people thought... after the Patriots

22:15

lost out on the number one pick

22:17

by winning the last game of the

22:19

season a meaningless game that they beat

22:22

the bills in that cost them the

22:24

number one over selection. I had people

22:26

text me or actually, oh, that's why

22:29

they fired Drod Mayo because he cost

22:31

them the number one. That's not why

22:33

they fired Drod Mayo. You heard Robert

22:35

Kraft. This had been building. They've been

22:38

looking into it. I don't think this

22:40

was a move they intended or wanted

22:42

or planned to make. But over the

22:45

course of the final weeks of the

22:47

season... There were disappointing losses, there were

22:49

public gaffs, there was anger and apathy

22:52

from fans, and I think that the

22:54

more that Robert Craft looked into it,

22:56

the more uncomfortable he fell to the

22:59

point where after the game on Sunday,

23:01

he made the decision to fire Girard

23:03

Mayo. And I know that a lot

23:05

of former Patriot players, Rob Gondkowski, was

23:08

not happy with it, Teddy Bruceki, not

23:10

happy with it, I'm sure Randy Moss,

23:12

not happy with it, because they know

23:15

Girard as a teammate as a teammate

23:17

as a teammate as a teammate and

23:19

loved him. But there are other people

23:22

who felt like in that organization or

23:24

others across the league, like I could

23:26

see why Robert Craft would make this

23:29

move. So there are a couple of

23:31

schools of thought. And the fact of

23:33

the matter is, here's the deal. They

23:35

have a chance to go out and

23:38

now hire a new coach. They've got

23:40

the quarterback. They've got an appealing situation.

23:42

If they get the next head coaching

23:45

higher right, the fans are not going

23:47

to be upset at all and they're

23:49

going to be happy that the new

23:52

England. We will stay right in New

23:54

England. And being that we're talking about

23:56

head coaches and head coaching opportunities, we'll

23:59

talk to a man who's had a

24:01

head coaching opportunity in the NFL. And

24:03

when we asked him about it now,

24:05

didn't rule out the idea of one

24:08

day coming back to the NFL, which

24:10

was interesting. Without further ado, the head

24:12

coach at Boston College, Bill O'Brien. Get

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Vivid seats. Experience it live. You were

25:12

the head coach of Penn State 2012

25:15

and 2013. You're now at the head

25:17

coach at Boston College. How much is

25:19

college football changed from then till now?

25:22

Yeah, it's pretty incredible. I would say

25:24

this. to lead off with that answer

25:26

to those to say, when I was

25:29

at Penn State, because of what had

25:31

happened, we did deal with the portal

25:33

right away because those kids at Penn

25:36

State, you know, they could transfer to

25:38

any school they wanted to, that school

25:40

could go above 85 scholarships at that

25:42

time. And so we had to recruit

25:45

our own team, we had to be

25:47

ready for, you know, potential guys on

25:49

other teams wanting to come to our

25:52

school, so we had to deal with

25:54

that. But so that was a little

25:56

bit of a training ground for what

25:59

it is now. But the NIL was

26:01

not a part of it back then,

26:03

right? So so the college football has

26:06

definitely changed. I do think it's added,

26:08

you know, some parody to college football,

26:10

though. I think when you look at

26:12

the portal and NIL, there's there's a

26:15

lot more. You know, you look at

26:17

Arizona State yesterday, they lost the game,

26:19

but they, you know, they played Texas

26:22

very tough. So there's a lot of

26:24

parody in college football now because of

26:26

the changes, I think. Has the NIL

26:29

made it like a minor league version

26:31

of the NFL bill, like who you're

26:33

going to pay and how much you're

26:36

going to pay and how you're going

26:38

to allocate your money? Yeah, it's definitely

26:40

a very minor league version of the

26:43

NFL because the money is not nearly

26:45

the same as in the NFL, but

26:47

it is a training ground. you know,

26:49

for the NFL relative to players understanding,

26:52

you know, contracts, players understanding, you know,

26:54

what what the requirement is relative to

26:56

the contract. The difference is, you know,

26:59

every school in college football is a

27:01

little bit different. Whereas in the NFL,

27:03

as you know, everybody's working under the

27:06

same set of rules. There's only 32

27:08

teams and the NFL or excuse me

27:10

in college football, there's probably 120. there

27:13

about division one teams maybe 130 and

27:15

everybody's got a different you know salary

27:17

cap structure everybody's got a different contract

27:19

structure it's it's it's it's a little

27:22

bit wild wild west but there's definitely

27:24

a part of it that does train

27:26

these players for what it might be

27:29

like in the NFL when they if

27:31

they have the opportunity to get there

27:33

but it's a totally different world now

27:36

totally and where do you see it

27:38

going Radio show I do this radio

27:40

spot and I got asked the same

27:43

exact question I have a strong belief

27:45

in this and it's pretty general I'm

27:47

not I haven't thought it all out

27:49

but there's got to be a college

27:52

football Commission a college football commissioner You

27:54

know just like the National Football League

27:56

has commissioner there's got to be a

27:59

college football commissioner and then that person

28:01

has to have Let's just call it

28:03

a cabinet underneath him of retired coaches

28:06

retired athletic directors people that you know,

28:08

had an understanding, a great understanding of

28:10

the history of college football because right

28:13

now there's no regulation right there's no

28:15

you don't really know you hear about

28:17

oh you know this this guy's getting

28:19

a six million dollar offer you know

28:22

two-year contract six million dollar offer you

28:24

know this guy over here is getting

28:26

there's no way to know whereas in

28:29

the NFL you know obviously all of

28:31

that is disclosed so you know you

28:33

know what the market is you know

28:36

you know how to how to you

28:38

know, compensate a player relative to the

28:40

competition. In college football, you don't have

28:43

that. There's got to be some regulation.

28:45

There has to be, in my opinion,

28:47

somebody in charge with people underneath him

28:49

or her to regulate the, hopefully that's

28:52

something that can happen in the next

28:54

couple years because as it continues to

28:56

go, it's pretty wild, pretty wild. We

28:59

have any suggestions as for a commissioner

29:01

of college football bill? Yeah, I knew

29:03

you were going to say that. Now,

29:06

Coach Franklin. I saw his deal with

29:08

Coach Saban, you know, look, Coach Saban's

29:10

doing a great job on TV and

29:13

it's fun to watch him and I

29:15

worked for him and he's, you know,

29:17

obviously the best ever do it. Someone

29:20

like that though, someone that has a

29:22

really good understanding of college football, someone

29:24

that's been in college football for a

29:26

long time that has seen the changes

29:29

over time that has people around him

29:31

that that can, you know, suggest. Hey,

29:33

here's a good way to do it.

29:36

Here's a good plan because, you know,

29:38

I just do think that, you know,

29:40

it has to change at some point,

29:43

but I don't have any specific suggestions.

29:45

I don't want to get in trouble.

29:47

You mentioned Coach Sabin. What are some

29:50

of the things that you learned being

29:52

around Nick Sabin at Alabama? Man, I

29:54

learned so much from my two years

29:56

at Alabama. You know, look, number one

29:59

is the work ethic, the organization, you

30:01

know, everything. There was a purpose in

30:03

everything that we did everything started on

30:06

time. It was I always describe it

30:08

as kind of like a Military way

30:10

of doing that you know, meaning like,

30:13

hey, this meeting's supposed to start at

30:15

730, it started at 730, this meeting

30:17

starts at 10, starts at 10. And

30:20

so the organization that he put in

30:22

place where everybody understood, hey, this is

30:24

where I'm supposed to be, this is

30:26

what I'm supposed to be doing each

30:29

and every single day of the year,

30:31

that was number one. Number two is

30:33

he had everything covered, right? Everything from,

30:36

you know, football to strength and conditioning

30:38

to recruiting to operations to You know,

30:40

the training room, the field, the equipment

30:43

room, everything was covered and everything was

30:45

done at a very high level. And

30:47

I think that that's one of the

30:50

things that I saw that he had

30:52

basically he created a machine. It was

30:54

a machine and everybody understood their role.

30:56

And then the most important thing though,

30:59

relative to college football, he recruited every

31:01

single day of the year. There wasn't

31:03

one day, Christmas Day, New Year's Day,

31:06

didn't matter, game day. He was recruiting.

31:08

365 days a year, he was working

31:10

at recruiting every single day of the

31:13

year, which, you know, I saw that

31:15

and I think that was an incredible

31:17

work ethic that he brought to that

31:20

place. But, you know, you bring up

31:22

the organization and the work ethic and

31:24

the hours and the detail and all

31:27

those things like that. Are those not

31:29

attributes of many coaches at the college

31:31

or the NFL level? You know, I

31:33

think you would say that the best

31:36

guys do it that way, but there

31:38

are probably, you know, there's different ways

31:40

of doing things, right? I mean, maybe,

31:43

you know, someone may, you know, say

31:45

in this, this area over here, we

31:47

don't need to put as much time

31:50

into that as we do in this

31:52

area over here, whereas at Alabama, there

31:54

was, there was time spent and invested

31:57

in every single area of the program,

31:59

you know what I mean? whether it

32:01

was you know the operations that was

32:03

run by Ellis Ponder or recruiting that

32:06

was run by a couple different people

32:08

over the years football right the coach

32:10

say the coordinators, you know, the training

32:13

room, Jeff Allen, one of the best

32:15

trainers I've ever been around, the weight

32:17

room, like everything was run at a

32:20

very high level. There was no slacking

32:22

off or cutting corners in any area

32:24

of the program, and I think that's

32:27

probably, you know, one of the things

32:29

that really stood out to me. You

32:31

also worked in New England with Bill

32:33

Bellcheck, and Nick Sabin are very close.

32:36

Do you see much of Bill and

32:38

Nick and Nick and Bill? You know,

32:40

I do, look, I think when you

32:43

look at what they both believe in,

32:45

right, like they both believe in, you

32:47

know, creating a very tough, physically tough,

32:50

smart football team that can play in

32:52

all kinds of environments, practice, you know,

32:54

was so important, the details with which

32:57

we coached and things like that, you

32:59

know, in all different areas, player development.

33:01

You know, just the detail of each

33:03

guy is something that, you know, is

33:06

second to none, but they were very

33:08

different people at them, you know what

33:10

I mean? Like very different people, you

33:13

know, just their personalities were different and,

33:15

you know, you saw the way they

33:17

attacked each day in different ways, you

33:20

know, like, you know, maybe Bill would.

33:22

would put more emphasis on a certain

33:24

day on something that he thought we

33:27

needed to do to get better. Whereas,

33:29

you know, Coach Sabin, it was bang,

33:31

you knew exactly what was to be

33:34

expected of you on a Monday, a

33:36

Tuesday, a Wednesday, a Thursday. Like this

33:38

is exactly what we're going to do

33:40

on this day. So they were different

33:43

in how they went about things, but

33:45

the foundation of what they what they

33:47

built. You know, you could see a

33:50

lot of similarities. What was your reaction

33:52

when you heard that Bill was going

33:54

to college? to be a head coach.

33:57

Well, I thought it was great. I

33:59

mean, I really did. I mean, I

34:01

think that Bill's, you know, Bill's a

34:04

football coach. Obviously, he has a tremendous

34:06

love and passion for football. And look,

34:08

I think it's great for a college.

34:10

football. I think it's great. I think

34:13

it's important

34:16

for

34:18

Bill.

34:21

to be in coaching, I think that's always

34:23

a good thing. I'm looking forward to

34:25

the ACC coaches meetings, and we're all

34:27

sitting around that table. I've been around

34:29

that table in the NFL with him,

34:31

and I've been around that table now

34:34

in college football with him, so it'll

34:36

be interesting. But I thought it was

34:38

fantastic for college football. How much interaction

34:40

do you have with him leading up

34:42

to his decision to go to North

34:44

Carolina? I would say, you know, it'd

34:46

be more of a text. back and

34:48

forth, very busy, you know, I was

34:50

busy during the season. He, you know,

34:53

sent me a text when we

34:55

won a couple games and when

34:57

I first got here, my dad

34:59

actually passed away last spring and

35:01

he sent me a nice text

35:04

about that. So just, you know,

35:06

just texting. No, he didn't have

35:08

any, he wasn't seeking any advice

35:10

from me about whether to take

35:12

North Carolina or not. You've coached

35:14

at both levels now, college football

35:17

the NFL. What are the biggest

35:19

differences in your approach to leading

35:21

a college team versus leading an

35:23

NFL team? You know, I think

35:25

there's, you know, there are some differences,

35:27

right? I mean, there are, you know,

35:29

the fact that... these kids here have

35:31

to go to class right especially at

35:33

Boston College so you know we practice

35:35

in the morning and then you know

35:37

we're done by 1130 and then they

35:39

eat lunch and they go to class

35:41

and you know so there's the academic

35:43

part of it that's very different but

35:45

there's there's a lot of things that are

35:48

very similar right how you coach the

35:50

team every day we have a team

35:52

meeting every day we coach all three

35:54

phases every single day offense defense special

35:56

teams you know we run pro style

35:58

systems in all three phases But I

36:00

think, you know, you're coaching kids here

36:02

that are anywhere from 18 to 22

36:04

to maybe the oldest guy on the

36:07

team is 23 years old. Whereas in

36:09

the pros, you know, you're coaching guys

36:11

that are, you know, quite obviously veterans

36:13

with families and you might have some

36:15

rookies obviously, but a lot of guys

36:17

in their late 20s, 30s families, you

36:19

know, it's the job. You know, it's

36:22

much, much more of a job. It

36:24

is a job at the college level,

36:26

but they have to... You know, these

36:28

guys have to go to class and

36:30

I think that's a big, big difference.

36:32

Do you think the player today at

36:35

the college level, even at the early

36:37

entry into the NFL level, do you

36:39

think the players are different today than

36:41

they were a decade ago or two

36:43

decades ago? I think there's some differences.

36:45

I do think that between NIL and

36:47

social media... Right. I think there's some

36:50

big differences because you know all these

36:52

guys are are into creating or a

36:54

lot of these guys I shouldn't say

36:56

all I don't want to generalize but

36:58

a lot of these guys are into

37:00

creating their own brand yeah but my

37:02

thing is and I learned this a

37:05

long time ago from someone that you

37:07

and I both know that used to

37:09

say this all the time Tom Brady

37:11

would always say the best thing you

37:13

can do for your brand is win

37:15

right winning helps your brand and I

37:18

think part of a team and. understanding,

37:20

you know, what your role is on

37:22

the team and how to perform that

37:24

role at a high level. And so

37:26

I think there are some differences, right?

37:28

You got social media. These guys have

37:30

their own, you know, sites and things

37:33

like that that they're trying to sell

37:35

themselves on. But in the end, when

37:37

they get in that team meeting room,

37:39

you know, it's all about what what

37:41

can this person do for the team

37:43

and what what can my teammate do

37:45

for the team? That's that's what we're

37:48

all, you know, you know, you know,

37:50

you know, looking to try to try

37:52

to try to try to try to

37:54

try to try to try to try

37:56

to try to try to try to

37:58

put to put to put to put

38:01

to put to put to put to

38:03

put to put to put to put

38:05

to create, to put to put to

38:07

put to put to create, to create,

38:09

to create, to put to create, to

38:11

create, to put to create, to create,

38:13

to put to create, to put to

38:16

create, to create, to put to put

38:18

Bill Belchick, I'm curious to know what

38:20

lessons you took away from your time

38:22

in Houston as the head coach of

38:24

the Texans that you've been able to

38:26

up to your current role now. Yeah,

38:29

that was a, you know, very interesting

38:31

time. I had obviously never been a

38:33

head coach in the NFL and, you

38:35

know, we had some, some really good

38:37

teams, some great players there. I think

38:39

when I went to the NFL, Adam,

38:41

I wasn't totally up to speed on

38:44

how NFL organizations worked, right, that you

38:46

had an owner and then you had

38:48

a general manager. and you had a

38:50

coach and then you know certain things

38:52

fell under the parameter of the general

38:54

manager certain things fell under the parameter

38:56

of the coach and it it took

38:59

me a while to learn that and

39:01

I think one of the things in

39:03

the NFL that you've got to do

39:05

right off the bat and I think

39:07

this is where I've really improved is

39:09

you know you got to be able

39:12

to work and listen to people and

39:14

work with people you know it's not

39:16

it's not there's more than one way

39:18

to to do something and and you

39:20

know, Houston had been successful under Gary

39:22

Kubiak. And I've actually become friends with

39:24

Gary. He's an awesome guy. And they

39:27

had success. He did it a different

39:29

way than I did it. But there

39:31

were things that could carry over. And

39:33

I think going back, if I could

39:35

do it again, you know, hey, I

39:37

would be more accepting of some of

39:39

the things that that maybe made them

39:42

successful under Gary Kubiak. But in the

39:44

end, we had some really good teams

39:46

there. very competitive. We didn't get to

39:48

where we wanted to get to, but

39:50

we won four AFC South titles. It

39:52

had Hall of Fame players that I

39:55

was able to coach, like, you know,

39:57

J.J. Watt and Deandra Hopkins and, you

39:59

know, a number of great players there.

40:01

And I think we developed players very

40:03

well there. I think we did a

40:05

good job with that. I thought there

40:07

was a lot more positive there than

40:10

there was negative. But in the end,

40:12

you got to win. But There were

40:14

a lot of positives during those six

40:16

and a half years that I was

40:18

there. How many years did you overlap

40:20

with the Sean Watson there? So we

40:23

drafted him in 2017. So 171819. And

40:25

what's been your reaction to everything that's

40:27

unfolded with him? Yeah, look, I have

40:29

a, you know, a connection to DeShaughan

40:31

that's very unique, right? I was instrumental.

40:33

Rick Smith drafted him. We traded up

40:35

to get him. We had a strong

40:38

belief in him. And I still have

40:40

a strong belief in him. Look, I

40:42

know there's been some off-the-field things that

40:44

have happened that haven't been great, but...

40:46

You know, the Sean is one of

40:48

the most instinctive and toughest players that

40:50

I've ever coached. You know, I can

40:53

remember, you know, one of the best

40:55

stories that I've, that I can tell

40:57

about the Sean is we were playing

40:59

Dallas on a Sunday night. We won

41:01

the game during a two point conversion.

41:03

He got nailed by a great linebacker,

41:06

Jaylyn Smith for Dallas back then. And

41:08

and he basically suffered a collapse lung

41:10

and had a terrible injury. And the

41:12

next week we were playing Jacksonville in

41:14

Jacksonville, if we win, we win the

41:16

AFC South. So Deshaun couldn't, he couldn't

41:18

fly because he couldn't, you know, be

41:21

up there on a plane relative to

41:23

what his injury was. So he took

41:25

a bus, he took a bus from

41:27

Houston to Jacksonville to play in that

41:29

game to help us win the game

41:31

and win the AFC South. Like that

41:33

kind of to me describes. My connection

41:36

to DeShaw Watson, he did a lot

41:38

for me. Great, great football player. I

41:40

know he's suffered the Achilles injury this

41:42

season. I feel terrible for him, but

41:44

I believe he'll be back. I really

41:46

do. I do believe he'll be back

41:49

and he's a very talented guy. When

41:51

you say you believe he'll be back,

41:53

you believe we'll see more good quarterback

41:55

play from DeShawm Watson. Yeah, I think

41:57

like one of the things that we

41:59

did with DeSh, you know, you know,

42:01

he... he performed at a high level

42:04

for us. We basically studied what he

42:06

did at Clemson, and we were able

42:08

to incorporate a lot of those things.

42:10

in our offense in Houston. And I

42:12

think that in the end, I have

42:14

not been able to watch him that

42:16

much in Cleveland because, you know, obviously

42:19

I've been busy with things, but I

42:21

think doing the things that he's really

42:23

good at relative to whether it's the

42:25

communication of things or just the execution

42:27

of what the offensive scheme might be,

42:29

I think we did a good job

42:32

of that for the most part in

42:34

Houston. And I think if if someone,

42:36

whether it's Cleveland or wherever, you know,

42:38

can really get that done with him.

42:40

I think he's got he's got good

42:42

years left in the NFL. You talked

42:44

about the communication level at the NFL

42:47

level. Will there be a day? Could

42:49

you see a day where you would

42:51

be interested in getting back to the

42:53

NFL and being a head coach again

42:55

there, Bill? I love BC. Adam. I

42:57

really appreciate what BC's done for me.

43:00

BC's made a big commitment to football

43:02

here. You know, you can never say

43:04

never. I'm not someone that can, you

43:06

know, forecast a future and things like

43:08

that. But I like where we're at

43:10

at BC. I like our future. Look,

43:12

it didn't end this season. We lost

43:15

a Nebraska and a bowl game, but

43:17

we had a winning record. We won

43:19

some big games here. We've got a

43:21

lot of talent coming back next year.

43:23

So I'm really excited about what's going

43:25

on at Boston College. And the people

43:27

here, Blake James, the athletic director, the

43:30

athletic director. of what we're doing here.

43:32

So, you know, I'm happy at PC.

43:34

And if there were a team that

43:36

came to you, Bill, I said, we

43:38

want to talk to you, you can

43:40

talk to them? To me, like, in

43:43

my career, you know, you always have

43:45

to be able to listen and think

43:47

about what's best for your family and

43:49

all those things. But again, I'm, like

43:51

I said, I'm very, very happy at

43:53

Boston College. When we look back at

43:55

the history of all the players you've

43:58

cooked, you've cooked, Who are the guys

44:00

that come to mind right away? And

44:02

I know there's going to be one

44:04

obvious one obviously, but I'm just curious

44:06

some of the guys that pop into

44:08

your mind that you've coached that stand

44:10

out that made a huge mark on

44:13

you. Yeah. That's a great question. I

44:15

think about that a lot, especially I'm

44:17

55 years old, so and I've been

44:19

doing this for 32 years. And so

44:21

I've been very, very fortunate to coach

44:23

some of the best players that ever

44:26

played, like put Brady over here, you

44:28

know, on another mantle, you know, we

44:30

got that one, right? He's the best

44:32

ever do it. But, you know, you

44:34

think about in my time in New

44:36

England, Rob Gronkowski. Some of the lineman

44:38

we had there were unbelievable Matt Light.

44:41

I just heard from him yesterday. We

44:43

text back and forth, you know, Logan,

44:45

Mankin, Steve Neal, Dan Copen, you know,

44:47

we had some great offensive lineman there.

44:49

Obviously, Randy Moss, Randy Moss was probably

44:51

one of the top four or five

44:53

smartest players I ever coached at any

44:56

position. You know, he understood coverages. He

44:58

understood the DBs he had been going

45:00

against. I learned so much from that

45:02

guy. Deion Branch, right, West Welker, Julian

45:04

Edelman, you know, having co, Kevin Falk,

45:06

we coached all those guys. And then

45:09

go to Houston, obviously, Jay, Jay, Watt,

45:11

one of the greatest players to ever

45:13

do it, won two defensive player of

45:15

the year awards while we were together

45:17

there in Houston. De Andre Hopkins, Will

45:19

Fuller, who had a lot of injuries,

45:21

but was a really, really talented player

45:24

when he played. for us. He scored

45:26

a lot of touchdowns. We've talked about

45:28

the Sean, right? Yeah. We had some

45:30

really good backs in Houston. We had

45:32

we had some good offensive. I'm in

45:34

Dwayne Brown. You remember Dwayne Brown, Chris

45:37

Myers was the center when I first

45:39

got to Houston was a great player.

45:41

So, you know, I've been fortunate. I've

45:43

been around a lot of good ones

45:45

last year in New England, Hunter Henry,

45:47

Romandre Stevenson, Mike on Wainu. So, you

45:49

know, you know, been around a lot

45:52

of great, a lot of great, great,

45:54

great, great, great, great, great, great, great,

45:56

great play. Who's somebody you coach at

45:58

the college level that really made a

46:00

mark on you too, Bill? Yeah, one

46:02

of the guys that I coached early

46:04

on is now, he's been coaching for

46:07

a long time now, he's at the

46:09

Ravens, now is George Gatsu. George Gatsu

46:11

was... really the first quarterback that I

46:13

actually coached. You know, he was the

46:15

junior and a senior at Georgia Tech

46:17

when I was there. You know, at

46:20

that time, we broke records in the

46:22

passing game. A lot of it was

46:24

because of George Godsey at Georgia Tech.

46:26

When I went to Maryland, I was

46:28

around some great players at Maryland. I

46:30

was the running back coach there, but

46:32

I was able to, you know, be

46:35

around Vernon Davis and Sean Merriman and

46:37

DeQuil Jackson. Awesome. Awesome players there. when

46:39

I went to Penn State, we had

46:41

some really good players. Mike Maui, Jordan

46:43

Hill, DeQuain Jones still plays. I think

46:45

he plays for the Buffalo Bills. Austin

46:47

Johnson was a freshman when I was

46:50

at, you know, at Penn State, Christian

46:52

Hackenberg, Adam Brenneman, Matt McGoyne, who played

46:54

six years in the NFL. And there

46:56

was Alan Robinson, had Alan Robinson for

46:58

two years there. So I've been fortunate

47:00

in college to be in Alabama, I

47:03

can't go. You know, I've got to

47:05

mention Alabama Alabama was man Bryce Young

47:07

Jamieson Williams John Metchee Ryan Robinson Jamir

47:09

Gibbs Cam Latu. I think he's playing

47:11

for the 49ers now, but some of

47:13

the best players I've ever been around

47:15

were at were at Alabama to in

47:18

college Bryce Young. Surprised you that he's

47:20

bounced back the way he has. We

47:22

expect him to continue on that trajectory.

47:24

No, I that's not a surprise at

47:26

all. He is You know without a

47:28

doubt and again like I'm very biased

47:31

because these guys, you know when you

47:33

coach Especially the quarterback position you create

47:35

a bond with the great ones right

47:37

with the guys that You know really

47:39

understood your coaching style and and really

47:41

understood what you were trying to get

47:43

done Offensively Bryce was one of the

47:46

best guys I ever coached who was

47:48

definitely somebody that you looked forward to

47:50

every single day being able to go

47:52

into the building and see this kid

47:54

and and watch him progress and see

47:56

his talent very very smart so when

47:58

it didn't start out well in Carolina.

48:01

You know, I knew that he was the type of

48:03

guy. He comes from a great family. Mom

48:05

and dad are awesome. That you know what?

48:07

He's going to be able to deal with

48:09

adversity. He's got a great calm, poised personality.

48:12

He's a hard worker. So to see him

48:14

bounce back like he is, it takes time.

48:16

It's not easy to go straight from college

48:18

to be the number one pick and to

48:20

perform in the NFL. The NFL is a

48:22

whole different animal. And I think you're

48:25

seeing Bryce on a trajectory now

48:27

that I think will be really

48:29

good for his career. You expect that

48:31

to continue? Yeah, I really do. I

48:33

know, look, I know he's not the

48:35

biggest guy in the world, but he

48:38

has this innate, he's got an innate

48:40

ability to anticipate, to see through

48:42

the trees, to be able to

48:44

find windows, to get the ball

48:47

out quickly, when he understands coverage

48:49

very well. He has a great understanding

48:51

of his own offense. He's very

48:53

prepared. He's a very, very bright

48:55

guy. So I see him continuing to

48:57

ascend. And you mentioned Jamir Gibbs. Did

49:00

you know he was going to be this

49:02

good? Jamir Gibbs, when my second

49:04

year, he transferred from Georgia Tech

49:06

to Alabama, my second year, Robert

49:08

Gillespie, who was our running back coach

49:11

at Alabama's awesome coach. He had a

49:13

connection with him from when he had

49:15

recruited him at North Carolina, I

49:17

think. And so anyways, he transferred.

49:19

And besides Bryce Young, my second year,

49:21

I would say that Jamir Gibbs outside

49:24

of Bryce Young was the best player on

49:26

the offense. We tried to get him the

49:28

ball all the time. I mean, I think

49:30

at one point he was leading our team

49:32

and receptions and rush yards. So yeah, no,

49:34

I had a very good idea that he

49:36

would be a great player. He's an awesome player.

49:38

Fun to watch. Sort of the lines, because

49:40

when they drafted him, that room erupted in

49:42

a way that I think a lot of

49:44

people were surprised to see because there weren't.

49:46

There wasn't that much talk about Jimur Gibbs

49:48

going to the dress. There's all about Bijon

49:51

Robinson. And all of a sudden here come

49:53

the lines, they take Jimur Gibbs, the rumor

49:55

rups, and it turns out that they knew

49:57

exactly what they were doing and what they

49:59

were talking about. I think there were

50:01

some questions on to whether he would

50:03

run, you know, in between the tackles

50:05

and things like, I mean, he has.

50:07

That kid's tough. He's fast. He has

50:09

great contact balance and he is great

50:12

in the passing game. Not only catching

50:14

passes out of the backfield, but aligning

50:16

an empty, doing different things like a

50:18

slot receiver, and then pass protection. I

50:20

mean, he's a tough kid. He's one

50:22

of the best players I've ever coached.

50:24

He was awesome. Awesome. I like Penn

50:27

State Adam. I think that, you know,

50:29

when you look at the way they

50:31

play defense, they're very, very good on

50:33

defense. And I think Drew Alar is

50:35

playing pretty well. And then they have

50:37

these two running backs, right? Nick Singleton,

50:40

who we recruited at Alabama, he's from

50:42

Harrisburg, comes from an awesome family, and,

50:44

you know, it was going to be

50:46

tough to get him to come to

50:48

Alabama, but he visited Alabama, so we

50:50

got to know him. He's an awesome

50:53

kid. I think he's a great player

50:55

and then they've got Caitron Allen. So

50:57

they've got a two-headed monster at running

50:59

back, which is a quarterback's best friend.

51:01

You know, the running games are quarterbacks

51:03

best friends. I see Penn State, you

51:05

know, look, the games are going to

51:08

get a lot tougher now. Nothing against

51:10

Boise and SMU, but the games will

51:12

become a lot tougher now. We'll see

51:14

how they do. But I like Penn

51:16

State's chances, no doubt about it. Do

51:18

we like this new playoff system, Bill?

51:21

I do, look, I think the home

51:23

field games in the first round were

51:25

cool. I like that. I'm a big

51:27

proponent of maybe going to 16 teams

51:29

that might lengthen the season a little

51:31

bit. I don't know if they'll ever

51:33

do that. I also think the seating

51:36

needs to change, right? I mean, you

51:38

had, I think there was a game

51:40

yesterday, was it, Texas and Arizona State

51:42

was there, I don't know, some, the

51:44

seating needs to be changed a little

51:46

bit. And again, you know, it's not

51:49

all about, hey, did you win 11

51:51

games? It's more about do you belong,

51:53

right? The past the eye test. relative

51:55

to strength of schedule and things like

51:57

that. So I love the playoffs though.

51:59

I think a playoff format is a

52:02

huge thing for college football. Just need

52:04

to tweak it a little bit. Well

52:06

I appreciate you taking some time away

52:08

from your recruiting and connecting today and

52:10

it's always nice to see you and

52:12

it's always nice to talk to you

52:14

Bill. You're the best. I appreciate you

52:17

having me on. I really do and

52:19

watch you every weekend. You guys have

52:21

a ball on that NFL pregame, that

52:23

countdown show. You know what, we miss

52:25

Randy right now. Yeah, yeah, but but

52:27

as you know, Teddy is such a

52:30

great guy. He is and Rex is

52:32

a character. Oh, yeah. And Alex Smith

52:34

is a gentleman and very intelligent about

52:36

the game and Greeny is a great

52:38

quarterback. So it's a great group. I'm

52:40

honored to be around those guys. Yeah,

52:42

that's a great group. Great people behind

52:45

the scenes and hey, you know what?

52:47

I'll say this. Every Sunday morning, I'll

52:49

walk into that studio. and all the

52:51

time I spent with Mort and that's

52:53

every single time I walk in there.

52:55

And honestly it's like walking, I would

52:58

think like walking into a stadium on

53:00

Sunday morning. Like you just feel the

53:02

adrenaline. I've walked into that studio at

53:04

other times and it doesn't feel like

53:06

it does when you walk in there

53:08

on Sunday morning. Right, right. And you

53:11

know, going back to Mort, man, God

53:13

bless Mort, what an awesome guy. I

53:15

know he was your partner for many

53:17

years. You know, I worked with Alex

53:19

Mortinson and Alabama. What an awesome coach

53:21

and an even better person. I learned

53:23

a lot from more at Alabama. He

53:26

was awesome and I miss Chris Mortinson

53:28

every day. I know you do. Yeah,

53:30

he had great respect for you and

53:32

it was always great to hear about

53:34

Alex and who and Alabama. So I

53:36

was keeping tabs on the school. Yeah,

53:39

I never was an Alabama fan until

53:41

Alex got there and all of a

53:43

sudden this Michigan guy. I don't say

53:45

I'm ruining for Alabama, but I'm interested

53:47

in Alabama, and when Alex was there,

53:49

you guys were there doing your thing.

53:52

Yeah, you're a fan of one college

53:54

team. We all know that stuff. Rightfully

53:56

still, rightfully. And it's non-Columbis. No, it's

53:58

not in Columbus. It is in. and

54:00

Arbor, Michigan, I got you. And I

54:02

root for you, Bill, and I mean

54:04

that. Thank you. Thank you, Chefty, I

54:07

appreciate it. It's time for basketball, and

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time. Terms apply. There is Bill O'Brien.

55:03

He did not close the door on

55:05

returning to the NFL at some point

55:07

time. It doesn't sound like it's something

55:10

he's actively pursuing. He sounds very happy

55:12

at Boston College. Sounds like he loves

55:14

the people around him. But I could

55:17

see in time an NFL team knocking

55:19

on the door of Bill O'Brien. We'll

55:21

see how that works out. All right,

55:24

from one college story to another, I

55:26

just wanted to point out at the

55:28

start of the year as the college

55:31

football playoffs continue on. Some point last

55:33

summer. We were told... about this Ohio

55:35

statewide receiver Jeremiah Smith that I had

55:38

never seen play before that I didn't

55:40

know anything about but I had people

55:42

who had passed through the school and

55:45

they said you need to pay attention

55:47

to this player and this is what

55:49

we said last summer before the college

55:52

football season kicked off. I heard something

55:54

twice. Twice this summer about a wide

55:56

receiver that people told me to watch

55:59

out for. People told me how good

56:01

he is and he's a college wide

56:03

receiver of freshmen named Jeremiah Smith at

56:06

Ohio State. Have you ever heard of

56:08

him Daniel? I have not but my

56:10

ears are ready for this Adam what

56:13

you got for me. Well I looked

56:15

it up when I when I heard

56:17

his name because a couple people brought

56:20

it to my intention. And he's a

56:22

five star recruit at a Florida who

56:24

went to Ohio State. And the way

56:27

that somebody described to me this past

56:29

week is he's gonna make people at

56:31

Ohio State forget Marvin Harrison Jr. Now,

56:34

we'll see what happens. Wow, that is

56:36

lofty praise for Jeremiah Smith. And again,

56:38

the way he was told to me

56:41

is they've got a ton of great

56:43

water seers, but this guy is different.

56:45

This guy is special. And so 18

56:47

year old, I think he's 18 years

56:50

old. Jeremiah Smith already has landed on

56:52

my radar for the upcoming season. I

56:54

don't even know if there's a freshman,

56:57

no play. But I know that there

56:59

were people there who watched this guy

57:01

who said wait till you see this

57:04

guy. So I just followed that note

57:06

and I said, you know what? I'm

57:08

going to bring that up my podcast.

57:11

I know there's a lot of wide

57:13

receivers who are paying attention to, I

57:15

know there's a lot of wide receivers

57:18

we'll be discussing for fancy drafts to

57:20

take players to avoid. But Jeremiah Smith,

57:22

young Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State, has already

57:25

landed on my radar, Daniel. And that

57:27

was said on July 16th. July 16th.

57:29

So that was August, September, October, November,

57:32

December. Six months ago. Six months ago,

57:34

Thai. We were told about this Jeremiah

57:36

Smith, who if he were in this

57:39

draft, which he cannot be, he might

57:41

be the number one overall pick in

57:43

this draft. And Jeremiah Smith is tracking

57:46

to be the number one overall picking

57:48

whatever draft. He enters into barring some

57:50

great quarterback, not being... available but boy

57:53

can that guy play and boy were

57:55

the people who saw him play this

57:57

summer right and boy is it going

58:00

to be fun to watch this guy

58:02

every time except when he plays Michigan

58:04

in the coming seasons to come that

58:07

guy is really impressive I also want

58:09

to point out during the break not

58:11

only do we watch some college football

58:14

you know what the one thing we

58:16

did do that I hadn't done in

58:18

nearly seven years time that my wife

58:21

and I went to the movies we

58:23

haven't been to a movie A movie

58:25

theater I was checking in my journal

58:28

and I think the last movie that

58:30

I saw in the theater was in

58:32

2018 Bohemian Rhapsody which was an excellent

58:35

movie about the life story of Freddie

58:37

Mercury and Queen would recommend it to

58:39

anybody. On New Year's Eve afternoon we

58:42

actually went back to the movies to

58:44

sit in a theater which I hadn't

58:46

done in seven years to see a

58:49

complete unknown and Timothy Shalome give him

58:51

the Oscar right now. That guy... was

58:53

unbelievable. Awesome. Now again, who am I

58:56

saying, after seeing one movie in the

58:58

theater in seven years to give him

59:00

the Oscar, but is that impressive in

59:03

the movie? And it was an excellent

59:05

movie. One of my favorite movies that

59:07

ever saw was Walk the Line, which

59:10

was about Johnny Cash. I love that

59:12

and I love the movie Ray, about

59:14

Ray Charles's life, and I love Bohemian

59:17

Rhapsody. And this is right in that

59:19

genre of sort of movie documentary documentary-document.

59:21

films about a singer's life, a complete

59:24

unknown, go see it, Todd, if you

59:26

get a moment. I know you got

59:28

kids in home, you're busy, but if

59:31

you and the missus get a night

59:33

out, would recommend it. I've told my

59:35

wife, I can't, because I love Bob

59:38

Dylan. I was like, listen, I need

59:40

to go see this. It's worth seeing.

59:42

I learned. Some about Bob Dylan but

59:45

my wife I had in the movie

59:47

and looked up even more about him

59:49

because maybe that's why they call the

59:52

movie a complete unknown. You still left

59:54

wanting to know more about him and

59:56

his life like I didn't know that

59:59

shortly after that movie the way the

1:00:01

movie ended he had a big motorcycle

1:00:03

accident I didn't realize well I did

1:00:06

realize that he's as reclusive as he

1:00:08

is he was in the same fraternity

1:00:10

I was at Minnesota but I was

1:00:13

at Michigan so Bob Dylan and I

1:00:15

are actually like fraternity brothers in a

1:00:17

roundabout sort of way here to I

1:00:20

I'm sure he is very excited to

1:00:22

hear that it was just worth seeing

1:00:24

it was a really entertaining movie and

1:00:27

I would urge people to go and

1:00:29

you know what going back to the

1:00:31

theater I didn't love that really yeah

1:00:34

like I had I had these old

1:00:36

people to my right you know with

1:00:38

their bags of popcorn making all that

1:00:41

noise chomping on it talking loud like

1:00:43

like we're in a movie keep it

1:00:45

down I want to enjoy this. I

1:00:48

don't want to hear you chewing, I

1:00:50

don't want to hear you talking. I

1:00:52

got people trying to help me to

1:00:55

get popcorn. I waited 15 minutes, you

1:00:57

know, the coming, I got there early

1:00:59

and the coming attractions are starting and

1:01:02

then you get inside and the theater

1:01:04

is not exactly as clean as you

1:01:06

like. I'm like, this is why I've

1:01:09

gotten used to staying home and watching

1:01:11

movies at home and not coming to

1:01:13

the theater, just little things like that.

1:01:16

So, we'll go back when it's worth

1:01:18

seeing something there. It was time to

1:01:20

get back to work. And it's time

1:01:23

to get back to work today as

1:01:25

well, because who knows what the NFL

1:01:27

has in store for us today, but

1:01:30

I'm sure it's going to be something.

1:01:32

And for this week's Game of the

1:01:34

Week, we are going with the Sunday

1:01:37

night match up between the Green Bay

1:01:39

Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles. The season

1:01:41

opened on a Friday night in Brazil,

1:01:44

and the playoffs will open with a

1:01:46

matchup. to bring together the Packers and

1:01:48

the Eagles. Jordan loved coming off the

1:01:51

elbow hand injury. He suffered. We think

1:01:53

Jaylyn hurts will be out of concussion

1:01:55

protocol and able to play, but it's

1:01:58

just one more storyline in what... to

1:02:00

be the playoff match up of the

1:02:02

week. And sources tell me that

1:02:05

the Packers Eagles actually has

1:02:07

the highest priced average seat

1:02:09

price. The Packers Eagles tickets

1:02:12

are now going for $413 per

1:02:14

seat. The Game of the Week

1:02:17

is brought to you by vivid

1:02:19

seats. The official ticketing partner of

1:02:21

ESPN. Get great deals on the

1:02:24

hottest tickets. Experience it

1:02:26

live. Thai. Happy New Year to you.

1:02:28

Happy New Year to Bill O'Brien! Happy

1:02:30

New Year to Dan Stansick and Sarah

1:02:32

Abbott, Taylor Swink! And thank you to

1:02:34

the listener for tuning in to the

1:02:36

first podcast of the year. We'll be

1:02:38

back next week to review the wild

1:02:41

card round, look ahead to the

1:02:43

divisional player from breakdown, the latest

1:02:45

coaching information, we'll have more information,

1:02:48

insights and interviews. Until then, have

1:02:50

a great week and enjoy the

1:02:52

wild card round.